I am starting to get back in the groove of things. I want to write again and while it’s probably not where it was say a year ago at this time, but I’m trying to realize that writing only helps my mood. When I don’t write, my depression kicks into high gear and I’m really a bother to about everyone I care about. I know it seems silly, but it’s the absolute truth.
That aside, I should be doing a review for the remastered blu-ray set of Superman: The Animated Series soon. I reviewed the dvd set about 10 years ago and while some of my old comments will carry over, presentation and extras will need to be re-evaluated. Most people know I am way more of a Batman guy, but even I will admit that the Superman Animated Series was very well done. Furthermore, this will be my first introduction of the series to my son who loves just about anything that’s superhero related. So that alone will be the worth the effort I put into it.
Other news, I dropped Hulu recently (my son wasn’t happy but he has plenty to watch) due to the loss of the Food Network, ID, and other networks. I naturally subscribed to Discovery+ which became their own streaming service. It probably didn’t help that Hulu raised their prices as well. So far, so good on the service, it has a huge selection of material (I did not realize BBC and Animal Planet also have material on the service) and I’m only have a minor issue with some of the subtitling. But no longer am I subject to the random seasons that Hulu seemed to have of my favorite shows.
On to video games, and the last couple of months I’ve been going back and visiting older games that I never completed. We aren’t talking AAA titles here, but remasters like the Dig Dug series or Sega Vintage Collection: Golden Axe which I were able to complete after all of this time. I finally beat the heart on Slay the Spire with the Watcher which was the last class I had not done it with. (Was quite proud of that victory). I even went back to Ziggurat, had a successful run and knocked down three more achievements.
However, a couple of those games that I did go back and visits did not wield any success as I tried Crysis 3 again only to fully realize what my trouble was six years ago when I played it last. I basically suck at any first person shooter not named Doom and Wolfenstein but never seem to learn from my mistakes. I also went back and tried the remaster of Galaga and while I did net one more achievement, the challenge stages are much too difficult to 100% as they require a ton of repetitive button mashing (something I was never really good at). So back those two titles went to probably not be seen again for a few years (at least in the case of Galaga, Crysis 3 I am probably done with).
As to what I’m playing now? A combination of two games for the most part. I am playing a game I’m sure a lot of people recognize in Hades which is my current rogue-lite game of choice. I’m not sure if I would put it in the elite company of Slay the Spire and Ziggurat but it is a great deal of fun and I did finally beat it for the first time very recently. I am not consistently winning yet (in fact I still have only won once), but I am getting to Styx a lot even with weapons that I was having trouble with initially. While I am nowhere near the level of player that I have seen on Twitch doing these runs, I am having fun with it which is what’s important.
The second game I am getting through is a game I finally started earlier this year in Murdered: Soul Suspect. I mean the game is seven years old at this point but it does take a bit of dedication and persistence to find all of the collectibles which in my opinion is the game’s only major flaw. I have found 179 collectibles I believe and I just started the museum. I realize I am in the home stretch of the game and hope to complete it by Thanksgiving. A younger Michael would probably go back and play it again on 360 but I have way more things to play. The only game I really am double boxing at the moment is Scott Pilgrim which calls back to my River City Ransom roots.
Anyway, we’ll cut it there for today. Expect to see more of me as I ramp back up my writing/blogging and get out of my funk. It’s better for everyone involved. Enjoy.
