Anyone who has visited this little blog before, may notice that I haven't posted anything for a very long time. In fact, I think this is the first post I have made in about a year or so, which is kind of disappointing if I say so myself. There's no dramatic reason behind the absence, and there's no incredible story to act as an excuse; other than the very real fact that life got in the way.

It’s been a while since I posted, but I just finished playing Emily Is Away Too, and I'm feeling emotional and sad. I often fail to connect with games that lean on nostalgia and retrospective themes, but for some reason this series of little games has managed to rise up and punch me in the gut of memories with gusto. It's clear this sequel has had something of an effect on me, but I'm a little unsure as to what that effect might have been.

I've said it before and I'll probably say it again, but the older I get, the less interested I am in multiplayer games. The very idea of sharing my time with a bunch of abusive teenagers screaming slurs at me through bad headset microphones doesn't seem like much of a good time. Since the introduction of voice chat in multiplayer games, you couldn't even pay me to take part in the absolute shit show that is contemporary online multiplayer gaming.

There are so many genres in gaming that it stands to reason how none of us will be one hundred percent familiar with every single one of them. In fact, I think if we were all a little honest and reflective about what we're into, the diversity and eclectic aspect of our tastes would be relatively limited. I'm no different, but I think the key to remaining open to things outside of our usual wheelhouse is to always be willing to give something new a try.

I don't know about everyone else out there, but 2022 ended up being a bit of a flat year for me, especially when gaming. Whenever I try to sum it all up, I keep coming back to a big sigh and a "meh", without anything all that exciting standing out to grab my attention. Not that there weren't good things happening in 2022, as I played a lot of cool games and the year in general felt less tumultuous than recent times, and we all know how much we could do with a little stability in the world right now.

Ever grown up in a small town, only to leave it and explore the world once you come of age? Ever leave your safe little bubble in favour of the unknown dangers and risks that lead to greater rewards and ultimate awareness? No? Me neither; but I feel like I was able to have my own little Rumspringa vicariously through the adventure of Sable exploring the surreal and beautiful world around them.

As recently as about a year ago, if anyone had asked me whether I liked zombie games or not, I would have replied with an emphatic "hell no" and left it at that. I've never been big on horror in any form of media, but especially in games, as I find the interactive nature of the experience a little too visceral. That and I never understood how anyone can find it entertaining to be scared and stressed when they could be doing literally anything else.

We're back again with the gruff sniper series that keeps on giving, or something like that. It's actually been a while since I played through a game series in fairly rapid succession, which says a lot about how much fun I had sniping Nazis with my trusty rifle. After the welcomed improvements we saw in Sniper Elite 3, can this entry live up to the high standards already established?

I've never really considered myself to be a 'retro gamer', as I rarely go looking for older titles to play when there are modern options available. It's not that I have anything against older games, in fact I fondly remember many classics and hold them in high regard. Perhaps playing those games when they came out means that I'm not left pining for something I never experienced, but whatever the reason, I'm just not into playing old games on outdated engines.

I haven't been feeling myself lately, as I've come down with a bad case of 'enjoying multiplayer' in many games. Honestly, I'm a little worried, as I haven't really enjoyed any multiplayer gaming since I played games like Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, and Quake III over dial-up internet. For some reason, over the last few years there have been a number of multiplayer games that managed to squeeze their way into my day.

Not long after I'd finished playing Stray, someone asked me if it was any good, with the implication being that this was nothing more than a meme. It's no surprise that any game featuring a cat as its main character would garner a lot of internet attention, but I tend to stay away from those kinds of things and hadn't seen a single meme during my time with the game. Thankfully I was able to respond with the clarification that this is indeed, more than just a meme.

Walking the line between esoteric art and nonsensical elitism can often be the downfall of a good idea, as the latter prevents large parts of the audience from connecting with your message. In narrative-heavy games, there is always a need for the player to understand what's happening along the way, but being too obvious is boring, while complete abstraction tends to be confusing and pointless. Suffice to say that there's an art to telling a story that pulls in the player, but doesn’t beat them over the head with a bland message.

I've heard it said before, that a sequel of a smash hit is always doomed to fail, and there isn't a lot anyone can do about it. This is especially true in certain forms of media, but I would argue that video games are something of an exception to the rule, as making a hit sequel doesn't appear to be all that difficult. At the very least, just repeat what you did in the first game, make it look nicer, and you'll make everyone happy. No?

When I was younger, I had dreams of writing and drawing my own comic book (or 'graphic novel' if you will), but it always seemed like more work than I was willing to put in. I wasn't the fastest artist in the land and producing that much art regularly and quickly enough to keep the whole thing moving was a bit overwhelming. Although, I'm not one to be put off so easily, and I tried out a few alternate methods, which came with their own levels of success and complication.

I've always been sceptical about real-world escape rooms for a number of reasons, not least because it would mean trying to gather a suitable group of people to go with. Then there's the chance that the whole ordeal would be far too easy, or ridiculously difficult, wasting whatever money you spent on the entry fee. Plus, the cost has always been a barrier to escape rooms in my local area, as they seem to always be on the higher end of what seems affordable. It's nice to know then, that there are other options available to people like me, who probably aren't going to get to a real world escape room anytime soon.

Realism is an interesting idea when it comes to video games, as it's often regarded as something admirable to aim for, while ultimately being compromised for entertainment purposes. I mean, there are many games that flirt with realism, but if they actually created hyper-realistic systems and gameplay mechanics, the entire experience would be a frustrating bore.

I've been playing video games since I was a kid in the 1980s with a Commodore 64, but it wasn't until a decade later that I really threw myself into gaming. Up to that point I'd played with a NES and of course that C64, but as much as I enjoyed it, nothing had truly gripped me and sucked me into the wide world of video games that I now know and love. It took the release of the original Doom in 1993 to hook me once and for all, and I've been loving life ever since.

It's not often that I get excited on release day for a game, but after playing the excellent FAR: Lone Sails back in 2018, the news of its sequel immediately filled me with anticipation. The first game was a beautifully explorative and ambient puzzle adventure that gripped me from start to finish, and even from early trailers I could tell that this second instalment would be more of the same.

I'll be the first to admit that mechanics aren't the first thing I look for in a game, and many games I love have very light gameplay systems and mechanics at the end of the day. However, I'm not all about the stories and I still enjoy a fun challenge from a game that doesn't really care about story all that much, opting for fast and frantic combat as the main selling point from start to finish.

These GOTY posts are always an opportunity to reflect on the year that has passed and think about the ups and downs, which hindsight presents with increasing clarity. I was expecting 2021 to have been a bit better than 2020, but as we all know, that hasn't been the case. The pandemic still rages on and has changed so many aspects of our lives in so many ways, and it would be impossible to think about the year without that striking context.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before how much I'm a fan of Annapurna Interactive as a publisher, as they seem to consistently put out interesting and unique narrative heavy games that are usually right up my alley. I love it when a publisher has a kind of theme to the games they release, and as a fan of those games, I always feel pretty confident when Annapurna Interactive are in the credits. At least, I used to feel that way, but now I'm a little less certain.

While narrative games have often been at the forefront of innovation and originality in game design, it's fair to say that many contemporary titles tend to follow a similar formula. We're all very used to the "walking simulator" that lets you progress through a location while a story unfolds around you. Even as a big fan of this kind of storytelling, it can definitely get stale and sometimes feel a little bit like an easy option for creating a narrative experience in gaming. At least until a new entry into the genre comes along and reveals another twist on the formula, providing a fresh perspective on how a story can be delivered via this medium we all love.

There are times that wonder if anticipation ever really pays off in a satisfying way, as it often feels better to anticipate something than actually experience it. I suppose that might sound like a relatively ominous way to open a post about a game, but I can't help thinking about all the anticipation that was built up inside me, and whether or not it hindered my overall enjoyment.

Sometimes a game comes along that you've never heard about, but thanks to its strong aesthetic and firm genre, you wonder how you could ever have let it pass you by. I love experiencing creations without any expectations or preconceptions, and when they turn out to be the kind of creation you've spent a long time looking for, the satisfaction could not be more palpable.

It's been a while since I've been able to write about a game and post a new post, so let's ease ourselves back into it with a tiny little game that managed to surprise and delight me in unexpected ways. Although I must stress that my thoughts on this game are genuine, and are by no means satirical, which is something I feel the need to point out after reading other interpretations that failed to find any value in the experience at all.

I promise I'll post more about some bigger games eventually, but right now I'm having a great time going through all the lovely little indies I've never mentioned before. These days I think one of my favourite gaming things to do is try out new little ideas and experiences that would never make it as a blockbuster release. After all, the more mainstream something is, the less interesting it ends up being.

I don't think I'll ever stop being amazed by just how enlightening and informative good story-telling can be. After all, the whole reason I love stories so much is that it's one of the few ways we are able to empathise and learn about lives that are different to our own. In some ways, it's the closest we'll ever get to certain experiences, so when a story is able to inform as well as entertain, It really is a beautiful experience.

I've mentioned it before, but I'm really enjoying this renaissance of FMV in gaming, as we're at a point now where the technology has reached an equilibrium with the concept. What used to be a fairly janky way to include photo-realistic graphics in a game, has since become a viable and high resolution solution. In fact, I would argue that a lot of the modern FMV games wouldn't be half as interesting if they had gone with an all-CG cast instead.

Fair warning, I'm very much one of those weird Blade Runner fans who loves the movie more than is reasonable for anyone to love a movie. I have multiple copies of all five different cuts of the original, as well as a collector's edition that came with lithographic prints and a model cop car from the film. So everything I have to say about this game, should probably be taken with a grain of salt.

Generally speaking, art has the ability to teach us so much about the world and the diversity of human experience, and games are no different. In fact, games offer that special kind of interactivity that allows us to experience the foreign, or the unknown, while putting a little more of ourselves into the subject itself.