Keyrock

She seems nice... Uh oh, maybe not.

Operation Urgent Fury sounds like what happens when a newlywed visits their significant other during lunch break.

I just fought a boss and now I have to fight this douchebag. Edit: Killed him on the 5th try via a combination of figuring out his timings and switching to a big ol' 2-handed sword. I learned that I almost never got an opportunity to get more than 1 hit on him at a time, so I might as well make it a really damaging hit.

I defeated Argent Wolf Berserker in Code Vein. I had a ton of trouble with this boss fight. One of the big issues is that he has A TON of reach with his attacks and you are forced to fight him in a small arena, so it's nigh impossible to create distance. It took close to 10 tries for me to get the job done. The winning strategy wound up being

Never forget that Blizzard is Activision Blizzard. This isn't a heel turn, they've been heel for years.

Mia can heal herself, same as I can, plus there is an ability where I can give her some of my health as a desperation heal and she can do the same for me. Problem is that in that screenie I was down to 1 heal and that guy in the distance is Argent Wolf Berserker, a boss. Yes, I got my ass whooped... 4 times so far. I got him down to 1/3 health a couple times, but that's the best I've done so far. One issue is that the nearest mistle has several fairly tough fights between it and that boss, so I never get there with full resources. I might try swapping Mia out for Yakumo or Louis and see if that helps.

And that's on top of the shame of playing for the Cleveland Browns.

I'm making my way through the Not Anor Londo area in Code Vein. There was a definite difficulty spike when I entered this area. The game introduces a bunch of new enemies that are very mobile and some can go mist-form then teleport. I got brutalized pretty bad at first, in no small part to me also trying out a really powerful but also really slow axe at the time. I quickly learned that axe is generally a bad idea in Not Anor Londo, not impossible, but axes and hammers being very slow swinging and restricting your mobility, which is of upmost importance here, is a serious handicap. I wound up changing to a semi-scythe-like halberd I picked up, which swings much faster and doesn't restrict mobility nearly as much, plus it has a really great sliding forward charged thrust attack that has gotten me through some really hairy situations. I eventually also figured out the patterns of how different enemies teleport and developed strategies for dealing with them. 1 on 1 I can pretty much whoop most enemies here now, so long as I stay sharp. If I have to fight 2 at a time it gets much harder but still manageable. Anything 3 and above becomes super hectic, so I gotta be real careful to avoid those situations as much as possible. This area is a labyrinth... I mean, the whole game is a labyrinth, but Not Anor Londo takes it to the next level. It's very easy to get lost and disoriented here and the fact that you're almost always near insta-death ledges just ups the ante. I think I have finally found the door to the boss room, but I still need to do some work to open said door.I'm looking forward to finding out what fiendish enemy lies in wait behind that door.

Or rasslin.

This is the poster child for the phrase "much ado about nothing".

Given Microsoft's indecipherable console naming scheme, I wouldn't be shocked if their next XBOX was called

I've progressed enough in Code Vein that I decided to reward myself with a fancy new hat: Following in the footsteps of Fashion Souls, it's Fashion Vein... Vein Fashion. Yeah, Vein Fashion sounds better IMHO.

I'll consider getting a PS5 Pro in 2023.

The issue with boycotts is the same issue, albeit less hilarious, than with the Area 51 Naruto Raid. Everybody claiming they are going to do it needs to ACTUALLY DO IT and not just talk about doing it. Getting a vast quantity of strangers from different locations to all stop purchasing games from Blizzard and stick to it is nigh impossible, so good luck with that. I haven't purchased a Blizzard game in 15 years, not because of some ethical or political statement, but because they haven't made a game that appeals to me since Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne. It's not a boycott, they just make games for other people than me, which is fine.

I beat my 4th boss in Code Vein, Invading Executioner. I killed her on my first try, though I was 1 hit away from death when I took her down. So far, Butterfly of Delirium has been by far the hardest boss. I've played enough of the game now that I can definitely give it a 👍. I'm not a Souls aficionado, most of my Souls experience is with Bloodborne, so someone more well versed with these types of games can give you a better comparison and can better critique Code Vein as a Souls-like. That said, Bamco seems to have nailed down the Souls gameplay pretty well. Bamco published the Dark Souls series, and I wonder how involved they were in the development and/or if any From Software folks jumped ship to Bamco to help make Code Vein, since this game strikes the balance in gameplay systems that is so often screwed up by others trying to ape Souls game. It's easy to get the stamina system wrong; easy to make stamina drain too punishing or too lax, but Bamco seems to have found the right balance here. Weapons have a good bit of weight to them, feedback is on point, and heavier weapons with higher stagger properties and lighter weapons with lower stamina drain make both make a solid case for being used, depending on your preferred playstyle. Careful preparation and tactical gameplay allows you to get through even very hectic and/or difficult battles unscathed, while a moment of complacency can have even easy enemies ruin your day. There are a lot of different special abilities that enhance and alter gameplay. You can inherit most of them if you have them equipped long enough or have the materials necessary to bypass the process, which allows you to use the abilities with different blood codes (classes), although many abilities have stat requirements, so not every blood code will be able to use every inherited ability. Still, the amount of available abilities, of which you can have 8 active and 4 passive equipped at a time, and blood codes I have found so far gives you tons of customization options, and I'm not that far into the game yet. As for the story, I'm not going to spoil anything, but it is interesting and engrossing. Much of how much you would enjoy the characters and story depend on your tolerance for typical anime melodrama. I'm at the point of the game where I can very much sense an impending SHOCKING PLOT TWIST.

Welcome to Not Anor Londo:

I don't know, give how long Princeton Red has held this position, I wouldn't be surprised if he had some compromising photos of Jerry or something. Maybe Jason Garrett sucks a really good ****?

We have a head coach that couldn't coach his way out of a wet paper bag, yet has inexplicably headed this team for a decade. That's why we constantly arrive unprepared, give games away, and can't make adjustments.

As expected, muh Boys **** the bed. We beat up 3 crippled kids to start the season, then as soon as we faced anyone with fight in 'em, we curled up in the fetal position. I doubt we make the playoffs.

I beat my third boss, Insatiable Despot, in Code Vein. This one took me 3 tries. At first I thought this battle would be harder than the second boss, Butterfly of Delirium; I got absolutely OBLITERATED on my first attempt. However, I did much better on my second attempt and figured something out toward the end. On my third attempt I handed Mr. Despot his ass. The trick is to

Have you tried one of these? It's made for rugs, but it should work well for beating ottomans too.

I usually go with vermouth instead of a typical white wine.