Looking Back and Looking Forward

     As we welcome 2025, I looked back on the year that was.

    This blog definitely feel by the wayside as my focus shifted first to family then to just taking a break for myself. I did keep the UPDATES on my side panel and I will do that at least once a week. A part of me wants to use it as my own personal twitter as I think I will focus even less on that platform in the new year. I was doing good for a couple months especially with not posting but eventually I started posting again and as a whole I know why I did it but just using twitter is just eww.

    A big part of last year was finding a job I can actually perform in and feel rewarded doing so. I can not talk to much about it as I do like to keep somethings personal but the main thing is I now work with a non-profit that's main goal is mentoring and educating the youth. I brought in a couple of the things I enjoyed to them and the reception for it was pretty good. The main thing is because of the nature of this job I do have a bit more free-time and I've been using it wisely. I hope to do even bigger things with it in the new year and continue to make a good impression. Combined this with all my church duties which I take very seriously, work wise I am looking good.

The Surge 2 is a easy 9 out of 10 for me

     

    Gaming is still my primary focus and I've enjoyed being freed of the restraint of constantly playing and training in fighting games to the point where I can not enjoy my other game genres. Last year was a hall-mark year for new fighting games and I can honestly say non of the current crop of popular fighting games be in Mortal Kombat One, Tekken 8 or Street Fighter 6. The only fighters I have a remote interest in is Under Night In-Birth 2 and to a lesser extent KOF XV. What I do enjoy is my new goal of becoming a low-key 'achievement hunter'/ back log killer. Last year I platinumed/ got all the achievements for Dark Souls Remastered, The Surge, The Surge 2 and Dredge (at least before the final DLC came out and ruined everything lol). Nearly every game I play these days I aim to get most if not all of the achievements and its become a driving force in my gaming now. This new year will be more of the same as I hope to continue to trim down my backlog of  un-played games and it does not help that I am constantly adding to the list due Epic Game Store's yearly give-away marathon (allowing me to pick up Sifu, Vampire Survivors, Control and more for free). I know I will fall back down the pit of Darkest Dungeon II when its DLC drops, I eventually want to complete my playthrough of all recent Deck13 games (with the original Lords of the Fallen being the final one) and hope to actually play Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree this year as well, at least before Nightreign comes out which I know I'll give a try as well.

This book is a TRIP

    Another big part of last year was finding my love for reading again. Now I never stopped reading, I read graphic novels religiously but last year around my birthday I started reading novels again and since then I have completed a re-read of one of my favorite novels of all time 'Galilee', a re-read of Volume one of Hickman's Fantastic Four omnibus, the trippy 'House of Leaves' by Mark Z Danielewski and the Bible. I am current reading books I own that I never got around to reading like 'Forms of Heaven: Three Plays' by Clive Barker (writer of 'Galilee') and 'Mox', the Jon Moxley autobiography I got for Christmas one year. I hope to keep up this pace and continue to read as much as I game.

RANTS, RAVES and OKAYS should be back this year too. I might even revisit some of the games and media I recently played/ enjoyed and give them their flowers. All in all, it is a new year but I am still me, just a guy who likes to go on and on about the things I like. This year I might actually put pen to paper (or at least fingers to keyboard and blog) again.

AV