2025 games thread: a small review of every game I play and like. Ratings:
[★] Neat and worthwhile, but limited in scope / quality.
[★★] Stronger games falling short somewhat in concept, scope or execution.
[★★★] All-time greats.
Awake (by Droqen) [★]. Delightful little adventure, the barest descriptions painting a picture through intimacy.
Alephant [★]. Overwhelming state space, some really cool tricks and levels (like pic), but I can't quite keep up. Last level was so demoralizing, spending hours building out a solution that's barely not possible, then looking it up to see I understood literally nothing relevant.
Dragonsweeper [★]. Fun to figure out the little patterns, more dynamic than other sweep-'em-ups since you always have to sac hp, deviating from standard perfect strategies. The triple victory is more constrained (my win was 66%), and a misclick or misthought can end it all.
Spelunky [★]. Great fundamentals juggling what you're holding and navigational resources, though the items don't do much. The key quest was fun and tense, but gets too chaotic for the harder achievements and secrets. Better at comedy than action, probably a skill issue.
Inner Tao [★]. Wonderfully twisty complications despite seeming so simple. Hard to wrap my head around just how different the navigational dynamics between the two pieces are from level to level.
Baba Is You [★★★]. Walks such a fine line between guidance and challenge that the few times it breaks down (like Bottleneck) go to show how incredible it is as a rule. Almost always elegant, novel, streamlined, secretive yet too excited to share to hold back too much.
Pseudoregalia [★]. Really satisfying moveset, fun to explore and do challenges, but drags towards the end with a poor "final" (for me) major upgrade that fails to spice up backtracking and downgrades platforming.
Just a Normal Snake [★]. Very funky movement. Hard to plan out even after getting used to it, so I ended up just trial and erroring the order to eat fruits in when that mattered. Last level stonewalled me, came back a few times but at some point the cache cleared; a mystery.
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy (replay) [★★]. I only grow more fond of the voiceover and gimmicks; "some tricks for the clicks of the feckless" lives rent free, and both the bucket and ice are natural extensions and subversions of obstacles that have become routine by then.
BETON BRUTAL [★]. Simple jumps in linear progression are great at creating tension but little more. Clunky ladders combined with some performance issues and my rebellious Ctrl key make failure less satisfying than it ought to be, and the climb back up lacks intrigue.
ZeroRanger [★]. As a campaign with gradual expansions to your moveset, great music and some fun levels to overcome, it's a good time. With its slow build-up and raw length, I'm not eager to go for a 1CC.
The Stillness of the Wind [★]. Sweet atmosphere from the heavy rhythm of day-to-day chores to more fantastical elegiac limbo. Little as encouraging as a beautiful sunrise to start the day.
Dragon Blaze [★]. The coolest shmup melee attack, mode switching with a dynamic cooldown, which is satisfying to play around with. Quickly becomes mandatory to one-shot enemies with it as they spawn since their bullets are so fast and oppressive, spiralling in on a linear route.
Cosmic Star Heroine [★]. Convincing take on JRPG combat fundamentals, particularly the limited use actions ensure constant decisions. Still has occasional opaque elements and RNG (like enemy targeting), and the novelty wears a bit thin by the time party-building unlocks.
Hollow Knight: Silksong [★★★]. Spruced-up fundamentals with a host of good changes to the action, though the tools and quests aren't great. Last act is a bit messy in pacing but makes up for it with a great final boss and super charming festival (juggle>bounce>>>dodge).
@threadreaderapp unroll
Bit belated on all this end of year stuff, thought a vacation would help but then I got injured and sick. The numbers keep shrinking too but surely next year™.
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1874588…
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