Jake

Been listening to a lot of Red lately...

a man wearing glasses and a black turtleneck is holding his hands to his forehead . ALT: a man wearing glasses and a black turtleneck is holding his hands to his forehead .

when you write an 8 bar chord progression instead of a 4 bar one:

You have to understand that this is my brain at like...ALL TIMES

Lightning quick loading times are amazing. It's nice to play it on the 4k monitor I picked up too. The controller is lovely, but I can't help wonder how long it's going to last given how complex the design of it is, and how many working parts it has. I think I'd rather have a sturdy, simple one.

Oh, I should also say - I finally recently got a PS5 (mostly for DS2 and THPS3+4) nearly 5 years after it's release!

I was originally holding off because I didn't see the point (basically no games for me) but it's good to finally have one, and it's exceeded my expectations!

There's a shit load more I could say (a lot of which I've probably forgotten in the 80 hours I spent playing this game) but I've already spammed enough.

Game is probably objectively an 8/10, but for me personally I'm feeling a 9. Peace x

I'm not sure if I'm tweaking on this take, because I haven't played DS1 since it came out, but I do think this game was a touch easier? a little bit to it's detriment. The A to B on foot delivery aspect of the game feels a little less punishing, like you need to consider your movement less.

DS2 adds a bunch of new characters who are instantly likeable.

As long as the game is, I kind of wished the game was longer so we could spend more time with these characters - especially Tomorrow and Rainy, who feel extremely light on character development.

The sequel leans more into the combat side of things, you get a wider variety of weapons thrown into the mix, some of which are very fun. None of the combat is particularly challenging, save for a few sections, but it's a good time.
I like some of the new enemy designs, especially the ghost mechs:

Absolutely incredible visuals, which kind of carry the slower parts of the game. I don't think you could have a game with such a heavy emphasis on slow movement from A to B without such jaw-dropping scenery.

It's going to be a very 'you either love it or hate it' kind of game. (evidenced by the lukewarm reception it's received) but for me, I loved it. It's not without it's flaws, but those are greatly outshined by the parts I enjoyed.

Whew. I finally got around to beating Death Stranding 2. (Did a bunch of extra stuff).

It's always a little sad to part ways with a piece of media that's been consuming you for the past nearly 2 months.

I'll be back one day.

There's brief moments of good gameplay in this game that keep you going, but it's mostly just a cobbled together asset flip with no real thought put into pacing or difficulty curve. 4/10

Got around to playing the funny frustrating streamer platformer game. (it wasn't great)

It's core concept is very good though, and I'd be interested in seeing a different developer take this idea and flesh it out better, with a lot more polish.

After putting 25 hours into Death Stranding 2 so far, I can safely say:

That being said, it's good to play this game with a homie. (thanks Chris) I'm not sure I could have endured the whole experience solo.

The story involves rushing around, finding caves and bunkers, piecing the story together through notes and environmental storytelling. The base building you wouldn't necessarily *need* to do unless you reach the endgame and decide to go all in on the survival craft stuff.

A lot of the enjoyment I got from this game from the organic discovery of stuff; finding blueprints & figuring out what they did, stumbling across caves etc.

There's a bit of a disparity between the story aspect of the game and the base building (very much similar to the first game)

Clearing out the backlog 5/100 - Sons of the Forest

I enjoyed my time with the first game, played it a couple of times. Been meaning to pick this up since it first came out. It has some improvements over the original but is still an extremely jank game lmao.

I don’t want to “streamline” my writing. I don’t want to “increase my output.” I don’t want to “write a novel with one click.” I want to write stuff only I can write. I want to read and write novels with soul and heart and a unique voice. Fuck AI. Long live real writers.

Clearing out the backlog 4/100 - Cavern of Dreams.

A cute love letter to the platformers of the N64. A relatively short game, but packed with some really cool puzzles and art direction.

bouncing and (lord willing) moaning on it

A headline that reads: “Cow escapes on way to slaughterhouse, smashes metal fence, breaks human’s arm, and swims to uninhabited island where she still lives.” There’s a photo of a brown cow looking at the camera.

Finally, some good news.

The immersion is good, but I do question how much impact I'm having on the game in any given moment. Stuff just kind of ...happens. (But I guess that's all part of the immersion)

I had a lot more of a favorable experience with this game this time around compared to when I first played part of it over a decade ago. Positive enough to consider playing black ops at some point (the one the community considers to have the best campaign)

Clearing out the backlog 3/100 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)

I would say it's an interesting snapshot of what game design from the 360/PS3 era was, but y'know - they just keep making these things over and over.

Sadly bogged down by gacha shit, skill trees and seasonpass shit which isn't to my taste, but despite that I did enjoy it greatly. 8/10

Clearing out the backlog 2/100 - Forza Horizon 4

Genuinely great racing game - gorgeous visuals, great map which is a lovely condensed version of the UK. Great variety of races and fun challenges, amazing collection of cars, etc etc

Could easily be a game that you put hundreds of hours into.