My first time playing through Half-Life 1 and Black Mesa because yes, I've been living in cryo these past 26 years. No, but seriously, I was little too young for Half-Life 1 when it released and I've always wanted to go back and experience it. Picked up Black Mesa on a Steam Sale and played through it simultaneously with Half-Life 1, so I could compare the two.
Phenomenal game and incredibly impressive fan remake to the point I'd say it even rivals an official Valve release. The team over at Crowbar Collective should be very proud. Was neat to be able to experience Half-Life 1 through Black Mesa first.
If you've never played the Half-Life series, I highly recommend it. It's one of the big forefathers of gaming especially in the FPS-genre.
Been hunting down more good games in modern times. Trepang2 stood out as a very entertaining single-player shooter for my "dude-bro" needs. Great game after needing a change of pace from spending an hour or so making a sim in Sims 4 lol.
Simple premise, you're a super soldier taking down a corrupt company who creates genetically altered monsters. The gunplay is heavily inspired from F.E.A.R. (i.e. it's tons of fun.) Sliding, cloaking, slow time in Focus mode, dual wield, large arsenal of weapons with customization, can even use a katana in the DLC. AI is reactive and fun to fight with various enemy types and you can even have AI bot allies. Also hardcore metal soundtrack akin to DOOM to really get the blood pumping.
The devs put a lot of care into this game and still update it. Highly recommend for shooter fans who want something new to play. Worth grabbing the Banger Edition, comes with all DLC and the OST. I got it on a Steam Sale about 50% off.
Two Backrooms games I recommend.
The Complex: Found Footage and Backrooms: Last Room.
Both are single-player and atmospheric based on Kane Pixel's Backrooms lore with gameplay focused on exploration. I.E. these are NOT multiplayer streamer bait games. Technically Backrooms: Last Room does have LAN multiplayer, though I haven't tested it myself.
The Complex is free on Steam and Last Room is about $6, but has a free demo. I recommend getting The Complex and trying it if you're into The Backrooms and wanna have a fun creepy time wandering them preferably late at night, lights off, headphones on. If you enjoy it, then consider picking up Backrooms: Last Room though I think Complex is still the better experience.
My favorite Minecraft track. Despite only being featured on the soundtrack and not actually used in-game, it gives me crazy nostalgia for the Xbox 360 Edition of Minecraft that I played heavily during my teen years with friends. Has such a beautiful melancholic melody.
Wtf dude, can't even play as the named characters in this game. Nah, gotta play the original game character, who's name is GARY (all caps) because that's what the 100% save file I downloaded from GameFAQs posted in 2009. And no way am I playing through this game myself because it does not play like Mario Kart.
Duuude, I thought Akiza looked different in this game. Konami forgot to censor her bobbies for the Western release of this Wii game lol.
I know Yu-gi-oh! is notorious for censorship in the West for the TCG and anime, but its a darn shame it never got a proper uncensored anime dub release. Instead it was purely targeted towards small children and butchered beyond belief when in Japan its treated as a proper anime/ TCG for all ages. I liked the English voices, they sounded iconic, but 5D's I had to watch in Japanese because the censorship was so bad.
Play testing the new DLC while I wait for mods to update. Mixed bag honestly, but as I expected seeing the dating app generate pictures of sims is hilarious and a lot of fun.
Something fun I did during my time away was...
I finally played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild!
Before I had only ever watched my brother play the game when it originally launched in 2017, but never had much of an interest to play it myself. After all the hype of Tears of the Kingdom upon its release back in May of 2023, I finally decided to give BotW a shot and I am so glad I did.
It definitely plays a lot different from classic 3D Zelda games, but it's a lot of fun. Main story felt weak having everything merely be flashbacks, but getting lost in the immersion while exploring the world was the highlight for me.
Cemu Emulator + Mods!
I played the Wii U version on PC via the Cemu emulator and installed a couple of mods throughout my playthrough. Mainly the Linkle mod and tried a few different music overhauls. Man, I wish Nintendo would just release PC ports. Modding games is so much fun haha. Makes the whole experience customizable and enjoyable.
Big fan of the Linkle mod. I know she's not an official Zelda character, more of a Koei Tecmo OC, but the mod is very cute. I appreciate how it affects NPCs and has them react to you being a girl, even goes as far as making her Link's sister for the story.
Co-op Mod
This game would've been an 11/10 if Nintendo officially made it 2-player co-op, so I could've played it with my brother with him as Link and me as Linkle. But it seems fan's have already got the co-op aspect down already haha. Very buggy, but playing with my bro as two Links was a blast!
Tears of the Kingdom
I did try Tears of the Kingdom too, but didn't get very far myself. I did see the entire game through my brother's playthrough and played his save a couple of times. Wasn't terribly impressed from my time with the game. Had some cool elements, but I think I prefer BotW more over TotK. Will have to give it another try sometime... maybe once the Linkle mod is out hahaha.
I like how sims play to their likes and traits (most of the time...) Upon sending these two to a cafe & bookstore, Fern went straight for the sweets while Frieren grabbed a grimoire like I'd expect, but next up she's doing intense workouts and showing off her dance moves. Sims always seem to develop little personalities of their own. It's cute.
I stumbled upon your Fallout Prime post and am glad to finally see someone else with whom I can agree. The show is no masterpiece by any stretch. It's mediocre at best. Some of the designs, sets, and props were good, but the writing is simply bad, like MCU bad. Full of inconsistencies and way too goofy. I was expecting a more serious tone for a TV adaptation of a game with the tagline War Never Changes.
I totally get it. Don't worry, you're not alone. Lotta the old school fans are displeased with it... but I'm glad someone was able to relate to my post.
If you want a full review, I highly recommend ItsAGundam's review. He does a good job at putting the show into perspective from a long time fan's view.
Synthetic Man's review is also very good. I agree with basically everything he says too. Sadly, his video got age-restricted (I think it was mass reported by the salty ones lol.) Here's a link to Synthetic Man's review.
I debated on making this post, but somehow here I am...
Apparently some folks got upset over my post saying how I disliked the Fallout TV show... seriously? Can't even have an opinion on the internet anymore, but I then again when could you?
Look, I'm not upset or anything and am most definitely not here to tell people what you can or can't like. I was merely posting my opinion on something that's part of a series that I've loved for years. I took the time to watch something, gave it a chance, and I genuinely didn't like it. Simple as that. If you loved it, good for you, but maybe you shouldn't read a post talking about how someone else disliked it. Don't try to devalue someone else's opinion, a purely subjective matter, and tell them they're wrong. That's like if I stumbled upon someone venting how they hated the anime Dragon Ball Z... I'd just think to myself, "whatever" and move on with my day.
My post wasn't meant to sound hateful, just very cynical, as that's how I write. It was intended for my own followers, didn't expect someone who follows the tags to find it and flip. This wasn't even supposed to be a serious thing, just some thoughts. I don't cover the actual story writing on the show (which I was not a fan of either...) I said in the beginning I decided against making a full review because there are some great ones already on Youtube. I simply talked about how I disagreed with some of the nasty stuff in the show. Not just Fallout TV particularly, but crap that plagues Hollywood movies in general.
I'll admit I didn't take the greatest care in my writing and for that I received "some" very valid criticism, which I wanted to address in this post where I can hopefully clear up any confusion...
(Remember this is someone's OPINION that could very well differ from your own! If that bothers you, please do not read it. 😇)
1. The games are full of "bad stuff," so it makes sense to feel bad watching it!
I never argued that a rated-M role-playing game about a post-nuclear apocalyptic world didn't have dark and mature themes to it. I simply disliked the nasty crap thrown into the show for the sake of comedic/ shock value.
A.) The incest stuff with Lucy and Sweet Home Alabama (her cousin) was made out to be funny on a Rick & Morty level like "Hahaha wow, I can't believe they put that in there!" It wasn't taken as a serious issue, just a jab at idiot humor. If you want to see incest addressed as a real problem, the indie game "The Coffin of Andy and Leyla" portrays that way better.
B.) The weird freaky guy who bangs chickens is in the same boat. It was just stupid shock value of the BoS guy breaking up two idiots fighting in the wasteland only to have one of them be a "chicken banger..." Wow, so funny! And cherry on top, Maximus just let's him go. Personally, I'd have killed him or brought him back to the chicken's owner and let him do what needs to be done, but this is a show, not a game, so you just watch the wonderful writing play out.
C.) The genetic mutation vault. Vaults do have sick messed up crap in them, that's a fact and yes there is genetic mutation in a series all about radiation, but a human lady birthing out baby monsters (gulpers) that devoured her alive... Still, never seen a Vault in the games do that. Might be a poor excuse on my end, sure, but I could've gone without seeing something as disgusting as that in my life. Also the Vault's weird cult crap with people "exposing their chests..." The Fallout games are rated-M, yeah, but never feature full nudity... I don't wanna see naked people in Fallout, if I did, I'd install mods lol. But I digress, this is HOLLYWOOD's Fallout, so I suppose they can do whatever they want with it for the sake of their "artistic vision." Again, something I'm obviously not a fan of, if someone else is, well that's their thing.
2. Oh, but Fallout has tons of s*x jokes!!!
True, the games have jokes like that especially in New Vegas with things like Fisto, the reprogrammed Protectron. Fisto, to me, IS funny because its well-written. In my opinion, Obsidian's writing was leagues better than Bethesda's Fallout games. Thank Chris Avellone and the Obsidian team for that. Fallout 4's came off very bland, boring, and inoffensive. New Vegas in particular had wonderful writers and all their jokes and innuendos were good. The TV show's attempts were nothing more than miserable Hollywood "idiot humor." The whole "wanna have s*x?" scene will never be funny, at least to me anyways. It think it's just stupid.
3. Lore doesn't matter/ it can change!
I myself have never been one to get too invested in lore of anything, but I do appreciate it when creators of a series at least try to keep things in check. While it might "not matter" for some people, you can't take that away from those who enjoy it. Lore itself is an important building block to create a strong foundation of a fictional world that fans can invest in. When lore is subject to change on a whim whenever the creators desire then it makes it harder for fans to immerse into said world. Why bother getting invested if everything you learn will only be altered constantly? Unless someone only cared about the quick thrills and enjoy things only in the moment, which is fine, I suppose, but doesn't mean everyone does.
Sure there exists many crappy live-action video game adaptions, but typically the original video game creators don't ever mention them let alone acknowledge their existence as they're made simply for "cash grabs." Take the Resident Evil movies, dime a dozen, crap adaptations, nobody really cares about. Fallout's on the other hand, while maybe its purely speak on Todd Howard's behalf, but he insists that the Fallout TV show is "canon" to the universe and will be followed through in Fallout 5. Paired with the fact the show creator said in an interview that he wasn't out to make a show to please fans of the games, saying "It's a fool's errand." Rightfully so that can make fans very upset when said show tramples on years of lore built up from previous games. Especially from the ORIGINAL Fallout games that Bethesda had nothing to do with. Disney and Star Wars is another great scenario of this.
I can fully understand why Bethesda does that though, as they're just trying to make A.) a fun game and B.) make money (more-so on B. now-a-days...) Prioritize game first, lore later. Many games do that, The Legend of Zelda games are a big one that come to mind. Like I said, I'm not a huge lore guy, but Fallout is one of my favorite series, so I appreciated it when they tried to keep things somewhat cohesive and respect the lore that came before.
End/ Final Thoughts
I still think the show is mediocre at it's very best. This is just the opinion of some guy who's liked Fallout for 14 years starting with Fallout 3. Gave the show a shot, didn't like it, not a big deal. It's not the end of the world or anything.
The show obviously wasn't made for people like myself and that's okay. If someone else likes it, good on 'em. Keep having fun and don't let me or someone else stand in your way of enjoying the things you like, but at the same time don't disrespect someone's opinion simply because they don't feel the same way as you.
"Some people just plain don't respect others, and that's a no-no. If there's one thing I won't tolerate, it's lack of respect."
- The King (Fallout: New Vegas, 2010)
With all that said... I'm very tired. I didn't come back to Tumblr to argue stupid opinions over a freakin' Amazon Prime series of all things. If anyone wants to watch a good full review, I recommend ItsAGundam or SyntheticMan's on YouTube. I found them to be very good honest reviews from long term fans.
Remember to be nice to each other, respect opinions, etc. etc. Now I'm gonna go back to doing something fun like playing Minecraft or Sims.
Obviously Bethesda wouldn't have used metal music for promoting Starfield, but after having played the game back when it came out Starfield definitely didn't deserve to have this as a theme.
I was in the process of writing up a full review post on the Fallout TV Show, but realizing how very negative it was, I decided to scrap it! Instead I'd rather focus on explaining my reasons why I dislike it as much as I do.
Coming from a fan of the OG Fallout games, FO3 and New Vegas, someone who cared deeply for this series, this is what I thought...
Alright, yeah it's a TV show adaption of a VIDEO GAME, so I didn't expect it to be good, but holy heck was it atrocious. I was shocked to see how many positive reviews it was getting. I honestly began to think maybe I was crazy that I wasn't seeing it as some amazing masterpiece reviews were calling it.
Eventually I learned majority of the reviewers praising it admitted they weren't big fans of Fallout to begin with, which makes a lot more sense to me now. I can definitely understand that if you're not a big fan of Fallout, then you're likely to be more accepting of the show. I remember an interview with the show creator before it was out where he specifically stated that he wasn't targeting Fallout fans with the show.
Okay, so that explains away the writing, plot holes, and disregard for Fallout's lore (which I could complain about for hours, but I won't), but the show itself was still extremely nasty and disturbing... I know this is just Hollywood humor at this point, but I swear the writers couldn't go an episode without spewing s*x jokes or inserting their weird fetishes. Constant reference to incest, some guy eff'd a chicken, lady birthed piranhas that ate her, and just outright debauchery on a next level. Who even was the target audience for this show?! Rick & Morty fans? The Fallout games have mature themes sure, but not to this degree of weird extremified fetish content. That crap's more in line with Fallout modding if anything haha. For someone with decent morals, this show was physically hard to watch at times and made me cringe constantly. Sometimes I feel like Hank Hill watching this stuff... how can people simply ignore that crap? It's downright disturbing.
I know, I'm a "doomer", but this show really said a lot as to where Fallout is headed as a series considering Todd Howard confirmed the show as canon. Can't say I'm too excited for Fallout 5 after this TV series (and Starfield didn't help either lol.)
I definitely get how some fans see this as an attack on the old lore as it truly feels like Bethesda is trying to wipe away Interplay's original Fallout lore from the old games and start fresh with Bethesda's own NEW lore. Can't say I'm looking forward to Season 2 that will likely mess up my favorite Fallout video game, Fallout: New Vegas.
Genderbent Venti at that. Long story short, I always thought Venti was a girl...
Full story: Before playing Genshin Impact I thought Venti was a girl because he looks very feminine. Back when Genshin was new, I'd see pictures of the character online and think what anime game is this blue-haired girl from? Eventually found out they were from Genshin. I also followed the voice actress on Twitter back when I used it, which yeah I know it's fairly normal to have a voice actress do voices for young males/ boys in anime, but the actress did a fem Venti cosplay, so again, I thought he was a girl. It wasn't til I finally played the game that I found out "Oh, Venti's a guy?" Then my brother was watching me play Genshin and he saw Venti and even he said "Wait, that's a dude?" Safe to say there was a lotta confusion leading up to that discovery!
When making my sim, I found a very nice Venti custom hair by Meghewlett that worked on both males and females and thought "Ah, screw it, I've always wanted to try at least one genderbend sim."
Soooo, yeah... that's how it got to this. Makes total sense, I know.😅
