Acquisitions

Tell Me Why
Persona 4 Golden
FINAL FANTASY XIV: Shadowbringers
A Normal Lost Phone
Cattails - Become a Cat!
Disneyland Adventures
We Were Here Together
Automachef
Catherine Classic
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
Generation Zero
Zwei: The Arges Adventure
Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection
Overcooked! 2
Children of Morta
Shenmue 3
SIMULACRA 2
Bee Simulator
Hammerting
Paradise Killer
Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem
Graveyard Keeper - Game of Crone
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
The Adventures of Fei Duanmu
SteamWorld Dig 2
We. The RevolutionM
Nancy Drew®: Alibi in Ashes
Aveyond 3-3: The Lost Orb
Aveyond 3-4: The Darkthrop Prophecy
Aveyond 4: Shadow of the Mist
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey
Not Tonight
Monster Sanctuary

I beat these a while ago and am basically forcing myself to post them now so I can finish other games without feeling like I’m adding to a posting backlog. As such, they aren’t so fresh in my memory.

Rise of the Tomb Raider

64 hours playtime

63 of 143 achievements
Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem

18 hours playtime

22 of 23 achievements
We Were Here

2 hours playtime

16 of 26 achievements

Rise of the Tomb Raider

"Archaeology" and Anthropology Achievement Clean Up At Least Somewhat Historic England, My Lionheart Folklore & Mythology French Voice Acting German Voice Acting Long Russia

This is basically just a continuation of the first entry in this reboot (Tomb Raider), both in story and gameplay. It's in Russia this time, and you'll generally traverse through snowy mountains, forests, and caves along with abandoned Soviet facilities. "Tombs" (or rather ancient sites, felt more fleshed out with complex puzzles. This game actually has a hub town of sorts, but I wish it at least had a shop to make it more interactive.

Based on trailers I remembered seeing when this came out, I thought it would have more to do mental illness after what Lara experienced in Japan. That seemed interesting and a somewhat unique direction as far as game stories go, but unfortunately it had very little to do with that. One of the DLCs has a Croft Manor section. While I'm glad it's there at all, it's not the training course of the old games but is more of an adventure game or walking sim, requiring the player to find, ultimately, her parents' will (iirc) that proves her inheritance of the mansion. At the time of this game, Croft Manor is in a dilapidated state. I wish there would be some type of side game in the 3rd game that was about restoring it, but I never heard anything about it so it probably didn't happen. :(

There are a couple of cool medieval chainmail outfits in this game and a DLC story involving a famous figure in Russian folklore (Baba Yaga). It is based on the lost/legendary city of Kitezh.

Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem

Achievement Clean Up At Least Somewhat Historic Colonial/New World Detectives! Mystery! Murder! Ghosts Halloween and Horror Literary Ties Medium New England USA Witches

I've been gradually playing all the Nancy Drew games in order, trying not to go through them too quickly. I cheated and played this one out of order, partly due to curiosity, and partly because my boss went to Salem for Halloween, and I was really excited for her and it made me want to play this.

For those who don't know, the developer, Her Interactive, went through a lot of turmoil in 2015. Half of the team was fired. Prior to this, Her released two games per year since the 90s, but it would until the end of 2019 that they released another game. This game was Midnight in Salem.

Hathorne House

As the title suggests, the game is set in Salem, Massachusetts. It's not about "solving" the witch trials, but rather solving a modern fire at the Hathorne house, a ghost, and the missing will of its recently deceased owner. Nancy has a bigger team than normal, with Dierdre (who figured in past ND game I haven't played yet) and the Hardy Boys all running around to try to clear the name of Dierdre's cousin, who is suspected of setting the fire.

It's both better and worse than I expected. I didn't mind the graphics or controls (was using a controller) and the general gameplay felt like Nancy Drew, but there was a lack of quality in the educational component. Books and materials you read have text that looks like it was written and proofread by foreigners. They laid off in-house staff for cheap outsourcing, and it shows.

We Were Here

Achievement Clean Up Detectives! Mystery! Murder! Medieval Short Winter

I played this with my boyfriend. Thankfully I seemed to be on the side that had to do most of the heavy lifting as far as figuring out the puzzles goes from the library. I'd like to do the other side at some point.