Your Guide to Conquering The Welsh Mountain “Pen Y Fan”
So, you want to climb Pen Y Fan, Wales’ second highest mountain? You, young traveller, have come to the right place! In this guide I’ll walk you through the easiest (and cheapest!) way to climb the ominous mountain, and what to do to best prepare for the trek up 886 metres. Stuff to bring Before you make your way to Pen Y Fan, make sure to pack the following in your backpack: — Snacks and food (Make sure to read the “Calories” section)— Blister Plasters (Unless you use boots you’re used to)— Boots (Do not wear normal shoes, you will slip on the way back down)— Waterproof coat (Not for the climb itself – you’ll sweat enough from that!)— Plenty of water / Drinks— Suncream— A phone (Not 100% necessary, but useful for the trek and knowing where you parked) Calories As mentioned in the “Stuff to bring” section, calories…
Losing Weight With Beat Saber – June Challenge
Why? I don’t know about you, but this lockdown malarky has certainly taken it’s toll on my waistline! Just when I first came to Canada, I was as fit as a fiddle, reaching my goal body fat percentage and soon accomplishing something I’ve always wanted: to get a six pack. Whilst the six pack never came, I definitely got close: Upon arriving in Canada, I wanted to bulk up first, so I could come back to the UK a changed person, which I achieved just last year, and even achieved another goal set: to reach 200lb body weight come Christmas 2019 (with most coming from muscle): So imagine my surprise when Covid-19 came to Toronto and proceeded to shut everything down! No more gym and myself having fallen ill lead to 3 months of isolation, with body weight exercises not really packing the same punch as the gym used to…
Why I’m Unsubscribing from the MKBHD Waveform Podcast
As someone who’s recently taken up walking again, I’ve gotten into the habit of downloading and trying out podcasts. These short form pieces of content are a great way of keeping up to date, potentially learn a bit more about subjects you love, and learning more about the content creators that we all watch and listen to on a daily basis. Given that I’ve been watching MKBHD for years now, I decided to give his “Waveform” podcast a go. The breakdown of a typical episode It started off well – the hosts, Andrew Manganelli, and Marques Brownlee, do a pretty good job of vibing off one another – they have knowledge to add to most tech subjects, especially when it comes to Marques talking about the business strategies of big companies, frequently giving ideas and insights into reasons a company has done something that I would never have imagined. But…
Tomb Raider (2013): A masterclass in Ludonarrative Disonance
Look up Ludonarrative Dissonance on the internet, and one of the first results you’ll find is from Wikipedia. On it, it defines the term as follows: “Ludonarrative dissonance is the conflict between a video game ’s narrative told through the story and the narrative told through the gameplay.” So why, 9 years after the game was released, have I decided to bring this term up so long after Tomb Raider (2013)’s release? Because Tomb Raider (2013) is the perfect game to introduce any gamer, no matter the background, into this term, and how games can feel disjointed, or even not make sense at all. Throughout this video essay I’m going to show you the ways in which Tomb Raider’s plot points are only skin deep, and how you, as a games developer or writer, can get around these issues. It’s been on my list of games to play for an…
Beat Saber June Challenge Update 1: Feeling the Burn!
It’s been 10 days since I wrote the first post, and given that we’re a third of the way through June I thought I’d give a little update on the progress made so far. So without further ado, here’s my current stats: As you can see, I’ve managed to lose 7.6lbs so far, which is pretty damn good! Looking at my workout history, you can see that I’ve been sticking to my beat saber routine daily (apart from Thursday, as I ended up walking 7kms): It’s strange, but the amount of calories burned are all over the place – I have found that as I get used to some levels, my heart rate tends to go down, meaning I’m not sweating as much as before. For example, playing “ride it” used to get my heart rate to ~170bpm when first playing (and failing) to finish the level, netting around 150…
Cat Quest (Switch)
You know what – I saw Cat Quest at EGX before moving to Canada, and even then, I knew I’d love the game before I’d even started playing it. Given it’s now been 2 years since I laid my eyes upon it, why do I bring that up? Cause the game is just that damn good. Yes, I waited far too long to play Cat Quest, but considering it was only £3 on the Nintendo eShop recently, I thought why the hell not buy it – a whole day later, I had completed the game and couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into the second game in the series. Yeah, it’s an old game, but the gameplay of Cat Quest really holds up well. The controls are simple, move your cat around a top down map and attack with either physical weapons, or magic, and dodge roll occasionally, but it’s…
The Pedestrian (PC)
Yo all, forgot to post this a while back, but I actually wrote a review for VGChartz.com again on The Pedestrian – a brilliant little platformer game for the pc. You can read it at the link below: https://www.vgchartz.com/article/442423/the-pedestrian-pc/ Til next time!
The Touryst (Switch)
Preface: It’s definitely been a while since I’ve written a review on this site, but considering I need to get back on track, here is a game I completed over the weekend and thought would be cool to write about. I don’t know how the quality of my reviews will be after so long of not writing in this style, but the length and quality do not matter – all that matters is getting back into the hang of things. The Nintendo Switch is genuinely such a marvel of a console to behold. Given it’s tiny size, the quality of the games available on it never seizes to amaze me, both graphically and from a gameplay perspective. It’s been rare to actually find a bad game on the platform (even if they do exist). Thankfully, The Touryst was another such game that managed to fit into the former camp, with…
Weekly Gaming: The Station (PC) Review
Hey all, So you recall how I said I was working on some reviews that were under embargo? This is one such game. The Station was pretty nifty, if a little short, with the ending being guessed by myself within the first 15 minutes of the game. You can read my full impressions on the game below: http://www.vgchartz.com/article/272495/the-station-pc/ So apologies I’m behind schedule, but as I said before, I will definitely ensure that before the end of the year I’ve reviewed 52 games. Until next week! – Dan
A little update
Yo all! Just a little update – whilst I have indeed been keeping up with my one game a week scheme, you unfortunately haven’t seen a review on here in a while as the games I reviewed/completed are well before their release date, meaning they’re all embargoed. Rest assured that once the embargoes are up, they’ll all be posted on here, meaning I’ll definitely have 52 game reviews on the site by the years end. In other news, I’ve been hard at work on my popcorn simulator game, and am quite happy with the progress made. I think it should be done soon (says every games developer ever), so will post more details in the coming weeks, but otherwise, I’m excited! Hope you’re all well, and until next time, have a great week! – Dan
Weekly Gaming: The Mind’s Eclipse (PC)
Hi all! This week, I look into the new game The Mind’s Eclipse – a sci-fi visual novel game by the new studio, Mind’s Eclipse Interactive. It has to be said that whilst some elements of the game were repetitive (e.g. the layout of the rooms), the rest of the game, such as it’s world buidling and plot, were stunning. You can read my full impressions on the game using the link below: http://www.vgchartz.com/article/272273/the-minds-eclipse-pc/ Hope you have a great week! – Dan
Weekly Gaming: It’s Quiz Time (Xbox One)
It’s been a while since I last played a quiz game, especially one that I can play with family and friends. In fact, it’s thanks to my friends that It’s Quiz Time even come on my radar at all. After a great catch up around their house they proceeded to ask me if I enjoy quiz games and whether I’d be interested in playing one on the xbox, with my iPhone as the controller. Intrigued I jumped at the idea, and proceeded to have a great time answering questions and losing terribly, all in the name of catching up with old friends and having a good time. Fast forward a few weeks and another set of friends were wondering what we could do at a meet up. Thinking back, I recalled it’s quiz time, and how it’d be really useful at this encounter due to it’s control scheme of using…
Weekly Gaming: A good Snowman is Hard to Build (iOS)
Like clockwork, it’s another friday, so that means another game to review! This week I take a look at A Good Snowman is Hard to Build, a game I bought when it was on sale due to a snow day here in the UK. So without further ado, here’s my thoughts on the game. First up, AGSIHTB grabs your attention from the offset due to it’s absolutely charming design, and sweet animation. No matter how long you play the game, you’ll consistently be surprised at how cute the game is, especially given how few assets are on display here. Each snowman/woman you successfully create has its own unique look, leading you to believe they have their own personalities, despite them being technically inanimate objects. It’s charming, and down right amazing in your entire time with the game. So, I should probably at this point talk about the game’s core loop.…
Weekly Gaming: Fast RMX (Switch)
It’s been a while since I’ve played a fast, arcade racing game, and for the first time in a while, I didn’t play Fast RMX purely to review it within a fast timeline for VGChartz.com. You see, since first getting the Switch I’ve been clamouring for games I can play on the nifty handheld – it sucks having a highly capable machine with next to no games to actually play on it. So from the offset, Fast RMX caught my attention, with me adding it to my wishlist when I first set eyes on it. Thankfully, with it just being the holiday season and with it being New Year sales, Fast RMX came down in price, instantly prompting me to download the gorgeous and fast racer. First things first – it has to be said that Fast RMX is a perfect portable game. The short stages (each about 2-3 minutes…
Weekly Gaming – Crash Bandicoot N’sane Trilogy (PS4)
I apologise that this is a day late! It’s always hard to start the year if you haven’t prepared accordingly, and this week was no exception. Being 3 games in one, Crash Bandicoot Remastered was always going to be a struggle to finish, and as I write this I have two worlds left in the final game. So whilst I would usually make a point of completing every game I review, here I don’t feel so bad as I 1. played the games when they first came out in the 90’s, and 2. I feel I’ve played enough of the games to get a feel for the quality of the overall package. So without further ado! Here’s my impressions/review of Crash Bandicoot N’Sane Trilogy! Nostalgia is most definitely a weird quality we all seem to share. We look back on our childhood memories with awe, and proceed to place many…