yeah i'd go as far to say hands down one of the best indie games i've ever played. between the difficulty once you start on ascension mode, the diversity available in cards/relics, and the devs dedication to adding new features, it's miles ahead of most AAA titles.

Exactly. I love Slay The Spire for a lot of the same reasons I love Dead Cells. A dedicated team with a cool idea and constantly adding new features. Indie games are starting to give AAA titles a run for their money.

https://i.imgur.com/fxufPer.png

Prior to getting Minecraft for PS4, it had been several years before I had even played a little bit of this game, and to go back years later is truly a magnificent thing. Back when the game came out, it had come out on PC, in its early alpha stages. Everything was still new and people were wondering what a developer could do with an open world filled with blocks. Well, people started getting created, and years later, the game basically completed itself. It's hard to believe how far Minecraft has come and it's honestly not too hard to believe how popular it's managed to stay. I would have definitely played it sooner but I just don't have the motivation to do it. But ever since I started playing it again on someone else's PS4, I figured I'd get it for myself.

https://i.imgur.com/olkflY8.png

While the core gameplay of Minecraft hasn't really changed much i.e. collecting blocks, crafting, mining etc, playing it on a console is so much more interesting because you can just sit back, enjoy the music, and play the game. That's always what I've appreciated about Minecraft is that it's a very mellow game despite the mobs constantly blowing up your base etc etc. But that's what makes it fun. The difficulty curve adds a little something to the game so that you're not just sitting there bored hoping for something crazy to happen. Minecraft has the nearly perfect combination of difficulty and fun. And with additional mods, skins, etc, it's constantly getting more and more exciting.

https://i.imgur.com/37lAkkQ.png

There is one thing I tend to worry about when games go on as long as Minecraft has, and it attributes to the fact that eventually the game will become stale, boring, and monotonous. Unsurprisingly, the devs probably kenw that, and they've allowed over the years for people to make their own things in the game, and some of them were even implemented. New mobs, new blocks, harder mods, harder to find blocks. It all wraps up into one beautiful gift of a world full of endless possibilities. I've always respected Minecraft as being at the forefront of what made open world games truly remarkable.

https://i.imgur.com/fxufPer.png

As I said, I have been playing the PS4 version. It's great. I don't really see much hindrance from switching to a controller. It is taking some getting used to, but I haven't met any situation where I felt it would be better handled with a keyboard and mouse. I'll admit, I miss the quick movement with keyboard and mouse, but the game is so much fun that it really doesn't matter in the end. I put about 5 or 6 hours into it yesterday and I'm planning to do more today. I've built a pretty cool base with a waterfall and a mine shaft that can be entered through either my house, or the little shop next to my house. I'd put screenshots but they're on my phone so you'll have to wait. I highly recommend any of the console version to be honest, especially if you're looking for a very relaxed experience mixed with what you probably already know from Minecraft.

At the end of the day, despite it being criticized for being very samey and monotonous, Minecraft has definitely stood the test of time, and with that it's also improved significantly from when it released prior. I legitimately enjoy looking at creations of other people because the contraptions and buildings that can be made in this game is insurmountable. I've seen castles, full villages, etc etc. It's also pieces of art. And that's pretty funny that I say that because honestly, Minecraft is the canvas, and you are the artist. Goes back to what I've always said about games being works of art. Well, you can basically make your own piece of art inside of a piece of art. Crazy!

Yeah, basically I'm enjoying my time, and I'm shocked I didn't pick up Minecraft years ago. I had played it years and years ago when it first came out, but the console version is a completely different beast. A fun one at that.

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20150928023217
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Seriously, all the way from January to December, 2018 was a great year in gaming. And yeah, multiple times I did wish I had a certain console for a certain game, but god damn, I really wish I had a Switch for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. While I may not be the absolute biggest fan of Smash, this one genuinely looks like the best in the series thus far. Just going by what I've seen on Twitch, the amount of characters they've put in is absolutely incredible on its own. Graphically, it looks amazing, as Smash games tend to anyway. Looks like a hell of a lot of fun with friends too. I still remember the days of Melee and I still love that game to death to this day.

Smash is definitely one of those game series that I never fully got into, but I appreciate it for what it is, and for every release that comes out, it seems like they try to push the envelope a little bit more. Nintendo tends to do that though. Just sheer ridiculousness in its best form. But seriously, the roster for this game is unbelievable. So many great characters to choose from.

https://i.imgur.com/SXce6pZ.jpg

I don't even own the game and I already know of a few characters that I will want to main. Looks like a hell of a lot of fun and may perhaps be a reason for me to finally buy a Switch.

lol Wii Fit Trainer

my friends clown on me for only playing pac man and isabelle but damn they're so ****in fun idc who is good or bad

I'm going to preface this by saying there will be many spoilers here as there's going to be fully revealed maps of video games I've played. If you don't want things spoiled, don't read on. Otherwise, enjoy!

Something I've always found sort of fascinating about video games is the amount of intricate detail that goes into creating the map of a game. I'm talking about when you press start usually and see the world map. Often times it's filled with a cloud or something until you explore it. But god damn, there's a certain excitement that it brings when you see the map of a video game for the first time. The adventure you're about to take, the amount of things you'll get to do.

Let's talk about a few games that have done this extremely successfully:

Breath of the Wild is the first one to come to mind. When we're talking about creating excitement for a video game, this one certainly does it best.

Take a look at this world map.



And yes, I have explored the entirety of this map and it is so so worth it. Every little nook and cranny holds something interesting to do or explore. And sometimes the rewards are pretty amazing and plenty.

Next up is one I've talked about before but I just want to talk about it again because why the hell not. Middle Earth: Shadow of War certainly has an amazing world map to venture through and explore. This one is kind of tough because there's multiple maps through the game. So i'll just post a few to give you an idea of how vast this game can be.



Of course, what kind of entry about maps would this be if I didn't talk about one of the truly most impressive world maps out there. And honestly, I'm not putting this in spoilers tags because everybody should already appreciate this one.

https://i.imgur.com/Xl55JDy.jpg

Couldn't find a better picture of this map so **** it. You know what I'm talking about. Of course I'm talking about Skyrim. One of the finest and most refined world maps out there. This game was such a thrill going through for the first time and it still has that feeling of adventure many years later. Truly a remarkable piece of work.

This is my 12000th post. That is all.

The world is now complete once more.

Indeed.

While I don't have a lot of respect for Bethesda right now what with Fallout 76 ending up being a total and complete failure, I have to give them credit for not only making an aesthetically pleasing map, but a pretty huge one at that:

https://i.imgur.com/jb4lmxZ.jpg

I'll admit, it's a little depressing knowing I'll probably never explore this whole map seeing as my motivation to play the game is basically 0. It's no longer on my PS4 hard drive as well. Just not worth the time investment. But a great map nonetheless.

https://i.imgur.com/8khmlu0.jpg

This is not the whole map, this is just a fraction of it. The map is the entirety of New York City and god damn it is such a joy to play around in. I don't think I've ever had as much fun playing a game in its entirety like I did with Marvel's Spider-Man. Seriously, this game is so good.

This next one I'm actually stoked about as well because I've recently started playing the game again. Horizon Zero Dawn has definitely one of the most impressively made world maps in this day and age. Not to mention the fact that the game itself is pretty amazing. I barely gave this game any time when I first got it, and getting back into it really proves how great this game is. But anyway, here's the map:

https://i.imgur.com/jpCAxqG.png

It's pretty great. It's also a beautiful world to explore.

After all those months of dicksucking Fallout 76?

Yeah man. I'm disappointed.

We're not done yet, I have more maps to cover:

https://i.imgur.com/e1olJkN.jpg

It only took 3 entries but I finally mentioned Fallout 3. Yeah, I would have to say that Fallout 3 and its map are both simply fantastic. I enjoyed every single minute of exploring this world and I was surprised by just how much there was to find. Especially when you get into the main city where everything is just jaw droppingly hauntingly beautiful. I still need to play this game again. Perhaps soon.



I definitely put a lot of time into Monster Hunter World but I don't think I even scratched the surface of what this game has to offer. I really enjoyed the game a lot but I got burned out pretty quick after the monster killing started to feel like a chore. The game itself is great, but it was short lived for me. But hey, it was my first Monster Hunter game so I'd say it was pretty great. The map is just as big as you'd imagine. I enjoyed my time in it.

Steam (Rant)

Yo Valve, what the ****? What's going on with Steam right now? I get it, you guys are a platform that allows for pretty much anybody to sell their game or at least have a place to distribute it, but god damn there's a lot of ****ty games lately. I used to enjoy going into the Steam store and checking out the Specials to see if anything is worth buying. I used to find maybe two or three separate games that I'd be interested in, but now I go several pages and not a single game looks interesting to me. Maybe it's just that my tastes have changed, but it could also be due to the fact that there's just simply far too many games on Steam right now.

I will be fair though, the past few years have been really really great for games on Steam, especially early access games like Dead Cells and Slay The Spire which BOTH eventually made it to become a full release. All thanks to the communities on Steam and Steam allowing them to distribute their game. It's a win win. Other games like Death Road to Canada and even The Binding of Isaac all garnered positive community based admiration for both Steam and the games therein.

Those were good years. Lately, and I'm even looking on the Steam page now, nothing catches my eye like those games and many others did before. It could also just be due to the fact that a lot of games on Steam right now are focusing on VR, or Dating Sims, etc etc. It's fair to say that there aren't a lot of other developers making those types of games right now so that's why we're not seeing them. Fair. But again, Steam does allow for pretty much any developer to potentially sell their game through them. There was even a knock off Slay The Spire game that actually made it onto Steam despite getting a complete negative reaction.

This is also partly due to why I've switched more so solely to PS4 because I've just got better games to play on it. I've played many of the games I have on Steam, but I'm just not the kind of person to sit at a computer for several hours anymore. I enjoy just sitting on the couch and having a far more laid back experience. Don't let this fool you though, I still play a lot of games on PC, and will always do so. But it's in far less increments now. And i'm ok with that. Because Horizon Zero Dawn is ****ing great.

Maybe you just bought all the games you wanted.

That's probably it too but there's seriously nothing interesting. But yeah that could be it too.

Play Strikey Sisters. One of the best games on Steam in my humble opinion.

http://igg-games.com/wp-content/uplo...Download-1.jpg

Could say the same about Heroes of a Broken Land. Really interesting game concept.

https://static.gamersgate.com/media/...20_3DKQFTP.png

That looks awesome

This post will contain spoilers so if you do not want spoilers on things you haven't played yet, do not read on. Otherwise, enjoy!


Yes, I am talking about boss fights. Specifically my favorite boss fights. As we are all aware at some point, boss fights can be one of the absolute best things about a game. It means the game is ending and all the hard work is now being put to the test. Do you have what it takes to take on the ultimate being at the end of the game? Sometimes it's most certainly the most difficult test in the whole game. But while some are difficult, they never really fall short in how great they are. And that's what we're here to talk about. And since I did use the image for the header of this post, it's only appropriate to talk about Ocarina of Time:



I think this is still to this day one of my all time favorite boss fights in any game. It was back in the day when I had first experienced Ocarina of Time in its entirety, and I hadn't realized what the end game would be. I had seen people do it before but I never realized what it was like to actually play and beat it. A lot of people say that this particular Ganon fight is far easier than most others and I'm inclined to agree. Especially when you have the Biggorons Sword. But at the same time, it's still a great climax to an already perfect game.

Next up we have another classic because I absolutely love the boss fights in older games. Especially when it comes to the Banjo Kazooie series. While I did love Banjo Tooie's boss fight, I preferred the first game because the fight feels way more personal. No bull****, just you and Gruntilda.



All the way up to the final blow from the mega jinjo to send her flying down into a pit in the ground. A seriously great way to end a game that you've already put so many hours into.

One of my fondest memories in gaming is playing the original Fable for the first time. I remember just being so immersed in this game and everything about it was and is still great. This was before The Lost Chapters came out and then we realized just how vast this game truly was meant to be. If you weren't aware, Fable: The Lost Chapters is basically the full game. The original Fable was not the full Fable experience. Fable Anniversary is also the full game. Anyway, the Jack of Blades dragon fight at the end of Fable: The Lost Chapters / Fable Anniversary is one of the most amazing boss fights I've ever experienced.



While in the original Fable, you only got to fight Jack of Blades face to face not in dragon form, and while that was a pretty good way to end the game for that one, I'm glad it wasn't the true end to the game.

Using all your best Bat-ninja skills one by one as Mr. Freeze stalks you like a shambling sci fi zombie was cool as ****.

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/8g...iiqrWhomSB.jpg

And here we are with part 2 of this wonderful little mini series of discussion about boss fights. Are we onto more parts than this? Well, we'll see. Anything is possible. Anyway, I wanna get right into with certainly one of my more memorable boss fights in gaming. I'm most certainly talking about the Darth Treya fight from Knights of the Old Republic II



While again, it may not be the most absolute difficult boss on this list, it's certainly one that I will remember for years to come. The whole story led to one fight and that in itself is pretty amazing though I wish they would've let you continue onwards. Kind of a dick move to just cut the game there but oh well.

Yeah, I'm trying to keep the amount of Legend of Zelda bosses down to a minimum, but I do want to mention one only because the game is so near and dear to my heart. I'm not talking about the Ganon fight from Breath of the Wild though that one is amazing. I'm instead going to shine some glory to the Ganondorf fight from Wind Waker.



There's just something so magnificent and beautiful about this boss fight. Maybe it's just the fact that it's a full on one on one with Ganondorf, maybe it's the art style. Either way, I remember having a **** ton of fun doing this boss fight because yeah, it was difficult, but in a good way. If you were able to figure out the mechanics, you could beat it. The game itself is amazing but man, to have it lead up to an also amazing boss fight is just a great thing overall. Truly a remarkable game.

And of course, I did mention a Nintendo 64 game before so I do have to mention another one here. And although there are two separate occasions where you race this guy, both are still considered to be some of the hardest boss fights in that time. Yes, I said race. I'm talking about the Wizpig races from Diddy Kong Racing. As far as I'm concerned, both instances where you race Wizpig can be considered boss fights. Maybe that's just me. But I mean c'mon:

It's the first of February everybody and it looks like we've got a brand spankin' new theme month comin. I've talked about open world games in the past with games through other posts, but I don't think I've ever truly dove into the genre itself. Like, what about it do I like and my own personal experience with it. There's so much to open world games and I want to dedicate an entire month to strictly open world games. Sure, I'll be talking about some games I've talked about before but why the hell not? Maybe opinions have changed and it'll be interesting to see some compare and contrast between my previous posts and what I think now.

That, and who doesn't love talking about open world games.

Anyway, look forward to several posts throughout the month. They may be daily, they may not. It really depends. But yes, welcome to the month of February and now we shall look into open world games.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...eyCoverArt.png
Assassin's Creed Odyssey

Yeah, I've probably just about talked this game to death at this point, but I don't know where else to start and I don't think I've played a game that had such a positive effect on a series than this one has. Assassin's Creed Odyssey is the developers finally realizing that they can make this series great again, and they truly have.

While I've not spent a whole lot of time in this game yet, from what I've seen so far, this game is really a treat in and of itself. From the graphics to just the feeling of open-ness and potential danger around every corner. I don't think an open world style game to just hold my hand all the time. I want some aspect of danger and this game certainly brings it.

With the camps you can take on throughout the world to wild animals you can fight, it becomes honestly more fun to go around and just being the bad guy. But be carefully because you'll get a bounty. In my experience though, it's actually a lot of fun to try and lure the bounty hunters and just shoot them with arrows. It's a nice tactic and I get a lot of experience every time.

And yes, the combat is the same style of combat you'd see in Middle Earth: Shadow of War, but it's still got its own unique twist that makes it its own. Like I said, it's the combat style, and it's actually a combat style that I really love and I hope more games continue to use it. It doesn't get stale for me like it does other people. I enjoy being able to fight tons of enemies at one time. Spider-Man also did it great and we'll of course talk about that sometime this month.

When you get through the tutorial and you see the entire world open up, I don't think I've been as impressed with the true open-ness of a game until the map panned out and I saw what I was about to jump into. And again, while I haven't put a lot of time into it, I'm still enjoying going through this large world.

And may I say, the dialogue between the characters is also fantastic. I actually feel connected to the characters on the screen, and sometimes there is some sass thrown around. But with the body movements and the very closely precise mouth movements, it's actually really fun to watch cut-scenes because you don't know what you're going to get into. Again, you can choose to be either good or bad, and it's so much fun switching between the two. Be a saint then just turn around and be a huge dick. The game does it well. It's legitimately fun.

Yeah, I'm definitely happy I decided to give this series a chance again because It's nice to see that developers have started to put a lot more care into their games than they were previously. It's a new world for Assassin's Creed. I'm excited to see what they release in the future. I do still need to play Assassin's Creed Origins but that can wait.

And here we go, finally a time in my journals life where I'll be going really in depth talking about one of my favorite games of all time, Fallout 3. I'm serious, if you were to ask me right now, a year ago, even two years ago, I still would've said that Fallout 3 is one of my favorite games of all times. It's switched ranks multiple times throughout the years but it's consistently stayed in my top 3 games I've ever played, and I plan to go into that as much as possible because I feel it's both appropriate and I really want to go in depth as to my experience and the overall feeling I get when I talk about or play Fallout 3.

This will be in multiple parts as I've got a lot to talk about, but I'll start things off easy by simply talking about my own experience and why this game is so near and dear to my heart.

I know this has been said many times before in other posts, hell I've even talked about Fallout 3 specifically before, but up until now, I don't think I had a necessarily dedicated theme month or place to talk about it, and I just figured why not? So, what makes Fallout 3 great? Looking at it from a different perspective, you see a game with not the greatest graphics, but something about it is enticing. I was familiar with Fallout 3 before I had actually played it to completion, but I never really understood it as it was one of my first experiences with a Bethesda style RPG. Hell, I didn't even know who Bethesda was. But the game looked like it could be fun and around the time I started playing it, I was heavily getting into these style of games, so it fit perfectly.

When I started it up (I was on PC at the time) the age of the game showed right away with it being programmed to use Windows Games Live or whatever it's called. So, from the get go, modding was necessary. You have to get both a mod to bypass the Windows Live sign in and you have to download a patch which allows the game to play longer than 10 minutes before it crashes. Once you do that little bit of troubleshooting, Fallout 3 opens up. And it opens up as you as a child, your first look into what you're about to get into.

The opening dialogue with your father and your journey through the vault is definitely something I'll remember though I'm not really surprised to see that other Fallout games have gone this route as well. I mean, it makes sense. The world is in its own post apocalypse, so of course you need shelter. Go through the quests in the vault and you can finally get out into the once lively Washington D.C.

Again, before I had played this game, I had seen some images of Washington D.C. in Fallout 3, but I didn't realize just to the extent of what I'd be seeing in this game. Of course, the game doesn't start you right in the middle of the mall, no, you're met with a vast dead world just waiting for you to explore it. And on I went.

One of the first things I walked up on was the town of Megaton, which if you've played Fallout 3 before, you'll know why this place is so great. Long story short, Megaton seized to exist on my first playthrough.



What I love about this particular scene in the game is the fact that it's really giving you a good idea as to why kind of decisions you can make and the people you'll meet in the world. This of course led me to one of my favorite locations in Fallout 3, Tenpenny Tower.

https://i.imgur.com/xJZbycq.jpg

I love this place. I loved going through another playthrough and sniping Allistair Tenpenny at the top without him even realizing I was there. But on my first playthrough, I decided to make Tenpenny Tower my home. I didn't let the ghouls take it because...well I wanted it. And just in general, this building is just an awesome building to explore, while there isn't a whole lot left to look at once you explore it. But I also enjoy going out to the deck on the top floor and just looking out. Again, realizing the true vastness of this game.

Admittedly, the game can seem desolate at times, but that's exactly what I want in a post apocalyptic game. I don't want an experience like Fallout 4 where the game feels lively and growing. That's not Fallout to me. Fallout to me is the feeling of angst and depression as you walk through the ruins of D.C. and look at all the historical landmarks post-apocalypse. Lincoln without his head is one worth mentioning, but there's another one that gave me chills the first time I ever saw it.

https://i.imgur.com/OSr6rOt.jpg?1

Yessir, I'm talking about the White House. You can find it in Fallout 3, or at least what's left of it. Which is nothing at all. But if you make your way into the crater, you'll be met with a Fat Man and some nukes. Get your radiation suit though, you'll need it. I think just the thought of the White House being completely destroyed in the war is enough to fill me with dread, but in a good way. I legit was in this one location for quite some time, and I always went back. There's a lot to be said when a game can create a particular atmosphere much like this one.

That's Fallout 3 in general though, the atmosphere. I don't think I would've nearly enjoyed this game as much as I did if it weren't for the depressing atmosphere that filled you over and over again. However, we'll be getting into that in more depth in part 2. But to end this part on a high note, Fallout 3 is not only my favorite Fallout game in the series, but it's the one game that I will always say needs a true remaster. I'd play the **** out of it. Hell, I'd play the **** out of it now.

https://i.imgur.com/4B6hp9N.png

While I may have already mentioned the White House in the previous post, I wanted to talk more about the Washington D.C. mall and my experience upon arriving there for the first time. Fallout 3 certainly captivated me from the start with its honest vastness, but when you make your way into the centerpiece of the game, it blows you away in a way that only a game of this caliber can do. I just remember taking everything in and looking around me noticing burned down buildings and structures that had to be fixed and used for other things. For example, the Washington Memorial is used for as a satellite to transmit radio broadcasts. It's also gotten severe damage throughout.

https://i.imgur.com/8pWrjLm.jpg

It's just amazing and remarkable what the atmosphere can do to a city you know pretty well. I think this resonates with me in this way because I actually saw the Washington Memorial in person. I've been to D.C. so playing this game was sort of surreal to me in a way.

I mentioned in the previous post about the Lincoln Memorial and its missing head, well, yes, it is a thing. Check this out:

https://i.imgur.com/7s9G2Fu.png

The first thing I thought about doing when I walked into the mall for the first time is "I should find the Lincoln Memorial". Though when I went there, I was evidently unprepared. But eventually I got up close enough to realize that the head was missing. Nice touch, Bethesda. But yes, it's pretty striking to see such a beautiful structure in real life be resulted to a pile of trash. And yes, there is a way to get the head back.

I still remember trying to actually walk slowly through the D.C. mall for the first time in this game because I genuinely wanted to take everything in. I mean it when I say that this game had an effect on me like most other games have not been able to do. Not all, but most. Fallout 3 is just a beauty to play and honestly, the outdated graphics give it that extra charm that makes it the unique beast that it is.

One of the cooler parts about the D.C. mall is the potential to find other things within it. Like going to the Museum of Technology and try to loot those places. But when I walked into the Underworld for the first time, I was thrown back by the fact that there were ghouls living down here. And they were all so chill too. I decided to just keep neutral with these ones because they were extremely helpful. But god damn, this place looks beautiful.

https://i.imgur.com/X81zES6.jpg?1

I thoroughly enjoyed walking around this place specifically because of the dark sense of emotion it brought. A world beneath the dead world full of ghouls. Brilliantly done.

And that's about the most I can remember about my first time walking into the Washington D.C. mall in Fallout 3. I know it was a pretty cool moment for a lot of people but it especially resonated with me again, because I've been to Washington D.C. in person. We'll be continuing to talk about more of my personal experience with Fallout 3 in the next part or two. I just wanted to talk about this beautiful center piece in this game on its own.

Washington DC was definitely the best open world thing Fallout ever did but the entire world of New Vegas felt so much more realized and like a wild west hellhole. Fallout 3's world was so much more nondescript and everything was the same.

Now, when it comes to other locations in Fallout 3 that I remember pretty vividly, the little city that was on the boat was one that probably carried the most weight. I genuinely enjoyed talking to the people inside the structure and getting to know them. It was like they lived in a completely separate world apart from the dead world on the outside. I probably spent the most time there doing quests and all that good stuff, and again, genuinely enjoyed it. But that's pretty much easy to say about the whole game in general. I explored pretty much everything that I could in this game and I did much the same in Fallout 4. And yes, there is a lot to explore.

There is something specifically that did have a pretty eery effect on me though, and that's probably due to the fact that it's literally a cemetery, but god damn Bethesda did this cemetery so respectfully that it was genuinely an interesting time exploring the lone house on the hill. Be warned though, when I went in there for the first time, I didn't have the internet to tell me what to expect because I didn't want anything spoiled, but man, good ****.

Anyway:

https://i.imgur.com/Pk193kl.jpg?1

Walking into the Arlington Cemetery for the first time when you've already been walking through the post apocalypsed world around you, it certainly leaves an uneasy feeling that even though the world is dead, these people were already dead before it and they have no reason to believe anything happened. It's also crazy to think that there are potentially bodies underneath the ground that you're walking on, but maybe that's just me and my silly paranoia. Either way, I loved walking through here for the first time because it genuinely felt terrifying and it did leave a feeling of unease.

Another location that I do want to just briefly mention is the whole sequence of you being trapped inside of an old 1940's esque neighborhood. Yes, I'm talking about this one:

https://i.imgur.com/QsluEH7.jpg

Good ol' Tranquility Lane. Where everything seems innocent up until you realize what you've gotten yourself into. I loved this part in the game because it was riddled with such nonsense behavior that it was genuinely enjoyable watching everything unfold and fall apart. And of course the added benefit of finding your dad but y'know, whatever. I wish they would expand on this idea some more because it's genuinely a really good one and it was implemented into the story so well. It didn't really feel random or anything like that.

Otherwise, I just sort of went on my own way and explored as much of the map as I could. Seeing all the museums, going into every building and seeing everything the game had to offer. Fighting bandits and all that good stuff were really fun but just the exploration of Washington D.C. in ruins is just its own reward. Probably in the next part I'll be talking about the DLC's that I enjoyed the most. And once that's done I'm thinking we'll wrap up Fallout 3 and push onwards.

Did you ever play BG2 back before Steam? Just wondering, and hoping that if you did you played some of my NPC mods, like Yasraena, Saerileth, or Tsujatha. Even Willie Bruce is good for a laugh!

I feel it. I've agreed with you on this before, I just prefer Fallout 3 since it was my first Fallout experience.

I didn't but now I need to.

This is the end of the Fallout 3 multi-parter, at least for now. I'm quite satisfied with how I've handled this but it'll be nice to talk about another game either today or tomorrow. Really depends. Who knows, maybe i'll do a Fallout New Vegas multi-parter. Again, really depends.

Anyway, how do I wrap things up here? Well, I did mention previous that I wanted to mention the DLC's, in this game, but before I do that, I want to talk about one of most defining moments in Fallout 3, and that is of course the end of the game when you get to watch Liberty Prime crash its way throughout the wasteland. It's by far one of the coolest climaxes to any game, and for it to be done to this extent in a game this old, well it's very telling of the developers motivation to make Fallout 3 great. I mean, the design of Liberty Prime is just fantastic in every way:

https://i.imgur.com/YiUa1oY.jpg?1

It literally just screams "i'm a badass, don't **** with me." I mean, it doesn't scream that but whatever.

The nice thing about Fallout 3 though is definitely the DLC's, and once you beat the main game, you'll come to realize that perhaps the game may be over and done with. At least until you realize that Broken Steel adds a whole new line to the story and you get to continue onwards. While that's great and everything, I do have to say that one of the most fascinating DLC's that I played personally was The Pit.

https://i.imgur.com/gLzq23v.jpg?1

I know we've got other DLC's but this one in particular resonated with me in a way that the others didn't. First off, genius idea placing land mines on the bridge even before you enter The Pitt. Sort of gives you the impression that things are really ****ed up here and you best prepare yourself. Or so I thought until they decided to take all my belonging and leave me to be a slave in this forgotten city.

As I've said many times, the atmosphere of Fallout 3 has a lot to do with my overall impression of the game, and The Pitt does this fantastically. Even though I played Fallout 3 first, The Pitt definitely gives me the same feeling that Far Harbor did for Fallout 4. A whole new place to explore and discover. While maybe not as vast, The Pitt still offers something extra and puts you into situations that you're not familiar with. And although some of the quests for The Pitt are pretty monotonous and annoying, the overall experience of it is truly remarkable. Definitely one of my favorite DLC's in any game.

Other than that, everything else pretty much falls into the same category. "What makes Fallout 3 great for me?" category. And well, there really isn't a whole more I can discuss here that I haven't discussed before. It has been quite a blast to go more in depth with Fallout 3 because honestly, I did forget a couple things and perhaps there'll be another part in the future to fill those in? Maybe. But for now, yeah...those are my overall thoughts and opinions of Fallout 3. I think until the day I die, this game will remain in my top 3 games of all time.

There is somewhat of a stigma that revolves around open world games - they all feel the same. And in a lot of cases, they do. So why do I continuously look for more to play? Well, everybody has their genre that they fall back to, and open world games are that genre for me. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of love for other genres like roguelikes, FPS's, etc etc, but something about the continuous exploration of open world games really sells it for me.

Every time I've played an open world game, I always set the goal to try to do as much as I possibly can. I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with that given that the game is giving you access to all of this awesome stuff. Now, while I tend to break away from open world games for a while, it's something I always fall back to. It's especially exciting when I see a game series I know and love go toward the open world genre. Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey are both great examples of that. And those are great just because nobody really expected Nintendo to go the open world route, but they did, and it worked out wonderfully each time. Especially since both games came out the same year. Pretty incredible, Nintendo.

Now, what is it about them that I like so much? Well, I've stated before that a big part of it is the exploration. But another part of it is the RPG aspect. A lot of open world games come tagging along with a bunch of RPG elements to make your character into the walking nightmare that you want it to be. And I find that to be a joy to do because making a character progressively more powerful is an amazing feeling. And even better when it's done with 4 characters simultaneously like it had been done in Divinity Original Sin 2. Never felt dull or overly complicated. Most times it never feels too difficult. But...don't even get me started on Path of Exile. I could look at that skill tree for hours and still never figure it out.

Another thing I like is just seeing the beauty of the world unfold. I mentioned also previously that I find joy when the game tends to let you zoom out and see the whole map. That it and of itself sets a very inviting setting that makes you want to travel every inch of the world. And many times I have. I completed Breath of the Wild, Spider-Man, Shadow of War, the list goes on. Graphically, most open world games I've played really showcase what can be done with graphics. And some turn out amazing while some fall short.

Now, I want to get into the real crux of this whole thing. Do I remember what set the stage for my love of open world games? Yes, I think I do. It may sound silly, but the many years I spent playing Runescape was a big eye opener for me. It showed me the potential of video games and for it to show that potential way back in the day is impressive in its own right.

I mean...c'mon. When you were younger and you saw this map, you just knew you were in for a treat.

https://i.imgur.com/p7zqF4d.png?1

If I can remember correctly, I spent close to 15 years on one account on Runescape, and that account still exists today. I still get the urge to play it again but I know if I do, I'll not be able to stop. but it definitely put me on the right path as far as gaming is concerned and I'll never forget that.

There can be no peace between 3 and NV fans.

When it comes to open world games or just widely expansive RPG's, something that tends to stick with me the most over most other things is the music that plays in the background. Sometimes you're met with something so beautiful that the entire game would probably feel different had it not been in the game. I've talked about video game music many many times, but specifically open world games tend to get themselves overlooked. In regards to music that is. There's so much to open world games that the music does take a back seat sometimes. So, let's go over quite a few of them.



I give Breath of the Wild a lot of praise because of how amazing it truly is. And the music is something I feel got overlooked when people made their reviews of this game. Just this overworld theme that plays as you're running from point A to point whatever, it really does wonders for getting immersed into the world. Very calming and easy listening. I'm honestly glad they went this route because it also brought this:



^easily one of the best songs in any video game ever. it's seriously so good.

Anyway, before I get myself all wrapped up in Breath of the Wild, let's talk about perhaps a more simple track from a game I also absolutely love. Typically, it seems like it anyway, in open world games, the menu screens seem to have pretty calming soundtracks. And yeah, I notice them. Don't you? The one that has always stayed in my mind even after months of not playing the game, is this one from Shadow of War:



There's just something about it that makes it great. Maybe it's the feeling of adventure tied behind it? I don't know. It's great though. Made exploring the map that much more satisfying.

And I think we'll leave this part off on a high note with still one of my all time favorite tracks ever. It's of course from Fable III and I know it seems random, but when we're talking video game music, this is the one I instantly think of every time. Plus, it's kind of nice to hear it after not hearing it for so many years.

The mods are quite polarizing, especially Saerileth's (probably because she's romanceable and yet only 15 years old, and talks like a Shakespeare character). A lot of people love her mod, and others despise her. I even got hate-mail and death threats over her.

https://i.imgur.com/2P7qunW.jpg
Subnautica

I knew before long, this game was bound to make it into this theme month somehow. Yeah, I consider Subnautica to be an open world, don't you? It's a survival style open world game much like Minecraft and all those. Not necessarily a bad thing though seeing as Subnautica does a lot more than just being a simple explore and crafting style game. It brings an atmosphere to the player that hasn't really been done to this extent before. Yeah, I'm talking about being underwater. It's such a great idea for a game and I'm glad it was this team that did it.

Ever since Subnautica was in early access, I was on board. However, in its earlier stages, the game was nowhere near complete nor was it anywhere near the game we see today. It had a lot of issues, more specifically the performance issues. But, luckily that's been fixed for the most part despite a few hiccups. But you can't always expect perfection.

Subnautica takes everything you know about survival and throws it out the window because surviving underwater is its own beast entirely. The game comes with a day and night cycle again, much like Minecraft or any game in general to be fair. With that comes the change of atmosphere underwater. Y'know, because there's no light when its dark. And exploring the depths with no light above you or from your flashlight, it can get pretty terrifying. Just check this out:

https://i.imgur.com/4LcPB7D.jpg?1

I'm not lying when I tell you that when you're swimming underwater in this game at night, the amount of fear that comes from just the atmosphere alone is terrifying. It can definitely be considered a horror-esque survival game. It's honestly that creepy and sometimes it's tough to even progress because you really don't want to explore the dark depths. Which sometimes you do have to do if you're not equipped properly. But it's still a **** ton of fun.

The game really opens up when you start building your habitat and can basically stock your base up with all kinds of materials and quality of life improvements. It's nice to be able to go to your base and then continue to progress as you get deeper and deeper into the ocean. And yeah, you can go pretty deep eventually. I hear it just gets more and more terrifying but I've yet to get to that point. Building your habitat is a lot of fun to because there's so many different ways you can go about it. Really allows the creativity to shine.

Here's a pretty good example. This is not mine, though I do like mine:

https://i.imgur.com/RZVN8fm.jpg?1

And it's never a bad time to hop on the Subnautica bandwagon, but now they've released a standalone DLC with Subnautica Below Zero, so perhaps its the best time to get into it now before it really starts to evolve into something even more than it is now. And trust me, its current form is amazing. Both the main game and the DLC.

https://i.imgur.com/eob5HXQ.jpg
Nier: Automata

Whether or not you consider this a true open world game, I don't know. I certainly do. The way the gameplay and mechanics work, Nier: Automata to me certainly feels like an open world game. Hence, why I'm talking about it here.

Nier: Automata is a game that I actually held off on for a while because while the game to me looked awesome, I just didn't have enough time to really sink into the game and see what it has to offer. I bought the game a few months ago and I have played a fair bit of it, but I still haven't gotten to the real core of the game, and I do plan to do that at some point.

Something that sticked out to me right away was the music. I've mentioned it once before, but I've always felt that the soundtracks for open world games tend to take a backseat sometimes. But when you're going from point A to point B and you hear this, it's pretty amazing:



What I find really great about this game is how it once again showcases how badass it can be to have a female protagonist instead of a male protagonist. It's been done many times now and successfully I might add. With games like Darksiders III, Horizon Zero Dawn, there's plenty more. In regards to open world games though, those are the only two I could think of right off the top of my head. You could consider Shadow of War as part of that category as well since you do have the option to play a female character in that game.

Genuinely a really great game. If you've been considering buying it, I'd say do it. You'll have a blast.

My apologies for the lack of updates as the snow storm that hit basically made me not want to sit at my computer. I did do a lot of sledding though so that was fun. Anyway, I figure we may as well talk about something while we're snowed in here.


It's impossible to deny the absolute godly tier that this song is. I don't even really need to introduce it with what the game is because it should already be obvious as to which song I'm speaking of.



By far, BY far, one of the best things Bethesda has ever done, both Skyrim and the soundtrack.

Though in fairness, we wouldn't really be anywhere near Skyrim quality games if we didn't take a look back at what brought us here in the first place. I'm not talking about Bethesda as a whole, no I'm talking about old school games. And one of my all time favorite songs from an old game would have to be really any of the songs from Banjo Kazooie, but this one especially:



This song not only fits the scene perfectly, but depending on which part of the castle you were in, this song would fit with it. The different variations are all amazing and being in the castle is so much better with this music in the background.

And of course, while we're talking about old games, I want to mention this one as well. One of my all time favorite tracks from Diddy Kong Racing:

See, when it comes to open world style games, I do still consider certain games to fall into that category whether it's purposefully or not. I'd definitely consider GTA V within that style of game. So, what's the problem? Why haven't I given it enough of my time? Well, there's a couple reasons for that, which I'll make brief. Back when GTA V had just released, I had only had experience with San Andreas and some of GTA IV so my excitement for it wasn't as tremendous as it was for a lot of other people, but from my understanding the game delivered. Now, when I picked it up, my experience was just plagued with problems from performance issues to not even being able to connect to the game at all. Granted, this may have been due to having an outdated PC and I guess I could try again on my PC now. But at this point, I've seen many hours of the Online, I've watched people play through the main story at least 3 times, so what is there waiting for me that I haven't seen yet? Yeah, I know a game deserves someones personal time with it to have a personal experience with it, but I feel like I may have missed the window on it by a slightly small amount of time.

It's fine though. I do consider the game to be great because as I said, I've watched the main story a few times, and I still enjoy seeing people's reactions to it. It's well told, the characters are all interesting, and the choice of 3 separate endings is a really good way to take advantage of the 3 character model. I think the game looks amazing graphically and it'll be tough for Rockstart to up their game for GTA 6. But that's yet to be seen.

GTA V is most certainly a game I would've put a lot of time into, but with the release of other games since then and my interests going into a different direction, I just haven't really seen or had any reason to purchase my own copy. I don't think I'd enjoy it for myself as I've seen everything already. Nothing would feel fresh and it'd start to feel like a chore. Right now, like I said, I find the game to be amazing just from a viewing standpoint and I'd rather not sour that outlook.

But, if GTA 6 is around the corner, I'll certainly be jumping on that as soon as it comes out. Because i'd be curious to see the improvements from the previous game.

Man, it's really weird that I'd bring this game up right after I talked about GTA V, but honestly, GTA V influenced me to find this game that I ended up enjoying far more than I ever imagined. Saints Row: The Third basically takes what GTA V did well, and seemlessly improves upon it in its own unique way. Not saying GTA V is flawed in any way, but since I never experienced the game for myself, I can only go based on speculation.

I remember just looking through Steam trying to find games that could fit the sort of game I was looking for, and Saints Row: The Third came up as a strong recommendation, so I bought it and played it. And played it again. And again. And again. Pretty soon I was getting near the end, and just thinking about it makes me remember all the roads I traversed either by motorcycle or car, the cool base that I had, the endless amount of things you could do, and just the overall general feel of the game.

Plus, it looks ****ing amazing:

https://i.imgur.com/TaXlWvh.jpg

I know it comes off looking a little bit cartoony, but honestly, that's part of its charm. And you get over it really quick once you realize that it actually fits the game perfectly. The gunplay is also really fun. It basically brings together everything you love about the GTA series, and just improves on it in ways you didn't realize you needed.