- Inscryption (finished)
- Tales of Arise (left Calaglia for Cyslodia)
- F-Zero
- Super Mario World
- Resident Evil 2 REmake
- Final Fantasy VII
Evolving Thoughts on This Blog
There are a lot of different things I’m learning and experimenting with right now and I’ve been thinking about where the blog fits into all of it. For now, I’m going to primarily make rambling journal posts. The “let’s play” videos of blogging in a sense. If you connect with my thoughts, I’m happy to have you along and have conversations in the comments.
Sometimes thoughts will stray from gaming… and my apologies for the excessive length of this one…
Some Sunday Thoughts
Not a lot of playing games on Sunday but there are some video game thoughts. Right now – after a major pull into vintage games – I’m feeling drawn into large, modern 3D polygonal experiences. It may be in part because of the decision to try my hand at gaming Youtube, with so much of that retro landcape already covered by other creators.
Regardless of the why, I have the desire to be pulled into an immersive world experience. One specifically not within the scope of the sport-like diversion of what I’ve been playing (a lot of F-Zero and Super Mario Bros). Right now, that means I’ve started Tales of Arise while looking over at Psychonauts 1&2 as well as Alan Wake Remastered. It happens every so often, like a specific food craving.
Adjacent Thoughts
As an aside, this push and pull to different genres makes me think of the enormous range of experience in video gaming. Whether it’s moving through sport-like racers or side scrolling obstacle courses, repeating them over again and again with greater perfection, or leveling up a character through varied, awestriking environments (not to mention strategy games, social games, the list goes on and on).
Moving forward in 2022, my intention is not to lose a foot in the old, more often arcade-like experiences. The opaque process of development of these big AAA games leaves consumers with a controlled view of the tip of the iceberg and can hide serious worker exploitation. Along with the higher energy consumption of running modern titles, it has me ambivalent and resistant to fully subsuming my gaming time in them. Something I’ve come to appreciate about the Switch is that it’s at least a low-power format relative to PC or PS5/Xbox gaming.
Monday
Monday was a rare day off of gaming – well not quite – I did take a break mid-day for about 30-40 minutes of Inscryption. It’s dragging on a bit for me at the point where I think I’m closing in on the true ending of the game. It seems like it’ll ramp up again as I complete this stage of matches (intentionally vague to avoid spoilers), but it’s carrying less driving force than all that has led up to it.
At first, the change to this current “chapter” of the game was a fresh interesting twist, but as it goes on over the course of a couple of hours of gameplay, it feels less impactful in the moment to moment than what came before. Still eager to see this delightful game through to the end and beyond and what game exists without peaks and valleys of engagement over it’s several hours.
Nothing played in the evening as I was tired out from some exercise and sucked in to some brilliant video essays on the Beatles by so and so. One was about the new documentary and the other on Paul’s solo album Ram as an incredible genesis of the indie pop sound. Man, I couldn’t agree more, I love the mood of that album and it’s ability to transform mine when listening to it. Tuesday, Tales of Arise must go on!
Tuesday-Friday
Look at that, I didn’t journal on these days and am now going to try an pry out some details…
There was some more time spent on Inscryption this week, including another shift of sorts in it’s structure. I will be vague about this game unless there is a specific spoiler post/warning because the mystique of the game is a nice aspect of it. I will say the narrative pacing continues to be less gripping than it was early on, but it’s a testament to the mood and gameplay that I’m still very much in it.
Ah also, Tales of Arise is chugging along and I’m doing a decent job of exercising restraint to keep myself from bouncing off onto another jumbo game that I won’t finish. I’m now embarking upon the second biome of the game and it’s fine, nothing new to report in my feelings about it for better or worse.
Saturday
So, I wrote the tuesday-Friday section on Saturday and am looking to capture this last day of the journaling week fresh in my mind. Probably gonna break restraint and dabble in a different game today.
(a day passes)
And I ended up finishing Inscryption! It’s a high recommendation to just about anyone with an interest in playing games. Especially if a bit of mystery and mood are things you like, as well as pick up and play card games. I’m someone who grew up playing euchre with friends and family, likes a good escape room, and is a bit of a Twin Peaks nut, so I’m predisposed for title like this. Even if you aren’t that into those cross-section of things, there’s a good chance you’ll find Inscryption worth a play.
There’s a beta version of an endless challenge mode that’s downloadable and is designed around the beggining portion of the game, you may see it show up in next week’s journal. I prefer to play completed versions of things but I am so primed for Inscryption’s gameplay at this point that it’d be a waste not to look at it.
As far as concluding thoughts on Inscryption go, the pacing does pick back up at the end and I was relatively satisfied with the attention they put into a complete experience. It does not feel neatly closed or explained, which I like for stimulating analysis and theorizing about the full extent of what’s going on. The whole playthrough clocked in at around 18-19 hours and is impacted significantly by how long you spend making card playing decisions (I tend towards the deliberate/slower end).
Tying Up
That was a lighter week of play with Inscryption taking up the bulk of my attention, the game of the week so to speak, the attention trophy. Resident Evil and Final Fantasy snuck in on Friday and Saturday for a hot second after they came up in conversation, not really playing them so much as dipping my toes in their world. That about does it, hope you survived the last week relatively unscathed, when and wherever you read this.