This year I wrote one piece which I am quite proud, where at last, I finish what I start a long time a go, since the very first blog which I wrote here, was about Ishar I and II, and now, at last, I finished Ishar III.
Ishar III - The Seven Gates of Infinity
While I had ideas for other pieces, I felt I need more time. I did finish a rather long one about Dragon's Dogma 2, after reviewing it, but I felt I need to work more on it. Also, I have something about the Wizardry Remake, which just need the finishing touches… or maybe a bit more, because right now is 30% Wizardry and 70% talking about remakes and remasters.
There is also a very rough draft where I talk about Baldur's Gate 3, plus one, which not even exist in draft, about Elden Ring, if next year allow, I may at last put those online.
But beyond this, I haven't been much active here this year, but, please, stay tuned, as I plan to write more, truth is, I have been adjusting my online presence, not that I had much to begin with, but I found myself using stuff which I no longer actually using or was simply avoiding using it, due begin stressful there, or I was in Discords which I didn't visit and so on.
Much of this come after thinking about a thread I heard here, by user sombre, about “Do you ever/have you ever gone “scorched earth” on your online presence?” and, after sometime, thinking about my own response there.
In the end I decided to keep using stuff since as Instagram (My Instagram), since it where I post my illustrations and cosplay photos, and where I kept contact with people I know and keep aware of conventions, and my aim is to keep focused on this. But, I also plan to stay here, on this site, and a handful of Discords (such as the GB). I already had a Bluesky, but I never used much, until I decided to at last give up twitter for real (which was never good to me, and I was almost never using it anyway), but even there I plan to keep use minimal or focused. Beyond this, there is Pixiv (My Pixiv Profile) and Cara (and Artstation, until I finish uploading everything on Cara), which I use a lot, as online galleries.
On the gaming side, I noticed while making this list, is this year, was likely the one, which I played a lot of games in Early Access, such as Song of Syx, Shadow of Doubt, Tainted Grail and more, and those were superb.
Paper Bride (it was aimed to be on the list, but don't appear on the site)
A really cool adventure/horror game with puzzles, the atmosphere is done very well, and there are only very few and light jump scares, the puzzles are in general good, but some of them might require some knowledge of Chinese culture (parts of the plot too) to fully understand, however the game feature a hint system which helps a lot.
Dragon's Dogma II:
As I said above, I did write a rather massive text about it, but I need more time to reflect on it. But overall, while I enjoyed the game, it left me with some mixed feelings.
Total War Warhammer III - DLCs:
With Thrones of Decay, plus other initiatives, such as the “What Next” videos, improved communication and patches, mark CA turn around after what look quite bleak path. Thrones of Decay, is a superb DLC, and the new format, where you either buy the thing as a whole, or in part, works pretty well. And that is not all, not a few days ago, CA released another real good DLC, the Omen of Destruction. Their end of the year message also continues to point a better direction, with even hints for new projects in 2025.
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (Remake):
I have almost finished text about it, however, like I said, right now I feel is 30% about Wizardry and 70% me trying to articulate some ideas about remakes and remasters. Still, what I can say is, it features customizable features and QoL elements, it is for a fine port, even if playing the original would be nicer.
---
It all said, let's move to the list, this year is a bit larger that usual, since there was a handful of games, which I played and desired to talk about, even if they didn't make very far in the list. So, consider this a list with 1-10 position, plus 5 for extra thoughts.
Showing 1-10 of 15 items
Dimps is back (they did make Fatal Bullet), and maybe it was what the game series needed, SAOFD is an action-rpg with story mode, but with co-op elements, in the form of quick raids, quest and a free-roam mode. It is really fun, I enjoyed the story a lot, even if not following the previous plot of the Gameverse (SAO game follow their own canon, which is what make then, quite fun, for fan, as it a lot of what-ifs being played), but start in cannon and them things go their own way. The deal, is that a new system designed to relieve the past goes off control and now time and space clash, bringing characters, both friends and foes together, even those which should not be there. It works pretty well, a lot of attention to details, from animations to effects, and seeing the character interacting with each other, either in the story mode, in the form of small bark during missions or in the menu where everyone is crowded inside the Log House. It is quite hilarious, specially seeing the characters making fun of Oberon or literally using him as errant boy, or Yuna and Silica bossing Death Gun around. I think this is the start of a new Gameverse, but they haven't forgotten the previous character created, since many got a life of their own and were quite popular, one of the new additions is Strea, an original character which appeared in the first SAO game. The co-op elements actually work fine, boss raids were quick, even the co-op quest are, while there is a system of challenges, it encourages you to use other characters, and rewards come quick, as most stuff you get is early in the list and the time is plentiful, so it don't feel like job. I found myself many times putting a podcast or something and having a lot of fun, joining raids and quests or using the free-roam or simple customizing the characters and waiting the aid messages (which take you to an ongoing boss or co-op quest).
This is easily one of the best RPGs this year, with amazing music, art and great characters, seriously, even late additions are so good, the story and themes work well it is tone, might not be perfect, but it is good. If keep in mind, that this, from what I understand, was a project that like take a long time to get there and changed a lot, the end result is amazing. Again, words could not express how good the music is.
This is for the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Which, for a DLC, it feels more like a whole new game, but not in excess, much by contrary, by execution, it has a lot, but never too much, it right on point, the bosses and moments are pretty unique, sure not all of they are winners, but even the lesser ones are still great.
An amazing mix of city-builder and Dwarf Fortress style of colony builder, Song of Syx does feel like a unique take on the genre and captures well it premise of being "an epic city-state simulator".
This might come as a surprise, but this was my first Owlcat game, and it is so good, that I plan to eventually give the Pathfinder game a try. Anyway, Rogue Trade does capture very well the W40K universe, in all it scales and absurdity, plus the turn based tactical combat is a blast.
Many games try to give you the illusion of a "living city", but Shadow of Doubt, make it real, by actually having a complex and well-designed systems, where very NPC have it own life and connections, and when crimes happen, that when you enter the scene. By having dynamic systems, the crimes you investigate, feel much more fresh, even if they follow some templates, as you can get things wrong, find red hearings, and so on, and the outcomes might surprise you.
This was a nice surprise, a tactics RPG in the vein of Ogre Battle or Fire Emblem, but with some really charming art and quite cool story and characters. Serious, I loved the aspect of creating and customizing units.
This was my first attempt at one of those Wuxia inspired game, haven't got very far, but what I saw is quite cool, while I am not very familiar with the genre, save some shows which I watched on Netflix, such as "Who Rules the World", it appears to capture that kind of setting and genre pretty well and the art is charming.
After playing the demo, I was so surprised by how good it is, that even in EA, I decided to buy it. While it could be described as Skyrim style of RPG, Taint Grail, feel more like Gothic meet Skyrim meet Dark Souls, while exploring their own take on Arthurian myths.
If you think, because of the title, that this is some sort of "meme" game, you are wrong, it is a short and fascinating visual novel, beyond saying more than this, I would spoil stuff, so check out if you like this kind of game, it themes can be a heavy, so be warned. The sequel "Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk" is even better.
