Summary for September 2025

Continuations

I can’t say that Metroid Prime Trilogy – I just finished Metroid Prime 3: Corruption – would be among my favorite games of all time. I don’t actually have any sort of list like that anyway. But the good parts are so good! I like exploration. The scanning almost feels like detective work. I like movement in a world, with a couple of caveats. I like those worlds a lot.

Samus, wearing her classic red and gold Power Suit, points her arm cannon toward the camera. She appears small on screen because she is standing in the back of the room surrounded by her allies. On our right, we see the head of Ghor, which is basically a metal helmet with a transparent top that shows a glowing red cybernetic brain poking out of a huge, bipedal, mech-like armorsuit. On the left is Rundas, who looks like armor that resembles insect exoskeletons, made out of chitin-like metal, a featureless, elongated helmet, and has ice-covered fingers. Also on the left, closer to the camera, is Gandrayda, who has a feminine, translucent, purple body with metallic-looking ribs and a face, and also translucent hair that looks like a glass crown.

And all the fiddly parts that drag the series down a bit? Most of them seem to be massaged into an acceptable shape by the third game.

If they manage to make Prime 4 with that gameplay, quality-of-life improvements and all, I would be happy to play it. Maybe someday we’ll see what the canceled version of Prime 4 looked like, but for now, the current one seems pretty fine.

The silhouette of a woman, shoulders up, with short, slightly disheveled hair. She looks at a dark cityscape dotted with lights. Cloudy skies are above it, with a full moon poking through the clouds. — [Panel from chapter 10]

If you have a sort of “chill beats to study to” equivalent in a book form, would you want it to change much, if at all? After Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō, other books by Hitoshi Ashinano I read – PositioN, Kumabachi no koto and Kotonoba Drive – have very similar vibes, structure and art style. And that’s a good thing in my book!

Eternium is another podcast game that won’t bother you with its monetization. You’ll do a lot of grinding, but that’s the point.

What if fire cleaning simulator? That’s a silly but accurate way to describe Nuclear Blaze. Spreading flames will be your main antagonist in this neat-looking platformer. You also save cats!

So, Quake II, huh.

The place looks like a medieval castle courtyard, but with rust-coloured walls and metal grates. There is a natural stone wall on one side and mountains in the background. Above it all are acid skies of yellow and green. There stands an Enforcer, a burly, bold Strogg who is holding a dog-like creature with a flat face and meat-coloured skin (or lack thereof) by its neck. — [Strogg’s best friend]

Zaero for Quake II is a fan-made campaign. Although it has a couple of unique features, it doesn’t stray far from the original and therefore fits nicely with the other official add-ons.