Alright. March is firmly in the books. It was a solid month overall despite being busy IRL. I did indulge heavily in buying games throughout the month. But I probably won’t buy anything significant again for a little while outside of perhaps an upgrade to Gray Zone Warfare. Esoteric Ebb was the clear winner for this month’s favorites. And I daresay this one may still be contending for GOTY by years end. I was also very glad to finally restart Solasta: Crown of the Magister and wrap that up.
March Completions
Atomfall
30.0 hours, 22 of 55 achievements
Actually, a pretty fun Fallout-like. It's definitely its own game and the comparisons are based mostly on style rather than content. Really had a more techno meets cosmic horror style story that picked up its pace steadily throughout. It's not perfect, but it was fun. The Wicked Isle DLC was part of this playthrough and added context to the main story while also being intertwined in it.
PULMO
0.7 hours, 12 of 20 achievements
Fun, quirky little puzzle game. Nothing truly complicated as it is really designed to dive into the topic of managing your individuality while still being part of the greater whole. More or less.
War of the Wormholes: Duty is duty
2.6 hours, 13 of 20 achievements
Cool PnC adventure with some clever puzzles and a quirky cast of characters. Quite the charming game.
Solasta: Crown of the Magister
76.8 hours, 67 of 132 achievements
This is a CRPG that is very true to DnD 5.1e rules. It incorporates a lot of this immaculately. The game does have a lot of flaws, but it was a good time IMO. Base game was +/-45 hours. The rest of the playtime was for the Lost Valley DLC. Which was actually better than the base campaign, but also quite a bit buggier.
Chill Beach Simulator
29.9 hours, 6 of 11 achievements
This is exactly what the name implies. It's really more like an interactive screensaver than a game. But it is chill, has a couple funny moments, and is pretty relaxing.
Tidy Backpack
3.3 hours, 14 of 16 achievements
Another backpack organizer. This one is okay. The best thing about it was all the item descriptions, which were all worth reading and quite funny quite often. The remaining two cheevos were broken.
project_Structure_01
4.1 hours, no achievements
This is a megalithic structure walking sim. Reasonably vast, a cool story told via messages left behind by the city's now lost inhabitants, and pretty amazing visuals overall.
Game Torch
0.0 hours, no achievements
This isn't actually a game. It's a game finder for when you have vast library paralysis but want to play something. Needs a lot of time left in the oven, but the concept is valid.
The Promise Tree of Alden
0.7 hours, 5 of 5 achievements
Classic Tonguc walking sim. If you like his work, you'll like this one for sure. Amazing visuals, and he does play around with lighting and filtering a lot in this one.
Dream on
0.0 hours, 1 of 3 achievements
FTP title focused on feelings of loneliness and isolation. I can't identify with that actually, but I think it would be a worthwhile experience for people who do. It's like a ten-minute commitment at most.
Esoteric Ebb
18.9 hours, 25 of 56 achievements
This is a great CRPG, Disco Elysium-like following DnD 5.1e rules with some homebrew. It's exaggerated, funny, heart-warming potentially, and just all around awesome. Also, it's a detective game. Got a lot going on in this one. The only knock on it is that it's a bit of a slow starter.
March Retirements
John’s Quest - I was curious about it, but it’s a precision platformer, one of my most hated genres, lol. FTP though. :)
BonfireSimulator - A surprisingly complex camping sim, but it just didn’t hit right for me. It does do a lot right though, even if some of its rules are obscure.
Transience - This is BigFry’s first game release. Honestly, it’s got an awesome visual style, but I thought the pacing was kind of bad, weapon sway was way too exaggerated for some weapons, and enemy placement was annoying AF, be it their static positions or patrol routes. Ultimately, the game just annoyed me. I refunded this one.
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days - This game is cool, and it’s only shelved until it leaves early access. I really like it, but it needs some work still.
Drive Beyond Horizons - Also cool, but this one really needs a couple years of active development still. Who knows if it’ll get there. I refunded this one.
Plans for April
I’ve already started Lushfoil Photography Sim and A Completely Fictional Story About a City Inside a Whale, both of which are pretty buggy. But both are cool in their own way as well. I intend to try and finish them. I also have jumped into Gray Zone Warfare, and it’s hitting just right despite being in what the devs call “pre-alpha” currently. It’s pretty peak considering where it’s at in its development process, which I would imagine will last another couple years before they finally leave early access.
Xenonauts 2, Starcom:Nexus, Hozy, Piece by Piece, and Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon are all potentials for this month as well. We’ll see how it goes.
And that indulgent month of additions to the backlog. Don’t judge, lol.
AETHUS; Aquamariner ; Arbor Island; ASTRONEER; Battle Brothers - Beasts & Exploration ; Battle Brothers - Blazing Deserts; Battle Brothers - Warriors of the North ; Battlefield™ 1 Revolution; Blacksmith: Ignite the Forge; Blood Nova ; ColdRidge; Dead Finger Dice ; Defective Detectives; Definitely Not Fried Chicken ; Digging the Forgotten Cave; Doc Apocalypse; Dungeon Clawler; Emoji Wars; End of Lines; Esoteric Ebb ; Eternal Pinball RPG; For Her ; FORMIDO; Future War Tactics: SOF vs Alien Invasion – Turn-Based Strategy; Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered; Gray Zone Warfare + Tactical Edition Upgrade; Green Pond Town; Guild Wars® Reforged + Eye of the North; GWENT: Rogue Mage; It Returned To The Desert; Jennifer Wilde: Unlikely Revolutionaries; LiminalCore ; Lushfoil Photography Sim; Made Beaver ; Meridian 157: Chapters 1 - 3; Mist Survival; Pixel Combat Shooter; Quasimorph; Ravenswatch; Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition; Return to Krondor; RuneScape: Dragonwilds; SCP - Mystery Man; Starcom: Unknown Space; Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League; SWORDHAVEN; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate; The Forever Winter; The Inheritance of Crimson Manor + Comic Book & OST; The Jester and the Madman; The Last of Us™ Part I; The Last Plague: Blight; The Promise Tree of Alden; The Sentient Box; The Wandering Village; Tidy Backpack; Twilight Oracle; Umpteenth Photo; Unusual Findings; Wasteland with Robots; Whistling Waters; You Shouldn’t Be Here