Of my memories around video-games, one that's stuck around in my head for quite a while, is when i was interning at a company for a brief spell at the end of my second year of university, where i basically spent the whole time playing Pokemon on my phone. Sure, i had a project to work on - and i did do it - but i also had a desk in the corner of quite an empty office (maybe people were on holiday ? not sure..), so what can you expect..

I had loaded up a few GBA games on my Android-something of the time, and i decided Pokemon would be good for the (frequent, and sometimes extended) breaks. I can't remember exactly which game it was (Ruby, Sapphire? definitely a GBA one), but i had a good time with it. A little frustrating sometimes, and almost nauseating to someone with even a little bit of OCD, but building up a team, and then building up a bond over time with that team, is a great feeling, and probably part of why the memory has stuck so long

All that's to say, that Coromon summoned back those memories and feelings pretty easily. Over the winter holidays i had a lovely time once again catching a grass-load of (poke)'mon and building up a team that i felt strong attachment to by the end. And all of that with many of the frustrating snags sanded off - lots of quality-of-life features have been added and the whole thing has been nicely modernised

If you're also looking to relive old memories, or if you want to understand what the fuss about Pokemon is (without having to go back to the old games), then i can easily recommend Coromon for that. It's a remake of the GBA/DS generation in everything but official capacity

In a couple of ways, Call of the Sea is the inverse of White Night, which i played this same month - primarily walking around solving puzzles while soaking in the atmosphere and story, as presented for the most part by the main character's monologue

Where White Night purposely removed all colour however, Call of the Sea seems to revel in the most vibrant colours it can manage. It's a much more appealing world because of it, inviting you to explore areas and absorb the sights - which are often gorgeously realised. Clearly it's got different aesthetic goals than White Night, which had a claustrophobic, oppressive sense of dread

The puzzles themselves are more involved (and satisfying) here, than in White Night, which makes sense because we don't have the survival horror elements to distract us. I enjoyed them all quite a bit, finding them non-obvious to start, and then logically resolving them with each new piece of information. I only once had to look up a hint, near the end, but it was because of a hidden(-ish) interaction prompt

The plot follows protagonist Norah, searching for her husband after his expedition to a lost island. She traces their footsteps, slowly uncovering their fate, while also discovering her own links to the mysterious island and its history. I quite enjoyed the whole tale, but the thematic pacing felt a bit disjointed - you can't really go back to conventional nature after the ritual by stormy sea - but maybe that's my own expectations

Anyway, lovely experience to end the year on (just pretend i didn't play Coromon after)

Another short game for the holidays time, and one that's kind of fitting in theme, too. A bit late for Halloween sure, but there's more than a few references to Christmas here, so that's fun

Pumpkin Jack is a 3D platformer in the classic (mascot) style, although modernised a touch, and quite a bit shorter. Just six levels, with a boss at the end of each. You'll be pretty much jumping on platforms the whole way, smashing enemies sometimes, and occasionally performing the odd one-off mini-game or puzzle

Narrative is simple and forgettable; visuals and sound are pleasing but straightforward; nearly every aspect of this game is well-done, but also basically washes past you, kind of like a sweet treat - i know i just enjoyed it, yet i feel a bit.. unfulfilled

But if you go into it expecting the short fun, candy-coated ride that it is, you'll have a good time

White Night is a short-ish adventure horror game. Set in (where else?) a haunted mansion, you spend most of your time solving adventure-style puzzles, and reading notes about the history of the place and its inhabitants

The unique feature here is the art style, which is (almost) purely black and white. The gameplay is fundamentally designed around this too, requiring you to constantly light matches in order to navigate around. Some of the puzzles get creative with this mechanic of light and shadow, but not really as much as they could have

The dark atmosphere is well done; claustrophobic design & moody soundscape, backed by limited character actions and restricted saving. Unfortunately, the jank cuts in to this with frustration, mainly centered around controlling the main character

The fixed camera angles is the main - but not the only - cause of this. It's a shame, because i understand that fixed camera angles were probably so useful for crafting the oppressive atmosphere here, but so often it felt like i was fighting to control the main character between those camera angles

Overall, a decent game, with good atmosphere, but with some frustrating controls, and perhaps a bit bare in the "stuff-to-do" area

A nice short Zelda-like game where the turnip-boy protagonist can't help but rip up every legal document presented to him, which may be fun to do but is often a crime (watch out, kids), but thankfully being a criminal just leads to a life of questing and adventure, as we all know. Look at the little vegetable rascal go, what fun

Thanks to Dandey for recommending this one

Not sure why i suddenly decided to add Stranger's Wrath to the month's rotation, but it was different to the usual, at least. Probably due to the off-beat Oddworld style, as well as the design sensibilities of 2 (3?) video-game generations ago. Technically this (originally) came out in the 360/PS3 era, but it reminded me much more of the free-wheelin' PS2 days to be honest, in both the good (fun) and bad (jank) ways

The general loop is based around hunting down criminal bounties, and the unique selling point is the live ammo you use to nab them, either dead or alive. These live ammo - as in, living creatures, found in the wild - are a little interesting, but basically boil down to either stun damage or health damage (or a mix of the two). I feel like they could've gotten way wilder with these, although they'd probably need more varying enemies, and more interactable environments to support them

Another unique aspect is the camera, which switches between first-person (for shooting) and third-person (for platforming) at the tap of a button - another idea that's interesting at first, but starts to feel like it's pulling the game in two different directions. The platforming side in particular felt like it was a holdover from a previous design phase/idea, as i spent more and more of my time in first-person mode. Special pain is attributed to the "bounty capture" feature, which is a main source of extra income, and pulls you out of first-person mode every time, forcing you to switch back

Story and world are nicely presented, feeling like a place with a heaping of weirdness, while still having coherent themes and social fabric, done in a style that's probably a bit out of fashion for now. Some of this is undoubtedly due to the Oddworld setting and its world-building, which seems like a rich well to draw from, so i hope someone finds a way to explore that more

Nice nostalgia trip before finishing up the month, but not sure i'd easily recommend it to others, with the annoying flaws it has… and definitely pick easy mode when starting, as some areas were unnecessarily difficult - but maybe that's a "me" problem

Basically a Flash game from that era, One Finger Death Punch has a very simple mechanical hook, that it stretches out basically to infinity. It's interesting to see how they add new twists to the base mechanic, and i can see why some would get hooked into mastering it, but it started feeling a little tired for me by the end

Nice little tea-cake snack game, as a break from the main dishes i've been scoffing though - and when you get in the zone, it really does feel like being a kung-fu master (also, i doubt i'll play it, so i'll say here that they really missed an opportunity to call the sequel "2 Finger Death Punch")