BLAEO — Backlog Assassins Extraordinaire

Alright. July is in the books. I didn’t quite stick with the plan of playing 2077, but I do expect to jump into that this month, lol. What really happened is I started playing Lords of the Fallen instead. Which was shockingly the most authentic non-FromSoft Soulsborne I’ve maybe ever played. That said, I did come to realize that maybe I’d jumped the gun in starting this one, as about ten hours in, I realized I really wasn’t in the proper state of mind to see it through to the end quite yet. But I will reiterate that this is, at least in its current state, maybe the best non-FS Soulsborne game out there. Needless to say however, I set it aside for now, to be revisited when I’m in more of a methodical Soulsborne mood.

Outside of that, I did wrap up Sumerian Six, which was a bit of a sleeper hit for me. The dev for All Fridges Are Psychotic sent over a save file that fixed a game breaking bug I’d encountered, so I was able to go back and finish that as well. Fun and quirky PnC. Other standouts for me this month were Dystopika, Terminus: Zombie Survivors, and Old Skies, which were all very cool in their own ways.

July Completions

Sumerian Six

29.0 hours, 26 of 32 achievements
Sumerian Six was a fun isometric stealth game featuring an Indiana Jones style pulpy story and cool occult meets technology setting.

Dystopika

3.4 hours, 13 of 15 achievements
Quality no stakes builder game. Completely cozy with a Cyberpunk meets Dark City type vibe. No building costs. The only limitations are your imagination (and the borders of the city, lol). Super cool IMO.

The Simplest Game in the World

0.8 hours, 6 of 15 achievements
This is a very clever troll game, where a rogue AI challenges you to try to access the inner workings of the game. Kinda GLADOS meets HAL 9000. It's also a typing game. There is no gameplay outside of typed interaction.

All Fridges are Psychotic

2.0 hours, 1 of 9 achievements
A very silly and self deprecating PnC. Quite fun. Cheevos broke for me when I had to use a dev provided save file to advance the game past a game breaking bug I'd encountered on my save file that couldn't be otherwise fixed. But yes, I did enjoy the game and the dev was very nice and responsive.

Neyasnoe

0.5 hours, no achievements
This was an interesting little walking sim that explored the futility of life in Russia while also offering the suggestion that finding a way to cope with our meaningless existence w/o resorting to drugs and alcohol might be ideal. There were some memorable locations in the game. And a lot of what I assume are Easter Eggs that Russian players would understand better than I.

I Am Busy Digging A Hole

6.6 hours, 23 of 24 achievements
In some ways, this was better than A Game About Digging A Hole. In some ways it was worse. You know the deal. I had a fun enough time playing it.

A Game About Mining Rocks

2.2 hours, 0 of 9 achievements
This game provides a different spin on the new Digging-like genre, replacing digging with mining, and adding a bit more gameplay. No cheevos unlock during the first playthrough though, so you will have to play it twice if you want to earn those (more like four times for at least one cheevo). Fun enough game.

Au Revoir

1.7 hours, 11 of 19 achievements
This was a pretty cool PnC featuring a world where the wealthy can transfer their consciousness to new bodies after their current body expires. Pretty interesting and relatively short game.

Dust Raiders

11.4 hours, 21 of 25 achievements
Decent postapo economy meets Road Warrior/Mad Max type game with an overland driving map and isometric vehicle combat.

Asteroid Requiem

0.6 hours, 9 of 10 achievements
Cool little expose on environmentalism offered from the perspective of an asteroid looking down on the ruin of humanity. I found the overall message to be compelling.

Terminus: Zombie Survivors

28.5 hours, 19 of 60 achievements
Peak zombie survival game. Lot of survival mechanics, satisfying exploration, nice turn-based combat, and multiple endings each requiring their own unique set of circumstances to unfold.

A Doctor's Term

1 hours, 7 of 9 achievements
A THX-1138/Logan's Run/Equilibrium type dystopian society is presented in this walking sim. I enjoyed it.

A Game About Flicking A Switch

1.5 hours, 26 of 30 achievements
Another game in the fine tradition of fourth wall breaking troll games. This one features some very cool and clever puzzles.

Old Skies

13.4 hours, 23 of 44 achievements
The latest Wadjet Eye game and their best so far (IMO). Super cool time travel story with multiple settings.

July Retirements

Return - Couldn’t get this to run properly. Bought, then returned.
Grim Tides - Better as a mobile title than as a PC title.
Cosmic Parkour: Infinite Journey - Shit controls for a parkour game. It’s delisted now.
Supermoves: World of Parkour - Excellent controls for a parkour game. Also delisted. But I was more interested in trying it out than actually completing all the challenges.
Ertugrul of Ulukayin - This is a candidate for getting unretired at some point. But currently, early into early access, it’s not worth playing. Does have some Witcher meets Ghost of Tsushima vibes, but super low poly and like I say, not fit for consumption yet.
CONDEMNED TO BE FREE - The terrible controls make this pretty much unplayable. There does seem to be a decent game underneath all that, but I’ll never experience it.

Plans for August

Cyberpunk 2077 of course, lol. We’ll see, but I do expect to actually get to it this month. Other games on the docket include: Dustwind: Resistance; Amerzone: The Explorer’s Legacy; Wanderstop (on the Deck); Qume: Echoes of Sand (I don’t necessarily expect to complete it, but it’s gonna get a test run); and maybe even Clair Obscur. I’m sure some smaller titles will also make their way onto the list, and there is a chance I’ll try out the new Terminus: Zombie Survivors DLC as well.