14 Aug 2016

Checkpoint: English Premier League 2016-17 Edition

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The English Premier League kicked off this weekend but I barely watched any of it. The reason? I simply forgot. Despite knowing and being constantly reminded of its start by the ESPN FC podcast, it just doesn’t feel like I should be watching meaningful club soccer yet. The 2016 Euros just wrapped up and the Summer Olympics are still going on. And yet Leicester City already lost and Manchester United already won their respective openers.

It’s no longer known as the Barclay’s Premier League which means new graphics packages and other frills. It’s weird seeing the league known only as the English Premier League but it’s for the better. I’ve always thought it was weird that you can have a league be sponsored.

With a fresh coat of paint, new managers helming many of the big clubs and ridiculous amounts of money being spent to bring in new players to said clubs, this season feels like the beginning of a new era. I don’t expect Leicester City will repeat as winners or even make it into the top 4 this season. I actually have no predictions on who will or should win it all this season. I’ll root for Liverpool since Jurgen Klopp is so lovable but I don’t know if he has the players to make an significant impact. Who knows though, right? He made Borussia Dortmund a German powerhouse. Maybe he can restore Liverpool’s glory as well.

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I just realized I started too many games. I have Pikmin 3 on the burner. I started Doom, Tricky Towers and the latest entry in the King of Fighters saga. I also have Ocarina of Time to wade through. And all of this is competing with Overwatch which will likely go down as my most played game of 2016.

I didn’t even mention my daily rituals of checking in on Pokemon Picross and Pokemon Go. Those are daily activities though — like accumulating enough daily steps on my Vivosmart HR.

8 May 2016

Checkpoint: Leicester City Champions Edition

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Leicester City Football Club are champions of England. That’s a weird thing to say huh? I don’t have a firm grasp on the magnitude of the win but I get it. In my two years of watching soccer, I witnessed the modern day tradition of a big money club win in Chelsea FC’s victory last season and the greatest underdog story of all time with the Foxes claiming the 2015-16 this past Monday.

I’m far more intrigued with what they’ll do in the Champions League and how they will defend their title next season though. I want to see how this club will grow or falter. It would be amazing to see a team rise and remain dominant for years to come. It’s a feel good story now but it will be interesting to see if they will be able to keep that lustre in the future. Will players leave? Will they have the same drive? Or will they implode like Chelsea did this year? It’ll be interesting to find out.

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I wrapped up Valkyria Chronicles Remastered for the PlayStation 4. The first draft of the review is done and I hope to publish it on Tuesday. I hope this isn’t a spoiler but guess what? It’s still a fantastic game.

I’ve played enough of the Overwatch to know that I want it. I don’t want to spend $79.99 for it though. Damn our dollar.

4 Oct 2015

Checkpoint: Massive Sunday Edition

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It’s Sundays like this that make a disappointing NFL lineup perfectly fine with me. There’s a slew of quality match-ups in European soccer that I could watch.

  • Liverpool vs Everton – Recorded
  • Arsenal vs Manchester United – Currently watching.
  • Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund – Can’t watch 🙁
  • Athletico Madrid vs Real Madrid – Can’t Watch 🙁

I might have to find some unscrupulous stream to catch up on all the action.

Or I could continue playing Massive Chalice which rapidly sank its claws in me already. I backed this game on Kickstarter and I’m very pleased to see that it’s panning out thus far. It’s still early but I love the visual style and the charming voice work that Doublefine are known for.

I could also work on my Super Mario Maker level. I need to work on unlocking more pieces which I could circumvent by setting the Wii U’s date forward but I like working within these constraints. I started the 100 Mario challenge as well. Out of the 6 or so levels that I’ve played, I found only one or two to be remotely good Mario levels. There were plenty of clever gimmicks but not enough quality platforming.

 

 

9 Aug 2015

Checkpoint: Premier League 2015-16 Edition

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This is my second season with soccer and it’s weird. Unlike American football or any other sport, there was essentially only a two month gap where there was no club soccer was played. La Liga and Bundesliga start later this month but the Premier League kicked off the new club soccer season. It’s weird because I got into soccer after the World Cup which delayed the start of the 2014-15 season until late August and early September which I associate with “getting back to work” for everyone.

It’s been a rather lukewarm start for the big clubs with Manchester United being the big winner thus far by way of an own goal by a Tottenham Hotspurs’ defender. Chelsea tied and Arsenal lost. Liverpool are playing their opener at the time of writing and Manchester City will start their match tomorrow.

The bottom feeders have had more promising starts with the likes of Leicester City and newly promoted Watford making splashes against more established clubs. It’s inspiring to watch smaller teams rise up and take on bigger clubs and holding their own.

I don’t know who’s going to win this year’s Premier League championship. The pundits have pegged Chelsea to repeat with Arsenal in striking distance. If I were forced to choose, I’d pick the Blues as well but in the end the Premier League is second fiddle to the likes of La Liga for me. Big boys like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are ultimately more talented.

The opening weekend wasn’t the high flying start that I was expecting but I’m sure things will start clicking for some clubs by the end of the month.

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I wrapped up Wolfenstein: The Old Blood with a neat bow in the form of a Platinum Trophy. I loved it as someone who loved Wolfenstein: The New Order so if you’re in the same boat as me, you should have picked it up for $12 a couple of weeks ago.

My love for Rocket League continues to grow by the day. The more I improve, the more I enjoy it and that’s a mark of a great game.

I feel the same with Galak-Z which is one of the more demoralizing games in recent memory. Bloodborne and the Souls games result in tough losses but they pale in comparison to losing great upgrades and items and starting at the beginning of a season. I suppose I should count my lucky stars that this isn’t a true rogue-like and I’m not starting at the beginning of the game.

Lastly, with the release of patch 1.08 and some performance improvements over patch 1.07, I decided to head back into world of The Witcher 3. I was immediately greeted with a gruesome murder attempt. This game is grim and it got its claws back into me because of it.

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