Thanks! I’m mostly recovered now anyway.

I briefly had a go with EmuDeck a while ago and everything was so fiddly that I lost interest almost immediately. RetroDECK is the champ!

My favourite game on 3DS was Monster Hunter 4U. I really loved the Majora’s Mask port too but 2ship2harkinian is probably the better way to play that now.

I love what Nightdive does but I’m a little disappointed that they are doubling down on remasters. The System Shock remake was so amazing…. I was really hoping they would remake some other crusty old imsims since we get so few new ones.

I’ve been recovering from a surgery so done nothing but play games for the last couple of weeks:

• I finished Drova. What a badass game! I want more anti-power-fantasy RPGs like this!
• I got about 30 hours into Death Stranding after being inspired by PerfectDark’s comments. Got a bit tired of it and put it down, but I would like to come back to it. I got stuck on my bad checklist grinding habit and sucked out all the fun for myself… don’t progress until everybody has 5 stars, all roads are built, etc. Don’t know why I do this.
• Played Blue Prince for 17 hours and bounced off it hard. This game wastes so much of your time for tiny payoffs. The puzzles don’t really give you any revelatory excitement because the pieces for them are so unhidden… and the ultra simplistic roguelike mechanics were such a chore!
• I got retrodeck running and wow… it’s slick! Already gathered a bunch of roms for some of my childhood games. I beat Perfect Dark (coincidence) on Gameboy Color… fun but brutally difficult, thankfully it was pretty short. Started Metal Gear Solid on Gameboy Color but put it down with intention to come back to it. Gave Terranigma a go on SNES because of nostalgia but it doesn’t really hold up compared to similar Zelda games. Last night I started .hack//INFECTION on PS2 also because of nostalgia and it’s pretty bad… very simplistic. Gonna find something else to play tonight.

Woohoo!

Red chilli and bean soup!

• 1 red capsicum
• 1 medium onion
• 1 celery stick
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 400g can tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 700ml vegetable stock
• 1 can mixed beans
• 25g kale leaves, shredded

1. Chop capsicum, celery, carrot, and onion. Crush garlic.
2. Heat oil in large pan, add chopped vegetables, saute for 5 minutes but don’t colour the vegetables.
3. Add chilli powder and cook for a minute.
4. Blend the tomatoes and add to the pan with puree and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Drain and rinse the beans, stir into the soup with kale. Cook for a few minutes until the beans have warmed and the kale wilted.
6. Season with pepper and serve.

Love this soup! Usually swap the kale for spinach though.

This game is really fun. Reminds me a bit of childhood Goldeneye/Perfect Dark battles I had with a friend to decide who was actually the best.

I love that movie! IMO the practical effects make it more unsettling. It feels more real than CGI even if some of those effects look pretty fake.

I’ve had 2 sleep paralysis episodes in my life and both of them were themed around The Grudge. I’ve never really been scared by horror movies before or since I saw that at the cinema as a teenager, but for some reason that movie rocked me. It also started my lifelong obsession with Ju-On (though I have never rewatched The Grudge) and Asian horror in general.

Kayako is the ultimate ghost villain; once you are cursed, you are fucked. There is no protection ritual, no solving of unfinished business, no escaping a haunted location. She can get to you anywhere, any time of day. She can distort reality to trap you and even time travel. I have goosebumps while writing this comment!