Elite Dangerous: Long and Winding Road

It's been over two years since my last blog post about Elite: Dangerous. Hundreds of hours and thousands of faster-than-light jumps later, I have done some things, and had some thoughts. If you wish to know some of those things and thoughts, continue reading!

A Quick Musical Easter Egg

In a fit of Mario Odyssey hype during E3 this year, I found myself watching the trailer repeatedly. I also came across this musical throwback. 

Alex's Top 10 Games of 2016

As with my post last year, I will be taking the wild and crazy decision to rank my 10 favourite games played in 2016. For those not aware of the rules, this list will include games released before 01/01/16 - trust me, it'll be more interesting this way. This is based simply on my own sense of appreciation for a game, regardless of how in particular it impressed me - perhaps it was the writing, maybe it has great music, maybe it just played and felt spectacular. What matters is that I think all of these games are worth your time and certainly deserve plenty of accolades.

This was not an easy list to make. My initial shortlist of games in with a shout numbered no fewer than twenty-six! When we get to the end I will throw out a number of honourable mentions for the games it caused me genuine pain to cut from the list. Let's get on with it!

Ys II - "What's All Ys, Then?"

Japanese role-playing games - or JRPGs to their friends - are perhaps one of the most inaccessible genres to the uninitiated. The most common crime they commit is enforced grinding, as players have to circle a patch of tall grass or forest or "world map", fighting the same creatures over and over until characters in their party are sufficiently levelled up to take on a boss. Then there's the minute-to-minute tedium of the gameplay, which even in the more complex JRPGs often boils down to selecting "attack" from a menu every time. And of course there's the time investment, which can stretch to 50, 100, even 200 hours or more - this becomes a more crucial metric the more your age and the size of your Steam library goes up.

Behind these off-putting elements - some of which it could be argued are central to the experience of playing a JRPG - there can be a lot of value, depending on the quality of the game in question. Persona 4 Golden is my personal Best Game Ever, and I could ramble on for quite some time about a fair few Final Fantasy's. It makes me feel a bit sad that the above issues could (very reasonably) put someone off ever delving into the genre.

If there was ever an entry-point, a catalyst for more interest in games that many find so impenetrable, I believe it is Ys Chronicles. This Steam bundle contains the first two games of a long-running series that has seen endless rereleases, remakes and enhanced reimaginings. I finished them in a total of 18 hours. There are no random encounters. The combat is real-time and could not be played while sleeping. Grinding is almost entirely unnecessary. What's more, Ys and Ys II are exceptional games and they do far more than just stand the test of time. They're easily some of the best 2D games I've ever played, and I want to let you know why you should check them out.

Alex's Top 10 Games of 2015

This website, as you may have noticed, is quite partial to rating individual games out of 10. This year, I have decided to flip this concept on its head, and rate ten games, against each other. I call this radical idea, this list-based article, a "Top 10".

A Story About My Uncle - "Wrong, Said Fred"

A Story About My Uncle is a first person platformer held together with grapple physics. Putting you in the boots of an unnamed protagonist retracing the steps of the titular Uncle Fred, this game tries hard but unfortunately ends up proving that the indie badge does not guarantee value for money.

Elite Dangerous - Never Not Scanning

Some months ago I wrote a blog post summarising the appeal Elite: Dangerous held for me, and relating my early experiences in the game. After roughly 30 hours, I had a Cobra Mark III, and an excited feeling that 'the real Elite: Dangerous begins here'. I was about to dive into the explorer class headfirst.

Approximately 150 hours later, I haven't come up for air yet.