Tag: Coffee

Blogger Nomination – Double Shot

Welcome to another round of tag questions and answers! Today I’m going to combine both nominations for the Real Neat Blog Award from MeghanPlaysGames and The Liebster Award from Frostilyte Writes. Thank you to both Meghan and Frostilyte in taking the chance I’d have something interesting to say…

<Narrator:> He didn’t…

Alright, let’s start with Meghan’s questions…

  1. How do you take your coffee? If you don’t drink coffee, what’s your go-to, pick-me-up drink?

Black – A nice smooth cold brew coffee is my beverage of choice whether I’m working or gaming.

2. What’s your go-to game since we’ve been in quarantine?

There’s been quite a few – during the past six weeks or so I’ve been keeping myself busy with Animal Crossing: New Horizons, DOOM Eternal, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, MLB The Show 20, Forza Horizons 4, Jedi: Fallen Order and the Final Fantasy VII Remake. I can scratch playing AND completing Chrono Trigger from my bucket list as well.

3. What’s your favorite dinosaur?

Umm….I guess I could say Brontosaurus. I can’t say exactly why I was drawn to the lumbering thunder lizard but it’s been a favorite since I was a kid.

4. What’s a memorable quote from a book/movie/song/video game that you love?

Red Dead Redemption 2 had many moments of profound impact over the course of the 80+ hour main story. Here is one of my favorite quotes from Arthur in the game as he attempts to reconcile his guilt of the past and to proceed forward with his life.

We can’t change what’s done, we can only move on…

Arthur Morgan

5. If you could go back and see one artist/band in concert that no longer plays shows anymore, who would it be?

It’s hard to not immediately jump to something along the lines of seeing Led Zeppelin, Queen, or Pink Floyd on tour during the 70’s. Led Zeppelin at somewhere like Madison Square Garden or Queen at Wembley Stadium back then would have been pretty impressive.

6. Do you have any tattoos? If not, would you ever get one?

Nope. Not particularly fond of needles….so it’s not real likely

7. Share a screenshot from a game you’ve been playing recently.

I’ve spent the majority of my time playing the FFVII Remake over the past couple weeks, so here’s a random screenshot from this absolutely gorgeous game.

And now for Frostilyte’s questions….

  1. We’re four months into the year – what’s your favorite game you’ve played thus far?

There’s been a selection of great games so far this year…if I had to point to a favorite it would most likely be DOOM Eternal. I loved the hell out of every minute I’ve played of it(lame pun not intended).

2. What’s your favorite Pokémon?

Either Gyrados, Charizard or Snorlax. I usually can’t name just a single Pokémon when asked…

3. Have you watched any shows recently that you’d highly recommend?

I haven’t really watched many new shows recently, most of my time spent watching tv has either been watching old episodes of The Simpsons or random history/documentary type stuff. Now that I think of it, I did watch through Tiger King on Netflix. I’m not sure I’d go as far as to say I recommend it, but it was….entertaining to say the least.

4. What was your favorite movie of 2019?

Again, I admittedly didn’t watch as many new movies in 2019 as I would have liked to, especially in theaters. I’d probably say Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, I love Quentin Tarantino movies and really any movies with a (somewhat)historical backdrop.

5. How do you feel about games with no single player content?

I’m fine with it to a degree…there’s a difference between being solely multiplayer GAME and game MODE. The game that jumps to mind first would have to be Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. It didn’t have a single player campaign, but I genuinely enjoyed the multiplayer and zombie modes. My favorite game mode was Blackout, which played like a much smoother PUBG-battle royale game mode. I wish I enjoyed Warzone as much as I did Blackout…

6. What is your least favorite genre of video game?

I don’t usually point at a particular genre and say I don’t enjoy it in some form, but there are genres that I don’t enjoy as much as others. I would typically point to RTS and Strategy type games mostly because of being utterly terrible at them and not having been exposed to them as I was exclusively a console gamer growing up. I’d have to try MMOs in there as well…

7. What is your favorite genre of video game?

Growing up a console gamer, my strongest genres of games would have to be platformers and action/adventure type games. Particularly Nintendo franchises like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc.

8. What game from your backlog have you recently finished?

This past weekend I finally completed Chrono Trigger! I wrote briefly about the game for a #MaybeInMarch post as I had hoped to finish the game during the month. Once I realized it would not be able to complete it before the end of the March, I slowed down a bit and went around doing a bunch of side quests and other things since I was loving the game so much. It is truly one of the best RPGs I’ve been able to experience for myself. Better late than never, right?

9. Physical or digital?

I tend to skew more towards digital copies of games, at least newer ones. I don’t live in a very large place so I TRY to only buy physical copies of games that are either A) much cheaper or B) not as available digitally. I bought a PS2 from my local game store pre-quarantine and have picked up a few games here and there to build a modest collection.

10. Pinecone?

<Alexa voice> Pine cone – the cone or strobile of a pine tree.

Here are my questions in return, I haven’t tagged anyone specific. If you would like to answer any question(s) feel free to leave your answers in the comments. Tonight, I’m probably gonna kick back and play some more of the Final Fantasy VII Remake…there’s still children that need to be rounded up in the slums of Midgar…

  1. What would be the most frustrating game you’ve ever played?
  2. Many of us had to make a choice growing up (Super Nintendo vs. Genesis, N64 vs. Playstation) – Do you ever wonder what would have happened if you would have chosen the other option? (deep, huh?)
  3. Is there a remake of a game/movie that you feel is better than the original? If so, which one?
  4. What do you think is the least-terrible video game movie adaptation?
  5. Have you ever been “tricked” by a game – you enjoyed it at first, but grew to dislike it later on?
  6. Inverted controls…absolutely! or no way!
  7. Western or JRPGs?

Thanks for reading!

Coffee Crisis – A Caffeinated Blend of Retro Gaming

I thought it would be interesting this weekend to pick up a random indie game on my Switch without knowing really anything about it and write my thoughts about it. In looking through the Switch Online Store, which I believe could use a bit more organization as it seems daunting to look through page after page of titles without there being much for filter options…but I digress. I found the game Coffee Crisis which was developed by Mega Cat Studios and published by Qubic Games. The game appeared to be a bit of a retro throwback to all the 16-bit side scrolling beat-em-up games that I played as a kid on the Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo. It also happens to involve metal music, retro games, and as the title would suggest….coffee.

I have fond memories of playing beat-em-ups like the Streets of Rage, Final Fight, and Golden Axe games; everything about this game fits right in with these games. I enjoyed the aspect of playing a game so reminiscent of the previously mentioned early-90’s titles. Mega Cat Studios I discovered, even produced an authentic Homebrew version of the game on cartridge with case and manual to play on Sega Mega Drive/Genesis that you can purchase on their website.

The story is set on Smurglians – a race of aliens who’s entire planet runs on the energy generated from coffee, metal music and WiFi( that’s right!) and have set their sights on planet Earth’s most precious resources. You play as either Nick or Ashley, two metalhead baristas at the Black Forge Coffee House who are not going to sit idly by and let this travesty occur as you fight your way through the streets of downtown Pittsburgh.

Walloping the elderly to save the metal…

The gameplay is pretty standard as far as beat-em-ups go; you progress through multiple levels with the occasional mini-boss appearing every several levels until finally making your way to the boss at the end of the game, which I was mildly disappointed in the abrupt not-quite-an-ending of the game, it more or less just….stops. The length of the game overall I was satisfied with, being roughly the same length as others of the genre. My criticisms of the game are pretty mild, as I any drawbacks to the game are the same that you would hear of games like Streets of Rage. For better or worse, Coffee Crisis is authentic to a fault with negative attributes that are commonplace in games like it. You screen position is difficult to keep track of when multiple enemies attack and you get “Caught In A Mosh”( couldn’t resist!). There is also the annoying abundance of enemies who can shoot projectiles at you or simply have “weapons” such as a lasso or a cane…yes, among the enemies you fight off are humans that have been taken control of by the Smurglians. These can be range from random looking “dude bros”, to western looking…uh…cowgirls, to I guess….the elderly? You fight your way through the streets of Pittsburgh drinking coffee, listening to metal, and pummeling old men and women that attack you with canes and walkers. There is also an array of Smurglians to fight from purple aliens sporting mohawks to tuxedo-clad aliens in wheelchairs who can shoot “mental projectiles” at you ( Professor X as a Smurglian). The game in premise alone is not any danger of taking itself seriously, I ALMOST felt like I shouldn’t have been enjoyed this developing chaos as much as I did. My other critique is also all too common in games such as this where, you have a powerful special move at your disposal HOWERVER, using it costs you a small portion of your health. The game is not an easy game, as it was clearly intended to be played in “couch co-op” with another player alongside you.

I still feel these negatives don’t overly hinder any enjoyment to be had playing Coffee Crisis, I had a blast playing this game. The soundtrack to the game is excellent as well, with tracks being provided by Pittsburgh area metal band Greywolf. There is also a couple small cameos from retro-gaming YouTubers Metal Jesus Rocks and Alpha Omega Sin. Mega Cat Studios clearly shows a lot of love for the 16-bit beat-em-ups of yesteryear and I very heartily recommend to anyone looking for an entertaining indie game to play, it’s got coffee, retro games, and metal, hell yeah!

I thought these dudes looked familiar….

Side Note: Coffee Crisis is currently available for LESS than the price of a coffee house brew at $1.99, a GREAT DEAL until May 27th. https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/coffee-crisis-switch/

For anyone else who would like to purchase a physical cartridge version to play on Sega… https://megacatstudios.com/collections/16-bit/products/coffee-crisis-sega-genesis

Keep on playing…