Drakan: The Ancients’ Gates is a proper sequel, so there isn’t much to discuss unless you want to delve into the details of the game mechanics, which I don’t.

Some things have improved. Others just changed. The game now has even more open levels. I bet that if there were a third game, they would have tried to make it a full-on open world.

Kingdom: New Lands is also a proper sequel. Or maybe a better description would be an expansion pack. It adds a significant number of new features to the original game and splits the progression into multiple islands that you need to escape.

I was dreading playing Bullet Witch, but it turns out it’s not bad. First, aside from the outfit (which you can change, but the others are not better), the game is not sleazy at all. The camera doesn’t ogle Alicia’s body, no one questions her ability to fight, nothing like that.

Second, it’s just a mediocre game. I mean that in the most neutral way possible. You play it and go, “huh, that was a thing, ” and move on with your life. There are cool set pieces and some spectacle, but they’re overshadowed by dull visuals. There’s no reason to explore the pretty big levels. The combination of guns and magic is neat, but doesn’t feel that great. The story is fine, but it’s pretty shallow and short. We don’t even know who Alicia’s companion is. Perhaps they intended to write a sequel.

In a hole near a bog there lived a frog.

From the moment of discovering them, frog loved playing video games. Frog even learned some English to play games that hadn’t been translated. Then, when the internet became more accessible, frog realized that it was more convenient to read about games in English. There were more sources, and they were faster.

Then, gaming publications challenged frog’s views on some aspects of games. Perhaps it was meaningful who was represented on the screen and how. Maybe it was important to consider who makes games and under what labor practices. Frog grumbled for a bit – no one likes to have their views challenged – but ultimately agreed with the arguments. Besides, the other side was clearly disingenuous and malicious.

But then the gaming publications started to let frog down. At best, they stopped evolving. At worst, they became problematic themselves. Questionable advertising, harassment scandals, disregard for their own standards. It was all too much for our little frog.

With a sigh, frog put all the collected baubles – the bad companies, the problematic games, the overall state of the gaming industry, etc. – on a shelf where they were clearly visible, and hoped that no more bad things would ever happen because not reading any more gaming news meant there were no way of knowing.

I realized is that demos are a great way for me to get my FOMO fix. Since they are short and free, I can figure out what people are up to these days and then go back to playing the game I was playing before, which is probably from years, if not decades, ago.

Gravebound is a short, free arena shooter. And if you’re curious, a companion is your fire spell friend.

There are plenty of games that try to distill a particular genre into something minimalist. Too often, they throw out something important and break the whole thing. Kingdom nails it. It’s as minimal as possible, yet it still allows for strategy. It looks great, is simple to control (three buttons, really), and can be pretty short if you just want to win or last you dozens of hours if you’re going for achievements.

I don’t have any excuses, not even a joke-y one. But I replayed Alba: A Wildlife Adventure. It’s a neat little game, that’s it.

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!