Week in Review - 11/12/2021

 

• Pokémon Crystal (3DS)

I started a Crystal Nuzlocke this summer and I picked it up again to chip away at it. I left Eruteak and made my way all the way to Cianwood. Gym Leader Morty took out some of my best Pokémon, though. It felt a bit impossible to recover. Sure enough, Gym Leader Chuck defeated me in Cianwood. My newly caught Gyrados, Satya, defeated his Primeape easily enough, but then his Poliwrath tore through the rest of my weakened team. Even MVP Magnemite, Quartz, was taken out in a single Dynamic Punch. 

• Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield (Switch)

It has been a while since I fired these up. Anticipating the Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl in two weeks, I decided to do a bit of Poké-maintenance. Deez was kind enough to get me codes for Shiny Zamazenta and Zacian, Shiny Celebi and a Dada Zarude. I had been sitting on the codes for a while and decided it was time to add them to my collection. Pokémon Sword is the first Pokémon game I've completed the entire Pokédex since - I daresay - Pokémon Silver. This includes the DLC. It's one of the few good things about the Dexit Controversy. It made collecting a bit easier again. 

- TOP

Week in Review - 11/5/2021

 

• Gloomhaven (PC - Steam)

Gloomhaven has been my board game addiction for a few years now. The PC version has never really managed to hold my attention for too long. Now that the full game is out and the campaign is available, I booted it up to give it a try. I've played through the first two maps on a tabletop and on Tabletop Simulator so many times that playing it again in a video game format feels really weird. I really couldn't give it much more attention than that, right now. 

• Kingdom: Classic (PC - Steam)

A new Norse expansion for Kingdoms: Two Crowns is coming soon. It reminded me that this franchise exists and I had a blast with it many, many years ago. I'm pretty sure I beat Classic back then, but for the life of me I can't manage to pull off a win anymore. This is where I sank the most hours early this week, trying to get my kingdom into shape for the final assault, but every time was met with disaster. 

• Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk (Switch)

I've had this game kicking around my Switch for a while, but I never bothered to try it. I bothered to try it this week and it didn't hook me. I'm not a huge fan of the Etrian Odyssey style dungeon crawling / dungeon mapping genre, so it's really not surprising that this isn't an instant hit for me. I don't love it. I don't hate it. I'm not sure if I'll fire it up again anytime soon.

- TOP

Week in Review - 10/29/2021

 

• Book of Travels (PC - Steam)

Asan came to Braided Shore with practically nothing. Now he has commissioned the artificers of Crossings to fashion him a sword and a cane. He is now a formidable force on the battlefield again. Asan spends his leisure time fishing and peddling swords for glassware. He doesn't have any other strong ambitions, but he has been interested in learning a few potent tea recipes. I tried to find a secret market the other night only to find out that real life time zone issues interfered with my exploration. Frustrating since it's a weekly occurrence. I will have to try again next week. 

• Diablo II Resurrected (PC - Battle.net) 

My brother's friend at Blizzard worked on this game and we try to set aside some time on Sunday to play through it together. It is an official Bunker Hill Bros. event for the first time in a long time. This week Deez started a new character (Assassin) while I continued to push forward on my Necromancer. We re-covered Act 1 of the game up until the final boss which we will hopefully tackle this upcoming weekend. 

• Metroid Dread (Switch)

It should be little surprise that Metroid is an important foundation in my life. If it is a surprise, you should read some of my early articles. That said, I feel like I've only really played about 50% of the franchise. Super Metroid and Metroid Prime are two of the greatest games I think have ever been made. I have never beaten Metroid Zero Mission or Metroid Prime 2 & 3 but I just can't seem to get into Dread for some reason. I'm trying to pin down why I feel underwhelmed.

• Monster Train (PC - Steam)

Definitely got less runs in this week than last week, but I got some runs in nonetheless. After clearing the game with every faction at least once (though certainly not on the ever-increasing difficulty), I decided I was invested enough to get the only DLC available at this time. It introduces a new faction and some new mechanics - that I can't resist which I think is why I started losing when I was previously on a ridiculously long win streak. I can't pass up the opportunity to use the new DLC mechanics to make super powerful units or spells - which in turn makes the enemies ramp up in difficulty, too. I should really try to scale it back ... or should I just "git gud?" 

- TOP

Week in Review - 10/22/2021

 

• Book of Travels (PC - Steam)

I have two characters, but the one I consider my "main" right now is named Asan Nasani. He is tough, careful and self-sacrificing. He was raised by bandits, but left that life behind to become a mercenary. He currently serves an old friend named Sev Tro as a bodyguard in the Braided Shore. We got to play together a bit over the weekend, but time to dedicate to this game was short this week. 

• Deep Sky Derelicts (PC- Steam)

Reminding me a little bit of Darkest Dungeon, I have had an interest in trying this game since it came out, but didn't really get around to trying it until this week. I only played for an hour or so. I like it, but it was a little overwhelming as the game didn't do a hugely satisfying job of explaining all its mechanics to me. Reading all the tool tips and I'm sure I could get by a little better, but opening the game and reading through weapon and skill abilities for an hour is not that fun. I think as I get used to how to play, it will become a fun game. 

• Monster Train (PC - Steam)

This is the game that's really held my attention all week. I probably did at least 1 but often 2 runs through Monster Train every night. I put it off for a long time even though I knew it would be an addicting addition to my love for deck building. Often described to me as Slay the Spire but better, I think I agree. I really don't care for the aesthetics, or the fact that my train has 3-stories instead of multiple cars I can attach and customize. The whole "train" thing feels arbitrary. I like trains, damn it. Give me a real train. 

- TOP

Week in Review - 10/15/2021

 

• Book of Travels (PC - Steam)

I first noticed this game roughly a year ago and it looked real promising. It launched this past week and looking at it critically, I really wasn't sure if I'd like it. It has tons of potential, but it is also a very slow paced game without any hand-holding. You are expected (I believe) to just "live your life" in this little hand-drawn world. Doing whatever small jobs or tasks you set yourself to. It's not story driven, but role-play driven. You make your character the person you want him to be in this little world. As it turns out, I really enjoy it. 

• Lost Judgment (PS5)

My copy of Yakuza: Like a Dragon is in moving limbo sadly - currently stuck in Chicago waiting for a train to bring it closer to Maryland. As a result, I've turned my attention to the next entry in the Yakuza franchise which is Lost Judgment. This is the second game in the new "Judgment" series and it has been a real delight - improving on its predecessor in every single way so far. Combat is amazing. The story is engaging. The old characters are fun and familiar; the new characters are fun and exciting to get to know. 

• Pokémon Brown (Pokémon Red ROM Hack) 

After years of dancing around it, I decided to try and get into fan-made Pokémon games. I'm told many of them are better than their official inspirations. After years of being largely stagnant and [in my opinion] sadly "too safe" I really wouldn't be surprised to find fans have taken the series above and beyond the confines of what Nintendo and GameFreak have done with the franchise in the last 15 years. So I start where many people argue it all began, Pokémon Brown. I'm not entirely sure if I like it. I will get back to you as I get farther. 

• Returnal (PS5)

This is an interesting game. It can be frustrating at times, but it's a lot of fun to uncover the mystery of what's going on to poor Selene. Caught in a time-loop, death and restarting is part of the story. It also gives me some serious Metroid vibes because Selene acts and moves the way I expect Samus to move and she's exploring this dark, creepy planet full of hidden terrors and some ancient civilization. The way the rogue-like elements are woven into the story is what keeps the cycles addicting and intriguing. 

A Return to the Blog (?)

 Hello. 

How have you all been? It's been a few years. I've been through a lot. I'd wager we've all been through a lot considering how the last few years have played out. I have missed you. I've missed chit-chatting about games. This blog has sadly been a place for random ideas and nothing concrete has come of it in a while. I miss my weekly rants, but especially my "Week in Review" column where I could muse about my weekly dalliances and accomplishments. It was a fun way to give random snippets of thoughts about current games I've discovered or revisited. 

So what is this? Am I coming back or is this merely a tease? Honestly, I don't know. I just have the creativity bug biting me and I turn once more to TOP Gaming Blog to scratch that annoying itch it has left behind. I suppose we shall see how far it goes. If it goes no where at all, let me at least catch you up. 

I started this blog almost 10 years ago when I had just moved to Maryland from Hawaii and was looking for an outlet to practice writing and (to some extent) meeting my own personal deadlines. It had a good run, but it fell mostly to the wayside after 2 years. I recently moved back to Maryland from Hawaii (again) so perhaps that's why I've decided to check in and dust off the old writing stomping grounds. 

I'm talking to you.

I quit Final Fantasy XIV two years and two months ago. I keep track as if I am an addict, and perhaps I am. Since then I've hit quite a backlog of single-player games and stayed fairly clear of the dedicated, multiplayer time-sinks. Along that journey, I fell in love with quite a few games I'd love to deep dive into, including but not limited to NieR: Automata and the Yakuza franchise. I've actually spent a little over a year playing Yakuza 0 to Yakuza: Like a Dragon (including Judgment & Lost Judgment) and I have a lot of thoughts on the entire series to share. And I do mean a lot of thoughts. 

Let's see what the future brings.