Could you not stare at the screen so loudly? I’m nursing a hangover here. Yes, stupid me was out drinking at the weekend but forgot I was on some heavy medication, so now I’ve got a headache and killer stomach ache. Ah well, ’twas a good night filled with fun and friends.

So how are you guys?

This week saw me putting out the first review of the year for a game that was actually released last year. Makes sense. The point is, Ashen was a really bloody good game! It snuck under my radar at launch, but then it popped up on Game Pass. How could I say no? I’m glad I gave it a shot. Its streamlined Dark Souls gameplay strikes a nice balance between challenging without frustrating you. And its world is a fascinating, beautiful place to explore.

My first review of a 2019 game will be coming shortly. Well, actually it came out in 2018 for PC and Switch and is just now coming to Xbox One and PS4, so it’s technically not a 2019 game…damn. Anyway, the game is Smoke and Sacrifice which will be released on January 17th. It’s a top-down survival RPG with a gorgeous art style, but a dreary world. Most of the gameplay revolves around constant crafting of stuff to let you progress further. So far I’m enjoying it but it hasn’t exactly blown me away. With that said there’s quite a bit of content to get through yet, so my mind could be changed.

Its pretty slow right now for new games, but a couple of titles will be hitting soon.

I also got back into playing an old classic: Skate 3. Man, I’ve missed that game. It continues to amaze me that Skate 4 hasn’t happened. Still, I’ve heard word that a game by the name of Skate XL is in Early Access and is basically a spiritual successor to Skate 3.

I’ve also been trying to get back into drawing and actually learn the basics. I love to draw, but I always just tried to draw hard stuff then got angry. I finally realized I need to learn some basics first, and now I’ve managed to do a few things I’m quite proud of. No, you can’t see them. I might be proud of them, but I never said they were good.

So, in some site news I’m planning on bringing back scores at the end of my reviews. I abandoned them quite a long time ago, but I’ve found myself missing them. I always enjoyed the idea of justifying the number with words, though I do appreciate the concept of throwing away scores so that people focus more on the review itself. Anyway, I’m going to be using a 1-10 scale and trying to keep a five as the “it’s okay” score. The recommended badge isn’t going anywhere and will be given to awesome games, as well as those that may have scored lower but have something special worth checking out.

Probably the most intriguing news of the came from Bungie announcing that they are leaving Activision. They’ll be taking the full rights to Destiny with them, allowing them to continue work on Destiny 2 and all future Destiny games and content. There have long been rumours that Bungie were unhappy with Activision’s demands, so this news perhaps isn’t very surprising. For example, there were reports that Activision were pushing Bungie toward making Destiny more mainstream while Bungie wanted to focus more on their hardcore fans.

I might be in the minority with this, but so far both Destiny games have been a disappointment in my view. But I’m hoping that away from the influence of Activision, Bungie might be able to finally prove that they’re capable of creating something amazing outside of the Halo franchise. It’s going to be interesting to see how they manage monetization of the games now, and whether they’re going to focus more on Destiny 3 or attempt to reshape Destiny 2. I think the worst thing that could happen is if nothing happens. If things just continue on as they already have been. That would be proof that Activision ultimately weren’t to blame for Destiny’s problems.

So, my dear readers, what have YOU been playing this week?

[wpedon id=35653]