PixlBit

Dracula's Curse would indeed be some scary shit lol. Like wall-hugging, "you better pray stairs aren't having to be travelled" kind of brew.

That one was a really fun to design - especially the concept of Donkey Kong partaking in his own brew a bit to much and falling off of his scaffold!

I'd have to agree; the Kirby one is my favorite too.

Those Bioshock ideas are badass! You could literally do a whole line based just on Bioshock alone - I think a 6 pack sampler would be awesome. I think I'll kick around some ideas for this!

lol   I figured you'd like the Spin Kick Stout Aaron! That one and the Cream Ale are my favorite I think. Honestly they were a blast to do bud, and I will definitely do more!

Thanks dude - Glad you like them! I could easily see quite a large and creative collection of these - there is so much to draw from. Keep us posted on how they are coming along!

And I would love to work on the labels for real, given the chance!

That's an awesome idea dude! I figured I would just throw some names out and see what stuck:

Double Dragon Spin kick Stout

Donkey Kong Barrel Ale

Simon's Curse Ale (Could be similar to 'Dead Guy Ale' in consistency)

Dr Wily's Revenge (I'm thinking Mad Elf in terms of strength)

Hope some of these help, man!

I am going to be picking this up soon, as I have just about finally finished Skyrim and its DLC. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Dark Souls is all about, especially the cohesive world design/overall tone and the challenge of it. I've been itching for something densely challenging since I've played through Super Kaizo World 1 & 2 - aka Hell on Earth!

I saw you mentioned you're looking forward to moving onto something not so dark and morose; that was actually going to be my question - does the aesthetic and tone of the game start to get a little too heavy considering the amount of time you can spend exploring Dark Souls?

You're welcome! I'm glad I could peak your interest in RDR.

Music is another big component for me too, both for artistic inspiration and to draw strength from during hardship. As I stated in my blog: I believe one of the most noble things art can do is provide hope when it is needed, and that transcends the medium which provides it.

Thanks for reading!

Thank you! Open world games are an aquired taste; I find myself most drawn to sandboxes set in an unfamiliar world (I worked in a shitty section of my city for a few years, so random acts of violence and drug deals in GTA don't exactly "whisk me away" so to speak) and classics from the 16-bit era.  A game's overall tone, mechanics, and aesthetic are such a personal thing in terms of what we find captivating and compelling as individuals.

Glad you enjoyed the Let's Play of it; it is cinematic in all the right ways, while never wrenching control from the player with set pieces or QTEs.

Great blog, Jesse. It is fitting that the original inspiration behind 'The Legend of Zelda' was Miyamoto exploring the woods by his home as a child; never does a person need a sense of wonder more than when they are facing a hardship as you did. I wrote about something similar with my recent post on Red Dead Redemption. While nowhere near as difficult as the situation you faced, it reflects the concept of how exploring a world can help deliver some wonder into our world when we need it most.

Thanks for sharing this man.