A substantial update (for once)
This game is as awesome as it is insane.
It’s been a doozy of a week. I don’t want to get into specifics, as I had mentioned in previous posts. Not now, anyway. I am still working through it and I don’t want to re-traumatize myself by recalling what happened. Just know that I am getting through it — as I always do.
I finished the game, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, and I loved it. It’s a genre-bending game that mixes strategy/tactics mech combat with a point-and-click adventure that tells a sci-fi story that is bonkers in both its Westworld-like structure and its heavy use of anime tropes.
Yet, all those components are so well done that you are able to accept 13 Sentinels on its own terms. The confidence that this game exudes is something that I want to emulate when I tell my own stories.
If anything, check the game out if you’re a sucker for the art style. Try not to get hung up on the partial nudity. I was not. But I am also not a perv, so there’s that.
What else… I ordered two more accessories for my Fujifilm X-S10.
The mirror lens is a chonky boi. The T-mount adapter is that little bit of metal between chonky and the camera body.
One is a T-mount adapter so I can use this 500mm mirror lens that is collecting dust on my shelf. I’ve owned that thing for almost 10 years, having originally bought it for my Canon 70D. But it was difficult to use without a tripod due to its long focal length. There was too much camera shake to get useful pictures of birds from my usual shooting position: butt-in-chair. The in-body stabilization of the X-S10 will ease that problem. So, the mirror lens gets some more love. Hooray!
The images from the mirror lens are always going to be soft. But I think you can come away with some nice photos with sufficient post-processing.
The second accessory is a proper lens: the Fujinon 55-200mm. This a telephoto zoom lens that I intend to take on many hikes. It’s not going to have as much reach as the 70-300mm Fuji lens. That lens is almost impossible to find new, and scalpers have jacked up the price of used copies. I tried to secure a copy but my impatience got the better of me, so I settled for the lens with less reach. But the optics are good, so maybe I can compensate the lack of reach with some creative cropping?
Anyway, I should have that lens by the end of next week.
Speaking of the future… I am looking for another video game to play now that I am done with 13 Sentinels. I could keep the anime going and finish Xenoblade Chronicles (the newer, Nintendo Switch version). I believe the third game is coming out this year.
I can also finish Shin Megami Tensei V. I really lost interest in that game, but I think I can wring some last bits of enjoyment out of it. I am close to the end. The issue is that the game is so boring. But I’ve also invested 80+ hours into it, so I feel compelled to see it through. I’ll probably do it. Finishing games is good for my mental health.
Or I will end up buying Triangle Strategy for the Nintendo Switch and play that instead. This is why my backlog never shrinks.
