Update, 5-6-17

Yooka-Laylee, so far, is good.

I was hyped for Yooka-Laylee, Banjo fan that I am. I’ve been playing it since it launched, and it’s fun, smooth, and nostalgically-pleasing. The world design and difficulty vary from just-right to underwhelming, but I’ve only unlocked and have explored three worlds (two of them just barely). Once I have completed the game, I can give a fully-formed “Thoughts On.” My feelings now are “Good.”

I am currently playing through Prey, for fun and to review for GameLuster. I had not followed the coverage for this game, so knew little about it going in. As such, I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that it’s a spiritual successor to System Shock 2.

Prey is my kind of game.

System Shock 2 is one of my favorite games ever (if I ever got back to my favorite games list, it would be one of my top ten favorite PC titles). The atmosphere of isolation, the compromised space station with bodies everywhere, the communicant sending you messages, the Neuromod upgrades, the open-ended design, the very fun GLOO Cannon, the ability to sneak, and the sense of horror are each game design elements that I love – this style of game is perhaps my favorite (or second favorite to Thief’s design). Again, I had not read about any of this – I only knew Prey was a sci-fi themed shooter-with-powers, so I have been in heaven playing it.

Strafe looks great.

I am looking forward to Strafe, the throwback shooter from Pixel Titans and Devolver Digital. I love all the “bleeding edge 1996!” humor in the game’s promotional material (check out strafe1996.com). It’s even priced at $19.96 (on PC and Mac)!            

Otherwise, I’ve got my eyes on Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and need to get back to Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Games I’ve skipped, but will check out later, are Resident Evil 7, Persona 5, and Horizon Zero Dawn. I will also get around to Torment: Tides of Numenera, but I need to play Planescape: Torment first (which I’ve started). 

I’d rank 2017 better than 2014, ’15, or ’16, so far.