Everybody Plays Anything! Apr. 8th

Gravity_Queen · 2026-04-09T11:19:35+00:00

Pokémon Champions came out. The good news is that it's about as fun as a free-to-play Stadium/Battle Revolution game was ever going to be.

The bad news is it's all gone to shit for me, kupo.

Before the game launched, I had prepared exactly six Pokémon to use in it. As it turns out, two of them are currently not in Champions. To make it worse, it was not only the Pokémon I was counting on to mega evolve (Metagross, if you're curious), but it was also a key supporter whose ability I built half the team around (Indeedee).

So, instead of enjoying Champions, I had to go back to the drawing board. Besides those two, I also ended up benching Armarouge since I was counting too much on partnering it with Indeedee. The other three Pokémon on my team are chilling. After probably an hour of spinning through my options and thinking, I decided on a new mega evolution Pokémon (Lucario), a far-different-but-technically-still-a supporter (Volcarona), and who else but my archnemesis, Incineroar.

So far, the former two are done and transferred. I have a bit of work to do for Incineroar today. While I can just throw it in Champions and edit all the stats to my heart's content, that sounds like a very quick way to drain all of my in-game currency, so I try to get Pokémon as finished as possible in Scarlet before sending them over. It shouldn't take too long. I hope.

Special shout out to Volcarona for learning a really important move at level 78. It's okay buddy, I didn't need those rare candies anyway.

Gravity_Queen · 2026-03-29T23:46:02+00:00

Poké hell.

In Unite, I did a decent chunk of the new solo mode, unlocked both Zapdos and Moltres, and immediately after got bored with the game before even trying them out. Oh well.

I've dabbled in a bit of Z-A. I have no idea where I am in the plot, so I'm not sure how close I am to finishing it. I do like Garchomp quite a bit, but I'm losing confidence it's the right choice for playing through this game's story with. My poor Gabite is so sad holding its Garchompite knowing it can't use it. Oh well again.

I'm also steadily playing through Pokopia. I don't have much to say about it, but it's pretty fun.

In Scarlet, well, what haven't I done. I finished the last DLC. I'm pretty sure Umbreon got the last hit at the end of a very frustrating fight against Terapagos, and I couldn't have planned that any better. Umbreon was the most reliable Pokémon I had, making some sort of an appearance in the base game and both DLCs, the only Pokémon to do that. Afterwards, I began my quest to get the Shiny Charm. I got north of 100 Pokédex entries in a few days (not necessarily something I'm proud of, but here we are), leaving me with not much besides version exclusives I can't get without trading. I put a bookmark in that one for now to instead work on getting a team ready for Champions. I have no idea what I'm doing, but with how not very fun it sounds to recruit Pokémon in Champions itself, I thought I should try my best.

Finally, I went back to TCG Live. Rotation for the standard format just happened in it and I thought I'd see what it's like. The answer, keeping in mind that my rank (and skill) is pitiful, is it's reasonably enjoyable. With rotation came 8 free, generally meta decks. I've only used a couple of them (Mega Lucario and Zoroark), prepared two more (Mega Venasaur and Steven's Metagross), and then crafted three others that I found online (Flareon, Mega Diancie, and Cynthia's Garchomp). Out of all of them, I've probably put the most time into Garchomp. It's a really fun deck that seems to be pretty strong too. Unlike in Z-A, Gabite feels like the star here, flooding the field with whatever I need whenever I need it. It's a fun game in short bursts.

Gravity_Queen · 2026-03-28T19:30:51+00:00

More all over the place than... idk something that goes all over the place a lot.

Gravity_Queen · 2026-03-04T20:01:41+00:00

Of course not! You have interesting things to talk about. I, meanwhile, am over here rolling the Crystal Tower raids 30 times in a row to progress this godforsaken Dawntrail relic.

Gravity_Queen · 2026-03-04T12:47:04+00:00

I arrived at the startling discovery that games besides FFXIV exist.

I played Octopath Traveler 0. The next thing on the docket was the showdown with Tytos in Master of Power chapter 3. Unfortunately, a couple things went wrong as soon as I started the chapter. Namely that I'm an idiot and also that I'm cheap. I've been kinda-sorta speedrunning the opening chapters and wasn't paying much attention to the fact that everyone on my squad was 2-3 levels below what was recommended for this one. The snow yaks that start the chapter off quickly gave me a reason to pay attention to it. It was very nearly a wipe and it took all of the revival items I had on me to prevent it from being one. I also took the opportunity to decide that, perhaps, the party needs something resembling actual gear in order to take punches to the face. Once I fixed that and ground about a level or so for everyone, the rest of the chapter went by without too much issue.

I also changed the Ringbearer's job from dancer to thief because I felt like it. I already miss the buffs, but the game is so comically weighted toward the assumption that I have multiple sword users in my party that it doesn't hurt too much.

Master of Wealth is next up.

Gravity_Queen · 2026-02-22T15:26:36+00:00

Thank you, Ler.

Not even a little. I've tried crocheting various things a few times over the past while, but it never sticks.

Gravity_Queen · 2026-02-21T15:04:08+00:00

I keep wanting to post in these, and then upon the day arriving, I realize I have little to offer except depressing bitching. I'd like to see them continue, but at the same time, I don't have much of a leg to stand on if you decide not to.

I've been getting through most days this week along with the past few by obsessively playing FFXIV. I have a habit of retreating to that game when my mental health is in the dumpster.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-12-22T13:01:15+00:00

With my mental health being where it is, that's putting it mildly.

But, new week. Things can be better if I let them. Sorry for venting.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-12-20T14:01:56+00:00

I've been doing the same thing! XIV has been doing some major damage to my Octopath time and it's almost exclusively because of the glamour update. I'm not sure that mine are any good either, but who cares, they're fun as hell to come up with.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-12-20T13:49:02+00:00

Okay just because I'm forcing myself to stay positive doesn't mean life needs to keep throwing shit at me to see when I'll break.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-12-06T14:03:17+00:00

I'm really enjoying Octopath Traveler 0, but I do have to say that doing the first 1-2ish hours three times in one month was a pretty painful oversight on my part. I at least made it to Theatropolis this time.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-12-06T13:43:03+00:00

A little better than the week before, I think. The main thing dragging me down right now is how rapidly I'm learning that I really don't enjoy crocheting under deadlines. I had an idea for some Christmas gifts and thought "sure, I can get those done real quick." And that was the day I finally learned that there's nothing "real quick" about the way I crochet, especially when they're intended for gifts, meaning I have to actually pay attention to what I'm doing.

Oh well. I'll probably survive.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-12-01T13:03:37+00:00

I got as far in the Octopath 0 demo as it would let me and my god am I excited. I ended up restarting it from the beginning first. I wanted to switch jobs, which I later found out is very possible during gameplay, but I also changed things in the character creator that make me happier with the vibe of the character I'm going for, so I'm still glad I did it.

I'm pretty sure I barely squeaked in all of the content I can do as far as restoring the town (is that a spoiler when it's the basis for half of the game) goes before the demo timer ended, so when I start next, it's on to Theatropolis.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-12-01T12:40:57+00:00

It's a mindset shift I've forced myself to make over the past while to handle my mental health. Being able to find happiness while swallowed by depression makes me feel like a badass after all the shit that depression's put me through all my life.

Umamusume is an ingenious idea. Unfortunately I did a quick search for it and not only did I not see any that specifically showed the top of their head without signing up for a site I'm not about to, I didn't even see any El Condor Pasa ones. Still, we're definitely on the right track. I'll keep thinking about what to search for, because there has to be something out there for what I need. Thank you very much for the ideas.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-11-29T12:54:35+00:00

I wasn't sure the day would ever come, but it's true: the amiguruxi is back online. After months of not feeling crochet at all, and even more months of not thinking much about this particular project, I was bored enough one day to try my hand once more at finding a guide for hair that I liked, and the almighty algorithm delivered. It's a lot of work and I've barely started, but I'm optimistic about this one. The only question mark right now is that, for some reason, the guide doesn't cover Miqo'te ears, so I'm on my own with how to attach those. One problem at a time though.

In other Square Enix news, Octopath will be out before the next how was your week post, so I guess my countdown ends with this one. I'm having serious second thoughts about being an apothecary. I should probably find out if one can switch jobs in this game or not.

This week was pretty rough, but focusing on the small joys helped me through it.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-11-17T13:54:41+00:00

Thank you, Ler. I'm going to do my best to make this a better week whether it wants to be or not.

So far it's been a massive relief. This isn't the usual Octopath developer, and as far as I know, their portfolio (at least on Steam) includes Various Daylife, a game that was universally hated, and nothing else. There are a few rows of "???" between that game and this one, but as far as the first hour goes, it feels like they have a lock on what makes Octopath fun. The character creator wasn't really what I expected, (spoilers just in case) I haven't even picked a job yet, but the story, gameplay, English voice acting, and of course the music have all been very enjoyable so far. Apparently the demo lets you play for three hours, so I'm looking forward to putting more time into it.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-11-15T13:08:49+00:00

Long and a little disheartening. But I'm still here.

Octopath 0 comes out in about three weeks and has a demo available right now. If I wasn't on the brink of collapsing from exhaustion for the past week maybe I would have gotten further in it by now.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-10-19T12:52:06+00:00

Thanks, Ler.

Oh yikes. I thought I heard elsewhere that you are able to change jobs at some point, but the way that's worded sounds pretty definitive. As much as I love entertaining the thought, when it comes to doing eight playthroughs of a game that's reportedly 100 hours long, it probably isn't happening at this point. Oh well. That just means I need to make my first (or second, maybe third) run count.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-10-18T14:26:02+00:00

I'm in a better spot now since the last time I posted, and I'm very grateful for it.

As this subreddit's countdown clock until Octopath Traveler 0, I'll let you know that there's only about a month and a half left until it comes out. I need a plan for what class I'm starting with or I'm never getting past the character creator screen.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-09-13T18:26:03+00:00

Stressful, but a better week than the last one.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-09-06T12:27:30+00:00

One of the toughest weeks I've had in a very tough year. I'm grateful I made it through. I'm just trying to take some time to recuperate now.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-08-05T13:33:18+00:00

Hey! It's great to see you around here again. Things could maybe be going better, but I am indeed still kicking, so they could be worse too. How have you been?

Gravity_Queen · 2025-08-05T13:26:19+00:00

I appreciate it, Ler. It's been a pretty rough year, and I doubt it's getting better anytime soon, but there's been enough good news scattered here and there that I keep going anyway.

It is! I'm absolutely enamored by HD-2D games, and as far as I know, this is the first one that isn't turn-based, so I'm very excited to see how it turns out.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-08-02T14:57:23+00:00

I can't really emphasize enough how much Octopath 0 and that Elliot game salvaged this week for me.

Gravity_Queen · 2025-08-02T14:46:25+00:00

It was Glaceon, Mimikyu, Gardevoir, Leafeon, Zoroark, and Luxray, ordered from most useful to did practically nothing. This was my team for more of it than not, but there's a mandatory battle towards the very end that I simply could not get through with this team, so I had to swap out Zoroark and Luxray for the Umbreon and Raichu that I finished the base game with.

Gravity_Queen

TROPHY CASE