Mostly Normal Monthly #0004, December 2020
Get friends, get fit, get fast.
It’s Better to Game with Friends
By AJ Eide
Thoughts on Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla!
Developed by Ubisoft Montreal, Published by Ubisoft
Played on PlayStation 5
If you are looking for an in-depth Valhalla review, this is not the article for you. This is more about how playing the same game with a bunch of friends can make bugs a blast and round out a different if not more rewarding experience while everyone is playing the same game together. I have played over 110 hours of AC: Valhalla. This game is visually stunning on PlayStation 5 at 60fps and runs near flawlessly about 95 percent of the time. That 5 percent of the time is where playing with friends really pays off.
The Magic Flying Canoe! - unknown source
I was not originally planning on playing Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. I had played 190-plus hours of AC: Odyssey including most of the DLC stories and I wasn’t sure I was ready to leave Kassandra and give up the beautiful islands of ancient Greece for a much harder, colder, and rainy setting. Sure, the title is much easier to spell and ye olde England can look beautiful with it’s flowery meadows and flowing rivers (swan roads if you’re Eivor) but let’s be real; it ain’t no Attika.
This is where the group chat full of friends (yes, I have a couple) really made the game better for me personally. Once I saw everyone playing it of course I had the FOMO so I snagged the game digitally. With four or five of my close gaming friends all playing at the same time the PlayStation party gradually started filling up with screenshots. There was a headless Eivor hanging through a wall, Tai Chi Eivor who was holding an invisible box, pictures of giant fish people caught, and heads they severed. The discussions of who made what decision when and how that changed the story arc. It was a blast!
Headless Eivor - photo captured by Gaimondstad
Tai Chi Eivor - photo captured by AJ
A Severed Head - photo captured by GruchiePoochie
I am just nearing the end of what I consider the main story line. It took me a while to warm up to Eivor. Maybe my heart warmed with the setting, although I do not mind the cold. I live in snowy Minnesota and considering the game starts off in frigid Norway (which is where my Great Grandpa Andrew immigrated to the U.S. from) it makes sense to say that I have seen enough snow where I live in Minneapolis and the cold-thickened blood of my ancestors understands Eivors need to leave. Is that Eivor Eide I see? Haha. This game has slowly become my favorite of the Assassin’s Creed Franchise and has awakened the blood of my Norwegian heritage. As Eivor so eloquently states I’m ready to, “STEAL CHRIST’S GOLD, AND BURN HIS HOUSE DOWN!” Game glitches, bugs, and all.
That’s a Big Ol’ Fish- photo captured (and caught) by Gaimonstad
One Year Later
By Jon Swanson
Ring Fit Adventure is the perfect way to keep fit when you’re stuck indoors!
Developed by Nintendo EPD, Published by Nintendo
Played on Nintendo Switch
It might seem strange that I’m writing this over one year after it’s release but that’s how long it took me to roll credits on Nintendo’s latest fitness craze, Ring Fit Adventure. After over 35 hours and 50-plus miles I’m still fascinated by the ability this game has to provide the player with a sense of accomplishment in addition to a complete workout.
You will not find yourself resembling a cast member of 300 simply by doing your daily Ring Fit. However, if your goal for exercise is to feel healthier and have a more positive outlook you’ve come to the right place. Over and over Ring Fit Adventure emphasizes that this is it’s goal. It even goes so far as to make the stereotypical meathead your nemesis in the form of a muscle-bound dragon named Dragaux.
Through running in place, flying by ab-Ring-Con presses, or paddling a kayak via an ab-Ring-Con twist motion you traverse landscapes that resemble a hybrid of Fire Watch and The Legend of Zelda. While jaunting through the countryside you will encounter enemies who are weak to any of four categorical move sets: Legs (purple), Yoga (green), Arms (red) or Core (yellow).
Looks Like a Good Workout - image via Gamestop.com
These different move sets are where Ring Fit introduces an element of strategy. Prior to each level you will have to decide on which exercises to include in your regimen. In this way Ring Fit Adventure also makes you roam outside of your comfort zone. Do you hate doing leg exercises? I sure as shit do! But leave them out of your move set on a level with a lot of purple enemies and you may find yourself in a tough spot quickly.
“The Rona” - image courtesy of the CDC Image Library
Even prior to ’Rona those of us living in the upper Midwest had to get creative during the winter if we wanted to stay active. With gyms being closed yet again and winter on our doorstep I couldn’t give Ring Fit Adventure higher commendation. If you own a Nintendo Switch and are finding it difficult to stay active during these taxing times, give it a go. Your mind and body will thank you.
Boom! Tetris!
By Chris Stern
The new Xboxes were Microsoft’s missing piece.
As someone who primarily played on Xbox 360, the last 7 years have been tough, frustrating, and heartbreaking - like seeing your favorite boxer get ruined on Fight Night. Microsoft has been jabbing at Sony off its back foot since it lost the early rounds of the match. PlayStation’s early and devastating PR blows left Xbox battered in the ring. PS4 outsold Xbox One about 2-to-1, earned prestige for its first-party catalogue, and dominated mindshare from the hardest of hardcore to the casual 2K, FIFA, COD crowd. The match got pretty hard to watch with Xbox announcing, and then unceremoniously axing a number of exclusives. Crackdown 3 felt like a broken promise, with 5 years of delays leading into mediocre review scores. The Halo-Gears-Forza trinity felt like the only three games regularly announced and released.
How to Share Games on the PlayStation 4 - image via PushSquare
Many podcasters, pundits, and predictors have praised Phil Spencer and his persistently good decisions as the Xbox One generation matured. “Game Pass is the best deal in video games.” “xCloud could change the way we play games.” “Game streaming will be the future, and Game Pass is the Netflix of video games.” “Xbox One X is the best place to play games, and the most powerful home console yet.” All of these components sounded great, but didn’t coalesce into a clear vision for the Xbox platform. As a sales-pitch “We are the only place you can play God of War, The Last of Us 2, and Ghost of Tsushima” sure felt more potent than “We will let you play our games almost anywhere—look now some of them are on the Nintendo!”
Then Xbox started pitching the Xbox Series X—another powerhouse system with teraflops for days and a monolithic design aesthetic. There was an incongruity to the message of “Strongest Console Ever (pt. 2)” and “play Xbox games anywhere”—Android Phones, the Xbox One you bought in 2013, the Xbox One X, the 1440p and digital-only Series S, and even your PC.
Visualization of Phil Spencer’s Patience - image via GamesBeat
But then, after the slow build up of different pieces that Phil Spencer and been carefully arranging for years, the I-Tetromino arrived. Tetris is the metaphor of choice here because Tetris Effect: Connected is the game that demonstrates how all of this came together. The Xbox Series consoles boasted a new feature, Quick Resume, that would allow you to jump from game to game with only a few seconds of loading, and pick up right when and where you left off. At first Quick Resume didn’t sound like much to brag about, especially since I usually try to focus on one game at a time. But I bought into Game Pass Ultimate, and something changed—and clicked. Now, with over a hundred games to pick from at once, and possibly 25 installed on my system at any given moment, it made sense.
I went from tentatively downloading a bunch of games I’d heard were good, but had missed out on, to checking out some old favorites on the new hardware. Then, I played through an hour or two of Jedi: Fallen Order, but needed a break. I picked up Tetris Effect: Connected, since a musical puzzle game felt like the perfect antidote to built-up tension from Jedi’s challenging combat. Once I had cooled off, I was back into Jedi in under 10 seconds, no long opening title screen or large load time to get in my way. Pretty soon I was cruising through runs of Pacifism Mode in Geometry Wars 2, grooving on the Streets of Rage 4 soundtrack, and clearing Tetris blocks all before committing to the longer challenge of working toward that next objective on planet Zeffo.
The Missing Piece… Oddly I-Tetromino Shaped… - image via Xbox’s website
Game Pass is an amazing service, and is enhanced by the Series X’s ability to quickly load in and out of games with the Velocity SDD and Quick Resume. It turns Xbox into the buffet at Caesars Palace, letting the player get their fill of different cuisines before the main event. It's helped me try out more games in the last month, with almost no friction at all. This freedom is the experience that Xbox has been building toward, and their vision for the future of games. It's a freedom I am finding hard to move away from, so my PS4’s Spider-Man and Bloodborne playthroughs are going to have to wait.