Category: What I’m Playing

Omnivore Update – April 2022

Greetings! It’s nearing the end of April and spring is here, at least according to the calendar and not the weather forecast. I’ve been attempting to write up a monthly(?) post simply going over what I’ve been playing lately and any other random thoughts I happen to have at the moment. I honestly haven’t been up to much the past couple months and have had trouble keeping any sort of consistent schedule – blogging, streaming, sleeping, etc. so, here’s a short update post to get back in the swing of things and miraculously raise my long-lost ambition from the dead…maybe?

Here’s what I’ve been playing lately…

Elden Ring

After finishing up Horizon: Forbidden West three weeks ago, I immediately jumped into playing Elden Ring and it’s pretty much dominated my entire life since. I don’t recall the last time a game captured everyone’s attention like this, gamer or not -Fortnite? Breath of the Wild? Skyrim? I was playing Returnal pretty obsessively this past fall, so being completely enamored by a game like Elden Ring feels familiar enough. Hell, even when I’m not PLAYING Elden Ring, I’m still doing research for my next play session after work or amusing myself with the endless amount of memes and gameplay clips across the internet.

I….honestly don’t know where I’d even begin writing about my experience with Elden Ring so far. The scope of the game is massive and so densely-layered with things to do, as well as piecing together the lore behind the lone Tarnished’s quest across the Lands Between to restore the Elden Ring. I’ve put some 90+ hours into the game and I believe I’m only about 2/3 of the way through as there’s something around nearly every corner of the sprawling map.

For as non-stop as the discussion has been around Elden Ring the past 3 years 7 weeks(for better or worse), it still doesn’t feel like everything to love about the game has been articulated completely. Gameplay, setting, story – everything feels like a natural evolution of what made From Software titles so great this last decade or so. It’s pretty rare that games live up to the hype around them, especially the absurdly high reaches of Elden Ring hype, but I believe Hidetaka Miyazaki and From Software have managed to do just that.

That’s pretty much it for now…what all games has everyone been playing lately or what are you planning on playing next?

Praise The Message and thanks for reading!

Gaming Vibes Playlist #4

Greetings! It’s been just over fourteen months since the last time I found myself sitting at my computer looking over blog post drafts before eventually thinking “I…guess I could list some of the music I’ve been listening to lately”. Music has the near-magical ability to transport myself outside my own headspace and provoke an array of emotions. This can be immensely helpful during times(right now?) when it feels like everything is going to shit. Here’s just a few game-related songs I’ve been listening to lately. Oddly enough, my last playlist post in December 2020 began with a track from the exact same game, so…nice?

Cyberpunk 2077 – The Rebel Path

I was pretty hyped to play Cyberpunk 2077 when it first released back in December 2020. Despite not encountering the plethora of issues others did in the opening six hours, I still decided to hold off on the game until I had a few other big, open-world games finished up. Now that the next-gen 1.5 update has been released I decided to give it another go last weekend and the game plays pretty damn well. This feels like what the game should have been at launch(if given the time it needed). I’ve been playing Cyberpunk pretty much nonstop for the past week; here’s one of my favorites from the soundtrack…

Death’s Door – The Crows

I played through Death’s Door a couple weeks ago now, and the game has managed to stick with me. The gameplay and art style are nearly perfect, as well as the soundtrack, which ranges from light and spirited to pensive and foreboding. I’ve spent quite a while listening to the game soundtrack while working at my computer. One of my favorites – The Crows manages to sound relatively dark and moody, yet still airy and delicate. The entire soundtrack is well worth a listen for anyone who appreciated the range of emotions showcased in Hollow Knight’s score.

Sonic & Knuckles – Flying Battery Zone(Act 2)

There’s been plenty of talk about Sonic the Hedgehog the past few months – celebrating the Sega mascot’s 30th anniversary in 2021 and the theatrical trailers for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 being released just last weekend. I was just a kid when Sonic & Knuckles was released and remember thinking it was one of the most awesome things I’d seen; just the innovative “Lock-On” cartridge allowing you to combine the game with your Sonic 3 cartridge and play what was originally meant to be a single game. I happened to wake up one morning this past week with the Flying Battery Zone music stuck in my head. I’m really gonna have to sit down and play through Sonic & Knuckles again…

Novo Amor – Haven

Life is Strange: True Colors is a game that I thought sounded interesting, but wasn’t sure how soon I would get around to playing it. The game came pretty highly recommended by a friend, so I decided to give it a try. It didn’t take long at all before becoming attached to the characters and storyline, almost surprisingly so. The setting of the game is a small town in the mountains of Colorado and the soundtrack captures the pervasive moods of the game perfectly, so much so, that I would often just sit at the title screen to take everything in…

Biting Elbows – Alone

Despite one’s feelings around the gameplay mechanics or overall….weirdness of Death Stranding, I still believe that if nothing else, the game had an AMAZING soundtrack containing both original scores as well as licensed music. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in being completely unaware of Icelandic band Low Roar, whose haunting melancholic songs have become inseparable from the game’s otherworldly landscapes. The “Director’s Cut” of Death Stranding was released a few months back and included a number of new songs, all of which I love. Here’s one of my favorites from Biting Elbows – another band I had no knowledge of prior to Death Stranding.

That’s four weeks in a row! Keep on keepin’ on!

Thanks for reading!