I finished Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games). Once I worked through the challenge of figuring out the gameplay, I was able to be fully immersed in the experience (except for the horse breaking mini-game, because that annoyed me to no end). Ultimately, I loved the way the game cleared up its storyline, hitting key story beats from the Western genre (with very Unforgiven vibes). The ending is beautiful and heartbreaking — and now I’m even more inclined to play the sequel.
One of the things I do when I’m stressed out is to rewatch my favorite movies or TV shows, finding comfort in the familiar. This month, I found comfort by returning to one of my favorite games, Horizon: Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games). I jumped into new game plus and played through the main storyline along with a bunch of the side quests, skipping most of the random collectibles and stuff that can be acquired through exploration. As a result, I was able to move through the game fairly quickly.
I just love the combination of smooth, creative gameplay, gorgeous level design, and excellent storytelling that Forbidden West provides. It comes together in a fantastically fun and moving experience. I’m so excited to see what Guerrilla does with the third game (which will come goodness knows when).
Outlanders (Pomelo Games) is a strategy town-building game and one of my favorite mobile games, but I quickly ran out of new challenges to play through. However, Pomelo Games has released Outlanders 2, which provides a whole new set of characters and challenges. Much of the core gameplay is the game in terms of selecting buildings and figuring out how to manage resources — but the UI is slightly different and some of the ways in which the player interacts with and/or removes buildings is slightly different. I’m not as fond of the UI in the sequel, because I feel like it looses some of the charm present in the first game. But Outlanders 2 is still a fun town builder and is a great way to pass some time.
If you’d also like to know about the books and movies that I enjoyed recently, you can check out my Culture Consumption for August.