This content originally appeared on dbushell.com (blog) and was authored by dbushell.com (blog)
The summer solstice has long past which means it’s Christmas soon if the local supermarkets are to be believed. I refuse to eat a mince pie before November at the earliest.
Daylight savings time will come to an end (impossible to know exactly when). For the UK that means dark mornings, dark evenings, and grey skies around noon. It’s time to hibernate! I can recommend a bit of entertainment to wile away the winter.
Imperium
Imperium by Robert Harris is the first book of the Cicero trilogy. Although fiction, this novel is based upon real events at the end of the Roman Republic. The series follows the political career of Marcus Tullius Cicero. A fascinating era of human history.
Connections
Move over Wordle, Connections is the new daily brain teaser. New to me anyway. If puzzle numbers are to go by it’s been around for years. Presumably inspired by the Connecting Wall you must make 4 groups from 16 words. Green is supposed to be the most obvious but I keep finding the blue group first.
Ghost of Yōtei
I’ve just finished playing Ghost of Yōtei the spiritual sequel to Ghost of Tsushima. If I rated Tsushima 5 stars I’d give Yōtei 4 stars. I achieved the platinum trophy for 100% completion in both games. The game is beautifully designed and fun to explore.
Fair warning: moderate spoilers ahead.
Yōtei is a great game but the story doesn’t hit the same emotional level as Tsushima. The ending fell flat for me and overstayed its welcome. The antagonists progressively lost their mystique until they became boring. Their repeated escapes were eye-rolling. It made Atsu look dumb and the Matsumae clan comically inept.
Plot points are forced and pacing is criminally ruined by bad open world design. They front-load the starting area with the most side activities and then almost immediately move the main quest elsewhere. Ignore content, or ignore story? You can fast travel back and forth of course but it ruins the immersion. I played 20 hours and only saw two cutscenes.
Most side characters are relegated to vendor NPC level which was disappointing. I’m left confused as to what purpose the wolf served?
Despite these issues it was an experience worthy of the hours invested. As we know the true game is finding the tengai hat and fundoshi armour and terrifying the local samurai.
I’m afraid I did not dare witness the final cutscene in this attire.
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This content originally appeared on dbushell.com (blog) and was authored by dbushell.com (blog)