Games

Below are all of the games I have played and logged, along with my ratings and reviews.

	Score	Title	Console	Year	Genre	Review
	10	*Hades*	PC	2020	Roguelike	I have technically completed the main story, so I am going to go ahead and log it, but I don’t feel anywhere near being ready to put this down. As my first ‘roguelite’ game, I didn’t expect the mechanic of purposeful death to work so well for me. Each escape attempt, I felt like I not only learned something inside the story that drove me to keep trying, but also the rewards, both permanent and temporary, made every room I could push into feel worth it. It’s a game that also rewards many attempts with learning which Olympian boons you like, which work together, and what builds you can concoct with the boons you are given. This is how a game where essentially 4 levels and final boss fight can feel fresh over and over again. Each escape feels different with different weapons, aspects, mirror upgrades, and boons. One of my favorite games ever. Reviewed on Wednesday, January 4th, 2023, 8:00am.	PC - Hades - Roguelike - 2020 - I have technically completed the main story, so I am going to go ahead and log it, but I don’t feel anywhere near being ready to put this down. As my first ‘roguelite’ game, I didn’t expect the mechanic of purposeful death to work so well for me. Each escape attempt, I felt like I not only learned something inside the story that drove me to keep trying, but also the rewards, both permanent and temporary, made every room I could push into feel worth it. It’s a game that also rewards many attempts with learning which Olympian boons you like, which work together, and what builds you can concoct with the boons you are given. This is how a game where essentially 4 levels and final boss fight can feel fresh over and over again. Each escape feels different with different weapons, aspects, mirror upgrades, and boons. One of my favorite games ever.
	8	*Spiritfarer*	PC	2020	Adventure / Platform	This game had a story, set of characters, setting, atmosphere, and music that I will never forget. Getting to know Stella and her friends and family through this medium was very special and deeply affecting; every single emotional moment landed for me, and I teared up multiple times throughout, most especially when saying goodbye to Stella herself. However, the gameplay itself got to feel like a bit of a grind by the end, and I don’t see many ways to organically play it to make it feel like less of one. It became mostly checklist-filling and repeating processes often, and by the very endgame when I only had a couple of passengers, I was filling the time until the next quest checkpoint arose. Also, and I'm not sure there is really a solution for this other than a complete overhaul, the islands ultimately left a lot to be desired. I understand the need to give the map a lot of space and places to land, but so many of these areas felt desolate, even the ones that were supposed to be the more bustling ones. These are the only reasons that it’s not a full-on 10 out of 10, perfect game, all-time favorite. Even still, those emotional moments will be with me always. Reviewed on Sunday, March 26th, 2023, 12:12pm.	PC - Spiritfarer - Adventure / Platform - 2020 - This game had a story, set of characters, setting, atmosphere, and music that I will never forget. Getting to know Stella and her friends and family through this medium was very special and deeply affecting; every single emotional moment landed for me, and I teared up multiple times throughout, most especially when saying goodbye to Stella herself. However, the gameplay itself got to feel like a bit of a grind by the end, and I don’t see many ways to organically play it to make it feel like less of one. It became mostly checklist-filling and repeating processes often, and by the very endgame when I only had a couple of passengers, I was filling the time until the next quest checkpoint arose. Also, and I'm not sure there is really a solution for this other than a complete overhaul, the islands ultimately left a lot to be desired. I understand the need to give the map a lot of space and places to land, but so many of these areas felt desolate, even the ones that were supposed to be the more bustling ones. These are the only reasons that it’s not a full-on 10 out of 10, perfect game, all-time favorite. Even still, those emotional moments will be with me always.

Score

Title

Console

Year

Genre

Review

Hades

2020

Roguelike

I have technically completed the main story, so I am going to go ahead and log it, but I don’t feel anywhere near being ready to put this down. As my first ‘roguelite’ game, I didn’t expect the mechanic of purposeful death to work so well for me. Each escape attempt, I felt like I not only learned something inside the story that drove me to keep trying, but also the rewards, both permanent and temporary, made every room I could push into feel worth it. It’s a game that also rewards many attempts with learning which Olympian boons you like, which work together, and what builds you can concoct with the boons you are given. This is how a game where essentially 4 levels and final boss fight can feel fresh over and over again. Each escape feels different with different weapons, aspects, mirror upgrades, and boons. One of my favorite games ever.

Reviewed on Wednesday, January 4th, 2023, 8:00am.

PC - Hades - Roguelike - 2020 - I have technically completed the main story, so I am going to go ahead and log it, but I don’t feel anywhere near being ready to put this down. As my first ‘roguelite’ game, I didn’t expect the mechanic of purposeful death to work so well for me. Each escape attempt, I felt like I not only learned something inside the story that drove me to keep trying, but also the rewards, both permanent and temporary, made every room I could push into feel worth it. It’s a game that also rewards many attempts with learning which Olympian boons you like, which work together, and what builds you can concoct with the boons you are given. This is how a game where essentially 4 levels and final boss fight can feel fresh over and over again. Each escape feels different with different weapons, aspects, mirror upgrades, and boons. One of my favorite games ever.

Spiritfarer

2020

Adventure / Platform

This game had a story, set of characters, setting, atmosphere, and music that I will never forget. Getting to know Stella and her friends and family through this medium was very special and deeply affecting; every single emotional moment landed for me, and I teared up multiple times throughout, most especially when saying goodbye to Stella herself. However, the gameplay itself got to feel like a bit of a grind by the end, and I don’t see many ways to organically play it to make it feel like less of one. It became mostly checklist-filling and repeating processes often, and by the very endgame when I only had a couple of passengers, I was filling the time until the next quest checkpoint arose. Also, and I'm not sure there is really a solution for this other than a complete overhaul, the islands ultimately left a lot to be desired. I understand the need to give the map a lot of space and places to land, but so many of these areas felt desolate, even the ones that were supposed to be the more bustling ones. These are the only reasons that it’s not a full-on 10 out of 10, perfect game, all-time favorite. Even still, those emotional moments will be with me always.

Reviewed on Sunday, March 26th, 2023, 12:12pm.

PC - Spiritfarer - Adventure / Platform - 2020 - This game had a story, set of characters, setting, atmosphere, and music that I will never forget. Getting to know Stella and her friends and family through this medium was very special and deeply affecting; every single emotional moment landed for me, and I teared up multiple times throughout, most especially when saying goodbye to Stella herself. However, the gameplay itself got to feel like a bit of a grind by the end, and I don’t see many ways to organically play it to make it feel like less of one. It became mostly checklist-filling and repeating processes often, and by the very endgame when I only had a couple of passengers, I was filling the time until the next quest checkpoint arose. Also, and I'm not sure there is really a solution for this other than a complete overhaul, the islands ultimately left a lot to be desired. I understand the need to give the map a lot of space and places to land, but so many of these areas felt desolate, even the ones that were supposed to be the more bustling ones. These are the only reasons that it’s not a full-on 10 out of 10, perfect game, all-time favorite. Even still, those emotional moments will be with me always.

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