Still Driving the Mako

Hey Friends! I feel like I am stuck in somewhat of a rut. Right now I am playing Mass Effect 1 again and it is largely because it is familiar and easy to fall back into when I get home from work. I didn’t spend a ton of time on my most recent playthrough of this game and largely took the critical path. As a result I missed a lot of fairly important things like the whole Cerberus quest chain that takes place planetside. I don’t love the Mako or Hammerhead so I tend to avoid doing those missions… but in the first game at least you end up missing quite a bit of content by taking this stance. I am wondering how it will impact the later games because I think I have always skipped most of the planetary nonsense unless absolutely required. At this point I am staring down the barrel of the Virmire mission and I am not really certain what decision I am going to make.

I spent a good chunk of the weekend playing Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and I really need to return to that. The problem is when I get home from work I have not wanted to be up in my office… which is where my PS5 is currently hooked up. The living room is a communal space and I don’t have any of my devices hooked to that television as a result. So if I want to hang out downstairs… I am going to be playing something on my laptop which isn’t exactly conducive to console gaming. There are times I daydream about redoing my office and putting a couch up here… but that is never going to happen because I don’t have anywhere near enough room to do so.

Another console game that I really want to return to and finish is Final Fantasy VII Remake, especially now that is has added DLC. I went through the process of downloading the new PS5 version of the game and swapping over a save file from the PS4 version so I should be able to pick up where I left off. I also installed the Yuffie DLC so it is sitting there waiting for me as well. I was enjoying the game last time I played it so I could probably easily slide back into Midgar for some chill gaming. I’m coming to the realization that I need to just simply admit that I am a single player gamer and as a result should spend more time playing single player games.

I’ve downloaded and spent a very small amount of time poking around the Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin demo. It is interesting… and I get the whole soulslike comparison. So far I like it considerably more than a traditional souls game because it has a difficulty slider. I hope to spend at least a little bit more time this weekend poking about in the game.

Lastly there is the problem of Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis. I don’t love the game… and I was really hoping that I would. I am not sure what it is about the game but I am not attaching at all. In fact I like it considerably less than I liked baseline PSO2. I am not sure if I can pinpoint why though, but the entire thing just doesn’t feel good to play right now. It might simply be that I am in the wrong state of mind to really get into it, but whatever the case it is… I’ve tried a Hunter and a Ranger and neither one really feels good to me. This is a little sad since I was hoping this would be the game to unite the tribes… at least for a little bit, but unfortunately that does not seem to be the case for me at least.

The challenge that I keep struggling with… is I am nostalgic about when I used to play games with other people. However I never can seem to be in the right frame of mind to play the game that the bulk of my social group seems to be playing. I’ve reached a point where it feels like I am too old to make vast changes in my circle of friends, and as such given that I always seem to be playing the wrong game… I am just going to always been the odd man out. I am trying to reach a point of acceptance with this and just move on with finding the joy that I can from the games that I seem to be enjoying. That realization however stings a bit.

E3 2021 Best of the Rest

Hey Friends! We continue my half assed coverage of E3 with a wrap up on the rest of the shows. I am sorta batching these all together because after Xbox and Bethesda… everything seems like a downgrade. This morning I am going to talk about games that I thought were interesting and/or got excited about from the following shows with video linked.

There was not a ton in these shows that really piqued my interests, but I did find a few things to talk about. One of my general takeaways from E3 2021 is that it seems like Western developers had a much easier time dealing with the ramifications of the pandemic than Japanese developers. Shows like Square Enix and Capcom which normally have some pretty cool reveals… were pretty anemic at best. It does make me wonder if there is just a more formalized structure there that doesn’t translate to remote work that well? The United States specifically had been moving towards a more flexible and remote office for awhile, and the pandemic seemed to just push already existing plans into motion.

GigaBash

This game makes my inner eight year old happy. Essentially it is a 3D brawler with destructible and usable scenery where you pit one of several Kaiju, Robots and/or Cryptids against one another. I love Monsters, I love Robots and I love Brawlers so I am just hoping I can find some people to play this with when it ultimately launches. I can probably at a very minimum convince Grace to be a Kaiju with me and destroy towns. I particularly liked the volcano level where an eruption was happening and the combatants had to deal with the increasing flow of lava. Fully on board for this particular brand of nonsense.

Release Date: 2021 – Watch the Trailer

Babylon’s Fall

So I am still a bit confused as to what this game is exactly. From what I am reading it sounds like it is going to be a co-op action game where you collect loot and equipment and customize your players to fight tougher encounters. That sounds like Melee Destiny, but also no one has really managed to do Melee Destiny properly yet. It is by Platinum games so expect it to be a little bit on the odd side, and the video specifically states that Nier proved that they had hack and slash chops. However I don’t exactly think of Nier as being a traditional hack and slash game? I am interested and signed up for the beta so I would have to see this in action before I really commit to being excited for it. It is curious enough to gain a mention this morning however.

Release Date: Unknown – Watch the Trailer

Guardians of the Galaxy

You remember that whole Marvels Avengers thing where they make characters look like designers imposters version of the MCU characters? It’s back! This time it is in a single player adventure, which I have to admit I am tentatively interested in. I honestly wonder if this began its life as DLC content for Marvels Avengers, and after the general flop it was ultimately got spun off as its own game? The aesthetics and graphics certainly fit that style with the key difference being this is Eidos and not Crystal Dynamics… but they are all Square Enix studios so who knows. I am interested enough in this to take a wait and see attitude. It could be another Marvels Avengers… or it could be another Spiderman game so I guess time will tell.

Release Date: Fall 2021 – Watch the Trailer

Harold Halibut

Every so often a game comes along that blows you away completely. For me it is Harold Halibut, in part because I love the art style. It turns out that everything you see in the game is hand crafted and hand animated with stop motion. It looks like an old school style adventure game where you are trying to figure out how to get your ship from its watery grave and back out into the stars looking for a dryer home. The textural aspect of the game is just gorgeous and I am going to pick this up as soon as it is available.

Release Date: Unknown – Watch the Trailer

Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster

This one only really gets a footnote because the PC versions of several of these early games are shit. I am hoping that this release ultimately remedies this and we don’t just get crappy ports of the iPhone versions. The fact that this is releasing on Steam and the two mobile app stores however… makes me think that this is likely not the case. I don’t love the look of FF5 for example on the PC. I really do not like that art style and I am hoping however these end up looking… is a bit closer to the feel of the original artwork.

Release Date: Unknown – Watch the Trailer

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

I have no idea what to even begin to think about this game. Effectively it looks like it is a modern Action Combat Final Fantasy game similar to FF7 Remake… but that loosely follows the story arc of the original Final Fantasy game. Also if you squint your eyes JUST RIGHT you would think this is a Devil May Cry game. I am not sure what this means for the franchise or if it means that they plan on going back and mining the back catalog of Final Fantasy games for future action combat conversions. We live in interesting times, but I have to admit I am sorta into this notion. Maybe the pixel remaster is so that we can remember what was clearly… as they start picking apart the bones to craft crazy mechanized versions for future consumption. In any case there is a demo out now for PS5 and I am downloading.

Release Date: 2022 – Watch the Trailer

Shin Megami Tensei V

I’ve never successfully made my way through a Shin Megami Tensei game but that doesn’t stop me from considering them very interesting. It looks like the next game in that series is exclusive to the switch and we will seeing it releasing in the holiday timeframe. It looks really pretty, or at least a significant upgrade graphically from the ones I have tried to play on the 3DS. I have no clue if I am going to fall for the trap of buying and trying this one or not but it was something that made me interested at least.

Release Date: November 12th, 2021 – Watch the Trailer

Metroid Dread

I have to admit this is the winner of this list far as I am concerned. This is the game that excited me the most out of everything post Bethesda/Microsoft and maybe even competes with some of those announcements. I love Metroid and I specifically love the 2D era Metroid games. All I have really wanted for awhile is for Nintendo to release the remake of Metroid 2 that they did exclusive to the 3DS over on the Nintendo Switch. While this is not what they did… we are apparently getting a brand new adventure which is maybe even better? They specifically labelled it Metroid 5 at the beginning of the trailer… which I am not sure I understand the sequence if that is the case. It seems like there is a chase mechanic similar to Mr X from Resident Evil 2 remake, with your own ways of mitigating this and hiding from what appears to be an indestructible killer robot.

Release Date: Unknown – Watch the Trailer

The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild Sequel

I want to be excited for this game but I am not sure if I can be. After watching the trailer, I read up some of the information that came out surrounding it… and apparently the weapon breaking mechanic remains in this game. That was a deal breaker for me with the first game and largely ruined the entire experience. I didn’t get into the game until I could play it on a WiiU emulator with a mod that removed weapon durability. After that I had the best time I have had in a Zelda game in a long time. So I guess for the sequel… since it won’t be releasing on WiiU I am going to have to hope for the Switch Emulator scene to get better real fast so I can also play this one… with a no durability fix.

Release Date: Unknown – Watch the Trailer

There we have it folks. That was e3 2021… minus Nacon which is way out of band for the rest of the shows taking place July 7th. It was a bit of a disappointing all around with the only “good” shows being Microsoft/Bethesda and Nintendo Direct. Everything else was either an endless wave of indie games that will be forgotten moments after watching the trailer or expansions for existing live service games. I do feel bad for that endless ocean of indies because it really does take an awful lot to make one of them rise above the surf. Overall I did very much feel the loss of the EA and Sony shows and I would expect in both cases that they come up with some show during the summer to make up for that fact.

Even more frustrating however is the list of games not talked about that we know are in the works somewhere. A few things I want more information about:

  • Fable 4
  • Metroid Prime 4
  • Bioshock 4
  • Beyond Good and Evil 2
  • The Division: Heartland
  • Untitled Ubisoft Open World Star Wars Game
  • Jedi Fallen Order 2
  • Everwild

Then there is a whole slew of Sony exclusives that we missed out on by them not having a show. So I guess we will keep waiting on these things and maybe hear something in the months to come.

Categories E3

Bethesda and Microsoft E3 2021

Morning Friends! As promised yesterday I am returning to my shoddy coverage of E3 2021 this morning. As a kid I can remember the highlight of my year being when the Christmas “wish books” as they used to call them, started showing up and giving us a vision of all of the amazing things that were about to arrive that winter. In many ways E3 reminds me of that same process because we sit down and watch a glorified demo reel of all of the games that are going to be arriving somewhere on the horizon. Sure some of those titles disappear never to return again… but most of them eventually do see the light of day in the coming two years.

Of all of the shows in recent memory there have been three that really stood out as highlights of the E3 Experience. Those were Sony and Microsoft because they always pulled out the big guns to show off everything we should be salivating over. As far as individual companies though… Bethesda is the show that most had my heart in mind when it came to its specific brand of games. Sony seems to be completely absent this year, like maybe they didn’t get the memo that E3 was back on and everyone was participating… even Nintendo. This however is the first year with Bethesda and Microsoft sharing the stage and it was a very interesting experience. E3 had been a pretty lackluster experience, but this combined show made up for lost time.

Starfield

Unfortunately we still don’t know a ton of information about “No Man’s Skyrim” as Kodra refers to it, but we do have a release date. This is currently targeting November 11th of 2022 aka 11 years after the release of Skyrim. Todd Howard even drew the same comparison to it basically being Skyrim in outer space and if they can pay off on that concept I am entirely on board with this. I like the grimy lived in feel of the visuals of this game as compared to the slick, smooth and clean spaceships that we often get. Ultimately if they are going to make it to 2022 and maintain the level of hype they have now… they are going to need to strategically seed us with information along the way to keep us going.

Release Date: November 11th, 2021 – Watch the Trailer

Atomic Heart

A theme you are going to find out about me, is that I really am interested in eastern block/soviet era nostalgia science fiction. I find the concepts that get thrown together so interesting and so wildly different from the narratives that come out of the western story telling traditions. Atomic Heart looks to be this wild post apocalyptic Bioshock style game set in or around a post-soviet Russia. Wild robots, some friendly, some very not friendly… and interesting denizens like this brief shot of a lady that looks like she is about to bung you over the head with a ladle. I remember seeing this before, but I had not really been following it… and I am super on board with this brand of nonsense.

Release Date: Unknown – Watch the Trailer

The Ascent

I’ve seen this game a few times but it still interests me greatly. It reminds me of Syndicate in so many ways or the modern Shadowrun turn based RPGs. Based on the visuals and demo reel I would guess it is something more akin to a Tactics game or X-Com. It seems like you get to build your squad and then go out on missions for fun and profit. Going to be completely honest though, the setting and visuals are what made me interested because I am almost always on board with a cyberpunk aesthetic. Definitely going to check it out whenever it launches, especially since it will be available on Gamepass.

Release Date: July 29th, 2021 – Watch the Trailer

Redfall

Sometimes a game comes along and I am uncertain how to feel about it. Redfall is one of these games. On some level it makes me think it is very much going to be a nostalgia trip back to the era when Left 4 Dead was king. Redfall describes itself as a co-op first person shooter but also Arkane goes into detail talking about how it will have loot collection and customization which screams something like a Destiny. Ultimately I think it all depends on how it feels and if it has compelling single player gameplay. Sure I like the notion of being able to get together with some of my friends and do co-op gameplay, but that is pretty much a pretty lie at this point. It is hard as hell to ever be playing the same game as my friends and even harder to get over the social friction required to actually be online and interested in playing the same thing at the same time. If this game gives me engaging single player gameplay… I am probably on board because I love what I have seen of the setting so far.

Release Date: Summer 2022 – Watch the Trailer

Replaced

There is this trend happening right now in games and I am loving it. I most closely identify it with Narita Boy and Octopath Traveller but it is this concept of 2D pixel graphics being influenced by a 3D world with shaders and VFX. The end result is this glorious aesthetic that is both retro and modern at the same time and it is showcased beautifully in Replaced. This game reminds me of a Castlevania game set in a post apocalyptic wasteland or maybe even a setting similar to the Crow movies. I am very interested and again since it is coming to Gamepass, I will at the very least install and check it out.

Release Date: Sometime 2022 – Watch the Trailer

Psychonauts 2

I am not sure what I need to say about this one. We have known a new Psychonauts game was in the works for several years at this point. It is just about to release since we have an August 25th date finally announced. Either you are a fan of this particular brand of humor and adventure or you are not. Double Fine creates a very specific flavor of game and I know that I will eventually get around to playing this one. The challenge however is I am not sure when. I am interested but probably not interested enough to push something else out of the way in order to play it. I am certain Thalen however will be trying his best to play this upon release because he is a huge fan of the series. I enjoyed the first game quite a bit but also am fine waiting awhile until I have a lull to pick it up.

Release Date: August 25th, 2021 – Watch the Trailer

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl

I am extremely excited for this game, because I feel like I missed out on playing the first game. What I mean by that… is there is this entire era of first person shooter that is largely lost to me. I’ve become used to the specific control scheme that we landed on for this style of game, and going back to a game that controls differently than that… is just not something I can do anymore. As a result I am super interested in exploring this setting with modern controls. Again this feeds into that whole Soviet era nostalgia and narrative thing that interests me because the kinds of stories that get told are different than what I would normally expect. This is probably a day one game for me, especially since once again… it is on Gamepass.

Release Date: April 28th, 2022 – Watch the Trailer

The Outer Worlds 2

The Outer Worlds 2 wins the show for the absolute best trailer. If you don’t know what I am talking about take a watch. I loved the first game (and need to return to it and finish it at some point soon) and as a result I am super on board with a new one. I love this setting and I love the characters that came from the setting. Obsidian did a damned fine job of hatching a Fallout adjacent feeling environment that doesn’t just feel derivative and is instead its own rich setting. I am going to keep buying Outer Worlds games as long as they keep making them. I still hope someday to see a Fallout New Vegas 2 however since Obsidian and Bethesda now live under the same corporate umbrella. Please Papa Microsoft make this happen.

Release Date: Unknown – Watch the Trailer

Contraband

This is another game like Redfall that I am uncertain about. The premise seems awesome… the folks that brought us the Just Cause games creating a 1970s era heist game set in a fictional country. The piece of that equation that I am uncertain about however is that it is ultimately a co-op experience which may or may not translate to single player gameplay. Once again I have friends and I have friends who game… but the likelihood of actually getting everyone to be playing the same game at the same time is next to zero. So this is really cool and all, but unless I can play it happily by myself without the need of other human beings that it is probably going to be a pass for me. Again however the existence of Gamepass allows me to dip my toes into a game like this without fully committing so for now… I am tentatively interested.

Release Date: Unknown – Watch the Trailer

Fallout 76 Expansions

I have been recently back in Fallout 76 and the game is far better than anyone seems to give it credit. The introduction of NPCs went a long way to making this feel like a proper fallout game, and they continue to roll out new content at a regular cadence much like Elder Scrolls Online. So while I have not really interacted much with the Brotherhood of Steel content, I am interested to see more of it.

What really intrigues me however is something they announced branded an “expedition” and that we would be visiting The Pitt again. This was one of the better Fallout 3 expansions and it was a self contained area separate from the Capital Wasteland. This makes me wonder if this is ultimately going to be how Fallout 76 introduces new maps to the game. I am interested to see where they go with this concept and I would love to spend time visiting areas that we have in other games… in this prequel setting to see the forces that shaped them.

Steel Reign Release Date: July 7th, 2021 – Watch the Trailer
Expeditions: The Pitt Release Date: 2022 – Watch the Trailer

Halo Infinite

I have no idea why I am paying attention to this trailer or why I am even talking about it. I know that I do not like Halo games. I’ve known this for awhile now. I don’t like not being able to stick with only the weapons that I like as I make my way across the game world. I hate having to pick up random weapons and use them, especially the goofy covenant weapons. Knowing all of this… why am I still compelling to keep watching Halo trailers and get mildly excited by them? I mean it looks like a good Halo game for people who love Halo… and given that it is probably going to be available on Gamepass at some point… I will probably give it a try. Sometimes the heart wants things that the brain knows that it should not.

Release Date: Holiday 2021 – Watch the Trailer

There we have it friends… this is the show that restored my faith in the E3 experience once again. Sure I could cherry pick a handful of games that I was mildly interested in from the previous shows but this had things I was legitimately thrilled to see. There are times I have to admit I consider picking up an Xbox Series X, or at least trying to. Microsoft with its focus on Gamepass… really does seem like the winner of this generation. I’ve always backed Sony because it gave me experiences that did not end up transferring over to my platform of choice… the PC. However it seems like even that might be less of a thing as Sony seems to be courting that sweet sweet PC gaming dollar. If someone asked me how they could get the most bang for the buck I would not hesitate for a second to say that they should buy an Xbox Series X and Gamepass and then just play whatever gets released there.

Categories E3

MixTape Mondays: Waiting For Now

Hey Friends! I was torn this morning as to whether or not to keep up with MixTape Mondays or to create a more topical post returning E3 shows today. I opted to keep the series rolling forward and I guess tomorrow I will return to my crappy coverage of E3 events. For those unaware MixTape Mondays is my series where I share a playlist aka the closest thing we have to a real MixTape these days. I was one of those kids who used to create them a lot given I had the magical dual tape cassette deck stereo allowing me to record all the things. Instead of sharing them on a one by one basis, I am sharing them with all of you my readers and internet friends.

Waiting for Now

Sometimes all it really takes is a single song to send the brain off in a specific direction. I love How Soon is Now by the Smiths. There is something so iconic about the guitar vibrato and big train horn chords that I legitimately never get tired of hearing it. Because of this fact I had no clue that the song was actually over six minutes long. What ended up happening as a result was me trying to match the feel of this song occasionally skimming the top of new wave or diving down into goth classics. The end result I think “works” for reason I can’t really fully explain. This has been in my listening rotation an awful lot lately and I have technically had this one finished for almost a month before unleashing it upon the world.

  • How Soon is Now? – The Smiths
  • Whisper to a Scream – The Icicle Works
  • True Faith – New Order
  • For Her Light – Fields of Nephilim
  • Fascination Street – The Cure
  • Under the Milky Way – The Church
  • Wasteland – The Mission
  • Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division
  • Under the God – Tin Machine
  • She Sells Sanctuary – The Cult
  • Never Let Me Down Again – Depeche Mode
  • How Not To Drown – Chvrches feat. Robert Smith

Listen On Spotify

Listen On YouTube

Listen On Tidal

There you have it folks, my attempt at doing “How Soon Is Now?” some justice in MixTape form. Tomorrow I fully expect to return with a post about the Microsoft and Bethesda E3 show, but for now I wanted to keep the pattern of Monday MixTape releases. I managed to make a post every single day last week and even over the weekend so I am hoping that I have finally reached a place of equilibrium with my life in spite of still going through work hell. For those new to the series there is of course always the archive allowing you to catch up on the series.