I know what you’re thinking, “Kevin, it’s been a minute since you talked to us about video games, what are you playing?”

And you’re right Geeklings, it has been a minute since we last spoke about the wonders of playing video games, in fact, I think the last time we spoke it was about Mario Golf and maybe starting up an I Am Geek Golf League… why didn’t we do that?! Is it too late to do that?! Cause I’ve logged in some hours on Mario Golf, god do I hate the cross-country course with every burning fiber of my being, and I’d like to believe that I’m ready to hit the links with you fools. Hmmm, I wasn’t planning on revisiting this idea today but here we are. I think we can make something happen with this and soon. Keep your eyes out on our socials for announcements. How exciting is this development?! It’s like coming home and expecting hamburgers for dinner but there are tacos on the table instead. What a time to be alive.

Besides Mario Golf, what’s been occupying my time? Well, let me give you a bit of a rundown. As you recall, playing video games isn’t something that I get to as often as I’d like and because of that I’ve had some failed attempts at some recent gaming experiences. #life

I’ve played a bit of Hollow Knight on my Switch and I’ve enjoyed it. Open world games can be a bit too distracting for me, there are so many places I can go, and I do prefer a more linear storytelling model. I prefer my video games be less Pulp Fiction in structure. Give me a story and tell me there’s going to be a finish line with some bitchin’ side quests on the way, I’m all for that. For reasons I can’t properly explain when I get into an open-world game, I get overwhelmed and wonder if my choices are the right choices and what’s happening to the story and yada yada yada I soon put the game down because I’m second-guessing my everything. This didn’t happen so much with Hollow Knight, which is such an eerily beautiful game, but I do wish there was more structure to that story. Whatever that may be. But despite not really knowing the story and getting lost in the open worldness of it all, I’ve enjoyed the game and will continue to pick at it.

From there, I felt that I needed something to play on my PS4 so I picked up a copy of Ghost of Tsushima. Some of you are probably scratching your head because Ghost is a massive open-world game but what can I say, I was feeling adventurous. I haven’t had a lot of time to play Ghost because life and the pursuit of other things but it’s gorgeous. Like stunningly so. I want to give it more attention and I will. I promise. When it was released it was right on the heels of The Last of Us II and you know how that went. The Last of Us II consumed your boy.

In exciting news, I purchased Eastward for the Switch, a game that has been getting comparisons to Zelda and Earthbound, one of my all-time favorite games, with a dash of Last of Us. Eastward has the feel of those classic Super Nintendo RPGs, comes with plenty of story to be played, and is getting some really tremendous buzz which hits me right in my gaming sweet spot. Nothing like an old-school indie RPG game to get the video game blood pumping again and that’s exactly what’s happened here. I’ve spent the majority of my workday counting down the hours until I get to go home and start this bad boy up. I haven’t been this excited for a game since The Last of Us II. Which in turn has made me hopeful about future video game playing.

Because let’s be honest, last week’s PlayStation’s Showcase really made me miss playing and pretty much guaranteed the fact that I’ll be buying a PS5 sooner rather than later. When one is available of course, I’m not selling a kidney for that system. I will take any and all donations though. You get me a PS5 and I’ll write about allllll the video games you want. I’ll also invite you over to play games because we want to maximize our fun levels.

Watching that Showcase though, I kept counting all the games I wanted to play. Wolverine. Yup! Spider-Man 2 with Kraven and Venom. Hell Yes! God of War: Ragnarok. Put it in my veins. I’m ready to get back into the swing of gaming on a more regular, less inconsistent basis, I think. And with a two-week vacation on my horizon, it appears that I’ll actually have the time to commit for a bit and I’m stupid excited.

It’s all starting with Eastward though. From what I understand this game is coming with over thirty hours of game time, so I’ll be able to sink my teeth into it while I wait the week and a half before vacation starts. But once it does, I’m going for it. The plan is to re-starting Spider-Man: Miles Morales, a game that came out around the time when I had COVID and I think still carries the association. I only got a few hours in, got sick, and then only dabbled before getting distracted by something else. COVID PTSD is real Geeklings. But I’m putting that all aside to dive back into one of the best Spider-Man Universes out there. If I recall, the game isn’t overly long either, something like eight to ten hours, I can definitely beat that during vacation and build momentum on more gaming.

From there, we’re heading back to Ghost of Tsushima. I’m going to start from scratch and really get my samurai on. This game is to gorgeous to be collecting dust. Real talk, I don’t expect to beat this during vacation, as there are a whole bunch of lazy things I want to be doing, but I do hope to log in some hours and make some headway through the story. Call me optimistic.

Oh, video games, how I’ve missed you. If anyone needs me, I’ll be watching some Triple G and What If…? with the Mrs. and then basking in the glow of my Nintendo Switch. It’s good to be back!