Baba is You

Baba is You is sort of a combination of sokoban and logic statements. Each level has a set of instructions such as 'ROCK is PUSH' and 'FLAG IS WIN' which you must follow to complete a puzzle. However the words that make up these instructions can also be moved allowing you to create new instructions. The challenge comes with trying to work out how to perform specific actions using the combination of words, as well as knowing when to break or form new combinations, later levels can become incredibly difficult and I had to consult a walkthrough for at least 10 - 20% of the puzzles. I completed all levels and got all the bonus orbs, unfortunately the game is currently glitched to not give one of the achievements, so I am stuck on 92% completion despite having completed everything. It's a great game though, lots of secrets, I'd recommend it.

Finished Wolfenstein: The New Order and Wolfenstein: The Old Blood. Currently stuck in Wasteland 2 and just starting with Hitman: Agent 47.

Just curious. Can you finish Hitman without getting into any firefights?

Phantasmagoria (1995) (Linux/Proton)

It's an important part of gaming history and one of the most unique adventure games ever created – so it's definitely worth playing. However keep in mind that the controls are uncomfortable and irritating, the cutscenes are not played smoothly etc. I didn't liked the gameplay at all. Perhaps the reason is I played Steam version, which seems to be buggy. I'd rather recommend only to hardcore fans of the genre.

List of all games completed in 2020.

Forever Lost 1, 2, 3 July 2 (Itch)-The first game is a pretty good horror, puzzle game. The interface is a little clunky and slow or unresponsive at times but the puzzles were quite good. The second game increased the puzzle difficulty a bit but was still overall good. The third game changed the game interface on windows for the worst. I had difficulty using the camera and inventory objects and I experienced a couple of crashes/glitches one of which required a restart from the beginning. The puzzles in the third game were also quite a lot harder than the first two games. I think even if I pored over the game for several days I would never have figured out many of them (the baby monitors?). The plot continues throughout all three games but there is a bit of a twist at the very end that I feel manages to salvage the third game and keep the overall 3 game experience pretty positive for me.

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We Were Here Together

I thought this one was the best of the three; it was longer (10 Chapters, 6-10 hours), the areas and puzzles seemed a bit more varied, it was graphically improved, and the roles of the two players weren't as strictly confined to passive and active anymore, both players took over both roles to the same extent and at the same time. There were still a few time-limited puzzles threatening with death and I still thought it pretty pointless and unnecessary, it just doesn't add anything to the game, it's not stressing or scary, just mildly annoying; but the time limits were rather generous this time, so not frustrating either. And I still thought the story a weird, confusing and somewhat pointless affair, too, and the traditional ending just as silly, especially since I didn't think the game actually needed something like that. We just played and liked it for the puzzles and co-op gameplay, and the rest was just background noise to us. But it was fun either way.

There was one pretty serious issue with it though: Chapter 8 heavily bugged out on us one time, it was missing crucial elements while others weren't working correctly, but since it's a puzzle game, you keep wondering whether you overlooked something, whether you just haven't figured it out yet, and you're reluctant to check online whether it's supposed to be like that or not, for fear of spoiling the puzzle. But when we restarted the chapter it was immediately clear that it hadn't been our fault - it actually had been unsolvable for us before due to these (temporarily) game-breaking bugs. And that should not happen in any game, and especially not in games like this that rely on the players's confidence to be able to solve all presented problems on their own.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales (XB1X)

I wasn't expecting this to end up being 38 hours...but that's what the timer says. It was okay for the first 12 hours or so. But after finishing the first two maps I feel you may as well leave it there, as the rest of the game does nothing much you haven't already seen.

Some people say this is a great RPG, I think it's barely an RPG at all. It's not really a card collecting deck building game either. It's just a game where you go from story point to story point, listen to a LOT of dialogue (which you can fast forward through) and then fight battles that are mostly scripted. It's not like Gwent...in Gwent both sides play to the same set of rules- well the rules of the factions cards. Here, the enemy gets their own rules in most battles. It always just feels like a version of Gwent where the enemy always cheats. The only "challenge" is overcoming the way in which the enemy cheats for each battle. It's more puzzle than strategy. I say "challenge" because in reality none of it matters since I settled on a deck build very early on and never felt the need to change it because it always worked and resulted in me decimating the opposing force. Until I got to the final main story battle- that was the only one where I had to revamp my deck and tactics, because the enemy cheats outrageously ( 100 card deck and auto replaces all losses from it!).

So the combat was fun for the first 12 hours or so but totally lost steam afterwards. One of those games that, in the end, I was just wishing it would actually finally end. Apart from the combat, there is also some exploration, but the novelty wears off quickly there too. You just collect wood and gold and find maps that can earn cards for the Qwent multiplayer game. There was never that feeling of maybe finding something really cool to reward your efforts.

The best part of the game then was the story. It's not brilliant, but serviceable and I liked the choices and how it impacted which characters travel with you. I loved how it let me massacre Elves (I fucking hate Elves) which endeared me to the best character in the game Black Rayla- who shares my natural hatred of Elves in fantasy worlds.
All in all a fun game for 12 hours...so just play the first couple of maps! Unfortunately I don't think I'd recommend the game in it's entirety. Oh yeah, it's on Xbox Game Pass.

Delores: A Thimbleweed Park Mini-Adventure was terrible experience for me. Even for free I consider it too expensive. First of all game quits each time you make 5 photos (from 30) and some changes are permanent, but some not. It mean, that some discussions take place 5 times, riddles are not so much about logic (it is more let's try what is possible) and at the end are horrible credits which are extended without showing authors, but general ideas of bored guys plus politics… I do not care, if you like Trump or not, in news is enough politics, people are playing games to relax and forget about such things!

Hitman Absolution

Enjoyed this far more than I expected. I think it definitely rubs a lot of people the wrong way initially. Almost each level consists of smaller segments, and starting off these are quite linear. For any Hitman fan this is a troubling start, but if you stick with it you might find that this trade-off is worth it, or at least not so bad. What you gain are some incredibly well detailed levels that in true Hitman fashion affords you many, many different ways to kill most targets. And even still, there are several levels that are reasonably large, though no single segment approaching the size of the big levels in Blood Money.
Apart from this segmented approach, a big difference is a far greater emphasis on story. I might be in the minority here, but I found the story (which is passable, or perhaps even good-ish) and characters to be engaging, certainly far more-so than in previous games.
It's not all praise though. The melee fighting's reliance on QTEs isn't that fun, and I miss being able to collect an arsenal of weapons, some of which were upgradable, from which I could create a mission loadout as in Blood Money. Your stats also steadily get improved post-mission based on performance, which I'm not sure I'm a fan off. It would've worked better if you unlocked new abilities instead. Either way, I'm a bigger fan of the single newspaper article ending of Blood Money. It was always rewarding to read how the authorities were stumped by what happened when you played well.

Finally, the game is gorgeous, especially in areas where there are crowds. Blood Money already did crowds very well, but absolution just knocks it out of the park.

The Hex, July 4 (Itch)-A strange little murder mystery game set in a pub where 6 video game characters are gathered and one is the victim and another is the killer. Is this a TV Trope? Because it sounds like one but I can't think of other many other examples except that Twilight Zone episode. The gameplay is broken out into genre based minigames as you learn the background of each of the characters. The gameplay is a little easy and under baked in each of the minigames but this game isn't really about the gameplay anyways. The story has a lot of humor and gets a little bizarre in the second half as you learn the motivations of the characters. The ending was a little lackluster compared to the rest of the narrative but the game is worth checking out for the humor and the commentary on the game industry.

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Finished VirtuaVerse. With all its problems, like an interface that could have been better for inventory and dialogues, it's my favourite adventure this year, easily surpassing Beautiful Desolation.
This is not Shadowrun the point and click. Yes, it's cyberpunk, but there's more. If you are looking for a game that ONLY has CP ASTETHICS you might be disappointed. Otherwise nicely surprised.
It's a big tribute to games like Zak mcKracken and Monkey Island. An effect of this is not taking itself too seriously and breaking the fourth wall. There are many influences and quotes from games and old technology.
Graphic and music are glorious, and the devs are constantly updating the game here on GOG with many improvements. I will want to write more about it but I'm keeping it spoiler free here.
If you like the genre this is a must have.

Minit, July 5 (Itch)-I thought this game was rather average. It starts off well enough but about midway through I had no idea where to go and was mostly wandering aimlessly until I looked at a walkthru. I think all the collectible items and several locations in the game were a little misleading as well. I thought I needed to collect them or do something there (haunted house, several areas of the secret temple) to advance. Also, I think the one minute limit was an interesting concept but a little underdeveloped. There was nothing in the game world that really made use of it other than areas that were about one minute apart. Unfortunately I think that mechanic could have been removed and not much would have changed in my gameplay experience. I would have liked more integration of that novel mechanic into the rest of the world.

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Borderlands 3 Bounty of Blood (XB1X)

Third story DLC for BL's 3. I'm not even sure if this is the final DLC or if there are more to come or a string of smaller DLC's. Anyway I bought the Super Delux package at 50% earlier this year and now the game says I've played 120 hours, so it's been good value. Bounty of Blood was some more fun. Not the best ever Borderlands DLC, but still pretty good. This time it's a Western themed bounty hunter campaign. The level cap is raised to 60, and there lies the only complaint from me- I hit the cap about 1/3 the way through and a lot of the enjoyment is lost when you no longer level. For that reason I can't see myself replaying with my character on True Vault Hunter mode, since no leveling equals no fun.

But at some point in the future I will start another character and play it all through again, I'm sure.

Lust for Darkness (Steam)

3-4 hour horror walking sim with occult and sexual themes. It's neither as bad as the detractors say, nor as good as its supporters say. What it does have is great visuals and mood, little else but it doesn't waste too much of your life to experience it either. It's cheap on Steam. Personally I found the sections in the mansion were quite good, but the parts in occult surreal la la land were annoying- they should stick to the creepy mansion vibe in future.

Phantasmagoria 2: A Puzzle of Flesh (1996) (Linux/Proton)

It's an important part of gaming history and it's probably the only reason to play the game today. The story may be quite interesting, if you like B-class horror movies, but gameplay is just horrible. The whole idea of placing action in corpo is kind of devastating – your role here is talking to coworkers, sending emails, making calls. How fascinating can it be? For some weird reason I quite liked the game enough to finish it, but can't imagine fighting the game for real, without walkthrough, like a natural source of enjoyment the games usually provide.

Oh, by the way, Steam release is terrible or just Proton does not work well here – I've got a lot of random crashes and some hiccups in the game. Also the interface's/menu's responsiveness is terrible. I'm not sure if GOG release works better – I hope.

List of all games completed in 2020.

A Short Hike (2019) (Linux)

After playing Phantasmagoria dylogy, I just needed a change ;) This one looked interesting. And it is, but I don't agree with some reviews. I've completed the game in 1-1.5h and I don't think spending more time on the island is a good idea. Sure, it's charming, relaxing little game, but it's made to be played at once. It gives you freedom of exploration, but it lacks some incentive to complete some side-quests or to collect more treasures. Just take the hike and... take a hike (:

List of all games completed in 2020.