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J M Berntson

🎮 in 2023

It's the sequel thread, and this time I'll do it right!

I'll reply to this thread every time I "finish" playing a video game this year. That could mean getting to the end of the story it tells, or just getting to a point where I think I've experienced what the game has to offer me.

By "doing it right" I mean that I won't forget about the part where I don't actually have to play to what would be considered the end of the game.

#VideoGames
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J M Berntson

#1 (2023-02-09)

After being preoccupied by school or bouncing between a few different games for all of January, I ended up downloading the first part of A YEAR OF SPRINGS on my phone.

Instantly fell in love with this short and sweet visual novel about three queer girls figuring out their various feelings over the course of three parts (plus an epilogue).

I love them, wish them only happiness, and am very happy about the 4-ish hours I got to spend with them.

Haru taking a bath in a private hot spring bath attached to their inn room. Haru: "I can't even remember how long it's been since I've soaked in real hot spring water."
Manami has just removed something that had stuck to Haru's hair, and Erika notices Haru's face going tomato. Erika: "Hmm. Is that how it is?"
Erika and Haru have had a particularly intense talk about their feelings, and Haru is brought to tears from her mixed emotions. Haru: "I'm so broken in so many ways, so why would anyone ever be attracted to me?"
Erika tells Manami that she and another girl are "kind of maybe dating now."
#VideoGames
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J M Berntson

Oh, had I really only finished one game in the first 6¾ months of 2023?

Well, I was busy with school, which halted my playthrough, and then I had for all of June, so...

#2 (2023-07-24)

I've been playing the game on and off. Started the playthrough in 2020, I think. Significantly more difficult to play on the Switch than PC, but the GameCube controller helped.

Activated God Mode against the Icon of Sin. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Doomguy blasting a lone chaingun zombie with his plasma rifle. The locale is a gray and green marble temple with radioactive, liquid nukage below and a red, fleshy hell-sky above.
#VideoGames#Doom2#DoomII
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J M Berntson

#3 (2023-08-02)

I just realized I forgot to put on the list as #2. Well, anyway, here's another style game that I just finished, and it has an actual story and stuff. Because it's also a .

It follows actor turned unlicensed private detective, Honor Mizrahi as she solves crimes (mostly murders) through the power of puzzles.

The story is completely fine, and the characters very cute. Jena (not pictured) in particular...
💜😢

The title Murder by Numbers title screen. Features art of the main characters; Honor Mizrahi and her hovering robot companion, SCOUT.
Honor, SCOUT and Becky escaping a sea of fire, with Becky wielding a fire extinguisher.
Eirin, a weirdo film director and diamond smuggler, tells Honor: "You were lost, Honor. But now you have found your way. That makes you difference."
The Gang relaxing with some Casablanca. From left to right: Aged police detective, Gerry Cross. Hovering TV/robot, SCOUT. Main character, Honor Mizrahi. Best friend and make-up/design master, K.C. LeBeau.
#VideoGames
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J M Berntson

#4 (2023-07-17)

I don't have any screenshots and I'm too hungry to really put any more effort into this, but I should make sure I have this /#nonogram game in my thread for completion's sake.

It wasn't as well-designed as , actually, as it had a habit of prematurely revealing what part of a line I had just solved. So it makes MBN more impressive by comparison, since it both got the puzzles right and had a visual novel story.

It was fine, though.

#VideoGames
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J M Berntson

#5 (2023-08-03)

To be honest, I don't completely remember how my one playthrough of the original actually ended. I just can recall bits and pieces. But then... it was in 2016, apparently.

The sequel? I like it. While Riley having Jacob (and [the kids]) can't compare to the cast of Alex's peers in the original, this was still a solid story with a lot of nice moments.

It's also a very pretty game... with light pathfinding and animation issues.

Riley and Jacob get pulled into some dangerous extradimensional bullcrap as the radio transmitter they just placed taps into a triangular reality-hole in the distant background.
Riley and Jacob stroll through some shallow water between two sections of the island, with an absolutely enormous full moon in the background.
Riley sits on the edge of a dock next to someone called Rex, who tells her to admit that an eternity doing nothing isn't for her.
Riley and Jacob sit on a dock/pier/whatever along with Jacob's dog, Athena. Behind them is the ferry Riley that shuttles people to and from the island.
#VideoGames
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J M Berntson

#6 (2023-08-10*)
*01:30 AM

A I'd been sitting on for over two years before I finally starting it up a few days ago. Clocked in at either 5 or 8 hours, depending on what part of the Steam GUI I'm looking at.

It's a beautifully animated with a story that goes back and forth between past and present events as it untangles how magic school students Marion and Audrey's relationship formed, fell apart, and then finally...?

Marion (light brown skin, silver hair) and Audrey (lighter skin, pastel purple hair) are standing on a bridge in front of a golden sunset with their faces close together. Marion has just placed a sunflower in Audrey's hair, behind her left ear.
Audrey and Marion are having fun in a bustling market area. Audrey laughs as Marion jokes "But that's alright! It's never too late to work on those arsonist tendencies."
"She said the thing!" Marion name-drops the game's title when talking about the magic of art, and how the artists take the gold the alchemists make and "turn it into perfect gold!"
Marion and Audrey are engaged with each other in a vicious mage's duel. The picture is split down the middle with Marion in front of a dark red background on the left, and Audrey in front of a crowd of spectators on the right. A visibly angered Marion screams "You could've been happy too!" at a flinching Audrey.
#WLW#lesbian#LGBT
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J M Berntson

#7 (2023-08-17) ( campaign)

Imagine being a huge fan of Quake II in the late 90s and not knowing that Nintendo 64 version had an entirely unique campaign until over two decades later.

Say what you will about and (they sure have issues), but this spruced up version of Quake II (which I got for free) is a heck of a thing. Old content, new content, restored content...!

Anyway, the campaign? It's really good! Easy final boss, though.

A third-person view from behind of one variant of the female protagonist of Quake II. Every map in the Nintendo 64 campaign ends with a brief cutscene, and in this one the player takes en elevator to the next map.
The player is aiming a rocket launcher at what looks like a hangar bay door. Text is displayed on the screen: "Mission 28: Locate remaining lock to core entrance."
An "end of unit" cutscene, where two huge, mechanical hatches have closed over the hole the player jumped into, and a summary of the player's per-map performance is displayed for the entire unit/group of maps, followed by the total at the bottom.
An intermission screen showing the player's journey from the starting planet to an orbital defense station, a space freighter, a moon, another planet, and finally the space station where the final bosses (two Tank Commanders and two Hornets) await.
#VideoGames
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J M Berntson

#8 (2023-08-24)

A nasty save-deleting bug on release day aside, this little game was an excellent, focused experience from start to finish.

Most every character is really likable, which of course meant I ended up flirting wildly with both Freddie and Persephone before finally making up my mind on whom to pursue.

With 8.8 hours played so far, I'll revisit it soon for sure! I've more songs to sing and another girl to kiss, at the very least!

Calliope (Goddess/Idol/Muse) performs for/with Grace at the start of the game. Dressed in pink and black, kinda punky, with blonde hair, light skin, and blue eye-shadow. Pierced lower lip. She reaches out towards the camera with her hand, golden-looking rings on her thumb and middle finger, and sings "All things that lose their way can find it again."
The character known as Oracle sits in front of her laptop, looking kind of irritated. She has brown skin with some freckles and darker afro hair. Wears glasses and a hoodie. She says "Is that what Paul told you? Oracle's my handle, and even if I was THE Oracle, I'm certainly not his Oracle!"
Grace (pink-ish skin, black hair, reddish brown eyes, leather jacket) stands in a dark nightclub illuminated mostly by neon magenta-ish lights. Conversing with Eros, she responds with "Wait, did you... did you say that you're the god of sex?" while looking a bit uncomfortable/nervous.
Grace looks worried as her bestie (and potential love interest) Freddie geeks out over her interest in Greek mythology. Freddie has light brown skin, dark lips (not unlike Grace), a nose piercing, a couple of silver-looking rings on her right hand, and dresses primarily in green. "Do you have the Golden Fleece? The Shield of Zeus? The Sword of Damocles? (Gasps.) Is it suspended?"
#StrayGodsTheRoleplayingMusical
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J M Berntson

#9 (2023-08-26) (Episode 1)

Arguably this one doesn't count, since it's basically a demo, but it's also VERY, VERY GOOD!

It's another visual novel style game, but with horror instead of singing. You might wander into the woods with a cute girl you just met (in a town you're visiting for your estranged aunt's funeral), hunting for cryptids.

Except you might also run into more than you bargained for, and have to make some tough decisions.

Also, look at those TRAITS.

At the start of the game, you get to choose two core traits for your character. A lot of them you'll immediately compare to archetypal RPG stats if you're familiar with roleplaying games, but with a twist. Powerful Build (Stength) Mystical (Magic) Keen Eye (Perception) Book Smart (Intelligence) Hot (Charisma) Street Smart (Wisdom) Talk to Animals (???)
On a bit of a coffee date with Stella and her cute pug just after arriving in town.
Meeting Stella's friend Keneeka for the first time. Since I opted to live the dream with a Keen Eye/Hot build, Kaneeka can't help commenting on my status as "a cute stranger" as soon as she sees me. Right back at ya, honestly. Stella and Kaneeka are both super cute.
Kaneeka's wearing a Sailor Moon t-shirt, which is just excellent. She, Stella and Sybil are all a bit shook... by something. But that's spoilers. I'm sorry about how the alt/descriptive text is for these screenshots, but I'm really just too tired to write them properly.
#VideoGames
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J M Berntson

#10 (2023-08-27)

This was actually significantly shorter than expected. Had a few traditional Point And Click Logic issues, but it was a short and focused story, so I'm feeling good about trying the next game in the series tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the series evolved.

A "CG" style piece of art picturing Rosa Blackwell (ginger with a green shirt and glasses) and the hard-boiled detective ghost known as Joey. They're standing on a bridge with a bit of New York skyline in the background.
A screenshot of Rosa's apartment as she has just had her first encounter with Joey -- a detective ghost who for decades has been bound to the women in the Blackwell family... and that has so far not ended well for them. The apartment is kinda cramped with a small kitchen section connected directly to the living room, with a door in the background leading to Rosa's bedroom.
#VideoGames
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J M Berntson

#11 (2023-08-27)

After replaying today, with developer commentary, I finally caught on about this being an episodic series.

Also took me a while to realize that you often had to ask people about the same topic multiple time to get the information you need. Once I got there, though, progress became a lot easier.

I approve of the choice to make the second game a prequel. It was nice to get to know Aunt Lauren a bit. Curious about her dreams...

Lauren Blackwell (brown hair; white top; long, red skirt) and Joey Mallone (noir ghost) in Lauren's apartment in the 1970s. The walls and floor are shades of green, couch is yellow, and the lone houseplant is dead or on the brink.
A family photo first seen in The Blackwell Legacy. Shows Patricia Blackwell nervously sitting between her kids, Lauren and Jack, with Joey Mallone's ghastly form looming in front of the Christmas tree in the background. Joey refers to Patricia, who refused to acknowledge his existence, as "Cleopatra, Queen of Denial."
Lauren and Joey having a midnight encounter with a sax-playing ghost with the Queensboro Bridge running across the skyline in the background.
#VideoGames
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J M Berntson

#12 (2023-08-29)

I don't know what the next two games will deal with, but as part of an episodic trilogy... I have to say this one was a fantastic conclusion.

Perfect ending, and with the Lauren game in-between, it was great seeing Rosa's growth from part 1 to 3.

I have exactly one BIG complaint (applying to the entire series so far), and it's that F12 skips through dialogue, which makes taking screenshots of specific lines on Steam more difficult than it should be.

Rosa (orange hair, green jacket, white t-shirt, blue jeans) and Joey (ghastly blue suit) exploring a high-rise office abandoned in mid-renovation.
Rosa's very "early 2000s" webpage. Has a colorful, sparkling "WELCOME" banner and an "under construction" sign, and that's basically it.
A script for a movie scene used in the game. The page says the following: Act 3 Scene 2 Ext - Park - Night Zack: I knew you’d come. Yvonne: How did you know I'd come? Zack: I know you Yvonne. Perhaps too well. Yvonne: Listen. I have to tell you something. Zack: Come on. The boat's going to leave any minute. Yvonne: I'm not going. Zack: Not going? What do you mean, you're not going? Yvonne: I said I'm not going. Zack: You're STAYING? Yvonne: Yes, I'm staying here with Tom.
Rosa and a mysterious ghost character named Madeline, who appears to be wearing a big, red, Victorian-style dress. They are standing on a floating chunk of rock outside of an old, American-style diner in an extradimensional space.
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J M Berntson

#13 (2023-09-11)

Let me just start with admitting that I used a hex editor on my save file to boost my health to... many times the normal value... so I could actually defeat the final boss.

That said, with some perseverance I *did* manage to deal with all the other difficult boss battles scattered throughout the game.

It's an absolutely lovely about a cool girl who has traveled to a living castle to break a curse that killed her parents.

A cutscene frame where Europa and her stuffed bear companion encounter a ghost.
Europe fighting a sphinx-like creature called the Shadow of Demise, while standing on a floating platform in a slightly infernal landscape.
Europa introducing herself to her new stuffed bear companion, by saying (regarding her name): "Mine is a bit odd too. I'm Europa."
One of the lost musicians you can find throughout the castle. She's a butch woman dressed in red and white with a fang necklace and a side-shave. She says: "Perfect! I'll be at the theater, I'm supposed to meet my girlfriend there soon." Come to think of it... I never did find out which of the other girls was her girlfriend?
#VideoGames
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J M Berntson

#14 (2023-09-12)

Started playing this in the evening after finishing #13, and then did the rest of the game the day after. Today I've been checking out the updated commentary mode.

The game starts out with an introductory standalone case where a ghost drives off with a yacht at night, and then moves on to the main event that involves psychics and a string of murders.

I'm honestly not sure if I prefer or Deception, but it's up there at the top so far.

Rosa being a total dork, looking at one of her business cards and commenting, "They glow in the dark. It's so cool."
Rosa leaving space in her head that serves as a bridge between the mortal realm and what comes after. The background is a vast empty space with what looks like stars, and large glowing light in the middle. Rosa is walking on a weird set of free-floating tiles, leading back to an archway with a portal that looks like the surface of a fluid.
Rosa and Joey the ghost are at a nightclub. Rosa watches in awe/disgust as Joey is making out with a ghost girl named Jamie.
A note with some useful basics for wifi security: "Attention fellow residents! It has come to my attention that many of you here have set up insecure wifi networks for your apartment. That's fine, assuming you want every NYU student on the block to leech off of you and slow your system to a crawl. If you are like the rest of us, you might want to learn how to add a password to your system. And here's one piece of advice for free: your dog's name is NOT a secure password! A concerned resident"
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J M Berntson

#15 (2023-09-17)

The end of the series. Really played into the wee hours with this one. It's nearly 4 AM.

It wasn't the ending I wanted, to be honest, but it was a powerful and very good one. The story had some great twists and turns, and I'm pretty sure it had more ghosts to interact with than any other game in the series.

I'm looking forward to playing some other Wadjet Eye games after my commentary playthrough, but it does feel weird that Blackwell is over.

Joey's hat and Rosa's glasses placed in the snow in front of a brick wall with the "The End" written on it.
Joey is standing in a child's darkened room along with a little girl's ghost. When Joey investigates an octopus plushy, the girl chimes in with "his name is Cutethulhu."
Madeline (the ghost) and her host/Bestower, who would later be known as the Countess. The scene is very brown and yellow and takes place in the early 1930's. They're standing in the rain outside of a boarded-up tailoring shop, and "the Countess" tosses a brick at one of the windows.
Joey is floating out in the snow with two other ghosts. One of them, a slightly older woman, is yelling at the younger-looking ghost: "You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't exist!"
#VideoGames
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J M Berntson

#16 (2023-09-18)

Wasn't sure if I was going to count this, tbh. I guess I will, but I didn't take any screenshots. It's a short and free game, so just check it out on Steam or whatever!

A girl named Margo who recently dropped out of school has to deal with a friend/crush moving away and her life changing.

It's basically a point and click adventure game you can experience in about half an hour.

#VideoGames
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J M Berntson

#17 (2023-09-26)

The ; not the brawler with the same name.

Anyway, you play as a "cop". But at least you're a . Also your boss is a lesbian, and the drop-dead gorgeous assassin who tracks you down to flirt with you is obviously a lesbian.

So choose which flavor of problematic fraternizing you'd prefer (if any), while coming out to your mom, and figuring out how you actually feel about your day job.

Not perfect, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Your first encounter with Winter, the silver-haired assassin. She introduces herself as your girlfriend (with a threatening aura) to scare off some guy who wouldn't back off from you.
While discussing the investigation, Cynthia (your blonde firecracker of a boss) compares your inability to make progress with the case to "beating around the bush like two closeted lesbians crushing on each other". You're still not sure if maybe she might like girls.
The player character dancing with Winter. When your agency arranges a party, obviously the perfect choice of your "plus one" is the very assassin you're trying to hunt down. (Although your character doesn't know yet at that point.) Winter has a lot of... baggage. There's a distinct possibility she's a psychopath. But she's also infatuated with you, and if you reciprocate you get to explore the life events that led her to where she is, and help her make better decisions for your joint future.
You and Cynthia kissing over a cup of coffee at her kitchen table. Highly inappropriate since she's your direct superior, but probably not as inappropriate as dating the assassin. When you meet Cynthia, she seems simultaneously hot-headed and cold, but as you prove herself to her she warms up to you as a friend and (if you make your feelings known) a lover. While she's great at what she does, and never gives anything less than her all, she might just have more passion for alcohol than her cop job.
#VideoGames#wlw
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J M Berntson

#18 (2023-10-04)

A cute style game with a turn-based combat system with action elements (usually timed inputs, sometimes bullet hell).

You play as Bella - a "warrior prodigy" (as her rival likes to call her) with bubblegum-colored hair and an affinity for cheesecake bars.

Along with her robot sidekick Tetra, and another character who joins later, it's up to Bella to protect the people of the Luna from antimatter creatures known as Murks. And... other things.

Bella: "Oh wow! Thank you so much!" Bella has just received some free cheesecake bars from the local café after taking care of a Murk attack.
Raine: "YEAH! Recognition babyyyyy! Everyone did a such great job today!" [sic] Raine, whose hair actually kind of reminds me of toothpaste with the mix of cyan, white and black, is hot-headed and at least likes to pretend that she's all about her very serious rivalry with Bella. Bella and the Raine Squad are actually really close friends, though, and I'm pretty sure Raine plays up the rivalry because she has an unrequited crush on her. Pictured: the entire gang celebrating at the local café after saving the town from a horde of Murks.
Melody (to Bella): "How are you still so cute, even when you're all beat up?!" Okay, maybe blonde and frilly Melody just likes cute things in general, since she also just complimented Tetra. Or maybe Melody is also really gay. That's my chosen reading, anyway. Pictured: the entire Raine Squad have joined Bella on the battlefield to back her up and save the day.
Zara (to Bella): "Why not? You're a skilled fighter and I admire your talents." Okay, Zara, the third member of the Raine Squad, is *definitely* gay for Bella, and just kinda shy and subdued about it. Just look at the blushing! The Raine Squad polycule is just desperately trying to invite Bella, to the best of their abilities, but she's either too oblivious or too unfortunately straight.
#VideoGames#RPG
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J M Berntson

#19 (2023-12-25)

Oh, hey, I finally had the time and focus to play a game again. Not the Swedish point and click adventure I started playing back in October, but rather a deck building card game about conversation in a post-apocalyptic desert.

After a short tutorial, the game then tells you your mom is dead, so you and your best friend are taking over her store and it's your role to stock it up.

It's interesting, but it definitely won't gel with everyone. I save-scummed.

Part of the tutorial, where the game explains how you match up cards to progress through a conversation.
One of the immediate conflicts as you've taken over your dead mom's store is that one of her old friends/partners, Nadine, informs you that your home town might have to be dropped from the her trading caravan's route. The caravan also happens to be the best way to gain access to and become familiar with the core settlements of the region, so at least initially trying to work with Nadine is extremely beneficial.
The deck-modification screen shown after the conclusion of a conversation. At this point, the game presents you with up to three cards your conversation partner played during the game and forces you to replace one of your own with one of those new ones. Presumably, the idea is that your experiences with others cause you to let go of some of your old ideas and integrate some of theirs into yourself. Or something along those lines. As you travel towards the east coast, the card symbols (i.e. conversation styles) start to shift from orange circles (empathetic, observant) and green triangles (logical, diplomatic) to first blue diamonds (creative, industrious) and then purple squares (direct, forceful). Cards also appear with special abilities, such as copying symbols from other cards or revealing the cards in the other party's hand to you.
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J M Berntson

🎮 in 2024

It's already February, and all I've really had the time/mindset for is demos.

I'll reply to this thread every time I "finish" playing a video game this year. That could mean getting to the end of the story it tells, or just getting to a point where I think I've experienced what the game has to offer me.

I'm not counting demos as finished games, but I'll just add them to the thread anyway. I think I'll just number them separately.

#VideoGames
J M Berntson

D#1 (2024-02-07) (2nd toot)

First bit of proper gaming I've done in... a while. It's a with a rhythm game bit to it, as it's about a multi-talented composer who can't play with the feeling needed, and a pianist who's lost her passion for the art.

I feel like I'm pretty bad at the rhythm game, but I'll definitely give the full game a try at some point down the line. Audio and visuals are charming, and the protagonists seem likeable.

One of the protagonists, Valerie, grinning while standing in front of a piano. A rhythm mini-game is playing beside her on the screen, where the player has to properly time key presses (A, S, D, F) to the on-screen symbols.
#wlw#lgbtq
Feb 09, 2024, 01:40 PM·Public
0boosts·1favorite
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J M Berntson

D#2 (2024-02-09)

I saw an article about this game yesterday and was immediately sold on trying out the demo. It's a hybrid featuring a named Flora.

In this case, being a witch seems to largely involve , but the demo assured me that potion-making will be relevant later.

You explore for ingredients, gain new abilities like a double jump, and do food-quests for people in town. You also pay off style debt.

After arriving in the town of Grat by boat, to find out more about your own witchiness, you're quickly greeted by this lovely(?) frog lady (and mayor?), Hyge... who immediately puts you in debt by "giving" you an expensive place to live and work in. You, Flora, are a white-haired witch with a red ribbon in your hair, wearing a red top, a black jacket with white stripes on the arms, and blue jeans.
Good news: your new place comes with a black cat to pet! There are big, blue doors with a small table and two chairs (plus a cat) to the left. Flora is petting said cat. To the right, there's a desk kinda embedded into the wall and a recipe book or log or something on top.
Turns out you have another roommate, besides the cat! Hina (she/they) is kind of a squatter, and Flora just doesn't seem to have the energy to do anything about it. It's fine, though, as she'll be your first customer. Hina has orange or blonde hair in a ponytail, and wears what kinda looks like a purple jumpsuit with a red sash. The screenshot is pretty dark, as the game has a day-night cycle with unknown purpose aside from aesthetics. (Everyone still seems to be standing around and doing business as usual no matter the time.)
One of your early customers is encountered in the central plaza: Princess Rose Adelaide (light skin, orange hair, white uniform with muted red skirt and dark leggings), who stands next to a large horse statue along with her knight/bodyguard, Amara (dark skin, brown hair, red uniform with golden stripes and white pants). They're both very cute. The game has a lot of pretty she/her and she/they folks of varying shapes and sizes. I should have taken a screenshot of the blacksmith!
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J M Berntson

#1 (2024-03-21)

So this 's been out for a week and a half and, while I didn't have much free weekend time, I've played 32h in the evenings after work.

Moon Mikono, space scrapper, searches for her mom after a rebellion against an oppressive colonizer corporation goes wrong. Crashing on the planet, Moon is later woken up by an artificial intelligence and sets off to explore a world that is now inhabited only by machines and monsters.

The Rebel Transmute title screen with the logo in a kind of purple-white chrome gradient on a dark background.
The save slot screen, with three slots in total and one currently used. Finished the story last night, after 2 AM (oops), with 98% completion rate, and nabbed the remaining 2 after work today. The save slot shows me at 100% with 30 hours and 8 minutes played, but Steam told me I actually have 32 hours played.
Moon and her mother, Wendy -- both black women -- in a spaceship with a bit of narration focusing on the horrors of capitalism. "But if you know the horrors Foray enacts, know the true cost of their stock-holder fueled, ever expanding stranglehold on..."
Moon encountering a legally distinct, blonde space hunter named Samara Sun. She's clad in a blue armor and holding her red helmet with its green visor. The environment is mix of rock with glowing, lava-like pattern, and man-made metallic floors and walls. Also features a destructible wall made of purple bubbles, which Metroid and Axiom Verge players will be familiar with. Samara Sun says: "Don't get me wrong, it's not just about the money. I'm here to save the galaxy, the whole planet federation. But yeah, I negotiated a good pay."
#FemaleProtagonist#VideoGames
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J M Berntson

had some neat accessibility options I suddenly realized that I want to talk about.

Whenever you want, you can toggle options for if environmental hazards should deal damage and for automatic refill of the game's "mana" equivalent.

You can also grant yourself up to three (I believe) extra health containers.

I ended up using the extra health and mana/energy against a boss or two that were particularly visually overwhelming, and disabled hazard damage entirely.

#Metroidvania
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J M Berntson

D#3 (2024-05-21) : The Spark

Instead of getting suckered into playing Final Fantasy XI for the entire evening, as I am wont to do, I tried out the demo version of the upcoming Nova Hearts.

It's a magical girl/enby with tactical-ish turn-based battles and seemingly at least two /#WLW romance options.

Art's pretty, too, and the dialogue had a good feel to it. I'm looking forward to trying the full game when it's out!

Protagonist Luce (redheaded girl wearing a pink top that reveals her left shoulder, an unseen pair of shorts, and white socks) is sitting at her desk, legs up, texting with her dad. Her dad is really awkward with emojis and accidentally sends an anatomically correct heart emoji before correcting with a sparkling heart symbol.
Luce has just transformed into Magical Girl "Luck". She gets a long, flow ponytail that looks kind of like a fox's tail and an outfit of very colorful tights and a jacket with thick sleeves. The background is almost in trans flag colors with a diagonal white line in the middle, blue-teal on top, and purplish pink on the bottom. Also triangles spinning through the air in shades of green, teal and purple.
The full team (Will/Wish, Luce/Luck, and CJ/Chaos) make easy work of some weird ball-shaped cat monsters in a construction site near a railroad. (A train featured in the background.)
CJ, Will and Luce encounter a sexy werewolf with abs for days and a pair of shimmering, red tails that form a heart symbol behind him. Werewolf says: "I want to feel your heel on my spine! Your hand on my hindquarters!"
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J M Berntson

D#4 (2024-06-05)

I'm glad that Kitsune Tails is approaching release. Had a good time playing the Steam's demo this evening.

The game's immensely cute with its foxgirls and sometimes surprisingly detailed cutscenes, but the physics did take a while to get used to.

(I wonder how my muscle memory is if I were to replay that game now.)

Early Kitsune Tails cutscene where orange foxgirl Kiri tells purple foxgirl Yuzu that she worries about her.
Yuzu as a regular-looking purple fox, hopping around in a large boot inside a cave with waterfalls in the background.
Yuzu delivers a medicinal plant to the healer and human girl Akko, who responds with "Thanks, Yuzu! It's been a while since a cute girl brought me flowers."
Kiri dips Yuzu down low during their dance at a lantern-lit human festival.
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J M Berntson

D#5 (2024-06-06)

Another Steam demo that I'm actually playing in a timely manner.

This one's about a little robot that needs to solve environmental puzzles to get out of some sort of underground facility, and quickly forms a team with a friendly magnet named Magnus.

Fun, and some of the puzzles later on in the demo do get a bit tricky and ask you to think a few steps ahead.

The Mind Over Magnet logo inside a full-screen room the player moves through.
One of the Mind Over Magnet demo's more complex puzzles, involving a magnetic ceiling that can be toggled on and off, two drill walls in opposite states, a bridge that can be toggled, and a lift for the player character to ride up and down between the two floors. Also Magnus the magnet.
The ending screen of the demo. where Magnus thanks you for playing. The background color has shifted from the green of previous levels to a hot orange.
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J M Berntson

D#6 (2024-06-09)

The demo has some flashback scenes in Isla's home, and an early section on the open roads in a beautiful forest/mountain area navigated by car, but most of it is about hiking through the wilderness.

The forest gets extremely creepy at night, and you primarily navigate with a compass, your memory of the view from earlier vantage points, and by paying attention to the environment.

Weather conditions can get extreme, and there are survival elements.

Main character Isla next to the Albatrox logo in front of a mountain range background. She's a redhead wearing an orange top, dark pants, and a blue shirt tied around her waist. She also carries a big, brown backpack.
Isla as she wakes up in her home during one of the flashback scenes. She wears a white top and pink pajama pants. Sun shines in through the ceiling and the back wall is covered with bookshelves.
Isla has just stepped out of her car near a path that supposedly leads to a village. The signs that are supposed to help and welcome visitors in front of her have "STAY AWAY" type warnings painted over them in red.
Isla hikes through a dense forest with her new friend, Sence. The environment is absolutely gorgeous, and also Isla and Sence should definitely be girlfriends.
#videogames
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J M Berntson

D#7 (2024-06-10) : Letters from the Past

A short but kinda cathartic demo. I spent about 18 minutes cleaning a cup and a cassette player with a sponge and a toothbrush, and then it was over.

Really dig the 2D art, and the voxely(?) 3D art was nice and functional. The game being centered on a girl named Adora of course brought my mind to .

Not sure if I want to get this when it releases, but I'll keep it in mind in case I just want to play something relaxing.

A dirty cup. The main character, Adora, comments that "it used to be clean because Mom took care of it."
The teacup all cleaned up. White with golden trims. Features a memory/flashback of Adora asking her mother why she likes it so much.
Adora's yellow portable cassette player after it's been cleaned up. Adora comments "I don't have anything I want to do or have like I did back then", so presumably she's depressed.
#videogames
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J M Berntson

D#8 (2024-06-12)

For my next demo, there's this cute detective game featuring a goat girl named Diana who volunteers to help solve a mysterious theft after her vespa breaks down in the sunny, romantic seaside village of Borgo Marina.

The demo is pretty limited in scope but gives you a taste of what it's like to explore the town, talk to other charming animal characters, play minigames, and finally solve a mystery. (Not rewrite history.)

Diana, our favorite anthropomorphic goat(?) girl with wine red hair, a brown leather jacket over what looks like a light lavender dress shirt, and a pair of brown pants with a black belt.
Diana is talking to Gemma; a gray bunny girl who operates a bar/coffee place/kiosk at the beach. She's extremely friendly, cute, and apparently married.
Here Diana's approaching a "pensive girl" (cat girl, to be precise) on the beach. She's blonde, bespectacled, dresses in all brown, and fills out her shirt like Diana does her pants. Her skirt has kind of a tartan pattern?
A card (as most important information in the game is displayed on collectible cards) featuring Diana's "Chronolens". Basically, it's a magnifying glass she received from her grandmother, which allows her to look back in time to compare details about the past to the present. It's unclear if she can control how far back it goes.
#furry#videogames
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J M Berntson

D#9 (2024-06-16)

Didn't take any screenshots for this one, but it's a cute /#Simulation game at a magic school with romance, multiple ending, etc.

The writing's a bit on the weak side, which I suppose might be because the devs aren't native English-speakers and they haven't finalized the translation yet.

The art is absolutely adorable though, so I really should have taken screenshots. Also, your pronoun choice is mage, witch or wizard.

#videogames
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J M Berntson

D#10 (2024-06-19)

I don't know why, but I'm aware of that I have a strong bias against games that were or look like they were made in RPG Maker, so I don't usually play them. It doesn't make sense: it's an amazing tool that can be used to make great games, but the bias still lives there in my brain.

Anyway, it's an that initially takes place in a village attacked by the demonic Lilith. Does some interesting setup work for the full game.

Blue-haired warrior protagonist Sera is shown the interior of her friend Jake's "man cave", which is just literally a cave. It even has a mushroom monster to fight. "Man...cave?" Sera asks in response to the revelation.
The first encounter with the gang's mentor, Freya. She's a knight with long, blonde hair and silver-looking armor with blue fabric and details. What do I mean by "long" hair? Long enough to go below her waist, so you can't even see where it ends in the dialog portrait. Also she's trans and lesbian and super cute, and greets the party with a friendly "Good morning! What took you so long?"
The entire demo party (Freya, Sera, Thomas and Jake) have their first in-game encounter with the villainous Lilith. She has brown skin, silvery hair with a purple sheen to it, wears a blue cloak and long, white gloves, and has a red gem embedded in her dark chest piece. She is unimpressed by Freya bringing three teenagers(?) into battle and mockingly says "Hahahahaha! What did you do, rob a nursery?! And here I thought I was evil..."
Battle screen: Sera, Thomas and Jake are engaged with a red oni woman wielding an enormous club. She wanted a kiss from Sera but settled for a friendly battle instead since Sera is ace and not into it. Also, Thomas and Jake are a couple. Might as well mention that here.
#videogames#lgbt#queer
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J M Berntson
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J M Berntson

D#12

Flowstone Saga is another adjacent game, but this one basically has a battle system that is basically . You shift targets with the shoulder buttons and try to interrupt enemy attacks by completing one or more lines with said enemy selected.

Not sure what the story is about, though. For the duration of the demo, our girl Mirai is searching an island for her friend, Gon, and once she finds him she also finds out about PIRATES! The End.

Mirai has just arrived on the island where Gon always turns up after he goes missing. She has kind of short, orange hair and a white jacket with a hood and some red details. Also she has a fox companion named Sprig who says "yip" a lot.
Battles play out through a Tetris minigame. Forming one or more horizontal lines deals damage, and you can build up "heat" by connecting three or more diamond symbols that appear on some of the blocks. I can't remember what that did, but presumably increased damage? There are also some special, color-coded or icon-covered blocks that do special things. Red blocks deal bonus damage, while green blocks heal you.
The Flowstone screen lets you pick and choose which 8 Tetris-esque shapes will be available to your from among the 24 listed. More complex shapes tend to have more heat-granting diamonds since they are more difficult to place, and the shapes can have anything from 2 to 6 blocks and 0 to 3 diamonds.
In addition to battle, variants of the Tetris-like game are used for a time attack resource-gathering mode, and also a building mode where you have to fit a limited set of shapes into a larger shape.
#videogames
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J M Berntson

#2 (2024-06-24) (patch story)

Despite Endwalker being the first expansion I actually finished the main story for in good time, the arrival of the Island Sanctuary initially distracted me from the patch story and then I got busy with school.

It's really, really good, though: starting with a treasure hunt and leading to a rescue mission for Vrtra's brood-sister (Azdaja), which of course leads to a bigger conflict with the Voidsent of the World of Darkness/Thirteenth.

An early look at the new parts of the World of Darkness, which we previously saw in the Crystal Tower story/raid content introduced a good decade ago. Originally an homage to Final Fantasy III but later expanded to be one of the thirteen multiversal reflections of the world the game primarily takes place in. Specifically The Thirteenth. The sky is dark and purple with ominous clouds seemingly swirling around the spire of a highly ornate and otherworldly castle that looms in front of the characters. Visible in the shot are also my Warrior of Light (Madelyn Morrowbringer), with catgirl witch-mommy Y'shtola behind her and draconic Vrtra's mortal avatar Varshahn on her right. To the left, barely visible, is Estinien; the elven dragoon.
Not too long after venturing to The Thirteenth, we encounter a mysterious and intelligent voidsent who had previously been pressed into servitude under long-time antagonist Zenos. After a quick burst of aether, she regains her human form and is shortly given the name Zero. She agrees to assist the heroes in exchange for being fed more aether, as there are two kind of relationships in the world of the voidsent: either transactional ones where both parties gain something from the other, or the strong simply dominate the weak. Zero is a very pale, human-looking woman with dark gray hair and an all-black outfit highly reminiscent of of Red Mage garb, including the triangular hat with a feather in it.
While the World of Darkness was initially an homage to Final Fantasy III, the parts of it we see in Endwalker expand upon and transform it into a Final Fantasy IV homage instead. The greatest power within the realm is revealed to be the dark knight Golbez, who lets his Four Fiends do his dirty work while he plots to break down the barrier between The Thirteenth and the promised land he sees on The Source. (There are also some distinct Final Fantasy VII vibes with how this supposed promised land is viewed.) Pictured is one of the Four Fiends: Barbariccia of the Wind. She is an enormous woman who fights with her equally enormous sword and her living, pale-green hair. The Bayonetta vibes were strong. Also, she basically wears a green bikini while her skin is also adorned with sharp metal veins.
At one point in the story, Zero's soul is brought along to (and given physical form in) the world reflection known as The First or the World of Light, which was saved from its overwhelming light during the Shadowbringers expansion. There she attempts to absorb some of the crystallized, light-aspected aether that is still abundant in this world and collapses from the shock. Pictured is the Warrior of Light and Ryne (Oracle of Light) treating her as she lies on the marble-like ground. Ryne's command over light energy lets her assist Zero in processing it.
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J M Berntson

#3 (2024-07-16)

Some hilariously bad luck with the in-game weather aside (just like when I played Shadowbringers), Dawntrail was one hell of a ride.

The format isn't unlike that of the previous expansion's patch content: open with a promise of light-hearted adventure, but then transition into darker subject matter and further exploration of FFXIV's limited multiverse.

Part South American adventure romp and part super-heavy Final Fantasy IX homage.

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J M Berntson

#4 (2024-08-14)

I managed to tear myself away from Final Fantasy XIV for long enough to play through Kitsune Tails. Super cute and queer game featuring at least one and other people and things inspired by mythology.

Had a lot of fun with act 1, but upon starting act 2 I first felt like it was kinda of a chore... until I suddenly just got in the groove and kinda blasted through it and felt great! Surprised by how much better my platforming was, too!

Kitsune Tails scene where Yuzu (purple fox-girl) talks to her mother, Yumi (orange-brown fox-woman), via magical paper. Yumi: "Uh-huh. Once it was even three girls, and there was that time it was two girls and a boy..." Yumi kind of embodies chaotic bi/pan energy, so it's a bit surprising that she settled down with a single guy after all the poly adventures she describes. She clearly has her heart in the right place, although her perspective initially leads to her giving Yuzu advice that isn't entirely useful.
One of the mini-games in Kitsune Tails is just the Monty Hall problem. A cat man presents Yuzu with three magical doors and encourages her to choose one. (Two of them hide a single gold coin, while the third has a magical cloud.) After the player chooses a door, the cat man opens another to reveal one of the coins, and then offer the chance to either stick with the initial choice or switch to the other closed door. Statistically, switching doors is the correct choice, but in practice I only succeeded once in three or four tries.
Kitsune Tails has a memory-style card game like Super Mario Bros. 3. Fail to reveal a pair four time and the game ends. It would be nice to figure out if it's completely random or if there's a set number of patterns like what Nintendo accidentally did, but whatever the case I did manage to reveal the entire board *once* in my playthrough. For the success (pictured), I was kinda lucky in that most cards had an adjacent card of the same type, which made it so I automatically solved parts of the board as I revealed new cards. Pictured cards: Fried fish, chests with three varieties of coins, giant boots, a set of dark clothes, and diving fins.
A confrontation between two other fox-girls: Yuzu's childhood friend, Kiri, and Kiri's teacher in the sword arts, Erin. Kiri: "If we keep meeting like this, I'm going to start thinking you a crush one me, Erin!" Kiri is orange fopsgirl with a bit of an attitude, while Erin has brown fur, dark clothing, and more of a vulpine face compared to Kiri and Yuzu's distinctly human-looking ones.
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J M Berntson

D#13 (2024-08-29)

I have 15 demos installed on Steam, so I'm back to playing some now that I have some of my Responsibilities™ (and my subscription) out of the way.

Anyway, "Date Time: Melissa, Morris, Anna" is a ... about playing dating visual novels? With characters based on real-life computer viruses?

It gets kinda weird, and I want to know more. Plus, heartstrings successfully tugged at.

The Date Time chapter selection screen, showing an 80s-style keyboard and mouse setup with three floppy diskettes in front. Diskettes are labeled "CHAPTER 1" through "CHAPTER 3" and "DATE TIME - MELISSA", "DATE TIME - MORRIS", and lastly "DATE TIME - ANNA". An arrow pointing to the left side of the screen says "PETYA" and one pointing to the right says "MORE DATES".
The chapter selection screen for Melissa, touting that "she can do so much with 4 kb of ram". The description below her large character portrait says: "Meet MELISSA, your date in a brand spankin' new game called 'DATE TIME'. She is a sweetheart! A bright, young woman looking for someone with a gentle touch! She loves a GOOD BOOK, and she has always wanted to date a TALENTED ARTIST! Play your cards right, and you'll get a SMOOCH from the cutest person ever!"
At one point in a cryptic part of the demo, your character gets to investigate a series of items related to her past. One of them is this rejection letter: "Hello Ms. Whitman, We have unfortunately made the decision to move on with our other candidates at this time, but will be open to new positions in the future. We'll keep you on file, no need to contact us again. Sincerely, John Avast" #relatable
Petya is supposed to be some sort of information kiosk AI that really doesn't like the idea of accidentally supplying information to robots instead of humans. Petya is represented by a pair of simple, monochrome cartoon eyes and a mouth on the computer screen, and here she says the following: "So once you get these requests done, I'll occasionally allow you to take a small HUMAN TEST to give you a bit more access to the database than before."
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J M Berntson

D#14 (2024-08-30)

Didn't get any action/enemy screenshots because I'm bad at multitasking, but anyway...

Had a lot of fun with the demo of The Last Exterminator. It's a very blatant homage to , but with a and seemingly none of the misogyny.

You play as Parker, who (I believe) is an exterminator who lives in her van. Suddenly, Earth's invaded by alien bugs and it's her time to shine with her bad attitude and pop culture references!

The Last Exterminator's title screen. The logo itself is pretty reminiscent of Duke Nukem 3D's with its blocky font, and the background art pays homage to classic promotional art from things like Evil Dead/Army of Darkness and Doom. The art features Parker standing on top of a car, brandishing a machine gun and a shotgun, with cockroach aliens leaping towards her from every direction and the scene illuminated by a red light.
Immediately after exiting the building you start in, Parker watches in horror as her van is set on fire and partially explodes. She responds with: "My van! I was living in there, you roach bastards!"
The game has a lot of cool, Duke Nukem 3D-esque set pieces. This is one of the more impressive one, where you can see an entire building (with a sign that says "Moving Stationary) falling over into a hotel with fiery explosions and shattered glass flying through the air. Parker reacts with a "Holy shit!" Between the scene and Parker is a blue cleaning van with a logo that says "The Sucker" on its side.
In one of the demo level's secret areas, you can (among other things) find a computer desk with the text "Selaco RULEZ" written on the wall behind it. Selaco is another 90s style first-person shooter, and from what I've heard I'm inclined to believe that it does rule. It's nice that the devs decided to show unfiltered appreciation for what can be seen as their competition, rather than the mockery you'd see back in the 90s.
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J M Berntson

D#15 (2024-08-31)

I didn't even know that made a new game until I saw a article about it. (The comments section was filled up with conservative weirdos as it's apparently their latest target.)

Tried out the demo and apparently this "worst game ever" is a very solid Telltale-esque with and portions.

And, yeah, it contains all those things brainworm'd regressives hate: , and rep.

The title screen of the Dustborn demo, with stylized, high-contrast art in shades of yellow, orange and red In the background is what looks like a faded, yellowish-orange map of the United States turned into a torn US flag with a skull in the middle. In front of that is a red landscape with a dark foreground layer featuring the silhouettes of five characters from the game: four humans of varying physiques and genders plus a robot. The primary interface is a series of old-school comic book-like boxes that say "Continue", "New Game", etc.
The main protagonist, Pax, is a multi-talented musician who writes, sings and plays the guitar. She's standing in the aisle of the group's tour bus. She has a dark purple tattoo that seems to cover much of her upper torso and bits of at least one arms. Just under her collar bones, the negative space in the tattoo creates the shape of a moth with a white skull symbol on its thorax. In the picture, she's wearing a purple t-shirt with a bit of light blue and magenta over her chest and the text "The Flashback" in orange with magenta outlines. Off to the right side of the screen is a bookshelf with some bags of potato chips and a selection of books, top to bottom: 1) Fallen Dreams, by Ryan Alvane, being a reference to Dreamfall... and perhaps April Ryan from that game series? 2) Birth of the Republic, by... Samuel Ward, I think? 3) RoboSheriff: Blood & Oil. Can't make it the author's first name, but last name is Masterson. The title is presumably a reference to the nazi slogan which has seen recent use by American fascists. 4) The Red Thread of Fate, by Lin Liuxian, which is a reference to both the studio's name and the East Asian belief it's inspired by.
A quick look at the rhythm game interface while Pax is working on a new song on her guitar. The interface itself is a compass-like circle where each cardinal direction is a face button from a standard videogame controller. Lines shoot out towards the edges of the screen from those button symbols, and you press the buttons as icons with those same symbols have moved along the lines and into the circle. At this point in the story, Pax is wearing an orange beanie and a white t-shirt that has been bloodied in and around her right armpit for reasons that are only vaguely hinted at in the demo. Her friend, Sai, is sitting behind her, and a densely forested area can be seen on both sides of the road behind the bus.
A splash screen properly introducing Pax's little sister, Ziggy (she/her, 31 years old). She's paler than Pax, has some kind of cybernetic implant in her left-side eye socket with a scar reaching upwards onto her forehead, and her hair is giving distinct "Sony's Spider-Verse Gwen Stacy" vibes as it's primarily blonde with some pink on the right side, and a purple undercut on the left side. One white bra strap visible, she's wearing a shirt in shades of purple with a yellow-orange waveform print across her chest. Text on the right side of the screen, accompanies by little joystick and wrench icons, describes her: "Mechanic, little sis, former anarcho-primitivist (sort of). Anxious and light on her feet. Working on brushing the chip off her shoulder. ⬅ Vocals induce high entropy in molecules."
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J M Berntson

D#16 (2024-09-03)

A roguelike where the protagonist, Robin, has just moved in with their grandmother in a small town and was given some sort of guardian of the spirit world role to pay rent.

You fight spirits in arenas by absorbing green blobs of energy they can fire at you and send it back before it rots and hurts you.

I wasn't sure if I should create an entry for this one, given that it didn't really vibe with me and I ended up not finishing the demo, but... here it is.

Robin Lam in their guardian form, with purple skin and shiny, white hair. They wear what I believe is a red qipao and wield a staff. My assumption is that they're nonbinary, but nothing was explicitly said in the early parts of the game I experienced.
A screenshot of about half of one of the game's arenas. The spritework honestly feels a bit messy, but the backgrounds are clear enough. In this case, there's a set of huge paw prints on the ground, around some sort of flat stone structure in the middle of the room.
Robin in their human form. Slightly light-brown skin, brown hair tied in a ponytail, and with big, white headphones around their neck. They're wearing a dark blue jacket over a red and black tartan/plaid shirt, and light blue jeans. Their dialogue box says "Robin" and "Zodiac Sign: Dog" at the top. The dialogue itself is "Have some scritches" as they're currently petting a cat. There's also a dog that can be petted.
A screen I discovered towards the end of my time with the game, when I interacted with a huge, story-important crystal. The title says "Focus Thoughts" at the top, and the interface is kind of a web of icons that can be selected. Some of them are blank, probably because they relate to things I haven't discovered yet. Selecting one brings up Robin's thoughts on something she's discovered or has questions about. The thought bubble in the screenshot reads: "There's a room in the spirit world covered in claw marks. I still haven't found what's making them."
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J M Berntson

@rollspelosofen Gör det!

Har inte hittat så mycket om utvecklarna utöver deras hemsida som inte har uppdaterats på 9 år, men det känns som att det finns mycket passion bakom spelet.

Bara att hoppas på att det inte fastnar i development hell eller nåt sånt.

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