Critical Nobody

Last night, my dog Akiba suddenly collapsed in our yard and stopped breathing. CPR was performed, but he was unresponsive. My car’s axel snapped on the way to the hospital causing medical help to be significantly delayed and despite their best efforts, he never woke up…he was 9 1/2 years old.

Aki had beaten cancer once before but it returned earlier this year. He was several months into his second chemo run and seemed fine. Happy, energetic, full of life and the next minute he was gone. He was supposed to have several months left. I wasn’t ready for this…

Akiba is my only dog, adopted by my previous girlfriend and I on Sep 1, 2015 - yes the same day MGSV came out. I didn’t really want him and for the first month or two he annoyed me. With everyone else working, I was his main care giver and cleaning up accidents all day isn’t exactly fun. But naturally, the more time I spent with him (and more importantly once he was potty trained) I grew to love him. Giving him head pats and belly rubs, watching him run circles around my room, teaching him some simple tricks, he quickly became a best friend; a family member.

Admittedly he wasn’t the brightest pup in the world, and couldn’t help but bark at EVERY person that walked by our living room window, but I know I’m going to miss that sound. Knowing I’m never going to hear his collar jingle through the house ever again breaks me as I write this.

This isn’t fair. The world isn’t far. Akiba deserved more time, to go peacefully in his sleep surrounded by loving family. I keep replaying the moment he fell over in my head wondering what I could have done differently, wondering if he was happy in his last moments, but I can never know and that tears me apart.

I’m currently on a cycle of breakdowns separated by moments of composure and I’m sure that’ll continue for some time. But if you have a pet you cherish, take some time each day to show them you care…cause they can be gone in an instant.

I love you Aki. You were the best boy anyone could ask for. I’ll miss you every day buddy.

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1 month ago | [YT] | 1,665

Critical Nobody

I ask this only because I am wondering why the content ultimately failed to garner attention - If you have not watched the "Reviewing EVERY Dead to Rights" video, what was the reason why?

And if you selected option #2, then here's a link to the video in question: https://youtu.be/l-RbahZaGl4?si=6Gbxf...

4 months ago | [YT] | 109

Critical Nobody

Relatively forgotten series + channel not uploading for almost year = view struggles. Check out my video on Dead to Rights if you haven't already and please share it around wherever you can. Every post helps!

6 months ago | [YT] | 105

Critical Nobody

I’m not dead, just dealing with some extreme lag

7 months ago | [YT] | 371

Critical Nobody

For 2023, I’m doing another quick and dirty best/disappointing games list. As always these picks are solely my subjective opinion based on what I was able to play first hand. If you were expecting something specific on either list, there’s a good chance I just didn’t get around to it.

Disappointing:

5) Diablo IV - Played for about 30 minutes, got kicked to the main menu due to a server error, immediately uninstalled and never played it again.

4) Payday 3 - As a casual Payday 2 fan, even I wasn’t expecting how barebones this sequel would be. Add to that a terrible launch and yet another always online requirement and one session of this game is likely all I’ll ever give it.

3) Atomic Heart - The developers clearly threw every idea they ever had at the wall, but in the end that philosophy makes this game a disjointed mess that doesn’t know when to shut the fuck up.

2) Starfield - I don’t expect much from Bethesda these days, but I was still surprised how many steps back Starfield takes compared to their previous titles. A boring slog of bugs, menus and loading screens.

1) Alan Wake II - Let me set the record straight...for the most part, I DO LIKE Alan Wake II. There’s way too much weird stuff happening in it for me not to. It’s more a victim of expectations born from all the 10/10 scores I saw before launch. I dig what Remedy does in many ways, but some needlessly slow pacing, reliance on obnoxious jump scares for all of it’s “horror” and a bug that soft locked progress more than once kind of soured my general opinion of it.
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Best:

5) Baldur's Gate 3 - This should objectively be Game of the Year. It’s content rich with memorable characters and gives the player tons of freedom in both narrative decision making and play style...but it’s also so massive that I had my fill once I finished Act 1. I generally don’t have the patience for games this huge anymore, but I recognize that BG3 is worthy of all the honors it gets.

4) Bomb Rush Cyberfunk - I’ve never played Jet Set Radio and even I can tell this captures it’s spirit perfectly. The trick system is on the simple side but when complimented with the game’s flashy style and catchy soundtrack, the laid back loop of comboing and tagging manages to be fun for the entire runtime.

3) Remnant II - The first Remnant was my GOTY in 2019 and it’s sequel also delivers. The same satisfying combat with expanded classes, tons of weapons to play with and seemingly endless secrets to uncover allow for tons of replayability. It’s final zone leaves things on a sour note with an artificial difficulty spike, but that’s doesn’t negate the 30 hours of quality that proceeded it.

2) Dredge - A chill fishing sim and Lovecraftian intrigue makes for an engaging mix that’s easy to lose time in. Upgrading your boat for efficiency and discovering more of the tales dotted around the map are equally rewarding. One of the more unique indie games I played this year.

1) Hi-Fi Rush - Hands down my favorite game of 2023. It exude a never-ending enthusiastic energy, has tight rhythm based combat mechanics highlighting the killer soundtrack and has a loveable cast of characters that are easy to root for. As a guy well known for nitpicking and cynicism, Hi-Fi Rush reminded me why I love video games.
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BONUS
Worst:

Redfall - My group and I got curious and made the ill-fated decision to play this one night. Every mission had us walk across a lifeless map, engage four or five brain dead enemies with the worst shooting I’ve felt in years and then teleport back to base. Rinse and repeat. After about three hours, one friend asked “So...when are going to do the main missions?”. Little did he know, we’d been doing them the entire time. The game crashed shortly after and we all deleted it from our hard drives. Absolute garbage fire.

Please share your favorite/least favorites of 2023. Here’s hoping next year I actually make content again <3

1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 309

Critical Nobody

I sound like a broken record by now, but I feel like I should once again apologize for my lack of content this year. There’s only so many times I can blame my headspace before it’s not acceptable and we’re long passed that point. I’ve felt stuck for a long time with a routine of starting projects and then stopping before any real progress is made, and that's if I do any work in the first place. I recognize I have issues, but also can't get myself to actually do anything to fix it. I just can't guarantee when I'll have another video out, but I thank you for your patience.

1 year ago | [YT] | 617

Critical Nobody

1 year ago | [YT] | 337

Critical Nobody

While I continue trying to get my brain in enough order to do actual work, I'm planning on streaming various horror related games over the next month; whatever I feel like playing on a case by case basis. Some of these streams will be on Twitch, some will be here on YouTube. I know that everyone would prefer I do more regular video content (trust me, no one is more aware of that than I) but given my headspace over the past year I simply can't guarantee when I'll get something done. I know that's a terrible excuse, but it's the only honest one I have.

In the meantime, given that this is the month of spooks, I'll recommend a smaller channel that I've recently started watching called Painticus (youtube.com/@Painticus ). He mostly focuses on discussing horror games/topics and I think he does good work. Allow him to fill the content void that I'm currently having trouble with.

Thank you and good day <3

1 year ago | [YT] | 171

Critical Nobody

For those that missed it: If you’re a SWAT 4 fan and have been feeling neglected the last two decades, Ready or Not is exactly what you’ve been looking for 🚨

1 year ago | [YT] | 30

Critical Nobody

Thanks for the patience these last few months. I’m currently editing so you’ll see something from me in the next couple days 👮🏻‍♂️

1 year ago | [YT] | 245