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Here, you'll find up to 20 of the most recent posts from the people who have the good taste to follow my blog. Only public results gleaned from the last 200 overall posts to HG Blogs will be displayed. If you see no results below, that means not a lot of people are following me, or my followers haven't been active in a long while, or they simply aren't sharing their posts.


Upcoming reviews, 11/1/24
Posted November 01, 2024 by JoeTheDestroyer

I have three reviews coming up!

Dig Dug II: Trouble in Paradise (NES) - We stopped digging and started cutting fault lines on islands. Oh, and there's a weird continue option!

Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster (PC) - There appears to be a pattern here. Oh, and I've started FFVPR as well? Of course, as I've already played and reviewed IV. I couldn't wait.

Anodyne (PC) - Zelda with an extra helping of existential dread, and no, I don't mean Link's Awakening.

Others to follow, plus I still...STILL... plan to get around to finishing AlphaMurderthon. Divorce kinda put some breaks on that, but I feel like I'm back on track.


POLL! Which "how the hell did this get in my library" title should I review?
Posted September 21, 2024 by JoeTheDestroyer

I have a butt ton of games in my Steam library. I remember purchasing most of them, but to be honest, I shotgun purchases and buy bundles so often that I don't recall getting my hands on a lot of them. It's time for you to determine: which one should I play and review next out of these eight choices?

Fortress of Hell - 2D RPG that looks like ass, but has a totally metal title.

Lost Sea - A cel-shaded action adventure game with perma-death. I don't know about this one...

Overhell - Delisted. I'm not sure what it's supposed to be or how it got there. Let's go?

PulseCharge - 2D platformer with trippy/nauseating colors. If I don't barf a rainbow, it wasn't trying hard enough.

[read the full post...]

5 comments


Semi-regular still alive post
Posted August 20, 2024 by JoeTheDestroyer

Alright, things are getting figured out. I've gotten a lot done, but it cost me a bit of sanity and free time. However, I've gotten back into the swing by playing through Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster, which I will be reviewing soon.

Mwahahahahahahahah! [It's actually better than most versions of the game, which isn't saying much. It always was my least favorite main Final Fantasy entry. Oh well, it's still not as mouth-frothing as All the Bravest.]

4 comments


This Is It
Posted March 31, 2024 by JoeTheDestroyer

I've taken some time away from this place, and now I feel the need to speak on it a little. Mostly, I need and outlet and maybe an attentive eye.

My wife and I weren't doing so good for the last several years. My dad and many close friends passed away between 2015 and 2021, tensions flared pretty much across the country in 2016, the pandemic hit in 2020, and I wasn't emotionally prepared for a lot of it. Losing my dad was made all the heavier by my refusal to engage my emotions because I needed to be emotionally stable for my mother, wife, and children. Not even a year later, a lost another friend to cancer, then my aunt, my cat, and several other good friends during the pandemic.

[read the full post...]

6 comments


You win this time, but I'll be back!
Posted January 29, 2024 by JoeTheDestroyer

Just letting everyone know I've got a lot going on in my life right now, so you're probably not going to see me super often over the next few weeks while I figure myself out.

But I shall return.🫡

2 comments


Games I've Been Playing in 2024
Posted January 15, 2024 by JoeTheDestroyer

Mega Man X4 (PlayStation)
Finished and reviewed. I restarted the game recently to see if I could finish it with Zero, and my mission was a success. This one is the best since X2. Sadly, the next two games are downhill. I'm not sure about the last two, but I haven't heard much good about them (although X8 does have a positive review on this site, so there's hope).

Mega Man X5 (PlayStation)
Finished and reviewed. Meh. Too many eggs in one basket, and level designs range from good to crap. It woud've been a better game if it weren't all over the place...

Mega Man X6 (PlayStation)

[read the full post...]


Games I Played This Year That Kicked Ass: 2023 List
Posted December 30, 2023 by JoeTheDestroyer

BEST IN SHOW AND EPIC


I've decided to start doing something different with my GIPTYTKA topics: introducing a “best in show” award (yeah, as if this is a dog show for video games) and an “epic” award that's not exactly a “second place,” but highlights a game that I found great that should still receive attention. Going back over the previous years' topics, here's what I've selected:

BIS 2022: Bayonetta 2
Epic 2022: Rise of the Third Power
BIS 2021: Mad Father Remake
Epic 2021: Wild Arms 3
BIS 2020: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Epic 2020: Ara Fell
BIS 2019: Unforgiving: A Northern Hymn
Epic 2019: Phantasy Star IV

This year's Epic and Best in Show will be presented after the list.


The Jury's Out

[read the full post...]


How is AlphaMurderthon coming along?
Posted November 01, 2023 by JoeTheDestroyer

Here's where I'm at right now:



Some notes:

-1000 Heads Among the Trees replaced 2Dark for a couple of reasons. For one thing, I just don't feel like playing 2Dark. Not that I will never get around to it, but it just... I don't know... 1000 Heads is also unique enough that I felt it belong with this group of games.

-Downfall is somewhat of a placeholder that may be kicked out if I'm able to finish Dead Space 2 before next October. Currently, I only have about nine more reviews to hit, which means I'll have to play through nine more games.

-Football Game is another placeholder, but one that I feel fits here. Fran Bow, The Forest, and Final Doom remain potential usurpers.

[read the full post...]


OctJOEber 2023 update 2
Posted September 04, 2023 by JoeTheDestroyer

Previously confirmed:
Absence (PC)
Blood Breed (Switch)
CALENDULA (PC)
The Note (PC)
Warships on the Halloween Night (PC)

And now:

Bloodwash (PC) - Part walking simulator, part '80s splatter movie throwback, all awesome. Who's murdering people at the 24-hour laundromat? Why it's... a naked masked person...

Doom II (Clasic) (Switch) - Do I really need to tell you what this is about? I'll at least mention that it comes with the original Doom II release, plus Master Levels in one handy package.

Garten of Banban (PC) - A first-person dealy where you inspect a sinister kindergarten to discover that you've wasted time playing a fraction of a full game, and you now need to buy all of the other portions separately to get any answers.

[read the full post...]

3 comments


OctJOEber 2023
Posted August 01, 2023 by JoeTheDestroyer

Yes, I'm still eventually doing AlphaMurderthon.

Yes, I'm doing a separate OctJOEber this year.

No, I didn't do squat last year because I was busy with work. Unlike the previous year, I actually have some stuff played and reviewed and I will post it here come October. Here's what to expect so far:

Absence (PC)- You wake up in a bathroom in the middle of the woods and somehow end up in a sewer running away from a pre-made asset monster. The horror!

Blood Breed (Switch)- A marriage of PlayStation-era survival-horror and '80s VHS films where you outrun a masked killer, avoid his sadistic traps, and bump off the occasional minotaur.

[read the full post...]

2 comments


I'm Still Alive, 2/15/23
Posted February 15, 2023 by JoeTheDestroyer

I'm still here, I'm still writing. However, work is kicking my ass pretty soundly. I was able to get my crew's population up, only for it to dwindle again, which has led to the occasional 12- to 14-hour days and not a lot of energy for anything but light gaming and sleeping. And sometimes reading.

Where reading is concerned, I got through a handful of books recently:

[read the full post...]

1 comment


Games I Played This Year That Kicked Ass 2022
Posted December 30, 2022 by JoeTheDestroyer

It's that time again: The Year in Review! I played a lot of great stuff this year, with the occasional spots of meh-ness. Honestly, it felt like a long year. I'm looking back on this list and thinking, "Man, that was this year?" Honestly, Gato Roboto and Football Game feel like two years ago at least.


2021 OMISSION


Gorogoa (PC)

[read the full post...]

2 comments


2022's Halloween haul
Posted October 01, 2022 by JoeTheDestroyer

I am a notorious physical horror movie hoarder. I call myself a collector because that sounds better. Every year, I hit movie sections at pretty much any store that carries movies and isn't grossly overpriced, while also ordering a bunch from websites like Arrow Video, Vinegar Syndrome, Kino Lorber, and Scream Factory. This year's haul is tremendous and will probably take me until next October to fully polish off. What did I land this time around?

After Midnight
Annabelle Comes Home
The Asphyx
Baba Yaga ('70s giallo)
The Battery
The Black Belly of the Tarantula
The Blob ('80s)
Body Melt
Body Parts
The Cabin in the Woods
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh
Cannibals
Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman
Cinderella (South Korean)
The Cloverfield Paradox
The Convent

[read the full post...]

3 comments


I'm not dead, just busy.
Posted September 21, 2022 by JoeTheDestroyer

Yes, I'm still alive.

Yes, work has been a lot.

Yes, I'm still playing games. It's just been difficult to balance work, playing, family, horror movies, and writing of late while also getting sleep.

No, I haven't touched that swarm game I'm supposed to review. I will eventually, though.

Yes, I've finished Rise of the Third Power, and it is awesome and will be reviewed soon.

Upcoming reviews:
Crowd Evolution! (Android)
Rise of the Third Power (PC)
Valdis Story: Abyssal City (PC; rewrite)
Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories (PS2; rewrite)
Ys I & II Chronicles+ (PC)


What the Hell Am I Getting Myself Into?
Posted January 06, 2022 by JoeTheDestroyer

JoeTheDestroyer's image

Asguaard
Not that long ago, I reviewed the Aldorlea-developed RPG 3 Stars of Destiny. It was nothing special. You would think I'd stay away from their stuff as a result, but instead I found myself loading up this one. I'll give this game credit: it's a cut above 3 Stars. Unfortunately, it's still nothing great...

[read the full post...]

1 comment


Games I Played This Year That Kicked Ass: 2021 Edition
Posted December 31, 2021 by JoeTheDestroyer

I don't know if it's just me, but this list feels short. I mean, in comparison to the total number of different games I played this year, this catalog feels like nothing. I blame Wild Arms 3 for soaking up so much of my time, but also my own lack of scrutiny for buying so many blah Steam titles. Thankfully, I still ran into a respectable handful of decent games, and that's gotta count for something...

Honorable Mentions: Games I Didn't Play Enough to Qualify
Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark- A solid quasi-FFTactics that fell out of my favor because it just wasn't quite what I was looking for at the time I started it. I can see myself going more thoroughly through this one down the line...

[read the full post...]


The Steam Marketplace Massacre: The Music Machine will be playing soon.
Posted September 18, 2021 by JoeTheDestroyer

12. The Music Machine
Haley is possessed by Quintin, Quintin wants to kill Haley, and maybe they're going to bond? Who knows, because they're stranded on an abandoned resort island where a weird devices takes them to other worlds full of strangeness and suffering.

The Steam Marketplace Massacre

1. Mad Father Remake
2. A Wolf in Autumn
3. Apartment 666
4. Kio's Adventure
5. You Deserve
6. SIMULACRA
7. God's Basement
8. Oakwood
9. Locked-in syndrome
10. Tamashii
11. Gridberd
12. The Music Machine

4 comments


The Steam Marketplace Massacre: Gridberd joins the party
Posted September 17, 2021 by JoeTheDestroyer

11. Gridberd
Escape a mansion owned by a masked, axe-wielding maniac bent on revenge. And by "escape," I mean "walk at such an insufferably slow speed that you want to bore-quit after ten minutes."

The Steam Marketplace Massacre

1. Mad Father Remake
2. A Wolf in Autumn
3. Apartment 666
4. Kio's Adventure
5. You Deserve
6. SIMULACRA
7. God's Basement
8. Oakwood
9. Locked-in syndrome
10. Tamashii
11. Gridberd


Presenting this year's OctJOEber offering: THE STEAM MARKETPLACE MASSACRE
Posted September 11, 2021 by JoeTheDestroyer

"Joe, you haven't written much this year."

Correction. I haven't posted much this year, but I have at least 17 unposted reviews. I had one project I was working on that wasn't specifically intended to be an OctJOEber one, but just happened to see its completion right this month. Since we're this close, I may as well unveil it as such.

THE STEAM MARKETPLACE MASSACRE
Because I have enough horror in my library to do several October projects

1. Mad Father Remake
RPG Maker fare featuring a girl who discovers that her father is a mad scientist, and must find him somewhere in their mansion that's crawling with zombies and killer dolls.

2. A Wolf in Autumn

[read the full post...]

1 comment


My current HG plans, 8/14
Posted August 14, 2021 by JoeTheDestroyer

-Get ROTW done. No, I haven't forgotten about this.

-Finish Shotgun Legend and review it.

-Post my Astro Aqua Kitty review.

-Finish Wild Arms: Alter Code F and review it as well.

-Sit in the dark and laugh ominously for a few hours.

1 comment

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