games

I couldn't fight off the urge to start something new so Final Fantasy VI is on the back burner for now. In its place I've started Cave Story, which I've only played about 2 hours of so far but I've been enjoying. Other than that I've been on a big pinball kick. There's a table at my work that I found a good virtual recreation of, so I've been learning the mechanics and practicing in the hopes that I can get on the leaderboard. I only need 30 or 40 million to get on there, I can't remember which at the moment, and I've already gotten a little over 20 million as my personal best so I think with some more practice and a little luck I'll get on there soon enough.

As for my favorite games I played for the first time this year:

Chrono Trigger

What is there to say about this one? Everyone knows it's a beloved game. Pretty close to the ideal RPG for me. Fun combat, fantastic music, lovable cast, interesting story with just the right amount of cheesiness, nice art, no annoying random encounters, not too long. AND there's a bisexual cave woman? What else can I ask for?

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

My first foray into the Castlevania series, and I'm very glad I did. I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to enjoy this one because I am honestly ass at platformers/side-scrolling action games, but it actually wasn't too bad. The game feels great to move around in and almost all of the bosses were fun to tackle. I really loved the feeling of struggling with a fight the first couple tries and then figuring out a strategy that the boss couldn't deal with and just obliterating it. The exploration was a good time too, you'd think the backtracking would get tedious but in my experience it wasn't bad. I ended up playing Aria of Sorrow right afterwards and will definitely be playing Dawn of Sorrow in the near future. I definitely want to try the SotN randomizer some time soon and check out some of the indie metroidvanias that passed me by before as well.

When They Cry

Two somewhat notorious mystery visual novels. Technically I started Higurashi in 2023, but a good amount of the time I spent reading it was in 2024, and I went from that straight into Umineko so I'm just gonna count the two together. Both of these have rattled around in my brain basically non-stop since finishing them, and yet I still don't really know how to put my feelings into words. I don't really know if I would recommend either? They are both extremely long (each has a longer word count than the Bible lol), have some seriously problematic elements, and deal with very heavy topics. Due to the nature of the stories I don't really want to say any more than that. If you did want to check these out, just be warned that they can be triggering in many ways. I would say if you need it to get someone you trust to screen each first through something like doesthedogdie.com, or if they've already read it themselves even better. Otherwise go in knowing as little as possible.

As for games that actually came out this year, well, I barely played any... I guess Caves of Qud is pretty fun? I think I would really like it if I played more, but roguelikes where you play as the same character over several play sessions never really stick for me. Halls of Torment and Balatro have both been good for the occasional play session, but I'm not too excited about either. There was some cool looking stuff on my back log I meant to play that came out this year, but I never got around to them. Maybe next year!