Goodbye for now to reviewing. Hello to random gaming.
This year I've written many posts on Lego but only one on gaming. So it's high time for a games update!
Retiring from LadiesGamers
In December 2022, I "retired" from being a reviewer at LadiesGamers.com as life was getting too busy.
Here's a little reflection I wrote on Facebook about my wonderful experience with LG:
It's a lovely little community run by volunteers. Unlike much of the toxic Internet, LG has been a pleasant corner for some of us to share our love for videogames most civilly.
Amazing to see how it grew from being the private blog of one woman in the Netherlands into a full-blown review site that covers the latest games and receives tons of review codes from publishers. These are primarily indie titles rather than triple-A giants, but we've enjoyed highlighting the work of tiny studios.
Very grateful for Yvonne, the site founder, who invited me to write one of the first guest posts on what was simply her blog at the time. LG has continued to be the wholesome community it is because of the kind of person and leader she is.
I might return to reviewing if I have time again some day. Meanwhile I hope to keep up writing for fun about hobbies on my own blog.
Writing, both for LG and my blog, has been so life-giving during these often life-draining years. I don't regret all the precious hours of sleep sacrificed to indulge in my hobbies (though it did make me a grumpier parent and I might regret it in my old age when I discover how these late nights have cut my lifespan)!
I was happy that I could retire from LG with a little bang: by reviewing Triangle Strategy, which was a major release, and writing two fun listicles (10 Games I'd Like For Christmas; Best of 2022).
Gaming in 2023
Since then, I've dipped into several games. It's been fun to only play whatever I want without worrying about deadlines.
Hades: Beat it a second time. Taking a break now—as I'm sure Zagreus does in the House of Hades, even if he never sleeps.
Griftlands: Revisited this fun deckbuilder and finished four more playthroughs (twice using Sal, once each using Rook and Smith).
As before, I prefer Sal and Smith's gameplay over Rook's. And the writing for Smith still rocks!
I daresay Griftlands is as good as Slay the Spire, the genre's gold standard. It's just a matter of preference which of the two card games you like better. StS is simpler in concept, while Griftlands tries to incorporate more mechanics (i.e., an impactful system of relationships with other game characters).
Dragon Quest XI S Definitive Edition: I'm afraid this didn't stick. Or rather, I didn't stick to it long enough to get hooked.
While I was blown away by the quality of the opening animation and am interested in the characters, I found the combat plain boring. Sorry DQ fans! It's just not my kind of RPG, but I'm open to resuming the tale some day.
Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition: Like with DQ, I'm almost tempted at times to run off and play something more interesting and fast-paced (in my case, a deckbuilder or other strategy roguelike). But I'm sticking with Vesperia. Just finished the first arc and was rewarded with new battle music!
I like the short combat sessions. Though they can be boring, they're still more engaging than early DQ battles, being real-time combat instead of turn-based. And I love the game's tutorials, which are delivered gradually, seamlessly, and humorously.
But what I like most about Vesperia is the cast. They've got good chemistry and excellent English voice actors.
Yuri's a good protagonist; he's likeable and isn't flat. My favourite character so far is the explosive Rita, who could easily be annoying and grating on the ears but isn't. I do find Karol annoying, though. Thankfully he's grown on me just a little. However, it's more like I feel sorry for him more than find him charming.
Roadwarden: My first PC game after months away from playing anything on Steam. Since A Dark Room whetted my appetite for text-based adventure/RPGs, I've kept an eye out for more of the same. Citizen Sleeper was a fine one, and it's often mentioned alongside Roadwarden. While the former is sci-fi, the latter is fantasy. No dice-rolling this time, but you do have an inventory and meters to mind.
Starbound: Rebooted this good-looking sandbox game just for fun. I feel a little differently about it than when I played it before Miss S was born.
It's the sort of game that takes a lot of time to enjoy (I suppose other sandboxes, like Minecraft and Terraria, are similar). More time than I have to spend, at least on the PC. I might give Terraria on Switch a shot, though.
Anyway, that was my last 6 months of gaming. Before the next gaming update, there'll be plenty of Lego ones. Got a huge backlog of Lego photos to share with you!