Kaser Focus: Preparing for Ragnarök

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Well, look at this. Less than a week after chastising the entire room for being rude to the developers of God of War Ragnarök because they wanted to know the release date - we know the release date. There is an obvious conclusion here: let me yell at you, and positive changes happen. Of course, we also had a delay on Forspoken, which won't be released again in October. No, instead it went from being released precisely between The Last of Us Part 1 and God of War to the relatively empty playground of January 2023. Huh.

We also saw the resurrection of E3 this week, of sorts. The ESA has announced that it is partnering with ReedPop, the folks at PAX, to make the event happen. I appreciate the subtle nuance that ESA CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis threw on those other summer gaming shows when he said, "The last three years have confirmed that the E3 convenes our industry like no other event." I'm not saying I agree, but I see a lot of "Aw heck, I really miss E3" feelings springing up. I don't have a dog in the hunt - I've never attended an E3 event in person.

Speaking of resurrections, we finally got our first look at Skull & Bones. I was beginning to think it was a myth. But no, Ubisoft has revealed what's been working for nearly a decade - it's a pirate MMO, as we thought. Well, maybe that's not quite right. I'll give it a try for sure, because I loved the naval combat in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag. If it plays like it looks, it'll probably just be a prettier version than that. Can't say I'm going to play it much, but I'm going to play it at least once.

As for personal news, I did one thing that I know I will regret: I opened a new farm in Stardew Valley. I hadn't come back to it since the last major update. Something about this game is great when it's too hot and you just want to stay inside and play something soft. Some games are a glass of lemonade, others are a cup of hot tea - Stardew is kind of both. I'm also going to take some time to try out a game that came out a while ago, but which I hadn't had a chance to play: AI: The Somnium Files — Nirvana Initiative. It's a dark sci-fi detective adventure, which ticks my boxes and more.

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