Category: Game Log

When the Amount of Video Game is “Just Right”

~ Joseph Tingle ~ Leave a comment

Video games are getting too big. It’s a familiar refrain I keep hearing from friends of mine, regardless of what else they’ve got going on in their lives. Some of those who say this are people like myself – parents who might play a game for 30-60 minutes at the end of a long day. Others are simply people who have more than one hobby, and have found that keeping up with the year’s slate of major video game releases leaves time for little else. And then there are people who have gaming as exclusive hobby, and still, even they don’t even have time to play all of the things they’d like to.

I love adventure games and RPGs, but looking over the year’s calendar of releases, it’s easy to see the problem. It would just be impossible to play everything that I’d want to, despite how poorly-regulated as my gaming habit tends to be. After all, almost every game has 100 hours of content, and next year there will be even more games out competing for my attention.

It’s hard to believe that, once upon a time, games weren’t so focused on being so addictive. Take Link’s Awakening, which I just finished on my Analogue Pocket: 8 main Dungeons, which probably take an experienced player 30-40 minutes to complete, and a few side quests. Overall, I finished the game in less than 14 hours, and mostly played it in 20-30 minute bursts that easily fit into my schedule.

That’s one of the things I miss the most about retro games, and why I still like playing them so much. Games like Link’s Awakening and Final Fantasy Adventure, which I played earlier in the year, feel more like creative projects – endeavors to craft a memorable but finite experience for players who craved innovation and novelty. Far from being like today’s massive life-replacement experiences, I found something touching and true in Link’s Awakening allegory-like narrative.

“This is all a dream,” Link’s Awakening tells the player. “We’ve poured our best ideas into it, and hope you love it.

“But really, player, it’s a dream. And out there is your life. And you should want to wake up”.

Gaming Microblog #009: Yakuza Kiwami (2016)

~ Joseph Tingle ~ Leave a comment

Although Kiwami presumably comes with a slathering of new features and story content not present in the original Playstation 2 game, it still feels like a more focused effort than its predecessor, Yakuza 0, which, in retrospect, it starting to look like the triple-disc “Greatest Hits” entry of the series. Initially, I felt somewhat let down by what seemed like a parsed-back Y0 “DLC”, but by the end, I found that I actually preferred Kiwami for its narrower scope and more limited range of features. Still, nothing less than a full game, with RPG-style cinematic storytelling quasi-RPG systems worth investing in.

Yakuza Kiwami

Playstation 4 (Via Playstation 5 Compatibility)

Dates Played: 7/12/2024 – 8/20/2024

Playtime: 27 Hours

Gaming Microblog #008: Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth (2024)

~ Joseph Tingle ~ Leave a comment

SPOILERS BELOW

There’s one segment of Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth’s many ending scenes that has stuck with me, months after finishing the game. The scene takes place in an alternate reality Midgar, where the lifestream has dried up and the planet has died. Here, Cloud has just awakened from a coma, and has gone on an impromptu date with Aerith in the Sector 5 slums, hoping to have a nice time in the last days of the crumbling world. 

Unfortunately, Cloud and Aerith’s date turns out to be a pretty bad one. First, Cloud tries to buy Aerith a piece of jewelry, but whichever one he picks turns out to not be for sale. Later, Cloud and Aerith encounter a street vendor who offers them a host of candies to choose from, but no matter which of the colorfully packaged treats they select, the vendor guilts them into trying her own experimental homemade candies instead. The candies aren’t very good. Finally, Cloud and Aerith encounter a street photographer who is taking photographs of couples on the street. Unfortunately, he has only one shot remaining on his last roll of film, and decides to take another couple’s picture instead.

This scene really resonated with me because, as Sinatra sang, “that’s life”. And the resignation here underscores a lot of life’s disappointments that we all experience day to day, even when things we are supposed to enjoy end up not being very fun. But also, I feel like this scene might aptly describe Square Enix Creative Business Unit I’s feelings about their own work: in Rebirth, they’ve prepared a buffet of options for fans, but not matter how many of their wares they unpack and place on the table, their own game must be a singular experience that will likely not meet everyone’s, or even anyone’s, lofty expectations. They’ve offered their absolute best work, and now it’s up to the players to have a positive experience for themselves by not letting the negatives define their experience. “That’s life!”

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

Playstation 5

Dates Played: 2/29/2024 – 6/26/2024

Playtime: 88 hours

Gaming Microblog #007: Animal Well (2024)

~ Joseph Tingle ~ Leave a comment

I always imagined I’d have a great time playing the search-action puzzler Animal Well, but what I did not realize was how much fun I’d have exploring the game with my son, who was just as captivated by the game’s obtuse puzzles and driven be curiosity as to what we’d find in the next room. I’m sure we’ll spend many more hours after the initial credit roll uncovering many of Animal Well’s hidden secret. .

Animal Well

Steam – Steam Deck

Dates Played: 5/9/2024 – 5/18/2024

Playtime: 10:15 hours

Gaming Microblog #006: Trails in the Sky FC (2004)

~ Joseph Tingle ~ Leave a comment

I’ll admit – I had some reservations about this one. But it really won me over in the end. Equals parts JRPG and Visual Novel, I wouldn’t consider the first Trails for everyone. But for those who don’t mind lots of reading and the occasional anime trope, Trails in the Sky FC will delight with its lovable, down-to-Earth cast, and an elaborate fantasy plot, which is delivered in a simmery, slow-burning way that allowed me to bask in the emotional side of the characters and their various conflicts.

As the credits rolled, I found my self asking if tomorrow was “too soon” to start SC. And I might just go ahead and play that next!

Trails in the Sky FC

Steam – Steam Deck

Dates Played: 12/29/2023 – 5/1/2024

Playtime: 48.9 Hours

Gaming Microblog #005: Final Fantasy Adventure (Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden) (1991)

~ Joseph Tingle ~ Leave a comment

I vaguely remembered this game from my the collection of my first grade best friend.

It was, probably in his words, “weird” and “not good” compared to, say, Link’s Awakening. I never thought to bother with it.

Well, sure. It’s several steps lower than that game. But, Final Fantasy Gaiden is actually a full-scale action RPG adventure on the Gameboy that is contemporaneously as good as an attempt at an action RPG as Square have ever done, as far as I’m concerned.

I’m glad I gave came around to it, and owe my interest to the imminent release of Visions of Mana. But first, I might have to go ahead an play Secret of Mana on the SNES – something I’m eager as ever to do, after finishing the GameBoy original.

Final Fantasy Adventure

Gameboy – Analog Pocket openFGPA

Dates Played: 2/27/24 – 4/21/24

Playtime: 20ish Hours

Gaming Microblog #004: Yakuza 0 (2015)

~ Joseph Tingle ~ Leave a comment

Finally, I played the endlessly praised Yakuza 0.

I understood why the game is beloved in a certain sphere of Japanophile immediately. It takes you back to the time and place that maybe every 90s anime fan wanted to visit – 80s Kabukicho.

I feel in love with the vibe immediately. Then came the random battles, the fighting system, the half-baked management games… halfway through, I’d almost had enough.

I’m glad I stuck with it. Though it had its ups and downs, the final sequence was really exceptional, hitting on the film-like levels that the game occasionally aspired toward.

I’ll be back!

. 

Yakuza 0

Playstation 5, Digital Copy 

Dates Played: September 2023(?) – 2/27/24

Playtime: 36.5 Hours

Gaming Microblog #003: Cyberpunk 2077 (2.1) (2023)

~ Joseph Tingle ~ Leave a comment

This might be a true beautiful, ambitious disaster.

I’d logged around 15 hours into the 1.0, back when it was released. It was not good.

3 years of updates later, I found it not only to be way more playable, but also surprisingly immersive and engaging.

Provocative, thoughtful, relevant, cool

I’ll be back for Phantom Liberty…

.

Cyberpunk 2077 (2.1)

Playstation 5, Digital Copy

Dates Played: 12/22/23 – 1/17/24

Playtime: 26.5 Hours

Gaming Microblog #002: Metroid II (1991)

~ Joseph Tingle ~ Leave a comment

Metroid II brought me into the new year.

Bright and cheerful Christmas decor traded for this soupy green maze of horrors.

It stressed me out. But weirdly, I found it inviting. Lots of secrets here. Don’t let the samey textures fool you – there are new surprises to haunt you at every new level of this labyrinth.

Metroid II

Original Cart played on Analogue Pocket

Dates Played: 12/28/23 – 1/12/24

Playtime: 11.5 hours

Gaming Microblog #001

~ Joseph Tingle ~ Leave a comment

I came, I saw, I conquered. In the end, I freed a genie from a bottle.

He granted me a wish, as all genies are supposed to for their liberators.

I wanted a castle, but it turns out, that wish would require a corresponding sum of cash for this particular genie to make it my reality.

No problem for Wario. Wario is from the school of Hard Knocks, unlike his more popular cousin.

Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land

Original Cart played on Analogue Pocket

Dates Played: 12/25/23 – 12/28/23

Playtime: 2.5 hours