Today I was playing Minecraft and my wife asked me, "is it fun?" The weird thing was, I had no idea how to even answer that question. Is Minecraft fun? I don't know. If hard pressed, I guess I'd say no. I guess I don't think that Minecraft is a fun game. But I don't think I play ift to have fun. It serves a different kind of purpose.
I had a rough week at work. It was one of those weeks where I felt sort of worn down and needed a little time to dust myself off. I mean nothing life-altering or anything. Just a tough week with some setbacks. I'll be fine. Totally fine actually. But y'know how sometimes you just need to take a night and have no responsibility? Maybe you order Chinese food and have a glass of Scotch afterwards and just sit and sort of sulk? That's where Minecraft came in. And so I spent a few nights on the couch sitting next to my wife while she watched TV and I built myself a little world. I called it Pandora - the first name that came to mind as a James Cameron fan. I mean, I also thought of LV-426, but I wanted a peaceful Xenomorph-free world. There's really only one way that I play Minecraft: peacefully. I set it to Survival, as I don't want unlimited resources nor do I want to fly. But I don't want to deal with the bullshit like remembering to eat, or finding shelter from Creepers. Nope. I just want to peacefully build stuff. I want a game that's the digital equivalent of a zen garden. I just want to push stuff around until I make sense of the pieces. And so that's what I've been doing this week... pushing stuff around. Tearing things apart to build something new. Turning nothing into something. I don't know if I've been having fun, but it's been a good way to unwind I guess. It's not the first time I've spent time with Minecraft, though. I'm not really "into" Minecraft, but gosh, I just keep finding reasons to mess around with it. Heck, I even have a copy of the Minecraft Essentials book in my library. So I guess that means something. Or does it? I don't even know if I like Minecraft. I just kind of... need it sometimes? So what have I been doing this week then? Well, I spent some time scouting a place to start. I had a few meh spots until I finally settled on this one area right off of a little beach. So I built a crafting table, then the stuff I needed to make a stove. And then I started working on building myself a two level house out of dirt. It took me a couple of nights. I finished it off by putting in a front and back door, and then some windows - including a nice bay window in the front facing the ocean. Sweet view. Next I collected a bunch of sand and built a super high tower that I topped off with a bunch of torches to help me find my way home when I venture off. And then I ventured off. I went and killed a few sheep so I could make myself a bed. After that I decided to dig down. Luckily my new home was built right atop some easily accessible mines. So I made several trips down there just attempting deeper and deeper with no real goal in mind. It turned into a loop: enter the mines, try to go deeper than before. When my tools broke, I'd take some time to backtrack and find my way back up to the surface. It was right around this point that my wife asked if I was having fun. And I couldn't actually answer affirmatively. I'm so used to playing games that involve a goal. Sure achievements were popping but so what? I play on Peaceful mode so there's no dragons to kill or anything. Instead, I was doing the zen garden thing. Nothing I did mattered. How zen was that? But maybe Minecraft served its purpose this week. It helped distract me. It took my mind off whatever minor defeat had gotten to me. Even if the game amounted to nothing more than busy work, at least it did that well. I can't say that I'll ever be a huge Minecraft fan, but I find the history of the game fascinating. Likewise, I think it's incredible that this game is so ubiquitous with 'gaming' as it is with the kids of today. And that's really why I even delved into it to begin with. Maybe Minecraft isn't supposed to be fun, though. Maybe it's supposed to be something that works out your mind. Or takes your mind away from life. I don't know. Even if I don't have fun with Minecraft, I do feel like it has its place in my gaming life. And I appreciate that. ... Ten months later, here I am playing Minecraft again. It seems like it's become a sort of annual thing for me now. I just got the bug, and I spent some time just kind of doing nothing. It's... pretty great. Over the years, I've had this habit of restarting a new world whenever I start playing again. Mostly, because it was different platforms that made me decide to try the game again. However this time I was revisiting that same world (Pandora) that I started last year. The reason I was in the mood to delve back in lately is an interesting one. Because I've had a lot less time to actually play games lately, I've found myself spending more time watching games recently. Outside of some competitive stuff, I was never really one to watch a lot of game streams. But I've found myself turning on game streams a lot lately with my daughter sleeping on me. It doesn't really matter what game is on, it's just something different to watch and make me feel like I'm sort of participating in my hobby. Games we've watched lately include Kingdom Hearts III (indifferent), Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (meh), Battlefield V (indifferent), and lots of Breath Of The Wild. But for some reason I decided to check out Minecraft videos instead one night and found that it made for a super soothing experience. Again, I'm a guy who doesn't really care for game streams normally, but I've been enjoying this. I watched a dude called Think Noodles (?) work on a huge pirate ship one night and it made me think, "wait a minute... I don't have a boat in Minecraft." So I did a quick Google search and found out that a basic boat can be assembled with some wood and a shovel. I fired up the game a few nights ago, and was back in Pandora. It was a cool experience. I was familiar with the little house I had started and the area surrounding it. I crafted a quick boat and shoved off and found a bunch of local islands. I decided to put a tower with some torches atop one mountain so I'd recognize it for future exploration and then went back home. Then I decided to build a little makeshift spot for my boat to dock near my house. And then I started clearing off the beach outside my door. Then I was sort of hooked on the busywork loop again. Granted, I'm playing in these short twenty minute chunks before bed. But it's been fun. I spent one chunk carving out rooms on the second floor of my house; another I built a tunnel from my house into the caves below. It's certainly not the most compelling video game experience out there. But it is relaxing and a good way to unwind.
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The Saints Row series is an interesting one. I don't even know if it's a good series. But the history and evolution of the games is definitely interesting. Developed by Volition, the series started life as fairly blatant Grand Theft Auto clones. The first Saints Row, published in 2006 came hot off the heels of the run of Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, and San Andreas. And while Saints Row sold well – notably because it launched in the 360 era, but before Grand Theft Auto IV was released, it was never a game that caught my attention personally.
Saints Row 2 actually dropped the same year as Grand Theft Auto IV, and while I've never played it myself, my understanding is that it's mostly more of the same. And had the series' trajectory continued on this way, I'd probably never have played a Saints Row game at all. But Saints Row: The Third caught my attention for being something completely unique. With this third game, Volition leaned hard into their weirder impulses and instead of delivering a Grand Theft Auto clone, they instead came up with a parody of the entire open world steal-cars-and-shoot-people genre. Oddly, I didn't even discover Saints Row: The Third until 2020 after I had read the book, Wrestling With Pixels. It might seem strange that a history of wrestling video games would lead me to this game. But there's a whole big sub-plot involving a wrestler who is voiced by Hulk Hogan. So you never know what you're going to learn and from where. And as I dug deeper down the rabbit hole, I found out about how Saints Row had all kinds of expansions involving aliens, a spin-off that takes place in Hell, a sequel where you're the president, not to mention a shared universe with both Agents Of Mayhem (a superhero game) and the Red Faction series, which takes place way in the future. It's kind of a crazy mess, but sometimes I like crazy messes. I still don't know if I'm missing anything by skipping the first two Saints Row games, but The Third is honestly pretty damn great. By not trying to be GTA, and instead doing its own thing, it feels really unique. And the two opening missions really do a lot to suck you into the rollercoaster ride. First, you're involved with a botched robbery that elevates quickly to involve helicopters. Then you're literally skydiving from one plane to another. It's exciting stuff, and makes you take notice. To fully appreciate The Third, I think you need to put it in context. This game was released in a very interesting period, sandwiched between some major Grand Theft Auto releases. This one came after Episodes From Liberty City – the two major expansions for Grand Theft Auto IV, but before Grand Theft Auto V. To that end, it feels like Volition beat Rockstar to the punch, at least as far as scope goes. Now, I'd have to say that GTA5 is the better game, but The Third is right up there in ambition and scope. Your first order is clearing out Pierce's missions, which result in an ad hoc tutorial. You'll learn to buy gear, drive cars, escort, and so on. But it all feels pretty organic. Honestly, this game does a great job of making every mission feel fun. It doesn't matter if it's a quick objective, or a long drawn out one. Saints Row: The Third is undeniable a good time from moment to moment. Take for example the Genki missions. These are literally a modern day Smash TV. Or The Running Man? It's a reality show where you kill dudes wearing silly costumes in deadly rooms. It's dumb fun and it's certainly not grounded in reality. But it's a blast. Between missions you can screw around and figure out what to spend money on. Do you upgrade your skills and perks? Do you unlock new weapons and upgrades? For me, I've been pretty into just buying as much real estate as I can. In a way, this adds in a weird economic sim that I really enjoy. The more property I buy, the more passive income I have between missions. It's like thinking smart and slow at first, to then have a steadier flow of income later. Just the fact that the game is open-ended enough to offer me this option is kind of great. And let's talk about the open world itself. The open world of Saints Row: The Third is great. It's full of life in a way only really rivaled by Grand Theft Auto V. And much like my many hours screwing around in that game, you can easily decide to just ignore the missions here and pick a direction to go investigate. I guarantee that if you do, you'll walk away with an anecdote to tell. But like I said, the economics of The Third is a big draw for me. After every mission, I check my surroundings and just buy up whatever property I can afford around me. At first, this seems like it does nothing. But after a few hours, you start raking in so much extra passive cash, it's awesome. Then you use that cash to buy more properties. Then you use THAT cash to upgrade perks and weapons ands abilities. It's a great loop. Along with world-building comes an interesting soundtrack. There's not a huge number of stations in-game, but the variety is enjoyable. If I steal a car, I tend to leave it on whatever radio station the previous owner had it set on. To me, this adds a certain realism or at least feels like a proper in-game soundtrack. It's all by chance. If I'm in my own car, I tend to flip to my personal playlist which leans heavily on 80's and 90's stuff. Though I must say that for all the insane over-the-topness of this game, the classical station often fits the visuals rather well. All I know is that any game that can juxtapose classical music next to the Deftones is going to win some points in my book. It's hard to rave about this game seriously, because it doesn't take itself all that seriously. But sometimes stupid fun is just what the doctor orders. Let's say that your wife just had surgery and you've been off of work on short notice and trying to explain to a three year old why we have to let mummy rest. Well, then Saints Row: The Third is probably really good mindless stupid fun. I've played missions this week involving driving an angry tiger around the city. I've played VR missions reminiscent of the bonus stages in Sonic The Hedgehog 2. I've attended a party full of assassin hookers. I've made my way out of a penthouse naked and drugged. I've taken on the STAG – a militant group set on destroying your gang. I've kidnapped a superhero. All of this sounds deranged, but it's barely the tip of the iceberg here. The only missions I truly hate are the Guardian Angel ones. You basically have to snipe stuff to keep a friend alive. These missions are annoying and easy to botch. At least for me. Luckily such trash missions are few and far between. And before you know it, you're back to another mission that knocks your socks off. There's a late game mission inside of VR. I don't even know exactly what the right reference point is. It's a little bit Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions. A little bit Soul Hackers. There's actual nods to Mega Man. And the end battle feels very latter day Final Fantasy. Whatever it is, it's awesome and stupid at the same time. If there's one thing I like in any game, it's throwing me off and pleasantly surprising me. The weirder the better. I don't really care about budgets at the end of the day. And I don't really even care about a game being "good" or "bad." All I care about is a game being interesting. Can you keep me engaged until the end credits roll? That's what's really important. Missions toward the end find you taking down an entire aircraft carrier. And meeting the mayor, Burt Reynolds. And I don't mean he voiced the role. I mean the mayor was actually Burt Reynolds. Oh and then there's a zombie apocalypse. And then you have to do a Fire Pro style wrestling match. All of which culminates in you shooting a movie on Mars. If all of this sounds insane, well it is. But that's honestly what makes Saints Row: The Third so great. It's not an especially great open world. It's not that the writing is exceptional. It's more that it's so surreal and just keeps you invested with constant stimulus from new missions with dizzying variety that it's hard not to smile and have a great time from beginning to end. It's genuinely rare that I finish games like this. Grand Theft Auto V was a shining example. But I have to say that in some respects, Saints Row: The Third beat Rockstar to the punch. Both are stellar examples of the sub-genre to be sure. All I can say is that I'm thrilled that I somehow stumbled upon this game, because normally I'd overlook something like this. But I had a total blast for my dozen or so hour run. And really, the whole thing was so bizarre and unique that I might actually be a fan of the series now. Certainly, I'm more prone to check out other entries for sure. I was a total D&D nerd as a kid. I loved that stuff. I'd read Dungeon Magazine and buy those little pewter figures and read through various D&D rule books and expansions and make up my own characters and stories. I tried my best to actually understand the stuff which seemed a little advanced to me at the time. I'm talking about elementary school years here, folks. So I did my best. I even managed to DM a few games with neighborhood kids, but sadly most of my D&D obsession was something I had to keep as a solitary love. My friends just weren't as into it as I was. The best I could really get out of them was a shared interest in TSR's Marvel Super Heroes since we were all into comic books at the time.
My first experience with something akin to D&D was Dragon Quest on the NES, which I got for free with my Nintendo Power subscription. And a bit later I got to play the first Final Fantasy which seemed even cooler with its four-member party. I did my best to treat these games as single-player D&D experiences. But ultimately they were too scripted. In my older years I kind of grew away from the whole dragon thing. The best way I can explain it is that while I was a fan of those Lord Of The Rings movies, I'd much rather be watching Star Wars, y'know? Sci-Fi has overtaken my nerdom rather than Fantasy worlds. And when it came to games, I long felt like i was a bigger fan of JRPG's than WRPG's. But then like five or six years ago I got around to playing Dragon Age: Origins and it sort of lit a little spark of interest in the Western RPG for me. So I figured I should try this Skyrim game that everyone seems so into. And know what happened? It become easily my favorite Western RPG of all time. It also become possibly my favorite RPG of all time, period. Basically Skyrim was everything I ever wanted out of a single-player video game D&D campaign. The world is huge and feels absolutely endless. There's so many quests and stories to pursue, but truth be told there's far more to do while ignoring the game itself. Skyrim is a world that I adore exploring at leisure and just making up my own little stories as I go. I've spent countless hours doing this - just kind of doing "nothing" and stumbling over weird side quests and having a blast. It's a lot like GTA5 in that respect. But one thing I've never done is just sit down and try to beat the main story quests. UNBOUND That first wagon-ride and escape section is pretty iconic. Probably because like so many Skyrim fans, I've played through it a lot of times. I know I've seen it a few times myself. Given that this is the third time I've even bought the game in some form... yeah. This time I decided to stay boring and go with my usual WRPG roll - a wood elf named Lyna who's big on archery. That was the random roll I got back when I played Dragon Age: Origins, and ever since it's been my go-to character in any WRPG, which makes each one feel like sort of an extension of the same fake D&D universe. Anyway, there's not a lot to say about this quest because it's basically just an intro where you run away. The dragon looks awesome, though. BEFORE THE STORM This quest also just feels like an extended intro because it's basically about traveling to talk to people to warn them about the dragon. But I mean it's also a great opener because it really just says "okay, here's the world. Here's your objective. Just go do whatever you want." Just everything is wide open. I always ditch the companion here and just go explore on my own. I like taking weird routes y'know? And my goodness does everything look lovely. BLEAK FALLS BARROW This is where the game really starts for me - at least as far as the main quest goes. This is where the action really kicks in and you get to explore some 'dungeons.' Of course, you could just do all of that forever without even playing the main quest, but you know what I mean. These catacombs feel so familiar to me. I remember exactly where certain traps are and so on. The big spiders in this game still kind of creep me out to be honest. Oh, and that thief who you save and cut down from the spider's web? He's a jerk and he's gotta get got. I forgot how satisfying the melee combat can be in this game. I found a nice shield (by the way, I don't think I've ever BOUGHT a weapon in Skyrim) and you can really feel the heft of a skeleton's heavy ax when it knocks your shield back. So well done. Sniping with arrows is still my favorite thing, though. Oh my goodness it just feels so good. I took down the first little boss of the dungeon and made my way back out to look upon a frozen mountain range. DRAGON RISING Ah yes, the first truly epic moment in the storyline: killing a dragon. This was certainly a heart-pounding section my first time through, but even now that I knew what to expect - it's still an awesome little battle. You've got the dragon swooping in and blowing fire everywhere. You've got the tower and its surroundings up in flames. I remember the first time I played Skyrim my strategy was super defensive: I went inside the tower and tried to find little windows or clear shots to shoot arrows at the dragon. This method took FOREVER. This time I stayed right out in the open and took some patient and well-aimed shots with the bow. When that dragon came down to get a closer look I rushed in and just started hacking away with my sword. It rushed off and tried to hide behind a big rock and started spraying fire everywhere so I rushed over to the top of that rock and sniped him a few more times in the head before seeing his flesh turn to ash. Good stuff. THE WAY OF THE VOICE One of my absolute favorite parts in Skyrim is the 7,000 steps that leads up to the Greybeards. It's kind of funny to say this because there's not a whole hell of a lot that happens in this part of the game. But for some reason, that's exactly what I love about it. The journey from the last quest to the next is long and lonely and lovely. The decidedly autumn surroundings slowly turn to winter. You can almost feel the cold in your bones. And if you're like me and only playing this game late at night after your wife has gone to bed, then there's just this awesome calm to the game in sections like this. I love it. There's a snow troll up in the mountain once you get pretty close to the Greybeards and I must admit that I have a strategy that I've always used in the past when I'm up here. Basically, I just avoid him at first. You can pretty easily find an alternate route if you're willing to do a little rock climbing. I generally just don't engage with him until a bit later in the game when I've got some fire magic to work with. But I don't know, I was feeling saucy this time. Plus I had a companion - Lydia and I figured, eh let's just rush him. Have I mentioned that I've always found the companions in this game to be pretty useless? Well, the troll totally destroyed Lydia but I managed to take him out while she was distracting him. A combo of arrows and a shout did the trick. In truth, I felt bad about Lydia and I'd hoped to keep her with me a lot longer than this just to see how she could possibly help. But on the bright side, I looted her for a much nicer steel sword and shield than I already had. So there's that. RIP. THE HORN OF JURGEN WINDCALLER This quest is cool because it basically feels like a dungeon crawl. You go into some underground caverns and just explore. It's good stuff. I hate that you finish this quest by failing this quest, also. Instead of the Horn you were looking for you find a note saying that someone beat you to it and you need to meet them back in Riverwood. A BLADE IN THE DARK I got back to Riverwood and everyone wants me dead. WTF? This is definitely NOT part of the quest. Apparently I'm wanted in Whiterun? I try to flee figuing maybe if I lay low the guards would go away, but they catch up to me and then I remind them of who I am and everything's fine. Weird. I don't know what that was about. I must have killed someone important by accident? Oh, maybe it's because Lydia died? Would that piss them off maybe? Hmm. Anyway, I meet up with Delphine and then we go and take a long journey to kill a big dragon. It's pretty great. This is the last quest in Act I and apparently on my last playthrough I must have gotten through a lot more of the story quests than I realized because I remember all of this stuff. DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY Ah, the token stealth quest. Well, I don't play it so smoothly. And I know this. Instead of sneaking in a tiny dagger to do some sneaky throat-slitting, I just bring a huge ax that causes people to run away in terror. It works out just fine. Though I'm not a big fan of sneaking around, I do think that this quest is a pretty cool idea. You have to pose as a party guest and cause a diversion and sneak around a castle looking for clues. It's pretty neat. At least the setup is. A CORNERED RAT More dungeon crawling. And again, I guess I really was a lot further than I realized back when I last played Skyrim. Hmm. This particular series of caves and so on can be a little maze-like. But whatevs. ALDUIN'S WALL And more dungeon crawling! This time with Delphine and uh, that other Blade guy as companions. It's a long journey to get to the dungeon and the three of us killed a few dragons along the way. Y'know, for funsies. The quest itself is kind of funny, because you go deeper and deeper into this dungeon to find this ancient all and it's like you finally get to the room and find the wall and it's supposed to be this big OMG moment, and then right behind that is a door leading back out to Skyrim. It's like... why didn't we just use the backdoor to get in there and skip all those enemies to begin with? Y'know? THE THROAT OF THE WORLD Not so much a quest as a pilgrimage. But it is a very cool and memorable part of the story. You go up to the mountain above the Greybeards and you meet Paarthurnax, the ancient dragon. He's kind of awesome, and he teaches you the fire shout which is the one I use the most. ELDER KNOWLEDGE This is officially where I left off of the main quest on my last playthrough. I had spent so much time doing other side quests and general exploring that I never finished this quest. And I know right where I left off... the Blackreach. I feel like that section has a huge spike in difficulty if you're not doing a whole lot of other side quests and random grinding via exploration. Now, I could have backtracked and found some potions to make things easier but instead I decided just to take it slow and steady. And eventually I was victorious. Blackreach is gorgeous by the way. I love the look of that world. It's like spending all these hours in a rather earthy realm and then suddenly being cast into Pandora. And it's the first time in this playthrough where I really felt my pulse starting to increase the deeper I went into the underworld and dealt with each new threat while clinging on to little bits of life. That Heal spell is a literal lifesaver. And so, some time before bed last night I finally had the Elder Scrolls in my hands. ALDUIN'S BANE A short but slightly epic battle with Paarthurnax by your side. Of course it's no the end game yet, so Alduin's not dead. But he's shook! SEASON UNENDING So this is my first time experiencing the Act III stuff then. This quest is about trying to negotiate a peace treaty between the various factions of Skyrim so that we might work together long enough to take down Alduin. It's not the most exciting quest in the game, but it's a nice change of pace after the longgg battle through Blackreach. I don't really think you can fail this quest, though. I mean your responses probably make changes to the Civil War stuff that I don't really care about so whatever. As an aside, an optional quest started here in which the Blades want me to kill Paarrthurnax. But I'd sooner kill the Blades. Paarthurnax rules. THE FALLEN This was a cool one. So you have to learn a new spell from... someone. I of course went and chilled with Paarth on top of the mountain to learn it. And then me and some guards caught ourselves a dragon who ends up being really cool and offering to help me take down Alduin. So I hopped on his back and got ready for the next quest. THE WORLD-EATER'S EYRIE I had fun in this one. It's a temple full of stuff to kill and I actually went through the whole damn thing via sneaking around and sniping things in the head. It was glorious. And satisfying as hell. Once you get out of there you get to a really pretty area of fog and make your way to a dude who judges you - via battle. I beat him pretty good and he let me cross the whalebones bridge. SOVNGARDE The whalebones bring you to this hall of fallen heroes. It's actually kind of heavy stuff really. You're doing battle in the afterlife I guess? Anyway, this isn't really a quest but more of a little intermission thing. You meet up with three heroes (OF LIGHT!) who you had seen in a memory vignette earlier and they ask you to help them bring down Alduin. And guess what? I came here for two reasons - to chew bubblegum and kill Alduin. And I'm all out of bubble gum. DRAGONSLAYER I know that the quest title is sort of ambiguous, but this is the quest where you slay the dragon... Alduin. And... it was way easier than expected. I didn't even get a chance to try out my new shout that rains down lightning. Drag. Anyway, he explodes into a beautiful mess of ash and fire. It was pretty awesome. PROLOGUE Another ambiguous title, but this is the prologue. The dragons are free to exist in Skyrim peacefully now as Alduin is dead. It's sort of bittersweet, though. Paarthurnax explains that Alduin is sort of a fallen great. And that I just did what was my destiny. I'm glad I refused to kill Paarthurnax. He's awesome. Oh, and that other dragon that I trapped earlier and made a deal with? Now he's around to do my bidding. You hear me? He's going to let me call on him and he'll come rain fire for me. That, my friends, is what's amazing about Skyrim. The main quest is over and yet it only feels like an intro. I've got all these new spells and cool gear. And now I've got a fucking dragon that wants to hang out with me. And I've got a mile-long list of side quests I could do. I mean, I own the strategy guide which is like 650 pages and less than fifty of them are the main quest - just to put in perspective how big this game actually is. Yup. Skyrim is a game you can just keep playing 'forever,' and if the past few years are any indication, I'll probably just keep on doing that. I love Skyrim. It's possibly my favorite RPG of all time. For realsies. |
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