I posted 1,417 times in 2022

That’s 1,122 more posts than 2021!

316 posts created (22%)

1,101 posts reblogged (78%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

I tagged 1,189 of my posts in 2022

Only 16% of my posts had no tags

#star trek – 145 posts
#video games – 110 posts
#art – 106 posts
#ds9 – 99 posts
#movies – 81 posts
#deep space nine – 79 posts
#horror – 54 posts
#comics – 39 posts
#new horror 2022 – 34 posts
#horror fiction – 32 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#this is what a deceiver offers you as they come upon you shivering in the frost fields after you’ve passed through the dresser in the attic

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Pardon me while I think about how much I love Outer Wilds.

136 notes – Posted May 1, 2022

#4

341 notes – Posted July 25, 2022

#3

Good for drama, bad for everything else.

665 notes – Posted July 11, 2022

#2

Time loop video games and why we love (or hate) them

Some essays about time loops in video games:

“Time Loop Narratives Are About Love” by katy (cw: incest)

“Growth is a genuine change in you. Growth is seeing the world differently than you did before because you’re someone different now.”

Games highlighted: The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, DEATHLOOP, Twelve Minutes, Oxenfree

“Time loops are a weird genre for an anxious time” by Jenna Stoeber and Polygon

“Part of why they’re regaining popularity is because the world is a mess and we either don’t know how or don’t have the power to fix it.”

Games highlighted: The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Elsinore, Outer Wilds, Undertale, Inscryption, The Stanley Parable, The Forgotten City, Twelve Minutes

“Time Loop Nihilism” by Jacob Geller (cw: graphic violence and incest)

“I eventually came to realize, if I’m going to do this all again, if there are few real consequences for failure… why would I play in a way that’s so boring?”

Games highlighted: DEATHLOOP, Dishonored, Hitman 3, Bloodborne, Twelve Minutes

“Clockwork Games and Time Loops” by Game Maker’s Toolkit

“Every decision you make matters because you’re always spending your most precious currency: time.”

Games highlighted: Outer Wilds, Dead Rising, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, The Sexy Brutale, Elsinore, Minit, Vision Soft Reset, Twelve Minutes, DEATHLOOP, Hitman 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution

“Why Time Loops Work Best in Video Games” by Extra Credits

“Failure doesn’t feel like an inconvenience or a punishment, but is instead a natural and necessary part of the story.”

Games highlighted: Elsinore, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Undertale, DEATHLOOP, Returnal

“The Problem with Time Loop Games | 12 Minutes Analysis” by Ozzy II (cw: graphic violence and incest)

“This is the point I was talking about earlier, where the first half of the game is just worthless.”

Games highlighted: The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Outer Wilds, Twelve Minutes, The Sexy Brutale

“Dying Rules in Time Loop Games” by Inside Gaming

“When the sun began to glow and implode, I knew I had no choice but to put down whatever I was doing and accept what was about to happen.”

Games highlighted: Outer Wilds, Into the Breach, Minit, Twelve Minutes, DEATHLOOP, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

“The Best Time Loop Games” by The Gadget Show

“Its black-and-white design and funny writing make this one memorable way longer than the minute it takes to complete a loop.”

Games highlighted: DEATHLOOP, Outer Wilds, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Minit, Elsinore

741 notes – Posted June 1, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

1,074 notes – Posted June 28, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

I’ve had these screenshots sitting in my drafts for a minute. Not sure of my intent, but at the very least it’s an interesting contrast.

The first screenshot is Mega Man Legends on the PlayStation from 1997 (1998 outside Japan), and the second is from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998). I don’t think either screenshot is from the original hardware, or at least not as the games would have appeared on CRT televisions of the time.

As contemporaries, it’s fair to compare them as action-adventure games in which a player radiates out from a central hub to explore the world and its dungeons. Mega Man had a more robust customization system for its weaponry and the dungeon designs are fairly generalized to accommodate a broad array of weapons and tools, whereas Ocarina continues the series legacy of specialized dungeons designed around specific items. Mega Man also has a more boxy aesthetic to its characters and world, while Ocarina is more naturalistic in its palette and geometry. In terms of animation, Ocarina has nothing on the expressive anime-inspired characters faces from Mega Man, perhaps the most memorable aspect of the performances in that game. The main knock against Mega Man Legends is that its camera is based on the PlayStation original controller without analog sticks, and so movement and camera control is stiff and not as pleasant as the Nintendo 64′s camera experiences (or later PlayStation games that utilized the DualShock controller).

But the strongest feeling here is unexpected joy. I rented Mega Man Legends from Blockbuster Video three times before I finally bought it. I can’t say what compelled me to initially rent it (perhaps just a spotlight in a game magazine and a general interest in Capcom’s work at the time), but as I played through it and then kept going until I explored every nook and cranny, I realized this was a game that could fulfill what was missing as someone who hadn’t owned Nintendo’s SNES and Nintendo 64 until many years later. I was just not getting these Zelda and Mario experiences that so many raved about, and so I looked for surrogates. Mega Man Legends unexpectedly filled that role and then far exceeded my expectations. It’s a game of light-hearted adventure, pirates, and robots, but also explores themes of legacy and the expectations of previous generations on those who must make lives of what was left behind. It has so many fun character moments and part of the joy is just getting to know the inhabitants of Kattelox Island as they struggle to “eke out a living on the small patches of land that remain above the sea.” It’s Waterworld, it’s robots, it’s anime. There’s so much there.

Capcom produced a sequel and a side game starring the anti-hero Tron Bonne, then dropped it for years. There was a brief attempt to pick up the cliffhanger ending from Mega Man Legends 2 with a third game, but the project died when the series director left Capcom and there’s little hope of seeing any more games in the series. The good news is that the three main games in the series are available digitally for PS Vita and PS3 through the PS Classics label on the PSN store. All worth checking out!

Tag: your tumblr year in review