Activities
Today
August ‘26 report
🏆 SG Wins Progress Bar
🕹️ Overall Progress Bar
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
August was... bad. But at least I didn't add anything to the backlog, I guess.
#434
#44 of 2026
September 3, 2026
August 2026
Well, I was a bit more hopeful on my progress this month and forgot that both the latest FFXIV patch and Tokon were releasing… so they took a lot of time. FFXIV is finally out of the way until the next expansion next year so I’ll have more time on my hands again, maybe even finally get back to work on FFXI. Tokon on the other hand will probably continue being an on/off thing until I finally get completion anxiety and drop it so I can continue making more progress on the backlog as a whole. Still, September is slated with a lot of new releases several of which I plan on getting at some point and even more later this year… it’s gonna be rough. Good, but rough. Here’s to hoping I can finally hunker down and focus out some titles this month.
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft
Played on Steam Deck
More about the remastered aspect than the game itself as I have both played and reviewed other versions of this game already. From first glance, a pretty solid port/remaster/Remake. Overall plays much like the original but with a removable coat of paint on top. By this I mean you can turn on and off the remastered graphics as you play (similar to that of the first Halo Combat Evolved Remaster/Remake). Though the platforms are still blocks (because duh they have to) everything is given a much more immersive and realistic touch. This can be a boon and a bane as the realistic lighting can make it a tad more difficult to find the objective as opposed to the original’s incandescent lighting and unique coloring over every surface. Another change is the camera. It is still third person but they put the camera just a tad further behind for you to take in the surroundings. This is also a bit of a drawback as jumps in tight areas will cause the camera to face your front making you effectively jump blind.
Notes on the game itself. I kind of forgot how slow the first game can be without all the QoL additions added in the immediate sequels. Blocks are pushed slowly and one square at a time, no crawling, and Lara’s House has very little to do. Still, in retrospect I’m just as amazed at all of the interactions you can do considering when it came out. Magnetize pick ups, walk, jump and shoot, flip, hidden special interactions. It’s all kind of impressive with just how clean the animations can be. Also, pretty annoying that it defaults to the load tab instead of save. Too many times I have loaded a previous save rather than actually saving over it.
Steam Deck ran this without any known issues and allowed the fans to run at low quiet speeds.
Though I did prefer playing in the original graphics (simply put I’m very nostalgic for one of the first series I’ve ever played), the new coat of paint is fairly pleasing and the ability to swap at any moment is much appreciated. If you haven’t seen/played this before, it’s an iconic PS1 platforming game that combines loose archeology, history, and mythology come to life.
Castlevania Dominus Collection
Played on Steam Deck
On one hand, quite glad to have another prominent female protagonist take the lead in a Castlevania game the likes of which we have not seen since the Gameboy game, Castlevania Legends (starring Sonia Belmont). On the other hand… man this game was difficult, particularly early on. We’re talking about studying patterns with multiple attempts and even only a few pixel leeway of pixel mistake accuracy. Fun, but challenging.
Though not a Belmont, Shanoa is an excellent new addition bringing with her a new mechanic mostly unique to her game. Instead of the usual physical weapons, Shanoa instead uses glyphs to summon weapons, spells, familiars as well as other abilities. One per arm and a special set for enhancing abilities. These glyphs can be found around, dropped by enemies, and even sometimes stolen from them. Special attacks can be used by using both glyphs at the same time which is useful but there isn’t nearly as much variety as I would have thought giving very little discovery in that avenue. Otherwise for the most part, it plays like Castlevania. Pick a destination, explore the metroidvania like areas and use your abilities to fight and traverse. You do get a hub town, talk to townsfolk, get side quests, and do shopping. Side quests being the more interesting aspect as the villagers provide unusual stories and questionable rewards but gives you reason to revisit old locations. Puzzles are a nice change of pace but some felt a bit finicky though this may be due to the original release having the DS touch screen for more accurate aiming.
Steam Deck review: Plays perfectly. No notes.
By no means my favorite, it is still a great entry that holds it’s own with some of the best and I’m always welcoming of more capable female leads. Certainly looking forward to the newest one coming out. Rose Belmont’s VA is killing it from what I’ve heard so far.
I realized I forgot to add this so I'mma keep it short. Not a great start for the second collection. MMX5 really irked me out of the gate with it's most obvious issue is that it puts a timer/attempt counter on you. Mega Man is all about challenging levels, bosses, and figuring out the best weapons to face against them (or brute forcing it with what you have). So, if you are struggling with a level, you go back to Stage Select and try another so you can come back later. However, selecting a stage reduces your available hours by 1 adding an extra layer of unneeded punishment. Though it seems like it may only affect endings it still feels really bad. Luckily as long as you continue a stage instead of going back to stage select, you can repeat as many times without any real penalties. Levels are poorly designed either being annoyingly difficult, boring, or some combination of both. Even when you do get into the flow of a stage you are often stopped and interrupted by your comms assistant Alia who usually gives you pertinent information that you likely already figured out (and already used). Bosses are laughably easy often barely needing their weakness used against them (though I almost appreciated it allowing me to get through this quicker. On the other hand, we get a return of two notorious bosses both of which are probably at their most difficult across the franchise. Story is fine, but it isn't anything that gauges much interest. Music… I really don't remember it which is odd considering Mega Man is often known for great and stand out tracks but maybe I was too busy being annoyed by everything else.
What concerns me the most is not the whiplash from X4 to X5 but that apparently the next two games only get worse. I'll keep my judgement open but I'm no confident.
So, I knew this was a Bullet Hell Shoot-em-up… but I did not realize it was going to be a Bullet Hell Shoot-em-up FIGHTER. That’s right just you and one boss in a literal ring duking it out until the other expires or time runs out. I’m not exactly the best at these games, I can usually get by, but this just did not click for me. Maybe because I was dead set on using a controller but the button configuration felt off. Often needing to press the square+circle/B+X buttons among other combinations all while constantly dashing, switching between neutral and directional attacks, dodging, trying not to acquire too much heat, etc…. It’s just a lot. I suppose it’s what one must expect from the 100% OJ universe but frankly it’s not for me. Even on Easy I would often struggle with some fights. Several characters have clear advantages over any others. The story is short, kind of like a fighting game’s arcade mode. Pick a character, get your opening dialogue, fight several fights, get the final dialogue along with the main boss. I got through several characters and realized I did not want to put in the energy for this, not to mention not being able to get through normal mode felt bad. There appeared to be some other modes and online (even advertised Tourneys in the Community Hub) but I dare not even try any of those.
All in all, the game isn’t bad and it certainly fills an interesting niche but it just isn’t for me.
I was fortunate enough to find out you can still purchase the DLC for this game and it will download onto the 360 as well. I’ve already touched upon the poor practice in releasing the true ending behind a DLC so I shan’t press upon it further. The DLC is solid as it does, much necessarily, continue and complete the story they were telling. Some of the arena fights felt a little awkward, in one segment in particular, but overall continues to do well with it’s interactive cinematics and use of QTE as a storytelling device.
The Lost DLC is a fun couple of episodes that allow a great crossover between this game and the Street Fighter series. They seemed to have setup for more episodes but it cuts off abruptly and honestly… after the first two fighters it’s hard to imagine where they were going to go from there… though it still would’ve been nice to see. Clearly they had to drop the project due to low sales and possibly some mismanagement here and there. Fights are set into two rounds. First is your 2D fighter setup like you would find in a Street Fighter game while the second carries on as the arena battle much like the rest of Asura’s Wrath has been. It only makes it all that much more of a shame that Asura never officially made it into a game such as Marvel vs Capcom, though the community has seen fit to do it themselves.
Overall, my impression of the game hasn’t changed much. Great story, fun cinematics, decent gameplay, and kinda lame DLC practices.
I’ve played a number of crpgs and enjoy them for what they are. This one… this one is the exceptional outlier. I found myself hooked and having trouble stopping. Just explore a little bit further, get to the next level, try to beat this next challenge. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s a modern day crpg with great graphics, a grim (heh) atmosphere, and a fairly easy to follow story. What really sets this one apart for me is that it actually lets you feel powerful. Though I’m sure there’s plenty others that do this, all the ones I have played always made me fear taking more than a few steps before saving, having to crazy micromanage, or just difficulty curve so hard that I can’t imagine honest ways to beat them. This, however, lets you mow down most mobs so long as you are being semi-consistent with your build. You’ll still have to be careful not to be overwhelmed, especially if there are hero variants or bosses so you’ll still have your challenges. That of course doesn’t include the increase in difficulty for going off path or side content/post-game.
The downsides were largely that the game can be a bit overwhelming. There is of course the normal loot management as well as skill point allocation and class selection. What really starts to go off the rails is the constellation point system. An additional point allocation system to further buff your character that has over 105(!!!) constellations each with several upgradeable slots to choose from each with their own benefits and requirements. It’s definitely not going to be the main source of what you do but it still feels like a lot anytime I look at that screen. There was also some questionable loot progression. Frequently I would find myself hanging onto gear for many levels before finding a suitable replacement and even then I found myself far too frequently on the fence. Maybe it was just my luck but this isn’t something unique to this game either.
Overall, a fantastic modern take on the crpg genre and places surprisingly high on my list of enjoyable games. I’ll be looking forward to getting the DLCs when I’m ready to dive back in.
You are Gawr Gura and you must go through time to find your special bread.
Fun little action platformer based on the Hololive vtuber character, your main character among others you meet on your journey. Getting it on a bit of a whim but enjoyed what I played. I felt the influence of games like Mario 64, particularly with the jumping and diving mechanic you’ll need to use. Combat is pretty basic and the super move feels very inconsistent. There were also more than a couple of times I had broken the game a bit which required reloading the checkpoint but nothing crazy serious. That being said, it’s just a fun silly little game. Characters are written pretty closely to their vtuber counterpart, and with some of them having graduated (retired for lack of a better explanation) it is nice to see them live on in other ways. The dialogue and jokes are pretty humorous and I appreciate the references strewn about. Also, you can unlock hats for your character often related to outfits they wore on streams.
I will say for the length and quality, it’s decent but maybe it could be just a few dollars cheaper (thinking around $5ish is a perfectly set value) but really not a bad little purchase and a fun/funny adventure.
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While Marvel vs Capcom slept a new age of heroes has awakened thanks to Arc System Works providing a new assist/tag Marvel fighter now being a 4v4 (kinda). It’s been a journey watching this game change from it’s original announcement and betas. It’s gameplay, though driven by autocombos, has evolved into something just a bit more complex. Not to say it isn’t fairly beginner friendly but does offer a much higher roof of skill expression than before. Every characters feels and looks great, though some are substantially better than others, each character feels fairly viable and a treat to try. Don’t let the 4v4 overwhelm you though. With the single health bar system you only really need to learn one character while the others sit as assists. When you are ready to learn more you can and it will only help you diversify your playstyle. Also, I cannot STRESS how great it is to finally get characters like Blade, Carnage, and Green Goblin (among others) finally in a fighting game. Blade in particular has been a missed opportunity for far too long.
The art style and stages are really vibrant, almost every fighter has an excellent theme that matches their character, and customizable languages per character. Given how closely Star Lord sounds like Deadpool… I’d very much recommended messing with the language options. There’s also a plethora of single player content. First and foremost, the story is actually pretty good. Though some team stories feel a bit status quo, others do well with their progressions, setup, and dialogue. The champion is also a much improved version in this with not only a great design but having a refreshing take on what drives him to be the big bad. We also get the usual combo trials, additional combo trials with a creative take, a survival mode, Rumble arena, and minigames within the multiplayer lobby. Rumble arena is… well maybe not well thought out. Run around as a chibi character to collect upgrades and earn points then switch to a fight to use what you’ve gained and do that for a couple of times. Frankly it’s a bit too chaotic and the fights are timed so they often don’t earn many points even though they should be the more critical aspect. Survival though… it’s definitely the star player here. Similar to Xrd’s M.O.M. you must do battle after battle against opponents retaining the health you had from the previous until you fight a boss. You earn technical points each fight and get a randomized set of cards to choose from when you earn enough to enhance your team. It’s incredibly fun, but difficult. All modes, including multiplayer unlock colors for your character, often which reference another character or something related to their various media. Unfortunately there is a limited number of actual costumes but if this game does well… maybe they’ll sell us a few (hopefully reasonably). Of course, if you’re just in it for the multiplayer, that is fine too though it was pretty rocky at the start with connections.
Though a bit of a controversial release I quite enjoyed my time with it and will continue to do so (despite me having commitment anxiety). Hopefully this game recovers a bit more so it can receive quite a bit of support and continued DLC releases for more characters and costumes.
Feeling a bit nostalgic I thought it was finally time to play the Terminal Cut release of Bloodrayne. A game I hold fond memories of and only encouraged my affinity towards vampires and vampire culture of the early ‘90s and early 2000s. As far as the Terminal cut goes vs the original pc port… well I’m not sure there was too much of a difference. It looked much like I remembered (which might be saying something good in itself) and played all the same (the original pc port didn’t have any bugs or problems that I recall). So, for the most part you’re just getting another solid port that is supposedly upscaled.
For the game itself, it is as enjoyable as ever with just a really great vibe that the second never really embraced. I was also welcomingly well reminded just how much variety the game had in terms of enemies. Nothing quite beats getting a list of important Nazis to mark off once you take their heads. Unfortunately the combat is a bit scrappy and your combos, even when upgraded, can be easily attacked through so you’ll depend a lot on your blood sucking to regain health and take down enemies. Also, man oh man are a lot of bosses hitboxes wonky. Guns often feel pretty underpowered and the grappling hook is questionable. Yet, just kind of slashing your way through and using blood rage is still satisfying. Also, Rayne is played by the legendary Laura Bailey who will absolutely make you fall in love with the character with her excellent performance (okay I may be a little bit biased).
Though I’ve always felt that Bloodrayne 2 had a better grasp on it’s gameplay, it’s really hard to beat the feels, setting, and variety of the first. Terminal Cut, though not making major graphical or gameplay changes, does at least well to preserve the original (though I saw reports of some cheats or other missing due to various reason. Not sure if those got added back ever).
Yesterday
August 2026
Beaten
Planet Zoo
The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition
United Penguin Kingdom
Dread Delusion
Megaquarium
The Thaumaturge
Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong
Bought
x
Won
x
Log #29
Stats End of August
Okay so I confess I put a whole bunch of my games from the won’t play list to private to get rid of them here on BLAEO (thanks cg!). Those were mostly unplayable garbage from my stupid “let’s just everything to Steam” days and additionally some multiplayer only games like Counter Strike which I will definitely never play in my life.
I did not add those removals to the stats below as otherwise all the other bars would’ve been too small to even be displayed 😅
Now some of my larger lists load faster again - yay. I also moved a few games from the won’t play list to unplayed but there are still quite a lot of games on won’t play. I might check them somewhen in the future
Overall
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Overall wins statistics
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Yearly Challenges
Yearly Challenge 2026 - Simulations
Finish all games on the Secret Santa 2025 list
Beat all least 50% of the games on the Runs on a Toaster list
Beat all least 50% of the games on the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Play Them list
Beat all least 50% of the games on the Trust Issues list
Beat all least 75% of the games on the Old wins list
Beat all least 50% of the games added in 2025
Completed Warpips
Brutal, brutal game. This is the most challenging 100% completion I’ve ever had to do, took me months. Requires a bit of difficulty rebalancing since often times it feels unfair. Highly not recommended for players that aren’t too into strategy games.
2026 July/August update
Most Enjoyable
July
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Nightwater Demo
1.4 hours playtime
no achievements
Rating: ★★★☆☆
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An Arcade Full of Cats
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Carpet Cleaning Simulator Demo
3.5 hours playtime
no achievements
Rating: ★★★★☆
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Cat Mail Co.
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Starbound
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Database Detective: Minor Crimes Division Demo
31 minutes playtime
no achievements
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
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Californium
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Mind Snares: Alice's Journey
August
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ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs
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My Little Spider
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Road to Guangdong - Road Trip Car Driving Simulator
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Snake Classic
September
-
Escape From Russia: Mobilization
July
Nightwater Demo
1.4 hours of playtime, no achievements
Personal rating: 6/10, Date of finish: July/02
Click for review
This game reminds me of Outpath with the 3D resource gathering and machine automation, but honestly the resource gathering isn't as satisfying, the upgrades came too late with kinda boring upgrades, the resource type seems limited and boring, and the minigames just doesn't fit and doesn't contribute to the main gameplay loop. I'm specifically talking about the "alternate gamemode" where it's time limited run through and the upgrades are entirely separate from the main game. Why have this tacked on? The demo available one is for wood, but apparently there's a stone one. Yes you do get resources, but it's so separated from the main game that it's jarring. I intended on getting all the upgrades available in the demo like I did with previous demos, but after running through the alternate gameplay a dozen times I just find myself bored.
An Arcade Full of Cats
2.2 hours of playtime, 50 of 50 achievements
Personal rating: 7.5/10, Date of finish: July/04
Click for review
I've beaten the main game(which is free) a while ago, but decided to buy the DLC to finish it later down the line. Think I bought that DLC on Winter Sale but only just played it now. x3 It's another finding cats game, this time centered around eras of videogames, and all of the main game takes place in an arcade where it's populated by time period appropriate games. Lots of references and tributes which I like, but the hidden cats are kinda annoying yet again without much tells so I have to click on everything again. Tho I did like the fact that there's an added objective besides finding cats for the DLC levels, that's very fun. I'd say the DLC levels are quite a step up from the main game ones, so if you like the main game definitely pick it up!
Carpet Cleaning Simulator Demo
3.5 hours of playtime, no achievements
Personal rating: 6.5/10, Date of finish: July/05
Click for review
This game is kinda like Powerwash Simulator, but with cleaning carpets, I guess. lol How you earn money is by cleaning, spraying the bubbles clean and then scooping the bubbles into the drain, kinda an interesting system. At first I don't really like it since it interrupts my cleaning, and I can't leave them alone because they will despawn after some time. But after getting some upgrades it's honestly quite satisfying to scoop all the bubbles, which I suppose is what the devs are aiming for. There's also a "story" told through news articles and it tells of a meteor hitting the town, and at first I was like "oh they're pulling a Powerwash Sim storytelling" but no, the meteor actually acts as a roguelite endpoint, so you're timed every session actually. xD What a surprise, and there's upgrade points that you earn by fully cleaning carpets and a skill tree, pretty neat spin on the genre. I do like it a lot, but by the end I was kinda just grinding the same carpets over and over and over again for the prestige points, and it was kinda boring honestly. I don't know if there'll be more carpets in the full game, most likely yes, but you will still be doing the same thing over and over without much difference and I really don't know how the game will hold up. lol But oh well, I probably won't find out, since I still have Powerwash Sim to go back to. :3
Starbound
122.9 hours of playtime, 41 of 51 achievements
Personal rating: 7.5/10, Date of finish: July/12
Click for review
I think I can mark this as beaten since I finished the main story! This game is quite something. I mainly played it with a friend of mine who is a small Youtuber that streams us playing. We played it way back a few years ago with mods, and then he took a break from Youtube and we stopped playing and the mods got outdated, so when he came back to Youtube a few months ago we started playing again. :3 And then I proceeded to sink like, 70 hours into the game playing on my own after each session. lol This game just makes me have that same kinda "Minecraft" survival game itch, and also a completionist's dream/nightmare cuz so many things to collect, yet they're oh so hard or tedious to complete!
My favorite thing about this game is the fact that you can capture enemies as pets, and there's also randomly generated monsters that can look either cute, ugly freak, or ugly freak cute and I just love all of them. xD Gotta catch them all, I say. There's also small creatures that you can "capture" and then relocate to elsewhere, and we're working on a museum that features Terrariums and Aquarium that has the little critters. :3 The game does lack in several crucial areas, such as the main story being just so weak, cliche and forgettable, the vanilla storage system is so bad that you have to click items individually, no stack to nearby chest or even put all feature, and I would say the most annoying is the tedious achievements. Buuuuuuut, I still like the game. xD And I'll definitely be playing more with my friend in the future.
Cat Mail Co.
15.5 hours of playtime, 17 of 17 achievements
Personal rating: 9.5/10, Date of finish: July/15
Click for review
This game is so damn fun! What a solid gameplay loop with organizing all the packages you have, finding packages for customers, taking packages to send off on a boat at end of shift, and juggling the various interesting storage conditions like freezer, heater etc. Especially since it unlocks the different destinations that you need to send packages out to gradually, I developed my own system of where I put thing and identifying special packages. I always put special packages on the top shelf and normal packages on the bottom, so when I'm stacking normal packages I don't need to think about whether that'll damage the package beneath it or not, since there's like heavy and fragile packages that will break if put in incorrect spots. It's so satisfying to load up the ship and "play tetris", trying to maximize the amount of space you used up with packages to send out. Even after I finished the main story of the game, I kept playing for a few more hours cuz it's just so good. The only thing I wish for now is for them to add some sort of endgame progression system? Even just making the points you get actually level you up and showing the level number would be neat, cuz for now if you keep playing after unlocking everything it's just for the sake of playing, and I just want more. :P
I also found this package which has my name on it, which is funny. xD The person also did not ever show up to take the package which is extra funny and so me cuz I also procrastinate on these things.
Database Detective: Minor Crimes Division Demo
31 minutes of playtime, no achievements
Personal rating: 5/10, Date of finish: July/16
Click for review
I guess this demo is....ok? I got intrigued by it cuz I really liked the SQL class in college, and linking all the commands together to get the table I want is satisfying, but this demo shows the most rudimentary SQL queries which...kinda bored me. lol The last case did make me think a little, but it's not enough cuz ultimately you're only trying to find 1 person's record, where as in our SQL class you actually have to match the output table to the exact. Far more challenging and more of a "puzzle" to solve that way. So yeah...I suppose this could be a good introduction to someone that knows nothing of SQL and tables, but at the same time I don't know if the in-game manual actually teaches things that well? xDD Oh well, maybe just not a game for me, and that's fine. :P
Californium
2.8 hours of playtime, 5 of 7 achievements
Personal rating: 3/10, Date of finish: July/24
Click for review
I was intrigued by the store page and the start of the game actaully, but the more I play the game the less I like it, until at the end I kind of just hated it. The big major thing is I have to force myself physically to play this game, because the FOV is fixed it makes me quite nauseous when I move around in the game....which is all you do in this game. Probably would've dropped it if it's not a pagywosg game. Next is...I fucking HATE pixel hunting, and in this game you pixel hunt in 3D!!! You have to find specific angles or specific things that you move your mouse around until it reveals to you a lit up thing where you have to left click it quickly. Combine that with the nausea...not fun! There are some clues which work fine if it's in a small space such as your apartment, but does not work fine if it's out on the street in open. And also, I know it's a needed thing for 3D games, but if your game requires player to notice subtle details of prop disappearing momentarily as a "hint" to the progression, using LOD meshes super fucking sucks cuz I will stare at a mesh not knowing whether that's really a hint for me or it's LOD mesh loading in and out cuz I'm far away and moving.
The story is also a huge fucking mess. There's 6 chapters, but the narrator drops a totally unearned fourth wall break on chapter 2, that's way too early when you should've been establishing the world and setting. Moreover, I just do not care about anyone here, everyone is a jerk, our protagonist is a jerk even tho he's mute, the narrator is an extra jerk and none of the alternate dimension makes sense. We spend way too little time in each dimension to care, the recurring NPCs just repeat the same kinda dialogue in all the dimensions, what's the point of all of this?? And then, and then the game dares to give me a none ending, and I called it as well. I was like "If you don't give me a conclusion I'm going to be so freaking mad" on the last chapter, and whadya know, it just cuts to black! What's the point of me suffering this nausea then?! What's the point of this pretentious game?! I wish they'd actually utilize the pretty art style for anything worthwhile except...this!
Mind Snares: Alice's Journey
2.1 hours of playtime, 17 of 17 achievements
Personal rating: 4.5/10, Date of finish: July/25
Click for review
The story of this game made the least amount of sense among all the HOGs I've ever played, and that's a low bar! I'm just really really confused throughout. And the ending, what does it mean by "this is where it all began"? It's not a prequel of another game, so what's that about?
I mean, it's a fine game I suppose, typical Artifex Mundi HOG with typical HOG gameplay, nothing special. I guess the only thing that stood out to me is the special effects? As a 2015 HOG title they are pretty neato.
August
ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs
20.3 hours of playtime, 49 of 50 achievements
Personal rating: 9/10, Date of finish: August/16
Click for review
This is an incredible game! Another of the "Next Fest Demo got me to buy it on launch" game, and the full version does indeed live up to the demo. The core game loop is still the same, but you get way more items to disassemble and fix, some of the later ones are truly quite complex! Not to mention there's a contest where you need to assemble a machine from scratch with parts, and if you make a mistake of picking up parts in the wrong order or forgetting to screw in a screw so it couldn't be placed, back to the start of assembly for you. :P Really challenging and I had a fun(albeit sometimes frustrating, at myself obviously) time with that mode. I'd say the weakest part of the game is the story. The characters are...fine I suppose. Kinda kept the same feeling as in the demo since they never really(and honestly it's hard with passing dialogues) fleshed out the NPCs, so they're kinda just...there to break up the mundane work with some new dialogue/new objects. The story itself is...really cliche and the thing with the niece is so convoluted I did not understand what was happening ngl, but...that doesn't matter in these kinds of games anyways. xD The core gameplay loop is solid, and that's what matters.
My Little Spider
26.8 hours of playtime, 29 of 29 achievements
Personal rating: 7.5/10, Date of finish: August/20
Click for review
A spider desktop idle game! The web can just be it's standalone thing, or if you stick it to the corners it'll actually expand and attach, which is super neato. The default has the bugs flying from outside the screen in and then going across the screen to land on the web. At first that was neat, but for prolonged idling turning that off is way better so it doesn't disrupt what you're doing. The spider is very cute and I like the cosmetics and how it's tied to the quest system, so there's incentives to do quests. Only gripe I have with the quest system is it's entirely randomized, so early on you could get a lot of quests that you can't even complete. And even when you've unlocked all maps, the hourly quest sometimes ask for bugs that's way outside the time you can get it, even with constantly using the "quicker time boost". Overall, I had a fun time with it in the corner of my screen while modding and browsing the web, but it didn't compel me to try and 100% the collection of hats and all the small/large/huge/shiny variants of the bugs either, so I'm calling it done here once I get all the achievements. :3
Road to Guangdong - Road Trip Car Driving Simulator
5.4 hours of playtime, 15 of 15 achievements
Personal rating: 6.5/10, Date of finish: August/29
Click for review
This is an interesting game. An "abandoned" early access game that's essentially complete, just kinda bland in terms of gameplay. The driving is rather boring and you also can't zen out and watch the scenery because of the temperature meter. Speaking of temp meter, it makes no god damn sense. I originally was driving at like 40 and less, but the temp keeps overheating and I'd have to break and then have to rev for quite a bit to get the speed back up again, but then it'll overheat so quickly. And then later on I found out that if you rev to like 50 and have it be on gas, the temp kinda just...stays? It'll gradually go up along your speed, but it's no longer the tug of war I was having before. Still tho, it requires way too frequent of micro-management that I couldn't really enjoy the "driving simulator zen vibe" that I imagined for these kinds of games. The maintenance of the car is also just...fine. Kinda annoying especially with how fast the car burns through fuel(yes my parts are good health so it's not oil leak), and the fact that you could just...take parts from the dump and it'll a lot of times have better quality than store sold ones is baffling, but it's...whatever.
What I do like about this game though, is some of the stories. Notice the "some" keyword. I really dislike the "Hard Work" mission, it's just a lot of preachy stuff about balance and what not and the central conflict of appointing a person to take over the Si Fu is kinda stupid, like why couldn't the Si Fu just...do his job? lol Like, yes his Si Fu went away(not dead, just went elsewhere) but I don't see anything that he's actually struggling. And...the fact that he immediately got on my bad side when he insisted I call him Si Fu even though I'm his niece like hello?? A few other stories are just fine, serviceable but nothing to write home about. What I like, or even love, is the starting mission and the ending mission. The starting mission has you helping your Gu Maa's secret boyfriend in convincing your Gu Maa that he's moving here to stay and proposing to her, and honestly it's just super freaking cute. Especially consider it's set in China and as a person from Taiwan the culture is indeed similar, so it just makes me feel heartwarming that a person of Gu Maa's age is able to find love. Kinda gives me hope of myself since I'm near my 30s and I don't think I'll find someone all that soon. The other is the ending mission and the fact that Maa Maa is able to finally say things out loud and be honest with Gu Maa resonated with me of my recent family feuds where I just feel like...because of our culture it's so hard to be honest and just talk, and I like that Maa Maa is able to, even if it's after all these years. And the family reunion of them eating together is just super cute, touched my heart.
| July | August | |
|---|---|---|
| Time played | 123 hours 15 minutes ↓ | 101 hours 19 minutes ↓ |
| Achievements gotten | 126 | 5039 |
| Games 100% completed | 4 | 3 |
| Games discontinued | 0 | 1 |
Missed July post for really no other reason than I just forgor. :P Already finished a quick pagywosg game today since I’ll be traveling to the US for my cousin’s wedding this month, so won’t really have time to play much if any games. :3 So likely not gonna make a post or September either so…see you in November!
August 2026 Progress Report
This month sure was something, I bought Planet Zoo + some deluxe dlc for $2 since it was on a crazy sale and lost two weeks of my life. It’s honestly an incredible management sim but I’m really disappointed in the developers for not getting rid of some long-time bugs that made a specific career scenario almost impossible for me. Other than that, I finished Chants of Sennaar and Shelves and Sorcery, a game that was recommended to me by a friend that was really solid. I bought Liminal Lane off another review here on BLAEO and while it was going to be a mixed review but overall positive, the AI usage + the dev making other games with AI turned it negative for me.
While I have once again failed my to-do list for gaming, I shall not learn my lesson and make another! For September, I want to finish Etrian Odyssey, (I’m in the 5th stratum and loving it here) play .hack, NEVA, The Invincible and a VN. I played a little bit of Battle Chef and I’m honestly not a fan, so I’ll probably end up removing that from my library.
Total games added to backlog: 2 (INFRA, Liminal Lane)
Total completed: 4
35-100+ hours to complete, Planet Zoo is probably the best and most realistic zoo management and building sim I will ever play in my lifetime. With planet Zoo 2 coming out and this game being sold for $2, I ended up finally checking it out and ended up doing almost nothing else for an entire two weeks. The animals are incredibly realistic and you have a ridiculous amount of freedom to create elaborate habitats and builds. You can build underground (the game is kinda finciy about it, beware) and make some lovely Skywalks, small single animal habitats or large multi species safari zone that npcs can go inside with scheduled tours. You can do petting zoos, exhibit areas with smaller animals such as iguanas, spiders, frogs, centipedes, scorpions, use premade buildings or go to the construction tab and make something yourself.
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While I still highly recommend Planet Zoo if you think this is a game you would probably enjoy, beware, this game has a lot of bugs, to the point one career scenario was almost unbeatable for me since apparently, I found all of them. In “Myers Lake Island” my keepers refused to feed any of the animals regardless of how many keepers I had, where the food bowls were placed, or how many keeper huts I built. Thankfully I could still put down “Food Enrichment Items” such as puzzle feeders and grazing balls, but the issue inexplicably fixed itself halfway through the scenario for reasons I could never figure out. My mandrills also constantly died of dehydration after I merged two habitats together and relocated the other animals, which for some reason made the water unreachable despite every water pipe being marked as “accessible.”
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Aside from that, I still really enjoyed the rest of the game, particularly Franchise mode where you got to sell and buy animals from other players to make a zoo. The pathing was frustrating and there were definitely moments where I wanted to throw the entire game into the sun, but tbh the game is fun enough it’s worth putting up with. I can understand why this game has such a dedicated playerbase and if you think this is something you would like playing, Planet Zoo is absolutely worth your time.
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Chants of Sennaar
10-15+ hours to complete, Chants of Sennaar is essentially just a giant logic puzzle loosely based off the Tower of Babel, where each civilization on the tower’s floors speaks a completely different language and you’ve got to translate and decipher each one to figure out what it is you are supposed to be doing to get to the top of it. While this may sound like a complicated game, it’s not terrible as the character is smarter than the player and gives you confirmation when you are correct, so in the worst case scenario you can brute force your way through the puzzles.
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While the deciphering part of the game is quite fun, there really isn’t anything else going on to keep your focus and attention. I accidentally forgot about this game for mayhaps a week before remembering it was something I was doing, before going back to finish it. The story wasn’t my favorite, while I liked the puzzles to get the true ending, the actual ending in question left me with a lot of confusion. There are a lot of positive reviews saying how wonderful the storyline was, which feels kinda crazy to me as I felt like I only understood half of what was happening or why it was even important to do in the first place. It’s a fine game with nothing in particular about it I disliked, so play it if you want, I guess.
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Shelves and Sorcery: Tidy Up the Enchanted Shop
10-30+ hours to complete, Shelves and Sorcery is new to the new Tidy Up genre that’s recently gotten wildly popular thanks to Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library, and if you’ve played that one, you will enjoy using magic and spellcasting to organize these enchanted shops! At the moment there are three different maps with four gamemodes – Casual, Timed, No Magic, and Archmage – with timed not being a countdown, but seeing how fast you can complete the level which then gets added onto a leaderboard. There will be a multiplayer mode in the future, which I’m excited for and look forward to playing.
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Each of the current three levels build on the last one so far, with The Hearth and Barrel being the smallest with 1,048 items and The Grand Athenaeum being the largest with about 4,000 items. There are an assortment of items from food, weapons, potions, books, and crafting supplies. Each item has a place it belongs to in the store and aside from having items on the correct shelf, you can organize things how you like. When a shelf is completed, you get a visual confirmation as well as the nameplate changing colors to black and yellow. Overall, it’s a really nice game about organizing many things that has a lot of potential for future updates and new maps.
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Liminal Lane
1-2 hours to complete, Liminal Lane is a short walking sim with a storyline… If you’re willing to look for it. It’s a game about liminal spaces and while some areas are done really well, others were more weird than anything. I’d like the developer to make more games like this in the future, but maybe with a bigger budget or different engine, because the atmosphere is the most important thing about liminal spaces and it gets really undermined when you see obvious seams, floating objects, etc. While initially I was thinking of a positive but actually mixed review, I thought about it for a bit and really can’t let the cons go.
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While Liminal lane is essentially a one person indie project so I’d usually let AI art as assets fly, It’s really lame to see and I really think the dev could do better. Do better. Otherwise, it’s a perfectly fine indie game that’s short and easy to play.
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Sep 01 2026
Update 160: August 2026
I’ve returned from my vacation, had a lot of fun, but also that took a toll on my gaming.
Lost in Play is a nice point-and-click adventure—it honestly feels like you’re playing through a Saturday morning cartoon.
Following two siblings through their wild imagination, the vibrant art and goofy, dialogue-free animation pull you right in. For the most part, it’s a super smooth ride with fun, intuitive logic that doesn't overcomplicate things. I did hit a couple of head-scratchers along the way that had me staring at the screen some time, but nothing that ruined the flow.
It’s just a cozy, heartwarming time that captures that pure childhood magic without taking itself too seriously.
Space Run Galaxy is a really fun twist on tower defense, taking the action to space as you build up your delivery ship on the fly.
The missions offer great variety to keep you on your toes, but I wished for a way to save weapon layouts. But I guess with the changing ways the ships/cargo are build it is not possible. My only other real complaint is the multiplayer achievements—the player base isn't active enough to clear them easily. Wasn't in the mood to try to cheese them or wait around for other players to transport my cargo.
Despite those friction points, it's a solid, engaging strategy game that’s well worth playing!
Fort Solis is a decent sci-fi walking simulator with incredible visuals and an engaging narrative, but the moment-to-moment gameplay really drags it down.
The most frustrating issue is the protagonist's abysmal walking speed—he moves at a painful crawl, making backtracking through the base a complete chore and actively harming the game's pacing, even when you are "running". The action QTEs don't fare much better; they swap button prompts so frequently and unpredictably that they feel more annoying than thrilling. Those might have been better with a controller.
It’s worth a look if you’re purely here for the atmospheric story, but the sluggish movement and messy controls make it hard to fully enjoy.
And definitely not going back to collect all the missing poster, log files and video files that they have left all over the station
Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure has a lot of charm and potential, but it can be a bit frustrating to navigate.
The world is lovely, and the companion pet mechanics are genuinely cute! However, the game relies heavily on backtracking and crafting, often leaving you to figure out recipes and material locations entirely on your own. Combat feels a bit clunky given how frequently you encounter monsters, and progress can feel stretched out—especially if you're a completionist trying to clean up every flower and quest.
It’s a lighthearted, casual adventure, but it definitely requires some extra patience with its lack of direction.
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Coloring Pixels Onion Pack
20 hours playtime
21 of 21 achievements
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Coloring Pixels Space 2 Pack
18.6 hours playtime
21 of 21 achievements
Overall Backlog Progress: -0,04% change to last times unfinished/never played games (58,32% unfinished games)
Overall SG Wins Progress:-0,16% change to last times unfinished/never played games (48,29% unfinished games)
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WooLoop
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Lucky and a life worth living
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Dreamstones
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American Truck Simulator
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Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
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Pixel Puzzles Ultimate Jigsaw Puzzles
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Coloring Pixels
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PlateUp!
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The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan
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Pixel Puzzles Traditional Jigsaw Puzzles
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Bully: Scholarship Edition
1.6 hours playtime
no achievements
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Evoland Legendary Edition
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Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments
SG wins:
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Urban Legend Hunters 2: Double
0 hours playtime
no achievements
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The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™
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Sakura Forest Girls 2
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SWORN
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Smart Factory Tycoon
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War Hospital
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Dungeons of Hinterberg
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Mai: Child of Ages - Storms of Time DLC
0 hours playtime
0 of 98 achievements
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Tempest Rising
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Pathfinder Adventures - Upgrade to Obsidian Edition
0 hours playtime
0 of 98 achievements
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Euro Truck Simulator 2 - Greece
0 hours playtime
0 of 98 achievements
PoP: thanks to BlueLightning42 & Nunya for challenging me
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Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis
0 hours playtime
no achievements
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Nova Lands
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Gas Station Simulator
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Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments