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leonbastralle · 1 month

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GAMES I PLAYED IN 2023 - SECOND HALF-ISH

here's part 2 of my little review of my 2023 games! somehow this is even more indie than the first half and honestly a lot of games w nonexistent fandoms on tumblr so be the change u want to see in the world i guess!

old man's journey: this is a rly short indie game with an interesting, though very repetitive puzzle mechanic that follows an old man as he goes on an important journey - literally but also figuratively by coming to terms with his past, and at some point the two end up being the same thing. the art style is truly lovely and unique, it gives me big children's book vibes, and the soundtrack is beautiful and touching and so is the story and the ending itself. as i said, the mechanic and actual gameplay could be expanded on, but i knew this going in and played it mostly for the vibes and in that it did not disappoint.

the last campfire: when i talked my wife into playing this i told her it's basically the pacifist puzzle version of dark souls and it truly is. you play as a little ember on their final journey to the last campfire, where all embers go when their light begins to fade. the path is challenging and a lot of embers give up. they become forlorn. it's your desire to help them, if they let you. this game is heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, such a gentle and touching story with a cast of diverse, likeable characters. the puzzles are all in all pretty doable, though they can get pretty intense at times, but there is a story only mode to remedy that! this one definitely is going on my all time favorites list.

lemon cake: who were you before you wandered into this bakery? doesn't matter, because the ghostified previous owner is now holding you hostage as her successor. this is a little sim/time management game w a super cute style where you upgrade your bakery, cafe and garden to keep making new delicious looking treats and serving your customers in the best way possible until you are worthy of your predecessor's famous lemon cake recipe. this game, as games of this variety tend to do, gets a bit stressful if you want to serve all of your customers before they get angry and leave while also needing to keep an eye on your ingredients and ovens and displays. i really liked all the upgrade options that make your life easier, and i loved combining all the cute pastries into new menus every other day or so to keep customers happy. a bit expensive for the amount of gameplay you get out of it but definitely worth it on a sale!

the gardens between: this game follows a pair of childhood friends through their memories together as they prepare for the move that one of them is about to go through and the inevitable goodbye that will precede it. super touching game with a really cool and unique puzzle mechanic in which you manipulate time and objects at different times throughout the puzzles to get to the solution. can make you kind of dizzy because the levels are built like spirals so the camera does a lot of spinning, but i'm sensitive to this and was fine when i went slow and took breaks.

book of travels: hoooo boy this is a big one. this game is marketed as a tmorpg (because the servers are TINY) and it definitely makes it work. most of this game is just exploring around, doing little tasks and finding your way since the game doesn't tell you at all what to do, it's all up to how you play it. do you want to do some combat? figure out what the fuck happened in kasa, the closed capital? become a fisherman? just trade and collect cool looking things? the braided shore is your oyster and it is a beautiful one with the painterly art style and great music and ambiance. still in early access and therefore quite buggy sometimes, but definitely one of my faves w a lot of potential.

capybara spa: made by the same person as lemon cake, you can really see the similarities in terms of the cutesy style, but i think it's a lovely thing to look at. this is just a little clicker where you run a spa for capybaras and their little critter friends and keep levelling up to add more and more spa options and extras to give them the special treatment they deserve! i assume this game could get a bit overwhelming since there's a lot to keep an eye on at all times, but there are no time constraints and no punishment so you can take your time and get sucked in for hours, which this game is very good at doing.

tiny echo: in this point and click game you play as a funky little guy w an eye for a head who delivers letters to their spirit inhabitants with a minimal amount of puzzling involved. i mainly played it because i wanted to check out more games by the book of travels devs, and it was a nice experience, though it also doesn't really stand out for me. very short game, maybe a bit short for the price, but i played it from a shared library so skdjfhksdjf

cosmic wheel sisterhood: i got nothing bad to say about this one. you play as an exiled fortune telling witch who breaks after years of solitude and forms a forbidden pact. the cast of witches (and other creatures) is diverse, i liked both the characterizations and the interactions between characters (also a lot of them are very hot so that helps). the big mechanic of this game is that you use elemental energy to craft your own tarot cards from a selection of card backgrounds and elements and then you use these to tell people's fortunes, which in turn gives you more energy. depending on your selections, the cards will have unique names and different meanings, and i enjoyed seeing all the cards i or others could come up with. the story is intense and emotional, but to me, definitely in a good way. though there are several outcomes and so far i've only tried one. definitely replay value there. just be wary because despite including trigger warnings, they forgot one for cancer so be informed and do not be like me ADJHKAJSDHA

planet zoo: i tried this after i saw my wife play it because growing up i was crazy about zoo empire and zoo tycoon. i don't have much to say about this one because though you have a whooooole bunch of freedom in designing your zoo, the enclosures and even every single building, that freedom was a bit overwhelming for me so i never ended up rly getting into it. also not a huge fan of big capitalism expansion packs system, but hey. it definitely is a pretty, very neat game.

cats & dogs organized neatly: it's like static tetris. but with animals. you click on them and they bark and meow and you can SPIN THEM MANY TIMES as jazzy music plays in the bg. as you go you unlock more funky little boys n girls and they all have funny little bios and names. i broke my brain on some levels but didn't mind looking up some solutions in favor of the vibe! i enjoyed both of these and will definitely play the birds sequel that's set to come out this year! another german dev shoutout these were great games. they're very small and quite cheap but you can also get these on sale for like 2 euros KSJFHAKSFA

toem: truly the year of photography games for me, but i think vibe wise this one was my favorite. just a funky lil guy in a black and white world going on their first photography pilgrimage to toem, the famed natural phenomenon of their world. i loved all the little quests, the different worlds and the endless filter options and the soundtrack was great too. honestly greatly recommend, i don't own this game but i plan to buy it to replay!

pupperazzi: yet another photography game! this one's all about dogs, and it's delightful and wonky and just a good casual time with less story elements than the other mentioned photography games. not groundbreaking but great fun.

luna the shadow dust: this game follows a young apprentice mage back up the tower that he's grown up and studied in to face the consequences of his past mistakes. lovely art style, music, and puzzle mechanics, especially the use of light and shadow. i've wanted to play this one for a while and i'm really glad i did, i liked the story a lot even though it got quite sad.

alba: WAIT this one too is a photography game that i honestly might like even more because its story is so touching. you play as alba who is visiting her grandparents for the summer. the natural reserve on their island is about to be sold to be turned into a hotel, so her and her friend decide to start a petition to save it and help clean up the island and rescue animals in need as well as documenting the wildlife to change people's minds! truly one of the most heartwarming games i played in my life, 10/10 i cried at the sad part sdjkhksd

röki: this one's...a lot. the main character of this game, tove, lives in a little cabin with her dad and her very whimsical little brother who she's basically taking care of on her own because her dad has been incredibly depressed since his wife passed away. when a mythical creature attacks their house and abducts her little brother, tove has to enter a magical mirror world. there she has to help all the other mythical creatures in hopes of reawakening the forest spirits, who have been plagued by nightmare parasites, and finding a way to get her brother back. lovely puzzles and wintery vibes, but a truly heartbreaking story that gets more and more messed up every time she faces a nightmare parasite and with it, more of her past and the events that lead to her mother's death. despite the heavy undertones this is still a good game if you're ok with some tragedy and slight horror elements askjfhakjsfas

stardew valley: i forgot to add this one in the previous post bc i actually played it in early 2023. not my first time and will not be my last time either. still a queen among farming sim peasants and i'm looking forward to restarting our little farm w my wife after the next big update!

#gaming year in review #my games #this one got so long it refused to let me put the bullet points #but oh well its mostly for me anyway #if anyone reads all of this ur a champ #(i know my wife will hi baby i love you ty for supporting my gamer girl journey)

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cheemken · 7 months

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So about the Villain Iris AU,

How do you think it’ll continue? Cause we stopped at the moment Diantha and Lance got teleported into the frigate by the Shadow Triad

Also, do we both agree that Iris eventually kills the rest of the champions? Or would that take place during a different battle?

But imagine Iris asks Bianca for a bit of privacy so she can talk to her parents, and Iris goes on about how they must be so confused about why she chose to purify Unova of all the people who brought harm to her. And she explains that people who try to hurt someone above them, someone who had done nothing but help, shouldn’t be given the right to live. That they distributed their fate that was set for them

Their fate was to be her followers and let her lead them towards their purpose. To follow their god to a greater path she had set for them. But instead they chose to tear away from that path she had set down and make their own in a different direction

But Iris knows there’s only one true path they’re meant to follow, and now they face the consequences

ough just Diantha and Lance being so fucking scared of her. She gave them a second chance because she loves them, and it’s their fate for them to be with their daughter, but if they go against Iris’ orders and create a path for themselves then they know the last thing they’ll see is Iris’ glowing eyes behind the icy death of Kyurem’s Glaciate

But yeah that’s all I can think about to continue the AU. You got anything?

OUUGGGHHHH THE SILKWING FAM FUCKS ME UP YOUR HONOUR PLS THATS CHMDBFNDN

Can you imagine how much that'd mess w Lance and Diantha, cause altho they never truly voice how Iris is kinda like their daughter, they treat her like she is, and they promised themselves that they'll raise Iris better than how their own parents raised them, that they'll always be there for her, to support and help her however way they can, they raised her to be a good person. And still, that wasn't enough, their efforts weren't enough, there were cracks they didn't saw, didn't get to fix, didn't get to help her heal, and now she's in front of them, justifying the way she's killing people, how she's going on how she's a god, and it sent a shiver down their spines.

But also can you imagine despite that they still love her😭😭 that they couldn't bring themselves to hate her because she's their daughter, they saw her grow from the rising star of Unova, one of the youngest Champions, to the person she is before she revealed herself as the new boss of Plasma. She's still their child, and they love her so so much that it hurts them that the path she took was the dark road leading to where she is now and just bcndbdj

Imagine Iris seeing the fear in their eyes, the reluctance, then she tries again, more desperate now, "I mean.. you two understand, right..? Mom, dad.. you two should know better." Then she lets out a breathy laugh, "you two should know better! You two should know better, you've been through the same!" Her voice grew in volume, her desperation dripping with each word, "your people hated you too! You let them walk all over you! Aren't you at least proud of me?!" Her face morphed to anger, "I'm breaking the chains! I'm not letting them get away with every bullshit thing without consequences! They made my life absolute hell!" She sighed deeply, then glared at them, suddenly eerily calm, "Why can't I do the same to them?"

And god just hcmdndn Lance and Diantha risking it all and pulling Iris close to them, wrapping their arms around her, and Iris just ncmxnd your honour please Iris not feeling anything tho. She's just standing there, letting Diantha sob on her shoulder, letting Lance pull them impossibly closer. She's just standing there, unsure what to do, unsure what to feel, hearing Diantha's apologies, hearing Lance's promise of another life, another path.

Another path..

There aren't any other paths. Only one. The one fated path each and every single one of them had. No one could deviate from that path. Not even Iris herself could deviate from that path. And what else to do than to accept whatever destiny you might have as you walk along that perilous journey? Isn't that how it's always been? Right?

Lance could feel himself becoming petrified, Diantha almost didn't want to let go of Iris. And Iris, well... Maybe this time's the charm, y'know. Perhaps, when her parents finally see just how horrible the people of Unova are, then they'll finally understand, like how Bianca finally understands, yeah, of course they will. And what better way to show them than to actually make the Unovan people talk just how horrible they treated her, their Champion, their god.

#idt she would kill off the others that quick #i wanan say shed give them some sort of chance?? like maybe theyd join her yknow the champs are her fam too #but maybe unlike lance and dia the moment they dont show their support yeah shed kill em off hahah #anyways pls iris freezing some of the people tho and forcing them to tell lance and dia what they really thought of her back then #and ough cbdndb lowkey wanna write that but like i have to go for a bit group meetings and such hahah #anyways yeah hahah #if you want you can send another ask abt that i'll answer it as soon as im done w my group hahah #villain iris au #an ask and an answer #jerseyk112

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