Ain’t No Mountain High Enough

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Our first proper day in Seoul had us running through the city using my highly advanced map-reading skills because Google Maps could not show even simple routes in and around the city except via public transport. This was due to the censorship laws of South Korea preventing the storage of map data on foreign server devices. As a consequence, Google cannot legally provide any real time navigation. Or so Google and Reddit tell me. Instead, locals rely on Naver and Kakao, but which do not always have English translations and thus tourists such as bleachpanda and myself are left fending for ourselves.

Still, after enjoying a ham and cheese ‘Dagel’ for breakfast at a local cafe, bleachpanda and I set out to Namsam Seoul Tower (or N Seoul Tower for short). Along the way, we stopped at the Namdaemun Market. There, we inspected the stalls to see what was on offer. Although we were both tempted to purchase souvenirs at this very first stop on our journey, we both resisted the urge.

We had, after all, not even properly seen the city!

Instead, bleachpanda and I purchased some egg tarts and a warm drink to drive away the wintry chill. While bleachpanda guzzled down her mocha, I was left disappointed by my ‘choco latte,’ which turned out to essentially be chocolate milk.

From Namdaemun Markets, we hiked towards Namsan Mountain, visiting a local 7-Eleven along the way to see if they shared any similarities to their counterparts in Japan or Australia (spoiler alert: they shared much more with their Asian cousins in Taiwan and Japan than those found out in the West).

Once at the start of the hiking trail up to Namsan, bleachpanda blanched at the prospect of climbing up to the tower. But with some gentle coaxing from me, she acquiesced. And so, we clambered up the mountain.

Bleachpanda, being the less fit of the two of us, required numerous stops to catch her breath. But these rests were also opportunities for us to take pictures of the scenery – capturing the early moments of spring peaking through as the snow began to melt.

By the way, did I mention there were love locks all around N Seoul Tower? Because that was a thing. As well as at the base of the mountain having a statue dedicated to the Comfort Women from the Second World War.

Still, it was aggravating to wait for her but it was the cross I had to bear as her travelling companion. Especially as we were nearing the tower and she vanished for nigh on eighty-four years because she ducked into a store to buy a fridge magnet.

At the tower, I purchased our entry tickets up and away we soared to the observation deck with a group of American tourists. Once at the observation deck, the entirety of Seoul was spread out before us. I used this chance to take copious amounts of pictures from this bird’s eye view of the city:

Bleachpanda and I even bought a few souvenirs, including postcards. While I sent mine to a good friend (here known as redoubt on the internet), as he has a penchant of posting postcards to me when travelling overseas, bleachpanda sent one to her sister and another to her future self.

Once we had drunk our fill at the tower, we took the cable car back down to civilisation (bleachpanda’s request) before heading to Deoksugung Palace. As I navigated our party towards our destination we refuelled at a Dunkin’ Donuts before continuing onward.

Unfortunately, once we arrived at Deoksugung Palace, it was closed (this was due to the fact this palace is closed on Mondays. Why? I’m not sure. We would revisit it later). Disappointed, bleachpanda and I trekked instead to Gyeongbokgung Palace where we managed to catch a changing of the royal guard. During the performance, an explanation was provided regarding the process and of the outfits worn by the performers, which were based on 15th century Joseon dynasty clothing.

Fun fact, Gyeongbokgung was the main royal palace of the Joseon palace and was built in 1395. Additionally, everywhere we looked, there were people dressed in hanboks because they allowed free entry!

Alas, bleachpanda and I were dressed in our thick entry gear. And so, we had to buy tickets to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace. I also grabbed an audio gudie to provide some commentary of the historic site we were visiting, although I had to trade in my driver licence.

As we made our way through the Palace, I learned how the Palace served as the heart of the Joseon dynasty before it was razed to the ground when Japan invaded Korea back in 1592. This was later rebuilt in 1867. Within were several precincts and the living quarters for concubines and the royal family.

Of interest to me was how there were separate palaces for the King and the Queen.

I also learned how during the Japanese occupation in the early 20th century, Gyeongbokgung was used for their own headquarters, with the Government-General Building being built after the Palace was levelled. After the conclusion of the Second World War, however, much of Gyeongbokgung has been restored.

After we had wandered through to all the major sites, bleachpanda and I exited out near the National Folk Museum of Korea. Eager to have my driver licence returned, we headed back to the entrance and exchanged the audio guide for my Australian identity document.

From the palace, we then headed to Bukchon Hanok village and finally nabbed a late lunch of pork cutlet – elsewise I might have keeled over. After we were both full, we took a gander around Bukchon, stopping by Bukchon Yukgyeong to snap an iconic view of the city of the buildings there and the city of Seoul splayed out before us.

Once we had snagged the picture, bleachpanda and I headed back to our hotel after a long day out in the city of Seoul. We stopped briefly at Jogyesa Buddhist temple before purchasing a few souvenirs and snacks.

So ended our first proper day in Seoul! Join me for the next few weeks as I regale you, dear reader, of our further adventures! For tomorrow is when we head into the DMZ (the last letter pronounced as Zed for all you Americans out there).

Looking back on our journey though, I’m a little sad I couldn’t snag myself a hot CEO boyfriend after he hit me with his car. Still, there’s always next time!

Days of Transit and Films

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Living in Australia, the first day of travel is almost always the most uneventful. Why? Because in order to reach any other country (besides New Zealand) involves a bloody long flight. So, it was with my trip to Japan via ANA (which took about 9 hours and 45 minutes or so). It also didn’t help that there was congestion at Sydney airport, which delayed our departure time by upwards of thirty minutes. By the time we landed in Tokyo, it was nearly 9 PM local time and bleachpanda and I needed to go through customs, collect our baggage and check-in to our hotel.

Thankfully, getting through immigration didn’t take too long for either me or bleachpanda. With our luggage in tow, we breezed through quarantine and went about securing ourselves a taxi to take us to our hotel for the night: Toyoko Inn II in Haneda.

On the 9 hour flight over to Japan, I kept myself entertained with several films while bleachpanda battled with motion sickness. Still, she managed to watch Barbie despite sleeping for the majority of our time onboard. As for me, the films I watched included: The Marsh King’s Daughter, Puppy Love, Lyle, Lyle Crocodile and Dumb Money. An eclectic collection of films that started off strong in the psychological thriller genre before dovetailing into a lighthearted romantic comedy and animated child film. Then I finished it off by watching a meme-heavy film about gamers rising up and sticking it to the man.

Sadly, during my flight over to Japan, I didn’t get much reading done. Nor could bleachpanda and I have any riveting conversations given her proclivity for motion sickness and had her eyes closed every time our plane hit turbulence.

But what to say about the films I binged on the way to Japan? Well, The Marsh King’s Daughter was a movie that tickled my interest a few months back when I first saw the trailer. It starred Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn and so was immediately on my radar as a weighty exploration of the human condition. While it wasn’t exactly the most riveting watch, it still managed to capture my attention for the duration of its run-time.

After enjoying the tension-heavy film about family, love and toxic obsession, I decided to watch something I could completely shut my brain off. Enter: Puppy Love starring Lucy Hale and Grant Gustin (two actors who caught my eye back when they were starting out. One featured in a guilty pleasure show I watched back when I was in university – Pretty Little Liars – and the other started out as an antagonist in Glee before becoming the better version of the fastest man alive).

From Puppy Love, I hopped over to watch a film about a singing crocodile and the wacky plot shenanigans that come from a half-animated, half live-action musical starring the likes of Shawn Mendes, Javier Bardem and Constance Wu. Is it strange that there’s a singing crocodile whose exact origins were never exactly explained? Yes, but the songs are catchy and it’s a nice feel-good film.

And even though Lyle doesn’t speak, he can readily communicate through song – which, admittedly, beggars belief but these aren’t things one should think too hard about.

Then finally, after nearly nine hours in the air, and fully from a sandwich dinner, I settled the headphones back onto my ears to watch Dumb Money. Though I never did watch it in cinemas, I did read about how people were using the RobinHood app to hold the line against The Man when it came to the shorting of the GameStop stock back in 2021.

At 8:57 PM, we landed at Haneda airport. After our plane taxied to its designated spot, we traipsed down a set of stairs for the waiting shuttles that took us to the terminal proper. Due to the late hour, we were the only flight going through immigration and customs, smoothing exiting the airport about twenty minutes to ten.

One short taxi ride later took us to our hotel close by. I, of course, managed to embarrass myself by trying to close the automatic door of the cab. It was only when I heard the driver tell me twice to stop that I realised the error of my ways. Still, we managed to check-in to the hotel only a few minutes past 10 PM. Once inside, bleachpanda and I dumped our gear and flopped onto the bed, exhausted from a day on the plane.

The next day, I woke up early and puttered around our shared room as bleachpanda snored away. At 7 AM, bleachpanda’s alarm went off and after spending 45 getting ready, the two of us headed down for breakfast. Once full, we visited a local shrine nearby as well as a 7-Eleven wherein I bought a banana and milk.

Returning to our hotel at around 9:30, it was back on the road for the two of us as we headed to Narita airport for our flight to Seoul. We arrived with barely any time to spare as we checked-in for our flight and sped through security. Still, we managed to try out Japan McDonald’s. I picked a Teriyaki Pork Burger (which was mildly disappointing because of how dense the sauce was) and bleachpanda enjoyed an Ebi Burger. Full, we boarded our flight to Seoul, wherein we were treated with another heavy meal.

At 4:30 PM, we landed at Incheon International. On the flight, I watched Venom: Let There Be Carnage while belachpanda slept on, too ill from the turbulent start to our flight. The sequel to Sony’s Venom was a fun watch, even if it didn’t win any awards. Tom Hardy, I can most assuredly say, is living his best Eddie Brock life, given the banter between our two protagonists.

In fact, it reminded me of my relationship with bleachpanda during the trip. I’d tease and aggravate her, she’d threaten to murder me in my sleep…

And yet she’d still comply with all my walking demands as we managed to rack up a 14,500 step count average over the three weeks we were out and about on our overseas trip.

Once we grabbed our luggage and went through South Korea immigration, we took a taxi to our hotel in the heart of Seoul. After wechecked in to our hotel in South Korea: ENA Suite Namdaemun, bleachpanda and I ventured out to enjoy a nice meal out at Michelin Star winner: Korea Ginseng Chicken Soup.

Supreme Leader of the Exaltants

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Right before my trip to South Korea and Japan, I managed to polish off one more short indie game. Keeping with the theme of cults and the supernatural, I went with Australian darling: Cult of the Lamb. It’s not every day that an Australia based studio makes it big when it comes to gaming. But when they do, it’s a huge splash! Look no further than Hollow Knight. Similarly, Cult of the Lamb scratches an itch I didn’t realise I wanted when it came to a roguelite video game with cult-builder hidden inside.

The game starts off with a sacrifice of the player-character, the lamb. They are saved by death by The One Who Waits and are then expected to create a loyal following in its name. So begins a game where one is forced to gather resources to build up the cult, ensure their followers are happy, and go on crusades to take down the four Bishops plaguing the land.

While I have mostly shied away from rogue-likes with base-building elements, for example, Don’t Starve, there was something oddly charming about Cult of the Lamb. It also helped that the game wasn’t very long or very difficult. The controls, in particular, never much deviated from how it was originally introduced. I was dodging past attacks and hacking away at them with ease.

As the game went on, however, heavy attacks were introduced along with curses and relics. These added new strategy to the battles by giving players something more to play around with such as long-ranged barrage of spells at the enemy. While good against bosses, in normal encounters, I still favoured getting up and personal to my enemies. Mostly because the use of curses were limited.

The weapons and abilities were always randomised at the start of each dungeon run, allowing players to experiment with what they liked and what they didn’t. However, it also ran the risk of locking players into picking between two weapons they didn’t much like.

It soon became clear to me my favourite weapon were the daggers, despite their short range, or the blunderbuss. The hammer and the sword weren’t as much fun – the sword because it lacked quite a bit in damage, and the hammer because it was unwieldy and slow.

The format for the crusades, though, keeps it simple. There are multiple dungeons, which one has to run through four times before they reach one of the Bishops. Each of the dungeons have their own theme. This, in turn, impacts the resources one can find inside, as well as provide a different customisable skin for any followers the Lamb recruits inside.

These roguelite elements were balanced by the base-building elements. And I found myself quickly getting sucked into managing the life of my followers by giving sermons, ensuring they were praying to me or gathering resources for further expansion. By the end of the game, I had a self-sufficient farm and my followers were decently satisfied with how I was running things.

Story-wise, Cult of the Lamb relies primarily on exposition from the Bishops as you travel through their region and take them down. This reveals the backstory for The One Who Waits and its connection to the other Bishops of the Old Faith. Once all four are taken down, the chains to The One Who Waits are broken and the Lamb can return the demonic crown they were gifted and be sacrificed in their name. However, it is clear from the reactions of the followers they do not want you to go.

As such, the Lamb can choose to rise up against The One Who Waits. Doing so means doing battle with Baal and Aym. Once these two are waited, The One Who Waits attempts to kill the Lamb themself. However, I was able to pull through and defeat the one who saved me. Doing so, I was able to spare The One Who Waits and indoctrinate them into my cult as a follower.

Cult of the Lamb is not a complex game. It has many fun elements to it that make it a worthwhile purchase. What made it stand out to me, though, was its unique cutesy art style which juxtaposed the themes within the game. I mean, yes, I’m building up a cult for a demonic overlord but at the very least, I can look adorable doing it. And honestly, when I’m playing a game, that’s the thing I’m looking out for.

Hello Madness, My Old Friend

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From Octopath Traveler 2, I decided to keep with the theme of hidden cults and try my hand at the remake Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened. With only a few short weeks before my trip overseas, I didn’t want to get sucked into a lengthy role-playing game and leave it unfinished while I was overseas. Which was why I chose to play games that wouldn’t take too long but could still tell a compelling story. So, after enjoying the new direction of Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One, I was eager to see what Frogwares would do to change of their first Sherlock Holmes games. Coupled with my obsession with the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the Cthulhu mythos, my excitement was tangible.

Unfortunately, The Awakened did not live up to the lofty expectations set by the predecessor. Still, given the developer is headquartered in Ukraine and the game entered production soon after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I can forgive its many foibles.

Besides, Frogwares has never been a triple-A studio.

As such, I struggled with the stripped back gameplay and the jankiness of the game models. There were also several moments when the lighting, especially for hats, looked terribly strange and pulled me from the scene.

Faults aside, there were also many elements I loved about the game. Namely the story and the callbacks to Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One. This, more than anything else, made the two games feel connected. What’s more, the backstory in Chapter One also felt conducive to the descent into madness that was Sherlock’s story arc throughout the game. Yes, I would have liked some more backstory on the ultimate villain, with perhaps a nice tantalising story connection to our characters beyond a reference to the previous game of the same title, but alas.

Now, if you’ve ever played a Frogware Sherlock Holmes game, there isn’t many surprises. In fact, I felt there were fewer instances for minigames. Gone is the combat and chemical mixing introduced in Chapter One. Sherlock is wholly dependent on the power of investigation and the occasional use of his extensive archives (which he seems to carry with him). This meant the story flowed better as Sherlock and John traipsed to several corners of the world in order to unravel the mystery of a missing Maori servant in the employ of the bullish Captain Stenwick.

It isn’t long before Sherlock and John stumble upon their first major clue: The Black Edelweiss Institute. There, they unravel the mystery of the mental institution, including how the previous director was disposed and taken over by the distasteful Professor Gygax who brutalises the patients and uses the Institute as a cover to procure sacrifices for an unknown ritual.

Despite a brief encounter with the unknowable, Sherlock and Holmes find letters pointing them to New Orleans. So, off they trot across the Atlantic where they learn details about an auction selling precious black opals and journey into the bayou to save Mr Arneson, a local man. There, they retrieve an ancient book.

Returning to London, the local bookseller is manages to decipher the unknown language, which points to a mythical sea god that looks very much like everyone’s favourite eldritch being. With the help of maps at the bookstore, Watson is able to pinpoint the location for this grand ritual. Everything culminates in a ‘battle’ atop a lighthouse on the Scottish coastline, with the duo putting a stop to the summoning of Cthulhu to our plane of existence.

Riveting stuff, I must say! Although, as I’ve stated before, it would have been interesting to have had some more focus on the villain and their underlying motivations. Still, the relationship between Sherlock and John was compelling. Especially as they were still finding their feet as flatmates at 221B Baker Street and had yet to establish the strong rapport they would come to develop in the latter games.

As I’ve stated above, the gameplay itself isn’t as good as its predecessor. No longer are there multiple cases to solve. The Awakened is primarily focused on the one major mystery of a disappearing manservant, which dovetails into a world of secret cults and their attempts to ritual summon something beyond human ken. Of course, in so saying, the case does come to a proper conclusion instead of leaving it open-ended to the player. No longer did I have to ponder if I made the right choice when it came to the cases Sherlock closed as I interpreted the evidence to their logical conclusions.

And because of this the game is also much shorter.

I finished The Awakened in only a few short hours and Howlongtobeat.com seems to indicate it’s about 9 hours at most. That isn’t to say short games are bad, and I’m thankful I didn’t have to pay an exorbitant amount for it.

Another gripe I had were the mechanics themselves, such as the map not providing an indicator for where Sherlock was located. Thankfully, though, each of the sets were quite insular and there wasn’t any significant fear one would get lost. Although, I’m sure if I had my direction challenged friends play, they might still lose their way.

Yet, I must confess I was still hoping for a meatier experience. Time will tell what the next Sherlock Holmes game will be or if there might be any new changes implemented to the pre-existing formula. I, for one, would be keen to see a slew of quality investigative games for my favourite detective. But for now, I will continue to wait even as madness beckons to me.

Re: Connect

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Ever since the disaster that was COVID-19, I’ve slowly begun to renew my relationships with a lot of people from the past. Most have been simple catch-up dinners/ lunches here and there. We talk about lives since we last saw each other and see where the other is at on this journey called life. After all, when you finish university and move into the workforce, life just becomes…well…busy. And you begin to lose touch. No longer is it so easy to arrange a quick catch-up during the week or on weekends. Especially if you live in a city as big as Sydney.

But since I’ve lived in this fair city since birth, it should also come as no surprise that I’ve also met a colourful cast of individuals across the many stages of my life. Be they old work colleagues, friends from high school, or heck, even the odd acquaintance!

If you are a regular reader of this here blog, you’ll know I’ve talked about some of the reunions in the last two or so years. But I have to say, the start of 2024 was a rush of old familiar faces I didn’t quite expect.

Story time!

Now, as you, dear reader, know, I’ve always expressed an interest in finding a group to play a tabletop role-playing game with. Of course, I didn’t expect that to come via my favourite chinchilla. This old uni friend of mine, whom I entertain with many a statement of their grisly demise (it’s a complicated relationship. Suffice it to say, they have consented to me using analogies from the TV show You and Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli and Isles series to conjure up fanciful imagery. None of which actually eventuates. It’s a running joke. Chinchilla is perfectly safe in my hands), reached out to me in November 2023. It was the first time in years I’d received a message from them despite constantly wishing them a ‘Happy Birthday.’

I’m sure, dear reader, you can imagine my surprise.

Thankfully, we easily fell back into old habits. As if the distance of time had barely impeded our friendship.

As we ate sushi together, chinchilla provided me with updates on their life. From their marriage to subsequent divorce, and then to an ADHD diagnosis. They also told me of their harrowing mental health journey in the decade or so since we last met, and how they emerged from it.

In between our more serious chats, I regaled my dear sweet chinchilla with my nerdy exploits and my failed attempts at trying to play D&D. It was then that chinchilla advised they still had some sway with their circle of friends back in high school and could pull some strings to potentially get me an audience to show off my tabletop role-playing chops.

I didn’t hear back from chinchilla until sometime in December. And as the clock ticked in 2024, I finally mustered up the courage to message one of the core members: a friend I used to know back in primary school. In fact, he’s actually the inspiration for a short story I wrote on nostalgia. Alas, after building things up in my head, reality, unfortunately, did not love up to my lofty expectations.

Over the years, we had changed far too much. And it was disappointing to see how much he wanted to forget the person he had been in those formative years. True, he still loved anime but he was also a respected doctor/ radiologist. No longer did he have set of UNO cards readily on hand to play a game or five. High school and the passage of time had stripped away most of what I remembered of him.

Still, he was my gateway to a one-off game of Every Day Heroes, with many a person I knew. None of which I was super familiar with but I, at least, could hold some semblance of a conversation with. While I would have liked to continue playing with them, the fact they held their sessions on a weekday, with many of them playing late into the night, the house being on the opposite side of Sydney to my own, and my growing responsibilities when it came to my grandma, I couldn’t quite justify making this a weekly occurrence.

Besides, I was also soon to be jetting off to Japan and South Korea for a long awaited holiday (I say the week before my trip. Although, when this post comes out, I will have returned).

Still, I managed to bumble my way through what would turn out to be a very chaotic group of players.

But they were not the only ones I managed to reconnect with in the first of the year. Oh no.

Even as I was plugging away at Octopath Traveler 2, I was reviewing possible future love interests on Hinge (I know, poor phrasing. But as we all know, love’s just a game) and stumbled upon the profile of a girl I’d befriended back in my high school days despite the fact they were in the grade below mine. Immediately, I sent her a rose and messaged them on Facebook (because, you know, Millennial. I’ll use another social media app over my dying body!)

Because we already knew each other, I wasn’t as hesitant to meet up. Nor was there much need for numerous texts to feel out the other person’s interest. So, we quickly arranged for a meet-up and off we trotted to an Italian restaurant in Darling Harbour. There, we caught up on life, including what we both did for work (she’s in academic research, which for all intents and purposes is NOT a real job. A real job is a 9 to 5 office job where we have NO clue what we’re doing). Then, of course, the conversation turned towards our love lives. After all, we were both on Hinge. As such, I shared some of my dating experiences and so did she. And as we chatted about our friendship circles, she was keen to have me meet up with another old friend as she found us entirely too similar.

As the calendar moved from January to February, I then caught up with another face from my past. For ease of reference, and to cut down on all the ambiguous pronoun usage, I’ll call them Sorrengail (because they hate Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros with a passion. And well, the only way I can show affection is through light teasing). Now, Sorrengail and I met on the school bus back in ye olden days of high school and I distinctly remember she was intrigued by me playing Apollo Justice. Somehow, it kicked off a friendship between like-minded individuals and it would later spur her on to become a senior graphic designer for a small game studio right at the heart of Sydney.

Sorrengail and I arranged to meet up for some branch on a grey and brooding Saturday. While we didn’t have a cafe in mind, we managed to find one in close proximity to the train station. As we ate our food, we discussed our lives up to that point – commiserating over not being able to keep up with the ever evolving lexicon Gen Z had adopted, being ace, and well being curmudgeon wordsmiths. A conversation with us is like cracking open a thesaurus midway through as we toss out all the words we’ve picked up from reading far too many novels (something that was pointed out to me by a manager when I used the phrase ‘ lickety-split.’).

Of course, I was also quick to correct Sorrengail on trying to bond with her Gen Z colleagues by informing them that Skibidi Toilet was NOT Gen Z but rather a viral phenomenon of Gen Alpha (thanks Matthew Patrick. I’ll certainly miss you dishing out all the theories on your channels).

And she later told me how she was learning to become a better team leader at her workplace. But also wanted to be seen as approachable (even as she dominated them on the Super Smash field).

After we had finished off brunch, Sorrengail and I headed to the heart of the city. We continued to chat about our lives, and I shared with her a link to my stories (she’s actually managed to read most of them although has given me the feedback that most of my short stories might be a little niche in their themes and topics), even as we perused Kinokuniya. Neither of us, of course, bought anything though Sorrengail was tempted on several occasions.

As our little catch-up came to an end, Sorrengail and I promised to keep in touch. I even snapped a photo of her Switch friend code so I could add it when I got home.

So ended my very busy first two months of 2024 and their host of catch-ups with friends, new and old. As with all things, it takes time to foster these relationships. But I certainly do find them engaging.

And, if I may be frank, Sorrengail has much more in common with me than the ex-friend ever did. And more of a worldly understanding that I can get behind. They aren’t terrified to try something new and they aren’t content with living their life forever in the same old trappings.

Yes. I know it’s a little harsh but it’s difficult to converse with someone who spends their entire time on the internet, focused solely on the ethereal you-I conceit of sociology except they’ve mangled it all in Jungian philosophy without truly understanding how it applies to the wider world.

Anyways, I’ll stop griping. After all, reconnecting with old friends should be a celebration. One of new beginnings! The problem, of course, will be in maintaining these relationships. These are two way streets. And the best way to deepen these friendships is to keep wearing in the groove!

They’ll all fall for my Kyndaris charm sooner or later!

Way to Dawn

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There is something to be said of old turn-based games with pixellated graphics. For many, they hark back to the good old days where things in the world actually made sense. In these halcyon days, things were simple. There was not as much grey in the world because everything was black and white. Unfortunately, as time has passed me by, games have become grittier with worlds as drab and bleak as the one we face in reality. Octopath Traveler, however, is a series that knows exactly how to tap into the nostalgia we have for our childhoods.

When the first game released in 2018, I was immediately hooked. In 2023, the second game came out. Due to the fact I was drowning in far too many lengthy games that released in the back-half of 2022, coupled with an overseas trip, and a host of other compelling titles, I simply could not find the necessary time to sink into Octopath Travler II. Enter January 2024.

After finishing off a few key games like Assassin’s Creed: Mirage and Spider-Man 2 over December, I managed to eke out some time to give Octopath Traveler II my undivided attention. 90+ hours of it, in fact.

While I started with Alfyn in the original Octopath Traverl, this time I decided to go with my gut and pick my favourite class in almost every single role-playing game I’ve ever had the chance to dabble in: a thief. Unlike the happy-go-lucky apothecary, Alfyn, Throne finds herself trapped in an endless cycle of death. Her opening chapter sees her scurrying through the sewers of New Delsta with three other members of her gang, the Black Snakes. As the chapter progress, we see the internal struggle among the members of the gang before Throne is then confronted with a long-time friend as both are keen to escape the chains that bind them.

Despite the bleak nature of this first part, Throne’s story is still one filled with optimism as she fights for freedom and to break free from the cycle that has kept her trapped for all her life.

From there, I slowly recruited the rest of the Travelers, starting off with Temenos and Osvald. From there, I jumped on a ship to Beastling Island, recruited Ochette and moved to the Eastern Continent – nabbing Castti, Hikari, Partitio and Agnea. The journey took me all across the world of Solistia.

Later, as the game progressed, I would hop to and fro from both continents as I chased after each dangling story thread for my odd band of characters.

And while I liked all of the stores, the two that stuck out to me belonged to Partitio and Agnea. Possibly because of how positive their outlooks were, and how undaunted they were of the cruelties inherent in the world. I know others on the internet may disagree but given the state of the world these days, I was in the mood for something light-hearted and fun.

Let’s start with the Dancer shall we?

Agnea is a girl from the village of Cropdale. Her mother was a dancer and, like her, Agnea dreams of becoming a star. Her story, although simple, sees her travel all across the world to show off her dancing talent and bring a smile to people’s faces.

Along the way, she meets a colourful cast of intrepid performers from Gil to Giselle’s Travelling Troupe.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a video game without a villain. And Dolcinaea serves as the perfect foil to Agnea’s optimism. Hers is a tale of hardship growing up in the deserts of Sai, being inspired by Cuani (Agnea’s mother) and working hard to become a star to take her away from her roots. But while she views her past with disdain and wishes to eradicate it, Agnea is there to remind her of the people her actions will affect, culminating in a dance battle at the Grand Gala in the Merry Hills region.

Plus, there’s some fruity goodness along the way with a few key lines between Veronica and Dolcinaea.

Who doesn’t like an uplifting journey, anyways?

As for Paritio…where to begin?

If all merchants were like him, I’d think the world would be a much better place. Growing up in a silver mine, Partitio has experienced both prosperity and the depths of poverty when the former land owner of the silver mine takes back the land and levies a huge tax on the silver that is mined in the area. Crushed underneath the weight of oppressive capitalism, Partitio and his gang of friends push back against the enforcers (including a man named Giff – which felt like it was ripping off Biff from the Back to the Future series).

From there, Partitio seeks to do away with the devil that is ‘poverty’ and seeks out a means to make money but also give back to the community at large. He does so by buying the rights to the steam engine. But not before securing himself a grand sum of 80 billion leaves!

And instead of running away with the money, makes good on his promise to make the world a better place.

While there are some forums that declare Partitio as a capitalist in the truest sense (where human greed does not enter the equation and people know how to share the wealth), I thought many of his ideas somewhat left-leaning. True, he is no communist but Partitio is a person who understands the plight of the common-man and knows how to utilise the talents of those around him to the greatest benefit. More than that, though, he is filled with empathy for those around him and isn’t shy to splash his own money around to improve the lives of those around them by 1. giving them a living wage and 2. not push people down in order to get ahead.

Plus, when his theme starts playing and the saxophone kicks in…you know you’ve got a winner on your hands.

I also really liked Agnea’s Song of Hope theme. But I’m also a sucker for any fiddle or string instrument. Which is also why I’m in love with Throne’s and Osvald’s themes. And that is something else I wanted to praise about Octopath Traveler II. The music! My goodness, the music!

Both Octopath Traveler games are scored by Yasunori Nishiki and he is a genius when it comes to composing such great music. There is something so magical about all the tracks in Octopath Traveler II that I loved.

And that’s saying a lot because I very much enjoyed the tracks of the game. Heck, I even bought the CD for the first game and had my mother play it while we drove back up from Melbourne.

The music also proved great at selling the emotion of the song and kept the story aloft, proving to be very poignant at several points. It always kept me engaged during the boss battles. Such a shame it was overlooked at The Game Awards in 2023. I’m sure Flute Guy would have kicked it out of the park if Octopath Traveler II had been nominated for Game of the Year. He certainly was living his best life when Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was nominated and was grooving out to Tears of the Kingdom.

But back to the story of Octopath Travler II. Like the first game, the stories of the Travelers are connected to a central antagonist. But whereas Galdera was a hidden boss hidden behind several side quests, after finishing off each of the Traveler’s stories and the Crossed Paths storylines, the Travelers come together and ACTUALLY interact with each other.

When the world plunges into darkness, the Travelers soon piece together that the Moonshade Order was behind it all. Together, they set about re-igniting the flames scattered around the world before confronting the big bad: Vide after Oboro sacrifices himself to the God.

And like many games of the past decade, Octopath Traveler II is a game that explores themes of despair and hope through the lens of nihilism. In fact, I was reminded very much of Danganronpa. True, we didn’t have a crazy antagonist obsessed with despair, but we did encounter individuals who saw a cruel unforgiving world and gave into the darkness (or Shadow) within their hearts to quell the suffering.

It’s a sentiment I can understand. Humans are cruel. Wars are started for petty reasons, be they for resources or simple pride.

Worse, we turn a blind eye to certain inconvenient truths. Especially if they would only serve to make us feel bad.

Sometimes it’s easy to think: what would life be like if humans were all wiped out from existence?

Our Travelers, though, are made of sterner stuff. Despite witnessing atrocities, they continue to fight for the dawn. In their hearts lay a glimmer of light – of hope – for a better world. And in a video game, their actions do bring on positive change.

Together, they drive back Vide and look to the future. Thus bringing a happy end to it all.

But while the overarching story might feel quite simplistic, the themes explored in Octopath Traveler II, I felt were especially poignant. In each Traveler’s story, we got to see elements of our current world – be it corrupt bureaucracy, the inherent greediness in humans or their lack of care for the natural world. Each time, though, the Travelers managed to triumph over their foes and bring new understanding.

It’s a story I can get behind. And it’s probably why I fell in love with Partitio and Agnea’s story (but also, who wouldn’t want to fight a steam train?)

Gameplay-wise, Octopath Traveler II doesn’t stray too far from the first game. It does, however, have a few tweaks that make the game fun and exciting such as Latent Powers and character abilities. For example, Throne is able to increase the strength of all characters at the start of battle when it’s night-time. Hikari, on the other hand, has access to learned skills which can be gained by challenging NPCs scattered around the world.

This brings a whole host of different ways to play the game and to optimise the party. Even as weigh in on when to use brave points to unleash on our foes and break past their shields or to hoard them for a devastating attack later on.

Combined in this way, Octopath Traveler II is a marvel of a game. True, there were moments where I felt the story was a little bogged down, but I certainly enjoyed my time with it. Better yet, it never felt like it was a grind. The 90+ hours I sunk into it flew by without me even realising it as my characters levelled up and grew stronger with each passing hour. Beyond these factors, it also added elements of fruitiness between NPCs but it never tried to shove it in the player’s face.

Still, in my head-canon, Dolcinaea and Veronica are a couple. As are Temenos and Crick (before his untimely demise – but he was giving off mass death vibes in Chapter 3. Just saying), Pala and Mikka, and possibly Castti and Malaya (although Malaya, too, is dead).

Plus, I loved the dynamics between all the Travelers with Castti being the mum of the group, Osvald the dad, with the others being chaotic siblings.

Artisaint? Arti-Hell no!

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

On my quest to find a possible romance partner, I’ve met a range of different people. Some have been nice. Most are far too nervous. And then there are a few who fail to pass muster. While I usually like to get to know someone before meeting them face-to-face, I’m not too opposed to go on a blind date once in a while if it’s for coffee in the middle of the day and at a public place. So, when my grandmother’s friend, who runs a dating agency, told me about a man she thought it would be good for me to meet, I said ‘Sure, why not?’ After all, the whole dating experiment is meant to be about testing compatibility and seeing if we could be together in a romantic sense.

Long Black – the codename for this particular individual – didn’t really chat to me much via text message but was keen to have a coffee. In the end, he suggested the Artisaint cafe at Burwood. I readily agreed. It was, after all, a nice in-between location filled with a ton of people.

Unfortunately, I was late to the date. Due to a few personal circumstances, I had to take my grandmother to the bank in order to reactivate her debit card and set a pin. Then there were the groceries to purchase as well as a few household chores that needed to be done. By the time I left my place, I knew I would be late and summarily texted Long Black the situation. He seemed understanding about the fact.

Open communication. One of the first tenets to the establishment of a long-term relationship.

Trying to be the good Samaritan that he thought he was, Long Black did ask me if he ought to order anything for me and was kind enough to send through a copy of the menu. As I was driving, I couldn’t respond to him but by the time I parked, I informed him I didn’t drink coffee and it wouldn’t be a problem for me to order when I got to the cafe.

I arrived at Artisaint twenty minutes after the assigned time – something which bugged me because I dislike being late at the best of times – said ‘hello’ to Long Black and quickly perused the menu. In no time, I’d ordered an ice chocolate and a spaghetti bolognese as I’d not had the time to enjoy lunch. As I ate, Long Black peppered me with questions about my interests and life. He zeroed in on murder mysteries, after I mentioned studying criminology at university, and began asking about good shows.

There were a few other questions like my job, my family make-up and a few of my hobbies. Long Black was especially quick to say ‘me too’ if he agreed with anything I said. While these were all good and fine, considering we didn’t manage to go over shared interests during our very short-lived text conversation, it did feel like I was being interviewed.

But, dear readers, let me first paint a picture of our Mr Long Black.

On the profile he submitted to the dating agency, he provided a photo where he was out on a cliff overlooking the ocean, advised he had studied computer science and that his hobbies included singing. The man I met was a nervous introvert. While the photo showed him in jean shorts and a nice black shirt, the man I met wore a baggy black t-shirt with ‘Tradie’ written on it in big block letters. He also had on a pair of grey sweatpants and white tennis shoes. He’d also done a poor job at shaving, with patches on the right side of his face. I later learned he’d only studied computer science to secure himself a permanent resident visa and that he was now working in a warehouse catering to eBay.

To say I was disappointed was an understatement.

In fact, by the time I finished my spaghetti bolognese, I was looking to leave. Mr Long Black simply wasn’t cutting it for me. Especially as he seemed adamant to speak in English although I’d told him (and demonstrated my ability) to speak in Mandarin. He also expressed some views that I found a bit narrow-minded, without much potential for growth.

I don’t like to speak ill of the people I meet but there was an air of desperation to him. Or maybe it came from the fact he kept sipping from his coffee cup (which already looked half empty by the time I arrived). Whatever the case, he reminded me of a high school friend of mine whose girlfriend had brutally broken up with him during their overseas trip and had lost hope of ever finding someone.

Coupled with the fact that Mr Long Black didn’t like his job but wasn’t making any steps to changing his situation, I had the feeling he was a man looking for a woman who could encourage him out of his shell and to force him to try new things. An extrovert who didn’t mind ‘fixing’ him, if you will.

This, of course, is not me.

If you’ve read my post about Stray Gods, you know Apollo didn’t much appeal to me because he was just a sad boi. I would prefer a manic pixie dream boy/ himbo golden retriever, or a power mummy who will step on me.

Okay. Well, maybe they don’t have to be those archetypes (especially if they’re an actual flesh and blood human), but I’m definitely not someone wants a problem project of a human. And after trying to ‘fix’ the one ex-friend I had, who also lived an incredibly sheltered life and has only now discovered gender fluidity at thirty because of their lack of exposure to basically everything, I don’t need or want to fall back into old habits.

Although, to be perfectly honest, I think I do have a type. Shout out to my friend Redoubt asking me about this during our Christmas/ New Year party at the end of 2023. But honestly, I think my type might be women. Their the ones who can draw you in because they’re energetic and bubbly and you don’t feel silly around when you goof up. And while their laughs can be loud, it’s also endearing?

I know! Revelation after revelation!

I was reading A Man Called Over for my work bookclub and while I’m not as good with my hands as Ove is, I’m definitely the more curmudgeonly type of individual. As I’ve told quite a few people, I’m the grump who needs a sunshine to brighten up their days. The one whose nose is booped when they’re being stubborn.

So, what I need is the Enid to my Wednesday. The Harley to my Ivy.

In any case, I didn’t stay long with Mr Long Black, feigning an excuse to leave after an hour and a bit in his stomach. Given I’d also ordered more than he did, I also paid for the bill. In this age of equality and feminism, it seemed like the decent thing to do despite his objections (Long Black was seated on the cushion-y seats inside the booth while I sat outside).

Afterwards, I took a gander around Burwood Westfield before heading home, retreating once more to the comfort of my books and video games.

So ended a not so successful date.

But who knows, maybe I might have found a spark as I’ve been travelling overseas. By now, bleachpanda and I are probably in Japan and will be making our way back home to Australia in a few short days. True, we’ll miss out on the cherry blossom season but there’s always next time!

Settle for Me

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

It’s not often I go on dates during the holiday season. The reason should be obvious: most people put a heavy emphasis on such dates. After all, these dates are mostly for family, friends and…loved ones. But when one is still getting to know another, a heavy significance can be put on the periods between Christmas and New Years. So, when I told Dikottir that the Darkfield experiences had returned to Sydney (after he’d gone to several earlier in the year: Seance and Flight), he was eager to cross another one off his list. And he didn’t want to wait until after the holiday season to do so.

Thankfully, I did have a few days off between Christmas and New Years and could join him in one such experience: Coma. Although, I had a feeling he’d only chosen Coma so he could find a place to lie down for a good thirty or so minutes.

Not realising Darkfield would only be on at night, Dikottir and I initially planned to meet up for lunch. It was only when Dikottir was perusing tickets, and only finding sessions from 6:00 PM onwards, were we able to deduce these were evening-type events. Thankfully, I was able to message Dikottir before he’d left his apartment and we rescheduled our initial 11:00 AM start to 5:00 PM (wherein a rainstorm drenched Sydney in between).

Dikottir managed to spot me at Kinokuniya despite the fact I’d cut my hair short because of my iconic red jacket – the one I got during my trip to Egypt and Turkey back in 2023. As I waited for him, I’d perused the shelves of the bookshop before picking up one of the latest volumes of Monstress to while away the time. Once the initial greetings were done and dusted, Dikottir and I strolled down to Pitt Street Mall where he did some shoe shopping at the local Footlocker (and to use up his gift cards) by getting a new pair of black Asic joggers.

And while I had wanted to get a few new pairs of shoes (I ended up going to the Birkenhead Point shopping outlet), there wasn’t any styles I liked.

From Footlocker, we wandered down to the Lego Store. We had a brief exchange about Agatha Christie and the twists she incorporated in many of her mysteries, even as I ogled the Orient Express Lego set. And perfect for any person with an obsession for trains.

Not that I have one, mind you. Instead, I fell in love with the NASA Space Shuttle. Although, of course, the Lego Store in the city didn’t have it in stock at the time (I’d pick it up later in January at another store). Our visit to the Lego store went a little long and before we knew it, we were legging it over to Barangaroo. Of course, Dikottir deferred to my superior sense of direction and we arrived there without too much hassle.

But what to say about Coma?

Coma had us clamber into bunk beds inside a shipping container. What objects we did have, we put at the foot of the bed. There was a white pill one could ingest to heighten the experience. And there was a set of headphones (which had the volume on way too loud for my delicate sensitivities).

Once everyone had settled and either taken the while placebo pill (or not), the lights dimmed until all one could see was inky blackness and we were lulled by the audio descriptions we could hear.

While the experience wasn’t terrible, I suppose some of the illusion of being in a coma was shattered by the fact I could still move around if I so chose. And this was heightened by my state of discomfort of how I’d arranged my belongings at the foot of my bed (and that I was forced to sleep directly on my back).

For the most part, though, Coma wasn’t too bad as it narrated a few events and also primed the brain for several scents that were funnelled through a nearby vent on the right side of each bunk. My only complaint would be the loud buzzing at the end, which proved to be far too loud and irritating.

I have sensitive ears. I jump at loud noises. It is never good to have loud annoying buzzing near me.

After our Darkfield experience, we strolled back towards Barangaroo and the food options found therein. In the end, we settled for Ume burger and chatted jovially about the state of the world and the partisan nature of Australian politics.

Why does it always feel like our political parties are at each other’s throats? Why are they so unwilling to make concessions for the betterment of the people? Honestly, I feel as if most of the major parties treat each other like exes who really enjoy having hate sex because it’s the only way they get off with each other.

There just doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.

In any case, after the date with Dikottir, I returned home and began to ponder if after three dates I could see a future with him. But while I didn’t have butterflies fluttering around in my stomach at the thought of him, Dikottir was also inoffensive. We shared quite a few similarities. And if we were marrying not for love, I didn’t feel like there would be anything wrong with me choosing him as a life partner. The two of us would probably just end up doing our own things and then come together only when needed.

Plus, he had a decent job, seemed to have a good relationship with his parents, and he had a delightful dog that he liked to share pictures of. What wasn’t there to like?

And yet, this was not the romance I’d been sold in the stories and movies over the years. Quite literally, there was no ‘spark.’ No Anne Hathaway’s lifting of the foot a la The Princess Diaries. Although, to be fair, we haven’t even reached the stage of holding hands.

But the real question: do I want to hold hands with Dikottir?

Is this what non-ace/aro people feel compelled to do?

I mean, I did wonder what it might be like if he were to hold my hand but my brain couldn’t quite fathom what would happen afterwards. Would he then hold me in his arms and I’d ‘drown’ into his chocolate brown orbs?

Yes, I know I’m being facetious now but every time I ask someone what it’s like to fall for someone, I don’t get anything definitive. Just ‘oh, you’ll know it when you feel it.’

In any case, I’ve left the door open for future dates with Dikottir. He seems to be the strongest candidate so far. And I suppose I could so far worse. Now, if only I could get any sort of warm fuzzy feelings to start in some way or another because neither of us deserve to just ‘settle’ even if it would be a practical proposal.

Now, if only I could enter a 1920s black and white dance number with Santino Fontana.

A Lesson in Radio Waves

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

I first played Night School Studio’s Oxenfree after hearing good things about the title. Many of the reviews I read spoke of the excellent writing and praised how the dialogue easily flowed between characters in an almost realistic manner. Years later, I played Afterparty, which was another game from the studio. Set in Hell, the two protagonists would challenge Satan in a drinking contest to earn the privilege of returning to the World of the Living. It was an interesting conceit and I was eager to see what Night School Studio would make next.

Imagine my surprise when they were then acquired by Netflix to make exclusive games for the streaming giant!

Thankfully, though, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals was released on multiple platforms and could be purchased on Steam. But while it is true I do have a Netflix subscription and could have played the game on the platform, it’s been a pain to figure out how to access their library of games as they are not readily available on the Desktop app version. In fact, it’s why I’ve yet to play the sequel to Valiant Hearts. Given how laden down with games I’ve been, though, it’s been a right struggle.

Anyways, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals acts as a sequel to the original game. Instead of following Alex and her friends around King Edward though, the main protagonist this time round is a woman called Riley. Five years after the events of the first game, Riley has returned to her hometown of Camena Coast. Although she is here to purportedly help in the study of radio anomalies around the town, depending on one’s choice of dialogue options you soon learn she has a fraught relationship with her ill father. Later, if you so choose, you can reveal to Jacob, Riley’s companion throughout the game, that she’s pregnant. Possibly another factor for why she came back to her hometown.

As you explore Camena Coast, Riley and Jacob soon stumble upon a strange phenomenon. When they see an interdimensional portal open up in the sky above King Edward Island, they are also gifted a vision of three teenagers (Olivia, Charlie and Violet) trying to communicate with the dead. Riley and Jacob, fearing what the portal might bring, set about triangulating radio signals from multiple transmitters to close it for good.

Over the course of the night, Riley and Jacob experience strange supernatural events, confront the posse of teenagers dabbling with powers they know not, and grapple with the return of World War II era ghosts. But what came as a real surprise for me was the reveal that Alex, the protagonist of the first game, was also reaching through the void in order to break herself and her friends out of the time loop they found themselves in five years ago.

It all culminates in one last confrontation at King Edward Island where one person must sacrifice themselves to close the interdimensional rift for good. In my playthrough, that choice was easy. I picked Olivia.

One might wonder why I would pick a young teenager over an expectant mother or Jacob but since the death of her parents, Olivia hasn’t had much to live for. But by choosing to stay behind, she is able to be a version of the parents she lost, which was her entire goal from the very beginning.

Oxenfree II doesn’t have much in way of complicated gameplay. It essentially has the player click, or use the directional keys, to move Riley around a static screen. While there are the occasional objects Riley can interact with, it’s actually the dialogue that serves as the basis for the game (and the tuning of a radio). Whether that was fleshing out the lore behind the island and its cult, or the characters.

What I liked most were the visions where Riley was visited by her future son, Rex. Through these interactions, we were able to see the parallels between their relationship and the one Riley shared with her father. And I, always keen to know more about the people around me, or the fictional characters I play around with, can fill in the gaps and feed my own headcanon for how things shake out.

There are only a few things though that I wish could have been answered such as the identity of Rex’s father and if Michael, who I brought back in the first game, would be considered a canon event at all.

But while I liked the story for what it was, I felt like the decisions I had to make didn’t make much impact to the direction the story could have taken barring a few side conversations with people over the radio. This meant that no matter what I chose, the ending would always be predetermined with a few select differences based on the person I chose to close the rift.

Given this was the last game I played in 2023, I was hoping for something with a bit more oomph. Unfortunately, Oxenfree II was a slowburn fizzle. The mystery too, with the floating bodies and distorted voices, added a bit of variety, did keep me invested in the story but didn’t give me any unsettling vibes like games such as the Little Nightmares series or Limbo. Then again this may have been because of my already high expectations for the story, which was let down by the fairly rote story I was given.

On a completely unrelated note, by the time this post goes up, I should be overseas with bleachpanda. The two of us are probably somewhere in South Korea, fumbling our way through the language to visit iconic sites around the country. So, if you see two Asian-Australians either lounging in a cafe or struggling to have ourselves understood, come and say ‘hi.’ I know bleachpanda will probably wonder how I might have written a whole blog post while she wasn’t looking but as I’ve told them countless times, I have these scheduled and the actual moment I’ve written these posts is sometime in the not too distant past.

Of course, given I’ve gone overseas, that does mean there WILL be travel posts coming to the blog soon!

While bleachpanda has made it VERY clear they don’t like my idea of ugly candid photos, I’ll strive to take some nonetheless. My humour, as always, is stuck somewhere between that of a 6-year-old and dark dry wit.

Doubtless, I won’t be able to UPLOAD any of the photos of bleachpanda to my blog but I’ll most assuredly be using them to torment my erstwhile travelling companion as we traipse around Asia.

Heal the World

On By kyndarisLeave a comment

Despite being nominated for several categories at the 2023 The Game Awards, Spider-Man 2 did not manage to win any of the prestigious trophies. A fact that has been both lambasted and poked fun of on the internet. But when you consider the sheer quantity, as well as the quality, of games that came out, the fact Spider-Man 2 was even nominated is proof of its greatness. Especially when it was going up against heavy-weights Baldur’s Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, Final Fantasy XVI, Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros: Wonder.

2023, it should be noted, was a game of big releases.

Following on from several strategy role-playing games I was stuck playing, it was only in the latter half of the year I was able to play catch-up on many of the triple-A titles. Even now, though, I have yet to tackle Final Fantasy XVI, Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2.

To be fair, I’ve bought all the titles. They are, unfortunately, just sitting around waiting for me to devote the necessary time to make the adventure worthwhile.

Once I do, of course, be sure to see posts pop up throughout the year. Even as I try to balance work, my writing hobbies, the books I read, shows I watch (at time of writing, I’ve gotten into Blue Eye Samurai), and whatever travel I also have planned. In fact, I should hopefully be publishing the sequel to Wild Child soon. After pounding out the chapters during a period where everything has gone back to normal, taking the time out to write a full-length novel is very time-consuming. Not to mention the editing I’m doing (which would probably be better if I had an actual editor and at least one beta reader) to polish up a few things.

In any case, the story of my journey with Spider-Man 2 began not when I popped the disc into my PlayStation 5. Nay, the story begins with the day I purchased the game at a store in the heart of Sydney CBD. I was catching up with a high school friend and had just seen a Facebook post about an exhibit in Barangaroo. After dinner, off we trotted – after much convincing on my part that a walk down to Barangaroo would be for the best – to take in the flipped truck suspended by spider webs and New York policemen milling about telling everyone within earshot that, “There was nothing to see here.” The trip, capped off with a photo of the truck, was made memorable when I muttered under my breath how the hired actors were pretending to be NPCs. Only, of course, to be remonstrated by my friend for saying such a thing.

And honestly, it it is true that I shouldn’t be calling the people I see only in passing as NPCs. After all, in their own mind, they’re the main character and I’m the NPC lurking in the background of their story. Which only serves to drive home the disconnection we have with the people around us or who might share the daily commute with us.

Still, what a thing to say to dismiss another person.

I’m reminded of a scene in the book Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, which my workplace bookclub read, where Sam called his best friend, Max, an NPC right to his face. I know Max didn’t take it to heart but what a cruel and heartless thing to say to someone who has supported you throughout your game developing journey and is then ruthlessly gunned down on the pretense he was you by angry gamers.

Anyways, back to Spider-Man 2. The game follows on from Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Ten months on from the last game, we see Peter Parker and Miles Morales working together to keep New York safe. And though the Avengers seem to exist in the world – what with Avenger Tower jutting up above the New York skyline – we never see these other superheroes once during the struggles Peter and Miles face. Nor do we see cameos from the likes of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist or Luke Cage.

Which is such a shame.

But it also highlights the problem of having so many comic-book superheroes call New York home.

Spider-Man 2 starts with Peter taking on a job as a physics teacher at Brooklyn Visions, the school Miles attends. As he’s teaching them about surface tension, Sandman attacks. Torn between his responsibilities as civilian Peter and that of Spider-Man, Peter joins up with Miles to take down Flint Marko in an epic showdown that saves the city. Unfortunately, due to dereliction of duty as a teacher, Peter is fired. A side-effect of being a superhero who keeps his identity hidden (although given how often his friends have since said his name during the game, I’m surprised it’s still a secret).

From there, the game introduces us to Kraven, a man who seeks his death in glorious combat with a mighty opponent. As such, he captures Mister Negative and Scorpion while the two were being transported from the Raft. He even administers a high dose of Lizard serum into Dr Curt Connors to face up against a worthwhile opponent.

It is only when Peter acquires the symbiote that excitement enters Kraven’s eyes. In the latter chapters, he fights against Peter and demands that our erstwhile hero stop holding back even showing off a battered Miles. Before Peter can kill him, Miles intervenes and Peter is then freed from the symbiote’s control.

Of course, Spider-Man 2 is not content to have Kraven as the big bad for this game. Oh no.

As many know, once you’ve introduced the symbiote, you’ve also introduced Venom. But instead of Eddie Brock taking on the mantle of our favourite anti-hero, it is instead Harry Osborn.

Though Harry was only mentioned briefly in the first game, in Spider-Man 2, Harry returns from a long sabbatical in Europe and supposedly cured from his terminal illness. Harry is introduced early, hiring Peter to work at his environmental technology startup called the Emily-May foundation where the pair can pursue their childhood dream of “healing the world.” Unfortunately, during the events of Spider-Man 2, with Peter taking on the symbiote, Harry’s health – both physical and mental – deteriorates. Desperate to return to a semblance of normality, Harry reclaims the symbiote and is then transformed into the Venom we all know and love.

He is later stopped by the combined efforts of Miles, Peter and MJ. The final battle leaves Harry comatose and our heroes shattered once again by the sacrifices they had to make in order to save the city they call home.

What I liked most about Spider-Man 2, however, as a criminology major in university, was its focus on rehabilitation. Many of the supervillains that Spider-Man fans have come to know and love have been reformed in some way or another. Be that Tombstone to Mysterio. Many of these villains have chosen to turn over a new leaf and assimilate back into society. The most tragic and most human is the story of Sandman. Threatened by Kraven’s hunters, fearing for his daughter and not being heard by those in power, he resorts to the only thing he knows in order to garner attention: attacking the city.

It is a tale as old as time.

And helps support the tenets of strain theory in crime sociology.

Of course, there are a myriad reasons why people turn to crime.

But these glimpses are so important to understand the complexities of why someone might resort to doing something illegal. And it’s a far better exploration of redemption than what Spider-Man: No Way Home attempted. As I’ve stated before, change takes time. While No Way Home plucked our villains during their final showdown with the various Spider-Man across the multiverse, Spider-Man 2 shows the results of Mysterio and Sandman having served their time and seeking to mend their ways.

This all culminates in the interactions with Mister Negative and Miles Morales. And while Miles cannot bring himself to forgive what Mister Negative did, he is able to move past the anger.

The other message in Spider-Man 2, of course, is that some burdens cannot be taken on alone. The tagline for the game is: ‘Be Greater. Together.’ Something I wish more people would take to heart. When a community comes together, there is so much more that can be done. Unfortunately, the Western world prefers to champion individualistic effort over those of a collective.

Capitalism seems to forget that if you don’t have your workers or people who can afford to purchase your goods, then what’s the whole point? And if you’re curious where this odd segue came from, I’m currently playing through Octopath Traveler 2 and Partitio’s story is very much of a big-hearted merchant who looks out for his town. His dream, funnily enough, is to destroy the devil known as poverty. Something our modern world still has not been able to solve (but could. If there was any profit to it. But who are we kidding? There isn’t.)

From a combat perspective, Spider-Man 2 changes things up a little by introducing a parry mechanism as well as a few other new abilities for the Spider-Men to enjoy. While this kept the game lively, it annoyed me that I needed a full Focus bar in order to heal. This was especially difficult in the latter boss battles against Scream and Venom. I’m not sure if the reason why I struggled through them was because I hadn’t topped up my Focus bars prior to the mission or if it was simply me not gelling with Peter’s abilities.

What I do know was that I hated how the attack you couldn’t dodge, but had to parry, was highlighted in red and that the unblockable attack was blue. Especially when the game had trained you early on with managing a perfect dodge when the spider sense was red. It also didn’t help that in the battles with Scream and Venom, these indicators didn’t last for very long and I couldn’t cancel an animation if I was already mid-dodge to parry an attack.

At least the checkpointing was generous!

As for other gameplay moments, I had to say the swinging was smooth as butter and the web wings added some great diversity to travel. Especially with the wind tunnels all around the city to help one get from Point A to Point B.

And because of these quality-of-life improvements, I didn’t feel like the new map, which now included Queens and Brooklyn, was that much larger than the original Spider-Man game or as time-consuming to get through like a map in the open-world Assassin’s Creed titles.

So, while Spider-Man 2 didn’t win at The Game Awards, it certainly won my heart as the second last game I played in the year 2023. And I’m certainly excited to see what Insomniac cooks up next, despite the hack. The studio is great at nailing story, gameplay and world while serving up side-dishes of heart. Best of all, it didn’t have me chasing after pigeons!

In a year teeming with big titles, Spider-Man 2 was everything I wanted in an open-world game without overstaying its welcome.

Thank you Insomniac and here’s hoping Spider-Man 3 brings on the Green Goblin in all his glory! Oh, and Silk. I’m curious to how they’ll insert that comic storyline into the game.