Continuing on from yesterday, let's continue recapping the stuff I posted over on MoeGamer this year, shall we? Yes, we shall.
Cyclopean: The Great Abyss – Ultima meets Lovecraft
In this piece, I explore a game that an independent developer sent me a copy of. Inspired heavily by both classic computer role-playing games such as the Ultima series and the works of H.P. Lovecraft, this is a lovely, atmospheric retro-style RPG that is easy to pick up and play, but tricky to master. The developer is currently working on a sequel.
Payment processors' control over the arts has to stop
A story broke this year that Visa and Mastercard are seemingly trying to prevent consenting adults from choosing what they spend their money on. Specifically, both companies have been making it very hard for anyone with the slightest connection to sexually explicit (or, in some cases, provocative) entertainment to make a living. It's crazy to think that I posted this back in July, and the situation is still ongoing, with seemingly no resolution in sight.
Old Skies: Wadjet Eye in top form
This is one of the best games I played this year, and the game that caused me to think that, once and for all, the point-and-click adventure sector is in an even better space today than it was back in its supposed LucasArts and Sierra-led "golden age" of the late '90s.
No Sleep for Kaname Date: A meeting of the minds
I adore the first two AI: The Somnium Files games, so I was excited that a third one was coming. I ended up not loving this one quite as much as the first two, but it's still pretty solid, and the new mechanical elements in the escape room sequences are a great addition to the overall formula. It just didn't come together quite as well as the prior two — perhaps because series creator Uchikoshi was a little more hands-off with this one.
Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore – more than just a mockery
I was immediately intrigued by Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore and the fact it was paying homage to two notoriously not-very-good games. I was even more surprised that it was actually a very good game in its own right. Poking gentle fun at its source material while correcting all their annoyances, this was a real pleasure to play through.
Ara Fell: elves vs vampires
I've had a double-pack of this game and its spiritual successor Rise of the Third Power on my shelf for ages, so I decided while we were away on holiday, I was finally going to play them. And I had a really lovely time! Ara Fell adopts an interesting quasi-open world approach and is an immensely rewarding, engaging experience.
Rise of the Third Power: like FFVI never left
Rise of the Third Power, spiritual successor (but not "sequel") to Ara Fell, is one of the best story-centric RPGs I've played for a long time. Brilliant characterisation, stirring music — all the more remarkable considering it was drawn from royalty-free libraries rather than specifically composed — and a wonderfully engaging story make this a highly memorable game that I highly, highly recommend.
Master Detective Archives: Rain Code – what price justice?
Although it gets a little bogged down in itself over the course of its complete runtime, this murder mystery adventure from the Danganronpa creator was nonetheless a compelling, entertaining thrill ride, set in a thoroughly fascinating setting and, in true Danganronpa tradition, presenting some immensely stylish, abstracted takes on the "mechanics" of investigation and deduction.
Lumines Arise, the art of sincerity and creating meaning without explicit narrative
It's easy to assume that the only games with real "meaning" are those that tell an explicit story. But sit down with Lumines Arise, a new take on a classic puzzle game developed by the same folks who did the incredible Tetris Effect, and you will feel very differently. This is a game that is designed to make you feel things while you play. And it's enormously successful at doing that. A truly wonderful experience.
Zelda's organic adventures
I started playing Tears of the Kingdom a little while back, and I am reminded of one of the things I liked so much about Breath of the Wild: the fact that the whole game is a series of little mini-adventures that you stumble across pretty much at random as you explore the world. This is a markedly distinct approach from the "hoover all the icons up off the minimap" structure that many other open-world games take, and it makes for a much more enjoyable game.
HORSES: much ado about nothing?
Notoriously banned from release on Steam, HORSES from Italian developer Santa Ragione is really not worth all the fuss there's been over it. It was an interesting experience, for sure, but you'll see more upsetting material on late-night TV.
Return to Castle Wolfenstein and my history with Nazi-blastin'
As I've noted a few times recently, I love Wolfenstein 3-D and its follow-up Spear of Destiny, but I've never played any of the Wolfenstein games that followed. I am now in the process of correcting this, so I wrote this after beating Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War on original Xbox. I had fun, though the game shows its age in a few places — in both good and bad ways.
And that's your lot for now. Tomorrow I will review my Evercade blog posts for the year… and then it will be 2026! Hurrah. Possibly. Here's hoping the new year is better than the old one… but I'm not holding out much hope at the moment. At least I have plenty of things to distract me, apparently!
Want to read my thoughts on various video games, visual novels and other popular culture things? Stop by MoeGamer.net, my site for all things fun where I am generally a lot more cheerful. And if you fancy watching some vids on classic games, drop by my YouTube channel.
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