From time to time there’s a video game that I’d really like to play, but for some reason or another, it’s just not feasible. A recent example of this is the new Star Wars Battlefront II. The second edition of this game added a cool single player campaign mode, and I’m a sucker for a fun video game with a good story. However, if I want to play Star Wars Battlefront II it means that I’d need to upgrade my XBox 360 to an XBox One, and then purchase the game. This means many hundreds of dollars that probably aren’t really worth it right now.

So I’m doing the next best thing. I’m watching a playthrough of the single player campaign on YouTube. I’ve been a fan of the YouTuber Jesse Cox for many years, and when I saw that him and some of his friends were doing a playthrough I knew it was the one I wanted to see. Over the weekend I’ve managed to get through their first 5 episodes, and am anxiously awaiting the next installment.

Granted, I know that my reason for loving the playthrough so much is a reason that the video game companies don’t like. They want me to get excited and plop down a few hundred dollars so that I can play the game. For some other games, I have gone out and bought them after watching a playthrough (like Firewatch and Valiant Hearts). However, because I don’t have the right console, I think this might be one time when I don’t actually get to the play the game.

One other side note to this whole tale is that the single player campaign ties into a lot of the Star Wars books that have been published recently. So much so that it’s making me realize that I need to get back to reading more. I might make an attempt to put down my silly clicky game at night and read a few chapters more regularly. In the end, maybe that’s the best outcome to this anyway.