JohnnyBGamer

Driving Through Life: Detours

Suddenly, I slowed my car to a stop. Up ahead, all I could see were brake lights along with the sharp strobe of emergency vehicle lights. My morning commute had come to a standstill. As the cars in front of me started turning around, I knew that I needed to find an alternate route, a detour.

I have been stuck in a rut lately and didn’t even know it. Since January, I have been listening to the Dungeon Crawler Carl books on Audible. For anyone unfamiliar, Dungeon Crawler Carl follows Carl and Princess Donut as they battle their way through the dungeon one floor at a time. I just finished The Gate of the Feral Gods. Book was bonkers! But what impresses me is how author Matt Dinniman keeps everything moving forward by keeping all of the details at hand. He seriously has to have a bible that contains plot points yet to come and plot points set into motion. What I don’t like are the occasional sexual jokes that seem baked in for fun but veer into the uncomfortable (at least for me). But I committed to finishing the series. I want to know what happens.

But speaking of ruts in life, listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl became a big rut for me. Listening to the books, day after day, became boring. And the books aren’t boring at all. I had just listened to one too many for months on end.

I decided to climb out of my rut. I finished The Gate of the Feral Gods and then put the series on pause. I picked up two books:

The Orb and the Airship by Jenelle Schmidt

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman

Both books stray away from the science-fantasy and literary role-playing game elements, leaning instead into steampunk and traditional fantasy.

I have been reading The Orb and the Airship on my Kindle. This book is about two friends who are going to school, Gandalf, and sky pirates. The book has been sweet (not sickly so). Reminds me of Brian Jacques Redwall series… and my friend Scott.

The Blacktongue Thief is about a thief paying off his debts to the guild. The author narrates this for Audible. Not bad so far… except for the songs.

I ended up detouring through back roads. Only to arrive at work a few minutes late.

Sometimes you gotta mix things up.

Take a detour. Don’t get in an accident. Accidents are bad.

Writing Prompt: We should have been more careful…

(Joe had sent me a bunch of writing prompts in order to get me writing. This is one of them.)

Nuclear bombs launched in a rush of words, actions, and unclear motives. The American President had given the word to fire, and his command was obeyed. No questions… those were to be asked by historians later.

Within moments Russia and China unleashed holy hell. Major cities, across the globe, simply ceased to exist. Millions of lives vaporized from existence with a flash of light and a thunderous roar.

Stationed in orbit, as the chaos rained down below, the Freedom stood vigil. Built under the guise of science, the Freedom was a high tech battleship. Sleek, hi-tech, and packing enough fire power to level the moon, the Freedom‘s crew watched as the bombs fell in stunned silence.

There was no home to go back to.

“Commander?”

Commander Rift Cutter didn’t immediately answer. The light show of hundreds of detonations across the globe proved too distracting. A single choice built upon a mountain of other singular choices had led to the destruction that Rift was seeing on the monitors. Humanity should have been more careful, Rift thought.

“Commander, multiple hostiles incoming!” yelled Petty Officer Carl.

Rift snapped back to reality.

“Can we see what we are dealing with?” Rift said, while settling into his captain’s chair. “And can someone get me some coffee?”

The view screen lit up suddenly with what appeared to be a squadron of starfighters.

“Twelve starfighters are inbound with weapons locked and loaded.” Petty Officer Carl said.

“Unleash Everest,” Rift ordered.

“Firing Everest now.” Petter Officer Carl stated.

A blinding light pierced the blackness of space, as Everest was fired into the oncoming squadron of starfighters. On the view screen, one moment the starfighters were there, then they were not.

“We got them, sir… wait a minute, more incoming hostiles!”

“Scramble all starfighters!” Rift stood up from his chair. “If there is a war they want, we have nothing to lose.”

Let’s Play – Rakuen

What was it about?

Down the street, there exists a hospital in which a boy lives. This particular boy has been living here for quite sometime. He spends his days exploring the hospital, checking in on fellow patients, and delving into the dark recesses that no one dares to tread. His mom often comes to visit. And when she visits, they read their special book together, Rakuen.

One day they decide to take a trip into Rakuen. What will they discover along the way?

What I loved

The music. Rakuen‘s score is beautiful. While a few tracks loop per level, at no time does it over stay its welcome. It’s chill.

What I didn’t like at all

Everything else.

The story and the individual characters are held back by a game that does not embrace the video game medium. Instead of focusing on Rakuen’s strength, which is its story, the game focuses on needless puzzles mixed with random fetch quests. Puzzles are the main culprit though, that feel like they are there just to frustrate. I found myself wanting to progress with the games story only to find myself stuck, checking a walkthrough.

What got me thinking

Oftentimes, we can think that something is amazing only to find out that someone else didn’t have the same experience. Art is subjective; video games are subjective too. Rakuen wanted to be meaningful, heart-felt even, but fell flat due to the way the game chose to tell its story. At times, it felt less like a fully realized game and more like an early student project that needed more feedback and playtesting.

I feel bad for not liking Rakuen. It’s the first game Josh recommended.

At the same time though, I figure I can experience my own Rakuen in a decade or two.

Hollow Knight: Silksong – Sea of Sorrow Teaser Trailer

Hollow Knight: Silksong is a game that I love but will never finish.

The atmosphere, artwork, and overall vibes are perfection. The game demands that you git good. Real good.

Somewhere over 10 hours in, I just thought, I’m done. I’ve experienced enough of Silksong to know that this game is a masterpiece I will never complete. I’m good with that.

But, I can admire the game from a distance.

And I can even be excited over the upcoming expansion.

Press Start: Rakuen

Joshua, over at KeepThinking, emailed me recently with the idea of doing a “try this game”, where we each choose a game for the other to play and then write about the experience. I thought the idea sounded good and immediately emailed Josh back, “I’m in!”

The game Joshua picked for me to play is called Rakuen. This is a game that I’ve been aware of but have never dug any deeper. However, Rakuen looks to scratch my love of indie games, pixelated graphics, and a primary focus on story. (The game I picked for Joshua was Abzu, which he wrote about here.)

As I journey through the world of Rakuen (I am a more than a few hours in), I’m keeping the following questions in the back of my mind:

What was Rakuen about?
What did you enjoy about Rakuen?
What was frustrating to you?
What did it get you thinking about?
Would you recommend Rakuen to someone else? Why or why not?

I will probably finish Rakuen towards the end of the month. Want to play with me? Get the game (PC & Switch) and dive in!