I had been avoiding playing Stray, the game that centers around an orange tabby, for a while. As a cat lover, I struggle with animal death, and I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to get through the game. My husband didn’t know that and ended up buying me a copy of Stray with my new PS5. Since my husband bought it, I wanted to give the game a chance at least. Stray was one of the best video games I have ever played, and I’m glad I played it.

As a side note, I wanted to bring up a slight spoiler right away. The cat does not die in the story. Yes, there might be a time when the cat dies during an action sequence, but in the actual story, the cat lives. There are two moments where the cat is seen limping due to an injury. I’m not going to lie, I did start tearing up at the first one. However, these moments are short-lived. I would recommend looking up the story before playing Stray to make sure the game is for you, but that was my experience playing the game.

Stray centers around an unnamed orange tabby cat. The orange cat is walking along with its friends when a pipe breaks, and it drops to the street below. After crawling to safety, the cat enters a city that seems abandoned and desolate. As the cat is forced to flee from Zurks (orange, blood-sucking leeches), the cat meets a robot named B-12. The cat frees B-12 and is hooked to a harness, where B-12 becomes the cat’s companion. The cat and B-12 work together to open the city up to the sunlight after a plague forced the city to quarantine.

Playing as a cat is amusing. I kept pressing the circle button to allow the kitty to meow, and it was entertaining. Maneuvering the kitty throughout the game was easy. There would be an X notification prompting the kitty to hop up on a banister, pipe, or table. I liked the trophies. One trophy included meowing 100 times, or another trophy could be unlocked by jumping onto a table and ruining a game the robots were playing. The trophy list was chaotic, which I think was fitting for playing a cat.

The aesthetic of the game is haunting. The city feels creepy and lonely. There’s an aura of darkness throughout the levels, which I think added to the experience of playing Stray. I don’t normally pay attention to the music or the soundtrack in a game, but I loved the accompanying music. There were moments when a certain change in music would play, and I’d be like “Uh oh… now what?”

As mentioned earlier, this game pulls at the heartstrings. Towards the end of the game, I was SOBBING. The type of crying where I just couldn’t stop. My husband came downstairs and had to ask me if I was okay, and I couldn’t even get the words out. I don’t recall ever playing a video game where I was this emotional. I have no regrets because it was such a great game, but be warned.

Stray was one of the best games I have ever played. The only downside is I can’t find any Stray merch. I want an orange kitty / B-12 figure to place on my desk at work, but I can’t find one anywhere. I bookmarked a few Stray magnets that I found on Redbubble to purchase for later. If anyone knows where I can find some Stray merch, let me know in the comments below.

My birthday was a few weekends ago. It was pretty low-key. I spent time around family and went golfing with a friend. Throughout the week leading up to my birthday, my husband was hyping up the present he got for me. He kept saying how much I would love it. On my actual birthday, he encouraged me to open my present first thing in the morning. I was shocked to see that my husband bought me a PlayStation 5!!!!! I was so excited because I wasn’t expecting it.

I had mentioned to my husband that eventually, I would need to upgrade to the PS5, considering that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is being released in October. I didn’t actually think that he would purchase the PS5 for me. Besides the PS5, he also bought me Stray, the game starring the orange tabby cat. I completed Stray within a few days, and I was sobbing! My review for Stray will be posted shortly.

As far as other games, I want to play Jedi: Survivor along with Spider-Man 2. It was nice because I was able to transfer my saved data from my PS4 to my PS5, so I can replay Marvel’s Spider-Man on my PS5, which is convenient. I jokingly told my husband that I would be hogging the TV for a long time.

I had this post in my drafts for a while. Since January 2022, I have been playing in a semi-weekly campaign at Badwolf Adventure Studios. During that time, I grew attached to my character, Levenia, the half-elf blood hunter. While I have played TTRPGs, I feel like this was a new experience for me. I never reached a point where I felt a connection to the character that I was playing. Creating and crafting Levenia, I really liked playing as her. She’s intelligent, able to hold her own in combat, and at times, has been in peril where I genuinely wasn’t sure how she was going to survive. Last month, our group began the tumultuous battle against Strahd, and I wanted to share how the battle went.

Our group began the session by defeating Rahadin, Strahd’s right-hand guard. Rahadin is an evil character, arguably more evil than Strahd, since Rahadin helped Strahd slaughter the other female dusk elves. It was made aware to our group that Strahd may have the capability of bringing Rahadin back to life, so the situation became a “now or never” to take on Strahd once and for all.

Our group used our knowledge of Ravenloft to make a decision to travel to the top of one of the towers in Ravenloft. Sure enough, Strahd was there, and our battle began. As a side note, my hands were so sweaty, I don’t think I have ever been more nervous to play a session of Dungeons & Dragons before. Our cleric used the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, which is extremely powerful. The holy symbol can create sunlight for ten minutes, which is a must-have for taking on a vampire. Strahd quickly became annoyed and ripped the amulet out of our cleric’s hands and threw it down the stairs. Rude. I came in with the Sunsword, which is the closest thing to a lightsaber in Barovia. Levenia kept stabbing Strahd, which worked great since the Sunsword deals extra damage to undead creatures. Strahd, being super annoyed, ripped the Sunsword out of my hand as well.

Strahd quickly disappeared and began climbing higher up the tower. Our group raced after him. As we did, we noticed that we were at the top of the tower. Behind Strahd was this massive bird called “The Roc of Mount Ghakis”. Rocs are massive birds in Dungeons & Dragons and can be a real threat, especially since we are on top of a tower and could be knocked off at any point. Our cleric pulled a quick move by utilizing Divine Intervention. Divine Intervention is an action in which our cleric could call upon The Raven Queen (or another deity) to act in a time of need. Having a gigantic bird acting as a servant to a vampire feels like it fits this definition. Our DM rolled for us, and it worked!! The Raven Queen appeared and pulled the Roc into a portal. Our group cheered because we did not think it would work, and having to fight off an additional creature would have made this battle much more difficult.

After seeing The Raven Queen help, we returned to Strahd. Strahd did throw one of our allies off the tower, which sucked since she’s a Barbarian / Rogue. However, we kept picking off Strahd, and Levenia got the killing blow. I couldn’t believe that I was the one to take down Strahd. It was so satisfying. With Strahd’s demise, Strahd turned into mist and flew towards his coffin. If Strahd reached his coffin before we did, Strahd could be revived. It was one of those “oh shit” moments as our group ran to try and beat Strahd to his coffin. As our group approached, we realized that one of the NPCs we brought with us, Rudolph Van Richton, had permanently sealed Strahd’s coffin. Our DM revealed that since we brought Rudolph with us, he helped ensure that Strahd couldn’t be brought back to life, meaning Strahd has officially been defeated. After defeating Strahd, we did have to fight a lich, but that’s a story for a different time.

It’s bittersweet to say that Curse of Strahd is over. I have been enamored by the story, seeing my character evolve, and seeing our group work together. Since finishing Curse of Strahd, I have had a month off from playing Dungeons & Dragons, which I think was needed. It helped solidify the memories of the final battle and allowed for some time off. I am starting a new campaign this week, so I will share more about that once I know what character I will be playing and what the world will be like. I’m thankful to have discovered Badwolf Adventure Studios, and I’m looking forward to playing more Dungeons & Dragons in the future.

I don’t normally follow big video game events such as E3 or Xbox Games Showcase. I usually find out about some of the gaming news weeks after the event, and that’s always worked for me. One of my favorite Star Wars content creators posted about Star Wars Outlaws and how the trailer was released at the Xbox Games Showcase this year. I watched the trailer, and honestly, I’m excited. I’m curious how this game will be and when it will be released.

Star Wars Outlaws takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Kay Vess is on her own and resorts to cheating in Sabacc to make ends meet. With her companion, Nix, they end up escaping a brawl at the tavern they’re at and running from the scene. Kay is approached by Jaylen, an acquaintance from Kay’s past, who offers her a way out of the situation she’s in. In the rest of the trailer, Kay is shown exploring different planets with Nix by her side.

As far as Star Wars is concerned, I think the more Star Wars stuff that exists, the better! I’m positive in that way. I think it’s neat to see a female protagonist in a Star Wars game. Without knowing much about Kay, I like her as a character. Her look feels rugged, yet functional. I couldn’t help thinking how she could be a fun character to cosplay as. I’m a sucker for a good companion, and Nix is adorable.

There were some critiques from fans towards Star Wars Outlaws. This includes having another Star Wars game without custom character creation. I feel like that critique is fair. Most Star Wars fans want to see themselves in the galaxy. I think most fans were hoping for a Knights of the Old Republic / Star Wars open-world RPG, and that would be cool. There was some backlash I read around male gamers not wanting to play as a female character. This doesn’t surprise me, although it’s such an odd take. I have had to play as male characters for a long time, and I didn’t mind. Plus, there are so many badass female video game characters (Jill Valentine from Resident Evil, Lara Croft, Ellie from The Last of Us), so why is Kay Vess different from them?

I’m looking forward to Star Wars Outlaws! I think it has the potential to be a fun Star Wars game. Have you watched the newest Star Wars Outlaws trailer? Let me know what you think in the comments!

Insomniac Games, the game studio that made Marvel’s Spider-Man, finally announced on Twitter the release date for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. The game is set to release on Friday, October 20th. I first played Marvel’s Spider-Man back in 2018. I recently visited New York City for the first time that summer, so playing through Marvel’s Spider-Man felt like I was reliving my trip. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is exclusively being released on the PS5, which I don’t have yet. I’m holding out for a Spider-Man PS5 bundle to be announced sometime soon. This is a game I have been looking forward to, so I wanted to share a little bit of what I’m most excited about.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is going to introduce Venom to the franchise. At the end of Marvel’s Spider-Man, Norman Osborn enters a laboratory where, in a test vial, Harry is wrapped in a black webbed substance, which is obviously the Symbiote. When I watched the end credits scene, I was pumped. How cool would it be to swing around New York City as a Symbiote?? Insomniac released gameplay of Venom, and it looks really cool.

If that wasn’t worth the hype, there are also going to be new villains for Spider-Man to go up against. There are some hints that Kraven the Hunter will make an appearance. Besides Kraven, I’d like to see Black Cat appear in the main story, as she was mostly seen through the DLC released after the first game. There is a part of me that wants to use some PTO during this time, so I can sit and play this game undisturbed.

I cannot wait for October. My goal is to play Marvel’s Spider-Man right before the sequel releases, so I will be fresh on all the Spider-Man lore.

I have been looking forward to Gotham Knights since the game was originally announced. I loved the idea of being able to play as members of the Bat Family, especially Batgirl. I was hoping for Gotham Knights to be Batman: Arkham Knight 2.0. I think many other gamers were thinking the same thing based on the comments I had been reading online. As of right now, Gotham Knights is rated 6/10 on Steam, and 73% of gamers liked the game. I can only speak for myself in saying that I enjoyed playing through Gotham Knights, but I don’t think the game is as good as I wanted it to be.

Gotham Knights has an incredible opening sequence featuring Batman fighting against Ra’s al Ghul. During the fight, Batman is mortally wounded. With no way out, he sets off the Batcave’s self-destruction sequence, trapping himself and Ra’s in the rubble. The Bat Family (Red Hood, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Robin) comes together to become the Gotham Knights with the intent of continuing what Batman started. While following up on one of Batman’s leads, they discover a scientist, Kirk Langstrom, has been murdered. This sets the Knights on a path of lies and treachery in uncovering the Court of Owls, an elite group operating in Gotham. If that wasn’t enough, Talia al Ghul and the League have also been making an appearance. Can the Knights prevent an all-out war that could leave Gotham in ruins?

I already know that this review is going to be biased. I loved playing as Batgirl. She was easily my favorite. If I weren’t playing as Batgirl, I would alternate between her and Nightwing. I did try to give the other heroes a chance, but Batgirl always remained supreme. I think being able to interchange between each of the Bat Family members helped, as each of their powers was better equipped for certain combat scenarios. I think one of my favorite powers to unlock later was Batgirl being able to pull up her own drones that would fire on enemies. It was very powerful, and I activated that ability a lot.

The combat in Gotham Knights didn’t feel as smooth as it was in Batman: Arkham Knight. There were times when the game would glitch during an intense fight scene, which was annoying. I would have to grapple away until the game would be better, and then try to start over in the fight. I feel that the characters in Gotham Knights could handle firepower better than Batman: Arkham Knight. There was more stealth in the Batman games, whereas in Gotham Knights, I could enter a combat scenario even if the enemies were carrying assault weapons. As someone who isn’t a stealthy type of gamer, this worked well for me.

I think the biggest gripe I would have about Gotham Knights is the leveling system. For the Bat Family to gain more equipment or powers, there was a need to level up in the game. This got old really quickly. There were times when certain missions, the Bat Family would have to be at a certain level. I would try to play through the level even if I was a little bit below the suggested level, and it made a difference. It was much more difficult and intense. I was playing through the game on medium, as I like the challenge without it being too much. The leveling system was grueling in my opinion, and I felt I had to do side quests to level up quicker when really I would have preferred to finish the main story first without interruption. I wish Gotham Knights weren’t made as an RPG and instead, a story that gets increasingly more difficult as the levels progress.

At this point, I haven’t actually finished the full campaign. I have the last bit with the Man-Bats attacking Gotham. I tried to get past them, and it was brutal. The Man-Bats are difficult, and there are three of them. Additionally, if the Bat Family uses all their health packs, they don’t get any more unless they go back to their hideout, which may reset the progress made, but I’m not 100% sure on that. It was enough that I needed to take a break from the game. I honestly may drop the difficulty mode to get past this section.

I had a fun time playing through Gotham Knights. It wasn’t the Batman: Arkham Knight sequel I was looking forward to, but I’m still glad it exists, and I enjoyed playing through the game.

I have talked about the Curse of Strahd campaign on my blog before. I have been playing in this campaign since January 2022, so for almost a year and a half. Our group changed from meeting every other Thursday to every Thursday to help speed up progress through Curse of Strahd. While this campaign has been ongoing for a while, I still enjoy playing as my character, especially since she’s been unlocking blood curses. The pinnacle of Curse of Strahd is when the players finally accept Strahd’s dinner invitation. Our group has been avoiding Strahd for a while, but after finding out some lore for another side quest we were working on, we realized we had no choice but to accept Strahd’s invitation to dinner at Castle Ravenloft.

**Slight Spoilers for Curse of Strahd**

Our group accepted Strahd’s invitation to dinner and was greeted by Strahd’s guard or assistant, Rahadin. As a side note, Rahadin is a pretty evil character, and I’m hoping our group has a chance to encounter him and bring him to his demise. Anyway, Rahadin led us to dinner, where Strahd gave his imposing villain speech. Suddenly, our group was locked in, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Of course, Strahd locks us in his castle, so we can fight for our lives and entertain him. The only good thing about this was that the artifact we were looking for was in Castle Ravenloft. Before entering the castle, our group kept throwing out ideas on how to steal this artifact, and now that Strahd is locking us away allows us to do that.

Castle Ravenloft is essentially an adult version of a Scooby-Doo mystery. I faintly remember several Scooby Doo old cartoon episodes where the gang would discover hidden pathways in the mansions they were exploring. One of the first traps was when we went to the prison cells, and this pressure plate was activated. Our group was then thrown up toward the upper floors of the castle. I tried to climb out of the box we were in and saw concrete. Thankfully, I was able to head back down; otherwise, I would have taken eight d10 of bludgeoning damage. Major yikes.

Will our group make it out of Castle Ravenloft? I genuinely don’t know. The fight against Strahd could get ugly, and while I already mentioned fighting Rahadin, he will probably be an intense fight. The one thing I will say is that I’m grateful that my character has made it this far because, honestly, there were several close calls. No matter what happens, I will be happy with the outcome.

Gen Con is in three months, and I’m getting more excited as it gets closer. Event registration is coming up, so I’m looking forward to signing up for demos and other events that Gen Con is hosting. There are so many vendors to see, and one that I have had my eye on is Darrington Press. Darrington Press is a subsidiary of Critical Role, so it’s Critical Role’s board game publishing company. In Darrington Press‘s most recent announcement, they stated that they will be at Gen Con this year.

In watching the announcement, Darrington Press will be at Gen Con, as it sounds like they are promoting a new game called Queen by Midnight. Queen by Midnight is a deck-building game where players take on the role of princesses trying to outlast the night and become the new Midnight Queen. The game itself looks stunning. I love the clock design and how the time is set throughout the game. Deck-building games can be a hit or a miss for me, but I think Queen of Midnight has a lot of potential. I hope that there will be demos of the game either as an event at Gen Con or at the Darrington Press booth.

In the above announcement, Matt Mercer did address that Critical Role isn’t doing a live show this year. Honestly, it makes sense. Critical Role has gotten so big, and I don’t think there would be a venue in Indianapolis that would hold everyone who wanted to see their live show. Additionally, that must be a lot of work for the cast to organize, and they probably want to promote more of their side gigs, which include Darrington Press.

I’m looking forward to seeing Darrington Press at Gen Con. I would love to demo Queen by Midnight, as it seems like an interesting concept, and the art in the game looks so pretty. I’m counting down the days to Gen Con, even though it will be here before I know it.