This week I've been playing games most of the time and haven't worked much. I ate curry beef that I made last Sunday for almost half a week. Although it feels like I'm turning into curry, I realized that I saved a lot of money when I looked at the bill. If I don't consider the price of beef, I would be happy to eat beef every day. After all, it's delicious no matter how you cook it, and it helps with weight loss.
Chained Echoes#
I love this game so much that I have a lot to say about it, so my repo is a mess.
Let's start with the conclusion#
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BBQ Overall subjective rating: 9.5/10
- Story: Smooth storyline with some originality. It can be said that the motivation of each character in the game is reasonable. The story is the biggest plus point. Although the ending may be subjective, I think it's pretty good. Grudges have been resolved, and everyone has become a better person, working hard to face the upcoming crisis.
- Character design: Rarely seen in JRPGs, there are no purely good or purely evil characters. Even the main antagonist's actions are a normal choice from his position. Unlike Dragon Quest, where the demon king is just the demon king, it's purely an antagonist.
- Gameplay: Fast-paced turn-based battles are smooth. The automatic recovery after battles and the unique overload gauge make the battles less monotonous (after all, the rewards from battles are really low).
- Chinese localization: There are many translations in the game like "I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush." I think they're okay. After all, the original dialogues may be quite plain, and these playful translations relieve a lot of boredom.
- Equipment system: I really find the equipment system in this game annoying, especially the crystal system.
- Decryption: It's annoying when you're playing well and suddenly encounter some decryption puzzles that interrupt the smooth gameplay. Although they're not particularly difficult, they're still annoying.
- Art style: The maps are quite beautiful, but I won't say much about the character illustrations.
- Names: This game was made by Germans, and the names are really hard to remember. However, the recognizability of each character is quite high. You can also give them nicknames like "Thief Sister" or "Father Wei".
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Some thoughts#
I tried sesame oil recommended by a friend, and they said this game is fun. It took me a total of 28 hours to complete the game, and I didn't explore much in the later stages. I only obtained two job badges. I started playing the game with my head covered and played for 3 hours. It felt a bit like Octopath Traveler, but everything being shared makes it much more enjoyable than Octopath Traveler. The thing I like the most is that my health is fully restored after every battle. In RPGs, I hate having to scavenge for items everywhere to relieve anxiety. Although the early stages of the story may seem casual, they are still enjoyable.
This game has a fusion of Octopath Traveler and Trails series, a traditional yet modern JRPG game. It also gives me the feeling of the Final Fantasy series and The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. It's been a long time since I played a JRPG with such an interesting storyline.
Who made it? It was made by Germans. Is Germany the home of traditional JRPGs?
In the game, the final antagonist is Moss.
Some Tips#
- Skill points cannot be reset, so if you allocate them incorrectly in the early stages, you will face some challenging battles.
- If you can't defeat an enemy, lower the difficulty. Lowering the difficulty can save more than 5 hours of gameplay time, but it reduces the enjoyment.
- The agility flow is very useful, and the healer is not as important.
- Father Wei is very strong in various ways (he will be tested).
- Don't worry if you can't get some early-game treasure chests. Some of them require the Heavenly Armor to obtain.
- After your skills are developed, prioritize attribute points because you can only equip a limited number of skills.
If I were still a student, I might have played the normal difficulty on my second playthrough. But thinking about the equipment and crystal systems, I don't want to grind (after lowering the difficulty, the crystal becomes unnecessary, and you can easily progress by using whatever equipment you find).
A Friend's Story#
I have a friend who is an accountant. She used to resist the temptation every time someone gave her a red envelope, but today she made an exception.
She was caught in an internal struggle and said she wouldn't accept it next time, and that would be the end of it.
Then she donated 5 yuan to a charity.
It's so similar to the scene of those corrupt officials recalling their first act of corruption.
Harassed by China Merchants Bank#
China Merchants Bank is not doing well. They called me to recommend their services, and after listening for a while, it turned out to be a security service insurance. I thought I didn't need this kind of thing for such a small amount of money, so I said I didn't need it for now.
The telemarketer's tone immediately changed, becoming aggressive. I thought China Merchants Bank had a good reputation for its services. It seems like they've outsourced their telemarketing.
Well, I understand the person making the call. They probably get yelled at by someone every day, and they have monthly KPIs. When they encounter someone like me who is indecisive, it's a waste of their time.
Actually, I already guessed that it was a service sales call before answering. But their rhetoric is really cunning. They start by listing a bunch of benefits, making it seem like those benefits are what you deserve. Then they quickly gloss over the costs with an unclear voice, and ask if you understand both.
I asked if it was necessary to sign up, and she said all their 20 million customers have signed up (meaning everyone has signed up).
How could I sign up for something that requires payment without carefully reading the details? Just hearing a few sentences about compensation and paying only 10 yuan per month, I have to pay extra for normal usage in China for property security. China Merchants Bank can just close down if that's the case.
Photography#
Here's a little life hack: take a random photo with a camera, then use your phone to take a picture of the camera screen. This way, you'll get a polaroid-like photo.
A Boring Story#
I was really thirsty just now, but there was no water at home, so I boiled water and made some hot tea. But it's so hot today, how could I drink hot tea? So, I took some ice cubes from the lower part of the refrigerator and put them in the hot tea.
I feel like I'm quite boring, staring at the ice cubes rapidly melting in the hot water, listening to the crackling sound they make.
My memory goes back to my childhood when my desk mate shared an interesting activity he found during the summer vacation. He would set the air conditioner to a low temperature and then drink hot water outside the room. He would get so hot and sweaty, and then he would go into the air-conditioned room.
It's a pretty boring memory.
Input#
- How to Cook Soft, Chewy, Fragrant, and Shiny Rice | Tribute to Academician Yuan Longping - A discussion on how to eat rice.
- Dream Chef Home - I discovered an interesting website that teaches people how to cook. It seems pretty good.
- The Eternal Trails and the Fantastic Story of Youth - Stories Related to "Trails in the Sky" - Playing Chained Echoes reminds me of Trails in the Sky.
- Playing 150 Anime Songs in a Medley - One of the earliest videos I added to my playlist was by Tako Monkey. It's been a while since I've seen his videos. YouTube recommended him to me, and then I remembered him and checked his views on Bilibili. They're quite low.
- Advanced Usage of Obsidian Leaflet Plugin: Managing Your Travel Photos - I've always wanted something like this, but it looks quite complicated. Still, it's worth checking out.