Blog: Video Games of April 2020

So that was a month, huh. I'm having a hard time believing that April was just one month. At the beginning of the month I was still teaching. I've made it through completing that, all the marking and the clean up and spent a few weeks hanging out in quarantine. I'm actually having a hard time remembering what I played and why, but that's why I track this stuff I suppose.

My top five games (by play time) for April 2020 were:

1. Dragon Quest XI S - I spent a lot of the month trying to finish up Dragon Quest XI, but got hung up on the secret, prove the the mystical something-or-other that you're the best hero the world has ever seen. It was mostly fun, but that secret boss kinda soured me a bit. On the other hand hitting level 99 was pretty fun and it didn't take me too long in any one session. DQXI really shines in the late game / second game. I kinda wish I'd felt that positive about it the whole way through, but generally it was worth while. I really didn't get into the 2D / historical stuff at all, but honestly I haven't played that much Dragon Quest overall.
   
   

   

   Erik! Erik! He's our lad! If he can't do it we're still bad!

   
   


2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons - It's been nice to have a slow game to play and I've played it very slow. I find myself at odds a bit with Tom Nook who's looking to fill up the island. I signed up for a virtual getaway to a deserted island, what are you doing building permanent home-owner associations... But it's been fun for sure.
   
   

   

   Celebrations!

   
   


3. Europa Universalis 4 - Getting a little better each time I play and honestly having a lot of fun. I've also developed surprising feelings about areas of Europe and the Middle East from 1444 to the 1700s. Also a minor fear of Austria.
   
   

   

   People often forget about that time the Ottomans occupied the whole of Sweden. (Including me I was super baffled when I got this message)

   
   


4. Super Mario World (SNES on Switch) - I think I've mentioned it before, but I'm fairly sure this was the first video game I purchased with my own money, because it came with my Super Nintendo, which I purchased.  I've never actually played it all the way through and so it's been nice when work's done to sit down and play.
   
   

   

   The first time I earned this screen in the 20 some years I've owned this game. (And I still had to weasel a little to get there)

   
   


5. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - I've been holding off picking up Ultimate because I'm kinda short on local friends who might want to play. But I've been watching Steven and Mal play through classic mode, and it looked fun, so I picked it up . Seems like I still main Marth (sorry) and it's been a ton of fun to have to hand.
   
   

   

   Fancy fighting.

   
   

Here's my total play time chart for April:

And here's a chart of how much I've played over the month:

Blog: Games of March 2020

Well that was a month. I went from a fairly normal semester, if one where I was struggling with workload a bit, to working from home and transitioning all my teaching to online. That caused a pretty radical restructuring of my life. Interestingly it hasn't really changed how much I've played, but it has adjusted how I've played. I'm trying (I guess as always) to be better about playing mindfully, and it is a bit of an effort to not pick up EU4 when it's available on the same desk I'm working on. Also making sure I can play for some escapism is important.

On top of that, the new Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out. That's been an interesting addition to the mix, because, as with all animal crossing games, it flows in real time and so it's worthwhile to play several different times in a day. That's tied in nicely with working from home and I've done a fairly good job of keeping it down to short stop ins on coffee breaks.

My top five games (by play time) for March were:

1. Europa Universalis 4 - I'm continuing to enjoy the game, now that I actually understand what I'm doing to some extent. I've also started checking in on the Eu4 reddit from time to time and I'm starting to understand the game a little more broadly. It certainly fits the role nicely as some escapist entertainment and it's nice to have when I want to go somewhere else for a bit.
   
   

   

   This was fun while it lasted.

   
   


2. Dragon Quest XI S - I thought I'd try to finish this up before Animal Crossing: New Horizons released. I didn't although I think I'm fairly close to the end now. I did finally reach the point where I was finding some interesting challenge and some interesting opportunities in the combat system to do interesting things. I still find that I don't like this as much as Dragon Quest VIII, but it certainly has a lot of upside.
   
   

   

   Sassy Bunch 

   
   


3. Animal Crossing: New Horizons - I realize that I was a bit dumb trying to finish Dragon Quest. This is an Animal Crossing game, and that means that it really doesn't benefit from going fast. I've been trying to limit the amount I play a little so that there's always something else new to think about and look forward too. It's a nice follow up to New Leaf, which I dropped a few years back, and it has some great game play and quality of life improvements. I'm not sure it's everything I'd hoped for, but it's a wonderful game and exactly the game everyone needs right now.
   
   

   

   Welcome Home

   
   


4. Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival - The standard continues and still feels good in the New Horizon era. I'm actually putting together some thoughts about it, which I hope to post soon.
   
   
   

   

   Always Together

   
   


5. Cursed Treasure 2 - And to think I thought the end of Adobe Flash was going to be the crisis of 2020 I was going to have to think about. As it happens IriySoft released a remastered version. Although I've discovered I don't like the remaster nearly so much as the original. Still it's nice to see that the game will live on. (And I'm sure I'll get used to it.)
   
   

Here's my total play time chart for March 2020:

And here's a chart of how much I've played over the month:

Blog: Games of February 2020

February was another quiet month. I'm trying to get through Dragon Quest XI before ... things ... happen in March, and I've been feeling in that winter strategy mode which has left me playing quite a bit of EU4.


My top five games (by play time) for February were:

1. Europa Universalis 4 - Several hundred hours in, I think I'm starting to get a feel for this game. One what is about by 11th attempt at an Ottomans game, I've figured out how to manage money and growth appropriately and I'm starting to get a feel for which wars I should fight when (and how many levels of tech I should have). I'm extremely proud of taking on a giant Austria (they ate Venice and Hungary) and forcing them to give up a lot of territory and money.
   
   

   

   This is fine.

   
   


2. Dragon Quest XI S - I think the post-game is where this game actually shines. I'm having more fun now than I was for big parts of the main game. Having the correct difficulty is really important. I am a little disappointed that some of the personal growth the team goes through in the main game is undone in the post-game,
   
   

   

   This never happened.

   
   


3. Cursed Treasure 2 - This continues to be my procrastination game, or hopefully the game I play for short bursts between getting work to be done. I ended up downloading Kongregate's Kartridge program so that I could keep playing it after Chrome stops allowing Flash to play. Not sure what I'm going to do about some of the other important flash games out there.
   
   


4. Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival - That rainbow colour, it's Festival!
   
   

   

   This quiet moment.

   
   


5. Super Mario Odyssey - Super Mario Odyssey continues to be a real delight to pick up and play.
   
   

   

   This is fun.

   
   

Here's my total play time chart for February:

And here's a chart of how much I've played over the month:

Blog: Games of January 2020

January was a little bit about catching up from last year. I finished the Chrono Trigger play through I started and finally finished up Dragon Quest. Both have a new game plus to tackle, so I'm not really done, but it's good to get some games finished.
My top five games (by play time) for January were:

1. Dragon Quest XI S - I'm finding this one a little hard to keep going with. The story hasn't really grabbed me, but the grinding is fun and the game has just enough of that RPG build that I've had fun.
   
   

   

   The Darkness Before the Light.

   
   


2. Chrono Trigger - Still one of the best games of all time. I'm feeling a bit rusty with this play through, but I'm also trying to spice things up a bit and play with someone other than the Crono, Marle, Lucca power house.
   
   

   

   The Light After the Darkness.

   
   


3. Europa Universalis 4 - Well, I've now experimented with running up as much debt as possible (well kinda), now I'm trying to see if I can go the other way.
   
   

   

   The Austrians are Coming to Eat Me.

   
   


4. Super Mario Maker 2 - I haven't spent too much time making levels. I'm finding the switch interface a little harder to love. I think I've played enough that the weird artificial feeling I had earlier on has faded, but it does feel like it lacks a little bit of charm over all.
   
   

   

   The Team in the Dungeon.

   
   


5. Animal Crossing: Amiibo Fest - Keep on keeping on.
   
   

   

   The Ambition of Alpacas.

   
   

Here's my total play time chart for January:

And here's a chart of how much I've played over the month:

Blog: Games of December 2019

2019 was a long year (long decade?). So it was really nice to be able to chill at the end of the month and the end of the year.

My top five games (by play time) for December were:

1. Chrono Trigger - I was a little bit inspired by Chuggaconroy playing this during the year, but also there's just something about the December break that calls for SNES games for me. I'm pretty fascinated at the number of things I've learned about Chrono Trigger, having played the game pretty consistently over the last two and a half decades.
   
   

   

   An adventure awaits.



2. Dragon Quest XI - Continuing along, I enjoyed playing, but the game does feel a bit slow.
   
   

   

   Fight! 



3. Cursed Treasure 2 - I love tower defence and out of all the free tower defence games available to play while avoiding marking this is the very best. I think I'm going to try to make my own TD game this year.
   
   

   

   In trouble, but happy.



4. Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival - The tradition continues.
   
   

   

   Last concert of the year.



5. Super Mario Odyssey - Out of all the games I played this year (more on that soon) this one is the one that calls to me the most to pick it up again. The game play and flow are enticing and it just always a joy to play.
   
   

   

   A game with a view.

Here's my total play time chart for December:

And here's a chart of how much I've played over the month:

Blog: Games of 2019

This is going to be a lot more work than last year. 2019 was a good year for games and a good year for me, so I played a lot of good games.

I’ve broken the games down into the Okay, the Good and the Great. I also had to add a category “I haven’t played enough” because that’s a thing that happened this year.

The I Haven’t Played Enough

Wargroove

I only played a little bit of Wargroove because I bought it the same day (or just before) I bought Fire Emblem Three Houses. I really enjoyed the little bit I played, but it was mostly (totally?) in the tutorial levels, so I was lacking a little bit of a feeling for how the whole game plays out.

The Okay

Super Mario Maker 2

I haven’t played SMM2 since the recent big update, so I may have to take this back later. Generally I enjoyed Super Mario Maker 2, but I found at the end of the day that it lacked a little bit from the first one. I think this is an effect of the game providing more and better tools and the established expertise of the fan base. It left the game feeling a little lifeless for me, but hopefully at some point it’ll catch me a little bit more.

Luigi’s Mansion 3

I’m enjoying Luigi’s Mansion 3, it’s charming and fairly fun. I find that it’s a little bit of a drag to pick up and play because it’s hard to remember what the objective is, and they are somewhat convoluted. I also find the controls awkward, although that’s getting better as I play more.

The Good

Dragon Quest XI S: Echos of an Elusive Age

I have a real fondness for Dragon Quest VIII. It hit me at the right time with the right amount of depth that travelling the world solving people’s problems was a lot of fun. I’ve started replaying it a few times. Dragon Quest XI feels a lot like a revisit to Dragon Quest VIII. I’m finding it generally fun, but a little bit slow and grindy. I heard a review that complained that the version for the switch ground to a halt for reasons in the middle of the game and I found that to be true, but the first half of the game was pretty engaging.

Euclidia

I didn’t play a ton of Euclidia, but enough to know that I’ve largely forgotten how to do geometry and that doing geometry from first principles is rather fun. (I’m also not 100% sure it’s a 2019 game)

Tetris 99

Tetris 99 is a lot of fun and it’s nice to be able to quickly drop into a game. My skills are a little old school, so there are things like t-spins that I’m not able to do properly and generally I find I’m a pretty middle of the pack player. I do wish the UI was a little more organized and that the matchmaking was a little faster (but secretly I really just want an awesome quick single player Tetris).

The Great

Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the Necrodancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda

This is a great game. I was going to put it in the good category and then that was the first thing I wrote about it, so clearly it must be great. I really enjoy the Zelda-lite mechanic of a game that doesn’t have a huge story but does have all of the feeling of a Zelda game. I really like the style the developers chose. The music is, of course, amazing and while I’m not sure the game exactly needs the actual Crypt of the Necrodancer beat mechanic, it’s certainly fun.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

I didn’t expect to like this game. Looking at the trailers before the game came out, it felt a bit like it would be too Hogwarts the War Game. As it turns out it *is* Hogwarts the War Game and I actually like it. The developers streamlined and restructured the relationship mechanic from their recent games so that it feels reasonable and not nearly so fan-servicy. The combat mechanics are nicely streamlined, and when played on hard are pretty fun. It is a bit long if you want to see all four endings, but the quality of the deeper story seen when you do play through all four seems to be worth it.

Blog: Games of October 2019

October was a month where I didn't really have a game I was setting out to play. I've hit a point where I'm a little tired of Three Houses. I played a lot of Dragon Quest as a game to relax with and then somewhat distracted myself with EU 4 a few days in the month. It's also been one of those months where I've found myself watching more things rather than playing, which is often a mid-semester thing for me.

My top five games (by play time) for October were:

1. Dragon Quest XI - As a game to pick up in the evenings and play for a little bit, DQ XI has been great. The feel of the game is very good, even while I have some concerns with other factors about the game.
   
   

   

   Hello! Everything is fine! Perfect! Going exactly as expected.



2. Europa Universalis IV - EU 4 has an amazing capacity for "fun", where in once things start going a little wrong they immediately explode into many things going very wrong. So a lot of my play time has been me trying to crush either the Papel Seat, England or Poland in retribution for the thing they did to me last time.
   
   

   

   Whelp. Time for another vendetta play through.



3. Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival - October is probably the most interesting month to play Amiibo Fest. They introduce an extra candy collecting mechanics which has a roughly 50/50 success rate and means that you actually have to play with a little thought. We still play a bit on autopilot these days, but Amiibo Fest is still a weekend morning tradition for us.
   
   

   

   Racoon butts.

   
   


4. Sunless Sea - Mark Brown produced a video about rogue-likes talking about how the player skill and the difficulty curve interact. I am bad enough at most rogue-likes that I never really seem to see the game change. Lately I've been trying to improve how I play, or experience, or something, Sunless Sea. The story elements are still interesting, although I had a couple of captains die in quick succession, which broke a little of the illusion of continuity in the story structure.
   
   

   

   Perfect. Totally not doomed.

   
   


5. Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Remember how I hadn't burned out on Three Houses last month? Well, now I have. The problem with the 4 endings the game has is that it does require a lot of replay of very similar missions and eventually it starts to feel like I've just done the same thing over and over again. The combat simply doesn't support the amount of story the game has and the reuse of maps is kinda disappointing, at least if you play the Golden Deer and the Blue Lions one after the other. The Black Eagles - Crimson Flower have definitely been more different so far, but I needed a break.
   
   

   

   Inconceivable!

   
   

Here's my total play time chart for October:

And here's a chart of how much I've played over the month:

Blog: Games of September 2019

September wasn't too exciting. I'm continuing my march through Three Houses, (2 endings down, 2 endings left) and I've started playing a little Dragon Quest XI. Other than that I'm trying to find a good balance between productivity, gaming for relaxation and gaming for excitement.

My top five games (by play time) for September were:

1. Fire Emblem: Three Houses - It keeps going and going ... *Pink Rabbit Rolls Through Banging Drum*. This game could have turned into a total slog, but the actual game play has been fun enough that I've always been pretty happy to fire it up. Additionally the different stories for the three houses has made it really interesting to keep going. I'm planning one more play through now to finish the last ending. I'm also thinking of another play through to do some kind of 'perfect play through'.
   
   

   

   I think this is her problem summed up really.

   
   For my third play through I moved the difficulty back down so that I could play a little faster. I'm also playing the Black Eagles now, and I'm trying not to recruit any PCs from other houses (I did pick up a few, but just to ensure I have enough bodies on the field for the bigger missions). I really appreciate how different the Black Eagle story and missions are. I was a little disappointed with the similarities between the Golden Deer and the Blue Lions.
   


2. Dragon Quest XI - I'm really enjoying Dragon Question XI. It brings back a lot of the things I've enjoyed about other DQs and it's refreshing. I think Tim Roger's review sums it up best for me. This is a game you can play at an easy pace, and just drift into it. There's enough game to keep me engaged, but not so much that it requires my full attention.
   
   

   

   And I've never been happier.

   
   It has some nice quality of life improvements over previous games. The ability to run quickly is nice (as is the collection of speedy mounts you can pick up. I've ended up adjusting the combat back to pretty standard for Dragon Quest, but I appreciate their attempt to spice up the combat and further the fact that I *could* switch it back. I'm looking forward to this as a nice long story with some funny accents and swords and magic.
   


3. Super Mario Maker 2 - I haven't really gotten into SMM 2 the way I did to the first one. I'm not quite sure what I'm missing because they've made a lot of nice additions to the game. I think it may just be that my creative energy is pointed elsewhere right now. I also feel like the increase in quality of levels and the increase in styles/tools has resulted the levels feeling a little more standardized. I'm still enjoying it, but it hasn't been a must play.
   
   

   

   Fight!



4. Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival - Our weekend standard continues. We're thinking we'll substitute in New Horizons some of the time when it comes out, but Amiibo Fest has been an important part of our quite time.
   
   

   

   Checking out the scores.



5. Super Mario World (SNES on Switch) - This is the *weirdest* Super Mario Maker game. I think of the 2D Mario's this my favourite, but playing it again with the SNES online service, I'm struck but just how weird it is in comparison to all the other games. I've maybe played more of this game then any other (It's the very first game I bought for myself) and I've enjoyed picking it up again. In light of Super Mario Maker and a lot of common 'rules' for level development it feels very different, sometimes it feels unfair or weird, but generally I think it's fun. It's also a hefty dose of nostalgia.
   
   

   

   I'm amazed at how it feels like this game comes right out of the screen.

   
   

Here's my total play time chart for September:

And here's a chart of how much I've played over the month: