My eleventh hour nomination is Dynasty Warriors: Origins.

I’m not gonna nominate for the 10 year thing… I’m gunning for Bloodborne.

Something I've been mulling over recently... Currently we have "Emulated" as its own platform, but I'm wondering if it would make more sense to have it as a Yes/No toggle for submissions. I think it could be good for list management and database accuracy.

"Emulated" as a platform isn't bad, but I feel like it's not as informative as it could be. Having it as a distinct platform separates emulated games from games being played on physical console hardware, which is a very useful feature: if I'm reviewing my library, I definitely like being able to filter out emulator games so I can visualize my on-hand physical library, or if I'm trying to plan what I'll play while traveling and will only have access to emulators on my Steam Deck.

However, the current system doesn't really give users a way to reintegrate emulated games with console games. Let's say I want to filter my Completed list for all N64 games I've beaten. At that point in time, I would like to see games I've emulated for N64 combined with games I've played physically--but there isn't a convenient way to do that currently. If I do an Intersection filter for N64 and Emulated, it will give me all my physical N64 games + my whole emulator library. Someone might say "Log games as Emulated while they're in the backlog and then change them to the specific platform when submitting a completion." But there are also situations where I might want to see Emulated N64 and Physical N64 games together in my backlog list, like if I'm trying to compare how many games I have backlogged for each console or if I'm picking a console-specific game for the yearly challenge.

I believe a Yes/No toggle in the submission form would be a good way to give users the ability to differentiate between emulated and non-emulated games while giving more flexibility over platform selection. I am by no means a coder, but I think it would be possible to implement a filter option that can check for the emulator toggle and return All Games, Physical Hardware Only, and Emulated Only (for example).

I also think it would help make the database more accurate in the grand scheme of things. If a game was released on multiple platforms, there isn't really an efficient way to specify which version was emulated. A user could list the platform as Emulated and then put which platform was emulated in the playthrough notes or review text, but that would take up a lot of the character limit for the playthrough notes and it might be awkward to mention in a review. They could also do the reverse and pick the platform that was emulated and then write "Emulated" into the playthrough notes or review text, but then that makes the "Emulated" platform redundant. Either way, those results aren't searchable and they aren't factored into any of the site statistics.

In many cases, knowing which specific version of a game was emulated might not make a big difference, but if it's a game like Ratatouille, which was released on the big 3 consoles across two generations (PS2, GC, Xbox, PS3, Wii, 360), then there are likely to be differences in performance, load times, and potentially gameplay even if the overall experience is similar. Those factors could affect a user's completion time and their rating, so I think a greater degree of accuracy in platform selection would contribute to greater accuracy in the data aggregation. But I admit it would probably have a pretty minor impact in that regard.

So yeah, there's my essay. I'm open to hearing any counterpoints I might not have considered, but I think overall it would give list-obsessed users like myself more options for organizing their libraries. It might even be nice if games logged with an emulated toggle had some kind of emblem next to them, like how replays do, but that's just a whim that popped into my head. Happy to discuss this further with anyone.

Note: I haven’t looked through your game list, so sorry if I mention something you’ve already played.

Obligatory recommendation for Nier/Nier Replicant and Nier Automata. Absolute masterpieces (Automata moreso than Replicant but still).

Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2 technically have randomized dungeon floors, but I promise they don’t feel like roguelikes at all. They have neat weapon-leveling systems and some light city sim elements that feel more like puzzles.

Astral Chain is criminally underrated. The combat is thrilling when you get into the rhythm of it, and there’s a good deal of side content. Some people didn’t like the detective elements, but I appreciated that they broke up the pacing a bit.

This one might not be exactly what you’re looking for since the combat is more MMO-ish, but Xenoblade Chronicles has one of my all-favorite game worlds to explore. (See also: Pandora’s Tower)

Darksiders 1 and 2 are kind of like a blend of Zelda and God of War. I enjoyed them both a lot. The third game is a Soulslike, and I wasn’t a huge fan, but the first two have what I think you’re looking for.

You mentioned Ratchet and Clank—you absolutely owe it to yourself to give those a try. The main series, the Future series, and Rift Apart are well worth your time.

Persona 5 Strikers isn’t perfect, but it does do a good job of merging Warriors-style hack-and-slashing with RPG-style command menus. Lots of combos and playable characters. Only caveat: you need to have played Persona 5 first.

Fable 1, 2, and 3 are a bit on the basic side when it comes to combat, but they all have lots of content and ways to develop your character (physically and morally).

Dead Rising and Dead Rising 2 take place in relatively small environments, but they’re densely packed with things to do and opportunities to level up. By the time Frank is max level he basically has the moveset of a fighting game character, which is hilarious to unleash on a horde of zombies. Of course, you can also carve your way through with hedge clippers, trash cans, and electric guitars.

Have you played Judgment and Lost Judgment? If not, don’t sleep on them. They are worthy inheritors of Yakuza’s brawler gameplay.

And if you’re interested in some even older games, you could always try Mega Man Legends, Brave Fencer Musashi, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, and Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon. You won’t be pulling off elaborate aerial combos in any of those, but they do feel like proper adventures through and through.

That’s all I’ve got for now but hopefully something in this batch piques your interest.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses has a number of gay pairings. Only a small handful of paired endings explicitly say that the characters fell in love/got married, but a LOT of the "platonic" endings heavily imply something romantic. We're talking "historians say they were roommates and very close friends" levels of gayness.

Yakuza/Like a Dragon. A game series about shirtless, oiled Japanese men with chiseled features and kissable lips grappling each other in a red light district. Largely marketed to an audience of men. Two of the series' biggest themes are passion and loyalty in relationships between men. Occasionally the games stumble a bit clumsily through some nuanced social topics but they almost always find their footing in a place of compassion and acceptance for LGBTQI+ folks. Also, one of the most beloved recurring characters (the Earth Angel Mama) is canonically trans.

Octopath Traveler 2 is unexpectedly very, very gay. The majority of the queer content comes from reading the backstories of town NPCs, but there are some openly gay characters in the main story, and there are many others who are just so obvious that it doesn't even need to be stated (e.g., Temenos, the all-women theatre troupe).

No penalty the issue I have is that you have to wait a while before you can add in the information you have found or you haven't finished your investigation before it drops you on the auditing page

Isn't that only the case the first time you view a scene though? It's been a while since I played, but I just checked out a gameplay video to refresh myself and they were able to input information any time they wanted and come and go freely from scenes. Unless I'm misunderstanding what you're talking about.

Also, while I'm here, I want to express how much I wish I could erase my memory of this game just so I could experience it for the first time again. This is one of those rare games that managed to delight, surprise, and challenge me in ways I never had been before and probably never will again. I agree with Le_Don that Lucas Pope is probably a genius. The way he puts together puzzles and gameplay loops and slots them into some of the most memorable settings in gaming is nothing short of masterful, in my opinion.

You might enjoy Chibi-Robo and/or Chulip. In Chibi-Robo you play as a tiny cleaning robot who helps a household of humans and sentient toys through their domestic troubles. As you complete quests and chores, you get access to more gadgets, costumes, and better battery efficiency (which is basically your "health"). There are some very barebones combat elements toward the end of the main story, but they represent a very small amount of the overall gameplay.

In Chulip you play as a boy who is trying to confess to his crush. To do this, you need to collect the items necessary to write a heartfelt love letter. What's unique about this game is that there is a dedicated kiss button, and you are supposed to kiss as many NPCs as possible to level up. It's not always straightforward, though, so you may have to complete a side quest or solve a puzzle before they're willing to kiss you. The game can be pretty obtuse and unforgiving with its puzzles sometimes, but the presentation of this game is more unique than a large majority of games out there.

As a side note, if you end up enjoying either of these games, you might want to look into other games by the developers Love-de-Lic, skip Ltd, and Vanpool. There are shared team members among these companies, so they often have a similar design philosophy of making nonviolent RPGs with imaginative social sim mechanics.

I'll nominate Dino Crisis for spooky season.

And thus, burgerkingsauce became a true believer.

I just had a thought pop up for one thing we could do where we could all try and make a mascot creature for the site and vote for the winner. I’m already trying to imagine my HLTBasaurus 😂.

I definitely think it would be pretty awesome to have our creations pop up in each other games.

That would be amazing--if we could get Everdred on board with it. I could probably commission someone to turn the winning creature into a proper mascot design if that were to happen.

Buuuuuut I'm getting ahead of myself. Spore has to win first. #Spore4TheWin (get it? because $4)

I'll throw one last pitch for Spore. I still think it would be a super fun way to get the community engaged by sharing the abominations we come up with. Plus, it has an 80% discount on Steam (only $4 USD) between now and August 10--nudge nudge, wink wink, know what I mean, say no more, say no more.

Sorry to hear about your week. Hope you've been doing better now.

In regards to feedback:

I was initially planning on adding more deaths and a much broader scope to the narrative. The reader (player) was initially going to be given much more options in regards to choices. Even having entire branching story-lines that would completely branch off from the true ending. However, as I learned with my first game (Constricted) that simply wasn't going to be an option, on account of my self-imposed deadline, other factors outside my control and the lingering fear of feature creep in terms of scope. Though going forward for whatever I work on next I'll certainly continue to broaden my scope in terms of player options, as I prefer that method of design.

Yeah, the pacing was definitely a tricky act to maintain, on account of what was mentioned above. And I agree that the 2nd half could have used more choices and buildup.

Definitely want to make any decisions I design less predictable for upcoming projects.

In regards to the choice motivations I wanted to try to make it as modular as possible, but with the time frame hanging over my head only within reason. So I had to make a tough call on whether certain decisions were logical "outs" while giving players agency, without necessarily having the plot veer off to far in any direction that would lead to feature creep or seeming illogical in the long run.

As for some plot points that happen later, I can shed some light on that. When you are given the option to stab Brice that is alluded to being a test of sorts. To see if you have chosen to take and use the gift bestowed to you. This is also why the ghost of the Duke proclaims you are "Ingrat", ungrateful. Its there to further establish that getting rid of the gift, without passing it down to someone or, in that endings case, murdering them, shows how unworthy the bearer of the coin is.. Though I was absolutely at one point contemplating adding more choices and possibilities to that outcome, I was worried about potential inconsistencies in the narrative, as I had previously had to rewrite a section that contained a story ending plot hole prior to that section.

I'm thinking if I use Twine again I'll have a more robust system at play, in regards to options players can take, similar to what you've mentioned if I get around to making another title with the engine.

And yes, your feedback was absolutely helpful, and quite thorough! The only other thing I'm curious about at the moment would be what your opinion on the True Ending is? Did it feel appropriate with how the story panned out to you, or too rushed?

Sorry I just noticed your reply!

To answer your question about the True Ending: I wouldn't say that the ending itself felt rushed, but the sequence of events leading up to the climax moves so fast that I suppose it feels slightly unearned? Like the MC hasn't worked hard enough to get there yet. Maybe if there was one more trial/riddle for them to overcome? I'm putting on my narratology hat here and thinking of the Rule of Threes. There's getting into the temple, cutting the thumb, and tossing the coin, which is technically 3 things, but the bit about tossing the coin feels more like a last trick/twist than a full riddle of its own. One more Indiana Jones/National Treasure style obstacle would really seal the deal.

Other than that, though, I felt like the passage displayed for the True Ending is a satisfying conclusion. It's short relative to the rest of the story, but resolutions are meant to be proportionately small. So I'd say efficient, not rushed.

Excellent advice by KerfMerf.

I've started completing the levels with a guide and the creativity and genius behind this game is absolutely jaw dropping.

I've been going through every single level (including all the bonus ones) and just marveling at the masterpieces that are the levels and the logic.

Frustrating as the game may be, I cannot deny the creator has MAJOR talent, and I will be following them in their future endeavors.

Somewhat regretting that I didn't try harder to complete the game on my own - I potentially could have done it, but it would have taken 100+ hours and countless weeks of frustration and I just wasn't in the mood for that level of commitment.

For what it's worth, I've found that the game is really rewarding to replay after a few years. I also used a guide for some levels on my first playthrough and felt some of that regret, but I've been able to figure things out faster and more independently on the second go-round. The puzzles are complex enough that I've forgotten the specific solutions, but my brain is more hard-wired to think the way the game wants me to think. It's especially satisfying to recognize a level that I used a guide on before because it seemed impossible and conquer it on my own now.

Just wanted to post a handy resource I found for level-by-level hints. They’ll never tell you the solution outright, but if you’re struggling to conceptualize a solution, they can at least point you in the right direction.

This is a replay for me, so I’m already pretty familiar with all the gimmicks. I definitely remember being overwhelmed the first time I played it, but if you develop a process for approaching the puzzles, they become more manageable (mostly).

A few general tips:

- Make sure you understand the rules regarding syntax. Probably seems obvious, but it will save you a lot of time if you remember that nouns always come before properties, and the first noun in a rule is the one that will be acted upon. “AND” can combine two nouns, two properties, or a combination of the two. Two “NOT” blocks can be used in the same statement (eg, “NOT BABA is NOT SINK” would negate the SINK property for every object that is not Baba, even if there is a “LAVA is SINK” rule elsewhere, thus allowing Baba to walk over it safely).

- When you start a new puzzle, figure out if there are any rules that are absolute. Usually, these are your basic “WALL is STOP” kind of deal—rules that are inaccessible and can’t be changed. Knowing what you absolutely CANNOT do can help shrink your list of potential solutions.

- Related to the above, consider all the possible rules you CAN make. For some levels I actually write a physical list, but that may be overkill. Also, consider how any rules can be broken or modified after the fact. If you turn a KEY into a BOX, you can theoretically turn it back into a KEY if you need to (unless there’s a “BOX is BOX” rule that makes the change permanent).

- Observe the nuances of any new rule you encounter, because I guarantee they will be part of a puzzle solution eventually. For example, pushing a BELT changes its orientation to whatever direction you just pushed it in, so if you place an object on it, it will SHIFT it in the new direction. PUSH and PULL both turn on an object’s collision, which can be useful to know if you need them to catch a falling object, for instance.

- Make ample use of the undo move button. I hope this one is obvious, but I have some friends who forgot about it and restarted the entire level every time they misclicked. The undo button lets you experiment with different rules with lower stakes. And as an aside—don’t be afraid to just try something out, even if you know if won’t work. You can gather a lot of intel just by screwing around.

All that advice is pretty straightforward and might not be useful, but I hope it can help even a little bit. I really think this game is something special, so I just wanted to offer whatever might get folks to enjoy it better.

Sorry for the delay in feedback--it's been a rough week, but I finally had a chance to sit down and try out the game.

Overall I quite enjoyed it! It's a fun adventure, and I really came to like Brice over the course of it despite his rough first impression. His charisma carries the story with a healthy sense of humor but also tragedy in his past. I'm also a total sucker for choose-your-own-adventure stories with tons of ways to die. I almost wish there were MORE ways to die, especially once the adventure reaches a global scale.

As far as pacing goes, I think that it moves at a rapid enough clip to keep the player's attention without getting muddled up in unnecessary details. However, something you may want to consider is that the pacing changes pretty drastically between the first half of the game and the second half. The first half has lots of brief passages broken up by choices, but in the second half the passages get much longer, with fewer choices. Neither half is weaker for it, but I did prefer the pacing in the first half since the various bad ends offered a darkly humorous break to the action/exposition.

When it comes to the choices the player can make, I did feel like it was pretty clear which choices were "right" and which were "wrong." In most cases, the options basically boil down to one choice that will probably move the plot forward and one which won't, so a player focusing on the "golden route" will miss a lot of the flavor text from the bad ends. That's not a problem if you're okay with that, but you might consider implementing choices where the results are less predictable.

There were also a few times where I couldn't understand the motive behind certain choices. For example, in the beginning, you can choose to wait in line or leave, which is understandable, but then after you make it to the coin machine, you're faced with the same choice. I couldn't really imagine a situation where anyone would wait in a line for 20 minutes just to leave after finally making it to the front. I tried the "leave" option anyway just to see what would happen, but it was basically the same as the previous "leave" result (except I think the text was slightly different?). Another example was toward the end when you give the player the option to draw their own blood or stab Brice. As a player, I couldn't really think of a good reason to stab Brice, since the ritual didn't really require much blood to begin with and murder seemed a bit drastic. The character seems to get a bit frenzied, which I suppose gives an in-game reason for the stabbing, but since I as a player am not feeling that same frenzy, my rational mind is always going to lean toward the rational choice.

I think you have a couple of ways to deal with those questions of motivation, and I'll use the "Stab Brice" choice as an example. One way would be to write the scenario in such a way that stabbing Brice (or even just using his blood instead of the player-character's) seems like a potentially valid option. You could raise a sense of doubt about whether a random person's blood would even work to lift the curse or if it has to come from a member of the Lafitte bloodline. You could also make it a question of responsibility, with the player-character wondering if it's really fair for them to spill blood when it's Brice's fault that all this happened anyway. Either of those (or a combination of both) could give the player more of a reason to think that Brice should be the one to pony up his blood instead (and thus make them think a little harder about the possible outcome of the choice). However, if you wanted to keep that sense of frenzied bloodlust, you could still make that work by using a very barebones morality system. Basically, every time the player does something thoughtful (like listening to Brice's backstory) they get a point, and every time they do something selfish they lose a point. If they don't have enough morality points by the end of the game, the player may automatically give in to their frenzy and stab Brice, but if they do have enough points, they can resist it. From the little messing around that I've done in Twine, I think it has the capacity to track simple variables like that.

I hope my feedback helps even a little bit! Those were my main takeaways, but if you have questions about anything specific, I'll try to answer to the best of my ability. I'm primarily a writer, so that's what I tend to focus on, but I'm happy to discuss any other aspects!

I’ll nominate Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. No chance it wins but eh worth a shot

If Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak can win, anything can.

I’ll try to take a look at it this weekend! Are you looking for feedback on anything specific or just general impressions?

In any case, kudos to you for following through on this. I’ve always wanted to work on a solo dev project like this, but I tend to not make it very far before I lose heart and give up. So you should be proud of yourself for making it to the end!

Spore did pretty well in the last poll, so I’ll give it another shot.

If it's cheap enough, why not?

Because you can already achieve (almost) the exact same result for free. With the PS Remote Play app, you can stream games to smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops. The only difference is you don't have a bisected DualSense unceremoniously sandwiched on either side of the screen like a pair of gangrenous elf ears.

I'm not one to tell anybody how to spend their own money, but I just can't imagine how cheap would be cheap enough to justify this.

I’m gonna nominate Spore. I’ve been seeing a resurgence of this game in streams lately, so it got me interested again. It would be fun to see what kinds of abominations HLTB users manage to create. And since everyone’s gonna be playing Zelda anyway, it might be nice to have something chill to play around with on the side.

Also, it’s $2 on Steam until May 29! Obviously the poll won’t be over by then, but I feel like it’s a good game to have in your library regardless—especially at that price.

I was pretty unimpressed, but I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, so I'll put my thoughts behind spoilers if no one wants to hear my cynical opinions.

Fairgame$ - Trendy youngsters with bad haircuts play a high-tech game of Robin Hood. The elevator pitch seems to be "Payday but PvP instead of co-op." The goal is to steal from the ultra-rich, but the enemies are others within your own tax bracket (presumably). I want to believe that the creators are genre savvy enough to understand the implications of their own satire, but I won't hold my breath until they implement loot boxes.

Foamstars - Trendy youngsters with bad haircuts give a city a bubble bath. It's hard to even be sarcastic about this one. I can't think of anyone who played Splatoon and thought, "This is good, but I'd prefer if it was more like Fortnite in my kitchen sink." The foam effects are so bright and busy that it was difficult to tell what was even happening in the footage they showed. Music was nice, though.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater - I love Metal Gear Solid, but it's hard to be excited about this knowing that Kojima isn't involved. I'll reserve judgment for now.

Marathon - I have no connection to this series and the trailer did not inspire me to care.

Helldivers 2 - There was a Helldivers 1?

Ghostrunner 2 - I guess I liked the first one enough to give this a try.

The Talos Principle II - My kneejerk reaction is that The Talos Principle doesn't need a sequel and creating one has the potential to devalue the impact of the original. But TTP is a good enough game that I will tentatively hold out hope.

Dragon's Dogma II - Never played the first one. If this gets good reviews, maybe I'll give the series a shot.

Arizona Sunshine II - There was an Arizona Sunshine I?

Alan Wake 2 - The trailer didn't do much for me, but I liked the original enough to give it a chance.

Spider Man 2 - Expectations subverted: the trendy youngster with a bad haircut at the start of the trailer was quickly killed. Anyway, I liked the first one, I liked Miles Morales, and I'm sure I'll like this one too. What I don't understand is why they continue to show 15-minute trailers that give away the most exciting setpieces. The game is going to sell like crazy no matter what! You don't need to spoil the fun parts! Just show 30 seconds of web-slinging and a random fight and you're golden.

Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted 2 - How many 2s can you possibly have in one showcase?

Destiny 2 - Not enough, apparently. (Okay, technically it's just DLC for D2, but still.)

Immortals of Aveum - Trendy Fantasy youngsters with bad haircuts play Doom Eternal but with finger guns. This one might be okay, but the dialogue felt AI-generated.

Phantom Blade 0 - Is this a series or a new IP? I have no idea. There were some eye-catching parts in the trailer, but I have a hard time believing the combat will truly be as dynamic as they made it appear (unless you have superhuman reflexes). Would love to be proven wrong.

Sword of the Sea - I think I zoned out during this one because it looked so much like Journey I just assumed it was a Journey re-release.

Cat Quest: Pirates of the Purribean - Nothing against the creators of this game, but I'm confused why Sony even decided to put this in the showcase. It was just so out of place, but not in a "wow, what an unexpected gem" kind of way.

The Plucky Squire - The only game from the showcase that actually seemed to offer something fresh and visionary, in my opinion. Plus, Devolver is pretty reliable.

Teardown - I've definitely heard of this game. And I've definitely heard good things about this game. But that trailer did not do it any favors. As far as I can tell, the gameplay consists of nothing more than driving cars into buildings to make them explode. I'm sure some hyperactive Twitch streamer could milk that for hours of content, but I feel like I'd get bored after 5 minutes.

Assassin's Creed Mirage - Does anyone actually get excited about Assassin's Creed anymore? Or do people just buy them out of a mixture of loyalty and sunk cost fallacy, like how people keep watching sitcoms in their later seasons even when it's clear the showrunners are out of ideas and are just rotating the love triangles to manufacture easy drama?

Towers of Aghasba - City-building sims aren't typically my thing, but this looks like it might have an interesting spin on the genre.

Revenant Hill - I wish they had given literally any indication of what this is about, but I guess I'm intrigued by this world populated by farmers, cats, and skelly-bones. And Night in the Woods was good, so there's that.

Granblue Fantasy Relink - This trailer caught my attention, but I don't know a lot about Granblue. It looked sort of MMO-ish, which would kill all my interest in it, but if it's not, I'll keep my eye on it.

Street Fighter 6 - Trendy youngsters with bad haircuts beat up veterans. I have absolutely zero interest in fighting games. Maybe I'll watch some streams.

Ultros - Lisa Frank made a metroidvania! Is that joke too obvious? Well, the game looks alright, even if I am feeling some indie metroidvania fatigue. Might be worth it just for the art alone.

Tower of Fantasy - This is Genshin Impact.

Crossfire Sierra Squad - I must have zoned out during this one too.

Synapse - Looked kinda neat and reminded me of Control, but alas: VR only.

Concord - They probably spent thousands of dollars rendering that hamburger for a trailer that provided absolutely no information whatsoever.

Final Fantasy XVI - I was planning to buy this anyway, but it was nice to see some gameplay.

Neva - gonna give you up, Neva gonna let you down

[Here, it is worthwhile to mention that several of these games are confirmed for Xbox as well, which sort of takes the wind out of their sales--and I say this as someone who has solidly been a Playstation customer my whole life.]

And the coup de grace: the PS5 Switch, which as many commentators have already pointed out, is more like a PS5 Wii U GamePad, since you can only stream games already installed to your PS5 unit over a steady wifi connection. The design looks haphazard and I struggle to imagine how it can succeed given its obvious limitations and the fact that you can already stream PS5 games to other devices. I fully anticipate kids begging for one for Christmas and being disappointed that they can't truly play it on the go like a Switch, or worse--getting one as a standalone product without realizing that they need a PS5 console in order to use it in the first place.

Well that’s that, I do not feel the need to check up on post wood temple because I don’t need that trauma. 😅 I can however say yes, you do actually see Romani being abducted. I mucked up the mission on the first time and witnessed it firsthand. I’m so glad elder Goron made it! I was really sad about that one.

I did race the butler and got an item. Haven’t really used it though, so not sure where this is going just yet.

The item you get from the butler isn't all that critical, but his dialogue provides context for a scene later on.

But yeah, Majora's Mask is pretty oppressive with the dread and misery. When I was younger I remember trying to figure out how to solve all of Termina's problems within a single 3-day cycle. If it's not already obvious to you, it's not possible. You can re-fight the bosses and clear a lot of the shorter quests, but some of the side quests have branching paths, so if you decide to help one person, you might be dooming someone else in that timeline. That's a pretty immense burden to bear. I even looked into using glitches to try and advance some route-locked quests, but I never got it to work. Still kinda nags at the back of my mind.

You know what, maybe this game is why I have such severe anxiety.

This was about 2 years ago when I was living in an apartment about half an hour from my parents' place. My game collection was split between the apartment and my parents' house just because I didn't have the shelf space for everything at the apartment.

A few months after moving in, I had a few friends over to play some party games. At some point in the conversation, one of my friends told me that they had just bought a copy of Banjo-Tooie from a used game store. He knew it was one of my favorite games, so he was excited to finally give it a go. His girlfriend chimed in to say that this copy of the game had extra character because some kid had written the title along the top of the cartridge in permanent marker. I admitted that I had done that to my N64 games when I was a kid, but I knew better now.

Fast forward a little bit--I was visiting my parents and decided I would bring a few more games up to the apartment. However, the container that held my N64 games was completely empty. I wondered if maybe I had already brought them up to the apartment and just forgotten about it, but they didn't turn up there either.

The conversation with my friend echoed in my memory. I asked him to send me a picture of the cartridge he'd bought. I didn't think he'd sneaked into my house to steal my N64 games, but something seemed fishy. He texted me a picture, and sure enough, it was my handwriting along the top of the cartridge.

As it turned out, my brother (who still lived with my parents) had taken a bunch of my games and sold them without my permission. It was a pure stroke of luck that my friend had decided to visit that specific game store during the brief interval of time where that one game with my handwriting on it was prominently displayed. And the reason he bought it was explicitly because of my recommendation. I offered to pay him to get it back (since he had paid for it at the store), but he wouldn't hear of it and just let me have it back. Eventually I confronted my brother, which is its own saga, but it's still wild how many things had to line up for this to happen.

I'm probably about due to replay all of these, so we'll see how I do throughout the month. Majora's Mask may be divisive and some may find Castlevania outdated, but I'm sure everyone will find something they liked this month. It's also interesting to me that none of these are really horror games and yet they all seem like such natural picks.

Majora's Mask is a contender for my favorite game ever, but I've played the vanilla game so much it doesn't really hold much surprise anymore. So I'm thinking to freshen it up, I'll install a randomizer mod and see how that goes. Might even stream it to Twitch or Youtube one of these weekends, if anyone cares to watch!

I finally finished the game last night after playing on and off for the past 2 months. I have some very complicated feelings about it, but overall I think I walked away with more positive than negative--and I have to give it credit for how much it made me confront my own emotional reactions.

My gut reaction to the ending was also intensely negative. When the twist fully sank in, I hated it. I felt cheated and lied to. I honestly started to feel sick to my stomach. And it was only made worse because of how drawn-out the ending sequence is, with lengthy fights, memory sequences, and dialogue. I had to wrestle this anger the whole time. I wanted to stop playing, but I also knew I was close to the ending and didn't want to just throw away the last 25 hours of gameplay because of a bad ending.

Except, as I kept playing through the final sequence, I wasn't so sure it actually was a bad ending. Now, I didn't do a hard 180--I didn't suddenly think the ending was genius. It is VERY emotionally manipulative. I also think it sacrifices the player's level of identification with the player-character, which is inevitably going to be disorienting. But my feelings about the ending did soften. Maybe that's because I lucked into getting the best ending, so I at least got some satisfying resolution.

Ultimately what made a difference was examining my own emotions and questioning them. Why was I reacting SO negatively? I've experienced plenty of cheap twists before. Why was this one haunting me so much? My gut reaction was "They had such a poignant story and they ruined it, so it feels like my feelings are not being respected." But the more I dug into my thinking I realized what was really bothering me (and thus begins the extensive spoiler section): it felt like it removed the "meaning" of Mari's death.

When you think she committed suicide, you devote your emotional energy into trying to find out why she did it. I know I found myself reading too much into little comments, like the photo caption about how she wasn't satisfied with her flower crown or her piano playing--it seemed like her high expectations of herself became too much, so she took her own life as an escape. Thus she becomes a sort of tragic heroine, almost mythical. In the dream world, she is an almost otherworldly figure, teleporting around with no difficulty, always positive, providing the immensely useful services of restoring your health, giving you hints on side quests, and saving your game. In the real world, a pillar of light makes her grave stand out.

What actually happened is a shock for a number of reasons. For one, it's no longer a willed action of her own volition, but a complete accident. On top of that, her mythical (almost angelic) image is defiled by having the MC and Basil stage her suicide. It no longer has the veneer of a "beautiful tragedy." Suddenly it feels senseless and even detestable. I came to hate the MC. I no longer wanted to play as him.

But that in itself is significant. What I felt about the MC was basically how the MC felt about himself. Even Basil felt some of that contempt, but he concocted the "SOMETHING" as a scapegoat so he (and the MC) could project his hatred onto that rather than process what actually happened. I ended up asking myself, how could I possibly live with myself if I was responsible for the death of a loved one? Not just a loved one, but the person you love the most? Even if it was an accident? Even the hypothetical was too painful for me to bear. And so I started to understand and pity the MC. The amount of bravery it took to break down those defensive mechanisms is astounding. And not just for himself, but for Basil too. And then on top of that, the courage to finally tell the truth to his friends (who may very well go through an emotional whirlwind of their own, for better or worse).

That's how I was able to make peace with the ending. It still demands you stretch your imagination as far as what people are capable of in moments of crisis. You still have to accept hard truths about characters you care for. You need to steer certain characters toward a redemption you're not even sure they deserve. And even after all that, I wouldn't blame anyone for slamming their controller down, moving it to the Retired tab, and ragging on the writing. Certainly there are things in here you wouldn't get away with in a creative writing workshop. But I still feel like it accomplished one of the main goals of art: it complicated my beliefs about love, life, and death in unique and uncomfortable ways.

I noticed that the Add Manual Time button on the submission page doesn't seem to automatically simplify anymore (at least for me). E.g., I had an existing time with 42 in the minute box and when I added 48 minutes with the Add Manual Time button, it added up to 90 in the minute box instead of adding 1 to the hour box and leaving a remainder of 30 in the minute box.

Not a site-breaking issue, of course, but it's a helpful QoL thing. Thanks again for all your hard work--I know it couldn't have been easy basically remaking the site from scratch!