First, as tradition dictates, a brief blurb on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Still going on, and Russia's still behaving badly (even for an unjustifiable invader). The only real change of note, as far as the outside world is concerned, is the resumption of grain shipments from Ukraine, after a deal between the two combatants to allow such - which, of course, Russia went and launched missiles at Ukraine's port almost immediately thereafter. Well, as always, I'll hope for better from our side than some logistical support, but I won't be holding my breath on that, either.
Now, on to the games. I did play some Hand of Fate 2, and remembered why I enjoyed the original Hand of Fate as much as I did. In the original, you had the cards-based "map" you traveled across, triggering various encounters along the way, maybe needing to do a "pick a card" round if there was some element of chance to be handled, and otherwise dropped down into a basic melee action game when combat inevitably broke out. It was a fairly simple system, but it worked well, and allowed for a story to be told, while also allowing some variability from the map cards the player chose to include in the deck. In HoF2, they tried to add on to that formula, hoping to make something even better no doubt, but they just kept adding more stuff without any of it significantly adding to the experience of the game. You get a companion character to bring along on each run, and cards specific to those characters, but that makes the story less about your adventure and more about those companions. You get extra non-combat mini-games like dice or a pendulum setup, but they're at least no more compelling than the "pick a card" rounds where you get to see the mix of outcomes you're possibly in for. Some maps have things like blessings, curses, and fame to worry about, which you might be able to turn to your advantage... the second time you play a particular map. There can also be pawns other than your own moving about the map, again making the story less about your adventure than whatever else is going on around the map. Overall, it's just more for the sake of more, and the game suffers for it. I still have it installed on my machine, and it's a small install... I might come back to it on occasion, but I'm not playing through it anytime soon.
Moving on, the next game in my backlog would have been Just Cause 3. Now, if there's one game that I absolutely loved, it would be Just Cause 2 - a third-person shooter fun with a versatile grappling hook tool, unlimited parachutes, and an environment that is not only destructible, but is actively encouraged to be destroyed to advance the game - mechanically, it's just about perfect. JC2 also had an over-the-top Bond villain as the head bad guy, whose pronouncements you got to hear as propaganda broadcasts in the various villages you were "liberating", which added a little special something to the game as a whole. JC3, I already remembered, expanded the toolbox by adding a wing-suit, but downgraded the villain to something resembling an actual third-world dictator, and that's a lot less fun to hear continually in passing throughout the game, so JC3 gets a pass.
However, Game Pass has Just Cause 4 on it at the moment, so I took the excuse to start that up instead. The villain this time around seems to be a step in the right direction - heck, he even has a weather-based doomsday device! On the other hand, it looks like they're complicating the mechanics again, by adding a mechanism for configuring additional effects onto your grappling hook, which seems like it will over-complicate an otherwise straightforward system. So, once again, I'm not planning on playing through this, but it's cloud-streamable, so I may come back to it on occasion while I've got an active Game Pass subscription.
That's two games I've given the thumbs-down to for over-complicating things, how about an example of simplicity carrying the day? Power Wash Simulator seems like the epitome of a not-for-me sort of game. I mean, doing cleanup chores when I've got a whole house and yard full of such that I could be doing anyways? But, it's on Game pass and, having heard good things, I gave it a go. Well, I'm hooked. Turns out, when you eliminate the physical labor, the wrangling with materials and support systems, and the ability to make a mess worse by just interacting with it (looking at you, Viscera Cleanup Detail), and all you're left with is a cleaning tool and a thing/site to be cleaned, it can become an almost meditative experience. I've found it to be a perfect match for these hot summer nights, as a way to wind down after the demands of the day are done.
Which brings us to the regular question, what next? Well, next in my list would be Minecraft, and I do have it installed on my machine already (being such a tiny install), but... I already know that, historically, I get so far into the game before getting bored and moving on to something else, so maybe, maybe not. If not, next after that would be No Man's Sky, which is still getting updates all these years later, but nothing in recent updates makes me say "that's worth getting back into it for", so probably not. So, next would be Outward, which I really do want to give a go. My only concern there is that, as I recall, it's got a Souls-influenced combat system, and not the greatest of graphics, which may tend to steer me back towards Elden Ring instead. Well, I guess we'll see what happens. Until next time!
