Made it.. just about..
Replaying and reviewing an old favorite game each month in 2018 proved a fairly decent challenge, with more than a few getting published at the last possible minute – often with less play-time clocked than ideal.
I’m not going to lie, it was a bit stressful and not always that enjoyable, so I’ve decided not to do it again for 2019, even though I at one point drew up another short-list of 15 games I want to revisit.
They’ll all be reviewed in due course but without any end-of-the month deadlines to stress me out.
I already knew after the mid-way point that it was going to be tough to keep a challenge like this going – I’m sure anyone who’s ever ran a blog, or YouTube channel will admit it’s hard to be consistent with content all year round, particularly when you’ve committed to saying you will at the start of the year.
But I was pretty determined not to let it slip, and I’m pleased that I didn’t.
The second half of my Replay Challenge gave me the chance to write about a couple of games on my all-time list of favourites – Child of Eden and Gears of War – both of which I’ve already clocked countless playthroughs of, and was always going to be handing out my top score to.
I also got to play Super Mario Galaxy again – I haven’t quite decided where the game fits into my top 10 or even if it does; it was an immediate classic when I first played it in 2008, and I loved it again 10 years later, but maybe not quite the same way.
Then there’s Jet Set Radio Future, the sequel to my top favourite game of all time, which made some slight adjustments to the formula which proved divisive among fans, but which I love almost as much as the original.
Anyway, read the reviews for more, this is just a quick blog to draw a line under my 2018 Replay Challenge!
Overall it’s been a useful and worthwhile experience, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m glad to have it off my plate this month – I was starting to get flashbacks to handing in school coursework at the last second.
It’ll be nice to replay and write reviews for games like Ryse, Ninja Blade, Shenmue and others with a bit more of a leisurely approach this year, as well as hopefully plenty of 2019’s fresh titles, so do stay tuned for all of that in the months ahead.
Zeexlash 