General Update on my Livelihood

I'm going to Salt Lake City for the weekend, so that's exciting. I'll be able to see various people from my mission. There's a mission reunion on Friday, but I also have plans to spend time with a few specific people outside of that, which I'm excited about.

General Conference is also this weekend, which I'm excited for. I feel prepared and ready to receive revelation for things I want do develop a further understanding of.

The semester is almost done, and I am so ready. I am kind of exhausted of school/everything, so I am excited for the break. I have 5 more semesters after this one.

Just went to my last Smash Bros tournament of the semester last night. It's been a great season! I'll presumably make a blog post recapping it all. I'm still on the Player Rankings Panel (I'm actually the head of it now), so I've been working on collecting important stats and such this morning. It's fun, although draining by the end. 

This semester we have an interesting dynamic because spots 7-11 are all super close, and it feels bad that one of them won't be on the top 10 even though they're so close to the others. 

It's also interesting because I've never had so many people so close together. For example, in last semester it was smaller clumps. The top 4 were pretty clear, but the next two were super close. And then the next two after that were super close. And then the next 3 were super close. This semester we just have 5 people all super close, which definitely makes it a lot harder (albeit, more interesting) to figure out.

Next semester is going to be interesting. We have a couple key members of our core friend group leaving. The ward is going to be, like, half the size it was this semester. The Smash scene will probably be smaller.

Thomas and MaryAnn will be back up here though! And it's going to get warm again! So it'll be great.

Life is good, I think.

Ashes and Arkham

So I'm sitting in Web Development class right now. The teacher is going over an assignment I've already done, but I want to stick around for attendance points and such. I don't think I'd be able to focus very well on other homework, so I've decided to just write.

Ryan and I have been playing Ashes: Reborn, and it's been an absolute blast. Deck Construction games are so fascinating to me. Building a deck before the game is thrilling. 

Tweaking my deck is so fun. Coming up with new deck ideas is fantastic. I love looking at all the cards and pondering possibilities, constructing a deck, and then taking that deck and putting it up against someone else's creation. 

And I love so many mechanics in the game itself. It's so smart, and the gameplay is sharp. Quick, powerful turns. Fun interactions. Interesting decisions. 

It's been great.

Ryan, Angeles, and I have also been playing Arkham Horror: The Card Game as well, which has been great. I love how the struggle feels real, but I also feel powerful enough to handle whatever is put in front of me. Everyone gets to do cool things and we're all unique. 

It's been fun.

Anyway, our teacher said we could go home early, so I'm going to end here.

Made Yahtzee in my JavaScript Class

Made an in-browser Yahtzee game for my JavaScript Class final project. Thought I would share it here:

https://alexperazzo.github.io/CSE121b/Final_Project/yahtzee.html

My Fascination with Rock, Paper, Scissors

So Rock, Paper, Scissors kind of fascinates me sometimes.

The game, when played back-to-back consecutively with time to think in-between, becomes this fascinating mind puzzle of thinking one step further than your opponent. When you win it somehow feels like you truly outthought your opponent. You bested them.

And yet, the funny thing is, it's still, all things considered, a lot of luck. And, if one person so chooses, can become a game of complete luck. They simply draw one of the three choices from a hat or such and such. The game is then 100% luck.

It's fascinating.

Is it luck? Is it pure skill?

And does it even matter? Because when played it somehow feels like pure skill. And that makes it awesome.

I think. I don't know, it's kind of weird, haha.

My Top 9 Favorite Video Games

So this has been in the works for a while (I mean, I guess theoretically for years since I'm sure I had the idea of ranking my favorite video games forever ago).

Recently, I made some really good progress on it and came up with my 9 favorite video games, but I never could come up with the 10th. So I sat on this for months now. I've decided to just settle for only having my top 9, haha.

1. Super Smash Brothers Ultimate

        I mean, what else could it be? (Actually, I have an answer to that question, and it happens to be my 2nd favorite game.) I play this weekly at minimum, I compete in tournaments for it, I watch professional players play it, etc. etc.

        This game is such a big part of my life right now and will continue to be so. It is (currently) my favorite video game of all time.

2. Minecraft

        I have spent countless hours playing Minecraft. Literally countless because there's no possible way (in this life, at least) that I can go and find out how many hours I spent on this game with my cousins summer after summer.

        I think Minecraft is the best video game of all time. I have so so so so many fond memories of playing this game. Far more than any other game.

3. Celeste

        Celeste is such a blessing. It simply feels so good to play and to conquer the challenges it presents to you. As of writing this, I recently beat Farewell (aka, some really difficult levels), and it makes me feel like I can do anything. This game is incredible rewarding and enjoyable.

4. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

        I remember first getting this game alongside the switch. I was immediately captivated and simply loved exploring this world. It's a blast to just go around the map and do whatever presents itself.

        Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (sequel to Breath of the Wild) is by far my most anticipated game right now, and probably my 2nd most anticipated game of all time (the only other one that I can think that would beat it is Smash Bros Ultimate). That anticipation comes from just how much I love Breath of the Wild.

5. Slay The Spire

        Slay The Spire is soooo good and is right up my alley of game. I question if it should be 4th instead. Regardless, I'll keep it here for now. 

6. Hades

        What a fun game. Especially just starting out was an absolute blast. As the runs got longer and longer and the grind for materials became more and more important for additional content, I started to enjoy it less, but I still love this game, and it definitely belongs on my list of my top 9 favorite games of all time.

7. Super Smash Brothers Melee

        This is such an interesting game to rank, and, honestly, I'm not sure if it belongs on this list.

        Here's the strange conundrum with this game:

        I'm a Smash Ultimate Player. If I played Melee more, I am 100% sure that I would love it, but as of right now, I invest my time into Ultimate instead. I don't particularly enjoy playing/competing in Melee because I'm awful at the game.

        However, it is my favorite e-sport to watch. I love watching melee and I love the top melee competitive scene. Even more than Ultimate.

        And so where do I rank it? Should I rank it? Idk, it's weird. I settled on putting it here.

8. Fire Emblem: Awakening

        I just have fantastic memories of playing this game with my cousin Joseph and having an absolute blast with it. Did I enjoy the game so much because Joseph was there? Oh, for sure. Doesn't change the fact that I love this game and the time I spent with it.

9. Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

        Had a great time with this game. I enjoyed it enough to beat it twice -- the second time around one-hundred-precenting the game.

If I had to make this into a tier list it would be as follows:

S++: 

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Minecraft

S+: 

Celeste, Breath of the Wild, Slay the Spire, Hades

Not sure how to tier this one: 

Super Smash Bros. Melee

S: 

Fire Emblem: Awakening, A Link Between Worlds