A Game And a Half (-Life)'s Anniversary
Today is the anniversary of a game that is very special to me! Today is also the anniversary of a small DLC level for another game that's just as special to me (the game that is, not just the particular level), and so I wanna talk about them both today!
Eight years ago from today (October 27, 2017) was the release of Super Mario Odyssey! One of the first games that I got on my Nintendo Switch, and one of the few games in general that I have 100% completed.
It is probably my absolute favourite Super Mario game (as in the mainline games, whatever those are) as it has so many things to explore, and has by far the best movement out of any of the games, and probably one of my favourite movement systems in all of gaming. It is extremely fluid, moves flow extremely well, and using Cappy to perform jumps and hit objects from a distance is always extremely satisfying.
Admittedly, with it having so much content some of the parts can be kinda annoying, such as the harder moons (:: cough cough :: volleyball) and finding all the purple coins with only a few left, but I still adore the game to bits regardless.
As I said I have completed this game to 100%. I have a full 999 moon save file, it is my most played story-based game on the Nintendo Switch, and it remains one of my favourite games of all time.
Now, twenty years ago from today (October 27, 2005) was the release of Half-Life 2: Lost Coast! A small DLC level for HL2 which basically served as a tech demo for the Source Engine's High Dynamic Range (HDR) capabilities (which is being able to simulate things as brighter than they really are with a sort of bloom effect).
The level that the DLC had is extremely enjoyable! As its name suggests, it was originally supposed to be in the Coast section of the game but was ultimately removed. It honestly works quite well as a sort of demo to the game in general (albeit not really an introduction since it has mid-game mechanics).
You basically infiltrare a monastery atop a cliff that the Combine has used as a base to launch Headcrab shells, all the while fighting off Combine soldiers, and at the end even going against a Gunship!
Despite the DLC being extremely short, about 20 minutes on the first playthrough for me, it is still extremely fun! It is still just as polished as the rest of the actual game, it features an amazing set piece, the lighting system it introduced is phenomenal, and it even was the first Valve game to feature the now iconic Developer Commentary, which remains one of my personal favourite things across all Valve games.
I adore these games, even if one of them is more of an expansion than anything. They are extremely different but both just so happened to release on the same date twelve years apart, and so I wish to celebrate them both here!
Oh also, as for Mario Odyssey specifically, it released on the exact same day as Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and Assassin's Creed Origins. It was absolutely insane that three games that large came out literally the same day, "Let's All Piss On Yahtzee's Schedule Day".
