300th Post! - Top 5 Posts (So Far)

Would you look at that folks.  It appears we've reached the 300th post for this portal of all things gaming.  To commemorate this milestone, I thought it'd be fun to share some stats and take a look at the Top 5 viewed posts from this blog thus far.  So without further delay, here are the posts that generated the most buzz over the past 300 posts:

-1- Throwback Thursday - Hearthstone

As part of our weekly look into my Top 100 games and general nostalgia, Hearthstone ranked as my 57th prominent games of exceptional craft and compelling gameplay.  At the time of that post, the latest expansion for Hearthstone had been Kobolds & Catacombs, which added a new single-player campaign mode, pitting players against a series of bosses as they built up their decks in rogue-like fashion, as well as a slew of new cards and mechanics, such as Recruit which pulls minions from your deck straight onto the battlefield or upgradable spells should certain conditions be met while they're in hand.  Since then, two new expansions have also seen release, The Witchwood and The Boomsday Project, the latter of which introduced an interesting new type of single player experience for a slew of puzzle-solving micro challenges based on various conditions, such as clearing the board of all minions or healing your character back to full health.  While the meta of this popular digital card game is constantly shifting and often times feels quite broken, the frequent incorporation of new mechanics and modes makes this game a continual joy to stay a while and warm up by the hearth.

-2- Year in Review - Top 5 Games of the Year (2017)

As is a time old tradition come the end of any year, there's nothing quite as enjoyable than reflecting back at the year passed and considering / debating the best of the best to grace our lives during that time.  For 2017's Year in Review, we looked at the Top 5 Games, Follow-Up Games (games not played), and Soundtracks, 2017 being a notable year for fantastic video game scores.  Somewhat expected, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild won top honors as Game of the Year being an exceptional and profound experience long since felt in the medium of gaming.  With that said, having now played one of the Top 5 Follow-Ups, Hollow Knight, this game would have easily beaten Zelda for Game of the Year, which is absolutely no small feat.  2017 will certainly be held in the highest regards as an esteemed year for games.

-3- Video Game Music for the Holidays - Volume I

Another, more personal tradition of mine the past 5 years has been the gift of holiday music among family and friends.  That is, musical scores from assorted video games that fit the general vibe of the holidays.  It not only offers a some much needed variation to the umpteenth version of Jingle Bells, but I also hope to raise an awareness and appreciation for games as an art form.  To enjoy the full playlist of all five current volumes of Holiday Ambience (roughly 4 hours of merry melodies!), you can find such right here.  And look forward to Volume VI to debut sometime in the next month or so.  If you have any ideas for suggested tracks in this year's album, let me know in the comments below!  Otherwise, sit back and enjoy some groovy tunes.

-4- Super Mario Odyssey Review

There was much excitement and anticipation in regards to what a return to the traditional exploration-focused 3D Mario adventure would entail when it debuted on the Nintendo Switch with Super Mario Odyssey.  The result was far wackier, creative, and incredibly joyful than most anyone could have imagined.  With a plethora of power moons to find and clever ideas to discover, this is a Mario game for the ages.  Click here for a more in-depth look at this audacious odyssey.

-5- Splatoon 2 Review

The original Splatoon proved to be quite the fun surprise on the Nintendo Wii-U, so naturally the world was curious what offerings were to be found with this squidy sequel on new hardware at that.  Turned out to be largely more or less the same experience, but with more polish and more of a jump-start with weapons and stage selection.  One of the newer, more interesting modes to be found was Salmon Run, which pits 4 players in a cooperative survival experience to fight against hordes of mutated salmon and other various fishy monstrosities.  Since Splatoon 2's release, there has been a consistent release of new stages, gear, modes, and even one new DLC, the Octo Expansion, which includes a challenging new single-player story mode and the capability to play as Octolings in multiplayer.  There's a lot to be loved in the world of Splatoon; Just bear in mind the sometimes spotty online (of which you now need to pay Switch Online to play).  See here for more details on the base version of Splatoon 2 as was seen at launch.


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So there you have it, the Top 5 viewed posts as of time of this 300th post.  But don't let the numbers speak for yourself.  What are your favorite posts found on Hughes3D thus far?  Any suggestions for future topics or games in which to cover?  Be sure to share and discuss in the comments below.  And here's to several hundred more posts and gaming discussions to be had!