I've been thinking about writing on this blog again for a while now. I've been busier than usual the past couple of years, and it's been kind of a challenge for me to just open up blogger.com, type something and publish it. I always wanted to write, but never found the time. Well I decided this weekend to take that time!
I've played dozens of games during this hiatus, but I'll try to stay true to the idea of "What Am I playing NOW" and stick to what I'm actually playing these days.
My main game right now is Dead Cells, the critically acclaimed and successful indie game released in 2018. First things first, I don't know why I waited that long. Well that's not exactly true, I waited for the price to drop. Being a critical success, it rarely dropped below 20 Canadian dollars. Monetary considerations aside, I have struggled in the past with roguelites. Not that I don't like them ; I actually loved the likes of Crypt of the Necrodancer and Rogue Legacy. But I'm just not that good at that particular genre. I play them for a while then I eventually hit a wall where it becomes just too hard for me. From what I could gather, it's usually somewhere around 50-60% through the game.
In any case, I eventually started Dead Cells about a week ago. Holy crap that game is so much fun. The controls are super precise and responsive. It might sound silly and obvious, but I always feel like the character on the screen is doing exactly what I want when I want. Anyone who has played a wide variety of games knows that this isn't as common in games as it should be. Given the type of game Dead Cells is, such perfect controls are crucial to the game's success. I have only a couple of hours put into the game so far, and only one major boss beaten, so I'm not super far into the game. My longest run, that I actually did a couple of hours ago, is about 32 minutes. It is absolutely living up to the lofty expectations I had.
On the other end of the gaming spectrum, as far as humanly possible, is Read Dead Redemption 2. I started this as a couple's game, because my wife really enjoys watching narrative-driven games (Uncharted 4, God of War 2018, The Witcher III are amongst those I completed with her on PS4) as if they were Netflix series. Sadly, since we don't get that much free time together, this means my experience with RDR2 has been, so far, very broken up. I am about 20% through the game, but have only done around 5% since the start of 2021. As I'm not playing it daily - or, in some instances, even weekly - I feel I have to relearn the controls every time I boot it up. It got worse when I was simultaneously playing, by myself and on a daily basis, other third-person games with different control schemes.
While the controls have proven to be a bit of a hassle, the other parts of the games are nearly perfect. It looks absolutely gorgeous, the story is compelling and the characters interesting and nuanced. Just going around on a horse and listening to Arthur Morgan talk with anyone about anything is captivating. Some action sequences have been pretty good, but they're not the main selling point for me. Maybe playing it on a more regular basis will make the controls feel more natural though. I hope!
Next is Danganronpa 2 : Goodbye Despair. I started the first Danganronpa a few months ago, going in almost entirely blind. To be quite honest, I bought Danganronpa V3 on PS4 a few months ago simply because I had heard the name mentioned positively in a podcast I like and the reviews were pretty solid. A quick trip through gaming forums told me I should REALLY play 1 and 2 before 3. So that's what I'm doing. At first I wasn't sure I liked the idea behind the games, teenagers murdering each other in a high school? What the hell? And then it completely sucked me in. The characters were, for the most part, quite fascinating and I was honestly very intrigued by the setting and the story. This second game isn't grabbing me quite as much as the first one, but certainly enough to keep me interested in finishing it. I'm about halfway through, having completed the third trial/chapter yesterday.
Finally, let's looks quickly at The Legend of Zelda : Link's Awakening for the Switch. This is one of the rare mainline Zelda games I hadn't played before, since I never really owned a GameBoy as a kid. I did borrow my friend's console from time to time, but he didn't have that game. So I preordered this remake of sheer love for the Zelda franchise and because I had never played it. I'm currently quite far into the game, I think I completed 6 out of the 8 announced dungeons (unless of course the game has surprises in store). It's a traditional Zelda game in so many aspects. Sure, there are a few quirks here and there making it a bit unique, but you pretty much know what to expect going in. Dungeons, new items/abilities to beat the boss and help find next dungeon. I'm oversimplifying quite a bit, obviously, but it's that formula done pretty efficiently.
