Journal Entry 1

I've called this blog the "Backlog Journal" but I haven't really been treating it as much of a journal and since I've been slack with other updates I think I'll start sprinkling in some entries on what I've been playing in between game specific posts. Hopefully this means I can remember more details when it comes time to do a post on a specific game.

I recently visited home for a few weeks to see my mum as she had some pretty serious heart surgery a few months ago (she's doing absolutely great). I only took my Nintendo Switch 2 with me and focused on two games - Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter and Donkey Kong Bananza. I've only dabbled in Trails before but it's a series I've always wanted to really get into so this remake came at a good time for me. I've played a lot but I'm sure there's much much more to go. So far I'm enjoying the gameplay a lot, I like the mix between realtime and turn-based combat as it takes out some of the pain of dealing with the smaller, weaker enemies. The characters are good (I'm not going to deny I love Scherazard's big dommy mommy energy), the voice acting has been great so far and the music is excellent. Given how massive the game is I'm not sure how I'll cover it in the future but we'll see. I did start playing Trails of Zero a while ago but then I read some blog about the best order to play the games in... so here we are. I've got a lot of playtime ahead of me.

The reason I picked up Donkey Kong Bananza was to play with my nephew while I was up visiting family. He's probably not quite old enough and he's still learning to read but he sure had fun punching the shit out of everything. He plays a lot of trash in Roblox so I think it was good for him to play something that involved a bit more problem solving (even if his solution was to just punch more). It was really fun playing with him and I think I'll probably give it a go solo if I ever find the time for it. There was one day where we were playing and he had to head home. He was at the point where he was at one of the in game shops trying to decide which tie or pants to buy for Donkey Kong so I told him to think about it until I see him again. The poor guy had some legit anxiety over it for the next few days and told my sister I said he had an important decision to think about.

Now more recently... Pokemon Legends: Z-A came out so I ended up spending a lot of time with that (I've finished it now). I haven't played a mainline Pokemon game for a while but I did play Arceus back when it take out. Z-A isn't perfect but I think it's the right direction for the game (at least for the spin-off Legends series). I think I'll probably write up my thoughts in a dedicated post... maybe after I finish the current one I'm doing for Final Fantasy 3.

Unfortunately... I've started playing some now gacha game called Chaos Zero Nightmare which is kind of a roguelike deck builder. I haven't put any money into it and I'm not really planning to (maybe the battlepass if I continue to enjoy the game) but I've been having a lot of fun with it. Part of me likes the idea of these gacha games - not the horrible gambling part but I do like this kind of continuous improvement and progress that they tend to have, even if it can be a bit grindy. It's nice to kind of wind down with it in bed at night and polish off some dailies but we'll see how long I manage to stick with it. It certainly does suffer from... the goonerfication (that's what the kids call it these days right?) of these kind of games. Speaking of which if you haven't watched the YouTuber Crimes New Roman then you should watch this incredibly well made and interesting video - The Transhumanist Implications of Marrying 2D Women. While you're there watch all of their other videos as well.

Finally... Outer Worlds 2 came out so that's probably going to eat up a bunch of time as well. I really liked the first game so I'm looking forward to see how this goes. I'm sure I'll fit in time for piano practice... and going to work somewhere.