This weekend I had the joy of being able to play some video games with some friends. I’m usually a recluse when it comes to gaming. I prefer to play on my PC while I stream a movie or Twitch. I must admit, it was absolutely fabulous to break that mold. It really made the games I already enjoyed that much more fun. It also made me hate my internet service provider even more. Curse you crappy network.
The weekend began with some Warframe. I’m glad I decided to try this game on PS4 as grouping with friends made it way more fun. Sure, I spent a good chunk of time on the game on the PC side, but having friends to group with made the game vastly more enjoyable. We went from mission to mission, just knocking stuff out so we could open up more of the map. This is ultimately so we can begin the farming grind, but it was still a good bit of fun.
Over the weekend we would bounce from this game to that one. We joked around. We conquered various bosses. From fantasy to sci-fi, the worlds we visited were no match for our group of three players. It didn’t matter that the three of us were physically separated by hundreds of miles. The internet connected us together and allowed us to share in a common experience. I do look forward to another weekend where we can all get together and do this again.
Sadly, those good times were brought to a grinding stop on Sunday night. My ISP decided it was time for another multi-state service issue. I’d connect to group chat, only to have my internet come crashing down just a few minutes later. I know it shouldn’t be that big of a deal, but with so much of life moving to the online space, service interruptions can really put a kink in life.
While I still love my solo gaming experiences, this weekend reinforced the advice to play a game on whatever platform your friends are playing on. It doesn’t matter if it’s on a console, and thus less “cool” to play on. Being able to join up with people you know and enjoy being around is a far better experience than trying to find some randoms to complete some random quest/task on a “superior” platform.
As the post title suggests, I have been working my way through A Link to the Past on my 3DS. I have no idea which attempt this is to try the game, but I am the farthest along I’ve ever been. I’m about halfway through the game, maybe less. I might have tolerated this game back in the day, because all games then had this much of a challenge. Little direction, unforgiving enemies, and a general feeling of floundering about. Miyamoto said that was his intention with the first Legend of Zelda game, because he wanted people to talk to one another for clues and tips. H wanted people to link together and discuss the game, hence why the hero was named Link. He’s a crafty one, Miyamoto-san.