I’ve been on a 3D platformer binge.

Just finished Castle on the Coast and was pleasantly surprised. It starts off feeling a little janky, but after the first 30-60 minutes realize it’s intentional and you are a silly giraffe parkour GOD. Some later levels get into abstract platforming and refreshingly different mechanics than I’ve experienced before. Worth checking out if you’re a 3D platformer-head.

Currently playing through Spyro Reignited Trilogy. Never played any of them before, but always wanted to. Just finished the first one and it was quite fun, although I did not like the final boss. There should have been a checkpoint after the first phase (2 keys phase). Looking forward to finding out how they developed the mechanics from there in 2 and 3.

Got an infection and couldn’t get off the bed much for a couple days, played lots of Silksong. Would have been bored to death otherwise

Mostly played Resonance of Fate. The story is surprisingly slice-of-lifey and the character interactions are pretty charming. The gameplay tho is a bit dull. I’m 15 hours in and more or less have been repeating the same thing for each battle, so I’m not sure how long I’m gonna play.

Also just started Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon.

I’ve gone back to Hand of Fate 2 for like… the 15th time. Just such a cool concept. In a world full of card-based roguelikes, I’ve still never seen anything else quite like it.

Your deck isn’t just the equipment and buffs you might gain. It’s also the threats you might face, and the clues that might lead to new quests.

You’re playing against the deck, in many ways. Such a simple inversion, but it opens up the door to so many interesting modifiers.

Just started Beyond Good and Evil on GameCube.

I never played many console games in 2003, so I don’t have much point of reference, but I’m impressed so far. I think the stylized graphics aged well. Environments look organic and detailed without losing readability, and characters look like they belong. The voice acting is solid, and I-Can’t-Believe-It’s-Not-Porco-Rosso’s banter is good. I don’t expect much from the plot, but the characters and world seem well-realized.

Grim Dawn. Over and over and over again

I’ve been playing a couple new-to-me games lately, Plague Inc and Guntouchables.

I can see why Plague Inc is so popular. It has a bit of that “one more turn” feel to it for me, and it is interesting how you can employ different strategies to try to win. I find it to be a decent game for relaxing after a tough day of work (though it could also be frustrating when you lose).

Guntouchables I got for free when it first launched and just played it yesterday with some friends (who also got it for free). It is a fairly simple co-op rogue-lite top down shooter, but I think it is well executed, and I enjoyed the couple runs we had. I’ll probably buy the supporter pack DLC for this at some point, because I do feel it deserves that.

I started playing Exapunks, a Zachtronics game. I printed off the zine and everything. Just totally enjoying the retrofuturistic cyberpunk vibe.

I say retrofuturistic - cyberpunk now feels like an accurate commentary on the present day (lolsob).

I’ve been playing Easy Delivery Co! It’s a little delivery type game, it reminds me a bit of Snowrunner but smol and fast

I uploaded a few clips to youtube, if anyone is curious and doesn’t want to look it up: https://youtu.be/TS4v3AL_xG

Cookie Cutter

I heard ages ago that the animation was something special and then saw it was dirt cheap on sale and grabbed it a while after that but was just never in the mood to start something that looked so frantic. Finally actually started playing it a couple days ago.

For starters, the main character’s animation work really is something special. The snappy movement, the expressive face, the terrible posture, the confrontationally ever-visible underwear.

Everything other than the visuals seems so undercooked, though. The setting is high concept but the plot is a basic “get revenge and save the girl” type deal. It’s one big map like a Metroid game but the levels are as straightforward as a level-based licensed platformer. The combat is trying to be spectacle-fightery but there is absolutely zero complexity to it. And I was just playing it last night and have already completely forgotten the music sounds like aside from, like, there’s electric guitar.

I’ll stick with it longer in hopes that the game around this extremely likable main character develops into something beyond baseline technical competence. I’ve simply never played a game that is so lovingly and expertly made in one specific regard that phones literally everything else in as hard as this seems to so far.

I’m also getting into Death Stranding 2 but it feels like there’s nothing to say about it. First game again but more of it. Weird to see Kojima making so conservative a sequel. Like with Cookie Cutter, I’m really hoping for more from this as I progress. Not to say that they’re equivalently disappointing.

Arcadium 3: Space Odyssey - I’ve been playing the phone version. It’s a horde fighting survival game set in space - you pilot a spaceship to harvest planets, buy items, and fight aliens to level up, unlock missions and ships, and acquire artifacts to help you survive better. The developer has 2 other space themed arcade games.