Letely... June 20th, 2025

on

Engine Braking Edition


EVERYTHING IS BUSY

THERE EXISTS NO TIME BUT THAT WHICH I CREATE

I YEARN FOR SLEEP

BUT SOMETIMES I YEARN FOR VIDEO GAMES SLIGHTLY MORE

the actual intro: behind the scenes

Bubsy: a poetic bookend

I'll let you in on a little secret: the Bubsy review in May was intended to be the last major evergreen piece for Better Lete Than Never before the summer work bonanza would eat up my free time. The timing was perfect... it would be poetic: a story of Bubsy and all his baggage, a long-lost playground legend, and visiting the SNES game with tentative hope and some kept promises.

It would be everything this blog would stand for, distilled into a fun romp with one of gaming's most infamous platforming mascots.

The resulting piece was everything I could have hoped for.

I'm proud of the Bubsy article, and I hope that I always will be. Work might have to take the center stage for the next few months, but I could rest easy knowing that I've capped off the blog on a high note.

At least, that was the original intent.

Questiversary: surprise june bloom

But when I learned of June's Questiversary celebrations, I knew I had to be a part of it.

I did the quick mental math: if I hurried--if I was wise with my time--I could maybe fit in just one more evergreen piece. I wouldn't have the time to play through Quest 64, but I could possibly fit in some time with one of its Game Boy Color spinoffs: Quest: Fantasy Challenge.

Some quick messages exchanged with Quest 64 Official later and I was on my way with a set of collab interview questions and some increased accountability. I'd made a commitment. I couldn't just flake on writing the piece. It'd have to get done.

And over three thousand words and multiple drafts later, it was indeed done.

My special Questiversary 2025 piece on Quest: Fantasy Challenge would sliiide in as the truly final Better Lete Than Never evergreen piece before the busy work season swallowed me whole.

And once again, I was happy with the results.

the aftermath

I'll be honest, I am wiped. In a good way, though. The Bubsy and Quest: Fantasy Challenge articles are some of the most expansive evergreen pieces in the BLTN blog's lifetime, right up there with some of my early work about DOOM.

Two major objectives of this blog were to compel me to write a lot and to enjoy doing so. Both purposes were very much fulfilled here. I have no regrets but I may have overextended myself a little bit.

The blog ebbs and flows and I think right now, I'll need to quiet down for the moment. I need to continue to be productive at my actual day job and then relax to recharge my energy, which comes at a premium now more than ever.

Let's talk about what I am doing in that "recharge" time, then!

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma

This game came out two weeks ago. At the time of writing, I have 37 hours played. I have given up sleep for this game. It's that good.

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma (mercifully abbreviated to RFGoA by fans and official channels alike) is my return to the Rune Factory series after a decade-long hiatus. I am a huge fan of the first three games in the series on the DS, especially Rune Factory 2. The last RF game I played was Tides of Destiny / Oceans on the PS3 back in 2012-ish. I'll stop myself before I do an entire review, but I am enjoying myself immensely with Guardians of Azuma. It checks all the boxes, hits all the right notes, and is a classic case of "the right game at the right time" for me. RFGoA is my go-to for relaxing after long days that, lately, feel like they're just getting longer.

DJMAX RESPECT V

Rhythm games are part of my "perpetuity portfolio" of video games that I can boot up any time, anywhere, and have a good time. I've been a little out of the loop with DJMAX RESPECT V in recent months, during which multiple mainline and collab DLCs have since been released. Tekken, Blue Archive, Falcom, the entire LIBERTY series that seems to be the successor to the V EXTENSION mainline DLCs... it's a lot of new songs, new charts, and plenty of QoL improvements and polishes to the game itself.

Gosh, I remember when V EXTENSION V was brand-new. That was late 2023. How time flies.

Coffee break games: Slay the Spire and Battleship

Slay the Spire continues to give me life in ways that seem diametrically opposed to how hard of a time I have with Balatro (which I still do boot up occasionally, maybe as a form of rebellion). I'm still stubbornly sticking to unmodded Spire for the moment until I deeply learn all 4 of the vanilla characters, but I'm very excited to dive into the expansive world of mods when the time feels right.

Hasbro's Battleship is a dark horse contender as I was never a fan of the physical board game. But in convenient computerized form, it's somehow easier for me to ingest and return to for a quick match or two. The version currently on Steam is convenient and streamlined, and the more video-game-y "Commanders" mode with special maps, ship shapes, and weapon abilities, is well-implemented. It does what it sets out to do--add longevity to an established classic board game--capably. And for that I have to commend it.

Mushihimesama

I want to beat the true last boss but I'm not powerful enough. Lend me your energy.

what's next?

I'm keeping myself relatively open for the foreseeable future. Wherever the wind blows me, I'll go. There are a few projects on the backburner that I want to return to, like all of my DOOM-related stuff, and there's no shortage of games that I would love to do in-depth write-ups on. It'll be dependent on having the right energy and right headspace to do the kind of job I'll be happy with.

To get results I'll be proud of, like the Bubsy and Questiversary pieces.

But for now, I've got to get back to work. I have some excellent games, new and old, to keep me company when I need a little break, and I hope that you do as well.

Have an enjoyable weekend.

-Lete