September 2024 Progress Report
September already?!?
This month was pretty good, I played a lot of games I liked, won two off SteamGifts, and finished a VN, Hashihime of the Old Book Town, that I ended up adding to my sparse favorites list - I’m calling it a win even though my stats got messed up! I won Loddlenaut and Coral Island, one was short enough to beat this month and Coral Island will definitely be showing up as completed in October, I’m really enjoying it! I ended up buying TASOMACHI: Beyond the Twilight for myself as a treat since it’s been a while since I bought a game just for me.
For real-life news - I went to Germany! AND Paris! I revisited my childhood home, saw the hill I hurt my knee on, looked at all my old childhood friends’ houses, and saw the entrance to the now locked-down bunker that I broke into as a child. The park I spent so much time in every day as a small brat is inaccessible and overgrown with the thorny blackberries I used to snack on that were planted in a circle around the park - they got super dense and I would have needed gloves and thicker pants to even make the attempt to get in. I took a train to Paris and spent a few days with my aunt, her husband, and my cousins before spending the last day in the city checking out the Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and then the Arch of Triumph. Except for the Notre Dame, which was inaccessible due to the fire, the others were incredibly disappointing as the Tower and Arch had a barricade and armed guards around them which you could only get near by paying money. My mom hated it as well since she told me last time she was here, you could sit under it. Everything was all very commercialized and there were many people with clipboards and people sitting around trying to make you donate or calling out to sell you things which ruined the experience. My favorite part of Paris was honestly the metro and trains, after experiencing the wonders of public transportation (I couldn’t read but could still use the metro as everything was color-coded and marked) I hate my car even more. I don’t think I’ll go back, except to see Germany again.
Gaming next month, I’m planning on AI: Somnium Files, Coral Island, and Fatal Twelve. I might try to slip in Sound of Drop - Fall into Poison but the reason I dropped it before was because I couldn’t figure out how to start the second part of the novel, so I’ll see how that goes. Happy gaming!
Total games added to backlog: 3
Total completed: 3
Tamamori has suffered hallucinations all his life and turns them into stories he shares with his three childhood friends, but as he grows older, it turns into a genuine struggle to determine what is real and what isn’t. Adulthood becomes incredibly difficult, as it’s hard to study for higher education when words tend to slip off paper and Tamamori falls behind his three childhood friends, one already with a successful military career and the other two in university. Able to find work in a mysterious bookstore that only opens when it rains, life flows on quietly until one of his friends is murdered, masked as a suicide. To discover the truth, Tamamori must investigate with his delusions and try to re-connect with his friends to keep them safe, and find the killer.
The flowing river’s current is ceaseless, and yet the water is never the same.
16-31 hours to complete, Hashihime of the Old Book Town is LGBTQ+ supernatural psychological detective VN with 5 endings. Each time you finish and start a new game, you get a different, pre-determined character’s ending making each playthrough unique – although you can still replay your favorite routes and the first one is considered the “true route” so you don’t need to read the others if you don’t want to. Excellent quality with voice acting I genuinely liked, I highly recommend playing Hashihime of the Old Book Town. All the characters are flawed with their own struggles and despite them being pretty stupid, I found myself loving this VN for the sheer uniqueness, writing, and storytelling that I’ve genuinely never encountered even a similar perspective of. Highly recommend.
TASOMACHI: Behind the Twilight
Yukumo is a girl on a journey, flying an airship and soaring through the clouds when a mysterious shockwave damages her engine and she’s forced to crash-land on an Island covered by fog. Kogara, a stranded member of the Nezu cat tribe, finds her and asks for help in a mutually beneficial relationship. By restoring the Sacred trees, the fog will leave the city and its citizens will gradually return, and by collecting the tree’s lantern fruits – a fuel source – Yukumo can restore her Airship and continue her adventure. Solve puzzles, make friends, and revitalize the land in an experience no one will soon forget!
3-10 hours to complete, TASOMACHI: Behind the Twilight is a puzzle platform object collection game that revolves around collecting lanterns in an abandoned city smothered by fog. As more shrines are completed, citizens – the Nezu Tribe – move back in and the towns become operational again, enabling jump pads and more accessible areas. Puzzles are skippable, you can collect money in the streets and pay 20 coins for a teleporter to the end of a puzzle if it’s too difficult. Gameplay is pretty smooth, and after the story is completed, you get access to airship racing. This profitable mini-game significantly lessens the grind of purchasing all six outfits and furniture for your house should you want it.
3-7+ hours to complete, Loddlenaut is an underwater open-world cleaning and pet sim. Restore biomes by removing oil and trash then replant native flora and re-introduce the wildlife, the Loddles. Depending on what they eat or what you feed them as they grow up, they can change into one of 13 different types! They can follow you around and help clean up areas, but they usually stay where you put them and can play with crafted toys.
Admittedly, there isn’t much of a story – the company that caused all the problems already got shut down, you’re just the guy hired to clean up the aftermath. No enemies, no puzzles, nothing time-sensitive, no quick time events, and nothing ridiculously grindy. It’s a colorful game with plenty of things to do, especially with the most recent update, and the only thing I can say it lacks is a photo mode.
Yeah you need to finish the game and on new game+ you will get to go on the new story. You will get a new choice with the man, call his name and you will unlock your new route. There isn’t as many choices to go through on those 2 new endings either
I remember when I lived in Austin, the lightrail system would get voted down everytime it was up for consideration. I never understood why people wouldn’t want fast and effective public transportation that also was more environmentally sound on top of that.
When I lived in SLC, they had the Trax system. Which is basically that. Trains going to all major parts of the valley all day and most of the night. It was super convenient.
Anyway, all the changes notwithstanding, sounds like it was a worthwhile trip to revisit your childhood home. Hanging out with your family.
It’s too terrible, I can’t believe I missed using the metro and going wherever in the city I wanted just as much as my Aunt. No traffic. No threat of getting run over. No car accidents. You could read and just, wait. I got the day pass and was looking at the prices of the long-term passes and even found some with unlimited use for specific zones, and I couldn’t help but think that these are so much more affordable and convenient than a car + maintenance + insurance + gas + tires + warranties.
Yeah. It’s something that should be more universally implemented.
I’m not a fan of 3D platformers but Tasomachi looks nice, it seems you have enjoyed it. :3
There was a screenshot from the dev of them petting one of the cat people and to my greatest sadness, I could not find that button. Other than that, solid game where you can skip the puzzles if you hate em’ lol.
Well, it’s possible that that button does not exist. I would say it’s probably a promotional screenshot. Heartbreaking though. :)