My fellow gamers and followers of my blog, I want to extend an apology for being inactive for the past few months. After a year and half of being unemployed I finally got a call to come back to work and I’ve been getting back into the groove one day at a time. There’s been a bit of an adjustment period to get used to all the new changes, but thankfully all is going well. In the background its been a pretty amazing first quarter for gaming this year. With titles like Sifu, Elden Ring, Rainbow 6 Extraction, and Horizon Forbidden West the first quarter was pretty stacked. However, because of work I haven’t been able to put together all my thoughts on each title like I normally would, so I figured I’d talk about them all in one post for the first quarter of 2022.
The first one I absolutely have to start with is Elden Ring. Man this game is something else in terms of its scale and design. While it still holds true to the visual style and gameplay from previous FromSoftware titles, Elden Ring sets itself apart with its fleshed out open world and slightly more approachable difficulty. The world is massive and you can always find more things to do and areas to explore even when you think you’re finished in an area. I’ve been able to dedicate small chunks of time to the game (just about 30 hours now) and I feel as though I am still in the beginning of the game. Elden Ring was masterfully done and it keeps things fresh with its pacing, diverse biomes, and constant shocks and surprises around every turn. Elden Ring has been loved by many and I think it will be one the strongest contenders for game of the year.
Next I wanted to talk about Rainbow 6 Extraction. I’m not going get too much into my thoughts on this one in this post (I have another post all about my time with Extraction coming soon) I just had to include it here because it was one of those games that I really enjoyed when it first came out but never had the chance to fully experience it. It is definitely a unique take on the rainbow 6 games and those core mechanics from Siege still hold up well and are still functional against this weird new alien threat. If you’re currently looking for a cool three man co-op game to play with your buddies this is a great option to get some tactical shooting action.
After that I wanted to bring up Horizon Forbidden West. Horizon Zero Dawn was one of my favorite exclusive titles on PS4 and it was even better on PC, and now finally getting to play Forbidden West, the experience has been just as awesome so far. The game is beautiful, the color palette and art style are gorgeous, and the environments are lush and vibrant. Guerilla games has done an incredible job creating this unique post apocalyptic world and the machines you face are downright stunning. Every time I seem them I am blown away by their design, animations, and physics and you feel this crazy sense of accomplishment once you take big one down. For some reason I always think about the possibility of seeing a Zoids video game when I see those animalistic machines. In particular, the giant elephant machine seen in the trailers, always reminded me of the Elephander zoid and seeing Aloy bringing it down, made me think of the possibility of her actually piloting one of them. At some point you do get to use a few of them as mounts to traverse the map, but honestly that would really be a dream come true for me personally to have the option to get into one and use it to fight other machines. While I still haven’t finished the game just yet, I am definitely looking forward to exploring the rest of its world and incredible visual style.
Finally I had to talk about Sifu. Initially, I didn’t think much about Sifu when I first learned about it. It looked like a cool fighting / brawling game, but I had no clue how incredible the overall game design would be. After spending a little time with the game, I found it to be somewhat of a “souls-like” frame work in regards to death mechanics, but the core gameplay is something truly special. The combat is like watching a great kung-fu movie, with super impactful sounds and animations. Each new enemy type requires a new approach to take down, and the game almost feels like a memory dance in which you need to learn each new enemy’s move set and properly execute perfect timing and combinations to defeat them. To top it all off the game features stunning visuals that feel almost like a cartoon or painting. Sifu is one of those super difficult games that challenges you to keep pushing because you know you can move forward once you master the fighting mechanics. Sifu is definitely a unique game with a simple yet engaging storyline. If you’re personally into fighting/ brawler single player games, Sifu is an absolute must.
To wrap this all up, I want to say thanks for reading this post if you made it this far. I really appreciate your support of my blog and hopefully soon I’ll be a little more flexible with my time so I can write some more. For now I have another “how to” post in the works for some friends who may be looking to increase their skills in shooters so I will put together some steps for anyone who is interested in gaining an edge against their opponents. Again thanks so much for spending some time here, have a great day!
Inside A Gamer's Life 