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.
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).