Backlog Bullshit

The world of gaming moves pretty fast


Some parts faster than others

My gaming schedule is seemingly beset upon me with no clear resolution in regards of clear priority or proper resolution. I’m constantly in need to play new games, especially in relation to writing about them, but can never find time to finish them. A serious issue in terms of productivity to be sure, but I think one more so unique in regards to my attempts of writing about them, in all of their peculiar machinations. A few core examples to help illustrate my point from recent days are titles like Indiana Jones, Warhammer, and Balatro, that I’m consistently at odds with myself on just how much is enough to get the general gist of a game before being able to both write about it and move on. At least with Indiana Jones, there is a conclusive ending, same is true for Warhammer’s single player at the very least, in all of it’s charmingly try hard Bologna Boy Battalion Space Adventures kind of way.


A screenshot from the epic conclusion of Warhammer
40k: Space Marine 2’s finale

Warhammer’s multiplayer though? That’s a tougher nut to crack, though I suppose reducing the answer down to the simplicity of “when enough is enough” without overly complicating the issue is the answer I’m not attempting to write some kind of grand opus deconstructionism of the title after all, nor am I trying to position myself as the go to expert of the Warhammer multiplayer sphere moving forward. With that in consideration, having finished the story mode at the end of January, and having only found the enthusiasm to play a handful of matches in the last month and a half, doesn’t that send a clear enough message to me that the excitement levels just aren’t there and that I should just pull the plug on the entire thing and just move on with my heretical life?


Maybe if I just paint more minis the game
will seem like it’s more fun

More to my point: there’s always going to be another shooter, and plenty of the more competent ones (See: Warhammer) will eventually have to be left behind for greener pastures. I’ve even been thinking about how I want to get back to Halo, truth be told, not even having finished the campaign when I played it on the Xbox One, and having really enjoyed the multiplayer to boot. I’ve also, much like my ridiculously long journey with Rare Replay that I’ve been detailing recently, have been slowly moving towards “100%in” The Master Chief Collection for the better part of a decade now, and still have a long way to go in getting all the cheevos attached to the compilation of titles. Unlike Rare Replay however, deep down I’m fairly certain it will all be for naught, as just the multiplayer aspect alone of the Chief Collection will likely stop me from acquiring every last achievement, but the interest in the attempt remains.


At least I can be rest assured I will never run out of
teabags, no matter how long the attempt takes

I say all of this while sitting on the world select screen of Sonic Colors Ultimate, a game I meant to write about today, which is another title I just started, in spite of constant reminders to myself to *not* start another game on the PS4 until I get the Platinum on Elden Ring, which has been an ongoing project for the last year of time, while my poor Switch (and Zelda to that point) continues to collect dust. This is all the while, as previously mentioned, I attempt to justify another ante in Balatro to see, much like Warhammer, I really *get* the game before moving on, even while plenty of other titles I love sit there screaming “play me” amidst the chaotic schedule that has me constantly on the hunt for a free minute to enjoy a new game.


Ah shit, I knew I forgot to download something

The backlog remains an eternal struggle in a never ending game of tug-o-war…at least I have plenty to entertain me for the rest of eternity.

~Pashford

Ever Dance With The Devil In The Pale Moonlight?

Coming in hot here at the last second.


Effortlessly channeling those 2025 vibes
through my creative endeavors

Just a short share today, but I’ve got to keep on keeping on with my challenge of writing everyday during the month of March. I thought I had remembered the date correctly for my one year anniversary of having started Elden Ring, but double checking my trophy history, it was actually the 2nd of March 2024 and not the third, so oopsie fucking daysie on that one. Good thing this wasn’t an anniversary involving an actual relationship, or I’d be in couch jail right about now. In a ridiculous twist of fate, in spite of a year of playing, I have in fact, not yet started a new game plus of the title, which is slightly mind boggling to me. Though I’ve finished the vanilla experience and the DLC, I am still cleaning up some content on my first playthrough, though I think I’m nearly finished sweeping up the last remnants of obnoxious pain in the ass trash that is still littered about.


Pictured: This bitch
Not pictured: The absolute audacity

I am about to start my quest to find the legendary equipment strewn about the Lands Between to finally acquire my platinum trophy, but I am tasked with besting what I believe to be the last boss left to beat in Elden Ring, which is the infamous Malenia, and all of her bloodrotting glory. I’m grossly over-leveled for the affair, having already gone through Shadow of the Erdtree before I even got to her, and with that in mind, I still didn’t down her my first play session, which is a testament to the wealthy dividends one may muster involving successfully managing the absolutely steamy piles of horseshit shenanigans she manages that I’ve heard so many prattle on about at this point.


A quick visual reference of what to expect when
encountering Malenia

In my defense, my first attempt was a half-hearted drop in the perverbial time bucket, so I’m not overly concerned about her becoming the same kind of roadblocking shit house like Radahn was at the end of Erdtree, given my pedigree at this stage in the game, so her phase 2 Poison Ivy cosplay looking ass is getting launched directly into oblivion in due time, me thinks. I imagine my new game plus will be right around the corner soon after, which is great, cause I may be able to power through this just fast enough to wrap up the platinum in time to play Elden Ring: Nightreign when it launches on May 30th, a title which is suppose to be a multiplayer focused time restricted roguelike remix of sorts using core mechanics from Elden Ring, which based on gameplay footage from the network test they did, is shaping up to be a May 30th, 2025 release worthy of excitement.

Cheers to future ass beatings.

~Pashford

Inanity, thy name is video games

The struggle is real.


Who I’m envisioning as the mascot for 2025

At least, it feels real in regards to not just the complete insanity that 2025 has already launched with, but keeping up with the craziness enough with the same kind of “DON’T PANIC” vibes I advocate for on the regular. That obviously complicates my day to day, including finding time to sit my ass down and write with any regularity whatsoever. I always desire to have more fleshed out ideas for articles in this space, to elevate Active Time Event above just another gaming blog, but alas, to quote a prescient prophet of our cosmic time, if wishes were horses, we’d all be eating steak. With all of that said, I feel as if in a constant state of flux truth be told, in always feeling as if I need to “start again”, as if reigniting the fires of creativity in some kind of conceptual grand gesture to imbue my meager efforts with some well needed feelings of gravitas to frame the whole affair with. Keeping that in mind, I’m not quite sure the number of times I’m essentially going to refer to my own writing endeavors as a “soft reboot“, but I’m speculating the number will indeed be too many, and simultaneously, not enough at the same time. I did make my return to the writing space about this time last year, and while the first half of the year dragged a bit in terms of consistent content, the couple of pieces I did get out were decent pieces of dynamite, setting the stage for a second half of the year resulting in a wild stream of content every day for months on end. A stream of content I may add which eventually ended in November for, uh, tragically disappointing reasons many of you were confronted with as well.


November 5th forced me into doing a perpetual Steve Harvey face for the rest of the year, ngl.

As I made mention recently, this time of year is always devastating for me, as both seasonal depression and related moments of destructive tendencies that are contingent on said moods tend to drag me down to the depths of despair and debauchery in the most nefarious of ways. In those ever present and unrelenting times of melancholic torture that attempt to drown me in chaotic malaise, I seem to catch a serious case of the fuck its I just cannot shake, and the lack of motivation and complete abandonment of what I view as my duties that follows is one of absolutely brutal and insurmountable malcontent that is nearly unrivaled in bloodshed and misery.


Nearly unrivaled

That’s kind of the abhorrently abysmal hole I’m still attempting to crawl out of, on some metaphorically psychological level at least, but this year has been one of the most promising springboards of regeneration coming from a point of stability in recent memory. I’ve at least maintained a decent day to day of gaming and an ounce of respectability in terms of writing about them, far more so than basically any point around the same time in the last 7 years combined in retrospect, which is worth saying. Perspective is everything, and if you’re use to test flights ending with the entire vehicle engulfed in flames and crashing into a side of a mountain, merely having a rough landing where a wing gets bent or a wheel falls off should be marked on paper as a successfully executed colossal undertaking.


Someone made a PS2 about similar subject matter
if my memory isn’t betraying me…

So yeah. Still enjoying my new Xbox Series X, still don’t have a PS5 (work in progress), still somehow enjoying games on my launch Switch, a system which is in extraordinarily dire stakes, with the back cracked in half, the poor damn thing randomly vibrating, and on it’s fifth set of joycons mind you, but still trucking non the less. I somehow still haven’t beaten Echoes of Wisdom, in spite of the title being both a Zelda game and getting in weekly play sessions on the regs, but I’m always enjoying about 7 games at any given moment, so playthroughs tend to take a second. I’m also schmoozing the competitive Smash scene and admiring Animal Crossing up close and person everyday, but I don’t have much in the way of interesting ideas floating around about either at any given moment. This could be do to the notion either feels like an old relationship of some kind, where it’s become more of a way of the everyday then a conscious effort, akin to the nutrients vicariously but unconsciously absorbed that keeps one breathing. A lack of inspiration involving writing ideas could also be predicated on that notion I just know to stay in my lane and realize I’m not within the authority of exterior design to speak with any gravitas on the matter, or wish to give some succulent trade secrets of the Smashing persuasion, but I hold my tongue appropriately when I feel as if nothing of value can be imparted to ye lucky crew of readers and onlookers alike. I suppose I’ll dig deep and attempt to offer insight on both Smash and AC simultaneously for you now.


Love what they’ve done with their village layout. They
have trees and everything. Also, Smash Protip: Don’t
fall off the edge.

See? Rubbish.

I’m continuing to give Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 a shot, even though I feel as if I know me and the game have no real shot of longevity together. The campaign was fine enough, though the multiplayer does feel like it lacks a certain crisp quality involving that bespoke 30 seconds of fun (of Halo legend) needed for any gaming experience to stay relevant for long in this hyper competitive market this day and age. However, I muster the courage to continue my college effort in my affairs with the title, giggling still as I play, watching the big bologna men run hither and thither doing big bologna men like things whenever I play Space Marine 2, wondering who in their right mind takes any of this seriously, but that may be one of the only things keeping me invested in my bologna man space dystopia adventures, so it’s really the small things that count.


A screenshot of one of my more intense
matches playing Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2.

I did also finish getting all the achievements for Castlevania, Order of Ecclesia, the final cheevo involving beating Albus mode, which is just where you go back through with an optional character and rebeat the campaign with an unlockable character after the credits roll, in the memorable style of Symphony of the Night. I do chuckle thinking about the comparative nature of Albus as a character vs others in the series, as while he is relevant to the main story of Ecclesia, he is essentially a dude with a gun in a story involving legendary vampire hunters and demonic entities born of myth and fury. Still, Dracula still has a mouth that one can fire bullets into, which contributes in meaningful ways to dislocating his ass from this reality and then launching his bastard ass directly into hell with relative fucking gusto.


Pictured: a conceptual representation of Any Castlevania
progatonist by the end of their respective game. Not pictured:
Dracula’s immense frustration with being evicted by the
Belmonts every god damn century

On the PS4, I’m largely just focused on Elden Ring, having finished the DLC Shadow of the Erdtree about a month ago. I maintain a pride in having played through both the vanilla portion of the game and the DLC without having used any external help whatsoever, be it guides, videos, walkthroughs etc, and even pushed myself not to summon any player help to fight any of the bosses, which I consider to be a stubbornly bullheaded endeavor of herculean proportions that I’m happy to have seen to it’s bitter end. Though the playthrough of both the title and it’s add-on did put things into a stark perspective, and that is I can’t sacrifice a year of my life to a single game all of the time, as it just simply isn’t sustainable. I realize not every experience is going to be as demanding as a souls-like is, but the truth remains that in this day and age of hyper busyness, combined with a ridiculous slate of games coming down the pipeline, on top of my general desire to have hobbies and passions outside of gaming, I’m trying to remind myself it’s really okay to ask for help and or take a shortcut every now and again, or else one would surely get consumed by the madness of struggle, and drown in the endless sea of everyday inanity in a moment’s notice.

~Pashford

Only Happy When It’s Pain

The grandiose feeling of absolute inanity.


If you’re the type of person who loves the idea of watching
grass grow, and what follows soon thereafter,
boy do I have the game for you

As I attempt to gather thoughts about video games, and pour over news articles within the consideration on reporting about them or providing my own insight into the matter, I am struck with a complete absence of compulsion to do either. The truth of the matter would suggest that ever since the destruction of Raccoon City, I have been adrift on the sea of malaise and discontent within the world of gaming at large.


The stagnation may be an aftereffect concerning FOMO involving
not being able to spend time with my pointy headed boi in this,
his hour of reprise

Which you know, happens. We all have our off days…it’s just when those off days turn into off weeks and then months is when things really start to become problematic. I’m beginning to think I’m going to have to reconsider my approach to either how I process ideas about the industry, or my playtime in general involving video games, cause there is plenty *to* write about, and lots of interesting games to play and share thoughts on, but this current headspace I’m subsisting in is most certainly unbecoming of one who wishes to be a Johnny-Fucking-Appleseed of gaming glory and wisdom for all to partake in.


The escape room involving Johnny
Appleseed sounds so terribly ominous

I still have a litany of games I need to play through, with serious doubts about how many I’m going to see to completion. It’s less me not being interested in them, and more me attempting to prioritize some kind of synergy with writing articles for ATE, as some games are great, but I can’t always necessarily get ideas out of my time with them. I’m still loving on the expansion to Elden Ring, but the experience ain’t exactly a creatively inspiring one, as I’ve gone on about before. A lot of the games I do end up enjoying in question are more due to the experience, making the act of playing and the enjoyment there after hyper non-lingual. More of a feel, less of a tell.


The Power Glove being an interesting example of feel vs tell,
as after you’ve got a feel for it, you will tell others not to

The Legacy of Rust expansion involved with the recent release of the Doom 1 and 2 bundle is a fantastic new episode for the series as a whole, as from top to bottom, it’s a real banger. New weapons, enemies, great level design, amazing OST…it’s got the goods. It’s crazy to think I’ve basically been playing a level of Doom since I decided to start playing through Doom 2 on the PS4…nearly to the day last year. I absolutely can’t remember why I even started doing so, though I want to say I may have gotten wind that Sigil II was going to see a December release last year, and wanted to get back on the Doom train in anticipation. It did finally launch on December 10th, and I remember doing a mad 4 hour binge on Ultra Violence and played through the whole thing in one sitting.


Hell yeah

I am still slowly but surely making my way through Echoes of Wisdom, more or less out of respect for the Zelda series as a whole, though the game is a fantastic follow up to the idea of what was the remake to Link’s Awakening. It is simply time that thwarts me, and little else. The same goes for putting more effort into at least getting the non-bad ending for Portrait of Ruin, as I ended up just getting the shitty one and and calling it a day. I so often treat that which I love with so much flippancy, one looking into my daily machinations would wager I enjoy my enemies and the feelings of contempt more than my compatriots and the warmth of joy on the regular.


The all-consuming nature of failure empowers me with gusto

In some last ditch effort to try and topicalize my writing, Sakurai, father of Kirby and creator of Smash Bros, posted a video marking the end of his awesome Youtube series ‘Creating Games’, with some poignant closing thoughts. Not only did he reveal that the “Bros” in Smash Bros came about as a suggestion from the late great Satoru Iwata, putting forth the notion the fighters weren’t really fighting, but friends settling a little disagreement, but Sakurai goes on to close out with a touching tribute to his former boss and good friend he had in Iwata. An excellent sentiment and worthwhile moment, that reminds us all to celebrate what was, in order to respect how far we’ve come, and to help build an even brighter future moving forward.


Cheers to you, Mr. Iwata

~Pashford

…carry the 42

…and the history books will act as soulless obituaries for a million broken hearts.


Not to step on a cool line of poetry, but unfortunately I started
cracking up immediately after thinking about Donald Duck delivering
a euology

You ever have one of those days where so many small things are going wrong, you start to wonder if you didn’t piss off some wandering old magically imbued witch who now just has your number and is out to get you? These moments are the worst, especially when one remains fearful of this possibility inspite of not being superstitious, but are now furiously looking both ways 6 times before crossing the road, lest their final act within the world was one impatient second short of intuitive judgment.


Happens more than you think

That’s the vibe, in any case, not necessarily the reality of the situation, mind you, but it makes for some more compelling narrative for one’s day to day. Speaking of which, I stumbled upon this interesting think piece from over on Destructoid, which was a decent little write up involving storytelling in gaming, which is a much broader topic than I’m sure I even have time for today before I have to get ready for work, but some minor speculation will be of some much needed enjoyment. The piece does go into detail about how in your face story has to be to justify itself, or more so, the inherently positive nature of more obscure lore servicing games in a more effectively interesting manner, as it allows for players and developers to have their narrative cake and eat it too.


Not literally, in most cases

Which is kind of the point; diversity of options I mean, as not everyone playing is going to have the exact same investment in the finer details of why you happen to be blowing the shit out of some aliens on a random planet somewhere, or the intricate detail that involves a war thousands of years ago as you’re getting your ass ever lovingly stomped on by some mean looking dragon in some broke dick swamp somewhere. It’s cool if it’s there, as it does suggest there was an awful lot of thought put into the world building, and gives one more to chew on after subsequent playthroughs, but a strong narrative for a video game isn’t necessarily walls of texts, ridiculous voice acting, or an hour long cutscene info dumping on the player.


Never go full Kojima

The author brings up Marathon in passing, which is great, because it is such an under discussed classic 90’s shooter from Bungie, and he brings it up with good reason. There is a whole lot of story you really never have to mess with as you make your way through the game, but there is kind of a ton of info surrounding the ethos and atmosphere of the world you are navigating, which again, is great when you realize the fun one could have in piecing the mystery together step by step. I think on some level, it kind of has to be that way, as when you really think about it, there would be no way that wouldn’t feel forced in gathering the hidden lore about Marathon in any easily accessible fashion, as a random crewman talking about a horrifying encounter is not going to help give you a full account of the entire history of the universe as he struggles to draw his last breath writing out a will and testament.


Most dying men usually leaving a lot to be desired
in the details department when storytelling

Maybe one of the more compelling arguments brought forth was Elden Ring’s mention as well, especially when one considers From Software collaborated with George RR Martin to help pen some backstory for the title. The lore is palpable when you are traveling in the Lands Between, everything from statues, to item descriptions, to random encounters with spirits from the past mourning about what has been lost, it’s all there, and seems like an interesting time. Having said that, and in reference to points I’ve made in the past, I am really just here to tear shit up, why everyone is having a pissing competition about some hotly contested jewelry is shit someone else can fucking worry about.


I usually just have more hotly pressing matters to attend to

The author also brings up No Man’s Sky, which I’ve only briefly played, but considering the game is literally about roaming the entire universe, I would be genuinely impressed if some kind of narrative didn’t unfold amidst the vast swaths of reality one would have to contend with. Having said that, it sounds like the game is predicated on ideas related to simulation theory, and within the context of the greater philosophical musings of the cosmos within a virtual reality space, that all checks out. The mind tends to wander when confronting the vast endlessness of space, and one rarely avoids bouts of existential dread when spending any length of time pondering among the stars.


BEWARE THE SPACE MADNESS

Honestly, this is a really great topic which I hope I am able to do some kind of follow up on, as it feels as if my mind is low-key reeling with ideas involving the subject, but neither time nor mood is on my side this day. Oh well, at least it leaves the door open for a new day of even greater questions to look forward to.

C’est la vie.

~Pashford

My Kingdom For A Chao

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!


Crack open a cold one using a boy to celebrate

Damn shame the Friday the 13th game went through licensing hell, effectively kneecapping it’s chances at enjoying a regular shelf life. Great asymmetrical multiplayer game cut down before it’s prime. Bloody shame. *I would* suggest playing Dead by Daylight to get your fix in, as it has a similar approach to the Ft13th title in being within the conceptual camp of a survival horror based asymmetrical multiplayer game, but the same litigious disputes have prevented Vorhees from appearing in that game as well, which is nuts, as in Dead by Daylight, you can play as Freddie, Ghost Face, Michael Myers, Chucky, a Xenomorph, Pyramid Head…hell, they just recently added Dracula if I remember correctly.


At least Jason is available in Multiversus I guess?

Go crack some spines in celebration of the day: it’s how his mom would have wanted to remember him. Putting aside the spine tingling delight of a random day of note, I have only a brief moment to spare in discussing video games, but that is how it rolls sometimes. Usually in these moments, I have to utilize a radically reductionist tactic to see what is worth discussing: does it make me giggle or at least horrify me? The answer becomes clear quickly.


Probably why I’ve been writing about Elden Ring so much
recently

To that point, I definitely gave out a slight chuckle when I read that Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka essentially said a stand alone Chao game spinoff, split apart from a possible Sonice Adventure 3, was not possible (paraphrase). The quote comes from an interview with VGC involving the Sonic boss’ thoughts involving rumors behind a potential spin off, a new Sonic Adventure game, and more.


I very much made the same face as Sonic is making when
confronting the news involving more Chao in my gaming future

The Chao were fan favorites from the Sonic Adventure series, which saw you dive into a massive meta-game involving an almost Pokemon like system involving raising, training, fighting, and competing the Chao against each other, totally aside from the main Sonic experience. You could still gather resources for Chao in the main game, but they felt fundamentally separated in most ways from each other, which begs the questions as to…why one couldn’t just split the two into separate experiences? The Sonic Team boss says it’s just not possible:

“When we talk about Chao Garden specifically, I know everyone’s like ‘I want Chao Garden, I want Chao Garden’,” Iizuka replied (via an interpreter). “But Chao Garden is a piece… it’s part of the whole Sonic Adventure series of games. It’s not a standalone game, it’s integrated into the whole Adventure series gameplay, so we can’t just break it off and make it a thing. And so it’s like, alright, well, if you’re asking for Chao Garden and Adventure 3, then that’s pretty much asking for Adventure 3.“

So the logic he provides just isn’t really there, hence why I giggled when I read it. The whole thing comes off as kind of as nonsensical, as I could think of many ways you could split off the Chao Garden from the Sonic Adventure series itself, turn it into a mobile game, and likely make truckloads of money. But I guess for some reason, in Iizuka’s mind, the “integration” of the two makes it infeasible due to reasons of being packaged together?



It must be just like when you want just the cream in the Oreo,
but not the cookie itself, you know? You just can’t separate the two
entities, because they’re just a sandwiched deal.

It’s a laughable response, and basically just an obtuse way of saying “we don’t care about working on Sonic Adventure 3”, which is understandable on multiple levels. Not only has the studio moved onto bigger and better things, the Sonic Adventure series, outside of the Chao Gardens, has not aged well, and has held up quite poorly to the test of time, with most having mixed reactions to how uneven the games really were. Having said that, Iizuka does go on to say the equivalent of “never say never”:

“At some time, yes, because we hear the same thing. Everybody wants it! I think at some time I’d like to say ‘hey, yeah, we’re making Adventure 3’, but we don’t have plans for that yet. It’s just one of those things that if, if the stars align and it can all happen, then yeah, we’d love to make it.”

C’est la vie, as the Sonic community continues to await with baited breath for the day that never seems to come. Fingers crossed we will all be able to return to the Chao Gardens revitalized and anew one day, and spend time with our favorite little karate chopping, speed racing, demonic little bundles of joy once more.

~Pashford

Daily Dose of Video Game Awesomeness

Amidst the chaos, comfort can yet be found.


I.E: Anywhere this thing isn’t

That ye olde son of a bitch is from Elden Ring, they’re called Finger Creepers fyi, something we both just learned about in the last five seconds, as Elden Ring doesn’t really have a Pokédex of sorts, which is surprising to me. I feel as if a bestiary or compendium of some sort available is extras 101 in the realm of video games, but I guess the lack of immediate knowledge in regards to something like Elden Ring just adds to the whole eldritch horror vibe. The FInger Creepers aren’t actually that difficult to contend with in terms of enemies, but they do have a striking visualization about them, which is ideal for both scaring the shit out of clueless newbies and provoking laughs from strangers on the internet alike. In any case, I was poking around for some kind of headline to report on, but nothing jumped out at me in terms of immediate interest or concern. I’m not sure if this is due to today being kind of a lull of content in the gaming world, or a general lack of energy on my part as a result of what’s felt like a jam packed work week, but it definitely feels a bit more at ease this day, so R&R sounds far more tempting than screwing with insane headlines or the maddening horrors that Elden Ring has to provide. One can only spend so much time confronting the unsettling essence of hyper-fucked death incarnate knocking at one’s door before you simply need a little downtime from the absurd.


Don’t worry, this guy just wants to borrow all of your teeth
forever, no need to make such a big stink about it

I figured since there was no news I wanted to report on, and I unfortunately haven’t really had much time to generate any ideas with new games I’ve been playing…(on top of the tiredness), I would just take a second to talk about gaming in my every day in general. One of the reasons I still haven’t finished say, Portrait of Ruin, which is just one of my focuses in a multi-part article series I’ve been writing recently, is not just because the days are short and the games long, but due to the fact that I still have some of my own regular gaming habits I enjoy tending to. I realize dedicating myself to a single game with every spare second of my day would see it through to completion on a faster basis, but then I really wouldn’t be taking any time to myself when choosing how I want to enjoy my time within the world of gaming, which I imagine would start to grate on my soul fairly quickly, especially if some of the characters above were the guys I was hanging out with on a regular basis.


Dude, we just met. Can we slow it down a touch, here? Why
is everyone in the Lands Between always so 0 to 100?

I’m not a one game man, in any case, and I can’t even remember the last time I regulated myself to only a single title at a time. I wonder if there are many out there who have such singular focuses? Gaming has become so large in many ways, and since I feel so out of the loop inspite of interacting with gaming everyday, I don’t even know what the “average” gamer would look like anymore, so their supposed habits are equally baffling to me. There is a deep seeded interest in maybe doing more of a deep dive into the finer semantics involving such tidbits, but I digress. As I have alluded to thus far, I am still playing Elden Ring, the DLC now to be precise, but it is one of those titles that it’s nigh impossible to play casually in a reasonable manner, so unless you have a solid chunk of time at your disposal, there ain’t going to be much time for dying that you will be able to fit into your schedule.


Sorry guys, I don’t think I’ll be able to fit in being Deathblighted
tonight around 6, I had a bike ride I was planning on going on

Among my daily plays, I do start at 24 hour cycle with some Smash Bros during breakfast, which even after six years of playing Ultimate, I still love the piss out of the game. There is not much to discuss in terms of the title I find, as I feel as if any relevant articles about the game would likely involve the higher end competitive scene, which I don’t keep up with, but I can’t always just focus on games I want to play that will generate articles. It is nice not to have to be highly deconstructive when playing a game from time to time, and ultimately just lose myself in the art of fighting.


It’s always a real high class bout

I have recently written about Mario Kart, which is always a good time. As mentioned in my previous article, the mobile adaptation of MK (Tour) is a delight, and with regularly rotating content and a very active online community, it’s never hard to randomly jump into a race during a lunch hour to get your power sliding rocks off. Plus, you can race as Poochy, which automatically makes this game top tier.


13/10 driver right here

I did Beat Cadence of Hyrule this past week, which turned out to be a massive delight from start to finish. There is still a shit ton of content that remains to be enjoyed within the game, even before I mention the DLC, and I look forward to seeing as much of it as I can before Echoes of Wisdom comes out on the 26th, at which point I will have to move on to the latest and greatest in Zelda offerings. Even though Echoes looks to be more of a safe bet than anything revolutionary, not every game in the series can be Breath of the Wild levels of influential.


Wanting every game to be Breath of the Wild is
definitely a beaten dead horse kind of topic these days

I also usually finish my day with the One, Two punch of gamings greatest pairing, and that’s the Doom/Animal Crossing back to back matchup. I’ve been a big fan of both forever, so playing either series is certainly a creature comfort. With the near endless number of high intensity player created levels for Doom to play, and the effortlessly relaxed nature of the AC games to contend with, they represent a definitional of the peanut butter and chocolate dichotomy in gaming format.


And I’m not the only one who thinks the pairing is completely
metal, either.

And I think that about wraps her up. I usually like to impart some friendly words of wisdom or greater insight as a take away to share with you the dear reader, and days like these where one is lucky enough to enjoy some more relaxed downtime, is a good reminder that success sometimes isn’t any grand spectacle or some epic moment of monumental note. Sometimes, success is just a small moment of joyous piece and quite. Let yourself enjoy it: you’ve earned it.

~Pashford

The Sensation of Alienation

All works and no play makes Pash a dull boy.


I can’t help but feel Marx warned us about this

Super Paper Mario for the Wii did indeed have you briefly engage in menial work in order to progress the story at one point, which was a phenomenal surrealism to me at the time in terms of gaming getting real with it. Maybe not so much in the way that it falls in line with a regular bemusement of mine “it always starts out as a joke”, but that Nintendo was actually ready to run with said joke and make it a real thing you did in a real video game. This isn’t a post about that, but the thought did pop into my mind as I decided how much time I had to write about anything before more or less needing to get ready for work while I was indeed having fun.


Fun might be a strong word

Which is fair, in a sense, as depending on what one is doing in the world of gaming, “playing” can indeed take on different kinds of tenuous forms of relevancy, and these new or less traditional forms of play evolve or devolve, depending on how you look at things, into a more tedious form of labor, I suppose. A labor of love could be a sentiment used to pad the blow of some of the monotony involved with grinding, for example, whether it be just for levels or for a rare gear drop, but the idea stands firm, I would conclude. In my case, playing in the form of work is very literal in a sense, as while I may not care about monetizing Active Time Event, I do try to treat it as a labor of love, and respectfully tackle the subject material with as much gusto as I can feasibly muster given the circumstances.


What I look like after a night of work totally sleep deprived
dying to the same boss in Elden Ring for the 50th time thinking
of a way to transmute tears into punchlines for my next article

Which is why today’s post feels so meandering, I gather. Time is of the essence, this much is always true, when one is fighting against a self-imposed deadline, it would be quite easy to just wipe clean the slate of responsibility with the dry erase marker with the word “Exception” emblazoned upon the side, but then where would the challenge in that be? That does remind me of another great example of non-traditional play in the form of practicing hard games, which can completely deviate from any idea of traditional fun and go full on straight up ludicrous in terms of just how painstakingly difficult the entire session becomes.


Don’t look at the time playing games like Super Meat as insane
bloodletting, view it through the lens of having spilled gallons
of dedication into the experience

I think I did kind of derail my own point there, but I am obviously feeling ranty. Writing about games in essence has a certain burden of proof attached to it within the regards of authenticity or legitimacy I suppose one could say. There is the idea of that extreme efficiency is needed in a number of facets, as one has to get through games, pouring many hours into them, maybe experimenting with multiplayer, testing the title even of sorts, just to finally know what to really hone in on when writing about the game in it’s finalized conceptual form within one’s own brain. That same idea is part of the reason I find writing about either really high quality video games or “safe bets” as it were, almost difficult in a mundane sort of way, as the difficulty lies in the inherent lack of challenge in discussing the title, cause everything just works, is top notch, tons of fans, everyone is looking forward to it, nearly flawless etc. The whole process nearly strains the imagination to even come up with some legitimate feedback that doesn’t come off as apple polishing or at the very least, intellectually worthy on some basic level.


Some games struggling with that worthy merit more than others

To wit: I recently beat Cadence of Hyrule the other day, which is kind of what I wanted to talk about, but between a lack of energy and time, didn’t really feel like I was going to do the title justice in my writings. However, it does relate to the topic at hand here, as while I find myself delighted by the game in it’s entirety, I find that it’s almost inherently less interesting to talk about than the game it was based off of, Necrodancer, as the title is just more polished and ultimately more enjoyable to play, leaving a lot less room for interesting critique involved with the imaginary world I have contended with. I know I might be a bit of a weirdo in that regard, but I can’t help but feel in order for one to feel truly engaged in whatever their doing, gaming or not, they must be fundamentally discontented while doing so, in order to achieve some new form of thought, act of becoming, state of being etc, as traveling outside of one’s comfort zone, even if not literally speaking, pushing one towards a new level of understanding or perspective.


Think this, but less strange

So in the idea of not having more time to do fuller write ups involving Castlevania or Zelda related material, and wanting to issue myself a mini challenge by doing something more creatively endeavoring than just a small report on a headline, I leave you with just a few of these brief thoughts to ponder in your moments to come. Cheers.

~Pashford

Kicking Your Own Ass

My want to engage with gaming remains visceral; the atmosphere of a thousand beating hearts aflame with the essence of passion resonating through my very being. Metaphysically speaking anyways, in reality…


The spirit is willing but the flesh is spongey and bruised

Finding time to not just play, but write about video games ends up being a herculean task, even aside from just working full time. I’m not completely estranged from the idea of why so many gamers usually pick gaming and only gaming in which to binge their crazy little faces off with: there simply isn’t the time to fit much else on the agenda, especially when you have the colossal worlds or competitive scenes to contend with. Further more, when one does have any interests or passions outside the virtual realm, making room on the schedule for pressing matters become downright masochistic, with pain being an odd bed fellow you just end up on good terms with.

The average crowd you see at LAN parties

I have so many plates spinning in the air right now in the form of games to play my head feels as if it is rotating right alongside with them at the speed of light. I don’t know how completionists do it anymore, assuming the pedigree of person who still regularly 100%s titles is not yet an extinct entity eerily eviscerated entirely by their own energies. The pursuit just doesn’t seem tenable with the metric shiton of gaming to trudge through in this day and age, so for any out here still getting through content at a decent click without choking on the breadth of variety you have to choke down in order to maintain your ridiculous pursuits, hats off to you, the furious fires of your commitment rage unrelentingly indeed.


Fear the man with a massive hat collection

I once again didn’t have a gross excess of time to spare this very day, and none of what passed as a topical gaming headline in the news really inspired me to dictate on the ins and outs of it, neither did I desire to start another random game just yet, so I thought I would just do a quick riff on some of what I’m currently enjoying. Having recently beaten Elden Tree, I finally downloaded the DLC Shadow of the Erdtree, as I had been hearing so much about it in the past couple of months. I opted not to do a new game plus of the base content of Elden Ring just yet, as I figured it would be more appropriate to see what is suppose to be ball-breakingly difficult content the expansion has to offer with just the one time through under my belt because uhh…reasons?


Cause being under leveled to deal with whatever the fuck this is
screams solid idea

Was in no way surprised that the extra game content was not made immediately obvious to me upon installing it, which, classic Elden Ring move, amirite? The games devil may care attitude in making apparent the new quest at hand is very much in the spirit of the vanilla content; being intentionally obtuse about direction while giving you the unique opportunity to get your ass completely stomped repeatedly, while the game seemingly smirks at you when the words YOU DIED come up on screen as a friendly way of thanking you for the continued support of absurdity.


Don’t worry, that’s just his way of saying hello

I’m sure that I will stumble upon the content sooner than later, as I am remembering a couple of threads hanging loosely involving some side quests I never saw to completion, so I’m not wildly concerned about being left out in the cold in seeing what Erdtree has to offer. In spite of my recent acknowledgement involving the obvious issues cropping up with refusing to look up information related to elements of the game (I.E. walkthroughs, FAQs, etc) and giving myself a break in the matter, I still have no desire to just tap out immediately if I get stuck on a puzzle or can’t find something hidden in a video game for three seconds and just look up the solution. Part of what makes the medium a cut above other entertainment is the feeling of satisfaction that does come with the power of discovery or besting a boss using your wiles alone.


Even if it feels like having to punch through a diamond wall

Though, the contemplation to cut myself some slack, not beat myself when I can’t figure something out, and in not being so dogmatic about not asking for help when I need it is a healthy step in the right direction, and that goes well beyond the virtual borders of the gaming realm. Too often I find people are perhaps taking for granted the real value of the every day or failing to appreciate the small moments that help to make the human experience such a rich one, and a lot of it stems from falling into bad habits or being derailed or deluded by whatever unhealthy psuedo-social propaganda happens to be ruling the day at the moment. Just like the very criticisms lobbed at the ills that help make capitalistic transform the every day into the twisted, warped hellscape we all endure daily, we would be wise to take caution and avoid the pitfalls that regularly trap us; infinite growth isn’t sustainable, we shouldn’t have to sacrifice our bodies and spirits to feel accomplished, and it’s okay to take a second and just breathe. There’s no point in living if you’re just dead on your feet all the time.

Do yourself a favor: take a moment, slow down, and appreciate yourself.

~Pashford