Monday, December 11, 2023

Blog: Video Games of November 2023

I spent a lot of November down with COVID, so I don't really remember the month and certainly didn't have a lot of energy to play. I'd planned to pick up Sea of Stars around my birthday and that turned out to be a pretty good speed when I had the energy for it.


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

  1. Sea of Stars - Sea of Stars is a lot of fun. I think it stands up on its own, but it's also the modern extension of great SNES role playing games. It's certainly made with a lot of Chrono Trigger in it's heart and kind works as the sequel I'd been imagining, rather than Chrono Cross.
    Screenshot: The three heroes talk to a wanderer on a mountain top at sunset. The Wanderer says 'Mountains're nice'


  2. Dicey Dungeons - Dicy Dungeons has been the thing to play when I don't want to use my brain too much.
    Screenshot: The Inventor, an orange D6 faces off against Beatrice, a vampy bee woman. The invetor has a shocked card, which they can't use without adding a die, a two handed sword which will do at least six damage plus another die's worth and a jackhammer where when you push the button your opponent's equipment will be shocked.


  3. Tactics Ogre: Reborn - I started a new playthrough to look at the differences of the routes. I'm finding the overall story a little flat, and some of that is due to them trying to keep a dark and gritty tone. The game play in each mission is always fun, so as long as you don't think about the war crimes you keep committing, it's fun.
    Screenshot: Our heroes, lead by the Hawkman Canopus, fight their way up a large rough fortress on a dark and stormy night. The battle seems to have turned with only a few opponents remaining.

  4. Stardew Valley - I found it hard to come back to Stardew Valley. It's still a good an enjoyable game and the core farming is enjoyable, but I found having played through all of the story years ago, I just didn't really connect.
    Screenshot: Our farmer looks at a patch of Kale in a rather patchy looking farmyard.


  5. Mineko's Night Market - I thought I'd try this out as something new in the farming / store management genre. It's fun, but not quite what I'd hoped. It's slow on its own and then has some fairly severe technical issues on the switch that make it frusterating to play.
    Screenshot: A closeup of a white cat, looking bewilderedly at the front of a van which has been made to look like a snail.


Here's my total play time for November:



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




Monday, December 04, 2023

Books of November 2023

Reading

Here is my updated infographic for the books I've read in 2023 - November Edition.

Stats in November - (Year to Date)

Reading Stats

Books Read - 14 (113)Pages Read - 4399 (37631)

Books Read

Murder at an Irish Wedding by Carlene O'Connor Beguilement (The Sharing Knife #1) by Lois McMaster Bujold
Legacy (The Sharing Knife #2) by Lois McMaster Bujold Passage (The Sharing Knife #3) by Lois McMaster Bujold
Horizon (The Sharing Knife #4) by Lois McMaster Bujold Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Alpha & Omega by Patricia Briggs Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs
Miss Moriarty, I Presume? by Sherry Thomas Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs
A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths Ruth's First Christmas Tree by Elly Griffiths
Tsubasa Omnibus 1 by CLAMP Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews

Collage of the covers of the 14 books listed above.November 2023 Covers

Authors - 10 (46)

Adrian Tchaikovsky - 1 (4)Agatha Cristie - (1)
Alexander McCall Smith - (2)Alexandra Rowland - (1)
Angeline Boulley - (1)Ann Leckie - (2)
Anthony Horowitz - (1)Becky Chambers - (1)
Brandon Sanderson - (1)Carlene O'Connor - 1 (2)
Charles Todd - 1 (10)CLAMP - 1 (1)
Connie Willis - (2)Dan Moren - (2)
Daniel O'Malley - (2)Deanna Raybourn - (1)
Ed Yong - (1)Elizabeth Bear - (1)
Elle Cosimano - (1)Elly Griffiths - 2 (5)
Emma Newman - (1)Fatima Ali - (1)
Hiromu Arakawa - (2)Ilona Andrews - 1 (7)
Isaac Asimov - (2)Jim Butcher - (1)
Lois McMaster Bujold - 4 (4)Louise Penny - (1)
Martha Wells - (1)Mary Robinette Kowal - (1)
Matt Parker - (1)Mur Lafferty - (1)
N. K. Jemisin - (1)Patrica Briggs - 3 (9)
Rick Riorden - (1)Robin McKinley - (1)
S. A. Chakraborty - (1)Scott Hawkins - (1)
Sherry Thomas - 1 (6)Stephen King - (1)
Tasha Suri - (2)Timothy Zhan - (1)
Tomohito Oda - (17)Ursula K. Le Guin - (1)
Waubgeshig Rice - (1)Xiran Jay Zhao - (1)
Yoshiki Tanaka - (6)

A word cloud of all the authors above with Tomohito Oda in the largest size. Patricia Briggs, Charles Todd, Illona Andrews and Yoshiki Tanaka are also notably larger than the rest.2023 Author Cloud - November Update

Publishing


Publication Range

Earliest Book - 2006 (1951)Most Recent Book - 2021 (2022)

Publications by Decades

2020s - 1 (40)2010s - 5 (39)
2000s - 8 (23)1990s - (4)
1980s - (4)1960s - (1)
1950s - (2)

Books

Source

Borrowed From Public Library - 4 (64)Borrowed From Friends - (2)
My Audible Library - (3)My libro.fm Library - 5 (16)
My "Kindle" Library - (5)My Kobo Library - 5 (24)

Formats

Audio Book - 7 (56)eBook - 6 (35)
eBook (Comic) - 1 (21)Hardcover - (1)

Saturday, December 02, 2023

Video Games of October 2023

October was a complicated month, so I wasn't thinking too much about what I really played. I did install steam on my Mac and so that was nice to expand the pool, although there's not a lot that plays nicely on my 2016 mac.


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

  1. Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - I'm reaching the ending of my first play through. Maybe should have pushed thought quicker, just to let the story go at speed. ToTK has been
    Screenshot: Link stands on a snowy hill looking out on a mountainous landscape, while a korok looks at him squarely in the side of the head.

  2. Dicey Dungeons - This has been pretty good for quick pick up and play situations. The number of different ways to approach the core concept of role dice and use them to activate cards is fun alghough, I would love a design my own deck and just play with things, even if it would be stupidly imbalanced.

  3. Pikmin 4 - Continues to be solid and I appreciate just how much there is. Have drifted off in the last little bit, but I'm sure I'll be back.

  4. Tactics Ogre: Reborn - It snowed, and just to confuse everyone, rather than playing Ogre Battle, I played Tactics Ogre. It's a little thin for story, but the actual combat in an encounter is always fun.

  5. Hades - Still great. Does not like my Mac's keyboard.

Here's my total play time for October:



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




Friday, November 03, 2023

Books of October 2023

Reading

Here is my updated infographic for the books I've read in 2023 - October Edition.

Stats in October - (Year to Date)

Reading Stats

Books Read - 17 (99)Pages Read - 4873 (33232)

Books Read

A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas The Hollow of Fear by Sherry Thomas
The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas Komi Can't Communicate (Volume 25) by Tomohito Oda
Komi Can't Communicate (Volume 26) by Tomohito Oda The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths
The Confession by Charles Todd Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas
A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn Endurance by Yoshiki Tanaka
Komi Can't Communicate (Volume 27) by Tomohito Oda A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland
Mercy Thompson: Homecoming by Patricia Briggs Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
Stratagem by Yoshiki Tanaka

Collage of the covers of the 17 books listed above.October 2023 Covers

Authors - 10 (46)

Adrian Tchaikovsky - 1 (3)Agatha Cristie - (1)
Alexander McCall Smith - (2)Alexandra Rowland - 1 (1)
Angeline Boulley - (1)Ann Leckie - (2)
Anthony Horowitz - 1 (1)Becky Chambers - (1)
Brandon Sanderson - (1)Carlene O'Connor - (1)
Charles Todd - 1 (10)Connie Willis - (2)
Dan Moren - (2)Daniel O'Malley - (2)
Deanna Raybourn - 1 (1)Ed Yong - (1)
Elizabeth Bear - (1)Elle Cosimano - (1)
Elly Griffiths - 1 (3)Emma Newman - (1)
Fatima Ali - (1)Hiromu Arakawa - (2)
Ilona Andrews - (6)Isaac Asimov - (2)
Jim Butcher - (1)Louise Penny - (1)
Martha Wells - (1)Mary Robinette Kowal - (1)
Matt Parker - (1)Mur Lafferty - (1)
N. K. Jemisin - (1)Patrica Briggs - 2 (6)
Rick Riorden - (1)Robin McKinley - (1)
S. A. Chakraborty - (1)Scott Hawkins - (1)
Sherry Thomas - 4 (5)Stephen King - (1)
Tasha Suri - (2)Timothy Zhan - (1)
Tomohito Oda - 3 (17)Ursula K. Le Guin - (1)
Waubgeshig Rice - (1)Xiran Jay Zhao - (1)
Yoshiki Tanaka - 2 (6)

A word cloud of all the authors above with Tomohito Oda in the largest size.2023 Author Cloud - October Update

Publishing


Publication Range

Earliest Book - 1984 (1951)Most Recent Book - 2022 (2022)

Publications by Decades

2020s - 6 (39)2010s - 7 (34)
2000s - 2 (15)1990s - (4)
1980s - 2 (4)1960s - (1)
1950s - (2)

Books

Source

Borrowed From Public Library - 7 (60)Borrowed From Friends - (2)
My Audible Library - (3)My libro.fm Library - 5 (11)
My "Kindle" Library - (5)My Kobo Library - 5 (19)

Formats

Audio Book - 9 (49)eBook - 4 (29)
eBook (Comic) - 4 (20)Hardcover - (1)

The Books I Read - November 2024

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