Finished Super Mario Land. One of those games I will probably never get tired of. The controls still feel really good and responsive, and the music is catchy as hell. It's a short and fairly easy game, but that just makes it perfect for some quick platforming fun.

Finished The Stanley Parable. I knew that this game likes to break the 4th wall and constantly messes around with the player, but I was still surprised just how wild it gets. The narrator is absolutely fantastic, and the sheer amount of recorded lines is extremely impressive.

Some games from my backlog that I'm hoping to play next year!

My hero!

Probably the last big game I’m going to play this year. I know it had a lot of negative feedback at release, and the protagonist is supposedly pretty annoying, but curiosity always gets the better of me, and I want to play it myself.

just saw the worst gaming ad ive ever seen

Finished Mario is Missing (SNES). I'm probably the only person who finds at least a tiny bit of enjoyment in these weird educational Mario games. 😅 It's pretty much the same as the NES version, just prettier and with different trivia tests about the locations/sights you visit.

Finished Digimon World 3. It's the best Digimon game I've played so far. It has tons of charm, looks great, and has a banger soundtrack. It also has its flaws tho. My biggest gripes with it are the high encounter rate, how ridiculously grindy it is, and the boring mazey dungeons.

Finished Alan Wake. This is a pretty great game. At first, I didn't like Alan as a character, but the further I progressed, the more invested I became in him and the story overall. Although I liked the gameplay, I can understand why some people might have grown bored with it.

My recent pick-ups are pretty fighting game-heavy, but at least a fun little party game like WarioWare: Move It! made its way into my collection too. 😄

Next up on the list is Alan Wake. I've been curious about this one for a while now, especially after Alan Wake 2 dropped. No idea what to expect, but I'm excited.

Finished Little Nightmares 2. In its dark, terrifying way, it's visually stunning. The freaky monster designs are fantastic and my absolute highlight. The atmosphere is top-notch as well. Having the little buddy follow you around kinda makes me wish that this game had a 2P mode.

The traps in this game will be the end of me.

Pumped to dive back into the weird and grotesque world of Little Nightmares next!

Finished Crow Country. I really like its PS1-esque visual style. It's fun to explore the theme park and uncover its dark secrets, while shooting/avoiding monsters and solving puzzles. Mara's a cool protagonist. She almost feels a little goofy, but that's what makes her likeable.

Finished Dissection. It's just a game of cat and mouse between you and a naked....thing. All you basically do is solve puzzles while avoiding the monster. This can be a bit annoying at first, but once you memorize the monster's pattern and the puzzles, it's not that hard imo.

Finished Bye Sweet Carole. I totally fell in love with it. From its Disney-like art style and stunning animation, to the heartfelt story and beautiful music, it’s easily one of the most charming games I’ve played in a long time. Not super scary, but still with a sweet dark tone.

I’d been looking forward to Bye Sweet Carole ever since it was announced, so I’m pretty pumped to finally dive in now.

Finished Amnesia: The Dark Descent. I remember watching someone play this when it came out 15y ago and thinking it was the scariest game ever, and tbh I still think it's a creepy ride. Atmosphere and general sound design are fantastic, and create such a strong sense of tension.

Finished Breeder: Homegrown. Very short, story-driven game where you wander a strange, shifting house and slowly uncover a dark family story. The sound design manages to create a creepy mood, making the short playtime at least feel tense. The slow movement speed is tedious tho.

Finished Silent Hill f (Normal Ending). The setting and atmosphere were excellent, and Hinako kicks ass. The story kept me hooked, and I will definitely check out the other endings. The only thing that annoyed me a little after a while was all the constant fighting, especially near the end.

Happy Silent Hill f release day.

Finished Night in the Woods. It’s a chill-paced, narrative-driven game that looks cute and comfy, but also tackles things like family problems, existential dread, and the feeling of being lost in life. Gameplay was a little too slow and repetitive, but the story kept me hooked.

Finished The Plucky Squire. A cute game just full of charm and neat little ideas. I liked how some boss fights were throwbacks to retro games just in mini game form. Being able to switch around 2D and 3D is a cool unique mechanic. The children's book artstyle is also pretty.

Finished Road 96. What an amazing game. Travelling around, meeting the well-written characters and listening to their stories was just entertaining from start to finish. Some moments were really tense and had me on the edge of my seat. The soundtrack was also simply phenomenal.

Finished Lost Soul Aside. The combat is definitely where the game shines imo. It looks stylish, feels quite satisfying, and swapping between weapons kept it fresh and fun. Sadly the story is mediocre and the characters are rather bland, it does improve in the last few hours tho.

One of these is a genuinely great movie adaptation of a video game franchise, and the other is a wild fever dream that has a special place in my heart.

Lost Soul Aside arrived. Apparently the reviews are mixed so far, but I'm still curious to check it out myself.

Finished Mega Man 5 (Gameboy). Pretty nice Mega Man game that unfortunately uses WAY too many insta death traps that you can only see coming if you already played it before. The Stardroids were really cool and I honestly could've lived without Wily as the main villian this time.

I need more people in my life who will play weird board game adaptations of video games with me.

Finished Sword of the Sea. This game is SO beautiful, and has a super calm and relaxing atmosphere. Moving around feels smooth, which makes exploring the world a pleasant experience. If you liked Journey, then you should give SotS a chance, because you'll probably enjoy it too.

Finished Bugsnax. I expected some kind of cheap Pokémon Snap rip-off, but it turned out to be a neat little adventure with weird snack monsters/transformations, and a bunch of quirky characters. The story was surprisingly interesting and went pretty wild and dark at the end.

How I feel during the current heatwave.

Finished Deliver Us Mars. Similar to Deliver Us The Moon, Deliver Us Mars has a great atmosphere that captures a sense of loneliness. Story was also quite intriguing. Got tired of doing the same type of puzzle over and over again tho, and all the climbing got a bit boring as well.

Finished Magus. This is one of the easiest RPGs I've ever played. Even on hard difficulty you probably won't have any problems. The story is quite generic, the fights are repetitive, and the visuals are nothing to write home about either. At least the bugs were funny tho. 😅

Finished Rock 'n' Roll Racing. Loved playing it with my brother as kids, and even today it still holds up as a good racing game. The highlight for me is definitely the OST, which features 16-bit versions of iconic rock and metal songs like "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath (RIP Ozzy).

Finished Bang-On Balls: Chronicles. Behind this silly name is a fun 3D platformer where you move around as a ball through large, destructible worlds loosely inspired by historical eras like the Viking Age and Feudal Japan. It's all pretty wacky, but I enjoyed my time with it.

Social media can be a big ol' hellhole, but also a neat little place where you're surrounded by cool like-minded people who just share your love and passion for the same hobby. That's when it's the most fun.

Finished Donkey Kong Country 2. It's even harder than the first Donkey Kong Country (at least in my opinion), but still a ton of fun. The visuals, level design, and OST are fantastic. Especially the music is just phenomenal and on another level. David Wise is truly a genius.

Finished Jusant. The controls felt good and immersive most of the time, but every now and then something just felt off. The visuals and music are both beautiful, and my experience with it was super relaxing. I can understand why it could be a little too boring for some, though.

Finished Dreaming Sarah. A short and simple little puzzle platformer where you explore the dreamscape of a young girl lying in a coma. Exploring all the weird things is neat but also very confusing sometimes. The music is nice and captures a dreamlike atmosphere pretty well.

Picked up a bunch of nostalgic games for me - and Bloodstained, because Bloodstained is awesome.

Finished Deliver Us The Moon. I played a bunch of these space adventure/walking-sim games last year but Deliver Us The Moon is my favourite so far. It started off slow but got more and more interesting and fun as it progressed. Especially the ending really got me and made me sad.

Finished Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus. If Hollow Knight and Okami had a child then it would be like this game. Great Metroidvania with gorgeous visuals and an OST that perfectly matches the game’s vibe. Some bosses and platforming sections are tough and will test your patience tho.

Finished Digimon: Digital Card Battle. It’s a card game, so there’s some tactics involved, but also a lot of luck due to the random draws and the rock-paper-scissors-style battle system, which can be annoying. It gets very repetitive but at least the battle animations are cool.

I loved the SH 2 Remake, so I'm super excited for this!

So many games, so little time.

Finished Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars. It gets too much hate imo. Controls are a bit stiff but responsive, and I love the colorful graphics. The voice samples are rough but kinda neat for the time. Alex's scream after getting hit will probably follow me in my nightmares though. 😅

Peak enemy design on the Sega Master System.