#also my favourite games to play are roguelikes and metroidvanias

[ethosiab]

Oh my gawd you're a game dev?? What kind of games do you like making? Are you currently working on something? Do you have any tips? I'm trying game dev myself, I'm not the best atit though (sorry for a lot of questions 😭)

Yep!! right now it's just a hobby I do on the side while I get my footing (studying programming so that's taking up a lot of my time lol) but I definitely want to do more with it in the future

As for tips, I'm pretty new to it all myself so I'm kind of half-blindly stumbling through the process and can't really offer much advice-

Currently I'm working on a little text adventure game but its VERY rough and I'm just testing out the concept. Mostly a project for myself but i might end up releasing it/showing other's, depends how it goes haha

I love 2D adventure games especially, but while I get better at pixel art and animation I've mostly been messing around with text-based games.

[specksizedgoddess]

I love roguelkes too :D

Got started with Hades and Vampire Survivors, my favourites are probably Hades, Binding of Isaac and Dead Estate

Hbu?

OH MY GOD HUN

I completey missed this ask, I am so sorry- god, I'm so sorry!! I don't know how long you've had to wait I only just now checked my inbox- sorry for the wait!!

Anyways. Ahem. I could make a whole tier list of some of my favorite roguelikes I've played, but here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order :3

Binding of Issac: Self-explanitory, also my favorite game of all time <33

Brutal Orchestra: Slightly lesser known, this one is SO SO GOOD. The only game that tells you exactly what opponents are going to do and where that you will still lose. A lot.

Dead Cells: Another self esplanitory one! Combines metroidvania and roguelike mechanics really well and just has fun combat :3

Slay the Spire: Listen. Do I think Slay the Spire is the BEST turn based strategy roguelike? No! BUT I would be doing a disservice by not mentioning it here :3

Cavity Busters: Weird, fleshy game about teeth shooting... teeth. I think the disease system is super neat, the versatility is amazing, and its just packed with so much FLAVOR that I have to put it here!

Now I'm not sure if these counts. But honestly with the amount of times I die and have to restart my runs, I'm counting these two as well-

FEAR AND HUNGER & FEAR AND HUNGER: TERMINA: Both amazing games that will have you bashing your head against a wall for hours playing. You will lose hours of progress because of a glitch, you will lose every fucking limb in your body, you will learn what happens if you cast necromancy on All-Mer's corpse-

AND YOU WILL LOVE EVERY SECOND.

Okay. Sorry. I um. I really like roguelikes :3

[splashinkling]

I posted 1,774 times in 2022

That's 1,142 more posts than 2021!

99 posts created (6%)

1,675 posts reblogged (94%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@talesfromaurea

@ettawritesnstudies

@somanywords

@zmwrites

@pixelw0rds

I tagged 965 of my posts in 2022

Only 46% of my posts had no tags

#other's art - 334 posts

#others' art - 117 posts

#dice - 89 posts

#kirby - 56 posts

#tag game - 43 posts

#wip: mwtw - 41 posts

#ink writes - 40 posts

#ink rambles - 38 posts

#pokemon - 30 posts

#other's writing - 28 posts

Longest Tag: 135 characters

#omg the last line killing you means it's gonna be so so good- doesn't matter if the killing is in a good or bad way it'll still be 👌👌

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Get to Know tag

another one of these! thanks for tagging @ettawritesnstudies!^^

Rules: Tag 9 people you want to get to know better or catch up with

favourite colour: blues and red! silver is a close second and purples are also up there

last song: Henry and LeeHi's cover of Like I'm Gonna Lose You

currently reading: nothing! my books are weeping on my shelf. you know what. reading Disco Elysium text should count, right??

last movie: I was half paying attention to Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island last night with my friends

sweet, savoury or spicy: always sweet! then savoury then spicy. currently having a not-bitter coffee right now haha

currently working on: another game jam idea! this time for one of interact-if's game jams

open tag!^^ but also tagging if you want uhhh... @latenight-stories, @dandelion-tea, and @ashen-crest (not sure if you've done this yet) and also @sleepy-night-child, @drippingmoon, and @talesfromaurea (again if y'all want)

13 notes - Posted January 6, 2022

#4

hey y'all! exciting news! my friend started pre-orders on their book, Wayfinders! it's a collection of four short stories about finding the way home!

both of us would really appreciate it if you could check it out (and maybe even order a copy while you're there 👀). thanks again!

15 notes - Posted March 7, 2022

#3

OC Couple Picrews

thanks @mschvs for the tag

ok funny thing.

I saw a post of this picrew a while ago and thought it was cute so I used to it to make reference pics for the Witch characters lmao. guess I'll get to share them

I also found the other picrew by sheer willpower

Here's 1. Summer Eryn and Lyzandir and 2. Lucille and Marina (but in not their usual clothes and Marina's not as purple as she should be and Lucille's hair is not as golden either and I'm screeing but I had to make it work)

See the full post

17 notes - Posted May 31, 2022

#2

thanks for the tag @aalinaaaaaa!

let's tag @notwritinganyflufftoday, @drippingmoon, @sleepy-night-child, and @pixelw0rds, +an open tag for anyone who sees this

If your WIP was a video game, what type of game would it be?

as a certified Game Enthusiast™️ (according to my friends), I won't allow myself the benefit of going typical RPGs for both Den and Witch because I love talking about games and I'd like to think I'm well-versed enough to think of cool game ideas and RPG is an incredibly broad term that can mean Animal Crossing or Digimon Cyber Sleuth or Lego Batman 3.

Demons in the Den |

a top-down hack'n'slash game akin to Unsighted and Hades. I'd say more like Unsighted since this wouldn't be a roguelike. there would definitely be Metroidvania elements because exploration and attaining character abilities is awesome. plus having bosses you can challenge out of order or straight up ignore is always fun. I'd also say that you'd play the game as a pair (Mara and Aliah) and you can switch which of them you'd like to play as but also there's also parts where you're locked into one.

Memories with the Witch |

likely a life management sim with RPG elements. think Stardew Valley and Rune Factory type games. newer examples include the Atelier series and Moonlighter (but it's also a roguelike). the main game loop would be like Stardew or Moonlighter where you do daily business things and use the rest of the time for other things you wanna do. roguelike/roguelite features might be cool since Lyzandir can fulfill that role, but it's iffy if I want it to be more like a life sim. it's also kind of hard to incorporate all the characters because so much time passes, so I'd need to focus either on Lyzandir's time (more life sim) or Lucille's time (more action RPG)

21 notes - Posted May 21, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

WIP Intro: Memories with the Witch

"Family... I'm not sure. I know I have one, but it's fuzzy. I don't know if they're even still alive."

Title (Tentative): Memories with the Witch

Genres/Themes: fantasy, slice of life, kinda-romance?, short chapters, D&D-inspired, found family

Status: Ongoing!

Synopsis:

Lyzandir has dealt with his poor memory for as long as he can remember. Just today, his best friend gifted him a journal to keep track of things, like how he stumbled upon a witch in the forest. The two set off to recollect his lost memories. Despite finally doing so, nothing changes.

And so Lyzandir continues his days alongside the witch.

Chapters (in posted order):

will be here when I get around to posting them somewhere

See the full post

45 notes - Posted April 24, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[zehecatl]

rec post for @f-eef that got too long for its own good, and is now just. a general rec post i guess

(as of writing, today is the steam summer sale! writing this before that goes live, so no guarantee everything on here is on sale, but! most of these are older games, so it’s likely. keep them in mind~)

- Iconoclasts my absolute favourite game, ever (along with OFF, but shh), if you check out one game from this list, let it be this one. it’s a genuinely almost flawless package, with gorgeous pixel art, fun gameplay, a really good story, and a cast of characters i just. adore. it’s so so so good, and three years later, i’m still not over it

- The Binding of Isaac so there’s this genre called roguelikes, wherein the whole gimmick is that, when you die, you gotta start from the Very Beginning; and the ‘point’ is getting better and better at the game, until you win! it’s super easy to just, play a few runs (they generally don’t last that long!), and then go on with your day, so it’s a really fun game to just waste time in, if you just wanna chill with some game. and, in my personal opinion, Isaac is the best roguelike game, with so much stuff to unlock, a whole slew of items to play with, and so much content it’s kind of unreal. i definitely think the DLCs are worth picking up, but it’s mostly for more content than like. actually being necessary

- Terraria it’s minecraft, but 2D. unlike MC, it’s got a bit of guidance, which i personally prefer, with bosses to fight and such. an absolutely BLAST with other people too

- A Hat in Time a 3D platformer, ala Mario, that’s just. super charming. it’s also really fun to play. i haven’t actually played the DLC’s, since i played it way back, but i’ve heard good things about Nyakuza Metro, which does look super slick, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

- Slime Rancher you are a slime rancher. you ranch slimes. it’s honestly just wholesome as hell, and just exudes happy vibes. mostly for running around and collecting slimes, ngl

- The Messenger really funky retro game, wherein you play a ninja on a mission. it’s primary draw is definitely in its gameplay, but there’s a surprising amount of story for this kind of genre? i honestly really just like this one. it’s neat

- Underhero you play as a cute minion, who kind of like. managed to kill the hero. and whoops, guess you’re doing his job now? it’s got that undertale vibe, though i’d say it’s less polished than it. HOWEVER, it’s absolutely lovely and it’s climax is REALLY good

- Hatoful Boyfriend bird dating sim. trust me. the ‘secret’ finale route is just. *chef’s kiss* fantastic

- Night in the Woods if you don’t mind having a very poignant sad time, oh my god, i could not recommend NITW more. it perfectly captures that period when you’re done with school, and suddenly your whole life is stretching before you, and you feel so so fucking lost, and overwhelmed and pained with it. it’s just. so good. a sadness worth experiencing 

- Shovel Knight another retro game! this one is, pretty much, the king of the genre, and for very good reasons. the first one (shovel of hope) doesn’t have much story, but the latter ones really add on it. they’re honestly just, really solid games! with funky knight characters!!!

- Hyper Light Drifter man, it’s just a masterpiece. everything about it is perfect. it’s been like, five years, and it’s still one of the very best indie games

- Tell Me Why it’s currently free for june! and it’s a story game! plus, if you like the genre, the devs got the ‘Life Is Strange’ serie(s) to delve into!

- Cat Quest honestly, i just really like this little game. the gameplay is SO much fun, and everything else is just. really charming :’)

- Yoku’s Island Express metroidvania, where you play as a dung-beetle post officer, and the gimmick is that it’s pinball-y! it’s really fun, and very cute and just an all around good time :)

- Owlboy you play as an owl boy! named Otus! and you can fly around, and there’s GORGEOUS pixel graphics, and a neat story, and just. the BEST cast of characters. it’s delightful

- Yuppie Psycho + Count Lucanor just gonna bundle these two together, because they’re both REALLY GOOD. YP is the newer one, and is therefore probably ‘the better one’, but i like them both a ton! they’re 2D horror, but i wouldn’t say they’re that spooky? though that might just be because they’re pixel games! you explore spooky place, and weird stuff happens around you. just a really fun time :)

- Angels of Death my FAVOURITE rpgmaker game, it’s main draw is, a 100%, the main characters and the relationship that develops between them. i just love it a whole lot, and it’s got that lil’ tinge of horror that i, personally, fucking adore. there’s actually an anime based on this, but i haven’t seen it myself!

- Celeste curve ball! it’s a 2D platformer! it’s really good, got a ton of accessibility features, and has like. the tightest gameplay- and, on top of that, surprisingly emotional story! 

- Bastion putting Bastion here, because it’s actually the only one i’ve properly played, but you could probably buy any of the Supergiant Games, and come out satisfied. Bastion is the oldest of the bunch, and is definitely a bit less polished for it, but i personally adore it; the gameplay probably hasn’t aged that well, but i think the story and presentation more than makes up for it

- The Darkside Detective funny point and click adventure, with great wit, and a pair of characters i kind of simply adore. it’s main draw is definitely its humour

- Littlewood very wholesome and chill farming game, that feels more like an RPG than something like stardew valley- i’d not recommend it over SV, but if you want more of SV, Littlewood might scratch that itch!

- Pony Island + The Hex absolutely adore both of these, though if i had to rec only one, it’d probably be Pony Island? they’ve both got that undertale-off vibe, though Pony Island definitely leans harder into it. very interesting plays, both of them

- Oxenfree another horror-ish game! primarily story-focused, but oh boy, what a story! i’m a BIG fan of this game, and the sequel was recently announced too! definitely worth a look if you like ghost shenanigans

- Creature in the Well wasn’t a 100% sure if i should rec this, but beside the finale boss, i really enjoyed my time with this! it’s this weird pinball inspired hack and slash, with some amazing vibes

- Kindergarten 1 + 2 they’re just fun little games okay. the 2nd is much more fleshed out, but the 1st one is really fun too

- the Henry Stickmin collection I JUST... LIKE THESE GAMES A LOT... i think you can find the old versions somewhere on the internet, if you wanna check them out first? idk, they’re fun!

- LIMBO + INSIDE personally, i like INSIDE more, but both of these are classics, and also they’re made by a danish team, and i like them a WHOLE LOT

- The Final Station i could not tell you why i like this game as much as i do, but oh my god. i love this game? it’s got a dying world, neat pixel graphics, big zombie apocalypse vibes, and a weird little story

- Year Walk i love Year Walk :)

- Smile For Me if you liked undertale’s lovely cast of characters, oh boy, you’d likely LOVE this game! it’s really, really, fantastic, and the epilogue (not in the actual game lol) hit me right in the feels

- Pikuniku just a fun little game! there’s not really much there, in the grand scheme of things, but it’s a wonderful little play, one of those games that just sets out to give you a good time, and absolutely success. i like it a lot :’)

- A Short Hike wonderful game, where it’s more about exploring the island than actively finishing the game. it’s real wonderful

- ULTRAKILL ANOTHER CURVEBALL! no idea if you like FPS, but oh my god. ULTRAKILL is so fucking good. just an absolute blast to play. there’s a demo to check out, and i’d definitely recommend it, because if it’s a genre you might like, you’ll love this one (OH also it’s in early access, which means it’s not finished yet! personally, i don’t mind that, especially considering this is more gameplay focused, but ya’ know!)

- My Friend Pedro it’s honestly just really fun to play, and sometimes i still think about the implied lore, and go all !!!!

- Little Misfortune another point and click! this one is pretty short, and is set within the same universe as their other game, Fran Bow, which is much bigger, but idk. i like this one. it’s dark cute

- This Strange Realm of Mine i honestly dunno how to explain this one, because it’s kind of weird and a bit odd, but i really like it, in all its weird poetic glory. it’s neat!

- Donut County you’re a terrible racoon who’s ruined the whole city with holes. it’s great and i love it

- OneShot another ‘gives me undertale vibes’, though this one was in development before UT, if i recall correctly! it’s so good, and it’s got some fantastic meta bits, and i love Niko. i love Niko so much

- Inmost gorgeous vaguely spooky game with a neat story... my favourite genre

- Sayonara Wild Hearts i’d call this more of a spectacle than anything else, but oh my god. what a spectacle it is! the OST is amazing, everything about it just hits right, and even if you suck at the gameplay (which i did), it really doesn’t matter, in my opinion? it’s just great all around!

[abitofboth]

Okay, forgive me if some of these you've already played since some came out a few years ago.

Hollow Knight is great imo, it's a platformer/metroidvania and the art style is beautiful. The storyline is quite subtle, being revealed more and more slowly through the characters as you progress, and being a metroidvania there's a fair bit of backtracking to earlier areas as you get more upgrades, but it feels more like you're exploring everything and has some challenging bosses, so if you're into that then it's a great game to get into (but I'll shut up now so I don't fill the entire ask with ramblings about it). Witcher 3 is also great with the storytelling, and despite never playing the earlier two games I was generally able to understand everything except for a couple of callbacks. I also really enjoyed Dragon Quest XI, but it's to my understanding that while a lot of people love it there's also some people who consider it underwhelming, but I personally really liked the writing of the game and how you could switch between 2D or 3D graphics. There's also Dead Cells, which I don't know as much about since it was a rec from a friend that I haven't been able to play yet, so maybe research that one, but it's apparently a roguelike metroidvania, and I know Hades is a roguelike, so that could be worth looking into.

yes someone else recommended hollow knight and it looks SO good!! I’ll probably get that one, the aesthetic of it alone has like completely sold me lmao but the way you’ve described it sounds amazing. I honestly didn’t even know the witcher was on the switch, it’s one of my friend’s favourites 😳 and dragon quest kinda gives me botw meets pokemon vibes from the screenshots! dead cells looks super cool, and from the sounds of it is pretty similar to hades except it’s a prison.

thank you so much for al the recs!! I’ll look into them all more and get stuck into some soon<3

[prokopetz]

What're your personal favorite bullet hell/bullet time games?

I’m not typically a huge fan of pure bullet hell games – most of my favourite games of the type are hybridised with something else. A representative sampling:

Assault Android Cactus - A co-op friendly twin-stick arena shooter with a fun cast of characters. More approachable than most examples of the type owing to the fact that you can’t actually die – getting blasted just makes you fall down and take a small time penalty.

Bleed 2 - Another twin-stick shooter, this one a side-scrolling platformer. I’m listing the sequel because it has the stronger bullet-hell elements; though the first game in the series has similar mechanics, differences in enemy attack patterns make it more of a timing-based affair.

Bot Vice - A arcade-style gallery shooter, with robots. Genre purists might argue that both the relatively low bullet density and the inclusion of cover mechanics disqualify it from being a true bullet hell game, but it’s my post, so I’m counting it!

Just Shapes and Beats - This one keeps the “bullet hell” part, but dispenses with the “shooter” part; each level is a pure survival exercise, without the hassle of shooting back. Plays very differently in single player mode than it does in co-op.

Touhou Luna Nights - Come on, you knew there was going to be at least one Touhou game. This one’s a Metroidvania, with the bullet hell elements largely restricted to a handful of boss fights, but it does some really creative things with the bullet patterns when those fights happen.

If you follow early access titles, you might also keep an eye on ScourgeBringer, a neat little roguelike platformer that combines Celeste-style movement tech with bullet hell elements.

[radramblog]

Top 5 Games, ever...?

This was sort of on my mind, considering the recent GOTY post I made. Come explore the hyperfixations that managed to stick around long enough to be my top 5 list. 

5. Uhhhhhh

So turns out I haven’t figured out what number 5 is yet. I suppose instead I’ve got to split it among the honourable mentions, huh.

Kirby Super Star Ultra is probably the best game from the GBA/DS era of the series and is just a blast to play. It introduced Masked Dedede, and all the banging music and memes that come with it, and probably deserves a spot here just for that.

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth removes all the awkward Flash Stuff from the excellent original, and adds so, so much more content- the game’s final expansion still isn’t out yet as of writing but even now there’s just so much to unlock. While some aspects of the game can be pretty unforgiving, you probably aren’t going to be exposed to the worst of it unless you get into it pretty hardcore, and if you do, you’ll get used to it. It’s a roguelike, after all.

Speaking of roguelikes, FTL: Faster than Light is chaotic yet serene, brutal but fair, and a bunch of other pretentious dichotomies wrapped into a neat little bow. It takes some getting used to the mechanics, but once you get the hang of it, building your little ship up and up in the face of all odds is extremely satisfying. Have fun dying hopefully not too many times.

SPEAKING of permadeath, Realm of the Mad God gets a spot here just out of sheer hours I’ve spent with it. After a messy few years with a not-so-great owner lead me to dropping the game, it seems finally to have recovered and has devs and community that actually freaking care about it, which is nice. Also, it’s free, and the recent transition to unity has the game looking better and playing smoother than 12-year-old me could ever have dreamed of.

Terraria isn’t just 2D Minecraft btw, its actually more of an RPG/Metroidvania thing, you probably know at this point, but its pretty good hey. Still haven’t fully dove into 1.4 but considering I thought Red was done at 1.1 I’m not complaining with what I have played.

 4. Fallout: New Vegas

(...ish??)

I’d argue that between the primitiveness of the original Fallout games (I’ve tried to get into them, but I just can’t) and how…meh… the other Bethesda ones are, New Vegas is the only one in the series to stand up strong. Obsidian’s excellent writing and tweaks to the gameplay of 3 make New Vegas feel like an actual world, rich and characterised, which was something I found lacking in previous open-world RPGs I’d played up until that point (which admittedly might just have been Skyrim). It’s a game that challenges you to make choices that actually matter for more than the mere moments of an altered dialogue tree, both in dialogue and character building, which helps make the game actually replayable. It is also the first game in a long time that really sold the idea of DLC on me, seeing as each of the game’s 4 expansions adds an entire new region of world with its own stories and unique gameplay, tying together with the main plot but standing on their own. I am excluding Gun Runner’s Arsenal from this for obvious reasons, though it isn’t like GRA is a bad DLC or anything- on the contrary, the sheer scope of modifications and munitions makes playing a repair/science-based character incredibly fulfilling- but it just isn’t at the same scope as the other 4 (Courier’s stash barely counts seeing as its just oops! All preorder bonuses).

New Vegas is one of the few games I have actually 100% completed, achievements and all, but I’m still pretty sure there are bits I’ve missed, paths I haven’t taken, characters I haven’t talked to. Despite its inhospitability, the Mojave is always a comfortable place to return to.

 3. VA-11 Hall-A

(Hey look, my phone background)

Vallhalla is a masterclass in storytelling, atmosphere, and aesthetic. Like all good cyberpunk dystopias, you get themes of class and transhumanism and artificial intelligence, but they aren’t the point of Vallhalla. Through the window and lens of cyberpunk and PC98 nostalgia is focussed a surprisingly human story centred around the protagonist, Jill, which through multiple replays still hits me in the feels just so. Of course, Jill’s story is not the only one being discussed, as every single patron of the bar has their own life going on, and the glimpses we get imply a rich, often interconnected, world. Glitch City is, frankly, a shithole, and it’s not like you don’t get some assholes coming into the bar while you’re working it. The first patron you serve, in fact, is a great example of this- Donovan D. Dawson, essentially a parody of J. Jonah Jameson, is a colossal prick and knows it- but its clear he has his own system of morals and it is mentioned that he’s excellent at his job, much as he gripes about it. He’s rude and more than a little sexist, but frustratingly charismatic and authoritative, and he’s just one of many people who show up throughout the game. Vallhalla is the perfect game to sit down, grab your preferred beverage, and just relax with.

 2. Total Annihilation

(This image is on the steam page for this one, despite blatantly not being from vanilla TA)

I think I actually need to explain this one. Total Annihilation was a game released in 1997 made largely by Chuck Taylor, who would later go on to produce spiritual successor Supreme Commander. It’s an RTS game featuring exclusively robotic units with a fairly chunky aesthetic, allowing the visuals to age better than some, and a fully orchestrated soundtrack by Jeremy Soule, who would later go on to do work on a whole bunch of stuff, most notably Skyrim.

Total Annihilation is an intensely nostalgic game for me, being one of the first games I ever got to play as a kid outside of edutainment stuff, and I’d argue still holds up today (especially with the excellent Escalation mod). What it lacks in story (it’s pretty basic, but functional) it makes up for being miles ahead of its time mechanically, being the first (?) RTS to function in 3 dimensions- heights of things actually matter, hills exist and certain units climb them better than others, shooting down airplanes is difficult without anti-air but possible if you aim *just* right. While appearing pretty similar and having largely analogous units, the two factions of Arm and Core are well fleshed-out in terms of aesthetic and playstyle- Arm preferring fast and cheap equivalents to Core’s slow but powerful- and the unit variety is sufficient that strategies can vary wildly based on the map. Both campaigns as well as those from the game’s expansions are challenging, but satisfying, limiting the units you can produce to force exploration of different playstyles.

Total Annihilation isn’t something I tend to binge play for hours anymore, but I’ll pick it up for a bit every so often, and I don’t see that stopping for a long time (especially due to the recent steam release).

 1. Pokémon Emerald

(At the top, where it belongs)

Yeah, this was inevitable. Pokémon is my favourite series ever; Emerald is my favourite in the series. Go figure.

Emerald, being the final game for the franchise’s days on the Game Boy, reflects everything Game Freak had learned in the first 3 generations of the series’ history. The game’s balance is challenging but fair, never spiking so tough that it is insurmountable but never holding your hand either. The AI opponents are throwing odd combinations of mons and moves at you from every corner, double battles are everywhere but rarely mandatory, and the variety of available mon both before and during the postgame is excellent. The added features on top of Ruby and Sapphire are great- Battle Tents serve to replace 3 of the contest halls (they should have all been under one roof to begin with) and provide a taste of what would later be available in the Battle Frontier. The Frontier is probably the single most expansive and challenging postgame in any Pokémon game, providing the game with a longevity that is sorely needed due to the inaccessibility of Pre-DS multiplayer. The game also manages to tie together the plot of both Ruby and Sapphire into something that feels natural, and provides the series’ first ever actual cutscene, which felt a lot cooler at the time than it sounds now. The return of animated sprites gives the Pokémon a level of life far beyond the static sprites of RSFRLG, and in my eyes wouldn’t feel the same until Black and White several years later. The return of the Pokégear phone in the form of Match Call, as irritating as it is to some, makes the world feel alive in a way that Sinnoh and Kanto probably never will, in addition to making grinding a fair bit less tedious and more beneficial. It is, altogether, probably the perfect Pokémon experience, and in my opinion only one other game comes close (its Platinum).

Oh also, they got rid of the font from Ruby and Sapphire, thank fuck, that shit is atrocious.

[pixelrender]

Top 10 games I missed in 2021

I’m back! Kind of. I haven’t touched games since September, but I’ve recently had several interesting conversations about video games and they inspired me to return to gammak, but not enough to actually do it. I just don’t have time or a machine capable of making games comfortable. It renewed my interest enough, tho, to check some releases from this year and I found out that there were more than 10 I would like to at least try. Surprisingly, after doing some research for this, I found out that despite following board game releases I find most of them less interesting than video games. There are two exceptions on this list, which I think is the same number as it was in 2020.

Let’s share some more facts first. There were several other games I considered for the list. There’s either still chance that I get to play them (Soma Union) or they weren’t really available on platform of my choice (JETT, Old World) or they were more of a free demo (Time Bandit) or they were on the list before and only got a full release (Wildermyth). There certainly were more good looking games too, but most of them just seemed not interesting for me. Either they were focused on story too much and I didn’t like the tone in the trailer or they weren’t my thing mechanically. Still, some of these might be games I will enjoy a whole lot if I ever play them. So, let’s finally jump in and talk about some games I know very little about outside of their good looks.

10. Astalon: Tears of the Earth

So, creator(s) of this metroidvania previously created one of my favourite games, Castle in the Darkness. And this is a pretty exciting offer. The game looks good and reviews are extremely positive about it being a proper Castlevania inspired fun with individual characters having game changing skills and difficulty being hard enough to be sometimes frustrating and very satisfying when the execution of all moves goes according to plan. So, lets hope I get to this, when I get around to my big run through non-linear platformers.

9. Loop Hero

I haven’t played a lot of attention to this at first. The graphics might be little too retro even for me at this point in time and the game being a very difficult roguelike isn’t exactly my cup of tea either. But I could no longer ignore how cool and compact the design seems to be and it really peeked my interest. Loop Hero probably isn’t the kind of game I would finish, but I def want to try it out and appreciate its strengths.

8. Furnace

Ok, there were more than two board games I found interesting this year. Be it a theme, visual style or both. However most of these heavier games are games I would like to spend money on and spend time finding nerds to play them. Furnace and the other entry on this list are a different case. The game looks very pretty despite having a very beige 19th century capitalist theme. It’s a card game with auctions at its core and it’s supposed to be very fast, loud and involved. I loved everything I heard about it in Shut Up and Sit Down’s review and I think I would be actually able to table it. A lot of stuff reminds me of chunkier games such as Brass, which I would never get played. Btw, credit for the picture goes to @ludus_lab

7. Toem

Everyone knowing my taste could expect this to appear. The only thing I slightly about this quirky photography games is that it’s black and white. I think it could be even more adorable with colors or at least more contrast. Maybe I’m wrong and the gimmick is also kinda thematic (Toem might remind you of an old timey photography). In comparison with more stylish Nuts, this game just looks like joy to play with a world inhabited by adorable characters and mechanics cleverly using that the game’s actually 3D (it always gets me in the trailer). 

6. Sable

I was excited about Sable for a very long time. It certainly is a looker and a premise of wandering is always an exciting one. I lost interest a wee bit when more info got out and I have shifted my visual preferences slightly, but I can’t deny that I’m always get excited when seeing content from this game. I’m not interested in playing it, I just want to experience its sandy planes. Actually, I would love to see a real desert too and this might be a great appetizer. 

5. Dorfromantik

I hesitated to put this on the list, because there’s not a lot to be excited about? The game’s relaxing and pleasant to look at, but it also has this boring vibe. In the end I decided to leave it on the list as only me locking internet payments (too many safety steps) prevented me from buying and playing it yesterday. In Dorfromantik you basically build a board out of tiles and score points, which in return unlock more tiles to play. Lovely.

4. Valley Peaks

This game looks exactly like my kind of treat. It’s fairly small, it’s free and it offers a freedom of movement. It’s about climbing and I like climbing and now I feel slightly guilty about not climbing for months. So, why I haven’t played this yet? I simply haven’t got time to try and it’s quite possible that my linux machine won’t run the game’s pretty graphics. You can download it here.

3. Whale Riders

The second board game on the list is Reiner Knizia in his best form. That means high replayability and crunchy decisions with a relatively simple ruleset. In Whale Riders you trade on a one-way journey and it all ends with interesting scoring, which brings in a lot more strategy. The game has an attractive paint from wonderful Vincent Dutrait, which makes trading a lot more attractive than let’s say a Mediterranean setting. Unfortunately, all pretty Knizia releases from Grail Games are out of print, because of change of focus / breach in contract. In other words, you can’t buy them from the publisher anymore and Whale Riders will be difficult to get second hand, because the game had a very limited market presence before being pulled off.

2. Griftlands

This game has probably my favorite trailer of the year and after playing Song of the Sojourner I’m excited for more card based games, which are trying to do something slightly different with cards and Griftlands look just like that. Ofc, the game’s probably solid just because it’s a game from Klei, but the theme, the swag and options to play out things differently and tell emergent stories in a very lucrative trash space setting are all too tempting for me to resist. Yeah, I might even buy this during Christmas and yet play it in 2021.

1. The Geography

And finally, this is a must play for me. It looks completely different than any other game I know, it looks super artsy and like an experience I want to have and which might actually inspire me even outside of video games with its approach to visuals and I might use the inspiration, when creating a poster or a visual style for a project. Tbh, calling this a game probably is wrong as it’s more of an art piece and something clearly more ambitious than entertainment focused media. At its Itch page the creator describes it as an endless album and its goal is to improve your mental state. Also, it’s Swedish and I’m a sucker for everything Swedish.