Return of the Obra Dinn

I had my eye on this game for a while and finally got it when it released on Switch. Say what you will about me, but 'game where you play as an insurance adjuster with a magical pocket watch' is very much my thing.

I respected everything about this game. The use of early era computer graphics was expertly executed, the voice acting was great, the concept was unique, it involves old-timey wooden ships which are generally neat. You're tasked with piecing together the fate of the Obra Dinn via a patchwork of stories presented in an unchronological fashion. You're shown scenes of the crew of the Obra Dinn at the times of their deaths, and it seems that a vast majority of the 60-person crew has died a horrible death of some sort. Your job is to match the people whose stories you're seeing to the names on the ship's manifest, figure out how they died, and who (or what) killed them.

It's a very clever, low-tech, video-game form of the classic logic puzzle—deduce information from what you're being shown and use process of elimination and context clues to solve the riddle.

This is all enough to earn it 5 stars from me. I love nothing more than an indie game that cleverly uses low-budget minimalism to its advantage. But if you're looking for an *exciting* video game to play, this isn't really the one. It's mostly like listening to a great audio-drama podcast with some supporting visual elements. You're more or less limited to skulking around the four decks of the Obra Dinn and listening to harrowing scenes of death and murder unfold.

And then there's just my personal shortcoming which is...I can't solve the damn thing and I sort of eventually lost interest. I went through all of the story once, Memento-style and out of order as it's first presented to you, and managed to scratch a few names and causes of death off the list. Then I went back through the stories, in chronological order this time, and was able to glean a lot more information the second time around, scratching many more names off of the list. Even after that though, I wasn't anywhere close to finishing, and there was still a lot of death and murder to solve—but I really didn't think I'd learn or notice much more with a third watch-through of the stories that I didn't catch the first two times around. So I never did solve the mystery, but maybe I'll return to it one day (or maybe I'll play 200 more hours of Stardew Valley, which is much more likely).

tl;dr—If you like logic puzzles and are looking for a unique game to play on your Switch on an 8-hour flight or something, then this is highly recommended. If you're a die-hard, highly critical 'gamer' then you should perhaps skip this one.

No Man's Sky

Like droves and droves of other terrestrial humans, I had anticipated this game for a long time before its release. The hype was real, and pretty much the only thing I ever want from a video game is to fly around in a little spaceship, so I was beyond stoked. I didn't buy in to the press conferences or read the blogs or watch the E3 interviews though—I just knew there was a new indie spaceship game coming out where you got to fly around a procedurally generated universe. That was plenty for me. But with a full-time job and a relationship that had just escalated to live-in status, how would I ever find the time to dump approximately one bajillion hours into this game, as my heart desired to?

Well, the gods of space exploration must've heard my prayers, because right when this game was released I got laid off from my job of 8.5 years with a pretty good severance package. Now instead of another summer spent in my windowless office, it was a summer of flying my little ship around, making discoveries, doing freelance work, crafting new materials, making Postmates deliveries on my bike, and staying up until 4am discovering new planets that I got to name. Between the severance and freelance work, I was raking in more money than I was while fully employed, and by the time I got a new job in November, I had saved enough money to pay for an engagement ring for that live-in girlfriend. Easily the best summer of my life.

Oh, and the game? I had such a wonderful time playing it. While the rest of the world called for Sean Murray's public execution, I was on another planet that he and his team has created (albeit procedurally) discovering a new nine-legged variety of local fauna. While other gamers were weeping over the fact that there were no giant space worms, I was soaking in the view on a planet that literally no one else had ever seen.

The moral of the story? If you're excited about something, why buy into hype? Why put your own expectations on something if you're going to be devastated by anything other than having those expectations fulfilled? In a world of endless trailers and teasers and press junkets and early buy-in and commercials and other pre-media appetizers that we consume before we gobble down our main course of media...it's tough to just experience something for what it is. Over the years since its initial release, this game has evolved into something I wouldn't even recognize, but I was one of the few people who was happy to dump 200+ hours into its original iteration. It was perfect.

And if you're calling for Scotland Yard to raid the house of indie game developers because a shadow in a trailer from a game convention three years ago led you to believe there would be a space worm and then there isn't a space worm and you'd put all of your hopes and dreams into the idea that there would be a space worm? Maybe it's time to put the controller down and learn some adult coping skills.

Grand Theft Auto V

This game was so good that even when someone kicked in my apartment door in Queens and stole my Xbox that contained my precious GTA V save file, I almost didn't mind, because I had a great excuse to start over and play the whole thing again!

Super Mario Bros. 3

So, as a preface to this review, know that when I was a kid I was a little rule-follower. A little Goody-Two-shoes. A reeeeeeeal Momma's boy. So suffice it to say that when I was at my friend Matt's house and we heard that another kid who lived down the block who we normally didn't hang out with had the new Mario game and we went to his house without telling anyone and were so mesmerized by this incredible breakthrough in gaming that before we realized it the sun had set and I went home and explained to my mother where I'd been and found out she'd been worried sick about me because she had no idea where I was and had been frantically searching all around the neighborhood for me literally for hours at that point, that the icy silence of disappointment I received was so impactful upon me as a person that I would spend a number of minutes writing about it more than 30 years later. And I'd do it all again.

Great game. Five stars.

Stardew Valley

If I had to choose one game to play for the rest of my life, it might be Stardew Valley. When I look at the sum hours I have put into this game, it makes me feel: 1) ashamed and; 2) like I want to play more Stardew Valley. Honestly just thinking about the game and looking at the screenshots from the game are making me miss playing it. There is something so peaceful about it, and for some reason this game allows me to drop into a blissful flow state. What's the gameplay like? You will make a farm, you will upgrade it, you will grow things, you will raise animals, you will meet an eclectic cast of characters in the local village and beyond, and you will smoooooooch some of them. It's like Minecraft and Harvest Moon and A Link to the Past had a baby, and it's your baby. You get to raise the baby. And it loves you.

The story of the creation of the game is also fascinating, as every single aspect (programming, art, storyboarding/dialogue, and certainly a million other things) was done by a single person who'd never created a game before. Never give up on your dreams, kids!

Hades

This game utilizes the rogue-like format in I think the most clever way I've ever encountered it, weaving it into the fabric of the story itself. The fights are heart pounding, the weapons system works in a way that constantly refreshes the gameplay, the storyline is phenomenal, the characters are a blast, the replay value is extensive, it's got speedrunning potential if you're into that sorta thing...what else can I say? You just usually don't get this much bang for your buck these days.

It's also worth mentioning that in an era where toxicity in the workplace sadly seems to be a feature of the gaming industry, Supergiant Games apparently does a really good job of not being like that. Kotaku wrote a good article about it (not sure how the Channel 3 gods feel about posting direct links yet but I'm sure you can find it).

I cannot overstate how perfect this game is:
–Incredible visuals, art, and character design
–Wonderful sense of openness and representation that isn't afraid to present queerness as a matter of fact, includes a god that uses they/them pronouns, and has Greek gods depicted as a diverse cast of characters
–Incredible voice acting by the entire ensemble
–The score is perfect and drives you through the game and is affected by your actions as you play—neat!
–Replay value to the point that even after I rolled credits, I had weeks and weeks of gameplay left full of new discoveries

Super Mario 64

The year we got an N64 for Christmas is by far the most memorable for me. It was such an incredible leap from Super Nintendo to this, and my brother and I were just completely blown away by everything about it. When we fired up Mario 64 and Mario said, "It's a-me-a, Mario!" we just absolutely flipped out. Mario was Italian. Of course he is. How did we never see it before? And it's still a great game! To this day!

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I mean, I guess Skyrim is objectively a good game but my gods if I could have a clock showing me how much time I wasted dealing with the worst aspect of RPG games—ENCUMBRANCE—then I might regret having played it. It's probably hours of me in the menus figuring out what I can spare vs. what I can throw on the ground. I mean, I get it, but I'm a little loot freak! Just let me loot everything!

Mass Effect 2

I mean what else can I say about this game that hasn't already been said? It's the best. Five stars. No notes.