A decent action platformer with endearing humor and dripping with Tim Schafer's creative juices (ew). The gameplay and graphics have definitely aged, but I still mostly enjoyed my time with the game. The concept of each level being another character's inner mind is a great set up, and the game certainly delivers on it.

100% Completion Notes: There are a loooot of collectibes in this one, including the "figments": doodles that fly throughout the game's many levels, sometimes even clipping in and out of the walls. Other than that drag, the list is fairly straightforward. There is an achievement for playing the game on Christmas, but I ain't got time for that so I just changed my system's date.

Metro 2033 is an excellent blend of FPS combat and a bleak narrative with excellent horror elements. I would hesitate to call this a horror game, but it is bleak and frightening at times, certainly. I thought the gunplay was a step above serviceable, and the level/mission design was varied enough to keep me engaged throughout. The story was just okay, but the depressing, post-apocolyptic world they built is engaging. I highly recommend playing in Russian with English subtitles for added immersion.

100% Completion Notes: Requires two playthroughs to get the two different endings, with the "good" ending require you to complete a long list of obscure actions throughout the game, and if you miss too many, tough luck. That plus the litany of Artyom's journals you need to collect, using a guide is almost mandatory.

The classic with some fancy new bells and whistles. Was able to play it a decent framerate (somewhere above 60 FPS, can't remember exact numbers) with some DLSS and other settings tweaked on a 3080 12GB. Was fun to play through a game I hadn't touched in quite a while with a fresh coat of paint. Found myself just staring at the lighting and the glow from the portals for extended periods.

100% Completion Notes: My first time going for all the achievements in Portal. All of the base game achievements were a blast to get. The least steps/least portals challenges can go jump in a hole and die.

Observer_ is a pretty cool take on the cyberpunk genre, hitting on themes you'd expect from similar games like SOMA and Cyberpunk 2077. What does it meant to be human? How far can we augment ourselves before we lose what makes us, us? The side missions of Observer are where the writing and atmosphere really shines. I was never too engaged by the main story.

100% Completion Notes: A decently fun time, only took one playthrough using a guide. A bunch of collectibles to find, but I loved exploring the run down apartment building that serves as the game's setting. The achievements also pushed me towards the side missions, which as stated previously, was my favorite content in the game.

Like playing through an extended, best-hits episode of South Park in the best way. Exploring South Park was a great time with secrets and laughs tucked away in every corner. The gameplay was extremely repetitive and got boring quickly. Swapping out your party members didn't help too much either. Plays similar to a Super Mario RPG with turn-based combat with quick-time events to boost results.

100% Completion Notes: I'm glad I went for the achievements as they pointed me towards meeting everyone, finding and seeing everything. A great time.

The greatest immersive sim of all time. The greatest stealth game of all time. Dishonored is a lovingly crafted game that puts you in the driver's seat of a disgraced royal bodyguard. The sheer amount of different methods and routes you can take through Arkane's incredibly made levels is second to none. The art style still holds up today, and the gameplay still remains some of the best in the business.

100% Completion Notes: Loved doing two playthroughs for High and Low chaos to see what changes, both big and small, my actions brought about. The base game and the Brigimore Witches/Daud DLC was fun and a great expansion on the universe. Then there are the Dunwall City Trials. The achievements pertaining to those, and the expert versions of the trials, were some of the most frustrating, challenging achievements I've gone for. Proud to have completed it.

Hollow Knight achieves what few side-scrolling games can: the perfect blending of style and substance.

Roaming through the sprawling realm of Hallownest, I often found myself enthralled by the gorgeous backdrops, whimsical bugs, and incredibly varied enemy design. Hollow Knight tells its story in a similar vein to games like Dark Souls, where you must glean the things you can from descriptions, cryptic hints, and the world itself. That works for some, and not others, and obviously did for me.

Not only is Hallownest gorgeous to look at, it's also extremely fun to navigate and fight through. Controls are tight and responsive, and abilities/power-ups are introduced at a pace that doesn't make learning the mechanics feel overwhelming. Containing both challenging platforming sequences and boss fights, the game respects the player while simultaneously challenging them to "git gud". A fantastic experience overall for those it clicks with, and a recent addition to my Top 5 games of all-time.

100% Completion Notes: My proudest completion to date. I bounced off of this game after attempting the pantheons multiple times, but finally attempted it with a renewed vigor last month. Grinding the boss fights to practice for the boss rush mode, I truly felt like I had mastered the game and its challenges. The Steel Soul run was stressful but fair, and I will look back fondly on the time and effort I put into getting all the achievements in one of my favorite games.