About Me: Taking up all the good oxygen. Find me complaining on twitter under @EmPitude. I only forget it exists for months at a time, now.

A test of failing memory more than a discussion of video games.

Alone in the Dark.

I wrote this series off after Illumination. I said so in my review of that game. There's no coming back from this, I said. But it did come back. Here's the twist ending: I'm glad it did. This is a good game. No one saw that coming.

Batman: Arkham Knight

Knight is probably my least preferred Arkham game. It invests harder in being a sandbox and loses a lot in the process. There's no grand boss fights, for example, but it does surprise in other ways. Gradually filling up the jail with random thugs and defeated super villains is really satisfying.

BROK The InvestaGATOR:

Little known fact - I love a good pun. This is a game about a P.I. alligator, taking on small sleuthing jobs in a point and click that also is a side scrolling brawler.

Deep Fear

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Talk about setting a DEAD-line....

It's fair to say I've not been the conveyor belt of reviews that I was once upon a time, but I always kind of made an effort for dropping a horror review on Halloween. And this year is no different; that was 100% my plan. The only issue is the seemingly perfect game I picked up to write about is a cringy bowl of arse, and I don't want to play it anymore (which is a statement of itself when I limped through Heavy Rain one year). So, to try and salvage something, I'll present a list of the applicable horror games I've played in recent memory enough below. Instead of voting - because maybe two people will read this in the first place - whoever gives the best reason for covering one of these games will make it my choice. Feel to also say nothing, and I'll carry on playing through the Lucas

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Part 1 - Let's see how long I keep this up.

Star Wars Unleashed.

Force powers are ridiculous overkill, which makes up for the bland lightsaber combat in spades. Lot of imagination in the alien worlds and set pieces, worlds apart for the dull mess modern Star Wars has become.

Kuon.

Just the 20 years post-release. Kuon is clumsy mechanically, but is an aesthetically excellent horror. It's subtle and clever in how it creeps you out. As an experience, it's great. As a game, it's bumpy.

Dreamweb.

Dreamweb's gameplay never quite reaches the potential it sets up for itself. A regular guy starts hearing voices that he has to kill seven evil people to save the world. Is he a savior for doing so, or just a psychopath? DW plays around the edges of the concept, but never truly commits.

Helltown

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I'll go ahead and assume I won't need to do one of these again this year.

For the most part, my gaming habits is simply to attack the backlog I've accumulated over years, no longer buying games I think I'll get around to and focusing on actually playing those games in the past I'll assume I'll get around to. I've tried to write about them a little because I want to try and find a way where I can still write a bit in enough moderation to not be in constant pain. 2010 Gary would call me a pussy. I may do this more next year, I may do this less. I don't know what the future holds. However, what I do have is three lists talking about the games I've played this year and, to test if anyone still reads the things I write, I propose this. The first person to post a game they would like to see me review in these lists, I will attempt to do so. First come, first se

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The always inferior sequel

BERSERK and the Band of the Hawk

It's fine for what it is. Most of the time, the Warriors template works because Guts mowing down endless cannon-fodder fits, but it's such a toned-down retell of the forever manga.

Griffith remains an encourageable rascal.

Forspoken

Never -- NEVER -- has my pathological need to play famously shit games burnt me as hard as this did. Its reputation, dear friends, is richly deserved.

I Made a Game With Zombies In It

Those glorious bastards; they released this cornerstone of the excellent XBLI scene on Steam and have done it for free. Finding this carving a new playerbase has made me very happy.

Lost Door

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I've declared war on my backlog again this year. The graveyard is as follows:

11th Hour

7th Guest was a better realised haunted mansion game, but 11th Hour is more self aware. Better written, better acted and (occasionally) purposefully funny.

Not a particularly good port.

7th Guest

The B-Movie horror point and click game. Weird live action actors and bizarre puzzles made this a game I adored back when it was released, but the steam ‘remastered’ is not great. It’s just a port of the mobile port. Why does this keep happening?

Batman Arkham Origins

Last Xmas seemed like a good time to play the Xmas Batman. It might be the black sheep of the Arkhams but it's still a lot of fun with some stand out ideas. The crime scene examinations, for example, are great.

Batman: Arkham Origins - Cold, Cold Heart

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Containing 50% more games you've actually heard of

In 2020, I decided I was going to stop buying new games and declare war on the backlog. Much like the majority of gamers, I own more games than I can ever play in a lifetime but countless games I want to play get shuffled further and further to the back while the endless stream of new stuff gets stacked on top of them. It was a success! Aside from cashing in steam vouchers over Christmas that I had received as a gift, I purchased exactly zero new games, and the backlog was sufficiently injured. Any current year games I played were at the behest of constant backlog enemy Jason Venter, who even now is plotting ways to trick me into playing more visual novels. THE GOAL: Do the same thing in 2021. Block Venter. Profit.

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