So, October, with the Puerto Rico fundraiser, wiped my ass out, but it was a great success.
I took most of November to rest, as I went from summer code crunch time to neck surgery to recovery to a month-long intense fundraiser, and I needed to breathe.
So, here's some random shit for you.
The 1UP Rejects
First, some of my fellow 1UP.com community alumni and I have got this thing going called The 1UP Rejects. It's a ... thing. Videos and writing and streaming and shit. Check it out. It's actually very, very early, and doesn't really launch until next year, but take a gander and feel free to go ahead and start enjoying it.
I'm streaming there every Tuesday evening, at 8PM central. Last night was the first stream from the new channel, and it was ... an adventure, but ended up being very successful.
So watch me there, and/or follow this playlist (warning: some NSFW mods in there):
We have a show we're doing every Thursday on the channel, too. 8PM central, also.
Really, there should be stuff going most evenings over there, with a great variety of streamers, and we're starting to get some lunch slots filled, too.
Check us out:
Blog
Twitch
Twitter
YouTube
Facebook
Moving on ...
2017 Games
I've played a few games this year, and the two that left the biggest impact were Divinity: Original Sin 2 and Horizon Zero Dawn. Each of them are easily my favorite games of the year. They are wildly different games, and fed different parts of my soul, but I loved them both. DOS2 tickled my intellect deeply and let me stop and think. HZD was a really cool world and equally cool story with very rewarding combat and exploration.
Go play them both.
Also, any 'best game of 2017' nominee list that doesn't include them both is wrong and should be ignored.
This year, I've also enjoyed Torment: Tides of Numenera, Elex, Mass Effect Andromeda, Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, Uncharted: Lost Legacy, ESO: Morrowind, and Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire. Go play all of those, too. Especially Torment.
What did I miss? What are your favorites from this year? Have you played HZD and DOS2? What'd you think?
I'm still playing through Elex, and I'm really looking forward to Seven: The Days Long Gone, which releases Friday. It's coming from some ex-CDPR devs, and it's isometric stealth parkour steampunk awesomeness.
Shit looks dope.
Follow me on Twitter for more stuff, probably streaming and random thoughts and shit. See ya.
-Blaine
Showing posts with label horizon zero dawn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label horizon zero dawn. Show all posts
20171129
20170921
Horizon Zero Hope
At the end of July, I awoke one Sunday morning with a little soreness in my left shoulder. I asked my wife to rub it out a bit, and she did, but nothing seemed to help. It was a weird pain, too. I played a lotta sports in my younger years, and knew it wasn't muscle pain. It was something ... more precise? More along a straight line? I dunno how to describe it.
Anyway, by about lunch, I'd decided it was a pinched nerve, which I'd had in the same spot a few months before, and it had gone away on its own a couple times.
By that evening, I was starting to squirm with pain. It was starting to get bad, and it was getting harder to hide it from people.
I had already scheduled myself off that Monday, so I could drive the kids around to things while my wife was part of a panel for children's storytelling.
By lunch that day, I had to call my mother to have her take over because my entire left arm was basically useless. It was electrified with pain, and my hand had started to go numb.
I went to the hospital early the next morning. I will say that the one nice thing in this situation is that being a male in your 30s, overweight, with left arm pain, you go to the front of the line at the ER. I did explain several times that I wasn't have a heart attack, but whatever.
They admitted me, and time went by, and I was diagnosed with a herniated disc in my spine. And FUCK, it hurt. I was diagnosed around the first week of August, and then it was discovered I had two herniated discs via MRI, and then, because of the severity, I needed surgery on my c6 and c7 vertebrae, and during the surgery, it was discovered that the impingement was even more severe than they'd thought, and that my spinal cord was in jeopardy. However, my surgeon was a rockstar, and fixed me up. From ER check-in to surgery was 18 days. 'Ozark' on Netflix was great, but 'The Defenders' was a little disappointing.
After surgery, I was laid out for at least a month.
Side note - I'm primarly a PC gamer. I occasionally slum it on console when I have to, but I much prefer PC, for a long list of reasons.
This condition left me basically unable to handle PC gaming for the time being. It was just too hard to get comfortable with my laptop and m/k setup for any length of time. I tried doing some games with just a mouse, and did start a second Tyranny playthrough, but it just wasn't really working for me.
My left hand was still recovering, too. I was getting a little bit more feeling in it every day, and decided that *gasp* a controller might be something that would help me rehab my hand.
I remembered a game that had dazzled me at E3 in 2016, that I'd bought when it came out in early 2017, but had been ignored by me in favor of Torment and Mass Effect.
(FYI - all these pics are mine, taken via screenshot on my PS4 Amateur.)
Horizon Zero Dawn.
I fired it up one morning, and just started seeing what was what. I'd played through the basic tutorial stuff maybe six months prior, and had to take a bit to remember how to do everything, but I eventually kinda got the hang of it, even with a left hand that was slowly coming back from being useless.
So, the main issue I had was everything on the left side of the controller, AND I was already not used to playing games with a controller anymore (I'd 'graduated' from most console gaming during the PS360 days.) I have both modern consoles (XB1 and PS4), but they're mostly for the kids.
The key issue was my left thumb, pointer finger, and middle finger, and the palm near all of those. Pre-surgery, most of the feeling was gone from there. Post-surgery, at first, a little had come back. And then, every day, a little more would come back. Still, movement and aiming was really hard at first, but I loved the game so much, I kept pushing myself to make myself use those digits and make them work.
So, I had a steep learning curve here.
Here's the thing, though. Guerilla Games made a nearly perfect game, especially for someone who was really worried if he'd ever be 'right' again.
I wasn't really talking much to people. I was, and still kinda am, worried that I'll never play guitar again, or feel my wife's cheek with my left hand, or even be able to move like I used to.
All of my favorite things, driving, playing guitar, PC gaming, all of it was taken from me, and I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to do any of it again. Between you and me, I remember one night I got really pissed at my wife over something stupid that was not at all her fault, that was just me lashing out because I was so afraid, and I stormed out the front door (more like stiffly lurched), slid into my beloved Civic Si, and I just sat in the driver's seat and bawled for about 20min. I hit some really low points, man. I was directionless and demotivated and genuinely frightened. I'm not even 40 yet, man, and I was dealing with some serious shit.
Luckily, I'm easily distracted. I read every night to derail my anxiety, even before all this, and I love fictional worlds.
Horizon Zero Dawn has an already fascinating premise, especially for a science fiction junkie like me. Add to that a protagonist, Aloy, played perfectly by Ashly Burch, who doesn't belong anywhere, isn't accepted by anyone, and is in way over her head, and I was really feeling this character.
Horizon Zero Dawn called out to me. And one morning, I finally fired it up, mainly because I wanted to see how fucked my left hand still was. And I was curious to see if I could actually play through a console game.
Robot dinosaurs. Artifact hunting. Trap setting. Pre-battle strategy. Lotsa lore. And a surprisingly smooth controller-driven combat system.
Before long, every weekday morning, around 9AM, I'd fire up the PS4 and Aloy and I would continue our trek until lunch, when we'd break and eat, and then I'd continue on until one of my family chased me off the TV (part of the reason I don't play console much anymore).
I felt her lack of confidence, absolutely, and I shared it. What's incredible about the game is how it allowed me to work with it to boost my confidence. It encourages experimentation. The leveling is just right. Maybe this is something all games do. I don't know. All I do know is that HZD was a really big part (along with some great family and friends) of getting me through one of the most difficult times in my life.
As the weeks went by, the hand got better, the neck/back got less sore, and like I said, I was seeking out challenges. At the start, every encounter with enemies was terrifying, but toward the end, I was all like, 'BITCH, PLEASE' to the bigger machines. That's something I rarely do in games. I usually like to just get the story, and then bail. In this case, though, I loved the world so much, I was pulling up bandit fortress locations and cauldron locations on my iPad Mini, and I actually got a little obsessed with hitting level 50.
I'll never forget, toward the end, barely being able to get out of my recliner and walk, but I was hunting for Thunderjaws and Stormbirds to take down. I was filled with confidence, and I began using that same confidence to get off my butt and start taking walks around the block, and to fill my mind with positivity and hope.
Hope.
That was the main thing HZD gave me. Hope. At the start, the game does an incredible job of presenting to the player a very daunting world. It also gives you all the tools you need to succeed, but it's up to the player to figure out how best to deal with it all. (pro-tip, the Ropecaster is your best goddam friend toward the end)
Horizon Zero Dawn filled my mind. It gave me a place to protect and nurture my soul as my body mended. Aloy's world was a vast and intimidating one, but it was also one that I came to know I could exist in while I needed to give my body time to do its thing.
As my medical leave wound down, I started getting concerned that I wouldn't finish the game before I had to return to Earth. Something in me told me that Aloy and I needed to see this all the way through, or I wouldn't be ready to face the world again. Like I said, I'd hit a point in which I was running around, trophy-hunting, and then one day, I decided to take the plunge. It was time to face the big bad. And we did it. Aloy and I completed the task, and goddamit, that ending got me. I had tears streaming down my face. On one hand, the ending was that touching, but on the other, I knew it was time to take the confidence I'd built up in HZD, and translate that to returning to Earth. She and I were saying goodbye (well, until November 7 this year.)
There was one other lesson that Aloy imparted to me, though. I wasn't going to return to my old life. She'd affected change. That was something I could do, too. I didn't really wanna return to my old life. Nothing about it was horrible, at all, but there are things out there that I want to do that I've made reasons not to do, and I'm already taking steps in that direction now. Long story short, I haven't had a proper outlet for a long time, and I'm crafting one for myself. Creativity is essential to what I am.
I still feel like I haven't explained this well. Every so often, a game or a film or a record or a novel is there at exactly the right time, and ya just merge with it.
As for now ... I'm much better than I was, even if it's been hard to return to Earth. I'm really sore, I have most of my feeling back, and when you been outta the game for a couple months, it just takes a while to get back into the rhythm of Earth.
The plan is to write here some more, stream some more, and just be a little more 'involved' in the gaming world, instead of just lurking in its fringes.
I also really wanna talk about Divinity: Original Sin 2 soon. I am loving that game, as well.
-Blaine
Anyway, by about lunch, I'd decided it was a pinched nerve, which I'd had in the same spot a few months before, and it had gone away on its own a couple times.
By that evening, I was starting to squirm with pain. It was starting to get bad, and it was getting harder to hide it from people.
I had already scheduled myself off that Monday, so I could drive the kids around to things while my wife was part of a panel for children's storytelling.
By lunch that day, I had to call my mother to have her take over because my entire left arm was basically useless. It was electrified with pain, and my hand had started to go numb.
I went to the hospital early the next morning. I will say that the one nice thing in this situation is that being a male in your 30s, overweight, with left arm pain, you go to the front of the line at the ER. I did explain several times that I wasn't have a heart attack, but whatever.
They admitted me, and time went by, and I was diagnosed with a herniated disc in my spine. And FUCK, it hurt. I was diagnosed around the first week of August, and then it was discovered I had two herniated discs via MRI, and then, because of the severity, I needed surgery on my c6 and c7 vertebrae, and during the surgery, it was discovered that the impingement was even more severe than they'd thought, and that my spinal cord was in jeopardy. However, my surgeon was a rockstar, and fixed me up. From ER check-in to surgery was 18 days. 'Ozark' on Netflix was great, but 'The Defenders' was a little disappointing.
After surgery, I was laid out for at least a month.
Side note - I'm primarly a PC gamer. I occasionally slum it on console when I have to, but I much prefer PC, for a long list of reasons.
This condition left me basically unable to handle PC gaming for the time being. It was just too hard to get comfortable with my laptop and m/k setup for any length of time. I tried doing some games with just a mouse, and did start a second Tyranny playthrough, but it just wasn't really working for me.
My left hand was still recovering, too. I was getting a little bit more feeling in it every day, and decided that *gasp* a controller might be something that would help me rehab my hand.
I remembered a game that had dazzled me at E3 in 2016, that I'd bought when it came out in early 2017, but had been ignored by me in favor of Torment and Mass Effect.
Horizon Zero Dawn.
I fired it up one morning, and just started seeing what was what. I'd played through the basic tutorial stuff maybe six months prior, and had to take a bit to remember how to do everything, but I eventually kinda got the hang of it, even with a left hand that was slowly coming back from being useless.
So, the main issue I had was everything on the left side of the controller, AND I was already not used to playing games with a controller anymore (I'd 'graduated' from most console gaming during the PS360 days.) I have both modern consoles (XB1 and PS4), but they're mostly for the kids.
The key issue was my left thumb, pointer finger, and middle finger, and the palm near all of those. Pre-surgery, most of the feeling was gone from there. Post-surgery, at first, a little had come back. And then, every day, a little more would come back. Still, movement and aiming was really hard at first, but I loved the game so much, I kept pushing myself to make myself use those digits and make them work.
So, I had a steep learning curve here.
Here's the thing, though. Guerilla Games made a nearly perfect game, especially for someone who was really worried if he'd ever be 'right' again.
I wasn't really talking much to people. I was, and still kinda am, worried that I'll never play guitar again, or feel my wife's cheek with my left hand, or even be able to move like I used to.
All of my favorite things, driving, playing guitar, PC gaming, all of it was taken from me, and I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to do any of it again. Between you and me, I remember one night I got really pissed at my wife over something stupid that was not at all her fault, that was just me lashing out because I was so afraid, and I stormed out the front door (more like stiffly lurched), slid into my beloved Civic Si, and I just sat in the driver's seat and bawled for about 20min. I hit some really low points, man. I was directionless and demotivated and genuinely frightened. I'm not even 40 yet, man, and I was dealing with some serious shit.
Luckily, I'm easily distracted. I read every night to derail my anxiety, even before all this, and I love fictional worlds.
Horizon Zero Dawn has an already fascinating premise, especially for a science fiction junkie like me. Add to that a protagonist, Aloy, played perfectly by Ashly Burch, who doesn't belong anywhere, isn't accepted by anyone, and is in way over her head, and I was really feeling this character.
Horizon Zero Dawn called out to me. And one morning, I finally fired it up, mainly because I wanted to see how fucked my left hand still was. And I was curious to see if I could actually play through a console game.
Robot dinosaurs. Artifact hunting. Trap setting. Pre-battle strategy. Lotsa lore. And a surprisingly smooth controller-driven combat system.
Before long, every weekday morning, around 9AM, I'd fire up the PS4 and Aloy and I would continue our trek until lunch, when we'd break and eat, and then I'd continue on until one of my family chased me off the TV (part of the reason I don't play console much anymore).
I felt her lack of confidence, absolutely, and I shared it. What's incredible about the game is how it allowed me to work with it to boost my confidence. It encourages experimentation. The leveling is just right. Maybe this is something all games do. I don't know. All I do know is that HZD was a really big part (along with some great family and friends) of getting me through one of the most difficult times in my life.
As the weeks went by, the hand got better, the neck/back got less sore, and like I said, I was seeking out challenges. At the start, every encounter with enemies was terrifying, but toward the end, I was all like, 'BITCH, PLEASE' to the bigger machines. That's something I rarely do in games. I usually like to just get the story, and then bail. In this case, though, I loved the world so much, I was pulling up bandit fortress locations and cauldron locations on my iPad Mini, and I actually got a little obsessed with hitting level 50.
I'll never forget, toward the end, barely being able to get out of my recliner and walk, but I was hunting for Thunderjaws and Stormbirds to take down. I was filled with confidence, and I began using that same confidence to get off my butt and start taking walks around the block, and to fill my mind with positivity and hope.
Hope.
That was the main thing HZD gave me. Hope. At the start, the game does an incredible job of presenting to the player a very daunting world. It also gives you all the tools you need to succeed, but it's up to the player to figure out how best to deal with it all. (pro-tip, the Ropecaster is your best goddam friend toward the end)
Horizon Zero Dawn filled my mind. It gave me a place to protect and nurture my soul as my body mended. Aloy's world was a vast and intimidating one, but it was also one that I came to know I could exist in while I needed to give my body time to do its thing.
As my medical leave wound down, I started getting concerned that I wouldn't finish the game before I had to return to Earth. Something in me told me that Aloy and I needed to see this all the way through, or I wouldn't be ready to face the world again. Like I said, I'd hit a point in which I was running around, trophy-hunting, and then one day, I decided to take the plunge. It was time to face the big bad. And we did it. Aloy and I completed the task, and goddamit, that ending got me. I had tears streaming down my face. On one hand, the ending was that touching, but on the other, I knew it was time to take the confidence I'd built up in HZD, and translate that to returning to Earth. She and I were saying goodbye (well, until November 7 this year.)
There was one other lesson that Aloy imparted to me, though. I wasn't going to return to my old life. She'd affected change. That was something I could do, too. I didn't really wanna return to my old life. Nothing about it was horrible, at all, but there are things out there that I want to do that I've made reasons not to do, and I'm already taking steps in that direction now. Long story short, I haven't had a proper outlet for a long time, and I'm crafting one for myself. Creativity is essential to what I am.
I still feel like I haven't explained this well. Every so often, a game or a film or a record or a novel is there at exactly the right time, and ya just merge with it.
As for now ... I'm much better than I was, even if it's been hard to return to Earth. I'm really sore, I have most of my feeling back, and when you been outta the game for a couple months, it just takes a while to get back into the rhythm of Earth.
The plan is to write here some more, stream some more, and just be a little more 'involved' in the gaming world, instead of just lurking in its fringes.
I also really wanna talk about Divinity: Original Sin 2 soon. I am loving that game, as well.
-Blaine
Returning From Spinal Surgery
Hey All,
I am alive. I've been away. I'm recovering from spinal surgery right now. I'm mostly OK, but still missing some feeling in some areas of my body, and my neck, where I had the surgery, is pretty stiff.
I'm going to start doing more thoughtful and critical writing about games in this space, as well as some peripheral topics that will probably include media in general, and occasionally, sports and music.
I had a lot of time to just to sit and think, and one of the things that really sunk in was how much I need an outlet, and how much I enjoy writing. I also have an idea for a mod for Divinity: Original Sin 2 that I wanna get going on.
Oh, and Horizon: Zero Dawn and Divinity: Original Sin 2 are both incredible games.
I'm also going to get some streaming going soon.
-Blaine
I am alive. I've been away. I'm recovering from spinal surgery right now. I'm mostly OK, but still missing some feeling in some areas of my body, and my neck, where I had the surgery, is pretty stiff.
I'm going to start doing more thoughtful and critical writing about games in this space, as well as some peripheral topics that will probably include media in general, and occasionally, sports and music.
I had a lot of time to just to sit and think, and one of the things that really sunk in was how much I need an outlet, and how much I enjoy writing. I also have an idea for a mod for Divinity: Original Sin 2 that I wanna get going on.
Oh, and Horizon: Zero Dawn and Divinity: Original Sin 2 are both incredible games.
I'm also going to get some streaming going soon.
-Blaine
20170320
Aaand we're back!
Woof! I'm back home! What a whirlwind couple of weeks! Florida, as always, was amazing. I never thought I'd be one of those people that treasures going to Florida once or more per year, but I am, and it's rad. If you live in the midwest, and don't give a shit at all about 'going to the lake,' then maybe you feel me.
Maybe I'l try 'going to the lake' this summer. Hmm.
Anyway, I'm back. I'm returning to work on Wednesday. I'm taking tomorrow to play Mass Effect: Andromeda all day. About this, I am incredibly excited.
I know MEA's reviews have been all over the place. I'm surprised at how defensive I feel about that, and I shouldn't feel defensive at all. I worry, of course, that might impact whether EA allows BioWare to make another Mass Effect, and I'm also just soured that other people don't love what I love. I guess that's part of being human, but it's also a stupid way to feel. I shouldn't care at all what people think of something that I love, but I guess even I'm subject to the stupid behaviors on the internet.
Oh well. I just gotta suffocate that tendency. And it's not like I haven't seen in every single person that I know. We shouldn't care, we tell each other that we shouldn't care, and we all do. Oh well.
I really do adore the game. I played the length of the single player trial and had a blast. I liked the slow pacing and exposition. I get why the slow pacing might irritate someone under a deadline, or why that goes against the grain of modern gaming style, but it suits me just fine.
Anyway, I'm back.
And I went from no new games to play to Torment: Tides of Numenera, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and MEA all being slammed down on the table in front of me. It's a good problem to have. If I clear them all by the end of April, when I get Dawn of War III and Prey, I'll be just fine.
I'm also starting my KotOR stream this week ... I think. My plan is to start a new stream series with KotOR 1&2. I'll be streaming 2-3 times a week. I'll be rocking lotsa mods. Good times.
Tentatively, we're looking at Thursday and Friday nights on my Twitch stream, and then that'll be uploaded to my YouTube channel.
What kind of stuff do you all wanna see in the stream? Or hear about? I plan to drop some Star Wars Expanded Universe knowledge, and any fun development anecdotes that I can find, as well as fun personal stories that tie into it.
So, that's how the gaming front is looking. MEA will probably take top billing for me for now, but I'm also loving Torment and HZD. And I'm REALLY excited about the KotOR stream series I'll be doing.
That's it, for now. I need to get back to getting my ducks in a row. *HUGS*
-Blaine
Maybe I'l try 'going to the lake' this summer. Hmm.
Anyway, I'm back. I'm returning to work on Wednesday. I'm taking tomorrow to play Mass Effect: Andromeda all day. About this, I am incredibly excited.
I know MEA's reviews have been all over the place. I'm surprised at how defensive I feel about that, and I shouldn't feel defensive at all. I worry, of course, that might impact whether EA allows BioWare to make another Mass Effect, and I'm also just soured that other people don't love what I love. I guess that's part of being human, but it's also a stupid way to feel. I shouldn't care at all what people think of something that I love, but I guess even I'm subject to the stupid behaviors on the internet.
Oh well. I just gotta suffocate that tendency. And it's not like I haven't seen in every single person that I know. We shouldn't care, we tell each other that we shouldn't care, and we all do. Oh well.
I really do adore the game. I played the length of the single player trial and had a blast. I liked the slow pacing and exposition. I get why the slow pacing might irritate someone under a deadline, or why that goes against the grain of modern gaming style, but it suits me just fine.
Anyway, I'm back.
And I went from no new games to play to Torment: Tides of Numenera, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and MEA all being slammed down on the table in front of me. It's a good problem to have. If I clear them all by the end of April, when I get Dawn of War III and Prey, I'll be just fine.
I'm also starting my KotOR stream this week ... I think. My plan is to start a new stream series with KotOR 1&2. I'll be streaming 2-3 times a week. I'll be rocking lotsa mods. Good times.
Tentatively, we're looking at Thursday and Friday nights on my Twitch stream, and then that'll be uploaded to my YouTube channel.
What kind of stuff do you all wanna see in the stream? Or hear about? I plan to drop some Star Wars Expanded Universe knowledge, and any fun development anecdotes that I can find, as well as fun personal stories that tie into it.
So, that's how the gaming front is looking. MEA will probably take top billing for me for now, but I'm also loving Torment and HZD. And I'm REALLY excited about the KotOR stream series I'll be doing.
That's it, for now. I need to get back to getting my ducks in a row. *HUGS*
-Blaine
20170306
Travel Gaming
I'm a few days out from hitting the road (er, air) to travel for a couple weeks, as I do every March, and as I do every March, I'm contemplating my travel gaming setup.
All Spring Training pictures are mine, by the way.
Things To Consider
First, we're flying this year instead of driving, which is rare. We'll probably resume driving again next year, but we wanted a break from the Missouri-Florida drive for a year, and to be able to maximize time at Spring Training and Key West. I've seen way more of Georgia and Georgia drivers than I ever need to see again. It's a beautiful state with nice people, but FUCK, they cannot drive.
Less travel time means less setting up and breaking down of my laptop setup (which is my usual gaming setup anyway), which will be nice.
The laptop is too big to really use in the car, and is definitely too big to use on a plane.
I have a Vita and 3DS, but even when we drive, I don't play them in the car, as I like to do nearly all the driving myself. I have a hard time relaxing if someone else is driving. Yeah, I'm THAT fucking guy.
Vacation Time vs Gaming Time
I'm not one of those people that believes 'you're on vacation, therefore, you can only have vacation fun!' Yes, I'm in Florida, but I also have time away from responsibility and the daily churn, so you're fucking right that I'm carving time out in Key West to game. Besides, Torment just came out!
I also want to stop lugging extra shit around. The Vita is a nifty little machine, and the fact that I can remote to my PS4 with it (though my PC can do this, too) is super-rad. I hate the lack of R2 and L2, though, and the rear touchpad is totally unacceptable as a replacement.
The 3DS ... meh ... I just haven't ever fallen in love with it.
Though Bravely Default looks dope as hell.
And then there's my iOS devices. I've yet to ever really enjoy playing something on a phone, but that doesn't mean I'll quit trying occasionally. I've got a Phoenix Wright game on there (I LOVED those back on the DS), and a handful of Final Fantasy titles, which are also on the Vita, and which I also have on Steam. Man, if I could share saves across all those, that would be super-rad.
Honestly, ideally, I'll set up near the pool in the back of the house in Key West, and rock some more Torment.
Though, Mass Effect Andromeda is hitting early access via Origin Access during my last few days in Key West ...
The Plan
So, this trip is my annual pilgrimage to Cardinals Spring Training, which is the single-most relaxing thing I do every year. Some years, though, the trophy wife makes some noise about wanting to spend less time (or no time) traveling with the team, and instead wants to hang out down in the Keys, at one of my parents' houses.
While in Jupiter, most of my time is occupied by two things: baseball and dining. I love the food down there, and it's the only seafood I'll eat. Florida has utterly wrecked fish for me. I won't eat any in Missouri anymore.
Also, the kids and us are crammed into a hotel room together, and we have a bunch of family there, so I get very little mouse/keyboard time. Maybe this is an ideal time to convince myself that I should try a portable game again?
We're cutting my Spring Training trip a little short this year so that we can spend almost a week in Key West (*sob*), and that's where I plan to get a little more time gaming, though it will be outside. And yeah, I'll do shit with actual humans, too, but goddam, keep your judgment to yourself.
I would really like to finish Torment while I'm on vacation, if possible, but only if I can do it and have an immersive experience. We'll see. I absolutely love the game, but my understanding is that it's not nearly as along as what I've been playing lately, and that it's clocking in at around 30 hours. Like I said, we'll see.
We're back a few days before Mass Effect officially releases, but I've extended my vacation to the day after Mass Effect releases, so that I can have some time to spend with it.
And then, after a pretty crazy March (Torment, Horizon, MEA, Spring Training, Key West), we have a VERY quiet April, until Dawn of War 3 on 4/27, and then a super-fun weekend trip to South Beach in Miami, which also coincides with Prey's release. It's an awesome spring, after an absolute shit winter.
Wrapping Up
I just suck at portable gaming. I have both the 3DS and Vita, and just have a hard time bringing myself to play much on them. I played quite a bit on the GBA and DS, but at some point, I just stopped giving a shit. My gaming laptops have provided an amazing, if bulky, experience.
I'd like to enjoy the portable games a bit more. I've nearly given up on mobile gaming (cell phones). I'm glad that a lot of people find experiences that they don't feel are complete wastes of time, but I am not among them.
Oh, hey, look, it's a Dawn of War trailer!
-Blaine
All Spring Training pictures are mine, by the way.
Things To Consider
First, we're flying this year instead of driving, which is rare. We'll probably resume driving again next year, but we wanted a break from the Missouri-Florida drive for a year, and to be able to maximize time at Spring Training and Key West. I've seen way more of Georgia and Georgia drivers than I ever need to see again. It's a beautiful state with nice people, but FUCK, they cannot drive.
Less travel time means less setting up and breaking down of my laptop setup (which is my usual gaming setup anyway), which will be nice.
The laptop is too big to really use in the car, and is definitely too big to use on a plane.
I have a Vita and 3DS, but even when we drive, I don't play them in the car, as I like to do nearly all the driving myself. I have a hard time relaxing if someone else is driving. Yeah, I'm THAT fucking guy.
Vacation Time vs Gaming Time
I'm not one of those people that believes 'you're on vacation, therefore, you can only have vacation fun!' Yes, I'm in Florida, but I also have time away from responsibility and the daily churn, so you're fucking right that I'm carving time out in Key West to game. Besides, Torment just came out!
I also want to stop lugging extra shit around. The Vita is a nifty little machine, and the fact that I can remote to my PS4 with it (though my PC can do this, too) is super-rad. I hate the lack of R2 and L2, though, and the rear touchpad is totally unacceptable as a replacement.
The 3DS ... meh ... I just haven't ever fallen in love with it.
Though Bravely Default looks dope as hell.
And then there's my iOS devices. I've yet to ever really enjoy playing something on a phone, but that doesn't mean I'll quit trying occasionally. I've got a Phoenix Wright game on there (I LOVED those back on the DS), and a handful of Final Fantasy titles, which are also on the Vita, and which I also have on Steam. Man, if I could share saves across all those, that would be super-rad.
Honestly, ideally, I'll set up near the pool in the back of the house in Key West, and rock some more Torment.
Though, Mass Effect Andromeda is hitting early access via Origin Access during my last few days in Key West ...
The Plan
So, this trip is my annual pilgrimage to Cardinals Spring Training, which is the single-most relaxing thing I do every year. Some years, though, the trophy wife makes some noise about wanting to spend less time (or no time) traveling with the team, and instead wants to hang out down in the Keys, at one of my parents' houses.
While in Jupiter, most of my time is occupied by two things: baseball and dining. I love the food down there, and it's the only seafood I'll eat. Florida has utterly wrecked fish for me. I won't eat any in Missouri anymore.
Also, the kids and us are crammed into a hotel room together, and we have a bunch of family there, so I get very little mouse/keyboard time. Maybe this is an ideal time to convince myself that I should try a portable game again?
We're cutting my Spring Training trip a little short this year so that we can spend almost a week in Key West (*sob*), and that's where I plan to get a little more time gaming, though it will be outside. And yeah, I'll do shit with actual humans, too, but goddam, keep your judgment to yourself.
I would really like to finish Torment while I'm on vacation, if possible, but only if I can do it and have an immersive experience. We'll see. I absolutely love the game, but my understanding is that it's not nearly as along as what I've been playing lately, and that it's clocking in at around 30 hours. Like I said, we'll see.
We're back a few days before Mass Effect officially releases, but I've extended my vacation to the day after Mass Effect releases, so that I can have some time to spend with it.
And then, after a pretty crazy March (Torment, Horizon, MEA, Spring Training, Key West), we have a VERY quiet April, until Dawn of War 3 on 4/27, and then a super-fun weekend trip to South Beach in Miami, which also coincides with Prey's release. It's an awesome spring, after an absolute shit winter.
Wrapping Up
I just suck at portable gaming. I have both the 3DS and Vita, and just have a hard time bringing myself to play much on them. I played quite a bit on the GBA and DS, but at some point, I just stopped giving a shit. My gaming laptops have provided an amazing, if bulky, experience.
I'd like to enjoy the portable games a bit more. I've nearly given up on mobile gaming (cell phones). I'm glad that a lot of people find experiences that they don't feel are complete wastes of time, but I am not among them.
Oh, hey, look, it's a Dawn of War trailer!
-Blaine
20170301
Torment is Torment
Torment: Tides of Numenera is a profound experience for me, and I wanna tell you why.
I'm going to, and it won't take long, but I wanna say something else first.
Not everyone needs to like the same things that you do, or that I do. In fact, that kind of diversity can make latent experiences seem fresh. I didn't come into cRPGs until waaaay late in the game, and now I love them, and I have a huge library from which to choose. Tastes also inform a lot about a person's perspective, which I find interesting, as well.
Also, beware something that only you love becoming popular. No, your original experience aren't at all tainted, but there's a framework in place that says if 'game x' or 'band x' or whatever becomes popular, then its next effort needs to try and appeal to an even bigger audience, and that's where it all falls apart. By trying to appeal to everyone, you end up being loved by no one. You might sell well, but there's not gonna be that person that really latches onto something you've put out there, really relates to it, and then carries it with them their whole life. Look at what EA has done to Dragon Age. DAO and DA2 were intimate experiences with personal stories and great pacing. DAI was ... not. Look at what happened to Star Trek. It went from a thoughtful, pondering franchise to a generic action movie trilogy. Yuck. There's no soul in any of it, and people figure that out after a while.
And don't get me wrong. I fucking hate 'indie fans.' The people that make it their goal in life to only listen to the bands you've never heard of, to swoon over yet another cheap-looking 2D platformer, or to only celebrate films with budgets less than the average income in small town Missouri. There are great big-budget mainstream experiences to be had, just as there are great low-budget experiences to be had.
Along those lines, I've really been enjoying Horizon Zero Dawn, still wish so much that it was on PC, but I adore it nonetheless, and I have many praises for it.
But, Torment ... goddam ... this thing reaches right into my soul and just masturbates it. It's a profound experience, and every time I wanted to try something I thought might break most games, or just wouldn't be an option, I could do here. I'm trying to talk around this, without giving away spoilers.
On a superficial level, it looks like Pillars of Eternity. It's the same engine, actually. This has a totally different color palette, plays very differently (Pillars is real-time, this is turn-based), and most of the mechanics are totally different. Perspective-wise, though, it's highly similar.
And it's really detail-oriented. This is not at all a game that caters to the ADD crowd (I have ADHD, by the way), which I appreciate. It challenges you to pay fucking attention, it has a ton of text, it has a lot of strategy, and it treats you like an adult. If you don't want to ever fight, you don't have to. If your skills are allocated properly, you can never fight. I've had a small amount of combat, by choice, but for the most part, I've been bullshitting my way out of conflicts. It's awesome.
The combat itself is great, but I'm trying to accomplish a specific goal in this playthrough, which I'll talk about in a separate post some other time.
The companions are rich, too. So are the conversations. The writing is great. Oh, and the lore. By the Maker, the lore is amazing, and sooo deep. I've been reading through the novellas, hitting the wiki, pulling out the map, and I still can't get enough. Also, if you're interested, it's based on the Numenera tabletop RPG.
So, seriously, check it out. Give it a shot. I've seen very little coverage on it relative to Horizon, which is absolutely deserving of adulation, but I really think people might enjoy Torment, if they try it. If you're not into cRPGs, it'll be an adjustment, but it'll be a worthwhile one.
Anyway, I'm gonna go play some more.
The Road to Andromeda
Starting tomorrow night, I'm finishing the fight, and starting the end of Mass Effect 3. Come hang out, shoot the breeze, and help me wrap this up. I'll be on Twitch at 2000central/2100eastern. The previous episodes are in a playlist here, and these will be added after.
So, any thoughts on Torment? Lemme know!
-Blaine
I'm going to, and it won't take long, but I wanna say something else first.
Not everyone needs to like the same things that you do, or that I do. In fact, that kind of diversity can make latent experiences seem fresh. I didn't come into cRPGs until waaaay late in the game, and now I love them, and I have a huge library from which to choose. Tastes also inform a lot about a person's perspective, which I find interesting, as well.
Also, beware something that only you love becoming popular. No, your original experience aren't at all tainted, but there's a framework in place that says if 'game x' or 'band x' or whatever becomes popular, then its next effort needs to try and appeal to an even bigger audience, and that's where it all falls apart. By trying to appeal to everyone, you end up being loved by no one. You might sell well, but there's not gonna be that person that really latches onto something you've put out there, really relates to it, and then carries it with them their whole life. Look at what EA has done to Dragon Age. DAO and DA2 were intimate experiences with personal stories and great pacing. DAI was ... not. Look at what happened to Star Trek. It went from a thoughtful, pondering franchise to a generic action movie trilogy. Yuck. There's no soul in any of it, and people figure that out after a while.
And don't get me wrong. I fucking hate 'indie fans.' The people that make it their goal in life to only listen to the bands you've never heard of, to swoon over yet another cheap-looking 2D platformer, or to only celebrate films with budgets less than the average income in small town Missouri. There are great big-budget mainstream experiences to be had, just as there are great low-budget experiences to be had.
Along those lines, I've really been enjoying Horizon Zero Dawn, still wish so much that it was on PC, but I adore it nonetheless, and I have many praises for it.
But, Torment ... goddam ... this thing reaches right into my soul and just masturbates it. It's a profound experience, and every time I wanted to try something I thought might break most games, or just wouldn't be an option, I could do here. I'm trying to talk around this, without giving away spoilers.
On a superficial level, it looks like Pillars of Eternity. It's the same engine, actually. This has a totally different color palette, plays very differently (Pillars is real-time, this is turn-based), and most of the mechanics are totally different. Perspective-wise, though, it's highly similar.
And it's really detail-oriented. This is not at all a game that caters to the ADD crowd (I have ADHD, by the way), which I appreciate. It challenges you to pay fucking attention, it has a ton of text, it has a lot of strategy, and it treats you like an adult. If you don't want to ever fight, you don't have to. If your skills are allocated properly, you can never fight. I've had a small amount of combat, by choice, but for the most part, I've been bullshitting my way out of conflicts. It's awesome.
The combat itself is great, but I'm trying to accomplish a specific goal in this playthrough, which I'll talk about in a separate post some other time.
The companions are rich, too. So are the conversations. The writing is great. Oh, and the lore. By the Maker, the lore is amazing, and sooo deep. I've been reading through the novellas, hitting the wiki, pulling out the map, and I still can't get enough. Also, if you're interested, it's based on the Numenera tabletop RPG.
So, seriously, check it out. Give it a shot. I've seen very little coverage on it relative to Horizon, which is absolutely deserving of adulation, but I really think people might enjoy Torment, if they try it. If you're not into cRPGs, it'll be an adjustment, but it'll be a worthwhile one.
Anyway, I'm gonna go play some more.
The Road to Andromeda
Starting tomorrow night, I'm finishing the fight, and starting the end of Mass Effect 3. Come hang out, shoot the breeze, and help me wrap this up. I'll be on Twitch at 2000central/2100eastern. The previous episodes are in a playlist here, and these will be added after.
So, any thoughts on Torment? Lemme know!
-Blaine
20170228
A Post About the Post Post-Apocalypse
This is gonna be short, because I desperately want to get back to playing.
I spent a couple hours last night with Horizon Zero Dawn and absolutely loved it.
Watch live video from taranwalker on www.twitch.tv
That was fun. I was also REALLY tired.
Today, I've finally got some proper time with the release build of Torment: Tides of Numenera, which I'm firing up again in just a moment.
I adore both of these games so far, and highly encourage everyone to try them both. They are utterly different mechanically, but each present a fascinating look at a very distant future in which society as we know it has been dead for a long, long time. I'm sure that there are other fictional portrayals of a post-post-apocalyptic society that is set waaay after 'the incident,' but I've never seen one (if you have, I'd love to hear about it. I'm really enjoying this.)
Again, these games are so utterly different, yet have such compelling settings and lore, they are a perfect pairing. I'm gonna go play some more.
Are you playing either of them? If so, what do you think? I'll have more to say tomorrow. Adios, muchachos.
-Blaine
I spent a couple hours last night with Horizon Zero Dawn and absolutely loved it.
Watch live video from taranwalker on www.twitch.tv
That was fun. I was also REALLY tired.
Today, I've finally got some proper time with the release build of Torment: Tides of Numenera, which I'm firing up again in just a moment.
I adore both of these games so far, and highly encourage everyone to try them both. They are utterly different mechanically, but each present a fascinating look at a very distant future in which society as we know it has been dead for a long, long time. I'm sure that there are other fictional portrayals of a post-post-apocalyptic society that is set waaay after 'the incident,' but I've never seen one (if you have, I'd love to hear about it. I'm really enjoying this.)
Again, these games are so utterly different, yet have such compelling settings and lore, they are a perfect pairing. I'm gonna go play some more.
Are you playing either of them? If so, what do you think? I'll have more to say tomorrow. Adios, muchachos.
-Blaine
20170227
TORMENT/HORIZON DAY EVE!!!
Happy Monday!
It's almost here! Torment: Tides of Numenera, my personal most-anticipated game of 2017, and Horizon: Zero Dawn are both out tonight/tomorrow. Holy shit, they're finally real.
I know I've droned on endlessly about Torment, but goddamit, I'm serious, the Early Access build was that good. It really spoke to me, and is what I want from games. I'm tempted to rattle off all the design aspects that I like, but I'd rather just gush about how alive the world feels, how choices feel like they really matter, and how immersive an experience it is overall.
As for Horizon ... I'm so disappointed that this is locked to a console, but I'll play it remote, and hopefully, that offsets it a little. I just don't like the physical constraints of console gaming, especially since at least one member of my family is always on the TV. I may just move the PS4 off that TV, though. Hmm. That's a really interesting thought, actually. Understand that I game on a fatty gaming laptop wherever and whenever I want.
I would also much rather play this kind of game with a mouse and keyboard. I'll live, though.
This isn't a gaming news site, but fuck it ...
Anyway, there's some fun stuff going around the gaming world right now.
We already knew that Mass Effect Andromeda was gonna have lots of fucking, but DAMN, I guess it really will. Now, compare that with The Witcher 3's ESRB rating, and this is gonna be a FUCKING great time. Any time you're wondering what the barometer for 'video game fucking and tits' is, just fire up the latest 'The Witcher' release, and that's it.
GDC is happening this week. I almost went again this year, but opted not to, at the last moment. I don't regret that, but ... man, it's a good time, and I kinda wish I was there. I think it's going to be kinda quiet in terms of blockbuster announcements. There was a time in which GDC was becoming known, more and more, for announcements, but that's quieted down a bit. There's not even any real coverage presence from GameSpot and IGN this year, which is rather telling.
Still, maybe something interesting gets announced? This is the official 'live feed,' which it actually is not, but whatever.
IGN is doing a Save Point Live Stream that sounds pretty cool today. Basically, they're raising money for the Video Game History Foundation folks and playing lotsa canceled and unreleased shit. Give it a look. It looks totally cool.
Ack, I just read the comments in a gaming article. What the hell was I thinking? I'm now reminded why so-called 'gamers' are basically the worst humans in the history of the world. Why do we get so bent out of shape about what different people enjoy? If someone likes 'company x' and you don't ... it doesn't matter to you at all. Not even a little. Why pronounce judgment over all people that might at all enjoy a thing that you don't? Yes, I think it's weird to like some of the extremely Japanese gaming stuff, but I have friends that love that shit, and I really enjoy hearing them talk about it, even if I've tried it a few times, and not found something I want to spend time with.
Anyway, let's be excellent to each other.
Me Streaming and Making Videos (OH YEAH)
I continued my 'Road to Andromeda' Mass Effect series this past weekend. You can get caught up right here, or just below.
We're near the end, friends. I've been working on this since September of last year, and it's been a blast. I'd love to get some more eyeballs on it, and get some suggestions for my next series, whatever it may be. I've loved doing this, and love sharing my passion for Mass Effect. If you don't mind, give it a look and lemme know what you think. And bear in mind that it evolved over the course of the series.
My current plan is to finish the fight this weekend. I've done everything there is in the game, with the exception of the end of ME3. I'll be picking it back up Thursday night, and it would be fun to end the game with friends.
Tonight, I'll be streaming Horizon Zero Dawn starting at 2300 central time. I don't normally stream brand new games, but I thought this might be fun.
I will not be streaming Torment at all any time soon, because I don't like streaming when I really want to feel my way through the game AND it has a ton of text to read (which I enjoy, but makes for bad streaming.) Horizon, though, is fully voice acted and very cinematic, so that'll be fun.
And it'll be even more fun if ya'll come on out.
MAN, I am SO EXCITED for Torment and Horizon! YES! Get in my hard disk NOW!
How about you? You excited?
-Blaine
It's almost here! Torment: Tides of Numenera, my personal most-anticipated game of 2017, and Horizon: Zero Dawn are both out tonight/tomorrow. Holy shit, they're finally real.
I know I've droned on endlessly about Torment, but goddamit, I'm serious, the Early Access build was that good. It really spoke to me, and is what I want from games. I'm tempted to rattle off all the design aspects that I like, but I'd rather just gush about how alive the world feels, how choices feel like they really matter, and how immersive an experience it is overall.
As for Horizon ... I'm so disappointed that this is locked to a console, but I'll play it remote, and hopefully, that offsets it a little. I just don't like the physical constraints of console gaming, especially since at least one member of my family is always on the TV. I may just move the PS4 off that TV, though. Hmm. That's a really interesting thought, actually. Understand that I game on a fatty gaming laptop wherever and whenever I want.
I would also much rather play this kind of game with a mouse and keyboard. I'll live, though.
This isn't a gaming news site, but fuck it ...
Anyway, there's some fun stuff going around the gaming world right now.
We already knew that Mass Effect Andromeda was gonna have lots of fucking, but DAMN, I guess it really will. Now, compare that with The Witcher 3's ESRB rating, and this is gonna be a FUCKING great time. Any time you're wondering what the barometer for 'video game fucking and tits' is, just fire up the latest 'The Witcher' release, and that's it.
GDC is happening this week. I almost went again this year, but opted not to, at the last moment. I don't regret that, but ... man, it's a good time, and I kinda wish I was there. I think it's going to be kinda quiet in terms of blockbuster announcements. There was a time in which GDC was becoming known, more and more, for announcements, but that's quieted down a bit. There's not even any real coverage presence from GameSpot and IGN this year, which is rather telling.
Still, maybe something interesting gets announced? This is the official 'live feed,' which it actually is not, but whatever.
IGN is doing a Save Point Live Stream that sounds pretty cool today. Basically, they're raising money for the Video Game History Foundation folks and playing lotsa canceled and unreleased shit. Give it a look. It looks totally cool.
Ack, I just read the comments in a gaming article. What the hell was I thinking? I'm now reminded why so-called 'gamers' are basically the worst humans in the history of the world. Why do we get so bent out of shape about what different people enjoy? If someone likes 'company x' and you don't ... it doesn't matter to you at all. Not even a little. Why pronounce judgment over all people that might at all enjoy a thing that you don't? Yes, I think it's weird to like some of the extremely Japanese gaming stuff, but I have friends that love that shit, and I really enjoy hearing them talk about it, even if I've tried it a few times, and not found something I want to spend time with.
Anyway, let's be excellent to each other.
Me Streaming and Making Videos (OH YEAH)
I continued my 'Road to Andromeda' Mass Effect series this past weekend. You can get caught up right here, or just below.
We're near the end, friends. I've been working on this since September of last year, and it's been a blast. I'd love to get some more eyeballs on it, and get some suggestions for my next series, whatever it may be. I've loved doing this, and love sharing my passion for Mass Effect. If you don't mind, give it a look and lemme know what you think. And bear in mind that it evolved over the course of the series.
My current plan is to finish the fight this weekend. I've done everything there is in the game, with the exception of the end of ME3. I'll be picking it back up Thursday night, and it would be fun to end the game with friends.
Tonight, I'll be streaming Horizon Zero Dawn starting at 2300 central time. I don't normally stream brand new games, but I thought this might be fun.
I will not be streaming Torment at all any time soon, because I don't like streaming when I really want to feel my way through the game AND it has a ton of text to read (which I enjoy, but makes for bad streaming.) Horizon, though, is fully voice acted and very cinematic, so that'll be fun.
And it'll be even more fun if ya'll come on out.
MAN, I am SO EXCITED for Torment and Horizon! YES! Get in my hard disk NOW!
How about you? You excited?
-Blaine
20170223
Games Media Is a Mess
Back in the late 80s, the day that the latest Nintendo Power would show up was like a mini-Christmas every month (or every other month, when they went bi-monthly.) I had an idea of around when it was going to hit the mailbox. I'd pore through it, drool over the latest Ninja Gaiden or CastleVania screens, then chuckle when Legend of Zelda was still #1 in the monthly most popular games.
I drifted away from gaming in the 16-bit era, as I was focused on playing in a band and chicks, but when I came back, in the mid-90s, there were a lot more gaming mags.
At first, I scoffed at the magazines that were multi-platform, and not directly from the console manufacturer, but that attitude quickly changed, as I came to really enjoy the writing in magazines like Electronic Gaming Monthly, GamePro, and GameFan. In fact, whenever I'd stop at the store with my girlfriend, I'd grab all the latest issues of each one, and devour it.
EGM, in particular, was a standout for me. The writing got better and better as the years went on, and they were my shepherd into the online coverage, via the beloved 1up.com.
What drove EGM, and then later, 1up.com, was the personalities. Yeah, you were reading it for the games, but after a while, each writer's distinct voice, as well as the personality of the mag and site, brought you back to THEM instead of IGN or whatever else there was at the time.
Meanwhile, G4TV became a thing, and I quickly came to adore X-Play, and appreciated the myriad other gaming-based programming (before they just showed COPS reruns 25hrs a day.) It was astounding, the humor that show got away with.
Somewhere around here, podcasts started to catch on, and 1UP Yours was born.
Inevitably, 1UP moved into the video space, and the 1UP Show became, in my mind, the best video game show ever.
1UP Yours and the 1UP Show were absolutely incredible early examples of games media's expansion from the printed word. Again, it was the personalities that made it. The editors and writers around the 1UP office just seemed like the coolest people you could possibly hang out with, and they really grew my interest in gaming.
I've talked before about my 'onboarding' to PC gaming, and the various factors that went into it, and among those factors was Jeff Green and Shawn Elliott, editors at 1UP and Computer Gaming World. Their podcast, CGW Radio (later GFW Radio), ushered me into a whole new way of looking at games, and their outlook on things was so different from the more rosy, cheerful console side. I came to love both tremendously, but Jeff and Shawn helped me want to become a PC gamer, and before long, I was loving Guild Wars and Company of Heroes.
As time went on, the talent left 1UP for dev and publishing, words became fewer, videos became shorter, and 1UP was shuttered eventually. Meanwhile, and since then, articles have become lists or clickbait, videos are now more about someone shrieking in falsetto than talking critically about a game, and the personalities too often move around.
I still love reading about games, and I feel like a couple of recent upstarts, Glixel and Waypoint, are killing it. They are exactly what I want. Beyond that, I still enjoy GameSpot. PCGamer is still probably the first site that I check every day. I also like RockPaperShotgun, GamesBeat, and a handful of others.
On the video side, Twitch and YouTube have totally upended games coverage. In some ways, for the better, but in others, not at all. 'YouTubers' are quickly becoming the preferred mouthpieces for publishers and developers, as 1) most of them (not all) seem more willing to just mouth the message, and 2) they're not actually journalists, and thus don't apply the pressure that comes with being trained as a journalist. Conversely, gamers are seeing more preview builds in more depth than ever, but what's missing, often, is the critical analysis and interesting developer interviews.
Back to the gaming sites, the personalities aren't as sharp, or aren't show. And quit covering fucking movies and comics, please. I think each site has some great personalities, but where is the modern 1UP Show? Why has no one tried to take that on again? It was such a great concept, and did a lot to actually drive the 1UP brand.
On the news side, the clickbait shit is out of control. It is so bad. THAT is killing games coverage more than anything else.
Now, I'm pretty diverse in how I absorb all this. I hit the above sites pretty much every day, I watch a handful of Twitch streamers (Starbuck2190 is my favorite; great Mass Effect streamer), I check my YouTube subscriptions when I get home, and I listen to some gaming podcasts throughout the week, in particular, Elder Scrolls Off the Record and OotiniCast.
But it's messy now. I guess I get what I need from all of it, but I don't LOVE any of it, like I used to. Were an outlet to get really smart, what they'd do is have non-clickbait written coverage, a daily stream, or even a couple, a weekly podcast, and then an end-of-the-week show that captures what has the office chattering. It's a lot, yeah, but that would become a force to be reckoned with. And when I say show, I don't mean a filmed podcast, I mean something produced, like the old 1UP Show.
Shit, even something like X-Play would be cool.
I think maybe we saw the ultimate rise and fall of games coverage, and news in general is becoming democratized, for better or worse.
Phew. This went on way longer than I'd intended. Sorry.
So, what say you? How do you like the state of games media?
Tonight and This Weekend
I'll be streaming again tonight, but may not start until close to 2100 central time. My wife is outta town, and I got kid things to take care of before I can settle in and stream more Mass Effect 3. The plan, tonight, is to play through Sanctuary. I'd love it if you came on out and shot the shit with me while I played!
I'll be streaming more Mass Effect each evening this weekend, probably starting around 2000 or 2100.
If you wanna get caught up on my The Road to Andromeda series, in which I play through all of Mass Effect 1-3 (including all DLC + some mods that make it pretty), check it out here or below.
And that's it, for now. I'll post something really brief tomorrow (Fridays are always hectic for me) that probably does little more than pimp my stream, but we'll see.
Anyway, hope to see ya tonight!
Also, five days til Torment/Horizon Day!
-Blaine
I drifted away from gaming in the 16-bit era, as I was focused on playing in a band and chicks, but when I came back, in the mid-90s, there were a lot more gaming mags.
At first, I scoffed at the magazines that were multi-platform, and not directly from the console manufacturer, but that attitude quickly changed, as I came to really enjoy the writing in magazines like Electronic Gaming Monthly, GamePro, and GameFan. In fact, whenever I'd stop at the store with my girlfriend, I'd grab all the latest issues of each one, and devour it.
EGM, in particular, was a standout for me. The writing got better and better as the years went on, and they were my shepherd into the online coverage, via the beloved 1up.com.
What drove EGM, and then later, 1up.com, was the personalities. Yeah, you were reading it for the games, but after a while, each writer's distinct voice, as well as the personality of the mag and site, brought you back to THEM instead of IGN or whatever else there was at the time.
Meanwhile, G4TV became a thing, and I quickly came to adore X-Play, and appreciated the myriad other gaming-based programming (before they just showed COPS reruns 25hrs a day.) It was astounding, the humor that show got away with.
Somewhere around here, podcasts started to catch on, and 1UP Yours was born.
Inevitably, 1UP moved into the video space, and the 1UP Show became, in my mind, the best video game show ever.
1UP Yours and the 1UP Show were absolutely incredible early examples of games media's expansion from the printed word. Again, it was the personalities that made it. The editors and writers around the 1UP office just seemed like the coolest people you could possibly hang out with, and they really grew my interest in gaming.
I've talked before about my 'onboarding' to PC gaming, and the various factors that went into it, and among those factors was Jeff Green and Shawn Elliott, editors at 1UP and Computer Gaming World. Their podcast, CGW Radio (later GFW Radio), ushered me into a whole new way of looking at games, and their outlook on things was so different from the more rosy, cheerful console side. I came to love both tremendously, but Jeff and Shawn helped me want to become a PC gamer, and before long, I was loving Guild Wars and Company of Heroes.
As time went on, the talent left 1UP for dev and publishing, words became fewer, videos became shorter, and 1UP was shuttered eventually. Meanwhile, and since then, articles have become lists or clickbait, videos are now more about someone shrieking in falsetto than talking critically about a game, and the personalities too often move around.
I still love reading about games, and I feel like a couple of recent upstarts, Glixel and Waypoint, are killing it. They are exactly what I want. Beyond that, I still enjoy GameSpot. PCGamer is still probably the first site that I check every day. I also like RockPaperShotgun, GamesBeat, and a handful of others.
On the video side, Twitch and YouTube have totally upended games coverage. In some ways, for the better, but in others, not at all. 'YouTubers' are quickly becoming the preferred mouthpieces for publishers and developers, as 1) most of them (not all) seem more willing to just mouth the message, and 2) they're not actually journalists, and thus don't apply the pressure that comes with being trained as a journalist. Conversely, gamers are seeing more preview builds in more depth than ever, but what's missing, often, is the critical analysis and interesting developer interviews.
Back to the gaming sites, the personalities aren't as sharp, or aren't show. And quit covering fucking movies and comics, please. I think each site has some great personalities, but where is the modern 1UP Show? Why has no one tried to take that on again? It was such a great concept, and did a lot to actually drive the 1UP brand.
On the news side, the clickbait shit is out of control. It is so bad. THAT is killing games coverage more than anything else.
Now, I'm pretty diverse in how I absorb all this. I hit the above sites pretty much every day, I watch a handful of Twitch streamers (Starbuck2190 is my favorite; great Mass Effect streamer), I check my YouTube subscriptions when I get home, and I listen to some gaming podcasts throughout the week, in particular, Elder Scrolls Off the Record and OotiniCast.
But it's messy now. I guess I get what I need from all of it, but I don't LOVE any of it, like I used to. Were an outlet to get really smart, what they'd do is have non-clickbait written coverage, a daily stream, or even a couple, a weekly podcast, and then an end-of-the-week show that captures what has the office chattering. It's a lot, yeah, but that would become a force to be reckoned with. And when I say show, I don't mean a filmed podcast, I mean something produced, like the old 1UP Show.
Shit, even something like X-Play would be cool.
I think maybe we saw the ultimate rise and fall of games coverage, and news in general is becoming democratized, for better or worse.
Phew. This went on way longer than I'd intended. Sorry.
So, what say you? How do you like the state of games media?
Tonight and This Weekend
I'll be streaming again tonight, but may not start until close to 2100 central time. My wife is outta town, and I got kid things to take care of before I can settle in and stream more Mass Effect 3. The plan, tonight, is to play through Sanctuary. I'd love it if you came on out and shot the shit with me while I played!
I'll be streaming more Mass Effect each evening this weekend, probably starting around 2000 or 2100.
If you wanna get caught up on my The Road to Andromeda series, in which I play through all of Mass Effect 1-3 (including all DLC + some mods that make it pretty), check it out here or below.
And that's it, for now. I'll post something really brief tomorrow (Fridays are always hectic for me) that probably does little more than pimp my stream, but we'll see.
Anyway, hope to see ya tonight!
Also, five days til Torment/Horizon Day!
-Blaine
20170222
I wish they still made games like ...
I have a cycle that I repeat every so often, and I just noticed it. It seems that, every few years, I start to get nostalgic for a certain type of game, or even a certain game. Eventually, that gets busted up as I fall in love again, but I think I'm on the verge again.
Going into the PlayStation era, I was getting increasingly nostalgic for the OLD JRPGs like the original Final Fantasy, and I was pretty put off by the original Final Fantasy VII demo disc. Looking back, I chuckle, because I think I was hung up on some pretty insignificant shit. I think I get stuck on silly details. I'm embarrassed, but things like the enemies not being in a separate window, and the game was too flashy, and nonsense upon nonsense. I also hated the trend that things had been going with the characters being predefined instead of blank slates. Sigh ...
I'd been building up a bit of resentment for a while.
I ended up preordering the game and loving the hell out of it.
Jump to a few years later, when JRPGs were actually really starting to tank in the post-FFX world. Final Fantasy X had left me ... bewildered and despondent. It's not a bad game, but it's a bad Final Fantasy game. The things I liked about it were the battle system and oops, that's the end. The rest of it, for me was somewhere between bland and annoying.
Little did I realize, until years later, that all JRPGs heroes are supposed to sound barely pubescent and squeaky. That really soured the NES and SNES JRPGs for me, as I couldn't get that 'Tidus shriek' out of my head when I read the hero lines.
KotOR saved gaming for me. That game was such a breath of fresh air for me, and the perfect exit point. It really started my departure from console gaming and JRPGs. I was still a little bitter over the direction that things had gone from the amazing Final Fantasy IX to what Final Fantasy X was, but KotOR and western RPGs really saved gaming for me, and breathed new life into my passion for gaming.
However, the cycle started to repeat after that. Dragon Age: Origins was just as amazing for me, but I was disappointed that I couldn't stack actions in advance. Mass Effect wasn't Star Wars, and was a little too action for me. DA2, at least the PC version, still had the combat mostly intact, but I'll never forget the BioWare directive that 'every time you hit a button, something awesome happens' that had me retching my metaphorical guts out. ME2 was an action game with some RPG aspects. ME3 was actually a great game, up until the meaningless ending. DAI ... I loved it at the time, but it has degraded in quality for me with my second playthrough. It's just lotsa busy work, which wrecks the pacing and sense of immediacy.
Meanwhile, I've been loving games like Pillars of Eternity and The Witcher series, so I think I'm transitioning again, but man ... I'd love something like KotOR and Dragon Age: Origins again. There was just something about those games that suited me just right. This is the same damn feeling I used to have with FFVII (which now feels crazy limited.)
So, yeah, I'm definitely part of the problem. I'm one of those awful gaming enthusiasts that gets stuck on one game and is disappointed when another game isn't just a carbon copy (though I don't voice this in forums or harass developers.) Typically, I just push myself to adapt, and I think I've gotten better about it. I've spread out with games like Divinity: Original Sin, Deus Ex, Dishonored, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, etc. Yeah, I know your cutesy 2D platforming indie media darling isn't listed there, nor is your JRPG that is totally indistinguishable from any other modern JRPG, but I am trying them, especially the JRPGs, since I'd love to get back into that space.
I think Pillars is a step toward that One Game to Rule Them All for the next few years for me. And I'm looking ahead at Torment ... drool ...
I'm torn, though. I think it's OK to love what you love, but I also think we should always be looking to expand our horizons. I think a balance between the two is probably best. Most people I know go too far one way or the other, and I probably skew too far toward 'love what I love,' but I do have evidence that I do eventually evolve.
So, how about you? Are you part of the problem? How do you see your gaming tastes evolving? How have they changed?
Six days 'til Torment/Horizon Day, ya'll.!
-Blaine
Going into the PlayStation era, I was getting increasingly nostalgic for the OLD JRPGs like the original Final Fantasy, and I was pretty put off by the original Final Fantasy VII demo disc. Looking back, I chuckle, because I think I was hung up on some pretty insignificant shit. I think I get stuck on silly details. I'm embarrassed, but things like the enemies not being in a separate window, and the game was too flashy, and nonsense upon nonsense. I also hated the trend that things had been going with the characters being predefined instead of blank slates. Sigh ...
I'd been building up a bit of resentment for a while.
I ended up preordering the game and loving the hell out of it.
Jump to a few years later, when JRPGs were actually really starting to tank in the post-FFX world. Final Fantasy X had left me ... bewildered and despondent. It's not a bad game, but it's a bad Final Fantasy game. The things I liked about it were the battle system and oops, that's the end. The rest of it, for me was somewhere between bland and annoying.
Little did I realize, until years later, that all JRPGs heroes are supposed to sound barely pubescent and squeaky. That really soured the NES and SNES JRPGs for me, as I couldn't get that 'Tidus shriek' out of my head when I read the hero lines.
KotOR saved gaming for me. That game was such a breath of fresh air for me, and the perfect exit point. It really started my departure from console gaming and JRPGs. I was still a little bitter over the direction that things had gone from the amazing Final Fantasy IX to what Final Fantasy X was, but KotOR and western RPGs really saved gaming for me, and breathed new life into my passion for gaming.
However, the cycle started to repeat after that. Dragon Age: Origins was just as amazing for me, but I was disappointed that I couldn't stack actions in advance. Mass Effect wasn't Star Wars, and was a little too action for me. DA2, at least the PC version, still had the combat mostly intact, but I'll never forget the BioWare directive that 'every time you hit a button, something awesome happens' that had me retching my metaphorical guts out. ME2 was an action game with some RPG aspects. ME3 was actually a great game, up until the meaningless ending. DAI ... I loved it at the time, but it has degraded in quality for me with my second playthrough. It's just lotsa busy work, which wrecks the pacing and sense of immediacy.
Meanwhile, I've been loving games like Pillars of Eternity and The Witcher series, so I think I'm transitioning again, but man ... I'd love something like KotOR and Dragon Age: Origins again. There was just something about those games that suited me just right. This is the same damn feeling I used to have with FFVII (which now feels crazy limited.)
So, yeah, I'm definitely part of the problem. I'm one of those awful gaming enthusiasts that gets stuck on one game and is disappointed when another game isn't just a carbon copy (though I don't voice this in forums or harass developers.) Typically, I just push myself to adapt, and I think I've gotten better about it. I've spread out with games like Divinity: Original Sin, Deus Ex, Dishonored, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, etc. Yeah, I know your cutesy 2D platforming indie media darling isn't listed there, nor is your JRPG that is totally indistinguishable from any other modern JRPG, but I am trying them, especially the JRPGs, since I'd love to get back into that space.
I think Pillars is a step toward that One Game to Rule Them All for the next few years for me. And I'm looking ahead at Torment ... drool ...
I'm torn, though. I think it's OK to love what you love, but I also think we should always be looking to expand our horizons. I think a balance between the two is probably best. Most people I know go too far one way or the other, and I probably skew too far toward 'love what I love,' but I do have evidence that I do eventually evolve.
So, how about you? Are you part of the problem? How do you see your gaming tastes evolving? How have they changed?
Six days 'til Torment/Horizon Day, ya'll.!
-Blaine
20170221
MMOs and Time and Dollars and How Much Can I Really Enjoy Four of Them?
I love MMORPGs. I love the 'instant play' aspect, and I love getting to live inside their worlds. I love the community (usually.) Modern MMORPGs very much cater to the love of story that I have, plus they heavily feature math, which makes me swoon.
The problem is that there are too many that I like. I go through this every year or two, when I need to pare down, especially relative to the lack of free time that I have, and the fact that I mostly play gargantuan single-player RPGs.
So, here's what I have in rotation at the moment.
Star Wars: The Old Republic
This is my champion. Of any game I've ever played, I've put more hours into SWTOR than any other. I was in the beta, and fell in love HARD. I still play this pretty regularly. I adore this game. I've put over 1000 hours into it, and there's still a ton of content I've never played. This one stays, no matter what.
Yeah, I know, this game became fashionable to hate or loathe or whatever weird emotional assignment you tied to it, but it really is delightful, especially if you're a fan of the now-deleted Expanded Universe, specifically the KotOR stuff. This is a natural extension of it.
The free-to-play option is a good demo, but I'm a subscriber, and I feel just fine about that. The Knights of the Fallen Empire and Knights of the Eternal Throne mini-expansions were great. What this game needs is a proper expansion.
The Elder Scrolls Online
I had a bumpy ride with this one early on. Like SWTOR, I was in the beta for a long time, and it was decent, and then once the game launched, I decided to unsub for a time while they worked out some issues. At no point was it bad, but it had some problems that I wanted worked out before I came back. Eventually, I did, and really enjoyed it. I don't sub anymore, because it went buy-to-play, but I buy each of the DLC, and I've prepurchased the Morrowind expansion, which looks AMAAAZING.
What's interesting about this and SWTOR is that I approach each as a living single-player game. I'll group when I need to, and I belong to fairly active guilds, but I don't raid a lot. I do enjoy it when I do, but I'm fairly introverted, and MMOs are an OK way for me to brush up against being social.
I actually got my oldest son pulled in, and he's playing now. Once he's leveled, maybe we'll hit Cyrodiil together.
Guild Wars 2
This is another game in which I've been since the beta. I actually had some IRL friends playing with me for a while, but they've dropped out over the years, and I'm now the last man standing.
I finished the main campaign a while ago, and have been pushing through the Living World content, though I've hit a bugged dungeon, and have been waiting for it to be fixed so that I can continue. It is very frustrating, especially since I've enjoyed the game so much.
Guild Wars 2 is also the most fun 'just sit down and start playing' game that I play. It's just silky smooth.
The world is a hell of a lot of fun, too. Not only the lore, but the reactive elements, which, in my opinion, makes it the ultimate theme park MMO.
The lack of a subscription helps the enjoyment, too. I think the base game is F2P now, too.
Final Fantasy XIV
This is the tough one for me. I pay a sub for it, I used to really love Final Fantasy, I adore the combat and the mechanics of this game, as well as the structure of the world, but it has a few things that really bug me.
I play games that lack voice acting all the time, but FFXIV's flapping lips really bother me. I'd rather that there wasn't any camera work or anything, and that it just had textboxes over static images, or even handled it like the old SNES Final Fantasy games. The flapping lips just bother me.
This is a game that I really need to get more into. The above games were all 'my main game' for some period of time, which allowed me to really propel myself into the game. I've never done that with Final Fantasy XIV. I was even a launch day player, and got to enjoy the debacle of the original version of the game.
I've got Stormblood prepurchased, I've paid my sub through August, so I am going to try and really take the plunge.
Star Trek Online
I played the shit outta this when it first came out. I am absolutely nuts about Star Trek (and Star Wars), and this was my only connection to the franchise for a period of time. The Abrams fan fiction films were fun, brainless action movies, and we'll see if Discovery ever amounts to anything in spite of CBS. This is all I had for a while, and it was really enjoyable. The ship-to-ship combat is great, the ground combat has improved, but is still basically crap, but the game is a fun dip in the Star Trek universe.
I haven't been a subscriber in years, and I really barely play anymore, but I want to play more.
In Conclusion
So, that's five MMOs, plus my constant itch to fire up The Secret World again. I just checked, and holy shit, that's an expensive game to jump into right now and buy the full game.
It's too many, flat out, and I could use some help paring it down. I'd love your opinions. SWTOR and ESO are definitely sticking around.
On the flipside, I could also dial back the single player games that I play, to make more time for the MMOs. I dunno. Having too many quality games to play is a good problem to have, and a very, very first world problem. Still, it can be a fun discussion, and I'd appreciate any input ya'll have.
BTW, one week 'til Torment/Horizon Day!!!
Hit me!
-Blaine
The problem is that there are too many that I like. I go through this every year or two, when I need to pare down, especially relative to the lack of free time that I have, and the fact that I mostly play gargantuan single-player RPGs.
So, here's what I have in rotation at the moment.
Star Wars: The Old Republic
This is my champion. Of any game I've ever played, I've put more hours into SWTOR than any other. I was in the beta, and fell in love HARD. I still play this pretty regularly. I adore this game. I've put over 1000 hours into it, and there's still a ton of content I've never played. This one stays, no matter what.
Yeah, I know, this game became fashionable to hate or loathe or whatever weird emotional assignment you tied to it, but it really is delightful, especially if you're a fan of the now-deleted Expanded Universe, specifically the KotOR stuff. This is a natural extension of it.
The free-to-play option is a good demo, but I'm a subscriber, and I feel just fine about that. The Knights of the Fallen Empire and Knights of the Eternal Throne mini-expansions were great. What this game needs is a proper expansion.
The Elder Scrolls Online
I had a bumpy ride with this one early on. Like SWTOR, I was in the beta for a long time, and it was decent, and then once the game launched, I decided to unsub for a time while they worked out some issues. At no point was it bad, but it had some problems that I wanted worked out before I came back. Eventually, I did, and really enjoyed it. I don't sub anymore, because it went buy-to-play, but I buy each of the DLC, and I've prepurchased the Morrowind expansion, which looks AMAAAZING.
What's interesting about this and SWTOR is that I approach each as a living single-player game. I'll group when I need to, and I belong to fairly active guilds, but I don't raid a lot. I do enjoy it when I do, but I'm fairly introverted, and MMOs are an OK way for me to brush up against being social.
I actually got my oldest son pulled in, and he's playing now. Once he's leveled, maybe we'll hit Cyrodiil together.
Guild Wars 2
This is another game in which I've been since the beta. I actually had some IRL friends playing with me for a while, but they've dropped out over the years, and I'm now the last man standing.
I finished the main campaign a while ago, and have been pushing through the Living World content, though I've hit a bugged dungeon, and have been waiting for it to be fixed so that I can continue. It is very frustrating, especially since I've enjoyed the game so much.
Guild Wars 2 is also the most fun 'just sit down and start playing' game that I play. It's just silky smooth.
The world is a hell of a lot of fun, too. Not only the lore, but the reactive elements, which, in my opinion, makes it the ultimate theme park MMO.
The lack of a subscription helps the enjoyment, too. I think the base game is F2P now, too.
Final Fantasy XIV
This is the tough one for me. I pay a sub for it, I used to really love Final Fantasy, I adore the combat and the mechanics of this game, as well as the structure of the world, but it has a few things that really bug me.
I play games that lack voice acting all the time, but FFXIV's flapping lips really bother me. I'd rather that there wasn't any camera work or anything, and that it just had textboxes over static images, or even handled it like the old SNES Final Fantasy games. The flapping lips just bother me.
This is a game that I really need to get more into. The above games were all 'my main game' for some period of time, which allowed me to really propel myself into the game. I've never done that with Final Fantasy XIV. I was even a launch day player, and got to enjoy the debacle of the original version of the game.
I've got Stormblood prepurchased, I've paid my sub through August, so I am going to try and really take the plunge.
Star Trek Online
I played the shit outta this when it first came out. I am absolutely nuts about Star Trek (and Star Wars), and this was my only connection to the franchise for a period of time. The Abrams fan fiction films were fun, brainless action movies, and we'll see if Discovery ever amounts to anything in spite of CBS. This is all I had for a while, and it was really enjoyable. The ship-to-ship combat is great, the ground combat has improved, but is still basically crap, but the game is a fun dip in the Star Trek universe.
I haven't been a subscriber in years, and I really barely play anymore, but I want to play more.
In Conclusion
So, that's five MMOs, plus my constant itch to fire up The Secret World again. I just checked, and holy shit, that's an expensive game to jump into right now and buy the full game.
It's too many, flat out, and I could use some help paring it down. I'd love your opinions. SWTOR and ESO are definitely sticking around.
On the flipside, I could also dial back the single player games that I play, to make more time for the MMOs. I dunno. Having too many quality games to play is a good problem to have, and a very, very first world problem. Still, it can be a fun discussion, and I'd appreciate any input ya'll have.
BTW, one week 'til Torment/Horizon Day!!!
Hit me!
-Blaine
20170220
Monday Morrowind Memories
That's a clever title. I actually do have a lot to say about Morrowind. And Mass Effect. And Torment: Tides of Numenera. And Horizon: Zero Dawn. And more.
Torment/Horizon Day
First, we're only eight days out from Torment and Horizon. Holy shit. I think I'm going to start the night before with Horizon, as it unlocks at 2300, and I'm certain that Torment will have some issues updating the existing installs to the full game. It's an indie studio, it's Steam, and I want the game more than I do nearly anything else ever, so it's going to have problems. I'm going to just stave off my technical frustration and emotional meltdown, and just play Horizon the night before.
Then, when I wake up (I'm taking the day off work), I'll poke at Torment and see what's what.
Maybe I'll trade off every couple hours. We'll see. I'll probably just play the shit outta Torment.
On Morrowind
I have a weird-ass relationship with Morrowind. As you know, I've never finished an Elder Scrolls game. Hell aside from Morrowind and ESO, I've barely played them. As I've discussed before, they look perfect for me on paper, but I just have a hard time with the execution. I'm a lifelong RPG player, but have historically struggled when it comes to Elder Scrolls.
So, yesterday, I fired up the game for a while, and decided to just park it in Vivec and see how long I could quest while never leaving Vivec. Several hours later, I'd never left Vivec.
And I was having a good time ... for the most part. While VERY slowly walking around, sometimes place to place, sometimes to the boat and then to the place, it occurred to me that what chafes me about Morrowind is the lack of convenience. In some ways, it is very, very sim, and in others, it is not. The fast-travel (silt strider, boat, mage teleport) is instant and fast. The walking is NOT. Navigation is difficult, as well. Most vendors only buy certain items, and do not have infinite cash with which they can buy your 6500-coin glass staff thingy. I really do appreciate these things, but fuck, it can really grate on me.
Yes, yes, I know, I'm what's wrong with the modern gaming enthusiast, everything needs to be easy, games are horrible now that they're playable and accessible, and oh my god, it's sooo disappointing that the dude in Dark Souls doesn't leap out of the TV and actually kill the player when he dies and blah blah blah. Yeah, motherfucker, I played through the original NES Ninja Gaiden trilogy, so kiss my ass, and let me enjoy the fact that I don't need reaction times like Neo in the Matrix anymore in order to enjoy a fun interactive story. And go get a fucking life.
Anyway, I've started to allow myself to cheat a little, and I may have already talked about this. I'm using a handful of console commands to do things like give myself torches, potions of levitation, etc. I gave myself a grandmaster lockpick so that I could join the Morag Tong while I was in Vivec.
I've thus far restrained my need to start teleporting myself around via console commands, but I'll be surprised if I make it the whole game without doing that. It's just that it takes so fucking long to move from one point to another. I guess the world was a slower place in 2002. Not sure.
Here's some video reviews of Horizon because you hate typed words now
The Road to Andromeda
I spent more time with my monster Mass Effect trilogy playthrough, which you can view here. Please do give it a look, and let me know what you think. I want to do more of these, and would love to have some feedback for my next game series playthrough.
So, there's all that, so far. I'm gonna go watch some of this, as well as some other lunch time fun. I'll be back tomorrow to freak out some more about how close Torment and Horizon are. Keep it real, friends.
-Blaine
Torment/Horizon Day
First, we're only eight days out from Torment and Horizon. Holy shit. I think I'm going to start the night before with Horizon, as it unlocks at 2300, and I'm certain that Torment will have some issues updating the existing installs to the full game. It's an indie studio, it's Steam, and I want the game more than I do nearly anything else ever, so it's going to have problems. I'm going to just stave off my technical frustration and emotional meltdown, and just play Horizon the night before.
Then, when I wake up (I'm taking the day off work), I'll poke at Torment and see what's what.
Maybe I'll trade off every couple hours. We'll see. I'll probably just play the shit outta Torment.
On Morrowind
I have a weird-ass relationship with Morrowind. As you know, I've never finished an Elder Scrolls game. Hell aside from Morrowind and ESO, I've barely played them. As I've discussed before, they look perfect for me on paper, but I just have a hard time with the execution. I'm a lifelong RPG player, but have historically struggled when it comes to Elder Scrolls.
So, yesterday, I fired up the game for a while, and decided to just park it in Vivec and see how long I could quest while never leaving Vivec. Several hours later, I'd never left Vivec.
And I was having a good time ... for the most part. While VERY slowly walking around, sometimes place to place, sometimes to the boat and then to the place, it occurred to me that what chafes me about Morrowind is the lack of convenience. In some ways, it is very, very sim, and in others, it is not. The fast-travel (silt strider, boat, mage teleport) is instant and fast. The walking is NOT. Navigation is difficult, as well. Most vendors only buy certain items, and do not have infinite cash with which they can buy your 6500-coin glass staff thingy. I really do appreciate these things, but fuck, it can really grate on me.
Yes, yes, I know, I'm what's wrong with the modern gaming enthusiast, everything needs to be easy, games are horrible now that they're playable and accessible, and oh my god, it's sooo disappointing that the dude in Dark Souls doesn't leap out of the TV and actually kill the player when he dies and blah blah blah. Yeah, motherfucker, I played through the original NES Ninja Gaiden trilogy, so kiss my ass, and let me enjoy the fact that I don't need reaction times like Neo in the Matrix anymore in order to enjoy a fun interactive story. And go get a fucking life.
Anyway, I've started to allow myself to cheat a little, and I may have already talked about this. I'm using a handful of console commands to do things like give myself torches, potions of levitation, etc. I gave myself a grandmaster lockpick so that I could join the Morag Tong while I was in Vivec.
I've thus far restrained my need to start teleporting myself around via console commands, but I'll be surprised if I make it the whole game without doing that. It's just that it takes so fucking long to move from one point to another. I guess the world was a slower place in 2002. Not sure.
Here's some video reviews of Horizon because you hate typed words now
The Road to Andromeda
I spent more time with my monster Mass Effect trilogy playthrough, which you can view here. Please do give it a look, and let me know what you think. I want to do more of these, and would love to have some feedback for my next game series playthrough.
So, there's all that, so far. I'm gonna go watch some of this, as well as some other lunch time fun. I'll be back tomorrow to freak out some more about how close Torment and Horizon are. Keep it real, friends.
-Blaine
20170215
Time ... it is what it is ...
So, here we are, just less than three weeks from Torment/Horizon day. Game-wise, I've been hitting the unfinished classics pretty hard (Baldur's Gate & Morrowind), as well as a lot of ESO. It's been OK, but man, I am BURNING for something new and shiny.
I realized, this morning, that it's been a year and nine months since the last game about which I was insanely excited released. That was The Witcher 3. There's been some solid games since then, but 2016 was my (and this only my opinion about games that I like) JV squad in terms of releases. I'm fond of Deus Ex, Dishonored, Doom, XCOM, and all those type games, and I've really enjoyed the latest releases for SWTOR, ESO, and Guild Wars 2, but those all feel like snacks. Those are my second tier for games, and it's all I had last year.
Part of what caused this was Dragon Age: Inquisition, Pillars of Eternity, and The Witcher 3 all releasing in a six-month span, from 2014 November to 2015 May. It was wonderful and brutal.
I didn't even notice this 'problem' until I really started to think about my recent 'gaming malaise.' I am licking my chops, ready for something new and awesome.
Fucking Torment: Tides of Numenera. Bring that shit on, man. I'm actually taking the day off for it. It looks wonderful. Everything I've seen about it, and everything I've played of the demo tickle my soul.
Yeah, I know. Me not loving the same games you do can be a problem for some, and the fact that I only really get invested in RPGs triggers weird reactions in random folks, but I don't care. I tried some of the indie darlings, thought they were OK, and moved on. I didn't hate them, I thought they had good aspects, and that was pretty much the extent of my judgement. I didn't hate them, I didn't declare that other people shouldn't go crazy for them, I just thought they were OK. Relax.
And all of that is missing the point, anyway. I played a lotta shit last year, and none of it really ignited me. I had a very good time with Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, as well as Dishonored 2. I enjoyed some time with Doom and XCOM 2. I thought whatever 2D indie darling games they made me play were OK.
But man, no matter what I try, the only games that REALLY grab me are the ones that are huge investments with depth everywhere, from the systems to the lore to the story to the characters, to the world, etc. I love games that I can just throw myself at for months. I actually approach my job much the same way. I tend to chase after the 'huge project' work, rather than the little shit. I like deeply investing in things.
Again, as a side note, the fact that I've never finished an Elder Scrolls game still somewhat baffles me. Those games are ridiculously deep. There's just something about the actual mechanics and design choices that throw me occasionally. Most of this is aimed at Morrowind.
Also, in this drought, I did finally find my way into the Fallout Bethesda/Obsidian games. It took several tries over several years, but I finally pushed through Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, and adored them. Fallout 4 was very good, but didn't quite hit the mark that FNV did. I think part of it is that New Vegas was sooo good, and I played F4 like right after finishing it.
Anyway, I'm curious to see how this 2015/5/19-2017/2/28 stretch matches with other periods of time. It certainly feels like the longest I've ever gone. And like I said, it kinda snuck up on me. I knew last year was a 'B-team year' in terms of my favorite franchises and games, but the fact that you have to go back all the way to May in 2015 surprised me.
I'm not offering to do any actual research on the subject, but it really surprised me.
And then, after that, I've got Mass Effect: Andromeda three weeks later. And in those three weeks, I'm traveling for two of them. It's a good 'problem' to have, but goddam. I'll have Torment, Horizon, and MEA all queued up, and then I got Prey in May, and then the Morrowind expac in June, and then, I think, a long drought into winter. Good times.
What about you? You ever have a stretch like this? It's weird how my favorite games seem to cluster in terms of release. In theory, though, I should have a new BioWare game by 2018/3/31, and I have some Kickstarters that should be landing later this year and early next year (though I got money that says no way Obsidian hits 2018 Q1 with Pillars 2, and that's totally OK.)
Anyway, that's that. What about you? You ever have 'awesome game starvation?'
Also, get caught up on my 'The Road to Andromeda' Mass Effect series on YouTube here or below:
Thanks! I'll be resuming the playthrough tomorrow night!
-Blaine
I realized, this morning, that it's been a year and nine months since the last game about which I was insanely excited released. That was The Witcher 3. There's been some solid games since then, but 2016 was my (and this only my opinion about games that I like) JV squad in terms of releases. I'm fond of Deus Ex, Dishonored, Doom, XCOM, and all those type games, and I've really enjoyed the latest releases for SWTOR, ESO, and Guild Wars 2, but those all feel like snacks. Those are my second tier for games, and it's all I had last year.
Part of what caused this was Dragon Age: Inquisition, Pillars of Eternity, and The Witcher 3 all releasing in a six-month span, from 2014 November to 2015 May. It was wonderful and brutal.
I didn't even notice this 'problem' until I really started to think about my recent 'gaming malaise.' I am licking my chops, ready for something new and awesome.
Fucking Torment: Tides of Numenera. Bring that shit on, man. I'm actually taking the day off for it. It looks wonderful. Everything I've seen about it, and everything I've played of the demo tickle my soul.
Yeah, I know. Me not loving the same games you do can be a problem for some, and the fact that I only really get invested in RPGs triggers weird reactions in random folks, but I don't care. I tried some of the indie darlings, thought they were OK, and moved on. I didn't hate them, I thought they had good aspects, and that was pretty much the extent of my judgement. I didn't hate them, I didn't declare that other people shouldn't go crazy for them, I just thought they were OK. Relax.
And all of that is missing the point, anyway. I played a lotta shit last year, and none of it really ignited me. I had a very good time with Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, as well as Dishonored 2. I enjoyed some time with Doom and XCOM 2. I thought whatever 2D indie darling games they made me play were OK.
But man, no matter what I try, the only games that REALLY grab me are the ones that are huge investments with depth everywhere, from the systems to the lore to the story to the characters, to the world, etc. I love games that I can just throw myself at for months. I actually approach my job much the same way. I tend to chase after the 'huge project' work, rather than the little shit. I like deeply investing in things.
Again, as a side note, the fact that I've never finished an Elder Scrolls game still somewhat baffles me. Those games are ridiculously deep. There's just something about the actual mechanics and design choices that throw me occasionally. Most of this is aimed at Morrowind.
Also, in this drought, I did finally find my way into the Fallout Bethesda/Obsidian games. It took several tries over several years, but I finally pushed through Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, and adored them. Fallout 4 was very good, but didn't quite hit the mark that FNV did. I think part of it is that New Vegas was sooo good, and I played F4 like right after finishing it.
Anyway, I'm curious to see how this 2015/5/19-2017/2/28 stretch matches with other periods of time. It certainly feels like the longest I've ever gone. And like I said, it kinda snuck up on me. I knew last year was a 'B-team year' in terms of my favorite franchises and games, but the fact that you have to go back all the way to May in 2015 surprised me.
I'm not offering to do any actual research on the subject, but it really surprised me.
And then, after that, I've got Mass Effect: Andromeda three weeks later. And in those three weeks, I'm traveling for two of them. It's a good 'problem' to have, but goddam. I'll have Torment, Horizon, and MEA all queued up, and then I got Prey in May, and then the Morrowind expac in June, and then, I think, a long drought into winter. Good times.
What about you? You ever have a stretch like this? It's weird how my favorite games seem to cluster in terms of release. In theory, though, I should have a new BioWare game by 2018/3/31, and I have some Kickstarters that should be landing later this year and early next year (though I got money that says no way Obsidian hits 2018 Q1 with Pillars 2, and that's totally OK.)
Anyway, that's that. What about you? You ever have 'awesome game starvation?'
Also, get caught up on my 'The Road to Andromeda' Mass Effect series on YouTube here or below:
Thanks! I'll be resuming the playthrough tomorrow night!
-Blaine
20170207
The First Half of 2017
I gotta say, sifting through the first half of 2017 game releases is kinda staggering. We're seeing a ton of awesome and innovative stuff real quick this year.
Before I get to that, let me use 2007 as a point of reference. That was a year that I feel completely changed gaming. I'd argue that it was the most innovative year in gaming ever, and not in a totally oblique kind of way. There were several games that had subtle design decisions that, I'd argue, completely altered the trajectory of modern games.
Before I get to that, let me use 2007 as a point of reference. That was a year that I feel completely changed gaming. I'd argue that it was the most innovative year in gaming ever, and not in a totally oblique kind of way. There were several games that had subtle design decisions that, I'd argue, completely altered the trajectory of modern games.
- BioShock
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- Crysis
- Gears of War
- Portal
- Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
- STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl
- The Witcher
From the storytelling in BioShock to the stop n' pop in Gears, to the amazing mechanics in Portal, to the open world exploration and storytelling in STALKER, I think each one of those introduced a new concept in gaming that then permeated throughout gaming.
Also, Quake Wars is still the only multiplayer game that I've ever really gone crazy for.
The gaming scene in 2007 merits its own post some time this year, as it really was pretty incredible if you'd been a gaming enthusiast for a long time. Lotsa sweeping changes, and lotsa seeds planted.
Anyway, about this year ...
... or more specifically, the first half of this year.
I know I've seen crowded post-Christmas release calendars before, and I've seen games drop in March before, but I don't think I've ever seen such density in terms of quality releases in the first six months of the year. I also see the potential for a lot of innovation and new ideas. Also, a fair number of these are either new IP or total reinventions of existing IP.
First, the only one of these that I am NOT getting, Nioh. This game looks fantastic, and way too hard. I don't like hard games. I'm a busy guy, and if it's challenging, it needs to be in terms of strategy, and not twitch. If I can't beat a boss strategically on my first attempt, then no. In these kinda games you have to die a few times to learn the patterns, and then you can kill it. Yes, I recognize this as a strategy, but not the kind I like. Not for me. Nope.
Still, the reviews, if they were able to finish the game, are glowing, and there's already rumblings about 'game of the year.' Some folks love these kinda games, and I respect this genre absolutely (even if I personally have no use for it.)
Horizon: Zero Dawn
This really caught my attention at E3 a couple years ago. Every time Guerilla Games would show a new game at E3, in the past, I'd marvel at how alive and amazing the world looked, and then I'd roll my eyes as soon as it descended into yet another shoot-shoot-shoot experience. I saw so much wasted potential there.
Then, at E3 2015, they showed off a world that captured my imagination, and immediately started setting incredibly unrealistic expectations. Techno-savages battling robo-dinosaurs in a post-apocalyptic world that was way after the apocalypse! Yes! It all looked great, minus being trapped as a console-exclusive. That's enormously disappointing, but I bought a PS4 for Uncharted 4, so now I'll have a second game to play on it.
I've since dialed my expectations waaay back, but this game still looks great. I'd honestly be more hyped for it, were it not releasing against my personal (expected) game of the year.
Torment: Tides of Numenera
Holy shit, I am over the moon for this one. I've had to work very hard to not play more of the Early Access version, because I wanna be as fresh as possible on this game, but GODDAM, it is so good. I love everything about it, from the lore, the character building, the reactive world, the combat, all of it. It is a perfect blend, so far, of deep mechanics and rich storytelling.
This is marketed as a spiritual successor to PlaneScape: Torment, but that doesn't mean a lot for me, since I never played it. The few hours of Torment: Tides of Numenera that I've played, though, make that matter little, because I am so in love with it.
This hits three weeks from today, but I'm hoping that maybe it's available to backers the weekend before. That desire is not based on any real information that I've gotten, and will probably not happen.
Mass Effect: Andromeda
I love the Mass Effect series deeply, and felt that it came to a natural conclusion with ME3. I was skeptical when I heard about this game, because its existence (not coming from the ME trilogy team, not part of the trilogy) seemed like a possible EA-forced cash-in, but everything that I've seen over the last couple of months disputes that notion.
One of the things that is potentially off-putting to me is that seems even more action-focused than the previous games, which is not really something in which I have a lot of interest, but I'm more than happy to give it a chance. BioWare is a studio that has repeatedly gotten me to enjoy things that I didn't think I would, including the first Mass Effect, which had me (and others) screaming, 'WHY ISN'T IT KOTOR3?! JUST MAKE KOTOR3!' After playing it, I was relieved that they'd made it instead of KotOR 3 (which I still want.) I love new ideas, and BioWare is very good at implementing them.
I'm actually extending my Spring Training vacation by one day, so that I can squeeze in a full day with this game.
Prey
This looks hot. Some of my favorite people are working on it, including Shawn Elliot and Chris Avellone. Everything we've seen of the gameplay looks innovative as hell, and the creep factor is off the charts. I get vibes of everything from BioShock to Half-Life. I am so all over this.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind
Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood
Also ...
... a buddy pointed out that Resident Evil 7 and Yakuza 0 have both already released and made very good impressions on many folks (I have a small number of issues with RE7, but I'm way early in the game.) I really wanna play Yakuza 0, but I already have too many games that are console-only (Uncharted 4, HZD, Gears 4), so I'll wait on that one.
We also MIGHT see stuff like Divinity: Original Sin 2 and Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 3 in the first half, though I'm skeptical. I'm very excited for both of those, as well, and the Original Sin 2 Early Access version is incredible.
I can't wait to see what the latter part of the year holds. We've got an incredible lineup for the first half, and like I said, I've not seen it this dense with cool games ... maybe ever?
How about you? What's got you stoked for the first half of 2017?
-Blaine
This really caught my attention at E3 a couple years ago. Every time Guerilla Games would show a new game at E3, in the past, I'd marvel at how alive and amazing the world looked, and then I'd roll my eyes as soon as it descended into yet another shoot-shoot-shoot experience. I saw so much wasted potential there.
Then, at E3 2015, they showed off a world that captured my imagination, and immediately started setting incredibly unrealistic expectations. Techno-savages battling robo-dinosaurs in a post-apocalyptic world that was way after the apocalypse! Yes! It all looked great, minus being trapped as a console-exclusive. That's enormously disappointing, but I bought a PS4 for Uncharted 4, so now I'll have a second game to play on it.
I've since dialed my expectations waaay back, but this game still looks great. I'd honestly be more hyped for it, were it not releasing against my personal (expected) game of the year.
Torment: Tides of Numenera
Holy shit, I am over the moon for this one. I've had to work very hard to not play more of the Early Access version, because I wanna be as fresh as possible on this game, but GODDAM, it is so good. I love everything about it, from the lore, the character building, the reactive world, the combat, all of it. It is a perfect blend, so far, of deep mechanics and rich storytelling.
This is marketed as a spiritual successor to PlaneScape: Torment, but that doesn't mean a lot for me, since I never played it. The few hours of Torment: Tides of Numenera that I've played, though, make that matter little, because I am so in love with it.
This hits three weeks from today, but I'm hoping that maybe it's available to backers the weekend before. That desire is not based on any real information that I've gotten, and will probably not happen.
Mass Effect: Andromeda
I love the Mass Effect series deeply, and felt that it came to a natural conclusion with ME3. I was skeptical when I heard about this game, because its existence (not coming from the ME trilogy team, not part of the trilogy) seemed like a possible EA-forced cash-in, but everything that I've seen over the last couple of months disputes that notion.
One of the things that is potentially off-putting to me is that seems even more action-focused than the previous games, which is not really something in which I have a lot of interest, but I'm more than happy to give it a chance. BioWare is a studio that has repeatedly gotten me to enjoy things that I didn't think I would, including the first Mass Effect, which had me (and others) screaming, 'WHY ISN'T IT KOTOR3?! JUST MAKE KOTOR3!' After playing it, I was relieved that they'd made it instead of KotOR 3 (which I still want.) I love new ideas, and BioWare is very good at implementing them.
I'm actually extending my Spring Training vacation by one day, so that I can squeeze in a full day with this game.
Prey
This looks hot. Some of my favorite people are working on it, including Shawn Elliot and Chris Avellone. Everything we've seen of the gameplay looks innovative as hell, and the creep factor is off the charts. I get vibes of everything from BioShock to Half-Life. I am so all over this.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind
Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood
Also ...
... a buddy pointed out that Resident Evil 7 and Yakuza 0 have both already released and made very good impressions on many folks (I have a small number of issues with RE7, but I'm way early in the game.) I really wanna play Yakuza 0, but I already have too many games that are console-only (Uncharted 4, HZD, Gears 4), so I'll wait on that one.
We also MIGHT see stuff like Divinity: Original Sin 2 and Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 3 in the first half, though I'm skeptical. I'm very excited for both of those, as well, and the Original Sin 2 Early Access version is incredible.
I can't wait to see what the latter part of the year holds. We've got an incredible lineup for the first half, and like I said, I've not seen it this dense with cool games ... maybe ever?
How about you? What's got you stoked for the first half of 2017?
-Blaine
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