The Videogames I played in the last half of the year

To be fair, I've felt really drained since the end of July. A combination of work and conflicting ttrpg campaigns came down on my personal time like an axe on a woodblock. I practically couldn't do anything beyond working, come home and work out, prep for campaigns, run said campaigns, rinse and repeat. There were only slivers of time in which I was able to relax a bit and, to my other hobbies detriment, videogames were the perfect fit for those tiny slots. Even now I'm at my lowest energy levels in quite some time, but I'm doing my best to recover.

JULY

After that scorching gameplay of Shadow of the Colossus, I bought a PS5. The two things are not related, but still. Aside from a brief playthrough of Ghosts of Tsushima (it's my second run, this time I finished the DLC, which was fine) to try the new console, July is the month in which I played Demon's Souls Remake.

I liked it, but I won't say I loved it like Bloodborne or Elden Ring. Sure, it has been a stunning visual experience and a old-flavored dungeon crawl. I didn't find it cruel or punishing to the player, but to be fair I still died a lot so make of that what you will. The story and lore are quite simple and the characters are pretty straightforward, but it has been a nice experience. Surely I'll replay it someday.

AUGUST

Nothing really special happened here. I finished my first run on Demon's Souls, started a new game plus, but then I participated in a challenge with two friends of mine. In order to win, one had to be the fastest to finish Dark Souls III, in terms of in-game hours. As of now, I'm the only one who actually finished the game (14 hours, 26 minutes and 55 seconds), one has already took more time than me and the last one is not progressing. I want the beers we bet on this challenge, come on! Oh, for some reasons I also played a little bit of Dark Souls II.

SEPTEMBER

Between august and september I played the videogame Ghostrunner. It was the last evening of summer vacation (the canonical "two weeks of august", the time when almost everyone in Italy goes on vacation) and I wanted to try a sci-fi game. I downloaded Ghostrunner's demo and, oh-my-god. I'm not a newbie in the sci-fi parkour genre (Mirror's Edge Catalyst, I'm looking at you), but I was quite rusty and Ghostrunner is unforgiving. I remember thinking "this is a game that getting good at would be really rewarding", having it just took 45 minutes to complete the first level. For comparison, once you know how to play the game you can beat the first level in under 5 minutes. So let's say that for the whole month of september I was hooked on this fast paced title. Surely one of the gameplay highlights of the year (I'm still looking at you, Shadow of the Colossus, you creep).

OCTOBER

At the beginning of October I finished Ghostrunner and played it's DLC, Project Hel (which was fine but not that exciting). After that came the time for Kuon.

Kuon is an obscure PS2 horror game by FromSoftware, as you can see from the image above. The history surrounding this game's release, its reception and subsequent poor distribution is quite extensive, but we just need to say this is one of the rarest PS2 titles and it's regarded as a cult horror title. An original copy of Kuon costs quite a lot, so I resorted to piracy to play it. I know, I know. If just Kuon had been available on modern consoles!

The game is honestly well made, I don't understand the reception it got at the time. Visually is inspired and is also graphically something to behold, if you consider it ran on the PS2. It's horror story is harrowing and told through three female characters, all of which have to explore an haunted mansion in medieval Japan. If I had to point out some flaws, I'd say that the second run is a bit repetitive and confusing (if you know you know, but still), while the third is maybe too short. The localization isn't rock solid and the characters' mouths don't open when they speak during cutscenes, making sometimes difficult to tell who is actually speaking.

Overall a great experience, worth of a port/remaster/remake. 

NOVEMBER

After the spooks of October, I kicked off November with a nice and colorful game: The Pathless.

Essentially, this game is a loveletter to Shadow of the Colossus, but in my opinion is a far better game. Of course, one is old as the mountains, the other came out three years ago. Sure. My point stands, though. The two games share a very similar base idea: fight big and ancient monsters in a secluded, desolated and mystical land. I still think that Shadow of the Colossus' story is more compelling and mysterious, but The Pathless' gameplay and general execution is superior: exploration has meaningful rewards, moving around is actually fun, and the camera is not frustrating. Boss fights are always visually stunning and are treated more as puzzles than actual fights, without health bars and game over, for the game's focus is better expressed by imagery and music than by defeat.

Both games challenge your perseverance, just in different ways: The Pathless does it with puzzles, Shadow of the Colossus with bad camera controls. Now, obviously without Shadow of the Colossus, The Pathless wouldn't exist. I'm not denying its influence in the creation of a whole style of storytelling in videogames. I'm not that foolish. I've just had way more fun with The Pathless.

Speaking of games with frustrating gameplay...

Since I have the game on PS Plus and being that a very well received sequel came out in that period, I finally played this action/thriller/horror title.

Great idea, good story, flat characters and awfully repetitive gameplay: this is how I summarize the first Alan Wake. Too many fights with boring enemies, too many useless and lengthy walks to reach various places... Ok, it's a 2010 videogame and it clearly shows its age. Probably its length was so bloated because they could not justify a full price on a game that could have lasted 6-8 hours at best. In a way it is similar to Dead Space 2, which had a good story, great setting but too many fights.

Things on average do not get better with the DLCs. The first (The Signal) is so bad I almost dropped the game entirely. I'm not kidding, one of the most frustrating piece of videogame I've ever experienced. The second (The Writer) instead, is quite better and has a more dignified ending than even the base game. Which isn't necessarily a good thing to say. Overall they do not increase or decrease the game's rating for me, but at least they give it closure.

In the end I thought that Alan Wake was probably better off as a TV mini-series (or, you know, a novel), rather than a videogame. Because what compelled me to finish it was the great, great idea behind the story, and the story itself. The atmosphere was also spot on, even if you spend the majority of the game in the same-looking forest the gloom is there. Some places were very well done, like the clinic for example, and a couple of characters (the Anderson brothers, obviously) will remain with me for a while. Alan Wake himself is a good character, I won't say an outstanding one, but considering his personal background, he feels almost as a real person, with its own problems, talents, desires and expectations to meet. Other NPCs are flatter than the flat-earth theory (the psychiatrist, the sheriff), when not directly annoying (Barry, which seems to belong in an american comedy, in the role of the overweight guy who smokes marijuana, eats burgers with to much sauce and tries to impress the cool girl).

Overall, I'm happy to have played it. It lead to a game further down in this list, which probably is my favorite game of the year...

DECEMBER

December came and then I played Sable, which is an adventure game I've been following since years before its release. I liked it, but unfortunately was laggy and buggy. Bugs are not that big of a deal for me, but lag really kills me. I've finished it, enjoyed it, but I don't think I'll play it again unless the devs try to optimize or fix it. Sorry.

The art design though is crazy good and the exploration is rewarding. The game per se isn't very long, I think around 10 hours? Which is a good thing. The map is reasonably big, but not huge and empty.  Story-wise, is a coming of age and it can get you all emotional at times. It's a weird mix of Journey and a Moebius' graphic novel, with sprinkles from Gravity Rush, but without combat. I know, it may be a weird description, but I still suggest you to try it for yourself.

After playing Sable, I remembered that I had on PS Plus Control, another game by Remedy, which I heard is part of a shared universe with Alan Wake. I decided to try it, hoping in a better gameplay but prepared for another slog.

Well, it turns out that Control is really good. It shocks you at first, with no explanations, no context and such, but it's really well crafted and grows by the hour. The gameplay is fresh air compared to Alan Wake's, but I think that some elements can become frustrating on the long run; for example, there are too many respawns in areas you have already cleaned, which is basically an improved version of the "too many enemies" problem. Still a problem, though.

I'm still playing it (main quest is completed, I'm tackling the DLCs and side missions), but it is definitely worth playing. Yes, to the core is a 3rd person action/sci-fi/thriller with paranormal powers and weird stuff. But under this easy relatable cover, there is much more.

The story is fascinating, it connects very well with Remedy's previous works and the setting is VERY reminiscent of D&D's Planescape: we have an Astral Plane, a building that connects to many other dimensions through thresholds, a menace that seems to come straight out of the Far Realm or the Abyss and literally magic items, to say the first things that come into my mind.

If you had any doubts...

The interior design is peak brutalism and the characters are actually fleshed out: there are no flat characters in Control, a great improvement.

Do not pay much attention to this awesome song if you haven't played the game.

* * *

Well, there they are, my impressions. There are probably two other games I will play before the year's end, plus a one-night run of Bloodborne, but I will probably talk about these in the future. I want to wrap up this post (reference pun to the The Game Awards intended), so I can concentrate on some ttrpg stuff. There is a post that I wrote this summer, which is not yet complete. Usually after this much time I delete the thing, because if I ran out of energy writing about a topic there's almost no chance I'll get excited again. But I am still excited about that stuff and I actually want to complete it.

Have a nice holidays!