I may have made a huge mistake.
I started playing Civ 5. I bought it a long time ago when the whole package was 90% off and finally decided to play it. And that’s all I did. I knew this wasn’t going to be a casual experience. I played Civ 3 when it was the most recent game in the series my old Laptop was able to play and the SNES version of Civ 1 a couple of years later (because apparently, I only play the odd-numbered ones). I knew the risks.
But I also have a bunch of vacation days to use up, so I took a week off from work to just let this happen. Get it out of my system and hopefully move on from there. Don’t bother holding my beer, it’ll be stale by the time I come back out of this rabbit hole.
I dropped Baten Kaitos Origins. I hate to do it, but as I tweaked my deck more, combat just got more boring. I was curious, so I did some research: Apparently, the fanbase is split right down the middle. You’ll either say the combat is better than the first game’s in every single way or you’ll hate it. I cannot say anything good about it…
It also doesn’t help that the game quadrupled down on Quest Magnus, my least favorite part of the original game. Just lugging random things around that you think you might need when you can only carry a very limited amount of them annoyed me, but at least you mostly needed them for side quests. In the prequel, you also upgrade other cards with them, mix them together to get new ones and they affect your stats? Stop, I’m already dead!
I’ve been wanting to play this game for almost 20 years…
So I started Echoes of Wisdom instead. I didn’t think I’d play it so close to release, I wasn’t too hyped for it. But I quickly remembered that I absolutely love making enemies fight each other in any video game, so that’s a part I enjoy! I’m slightly disappointed at how much it’s taking from the modern Open World formula, I was hoping the 2D side of the franchise would keep things traditional.
I’m not too far in yet, but I have come across my favorite boss from Oracle of Ages! What a deep cut, I did NOT expect to see him ever again! But it makes sense, with a basic block your wand essentially becomes the Staff of Somaria.
I’m still playing Civ 5. I understand now why the game is still being played today. I had no problems playing Civ 1 a few years ago, I would have problems now. It’s simple balancing decisions like large empires having both up- and downsides that impress me. The Civ I know was all about settling like mad.