That was the year it was: 2018

And so another year comes to an end. And with the end of the year, Game Tumor goes into hibernation and I am liberated from the pressures of coming up with more posts for this corner of cyberspace (at least until next year....).

So what has 2018 has to show for itself? Well I had the pleasure of casting more games from my Hall of Shame: Homeworld and God of Thunder were both beaten at long last, Trails in the Sky SC was finally concluded and Oxenfree turned out a massive delight; I finally entered the current console generation with the purchase of an Xbox One; mini retro consoles are proving to be a huge success; and Blizzard has made a major mistep that has thrown the internet into all sorts of chaos.

But whatever.
You may have noticed that this post marks the 900th post to this blog. Yeah, I can hardly believe it myself. So after nine years and 900 posts this blog is still going.
It just refuses to die!
One would think that I would eventually run out of things to say (especially considering that I'm shooting out fewer posts annually than previously) but apparently not. One would think that, seeing as this blog has lasted longer than the usual internet time span, that it's time has well and truly gone but no. I suppose as the wonderful world of gaming keeps trucking on, i will have things to say. And as long as I keep having games left unplayed, this blog will keep on going.

So here's the future and I hope to speak you all again when the curtain rises on 2019.

You've been.......Thunderstruck!

On the weekend, I had the satisfaction of casting another game from my Hall of Shame: Goodbye God of Thunder!

Original image located here. Accessed 2nd February 2018

This game and myself have had an interesting history: I played the first episode when I was in High School on the IT computers but I never got to beat it. Fast forward a decade later and I rediscover the game in it's complete form but I've never been able to beat the final boss. And a decade after that, I find the game available for free on Steam. Time to settle some unfinished business, no?

Looking back at this game, I can understand what this game was trying to do: It was an attempt to bring a Legend of Zelda-esque game to mid-nineties PC gaming. It's a decent stab I will admit, what with interesting puzzles, and a RPG-like path of progression. What makes God of Thunder somewhat different is that there is basis of Norse mythology with the PC being Thor, the PC's main weapon being Mjolnir and the Big Bad being Loki (figures a trickster god would be so difficult to defeat). Having said that however this game's grasp of Norse mythology has more to do with the Marvel comic character than the actual mythos.
Also, it has to be said that the only major difference is that the humor in Legend of Zelda is significantly less corny than that of God of Thunder (at one one point an NPC says that the PC, Thor, should have his own comic book......
Finally, I'd forgotten how tough the boss battles are. So it may not come to a surprise to you, the reader, that a lot of cursing and keyboard pounding was required to defeat the Big Bads at the end of each chapter. I could say that challenge of all three was me getting my money's worth but this was a game I got for free.....

So in the end, I did enjoy this game and experiencing it now was no different than when I enjoyed it twenty-odd years ago.