From the Desk of Bitter's Office #3
Baseball!!!
Cleveland Guardians have played and won their first playoff game by a wide margin. It's a great feeling when your local team does well, even more so against a division rival. I know a fair few people don't care for sportsballs of any kind, and I was certainly one of them in my late teenage years, but I've begun to appreciate the way rooting for the local team has made me feel like a larger part of the community. Here's hoping the Guards can keep it up and stick it to one of the big market teams if they beat the Tigers.
Altus finally got me
I've never been able to make it far in a persona game. The setting has never felt interesting to me (high school and associated activities aren't super compelling in video games) and the slow starts to the games never helped. Metaphor: ReFantazio was able to do what no Persona game ever managed, capture my interest within the first couple of hours.
The world is interesting, with lots of bits of dialogue and scenery that make me want to learn more about the world and it's people. Atlus has put their whole ass into this one. Asking what the player's name is (YOU, not the protagonist, which you name later) and naming a character Eiselin Burchelli Meijal Hulkenberg are just a few examples. This one has me hooked and after 7.5 hours in the demo alone, I'm excited to sink my teeth into this game once it releases.
Other Games
UFO 50 continues to be delightful and intriguing collection of not-NES games. Out of the about 20 I've played, "The Big Bell Race" is my favorite so far. It reminded me of playing lots of weird racing games with my younger brother as a kid. Stuff like NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona, Karnaaj Rally, and Kirby Air Ride.
I've had an itch to play some Magic The Gathering standard, so I downloaded MTG Arena. It's done a great job of reminding me why trying to play physical standard would be a bad idea, especially financially.
I got 1000xRESIST and have played for a few hours. It's a great experience so far and assuming it holds up throughout, will likely end up in my Top X Games of 2024. The way it explores a pandemic certainly hits differently when you're in one.
Dandadan
The hot new anime on the block, with an OP by Creepy Nuts and and ED by Zutomayo? It's got a lot going for it right out of the gate. The chemistry of the two main characters was fantastic. This is going to be a huge hit if it can keep up any semblance of quality like this first episode. Assuming we don't get another alien probing joke taken too far, I think this will be the anime of the season for me.
love the exaggerated faces in this show
That's all for now!