Smashbomb Launches New Feature, Famous Favorites

 As many of you know I love Smashbomb because it is a great site that helps you discover new books, games, movies, board games, podcasts, and more through recommendations from friends and influencers on the site. It's free to use and you can review and recommend things yourself as well. The community is really friendly and I have discovered so many great books and games because of recommendations from the Smashbomb community. 

Smashbomb is pretty great. 

Now, Smashbomb has rolled out a fantastic new update on the site called Famous Favorites. Have you ever wondered what your favorite author's favorite book is or have you thought to yourself, I wonder what my favorite musician's favorite album is? Well, now you can find out on the Famous Favorites page on Smashbomb. You can see the favorites of many authors, musicians, actors, and more. You can also reward them with kudos points on their public profile page as well as leave comments on their recommendations. You can follow them too. They're a great addition to the Smashbomb community with over 200 public figures on Smashbomb already sharing their personal favorites. If you want to see it for yourself you can join Smashbomb and check it out here: https://smashbomb.com/favorite/famous-favorites

Smashbomb continues to add really cool updates like this one and always makes sure everything is running smoothly. Famous Favorites is great and for me personally, it's been interesting to see what are the favorites of my favorite public figures. Thanks for reading, see you at the next adventure!

*Come join our community on Twitch where we enjoy gaming and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Saying Goodbye To Loki

 I wanted to do this for Loki the way we did for Sport. It's been a few days and I'm reminding myself to just breathe as I write this. July 13, 2009 we adopted a 9 week old mackerel tabby kitten. Our oldest niece brought him over explaining her apartment didn't allow pets. Ron joked that once I saw him, he'd live with us forever. He was right. I saw this little kitten march up to Sport who was curious about him and the tiny kitten let out a little hiss and booped Sport's nose. Sport backed up in surprise, but it made me laugh and I fell in love with that feisty kitten. We figured out that his birthday was May 9, 2009 and as I watched this kitten explore, play, and act like he owned the place right from the start, we decided that Loki was the perfect name for him. 

Loki at 9 weeks old.

Right from the start, it was clear Loki was going to do whatever he wanted to do. Sport was 8 years old when Loki became a part of our family so he was the big brother. At first, they didn't get along. Loki would boop Sport and Sport would chase him. Ron was the one who sat down with them and worked with them to help them get used to each other, explaining that we were pack, we were family. It took a bit of time, but eventually they accepted each other. Once they were okay with each other, they actually started playing together. Sometimes they would wrestle or run around the living room. A few times they both got scolded because they came racing through the kitchen and knocked me over! There were some funny moments where Loki wanted to play and Sport just wanted to relax and chew on his chew toy. Loki would pounce on him, chew on his ears, and would even try nomming the top of his head. Sport would just keep calm and ignore him which would frustrate Loki a lot. He would give up and just sit there watching Sport and after a while, he would just lie down next to him and go along with the chilling out session. 

Loki annoyed with Sport for not playing. -2010

Loki and Sport were always together. If I couldn't find Loki, all I had to do was look for Sport because they would nap together in Sport's bed or on the couch. They also really liked sitting at the window and watching outside. Loki would come outside with Sport sometimes and wander around with him. They weren't just brothers, they were best friends. Naturally, as Sport got older he moved a little slower and took more naps. Loki was happy to sit with his friend and nap with him or just sit with him at the window or outside. I think a part of Loki knew his brother was getting old so he didn't give him such a hard time about not having the energy to play. 

Sport and Loki hanging out together. -2013

When we had to say goodbye to Sport, it was awful and sad. It still hurts even now to write about him, but he lived to be 16 years old which is pretty good for a happy dog. Towards the end, Loki sat with him a lot and the day we came home without Sport I think on some level Loki knew. He stayed close to us and a few times when I cried, Loki hopped into my lap and purred while I petted him. He would follow Ron too and Ron would pick him up and cuddle him with Loki purring loudly. Loki comforted us, but I think he was taking comfort from us too because we all missed Sport. 

Time went on and life moves forward, because that's how the universe works. We still missed Sport, but the pain was a little less and we did our best to live each day good or bad. After some time, Ron and I talked about getting another dog and were firm that we wanted to adopt. We went to the SPCA and looked at the dogs and that's when I noticed a spirited jack russell and I fell in love with him the minute he happily barked at me. I pointed him out to Ron and we took a closer look. We decided we really liked him and went to talk to the people at the front desk. It took a little bit of time and they needed to test the dog with cats. It turned out he was fine with cats, he ignored them. We were able to bring Jake home with us and we were thrilled. Loki was not. He avoided this new dog and stared at him a lot. Then he marched upstairs and sat in front of me with a look that said, first of all how dare you and secondly, I did not approve of this dog! 

Loki was not happy when we brought Jake home. -July 11, 2017

Jake was a year old when we adopted him and he just wanted to play and make friends. Loki did not want any part of it and would walk away from him or bop him on the nose. Jake was never offended by this and would keep going on to play by himself or with us. Then, something happened. Jake was very tired after a walk and lots of playtime and he curled up on the couch and drifted off to sleep. Loki hopped up on the couch a little bit away from him, but he curled up and took a nap too. After that, Loki would sit with Jake sometimes and he liked going outside with him in the backyard walking around. I found it amusing that Loki was now the grumpy old man and Jake was the young upstart testing his patience. If Loki did not want to play he let Jake know with a nose bop. He never had his claws out when he did that as if he knew Jake was just a silly kid. He always seemed happiest sitting with Jake outside or on the couch. Much like Sport, Loki was slowing down and wanted to relax. Jake didn't always get that, but sometimes he did and he would hang out with his big brother.

Loki and Jake sitting together as usual. -February 2020

We noticed the changes in Loki and we made adjustments for him to make sure he was comfortable. He wasn't eating as much of his kibble so we added a bit of grain free wet food for him which he liked. He wasn't drinking as much water, but I noticed he liked it when the water was moving so I would put in some water into the water dish so he could see it moving and see the bubbles which got him to drink some water. Our vet told us this was normal in older cats, he was just slowing down. He was still as feisty as ever. Whenever I was streaming, everyone in our chat could hear Loki meow loudly as he came into the room. Everyone would say, "Hi Loki!" in chat and I would have to give him chin rubs and ear scritches until he was satisfied. Loki didn't care what I was doing. As far as he was concerned, he was the star and ran the house. I would talk about his antics and how sometimes he would decide to sing the song of his people loudly at 3 in the morning which would frustrate Ron who was sleeping at the time. If his breakfast was late by even a minute, he would let you know with his familiar glare that he was displeased. It was his house and he was allowing us to live in it. He was very much a diva. 

Loki was letting me know breakfast was one minute late.

After a time, we noticed Loki was barely eating and drinking. He was having trouble jumping and climbing up the stairs. Shy, our oldest daughter noticed it first and we explained that Loki was old. He was 12 years old so he was not the kitten he once was. We started carrying him up the stairs when he wanted to come up with us and helping him to his food bowl. We made sure he had a low litter box he could just step in so he didn't have to jump. He still loved going outside especially on sunny days. I think he enjoyed the sunshine and the warmth on his old bones. We got a heat pad for him and put it on his bed which he seemed to not like at first, but then when he realized it was warm, he napped there pretty often. He was eating and drinking less and less and sleeping more. I was worried. Ron and I spoke about it and we came to the understanding Loki was winding down. I didn't want to think about that, because this was our sweet boy who had been with us since he was 9 weeks old. Ron hugged me and said he knew because he felt the same way, but that our pets don't live forever. We kept an eye on him and Ron gave him a small bit of honey with his food and Loki ate. He seemed to perk up for a few days after that. He ate his food and drank some water. 

Then on Friday, Loki didn't want to eat and he didn't want to have any water. I tried giving him his favorite treat which he always ate right away and he just picked at it. I picked him up and held him and he curled up against my chest, purring. I started crying and I gently put him in Ron's lounge chair because I knew that was his favorite nap spot. I sat with him and petted him and he curled up on the chair. Jake came over and sat with us while I gently spoke to Loki, telling him that I loved him and that if he wanted to go be with Sport, it was okay. I cried the entire time and Jake cuddled up against me trying to be there for us. I let Ron know what was going on and Ron went to check on him and sat with him. Ron said he seemed to be just resting and he would have Shy keep an eye on him so I could sleep. I was tired, but I didn't want to sleep because I was worried about Loki. Ron gently told me that Loki wasn't alone and he knew we loved him. Somehow, I did sleep. 

It was Shy who woke me up, crying that she thought Loki was gone. I hugged her and told her it was alright and went downstairs with her. Shy said Loki did follow her around for a bit and he picked at his food, but he let her hold him and curled up against her. She put him on Ron's lounge chair and made sure he was comfortable with his favorite blanket so she could make him some fresh food for dinner. Loki was in his favorite nap spot with his favorite blanket and he curled up like he always did to sleep. He was at home with the people who loved him just as much as he loved them. He was safe, he was happy, and he was loved. Shy went to get him for dinner and that's when she found that our sweet boy was gone. We think he went in his sleep which is not a bad way for a loved diva cat to go. Shy and I hugged and cried a lot. I don't know how I was able to call Ron at work and tell him, but I did. I hated that I had to do that because I know Ron loved Loki, but he said to let him know if anything happened. Jake wouldn't leave Loki. He sat by the chair looking very sad and that broke my heart. When Ron got home, we all hugged, cried, and talked about what we wanted to do for Loki. Jake stayed close and gave us lots of cuddles during the entire time. 

Jake and Loki together and Jake offers cuddles to everyone. 

I brought up the fact that Loki always loved sitting under our weeping cherry tree in the backyard. Every time we were outside, Loki could always be found sitting or lounging under that tree. We agreed that Loki getting to rest under his favorite tree would be lovely and that it would be a nice spot for him. I'm so grateful to Ron for doing all the digging and placing Loki to rest under his tree. I know that physically and emotionally drained him, but Ron said he loved that cat and he knew it was important. We said our goodbyes to our sweet boy, knowing that he was now running free with his brother Sport.

Loki gets to rest under his favorite tree.

Through all of this, Animal Crossing New Horizons has been a nice distraction. I've been crying off and on for days about Loki, but Animal Crossing has helped me to turn my brain off a bit. I'm not the best at drawing or designing, but I was able to make Loki's face so in a way he gets to be with me in the game which is comforting for me. 

Loki's face in Animal Crossing. 

Loki was more than just a cat the way Sport was more than just a dog. He was part of our pack, he was family. Even on the days where he would be a mischief making diva, we loved him. Sometimes on my bad anxiety/depression days, Loki would sit with me keeping me company. When Shy moved back home, Loki wasn't sure about her, but he came to love her too. He was convinced everyone in our family was his person and all food belonged to him. He still thought that Jake was silly, but he loved him and decided he wasn't so bad after all as he went outside for walks with him. There are moments where I thought I heard his meow or I forget and close the door to the bathroom because he liked to play in the water. For 12 years, Loki kept us on our toes with his antics and he showed us so much love with all his cuddles, his meows, and he had a big personality. He was a diva, but he was our diva and he will always be our sweet boy. I'm sure he's having fun with his brother Sport and showing everyone why he's the boss cat. Goodbye, Loki. Thank you for 12 years of adventures and love. We love you. 

We love you, Loki. 
May 12, 2009 - July 2, 2021

Concrete Genie, A Whimsical Art Adventure

 I was interested in Concrete Genie because of seeing some of the art style. I got ready to check it out and was ready for a new adventure. Concrete Genie can be played in VR or without VR. I played the game without VR. Setting up the game options and seeing a lot of accessibility options made me happy. I was able to set the painting controls the way I wanted, adjusted the volume to a setting that worked for me, and was able to set the difficulty to the casual setting for me. Then, I was ready to dive into the game. Concrete Genie takes place in the fictional port town of Denska, once a thriving town that is now practically abandoned after an oil spill. The main character, a young teenage boy named Ash spends his time creating art in his sketchbook and finds himself targeted often by a group of kids who are his bullies, Zack, Beatrice, Froggie, Chuck, and Janie. The opening of the game shows the bullies taking Ash's sketchbook and ripping it, scattering the pages all over town. Then they shove Ash onto a cable car that takes him to an abandoned lighthouse on Denska island.

Ash starts his adventure.

Ash explores the island and sees one of his pages go into the lighthouse. He chases after it and when he catches the page, the creature he had drawn on the page and named Luna comes to life and gives Ash a magic paintbrush which brings to life anything he paints. This is a good introduction into how the painting controls work and they're pretty forgiving so you're not too frustrated with painting the pictures. This also introduces the Genies which are friendly magical creatures based on Ash's chalk drawings that he made as a small child. Luna shows Ash that there is a darkness covering Denska and asks for his help to remove the darkness by using the magic paintbrush.

Ash and Luna have a chat. 

The creative gameplay and artwork is where Concrete Genie truly shines. The first area shows that Ash can paint on walls, doors, and up high on rooftops. As he finds more pages, it unlocks a lot of different designs in his sketchbook. Choosing from the designs is simple and among the starting art, there's quite a variety to choose from. I was delighted to paint a starry sky and seeing the stars move and twinkle, paint butterflies and watch them flutter across, or paint a strand of colorful lights and see them sparkle and move. 

Painting a pretty picture with a variety of designs.

The genies are also there to help Ash on his journey. For example, each genie has a different element that can assist Ash with certain puzzles. A red genie has fire, a yellow genie has electricity, and a green genie has wind. Depending on what is needed, Ash can call a genie over and they can use their elemental abilities to help him whether it's burning a tarp so he can climb up on a crate or powering up an electrical box to start a generator. Sometimes the genies will ask for Ash to draw a specific thing and when he does they become very happy filling up a meter on the paintbrush icon called super paint. Super paint can be used to paint over the darkness in various areas in Denska and allows Ash to paint even more beautiful landscapes. 

Ash paints a pretty landscape for the fire genie.

One of the challenges is Ash avoiding his bullies. If he runs into them, he has to run away from them and climb up on things. The bullies are bad at climbing so Ash can go all the way to the rooftops if he needs to. He can also duck around corners and call out to them and when they come towards him, he can circle around behind them and avoid them that way. The bullies will sometimes ruin Ash's paintings, but when the coast is clear Ash can fix the paintings. The story is not overly complicated and as it progresses, Ash gets a glimpse into the background of each bully. The game does a good job of showing simply yet clearly why each kid is so angry or hurting that they lash out and take it out on Ash. It sends a clear message about the fact that it isn't about Ash and is more about the pain and anger they have inside due to circumstances beyond their control and you see Ash feeling sorry for them and understanding that it was never about him. 

Flowers and stars for an electric genie.

As the story continues, you get to see how Ash changes and grows as a person, as well as the kids who bully him and receive a wonderful message about how hope and friends are found in surprising ways. There is not a lot of challenging combat in the game which I'm fine with because it's about the story, art, and charming vibe of the game. The game is not very long. It's 6 chapters and takes about five or six hours to complete. However, it's beautiful. The story is clearly told in a way that people young and old can understand, while adding vibrant, whimsical art that brings a lot of joy. There's a photo mode so you can take screenshots of your creations and there is a free paint mode so you can go in any area in the game and paint to your heart's content. I loved running around in free paint mode, painting whatever I wanted. Concrete Genie is a lovely gem because of the visual style, story, and charming gameplay. It set a lovely tone about seeing the beauty around us, the importance of holding onto hope, and the power of friendship. It is absolutely worth your time and I am happy that I got to play it. Thanks for reading. See you at the next adventure! 

Free paint mode is great! See you at the next adventure!

*Concrete Genie is available to play on the following platforms: Playstation 4 

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

*For the entire month of June which is Pride month we are raising money for Trans Lifeline. If you would like to donate you can do so here: https://donate.tiltify.com/@mothergamer/trans-lifeline/

Mothergamer Finally Plays Animal Crossing New Horizons!

 Many know that I love Animal Crossing. I have been loving Animal Crossing since the original Gamecube version. In fact, I still have my Gamecube and copy of Animal Crossing and I still play it. I was ecstatic about Animal Crossing New Horizons when I first saw the reveal for it and that was the game that made me want to buy a Nintento Switch. Then, the pandemic happened and the hope for getting a Switch faded because frankly there were tons of scalpers that took advantage of the situation and there was no way I was paying outrageous amounts for a Switch. I lived vicariously through my friends who were streaming it and enjoyed seeing all the wonderful ways they designed their islands and watching all the fun events they could participate in. 

Fast forward a year later and thanks to the generosity of everyone in our community, I was able to buy a Switch and Animal Crossing New Horizons. The big thing was working with Tom Nook to choose my island. This was a little overwhelming because I had to really think about the shape and layout of the island, how much room I would have, and thinking about where the rivers and cliffs were. Special shoutout to my friends Jason and Ryan of Betweentwogays for helping me figure all of that out and making it a lot easier. Once I had that set up, I had to choose where I wanted to put my tent and find locations for my two starter villagers, Buck and Sylvia. Then it was time to name my island. Considering what our community is all about, it was quite easy to pick out the name and I think it suits my island perfectly. 

Welcome to Kindness!

I was ready to dive into island life and do everything on my island. As with previous Animal Crossing games, New Horizons is in real time so it's a slower pace kind of game. It gives you the freedom to pick and choose what you want to do, but also encourages stopping to savor the moments. You can time travel if you want, but be warned if you time travel too far it can mess with certain things like turnip prices. I do time travel, but only adjust the time to morning such as when it's 10PM at night, I switch it to 10AM because due to my busy schedule and my streaming schedule I miss things, so this is how I adjust it. I'm playing on my own mostly, so I don't think this affects things too much. I started getting familiar with my island. I learned how to craft tools, learned about how the Nook Miles system works, and I got started on making friends with the current villagers. 

Buck gives me exercise advice.

The big thing of course, is building your house. Tom Nook as usual builds your house and then you have to pay back the loan. His sons Timmy and Tommy are in on the action as you can sell things to them for bells which is the currency used in Animal Crossing. Seriously, Timmy and Tommy will buy anything. You can pick fruit off the trees, gather seashells on the beach, go fishing, and pull up weeds and sell it to them for a nice lump sum of bells. I was able to pay off the first version of my house from doing all this at the handy Nook Miles machine. The Nook Miles machine is also where I can get rewarded with miles for how many days I've logged in and I can buy specialty items, like the Princess Peach dress. It's an interesting variation from the usual Animal Crossing games. 

It's a lovely day!

Running all over the island gathering materials for crafting and for making improvements such as adding a new museum or upgrading the resident services building were not a chore for me because I was having fun and doing a variety of things. The museum is one of my favorite things in Animal Crossing. I love Blathers the owl the museum curator and his desire to share his knowledge and passion for learning with everyone. Digging up fossils, catching fish, catching bugs, and getting art pieces to donate to the museum is a hoot because it means getting to listen to Blathers chat excitedly about it even the bugs which scare him. 

Another thing I really love is the character customization. The fact that I can change my character's entire look is very cool. I can use Nook Miles and buy some new hairstyles and hair colors. Tired of that hair style and color? I can change it as long as I have a mirror. It was fun trying out new colors and styles. I just wish there were longer hair options, but I understand it's hard to code hair. My hair is actually pretty long, past my waist so I found something that was as close to that as I could. Purple is my favorite color, so of course I went with purple hair. 

New look is a go! 

One thing that I am not really enjoying is the durability of the tools. Tools like my shovel can break and then I have to gather the materials to craft another one. It's not a big deal, but it can be a little frustrating when I'm trying to landscape and plan out areas of my island to suddenly have the tool break in my hands. For me, it takes time away from the things I want to do and instead of doing that I'm having to craft more tools. As I said, it does not detract from the game for me, just that I wish tools didn't break at all. 

The thing that brought me the most joy was being able to visit my friends on their islands. It was amazing to see how different each island was and the variety of themes that everyone came up with. Special thanks to the following friends and fellow streamers for inviting me to their islands: Altogirl, TheFinnishCeasar, Lisathewhitewolf, RedLotusPrince, Lemmiecat, and QueenTubaMom. 

There were islands that were all about Pride, a fantastic homage to The Worst Witch books, fantastic museum tours, and moments of just vibing watching the ocean. Everyone was very kind, welcoming, and made my first dive into Animal Crossing with friends a fantastic experience. 

Dinosaurs, sharks, butterfly garden, and the ocean oh my!

Animal Crossing is definitely much more with friends. Being able to open our islands and visit each other is a wonderful time. The best time I had was just getting to explore everyone's islands and seeing all the incredible ways they made their island unique. What shined through was the love and support from everyone and a shared love of the game. I was nervous at first, but because of how kind people in our community were, I found myself smiling and delighted at the incredible creativity of everybody. 

Pride celebration courtesy of Altogirl. So much fun!

I never found myself bored in the game at all. I can play it in short bursts or for a few hours depending on my mood. I can putter around on my own or visit friends. Whatever I decide to do in the game, it's always a lovely time. The fact that there's no pressure and I can go at my own pace is great and allows me to not worry about how much I have to do. I can pick and choose a few things at a time or just chill out for a bit. 

Grand visits with Lemmiecat, Queentubamom, and FinnishCeasar.

I live with depression and anxiety and sometimes it feels like I have lived with it forever. There are days where things overwhelm me or I feel a lot of pressure to do enough, be enough, and it gets exhausting. Animal Crossing has been a happy place that gives me a pleasant escape from all that. It gives me a few minutes of peace and helps distract my brain a bit. On the really bad grey days, I'm absolutely grateful for Animal Crossing being that place full of sunshine and flowers for me. Whether I'm tending a garden, celebrating a new shop opening, or taking the time to sit on the beach watching a meteor shower, there is always something wonderful to do that allows me to appreciate those moments of joy. 

Life on Kindness is pretty good. 

Animal Crossing may not be everyone's cup of tea and that's okay. For me, it's great and I have been playing it fairly often enjoying all the things it has to offer. It's a happy place for me and I am grateful for how welcoming and sweet people in the Animal Crossing community have been offering helpful tips when I ask and gifting crafting materials when I run low. It has been so inclusive for many people in our community, and seeing that representation is amazing. Animal Crossing New Horizons is a terrific game and I'm over the moon that I finally got to play it for myself. I can't wait to keep playing more! Thank you to everyone who invited me to their islands, welcomed me to the community, and showed that even though we are far apart, we can come together and celebrate a love of gaming. Thank you for reading. See you at the next adventure!

Thank you! See you at the next adventure!

*Animal Crossing New Horizons is available on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch

Join us as we enjoy gaming and talk about mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

June is Pride month and this is an important time for those of us who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. For the entire month of Pride the Mothergamer community is raising money for Trans Lifeline. If you would like to donate you can do so here: https://donate.tiltify.com/@mothergamer/trans-lifeline/ Thank you for your donations and support. 

Why No Post For May?

 My mental health has not been doing great this month. I live with depression and anxiety and sometimes it's a lot. This month it has been a lot. I have games lined up that I want to write about, but they're going to have to wait until June. I apologize for the lack of Mothergamer blogs this month and I hope you understand. Thank you for reading and happy gaming! ~Mothergamer 

Mothergamer Plays Fort Meow

 While Fort Meow seems like a simple game, it's a lot of fun. The story is easy to follow, but it's interesting. You get to play as a little girl named Nia who goes to visit her grandparents, but finds them missing and a house overrun with cats. Nia explores the house and finds her grandfather's journal. As Nia starts reading to find out what happened, a bunch of cats start attacking keeping her from reading. This is where Fort Meow begins. 

Nia is surprised by a group of cats.

Fort Meow is essentially a tower defense game, but the simple charm of it is Nia building a fort out of pillows, furniture, and various household items to defend against the army of cats attacking so she can read the journal and solve the mystery of her grandparents being gone and why there are so many cats. Different cats have different abilities which means certain types of furniture have a defense against each type of cat. If a cat lands in Nia's lap, it's game over. 

Nia starts her fort defense from the cats. 

The game makes you think about strategy in the build of your fort because you don't have a limitless supply of building materials. For each level you have a set amount of points and each item you place costs points. The game is pretty forgiving with each level if you fail. You can clear everything out and rebuild, trying different items and figuring out new strategies for building your fort. Certain objects do better against each type of cat. For example, bean bag chairs work great in defending against fat cats. With each successful victory, Nia gets to read more of her grandfather's journal and see more of the story about him being an inventor and reveals in the story about the cats.

Reading the journal to solve the mystery.

As the story continues, Nia is able to explore other rooms of the house to find useful objects she can use to build her fort. There are small puzzles in the rooms that unlock things like batteries to power some of the gadgets she finds to help her out. As you progress, you are able to unlock more of the rooms which gives you access to more items for your fort. Sometimes the fort building could be challenging when I failed a level, but I found myself enjoying trying again because of the relaxing whimsical atmosphere and the charming art style of the game. The music in the game adds to the overall feel of the game as well. 

Exploring the house for fort building items.

Fort Meow is not a long game, easily finished in three hours. However, don't let the short gameplay fool you. What it lacks in length it makes up for in a good story, fun gameplay, and lots of different ways to try fort building. It shines in its simplicity because it's something you can play in short bursts or one long sitting and have a great time doing it. 

Having a great time in Fort Meow.

*Fort Meow is available to play on Steam and iphone/ipad

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

Persona 5 Strikers: More Fun With The Phantom Thieves

 I had been counting down to Persona 5 Strikers as soon as I heard about it. I love the Persona series and really enjoyed Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal. Strikers is an entirely different style of combat from its predecessors and it is a sequel to Persona 5. Described as an action game akin to Dynasty Warriors, many of us thought that is what it would be. It turns out Strikers is so much more than that with the combat style. So let's dive in! 

We're ready to start this adventure!

Strikers is set six months after the events of Persona 5 with Joker returning to Tokyo to spend Summer vacation with his fellow Phantom Thieves on a camping trip. It was so nice to see familiar faces like Sojiro who I would refer to often as Coffeee Dad as well as Makoto's sister, Sae. Joker and friends use an app called EMMA (think Alexa) to figure out what supplies they need for their trip. The casual outfits for the Phantom Thieves are quite stylish that fit each character's personal tastes and fit the Summer vacation vibe. 

The gang is back together again!

When Joker, Morgana, and Ryuji go to Shibuya to buy what they need on their list, they run into a rising star idol, Alice who gives them a card and tells them to put the keyword Wonderland into the EMMA app for a special event. When the keyword is entered, they end up in an alternate version of Tokyo and find out it's called a jail and they encounter Alice's shadow who is a ruler in the jail known as a monarch. Shadow Alice drops them to a dumpster below where they meet a sentient A.I. named Sophia who helps them fight the shadows and escape. This is where the story and action of Strikers really begins. 

Joker meets Sophia. 

Strikers isn't turn based and is more of an action based hack and slash that is incredibly fun. You can't just mash buttons however. Planning out strategies and switching out party members to target the weaknesses of enemies is how to get through battles smoothly. The way Joker gets his personas is different too, picking up masks in the various jails. The Velvet Room is in Strikers as well and it is here that Joker can fuse personas to make more powerful personas. There are eight jails in the game and each one has its own theme and each monarch feels a bit familiar as it references some of the issues and shadows they faced in Persona 5. The nice thing about the jails is that unlike Mementos, you can leave and not be tired. You can leave and replenish your health and magic and go back in as many times as you like. It makes level grinding a lot easier and with the great design of the combat system, it doesn't feel like a chore. 

Battling shadows in a jail. 

Another thing that is different is the bond skills. As the Phantom Thieves have their adventure, they get a certain number of points that can be used in the bond skills menu to enhance the skills and stats of everyone ranging from things to SP boosts and increasing luck. You get up to 30 bond points and you earn them from fighting shadows in jails, completing requests, or finishing important moments in the story. 

Everyone benefits from the bond skills. 

The road trip with the Phantom Thieves is amazing because it feels like a Persona game, but it also feels like its own thing with a stripped down calendar that is an entire Summer vacation rather than days spread out over a year. It's fantastic getting to see various locations in Japan because it really feels like a fun road trip with friends. Each place you visit is beautiful with its own unique style and has its own Phantom Thieves hangout event. I had a great time doing things like enjoying a beach day or watching the fireworks. It reminded me why I loved all of these characters and getting to share another adventure with them was wonderful. 

Having a fun vacation together. 

Doing the main story is not the only thing you can do in Strikers. You can also do requests which reward you with a variety of items and unlock access to more weapons and armor from the shop. With some of the requests you get asked to fuse a certain type of persona with certain abilities. The reward for these vary ranging from increasing your bond skills to unlocking skill cards. It is worth your time to do these because they help with level grinding and if you want to unlock new game plus it's vital that you do all the requests including the ones that pop up after you finish the main story. 

Do the requests for good rewards. 

My favorite thing to do that is another great addition to the story is cooking. You can buy ingredients and learn recipes from the locations you visit and cook for the Phantom Thieves. Cooking is a lot of fun and each meal does different things like replenishing SP and increasing agility. It's another great thing added to the game, cooking for your friends and having moments of enjoying meals together. 

Yes, you can cook in the game. 

I loved all of Strikers. It nailed the combat system perfectly while telling a great story. It felt like a nice addition to the Persona 5 universe and the Persona series. The story itself is interesting and if you played Persona 5 and Royal you will recognize the references that are mentioned. The voice actors returned for this game and did an amazing job bringing the characters to life making it feel like visiting with old friends. There are definitely some familiar themes with each monarch and jail, but in Strikers it works because of the way the story is written creating its own unique style while keeping the spirit of the Phantom Thieves throughout the entire game. Sophia became a favorite character for me because of her exploration of what it means to be human and having some thoughtful conversations with Joker about all of it. I loved the back and forth between the two as Joker helps Sophia to understand what friendship, kindness, and being true to yourself can do for the individual and others in life. When it comes down to it, Sophia is the heart of Strikers and that's what makes the story itself so special. That camaraderie shines in every aspect of the game making Strikers an incredible adventure and the best road trip ever.

Best road trip ever!

*Persona 5 Strikers is available to play on the following platforms: Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows

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