It’s the end of May. We’re watching the credits roll in Elden Ring. After roaming the Lands Between for over 150 hours, he feels the familiar bitterness that comes with every time he quits a game he loves. I overcame unimaginable fear and became King of Elden on my own personalized adventure. So? Recovering from this high will be a personal struggle for the rest of the year.
Elden Ring ruled my life. When I wasn’t playing, it was the only thing I wanted to do. Tasks like gaining access to the Raya Lucaria Academy or conquering Malenia were on the back of my mind when I was shaving off other games for work and hobbies. I stopped eating Red Lobster because it caused me to suffer terrible flashbacks of being relentlessly vomited by a giant crustacean in Liurnia of the Lakes. Elden Ring joined the ranks of Grand Theft Auto III, Skyrim, and Breath of the Wild as a game that became a borderline obsession for me, and the lull that followed was rough.
elden ring
I played the game out of work obligations and nothing caught my attention. It’s not trivial to the game per se, but there was one act that had to be followed. did. Should we keep cutting out another big title like Dying Light 2, or should we enjoy something smaller and more experimental? Worst of all, the answer isn’t “keep playing Elden Ring.” did. I loved it, but I didn’t want to be the anchor that prevented me from enjoying everything else the year had to offer.
Thankfully, the first game that got me on track was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. As an old-school TMNT fan of his, I’ve been looking forward to Tribute Games’ arcade throwback of him for a long time. successfully delivered Just what I wanted by offering a lovingly modern take on a beloved formula. It was a break. Then add a killer retro soundtrack and nostalgia. It may not have been very helpful in comparison, but this comforting familiarity made me realize that playing Elden Ring made me too mentally exhausted to tackle a more mechanically dense title. By the time I kicked the shredder to the curb, I was hungry for something a little bigger, bolder, and pretty tough.
Comes in neon white. Shredder’s Revenge gave me something familiar, but Neon White captivated me by offering something refreshing and original. I love platformers, and the game’s creative implementation of card-based gunplay and its focus on speedrunning has made me fall in love with something new: leaderboards. How many more seconds can you shave off a platinum rank run? Can I continue to claim leaderboard dominance over my friends list? My competitive side has found new challenges to sink its teeth in. Like Elden Ring, Neon White is It offered a rewarding sense of ‘Me vs. The Game’ and was a challenge that required dexterity and timing to overcome its obstacles. Or, in more jerky layman’s terms, I needed to “do good” again.
spectator
After leaving my footprints in Heaven, I just felt my groove back and ready to tackle something a little more off-kilter. As an entertaining parody of the enigmatic puzzle game The Witness, it garnered positive online buzz. I love The Witness and wanted to try The Looker. I’m happy because within minutes it was rated as the best comedy title I’ve ever played. The game is Blow’s humorous deconstruction of his 2016 mystery, sharply criticizing its pretentiousness and the puzzled nature of his game as a whole.Not only is the gag funny, but The Looker’s ridicule of The Witness, The Looker’s puzzle, is really clever in its own right. completely free game, highly recommended for anyone who’s played The Witness enough to try The Looker. Its playful originality replenished my excitement to see other bizarre experiences out there, and Elden Ring’s Misty Gates completely dissipated my enthusiasm for other games. .
Elden Ring treated me so well that I was convinced that I would never find another game that did the same. It’s my game of the year with bullets. Sometimes the game is so good that you forget or don’t want to look for everything else there. In hindsight, I was also afraid that I didn’t enjoy something just because it wasn’t Elden Ring. Beneficial. There may be some breakup advice somewhere here, but I am grateful to have found that there are many other fish in the ocean.
