Games I Played in February 2025

Games
Looking toward the massive city of Baldur’s Gate in Baldur’s Gate 3 | screenshot by me

I’ve heard from several folks that Act 1 and 2 of Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios) is really just the beginning of the game, that Act 3 is the largest part of the game. They were right.

Act 2 involves traveling to a land cursed by darkness, and the player can either fight against the forces controlling that darkness or side with them. I really enjoyed this section of the game. It had some fascinating side quests and a great epic battle to defeat a seemingly immortal being. Completing this era feels climatic — and then we discover that this is only the start of a new storyline, leading the player to Baldur’s Gate.

Games I Played in January 2025

Games
Baldur’s Gate 3 | screenshot by me

I dipped my toes into Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios) when it was first released in 2023, but only played about an hour at the time before putting it down. This was partially due to my confusion about how to play the game and partially due to various distractions at the time that stole my attention away to other games.

In January, I opened it up again just for research. I wanted to understand how how Larian approaches branching dialog and gameplay choices, assuming I’d play for only and hour or two — and before I knew it, I was lost in the story and having a hard time putting it down. As of writing this, I have played around 80 hours of the game. And I still have soooo much game to go.

Games I Played in December 2024

Games
Chants of Sennaar | screenshot by me

Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc) is a puzzle adventure game, which I was introduced to and played a demo for at GDC 2024. What drew me in was the unique vibrant art style, combined by the unique puzzle mechanic, in which the player must translate and attempt to understand the languages they encounter through murals, writing, and conversations with NPCs.

Great Indie Games I Played at GDC

Games
Top from left to right: Hauntii, Schim, and Chants of Sennaar. Bottom from left to right: The Wreck, Sopa, and Simon the Sorcerer.

One of the many joys of attending GDC in March of earlier this year was being able to play and talk about indie games that I might not have heard about otherwise. In some cases, I had the opportunity to speak directly with the game developers themselves about the game I was demoing, exploring the connection between gameplay

At the time, I intended to write something about all those games—only to come home and get wrapped up in my daily life. As time went by, I started to feel that I had waited too long and it was too late, but to hell with that. Indie games need all the support they can get, so here are some of the indies I loved exploring at GDC.

Continue reading at Crossplay…

Games I Played in November 2024

Games
Norco. | screenshot by me

I recently replayed Norco (Geography of Robots), which I included in last year’s list of games I loved, for a video game club discussion — and I found myself enjoying it even more the second time around. The writing is rich and nuanced, with storytelling the utilizes its point-and-click format to explore a sense of isolation in a world impacted by climate change and corporate exploitation. This is a world with advanced technologies, like cybernetic robots and automated supermarkets, but these technologies are not readily available to the working class who are forced to live in communities that face regular flooding and continual entropy — a feeling that is perfectly reflected in the pixel art with its classical compositional style.