Zelrune

December 2022 Progress Report

2022 Resolutions complete!!

I’ve beaten my 2022 new year resolutions! I have completed 22 more games than I’ve added to my library and beaten 80 games this year! I did a short library cleanout for the new year and with that, comes new resolutions. I’m not setting a number of games to beat this time because quite frankly, to meet that 80 game criteria I ended up playing a bunch of games I originally would never have taken a second glance at (Looking at you, 100 hidden games.) and avoided playing some games solely that I could fit 6+ games in a month.

My 2023 resolutions are:
1.) Beat 20 more games than I add to my library!
2.) Beat all SG wins within 2 months of obtaining them!
3.) Have fun.

Happy new year y’all. :)

63% (278/442)
13% (57/442)
12% (51/442)
12% (55/442)
0% (1/442)
5.2 hours
A fantastic game to end the year

It’s the start of Summer and already there is an ongoing mystery in the tiny town of Beacon Pines; Luka’s mother vanished a couple months ago and now that school is out, Luka and best friend Rolo can both really start investigating! But Gathering clues and trespassing into unknown territory leads to a few unsettling truths, and Luka and friends must stealthily make their way down this rabbit hole before someone who wants the towns secrets left buried really, really starts to take notice. If things lasted forever, they might not feel as special, and change is always needed to grow.

5+ hours to complete with branching routes, this creepy cute game has some adorable artwork and incredible writing! Collect charmed words to change the storyline and reach different endings to collect more words to find a true ending! I loved the characters and character art more than expected and while I was originally hesitant to play because of the multiple story routes, I can safely say, it’s not a problem. It was shockingly easy to play the entirety of this game in one sitting, and without saying any spoilers, you’ll like it!


Half-Life 2
Play as a cute fox who eradicates a plague.

Spirit of the North

8/10
7.5 hours
24 of 24 achievements

Taking shelter from the snow, stumble upon an icy cavern to take cover inside! Make friends with the slumbering spirit of the north that lives here and go on a curious adventure to eradicate the plague that has taken root while the spirit slept! Channel mystical powers to destroy plague tethers, return what was lost to the deceased, find the source of the infection and bring peace back to the devastated area! Also; you’re a fox.

cute

6+ hours to complete, 8 chapters, 7 cosmetic skins which are rewarded to you based off your collectable completion. Spirit of the North is an absolutely gorgeous game with a bit of a confusing story; it’s very good vs evil with your character using blue energy and blue Spirit Blossoms to vanquish the red Plague Tethers and red energy; but the ending and actual source of the enemy is a bit unclear. There are a few puzzles, but they are generally very simple and used to assist you in learning a new ability that you gained, and while collectables can be missed in the initial playthrough there is nothing you can permanently skip.

Half-Life 2
A cute photography game!

TOEM

8/10
8.3 hours
48 of 48 achievements

Go on an adventure to experience TOEM, a strange, magical phenomenon that occurs only on the far-off mountaintop of Kiiruberg’s Peak; It’s a long journey, but your Nana has done it before, and has highlighted several tourist spots along the way. Armed with only a camera and an empty photo album, explore 7 main locations, assist residents for stamps to get free bus rides and apparel, and take photos of memorable things on the way to Kiiruberg to make the greatest memory of this voyage yet!

Cute

3-8 hours to complete, TOEM is a photographic exploration game where you set off on a journey to experience the phenomenon called TOEM while photographing and filling your album with snapshots of your adventure. Hand drawn in black and white, the game was surprisingly beautiful and fun to explore; looking around with your camera can let you catch things you will have otherwise missed, and helping other people rewards you with plenty of apparel items. There is a fair bit of optional content, such as taking photos of all the animals you see for achievements, and yes, you can pet the dogs.

Half-Life 2
I'm not mad, I'm just dissapo- no, actually, I'm still upset.

Destiny's Princess: A War Story, A Love Story

2/10
9.7 hours
13 of 13 achievements

Fire burns around you, the castle is being attacked by monstrous demons from a fantasy; your mother, brother, father, fiancé, and a multitude of servants and close vassals have already died and now, cornered by fiend and flame, you make a wish with a devil to return to how things were before the attack, and you do. In exchange for this new world, your own has been stolen away along with your memories. Alas, even a devil is unable to resurrect the dead, and 5 heroes from other worlds are pulled in to replace your family, their memories locked away and replaced with the deceased. If they remember who they were, they can return to their original worlds. Prevent this from happening, at the very least, for the castle and servants who still stand behind you, and the demons who fight to slaughter you all.

10+ hours to complete, I don’t understand how Destiny’s Princess has such positive reviews. With no voice acting, no auto read, what I’m pretty sure was the exact same three background music tracks playing on repeat, the multitude of bad ends disguised as good ends, and quite frankly, terrible route options, it doesn’t have much to stand on. Way too many “good” endings are either, you die, he dies, you both die, or it’s bittersweet with a total of 4 (out of 10) endings being either good or ok, there is a lot of disappointment including the princess you play as. In every single route, except one, you are regulated to doing laundry and stitching while the guys go off and advance the plot, and she’s so spineless, helpless, and such a stereotypical lovesick maiden it’s a bit of a cringy read.

Yikes.

I played in the order of Hanbei –> Kotarou –> Yukimura –> Masamune –> Oda Nobunaga. The only routes I would recommend you play, if you even opt to do so, is Kotaru, Masamune, then Nobunaga. !Hanbei, your “fiancé”, is living garbage whose route is the entire definition of sexual assault; Yukimura is just, incest while also not being that; Kotaro is actually cute and I liked his route but the endings are “bad ends”; Masamune is a good guy who encourages you to use a bow and protects you with some nice endings; and Oda is… Oda. Despite his ridiculous personality flaws, his route is the only one where you grow a spine. Instead of hiding away in the castle with your handmaidens during the story’s climax you fight and are strong enough to make killing blows against the demons. His endings are the best in the entire game, and the most interesting since in Oda’s route you learn what’s actually going on in this storyline, and you heavily reaping the benefits of learning to become a competent ruler from him.\

Since I started this route.

Overall, I don’t recommend Destiny’s Princess. I can’t. It was a terrible VN I wasted my time on, it’s missing too many features, the storyline is weird, the guys are mostly dislikeable, and even reaching an ending just had me thankful that it was over. There are many other games you could play instead, like Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds and its sequel, or just anything else that won’t feel like you wasted 10 hours on something you’re going to forget about in a week. Skip it?

TLDR; No voice acting, no auto-read, basic storyline with a dislikeable spineless protagonist and even more repulsive dating options. Sexual assault, multiple bad ends disguised as good ends where you die, he dies, you both die, or slightly bittersweet. A total of, maybe 4 good endings with repetitive background scenery and music tracks.

Half-Life 2
You look for 100 hidden dogs.

100 hidden dogs

7/10
0.2 hours
100 of 100 achievements

10+min to complete, find 100 Hidden Dogs in this hand-drawn HOG with catchy music. This HOG features animals from other hidden object games made by this developer, and a few animations.
Press “N” for nightmode, or “Del” and “Esc” to reset all achievements.

Half-Life 2
A point and click adventure

Cleo - a pirate's tale

8/10
5.7 hours
24 of 24 achievements

Cleo is 14 years old and is absolutely done with working at her father’s bar; she wants adventure, thrills, excitement, treasure! But all her dad wants is for her to grow up! Enchanted by the multitude of books about the legendary pirate Captain Cabeca and his amazing adventures out at sea and wanting to leave this disgusting bar of fishermen and drunks behind, she’s dying for her own quest to begin; but when something fantastical actually happens, she quickly realizes she might be in over her head. A severed hand holding a logbook, an almost-death at sea, Cleo would like to go home now, please.
Set sail in search of a treasure even the mightiest pirate captain could never find – The Treasure of Eternal Memory.

4-6+ hours to complete, Cleo - a pirate's tale is a point and click adventure game with logic puzzles, remarkable voice acting, and bit of a dark story as there are multiple character deaths. Don’t let that put you off from playing; the game itself is pretty fun but the optional achievements are a bit tedious and I seriously recommend following a guide if you intend to 100% it, but if not, go right ahead and enjoy this absolute gem!

Half-Life 2
One of the few HOG's I can say I actually liked.

King's Heir: Rise to the Throne

7/10
4.9 hours
18 of 18 achievements

The Ulmer brothers are the fraternal twins of the King’s advisor in the Kingdom of Griffinvale; and largely play a similar role as their father did growing up, which is, assisting and advising the king. An avid hunter, the king was coming back on one such trip with his guards and the brothers when the drawbridge leading to the kingdom was raised, and all the guards vanished! The Ulmer brothers make their way across to see a terrible and gruesome sight, only to return to the king and find much the same. The King is dead, murdered, the brothers framed; and they must clear their name while preventing a new and unjust queen from stealing the throne! Where is a legitimate prince when you need one?

5+ hours to complete, King’s Heir: Rise to the Throne was completely nonsensical and honestly pretty great. True to HOG logic, there were many silly obstacles in your path while also being fairly fun to play with an interesting and engaging storyline. Two chapters, but the first one is the main game, with the second being an extra that takes place after the storyline. The extra I didn’t particularly like, but that’s because I got stuck at a point where I was looking for an adhesive, and the game was being absolutely ridiculous and essentially told me to look in a paper wasps nest to gather honey to use as glue. First of all, wasps don’t make honey, second, and I will die on this hill, honey cannot be used as an adhesive! It may be sticky but you try to glue anything together with it!!!!

EvilBlackSheep

Happy New Year!! I’m glad to see someone else who loved Beacon Pines <3 Hidden Gem of the year!

Zelrune

It was!!! There were so many interesting story twists, but they were all good! Even up near the end during the reveal I was kinda suspicious but not that suspicious.

EvilBlackSheep

Same. It was looking so deceptively cute also that it’s not at all what i was expecting. I feel like a lot of people skipped on it because they thought it would be a kid game.

skanda

I have completed 22 more games than I’ve added to my library and beaten 80 games this year!

Congrats, that’s quite an achievement!

Zelrune

Thank you! I think I’ll try to keep it 20+ every year so that one day, the beast of backlog can be vanquished.

MouseWithBeer

Congratulations on beating your goals as well! 22 more games completed more than added is pretty damn impressive!
Best of luck for the new year! :)

Zelrune

Happy new year and thank you! It was a great test of willpower that I look forward to doing in 2023 as well!

Traqie

Congrats on hitting your goal! I see some big games too in your list so that’s quite an achievement!

Zelrune

Thank you!! So far this new year is going great, not making myself complete 6 games every month was a huge chore because now I’m left with all the bigger games I avoided so I could fit 6 in a month; but, I can also play games that would require all month with no other attentions.