The Road Ahead

I'd like to indulge myself for a moment by imagining that there's anyone who actually reads this blog or cares about my YouTube channel and talk about the road ahead.  I know there actually isn't, so this post will just be a way for me to put my thoughts down in writing.  Having just finished a milestone in my Kingdom Rush Origins Impossible Hero Challenge, I figure this is a good time to do so.

The Past

Let's start by talking about the games I've already done, because some things are not yet complete:

• I want to do a 2nd quest video for Castlevania analogous to my first one.  There are a few secrets in the 2nd quest that aren't in the first, and the 2nd quest is obviously a lot harder, so I feel it is video-worthy.  If you recall my original post on the game, I talked about doing a speed run.  However, in the time since then I've realized that speed runs are just not my thing.  I'm a 100% kind of guy.  I may still try to do a high score run, we'll see.
• I pinky swear I really will finish my Baldur's Gate walkthrough at some point.  I love BG, but an issue I have with really large RPGs is that I need to be in the right mood for them in order to maintain momentum and keep going.  Once I lose momentum, it can be hard to get it back.  I don't remember what distracted me originally.  It may have just been fatigue with the game (I actually have several more videos that I completed but just haven't uploaded because they need editing).  But fear not, at some point I will get that itch in the back of my mind that will propel me back into the game.
• The only thing I still have to do for Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession is update my gameplay guide with new copies of the maps.  On this playthrough I did a much neater job of annotating the maps, and I'd like to put those better images into the guide.
• Now let's talk all things Kingdom Rush:
• I'm still loving my Impossible Hero Challenge.  I was worried that I was going to lose steam at some point (see the momentum problem I talked about above), but I'm actually still quite jazzed.  In terms of recording videos I'm actually working on the Shrine of Elynie, and I'm excited to finish that and start working on the bonus maps, which I know will really put our heroes to the test.
• I would like to do a Veteran Hero Challenge (since there is no "impossible" difficulty) for both Kingdom Rush and Kingdom Rush Frontiers as well.  However, this is probably going to be way down the line.  Let me admit something: my Impossible Hero Challenge series really was born from a sense of guilt.  You see, when I did my walkthrough series for the game, I chose the hero best suited for the map.  However, on Steam you get all the heroes when you purchase the game versus mobile where only the first three are available and you have to purchase the others.  I know there are people on YouTube doing walkthroughs for the game using just the free heroes, and that put an uncomfortable itch in my brain that I wasn't truly one hundred-percenting the game by using the better, non-free heroes.  So I decided I wanted to go back and do the maps with the free heroes, and then the idea hit me for this series of doing all the heroes and ranking them.  I still have that itch for both KR and KRF since I did the same with those walkthroughs.  However, doing a video series like this is a huge commitment (for Origins I will ultimately do 1,104 videos - 23 maps x 3 modes x 16 heroes).  The thought of tackling that for two more games is enough to keep the itch at bay for now.
• Kingdom Rush Vengeance is out on Steam now.  However, I have steadfastly avoided the temptation to purchase it yet.  I know the moment I do that I will switch over to it and have a hard time ever getting back to Origins.  So I am waiting until I finish my Impossible Hero Challenge before moving on.
• I really want / need to update my gameplay guides for all three games.  However, doing so is just never as exciting as actually playing the games, so it's a matter of pushing myself to do so.

The Present

I've got a few things in the works right now:

• Having completed Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession, I decided to go ahead and tackle the sequel - Ravenloft: The Stone Prophet.  This one is going to take a while, however.  I've only played about half of the game prior to this (it's just not as good as Strahd's Possession and I lost interest before finishing).  I need to do a first playthrough to figure everything out for an optimal walkthrough, then go back and actually record a walkthrough.  It will probably be a couple of months.
• Just as the Halloween season inspired me to get back into Ravenloft, it also inspired me to go back and play Limbo.  I'm currently working on a no-death, all secrets run.  I just need a little more practice before I start recording my attempts, and then of course it's a matter of actually making that perfect no-death run.

The Future

I certainly have many games in mind that I want to do - so many that I somewhat despair of ever actually getting to them all.  For this section I'm going to limit myself to games and series I've already played before.  I'm not sure what order I'll do them in, so I'm going to group games by genre:

• First let's talk RPGs:
• I'm a big fan of the old SSI AD&D games, and I definitely want to do their Darksun series: Shattered Lands and Wake of the Ravager.  Shattered Lands is one of my favorite RPGs of all time.
• Speaking of AD&D, after I finish BG1 (I promise!) I absolutely want to do BG2 as well.
• Of course no old games channel would be complete without the Ultima series.  I haven't played every single one, but I definitely want to do 1-7 and both Ultima Underworld games.  I'll probably do 8 as well.  I don't know if I'll have the stomach to do 9 - for those who don't know, it's the equivalent of the Star Wars prequels for Ultima.  I'd ideally like to include the two Worlds of Ultima games (Martian Dreams and Savage Empire), but that may have to wait.  I have no plans to do any of the console games - whether ports or originals.
• I'm a huge fan of the Quest for Glory series.  I've never played 5, but I have completed all the others, so definitely expect 1-4 and eventually one day 5 as well.
• There's a nearly-forgotten old game called The Summoning that I absolutely adore.  It's an old-school isometric action RPG, and it's fantastic.  It was made by a company called Event Horizon, which later became DreamForge and made the two Ravenloft games.  It's actually a semi-sequel to an earlier game called Darkspyre.  I'd like to try to play that one first, but we'll see.
• I've only ever played Lands of Lore 1, not 2 or 3, but I would like to do a video for it.  It's an interesting entry in the history of CRPGs - noteworthy, but not game-changing by any means.  I'll have to see if I'm inspired to try 2 and 3 afterwards.
• I'm interested in doing playthroughs of the original Diablo now that it's out on GOG.  However, I will admit this is low on my priority list.  I'm not sure how well a randomly generated hack and slash dungeon crawler would do as a video series.
• Now let's talk about simulation games:
• Most all D&D games made back in the 80s and 90s were made for the AD&D rules.  Very few were made for the Basic D&D rule set.  However, there's an obscure old game called Stronghold (not the better known Stronghold game from 2001) that was that I'd like to do.  It's not an RPG, but a 4X kind of game, but from way before modern 4X conventions.  As such, it has a certain charm in how laughably awful its interface is.  Nevertheless, I've spent many pleasurable hours with it, and I'd love to keep its memory alive. 
• Warcraft 1 and 2 are available on GOG now, so I'm planning to do series for them.
• I'm toying with the idea of doing the original MicroProse X-Com games - at least the first two.  I've only ever played Terror From the Deep, but if you don't know, it's largely just a re-skin of the original UFO Defense.  I have no interest in the few other games made after that, but I would like to do the 2012 Firaxis X-Com as well.  It is perhaps the best example ever of a remake of a game that captures the heart and spirit of the original while improving on it in every way.
• Speaking of MicroProse, they also published the very excellent games Master of Orion and Master of Magic.  The Master of Orion series is well remembered, as evidenced by the 2016 remake.  Master of Magic seems to have become a game that time forgot, however, even though it is just as good as - or arguably better than - Orion.  I'm not sure how well these games would do as videos, but I'm at least keeping them in mind.
• I played an old strategy game named Warlords 2 back in the day.  It probably wouldn't make for good videos, but it's one of those games I might do just for fun at some point.
• I'd also like to stroll down the history of FPSes as well:
• The original Wolfenstein 3D and its sequel, Spear of Destiny are definitely on my list.
• How could I do classic FPS games and not do Doom 1 and 2?  I have so many fond memories of Doom deathmatches with my friends from my teenage years.
• Half Life 1.  Enough said.
• My favorite FPS games of all time, however, are Serious Sam The First Encounter and The Second Encounter.  I don't have the time to go into why I love them so much here, but as far as I'm concerned, this is the height of FPS glory.
• And now miscellaneous PC games:
• Star Control 2 is one of the most fun and best written games of all time.  The story is serious, but at the same time it's possibly the funniest game ever made.
• Long before the modern Magic the Gathering games, there was originally the 1997 MicroProse game which took place in the world of Shandalar.  It was quirky, to be sure, but I have great nostalgia for it.
• Raptor: Call of the Shadows was a vertical-scrolling shooter from the 90s.  Not particularly memorable, but I did have fun with it back in the day and might do it just for fun.
• Plants vs Zombies
• Portal 1 and 2.
• This blog started out with a NES game, and I haven't forgotten them.  I need to get an El Gato to record from my NES Classic first, though, so it may be a while.  There are other games not on the Classic I want to do as well.  Here is the complete list I plan to (eventually) do:
• Castlevania 2 and 3
• Contra and Super C
• Final Fantasy
• Gauntlet
• Ghosts 'n Goblins
• Gradius
• Kid Icarus
• The Legend of Zelda 1 and 2
• Marble Madness
• The Mega Man series
• Metal Gear
• Metroid
• The Ninja Gaiden series
• Punch-Out!! (I'd do the original Mike Tyson version if I could)
• R.C. Pro-Am
• Shadowgate
• Super Mario Bros. 1, 2 and 3

The Far Future

I feel like just doing the games above that I've already played will take the rest of my life, but there are so many more classic games I want to play as well.  I'll just have to see if I ever get to them:

• There are several classic D&D games I still haven't played:
• Planescape: Torment
• Icewind Dale 1 and 2
• The Gold Box series
• The Eye of the Beholder series
• Other miscellaneous Forgotten Realms games
• The various DragonLance games
• I've always been interested in the Might and Magic series.  A friend in high school got really into them and I watched him playing them some, and they always looked like solid RPGs.
• MicroProse produced a game named Darklands that has somewhat been forgotten, but those who know it hail it as one of the best games of all time.
• I did technically play King's Quest 2 when I was a little kid, but I had no idea what I was doing.  I do love classic point and click adventure games though, so I'd love to do the whole series.
• There was a lesser known RPG series named Castle of The Winds.  History has not remembered it well, probably because it had the oddity of being a Windows 3.1 game, but I had a friend in high school who played it a lot and liked it.  I'm all for rescuing the memory of old games.
  
• Besides the original NES Final Fantasy, I've never played any other games in the series (yeah, I know), but I've always been interested in them.

This list is by no means complete - my GOG and Steam wishlists are much, much longer than this - but I feel I have to exercise some restraint and list only my highest priorities.

Great Games, But Not in the Cards

There are some games which I love unreservedly, but have no plans to do videos for:

• I'm a huge fan of the Borderlands series, but I have no desire to play them all over again.  It takes so long to 100% even one character, it would take years to do just 1 and 2.
• I love Skyrim as much as anybody, but I highly doubt anyone would be interested in watching my hard core OCD way of playing it.  I might change my mind on this one, we'll see.  On that note, however, this is the only Elder Scrolls game I've played, and I'd really like to do 1 through 4.  1 and 2 might be more amenable to doing videos for.