Activities
Today
July 2026
It’s too dang hot to be playing games. Makes me consider something as pricey as a Steam Machine. Something more compact and less heat producing than my oversized space heater of computer. Managed to get a few of my Steam Summer Sale games out of the way… though I still have far more awaiting and my backlog has more or less stayed the same size, so… hooray to small victories? Well, the latest FFXIV patch just dropped so I’ll be grinding out the latest content and will hopefully get back to finishing FFXI as well as picking up several other games I’ve had to set by the wayside. Though there are many anticipated games around the corner, I’m glad I made the progress I did and looking forward to keeping a rhythm to my momentum. Notable games this month: Retro Rewind, Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign
In truth, I did not realize this was a collection of handheld YGO games, so I can understand many peoples disappointment with this collection. Due to being a kid who always had to travel between parents, a few of these were my lifeblood so I have a touch more forgiveness for this plus it is like… 14 games. Several of which never previously made it out of Japan. Now the handhelds have their limits and issues in terms of what games and devs were capable of. Some notable trends I am seeing as I get through each game. However, I can’t deny the vision and creative liberties it took to get a still developing card game could be on the go with limited space.
-YGO Duel Monsters (Gameboy) 3/5
Like most early gameboy games, devs struggled to realize it’s potential. Games often struggled to fit much in there and were vastly limited in mechanics or even visual capability. This is very true for this entry. Super basic designs, limited card quantity, deck has to be exactly 40 with a tedious add/remove card system. You HAVE to play a card each turn and HAVE to either attack or put in defense. No spells or traps. Only extra cards exist through fusion and it is through trial and error of stacking cards. This means if the fusion fails, your previous monster is discarded and your new monster takes the place. You only draw cards for the amount you have used. Each stage has a few duelists that randomly drop cards from a pool when won with a guaranteed drop every 10 wins. 5 wins of each character moves you to the next stage. If you could get a few decent cards and know some key fusions, you don’t have to grind too much though some legendary cards exist only in the win 100 drop which can take a while. The AI is also pretty dumb as it will always attack left to right on it’s side only if it can destroy the monster (it will NOT risk taking any lifepoint damage) and will replace it’s stronger cards if it is in the left most spot with a filled board.
Of course, if you just want the achievement, you only have to get to like the third stage, no game beaten required.
Should you use cheats? Honestly, as long as you have a fusion guide (great one on Steam btw) you can get by with just playing the game. Maybe a few rewinds but honestly don’t think I need to much.
-YGO Duel Monsters II: Dark Duel Stories (GB) 2/5
More or less an improved version of the previous game, it implements a lot of the same ideas of stages, win 5 times, guaranteed drops, fusion, etc. Now, there are trap cards, though you can only play one and they only stick around for one round (your turn and your opponent’s). Not only do you have a card limit but you also have a duel level and “power” limit which is assigned to each card. So, too many powerful cards when you have a low power limit means you have to take some out and replace with weaker cards. The power system sucks simply because you can get some decent cards early on that you will be nowhere near being able to use even if you somehow managed to get your duel level high enough. It’s just an annoying gatekeep to keep you more restrained especially since you are still stuck at a 40 card limit. Fusions are also far less defined which means more possibilities but often harder to keep track of or predict. However, when you fuse correctly, you do get to play an additional card. This makes it possible to fuse multiple times or to better setup your field with more cards instead of risking it all. This is especially important due to the alignment/type advantage where a card that has type advantage over the other completely destroys that monster even if it is far weaker. Meaning a Kurboh card could kill a Blue-Eyes if the card advantage permits it so. It’s an interesting way to keep the game more exciting. The game also seems to run much slower than previously between turns and just misses out on the simplicity of the first.
The achievement for this not only requires you to beat the game but to fight all of the secret bosses which are SUPPOSED to rotate out after a duel (small chance) but it literally never happened without enhancement usage.
Should you use cheats? Rewind for sure, especially for detrimental fusions/fusion testing (there is just a lack of a fusion guide out in the wild). Unlock all cards is a bit unnecessary due to the amount of grinding you will need for duel and power levels.
-YGO Monster Capsule 1.5/5
Though I didn’t particularly enjoy this one, I will give it credit for trying to be more unique. Not only is it a tactics based game but it creates it’s own story with the characters within the YGO universe. That being said… the gameplay absolutely sucks. Bet a star chip and defeat the enemies monsters. You can only move and attack with one monster per turn, which really loses the strategic side of things. Monsters have different attack spreads and abilities. Different tiles offer different bonuses. If your monster dies, it’s gone for good. You must roll for your attacks, certain numbers allowing you to attack, miss, critical, or damage itself. You can get more monsters by spending a star chip for a gacha roll. If you win, you get a star chip. You need several star chips to proceed and lose them when you do. You might have an idea of the problem here already. It’s the star chip system. It’s so slow to get star chips to not only proceed but then to roll for potentially bad monsters. If you could bet multiple stars or face enemies that have higher bets this may not be so bad, but weak or strong, enemies give you the exact same star chip reward. The slight difference is that stronger enemies TYPICALLY give higher xp bonus though there’s only really a handful of solid experience givers. XP is used to level up your monsters which increase stats and potentially allow for special skill unlocks/evolutions. Though evolutions are laughable as they take so much grinding to get your monster level high enough only for it’s level to reset upon evolution… in which case you gotta hope it doesn’t die in the next encounter(s).
The story has you go through a game tower and defeat several dark masters before the final boss. Each Dark master pits you in a Dungeons and Dragon like mode where you must traverse their one shot story and resolve the issue while engaging in the tactic like gameplay.
Achievement? Beat the game, there is some post game you can do (not needed) but frankly if you are going for EVERYTHING, it’s going to take a long while.
Should you cheat? Rewind is a must with how abysmal dice rolls and gacha rolls can be. The game even cheats it’s own way. When your turn starts, the game pre-determines if you get a regular roll, a critical roll, or a fail roll. The last two meaning, it will only ever cycle between a few numbers that are guaranteed to be bad for you (i.e. the enemy will crit you, or you will damage yourself) no matter how much you rewind that turn. If you rewind before hand, you can potentially cancel it out when it goes to your turn again but it’s super annoying and sometimes gotta fight it. Balance is also kinda crazy dumb and requires A LOT of grinding to get even some of the stronger monsters to move forward without losing them. I’d almost recommend the infinite star chip just so you can roll at your leisure or not worry about having to grind for progression and worry more about levels.
Asura's Wrath 
Picked this up before the 360 store shut down as it was something that I always had my eye on but was never available… that and the questionable implementation of it’s gameplay and DLC. Though this comes of as an action game, which it is, it is far more of an interactive anime than it is anything else. Outside of a few small arena and boss battles, you’ll primarily be engaging in cutscenes with QTEs as Asura exacts his wrath and gets revenge on those that betrayed him. The game has heavy Hindu and Buddhist religious influence as it uses aspects and god figures from both blending it with a bit of sci-fi and cybernetics. CyberConnect, the dev, really show their portfolio with sound design and the QTEs that were frequent in their Naruto Ultimate Ninja series. Honestly, the game is just a power trip that lets you really enjoy the absolute insanity of the battles with each cathartic blow, and I’m all for it. The actual action battles are alright as it’s relatively basic and ends when you fill up your rage bar. The neat part is it uses your health, rage, and special gauges as part of the story telling (i.e. if Asura gets more angry, his rage meter will sometimes build up). The characters are great with a lot of stand out voice actors and takes plenty of surprising twists in this episodic narrative. What REALLY stood out to me were the after episode narrative sneak peaks that made me nostalgic with the similar old 90’s and early 2000’s anime outros they used to do as you waited a week for the next episode.
Replayability can be a bit rough as you literally can’t skip the cutscenes since they ARE the gameplay and you’d have to go through quite a bit. Again the actual ground battles are pretty basic so they don’t offer nearly as much variety as a DMC game might. Though I thought I was thorough, I completely forgot that the final story chapters were actually DLC and never managed to pick those up before the store closed. So, despite completing the “main story” I am still missing a much wanted continuation and finale. Also, you have to unlock the final true scene by replaying the final chapter all over which is pretty annoying.
All in all, I loved the power trip it sends you on, the story of over the top revenge, early anime vibes, characters, and just Cyberconnect doing what the do best… creating insane large scale animated action sequences. Sadly, the game didn’t get ported much and I think is only available as backwards compatibility on XBOX and the game didn’t do particularly well so it’s not likely ever to come back in any legal way.
Though there are updated versions that improve upon the game with more characters, in no way should this be overlooked and not receive it’s praises. Immediately the change from the series’ usual pixelated sprites to cel shaded models is staggering but it looks FANTASTIC and is still used in games like Strive. Detailed, unique, and still carries the unique stylishness of Guilty Gear. Cutscenes are in game so during arcade mode you do get to see your character in your changed color palette. With the inclusion of roman cancels, best state of Instant Kills, blitz shields, and (admittedly underused) clash system incredibly open up the freedom in playstyles and interesting fast action gameplay. Something in particular I enjoyed is how the game penalizes players for playing too safe by reducing their special gauge if they don’t attack frequently enough, encouraging more aggressive tactics.
Story mode is entirely a visual novel which felt a little odd not having some battles in between but if you treat it like an episodic anime you can get through it comfortably. It doesn’t have quite the same complex story of sibling series Blazblue, it instead redirects that insanity into it’s character designs with obtuse weird weapons and JJBA-like styles. Characters have fun and unique mechanics, if not sometimes confusing, but you are likely to find a character you enjoy. This game also includes an English Voice cast …in which I’m a bit mixed about. There are fantastic performances but there are more than a few that the voice didn’t either fit or felt didn’t give the energy I thought the character needed. It only really feels as bad when this is the case for a main character like Sol Badguy. Arcade mode is pretty standard by is used to flesh out the story of story mode. It’s nice, but a bit disappointing as only a few characters really add much to the narrative while others seem to get only a few additional lines. It also means we don’t get particularly unique or “what if” ending scenarios that normal arcade modes often offer. Also, DLC/extra characters get no scenes despite being in the actual story mode. M.O.M. mode actually captured my interest giving a sort of RPG like experience with earnable skills and battles. Couldn’t/Didn’t try any multiplayer though like most it is probably not as much of an active scene these days.
Recommend? If there’s any game that is responsible for making Guilty Gear what it is? It’s probably this. It finds and refines what it wants to be and does it WELL. Strive will later reach wider audiences but this setup a lot of the basework for what makes the series really rock! Certainly worth the buy even if you own the updated versions.
Preferred characters: I-No, Slayer, Ramlethal
Note: TRY THE DEMO FIRST!!!
I was so ready to give this a negative review throughout my entire playthrough but I think at some point I developed stockholm syndrome as here I am giving it a positive review at the very end. Don’t get me wrong, even if it was a negative review I would have many praises to give. Unfortunately, even with it’s high of highs the lows are equally lower. So, let’s start with the praises. Great artstyle that balances cool and cute. Wonderful song selection that varies song styles while still feeling cohesive. Interesting take on the rhythm game genre though this is where it starts to get really divisive and why I can’t stress enough why you should try the demo first. There is a story mode which is alright. Character interactions were fun and having the opposing/friendly character react to how well you are doing is a nice touch. Mini-games help change up the gameplay into a simple, cute, and fun rhythm experience. Harder difficulties if you actually manage to feel the flow of the game and a remix mode that changes the type of enemies for each attempt, modifiers to further challenge yourself. There’s tons of DLC from all sorts of properties and artists, even some unique. Not only do DLCs add songs but include characters or character costumes that stand across from your character giving even more interaction to the great crossovers. Most of the added songs I enjoyed with only a couple packs being a personal miss though varying feelings on the actual design of the levels but mostly positive.
I was damn sure I was going to love this game between the art style and it being a rhythm game. Yet when I started playing it… it just does not click. This is due to how it actually functions as it really isn’t a “normal” rhythm game. Notes are replaced by enemies. Each enemy has a unique mechanic that you’ll have to remember and there is a fair bit of them. Some are more easily recognizable, most can be hard to remember. It is then further complicated by changing what each enemy does depending on what color they are. Each enemy can be further modified by their shadow, which is by far my most hated, which causes them to move off beat at varying speeds depending on the shape of the shadow. Lastly there are environment modifiers that when passed through can cause effects like moving at increased speeds or moving which lane they are in. It’s… a lot to be honest and if you aren’t playing consistently, hell even if you do play a lot, it’s easy to forget what to do for each enemy especially with everything else coming at you. It almost becomes easier to just memorize the song as it will be easier to understand the specific patterns than it would be to remember the actual notes themselves. Unfortunately this just makes it harder to pick up and play any song. In addition, both a plus and a minus, the game will sometimes use the environment effects as visualizers prioritizing flare over functionality which can become quite distracting especially if it causes obstruction of enemies and even cause them to clip inside each other given some circumstances. DLC is a bit confusingly listed in the store and has even showed owned DLC packs as not owned causing me to purchase one of them twice (KDA).
As a more middle of the road aspect the game does reward for being better but the rewards is kinda… eh. You unlock profile glamour for your account which really don’t do anything for me and I wonder how many people are actually looking at another person’s profile for this to be a thing. I suppose you gotta make yourself unique but I think leaderboard status should be sufficient and then give us rewards to outfit and stylize the character, tracks, effects, enemies, etc.
Recommend? Honestly I can’t either way, not truly. Though I’m not amazing, I do enjoy rhythm games and this should have been an incredible hit… but I never found the flow, it simply is not for me. I imagine for those that it does hit for will hit HARD and it’ll probably be your favorite thing in the world (or something like that)
Another copy of a game I have played many times since it’s release and still enjoy it every time. A solid character action/hack and slash game clearly inspired by the likes of Devil May Cry, God of War, and Legend of Zelda set in an abridged version of catholic mythology (focusing on Heaven, Hell, the apocalypse, and the 4 horsemen). This focuses on War, a horseman that is wrongfully accused of starting the apocalypse and must prove his innocence by finding the true culprit. War is a bit clunky but makes sense for a powerhouse brick house of a horseman he is. There is also a lot of noticeable filler content, particularly early on when having to do trials to progress. The Zelda influence really shines in it’s dungeon-like areas that will have you solving puzzles, platforming, and using newfound gear to progress. Boss battles vary in quality but are mostly fine.
This port does have various issues that I do not remember having with the Warmastered edition. This includes potential crashing, troubles getting controllers to map/read, and some freezing. Achievements have crazy imbalance including one that took hours of tedious travelling for hours past the initial completion of story.
Recommend? Well, the Warmastered is easily the improved version but you get this one with the purchase of the Warmastered so… you’ll have it either way.
I’ve never had much interest in the “shop sim” genre of games but this one really stuck out for me. Finally, I am able to relive my nostalgia of growing up with blockbuster. Stocking physical VHS, having trailers and movies play over the TVs, bright and decorative environment, having imaginary conversations about movies and recommendations with the customers, and just the 90’s/early 2000’s nostalgia. Though not terribly different from other shop sims, it does feel like this does get a bit more love. Plenty of unlockables include concessions, movie genres, arcades, etc. Expand your store, buy more movies, scan and rewind videos, serve food, and more. It’s very interactive. All the movies are either a random combination of images that will produce an associated title or for New Releases a parody of hit movies from decades ago. What I’m really excited for and started doing is modding in actual movies to REALLY relive those youthful years and get to stock recognizable and beloved movies truly creating the experience. The modding scene is only growing and I’m hoping the dev continues to update the game as it does eventually plateau but I don’t mind popping back in to check on my store and run a few days.
Characters are a bit more cartoony than I imagined and there are limited channels to flip between (despite there being several folders in the game folder) but I am hopeful and confident these will be later updates.
Absolutely Recommended.
Beat the Steam version as RE9 was releasing and figured I’d go straight into the completion, more specifically the Professional S+ runs. A first run through of the main game was pretty smooth while going for some other achievements along the way. It’s only natural that when I went for the S+ that fate deemed everything should go wrong as much as possible even including Leon falling through a map after a particularly long segment of no saves. Separate Ways DLC, though it had a couple lynch-pin moments, was a one-and-done Pro S+ run due to it’s much shorter run time and more lenient save limit. I still have to check out Mercenaries but I also have a lot more in game content and challenges to unlock so I’ll return eventually and maybe even try a few randomizer mods as well. In no way replaces the original but still a fantastic remake to put alongside it.
Other Games:
Smilers Den Deluxxx
-Rating: 7/10 Steam Review
-Quick Notes: A more genuine FNAF/Backrooms/Observation duty-like than you’d expect. Creature design is far more ridiculous than actually alluring then again…
Yesterday
July 2026 Update
Next update (works only on profile page)
- Enemies are not scaled to us, and don't feel like bullet sponges as we become stronger
- Gun play is interesting
- Maps are medium size to not be overwhelming, and still filled with details
- Good progression with weapons, weapon upgrades and skills
The bad 👎
- Story feels half-baked
- Inventory management is tedious
- Enemies are dumb
- PvP that is forced into game for no reason. Good it can be turned off
Conclusion:
It does feel a bit like reskinned Dishonored, with different guns and day-is-looped mechanism. Similar powers, open-world gameplay. So a bit like Ubisoft games have "style". You play one game of the studio, and you get a feel for most of their titles. Good for people who like more of the same, but I expected something more. Surely when it comes to the story and characters.
Details
☐ Bare-bone ☑ Average ☐ Good |
Story starts a bit like detective story. Why is the main character not remembering who he is. Why did he leave notes to himself. How does the loop work. We piece the story together via audio recordings and written notes. Events happen on the Blackreef island at different times of the day, and game does a good job at organising the collected clues in a journal for later reference. Our goal is to break the loop. We can do it by killing all visionaries. Basically people who originally run the experiment to create the loop. There are 8 targets across 4 locations, at different times of the day. We can't visit enough locations to kill them individually. So we gather leads and figure out ways to exploit visionaries personalities, in order to cluster them together for chain kills in one location. Around half-way game starts to feel a bit repetitive. The fact that enemies are always at the same positions, going through the same paces do get stale. Ending is lackluster 3-choice, pick one outcome type of situation. |
☐ Boring ☑ Average ☐ Good |
Blackreef island is in a time loop. At each midnight day resets, and all characters follow the same actions through the day. Everyone except us and Juliana, woman we talk to on the radio. We are somehow special, and can retain memories between the loop instances. Game has 4 maps, and there are 4 parts of the day. Morning, noon, afternoon and evening. Each location changes slightly through the day. Doors that were closed in the morning may be open in the afternoon, or visionaries move between the maps as the day progresses. We start map by entering through tunnels, that connect the whole island. The same tunnels are our way out when we are done gathering clues / killing visionaries. There are no saves mid-level. When we are killed we get two rewinds, where game place us a couple seconds "earlier" than when we were killed. When we die 3rd time loop resets, and we lose all weapons, weapon mods and ability tokens we gathered. Though quite early game introduces infusion mechanic, where we "anchor" objects to us by infusing them with magic-essence. Infused objects persist between loops. |
☐ Basics (walk, jump etc.) ☑ Magic / powers ☐ Advanced combat |
THere are two types of abilities.
One comes from slabs - supernatural objects created by one of the visionaries using magic-essence. They basically mirror Dishonored abilities. Blink, chain kills, invisibility, rage, telekinesis. Each visionary has one slab we obtain after they are killed. Multiple Kills of the same visionary, across multiple loops, gives us slab modifiers. E.g. longer blink, blink-mid-air, blink that allow us to swap position with the enemy. Second kind of abilities are more passive, and come with ability tokens we find in the environment, or on killed enemies. They are also made from magic-essence, and we can have up to 4 equipped at the same time. More health/mana; faster health/mana regeneration, faster reloading, faster hacking, silent running etc. There are tons of them, and they allow to modify the gameplay a little, to better fit our gameplay style. |
☐ Clunky and stiff ☐ Adequate ☑ Fluid and enjoyable |
Controls work well. Blink snaps in place, basic in-game parkour is well executed. It is not a crazy platformer by any means, just basic jumping and running through obstacles. |
☑ Basic ☐ Detailed ☐ Over complicated |
There is a load out screen in hub area between entering the next location. Apart from that, during the gameplay we can access screen with clues, audio logs, and journal. Very basic. |
☐ Boring and generic ☐ Average ☑ Good ☐ Great |
There is a good variety of weapons. We can play both stealthy or gun blaze, use powers, modify our character with passive abilities. Weapon tokens increase magazine size, accuracy, reload speed etc. The issue with combat is that basic enemies are quite dumb. They will charge at us when they see us, or walk around puzzled when one of their friends is killed via stealth or with silenced weapon. They won't try to flank us, or sneak up on us. Plus there are the usual types: melee, ranged, bomb-kamikaze, sentinels (that can raise alarms to bring reinforcements). Nothing innovative. |
☑ None ☐ Skins ☐ "Time-savers" ☐ Direct purchase ☐ Custom currency (gems etc.) |
☐ None ☐ Story progression ☑ Few collectibles / easy to get ☐ Grindy collectibles / hard to get ☐ Require multiple playthroughs |
☐ No saves ☑ No saves, progress carries over ☐ One checkpoint, too rare ☐ One checkpoint, frequent ☐ Manual saves |
☐ Can run on potato ☑ Medium requirements ☐ High requirements ☐ Too low for what is visible on screen ☐ Optimization disaster |
☐ May look good 10 years ago, but not now ☐ Blurry textures / geometry problems ☐ Average ☑ Good ☐ Beautiful |
☐ Nothing to remember ☐ Good voice acting ☑ Good weapons & effects ☐ Good OST ☐ Music flows well with the action |
☐ Resolution, volume only ☐ Basic graphic settings ☑ Advanced graphic settings ☐ Adjustable HUD ☐ Accessibility options |
☐ No map ☑ Basic ☐ Detailed ☐ Minimap ☐ Fast travel |
Contrary to the last update these reviews have been sitting some time and I’m only now getting around to posting them. I’ve once again gotten caught up in couple of big games with barely any time to devote to any of them, and now I seem poised to start a massive CRPG sequel I’ve been eyeing for ages. Enjoy these short reviews and wish me luck.
LEGO Star Wars III - The Clone Wars ( PC (Steam) – Action, Adventure – 2011 ) + STEAM REVIEW
I hate to be the weirdo in this particular case, but I found LEGO Star Wars III - The Clone Wars grating on me which is surprising considering how much I enjoyed the Complete Saga.</b>
Story-wise we're getting off on a bad foot since I have little prior experience with The Clone Wars era specifically beyond Genndy Tartakovsky's excellent animated series. As such, whether game levels have done the episodes they're based on justice or not is entirely lost on me. Which means the game has to stand on its own. There are three "arcs" involved contending with major antagonists: Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress and General Grievous, each getting six levels to work with. You get a revolving door casting, but Anakin and Obi-Wan are your fixtures for the most part. That's not to say these are ALL the levels, and I'm not referring to prologue/epilogue either, since Separatists are your enemy and you have to recruit those characters somehow as well...
The Clone Wars expands on the Complete Saga in terms of variety, even though it is obviously a single game and as such smaller in sheer number of red and gold bricks to amass. What was previously a mostly static cantina is now transformed into two battleships you open doors to various sections using aforementioned shiny bricks. It's the familiar formula: you get a brick for completing levels in story mode, filling the True Jedi bar by collecting studs and by putting together Minikit collections. Those are the "normal" means, and what the Clone Wars adds are system assaults alongside space battles. Far more common are studs aka currency of the game that drop from every minute action you perform. You'll be using them for, well, everything. Unlocking characters, vehicles, purchasing game-altering red bricks, etc. It brings me back to the hub change and one critique where I wish you could straight up purchase characters from the selection screen rather than finding them in-game and making the purchase. Hub itself is very lively with plenty to do between levels, which are selected from a menu, but traversal becomes a chore with time.
So all that sounds really familiar. What exactly is my problem with the game then? Simple - too many assault levels overall.
Yes, their addition is a great novelty at first, but I started groaning as they become more frequent. Due to having complete freedom in how you tackle the story, this may have resulted in playing one too many in quick succession, but after two back-to-back I had to take a break from the game. They're not difficult or complex. Strategy simply doesn't factor into it and they play out the same as you're destroying buildings on lots to claim them for your own. Yes, you plop down unit-producing buildings, but I've found artillery and hopping into tanks was what actually mattered. Beyond ground assaults, I think the game is also too quick to put barriers in your way in story mode which are is built with free mode re-visits in mind. This is just a peeve of mine, but I did not like running into "oh, you need a Sith character, specific droid door and a bounty hunter" in the first hour when you're still just getting the hang of things. Some elements of the game, like one level turning into an Aliens finale homage, got a chuckle out of me here and there.
You're looking at shinier package able to display more moving Legos than ever. Characters still fall into defined categories, expanded just like everything else; from basic moveset Force users' ability to throw their lightsabers to brand new types such as Clone Commanders who can direct an entire squad. I'll always find it charming how much effort went into character animations and how well it plays with mime storytelling still employed here.
Buck Bradley: Comic Adventure ( PC (Steam) – P&C Adventure – 2020 ) + STEAM REVIEW
Color me surprised if Buck Bradley Comic Adventure didn't turn out to be a neat little P&C adventure game. If you're a stickler for presentation I suppose the "animated comic" might turn you off, but I personally enjoyed it. This is actually only the first episode although I'd keep in mind it ends fine on its own.
We see our protagonist Buck who is just about to be confessed to by his friend Ciroki if only worldwide mutations didn't strike. Ciroki is turned into a blue-ish gremlin who clearly retains affection and intelligence as our pair embarks on a journey to reach New Milan where a solution might be. Needless to say, they won't get far without shenanigans as they're waylaid by, well, this being the first episode set in a world gone crazy... in good humor.
Probably the biggest surprise about about Buck Bradley is how well-realized it is. Yes, presentation is static with occasional page flips to simulate action, but when you look at its core everything is here: actual puzzles that even require item combinations with various degrees of moon logic, characters to interact although dialogs don't make the biggest impact, and witty writing only rarely going too far in terms of annoyance. This is a lighthearted affair so keep in mind you will find yourself strapping a bell on a dolphin to hitch a ride across an acid like, for example. One design choice that took actually chaffed at me first is how the game just lets you loose after a brief opening. You have various locations to freely explore while juggling multiple objectives with no clear short-term goal in sight. There's a hint system included if you need it, at least. What I'm trying to say is Buck Bradley has this rough window until you gather more items and start connecting things.
At the end of the day, game is roughly an hour long if you ignore me spinning my wheels for a while as I ended up overthinking some bits. Short and sweet. Side adventure at best meant to take you to the next leg of the journey, though.
Masquerade ( PC (Steam) – Adventure – 2025 ) + STEAM REVIEW
Student project or otherwise, Masquerade is pretty impressive. Production value on display is pretty staggering with full voice acting and well-realized locations where intentional lighting does so much of the heavy lifting.
Romeo and Juliet it is except in this adaptation our enamored youth finds himself on stage and BEHIND stage chasing after his love who just so happens to be an automata with her exposed heart always one step removed. Along the way he's aided by the Narrator likewise set on finding his way off the stage. Why not help the pair as they're cheered on by equally mechanized audience. Still, is everything truly as it appears?
Masquerade is a charming combination of adventure, puzzle and even stealth-lite in just the right doses. I stumbled couple of times due to controls that could've used an additional pass of fine tuning, but this is a minor complaint when you observe the package as a whole and consider you're not paying anything for it. Under half hour is just about how long it takes before the game is through with its set of cards without repeating any of them. If you ask me I would've still liked it to be a bit longer as level designer(s) definitely knew their stuff. Especially that set piece in the finale.
Aug 03 2026
Update 18
Finally a more decent number of games have been played compared to some previous months. Though about halfway through I started playing coop games with my friends almost every day so progress on singleplayer stuff was almost brought to an unintended stop. Was having a ton of fun with Ghostwire: Tokyo and then somehow haven’t touched it for a few weeks, but I’ll be back to beat that one for sure.
Games beaten:
This game's level design is on another level. Every level felt challenging, but doable and fair. There's also multiple ways to approach the situations you are presented with, whether it being using masks that give you different abilities, or choosing between weapons with different properties. I personally preferred to play fast melee, such as using the knife. The story, whilst confusing at first, is definitely interesting. One of the only things I didn't like was the biker boss fight.
The game is split into two books, I assume there was supposed to be a third to finish the story off. The first half is definitely the highlight here, the story is very good and gets you hooked immediately. In terms of art style, it may seems weird that there's no actual movement and it's just still frames, but I think it was executed very well. I like that the game isn't scared to be unique. As far as choice based games go, this one was a nice surprise.
Ohh yeah this one is great. Excellent example of psychological horror. If you liked Mouthwashing, you will definitely like this as well, I can see some ways in which it was inspired, most obvious one being you're also stuck on a ship type thing in the middle of basically nowhere. That being said, if you didn't like Mouthwashing, I wouldn't write this off either, because I think this game holds up way better in the technical aspect. I liked the story in MOLE, but I figured out what was happening pretty much immediately and idk if that was intended or if I should've been shocked.
One of my favourite things about this game is the main character wearing glasses, because as a glasses wearer myself HOLY SHIT the way they implemented that into the game was incredible, I've never seen something like that done before.
Fun game to play with friends, probably wouldn't be entertained for too long alone though. It is also pretty much a rougelike, which I am not the biggest fan of. However, if that's the type of game you enjoy, the mechanics of climbing are satisfying and feel good to use. Environments are pretty and you will probably experience some funny fails. I also liked the fun variety of items and food that you can come across. I think the game is very well made and would not consider it friend slop, it's genuinely quality.
Solid. Much more variety and complex cooking mechanics than I expected. Very odd, but in a good way. Can you fry an egg on top of Mount Everest?
Extras:
- Beat the Dredge Pale Reach DLC, beautiful frozen/snowy biome, cool new fish, and basically just more of the game that I already love. Hell yeah.
This game was everything I wanted it to be after playing the first one, up until scene 11. I was having so much fun and once I hit the 11th level, everything turned to insane difficulty that didn't even feel fair, because I was getting sniped from the opposite corner of the screen where I couldn't even see. For the most part a melee playstyle also stopped being viable from this point onwards. There were no longer levels where I felt like I could try multiple different approaches and attempt to run through levels as fast as I could, at least not as a first time casual player. I resorted to baiting enemies from behind walls so they would run towards me, or exploiting doors. And don't even get me started on the big guys that you have to shoot, swarming these levels. The level design became so big and open, it felt like a departure from what made the first game so great. I made it to scene 18 and then I just had to quit out of frustration. It is unfortunate, because I do wish I was able to beat this game and I do think it has just as much of an intriguing story as the first.
New backlog additions (very possible I forgot something again lol):
Bee Simulator (sg win)
Nobody Wants to Die (sandball)
Chernobylite, Copycat, Simulacra, Terror at Oakheart, Vampire Therapist, What the Golf (trades)
Framed Collection
Archaeogem
Aug 02 2026
Update 159: July 2026
I’ve been on vacation in the US for the past 1 1/2 weeks so my gaming has suffered a bit. Still got some games done. Also it was my bday earlier last month so my backlog naturally suffered a bit.
LOUD: My Road to Fame has an absolute banger of a soundtrack, but as someone who isn't great at rhythm games, the UI was a headache. Instead of showing explicit button prompts, it relies entirely on you remembering which screen position maps to which button. The second you lose your place during a fast track, you're completely lost and scrambling to recover. Thankfully, the "chill" setting makes it easy enough for anyone to get through the story. It’s a fun ride for the music alone, but I’d stay far away from the higher difficulties unless you are a pro at rhythm games.
Rain on Your Parade is just pure, delightful chaos. Playing as a mischievous little cloud determined to ruin everyone’s day brought so much joy, packing tons of humor and character into a simple premise. What really kept me hooked was the sheer variety in the levels—one minute I was crashing a wedding, and the next I was flooding a city or laughing at clever video game parodies. It is such a creative, low-stress gem that constantly surprises you with its pop-culture nods and lighthearted tone. It left a massive smile on my face.
I really liked The Alters—the premise of surviving by cloning different versions of yourself is brilliant, and the game is visually gorgeous. But a few design choices hold it back from perfection. Having to unlock specific clones in a rigid order felt too linear (you are also forced to get specific ones just for story progression, so basically half your slots are taken), and the characters needed more variety. My only real disappointment is the endings, which feel way too repetitive and cynical after you fight so hard to save everyone. Basically no matter what you choose the corporation always wins. Still, despite the flat finale, it’s a beautiful, highly creative ride that I’m really glad I played. It is one of my favorites so far this year.
Interrogation: You will be Deceived has an interesting premise—interrogating suspects to stop a terror threat—but the execution falls short.
Because level achievements are locked behind the highest difficulty, the game's balance issues stand out immediately. The dialogue trees are packed with options that feel far too similar, making it hard to read the room. Worse, choosing an option that seems reasonable can unpredictably wreck your ratings, making the underlying logic feel inconsistent.
By the later stages, progress slows to a crawl as deduction gives way to confusing trial-and-error. It ends up feeling more tedious and punishing than rewarding, leaving you with little to show for a frustrating playthrough.
Overall Backlog Progress: +0,22% change to last times unfinished/never played games (58,36% unfinished games)
Overall SG Wins Progress:+0,42% change to last times unfinished/never played games (48,45% unfinished games)
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WooLoop
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Lucky and a life worth living
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Dreamstones
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American Truck Simulator
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Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
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Pixel Puzzles Ultimate Jigsaw Puzzles
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Coloring Pixels
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PlateUp!
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The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan
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Pixel Puzzles Traditional Jigsaw Puzzles
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Bully: Scholarship Edition
1.6 hours playtime
no achievements
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Evoland Legendary Edition
-
Lost in Play
-
Space Run Galaxy
SG wins:
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Vampire Therapist
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The Chant
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Dead Space
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Space Memory: Owls
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Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions
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Tails Of Trainspot
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Wildmender
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Date Everything!
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Echoes of the Plum Grove
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Space Run Galaxy
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Alien: Isolation
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Sakura Succubus 3
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Sakura Succubus 5
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Sakura Succubus 6
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Emily is Away <3
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My Little Life
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Dr Livingstone, I presume? - Reversed Escape Room
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Legend of Kay Anniversary
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Nine Sols
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12 Labours of Hercules IX: A Hero's Moonwalk
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Garlic Builder
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Cat Mail Co.
PoP: thanks to BlueLightning42 & Nunya for challenging me
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Lost in Play
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Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis
0 hours playtime
no achievements
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Nova Lands
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Gas Station Simulator
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Fort Solis
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Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments
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Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure
#426
#36 of 2026
August 2, 2026
Report #28 July
Slow month again(guess there will be no normal months; sigh). No ending of new work poping up, want to be a kid again xD.
Starting again with the usuals idles. Firestone again there eating or scripting all the time. Some new variants added to idle champions from which I managed to get few. Also managed to get one of the previous two missing achievements in Idle Slayer, but no idea when the next one is going to be as I kinda sidelined it towards the end of month.
Back to normal games. Managed to finish with the achievements in 007(still have some leftover stuff in tacsim but postponning it til later), and enjoyable experience, but no way I would’ve got it full price even with how much I enjoyed it. Probably if next one would be made by IO would throw a bit more than what I got this for, but till then waiting for the new missions. Almost finished with the solo achievements during my work breaks with DOOM(2016 one), and mostly have MP ones left and to my surprised, at least in the evening, you can still find matches in it. Also started Spec Ops: The Line, Pixel Puzzles 2: Christmas and finished with I commissioned some bees and InfiniPicross.
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Idle Slayer
664.3 hours playtime
650 of 651 achievements
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007 First Light
25.8 hours playtime
37 of 37 achievements
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DOOM
27.9 hours playtime
27 of 54 achievements
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Spec Ops: The Line
3.6 hours playtime
9 of 50 achievements
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Pixel Puzzles 2: Christmas
4.7 hours playtime
9 of 27 achievements
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InfiniPicross
8.6 hours playtime
22 of 22 achievements
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I commissioned some bees
1.8 hours playtime
13 of 13 achievements
See you next time and happy gaming in the meantime!
Aug 01 2026
July 2026 Report!
Another month, another slay! It was a good month gaming-wise.
If you want a fast-paced and not too long FPS, SPRAWL is your game! It lists Quake as inspiration, but I found it much more enjoyable than the only Quake game I played. (Which was Quake II) Also has some Doom 2016 in it. Recommended!
Sayonara Wild Hearts is a great experience! Though it kinda depends on your taste in music as well.
Reignbreaker isn’t a bad game. Short and enjoyable roguelike, but it gets very repetitive if you go for 100%. A bit above average.
No Straight Roads: Encore Edition has an excellent art style, nice soundtrack and fun story, but falls short on level design and gameplay. Both I found quite basic. A sequel will come out soon, hopefully devs will fix its shortcomings!
Lil’ Guardsman was one of the best games I played this month! Super funny, nice story and characters and casual Papers Please-ish puzzles. If you have it, play it!
Idols of Ash is very short, but it excels at what it does! Very good atmosphere and sense of tension, grappling is well-designed and story’s minimal, but nicely told!
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments was better than I expected! A detective game with actual investigation and deduction! It was very fun.
Loved the Dread X Collection version of Sucker for Love, so naturally I loved Sucker for Love: First Date too! Engine’s a little wonky though but it won’t affect your experience much.
The Crush House is sadly too buggy to play. Every bug softlocked the game, couldn’t even finish Day 1! Too late for a refund, oh well.
Stats!
Number of games finished this month: 15
Number of games added to account: 32
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SPRAWL
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Sayonara Wild Hearts
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Terror of Hemasaurus
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Windy Meadow - A Roadwarden Tale
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Downwell
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ILA: A Frosty Glide
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Reignbreaker
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No Straight Roads: Encore Edition
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Lil' Guardsman
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Idols of Ash
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Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments
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Desta: The Memories Between
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Sucker for Love
5.1 hours playtime
no achievements
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Blanc
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DoronkoWanko
0.7 hours playtime
no achievements
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Occlude
-
Thumper
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The Crush House
Completed
Beaten
Unfinished
Won't Play
July ‘26 report
🏆 SG Wins Progress Bar
🕹️ Overall Progress Bar
👜 Backlog
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FEZ
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Fischer's Fishing Journey
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Walk The Frog
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Life is Strange 2
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Coffee Talk
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Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly
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Paper Trail
🎁 Wins / Gifts
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Nocturnal
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APICO
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Stray
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Tiny Bookshop
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LiEat
What do you mean July is over 😭
It was a very slow month for gaming even though we had our winter break the second week. To be fair, I was only free for a week and I spent the entirety of it with a cold that wouldn't go away. Second chance at July, maybe? Please?
At least it's warming up enough that I can finally drink iced coffee... the little things, you know?
Ninglors Log 437
July Progress:
7
PPU monthly:
done
July Additions:
13
Games finished this month:
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition 
13 hours, 51 of 51 achievements
Jack-In-A-Castle
6 hours, 20 of 20 achievements
Present from 2021
Cats & Pandas
0 hours, 100 of 100 achievements
Sandball!
FIND ALL: Bunker
1 hours, 19 of 19 achievements
Sandball madness 2026
FIND KITTENS 2: Crafts
0 hours, 22 of 22 achievements
Sandball madness 2026
Dispatch
24 hours, 36 of 36 achievements
Win \o/
Portal
10 hours, 12 of 15 achievements
Won/Gifted Games:
Farewell North – Ty Volpe <3
Dispatch – Win \o/
AC Origins – Ty Sky <3
Elton Manor: Requiem of the Cursed Roses – Ty Sky <3
Staffer Reborn – Ty Yamara <3
Palindrom Syndrome: Escape Room – Ty Limosa <3
Akash: Path of the Five – Ty Moony <3
Winter Burrow – Ty Moony <3
Cats & Pandas – Ty Sam <3
Between Time: Escape Room – Ty Vinro <3
Wanderstop – Ty Bruteforce <3
FIND ALL: Bunker – ty Adam <3
FIND KITTENS 2: Crafts – Ty Adam <3
Bought Games:
Currently playing:
So much from me :3
Have a lovely week!
Queen Ninglor