HI.......................
I’m writing this part at the end and I’m all out of steam! Pleasantries are cancelled, let’s goo!
TL;DR
100k subs 🫨
Finished: Lost Records, Black Mesa
Ongoing: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Next Up: DELTARUNE, Death Stranding 2?
100,000 Subscribers!?!?!?
The channel reached 100k subscribers last week.......... wow! 🤯
Thank you everyone for making this happen!
I’ve been mulling on this and man, words are hard. It’s a very cool milestone to reach! At the same time though, early on since I started All This, I realized views/likes/dislikes/subscribers – all these metrics aren’t really within my realm of control. There is no “if I make XXX number of videos or work YYY hours, it means I will get ZZZ subscribers” formula, and so I made a conscious effort to put them out of mind to focus on enjoyment for myself, and hopefully for yours too.
This helps me limit negative feelings when the numbers are low, but also means I’m somewhat indifferent to the reverse. Don’t get me wrong... this is a happy thing! I'm very grateful and not unhappy!! Just that there’s also a part of me that’s treating it as an out-of-body experience, like “oh yes, this is logically something I should be thrilled about. Time to engage the celebratory protocols” like an alien lol.
ANYWAY. Just some stray thoughts jotted down. Don’t take it too seriously! YouTube had to do some verification so I got approved for the silver plaque just today. I think it should come in 2-3 weeks. There’s an upcoming postal strike in Canada that I’m hoping this won’t be affected by, but either way I’ll show you when it comes in.
More than any subscriber milestone, I do strongly feel I’ve been able to keep going for an honest-to-god decade now thanks to your continued support. Thank you for making all this possible!!
Finished Stuff
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage: Tape 2 wraps up the journey! It felt a tad undercooked but DON’T NOD’s signature detailed character writing is still on full display. I enjoyed the relationship bonding and impeccable vibes, though the plot continued to be thin and won’t win over those who found Tape 1 slow. There’s hints that the Lost Records universe will continue. I’ll be there Day 1 if it comes to fruition!
Black Mesa: A classic shooter and (guestimating which concepts were from the original 1998 Half Life) a cool throwback to the beginnings of environmental storytelling and narratives in FPSes. The pacing towards the end gets real wonky with endless puzzles but it was a fun ride all in all, and even more impressive as a fan remake. I’m definitely interested to tackle Half-Life 2 when I can find a good time for it (sometime in the next few months, not years).
First looks:
South of Midnight: Third-person action adventure of a woman discovering her family roots in a mystical alternate American Deep South. The setting feels really unique and strongly steeped in Black culture. The intro felt a tad clumsy in how the events were connected: it starts with an emergency, but we shift over to following a different thread while the emergency is still urgent. (That sounds like every game with side quests though lol so maybe it just didn’t fully jive w/ me for whatever other reason.)
Blue Prince: A roguelite puzzle game set in a 45-room mansion where we try to look for the 46th room… or that’s the initial premise anyway. I did a single run which gave a general idea of how it plays but I also felt like I didn’t scratch even the most surface of surface layers lol. It was a fun hour but I’m not so sure it’s the correct fit on the channel with how massive of a commitment it would be, both genre- and length-wise.
despelote: An autobiographical story of a boy growing up in 2001 Ecuador during soccer craze. It’s a very personal tale that evokes nostalgia even if you’re unfamiliar with the sport/setting. Made me think about all the little things I remembered growing up too! The grainy art style is fitting but really doesn’t play nice with video compression, so I’d recommend playing this one if it interests you.
DOOM: The Dark Ages: My first experience with DOOM! The gameplay felt smooth, it was fun to zoom around and tear into enemies etc etc, but the story didn’t strike me as a super front-and-center thing (vs the newer Wolfensteins.)
Current Stuff
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: The new turn-based JRPG that’s all the rage, coming at a perfect time as I wrapped up BG3. Fresh premise, amazing music, engaging narrative, intricate combat, this game has it all. The biggest complaint I have so far is on the romance front if you know what I mean lmao. It’s unabashedly a French game which I find really brave and inspiring too; it’s always lovely to see games not contort themselves to be palatable to Anglophone audiences find mainstream success. I'm currently in Act 2 of 3.
Upcoming Stuff
Stuff I have tabs on for June:
5th: DELTARUNE Chapters 3 & 4 (I've been replaying Ch 1 & 2 to get ready)
12th: Forgotlings (prequel to the Ghibli-esque side-scrolling adventure Forgotton Anne which we played on the channel in 2018)
13th: The Alters (we did a first look last year, it’s the “what if Fallout Shelter but all the workers are your AU clones" game)
26th: Death Stranding 2
DELTARUNE and DS2 will likely be my priorities and I’ll tackle the others depending on how much I can squeeze in. I’ve started hitting the gas on Expedition 33 in hopes I can close that out before stuff gets too crazy too. Always a fine balance between playing fast to get more videos out vs playing so fast it ends up being a rush job, but I’ll be careful!
Anyway, hope you’ve been enjoying Expedition 33 as much as I have been! Even if it's not your cup of tea, new things should be arriving shortly too.
Have a great one, and thank you again!!!! For everything!!!!
Welonz