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: