Laboratory of Mathematics and Writing

Visions of Mana I adored both Secret of Mana and Secret of Mana 2 (Seiken Densetsu 2 and Seiken Densetsu 3, respectively). They're not quite at the top of gaming mountain for me, but they're both enjoyable experiences worthy of multiple playthroughs. I haven't revisited them in years, but the first Secret of Mana remains my favorite by a small margin, largely because of its brighter color palette and catchier soundtrack. Visions of Mana is a welcome addition to the franchise and, while I wouldn't rank it above those classics, it's still a thoroughly enjoyable adventure in its own right. Gorgeous Visuals Let me start off by mentioning how spectacular the visuals are. This is exactly how I envisioned a 3D Mana game to be. It's bright, colorful, and the cartoon style is an absolute slam dunk. The environments are lush and bursting with color. Each area has a distinct identity. The vibrant green grass and tree ...

Fable As young Xbox teen, I was among many that where hyped about this game. The creators of Fable promised the moon on a stick and certainly did not deliver. Initially, we where a bit dissapointed. Ultimately though, we had quite a lot of fun playing it. Overall, we where quite pleased with Fable, even if it didn'y quite live up to the expectations. Playing it back then was a pleasant experience. I recently replayed it and I still had a pleasant experience with it. However, it is showing signs of age. After the Hype Back in the day when I first obtained this game (I still refuse to believe it's been over 20 years ago), I was already deeply enamored with Morrowind. That's another game that's showing its age, but it's an obvious point of comparison before playing Fable. To my teenage brain, Morrowind was a sprawling world with numerous loc...

Sonic Adventure Here's another game that I didn't get to play growing up. We where lower middle class in my younger years. So, the Sega Dreamcast I received was a hand-me-down. Hence, why I got it after the support for it died. It came with a few games and unfortunately, Sonic Adventure is not one of them. Perhaps it's for the better. Even though I rememember the big buzz the Dreamcast and this game generated, I cannot look upon this game with nostalgia colored glasses; not completely, anyway. With that being said, I must say that this game didn't age quite gracefully, but it's still a decent experience worthy of at least a single playthrough. If only just to play the very first fully 3D Sonic game. Early Camera Work The one thing that stuck out to me the most was the camera. Early 3D games back in the 90s have yet to solve the camera problem as the character you are controlling was moving around the environment...

Metropolis Street Racer I did not play this game growing up nor did I play any of the Project Gotham Racing games either. For that matter, I don't think I played too many racing games growing up. The only ones I remember playing where Top Gear on the Super Nintendo, the Cruis'n series of arcades, Outrun, Midnight Club 2 on the Xbox, and San Francisco Rush 2049 on the N64. Those games where all fun and enjoyable, but they didn't leave a long lasting impression upon me. They where the type of games that you pick and play for a few hours and think "Cool!" and then pack it in to go on about your day. Ready to Drive Metropolis Street Racer does indeed have pick up and play mechanics, but it's the first racing game I've played that directly challenges you. It's not even the fact that it's a harder racing simulator with arcade tendencies; it's how it challenges you. Beating the stopwatch and...

More Songs From The 2000s That Take Me Back I feel like giving the early to mid 2000s another shake. Much like the 90s, I had a lot of fun during this time period. The party didn't end until just right past the middle of the decade. I wish it would last longer, but such is life. You know as they say "Don't be sad that it's over. Be glad that it happened at all." I'm glad I got to experience the 90s and early 2000s. God Forbid - Precious Lie I was super tempted to just simply select "Anti-Hero" because that's the first God Forbid song I've heard and definitely does take me back. However, I went with "Precious Lie" because it was my friend's favorite song from them. He was one of those guys that was perpetually lovesick. So, the chorus landed right on his heart. Eventually, him being constantly lovesic...

Witcher 3 It's difficult to believe this game was released over a decade ago. I left graduate school just a year prior and had just taken up teaching part-time at a community college. I had also taken up teaching full time at a high school that was populated by at-risk youth. Teaching college was my favorite job ever. Teaching high school was dreadful. There's no money in teaching, so dropping high school teaching was an easy decision. I did continue teaching college part-time. Unfortunately, there's very little money in it. Count me as one of those that was promised a high-paying job but didn't attain one after college. It wasn't exactly the best time in my life. My escape from feeling down on myself was of course PC gaming. That year, 2015, delivered two super fun games I escaped to: Fallout 4 and Witcher 3. Both are great, but Witcher 3 was on a whole new level. It cleaned up all the awards that year and is now regularly prais...