Quick Catch-up

Hey everyone,

Here’s to a happy Thursday! I hope your week has been great so far and I hope it keeps going great. I’m sorry I haven’t posted anything yet this week, it’s been rather busy, but thankfully, I’ve been able to get work done on the short story for this week. Today will be a short catchup post on some of the fun stuff I’ve done these past several days. So, let’s jump into it shall we?

Last week the latest game from FromSoft, Elden Ring, dropped and my friends and I have been playing it into the ground. I’ve found it to be a wonderfully crafted game. That said, much like the rest of their games, my blood pressure goes through the roof. I’m a big fan of the Soulsborne games, Dark Souls being my first introduction. When I first started there was this unshakeable sense of wonder and terror. These games punish mistakes with ruthless brutality. But the visuals are beautiful so at least you get a nice view while the game kicks your butt. I wasn’t a fan of Dark Souls 2, but I thought the third game in the series was great, however, I’ve yet to beat it. Then there’s Sekiro which I’ve found to be another beast entirely and frankly I hate the gameplay. But the lore and artwork are still top notch. Now, we’ve come to Elden Ring. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I’m enjoying the game. At least when it’s not beating my character into a bloody pulp. As far as I’m aware this is the first of FromSoft’s games that has an open world as opposed to the more linear hallway setup that the other games had for their levels. I love the change. Coming across random dungeons to fight bosses, finding secrets, and NPCs dotted across a massive landscape has all been awesome.

As I said though, my blood pressure goes through the roof. Sometimes it’s just the NPCs in the world who are liable to kill my character in one hit or more often the bosses who do the same thing. These are not easy games, especially for people just starting. Some bosses will just stick to your character and not give you a second to heal or rest. However, as high stressed as it gets, once you finally beat a boss, you get hit with a massive sense of relief and accomplishment. I won’t put any names and do my best to avoid spoilers as the game has just recently come out and I wouldn’t want to ruin anything for those who haven’t played yet. Easily my favorite boss is the first major boss that you’re looking for, the voice acting, the room setup and the boss design are amazing. I didn’t know and still don’t know much about the character’s story, but I really want to know more. The boss that has, to put it bluntly, royally pissed me off is what I believe the third major boss I need to beat. The room is massive, and the gimmick of the fight is to summon a small horde of NPC allies to help you fight it. However, they’re not useful in the slightest. The boss is huge by the way, so his attacks just sweep through all of your allies and you and will probably kill everyone it hits in one or two swings. Also, when you open up the fight the boss will fire arrows that track their target and cut through half of my health bar. Honestly, I think it’s ridiculous, but I’ll just explore the rest of the map and find a place to farm for runes which is the currency for leveling up. I think I might be going about the game incorrectly. Sekiro differed from the playstyle of Dark Souls and while Elden Ring is closer to Dark Souls in gameplay it still has its differences. Overall, though, I still love the game, despite the trouble it gives me.

Aside from playing Elden Ring when I get the chance to, last Saturday I went to a sporting club called The Preserve for their Hobbit Hole dining experience. Without a doubt, the place screamed “money.” Not that it’s a bad thing, the whole place looked beautiful, I just found it to be a bit of a culture shock. It’s not every day that I see people dressing up for what appeared to me to be casual gatherings that just so happened to be at an expensive place. I won’t pretend like I understand the rules and norms of higher society nor is it likely that I ever will. However, to each their own. We were escorted to the Hobbit Hole after signing a few waivers, and when I saw it, I couldn’t help but grin. They did a great job nailing the exterior décor and appearance. The inside was also beautiful, aside from a few small details that I think they could have done better with. I feel the need to mention that the service from the workers was fantastic. But how was the dining experience? In short, I loved it. It was a four-course meal with every course pairing with a tasting of four different Maker’s Mark bourbons. Of the bourbons, which got stronger with each tasting, I found the first two to be pleasant, the second one was bearable, but the last one smelled like it was going to clean me. I was surprised to find the last tasting of Bourbon was paired amazingly with the dessert which was a chocolate bread pudding. I never would have guessed that the two would be such a powerful mix. I think my favorite dish was duck paired with a caramelized apple slice. The two flavors were a great mix. It was a lot of food though. I was still stuffed well into the second day. After dinner we sat around fire outside enjoying some tasty cigars. I dare say that I’m very tempted to go again before the year is out.

I’ll wrap this post up and get to working on the short story for tomorrow. Overall, I had some enjoyable experiences between Elden Ring and the Hobbit Hole dinner. Here’s to a solid end of the week, and an awesome weekend for us all. Thanks for reading and have a great one.

Best regards,

Aaron Kirby