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๐ชผ
Three Goblin Art
Janaina Medeiros
I'd rather be in outer space ๐ธ
Mike Driver
Jules of Nature
KIROKAZE
Aqua Utopia๏ฝๆตทใฎๅบใง่จๆถใ็ดกใ
Origami Around
Cosmic Funnies
Game of Thrones Daily
$LAYYYTER
Discoholic ๐ชฉ
โ
occasionally subtle
Kiana Khansmith
Claire Keane
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
wallacepolsom
seen from Malaysia
seen from Spain
seen from United States
seen from Finland
seen from T1
seen from United States
seen from Czechia
seen from Australia
seen from Malaysia
seen from South Africa
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
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seen from Tรผrkiye
seen from United States
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@bee-bumbles-about
Stream Schedule for 6/7-6/11:
Sun: Is This Seat Taken?
Mon: Little Nightmares 2 FINALE + Astarion Origin/BG3
Tues: Astarion Origin/BG3
Weds: Fortnite
Thurs: BLIND GAMEPLAY: Baldi's Remastered
(Also, we're close to 10 followers on Twitch!)
Very curious, but has anyone read a book while live on stream? I've heard hail mary is a great book, but i also suck at reading.
Thoughts?
No bonus stream tonight, gonna eat instead!
Have this bee as a token of an apology.
See yall tomorrow ๐
Going LIVE and playing "Is This Seat Taken?" on Twitch in 30 minutes! Hope to see you all there!
Future of Bee Bumbles About
Hey, everybody! so as you all may have seen, my platform is changing a bit since I last came on. In short, I am a Vtuber now, dependently and such! I do more streams where I play the games I would review about on Twitch!
Now when looking at Tumblr, I will still be here, mostly still bumbling about, but more so about DIFFERENT things. Since I am getting my toes wet (don't be weird) into Vtubing, I will post more of my model! Speaking of, this model was made by using the program VRoid Studios!
I am planning on discussing my thoughts on The Last Act which will be streamed LIVE! You can find all my socials, including my Twitch, on he top of my page!
Clips, edited videos, and other things will be on my main channel while VODs will be on my, well, VODs channel. I already shared my schedule for this week, but I will stream Sunday-Thursday EVERY WEEK! Feel free to fly by! As I grow, I would love to animate and create a proper debut, maybe even a new model! But I AM a full-time student doing this as a hobby SOLO, so keep in mind of that, LOL.
Thank you all for your continued support! I adore all of you and hope to see you sooner rather than later!
Toodles!
PUNT
Currently LIVE on TWITCH! come by, say hi!
Hey, gang! Wanted to ask on here about tomorrow stream. Should I wait until AFTER The Last Act is out on YouTube? Or should we continue the stream as planned?
Please let me know down below!
Yap About The Last Act?
Yes, continue on!
No, wait until June 18th!
Cozy Organizer (review)
A while back, there was a game that was on Steam that I had looked into called Cozy Organizer. I had wanted to try out games that were relaxing while also allowing the player to have free range in placing objects wherever they wanted. And while that's what this game offered in the tutorial, it's a flat-out blatant lie. In all my years, I haven't been so frustrated at a game not because of the meat and potatoes of what it offers, but of its title alone.
Let me get this out there now: Cozy Organizer is NOT a cozy organizing game.
In this game's tutorial, it claims that you can put any item wherever you want. If you want the pots to be in the window or the flowers in the fridge, the world is your oyster. But not even five minutes in, this becomes untrue. As you drag your desired items to where you'd like, you can't progress through the tutorial, let alone any level you may be playing in. It is frustrating to be promised such endless possibilities only to run into a wall like Wildy E. Coyote from Looney Tunes. If you're really giving the player full freedom with organizing however they desire, then keep to your word. They bought your game, thinking that it would be.
That's the other thing about this game: it's not even a cozy organizing game. There are levels where it's straight-up a puzzle game. It makes zero sense to include puzzles in a game about organizing things such as vending machines, rooms, counters, etc, only to bounce into a puzzle matching game. I'm going in an endless loop by repeating myself, but this game is called Cozy Organizer. In what way should I feel relaxed or cozy about a puzzle where you give the player 24 ripped-up pieces of paper and put them back together? That can create stress, something the player is trying to get away from. Or how about a puzzle where you have ten poles and four different colored beads on each pole. You move the beads around to make the colors match, but you can only move the beads around and match them together. It's frustrating and messy.
This game is tricking its audience by implementing cute art and relaxing music in hopes of making a quick buck or two. If you don't believe me, I did some digging into the other games Rogue Duck Interactive developed, and sure enough, most of their games have the same art style, vibe, and reviews (mixed to negative). I wouldn't be surprised if this developer was pumping out games as a scam because of how mediocre and misleading they are. Don't buy their products, even if it is out of pure irony or curiosity. Some people don't even deserve that.
Overall, I'm giving this a 1/10 because of how misleading it is toward its players. I don't think I need to explain anymore as to why this game should be avoided. Just don't give it the time of day.
Orange Roulette REMASTER (review)
In 2012, a strange game called Orange Roulette was introduced, which allowed players to play a twisted version of Russian Roulette with fruit. Of course, this shouldn't be a shock to anyone who is even remotely familiar with the track record Newgrounds has gained over the years for having strange and even upsetting things on their website, such as the Alfred's Playhouse series in 2007, Pico Goes To School in 2006, and the oh-so-popular Friday Night Funkin' in 2020. But there's something deeply unsettling about this game, about fruit people being held up in a prison, some of which can't even be deemed as orange people; more like orange demons and angels.
A bit of a trigger warning here for depictions of suicide and murder. Take care of yourselves if you need to pass on this review! I'm sure everyone knows what the game of Russian Roulette is: six chambers, five blanks, and one live bullet. You can spin the chamber or place the gun to yourโ Well, you know the rest. There isn't a point in explaining what the rest of the game entails. After all, this was invented in 1937. We know, we all know what it is.
This game does, however, have a bit of a difference. Instead of a pistol, you have a banana gun. Of course, as I mentioned before, this game does take place inside the world of fruit people. It's sort of hard to explain what exactly is happening. Throughout the game, you are escorted into another room, the orange protagonist you play as mumbling about how "Ripeness isn't freedom" or "It doesn't end here". During a death scene, the mention of not wanting to be used for napalm, which is a gel-like liquid that's highly flammable. At the start of each game, we are reminded that whoever imprisons us will let us go if we simply play along. It drags on and on, feeling like there's no hope, no end for each life we take and each win gained for our promised way out. And you're even more now as to why, if we fail, we get turned into napalm. That's because this game takes place right after a citrus war in 1939. Why do the fruit people still need this substance? To strike fear into their enemies. But I'll be honest when I say that I have no idea. But our fruit person is also depicted as a prisoner from this war. Could it be just another punishment from the other fruits that overtook the oranges? Are they trying to prove a brutal point? If that were the case, why isn't the country of the oranges saving them? It feels even more eerie thinking harder about it.
Throughout the game, there are other oranges that we must kill or have them aim the banana at themselves for us to win. Some are cocky and even emotional, while one orange is straight up, and I'm not even joking, lobotomised. If for some unholy reason you don't know what a lobotomy is, it was a medical procedure used to treat those with mental illnesses and even women in the 1935 up to 1950, having them banned throughout the world in 1975. A doctor would aim a sharp object into the prefrontal cortex and thalamus, hoping to either dumb down the mental illness or be rid of it altogether. They were brutal and banned for a good reason. With that said, it was shocking to realise that one of these poor oranges had been lobotomised either by wherever they're being kept or even previously, while in the war. Although I have a reason to believe the latter due to how, in the time after World War 2, Germany kept their prisoners that were from enemy countries.ย
One thing about this game, other than the artstyle being unsettling even in its remastered state to me, is the music, if you can even call it music. The rewinding sound effects that blast through your computer are enough to send shivers down your spine, leaving you on edge and onguard. It sort of feels like the random creepy cave music from Minecraft to me, how you'll be mining away and building a little underground fortress when suddenly you hear a whistle followed by booms. It gives off the feeling that you are not alone, and you're about to regret coming here. In Orange Roulette, it more so feels dreadful; a burst of anxiety rushing through you, knowing you have someone next to you, but for how long? There's only one way out, and one player must win to keep going. It almost makes me think that instead of being in a state of imprisonment, I am in a state of purgatory. Despite what the Newgrounds page says about this being a living hell, at least it can be stimulating at times.
I have seen this game while looking for long-running video essays, and I'm very glad that I did. This is a very strange yet intriguing game to sit down and digest. Some people on YouTube and Reddit threads have made theories as to what exactly may be happening within the game. While I think they are fascinating to listen to, we also need to keep in mind that this game is about a bunch of fruits shooting each other with a few other game modes to choose from. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that or theorizing, but it's one of those things to me where you have to take a step back and not question it. I'm giving this game a solid 7/10. For me, I normally don't like games where you have to take chances with good ol' lady luck, but sometimes, it can be refreshing. And why not be refreshed with a nice glass of orange juice and a dab of napalm? (Please, for the love of God, do NOT eat napalm. You will get sick or die!)
Megabonk (review)
If there's one game I had heard off and on about toward the end of 2025, it was Megabonk. The game to me sounded simple: you get upgrades after leveling up, new weapons, power-ups, and so on. So would it surprise you all at all if I said I originally didn't have any thoughts going into this other than, "This looks like Cookie Clicker!"? No? Okay, well, that was my first thought going into the game for some reason, and it still bothers me! (If the devs are reading this, not at all an insult. I had an addiction to that game when I was a kid.)
This game has everything out to kill you. That bush with googly eyes may look cute and innocent, but interacting with it will cost you your whole run. What do I mean by run exactly? This is a rougelike game, meaning you start with either nothing or barely anything and work your way up to the tougher baddies. If you're old like me, you'll remember a game called the Binding of Isaac. But once you die, you have to start right from the beginning. Some games like Hades, Cult of the Lamb, and, as previously mentioned, the Binding of Isaac, all have their own mechanics for keeping their players engaged and coming back to try beating that one boss again. What I'm saying here is that I love rougelike games and Megabonk amps it to a million percent in the chaotic department.
And I mean that this game is the definition of what if we just took the graphics of Runescape, used an easy to learn power-up/weapon system, and had all of the enemies gravitate toward you faster and faster? Because that's what Megabonk is, in a sense!!!
This game is not at all for the faint of heart or for those who are looking for a chill session to kill a swarm of baddies and call it a day. Why? Because those baddies you killed will have deadlier, bigger baddies that can be borderline impossible to kill. And that final boss you killed? Survive a swarm of the ghosts you condemned to Hell. Go through the boss's funny portal, I'm sure it'll be totally fineโ And we're now in purgatory, where death is inescapable. If you blink three times or even four, an empire of goblins will try to mug you for your lunch money and you will be sad.
Another thing about this game is that it very much does have a recognizable identity. Okay, well, it has two: art design and sound effects. As I've said, the models of the enemies in Megabonk remind me of something you'd see in games like Runescape or maybe a hidden gem on the PlayStation. It's nice to look at, so long as there aren't a million baddies on your bum at a time, flinging you around like a pinball game marble, and there aren't a ton of numbers all over the screen blinding you. The music in this game is very action-fantasy, fitting the overall vibe throughout each level you go through. However, as I've said many times now, there are moments in the game where a ton of enemies can spawn on top of you, causing you to go from Lord of the Rings into the introduction scene of Saving Private Ryan. Sure, you can adjust the audio to save your ears from being brutally assaulted, but I feel like it would take away the game's charm. It's like going into an arcade in a small town and hearing the loud machines next to each other. You wouldn't turn them down there, so why turn the sound off here? It gives it a unique flair that feels lost in a time where AI is everywhere, and arcades are a rarity. To me, it's a nice feature, though there should be a setting on if you want to see an enemy's damaged HP. Honestly, give me that option to turn the numbers off or on, and we're golden.
I absolutely recommend this game, but if you are sensitive to flashing lights, I would give it a pass unless the devs work on a fix for that. Otherwise, play this damn game right now. It deserves the love and attention it's been getting over the past few months. I'm giving it a 9/10. Now, do me a favor, and go bonk up some gobs.
Baldur's Gate 3: The Dark Urge (review) LINK
Unsure why Tumblr didn't post it on my blog as well, but I wrote about the Dark Urge! I had done both the good ending and the evil ending. Go give it some love, but be mindful of spoilers!
!!!Spoilers ahead in the link below!!!
Well, well, well. I finally played through Baldur's Gate 3's Dark Urge Origin, and my God, I have a bit to say about it. First of all, for t
Slay the Princess (review)
Out of all the games I have played this year, Slay the Princess was a wild trip. You're on a path in the woods, heading toward a cabin. Inside said cabin is a Princess. Of course, you would assume that you'd want to save her and maybe live happily ever after, but if you squint at the game's title, it very much wants you, indeed, to slay the Princess. When I bought this game back in October, I couldn't help but wonder how she could be so dangerous. Then again, Looks can always appear deceiving. I was hooked right out of the gate.ย
I feel that I also need to note that I normally don't play visual novel games anymore. Nowadays, I am more wanting to be in the action of things and doing them, but I will say this was a nice change of pace from what I'm used to. When you start a game, you are introduced to the voice of the Narrator and the Hero (who I thought was us, but no, we are a separate character). Immediately, I wanted to try and trust the Narrator, but something about him felt very off. I couldn't quite put a finger on why, but I kept my guard up. Once we meet the Princess, she appears to be innocent-looking and wants to leave the inside of the cabin. She claims not to know why she was thrown down there, just for our Narrator to chastise us on why we need to ask so much about her. I eventually choose to kill her, trusting what the Narrator told me previously about her being unarmed. Unfortunately, she was not, and we died.
Of course, one would be confused when starting back at the very start of the game with their memories intact. I quickly realised that, to me, the Narrator was not a reliable source. Whoever or whatever they were didn't know everything about the Princess, whatever she might be. It turns out that each time we either try to kill the Princess or the Princess kills us, it never ends well. I mean that there is no real, true happy ending. However, after each loop, a pair of hands grabs the Princess in whatever form she has taken, forming her into a sort of crystal and grouping her within a mirror. What's interesting about the mirror is that, from what I can tell, it is the same one that appears after the first attempt to either slay or free the Princess inside the cabin. It's almost as if someone is always watching us. Eventually, there is an almost godly version of the Princess we once knew, referring to the area we're in as the Long Quiet. It's here that we need to collect four more vessels for this mass of an entity, the Shifting Mound, to slay the real Princess.
Eventually, we learn that we are known as the Long Quiet, a god of vast. The Narrator, shattered from the mirror, allows us to finally interrogate him on what has been truly happening. Basically, he wanted to erase the entire concept of death from the world, oblivion, and the universe as a whole. He divided both concepts of change, the Shifting Mound and the Long Quiet, into two entities and trapped them within a Construct for an infinite number of times. However, within each new Construct would be a new Narrator with no memory of the previous. Of course, there is a lot more to it, but I actually recommend you all to play through this game at least once. The lore is very interesting for what it is, and I knew the Narrator was suspicious.
At the end of the game, you have a multitude of choices on how you would like to proceed. You could go to the Princess, argue with the Shifting Mound until she gives way, try and see reason in her, join her, and so on. Whether you think it is a good choice or a bad one is up to you, I suppose. On my first playthrough, I decided to try and trust the Narrator one last time, thinking it would be for the best to have no concept of death. But of course, who knows what that would bring. On my second playthrough, I ended up sparing her and living happily with her. I'm a sap, and personally, if there were no death, the world would be horrifying. Plus, when she isn't trying to kill you, the Princess is actually really sweet and is a victim of the Narrator's experiment between you and her.
Overall, I really enjoyed this game. I do think that it is a wild trip to go down on, so if you plan on playing it, I recommend it. Along with that, I also recommend playing it in one full run in a day; otherwise, you may get a little lost in the narrative of what may or may not be happening. But that's groundhog situations for ya! The voice acting in Slay the Princess is very well done and exceeds in a few more parts that I don't want to spoil. I'd give this game a solid 8/10. I say play it for yourself and enjoy the story. And for the love of God, slay that Princess! Or don't. I don't care, I'm not your parent.
Baldur's Gate 3: Tav Edition (review)
!!!MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING!!! DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE SPOILED!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!
Well, I have returned after quite a hiatus. Life has been a bit rough for me, but man, am I glad I finally spent the time to play through this fantastic game. Baldur's Gate is a series that I had no idea about until the third game was released two years ago. Of course, I love fantasy games and adore the world of Dungeons and Dragons, despite the current owners' decisions as of late.ย
Regardless of that, though, I have always been a massive fan. I believe I have said it before, but if not, I have ADHD. Whenever I have tried to play DnD with a group, I would always get overwhelmed with possibilities, exploration, and would want to do my own thing a lot of the time. Sometimes, it's hard for me to pay attention and stick with the party without going, "I need to lockpick as many chests as humanly possible". To a few players, this can be annoying, but other players are patient. To be fair, I haven't played in a while and would always get crammed with big groups of six or even eight people at a time. Anywho, what I'm saying is that I'm so glad that games like Skyrim, Baldur's Gate, etc., exist for my fantasy-loving, multi-quest mind.
With that said, I will say that when Baldur's Gate 3 came out, I wanted to play it. I adored the characters from what very little dialogue I saw on YouTube Shorts, and a year later, I was gifted a Steam Deck. And now, after over one hundred and thirty-nine hours of exploring, smooching, drama, and cults, I can fully say that this game is fantastic and one of the best games I have played in 2025, hands down. From the companions, NPCs, the story, and world-building, this game had it all. Did I do everything? Sadly, I did miss quite a of things, such as the owlbear cub named Fierce and licking the dead spider. (Yes, I wanted to lick the dead spider, sue me.) On top of that, I was not able to save the rest of the tiefling refugees, slaughtered Minthara without knowing, hey, you can knock her out instead, amongst other things. She was a character I was interested in knowing, but to be fair, I'm glad I killed her in a whoopsie daisy fashion instead. I don't hate her; she scares me.
Now, let's talk about my campaign run. I originally started as a Dragonborn and went for a regular Tav run. This was back in late December of last year, and life sadly got in the way. Unfortunately, because I didn't know where I was and didn't know what was really happening, other than saving the Emerald Grove and the tiefling Refugees near the beginning of Act 1, I decided to restart and make a new save file. I'm glad I did that, honestly, after discovering that the Bhaalspawn default is a Dragonborn. If I want to play as the default, there's always that option, which is nice for special interactions later on in the game. Of course, I decided to be simple and go with a self-insert Original Character. I actually have an online-sona of what Celeste looks like as a reference.ย
I decided to be fun and go with a Tiefling Ranger/Bard. (My headcannon is that my character became a Ranger not to hunt people, monsters, or whatever, but to use their skills to become a professional treasure hunter and explorationist. They also took on multiple Bard gigs since it makes them happy to see people sing along to their Spider Lyre's strums. Also, Thomas, my beloved.) Originally, in my first save file, I had gone with a Druid based on a character I had made in one of my first DnD campaigns. But to be fair, I wanted to try something that was still within the nature realm while also having multiple opportunities to attack enemies, so I went for a Gloom Stalker Ranger to have the upper hand. And my God, was that a good call. As for my Bard subclass, I went with the College of Swords to have even more opportunities for attack. As for the other campainions, I did give some of them subclasses: Shadowheart being a Tempest Cleric/Monk with Open Hand for, again, more attacks, and Lae'zel as a Fighter/Barbarian. I did have Karlach as a Barbarian/Cleric, but changed it for later fights.
Speaking of the pookies, let's talk about the companions! I'm going to divide these up into their own sections because I have a lot to say about them, their stories, and all. Not to mention that they all made me emotional in one way or another. Important to note here is that I went into this game almost entirely blind! I did not know what to expect other than the basics of Astarion being a vampire, Laezel being a harsh warrior, and Karlach having something up with her chest.ย
Lae'zel was the one character that I found so annoying and insufferable, in a good way. Of course, I know she's had a rough upbringing, and learning about the Githyanki throughout the story makes sense as to why she is how she is, but my God, did she make me so angry to be around. Act 1 was where she got me the most riled up with her being racist, insulting Faerรปn, and being aggressive. To say I didn't stare at her and ask, "Why are you like this?" multiple times would be an understatement.ย Of course, we have to bring up how she tries to kill us because she thought we were changing into Mindflayers. Like, girlypop, I get it, but we did just travel a long way and slaughter an entire Goblin settlement. We also have to mention how she and Shadowheart try to kill each other after the discovery of what the Artifact Shadowheart possesses really is: a stolen weapon from the Githyanki. Then, like some weird lesbian tussle, Shadowheart tries to slice Lae'zel up in her sleep and even calls her out on waiting until she was asleep and how cowardly it was. And like, I love Shadowheart, but Lae'zel is spitting facts. I'm glad they settled their differences eventually, though. During Act 2, I decided that before the fight with Moonrise Tower and discovering the Nightsong to head to the crรจche. Thankfully, saving her from the psycho zaith'isk that Ghustil Stornugoss designed, we kill the crรจche and eventually find out what Vlaakith really is as a Goddess: yet another tyrant. Lae'zel's wails of abandoning her goddess and being forever hunted by the Githyanki warriors for the Artifact hurt her as it did me.ย I honestly felt so horrible for her, but with convincing her a lot and reassuring her, I finally started to like her character. She didn't deserve to be treated as an outcast for seeking the truth, especially with Orpheus actually being in the Astral Prism. (No, I didn't free him; I freed Hope, though, and felt awful for doing that to Lae'zel. I couldn't risk it for the brisket.) But I'm glad she finds peace and new friends that she actually calls friends and doesn't hate us for our decision. In my Bhaalspawn run, I do want to see what happens when we free Orpheus, though. Lae'zel did a 360 on me with her character and attitude. I really do care about her and her weird Githyanki egg child.
Shadowheart put me on edge a bit right away, if I'm honest. Throughout my playthrough, I was very supportive and didn't care about her being a disciple of Shar, and loved her from the start, if I'm being honest. (Of course, I was actually planning to go for Astarion, but I'll talk about why I didn't soon.) I felt very sympathetic towards her, and while being even more on edge about whatever the Nightsong was and why it was important to get to it, I also knew how important it was for her in that moment during Act 2. She had been living a total lie her whole life; how was she supposed to know her Goddess was really a tyrant? Something about Shadowheart being in pain because of Shar punishing her, taking her memories and her family away from her, hurt me so much. She didn't deserve any of that, even before the truth was revealed about Shar's true intentions with her. In the end, I'm so happy that I was dedicated to helping her, save the Nightsong (Dame Aylin, my beloved), and save herself despite making such a hard decision. At least her parents are proud of her, no matter what, and that makes me feel bittersweet and happy for Shadowheart. At the part where they turned into two glowing orbs, floating off to watch over her, I teared up from how sad it made me. All my homies hate Shar. But either way, I love her glow-up at the beginning of Act 3, and I would be lying if I said I didn't squeal like Luz from 'The Owl House' when she saw Amity all dressed up. I love my goth/angelic girlfriend, what can I say!
Oh, Astarion, my sweet pookie. I adore him so much, first and foremost. As someone who plays and reacts in a chaotic neutral way almost every single time in DnD, sometimes having a complicated evil/not really evil character is so much fun to bounce back and forth between. As I said, I knew Astarion was a vampire. I mean, you're telling me a twunk with red eyes, pale and paper, flirty, and pansexual isn't?ย Anyway, Astarion was always an interesting character to me. I felt so awful for him, with not only being almost murdered by the Gur Hunters and forced to choose life or death, but also becoming a slave to Cazador while enduring unspeakable horrors. That's not to even mention luring people of all kinds to his master, only to realise their horrible demise wasn't so merciful and was a key component to his master's sick ritual. While exploring Cazador's palace, there are werewolves, willing servants to Cazador, and the Kennels. Godey, who is a skeletal sicko residing in the Kennels, was known to torture the Vampire Spawn for Cazador. I felt awful for Astarion and was very much for him to kill his master after everything he had done to him for two hundred years. Honestly, after finding out that the Gur "accidentally" caused his demise, I no longer felt bd about killing the random Gur near Auntie Ethel's place.ย Yes, I did sleep with him at the Tiefling party, but it made things very interesting. While Astarion is basking in the sun, we see those carved scars on his back. If you play as a Tiefling, you can see that it's Infernal but indescribable. That's when Raphael comes into play; we trick Commander Yurgir into taking his life back to Avernus, get Raphael, the devil of Hope, to read the inscriptions on Astarion's back and list some options, and Astarion breaks down more. I really wish we could just hug our companions, because my man needed one, and maybe a spa day at the Last Light Inn. When heading to Moonrise Towers, we meet yet another weirdo, this time, a Drow named Araj Oblodra. She desires to be bitten by a vampire, and Astarion tells her she's crazy and clearly doesn't want to. When she calls him my pet, I went, "Aw HELL naw," I told her he's his own person. I honestly don't care about the strength buff. If I wanted to change things around, that's what Withers is for.ย
Later at camp, Astarion calls my character kind after saving gnomes, refugees, etc., and I just need to say how much this scene changed my mind on romancing Astarion. Originally, I was going to go ahead and do it, and decided to go with the romantic dialogue, letting him see into my mind, too. But after Shadowheart told me how he and I fit together, I felt bad about not only leaving her and seeing where our relationship could have gone, but I also thought of it as a bit unhealthy to go ahead and hit that smash button with Astarion. I reloaded my auto save and decided to be his bestie instead, and for this campaign, I feel so good about that choice still. Sure, maybe in my Bhaalspawn run I'll go for him, but it felt wrong to abandon Shadowheart, and I didn't know what would come next, whether that would be for better or worse. (Thank God it doesn't really matter, only when you have him Ascend does he change, but I didn't know!)ย During the ritual, I was able to persuade him to go with it and free the other Spawn. The scene where he breaks down and sobs to the ground, honest to God, made me almost cry. After all of that suffering and struggle, that relief just had to be so good, but so devastating. Even afterwards, when he tells you he feels numb, I just wanted to hug him more than ever. Like, come on! Let me hug my buh-buh! I feel I should also mention that I feel Astarion on a deeply personal and sympathetic level, just like every character here, but Astarion is very different for me. I have PTSD and have suffered from abuse, so this story quest was hard for me to go through, as one can imagine. But on the other hand, I'm so glad that not only is there a male character getting spotlight in terms of PTSD and how it affects someone, but also to have it be a queer individual makes it feel more impactful. I'm not sure how else to describe it other than pure happiness that a popular character was able to make such a huge shift from the norm. I know this section for Astarion is long, but he really is just such a lovely character.
Mama Karlach can toss me over her shoulder, and I wouldn't mind getting burnt up. I love this buff woman so much. She's free-spirited, brutish in a good way, and makes my heart melt. When I first met her back in December, I felt like the little hamster meme looking up at her like, "Goddessโฆ?" I mean this is a borderline demisexual way, of course. If I had known about the multi-romance mod sooner, I would have also dated her along with Shadowheart and one other I'll mention soon.
ย In terms of her and Wyll, I knew they would fall in love with each other fast. I mean, buff Tiefling woman who could put all fire elemental creatures to shame, has a big heart/engine of gold/infernal iron, and is extremely loving and kind? Sign me up with you, buh-buh! Karlach broke my heart at first when she told me about her engine, how it's killing her, and is overheating. I immediately went and did her quest as soon as we went into Act 2 and spoke with Dammon. But what hurt the most was when there really wasn't a way to fix her heart up, not in the base game, at least. What I didn't expect while exploring the graveyard was her dialogue about her parents. I felt awful that they had both been gone, but it's sweet that she talked to them about our journey and took a minute to be with them again. After the fight with the Elderbrain, Halsin, Jaheria, Wyll, and my character ran to her side at the dock while she was about to die. Of course, I stayed with her; I told her I would. I loved her way too much to go through something like that alone. I did look up before the final fight if she could go to Avernus, however, and I had her and Wyll go off together like the epic power couple they are. You know, a wise person once said, if you love something, set it free. I'm glad I let her go off with Wyll. Also, what do you mean she smokes and can flick fire from her thumb?! That's badass! Also, I adore her little teddy bear, Clive, that I somehow did a multi-glitch on. I still don't know how I did that, but I gave the other one to Wyll.
Wyll was the one character who gave me the "I peaked in high school" vibes at first. As I said, he is also kind of a hypocrite when it comes to Astarion and his own pact with his Warlock powers. Although if I were a monster hunter and did that kind of line of work for a long time, maybe I would understand his harsh treatment more. Maybe. Wyll had made a pact with a devil called Mizora, granting him Warlock powers to save Baldur's Gate from a dangerous cult. He paid the price of losing an eye, granting a stone eyeball, only to be tracked by Mizora and cast out by his father. Somehow, I was able to break the contract with the devil and Wyll, saved his father, and they gained an understanding toward each other again. I do feel bad for Wyll in that regard, being trapped in a contract without being able to say no due to devilish law. I still hate how dismissive and quick his father was to abandon his own son like that, but it surprised me that Wyll understood his father and didn't resent him. It's confusing, dukes and big top heroes are confusing, but he's a great character to chat with. I also find it interesting that he is the only character who is celibate and dismisses sexual interaction. Honestly, valid! We love a man with boundaries.
Gale of Waterdeep is a nerd, but my nerd. I love how much he yaps from the moment you talk to him, from the ruined portal to libraries, overall complicated explanations of Lanceboard, and the libraries of books and tomes. From the moment he was sickened at camp by the Orb, I gave him one or two enchanted items I didn't need immediately.ย In Act 2, we meet Gandolf the knock off, Elminster, who tells him, "Hey, man. Mystra will forgive you and redeem you as your chosen. All you have to do is blow yourself up at the Absolute. By the way, may I have a snack of cheese and wine?" If guns were in this game, I could have gotten my shotgun out, I swear. I was able to convince my pookie wizard not to go my Mystra's will. Mystra is one of the worst goddesses of all time. You're telling me that you're mad that he tried to retrieve a fragment of forbidden magic to impress you, it backfired horribly, and like the toxic cuck you are, you become exes and don't help Gale because magic could be endangered? My wizard deserves so much more than that; all my homies hate Mystra. Not to mention that Mystra knew that Gale had an unhealthy obsession with proving himself to her and to everyone around. He doesn't just want to be a simple man, and man, does that make me want to smack Mystra even more for even mentioning to blow himself himself up for "the greater good".ย Eventually, we get him his book from the Sundries vault after killing Lorroakan and looting everything inside his tower. Originally, Gale tells Lorroakan that he wants to retrieve the Crown of Karsus and give it to Mystra, silently hoping she may remove the orb. But what's interesting is that he instead desires to become ambitious and wants more, to make a new kind of magic.ย At the end of the game, I decided to let him ascend to Godhood and let him do his thing while I offered Tara to visit his mother every so often. I'm still very mixed about my choice of having him choose Godhood. On one hand, I'm glad he can inspire and make others chase ambition just as he had with his skills, but on the other hand, he becomes even more egotistical and can't help but agree with Tara about Gale not learning from his past follies. I'm still mixed on not persuading him away from not using the crown for his own gain, but damn, he does look good in silver.
Halsin is one of the hunkiest and sweetest companions in the entire game, even more so as a partner. Like I said before, Minthara creeped me out, so when Halsin said we had to kill the three leaders of the camp, including her, I didn't hesitate. His burden with the Shadow-Cursed Lands, along with Thaniel and Oliver, still tug on me, though. He may be a strong Arch-Druid, but he's just one guy. Bear. Both. In Act 2, it took me so many attempts and saves to finally be able to have him complete the ritual to retrieve Thaniel. Then, after getting a disapproval rating from Halsin, I decided to play hide-and-seek with Oliver, getting his trinket, and eventually convincing him to come back to Thaniel.ย
I felt so bad for him whenever he felt guilty and even responsible for what had happened with Thaniel and his fate. Of course, with Kethric causing so much chaos and destruction, he couldn't have known that so much would have happened all at once. Not to mention, he was enslaved for a few years at the noble Drow Lolth houses. My hubby needs more than a break. During Act 3, while in the city, I had him in my party, and he seemed so uneasy about being in a place with not much of nature's properties. Of course, there can be a balance, but man, is he right about the refugees struggling and being ignored on the streets when there could be so much more done? But if you know anything about city life, it just isn't that way. At least he's supportive and comforting when needed. (No, I'm not mentioning "the bear scene".)
Yes, I went with Halsin and Shadowheart. Honestly, their dynamic fits well together, considering Shadowheart didn't know what to do after the tadpoles were evaporated. I'd like to think that after our adventures against the Sharran followers, we go back to Reithwin and live with Halsin, and additionally help with development. I can see Shadowheart working with kids with hesitation, but growing attached.ย
Minsc, Boo, and Jaheira are all interesting characters, considering that they are from the original Baldur's Gate games. Jaheira is a strange character, considering she tried to ensnare me in vines and drink a truth wine to get information out about the tadpole. While being a High Harper and Act 2 being in an intense situation, I can't say I really blame her. After the big fight at Moonrise Tower, she asks us to look for Minsc, and we eventually do, only to find he's not only been infected but also finagling with a shapeshifter that's been manipulating him into thinking that they're the real Jaheira. This is where I wish we had a gun in this timeline again, because why the hell would The Emperor say Minsc is a lost cause? Sure, he may not be all there, but neither is The Emperor. He needs to look in a mirror. Anyway, we save Minsc and meet the oh-so terrifying Boo, the space hamster. (I'm still unsure how true that part is, but considering Boo talked with the squirrel that saw Halsin and me, I'm starting to believe in the space hamster.) Both of these characters are great and made me laugh. I love Jaheira's attitude and how Minsc, while seemingly dull in the head, is pure of heart. Also, the fact that he can just swing at brick walls and crumble them down into flour is insane to me. While I didn't use them very often in my adventure, I still enjoyed having them along for the ride, regardless.
As for the Chosen Three, I hate Orin and how dare she kidnap my daughter, Yenna, Gortash needs to be gored again after what he did to Karlach, and actually screw Kethric Thorm. I don't care if he wants pictures of Drider-Man, it ain't happening, psycho!
The one character I had a huge guard up to the whole time, literally until Act 3, was The Emperor. While he may "be just like you", I hated how he was so quick to dismiss and withhold so much information about himself, his partner, Ansur, holding Prince Orpheus bound, and so on. Still, I trusted him since I really didn't know what Orpheus would do once freed. Not to mention that I really didn't want to fight The Emperor along with the Elderbrain. I just did not feel like it, not after rizzing with him, getting the achievement, and regretting it literally minutes later. He's a complicated character who built the very foundation of Baldur's Gate and wanted to be a sea traveler, but man, I don't agree with his choices at all. Great loot, though!
Typically, NPCs are the least interesting to me in a few games unless done well. Would it be surprising to say that I loved all of them, except for Wulbren Bongle? I killed that man the second Barcus left. Volo, while yappy and a liar to land him in troublesome situations, I love him so much. He's just a silly guy doing diddies. I completely forgot about the bear cub, Fierce, but I did save Scratch at camp along with Us. Any moment that the best boy needed attention, I gave him it. He deserves it. And Us is just my baby, need I say more? Withers kind of startled me at first and left me skeptical. During Act 2, I explored the Ancient Tombs, from where you can encounter him for the first time, but honestly, I think the random encounter was funny and a fun surprise. A skeleton man that can change my class, revive others, and hire people for me? Epic. My point is, I loved these NPCs, and they were fun to chat with.
Like I said, I played this on the Steam Deck, so glitches were bound to happen. Some were funny, though. Sometimes a character, Wyll specifically, would repeat the same lines to Astarion about his "rAt DiEt" and how it's going. I'm not even lying when I say this happened three times during Act 1, and on the second time, I sent him back to camp like a grounded child. Like, dude, I don't care if you're a Warlock and all, but you're a hypocrite for judging Astarion, and you're in a time-out. In Act 3, after completing the Iron Throne quest, I had put him in my party while on the beach you can get washed up on if you don't make it back to the submarine in time. Sadly, it was Lae'zel and me who took the fall while Astarion and Shadowheart chilled out. Anyway, I talk to Wyll for a moment, only for him to demand we act fast in the submarine to save his fatherโฆ On the beach? After saving his father and even talking with him about everything that had happened? To say I didn't die from laughter would be a lie. Like, Wyll, did you get food poisoning or something to lose your memory? Other than dialogue glitches, there would be moments where I would have to reset or go back to an auto save during a battle due to my turns not responding. I'm still not sure what causes this, but it happens a lot during the fight against the Sharrans and the end of Act 2 and beginning of Act 3 for me. There would also be times during Act 1 where certain assets wouldn't load in properly, causing my camp to be in the void, bridges to be straight up gone, and even a weird glance down at Goblin's feet during a conversation in Act 1 during the attack on the Goblin Camp. I have some screenshots saved of the glitches, but I wish I had recorded the Wyll dialogue glitch.
This game is phenomenal, and I cannot recommend it enough. Like I have already said, I already plan on going back into Baldur's Gate 3 and doing two Bhaalspawn runs because that's how much I adore this game. That, and I have also decided to try and complete all of its achievements on Steam. I do plan on writing another review in terms of how the Bhaalspawn runs went, however long that may take. Hell, I started my playthrough back at the end of August or so, but we'll see. As for a rating, an easy 10/10 game right here. While I did go in depth about the characters, how I felt about them, my own choices, etc, I highly recommend anyone to play this game if they enjoy RPGs and DnD or just fantasy in general. Believe me when I say that it's worth your time.
Now, if you'll excuse me, time to go Bhaalin'.
Cult of the Lamb (review)
Cult of the Lamb is a rogue-like game that was released a few years ago. Funnily enough, I had already beaten this game in the first months it had been out, so I had to deal with bosses freezing, Lamb freezing, and dying randomly. To say it was brutal out here in the first few months would be an understatement. So after killing Narinder and dancing on his grave, I dropped the game for quite a while until the Relics of the Old Faith update dropped. Originally, it was just new lore and nothing too interesting that the devs added. But oh, boy, was I wrong. Now, a few years later, with the multiplayer update and Sins of the Flesh (sex!!!) update, I finally realize that there was so much more to the game that I wanted, no, needed to explore! And so, about a month ago, I decided to 100% my old Cult of the Lamb file. It totaled my playtime on Steam to over 160 hours of gaming, but, man, was it worth it in the end? So now that I have finished it, I wanted to share my true thoughts about Cult of the Lamb now that the Woolhaven DLC is among us! Let's dive in.
First things first, how did we end up in a cult killing gods and killing the god of death, only to marry him? Well, Narinder, who was the god of death before we came around, betrayed his siblings, Leshy, Heket, Kallamar, and Shamura, causing him to be imprisoned for centuries. The Lamb's kin were all slain due to a prophecy, stating that a Lamb would free Narinder from his prison. And so, we, as Lamb, are the last of our kind and are killed off until Narinder saves us and sends us away to kill off the aforementioned bishops.
There is a lot of lore to the game with the bishops of the Old Faith and the lands we explore. I think one of the strongest points of this game is that it is still upholding both a boss-rush feel and, of course, its rogue-like appeal. It's also not afraid to throw in additional lore at you along the way, whether that be in the form of a new or existing character, Lore Tablet, or even a hidden piece of land. It constantly keeps things refreshing and has the player guessing what's coming next.ย
As I mentioned before, I finished this game originally when it first came out, but I'm really glad that it has improved over time. Adding new additions like the Merchant of Eternity, being able to save the bishops and learn about them more, and the new buildings kept things very interesting. Although I do wish more was done with the Merchant. I expected to be able to go through the portal behind him, but I suppose they're all but another mystery. I'm not complaining, though. They remind me of a calmed Narinder in a way. Speaking of which, did you know that if you had killed him originally, the Merchant just hands him off to you? I did not expect that, but I was so happy! Along with them, the mating tent and seeing who could be compatible with whom was very fun, even if they were at 100% and still didn't want to. Sure, the eggs and follower forms were for an achievement, but those abomination forms are kinda adorable if you think of them as weird bullfrogs. The only achievement I had a hard time with, however, was the disciples. Aside from the bishops and getting good gatcha rolls from the Merchant, how come they die so fast? I mean, after I saved Sozo from the shrooms, he died immediately. (No, I'm not even joking about that. I wish I had footage of that because it was so hilarious.)
The Purgatory levels were both fun to do and very long to grind for. For those who don't know, Purgatory is basically a gauntlet of either a boss rush or a few dungeons and a single boss or a few bosses. This took me a while due to the fact that I kept bouncing between different goals. Technically, I should have stayed and finished the gauntlet once I started, but as I believe I have mentioned before, I have ADHD. Eventually, though, I did finish a row of Puragory on using the blue heart cloak of all buffs, so take that as you will!
After sadly sacrificing Ratau for the wolf follower form to the wolf, beating the tar out of Midas, and finishing the Relics along with the twelve (ALIVE) disciples, I finally finished my 100% playthrough on medium mode on August 21st, 2025. This game holds a very special place in my heart. At the time, I was figuring things out after leaving homelessness. Now, I have my own studio apartment, a respectful job, college, and people who love me for who I am. And I'm glad I had this game to make me laugh and grind my teeth in frustration throughout the way. It reminds me of another indie game called Binding of Isaac, which is another game I love and hold close to me. In fact, as of writing this, Fortnite released a collab with the devs of Binding of Isaac for a Backbling, Pickaxe, and emote of the Duke of Flies. I look forward to playing Woolhaven, so I'll be talking more about this game again soon. For now, though, I give this game a 10/10, will play again.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm getting through Act 2 of Baldur's Gate 3. (And yes, I will be writing a review for each Act due to the size of the game.)
Portal (review)
Portal is a game series that has a weird reputation for me. On one hand, I loved the concept as a kid and the character, but on the other, the game's puzzles and layout felt very confusing and hard to navigate. I was also a little confused with the story at times, due to never having played the original, until today, that is! My ex-partner had tried to get me into the series when we had been dating over a decade ago, but honestly, the game wasn't for me at the time. Now with him in the local dumpster pile, I felt like now was a good time as ever to finally play this legendary game. After all, I bought it a while back during a Steam sale, so it just seems appropriate now that the game is almost a whole twenty years old! It's about time, if you ask me.
So for starters, Portal is very ominous in its story and doesn't tell you what exactly is happening. There are only two characters in the whole game, not counting the CoRES or the turret robots, those characters being Glados and Chell. GlaDOS is the central core that controls Aperture Science and guides Chell while she goes through a variety of different tests. We don't really know much about these two at a glance, but there is a lot of lore and hidden secrets throughout Portal and Portal 2 that I recommend anyone interested in learning more about the world of Portal to look into. It gets a little weird.
Throughout my time online, one character that has always stuck out to me the most was GlaDOS. She seemed like a very interesting character with a strange past. I mean, why does she say you killed her? Robots aren't supposed to feel, and yet, how can she? While I wasn't in the Portal fandom, nor am I now, I still do find the theories about her very fascinating. It reminds me a lot of another character, like AM from I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison. You have a sentient robotic creature full of very intelligent AI that becomes vengeful over humanity. It makes me wonder if the creators of Portal took some inspiration from that book and incorporated it into a more factorial, structural robot. It makes you think, doesn't it?
Now, into the part of the review everyone is waiting for: did the gameplay age well? Well, yes and no. As for gameplay, I thought, even for an older game, it felt nice for what it's worth. However, though the controls were good, my god, did the camera make me crash out so many times. Tell me, reader, why did the devs decide that when the portal gun is shot a certain way, Chell decides to try and become Tony Hawk with his kick flips and Sonic tricks?!? Why is there no button or an option to have a fixed camera locked on the character and not going everywhere and nowhere? It took me so long to complete Test Chamber 18 because of this issue. Each time I would go one way, the camera would troll me and flip me off and kiss me on my hot mouth. I almost had to stop playing altogether! It drove me insane! Although there may be mods out there that might fix this issue, I don't really know due to the fact that I played this on the Steam Deck. Despite the camera going nuts a lot of the time, though, it felt easy to control and learn.
The puzzles were pretty easy to figure out on my own for the most part, up until Test Chambers 18 and 19. There are some tricky moves you have to do to get from point A to point B. Some puzzles may start easy but progressively get harder and harder as time goes on. I had to look up a guide a few times towards the end, though. I wanted to do as much as I could on my own. Sometimes puzzle games can be a struggle for me, but Portal has this vibe to it that makes it feel like there is no time limit, and you can take as many tries as you want. This made it better for me to appreciate the game for what it is and enjoy it without being bombarded by multiple tasks. Some modern Zelda games have you be able to pin multiple tasks now, and that can overwhelm me sometimes. But with a simpler, more basic format, it feels a lot for enjoyable than overwhelmed nonsense. But that's just my personal opinion.
I really did have a good time with Portal despite some obvious camera issues. I'm going to have to give this cake freak game a 9/10. To be honest, I would love it if this and the sequel were to get a remake or a remaster for their 20th anniversary. Even though I do plan on playing Portal 2 soon-ish, I would play those as well. Who knows! Valve, along with Gabe Newell, is very well known for giving us a few surprises. I mean, look at Half-Life Alyx! No one expected that to ever be a real thing, and yet, here we are!
MiSide (review)
On the surface, MiSide seemed very interesting to me. I found out about its release in December. There were so many people recommending it all over Steam and on YouTube as well. Normally, anime stylised games turn me off. However, since this was going for a more horror route instead of a traditional protagonist falling in love with a random girl, I gave it a shot. After all, Doki Doki Literature Club is one of my favorite games of the 2010s. It was worth a shot. And shot it did.
I do need to say one thing about my experience with this game, though. I had just gotten my lumbar puncture, so it was a challenge to stay focused on the game. Luckily, it was interesting enough that I finished it through and even got a few extra achievements for the hell of it. In this game, the main character is a stay at home office worker who works on computer programs over and over. One day, he downloads MiSide and checks in on a girl named Mita, who is seemingly helpless at first. That is until she transports you into the game by force, and unfortunately, this wouldn't be the first time. In an unlocked vent, you find cartridges with names on them. While eating your dinner with her, you tell Mita what you found, just for her to gaslight you into thinking she doesn't know about the hidden cartridges.
When you're trying to leave this digital circus, Mita becomes obsessed with you and wants to keep you with her always. She even breaks the game, causing you to run to multiple versions of the game. There are many different versions of Mita like Cappie, a Mita who wears a cap, a short haired Mita who tries to protect you, and a Mita who is sentient and calls herself Mila instead of Mita. I felt so bad for all of them and their unfortunate situation. I couldn't imagine living in a game world where you only have a few rooms and can never leave. It would drive anyone insane. While the other Mita girls are helping you, the newly dubbed Crazy Mita tries to catch you and even brainwashed a few different versions of other Mita girls who look unrecognizable. It's almost haunting and makes me wonder what the developers have done to the Mita girls who cracked and went rogue. And now, thanks to Crazy Mita, it looks like you'll never be able to leave, too.
The story was interesting and made me feel for the other Mita girls. I wished there were other ways to help them, even Crazy Mita. Just like in Doki Doki Literature Club, Mita is very sentient about her situation and corrupted her world. Although, it makes me sad to think how alone she must have felt before figuring out a way to pull players into her game. If Monika were able to do that, I think we would all be in trouble. Of course, this game has its own identity. While Doki Doki is a dating visual novel game that shocks you like a Junji Ito manga, this game shoves the shock value up in your face. For me, it didn't have a lot of effect with the jumpscares, but the creepy environments changing slowly became unsettling. Of course, that's just me. I'm not big on jumpscares. But when the horror hits, it does. And I don't want to downplay that aspect.
The gameplay was very challenging for me. I was playing this on my Steam Deck, and whenever the environment got dark, I could barely see anything. I would turn the brightness up as much as I could, but it looked like my tv was turned off. It was very annoying to have to stop the game and go back to the menu over and over. Other than that problem, I thought the controls were easy and smooth.
Overall, I'm going to rate MiSide a 7.5/10. I am picky on horror and how it's handled, but I do think that the developers made an interesting world. I'd love to explore more within MiSide, and if DLC were a possibility, I would be more than happy to play through it again. I would also like to see more from these developers when it comes to horror. Maybe they can make a sequel to MiSide and add more lore to it? There are so many possibilities!