Hello. I have returned to write on more game demos I’m playing for the latest Steam Next Fest. This post will cover a golfing game, because of course I will write on the best sport to play in video game form. I ended my last batch of Next Fest posts with Cursed to Golf and will begin this one with Zen Golf. It’s like poetry.
Continue reading “Thoughts on Zen Golf (Steam Next Fest Demo)”
Let me tell you an objectively correct fact about life: Golf in real life is boring; golfing video games are awesome. My history with the Mario Golf franchise almost overtakes the time spent on mainline games, and other golf franchises like Everyone’s Golf and Outlaw Golf were favorites growing up. Around the start of Next Fest, I saw this on Twitter. How can I not include Cursed to Golf after such a splendid display?
Quick structure disclaimer: Given this (and all the others) is only a demo, I won’t be too in-depth with my coverage, and will only reflect on the good and the bad. No overly long personal history or filibuster. No nonsense. That said, I will provide a synopsis for the game below.
Continue reading “Thoughts on Cursed to Golf (Steam Next Fest 2022 Demo)”
In recent years, first-person shooters are something of a rarity for me. I’m more fond of things from a scaled-back perspective, allowing me to take on more of an observer role. First-person games tend to be more intimate, and my interest in games has shifted more to empathizing with others rather than indulging in the self. Yet when games like Exophobia pop up on my radar, it’s hard not to want to explore a violent, claustrophobic, sci-fi setting.
Quick structure disclaimer: Given this (and all the others) is only a demo, I won’t be too in-depth with my coverage, and will only reflect on the good and the bad. No overly long personal history or filibuster. No nonsense. That said, I will provide a synopsis for the game below.
Continue reading “Thoughts on Exophobia (Steam Next Fest 2022 Demo)”
With this, my Horror quota for the month has been filled. No one can say I didn’t watch anything “scary.” Take that, literally nobody.
My cowardice aside, Black Christmas was something of a choice based on curiosity. I had never heard of it before, and I was convinced that the title was more racially significant than it was thematically. Upon some further research, it seems this is considered a progenitor to the “slasher film” subgenre, which is neat! Even with the threat of many jumpscares afoot, my addiction to analysis overweighed my disdain for BOO!
Continue reading “Day Thirty: Black Christmas (1974) (March of the Movies 2022)”
With this entry, I am officially over halfway through the March of the Movies! Should it continue to greet me with films like Don’t Look Up, someone please help me.
From here, I will begin to sprinkle in some Best Picture nominations, leading up until the Oscars itself on the 27th. I already did so earlier with The Power of the Dog; I also intend to watch a few others (but likely won’t watch all of them). So far, I believe two are deserving and now two are not. We’ll see how that changes as time passes.
Continue reading “Day Sixteen: Don’t Look Up (March of the Movies 2022)”
What better way to start off this year’s March of the Movies block than with some Godzilla? I love Godzilla! I’ve watched a Godzilla film during March of the Movies every year since 2019! It’s a comfort viewing, really, especially since one can argue that they’re all more or less the same. Like Pokémon or Mega Man or Call of Duty. Now we’ve come to an entry with perhaps the longest name for a Godzilla film ever. Does the film feel as long as its title?
Fortunately, no! Alas, a similar achilles’ heel presents itself, like an ode to the previous film in the franchise’s history.
Continue reading “Day One: Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (March of the Movies 2022)”
Not the best cover image ever, but I’m working with what I have. Princess Principal is something of a long awaited watch, as it’s been on my radar since around the time it began airing. Something about it seems… unique. Why I never watched up to this point may have been because of a number of things—it looked maybe too self-important, top reviews on MyAnimeList didn’t paint it in a great light, etc.
In the spirit of the holidays, I went ahead and gave it a shot. No, that phrasing was not initiated due to the clear pistol present in the cover image.
Continue reading “Princess Principal (Merry Days of Anime 2021)”
In the early days, when my curiosity guided the course of new streamers to follow, I would occasionally click into streams where the host didn’t even speak English. Italian, French, Spanish, and in this case Dutch, language barriers did not prevent me from watching gameplay. It was kind of enlightening to be able to sit in with people outside my country and experience the same joy that gaming provides to anyone.
If the mood struck me, I would go to Google Translate and convert a little greeting from English to whatever language applicable, just to let them know I was around. With this particular streamer, something surprising occurred: she started speaking English after I made it apparent that I spoke it. Even more, she spent the entire rest of the stream speaking English so that I could understand. Such consideration was not necessary, yet she took the time to ensure everyone was included.
Introducing namesmelanie. (← Link to her Twitch channel.)
Continue reading “Twitch Streamer Shoutout: An Ode to namesmelanie”
On October 1st, 2020, I quit my retail job of three years. Mentally ravaged by the pressure of abiding by COVID regulations and hardening myself to vile, confrontational customers, I managed to start work full-time remotely. This meant a lot more time online, along with more opportunity to attend Twitch streams.
After six-plus months of not following more than three people on Twitch, October laid the seeds to grow that number exponentially in the months to come. One of the first to really establish themselves as a channel to remember came very… randomly.
Introducing MinishKat. (← Link to her Twitch channel.)
Continue reading “Twitch Streamer Shoutout: An Ode to MinishKat”
I was made aware of this project’s existence roughly two weeks ago. Seeing a gameplay video that chronicled the entirety of the demo’s length, I was immediately sold on the premise. Metroid Prime, only on a 2D plane, worked on by fans of the franchise who hope to innovate as much as replicate. Apparently, it’s been worked on since 2004(!!!), and the fruits of their labor comes in the form of a 20-30-minute demo. It took me a little while to get around to it, but I’m really glad I did. It ended up being a very encouraging (and very rough) appetizer.
Continue reading “Thoughts on Metroid Prime 2D (Demo 0.1.21.4.1A)”
The Visualist's Veranda 