Review

Games I Played in February and March 2023

Games, Review

Over the past couple of months, I’ve continued to love playing games on my phone using my backbone controller. The controller works great. and there are so many fantastic games available through Gamepass Cloud Streaming — this, combined with the fact that using my PS5 means I have to sit in an office chair in another room, rather than curled up comfortably on my couch, means that I’ve been opting for playing games on my phone.

Anyway, here are all the games I played over the last two months.

Signalis start screen, showing some of the anime style art.

Signalis is a survival horror game developed by rose-engine. In the game, you play as Elster, a Replika technician of a small scouting starship. When the ship crashes on an unknown planet, Elster awakes from her cryochamber (at least that’s what I assume it is) and begins to look for her missing Gestalt partner, Ariane.

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Games I Loved Playing in 2022

Games, Review

Over the past year or so, I’ve been trying to reach outside of my comfort zone and play a greater of variety of games. In addition to my usual RPG, puzzle platformer, and adventure games, this year, I also dipped my toes into the roguelike, community management, and simulation genres. Expanding in this way has led to some amazing discoveries in terms of gameplay and the ways in which games can tell stories — and I’ve found some new favorites along the way.

As of writing this, there are a couple of games I’m currently playing that might have made the list, if I was closer to completion, including Somerville and 2018’s God of War. They may just end up on next year’s list.

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Games I Loved Playing in 2021

Games I Loved Playing in 2021

Games, Review

I feel like I’ve completed more games in 2021 than I have in the entire last decade, and most of those games occurred in the last few months of the year — partially initiated by the Game Writing Master Class that I took, which inspired me to explore gameplay from a new point of view.

In general, I’ve found that games provide a unique escape from the day to day grind, whether its the heart-pounding exploration of a horror game to the delightful antics of a more relaxing puzzler. Out of all the games that I completed, here were some of my favorite experiences.  

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Sea of Solitude

Review: Lost in the Sea of Solitude

Review

Sometimes I have bad days, or even weeks. Over the past few years, these bad days have manifested for me in two opposing and yet integrated ways. The first is a deep longing for solitude, a desire to find some far off place away from people and the world, somewhere I don’t have to interact with or perform for anyone. The second is a strong feeling of disconnect from the people around me, bringing on a sense of loneliness that seeps through even in a crowded room and carrying with it the belief that no one would notice if I was gone.  

So many people experience such things. Depression, sorrow, and anxiety can feel like being lost at sea, floating on desperate dark emotions with no sign of land or refuge in sight. Sea of Solitude, a game developed by Jo-Mei Games, powerfully expresses these experiences through the exploration and healing of its watery world.

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