Santa Monica Studio

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.

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Games I Played in June and July 2026

Games
Screenshot from the game Tell Me Why, showing a young man in a hoody and sunglasses next to his stister, who's wearing a beanie. Both are on a ferry looking out at the Alaskan mountains. A line of dialog from Alyson reads, "Trying to wrap my head around the fact that you're right here."
Tyler and Alyson in Tell Me Why | screenshot by me.

Tell Me Why (Dontnod Entertainment) is a narrative adventure game about two twins separated from each other after one of them kills their mother in self defense. Reunited as adults, they return to their family home to clean it out and try to understand why their mother suddenly attacked them. Using the Voice (the ability to share their thoughts), the twins are able to delve into the past, replaying their shares memories (which sometimes differ, depending on their individual perspective).

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Games I Played in October & Novemeber 2025

Games, Review

Looks like I forgot to share October’s games, so here are both months at once. Whoops!

October

Page for selecting video clips, showing he clips arranged in rows. One clips is highlighted for selection.
Selecting video clips in Immortality. | screenshot by me

I finished Immortality (Sam Barlow / Half Mermaid Productions), and it’s phenomenal. To learn how to play the game, the player really just has to dive in and discover how to play the game. The mechanics of pulling up videos, scrubbing them (playing, fast-forwarding, and rewinding), and then zooming in on objects or people in scenes allows for an impressive amount of discovery and exploration of this multi-layered and powerful narrative.

Marissa Marcel was an up-and-coming actor, who starred in three films — none of which ever aired. The game presents itself as a retrospective, allowing the the player to delve into clips from these films along with behind the scenes footage to discover her story. In the end, it’s so much deeper than the surface story, revealing a fascinating perspectives on how artists strive for a kind of immortality through their craft.

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Games I Played in December 2023

Games
Image Source: Remedy Entertainment

I adored Alan Wake (Remedy Entertainment) and the way it weaves a creative meta narrative into its gameplay. Alan Wake is an author of thriller novels, who has found himself facing depression and anxiety due to writer’s block. Hoping for a reprieve, Alan and his wife Alice travel to a small town, called Bright Falls, Washington. As soon as they arrive in this quaint community, however, things go horribly wrong. Alan wakes up in a car accident with no memory of what happened during the previous week and his wife missing. While desperately searching for Alice, he must face off against darkness-possessed enemies attempting to kill him.

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