Blog Herding – The Best Blogs Of The Community (May 11, 2017)

Another week, another Blog Herding edition – and that means another collection of compelling blogs to read.

Community Blogs For May 4 – May 10:

Should You Be Playing Rivals of Aether?
It's been a while since ConnorTrinske wrote a blog, but he's back to tell you all about this Steam Early Access title. The game is a "Smash-like," so similar to Super Smash Bros. Connor gives the game high praise, saying it may even be better than the Smash Bros. series when it comes to gameplay. However, it is hampered by the roster, as well as content. I enjoy Smash so much and feel like it has so much to offer that I can't just go and play yet another Smash game. How about you?

One Man's Thoughts: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Attackcobra really disliked Ethan's wife. So he immediately doesn't want to be the hero and save her. But he does enjoy how crazy the Baker family is. And frightening. And terrifying. And brutal. It could be a game of the year contender for our blogger, but it is just a wee bit short. I loved it – all of it.

My Fatigue With the Current Open-World Structure
When Refle thinks about open-world games, he thinks of a pitfall many of them fall into: too much uninteresting stuff to do. I agree with his assessment that lame side quests don't need to be in a game to artificially extend it. And sometimes the world is just too big. I have not felt like that at all while playing Breath of the Wild, though it does have some silly side quests of its own. Otherwise I could climb mountains while singing, "here comes the Spider-Man," forever.

The Essentials Challenge: Trenchmace – Fallout: New Vegas
Father Titan speaks with Trenchmace about Fallout: New Vegas, a gem of a game. It's a fun and interesting interview, especially since Trenchmace played New Vegas after both Fallout 3 and 4. I still haven't finished New Vegas. It took me over 50 hours to even get to new Vegas, because like Doug in Up, I had a lot of squirrel moments. I just love to explore when the world is fun and interesting.

A Growing Gamer: Leveling Up
Just in the nick of time to make this week's deadline is another poem from GerardoExber. This time it is about growing up.

Writing Challenge Responses:

Community Writing Challenge – Side Fun
Aaron Bivens brings me right back to high school when he writes about spending hours playing Final Fantasy X's Blitzball. What a game mode. What a sport. And then he goes on to Triple Triad for sucking up so many hours of his life. I...I've been there. I'd pay $60 right now for a full-fledged game of Triple Triad or Blitzball. This Final Fantasy-themed response is perfect.

CWC: Not Meant to Happen
StarterPack writes about something I did not know people actually did in Borderlands 2. I guess I've always been obsessed with the game to an insane degree, but never really saw what others did in the game. Like, I don't want to spoil this blog. All I can say is some people are really dedicated to finding unique ways to enjoy games.

Writing Challenge:

My cat has begun to eat more things. It was okay when he chewed on Tupperware lids, but now he's an unpredictable monster eating things that don't make sense and could kill him if we're not careful with what we leave around the house. So this week's challenge is this: What are your thoughts on the things video game characters consume? Have you ever wondered why B.J. eats chicken off of the floor? Or how about what Link puts into his dishes for different stat boosts?  You could also tackle the other ways characters and enemies use their mouths, such as why the heck does Wario bite people? Biting happens a lot in gaming.  

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.