We completed the Zero Escape series with a full playthrough of Zero Time Dilemma! It took me a while to get used to the different style of this one, but once I did, I was all in. A fun entry to a fun series.
Category: Other Content
Guest Appearance – Cutscenes: A Video Game Movie Podcast – Resident Evil: Extinction
Now that this section of the blog is up to date, I can finally announce some current news, and that is that I am on another Episode of Cutscenes! This week was my second appearance, and the third in the series of the Resident Evil movies. Once again, I had an absolute blast, this time re-watching Resident Evil: Extinction and getting to chat to these wonderful people about it.
I am still confused as to my feelings towards this film. What I can say I have discovered is I think expectations highly influence my enjoyment and opinion of a media. If you go back to listen to the Resident Evil: Apocalypse episode you will hear a very different take on that to what I say here.. but is this a better film..? I DON’T KNOW. Please do check out the rest of the Cutscenes catalogue. It is fun, fresh and light hearted content created by wonderful people and they deserve all of the love.
This episode aired on 18/03/2021. Please show them that love by subscribing on your platform of choice, leaving them a five star review, and recommend them to someone you think might enjoy! It all helps them grow and they deserve all the success they can get.
Guest Appearance – Left Behind Game Club – The Nonary Games: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
After taking part in the Psychonauts episode of Left Behind Game Club, I was lucky enough to be invited back on, this time to discuss a very different game. The Nonary Games: 999 is the first in a series of visual novels, full of mystery, twists and turns. It is quite a special series on its own, but in addition to that it was one of the first games that I Lets Played on my YouTube channel!
It was super fun to get to talk about a game that I love, and it was nice to have different perspectives on the show. I have to warn though, you must play the game before listening. We go heavy on the spoilers, and there are a lot! If you enjoy mysteries, a plot that keeps you guessing, unique vibes and escape rooms, it is a must play!
This episode aired on 16/06/2021. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Left Behind Game Club and give them a 5 star rating if you enjoy their content, it helps them out and they definitely deserve it! Have a scroll through their content and I can guarantee there will be some episodes for you.
Guest Appearance – Cutscenes: A Video Game Movie Podcast – Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Jacob McCourt (host of The ‘Left Behind Game Club), alongside friends Katie Lesperance and Travis Colenutt, created a new podcast called ‘Cutscenes’. In this podcast, they talk about movies and tv shows that are based on or around video games. I like to say that they watch them so that we don’t have too! The show is a tonne of fun with amazing segments thought up by these amazing people, and I was extremely lucky to be one of the first guests!
The gang covered the first Resident Evil movie in Season 1 and it was my favourite episode, so I was extremely hype to get to join them for Resident Evil Apocalypse! As someone who remembers these films from growing up and is a fan of the games, doing a re-watch was quite a trip. If you would like to hear the breakdown – both of the film and in laughter – then you can listen below!!
This episode aired on 18/03/2021. If you enjoy please don’t forget to subscribe to them on your platform of choice. They are a joy to listen to and there is a nice backlog there already for you to catch up on, as at the time of writing Season 3 has recently begun!
Guest Appearance – Left Behind Game Club – Psychonauts
The ‘Left Behind Game Club’ is a a fortnightly book club style podcast. Hosted by Jacob McCourt, Mike Ruffolo and Moe Murtadi, every episode they play a game and get together to talk about it in an aim to recreate that feeling of discovering a new game with friends at release. In their ~1 hour show they chat about the game, their experience with it and their opinions via some fun segments. It is a nice easy listen with a great variety of games, it truly is a pleasure every episode.
I have been listening to podcasts for a few years now and this is one of my favourites, so you can imagine how it felt getting the message about being a guest! I was a ball of nerves but the guys were great, and through this show I was introduced to the wonderful world of Psychonauts. If you enjoy 3D platformers, interesting level design, humorous games and a story on acid then I highly recommend playing the game before listening. It is a PS2 game and while it does show its age in some aspects, it is still wholly playable. More than that, I think it is very worth your time! Then don’t forget to come back and hear our thoughts on it 🙂
This episode aired on 28/10/2021. If you enjoyed please do check out the rest of their work. At the time of writing they are 131 episodes in and still going strong! That leave a great backlog for you to catch up on, and it is available on most podcasting platforms of your choice!
Saying Goodbye to my Ps Plus series.
Hi guys, I hope everyone is doing well!
Some of you may have noticed that I am extremely behind on my Ps Plus series. I have made the difficult and sad decision to stop. I know that no-one really followed it intently and most people will just think ‘ok cool’ or ‘do what you need to’ and move on, but I just wanted to explain the decision as it is super disappointing to me – even if it is the right thing to do – and what that means for the channel going forward!
There have been a few things that have lead me to the conclusion that stopping the series is best for me and my channel.
Firstly, I have been struggling to keep up with the number of games that we are getting. One extra game may not sound like a lot, but I struggle to get them all done in one session. I like to make sure I play each game for long enough that I get to see what it is about, for some this requires a couple of hours. That could mean 6 hours a month just recording the games. I don’t want to cut corners so I wait till I have time, which sometimes never comes and makes me behind (with the added stress of a broken capture card and some mental health problems I ended up months behind).
The same applies for my Monthly Round Ups. I love doing these, they feel like a marker to remember what happened each month. However, when I first started, I intended for them to be more heavily edited, interesting, fun videos. As I’ve gotten more into gaming and especially streaming (as well as doing video editing as a day job for a while), I lost the passion for the editing and it became a chore. I also started having more thoughts on the games and the industry as a whole, which I don’t think is a bad thing, but when you add that to 3/4 games per month, it makes the edit longer and longer. I feel like the quality declined in what I wanted to do and that tells me it is time to take a break.
By the time I have recorded all games and the Round Up, edited, scheduled, created thumbnails and made a social media write up, it adds up to a lot of hours and instead of catching up or doing something else, my YT Channel has just come to a stand still. I used to keep clips of all the funny things that have happened to make highlights, make a yearly video, rank the games etc. And as time has gone on, I have done less and less of that. I hate that I have done that because I still think it is a sound idea, but I feel that if I am not mentally all in then I should probably dip out.
My third reason requires a bit of background. I had a few reasons for starting this series. It was back when I was a total noob (can you imagine me being even more of a noob than I am now? Jeez) and I didn’t own very many games. I had already been doing my Ps Plus coverage but in writing, so moving onto video seemed like a natural progression. It was an opportunity for me to get to experience all different types of games, and share that with others, bringing in a new perspective. Since then though, I have experienced MANY games. Back then I knew what I definitely liked, and knew what I definitely disliked, but not a lot in between. In the mean time, I have developed as a person and a gamer.. in no small part to this series might I add. This is a great thing, but on the other hand, there are now many games that crop up that it almost feels pointless doing a video for. Fighting game? Sport Game? Racing Game? More than likely I am not going to be into it. Horror game? I’ll quit after 10 minutes. FPS? Ill enjoy what I play but not feel compelled to go back. Third person open world adventure/shooter? I have either played it, am planning to play it or have watched someone else play it. Indie Game? Puzzle Game? Adventure Game? I probably want to stream it blind it so I don’t really want to make a video. Sequel? How do I even make a video for that? There are lots of patterns in the games given with Ps Plus and all of the above have happened many times. Occasionally there will be a game that I will add to my to play list which is great, but when my to play list is now already 100+ games long, it makes trying out all of these other games feel like it is probably not the best use of my time.
It is not all negative. I have 100% gotten what I wanted out of the series. I have tried some games that I was sure I was going to love that I decided not to play, like Control and The Witness. Equally, I have found some games that I never would have thought of picking up that I really want to play, like Days Gone and Hollow Knight. That was a huge part of what I wanted to achieve, and I am so glad that I know I have helped others achieve this along the way too.
I’m going to be so sad to see this series end. I love all of the random little moments that it has caused, I love the joy I hear from people when I try out a game they love, or a game that is most certainly not a ‘Noob game’. Maybe in the future I will be able to pick it back up, and of course if there was a demand for it I would love to keep doing it, but as it stand I think this is the best call for now. I do have a new super exciting project coming up with a really great friend of mine so please keep your eyes open because it will be starting in the next couple of months, and I am really looking forward to continuing my Indie Showcase series, as well as starting some Let’s Plays that have been on the cards for a looooong time.
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Let’s Play – The Nonary Games: Virtues Last Reward
I really enjoyed my full, blind playthrough of Virtues Last Reward. Every time I thought things were peak crazy, something else happened. And yet somehow it all ended up making sense!
PS Plus – September 2020
September 2020 is here with a new line up of games! I asked for variety. I guess that was kind of answered? We haven’t had a fighting game for a while. In fact, I don’t think we have had one at all since I started covering PS Plus! After having lost of shooters and just coming from Fall Guys which is a variation of Battle Royale, PUBG is a little less variety.
Street Fighter V is going to be divisise, as I feel the Fighter genre is either one that you like or you don’t. There isn’t a lot in between.
I am not a fan of fighters, but as far as fighting games go, it feels like a good one! Lots of different game modes equals something for casual and serious players alike, and extra story modes add another motivation to play. The downside of this is that I was routing for UFC 3 to be a free game and it seems less likely now. Having said that, lately PS Plus has no worries about giving very similar games in quick succession.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is to my knowledge one of the first of the Battle Royale genre to blow up. but it is also one of the only ones that is not free to play.
For a more detailed breakdown you can check out the Let’s Try or the Round Up, but in short, I like the idea of it, but I found it quite hard for beginners to understand. Considering there are so many other options for the Battle Royale experience that are free, I feel like I would rather have had something a bit different. However, I am glad to now be able to say I have tried PUBG, and it will be a boost to their player base.
Overall, this is not the best month for me, but lots of room for discussion. I am finally caught up in time to be able to start doing predictions again! So here is my official prediction for October 2020. Man of Medan.. and Watch Dogs 2.
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Let’s Play – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Back in the day when I was just a baby noob, I played Uncharted: Drakes Fortune. Fun fact – that was my second ever Let’s Play series! I had never really played a game like it and it showed. Three years later, it is finally time to dive into Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
Since then, I have had bits of shooter experience through my Ps Plus series, but mostly, I am in full on adventure mode right now. I cannot wait to see what the game that is widely regarded as the best in the series has to offer!
Let’s Play – Jessika
I was going to play this one for Halloween but got the opportunity to jump in earlier!
Jessika is a German, Indie, FMV Detective game developed by Tritrie Games. This game first jumped onto my radar at the Steam Game Festival, where it was one of my favourite demos of the Summer Edition 2020. I was instantly drawn into the immersive UI and I have a building fascination with FMV games after working in video IRL. Join me as continue beyond ‘that moment’ in the demo and attempt to unravel the mystery of what exactly did happen to Jessika.
Unfortunately, the first two episodes I had some technical difficulties on my end. The audio of the game did not record, so I went back and recorded all of the video logs and some background noise and edited them back in. Sadly (but also obviously) it is not as effective as the real game so please don’t judge the game on that! I had so many technical difficulties through no fault of the game, I think my play through was cursed 😅 The audio issues were solved by Episode 3!
Many thanks to Tritrie Games for the copy of the game, it’s very much appreciated.
CtrlAltNoob 