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Tom_omb

Lists and doodles for nobody since 2013 (2018's GoTY is a blog)

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2021 Game Journal

A new year has begun and I've put World of Warcraft and Animal Crossing down for now. I look forward to playing new games that aren't going to occupy months of my time.

My first priority is to get my one dollar's worth from my Xbox Gamepass trial. The backlog is stocked with some fresh games I picked up for free or on sale over Christmas. Including Disco Elysium and Death Stranding. Hades, Ghost of Tsushima, and Immortals Fenyx Rising are a few of the 2020 games I missed that remain on my radar.

List items

  • December 31 2020 -

    It took until 2022 to finally write this first entry of 2021's journal. I was pretty good for the first half of the year exercising with Ring Fit fairly regularly. I wanted to finish the adventure mode and see how (or if) I would implement a routine post game. I never made it that far, there are many more worlds in this game than I expected.

    As an exercise experience I found it otherwise effective. I would work up a sweat, feel my muscles burn and get my heart rate up on the best days. The game provides instructions on a wide variety of real exercises. It works well most of the time, but I was never sure if I was performing the more advanced exercises properly without in person guidance. The motion sensor sometimes gave me frustrating feedback. Like when it tries to be encouraging by saying "perfect!" followed, confusingly on the same rep, "a little further."

    The game portion has a cheesy story with characters that range from charming to obnoxious. It that mixes things up with enough of a variety of activities, items and abilities to keep things interesting enough to keep motivated.

    Next I pledge to return to my Ring Fit routine in 2022.

  • January 6 - January 15

    If I played Spiritfarer days sooner it would have been in contention for a top spot on my game of the year 2020 list.  This is a game about caring for others as you guide them to the afterlife.  My Grandmother died in December and I thought this game could aid me in mourning.

    It's a farming game that is equally an item gated exploration adventure.  There's no greater motivator than uncovering the secrets hidden in the darkness past the edges of your map.

    Everything you do in this game is in service to the cast of characters traveling on your boat. Build them each custom homes and comically rebuild your boat until it's bonkers huge just to accommodate them.  Feed them like they are toddlers, they would rather starve than go to the kitchen, and they can be picky.  They each have distinct personalities, perspectives and philosophies.  Some of my favorites were the dungeon master, you collect his role playing party, or the art snob that hates art snobs.  The one that reminded me most of my Gramma, in her later years, was an elderly sheep that needed help walking.  Or the joyous frog that's greatest wish is to host a family dinner.

    Farming and crafting isn't exactly tedious like in other games of this type.  It can be stressful as you try keep plates spinning.  Insuring my garden is productive, setting my course and smelting ore while food is cooking before I arrive at my destination.  It perfectly describes Stella (the player character) as a people pleaser who will do anything for her family with no thought for herself.  That's the kind of person my Grandma was.

  • January 15

    I played the "ready to play" demo version of Anthem and deleted it before it was fully installed. I just wanted to take a peak at this notorious game before it gets rebooted. What little I played wasn't half bad. A big budget third person rpg shooter with a double jump felt cool and flying is a neat mechanic. I was already starting to get sick of guard the thing objectives. I knew it was time to leave when at the end of the mission they presented a dozen guns for me to scrap.

  • January 15

    I was looking forward to playing The Long Dark after watching the intro (before installing the second half of the game) and learning it was made here in Vancouver. The art style has a cool painterly look. I knew it was a survival game, but it seemed like the story mode may have echoes of Firewatch.

    It was a struggle to survive from minute one, after the plane crash, in a way that I can't imagine could have been by design. The UI was challenging to navigate with more complex to crafting than other games of this type I've played. With very little to no tutorial I eventually learned after many deaths how to light a fire, boil water, stun a rodent with a rock (just barely) and cook it.

    The entire time I was never able to get my vitals to a moderate level to advance very far. Fire didn't warm me fast enough, my fire burnt out if I cooked, eating hardly satisfied my hunger and I'd run out of resources and die. After a couple hours endless frustration I had enough.

  • January 16 - 19

    The vast majority of my Tetris playing has been on my Original Gameboy. Where there was one game mode (if you didn't have a link cable and another Gameboy) with two songs and it didn't save your high scores if you turned it off.

    Tetris Effect is a beautiful new way to play Tetris. The music and visuals are an excellent enhancement to the classic game. I got about a 1/3 of the way through the Journey mode before I had to knock the difficulty down from normal to easy. Whenever it reached speed 9 or higher I could barely hold on. It was shear luck if I could get through or not. Even on easy it's not shy with the high speeds.

    It was fun to play around with the alternate ways to play Tetris. Goals, combos, holds, quick drops, so much here is new to me. My favorites were the relaxing modes that never reached high speeds.

    It's a shame I played this on Xbox Gamepass becuase I would like to try it on my PlayStation VR. Otherwise I'm satisfied with my short time I've had with this game, but I may return for a quick match or two in the future.

  • January 18 - 29

    My first impression of Supraland was a quaint little puzzle adventure game that I might finish in a day or two.  I was way off!

    As the true scope of the game began to dawn on me I became pretty overwhelmed.  Its big metroidvania world is packed full of clever puzzles and hidden chests.  I was obsessively seeking them out, but it's honestly too much.

    The items you find to traverse the world and solve physics based puzzles are unique.  One magnetizes you to metal objects allowing you to float along side it.  Another creates a tether to wooden surfaces. I appreciated how well hidden new paths were.  This filled the environment with potential exploration opportunities that never crossed my mind when passing the first time.

    Unfortunately, it's not the most polished experience.  The game wants you to explore the edges of the world, but there are far too many flat surfaces that behave like slippery slopes.  The game's approach to combat is "add more enemies" and they spawn, seemingly at random, taking annoying sucker punches from out of sight.

    Once I finished the game I had enough, getting 100% would have been tedious.  Although, I probably would have done it if my time with Gamepass wasn't limited.

  • January 15

    Continuing my $1 trial of Xbox Gamepass after Spiritfarer I took a day searching for the next game to play. First was Burnout Paradise.

    I'm not normally into car games, but I've been curious about this one for a while. I was intrigued by an arcadey open world game that encouraged crashing. I had some fun fining collectable smashables like yellow gates and red billboards. From the street I suddenly found myself in a motorbike select screen, not sure how. I had an okay time driving really fast on the highway out side of town on my bike. It was way too easy to crash and the gates and billboards were gone now. I tried for some time to find a garage where I could change cars.

    The map screen wasn't very useful and I eventually just gave up on the game. I wasn't particularly enjoying the races and stunt events, but I may have gotten the hang of them in time if I wasn't so annoyed by the UI.

  • January 29

    Recent coverage of Yakuza: Like a Dragon has put my interest in the Yakuza series at an all time high. Taking an evening to play Yakuza 0 has reminded me why I never jumped on board before.

    I spent the vast majority of my time with this game reading. Dialogue from cinematic cutscenes, pseudo cutscenes with still renders, and restrictive walk and talk conversations. I'm not against reading subtitles, but this is a lot. I missed dialogue from subtitles going by too fast or by nodding off for a moment. Mostly the beginings of a serious gangster plot.

    I was pretty luke warm on the fighting, although it got more interesting once I learned the rush stance and it may improve as the game progresses. The one karaoke song I played brutally decimated me.

    It's really the goofy stuff that interests me the most about these games. In my time with Yakuza 0 there was only an encounter with some drunken fools outside a pub and a mysterious old foreigner that resebled the Yakuza I was looking for. I still hold out hope that I may enjoy Like a Dragon some day, but I don't think I'll continue with 0.

  • January 29 - February 1

    Eastshade was the perfect antidote for the overwhelming Supraland. It's a calm, combat free, game about being in nature, helping people and painting.

    The painting mechanic is a simple, but enjoyable, photo mode that saves a filtered screenshot on a canvas. Choosing an interesting composition by adjusting the canvas size was a cool touch of creativity. It bugged out on me twice, and painted a beautiful pixilated mess. Clients didn't care, it was funnier than it was frustrating.

    Tasks range from fetch quests to head scratching riddles. There's even a "murder" mystery. Some can be solved in multiple ways. All assigned by the diverse people on a quaint little island with a rich history.

    Created by an environment artist, the star of the show is the island of Eastshade. Most of the world is devoid of people. Made to explore and marvel at the beauty of the beaches, forests, cliffs, caves and mountainscapes.

  • February 1

    ReCore has a few things going for it, but I decided to drop it after an hour or two. Going in I knew the game was poorly received, but I was still curious. The character designs have personality and the involvement of Keiji Inafune got my attention. The combat has a few interesting mechanics, but the exploration/combat balance leaned too far into combat for my tastes. What exhausted me the most was the onslaught of crafting and incremental RPG upgrades I found. Rewarding exploration with the chore of inventory management was not encouraging.

  • February 2 - 9

    Journey to the Savage Planet is an all around great package. With no disrespect to their developers it's a lot more polished than the last couple first person exploration games I've been playing lately.

    I found myself thinking of Supraland quite often. They both have expansive worlds full of secrets. JttSP has a much more manageable scope while still feeling big. The secrets are more rewarding to discover. Supraland hid many chests all over in dark or hard to reach corners of the map. The level design of JttSP is better at teasing, hinting and accommodating their collectables. Needless to say I got every one of them.

    The combat is okay. It's not terribly difficult, but a few design choices are just annoying. The gun's secondary fire is a charge shot with a mini game that can be failed. If failed a cooldown must be waited out before it can be used again, but the time is never indicated. It needs to be charged three times to use highest rank. I don't think I used it once in combat the entire game. Tough fights are very mobile with enemies and hazards attacking from all sides, many unseen because it's a first person game. Charging my gun was the farthest thing from my mind while trying to dodge unavoidable hits.

    I love a game with a sense of humor and this game commits fully to it. Full motion video of fake ads and and your equally fake boss were goofy rewards I got a chuckle out of. The absurd aesthetic extends to the creatures and the world is a beautiful saturated caricature of a pulp sci-fi planet.

  • February 3 - April 6

    Little Nightmares is an artistic marvel. It's has a beautifully rendered horror atmosphere. It doesn't pull any punches to creep you out. As a tiny, vulnerable child you must scurry like a mouse, staying out of sight. The inventively monstrous adults with terrible intent are the highlight.

    The real nightmare of this game, however, is playing it. Jump scares, unclear goals and cheap shots lead to a lot of trial and error. The controls are cumbersome, I'd find myself getting caught on geometry, missing obvious jumps and biffing unforgiving timing windows throughout. There's an argument that these enhance the terror, but mostly I was frustrated with the game.

    I stopped playing for weeks and didn't pick it up until after finishing Umurangi Generation. After two play sessions I finished the main game, but to my dismay I remembered there's a second story. I felt I had to play the DLC and cursed this decision the until I finished. The parallel story intertwines with the main game in some intriguing ways. I'm glad I played it, but mostly I'm relived to be finished.

    The sequel announcement is what inspired me to play the original. I kind of want to play the newly released Little NIghtmares II, but definitely not any time soon.

  • February 10 - February 16

    I was curious about Death Stranding when it came out, even after reception was mixed. Conceptually interesting, although seemed like a real slog to play. Since Covid's been a thing I've especially wanted to play it. Themes of an isolated world connected through an online world felt especially relevant. I wasn't going to pay full price. The stars aligned at Best But on Boxing Day last year on a mission to spend gift cards. I finally bought Death Stranding.

    My initial impression from previews was dead on. Previews from before the game's release. I benefited from bridges, roads, ladders and ropes made by other players simply because the game has been out for a while. It was slightly less of a slog as I was prepared for, but I can't say the gameplay is fun. My biggest frustration was with the overload of obtuse information all over. Unsurprisingly Death Stranding is like Metal Gear Solid V this way. Menus, inventory, emails, logs are full of needless info that obstruct my general understanding of how to play, what's going on, and overall pacing.

    I may sound like I'm done with the game, but I still at least want to find Conan O'Brien. Returning is not out of the question.

  • February 17 - March 26

    I had bought BotW a second time on Switch a while ago, having initially played it on Wii U. My original save was accidentally deleted when I made a new game so my roommate could play. I didn't realize it required a new user profile.

    The first big, hour long, NIntendo Direct in months was on February 17th and I got my hopes up there would be BotW 2 news. When there wasn't I dropped everything I was playing and dove into BotW once more.

    This is my favorite game of the generation, but I was shocked at how easily it hooked me again right away. Huge chunks of my day would go by as I was absorbed into the world of Hyrule. From experience I marked monsters on the map and prioritized the Korok Mask. Thanks to the mask I found nearly 500 leafy pals and collected every upgrade in no time. I only got 100-200 in my Wii U run before returning to collect them all.

    Yet it had been long enough that much felt brand new again. I especially got into photo mode. Retaking compendium subjects for the chance of capturing even better photos. Sharing video clips on Twitter was fun, but wasn't a match for the Miiverse community. Unfortunately, misbehaving Joycons was a constant annoyance of the Switch version.

    By the end I was feeling guilty spending so much time replaying this game. My only way out was to complete every shrine and defeat Ganon. My plan is to take a long break, months (maybe years), and return renewed to finish the Koroks and hunt down every monster. Tie up loose ends to once again earn 100% completion.

  • March 29 - April 1

    Umurangi Generation is a stylish game where you take photos. That's all I knew about it when I bought it and it satisfied my need for just that. If that sounds like your thing you can stop reading and play it.

    I was surprised at the depth it goes to simulate photography. Lenses, focus, zoom, with sliders for many more options after the photo is taken. I had fun taking good pictures. Yet, mostly I took dark, blurry ones, they count too.

    With the exception of the chill electronic music nothing about the experience is particularly polished. The visuals have a low poly PlayStation 1 charm. Unfortunately there is some light platforming required to get around the small levels and the controls are terrible. You not only slip near edges, but slowly slide down even minor slopes. A double jump by default is the one mercy.

    What stopped me from getting every achievement was optional goals. Complete all objectives for each level in 10 minutes. Taking time to memorize many film locations, on top of completing all bounties, seemed way to tedious to do even once.

  • April 16 - 19

    I love the look of this game, it was at the top of the games I missed last year I needed to play. Its large cast of characters are animated so well, they are full of life and personality. I enjoyed the story and the absurd moments throughout, but I haven't finished it completely.

    A timer mechanic means it takes multiple playthroughs to see the ultimate ending. Every time a minigame is completed, some are terribly designed, the time counts down to the end. This ultimately made it incredibly tedious, but I didn't get to meet the last few family members. I gave up, with the hope to continue, maybe watching the endings online is the way to go.

  • April 21 - June 9

    Hades was hands down the most acclaimed game of 2020. "The roguelike for people that hate roguelikes" I kept hearing. I've enjoyed past Super Giant games, and adore their art and writing. Despite all this, I really didn't want to pay full price for a roguelike and waited for a sale. As much as I was looking forward to playing this, I was also dreading it.

    I'm a fan of everything Hades does, except for the part where it's a roguelike. I'm not the kind of player who plays games for the mastery of skill. Action, by itself, is not exciting to me. I like a hand crafted world worth exploring every corner that doesn't waste my time. Everything Hades does is about wasting my time.

    I love the characters, I wanted to see each of their stories to the end, but to advance to the next conversation you need to do a run and return. The combat is good, there many ways to mix up the gameplay. I was driven only by permanent upgrades and advancing each character's story. I was able to play for nearly 100 hours by turning on a podcast and getting to work. The randomness ultimately became too tedious and I began to resent the game. I'm so close to maxxing out each character, but I need a break, time will tell if I return.

    Side note: I finally replaced my Joycons after a year of suffering form drift. I shipped them to Nintendo May 11th and got them back on the 19th.

  • June 14 (Demo)

    From a brief glimpse of this game at this year's Summer Game Fest show Sable became one of the most exciting things I saw at E3 this year. The world looks like Moebius drew it, the comic book artist that inspired Ridley Scott and Hayao Miyazaki. An exploration game with what looked Breath of the Wild style climbing.

    As a part of the E3 event many demos are available to play and I had to try Sable. The characters up close aren't as impressive as the environment and movement could feel tighter. Still, each mission was unique and I'm excited to play it when it is released in September.

  • June 15 - 17

    Gris is beautiful. First and foremost it's a tour though an awe inspiring world of watercolour inspired art. It's enhanced with flourishes of organic animation. The goal of each chapter is to unlock a colour for the game's artists to add a new dimension to the beautiful world.

    The character's movement speed is slow and her jumps feel short until a double jump is unlocked. Yet I wasn't expecting as much variety in her move set at there is. It's not a hard game and it moves along at a brisk pace, depending on how often you stop to admire the art. Although, later on, levels become quite complicated and I got briefly lost or stuck at a few times.

  • June 18 - 21

    The deco noir art style of Genesis Noir and the striking dreamlike freedom of it's presentation was struck me as something I needed to play when I watched the Quick Look. I couldn't wait to finish Gris and play it when I realized it was on Game Pass.

    Puzzles range in quality, the best feature innovative mechanics I've never seen before. My favorite involved tuning a series of radio frequency devices to get their wave forms in synch. As a puzzle it wasn't the most intuitive, I had to look up a guide for the hardest solutions, but I was fascinated just playing with it.

    Story wise it's very dream like, and not entirely cohesive. They try to do a lot with it, adding layers of metaphor and characters as it goes cumulating in an ending that is a jarring tonal leap from the rest of the game.

  • June 19 (Demo)

    A cute fox cosplaying as Link in an isometric Zelda inspired world, you have my attention Tunic. After playing through a dudgeon and falling short at the final boss, fighting 3 guys at once, I'm not sure how I feel about this game. The combat was very frustrating trying to fight three enemies at once in a tight space. Still, I've seen online there's quite a bit more to this seemingly tiny demo I didn't uncover. I'm not sure if I'll get it, but I remain intrigued.

  • June 21

    I heard mixed things about this game, but the people who like it seem to like it a lot and I appreciate a game with a sense of humor. Maneater's controls frustrated the hell out of me. It has a targeting system, but is constantly loosing the target. I'd often breach the surface during combat, loose sight of enemies and make myself completely open for attack.

    The game's sense of humor was very generic. A voice over does lip service to the idea of respecting sharks and the biology of other sea creatures player abilities are inspired by, citing this shark as a aberration. That's cool. Yet, I'd get the frequent objective to kill beach goers en masse, promoting fear and hatred of the creatures. It's not surprising considering the game's title, but I hoped the shark would stick to murdering polluters and poachers. At the very least change the objective to "get rid of" or "scare" people, leaving it to players how.

  • June 23 - 27

    Call of the Sea's colourful painterly art style caught my attention on Game Pass. This game has constant tiresome voice over narrating your every action. There is an abundance of papers to read that pad out the length of the game, I wish it did a better job of showing, not telling, the story.

    The puzzles for the most part were trivial. With the exception of a couple frustrating complex puzzles that don't do a very good job of communicating what you need to do, or if you even have what you need to solve them.

    It's not a long game, but I grew tired and stopped playing before reaching the end.

  • June 29 -

    I don't normally play flight sims, but I'm fascinated by what they were able to achieve with this game by mapping the entire planet to fly around. Unfortunately I only got about half way through the tutorials and flew around Vancouver for a couple times before I'd loose it and crash.

    It's a bit laggy on my computer, but the main problem I had was with the controls. Maybe I need to give it another try by adjusting the sensitivity settings some or trying a different input device.

  • July 6 - 20(ish)

    The bad press Fallout 76 got at release may have delayed me, but I was always interested in trying this game. Hearing how it improved after launch sustained my interest and Gamepass availability made it a good time to hop in.

    I played as if this was a single player game, only joining groups for the XP bonus. From what I could tell that's how most people play it. One generous player gifted me some stim packs, I emoted at players on occasion and I benefited from being in the same area as others sometimes as they thinned out or distracted enemies, that's about it.

    At its core this is very much a Fallout game. I easily fell into the familiar questing and exploration loop I know so well from past Bethesda games. While I devoured Fallout 4, getting all the achievements (except for one bugged one) in a short time, my interest here wavered. At times I took to it like a fish to water, other times I was tired of reading terminals, looting every box and getting killed by overpowered enemies.

    These games are known for being tedious, particularly when it comes to inventory management. In Fallout 76 there's an added survival layer that makes it much worse. I have to keep crafting food and drink to make sure my metres are full. Metres that go down while I'm spending time crafting or managing my inventory or building my base. This is ultimately the reason I stopped playing.

    I was interested in seeing where the story leads, but large active online games are a dangerous time suckers and I needed an out. At the end of the day I wasn't having as much fun as with Bethesda games in the past. This formula needs an overhaul, I'm interested to see how they evolve the design with Starfield.

  • July 24

    Lost in Random is a game, from Zoink, that has been getting a lot of press lately. It has a really cool style, so I thought I'd check out the developer's earlier work. The striking look of Fe has tempted me to try it many times before as I browsed online game shops.

    I don't have much to say about it, as I don't remember my brief time with it well. A few frustrating nitpicky things with unreliable followers and some confusing level design prevented me from returning to a second play session. In fairness to the game, I have been busy and it's been hard to find the time and motivation to play games lately.

  • August 13

    The hosts on the Nextlander podcast had such glowing impressions of this game's story and world building that I felt I had to play it. I don't even remember them saying what genre of game it was, but it's on Gamepass so why not give it a try?

    The world is a beautifully rendered Bladerunner inspired city. The shooter gameplay was okay, but didn't move the needle either way for me. I had just arrived at the city, it was intimidatingly large.

    While I could see the potential of a deep world to discover, I did not return. I was occupied by a project with a looming deadline, with Psychonauts 2 coming soon, I didn't get around to play more than one session with The Ascent.

    Ironically, I later listened to the Fire Escape podcast and the hosts enjoyed the game, but had opposite impressions. Enjoyed the gameplay, but had nothing but contempt for the story. Knowing Dan Ryckert he probably skipped all the dialogue.

    While I'm more aligned to agree with Brad, Alex and Vinny from Nextlander my impressions in my very short time with the game were reflected in the indifference of Fire Escape. The moment may have past with this game, with so much else to play, but who knows?

  • August 25 - September 5

    Psychonauts 2 was my most anticipated game of the year, for 3 years running, ever since a trailer announced a 2019 release. It's finally out and it's great!

    That said it's tough not to think of the phenomenal Milkman Conspiracy and Velvetopia from the first game. Those were singular experiences that Psychonauts 2 does not try to recreate, but instead does it's own thing. The concept of jumping into the minds of the characters of Tim Schafer and Double Fine's colourful world is too rich not to go somewhere brand new.

    The levels this time around are generally more linear theme park rides than the higher concept open levels of the first game. This way they can pack more crazy ideas into a level. They find ways of mixing things up with branching paths to be completed in any order and small open areas. The levels are more confident and focused than the first game, when they didn't always succeed with the high concepts. Psychonauts 2 also features several large open areas out side of the minds, it's not lacking for exploration.

    The main draw is the creative set pieces and sharp humor. A hospital casino is a striking visual juxtaposition made better by the personified medical equipment gambling with the human body. Another level presents the fear one characters has of what others will think with a full fledged cooking show judged by puppet versions of his friends. All this humor is in service of a sensitive look at mental health that can benefit anybody. The story as a whole is an intimate and touching look into the fractured relationship of old friends.

    Combat is more varied and engaging than the first game. Each of the abilities can be used in a fight, but swapping them out can be a chore. I chose to set the hover ability as a triple jump to cut down on ability management. This resulted in many accidental deaths, but it was worth it. Equipping badges in limited slots, shared between combat and cosmetic abilities, was a frustrating design choice. I barely engaged with it, but it was far from essential.

    I'm really happy Microsoft has decided to invest in the creative Double Fine team. I'd love nothing than more studios willing to bring cartoon art and clever humor to AAA games. While I may not have loved all of their games in the past I'm a huge fan of Double Fine for doing what they do. With the support, I hope for the best for them in the future.

    This was a big return to playing game for me after a slow period. The first of four games in a row I would go on to earn every achievement for.

  • September 6

    I may have finished 12 minutes (and all of its achievements) in a single day, but I'd be lying if I said it was the most fun day I spent playing a game. A small three room apartment, 3 characters and a time loop allow for a compelling little sandbox.

    Of the big stars cast for this game only Willem Dafoe's voice has the character to be worth the price. The married couple could have been anyone.

    Making progress can get frustrating. Many times I would have an idea in my head, but to execute there are many tiny, seemingly arbitrary, variables that can lead to tedious trial and error. I eventually reached a logical conclusion, but the game wants you to keep digging into the mystery to reach the credits.

    This is where it goes off the rails and I leaned heavily on guides. A good deal of my time playing was mired in frustration. Still, I felt compelled to dismantle this watch to identify all its moving parts.

  • September 7 - 15

    As an artist colour is something I think about a lot. I have a fondness for colouring books from my childhood. I even bought a Looney Tunes colouring book for myself as an adult years ago. I didn't colour in it very much. Using art, creativity and stroke making in a video game is something that resonates with me. Games like Okami, Eastshade or the DS Zeldas (they let you draw on the map) have superficially dabbled with the concept. I've wished there was a game that really took that premise and ran with it. Chicory is that game.

    It's straight up a Zelda overworld, but a colouring book. If you were so inclined you could just colour in every screen of the game. I didn't quite have that level of commitment, but I did colour in many screens. Not because I had to, but for the fun of it. Sometimes, if it was an area I frequently traveled I'd fill it in more because I wasn't quite satisfied. Or I'd add a splash of colour where there was none.

    The drawing tools aren't always perfect, but they work well enough to do what I want most of the time. I was annoyed, most of all, by how the fill tool fills objects outside of an area if they touch. The colours available to you in each area are limited at first. It's good to challenge yourself with a set palette, but I was frustrated by how limited the options could be at times.

    A few years ago the game Blossom Tales came out, it was inspired by and compared to Link to the Past. An unfair comparison for any game, although it got me to play. I found the world design to be lacking. Chicory really does inspire fond memories of the best 2D Zelda games. It's worth while to explore every corner of the map, you'll be rewarded for your curiosity.

    There are a remarkable variety of characters in Chicory. They add a lof of personality to the world. It's become a bit of a cliché that indy games have a stories about depression or anxiety, but I'm happy it's being talked about. It tells an important story about forgiving yourself and compassion for others. A message that is so important for anyone today, but something artists are particularly vulnerable to.

  • September 16 - 18

    The Artful Escape excels at pure spectacle. From the vistas of a sleepy little mountain town to the neon creatures, fantastical starscapes. All with a tinge of David Bowie irreverence, a loving parody of the rock and roll imagination.

    The mechanics are simple, serving as little more than a way to engage with the world and advance the story. Platforming is blast because you're just jamming on your guitar while watching the psychedelic alien landscape unfold around you.

    The other primary mechanic nearly scared me away from playing this game, Simon Says guitar battles. Fortunately there's no penalty for missing and it never gets too challenging. These boss battles, of course, are the perfect excuse to turn up the spectacle with a neon rock show.

    The writing turned me off at first, but as the game progressed my preconceptions about the primary characters evolved and became much more complex than I initially thought. The two companion characters serve as competing aspects of the personality of the young boy who's trying to muster the self esteem to define his own identity.

  • September 18 - 19

    I was just a few dozen points short of a $5 Xbox store credit with Game Pass's rewards program. One of the quests was just knocking a few blocks in Minecraft, so I thought why not? Naturally I fell back into the Minecraft loop, I made a base, and connected it to a cave system.

    It's been years and I've never played on console before. The cosmetic store is nuts, I made my first Minecraft skin myself, but now they are charging money for a pair of overalls. There are also many more blocks, I have no idea what they are for, and some kind of wizard killed me.

    It wasn't until I started exploring for other biomes that I figured I've already spent way too much time in here already.

  • September 21 - 27

    Superliminal is a game I've been wanting to play for a while now. It starts out feeling very much like a portal puzzle game. Its strength lies in the surreal visuals and the way it plays with perspective. As a puzzle game it doesn't always communicate its rules very well and can get pretty frustrating. There were times were my patience was tried and I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue playing. At it's lowest I found my self literally wandering around in the darkness struggling to find out where it went.

    The finale is a little drawn out, but picks up the pace at it breezes through a variety of clever visuals and familiar mechanics. It explicitly nails home the theme that challenging your perspective is key to getting though all of life's struggles. A theme I strongly agree with. It left me questioning my rather low opinion of the game's mechanics. At the end of the day I'm still mixed about Superliminal, but I'm glad I saw it through.

  • September 30 - October 16

    While Sable was unpolished and buggy when I played, it had a sense of mystery and intrigue to its world that was entrancing.

    Sable does one thing well, it makes exploration compelling. The thing I want most out of the games I play. Yet. it's rough around the edges and could have used some more time in the oven to polishing things up.

    Little things like clumsy movement, a rocket bike that won't come when you call it, confusing quest design all add up. While I still wanted to uncover everything hidden in this world, I was becoming increasingly frustrated. My time ended when I let my Game Pass subscription expire, with some regret. I wasn't too far from completing the game.

    What initially drew me to this game was the Moebius inspired look. When gazing upon the horizon this game truly is beautiful. Up close it's not as impressive. Indoors at nighttime all that gorgeous colour is lost and everything just turns grey.

    I'm tempted to return some day, but for now it's time to move on.

  • September 30

    I'd totally be down for a Tony Hawk-a-like with with a bird on a skateboard if it controlled half decently. I put a propeller beanie on my bird, so my few minutes with this game weren't a total loss.

  • October 19 - November 1

    Now that Metroid: Dread it out it's time to catch up on Metroid. I'm embarrassed how little experience I have with this series despite being a huge fan of the genre named after it. Before now I've yet to complete a 2D Metroid, although I gave a decent try with Super Metroid and own both GBA games on Wii U.

    Zero Mission is a remake of the original Metroid, so I figure this is the place to start. There's not much of a story here, but I look forward to learning more about Samus's story as I progress through the series. Yet, learning that the planet Zebes is her home world was a revelation.

    I had a blast with this game, it felt like a breeze it went by so quickly. The world is satisfying to explore with the typical upgrade loop of a Metroidvania. Secrets are hidden well, they are satisfying to discover. The map could be a bit confusing when navigating between zones, but not the worst I've seen.

    Overall a solid entry in the genre. Although it's more demanding than I'm used to for the execution of some late game moves. It broke my heart, but by the end I had to let go of collecting everything due to the complex chaining of advanced moves required to get some of the hardest items.

  • November 3 - December 14

    I felt compelled to play The Forgotten City once hearing acclaim for the writing, characters, non linear nature of the story and time loop mechanic. A game innovating on the mechanics of Outer Wilds and Majora's Mask? I thought this game had the potential to be one of best of the year, if not more. Needless to say my expectations for this game, that started life as a Skyrim mod, were through the roof. This had a negative impact on my appreciation of this otherwise fine game.

    I'm trying to force myself to see games through to completion by refusing to start something new. The downside of that is if I'm not super enthusiastic about a game I may go days without playing anything at all. That was the case here. My initial impressions of TFC were not strong. It's kind of dull, talking to each of the many characters, waiting for them to turn around, asking everyone an identical set of questions, and they don't always have interesting answers. When I wasn't quick to make progress I got frustrated, even enraged at one point. Yet I managed to give it another chance. I saw it through to see two of the four endings (including the canon ending). Only it regrettably took over a month to play 14 hours of this game.

    I'm glad I was able to see the game through, it does tell a compelling story with some great characters. It tackles moral philosophical questions and addresses how civilization and culture change through time. It's a game I may not have played if I knew what it was when I started, for better and for worse.

  • November 14 -

    Me and a friend picked up where we left off, as far as I can tell, playing co-op Halo 2. We played through all of Halo 1 years ago. It was okay, we get lost all the time, but it's better than the first game in that respect. What gun is what confuses me. I wish there was a split screen vs multiplayer mode in this game.

    We kind of fell off after a couple weeks, but who knows, we may return.

  • December 16 - 28

    After Forgotten City I wanted to play something right inside of my comfort zone, and Death's door is exactly that. An action adventure game with plenty of exploration.

    This game's grim monotone atmosphere with fun, quirky characters was a vibe that made me want to play from when I first saw its announcement trailer. Initially I assumed it was a roguelike, my hopes were dashed. When I discovered it's more of a zeldalike it rose to the top of my wishlist.

    The game itself doesn't reinvent the wheel. It's uniquely satisfying to explore. It hits those familiar notes I love about Zelda or Metroidvania world design without feeling too much like anything else I've played. Combat could be pretty difficult, but not to the point I became overly frustrated and stuck too long on any one boss.

    The game shines at fun and silly characters, like a man with a pot for a head, trash talking frog king, or a secret octopus chef. Some have stories and personalities that are quite human well realized in some cases. The story has a reverence for death and its essential inevitability.

  • December 30
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