Queuenanigans

Sharp-eyed readers may notice that today’s header image is one I tacked to the end of my last queue — if so I commend you for your observational skills and/or stalking behavior.

I saw a lot of gulls last week on my annual summer trip to North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Like most of the rest of the country it was pretty hot but not unbearably so; I was still able to do my normal resting and recreationing even if I read a lot more books than typical.

Of course all things good or bad must come to an end, so I’m back in the grind of things (the annual temptation to send in my work resignation from a beach chair was once again suppressed). While I sit here and ponder my next trip let’s answer some questions!

Mitch may not be currently writing the queue, but his spirit lives on!

Let’s answer some questions before a fight erupts over the title!

Tavern Talk comes out tomorrow. A fantasy version of one of my favorite games Coffee Talk (which was an inspiration for it), Tavern Talk looks like a fun opportunity to be an innkeeper, sending adventurers on quests and changing their fates via the drinks you serve. I played the demo when it was first released (still available if you want to give the game a whirl beforehand) and every character I’ve met so far is a delight. Based on what I’ve seen I’m hopeful that the full game will fulfill the promise of its demo and inspirations, and if not well I always have Coffee Talk to play again.

So while I impatiently wait for the game to release let’s answer some questions!

After a month away for patch 10.2.7, Season 4 and ReMists I finally got back to playing and finishing Tales of Kenzera: ZAU and let me tell you this game was so good my friends. While it is your standard “metroidvania” game, the graphics and music were amazingly well-done. The gameplay wasn’t revolutionary for the genre but it still managed to add some twists to the standard formula, and some of the environmental puzzles were hard. This was clearly a labor of love for the dev team and while there’s more than a half a year to go it’s sitting at the top of my Game of the Year list. If you like metroidvanias at all you should definitely pick it up — the price is pretty low too, only $15-20 depending on platform.

While I ponder which mask to wear when fighting my enemies and escaping lava, let’s answer some questions!

I’ve written up two guides to gems this week, one for Cataclysm Classic and one for The War Within. And while they’re not hard to write per se, they require a lot of meticulous work and fact-checking which are not my favorite things to do. By the time I finish I want to immerse myself in a sensory deprivation chamber for an hour just so my eyes can listen to fragrances for a bit. Sadly I do not have access to one so I’ll need to content myself with my second favorite post-writing activity, video games.

ReMists is of course the big news alongside Cata Classic (which I’m skipping) but even though it’s been less than a week I’ve already made huge progress towards my goals. Which is good because I have a lot of other games to play — still need to finish Tales of Kenzera: ZAU and Persona 4: Arena Ultimax, and I’d like to get started on Unicorn Overlord. We’re also only a couple weeks out from Summer Game Fest 2024 — Assassin’s Creed: Shadows got a head start by announcing last week — and I’m sure there will more games added to my list that weekend. TL, DR: SO MANY GAMES.

So while I level my Goblin Hunter through remixed Pandaria let’s answer some questions!

Telogrus Rift has solved the issue of transportation among floating rocks perched at the edge of the Void by transforming your character into some sort of Void or Shadow creature. While it’s surely a creative solution, I can’t help but think doing it too often will result in extra shadowy appendages over time or a one-way trip into the neighboring abyss — and neither result seems ideal. Maybe Gryphons and Wyverns aren’t fond of all that black and purple?

That said, despite the clear and present danger to your character’s existence I do recommend partaking in the new patch 10.2.7 questline. It doesn’t take very long and you see the pieces of The War Within start to come together.

While I ponder whether an Earthen covered in tentacles would actually be a roper — no, not those ropers —  let’s answer some questions!

Hey everybody! That’s right, little ol’ me is stepping in for Cory this Monday. Don’t worry, though, I’ll be sure to make it at Cory-ific as normal so don’t be distressed! That said, I tried to get song lyrics to work and I totally could not do so. He makes it look so effortless, too!

Anyways, why don’t we get right to it?

It’s full moon again, crazy how time flies

Sheesh what a week. Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is out. Persona 3 Reload soundtrack is finally released in its entirety today. Dragonflight Season 4 is in full swing. And while I know not everybody is into Sportsball, the NFL Draft starts tomorrow and that’s a big deal for a team owner like myself.

I also found out some genius put together a three-hour radio show of Johnny Fever from WKRP in Cincinnati so of course I’ve been listening to that.

So while I groove to some classic rock and repeatedly hit refresh on ESPN’s draft coverage, let’s answer some questions!

I picked up the very chill game Spirit City: Lofi Sessions this week and I’ve been enjoying having it in the background while I play World of Warcraft and write articles for BlizzardWatch. It’s good to relax, especially since the rest of this month is giving us:

• New Hearthstone Battlegrounds season on April 16
• World of Warcraft Season 4 on April 23
• Cataclysm Classic pre-patch on April 30
• Patch 10.2.7 PTR Soon™
• The War Within Alpha Soon-ish Maybe?

And that doesn’t even include Tales of Kenzera: ZAU releasing on April 23 and Taylor Swift’s new album Tortured Poets Department arriving on April 19.

So while I try to figure out how to double the length of days so I have time for all of this, let’s answer some questions.

Look, it had been a long day of running Mythic dungeons to complete the Taivan meta and I was tired. I was about to hit the final one I needed and decided to take a break while we recruited people. The fact I could summon via the summoning stone without getting up was a surprise but a welcome one and I took full advantage of it.

Speaking of Taivan it appears that RNG is against me and a couple of the quests I need to complete it won’t be up until next reset at the earliest. Since he’s a good boy, though, I’m sure he’ll patiently wait for me.

While I figure out how to attach rockets to Taivan to make him a flying mount too, let’s answer some questions!