GAME LOG

This isn't actually my first stint of playing League of Legends. I played for a couple weeks in early 2020 before dropping the game. I don't think I was emotionally ready to play a game with such a toxic player base at the time.

League of Legends is not an easy game to get into, and I doubt I would have gotten into it if I hadn't watched LOL like it was a sports game every night for the past 5 years. I learned a lot about it through osmosis, and my partner is an avid League player which helps if I have questions.

Despite him playing ARAM every day, I mostly play normal solo queue. What brings me the most enjoyment from the game is the satisfaction that I'm playing well, even when my team loses. —That, and getting takedowns from across the map with Lux's ult. Now, I am the toxic player base. (Just kidding!)

If you're an Animal Crossing fan, I implore you to try Pocket Camp Complete, though. The improvement of Pocket Camp Complete's monetization system has created tangible difference in the gameplay loop. While it seems obvious, removing the microtransactions has made *playing* the game fun. Similar to other games in the AC series, I feel the satisfaction of saving my resources and planning ahead.

The original version of Pocket Camp was disheartening due to the inherent feeling of FOMO, designed to make players spend. If anything, I feel reaffirmed in my belief that F2P is an inherently harmful model for players.

You can read more about my experience with PCC in my Animal Crossing shrine

I picked up TS3 on a whim for a few days, playing an old family. I really enjoy the pets and family gameplay in this version.

While I have been a Harvest Moon fan since childhood, I didn't grow up with the original A Wonderful life. I went in without nostalgia bias or an emotional connection to the original game. My favorite part about farming sims is building a family, interacting with townfolk, and raising animals. These are definitely some of the strong points of AWL, and it was a refreshing experience.

I love that AWL has a fixed story that begins and ends, with many different endings at that. It keeps my gameplay structured while giving me the freedom to interact with my farm as I wish. I always find myself getting bored after marriage in most early Harvest Moon-inspired farm sims (like Stardew Valley). This was a fun take on the classic farming sim gameplay loop.

That said, the game does get repetitive after awhile. I didn't quite finish the game, only playing through the first two years. I plan to return once I start craving a weekend of cozy farming sims.

If you're curious, I married Lumina.

Hamsters when they're building highway systems

Love Plus is a cute little dating sim, similar in gameplay to classic dating sims like Tokimeki Memorial. I came across Love Plus while looking through what English fan patches are available on the 3DS. I had never heard of it until now!

I was impressed by the quality of the game, especially the graphical fidelity. While I played the ROM on my 3DS, the game came out for the original Nintendo DS. The girls have the most beautiful and high quality 3D models out of any original DS game I have ever played. The game is also fully voice acted, and the sound quality somehow avoids that crispy DS quality.

I know that the bar is literally on the floor, but my favorite part of the game is that the girls are not overly sexualized. Their proportions make sense for an anime art style, and none of the art felt overtly fetish-y. It gets exhausting to ignore gross sexualization in many male-oriented dating sims. Sometimes, I just want to play a cute, innocent dating sim, and Love Plus scratches that itch.

I finished the common route and ended up dating Nene. She is so strange and cute!

Somehow, the Last of Us is a game that completely flew under my radar for over a decade despite being a fan of zombie action-adventure games. I had always dismissed it as one zombie game in a sea of them at a time where new ones were coming out constantly. This one is not like the others, at least in terms of quality.

The story is simply a 10/10 for narrative quality, cohesion, and impact. I have a draft of an essay reviewing and analyzing the story that I wrote shortly after finishing the game, but it's not quite ready for public eyes. The locations the game takes place in are unique and explore the zombie apocalypse genres in ways I haven't seen before. For example, there is a level that takes place in a long-abandoned bunker where families with young children survived (until they didn't). The themes of childhood being altered by constant death is the most striking part of the Last of Us. No other story I've read, watched, or played through has spoken to the concept of lost innocence like TLOU.

As far as gameplay goes, I will admit I am too big of a chicken to play through zombie combat as they genuinely scare me, haha — I watched someone else play through these parts. The level design was well crafted, and game progression was smooth and consistent. Not only is the story and set dressing effective, but the game mechanics are well-crafted and fun.

It's genuinely one of the greatest games I've ever played. At the end, I was left wondering how Naughty Dog could have possibly made a sequel given it's a complete and satisfying story.

(See entry for the Last of Us)...
And my question was answered slowly and painfully. Naughty Dog made a sequel to a complete narrative and they shouldn't have. Honestly, I am probably being too harsh by giving this entry a 🖤 instead of a 💙 — but it's been over a week and I'm still mad about it LOL!

I tried to be self-aware and as fair as possible going into this game. I knew given how much I enjoyed the first one which was a complete story, I would need to be lenient with the second. I knew it likely wouldn't compare to the first, and I went in without knowing anything about the game. However, given that it both won GOTY 2020, it was impossible to avoid the knowledge that fans of the series weren't impressed, though I didn't know why until I played it myself. I still haven't had the heart to read other fans complaints.

In short, it felt like misery porn — a complete departure from the initial game's theme of hope against all odds. Holding onto humanity despite living in post-apocalyptic society is Ellie's defining trait in the Last of Us. Death still meant something to her despite having every reason to be desensitized to it. Ellie is cheerful, lighthearted, and humane - traits that TLOU II Ellie have completely lost. And yes, the grim circumstances of the narrative could break anyone's spirit. But what was the point? That revenge will rot your insides and take everything that you love away? It's antithetical to the themes of the first game, and Ellie was the wrong character to tell this story with.

My favorite part of the game was the meuseum section flashback. I liked it so much that it almost felt like a slap in the face. This is the soul of TLOU, and the fact that Naughty Dog still understood that enough to include a moment of it made me feel sad. This is why I love the Last of Us. Why couldn't the entire game built upon the theme of hope for humanity and ambition?

Here are some other things I liked about the game:
Dina is a fun character, and I love the sequence of a quiet life between her and Ellie. On paper, the concept of a lesbian couple traveling the country in zombie post-apocalypse feel like it was made for me, even if the execution was poor.
I liked the concept of juxtaposing the hero (Ellie) and the villain (Abby) in a way that makes it clear that they are living narratively parallel lives. This was just the wrong game to tell that story.

I was thoroughly disappointed by TLOU II despite reserving my expectations. It was a painful and slow slog to get through, and I left my controller feeling frustrated.

I picked this game up a few years ago for my partner and I to play, excited that it was the 2021 game of the year. However, I am not the biggest fan of 3D platformers. While the story and art style was cute, I found myself getting bored and wishing my partner and I could just play Portal 2 instead LOL. We finished the first level but didn't pick it back up after that.

I was expecting a Friends of Mineral Town reskin with a darker twist, inspired by the success of Stardew Valley — I am pleased to say that this game breaks the farming sim mold in a satisfying way. The gameplay loop is completely different than most farming sims like HM: FOMT or Stardew Valley. I found myself quickly immersed and charmed by its dark sense of humor and ickiness lol. However, progression has bottlenecking issues that made me put the game down earlier than I might have if it had kept the momentum of the first 15 hours or so. I recommend the game for fans of farming sims looking for a fresh take on the genre!

Charming little puzzle game, I recommend it!

Skyrim is one of my favorite games of all time, but I never played Oblivion. I went in with the expectation that Oblivion plays different than Skyrim, but I did expect to be immersed in the high fantasy world of Cyrodiil. Unfortunately, that moment never came.

Every play session, I wished I was playing Skyrim. Evidently, I wasn't the only one. Around the release of Oblivion Remastered, more people were playing Skyrim than Oblivion!

As a fan of open-world RPGs, Oblivion is fun, and I enjoyed it. But it's no Skyrim.

When Hello Kitty Island Adventure first released in 2023, I dismissed it because it was a mobile game, and as a consequence, it has mechanics that come along with that which turned me away from playing it. Additionally, I am always wary when non-Animal Crossing fans compare a game to AC, as the gameplay loop is nothing like the heart of Animal Crossing. However, with the release of the game on Steam and the numerous awards HKIA earned, this was my most anticipated pick of the Steam Summer sale.

I was immediately engrossed in the fetch quest game play, and I enjoyed exploring the adorable open world. I am a sucker for open world games that reward exploration. The Animal Crossing comparisons were fair, but as an AC fan, I do prefer the linear structure of the quests and story that lead the game. I had more fun with Hello Kitty than New Horizons, not to be a hater!

After about 80 hours or so, I started to hit a wall. The real-time mechanics of the game limiting my progress started to make playing feel like a chore. I also dislike the time events and inability to time travel. Both of these mechanics give me a sense of FOMO and punish me for not playing the game (in a harsher way than most AC games which allow time traveling). It is a slow grind after a certain point, and it makes it difficult to pick the game up after a break.

Overall, HKIA earned every bit of praise it earned, and I enjoyed my stint of playing it. I recommend it to all fans of the genre!

I grew up playing RPG Maker horror, and I love to see new games of the genre. TCOAAL is a dark, self-aware story exploring a truly toxic sibling relationship. The gameplay was smooth, and the art style is cute and creepy. I was on the edge of my seat to see the next horrible thing the characters would do. When reading a story, we read to see how the heroes succeed. In TCOAAL, I am waiting to see how the siblings will invitably fall, their twisted actions throughout the story damning them.

The game is self-aware that Andrew and Ashley are miserable, disgusting people leaning into a spiral of doom. In the narrative, the siblings had a rough start growing up in poverty and being severely neglected. It's really a situation where they were born in a pool gasoline but decide to light the matches anyway.

I wasn't aware of the significant controversy around this game until after I played it. And I suppose it makes sense. Themes of incest are among those that make people the most uncomfortable, and the narrative is aware of this. The story is supposed to make players uncomfortable, leaving its characters virtually irredeemable — as people can largely forgive demon sacrifice, cannibalism, and gratuitous murder. The narrative is aware that incest is where most draw the line, and I agree.

The most interesting part of the game, for me, is that I knew people like Andrew and Ashley. Growing up around poverty, I knew siblings who had horrible, copdependent, and incestuous relationships like this. For people who didn't grow up in an environment like this, of course it feels unrealistic. But from my experience, it's a little close to home sometimes.

I recommend TCOAAL to RPG Maker Horror fans with a strong stomach who like to look into the abyss... and the abyss slaps you in the face back lol. It's important to note that chapters are still releasing for this game.

I grabbed this game after seeing some clips of people playing online. It's a pretty novel concept, and I enjoyed playing it. It can be pretty janky at times, though, but there are frequent updates. It's also important to note that it's still in early access.

The witch's cottage was my favorite level, and I loved learning the story through exploration, and Elysia seems pretty well tuned and consistent when asking her the details about her lore. Plus, the actual level is cute, even if I wish the maze was better designed. I love the art direction of the game, and I grew up playing flash room escapes. I'm looking forward to playing 1.0!

Those who know me are well aware that I am a farming sim critic, meaning I love them but hate most. The success of Stardew Valley (a game I feel ambivalent about), led to a boom of Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town-inspired games, in line with Stardew Valley. Most of them are slop, though. I'm often disappointed by the lack of innovation and quality. I had low expectations for Fields of Mistria as a result.

And I am so glad to be disappointed! Fields of Mistria is a breath of fresh air. Yes, it follows the Friends of Mineral Town formula as most farming sims post-SDV do. However, Mistria cuts the fat in a way that shows me that the devs know why hardcore farming sim fans play the games. The farming is streamlined, the progression is well-paced, and the cast of the characters is simply delightful. Mistria also axes pointless inconveniences like stores closing and bedrooms being off limits. The punishment for staying out too late is practically a slap on the wrist, and animals do not pass away. One could argue that this takes away from the challenge, but I love the chill atmosphere of Mistria and the gameplay supports the community-oriented story of Mistria.

My favorite part of the game is the characters. A farming game needs to have balanced, satisfying mechanics and charming characters. Similar to Rune Factory 4, my favorite farming sim, the dialogue of the characters is extensive and changes throughout the day and in response to things that you do in the game. Another quality of life feature is that the gifts villagers like is tracked on their character page as you discover them. Each character is cute and distinct, not a bad one in the bunch. I love the variety in marriage candidates

I have finished practically all the content available in the game so far, and my only real complain about Mistria is that... it's not done yet! I could have played another 50 hours easily if there was marriable and children unlocked. However, more is yet to come, and I am thoroughly excited to play the next update!

This is a novel game where you play as a ghost and matchmake the residents living in your haunted mansion. The highlight of this game is that there are endings for each pairing you put together. The part of the game I disliked the most was that New Game+ makes you start your progression over again with house upgrades, etc. It's cute for what it is, and I've never played a game quite like it. However, I wish it had a bigger cast of characters or that the characters already in the game had a bit more depth. Overall, it was a cute game. Definitely buy it on sale, though.

I picked this game up a few days ago, and it's really cute. I particularly like the room decoration aspect, and my favorite part is that I can use my own images to decorate the items. The game may be a bit too distracting to use as a pomodoro timer, though. I like the piano music this game comes with, but I don't really enjoy lofi which is the majority of the track list. I often just play my own music in the background with the games ambient rain sounds. I also can't change the timer noise, and I really need an alarm that's more attention-grabbing or jarring to be effective. I'll report back with how I feel about it as an idle game + pomodoro timer.

I have no excuse. I took a five month break before giving into my longing. I think I feed off of the energy of the game, both positive and negative. It's just fun!

I played this obsessively for like 3 days, finished all the normal levels, then stopped. This is the picross experience.

I picked the game up again for the month of October to partake in the Spooky Festival and hopefully get lloromanic as residents on my island. My favorite part of the game is collecting villagers, and I made a lot of progress in the story. Unfortuantely, the slow-pace of the game and limited events exhaust me after so long. I'm sure I will again another time, but I've had my fill for now.

FUS ROH DAH ! Finally playing one of my favorite games of all time with mods. I originally played Legendary Edition on my XBOX 360 back in the day. Playing Anniversary Edition on my computer has been a vastly different though still nostalgic experience. Going to Whiterun felt like finally returning home. I will report back once I finish my playthrough!