ā 30: August 2026
M I R R O R ' SāE D G E
no achievements, 8.4 hours
I played the game for Play or Pay 3rd Cycle of 2026 and it was picked for me by Menels.
Mirror's Edge was a game I bounced off hard back on the Xbox 360. I remember trying it years ago, hating it, and giving up pretty quickly. Coming back to it now again with a lot more gaming experience under my belt, I had a much better time. The parkour is still a really cool concept, and when everything flows together, it feels great.
That said, the game definitely shows its age. The combat is still pretty rough, and I got stuck on a couple of parkour sections for over 30 minutes because Faith just refused to jump the right distance or angle. It was frustrating enough that I questioned whether I was doing something wrong or if the controls were just fighting me.
Even with those issues, I still enjoyed it overall. It's easy to see why Mirror's Edge became such a cult classic, and I had fun with it despite the jank. Just be prepared for a few moments where the game might test your patience as much as your platforming skills.
T O E M
48/48 (100%), 6.7 hours
I played the game for Play or Pay 3rd Cycle of 2026 and it was picked for me by Menels.
TOEM is just ridiculously cute. The whole idea of wandering around this little black-and-white world, taking pictures and helping people with their problems, is such a simple but charming concept. The puzzles aren't particularly difficult, but they're fun to figure out, and I liked that I could just pick it up, play for a bit, and relax.
My biggest annoyance was the camera. Since your character is basically a billboarded sprite, the camera doesn't always face the direction I thought I was facing, which got a little frustrating at times. I also think the black-and-white art style limits how pretty some of the environments could have been, but I understand that's part of the game's identity, so I can't really complain too much.
It's short, easy, relaxing, and very, very cute. Sometimes that's all I really need from a game.
I R O NāS N O U T
8/37 (22%), 3.0 hours
Iron Snout is a cute little game with a fun idea, but unfortunately it just wasn't really for me. The pig is adorable though, so it gets bonus points for that. š·
I also appreciate that it's completely free, and I played it as part of an event on the NEW GAME Discord server, so thank Mistrace for making me play this one! š I just wish the controller support was a bit better, as that definitely affected my enjoyment.
Not a bad little free game if the gameplay is your thing, but I don't think I'll be coming back to it anytime soon.