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SURVIVING LOCKDOWN

KillerRobotics, , , , , , , , 3 Comments

I had to travel for work to New York City for a week at the end of February (returning early March), and upon returning, I became ill with the flu (I was tested for COVID-19, and luckily tests came back negative). Nevertheless, I was placed on doctor mandated self-isolation. On the 26th March at 23:59, the government of South Africa put the country on lockdown, meaning that you can only leave your house to buy food, get medication, or seek urgent medical assistance. The Army was deployed to assist the police in enforcing the lockdown, and leaving your home for any other reason than the ones mentioned above can result in you being arrested.

This does mean that I have been at home, except a handful of exceptions, for over a month now, and have kept myself busy with a variety of things, such as playing video games, watching some movies, doing a few Python courses and 3d printing a few things.
From a gaming perspective, I have been playing the following games:

Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening (on the Nintendo Switch)

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I thoroughly enjoyed Link’s Awakening, and it is an amazing remake of the Gameboy classic. The game has buckets of charm and is very enjoyable. It is not a challenging game, except for the last boss that can be a bit tricky. I highly recommend Link’s Awakening, and I enjoyed every second from beginning to end, and it took me about 15 hours to complete.

Animal Crossing New Horizons (on the Nintendo Switch)

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I have been absolutely obsessed with Animal Crossing New Horizons, and I must have logged over 40 hours of gameplay to date, and I am still far from done with this game. It is the perfect game while stuck at home, and it is a fantastically fun and feel-good game.

Afterparty (on the Nintendo Switch)

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A delightful adventure by Night School Studio, the creators of Oxenfree. I enjoyed this game, and I love the art style. The game is about 6 hours long, and I am now busy with my second play through doing alternative paths from my first playthrough. Afterparty is a must for anyone who loves adventure games.

Doom 64 (on the Nintendo Switch)

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Doom64 is a tremendous classic fps, and it plays fantastically in Switch Handheld mode. Initially released in 1997 on the Nintendo 64, it has now been re-released on modern platforms. All the enemies and weapons received a redesign from the original Doom games, and I love how enemies look in Doom 64. Doom 64 is a must-play for any Doom fan.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (on the Nintendo Switch)

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I am busy playing through Mario Kart 8 again, I have finished the game on the WiiU previously, but I am casually playing through it again between Animal Crossing sessions. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Switch is the definitive version of Mario Kart 8, with all the DLC included and with enhanced graphics (and a fixed battle mode), it is the best Mario Kart game to date.

Doom Eternal (on PC)

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Doom Eternal is a beautiful game, and it definitely amps up the difficulty from Doom 2016. All the enemies received a redesign from Doom 2016, with the new designs being more closely inspired by the original Doom games (Doom and Doom II). I love the redesigns of the enemies, and thus far, I am enjoying the game. The game has more strategy compared to Doom 2016, with some enemies having specific weak points that can be exploited, and certain kills (glory kill, chainsaw and flamethrower) providing specific pickups (either health, ammo or armor). The game truly looks amazing and performs great, and I am having no issues running the game at 144fps on Ultra Nightmare settings at 1440p on my 9900k and RTX2080. A definite must-play for FPS fans.

I have also watched a fair number of movies, including:

Not for Resale: A Video Game Store Documentary

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I enjoyed this documentary about Video Game stores and physical media, and I will be posting a full review soon.

Indie Game the Movie

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An entertaining and informative look at the indie game industry, a must-watch for anyone interested in the process of creating video games. I will also be posting a full review of Indie Game the Movie soon.

I have also kept myself busy 3D printing a few things, mostly using the CCTree PLA Wood filament. I have had a few requests from colleagues and friends for Baby Groot and Pikachu models, so I printed out a few of each to give away.

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SURVIVING LOCKDOWN

Nintendo World New York and A Quick Update

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I recently had the privilege of a two-week holiday in New York City. During this time I visited Nintendo World (located in the Rockefeller Center) and it was a great experience. There were a lot of amazing displays, showing examples of every Nintendo console ever made and even a Gameboy that was damaged in a bombing during the Gulf war that was still functioning. Here are some photos:

If you are ever in New York, I would recommend going to have a look.

Here are some other photos from the trip:

While there I also picked up a few things that I will be covering on the blog over the next few months:

Nintendo World New York and A Quick Update

The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild – Thoughts so far….

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For the last week or so I have been completely consumed with The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, which I am playing on the WiiU. Breath of the Wild has gotten perfect and nearly perfect review scores from just about everywhere and this begs the question whether this is just hipe? The answer is a most definite NO. Breath of the Wild is truly amazing and is in serious contention for my favourite game of all time, a statement I do note make lightly.

I am currently roughly 30-40 hours in, with most of that time not spent on the main story, but rather on exploring and doing side quests. You would think that after that amount of time I might start getting burnt out on the game, but that is not the case at all, I simply cannot get enough.

The world in Breath of the Wild feels more alive than just about any open world games I have ever played. The freedom, it offers is mind blowing and the physics, from how enemies can be destroyed by pushing a bolder off a cliff to crush them or burnt to a crisp by starting a fire up wind from them, is mind blowing.  No problem in Breath of the Wild has a single solution and you can approach any situation however you choose. I really suggest not reading guides or how to’s for this game and rather just experiment and discover things for yourself. This brings back the feeling of the original Legend of Zelda, before the internet, when trial and error and a lot of experimentation was the only option and discovering something made you feel like you where the first person in the world to see it. An example of this is when I, by accident, discovered the easiest way to catch fish and frogs was to use bombs for a bit of dynamite fishing, when the bomb explodes all the fish and frogs float to the top of that water and can easily be picked up. This sense of exploration and discovery is where the true magic of Breath of the wild lies.     

It is worth mentioning that Breath of the Wild is not an easy game, and you will die a lot. Because the world is completely open you can walk into areas where extremely strong enemies reside that you have no chance beating early on in the game. It is however very satisfying revisiting an enemy that killed you in the past and with your new weapons and skills getting some revenge.  

So with all the above mentioned does Breath of the Wild still feel like a Zelda game? To me it most definitely does, from secrets hidden away to puzzles that require you to get out a notebook and pen to make notes, I feel that Breath of the Wild comes the closest to delivering on the vision that was conceived with the original Legend of Zelda back in 1986, more than any other Zelda game before it.

I have not felt this level of game addition in a very long time, I love this game! So if you have not done so yet, get a copy either on the WiiU or Switch. And if you have to pick up a Nintendo Switch just to get this game, Do It, you won’t regret it. So if you would please excuse me I have an urgent appointment in Hyrule.

The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild – Thoughts so far….