Week of 16 Apr 2023
And, sure enough, as I completed Bomberman Live late Sunday, I crossed the one million Gamerscore milestone! And that’s the most exciting part, since, back in the days before hundreds of easy Xbox One games flooded the market, it was one of the easy completions most hunters knew about. Even easier if, like me, you can double-box it. Two controllers on each Xbox makes the entire completion a piece of cake. Definitely the easiest of the series, too, since later entries involve stupid amounts of time needed. Even when they dabbled in making the series “mature”.
Achievements unlocked: 12 (+8) | Completed
I don’t think Hatty is a fan of the Bomberman he has backed.
Another Season, another set of achievements for the new Overwatch 2 character. This time, we have the Support character Lifeweaver to contend with. Usually, I’d try and get a boosting session together for the new achievements, but I decided to try on my own. Man, I don’t get this character! He seems to not be great at DPS, or healing, or defense, and I often found I just wasn’t being much help to my team. I actually managed to get the higher ratio of the two achievements, for “saving” three people in one life with his Life Grip move, fairly quickly. For it to count, you have to activate the ability on a teammate while they’re low enough on health that the damage the bubble receives would have killed them. This metric is very touchy, but you just have to make sure you’re on the frontlines and saving who you can…which is kinda your job as Support anyway. The other, for restoring 1200 health in one use of his Ultimate Ability, is just as annoying as Orisa’s achievement used to be, except in reverse. This took much longer and I just couldn’t quite get it, and the enemy team would even often take my tree out. I found placing the tree on the moving objective usually resulted in the best healing as the enemy team attacked mine. And that’s how I finally got it! Whew, not bad, as I really really didn’t wanna have to boost this. But, guess we’ll see what the next update holds…
Achievements unlocked: 164 (+2) | Completed
Does not a rose by any other name suck as badly as I do?
I figured it was time for something fun. Luckily, Xbox Game Pass was kind enough to update their “Leaving Soon” list early this week, and included was Bugsnax! I remember when it came out on PlayStation originally, it was lauded and spoken highly of. And since coming to Xbox, many I know have said the same. With the developers citing Viva Pinata and Ape Escape as inspirations, I knew it’d be right up my alley. And, while it was, it’s also not all it seems to be from the trailers and promotional material. The Viva Pinata influences are apparent almost immediately, in that you have to almost solve puzzles to catch many of the titular creatures. Oh, this one is on fire? You need to either get it to attack/be attacked by an icy Bugsnax, or have it touch water. Then there’s the poignant writing and story going on behind the action. Interacting with the other Grumpus reveals a lot to say about relationships. Despite their Muppet-ish appearance, there’s a lot going on between the various villagers, and is practically a who’s who of social anxiety and relationship troubles. And don’t get me started on the ending of the game and how it reframes your entire experience up to that point! Man, such a fun game, and as a completion it is about as stress-free as can be. I didn’t have to use a single guide, and as long as you just do everything you’ll get most of the achievements. The remaining few are easily discerned from their descriptions. And, honestly figuring out how to nab each creature is the entire fun of the game. I really hope they release a sequel!
Achievements unlocked: 30 (+30) | Completed
Scoopy Banoopy is always ready for a big old hug.
