Video Games of July 2023

I felt a bit flat overall in July and mostly disappeared into the immense depths of Tears of the Kingdom. I poked a couple of other things, before switching over to Final Fantasy XII at the end of the month when my partner was out of town. 

I haven't been enjoying game tracking as much the last little while and I'm going to institute a cut off that if I didn't play an hour of the game I'm not going to write about it. (Unless I want to, it's my blog).

My top three games (by play time) for July were:

1. Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - I've really been plumbing the depths of the side stories and experiences in Tears of the Kingdom. Just like Breath of the Wild the amount of good things to go and do is hard to imagine. I have really distracted myself from the main story, so that's starting to feel a bit vague, but I'm sure once I pick it up again the game will snap back into focus.
   
   


2. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe - Vroom vroom. Spent a bit of time working on time trials.
   
   


3. Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age - I needed something to play that my partner wasn't too invested in. With Dan Floyd playing both FFXIV and FFXVI on Playframe I've been thinking about Final Fantasy more and figured it was a good time to pick this up on switch. Despite having played the first few hours not that long ago, it's interesting how much I've forgotten. I like the game but I can't say it's one of the most gripping, not from story or game play or style even.
   
   

Here's my total play time for July:

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

Video Games of June 2023

June was a relatively chill month. I mostly put in an hour or two on Tears of the Kingdom and also tried to get other stuff done. I felt pretty happy with the month. 

I've stopped recording mobile games. I've also mostly stopped playing them, but I picked up the full blown successor to "Seedship", "Beyond the Chiron Gate". It's a text-based game, where you make decisions about building a crew to investigate a wormhole network with the nifty little caveat that you can never go back to a system after you've found it. I've enjoyed it quite a bit, although the fact that some of the descriptions are repeated frequently enough that it makes it a little hard to get really invested in the lives of any of your little team flying through space. Certainly worth the price to play.

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

1. Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - ToTK has been really good. As I said in May, it a lot denser and more vibrant than Breath of the Wild. The ways they've expanded the core concepts in BoTW are really fun and there's usually at least "lne more thing" that I want to do every time I play. The story telling is also quite well done and they balanced the story with the messing around really well this time.
   
   


2. Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp - I played the first few missions and had some fun with Advance Wars, but then ground to a halt when I hit a level I couldn't solve. If you've been reading for a while, you'll know that as much as I *like* tactics games, I'm often not very good at them, and games in the Advance Wars style really seem to stymie me. I find I'm often slow to solve puzzles in a lot of cases, and tactics games that don't give me an unreasonable breadth of actions tend to be a struggle. I may go back, I think they did some good work in the rerelease, but the core game play hasn't been my jam.
   
   


3. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe - Vroom vroom, as always. Lately I've been looking for something that's easy to play but kind of interesting for those quick moments when I don't want to risk getting sucked into Tears of the Kingdom. Maybe time to look into reviving my gaming PC.
   
   


4. Donkey Kong Country (NSO - SNES) - Been watching Dan and Dan play through Donkey Kong Country 2 on PlayFrame. I figured I'd see how it felt to play again and how far I could get. SNES platformers from this era also kinda match for that easy to get into game I'm looking for. It's also intersting to look at how games from that era weren't good at really communicating with players how to do well (or even to play) which I think is a mix of a lot of business decissions (don't want those kids renting these games) and technical ones (we already have all the sprites we can have on screen). As a kid, DKC was really impressive, looking back on it from today it seems really limited.
   
   

Here's my total play time chart for June:

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

Video Games of April 2023

April was pretty quiet in terms of games. I was mostly focused on making stuff and organizing in my own time. Plus watching more stuff, particularily "Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These" since apperently I really like lots of space ships, even if not accompanied by very nuanced stories.

My three games (by play time) for April were:

1. Tactics Ogre: Reborn - I'm still really enjoying Tactics Ogre. I think there's some mechanics I'm still a little fuzzy on, but the game has given me enough resources that I can push through most things.
   
   


2. Hollow Knight - I started a new play though and it's been a nice reminder that I am getting better at the game, however slowly. My other play through is pretty far along, but I'm certainly struggling and I find each time I restart I get a little better and a little more momentum.
   
   


3. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe - Vrooom. Honk. Screeech!
   
   

Here's my total play time chart for April:

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

Video Games of March 2023

I played a weirdly low amount this month, but March was pretty busy and I didn't really have the time or energy to pick much up.

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

1. Tactics Ogre: Reborn - I'm continuing to really love this game. I think I've got a pretty good feeling now for how the game works, so the combat is feeling good. The story is also interesting, if a little dark. I'm not sure about playing for other endings, but it's nice to know I can jump in and do that.
   
   


2. Hollow Knight - Still having fun with this too, although definetly finding the edges of my skill. I'd like to find something that gives me the same feelings of motion and control without me needing me to spend so much time learning.
   
   


3. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe - Vroom.
   
   



4. Final Fantasy IX - I've been trying to find something to play in the evenings to follow Xenoblade, but as it turns out this was not the month for playing in the evenings. I also found, for having only played the first hour, I'm baffled by how slow the game is. Putting the card game right up front and making it more or less manditory really derails the whole experience.

   I remember the begining of FF IX being really engaging with swashbuckling and adventure, but so far It's a clumsy kid trying to find tickets to a thing and wandering back and forth between 3 scenes. I think it's interesting how you only keep the high points of a lot of games (or at least I do).

   

Here's my total play time chart for March:

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

Video Games of February 2023

 February was pretty busy and I didn't really have much of window to sit down and play something big. Tactics Ogre ended up producing the bite-sized play I mostly was looking for. Towards the end of the month I wanted to play something a little more interactive and responsive and so I started poking Hollow Knight again.

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

1. Tactics Ogre: Reborn - I spent quite a while being foxed by a mission that I just couldn't beat. Then I finally read a walkthrough that suggested I go and grind money by going on a hunt and I've throughly enjoyed myself. Also hopefully made a ton of money to give me the stuff I need to beat the mission I got stuck on. The level cap is a good addition, but it does cut down on the smashing through stuff that sometimes you just want.
   
   
   
   


2. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - Replay is going along at a fairly good pace, although the days have been pretty busy so I haven't settled to play much. Pushing through ignoring sidequests really does make the main plot more engaging, and the reduction in weird bad guys who are just hanging out reduces the number of questions about what's going on.
   
   
   
   


3. Hollow Knight - I've now played a lot of Hollow Knight, despite having not finished it ever. This time however I feel like I'm finally getting good enough to really get somewhere. I've been replaying the last 10 hours or so and now I'm finally setting out into the unknown again.
   
   
   
   


4. Sea of Stars (Demo) - Sea of Stars certainly looks like Chrono Trigger if it was made in the year 2023. I wasn't sure if it was an honestly good game or just something satirical (which I've had the impression that Messenger - the dev's previous game - is), but while the demo was definitely fourth wall breaking the rest of the game felt pretty good and it seems like the game itself is going to be fun to play. The RGB "puzzle" was a really neat inclusion.
   
   
   
   


5. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe - Vroom vroom.
   
   
   
   

Here's my total play time chart for February:

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

Games of January 2023

For a bunch of reasons, January just hasn't been a time when I've really wanted to sit down and play much. I've mostly been poking at Tactics Ogre and picking up Xenoblade Chronicles more when I've wanted to play something with more story and activity.

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

1. Tactics Ogre: Reborn - I'm a sucker for Ogre Battle stuff, what can I say. The game is pretty satisfying, although I do wish it has an easy mode just to make moving through some of the game a little easier.
   
   


2. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - I'm enjoying the replay and trying to get through doing as little side content as I can. Doing all -- most of -- the side quests and stuff was really important to the world building, but as with all of the Xenoblade games it really ruins the pace, so now that I'm seen everything I'm hoping to get a better feeling for what the story feels like when you're keeping your pace up.
   
   


3. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe - Vrooom vroom.
   
   


4. Super Mario World (Nintendo Switch Online)I had 10 minutes to spare and wanted to play something quick, responsive and fun. Super Mario World is one of the best feeling games I actually have installed on the switch.
   
   

Here's my total play time chart for January:

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

Games of December 2022

Apparently this is was the year of being pretty focused on one game at a time and this time up it was Tactics Ogre.

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

1. Tactics Ogre: Reborn - Given how bad I often am at tactics games and how hard I bounced off Tactics Ogre when it came out on PSP, I'm a bit amazed at how much I'm enjoying it now. I'm not necessarily doing super well, but I'm certainly having fun. There's something about the flexibility of the different units and the customization of weapons and skills that makes the game perpetually interesting.
   
   


2. Tunic - My partner and I agreed to play this together. The exploration element and the mystery of the instruction booklet is really cool. As the person with hands on the controller I ended up getting seriously smacked around by the second boss and that kinda dampened my enjoyment. I think the approach to accessibility, adjustability isn't quite right.
   
   


3. Rune Factory 5 - I figured I should check out at least one farm sims in the year of farm sims.  It's no where near as good as Stardew Valley on any criteria you'd choose to name. It has no internal consistency in design, narrative or game play. It's also not interesting, far to into anime tropes (or maybe memes), no balance of challenge, no fun in the farming or crafting. It also has really frustrating slowdown and jank. Disappointing and it sounds like that's indicative of the year of farm sims.
   
   


4. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - Replaying has been fun, the little I've done. They tied in a lot of things that you don't see until later. I am a little disappointed that there's not too much to do in a new game+, but there's still enough that I'll finish the second play through at some point soon.
   
   


5. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe - Vrooom.
   
   

Here's my total play time chart for December:

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

Games of November 2022

November was a little more normal, but I spent a lot of recovering from the nonsense from October. I did finish Xenoblade and started a New Game + playthrough.

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

1. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - Starting a replay has been really rewarding. There's a lot of things I didn't recognize on my first playthrough that I hadn't seen or noticed or understood. It's also reinforced just how awesome Eunie and Sena are.
   
   
   


2. Ogre Battle 64 - Snow ... but also, the second half of the game still has some pretty interesting parts. It's always a nice game to chill out with.
   
   


3. Tactics Ogre: Reborn - Way back, when it came out on PSP, I picked it up, found it really hard and kinda gave up. Getting to revisit it on the Switch has been good so far.
   
   


4. Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope - I drifted off of Mario + Rabbids a little faster than I thought I would. I still think it's great, but it just didn't have a time it fit into during the month.
   
   


5. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe - Mario Kart felt into a bit of the same as Mario + Rabbids. Not much time really to play it, and honestly, much as I love it, if I had time there was something more appropriate to play.
   
   

Here's my total play time chart for November:

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

Video Games of October 2022

I'm not sure there's been a month before where I've only played 3 games, so that's novel. On top of that, between being sick and some other things, I almost totally lost track of what I did play so this is by far the roughest estimate of play times ever. That being said, my time in the tracker is almost exactly the same as my time on my Xenoblade 3 play-through so I must be kinda close.

So that being said, good riddance to October 2022.

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

1. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - Having realized how much character means to me in stories and games, I've really been able to lean into "The Ongoing Adventures of Eunie and Sena, Plus Their Other not as Funny Friends". I'm not sure that I played any "main" story at all during October, but the quality of the side stories has been really high. I have a couple of complaints about the coupling of the side stories to the main story and just mechanically I've been so high levelled for such a long time that the bulk of the gameplay has kinda stopped.
   
   
   
   


2. Mario + Rabids: Sparks of Hope - A fantastic game, that is exactly what it needs to be. The tactical combat is fun, interesting and low stakes enough that it's easy to throw yourself at something and see if it works. Breaking off the grid for movement has also been great, so I hope the folks working on XCOM (or Marvel Midnight Suns) are taking notes. The story is also charming and perfectly supports everything that's going on.
   
   
   
   


3. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe - You know the story here. Push button, receive serotonin.
   
   
   
   

Here's my total play time chart for October:

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

Video Games of September 2022

October has been a wild month, so I'll be honest that I don't really remember what my thoughts were about games back in September. That being said, September was definitely dedicated to Xenoblade 3, so really there's not to say anyway.

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

1. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - Back in August I mentioned how much I find characters to be the thing that ties to me a story and honestly the characters in Xenoblad 3 haver really hooked me. Eunie's the boss and Sena needs you to remember to use your mouth-words.
   
   


2. Hollow Knight - I've enjoyed messing around with Hollow Knight. I feel a bit like I may need to "git good" to really get everything out of it, but honestly, just wandering through Hollownest is a lot of fun.
   
   


3. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe - As always; Push button, go fast, shiny colours.
   
   


4. Triangle Strategy - It's maybe not fair, but my quest to get the "good ending" is getting hung up on the game being just hard enough to require me to pay attention and my general irritation at how slow the game is.
   
   


5. Super Mario World (Nintendo Switch Online) - I've really been looking for quick games I can quickly play and which feel really good. SNES games don't *quite* feel like that for the most part, but Mario World is maybe the best.
   
   

Here's my total play time chart for September:

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

Video Games of August 2022

I set out to really invest time in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 this month and did that fairly well. I took a day off just before it got busy and it was nice to pick up something I could just play. Since then I've tried to play an hour or so at the end of the day and I think that's been a good way to play and it's helped me to structure my mind and life.

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

1. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - I bought the first Xenoblade Chronicles during "Operation Rainfall" and played a little bit. I bounced off because what was then the MMORPG style didn't appeal and the story didn't really grab me. I ended up watching Chuggaconroy's Let's Play which was really impressive and touching and later I watched his Let's Play of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Neither game was for me, and I bought 3 mostly because it was the big JRPG coming out this year and people really liked it.

   

   As it's turned out, I'm really enjoying it. The story is interesting, I'm enjoying the combat and I love the characters. This year I've realized how much loving the characters in a game or book or show is the real indicator as to whether or not I'll love the media overall. I recognize that with JRPGS it's a matter of when, not if we'll have to fight God to save the universe, but the journey seems like it will be worth it.



2. Loop Hero - Loop Hero has continued to have a lot of interesting moments. I don't think I love the game (I don't love the characters for one thing), but it has a lot of combinations and moments that are engaging. I find generally with rogue likes there's an issue with the difficulty curve feeding the interest curve, but I think Loop Hero really has that nailed down.
   
   


3. Hollow Knight - The more I play the more invested I am in the story of Bug Knight. The developers have done a huge amount of environmental story telling and the difficulty (so far) has been just right to keep me picking it up. Doing a fresh play through I'm able to do so many things I couldn't the first time and the game really rewards taking the time to practice and gain skills.
   
   


4. Triangle Strategy - I'm still chugging along with Triangle Strategy. I hope that this will be there move games following this one, either in the series or out. I think a lot of the things in this could be better, but everything that's in it is good.
   
   


5. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe - Push button, go fast, shiny colours; what's not to love? (Actually, I really miss the beautiful specularity that the original game had that seems to be missing from the crazy DLC package, but that's pretty minor over all.)
   
   

Here's my total play time chart for August:

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

Video Games of May 2022

"I want to play lots of different games this year," he said.

"Oh look, the some Dragon Quest games I haven't played are on sale," he said.

"Hmm, people have said Dragon Quest Builders 2 is pretty good," he said.

"What happened to May?" he said.

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

1. Dragon Quest Builders 2 - So I had figured this would be the kind of game I might dip into here and there. I may yet do that, but I hadn't realized that the game is actually (or at least to start) a 60 hour Action-RPG. It's a game with a lot of flaws, in terms of controls, gameplay and story, but as you can see, I struggled to put it down. If you'd like to spend some time building things in a Dragon Quest world, this is the game.
   
   
   


2. Eastward - I stalled out a bit on Eastward, mostly due to Dragon Quest Builders 2, but also Eastward is a bit weird about progress in the story in the same way Earthbound is. When we were suddenly making movies with monkeys, I felt a little less compeled to pick this up.
   
   
   


3. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe - The theme for everything else this month is, I decided to play Dragon Quest Builders 2 instead.
   
   
   


4. Triangle Strategy - Dragon Quest Builders 2.
   
   
   


5. Mario Golf: Super Rush - Dragon Quest Builders 2.
   
   
   

Here's my total play time chart for May:

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