The past week has been quite the ambrosia, game-wise. My partner and I headed to the coast for three days for my birthday (where I bought the most glorious crystal mask which now means I can create my own Persona), so the only gaming I was doing while we were away was mounds and mounds of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. I’ve been upgrading and crafting away, and I sense no sign of slowing down. I’m still getting great joy from playing it, however it’s making me want a proper Animal Crossing release on the Switch.

It’s also making me want a Switch.

I don’t know what it is about the holiday season, but I often find myself wanting Nintendo systems at this time of year. I don’t expect to get a Switch for Christmas, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about one like crazy.

When I returned home later in the week, I wound up playing a strange mix of games beginning with one I’d never played before: Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode.

Like every other person in the gaming world, I’ve been keeping an eye on PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. When it was announced at E3 that it would be coming to consoles first on Xbox One, I was a bit disappointed; I’ve long since let my Xbox Live Gold lapse. So when Fortnite announced their Battle Royale mode, and that it was free, I was instantly on board. I downloaded it and promptly didn’t play it until last week.

My friend who I play loads of games with wanted to try it out, so we went and played duos and the first time we played, we both got killed almost instantly. It was really something. The second time, he was killed quickly (which is ironic because he is the far better competitive multiplayer player), while I was left farting around and trying not to die. I made it into the top 20 and, as the circle closed in to its last little form, I was moving cautiously across mostly open areas. After creeping around for several minutes, some dude who had been hiding in a bush for quite some time popped out and shotgunned me to the face. I was so startled I screamed into my mic and I’m sure blew out my friend’s eardrums. I lasted long enough to place us the #3 team, so I felt pretty good about that.

We played one more round and then put it aside before either of us imploded from tension. I’m looking forward to trying it again sooner than later.

We also picked back up with Ghost Recon: Wildlands and I was instantly reminded why we put it down in the first place. The game is beautiful visually, but I wish the gunplay and traversal were more like other Ubisoft properties like Far Cry. Also, the enemy spawn rate for certain encounters is hilariously bad. Also when you respawn after death, it tends to either put you super far away, or it spawns you right in front of some angry dude with a gun. Not ideal locations. We decided to mainline the story simply to finish the game, and I am behind that decision 100%.

Also why on earth are there so many neck tattoos in Ubisoft games?

Anyway.

Yesterday I also fell down another rabbit hole: Borderlands 2.

A friend wanted to play it from the beginning, so we started it and now we are at the robust level of 14 or so. It’s the first game this friend and I have played together and I had a great time. There were many hilarious antics and I look forward to more.

This week I’m hoping to get to NEW GAMES. Yes, all caps is necessary. I’ve been dragging my feet on so many things and I’m trying to change that when and where I can.

I’m hoping to go back to Everything to see more of the game. I’m also hoping to finish Wolfenstein: The New Order, but I’m not sure I’m going to make myself roll right into the sequel. I’m actually hoping to start Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Persona 5, or Yakuza 0. We’ll see how it shakes out.

Also, on Friday, my partner and I are headed to PSX here in Anaheim! I’m excited to see the show floor as well as hear all the announcements live. I’ll hopefully be live-tweeting the event.

Oh, and the game awards is this week as well! I will be watching that livestream for sure!

What will you be playing this week? Do tell!

Please be safe out there, friends. Cheers!

If anyone wanted to see my beautiful new mask, here it is!