I think they are interesting & i selected them based on the fact i had anything to say about em even if its not a big deal. + theres a GOTY at the end to keep you invested
Baby Steps
I feel pretty conflicted about this one. I genuinely think the story HAS sincerity, even depth to it, that paints a picture of its protagonist sympathetically – the dream sequences especially resonated with me. But on the other hand it’s hard to give the game props for this, when most cutscenes is built for leering at how "'cringey" and uncoordinated a disabled man is, and the slapstick gameplay gives far more ludonarrative resonance to the mean-spiritedness than the sympathy. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth but I can’t bring myself to discard the stuff I gave an honest shit about. Sorry for saying Ludonarrative, that was unbecoming of me.
Demonschool
Probably my favourite narrative game of the year. Most notable is Faye, who’s refreshingly proactive, perceptive, and sociable for an RPG Protagonist. The core gameplay loop is satisfying - all your party members’ attacks occurring simultaneously feels particularly explosive. And for a game that takes place over a strict daily schedule, not a single day feels wasted on trivial bullshit. But even so, the regularity of combat encounters and optional chores still wears me down such that I can only really play it in bursts and can’t see myself wanting to playing it a second time.
Everhood 2
This sequel is by most accounts a sidegrade to the first one, trading bits and pieces of its formula for things that are not necessarily better, but that I kinda just personally like more. The first game’s dubious and spiritually hollow quest is replaced with something more eclectic and postmodern-ly dissatisfying. The gameplay’s way more fun, but there’s possibly far too much of it, fights now being indefinite. The main clincher though is that this game has Irvine, who is The Best Character, and the first game does not* have them, hence why this one wins out.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
I really wish I liked Hornet better as a protagonist, but the plain and unpretentious attitude is not very compelling to me. Perhaps I’m just spoiled for having played Nine Sols earlier, where its protagonist Yi plays a similar temperament more engagingly? But it’s not a fair comparison to make, since Red Candles are by far more experienced at writing interesting protagonists, whereas Team Cherry is more experienced at making fun platforming challenges. We all have our strengths and weaknesses I suppose.
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy
This could have taken place over 50 days instead of 100. As a person who bums around accomplishing nothing all day, it’s quite keenly felt when Takumi bums around accomplishing nothing all day (although it admittedly doesn’t give me much room to criticize him for it either). Despite this padding, it’s still quite rewarding to gradually uncover more of the game’s actual hidden depths amongst even the most predictable scenarios.
The Last Golfer
50 Years of Computer Gaming, and we have finally found the world’s first ever Computer Game designed to be played with a Mouse. Wonderfully intuitive and satisfying golfing controls set against a lonely atmospheric desert backdrop. This one is, in my opinion, a must-play for Gamers.
Logic Bombs
Matthewmatosis has seamlessly made the leap from pedantic game analyst to game developer. As one would expect from him, Logic Bombs is a direct and unpretentious Nonogram variant that sets and meets your expectations exactly. That’s not to say it’s fully no-frills, it’s just measured about it – like the puzzle with an optional alternate solution, or the puzzle that that cutely references the nonogram variant from Last Call BBS. The only unintentional friction the game ever gave me was that it expected me to know what ∑ means (which I never learned in school) and had to learn the meaning with outside research.
Golden Idol Investigations: The Lemurian Phoenix
I played all the other DLCs too, but this one is my personal favourite of the bunch. I quite liked The Last Reaper too, but Lemurian Phoenix was simply just the most interesting mystery to solve, with the best payoff. Sorry this one is vague but y'know, its a mystery and all that.
Roadcraft – GOTY 2025
I’ve been a fan of Snowrunner for a while, which means I had a desperate need to play a version of that game where I could build bridges or roads on my own terms. Roadcraft is that game, of course, but also this game is just way prettier, and the physics engine is capable of letting you hoist a bunch of random junk into a flatbed in a less symbolic and prescriptive way. Roadcraft is really good at letting you express yourself in that sort of way and that’s why it’s my GOTY for 2025. Also genuinely, this game is very pretty, & has caused me to bristle everytime I hear someone get snotty about games being "too photorealistic nowadays" because like, c'mon, sometimes Naturalism's just the right artstyle to use sometimes.
Bonus: Peaks of Yore – GOTY 2024
After having been not completely satisfied by Baby Steps, and too intimidated by White Knuckle, and having just played a promising demo for a game named Cairn, I felt the need to play another game where you climb up a bigass dangerous mountain. I don’t have a lot to say about this game except that I really like playing with & mastering the climbing controls. The degree to which I enjoyed it retroactively made it my favourite game of 2024. I have still yet to beat the 8000m Solemn Tempest peak, but I still feel motivated enough that I could surely maybe do it.
anyway thanks for reading :)
*I know they have a brief cameo in the first game but you'll have to understand and forgive me the double-standard here.
Different types of Viruses that may infect your Computer
Your PC can get thousands of different kinds of errors and problems . Yet a few of them are fairly harmful and alarming. For those who don’t cure these problems just before time they can lead to a good number of other PC errors and difficulties that many result in extreme overall...
I should've expected that, people always go for Spock when fictional character comparisons are being bandied about. I quite like it. There was a notable moment when my sister, the one who isn't geeky at all, went "all right, Spock, whatever you say" after one of my logic bombs.
