No Lives Left

I finally did it. I finally beat Elden Ring. Or at least got one of the six endings  the game has to offer. It took over 100 hours and plenty of deaths. In the end though, I'm so happy that I completed this endeavor. While I was very excited in the first 30 hours  of experiencing the game, I think I have different thoughts after completing the game.  One thing that has remained constant is how impressed I was at how large this game truly is. Each area kept my jaw dropped with how big  each area was. Stumbling across vast open vistas with verticality in each area never got old. Underground dungeons, hidden passageways,  and sneaky shortcuts strewn about everywhere to encouraged exploration. So many "legacy" dungeons very expertly crafted (legacy being basically larger, story-driven, dungeons). And while it certainly was a positive, the grand scale of Elden Ring  really got tiring. By the end of the game, I was exhausted.  Don't get me wrong, each area w...

  There is a pizza place a couple hours away from where I live that is simply one of a kind. The place smokes it's own brisket and puts it on a pizza with homemade barbecue sauce. It's delicious and it's probably the only halal brisket pizza in Southern California. It's an amazing treat and each time I ever have a chance to have it, I oblige. Sadly, those chances are very few and far between. It always strikes me as funny to daydream about a pizza place when there are just so many  around (some with better quality pizza). All it takes is one refreshing idea to make pizza seem new and special. While being so far away from it can be a detriment, it somehow helps with adding quality to the experience. I savor the moment since there aren't many opportunities to have it.   On another note, there is a shawarma spot near where I live that my friend owns. I've been supporting the place (and my friend) ever since they were selling sandwiches out of a pick-up truck at far...

  I love my Nintendo Switch. Despite it being under powered, it's still an awesome portable gaming platform with fantastic titles that don't actually look like they are from the PS2 era. Nintendo puts out stellar games year after year and none of them have to be played sitting down. Not to downplay that the Switch's docked mode which is great for when you have guests or want to experience gaming on the big screen. As I've grown up, life just naturally makes it hard to plays games for extended, uninterrupted periods of time. Nowadays, even if I have free time, I get anxious thinking about starting a game thinking that some new distraction will pop up and take me away. But with a Switch, I can always pop open a game and make some type of progress and be able to put it away quickly if something pops up. So when Valve announced the Steam Deck I got a little giddy. The thought of experiencing all my PC games on the go was rather tempting. Imagine playing the latest AAA game ...