It has been a pretty popular tradition, at least in my social circles (&/or if you go on Goodreads) to set a reading goal each year. Usually just a number of books you want to finish, but one can mix it up. I like reading, & have tried out an assortment of reading goals for myself, but at around this time last year... I just really didn't feel like it. Nothing appealed. I don't always respond well to pressure, even arbitrary pressure, & I had no motive to challenge my reading habits in any way.
In fact, not having any plans for my reading for the year did cause some shifts in my reading, in nice relaxed ways! Mainly, I've further explored ebooks & embraced their strengths. I've found a couple series & reading lists I want to work through, & it's nice to feel that I can do so freely, at my own pace, without sacrificing any expectation I set for myself before I found these avenues I want to pursue. I read what I want to read, when I want to read, with no preset regard for page number or topic, & it has helped restore a real love of reading for its own sake. I've quit reading some books, with less cares than ever before. I've snatched up whole stacks of stuff from the library, without feeling like I absolutely have to like or finish everything. Also Libby is great, & everyone should try using it, by the way.
In place of a reading goal, I found myself mindful of my pile of video games I've started & never completed, & decided that finishing some of those would be a worthy ambition. Most of my gaming time at that point was going toward either replaying familiar tales or games that don't ever end (Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Rock Band, Animal Crossing, Dr. Mario...) so I figured I could put those aside for a while, put that time into my other games, & it'd be quite simple. Turns out, it wasn't as simple as I'd thought! Most of my started-but-not-finished collection remains exactly as it was, as I tried a surprising amount of entirely new-to-me games. Oops. But would I have been as open to trying these new things, without having an aim of putting aside my usual staples? Probably not, let's be honest. I now have a whole new appreciation for giving things a try, challenging myself & broadening my experiences. I also am way more into the value of the story & experience of games as a whole, as I determine to see a game from start to finish, instead of that thing where I play enough to "get a feel" for a game & then go back to whichever more familiar game feels right for my stick-in-the-mud moods. This really pulled me out of a rut (or several ruts), & I am grateful. If I'd actually kept to my strictest original intent, I admittedly would have been spending almost all of my gaming time on turn-based rpgs, & just because I really like those doesn't mean that's all I should play. I learned a lot about what I actually like in my video games, by stepping out of my well-worn boxes. (I prize charming visuals & music more than I had thought. I am delighted when my games turn out to be about friendship. Give me puns & choices, & we'll have a winner. I like to be made to think more than I care to have my skill challenged.) I got to be surprised by games again, & that's a joy I had forgotten. Playing different games opened more conversations with friends, which is super valuable! I follow so many people on twitter who mostly talk about games, & I manage to rarely talk with them about games; what is up with that? It was a blast to tweet about new things & get feedback. Also, it felt good for my brain to have these very specific goals of things to accomplish, & rewarding. I spent less time on goofy little phone games; those can be neat, but overall not as fulfilling in any way.
Here's review-ish ramblings about each game I finished...
Pokemon Sun:
This was more fun & more disappointing than I expected, in assorted areas. After being so very fond of X, which was my first main Pokemon game since Gold(!), it was perhaps going to be hard for Sun to make an impact on me. The setting & characters were worth the experience, though the main plot was... odd. I enjoyed seeing the new pokemon, but I didn't feel driven to catch 'em all. The format for interacting with other actual humans does NOT seem well done. It was cluttered & weird & I just wanted to go back to X's beautiful straightforward menus & Wonder Trade all day. Maybe some people are more into the add-ons like z moves & bean islands & whatever you were supposed to do with your "plaza" thing, but I'm just... not. Maybe this "meh" review means I shouldn't be so excited for the upcoming main Pokemon game for Switch, but I TOTALLY AM. SIGN ME UP.
Undertale:
This game is one of the finest storytelling experiences one could ever encounter, quite possibly. Everything about it fits together in a way to bring out the beauty of all of it. It benefits greatly from being played all the way through, & thus was a lovely fit with my goal. Yet actually trying to finish this game was a bit of a roller coaster for me; there were technical & other difficulties, then I put it aside for an embarrassingly long time when I hit a battle that was harder than I could handle, & I finally had to ask for tips. BUT IT WAS ALL WORTH IT. Talking about the game with friends is as much fun as the game itself, & the game itself is a blast. I wouldn't shut up about it for a while, my phone background is a frame from a webcomic inspired by it, my google music is full of remixes of its songs, I made a drawing & a cross stitch, I coaxed a friend to play it & let me watch him play parts, asdfghjkl. It's kinda ridiculous how into this game I was/am/thereisnoescape/ithaschangedmybrainforever/sendhelp. Anyway, uh, actual game review talk... I totally get people who play a bit of it & then just quit. If you aren't grabbed by it, & start looking for the negative, you'll find it. People get bored of the battle system. This is not a game for people looking for big & flashy. But if you're looking for something to savor, this may be the perfect game for you. You can sip your tea while you examine every little thing in the librarby, reheat your tea while you gather courage to try a fight again, try to not snort your tea out your nose sometimes... & you will feel rewarded for your time. There's a lot to discover, a lot to consider, & a lot of unexpected little twists. The characters are all so neat, everything looks fantastic, & the music is amazing. I have no complaints about this game at all, actually, though one may need to seek advice a time or two. Nothing wrong with that. I'm really glad this was part of my Finish Games Adventure, & would totally recommend it.
Miitopia:
I expected to like this game. But then I liked it even more than I expected to like it. It's another one that is best savored, & if you aren't going to look for the joy then it's going to get old real fast. It is surprisingly more vast than it at first appears, but yes, everything about it could easily be called repetitive. You can probably tell from the demo if it's going to be your style or not-- if you like the demo at all, you should certainly get the full game! I cast my friends as my actual team, & I'd mostly leave the designated designs plopped from the internet for assorted npcs (swapping out ugly ones or characters I didn't recognize for whatever was the first one I did like), & that went a long way toward the charm of the game, but I really did also enjoy the pure inherent design of it. The monsters are truly fantastic, the music & plot & story & characters & content that stretch on forever are all wonderful. I look forward to picking it up again sometime to max out levels, get medals, & just enjoy the daily quests. This could even be a good game for people who were into Animal Crossing but put it down or are looking for a change of pace, in the sense that you can check in each day for those new little tasks to do, after you beat the main story. If you like to unlock achievements, it has a ton of "medals" that will take you plenty of time. I also want to say that the bite-sized levels make it such a great game to carry around, really suitable to the 3DS' portability & sleep mode. I played bits of Miitopia just about everywhere I went. I also definitely did some very long gaming sessions with it as well, so uh, it's just a lovely versatile thing, if you're okay with basically doing the same thing over & over. The discovery of it is enchanting, you can take lots of screencaps & throw them all over twitter, you can play it when you're sick. It's a really neat usage of the exact strengths of the 3DS, in my opinion. If I was going to make any complaint, there's one particular mechanic I wish worked differently but it only comes up a couple of times, plus overall the game could have afforded to be more challenging. But I respect it for exactly what it is, & the amount of joy I've had from it was more than worth the price. Looking forward to seeing what the future may hold for anything similar!
Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale:
This game REALLY impressed me. All I knew about it at first was that it had fighting but also farming. I was curious, so I put it on my wishlist, & then I received it for my birthday. Looking at the manual gave me pretty high hopes. It had not just farming, but also mining & bug-catching. The battles were turn-based, with movement & special character-specific skills. The characters seemed promising. Did it sound too good to be true? Were my hopes to be heartlessly dashed? I mean, there's so much that could go wrong there. There could be a clunky inventory system, required farming/mining/bug-catching, poor controls, a dull story... turns out, all I didn't really like about this game was the music/voices & the lack of human diversity. Everything else was so well balanced! The pacing was nice, the writing was cute, I really liked the optional "dungeons", the characters really were precious, the fights were easy to navigate without being boring, you can change the difficulty at any time, the maps are not too big or too small or too straight or too convoluted, there are side quests, there are girls to befriend, there's fast travel, I usually don't like crafting in my video games but this was very low-key & not mandatory crafting, it doesn't take itself too seriously but it isn't lazy... if you like turn-based rpgs, I'd really suggest you find this one! Not everything about it is perfect, but there's nothing about it that made me want to put it down. Which is saying something. Since most of my backlog has consisted of turn-based rpgs that I started but then put down. (Don't let the farming/befriending/mining/bug-catching stuff turn you away from it, if that's not your kind of thing. It's seriously optional, & very low intensity even if you do embrace those facets-- there's no penalty if you don't collect your crops right away or anything like that!)
Life is Strange (Chapter 1):
Then I played this mess. Oh my. It's, uh, a neat concept, with nice music. There you go. Ugh, I don't know man, I had heard such good things. I think mostly my social circles like the story? Which must get better later? I can respect that. But I really didn't like the protagonist, or like, anyone you were actually supposed to like, & it all felt rather forced to me. Your little plot points were trying to be so urgent & serious, but you're also obviously supposed to poke around. I usually like to poke around & savor, which is part of why I like, y'know, Undertale & Miitopia, but the perspective of this teenager really ruined that for me. She's awful. Trying to be interested in this high school drama is awful. The choices they gave you were awful. You're in someone else's room, I don't want to poke around their stuff! That's rude! I for sure don't want to *spoiler spoiler rant rant*... Yeah. I don't care for a game giving me choices when none of the choices seem reasonable. I didn't relate to anyone on any level, the things I began to care about weren't things I could pursue, I don't understand why it seems to have nearly universal appeal among the people I know who have tried it. Very glad I didn't pay money for this experience. Won't pay money for any further chapters. I'd maybe read it if it was a book (but maybe not if it's first-person narrative). All this did was make me miss the Rockett series-- now that's how you make an interesting game about being a girl in school sticking her nose in everywhere she can. Purple Moon, come back, we need you. Bring me more Ruben.
Fantasy Life:
Oh boy. I loved this game at first. Then I got very frustrated, over something that I learned (much) later how it was supposed to work, but not knowing was such a drag. I will continue to judge it relentlessly for that fault, because nothing about it gave me any hint of how it was meant to go. I AM BITTER. (If you want more details... You complete tasks to earn points toward mastering jobs. I couldn't get to the places I was supposed to go to complete the tasks. *angry flailing* That's when I put the game down, & only months later picked it up for this goal of purely focusing on finishing the story, though I had originally so wanted to explore various jobs. I didn't understand how you could get any enjoyment from the jobs mechanic, if there was what seemed only a very tiny window of opportunity to actually do the tasks. How was that supposed to work?? Well, in fact, you only can't go those places while you're in a "chapter"-- basically while you're pursuing the plot. There are breaks in the plot, & that is when you can wander freely & pursue whatever you want, before triggering the story moving forward. THAT SEEMS FREAKIN' NEEDLESSLY RESTRICTING. I had never seen anything like that done before, I still can't think of a good actual reason to make a game that way, & I only found out it works that way by accident while I was looking up something else about the game that wasn't very clear. SO YES I CONTINUE TO JUDGE IT.) Return to PopoloCrois is pretty much what I wanted Fantasy Life to be, just with a few less jobs. The battles in Fantasy Life are... not great. So if you're more motivated by a good challenge than by fulfilling quests, this is very likely not going to be your jam-- there's not much at all going on as far as various tactics to attempt in a battle, you can pretty much gauge quickly if you will or will not make it past a baddie, & all you can do to increase your odds is level up. The maps are pretty okay considered on their own, but there were several times I straight up forgot how to get to where I was meant to go next, & the big overworld map is one of those that is useless for actually discerning what areas you can access from where. There are a freakin' billion side quests (from just about any npc you can find, totally separate from the job-mastering side quests), which can be great, but when you're already frustrated at the game it's a drag. Knowing what I know now, & with it allowing for post-plot gameplay (thank goodness), I may pick it back up & master jobs & complete quests for every single human that makes eye contact with me. The writing was actually quite clever, I laughed aloud a good bit at the lively humor. That was the best thing about it. The music was catchy, & the art is lovely. Character customization is a nice touch. Co-op gameplay could be magnificent, & I'm a little sad to not have had the chance to try that out. I'd say if you see this game for a low price or are just straight out of charming rpgs in your life, sure, why not try it. You've read my review, so you will have a better time than I did.
Bastion:
I am super fond of the format here! Games that are quick to "beat" but have plenty of ways to customize for replay value should be way more common, in my idea of a perfect world. You choose a difficulty level (which you can change at any time [this seems to be common in these modern days, but I don't take it for granted]), & then there are ways to tweak your challenge level even further as you go. So no matter your preference or confidence, you can embrace this game. Super neat! The controls are simple enough (with helpful prompts in case you forget what you're doing, which uh, I can't deny happens to me sometimes [especially on pc, man, there's just so many buttons]), so you can dive right in-- after you spend a few minutes enjoying the main menu music, that is. The music & art are outstanding, as is the narrator dude. He'll keep you coming back. My very favorite part was a total surprise to me, I didn't know to expect such a thing... if you've played it, you probably know what I'm talking about, & if you haven't played it, I don't want to give it away. I also really enjoyed the nostalgic vibe I got from the gameplay; I don't know if they meant to remind me of ol' shoot-y NES games, blasting everything in sight, but I couldn't shake those images. Also, fyi, the soundtrack is on spotify, so you too can have it take over your world; you're welcome. I would suggest using a controller with it if you can.
Super Mario Odyssey:
This was a surprise & one of the highlights of my entire year. So grateful to have been given the chance to be Cappy & accompany a friend on this journey; I have such warm fuzzy feelings reserved for this kind of co-op experience, & it really nailed that. I haven't heard anyone else talking about playing it co-op, which is a shame! But I'm possibly in the minority, having minimal interest in playing this sort of thing single-player & maximum interest in playing co-op. Ya'll're missing out on some magic. I freakin' love co-op. Anyway... For me, this game seemed to hit a great balance of being new & fresh while avoiding being gimmicky. Everything about it was fun. Very fond of the way the game scatters little puzzle-solving encouragement everywhere. You get lots of those moments of knowing something is there for a reason, & you get to discover why. By not punishing you much when you die, it frees you up to try anything that occurs to you to try. Jump off a cliff, see if there's a ledge with hidden treasure down there. Attempt some wild jumping to cross a gap you may not be able to cross that way. Repeat that timed challenge over & over until you master it or lose interest. Even failing got to be fun. Outfits & trinkets are fun, 2d portions are fun, bonking everything repeatedly is fun, birds & dogs are fun. Everyone has great hair. There's weird forks & a giant piece of meat & hopping plant life & hectic rushing set to catchy music. Sometimes I was seriously distracted by how nice things looked, everything looks amazing. In short, give Nintendo all of your money. There's a lot of little moments that will particularly appeal to you if you have any nostalgic feelings for Mario games of the past. (I got teary-eyed a couple of times. Don't tell anyone.)
Earthbound:
I did it, you guys! I finished Earthbound! That's nice. This was my third try. Um... uh... Everything looked & sounded great, that's for sure. I enjoyed seeing how Earthbound influenced lots of other games. It had some interesting ideas. Some good dogs. That's about all of the good things I have to say, & I'm not sure I want to get into the bad things! If I say I can respect the views of people who love Earthbound, would that soften the blow? I spent most of the game thinking perhaps I would have adored it back in the day. If it had been, say, my second rpg, after SMRPG. Some of its choices are things I used to enjoy more than I do now, but then again... some of it would have bugged me at least as much. If I hadn't had the internet to consult when I got frustrated, I could have gladly Hulk-smashed everything & never looked back. (I'm looking at you, chickens.) I think perhaps the biggest weakness is... it never really made me feel invested in the characters/plot. Maybe your experience was different! But I felt like it was just random kids going from one place to another, & it really didn't pay off. You do this thing so that you can do this other thing, so you can save the world, just because you've been told you have to, & you do it with people you just met, because you're supposed to. It's a charming world, but not charming enough to make up for all of the little things that bugged me. I appreciate each person on twitter who told me it's okay if I don't love it!
Pyre:
Freakin' impressive. There is an astonishing amount of character/world/relationship depth here, especially considering the campaign mode reaches its end within 20 hours. Agonizing over some choices, I felt as invested as if it was Mass Effect 3. Bonkers, man. The biggest fault in the game as far as I'm concerned is that it didn't get me to care about the main objective of the plot, so the ending lost a bit of punch-- but how much I cared about the characters basically made up for it. If you like characters & consequences, grab this RIGHT NOW. Like Bastion, it does a lovely job of having a simple core plus many ways to mix up your experience, & has the same fantastic art/music quality. I don't know how much time I spent just looking at things & poking them, but I enjoyed every bit of it. The lantern on the side of the text box? Poke it. Big bell? Poke it. Cobwebs? Poke them every time. The half-sphere on the front of the book is one of the most impressive bits of video games visuals I have ever seen in my life. It's perfect. (Did you have a glittery bouncy ball when you were a kid? I did. The book's adornment looks exactly like that bouncy ball. I can't get over it.) I like the thing where you revisit the same locations a lot, but they look different as the game progresses. Oh yeah, the actual skill-involved parts of the game are fun too! *cough* It's like a sports game for people who may or may not like sports games. Very fun twists. When I return to this game, it will be fun to try different strategies. Letting loss be part of the experience instead of forcing a restart is SO COOL. Knowing that you can lose a match makes each outcome mean more; you could feel bad for winning sometimes, or else feel a fire in your heart considering what it would be like to lose to some of those jerks. It also encouraged you to try new things, which is pretty neat in a video game. Edge of your seat stuff throughout. I wish I saw this game getting more attention.
So there you have it! & now for some fun stats stuff:
Games I wouldn't have played at all if not for Dave: 4 out of 10. I'm making him my official unofficial gaming adviser.
Games I played that actually came out this year: 3 out of 10, which is really high for me, okay!
Games I played on pc: 4 out of 10, which is crazy to me, as I didn't even get my own pc set up until, what, February or March? After having basically avoided pc games since I was like 12? Who is this person I have become?
Games I definitely want to play more/again: 7 out of 10. Not bad!
Games that were ones I had in mind when I began this project: 5 out of 10. Sure I derailed from original intent a lot, but when considering my original goal was specifically to finish at least six games, I did pretty well!
Game I spent the most time playing this year: Return to PopoloCrois, at 57 hours! It's those side dungeons, man. (Unless you count the demo of Miitopia towards Miitopia's total playtime, which makes sense because it's basically just the first part of the game, in which case I've spent about 64 hours on Miitopia.)
Game I spent the least time playing this year (yet still finished): Life is Strange, thankfully, got that done in less than four hours. Felt like an eternity. Felt like a stupid high school girl was manipulating the flow of time & whining constantly.
Looking forward... I don't yet have a goal of any sort for next year. My collection of DS/3DS games is currently missing (except Miitopia, which was the one in the system; I'm glad to at least have that one safe), so I don't want to say that I will get back to finishing the ones that didn't get finished this year. (I'm trying to be very adult & not upset about this, & still think that they may show up, but... nothing is certain & I am kinda cranky about it.) I want to keep my current strategy of reading whatever seems fun or helpful. I do definitely intend to get a Switch, & spend more time playing games with other people (in person + long distance), so maybe that counts?
ETA: Doki Doki Literature Club!
I thought I wouldn't finish another game this year, & I certainly wasn't setting out to do so-- but here we are, with another for the list! One of my favorite things ever is when someone recommends to me a piece of media that means a lot to them personally, so when a friend said there's a short free game he wanted me to play, of course I gave it a shot. I don't want to be spoilery; this game is basically about the twists. However, the game opens with essentially trigger warnings, & if you look at the store page at all, you'll know to expect "psychological horror". So I'm calling that okay to mention, & working from there. In my case, it was also brought up in context with another game, which gave me some more idea what to expect... & yet, that didn't save me from clenching my teeth for sections of this experience. It's serious business, no matter what you are expecting. I'm not sure I'd recommend it at all, if while playing you're not going to talk with a friend who has already played it. Those conversations are good & important, & give the game valuable context. Inherently, the game is respectable, with good writing, lovely music, & lots of hidden facets. I actually enjoyed it more the second time I played through, when I could give more attention to the details & appreciate the story, without the shocks of the first time. To me, the worst part of the game was anticipating how dark it could go, & to its credit it never went some of the places my mind took me. DDLC gives you a lot to think about, whether you want to or not, & there's a lot of fun memes & art & etc out there to help you navigate your feelings about it. I'm glad that I gave it a try, & gave it a second try! But if you're not sure you want to go down a grisly road, I can't say I'd suggest it. (But I would be that person to talk with you while you play, if you'd want.) Also: Yuri seemed on the surface to be most my type, but Natsuki totally stole my heart.
