Opening/Random Thoughts
Happy new year y’all, and welcome to 2019! I’ve been busy as hell avoiding replicants here in Los Angeles, but it’s been nice to be on break. I was feeling pretty burnt out by the end of the year, so it was nice to slow down a bit, play games solely for my own enjoyment, and re-engage with the joy they give me. Don’t get me wrong, I love, LOVE covering games for Space Game Junkie, but balance is needed before it starts to feel like a chore, or work. I never, ever want this to feel like work. So yeah, a break has been fantastic. How was your holiday season?
Today’s Video(s)
No videos yet, that’ll be next week. :)
Today’s News
There’s a lot to cover, so I’m gonna keep this simple:
New Game Releases
Dev Diaries/Updates
- Skywanderers
- Starfighter, Inc.
- Avorion
- Astrobase Command
- That Tiny Spaceship
- Space Haven
- Interstellar Rift
- Shortest Trip to Earth
- Advanced Mechanized Spacecraft
Major Updates
- Star Traders: Frontiers #126, #125, #124, #123
- Interstellar Space: Genesis
- Pulsar: Lost Colony
- StarShip Constructor
- Interstellar Transport Company
- Celestial Command
- Planetes
- AS+CEND
- Hyperspace Delivery Service
- Stellaris
- X4: Foundations
- Interstellaria
- SimpleRockets 2
Other Stuff
- Star Control II is the focus of a fantastic article over at The Digital Antiquarian
Today’s Deal(s)
- CCP Sale on Humble Bundle.
What I’ve Been Playing
- Assassin’s Creed: Origins – I tried the first AC game ages ago, got bored with it real fast, and haven’t touched one until Google Stream gave me the opportunity to try Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, which I LOVED. I was told Origins is just as good, and was going for cheap in the latest round of sales, so I picked it up before knowing that we’d get free copies of Odyssey for testing out Google Stream. Regardless, I am having a BLAST with this game. I’m not that great at stealth games, but this game knows that, so it allows me to kick ass once I’m eventually discovered trying to be all stealthy. It’s SO FUN, and holy garbage is it gorgeous. Say what you want about Ubisoft, their open-world games are hitting all my buttons of late. Between this, Wildlands, Steep, Far Cry: Primal and The Division, I’ve been having a blast.
- Project Gorgon – Got this on the Steam sale after just adoring the demo, and I am having so much fun with this. It’s clunky at the moment, but it’s questing and world is fantastic. Rather than simple quests, you do favors for NPCs to increase your standing with them, which can get you better skills and equipment, and the skills are insane. You have the usual like sword and bow, but you also have butchery and psychology and autopsy and much more. It’s a blast.
- Aggressors: Ancient Rome – Got this on the sale after reading a TON of positive buzz for it, and wow, I’m liking it a lot. I’m slowly going through the tutorial, but it’s pretty interesting, and does a lot of things differently enough from other 4X games to make it feel unique. Can’t wait to play more.
- Super Animal Royale – A while back, we played the fast Battle Royale mode in Geneshift, and had a wonderful time. Well, this is a whole game around that kind of fast gameplay, but with cute animals. I bought it on podcast co-host Jim’s recommendation, sight-unseen, because it was affordable and I figured I could try it within the refund window. Well, it’s a BLAST y’all. So fun. It has a demo now, so check it out.
- Crusader Kings II – I got the latest DLC recently, so I figured I’d dive back into this, eschewing the learning scenario and just learning as I go. It’s wackadoo but I’m enjoying it, and am gonna try to stick through an entire game this time.
- Total War: WARHAMMER II – Once I got the sound issue fixed with this game (it doesn’t like WDM, but is fine with MME, for some reason), I created a new campaign and dove back in. Holy crap this game is gorgeous. I’ve not really played it much on the new PC (due to the sound issue) and it’s amazing, so much better and faster than the old PC.
- Star Fleet Armada: Rogue Adventures – A few times over break, I needed something I could play fast and just stop on a dime. Thankfully, this game fit the bill. There’s a ton to do, it plays quickly, and it saves whenever you go to the main menu, so you can stop whenever and it saves. It’s SO great.
So my break was good, but it’ll be great to dive into 2019 with new content next week. I hope y’all have a lovely weekend, and thank you for reading! See y’all next week!
