Getting back into productive mode

The past 2 weeks, I had decided that I would take a break from working and focus on enjoying the games I recently bought and try to get through as many games I can so I can cycle in some new games to play.  It's not so much as stepping away from work as it is allowing my mind to be at ease and actually enjoy free time.  Despite not actually being in a work environment with strict deadlines, getting up early, and having the same pressure as a job, my mental state of mind prevents me from enjoying games during the day on weekdays because it feels necessary to be productive.  Even on weekends, I feel like I need to make the most of my time to play or do what I want before the weekdays arrive once more for me to stay productive.  This often leads to indecisiveness when choosing which game to play.  Because of this, I often try to play games to finish them rather than to simply enjoy them.

These past two weeks have been blissful peace with my own mind and being able to enjoy many different games.  I was able to get through two dozen games this past month.  The problem is that I accumulated three dozen games within the past month.  A majority of the games I finished were games I bought during the Steam Summer Sale.  I have to say that the discounts weren't the best this year, and so this is possibly the most I've ever spent in a single sale.  I also bought a lot of videogame soundtracks with those games which added to the cost.  Along with playing all those games, I was watching Summer Games Done Quick on the side.  There were some interesting runs this year, but I noticed that I pay less and less attention to the runs now.  It's not like EVO where I put all my focus into watching the streams.  I suppose an entire week worth of watching people play videogames is rather exhausting, especially when I'm focused on playing games myself.  I also received a Nintendo Switch just last Tuesday which added another option to a selection of games I could play.  All-in-all, it was a really fun vacation for my mind to sit down and actually play some games.  I honestly want to extend it and continue playing more since I have a ton more games waiting to be played, but I have too many things I want to finish this year to lollygag any further.

I might work on a few more remixes (if it doesn't take too long) before I get to creating original audio work.  I have a lot planned for this month, so hopefully I can knock some projects down.


Games I really enjoyed playing this past month:
-BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle
-Metroid: Other M
-NOISZ
-Nex Machina
-Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition
-Front Mission Evolved
-Livelock
-Nidhogg 2
-Pocket Rumble
-Mighty Gunvolt Burst
-Ruiner

Games I really enjoyed playing but didn't finish this past month:
-Agents of Mayhem
-Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition
-It Lurks Below
-Wizard of Legend
-Fire Emblem Warriors

Brief look at E3 2018

I've been so busy with working on music that I didn't get to talk about E3 at all.  At least I finished it:



Steam Summer Sale began on Thursday and Summer Games Done Quick begins tomorrow, so there isn't much time to talk about E3.  Still, I want to briefly skim over some of the games I saw this year (and a lot of good ones were announced this year).


New Games that impressed me:

Control


Control looks pretty wild with its physics based combat and trippy presentation.

Cyberpunk 2077


Cyberpunk 2077 is actually not a newly announced and was teased 5 years ago.  Despite not showing any gameplay, the new trailer really sets itself up for what kind of world we're going to get to see in this game and it looks crazy.  It's lively, colorful, and imaginative with a very immersive feel to it.  Whether we're going to get to play it within the next two years or not is questionable, but I'm certainly a lot more interested in it now.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses


We finally get to see something for the new Fire Emblem game on Switch and it looks beautiful!  I was a little surprised when the music turned into Drum 'n Bass, but I think I like it.  My only worry is that it's called "Three Houses" and I don't want them to split it into three games again like they did with Conquest, Birthright, and Revelations.

Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

I honestly wasn't sure if we were going to get this game or not in the West.  I'm glad we are because this looks really good.

Ghost of Tsushima

There aren't enough games with realistic Katana swordplay and I've yearned for one for many years.  Ghost of Tsushima was certainly a surprise at E3 and I was really impressed by the dynamic combat they showed off.  I'm looking forward to this game.

Jump Force

I'm not sure how I feel about this announcement yet.  I love the visuals and it seems to be a much bigger budget of a game than J-Stars Victory VS, but I don't know enough about the gameplay.  If it's just a nicer looking version of J-Stars Victory VS, then I might pass on this game.  But if it's a completely new game with a new combat system that's faster-paced and not as clumsy along with a lot more characters, then I'll be super interested.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

When this game was teased last year during the The Game Awards, I was a little confused.  I had suspected Bloodborne 2, but then I saw all those writing in the background.  "Was Bloodborne 2 going to take place in Japan?"  I didn't expect it to be a whole new IP.  To me, it looks like Tenchu meets Dark Souls, and I couldn't be more excited.  I'm definitely looking forward to this one.


There could be a ton more I can talk about, but I'll just stop right there so I can get back to trying out all these indie games I just bought from Steam Summer Sales.

Teasers that just showed a Title Logo:
Babylon's Fall
DOOM Eternal
Nioh 2
Starfield
The Elder Scrolls VI

Games I'm Excited For (and possibly pre-order):
Anthem
Code Vein
Daemon x Machina
Dead or Alive 6
Devil May Cry 5
Mega Man 11
Resident Evil 2 Remake
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal
Shining Resonance Refrain
SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy
Soulcalibur VI
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition
Total War: Three Kingdoms

Games I'm Interested in / Keeping an eye on:
Assassin's Creed Odyssey
Battlefield V
Battletoads
Beyond Good and Evil 2
Call of Duty Black Ops 4
Catherine: Full Body
Days Gone
Death Stranding
Dragon Quest XI
Dying Light 2
Fallout 76
Gears 5
Halo Infinite
Hitman 2
Insurgency: Sandstorm
Just Cause 4
Kingdom Hearts III
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk
Mary Skelter 2
Metro Exodus
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
Nelk and the Legendary Alchemists: Atelier of a New Land
Octopath Traveler
Overkill's The Walking Dead
Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight
Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight
Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee!
Rage 2
Red Dead Redemption 2
Serious Sam 4 Planet Badass
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Spider-Man
Starlink: Battle for Atlas
Team Sonic Racing
Tetris Effect
The Division 2
The Last of Us II
The Quiet Man
Tunic
Valkyria Chronicles 4
Valneer of the Dragon Star
Wolfenstein: Youngblood
Yakuza 0 / Kiwami for PC
Yakuza: Kiwami 2