Work, work, work, work
Of course, where better to start than with work? It is what I spend 40 hours a week doing, after all.
Quite a lot happened in 2019! The job I got late in 2017 wasn't sustainable after June due to corporate restructurings. Horror and all that, one'd expect, but things couldn't have turned out for the better in hindsight! I'd anticipated my contract wouldn't get renewed, so I started looking for a job elsewhere in advance, and quite unlike my first time hunting for a job, things went as smoothly as my delicate butt this time around. It only took one application to find the right job, and in record time I'd signed a contract to start working elsewhere starting in July!
The new job's basically an improvement in every regard! The responsibilities and tasks are better aligned with my studies, the workplace is located much more conveniently, the work is more interesting and less monotonous, and of course the salary is significantly better too.
All in all, 2019 was a definite improvement compared with 2018 in this regard!
Quite a lot happened in 2019! The job I got late in 2017 wasn't sustainable after June due to corporate restructurings. Horror and all that, one'd expect, but things couldn't have turned out for the better in hindsight! I'd anticipated my contract wouldn't get renewed, so I started looking for a job elsewhere in advance, and quite unlike my first time hunting for a job, things went as smoothly as my delicate butt this time around. It only took one application to find the right job, and in record time I'd signed a contract to start working elsewhere starting in July!
The new job's basically an improvement in every regard! The responsibilities and tasks are better aligned with my studies, the workplace is located much more conveniently, the work is more interesting and less monotonous, and of course the salary is significantly better too.
All in all, 2019 was a definite improvement compared with 2018 in this regard!
Videogames 2: Eclectic Boogaloo
Time for the stuff that REALLY matters. That's right, video games. That's not just any games. Get out of here with your sports games, or card games, or board games! Video games only! Who needs card games when you have video games based on card games?! And who needs to do sports when you can make out with slimy squids in a dirty toilet?! That's how I get my exercise.
Last year I talked about how I wished I'd played more games. I also talked about wanting to get a new PC with a better graphics card. I'm glad to say both of these wishes came true! And I didn't even need to rub any lamp oils or sordid appendages, I just bought them with my money like a big boy. But only when they're on sale!! This big boy isn't made of money now, is he? No he's not. And I am he.
Here's the games in rough chronological order, except for the ones at the bottom!
REmake
Resident Evil is a series that's been close to my heart form childhood, yet I've never played the first game! I'd heard good things about the GameCube remake and I noticed the HD port for PC was on sale, so why not give it a shot?
As it turns out, people weren't wrong about this game! It plays just like the Playstation classics, but it's much more atmospheric and polished. It was a really immersive feeling to plan my treks through the mansion's maze-like room networks, juggling items into boxes, routing around enemies, carefully selecting which enemies to kill and when to avoid creating Crimson Heads in awkward places. Having it so some zombies can revive into much more agile and dangerous enemies if left unattended long enough really ups the ante when backtracking, an absolutely genius bit of design right there.
The game also manages to be surprisingly faithful to the original's plot while drastically toning down on the hokeyness, but not entirely either so some of that fun is still there with the occasional nod here and there. A very enjoyable experience overall!
Resident Evil is a series that's been close to my heart form childhood, yet I've never played the first game! I'd heard good things about the GameCube remake and I noticed the HD port for PC was on sale, so why not give it a shot?
As it turns out, people weren't wrong about this game! It plays just like the Playstation classics, but it's much more atmospheric and polished. It was a really immersive feeling to plan my treks through the mansion's maze-like room networks, juggling items into boxes, routing around enemies, carefully selecting which enemies to kill and when to avoid creating Crimson Heads in awkward places. Having it so some zombies can revive into much more agile and dangerous enemies if left unattended long enough really ups the ante when backtracking, an absolutely genius bit of design right there.
The game also manages to be surprisingly faithful to the original's plot while drastically toning down on the hokeyness, but not entirely either so some of that fun is still there with the occasional nod here and there. A very enjoyable experience overall!
Return of the Obra Dinn
I played this one early in 2019, a detective game set aboard an abandoned ship where you need to methodically piece together the fate of all the missing passengers using environmental clues to figure out everybody's fate, and with greater difficulty, their identity.
Piecing this altogether was a very satisfying experience! The game discourages blind guessing by only locking in correct choices in sets of three, though that system also keeps some leeway for when you're missing one tiny detail. Because, wow, the details can get really tiny. While it is possible to solve everything using only contextual clues and absolutely zero guesswork, you have to work really hard for it, and sometimes will need a bit of general knowledge. But still, considering I managed to finish it, I doubt others shouldn't be able to.
I played this one early in 2019, a detective game set aboard an abandoned ship where you need to methodically piece together the fate of all the missing passengers using environmental clues to figure out everybody's fate, and with greater difficulty, their identity.
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| Oh, also, the game has an awesome monochrome artstyle! |
Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy
I wrote about this game at enough length already! I'll just copy my closing points:
"When I first found out about Kaiju Big Battel from the OHRRPGCE forum (Slime Salad) I was quite looking forward to it, it looked quirky and I could tell a lot of care was put into it, so I was rather cautious when playing the game since I didn't want my expectations to exceed the actual game. The game does start off rather slow, so I was rather worried at first, but as the party fills up and the area design and dialogue becomes more daring and uniquely Kaiju Big Battel I got sucked into the game more and more.
By the time I got to the Boston area I was definitely hooked and trying my best to accomplish all there was to accomplish in the game. While the game does flounder here and there, the combat takes a long time to really get going, my expectations were most definitely met in the end. The love and care shines through more and more evidently as the game progresses and I was heartily laughing my way through the final dungeon of the game."
I wrote about this game at enough length already! I'll just copy my closing points:
"When I first found out about Kaiju Big Battel from the OHRRPGCE forum (Slime Salad) I was quite looking forward to it, it looked quirky and I could tell a lot of care was put into it, so I was rather cautious when playing the game since I didn't want my expectations to exceed the actual game. The game does start off rather slow, so I was rather worried at first, but as the party fills up and the area design and dialogue becomes more daring and uniquely Kaiju Big Battel I got sucked into the game more and more.
By the time I got to the Boston area I was definitely hooked and trying my best to accomplish all there was to accomplish in the game. While the game does flounder here and there, the combat takes a long time to really get going, my expectations were most definitely met in the end. The love and care shines through more and more evidently as the game progresses and I was heartily laughing my way through the final dungeon of the game."
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| I love these goobers. |
Sonic Mania
My, what a flattering name for a game! My experience with Sonic games is limited to the GBA Sonic Advance games, as well as the weird sprite-based 3D GBA fighting game Sonic Battle. Sonic Mania is a game that oozes with polish and care, that's something I could tell even as a series outsider for the most part. Every level is richly coloured and detailed, with catchy soundtracks to go with it and an array of interesting and unique boss battles.
So, is Sonic for me? Ehh, I think Sonic Mania gave me enough of a fill for a while. Not even Sonic Mania's polish and care can fully sand away the issues that come with the core 2D Sonic platformer gameplay with its interplay of acceleration and speed and precision platforming. It's pretty obvious why the game's ring system works as it does, I was getting hit and running into obstacles and projectiles all the time! I do really wish they'd have scrapped the lives system though, that's a relic of the past they shouldn't have dug up.
Still, I did enjoy my time enough to beat the game both with Sonic and Knuckles, but a Tails run just wasn't in the cards I guess.
Steven Universe: Save the Light
My, what a flattering name for a game! My experience with Sonic games is limited to the GBA Sonic Advance games, as well as the weird sprite-based 3D GBA fighting game Sonic Battle. Sonic Mania is a game that oozes with polish and care, that's something I could tell even as a series outsider for the most part. Every level is richly coloured and detailed, with catchy soundtracks to go with it and an array of interesting and unique boss battles.
So, is Sonic for me? Ehh, I think Sonic Mania gave me enough of a fill for a while. Not even Sonic Mania's polish and care can fully sand away the issues that come with the core 2D Sonic platformer gameplay with its interplay of acceleration and speed and precision platforming. It's pretty obvious why the game's ring system works as it does, I was getting hit and running into obstacles and projectiles all the time! I do really wish they'd have scrapped the lives system though, that's a relic of the past they shouldn't have dug up.
Still, I did enjoy my time enough to beat the game both with Sonic and Knuckles, but a Tails run just wasn't in the cards I guess.
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| Obligatory Sonic OC Do not steal |
Remember this? It feels like the Steven Universe fandom hardly does, I never see anybody talk about it! I can see why though, while it is a neat game and the plot fits in with SU's established world, it also has to force itself to be a side story at most with no impact on the actual show.
There was some fun to be had in developing synergies during battles with the various party members and the way you can customize builds by allocating stat points, but most of the game was easy enough for this to not matter much, especially the final boss who barely put up a fight after all the build up!
Still, the game is very much in tune with the show and the visual aesthetic, the voice acting work and the writing add some much needed polish to the game. I'd say this is worth checking out if you're a fan of SU and feel like playing a casual blend of turn based/real time tactics.
Apparently they made a sequel, too? It doesn't seem to be on Steam though. I hope it gets ported over eventually.
There was some fun to be had in developing synergies during battles with the various party members and the way you can customize builds by allocating stat points, but most of the game was easy enough for this to not matter much, especially the final boss who barely put up a fight after all the build up!
Still, the game is very much in tune with the show and the visual aesthetic, the voice acting work and the writing add some much needed polish to the game. I'd say this is worth checking out if you're a fan of SU and feel like playing a casual blend of turn based/real time tactics.
Baba Is You
Yes, I also played this puzzle game! It's weird, it's bizarre, it's unique, it's Baba Is You! Except when it isn't, because anything can be anything, you make the rules!!
I had a lot of fun with this game, it's a lot more demanding than most puzzle games so it feels extra good when you do solve a puzzle. I managed to beat most puzzles by myself, though I did have to look up hints a few times. Usually I'd just missed something, but there was the odd puzzle here and there where the solution did just make me groan and go "Come on, how was I supposed to figure that out?"
In the end I made it a bit through the secret area before I had my fill of the game. It's a good game and I recommend it to any puzzle game fan.
Hypnospace Outlaw
Yes, I also played this puzzle game! It's weird, it's bizarre, it's unique, it's Baba Is You! Except when it isn't, because anything can be anything, you make the rules!!
I had a lot of fun with this game, it's a lot more demanding than most puzzle games so it feels extra good when you do solve a puzzle. I managed to beat most puzzles by myself, though I did have to look up hints a few times. Usually I'd just missed something, but there was the odd puzzle here and there where the solution did just make me groan and go "Come on, how was I supposed to figure that out?"
In the end I made it a bit through the secret area before I had my fill of the game. It's a good game and I recommend it to any puzzle game fan.
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| Wait a second... JONATHAN BLOW? WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY I RETRACT MY RECOMMENDATION |
Oh, I enjoyed this one a whole lot! Hypnospace Outlaw puts you in the shoes of a 90's internet moderator, solving cases by searching, finding and flagging rule infringing content. The game's one big love letter to the web of that age, and it nails the feeling perfectly, evoking a sort of nostalgia for an era I had only the briefest interactions with during my youth before it gave way to the more modern internet as we know it today.
The game's absolutely filled with content to scour through, all of it completely on-theme and frequently hilarious, but the game also crafts a narrative as the cases slowly ramp up in severity and the passage of time shows on all the webpages which get updated as the game goes on. The creators of these webpages are basically characters in their own right, with tiny little arcs for themselves presented wholly by their additions to their retro webpages. The game had me completely engrossed. There's nothing else quite like it, and it's definitely worth checking out.
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| Aesthetic |
Medarot R
I almost forgot about this one! An English patch for Medarot R for the PS1 came out this year. I played about 60% through, but my save data got corrupted when I messed up trying to use an infinite money cheat code. The game itself definitely feels really old and dated compared to the GBA Medabots games, even if it has a flashier 3D presentation. The gameplay is rather slow due to battle scenes taking so much time to play out, and the game is also chock full of permanently missable medals and whatnot, rather annoyingly.
The translation is standard fan made translation fare for the most part, it makes the plot comprehensible, bit it's also often stiff, awkward or inappropriate. A lot of the dialogue is filled with like these stilted cliché stock anime phrases, and they all get translated very literally. The word they chose to refer to a crossdressing Phantom Lady impostor is also worthy of a facepalm and a half.
I can't blame the translation for all of that through, I looked at the rest of the game's plot in some videos, and it honestly looks like a step back even from the oldest games for the Gameboy. The main character is even more of a dense pushover, the side characters barely do anything and hardly robattle the player, a lot of characters are taken from other games but don't actually do anything... It's kinda rubbish, really! So, uh, I guess this is a disappointment!
I almost forgot about this one! An English patch for Medarot R for the PS1 came out this year. I played about 60% through, but my save data got corrupted when I messed up trying to use an infinite money cheat code. The game itself definitely feels really old and dated compared to the GBA Medabots games, even if it has a flashier 3D presentation. The gameplay is rather slow due to battle scenes taking so much time to play out, and the game is also chock full of permanently missable medals and whatnot, rather annoyingly.
The translation is standard fan made translation fare for the most part, it makes the plot comprehensible, bit it's also often stiff, awkward or inappropriate. A lot of the dialogue is filled with like these stilted cliché stock anime phrases, and they all get translated very literally. The word they chose to refer to a crossdressing Phantom Lady impostor is also worthy of a facepalm and a half.
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| Wow I hate this whole sequence |
Rock of Ages 2
Oh hey, I'd mentioned this game in last year's annual roundup. I wanted to play this game once I got a graphics card strong enough to handle it, so when I got a new PC this was the first game I started playing. So, the obvious question is how does it stack up to the first?
Well... I'm not sure it's better. The absurd cutscenes are still good, but I found them funnier in the first game overall. There's more varied levels, but some of the levels are also very similar to stages from the first game. There's more options for obstacles and balls and whatnot to pick, but for the most part I stuck to a similar layout for most stages. The game's physics also feel remarkably different, in particular it seemed much harder to jump over obstacles, which took getting used to after the first game.
The game definitely looks better than it used to though! There's more time periods and art styles represented than the first game, and they're all a joy to look at! While the game might not be definitely better in all regards than Rock of Ages, it's still a game worth playing and I'd recommend it to anyone who did enjoy the first game.
Oh hey, I'd mentioned this game in last year's annual roundup. I wanted to play this game once I got a graphics card strong enough to handle it, so when I got a new PC this was the first game I started playing. So, the obvious question is how does it stack up to the first?
Well... I'm not sure it's better. The absurd cutscenes are still good, but I found them funnier in the first game overall. There's more varied levels, but some of the levels are also very similar to stages from the first game. There's more options for obstacles and balls and whatnot to pick, but for the most part I stuck to a similar layout for most stages. The game's physics also feel remarkably different, in particular it seemed much harder to jump over obstacles, which took getting used to after the first game.
The game definitely looks better than it used to though! There's more time periods and art styles represented than the first game, and they're all a joy to look at! While the game might not be definitely better in all regards than Rock of Ages, it's still a game worth playing and I'd recommend it to anyone who did enjoy the first game.
Yooka-Laylee
Another game I've already written about! Yooka-Laylee hovers uncomfortably between being a sufficient game and a Kickstarter failure. Nobody would put it up there with Shovel Knight, but I don't think it belongs with Mighty No. 9 either.
Personally, I found the game enjoyable despite its faults. I looked forward to playing more, and don't recall getting upset with the game much at all. Perhaps coming in with low expectations plays a part in that, though.
Another game I've already written about! Yooka-Laylee hovers uncomfortably between being a sufficient game and a Kickstarter failure. Nobody would put it up there with Shovel Knight, but I don't think it belongs with Mighty No. 9 either.
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| SUPER VEHICROID JUMBO SNOWPLOW- Oh I made this joke already. |
Minit
The core gimmick of Minit is that it plays like a Zelde-esque groundhog's day loop game where the loop is only 60 seconds long. In 60 second intervals, you finish quests, obtain items, unlock shortcuts and new starting locations until you've made it to the final boss who is, of course, also defeated in 60 seconds.
Minit is a cute little game and a fun way to spend an afternoon, but I don't think it's worth its usual €10 price point. I'd put this in the "get it on sale" camp, which is how I decided to approach it. The game could get repetitive or obtuse at times, but for the most part it was a fun romp. It's worth checking out for the gimmick alone, but don't expect too much depth from it.
The core gimmick of Minit is that it plays like a Zelde-esque groundhog's day loop game where the loop is only 60 seconds long. In 60 second intervals, you finish quests, obtain items, unlock shortcuts and new starting locations until you've made it to the final boss who is, of course, also defeated in 60 seconds.
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| The retro aesthetic is nice, if a bit played out at this point. |
Dropsy
From the same makers as Hypnospace Outlaw, Dropsy is a point and click adventure game starring a somewhat creepy clown who lacks a full grasp of human language and can only really communicate through animated pictograms. Dropsy's on a quest to hug and befriend as many people as possible, and surely nothing could go wrong with that.
I really enjoyed Dropsy, it has a very bright colour scheme and it's very feelgood when you finish a quest and befriend an NPC, the game is oozing with charm just like Hypnospace Outlaw. However, the textless nature of the game can sometimes make it hard to decipher what's going on or what you need to do, there's no textboxes outright telling you where to go, what to do or identifying objects. This did lead to points where I'd trial and error my way through, which are made more complex by the day/night cycle, which affects some NPC routines. I did enjoy the game overall though!
From the same makers as Hypnospace Outlaw, Dropsy is a point and click adventure game starring a somewhat creepy clown who lacks a full grasp of human language and can only really communicate through animated pictograms. Dropsy's on a quest to hug and befriend as many people as possible, and surely nothing could go wrong with that.
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| :) |
DuckTales Remastered
Finally, a game where I don't need to tell people whether to get it or not since it's been removed from the Steam store! When news broke out that this game was getting removed and was having a big sale, I took the chance to play the game since I'd played DuckTales 2 as a child on the GameBoy.
I rather enjoyed the game! It plays very much like a DuckTales game, and it looks the part too, being based on the old show and even featuring the same voice talents and whatnot. The music's still there, the stages are all remastered, though the game did add a truckload of cutscenes. I did enjoy the game, though some stages were more fun than others. I didn't care for the Himalayas stage one bit personally, and I liked the Moon stage the most. Must be the music.
Alas, I had hoped one day they'd remake the sequel, that's the game I grew up with and have nostalgia for, but it doesn't seem likely given they took down the remaster. A shame.
Finally, a game where I don't need to tell people whether to get it or not since it's been removed from the Steam store! When news broke out that this game was getting removed and was having a big sale, I took the chance to play the game since I'd played DuckTales 2 as a child on the GameBoy.
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| SCRÜÜGË MCDÜNK |
Alas, I had hoped one day they'd remake the sequel, that's the game I grew up with and have nostalgia for, but it doesn't seem likely given they took down the remaster. A shame.
HIVESWAP: ACT 1
DID YOU KNOW I'VE READ HOMESTUCK? I sure did. All of it. Hoo boy, so much reading. And I only vaguely remember maybe like 20% of it! One would most certainly be lost playing Hiveswap without having read Homestuck.
Sadly, I've kinda let this game fall by the wayside after I realized there's dialogue for every combination of items and interactive scenery, and there's a lot of items and scenery. The game pace came to a halt when I realized that and when I arrived in the second area of the game I kinda just stopped playing altogether. It's not that the writing is bad, it's very much on brand considering it's Homestuck adjacent content, but my god there's just so much of it. Too much.
I might get back to this one some day, and just play it more straightforward. I've got a lot of catching up to do with Homestuck content, should I choose to delve into it again.
Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Tag Force Special
DID YOU KNOW I'VE READ HOMESTUCK? I sure did. All of it. Hoo boy, so much reading. And I only vaguely remember maybe like 20% of it! One would most certainly be lost playing Hiveswap without having read Homestuck.
Sadly, I've kinda let this game fall by the wayside after I realized there's dialogue for every combination of items and interactive scenery, and there's a lot of items and scenery. The game pace came to a halt when I realized that and when I arrived in the second area of the game I kinda just stopped playing altogether. It's not that the writing is bad, it's very much on brand considering it's Homestuck adjacent content, but my god there's just so much of it. Too much.
I might get back to this one some day, and just play it more straightforward. I've got a lot of catching up to do with Homestuck content, should I choose to delve into it again.
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| Oh, you were expecting someone else? :::;) |
Here we are back to another fan translated game. I've played Tag Force 3 the year before, which focused on the GX era. This game focuses on the DM era up to the Arc V era's first season, so there's five worlds to choose from. Of course, this does mean they had to cut back on the 3D models, animations and voice acting a lot, but in return the game has a huge selection of cards and a lot of opponents. I'd say the best Tag Force game is either this one or 3, depending on how modern you want the game to be. 3 feels more polished overall, but Special has more content.
Sadly, the fan translation here is very lacking. It's filled with all sorts of unfunny jokes, Abridged memes and all around totally unfaithful translation that neither capture the spirit of the original or the dub, or the modern abridged series which is actually worth watching again. I never want to see anyone in YGO ever use the word "rape" again, urgh.
The DM, GX and Arc V worlds are also missing out on a lot of characters from the show. In DM's case there were plenty of the duelists they could have taken from the anime, and with GX they really had no excuse to not at least include all characters from Tag Force 3 given they already reused the art assets from that game for the characters they did include anyway. Given Arc-V was just in season 1 at the time it makes sense they couldn't really fill out the roster there.
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| K-Kaiba... |
The DM, GX and Arc V worlds are also missing out on a lot of characters from the show. In DM's case there were plenty of the duelists they could have taken from the anime, and with GX they really had no excuse to not at least include all characters from Tag Force 3 given they already reused the art assets from that game for the characters they did include anyway. Given Arc-V was just in season 1 at the time it makes sense they couldn't really fill out the roster there.
The Hex
This is a game I'd been told of before 2019, but I only got around to in 2019. The Hex is a game about video games, featuring six different player characters from wildly different genres gathered together in an inn and getting a tip that a murder is going to occur inside that inn that very night.
I don't want to say too much about this game, it's one of those "best played blind" types of games, but just know that I enjoyed every second of it and the final sequences of the game blew me away. This is one of those games that gets better and better the more pieces of the puzzle start coming together. I had a lot of fun with this one, and it gave me some laugh out loud moments.
This is a game I'd been told of before 2019, but I only got around to in 2019. The Hex is a game about video games, featuring six different player characters from wildly different genres gathered together in an inn and getting a tip that a murder is going to occur inside that inn that very night.
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| Romantic |
Memody: Sindrel Song
A game I beta tested! I wrote about this on my blog before, go check it out!
I'm looking forward to what this game's creator has planned for 2020.
A game I beta tested! I wrote about this on my blog before, go check it out!
I'm looking forward to what this game's creator has planned for 2020.
Shovel Knight: King of Cards
Ahh, Shovel Knight. Now there's a series of releases that never disappoints and only ever gets better. An already shining gem polished even further, and the result was well worth waiting for.
This was easily the most fun I had with a game this year, King of Cards was an absolute joy and a worthy way to end the Shovel Knight saga. It truly felt like the most grandiose campaign of the bunch, with an expanded world map, long stages cut up into densely packed and tightly focused smaller stages, the lovely Joustus minigame I've spent hours enjoying and wrapped up with the most charming, detailed and polished presentation of the series thus far.
I eagerly look forward to what Yacht Club Games will offer next.
Ahh, Shovel Knight. Now there's a series of releases that never disappoints and only ever gets better. An already shining gem polished even further, and the result was well worth waiting for.
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| ........................................................................................... |
I eagerly look forward to what Yacht Club Games will offer next.
A Hat in Time
It's the other 3D collectathon platformer! Surely it's better than Yooka-Laylee, right?!
Well, yes. But I didn't enjoy it as much. Something about this game never truly fully clicked with me quite like Yooka Laylee did. The visual presentation is better, the character design is more appealing, the jokes aren't groanworthy, it's less janky... But I enjoyed Yooka-Laylee's jank. I liked the awful, fourth-walling breaking jokes.
Make no mistake, this game is still definitely good, the game has much more unique environments and worlds, the game has a very Paper Mario-esque sense of humour which I appreciate a lot, and Hat Kid's toolkit is good. But also, the plot feels undercooked? Mustache Girl feels very underdeveloped, and the rest of the characters aren't much better off either. It felt like they wanted to say more than they actually wound up saying, whereas Yooka-Laylee didn't have much to say in the first place and wouldn't shut up about it anyway, which I can respect much more.
There's also a few game elements that confuse me. Badges, why are they there?! Most of them should just be permanent upgrades and the remainder are obviously just there for challenge runs. Shuffling around hats also got rather annoying at parts where you'd need to swap them around quickly, and some of them had very limited applications, such as the Ice and Time Stop Hat. For most of the game I only used the Dash Cap since it let me get around faster.
Besides, the game still isn't wholly free of jank, I never quite grasped Hat Kid's toolkit to the same extent that I did Yooka and Laylee's, often I'd wallclimb when I didn't mean to, or overshoot or undershoot aerial lunges.
It's the other 3D collectathon platformer! Surely it's better than Yooka-Laylee, right?!
Well, yes. But I didn't enjoy it as much. Something about this game never truly fully clicked with me quite like Yooka Laylee did. The visual presentation is better, the character design is more appealing, the jokes aren't groanworthy, it's less janky... But I enjoyed Yooka-Laylee's jank. I liked the awful, fourth-walling breaking jokes.
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| She is beauty, she is grace |
There's also a few game elements that confuse me. Badges, why are they there?! Most of them should just be permanent upgrades and the remainder are obviously just there for challenge runs. Shuffling around hats also got rather annoying at parts where you'd need to swap them around quickly, and some of them had very limited applications, such as the Ice and Time Stop Hat. For most of the game I only used the Dash Cap since it let me get around faster.
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| To be fair to the game, it does have the Mania colour scheme. |
Later Alligator
Later Alligator is a cute little point and click adventure game set in a world inhabited by taking and walking alligators. This is a game that banks strongly on charm, funny writing and lively animation rather than depth of gameplay, and it pulls it off very well! The main character is sent on a quest by a paranoid alligator to investigate the murder scheme his family has cooked up for him on his birthday, so you make your way through the city, talking to the cast of absurd family members and helping them out in little minigame sequences while trying to puzzle together what the family could be plotting.
It's a pretty short game, but it makes up for it by just being so darn lively and enjoyable. Every sequence of the game is fully animated and the animation is REALLY GOOD, which is helped by the game's cute and quirky tone. My only real complaint was the lack of a "skip time" button, otherwise I'd recommend this to any fan of lighthearted and casual adventure games.
Later Alligator is a cute little point and click adventure game set in a world inhabited by taking and walking alligators. This is a game that banks strongly on charm, funny writing and lively animation rather than depth of gameplay, and it pulls it off very well! The main character is sent on a quest by a paranoid alligator to investigate the murder scheme his family has cooked up for him on his birthday, so you make your way through the city, talking to the cast of absurd family members and helping them out in little minigame sequences while trying to puzzle together what the family could be plotting.
The trailer deserves to be seen.
It's a pretty short game, but it makes up for it by just being so darn lively and enjoyable. Every sequence of the game is fully animated and the animation is REALLY GOOD, which is helped by the game's cute and quirky tone. My only real complaint was the lack of a "skip time" button, otherwise I'd recommend this to any fan of lighthearted and casual adventure games.
Alien Squatter
From the same people who made Void Pyramid, a game I wrote about before in 2016, it's Alien Squatter! I feel that I owe this game a more in-depth look than this blog can afford, much like I have to Void Pyramid. Making blogs about OHRRPGCE games has become somewhat of a staple for me, and I don't want to shortsell the bizarre setting of this game.
I will talk about sloppy, sweaty bathroom FUN TIMES with a slime octopus some day, but not today. You have been warned.
From the same people who made Void Pyramid, a game I wrote about before in 2016, it's Alien Squatter! I feel that I owe this game a more in-depth look than this blog can afford, much like I have to Void Pyramid. Making blogs about OHRRPGCE games has become somewhat of a staple for me, and I don't want to shortsell the bizarre setting of this game.
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| FUN TIMES |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links
GRUEEEEE. DUEL LINKS. I quit this game! I played this game A LOT in 2017 and 2018, far too much even! But then the game just kept letting me down. Lame events, awful metagames, repetitive monegrubbing gacha gameplay... No amount of love for the polished presentation, the smooth dueling engine and the anime references was worth all that.
So thank you, Konami. Thank you for making the giant absolute biggest fucking mistake ever by PUSHING BACK ZEXAL in favour of your awful, shitty, stupid, genwunning, Kaiba-fellating DSOD world. How awful. How terrible! Releasing a BRAND NEW WORLD with only THREE NEW CHARACTERS?! YOU MORONS! HOW COULD YOU.
WHY SCUD. I HATE SCUD. HE'S AWFUL. FUCK SCUD.
DSOD Mokuba??? When the flying fuck does Mokuba even duel?! Get the hell out of here with this shit.
And Kaiba? Fuck Kaiba. Stop sucking off Kaiba already. Goddamn. Kaiba this, Kaiba that. KAIBAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. I'm sick of Kaiba. Stop throwing Kaiba in my face if he's going to keep being the same static character he's been ever since Duelist Kingdom. Your glory days are over after Battle City, Kaiba! Your whole show already peaked, you're past your prime.
Oh and you mangled GX season 3 beyond belief too. Look what you did to my poor, precious, sweetest of the sweet season. You ruined it! You fucked it all up! Shame! Shame upon you!
GRUEEEEE. DUEL LINKS. I quit this game! I played this game A LOT in 2017 and 2018, far too much even! But then the game just kept letting me down. Lame events, awful metagames, repetitive monegrubbing gacha gameplay... No amount of love for the polished presentation, the smooth dueling engine and the anime references was worth all that.
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| But what about the muscle- NO, NOT EVEN THAT |
WHY SCUD. I HATE SCUD. HE'S AWFUL. FUCK SCUD.
DSOD Mokuba??? When the flying fuck does Mokuba even duel?! Get the hell out of here with this shit.
And Kaiba? Fuck Kaiba. Stop sucking off Kaiba already. Goddamn. Kaiba this, Kaiba that. KAIBAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. I'm sick of Kaiba. Stop throwing Kaiba in my face if he's going to keep being the same static character he's been ever since Duelist Kingdom. Your glory days are over after Battle City, Kaiba! Your whole show already peaked, you're past your prime.
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| I did fuck it up, Kaiba. I am not sorry. |
Dicey Dungeons
I have a bit of a tumultuous, ambivalent relationship to this game. I got obsessed with it enough to join the game's discord at one point, but I also bounced off the game pretty hard and left the server. I didn't play it for a month or two, and now I play a round every now and then, but not too often.
There's a lot to the game that I do like. The visuals are nice and unique, the voice acting is funny, the game's writing and overall tone stand out among roguelikes, some of the characters are very well designed. But also, the game gets very repetitive, the random item pools are shallow and runs start to feel very samey, half the characters are just really not that fun, the difficulty curve is an absolute mess with random spikes all over the place and the RNG factor feels more dreadful in this game than other games of its kind.
Hoo boy, I bet that Discord server would blow a gasket over that paragraph. Glad I left that place! I will quickly rank the characters in order of preference to get my thoughts on them out of the way. And I am considering the Morefluff mod as being installed when making these rankings, it's a great mod and it fixes at least a few of the issues I have with the base game.
Thief: Most fun character to play by far. Dagger, Poison and Countdown builds all feel and play meaningfully distinctly.
Warrior: Plain, simple, robust and rather vanilla. Most fun when played on episode six or with Morefluff installed to make it less vanilla while still staying on-theme.
Robot: Four dull episodes make way for the best PU overhaul. Robot is worth sticking with just because its episodes 5 and 6 redeem it so hard. Busting tactics rule, Jackpot builds drool.
Jester: My fav at first, but eventually runs start becoming incredibly linear and samey. There's only so many times I can look at the exact same starter deck before I'm stick of it. Also the buggiest and least polished character.
Witch: 20% of the time Witch runs are really fun! 80% of the time they fucking suck. Maybe I need to obtain the galaxy brain needed to play this character, or maybe the Witch is too much of a creator's pet.
Inventor: Here's a character I like less each time I play with her. Just, wow, do I ever hate the scrapping mechanic. And it's the entire core of the character, so it's inescapable. I love making synergistic builds, but the Inventor just tears any attempt at strategy beyond "use two good items, scrap the rest". Also wins an award for having a PU episode that's actually worse than the basic episodes. Inventor5 might just be the very worst episode in the game. Clutching on to Capacitator+ because the Inventor will scrap all other useless garbage trash items into equally horrid and useless gadgets, what a stinking mess of an episode that was.
Anyway, good game overall, but it could've had more time in the oven.
I have a bit of a tumultuous, ambivalent relationship to this game. I got obsessed with it enough to join the game's discord at one point, but I also bounced off the game pretty hard and left the server. I didn't play it for a month or two, and now I play a round every now and then, but not too often.
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| He's so cute... |
Hoo boy, I bet that Discord server would blow a gasket over that paragraph. Glad I left that place! I will quickly rank the characters in order of preference to get my thoughts on them out of the way. And I am considering the Morefluff mod as being installed when making these rankings, it's a great mod and it fixes at least a few of the issues I have with the base game.
Thief: Most fun character to play by far. Dagger, Poison and Countdown builds all feel and play meaningfully distinctly.
Warrior: Plain, simple, robust and rather vanilla. Most fun when played on episode six or with Morefluff installed to make it less vanilla while still staying on-theme.
Robot: Four dull episodes make way for the best PU overhaul. Robot is worth sticking with just because its episodes 5 and 6 redeem it so hard. Busting tactics rule, Jackpot builds drool.
Jester: My fav at first, but eventually runs start becoming incredibly linear and samey. There's only so many times I can look at the exact same starter deck before I'm stick of it. Also the buggiest and least polished character.
Witch: 20% of the time Witch runs are really fun! 80% of the time they fucking suck. Maybe I need to obtain the galaxy brain needed to play this character, or maybe the Witch is too much of a creator's pet.
Inventor: Here's a character I like less each time I play with her. Just, wow, do I ever hate the scrapping mechanic. And it's the entire core of the character, so it's inescapable. I love making synergistic builds, but the Inventor just tears any attempt at strategy beyond "use two good items, scrap the rest". Also wins an award for having a PU episode that's actually worse than the basic episodes. Inventor5 might just be the very worst episode in the game. Clutching on to Capacitator+ because the Inventor will scrap all other useless garbage trash items into equally horrid and useless gadgets, what a stinking mess of an episode that was.
Anyway, good game overall, but it could've had more time in the oven.
Furthermore, I consider that the Berlin Interpretation of roguelikes must be destroyed.
Slay the Spire
Another roguelike! I actually got into this as a sort of rebound from Dicey Dungeons. Rather than having an inventory and dice, Slay the Spire heavily features deckbuilding and relics instead. Battles and events award cards which you can add to the deck as well as relics that bestow useful (or not so useful) passive modifiers. Of course there's also options to remove, transform and upgrade cards, as well as shops, boss battles and the like.
I had a lot of fun biting my teeth into this one, I've only gotten to Ascension 6 so far on the characters, and I'm not planning to go for 20, but I'm doing daily runs now and then. Maybe I'll pick it up some more later and try to go for higher ascensions once more. There's also a rather active modding community for the game which I've yet to explore. That said, I'm putting this one on the back-burner for now, since I don't want to overdose on all these roguelikes.
Overall I do like it more than Dicey Dungeons. Apparently the art style to this game is similarly contentious as Dicey Dungeon's. While I don't like it as much as Dicey Dungeon's the game does have a more generically dark tone, the game's also still got some weird and bizarre enemies and some lighthearted encounters. I also do enjoy the deckbuilding and relic collecting more than the dice rolling of Dicey Dungeons. Things feel less set in stone despite the fact that DD has a bigger item pool than StS has a card pool. Likely this is in part due to relics, but I think the fact that there exist events outside of just battles and shops goes a long way too. The map exploration and routing decisions in this game is far more interesting than those in DD. The game's also just much more polished and less buggy, though of course it has been out longer.
Another roguelike! I actually got into this as a sort of rebound from Dicey Dungeons. Rather than having an inventory and dice, Slay the Spire heavily features deckbuilding and relics instead. Battles and events award cards which you can add to the deck as well as relics that bestow useful (or not so useful) passive modifiers. Of course there's also options to remove, transform and upgrade cards, as well as shops, boss battles and the like.
I had a lot of fun biting my teeth into this one, I've only gotten to Ascension 6 so far on the characters, and I'm not planning to go for 20, but I'm doing daily runs now and then. Maybe I'll pick it up some more later and try to go for higher ascensions once more. There's also a rather active modding community for the game which I've yet to explore. That said, I'm putting this one on the back-burner for now, since I don't want to overdose on all these roguelikes.
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| Me playing StS |
Furthermore, I consider that the Berlin Interpretation of roguelikes must be destroyed.
The Binding of Isaac
I finally got around to playing The Binding of Isaac DLC! I used to play the fan expansion Antibirth religiously, but I lost my save data for that at some point, and I figured with the way Antibirth is going to become ported over into an official expansion it'd be a good idea to dive into the official DLC.
It's, well, it's Isaac. It's fun when you get fun items, and it's a chore when you get Holy Mantle and are stuck with 10 Tear Delay and 3.5 Damage for the whole run. These days I only really play as Isaac and reset until the first floor treasure chest contains something interesting. I doubt I'll be playing it that much going into 2020, not anytime soon at least since Repentance got pushed back again. Looking forward to playing that in 2021!!
I finally got around to playing The Binding of Isaac DLC! I used to play the fan expansion Antibirth religiously, but I lost my save data for that at some point, and I figured with the way Antibirth is going to become ported over into an official expansion it'd be a good idea to dive into the official DLC.
It's, well, it's Isaac. It's fun when you get fun items, and it's a chore when you get Holy Mantle and are stuck with 10 Tear Delay and 3.5 Damage for the whole run. These days I only really play as Isaac and reset until the first floor treasure chest contains something interesting. I doubt I'll be playing it that much going into 2020, not anytime soon at least since Repentance got pushed back again. Looking forward to playing that in 2021!!
Furthermore, I consider that the Berlin Interpretation of roguelikes must be destroyed.
Card Hunter
I can't believe card Hunter is dead!!
Well, okay, maybe it isn't, but I've hardly played it this year! With Void Bastards out, I can understand Blue Manchu doesn't want to split attention in two directions, and I can't imagine Card Hunter is churning out much money so late in its lifespan, especially when it has such a graciously generous F2P model.
Honestly, I'm still amazed by it, no other F2P game comes close to feeling this much like playing the full experience without having to put in a cent. I did wind up spending like 10 euros on it down the line, but even that turned out to not be necessary when I got some self-made modules published in the specially designated fan-made content campaigns. I'm still rather proud of those!
But alas, this too shall pass. While Card Hunter is still up and running and there still is a community, I must wonder how much longer it'll continue to be supported like that.
Furthermore, I consider that the Berlin Interpretation of roguelikes- Wait, this is clearly not a roguelike! Never mind, then.
I can't believe card Hunter is dead!!
Well, okay, maybe it isn't, but I've hardly played it this year! With Void Bastards out, I can understand Blue Manchu doesn't want to split attention in two directions, and I can't imagine Card Hunter is churning out much money so late in its lifespan, especially when it has such a graciously generous F2P model.
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| ¡Yum yum yum, yum, yum, delicioso! |
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| Why yes I am taking the chance to show off my maps. You can't stop me!! |
Furthermore, I consider that the Berlin Interpretation of roguelikes- Wait, this is clearly not a roguelike! Never mind, then.
Pokémon Rising Ruby
Oh, here's the big one. Here's the one I wouldn't shut up about so much that they had to make a containment section for Pokémon talk just for me. Yes, just for me. It had nothing to do with Sword and Shield, it was all to contain me. But Mania can never be caged. Mania can never be contained.
Well, this is a romhack of Pokémon Omega Ruby by Drayano60. I've played many of Drayano60's romhacks before, but this one had to wait. This game was another one on the "when I get a better graphics card" list, since I doubt my old PC could handle this game. Luckily, my new PC could handle it!
While I did enjoy my run of the game and Omega Ruby did a lot of things right, there's also several areas where it just feels lacking relative to what was offered in Generation 3's Emerald and Generation 6's X/Y, keeping Omega Ruby from being the worthy successor to either title I'd hoped it might be.
For one, there's hardly any Double Battles! Emerald was full of them, but Omega Ruby cut all that out since it stuck with the original Ruby as its base inspiration. This sucks, because Doubles are much more interesting than Singles, especially when the game is like 99% Singles as a result. It's baffling and instantly reduces my enjoyment of the game by a wide margin. Sadly the modder didn't, or perhaps couldn't due to limitations, add more double battles either. The Battle Frontier is also just gone! It's nowhere to be found! They didn't even add the Battle Tower either, they just lazily imported the Battle Maison from X/Y.
And speaking of X/Y... This game is rather plainly just uglier than X and Y. The way they remade Hoenn in 3D is oftentimes unflattering. Routes were adapted much too faithfully, making them look painfully square-ish and unnatural. Nothing in the game looks as good as the areas in X/Y and it all feels rushed overall. A recurring issue they're still having to this day, that, rushed games.
I do think the game improved on the original's story at least, Team Magma was far more sensible here and the rivals got more complete arcs too. The Delta Episode is rubbish though! Zinnia's just awful in particular. All of the game's lore with multiple timelines and whatnot somehow manages to be entirely dull and uninteresting.
Well, anyway, it's not like the modder is to blame for that. He still put in good effort and I had fun surmounting the challenging battles he's set up. Sadly it's not up to par with the gen 4 and 5 mods due to gen 6 being less scriptable, but he did well with the tools he had and created a polished experience.
Pokémon Wilting Y
Oh, here's the big one. Here's the one I wouldn't shut up about so much that they had to make a containment section for Pokémon talk just for me. Yes, just for me. It had nothing to do with Sword and Shield, it was all to contain me. But Mania can never be caged. Mania can never be contained.
Well, this is a romhack of Pokémon Omega Ruby by Drayano60. I've played many of Drayano60's romhacks before, but this one had to wait. This game was another one on the "when I get a better graphics card" list, since I doubt my old PC could handle this game. Luckily, my new PC could handle it!
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| Obligatory team pic |
For one, there's hardly any Double Battles! Emerald was full of them, but Omega Ruby cut all that out since it stuck with the original Ruby as its base inspiration. This sucks, because Doubles are much more interesting than Singles, especially when the game is like 99% Singles as a result. It's baffling and instantly reduces my enjoyment of the game by a wide margin. Sadly the modder didn't, or perhaps couldn't due to limitations, add more double battles either. The Battle Frontier is also just gone! It's nowhere to be found! They didn't even add the Battle Tower either, they just lazily imported the Battle Maison from X/Y.
And speaking of X/Y... This game is rather plainly just uglier than X and Y. The way they remade Hoenn in 3D is oftentimes unflattering. Routes were adapted much too faithfully, making them look painfully square-ish and unnatural. Nothing in the game looks as good as the areas in X/Y and it all feels rushed overall. A recurring issue they're still having to this day, that, rushed games.
I do think the game improved on the original's story at least, Team Magma was far more sensible here and the rivals got more complete arcs too. The Delta Episode is rubbish though! Zinnia's just awful in particular. All of the game's lore with multiple timelines and whatnot somehow manages to be entirely dull and uninteresting.
Well, anyway, it's not like the modder is to blame for that. He still put in good effort and I had fun surmounting the challenging battles he's set up. Sadly it's not up to par with the gen 4 and 5 mods due to gen 6 being less scriptable, but he did well with the tools he had and created a polished experience.
Pokémon Wilting Y
Playing Rising Ruby awakened a hankering to give gen 6 another try. But I didn't feel like picking up my 3DS for that, so I decided to play the Wilting Y mod made by BuffelSaft instead. It's the first time I'd played a mod not made by Drayano60, but this one seemed to be well-received and the creator said he was inspired by Drayano60's work.
I enjoyed it! Playing through this made me appreciate X/Y more than I used to, in part because the game looks and feels so much better to play when not shackled by the 3DS's graphical limitations. The story is still an all-around mess, but Kalos is honestly just a beautiful region and I still had a lot of fun exploring it, more fun than I had with Hoenn at least.
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| Obligatorier team pic |
Pokémon Renegade Platinum
Oh no, it doesn't end yet. There was one other Pokémon game I played this year, and it was my second run of Drayano60's Renegade Platinum. This is probably his most polished mod so far, and I felt that my first run was mired a tad by some sloppy teambuilding. So, this time around I decided to try something new: A monotype run! Ice was to be my chosen type, since Ice types are generally rare and seemed like an interesting challenge to play around due to their access to various dualtypes and Hail/Blizzard tactics.
It was a lot of fun! The run wound up going surprisingly well, too. The first gym leader gave me a lot of trouble, being a Rock gym, but after that the rest of the run was honestly smoother than my first run. I played all the way up to the end of the postgame plot, further than my first run got!
I suppose the game I should try next would be Photonic Sun or Penumbra Moon, based on Ultra Sun/Moon and made by BuffelSaft. I've never played any of the Alola games, but I feel like going from playing these mods to the base games would be too much of a step back at this point. I've gotten spoiled.
Furthermore, I consider that Pokémon Sword and Shield must be destroyed.
Oh no, it doesn't end yet. There was one other Pokémon game I played this year, and it was my second run of Drayano60's Renegade Platinum. This is probably his most polished mod so far, and I felt that my first run was mired a tad by some sloppy teambuilding. So, this time around I decided to try something new: A monotype run! Ice was to be my chosen type, since Ice types are generally rare and seemed like an interesting challenge to play around due to their access to various dualtypes and Hail/Blizzard tactics.
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| Sadly, Shellder/Cloyster didn't make the cut. |
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| Obligatoriest team pic |
Furthermore, I consider that Pokémon Sword and Shield must be destroyed.
More to come! (EBF5, Octopath Traveler, Iconoclasts, Telepath Tactics, Yooka Laylee 2, Legacy of the Duelist)
I've already got plans for what to play next year! I bought myself a lot of games during the winter sale, as well as there being some 2020 releases I look forward to purchasing. Let's quickly go over them.
Epic Battle Fantasy 5: While I've already purchased this game a while ago, I've been putting off my playthrough for the version 2 update, which should hopefully be out January this month. I've played EBF2, 3 and 4 in the past already, so I felt it would naturally be a good idea to play the fifth too. Supporting the dev with my purchase just felt right too, given how many hours I've already sunk in this series.
Octopath Traveler: Purchased recently during the Steam Winter Sale. I'd been told this game is very good by people whose taste I trust, and I also greatly enjoyed Bravely Default and Bravely Second. I look forward to this one!
Iconoclasts: Also a Steam Winter sale purchase. Not sure what to expect from this one, but it seemed interesting from what I heard.
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair: Another Steam purchase, though days later I was informed it's free on Epic Games instead, so I refunded it from steam and got it on Epic Games instead. Sorry gamers, they got me. I've heard nothing but good things about this one, so I'm excited for this one! I am rather curious how it'll stack up to the original for me.
Superliminal: A 3D first person puzzle game all about perception, I believe. It seems really funky from what I've been told, and I am somewhat of a sucker for games like these, so this is a natural fit. Epic Games exclusive for now, though, in case that matters.
YuGiOh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution: A Switch-exclusive at first, this game is finally getting ported to other consoles and Steam in 2020, along with an updated VRAINS campaign and more cards. Honestly I am hankering somewhat for a single player YGO campaign, and while this game's production values are lacking, it's basically the best there currently is out for that. Tag Force is dead, online sims are basically just multiplayer only and Duel Links is a gacha game.
Telepath Tactics: This one came out in 2015!! It's been on my radar since release though. The developer has some very solid principles in mind when making this tactics RPG, the read about the Four Virtues for example is very good! I've actually started playing this one already in 2020 and I've been enjoying it a lot so far. It really is baffling to me now how many games like these choose to constantly rely on dice rolls for pretty much everything.
I've already got plans for what to play next year! I bought myself a lot of games during the winter sale, as well as there being some 2020 releases I look forward to purchasing. Let's quickly go over them.
Epic Battle Fantasy 5: While I've already purchased this game a while ago, I've been putting off my playthrough for the version 2 update, which should hopefully be out January this month. I've played EBF2, 3 and 4 in the past already, so I felt it would naturally be a good idea to play the fifth too. Supporting the dev with my purchase just felt right too, given how many hours I've already sunk in this series.
Octopath Traveler: Purchased recently during the Steam Winter Sale. I'd been told this game is very good by people whose taste I trust, and I also greatly enjoyed Bravely Default and Bravely Second. I look forward to this one!
Iconoclasts: Also a Steam Winter sale purchase. Not sure what to expect from this one, but it seemed interesting from what I heard.
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair: Another Steam purchase, though days later I was informed it's free on Epic Games instead, so I refunded it from steam and got it on Epic Games instead. Sorry gamers, they got me. I've heard nothing but good things about this one, so I'm excited for this one! I am rather curious how it'll stack up to the original for me.
Superliminal: A 3D first person puzzle game all about perception, I believe. It seems really funky from what I've been told, and I am somewhat of a sucker for games like these, so this is a natural fit. Epic Games exclusive for now, though, in case that matters.
YuGiOh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution: A Switch-exclusive at first, this game is finally getting ported to other consoles and Steam in 2020, along with an updated VRAINS campaign and more cards. Honestly I am hankering somewhat for a single player YGO campaign, and while this game's production values are lacking, it's basically the best there currently is out for that. Tag Force is dead, online sims are basically just multiplayer only and Duel Links is a gacha game.
Telepath Tactics: This one came out in 2015!! It's been on my radar since release though. The developer has some very solid principles in mind when making this tactics RPG, the read about the Four Virtues for example is very good! I've actually started playing this one already in 2020 and I've been enjoying it a lot so far. It really is baffling to me now how many games like these choose to constantly rely on dice rolls for pretty much everything.
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| I also don't care what people say. The portraits are good and charming. |
The another media
Let's talk about anime.
Wait no don't run away! Let's also talk about western anime. That's right, anime and cartoons. There's several I've been watching in 2019, and while most of these could get their own blogs, I never get around to those, so I'll condense them into my annual roundup instead!
Bob's Burgers
This show is now in its 10th season and it's still good. That in itself is already a huge accomplishment. Bob's Burgers continues to be consistently funny and heartwarming and is easily the best adult cartoon airing right now.
YuGiOh! GX
It was only early in 2019 that I finished off the GX series, but what a ride! The first three seasons I watched dubbed and honestly the dub for GX is hilarious, if oftentimes unfaithful to the original. There's quips and sass all over the place, and some decent character arcs here and there as well. The duels are also generally well-composed, with some exceptions aside.
Sadly, season 4 never got dubbed, so I watched that one with subtitles on. It's a good season, perhaps my favourite, though it was sadly rushed.
Here's an overview of all seasons, because why not?
Season 1: Introductory first half and a lot of meandering filler, but it also features the strongest cast of protagonists and does pick up when it nears the climax of the first half of the season. The season does have the worst overarching villain, but it also does a good job setting up the cast and the setting while also giving several of its characters a proper growth arc.
Season 2: Probably the spottiest season overall. This one has a much more proactive villain and a lot of good jokes, but it also has the most pointless filler of any season despite the fact that those episodes could have been put to much better use to expand on some concepts the show glosses over somewhat. Hot take: Changing Sartorius's motive from destruction to brainwashing and Aster's father's death to a disappearance are not the dealbreakers people make them out to be, especially since Aster's dad is later revealed to be dead anyway... Oh, and this season does introduce Neos so it's when the show finally got REALLY GOOD.
Season 3: The season where things get real. The main character finally starts getting development, a bunch of new characters are introduced and get focus, but most of the old cast falls to the wayside and loses relevance. This is also where the dub starts really dubbing it up, adding in a lot more fourth wall breaks and having an episode that feels more like an Abridged episode than anything else. It's beautiful. It's weird. Season 3 was an experience, and my expectations were sent to the stars. Also the opening of this team contains a flat out ass-shot of Neos, so that's something to look forward to each episode.
Season 4: The forbidden season, oooh~ It's such a shame they never dubbed this one, I'd love to see how the dub mangles the serious tone, and I mean that genuinely. This one feels like a return to form, giving character arcs to prominent characters from season 1 and closing off Jaden's growth from season 3. It also features the best evil flunky in the series, Trueman, who manages to be legitimately threatening when not dueling the protagonist.
This show is now in its 10th season and it's still good. That in itself is already a huge accomplishment. Bob's Burgers continues to be consistently funny and heartwarming and is easily the best adult cartoon airing right now.
YuGiOh! GX
It was only early in 2019 that I finished off the GX series, but what a ride! The first three seasons I watched dubbed and honestly the dub for GX is hilarious, if oftentimes unfaithful to the original. There's quips and sass all over the place, and some decent character arcs here and there as well. The duels are also generally well-composed, with some exceptions aside.
Sadly, season 4 never got dubbed, so I watched that one with subtitles on. It's a good season, perhaps my favourite, though it was sadly rushed.
Here's an overview of all seasons, because why not?
Season 1: Introductory first half and a lot of meandering filler, but it also features the strongest cast of protagonists and does pick up when it nears the climax of the first half of the season. The season does have the worst overarching villain, but it also does a good job setting up the cast and the setting while also giving several of its characters a proper growth arc.
ALSO DAT OPENING THEME HNGH
Season 2: Probably the spottiest season overall. This one has a much more proactive villain and a lot of good jokes, but it also has the most pointless filler of any season despite the fact that those episodes could have been put to much better use to expand on some concepts the show glosses over somewhat. Hot take: Changing Sartorius's motive from destruction to brainwashing and Aster's father's death to a disappearance are not the dealbreakers people make them out to be, especially since Aster's dad is later revealed to be dead anyway... Oh, and this season does introduce Neos so it's when the show finally got REALLY GOOD.
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| YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS |
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| I'm not kidding!!! |
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| "Are you in the right headspace to receive information that could possibly hurt you?" |
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
JoJo is stupid. JoJo is fun. JoJo is stupid fun. And that's good.
Stardust Crusaders was off to a rather slow start and the first half of the season is a mixture of really good, funny and intense episodes and episodes that are rather slow, dull and dredge on. The show generally gets better as it goes on though, and the second half of the season which takes place in Egypt is pretty much good all the way through. The stands battles and overly dramatic posturing and whatnot were a joy to watch, and of course it's all capped off by a confrontation with DIO, who was just great even in the dub.
Oh, right, we did watch the dub. It's a good dub!
Also yes there is no image here. Too bad.
Gumball
Gumball is over! It's ended! Well, unless they make a movie, but I'm not counting on it.
Overall, I'm happy with the final season. It seems to be rather controversial among the fandom, and I agree that it had some episodes that felt a bit weak, but it also had a lot of really good episodes that felt like they gave proper closure to some of the cast, such as Anais partnering up with Jamie, or Gumball and Darwin confronting Mr Robinson's true feelings for them. The finale was great too! The way the show ended was like a cruel joke at the expense of the show's cast and to some extent even the audience, but to me there's no more fitting way this show could have ended.
Thanks for all the laughs, Gumball. It was a blast.
JoJo is stupid. JoJo is fun. JoJo is stupid fun. And that's good.
Stardust Crusaders was off to a rather slow start and the first half of the season is a mixture of really good, funny and intense episodes and episodes that are rather slow, dull and dredge on. The show generally gets better as it goes on though, and the second half of the season which takes place in Egypt is pretty much good all the way through. The stands battles and overly dramatic posturing and whatnot were a joy to watch, and of course it's all capped off by a confrontation with DIO, who was just great even in the dub.
Oh, right, we did watch the dub. It's a good dub!
Also yes there is no image here. Too bad.
Gumball
Gumball is over! It's ended! Well, unless they make a movie, but I'm not counting on it.
Overall, I'm happy with the final season. It seems to be rather controversial among the fandom, and I agree that it had some episodes that felt a bit weak, but it also had a lot of really good episodes that felt like they gave proper closure to some of the cast, such as Anais partnering up with Jamie, or Gumball and Darwin confronting Mr Robinson's true feelings for them. The finale was great too! The way the show ended was like a cruel joke at the expense of the show's cast and to some extent even the audience, but to me there's no more fitting way this show could have ended.
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| Major props to this whole scene. It's fantastic. |
Star vs The Forces of Evil
Uuuuuugh. What happened to this show? What was this show even trying to do? It seems to be help up as one of the cartoon darlings of its era, but like wow does it let down and seem totally directionless in hindsight.
This show really had me during seasons 2 and 3, but season 1 was too much lolrandom Princess Star rainbow butterfly magic nonsense that honestly just wasn't that funny, while season 4 dives headfirst into the tepid shipping fuel and drama, rushes through character and shipping arcs so badly that they make a leading protagonist break up with his GF of like 1 episode offscreen and features multiple out of nowhere plot twists that do nothing but detract from the show, while even ending the show on somehow the most bland and stupid note possible. I was NOT rooting for Star and Marco to wind up together, or for Star to wind up with anyone for that matter, winding up solo and happy would have been the best resolution for her. I'd legit have rather seen Marco end up with Tom, those two have actual good chemistry and development over the series. Sigh.
Well, it's not all bad. I did enjoy season 2 and 3 a lot. Toffee and Meteora were good villains, and Eclipsa and her husband were highlights of any episode they appeared in. Ludo also got good after his pathetic showing in season 1. Glossaryck was usually good too, but held back by a stupid series resolution. The show just really dragged itself down with its sloppy handling of the monster oppression theme and the awful way they resolve all the shipping nonsense in season 4. To this day I have no idea what sort of setting or overall tone the show was aiming for, since it shifts basically every season and never truly feels coherent.
In the end, the real forces of evil were the friends we made along the way.
DuckTales (Reboot)
On a more positive note, the DuckTales reboot is quite good! I've only seen bits of the original, and in Dutch at that, but I still recognize a lot of the old in this new show. There's still the adventuring, there's still the character-driven sequences of events, there's still villains to compete with, and there's still sweeping the cruelties of capitalism under the rug. By far my favourite change is that the triplets are, gasp, actual characters now! Rather than three clones, they're now each individual people with their own distinct personalities.
But even not taking into account any part of the old show, the new show still manages to stand on its own two legs. I particularly enjoyed the big revelation in season 1 and the subsequent emotional falling out everyone had. Season 2 was good as well, though I don't think it ever reached the highest highs of season 1, surely that must be because it's the season of Louis and as we all know Louis is a monster. Regardless, I am looking forward to season 3 already!
Uuuuuugh. What happened to this show? What was this show even trying to do? It seems to be help up as one of the cartoon darlings of its era, but like wow does it let down and seem totally directionless in hindsight.
This show really had me during seasons 2 and 3, but season 1 was too much lolrandom Princess Star rainbow butterfly magic nonsense that honestly just wasn't that funny, while season 4 dives headfirst into the tepid shipping fuel and drama, rushes through character and shipping arcs so badly that they make a leading protagonist break up with his GF of like 1 episode offscreen and features multiple out of nowhere plot twists that do nothing but detract from the show, while even ending the show on somehow the most bland and stupid note possible. I was NOT rooting for Star and Marco to wind up together, or for Star to wind up with anyone for that matter, winding up solo and happy would have been the best resolution for her. I'd legit have rather seen Marco end up with Tom, those two have actual good chemistry and development over the series. Sigh.
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| Don't bait us with something better than your actual final ship, Star Vs! |
In the end, the real forces of evil were the friends we made along the way.
DuckTales (Reboot)
On a more positive note, the DuckTales reboot is quite good! I've only seen bits of the original, and in Dutch at that, but I still recognize a lot of the old in this new show. There's still the adventuring, there's still the character-driven sequences of events, there's still villains to compete with, and there's still sweeping the cruelties of capitalism under the rug. By far my favourite change is that the triplets are, gasp, actual characters now! Rather than three clones, they're now each individual people with their own distinct personalities.
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| We all know Phooey Duck is the best triplet. |
My Little Pony
Well, this thing is finally over. Honestly, even though season 9 aired this year I don't remember too much about it. I think it was overall a good way to end the series though, even if the villain team up concept worked better for its comedic aspects than creating an actual high stakes resolution. But that's alright, comedy is good after all, it's one of the show's strong points.
Looking at the episode list again, while there are some episodes that were kinda meh, I did overall like most of the episodes. There's an episode called "Going to Seed" which amuses me. The season definitely also had the most baffling episode with that Daring Do episode, I'm still not convinced that wasn't a fever dream.
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| MFW watching Daring Doubt |
Steven Universe Future
StetS UninU is back!! I rather enjoyed the movie, and I've been really enjoying Steven Universe Future so far. We're only 10 episodes in and it's unclear how many episodes the series will have, but I'm excited to see more.
With the way Steven Universe ended, many were understandably upset with the way the show totally sweeps the whole intergalactic warmongering and the horrible crimes against gemkind the Diamonds perpetrated firmly under the rug in favour of focusing on and resolving the plot by way of a family drama story instead, and I can't say I'm entirely happy with it either, but I can understand it enough for it to not really break the show for me.
Thankfully, Steven Universe Future feels like a breath of fresh air since it took all that baggage and threw it in the incinerator and goes back to focusing on character-driven stories. It reminds me a lot of seasons 1 through 3, which were the best parts of the show to me. I'm really digging what the show is doing with Steven so far, and I'm also looking forward to seeing more of the new gems they introduced as well as more Jasper.
StetS UninU is back!! I rather enjoyed the movie, and I've been really enjoying Steven Universe Future so far. We're only 10 episodes in and it's unclear how many episodes the series will have, but I'm excited to see more.
With the way Steven Universe ended, many were understandably upset with the way the show totally sweeps the whole intergalactic warmongering and the horrible crimes against gemkind the Diamonds perpetrated firmly under the rug in favour of focusing on and resolving the plot by way of a family drama story instead, and I can't say I'm entirely happy with it either, but I can understand it enough for it to not really break the show for me.
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| Seriously what was this scene though |
Won't someone think about the blogs?
Gasp, what's this? Even more new content?! Yes, that's right. I wanted to take a look at the blogs I wrote last year, with the hope I might have more to look back to next year.
KBB: FF
Oh boy, this one took a long while to write. I think this was my most ambitious blog thus far, even more than 2018's Laser Lords one. The creator of the game actually took note of my blog, which I'm rather thankful for! Part of the reason why I like giving special attention to these OHRRPGCE games is that they seem to get replies from the creators more often, it happened with Mr. Triangle and Void Pyramid too.
Really though, this one took like forever! While I am glad with how it turned out, I'm not intended to go so overboard in 2020! (Yet here I am going overboard with this roundup, whoops.)
Oh boy, this one took a long while to write. I think this was my most ambitious blog thus far, even more than 2018's Laser Lords one. The creator of the game actually took note of my blog, which I'm rather thankful for! Part of the reason why I like giving special attention to these OHRRPGCE games is that they seem to get replies from the creators more often, it happened with Mr. Triangle and Void Pyramid too.
Really though, this one took like forever! While I am glad with how it turned out, I'm not intended to go so overboard in 2020! (Yet here I am going overboard with this roundup, whoops.)
Yooka-Laylee
This was a pretty basic blog all around. Mostly I just wanted to get out my feelings on this game since it's rather controversial and widely dislikes, while I enjoyed it perfectly fine myself. I was happy I got to use it as a dumping ground for all my stupid screengrabs at least!
This was a pretty basic blog all around. Mostly I just wanted to get out my feelings on this game since it's rather controversial and widely dislikes, while I enjoyed it perfectly fine myself. I was happy I got to use it as a dumping ground for all my stupid screengrabs at least!
Syrus Truesdale
Oh right, I did an anime analysis, didn't I. I still stand by my point that Syrus's arc got derailed, though I've had some discussion with people over whether his duel with Zane is to blame or whether the blame's entirely on season 3. While I rescind my thoughts on Syrus winning vs Zane, I think a tie would have been fine, or at least for season 2 to address the events of the duel after Syrus's loss.
I do stand by the rest though. Losing to Frost and Thunder was stupid, season 3 did Syrus dirty by making his promotion happen offscreen and making him cast off his duel disk in the Dark Dimension and season 4 lacked the foundations it needed to fully pull off its resolution of Syrus's arc.
Oh well, at least Syrus gets a good resolution in his Tag Force 3 story mode.
Oh right, I did an anime analysis, didn't I. I still stand by my point that Syrus's arc got derailed, though I've had some discussion with people over whether his duel with Zane is to blame or whether the blame's entirely on season 3. While I rescind my thoughts on Syrus winning vs Zane, I think a tie would have been fine, or at least for season 2 to address the events of the duel after Syrus's loss.
I do stand by the rest though. Losing to Frost and Thunder was stupid, season 3 did Syrus dirty by making his promotion happen offscreen and making him cast off his duel disk in the Dark Dimension and season 4 lacked the foundations it needed to fully pull off its resolution of Syrus's arc.
Oh well, at least Syrus gets a good resolution in his Tag Force 3 story mode.
Galar Dex review
This was just a quickie really, talking about my feelings regarding the new batch of mons. I've mellowed out to a few of the designs, and I've taken a liking to Falinks, but overall I do stand by my conclusion that this is a definitive step back relative to older generations.
I've not really changed my mind on Sword Shield as a whole either, but I suppose I've been more than vocal enough about that already.
This was just a quickie really, talking about my feelings regarding the new batch of mons. I've mellowed out to a few of the designs, and I've taken a liking to Falinks, but overall I do stand by my conclusion that this is a definitive step back relative to older generations.
I've not really changed my mind on Sword Shield as a whole either, but I suppose I've been more than vocal enough about that already.
Memody
My most recent blog at the time I'm writing this. This one was a bit hard to write since it's been a while between my final test run of the game and its Steam release, but I still think it came out pretty well in the end. It's a shame it seems to not have mattered much, apparently Memody didn't sell too well... That is a shame, since I like Tobias's games, so I hope his next work does better. I'll probably beta test that next game too, and of course write a blog about it eventually.
My most recent blog at the time I'm writing this. This one was a bit hard to write since it's been a while between my final test run of the game and its Steam release, but I still think it came out pretty well in the end. It's a shame it seems to not have mattered much, apparently Memody didn't sell too well... That is a shame, since I like Tobias's games, so I hope his next work does better. I'll probably beta test that next game too, and of course write a blog about it eventually.
Cutting room floor
Let's talk about the blogs I didn't write this year!
Top 10 YGO Cards: I'd meant to make a jokey joke top 10 list of my favourite YuGiOh! cards, but I suppose I just couldn't gather 10 sufficiently Mania cards to make the list. You bet your booty Neos was number 1 though. I'm pretty sure an Ojama was in there too, alongside a Vehicroid. What can I say, GX still flows through me.
Sorrowlad: One of these days I should really write about what I had planned for the remainder of the Sorrowlad quests! While most of the items in the list here will never be blogs, I do hope to write this one at some point.
Steven Universe Gempire analysis: A recurring thought I'd had after the finale was writing about one aspect of the series that never really made sense to me, and that was the wildly fluctuating manner in which the Homeworld empire was portrayed as both this horrific, effective and menacing institution while also having lots of scenes where Homeworld is basically made into a joke, portrayed ineffectively, humourously, so on and so forth, sort of charting the flow from low level engineer Peridot as a menacing threat to Big Bad White Diamond having a pool party with the Crystal Gems.
I had planned to talk about stuff like the fusion experiments, the Cluster, season 1 Peridot, Jasper, Aquamarine, war flashbacks and such and contrast it with matters like every single Ruby, spacefaring Lars versus Emerald and her Citrines and so forth. There's more than enough that could be said about each of the Diamonds as well, and how even in her first onscreen appearance Yellow Diamond is both a threat yet also makes one of the series's most infamous memefaces...
Well, clearly I never got around to it! Too bad, since I think it could have been interesting, but in the end it would probably just make me like the series less overall to analyze how their priorities shifted over time.
Star vs the Farces of Evil: Did you know that season 4 is bad?! This would have probably just been a rant about how I felt left down by the show, but I got most of it out of my system by talking about the show with others, so there wasn't really a need for this in the end.
And I think that's all of them!
Let's talk about the blogs I didn't write this year!
Top 10 YGO Cards: I'd meant to make a jokey joke top 10 list of my favourite YuGiOh! cards, but I suppose I just couldn't gather 10 sufficiently Mania cards to make the list. You bet your booty Neos was number 1 though. I'm pretty sure an Ojama was in there too, alongside a Vehicroid. What can I say, GX still flows through me.
Sorrowlad: One of these days I should really write about what I had planned for the remainder of the Sorrowlad quests! While most of the items in the list here will never be blogs, I do hope to write this one at some point.
Steven Universe Gempire analysis: A recurring thought I'd had after the finale was writing about one aspect of the series that never really made sense to me, and that was the wildly fluctuating manner in which the Homeworld empire was portrayed as both this horrific, effective and menacing institution while also having lots of scenes where Homeworld is basically made into a joke, portrayed ineffectively, humourously, so on and so forth, sort of charting the flow from low level engineer Peridot as a menacing threat to Big Bad White Diamond having a pool party with the Crystal Gems.
I had planned to talk about stuff like the fusion experiments, the Cluster, season 1 Peridot, Jasper, Aquamarine, war flashbacks and such and contrast it with matters like every single Ruby, spacefaring Lars versus Emerald and her Citrines and so forth. There's more than enough that could be said about each of the Diamonds as well, and how even in her first onscreen appearance Yellow Diamond is both a threat yet also makes one of the series's most infamous memefaces...
Well, clearly I never got around to it! Too bad, since I think it could have been interesting, but in the end it would probably just make me like the series less overall to analyze how their priorities shifted over time.
Star vs the Farces of Evil: Did you know that season 4 is bad?! This would have probably just been a rant about how I felt left down by the show, but I got most of it out of my system by talking about the show with others, so there wasn't really a need for this in the end.
And I think that's all of them!
Closing thoughts
Well, that was a lot of writing! Last year's post was under 3,000 words, but this one is already going over 10,000! So much for not getting carried away with my blogs...
Well, I did have fun writing this! Scrounging together some images for every section was fun too. I did have to scrap a "Daring Do making a doo doo" imagine since that might have been too much, but I'm glad I wrote about more than just games this time. I hope to do this next year too!
Funny thing, looking back to last year's blog, I did mention wanting to talk about more than just games. I totally forgot about that, but wound up doing it anyway. In the end I do think I played more games and watched more shows than I did in 2019. Perhaps this is in part due to cutting Duel Links out of my free time midway through the year. Good riddance! Let that be a lesson to anyone who's made it this far: Don't tussle with gacha games. Just don't even bother.
Oh, and if you made it this far, thanks for indulging me! I hope you enjoyed reading all of this! Here's to hoping I have a good offering in 2020 too!
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