A New Year for Gaming

I finally have everything situated and am happy to announce that I now have my own site! I’m still learning the ins and outs of it all, but I have gotten things looking the way I want them to for now and I am excited about what’s next for me. I would’ve posted sooner, but importing from Blogger and fixing everything took a while.

Here I am now, though! It’s a wonderful feeling to have more creative control and not run into the same roadblocks I was with a free blogging platform. I’m thankful I was able to transfer everything over as well! With the new year underway, I thought it would be a wonderful idea to go ahead and give an update on what games I’m playing to start the year off.

Now, last year I tried my best to stick to one game at a time or at least one per platform. I will say though, that I’m back to my old ways and I’m honestly okay with it. As long as you are enjoying what you’re doing, it doesn’t matter how you do it, right? Everyone’s experiences with gaming, or any hobby, will always be different then someone else’s. That’s what makes all of this so exciting!

I’ll go ahead and mention that before the year was up I actually managed to beat Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, so that makes it my last game beat for 2020. I’ll write about it later as it was a wonderful game. I had a great time with it. I am very pleased with where Ubisoft has taken the series.

Speaking of games beat in 2020, I also finally put together a top ten list for my year. Now, this was pretty difficult but I think it reflects the year perfectly. I made it on Listmaker, but I’ll just go ahead and list them here.

1. Last of Us Part II. No questions about it. The first one was my all time favorite video game until this one came out. Naturally, it blew me away and easily took over as my favorite video game.
2. Celeste. A lot of thought went into this one, as it very well would’ve been number one if I hadn’t played The Last of Us Part II. This game was brilliant though, and it certainly captured my heart and hit close to home.
3. Secret of Mana. This was one of the first games I played last year, and it still comes to mind. I had such a good time playing this SNES title and it definitely became one of my favorite RPGs ever.
4. Animal Crossing: New Horizons. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, as I almost have 300 hours in this title. As the year went on and the holidays came, I fell in love with it even more. I have remodeled my island three times and finally settled on something that looks organized and natural. I am looking forward to another year with my villagers.
5. Ghost of Tsushima. Easily, like most games on this list, this title could’ve been number one as well. Sucker Punch created something fantastic here and I can’t wait to see where they take it.
6. Stardew Valley. Wow, what a game. Like Animal Crossing, I have way too many hours in this game. I think given the circumstances it could’ve been higher on the list as well, but I felt that the other titles beat it, if only by a little bit. I am excited for the next update! Since I am playing on the Switch, we don’t have it just yet but when we get it my roommate and I are going to start a beach farm. We are extremely excited to experience it.
7. Octopath Traveler. Arguably, it could’ve taken Secret of Mana’s spot but with further thought, I realized that this game wouldn’t be what it is without games like Secret of Mana that paved the way for RPGs. The pixel art in Octopath Traveler is obviously inspired by the SNES era, and it shows. Regardless of it being my number seven, it was a wonderful experience.
8. Shadow of the Colossus. Here we have another title that definitely made me feel things. The story telling of this game was so simply but so effective. There aren’t many games that can match that feeling of climbing these colossi and feeling so small and weak. When you finally take them down it feels so rewarding.
9. Super Mario Sunshine. I could’ve just put down Super Mario 3D All-Stars since that’s how I played this game, but I felt that since they were three separate games, this made more sense. As my favorite of the three, Super Mario Sunshine sparked so much joy and happiness in me. It is a refreshing and different title that is definitely decisive among fans, but came out on top for me.
10. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Mile’s Morales. Figuring out this last spot was tough for sure, but this game deserves to be on this list. Insomniac did wonderful things with their first Spider-Man game, and this is no exception. Miles Morales is a wonderful character and I really enjoyed playing as him and experiencing the differences in his powers from Peter’s. I’m such a sucker for Sony exclusives, I’ll be honest about that.

To bring in the New Year, as I imagine most of us Animal Crossing players did, I celebrated with my villagers. My favorite thing about this game has been the holidays, and New Year’s was certainly exciting. It was such an adorable experience, and one to remember for sure.

With New Year’s day over, 2021 began and I had already started on Immortals Fenyx Rising. This game is available on every platform since it is another Ubisoft title but I am playing it on my PlayStation 5, naturally. I have thoroughly enjoyed it though, probably more than Assassin’s Creed. The open world here is packed with things to do and see. All of it is worth your time too, which is wonderful. I can’t wait to complete everything it has to offer and write about it.

Here is where my old self starts to show though. I am working on Immortals Fenyx Rising and enjoying it but my roommate just got his PlayStation 5 finally so we have been enjoying Temtem together. Temtem is a massive multiplayer creature-collection game. It is much like Pokémon, but you can go on the adventure with a friend. Every battle is a double battle so you and your friend both participate in each battle. It has been so fun and I can’t help wishing that Pokémon would take this turn as well. Of course, you can play alone as well.

I also recently revisited Borderlands 3 with another friend of mine and it’s been great. This time though, since my PS4 deleted all of my saved data early last year, I started with Moze, the gunner. She fits my playstyle perfectly and I love jumping into her Iron Bear suit and wreaking havoc on our enemies. We’ve been picking at it on his days off. Also, I’ve been playing the PlayStation 5 version, which utilizes the adaptive triggers and it’s crazy cool.

That about sums up everything so far. As you can see, I have my hands full with games this month, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s always been how I’ve enjoyed gaming and it feels almost like coming home. I hope all of you are enjoying the games you are playing as well. This year could go either way right now, but it’s best to do everything we can to make the most of it.

I plan to aim for at least one post a week, if not more. I’ll be writing about the games I play, but I also want to do some general thought pieces as well. I’m excited to see where I can take this site. As always, thanks again for reading and following me on my journey.