Shane

It was a nice, humid 101 degrees when I left work today. As someone who has never lived in a house with AC, fuck this weather. It's currently 87.5 in my bedroom. Blah.

https://youtu.be/_9YYYVG0YQI As someone who loved the Naval stuff in Black Flag, I am all the way in on this.

Got the PUBG trailer I wanted. That'll be a day 1 purchase. What I didn't expect to grab me was the Metro Exodus trailer. That looked real good.

Killer Bees? Or did they win the UWF (Abrams) titles? Strangely, I can't remember a damned thing about that title lineage.

I'm chomping at the bit for them to announce PUBG for consoles. Watching the Giant Bomb and Waypoint crews play has me convinced that it's the game to get me back into a multiplayer shooter. I suspect that I'll be terrible, but also that I'll have a blast.

Like I said earlier, I'm still super early in the game, but what I found surprising is that, so far, I actually really like those four main characters. I think I was, based on prior FF protags, expecting them to be far more insufferable. And maybe they will wear thin later, but so far it's been a shockingly subtle portrayal of male friendship. Wasn't expecting that at all. There are annoyances, like hearing the same bits of idle party chatter repeatedly because I'm not charging through the story, but that's just one of those video game-y things that most of us are used to.

Oh, for sure. I'm 1000% a guy who likes games that let me check tasks off of a list. Makes me feel productive when I want to play a game but not progress a storyline.

Borrowed a copy of FFXV. I've put in maybe 7-8 hours since yesterday. I'm still not sure on this one either way, but I do think it's growing on me. May have to go out and buy it, as the library copy I got at work is only good for a one week loan. Probably fairly cheap at this point as well.

That's where the "despite knowing better" part of my post comes in, I guess. It would be nearly impossible to derive more entertainment from that game as I did reading about J.T. banging his head against it! Maybe I'll just do the free Game Pass trial instead and see if anything catches my eye. I mean, I never did get around to playing much more than the first half hour or so of Bioshock, for instance.

100%'ed Lego City Undercover last night. Not sure what to play next. Sorta wish, despite knowing better, that Watch Dogs was the free Gold game for the *first* half of the month, as that sorta game is what I'm in the mood for right now...

Far Cry 2 is a fascinating game. Not sure it's where you want to start the series, though, for a few of the reasons mentioned already and some other frustrating stuff that hamper an otherwise great game. FC3 streamlines a lot of that stuff. Great gameplay, but the unlikeable dudebro shits that are the protagonist and his crew may turn you off a bit. FC4 is, in a lot of ways, more like a 3.5. Not a lot changes save for the locale and story stuff. Both 3 and 4 are worth the time, though. Haven't played Primal, but that seems to be a really different thing from what I've seen.

Started listening to New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson today. Not sure I've read anything by him before. Probably not the best starting point, either. Not really digging the narrators much, but I'm into the story enough that I'll give them a chance to grow on me.

Looks like Primetime will be the next drop. There's a batch surrounding WM3 that have gone up this week.

It's been 6 years since Larry Sweeney died. He's a guy I think about a lot. What would a guy with such an outsized personality and sense of humor been able to accomplish on today's scene? #12LargeBrother

I'm at ~90 shrines and two Divine Beasts (bird and elephant) down. Played 80-ish hours and I'm still loving every single second of this game. I need to farm some gems so I can build up my rupee count. Fairy fountains get friggin' expensive.

Me neither. I'll have to hunt around for her. Beat my first Legendary Beast this weekend. Trying to find the gear that'll let me head to Death Mountain, as it's the only part of the map I've barely explored. Also did the main thing in Hatenow Village. Gotta follow through on the associated quest line. Man, this is the first game in a long, long time that I think about even when I'm not playing it.

They've started uploading Mid-South TV. Six episodes or so today. Starting in December '81.

I was planning to do the Rito one first. I understand that the reward is quite useful. The others I'm likely to just do when I'm in the area.

I think I'm at 60 shrines or so. I'm avoiding looking at any guides, so I've got no doubt that even finding them all will be a challenge. Theres also a handful that I've found, but haven't figured out yet. All in all, I think the puzzle shrines are my favorite part of the game. Least favorite? Rain. Good god, the rain. Seemingly every time I have something to climb!

Figuring out the timing on parrying Guardians has changed the game. No longer will poor little Link be victimized. I may be 40 hours in at this point. Still haven't done a dungeon. Collecting Shrines and just exploring has been so much more fun than I was expecting. How far are y'all?

Watched the Giant Bomb Quick Look when it got posted and, after looking to see if there were any major hiccups being reported on the WiiU version, bought it yesterday. Put around 90 minutes into it and had to quit, fearing that I'd stay up all night. It has the hooks of something like Skyrim for me, with the added bonus of Nintendo polish and an art style that just resonates more with me. I'll be pumping a lot of time into this one.

Started the new John Darnielle novel, Universal Harvester. Though it's a far more conventional book so far, I'm getting really similar vibes to something like House of Leaves. Like, everything in that world is just slightly...off. I like books that make me feel uneasy in a way I can't necessarily express. Brought the new Gaiman book on Norse Mythology home as well. That's likely the next thing I'll read.

Though I've bought a ton of these as gifts, I'd never gotten any for myself. Not really anywhere nice to display them. That changed this past weekend, when I saw both the Axl Rose and Slash pops at the local 2nd and Charles. Couldn't find Duff, though, so now I'm on the hunt. And since I'm such a friggin' completionist, I fear what might have been started...

Here's the full list of stuff in that Freedom Bundle. 100% of the $30 fee goes to the ACLU and/or Doctors Without Borders.

http://toucharcade.com/2017/01/27/penny-arcade-announces-tabletop-focused-pax-unplugged-event/ So, a tabletop-focused Con in Philly? That could be fun.