Hello LTGers, wherever you may be!
First…it has, to put it in understated terms, been quite a minute since I’ve written something here. The reason being life over the past few years has been a maelstrom of stratospheric highs and crushing lows, including a difficult stretch where I honestly almost gave up on writing altogether.
Luckily, not only did I not give up…I reached my potential as a writer in ways I only previously dreamed of. After moving into a new condo in Citrus Heights in September 2022, I turned my life around from a prolonged nadir and dug deep to revive my writing career. To begin, I cleaned up the novel I co-authored, Ellwood’s Odyssey, and had it republished with pride in early 2023. Second, I revived my 1985 World Series book, Interstate ‘85 – my lifetime dream project – and got a new publisher for it. Lastly, I finally got a new full-time writing job with the immigration law firm Ellis Porter.
Now, it’s time to get back to Last Token Gaming. With the final manuscript for Interstate ‘85 submitted to University of Missouri Press on September 1, I officially commenced a minimum two-year sabbatical from writing books. This allows more time and energy to focus on other dreams and endeavors in life, including personal and freelance writing, as opposed to the intricate undertaking of book authoring. That means a renewed dedication to this site, which is now officially more than 11 (!!!) years old.
To get the gears turning again, I’m reviving one of Last Token Gaming’s old regular features, “What We’re Playing This Week.” If you’re one of our longtime readers, you’ll remember this series, when the LTG staff would briefly recap whatever games had their attention at a given moment. It’s a fun way to not only capture specific moments in one’s gaming life, but also to engage with our readers to see what was rocking their world as well!
This edition will be just me, but I have plenty of games I’ve been up to my eyeballs in as of late. Hopefully you will be too, especially the first one, after reading.
Disco Elysium
If you’re at all immersed in the gaming world, it’s highly likely that if you haven’t played Disco Elysium yet, you’ve had at least one friend lecture you breathlessly about it. And they are right to lecture you: this is a title that demands an immediate exchange of your legal tender for the privilege of experiencing it. Hell, I bought it on sale via the Epic Games store last year, and I feel guilty for not paying full price.
It is rare to play a game that is more than just a recipient of superlatives like “great game,” “game of the year,” or even “one of the greatest games ever.” How about a title that furthers the very medium as an art form? Disco Elysium feels less like a video game and more like a living, breathing novel come to life. It is an edifying mosaic, one whose every component thrives with dazzling wit and painstaking artistry. Every line of dialogue, from the main character to the most tertiary NPC, is a perfectly sculpted slice of prose. The artwork is naturalistic and awash with lived-in detail, making Revachol feel far from fictional. The characters come alive with authenticity, each one a distinct figure that makes the story engrossing and the whole world feel real.
It’s all tied together with a core gameplay loop so ingenious, you wonder why someone hadn’t thought of it earlier. The player assumes the role of an alcoholic, amnesiac cop in the fictional city of Revachol, who awakens from a drunken stupor to find himself tasked with a murder case. Except…said murder is secondary to the more pressing matter of discovering who the hell you even are. As you interact with others, your responses are dictated by a choir of inner thoughts and intellectual skills that, as you upgrade them, determine your true personality.
This is a title that will surely get a Hall of Fame Review at LTG one day, which is a more appropriate space to properly do it justice. But even 1,000 pages of effusive praise wouldn’t supplant the joy of experiencing Disco Elysium in all of its neurodivergent, cerebral glory. Play it now.
Killer7
Yet, that is a simplistic way of describing Killer7. It is a rare title whose entire concept, gameplay style, and story avail themselves in ways that feel wholly alien. In a good way, I should add…there has never been, nor will there ever be, an experience quite like this one. Especially in an age of neckbeard toxicity, the emergence of AI, and major companies ignoring many of their biggest IPs, it’s unlikely we’ll see this kind of auteur genius anywhere outside of the indie realm.
The game’s jarring, phantasmagorical milieu stayed with me for years, ultimately leading me to pick up a copy for PS2 in 2015. I fell in love with it, but got stuck on a particularly tricky boss, and just fell off it. However, I finally got it again for PC recently, and am blazing through it with renewed determination. I hope to have it beaten by the end of the year.
Especially with its 20th anniversary around the corner next year, this is a game that’s definitely ripe for a Hall of Fame Review here. That is, if I can find the words to really capture it, a task I’m not sure is (or even should be) possible. It’s a trippy mindfuck of a gaming experience, one that will enrapture your senses unlike any other.
Red Dead Redemption
Another older classic I fell off of a while ago and have now finally beat. I picked up RDR (Game of the Year edition, complete with the Undead Nightmare DLC) for Xbox 360 back in 2014. I steadily played it over the years before really sinking time into it in 2018 and 2019 while I was living in my first apartment in Citrus Heights. However, at some point, my save files for the main game disappeared. My assumption is it was the fault of the game copy rather than the console itself.
Regardless, it wasn’t until July of this year that I got back on the saddle. I bought the game anew on Nintendo Switch with gift card credits, and subsequently blazed through it at lightning speed. After finally beating the main game, I jumped back into the rollicking fun of the Undead Nightmare DLC that finds John Marston surviving a zombie-infested New Austin.
I won’t bother to regale the characters and plot of the main game, as I assume they are intimately familiar to most. That said, if you still haven’t played Red Dead Redemption, now will be a better time than ever to get caught up. After years of demand, the game is *finally* heading to PC (albeit at a high price). Saddle up!
Sea of Thieves
I was originally going to include Rocket League here, but, after much success in unranked matches and four victories in ranked ones, I ran into a brutal losing streak that sapped my enjoyment. Thus, I am swapping it out for the foreseeable future in favor of Sea of Thieves, which my great friend Michael Ros gifted to me on Steam (after it had languished in my wishlist for eons).
Especially with my Return of the Obra Dinn infatuation of recent years (to the point where it both saved Interstate ‘85 *and* made me go viral on Twitter), I am all the more receptive to any game that takes me on an adventure across the ocean. Originally launched in 2018, Sea of Thieves hits that sweet spot with swaggering aplomb. Whether solo, or as part of a crew of up to four people, this game allows you to live out all of your pirate fantasies, from treasure hunting to puking yourself blind from drinking too much ale.
There probably isn’t much need for me to elaborate further, as the game is familiar at this point and well into its 14th season. But if you’re still missing out somehow, be sure to change that immediately, preferably with friends. It’s a blast.