When I had completed my Metroid Prime: Echoes video I had declared that if I cannot complete four videos by the end of 2018 then I would give up RamblePak64 for good. Right now, it’s looking like I’ll have four finished videos by December 31st, 2018.

As covered in Monday’s impromptu blog entry regarding depression, this is the time of year where I’m suddenly struck by infinite question of what it’s all for. It is just one of the reasons that Metroid Prime: Echoes video took so darn long to put together. My efforts to record multiple other games also met in failure, as none of the titles I had been working on have seen any sense of progress. In some ways this is better because it means my recording schedule is intertwined with my play schedule: I’m focusing on recording games I want to play rather than feel compelled to play.

Unfortunately, this plan is not foolproof. While I’m certainly happy to be recording footage of Tomb Raider and its sequel prefaced by Rise of the, the announcement of Darksiders III being an honest to God 2018 release has left me feeling a bit pressured. Part of the problem with game time is that I’d like to somehow schedule titles to play with Steve for the podcast, but our own busy lives often have us tackling games at drastically different times. Were it not for Lost Sphear and Octopath Traveler, my portable RPG experience would be playing Cosmic Star Heroine right alongside him.

It still might be, depending on how long I wait to jump into the cultural zeitgeist of Octopath. It seems my fingers have traveled far from the pulse of things these days.

I’ve expressed in a prior log my concerns over covering Rise of the Tomb Raider with the third game so imminent. Upon completing the 2013 reboot I was left uncertain what I’d even say about the game. “Who is Lara Croft, really?” was the only question to come to mind. In hindsight, she hardly has a real personality in that game beyond “video game protagonist”. Her transformation is from a frightened woman to a… game character. What could I possibly write about that Shadow of the Tomb Raider wouldn’t potentially contradict?

Fortunately, my first half-dozen or so hours into Rise of the Tomb Raider has not only revealed more of a character, but actual narrative themes and concepts worth chewing on. I can create a video for Rise of that exists as a perfectly evergreen look at a sequel, leaving Shadow of the Tomb Raider as its own potential future topic.

There’s no way I can get the video done in the month of August. I have too much of Rise of the Tomb Raider to play through, notes to take, and need to go through the entire script process. I have no idea how big of a video I plan on making. Ideally, I’d be able to put it out in time for Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s release, but I’m hardly an ideal timely content creator.

Regardless, I do not fear Darksiders III being a threat to my Darksiders II analysis I’d like to do. As that franchise’s playthrough will have to wait until after Rise of the Tomb Raider, I’d expect it to arrive no earlier than December. Darksiders II had a lot of benefits, but I recall feeling as if it became a slog towards the end. Simultaneously, I plan on using Extra Life to record footage for twenty-four hours straight, so the deadline might be more possible than I expected. We shall see.

It might be absurd to already be thinking about 2019, but if I can manage as many as five videos in a single year then I’m hoping another five or six can be possible with a much better start. All it takes is to beat my depression into submission. Mark Brown jumping into the Metroid franchise with his Boss Keys series certainly doesn’t help. I’m certain the guy is completely oblivious to my own observations on the games, and one of my greatest fears is that he’ll make an observation I’ve already beaten him to while continuing to dwell in obscurity.

Oh well. At least no one can accuse me of imitating his ideas without credit thanks to publication dates.