Newsletter and Updates
I had some good stuff done with the newsletter. I still feel I could have a better weekly output, but I’m happy I got my Strachey’s List series going. I also brought back reviews despite originally planning to keep them here and short. I had too much to say regarding Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. That being said, I also look back on that review and feel I could’ve done better, so I will make sure I get it right with Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. My reviews will still focus more on how much I would recommend a game over just putting a score, but I will have five subsections that I give a personal score.
I have several more Strachey’s Lists planned for June. Maybe I could do the rest of the 1970s? When I finish each decade of the list, I plan to publish an article about the industry's most important people and events for each decade. I also plan to finally finish my Side Vault’s current look at Disney animation rankings. Also, look out for an article I’m looking to do that will try to look at the state of mobile gaming and its impact on the gaming industry.
Other plans include, looking at organizing my Substack page better, changing my profile picture on social media to have both me and the logo, and increasing my output / use of the app Bluesky.
What I’ve Been Playing
I finally finished Final Fantasy VII Rebirth! As I said in my review, it has some slight annoyances throughout its gameplay (forced minigames), but I would still highly recommend it, and it’s a masterpiece for a stan of the original game. I then started two games. The first is Senua’s Sage: Hellblade II. I finished this one the night before this article was published and will look to get a review out soon. I feel extremely mixed about how much I would recommend it, but I loved my time with it, though I do have some slight criticism, and I question why a game took this long to make and ended up this short.
The second game I started playing was Metroid Fusion. Metroid is my all-time favorite video game IP, but this is one of the few in the series I’ve never played. So far, it’s been another solid Metroid experience, though I do have some annoyance with its difficulty and some aspects of the gameplay. I think it's safe to say this could end up my least favorite in the franchise, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad game in any way. After I finish that up, I’m jumping back into Starfield and considering playing Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and/or Tales of Kenzera: Zau.
Microsoft Studio Closures and Issues
One of the bigger stories of the month was Microsoft shutting down some Bethesda studios, the most surprising of which was Tango Gameworks. From a cold business standpoint, I fully understand what Microsoft was doing here, but once you get away from that viewpoint, it starts to look bad. The Xbox brand’s top executives have been transparent and have done a good job cultivating a good relationship with its fanbase. I think that’s why, despite a rough decade, Xbox fans seem to have grown closer and feel connected to the brand. So, I think this move and the responses by those executives made many fans feel betrayed. The “good guy” image of the brand is gone, if not at best, dimmed out. Phil Spencer has only done retweets because he knows what the comments section will look like.
After a month of thinking about it, I believe this was a Microsoft move more than Xbox. When you invest 70 BILLION dollars, you want a return on investment, and Satya Nadella is quite frankly tired of hearing Phil’s promises. Phil is on very thin ice, and I don’t mean just the fans, but with his bosses. He’s done a great job focusing on Xbox as a brand; as I wrote earlier this year, he reminds me a lot of Michael Eisner. But Eisner left a villain, and Phil might come to a similar end if things don’t turn around soon. I feel for the guy because he’s stuck between corporate and fan needs.
The PlayStation State of Play
Gamer Christmas has kicked off with Sony and their latest State of Play. I saw a lot of people weren’t really feeling it, but I’m going to be real with you guys… I liked it. A big part could be because I went in with low expectations, but I liked the stuff I saw. Of course, these events always hit everyone differently. I’ve disagreed with the overall public thought plenty of times before. If I had to score this, I think a good solid B would be perfect.
Concord is not my thing at all, but I also know that for PlayStation as a brand, it’s a good entry that adds variety to the platform. I think PlayStation tends to make everything a big AAA cinematic experience with a serious story that it starts to become repetitive. There’s even a growing joke about them as a third-person cinematic game with a depressed main character. Now, I think there’s enough room in the industry for those games, and they have become a big part of PlayStation’s personality, but I do think you have to change it up every now and then.
There were other games I thought looked good. Silent Hill 2 got my interest; I’ve never played a Silent Hill game before, so this remake could be my first. I’m also not going to lie; Infinity Nikki looked cool to me. It seems to be a game where you and a cute mascot character go around an open world and take pictures. The game looks like a perfect relaxing time for me and I’m keeping my eye on it. Another title that piqued my interest was Ballad of Antara. This seems to be a Soulslike game, and you know I rock with that any day.
The real standout for me, however, was Astro Bot. This one has been rumored for a long time, and it makes so much sense. People loved the small game included with the PS5, and Astro Bot has a chance to become a PlayStation mascot if Sony wants to go that route. The game looks like it plays similarly close to Super Mario Galaxy, and I trust Team ASOBI to work their magic and deliver a damn good platformer. Words cannot express how hyped I am for this one. I hope it does well, and we get this as a whole new IP and mascot for the brand.
Rest in Peace to Dr. Lou Nunes
I do want to make a last note here that the owner/founder of the company that I work for passed away from cancer this month. She was always nice to me, and her hiring of me set me and my wife up to finish our IVF journey. She helped a ton of new people entering this country. She will be greatly missed, and I pray and hope that she rests in peace.
Quite a sad situation with all those Microsoft studios, but it was bound to happen. If I were in those guys shoes (the ones that got laid off), I would've been pissed after their announcement of opening new studios after just a few days...