Horizon Zero Dawn

Date played: March 30th
Platform: PS4

I started out the evening with a little warm up to test out my tearblaster weapon. I fought a group of Chargers and I was very much impressed with the new weapon. While the ammo for it is rather expensive and it has a very short range, it's also wonderful at taking off components quickly, those chargers didn't stand a chance. I'll have to try it out on stronger machines, but so far, it's been cool

Continuing my journey north, I ran into a large bandit camp, with many elite enemies. I took them all out, mostly with stealth, but with some open combat too. After the camp, I decided to fight some Behemoths for the first time. These large transport machines are heavily armored and hit hard, but they aren't too tough to take down. The ropecaster helped a lot too.

I explored the northern area, finding a vantage point, a couple of old cups and a corrupted zone. The corrupted zone was easier than the last one, with only a couple of Ravagers, a few Watchers and some cultists.

The man in the Focus showed up again, and he gave me directions to help me find Maker's End. He seems friendly enough, but also kind of an asshole. I made it to Maker's End and was faced with another DNA-encrypted door, but this time, it worked! Aloy was identified as Elizabet Sobeck by the device...

Aloy enters Maker's End

I went in and explored the depths of the ruins. I found many audio logs and data points that explain the origins of the facility. As far as I understand, there was a large corporation that was tasked with building peacekeeper machines. Basically, robotic soldiers. It seems like things went well for a while...

Holograms recordings revealed a lot of detail about one of the men in charge and Elizabet. Basically, the man found out that the machines were going rogue. They were following their programming, but it wasn't good enough. The machines started attacking humans to harvest their biomass, which in turn they used to reproduce themselves. According to the holograms, this would spell the end of natural life in the world.

Obviously, this didn't happen, as they are still humans and animals around. Elizabet mentioned that the only solution was to go ahead with the Zero Dawn project. The man was stunned, but agreed to the plan since it's the only things that could save the world. It's still unclear what Zero Dawn really is, but I'm sure I'll find out more.

I spoke with the man in the Focus after this. He showed me his appearance via hologram and told me his name was Sylens. He didn't reveal much, but was really impressed with my findings. He says it's the biggest discovery in years and is disappointed that Aloy is fixated on finding more about Elizabet instead of the events that led to the downfall of human civilization... Personally, I tend to agree with him, but I'm sure we'll talk again.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Date played: March 30th
Platform: Switch

I didn't play very long, but I explored Hateno village a little bit. I had left off at the laboratory, which stands high above the village. I spoke with two people there, Purah and Symin. Symin is just an assistant, but Purah is a weird looking little lady. It turns out, she's actually even older than Impa, but has found a way to make her body younger with the help of some Sheikah runes.

She asks Link to get a blue flame from the village to restart her furnace. I went down to the village, took out my torch and carried the blue flame to the lab. Purah then upgraded my slate to add a camera, album and an upgraded sensor.

Hateno village is lovely

The camera can catalogue any item, weapon or monster once I take a photograph. It adds the item to the album, which I can then select to scan for with the sensor. For example, I was asked to take a picture of Sunshroom, then I was able to scan for them, just like shrines. I can see this being useful when farming for a specific item.

I saw a shrine nearby, right in the heart of the village, so I went in and completed it. It was probably the worst shrine yet unfortunately. I had to use motion controls to move a ball through a maze. While it wasn't really complicated, the controls were shit, so it was hard to move the platform the way I intended. I still got it done rather quickly, only taking about 3 attempts, but it was frustrating for nothing.

I explored the village a little bit, but not much. I found a house that Link can buy for about 3000 rupees, but I've only got like 800 right now, so I'll come back to it. I also found a couple of merchants and stuff, but I still have lots to find here.

I'm having a hard time playing Zelda at the same time as Horizon, mainly because the controls schemes are slightly different, yet very similar. I think I need to play one game at a time! 

Horizon Zero Dawn

Date played: March 29th
Platform: PS4

I headed north, stopping at new campfires, fighting robots and exploring. I found a weird guy who likes to drink machine oil... and he wants me to bring him "Sawtooth blood". So that was odd. I also ran into a new enemy type, the Behemoth, but haven't fought one yet. They look a little bit like bison, or rhinoceros.

I wanted to progress the story a little bit, so I continued north to Pitchcliff to meet with Erend, who is still looking for his sister Ersa. There's also word going around that a man named Dervahl may be behind it all. This is a small settlement, covered in snow and with only a few residents. I followed a trail from here to Dervahl's camp, where I found half a dozen restrained machines, surrounded by a dozen men. I ignored the machines and took out the men in open combat, but a Ravager got loose! I used override on it to help me clean up the last few bad guys.

After clearing out the camp, we found a path to a cellar, but it was protected by a device that emits a loud noise, preventing humans from entering, except those who have the right ear protection! I looted some high tech ear muffs from a dude and entered the cellar, only to find Ersa chained up in a cell. She was still alive, but after a short conversation with Erend, she succumbed to her wounds and died.

Erend was devastated, but we reported back to the Sun-King Avad. Dervahl apparently has a hideout in Meridian, so I tracked him down through secret passages in the city. I found a bomb that he had made and "defused" it. Soon enough, the trail led right back to Avad, where Dervahl was attacking him. The bad guy got distracted when his bomb didn't explode as expected, and he ran off. I saved Avad and Erend, then chased down Dervahl again.

I finally fought him, along with a flock of Glinthawks. It wasn't a hard fight, but there wasn't much room to move around, so I had to be quick. Erend and Avad spare Dervahl's life in order to sell him to neighboring countries.

Thunderjaw battle in the Cauldron

After all this, I decided to go exploring some more, heading north again. I found another Cauldron, and like the others, it was a lot of fun. It was a lot shorter, but the final battle was against a Thundejaw! I ripped off it's launchers and roped it down, then took off half it's health with it's own weapon. I couldn't find the other launcher, so I roped it down again and used explosives with the sling, but it wasn't enough to bring it down. I ran around a little, putting it on fire, shooting at it's weak spots and it eventually died, but it was a hard battle! Plus, now I can override Thunderjaws...

I ended the evening with a little fight for fun, where I took on a herd of Tramplers, though I had one of them on my side. Combat is amazing in this game...

Horizon Zero Dawn

Date played: March 28th
Platform: PS4

My brother came over last night and was curious to see what all the hype was about with Horizon, so I booted it up and played a few minutes. I began by starting a quest with Erend, who is still looking for his sister Ersa. I met with the Sun-King, and he seems like a cool dude. We have a lead now, so I'll infiltrate an enemy camp and try to find a man that has information.

I fast travelled to the nearest campfire and started making my way north towards the quest. I stumbled upon a corrupted zone and it was a real hard one, maybe the hardest fight I've done in the game so far. There were a big group of Snapmaws, maybe 3 or 4, and a Longleg.

It was going really well... I had a Snapmaw on my side and was taking potshots at the corrupted machines, when all of a sudden, two motherfucking corrupted Rockbreakers busted out and attacked like madmen!

A corrupted Rockbreaker is a real challenge to fight

I had a real hard time with these guys... They hit hard, they move fast and they have to be re-scanned every time they come out of the  ground. Thankfully, they are vulnerable to ice, so I took out my slingshot and tried to freeze them as often as possible, taking shots at them whenever possible. They have a ton of health though, so it wasn't going that great, and I had to use all my medicinal herbs and some potions to survive.

Eventually, I managed to rope one down and put on a bunch of explosives on it, killing it. The last one was easier to kill because he was alone, but I still had to be very careful. Needless to say, this was a long fight and it was very stressful, but I'm proud to have survived it. My brother was really impressed with the whole thing too, so that was fun!

Horizon Zero Dawn

Date played: March 27th
Platform: PS4

I didn't play for very long, but it was enough to make a bit of progress. I met with Talanah, my hunting lodge mentor, and she asked me to deal with some Glinthawks that have been a nuisance recently. I found the flying machines and killed them easily enough, but I discovered that they were harvesting Snapmaw remains in the area.

It turns out, these carcasses were there because of a group of humans who is desperately searching for a Snapmaw Heart. They had been hunting them in the area, which attracted the Glinthawks. I agreed to help them get the item if they agree to get the hell out of there after. So I went hunting for Snapmaws.

The double shot skill has been very useful so far. For example, a double fire arrow will light a Snapmaw on fire right away instead of having to shoot it again. Those damn things didn't stand a chance. After picking up a heart from the carcasses, I went back to the humans and gave it to them. I then went back to Talanah who rewarded me with a new weapon, a Tear Rattler. It behaves like the normal rattler, but it shoots Tear ammo. I figure it might be good against larger creatures like the Rockbreaker or Thunderjaw.

The last of the Tallnecks

I decided that now was as good a time as any to climb the last Tallneck. When I got there, I was surprised to see an elaborate set of structures around the Tallneck's path. It seems some cultists were trying to capture it! Thankfully, Aloy was there to clear out the place... I sniped a few guys with the sharpshooter bow, but was spotted by a Corruptor. I fought it quickly, abusing shock ammo for all it's worth. I then methodically killed the remaining humans. There were a lot of them here, so it took a while, but I didn't get spotted after the Corruptor battle. Once the place was clear, I climbed the Tallneck and uncovered the remaining portions of the map.

Overwatch

Date played: March 27th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night takes place on Volskaya where I attack the first point as Soldier 76. My team had already started pushing the objective, but were being taken down by a McCree, Sombra and Soldier. After our Hanzo shot his Ultimate on the point, I rush in and kill the remaining 3 enemies with D.Va's and Ana's help. I take out a straggling Lucio with my Ultimate just as we take the point.

Horizon Zero Dawn

Date played: March 25th
Platform: PS4

I went continued with the hunting grounds and this time, I was determined to take out the Thunderjaw with the help of the two Ravagers. It wasn't easy, and I was stressed as hell the whole time, but I got the best score in it!

After sliding down the rope, I override the first Ravager, then make a run for the second one, killing a Watcher in the process. I now have the Silent Sprint ability, so I can run at full speed without getting spotted as much, so that helped a lot. I used a sprinting slide near the second Ravager and took it over. I then quickly shot some Tear arrows at the Thunderjaw's disc launchers to rip them off. It took some quick dodging and a bit of luck, but I ran down to the first disc launcher shot all of it's ammo into the Thunderjaw. Then I ran to the second disc launcher used it to kill the Thunderjaw.

A Thunderjaw AND a Ravager at the same time? Sure, why not!

The last challenge was slightly easier for me and it was kind of the reverse of the last challenge. Again, I had to tear off the Thunderjaw's disc launchers, but now I had to kill the two Ravagers with it. I decided to run in, override a Ravager to buy myself some time and peace, then ripped off the two disc launchers from the Thunderjaw. I run down, grab the weapons and shred the Ravagers to pieces. After getting the best score, I was still left with a rampaging Thunderjaw on my hands, so I killed it!

I got myself a really nice reward for my efforts. The hunter's lodge weapons are very powerful... There's the lodge Ropecaster, War Bow and  Blast Sling. Each is easier to handle and more powerful than their "Shadow" equivalents.

I spent the rest of my time kind of exploring, climbing two Tall Necks in the process. I really just wanted to reveal the map for ease of navigation, so I left a lot of side stuff I stumbled upon for later. There is only one Tall Neck left for me to climb now. I'm gonna move the story forward a little bit next time I play.

Overwatch

Date played: March 26th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night isn't that great, but I had a really rough night with Overwatch in general last night, so that's the best I can do. I defend the second point on Anubis as Soldier 76. I fuck with a Pharah, Tracer and Junkrat. I eventually rush their Mercy and kill her, but I died right after.

Rogue Galaxy

Date played: March 26th
Platform: PS4

I am really confused by everything I've seen of Rogue Galaxy.

This is another free game I got on PS+ and I've been wanting to try it for a while. It's been described as a space trucking game, but it's also about spaceship combat, naval style, complete with broadside cannons and everything.

I think this dude was too strong for me

I picked up a few missions at a space station, then headed out into space to complete them. I had a cargo carrying mission, so that was easy. However, I ran into some enemy ships at one point and honestly, I don't know if I was supposed to fight them or not. I really fucking struggled to hit anything with my ships meager cannons and it seemed like I just couldn't break the enemy's shields long enough to deal some real damage. I got killed.

This game seems cool, but it's got one hell of a learning curve, and I'm not sure I like the combat enough to make an effort. We'll see though, I love the concept and the graphics are nice enough for a game of this type.

Earthbound

Date played: March 25th
Platform: Wii U

I played just a little bit of Earthbound as I watched hockey. I made my way through the desert, fighting a few enemies along the way. I also encountered a travelling band of Mexicans that own a small casino. I gambled a few times and lost every time. I then walked through the tunnel to Fourside.

Earthbound has some great dialogue

Fourside is easily the biggest city in the game. It's got skyscrapers, insane taxis that fight you, big streets and a Machiavelli-like mayor. I explored a bit and found out Pokey, the idiot neighbor kid from earlier in the game, is now a high ranking official in the city.

I'm not really sure what's next though, I haven't found anything useful in town, so maybe I missed something in the desert.

Overwatch

Date played: March 25th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night is a solid defense as Orisa on Gibraltar. Together with Zarya, we stop the opposing team just after the first point. We hold it for a good long while and both our Ultimates helped with that quite a bit.

Overwatch

Date played: March 24th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night is a rough one. I try to defend the payload as Reinhardt on Eichenwalde. My team was kind of shit honestly, spreading out too much and not focusing fire... We won that game, but it didn't feel like we won. Anyway, the reason I like this play is because of how I jump from the top of the guard tower, charge a Mercy and kill a McCree. I then slowly push the offense away, battling with Orisa. 

Horizon Zero Dawn

Date played: March 23rd
Platform: PS4

I slowly made my way towards the hunting grounds in the southern portion of the map. I fought some Tramplers and Longlegs along they way, then found the hunting grounds. The three trials revolved around stealth, so I was well equipped to complete them.

This Scrapper is about to die

The first trial was just about killing 4 watchers silently. My first attempt went too long, as I didn't scout the area out properly. My second attempt was much smoother, as I quickly moved from cover to cover, taking out the Watchers as they got close or luring them with the whistle. I had to be careful not to get seen by a pair of Stalkers and some patrolling Shell-Walkers.

The second trial was relatively easy, as I only had to kill two Stalkers. They love to hide, but I spotted them quickly and shocked them with the sling, then shot them down quickly with some bombs. During this trial, I had a bunch of Watchers chasing me, but I just ignored them and focused on the Stalkers.

The final trial was hilarious! I had to loot 4 Shell-Walker containers, which were scattered on the road. I just fucking sprinted in, looted 3 of them and got spotted. At this point, I had at least 4 Watchers on my ass, 2 Stalkers and at least 4 Shell-Walkers chasing me. I sprinted to the last crate, but it had been picked up by a Shell-Walker, so I used a tear arrow to take it off, then looted it. I ran the fuck out of there as fast as possible. It was really fun because of how chaotic and stupid it all was.

After getting the best score on the trials, I went on the hunt for a couple of Sawtooths to complete a Hunting Lodge side quest. I turned in the quest in Meridian and got a follow up with my mentor lady person. I also bought a new war bow in town, which can shoot corruption arrows. These seem pretty cool because they confuse robots and make them attack each other for a short while. I messed with it a bit and it works pretty damn well so far.

I figured I might as well try the final hunting ground challenges, located north of Meridian. I had already made the trek to the nearest campfire, so I fast traveled and started the challenges. The theme here is taking advantage of the machines to turn the situation to my advantage. In the first trial, my job was to tear a Ravager's cannon off, then use it to destroy 2 machines. This was really easy, I just killed a Ravager and a Watcher with it and got top score on my first attempt.

The second trial was a real tough one though, and I haven't managed to complete it yet. Basically, I must override the two Ravagers, then kill the Thunderjaw, in less than 2 minutes and 40 seconds... I tried, but I don't think I have the right approach. I think I have to tie down the Thunderjaw, freeze it then shoot it with it's own cannon, but it's really hard. Also, the Ravagers ended up attacking me also since my override skill isn't upgraded at all... I got stomped to death by the Thunderjaw, so I'll have to try it again.

Overwatch

Date played: March 23rd
Platform: PS4

In today's play of the night, I attack the first point on Numbani as Orisa, using the little side door on ground level. I take out Symmetra, then Roadhog, thanks to some solid healing from my team's Lucio. I then fight on the point, protecting it from Soldier 76 with my shield, taking out Sombra in the process, then taking the point.

Horizon Zero Dawn

Date played: March 22nd
Platform: PS4

When I stopped playing last time, I was about to enter the quarry where Olin is hanging out. When I got there, a high ranking cultist was speaking with him. The cultists are reanimating old machines to serve them. In the quarry, they were activating two Corruptors. Obviously, my job was to destroy the machines and kill the cultists.

I had the high ground at the opening of the mission, so I took advantage of that by sniping most of the humans with my sharpshooter bow. Once they were dead (there was only 1 or 2 that I couldn't see yet), I took on the Corruptors. Somehow, one of them blew up on it's own... I'm really not sure what happened, maybe he stepped on a guy with blaze packs on his back? Shit, I don't know, but I wasn't complaining. For the remaining Corruptor, I shot it with tear arrows from stealth. I kept to high ground, which allowed me to shoot a bunch of fire arrows at the monster. Eventually, it destroyed my cover, but I took out the machine with some more fire arrows and a few blast bombs.

After the battle, I spoke with Olin and forgave him, since he was being blackmailed by the cultists. He reveals a few interesting things, like the location of a place where he saw the picture of the woman who looks like Aloy. He also begged me to help him save his family, who is being held captive in some sort of fort in the south.

I decided to do another side quest that was nearby. Erend, the dude who is kinda my friend and helped me get into Daytower without problems, is looking for his missing sister, Ersa. On the route there, I decided to fight a couple of Ravagers that were just hanging out. I set up an elaborate set of tripwires, mostly fire ones, but also a few explosive ones. I then tore off the cannon from one of them with a tear arrow and let them come to my traps. The first one died really quickly from the traps, but the second one survived. I got hit a few times and it hurt like fuck. I should have had a better escape plan. I killed it with Blast Bombs but it was sloppier than I had planned.

Fighting Ravagers is no joke...

When I met Erend, I examined the scene where his sister was reported missing and discovered that she was probably still alive, based on how the clues were laid out. I even found a trail to follow, so we followed it together. This led me to another camp full of enemies, so I fought them stealthily. More clues confirmed that she is likely still alive, so I must now meet Erend somewhere else to continue our investigation.

Nearby was another side quest, but this one was a lot simpler. A guy named Nasan asked me to meet him at a crossroads, but when I got there, he was nowhere to be found. I followed his trail with my Focus and found another camp ready to get murdered. I cleaned out the place, saved Nasan and went on my way.

I went back to Meridian to turn in some quests and stuff. Olin's family was somewhere south of Meridian, so I went to meet him near the place. It was a pretty long walk, so I fought a few enemies along the way to farm for some materials that I can use to buy new weapons and armor. One of my missing items was a Snapmaw Heart, so I fought about 4 or 5 of them. Fire arrows work really well on them...

I met with Olin, then brought him along to save his family from the camp. Once again, I used stealth to my advantage and wasn't even spotted once. Between the sharpshooter bow and the stealth attacks, it wasn't hard to go around unseen. We found his family, and he will move to distant lands to rebuild his life. Good luck Olin.

To end the night, I headed to a nearby campfire and fought a herd of Tramplers along the way. These guys are vulnerable to ice and will kind of run away, then retaliate. They don't hit that hard, but they have a TON of HP, so it takes a lot to take them down. During this battle, I discovered something important and felt like a real idiot for not seeing this before... Frozen enemies take double damage! That means I should be freezing pretty much every damn robot I encounter unless it's really easy to kill...

Overwatch

Date played: March 22nd
Platform: PS4

In today's play of the night, I play Orisa, defending the second point on Gibraltar. My brother is rocking Soldier 76 and honestly, it was kind of a perfect match. We could provide constant suppressing fire, forcing enemies to use up their abilities to survive and leaving them very little space to maneuver. I'm getting better with Orisa's shield, dropping it more often and in better places. I'm still struggling with her alternate fire and have used her Ultimate efficiently only once or twice, but I definitely feel like I'm improving rapidly.

Overwatch

Date played: March 21st
Platform: PS4

Orisa is here!

Orisa

The four-legged robot was added to the game's hero roster yesterday, so I gave her a whirl. Orisa is a tank with low mobility. She has 400 HP, half of which is armor and a relatively powerful cannon with 150 rounds per magazine. She can deploy a 900 HP shield, similar to Reinhardt's or Symmetra's, that is dropped on the ground. She can also fortify her body, reducing damage by half and preventing movement impairing effects like the sleep dart, the hook or the freeze gun. She can shoot a mini graviton surge projectile that can be triggered to pull enemies towards it. Finally, her Ultimate is a device that is dropped on the ground, greatly boosting the attack power of any nearby allies.

I was lucky enough to play two or three games with her. At first, I really struggled. She is slow as fuck, her weapon's projectiles are deceptively slow and her secondary fire is still confusing as fuck. Even the shield had a learning curve because of the throwing arc. Fortify and the Ultimate are easy enough to use.

Sombra was one of my worst problems when playing as Orisa. Sombra's hack works really well against Orisa and her EMP is even worse since it disables the Ultimate. Oddly enough, Orisa feels more like a slow D.Va with increased firepower than anything else. She feels like a secondary tank that benefits greatly from having another tank on the team. Roadhog worked well in the games I played.

In my second game, I was getting more comfortable with her weapon, shield and fortify. Orisa is definitely dangerous, but she also feels pretty high risk. Once she's fucked, she's fucked. One of her more powerful skills is how long she can continuously fire that cannon without reloading. The 150 rounds last a good long while, enough to actually provide covering fire. On more than one occasion, I kept a Soldier and a Widowmaker in check by just firing on their cover position, forcing them to stay out of combat for a few seconds and usually, enough to move the payload a good distance. It has pretty good range too, even though it's not very accurate.

I'm loving what I've played of Orisa so far, she will fill a role similar to D.Va and Zarya I think, and since tanks are my favorite class to play, I'm sure I'll end up playing her quite a bit!  She's really good at putting sustained pressure on the enemy team...

Today's play of the night is all about Orisa. This is my second full game as her, and I feel like I did pretty good considering she's brand new. We are attacking on Route 66 and while I'm clearly not doing that great, I have a few good moments sprinkled in here and there. I also did poorly with her Ultimate and secondary fire, but still, I think it's a decent start. We managed a team kill at the end, which won us the match!

Overwatch

Date played: March 20th
Platform: PS4

In today's play of the night, I aggressively defend the first point on Gibraltar as Symmetra. I cover some important sight lines just before the checkpoint, taking out a Torbjorn and keeping Soldier 76 in check. I then sneakily attack Bastion and D.Va with Lucio's help. Maybe our Genji was around too? Anyway, I fully destroy both D.Va and Bastion, then take out a straggling Sombra.

To hold the point, I then take over Sombra's spot where a large health pack spawns, surrounding the place in turrets and guarding it closely. I drop my teleporter nearby, then sure enough, Sombra shows up again. I take her out easily, then help destroy Bastion again, winning the match. I fucking love Symmetra... I even got play of the game for this sequence!

Overwatch

Date played: March 19th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night is a quick push as Zarya attacking the first point on Volskaya attack. I have a bit of trouble getting through the chokepoint at first, then I chase a Symmetra down. I had trouble with her, enough that I decided to use my Ultimate on the Hanzo that showed up right after I killed her. Then I take out the Hanzo, push away a Genji and kill both Lucio and Widowmaker on the point. It was kind of a tricky play, and I wasn't very good, but it was enough to take the point.

Earthbound

Date played: March 19th
Platform: Wii U

I didn't play very much, but I went back through the mushroom cave, then through the area with the waterfall to get back to Threed. The citizens were all really happy that we killed the evil trashy beings and brought the town back to it's sunny, happy state. I spoke with the villages a bit, who informed me that the tunnel was cleared of zombies, so I can go to Fourside now. First, I went back to Twoson to bring the Insignificant item to the only man that cares about it, a depressed dude in the hospital. He rewarded me with a powerful Magic Truffle, which restores 80 PP, so it will be good for a tough fight.

The desert traffic jam

After this, I took the bus to Fourside, but when we reached the desert, there was a HUGE traffic jam, so the dickhead bus driver dropped us off, then left. I guess I have to find a way around the traffic now, so I began exploring the desert a little bit. This place is dangerous as hell... The enemies hit really hard, so I think it's gonna be a good place to grind for some experience.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Date played: March 18th
Platform: Switch

I finally got back into the beautiful world of Breath of the Wild! My daughter really wants to see it all, so I'm not able to play it very often. I had left off just before entering Kakariko village. The big village has tons of shops, people to speak with, some side quests and yes, even the infamous cuccos.

Of course, there was a man there who lost his cuccos! My daughter decided that this was definitely our first priority, so I spent the next little while searching for the wandering poultry. Most of them were pretty easy to find by just walking around, so my daughter pointed them out all the time. We really had a great time doing this together! However, the last cucco was nowhere to be found. My daughter was a little too quick to suggest a Youtube video to find it... I said no and kept looking. Eventually, I found the straggler hanging out on top of a house!

After this fun chicken hunt, I met Impa. She is a very old woman who was alive back 100 years ago, and she had a message from Zelda herself to Link. Kinda lucky she didn't die sometime along the way.... Anyway, she revealed much of the story. Our objective is now to find the 4 Divine Beasts, defeat them, then recruit them for our army to battle Calamity Ganon. There's also talk of 4 pilots, which I suspect will be one person of each major race in Hyrule. Now my map has markers for the 4 beasts.

My favorite moment of the day was finding the Great Fairy Fountain, just outside of town. Hidden in some sort of plant, a giant, silky hand reaches out, asking for 100 rupees. I do it, and the plant opens to reveal a huge, voluptuous, glittery fairy, adorned with lavish jewelry. Her good looks aren't just for show, as she can upgrade my clothing items for a small fee of monster parts and other stuff.

The first Great Fairy

There was a shrine just above the town, so of course, I went in. This one was different though, as it was really just a combat tutorial. It showed me moves that I didn't know were possible, including a devastating counter attack after a timely dodge, or a tricky parry move that opens up the opponent to attack.

Later, there was a terrifying red moon, and it seemed to make the monsters in the world stronger... There's also another quest that leads me East to Hateno Village to upgrade my Sheikah Slate. On the way back, I picked up a better horse and registered him at the stables. It allows us to name the horse, so my daughter named it after herself! I can also call my horse anytime now, so that's cool.

I headed towards Hateno, fighting a few goblins along the way. I reached the village and was awed by it's beautiful windmills. The quiet village doesn't seem to serve much purpose so far, but there's a laboratory on top of a nearby cliff. After exploring the village and finding a korok seed, I made my way to the lab, but stopped playing just before entering.

Earthbound

Date played: March 18th
Platform: Wii U

I had a few minutes to kill in the living room, so I booted up Earthbound and completed a small dungeon and it's boss. The dungeon was just a series of a few caverns, but the enemies had a trick up their sleeve... There's some mushroom monsters here, and while they aren't that dangerous in combat, they do have  a secret ability that confuses my party members, forcing them to attack allies and such. The problem is that it can only be removed by going to the doctor or visiting the hot sprints in the Mr. Saturn village.

Trillionage Sprout

It's such a dangerous ability that I had to go back to town about 3 times before I managed to make it through without being hit by the mushroom's special move. When I finally got through, the boss turned out to be really easy. He's called the Trillionage Sprout, is another pile of garbage, like Belch. He hits pretty hard, but that's the only real threat from him. I just kept my team healed up and beat him.

This led us to the Milky Well, the third "Your Sanctuary" location. I received a message that I recorded in the song stone, then headed back towards Mr. Saturn village. 

Horizon Zero Dawn

Date played: March 17th
Platform: PS4

Most of my time was spent completing a little side quest that led me to three shrines. Along the way, I battled against many robots, including a group of Snapmaws. I'm using fire arrows a bit more than before, now that I understand how to put enemies on fire properly. Each shrine had someone nearby, but I don't really know what the point was.

Snapmaws are dangerous, but fun to fight

Back in Meridian, I completed a little side quest where I had to confront a Carja priest who wasn't very happy with the direction taken by the new Sun King. After a bit of conversation, I convinced him to get the hell out. I explored the area a little bit, heading towards the north to eventually reach the next story mission. I finally figured out that a large portion of this area is supposed to be the Grand Canyon, or at least, that's what it looks like.

I found a big quarry along the way. The foreman was concerned because many of the workers disappeared, but the area is completely guarded, so he doesn't think it could have been robots. However, after a bit of investigation, I was attacked by a new enemy type, the Rockbreaker. This thing is very big, and it can burrow itself underground, like a mole. He uses this to launch surprise attacks and protect itself from my attacks.

I set up a shit load of tripwires and some traps, then fought with the beast. He was really difficult to beat, but freeze attacks worked well on it. I dodged a ton too, since there wasn't a lot I could do to avoid it's attacks. It took a lot of healing herbs and ammo, but I took it down!

Another side quest had me following a trail to find Nakoa, a Nora that went missing a while back. At the end of the trail were some enemies and corrupted machines. I fought them all, then freed Nakoa, who was very grateful. I'm pretty sure she was being held as a sex slave... I ended the evening with a couple of fights, one against a Sawtooth to gather the trophy for the hunter's lodge, and a nearby Ravager. I tore off the Ravager's gun, picked it up and shot the motherfucker with it! It was efficient, fun and very powerful, so I'll try and do this again next time I face off against a Ravager.

Fast RMX

Date played: March 17th
Platform: Switch

Well, I managed first place in that championship I was having trouble with last time! This game is really about learning the tracks though, because it's so fast that the first couple times on a track is bound to end in failure. Also, I am now convinced that lightweight ships are the ones for me. Their handling is just so much better than the heavier ships, it's no contest really.

I tried out the next cup, which features one of the coolest tracks in the game so far. It's on some sort of space station and it has a couple of low gravity segments where I have to fly through some asteroids! I placed 3rd on my first attempt, so I'll have to go back to this one soon.

This track is so fucking cool!

I also tried out the online multiplayer and placed 2nd in the three races I competed in. There's kind of a lot of lag, but it wasn't enough to really distract me from the experience. There was really just one other guy who was fast enough to keep up with me. I battled with him a few times, but he got the best of me every time. To be fair, he had a lot of experience points, or ranking points or whatever, so he's played online quite a bit. 

Horizon Zero Dawn

Date played: March 16th
Platform: PS4

Aloy continued her voyage north, to find the Banuk village. Rumor has it that they have found a way to permanently tame the machines and that they live together in peace. The road wasn't too dangerous, just a few Glinthawks, Grazers and Watchers. Eventually, I found the village, and the rumors were completely accurate. They had many types of robots tamed, including Sawtooth, Scrappers, Watchers, Glinthawks, a Ravager and maybe even a Stormbird in the distance, on the peak of the nearby mountain. They even have the remains of a Thunderjaw in the middle of town...

However, some dumb-asses from another tribe recently attacked a nearby Banuk artifact. It turned out to be the device that made the machines friendly in the area, so when the assholes damaged it, it wasn't long before the robots started attacking! I fought the machines off, but now the Banuk must change their way of life.

Aloy is about to rappel down and save the Banuk village from the machines

I spent some time gathering nearby collectibles, a Banuk figurine and a metal flower. I couldn't get by without fighting a few enemies of course. I then headed back to Meridian with fast travel. Speaking of which, I now have an item that lets me fast travel at will, so that's great. Back on Meridian, I sold my junk, traded some stuff and turned in the Banuk quest.

All this experience allowed me to get a new skill that gives Aloy the ability remove upgrades from weapons and armor, then reapply them elsewhere. It's a very useful skill because I have now specialized each of my weapons with upgrades! The regular bow is for fire, the sniper bow is for tear and damage, the slingshot is for freezing grenades, the War Bow is for shock damage and the tripcaster is for heavy explosions. I did the same thing with my different armor sets.

I wanted to try out my new weapons, so I went out to explore just a little bit, outside of Meridian. I ended up fighting a group of 3 Stalkers, the panther-like hunters. My War Bow's shock arrows worked really well against them, and it was so much fun to fight them!

Overwatch

Date played: March 16th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night is one of my rare attempts at playing Soldier 76. We are attacking on Volskaya and somehow, I manage to take out a Reaper who jumped me with Death Blosoom, then a Genji using Dragonblade on my team. I also mess up a McCree a couple of times.

Horizon Zero Dawn

Date played: March 15th
Platform: PS4

Most of my time was spent traveling to Meridian, the biggest city in Carja land, and probably the biggest city in the game. Along the way, I stumbled upon another bandit camp. I really wanted to be stealthy for this one, and I managed to clear the whole place without getting spotted, though there were a few close calls. It didn't have a lot of elite enemies though, just one in fact, so it was a lot easier than the last one I did.

Back on the road, I had to be very careful, as there were many strong robots roaming around the area. The most impressive was my first sighting of the towering machine of death called Thunderjaw. This thing is like a T-Rex and it's fully weaponized. In fact, this robot has so many components! I carefully avoided it's path, since I'm not sure I'm really ready to fight this thing yet, but I have a feeling Tear arrows will be very useful against it since it has so many different components that can be removed.

The road to Meridian is dangerous, particularly because of that Thunderjaw in the background

That's when I saw Meridian for the first time. I can't say it enough, Horizon Zero Dawn might just be the best looking video game ever made. The view is just breathtaking. Meridian is a large city, built on top of a huge rock formation. It even has big mechanical elevators to carry people to the wildlands below. It's architecture is reminiscent of a medieval castle, with high spires, big bridges and lots of stonework.

The rest of my time was spent exploring Meridian and talking to a bunch of people. A man I had met during the Proving is actually a high ranking officer in Meridian, so he helped me find clues about Olin, the man with the Focus who helped the bad guys track down Aloy. In Olin's apartment, I found many clues. It's clear that Olin was blackmailed into spying. I also found a map with places that he visits frequently, so I can head out there if I want.

I did a lot of shopping in Meridian too. I bought myself a new Blast Sling that has a proximity bomb function. I also bought a bunch of different armor sets, one with frost resistance, one with shock resistance and another with melee damage resistance. I was also able to turn in one of my Banuk figures set for some nice rewards.

I also found the hunter's lodge. These guys have a really strict structure... I was granted access to the lodge thanks to my prowess in the hunting grounds challenges, but that's it. To be considered a member, I must first find a sponsor, known as a Hawk, so that I can be their apprentice, known as Thrush. I had a hard time even finding a willing Hawk, but eventually, a young woman took me under her wing. To impress the Sunhawk, the leader of the hunter's lodge, I was given a quest to bring back trophies from fighting powerful machines. I also discovered that there are some really nice rewards for completing all the hunting grounds challenges, so I hope I can find the remaining two spots soon.

I picked up a lot of side quests in Meridian... I've got some shrines to find, some robots to kill, some murders to investigate, a Banuk camp to search for and tons of other little things. It's great really, I can't wait to do them all! I'm also getting really close to getting a new skill that allows me to remove and conserve modifications for weapons and armor. This should give me a big boost when I activate it. 

Overwatch

Date played: March 15th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night is all about positioning and space control. I play Reinhardt, defending the second point on Anubis after losing the first point very quickly. I don't get a lot of kills here, but I protect my team's Bastion, Mercy, Widowmaker and Symmetra on point while our Pharah goes out to get kills outside the temple.

The other team had a Reinhardt and a Roadhog, so they were pretty resistant, but I held on for a good long time. They also had an annoying Genji, a weak Sombra and a decent Widowmaker. The other team managed a very strong push during overtime, taking me out in the process, but our Mercy's resurrect saved the day!

Fast RMX

Date played: March 14th
Platform: Switch

I was watching hockey last night (Go Sens Go!) and played a few races of Fast RMX during commercials and intermissions. I played one of the cups I had previously completed to get 1st place on it. It seems that knowing the tracks is really important, because I got 1st place rather easily and I struggled to stay in 3rd the first time I did it.

This track is challenging

I am starting to see that I like crafts that are light and have high acceleration and boost, with top speed being much lower priority for me. This is because it makes it a lot easier to recover from crashes, shunts and airtime. The low weight also helps a lot with maneuverability. Maybe later I'll prefer faster ships, but I doubt it.

I tried the next cup and it's 3 new tracks. I struggled, barely placing 3rd. Then I tried again and placed 1st once and 3rd twice. I will need to try again and learn the tracks some more before I have a shot at first place...  One of the tracks has big fighter jets flying over it, which looks really cool. I also has some parts of the track that are "swinging", kind of like a playground swing, making it even more dangerous.

Fast RMX is a better game than I expected!

Overwatch

Date played: March 13th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night was during a match where I was healing as Lucio on Oasis. I was frustrated by Lucio's healing being too slow, so I switched to Mercy. I take out a flanking Tracer, then save Reinhardt from the brink of death. I spot heal a few people, then save a dying Pharah. I move a Widow from her perch with a few pistol shots, save Reinhardt from the brink again, then revive two people on the point. I heal D.Va and Soldier during overtime, enough that we won the match. It was a really exciting moment as Mercy!

Horizon Zero Dawn

Date played: March 12th
Platform: PS4

My daughter figured out that I had been playing Horizon without her, and she was disappointed that she didn't see the game much, so I spent my morning showing it to her. To keep things simple, I decided to go back to the starting area to gather some medicinal herbs (I was running really low!), pick up some metal flower collectibles and activate a few camp fires that I had missed.

She was impressed with the robots and really liked that they look and act like animals.She is also a big fan of the bow for some reason. When she saw some Billowbacks and Sawtooth in the distance, she was awed, and started giving me tips on how to avoid them. It was adorable!

Our exploration led us to a bandit camp in the north-east corner of the map. There was about 20 guys here, including some pretty tough elite enemies. I managed to stay stealthy the whole time and either stabbed them in the head silently, or shot them with the bow from long range.

After clearing the camp, I made my way slowly towards Daytower and the Carja lands beyond. I could have fast traveled, but my daughter really enjoyed watching me ride that Broadhead, so I took my time with it.

Once we crossed the border, I decided to head towards a nearby Cauldron, which will allow me to override some stronger machines. The Cauldron was pretty long, following the same design as the first. This time though, there were some stronger enemies in here, including a couple of Ravagers. These are basically Sawtooth but with a giant cannon mounted on their shoulder... The cannon can be shot off and picked up by Aloy, but I haven't had a chance to try that in combat yet.

Ravagers are formidable opponents

The Cauldron had many simple platforming sequences. Most of them required that I jump onto large rotating wheels to reach other areas. I could change the direction of the wheels by shooting them. It was simple, but a nice change of pace.

The final battle put me against a Ravager and a Snapmaw at the same time! It wasn't easy, but I abused my tripwire explosives and dodged like a madman. I can now override Snapmaws and other large robots.

Disc Jam

Date played: March 12th
Platform: PS4

Disc Jam is a new multiplayer game that I got for free with PS Plus. I tried it last night with my brother and I was pleasantly surprised by the game. This is basically a mix of tennis and volleyball, but with a throwing disc. There's singles and doubles, and while singles were fun, the real action is in the doubles.

The objective of the game is to either throw the disc into the opposing team's end zone or to have it fall on the floor in their zone to score points. There are a wide variety of shots, including lobs, curves and even some special moves. On top of that, there's a block that can be used to punish an opponent that is too far from the net.

Timing is a crucial part of this game. When you catch the disc, the faster you throw is back out, the faster it flies. This means that good timing is rewarded with shots that are much harder to catch. Lobs are also pretty strong, but should only be used to take advantage of the other team's positioning errors. That's because when you stand on the spot where lob will land, you build up a super meter, and if you stand there long enough, your return will be a special shot that will zigzag, spiral or take 90 degree turns, making it that much harder for the other team to respond.

We played about 4 or 5 online matches as a team, and we won a couple times, even if we're clearly very new to the game. There's some stuff that doesn't really work as well as it should. For example, judging distances is pretty difficult, and some of the more complex shots are really hard to pull off, like maybe the timing is a little off. Overall though, I'm really impressed with Disc Jam and I definitely want to play it again. I can't wait to try a 4 player game that isn't online...

Earthbound

Date played: March 11th
Platform: Wii U

I don't even remember the last time I played Earthbound... So I looked it up and it was in October of 2014! Thankfully, this game isn't too hard to pick up and play, so I was able to get back into it pretty quickly. Since I bought the Nintendo Switch, I've moved my Wii U to the living room, so I ended up playing Earthbound while watching hockey last night.

Ness, Paula and Jeff had just reached the weird Mr. Saturn village. These little fuckers look very odd and speak mostly non-sense. I bought some gear, rested up and got some clues to reach the next dungeon, Belch Base, which is hidden behind some waterfalls. In true Earthbound weirdness, I had to stand in front of the falls for 3 minutes without touching the controller to give the "password"...

Master Belch

The dungeon itself was pretty cool. It's infested with putrid, slimy creatures. I spent some time just fighting monsters here and leveling up, then reached the boss, a giant pile of garbage. Yep, I fought a pile of garbage. Or maybe it's shit, piss and snot? Who knows... Anyway, Belch, the boss, LOVES fly honey and thankfully, I had some in my bag. I gave it to him during battle and it basically immobilized him for the whole fight, making him extremely easy.

After the dungeon, I went back to the Mr. Saturn village and they revealed a secret path to thank me for dealing with Belch. I'm headed towards the fourth town of the game, Fourside, but there's a dangerous cave and a big desert waiting for me first. 

Overwatch

Date played: March 11th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night is at the very end of the match on Eichenwalde where I defend the payload until the end as Mei. This was clearly a team effort, but I feel like my freeze gun and ability to survive a long time was the difference between victory and death. Also, our Zenyatta was really fucking good.

Horizon Zero Dawn

Date played: Match 10th
Platform: PS4

I've played so much Horizon yesterday, and I don't even know where to start! I should say that a lot of my time has been spent just exploring and navigating the world. There's some collectibles to find, some loot to get and some robots to fight just about everywhere on the map. This makes navigation a real joy... Camp fires are important too because they serve as fast travel points.

I cleared two corrupted zones. One of them had a Sawtooth, but I've been getting better and better at combat, and my weapons and skills are getting better, so they aren't as dangerous as before. I can easily take out a single Sawtooth now. In a group, they are still a big challenge though. The other corrupted zone had me fighting some new enemies, Chargers. These guys are like mountain ram or something, with two big horns. They are actually pretty tough since they have a lot of health.

When I have a long way to go, I usually don't use fast travel too much, I try to find a decent mount. I used a Broadhead, an ox-like robot, to travel towards Daytower, the border that divides the Carja and Nora lands. I also fought a group of Shell-Walkers, the same creature I had fought at the end of the Cauldron. They are crab-like and carry valuables on their back. They're pretty easy to take out though.

Along the way, I stumbled upon some new hunting grounds with 3 new challenges to complete. The first was real easy, I just had to set some Strider tanks on fire. The second was way harder for me, but mainly because I didn't really understand the elemental damage mechanics yet. I had to freeze some enemies, then kill them while frozen. However, I was reading the UI wrong... For an enemy to be considered frozen, shocked, stunned, etc, the little icon above their heads must be fully circled in white... Once I got that, the trial became way easier, using the freeze sling. The third trial was relatively easy too, as I just had to kill enemies who were shocked, which was easy to do with my powerful tripcaster.

Just before reaching Daytower, I found a bandit camp and cleared it with some stealth kills, then some fast bow shots without much trouble. Then, outside the Daytower gate, I had to fight a Corruptor. Since it was kind of busy with the Carja fighters, I just shot it from afar until it was dead.

The people of Daytower are all really cool, contrary to the Nora gossip. They were very helpful in giving me directions and general tips for navigating the Carja lands. Before leaving, I picked up a side quest that led me back east to investigate the destruction of a nearby village. When I got there, I followed some trails to find a man stranded on a small island in the middle of a lake. He was surrounded by a new enemy type, the Snapmaw.

These giant crocodile robots are extremely dangerous, particularly in close combat, but they are also pretty easy to take down. That's because they wear two blaze containers on top of their head. These are easy to hit with fire arrows, creating a least two big explosions. After that, they are pretty easy to kill off.

After this, I decided it was time to move past the borders of Nora land and adventure into the unknown lands of the Carja. Entering the new area was a real moment for me. It was absolutely breathtaking and gorgeous... I can't believe video games can look this good. Horizon is easily the most beautiful game I've ever played. While there are other games that look better in certain areas, like Uncharted's faces, The Order's impressive textures or Forza Horizon's sense of speed, Horizon manages to be beautiful all the damn time.

Aloy enters from the heights of Daytower, giving me an epic view of the new land, sprawling further than the eye can see. It was really something special... In the distance, I can see a gigantic robotic bird roaming the skies. I later learned that this was a Stormbird. There are big mountains, cliffs, forests, rivers and it's all so beautiful.

I should mention that I've spent a good amount of resources buying better versions of my weapons. This usually means more damage, but also more ammunition types. I've got like 5 or 6 types of damage available now. I'm also starting to run into a problem finding the right materials for tear ammo, some of the best ammo there is. I think I might have to start hunting specific robots to find the stuff I need. I'm also getting used to the ropecaster a bit more. It can completely tie down an enemy for up to 90 seconds, but it's pretty tricky to pull off on some of the enemies.

Glinthawks are fun to fight!

I found another hunting grounds set of trials, featuring some new machines to fight. Glinthawks are small, vulture-like robots that fly around and scavenge loot from robot carcasses. These guys are pretty fast, but they don't have that much health, so a few sniper shots can usually take them down. They shoot ice grenades though, so I can't take them lightly. Tramplers are kind of like rhinoceros or bison. They are very large, have big horns and a few components that can be exploited on their underbellies.

The first trial asked that I race the Glinthawks to some Watcher carcasses while avoiding the rampaging Tramplers. This was pretty easy, but I had to keep moving to survive. I also had to shoot the Glinthawks to make them move away from carcasses once in a while. The second trial asked that I tie down Tramplers with the ropecaster, then shoot their vulnerable bellies to remove some components. It took me two tries to get this one with the best score, but it wasn't too bad. The final trial was to tie down some Glinthawks with the ropecaster then hit them with the spear. I did this one pretty sloppily, just jumping in and shooting ropes like a madman, but it worked!

The game is definitely getting harder. While I have good weapons, decent armor and lots of skills, a mistake in combat can be fatal and might mean it's Game Over. Horizon really rewards careful planning and good improvisation. Brute force is usually a bad option. I'm finding myself scrambling to find healing herbs quite often.

In the distance, south of the trials, I saw a Tallneck roaming around, so I decided to go take a look and see if I could climb it. The area was surrounded by Snapmaws, so I cleared it carefully, then climbed the Tallneck. I still have a long way to go to reach Meridian, so I'm not sure what I want to do next...

Horizon Zero Dawn

Date played: March 9th
Platform: PS4

Another vacation day, another day with lots of Horizon Zero Dawn!

The first thing I did was clear the two corrupted zones as requested by the people of Mother's Crown. Corrupted machines are more powerful than regular ones, so even Watchers are a major threat. Between the two sites, I stumbled upon a new type of enemy, the Fire Bellowback. I found them in a group of three, chilling around some ruins. They are very large machines, with a big sac of liquid on their backs. They look a bit like bloated elephants... Unfortunately, they are really strong. They are vulnerable to ice, but I'm not quite sure how to defeat them efficiently yet. I ended up using many tripcaster traps and it worked.

After clearing the second corrupted zone, I decided to do a side quest that led to a thing called the Cauldron. This is a very high tech place, a ruin of the old world that still has power. Inside, there were many machines to fight, including a new enemy that looks a lot like a spider. It was really fun to fight this thing... I used many of my tools to bring it down and it was exciting. There was a lot of platforming in this area also, I even hung from objects that rode a mechanical rail systems. For my efforts, I was rewarded with the ability to override bigger robots! I can't wait to try that out.

The further from Mother's Heart, the bigger the ruins of the Old Ones

At one point, outside the Cauldron, I ran into a couple of men that were in deep trouble. Powerful machines were attacking them, including a Sawtooth. This was another exciting, tense battle. I moved towards the north-east to meet up with Sona the war chief and her son Varl. They managed to find the main camp of the killers who attacked the Nora. These cultists have taken an old baseball stadium as their home. To defeat them, we had to attack three small camps, then make our final assault against their main base.

These encounters are fantastic. Mixing human enemies with corrupted machines makes things really interesting, and stealth seems to work best in these situations. I mean, a good bow and arrow fight is possibility, but I tried staying silent in these segments.

The final camp in that baseball stadium was a big job. It had many, many human enemies, two Corruptors, a Fire Bellowback, a couple of Scrappers and a ton of Watchers. It was too much for me to take on alone. My job was to sneak through and set fire to a cache of Blaze, which is explosive. I made decent progress, but then I missed a headshot and was spotted!

This became a silly shit show real quick as I dodged and sprinted through dozens of enemies, making a mad dash for the Blaze cache. I managed to make it explode, then the Nora fighters joined me through the hole in the wall made by the explosion. It was still a tough battle, but the Nora really helped. The killers are dead now, at least, the ones in this region.

Overwatch

Date played: March 10th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night is a great defense on Hollywood's first point as Reinhardt. One of my brothers is playing Mercy, and we hold the line for the whole game. There's a few great moments in here, and a few pretty big mistakes, but it was one hell of a match. I only died once, and my brother revived me perfectly. This might have been the most important play of that game.

Horizon Zero Dawn

Date played: March 8th
Platform: PS4

I'm completely engrossed in the world of Horizon... I did a mission where I had to clear a camp of bandits, human bandits. So far, I've been using stealth a lot, with some bow and arrow combat when needed. I like to stay in the shadows in this game, and I've even equipped stealth gear and invested in stealth abilities. The bandit camp was the perfect opportunity for these skills to really shine. I sneaked around in bushes, grabbing enemies from cover and shooting anyone that gets too close.

Exploring the world of Horizon is so much fun!

Then, I followed Sona's trail. The War Chief has been tracking the killers, but she didn't get that far. When I found her, she was happy to receive my help in destroying a camp of enemies along with some corrupted machines. Again, I used stealth to do most of the heavy lifting, sniping enemies from long distances. In fact, the sharpshooter bow has been my absolute favorite weapon. I even bought a new version that has tear arrows, which blow off components from machines.

After clearing the camp, Sona is wounded and tired, but she still hasn't found all the killers. She agrees to rest a bit for now, so I will look for the killers instead. I then went to Mother's Crown, one of the larger Nora villages. This place has a ton of people to talk to and many side quests to pick up.

One of these side quests asked that I find a couple of missing hunters. It turns out, they had been cornered by TWO Sawtooths! Killing one of these things is hard enough, but fighting two at a time was fucking hell. I took my time though and set up a bunch of tripwire traps, killing the first one easily. The second one was more resistant and I had to dodge like a madman as I desperately tried to inflict damage to it. I got it in the end, but it was a really difficult battle.

I also continued the Dreamweave quest line, which led me to a hermit who had been hoarding the precious plant. He says the plant was stolen by a bunch of murderous thieves, so I tracked them through the mountains, climbing and jumping my way to some snowy areas. When I found the thieves, I had to help them fight off a Sawtooth. After the battle, it became clear that these were just desperate people, and after a bit of conversation, they were willing to part with most of the Dreamweave.

Another side quest asked that I gather some boar skins and find a missing ring, which I found out had been eaten by one of these boars... Speaking of which, I gathered a lot of resources yesterday, which allowed me to craft a few upgrades. In fact, both my quivers are now at maximum capacity, so that's been very helpful.

I spent a good amount of time just exploring, hunting and gathering. I have maps of some of the collectibles, so I kind of went back to every area and picked up the stuff I had missed. I also picked up a new main quest from Mother's Crown. Aloy's goal is still to get to Meridian and figure out why the Carja attacked. However, the gates leading to the Western portions of the map have been sealed to prevent the corrupted machines from spreading. To prove that it's safe, Aloy must clear two areas of corrupted machines. Horizon is an amazing video game...

Overwatch

Date played: March 8th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night is an attack on Hanamura as Zenyatta. I pick off a couple of turrets, kill a McCree, keep D.Va busy, team up with Lucio and smash enemies in the face with my orbs of death. Zenyatta hits hard as fuck...

Horizon Zero Dawn

Date played: March 7th
Platform: PS4

Yesterday, most of my time playing Horizon was dedicated to hunting ground challenges. There's this ex-Nora guy who hangs out on a plateau near the gates to the Embrace. He explains that he wanted to hunt machines, so he and a friend left the Nora tribe to hunt. They had many dealings with the Carja tribe, the guys who attacked the Nora during the Proving. They grew homesick and returned to their homelands, but of course, would not be welcome back into the tribe. So instead, they set up a hunting challenge training ground.

Apparently, by winning these trials, I will be able to speak with a group of Carja hunters, so I spent a lot of time trying to get the best score in these 3 trials. The hunting grounds are a relatively small area where a large group of Grazers and some Watchers hang out. The Grazers are kind of like deer. They get scared easily and run in packs. They also have some components on their back that can be destroyed, or ignited to create a large explosion.

The first challenge was to shoot off a certain amount of canisters off Grazers in a set amount of time. The time limit is pretty strict, but this challenge was relatively easy by just using the bow. The second challenge was a lot more difficult. I had to use some log piles in the environment to kill 3 Grazers. These piles are held by some wood planks that must be shot off so that the logs roll down and hit the robots. This was much harder than it sounds, since the Grazers run quickly and are somewhat unpredictable. After a few tries, I got it.

Finally, the third challenge required that I make a few purchases... The first item is the Carja Tripcaster, an upgraded version of the tripcaster that adds giant explosions. My job was to kill 6 Grazers with it within the time limit. Similarly to the previous challenge, what made this difficult is the erratic behavior of the Grazers.

After multiple attempts at setting up elaborate traps that simply failed time after time, I decided that I should try something different. I bought another weapon, the Blast Sling, which shoots out little exploding projectiles. I would then launch these in a way that would direct the Grazers toward my traps. After getting the sling, this challenge became rather easy, so maybe it would have helped with the second challenge as well... For my efforts, I was rewarded with some loot and will be able to speak with the hunter group when I reach them.

I then spent a bit of time completing some training quests, which can be done anywhere in the map. Then I moved on to the story a little bit, reaching the place where the war party was ambushed by the Carja and their corrupted machines. I couldn't find much here, but I did meet with a man who had been with Sona, the missing war chief. He explained that she was still alive and was tracking the Carja. I must now pick up her trail.

My first Tallneck encounter

Throughout my travels, I've met many people, and most of them have little quests. There's really a shit ton of stuff to do... One of the cooler missions had me track down a Tallneck, very large machines that look a bit like a giraffe. These things act as typical open world towers, revealing much of the map. The thing moves around though, and it's not easy to climb. I had to find high ground and clear out some enemies before I was able to climb the Tallneck.

I also completed a side quest where I had to check some caches left by Nora Braves for some medicine. A woman from a nearby camp explained that he is dying, and would greatly benefit from a special plant, Dreamweave, to alleviate his pain. The woman believes there was some in the caches, but after checking them, I found nothing but metal scraps. I also picked up a quest to destroy a bandit camp and have been heading North, slowly but surely.

It's easy to get lost in the world of Horizon... Many times, I get distracted by collectibles, hunting, robot fighting or gathering, and I just love it when a game does that for me.