Maybe my party was badly built (very likely) or I always hit some obstacle along the way! Heheh

Splinter Cell- Pandora Tomorrow (XSX)

OG Xbox version, played under back compatibility on XSX. That brings the usual benefits of 16x resolution, better frame rate and AI applied HDR. The game does look pretty good in this form too, at least considering its age. Unfortunately, the game only runs in 4:3 aspect ratio, whilst many old OG Xbox games run at 16:9 on the newer consoles. I don't believe Pandora Tomorrow is sold on PC anywhere now- in fact only 4 games in the series are currently sold on Steam and only one on GOG. The entire series is still sold on Xbox, including both versions of Double Agent.

Anyway, you're not missing much if you cannot buy it. It's the most annoying game in the series. The levels are cramped, there is only one method to get through and often repeated save scumming is needed. It has the clumsy controls of the first game, yet the levels demand more precision and finesse- that's a bad recipe when combined.

Well, I only have two games left in the series to play now. Chaos Theory, which people seem to regard as the best- well it couldn't be worse than Pandora Tomorrow. I also plan to play the OG Xbox version of Double Agent at some point.

Neon White, Sep 3 (Xbox Game Pass)-A really interesting but quite frustrating and rather shallow game. The game did remind me of a several other things that I enjoyed more like Paradise Killer, Danganronpa (which I didn't even really like), Beetlejuice, and Reservoir Dogs. The dual use for each weapon mechanic was good but the puzzle nature of the levels quickly got old. The story was not engaging and I found myself often looking up youtube videos so I could just rush through the game. I spent far more time on it than I should have and I'm not going to bother looking up the true ending.

Full List

I don't really in the mood for gaming this couple of weeks for various reasons, but today I finished 2 free games from GOG

Teenagent
The first part and third part is actually decent and most of puzzles here are quite logical. The second middle part was not so enjoyable for me. I resort to use an online guidance as I don't really in the mood banging my head pixel hunting and random guessing. Enjoyable humor in some parts

Symphonia (Student Project, 2020)
This was a game that was given for free in 2021 and removed a couple of months ago. The control is weird as you control a woodpecker and try catapulting them in this platformer. It took me some times to get used to it and in the end I finished it in less than 30 minutes. As a student project this is a really polished one and basically a demo. The art, level design and music was top notch. You get why this project is currently developed as a full game.

Life Is Strange Before the Storm, Sep 6 (GOG)-Its a good return to Arcadia Bay with the backstory for Chloe and Rachel Amber. I didn't like it as much as the original game I think mostly because Chloe wasn't as compelling as a character and the backtalk mechanic wasn't great or even used that often. The whole game had a bit of a pall over it due to the events of the first game but it was still good to revisit some characters for the first time. The Farewell mini episode felt a little tacked on and wasn't as enjoyable as the main game.

Full List

Tackling on my permanently free GOG games. My body feels terrible today and my mind is even worse but managing the tag additional 2 games as completed is not bad in the end. Even if the 2 games itself not what I consider a good game.

Samorost 1
I love Machinarium and CHUCHEL so this feels like a no brainer. But after finishing it, if anyone ask me if I really curious about the sequels I'd probably say no. The puzzles feels like clicking random items and see if it makes sense in the bigger picture later.

POSTAL: Classic and Uncut
I love playing Postal 2 in the old days. Had much fun in it and ended up buying it here to finally get a legit digital copy of it. But perhaps as I am now an older man this kind of mindless killing is just didn't connect with me. I get that this is a game that trying to put you in a deranged mind (and tbf succeed at that) killing random digital hostile people without any care of this world is not really my idea of fun or relieving stress anymore. At least at this time when so much shit going on in my life or in world in general.

Samorost 3 is pretty great though. I played the series in reverse order, which meant they got progressively simplified, less interesting, and shorter, though Samorost 2 has its moments and is worth a playthrough, preferably on sale. Samorost 3 was a big leap from the first two and is on the level of Machinarium.

Doom Eternal, Sep 7 (Xbox Game Pass)-This game was frustrating with a lot of things I didn't like and a lot of things that didn't feel like Doom. The combat was far too chaotic for me. I liked the mechanic of using the punch and chainsaw to regain health and ammo but I often found myself running all over the map to find something I could effectively use them on. I hated the platforming parts of the game. They never felt good and were very frustrating. The game had a plot for some reason. I really just wanted mindless demon killing which it mostly was but then there was some voice trying to tell me to do things and collectibles with lore. It felt very try hard and I ignored it as much as possible. I can see why people might like it but it was just so tedious and frustrating that I couldn't enjoy it very much.

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Completed Dragon Quest 9 (US version; already completed the Japanese version many years ago).

During the final battle, my main character got crit to death in the first round, and it took something like 4 attempts to revive her. (When playing the JP version, my main character was killed at the end of the fight, but she gained enough XP to level up (but you can't actually get the level if you're dead).)

Now, of course, there's still the postgame, which one can spend hundreds of hours on.

Dungeons of Hinterberg (XSX Game Pass)

Really good game. Dungeons have sprung up with real life magic in the Austrian town of Hinterberg, becoming a booming tourist industry. You play as a slayer and have to work through all of the 25 or so dungeons. The dungeons are divided up into 4 areas and each area gives you two unique spells that you use to solve the dungeons puzzles and kill the monsters.

The dungeons never become too long or boring, sticking to their own themes and then moving on before they get monotonous. Eventually you discover an underlying conspiracy surrounding the dungeons. The overall story isn't anything groundbreaking, but the dungeons themselves carry the game well enough to the end.

The game has a simple animated art style similar to Sable, it all runs really well. There is almost no voice acting, it's very much an Indie budget game. Not too bad for around 20-24 hours of gameplay.

Quake: Enhanced Edition. Went through the original game again, then through the various expansions, which I had never bothered with. I played on hard. Playing on nightmare would be nice for bragging rights, but hard is the sweet spot for me in terms of fun and challenge.

Scourge of Armagon and Dissolution of Eternity were interesting because of the weapons and creatures added. I didn't care for DoE's fixation on "earthquake" effects that could make it hard just to move around. Hearing Quake with different, more standard music is just weird, though. Dimension of the Past is just a good batch of levels. Dimension of the Machine is visually quite striking and it's always fun to see old game engines pushed even harder, although I do think the aesthetic lost something from the original game in favor of a more high fantasy vibe at times. I still prefer the original campaign from top to bottom, but I had a good time the whole way.

Sheepy: A Short Adventure

After getting over some technical issues (it takes quite a long while to load on start; plus the game recommended to play with a gamepad but I played the Steam version and had to disable Steam Input before my official Xbox controller was recognized, and even then, the game always showed keyboard prompts for the special abilities and I had to guess or google the controller buttons), I found out that this is a surprisingly good freeware game (also available DRM-free on itch.io).

It reminded me a bit of Ori, in terms of style and atmosphere, and of Nuclear Blaze in terms of setting and pixel graphics, but what I liked most is that the levels and mechanics were so varied, that I was always curious about the next one and motivated enough to play through it in one sitting (60-90 min). Contrary to many other games, I thought nothing here overstayed its welcome. The game had all the typical things usually found in such platformers, but did not repeat them ad nauseam. I was even fine with the boss battles, as someone who generally dislikes boss battles, because they were short, fast and easy. Checkpoints are very fair, and the game lets you continue from the last one, even after quitting and reloading. It's mostly a linear game with some optional secret finding in more or less open levels, and you find skills like in a metroidvania game, but there isn't any backtracking across levels.

The story was simple and the general plot felt like deja vu at first, but I quite liked the atmospheric story-telling and some (cut)scenes. Last but not least, animations and use of music were really cool as well, especially for a free game.

I'm playing right now. I like it but I feel like all the gameplay and mechanics lack depth and its a little too easy I think. But its a fun shorter game while I start Octopath Traveler 2.

I haven't played Octopath Traveler 2 yet. It's put aside until I know that is what I feel like. The first game was probably the best traditional styled JRPG ever, but it is not a game to take lightly. It's long, hard (or intense- some boss fights last an hour) and expects you to grind. I assume the sequel is similar and just as good.