I immediately opened the lid of the DS, and turned the device on. To my absolute delight, it still worked! I’m talking about at least 10 years of disuse here, and I hadn’t plugged a charger in. So, it still had some battery left even after 10 years, maybe even more. Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice cartridge was still in it, and I was apparently in the middle of talking to the noodle guy in the second episode/case.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find my other games or the charger anywhere in the house, and my mom is still unsure if she threw them away (which I doubt) or if they’re hidden really well somewhere. Because of that, the battery actually finally drained after a few minutes, and I couldn’t turn it on again.

Holding it again reminded me of how much I loved this little thing, how portable it was, and how it kept me company during some of the toughest times of my life.

All I’m trying to say is, the Nintendo DS was one hell of a device. I think it truly withstood the test of time. And I think it was one of the best portable game devices ever, the form factor is unmatched. Which is why I always had my eye on the newer DS’es, but I refrained from getting them because of the limited library and expensive games.

Then I saw the AYN Thor, and I was immediately intrigued.

What is the AYN Thor?

The AYN Thor is an Android emulator. It is basically a device that runs on Android, and allows you to play games on multiple platforms. Android emulators are usually used for playing games from older eras, like Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, etc.

I’ll start by saying that I had no intention of getting a dedicated device for emulators. I’m not too into retro games, and the ones that I do play, I usually play on my phone (which I admit is not very ideal but oh well). So getting a whole new device just for emulation was not one of my goals. So when I saw this device, I thought to myself “oh, neat”, and went on about my day.

Then I found out that you can run PC games on it.

Needless to say, I was sold. As I mentioned at the beginning, the Nintendo DS holds a very special place in my heart. The form factor is amazing, and I was looking for a portable device. I’m a proud owner of an LCD Steam Deck since late 2022, but you have to admit that the Deck is bulky, heavy, and takes a lot of space in your backpack. I wanted something that I could fit in my small tote bag. This seemed like the device.

The shipping

I was warned that the shipping would take a lot of time. The Thor is still not in normal production; you need to technically ‘‘preorder’’ it, and the device is made to order, it is not mass produced yet. And around those times were the days that I was moving to Spain, which also made me wary of ordering immediately since my address was going to change. In the end, I made the purchase for a Thor Pro on February 19th. It arrived at the end of March. So it was a LONG time waiting, and every day I wondered if I spent my money on a device that won’t arrive. Thankfully, it arrived without issues aside from the long wait time.

Also worth noting that the Base, Pro and Max versions share the same kind of chip, while the Lite features a less powerful version. I opted to go for the Pro since I’ll probably mostly use it for PC games, but if you intend to only emulate older devices and keep the budget low, the Lite should be enough for you.

The setup and some tips

I feel the need to mention something very important if you want to get this device: you need to be comfortable tinkering with software to get it working as you want. The setup is not difficult, there is a plethora of guides on the internet that show you what you need to do step by step. But you will have to download and move files, research how to do some things, and troubleshoot online. I imagine that a lot of people in my generation are used to dealing with files and stuff like that, but I just felt the need to address this. The Thor is not a console. It is not the seamless experience that you might expect from a PlayStation or a Switch. There will be software issues, some things won’t work the way you want at first, and you will need to look for solutions.

I’ve always enjoyed tinkering, so for me it’s like a puzzle, but I’m just setting expectations so as not to misdirect anyone. If you want to use the device as it comes (the stock Android), you’ll only be able to run Google Play Games. So, I’m going to give you a few pointers to start customizing your Thor to your liking.

Firstly, it depends on what you want to use the device for. Do you want to play retro games on it? It is as simple as checking out a setup guide. Here are two different guides that can get you started: here and here. You don’t need to do everything in the guides. Simply go to the section for the device you want to emulate. For example, if you want to emulate PSP games, search for it, download the PPSSPP emulator, and follow the instructions.

I personally diverged a little from the guides, since I have experience with emulation. I downloaded DraStic emulator for Nintendo DS, and Citra for 3DS games. I simply went with them because I used them before and I’m comfortable with them, but the guides provide newer alternatives that get more regularly updated. DraStic used to be on the Google Play Store, and I had bought it, but apparently, it was pulled from the store. However, it is still on Github so you can head there and check it out if you wish to.

Oh, and I must note that most of these emulators are free and open-source, so you can download them to your heart’s content.

If you want to play PC games on it, as I do, you have basically 3 options for “emulators”: Gamehub, Gamehub Lite, and GameNative. Gamehub currently only plays Steam games, so I opted to go for GameNative as it can also run Epic and GOG games. I found it pretty easy to set up and use. It is also an open-source project.

For the frontend (which is the user interface part), I went with Cocoon. It gives your device a console-like feel and is regularly updated; I highly recommend it. It also has a setup wizard that makes installing it much less daunting. Of course, it is not a console software; it’s just a frontend being developed by independent people, so there might be some bugs and unintuitive parts. But as far as frontends go, I found this one to be very cute and highly customizable.

I also bought the official case from AYN’s website, as I wanted to be able to just throw the device into my tote bag or backpack without worrying too much about it. Of course, the clamshell form of the Thor already provides some protection, but you can never be too careful. I think the official case is very nice and seems to be sturdy, but I did hear that you can also use a 3DS XL case if you already have one on hand.

The games

As I’ve said, I got this device because it can run PC games. I’ve been meaning to run my indie games on a smaller device than the Steam Deck because of portability issues, and I can confidently say that the Thor has exceeded my expectations so far.

Don’t expect to run AAA games on this device. I’m sure with enough tinkering, you can get some to run decently, but whether it is worth it or not is entirely up to you. It runs a lot of games well, but I think it has some issues rendering some 3D games, as it stuttered significantly while trying to run Wanderstop.

So far, I’ve finished both Dredge and Chants of Sennaar on this, with no issues whatsoever. I’ve also played some of Disco Elysium, Minami Lane, Ghost Trick and NAIAD on it, and they all ran perfectly, though my testing wasn’t as thorough for these ones (yet). I also tried running Fire Emblem Awakening and Professor Layton vs Pheonix Wright via the Citra emulator, and it was also smooth as butter.

Basically, so far, it has run almost everything I threw at it almost perfectly. I’m not going to try playing Cyberpunk on this, but for most indie games, it handles them beautifully.

Concerns

It’s only been a short time since I received the device and I haven’t had the chance to use it too much, but so far, it’s exactly as I wanted. The battery life, the compact form, the portability, the gorgeous OLED touchscreens…

But with devices like these, there are bound to be some issues. I think the Thor has the chance to hit big, but I’m under no illusion that it will be the next Switch or the Steam Deck. It is from a relatively unknown company, and it takes a lot of work to set up for how you want to use it. Most people are not comfortable using Android devices and this will probably stay a niche device for people who enjoy customizing their software.

What makes me worried is the lack of statistical data about its potential issues. You see, every time I make a purchase like this, I go deep diving into reviews, videos, and comments, and try to see what issues the other users came across. I weigh the pros and cons and try to make a healthy decision. As it is still in the pre-order phase, the data is scarce, and most of the user reviews are on Reddit, and sometimes on YouTube. And the scarce data may mislead. When I ordered the device, there were little to no issues with the device, aside from a cosmetic hinge crack that some devices got. Nowadays, I keep seeing other issues, and I cannot tell if it’s because people with good devices don’t really post about how issue-free their device is, or if it’s because the latest batches got worse Quality Control. So far, I’m happy to report that I have absolutely no issues with it, but only time can tell how it will be.

The hinge also worries me a little, as devices with hinges can be a lot more vulnerable than others. I learned this the hard way with my old Galaxy Z Flip 4 phone, another device that I really loved. Again, no issues with mine after 2 weeks of use, but I’m being cautious.

With the device and the technology behind it being as new as it is, and AYN being a relatively new company, I have my reservations about the longevity of the device. I hope that it surprises me in the best way possible, but I am also trying to approach this realistically before recommending it to anyone. Unlike my trusty NDS Lite that was still operational after 10+ years of disuse, I don’t know if the Thor will give me that kind of durability.

But I’m keeping positive thoughts. If there are no technical issues with the device, I can see it being the ultimate portable emulator. It has so much potential, and if AYN plays their cards right, they can dominate this part of the gaming sphere.

Overall thoughts

I can say that Thor is a fantastic device that has met all my expectations so far. It’s cute, it’s portable, and it’s powerful. It’s basically everything I want in a handheld gaming device. I still love my Steam Deck and will use it to run more demanding games or games that require a bigger screen, but for traveling or short gaming sessions, the Thor will probably be my go-to. Even though I have my reservations about the device, I hope I’m proven wrong and it provides me with years of entertainment.

If you are in the market for such a device, and don’t mind following a few guides online, this just might be the device for you. Please do note that due to the RAM prices skyrocketing, the price for the Thor keeps going up every batch, so you may want to take that into consideration. Also, do mind the long shipping times, it will probably be at least a month before you get the device. But all in all, I think it was worth it for me!

Work has been incredibly busy these days, but I’m proud that I could publish 4 whole posts in March. I was also intending to publish this one earlier, but the last part of March was too chaotic for me, so I had no time to write. It also coincided with the Semana Santa/Holy Week, which people in Spain take very seriously. There were a lot of processions in the week leading up to Easter, where religious brotherhoods carry pasos to the Cathedral and back. An incredible tradition to watch, and we went to watch as much as we could.

Because my life became a little bit more hectic than I imagined, I didn’t have much time to play more Baldur’s Gate 3. But I’m enjoying what little time I can spare for it, and wrote all my first impressions on it in a previous post — beware of spoilers though, I don’t really hold back in that post!

I’ve also been going to the gym to swim these days, and it has actually helped me feel better, both physically and mentally. Turns out exercising is good for you, who knew?

Games

AYN Thor

Not exactly a “game”, but I figured it belongs in this section. I ordered this back in February and received it very recently. I’ve been refreshing the shipment page almost obsessively, and now it’s here! I’ve been tinkering with it and so far I couldn’t have been happier. I do have my reservations about this amazing device, but I’ll go into detail in my full review of it — which should be coming out soon. But so far, I completed my Dredge playthrough on it, and completed Chants of Sennaar for the Good Game Lobby Gaming Club. Both of these games ran extremely well on the Thor. I’m trying to use the device as much as possible to get a good idea of how it is.

Dredge

This was Good Game Lobby Club’s February game, and one that I enjoyed so so much. The story, the art and the mechanics are fantastic, and the music is probably one of my favorite soundtracks ever. I’m hoping to have a full review out for this game soon. As the first game I finished on the Thor, I think it also deserves a special mention here.

Trine

I’m a big fan of the original Trine, and with my co-op squad, we’ve been playing the games from 1 through 5. We finally finished it the other day, and it has been a blast! I’m going to do a full review on this series pretty soon, but covering 5 games in one post is not as easy as I thought. But it is a great series to play with 3 people, I absolutely recommend it!

PEAK

Another game that we played with the co-op squad is PEAK, and I loved this game SO MUCH. I wrote all about it in a previous post, if you would like to check it out!

Books

Project Hail Mary

I became aware of this book when kindly recommended it to me in my previous In a nutshell post. I’m not sure how I managed to miss the hype of this book, but I’m always in the mood for a good sci-fi book so I immediately added it to my TBR list. Luna recommended the audiobook version, but it wasn’t available on my library so I was going to read the e-book version. But as the movie was coming out soon, the waiting time of my library was around 1 month because the queue was so long. Then gave me a heads up about Audible having a trial for just 1€/month, so I decided to jump into the audiobook (and the trial was actually somehow free for me, probably because it’s my first time using it).

And I have to say that I’m REALLY enjoying the audiobook — probably more than I would if I read the e-book. Ray Porter is a fantastic narrator, and I find his storytelling to be very immersive. I listen to the audiobook while I do house chores and I keep wanting to find out more, so I keep wanting to clean the house or cook something.

So thank you Luna and Sey for the great recommendation! My house is cleaner than ever!

Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch #1)

I started this book because I’ve been in a sci-fi mood, and this one has been in my backlog for quite some time as it has won a lot of awards. I’m currently not done with it, I think I’m about 65% in. I will say that the premise is super interesting, and it’s a good book, but it is slow. The first half of the book kind of felt like exposition after exposition, which is not always a bad thing, but it definitely slows things down. But I am determined to finish it since I’m curious as to where the story will go.

That’s it for March! A super busy month where I didn’t even understand how time went by. We’re already done with the first week of April now, I just don’t know where time goes! But hopefully it’ll be a fun month.

How was your March?

Co-op Days is a series where I write about the multiplayer/co-op games I’ve played with my friends and let you know my unfiltered thoughts. While I usually play games with my brother and our childhood friends every Sunday, I may also talk about games that I’ve played with my partner or with my other friends.

You can check out the other entries on this series here.

Play time: 7 hours
Played on: Steam Deck
Difficulty: Normal

I’ve been wanting to play PEAK for a long time — basically since the moment it came out. But because we were playing another game at the time, my co-op squad and I couldn’t get to it.

Well, we finally tried it out, and let me tell you: it’s a blast.

PEAK is a co-op climbing game where the slightest mistake can spell your doom. Either solo or as a group of lost nature scouts, your only hope of rescue from a mysterious island is to scale the mountain at its center. Do you have what it takes to reach the PEAK?

In this game, teamwork is key. You have to ensure that you stick together. You have to be aware of who has what, who is the better climber, who is the better strategist, and who dares venture forth and ‘pave the way’. I’ve been playing games with this specific group since basically I was a baby, so we instinctively knew who would be good at what. But we also tend to troll each other, which made for a chaotic and fun time.

Gameplay Mechanics

The system in this game is simple: you have a stamina bar at the bottom of your screen. Everything depends on this bar. As you climb, the bar depletes; so the more stamina you have, the better you climb. If you take damage from a fall, it takes up space in the bar. If you get hungry (which will happen no matter what), it eats away at your stamina.

As you climb the mountain, you encounter some items that might be useful to you. It is usually not immediately clear what they do; it takes a little bit of trial and error to figure it out. And each item has a certain weight, which also takes away from the stamina bar, making climbing even more difficult. So you need to consult the group as to what you might need for the future, what you might need to throw away, or use immediately.

Oh and you need to climb the mountain as soon as you can.

The mechanics are very simple indeed, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fun. It involves a lot of decision-making and discussion. And you have to get creative sometimes. The places that seem unclimbable can actually be climbed with the right tools and strategy. I’m actually proud that I was able to make a way for a part of the map that had us stuck for a long time. I think we all sighed in relief after we got past that part.

The good thing is that the maps don’t stay stagnant either — they are renewed regularly, so you don’t really play the same map over and over again.

Good old silliness

I’m not sure if PEAK is considered “friendslop”, but if it is, it is one of the best examples. It offers a fun gameplay loop, but more than that, it allows for some hysterical moments.

The implementation of the proximity chat is amazing. The voices have effects depending on where you are. For example, they echo when you are in a cave, or when you are far away from each other. It is also hilarious when a friend falls down, you hear their voice getting farther and farther until you can’t hear them.

One of my friends decided to take a trumpet with him and played it nonstop during the whole first map. He didn’t even speak. We would ask him a question, and he would answer by playing the damn trumpet. It was so annoying, yet it was the hardest I laughed in a while.

Overall thoughts

PEAK is one of the most fun co-op games I’ve played in a while, especially due to its chaos factor. There are a lot of ways for things to go wrong, and when they do, they are often hilarious. It is very engaging to play with friends, but I heard that it’s fun to play solo as well, if that’s what you prefer. It’s definitely a game that I’d love to play from time to time, especially in between more serious games.

As I mentioned before, I’ve recently started playing Baldur’s Gate III, and I decided to make a series of sorts to keep track of what I’ve been doing and how I’ve been enjoying the game.

I’m intending to make this a very casual, very chill series where I’ll be writing about my train of thought with bullet points. I chose to use bullet points because this isn't really meant to be a structured article, but rather a log of my impressions of the game.

I won’t be writing everything I do. Just some stuff that made impressions on me.

Naturally, this post will be full of spoilers.

• As soon as I opened the game, I was greeted by a kickass cutscene, and then immediately got the ick — really, anything involving eye-horror is enough to make me squirm, just like the worm that was inserted into my character’s eye. Eugh. What a way to leave an impression, though.

  

• Then I was thrown into the character creation screen, and I spent nearly an hour creating my character. I’m not exaggerating. I tried to read the tooltips for every class, subclass, race, what they do, what skills they have. Most of it was very confusing, but I didn’t realize how time went by.

• I ended up creating the cutest character with pink hair and eyes with heterochromia (because why not), who would probably belong in a peaceful and cozy farming game, not the goblin-ridden world of Baldur’s Gate. I love her even more because of that, she looks so silly in this world. I named her Lila.

• I chose to be a wood half-elf, hence the farming game comment. And I chose Bard as my class. I was going to go with Cleric, as I always choose the healer with my co-op squad, but I had heard that playing with the Bard or the Druid was fun, so I decided to give it a go. So far, I’m very happy with my decision.

  

• After the character creation screen, another cutscene kicked in, and I immediately heard a Wilhelm Scream1, and I lost it SO bad that I almost couldn’t focus on the rest of the cutscene. I was laughing so hard, it was so unexpected, but very welcome.

• Then the actual game started — mind you, I was about 1.5 hours in at this point. I was given information after information, and the small screen of the Steam Deck was making it feel very cramped. I felt as disoriented as my character. I found navigating the menus difficult. I switched to the computer after a while.

• I met Lae’zel on the ship, and then we rescued Shadowheart together. I was surprised to see Shadowheart so early in the game. I know that fans seem to love her. The way her rescue was presented made me think that it was optional? I wonder what would happen if I didn’t rescue her. Would she just never become a part of my party? Or would we still form a party, but she would be distrustful of me? Very interesting.

• Shadowheart has the same voice actor as Maelle from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I was fully expecting to find it hard to get used to her voice here, but Jennifer English is such a great VA that I had no issues getting used to it.

• When we got on the land, I felt very directionless, but I think that’s by design. It’s taking me a long time to find my footing, even as I write this.

• As I encountered the grove, I got thrown into a battle and almost got my ass kicked. Thankfully, I managed to come out on top, but I’m a bit upset that my first proper fight was not a breeze.

• I'm so happy that I went with Bard and got the Speak with Animals skill, because I was delighted to speak to the oxen2 in the grove. What a fun surprise! Speaking to all the animals is the most delightful thing, and I intend to do it every chance I get.

• I then recruited Wyll into my party, and together we went on some schenanigans, settling disputes and stuff between the Druids and the Tieflings.

• I encountered some bugs along the way. One bug in particular was very funny: I tried to smash open a door in the grove (the one where the paralyzed Tiefling was in), the game immediately cut to inside, as if I was already speaking with the Tiefling. The interaction ended with me trying to cure her, but instead of showing me curing her, I was standing outside again, with the door having less HP. Then I attacked the door again, and then I was speaking to the Tiefling again. The same thing happened a few times, and when I finally managed to actually break down the door, the Tiefling was very angry with me (her approval was like, at -55 😂) and she was already standing up. I don’t know what kind of bug it was, but I assume that the door is not meant to be kicked in, so I need to find another way to get in.

• Then I encountered Astarion, realizing that I had missed him by a SMIDGE. If only I had explored JUST a bit further without going into the grove, I would have gotten him, and maybe my first battle would have been easier. Oh well, the flock grows.

• I also recruited Lae’zel, then did a long rest. At the camp, Astarion started relentlessly flirting with me, and I remembered why people call this game a dating simulator in the coat of an RPG. I don’t know who I will go for later on, but Astarion is already stealing my heart, I must admit.

• I wandered around aimlessly until I found Gale. The first thing I did with him was to summon a cat. Because you know, priorities.

• Shortly after getting Gale in my party, he started keeling over and got sick? Then he asked me to give him a magical item so that he could consume it?? I was very confused and at first kindly refused to give him my precious items. Then I wanted to see where it would go, so I gave him the locket that gave me the ability to cast Dancing Lights. I’m not sure if I’ll regret it later (as I also told Gale).

• Found a selunite chest, and died to it like 5 times. The game makes no indication of what to do. I had to look up the solution. Thankfully, people had already told me to save scum, so it saved me multiple times, but it was still a frustrating time.

• Came across a group of people who believed in the Absolute. Totally convinced them that I was their Chosen One — or whatever they called it — on first try. Okay, on second try. But I handled it with grace!

• Then I ventured into a chapel guarded by bandits. Totally convinced them that they needed to run away. On the first try this time!

• Then, using my bard skills, I convinced another bandit that I was his friend, and entered the chapel and promptly killed him. Patting myself on the back for being such a good bard.

• As I was exploring a cellar, I opened a coffin and a skeleton awakened. It promptly went on to wake the other skeletons, and I thoroughly got my ass kicked. After using everything in my arsenal, I finally managed to beat the skeletons. Bony jerks.

• I went to do a long rest after the fight and got woken up by… Astarion trying to suck my blood??? He’s a freaking vampire apparently, though I had a suspicion when I found a boar in the woods with all its blood drained, and Astarion was acting jumpy. He pleaded to have a taste, and I actually thought that he was being sincere, so I reluctantly let him. It was… uh, an interesting scene, to say the least. What is up with my companions being so freaky? First, Gale absorbs my relic, then Astarion wants to eat me. Shadowheart is hiding something, and La’zael is always angry. Wyll is the only normal one so far, though I’m suspicious that it will change soon. Anyway, Astarion was very happy the next morning (which is like a double entendre, I guess??), and I was very bloodless. Really, this is a status effect. They really think of everything in this game. I used Shadowheart’s Lesser Restoration to get rid of it.

• I encountered some ogres, and I convinced them to fight for me, and they promised to lend me their help. Again, my top-notch bard skills came in handy. I keep either deceiving or persuading people, it’s great!

  

• I went down a well, then AGAIN got my ass thoroughly kicked by some phase spiders and some other things I don’t remember the name of.

• Finally deciding to play smart, I reloaded and used the ‘hide’ command, and what do you know, it’s actually very useful! I was able to get the jump on the monsters, and it looks like Astarion is a beast when it comes to surprise attacks. I got through the area with ease after that.

• Lastly, I’ve been fighting the Phase Spider Matriarch, and I rage quitted 3 times during the fight. The first one was hopeless from the start. I had no plans, no strategy; only willpower and determination, which proved to be insufficient. My second try went much better, because I had planned everything, used the area to my advantage. And killed the Matriarch! But the little ones… they became the death of me, literally. They attacked so fast and I apparently rolled all the Saving Throws very badly, and my entire party was wiped out… I was pissed. The third try was also a failure, at which point I just quit and took a little break.

Overall thoughts

And that’s basically it for now! I admittedly didn’t play too much of the main quest yet. I keep getting distracted by a shiny new side quest, which is probably the result of my ADHD coming through. I haven’t been able to play as much as I’d like, which is why I’m not progressing too much for now.

Please do note that I have done so much more than what I wrote here, but I just wanted to share the funny bits, because I’m having a blast with this playthrough. I forgot to take more screenshots at the earlier stages of the playthrough, and I’m going to amend that in my next post.

Hope you had fun reading this! I definitely really enjoyed writing it. Let me know if this bullet-point format works for you.

In 1802, the merchant ship Obra Dinn set out from London for the Orient with over 200 tons of trade goods. Six months later it hadn't met its rendezvous point at the Cape of Good Hope and was declared lost at sea.

Early this morning of October 14th, 1807, the Obra Dinn drifted into port at Falmouth with damaged sails and no visible crew. As insurance investigator for the East India Company's London Office, dispatch immediately to Falmouth, find means to board the ship, and prepare an assessment of damages.

Return of the Obra Dinn is a first-person mystery adventure based on exploration and logical deduction.

These days, I’ve been in the mood for a nice puzzle/detective game. I never really thought of myself as such, but I seem to really enjoy deduction games. Games like The Case of the Golden Idol, The Roottrees are Dead, Botany Manor, just to name a few that I played and loved recently. Ace Attorney series is my favorite game franchise of all time, even if it doesn’t exactly fit the type of games I listed.

There is something really satisfying about gathering the clues and solving a case.

I had heard that Return of the Obra Dinn is a great example of this genre and had it in my backlog for a long time. I think the only reason I didn’t get to it sooner was because of the art style. Don’t get me wrong, I think it has a fantastic art direction, but I think I got overwhelmed by the screenshots. It looked hard to distinguish stuff, so I think I subconsciously delayed playing it because of that.

Don’t make the same mistake. If you are a fan of deduction games, Obra Dinn will satisfy your craving.

Monochromatic art style

I talked a bit about the art above, so let’s dive deeper into it right away.

Return of the Obra Dinn uses a 1-bit monochromatic style that is reminiscent of games on early Macintosh systems. It also gives you the option to choose a style from a few different systems: Macintosh, IBM 8503, IBM 5151, Commodore 1084, LCD, and Zenith ZVM 1240. These change the graphic colors, and you can choose whichever one you like the most. I personally used IBM 8503, which I found to be the easiest on the eyes and the best one to figure out the smaller clues.

But I will admit that it is not easy to get used to. Character portraits can look like each other, and it makes it harder to distinguish who is who. You will have to do a lot of guesswork from a person’s clothing, where they stand in the group sketch, what items they carry, and who they hang out with.

Despite that, it is still a very unique art style that I believe is worth experiencing. I think they used this monochromatic style very well, and it definitely gave the game a lot of charm.

Non-linear Story

In this game, you assume the role of an insurance investigator for the East India Company, and you are tasked with the mission to find out what happened to the crew and passengers of the Obra Dinn. Someone sends you a package to help you with this arduous task, and inside you find a pocket watch that lets you see the snapshot of the exact moment someone died, and a book that has a manifest of all people aboard, character portraits, and ship sketches. You need to fill out all the blanks and figure out the fate of each person on the ship.

The story itself — by which I mean what happened to Obra Dinn — is pretty linear, but the way you discover it is pretty non-linear. You will uncover stuff from different chapters, and some things won’t be obvious until you go even deeper. How you decide to tackle this is up to you, and many things won’t make sense until you put the pieces together.

Mechanics

The game’s mechanics are simple: walk around the ship, find a dead body and use the watch on them, see a snapshot of their last moment and fill out your book according to the information you have.

I find it necessary to make a content warning here. The watch, called the Memento Mortem, lets you see the exact moment that someone died, along with dialogue and sounds. And accordingly, some of the moments can be… gruesome, to say the least. There is no danger to you, since everything has already happened. But there were times when I used the watch, listened to the dialogue and prepared myself for it, and still said ‘‘holy shit’’ as soon as I saw the scene.

As someone who cannot handle any gore or body horror, I’ll say that it wasn’t actually very bad. The monochromatic graphics definitely make it easier to handle. But if I could handle it, I’m pretty sure you can handle it. I have the weakest stomach for those kinds of things.

As for the puzzle mechanics, some of them were pretty fun to figure out, but I felt like some of them were very difficult and felt like a chore. Especially the ones towards the end, where they get very obscure, and you need to resort to guesswork.

My biggest criticism of the game is this: You need to walk back to the body of the person if you want to see their memories again, which results in a lot of going back and forth. There should have been an easier way to access these memories. I’d been using a fantastic nudge guide (a guide that gently steers you in the right direction without giving away the answer), but towards the end, I ended up looking up some of the answers because I felt frustrated walking around the ship, trying to find a specific body, then going through their memories, trying to find the tiniest detail. Being able to see the memories without having to walk around every time would have been a great addition, and would have made for a less frustrating experience towards the end.

Overall thoughts

I had a great time with this game, playing it in short bursts. Even though it got frustrating at times, it had me invested in the story from the beginning to the end. The story does get bonkers as you discover more of it, but that’s part of the fun! What else could have happened on the ship? How did this person end up like that? How much wilder will it get?

The answer is: much wilder. And I found that very fun, and I hope you will too.

I’ve been trying to get into some social circles like book clubs, but I recently caught a cold and it kind of halted those plans. Now I’m feeling better, but I cannot figure out how I managed to get sick when the weather is like 22°C outside and I haven’t been really taking public transportation, which is usually how I get it.

Games

Baldur’s Gate III

I have mentioned this in a previous Note, but I have recently started playing Baldur’s Gate III. I know that I’m late for the hype, but finding the time and headspace for these kinds of games is not easy.

Even though it’s a very dense game, packed with lore and exploration, I’ve been having a good time with it. I want to do a series where I write my impressions and thoughts as I go, like a diary or journal. I may still do a full review at the end, but I imagine that getting to the end will take quite a bit of time, so it will be a while for me to get a review out there.

I hope you join me for the ride!

Return of the Obra Dinn

I’ve been wanting to play a game like The Case of the Golden Idol. I had played that game and its sequel back when it was still on Netflix’s game catalogue. I wanted to replay it, but it turns out that Netflix removed these games from its catalogue last summer, along with some other great games.

Just another reminder that these kinds of services are inconsistent and you should not rely on them for your backlog.

Anyway, I had heard that Obra Dinn was a similar game, and it was sitting in my backlog so I decided to give it a go. And while I have not finished the game as of writing this, I’m enjoying my time with it very much. It has an incredibly unique art style, though it was a bit difficult to get used to. The puzzles seem okay so far, and I hope it doesn’t become too difficult.

Books

System Collapse by Martha Wells

If you had told me that I would be this enamoured with the adventures of a sarcastic, cynical, loving, and so damn caring half-human construct, I would think that you were joking. But seeing Murderbot’s growth, how it comes to care about the people around it, how it goes from ‘‘I do not care about these humans’’ to ‘‘I only had these humans for only a day and a half, and if anything happened to them, I would kill everyone in the room and then myself’’ is very endearing and I find myself drawn in every single time.

The current last book of the series, System Collapse, takes place directly after Network Effect, which I read last month. System Collapse packs some amazing action and humor, but it also brings in the emotion. There were quite a few moments that tug at my heartstrings, but one moment in particular made me choke up, especially after seeing our beloved Murderbot’s development.

I apparently took 34 notes and highlighted even more sentences, which is probably a record for me.

When I read the last sentence of the book and closed my Kindle, I immediately missed it. I do hope Martha Wells never stops writing this series, because even though I usually have my issues with sequels in general (in all of media), the structure of the Murderbot Diaries and how it follows Murderbot’s character growth rather than a concise plot line allows the series to grow and flourish even more. There is so much to explore in this universe and in this character, and I can’t wait to read what happens in Platform Decay, which will be released this May.

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

Continuing with the sci-fi theme, I started reading this book right after I finished System Collapse. Record of a Spaceborn Few is the third book in the Wayfarer series by Becky Chambers.

I love Becky Chambers’ books. I cannot recommend the Monk & Robot series enough if you are in the mood for a quiet, cozy, and contemplative book. To be taught, if fortunate is also a very solid and short book that I enjoyed quite a lot.

I had read the first two books in the Wayfarer series and really liked them. Chambers has a remarkably peaceful writing style, and although it may become too saccharine and didactic at times, I found it engaging and interesting enough to keep reading. I’ve seen them being described as ‘‘hopepunk’’ and I think it describes the style perfectly. Maybe they are not good books for when you are in the mood for action-packed, gun-blazing scenes, but there is something about the peaceful writing that pulls you in. It pulled me in, at least.

Record of a Spaceborn Few is probably the most lore-heavy of the Wayfarer series, as it tackles the worldbuilding in very interesting ways. The characters are not that fleshed out, honestly. I found that they serve as narrative tools to enhance the worldbuilding, each interaction a way to explain how the humans got off of Earth and built the Fleet. Usually, if I don’t care too much about the characters, I cannot continue reading, but this was different. I think the worldbuilding was masterfully done. The idea that humanity is finally able to create a communal system that benefits everyone and that everyone is treated equally, especially after nearly destroying themselves on Earth, is a very hopeful one. That’s why these books are called ‘‘hopepunk’’, I guess. They have a very positive outlook on our distant future, and it does fill me with positivity.

Both The Murderbot Diaries and The Wayfarer series are explicitly anti-capitalist books and share a similar outlook, but their approaches to tackling this theme differ significantly. The Murderbot Diaries takes place in a very capitalist universe, with slavery in full effect and people being exploited, spied on, colonized, kidnapped, and even killed for profit. The Wayfarers’ universe has mostly moved on from the cold, hard capitalism that we know, and tolerance and understanding are the basis of most of the interactions. It’s interesting to read about these universes back-to-back, since they offer very different perspectives.

Next up is the Wayfarers #4, which is The Galaxy, and the Ground Within.

Movies

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Rewatch)

My husband and I have been (re)watching The Lord of the Rings every weekend since moving to our new house. My husband is a big fan, and I did enjoy the movies a lot when I was a kid. He did warn me that the movies are around 3 hours each, which is usually a lot for me, but I had been itching to watch them. It’s been 3 weeks since we moved to our new house, and we watched a movie each weekend.

I just recently published a post about my issues with live-action adaptations of animated works, and you might be thinking, ‘‘Isn’t this trilogy technically a live-action adaptation?’’ And you’d be right, but this is a book adaptation, and I think this trilogy was made with a lot of heart and passion, with a lot of respect to the original works, which is why they are a classic now, and which is why I even praised it in my post.

Some of the shots are straight-up breathtaking in a way that you cannot achieve with green screen, especially in the second movie. The battle at Helm’s Deep is as great as I remembered it being, and being able to see what the heck is going on is wonderful. I know it may not be realistic to have that much light at night or whatever, but this is a movie about hobbits, elves, orcs, wizards etc. I think I can suspend my disbelief for some nighttime lighting.

It does have some janky moments, and outdated CGI, but the overall experience was pretty great. The costuming department deserves a praise as well. I loved how lived-in everything looked, and they weren’t afraid to show some dirt and grit. The actors had dirty hands, tear-streaked faces, puffy eyes, messy hair… Except for pretty boy Legolas. He never has so much as a gash on his face, while his buddies are rolling around in dirt, getting into fights with the orcs and Uruk-hai, and getting their fingers bitten by otherworldly creatures.

I’m slowly getting back to gaming, but I think I’m also starting to become a bookworm these days. I’ve been loving going for a walk and reading a book on a bench somewhere. If anyone has recommendations (especially sci-fi, since I’m in that mood recently), I’m all ears!

How was your February?

Welcome to POV! POV - or Point of View - is a series where I will be discussing some things on my mind and give my completely honest opinion. It is a very broad category that I couldn’t fit into other series of mine, so I might discuss anything and everything.

Okay, I admit that I am being a bit dramatic with the ‘blight on society’ part. But I didn’t know how else to put it to convey just how strongly I feel about this topic.

A disclaimer: This is going to be a very opinionated article, and my most negative post thus far. I’m not saying that you should not enjoy the works I will mention here. I just have strong opinions about what they mean as an art form, the intentions behind creating these works, and how these intentions have an effect on the legacy of the original work.

What made me sit down and write this article was seeing the promo poster for Season 2 of the Netflix live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender (A:TLA). As soon as I saw it, I felt a surge of annoyance rising within me, so I took a deep breath, took a sip of water, and sat down to write my thoughts.

Believe it or not, I tried writing about this topic before, nearly 2 years ago. Here is the screenshot if you don’t believe me:

That post is still saved in my drafts, with 2k+ words and still unfinished. I decided against publishing it because I thought it was getting too negative and a little nitpicky, which put me in a mood that I don’t like to be in when I’m writing.

The original post was about some of my favorite original works getting subpar adaptations for the sake of consumerism. In this post, I will specifically be talking about live-action adaptations of animated works, mostly A:TLA, but similar points apply to most book-to-movie adaptations. The difference is that books are written media, whereas both animation and live-action movies are visual media, which makes the live-action adaptation approach to animations all the more unnecessary and incomprehensible (except for, you know, more money I guess).

And another very important disclaimer: none of what I’m about to say is written to bring down the young actors in this series. They are very enthusiastic about this series and have very big shoes to fill, which must put a lot of pressure on them. What I’m about to say about their characters doesn’t have anything to do with the actors themselves.

Why does it exist?

There is a reason why we still talk about the original Avatar: The Last Airbender even 17 years after it ended, and not the Netflix adaptation that was released in 2024. I had completely forgotten about its existence until the Season 2 promo poster was released, whereas I still think about the original A:TLA from time to time - how it handled such heavy topics like war, genocide, and loss of loved ones, how it teaches us that power without restraint is destructive and how it shows us that friendship and camaraderie is the key to achieving peace. For a kids’ show, it handled these topics beautifully.

It baffles me how the adaptation manages to miss the point entirely. I try not to go too much into the little details on the exact moments, but it makes me question: why does this adaptation exist? Why did they choose to make it? It doesn’t tell us anything new. It doesn’t give us a spectacle or improve on the visuals - the original show was beautiful and exciting enough. It doesn’t give us more interesting characters.1 It doesn’t give us more dynamic music.

So, what does it give us?

Why does this exist at all?

The most obvious answer is: money. Capitalism. Milking the nostalgia. They can “get away” with half-baked characterization and direction because it already has a really strong fanbase.

But why should I continue watching this with its awkward direction and acting, and less fleshed-out characters, when I can watch the original again?

It says a lot that much of the behind-the-scenes stuff between the actors is way more interesting than what is going on in the show. The chemistry between the actors is fun to see in the promotional material — not so much of it is present in the show.

Misunderstanding the source material

For those who have not watched the show, here is a very short summary of the premise:

Aang, as the Avatar who is the only one with the incredible power to bend all elements and summon the strength of the previous Avatars, needs to defeat the Fire Lord before the latter takes over the world. Aang is the last airbender in the world after a cruel genocide, and he is tasked with the duty to bring balance back to the world.

It has a lot more nuance than just this, but for a children’s cartoon, it handles some heavy themes remarkably well, and the characters are very interesting and multi-dimensional. There is a reason why it’s considered a classic now.

Anyway, I don’t want to go too deep into nitpicking the moments that the adaptation fails at, but I do want to point out something that royally pissed me off when I was watching it:

Netflix’s version of A:TLA is obsessed with power.

And I hate it.

It goes against everything that the original A:TLA stood for. In the original, Aang, the main character and the avatar, was afraid of his power. This pacifist kid, who believed that even the smallest life is sacred, is given the world’s most immense and destructive power.

And he has nightmares about it.

He hurts people with this power, and it deeply affects his psyche. He never wanted to be the avatar, he never wanted this power. Aang is scary whenever he uses the Avatar state, and seeing this peace-loving, happy-go-lucky kid enter such a state is jarring, as it’s supposed to be. All the other avatars that he speaks to have always been understanding of Aang’s struggle with this power.

The Netflix adaptation, on the other hand, loves it. It loves this huge and grandiose show of power. Whenever Aang goes into the Avatar state in the adaptation, we are supposed to be impressed and not sad that this kid’s body is being used as a vessel for destruction outside of his control.

When Netflix’s Kyoshi talks to him about being the Avatar, the dialogue goes like this (emphasis mine):

Kyoshi: There are many dimensions to being the Avatar. You need to be a guardian, a general, a mediator, a guide. You must fill several roles, and many of them require unparalleled strength.

Aang: That’s why I need to master all the bending disciplines? To become strong?

Kyoshi: Yes. And to help you gain control over the ultimate power. […] The Avatar State gives you the strength of a thousand benders.

Aang: I’ve seen it. It’s dangerous.

Kyoshi: If uncontrolled, yes, but it can also be the ultimate weapon, and it can save your life.

Do you see what I’m seeing here? This emphasis on being the ultimate weapon and having an unparalleled strength is upsetting, especially coming from an old avatar, who should know how scary it actually is. We know just how much this power actually damages Aang’s psyche. They had the headstrong and determined Kyoshi tell this to Aang for a reason and not the soft-spoken, old Roku.

Kyoshi telling him this in an almost shouting, scolding way is just infuriating (emphasis mine):

Kyoshi: [Turns to face him again.] And how many have already been hurt because you haven’t been here? [Incensed.] Run away from your responsibilities again, and even more will be hurt! Being the Avatar means putting your duties above all else. Even your life!

[…]

You asked me what it means to be the Avatar. It means being a warrior. [Kyoshi rises as her voice distorts.] A mighty, merciless warrior.

First of all, girl, what the hell are you talking about? Aang, in this version, never ran away from his responsibilities. He just went out to clear his head! He was going to come back! It’s not his fault that he got caught by a storm while he was doing the airbender equivalent of “taking a stroll”.

And Kyoshi, an actual avatar, telling this 12-year-old pacifist monk that he has to be a “mighty, merciless warrior” has to be a joke. Where is the wisdom? What is this power-hungry approach for a show that is supposed to teach us the importance of peace and understanding? Yes, Kyoshi in the original was ruthless when needed to be, but she understood what this immense power brought. I feel like they took the fan interpretation of Kyoshi and ran with it. They did not bother to look deeper. The emphasis on words like “merciless, ultimate weapon, ultimate power, strength” is upsetting in this adaptation and shows me that the writers did not understand the core message at all.

The avatar was supposed to be the bridge between the physical world and the spirit world — someone who brings peace and mediates conflicts. Where did this “mighty and merciless” stuff come from? Since when is an avatar supposed to be merciless?

I don’t know how they achieved this fundamental misunderstanding of Kyoshi’s character. This “girl-bossification” of her — and frankly, many of the other female characters — makes me afraid of what they will do with Toph. Katara is the worst offender so far. She is not strong because she is the heart of the group, she is not strong because she still cares so deeply despite all the hurdles she had to overcome. No, she is strong because she can beat someone’s ass (plus, she realizes her strength because two male characters in the show tell her that she is strong. Like, come on, do I need to say more?)

Bumi, the legendary earthbender, is another adult who is supposed to serve as a guide for Aang. But in this version, he also keeps treating Aang like a carefree kid who doesn’t take his responsibilities seriously - which is SUCH a disservice to both Aang and Bumi. Aang, in this version, is very aware of his responsibilities and never ran away in the first place!

Why are all these adult figures, who are supposed to guide Aang, just keep yelling at him and telling him he sucks?2 What are we trying to accomplish here, hello? If this was an attempt at enhancing Bumi’s character and diving deeper into his characterization, it fails miserably because that is not Bumi. That is not the master earthbender whose whole character is about the neutral jing - waiting and listening. This one is not a wise character.

I think it could have been interesting to see a character study on someone who saw the world crumbling down, having to endure despite everything, and lashing out because of it, but that’s not Bumi. That’s someone else in his costume.

I just… yeah.

Look, I know I said I wasn’t going to go into too much detail, but I get worked up just thinking about it. There are too many things about this show that I just can’t look past…

Like how they decided to explicitly depict the genocide of the airbenders to give the show a more ‘‘mature’’ vibe - because, violence, right? Nickelodeon could never do that, but we at Netflix can do it! Let’s use a whole genocide to show it! Because we want Game of Thrones fans to watch this!3

Like how Aang never has to come to terms with his past “mistake” - the actual Gyatso explicitly tells him that it was not his fault. He never has to forgive himself; it is done for him instead.

It’s all so explicit, nothing implicit, and it makes for a much worse storytelling experience. We are not allowed to come to our own conclusions. We are not allowed to think that the characters are flawed, no way.

Live action as a “superior form of art”

All these live-action remakes make me question this: do stakeholders see live-action as inherently more valuable? Is it somehow superior to all other forms of media that we keep getting live-action adaptations? Or is it just more digestible and marketable to a bigger audience?

As I said above, I can sort of see the value in adapting written works to movies - they are totally different types of media. The Lord of the Rings movies remain incredible, and they don’t take away from the value of the books either. The cinematography, the music, and the use of practical effects combined with CGI all show a certain respect to the original work.

Video game adaptations can vary in this aspect. Video games are also a visual form of art, but the interactivity makes them unique. Did we really need an adaptation for The Last of Us? Not really. It was solid, but not really groundbreaking. Because the video game had already done the groundbreaking part - everyone on this platform probably knows the effect The Last of Us had when it first came out. The game already had great cinematography, great acting, and great music. What did they do differently in the adaptation? Did we get a more thorough character study on Joel’s psyche, or did we just get a more palatable form to tell the story?

But especially when it comes to animations, I don’t understand the need to make it live-action. Most of these animations have magic or supernatural elements in them, which make the live-action look either uncanny valley or straight up bad. Think of The Lion King and its adaptation: which one gives us more emotions on the characters’ faces? Also, despite Disney’s efforts to imply otherwise, I vehemently disagree that it is a live-action adaptation — it is almost entirely animated. Which makes me question, again, WHY did we need this? Why did we need to make another animated movie but market it like it was actual lions on the screen?

I guess 3D, photo-realistic animation is more preferable to 2D, cartoony animation, which is such a shame because hand-drawn animation is so flexible, expressive, and dynamic. And honestly, looks much better. Compare the use of colors and lighting in the image above — which one appeals to you more?

New IP, what is that?

I’ve gotten fed up with this era of remakes and adaptations, especially when they are done with the intent to squeeze out more money and not enhance an experience. A lot of game remasters are actually good because they bring the games to modern platforms and add quality-of-life changes. Or the Final Fantasy VII Remake games — I have my own criticisms about them, but at least they are telling a different story and actually enhancing the characterization. Whether you like it or not, it tries to do something different.

Riding the hype of a successful IP is understandable. Many game sequels reached success this way, to varying results. There is an existing fanbase who want more of just the same, so why not capitalize on that? I wouldn’t normally mind it.

What I dislike heavily is when they do it so haphazardly. It feels like they do not analyze character motivations. No deep dives into world-building. No effort to make the world look authentic.

Animation and live-action have very different principles when it comes to character design. The silhouette for an animated character is important, which is why we have wildly different hairstyles for each character. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a main character who has a boring style in the cartoon. They are exaggerated because animation allows us to suspend our disbelief easily. But trying to replicate these styles in live-action fails, because it just cannot translate with the exact same details. You need to take some liberties, or else the viewer will see it as a wig.

Anyway, I’m getting off track here. What I’m trying to say is that I want to either see new IPs, or adaptations done for the right reasons and not just retellings of the same story over and over and over again. I’m aware that in this world, it’s a very idealistic way to look at it. But it can be done. Just look at Netflix’s Blue Eye Samurai! It’s a new IP, and it was so incredible. Look at Arcane, a video game adaptation, which was amazing, and it tells a completely different story. I did find Season 2’s writing to be weaker than the first, but the amazing art direction is still there. Can you imagine if it were live-action? I shudder to think about it.

Closing thoughts

You can see that I’m especially attached to the original Avatar: The Last Airbender. It helped me shape so many of my core values, and I hold this silly little kids’ cartoon to the highest regard because of this. This is why I got so worked up over it, and needed to rant a bit. As you can tell, I’m very passionate about this.

In this era where we get bombarded with content after content, I think that it’s important to be picky about what we choose to spend our time on, and I refuse to accept subpar media that’s created solely for the sake of profit.

I just need art to be made for the sake of art again, and not for putting the consumers’ minds to sleep.

I find it very disturbing how these CEOs and big suits started perceiving art.

How they see art as simply… content. To be consumed and forgotten.

How they expect the consumer move on to the next big thing immediately after…

Joke’s on them, though. As you can see, I don’t move on. And I encourage you not to move on either. I encourage you to hold on to the feelings you felt while watching a show, reading a book, or playing a game, and to ponder what it wanted to tell you, why you loved it, or hated it. I believe that our greatest weapon against corporate greed is intentionality. Be picky. Be selective. Be critical. That’s how we can value art and help it flourish.

As most of you already know, I moved to Spain this month, and as chaotic as it has been, I’m getting more and more used to it. Aside from the occasional language mishaps here and there (e.g., ordering a cold brew and a hot americano instead of just one ice americano), it has been great! The city is absolutely lovely. The weather has been occasionally rainy, but it’s not cold, and it’s been really fun to just walk around and explore the streets. Randomly coming across flamenco dancers putting on great shows in the middle of the streets has definitely been a highlight.

As you can imagine, I didn’t have much time to play games or read stuff this month because of this, but let’s see what I managed to play or read!

Games

Cult of the Lamb

The January game for the Good Game Lobby Club was Undertale. As I already watched countless playthroughs of the game and know most of its secrets by heart now, I decided to opt out of playing it, but it’s been very interesting to see everyone’s reactions to the game. Join the club if you would like to discuss it with us!

Cult of the Lamb is the game for February, but since I already skipped Undertale, I thought I could just start playing it early on. I had already played a good deal of Cult of the Lamb and already written about it in a roundup post before. But the great thing about this game is that you don’t really run out of things to do.

And with the whole moving to another country thing, I wanted to fall into the comfort of playing a familiar game, so this one was a no-brainer to play this month.

I don’t want to give any spoilers, but I can say that I have beaten most of the main bosses and will try to beat the ultimate (I think) boss - though I’m really in no rush to do so. For now, I’m just focusing on growing my camp, getting more Followers and doing occasional dungeon runs to farm resources.

I would love to play the new Woolhaven DLC when I get the chance, but I need to just finish the base game first.

Books

Network Effect

As I mentioned before in my November post, I’ve been going through the Murderbot Diaries. I had listened to them in audiobook format before, but now I’ve been reading them on my Kindle.

As the first full-length novel in the Murderbot Diaries, Network Effect takes us on a journey full of action, drama, friendship, and a lot of heartwarming and tear-jerking moments. I love taking notes of my reactions on my Kindle as I read through books. I usually try not to filter myself and just write my heartfelt reaction to the scene, which is very fun when I reread the book later and see my reaction from back when I first read it. I’ve been doing the same thing for this series on this reread.

Looking back at the notes I took for Network Effect, you can tell that I was going through some emotions throughout the whole book. I apparently took 25 notes (most of which include a variety of ‘‘this is cute’’ and ‘‘this is heartbreaking’’), and highlighted even more stuff. I was very invested in the story, and I was glad to see that it was as fun as I remembered it being.

Next up in the series is System Collapse, which I just started reading. I was sad about my reread coming to an end, but apparently, the new book, Platform Decay, is coming out on May 5, so I’m looking forward to that.

And that’s basically it for this month! It’s not much, and it’s already stuff that I was familiar with before, but sometimes it helps to take comfort in forms of art that you’ve already seen before if your mind is busy.

I’m hoping that after the dust settles in February, I can start a big new game. Currently, I’m trying to decide between Baldur’s Gate 3, Nier: Automata, and Disco Elysium. Which one do you think I should go with?

Of course, I’ll continue playing smaller indie games alongside this big game. The current lineup is: Return of the Obra Dinn, Citizen Sleeper, and probably Lil’ Guardsman but it is not set in stone. I only have my Steam Deck with me, as we had to leave my PC and our PS5 behind, but I think that the Steam Deck is more than enough for these games.

How was your January?

Game Roundup is a series where I briefly introduce some games that I’ve played and give my thoughts on it along with a short review.

Personal update

As I mentioned in my thank you note, I’ve entered what I imagine will be a pretty busy time of my life, and now I can finally tell you why:

I’m moving to Spain in just a few weeks!

I’m very excited but also very nervous. I’m trying to learn Spanish too, but finding time for a new language is not easy when you are an adult. If you have any resources you’d like to recommend, I’m all ears!

This change will bring many others with it, and I’ve been trying to focus more on smaller games that won’t take too much of my time to keep my sanity. I don’t think I can handle a playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3 or Disco Elysium right now (though I want to play both sometime this year for sure, when things settle down).

Now that this personal update is out of the way, we can focus on some of the short games that I played recently.

The Roottrees are Dead

Played on: PC
Play time: 9.5 hours
Difficulty: Default

A genealogical mystery straight out of 1998. Scour the early Internet for clues, uncover hidden connections, and piece together the family tree behind the secretive Roottree Corporation.

I don’t remember when or how I came across this game and added it to my wishlist. But when it went on sale in December, I checked it out again and decided to get it. I’m very glad that I did, because it turned out to be a very fun deduction game.

They really nailed the ‘90s vibe in this game. Searching on the internet for clues, printing out flyers, and burning CDs (millennials know what I’m talking about). Using these clues, you need to figure out the entire Roottree family’s family tree. I loved the entire process, and discovering a few Easter Eggs here and there was very fun.

After you finish the game, you unlock another chapter called Roottreemania, but I’m saving that for another day - it looks even more complicated than the first chapter.

Botany Manor

Played on: Steam Deck
Play time: 4.4 hours
Difficulty: Default

Welcome to Botany Manor, a stately home in 19th century England. You play as inhabitant Arabella Greene, a retired botanist. Explore your house and gardens, filled with research, to figure out the ideal habitat of forgotten flora. Grow each plant to discover the mysterious qualities they hold…

I first started this game probably at the beginning of last year on Game Pass, but I was unable to finish it because I had cancelled Game Pass. Then I got it on Steam as part of Wholesome Snack 2025, and decided to play it to completion.

I’m so glad I did because I had a really fun time with it. I thought the puzzles were not too simple but not too difficult either. It struck the perfect balance for a non-intensive game session. Finding out more about the plants, figuring out the story and discovering the manor was very satisfying.

You do need to be paying attention to some of the more vague clues. There was one puzzle that I wouldn’t have gotten right without looking it up - and I still don’t get why it was solved that way. But that’s okay, because the rest was very fun.

Overall, it is a very chill game with some really pretty visuals. I came to expect some sort of “dark secret” or “that one spooky room” from these kinds of games, but I was pleasantly surprised that there was none to be found. It is very straightforward in its vibes from start to finish, which I enjoyed immensely.

Many Nights a Whisper

Played on: Steam Deck
Play time: 1.2 hours
Difficulty: Default

A short interactive essay on dreams, pressure, and expectations. Take part in an ancient ritual where one shot determines the fate of a generation.

I had no idea this game existed, until I read ’s thought-provoking review of the game where she tells us of 3 different perspectives from 3 different players. I loved how different people can have such different approaches to the game, so I wishlisted the game and bought it on Winter Sale.

So, Many Nights a Whisper became the first game I played and finished in 2026, and I’m very happy that this game how I started the year. The Steam description is correct in saying that this is an interactive essay. It is meant to push you to ask questions, and to think.

The setting and the premise is very interesting. You are faced with some hard decisions, as well as some no-brainers. Trying to balance the decisions was not easy, and I felt tense throughout the decision-making process.

I won’t say more to avoid spoilers, but I found that it was an interesting thought exercise, rather than a fully-fledged game. For me, it was definitely worth the experience.

This was originally going to be just a note, but my emotions got a bit out of hand, so I decided to make a short post.

As we approach the new year, I’m filled with very warm feelings, especially towards my Substack. There was a time that I took a year off from Substack and had no desire to continue writing here. My motivation was almost non-existent. If you check my post history, you’ll see that there is almost a year-long break between my Game Roundup #1 in 2023 and Game Roundup #2 in 2024.

Then I tried to keep posting and keep a more consistent schedule, but real life kept getting in the way.

Then I took off another few months in between January this year and April.

Then I finally found my groove and passion for writing.

I’m so glad I returned and kept it up.

I just checked and saw that at the beginning of the year, I had 43 subscribers, which I was already grateful for. I currently stand at 225 subscribers, which is something I never expected when I first started.

I try not to check out my stats often, because it makes me feel anxious. I don’t want to become focused on numbers. I want to write what I want to write without any SEO, growth strategies, or a/b testing. Just my pure, ADHD-riddled brain, trying to put my thoughts into coherent words.1

It has been incredibly freeing to be able to share my thoughts that would otherwise plague my always-busy mind.

Because of this, it would be incredibly amiss of me not to thank each and every one of you who subscribed to me, all 225 of you. I find it amazing that so many people want to read my perspective. It makes me think that I’m doing something right, and it urges me to continue being my authentic self.

I’m grateful to everyone here who has written anything nice about me or my Substack, who has left a comment on any of my posts, who liked a post, or even just read any of my posts. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much.

The little community we have curated here has become one of my highlights. It’s been very fun to be here, and to be able to discuss gaming with like-minded but also versatile people feels like a blessing. The wide variety of talent here is amazing, and Substack is doing all the amazing writers here a disservice by not raising their voices more.

Maybe we can finally get that publication category for Video Games this year, what do you say, Substack?

This has been a very rewarding year for me, both in my personal life, and on Substack. I won’t say it hasn’t been challenging, because god knows that it was exhausting. I imagine that my life will be just as hectic in the upcoming year, but as long as it feels rewarding, I don’t mind being busy.

To an even better 2026!

Mutlu yıllar! 🎉

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A fantastic sequel to Strange Horticulture. I often have my gripes with sequels, but I think this one improves upon Strange Horticulture in almost every aspect. It doesn't mean that Strange Horticulture was bad or anything, but I enjoyed Strange Antiquities more.

It has the same vibes as Dredge, albeit with wildly different gameplay. I think I really enjoy the kind of dark, Lovecraftian, cozy type of games. We need a more applicable term of these types of games, I’m running out of adjectives.

To read more on it, check here:

#4 - Persona 5 Royal

As I mentioned in Part 1, I couldn’t believe the amount of time I spent on Persona 5 Royal at the beginning of the year. The first part of my year was spent on playing P5R, which was an amazing time. However, there is one issue.

P5R is a freaking long game. I apparently have 100.7 hours on Steam right now. And considering that I actually started playing on Game Pass, my playtime is probably even more. I need to go check my save file, but to do that, I need to redownload the game, which I’m very lazy to do. So you can take me at my word.

P5R is a very polished game, and it improves on its predecessors by a mile in terms of QoL changes. It’s stylish, it’s fun, it’s comforting, and it really feels like you live in modern-day Tokyo. Between this game and The World Ends with You, I feel like I can navigate my way in Shibuya if I ever visit.

The music in Persona games is always a highlight, and Persona 5’s OST is no different. I sometimes start humming “you’ll never see it comiiiinnnngg” out of the blue, and unfortunately, no one around me understands the reference.

🥉#3 - Final Fantasy XVI

The worst thing about playing a game right before you play your personal game of the year is that it loses the spotlight pretty quickly. Don’t worry FFXVI, I may not be talking about you too much right now, but I haven’t forgotten about you. You are still the game that got me in tears at 3 am on a weekday. You are still the game that got me looking up lore and theories at random times of the day.

What a magnificent game.

Jill Warrick still deserves better, though.

🥈#2 - Hades II

I assume that there are no surprises here, given that I have a short series of me talking about each of Supergiant’s entries, and you can see how much I enjoy their games. Hades II was really no different. Now that I have reached the end, I can put it in the second spot. Phenomenal art and music, fun gameplay, solid story. I will say that in terms of characters and the dynamics between them, I still prefer Hades. But Hades II is still an amazing game that deserves all the hype and praise.

Though I have to say that FFXVI and Hades II’s places are kind of interchangeable depending on my mood. Both were really good games that deserve the second place in this list.

🥇#1 - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

What a shocker, am I right?

I have been incessantly talking about this game ever since I first played it, and the impact it had on me was huge. Writing just one post about it was not enough for me, so I had to write a second one.

The soundtrack was living in my head rent-free, and it ended up dominating my Spotify Wrapped. Is anyone here surprised that Une vie à t’aimer was my top song?

Expedition 33 recently broke some records on The Game Awards, sweeping up a lot of awards, including the Game of the Year. The contenders this year were really strong, but I’m happy that they came out on top.

I’ve been playing the latest free DLC, which is amazing and heartwrenching at times like the main game. And the music is, perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the highlights. Pour que Naisse un Bouquet is the standout for me, especially because of the way it uses Verso’s theme playing underneath the heavenly vocal melody. Lorien & Alice duo is incredible ,and Sandfall really hit big when they recruited these two.

They really gave us a banger album and made a game alongside it, how generous.

Aaand that’s all, folks! What a year, especially for gaming! I’m going to schedule another post before the New Year, so I won’t celebrate it here yet, but I’m very happy with how this went in terms of my gaming, my hobbies and especially my Substack. I feel like I found an amazing community that I can share my nerdy passions with, and wow, what a help it has been for my always chaotic brain.

I hope you enjoyed my top 10 games of 2025 list! What games do you have on yours? Were you able to make a dent on your backlog or did you mostly play newer games?

I’m not gonna lie, I love it. I really enjoy seeing those numbers for some reason - maybe because it is easy to forget what you were doing at the beginning of a year, and these recaps remind you. I had totally forgotten just how much I had played Persona 5 Royal at the beginning of the year.

So, while it’s not really a recap, I wanted to make a list of the best games I’ve played in 2025. I had already written about some of them, which I’ll link to if you are interested in knowing more about them.

The only criterion is that it must be a game I played this year - not strictly a game that came out in 2025. So you might see some older games here, too.

I’m also calling for anyone reading this to make their own list. It was really fun to write!

#10 - 1000xResist

The only reason why 1000xResist is so low in this list is because of its lack of gameplay. It works incredibly well as a visual novel/walking simulator type of game, though. Phenomenal writing and incredible storytelling. Definitely had me at the edge of my seat at times.

#9 - Ori and the Blind Forest

And the only reason why Ori and the Blind Forest is so low is that I have yet to finish it as of writing this. We are playing it as part of the Good Game Lobby Gaming Club’s December game.

I don’t play metrodivanias. I don’t play platformers. That’s for a very specific reason: I suck at them. I’m usually proud of my hand-eye coordination, but for some reason, I do very poorly at these games. Maybe I just lack the patience.

Ori proved to be an exception. Not only is it fun, but it is also a gorgeous game. From its amazing visuals to the incredible soundtrack, it has been a wonderful experience so far. It has its moments where I get frustrated and have to take a break, but it is way less than I expected.

And some of the story parts broke my heart, which I wasn’t expecting from this game.

If only I weren’t so bad at it.

#8 - Deep Rock Galactic

Deep Rock Galactic is a game that I didn’t expect to have so much fun with. I was reluctant to buy it, but I caved in at the insistence of my co-op squad.

I am so glad I did.

This game is a blast. Just pure, unadulterated fun. No thoughts, just go and drill there, or fight against a swarm. I’ve been looking forward to playing this game every Sunday.

#7 - Stardew Valley

It would be amiss of me not to list Stardew Valley here after playing it for around 80 hours with the squad. Though I did find it frustrating to play it on my own, it is super fun to play with other people.

In our playthrough, we all got married, and our spouses moved in with us and helped us with the farm. The spouse who watered the garden was celebrated, and the spouse who did nothing at all was shamed. Unfortunately, Elliot was the one who spent most mornings inside, and as his spouse, I was left to defend his lazy butt against my perfectionist friends.

#6 - Dredge

It is a bit shocking that I didn’t write about Dredge before, considering that I absolutely loved playing it. I was sure that I had included it in one of my roundup posts, but apparently not.

Dredge is a Lovecraftian horror game that is strangely cozy. Setting sail to the sea, catching fish and various other unholy creatures, uncovering the mysterious story… It also features a fantastic soundtrack. Just writing about it makes me want to replay it.

I did play in Passive mode, which is basically the easy difficulty. When you turn it on, the monsters do not attack you. I had tried playing it with it off, but… I am a scaredy-cat. I don’t do well with high-tension games (or any other media, for that matter). Dredge thankfully does not feature anything gross or actually scary - it’s just that the vibes are a bit sinister and spooky. But it is also a very cozy game. The fact that they managed to hit that balance is impressive.

…I really should replay it.

Honorary mention: Split Fiction.

I wrote about my impressions of Split Fiction in my November post. We finished it recently, and it was an incredible experience. I will never forget the amount of detail and effort that obviously went into those final levels. “How did they do that??” was the main question we kept asking ourselves as we played the levels - it really is an impressive game, especially on a technical level.

I still tried making time for games, books, and series this month. Let’s dive in!

Games

Split Fiction

Both Split Fiction and Astrobot have been on my husband’s wishlist on PS5 for a long time, and finally, they went on sale recently. As soon as he saw the notification, he texted me asking if we should get them, and I was, of course, very eager to get them as they are both games that I’ve been wanting to play for a very long time.

Even though we didn’t have the chance to try out Astrobot yet, we are currently playing through Split Fiction, and it is good. We did have a blast playing It Takes Two a few years ago, and Split Fiction is currently scratching that same itch.

They really took it to the next level with this game. The graphics, the non-stop action, the unique abilities… all are really good, and the banter between the main characters is fun. We both burst out laughing whenever we see a reference, and some of the sections are just mind-blowingly awesome. I will probably have a full Co-op Days post when we finish the game; it is really good.

Deep Rock Galactic

I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been a little prejudiced towards this game. Mostly because it takes place underground, and I thought it would feel claustrophobic. The game looked chaotic and not really my style. My co-op squad kind of pressured me to get this game when there was a sale, and we finally got to play it.

I’m happy to say that I was wrong.

The game rocks, pun intended. First of all, it did not feel claustrophobic at all, as the caves were pretty spacious and plenty of room to breathe. As 4 players, we each chose different characters to cover all areas. I chose the Scout, who can shoot flares to light up the caves and can travel quickly with the grappling hook. Suuuper fun to play this character, and really fits my playstyle.

Every week, I’m looking forward to playing this game, which says a lot about how fun it is. It also reminds me of Helldivers 2, which I watch my husband play all the time. It used to look too chaotic for me, but maybe Helldivers 2 might also be fun to play for me, hmm.

Pokémon Go

I used to play this game back in 2016, when I was an exchange student in France. It was such a cultural reset; everyone and their mother played this game. It was such a novel idea, and it worked really well. As someone who is mostly only familiar with the original 151 Pokémon, I can’t say that I’m the biggest fan of the franchise. But I am very fond of that first 151, so I played Pokémon Go a lot back then and collected many of them.

Recently, my husband and I decided to redownload the game, mostly to have an excuse to take a walk and get some exercise in. It works really well as a motivator, I must say. And also, seeing my old Pokémon from 2016 made me super nostalgic, like I’m seeing my old friends, and I cannot get rid of them, no matter how weak they may be.

Books

The Murderbot Diaries

This is quickly becoming my comfort book series. Despite the dark-sounding name, it is actually a very heartwarming series, with some amazing action-packed sequences and funny moments. But it’s also a series that takes itself seriously, with some big emotional payoffs and gritty scenes.

Following Murderbot - a half robot half human construct - on its journey to discover what it means to be human, what it means to care for others, is very engaging. I deeply relate to its desire to do nothing but watch its favorite serials all day. If Murderbot were real, I’m pretty sure it would be an author on AO3 and get into arguments with the rest of the The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon fandom.

I had already listened to the audiobooks last year, which are FANTASTIC. Kevin R Free is a phenomenal narrator. Every little pause, every little sigh makes me feel more connected to Murderbot and it’s like I’m listening to a friend telling me an exciting story. I’ve been re-reading them on my Kindle and it’s been great. I’m currently reading Fugitive Telemetry, and Network Effect is the next one on my list.

And it was adapted to TV on Apple+, which was released recently, and it’s also quite good. Despite having my own criticisms of the show, it is still quite a good watch. But I recommend reading the books first (or listening to the audiobooks) and then watching the show.

Shows

Pluribus

Will I be crucified if I say that I never watched Breaking Bad? My brother certainly always scolds me because of it, since Breaking Bad has been one of his favorite TV series for a long time.

Maybe it’s because of this that I had never heard of Pluribus. So I went in with no expectations, but I was very impressed with the story and the cinematography. The premise is incredibly interesting, and I’m very curious to know how it will all be resolved. I’m hoping that they’ll nail it. I’ve seen some people criticising the show because of how slow the plot moves forward, but I’m the type to enjoy character studies and how a character might react to certain circumstances.

The only thing that put me off so far is how some of the side characters reacted to the main event (trying to be vague here). It was a little difficult for me to suspend my disbelief there, but I understand the reason why they chose to go that way.

Oh and it was a little cruel of them to end the latest episode with a cliffhanger, and have the next episode scheduled to be released 10 days later. I’m dying to know what is going to happen in Episode 6.

November was a pretty hectic month for me. I know that I seem to keep complaining about how busy my life is, but I genuinely am feeling like I’m always rushing to get stuff done or even make time for my hobbies. Nevertheless, some good stuff also happened this month, and exciting news should be waiting for me in December! Hopefully!

How was your November? Let’s discuss!

Game Roundup is a series where I briefly introduce some games that I’ve played and give my thoughts on it along with a short review.

These are some of the short games I played recently that gave me the peace of mind I needed.

TOEM

Played on: Steam Deck
Play time: 11.5 hours (4 hours on this playthrough)
Difficulty: Default

Set off on a delightful expedition and use your photographic eye to uncover the mysteries of the magical TOEM in this hand-drawn adventure game. Chat with quirky characters, solve their problems by snapping neat photos, and make your way through a relaxing landscape!

The game of the month for the Gaming Club was TOEM! I was the one who pitched in TOEM, as I had finished the game before, and I had been meaning to replay this game. Thankfully, a lot of people had it in their libraries already. And the gaming club was a great opportunity to not only replay it, but also to re-experience it along with other people and discuss it.

It’s a very cute game where you go on a little journey with your trusty camera in a black-and-white world. You are on a mission to experience TOEM, whatever that may be. As you make your way through different places, you get to interact with quirky NPCs, take photos of the tiniest corners of the world, and help people in order to get stamps. Each stamp helps you get to the next bus stop, and your goal is to reach the last stop.

The humor in this game is exactly my taste; it has just the right amount of silliness without being obtuse. The NPCs are funny, the art is charming, and the music is just amazing.

You can really tell when developers love creating their games, and this is one of those cases. The amount of love and care they put into this world is heartwarming, which is even more evident in the message at the end of the bonus area that they added after the credits as a gift to the players.

The sequel is on its way, and you can be sure that I’ll be one of the first ones to play it!

Cocoon

Played on: PlayStation 5
Play time: 4 hours
Difficulty: Default

From Jeppe Carlsen, the lead gameplay designer of LIMBO and INSIDE — COCOON takes you on an adventure across worlds within worlds. Master world-leaping mechanics and solve intricate puzzles to unravel a cosmic mystery.

Cocoon is a very, very interesting puzzle game. You are controlling a little moth guy and making your way through different biomes. These biomes become little spheres that you can carry on your back, and they give you specific abilities as long as you hold them.

The mechanics get more and more complex as you continue, and it becomes a bit mind-bending in a good way. The visuals are amazing, and the sound design is intricate.

I played Cocoon with my husband as my co-pilot/backseat gamer. We had to put our brains together to get past some of the puzzles, and discussing how to best proceed was really fun.

My biggest criticism of this game would be that it requires some backtracking for some of the puzzles, which I normally would not have the patience for. It was because I was playing along with my husband that I kept going, and I’m SO glad I did because it feels so satisfying to get the solution right. The backtracking was not actually too bad, but I tend to get impatient in games like these.

Strange Antiquities

Played on: Steam Deck & PC
Play time: 10 hours
Difficulty: Default

Become the custodian of a store dealing in occult antiquities. Explore the quaint and gloomy town of Undermere, where strange goings-on and dark mysteries abound. Find and identify arcane artefacts, use your collection to aid the townsfolk with their unusual problems — and remember to pet your cat!

I had been waiting for this game ever since I played Strange Horticulture, which I wrote about 2 years ago. Despite its Lovecraftian vibes, it’s actually a very cozy game. It reminds me of Dredge a lot, which I also adored.

Strange Antiquities is a game where you temporarily take over a store that deals in weird occult objects and give them to your customers according to their needs. You need to consult your books and your notes to find the correct item, and you can shape the future depending on what you give them. You can also “explore” a few areas to find new objects.

After mulling it over, I realized that I enjoyed Strange Antiquities more than its predecessor. The developers learned from their experiences with the previous game and made this one a much better experience, in my opinion. I enjoyed analyzing the little trinkets more than trying to see the subtle differences between plants.

Co-op Days is a series where I write about the multiplayer/co-op games I’ve played with my friends and let you know my unfiltered thoughts. While I usually play games with my brother and our childhood friends every Sunday, I may also talk about games that I’ve played with my partner or with my other friends.

You can check out the other entries on this series here.

Play time: 47 hours
Played on: PC & Steam Deck
Difficulty: Default

It’s been a while since I wrote a Co-op Days post, so I’m here to amend that! This time, we have the ultimate pirate game: Sea of Thieves!

Sea of Thieves is a smash-hit pirate adventure game, offering the quintessential pirate experience of plundering lost treasures, intense battles, vanquishing sea monsters and more.

I’ve always loved pirates. Pirates of the Caribbean was one of my favorite movies when I was growing up, and I always liked the aesthetic. There is something about the frilly shirts, corsets, boots, and the many accessories that they use.

The first time I played Sea of Thieves was back when I first started dating my then-boyfriend-now-husband. Because of Covid, we had to stay apart, so we wanted to find a game to spend time in. He told me about this game, and I bought it for my PC.

My PC didn’t run it that well, but we still had a grand old time in the game. With him as the captain and me as the first mate, we took our little ship from adventure to adventure, found treasures, and escaped from other ships.

Recently, we got back into it as we were looking into a game to play together, and we wanted to relive those times. With him on the PS5 on the big TV and me on my Steam Deck, this time we played it side by side.

Then we got our friends to join us for our sessions, and it became one of the coziest and most entertaining gaming experiences I’ve had recently.

What is Sea of Thieves?

Sea of Thieves is, first and foremost, a social game. You are encouraged to play it with friends. Since I’m very used to playing co-op games with these friends, and my husband is a very easy-going guy, our teamwork is pretty good. Except for when my friends, who are brothers who bicker a lot, start fighting among themselves. But as I grew up with them, I’m pretty used to it; it’s their thing.

It has a pretty distinct art style - very cartoony characters and models, along with probably the best sea I’ve ever seen in gaming. Seriously, I don’t know how the hell they managed to achieve this level of detail, but because you spend around 90% of the time on or near the sea, it makes sense that they paid so much attention to it. It looks absolutely gorgeous on the PS5 compared to my LCD Steam Deck, but it still looks amazing on the Steam Deck.

You can play this game any way you want: You can plunder treasures, find random quests to complete, you can make it your mission to find and sink other players’ ships and steal their treasures, you can focus on exploring and discovering new stuff, you can complete Tall Tales, and much more.

Tall Tales in this game serve as story-focused quests that can have pretty elaborate stories and puzzles. It is my favorite thing to do in this game, and I always push my crewmates to go for a Tall Tale. Usually, you are given a book with some vague instructions, and it’s up to you to solve what the clues in the book mean. These quests are pretty lengthy, so they are good for longer sessions.

Your ship might get attacked by some other players as you casually make your way to your quest. I don’t like it in other games when other players try to hinder your progress, but the ship battles in Sea of Thieves are actually pretty fun. You need to work together to either escape or fight back. The ensuing chaos after a battle starts is very entertaining.

Here is one of my favorite videos that depicts this sudden chaos, it still makes me laugh every time I watch it:

It’s so damn funny.

We quote it almost every time we come across another ship.

Teamwork in this game is essential. In our game, one of us is the captain, I’m the one in charge of repairs and the maintenance of the deck, and the other two are responsible for navigation and setting the sails. Our roles can change depending on whether we are in battle or not.

If it’s chill and I have nothing to do, I usually grab some grog from the tankard, start drinking, and playing some pirate tunes. Yes, you can do all that in the game. If you drink enough, you actually get drunk and can even fall off the ship, much to the captain’s dismay (don’t ask me how I know). It’s especially funny if everyone except the captain is drunk.

Technical issues

The game is not bug-free, but we had a pretty smooth experience - for the most part. The most challenging part is having to log into your Xbox account, no matter the platform you are on. Trying to play a game and having a login screen open is not a fun experience, especially if you are playing on PlayStation or Steam Deck.

The second most challenging part was to actually invite friends and bring the crew together. Our two friends were on PC, my husband was on the PS5, and I was on the Steam Deck, which made it a tad more difficult to find each other.

But both of these are mostly a one-time thing, and they did not affect the rest of our sessions. The rest was pretty smooth-sailing, if you don’t mind the pun.

Overall Thoughts

Sea of Thieves can be defined in many ways, but for me, it’s an entertaining game that gets chaotic at times and cozy at other times. Piloting a ship together with your friends is definitely fun - just make sure that you play with the right people.

Pretending to be a pirate and navigating the high seas is a priceless experience. If you are looking for a co-op game like this, Sea of Thieves is a definite recommendation.

I’ll finish up this post with my favorite sea shanty of all time:

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Hades II

A lot of my free time has actually been consumed by Hades II. I wrote about my thoughts in detail in this post, so head there if you are interested. But long story short, Hades games are great to just pick up and play. I always go in with the intention of doing one run, which usually extends to more. The runs in Hades II are longer than its predecessor, depending on how well you do on them.

I wish we could spoiler-mark stuff on Substack because on a recent run, I beat TWO end-game bosses on my first try. The dopamine rush I got from it was a little addictive, so I had to physically put my Steam Deck away to do other stuff and not sink another two hours into the game.

Honkai: Star Rail

I had taken a long break from this game. I’m not a Day 1 player, but I started playing very early. I wrote about it back in August 2023 (not my best work, but still), and wrote about how much I enjoyed it. Dan Heng was my favorite character, and I was saving for his Imbibitor Lunae form when I wrote that post. Even after two years, my heart hasn’t swayed, and he remains my favorite.

I stopped playing shortly after Penacony, I had a little bit of a burnout. But seeing March 7th and Dan Heng’s new forms in Amphoreus brought me back, more interested than ever. So I’ve been trying to catch up with the story, though it’s taking me some time. But Amphoreus is a lot more interesting to me than Penacony so far, so it’s been going well - I do love Greek mythology after all. Dan Heng Permansor Terrae is one hell of a name, and I was eager to find out how he got it.

I’ve been hoarding gems for such times, so even though DHPT was free, I immediately went and pulled for him and got his E1. And I did something I never do: I got his Light Cone too. Hoyo really got me at the palm of their hands. But DHPT is really comfortable to play, he is an improvement to almost all the teams I add him in.

Also the explanation for the fact that he was free and practically shoves himself into your account is because he wants to protect those around him? He is the guard of the express, alright.

I finally got caught up and I must say that Hoyo popped off with this story. I do have my criticisms, but it was still very good. Especially the patch that features Phainon heavily, like whoa! His animations are actually out of this world. Kind of regretting not pulling for him, I’ll definitely try to get him on his rerun.

Though I will say that I’m not sure if Hoyo knows what a million is. I’m usually pretty good at suspending my disbelief when the story requires it, but even I was pushed to the limits and played some parts with an eyebrow raised. Not gonna post any spoilers but like… come on. There is just no way you are talking about millions. The storytelling was still incredible though, maybe one of the best that HSR has ever done.

Tiny Bookshop

I had this game on my wishlisht even before it came out, and it is shooting up the ranks to become my cozy game of the year. The idea of selling secondhand books and recommending books to people based on their preferences is so good, and the visuals are super cute.

And in an unexpected turn of events, I was chosen as a ‘Book Council Member’ for the game! This means that I get to contribute books in Turkish to the game and write their descriptions! It’s been really fun, and as a booklover, I was really excited for this project.

But it made me realize that I don’t read Turkish authors that much anymore, which I should amend ASAP. Thankfully this game is a great source of inspiration when it comes to choosing books, so even by just playing, I was able to put some books to my ‘to-read’ list. Give this game a try if you are interested in books!

A Short Hike

I played this back in 2020 and loved it to bits. In October, as part of the Discord Gaming Club, I replayed it and had a blast. It’s a short and simple game with a really charming art style and does not overstay its welcome.

Despite how short the main story looks, there is more to it than meets the eye. But I am bad at games where I’m not given explicit directions, so I couldn’t find all of them. Still, stumbling upon a fun mini-game or a short quest was a delight. And I loved the ending. Very good game overall, and a great pick if you are looking for a short and sweet game to finish in one sitting.

The next game on the gaming club is TOEM. I’ve been meaning to replay this game too, as it is a delightful and charming game like A Short Hike (though it is longer than A Short Hike). Join the club and play alongside us! We discuss the game of the month at the end of every month.

Spy x Family

This show heals my soul. I’ve been a fan of it since season 1, and started reading the manga right after. I’ve always been very fond of the ‘found family’ trope in fiction, and it doesn’t get more found family than this.

For those who don’t know, the show is about a spy dad (Twilight/Loid), an assassin mom (Yor), and a telepathic child (Anya) coming together to pose as a family. They also get a dog at one point. Only the child knows everyone’s true identity, which leads to some really fun schenanigans.

It’s a comedy show first and foremost, but it has a lot of wholesome moments alongside some really badass ones. When the mom is a freakishly strong assassin and the dad is an incredibly smart spy, these badass moments are inevitable. Watching them grow as a family and be each others’ support is really cute.

The show and the manga also have a very strong anti-war message sprinkled throughout the show, and some moments hit really hard because of this. For a mainly comedy show, I think it does a pretty good job at getting the anti-war message across.

Season 3 is currently airing and I absolutely recommend it for anyone who is looking for a simple and heartwarming show.

Closing Thoughts

October was a great month in terms of games and other media for me. I was a bit overwhelmed with my personal life, but I’m happy that I still found the time for my hobbies.

I also wanted to do a music section but I realized that I wouldn’t have much to talk about since I’ve had Expedition 33’s OST on loop again this month… Hyperfixations are a thing, huh? I’ve talked about the OST here so I’m not gonna do it again here.

I’m expecting great things from November, and I hope y’all had a good October as well! I’d be curious to know how your October was, so let’s discuss in the comments if you’d like. Thank you for reading!

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The Supergiant Run is a mini-series where I chronologically play through all games made by Supergiant before the official release of Hades II. Some of my favorite games are made by this amazing indie studio, so I want to relive the experience of playing them again and share my thoughts. You can check out the previous entries here: Bastion, Transistor, Pyre.

Play time: Almost 100 hours
Played on: Steam Deck
Difficulty: Default with God Mode on

Defy the god of the dead as you hack and slash out of the Underworld in this rogue-like dungeon crawler from the creators of Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre.

And now, folks, for the grand finale of my Supergiant Run series - the game that skyrocketed Supergiant’s fame and got even me playing a roguelike game: Hades.

I am pretty late in posting this, as I was planning to have it out before the release of Hades II. But they announced the 1.0 so quickly that I did not have any time to even revisit Hades. Now that things have settled down and I’ve been enjoying Hades II, I can go back to Hades and write about it.

A combination of its predecessors

I’ve mentioned this before many times in my other posts in my Supergiant Run series: Hades takes everything that Supergiant learned from their previous games, made them stronger, and applied them to Hades in the best fashion: Bastion’s combat, Transistor’s art, music, and vibes, and Pyre’s branching storytelling. This is one of the reasons why Hades became the masterpiece that it is - it had a long learning process for the team that made it. They saw what worked, what didn’t, and made changes accordingly.

Hades is a game that is hard to put down when you pick it up. “Just one more run,” turns into many more runs, and before you know it, you just spent 2 hours instead of the planned 30 minutes on the game. Not many games can make me do that, honestly.

Great cast and an even better protagonist

This will probably be a hot take but here goes: I think I like Hades’ cast better than Hades II’s. Both are good, but the relatively lower stakes in Hades make it easier for the characters to have more varied interactions and joke around, whereas in Hades II, with the war going on, the characters are understandably more focused on the war.

Zagreus himself is the main factor that brings the levity to the game. When I initially saw his design, I thought he would be the kind of character who is reserved, cold and brutal. I was delighted when he proved to be quite the opposite.

His witty remarks, sarcastic comments, and sometimes intentionally deadpan delivery makes for really fun dialogues and runs. I mentioned before that Supergiant Games loves yappers, and Zagreus is the ultimate yapper. Him messing around, wreaking havoc everywhere while roasting gods and other mythical beings is so funny to me. Him being so sarcastic works really well with serious characters like Hades, Thanatos, Megaera and many more.

But Zagreus is not just there for the zingers. As witty as he is, he is also a very kind and loving character who always does his best. I always love a main character who is determined, respectful and shows a lot of personality.

I’m always amazed that Darren Korb gave us one of the best soundtracks of all time while recording around 8500 voice lines for Zagreus! And he voices Skelly too! I don’t know how he ever manages to find the time to do all that, but I’m glad he did because I cannot imagine Zagreus as anyone else. The emotion he manages to convey as Zagreus is so diverse and impressive, not to mention managing to sound like an entirely different person as Skelly.

No fail state

This game has no fail state. You can die over and over again, and yet you still make progress in the story. This is something they tried with Pyre and succeeded, and incorporated it into Hades in an amazing way. No run feels wasted, and in my 100 hours of playing, I don’t think I’ve ever come across the same dialogue again. You are always encountering new things, new dialogues, and unlocking new features.

The characters have unique dialogues depending on what caused your death. Dying is not seen as a failure, but as a stepping stone to your end goal. I really like this approach, as it allows me to fail, again and again, until I’ve learned the enemies’ movesets and mastered my own moves. The sense of satisfaction when you finally manage to get past a boss that was previously giving you trouble is priceless.

Banger soundtrack (again) and the Greco-Turkish influences in it

By which I mean the heavy use of bağlama in the game, which might be why I am particularly attached to this soundtrack. For those who don’t know, bağlama is a plucked string instrument that is predominantly used in Turkish folk music, and also used a lot in Greek music.

Darren Korb uses this instrument in Bastion as well, and, as much as I love it (as evidenced here), the use of bağlama in Hades feels somewhat more authentic, compared to the trip-hop vibes in Bastion. I think it’s because of the Greek setting, which in some parts is very similar to Turkish culture, being neighbors and all, especially around the Aegean Sea. I don’t think there would be anyone from that area who isn’t familiar with bağlama.

The OST for this game heavily uses bağlama, electric guitar and theremin, which is a combination that you don’t really see elsewhere. Darren Korb is an experimental artist, as has been apparent since Bastion, and he mixes these two kind of obscure (from a western point of view) instruments with a more common one. Fusion of music genres has always been a favorite of mine. The mix of modern and traditional has always been interesting to me, and I found that I’ve been leaning heavily towards such sounds in my own music taste lately as well.

And well, you take progressive rock1 and add traditional Turkish folk music elements to it, and you get one of my favorite soundtracks ever. Darren Korb himself says that he wanted to use a Mediterranean sound palette by asking himself what kind of instruments people might play in this place and what kind of music they would enjoy.

You hear No Escape when you open the game, and you are immediately hit with all the elements I talked about above. At first, the bağlama establishes the leitmotif that will be apparent throughout the rest of the soundtrack. Then the electric guitar starts accompanying the bağlama. Just a little afterwards, theremin comes in and all three instruments start working in harmony.

And take a listen to the bağlama solo at the beginning of The House of Hades! If you made an unsuspecting Turkish person listen to this, they might think that this is from an actual aşık2 about to tell an epic story. Then the song goes into a more upbeat direction, which is awesome.

I can never forget the first time I heard Good Riddance in the game. I will keep the moment you hear this vague to avoid spoilers, but I definitely wasn’t expecting it. It was during a particularly chaotic run that I heard it, and wow did it leave an impression. Ashley Barrett is back again with her heavenly vocals, and delivers perfection once again.

Hades II’s soundtrack is just as amazing and has a similar style. One prominent difference between the two is the usage of the instruments. Hades leans more heavily into bağlama and guitar, whereas Hades II starts with the theremin right off the bat with Death to Chronos, therefore solidifying the witchy vibes.

Also a really fun fact: Death to Chronos uses No Escape’s leitmotif but in a different time signature. This was a great discovery for me, especially considering who our main enemy is in Hades II. This change in time signature is important because of two things:

• It immediately establishes a tie with the main antagonist of the game: Time itself.

  • There is also a mid-way tempo change that fits with this narrative as well

• It also gives us the familiar leitmotif in No Escape while changing it up to make it feel more ‘‘new’’ and ‘‘odd’’. 3

No Escape in Hades establishes THE leitmotif that we will come to associate with these games as soon as we hear it. Keep an ear out for it. Especially when you hear Titan of Time in Hades II, and take what you read here about time signatures and tempos into consideration.

I know this is not a post about Hades II (posted that here), but I just had to mention Coral Crown as well. An amazing boss fight song, and they used such an awesome way to put this song into the game, and it gets you incredibly hyped. I was obsessed with this song when I first heard it during Early Access.

Overall Thoughts

Hades has become a staple of the rogue-like genre, with its innovative way of storytelling and polished gameplay, combined with amazing art and music. The critically acclaimed game is praised with good reason, and you immediately understand why this is the case when you play the game.

With its addictive loop, great characters, art and music, you won’t be able to let this game go that easily.

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Battle beyond the Underworld using dark sorcery to take on the Titan of Time in this bewitching sequel to the award-winning rogue-like dungeon crawler.

As you may already know, I’ve played all the games from Supergiant. Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre are some of the most unique games out there, despite being pretty old games by today’s standards. While all of them are great games, none of them have the replayability and customisability of Hades, and consequently, Hades II. Hades games are great to just pick up and play a few runs, which is why I end up playing them more often than other games.

“I’ll just do a few runs“ is something I say often while I wait for food delivery or something. But they are addictive, so I often end up saying “just one more“ and that’s how you end up with these games at the top of your Steam playtime list.

Which is why I was so excited when they announced Hades II for the first time. I immediately signed up for the free technical test. Even for a technical test, it felt so good to play on the Steam Deck. A lot was lacking: the art, the levels, the weapons etc. But it was still fun.

Then they announced Early Access, and I did something I never do: I bought it.

The ups and downs of Early Access

Early Access is a tricky thing. You essentially buy an incomplete product, put your time and money into it, and even provide feedback and bug reports to make the product better. In the normal world, you would have to be paid for such work.

Games are different, however. First of all, games are notoriously difficult to automate tests for. So the tests generally must be done manually. And there are so many cases that must be tested that it is basically inevitable for a small team to miss some.

Which is why Early Access can be a gem if used right. Supergiant did EA for Hades, and improved the game to almost perfection, thanks to this process. I hadn’t joined the EA for Hades, but I had heard really good things about it. I usually don’t like joining EA for games, as I already test games for a living, so I didn’t want to do more of the same during my leisure time. However, the EA for Hades was famous for how good it was, which made me reconsider.

So I decided, why not? I was going to buy Hades II eventually anyway, so I might as well just go for EA. It should be interesting to see the early stages of this game and how it changes with updates.

I bought Hades II in May 2024, and was surprised by the game’s polish. I was expecting something closer to an unfinished project. Instead, I got a game that had dozens of hours of content. It was almost as big as the original Hades! That was mindblowing to me.

I played it from time to time until December 2024, according to Steam. Every update added new and exciting things: new areas, new characters, new bosses and new sprites for existing characters. The anticipation was so much fun, and the community’s responses to new updates were fantastic.

Then I decided to stop playing to prevent burnout. I know it’s a roguelike game and you can play it for hours upon hours, but I wanted to save it for the actual launch. So I stopped following the new updates.

Then the biggest update dropped: the 1.0 launch, finally! And it was dropping in just 2 weeks from the announcement? I was stoked and decided to play through their early titles to celebrate it. I didn’t have time to go back to Hades, but I remembered it well enough, having spent almost 100 hours on it.

So when the game was finally released, I opened the game, started a new save file, and descended into the Underworld with a fresh mind.

After the 1.0 Launch

So what changed? Did I notice anything different from the last time I played?

Yes, no doubt about it! The first Hades is a very smooth and fast-paced game. It fills you with adrenaline. Hades II in EA felt a lot clunkier and slow-paced compared to Hades. Melinoë had less mobility (no consecutive dashing) and a more magic-oriented fight style than Zagreus. As fun as it was, it felt frustrating.

I’m happy to say that this is no longer an issue in 1.0. The combat feels smooth and fun. It’s still more difficult than Hades. You still have to be more calculative and mindful of your positioning - something that was not as important in the first game.

Dashing has also improved. You still can’t dodge consecutively, but it feels much better. Sprinting is also a lot better, and the boons you get for it are really an improvement from the last time I played - though I saw that they replaced Hestia’s dodge boon, to my chagrin. I loved the old boon where it would burn incoming projectiles while you were sprinting. It helped a lot with some of the projectile-heavy bosses, but I understand why they changed it.

The game also feels incredibly polished on 1.0. The animations, the environments, the UI… All of them look amazing and I never get bored of how gorgeous they look, no matter how much time I spend in the game. It feels satisfying, especially since I know how they looked in EA. They never looked bad or anything, but it definitely looks much more polished.

The characters sprites were also improved a lot. The last time I played, some characters still had their placeholder sprites, so seeing their final iterations was really nice. They are also very shiny, I love the glow-ups they got (literally!).

The weapons also feel much better. I remember the Umbral Flames being one of the worst weapons in the game in EA. Hard to use, not synergizing with many boons and it restricted your already limited mobility. Now, they are probably one of my favorites. I don’t know what exactly changed, but they feel much more excitig to play. I got some really overpowered builds with it, and it was fun to demolish mobs and bosses with it.

There is also a new weapon that I unlocked but didn’t get to use yet. The way the game motivates you to experiment and go out of your comfort zone is also really great, because if it didn’t, I wouldn’t have found some of my favorite combinations. This was the same case with the first Hades too. I chose a build that I absolutely did not want to, then it ended up helping me with so many bosses.

Overall Thoughts

Hades II shows us a great use of Early Access, and how to make the best of it. I believe that the 1.0 launch would not feel this good if they didn’t take feedback from players.

Discovering new things that were not present in Early Access is also very fun. I recently defeated a boss that used to lead nowhere in EA. There used to be a bit of narration at the end, but no further scenes. I was delighted to discover that, of course, they added the scenes to the 1.0 version and now I can experience the story in the way it was intended.

I hear that the true ending of the game, which was released with 1.0, caused quite the division among the fanbase. I am still far from reaching it, I think, but I have my theories about where it will go. I might be completely blindsided though, I have no idea. I was doing my best not to check out any spoilers. I am going into it with a very positive mindset though. The game feels and plays amazing, so the time I spend on it is definitely worth it.

Hades II has delivered exactly what I was hoping for so far, and I hope it continues to deliver as I continue to progress. Recommended for those who enjoys a good roguelike game with a strong narrative.

Death to Chronos!

The Supergiant Run is a mini-series where I chronologically play through all games made by Supergiant before the official release of Hades II. Some of my favorite games are made by this amazing indie studio, so I want to relive the experience of playing them again and share my thoughts.

Play time: Around 15 hours on first playthrough (haven’t finished this playthrough yet)
Played on: Steam Deck
Difficulty: Standard

Pyre is a party-based RPG from the creators of Bastion and Transistor. Lead your band of exiles to freedom through a series of mystical competitions in the Campaign, or challenge a friend to a fast-paced ritual showdown in the head-to-head Versus Mode.

This post contains very mild spoilers.

Pyre is the weird child of Supergiant Games. Always sitting in the corner, always excluded from conversations. When Hades was first announced, they said "From the makers of Bastion and Transistor", not a peep about Pyre.

It is my comfort game.

More on that later.

In Pyre, you are expelled from the Commonwealth to the Downside. Your crime is "being literate". As you are on the brink of death, a travelling wagon approaches, and you are rescued by a group of strangers - a human, a demon, and a dog. As the only one who knows how to read, you are entrusted with the Book of Rites, which describes the only way to get out of the Downside and get back to the Commonwealth: you have to play basketball. Ahem, I mean that you have to engage in ritual fights and earn your way to freedom.

I think Pyre's most unusual format really contributed to its being so underrated. It’s mostly a visual novel with some RPG mechanics, but really, it’s essentially NBA Purgatory, as one player once lovingly put it. The description on Steam’s page is somewhat misleading, as the "party-based RPG" suggests a turn-based game like the Final Fantasy series, but it’s essentially a sports game.

But its undervalued status makes me want to write about it more, because I feel like the other games don’t need it as much as people already know about them.

It has the most colorful cast of characters. Most story branches. Most endings. It’s a game where your choices actually matter. There is no fail state. You continue even if you lose, and this actually has consequences.

It’s the most narratively impressive Supergiant game.

Let’s get into it.

Unusual gameplay

As I said, Pyre has the weirdest gameplay of the bunch. The visual novel elements of Pyre may put some people off. On top of that, the actual gameplay is essentially a basketball game. When you combine these two not very popular mechanics, you get this weird amalgamation.

As an Ace Attorney and Persona fan, I’m very familiar with the visual novel format, so I never thought it was an issue. However, I’m not a fan of sports games so it was not easy to get used to.

Pyre is the most divisive game because of this choice to mix these two mechanics. Everything else - the story, the art, the music - is top-notch once again, but you either love the gameplay or hate it. I’m personally in the ‘‘loves it’’ team, but I understand if you find it less-than-ideal.

Yet again, I find it admirable that they are willing to think out of the box and experiment with the gameplay.

The most endearing cast

In Pyre, you collect friends like you collect Pokémon. You meet all sorts of people, such as the most intimidating but golden-hearted Jodariel, or the most precious vagabond girl (I named her Rhae in this playthrough), or Rukey, the dog with the twirly mustache. Or my favorite kind-hearted man, Hedwyn. Many others are there, but I won’t name them to avoid spoilers. The cast for this game is much bigger than the previous entries.

Having such a good cast, antagonists included, makes for an engaging experience. All the characters have their motives, their distinct personalities. As you make your way through the Downside with this merry ensemble, you get to know them, what they love, what they cherish and help them overcome their fears.

It is a common experience to be taken aback when you first start the game, as you probably won’t understand anything. By the middle, assuming you love reading the materials given to you (you are given the role of the Reader, after all), you will understand what is going on and hopefully make your choices accordingly.

Speaking of choices…

Choices matter

One of the biggest choices in the game comes in the form of choosing a character for certain events. If you got attached to the cast like I did, you will not find it easy to simply choose one. Who you choose, when you choose them, or even the fact that you won or lost some matches (on purpose or by accident) has an impact on the story.

You can say that Pyre’s narrative choices were a good learning experience for Supergiant as they took what they learned and applied them to Hades phenomenally. The way Hades takes into account everything that can happen in a run and alters the dialogue accordingly is surely thanks to Pyre’s existence, as well as the ‘‘no-fail state’’ situation. I couldn’t find the interview now, but I remember Greg Kasavin saying that without Pyre, Hades would not exist.

Finding joy and comfort in a hellscape

I mentioned earlier that Pyre is a comfort game of mine. Out of all the Supergiant titles, Pyre is the one that makes me feel like I’m back home. As soon as I hear Downside Ballad, I feel a sense of ease that seeps into my veins.

I’ve always been a fan of the "fire-forged friends" trope, and the entire cast of Pyre is exactly that. It also helps that the cast, including the opposing sides, all have distinct personalities with no clear "villain". Everyone has a good reason to do what they are doing, and you can’t blame anyone too much (maybe some minor characters…).

As you trudge along the treacherous terrain of the Downside in your little wagon, you encounter more people and have them join you. The cutest thing is when a new character joins, there is usually a new trinket that appears in your wagon. Jodariel’s rug, Rhae’s star made out of twigs, Rukey’s family photo… And you also gather new keepsakes from your travels: a jar of magma, a creature from the sea…

It is also a funny game. Bastion and Transistor have their moments, but Pyre embraces its weirdness and leans into it without being too silly. It still takes itself seriously, but the levity is there. A character gets seasickness and can’t participate in a match. You can converse with a bird/imp thing, and he is the cutest, and he is a feisty little fella. There is a dog with a mustache, and if you tell him that it looks bad, then he’ll cut it. You get a worm as a teammate.

Oh, and you can also ask the merchant to shut up. Kindly.

Inevitably amazing art and music direction

I know, it’s getting old, but I have to make a section for the art and the music. It’s one of their strongest suits, and it would be amiss of me not to include this part. I’ll just list my favorite tunes and put some screenshots to show off the art.

Both Thrash Pack and Dread Design are songs that play during certain matches against certain teams, and they are so good. Thrash Pack makes you want to headbang while you dunk on the opposite team’s pyre. Dread Design succeeds at making you feel unease and eerie, but also keeps your blood pumping.

In the Flame is the main theme of Pyre, and basically encapsulates the journey we undertake in the game.

One of the most awesome parts of the OST is that the song that plays during the ending credits is that it completely changes depending on the choices you made during the game. And I’m not talking about a slight change; it is a pretty significant one. It blew my mind the first time I heard it, but I’m not going to link it here to avoid spoilers.

Overall thoughts

Pyre is an unusual little game with a lot of heart. You have to be aware of its oddities when you go into it. It is not like any other titles from this studio, so to go into it with such an expectation would just be the cause of your disappointment. But if you go into it with this in mind, you might find gold.

It also gets discounted very regularly and very steeply, usually up to 80% on Steam. Your mileage may vary, but it is well worth the price in my humble opinion. Recommended for those who enjoy interesting narrative structures in their games.

Noxalas!

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The Supergiant Run is a mini-series where I chronologically play through all games made by Supergiant before the official release of Hades II. Some of my favorite games are made by this amazing indie studio, so I want to relive the experience of playing them again and share my thoughts.

Play time: A little above 5 hours
Played on: Steam Deck
Difficulty: Normal with limiters (optional difficulty modifiers)

Discover the world of Transistor, a sci-fi-themed action RPG from the creators of Bastion.

For Bastion’s review, check here.

Transistor is the first game from Supergiant that I played. Therefore, it’s my baby. It’s my precious and I will take no criticism against it… Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating, but it really is a special game for me.

It was back in 2014 when someone on Tumblr - yes, I was a Tumblr girlie - shared some gorgeous GIFs from Transistor’s trailer. I remember seeing those GIFs and thinking ‘‘Wow, that looks incredibly pretty’’. So I looked up the game, saw that it just got released, downloaded it on my wonky laptop, and hoped against all hope that it would run well.

It actually did run pretty smoothly.

I was enamoured with the world immediately. The setting, the visuals, the music… And the voice acting. It was phenomenal; I had never experienced anything like it back then.

Transistor starts with a young woman named Red, who pulls out a futuristic-looking sword from a man who is somehow speaking to her through the sword. The singer Red, who lost her voice, and the self-dubbed Mr Nobody, who lost his body, set out on a journey to find out who attacked them and why.

As they travel through the beautiful world of Cloudbank, we get to uncover more and more about the world, and we get to discover the relationship between our main characters.

The game uses real-time combat with a freeze-time planning phase, which is an interesting mix of mechanics. You collect more and more abilities as you make your way through the world, and you can combine them in a lot of ways. Seriously, there are so many combinations, and the game encourages you to experiment by locking some of the lore behind skills. Not to worry, though; they are very easy to unlock and won’t hinder your progress.

It also features a lot of computer-related lingo, so if you are into programming, you might find some things interesting. All the skills (called Functions) have programming-themed names such as Crash(), Breach(), Void() etc.

Let’s start with one of the most prominent aspects of the game: the narration.

Supergiant loves yappers

One thing you’ll notice as you go through Supergiant’s games is that they love making talkative characters. This was apparent with Bastion’s narrator, but it can be seen in full force in Transistor - and it will carry on to Hades with Zagreus. Since Red can’t talk, Mr Nobody has to fill in the gaps, and he does so in a wonderful way. With every interaction, every enemy, he finds a way to commentate.

The way he talks feels real. Logan Cunningham is, as usual, an amazing voice actor and manages to bring Mr Nobody to life. However, Greg Kasavin also deserves a mention here. The writing of the dialogues (or the monologues) in Transistor feels very realistic. Mr Nobody mostly speaks without a filter. He uses many filler words like ‘‘um, uh, you know,’’ etc, sometimes doesn’t complete sentences, and gives silly names to enemies. When he is speaking in a panic, he repeats words and sentences frantically. When he is lost in thought, he trails off. He sarcastically narrates and comments on the world around them.

This is not only the case with Mr Nobody, though. Every character in this game - not that there are many - speaks in a real way. Sentences may feel off; they are sometimes repeated to show the state of mind of the speaker. You can feel the frenzy, the urgency, or the calmness with which the characters speak. It’s just that, as Mr Nobody is the character you spend most of the time with, you get to know him more.

A little easter egg is that when you deal damage to enemies on your Turn(), he can comment on it.

One of the best couples in gaming

There, I said it. I cannot believe that I had forgotten how much I adored their relationship. It’s sweet, cute, realistic, and heart-wrenching at the same time. Mr Nobody’s way of expressing himself is very endearing. He doesn’t shy away from complimenting Red on anything, always supports her no matter what, and even though he is constantly cracking jokes about the situation that they’re in, you can tell his true feelings.

And Red, despite being mute the whole game, finds ways to express herself. You get a lot of characterization for Red, even though she doesn’t really have any lines. To achieve this is an incredible narrative feat, if you ask me. I won’t spoil the ways she does this, but it feels amazing to see each time.

Maybe I just really love mature, confident depictions of romantic relationships in fiction, where they support each other through thick and thin, through hard times who are comfortable with each other. This is how I felt with Clive and Jill in Final Fantasy XVI as well, though I did have my gripes about Jill’s character.1

If ever decides to do a part 2 for Gaming’s Greatest Love Stories, I know who I’m writing about.

Phenomenal music and art, once again

This section will get old quickly, as each Supergiant game has amazing music and art. I don’t want to repeat myself too much, praising the art and music direction of every game, but I will say that Transistor’s vibes are exactly what I enjoy.

The art is the cleanest - I daresay even more than Hades. Maybe it’s because I love Art Nouveau so much, but I absolutely adore the art style of this game. Very fitting with the futuristic world of Cloudbank. It was also, in Jen Zee’s words, an opportunity to improve herself as an artist.

Jen Zee seems to be remembering the Transistor era more fondly than the others. I understand that the success of Bastion did create incredible pressure on them, but I’m happy that Jen Zee was able to see it as an opportunity to grow as an artist - and boy, did she grow!

As for the soundtrack, the decision to make Red a singer may have made things harder for Darren Korb2, but he pulled through and created something amazing. Ashley Barrett is featured in this soundtrack in a much more prominent way than Bastion, and her voice adds so much to this already great soundtrack. Having her be the singing voice for Red is one of the best decisions they’ve made. When you think of Transistor, of Red, you immediately think of Ashley Barrett and her incredible voice.

Both The Spine and In Circles are songs that I had on loop for DAYS, even back in 2014. The trip-hop influences are there again, this time combined with a more futuristic approach than Bastion. Adding in the heavenly vocals, you get these amazing songs.

But I believe the song that defines Transistor has to be We All Become. The lyrics are a bit more on the spoiler-y side, but I believe that you will not get it until you get to the end-game. And the way that Ashley Barrett showcases her vocals here, you can’t help but be impressed.

Oh and there are times where Mr Nobody sings along to some of these amazing songs! You just have to find out how and when, I’ll leave that part to you ;)

Overall thoughts

It’s kind of impossible for me to be impartial to Transistor, as I played it at a time that changed how I viewed games. I love how well it holds up after so much time. The gameplay is a little gimmicky but unique, and super fun once you get the hang of it and start experimenting.

It is a pretty short game like Bastion, so absolutely recommended for anyone who is looking for a change of pace with a game that has some amazing art and music, with an engaging story.