Week of 03 Dec 2023
“It’s good for taking one’s mind off troubles, isn’t it?”
Achievements Earned In:
- Metro 2033
- Rubber Bandits
- Fallout 76
- Opus Magnum
A lot of frustration with Metro 2033 this week, though it being all in Japanese didn’t help. There’s very little information out there on this version, which might be good but also doesn’t tell me if the issues I was dealing with are exactly the same as the NTSC-U version I’d already struggled through. Luckily… it seems to be. To start, I used the stationary machine gun achievement to continue my streak on Sunday as I proceeded to restart my playthrough from the Expedition onward. What I assumed was the issue is that the way the game saves some progress when you reload is that you’re starting back from when you first created the autosave. So, since I’d missed a military-grade ammo pickup in this first Station, if I reload from, say, Riga station, it’ll still be missing from the achievement’s checklist. To actually get the achievement to unlock, I’d have to replay from the first instance of when I missed a collectible and proceed from there on one save. I did that, and annoyingly I was correct (like always). It appears this only really applies to things like kills and collectibles, because the Explorer achievement seems to still track no matter what, and I happened to unlock it while searching a dead body in Chapter 4 - Outpost. And, as mentioned before, as I picked up the final ammo in the final Station, the Sherlock achievement also popped. WHEW, and that’s the Xbox 360 versions of this game completed! Only one more version and I can finally move to Last Light!
Achievements unlocked: 39 (+3) | Completed
I should give this a look sometime. I’ve heard the protagonist of the first and third books is SO handsome.
With the games leaving the Game Pass library revealed the previous week, I had decided I would at least try and knock out Rubber Bandits after I finished Metro. It was only a couple-hour completion, so it would be nothing to add it to my list. And, yeah, I was right! This is similar in gameplay to the much more popular Gang Beasts, so it’s easier the more players you’re in control of to avoid any NPCs getting in the way. There’s a short campaign mode, but it’s very quick to sprint through. The only issue I ran into while completing the game was the achievement for knocking out an opponent using the unconscious body of another opponent. The first time I did this, it unlocked for the account whose body I used. Okay, weird. So I used my main account’s body to do it and… it unlocked for the throwing account this time. A few more attempts and it just wouldn’t unlock for anyone in any way. I decided to start trying to change the factors since it was unlocking weird, so I removed an account from the game, and it unlocked! Weird, but hey, a nice easy completion in the books. The game seems like it’d be an enjoyable party game, too.
Achievements unlocked: 19 (+19) | Completed
Come get me, coppers!
Ugh, Fallout 76 got more achievements. Again, a few for the two newly added Expeditions, this time to the Atlantic City area. Yay, how unexciting. I know, I’m being negative, but I really can’t stand this game anymore. The level scaling just ruined the fun for me! What’s the point of grinding and struggling for good loot when the starting area feral ghouls can wreck me now?! Bah, luckily these achievements are pretty easy: beat both new Expeditions, kill 10 of a new enemy with melee weapons, and collect the recipe for one of the new C.A.M.P. casino games and build 5. Easy, but still annoying. The new enemy, the “Jersey Devil”-inspired Lesser Devil, is very dangerous and tough to kill, but, since it’s just across from the starting position in “Tax Evasion” and the damage I caused stayed, I simply ran over and kept dying until I’d killed the two on the roof of Quentino's Night Club. Then I’d reload and do it all over again. The biggest time sink was getting the casino games for my base. Since I wasn’t able to pick one up while clearing the Expeditions for that achievement, I had to grind stamps from clearing each Expedition until I had the 70 needed to purchase the cheapest recipe. I went with the aforementioned “Tax Evasion” due to knowing it well-enough and it taking not too long. The end boss was also easy, and didn’t seem to be able to take me out once I got his lackeys killed. Wrapped this all up by Tuesday and will hopefully be able to avoid this particular Wasteland for a long while. Or forever.
Achievements unlocked: 69 (+3) | Completed
I was debating trying to plow through another of the Game Pass retirees, and it was between Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator or Opus Magnum. Like most games that join the service, I’d tested out the former on an alt account previously, and I really didn’t like the way it controlled. If I was gonna play it, I figured I’d play on Windows… but if I was gonna do that anyway, I wanted to play the oddball out: the Windows-exclusive (in terms of achievements) one! Plus, the gameplay was weird, there was little info on TA about it, and I’m always drawn to challenges like that. So far, verdict: I’m glad I did! So, this game is essentially a programming simulator wrapped in a story about an alchemist that has graduated from Imperial University. You complete tasks by setting out a series of commands for an arm (be it a telescoping one or a 6-armed one or just a single one) or arms to manipulate regents to create a product. The necessary creation gets more and more complicated as the game progresses, but this is the basic concept. While doing research for solutions to the puzzles, I stumbled upon a lot of praise for the game back in 2017, so it’s no wonder it’s a pretty cool experience. You can even create HD GIFs of your solution to share online. See, you’re supposed to strive for a creation that excels in one (or more) factors (cost, speed, or the area the device takes up on the board) and try and compete with others on the leaderboards. Since none of this is necessary for the achievements, I don’t care! I just looked for the simplest solution and built that. This was a good plan until I got to the end of Chapter III, and the guide I was using had no further solutions. I can see why, as the final product for that chapter, Very Dark Thread, is REALLY tough. Even worse, as these puzzles get more complicated the various solutions online get tougher to follow since everyone appears to only be posting their solution GIFs and these don’t show the actual steps! Deducing what’s needed is getting more and more difficult, which is slowing my progress.
Oh, and there’s also a minigame called Sigmar’s Garden, which is similar in concept to mahjong solitaire. You have to win 100 games and this is taking some doing since there’s no way to undo moves and you can lock yourself out of solving the puzzle! But, as of writing I’m at 75 wins, so I’m getting there.
Achievements unlocked: 5 (+5) | Completion: 50%
Ah yes, I learned all this glancing at an issue of Fullmetal Alchemist once. This’ll be cake!
