Charles Nonsens’ profile
Personal gaming thoughts
With my limited time for gaming, a game has to be enjoyable to be played. I already have enough grinding in real life and would rather shelf an unsatisfying game than waste time on it. I don’t care much for achievements, unless they expand or improve the gaming experience.
Priorities for unfinished games
-
Games won on Steamgifts a fair amount of time ago
Well-reviewed games from mid-aughts and later
Games started and enjoyed but not finished
Games with sequels also in the backlog -
Recent Steamgifts wins
Newer games -
Older games
Off-Steam Game Library
Title | Status | Platform |
Assassin’s Creed II | Beaten | Uplay |
Bulletstorm | Beaten | Amazon DL |
Crysis | Beaten | GOG |
Dragon Age: Origins | Beaten | Origin |
Driver San Francisco | Beaten | Uplay |
Fallout | Beaten | GOG |
Fallout 2 | Beaten | GOG |
Far Cry 3 | Beaten | Uplay |
Full Throttle Remastered | Beaten | GOG |
Gone Home | Beaten | Amazon |
Grand Theft Auto V | Beaten | Rockstar, Epic |
Indigo Prophecy | Beaten | GOG |
Jade Empire | Beaten | Origin |
Mass Effect 2 | Beaten | Origin |
Mass Effect 3 | Beaten | Origin |
Medal of Honor Pacific Assault | Beaten | Origin |
Metro Last Light Redux | Beaten | Epic |
Mirror’s Edge | Beaten | Amazon DL |
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time | Beaten | Uplay |
The Saboteur | Beaten | Origin |
Trine | Beaten | Amazon DL |
Valiant Hearts | Beaten | Uplay |
Velvet Assassin | Beaten | Amazon DL |
The Whispered World | Beaten | GOG |
Title | Status | Platform |
STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl | Unfinished | Amazon DL |
The Witness | Unfinished | Epic |
Torchlight | Unfinished | GOG |
Title | Status | Platform |
10 Second Ninja X | Never played | Amazon |
12 is Better than 6 | Never played | Humble |
2064: Read Only Memories | Never played | Epic |
20XX | Never played | Epic |
3 out of 10: Season 1 | Never played | Epic |
3 out of 10: Season 2 | Never played | Epic |
A Normal Lost Phone | Never played | Amazon |
A Plague Tale: Innocence | Never played | Epic |
A Short Hike | Never played | Epic |
A Total War Saga: Troy | Never played | Epic |
Absolute Drift | Never played | Epic |
Adventure Pals | Never played | Amazon |
Aegis Defenders | Never played | Amazon |
Age of Wonders | Never played | GOG |
American Fugitive | Never played | Amazon |
Amnesia: Rebirth | Never played | Epic |
Among Us | Never played | Epic |
Anarcute | Never played | Amazon |
Anodyne 2: Return To Dust | Never played | Epic |
Antichamber | Never played | Humble |
Antihero | Never played | Amazon |
Ape Out | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
ARK: Survival Evolved | Never played | Epic |
Assassin’s Creed Chronicles China | Never played | Uplay |
Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag | Never played | Uplay |
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate | Never played | Uplay |
Assassin’s Creed Unity | Never played | Uplay |
Assassin’s Creed III | Never played | Uplay |
Assassins Creed Syndicate | Never played | Epic |
Automachef | Never played | Amazon |
Aven Colony | Never played | Epic |
Avicii Invector | Never played | Amazon |
Axiom Verge | Never played | Epic |
Aztez | Never played | Epic |
Bad North Jotunn Edition | Never played | Epic |
Barony | Never played | Epic |
Batman Arkham Knight | Never played | Epic |
Battle Chef Brigade | Never played | Amazon |
Battlefield 1 | Never played | Origin |
Battlefield 3 | Never played | Origin |
Battlefield 4 | Never played | Origin |
Battlefield V | Never played | Origin |
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 | Never played | Origin |
Bejeweled | Never played | Origin |
Blair Witch | Never played | Epic |
Bomber Crew | Never played | Amazon |
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel | Never played | Epic |
Borderlands 3 | Never played | Epic |
Braveland | Never played | Humble |
Bridge Constructor: The Walking Dead | Never played | Epic |
Broforce | Never played | Amazon |
Broken Age | Never played | Amazon, Humble |
Burnout Paradise | Never played | Amazon DL |
Carcassonne | Never played | Epic |
Cave Story + | Never played | Epic |
Celeste | Never played | Epic |
Chicken Assassin Reloaded | Never played | Amazon |
City of Brass | Never played | Epic |
Close to the Sun | Never played | Epic |
Cluster Truck | Never played | Amazon |
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 | Never played | Origin |
Conarium | Never played | Epic |
Consortium | Never played | GOG |
Costume Quest 2 | Never played | Epic |
Crashlands | Never played | Epic |
Creature in the Well | Never played | Epic |
Crossing Souls | Never played | Amazon |
Crusader | Never played | Origin |
Crying Suns | Never played | Epic |
Cultist Simulator | Never played | Amazon |
Cursed Castilla | Never played | Amazon |
Daemon X Machina | Never played | Epic |
Dandara | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
Darkest Dungeon | Never played | Epic |
Darksiders 2 | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
DARQ | Never played | Epic |
Dead in Bermuda | Never played | Origin |
Dead Space 2 | Never played | Origin |
Dead Space 3 | Never played | Origin |
Death Coming | Never played | Epic |
Death Squared | Never played | Amazon |
Defense Grid: The Awakening | Never played | Epic |
Deponia Doomsday | Never played | Amazon |
Desert Child | Never played | Amazon |
Devil May Cry HD | Never played | Amazon |
Distraint | Never played | GOG |
Double Cross | Never played | Amazon |
Downwell | Never played | Amazon |
Dragon Age 2 | Never played | Origin |
Dragon Age Inquisition | Never played | Origin |
Draknek & Co Puzzle Bundle | Never played | Amazon |
Drawful 2 | Never played | Epic |
Dubwars | Never played | Amazon |
Dungeons 3 | Never played | Amazon |
Earthlock | Never played | Amazon |
Elite Dangerous | Never played | Epic |
Enter the Gungeon | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
Epistory - Typing Chronicles | Never played | Amazon |
Etherborn | Never played | Amazon |
Europa Universalis IV | Never played | Epic |
Faeria | Never played | Epic |
Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon | Never played | Uplay |
Farming Simulator 19 | Never played | Epic |
FTL Faster Than Light | Never played | Epic |
Figment | Never played | Epic |
Football Manager 2020 | Never played | Epic |
For The King | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
Fractured Minds | Never played | Amazon |
FRAMED Collection | Never played | Amazon |
Frostpunk | Never played | Epic, GOG |
Furi | Never played | Amazon |
Galactic Civilizations III | Never played | Epic |
Gato Roboto | Never played | Amazon |
Ghostbusters | Never played | Epic |
Ghostrunner | Never played | GOG |
GNOG | Never played | Epic |
Godfall | Never played | Epic |
Gods Will Fall | Never played | Epic |
God’s Trigger | Never played | Epic |
GoNNER | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
Grim Fandango Remastered | Never played | Humble |
Guild of Dungeoneering | Never played | Amazon |
Gunpoint | Never played | Amazon |
Headlander | Never played | Amazon |
Heave Ho | Never played | Amazon |
Hello Neighbor | Never played | Epic |
Hellpoint | Never played | GOG |
Her Story | Never played | Amazon |
High Hell | Never played | Amazon |
Hitman: Absolution | Never played | GOG |
Hob | Never played | Epic |
Horace | Never played | Epic |
Horizon Chase Turbo | Never played | Epic |
Hotline Miami | Never played | Amazon |
Hotline Miami 2 | Never played | Amazon |
Hover: Revolt of Gamers | Never played | Amazon |
Hue | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
Hyper Light Drifter | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
I, Hope | Never played | Amazon |
InnerSpace | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
Inside | Never played | Epic |
Insurmountable | Never played | Epic |
Into The Breach | Never played | Epic |
Ironcast | Never played | Epic |
Jackbox Party Pack | Never played | Epic |
Jalopy | Never played | Humble |
Joggernauts | Never played | Amazon |
Journey to the Savage Planet | Never played | GOG |
Jurassic World Evolution | Never played | Epic |
Just Cause 4 | Never played | Epic |
Kabounce | Never played | Amazon |
Keep in Mind: Remastered | Never played | Amazon |
KID A MNESIA Exhibition | Never played | Epic |
Killing Floor 2 | Never played | Epic |
Kingdom: New Lands | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
Kingsway | Never played | Amazon |
Knockout City | Never played | Origin |
Layers of Fear | Never played | Epic |
Layers of Fear 2 | Never played | Epic |
Legends of Eisenwald | Never played | Humble |
Lego Batman Trilogy | Never played | Epic |
Lifeless Planet | Never played | Epic |
Lightmatter | Never played | Amazon |
Little Inferno | Never played | Epic |
Loop Hero | Never played | Epic |
Mable & The Wood | Never played | Amazon |
Madden NFL 08 | Never played | Amazon DL |
Madden NFL 22 | Never played | Origin |
Mages of Mystralia | Never played | Epic |
Majesty Master Collection | Never played | Amazon |
Manual Samuel | Never played | Amazon |
Massive Chalice | Never played | Humble |
MDK | Never played | GOG |
Metal Slug 3 | Never played | Amazon |
Metro: 2033 Redux | Never played | Epic |
Minit | Never played | Epic |
Moonlighter | Never played | Epic |
Mothergunship | Never played | Epic |
Moving Out | Never played | Epic |
Mount & Blade | Never played | GOG |
Mr. Shifty | Never played | Amazon |
Mudrunner | Never played | Epic |
Mugsters | Never played | Amazon |
Mutant Year Zero | Never played | Epic |
My Time at Portia | Never played | Epic |
Narcos: Rise of the Cartels | Never played | Amazon |
NBA 2K21 | Never played | Epic |
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit | Never played | Origin |
Need for Speed Most Wanted 2 | Never played | Origin |
Neverwinter Nights | Never played | GOG |
Next Up Hero | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
NHL 09 | Never played | Amazon DL |
Night in the Woods | Never played | Epic |
Nioh | Never played | Epic |
Nuclear Throne | Never played | Epic |
Obduction | Never played | Epic, GOG |
Observer | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
Oddworld: New and Tasty | Never played | Epic |
Offworld Trading Company | Never played | Epic |
Old School Musical | Never played | Amazon |
Orwell 2 | Never played | Amazon |
Outer Wilds | Never played | Epic |
Outlast | Never played | Humble |
Overcooked | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
Overcooked 2 | Never played | Epic |
Overload | Never played | Amazon |
Pankapu | Never played | Amazon |
Pathfinder: Kingmaker | Never played | Epic |
PC Building Simulator | Never played | Epic |
Peggle | Never played | Origin |
Pikuniku | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
Pine | Never played | Epic |
Planet Alpha | Never played | Amazon |
Plants vs Zombies | Never played | Origin |
Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville | Never played | Origin |
Poi | Never played | Amazon |
Prey | Never played | Epic |
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands | Never played | Uplay |
Prison Architect | Never played | GOG |
Pumped BMX + | Never played | Amazon |
Pumped BMX Pro | Never played | Amazon |
Q.U.B.E. 2 | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
Rage 2 | Never played | Epic |
Railway Empire | Never played | Epic |
Rayman Legends | Never played | Epic, Uplay |
Rayman Origins | Never played | Uplay |
Relicta | Never played | Epic |
Remnant: From the Ashes | Never played | Epic |
Republique | Never played | Amazon |
Retro City DX | Never played | Humble |
Rising Storm 2 Vietnam | Never played | Epic |
Riverbond | Never played | Epic |
Rocket Arena | Never played | Origin |
Rocket League | Never played | Epic |
Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 | Never played | Epic |
RUINER | Never played | Epic |
Saints Row 2 | Never played | GOG |
Saints Row the Third Remastered | Never played | Epic |
Salt and Sanctuary | Never played | Epic |
Sang Froid | Never played | GOG |
Sanitarium | Never played | Amazon |
Second Extinction | Never played | Epic |
Serial Cleaner | Never played | Amazon |
Serious Sam: The First Encounter | Never played | GOG |
Shadow Warrior 2 | Never played | Uplay |
Sheltered | Never played | Epic |
Shenmue III | Never played | Epic |
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI | Never played | Epic |
Silent Hunter 5 | Never played | Uplay |
Slime Rancher | Never played | Epic |
Smoke and Sacrifice | Never played | Amazon |
SNK Bundle | Never played | Amazon |
Solitairica | Never played | Epic |
Soma | Never played | Amazon, GOG |
Sonic Mania | Never played | Epic |
Speed Brawl | Never played | Epic |
Splasher | Never played | Amazon |
Splinter Cell | Never played | Uplay |
Splinter Cell Blacklist | Never played | Uplay |
STALKER Call of Pripyat | Never played | Amazon DL, GOG |
STALKER Clear Sky | Never played | GOG |
Star Vikings Forever | Never played | Amazon |
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order | Never played | Origin |
Star Wars Battlefront 2 | Never played | Origin |
Star Wars Squadrons | Never played | Origin |
Starseed Pilgrim | Never played | Humble |
Stealth Bastard | Never played | Amazon |
Stealth Inc. 2 | Never played | Amazon |
Steamworld Dig | Never played | Amazon, Origin |
Steamworld Dig 2 | Never played | Amazon |
SteamWorld Heist | Never played | Amazon |
Steep | Never played | Epic, Uplay |
Stellaris | Never played | GOG |
Steredenn | Never played | Amazon |
Stick it to the Man | Never played | Epic |
Stikbold | Never played | Amazon |
Still Life 2 | Never played | GOG |
Stories Untold | Never played | Epic |
Strafe | Never played | Amazon |
Stranded Deep | Never played | Epic |
Stranger Things 3 | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
Strife | Never played | Amazon |
Subnautica | Never played | Epic |
Sundered Eldritch Edition | Never played | Epic |
Sunless Sea | Never played | Epic |
Super Meat Boy | Never played | Epic |
Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery | Never played | Epic |
Superhot | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
Sword Legacy Omen | Never played | Amazon |
Syberia II | Never played | Origin |
Symmetry | Never played | GOG |
System Shock | Never played | Amazon |
System Shock 2 | Never played | Amazon |
Tacoma | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
Tales from the Borderlands | Never played | Amazon |
Tales of the Neon Sea | Never played | Epic |
Terraforming Mars | Never played | Epic |
Tharsis | Never played | Epic |
The Alto Collection | Never played | Epic |
The Banner Saga | Never played | Amazon |
The Banner Saga 2 | Never played | Amazon |
The Bridge | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
The Crew | Never played | Uplay |
The End is Nigh | Never played | Epic |
The Escapists | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
The Escapists 2 | Never played | Epic |
The Fall | Never played | Epic |
The First Tree | Never played | Epic |
The Flame in the Flood | Never played | Amazon |
The Jackbox Party Pack | Never played | Epic |
The King’s Bird | Never played | Amazon |
The Last Blade | Never played | Amazon |
The Little Acre | Never played | Amazon |
The Messenger | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
The Metronomicon: Slay the Dance Floor | Never played | Amazon |
The Pillars of the Earth | Never played | Amazon, Epic |
The Red Strings Club | Never played | Amazon |
The Spectrum Retreat | Never played | Epic |
The Swords of Ditto | Never played | Amazon |
The Textorcist | Never played | Epic |
The Hunter: Call of the Wild | Never played | Epic |
Thimbleweed Park | Never played | Epic |
Ticket to Ride | Never played | Epic |
Titan Souls | Never played | Amazon |
ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove! | Never played | Amazon |
Tokyo 42 | Never played | Amazon |
Tomb of Annihilation | Never played | Amazon |
Torchlight | Never played | Epic |
Torchlight 2 | Never played | Epic |
Tormentor X Punisher | Never played | Epic |
Total War: Warhammer | Never played | Epic |
Totally Reliable Delivery Service | Never played | Epic |
Train Sim World 2 | Never played | Epic |
Transistor | Never played | Epic |
Treadnauts | Never played | Amazon |
Trine 2 | Never played | Humble |
Tropico 5 | Never played | Epic |
Turmoil | Never played | Amazon |
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter | Never played | Amazon |
Twinkle Star Sprites | Never played | Amazon |
Tyranny | Never played | Amazon |
Urban Trial Playground | Never played | Amazon |
Uurnog Uurnlimited | Never played | Amazon |
Valhalla Hills | Never played | Humble |
Verdun | Never played | Epic |
The Walking Dead: Michonne | Never played | Amazon |
Wargame: Red Dragon | Never played | Epic |
Wasteland 2 | Never played | GOG |
Watch Dogs | Never played | Uplay |
Watch Dogs 2 | Never played | Uplay |
What Remains of Edith Finch | Never played | Epic |
Wheels of Aurelia | Never played | Epic |
When Ski Lifts Go Wrong | Never played | Amazon |
Where the Water Tastes like Wine | Never played | Epic |
while True: learn() | Never played | Epic |
Whispering Willows | Never played | Amazon, Humble |
Whispers of a Machine | Never played | Amazon |
White Night | Never played | Amazon |
Wilmot’s Warehouse | Never played | Epic |
Windbound | Never played | Epic |
The Witcher 3 | Never played | GOG |
Witcheye | Never played | Amazon |
Wizardry 8 | Never played | Amazon |
Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap | Never played | Amazon |
World in Conflict | Never played | Uplay |
World of Goo | Never played | Epic |
World War Z | Never played | Epic |
Yoku’s Island Express | Never played | Amazon |
Yono and the Celestial Elephants | Never played | Amazon |
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair | Never played | Epic |
Dungeons 2 | Won’t play | GOG |
Omertà | Won’t play | GOG |
Sim City 2000 | Won’t play | Origin |
The Sims 2 | Won’t play | Origin |
Report #33: July 2023
Until this summer, Klei’s Don’t Starve had been glaring menacingly at me from my library for five years. I had been intimidated by the combination of crafting, procedurally generated worlds, and assured & permanent death, none of which are really up my alley. (Especially assured & permanent death - I’m not a fan.) But as with Mark of the Ninja, Klei has taken a concept that might sound only mildly appealing and perfected the gameplay to create a really rewarding experience. Your character wakes up in a strange land with nothing but the shirt on his back (figuratively, that is, since he is also wearing pants) and needs to start collecting food and resources to survive as many days as possible. The first craftable items are easy to make - an axe to cut down trees, for example, requires two easily found resource items: a stick and a piece of flint - whereas others requires more or rarer resources, so you start exploring to find them. You need to keep an eye on three wellness meters: hunger, health, and sanity, and not let them go too low. If this sounds a bit boring, I hear you. I’m not sure I can capture in words how fun it is to attempt to extend my last living days by one or two. Sorry, I had ChatGPT write this review three times, and it only got worse so I had to write it myself. It’s an enthusiastic recommendation from me, just be aware it will probably ruin other survival games for you.
“Beaten”, i.e., I was beaten enough
Also Played
Report #32: June 2023
Greetings Assassins,
Not a whole lot of meat to this report. As usual in the summer months gaming time goes way down for me, but I managed to finish one title.
In May, I spent quite a bit of time on Civilization: Beyond Earth, but wasn’t able to bring the campaign to a close until early June. As with most Civ games I’ve played, I have the most fun in the beginning of a game, as my colonists explore the virgin lands of the new planet. Little by little, it turns into a somewhat different game - less joyful discovery and more tedious administration. Or maybe I’m just projecting on the game my own journey through life… Of course, you can automatize a lot of actions - and end up largely watching your computer play against itself. After having won one game, close to 500 rounds, I have now uninstalled it and don’t know if I will play it again. It’s a good game, don’t get me wrong, but it is a time-eater of a magnitude that doesn’t really work for me anymore.
Until next month…
Beaten
Also Played
Report #31: May 2023
Greetings assassins,
The one game I finished in May was Snake Pass, which I had unsuccessfully tried to play with a keyboard and mouse in the past. It’s a series of obstacle courses where you guide your snake avatar to some magic well or whatever. The game doesn’t nominally require a controller, but in reality it kind of does, at least for those of who like to keep our (relative) sanity. Even so, Snake Pass is at times frustratingly difficult, which is more than a little incongruous with the toddler-friendly art and story. Of course, my prejudice is showing - I bet any five-year old today could finish this game between snack time and dinner. Some mixed feelings: I’m glad to have knocked it off my list since it was one of my oldest wins, but it probably shouldn’t have been on the list to begin with, since it doesn’t have any of the qualities that I look for in a game.
Beaten
Also Played
-
Baba Is You
-
Far Cry 3
? hours playtime
3 achievements
-
GOD EATER RESURRECTION
-
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth
I don’t know how these got added to my account 🙈
Report #30: April 2023
Making decent progress on the backlog by finishing up two games this month. Fallout 4 is obviously the big one, ninety hours played since I started it in June of last year. (Ninety hours, holy cow!) While it’s impressive in scope, with hundreds each of missions, locations, and NPCs, it ends up feeling a bit like a Potemkin village. As you go deeper into the game, missions start feeling more and more alike - travel, fight, reach objective, fight some more, return - with variations in locales and enemies. Conversations and player choices have very little long-term impact on the campaign, except which faction one chooses to align with toward the end. Fallout 4 pretends to be a role-playing game but is really more a plodding looter shooter. I got to the point where I was ready to finish the game, and instead of letting it play out normally, I short-circuited the story progression by unprovoked shooting an NPC in the face, jumping to the end game. (Sorry, unarmed scientist guy!) Maybe I’ll go back and replay the ending differently one day. I said maybe, don’t hold me to it.
Pirate aficionados all love Monkey Island 2, right? Wrong. It has all the ingredients that killed point & click as a genre: inane object hunting, repetitive traveling, stupid inventory puzzles, pointless dialog choices. I’m sure devs had a great time making this game, but if I smiled a single time while playing, I don’t remember it. Watch a season of Black Sails instead.
A little disappointing, perhaps, but we’re on to Cincinnati…
Beaten
Also Played
Added (Don’t look at me like that, it was free)
Report #29: January-March 2023
Three months since my last report - I’m not a very good member of the assassin community… Since then, I managed to knock three titles off my list. I went semi-blind into The Wolf Among Us which was pretty cool - I knew that it was a Telltale game, but for some reason imagined it to have more like a gothic horror/mystery setting. Ultimately, the Telltale schtick with forced-stress choices gets a bit old, especially since it doesn’t have much of an impact on how the plot unfolds.
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak was the game I enjoyed the most of this posting period, a high-tech RTS on a Dune-like planet. It has a nice little story going in between missions, but nothing really revolutionary about the gameplay. Still, a fun game.
I had promised myself to take Beholder to the finish, even though I didn’t like it much. I took it to the finish, three cheers for the commitment! I can now move it to the Beaten category with a clear conscience.
See you in three months! (Potentially)
Beaten
Also Played
Added
Report #28: July-December + 2022 Afterword
New Year’s Eve and my first post in six months. I haven’t had much free time and consequently haven’t played much. It’s alright, I don’t mind.
Metro Exodus which I finished in July was probably my favorite game played in 2022. I also enjoyed Yakuza 0, but at 76 hours to finish, it was way too long for my tastes. I expect 2023 to shape up similar to how 2022 ended, so I’ll try to focus on titles I really want to play. I’ll keep going with Fallout 4 and will start The Wolf Among Us. After that, who knows!
Wishing all you assassins an excellent new year. Stay frosty.
Beaten
Also Played
Added
Favorite Gaming Moments 2022
Steam Library Snapshot
End of 2022
End of 2021
End of 2020
Report #27: June 2022
Summer is coming.
Beaten
Also Played
Report #26: May 2022
Happy to report I finished two titles plus made significant progress on another big game. Also, no new additions to my Steam library, so another net negative month for the backlog! Hope to squeeze a couple of more games before summer begins for real.
Beaten
Working on
Report #25: April 2022
I’m posting this monthly report a bit early, since I’ll be going out of town and don’t expect to play any more until next month. Unexpectedly got some extra free time this month and put some of it into the backlog. The result: five titles moved to the Beaten category, including two that had spent a lot of time as Unfinished. Whoop.
Heaven’s Vault is a an interesting, modern take on the point&click genre set in a decaying galaxy (which for some unknown reason is referred to as a nebula). You play a space-faring archaeologist tasked with investigating the disappearance of a colleague at the university. Solving linguistic puzzles, you little by little uncover what happened to your colleague as well as the truth behind the extinction of long-gone civilizations and how it all connects to a current threat to the galaxy. A slow burn, but I enjoyed learning the ancients’ language and history.
Keeping with the archaeology theme, I have to admit I really enjoy the last Tomb Raider reboot, including this month’s Rise of the Tomb Raider. I love running around spelunking in caves, climbing trees, hunting animals, collecting resources, and crafting better equipment - it’s a great balance between excitement and relaxation. The story is the typical hodgepodge of myth, magic, and power-hungry antagonists, but the pacing is pretty good as are the set pieces, and it contrasts nicely with the freer inter-mission moments.
I recently realized I’ve collected quite a few racers that I rarely play, so I’m making an effort to move some of them off the backlog. I picked Grid first as is it is one of the oldest games on my Steam account. As far as the racing experience goes, it’s a good game, but there’s a limited number of circuits, perhaps fifteen in total, so progressing through the game gets a bit old with the same tracks appearing over and over.
Full Throttle Remastered is vintage LucasArts and together with The Secret of Monkey Island probably the pinnacle of the golden age of point&click. It’s got a short, fun story around a murder framejob, great voice acting, a couple of action sequences, but most importantly… no $%&( inventory puzzles! Pretty dated, but still enjoyable for a couple of hours.
You may know that Full Throttle was designed by Tim Schafer, who later founded Double Fine, where he designed the humorous open-metal-world game Brütal Legend. I imagine that if anybody with a lower standing in the gaming industry had proposed a major release based on the music, imagery, and fandom of heavy metal, they would have been laughed out of the room, but Schafer got it done. The gameplay is a mix of hack&slash and RTT and is… fine, but what makes this a game to remember is the love for its music genre. The voice acting is top notch: Jack Black is great in the lead, and the cameos from people like Lemmy, Ozzy, and Rob Halford are pretty cool.
Next month I’ll try to tackle Metro Last Light and Blacksad, mixed with some Don’t Starve and Yakuza 0. Til then!
Beaten
-
Heaven's Vault
-
Rise of the Tomb Raider
-
GRID
23.9 hours playtime
no achievements
-
Brütal Legend
-
Full Throttle Remastered
5 hours playtime
no achievements
Chipping Away
Added to Backlog
478 | games |
54% | never played |
4% | unfinished |
25% | beaten |
12% | completed |
5% | won't play |