MONTHLY FAVES: OCTOBER 2023 GAMING TOP PICKS

What we have to say about the games we've been playing this month.

OCT 31, 2023

This month has been been a good month when it comes to the games we have been playing. We have thoroughly enjoyed returning to Destiny 2, and we have been making progress on our personal games for the month. As for our tabletop game, we have definitely found a new game that is going to keep us coming back again and again. Read on to see what we have to say about the games we have been playing this month.

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CO-OP TOP PICK

DESTINY 2 (PS4)

IS THERE SPACE FOR CASUAL PLAYERS IN DESTINY 2

Every time we play Destiny 2, Zach thinks about what other games can scratch that itch, but what makes this game so addictive? Is it the unique gameplay? The gorgeous visuals? Or could it be the countless play styles and character customization? Perhaps all of the above? It’s difficult to find any other game quite like it.

But, the world of Destiny 2 has become divided. There are the die-hard elitists that dump countless hours into the game and are very strict on not only the builds they run, but the builds that players playing with them must run. Then there are the “blueberries”, the newbies who are just getting into Destiny and are still learning the mechanics. Take courage, little blueberries, we all started there at some point. And somewhere in between, there are the players like us - the ones who are experienced with the content, have builds we like with higher gear and weapons, but we haven’t dumped countless hours into the game. We don’t have a huge fire team. We haven’t completed all the raids, dungeons and other end game content.

Why? Well, partially because of life and our other responsibilities, and partially because we don’t have a huge fire team. It’s just the two of us right now.

So, is there a place for players like us in end-game Destiny 2 content?

Frankly, the answer is yes and no. It’s true that there are certain end game activities that we are able to play through together such as dungeons, nightfalls and exotic missions.

Raids, however, continue to be out of our grasp without 4 more fire team members. The mechanics in raids are built in a way that prevents low person teams from completing them. This can be frustrating due to the raid specific gear that can only be obtained through clearing the raid.

We are aware of Discord communities such as Destiny 2 LFG to find more fire team members, but we are still very new to this process and intimidated by players looking for perfection.

Remember the division we spoke of earlier? This exists primarily in raid content. The most experienced players tend to not have the patience for helping newer or inexperienced raid players learn the mechanics of raid encounters. One mistake could lead to being removed from a fire team or even something as trivial as not using builds that teams essentially “require” to complete a raid.

Honestly, Zach would probably have an easier time completing end game content on his own and finding other players to play with. Zach is more open and adjusts better to new builds. He specializes in researching other players’ builds and optimizing armor with weapons. He has quite a few builds spread out amongst his three guardians, and countless more potential build ideas.

He would be able to run the builds that other players would potentially want him to run while Victoria can’t say the same. She is trying to adjust to different builds and has been working with Zach on new ones. She tends to be a player who knows what she likes and wants to stick with it. She struggles with changing how she plays because it can be stressful for her to adjust to the new mechanics of a different build. Victoria plays games to have fun and doesn’t want to add unnecessary stress if it will affect her enjoyment of the game, she loves to stick with one build and optimize her gameplay.

When we attempt more challenging activities, such as dungeons or seasonal ritual activities, conflict sometimes arises from Zach feeling like if Victoria just tweaked these few things in her builds, she would survive better, whereas Victoria feels it isn’t about the build, it is about how she plays. The thing is, we are both right. In the moment, though, Victoria can feel attacked by Zach’s criticism, while Zach is only trying to be helpful, but it comes off harsh due to his frustration with failing the activity in general.

We are always pushing ourselves more to understand each other and our play styles. This is a learning process and can naturally create some tension.

Victoria sees the fault in herself, “oh I could do this better,” Zach projects the blame on something going wrong in his build, “these weapons and armors just don't have the right perks for best optimizing a build."

FINAL THOUGHTS

At the end of the day, we do feel there is still a place for casual players like ourselves. However, there are end game activities that remain out of reach for casual players.

ZACH'S TOP PICK

GENSHIN IMPACT (PC)

ZACH'S INITIAL THOUGHTS

Genshin Impact has yet to take full stride into Zach's play sessions, but he hopes to dive in again soon. In the meantime though, Zach has been looking into any helpful tips on recommended characters and abilities. It may seem like this is unnecessary, but in a busy world and busy life, only a small amount of time is available for a game. So going in with a plan is Zach's way of best utilizing game time, and he finds that this will lead to a more enjoyable experience with the limited time he has.

A note on controls though… the controls are not as snappy as he thought they would be. At times it can feel a little clunky, but it seems this may just take time to get used to the pacing of taking certain actions and abilities. Still learning the lay of the land, so this cannot be helped until enough time can be used to learn how to play.

Attempted to use some wishes for character pulls, no characters pulled yet. Looked into how the pull system works, and it seems after a certain number of attempts on a character pull, the game will have "mercy" and end up guaranteeing a decent pull. This is an interesting concept and different from the usual randomly generated content from other games. Hopefully it will not end up feeling too grind-y to score some great characters!

VICTORIA'S TOP PICK

LUIGI'S MANSION 3 (SWITCH)

A NON-SCARY SPOOKY GAME

I was introduced to the world of Luigi’s Mansion in 2021 when I first played Luigi’s Mansion 3. It’s the only game in the series I have played so far, and it has thoroughly piqued my interest in its predecessors.

While I do have a play file saved that is further along in the game, it’s been so long since I last played that I decided to start a new file in order to refresh my memory on the game mechanics. What better time to pick the game back up then in October when fall is in full swing and everyone is wanting spooky content?

I really enjoyed how the title screen is shown again after King Boo is revealed and has captured everyone.

In this action-adventure game, Luigi and his friends have received an invitation to visit a hotel, but all is not what it seems. After being shown their rooms, Luigi soon discovers that all of his friends have been captured by King Boo! Now he must face his fears in order to save his friends from King Boo and all the ghosts within the hotel.

This game is all about discovering hidden secrets, finding lost items, solving puzzles, and fighting ghosts. Each floor level in the hotel has its own theme, and with that, its own ghost boss. In order to be able to travel to new floors, you first must recover the elevator buttons from ghosts. Personally, I am a sucker for games that involve collecting items, finding hidden objects, and solving puzzles. This game brings together so many game mechanics that I love.

During my second playthrough, I have been finding more hidden items from the very start since I am already familiar with the base mechanics of the game. I have a better idea of what to look for now at the start in comparison to my first playthrough where I was learning how the game played.

I have also realized that there are still specific game mechanics that really frustrate me. For example, if you are using the Poltergust G-00 or are using the flashlight, Luigi has a fixed strafing movement that limits the ability to turn him to face specific directions with L3. In order to turn Luigi to face specific directions, you have to use R3. Now, I don’t know about you, but I find it a little challenging to have my thumb on the “A” button to use the flashlight and also have to use my thumb to turn Luigi with R3.

What makes this ridiculous and so frustrating is the fact that if you are simply running around, not using any of Luigi’s abilities, you can use L3 to turn Luigi while walking/running around. Why in this world you do not have full control over Luigi’s movement with L3 when using his abilities is beyond me. This frustrated me when I first played this game, and it still frustrates me.

I have also discovered that you can’t skip any cutscenes until you have beat the game. This is rather unfortunate for me since I didn’t finish the game on my first playthrough. There are quite a bit of cutscenes in this game, and they do tend to eat up a lot of time. While I thoroughly enjoyed most of the cutscenes during my first play, the cutscenes are less so during my second time through any areas I have experienced previously.

I still want to savor the playthrough by not rushing through it. I am going to continue my gameplay into next month, and I have high hopes of beating it this time. Come back next month to see what my thoughts are on the game after I have beat it.

RETRO GAME TOP PICK

WILD ARMS (PS5)

PART II OF THE JOURNEY

The power of the Guardians now resides within our 3 unlikely heroes. WIth this newfound power, they travel to the summit of Mount Zenom to obtain the next guardian rune before the demons destroy it.

The top of the mountain has been reached! This was quite a journey for our 3 heroes, still learning their abilities and tools to utilize in order to clear obstacles. Unexpected situations did arise though, enemies having instant kill abilities was not in the plan! Fortunately, these abilities only have a small chance at success in downing the characters and they only succumbed to that nasty trick a few times.

So, up the mountain the heroes traveled, in order to reach the top to acquire the essence of a guardian spirit before the demons could destroy the memorial and progress the resurrection of "mother" one step further.

Jack, Rudy, and Cecilia battle their way to the top, beaten and bruised but stronger through their experiences. Onward our trio traveled, arriving at the peak of the mountain and closing in on the statue until the demon Belselk appears to confront them, summoning forth the Ogra Widow spider and destroying the statue! This was quite a straightforward boss battle, the spider having quite the attack power and status ailments. With the correct runes attached, the characters were protected from some of these afflictions, such as poison and paralysis.

The fight was won after a lengthy battle, made more efficient by the use of Jack's new power moves, Rudy's ARM with plenty of ammunition, and Cecilia's magic abilities- mainly fire and healing spells. This felt like a decent first boss to deal with, giving room for confidence while also keeping the player on the defensive to not fall victim to the deadly poison and attacks of the Widow!

After the descent back down the mountain ( Zach did not realize there was indeed an escape spell for easily departing dungeon areas) the group met with the Chief of Baskar to receive the mystical Kizim Fire to light the furnace at the Elw Pyramid. What does the fire do? The characters stepped in an activated green emblem and were shot into SPACE, and through some nifty interstellar travel animations, they landed at another Elw Pyramid in a different region of the world via teleportation!

What awaits the heroic trio in this new land? More to be revealed in the next post!

TABLETOP GAME TOP PICK

FORT

A GEM OF A FIND

This is a game we can't wait to play again. After playing through a full game with just the two of us a couple times this month, there are definitely strategies already taking form in our heads for the next play session. Do we stick to the power of matching or similar cards? Or maybe we decide to dedicate our entire game to copying the leader's moves? Then again, maybe where we could improve is upgrading the lookout more, although these cards seem to be fairly rare in the deck.

One of the many aspects we love about this game is that you may be surprised by who pulls ahead in points, inevitably winning the game. During one of our playthroughs, although Victoria was the one to win the Macaroni Trophy to end the game, Zach still came out victorious in the end. Even if you meet the requirements to end the game, you're not guaranteed to win. From various cards that let you gain victory points to personal made up rules and perks, there are countless strategies to try out - no two games will ever be the same.

This is certainly a blast to play, just a slight learning curve to work over. Once learned though, the wheels really begin to turn in our heads on what we could do in the next game, in order to gain an advantage over our opponent! We’ve certainly enjoyed it as a 2-player game, but we think it would be even more of a blast with a full 4-player game. Our first game was 4-players, but all of us were learning the game so we didn’t get the full experience of every player understanding the countless strategy options at our fingertips.

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So there you have it - the games we have been busy playing this month. How many of these games have you played? What game(s) have been your go-to games this month? Let us know in the comments.