Mother Gamer Plays The Uncharted Series

I don't know why I had never played the Uncharted series. I think there are just so many great games to play out there that sometimes it's hard to pick up and play them all. I was able to get the Uncharted Collection for free with my Playstation Plus monthly free game and picked up Uncharted 4 on sale. I was ready to start my adventure with Nathan Drake beginning with the first Uncharted game, Drake's Fortune. The first game started off pretty well introducing me to Nathan Drake and showing right away his love of adventure, treasure hunting, and solving historical mysteries like what happened to Francis Drake. The menu system was easy to follow and the combat was a lot of fun. I was not a fan of the jetski waterfall level however because the controls for it were terrible and frustrating. I managed to get through it and get back to the adventure and enjoying how it turned out. There is a love interest aspect of course and I found I really liked Elena. She was smart, tough, and wasn't afraid to challenge Nathan. There were some interesting puzzles to work out in the various main story areas and if I got stuck, I could always check Nathan's  journal for hints. The nice thing about the series of games is you can adjust the difficulty. I tend to like to just enjoy the story so I had it set to explorer mode which gives you a hint if you are really stuck. I do like that mechanic in the game. The first game does show its age, but it was a lot of fun.

Nathan and Elena taking a breather from adventure in the first game. 

Next in the collection was Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and I was excited to start the next Nathan Drake adventure. The second game started off pretty exciting with a daring escape from a crashed and burning train. This gives you a nice refresher about the game controls and a run through of the combat. Then the game does a flashback where you get to play as Nathan and find out how he wound up dangling from said burning train.

Nathan climbs for his life from a crashed train. 

The combat in Uncharted is intense, but it's a blast trying out different things against the bad guys. There are some quick time events, but once you get the hang of the timing you can finish the fights with finesse. Of course I am a derp and I died quite a bit usually from mistiming a jump or blowing myself up with a grenade. I was able to laugh at all my misfortunes because some of the ways Nathan died were rather comical. I still remember bouncing off a flag pole and then going splat on the ground. There is an autosave feature so I was able to try again right where I left off.

Having fun fighting bad guys on our adventure. 

Of course there is lots of exploring of tombs, tunnels, and catacombs complete with puzzles. Figuring out where to go and what to do is always an adventure. I did like the story for the second game as we hunted for the main story treasure and clues. This was another fantastic adventure and there is a noticeable improvement in a lot of the graphics and gameplay. I really enjoyed it.

Nathan explores some caves. 

I continued my adventure in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. I found this one to be very interesting because there are flashbacks in the story showing Nathan when he was a kid and how he met Sully and got to be where he is in the present. It also gives some insight into who Sully was before and a little bit of his past. The present story goes hand in hand with both their pasts and the sense of adventure is present in both. There are even more puzzles and battles, making it a thrilling ride. There are also incredible vistas to check out set in the desert this time, but just as beautiful as the jungle settings from the previous two games.

Nathan on his adventure in the desert. 

The treasure that Nathan and Sully are working together to find is cool and adds some great story elements. There are stealth aspects in the combat which add to the fun. Some of the timing for the quick time events take a little getting used to, but they're not terribly challenging. There are driving battles in the game which were also in the first two games and I did have a rough time with those because sometimes the camera angles would go a little crazy and caused a bit of motion sickness. There aren't too many driving battles though so overall I had a good time with the game.

Finally, I was ready to play Uncharted 4: A Thief's End which is the last game in the series. I think this may be my favorite game in the series because of the story and the relationships that Nathan has with various people. He's older, married to Elena, and seems to have settled down from his life of adventure. Circumstances change that however and he's off on one last thrill ride. The story here shows some more of Nathan's past from when he was a kid and introduces his older brother Sam. It gives a lot of insight into why Nathan has issues with trust and why he has that intense curiosity about wanting to know about historical mysteries.

Nathan on one last adventure.

The combat in the game had not really changed all that much and it was still a lot of intense chaos and fun. Finding clues that showed where to go next was also a blast. The puzzles in the game are a bit more intricate and while I got frustrated with a couple of them, it felt pretty good once I figured it out and took the next step on my adventure. My favorite puzzle was the one involving a clock tower. It was original, creative, and I had a blast solving it.

Nathan having the time of his life. 

The big thing in the story was Nathan's relationship with Elena. Elena makes Nathan better because she does challenge him and she is his equal through and through. You get to see first hand the love they have for each other and it adds such a great element to the story. Sully is there too and it's nice to see the father/mentor aspect that he has with Nathan and there's a family love there too. I found it interesting to see how Sam and Nathan's relationship as brothers handled everything they had been through as well. A Thief's End does such a great job showcasing all those relationships in a thoughtful and wonderful way.

Nathan and Elena enjoying the view together. 

There are so many fantastic scenic views in the series. A Thief's End was my favorite because of the incredible story that gave a nice sendoff to Nathan and his family. I had a great time playing the entire series because Nathan himself is a likable character who has flaws, but he's charming and a genuinely good person at heart. The people who support him like Elena and Sully are what help him to be that better person and I loved them too. I'm glad I took the time to play through the Uncharted series because I had such an amazing time enjoying where the adventures took me.

Taking the time to marvel at that great view. 

*The Uncharted Collection and Uncharted 4 are available to play on Playstation 4

*Join our community on Twitch as we talk about mental health and play games: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Mother Gamer Plays Forager

I was genuinely curious about Forager because it looked like a very cute game. I am always on the lookout for games that I want to play and that I think would be fun to play on my Twitch streams. Forager hit all those bells and whistles. A member of our community graciously gifted me the game (thank you JFTigers!) and I couldn't wait to try it out. Forager uses a mechanic that combines idle games with exploration and adventure. Right from the start I was hooked at the cute world of Forager, but I really got drawn in by all the crafting, exploring, and adventuring you can do. Automation and crafting is the name of the game in the world of Forager. You can build tools for crafting like a loom or a forge for smelting iron bars while you run around foraging and harvesting materials for crafting.

You have a certain amount of energy and hearts which represent your health in the game. The various tasks that you do take up that energy so you have to constantly forage for food. You can also level up cooking by making meals in your forge or in a cooking pot. Cooked meals restore more energy and health. This comes in handy when there are monsters to fight all over the different areas. You can craft weapons on an anvil to fight the monsters and the monsters drop materials for crafting.

Exploring, adventuring, and crafting ahead!

One of the things in Forager is being able to make money. This doesn't have to be a hassle at all. This is also how you level up your character and skills. When you level up, you get points that you can use in the skill tree to unlock abilities and different crafting paths. In the user menu, you will find several different paths you can unlock for your game that help with the crafting, adventuring, and foraging. The first thing you should unlock is the finance path because this makes coins worth more, allows for trade, and lets you build banks which will gradually accrue money for you slowly. You just run up and click on the banks and get your coins. Having two of each crafting machine and building is a good idea so you have plenty of materials and money to go around. 

The skills menu in Forager. Starting with the finance path first is a good idea.

One major aspect of Forager is buying land. There are several different land types in the game ranging from desert to snowy horizons. Each island has unique plants, animals, and ores that you can gather for your crafting needs. There are various NPCs on the different islands as well that offer quests you can do for rewards such as money and more crafting items. There are dungeons on some of these islands too which you can explore. Unlocking the islands does cost money and the price increases as you unlock each one, but it's worth it because you get a wider variety of crafting and building materials. 

Buy land and expand your foraging empire. 

Speaking of dungeons, each dungeon has its own unique theme with monsters to fight and puzzles to solve. It has a very Legend Of Zelda vibe with the combat style and boss battles that works quite well with the world of Forager. When you successfully finish a dungeon you are rewarded with special weapons such as a lightning sword. These come in handy when fighting monsters on the map and it's a lot of fun to see what each magical weapon can do. You can also farm in Forager if you wish, growing crops and raising animals like chickens. The nice thing is you don't have to focus on one thing at a time. The game encourages you constantly being on the move foraging, crafting, building, and seeing what adventure awaits you. 

Exploring a dungeon. Adventure!

Another fun thing you can do in Forager is customize your character. You can swap in different masks and costumes. Two of my personal favorites were the Cthulhu head and the Hollow Knight costume. As you progress in the game and open up different islands, this also unlocks more costumes and masks for you to swap in and out as you wish. You can also customize your backpack depending on which style you have unlocked. 

Choosing the Hollow Knight costume. 

Speaking of the backpack, you will need this for the items you forage and craft. All that gathering does add up and you will find yourself running out of space very quickly. The good news is that you can upgrade your backpack on your loom as long as you have the appropriate materials. This gives you more inventory slots. It's fairly easy to organize the items in your backpack. You can also build vaults which will automatically store items if your backpack is full. The only drawback is the vaults only have six slots, so building multiple vaults as needed is a good idea. 

Storing all the things in the backpack. 

There is a fun nod to Stardew in Forager with the museum on one of the islands. You can gather items for bundles and donate them to the museum. For example, you can gather ore and gems and donate them to the museum to complete the mining bundle. There are some items you won't be able to find until you buy more land or explore specific dungeons, but there's no rush. You can take your time doing all the things and there is an auto save function which allows you to keep playing and having a good time. 

Donating bundles to the museum. 

Forager is a great game for chilling out. It is a grinding game, but it's not a stressful one. You can play as much or as little as you like. The choice is entirely yours. For me, I spent hours foraging, crafting, and adventuring and I loved every minute of it. The cute designs of the characters and the world of Forager have a wonderful sense of whimsy that makes it a delight to play. It's a nice relaxing game that adds the right mix of grinding, exploration, and adventure. Now, I'm going to explore more islands and get my crafting on. Thanks for reading, see you at the next adventure! 

* Forager is available to play on the following platforms: PC, Playstation 4, and Nintendo Switch

* Join our community as we play games and talk about mental health on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer