As I write this, I’m sitting here at my favorite time of the week. Folks, it’s whiskey Friday. Every Friday at 4pm I have a nice glass of whiskey, and spend a good half hour doing something relaxing. In this case, it’s writing this blog post. I realized April had come and went, and I didn’t have a month in review article out yet.

That being said, this has been a pretty lax month for me. Focusing on two larger games, they being Dark Cloud 2 and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate has the side effect of not having a whole lot to talk about. Although, I finally made the jump into the next installment of Picross e!

I’ve only discovered Picross a few months ago, but let me tell you, it is one of the most addicting little puzzle games I’ve ever played. Everyone knows someone who is crazy about Sudoku, and for every one of those Sudoku-loving people, there are approximately three-dozen people who don’t understand “why the fuck they’re entertained by that math shit.” Same thing can probably be said for Picross.

I won’t do it any injustice by trying to explain how it’s played, but the beauty of Picross is in it’s inherent simplicity. Picture Sudoku, but with less mental math, and you get a cool picture at the end. Not to mention it lends itself to being on portable devices, as it’s the ultimate time burner. 5 minutes on the subway? Perfect, knock out a puzzle. 15 minutes on the bus? Great, knock out 2 or 3 puzzles. Free for an hour? Fuck it, just tear up a whole bunch of em.

Anyway, I’ve only logged about 4 hours in Picross e3 since picking it up last week, which has already let me clear most of the easier puzzles in the game. Since I’ve already got my methods “down,” from playing the first installment, I burn through these puzzles pretty fast. I do consider myself slightly a wizard when it comes to Picross, it’s the type of mental gymnastics that I really enjoy.

And no, you don’t have to be a math whiz to play this game. Just go try them. There’s a whole collection of them on the eShop, and all of them are merely $6 each. Episode 1 took me 24 hours to complete the whole thing, so you’re definitely getting your moneys worth.

Side note, if you’re interested in learning more about Picross, the entry fee is, well, free. Go on the 3DS eShop and download Pokemon Picross! It’s a freemium-type game but will let you learn the ropes.

Getting back to the non-filthy-casual stuff, Dark Cloud 2 is moving along well. Boy, is this a long game. I’m only ~30 hours in so far, and I have no idea how long it’s going to take me! Still loving it though and am pressing onward. I still have an article planned, but I’ve made quite a bit of progress and the focal points are starting to blur.

I’ve been slowly tapering off Monster Hunter 4, but only because it feels slightly pointless to keep going with Monster Hunter Generations coming out next month. Something feels pointless about building up my character, only to essentially press “Reset” on a specific date, to do it all over again. Hell, I already know the release date, so it feels even more pointless. I’ve gotten 45 hours out of Monster Hunter 4, and for the $20 I paid for it, it was tremendously entertaining. I also got lots of practice with a multitude of weapons, so I’ll be good and ready for MHG.

In other news, I’m still considering Xenoblade Chronicles… still considering!