Blog

The thoughts, opinions, happenings, and just plain ramblings of a seemingly boring person.

Gaming

A Yoshi Game That Wasn’t for Me

Categories Gaming, Rants

I was tempted to title this post "A Not-Great Yoshi Game" or "A Yoshi Game I Didn't Like", but both of those would be inserting my own preferences into what is, objectively, a decent game (it does have an 80 on Metacritic).

But Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is the first Yoshi game (probably since Yoshi's Story on the N64) that I didn't really enjoy.

In this case, I think I've become that kind of person that knows what he wants from a Yoshi game, and this didn't live up to that. Or at least, the type of games that … Read more →

Astro Bot: Pure Joy and Happiness

Categories Gaming
Astro Bot game banner

Some of my favourite games of all time are the Mario Galaxy games. There haven't been that many 3D platformers that I've played over the years that live up to the variety and fun of those games, especially around their level's tight design and mechanics.

That's until the recent standalone Astro Bot game came along, almost out of nowhere. I liked the previous 'demo'-type games that previously introduced us to the cute little robot, but this standalone feature blasts it out of the park.

This game was made for me. Cute character, check. Finely tuned platforming, check. Awesome theme, check. … Read more →

Building Pentium

Categories Gaming, Geekery, Technology
The finished build in place

It's been a long time between computer builds. Actually, it's been the longest interval since I started building my own desktop computers in 2007. My now-previous computer, Tetrarch, was built in 2017, so it's a 6-year gap between that build and this new one.

Continuing with the number-themed names, I decided to name this build Pentium, as it's the fifth build that I've done. The 'Pentium' name has always resonated to me since our first Windows 95 computer was a first generation Pentium MMX. It's All About the Pentiums is also one of … Read more →

Console Purchasing Wars: Xbox Series X

Categories Gaming, Geekery, Rants, Technology

Last week, I finally got an Xbox Series X! I say 'finally' because despite working for a Microsoft company (I even have a Microsoft employee ID and email address), I have no special access (or pricing) to any Microsoft hardware.

Like everyone else desperately trying to find one, I've had to watch Twitter stock alert accounts, ring around tonnes of stores, and do everything else to try and secure a console ahead of scalpers. Even though the scalping price on eBay isn't too exorbitant—roughly about 25-30% above the retail price—I've refused out of principle to take that easy way … Read more →

Ori & Remote Play Sequels

Categories Gaming, Geekery, Technology
Ori and the Will if the Wisps

Ori and the Blind Forest is one of my favourite games of the past five years. I've played through it multiple times, and even purchased it a second time (as the Definitive Edition) not just to get more content, but to also give an extra bit of money to the devs (I had bought the original game with a heavy Steam discount).

I have always played the game using Steam's "Remote Play" feature (previously called "Steam Home Streaming"). The game runs on my Windows gaming PC in our study, but I play the game on my living room TV … Read more →

Yoshi’s Crafted World

Categories Gaming
Yoshi's Crafted World logo

One of the things that committed me to buying a Nintendo Switch was the promise of a new Yoshi game for the console. It's hard to believe that it's now been almost two years since I bought the Switch, but earlier this year (pre all the transplant dramas), Yoshi's Crafted World came out.

Although I finished the main story a while ago, it's only now that I had the time and steady hands to actually finish it 100%.

Crafted World is a decent Yoshi game, but it didn't live up to the expectations that the excellent Woolly World set 4 … Read more →

The Best and Worst of 2017

Categories Gaming, Lego, Movies, Rants

Best and worst time! This is my personal review of 2017's media that I was exposed to, and the ones that I liked the most and the least.

GotG2 & LoganMovies

This year was quite a tough one to pick. There wasn't really anything that good that I can think of as being the stand-out, and by the same token, I can't remember anything that I saw that was really that bad. Nevertheless:

Best Movie: Two-way tie between Logan and Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

Guardians 2 gave me more of what I loved about the first: space, sci-fi, 80s, humour, … Read more →

Mario Odyssey: Unpopular Opinion

Categories Gaming, Rants

Super Mario OdysseyI've just finished playing through Super Mario Odyssey, and I have had a bunch of fun with it.  However, I have a seemingly unpopular opinion: although Odyssey is fantastic, and it really is, I don't think it quite lives up to the standard of its predecessor, Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Let me start by saying that Odyssey is a great game. If you have a Switch, this game is a must buy. If you don't have a Switch, this game should make you seriously consider getting one. The game is deserving of its widespread critical acclaim, and I … Read more →

Switch-ing Things Up

Categories Gaming

Nintendo SwitchContinuing my history of badly titled blog posts when I purchase a Nintendo console, you can probably tell that I recently bought a Nintendo Switch.

I'm actually really fascinated by this device. I was intrigued back when it was announced and launched, but Zelda excepted, there just wasn't any games that launched with it (or soon after) that I was interested in playing. I wasn't going to buy a brand new console at full price just to play one game.

Fast-forward 6 months, and more games have come out (or are about to) that I am interested in. In … Read more →

GOTY Contender: Horizon Zero Dawn

Categories Gaming

Horizon Zero DawnI've had an absolute blast playing through Horizon Zero Dawn over the past month or so. I enjoyed it so much that I even went to the effort of earning the platinum PSN trophy, something which I've never before done on a Playstation game. It's probably the most I've enjoyed playing a non-Nintendo console game since Burnout: Paradise on the PS3 all those years ago.

Horizon has a few rough edges, but overall, I thought it was spectacular, and well-earned the 60+ hours I put into it. I originally borrowed the game from a friend to play, but after having … Read more →