Game Logs 
This page is always under constant updates!
On-Going Games:
Currently and slowly in the process of finishing up these games:
Dragon Quest 11
LoZ: Tears of the Kingdom
Mario RPG
Loz: Wind Waker
LoZ: Echoes of Wisdom
Video Game Appetizers:
These are games that I don't plan on playing for a long period of time. Click the link below to read my reaction towards my non-committal games.Pocky and Rocky- 10/31/2024
I have a lot more that I want to add, but it has been too long. I may have to go back and restart a bunch of other games that I left off. As an adult with priorities and multiple hobbies, it will take me awhile to clear them. I treat my videogames as a leisure activity for brain exercises, in a same fashion with solving crossword puzzles on newspapers.
Random Gameplay Night: Pocky and Rocky
10/31/2024
Happy Halloween everybody! I hope you all got some nice treats.
Bern and I weren't feeling up for horror movies for tonight. It was such a short day, a short Halloween..in in the middle of a weekday week. So instead, we ended up playing a classic Nintendo game, Pocky and Rocky, on our Switch. It's quite a bit of a challenge: you shoot talisman papers and you avoid getting hit by enemies. It's like Contra but you get to play as a cute tanuki and an adorable shrine maiden just going against demons and ghosts. It's very cartoony and the music of the game is super catchy. Like a lot of old school vide games, yes the game was a bit difficult, however, it was quite fun to play! I did notice myself getting a bit better after a "Game Over" screen. Bern is an experienced S/NES gamer, so he tend to last longer than me in the gameplay. He was also experiencing difficulties in keeping his character alive. I'm sure if a player give themself a few days, they'll definitely get good at this game.
We weren't able to clear the second level, especially after three mini bosses?!? It was VERY long. Bern made it to the point where he ended up on a raft fighting againsts kappas. This is a minor complaint, but it can sometimes be a bit difficult to see our characters and some projectiles flying towards our characters. I do look forward to playing this game again, I think it's a great party game.
Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
11/18/2024
It turns out that I didn't have to "start over", at least with the last place I left off from. The game actually saved all the orbs that I found earlier from the last game play. Stacking up objects around obstacles took quite some time. A lot of the gameplay seems to require the player to get good with spacial measurements & physics. I completed the rift mend in Gerudo Valley and proceeded to start the dungeon in that region. I collected some new enemies! Zelda is literally a 'Pokemon trainer' in this game.
11/7/2024
Just finished a quest of catching all the escaped cuccos and putting them back to their pen, typical Zelda game. This time, my next highlighted tasks led me to Gerudo Valley. So far, I appreciate that I don't need a special robe to walk in a hot desert climate... like in Tears of the Kingdom. I've made into a rift portal. Stacking objects and furntiures is starting to get tricky in this level, I didn't end up completing it. I can't remember if I would have to start all over again? I managed to find two of the rift orbs (Tri's friends). I also need to figure out how to attack the screaming Zombie. According to Bern, he used to be very terrified of them from another Zelda game in his childhood past.
10/28/24
So we finally unopened the LoZ: Echoes of Wisdom game that Bern ordered awhile back-- I just started playing it today! Like almost every Zelda game, there are a lot of puzzle-like obstacles and bits of combative stuff as you engage slightly further into the game. I noticed they incorporated the map and inventory in a style that's similar to Tears of the Kingdom, which I find to be super convenient. Just like Tears of the Kingdom, the gameplay is quite addicting!
The game basically had me play as Link from the very beginning of the game, which I thought was interesting. As seen from the trailer, Link beats Ganon, about to fall into the rift as he breaks Zelda out from a trapped prism with his bow arrow. That's when I ended up as Zelda. So the rift continues to expand, the gameplay forces you to run & jump. The title card pops out towards the next cut scene... I thought that was a cool touch!
In this world, little by little, the rift continues to expand. I finally figured out why Zelda had to disguise herself with a plain dress and the cloak! Turns out the King fell into the rift, and now he's replaced with an imposter (he tried to get Princess Zelda executed).
All the fun part starts at the dungeon cell (where Zelda gets locked up by the King) of Hyrule Castle. From there, you end up with a little triangular fairy who grants you the power to replicate things: furnitures, monsters, & cartoon meat. I believe there's a limitation on how you stack your furnitures, so the game does challenge you to think about your replications. After completing the first quest to mend a rift area, the player is able to gain the ability to do combative sword fights like Link, with a meter limit. It's quite useful towards rift-infected enemies, so it's best to reserve the combat mode.
Aaaaaaand there are quests in this game, just like the last two Zelda game....but in a digital Polly Pocket-looking universe.
Mario RPG Log
2/18/24So yes, I was right, those guys at Seaside were the bad guys. Ended up fighting Speardovich--he was a bit challenging because he knocked out my members a few times. Finally got the star back. Seems like Johnny, the Shark boss, is pretty tight with Mario (he's a good guy).
2/14/24
Had a terrible acid reflux on Valetine's night. I stayed up a couple of hours after clearing up my tummy over the toilet bowl. I continued to play for comfort.
I battled some sharks..(I love their design
) and obtained a star from the boss. They were pretty honorable opponents, the shark boss handed over the star-- he seemed pretty concerned about things. Like in a lot of anime, you know they're not the "bad guys" of the game when a character looks out towards a window lost in thoughts after the battle and tells you to scram before they change their mind. I headed back to Seaside... I have a feeling that they're all up to no good. 
1/28/24
Okay, so it turns out that I didn't have to force myself to grind at all since there were quite some enemies along the way. There were little rooms with puzzles and hints. There was one room that was a bit ridiculous-- in an obstacle sense.
I was pretty relaxed being in the depths in Tears of the Kingdom earlier and ended up throwing a bit of a fit with Mario RPG. I've managed to solve thepassword, even before collecting all of the hints. After some time, I was able to get past that ridiculous room. I beat King Calamari-- wasn't too difficult. 
1/25/24
After trying to relieve my anxieties after some weeks, I continued my Mario RPG game. I entered in a Sunken Ship after the Seafare (sp?) town. Whoever designed the little creature wearing a cloak with glowy eyes, I just want to let you know that you've created the cutest myserious little character ever. So far, I'm enjoying this level. I just need to do a bit grinding for coins, gotta upgrade my characters with some new equipments.
12/21/23
Well, we saved Princess Peach and fought a cake. It looked scrupmtious. Apparently when Bern was eight years old, it took him quite a long time to figure out the battle to blow out its candles. We took Princess Peach back home to the Chancellor, she snuck out and decided to join the party. We visited Frogfucius and ended up at Star Hill.
I enjoyed reading through the wishes, some of them were humorous. Under normal mode, the gameplay overall was still fairly easy, especially if you're an adult who grew up with Jrpgs. I did end up losing one character during the cake battle.
12/16/23
Went past Booster's tower. Now, I am at Marryland. I thought the barrel run was neat, despite my clumsiness.
The part where you have to run along side with Booster's henchman to bust open the chapel door was a bit frustrating.
12/3/23
Currently at the tower. The music slaps.
12/2/23
The mole village reminds me of places in Reno/ Vegas/ Lake Tahoe. The mole people are really adorable and I like the mining carts level. I think this might be my favorite level so far.
11/24/23
Got past Rose Village, frolicked into the woods full of mushroom 1 ups and mushroom enemies. I think it's funny that the locals are freaked out by a wooden doll awakened to life...as if this whole world isn't already unusual. XD Turns out the wooden doll (I already knew this) is our new party member! Ended up beating the weird boss that shoots out arrorws.
11/21/23
Well, we learned that Mallow was adopted afterall. I am so shocked. Turns out he didn't start out as a tadpole. There's a bit in a game that requires a bit of a musical-notetaking. You may have to look at a gamer guide if you don't read music (Bern gave me a note).
11/18/23
Took out most of the Shyguys that raided the village and battled some a pongo stick guy. I liked the little humor in this game. For instance, Mallow, this cloud shaped character, does not look like a frog to me...and even the characters in the game are confused about that as well. Well, if Mallow says he is a frog, then I guess he is a frog. Let's not question it.
11/17/23
I started playing Mario RPG today. I caught Croco and retrieved the wallet back. The game mechanics, in terms of doing effective attacks and defenses, are a bit challenging at times... you would have to make sure you get the timing right. Right, when I went back to Mushroom Village, I saw that it got raided by Shyguys.
Legend of Zelda- Tears of the Kingdom
11/19/2024
This time I actually glided deep into the cubic labyrinth in the northeast of Akkala without chickening out and hanging out on the surface. Turns out the maze wasn't too complicated; a traveler left some acorns to guide the player towards the shrine area. The architecture of the place is a bit unsettling to me, it's just so symmetrical. I noticed there's an underground where the Gloom tends to spawn pretty often (I bypassed it twice ), and the depths seems to be barred in that locaton. I'm going to guess that I have to go up to a sky island above to unlock the area down below. I have about two lightroots left. Just like a particular lightroot near the last battle with Master Kohga, I think the remaining two clearly involves tasks.
Shrine Unlocked:
- Igashuk Shrine
7/14/2024
Bern and I just picked up a set of peaches from the Farmer's Market-- they're so huge! I'm going to make peach cobbler with them.
For my Sunday afternoon, I continued to do my scavenger hunt for light roots.
So far, I just have the Hyrule Castle and a labyrinth island to clear the Depths map. Getting close!
I also managed to into the heart of Korok Forest by escending from the depths through the surface. I noticed how the Korok children going "..." at me, I guess I need to investigate or figure out the situation. Perhaps I need to do certain tasks before I can interact with them? I noticed that I couldn't explore in other parts of the forests in that area. While, I was in the forest, I also spotted a shrine. Like a lot of shrines, it is physics-based puzzle. At the very end of the puzzle, I was able to unlock the last gate, but I think I solved it in way that was not intended to their design
. Light Roots Unlocked:
- U-nazohso- Hebra Moutain Depths
- Ikatoayam- Hebra Mountain Depths
- Ramobnukas- Great Hyrule Forest Depths
- Sijnin- Great Hyrule Forest Depths
- Rikonasum- Great Hyrule Forest Depths
- Eknupup- Great Hyrule Forest Depths
- Amo-Ne- Lake Hylia Depths
- Musanokir- Great Hyrule Forest "Swing to Hit"
7/13/24
After breakfast, I took a bit of a break by continuing my light roots scavenger-hunt. I finally decided to sail over the island in Necluda for the first time and managed to glide into a chasm to unlock one light root. After that, I decided to take on a sidequest involving monsters control. Muddlebuds and flowerbombs are my go-to items, especially with silver bokoblins around. I even encountered a hidden pirate ship and unlocked a shrine as a well.
I'm going to have to upgrade a proper boat for my building gear history. I drove a vehicle unsuitable for watery places.
Light Roots Unlocked:
- Ni-Iraram -Necluda Sea Depths
- Marari-In Shrine- Necluda Sea
6/24/24
This morning, I did my light roots hunt just filling the gaps of all the areas on the map with the dark spots. Looks like I am almost done! There are some possibilities that certain spots are trickier to get to or they're probably just walled off for the moment. Looks like I need to find light roots in the South East region and one little area in central region.
Light Roots Unlocked:
- Mu-Ustust- Central Hyrule Depths
- Korakut-Lanayru Wetlands Depths
- Nojoj- Central Hyrule Depths
- Zi-Ner- Central Hyrule Depths
- Anonisik- Eldin Canyon Depths
6/23/24
Happy Sunday to you all! It's 92 degrees F/ 33 degrees where I am at. I know I will have to find a way to do my routine-exercise without feeling icky in this heat. To those who are dealing with extreme heat, I hope you're finding a good way to cool off.
I spent this whole morning & early afternoon searching for some more light roots. I also managed to solve a shrine, it's a physics-based shrine-- I haven't done a shrine-play for quite awhile, so it was a nice change of scenery.
I also completed a sidequest for Josha forgetting that I did them--I'll take it. All I can say is, when in doubt, just take pictures of unusual statues and check back with Josha. Remember how on June 15th, I was having a hard time getting through an area around Tabantha Frontier Depths? Well, that was part of it and you have to battle Master Kohga at his prior location to the depths under Rito Village. It's a chasm that doesn't appear on the map until after you look for it.
- Kuzimoy- Lanayru Great Spring
- Kisihayam- East Necluda
- Kimnaz- East Necluda
- Tayamik- Eldin Canyon
- Sikutamak- Deep Akkala
- Stamayam- Gerudo Highlands
- Sikatag Light Root- (Enter from Rito Village's Chasm)
- Kamatukis Shrine- Deep Akkala Region
6/22/24
After completing an episode of One Piece, I spent a bit of time looking for light roots before bed. I had to cross a mine path that were infested with a bunch of little Froxes. It was quite a lengthy, narrow path... you can't get to this particular light root without crossing the path. I've managed to skip some monsters by ascending to the nearest structure and gliding over to the next one. Sometimes, I just don't feel like battling them all--there were just too many of them! 
Light Roots Unlocked :
6/17/24
For dinner, I fixed up some stir fry noodles with chicken breast & vegetables. Bern and I needed something inexpensive, delicious and well balanced at he same time (I'll share a recipe later).
I managed to unlock five lightroots today, and I also battled Master Kohga in the Lanayru Depths. He wasn't super difficult, but I had a bit of a rough time manuevering the water vehicles-- it's like driving a bumper car! I think it would be fun to prebuild vehicles and use them later for major boss battles. Yunobo was my go-to sage to target Kogha and his clan assistants. As I said before, his music hella slaps. He's such a dorky character.
Light Roots Unlocked:
6/15/24
Happy Saturday to you all! Today, I found ten lightroots. I mostly have been around Tabantha & Hebra Mountains depths. Looks like I need to stock up on stamina-based foods..there's so much climbing in certain areas, even a hot air balloon doesn't get me quite far.
I have difficulties getting into an area that's the underworld-version of Rito Village. I think it's an undergound passage? There's a fallen statue locked into a mountain wall, I fought even fought a yiga member who was trying to figure that out--so I think it's a hint.
Lightroots Unlocked:
6/14/24
I basically explored most of the Gerudo depths, finding lightroots seems to be quite smooth this time, especially during dinner preparation-- I've unlocked five.
I'm getting to the point where I need to stock up my lightroot plants inventory. I've managed to gather some from Sky Island.
Lightroots unlocked:
6/12/24
Today, I unlocked eight lightroots! I believe I covered most of the Necluda Depths? I had an easier time finding the lightroots since most of these were lightroots I can spottable from other lightroot areas.
This Yiga Clan journal freaked me out a bit because I also heard the sounds earlier, and was super confused 
...I wonder what that could be?
Once again, hot air balloons and planes with fans are super useful when it comes to traveling from one lightroot to another. It's a great way to conserve time if you're main focus is to unlock the depths map. I find it much more comfortable to play when you're not on an empty stomach.
6/8/24
As I was in the middle of preparing dinner, I was able to kill a bit of time by continuing the lightroot hunt. I've managed to unlock a couple of lightroots from the West Necluda Depths and one from Lanayru Wetlands Depths. I've gotten into the habit of just using the hot air balloon schematics and took advantage of my loaded inventory of zonite rockes. It saved me a lot of time, especially when I'm in between housekeeping chores.
I did a storage upgrade, got my Zonai charges, and cooked up some foods.
6/3/24
As I was waiting for my cherry pies to cool off, I found a couple of hours to play this game. I'm getting to the point where the areas of lightroots will be difficult to find. I've managed to find one for this gameplay. Just like my previous game entries, I've battled some bokoblins and took out a couple of Yiga Clan fortresses-- yay, more schematics to my inventory! For next time, I'll have to remember to exchange for some Zonai charges and go back to shrine hunting at the surface map. Usually the shrines are helpful to guiding some lightroot places.
4/24/24
Another day of inbetween dinner hour and food preparation. I had more minutes to play this time. Found two more lightroots in the Akkala depths and one in East Necluda. I ran into a Lynel again and simply flew over them.
4/23/24
Because I was inbetween dinner hour and food prepartions, I found a bit of free time to flick on my Switch and continue my light root hunt. I took down a Yiga air pilot (quite simple when you have the eyeball item attached to your arrow). I unlocked one lightroot in the Akkala region. I think it was about fifteen minutes of gameplay.
This is where a Yiga member dropped their plane...free vehicle, yay.
3/14/24
Today I believe I unlocked about five different light roots today. I was mostly in an area with some creepy walking trees. These ones are little a little tricky because, one they're covered in gloom gunk. Secondly, they're a lot more elevated compared to the walking trees from the surfaces, so I can't really attack them as smoothly. I got my a bunch of fire tools, so going after them wasn't too bad. They will always creep me out, nevertheless. I also got attacked by a gloom-infested Lynel for the first time-- my god, their hits were insane.
3/6/24
It was a rainy day today and it has been kind of cold since this morning. I haven't been feeling my best today, and at the same time, I have to distract myself from doom scrolling over social media. ... So I ended up unlocking thirteen different light roots today (don't worry, I took some breaks in between). I even reclaimed the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab from the Yiga Clan and unlocked a travel medallion.
3/2/2024
Happy March y'all! And happy Saturday! Today for dinner, I've just made stir fry rice noodles... I like to jokingly call them "sober noodles" because they're like drunken noodles but without the chili spices. Nevertheless, they were quite satisfying.
My goal was to unlock one lightroot today, but I ended up unlocking six of them today! It helps that they were all in sight, all you need is a zonai gliding vehicle to get to them. I got a bunch of fans, gliders, and steering wheels in my inventory that I ended up using-- it saved me so much time. From the previous play, I did afterall updated my Zonai charges-- so that was convenient.
I caught some Naydra's spines, I'm not sure if I have any quests needed for those but I'm sure they'll come in handy.
It's been awhile since I solved a shrine...I'm sure I have tons of unlocked shrines from the surface map. The shrine I found today was one of those puzzly areas before you can even enter in it. This particular shrine I solved today was a little odd and I think I solved it in the way that was probably not intended to the way they planned it. But hey, I unlocked it! I reached to the point where most of the remaining shrines are not going to be obvious to find, and I have to rely on my meter to get to them.
2/25/24
Spent the whole Sunday morning looking to unlock a lightroot. As usual, I collected materials, raided some bokoblin camps, and battled skeletons a long the way. I realized I went in circles and struggled to find a lightroot nearby. Bern recommended that I go up to the surface and fly down into hole entrances that leads you to the depths-- I'm not sure why I didn't think of that. It saved me a lot more time. Sometimes I get a bit stubborn in taking a bit of a glance to compare the shrines on the surface map versus the map from the depths. I know that the shrines and the lightroots got the same coordinates.
I was able to unlock two different lightroots, made a vehicle to fly towards the last lightroot of the day. I fell halfway during the travel, tried staying on the plane with the rewind power, and my Link guy couldn't stay on-- the plane didn't land graceful enough for him to balance on nicely 
So I ended up unlocking that lightroot by foot. It was a nice coffee* gameplay.
I ended the game by doing a bit of shopping spree with Koltin and getting more of those Zonai charges. Koltin is legit and he will not fail with the items he sells.
* what I mean by this that it was the kind of gameplay that felt very stimulating. It made my morning and kept be productive for the remaining of the day.
2/10/24
Happy CNY/LNY! Starting out with the year of the Dragon by continuing unlocking more of the Depths map. I spent the morning/afternoon unlocking four different lightroots and I even did a quick side quest-- helped a villager fixed a stable. Once again, I encountered another skeletal horse from the Depths, it seemed like the horse had a very sweet temperment (originally came with a Bokoblin)-- it did not reject me! Like I addressed in my last blog, I unfortunately can't get it up to the stables.
Took out a few monster camps by taunting them with muddle buds mainly because I like watching Moblins and Bokoblins going crazy towards their peers.
1/28/2024
Happy Sunday to you all! I've decided to continue Tears of the Kingdom, and start my first log from where I left off. I've completed three temples-- I don't think I am too far off (story-wise), but there are still a lot of things I need to unlock (well, I don't *need to*..but I want to). Since today is Bern's day off, today is a perfect day for him to watch me play a couple of games.
As someone who's mostly a SAHG( Stay At Home Girlfriend) with loaded tasks, this game is very ENDLESS for me to explore the Hyrule world thoroughly. It took me over an hour to unlock one Lightroot. My current goal for this game is to clear out all the Lightroots in the Depths. Being in the dark makes me think of being in C0stco-- it's weirdly peaceful and eerie at the same time. I've managed to to raid a couple of Bokoblins/ Moblins camps, foraged some supplies, collected Poes, built a janky vehicle and went up against a Stalnox. I always find it stimulating to build the Zonai devices together.
My janky vehicle: a glider, steering wheel, and a couple of motor wheels. I had to remove the Zonai fan that I had on earlier because it weighed it down (when on ground).
Awww, I wish I could adopt this horse. No stables around in the Depths.
Windwaker HD
2/23/2024
It's Link's birthday, which means my character gets a sword, a telescope and a new costume. Spotted a giant bird dropping a girl (Tetra) into the forest of Link's home village. Battled a few bokoblins and saved Tetra (who was super prideful to thank Link). That same giant bird ended up kidnapping Link's little sister. 
Time for me to grab a shield!
1/24/2024
So I decided to start over in a different file because it has been over seven years since I last left off unfinished playing this game (this was during the time when my significant other and I weren't living together yet). I was able to finally hook up the Wii U console to our bedroom and decided to touch Windwaker again. I enjoyed collecting little piggies and throwing them into a pig pen.
