I like structure.

If you’ve been following along since the beginning, you’ll know I love keeping track of my media intake and planning ahead. I like knowing what I’m going to play!

A big part of this is keeping my pool of currently playing games to as-small-as-possible. I keep it to two. I do the same things for books. I’ve got one handheld game and one console game going at a time. I do this for several reasons and you can read about that here.

What it comes down to is seeing things through. I’m way too prone to just do whatever I want in the moment, and if I don’t have some constriction on what I play, read, or honestly do, then I won’t actually finish anything I want to.

But then I played Hollow Knight.

I’m currently experiencing two hernias. It’s been a really challenging time. It hurts, I have to lie down a lot, and I can’t pick up our daughter.

Before getting this hernia, I was in the rythm of waking up, reading a little bit, then playing video games until our daughter woke up. Then together, we’d make breakfast, coffee and wake up my wife.

I can’t do that right now. Getting out of bed is a major pain. So right now, I get up when Lottie gets up and lie on the couch, showing Lottie some video games.

I’ve shown her Skate., Mario, Mario, Mario, Mario but with a cat, Mario Kart, and Katamari Damacy. However, when Silksong came out on September 4th, I had the temptation to show Lottie the bugs and dip my toes back into Hollow Knight.

I had played Hollow Knight for about 3 hours during November of 2020, and it was not the right game for that time. (This could be a whole post. I had just made it to the first Hornet fight and dropped it, pretty intentionally.

I showed Lottie Hollow Knight, and she liked it enough. I tried the Hornet fight a couple of times, then ran around the world exploring.

It really wasn’t clicking with me.

Until I had a rough day.

Lottie and Zelphia had left the house to go visit my in-laws, and I stayed behind to lie down and get the Hernia under control. I laid on the couch to play some Persona 3 Reload, but Hollow Knight was already open. Without thinking, I just started trying to beat Hornet. I ended up streaming to fight for a friend, and if you watch the VOD you can watch the game click for me.

In my current gaming era, turn-based games are golden. I don’t have the time to play action games because I never know when a baby is going to run into the room and demand she play with the controler. And let’s be honest, if I’m in a room with my daughter, I’d much rather be spending my time with her.

I’ve played many turn-based games since Lottie was born:

It seems like I always have at least 1 turn-based game going at a time, but right now I’m jamming to Persona 3: Reload and Dragon Quest V. Two very good games, but man, focusing on these two games alone for a couple of months is tough.

That’s why when I showed Hollow Knight to Lottie, It felt like a warm hug. Wow, a character I could explore a world with! So novel!

No, it absolutely does not matter that I am now playing Persona 3: Reload, Dragon Quest V, and Hollow Knight, and it really doesn’t matter that I’m not playing the games I want to be playing for spooky season - Control and Alan Wake II.

It’s fun and helpful for me to plan ahead and schedule what games I’m going to be playing when, but things happen. Hollow Knight has been a great time, and honestly, it’s been helpful for getting my mind off the constant pain I’m in, and I think that’s great.

You may have noticed that the video I posted above is from an Espresso Tonic YouTube channel.

Yes, I now have a YouTube channel and I plan to post long-form videos on it! I plan on adapting my writing here into videos. Hopefully, this can be a fun learning endeavor at least!

You might be thinking, Josh, how the heck do you have time to do this?

I don’t.

In fact, I originally meant to post my first video on the 8th of September, but due to the two hernias I’m experiencing, that did not happen. The first script is finished, I just need to get my surgery, get a hair cut, and shoot the darn thing.

Here’s a teaser of the first video I plan on posting: