Blog: Video Games of November

I wasn't terribly settled to any specific game in November, but I'm feeling relaxed and enjoyed a lot of different things.

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

1. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - As  (pretty much) always Breath of the Wild topped my list for the month. I'm trying on this play through (still my 2nd) to do an all shrines play through and I think I'm getting close. I'm curious if the Champions DLC will arrive before I finish.
   

   

   Thank you, Mr. Iwata.

   
   Breath of the Wild has held up to more than 200 hours playing and I'm still enjoying it. Sometimes I miss the tighter story of other games (I went to the Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses last night and was reminded of just how much fun those other games can be), but Breath of the Wild is always fun to play.
2. Europa Universalis 4 - A few times a year I just get the urge to take over the world as the Ottomans, then I give up. EU4 is interesting in how it always has things to do, so you get a version of the Civilization "one more turn" and when I first stop playing I always think of what the next thing I should be doing in the game. I find that this fades for me some the longer I play a particular game as I don't have quite the skill / focus / DLC for a more in-depth play through.
   

   

   I always enjoy it when the game really wanders of historical maps.



3. Super Mario 3D World - Other than Breath of the Wild this has been what I've turned my Wii U on for in the last little while. I've been enjoying dropping in for short play sessions trying to 100% complete the game. I will admit I was a little influenced by everyone enjoying Mario Ojddesy, but I'll get to that once the PhD is finished.
   

   

   Just a giant Bowser head, how bad can it be.

   
   


4. Ogre Battle 64 - I didn't start a new play through this year! That means that I'm surprisingly close to making it to the end, although whether or not I've been careful enough to actually get the "real ending" I guess we'll see. It remains one of those games which I mostly love, but which has some problems in execution. I keep hunting for a "perfect" version, but I still haven't found what I'm looking for.
   

   

   Zarus and I share a birthday!?



5. Sunless Sea - Sunless Sea is a lot of fun and I should play it more. There's a related game, Fallen London, which is free to play and worth checking out. Both games revolve around story telling in a dark, dystopian(?) steam punk, world where London was stolen by bats and delivered into the Unterzee.
   

   

   It's hard to capture a screenshot that really captures the game, but this is a lot of it all at once.

   
   In Sunless Sea you travel the zee trying to make a fortune, or a name for yourself, or just sense of the world. It is a rogue like sailing game and a story card game. It plays at a wonderful pace, and, if you give yourself to it, a story that will really grab you (maybe by the foot, in the dark, with an icy tentacle).
   
   
   
   

Here's my total play time chart for November:

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

Project 17: #NaFYoFuThMo - Wrap Up

Has anyone seen November? I distinctly recall there was going to be a November.

Ok. I did kinda notice November an I got a lot written for my thesis. Not as much as I'd hoped, but quite a lot, and I'm almost finished the next major chapter.

via GIPHY

I have to say I really enjoyed doing #NaFYoFuThMo. It was a good motivator to get me to sit down and write even when I didn't want to. It also made me feel like there was an end to the project and it was a small enough chunk that I was able to accomplish it. Finally it was fun to report back to Twitter on how I was doing and post Cowboy Bebop gifs (Also #NaFYoFuThMo is fun to say and type).

I managed to write on 13 out of 30 days in November, and in total I wrote 6356 words. That's not great, but its better than I often am, so I think #NaFYo has been good for me. I also keep a "day score" which is basically a weighted average of the last 7 days and I've managed to keep that above zero for the entire month of November, so I feel like that's a win and a step in the right direction when it comes to getting things done.

via GIPHY

So I dunno where to go next. #NaFYoFuThMo is really tied to the idea of #NaNoWriMo so I don't feel like I can carry it on beyond November. I also think if I do it'll loose the special feeling of a month long project. On the other hand I really did enjoy reporting back to twitter on how I'd done for the day. I'll think about it for a while and see where I get to.

via GIPHY

Project 15: 12 Books in 21 Weeks

Provenance doesn't stand up to Ancillary Justice, but it is still a very fun space opera through an interesting universe.

Blog: Video Games of October

I was pretty unsettled in October and jumped between games a bunch. I don't love the feeling of not having something serious to play, but for now I'm focused elsewhere and I'm pretty happy just to get a chance to play when I get a chance.

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

1. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - One beautiful thing about Breath of the Wild is just how much there is to do. It makes it simple each time I turn it on to wander off into Hyrule and find something new and fun and engaging.
   
   

   

   Quite the outcome of a side trip.

   
   
2. Pikmin 3 - I love this game. I could play it forever. There's just so much brightness and charm. The game play presents a lovely challenge of first finding a solution and then optimizing that solution. Every Nintendo Direct, I'm always hoping to see more Pikmin 3.
   
   

   

   Work to do, work to do.



3. Kingdoms and Castles - I haven't bought too much in the way of new games lately, but listening to 3 Moves Ahead discuss Kingdoms and Castles it seems like enough fun for $10 to make it worth while. I've enjoyed it so far, although it doesn't have a huge range of things to do. There's something nice about building a simple city and using it to kill dragons.
   
   

   

   A dragon in the rain.



4. FTL: Faster than Light - I suck at FTL. I've been bad at FTL since it came out. Then I watched Eurogamer play it and thanks to Jonneh, I suddenly understood a lot about how *not* to suck at FTL. Either way, even if you're bad it's still a good time.
   
   

   

   Finally.



5. Pokémon Go - Daily bonuses keep me going, other than that I haven't played too much.
   
   

   

   This ... was a bad idea.

Here's my total play time chart for October:

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