She-Hulk: Attorney At Law has it's new trailer and Disney+ release date (August 17th). I'm looking forward to it. She-Hulk isn't a character I'm very familiar with and Disney+ shows don't disappoint me. The MCU's Hulk and Abomination make their appearances as well.

Ms. Marvel premiers on Disney+ on June 8th. She's another character I'm not too familiar with, but I got to know better with the Avengers video game.

Let me know what you think about this! What do you think of her? Do you know much about her you want to share?

News source: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/she-hulk-attorney-at-law-gets-first-trailer-release-date/1100-6503563/

It's been almost a full month since Marvel released it's Thor: Love and Thunder trailer and it looks awesome. It's apparently taking some inspiration from the Might Thor comics in which Jane Foster becomes Thor. I haven't read them yet, but looking forward to it.

Who else is looking forward to this? What do you think?

I’m kind of surprised at the Steam reviews for Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition. I recently finished the game and decided I wanted to give those “mixed” Steam reviews a bit of positivity. (I posted a smaller review there, but wanted to write this out here.)

This is one of those HD remasters, although only 3D models were given the HD treatment, so backgrounds do look horrible since our eyes are now so overwhelmed with beauty and impressive graphics these days. However, what a game looks like, even if it’s aged 20 years, doesn’t make or break it.

Chrono Cross was a JRPG that came out in 1999. It is apparently one of the best RPGs ever according to some things I’m reading. I played through it only one time, but I remember that I really enjoyed it. That’s why I was glad it was getting the HD treatment and coming to Steam. You’ve probably heard of Chrono Trigger, well Chrono Cross is it’s sequel. I’d say the two can be thought of as completely separate as different as they are, but they also have similarities.

Chrono Cross, like pretty much all RPGs, has it’s own ways of doing things. For instance, there is magic in the game, but they’re called “elements.” There’s a circle in the upper left hand corner. It contains two other circles. These circles contain colors of the elements used. So, if you use a blue element like “Cure,” the innermost part of the circle will turn blue. The next element will push that blue to the next ring. This repeats until that first color disappears. If you want to use a summon, you have to get the entire circle of circles all one color. So, you’ll probably have to use some elements to get the field the color you need it, but enemy element usage also affects the circle. Items are use like elements, too. You’re limited by how many elements you can use in battle. This limitation is based on your element tech levels, which will grow as you do as you gain experience.

Otherwise, it’s just as familiar as all other great RPGs. You walk around an open world, talking to NPCs, recruiting characters to your party, exploring the world, and getting through the story. It’s very good though, I think. So, if you enjoyed Chrono Cross, I recommend getting this. It’s only $20. It has some extra features, too. You can press a button to speed up the action or another to make your party pretty much invincible.

The “Radical Dreamers” part of the title escaped me, because I was not aware of what it referred to, but I learned. It’s a text-based game based on the game, but as a bit of a prequel. I played it and died. It was interesting.

Steam users are complaining about the fact that sometimes the FPS is surprisingly not smooth. This isn’t an irrational complaint as you’d expect something like this to be smooth especially on today’s PCs. I did notice the issue, but it was so infrequent and lasted so briefly that I deem it as insignificant. It didn’t affect my enjoyment of the game.

After finishing the game, I found New Game+ and Continue+. The latter is confusing. Basically, Continue+ lets you take data from your completed game and put it into a regular save file. So, it won’t work with a New Game+ save. It’s supposed to help you get all the characters. I had trouble figuring it out at first, but I eventually understood.

I tried to replay Chrono Trigger after this, but it was too difficult and I gave up. LOL

Let me know what you think about this. Have you tried it? Do you know about or like Chrono Cross?

Bethesda.Net is going down on May 11th, however you can transfer all your games to Steam. It's easy to do and I'm including links for the instructions to do so. At one point it will also allow you to transfer some of your saved game data. Just click on the provided links.

Instructions: https://bethesda.net/en/account/transfer-library

Saved data transfer FAQ: https://help.bethesda.net/#en/answer/55036

Source:
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/heres-how-to-transfer-your-bethesda-launcher-games-to-steam/1100-6502864/

I reported earlier that Far Cry 6 (the latest in the series released last year) had a Free-To-Play Weekend going on. I knew about Far Cry 6 before it was released. I had some interest in it, but perhaps the most interesting thing to me is that the villain is portrayed by Giancarlo Esposito. If that name doesn’t sound familiar then perhaps “Moff Giddeon” will (if you’ve seen The Mandalorian). I realize Moff Gideon isn’t his only role, but that is the only role I saw him in (before this game). His performance was outstanding!

The character looks just like Esposito. Something that incredibly impresses me is that he speaks very well with a Spanish accent. He isn’t of Spanish heritage, though. He is the son of an “African-American opera singer and an Italian carpenter” (according to a Google search). I read that he learned how to speak his lines, but isn’t fluent in Spanish. I find it amazing when actors can portray an accent that isn’t their own. Great examples of this are Tom Holland, Charlie Cox, and Hugh Jackman. Hearing them speak with their native accent is a shocker.

As for my Far Cry experience, I’ve only played through Far Cry Primal and I enjoyed it. I tried Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. I played very little of it because I just wasn’t into it. I later tried Far Cry 3, but I gave up after running out of ammo. This isn’t a problem in Far Cry 6, because you can refill your ammo by accessing the trunk of whatever car you’re driving. I plan to try Far Cry 3 again. I got it for free and I know it’s very popular.

Far Cry 6 seems to have many elements that are in every Far Cry game. It’s kind of an RPG as you gain experience and level (or rather “rank”) up. This gives you access to more weapons and things. Being an open-world game means that there are plenty of places to explore with plenty to do. Movement (or perhaps camera movement) is also one of those elements. It’s hard to explain, but to me it’s a unique thing I’ve seen in this series.

I’m disappointed that the free weekend is over. I was really enjoying it. It’s currently on sale for 50% off until the end of the month. Use the promo code "FRESH15" at checkout to get an extra 25% off. I bought the Gold Edition, which pretty much just contains the game and it's season pass. It was originally $100, but with the current sale and promo code I got it for almost $43.

The country this story takes place in is a fictional place called “Yara” and it’s real-life counterpart is Cuba. The country has been isolated from the rest of the world for 20 years since the execution of Presidente Antón Castillo’s father. Afterwards Antón Castillo was elected, but he’s running the country as a tyrannical fascist dictatorship. He’s has a blockade around the island so escape is pretty much impossible. He indiscriminately executes resistance and insubordinate citizens. He enslaves his people to work in tobacco fields. Proudly and on it’s own, the government has created a chemical called Vivrio, which is sprayed onto the tobacco fields. It’s supposedly the “cure for cancer,” but the people who work these fields end up getting sick (cancer?).

You play as Dani Rojas. When you start the game and get passed the cut scenes, you’ll be given the binary choice to choose your gender. Dani is trying to escape with others by boat, but they don’t get to leave as Castillo makes a surprise visit. His 13 year-old son, Diego, happens to be on the boat. He is grooming his son to take his place when he is gone, but Diego obviously isn’t enthusiastic about it. Dani’s the only one to make it out alive.

After escaping, Dani ends up on one of the country’s islands and joins a resistance called “Libertad.” Dani then has to go around the country to recruit resistant members and help support other resistance groups in the area. There are some great characters, but if “adult” language isn’t for you, then you might not want to play this. I like it, though.

The game reminds me of so many others that I’m not sure if I’ll remember all of them in this list I want to share with you. Driving around reminds me of Final Fantasy XV. The game also reminds me of the Batman: Arkham series. You could easily compare it to other open-world games though. Oddly, the loading screen reminds me of DOOM or DOOM Eternal.

I can’t speak much of other Far Cry games, but one thing I really enjoyed about Far Cry Primal was the ability to tame some animals and have them for support. This is also a feature in Far Cry 6, called “amigos.” During my 18 hours of game play I unlocked two of them, a crocodile, “Guapo,” and a dog named “Chorizo.” I continued to use Guapo, because I found it the most useful. It can heal itself during a fight or self-revive apparently. Amigos don’t permanently die. Instead the game tells you it’s “down” and you need to go to it to revive it, just as you would for teammates in co-op mode, which is similar to other games. Eventually it will revive, but this may be a specific ability for Guapo. You can command your amigo to go up to an enemy and do something, which is different for each amigo. Guapo will attack. Chorizo will distract enemies making it easier for you to sneak up for a silent takedown. Chorizo appears to be missing his hind legs and thus has a doggy wheel chair to help him get around. It’s adorable and can also find items for you.

You’ll find multiple items around the country. Some of these are materials you’ll see out in the open, like gasoline or metal scrap. There are also multiple containers around the country. Some of these containers will also give you weapons. As for weapons, there are a lot of them and a lot of types. There are pistols, rifles, rocket launchers, shot guns, bows, and more. Each weapon has slots for “mods,” which allow you to add something to the them such as a silencer or better scope. There are many options and you’re going to need materials to add these at a workbench, which you can find in camps.

One really interesting weapon is called the “Supremo.” You get this early in the game. It’s pretty much a very special backpack. The first one you get is basically a rocket launcher. It has a gauge that refills when you kill enemies, so it’s not always available, but it’s very helpful! You can use it to take out multiple enemies or even a helicopter (which is the best way to do this without a separate rocket launcher). There are upgrades and different ones that provide different abilities, although I only unlocked the first one. They also allow you to carry four other things like Molotov cocktails, baseballs (for distraction), EMP grenades, and more.

Some add-on content includes some kind of Stranger Things mash-up, but I’ve never seen that show, and it doesn’t seem to be something I’m interested in. There’s a Rambo misson, too. And, to almost no surprise, Danny Trejo also makes an appearance. I didn’t see him, I was given the mission, but didn’t follow it. It’s funny talking to the guy about Danny as they talk about his different roles, including the one that I first saw him play as Navajas in the movie “Desperado.” (BTW if you haven’t seen this movie from ‘95, I strongly recommend it. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen it. I saw it on the “big screen” and I think I still own the VHS. It's only the second part of a trilogy, though.)

There are three different levels of difficulty and I chose Story Mode, because I like things to be easy (I get easily frustrated with difficulty). I think this is a game I’m interested in and I’d recommend it if you’re a fan of the series. If you’re unfamiliar with the series, it seems like a good choice to jump in and check it out.

Be sure to check out the embedded video if you’re interested. It’s called an “overview trailer” and it’s nearly 7 minutes long, but definitely worth watching.

What do you think about this? Is it something you’re interested in? Have you played other Far Cry games? Lemme know!

Far Cry 6 is free to play this weekend. According to the Ubisoft website: "Access is available from Thursday 24 March 2022 (18:00 UTC) to Sunday 28 March 2022 (18:00 UTC). You can preload the game from Tuesday 22 March 2022 (19:00 UTC)." It's available for multiple platforms. If you need help accessing it you can check the following website or ask me and I'll see if I can help: https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/help/far-cry-6/gameplay/article/information-about-the-far-cry-6-free-weekend-march-2022/000101445?origin=search

If you're playing on PC I strongly suggest you do so via UPlay as it will let you download and install. At the moment Epic Games Store says it's "unavailable." (after 12AM EST and it's still "unavailable," but I'm playing it on UPlay.)

Quick note: HDR is a feature. I was impressed with my benchmark. The lowest FPS I got was about 66 (at 1440p), highest was just over 80 and avg was about 75. My PC is almost 3. I have an i7, 32GB RAM, NVME SSD, and a GTX 1660 (EVGA XC Gaming). GeForce Experience is recommending "optimal" settings which are lower than I have already set, so I suggest ignoring that. The game will detect your hardware and allow you to customize it.

Oh and there's a Ubisoft Spring Sale going on now until 3/31. This game is 50% off (it's never been cheaper), so it's a great time to try it out and get it while it's on sale.

Also, this is a co-op game, so if you want to play together on UPlay, feel free to let me know. As usual my username is "gregopeck." If you want to play on EGS I can reinstall it for that platform when it's available there.

Be sure to check the embedded video as it's a "Game Overview Trailer." It's nearly 7 minutes long, but worth watching if you're interested or unsure.

Perhaps the most appealing thing about this game in my opinion is that it stars Giancarlo Esposito. I've only seen him as Moff Gideon (The Mandalorian) and he did such an amazing job!

I've played Far Cry Primal and liked it. I've tried Far Cry 3 (which I got for free), but didn't get far (hahah "far") with it (I ran out of ammo). I also tried Blood Dragon, but didn't get far with it either, I didn't really like it.

Let me know what you think. Are you planning to play this weekend? Are you a fan of the series? Share your thoughts!

PC Building Simulator is very interesting. It’s the only “simulator” game that I care about it. It’s the only one that perfectly fits my expertise. One of the great things about this game is that you don’t have to know how to build a PC, the game will teach you. After all, to put pieces together, you just point, click, or hold the mouse button anyway. Still, there’s a little bit of challenge to it. Perhaps what’s most interesting to a PC enthusiast like myself is the vast amount of available parts to use.

CPUs, RAM, GPUs, custom water cooling, storage devices, PSUs, case fans, and cases, everything you could possibly need for a PC build are available. More parts unlock as you progress. These parts are available IRL and that to me is exciting. I was glad to see many of the components I used in my latest PC build (Azure Azule still for those that know), including my case (Fractal Design Focus G Petrol-blue). There are so many brand names in the game it’s hard to cover them all. I recognize very many of them, but there were some I didn’t. Some of the ones I am familiar with include MSI, NZXT, Corsair, EVGA, Intel, AMD, Cooler Master, and very many more!

Want to build that really awesome expensive PC you dream of? Want to build a budget PC as cheap as possible? You can do all that! In fact, during the campaign, you’ll get the chance to do each multiple times. So, let’s go over the game play.

This is kind of my dream job actually. You’ve inherited a PC business that does general troubleshooting and builds PCs for customers. The troubleshooting is basic in that if an issue isn’t hardware, it’s a virus. That to me is one of the reasons I love this, it’s pretty much strictly all about the hardware. It either works or it’s broken and needs to be replaced. This may not completely reflect real life, but it pretty much does and that’s the simplicity of the game.

You have your own PC in the shop and you can upgrade and customize it, but really there’s no need to as there’s no additional benefit. This PC is pretty much for email and accessing apps. Each day you’ll receive email from customers asking you to either repair their PC, upgrade it, or build them a new one. They’ll provide very basic detail, some times very little (kind of like real life am I right?). Sometimes they’re smart enough to suggest which part might be the problem, but (again just like IRL) they’re not always right. Sometimes you just have to figure it out.

You have three workbenches you can unlock, which will allow you to work on three PCs at once. You also have a storage closet that can hold a few PCs. The workbenches and closet can help serve as temporary storage, because they take PCs off of the floor. Each day you return to work, some PCs will arrive. They’ll be in a row by the door, but there are only so many PCs that will fit here. If you don’t have room for all that’s incoming, the postal person will email you letting you know they were unable to deliver and try again later. Once you unlock the two extra workbenches and storage closet, this becomes pretty much a non-issue.

Troubleshooting is mostly very easy. So, what do you do first? Boot the PC of course! If it doesn’t turn on it’s either the PSU or motherboard that you have to replace. In this case, check the PSU first, because motherboards are a pain, making you disconnect everything. If it boots, BIOS may tell you “missing CPU” or “missing RAM.” You’ll have to take the faulty part out and replace it. When you have parts in your inventory, you’ll be able to tell if something’s broken, because it will be labeled as such. Sometimes they'll also have labels on them showing that they belong to a customer and must be returned.

When you figure out what's wrong, you’ll want to go back to the customer’s email to see the budget they’ve set aside for this and whether or not they have preferences. For instance, some customers really want G. Skill or some other brand. They will rate your business and they really like it when you pay attention and give them what they want. You get paid for each job, of course. You can completely ignore their budget. Sure you'll get paid and fully reimbursed, but they won't be happy about it. So, for each job, you’ll have to order the parts first, then get reimbursed by the customers (with your own wage included). You basically just have to keep an eye on how much money you have and need.

Sometimes customers will provide a date of when they want it. Often they’ll give you at least a day, sometimes more or they don’t specify. When you order parts from the app, you can select from three different delivery options, each increasing in price. You can also order used parts and PCs from the app called “PCbay” (and it looks like Ebay) however these are usually used parts and most customers will let you know in their email that used parts are unacceptable. But, you can sell used parts on the app and you can put together PCs from your spare parts and sell them. This is really helpful to clean out your inventory of used parts.

Some customers want custom water cooling, which I think is real fun, even though I don’t want to do it IRL. There are AIO coolers, like the one I have for my CPU, but the custom cooling includes water blocks, water cooled specific GPUs, coolant and color, and pipes. It’s real easy to do and I really enjoyed doing it. I liked using the harder tubing and seeing direct lines and angles. You can easily put bends in the tubing, too. It’s much easier to do than IRL (from what I’ve seen on JayZTwoCents on YouTube).

Another part of the game I enjoyed that I also don’t want to do IRL is overclocking. Some customers want you to overclock their CPU and/or GPU. They also often want to target a specific 3DMark score. While it’s easiest to just buy the most expensive CPU and GPU to get the highest score possible, you still want to pay attention to the customer’s budget. I said customers will rate you and you can see these ratings on an app. It doesn’t seem to matter much, but apparently higher scores will get you more jobs to do (which means you make more $).

Overclocking is pretty easy, it’s really not that complicated IRL either. It is slightly confusing though, especially if your not all familiar with it. To overclock you need to adjust the clock speed, ratio, and voltage. Adjusting the clock speed increases the number in relatively small increments. Using the ratio, however, will increase the number in relatively bigger increments. Voltage is one of the most important of these, because in order to get the CPU or GPU to use the new clock speed, you have to increase the voltage. Voltage signifies how much power the part is receiving. Sometimes 3DMark will crash with a blue screen. Why it's crashed is vaguely explained in the blue screen message, but unless you're experienced with this, you may have to check online for what they mean. There are good guides out there for this game, so check them out if you run into anything you’re unsure of.

Just like IRL, you can go into BIOS and make some adjustments, like the XMP profile for RAM (which I find always disabled, I don’t know why). However, this is how you overclock the CPU. The BIOS screen will also tell you the CPU’s temp, but you have to reboot and get back into BIOS after you make changes to see the new or unchanged temp. What’s really cool about this is that the BIOS for many manufacturers is represented and they very much look like they do IRL. All of them are pretty much set up the same way.

One of the most important parts of overclocking is very much exactly like the real life risk of overclocking (and why I don’t want to do it) and that is thermal protection. Overclocked parts usually run hotter. This often happens when voltage is increased. So, you’ll want to look into your cooling options. An AIO or custom water cooling system is best in this scenario.

To overclock the GPU, you’ll need to use an app. There’s another app that will quickly let you know how the overclock (for both CPU and GPU) is performing and whether or not it’s experiencing thermal throttling. You most definitely want to avoid this (like IRL). So, if the app shows thermal throttling is taking place, you know you need to lower your adjustments or add better cooling. I think usually, if your in BIOS overclocking the CPU and notice it’s above 70c, then it’s probably going to throttle. I’m not sure that’s exactly the temp I refer to, but it’s very close (within a few degrees).

I keep mentioning how things are IRL, but this game is so very accurate. When overclocking, you’ll notice you can get parts to run close to or even at 90c and they’ll still not throttle (just like IRL what did I say?). In truth, it’s actually hard to “fry” a component. They will shut themselves down long before they can reach this point. You may have seen where your own CPU or GPU thermal limit might reach about 90c. As long as your hardware isn’t throttling, it’s all good. While I realize this, I still get nervous when my air-cooled GPU gets above 70c or too close to 80c. Don't forget to regularly dust your PC. This is relevant in the game, too, as you'll see some PCs are dusty and you'll need to use your canned air to clean it (sound familiar?).

You don’t have many tools in the game other than apps, but unlike real life, you don’t really need many. You have a flash drive which contains all the apps you own (you can purchase more for in-game currency). You may not always need your apps. Sometimes you’ll even get perhaps the easiest job to do, a virus scan. I’d like to also point out another real life thing and that is the OS will start up slowly or quickly depending on what kind of storage you have. NVME M.2 devices will boot up nearly instantly, while a HDD might take a few more seconds.

If you’re like me and a PC building enthusiast or if you’re interested in getting into PC building, this game is for you (or us I should say). There are some expansions for it, but I haven’t tried them out. I received this game some time ago (I don’t remember when) for free on EGS. I enjoyed the game, but eventually it got too monotonous, so I moved on. I might return to check out the IT expansion that was included. You can also buy (with real world $) other workbenches, especially themed ones, like the Razer one for instance. Speaking of Razer, you can change the hardware on your desk like your mouse, keyboard, and pad. I was glad to see my Razer keyboard and mouse there.

I'd also like to mention some really cool things you can unlock and purchase (for in-game $). There are "tools" that make it so that you don't have to click on each screw or cable to put them together. They're expensive, but you can buy "tools" that do all this automatically, which is very handy!

I mentioned getting this on EGS, but it's also on Steam. I also see it's on consoles. Also, as I was looking for a video to embed, I found one announcing PC Building Simulator 2. You can check it out at this link, but it's not really much to look at: https://youtu.be/GRtowcZtaos

What do you think about this? Have you played it? Does it sound like something you’re interested in? Let me know! If your an enthusiast like me and want to post the specs of a PC you built, feel free! Feel free to also let me know about your own PC building experience. I’ve been doing it for a very long time, although I bought my previous PC.

Ms. Marvel arrives on Disney+ on June 8th. I was introduced to Kamala Khan while playing Marvel's Avengers. The story focused around her and maybe that's why she's one of my most favorite characters in the game. In fact, I barely used any other character.

Kamala is a teenage Pakistani. She's obsessed with the Avengers, especially Captain Marvel, and fantasizes about being a super hero (and a teenage guy). In the game and comics, she gets her powers from a Terrigen bomb that went off. "Super heroes" created this way are usually called "inhuman." You may recognize this term from the show of the same name (which I haven't watched yet) or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Her powers are pretty much (at least in the game) that she can "embiggen" her fists and feet. This is much like Mr. Fantastic, but quite different.

Erik Voss's breakdown mentioned that it looks like she gets her power from Kree technology, the wristband she wears. We can see her slip into what seems some other form of reality, which could be the Negative Zone, which is where the Fantastic Four gets their powers from. Seeing her go into this reminded me of when we watched Monica Rambeau go into Wanda's reality bubble over Westview after Wanda threw her out. Kamala, Monica, and Captain Marvel will appear together in a movie soon called "The Marvels."

The MCU has introduced us to numerous young characters, which are actually in the Young Avengers in the comics. It appears the MCU is setting them up and Kamala could very well become one of them, even though she isn't in the comics.

I haven't read many comics, so most of my knowledge about a lot of this comes from New Rockstars on YouTube. I'm familiar with other comic book related media, too. I'm glad Kamala's coming to live-action, although I'm going to miss seeing the one I'm used to in the game. I think the actor they chose seems like a good fit though. It reminds me of how I liked the Kate Bishop in the same game and missed her, but the live-action version of her was really good.

Oh and I like how in the trailer she corrects someone on how to pronounce her name. You might remember when that happened with someone else *wink*.

What do you think? Are you looking forward to this? What do you know about Ms. Marvel? Have you played Marvel's Avengers?

Check out my spoiler-free review of Marvel's Avengers: https://cheerfulghost.com/GregoPeck/posts/4659/marvel-s-avengers-a-spoiler-free-review

The sequel to Sonic's first movie starts playing on April 8th and it looks jammed packed with action and references to the game series. Tails and Knuckles have become co-stars. Knuckles is working with Dr. Robotnic who's returned but has found out about the Chaos emerald. There are many bits that anyone who's played the Sonic games would be able to pretty much pick up right away. Sonic and Tails perform a CGI/live-action version of their biplane scene. Sonic sliding down a snowy mountain reminded me of the game as well.

I remember when Sonic's movie came out. There Internet lost it's mind when the first trailer came out. After much pressure from fans, Sonic was redesigned. I don't remember how that Sonic looked, but I didn't have much of a problem with it. I do like this Sonic, though. I wouldn't be surprised if we get a sequel to this introducing Shadow.

What do you think? Did you like the first movie? Are you going to go see this one?

We now have a trailer for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series streaming on Disney+ starting on May 25. The biggest thing I took away from the trailer was the presences of Inquisitors, especially the Grand one. It's nice to see how they're bringing animated characters to live action. The Book of Boba Fett was so surprising and awesome that I'm sure this will be very similar. Haden Christensen is returning, I assume he's going to be in the Darth Vadar suit, perhaps it's just in flash backs.

Let me know what you think. Is this something you're looking forward to, too?