Hello, everybody! Now that we’ve made it through the first month of the year — which for me was all about getting back on track with my health, and starting a new job — it’s time to start getting excited about the springtime of video game releases.
Last month I played a little Skyrim, a little Iron Banner in Destiny, a little of the For Honor beta, and a lot of Titanfall 2.
This month, I’m jumping into three games: Nioh, For Honor, and Horizon: Zero Dawn. Nioh is new to my radar — it’s a Team Ninja title featuring a samurai battling it out against demons in 17th century Japan. It’s also a PlayStation exclusive. While it’s said to be inspired by Dark Souls, it’s reminding me more of The Witcher — though maybe that’s just because of the white-haired hero. Meanwhile, For Honor is a game featuring knights, Vikings, and samurai battling in an epic war. Like Nioh, the combat is all about your stance, and timing your blocking and attacks just right. (I’m gonna be soooo good at blocking after this month. Currently I sort of hate it.) Finally, Horizon: Zero Dawn (another PlayStation exclusive) features a young woman who wields a bow and arrows against robotic enemies, in a post-apocalyptic tribal setting. It just looks amazing. I’ve already pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition for the amazing bust of Aloy, the hero of the game.
As for other entertainment, there’s not a lot on my radar right now. Last month I watched my very first Resident Evil movie, which also happens to be the very last in the (long) series. All I can say is… it is action-packed. This month my plan is to catch up on some of the Oscar nominated films that I missed. Since I tend to see mostly action movies in theaters, it never fails that when Oscar season rolls around, I’m totally behind on all the good dramas and comedies that came out!
Last month I also read the book Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly. Well, I listened to the audiobook, I should say. It’s how I keep myself entertained on my commutes, and while the past few months I’ve been listening to the In Death series of sci-fi romance mysteries by J.D. Robb (that’s Nora Roberts), I decided to change it up now. Hidden Figures is a really interesting study of some of the African-American women who worked at NASA during the Mercury and Apollo missions, as well as the women before them who did the math calculations for airplanes during the 1940’s and 1950’s. I love that they are not only so accomplished in their field, but that field also happens to be mathematics. Now I’d like to see the movie this month if it’s still in theaters!
The other book I’m currently reading is a fantasy novel by Robert Jackson Bennett called City of Stairs. I’m only about a third of the way through, but it’s fascinating so far — all about a world where the gods have been killed, which has also destroyed the magic they imbued in the world. Studying the gods or any type of magic is outlawed. The story itself is a murder mystery, but what’s really interesting (so far) is learning about this place and its history.
As for exercise, I’ve been getting back into it… slowly. I started a new job this month at Sony Playstation (which I should warn you will prevent me from writing about a lot of games, but I’ll still review other titles!), so I sort of let exercise go since I can only focus on one big thing at a time! Now that I’m settling in, though, I have a new schedule to keep up with exercise, writing, learning Spanish, and all the other things I like to make time for. I’ve also been running again, which feels really good. It’s the hardest workout for me, but that’s what makes it the most rewarding at the end of the day. =)
What are you guys up to this month, and what games are you playing?
Robo♥beat 
Gaming time is elusive for me, but I’ve been watching my daughter play Sleeping Dogs 2, which she discovered through our Xbox One membership. So it’s almost like I’m playing.
Almost.
She’s nearly old enough to drive, so watching her plow through cars on the streets of Hong Kong is not making less worried about car insurance premiums.
Thanks for sharing the details of the games you’re playing, always great reading.
Oh Sleeping Dogs! I remember that game. Unfortunately I only played like five or six hours of it, I don’t remember why I quit but it was quite fun. That’s funny about the driving. At least take solace knowing that driving in games is for some reason much harder than driving in real life! Watching others play video games can be really fun, and yeah, it is almost like you’re playing. That’s what I’m telling myself watching my boyfriend play Resident Evil right now anyway… I’m too scared to play so this is as close as I can get haha.
Yeah, my daughter watches me play Bioshock, for the same reason.
Horizon: Zero Dawn is on my radar, but I haven’t decided for sure yet. Other than that, I’m going to try to get in on the Ghost Recon Wildlands beta and the For Honor open beta. That and I (still) have a review to finish…
Oh yeah, I need to check out your thoughts on For Honor! And Ghost Recon has me intrigued hearing how excited everybody is about it. I just don’t know if I’ll have time to try it, I always bite off more than I can chew when it comes to playing video games!
Well, there’s still room for Ubisoft to screw up Ghost Recon at least, so there’s that. I didn’t get in on the beta, so I can’t really say I’ll have a chance to try it out.
Nevertheless, I have Horizon Zero Dawn officially on the docket for purchase, so come release day, I’ll have something to keep me busy!
Mildly saddened to hear you’ll be less free to discuss games now. I’ve enjoyed hearing your thoughts on various titles.
For my part, I’m still focused on ESO for the moment. I’ve now finished the Aldmeri zones and am nearing the end of the main story. Not sure what I’ll do after that. Still done less than a third of the content currently in ESO, and with One Tamriel there’s no shortage of options.
I’ve also been vaguely considering popping back into WoW to finish the Suramar grind before the next big patch, and I do still have two class stories to finish in SW:TOR at some point. Also hoping we see a new commander released for StarCraft II’s co-op soon; we’re about due, and the last one wasn’t entirely to my taste, so I’m looking forward to what’s next. Come on, Selendis!
On that note, despite the fact I still have new books unread, I’ve started rereading the Dark Templar books. Some of my recent blog posts on StarCraft reminded me how much I love them, and they seemed like good “comfort food” reading in these troubled times.
I also signed up for a new streaming service, CraveTV. Watched through the first season of a sci-fi show called Killjoys (first review will be up on my blog tomorrow), and tonight I tried a drama called Blindspot. The premise is interesting, and I like the heroine, but it’s definitely trying too hard. I’m gonna give it at least one more episode — I’m on the fence right now.
Interesting, I’ve heard of Blindspot and actually wanted to watch it when it first came out, but to be honest I forgot about it! I’ll have to check it out and see what I think. Still watching Dark Matter, I should have mentioned that in this post. It’s cool to hear there’s so much to do in ESO that you still have more to explore and accomplish. Sounds fun.
Congrats on the Sony gig! That seems like pretty much the best excuse one could have for writing less about games.
Money is tight these days and I kinda wish I had another month or two before Horizon because it has been my #1 most anticipated game of 2017 since I first saw it announced but I will likely have to hold off a bit before getting my hands on it. That means right now it’s a whole lot more Overwatch. And maybe finally cracking open (how to pick: Rise of the Tomb Raider/The Witcher 3/Dishonored/Dishonored 2/Diablo 3/Mirror’s Edge Catalyst). To be honest though, probably a lot of Overwatch.
I’m hoping to get some form of full-time job this month, which will mean less time for games but also more ability to buy them. Realistically, with the backlog I have, that money is more likely to end up siphoned towards keeping up with comics. I’m also STILL struggling to get my act together and launch some form of comics/game blog or newsletter. We’ll see if this is the month for that.
Meanwhile, TV is where it’s at for me. Along with How to Get Away With Murder and Quantico, all the superhero shows are back, and I really loved CW’s Riverdale pilot. Relatedly, have you seen Emerald City?
That is quite a backlog, though I have one that’s just as big but different games haha. Finding time to play everything is always a problem! I haven’t seen Emerald City, though I think I saw a commercial for it once which is actually the only way I know about it. Do you watch it, is it good? I haven’t heard of Riverdale. I do need new shows though, so this is inspiring me! Ooh if you write a comics or games blog/newsletter I will totally subscribe to that!
I am cautiously optimistic about Horizon. I have pre-ordered, so business-wise what’s done is done, but I’m not going to raise my expectations too high. I’m wholly expecting a trope-loaded storyline and the problems that plague most open-world games.
Still, running around and hubting giant robo-critters oughta be damn fun.
Hmm interesting. I am excited to see what the story is like, I guess my expectations are pretty high haha. Hope it is as good as I want it to be! The open world aspect… I am crossing my fingers that they handle it with as much skill as CD Projekt did in The Witcher 3. And yeah, looking forward to shooting some arrows at robot animals! That they are machines gets around my disgust of killing real animals in games.
Nice post! I’m tentatively optimistic about Horizon, and I just heard of Nioh a few days ago, tooj, but it looks like it’ll be good, as well. I also just saw a preview for a game called Little Nightmares, which seems to have some of the spirit of Inside within in.
And congratulations on the Sony gig! That’s very impressive!
Thanks! Ooh I’ve heard of Little Nightmares as well, I haven’t looked into it yet.
Congrats on your new job! :D I’ve been going through a lot myself and figuring out scheduling for all the other side stuff I want to do on my own time is definitely hard to figure out. I’m hoping some things will eventually settle down. Can you believe we’re just one month away before Andromeda drops?! So much excitement!
Congrats on the new job! Sounds exciting! The good reviews for Nioh has put it back on my radar. I’m a little scared of it due to the comparisons to the Souls game. I don’t mind difficult, but they have always sounded a bit obtuse to me. I’m hoping I don’t get too confused/lost playing this game.
Thanks! Yeah, actually I was just reading about Nioh this morning and how difficult it is, which is putting me off a little. I’m still going to try it, but if it’s punishing, I know I won’t like it. If you do play it, let me know what you think! Depending on how far I get with it — I mean, hopefully I love it, I don’t want to be too scared off before trying it haha — I might post about it here!
I’m trying to think of a good recent drama movie to recommend to you. I myself have had enough of action movies for a while. And science fiction. Where them fantasy and epic 300-like movies at? Any, good drama. Hmm. Definitely Gone Girl. Sorry, seems I’m stacked up on psychological thrillers too.
Oh I saw Gone Girl! I read the book too, it was pretty interesting. Yeah, I know what you mean, I see a lot of action and sci-fi movies, which I love but I would like to get into some dramas here too!
Well i have just completed the story campaign of for honor, this game is now on my favourite list.
I watched the gameplay of nioh, really good game, but there were many things(like textures, motions ans so on) that halted me from buying it.
Oh interesting. I’ve downloaded Nioh but haven’t played it yet, I’m giving in For Honor for now. That’s cool you’ve finished the campaign, I’m in the middle of it with the Vikings right now!
Oh yeah !!! I also like Titanfall 2. Even in 2017’s first month I was continuing with it until I was exposed to Resident Evil 7
Yeah, it is so fun. Have you been playing a lot of the multiplayer then? I haven’t actually tried that, I just played through the campaign!
Yes, I loved playing the multiplayer. I had stopped playing the game because too much of it made me bore a little, but now as the live fire update’s on the way, I am thinking to revive in the game……