January 3rd 2k23

whew, it’s been a while huh?

i’m one of those people who, when super stressed, tends to clam up and keep my head down because no one wants to hear about that shit. and hooray, the stress remains! but i still managed to finish 34 games in 2022 so i’m going to force myself to make a post at the start of this year anyway.

FAVORITE FINISH: Ghostwire: Tokyo
this was a gift from a steam friend, and a game i was hyped for but couldn’t afford to get on my own at the time of release. total surprise how good it was, given my hype was purely on aesthetics and not from knowing anything about gameplay or story. it’s approximately a 40-something hour game given you peek in all the nooks and crannies to find everything, and has a very satisfying combat system. can’t recommend it enough, 10/10.

LEAST FAVE FINISH: Persona 4 Golden
i had to return to this one because i got burnt out my first attempt, and boy howdy does this game drag. half of the stuff you won’t even find on your own without a walkthrough, and even though i did have one of the steam guides up my entire playtime just to catch as much as possible, it still felt too dense and chore-like to really be enjoyable. i know this sort of thing is right up the alley for various people, but i am not one of them. i don’t look back on my time in this game as “ah, a game i played,” i look back at it as “well, that’s over a hundred hours of my life i’ll never get back.”

BEST ZEN: PowerWash Simlator
got this one in early access because a steam friend was having a fun time with it, played for a few hours, then let it hang out on my hard drive while i waited for full release. it’s definitely worth your time and money now that it’s out of EA, it has a full story attached to the scenarios and a lovely array of nozzles and things to get the job done. good game to zone out on while you clean up some truly disgusting areas covered in muck.

here’s some random stats to pile on–
times i played through the Mass Effect Trilogy: once, but also i played Andromeda for the first time (and probably the last, lol).
number of games played with a cat theme: six! good year for kitties.
jrpgs finished: only two!
solitaire and puzzle/clicker games finished: thirteen!

if my stress levels lessen i might do a mid-year roundup, otherwise i’ll be back in 2k24 with another post. byyyyeeeeeeee~