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Recently Completed: 1000xRESIST (PC)

This is a story-heavy adventure game. You play as Watcher, a clone living in a facility beneath the surface of the earth. Earth has been rendered uninhabitable due to a deadly pandemic brought by alien invaders called the Occupants, but you and your cloned Sisters are part of the effort to fight them. Watcher's particular function is to traverse the memories of the ALLMOTHER, formerly a young woman named Iris, who leads the resistance and is the original human the clones are based from. Unfortunately, the first thing you see (and it's right in the game's trailer) is that Watcher is going to stab ALLMOTHER to death. But why?

Much of the game involves moving around in a third-person view and talking to everyone. The initial chapters have a rhythm of Talk To Everyone then Play Through A Memory, and while it was interesting, it didn't exactly grab me right away. The further in I got, however, the more layered and complex the story became, with twists and turns and constant changes to its presentation and gameplay formula. My play sessions started getting longer and longer and I spent more time thinking about the game while away from it. (This, for me, is always a positive sign)

In the end I'd describe this game as having elements of NieR:Automata and Neon Genesis Evangelion, but made into a Visual Novel. There are big ideas about authoritarianism, religion, memory, and generational trauma. There are also smaller moments of beauty, tragedy, and human connection. In particular, Iris' parents story arc (seen through her memories) was bittersweet and at times powerfully affecting for me.

I'm glad this exists and I'm glad I played it. It's a great example of the distinct ways that games can tell an affecting story. Play it!

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Recently Completed: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SFC)

This is an adorable platforming game in which you play as a dinosaur trying to keep a baby safe from a turtle...wizard...guy. Yup, it's Mario and Yoshi! Getting hit throws Mario off of Yoshi's back, and Yoshi has limited time (which can be extended) to grab Mario back before Bowser's minions steal him away.

The game has an incredible visual style and smooth, detailed animation. It's also just a blast to play! It feels great, and the challenge level ramps up smoothly so that the endgame levels are quite stressful indeed.

If I have a knock against this game it's that, from a modern player's perspective, trying to unlock 100% of the game's levels is pretty punishing. Each level ends with Yoshi getting a score out of 100, and getting all 100 points requires three things: find all five flowers, find twenty red coins hidden amongst the regular coins, and have the full thirty seconds of Baby Time when you reach the end of the level. Unfortunately, the game doesn't remember which things you've already found, so getting the full 100 means having a perfect run of each level. Fine if it's 1995 and this is one of three games you own, grindy and unpleasant to consider in 2025 when there are lots of other games calling my name.

So I'm not doing it!

My other, very small knock, is that there really aren't a lot of songs on the soundtrack. The music that's there is really, really good; I just want more!

Anyway this game is beautiful and fun and a true reminder of why I love the Super Nintendo so much. Play it!!

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (Nintendo EAD, 1995) for Super Nintendo / Super Famicom.

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Recently Completed: 2024: Mosaic Retrospective (PC)

This is a free minesweeper-like logic puzzle game that recaps noteworthy events from last year, and asks only for donations to Unicef. I find these games extremely addictive, and maybe now that this one is over I can get some actual work done (unlikely)

Check it out!

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Alien: Romulus (2024)

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In Toad Houses in New Super Mario Bros. 2, Toad sometimes produces treasure chests containing items for Mario to pick. Interestingly, the code allows him to produce any number of them between 1 and 360, with the footage showing 10, 30 and 360 chests.

Together with the fact that the chests have a rudimentary collision allowing them to stand on top of each other despite this never happening in regular gameplay, it suggests that this might have been deliberately programmed and the designers could have at some point considered making Toad produce an absurd amount of chests at once as a visual gag.

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings | Source: Bin_3ds

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I always forget I'm on the For You tab on mobile until I hit something wildly outside of my normal Tumblr experience, like Bionicle ships or Holocaust denial. Then I go "this doesn't seem like the usual behaviour from the people I follow" and then I scroll back to the top and go "ohh"

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I copy pasted parts of this but I do hand letter everything, because while I'm trying to work easier as I'm chronically ill, I am still chronically stupid

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Ninja ‘Metal Gear Solid’ PlayStation

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Recently Completed: Mega Mosaic (PC)

This is a Minesweeper-like logic puzzle game about completing one extremely large puzzle. The board is broken into smaller segments, and sadly, unlike Picross, the puzzle squares have no relation to the image you unlock in each segment of the board. Still, this a great way to occupy your brain while you listen to a podcast or audiobook. (In my case, mostly Heaven's River by Dennis E. Taylor.)

I played it so much I had dreams about grids with numbers. Play it, or the completely free sequel.

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Shinkawa Art ‘Metal Gear Solid’ PlayStation

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Must've fallen asleep

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I think I found him??

well? can you?

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Took a risk and it paid off

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Oops it’s me. :' ) Being patient for good things is hard!

Chibird store | Positive pin club | Instagram

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Recently Completed: ANIMAL WELL (Switch)

This is a combat-free game of puzzles, exploration, and platforming. You are a small red blob that can jump. And in the early game, that's about it! But as you explore the wettest labyrinth you've ever seen, you'll pick up tools that greatly expand your options and help you solve puzzles that initially look impossible.

Everybody is cagey when talking about this game because discovering its hidden depths is a big part of the experience. It's addicting to find surprising new areas like Hollow Knight, hidden shortcuts like Dark Souls, or to have a flash of inspiration to try This Technique In That Place (like Outer Wilds). That 'a-ha!!' feeling is such a delight.

The game also looks and sounds terrific. Great atmosphere.

I rolled credits last night, but rather than being over, the game gives you new tools and sends you back into the labyrinth to find all the secrets you missed. And there are secrets on secrets inside of secrets, including (apparently) at least one puzzle that requires communicating with other players of the game to solve collaboratively. I'm almost definitely not doing all that -- I'm just going to look up spoilers for the lingering questions I had, and probably watch a YouTube video of the true ending.

But I had an amazing time playing it and I'll probably still be thinking about it for a while. Play it!!

ANIMAL WELL dev. Shared Memory (2024)

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I think I've heard this one before. How does it go again...