Quick Game Impressions - and Hello again! :)

Hey, all. Long time no see. I'm still alive. Still here. Just haven't been able to work on my game at all (or like, draw -  remember that?) in quite a while. Just letting y'all know I'm still here and doing alright. School is back in full force and is currently kicking my butt. I'm doing my best to catch up. Feeling kind of overwhelmed, but gotta keep moving forward.

I've been playing a few games (granted, more than I should - because of school and stuff. Gotta work on the whole time management thing. ANYway...) Here's my quick thoughts. First Impressions, mostly.

Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows

The first of three completely free add-ons to the game. It's huge DLC content that adds new parts to the levels, gives a whole new story and allows you to play as Plague Knight. Very cool! I'm enjoying it, but I find Plague Knight *very* difficult to control. Regardless, having fun with it.

  Ori and the Blind Forest

Finally got a PC that was good enough to play current games, and this is one of the first ones I got. Amazingly beautiful game with great atmosphere and solid platforming. I'm not too fond of the 'Oh, so vague' story (just sounds like mumbled nonsense after a while), but I really like the game overall. Although, this does prove to me yet again that lately - I am *not* a fan of metroidvanias. They just feel unfocused. I get it - you built a big world and you want us to run and explore through it. After a while though, I just want to get to the next plot point to continue the game. Searching for the way I haven't gone yet to trigger plot progression is kinda annoying. Still - very well put-together game.

  Evoland 2

I played the first Evoland and really liked it. So, I really wanted to see what they did with the second game. I like the tone/feel of it a lot. It knows it's a game and plays around with that fact. The first game was more noteworthy because of it's hook (playing through many different genres/resolutions of games i.e. - Gameboy graphics, 8-bit, 16-bit, 3D, RPG, Adventure game, etc.) than its characters, but this one's characters and story are much more fleshed out. Very cool indeed. Also, this is the first game in forever that has gotten me to play an RPG - so that's saying something. ^_^ While the puzzles sometimes feel a bit on the hard side (like, unbalanced-hard - not 'I keep dying' hard) the game overall is really good. Hope to continue to make progress with this.

  Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Wow, the production value on this game is off the charts. Everything has an animation, every menu and UI element looks amazing and the game as a whole feels HUGE. It was 43 gigs, which is the largest game I've ever downloaded (and I don't think I'll be doing it again soon - it took all day - like over 12 hours >_<). The game also feel super-deep and  a bit overwhelming. The captains and the whole 'Nemesis System' is a lot to take in. Regardless, the game looks amazing and I look forward to spending more time with it.

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That's it for now. Just sharing a bit of where I am right now. Hope you're doing well!
What are YOU playing? Comment below, let me know!

Much love, y'all. Take care and talk to you soon.

Mike C