Unbeatable is... Unbeatable is like that restaurant you know that's kind of grimy and definitely falling apart, but the people there are so nice and the food is the best you've ever had. Unbeatable is the friend who's kind of a mess, who never seems to sleep (or even leave their room), but is nevertheless exceedingly wonderful and creative.
That's kind of flowery, I know, but that's the best way I can describe this video game. It may not look it at first glance, but having finished it, that's the only thing I can really say. I've seen a lot of people describe it as 'flawed, but human' and I agree. Did I understand what was going on towards the end? Only a little. Did I feel something? Did I love the experience? Absolutely. The kind of game you play that makes you want to carve out your own place in the world, to make something undeniably YOU.
OK, now it's really been a long time since the last update. A full two months! Gonna add a couple updates at once, starting with some games I 'beat'.
I finally beat Hollow Knight! I wasn't working on it for a long time or anything, I'd just gotten around to it. Figured it was a classic I had to get under my belt eventually. And... It was pretty good! Objectively extremely well made, though it didn't really gel with me 100%. I had trouble remembering where all the different spots were for things I could do with new upgrades, and with remembering where I had or hadn't searched. Also didn't really care for how long the backtracking took, especially when I wasn't sure what I was looking for. Those are admittedly skill issues on my part though, and those aside I did have a lot of fun with the game. The badge system is very fun to play with. I got what I assume is the most common ending, and haven't yet returned to get more.
On the subject of games where I only got one ending: 999! As a fan of Ace Attorney, I've been kind of morbidly curious about other, similar games like 999 (and the likes of Danganronpa), so I tried this one out on DS while on a trip. My opinions are.. mixed? As I mentioned, I didn't stick around to get the 'true' ending, so I probably didn't get a proper experience with it, but after reading about it on the wiki, I feel like I probably wouldn'tve enjoyed that process. If, after I'd gotten the first ending, I had been shown a branching timeline of all of my choices and could hop to any point to make new ones, I feel like I would've liked it a lot more (I think other games in the series might do this?). As it stands, I didn't really want to replay it without knowing what I was looking for.
As far as the moment-to-moment gameplay goes, I mostly enjoyed it. I definitely got stuck on a couple escape sequences, but that was mainly due to not seeing elements in the world that I could interact with (being on the DS probably didn't help). The dilalouge was good in most parts and really bad in others (Are the Danganronpa games also this excessively mysoginistic?), varying in quality so much that I wondered if I had downloaded some kind of fan translation. All in all a fine experience, I might try out one of the sequels later.
One more note, I also discovered that I really like the concept/sort of genre of the death game. Put some capital C Characters into some capital S Situations and you'll have my Attention. I'll see if there is any good anime to fufil this nieche...
Feels like it's been ages but it's only been a month, huh? That's weird. Anyways, here's what I've been doing lately.
I've picked up the show, Peacemaker! It was an easier sell for me to watch it now rather than when it came out since Superman was pretty good, and because I knew it was getting a second season. I didn't go in expecting to like it or get very attatched to it's cast, and I felt this way through the beginnings of the first episode, but it really won me over as it went further. I've been vestigially attatched to the marvel train for a while now, and I'm feeling like maybe now is the time to let go and shack up with the DCU instead.
Monster Train 2, while not related to peacemaker in any way, is still a very good game. Granted, I'm not very good at it, but it's great nonetheless. I will be sinking many hours into this as time goes on, I can tell (And they're gonna update it!).
A little update from the future: Now that the ending of Peacemaker has happened, I feel a little more lukewarm on the show as a whole, seeing it didn't quite stick it's second season's landing.
(and my prediction re: Monster Train 2 was correct; In the almost two months between the last update and now, my hours of playtime have rocketed up to 75.)
2026 update: help (150 hours, I can't stop)
t's hard to describe my experience playing this game. Hell, it's hard to describe this game at all. It's played for free in a browser, but with a full & grand episodic story. The concept is equal parts esoteric and completely genius, I cannot begin to imagine the amount of thought, worldbuidling, and construction that went into planning this universe, let alone coding it in HTML, CSS, and Jscript (!!!). A significant portion of the dialouge flew straight over my head and I still ended up feeling for the characters by the end. Or, what is currently the end, because the game is Still Not Done! (Plus banger soundtrack, Timestopper Tactics awesome). Play corru.observer.
did you leave your brain at home??? is this how you normally behave????
(just press the play button in the footer)
I've been entirely missing out on anime my whole life! My only exposures thus far had been the Ace Attorney anime (which I don't really count) and Stein's Gate (which I watched so long ago that I also hesitate to count), so I enjoyed digging into what I understand to be 'one of the classics'. The way the whole crew is characterised is wonderful and they have a relationship that feels like you could watch for hours and not get bored. My favorite character ended up being Ed, because she is a wild force of nature. And goggles, can't forget the goggles. Faye comes it second, because I always enjoyed her getting bored and / or yelling at people.
(Favorite episodes: "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Mushroom Samba", "Speak Like A Child", honestly all of the back half of the show)
Up until now, I have been enjoying JSR as, essentially, an album and a general asthetic. I'd heard conficting opinions about how the game plays, and I wanted to give it a shot for myself. I'm happy to report that everything about this game is great- except for the gameplay. It might just be that I played Bomb Rush first so my standards are pretty high for snappy movement in one of these games, and JSR was probably great at the time, but man it didn't feel good to control. You slip around like a boulder on ice skates. and once you figure out how to guide your momentum properly you still have to deal with the constant police onslaught (those helicopters were evil) and the.. level timer? Who thought of that? Holdover from the arcade days of old?
Thankfully, everything else is stellar enough that I didn't mind the rest too much. Character and environment design is top notch, and the music is even topper notch as expected.
I heard BIRDBRAIN (and by extension, any of Jamie's work) first because of a post by Punkitt on Tumblr talking about how much detail was put into giving the song 'ameturish' qualities (i.e. false starts, vocal strain, etx). This is extremely true, it adds so much emotion that you practically forget that it's sung by a vocaloid. I got hooked on the song, so naturally I went to listen to more of her work, and also fell in love with ROT FOR CLOUT and I Wish That I Could Fall. It's amazing stuff. Also I later learned that there's a deluxe version of Constant Companions coming out that has BIRDBRAIN on it! Awesome!. (BIRDBRAIN is so cool, the false starts get me every time...)
(2026 update while I copy these to the new site, the deluxe version is my favorite album of 2025)
There's never not enough time for a melancholic walk around your old home town, seeing places you used to vist that have since changed dramatically, perhaps paralelling some kind of loss of childhood memory or innocence. Or maybe it's just that they didn't happen to take particular care of this park specifically, and the reason it was all muddy and wet was because you visited in the winter. Who could say?
Also Song machine! Didn't have to second thoughts this one, liking it from the gecko. Fav track: Strange Timez, Chalk Tablet Towers.
A pattern has been forming as I listen to the rest of these albums. The first time I listen, I maybe don't like it. maybe I'm not paying too much attention (the first time I listened to The Now Now was on the way down Mt Richardson, so maybe that didn't help), or maybe I just don't appreciate it enough. But once I come back, it starts hitting. These two albums have absolutely hit for me. Starting to think I'm more of a modern gorillaz fan than an old gorillaz fan. (fav tracks: Andromeda, Souk Eye, Hollywood, Strobelite)
This has pretty much been my life for the past week. I mean, part of the fun of a new game is getting to watch lots of different people play it, and see how they react! One of the better things you can do on the internet.
As far as Isaac goes, I've sunk a lot of hours into it because it's a nice 'brain off' kind of game. A big long checklist of things to do, no order to do them in. I've already completed a save on switch ages ago, and was going to try completing another file, when I realised I wasn't having fun at all. So I decided to just try and get a win streak with characters I actually enjoy playing instead.
In truth, I'm writing about it here so that I maybe stop doing it, because, as I said, it's all I've been doing for the past week. And there's lots of other games I want to play.
A couple of games I've been playing recently! I'm super happy I picked up Haste, sort of on a whim. I had seen some good looking footage, then I found out it was developed by Landfall, which was the final sell. What I got was one of the slickest movement systems I've ever had the pleasure to use. Real dopamine in a bottle stuff. A great soundtrack too, reminds me a lot of Clustertruck.
Also experienced the semi-regular brain parasite that urges you to start another Skyrim playthrough recently, and I tried something I hadn't before. I'm usually all about magic with the occasional one handed sword, and wouldn't be caught dead in heavy armor, but I forwent those this time around and had a lot of fun. There really is a simple pleasure to be derrived from playing as a buff lizard woman who hits things with a big hammer.
The track sign said three hours. I (naive) assumed that this meant three hours return. I was wrong. This track was very muddy, and very uphill. Also when I got home, my cat congradulated me by bringing a live rat into my bedroom. I write this a day later, and my legs are also congradulating me by ceasing to function.
(note from the making of this website approximatley one week later: my legs did not regain full functionality for serveral days after.)
(second note: I never found the rat)
When I'm around drunk friends, sometimes (rarely) a sweet spot is hit where their drunken stupor matches my natural sober silliness. Do you have to brave some earsplittingly loud bars for it? Yes. Do you occasionally need to chuck ice at people for using words they shouldn't? If the need arises. But, in this specific instance at least, I deemed it worth it.
Following on from my personal 'rediscovering' of Gorillaz earlier this year (see the Cracker Island entry), I'd listened to this album a coulple times through. However, it wasnt until I watched a good video last night that the band kind of opened up to me. There was a whole extra level of complexity here that I never knew! There was lore! Noodle dies in an island crash / helicopter attack and gets brought back as a cyborg! So today I listened to the album while bussing around town, and really heard it in a new light. I'm not quite sure yet, but I think Stylo is my favorite track.
(the only reason the lemonade is here is because the only place I've ever been able to get it is a supermarket next to the bus interchange, so it's linked in my mind to taking the bus)
I cannot reccommend anyone go to burger wisconson. the atmosphere in there was weirdly dense, kind of foggy. Soggy, like the chips were. also in the magazine baskst i ate next to, there was an extremely aged Alex the Lion mcdonalds toy that had to be at least a decade old. scary stuff.
(2026 update: that Burger Wisconsin is gone now. Thanks to my scathing review, I'm sure.)
Conversely, i would reccomend that everyone watch Sinners [2025]. i didnt know much about the movie going in. I hadnt seen any trailers, so my knowledge was limited to the facts that it had a mostly black cast (at least 2 micheal B jordans), something about vampires, and that it was probably a good move (a rarity in the 2025 cinema). (spoilers) the opening mini "jumpscares" really primed me to think id accidentally stumbled into a horror movie, which kept me thoroughly on edge throught until the start of the final act. i also totally thought sammy was a vampire at the beginning, so I was going through the whole thing like "aw man, this is such a cool guy, shame hes gonna die at the end". great movie overall.
Mostly picked up this game (and it's sequel) to scour it for good new music. I've had a playlist of songs from this game and DKC:TF, and wanted to see if there was any more good music there. Turns out I was right, and there wasn't much better here than Cog Jog. But I had decent fun with the game!
I am still shocked that this game exists. And after playing it, I'm still not sure quite why it was made. While it certinatley has highs, I wouldn't say it quite captured the magic of the first game, both in soundtrack and, especially, in story.
I've always wanted to give the sonic games a try, since I love listening to their soundtracks as an outsider so much. I had a great time with these early titles! You can tell it takes a game or two for the team to really find their footing, but once you get to games like CD and 3, it gets much better in both gameplay and OST. I was surprised to learn that the Sonic CD OST I have enjoyed for so long was only in the original Japanese version, so I'm interested to hear what the US songs sounded like.
Been on a pop-guitar(is that what you call it?) kick recently, spurred on by hearing 'Every Night' by flor on the intro to a Snapcube stream. That led me to a playlist which contained Lavender, which got me hooked on Gameshow as a whole album! Which is a no brainer really, since I already enjoyed Tourist history so much, after picking up the whole album from memes that use Undercover Martyn.
Exploring artists you like is always good! Explored a handful of Tom Cardy's songs when Beautiful Mind came out in (*checks notes*).. 2023, and again when he showed up in TWRP's Digital Nightmare last year. Finally got my hands on all his albums, all great stuff! The line "Wikipedia of the Vatican" has been bouncing around in my mind for days. (also the pope just died??? coincidence??)
Playing this game felt like a fitting conclusion to playing both full series. It excecutes the crossover elements and blends the two gameplay styles together while having a story that is nonsense enough to fit both series. Though at times it felt a little like Phoenix and Maya stumbled into a Layton game, I feel each character is given enough time to shine that it works.And it's topped with some of the better visuals and atmosphere we've seen from both series.
I beat OFF for the first time just now! It's... an interesting experience. Hard to put into words. It's easy to see how this was a foundational game for future indie game creators, and I think I prefer later takes on the some of the ideas present (e.g. Oneshot), but the presentation and audo style undeniably stand out to this day.
Some time last year, I heard the title track, Cracker Island, playing over the speakers in a music store. I really liked what I heard, but didn't have any way to find out what song it was, so I just frantically googled what I thought the lyrics were until I gave up and forgot about it.
Fast forward to this week, where a friend plays it in his car, and I feel like anton ego from rattatoulie having a flashback. suffice to say, listening to the entire album has shown me that I have made a mistake by not listening to any modern Gorillaz.
This video game was constructed in a lab specifically to appeal to me. The microgame style gameplay is amazing, and the art and visual design is mind-blowingly good. The demo only contains one and a half ish levels, and after I beat it I immediately went to the kickstarter and backed it, then immediately after that, went to bandcamp to buy the demo soundtrack. I cannot wait for this game to fully release.
