I had a plan for today – I really did.

Void Shadows came out, as promised, on September 24 and it was my intent to play the heck outta it for four solid nights and have a nice, rounded review ready for you today... Naturally, whenever you make plans of any sort, Life (the original roguelike) likes to take it as an opportunity to throw a little RNG your way. What I rolled was flu (and not some run-of-the-mill kind, either: the limited reserve variety Nurgle saves for special occasions).

So, for the past week, as the installer for Void Shadows gathered dust on my hard drive, I have accomplished exactly nothing (except for coughing, sweating buckets and falling asleep at odd times of day). While not fun, the experience did put my dislike of roguelikes into perspective. Consider:

Single save state? Check. Endless parade of random events (some of which can feel poorly timed or unfair)? Check. Permadeath? Not to be grim, but — you betcha... I get the whole "art imitates life" outlook, but come on: why imitate the most limiting and constraining aspects of it? It's like having the potential to create Tetris but settling for Breakout instead...

Games should offer us the chance to experience things we couldn't, otherwise, experience — to be pivotal characters in an epic tale, see lands too fantastic to exist or, I dunno, sort out the fate of a ghost ship with the aid of a magical pocket watch (if that's what you're into) — not to hedge access to limited gameplay by mechanics we all get to experience, first-hand, by virtue of being alive. </rant>

Anyway. I've been sick and grumpier than usual, but – it hasn't been all bad. Year two of pigabout.games brought another 44 articles and nine ruminations (which I'm not entirely happy with, but not completely displeased by, either; feels nice to have breathing room, if I need it, and be able to gab about aspects of gameplay not covered by reviews).

Readership's picked up a little (most notably by a certain Duke – and Duchess – outta California, which made me happier than I thought possible); and I got the shirts done, as I said I would (pig of my word and all that). In the miniscule quantities I've been ordering, they're still stupid-expensive per unit, but – hey – things ever pick up, they'll be on-trotter, ready to go...

I haven't really seen anything worthwhile on my pig-radar lately, so it could very well be the only notable release before the year's end will be S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 when (if) it comes out November 20. From what I've seen of the previews, it's shaping up to be quite the looker: when you're stuck in the Zone, gun in hand, but can't stop staring at the poppies swaying gently in the breeze, you know someone did a bang-up job on the graphics.

If S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 does drop in November, I'm thinking of trying a new format for it – like a sort of travelogue or journal: part-review, part-walkthrough, with a bit more background and atmosphere than what you'd get in a traditional review. Distilling long-form gameplay into a dozen paragraphs or so is good for an overall impression, but – oftentimes – leaves out the finer details that might influence your decision to get into a game.

We'll see how it goes, but – that's the plan, anyway (yes: I am grinning while I write).

Wherever you are, whatever you're playing, I hope you're doing well. Keep warm, stay healthy and keep an eye peeled for the Void Shadows review (I'm gonna install it now, before I fall asleep again).

Year three of pigabout.games officially.

Begins—