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Game Thoughts: Failed Play Fall 2025

As with books, I've had trouble recently igniting my passion for videogames. Expedition 33 was phenomenal, and nothing I've touched since has felt "worthy" of the time investment.

The fact that I'm currently in this game-funk is in itself making me wary of booting up any "big" games I'd really like to finish, as I worry whatever current mindset is limiting my game enjoyment will hobble a potentially great experience.

And so I find myself in videogame limbo of late, seeking "hidden gems" on older consoles that can be cheaply obtained, emulated, or found in my decades long backlog of impulse purchases.

The Minds Beneath Us (Steam)

On the surface this is a title right up my alley. A mystery/sci-fi story-driven narrative experience with good art and an interesting premise. Something intangable here prevented me from liking it, starting from the very first scene, and leading right up to when I stopped on my character's first day of work.

I clearly didn't give the game enough time to blossom into something good, but I was annoyed every moment I played, as if I was on the precipice of something happening for some reason that never did.

Crimson Shroud (3DS)

A very interesting title, this online-only 3DS RPG is now tricky to get one's hands on. Designed by Yasumi Matsuno (Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, etc), the game sports his distinct style transformed into a simulacra of the table-top RPG -- complete with polyhedral dice-rolls.

This was a really compelling game for me. Every part of the game was extremely simple, yet felt layered. Story scenes were entirely inanimate, consisting of posed RPG miniatures and unvoiced dialogue, combat was basic but had opportunities to play in specific ways to gain benefit, and inventory management was traditional with just enough extra to make finding loot worthwhile.

I was entirely captivated by this little game until a particular spot -- there is an instance, and apparently only one, where you require a random drop from a specific enemy to proceed. This enemy isn't guaranteed to show up, and they aren't guaranteed to drop the item, and this seems to result in many many fruitless battles to proceed.

While the combat was enjoyable, fighting the same battle on repeat was offensive -- there was no sense of progress, and this requirement is never acknowledged by the game, forcing the player to move back and forth between the same rooms repeatedly, watching the same cutscene over and over, until the item is found.

I never found the item, and I'm not going to bother.

Hollow Knight: Silksong (Steam)

The original Hollow Knight is an absolutely amazing "Metroidvania" title. It was painfully difficult at times, yet the artistry, novelty, and mystery of the world kept me coming back and beating whatever god-awful difficulty spike I was stuck on.

The sequel, Silksong, seems to have appeased the long-awaiting fans, and it truly feels like returning to Hollow Knight after 7 years. The new protagonist, story, and "vibe" feel different, but familiar. After 6 or 7 years, however, I am very different, and no longer have the patience to replay the same boss battle 10-20 times. I no longer have the patience for dead-man runs (though I feel I never did) or master the platforming requirements for the harder segments.

Every time I'm forced to replay a chunk of the game feels like a slap in the face -- that was time I could have been doing something valuable. Playing games already frequently feels like stolen time, re-playing the same segment seems to me a blatant sin, now.

I look forward to skimming through the lore videos fans will inevitably compile, and don't regret the purchase to support the amazing team that built these games.

Ever Oasis(3DS)

Another game frequenting "hidden gems" lists, this one struck me as a combination of Dark Cloud's city reconstruction, Harvest Moon's farming and relationship management, as well as some zelda-style combat. The entire experience is packaged in an overly-cutesy wrapping, and was surprisingly once the lengthy tutorial period ends.

I don't have many complaints about the game, honestly, outside of the entire thing feeling somehow shallow. The opposite of my experience with Crimson Shroud, if you will -- here is a game presenting many moving parts, yet each part is only one layer deep.

Granted, I didn't get far in the game. Far enough to meet the character with a hammer, but not far enough to have recruited them. Peeking into online videos of later parts of the game reveals a surprising amount of zelda-like puzzles and character abilities, however for all the buffet presented I don't feel compelled to keep eating. While there appears to be quite a bit more story present, I can't see myself experiencing anything new or special in this.

Games on the Horizon

I feel this is my main challenge -- finding games that are not only enjoyable, but present novelty. Not simply to satisfy my novelty-hungry mind, but so that I can come away from the game with more than 30-60 hours thrown into a digital abyss. Perhaps that something is simply insight into an enjoyable aspect of the game, or perhaps it is the feeling that comes with playing a truly special woek. Something magical happens the first time playing through and experiencing a masterpiece like Outer Wilds or Expedition 33 which either do something entirely new or rearrange old ideas into and entirely new experience that feels unique.