
February 2025
Second month with this style! I’m publishing the february round-up today since I won’t play anything tomorrow. A lot of (small) games beaten and added quite a few exciting ones. I have decided to create a little challenge for me this year. I want to have the smallest year balance possible (difference between added and finished games). The lowest I’ve had is +41, from 2016 (my first year I started tracking and really playing single-player games on PC/Steam). In 2023 and 2024 it feels like I went a bit crazy, having finished each year with more than +120 on the scale. I have all the statistics on my profile if anyone’s interested.
I initially thought of aiming for a null balance or aiming for <100 new games, but I think that’s a bit impossible to achieve unless I control my wallet.
When I was young I used to really enjoy playing open world games like GTA and Saints Row, but while growing up I feel like I just find them boring? I still enjoy playing a few of them, turn off the brain and shoot some enemies, but they don't feel the same as they did when I was young.
I won this through Playing Appreciated (first time I won something there!) so I downloaded it and started playing it straight away. Finished it in an afternoon and that was that.
This is what a licensed game should be like. Incredibly fun to play, the characters are fantastic and well developed, and Indy stays true to the movies. I took my time, played a bunch of the game, having done all main and side (Fieldwork) quests, collected a lot of notes but ended up not doing that many mysteries and discoveries, according to the in-game stats. However, they are well-thought and do make sense in the world we're playing in. I feel like I could get another 10-15 hours if I wanted to 100% it, but I don't want to overstay my welcome and want to leave on a very positive note.
I had some textures/graphics problems, but that may be because I am on a full AMD setup and this was made for Nvidia, I assume? But overall I did play on High settings with locked 60 fps on 1080p. I had to mess a bit with the settings and check online for the optimal ones. That can also be because I'm not used to playing recent/new games so soon after release, exceptions being Hogwarts Legacy and the first Spider-Man. I feel very grateful for SG because I won this game there and I wouldn't have played it now, only in 2-3 years if not for that.
Hell of a game. Feels like Doom and the rhythm gameplay mechanic from Hi-Fi Rush had a child and went to hell. I really liked the gameplay and the soundtrack was fantastic.
Dordogne was my Most Exciting Addition in January, and having finished Indiana Jones, I wanted to still give a try on the Monthly in a Month of February with a bunch of short games. Of course I installed this one straight away. Sad to say that it did not live up to my expectations – yes, the game is beautiful and the colors and narrative are great – but I felt like there was something missing to make it great.
Surprise of the month right here. Time spent playing this one flew by, every level felt and was different, and very fun to play through. And this is coming from someone who doesn't think much of "boomer shooters". But this game might've changed my opinion on them. The humor and references were also great!
I have played the first game a while ago, but even taking that into account, I still feel like this was a bit of more of the same, just a "different" story. The new mechanics were fun, but the game was so short that it was not enough time to feel like I was making well use of them.
One I've had on my backlog for a few years now (five!), which I was expecting to be a bit better than what it was. It's more frustrating than fun, but I still enjoyed going through the levels. Except that last level, had to repeat it a few times (even playing on Easy) to beat it. Way too tripy for my taste though.
Steam Statistics:
Month | Finished | Added | Balance | Most Satisfying Reduction | Most Exciting Addition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
February | 7 | 12 | +5 | Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | Lost Records: Bloom & Rage |

I like the format. Blurb review to get enough info. Also surprised to see Indiana Jones turned out to be so good in the end.

Yeah, I was doing individual updates for each game and it ended being up too much info on my profile, I had to scroll through a lot to find a game. Now I have the monthly updates (again), it’s way better organized and I have a better feeling of how many games I’m playing and adding each month.
I was as well! I was very receptive when they announced it but heard great things when it released. Glad that it ended up being so good :)
The statistics can be scary. xD My worst year was 2018 when I completed&beaten 24 games but also acquired 191 of them… ^^’ I try to keep the number low, but well sometimes it can be hard to control the urge… like last month when I went crazy and bought over 20 games. x__x
Anyway, keep up the good work and don’t worry about the numbers much - the important thing is to have fun. :3
Thank you! And you’re right, sometimes the statistics can just be overwhelming and I’m here worrying about numbers instead of playing games I find fun and want to play xD
You have however played quite a bunch of the games you acquired in 2018! So that’s a positive note on that regard.