Turned 2 a few weeks back. I think we’re entering, or have just entered the terrible twos. Fun fun fun.

I wish I could get into this, but it’s just not for me. Seems super cool and everyone seems to be so enamored with it…but I just couldn’t get it to stick.

Son broke my favourite mug. And he then threw my phone at my wrist, which hit my watch and scratched the phone screen. Yeah, its been a fun one.

I’ve stopped looking at my notifications on Reddit, it’s just too anxiety inducing for me. Thankfully I’ve not had that same problem here, although I’m sure it’ll happen eventually.

Hope you feel better.

Maybe I could use that time to watch The West Wing? I’ve heard nothing but good things about it but…who’s got the time.

I’ve spent my time continuing through, and then finishing my first run on the new Suzerain DLC.

Had a good time with it but I think it’s maybe not as… fully thought out as the games OG campaign was. That said, I’m definitely going back to it at some point because I made some frankly awful decisions and it all went wrong very quickly.

I was a bit worried about how well the Steamdeck would handle it but I actually found playing with the Decks touchpads to be preferable to the games gamepad mode.

I just wish the Fury part of Bowsers Fury was a little less all consuming. The little open world they constructed was great, but I found the constant interruption from Bowser to be a little grating after a while.

I dunno, I could spend a good long while playing nothing but Football Manager if I didn’t have to worry about being anywhere else.

I mean, is this in real time because I won’t lie, I bet there’s an awful lot of ‘boring’ mixed in with all the amazing moments.

Don’t know about how it is in the US, but in the UK the idea of people rushing to finish their transaction fills me with dread. I’ve worked in a supermarket with self service and the general public really struggles with them.

It was the only of my three cars that hasn’t been totalled by a driver not paying attention when driving past it.

Yup. Two cars have been written off whilst parked down my street inside two years. Love it!

Okay so for context I’ve not played BG3. However I do consider myself pretty upto date with my gaming stuff (I run a videogame community afterall). I couldn’t tell you which of the characters on the front of the BG3 box-art is Shadowheart; not the foggiest.

As for Croft. I wonder if they’d ‘commissioned’ this poll before the release of the recent game if she’d have even made the top 10. For the most part, her star has fallen pretty significantly from where she was in the 90’s.

I’m interested to see if they provided a list or if they asked people to submit their own choices. Sackboy and Arthur Morgan are…I mean I’d argue Arthur isn’t even the most iconic character in his own game. Surely that honour goes to John Marston?

Don’t set yourself alight to keep yourself warm. Not always easy, but it is something I believe. You can only do so much if someone isn’t willing to help themself.

The last game that truly gave me the feeling you described is Lies of P. It was my favourite game of 2023 and the 60 or so hours I put into beating it were very well spent.

Rocket League. I probably play a solid 3 hours of that every single week, and have done for the last two years. Before those two years I probably played a solid 7-8 hours a week. It’s my forever game, the game I play when I’m bored, the game I play when I’ve got a lot on my mind and just want to fill the void in my head with something safe and easy.

I don’t for one second doubt that there’s some serious problems with Ofsted and how they conduct their inspections. I do however wonder if those being inspected are in the best position to decide if we need to blow it up.

Definitely spending the day with my young children, going to a soft-play and then going out for a lunch filled with ‘no no no don’t throw that’ before we return home for a fun evening of 'daaaaaaady, daaaaaaaady’ entirely on my own in total silence apart from the sound of my TV with a videogame on, a fresh cup of tea in my mug and maybe a takeaway pizza on the way.

As I said, I’ve had a challenging week.

Before it got challenging however I managed to find a little time to play…

Returnal

Initial impressions are that this game rocks. And I do think that holds true for the first ten hours. The issue I’m having, is that…I cannot stand rogue likes, and this is a rogue like. Every fibre of my being wishes it was a more souls like experience, but it aint. And the thought of having a 6-7 hour run just seems so impossibly far away that it may push me away entirely. However, that’s a Me thing. This game is amazing, I just wish I could love it for what it was.

Suzerain: Kingdom of Rizia DLC

I like shooty shooty but I also like talky talky. The KoR DLC for Suzerain is exactly that. You take the role of a newly anointed monarch as he tries to lead his country through the maze of world politics. There’s twenty minute long conversations about public infrastructure funding, the occasional assassination attempt and a lot of driving in cars with your personal guard. Yeah. I love this stuff.

Might also explain why Cricket is so popular. Obviously it still requires a fair amount of physical exertion but it’s definitely a bit more laid back than something like Rugby.