So. I've been away pretty much since the start of this year, owing to...complications. Unpleasantness. General inability to cope. All leading to an overwhelming desire to be isolated generally...because I tend to bring down the mood, get very short-tempered, and can't trust people
which is probably no different from normal me. It's no wonder I don't have any friends, haha.
But. I have been busy. VERY busy. I have completed 19 games since I started this blog, and whilst a fair few of them have been short, that's still quite a lot for me this early in the year. When I'm stressed I tend to lose myself in video games, and I've been...weirdly in the mood for games lately. I tend to stumble about a lot between games until I settle on the next thing I want to play - comes from having a terrifyingly huge backlog you will never clear I suppose - but I've had almost laser-like focus recently. Probably because I haven't wanted to waste time on anything, because time is something I don't feel like I have much of at the moment. In a general sense. I don't feel any impending death approaching...I hope.
So I have a lot to cover. But to save time - and my sanity - I'll just write a short recap of what I've played between now and my first post here. If you're interested in more detailed thoughts on each game, I point you in the direction of
my blog, which I have been keeping since the start of last year and have somehow miraculously managed to keep up to date. That has a record of my 2020 gaming progress as well if you're bored and want to read more. xD
Oh! I also got
this. After a morning of misery in which I was trying to work, praying nobody would call me on teams whilst I watched my queue time stay stuck at 22 minutes for 10 minutes longer than it should have. Then getting website crashes which refused to let me see my cart. Then finding out I had TWO in my cart when I finally got there. All with a 30 minute timer before I got booted off the site. I haven't been this stressed trying to get my hands on something since the Fire Emblem Fates Limited Edition fiasco. It was worth it, though - now I don't have to worry about my PS4 exploding in my face. That might sound hyperbolic, but the fan really was THAT loud.
I'll try and keep this updated moving forward with progress as I make it - I'll construct another post with what I am currently playing over the weekend, perhaps - but I am having a rare good moment right now and they never last longer than a couple of days, so...eh, yeah. Gotta take advantage of it whilst I can.
Anyways, this is my progress for the year thus far, with a VERY short summary of what I thought! I don't feel like putting it all in spoilers, though =P
Hue
A fun puzzle game I wasn't expecting to enjoy but got a lot more out than what I put into it...considering it cost me 99p. But the narrative was minimalistic, pretentious rubbish that didn't deliver on the emotional experience it promised. Sometimes less is not more.
Immortals Fenyx Rising
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did...I just didn't like the tone of it. But I loved everything else! I think I was hoping for another Assassin's Creed Odyssey, and what I got was..a bit more diluted.
Children of Morta
Another one of those pixel indie games that is nowhere near as good as advertised. Or at least, nowhere near as good as Hades.
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Just a replay of the remake of my favourite Zelda game. Because I need downtime sometimes. Also replays are good.
Umineko No Naku Koro Ni: Ep 1 Legend of the Golden Witch
Was engaging enough to keep me reading, although god the introduction was tedious as hell. Also, Maria's very existence is cursed. I hate children in video games.
Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line
This game was fucking AWFUL. It was a frustratingly unbalanced, status-effect happy, generally broken mess. Square Enix sequels are cursed. I'd sooner forget I played this.
Grimvalor
A very mediocre Metroidvania that left me wanting more but at the same time being very glad it didn't drag on for longer...and it's designed for NG+ and speedruns. After the first miserable playthrough, why on earth would I endure a second?
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix
I finally cleared every Normal song with an E or above and I am never looking back. Unless they add more songs. Then I'll be downloading it again.
Umineko No Naku Koro Ni: Ep 2 Turn of the Golden Witch
Focusing on the least interesting characters, yet still a rather good read. Mostly. I'm not a huge fan of romance in video games, really.
Langrisser II
This was fucking spectacular and I wish I lived in an AU where this was the pre-eminent SRPG instead of Fire Emblem, because it bloody well deserves to be with such fantastic writing. I really hope the other games get the remaster treatment, because I would love to play more like this.
Sonic Advance
Not sure if I finished this before, but if I hadn't, then I have now. Fuck timers in stages.
Resident Evil 0 HD
Extremely threadbare in places but still quite enjoyable...but definitely showing its age.
Final Fantasy
A replay, but with different characters this time. My appreciation of Red Mages has now gone up quite a bit.
Umineko No Naku Koro Ni: Ep 3 Banquet of the Golden Witch
Probably the best "Just kidding!" I've ever read. Pay-off was definitely worth sticking through this.
Resident Evil HD
*screams in terror as four zombies come bursting through the window*
Resident Evil 2
Leon's side of this, at least, thoroughly deserves the critical acclaim it has received. Claire's...not so much. Not at all, in fact. Ugh.
Resident Evil 3
A colossal disappointment coming off of Resident Evil 2. In fact, this might be the biggest disappointment I've had from this series since I played Resi 5 for the first time.
Super Mario 3D World
I loved almost every second I spent with this, but I think if I had continued on to do the postgame worlds my enjoyment would have ended rather abruptly, so I'm a little unsatisfied. But my masochism has its limits...and so does my patience.
Umineko No Naku Koro Ni: Ep 4 Alliance of the Golden Witch
Finished this last night and I'm still sorting through my thoughts on it.