Video Games

Nintendo Switch, Too

So I’ve got this thing now. I’ve had it for a week, in fact, and not felt overly compelled to make words about it.

The funny thing about that is, this new machine hasn’t really inspired much excitement in me. Maybe it’s old age, maybe it’s because Mario Kart World isn’t anywhere near as exciting (to me) as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was, maybe it’s because Switch 2 is just a bigger, stronger Switch, but my hype levels have been fairly low. I didn’t even take launch day off. Just strolled into the mall after work like it was any other day. (I did drive by the mall the night before to scope out the midnight launch line, but there was no way I was going to stand in that line on a work night.)

Honestly, I think it’s a combination of all the factors mentioned above.

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: May 2025

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Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 (PC) – Soviet side’s done, so I’m calling it beaten. Looking forward to powering through the Allied campaign, too.

Iron Meat (PC) – A Contra-like with an excellent soundtrack from the same guys who made Prison City. Plenty of unlockables to provide reasons to play it over and over again, too. Which I will likely do.

BloodBark (PC) – An indie horror about chipping down trees that bleed and make you hallucinate. It sounds weird, and it is weird, but I had a great time with it. I look forward to sharing my let’s play when Spooktober comes around.

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: April 2025

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BloodRayne ReVamped (PC) – I probably would have enjoyed this to a greater degree if I’d played it back in 2002, but… Oof, it has not aged all that well. There are some good ideas in there, but it needs more polish and doesn’t feel cohesive.

Donkey Kong Land (GB) – I started this back in December, then promptly forgot about it. Why? Because it’s a poo-poo game. Well, not that bad, but it ain’t great.

HoloCure: Save the Fans! (PC) – I really only just booted it up to play a couple rounds, but there’s been an update that added a new stage and a bunch of new characters. Maybe more, I’m not sure. But I figured it was worth mentioning.

TE Video: Coming Soon (May 2025)

You probably know the drill by now. Right?

Amenti (PC) – Goes live on May 1st. Probably one of the most disappointing games I’ve played in a long time. Partly my fault because I expected a lot, partly the dev’s fault for making a crappy game. Watch it unravel in real time!

Crystar (PC) – A new chapter each Saturday morning, which will take us up through chapter 8, which is the game’s first ending. Stay tuned through June and July to see the others!

Prison City (PC) – The final episode goes live of May 5th. I really liked this game, and the Part 1 video kind of blew up (250+ views as of this writing), so I hope the rest do as well. Kind of want to go back to it to record a Bomb Mode playthrough or something.

Dead or School (PC) – May 8, 22, and 29 for parts 10, 12, and 12 respectively. This series hasn’t really picked up any interest at all. It was the most likely outcome.

The Mute House (PC) – A new episode each Monday from May 12 onward. This is a Resident Evil-style indie game, and it was quite fun to play through. I hope it’s fun to watch, too! (None of the channels I’m subbed to have played it yet…)

Save Room (PC) – A one-off on May 15. Kind of a filler episode, this is a game about inventory sorting, RE4-style. If you like watching other people do puzzles, you may get some enjoyment out of this.

A Thing (Pre-)Happened

I pre-ordered my Nintendo Switch 2 today. It was… kind of a boring experience. Way more people came out than I’d expected (what with all the online bellyaching about prices), and I stood in line for an hour to secure my console.

Turns out an hour’s not so bad, though. My mom waited in a two-hour line to get a pre-order for my brother, and I’ve heard that people were in queues for up to eight hours trying to pre-order online. Crazy stuff. I guess Nintendo’s not dead quite yet, eh bellyachers?

And look, I know it seems weird that I’d get the Mario Kart bundle, since I’m not a Mario Kart player in really any capacity these days, but Mario Kart World looks freakin’ awesome. I’m honestly looking forward to just driving around the world looking for secrets and tucked-away details. Races? Who needs ’em?

I used the word “look” four times in that last paragraph. Now you’re going to fixate on that fact. Enjoy.

I also have more thoughts about Switch 2. Obvi. I haven’t written anything yet because I was thinking about doing a video on it, but I don’t know if that’s ever going to happen at this point. But, I mean, it’s the new Nintendo machine. I’m buying one and I’m pretty dang excited about it. This should come as no surprise to anybody. That’s kinda my jam, you know?

A Box of Discs

I did a big clean of my condo this week, and part of that was sorting through a number of boxes that I haven’t opened in years. One of those boxes held all of my physical PC games. Behold!

The un-labeled cases contain, in no particular order: Day of the Tentacle, Doom II, Relentless: Twinsen’s Adventure, Hidden & Dangerous: Devil’s Bridge, and Command & Conquer: Red Alert.

Final Fantasy VIII and Command & Conquer were late for picture day.

I would normally do some reminiscing or analysis here, but I think I’d rather just present this without commentary. Draw your own conclusions. Judge me as you will.

Oh what a Fool

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: March 2025

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Monster Hunter Wilds (PS5) – Very good Monster Hunter game. Maybe a little too easy, and there’s a pretty slim selection of monsters to fight. Also the post-game story just kind of petered out… no big finale like we’re used to. Oh well! It was still a bunch of fun all the way through and I look forward to grinding hundreds more hours out of it.

Scary Shadow Spot: Bitter Glass (PC) – This is probably the most unique-feeling Doesn’t Matter game, but is in need of a lot of polish. I even encountered a game-breaking bug that forced me to restart the game halfway through. It took less than 20 minutes to recover my progress, but still. Big oof.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest (SNES) – This would be a much more frustrating game without NSO’s rewind feature. That’s all I want to say.

TE Video: Coming Soon (April 2025)

If you weren’t already aware, I record most of my let’s plays pretty far in advance. Like, most videos that go up were recorded months before their air date. And so I’m really excited for April, because a couple of games that I really, really liked are finally getting their dues.

????? (PC) – April 1. I can’t spoil my April Fools video, now can I?

Ignited Entry (PC) – April 3. Another Jordan Lindgren game, and I believe the most recent of the bunch. It’s really quite good, with the exception of a frustrating chase sequence towards the end. Try to guess how many times I die before I make it!

Crystar (PC) – April 5/12/19/26. Had to follow up Mario & Luigi with another long RPG. This one’s a little more actiony, a lot more anime, and significantly more depressing. Like, we’re talking Nier levels of bleakness here. Big fan!

Newspaper Day (PC) – April 7. A bad indie horror game. So bad that I couldn’t be bothered to earn the good ending. At least I had fun making plenty of BJ jokes.

Dead or School (PC) – April 10/24. Parts 8 and 9 of a whopping 20. If you haven’t gotten into it by now, I don’t think it’s likely to ever happen.

Prison City (PC) – April 14/21/28. Side-scrolling action platformer that borrows a ton from classic NES games. I had a blast with it, and highly recommend watching it for the nostalgia along if you grew up in the NES era. Part 4 (the finale) airs in May.

The Final Pin (PC) – April 17. With this, I’ve played all of Jordan Lindgren’s games (to date). I really like this one, but it’s definitely more of a mystery/thriller than a horror game. Which isn’t a bad thing. I just want to set your expectations properly.

Nintendo Direct 3/27/2025

I would have liked to do a live reaction to this one, but I was conducting an interview when it aired, and that’s not just something one can put off for later. So here’s a recap of the things I found the most interesting. But only the things I find interesting! No “I don’t care about this” notes this time around.

Dragon Quest I & II HD Remake – Looks great! DQ1 is my very first RPG, so it has a soft spot in my heart. I’ll probably buy this out of nostalgia and forget to ever actually play it.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond – I’m sure it’s “because Switch” but I like the more cartoony look! At least, slightly more cartoony than I’d expected. Gameplay looks bang-on with what I would expect from the series, so I’m obviously 100% on board. Very curious if it’s going to be a dual release on Switch and Switch 2.

Pokémon Legends Z-A – No joke, this is my most hype game of 2025, based mostly on the strength of Pokémon Legends Arceus (which is my fave Pokémon game). Last month’s overview trailer got me pretty pumped, and this one just added fuel to the fire. And there’s finally context for the weird subtitle now! Hooray!

Marvel Cosmic Invasion – Hmmmm… Looks like a 90’s arcade brawler… Made by the same team that did Shredder’s Revenge… Despite the fact that my interest in Marvel has atrophied greatly, I may have to play this.