What are you playing?

[noiseredux]

yeah man, I almost picked up Civ6 yesterday as Target had it on sale for $40. But I did just receive several new Switch games for Christmas, so didn't want to pick up another to add to the pile right away. But that's another one I'm super excited about.

I'm playing the "Adventure Mode," which is I guess the main campaign. Your goal is to attain 10 'permits' which is basically just 10 tiers of what your park is worth. It's not exactly difficult if you've played any of these sorts of games before. And having played for around four hours, I think I'm already on the 7th tier. So I don't feel like the adventure mode will be very long to complete. That said, there are four park templates to choose from, so there's some replayability there. And there are scenarios, which I think are just sort of mini-challenges to play. But of course, once I complete the main mode, this game will be there for the sandbox mode. And really, when it comes to these kind of games, that's what I want them for: little zen gardens to relax with.

I'll let you know if my opinion changes much once I complete adventure mode, but right now I can say that this game will bump something and crack my Top 10 of 2018 for sure. And I can definitely say that I'm having WAYYY more fun with it than the other two sim games that I had had much higher hopes for this past year (Railway Empire and Surviving Mars), so there's that. It's not as deep as Planet Coaster, but until I can play Planet Coaster "on the go," this game will certainly remain a staple.

[Arenegeth]

So I finally hit the first real snafu with the Notebook in Shenmue.

There's a small window in time when you get the tips for the Tattoo Parlor and the Charlie incident that requires you to miss a couple of entries.

One entry has to be missed no matter what, like the cat, is an alternative situation, if you pick it up you miss another one. So can't feel too bad about this one.

The other is a Fortune Teller entry, the second entry about the same hint basically.

Now if the Fortune Teller just gave you these entries if you walked in and payed her, it wouldn't be a problem. But she requires you to ask three people without getting a proper hint, before she will give them to you. And there's simply not enough time, between getting the first clue and then talking to three more people before getting the other, especially since you're forced to finish the night at the Tattoo Parlor for the final entry of the day.

The guide I was following was also unable to get these entries and a quick search online doesn't yield anyone that has. However I think it may have been possible if I had picked up the alternative entry, since the one at the Tattoo Parlor is the only one that is time sensitive, you can spread out the rest through several days theoretically.

Now I'm unsure if I should miss the Tattoo Parlor entry and go for the other one, or keep it as is. Thing is, the Tattoo Parlor entry is the most story relevant one, the other is a pointless hint. Hmmmm.

The other thing I found out is that I have a definitive shorter time-span to get everything done in the game. And that is February 7. Reason for that is the save transfer to II, there's a quest in the second game that starts in February 28th, and the second game starts 21 days after the date which you save transferred. Assuming that you can get that quest done in your first day in Shenmue II that is, I have until February 7 (6 if I want to play it safe) to get everything done.

I should be fine other than maxing out all the moves, I got only Crawl Cyclone done so far and working on Mud Spider next (both moves are supposed to help with the first Chai battle) and I'm in the morning of December 10.

[pierrot]

The guide I was following was also unable to get these entries and a quick search online doesn't yield anyone that has. However I think it may have been possible if I had picked up the alternative entry, since the one at the Tattoo Parlor is the only one that is time sensitive, you can spread out the rest through several days theoretically.

I forgot to mention this earlier. I spent an enormous amount of time on this, with many, many failed attempts, but it is possible. I was able to get all the entries for that night. You essentially have to treat it like a racing game: Learn the route, take perfect lines. The timing is extremely tight, and even minor flubs can ruin an attempt. You have to really want it. There were times where I was, like you, debating what I wanted to cut out, but with enough persistence, it was manageable.

EDIT: Also, you have to do everything from the fight against the sailors to the tattoo shop in the same night, or the notes at the bottom of page 37, and the top of page 38 are lost forever.

The route I followed was in that website I linked to in the earlier post:

船員と戦った同日に、タトゥショップに行く（超上級者向き・出来たら凄い！）
横須賀編で最も難しいのがこれ。AM2研が意図して作っていたらある意味凄い。ギリギリで可能。

「船員と戦った同日にタトゥショップに行く」場合と、
「船員と戦った翌日以降にタトゥショップに行く」場合。
後者の場合は、37P（下）、38P（上）の記述が永遠に出来なくなります。
なので、必ず『船員と戦ったその同日にタトゥショップまで辿り着かなければなりません』。

船員と戦うイベントが発生するのは、夜７時のゲームセンター前。
これはどうにも動かせない固定されたイベントです。この時間が基準になります。行動限界は夜１１時半。
つまり、『４時間半の間にタトゥショップまでの７ページ半（31P～38P（上））を一気に埋めなければいけません』。
ただし「☆幸運の鍵」が４つもあり、一回の占いには１５分以上拘束されます。占いだけで１時間以上消費されます。
実質、３時間半。

以下が、綿密に行動計画をたてたものです。最短だと思われます。
一例として、終了した時刻を書いておきました。

『PM7:00ゲームセンター前で船員と戦闘』（PM7:37ごろ終了）
関連ページ：31P、32P（上）
↓
『ゲームセンターで仁藤（店主）と会話』（終了時刻は調査漏れ）
仁藤からのコメントは、バイカーの二人組が店内にいない時でなければ得られません。
この時刻では必ずバイカーがいるので通常ではそのコメントは得られませんが、仁藤の近くの壁際まで行き、バイカーが画面から消えるようにQTEのゲームマシンがある方をむいて、少しずつ右を向きながらバイカーが画面に入り込まないようにして仁藤に話しかければ、バイカーがいないものと判定され、そのコメントを得られノートに記述されます。
関連ページ：34P（下）
↓
『ラピスに向かいながらドブ板の５人に話しかける』
DISC１では、ラピスでヒントを貰う為に、５人以上との会話が必要。すぐにはヒントは貰えません。
最後まで話す必要は無く、少し声をかけるだけで、走りながら声をかけていく。通行人でもOK。
関連ページ：なし
↓
『ラピスで幸運の鍵』（PM8:18終了）
関連ページ：33P（上）
↓
『小野さん（バイク屋）にバイカーの話を聞きに行きながら、ドブ板の裏道を一周しながら５人と会話』
関連ページ：34P（上）
↓
『ラピスで幸運の鍵』（PM8:52終了）
関連ページ：33P（下）
↓
『芭月家に戻り、福さんと会話』（PM9:27に再びドブ板に戻る）
ラピスから芭月家まで帰り、福さんと会話して、即ドブ板に戻る。省略モードは使うと数分ロスするので使わない。
関連ページ：32P（中）
↓
『永井興業で吉野（首にタオル）と会話』（PM9:44終了）
関連ページ：36P（上）
↓
『バーYOKOSUKAでアケミと会話』
関連ページ：32P（下）
↓
『そのまま西条と会話。ノートが記述されたのを確認して、もう一度西条と会話。（ノート記述２回）』（PM10:01終了）
関連ページ：36P（下）、37P（上）、37P（中の下）
↓
『満腹軒の山本順子と会話』（PM10:08終了）
関連ページ：37P（中の上）
↓
『ドブ板の５人と会話』
この時間になると通行人が少ないので、バーYOKOSUKAに行くのが一番良い。西条・アケミ・客２人と店の前に立っている湊で５人。
この場合は、36P（下）、37P（上）の記述以降の５人なので、西条・山本順子の二人は既に済んでいるので、正確には残り３人でいい。
関連ページ：なし
↓
『ラピスで幸運の鍵』（PM10:31終了）
関連ページ：35P（上）
↓
『ドブ板の５人と会話（バーYOKOSUKAに行く）』
関連ページ：なし
↓
『ラピスで幸運の鍵』（PM11:07終了）
関連ページ：35P（下）
↓
『岡山ハイツ２０２（タトゥショップ）に行く』（PM11:18終了）
関連ページ：37P（下）、38P（上）

これが最短で済んだルートです。12分残ったけれど、かなり際どい。

I don't really have time to do it right this moment, but at some point I might be able to translate the sequence there, if you need.


EDIT2: Actually, here's what I did, more or less: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9FZJxFvYNk. The first 20 minutes or so is the route, without any of the trips to the fortune teller. I don't know if the guide you're using says this, but you don't actually need to let any of the people you talk to finish their dialogue, when resetting the fortune teller. Just hammer the talk button, then the cancel button, to get them out of their conversations. At the end of the sequence, I go back and forth between BAR Yokosuka, and Lapis, because there's only a few people crawling around at that time, and the most efficient method is to talk with Saijou, Akemi, two of the customers, and Minato (right outside). The second to last visit to Lapis, you just need to talk with three people, because you already talk with Saijou, and Junko (in the restaurant). I had to do that section off-stream, when I did it for real, because it was just a whole lot of resetting, and trying again. At [25:15] I went through all the entries for that section.

Also,

I have to take advantage of the higher chances at the raffle on certain dates for a better chance for a Dural Gold.

What are these, I must know!

[PartridgeSenpai]

I've been playing a bit of Hearts of Iron 4 lately, mostly the Kaiserreich mod like usual. I felt like going back to the main, unmodded game, just to remember what it is like. It more or less immediatley reminded me why I play nothing but Kaiserreich . The main game is so predictable and badly balanced, not to mention the way the bad AI still plays it just makes the game not only take ages but also runs like absolute trash. Britain is still basically invincible, because even with literally no other allies and the UK having no navy, Germany/Italy just have no idea how to use a navy or naval invasions properly, so it's just having your game slowed down by their huge armies milling about doing nothing while also their countries standing in the way so it makes it way harder for you to try and do anything. I just wish so much that they'd give a bit more variance from game to game. Compared to CKII, this game almost seems like a game that's meant to be modded to make it actually interesting to play XP

[Sload Soap]

I'm playing through the PS3 Yakuza games at the moment, or at least the ones I can get hold of. Beat Yak 3 which was pleasing enough even if the story got tatty towards the end. Dad Kiryu and his many sagacious nods were charming even if the Okinawa sections took up too much of the runtime.

Moved onto Yak 4 now. Already enjoying the shift in character perspective and properly updated graphics. Heard mixed things on Yakuza 5, is it worth my time or should I skip it and move to the PS4 entries?

[noiseredux]

I am very curious to hear from you how it is.

Alright so last night I got to a point where I've opened up all of the available land for my park, and pretty much got every area covered in stuff. I'm in "level 9" if you will, and you need the park to have a worth of $1.63M to hit "level 10." My park is worth $1.59M right now. As far as I can tell, your income doesn't effect the net worth. Rather it seems to be the actual physical park itself (the land, and what's on it). Since I own all the land I can, it seems the only way to eek myself to "level 10" (which I *think* would mean beating the actual adventure mode) would be to now tear down some of the cheaper rides/shops/decorations and replace them with better/more expensive ones. The tricky thing is that I'm maxed out on rollercoasters, which are obviously the bigger/pricier pieces. (You're only permitted so many of each thing). So we'll see.

[BogusMeatFactory]

Arenegeth, is this your first time playing Shenmue? How are you liking it so far? Are you having fun?

@noise oh no! I hate it when I hit that wall. It takes some. Mental rearranging to get through it but I know you can do it! You got it.

[Arenegeth]

I forgot to mention this earlier. I spent an enormous amount of time on this, with many, many failed attempts, but it is possible. I was able to get all the entries for that night.

Thank you very much for letting me know about this. The guide I followed, which seems to be the only Shenmue I dedicated Notebook guide online (in English anyway), mentioned that the entry at the Arcade, is impossible to get at the same day as the Parking Lot brawl and the Tattoo Parlor entry. That is not true, you have to speak to the Arcade owner several times, but it unlocks (as is seen in the video you linked to and confirmed by me right after), and is in fact, due to proximity, the first entry to get for this night.

This makes the guide very unreliable, so now I'm wondering if the other earlier two entries are possible to get. Well one of them definitely isn't. The gap after the 3 Blades entry is truly a formatting gap, maybe due to the English translation, as I checked the Notebook script directly ripped from the game and there's nothing there.

The one with the Cat though I'm unsure of, the guide says if you give the dry fish to the Cat you get one entry, and if you give the Tofu and talk to the two gossiping ladies in Sakuragaoka you get the other. Now I'm not sure if it is possible to get both entries.

I don't know if the guide you're using says this, but you don't actually need to let any of the people you talk to finish their dialogue, when resetting the fortune teller.

It doesn't, but I figured that out partly myself while trying to rush this night. However, can I just start a conversation with a second part (where you have to press A to continue) and cancel before that part? I just did some testing and it seems that a random street drunk, and the long haired guy that's always a jerk in the Nagai industries, count for the Fortune Teller even if they don't say anything specific to the Parlor/Hights, at least one of them does anyway, since I also spoke to the two Chinese bar patrons during that interval.

Of course all this is moot in the short term and I have to restart my playthrough anyway, because apparently, I shouldn't have picked up the key from Iwao's desk back at the Hazuki Household, since it affects an entry later in the game. Though the guide mentions it affects an entry early in the game, it doesn't mention the entry much later in the game where the whole basement section plays out.

I had the inclination to restart anyway, since I was very inefficient with my time, partially because I enjoy exploring the gameworld, partially because I was re-familiarizing myself with the controls and the game again, and partially because I thought I had more than enough time with the April cut-off point, but now that it switched to early February, I'm pressed to be more efficient with my time and money.

What are these, I must know!

Well according to this thread over at the Shenmue Jojo, at the dates of Dec. 24 & 25, Jan. 1 - 4, Feb. 14, March 14 the chances of winning at the raffle doubles.

The information is supposed to come from one of the Japanese guides. However someone in that topic did some testing, and figured out that Christmas in particular may have a better chance than the rest, of the so called 'lucky days', since he/she managed to get a Dural Gold twice in the same day. I was saving cans to do my own testing when I got to Christmas, but now that has to wait for my new playthrough.

I'm glad I caught all these issues early in Disc 1 since I haven't spend all that much time in the game yet, and I can go back where I was pretty quick, especially if I ignore everything but the Notebook entries and the optional cutscenes. I will be spending my early money only on scrolls, the Fortune Teller and the Tomato Mart tapes before they cycle out for the next week. I should save all the collectable/arcade/slot stuff after I get a job and have no problem with the money, I can also keep resetting for those.

Arenegeth, is this your first time playing Shenmue? How are you liking it so far? Are you having fun?

No, this is technically my second time playing the game. I say technically because I remember restarting and fooling around a bit back when I originally finished it, which if my original save date is anything to go by was in late 2000, so right at the month of the EU release.

As for having fun? Well my current completionist playthrough doesn't allow me to explore much, and I really like checking every detail in every place, but other than that, yeah is pretty fun going back to Yokosuka after all these years.

[BogusMeatFactory]

Good! As long as you are having fun, I approve of your approach. Although I am baffled personally at the completionist mentality, as long as you are enjoying it, I applaud your tenacity! Keep up the good work and keep up with the updates, because I may finally understand and respect it. If you pull of a journal run in Shenmue I can only tip my cap at you and commend you for hardcore rocking one of my all time favorite games.

Just know that a complete journal run in Shenmue 2 is actually impossible, so maybe focus on the collection, unlocking and beating all the games and unlocking all of the secret events like the duck races and the fight club and the insanely difficult ultimate move scroll!!!

[BoneSnapDeez]

My daughter and I finished a co-op playthrough of Kirby's Epic Yarn the other day. Now we're a couple of hours into Return to Dreamland.

Now, while I've played a bunch of Yarn (single-player) in the past, this is my first time with Dreamland. What a fantastic game! Perfect for playing with a young kid; much like Yarn if the second player gets too far behind they're immediately teleported right to player one. Of course, this one is a more "traditional" type of platformer. You can still lose, but it's very very easy overall.

Kirby is probably the strongest platformer series from the 5th gen forward (I'm one of those people that prefers Kirby 64 to Mario 64).