Posted in Adult, Games, Staff Picks, Teen & Young Adult

5 Nostalgic Switch Games Your Inner Child Will Love

When I was a kid, I played a tooooon of video games. So many I usually became nocturnal during summer breaks. My dad, who usually woke up early for work at 4 am, would often find me in my room, playing my last couple hours of whatever game I had before I went to sleep for the day. I don’t know that I’d go back to having such a weird sleep schedule — it was awful every year reversing it when school was back — but I do miss having all that time to play some of my favorites.

And while I don’t have as much time to play some of the classics, there are luckily a lot of remakes, remasters, and sequels of some of my favorite games on the Nintendo Switch. So, even now I can pick up a game and feel the nostalgia as I relive bits and pieces of my childhood. Here are some of my latest favorites for you to enjoy — either for the first or second time.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

A classic on the Game Boy, Link’s Awakening for the Switch has been given a major facelift while still keeping the gameplay and story it was originally known for. I had a blast revisiting this game and the cutesy art style only adds to the experience. The puzzles in this game are as hard as I remember them as a kid, so they may take some getting used to, especially if you haven’t played any of the original Zelda series. But if you stick with it, you’ll definitely think it’s worth the effort.

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Posted in Adult, Fantasy, Games, Kids 5-12, Science Fiction, Teen & Young Adult

What’s New in Gaming for 2024?

It’s been a few months since I have written a blog post about games, and with Mead Comic Con happening on May 4th, I thought we were overdue for a geeky post. We’re getting new games throughout the year, but here’s what Mead has gotten so far for 2024! You’ll find the description of each game, from our catalog, to give you an idea of what each game is like.

Princess Peach: Showtime!

“Peach takes the stage to save the day! Use Stella’s power to transform into… Swordfighter Peach, Patissiere Peach, Kung Fu Peach… and more!”

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Posted in Fantasy, Games, Science Fiction

While You Wait to Play: Baldur’s Gate 3

At this point, it goes without saying that Baldur’s Gate 3 is a game-of-the-year contender. It’s been torture waiting for it to get released on console. I’m still waiting to hear when Baldur’s Gate 3 is getting released for the Series X. Or maybe you’re waiting for the price to come down for the PS5 version of the game. Either case, you don’t have to go without something to play. This week we’ve got a few games to tide you over until Baldur’s Gate 3 is ready for your console of choice!

Disco Elysium (Xbox/PS4/Switch)

Disco Elysium‘s story doesn’t start as fantastically as having a mind-flayer tadpole in your brain as you journey across the Forgotten Realms. You wake up with amnesia and a murder to solve right outside your hostel. With a premise like that, Disco Elysium definitely leans into the role-playing in RPG. There’s no combat in this game per se. Instead, the game focuses on investigating for clues by interacting with the characters that make up the city of Revachol, and figuring out who you were before your amnesia. Disco Elysium is definitely a good pick if you want to get lost in a well-built world.

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Posted in Fantasy, Games, Horror, Science Fiction

Bonus Level!

With the ongoing pandemic, game releases have been a bit sparse. Despite that, there are still some games coming out this year worth getting excited for! I’ve selected a few of the games Mead will be getting and included their descriptions from their publishers.

New Pokémon Snap

Explore lush scenery on unknown islands to snap photos of Pokémon in their natural habitats

Seek out and take in-game photographs of Pokémon in their native environments in the New Pokémon Snap game, only for the Nintendo Switch system! Snap photos from the NEO-ONE as you encounter and research lively wild Pokémon. You might see unexpected expressions or behaviors—Pokémon patrolling their territory, playing, or lurking in out-of-the-way spots.

Investigate the mysterious Illumina phenomenon

Travel to the islands that make up the Lental region. In this region, some of the Pokémon and vegetation will appear to have a special glow. Research these Pokémon alongside Professor Mirror as you explore dense jungles, vast deserts, and more! Your observations of Pokémon thriving in the wild may help unravel the truth behind the Illumina phenomenon. The Pokémon pictures you take will be used to build your very own Pokémon Photodex!

Save, edit, and share your favorite Pokémon photos

Save photos to your personal in-game album to edit and adjust them. When you complete a course, you can adjust the brightness, blur, zoom and other aspects of your photo in Re-Snap mode. Then, add stickers, frames, and filters to add a personal touch. Share your favorite photos with family and friends in-game*. You can also see what kinds of photos everyone else is taking. See something you like? Award a Sweet! medal.

*Nintendo Switch Online membership (sold separately) and Nintendo Account required for online features. Not available in all countries. Internet access required for online features. Terms apply.”

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Posted in Film, Games, Horror, Science Fiction

Spooky Scary

It’s finally October! Start carving your pumpkins. Pick up a bag of your favorite candy. And put something scary on the TV because there’s not much else to do with the pandemic still going on. Like last year, I’ve written up a list of a few of my favorite horror movies.

Crowley

Crowley is not a good movie. It’s one of those movies that’s so bad it’s good. The premise itself is fairly outrageous, a guy using virtual reality gets possessed by the ghost of Aleister Crowley via the internet. The actors chew up the scenery. Crowley’s antics lean more towards raunchy than evil. The music is the one genuinely good part since it’s handled by Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden.

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Posted in Fantasy, Games, Horror

Roll for Adventure

Dungeons and Dragons is a fun game, whether as a player or a dungeon master. Being the dungeon master can be difficult, though. It’s part memorizing rules, acting, writing, and people wrangling. Writing an adventure or an entire campaign setting can sometimes be the most difficult part of being a dungeon master. That’s why this week’s blog post is all pre-written adventures, it won’t help with rule memorization or the voice acting, but I can’t do everything for you.

Curse of Strahd

Ravenloft has been a part of Dungeons and Dragons since the very first edition. Curse of Strahd is the fifth edition’s return to the lands that the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich rules over with an iron fist. This adventure has more of a gothic horror taste than the usual D&D adventure. The part that got this one on my radar was that it has rules for using a Tarokka deck, a pseudo-tarot deck, to influence where monsters and artifacts will show up in the adventure. I can’t promise that your party will survive Strahd once they enter Castle Ravenloft, though.

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Posted in Adult, Games, New & Upcoming, Science Fiction, Teen & Young Adult

A New Foe Has Appeared!

Most years, we’d be approaching E3 season. That may be canceled, but there are a few games that I’m looking forward to that have already been announced. I’m sure as announcements trickle in that there will be more games that I’ll look forward to, but we’ll start with these.

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Maneater (PS4/Xbox One)

As much as I love a good story, I’m a sucker for an open-world RPG. This one has piqued my interest because it’s not the usual shooter or fantasy RPG. It’s tough to say from the gameplay they’ve shown how much variety there will be for what you can do. So far, it’s eating things and swimming through beautiful aquatic scenery. I suspect that’s why the game is cheaper than most games upon release, but I still want to try it.

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Posted in Adult, eBooks & eAudio, Fantasy, Games, Graphic Novels & Memoirs, Horror

Insert Coin to Continue

The last few weeks have been good for gaming, but even I can get burned out after a few days. Sometimes, you get caught up in the story or world you were playing in, though. This week I found a few books that are set in some favorite videogame worlds.

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The Infernal City (Libby/Monarch)

This novel is set after the Oblivion Crisis. Though I feel like to fully enjoy it, you need to have played The Elder Scrolls III, or at least The Elder Scrolls Online. The novel visits places in Morrowind like Vivec City and mentions the fall of the Ministry of Truth. That may not be as much of an issue for other people as it would be for me, though.

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Posted in Fantasy, Games, Horror, Science Fiction, Top 5

Looking Back at the 2010s

An era has come to an end. Goodbye, 2010s. Hello, 2020. I figured for this month’s blog post that I’d look back and share some of my favorite games of the decade.

Minecraft (PS4/Xbox One)

As a freshman in college, I had been reading about this new game that people were amazed by. You could build anything you could imagine they said! There was just one catch. Everything was made of cubes. I decided I would look into this Minecraft. It was the first game I ever bought that was in an incomplete state. When I bought it, there was only the one mode that would later be called Creative Mode. I didn’t play it too much in that state. Eventually, I would play the new Hardcore Mode, usually dying from falling into lava, and then for a bit on private servers.

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Posted in Adult, Games, Horror, New & Upcoming, Science Fiction, Teen & Young Adult, Top 5

Leaves are Changing, Games are Falling

At Mead Library, we’re constantly adding to the videogame collection. A few games are coming out this fall that I’m looking forward to. There are links for both PS4 and Xbox One versions next to the game titles, except Nintendo Switch games or exclusives.

The Outer Worlds (PS4/Xbox)

ESRB Rating: Mature

I’m a huge fan of the Fallout series. My favorite is Fallout: New Vegas so I was excited when I heard that Obsidian is developing another RPG in that vein. The retro-futuristic art style and dark sense of humor have me hopeful that this will be the spiritual successor to New Vegas that I’ve been waiting for.

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