This year has been an unusual year for games. I have had anywhere near as much time to play as in the past. A lot of the time I have had has been multiplayer gaming with my brother and cousin. The games I have chosen this year have been quite chilled, which has been a nice slowdown from my hectic day-to-day life.
Massively Multiplayer
I have only really played on MMO this year, although I have just gone back to play around in The Old Republic for a bit. I never get time to commit to ones that involve hardcore end games, so I tend to stick with what I know and play alone or with ad-hoc groups.
Lord of the Rings Online
I love Lord of the Rings, and LOTRO really captures its spirit. Since its release in 2007, Lord of the Rings is the one I keep going back to. Although it is buggy and its graphics are showing its age, it has a certain charm and excels in storytelling. Unlike many MMO’s you can take it slow, read the dialogue, and enjoy the stories; there is no rush to the end game.
This year, I started a new character, a hobbit hunter, and took him to around level 50. There was plenty of new content from when I last played, and I particularly enjoyed going from the mortal peril of the main questline to the low-stakes parochial troubles of the Yondershire.
Once the Christmas rush is over, I am planning to go back and continue my little hobbit’s adventures!
Multiplayer
I mostly play multiplayer games with a set group, including my brother and cousins. We often look for interesting cooperative games to play and chill out after work. This year, there have been two highlights.
Raft
We had a lot of fun with raft, where you create a floating house/boat/fortress and sail the sea, trying to solve the mystery of where you are and what happened to the world. The building mechanics are fun and allow plenty of customizations.
A shark follows your ship and causes mischief when you fall in. The story is fun and drives the game forward by giving you new technology.
I would recommend this as a fun diversion and a bit different from the normally recommended building/survival games like Minecraft and Valheim.
Farming Simulator 2022
If Raft was a fun diversion, Farming Simulator has all become a bit serious! Giant’s Farming Simulator series allows players to run a farm, including simulating most of the equipment remarkably accurately.
Our farm, Gary Lane, currently revolves around a bakery (imaginatively called Gary’s Buns), which mostly produces bread, which needs flour from a mill created from grain we harvest.
Each year we go through the cycle of cultivating, planting, fertilising, waiting, harvesting, processing, and selling to make more money! We then use this to repair machinery, which is getting old and needs repair often, upgrade, and buy new fields. The current plan is to work towards cakes, which involves milk and, therefore, cows. These turn out to be a bit involved and expensive.
I think we will be playing this for a while yet.
Single Player
Assasins Creed: Valhalla
It took me a while to ‘get’ Valhalla, it’s got a lot wrong about Anglo-Saxon England! I also find it a little off putting moving between places i know and take a good hour or two to get between in the real world, in minutes. The whole thing is only one step off having horns on the helmets. However, once you get your head around it all and take it for what it is, its a good, if very long, tale. The combat is fun and raiding is a nice feature. Building up your own little bit of England is satisfying. The side quests and places to explore are great.
I haven’t finished it yet but hope to over the Christmas break. In case you hadn’t already seen the many rave reviews about it, Assasins Creed: Valhalla is worth playing. Just don’t learn too much history from it!