May you live in interesting times. Indeed

I think we’ve all had enough of the “world news” to fill our socks for a couple years. I am certainly trying to avoid the insanity as much as possible, with so-so results. For sure I am desensitized to more than I should, which doesn’t really speak too well of me I suppose. I’ve opted instead to just try to live with as much kindness as I can, and give where I can. I would like to think that speaks better of me.

Physically, this has been a tough year. Work stress has been off the charts, and my lower back seems to continually trigger with sciatica. I wake up with a 4/10 of pain, and it fluctuates throughout the day. Treatment does help, but it feels more like tolerance than progress. I need to be more active – a piece I’ll focus on in the new year.

Mentally, well the lack of posts here I think speaks enough about that. Rough year. And I am damn sure that January is going to be the worst month on record.

Games

A decent amount here actually, mostly in the order played.

• Indiana Jones and the Golden Circle. Way better than I had expected, and certainly better than the last 2 films. I really like the exploration here.
• Pacific Drive. I’ve had this for a while but the latest patches add way more replayability and less punishment to the game. The mechanics are better than average and the story is excellent.
• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. This is a puzzle game that had great reviews. It’s obtuse, has poor controls, and reminds me of puzzlers from the early 90s. Meh.
• Monster Hunter Wilds. 50 hours here. I enjoyed it.
• Core Keeper. A sort of exploration/survival game with some minor automation. 85 hours here, and absolutely rocks on a Steam Deck.
• Blue Prince. I played up until room 46 and lost all interest. I love puzzle. I love roguelites. I very much dislike their combination here. Having to re-do simple puzzles 40 times is dumb. Looking at you dartboard!
• Outworld Station. A factory builder in space, without belts. I enjoyed the first part of it, up until the 4th zone. Then some serious balance issues popped up. Multiple patches since then though. Interesting mechanics here.
• Clair Obscur. If you haven’t played this, well, I fell sorry for you. There’s a very good reason it swept so many awards.
• Avowed. To me, this is what an open world RPG should feel and play. This would have been my GotY if not for Clair Obscur.
• Warhammer Space Marines 2. I got it really cheap and finished it in a sitting. I’ve followed 40k for a long time and while the setting is interesting, Space Marines are clearly fascists. The story just doubles down on it. Mechanically it’s a solid game, but the through-line is tough to swallow.
• The Crust. A game that tries to mix factory building with exploration (a la Frostpunk). It’s in open beta and is worth the ticket price.
• Two Point Museum. It’s ok.
• The Alters. Hard to describe this game. Exploration, automation, story driven wheel of near-death? It’s a weird game, with failure states you only realize later on. I need to replay this.
• Tales of the Shire. I am disappoint. Unless you get this on a massive sale, pretty much any other cozy game is better. There is so much promise here, but it revolves into 90% fetch quests.
• Strange Antiquities. Puzzle games that focus on inference are a fave of mine, and combined with an occult storyline, this game kicks. Amazing.
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Ghost of Tsushima did is better in all regards. The minimap is again full of pointless activities, long-tail grinding for materials, and cut&paste environments. I do like the differing playstyles, but the game is rinse & repeat from the moment you unlock the 2nd character. It looks pretty.
• Hades 2. It improves on Hades in every regard and has amazing replay value. #3 for me for the year.
• BALL x PIT. Breaker + roguelite = amazing. For the price, you’ll get more than your dollar’s worth. Also works great on Steam Deck.
• Rise of the Golden Idol. The story is great. The puzzles increase in difficulty, exponentially so in the DLC. Lots of inference required here, and the characters show up multiple times. Excellent game(s).
• Strange Jigsaws. Remember the Flash era of puzzle games? This is right up there. Very weird. Only $5. I liked it.
• The Seance of Blake Manor. A mix of Blue Prince and Golden Idol. You’re sent to solve a mystery, learn about 20+ characters, discover the nooks of a manor, and experience some neat hallucinations. It’s just the right type of haunting. With a very minor exception, all the puzzles can be solved with ample time. Very solid pick.
• Absolum. Beat em up roguelite. Where BALLxPIT allows you to grind your way to victory, Aboslum requires you to gitgud in order to succeed. My only gripe here is that some enemies cannot be stunned, and at random points you get multiple ones show up making it an exercise in frustration. I consider it a sleeper hit, very very good game.

I think the list is less interesting about what’s on it than what’s not on it. I didn’t play Silksong (I will though!) and didn’t give Death Stranding 2 a shot (yet to play the first). I didn’t get a Switch 2 so nothing there. And zero multiplayer games.

Oh, and aside from Indiana Jones, MH Wilds and AC Shadows, none of the games would be considered AAA. I think that speaks volumes about where the industry is headed.

And there’s still some time left to pick up some more games before the year ends.