What's New

What’s New — April 2018

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Happy April, everybody!

If you’ve been following my blog at all, you will know that I have been pretty obsessed with Monster Hunter: World lately. I also read and watched Annihilation, which was incredible. The new Tomb Raider movie won me over too, mostly because of how amazing Alicia Vikander is in the role. Since I also read the novel Borne (by the author of Annihilation), have watched most of the new Jessica Jones series on Netflix, and finished watching the first season of the new Star Trek series — I had a busy month. I feel so accomplished, just with how much entertainment and storytelling I managed to absorb!

This month I want to re-focus on my goals for the year. The two biggest are creative writing and being healthy.

Since April has a National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge, I’ve decided to make a personal writing challenge: to write every day this month, even if it’s only for 10 minutes. These NaNoWriMo months are always great at getting me back in the habit of writing, and I can’t wait to make real progress on my novel in the coming weeks!

At the end of the month, I’ll be running in a 10K, my first run of the year. I am only just getting back into running after almost a year off, but I managed to run 4 miles this past weekend — so I know I can push myself to reach the full 6.2 miles by the time of the official run. I’m excited at the prospect of getting back into that kind of shape. Running for me is not always enjoyable, but it’s the hardest workout I know, and that’s why I feel like it’s worthwhile to make it a regular part of my life.

ready_player_one.jpgIn geekier news, I just saw Ready Player One and loved it. Although I’ve heard mixed reviews of the book, I was so enamored with the movie that I want to read the novel now.

While I’m still playing Monster Hunter: World, I am also eager to finish and review the second season of Telltale’s Batman here. It might be my favorite Telltale game so far. Although I loved the investigation aspect of Wolf Among Us and the action-humor of Tales from the Borderlands, so far Batman has managed to play notes from all of its previous series and create something that feels truly well-rounded.

What are you up to this month? I’d love to hear what everybody is watching, reading, and playing in April. :)

— Ashley

Games

30 Hours as a Monster Hunter: First Impressions

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A couple of weeks ago I picked up Monster Hunter: World for the first time. And I’m so glad I did.

I was a few weeks late to the party, because the game wasn’t initially in my most anticipated of the year. I tried to play Monster Hunter on my Nintendo 3DS a few years ago and struggled to keep up — the game pretty much threw me into a huge, empty snowscape where I had to face a gigantic beast armed with a weapon I didn’t know how to use well and an inventory system I didn’t have the knowledge or patience to manage. So I didn’t last long.

But hearing so many good things about Monster Hunter: World from friends, coworkers, and my fellow bloggers, I decided to give this new entry in the series a shot. It’s different than past games for a few reasons — like it’s conveniently on the PlayStation 4, and it features a strong story that keeps driving you toward that next monster hunt.

So, without further adieu, here are my first impressions of the game after 30 hours as a monster hunter. =)

Continue reading 30 Hours as a Monster Hunter: First Impressions →

Games

Why Defusing Bombs is My Favorite VR Experience So Far

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It’s my fate in life to constantly be on the hunt for good co-op games. My fiancé and I love to game together, but having burned through a lot of great co-op games already — and being a little picky, I suppose — we always feel deprived of good video games to play side by side.

Last week, he suggested we play a PlayStation VR game called Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. I’ll admit that while I had heard about the game before, I didn’t fully understand it, and I’ve been hesitant to try a lot of VR games so far. The main reason is that I have a tendency to get motion sick, but it’s also laziness. I love the PS VR headset, but what can I say, some evenings I just don’t feel like putting it on.

But my fiancé convinced me to try the game, and it was amazing. Firstly, because it’s a unique concept that makes great use of VR and multiple players. And secondly, because I wasn’t actually the one in VR this time.

Continue reading Why Defusing Bombs is My Favorite VR Experience So Far →

Games

5 of the Funniest Video Games I’ve Played So Far

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Since playing Night in the Woods lately, I’ve been nostalgic about some of funnier video games I’ve played. I always enjoy when a game includes some humor — usually from a side character who cracks jokes, or something along those lines. But there are some games out there that are just about 100% funny. Even if you’re living through a story, getting to know characters in a deep way, shooting bad guys, or solving puzzles, the humor is an ever-present force that makes the game way more fun than it would otherwise be.

Here are the games that have had me laughing out loud the most.

Continue reading 5 of the Funniest Video Games I’ve Played So Far →

SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY, and VIDEO GAMES!