Gaming Culture

Steam Thinks It Knows Me and Maybe It Does…

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I appreciate the spider graph from Steam and think it’s pretty cool to learn about yourself and your gaming habits, but Steam only has a portion of my gaming data. It doesn’t know that I spent a lot of time with action-adventure games on the PlayStation5. One thing it got right though is that I don’t play as many Metrovania games so when I did play Hollow Knight on the PS4 which was part of PlayStation Plus member-free games, I was pretty hooked. It’s a shame though that the PS4 controller broke. Anyway, I learned that it’s not the genre that I enjoy but who makes the game. Like with any creativity, game design is an art form, and a$$holes can’t make good games because they don’t have a heart (Okay. I paraphrase what my photojournalist teacher once said to me that a$$holes can’t take pictures because they don’t have a heart). I think you get the point and remember kids, it’s important to give people the proper credit even if it’s written by a “doll”.

Lately though, I do tend to gravitate toward games that require light reading and pretty visuals, and perhaps, I am a fan of visual novel games and I didn’t even know it! So next year, I probably will be looking into more visual novel games. The only visual novel games that I have played and written reviews for are:

So, that is why I think it’s funny when Steam thinks it knows me! I only took an interest in visual novels a couple of years ago because I was looking for something that has light gameplay. They don’t require a lot of mental energy and that is what’s so relaxing about that type of game. But I would never make a bold statement to say I love visual novel games because I have only played a handful. You see, I love gaming but there are so many types I have yet to play such as otome games. It’s my dream to play every type of games out there so that I can declare myself as the Queen of games LOL (Now, I am just poking fun at myself). I know some game developers look down on games because society thinks they are just toys. I get it. The world will be in trouble if everyone play video games. but the world will also be in trouble when there’s no more coffee, cigarettes and gasoline and of course, the ultimate villain–the internet! As the saying goes, technology is a double edge sword. That is very true.  A friend of mine from Bangladesh once asked why do locals like to hike so much? Now you know why… It’s always nice to get some fresh air because if you stay inside your head too much, you will go crazy.

Someone must be going crazy to make a survival horror video game that takes place in the woods in Washington State. I am talking about Alan Wake that is. From what I remember you just run in the woods…Now that I think about it, that some intense forest bathing.

I think ramble on too long about games and cracking jokes that only I might get. I just want to make up for the time I did not publish last week.

P.S.

I was looking through my old pictures. Around this time of year in 2019, I was at the Living Computer Museum in Seattle. I don’t consider myself a techy person, but growing up in the Greater Seattle area, like most kids, I picked up on video games because it was in front of me to play and it sure brings a smile to my face. You see, video game is a product. It doesn’t define a person’s integrity. So it’s hard for me to say, “We are what we play.”

On Introspective & Media Representation

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“What you enjoy is a reflection of you.” I agree with this statement to some extent. While I identify myself as a Fromsoftware fan, I have never been the machoistic, bully type found on Twitter (now rebranded as X), telling people to git gud if they suck at video games nor was I the vocal type that attracted a big crowd of gamers to come together and created a positive gaming community. The latter sounds nice. I admire those who can interact and lead an online community, but that is beside the point I am about to make: When a friend of mine learned that I am a fan of the Soul’s games she immediately asked me why there was a Satan in the front cover of Dark Souls III, and why do I play a satanic game? You can find the long answer here in this blog post I’ve written a while ago: Dark Souls: What the Bonfire Says about Humanity. The short simple answer is I like to play a good game. Elden Ring has everything I want: good story, adventure, exploration, puzzles, character-building and dolling up in different types of armor! Well, I can deal without the massive open world, but I am not complaining so much about it anymore because I am having a good time with the game. So, if that above statement is true about what you like is a reflection of you then anyone who likes this game is pretty epic. I can take the compliment. 🙂

Currently, I use my Instagram account as a billboard to showcase video games pictures I have taken so far in Elden Ring. Like most folks, I do enjoy taking screenshots. Initially, I wanted to share it here, but there’s not a lot of media storage under the personal WordPress plan, so I stop storing pictures in the media library. Feel free to check out my Instagram account. I may also use it as a place to announce blog updates. Not sure though if I will stick with it, but let’s give it a whirl. I hope I can represent the medium in a fairer light and also personalized my blog a bit. You know…give it some personality.

Coming Up~More Elden Ring content

Resting at Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy Site Grace
Resting after defeating an optional boss fight: Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy. Had to take on Lady Tanith’s questline in order to unlock Rya’s questline.

So far, I have completed Rya’s, Sellen’s the Graven Witch, and Sorcerer Thop’s questlines. All of their dialogues add to the richness of the story. So, I am glad took on the quests despite having to invade other worlds, which ironically, despite playing all of Soul’s games I have never invaded someone’s world before until now. And oh boy I do feel bad even though it’s the NPC’s world and it’s part of the game! Look out for more blog posts from Elden Ring as I have some insightful thoughts to share! 

Selecting A New Game to Play

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So far, I’m proud to say I start the year by completing games consistently and they were games I find enjoyable too! By now, like most folks, I know what sort of games I like and what I don’t. For instance, I have never liked FPS and nothing about it appeals to me. It looks boring just shooting people for the sake of shooting. However, I do enjoy third-person shooting games, particularly survival horror games. It’s fun to shoot zombies. Maybe it’s time to switch it up. As I am typing this post, I already finished my 2nd playthrough of the Last Guardian and wonder if I should platinum it. I also wonder whether I should dive into the game a bit deeper. I’ve seen a couple of great analyses and I am beginning to formulate my theory about the game. Then I look at my Wishlist and decided maybe I should just move on. I have seen a few horror titles on my Wishlist going on sale and I am still debating whether I should purchase them.

For those who are new to my blog, my backlog is pretty small because I tend to play everything I purchased. My backlog used to be about 12 now it grew to about 20 titles that I have not played. Oddly, I can hear some people laughing because some people have over 100 titles they haven’t even touched! To me, 20 unbeaten games is a lot since I am the type who likes to play games multiple times. Thanks to the very long games! It doesn’t help that I am a completionist either! I suppose I should not feel guilty about my small list. Many people have a lot of unbeaten games and the list just keeps growing over time. Hopefully we are all accepting adults and can appreciate our differences.

This made me realize how appreciative I am of the Wishlist on Steam, it helps me stay focused and keep track of potential games I eventually want to play. So far, I completed half of the games I purchased on Steam. I thought I would play Dark Souls 1 and 2 again but I have already played enough of it on console! So I guess that doesn’t count as my unbeaten games. Ikaruga is probably the oldest game I have on Steam that I have not beaten. I can see myself spending hours on this game. Arcade games tend to be very unforgiving. There’s no save point. So, you just have to get good at it until you see the credit rolls. Maybe one day I will focus on that game. For now, I just want to focus my energy on story driven, atmospheric games. They tend to be the most relaxing. There’s something about good art that captivate the soul.

Between the horror games I mentioned above, I think I am going to check out PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo. Why? Because I’m up for a good supernatural, mystery game. Well that’s what I’m hoping. It will be released on Mar 8th. Right now, it’s currently 20 % off until March 23rd–and maybe if I like it enough I will do a review or if I don’t like it, I probably will drop it but I highly doubt that because I like the art style. Plus a story about ordinary people being thrown into extraordinary events is always a great selling point for me!

And yet I want to revisit Darkengard (PS2) and. Drakengard 3 (PS3). These games I started but did not finish thoroughly because I’m interested in its story more than the gameplay which is monotonously boring. Perhaps, if they’ve been siting on my backlog for awhile, maybe it’s just time to move on. I am not as dedicated as I used to be with completing games unless I really like the game! At the same time, my time is just as valuable or even more so than a game. Time is something I cannot gain back so I have to be selective with games.

So, what game have I decided to play? I suppose you are just going to have to check back at a later time. Don’t we all like some mystery? I know I do!

The Argument Against Books as a Form of Superior Medium to Video Games

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I have been meaning to make more time to read, but sometimes I get discouraged from reading one bad book after the next which are supposedly bestsellers (keep in mind, it’s a matter of taste). Hence, it’s why the book department in my blog is rather bleak and lonely. I have only reviewed one book so far: Handmaid’s Tale and quite frankly, I didn’t enjoy it all that much. I am not completely ruling out books for this blog because I am the poetry huntress. My passion is very particular in that essence. But I struggle to find a good book to read or maybe it’s just that I struggle to find a genuine book to read. So, I’m in a bit of a dilemma.

I used to read a lot as a kid. I fell in love with books before I even started playing games. There’s something about the written word that makes it an intimate experience between the author and the reader. So, it’s hard not to fall in love with books. But games consume most of my time nowadays so I started wondering why I play more than I read, knowing that books are great ways to formulate new ideas and open more dialogues.

And so, I begin to ponder…

There are several films adaptation inspired by books. So, it’s not hard to pay tribute to books as the superior medium. And many video games are inspired by films. Did you notice a pattern here? The video game is a baby learning to walk on its legs, wanting to be recognized by its older siblings. Part of my maternal instinct is I want to see the baby grow. This brings me to conclude why I don’t read as much as I should nowadays: If people read purely for entertainment and the artistic aesthetic, then I want to argue that video games are just as good as books. And perhaps even better than some books in terms of delivering meaningful content that adds value to our lives. Partially this is why I still hunt down to play a good game and why I rather invest in playing games than reading. Out of love for the medium, I want to see it grow into something respectable in the creative community.

Every time, I think about why I created my original blog back in 2016, I kept circling to the same idea: I’m writing to advocate and educate the creative community. I write as a creative outlet because my soul depends on it and I want to share with the rest of the world what I enjoy. Video games can be great companions for those of us who are on the shy side. And on a personal level, video games gave me the inspiration to write most of my songs as mentioned in one of my posts. It’s like we are all connected. Books inspired films. Films inspired video games, and video games inspired me to write songs.

With this whole pandemic thing–isolation is not normal behavior even for an introvert myself. Some alone time is good, but too much is detrimental. I think video games have comforted some of us in some ways to help us cope with mental stress. So, let’s give some respect to video games because self-help books aren’t for everyone. Sometimes the bottled-up emotions just have to go somewhere and for me, it’s shooting virtual scary dogs. Well, I guess it’s time to go shoot some skags in Borderlands 3 now!

Picture credits

If you are just stopping by this blog and haven’t already, please check out some of my blog posts on games that I think are better than books in some ways. Until next time, see you later!