Super Mario Wonder and Dave the Diver are my latest video game fascinations.
Wonder is one of those Mario games that goes back to two-dimensions but really lives up to that title. So many levels you are left just intrigued by the platforming challenges that will meet you at any turn of the game. Grabbing the Wonder Seed usually throws you into a new challenge in every level from the bizarre “run from an oncoming stampede” or change to a top-down perspective or backlit level design and figure your way to the goal.
I’ve explored the majority of the game in 10 hours, but if I want to 100 percent complete (which I may go back and do), I’m going to have to come back to some of these levels with different abilities or badges ready. I have to say the online mode is a real lifesaver (in more ways than one) in this game. I can’t count the number of times I misjudged a jump and wasn’t wearing a badge that bounced me back on stage that I’ve found another player nearby resurrect me away from danger, or done so myself. There are levels I wouldn’t have completed without someone helping me along, and others where I’ve been that helpful person for someone I see is struggling.
Dave the Diver is one of those roleplaying game hybrids it’s hard to describe. Part restaurant management, part deep sea diving (how do you think you get the sushi for your restaurant?), part roleplaying game (upgrading your gear or enhancing the dishes in your restaurant to earn more money). I played the demo and the full game rolled to my Switch this past weekend, which is when I took a much deeper dive. Collecting fish while exploring a sea bed and thinking of the potential menu for a restaurant based on what I’m able to vanquish with a harpoon and a smaller gun with limited bullets has been a fun dabbling exercise as the game gets zanier and more difficult the deeper you plunge into the ocean. Let’s just say as you get to later chapters, the difficulty of fish in even the earlier portions of the level also increases.
On top of that, I’m rounding out this year’s spooky movies for Halloween tackling the Leprechaun and Child’s Play series of films I hadn’t previously watched, as well as some others on streaming services (72 films in total for me, with eight rewatches). Then there’s the books I’m trying to get through on my Kindle (currently a lot of non-fiction books I’m slowly chipping away at).
All of that is on top of being at many different activities in the community and making sure we have a newspaper every week. Occasionally, I do sleep and do household chores, like dishes, laundry and visiting family.
Still, there are weeks where I wonder how I get everything done instead of deep diving into any of these other distractions.