March 2025 Summary

March was an awesome month, filled with activities outside of the realm of these posts, I almost felt like I should have a section for them now!

Basically, I had plenty of outside activities, a short vacation period, and the like, that aren’t related to media consumption, which is what I usually share month after month.

Being a bit of an introvert, I had never really felt like doing sections for physical activity and the like, you know? Besides maybe gym stats like running distance/speed or weights lifted, which I don’t really keep track of.

In case you care, this month I played plenty of soccer, I tried tennis for the first time, I also played badminton with friends and even some basketball. I had plenty of fun with friends I hadn’t met in a long time, and I am really grateful for that time.

Of course, I also played a lot of card games with different friends at multiple times. Games like Spoons, Snap, Egyptian Ratscrew, Skull, and Oh Hell were played for a few weekends, and it was pretty fun!

Maybe it’s just the vacations i took, but I have lots of energy and just feel great to be alive, I can feel a bit of despair creeping in, thoughts like “this is the peak and you won’t reach any further”, but I am shutting those ideas as soon as they come, I prefer to think better of the future.

Regardless! Here’s the regular monthly update.

Podcasts

Into the Aether (& ✨Patreon Exclusives) - These guys are still at the top of my listening time, unsurprisingly. I decided to support them on patreon and now I have a whole backlog to catch up on, something I’m doing while typing this post.
Next Portable Console (& ✨NPC XL) - Even though my listening time for this podcast is low, that’s only because it’s one of the few I follow weekly, with no backlog yet! I enjoy these episodes a lot everytime they pop up on my queue! I’m always being tempted to get new handhelds, but so far, I’m holding up well.
✨Verbose Guacamole - A new podcast by Benjamin Hollon where he talks about his projects, comes up with short stories on the spot and talks about whatever he wants, I think. Only one episode out for now.
The Ten Minute Bible Hour - I finally returned to this bible study podcast, after more than 200 episodes, we haven’t reached the half-way point of the book of Matthew, and I am here for it! Loving the analysis and insight of this one quite a bit, while remaining pretty chill and enjoyable.
Retro Game Time Machine - I keep only listening to the first 30 minutes of multiple episodes, and I take my time to finish them over time. Still enjoyable for me!
Welcome to Night Vale - I think I listened to the same three episodes a bunch of times to sleep, so I kinda don’t want to count it, but I also listened to a bunch of it while walking to the barbershop once.
Unexplained - I listened to the first 20 minutes of a single episode like 5 times, but other episodes too, I think?
Dungeons and Daddies - I have been struggling to actually pay attention to the episodes I’ve listened of this one. I am still pushing through but I’ve fallen a like 6 episodes behind.
Trash Taste - Only listened to a couple of episodes and a half this time, it’s nice to be back with the boys!
Darknet Diaries - Listened to a few episodes, the Bike Index one was pretty interesting! not much else to be honest.
The Rest is History - Finished listening to ther America in ‘68 series, and a bit of Season 2 of The French Revolution, I didn’t realize it was season 2 so I think I’ll listen to the previous season first.

Gaming

I probably played too many games this month, but welp, it just keeps happening.

Finished

Super Mario Bros Wonder - I reached the credits for this game! It was a ton of fun to play with friends and solo. I will still play it to get more collectibles and whatever levels I totally missed. Highly recommended.

Ongoing

Hollow Knight - After a long hiatus, I finally returned to this gem of a game, I have beaten a couple of bosses, including cheesing the Watched Knights because they are a pain; obtained a couple of charms, discovered a new location and places to visit, saved a few more grubs. Doing progress, and getting better!
Xenoblade Chronicles DE - I have no idea why I decided to start this, it was probably a bad idea, however, I have played like 5 chapters of this already and it’s been awesome! The story has me hooked, the quality of life features in the definitive edition are great, and I can’t wait to play more of it.
Hades - Finally managed to reach the surface for the first time and make some awesome progress in the story. It’s just amazing! I am working on getting some more wins and reach the credits for once.
Triangle Strategy - Got back into this for a little bit early in the month, but the story is getting a bit too long for my taste, I think there’s some interesting stuff coming that I hope will lead to some great actual battle gameplay to enjoy though. We’ll see.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Had a couple of great online races with a friend, participated in the tournament at work and just did some local multiplayer races a few times.
Super Mario 3D World - This is really enjoyable lately, the levels go by so quickly, it feels like a chaotic speedrun every time! Coudh multiplayer of course.
Nintendo Switch Sports - I haven’t played it as much now, but still did a few rounds of bowling and golf.
Ultimate Chicken Horse - We finally unlocked all of the available areas, still having fun unlocking costumes and the like, and just playing when we can.
Worms W.M.D. - Did a few 6-player battles the other day, it’s just Worms, simply perfect. I recently found out fans hate this one? Apparently it has plenty of unadressed bugs, but they don’t bother normie players like us.
Runbow - Just an 8-player platformer game that I wish had a bit more cooperation built into it, still pretty fun though, even if as soon as someone goes too fast the rest of us die.
Spelunky - We did a couple of runs and even reached the jungle a few times, but we are all too noob, except for the one friend (not me) who carries the whole team until we accidentally push him off a ledge.
Balatro - We did another multiplayer run, and we somehow managed to reach ante 7 at last. However, we ended up selling one of our main jokers, and all of our plays became worthless, a sad day.
Fire Emblem: Blazing Blade - Managed to beat chapter 27, and immediately stopped playing for the rest of the month. At least I’m close to beating the story!
Astro Boy: Omega Factor - Made a bunch of progress for this one, the story just got surprisingly interesting for a beat’em up platformer, still have some more levels to beat it!
Final Fantasy VII - Got back into it mid-way through the month, returned to a familiar area after finding some clues of where to go. Now I just need to look for what I need.
Ys The Oath in Felghana - Got to the final dungeon, unlocked a door, got into a boss fight and grinded for a bit. I still haven’t returned to it, I really should though, I’m so close to the end!
One Step from Eden - Got it as a gift a while back, have played it for an hour or so. The lack of story is making me lose interest on it, I don’t know if I’ll keep going.
Dicey Dungeons - Since I got this one on my phone, making progress on it has been much easier.
UFO 50 - I played just a tiny bit of a couple games in this collection, it’s pretty fun, but I haven’t given it enough attention just yet. There’s so much to play!
Ridge Racer 2 - I moved on to the sequel of Ridge Racer since it’s literally the same game but with more race tracks, music and vehicles. I am still not at the same point of the original, but I think I’ve raced just as much!
Faster Than Light - I played a run of this gem and managed to get quite far, however I was invaded and my crew perished in action. They have already be forgotten, but anyway.
Karmazoo - I am still bitter that the main mode of this game is not available for local multiplayer, but the party mode is pretty fun! I should try going solo one of these days, as it’s quite praised from what I’ve seen.

Reading

The Space Merchants - Read up to chapter 6. Not enough progress was made, even though I am still interested on the story, I really need to get a grip.
Cibola Burn - Read up to chapter 8. Book 4 of The Expanse. Finally started this one with my book club, I have surpassed the progress made on the previous book, but I’m still lagging behind some of my fellow club members! Loving it so far.

Manga

Usogui - Read up to chapter 25. This is a gambling manga, where the protagonist has a thrill for betting away his life on dangerous endeavours and getting away with it. Reminds me of Kaiji somewhat, but in this case the protagonist is more of a prodigy that fell from grace in the gambling world, and is trying to climb back up. Pretty hype.
Hunter x Hunter - Read up to chapter 358. Progress slowed down by a ton! After all, the current arc seems to require quite a bit of setup and it’s been slower than the previous ones, but I am still looking forward to it, and will try to read it more. The fact that I’m closer to the current chapters is also a bit annoying, as the manga is on hiatus at the moment.

Anime

Mashle: Magic & Muscles - Finished season 1. This little show was pretty funny most of the time, my sister was dying with the Harry Potter parodies and references, and the gags managed to land everytime for us. It wasn’t very deep or tought provoking, but it is good for what it is.
Pluto - Finished. Now this is a masterpiece. Pluto is absolutely incredible. Superb animation, fantastic soundtrack and sound design, incredible character development, thought-provoking scenes and writing. This was just amazing, it’s probably the best science fiction anime I’ve seen in a while.
Sakamoto Days - Watched episode 1. I think I might stick with the manga on this one, my sister wasn’t that impressed by it, and the action, while decent, doesn’t reach the heights of the manga panels.

Movies

Mickey 17 - A science fiction dark comedy that I found rather strange, I didn’t dislike it but it also made me feel like a lot of stuff could have been better, it was bizarre to watch and quite surreal. The story is about a guy who sells himself as a disposable human that can be regrown and transfer his memories to new bodies time and time again. He’s used for experiments and the like, until one day he gets regenerated while his previous self is still alive. So now there are two of them. There’s also some weird alien worms in an icy planet and other stuff. Not my favorite movie at all, but I kinda think it deserves a watch.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm - Probably the best animated Batman movie? one of the best Batman movies at all, watched it on a whim and it was absolutely incredible.
Avengers: Infinity War - I don’t know why I felt like revisiting this one. Happy to say it holds up, absolutely incredible movie that works amazingly as a standalone somehow. Thanos is still brilliant, and mad.