Against my better judgment, I decided to continue playing horror/dark games. I found so much cool stuff last year that it seems like there’s enough left for another one. However, I will continue a subtheme from last month, modifying it to include games with companions. In fact, this theme extends beyond games to my other media consumption.

Predator: Badlands is a pretty enjoyable action flick. It won’t surprise you — you’ll know how it ends almost from the start, though there are a couple of interesting twists — but it will entertain you all the way through.

I don’t want to be on the defensive, but you have to if you want to compare Decay of Logos to other soulslikes. So, let me just call it a pretty good action RPG inspired by Dark Souls and co.

It put its own spin on almost every element of the genre, and most of them are at least interesting. Some are clearly not. Your elk steed in the game, for example, is one of those mechanics that looks good on paper but is more cumbersome than fun. It has the art style you’ve seen a million times, but it knows how to use it. There are cool locations and a pretty good atmosphere. The variety of enemies and equipment is not bad for a relatively short game. The combat is serviceable. And, hey, it’s free!

I maybe accidentally got, replayed, and 100%-ed The Last Campfire. In my defense, it’s not only the best game by Hello Games, but it’s also clearly a soulslike. You play as a lost ember (undead). You travel from campfire to campfire (bonefire), lighting them up. The world is interconnected as you constantly open new shortcuts. There are also NPCs with cryptic lines. You solve puzzles. The themes and atmosphere are similar.

And it’s also a delight!

I hate to be crawling back to Logitech, but it seems like they still make decent mice at a good price-to-feature ratio, especially if you lower your expectations. My minimal requirements are a wireless mouse with programmable buttons that work without software.

The Logitech G304 is that mouse. It’s wireless only with a dongle, there’s no multi-device or Bluetooth capability. It runs on one double-A battery that cannot be charged inside the device. You can set up one on-board profile with DPI settings and custom shortcuts, including G-Shift, which allows you to hold one button and use the others for different functions.

The benefit of going with a popular brand is that someone, somewhere, will do something about it. For example, a battery percentage could be shown as a tray icon on Windows without official software installed.

Another mouse that I’ve had for a while that almost fits the bill is the Razer Orochi V2. Here are the main differences, according to me:

It’s slightly smaller, but not in an uncomfortable way. You can pair it to two devices and quickly switch between them if you don’t mind the Bluetooth connection. You can make it even lighter by using a triple-A battery. But I chose to designate it as my secondary mouse for non-main PCs because of the shortcuts.

On G304, you can assign keyboard shortcuts, such as Ctrl + Shift + T or Super + Shift + →, as macros. These macros live in the device itself, you don’t need software running. While you can customize Orochi V2 in the same way, including the DPI, Hypershift (the G-Shift equivalent), and even slightly more (the up and down scroll wheel functions are assignable), for some bizarre reason, you can’t assign some shortcuts as, well, shortcuts, only as macros. And all macros require software. So, you can have Ctrl + Shift + T but not Super + Shift + →. It’s not a huge deal since you can change the shortcuts in the operating system, but it’s still somewhat annoying.

The surprising part about Sunshine Manor is that each level introduces a new mechanic. What starts as a top-down, light survival horror game can be more action-oriented at times. None of the mechanics overstay their welcome, and the entire game is reasonably short. Visually, it’s quite nice, as it tries to invoke 8-bit era graphics. The good, spooky, sometimes tense music adds to the experience.

/i\ Slight spoiler for Rule of Rose.

Rule of Rose is, to put it politely, queer as fuck. While I feel it depicts that theme with decent tact and respect, ultimately, I can’t be the judge of that. Knowing horror games, I can see how some aspects can fall into harmful stereotypes. Another thing that gives me pause in this regard is that it’s a story about children made by adult developers, which always has a certain sheen of sleaziness. I do appreciate that, despite some supernatural elements, there are no ancient burial grounds or secret cults in sight, which is refreshing.

Your dog companion, Brown, is a very cool addition to the gameplay. He not only helps with notoriously awkward combat, but he is also an interesting in-game help system of sorts. You can pet him, too.

Regardless, the game is a hidden gem. Maybe a rough one (the camera and aftermentioned combat come to mind), and perhaps not particularly hidden, but I very much enjoyed it.

What is a dragon, if not a dog with wings? And scales? And firebreath?.. Okay, I’m reaching. I wouldn’t call Drakan: Order of the Flame a horror either. Dark fantasy? Sure.

It’s a blend of The Legend of Zelda and Tomb Raider. Plus a dragon. And not a bad blend. There is mostly combat and not a lot of puzzles. While the technical aspects have not aged particularly well, they are not bad either. Flying can be disorienting, but it’s a neat addition.

It’s an old game, though. Some choices, especially in design of female characters, can be cringe-worthy. It also has a quick save for a reason. Expect instant death traps and enemies that can one-shot you. It’s the Dark Souls of its time (not really).

Tales of the TARDIS is great because it allows you to watch a sample of episodes from a previous era of Doctor Who and realize that you don’t want to watch any more. It has not aged well. Great scarves, though!

Maybe I just wanted something simple, but I enjoyed Goosebumps: Terror in Little Creek. It’s a pretty straightforward, lite version of Resident Evil. There are plenty of puzzles and stealth elements, as well as some combat. Nothing outstanding, just a good, spooky adventure.

The core of the Prime games is firmly present in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. The developers updated some features (most of my complaints have been addressed) to make it feel more modern without removing anything. It’s a good, substantial game that isn’t too long.

And that would’ve been that if we weren’t waiting for it basically from the release of the Switch console itself. To be honest, I was also among those wondering, for good reason, how they would change it. After the release of Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, everyone was thinking the same thing: open world? Open levels? At least more open, right?

The game we got seems to have been held back in some way. There is an openness, but it doesn’t add anything significant. NPCs, cutscenes, some other minor details also feel separate from the rest of the game. None of that makes it worse, far from it. It’s just a reminder that it got stuck on a bridge without a way to fully cross or go back.

Some puzzle games make you feel very clever. Monument Valley III and the entire series make you feel how clever the developers are. I don’t mean that as a bad thing, but it is less of a puzzle game. Still, it’s very neat, good-looking, and quite enjoyable!

The throwbackness of  Terminator 2D: No Fate is not its only selling point. Despite being pretty short, it has a good incentive to replay its campaign and offers a couple of additional modes and achievements. But it’s also just a fun game.

I’m hesitant to say, if the story of  Amnesia: Rebirth is good or not. I feel that it doesn’t fall into sensationalism; it simply does what it needs to do to tell its story. However, there are subject matters where it is not my place to judge. Other than that, it is a good-looking, atmospheric game with reasonable puzzles and monsters that you can turn off (which I did, no regrets).

As far as I can tell without playing them myself, all the games from that developer are interesting because they started with a lot of problematic elements but have been deliberately moving away from them. Again, I can’t be the judge of that.

They also keep making Picross games, those fuckers.

I’m pretty sure that this month, I set a record for the number of games I started but didn’t finish for one reason or another. Nevertheless, here is a list of three free spooky ones:

• A is for Aliens After Ava, a runner with nice, stark graphics.
• B is for Ballads at Midnight, a romantic visual novel that can get pretty dark.
• C is for Curyeux, a platformer. A bit dark, or just serious, I guess, but not a horror.

I’ve also been tinkering with this blog. If you don’t notice any changes, that’s a good thing. If you notice any changes, hopefully they are positive ones. And it should look even better in NetSurf, the famous and popular web browser.

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.

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.

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.

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.