Peglin

It’s been a hot minute since I fired up Peglin. I was close to completing everything it had to offer. There was only one level of Cruciball left, which I got close to winning. So I said that I would wait for another round of updates, then pick up Peglin again.

After getting the Platinum for Bloodborne, I thought I would be powering through Pokemon Scarlet. It’s Pokemon – how more of a chill game can you get? But more on Pokemon later. This is how I got back into Peglin!

There are still no extra classes. You play as Peglin, same as before. But there is a major change from last time I played – shopping. Each level, there are certain pegs with gold that you collect when hitting them.

This adds a change to Peglin’s gameplay. Especially early on, I found myself throwing pegs with the intention of collecting gold, rather than trying to damage enemies. Do this too much though and you can take more damage than expected. Or as I did a couple of times limit your damage output and just miss beating bosses. I missed beating Peglin’s level 3 boss by 3 hit points because of limiting damage early in the game!

Encountering a shop (assuming you have gold) does offer lots of choices. A selection of orbs, powerups and the option to remove an orb is always on offer.

Peglin has a few other changes, such as new orbs and even bosses. The most exciting bit of news for me right now though is more Cruciball levels. I still haven’t made a big run through the last level I was at, but it’s nice to see all those levels waiting for me!

It was so nice to come back to Peglin after a frustrating couple of work weeks. I did come to bed late one night this week, much to Rabbit’s surprise. Peglin is combat Pachinko, sure. But it’s fun Pachinko, and is surprisingly addictive in its gameplay.

Peglin was a source of relaxation and frustration this week. Everything I have said about Peglin still holds. The simple Pachinko play helped me zone out before bed for a few nights this week. I even managed to level 7 of Cruciball!

My favourite part of this was I beat a new level 3 boss. I am pretty sure the boss has been in Peglin for a while, but I keep getting the four cubes.

So you don’t have to read back, Cruciball in Peglin is like New Game+ in other games. While in New Game Plus generally has stronger or more enemies, Peglin is a little different. Each level a new rule is added. It can be stronger enemies, but it can also be boss battles in the random zones.

And then there is level 8 where I am now. In level 8 Cruciball, you don’t start with any gold and less coin is in each level. Progress has been rather slow, as I can’t seem to stay alive and upgrade orbs! To say I have been getting my butt handed to me since seeing this screen is an understatement!

So Saturday night, all I wanted was a bit of mindless fun to relax with. So I went a little overboard on Peglin’s custom game. Here, you can pick what orbs and power-ups you start with. It’s completely overpowered, but Cruciball progress and achievements are disabled to compensate.

So I had health, multi-orbs, stat boosters, everything just going nuts. Did it make finishing the three levels of Peglin a breeze? Yep. But this round is Peglin’s version of god mode in Doom – sit back and enjoy the stupid fun!

I hit this same wall on Cruciball level 3 (pretty sure – might have been 4) a little while ago. Progressing was just a case of sitting down and looking at what tools Peglin offered. I might have to wait until the break before having a good think about Peglin. It’s all about optimising my path choices now, but I will get there.

I thought it would be a while before I made new headway in Peglin. Work has had me busy, and I needed to stop and think about a plan to try and balance damage, health and recovery. That’s how I got passed Criciball level 3, and it’s just stopping and thinking about it.

Tackling a roguelike and planning network/software architecture are surprisingly similar. Try and pick a path of least resistance, and try and plan for junctions that allow flexibility.

Yep that’s right – I compared picking paths in Peglin to designing computer networks and software. It might explain why it hits that spot in my brain the right way. I can pick a path and setup things (pick powerups), but then users hit the system (launch orb) and things go crazy quickly!

And after a week of planning and executing solutions for clients with… let’s say flexible understanding of their own requirements, I needed a break. Peglin called. I expected to lose, but watching the orbs fall down the screen soothes me.

What I didn’t expect on Saturday morning was to not only make my way through all three levels of Peglin, but to beat them! It was the little win I needed this week.

I would like to say it was my masterful Peglin play or general winning strategy that let me through. I have put some time into Peglin sure, but there was a huge dash of luck in getting the right mix of everything.

It also amazes me how brains work. I did play slightly differently in how I picked my path. I prioritised normal and boss battles more in an effort to get more gold to shop with. It wasn’t until the mines that I realised I was picking directions automatically.

I intended to sit down and think about it for a little while, maybe while taking the boys out the back. Instead, my brain seems to have worked on the problem in the background. I wish I could tap into that ability more often!

Either way, the next level awaits. For anyone curious, Cruciball level 9 increases the self-damage from the large red bombs and extra 5 points. That’s going to be interesting!