Blog Herding – The Best Blogs Of The Community (August 11, 2016)

Even though No Man's Sky is all the rage right now, we have a good mixture of topics in this week's blogosphere.

Community Blogs For August 4 – August 10:

5 Changes Hello Games Should Consider for the Next No Man's Sky Patch
No Man's Sky hasn't been out for long, but Shrink already has some pointers – or wishful thinking – when it comes to the next patch. Frankly, I'm not playing until I can interact with other players, so I won't ever know this early version of the game.

On Progress, Overcoming, and Gaming's Everlasting Arguments
You want to read about narrative? Yeah, Thomas Loughney has your narrative, and a whole host of things related to it that he dissects in this blog. This one's a long read, but stick with it if you want to engage in some conversation in the comments.

Space Is Still Awesome: Mass Effect Trilogy Retrospect
Even if it's not a blog about No Man's Sky, it's a blog about space. Or at least it is in the case of writergirl2394. And this blog is fresh: they replayed the entire series recently. And what a good space opera to surge through. This is Commander Shepard, and I approve of this message.

Hype Expectations: They Can Be Met!
Hype is a strange beast, and Brendon Curzio knows this. Like he writes, each year sees us overwhelmed with hype from new games. The media is part of this; it's good for business. Fans fall for it; it builds up our beliefs in something. Marketers live it; it pays the bills, son. It. Is. Everywhere. But what happens when the hype is real? Then you have a mighty fine time, of course.

Metroid and the Magic of Superfluous Mechanics
When it comes to Metroidvanias, I can't control my enthusiasm. But Thomas Loughney wants to set aside the excitement to look at gameplay mechanics that maybe aren't so awesome. Or maybe they're fun, but really don't need to be there. Read his blog and then you be the judge.

Procedural Generation in Gaming
OK, so I may have lied about the No Man's Sky blogs in this edition, because this blog is most definitely inspired by this game. I'm going to be honest: I don't typically like randomly generated... anything.

Is Resident Evil A Changing Series?
GerardoExber writes about a series that is very near and dear to me, but also one that has changed a lot over the years. Like GI's handsome previous editor, Tim Turi, I've loved this series since the very first one – but goodness is it different now. But like Tim, I still play it because I am a fan of the series and the evolving mechanics.

Writing Challenge Responses:

Community Writing Challenge – Overwatch Episodes
When I wrote last week's challenge, I totally had Overwatch in mind -- and Cru Hunter chooses that as his game deserving a single-player mode. I mean, I have yet to play the game, but from reading and watching the lore, I know that I want to play around in that world, breathe in those stories, feel those characters' pain, and just see what else there is to them.

Community Writing Challenge:
It's the dog days of summer – what are you playing to keep cool? If you're a student, how do you handle summer when it comes to gaming? I used to pump in so many hours before the new semester began.

Community playdate:
None. I'll be in Wisco, eating cheese. I hope you enjoy the blogs! Please contact me via my Game Informer page or on Twitter at @LouisGarcia12 with any blog news or playdate suggestions.