Week of 05 Jun 2022

“This is not how I imagined my first day.”

Achievements Earned In:

- Raji: An Ancient Epic
- Super Destronaut DX
- Resident Evil 2

I actually didn’t have a whole lot of Raji: An Ancient Epic left by Sunday morning, as the game is fairly short. But, man, I just could not get into it. Heck, I probably could have finished it on the preceding Saturday, but between my utter lack of interest and spending time with my spouse and kiddo and old friend, I… didn’t. Unlike what TrueAchievements says, this is definitely not a 6-8 hour completion, landing more in the 4- or 5-hour range. It’s all easy enough, too, but of course the real draw is all the Hindu and Balinese mythology all over the game as you fight against Mahabalasura’s forces. The problem is that and the lovely art are practically the only draws as everything around it is a very mediocre platformer. And the boss fights before the final one feel incredibly tedious, taking much longer than they should. At one point you’re fighting a demon queen from Bali mythology and you have to break off each of her fingers. You have to wait for her to attack, then put her hand down, then a wave of attacks again, then strike the hand more to break off a finger. With two hands and eight fingers, this just drags the pacing of the fight down. As stated, though, the game is very easy overall so it didn’t take much effort (and following a guide) to quickly get all the achievements and putting this to rest.

Achievements unlocked: 21 (+17) | Completed

Raji An Ancient Epic screenshot — Gurl, you need a mani. Look at those things! No wonder you’re salty.

Another week, another quick run-in with some astral conquerors. This time I completed my backwards trek through the series with Super Destronaut DX, and this was just as easy as the other two. But, the nice thing about this game and its sequels are that it’s not some long game that you only need to play for 10 minutes to get all the achievements like many of these types of titles. Since it’s a score attack-type game, nothing’s stopping you from replaying over and over. This one isn’t quite as fun as DX-2, but that’s to be expected. I didn’t like the lack of vertical movement in the window, nor did I appreciate the “greys” coming from the background. But, still easy and short. And fun! Kinda hope developer Petite Games releases more.

Achievements unlocked: 13 (+13) | Completed

Super Destronaut DX screenshot — Always strange to me when a full completion takes a meager 14 minutes.

As of Monday this week, I was finally home after a 3.5-months stay in Rochester, MN. That was why I’d been playing almost nothing but Game Pass games, especially Cloud ones so I could play while I spent 10+ hours a day at the hospital watching over my ill spouse. But now that I’m home I could start looking at not-short games. I decided to start Resident Evil 2, one that I know isn’t really a challenging completion. I was ready to deal with multiple playthroughs and the usual stress that these games bring, but, lo an behold, looks like the infinite rocket launcher add-on had been purchased. Obviously this makes the entire list easy save for one: beating the game without opening the item box, since that’s how you pickup the weapon on a new playthrough. As of this writing, I’ve only beaten Leon’s playthrough twice, first to collect the collectibles and learn the process, then again for the Hardcore speedrun. Obviously being able to obliterate all enemies (including bosses) in one shot made the game pretty chill, though Mr. T-00 cant be killed and still made me jump multiple times as he came bursting through a wall or around a corner. The sound design in the game is fantastic, and while you’re creeping down hallways you can hear the thunking of the monster’s patrol around the police station. Speaking of…why did they incorporate George Trevor’s designs into a POLICE STATION of all places? Having to locate the Spade key just to use access the library from the main hall seems like it’d cut into productivity! Anyway, another issue with the completion not fixed by the overpowered weaponry I had on hand are the sections in each storyline where you have to switch to a different character. In Leon’s, you have to play as Ada and all she has is a pistol! If you haven’t played these REmakes, the zombies seemingly don’t really care about headshots and will just laugh at you as you put a good 4-5 shots into their face. It’s annoying!

Anyway, I’m sure Claire’s playthrough will be just as easy. Does Mr. X go after her? Whatever, a rocket to the face always calms him down.

Achievements unlocked: 30 (+30) | Completion: 68%