It has taken me until this morning to actually get around to writing one of these, but by god it is still april so it still counts in continuing this streak of posts. I am notoriously bad at actually keeping a series going, which is weird considering I did the whole daily posting thing for over three years. For those who are just tuning in once a month I attempt to true up my sidebar and talk about the games that I am actually regularly playing during a given month. Some months there isn’t much net change and then other months we basically wipe the slate clean. This is going to be on of those first types because a lot of things changed this month. Without further stalling… lets rip the band-aid off.
To Those Remaining
Dragalia Lost – Android
I cannot believe that of all of the titles I was playing last month… that this is the only one that is still kicking at the end of the month. Dragalia Lost has been going strong for me pretty much since release, and in part it does well with me because there is always another event just around the corner. Right now we are in the middle of an event that crosses over characters from the Fire Emblem series that came along with a big patch that changed the way that summons work. No more useless Wyrmprints and now we can simply buy the ones we need from a vendor. I play this every night before bed and at a minimum do my daily activities until I reach the point where I am just about to drop the phone… at which point I plug in the charging cable for the night and go to sleep. It has become a part of my routine, which means it is probably here to stay for awhile.
To Those Returning and Brand New
Diablo 3 – Switch
This one never stays off the list for very long, which is in part why I am generally so hesitant to remove it when I eventually do. There is a new season coming up and I fully expect to get re-engaged with this title during that time. As to which platform I do it on is another decision point. Right now my usual partner in crime does not have the switch so more than likely we will be teaming up on the PC. I do however kinda want to make my way through a switch season and try to earn a bonus bank slot in the process. I wish to all that is holy that I could just link my switch copy to my PC copy so I could sure rewards. Cross play is a thing that is needed more than probably any other innovation in gaming.
Final Fantasy XIV – Console
Another game that does not stay off the list for terribly long is Final Fantasy XIV. I am not fully engaged with this game at the moment, but I did come back and finish all of the story content. Since then I have been languishing a bit at trying to find something to draw me to the game and hold me there. Most recently I have started working on beast tribe quests because who doesn’t love mounts. I know I will return in full with the expansion because I always do… but for the moment I am struggling to find purpose.
Grim Dawn – PC
I am not entirely certain if this game has ever made one of these lists but I have played it off and on since its initial early access release on Steam. It only took me until recently however to actually fully engage with the game and find out how damned good it is. This would be my replacement for Diablo 3 entirely… if it were simply better at providing interesting multiplayer options. That said I greatly enjoy what the game does give me, which is a largely single player experience that lets me pour my mind into it and watch fountains of loot explode around me as I do. If someone was looking to get into an ARPG… this is now the title I would probably point them towards.
Magic the Gathering Arena – PC
A brand new expansion has released and as a result I am back engaged with Magic the Gathering Arena. War of the Spark promises to add a ton of new planeswalkers… 36 in fact… and have the final conclusion of the whole Nicol Bolas storyline. I was nowhere near as engaged with Ravnica Allegiances because none of the guilds included were really my jam apart from Gruul and maybe Orzhov. Whatever the case I never really got super into what was happening and faded away from the content for a bit. With War of the Spark however I am back in full and enjoying the experience… and at the same time starting to do some direct duels with friends with the prospect of playing some weird decks in the future.
Marvel Future Fight – Android / PC Emulator
I have been playing an excessive amount of this game lately, and it shocks the shit out of me. Firstly this journey all started after being nostalgic about the Marvel Heroes ARPG by Gazillion and looking to see if anyone had managed to come up with a private server option yet. In one of those threads someone mentioned that Marvel Future Fight on mobile devices was the closest that we had to that game… which lead me to download… and the rest is more or less history. It feels weird for me to be playing a mobile game in place of other games… because that is a barrier that I never quite crossed before even with Dragalia Lost. Mobile games were something I only did when I did not have ready access to other platforms… this I am playing on an Android Emulator with WASD controls like a traditional PC game. The free-to-play-ness can be really annoying at times, but I am carving out whatever enjoyment I can get from it until this whim passes.
Mortal Kombat 11 – PC
I’ve been having a strong itch to play some fighting games and I think it was brought on largely by the advertising about Mortal Kombat 11 making me nostalgic about my arcade rat past. I am also dabbling a bit with Street Fighter V and some other games… but more or less MK11 is the only one I am playing often enough to add to this list. I even went so far as to pick up a Fight Stick as I talked about yesterday. I’ve missed fighting games… and while I am nowhere near as good as I once was… I want to regain at least some of those skills. I will never be competitive… but I figure I can still eek out some enjoyment.
Outward – PC
I played this obsessively for several nights in a row and want to return to it. I wrote at length about how this game reminds me of the way that Everquest used to make me feel. I’ve been distracted by other games but I am adding this on the list if for no other reason than to remind me to return to it. It is a very interesting title and one that I want to explore some more.
Star Wars the Old Republic – PC
This is a title that I was not expecting to add back to the list anytime soon… but Star Wars Celebration caused an upwelling of Star Wars nostalgia leading to me playing some of this. When I last played I had finished the Fallen Empire storyline, and coming back I picked right back up with the Eternal Throne. Now I am working my way slowly through some of the post Eternal Throne content, of which there are several patches worth and several new areas that have been added to the game. So far I am really enjoying myself and it is making me want Ammo to do another “Belghast” this time my Jedi Guardian in the armor set above… that I scrounged hardcore for at release because I loved the look of it. The storyline in this game is still really damned good and it does a pretty good job of scratching that KOTOR itch.
To Those Departing
Anthem – PC
Oh Anthem… what a fraught mess you are. I spent most of April waiting on the sidelines for a supposed “major” patch to land and fix all of my woes. It never came, or at least not in the ways that I wanted it to. Ultimately Bioware made a game that is different from the game that they intended to make… and has yet to realize this. The other stance is that they could be trying to change the game fundamentally to become the game they intended it to be. Whatever the case… they built Mass Effect Multiplayer with Flight and Diablo 3 loot… but with a high end drop rarity rivaling World of Warcraft Legendaries or Destiny Exotics. That rarity more or less worked in those games because every drop was curated. Diablo 3 and Anthem however with random affixes you get a lot of shit items so you need to get a lot of drops to allow you to sift through them to find something workable. I likely won’t play the game again until the loot is raining down around us… if the game survives that long. I am hearing that matchmaking is already a ghost town most of the time, so here is hoping they can make significant enough changes to allow those of us who left to return during year 2 and see the greatly changed and improved game.
Baba Is You – Switch / PC
Super cute game and still probably on my list of best games for 2019… but after the initial desire to play I sorta floated away from it. I am sure I will return at some point but it doesn’t really need a spot on the list for the moment.
Destiny 2 – PC
No clue why on this one… but I am just not feeling Destiny. There isn’t a firm reason other than the fact that I log in and log out almost immediately. From what I hear the game is in a better state than it has been in a really long time… and I am sure at some point I will make my return and obsess about it once more. That said I am just not into it so I am letting it slip off the list.
The Division 2 – PC
Again I am not sure why… but I never latched onto this one as hard as I thought I would. For awhile I was using it as a methadone for Anthem… and then I stopped using it at all. I am sure at some point I will cycle back around to this one but I might simply be “looter shooter”‘d out for the time being.
Pokemon Go – Android
This one ends its very long streak. I still technically crack it up every so often, largely to hatch eggs… but I had four eggs ready to hatch and I let that notification go for two weeks before actually doing anything. It is a perfectly fine game, and if I engaged with some sort of a community I would probably get into it more. I am trying to increase the amount of activity I am doing as a whole now that it has warmed up so it might have a resurgence. That said… my TicWatch tracks my activity without me actually having to open the app so I admit that was a nail in the coffin for this game. Out of sight and out of mind… you had a good run PoGo.