what i played in november
i hate reading
(i don’t hate reading but the books i’m currently reading are taking me more than a month to finish and also i barely read so i’m writing about video games instead. this is an excuse to clean out my one trillion game steam backlog. please enjoy)
(i try extremely hard not to spoil any of these games but there may be some minor slip-ups that i don’t notice. if a game seems cool go play it. chris best if you’re reading this add a spoiler function to substack ily)
GROTTO
you are the soothsayer. cushy government job. employer-provided housing. retirement planning (iykyk). furries ask for auguries and you’re in charge of their fate, kind of.
the art is top-notch. it has to be, because you’re trapped in one location for the entire game. character design is solid. it’s surprisingly immersive. very fun to roleplay as an ugly nocturnal cave dwelling mute freak who skitters around in the dark. possibly the most relatable protagonist in all of gaming history. the music is, fine. atmospheric. personally, i’m not a fan of ambient background music with human vocals in it, even if there aren’t any lyrics, only humming. i find it a little distracting / disorienting, especially on a game that requires thinking. hard to read with voices in my ear. dialogue is wonderful. includes some cheeky banter! not sure what accent they’re supposed to have. complex and nuanced personalities to interact with. hard not to find yourself growing attached to certain characters.
it’s frustrating when people don’t interprets things how you want them to. just like real life! lots to learn from this story. lots of thought-provoking choices. did not expect the game to be this profound. i’m assuming there are multiple ending, but it’s one of those games where i wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t. the ending i got really left me feeling a certain way. i loved it. i think i got the good ending, because everything i touch turns to gold and i’ve never done anything bad or made any mistakes in my entire life.
very cool concept for a game. themes of, unrequited love, political turmoil, pragmatic spirituality, among others. it left a lasting impact on me! if you have delusions of reference, this is the game for you! mechanics get a little tedious, a little repetitive, some animations take too long. it’s basically an interactive visual novel, don’t expect any more than that, mechanically.
EXCLUSIVE EXCLUSIVE PRO GAMING TIP: CTRL teleports you around and saves you some walking. good to know !
DÉPANNEUR NOCTURNE
yeah the games i play HAPPEN to have anthropomorphic animal characters. is there a problem?
a game with a uniquely dystopian setting (convenience store night-shift in québec). i appreciate the mélange of francais et d’english. très accurate! un jeu surprisingly useful if you’re looking to learn the langue de God’s chosen people. the art is fine. rien de bien remarquable, à part l'éclairage éthéré. typical indie stylisation (avec lequel il n'y a rien de mal). cute music. cute characters. ambiance mignonne. un peu ominous. il se passe beaucoup de choses underneath the surface.
cute petit game avec a bunch of petit secrets. fun to explore, pick up stuff, jeter des trucs partout. il y a un chat qui se téléporte. typical québecois voodoo. je le recommend la oui oui vive le québec libre
BANYU LINTAR ANGIN - LITTLE STORM -
not really a game. more like a picture book. wonderful and whimsical. it’s free, it’s like a couple minutes long, there is zero reason not to go pick this up and flip through it. NOW! NOW!!!
STRAFTAT
the devs of my favourite game, babbdi, which is free, released another free game, this time a boomer shooter. and it’s good! or, it would be, if there were more than 2 people online at a time. lovely ui1. if i had friends i would play this with them. there should be more games like babbdi.
FAR: LONE SAILS
SNOOZE FEST!!! HONK-SHOO!!!! HONK-SHOO!!!!! art is cool i guess. music could be a little more subtle at times. quirky little hooded character a-la little nightmares. generic dystopian setting. forced ambience. aesthetically unremarkable!
the ship is clunky to control, but in a good, engaging way, i suppose. big issue: when you enter a building, instead of the exterior fading into the interior like in most 2D games, there’s an instant, jarring transition from the outside to the inside. it looks really bad.
there were several instances of me going, “oh cool, a secret!” and then one of two things occurred: either i couldn’t interact with it or the thing i thought was a secret was necessary in order to progress. no real sense of exploration.
nothing feels vast. it’s weird how things are paced. energy runs out too quickly. you have to constantly release steam. these things should take more time. movement should take less time. i feel like i moved one inch after an hour and a half of playing, despite visiting multiple areas. you could argue that’s the “point,” that’s the “vibe,” and i would argue that i understand what it’s trying to do and i’m saying that it was poorly executed. i only feel good shitting on this game bc it made a bazillion dollars so it doesn’t matter
this game feels like a waste of time and i probably won’t finish it. i think it has a sequel. i probably won’t play that either. sorry!
RENTAL
another free one. i’m not poor i stg
a horror parody, kind of. fixed cameras are a little clunky in practice, but the shots are framed very well. feels like i’m playing an animated short (mostly due to the low framerate but also because the art direction is good). genuinely funny, genuinely unnerving. perfect music. i like the little character!
a little bit rough around the edges, but can you complain? it’s a very cool little self-contained experience wrapped in a pretty little pink bow. play it it’s only 15 minutes long!!
BEESWING
deep, sterling sentimentalist literature. refreshingly thoughtful. gave me a mental reset that i sort of needed. i think this is one of the most beautiful games i’ve ever played. the art, the music, the writing especially, all of it. “experimental” done PERFECTLY.
maybe some of the best writing in any video game i’ve ever played. filled with creative aphorisms that you don’t hear repeated very often. i could screenshot any box of dialogue and it would be better than anything i’ll ever write in my lifetime. i don’t even want to talk about this game anymore because i’m mad about how good it is.
genius video game. if you play any of the games on this list, let it be this one. this dev has two other games that look sick, Dujanah and Judero, and i WILL be playing them i WILL be playing them i WIL
THRESHOLD
brutal. oppressive. visceral. suffocating, literally. you can feel every action your character performs. every breath, every whistle, every shard of glass.
the world is extremely engaging, and surprisingly unique. i haven’t quite played a dystopian game with an atmosphere like this. tons of breadcrumbs that lead you to want to know more. the checkpoint system feels like it’s keeping you hostage while not being totally unfair. similar to grotto in that the environment gets a little same-y, but also similar to grotto, it doesn’t take away from anything. you’re supposed to be miserable.
multiple endings. take your time. well worth the asking price. same publisher as buckshot roulette, a game you’ve probably heard of. they seem to be on a roll with low-poly indie horror games that are actually interesting and not just twitch streamer bait.
EXCLUSIVE EXCLUSIVE PRO GAMING TIP: look everywhere.
(THE) GNORP APOLOGUE
clicker games are evil and kill you when you play them, but this is a good one. very satisfying in an evil way that kills you. nice to look at. great little sounds come out of it. and it kills you. i like to waste my fucking time on earth listening to youtube videos and playing clicker games because i;m a fucjkng lazy piece of shit nothing waste my life but no its a good game. fucking thirty cans on my desk vaping and playing a clicker game on my computer waste my life on my computer and it kills you and rapes you too. your computer. but no its a good game
PROJECT ZOMBOID
almost a classic at this point. not sure if i understand the hype. with friends, i’m sure it’s a lot of fun, but solo, i just don’t really understand what i’m supposed to be doing. it’s a little boring. and confusing. the music is so terrible man. why does it sound like a filthy frank video bro it’s set in kentucky
bonus: the finals
not including this game in the main list because its a slop game and i do not endorse slop games. however, in terms of slop this is like a really good big mac with fries that aren’t cold served to you as soon as you pull up to the drive thru window. no bullshit no pulling off to the side no waiting for a wagie to walk through the rain to bring you your nuggets. if they fixed the lag so the game was playable it’d be great.
EXCLUSIVE EXCLUSIVE PRO GAMING TIP: before doing anything, turn off the music and commentary in audio settings
i was going to call it “cruelty-squad-esque” but something inside of me prevented that, probably the same neurochemical mechanism that prevents me from torturing small animals.