"Swan Song" Gaming PC has arrived! #AftershockPC #Intel #Nvidia #GeForce #UltimaVI #Exult #DoomTheDarkAges #CivilizationVII #DyingLightTheBeast #Blokees #Transformers #QGCR

As I get older, I cannot play videogames with the same vigour and concentration that I had when I was much younger. So to play my last MMO game (Dune: Awakening of course!) on 5 June 2025, I bought my last gaming PC, the Aftershock Level 5X Intel from the great people at Aftershock PC! And it even came with 4 great game titles:

- Doom: The Dark Ages Premium Edition
- Dying Light: The Beast (not even released yet!)
- Sid Meier's Civilization VII
- Star Wars Outlaws Gold Edition

Here's my 11-day journey with my "swan song" gaming PC:

Wednesday 21 May 2025

My Aftershock PC was delivered in the evening, but I did not have the time to set it up:

Thursday 22 May 2025

Really excited to set up my Aftershock PC this evening. The colours are so cool!

Saturday 24 May 2025

I decided to put in the Blokees Transformers One Optimus Prime figurine inside my Aftershock PC this evening! Check out the various colour options!

Sunday 25 May 2025 to Saturday 31 May 2025

And the really funny thing that I did was to install a CRPG that I could run on older PCs/Laptops! The videogame in question was Ultima VI Remake using the Exult engine:

which I completed in a week. It was a great nostalgic CRPG (the original Ultima VI is 35 years old this year and back then, it was my very first CRPG!), which got the remake treatment using the Exult engine:

Many thanks to the great folks here --> Ultima VI Remake

Saturday 31 May 2025

Which brings us to the next and newer videogame to play: Doom The Dark Ages!

These two games will be added to the next QGCR!

Mar 2025 Quarterly Games Completion Report (QGCR) #Fallout76 #Fallout #Bethesda #Diablo #Blizzard #StarWarsOutlaws #Ubisoft #StarWarsJediSurvivor #QuantumBreak #GamingRetirement

Well, after nearly one year, I bid farewell to Fallout 76, which was the game that got me through some tough times last year, helping me escape from reality. However, life really needs to go on, and I cannot get stuck in this one game.

So yes, Fallout 76 Season 19 was the last season that I religiously collected S.C.O.R.E. points daily to redeem virtual items in-game. This has got to be the longest MMO that I have ever played in my life, clocking in at 1,078.1 hours!

For now, let me announce the games that I have completed (main quests/missions wise) this quarter:

- Diablo IV
- Quantum Break
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- Star Wars: Outlaws

And here is my favourite game this quarter:

Yes, after 8 long years, I have finally opened my copy of Quantum Break (physical copy complete with Game DVDs, Blu-Ray documentary, CD Soundtrack and Collector's Book!). I really should have played this game back in 2016, but better late than never! Third-person shooter, live-action episodes and great time-travel story all rolled into one game!

Also, double Star Wars quarter! I initially put Star Wars Jedi: Survivor as the favourite for this quarter, but that was before I played Quantum Break. So in a way, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is my second favourite this quarter.

Star Wars: Outlaws is like Star Wars: Assassin's Creed, so meh. And as for Diablo IV, there are some new features like horse-riding, but the flavour is gone because it is just another hack and slash, rinse and repeat game to me.

I complain so much these days because I am getting older! And since I mentioned about my gaming retirement last quarter, below is the revised list of games to play before 31 Dec 2027:

Released

- Beyond a Steel Sky 

- Cobra Kai The Karate Kid Saga Continues 

- G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra 

- Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don't Dry 

- Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Dry Twice 

- Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy 

- Monkey Island 2 Special Edition 

- Return to Monkey Island 

- Rise of the Tomb Raider 

- Shadow of the Tomb Raider 

- Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League 

Under development

- Dune: Awakening (releasing on 20 May 2025) 

- Exodus 

- Star Citizen / Squadron 42 
- Terminator 2D: No Fate 

Counting down... until the next quarter!

Dec 2024 Quarterly Games Completion Report (QGCR) #Fallout76 #Fallout #Bethesda #StarWarsOutlaws #Ubisoft #GamingRetirement

We have come to the end of 2024, and it has been a really depressing year for me. Not because of my gaming, but rather my other shit in life. I am not going into details about it because I don't want to bore anyone reading this.

Anyway, I am still stuck on Fallout 76, but I told myself I will end after I get the rewards that I can get for Season 19. I need to move on. Concurrently, I have started playing Star Wars Outlaws. But I could only complete the main game next quarter.

Speaking of Star Wars Outlaws, if you want to know more about the game, I can surmise it in one sentence: Star Wars: Assassin's Creed. I find myself having to sneak around a lot because I don't want to damage my reputation with the various fractions. Ubisoft did add in the spaceship feature, so I can do space battles. Other than that, nothing fantastic, I am just going through the motions.

Therefore, there is no favourite game this quarter. Hopefully it will be more fruitful in the next quarter and next year for everything else in my life.

And now, an announcement that I am planning to retire from gaming in exactly 3 years from now. The reason is because I am not getting any younger, and I will reach the half a century milestone at the end of 2027. So I will list down the games that I plan to complete (story wise) before the end of 2027 here, also as a guide for me to follow before that time (in no particular order to complete):

- Beyond a Steel Sky
- Cobra Kai The Karate Kid Saga Continues
- Diablo IV
- Dune: Awakening
- Exodus
- G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra
- Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don't Dry
- Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Dry Twice
- Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
- Monkey Island 2 Special Edition
- Quantum Break
- Return to Monkey Island
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Star Citizen / Squadron 42
- Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

There are 3 videogames on the above list that have not been released yet as of writing this post. If they are released after 2027, then I will not be playing them. Then again, I might. We'll see...

Sep 2024 Quarterly Games Completion Report (QGCR) #Fallout76 #Fallout #Bethesda #Mafia #MafiaTheDefinitiveEdition #2K #StrangeBrigade #Rebellion

All good things come to an end, and I am playing Fallout 76 a lot less since I have already obtained a few end game weapons and armor. So it was time to move on to other games like Mafia: The Definitive Edition and Strange Brigade.

While waiting for the release of Dune: Awakening (which will be my last MMO before I retire completely from MMO games), I may be back to clearing my "Pile of Shame" games or I could just stop gaming for a while.

Either way, below are the games that I have completed (quest/mission wise) this quarter:

- Fallout 76
- Mafia: The Definitive Edition
- Strange Brigade

Because I had already made Fallout 76 the favourite last quater, below is the favourite this quater:

There are many games in the pipeline that I want to complete and the reason that I was not completing these games is because MMO like Fallout 76 is taking up most of the gaming time. So stay tuned for more reports on how I will manage to get back on clearing my "Pile of Shame" games... or stop gaming for a while...

Met "Ella_Purnell" on Fallout 76 today #Fallout76 #Fallout #EllaPurnell #Bethesda

I have been spending a lot of time on Fallout 76 ever since the release of the Fallout TV series from Amazon Prime. And guess who I saw playing Fallout 76 today. It was none other than Ella Purnell! Well, sort of...

I am guessing this was probably not the real actress, but rather a fan who had taken her name on Fallout 76 and done up a base that had a few references from the TV series, like:

Okie Dokie:

I Hate It Up Here:

Wanna Have Sex? (posing with my online friend whom I told about this place):

I even "met" the Ella_Purnell player at her place while she was cooking something:

and then posing with her:

Even if this was not the real Ella Purnell, it was nice knowing someone is a fan of her work on the Fallout TV series because she is a very talented actress.

Jun 2024 Quarterly Games Completion Report (QGCR) #GothamKnights #Fallout76 #Fallout #Bethesda

As per my previous QGCR, I wrote that I may be approaching games by playing their expansions and/or seasons in the likes of Cyberpunk 2077, Starfield and Skull and Bones. Well, one can really never tell the future or plan a road map to play games.

So I shifted gear and played Gotham Knights, since it is one of my backlog "Pile of Shame" games to play. Then the Fallout TV series happened, and here I went again with another long Bethesda experience. This time, it is Fallout 76.

I still did the "once-in-a-while" streaming on Twitch during this period. Below are the games that I completed and still continuing into the next quarter:

- Fallout 76 (still continuing)
- Gotham Knights

And again, my favourite this quarter goes to yet another Bethesda game:

There are still a few games that I want to play between Fallout 76 and the release of Dune Awakening.  But for now, "War, war never changes..."

Mar 2024 Quarterly Games Completion Report (QGCR) #SkullandBones #Ubisoft

I finally moved on from Starfield, until the launch of its expansion that is. So there is only one PC game that I played this quarter, making it the second time that there is no favourite game this quarter. And the game this quarter is the infamous Skull and Bones:

Even after I have completed the main quests at the end of February, as well as obtained all the items from the Season 1 Smuggler's Pass, I am still playing this game as of the time of writing. However, I have kind of slowed down on this game, until the next season in June.

If you have not guessed it, I participated in the playtest of Skull and Bones last year when I visited the Ubisoft Singapore office. Therefore, I have a soft spot for this game.

Perhaps this will be how I will be approaching games moving forward. Play the same games, like Cyperpunk 2077, Starfield, Skull and Bones because of their expansions and new seasons...

Skull and Bones Pop Up Bazaar Event at Unrival Level 2 at Kallang Wave Mall in Singapore #SkullandBones @Unrival.gg

My daughter and I attended an event today, where we took a few pictures at Level 2 Kallang Wave Mall in Singapore, which was promoting the newly launch game Skull and Bones:

It was an event hosted by Ubisoft Singapore to market the release of Skull and Bones on 16 Feb 2024 to people who have yet to try the game during its free trial, in the hope that they will buy the game after trying it in this pop up bazaar:

Every person who came to this bazzar got a goodie bag that includes a Skull and Bones T-shirt, a Skull and Bones poster, a Skull and Bones coaster and stickers, and a Skull and Bones tote bag:

There was even a place for you to sit and pose as a pirate:

This game is developed in Singapore, and there are many things you can do as a pirate in this game:

Hope to see you in the 7 Seas in the World of Skull and Bones:

Dec 2023 Quarterly Games Completion Report (QGCR) #Starfield

There is no favourite game this quarter, because I kept playing Starfield. Normally I will stop playing a game once I have completed the main quest.  However, because of Starfield's New Game Plus (NG+) mode, I continued playing until NG+11, where I settled down for good.  Obviously if you have not played Starfield, you will not know what I am referring to.

Anyway, as of the time of writing, I still cannot move on from Starfield. So I guess my favourite game this quater again goes to:

Maybe in due time, I can move away from this game. In the meantime, "War, Disease, Famine, All The Classics."

Sep 2023 Quarterly Games Completion Report (QGCR) #Starfield #TheTechnomancer #MarvelsAvengers #LeisureSuitLarry #GIJOEOperationBlackout

3 more months to the end of this year. How time flies!

Because I started streaming Genshin Impact back in June 2023, I have started to stream all my games moving forward, starting with The Technomancer, which I streamed from the beginning until the end of the game. Check out my Twitch channel @ https://www.twitch.tv/cyberdork77

At the start of this quarter, I have compiled a list of games that I will play before retiring from video games entirely, because I will be hitting the big 50 soon! I have also slowed down playing Genshin Impact this quarter,

Obviously, some of the video games on this list are the games that I completed this QGCR:

- G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout
- Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards: Reloaded
- Marvel's Avengers
- Starfield
- The Technomancer

And my favourite this quarter goes to:

And thus, Starfield has now made it to one of my top PC games ranking. You can read about it here.

Again, thank you for reading this blog. Yes, as mentioned, in a few years time, I will stop playing video games and act my age finally. But for now, game on!

Jun 2023 Quarterly Games Completion Report (QGCR) #Diablo #DiabloIIResurrected #DiabloIII #Genshin Impact

Half of 2023 has come and gone. This is definitely an interesting year for me. However, again, this is not about my personal life, but rather my gaming life. I mentioned a hiatus in my previous QGCR, but can any gamer not come out of it for the Diablo video game series?

For this QGCR, I started grinding in Diablo II Resurrected with one of my best friends, as Diablo II is his favourite video game, so why not get him to level me up LOL. It was fun as well to get back into Diablo II with him 22.5 years since the original was released!

Also, I have started to stream my Genshin Impact gameplay because I was inspired by a fellow gamer I met at the Diablo IV event back on 3 June 2023. Check out his Twitch channel @ https://www.twitch.tv/wolftrot45

Anyway, here are the other games I completed this quarter:

- Diablo II Resurrected
- Diablo III: Reaper of Souls

And here's my favourite this quarter:

Not sure what the future will begin regarding my gaming, since I have started to play and stream Genshin Impact on my channel @ https://www.twitch.tv/cyberdork77

So let's just enjoy the moment, and wait for Skynet to evolve from ChatGPT...

Diablo IV event at Reality Rift at Level 5 Bugis+ in Singapore #Diablo #DiabloII #DiabloIII #DiabloIV @realityrift_gg

My son and I attended a Diablo IV event today, where we played Diablo IV for free using the computers at Reality Rift at Level 5 Bugis+ in Singapore.

It was an event hosted by Blizzard to market the release of Diablo IV on 6 June 2023 to people like me, who have not pre-ordered Diablo IV, in the hope that I will buy it after playing the game during the event. As both my son and I were one of the first 10 to arrive before the event kicked off, we scored ourselves a Diablo IV goodie bag each!

Inside the goodie bag was a Diablo IV t-shirt and Diablo IV umbrella. Talk about luck! And during the event, I scored myself a neat Diablo IV keyboard key!

Besides rows of computers, Blizzard and Reality Rift also set up an area displaying Diablo related items and decorations.

It was a fun event, but too bad I did not win the gaming chair and the Diablo IV Collectors Box, despite having 4 lucky draw tickets!

Playtest at #Ubisoft #Uplay #AssassinsCreed

There is one item on my bucket list: participate as a PC game tester! And for the past two days, this was what I was doing, with none other than Ubisoft!

Obviously I cannot disclose any details on the game that I was play-testing, but I can show you this excellent shelf in their office, showcasing their awards and statutes from their Assassin's Creed games:

Can you name which statutes are from which AC games?

Diablo IV Open Beta and Return to Sanctuary in Diablo II: Resurrected #DiabloIV #DiabloII #DiabloIIResurrected #DiabloIII #StarcraftII

I am happy to announce that I have returned to Sanctuary in Diablo II: Resurrected. And one of my best friends of 27 years had speed-run (or is it sped-run) 2 of my characters (Barbarian and Assassin) as of the writing of this post.

Well, one of the reasons for me going back to playing Diablo II, after 22 years since I played the original, is because of the Diablo IV Open Beta from 24 March 2023 to 27 March 2023. While I had fun playing Diablo IV, I don't think I will buy the game when it is launched on 6 June 2023.

This is because first, like I had mentioned in my Mar 2023 QGCR I have 1800+ games. Second, Diablo IV is going to cost around SGD93.00, a price similar to what I had once paid for Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty back in 2010. Now it is free to play on Battle.net.

Yes, I know what you are thinking: so you are going to wait 13 years to play Diablo IV for free? The answer is no, but I will wait until Diablo IV is selling at a discount before I decide to pay for it.

And the above mentioned is another reason why I went back to Diablo II and possibly Diablo III. So I figure that the time I take to play Diablo II:Resurrected and Diablo III with all its expansions will satisfy my Diablo IV craving until such time when Diablo IV is offered at a more reasonable and discounted price.

I know this is messed up, but then again, we are talking about the Diablo game series.

So stay a while and listen...

Mar 2023 Quarterly Games Completion Report (QGCR) #AssassinsCreed @AssassinsCreed #TMNT #NintendoSwitch

Welcome to the end of the 1st quarter of 2023! There have been some changes to my personal life, but I shan't bother you with that, and instead focus on this QGCR.

From my previous QGCR at the end of December 2022, I mentioned I started playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey. And it was a bloody LOOOOONNNNGGGG game.  I mean I got my money's worth, paying USD 7.30 back in 2020, but only got around to play it two years later (I know I know, I am a slacker).

I spent 74 hours playing the main storyline as well as Episode 1 of the Fate of Atlantis expansion! And it worked out to be roughly USD 0.10 for each hour spent playing the game! LOL

Now I am experiencing AC Fatigue, and I will skip AC Valhalla, and most likely wait another year before I play another AC game.

Anyway, here's my list of games I completed this QGCR:

- Assassin's Creed Odyssey (obviously, since I was bitching about it above)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (Nintendo Switch)

And my favourite goes to:

As much as I love the TMNT, this round was just a replay on the Switch instead of the PC version. So there is only one favourite this month.

Yes, after the grueling play of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which was a great game by the way, I just needed to cool off gaming for now. So yes, another hiatus again, but who knows, I may be back next quarter for more games.

Oh yes, my combined Steam/Epic/Origin/Ubisoft/Battle.net/GOG Galaxy/Amazon/etc library of games is around 1800+, so yeah, no shortage of games to play...

Dec 2022 Quarterly Games Completion Report (QGCR) #AssassinsCreed @AssassinsCreed #StreetsofRage4 #NintendoSwitch

It is now the end of the year! There will forever be many games I have not completed. But here are the games I did complete in this quarter:

- Assassin's Creed Syndicate
- Assassin's Creed Origins
- Streets of Rage 4 (Nintendo Switch)

As you can see I have been clearing my Assassin's Creed games this year, so it is difficult to choose one favourite this QGCR, but here it is:

Although I enjoyed Assassin's Creed Origins and currently still playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Assassin's Creed Syndicate was my favourite this quarter because it is not RPG-like like the forementioned two Assassin's Creed games.

Not that I don't like RPG games, I do, but I don't think Assassin's Creed games should be RPG-like.  This is just my two cents anyway...

Sep 2022 Quarterly Games Completion Report (QGCR) #Wolfenstein #AssassinsCreed @AssassinsCreed #FallGuys #StumbleGuys

3 more months to the end of the year, and there are still many games I have not completed. But here are the games I did complete in this quarter:

- Assassin's Creed Unity
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
- Wolfenstein: Youngblood

Since I have started playing Fall Guys and Stumble Guys, there aren't many games to choose from for this QGCR, but here it is:

I actually started playing AC: Unity back in 2020, but I stopped to play our games. Now I am back, and continuing on to AC: Syndicate and beyond...

Jun 2022 Quarterly Games Completion Report (QGCR) #Ultima #TMNT #Torchlight

Half of 2022 has gone, and I was playing mostly retro games this quarter. Well, two retro games, one new retro game, and a sequel, which make out this list of games I have completed this quarter:

- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge
- Torchlight III
- Ultima VII: The Black Gate
- Ultima VII: Serpent Isle

It is very difficult to decide which game I have enjoyed the most this quarter, but it will still come back to my favourite PC game of all time:



Expect more clearance of my backlog PC games for the reminding half of this year!

Ultima VII Part II: A 29th Anniversary Journey Back to Serpent Isle #UltimaVII #SerpentIsle #Exult

What an exhilarating and somewhat tired feeling! I managed to start Ultima VII Part II Serpent Isle on 1 May 2022 and completed it on 13 May 2022.  I played the Female Avatar this time:

Looking back at my previous posts on my Ultima VII experiences, I realised I don't play Serpent Isle as often as The Black Gate.  I supposed I prefer the world of Britannia where it is more open-world as compared to Serpent Isle where it is also open-world, but also rather linear.

Well, this concludes my entire Ultima VII experience this year.  Really not sure when I will revisit Britannia or Serpent Isle again.  Like I mentioned previously, maybe in another 15 years from now, where I will be pushing 60 years old...

"Pleasant dreams, Avatar..."

Ultima VII: A 30th Anniversary Journey Back to Britannia #UltimaVII #SerpentIsle #Exult

So how do you celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of your favourite PC game? By playing it again of course!  And for this special occasion, I have once again travelled back to Britannia to visit my old friends Dupre, Shamino, Iolo and Lord British. I am of course referring to Ultima VII and its sequel The Serpent Isle.  Welcome back Avatar!

I went back to read my previous post and realised that I coincidentally set a milestone for playing Ultima VII. So back in April 1992, I played Ultima VII for the very first time.

I returned to Ultima VII a few times after my first play. And for its 15th anniversary release, I returned to Ultima again and this time documented it in this post on 13 March 2007.

Then another 15 years later from 21 April 2022 to 29 April 2022, because the great people over at Exult (http://exult.sourceforge.net) posted on their facebook to announce that they had released Exult 1.8 on 16 April 2022 (exactly 30 years after Ultima VII was released!), I once again walked through the Red Moongate and experience Britannia in all its original and yet enhanced glory in Ultima VII!

I will start Serpent Isle soon after writing this blog post.

I don't think I will ever get tired of Ultima VII and The Serpent Isle. So I could very well write another post about playing Ultima VII 15 years later...

"Thou hast not age, Avatar!"