Nick’s Game Diary Week of Jan. 14, 2024

A weekly diary of the things I’m doing and digging.

Jan. 15, 2024

New ep is out! Just me and Josh this week. Nice to have those one-offs before heading into more guest appearances. Gives us a chance to reset after the busy holiday season and gather our scrooples. Also super excited to dig into Transistor!

So I’ve started Transistor and I’ve got to say I remember why I originally put it down. This thing starts off soooo slow.

I’ve now completed the first boss and the game is starting to stick. The mechanics at first confusing are now really starting to dig their claws into me. Becoming weaker with each death and losing abilities as fights drag on is a mechanic that I’m surprised hasn’t been used in other games. The aestetic and all the “function” talk stands out too. This feels like Cyberpunk Kill Bill.

Here we go, Red.

Jan. 16, 2024

Jaymo’s list is up! Go check it out!

I’m four days removed from it, but here I am still thinking about VENGEANCE (2022). What a great movie about podcasts and the way people consume media. The way stories form around stories and how “everyone needs to have a take.”

Spoilers for the ending below, but holy shit Ashton nailed that monologue.

I think this movie is going to stick with me for awhile. No takes here. I’m not calling it a modern classic. Just some great writing from BJ Novak in a movie I don’t see being discussed alot.

“Can you help me unjam my gun?”

Jan. 17, 2024

Just finished adding BlackShinobi956’s list! Got to say I agree with a lot of what he’s saying in there. Great list!

The further we get away from the season 7 finale of Rick & Morty, the more I grow to appreciate That’s Amorte and Fear No Mort. They’re a special one-two punch set of episodes from a writer staring her mortality in the face. They both capture that over the top and otherwordly vibe that early R&M instilled effortlessly, but these two episodes from Heather Anne Campbell have a personal touch that feels more human than the series is used to dabbling in. That’s Amorte explores things that bring us happiness and the mark we leave on the world. It’s not so much a lesson about creating more joy than pain while you’re here, but more an admittance that a person will create their share of both in a lifetime. It’s a half-hour of TV that leaves you hungry for life and spaghetti.

Pass the Parmeesan.

Fear No Mort is one of those season finales that could be a series finale (if we didn’t know 10,000 more episodes were coming.) It wraps a tight bow on some character arcs, but also serves pretty good as a stand alone episode. Morty in 70+ episodes has seen some horrendous shit. He’s watched his whole universe transform into deadly (and horny) Cronenberg creatures, watched multiple versions of his family die, and fathered an incest baby. Yet, the fear hole exploits his most human fear, not mattering to someone who matters a lot to him. That revelation was a gut punch to me. Morty, over the last ten years has formed a tough outer shell to combat Rick and his nihilistic ways. He’s been belittled, put in danger, and replaced by two crows, but he still wants to be someone who matters to Rick. In the words of Noob Noob, “God damn.”

No more fear hole.

Jan. 18, 2024

Record Monday’s episode with Rick last night. Some great insight into video game journalism from his 25 years of experience. Holy crap how things have changed. He told some stories about publisher events and the things these comanies would do to try and wow outlets and reviewers. It was a cool look back, but looking forward it’s kind of depressing. I don’t need to fly in a jet before getting hands on time with another Call of Duty. It’s just depressing to watch everything implode on itself. We’re watching everything fall apart in real-time. I remember in the heat of COVID19 there was a lot of talk about “this will speed things along” for things that were inevitably going to happen. It’s hard to picture what’s going to be left when all this dust settles.

Jan. 19, 2024

Pitchfork, Sport Illustrated, Comedy Central dragging their feet…man it’s weird out there. Not feeling too much better from yesterday. Time to find a distraction.

Alright, Palworld is downloading. Let’s go shoot some Pokemon.

Gotta shoot’em all! Gotta shoot’em all!