hi frens,

I made mention of this on Mastodon itself the other day but doing a post here too cause I really am wondering- is Mastodon still alive at all? can somebody get on there and tell me who to follow? as in, stuff that’s of similar interest to things posted on this site? Especially anything to do with old vidya.

or is it more of a situation where you get out what you put in? gotta talk into the void for a while before you run across anyone?

one thing I will say; I found a Mastodon client that I like a LOT: Ice Cubes - it’s so good it makes me want to use Mastodon more. Give it a try!

Anyway, stay safe out there compadres. Thanks for reading my blog.

• Even though this is a 2009 game, it is by far the newest one I’ve done for this series. I debated as to whether it should even be included, it’s so new
• However, Bayonetta plays like a very old-school game. This is meant as a compliment!
• While it is extremely self-indulgent about its’ own story and cutscenes, do not be fooled. Bayonetta is PURE gameplay. There’s not a single cutscene you can’t skip, and the story makes no sense anyway, so you don’t really miss a thing by cutting straight to the game.
• Combat is simple, and extremely deep at the same time. The system is easy to pick-up-and-play, yet it keeps rewarding you for understanding it better and better
• Enemy variety is not very high; you can tell this was conceived as a small project where they were very selective about putting in huge effort to things they HAD to get right.
• Pictured above is my first play-through, on Normal mode, and there is obviously…. A lot of room for improvement. This game does a great job encouraging you to do that, and I actually do want to immediately pick it back up and try to get platinum trophies on all these levels.
• ….With the exception of a couple levels that are very, very annoying (looking at you, Route 666).
• The weapon variety and the way it does loadouts is not TOO deep, but it is enough to still be fun. Players are rewarded for trying out different things with the weapon sets, and using them to come up with new combos.
• It’s only March, but this is already my favorite of the 6 games I’ve finished so far this year.

• Another game where this wasn’t my first time through it, but I felt like doing a casual run anyway. Plus at least it’s my first time doing it since starting this site.
• I don’t think I really went for the “easiest” or “hardest” stars, mostly just the funnest ones. Stopped right on 70, then went on to the final boss. I could see myself really gettin back in to Mario 64, playing this file casually until I get all the stars.
• My opinions about some of the levels in this game have changed a lot over the years. I used to hate Lethal Lava Land, but now I think it’s one of the funnest levels in the game. Probably top 3 funnest for sure.
• I have also done a 180º on Dire Dire Docks. Like pretty much everyone, I used to really hate it. However, it’s not nearly as bad as you remember. I think history will be kind to Dire Dire Docks. It has some great little moments.
• The level I most revised downward was Tall Tall Mountain. It’s boring and half the stars amount to “walk up to the top,” it starts to feel like there’s barely any gameplay to this level at all
• Like the scoreboard says, I didn’t even make an attempt on Tick Tock Clock or Rainbow Ride. Not sure why, guess I just wasn’t feeling it this time.