PixlBit

In Stephen King's memoir In Writing, a good piece of advice (regarding reading habits) that King made was to read in small sips as opposed to big gulps. Which is more accessible depends on the person, their schedule, and how much time they have during a given day.

It's an idea that I've tried to apply to my reading habits (more small sips during the week and big gulps on the weekend) and its truly taken hold for gaming habits as well. My weekend gaming sessions almost always last longer during the weekend. I'm thinking about this in regard to how often I finish games. Due to my love/addiction to big, open-world games or "forever" games (Elder Scrolls Online, e.g.), it seems like it takes longer for me to hit end credits or reach the point where I've done all that I've wanted to with the game. 

After 239 hours (give or take), I've finally reached that point with Assassin's Creed Shadows. A handful of hours before that total, I had finished the DLC's story; the rest was taking care of side quests. I wanted to reach the point I had done enough (not everything) that I could a) retire the game for a while and b) transition to a new game plus playthrough when I pick it up again.

Overall, I was satisfied with the game. Gorgeous art direction and level design (except the foliage that you couldn't easily maneuver through), good combat system, GREAT stealth system and the story was utilitarian but compelling enough. The fact that there is no further plans for DLC means that Ubisoft won't drag it out with filler content that makes me wish that I quit long beforehand (AC Valhalla). Again, I know that walking away now is a good idea. 

Now I can focus on finishing something else, like Ghost of Yotei. One samurai epic for another.

In the comments for my last blog post, KnightDriver asked me what I was playing on my Miyoo Mini + handheld. The answer is a little longer for just a comment reply so I'll post it here.
When I realized that I could emulate TurboGrafx 16/PC Engine games, I lost my mind. That's not a console I've had any experience with so the ability to jump into that library made this device even more compelling. it's library of shumps alone is insane.
Some highlights overall:
- Gates of Thunder and Lords of Thunder. Both TGCD titles that I've read about over the years and never played until last fall. Challenging but fun.
- Link To The Past Redux. This is a fan-made hack of the SNES classic that brings some QoL improvements: it tries to bring the english localization closer to the Japanese text, restores some imagery that was censored (such as regarding the cathedral area), makes some graphical / color shading improvements (Link's hair is now blonde instead of purple, the flute is now an ocarina) and some gameplay improvements (menu items can be sifted through with L and R buttons alongside bringing down the sub menu; you can now run with the Pegasus shoes and change direction without losing momentum). In short, it makes enough changes but doesn't take away from the game's art direction or breaks it irreversibly. I cleared it 100% near the end of the year and it's still a masterpiece.
- The PCE version of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. I acquired the english translation of this and it's amazing. 
- Arcade shumps such as Battle Garegga, Batsugun, NEXZR, Ketsui Deathtiny
- a wonderful Tetris mod called Apotris for the GBA. 

That's all for this post. 
Laterz!