Mothergamer Plays Mika And The Witch's Mountain

 *Note: I received a free copy of the game for my honest review. Thank you to Keymailer for the PS5 game key!

When you're introduced to little witch Mika, she's on her way to witch school at the top of the mountain. Well, things don't go as planned and Mika gets tossed off the mountain and her broom gets broken. Mika meets a kind villager on the beach and they help her fix her broom, but this broom isn't going to last very long which means she'll have to earn money to buy a new broom. 

Mika on her way up the mountain. 

Luckily, there's a job opening for Mika at a delivery company. The guy running the place, Greff is definitely phoning it in as he explains to Mika that she gets paid based on her job performance. The game explains the package delivery system. Some are marked urgent and some have stipulations such as don't get the package wet or damage it. If you do it perfectly, you get paid for the packages that are in exceptional condition or those with green stamp marks. You have a stamp card to keep track of all your completed deliveries which you can check any time in your inventory menu. If you're not sure where to go, you can pull up your map and it will show where the person expecting their delivery is. 

Finding out where our delivery location is. 

With each successful delivery you get the funds to not only get a new broom, but also get upgrades to it so you can fly faster and higher as well as a variety of skills. The flying is the one thing I struggled with in the game. The concept is there, but the execution is lacking. The controls for flying Mika's broom are extremely clunky and the game doesn't do a great explanation of explaining how they work. I would lose altitude really quickly and then constantly having to try and catch a wind current so I didn't crash land the broom got very frustrating. I found myself fighting the camera as well during some of the flying sessions. I had to try a lot to get it right and that definitely detracted from the fun of the game. It's not great if people have to struggle with the controls for something like flying and bad camera angles. 

Struggling to fly on the broom. 

I did enjoy chatting with all the different characters on the island and there's even a few side quests involving favors you can do for them like helping a Kappa deliver ice cream to kids on the beach. The art style for the game is cute and charming and you can see the nods here and there to Kiki's Delivery Service. There's also a few secrets here and there as you explore that add to the ambience of the story and you get to learn more about Mika as you continue her journey. 

I liked Mika a lot because of its relaxed vibes and whimsical charm. It's not necessarily unique, but that's not a bad thing. I did find the game is a bit short; about three hours if you focus on just the main story and about four to five if you do all the side quests and  find all the secrets. Short isn't terrible either, but I did find myself wanting a bit more and felt there were a few pacing issues here and there for the story.

Mika And The Witch's Mountain has the potential to be great if they can just sort the clunky flight controls and the odd camera angles in places. It's a good game and it has a cozy charm to it with the art and characters, but it needs a little more tweaking to the story and mechanics in order for it to really shine. 

Mika meeting one of the villagers on the island. 

*Mika And The Witch's Mountain is available on the following platforms: Playstation 5, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch, and Steam

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

Mothergamer Plays The Tale Of Bistun

 I received the game for free on PS5 for my unbiased review. Thank you to Keymailer for the PS5 game key!

I'm not really into rogue lite games, but there was something about The Tale Of Bistun that stood out for me. I was intrigued by the fact the story for the game is inspired by the 12th century Persian epic tragic romance poem Khosrow and Shirin. The story itself is set during that time period and right away I was drawn in by the beautiful artwork and landscapes. There was also the fact that the narrator for the story is Shoreh Aghdashloo which is honestly the perfect choice for this game. Her voice is so distinct and I was really excited to dive into the game. 

You play as a stone carver who has amnesia. He can't remember who he is or how he got there. This is where the story for The Tale of Bistun begins with the stone carver trying to unravel this mystery with the help of several allies some of them magical like a talking guardian tree. 

The stone carver chats with a guardian tree. 

It's very clear how much thought, research, and care went into the cultural elements of the story which I genuinely appreciated. There are two environments that are explored; Earth and a kind of astral plane dream realm of sorts. There is some combat, but not so much that it's overwhelming. In the dream realm there isn't a lot of fighting with the exception of some story driven boss battles. I was able to adjust the difficulty of the game which is really nice as I prefer casual story settings. The battle system is pretty standard rogue lite with clearing a bunch of enemies, use special skills with your weapon of choice, rinse, and repeat. I didn't mind because it was actually fun and the story itself kept me going, wanting to find out more about the stone carver and figuring out the mystery of his lost memories. 

In the dream realm. 

The story hits on a lot of themes about love and hate as well as trying to do the right thing even when it's difficult. However, the biggest one of all is hope. Throughout the story and at the end there was the important message of holding onto hope especially in the face of adversity. The Tale of Bistun isn't an overly complicated game and that's okay because it tells a story beautifully through the artwork, landscapes, and some of the combat. It's not a very long game. I was able to finish it in about four hours. Short isn't bad and I enjoyed an appreciated the great job they did with the storytelling, the artistry, and the game as a whole. It does quite well at pulling you in and keeping you interested from start to finish which for me made this indie game stand out in the best way. 

Another trip into the dream realm. 

*The Tale of Bistun is available to play on the following platforms: Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Epic Games

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

Life Happened Hard Edition

 Hello all. I know it's been quite a chunk of time since I last wrote on here. There is a good reason why. Let's just say life happened and it was the hard edition. I've started and stopped this multiple times as I was trying to gather my thoughts and figure out how to write about this because I'm still processing a lot of it and trying to overcome my body and brain being in full survival mode. Luckily, I have a great therapist who has been helping with that immensely and suggested that writing about everything could help with the process. I think it's a valid point so here we go. 

First, one of the big things was Ron and I moved out of the house and to a smaller place, a three bedroom apartment. We had been talking about downsizing for a while because it was just the two of us and our dog Jake. It was a lot of house for the three of us and we started looking at places. Ron and I wanted a smaller one story house, but were daunted by the ridiculous pricing of them and agreed the housing market has gone a little banana pants. We started looking at apartments and honestly, some of the rent prices were pretty outrageous too. Our oldest niece asked if we were moving and we explained to her what was going on. Bless her for helping us out because she mentioned her boss owned a bunch of properties and there might be something available, she'd ask him. There was something thank goodness and we started the process of moving. I will say the only thing I don't like about the place is the damn stairs outside. Our apartment is on the second floor and the outside staircase is twenty steps. Yes, that is correct. It's twenty steps and it does have railings including a metal railing to the right. However, those stairs are a pain to climb and I'm always careful on them because I don't want to fall and with my fibro and arthritis I don't want to take risks. Everyone knows moving is stressful and overwhelming. One of the big things was decluttering. I cleared out so much of my closet discovering clothes I hadn't worn at all and items I hadn't worn in years. Ron and I cleared out a lot of things and it was funny how many of the things we didn't remember getting. We got it done though and our niece and her husband were so kind helping us move everything. Sorry about that treadmill, D. I know moving it up the stairs was a huge hassle so thank you for helping Ron with it. 

We also had to get Jake accustomed to the new place. This was definitely an adjustment for him because we had to schedule his bathroom breaks and gently get him used to going on those stairs down to the shared yard and then back up again. At first Jake was a little hesitant, but soon he was going up and down the stairs perfectly fine. I think Jake knows those stairs are serious and he's very careful on them just like we are. Jake was settling in and getting used to his new home. Ron being the sweet man he is got my desk set up as well as my computer and the streaming computer and monitors. He also got the consoles hooked up. We tested everything and figured out what wasn't working and why, then figured out the solutions for things and got it all working again. I was anxious about streaming because it had been a week while we got moved in. My first stream back was great. Everyone was really supportive and it felt nice to have things getting back to normal and getting used to our new place. Seems great right? Yeah, hold onto that thought and gird your loins. 

For those who don't know, Ron is diabetic. He has Type 2. When he got diagnosed we learned about all of it together. We looked up diabetic friendly recipes, talked to the dietician at his doctor's office, made food changes, learned about managing it, what to do when he gets sick with a cold, and more. I was a bit of a social drinker, nothing to excess, but I pretty much stopped drinking in solidarity with him. I may have one drink on my birthday, but that's it. When the pandemic hit Ron and I made sure we did everything we could to protect each other, our loved ones, and everyone around us. Ron gets regular flu shots. We both got our vaccinations and boosters. We continue to do contactless grocery delivery and wear our masks when there's a lot of people and if one of us gets sick with a cold we do everything we can to not get each other sick. Ron and I are homebodies anyway so we were fine. Ron knows I'm a worrier and he would always try his best to reassure me any time he got a cold or the flu and tell me he would be okay because we both know with him being diabetic if he gets sick, if he gets hurt, it takes longer for his body to heal. 

Well, this year Ron got sick. Two weeks ago Ron thought he had the flu. He definitely had the flu symptoms and he did a telehealth call with his doctor. His doctor wanted him to get a Covid test. Ron did that and he tested negative for Covid. Ron called out of work something he rarely does so I knew he wasn't feeling well. By the middle of the week, Ron was not better and seemed like he was getting worse. I told him that while he said it was the flu, this felt different and I was worried and gently told him I thought he should go in. Ron assured me he would be okay, he was fine. He did do a telehealth call with urgent care and they gave him a prescription for Amoxicillin. Ron took the first dose and asked if I would make him some green tea. I did that for him and after he finished his tea he went to rest. The next day he was still sick and then Ron vomited. He was mortified telling me he was sorry. I told him it was okay, helped him clean up, and told him again that he should go in and get looked at because this felt serious. Ron told me, "Honey, I'm fine. It's just the flu. I'll be okay. Don't make a fuss." You can't force your husband/partner to go in. Believe me, I tried to talk to him about it, but he kept insisting he would be okay. In hindsight, Ron agreed that he should have listened to me and has apologized to me repeatedly. 

The next morning I went to wake Ron up to see if he would like a cup of tea and try to eat a little something for breakfast. No matter what I did Ron would not wake up and kept sleeping. I tried to gently nudge him awake and he opened his eyes briefly and patted my face and went back to sleep. The panic started to set in as I realized something was very wrong. I tried again and he would not wake up at all. I had to call emergency services for Ron and they arrived pretty quickly. I had to explain to the paramedics and told them that Ron is diabetic. It was awful. I was distraught because this was my Ron and he was in trouble and I didn't know if he was okay. They got Ron into the ambulance and told me what hospital they were taking him to. It was snowing that day and I'm outside crying absolutely devastated not knowing what to do. My brain caught up and I got a hold of Ron's family to tell them what happened. Bless all of Ron's family for being so incredibly kind, supportive, and for helping me. Ron's sister did everything she could to get me an Uber to the hospital. It took a lot of tries, but wow she got it done. I remember calling my dad and stepmom just sobbing because everything was awful and in that moment I needed them. Both of them were understanding and gentle with me telling me everything would be okay, focus on one thing at a time. It helped and I was able to gather myself and get to the hospital. 

Ron had been rushed to the ICU and everything was terrible. It's kind of a blur in places because everything was terrible and I don't know how I kept calm talking to multiple doctors and nurses about Ron's condition, his Diabetes, and how he had been sick with what he thought was the flu. There were a couple of times where I did start to cry and all of them were incredibly kind telling me I did everything right calling for help, that my actions saved his life. At the time it was cold comfort because I had no idea if my husband was going to make it and I was terrified of losing him. It's one of the worst feelings in the world not knowing if the person you love the most is going to be alright. 

This was the worst day ever. 

The nurses told me they would be getting Ron set up in the cardiac ICU and showed me to the waiting room telling me the would come get me as soon as he was settled. Ron's parents and sister arrived and sat with me and I was grateful for them being there. One doctor came and talked to us explaining that Ron's mental state had taken a turn for the worse and he was agitated so they had to sedate him. They also informed us that he had tested positive for Corona virus, that it wasn't Covid-19. When I asked how it was possible for him to get it since we're always careful, the doctor said that everyone was getting sick lately; that there has been a massive influx of  Corona, Covid, Influenza, and Bird Flu. Then another doctor came to talk to us and explained that Ron was in diabetic ketoacidosis which is absolutely dangerous for diabetics, this is something that can kill them. The doctor explained that the Corona virus basically torpedoed Ron's immune system and with him being diabetic it was serious and his body was fighting. They also explained that Ron's breathing was very rapid to a concerning degree, that it was like he was running a marathon, but he was standing still. They said they wanted to put a breathing tube in Ron to help with his breathing until they felt he could safely breathe on his own and that as his wife they needed consent from me as well as consent for leads that would regulate his heart and blood pressure. They would have Ron sedated during that time and explained that the goal was to remove it in a few days and see if he passed the respiratory tests and be able to do the breathing by himself. The doctor asked if we had any questions. I'm so thankful for Ron's sister because she asked questions and helped me to talk to the doctor and got them to elaborate on some of the procedure with the breathing tube and explaining that they had Ron on insulin via IV as well as IV fluids and that he was stable. 

Eventually they did let us go into the cardiac ICU to Ron's room to see him. I didn't want to leave him and they were very understanding about it. The doctor and nurses explained they don't have set visiting hours because they know how important it is for the family and for the patient to be able to see each other, just that we let the nurses do their jobs. They told me I could stay with him if I wanted and of course I did. My brain was all over the place and I'm glad Ron's family was looking out for me because I didn't think of food at all until his mom mentioned it. They let us know where the cafeteria was and we took a look there. Ron's family gave me some money so I could get something to eat which was truly kind of them. They said goodnight to me and let me know I could call them if I needed anything at all. We worked out a system where I could text his sister and give her updates and then she could let the rest of the family know. I also made the decision to have her be a secondary emergency contact and be added to the list so she could call the nurse station and get updates as well. Ron's sister is great at working out all the details and organizing, so I knew she was absolutely the right choice because she had helped me a lot already. 

That night I sat with Ron, holding his hand and I cried a lot. I prayed and prayed for him to be okay. I also softly spoke to him telling him I loved him and he needed to fight, to not give up. His first nurse that night was a really lovely lady talking to me about what she was doing to take care of him, going over what medications they were giving them, how they worked, and I thanked her for doing that for me. Every single one of his nurses took time to do that for me and I'm forever grateful for them being kind and taking such good care of Ron. She asked how we met and she smiled the entire time telling me Ron sounded like a sweetheart. I remember smiling and telling her, "He's been my sweetheart for seventeen years." She told me she loved that, that it was very obvious how much love there is between us. I sat all night with Ron, just dozing off in the chair telling him that I was resting my eyes. 

In the morning, I did get something to eat and his parents came to visit as well as his sister. I knew I had to go home and take care of Jake, get a shower, and some sleep. Ron's parents kindly gave me a ride home. I felt so bad because no one had been able to get Jake and he had been alone all night. It broke my heart to see our sweet little dog curled up in a ball on Ron's side of the bed. He came running to me so happy that I was home and I cried and hugged him telling him his dad was going to be okay, we just had to think good thoughts. I made sure he got to go outside for a walk, fed him, and somehow managed to get food for myself. I still can't remember what I ate, but I did eat. Jake stayed close to me and kept cuddling with me. Animals always know when something is wrong, when we're sad, and I was glad our good boy was with me. Ron doesn't usually let Jake on the bed to sleep with us, but that night I told Jake that this was a special situation and Ron would understand. Jake curled up in the bed with me and stayed there all night. I must have been exhausted because I ended up sleeping for fifteen hours. 

Jake was being my comforting cuddle buddy.

Ron's parents helped me to figure out something for Jake. They generously offered to take Jake and look after him so I could focus on Ron. They dropped me off at the hospital and took Jake home with them. Later I got a cute photo from them of Jake settling in nicely. He became best buddies with our great-nephew and with Ron's parents and he was being a very good boy. I was relieved to hear that and I knew he was in good hands with people that love him. It was a different nurse this time and he was very kind and let me know Ron was doing fine, but they were concerned about him getting fevers in the morning. They said they couldn't find anything and more than likely it was Ron's body fighting off the virus. The doctors were concerned about a mass in his stomach on his CT scan and wanted to do an endoscopy to make sure it was nothing serious. I agreed, but my anxiety was through the roof about it hoping it wouldn't be anything bad. 

I was there pretty much every day with Ron sitting by his side holding his hand and talking to him. The nurses told me they thought it was wonderful, keep talking to him because even though he was sedated he could hear me and it would help him to keep fighting, to get better. The nurses also made sure I rested. I would bunk down in the ICU waiting room with blankets they gave me and try to grab some sleep where I could. It was incredibly hard to turn off my brain and I slept in short bursts of five hours and I would make sure I ate too because I knew Ron would want me to take care of myself. 

One night, I was sitting by myself in the waiting room just taking a moment because the next day was the endoscopy for Ron and I was scared. This lady came in and her calm spirit and energy reminded me so much of my stepmom. It turned out she was the chaplain and she sat with me and chatted with me. It was odd because I have pretty bad social anxiety and I don't really talk to people I don't know and yet here I was telling a total stranger about Ron and about how scared I was for him. I admitted to her that I have struggled with my faith and that many times I have been in awe of the peaceful confidence that Ron has in his. I told her, "Any time I've ever been anxious about anything or I worry, Ron tells me it will be alright my love. When I ask him how do you know? He smiles at me and tells me gently, I have faith. He says it with so much conviction in his gentle way and I believe him every time." I told her that it reminded me of my grandfather because he had that same gentle manner and he had faith, that I was in awe of both of them for having that and a bit jealous too because there have been times where I questioned things or was unsure. I admitted to her, "Sometimes I feel like I'm a bad person because in moments like this, I'm angry with God." She put her hand over mine and smiled at me and said, "It's okay to be angry with God in this moment. God understands and it's okay for you to let God carry it for a while." I don't know why her words touched me, but they did and I felt a knot in my chest ease and I found myself crying. She asked about my family and Ron's family. She said she felt a kindred spirit with my grandmother and I told her I'm sure they would have been friends and she agreed saying that my grandmother sounded like a force of nature and that my grandfather was her balance and together they were wonderful. I smiled at that and said I loved them both dearly. She asked if she could say a prayer with me and one for Ron and I said yes. Both her prayers were beautiful and touched something deep in my heart that I hadn't felt since I was a child and it was comforting. She asked if she could give me a mom hug and I told her of course and it was a hug filled with tons of warmth and light. I told her, "I don't know how, but somehow I feel that God sent you to me when I needed someone to just listen and understand. Thank you." She gave me another hug and told me, "You're so welcome. We'll see each other again. I don't know when, but God will help us meet again I'm sure." It was such a kind lovely thing for her to say and I thought of Mister Rogers telling us to look for the helpers and it felt like God, the universe, or both was showing me that I wasn't alone, that there were wonderful people like this who are always ready to help when needed. I went back to sit with Ron, holding his hand, telling him about this wonderful lady and that I think he would have liked her if he met her. I felt Ron's hand squeeze back and I felt a rush of joy and hope at that. 

The doctors did the endoscopy and I was quite relieved that they didn't find anything bad. They said it was just inflammation from him vomiting and that he would be okay. Then they worked on trying to wake Ron up so they could remove the breathing tube. It was challenging to say the least. Ron would not wake up at all. He opened his eyes and then closed them going back to sleep. They tried and tried, but it wasn't happening. One of the nurses saw my disappointment and told me kindly to not give up, they would put their heads together and try to figure out a solution because at this point Ron had been sedated with the breathing tube for four days. His family and I remembered Ron has bad anxiety about dentists and that it could be he was anxious about the tube. They came up with a plan to use a lighter sedation on him and also give him Ativan which is for anxiety. They told me not to give up, keep sitting with him and talking to him. 

Easing the sedation worked. Ron was moving around a little more and a few times he instinctively tried to yank the breathing tube out and the nurses had to tighten his restraints a bit. In the morning they tried again. They said that Ron passed his respiratory tests and that he was actually breathing on his own and his breathing was okay and it was time to remove the breathing tube. They prepared me saying it would be rough because the tube is very uncomfortable. Ron passed their next test which was to respond to commands. He did squeeze the nurse's hand and he wiggled his toes and then he squeezed my hand. They were able to remove the breathing tube successfully and said it would be gradual, but he would wake up and he would be coming down from the sedation and to give him some grace because he would say some things and it wasn't necessarily him. Ron did wake up and he was talking to me here and there. He did say some pretty funny things that had me giggling. He woke up more and it lifted my heart to hear him say, "Hi, Mamita." 

He also tried to get me and the nurse to give him water. We couldn't do that yet until the doctors cleared him something we both explained to him repeatedly. I felt really bad about it, but the explanation was they needed to make sure his lungs were clear and they would be testing it and when he passed he could have all the water he wanted. He did pass and Ron was very glad to have sips of water. He asked me what happened and I told him some of it and he held my hand telling me how sorry he was he put me through all of this. I told him it was okay, that all that mattered to me was he was alright. He very sweetly kept calling me his beautiful water angel and his queen. We had a moment where I cried because I was very happy he was still with me as he told me, "Thank you for saving my life my love. I get to have more time with you. You did great. I'm proud of you." 

Ron woke up, yay! 

They had Ron doing some breathing exercises to help strengthen his lungs. It's kind of funny now because Ron was a bit like a kid trying to make a deal with me about using the breathing exercise tools. He said he would like some water and I gently told him we should try the breathing exercises first. He sighed and told me, "Oh come on honey, have a heart!" I thought to myself, am I really negotiating with my husband over breathing exercises and water? Yes, yes I was. We made a deal that he had to do at least three each for the breathing exercise tools and then he got a sip of water. Ron did them and he did well and he was excited to get to sip his water. He was still coming down from the sedation, but he was becoming more and more coherent over time. 

Eventually they moved Ron out of the cardiac ICU and to a floor room. It took some time to get him set up and once he was settled they let us come visit him. His parents hung out for a bit and then they said goodbye and Ron and I were together alone. I stayed over the weekend with him and we chatted about everything and said I love you to each other a lot. He asked what happened because he had no memory of the past two weeks. There were some things he remembered, but other things he couldn't recall. We both knew this was normal with everything that happened. He had nurses checking his vitals, testing his blood sugar, and helping him go to the bathroom. I know it was frustrating for Ron that his body wasn't doing what he wanted it to do. I told him it would be alright, that it was going to take time and we would get through it together. He told me how glad he was that I was there and we held hands and enjoyed being together. 

There was a lot to do on my end with calling Ron's job and talking to the HR lady explaining what happened. She was nice about all of it and got the short term disability forms set up for Ron and said she would make sure Ron has everything he needs and if we needed anything at all just ask. That was such a relief. Then I had to talk to the insurance lady and go over the timeline of events and I don't know how I got through it or remembered all the dates, doctor information, and other important information. I did though and when I expressed concern that I was worried I missed something she kindly told me, "You did great. Your recollection of all the dates, times, and information helped a lot." She pushed the paperwork through after she got the banking information from Ron. I let Ron know and told him I was exhausted and he told me how proud he was of me, that I was doing a terrific job. 

Ron looking much better. 

The next step was getting Ron into rehab to build up his strength so he could get back to normal and come home. This took a bit of doing because one occupational therapist insisted he could do it from home. I was proud of Ron for standing up for himself and being firm saying that no he needed to go to rehab. There was also the issue of getting a bed for him there. It was a lot of frustration, but the doctor supported Ron saying he absolutely needed rehab and the second occupational therapist assessed him and agreed. We finally got some good news and they had a bed for Ron at the rehab facility. They transferred him there and it took a long time because they had to assess and evaluate him. Ron let me know as soon as he was set up in his room. 

On Saturday Ron's parents graciously gave me a ride to the rehab facility to visit with Ron. They visited for a bit and said they would let us have some alone time together and to call when I was ready to go home and they would pick me up. Ron and I thanked them and then it was just the two of us. We were absolutely happy to see each other because we both pointed out that in our seventeen years this was the longest we had been apart. Ron asked me to move my chair closer to him so that we could sit together. He touched his forehead to mine and we held each other's hands smiling at each other. Ron smiled sweetly at me and told me, "I missed this. I missed you." I smiled right back at him and told him, "Me too. This is nice." Ron agreed. We gave each other the biggest hug and we sat together talking about everything and nothing. We said our little saying to each other, "You're my favorite." It was the best day being with my Ron and seeing that he was doing much better and that he was glad to be with me. He thanked me for coming to see him and I told him it wasn't even a question, he's my heart. When it was time to go, it was hard for both of us, but we said I love you to each other and that we would get through this together with patience and love like we always do. 

Ron told me he has three hours of therapy a day throughout the day and that he knows he needs it so he can get back home to me. I told him how proud I am of him because he's doing his best and he's getting it done. His nurses, doctors, and physical therapists are great helping him and taking good care of him. I'm grateful to everyone who helped Ron, who helped me, and who helped us. The doctors, nurses, and physical therapists have been great with him. Thank you to his parents for giving me rides to the hospital and to rehab. Thank you to his nieces for checking in, thank you to his sister for helping me talk to the doctors, for helping me figure out the disability forms, and for printing them out so we could get them done. To my family, thank you for checking in and making sure I was okay, for praying for us. To all our friends and communities, thank you for all the messages of love and support, for asking if we needed anything, for cheering Ron on every step of the way. To everyone in our lives, thank you for caring and loving us. Thank you for helping and being there. It means a lot to Ron and I. We're grateful to know so many kind and wonderful people and we're so glad you're in our lives. Life happened and it was hard, but we were able to get through it because of the basket of blessings that is all of you caring about us. Than you. We love you all very much. 

The best day with Ron. 

*I did have to take time off and Ron did as well, so we're trying to catch up on things. If you would like to support me on Ko-fi you can do so here: https://ko-fi.com/mothergamer Thank you, we appreciate you! 

Mothergamer Plays Overthrown

 Happy new year! It's time for our first review of 2025! I was genuinely curious about Overthrown when I saw it on Gamepass. It is in early access which the developers let you know right away warning about unfinished things and possible game crashes. I decided to check it out and see what this kingdom building game was like. 

I find it odd that the game just kind of throws you in with no explanation or story of why you're going to build a whole kingdom. I do like that you can adjust the difficulty in the game settings before you start your world. You also have the option to play co-op with up to five other players if you want. You play as a Queen and you have a crown that you can use to heal yourself and gives you overpowered physical abilities. You can start by changing your look by choosing the outfit in the user interface menu. Depending on what color you pick it changes the color of the queen's hair and outfit.

Starting my kingdom.

Overthrown has a kind of bare bones tutorial for building. The first thing you have to do is build your town hall of course and then you have to build a few lumber mills which the new villagers will assign themselves to when they show up. That was another interesting I noticed. When you build more things like a bakery or a food kitchen, the villagers will volunteer themselves for the various jobs. You don't have to worry about building tools to chop down the trees. The queen is so comically strong, she can punch trees, lift them up, and throw them in the lumber mills. I was amused by this aspect of the game. Don't like where a building is? You can pick it up and throw it where you want it to be. You can also pick up all the people and throw them. That seems to be a funny thing you can do that makes me think of cartoons with slapstick humor. 

If you want to unlock more things, you have to do research. As long as you have the correct amount of resources, you can research things like farming which will unlock access to other things like orchards or metalworking unlocks access to making weapons for the village. Since it's in early access some research items aren't available yet, but let you know when those updates will be happening which is nice.

Doing some research.

One thing that I'm not really thrilled with in Overthrown is the bandit invasions. With the kingdom building comes having to prepare for bandits coming in trying to destroy and steal everything you have built. The Queen does have weapons of her own. You can either punch bandits with your bare fists or switch to your choice of swords. Combat isn't too overwhelming and you can dodge and dash around taking out the bandits easily. You can zoom the map out and take a look at where the bandit camps are so you can preemptively take them out. If the bandits take you out, you respawn, but without your crown. You have to find the bandit that stole your crown which is marked on your map and defeat them to get your crown back. If you don't get your crown back the villagers lose hope and their morale drops. This is yet another thing the game doesn't explain very well, but I was able to figure it out pretty quickly. 

Frankly dealing with the bandits was my least favorite part of the game. There's a timer telling you how many days you have to prepare for the next wave of bandit attacks. I feel that it detracted from the relaxed cozy building aspects of the game and it gets frustrating pretty quick having to constantly repair buildings that got damaged in the bandit attacks. I really wished for a way to turn it off so I could just build and farm in peace. 

Taking out all the bandits. 

I loved the farming and I feel that is something that Overthrown definitely got right. You can forage for items and with a lot of the plants those drop seeds you can plant in your fields. There are also fruit trees you can plant making your own orchards. Harvesting is easy because again, you can just spin using your sword to cut through all the crops. The game does a good job of letting you know what crops grow in what seasons. It was fun to see giant pumpkins and tomatoes, then getting to harvest all of them. Building storage for them was easily done and constantly farming helps provide food for your growing kingdom. 

There were tons of game crashes, but it was usually after a couple of hours of gameplay. It caused me to save often so I wouldn't lose progress with my building. With it being in early access that is to be expected, but sometimes it would crash in the worst moments and there are issues with the loading times being a bit long in places. There are also a few weird world clipping glitches with the ground missing in some places or in one case a villager's face was missing and it was just a blank face. Overthrown isn't a bad game, but it definitely needs some more polish and work on those issues in early access. The potential for it to be a solid game is there so hopefully they get it sorted and it can truly shine for us lovers of cozy building and farm sim games. 

Giant pumpkins! 

*Overthrown is in early access on the following platforms: Steam, Xbox Series X/S, and Playstation 5

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review

 Ten years and finally Dragon Age: The Veilguard is here! I was so excited to start the adventure and meet Rook. From the start I was really happy to see a variety of body types in the character creation. You can play as Elf, Qunari, Human, or Dwarf. You can also choose for the job class to be rogue, warrior, or mage. I of course went with an Elf rogue. The accessibility settings are great too and you can adjust the difficulty according to your playstyle. 

Choosing a character. 

There are so many options for character creation which is great. They finally gave us long hair options which had me overjoyed. The hair physics are so good. I kept stopping just to run around in circles to see Rook's hair move around. It was silly, but lots of fun. You can customize your Rook to look how you want with hair options, skin tone, makeup, tattoos, and body type. I spent a really long time getting my Rook to look how I wanted and I was really happy with the final results. You then have to choose a faction that Rook is part of and you have six factions to choose from: Antivan Crows, Grey Wardens, Lords of Fortune, Mourn Watchers, Shadow Dragons, or Veil Jumpers. For my Rook I went with Veil Jumpers who study the ancient forest of Arlathan and Elven artifacts. You can also recreate your Inquisitor and then you have three options to choose how your Inquisitor's story ended. For mine, she romanced Cullen, disbanded the Inquisition, and told Solas she would help him to redeem himself. 

Making my Rook. 

The main story takes place ten years after the events of Inquisition. Rook is with Harding and Varric working together to stop Solas from destroying the Veil. Needless to say, things don't quite go as planned and this is where Veilguard's story and Rook's adventure begins. Immediately I noticed what a blast the combat is. It's action paced and in a way reminded a bit of the combat in Dragon Age II. Your companions have special moves they can use and they can even combo with each other creating an even bigger attack. It's fun and I was enjoying running around taking out all the enemies with my team. 

Fighting demons. 

Of course there is recruiting to do because Rook and friends need a team to accomplish their goal. Besides Harding, there are six companions to recruit and they're also romance options for Rook. Each person brings their own insight and talents to the team. When you go out in the world you can bring two companions with you. I played around a lot with different team set ups to see how they worked and I did have my favorites. This also strengthens the bonds between Rook and their companions as they travel together. The teammates are very helpful during battles calling out to Rook if an enemy is behind you or if they're firing at ranged. I didn't mind it, but sometimes I wished I could turn it off because after a while it could get a little repetitive. 

Rook takes on a Darkspawn ogre. 

I really love the photo mode in the game. Besides Arlathan Forest, we get to go to Antiva, Tevinter, and many more interesting places. All of it is stunning and I would stop just to take photos of the scenery quite often. It felt wonderful to be walking around Thedas again and getting to see all these beautiful vistas. 

Ziplining in Antiva. 

One of the little things that I really love is that there are lots of cats and dogs in the cities and you can stop to pet them. I stopped and made the time to pet every single one. It's a nice moment of joy in between all the side quests and main story quests. Every single one of the cats and dogs was very cute and I loved them all. 

Yes, you can pet the cute kitty! 

I did love the story for Veilguard and I loved running around getting to see more of Thedas. The companions are great and my first romance was with mage detective Neve and I really like her. Neve is smart and sassy right back with my Rook which made me smile. I also appreciated the fact that we got even more lore which answered a lot of questions about the Evanuris and Solas himself. There were also some pretty interesting lore reveals about Mythal and we also got some answers about the Dwarves. There were also Easter eggs here and there in regards to characters from the previous Dragon Age games. It was always exciting for me to find one and realizing which character it was referencing. 

I adored the exploration aspect of the game and filled my pockets full of all the things I found and was just the biggest loot goblin I could be. This does tie in with the different factions Rook works with and so it benefits everyone to grab all those treasures and random items you find. 

Oh look, a dragon! 

I'm trying to spoil as little as possible because Veilguard has a lot of twists and turns and it's quite something to experience the first time. I started noticing little things here and there in regards to one of the companions and I was hoping that I was wrong. I kept getting a sinking feeling as I noticed more and more subtle hints about their fate. I wanted to be wrong very badly. I wasn't wrong and when it was revealed, I cried a lot. There were a couple of moments in the game where I found myself crying for the characters because it was very sad. Those scenes were beautiful and heartbreaking, but that big one broke me most of all. 

It was beautifully done and frankly, the second playthrough I'm doing makes it hurt even more because you realize just how gut wrenching this is for Rook and how this also took a toll on Harding. There is one situation in the game where I thought it was a bit like Mass Effect 2, but in actuality it was more like Virmire in Mass Effect. I don't like it and I still don't like it. The outcome of that scene in Veilguard felt cheap and like it was there solely for shock value. It didn't have to happen. I get why they did it that way, but I feel that it was unnecessary. 

There are also a lot of puzzles, so many puzzles. I do like puzzles, but when it's constantly I have to figure out where this piece goes and this laser goes just to make a bridge to get across it gets tedious and sometimes a bit frustrating. Also, while I like the combat in the game there were times where I would get annoyed because enemies would go straight for Rook and I would find myself trapped in a corner fighting for my life to get out. Rook can make choices throughout the game and of course those choices do have consequences. One choice had me agonizing for a decision for a good ten minutes. For me, it definitely added a layer of urgency to the story and adventure. 

I did everything I could to get the best ending in the game and I was successful. It did feel very satisfying, tying up a lot of loose ends, and bringing the story to a proper conclusion. I really loved Veilguard and I appreciated the diversity as well as the LGBTQIA+ representation. For me, a Filipino Queer woman I was thrilled to see people like me in the game and people like my friends and family throughout all the areas of Thedas in the game. While I do feel there were some pacing issues here and there with the main story, I loved every minute of Veilguard. It was incredible to be adventuring through here again seeing familiar faces and meeting some new ones. It hit all the right notes for me for a solid adventure and a good story. I know I'm going to be doing multiple playthroughs because that's how much I enjoyed it. 

Rook takes a break.

*Dragon Age: The Veilguard is available on the following platforms: Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam

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Hidden In My Paradise, Relaxing and Charming

 *Note: I received the game for free for my honest review. Thank you to Ogre Pixel and Stride PR for the Nintendo Switch game key! 

I've liked all the Ogre Pixel games I've played so far. Lonesome Village and Tiny Sticker Tale were a lot of fun for me, so I was excited to check out their next game, Hidden In My Paradise. One thing I will point out is that in the settings for all of their games the music and sound is very loud for some reason. Luckily, it's easy to adjust it to a comfortable volume which I did quickly. Hidden In My Paradise is a hidden object game with little missions within each level. There's a quick easy to follow tutorial at the start with a fairy helper explaining what to do. 

Learning how to find hidden objects. 

The toolbar has pictures of the objects you're supposed to find. I thought it was pretty cool that you can move the items in the picture around when searching for objects. The game encourages it in fact because some things are hidden behind other objects like trees. You can also change the time of day, another thing the game encourages because certain items show up better at sunset or evening. This is where the mini missions come in. In each level, you have two photos called snaps. You have to examine the photo closely, then find the objects in the picture, and then place them to match the photo so you can take your own photo. If done correctly, you get a little green checkmark and some bonus coins. There are also chests hidden within each scene that also give you coins. 

Learning about snaps. 

There is a shop with a gacha capsule machine. Sometimes you find gacha tickets which you can use on the machine to get different decorations. You can also use your bonus coins to buy various decorations. These can all be used in the sandbox mode to create your own scenes and hidden object puzzles if you like in sandbox mode. 

Getting things from the gacha machine. 

Sandbox mode is another feature of the game I found to be a lot of fun. Not only can you decorate your own scene and choose objects to be hidden, you can share them online with others. You can also check out their scenes and play them finding all the hidden objects. I had a lot of fun checking this out and it was great seeing all the different types of scenes other players came up with. 

Checking out sandbox mode. 

Needless to say, the art for Hidden In My Paradise is adorable and true to Ogre Pixel form, full of whimsy and tons of lovely things to find including hidden fairies in each scene. It's a lot of outdoor scenes, but no two are alike. Ranging from camping in a pretty forest to a nighttime garden full of animal friends there were so many wonderful things to see in each hidden object puzzle. If I had to critique anything, it's the controls. Picking things up and moving the camera are the same button and sometimes when I was trying to pick an item up, it would drift and I would accidentally click the camera. It's not a big deal, but it's noticeable. I'm hoping in a future update they adjust that so it plays a little better. Hidden In My Paradise isn't very long; with doing everything in the main puzzle area I finished in about five hours. The nice thing is you can play as much or as little as you want, playing a few puzzles at a time or playing them all. There's no pressure and no rush making it a great relaxing and charming game. Ogre Pixel gave us another terrific indie gem. 

One of my favorite scenes, nighttime garden. 

*Hidden In My Paradise is available to play on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Mobile

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Mothergamer Plays Wylde Flowers

 A lot of friends recommended Wylde Flowers to me because of my love of cute farm sims and relaxing games. Right from start Wyld Flowers had me hooked. You play as Tara, who has left the city life to come try out farm life. Her grandma Hazel is a great guide for the start of the game explaining how to plant crops, how to fish, the importance of getting to know her neighbors, and how to make magic potions and spells. That's right. The small town of Fairhaven is home to witches and that includes Tara's grandma. 

Tara ready to learn farming from Hazel. 

The fact that there's magic and a coven of witches adds an interesting layer to Wylde Flowers. I loved being able to gather wild herbs and flowers for crafting potions in my cauldron. You can unlock more spells and recipes as you go. There's also cooking in the game and as you improve friendships and work on a romance, sometimes they'll give you their favorite recipe to try. Speaking of romance, I felt so seen as a queer Asian person seeing the diversity of all the characters and the queer romance options. I appreciated the understanding that there are all kinds of people in the world and Wylde Flowers showcased this in such a beautiful way. 

Crafting some magic things! 

I did like that you could adjust the settings for how fast time goes. In the normal setting, it goes by pretty quickly, but in the relaxed setting you can take your time getting your daily tasks done and talking to everyone. You can adjust it at any time so if you need to speed time up to get certain events to happen you can. 

Having a walk in the town square. 

One issue I feel the game has is a bit of slow pacing and a bit of unbalance when it comes to upgrading your farm. It takes a long time to even get some of the materials and money needed to rebuild things on the farm such as a chicken coop and a bigger garden. There's a lot of logging and mining involved which is fine. However, I found I ran out of energy really quickly and would have to either replenish it with food or just call it quits for the day. You can sell a lot of the cooked dishes you make for a nice chunk of money or you can do some odd jobs on the community bulletin board which will give you money or items you need for things. Sometimes I would have no idea what was needed for things so I would have to look it up and at times that could feel a little frustrating, but the game's story and ambience is so charming I didn't mind that much. 

Chopping some trees to build some things on the farm. 

There are of course all sorts of cute animals in Wylde Flowers including an adorable cat and yes you can pet them and all the animals. The cat is the first animal that shows up and you can feed and cuddle them. The chickens are the easiest animal to get after that once you have the chicken coop built. The story itself is interesting with a bit of a mystery to solve thrown in. Wylde Flowers had me invested to the point I kept telling myself let's play one more in game day. With all the things to do, the story, the characters, and the relaxing vibes Wylde Flowers is an indie gem that is delightful to play. 

Yes, you can pet the adorable kitty. 

*Wylde Flowers is available to play on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Apple Arcade

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