All work, some play
Oooof, I can hear the crickets from here.
This blog has been quite recently. Thankfully, this has been for very good reason. Lots of work has arrived in a very short space of time and while that means far less time to play games, it does mean a salary and lots of interesting things to do. I am very pleased, and am looking forward to seeing where it all goes. Of course, this has meant that my writing has suffered because I have struggled to find the motivation to write in my free time, when much of my work time consists of doing the exact same thing. In order to avoid going another week without writing anything, however, I decided to sit down and just give a quick run-down of what I have been playing since the last post.
Starlink: Battle for Atlas.
I am currently trying to write something about this game but am really struggling to articulate my thoughts. I think the issue is that I initially wanted to discuss why I think this game needed to come before a Star Fox game in this style in order for both to work, but that has evolved into a discussion about what design choices could inform the next Star Fox game. I think I need to just cut the first bit, but that then means I need to rework the discussion. I will spend more time thinking about it, but in the mean time I will say that I had a good time with this game. There was nothing revolutionary, and the Ubisoft-ness (the towers. So many towers) of the experience did make it repetitive, but I haven't enjoyed space combat as much as this since I played Freelancer in high school. And I loved Freelancer.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.
I've had this in my backlog for a while and I finally decided to give it a go as a way of bridging the gap between Hollow Knight and the release of the new Pokémon. I have a few of the special stages left to do in order to unlock the final world. I've kind of lost interest though because the final few challenges I have to do are really, really hard. People were not kidding when they said this game was tough. Coming off the back of another really hard game I just don't think I am up for bashing my head against a wall for hours trying to complete a level at the moment so I don't think I will make an attempt to try and complete it any time soon. I do definitely agree that the level design is something special though and so I am happy to have experienced it.
Brawlhalla.
With Smash Bros on the horizon, I have started feeling the itch to play a fighting game again. Thankfully, Brawlhalla released on the Switch this month and has given me something to scratch with for a while. It's been interesting to play something with an F2P model because in some ways this game does things so wrong - cosmetics are massively over-priced, and it means that I see virtually no users with them - but it also avoids a lot of the predatory traps that other games fall into. It has been a satisfying experience and while my playtime will fall dramatically when Smash comes out, I don't think I will stop playing this entirely. Which has got to be a good sign.
Pokémon Let's Go: Eevee
If you'd listened to the internet before this game launched, you'd have been convinced it would be a total disaster and utterly irredeemable. Unsurprisingly, they were wrong. This is a simplified Pokémon experience, but not a dumbed down one. It is the exact amount of chill I need while playing something in the build-up to Smash, and there are tons of adorable details that are keeping me smiling all the way through. Sure this game is preying very heavily on nostalgia, but I was part of the initial Pokémon craze so I am delighted.
Play pawsome :3
This blog has been quite recently. Thankfully, this has been for very good reason. Lots of work has arrived in a very short space of time and while that means far less time to play games, it does mean a salary and lots of interesting things to do. I am very pleased, and am looking forward to seeing where it all goes. Of course, this has meant that my writing has suffered because I have struggled to find the motivation to write in my free time, when much of my work time consists of doing the exact same thing. In order to avoid going another week without writing anything, however, I decided to sit down and just give a quick run-down of what I have been playing since the last post.
Starlink: Battle for Atlas.
 |
| Source: https://ksassets.timeincuk.net/wp/uploads/sites/54/2018/09/931902-920x518.jpg |
I am currently trying to write something about this game but am really struggling to articulate my thoughts. I think the issue is that I initially wanted to discuss why I think this game needed to come before a Star Fox game in this style in order for both to work, but that has evolved into a discussion about what design choices could inform the next Star Fox game. I think I need to just cut the first bit, but that then means I need to rework the discussion. I will spend more time thinking about it, but in the mean time I will say that I had a good time with this game. There was nothing revolutionary, and the Ubisoft-ness (the towers. So many towers) of the experience did make it repetitive, but I haven't enjoyed space combat as much as this since I played Freelancer in high school. And I loved Freelancer.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.
 |
| Source: https://cdn02.nintendo-europe.com/media/images/10_share_images/games_15/wiiu_14/SI_WiiU_DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze_image1600w.jpg |
I've had this in my backlog for a while and I finally decided to give it a go as a way of bridging the gap between Hollow Knight and the release of the new Pokémon. I have a few of the special stages left to do in order to unlock the final world. I've kind of lost interest though because the final few challenges I have to do are really, really hard. People were not kidding when they said this game was tough. Coming off the back of another really hard game I just don't think I am up for bashing my head against a wall for hours trying to complete a level at the moment so I don't think I will make an attempt to try and complete it any time soon. I do definitely agree that the level design is something special though and so I am happy to have experienced it.
Brawlhalla.
 |
| Source: http://www.brawlhalla.com/c/uploads/2015/11/Brawlhalla-Lineup.jpg |
With Smash Bros on the horizon, I have started feeling the itch to play a fighting game again. Thankfully, Brawlhalla released on the Switch this month and has given me something to scratch with for a while. It's been interesting to play something with an F2P model because in some ways this game does things so wrong - cosmetics are massively over-priced, and it means that I see virtually no users with them - but it also avoids a lot of the predatory traps that other games fall into. It has been a satisfying experience and while my playtime will fall dramatically when Smash comes out, I don't think I will stop playing this entirely. Which has got to be a good sign.
Pokémon Let's Go: Eevee
 |
| Source: https://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/xlarge/public/field/image/2018/11/pokemon-lets-go-eevee-screen-bond.jpg?itok=EsrptzjX |
If you'd listened to the internet before this game launched, you'd have been convinced it would be a total disaster and utterly irredeemable. Unsurprisingly, they were wrong. This is a simplified Pokémon experience, but not a dumbed down one. It is the exact amount of chill I need while playing something in the build-up to Smash, and there are tons of adorable details that are keeping me smiling all the way through. Sure this game is preying very heavily on nostalgia, but I was part of the initial Pokémon craze so I am delighted.
Play pawsome :3
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