Hi all!
Hope you’re doing well in these summery months. I’m hanging in there although there are some days where it’s Really. Hot. and I literally record with sweat rolling off my forehead 😭(I tend to close my windows/turn off fans to avoid distractions & noise which probably doesn’t help lol)
Anyway! This past month I’ve been struggling a bit - my output’s not where I imagined it to be. In the back I tested various approaches to recording/video publishing workflows, ie. focusing just on FF16 so I can move on to other things earlier, juggling multiple series, some long, some short etcetc, and I feel like by the end of it I still don’t have a good answer to what works the best for me and it’s a work in progress... You’d think I’d have this figured out by now but I’m just winging everything one day at a time 💀
TL;DR
- we went from "Materwelonz" to "Welonz"
- Finished: DREDGE, Killer Frequency
- Ongoing: FF16, OXENFREE II
- Upcoming: Miles Morales (actually, this time!)
Small Name Change
For those who missed it: we made a slight change to the channel name going from Materwelonz to Welonz! Here was the announcement & explanation: youtu.be/v5gxAySqo1c. Sorry for making it seem like channel-ending drama but I was def cackling all day that day 😂
Nothing else is changing – the channel’s the same as always!
Finished Stuff Since Last Update
DREDGE (14 parts): Enjoyed this Lovecraftian adventure a whole ton! I mentioned before I thought it might get monotonous but honestly the little fishing/inventory minigame gameplay loop was great and I felt like I could do it forever hahah.Very immersive atmosphere – I’m keeping a look out on the story DLC later in the year.
Killer Frequency (7 parts): We are a radio DJ and because of Reasons, we are in charge of the 911 hotline tonight and must direct people over the phone so the resident serial killer doesn’t get to them. This game’s a great example of creative people going “what if we just wrote a story and ignored believability” lol - the whole 911 thing is not exactly logical but the end result is fantastic and hilarious. Great mix of advancing the story via the audio (people calling into the hotline) vs us physically exploring the radio building.
And some first looks:
ETERNIGHTS demo: An anime-style action game/visual novel blend where we save the world and go on dates, supposedly inspired by the Persona series. The presentation (script quality, graphics) is kind of rough but I think it’s entertaining if you look at it as a B-movie kinda thing.
I saw a passing comment wondering why this game was getting a ton of press coverage and I have to wonder the same lol – in my case I played it because their PR folks reached out to me very early on (a whole month beforehand) before the big wave of new releases & demos hit around mid-June.
DAVE THE DIVER: A(nother) fishing adventure, this time we shoot nautical creatures with harpoons and guns by day and do sushi restaurant management by night. It seems to be a cute fun time, but my impression is the various gameplay loops and addictive upgrade gathering is the focus more so than the storyline.
Current Stuff
Final Fantasy XVI: The newest mainline FF game in a Game of Thrones-esque setting. The demo was an exhilarating intro to the world and they clearly spent a pretty penny on the flashy presentation. After a few dozen hours in I do think it has noticeable foundational issues, but I’d like to finish the game before commenting more. The main storyline asks to destroy five landmark objects, and I’ve been through three so I think I am loosely 60% of the way through?
OXENFREE II: Lost Signals: Sequel to the first that came out seven (!) years ago – plays similarly to before in that it’s primarily about engaging in very fluid conversations between the cast while facing ghostly phenomena. I am in the very last stretches so this should end in just about 1-2 more parts as of this post.
Upcoming Stuff
I mentioned last time I was gonna start Miles Morales but still haven’t yet – big apologies! I got distracted by Killer Frequency and then next thing I knew Oxenfree II was around the corner so I opted for the latter first as it’s shorter. I’ve begun prepping for Miles and expect it to directly follow Oxenfree II pretty much.
As alluded to in the start of the post, I've been thinking about speeding up FF16 a tad. It means the channel will be more one-note for a bit, but viewers interested in this series will get to know what happens faster while it's still fresh-ish, and we can also move our full attention to other bigger series (*cough* Dragon Age Inquisition *cough*) earlier too. Realistically though I feel like I always get distracted by some indie game coming out of left field 🗿 so we’ll see what happens.
Hope you’re enjoying your summer months whether it be hot or cold! Thank you for your kind support as always and feel free to let me know any suggestions/comments below.
Cheers,
Welonz