June 25, 2025

[EMS] Level 288!

Ding! Time to catch up. I hit Level 288 at the end of last month and with the abundance of EXP rewards from current events, I'm already past 20%. There's going to be a lot of Advanced EXP Vouchers starting July, which is another big boost. I should also note that I now have four Eternal equips and all the important Pitched Boss accessories. What's left are the more expensive ones like Mitra's Rage and the Limbo/Baldrix Eternal equips for which I'll be saving up for the time being, as these continue to drop in price. I have a bunch of (Additional) Potential to get to Legendary again...

Hyper Burning is going effortless. I should have my Marksman done somewhere in July. There's another burning at the end of this event, so I'll probably use that to get my Bowmaster to Level 260. After that, the only Union Champion left to burn is my Wind Breaker as I haven't quite decided yet who'll be my sixth. I've been leaning towards Paladin, which might not be ideal but it'll do the job. Especially with all the skill and knowledge I have. It certainly is a very safe bet...

I'm not really participating in the Challenge World because our version is quite abysmal. I can't be arsed to grind for weeks as I also don't even have character slots for it. What I am doing however is casually working on a Sia for its Skill Link and on-grid Union effect. It's already Level 210+ without much effort, so for the remainder of the Challenge World event I'll be coasting. Ya know, it would've been nice if we knew in advance whether we'll get the Kaling pass.

But forget about all of that: it's time to talk about the juicy news. The silver lining in not doing well means my insomnia is at an all-time high. With so many restless hours I've been speeding through the 6th Job blogpost as it's nearly done. The only chapters left to write are the new skills that'll arrive next month. Give it the usual 2 weeks of in-game testing and by that time, it's already late July. Until then, I'll be finalizing everything else. The 6th Job blogpost is pretty much locked for an August release. I'll give a better estimate on which week I'm expecting to publish it in the next blogpost.

I was also given the opportunity to own a Switch 2 a month earlier than planned, so I took it. I believe it's the first time I've actually bought a console in its release week. Not gonna lie, from the perspective of someone who's sunk years in MKDS: Mario Kart World is a bit all over the place. It's been a reality check and a reminder why the series is struggling to recover from MK Wii's legacy. Don't get me wrong, on a technical level the game's quite the achievement. Loading times are non-existent, the attention to detail is meticulous. The racing experience's both effortless and comfy. But on the other hand, free roam is quite barren and its façade crumbles after some playtime. The game then also becomes a completionist's nightmare as all of the modern Mario Kart issues accumulates into a frustrating experience trying to tackle its final challenges. It's where the game falls apart as winning races becomes a grind for hours, fishing for that one lucky run. No matter how well prepared and skilled you are, the homestretch will take away your agency. Going from F-Zero (G)X on Master Difficulty to this has certainly been a whiplash. Donkey Kong Bananza on the other hand looks to be in good hands. I'm looking forward to play that one next month, and I'll probably share my thoughts then.

Now, what about my thoughts on Cyber Shadow, as I've now played it? It's great. In fact, I'd like to save the topic for its own blogpost as there's a lot of good stuff to talk about. Kudos to its sole developer; he really understands what made the NES Ninja Gaiden trilogy tick and it's clear to see the inspirations he got from some of the other works he's played.

But that's it for today as I'll get back to work on that 6th Job blogpost - I'll Sia guys again next post!

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