In my gaming era
December 23th, 2024
I haven't really played video games since high school. I've been thinking: no time for games! I have to prepare for my university entrance exams! Then I got into university, and now there's some exam looming on the horizon at any given time, so I'm in the perpetual state of "No time for games! I have to prepare for the exams!" This semester is going a bit more smoothly than the previous ones, though, so here's what I've been playing lately.
My significant other recently showed me "A Short Hike". It's a game about coming to visit your aunt who lives in a distant cabin in the mountains. You're waiting for a call from someone very special, but there's no cellphone reception, except for the highest peak of the mountain, so you go on a short hike to the top of the mountain to make that call.
It's a very small game — 1-3 hours long. You have to parkour, rock climb and glide in it. My boyfriend sat beside me the entire time I played it, enjoying how much fun I was having. The closing scene is breathtakingly beautiful and I was playing through it with tears in my eyes and my mouth wide open, and my boyfriend cried too — from being able to give me such an experience and seeing me so happy.
I also randomly purchased a Wii U to play Splatoon. Saw a listing in good condition for very, very cheap and knew I have to get it. Me and dad met up with the guy who was selling it the same evening. The seller lived in a small house almost outside of the city, in a place with no civilization whatsoever, surrounded by a forest, no asphalt on the road, no street lights. He invites us to the house, and we can smell they're definitely keeping a chicken coup. He takes us to his room, and there are assembled lego sets everywhere, on every single surface, and where there aren't lego sets — there are bourbon bottles. I'm not joking, he literally had at least a couple of dozen bottles scattered everywhere. And lots of different consoles. When we were leaving, we also noticed kids shoes at the door. A very funny and strange acquaintance.
I really enjoyed Splatoon on Switch several years ago, but online functions on Switch are hidden behind a paywall and dad eventually modded our console, so couldn't play it anymore. Nintendo closed all servers for Wii U a long time ago, but there's Pretendo — a FOSS replacement for them. Now I'm playing Splatoon again on these pirate servers and having tons of fun!
Also started playing Pop'n Music on my PS2, got a dedicated controller for it. It's TRANSPARENT! My favorite genre of electronic devices! I love it when you can see the motherboard inside :^)
Pop'n Music is so much fun, it's as if the whole game was made to cater to my taste. I play it on the TV, and dad likes to come and watch me play it. He says he gets this feeling of immense coziness from seeing me playing. We are spending the long winter evenings like that, all gathered in one room — me playing Pop'n, dad playing his own games on the computer or watching me play, mom doing her own thing.
Another notable game I played recently is Balatro, it's just too good! I already wrote a bit about it here. It's a new genre for me, never played games like it before.