Introducing The Game Enjoyer

And hoping you enjoy this, too.

Earlier today, I was trekking back through my previous past in Mexico, carrying over 50 kilos worth of tools and packages. Low Roar starts playing, the camera pans out into what Kojima calls the “Peter Jackson camera”, and I relax and feel just like I felt when starting Death Stranding back in the pre-COVID era. I’m playing Death Stranding 2, which is bigger, better and so far, the most graphically impressive piece of gaming we’ve gotten this year. It is not so much impressive in how it looks (although, it does look absurdly realistic), but rather in the fact that a base PS5 is able to render those looks while maintaining a stable 60 FPS.

Of course, Death Stranding, and its recently released sequel, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, are games better enjoyed at a leisurely pace. And so, a short while after the aforementioned scene plays, I take a break, have some food, and decide to try my hand at writing a substack.

Sorry; this article is not about Death Stranding 2, but rather about me, and about this. My name is Noah Herrera, and I’m a Iceland based gamer, although I am not Icelandic. After years of playing games and reading articles, I thought “It seems like now anybody can pretend to be a journalist, so why shouldn’t I write something myself?”. The rise of AI generated articles and the prevalence of opinion pieces disguised as objective reviews makes it difficult for one person to find decent reading material about games. I am partial to reading PC Gamer, but then again, they tend to focus only on PC Gaming.

I consider myself lucky to be able to indulge in my hobby, and I have a few consoles sitting at home. My gaming PC, of course, as well as a PS5, Xbox Series X, and a Switch, which I currently refuse to upgrade to a Switch 2 until the price drops a bit. I also explore many genres in gaming; just in the past month I played racing sims, first person shooters, JRPGs, strategy and resource management, puzzles (Blue Prince was fantastic), and sports. I have always felt that a well made game deserves a chance, even if it’s not your cup of tea. Back in the day we had demos for that, but unfortunately they have become less common over time.

Thankfully, Game Pass provides me a sort of library of demos where I can test any game in it, and if I like it, I don’t even have to buy it! And so, I’ve spent the past few years playing any and all games that released, from small indies on Steam to big releases from Xbox studios. Not everything was finished, as not even I can like every game. Still, I consider myself to be a positive person, and I try to see the good aspects of every game.

If you are like me, and you want to read about games from a point of view that does not try to consider everything a failure, then subscribe! I will be writing.

As my first attempt at writing something like this, any feedback is appreciated. Here’s hoping that this is the first of many enjoyable articles about enjoyable games.