South Park: The Stick of Truth

Date played: June 28th
Platform: PC

I haven't touched my PC in a long long time, but I recently booted it up and updated everything in the hopes of playing Ori and the Blind Forest. Unfortunately for Ori, the Steam sale was on and Stick of Truth was just 10$... I had to buy it.

I've never been a huge South Park fan, but I like it. Also, I really like Matt Stone and Trey Parker's work, so I knew I would have some fun with this. So far, it's been really great. This is a turn based RPG that reminds me a of Paper Mario in a lot of ways. The tone, language, subject matter and utter obscenity of South Park is what sets this game apart though.

In about an hour of play time, I've thrown my own shit at enemies during combat to disorient them. I've walked in on a naked lady. I've stabbed little kids to death. I've stolen a surprising variety of dildos from Cartman's mom's bedroom. South Park is no ordinary RPG...

I play as the new kid in town and got to pick one of four classes. Fighter, mage, thief or Jew. That's right, one of the classes is Jew. I picked the thief because, well, it's been a while since I played that type of character in an RPG. The game has been really cool so far. I first had to make some friends, exploring town and talking to people.

Eventually, I ran into Cartman, who is like a head wizard of some sort. He runs a fantasy role playing camp and asks me to join his ranks. I learned how to fight with a little wooden dagger and took my place on the team. I've teamed up with Butters, who is a paladin. We are heading out to gather some new warriors.

The whole game is surprisingly accurate. It literally looks like it's the TV show, and the voice acting is from the real guys, so it's very well done. The dialogue is hilarious and very well written, considering how fucking stupid it all is.

Combat is very cool too. Just like Paper Mario and Costume Quest, there are timed actions during combat, even if it's turn based. This adds a lot of fun to the battles. There's lots of different abilities to use and even some items. The skill tree is interesting too, as I'm starting to specialize in backstabbing people and making them bleed. I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed what I've played so far.

Snake Pass

Date played: June 28th
Platform: Switch

I've had my eye on Snake Pass since it's announcement trailer for Switch, so when I saw it on sale on the eShop, I bought it right away. This game is a sort of puzzle platformer I guess, where you control Noodle, a friendly snake, through a variety of colorful levels.

I played the first two levels. The first one was really just a tutorial on basic movement. It was very helpful though because this game is very weird to control. There's a button for acceleration, so that's already something different. Then to pick up speed, you have to wiggle the snake from left to right rhythmically, which is harder than it sounds. You can also raise the snake's head to climb obstacles and reach collectibles. Finally, there's also a grip button that makes Noodle tighten it's body around whatever object it's slithering through.

Noodle is awesome

The unique control scheme makes for some really unique gameplay. It kind of reminded me of Grow Home in a lot of ways. The second level was way more involved, with more elaborate obstacles to climb. Each object is it's own challenge, as wrapping the nimble but heavy snake takes some real finesse. It's a lot of fun.

The colorful world is a lot of fun to explore. There's great music, lots of cute things all over, so this is a very pleasant game. I could see it become frustrating  though, as some of the collectibles are real fucking hard to reach, and the checkpoint system isn't that generous. I love what I've played so far, and I can't wait to show it to my daughter.

Overwatch

Date played: June 27th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night takes place in a new mode called Elimination Lockout 6 vs 6. It's basically an arena team deathmatch mode, with a twist. The winning team must win 3 rounds. However, heroes used during a victorious round are locked out and cannot be used in further rounds! It's a cool concept and it makes some fun combat situations. In this highlight, I have a good round as Roadhog.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Date played: June 26th
Platform: Switch

I played 8 online races with my friend against some AI opponents. We did two sets of 4 tracks and of course, I won, but I had a few tough battles against my friend. One of the more exciting races was on the candy themed track. I got struck by lightning just as I was going through the massive jump pad, which led to a huge loss of time.

I roar through corners as Lakitu and my friend chases me as Yoshi

My friend caught up with me in the most fun corner of the track, and even passed me when I hit a banana peel. Unfortunately for my opponent, a blue shell was on it's way, ending their hopes of victory. It was a great moment.

I actually lost one race legit. My friend was fearsome, and with a dash of luck, was able to overcome inexperience and beat me fair and square. I love racing against a friend, and it's even better when the race is close!

Gears of War 4

Date played: June 25th
Platform: Xbox One

I finished Gears of War 4!

The ending was very satisfying and lots of fun! I started off with some good old regular firefights against a legion of Drones and Scions. After a few big battles, we reached the communications tower and Marcus made the call to "him". He said we would have to hold our position a while until reinforcements arrived though, so we holed up near the tower and used a fabricator to setup some defenses.

This whole chapter was pretty much bullshit, probably because the checkpoint system was a little too strict in this scene. At first, it was pretty easy. I had one big turret to use, plus two turrets I built from the fabricator. The first few waves of enemies weren't too bad. Lots of drones, Juvies, a pair of snipers, a pair of Pouncers and a trio of powerful Scions. That was hard, but it was nothing compared to the final wave, which pit me against not one, but TWO motherfucking Snatchers!

The mechanics for these enemies is kind of shit to be honest. It wouldn't be too bad if they didn't gobble up dying characters in their bellies... I lost this battle and died about 5 times, which is a lot of repetition. Eventually, I placed my turrets in a more efficient layout, which helped, but it still wasn't enough. In the end, I got through it by throwing absolutely everything I could at one of the Snatchers, including all my grenades, to take it down quickly. Then I was free to deal with the second one in a more "normal" battle. This whole part kind of sucked.

The good part was when the reinforcements arrived. As I suspected, the help Marcus called was Baird and Cole from the original trilogy. I wasn't too surprised the see the grizzled old men make an appearance. However, I was surprised that the "DeeBee" robots were actually built by Damon Baird's own company, DB Industries. DB, for Damon Baird. Right.

The guys didn't come empty handed... In fact, they brought with them some of the most impressive weaponry I've seen in the Gears universe. They brought in two gigantic mechs to chop down the Hive's forces. when I say gigantic, I fucking mean it... These things are as big as a Swarmak and taller than most buildings. In fact, they can even use buildings as cover, which was fucking cool.

The mechs each have one automatic weapon and a stomp attack. The rest of the crew was riding a nearby attack helicopter. I was able to request it's help by calling in powerful air strikes. We fought 4 Snatchers at once and cut through them like they were just a bunch of Juvies, it was very satisfying. I also need to point out how beautiful this whole level was. The change in scale made it easier to appreciate the amazing architecture and great artistic direction of the game. When I had to fight a Swarmak with it one on one, well that was just wonderful.

This was easily the most fun portion of the whole game. The sense of scale adds a lot to the experience, and the absolutely barbaric strength of these mechs was just so cool...

The final boss is about to get slaughtered

The final battle was pretty standard, but still lots of fun. We were still in our two mechs and had to fight a monster even bigger than our mechs. The burrowing creature had 4 giant tentacles that we had to target and destroy. Once they took enough damage, I would rush the monster and staple it's tentacles to the ground, forcing it to amputate itself in the process. Once all 4 tentacles were ripped off, the monster started sending out some smaller, flying enemies to target us. They took out our attack chopper at one point, so I went to it, picked up it's engine and blades and used the vehicle as a weapon and shield!

It was all lots of fun and looked great. Of course, we killed the monster and celebrated. Kait found her mother, and while she was still conscious, she was too far gone into the process of mutation to be saved. In an emotional scene, Kait killed her mother to free her from the Hive...

Gears of War 4 was a pretty cool game. The Xbox One is starting to show it's age with this game a little bit, but still, it looks good, plays well and has some really great battles. However, it's not without it's faults either... The voice acting is pretty good, but the writing is shit. Some of the battles were not fun at all, thanks to some weird design decisions. Overall, I enjoyed my time with the game, but it's not the powerhouse franchise it used to be. Now it's just a good 3rd person shooter, rather than a masterpiece.

Overwatch

Date played: June 24th and 25th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night is a decent play as Tracer, attacking on Horizon. It was my first time with her on this map, and it fits her style pretty well, at least for the first point. There are many different routes that lead to the point, so it's easy for the game's mascot to get lost in the action and get some kills while being mostly ignored.

Lego Jurassic World

Date played: June 25th
Platform: PS4

Yesterday's rain and thunderstorms made it easy to go to the basement and play some video games during the afternoon. My daughter watched as I played through the remaining levels of Jurassic Park 3. In terms of gameplay, it was a bit more interesting than the other movies because there's more characters to play with, each with unique abilities.

By far, the most interesting is Billy, who can climb vines, take photos and best of all, can paraglide! This made for some pretty cool puzzles and lots of action. I also had a guy with tranquilizer gun and a guy with a grappling hook.

The levels follow the story really closely, including the epic battle between Tyrannosaurus Rex and Spinosaurus. One of the levels was all about their battle. We ended up helping the T-Rex to even the odds, blowing stuff up near the Spinosaurus whenever I could. There were even a few quick time events where I controlled the T-Rex during the battle.

T-Rex vs Spinosaurus!

Eventually, just like in the movie, Dr. Grant is separated from the group and ends up finding Eric, the missing kid. This kid is very clever and has found ways to survive, including some great camouflage. In fact, he can disguise himself and sneak past dinosaurs! He even has a bottle of T-Rex piss that he can throw on small dino nests to make them scatter. This kid is super useful!

Another great moment is when I took control of an ankylosaurus to fight some raptors. After feeding the big armored guy a carrot, a chocolate bar and something else, I gained control of it and swept it's big tail around, killing raptors left and right. It was great. The cut-scenes were really good in Jurassic Park 3, with lots of clever jokes that only works with Lego. The fact that they use the real voice lines from the movies makes it even funnier. We are now ready to enter the final portion of the game, Jurassic World! I can't wait!

Gears of War 4

Date played: June 23rd
Platform: Xbox One

I played through the final 2 chapters of Act IV and there was a lot of fighting, gun shooting and plenty of big battles. Much of my time was spent trying to restore power an elevator that will lead us to the exit of the swarm-infested hive.

What that actually means is walking through many hallways, killing dozens and dozens of bad guys. Juvies and Drones are usually not a problem, but Pouncers, Scions, Carriers and Snatchers are always a huge challenge. At one point, our team split up to perform a task, and I had to protect the other group from a legion of Juvies.

Outside, we decided to head towards an old communications array to send a special message to "him". I kind of have to assume that means Cole or Baird, from the first few games, but we'll see. We fought many enemies outside in the middle of a giant wind storm. This means that many weapons are more difficult to use. For example, grenades are more difficult to aim, or any lobbed projectile.

There was a very cool looking section where the team used a very old siege engine as a catapult to take out a large turret. It looked incredible, but it controlled like fucking shit. I eventually got it, but the aiming system for that thing was just stupid.

Gears of War 4 has a great aesthetic

By far, the most interesting thing to happen in these levels was the massive battle against a new type of enemy, the gigantic Swarmak. Derived from the iconic Brumak of the previous games, the bipedal monster is armed with an alarming amount of machine guns and rocket launchers... Thankfully, the battle area was very large, so that allowed us to move from cover to cover in relative safety.

Still, this was easily the longest and most interesting battle in the game. We had to damage the Swarmak by destroying 4 generators, then shooting at it's weak spots. Reinforcements were frequent and challenging, but I methodically killed everything in my path and took down the amazing Swarmak. The game's big bad guy was riding it too, with his half-crystallized face!

The team is still heading towards the communications tower. The final act of the game should be very interesting...

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Date played: June 23rd
Platform: Switch

My friend and I bang into each other

A friend of mine recently bought Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and was trying it out a little bit yesterday with a family member, so we decided to play it together online for a little bit. We ended up doing 4 races and we had a really good time. I swapped characters and karts a lot to kind of experiment. My 2 opponents were more stable, with my friend sticking with Dry Bowser on a little ATV, and the other person ran with Link and a fast car.

Family battles are the best!

I hate to say it, but I think I might be a little too fast for them, at least for now. They are still learning the tracks, the systems, the mechanics, the items, the shortcuts and all that stuff, while I've been playing this game for years now. To put it simply, I fucking destroyed them. I felt bad though... so I often would slow down a little bit to get some action going.

Still, the game is fantastic and it's even better with friends. I had a great time with them and I hope they will want to play again, even if I won the championship.

Overwatch

Date played: June 23rd
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night is one of the rare times I play as Torbjorn. I don't really like him too much, but with the right team and position, he can be a deadly defender. Defending on Horizon, I struggle with him early in the match, but when we were about to lose the battle for the first point during overtime, I swarm in with Molten Core active and save the day, along with our team's remaining defenders. 

Day of the Tentacle Remastered

Date played: June 22nd
Platform: PS4

I finished Day of the Tentacle Remastered! It turns out, I was really close to the end, all I really needed was to have that contract signed by Dr. Fred and sent to Hoagie for him to mail it from the past. Getting the signature was a pain in the ass though, since I had to find the exact line of dialogue that would convince Dr. Fred to sign.

Still, I got it signed and sent it to Hoagie, who mailed it to future Dr. Fred from the past. The contract resulted in 2 million dollars deposited into Dr. Fred's Swiss bank account. When he learns the news, he promptly contacts a travel agency, but he'll never get a chance to go on the trip... Instead, I got Bernard to order a diamond via telephone shopping.

We installed the crystal into the time machine and the two teenagers, stranded in time, are brought back to the present. Purple tentacle has been hard at work though, sending copies of himself back in time. He had enough for an entire army even! Our three heroes got the brilliant idea of going back in time once again, to yesterday. They can switch off the sewage pump and prevent the tentacles from ever gaining sentience.

Some of the tentacles from the army had already gone back in time with two of our machines, so we only had one left. The three teens got in together, against Dr. Fred's warnings which were based on the movie The Fly.When the kids came out on the other side, their bodies were fused together! They still had their own heads, but the torso was Hoagie's, the midsection was Laverne's and the legs were Bernard's. That didn't deter them at all, so they tried to find their way to the pump in the basement.

Purple Tentacle somehow managed to create a shrink ray during his travels through time, and he chased us with it for a while. After a bit of chasing around and getting shrunk a few times, we picked up a bowling ball and went to the basement. We used the bowling ball to knock out some tentacles and deactivated the pump near a tied up Dr. Fred.

The final scene

Purple Tentacle did not like that at all, so he shrunk us, then turned on the pump again. I had to find a different way. After lots of funny conversation with Purple Tentacle, I convinced him to use the shrink ray on Dr. Fred, which then reflected off the stethoscope he wears on his forehead and hit Purple Tentacle himself!

The teenagers squished the bad guy under their feet and the future was saved! Also, it turns out their bodies were not fused together, but that they had simply been tangled together inside their clothes... Day of the Tentacle was funny, cute and full of absurdity. However, some of the puzzles are just too obscure, and it would have been better with some sort of hint system. Instead, I had to rely on FAQ's and walkthroughs a little too often.

Overwatch

Date played: June 21st
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night takes place on Horizon, the new map, once again. We lose the first point pretty quick, but I melt some faces off with Symmetra defending the second point. 

Overwatch

Date played: June 20th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night takes place on the new map, which just released. It's called Horizon and it's set on the moon, where Winston grew up. It's a point capture map with attacking and defending teams. It's quite large, but it really forces the battles in some very central areas.

The first point is pretty rough to attack unless the team is coordinating well because there's tons of good little spots for snipers, turrets and defensive heroes. The second point is even more difficult, thanks to distance from spawn and all. So far, I'm really enjoying the map, but it's pretty damn demanding.

This play has me on attack as Reinhardt. We make a final push to the last point and it stays into overtime for an absurdly long time. I focused on protecting my team and throwing out fire strikes as often as possible. It was hectic, and when we won, my heart was pumping real fucking hard. It was wonderful.

WipEout Omega Collection

Date played: June 19th
Platform: PS4

I didn't really know what to play last night, and I didn't want to play too long, so I settled on doing a good chunk of races of WipEout 2048. It's too bad that this was the series last real game, because it was one of the best. It's got some of the coolest tracks, a great look and the different classes of ships for each manufacturer adds some variety.

But by far, the best thing about 2048 is the incredible sound design. I really can't play this game without pumping up the volume way up. They fucking nailed the engine sounds. They feel a little bit like Formula 1 engines, but with lots of distortion and a few weird little sound elements. On top of that, the thumping music and great surround sound mixing add even more to the experience.

I ended up playing through the entirety of the 2049 campaign, the second one in this game. The difficulty is starting to ramp up a little bit too, requiring 4th place instead of 5th to pass. The time trials are tighter and combat events require more points. I finally got my first "fail" during one of the time trials. I missed by less than half a second, but in a game like this, that's kind of a lot. I tried again and got it on my second try.

Zone mode is fucking glorious

I also ended up playing many Zone events, which are longer than most events due to the way they are structured. This mode is like the epitome of WipEout, minus the weapons. The main attraction is speed of course. In Zone mode, the ship constantly accelerates, taking throttle control away from the player and leaving only the air brakes. The incredible color scheme just makes the whole thing even better! It's also one of the best ways to learn the different tracks since you're forced to take every corner at max speed for all speed classes. I fucking love Zone mode...

Lego Jurassic World

Date played: June 18th
Platform: PS4

With the weather a little rough today and nothing special on the agenda, I figured it would be a good time to play a video game with my 7 year old daughter. I asked her what she wanted to play, and after a bit of discussion, she settled on Lego Jurassic World, which we haven't played in over a year.

I convinced her to play with me in split screen by telling her I would protect her from any bad guys. We ended up playing through all the levels of the second movie and the first level of the third movie. The Lost World has lots of great scenes for a video game. The best moment was when the baby T-Rex is wounded in the mobile operations center and the mother comes to get her young back.

The screen split had me controlling Ian Malcolm, hanging from a rope and dodging debris, while my daughter was at the top, just outside the vehicle. She had to fight off a few small dinos, then attach the winch from the truck to the dangling vehicle. She then had to get in the car and pull, balancing the power in the center by tilting the joystick. She did great!

Another good scene was when a T-Rex chased us in the woods, or when we had to break some glass by making Malcolm's teenage daughter scream like an opera singer. Fighting off Raptors in a small building was another great moment. These games are pretty simple, but the fun of using Lego pieces to solve puzzles, the funny cut-scenes and the great animations make it lots of fun to play with the family.

Overwatch

Date played: June 18th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night features some aggressive Reinhardt play, defending on Dorado. I had a great Mercy with me, but the rest of our team was a little too passive, so I had to compensate with some nasty pushes. I got a second wind when Mercy revived me at a key moment.

Puyo Puyo Tetris demo

Date played: June 17th
Platform: Switch

I booted up the demo for this fantastic puzzle game and played a couple of multiplayer matches. There's really not much to say about this game, except that it's really a lot of fun. We played the mode where it switches between Puyo Puyo and Tetris at intervals, which keeps the action exciting and can fuck up some good moves. I also love the crazy art style and great use of colors.

Overwatch

Date played: June 15th and 16th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night is one of my best plays ever as Tracer. Defending on Volskaya, we hold the enemy team back at the first point. Their Genji and Lucio were annoying as hell...  I ended up fighting against every member of their team and even got the play of the game! I feel like most of their team ignored me unless in a one on one battle, so I managed to stay alive the whole match.

Rocket League

Date played: June 13th
Platform: PS4

During E3, Nintendo announced that Rocket League will be coming to Switch, which made me feel like playing this amazing game again a little bit. I ended up playing half a dozen matches last night and while I was rusty, I still had some sick moves and played pretty well. I got MVP a couple times, even though I didn't win all that much.

I push past all the opposition, which leads to a breakaway goal

I took the time to set up a new, cool looking car before playing, using one of the newer vehicles that I hadn't tried out yet. I think it looked real nice. Playing Rocket League again feels like getting into a comfortable pair of old slippers. Warm, cozy and comforting. The Switch should be a great platform to play this wonderful game, so I'm sure I'll be an idiot and buy this game a third fucking time. 

Gears of War 4

Date played: June 11th
Platform: Xbox One

I played the end of Act III, Origins, where the group finally finds Marcus Fenix, who had been captured by a Snatcher earlier. Thing is though, we had to fight the terrifying monster head on... But first, we had to fight many battles before, including a few difficult ones. There are new enemies thrown in, like deathly accurate snipers and morale boosting fatties that wield giant weapons. It's not an easy game.

Still, I fought through and faced the Snatcher that captured Marcus. These monsters are very difficult to beat. They can one shot kill anyone with their dart attack, they can swallow humans in one gulp and they run faster than they should... Still, it has some weaknesses. When it swallows a party member, it's belly can be shot to free the person and stun the beast. After dying more than a handful of times, I abused this tactic to kill the Snatcher.

Long story short, after the battle, the team conveniently found Marcus in one of the nearby pods. There was a cliche movie moment here, where they pretend like the guy is dead for way too long, then he miraculously wakes up after you think he's dead. Marcus vomits his heart out and gets ready to go.

The opening few chapters of Act IV were pretty simple in terms of story, but they were full of great action moments and fun battles. The combat is really the only reason I play this game, since the shooting is really satisfying. It's hard as fuck though. For example, at one point, I had to fight a Snatcher accompanied by half a dozen Drones and some Juvies... It was difficult.

The escape from the deep abyss that served as a home to the Snatchers was very exciting. The group of 4 got onto some big cables, then shot their holdings for a fast ride up to the top. What's cool here is that I was in control of the character as the rope climbed up! I had to dodge debris and even fucking Juvies as we ascended. I even shot a few enemies and mechanisms with my pistol as I went up. It was lots of fun and it looked great.

Outside, we had to face another windflare, but this time, there were a ton of enemies in the way... I jumped into a mechanical loader exosuit, straight out of Aliens. I could stomp enemies at close range or ram them from a distance with a sprinting move. This thing is extremely powerful and mows down enemies easily. It can also move large pieces of debris. I had to use it a few times in a couple of different spots.

Carriers are awesome

The most interesting battle was against a huge monster that looks a lot like a gorilla. Carriers are big, jumping enemies that are relatively sluggish, but have strong defenses. They can also shoot out little floating things that target the humans. I loved fighting these guys because they move slow enough to flank, but they take a shit ton of damage before they die.

The group is trying to find Kait's mother, though I'm not really sure where she is or where we are. But that doesn't matter. Shooting enemies is fun enough on it's own!

Action! Rope shit! Motherfucking monster gorillas!

WipEout Omega Collection

Date played: June 11th
Platform: PS4

I'm knee deep into the 2048 campaign, since that's the game that got the biggest upgrades and honestly, I tend to prefer 2048 to HD and Fury in general. I'm starting to unlock a few ships here, including the amazingly powerful Qirex fighter, which is slow and hard to handle, but has tons of health and strong weapons.

The Qirex fighter proved invaluable during the 3 or 4 combat events I raced in. Combat events are unique because they really aren't a race at all. In fact, they are closer to Mario Kart's balloon battles than anything else. The objective is to make as many points as possible by hitting opponents with weapons, or even better, destroying their ship. In this mode, there's even the option or turning the ship around to fire at incoming ships, which is really cool.

The Qirex Fighter speeds through debris and explosions during a combat event

The Qirex hits hard, so it's a really good ship to use for these events. I tend to focus on staying a little bit behind the pack, but not too far, then gathering weapons as fast as I can and shooting at everything that moves. It works pretty well. I also forgot that Zone mode was included in 2048, and it looks even cooler than in WipEout HD. I love this game...

Overwatch

Date played: June 11th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night isn't anything very special, but it does show that using the right character at the right time can make a big difference. We were being slaughtered, attacking the first point on Numbani, so I switched to Soldier 76 to be a bit more versatile (I was using McCree). Grouping up with our Reinhardt, I help push on the point and eventually take it, thanks to some powerful healing my Mercy and a bit of luck.

WipEout Omega Collection

Date played: June 10th
Platform: PS4

I didn't play a lot of games yesterday, but I managed a few races in WipEout 2048. One of the things that is most unique about 2048 is how it categorizes ships into different categories. While there are only 5 teams here, each has 4 ships with different stats. So far, I've only unlocked the regular Feisar and it's "Fighter" class counterpart. I also have the Qirex "Agility" ship. This makes it easier to pick a team based on their design instead of just their stats.

2048 has some of the coolest tracks in the series

I really like the tracks in 2048, since most of them have at least one shortcut or alternate route. They are also way more grounded than the other games, since this takes place about 50 years before. Everything is a little dirtier, everything is a little bit more believable. I played just a couple of events, and I was surprised to see myself placing 3rd in one event, but I think I had picked the wrong type of ship.

WipEout Omega Collection

Date played: June 9th
Platform: PS4

My first victory

The mid 90's were a strange time. The internet was just starting to be more common. Techno music and raves were at the height of their popularity. Hackers was a "cool" movie. The whole world was going through a transformation, thanks to the World Wide Web. At the same time, 3D graphics were becoming more and more common in video games.

That's when WipEout was born. A product of it's time, but also something that is so well designed, it might just be timeless. Racing games were still in their early days, at least for those attempting 3D graphics. I had been playing many PC games at this time, like The Need For Speed, Stunts, Screamer and Ridge Racer. Of course, I can't forget about F-Zero also, since WipEout so obviously inspired by it. It wasn't "really" 3D, but it was the first futuristic racer with a third person view.

Then I played Wipeout XL on PC. That was a fucking revelation! The antigravity craft soared around the twisting futuristic tracks, to the beat of heavy techno music. I fell in love right away and became a hardcore WipEout fanboy. This is seriously one of my top five game franchises in history, up there with Mario and Civilization. I played them all. The original on Saturn, XL on both PC and Playstation, Wip3out on PS1, WipEout 64, Fusion on PS2, Pure and Pulse on Vita, HD and Fury on PS3 and finally, 2048 on Vita. The series is fucking glorious and the only one I really don't like as much is Fusion.

WipEout Omega Collection gathers Wipeout HD, Fury and 2048 in one place. The graphics are improved for all games, but it's most apparent with 2048, since it was only released on Vita. It's really impressive actually. I really loved 2048 when I played it, and it's definitely one of my favorites in the series, so seeing it look so motherfucking good is quite a treat.

I played a few events in all three games. I played a shit ton of these games when they first released, so I still have the tracks memorized quite well, at least so far. I just love racing these things so much... I particularly enjoyed Zone mode in WipEout HD. In this mode, the craft accelerates constantly and speeds up gradually. The objective is to stay alive as long as possible. At first it's pretty easy, but soon enough, I was gripping the controller harder than a fat kid holds on to a candy bar, wrestling against physics as I tried to keep control of my ship.

That's what WipEout is all about. Fast, white-knuckled piloting in flashy environments, sleekly designed craft and thumping music. Bliss.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Date played: June 8th
Platform: Switch

I didn't play for that long, but I managed about an hour of exploring. I followed one of my markers, which led to a shrine in the southern portions of central Hyrule. I haven't climbed many towers yet, so I didn't see much of the map, so I followed the road towards the shrine. I spent a bit of time gathering ingredients, hunting and chopping down trees for fun along the way.

The shrine was kind of weird, because I solved it, but I'm fairly certain I didn't do it the intended way. The high-celinged room had three raised platforms in the corners. Nearby were 3 metal boxes stacked on top of each other, just high enough to reach the first platform. I put on my climbing gear, moved them a little bit with magnesis and reached the top. I got a chest, then did the same thing with the second platform.

That one had an elongated metal platform on it, which I could move with the spell. The third platform was very far away, and higher than the others, so I couldn't use the same trick to reach it. I decided to bring up the 3 boxes from the nearby platform and build a tower on top of the platform with them. I climbed it, jumped and glided to the final platform. I still have no idea why there was a long metal thing on the 2nd platform... I guess I could have built a sort of bridge? Who knows...

After a few upgrades, Hetsu remembered the way to his home

Just outside the shrine was Hetsu, the Korok forest guy who can upgrade my equipment. I had found about 13 korok seeds since the last time I saw him, so I was able to afford quite a few upgrades. I now have 12 melee weapon slots, 6 bow slots and 6 shield slots. It helps a lot! I also picked up a couple of side quests from a nearby stable.

I decided to head to the nearest tower to reveal more of the map, so I went south, near the opening area of the game. I fought a few monsters and gathered more materials during my travels, then reached a giant stone bridge. That's when I had my best "Oh shit!" moment of the game so far.

Before me, gliding graciously through the air, stood a beautiful dragon, surrounded by sparks of lightning. I admired it for a while, watching it's movements. It didn't seem hostile, but it didn't seem all that friendly either. He was pretty far, so I watched him as he slowly flew around the area, then went up into the sky, disappearing inside a mysterious vortex. That's when I had to stop playing, but the tower isn't that far away, so I'll continue my journey towards it next time. 

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Date played: June 5th
Platform: Switch

It seems my obsession with cooking continues... I spent a good amount of time just crafting recipes and selling my best meals. I then spent a bit of this money buying a helmet and some arrows, then went to upgrade the helmet at the Fairy Fountain. I also spent some time recoloring my different outfits...

After all this, I thought I should try to explore a little bit, and a lot of people had been talking to me about Mount Lanayru, a large mountain on the eastern side of the map. It turns out, I probably approached this whole thing the wrong way. I underestimated the distance of the mountain I think.

I came in from the south, near Hateno Lab, thinking I could climb my way to the mountain. It kind of worked, but the problem is that it's really cold up there, so I had to eat cold resistance food to even progress. I fought some new enemies, some ice lizard men. They are pretty damn tough, but I'm getting a lot better at combat now and rarely get hit by normal enemies. At least for now...

After a while, I figured out that I wasn't gonna make it all the way to Lanayru without some cold resistance armor, but there was a shrine nearby, so I went there to add a fast travel point, do a fun puzzle and get an orb. I got the fast travel and the orb, but unfortunately, I didn't get a fun puzzle... This whole shrine was just a fucking treasure chest! At least it was a good one, it contained some great climbing boots.

Exploring the world is a lot of fun

I fast travelled back to Kakariko village and decided to head towards some of the markers I had placed much earlier in the game. I ended up at another shrine, but this one was a lot cooler. The Sunken Scoop shrine required that I use my magnet power to grab a large metal scoop at the bottom of a basin, then use it to scoop up some metal balls and drop them into a bucket. The second room was a bit more complicated, as I had to drop a ball on top of a cage, then let the scoop sink to the bottom of the basin to activate a switch that would open the cage, letting the ball drop. No treasure here, but a great little shrine.

I explored a little bit along the way, gathering materials and trying to improve my knowledge of the land. My horse was very helpful here, and I even practiced fighting on horseback, which works WAY better than in previous Zelda games, such as Twilight Princess. 

Overwatch

Date played: June 3rd and 4th
Platform: PS4

Today's play of the night is more like a play of the weekend. I really didn't get much time to play video games lately, but I managed a few matches of Overwatch here and there. This play has me defending on Route 66 as Symmetra. I had a hard time setting up at the first checkpoint, which we lost quickly, but I had better luck defending the second checkpoint.

Early on in the play, I place my teleporter on the ground, but I really didn't think things through that well when I put it down. It was too easy to shoot, and it was destroyed by Soldier, who was attacking from a ledge above. After this though, I have a nice rush to the point, kill the Soldier in question, then protect the objective a few seconds. I then team up with D.Va to rush the enemies as they gathered in a little room, trying to move forward. I melted face after face as I bum rushed the opponents with my laser beam. I ended up killing Mercy, McCree and Sombra in quick succession, earning myself a play of the game in the process. 

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Date played: May 31st
Platform: Switch

Well, I didn't play as much as I wanted because I was dead tired last night. Instead, I spent a few minutes in Kakariko village and picked up a side quest that led me to the Fairy Fountain to take a picture of it. I took advantage of my visit to upgrade the new armor I bought in Hateno.

Then, I spent a bunch of time just cooking. In fact, I'm really starting to understand the cooking system, and I'm starting to take advantage of it too. I filled up my inventory with food, but still had tons of ingredients, so I sold the most valuable meals I made for a lot of rupees. Since I only have 5 hearts right now, a lot of the stronger meals are simply too powerful for me, so I can just sell them for now. I also have a bunch of food items to heal when needed. At least I'm ready to head out and adventure now...

The Hearty Salt-Grilled Prime Meat was my most powerful meal creation