the magic circle

In the heady aftermath of finishing FFVII Rebirth I picked up The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt and started playing that. I have not played either of the previous Witchers, nor read the books nor seen the TV series, but it seemed reasonable enough to pick up. However I got about eight hours in - I’m just finishing up the Bloody Baron storyline - and although I wasn’t not enjoying it, I also wasn’t really synching with it. It’s grim (local peasantry crushed down by the ongoing wars, rape and death everywhere) and while I do like dark storylines and tragedy, I like them much if they’re part of a spectrum of emotional experiences rather than a relentlessly mud-coloured slog. Possibly this may change? Even the fetch quests tend to be “find this person - oh look, they’re dead”, although I have had one where I got to shake a little bell in order to get a goat to follow me and no one killed the goat by the end of it. But right now I’m escorting the Baron clutching his miscarried foetus that was shapeshifting into a vengeance spirit, with extensive sides of domestic abuse, alcoholism, and attempted murder, and it it’s juuust noooot fun.

(I am also having trouble with the combat. Am I crap at blocking/parrying unless the game forces me to get good at it? Yes, but also the combat feels like I or the enemies are not quite synching up, there’s an adrenaline point mechanic I have failed to get the hang of, and the runes look interesting but I really need a lot more levels to customise my build. A colleague was saying how much he enjoyed the combat and I think I need to get him to go through it with me to see if that helps)

So I dug out Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. I played this prior to my sabbatical three years ago and got all of the temples, shrines, and sages, but still had some mini quests and some of the main storyline to go; I then didn’t play it for months while moving, and when I eventually picked it up again it was too tricky to remember what had happened, so I started again and did the sky tutorial area and then the air temple. And then I put it down *again*, but at least that meant I could start without having to go through the tutorial area again. I’ve now added the lightning and water temples, and about 60 shrines - haven’t done much in the depths yet. TotK, like BotW, is a game where it’s so easy to get side-tracked, because there’s so much to find, and while it certainly has tragedy (I just completed the dragon’s tears quest line, which I knew was going to be soul-crushing but it still got me) it is also goofy and fun and full of life.

And then Summer Game Fest was on last Saturday! I’d heard rumours, so I checked in and watched the last half hour, and I was richly rewarded with FOUR trailers for the next Final Fantasy VII game, and the announcement that it would be titled Revelation and coming out on all platforms spring (northern hemisphere) next year. I am super excited. The world looks great (Wutai! Mideel!), they’ve added job classes in the form of new outfits for everyone (a neat solution to losing the strongest mage), Cid and Vincent are both playable, you get the High Wind and parachutes for everyone, and it looks fantastic. The trailers were pretty light on the Cloud Sephiroth Zack storyline, which they seem to be deliberately keeping back, but the hints were great. I’m so thrilled.

(Also Nintendo yesterday announced an Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake that will be out later this year! I’ve played bits of it but found it hard to get the controls to work when using the Switch, and while I do have a 3DS somewhere it’s not a console I’ve ever used much. Sooo - try and play the original, or hold off until the remake?)