Week 50, 2024

I have spent the whole week taking my wife to her physiotherapy sessions.

Counting the first one she went to last week, it came up to 6 sessions so far, out of the 10 the doctor initially prescribed her. I haven't specified what exactly happened — and won't, to preserve her —, but we have now understood the recovery is going to require patience both from her and from the family. We will also need to see if additional sessions will be required.

The upside in all this is her case seems perfectly recoverable, and thank God we've found her a nice and caring professional, who's very competent and has helped her, making her as calm as possible during these times. As her birthday approaches, it's nice to be able to count on the kindness of people. I keep on hoping all this will soon be sorted out and behind us.

I have resumed reading Dom Quixote de La Mancha, which I had interrupted while I focused on ending The Overstory. Reading something written in 1605 is very challenging, I have to admit. But at the same time, it's been a pleasant experience to have the chance to read such a timeless classic.

Miguel de Cervantes, the author, was a genius: the way he mixes each ingredient in the adventures he tells, and introduces new elements in a fluid way is really amazing. I won't say it's necessarily a page turner, but it is very close to that: the thing is the vocabulary — a mix of old and new terms alike, but that doesn't disqualify the book; on the contrary.

Besides, I love doorstoppers, and Dom Quixote is one of the biggest I have taken to read to date. I like long fiction books because I'm able to experience the immersion inside the author's imagination for longer periods, and allow their world to take over. It's not by chance people say a book can transport you to many different worlds and universes, and I'm grateful Mr. Cervantes is giving me this opportunity.

I came across Hell Clock this week. It's an upcoming Action RPG, set to be released by the Q2 2025, much similar to games like Diablo, Path of Exile and Hades, but also mixing roguelike progression into it's mechanics.

Rogue Snail, the Brazilian game studio already behind Relic Hunters, revealed Hell Clock on December 4th, and what called my attention is how nice the title already looks being in alpha.

The developers have dug deep into Brazilian history, inspiring the gameplay in the events of the Canudos War, a civil conflict and militar uprising that took place in Bahia, between 1896 and 1897, involving the First Republic govern and the residents of the Canudos city, captained by their religious leader, Antônio Conselheiro. Conselheiro and his followers meant to reinstitute the recently abolished monarchy back, as they believed the Northeast region of Brazil suffered with poorness, lack of food and minimal living conditions, and blamed the young republic for that situation — man, how interesting history is, don't you think?

Back to the game: the protagonist, Pajeú — another real-life character —, is a former slave and fighter from Canudos, who is sent to a futuristic purgatory filled with demons and nightmares. Playing Pajeú, our mission is to rescue Antônio Conselheiro from demons who threaten to imprison the souls of the combatants in the conflict in an eternal cycle of torment.

Although not released yet, I was able to play Hell Clock for about 3 hours this week, as the devs released it in playtest, which unfortunately ended yesterday. The game looks like a masterpiece. It's dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese, with characters accents from the region where the real conflict happened, and the music which is used is a typical Brazilian music. Amazing. It was a no brainer for me to wishlist it.

Tiny Glade's gameplay screenshot

While talking about games, Ghedin accidentally introduced me to Tiny Glade, a cozy game, the kind you'd love to play when you're feeling stressed and only need to relax. From the game's Steam description:

Tiny Glade is a small diorama builder where you doodle whimsical castles, cozy cottages & romantic ruins. Explore gridless building chemistry as the game adorns your glades with procedural detail. No management, combat or goals: just kick back and turn forgotten meadows into lovable dioramas.

Tiny Glades has instantly reminded me of titles like Panorama and Dorfromantik, although it looks like Tiny Glades is cozier. Notice how I've bolded the "no management, combat or goals" part. This is what a game developer trying to create cozy games should look for delivering. Much appreciated... and wishlisted, as well.

I have finished watching the first 24 episodes of Tokyo Revengers. The story so far has been amazing, and it got me really curious about what is supposed to happen with Takemichi Hanagaki, while he travels back and forth in time to fix his life and save his friends and, most importantly, his beloved Hina Tachibana.

Now, Tokyo Revengers' manga, as tells me Wikipedia, is already finished, having run from March, 2017 to November, 2022. And so is the anime — the 24 episodes I have watched correspond to the first season, available in my Crunchyroll subscription. And this week, when I found out the additional 26 episodes are *not available *there, I almost cried. Luckily, they are on Disney+, so I'll keep on watching.

With Christmas coming up, I have decided to gift myself with a new headset. It's been quite a while now that I've got my eyes on the QCY H3, with hi-res sound and active ANC, capable of cancelling up to 43dB and sporting three different microphones and a gaming mode.

I've already got myself an in-ear QCY T1C phone, acquired back in 2022, a nice, mic-less, portable model which came in a magnetic case I can use to recharge it: little fella is very nice, and its quality, along with the brand's quality, really surprised me; so much so that now, looking for something versatile enough to allow me to have good work and leisure moments, it seemed just fair that I'd go with the H3 model.

As I write these notes, my new headset has already been shipped and is under its way. I hope to be able to use it soon, excited to try it before Christmas 😊