I finished Zelda: Link’s Awakening, managed to get Colossal Cave not to crash and gave Red Dead Redemption 2 another chance.

The last part of Link’s Awakening wasn’t as difficult to figure out as some of the earlier parts of the game. The last instrument was pretty straightforward. The dungeon itself was quite elaborate, but fun to figure out. The final fight felt very rewarding with its various stages. I did need two tries and a fairy and a salve, but I managed it! The whole ending was pretty emotional and worthy of a true Zelda game. I rate this entry in the series slightly below A Link Between Worlds. The 2D mechanic in that game was just so cool.

In the mean time I managed to get Colossal Cave to not crash. After experiencing the same crash on two different PS4s, I tried the PS5 and that helped. Also, the image quality on the PS5 was so much better. I didn’t expect that because this looks like a game that a PS4 could easily run.

This meant that I could get deeper into the Cave, which I did. I found a huge bear and got it to scare away a troll. I also watched Roberta Williams on the television in the game. She had a few useful tips, but also some big spoilers. That turned me off a bit. And because the game kept crashing on me before, I was distracted and had once again installed Red Dead Redemption 2. Probably because of all the hype about GTA VI. I don’t know yet if and when I’m going to play that, but I figured that I should at least give RDR2 one more chance before it GTA is released.

I’ve tried RDR2 before, but only played the opening act. After that I quit. Probably because of other games, but maybe because of the complexity of the game and its controls. It always takes a lot of energy to get to grips with the controls of these kind of games. Every action requires different buttons that don’t seem logical to me. Why do I need to press L2 to climb into a train, while at another time you press triangle to climb on your horse?

I gather that it’s all about the realism with this game. But some things don’t seem so realistic to me. I had a fun sequence in which I lost my hat in a bar fight that spilled over to the street. So after the fight I went back into the saloon to pick it up. But at another time, I lost my hat in a fight again and afterwards I couldn’t find it anymore. I resigned myself with going hatless for a while, but it turned out that my hat had miraculously returned to my horse all on its own.

Thus far I’m enjoying RDR2 enough to keep on playing. But I do feel a bit guilty that I haven’t stuck with Colossal Cave longer. I know that I can always return to it later, but I somehow doubt that will happen.