Day 80 of Eric Vs. 365 features Abzu, one of the most beautiful games ever made. Unfortunately, Abzuu didn't really get the respect or success it truly deserves due to mouth breathing morons who don't understand that video games can be things other than Calladoodyshootamans, but for those of us that "get" it, Abzu is something special. Don't worry, it doesn't actually take much effort or pretension to "get" it as the game is beautiful and controls amazingly well and once you get your hands on it you'll understand. Click for more.
I've made it no secret that I love walking simulators despite the loud whining from hardcore gamers (including some in the media) who don't understand the appeal and don't think they're real games. Let me spell it out for you one more time - The appeal of walking simulators is that the journey itself is the fun. Seeing beautiful visuals, listening to beautiful music, and taking in a story that can't really be told properly when you're distracted every 30-seconds to fight off another wave of enemies like in every other game is 100% the point. Good walking simulators tick all of those boxes. Mediocre ones might tell a good story, but falter on the presentation front. And bad ones are probably bad because the story sucks (like Gone Home or Everybody's Gone to the Rapture).
The beauty of video games is that they don't all have to be the same and they don't all have to appeal to everyone, which is why people trying to dictate what "real" games are, or who "real" gamers are, to everyone else is always so dumb.
Anyways, Abzu is great. I originally played it when it first came out on Xbox One and loved it, but then it sort of went on the shelf and I didn't play it since. Playing it again for this video brought back all of those wonderful memories and allowed me to make new ones, though, so I was able to appreciate it all over again. I think that is kind of the key to walking simulators - they DO have replay value, despite what people say, but you need to give them a year or three in between playthroughs and then you can fall in love with them all over again.
