The Gaming Diary: Chapter 3

I haven't checked in in a while, but I've been feeling kind of overwhelmed from a combination of working much more on music projects and dividing the rest of my time between WAY too many games. Here's what I've been playing lately:

Chrono Cross - I played this when it was new but remember practically nothing from it. I wanted to revisit it when we were putting together our Top 20 PS1 games lists, so I started it up and have several hours in it. Really enjoying it so far!

Final Fantasy Tactics - Same deal as with Chrono Cross. I used to consider this game the gold standard of strategy RPGs, but revisiting it now, it feels pretty cumbersome and unbalanced at times. Still a good game though with a lot of interesting ideas. About 3/4 of the way through it, I think.

Control - I started this back in April to play along with the RFGen Playcast. I only put a couple of hours in before I got distracted by other things. I wasn't really that into it, but I liked it well enough and wanted to see how it plays out, so I'm still hoping to come back to it.

Earthbound - Haven't started this yet, but I have it on deck to start for this month's RFGen Playcast. Never played this one before.

Yoshi's Island - Also on deck to play for this month's Cartridge Club GOTM. I stated on Twitter that I've never been a huge fan of this game, but I wanted to give it another shot and see if it clicks this time. It wouldn't be the first time it's happened. I played halfway through World 1 so far.

The Last of Us Part II - I recently finished this and really enjoyed it. I thought about doing some cleaning up on the trophies and possibly going for the platinum, but after spending about 35 hours with it, I think I'm ready to move on to other things.

Persona 5 Royal - I started this about a month ago but put it on hold to play TLOU2. The original P5 is one of my all-time favorite games, and Royal is pretty much a bigger and better version of it. I've got about 40 hours in it and have been having a hard time putting this down over the last week or so.

Timespinner - I wanted to play this before it left Game Pass since I've heard good things about it. I recently finished it and really enjoyed it. Highly recommended for SOTN fans.

Resident Evil 6 - I played through a couple of times with friends back when it was new. A friend of mine and I recently played through RE5 for the umpteenth time and decided giving 6 another shot might not be a bad idea. It's really dumb and a step back from RE5 in almost every way in my opinion, but you know what, it's kind of fun for a silly action game. Just keep your expectations in check.

I've also had Trials of Mana and Xenoblade Chronicles on deck for a while now and hope to be able to start them soon. I also just bought Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 which I really want to play, but I'll probably wait until this weekend and play through it with a friend. I should also have Ghost of Tsushima and Paper Mario: The Origami King coming in soon as well. I kind of went nuts locking in last minute preorders when my Best Buy GCU membership was expiring, hehe.