I preordered Stray and never actually got around to playing more than half an hour of it on release. I can see why I bounced off it - it's not exactly a deep or challenging game, but that's okay. I just needed to come back when I was in the mood for a cute, mellow, vibey little adventure with a kitty cat. I really enjoyed how the cat handled, the different animations and movements depending on if you're jumping onto a ledge, a chair, or a vending machine for example - it all feels very natural and smooth. Really enjoyable aesthetic. I struggled a bit with the idea of having human-brain puzzles and such, and when you get your companion I was also a little disappointed - I was kind of hoping for the entire game to be through the eyes and capabilities of a lost cat. However as the game went on I appreciated the way your little friend helps add to the texture and story of the world. Cool setting - I'd be keen to see what else these developers can do in future. I'm glad I finally got around to playing it!

I never had a Sony console so Journey was always something I heard about but never played. It's nice to finally tick it off. What a gorgeous little game, I can see why it is so beloved. The gameplay is intuitive and simple, the journey itself is breathtaking. Music is stunning as to be expected of Austin Wintory. The interactions with enemies are genuinely tense. The couple of times I bumped into another player were great little surprises - I completely forgot that it was a feature of the game, so the first time I was taken entirely by surprise. It was a great little moment of storytelling. Really enjoyed my couple of hours with Journey.

I'm glad I replayed this game before moving onto the other Supergiant games that I haven't yet played. I feel like I didn't really give Bastion a fair go way back in 2013 when I played it for the first and only time - my gametime was about half of what my playthrough was this time around, and I feel like I pretty much rushed through it and came away at the end with the impression that it was a banger soundtrack on a pretty boring game. I'm very glad I gave it another shot, because Supergiant managed to cram a surprisingly high quality little story into this game about a little guy hitting things with a hammer. I really love the art style (though it does sometimes become hard to tell when objects are collidable or not, leading to falling off the map a lot, for me anyway), and the presentation in general is excellent. Darren Korb's music is of course fantastic and is as big a highlight as I remember it being 11 years ago. Really keen to see how Supergiant evolved from Bastion with Transistor next. And for what it's worth, rescue and evac is the only true ending.

I'm torn on Citizen Sleeper cos I feel like it both really should have been longer and more complex than it was, while also having to admit that it provides a lot of content and is satisfying just the way it is. Really gorgeous artwork and general vibe to the game - I loved the mellow soundtrack and the generally melancholy-but-hopeful feel of the game. Really cute little storylines about finding home, and what home is to someone who isn't even at home in their own body. I can't imagine replaying it unless I wanted to knock off a few more achievements - but I don't think replayability is necessarily a must for a game like this. Nevertheless I'm very happy I finally got around to it, and I'm very excited about the prospect of Citizen Sleeper 2 being bigger and better.

For what it's worth, my favourite ending is 'STARWARD PASSAGE'.

I'm glad I played this! For a game from 31 years ago it actually feels really tight and responsive to play. I really like the neat real-time combat rather than the turn based I was expecting. It takes a little bit of getting used to the way that the menus work during combat but once you do it's quite smooth and flows well. The actual swinging-your-sword combat never felt fully right to me, I dunno if I was just missing some combat cues or something, but I was never sure whether I was actually going to hit an enemy or waste a swing. Jumping between that and the magic casting felt good, though. Pretty standard plot for a game of this era but it was a much bigger game than I was expecting. Definitely wasn't expecting Flammie and getting to freely fly around the planet. I liked the hints of post-apocalyptic setting that are teased, it's a little sad that the Mana games aren't all in the same world. Gorgeous graphics, and the soundtrack is an absolute banger. It was really disconcerting getting to hear a soundtrack 'live' which I've only ever heard through remixes up til now. Really fun game!

Kentucky Route Zero is the kind of game that makes me wish I was smarter. I feel like there’s a lot of clear symbolism and themes that are going way over my head, I wish I was better at literary criticism. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a polar opposite opinion change on a game. I really didn’t like this for my first playthrough - it gave me the worst House of Leaves vibes, all the weird shit with none of the unique and complex concept. I bounced off it hard, until at the very end when the funeral for the Neighbors and Conway being taken away more than anything I think made me want to give it another shot. I think I was expecting more in the way of puzzles and general ‘adventure game’ stuff, it’s really more of an interactive story with very light decisions making differences. I much more enjoyed my second play through where I wasn’t expecting it to be something it simply isn’t. The presentation is impeccable, the art style and music is wonderful. I did more ‘exploring’ during my second playthrough though, finding little vignettes and little moments of storytelling. The tone is so melancholy and has this overwhelming feeling of inevitability, even before Conway makes his bad deal. The sad history of his life and the way it connects with others. I do like how interwoven and related all the characters are - I definitely noticed these little matching moments more on my second playthrough. The funeral for the Neighbors honest go god nearly teared me up this time around. If nothing else, it’s an incredibly unique game. I’m glad I finally played it. For me I think it’s quite a depressing look at inevitability and of endings, how things might limp on but will all eventually finish. Conway’s attempt to finish his delivery, attempt to redeem himself maybe for Charlie’s death? Prove himself as worthy of Lysette’s final job. Shannon’s attempt to help him, Ezra’s attempts to find his family. Lula/Donald/Joseph’s attempts to create something meaningful. The town with no roads inevitably coming to an end. The final act in particular makes me really sad, all these people deciding to leave because the anchor - their community television station - was destroyed and their Neighbors killed. I picked a lot of options which involved characters staying or moving to the town but it didn’t feel genuine.

Always a series I've enjoyed but never one I've actually finished! Pretty sure I've played it on ROM, 3DS and Switch now. I got the AA Trilogy with my Switch around October 2020, my last save for the first game is November 2020, and then I basically dropped it until COVID when I played a chunk more at mum's, then dropped it until now. I enjoyed it for the most part - I probably wouldn't have ever gone back and finished it if it wasn't for the backlog sheet. I think part of the issue is that the 'gameplay' is pretty simple and repetitive, and because it's technically 3 games in one, there's no real growth in mechanics or depth from game to game and so it can get a bit frustrating being reintroduced to things you've already done. It's also annoying when you spot a contradiction ahead of time, but the game isn't ready for you to see it yet (I'm thinking of the receipt in the Mia murder one), or when you don't pick the /right/ contradiction. I'm glad I resorted to a walkthrough when I needed to, though it is incredibly satisfying when you manage to spot one yourself. I'm actually looking forward to the other trilogy combos, Great Attorney and Apollo Justice - hopefully they expand a little on the basis from Phoenix Wright. I enjoy the characters and the wild plots in the game - there's a surprising level of depth to the characters considering it's a mostly jokey visual novel series. I enjoyed the way that the Trials and Tribulations cases (mostly) linked together, especially with the two shorter Mia ones squeezed in to give context and background to the finale. I think I've talked myself into giving it a higher rating tbh.

What a surprising little game. Aesthetically absolutely gorgeous, the entire game looks like a steampunk oil painting come to life. I don't really know what I was expecting but I probably thought there'd be a little more gameplay than there actually was - it reminded me a lot of Limbo and that brand of side-scrolling adventure game. Really intuitive though, simple but no real tutorials needed or anything, everything clicked pretty easily. The lowkey worldbuilding and art was the main reason I enjoyed this - I would have finished it regardless cos it was less than 3 hours, but the music and visuals brought it to another level. I think the soundtrack will make it into my regular mellow rotation. Really keen to play the second one, now. What a great little experience.

I had a lot more fun with TOTK than I did BOTW. I dropped it for a few months there in the middle but it was easy to slip back into it. The combat is more fun, more variety in enemies and weapons with the fuse mechanic. The ultrahand in general seems like a much better concept/execution than the sheikah bombs/magnet/ice/etc. in BOTW. A lot more emergent gameplay that comes from it which is neat. The story is similar in concept but I was far more engaged throughout the runtime (probably cos I didn't watch a 2 hour Joseph Anderson video about it before playing) and I was actually invested in what was happening and the characters. I kind of wish it was more of a traditional BioWare RPG styley where the Sages actually travel with you so you can get to know them a bit more/hear them interact with each other but I know that's not the kind of game this is. The temples were pretty simple BUT they did feel a bit more dynamic and 'big deal' than they did in BOTW. I liked how much more impactful the main quest progress felt - Lookout Landing is a cool idea, and having the Rito, Gerudo, Gorons and Zora begin to appear there as you 'rally' them is cool. The presence of the sages at the final battle is awesome too, the fight against the 'Demon Army' actually felt kinda epic. The finale fighting the Demon Dragon from the back of another dragon was badass. For what it's worth Zelda's sacrifice becoming a dragon really surprised me, I didn't see that coming - though I did see her getting turned back into a Hylian at the end. Can't be TOO dark. Soundtrack and visuals were stunning as expected. I'm gonna have to see if I can find a decent copy of the soundtrack to listen to. Made me excited for Zelda again which I haven't been for ages (BOTW didn't really awaken it in me), maybe I'll look at playing Skyward Sword or Majora's Mask - though I know the plots which I find kills my enjoyment pretty hard. I wish I was the sort of person who cared about 100%ing games because I think I could easily sink another 80 hours into this game but I'm pretty satisfied just having finished the story, even if I used a walkthrough at times out of laziness.

Very very weird meta ARG horror game. Something primally unsettling about the way that you can contort faces and such which made me want to push through and get all the endings even though I wasn't really scared by the end. Interesting story and characters, wish I understood it a bit better. Is Lila just a tulpa? Who are the Worms of Lawrence? etc. Still, very interesting and above all very weird. Thanks Jacob Geller! Did have to resort to a walkthrough because I have no idea how you would figure out some of those endings without one, though. Kind of insane some of them, intentionally corrupting a save and loading it and heading to a very specific set of coordinates. Like what?