A weekly status update from everyone’s favourite caffeinated weirdo.

Welcome back to Whatcha Up To! Coffee here, and here’s to the end of another week. Back to the usual updates, finally. I missed doing these. I missed writing, I missed the creative aspect of it and it feels good to drag my butt back into it, kicking and screaming all the while haha. I’m still day-to-day mentally, but as a friend of mine once said: “The only way to get through a writer’s block is to write!”

Whatcha Playin’, Coffee?

It’s been all about Final Fantasy Tactics this past week. I’ve finally picked it back up and started playing through from where I left off. I finally, FINALLY, got through the Wiergraf fight in Riovanes Castle that I was stuck on for the longest time! It was made much easier thanks to the guide I followed (thanks GameFAQs!). I’m now on Chapter 4 and just got Orlandu AKA Thunder God Cid. HOLY CRAP, is he overpowered! I love it!

After several years of trying to figure it out, I’ve now come to understand just why Tactics is so freakin’ good. The story is captivating and the battle system is pretty easy to understand after you tinker around with it and with equipment loadouts. I mean, Tactical RPGs aren’t my thing, but Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the few (aside from the Fire Emblem games on the GBA) that I’d revisit.

Whatcha Writin’, Coffee?

The focus this week was catching up on things outside Mobius VII. Namely, the Final Fantasy VII Remake critique for The Pixels, and outstanding Backlog Busting posts. I’ve finished the one about Kid Icarus and now I have about four more to write up (five, if you include Tactics). The next one I’m writing about is Shadow Dancer for the Sega Genesis. Should be a fun time.

As for the Remake critique… Did I mention before it’s like a written Hydra? I think I did. And it’s true! Every time I scrutinize one aspect of the game and break it down to its finite elements, an unrelated yet overlooked nugget of information on another important aspect of the game rears its ugly head. And thus, I have to deep dive into that thing, find another nugget and continue that cycle until it reaches its ultimate conclusion. It just goes on and on. But such is the work that I do as a critic and analyzer of video games. I love it, but it can be tedious at times, haha.

Whatcha Readin’, Coffee?

I read a fairly short book this week called A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking. It’s a children’s fiction in the same vein as Harry Potter and it was a great read. It’s something I know my kids would probably enjoy reading themselves when they’re older.

The gist of it is thus: fourteen-year-old Mona is a wizard who makes magic with bread. She brought a sourdough starter to life and has a gingerbread man as a familiar. The story starts with her walking into her aunt’s bakery to see a murdered woman on the ground. What follows next is her unraveling a conspiracy involving the murder of the lower-level wizards in her hometown to a certain Inquisitor’s benefit.

Next on the list will be either A Tale of Two Pasts: Final Fantasy VII Remake or The Seven Murders of Evelyn Hardcastle. Or whatever else comes through my holds in the library next.

How’s Trainin’, Coffee?

Back to it! Did a couple light workouts this consisting of stretching and bodyweight stuff. Nothing too strenuous as I need to build myself back up again. I’ve also taken up some running, but not by my choice. Kid Espresso has been challenging me to races and I don’t back down from a race, even if it’s to my detriment haha. And now my legs (and everything else) hurt as a consequence.

That’s it for what’s been happening recently. Anything new on your end? Let me know below. Otherwise, I’ll talk to you next week!

~Coffee