The Games I Played In 2019

Last year, I wrote an article going over all the games I had played in 2018. It had been a pretty bad year, so it was a big help to reflect on the good things I experienced. 2019 has been a much better year, but it's also been busy. Even so, I did take the time to play a lot of games, and I want to say a few words about all of them. Let's get started!

Sonic Mania

A friend kindly gifted me this game, knowing I'm a casual fan of the Sonic series. It's actually the first game I played this year, though I started it in very late 2018. I had an absolute blast with the game and loved exploring the new worlds and watching the spectacle unfold. Some of the musical tracks in Sonic Mania are my favorites in the whole series, like 'Dimension Heist', the special stage theme:

Sonic Mania is proof that sometimes you just need to trust your greatest fans and give them the reigns. Sometimes people do know what they want.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

Shantae is an interesting series, always balancing between a level-based structure and more Metroid-based free exploration. Half-Genie Hero was the latest game in the series when I played it, and it represented a reboot for the series, starting the story back at the beginning before Pirate's Curse. The game revolves around Shantae's ability to transform into various animal forms, each of which has its own unique abilities and mobility. With beautiful art and music, a witty sense of humor and plenty of cute characters, it's no wonder the game was a success and they have since announced a sequel which I am very much looking forward to as well!

Slay the Spire (Again!)

Slay the Spire is a card based roguelite that I thoroughly enjoyed last year... but I hadn't tried the third character, the Defect, yet. So I sank my teeth into Slay the Spire again this year and wrecked a few bosses with this highly entertaining new character.

Klonoa 2

Klonoa was another PS1 classic I tried on stream and really loved. I wanted to move on to the next game right away, but unfortunately, we ran into technical problems with PS2 streaming and had to stop after two streams. What I experienced in those first few streams made a great impression, though, so I'll probably stream it again some day when I can make it work.

The Castlevania Journey

After finishing Symphony of the Night late last year, my Castlevania journey finally continued in January and continued throughout most of the year. I would write a summary for each game individually, but I actually already did that a while ago and I don't think it's necessary to repeat it all. Please have a look at all my thoughts here: https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/a-year-of-castlevania

Quiet Months (Intermission)

After playing a game games in January, there were a few months of low activity as I struggled to find some additional work. Freelance work is unstable and I needed something on the side. The search felt pretty hopeless throughout February, but I finally got that stable side job in March. After getting accustomed to the structure, I started playing games for fun again regularly in April.


Viridi

A therapeutic garden simulator that allows you to tend to your own little garden. I was looking for something I could start up occasionally but wouldn't have to commit much time or effort to, and this game suited my needs quite well at that time. I wrote a full article on it just a while ago, which you can read right here:

https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/viridi-watching-grass-grow

HEARTBEAT

HEARTBEAT is an adorable turn-based RPG absolutely bursting at the seams with cute characters and beautiful sprites. I enjoyed it a lot, but noted in my article that its story does burn at a slow pace, and that the absolutely huge cast of characters can make it a little unfocused. I loved it, though, and I thoroughly recommend it to any fan of RPGs. If you want to read more, please have a look at my full article:

https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/some-thoughts-about-heartbeat

Final Fantasy XIII (Ongoing)

Now, here's a game I know I won't be finishing this year. Final Fantasy XIII is one of the major installments in the beloved Final Fantasy franchise. The game itself is pretty controversial. I waited for all the heat to die down before finally hopping into this one so I could do it with a fair perspective, and while a lot of the criticism is valid - like the game's heavily linear structure and simplified battle system - I really love the characters and actually think the Paradigms are an interesting way to streamline battles. Essentially, rather than assigning character specific actions, you continuously shift "paradigms" where you assign each character a different strategic role like 'Medic,' 'Ravager,' 'Synergist' and so on and they will take their own actions accordingly. The game is also jaw-droppingly gorgeous and I look forward to seeing the rest of it. So, no spoilers please!

LiEat

LiEat is a series of three short Wolf RPG Editor games developed by Miwashiba, a mysterious Japanese developer. The game revolves around a dragon girl called Efina who can make lies manifest as little creatures, which she can then eat. This makes her an effective lie detector and gets her involved in various mysteries across a journey of self discovery with her caretaker. I wrote a longer article about all of Miwashiba's amazing RPGs right here:

https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/miwashiba-s-adorable-rpgs

Highway Blossoms

It might be a stretch to call this game, as Highway Blossoms is really more a 'kinetic novel' - that is, a visual novel with no choices or mechanics. Essentially a digital graphic novel. Highway Blossoms is the story of two girls who are both on the road, going nowhere for their own reasons, and banding together to find a legendary treasure. Of course, the treasure more serves as the background for the blossoming relationship between the two characters. I thought the story and voice acting were pretty good, and the 'joke' modes you get after beating the game made me laugh. It's not really my type of game or story, but it was fun to try something different.

The Sexy Brutale

This oddly-named puzzle game was recommended to me because I really love Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. The two games are very different, but they share this one core idea: Solving murders by preventing them using time travel powers. In the Sexy Brutale, you play as Lafcardio, a priest in a mysterious hotel casino called 'The Sexy Brutale' where all the guests are getting murdered overnight. It's up to you to prevent those murders so you can gain there powers and make your way deeper into the hotel and find out who's behind it all. I loved the game's stylized presentation, the intricate puzzles that forced you to take note of each character's movements and actions throughout the day and the game's dark sense of humour. I wrote my full thoughts down in this article:

https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/some-thoughts-about-the-sexy-brutale

Mario Odyssey

Even though my work situation allowed me to make my own schedule, console gaming was so separated from my work (not to mention expensive) that I left it behind for a while after the disappointing lifetime of the Wii U. But in June 2019, I finally got my hands on a Switch with Mario Odyssey, and I loved it. The Mario series has a special place in my heart and I often cite Super Mario Galaxy 2 as one of my all-time favorite games, and it was a real treat to finally play the newest installment in this amazing franchise. Odyssey had bigger worlds, tons of collectibles and dropped the linear structure of its predecessors to return to 64 and Sunshine's open ended structure. I wrote some thoughts about how the game continued (or didn't continue) the trends established in the Wii-era Mario games too: https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/some-thoughts-about-super-mario-odyssey

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

Like so many other people, I don't really like the Rabbids. They're simplistic, loud and annoying - in essence, the Minions of videogames. But you simply can't overlook a turn-based tactical RPG with Mario characters, especially not if Grand Kirkhope is doing the soundtrack. Because it involves the Rabbids, the game's sense of humor doesn't really appeal to me, but its presentation and gameplay are very fun. I'm about two worlds in and intend to continue in 2020.

Cadence of Hyrule

I really liked Crypt of the Necrodancer and was absolutely thrilled to see the studio behind that get its hands on a genuine Nintendo IP. Cadence of Hyrule is fantastically fun, offering a new spin on Zelda gameplay and Zelda music with its Necrodanger rhythm game flair - but it also gives me hope that Nintendo may allow smaller studios to try other things just like this. It's good that Nintendo is cautious with its IPs, but they took a risk here and it paid off handsomely. Let's see how other dependable indie devs handle some of those big Nintendo names, I say!

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

The final destination of the Castlevania journey we started last October. Ritual of the Night is a huge Kickstarter success and a great revival of the 'Igavania.' I loved streaming the game and the music sticks by me to this day. I actually wrote down my thoughts in an article earlier this year: https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/some-thoughts-about-bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night

Lumino City

An adorable, visually appealing point & click game that was on my to-do list for a long time... and still is, really. I played it for a few hours and really liked the style, but found myself frustrated by the puzzles. The game gives you a huge book with hundreds of pages, and I believe you're expected to find the right page to go with certain mechanisms you come across, but I couldn't muster the patience to get through it. I still want to give it another chance, though, and maybe I will in 2020.

Ticket to Ride

A fun digital version of a classic board game. I enjoyed a few short sessions of it, but haven't picked it up since. Read my full thoughts here: https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/some-thoughts-about-ticket-to-ride

Cogs

Cogs is a three-dimensional sliding puzzle game with a shiney steampunk style. I really enjoyed it, though it's the kind of game I can only really play in small doses. Read my full thoughts here: https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/some-thoughts-about-cogs

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

The 'Zero Escape' series had been on my to-do list since the days of the Nintendo DS, when the game was first released. But I was not confident in my ability to solve escape rooms, especially not under pressure, and had some important plot details spoiled for me... so I delayed and delayed until I finally started on the series in 2019. I loved every second of 999, with its vibrant characters, fantastic music and inventive escape rooms. It's only a shame that the series peaked so early. Read my full thoughts here: https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/some-thoughts-about-nine-hours-nine-persons-nine-doors

Virtue's Last Reward

The second game in the 'Zero Escape' series. It pushed the series forward in many substantial ways with a huge amount of story branching and an even crazier storyline, but it was held back by some tedious mechanics, repetition and an ugly presentation. I still enjoyed it, but it never quite hit the highs that 999 did for me. Read my full thoughts here: https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/some-thoughts-about-virtue-s-last-reward

Zero Time Dilemma

The third game in the 'Zero Escape' series and the only one in the series where I took long breaks between sessions. The game is still alright, with some good characters, writing and escape rooms. However, it failed to live up to its role as the conclusion to a trilogy, having an awful presentation, fatal problems with its storytelling and leaving many questions unanswered. You can read my full, angry thoughts here: https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/many-thoughts-about-zero-escape-zero-time-dilemma

Puggsy

A Sega Mega Drive/Genesis classic about a potato man that carries things and uses real physics. A technological marvel far ahead of its time with beautiful music and visuals, but some unfortunately weak boss battles. This game represents a certain milestone for me, because I've known about it for over a decade but simply never played it myself. It's weird to finally play a game when you've had some of its soundtrack in your work music playlists for years. Anyway, I streamed the whole game, and you can read my thoughts about it here: https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/some-thoughts-about-puggsy

Deep Rock Galactic

A coop multiplayer game focused on doing mining missions on hostile planets. I loved that each character had a unique role and there were so many ways to achieve your goals; some characters can make platforms, while others can just dig through the ground and walls. I played a few sessions with friends during a free weekend, but I should pick it up again in the future.

Detention

An atmospheric 2D puzzle-horror game set in Taiwan under martial law. I played this game as one of my 'October' horror games, and while it fits the bill, I was surprised to see the tone shift from terrifying to tragic as the story progressed. The game wasn't all that scary to me, but I really enjoyed it. I also want to make a special note that this developer had their next game, 'Devotion,' removed from sale because some text disparaging the Chinese president had been left in it. It's especially sad after experiencing the cry for free speech in Detention; apparently it's fine to criticize any other country's regime. If you want, you can read my thoughts in a bit more detail here: https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/scary-thoughts-on-detention

Penumbra: Black Plague

Here's a story for you: Before my YouTube channel was mostly a stream archive, I actually tried to make it into a Let's Play channel - hence the name 'ArjenPlays.' And Penumbra: Overture was one of the very first horror games I "let's played" along with SCP: Containment Breach. This all happened in the distant past of 2015. To get back to the present, for this Halloween I was planning to finally get back to this trilogy and pick it back up by streaming the second game. I think the game has good qualities, and the 'voice' that accompanies you provides plenty of dark comedy, but I don't know if will continue streaming it. A slow-paced third person horror game that requires you to solve puzzles while being chased around? Add an audience to that mix, and you've got a lot of stress. I may finish it on my own, however, as it does seem to be an improvement over the first 'Penumbra.'

Silence of the Sleep

A 2D puzzle exploration horror game, just like Detention. This is another game I have been aware of for some time; way back when it released, a few YouTubers I liked made a 'first impressions' video - but none of them went on to finish it. It took a while, but eventually my curiosity got the better of me, and I tried it out. The game is very impressive for a one-man project, with a fascinating narrative and some genuine scares, but it overplays its hand sometimes with monsters appearing too much and being too visible, taking away the tension and replacing it with frustration. It's probably still my favorite horror game of this year, however. Read my mixed thoughts here: https://arjenartdesign.blogspot.com/2019/10/scary-thoughts-about-silence-of-sleep.html

Pony Island

A puzzle 'meta' game where you try to defeat a haunted arcade cabinet. It's short and sweet and I played it through in one session, which I think is the best way to do it. The game was a bit less surprising than it could have been if I had played it when it just released, since 'meta' games are a lot more common these days. I still thought it was great fun though, and I thought the mechanic where you solve problems by "programming" them out of the game was interesting. There's also more to the story than you might expect. Read my full thoughts here: https://arjenartdesign.blogspot.com/2019/10/scary-thoughts-about-pony-island.html

Uncanny Valley

Last October I was really on a roll with simple but effective 2D horror games like Detention and Silence of the Sleep. I thought I'd keep the train going with 'Uncanny Valley,' another game in the same genre but with a simpler artstyle. I liked the initial build up, but the game apparently glitched causing the story to never progress anymore. After a lot of random experimentation, I did get an ending, but it was absolutely horrifying and didn't really motivate me to try again because I felt I was being punished for the game's mistakes. The game has a real problem communicating, and unfortunately, the dev isn't that willing to listen to feedback. Never say never, but Uncanny Valley can stay right where it is for now. My thoughts in a bit more detail: 

Resident Evil HD

In October 2018, I gave my Twitch channel a new direction: To stream all Metroidvania Castlevania games. With the completion of Ritual of the Night and 'Penumbra: Overture' not really scratching the itch, I finally picked up another series I've been avoiding for a long time. I started on the Resident Evil series with the HD remake of the first game. I decided to start on the hardest difficulty, and while that made the experience quite tough, it definitely helped me appreciate the 'survival' ascept of this survival horror classic. The most interesting and difficult part was definitely that saving is a limited resource in the Resident Evil games, requiring you to use an 'Ink Ribbon' on a typewriter to actually keep your progress. I described my experiences with this unique limited resource more here: 

https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/resident-evil-and-the-horror-of-saving-as-a-limited-resource

On a more personal note, I'm really happy I finally started on this series and I love it - even when it gets frustrating. It also feels good to have a clear direction for my Twitch channel.

Resident Evil 0

After having a great time with Resident Evil, I thought I'd strike while the iron was hot and started on the prequel right away. On top of the usual resource management, Resident Evil 0 also requires you to manage two characters with their own health and inventory space. Most of the game was perfectly fine, if derivative, but an overly linear structure combined with bullet sponge-y bosses made it possible to save the game in an unwinnable situation. This happened to me twice, and the second time, I used Cheat Engine for the first time ever just to be done with it, as I had spent literal hours beating my head against a certain boss and realizing I simply didn't have the firepower to take it down. Aside from those two very negative experiences, though, the game was still solid. You can read more about my experiences here:

https://steemit.com/gaming/@arjendesign/resident-evil-0-the-horror-of-saving-yourself-into-a-corner

Lovely Planet

A cute and simplistic first-person shooter by a Japanese developer. I tried this game on a whim and actually really liked its simply level structure. It's all about figuring out the structure of the level and running your way through it as quickly as you can. It did start to wear on me after a while, but maybe I'll pick it back up in the future and see if more mechanics are added.

BEEP

Another puzzle platformer that's been sitting in my Steam list for many years. I tried it randomly to clear out my to-do list. It's functional, but didn't grab my attention in any real way. I might pick it up again some day.

Action Henk

A runner game about a toy action hero trying to reclaim his lost glory. It's all about finding the fastest, most efficient way to get through the stages with various jumps and sliding. This game has a special meaning to me because it's actually from my native country, the Netherlands. The backgrounds are nicely detailed, but the character models look a little bit unpleasant. I especially loved the music and trying again and again to shave off a second is very addictive. Sometimes the game is so fast, you need to fail a stage a few times to really figure out where to do, but this is pretty harmless because the levels are so short and restarting happens instantly. I enjoyed the game a lot, so I'm actually surprised I didn't write a full article about it. Maybe I will next year.

Spec Ops: The Line

A seemingly generic military shooter about a group of American soldiers performing a mission in Dubai, but it gradually turns into a scathing commentary on the genre. This type of 'cover shooter' isn't usually my genre, and I did have a lot of trouble with some sections, but there are many great details in the presentation. For example, the voice lines of the characters in your squad become increasingly unhinged as the situation gets messier. When it all seems simple enough, and it's you versus what seem to be terrorists, they're very professional - but as the game progresses and you've found yourself having to fight American soldiers and possibly harming civilians, the voice lines become angrier, laden with profanity and outright desperate-sounding. Because the game is known as a commentary, I was expecting ridiculous levels of 'meta,' but the 'meta' elements are actually very subtle and restrained. The game works perfectly well like a military shooter in its own right, which you could see as a positive or a negative considering its message. Either way, it was interesting!

Resident Evil 2 (Remake)

Which version of Resident Evil 2 to play was a much harder choice than for the first game. The REmake seemed like an improvement in every way, but the Resident Evil 2 remake also seemed very different. It trades the static camera angles for an over-the-shoulder third person action camera, and it's also very recent. On top of that, the Resident Evil 1 remake is a classic in its own right, but the Resident Evil 2 remake is still quite new. But in the end, I'm glad I decided to play this version - I really love the game and all the ways it reimagines the series. Even on the hardest difficulty, it is easier than 1 and 0, but I honestly don't mind - it's still hard enough! I can't offer my full thought yet, because while I've finished Leon's campaign, I still need to finish Claire's and the extra campaigns. And of course, I'm streaming it all, so do stop by if you get the opportunity. 

VVVVVV

One of the indie darlings of yore, a classic among indie platformers that I simply never tried, maybe because I got it in a Humble Bundle during time where I felt "retro style" games oversaturated the market a bit. Not really a fair reason, but when you have hundreds of games to play, you can start to prioritize one over the other for any number of silly reasons. Regardless, I finally tried it and really enjoyed it. It's a platformer where you don't really "jump" per se, but rather, each jump reverses gravity. It's a simple but effective idea that really makes you think about the level design in a different way, especially when additional mechanics get thrown into the mix. And I really loved the music.

Shovel Knight: King of Cards

Yacht Club finally released their final DLC for Shovel Knight after continously working on the game since its release in 2013 - and they nailed it, again. The 'King of Cards' expansion revolves around King Knight, a character whose movement revolves around shoulder bashing and chaining together spin jumps. It's funny, it's charming and they structured it so that it consists of many smaller stages instead of fewer larger ones. This keeps everything more varied, and on top of that, they added a genuinely fun card game called Joustus to go along with the campaign. It's unbelievable how much mileage we've gotten out of the Shovel Knight Treasure Trove pack and I look forward to seeing whatever Yacht Club works on next!

Luigi's Mansion 3 

A long awaited third installment in a beloved series. Luigi's Mansion was a classic, designed with enough content to keep you busy for long time, and yet a skilled player could find their way through the mansion in mere hours. That's why the game is still well-liked by speedrunners. Luigi's Mansion 2 for the 3DS had an even better presentation and more variation, but the transition to handheld caused changes people disagreed with - like separated levels with separated missions. Luigi's Mansion 3 brings the best of both worlds and truly represents a high point for the series. It all takes place in a huge hotel, returning to the cohesion of Luigi's Mansion 1, but each floor is themed to allow for the visual and thematic diversity of Luigi's Mansion 2. I'm so happy it exists and I can't wait to keep playing it.

Closing Words

Phew! I never expect these articles to take the sheer amount of work they do; maybe I should spend less time on games in 2020 to make it easier next time... Regardless, I had a really great year in terms of gaming, and I'm looking forward to what awaits us in 2020 as well. 2019 had a rough start, but starting with Q2, the game train started and never stopped. I streamed many amazing games, I picked up console gaming again and I checked off quite a few games from my to-do list. A pretty big success!

To zoom out a bit, it's also been a great year for me on Steem. A lot of people have supported my articles, art and videos and it was a major encouragement while I sorted things out with my work. I've written more articles this year than I have in, well, years! And it's all thanks to your kind support. I hope you'll continue to go on these adventures with me, whether it be by reading my articles, watching my streams or enjoying my art. 

I want to wish you all a beautiful and blessed 2020 - and if you have a moment, why don't you share your favorite games from 2019 right here? I'll try to respond to everyone.

Silent Hill 2's Best Ending

Spoiler warning. Silent Hill 2 is well worth experiencing for yourself, and reading this article before playing it could really damage your experience. I strongly recommend playing it first.

Silent Hill 2 is considered one of the finest horror games ever made, and some would argue, one of the best videogames in general. A lot of this can be attributed to its engrossing story and characters. Like so many games with a strong narrative, Silent Hill 2 has multiple endings, and there are many strong opinions about which ending is the best. I'm going to share my own opinion on this matter.

All Consuming Guilt

Silent Hill 2 tells the story of James Sunderland. He receives a letter from his wife Mary asking him to meet her in the town of Silent Hill, but she supposedly died of an illness three years ago. Even so, James comes to Silent Hill to find out for himself. 

As we find out near the very end, Mary did not die of an illness three years ago, but rather, James killed her just three days ago and has been in complete denial of this reality through the entire game. Everything that happened in Silent Hill was a manifestation of his own guilt.

So why did James do it? Silent Hill called to him, so it's clear he feels guilty about it. Was it mercy? Mary was suffering after all, and outright stated she wanted to die. Was it revenge or an escape? In the late stages of her illness, Mary became angry and verbally abusive and taking care of her consumed James' life. Or was it desire? The feminine figures that haunt Silent Hill imply that James was sexually frustrated, so did he simply remove Mary so he could himself a new relationship?

Means and Ends

The powerful thing about Silent Hill 2 is that each of its endings puts James' motivations in a different light. The 'Maria' ending, for example, has James escaping Silent Hill with the Mary lookalike 'Maria' he met there. Maria is almost identical to Mary, but more seductive. She seems to be a creation of Silent Hill designed to tempt and torture James. This ending probably puts James in the most negative light, as it seems to prove that he simply wanted to move on from Mary. During the ending, Maria starts coughing, implying that she's also ill and James will be punished for his mistakes by experiencing the exact same thing he experienced with Mary once again. Powerful and tragic, as James has already been forced to see her die multiple times throughout the story.

The next ending is the one I've seen a very vocal part of the fanbase call the best. It is simply called 'In Water.' In this ending, James and Mary have a final talk, and James admits that 'part of him hated her for taking away his life.' Mary concedes that this may be true, but that he's suffered enough. She dies again, for the last time, and James comes to the conclusion that he cannot live without her. Taking her body with him, he drives his car into the lake, thus committing suicide.

This ending is powerful and tragic and certainly feels natural. Silent Hill 2 is James' journey to face his guilt, and then act upon it accordingly. After all, the others who were called to Silent Hill, Eddie and Angela, passed away as well. 

But in my opinion, the best ending is the "good" ending, 'Leave.' I admit I'm biased in favor of happy endings, although Silent Hill 2 has no truly "happy" conclusions, but I have a few valid narrative reasons why this ending is the best conclusion to this story.

In Leave, James and Mary have their talk just like 'In Water', but when Mary throws James a bone and justifies his actions by saying 'She wanted to die,' James doesn't take it and fully faces down his own guilt. He doesn't say that "part of him hated her" this time, he comes out and - in an anguished voice - says:

The difference is subtle but important. And Mary's response to this always makes me teary-eyed.

"James... if that were true, then why do you look so sad?" 

This ending paints James in the most positive light. In all of the endings, that impulse, that desire to get his life back was present, but him admitting it clearly - in spite of how much it hurts him and how wrong he knows it is - redeems him. That's why he can overcome his guilt and move on in 'Leave,' with Mary's blessing.

On top of the perfect way it finishes James' arc, Leave is also the only ending that wraps up Laura's story. Laura is a little girl James meets around Silent Hill several times, and she was friends with Mary before she died. In Leave, you appropriately see James leave Silent Hill with Laura, taking her with him and thus carrying on Mary's wish that they be friends. Her fate is left ambiguous in the other endings, which I think makes them feel a bit incomplete.

At the Core of Silent Hill (Conclusion)

The monsters of Silent Hill are never just simple monsters with a thirst for blood, and neither is the town itself. Silent Hill 2 is the story of James facing his guilt - that's why Silent Hill called to him - and the reason why the 'Leave' ending speaks to me the most is because it is the only ending where he truly faces it. In 'Maria', he runs from his guilt and the 'In Water' ending concludes with James ending his own life because he is unable to life with his guilt. In 'Leave', James fully sheds light on the darkest parts of his psyche and starts on a path towards redemption, with his penance being a responsibility to take care of Laura as Mary once did. And it ends beautifully with those final words in Mary's letter:

_

Hey, thank you for taking the time to read another one of my articles. This one was a bit shorter, but definitely on a subject I'm passionate about. I've been thinking about why I love the 'Leave' ending for much of the past year and I finally got to put it into words here. Please let me know which ending you liked the best and why! 

Resident Evil 0: The Horror of Saving Yourself Into a Corner

I recently finished Resident Evil 0, the prequel to the classic Resident Evil. Unlike its more popular predecessor, Resident Evil 0 had a lukewarm reception and is usually considered "just alright." In light of the article I wrote about Resident Evil and the limited Ink Ribbons, I wanted to discuss the ways in which this game is both kinder and more cruel. This is going to be a bit more anecdotal than my usual article, because I want to describe my personal experience with the game as well as analyze it.

On the Right Track

Resident Evil 0 brings a few new ideas to the table. You're playing as two characters, Rebecca and Billy, which presents new possibilities and challenges alike. Each has their own inventory space, so you can hold more, but who needs to hold what? You have two people who can fight, but also two people who you need to protect and keep in good health. While I thought puzzles using the two characters separately were underutilized, I did really appreciate this concept. There's a unique terror to controlling your two characters separately, focusing on one of them for too long and then hearing the other character call for help on your walkie talkie. Can you rush over there? Or will you switch and deal with the problem on your own? The few moments after you realize one of your characters is in danger are always tense.


Written in Ink and Blood

The main point of my article about Resident Evil was discussing the Ink Ribbons, which effectively turn saving into a limited resource. I felt this was a daring design choice with great potential payoff, but great risk as well. I think Resident Evil HD ultimately came out on top with it, but Resident Evil 0 much less so. The Ink Ribbons return here, and strangely, they're actually a bit more common - further compounded by the game's shorter length. I found myself having an overabundance of them and kicking myself for not saving after certain deaths because I was so used to them being rare after the first Resident Evil.

But the abundance of Ink Ribbons combined with another of the game's quirks quickly led to major frustrations - namely, the layout or structure of where the game takes place. Resident Evil takes place in a mansion first and foremost, with each of the separate areas being an offshoot of that. Resident Evil 0 is a bit more linear in that regard - the first area, the train, is actually closed off permanently after you leave it, and each area after that becomes mostly irrelevant after you move on to the next. This means there is less room for exploration and fewer paths to take at any one time. Combine that with some really mean enemies and enemy placements, the fact that health items are still as rare as ever, and you've got a situation where you can quite easily save yourself into a corner.

Right from the start, the game felt a lot more challenging than Resident Evil 1, but I was able to make my way through at a slow and steady pace... until I hit a solid brick wall, the Giant Bat. I had just barely made my way to the third area after finishing the Training Facility, saved in the church area and was then immediately thrown into a boss battle. Both playable characters were at low health but I had a decent amount of ammunition, so I assumed it would be possible to overcome the battle regardless. Unfortunately, the bat has a lot of health and is surrounded by many smaller bats that continuously fly at you, dealing chip damage. After dozens of attempts where the smaller bats killed me or my ammunition simply ran out, I realized I had saved myself into an unwinnable position. I lacked the ammunition to kill the boss, but getting more ammunition - if there was any left - would require backtracking through rooms with many enemies, wasting more health and ammunition.

After a few more stubborn attempts, I was ultimately forced to do something that hadn't happened even a single time in Resident Evil 1 - return to an earlier save, redo a few hours of progress and make it back to the same spot with more resources. This really took the fun out of the game for me for a while, but after I finally got back and made it past the boss, I was willing to give the game another fair chance. And for a while, that worked out fine - I made it through the next few areas without much trouble, and started to really enjoy myself again. And then, at the very end, I hit another solid brick wall: The first phase of the final boss. The situation was much the same as with the bat - not only did I have low health, I simply didn't have enough bullets left to take it down. And returning to a slightly earlier save didn't help the situation much at all, either, so I was in yet another situation where I would have to go back to a save of several hours ago to even be able to make it through this boss. After trying many more times, my patience had unfortunately run out, and I did something unprecedented for my streams: I loaded up CheatEngine and gave myself infinite ammunition to make it through the boss, then beat the rest of the final boss legitimately. I prefer not to resort to illegitimate methods to complete games, but if a game can create a situation where an obstacle becomes impassable, I consider that cheating as well. I described the frustrated feeling in my streams something like this: "You've made it to this point with the resources you have fair and quare, saved, and the game just wags its finger at you and calls your progress invalid because you don't have enough bullets or health." That's how it felt, and that's why I didn't feel particularly bad about cheating in this one segment.

In short, the game's abundance of Ink Ribbons but lack of other resources, combined with its highly linear structure, easily allows you to save yourself into an unwinnable position, particularly before boss encounters - many of which require a lot of ammunition to take down, especially on harder difficulty settings. The first time this happened, I played ball with the game's limits and re-did a two hour segment. The second time it happened, my patience ran out and I cheated for a few minutes to overcome the otherwise insurmountable obstacle. It is my personal opinion that this was perfectly fair, as I consider it a game design flaw that you can so easily save yourself in a bad position. I admit that this is mostly subjective, however, and high skill players will likely not run into this problem.

Not With Zero Merits

There were many frustrations in my experience with Resident Evil 0, but except for the 'brick walls' I encountered, the game was still solid. Its presentation is beautiful, and its areas - while derivative - are a joy to explore. I particularly liked areas that really capitalized on the two-character system like the Train and the Lab. And while the narrative was rather bare bones in its execution, I really liked the concept of a special agent and a death row criminal being forced to work together and having to learn to trust each other.

Because of all its qualities, I can still recommend the game to fans of the genre or series, although it is a cautious recommendation. If you play the game, play it on an easy difficulty to breeze through and enjoy the atmosphere and locations. If you do feel brave enough to tackle the hard difficulty, remember to be stingy with your Ink Ribbons and make sure you're keeping as many resources as you can.

And that's all I had to say! I'm aware that this article was more negative and anecdotal than usual, but I just wanted to share my experiences with this game. Any feedback would be appreciated! 

My Experience With ArtByte (ABY)

I've written a lot of articles, but this is the first time I'm writing about a cryptocurrency. I hope it's an interesting read! Any and all feedback would be appreciated.

Baby's First Cryptocurrency

I've been aware of cryptocurrencies for many years, but only started investing in them just under two years ago. A friend of mine explained the concept to me, and I made the decision to invest in a lesser known cryptocurrency with a purpose I could really get behind - ABY, or ArtByte, previously known as AppleByte. Its stated goal was to be used as a way to pay artists, which was especially relevant to me as a freelance artist.

And so it was that on 4 December 2017, I bought cryptocurrency for the first time in my life - about 20 euros' worth of ArtByte on Litebit. A very small investment, but we all have to start somewhere. At first, I simply reveled in the experience of being part of something new, but I eventually started participating in the community and even using their specialized faucet.

A Lost Art

For a while things seemed to be going alright with the ABY. It's tough to find any hard data at this time for reasons we'll get into later, but as its listing on Coinmarketcap reveals, it reached a high point of $0,049949 on January 11th 2018, just two months after I bought it. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly. Its community was vibrant, people were tipping ABY to artists on Twitter and Reddit, and it all seemed to be reaching ever new heights. But then some cracks started to show - first their faucet closed, and their forum followed soon after. I'm not entirely sure why this was, but I speculate that it's because people were just in it to earn ABY. You see, the forum rewarded members with ABY for making many posts, which led to a lot of spam, people posting low effort responses or even making topics with copy-pasted Wiki articles. The forum was replaced with a simpler system of 'artist profiles,' pages artists could post updates and artwork on, which still exists today but isn't particularly active.

Of course, getting rid of a forum or a faucet won't kill a cryptocurrency. But nothing could prepare ABY for the crypto crash of 2018. I don't know if things were happening behind the screens that we don't know about, or if the crash just hit the ABY at a vulnerable time, but it never recovered. After a steady decline of many months, we finally reached the middle of 2019 with no signs of improvement and no real news from the people behind this once-promising cryptocurrency. And the few ambitious platforms that had hosted ABY to buy or trade slowly began to delist it, starting with Litebit on July 10th 2019 (https://twitter.com/litebiteu/status/1146744394332155904) - which means it was no longer sold anywhere and could only be traded on the last remaining websites that allowed it. One of those websites, Nova Exchange, ceased all trading just over a month ago as of writing this article, leaving only Yobit as a place to trade ABY. To make matters worse, Yobit's ABY wallet has been under 'maintenance' for a long time with no updates, which means ABY buying and trading is as good as dead.

And that's the awkward position this once-valued cryptocurrency is in today. With no word from the developers and no place to buy, sell or trade, ABY will simply stay in people's wallets and continue to decrease in value as it has been doing for a long time.

Lessons to be Learned

Regardless of all the signs that it was time to jump ship, I stubbornly held on to all my ABY. By the time I finally thought of selling it, it was barely worth doing so anymore, so I still have about 28 000 ABY just sitting in my wallet. At this point, it's worth about 7-8 dollars in BTC in total. I never invested too much money into it, but ABY's current state still feels like a major disappointment because I invested a lot of time in the community around it, only for that community to disappear. My experience with ABY proved to be a lesson not only in investing money, but in investing time and energy as well.

Of course, though the situation looks hopeless, there is still a chance the ABY team is working on a revival behind the scenes. Maybe this article proclaiming ABY to have been a bad investment will look ridiculous in a few years? That's just the way it goes with these smaller, specialized cryptocurrencies. If nothing else, we can at least look forward to Yobit finally finishing maintenance on their ABY wallet. That should revive trading in some small way. That's why I'll hold on to the ABY I still have - most likely, it'll just diminish in value even more, but at least it'll be an interesting relic of the past if nothing else. And if it ever does make a comeback I can pretend I knew it all along.

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Though my experience with ABY was very educational, I actually made similar mistakes with other cryptocurrencies shortly after investing in it - this was before everything went wrong with ABY, mind you. One cryptocurrency I invested in that proceeded to fade away was 2GIVE. If people enjoy this article about my experience with ABY, I might write an article about that one as well. As I said, all feedback is appreciated!