Back to Where I was Going, and this time, it will be Done...

It's an observatory, but not one operated solely by the microcomputer on the right. Also, Universes... —Captured on Switch (Handheld Mode)  

After months of putting it off and then deciding to deviate to a book review, I find myself back here again. A part of it is me finding solace in both games last weekend in a strange moment of serendipity casting aside my initial weekend plan of watching MsMadLemon review a Linux laptop, which I ended up watching on Monday instead, alongside someone else's playthrough of Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age. 

There's also the excuse that my physical copy of the game came in the post right before I headed up to Boston for my sister's commencement ceremony, but I'm not counting that coincidence for reasons that I feel go without saying. 

But I think it was when someone recently asked me about what makes me a perfectionist—or something along those lines—that I actually pulled back and took a look at what I was trying to do. 

I don't think I've ever wrote about my review-writing process at length, but here's what I do regarding video games:

1.  I transfer the screenshots from the Switch to my iPhone and ultimately AirDrop them on my computer.
2. I create a Scrivener file using the lecture template, drop my screenshots into the "Research", and summarize the review in the main body's sidebar.
3. Usually, because I'm not the best at intros, I'll jump straight into talking about the game—what it's about, what makes certain aspects compelling like the gameplay and story, and what's lacking (or what it could do better).
4. Then I work on the intro where I, currently, use my nostalgic ramblings or weave the game's themes into the review proper. That and the conclusion. 
5. Somewhere between Steps 2 and 3, I'll rename the files where I save the screenshots—said captions are more or less would be brief Alt-text describing the action onscreen with the occasional joke*. Here, I decide which ones will be featured on the blog.
6. Review gets pasted into Blogger, screenshots follow, and then there's the final read through with minor edits.
7. Hit Publish.        

Book reviews were, of course, a little bit different and usually much easier to write out since I did this sort of thing in undergrad academe for both classes and the student newspaper. In short, these reviews made up my comfort zone. 

The Little Book of Sound Chips: Volume 2 review occupied that strange space between the two since the book's major strength was in providing a way for readers to experience the music (almost) firsthand. I already started doing a similar writing process for this review and, after being asked about said perfectionism, I decided to tear what I was working on and wrote it anew...

...it might not be something that could be easily published elsewhere, mostly for word-count reasons (I think), but I thought it turned out pretty well.

With what I wanted to to for the Axiom Verge 1 & 2 was way too ambitious and probably the other reason why I put it off for so long. You would have had, technically, two reviews at around 1250-1750 words total with another post similar to the one I did for magazines after writing for Nintendo Force. 

In short: I would have been overwhelmed for no real reason and, considering that most (if not all) of my game reviews start with mini-nostalgia trips, there is a better way of writing this particular review.

So nothing's really changed since I wrote how I'd write the review out long ago, but the retrospective bit's getting condensed. I'm going to aim for the end of April into May to get the review out. The most challenging part is still the same though, so my action shots won't be super immaculate.  

I thank this person for prompting me to stand back, think things over I think, and to write a fresh** review. It's slightly difficult to convey in writing, but there are times in which I get ambitious about something only to put it off because of said drive to make something more. It's definitely something I should keep in mind moving forward...    

Have good weekend, everyone!

*An example of this would be with the opening screenshot for the Shin Megami Tensei V review where the Scrivener caption read, "Nahobino Slays a Demon Having a Poo".

**At this point, considering the second game came out in 2021, "fresh" is a bit of a stretch here. Although, when I got my physical copy, I wasn't aware that the latest update came with a "randomizer" mode. Either way, they're both worth writing about. (Spoiler: I enjoyed both games!)