Jedi: Fallen Order and the benefits of the bare minimum — I hadn’t realized I’d sunk forty hours into Jedi: Fallen Order until I’d already done it. This can be put down to my time management skills, and the way in which well-designed game structure can addict you to the “one more thing” mentality. I’d spent much of the time wall-running, reliving Cal Kestis’ personal traumas, and slowly mastering the combat by continuously jumping down onto a…

I Finally Finished The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — 75 hours or more, according to my Switch. That’s how long it took me to beat Breath of the Wild, and honestly, I thought I didn’t like it that much. I hate finishing games, which is something I think I’ve mentioned, and if I haven’t hammered it home by now, here it is: I. Hate. Finishing. Games. Now, I think game endings can be beautifully crafted, emotionally resonant, wonderful things, and that endings in general are a vital part of…

3-D Platforming, Nostalgia, and Growing with Games — I forgot how much I loved, and how many hours I played, Super Mario 64 DS until I opened the Switch remake. I spent months, if not years, coming back to that game, exploring as many of the nooks and crannies of Peach’s castle and the worlds within its paintings…

Whoops, I wrote a thing that isn’t about a game I’ve owned for seven years. — One disadvantage to starting a blog about games you’ve owned for a long time is that you start to get a craving to write about all the games you play. Writing about games you own but have been meaning to play for years is a great motivator to actually try them, and even if I stopped now I’d be happy that I’ve done it at all. It does, however, occasionally get in the way of me playing video games I…

Final Fantasy IV and the Glory of the Goofy — Mild spoilers for Final Fantasy IV Sometimes, nostalgia lets you down. Thankfully, Final Fantasy IV didn’t. I have never been so relieved when replaying a video game. Most of the time, that’s because the only video games I replay are Pokémon games or games I played as an older teen so I have a more mature perspective on why I…

A brief review of the first Final Fantasy game — Square released first Final Fantasy came out in 1987, the same year TSR, Inc. began development of the second edition of Dungeons and Dragons. This is a coincidence. For context, I’m a huge D&D nerd. I listen to podcasts, watch streams and videos on running games, and am in the middle of a campaign that’s lasted three years. It’s one of my favourite pastimes, partly because of the fantasyland setting, partly because of the social aspect, and partly…

February is Final Fantasy Month Here at the Backlog — If someone asked me my favourite RPG of all time, it wouldn’t be a Final Fantasy game. It would be Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, a game in which you play an angel doing good deeds across the land. …

Firewatch’s Real Little Life — Just, like, constant spoilers for Firewatch. Maybe I’m sentimental, but sometimes I really miss not having the internet in my pocket. I love the internet — I write this on it, I currently exclusive socialize on it, and much of the media I hold dear wouldn’t exist without it. There…

Bad Romance and Completionism in The Witcher — I am not always a completionist, but something about large-scale RPGs brings out an obsessive instinct in my gaming. Skyrim, Final Fantasy XV, and Dragon Age: Inquistion are three very distinct RPG styles, but every time I delve into one of them I become deeply, emotionally, concerningly involved in extracting…