Report #21: December + 2021 Afterword

Happy New Year, assassins,

I had moderately high hopes for my December backlog-clearing and holiday gaming, which ended up dashed, mostly because one chosen title took a lot longer to finish than I had anticipated. I started the month by 100%-ing RiME, which I had already played to the end back in 2019. As far as gameplay goes, it’s not a deep game, but it’s has a bittersweet story, and as the sucker I am I always let myself be moved by tales of children in distress.

Each year, I try to figure out a game or two to play during the Christmas-New Year period that go well with that particular season. My requirements are a bit hazy, but I’m generally looking for titles that are story rich and adventure-y, with a touch of escapism and emotional hook. To give a few examples, games that I have previously picked out for this occasion include Beyond Good and Evil, Tomb Raider (2013), and Ori and the Blind Forest. I had originally planned to play Baldur’s Gate, but when I won Planescape: Torment on Steamgifts, I figured it might be a good swap. I do try to play my wins in a somewhat timely fashion. Torment, like Baldur, is a D&D-based, stats-focused roleplaying game, but has quite a different setting. Instead of the conventional high fantasy world of Forgotten Realms, it mostly takes place in a grimy city that lies at the center of a multiverse and that sees the tensions from being surrounded by all these various planes of existence. At the beginning of the game the protagonist wakes up in a morgue, having failed to properly die, and starts investigating the reason for this predicament. Parts of the story are great, and there’s a fair amount of freedom to play the character, which is cool, but it does not seem to me that the choices matter very much in the end. Also, what’s up with introducing a character that completely shapes the ending five minutes before you get there? I’m happy that I played this game and appreciate the work that went into it, but for me it has too many storytelling flaws to reach the expectations I had on it. And honestly, it’s a bit on the long side…

Overall, 2021 was a disappointing year for quality gaming for me; nothing like the glories of 2020, when it seemed I played a masterpiece every other month! Going through my list of completed games (twenty, a pretty good number!), I only find four memorable ones, which is way too few considering the time I put in. The meager result makes me wonder if I should maybe reduce my gaming time even further, or possibly change my game-picking criteria. Also a bit discouraging: I added 32 new games to my Steam account during 2021. Oh well, no need to bother you with all this, fellow assassins. I wish you a magnificent 2022 with plenty of backlog-crushing successes and gaming derring-do!

Be well.

Beaten or Completed

• RiME
  

  24.0 hours playtime

  31 of 31 achievements

• Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition
  

  75.8 hours playtime

  24 of 50 achievements

Also Played

• Metro 2033
  

  16.8 hours playtime

  11 of 48 achievements

• GRID
  

  6.5 hours playtime

  no achievements

I Am Weak, I Need Help (New Addition)

• TEKKEN 7
  

  0 hours playtime

  0 of 42 achievements

Favorite Gaming Moments of 2021

• XCOM 2
  

  94.3 hours playtime

  29 of 88 achievements

• The Walking Dead: The Final Season
  

  11.7 hours playtime

  36 of 48 achievements

• Hitman
  

  22.9 hours playtime

  18 of 69 achievements

• Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition
  

  75.8 hours playtime

  24 of 50 achievements

Steam Library Snapshot

2021

2020