Summer Ahoy!

The moment that every teacher (and probably students too--just kidding, or course them too, but if you're a teacher, you know it's X1000000000 for us) looks forward to is right around the corner for me--the start of summer vacation!  Of course I anticipate spending plenty of time outdoors enjoying the beautiful, warm summer weather, but I also know that if it's anything like last summer (fingers crossed that it's not) there's usually a week or two where the weather is unbearably hot and staying indoors is a more desirable option (I'm fortunate to have central air).  But what to play?  I don't really have a huge backlog just waiting to be played (although I do have a tendency to grab free games from Epic and then not play them) and since this year has shaped up to be an expensive one, I don't really have any hot new titles that I'm dying to spend money on (*with the exception of Two Point Campus that comes out in August).  I'm thinking it's time to revisit some old favorites, so here's what's currently up on my list.

I can't wait to revisit V!

1.) CyberPunk 2077

I played the living bejeezus out of it last summer, but I haven't touched it since the numerous large updates.  I'm curious about what these changes have brought to the game--I have noticed that a lot of the over-the-top negativity about the game seems to have died down and I've noticed more people stating that they enjoyed it.  Maybe this time around I'll make some different decisions?  I've never given the River romance a fair chance, so that could be interesting.

2.) Fallout 4

Bethesda games are like the comfort food of gaming for me--yeah, I've had it a thousand times, but it still feels good.  I'm currently (slowly) wandering the Massachusetts wastes and telling myself all the great lies.  I'll make different decisions this time!  No, I won't.  I'll make my settlements super-cool with tons of details!  No, I'll slap down some hideous, physically impossible structures and try to keep the people happy.  I'll try a different build!  Nope.

I have made an attempt to be more attentive to some of the lore-based details in the game.  In particular, the stories of the many vaults (**this is spoiler-y, but Fallout 4 isn't exactly a new game, so just be warned).  Vault 75 in particular struck me as one of the worse vault experiments--use kids as the primary vault population and then use "selective breeding" to try to create "better" humans.  The worst part is that the subjects that aren't good enough are given a fake "graduation" ceremony before they're "disposed of."  I guess I've never really paid attention to all the details of this particular vault, but it's one of the more insidious ones.

3.) Mass Effect: Legendary Edition

I used to have a summer tradition where I would replay the entirety of the Mass Effect saga.  Now that the games are all packaged together in the Legendary Edition, that's easier than ever before.  It's always nice to revisit the best crew in the galaxy and reunite with all of the old pals.  Then, the next major question looms....do I try to throw in Andromeda too?

4.) The Witcher

Another of my perennial summer favorite series is The Witcher.  The first game hasn't aged particularly well (part of me wishes there would be some sort of remaster) and I find myself getting annoyed at certain aspects of it, but games two and three make the slog completely worth it.  Gwent, monsters, and sorceresses...just thinking about it makes me want to boot it up.

5.) TwoPoint Campus

It was originally slated to be released in May but was pushed back to August.  I love TwoPoint Hospital and am looking forward to spending many, many hours managing zany colleges.  Fingers crossed that there aren't more delays!

6.) Slime Rancher 2

I haven't seen a solid release date for the next entry in the cute, slime farming game, but I'm hoping that it's a late summer release.  I'd love to spend time sucking up slimes, breeding them into the cutest form possible, and then becoming a plort-ionaire.  

Summer is so close I can almost taste it and my fingers are itching to mash some buttons.  Happy pre-summer to everyone!