Games I Played in August

Games
Screenshot from God of War, showing two men in an ornate canoe: a young man in armor and an older man rowing.
Kratos and his son Atreus search for Tÿr in God of War: Ragnarök. | screenshot by me

The story of God of War: Ragnarok (Santa Monica Studio) continues to evolve in stunning ways (I honestly may love it more than the 2018 game). One of the things I love in this game — and that I’m realizing I love in general — is the way the game uses perspective shifts (by playing as eight Kratos or Atreus on their own) to emphasize story beats and build connections between our two main characters and the friends they meet along the way. It’s such an effective shift, and I love exploring the slightly different fighting styles and seeing the ways the characters interact with the world.

Things are looking pretty bleak in the story right now, and I don’t know how our characters are going to get out of this (or even if they’re going to, since Fate doesn’t seem to be on their side). But I’m so excited to see what happens.

Screenshot from the game Prune. The art involves simple shapes and block colors. At the center shows a plant bending past a boulder toward a beam of light where it blooms yellow and white flowers.
Prune | screenshot by me

Prune (developed by Joel McDonald) is a lovely puzzle game about pruning plants to grow them toward the light they need to bloom. As the game progresses, the obstacles and challenges become more difficult, but it always maintains a relaxing tone. It takes about two hours to complete, and it’s a lovely experience the whole way.

Screenshot from Fallout, showing the computer-like UI on the bottom and a screen showing a view of the player and NPCs in a room. The NPC says, "C D E D B D Ducks." The Player's response is, "M R Not Ducks."
A mysterious conversation in Fallout | screenshot by me

I jumped into a bit more of Fallout (Interplay Entertainment). Although it took a moment to remember where I was and what I was doing, I nevertheless fell back into enjoying the gameplay. There’s definitely a bit of wandering about and poking at things and hoping you don’t get overwhelmed by enemies. And there’s also a bit of looking up guides on how to complete things, because the game isn’t always straightforward on telling the player where to go or what to do. Missing one simple dialog prompt means no moving forward on a quest, so then you have to retrace your steps to work it out.

Browser Games I Enjoyed

“The Shaman, the Outsider, and the Diet of Worms” by Stanley Baxton, Lithobreakers, and ComputerMilk is a hypertext game, in which the player explores a wikipage about a controversial text from an imagined world. The wiki is full of links that lead no where, but the world is so rich and fascinating. And I thought I was done, but then I realized, the game also includes the full draft of the book in questions, which I am currently in the midst of reading. Absolutely fascinating.

“carcosa” by starsblackanddim is an adaptation of a poem by Robert W Chambers. The gorgeous art combines with the lines from the poem makes for a dark, lovely experience.

In “Houseworming“ by John Flannelly, the player weaves through the small-talk at a party, with each conversation representing a maze for the player to navigate through. Along the way, the player collects worms and places them in their pocket as a kind of comfort.

If you’d also like to know about the books and media that I enjoyed recently, you can check out my Culture Consumption for August.