Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up: September 2023

~ Game Over ~

TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge (Switch) – Played story mode once to clear the game with Usagi, a second story mode run with my family on my birthday, and spent a bunch of time playing the new DLC survival mode.

Wario Land 3 (GBC) – Wrote some words about this here. TLDR: I had fun, but the game has a couple of very annoying issues that may prevent future replays.

Pikmin 4 (Switch) – Completed all post-game content. Except for getting gold/platinum medals on all the Dandori Battles, because honestly doing well in those feels more dependent on RNG than skill. And nuts to that.

Peglin (PC) – We will Peglin ’till we die!

Continue reading Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up: September 2023

Nintendo Direct 9.14.2023

Another Nintendo Direct today! Though it seems like it really hasn’t been that long since the last one

Anyway, like last time, instead of typing out a sentence of knee-jerk reactions about every game like I used to do, here are some more in-depth thoughts about the two new Mario series games announced during this Direct:

Princess Peach: Showtime! isn’t quite the sequel to Super Princess Peach that I’ve been longing for, but it is the princess’ first starring role since then. I think. I also think that this looks like it could be a pretty good game! I’m still not sure what kind of game it is (platformer? adventure? mini-game collection?), but I’m certainly interested by all the different transformations.

It’s also worth noting that this one is really about Peach getting her actual own adventure. I particularly like the fact that there’s a new villain and Peach is getting to be the hero to a different kingdom’s people. Yeah, the story will likely have the depth and complexity of a kiddie pool, but at least there will be a whole bunch of new characters! Saving Toads from Bowser should be reserved for the traditional Mario platformers moving forward. At most.

I like how some Nintendo remakes will add an “HD” or “Remaster” or whatnot onto the titles, and some don’t. That’s how you know that the remake is there to actually replace the original game. What that actually means… I have no idea. I’m just typing nonsense as it enters my brain at this point.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a continuation of Nintendo’s best effort to revive their GameCube library at the highest price points possible. Following the (somewhat expensive) ports of Metroid Prime and Pikmin 1 & 2, I’m actually surprised that this game is getting a full remake. Especially since the original Paper Mario never got that treatment. Of course, I’ll absolutely buy this and enjoy the heck out of it. It’s Paper Mario; even the bad ones are fun. (But this is a very good one.)

As always with remakes, I’m hoping that there will be more than a simple audio/visual upgrade here. There were plenty of things I didn’t recognize in the trailer, which seems like a good sign, but it’s likely just because I haven’t played the game since 2004.

DiVE on in

Last week, Capcom released a video game called Mega Man X DiVE Offline on Steam. It’s a bit of a weird title, because… Offline?

The story behind that little oddity is simple: it used to be a mobile game, now it’s been released as a standalone PC game. All the monetization elements have been stripped out, and all of the game’s content is free to unlock for every player, no matter how often or when they play. Oh, and it’s $40 now instead of free-to-play.

I’m a huge fan of this model. I would say that I’d like to see more free-to-play games sold as complete packages like this, but in reality, a lot of the jank associated with mobile games still exists, so it’s still not really an ideal experience. You won’t ever have to pay for gacha pulls to get that character you want, but you will still have to grind for it.

Anyway, I could write more, but I already recorded and posted a whole video of the first 45 minutes of gameplay, so you can sort of see how it all works below. If I recall correctly, I was initially kind of on the fence about this one, but spoiler: it ends up being pretty fun once you get past the boring first couple of worlds.

Le Burger Week 2023: First Course

You might think that September is my favorite month because it’s where my birthday lives. And you’d have been right up until a few years ago! Now, however, September is the best month because the first two weeks are Le Burger Week, when restaurants all across the country cook up special burgers that are only available during the event period. I wrote a thing about it last year.

Yes, it’s absolutely a thing that exists to stir up social media buzz one way or another, and because of that I should ignore it on principle. Counterpoint, though: burgers.

As usual, there are tons of options, and many of them are actually quite appealing. My first Le Burger Week burger of 2023 was ordered based on convenience alone; I looked up several restaurants on both Skip the Dished and DoorDash, but only one actually had their entry on the Skip menu on the first night of the event. So the glory goes to State & Main‘s How Do You Like Them Apples? burger.

We are bringing on a taste of fall with this sweet & salty burger! Two beef chuck smash patties topped with warmed goat cheese, crispy fried onions, and peppered bacon sitting on a toasted brioche bun. Finished off with a creamy slaw and fresh cinnamon sugar apples like grandma used to make.

I’ll tell you what I told my family when they asked what I thought about it: this burger might be the best thing I’ve ever eaten.

This burger already has a whole lot going on with just the “regular” ingredients that are present. Goat cheese, crispy onions, bacon, and coleslaw are all flavourful enough that they could have easily carried the burger without its namesake feature. But then you hit those apples. OH those cinnamon sugar apples.

I’m no stranger to combining meat with apples and cinnamon. Pork tenderloin with cinnamon applesauce is one of my all-time favourite things to eat. But on a burger? Could it possibly work? YES. Yes it can. The moment that the cinnamon flavour hit my tongue, I knew that there was nothing more that life could offer me. Nothing richer than the experience that I was having at that very moment. It would truly all be downhill from there. But I munched on through the existential crisis, making sure to savour every bite, every morsel, every greasy, sugary fingertip.

I’ve known many loves over the course of my few short years on this planet, but none so pure as the How Do You Like Them Apples? burger.

Am I being a little hyperbolic? Maybe. But the fact remains that I’m strongly tempted to go back and order another one of these (or more) instead of trying out other different Burger Week burgers. And that’s a first! So good job, State & Main. You’ve won. And I literally don’t need to even sample the competition to make that call. Nothing could possibly match the pure bliss that was your burger.

It’s just a shame that after September 14th, it will be lost to time forever.

Thinks & Thoks: Wario Land 3

I’ve always followed the Wario Land series of video games with a great passion. Whether they end up being good or less than good, every new release was met with great excitement from me. Sadly, Nintendo stopped making them some time back, and similarly, I don’t tend to revisit most Wario Land games after a first playthrough. And even if I do, it’s much less often than some other games.

I’ve been playing through all the Game Boy games available on Nintendo Switch Online, and recently made it to Wario Land 3. Strangely, it’s the only one of the trilogy that is currently on the service. But that’s fine. One Wario Land is still better than no Wario Lands, right?

WELL

Continue reading Thinks & Thoks: Wario Land 3

Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up: August 2023

~ Game Over ~

Final Fantasy XVI (PS5) – While I don’t think it’ll make the list of my favourite FFs, I did thoroughly enjoy this one. The combat is exciting, the story is great, and it’s easily got the best Cid in the franchise. Also, Torgal! Can’t forget Torgal!

Paper Mario (N64) – I sometimes wonder if the reason that I hate the modern Paper Marios less than most people is because I’ve never really revisited the original. Now I have! And, well… I think I get why people want a “true” sequel. It’s got an excellent foundation, but I did get annoyed by a lot of little things throughout the journey. Like how slow Mario is, and the limited inventory, and the booooring Peach segments.

Dr. Mario 64 (N64) – It’s weird that I’ve never played this before, right? Anyway, it’s Dr. Mario. Played the classic mode a bunch, and story mode twice.

Continue reading Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up: August 2023

Fly, Lightning Wieners!

A couple of weeks ago I was introduced to a new horde survival game called HoloCure: Save the Fans!, and it’s been something of an obsession for me since. It’s exactly the same game as Vampire Survivors, but with a bunch of additional features and improvements. Oh, and also it’s all about VTubers. I’m not so crazy about that part.

I did a whole video of it on YouTube! Look!

Oatsnboats

I travelled south of the border for a day-long getaway last weekend. It’s noteworthy that this is my third trip to ‘Murica in less than a year, after having barely travelled outside of the city for the last decade. It’s kind of fun! (But also I always wind up spending too much…)

Anyway, today I’m going to talk about oatmeal.

Because I’m such an exciting person, you see.

But this is no ordinary oatmeal! No, sir! This is Cap’n Crunch Oops All Berries instant oatmeal! There was also a regular Cap’n Crunch oatmeal available for purchase but, I mean, crunchberries. When am I not going to pick crunchberries? Oh, sure, I could have simply bought both, but I try to limit the amount of excessively sugary things I put in my body as best I can. Aside from crunchberries, of course.

Also, I’m going to call this product OABmeal from now on because it’s easier to type and more fun to say.

Continue reading Oatsnboats

Minneapolis 2023 – Food Journal

A few weekends ago, my family and I went down to Minneapolis, Minnesota for a little bit of a get-away. There was actually a very specific reason why we went there, but I’ll get more into that in a later blog post (I indend to publish several relating to this trip!). What I want to talk about today is the depths of gluttony that I (re)discovered during this journey.

I often joke about how poor my diet is, and I like to think that my exaggeration is usually fairly obvious. That said, I knew that this trip would be one long junk-food-fest and did my best to eat little and well for the few days leading up to it. My family, though I love them dearly, are absolutely enablers when it comes to eating terribly, and I am a boy of very little willpower. Let the record state that I have no-one but myself to blame!

So, yeah, I don’t own a scale, but I could tell by the way that my shirts didn’t fit quite right when I got home, that I definitely over-indulged during my trip. Here’s the summary of all the terrible meal choices I made!

Continue reading Minneapolis 2023 – Food Journal