Mario

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: June 2025

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Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana (Switch) – Did I need this remaster? No, not really. But I did need the arranged music CD that came with the special edition. And I had fun (let’s) playing it again, so it worked out in the end.

The Deadseat (PC) – I bought this because the three seconds of footage I saw on the Steam page looked exactly like something I would want. Little did I know that it’s Five Nights at Freddy’s, but in a car. Also, dark as heck and I quite enjoyed it.

It’s Just a Prank (PC) – This game is even darker than the last, but far too grounded and I did not enjoy it. I need a pretty thick level of abstraction to be able to stomach the themes present in this one.

Nintendo Switch, Too

So I’ve got this thing now. I’ve had it for a week, in fact, and not felt overly compelled to make words about it.

The funny thing about that is, this new machine hasn’t really inspired much excitement in me. Maybe it’s old age, maybe it’s because Mario Kart World isn’t anywhere near as exciting (to me) as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was, maybe it’s because Switch 2 is just a bigger, stronger Switch, but my hype levels have been fairly low. I didn’t even take launch day off. Just strolled into the mall after work like it was any other day. (I did drive by the mall the night before to scope out the midnight launch line, but there was no way I was going to stand in that line on a work night.)

Honestly, I think it’s a combination of all the factors mentioned above.

Evolution

Remember how I used to write all those surprise bag articles? Well, this isn’t quite that, but it’s got kind of a similar vibe.

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: May 2025

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Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 (PC) – Soviet side’s done, so I’m calling it beaten. Looking forward to powering through the Allied campaign, too.

Iron Meat (PC) – A Contra-like with an excellent soundtrack from the same guys who made Prison City. Plenty of unlockables to provide reasons to play it over and over again, too. Which I will likely do.

BloodBark (PC) – An indie horror about chipping down trees that bleed and make you hallucinate. It sounds weird, and it is weird, but I had a great time with it. I look forward to sharing my let’s play when Spooktober comes around.

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: April 2025

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BloodRayne ReVamped (PC) – I probably would have enjoyed this to a greater degree if I’d played it back in 2002, but… Oof, it has not aged all that well. There are some good ideas in there, but it needs more polish and doesn’t feel cohesive.

Donkey Kong Land (GB) – I started this back in December, then promptly forgot about it. Why? Because it’s a poo-poo game. Well, not that bad, but it ain’t great.

HoloCure: Save the Fans! (PC) – I really only just booted it up to play a couple rounds, but there’s been an update that added a new stage and a bunch of new characters. Maybe more, I’m not sure. But I figured it was worth mentioning.

A Thing (Pre-)Happened

I pre-ordered my Nintendo Switch 2 today. It was… kind of a boring experience. Way more people came out than I’d expected (what with all the online bellyaching about prices), and I stood in line for an hour to secure my console.

Turns out an hour’s not so bad, though. My mom waited in a two-hour line to get a pre-order for my brother, and I’ve heard that people were in queues for up to eight hours trying to pre-order online. Crazy stuff. I guess Nintendo’s not dead quite yet, eh bellyachers?

And look, I know it seems weird that I’d get the Mario Kart bundle, since I’m not a Mario Kart player in really any capacity these days, but Mario Kart World looks freakin’ awesome. I’m honestly looking forward to just driving around the world looking for secrets and tucked-away details. Races? Who needs ’em?

I used the word “look” four times in that last paragraph. Now you’re going to fixate on that fact. Enjoy.

I also have more thoughts about Switch 2. Obvi. I haven’t written anything yet because I was thinking about doing a video on it, but I don’t know if that’s ever going to happen at this point. But, I mean, it’s the new Nintendo machine. I’m buying one and I’m pretty dang excited about it. This should come as no surprise to anybody. That’s kinda my jam, you know?

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: February 2025

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Wedding Witch (PC) – A horny Vampire Survivors clone that I bought and played for a joke, but then I ended up spending 10 hours 100%ing it. Whoops!

Silent Hill 2 (PC) – I’ve been itching to play the original since finishing the remake last year, and a co-worker recommended I try out the Enhanced Edition mod, so I did. It looks good for sure, and it was nice to revisit a classic. Really drove home how much bigger the remake is, too. Livestreamed the whole thing, too.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership (Switch) – Should have finished this months ago, but the whole let’s playing process really slowed me down. I liked the game a lot, but would have liked it even more if the dialog was cut down by 25-50% and it was like 10 hours shorter. That also describes how I feel about most M&L games that came after Superstar Saga.

TE Video: Coming Soon (March 2025)

Join me on YouTube and/or Rumble for at least three videos a week. Although I might give up on Rumble, since they recently changed their monetization requirements from “none” to “an absolute shit-ton” and I’ll never see a penny there now.

I’ve also been streaming on YouTube on Friday evenings pretty consistently lately, so consider dropping by to make chat slightly less empty.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership (Switch) – This one will continue to run every Saturday in March, as it has for the last three months. However, episode 20 is the finale! It’s finally coming to an end! What a bittersweet moment it was/will be.

9 Years of Shadows (PC) – This series ends with episodes 6 and 7 on March 3 and 10 respectively. While I obviously recommend checking out the game in general, the last episode isn’t one to miss if you want to see me completely lose my cool.

A Night on the Farm (Switch) – Airing March 6, this is a little indie horror adventure about a perfectly average night on a perfectly average farm. My playthrough clocks in a just under an hour and a half, showing off three of the five(?) possible endings. If that sounds like a letdown to you, just know that the endings aren’t all that different.

Dead or School (PC) – Parts 6 and 7 go live on March 13 and 27 respectively. I’ve forgotten most of what’s actually in these episodes, but there’s a fight against a tank boss on part 7! And I make at least one Metal Gear Solid reference!

Suite 776 (PC) – Goes live on March 17. I could swear I had played this one before, but honestly, I may have just played and watched too many indie horror games at this point, and they’re all just blending together in my mind. Anyway, I like it, and it’s got a pretty fun easter egg right near the end.

Spicy Candy (PC) – Airs on March 20. More of an interactive story than a game, really. You play as a little girl who gets locked out of the house by her neglectful mother on Halloween and sets off to collect candy. GUESS WHAT HAPPENS.

Broken Through (PC) – Goes live on March 24. I’ve played all of Jordan Lindgren’s games, and this one is my favourite by far. While the “haunted video game” theme is becoming a little too common, this game does it well and was, surprisingly, legitimately spooky. I was genuinely unsettled a couple times while playing it. Fun!

Unpacking (PC) – The last video for the month, going live on March 30. A wild departure from the kinds of games I normally play, this is a cute, cozy game about unpacking boxes and organizing your belongings. It also manages to tell a heartwarming story without any traditional narrative elements.

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: January 2025

Another year down, so many video games played… and even more un-played. *sigh* At some point I’ll figure out the “unlimited time” cheat code for life, but until then, let’s strap in for another year of… this.

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Mega Man X (SNES) – It’s tradition that this is the first game I play each new year, didn’t you know? This time I played with “rookie hunter” mode enabled on the Mega Man X Legacy Collection, and I still couldn’t get my time down to under an hour! I’m beginning to think that I’m just not capable of such a feat. Oh well.

Resident Evil: Director’s Cut (PSX) – This was launched as bait to get old people to subscribe to the more expensive tiers of PlayStation+. I’m still on the cheapest plan, but now I’m able to play it for reasons I don’t understand. Oh well! This is actually the first time I’ve finished this version of the game, though I have played the GameCube and DS remakes like a thousand times each.

Peglin (PC) – The Cruciball is finally complete. Can I move on with my life now? Peglin says “no.” (And I’m okay with that.)

TE Video: Coming Soon (February 2025)

You know the preamble by now. Let’s jump straight to the good(?) stuff.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership (Switch) – Parts 12-15 run every Saturday from Feb 1st. No surprise, being at part 12 and all. Looks like it’s coming to a head (I just recorded part 15), and I’m pretty confident that this series will end in March.

9 Years of Shadows (PC) – Parts 2-5 run every Monday from Feb 3rd. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I definitely recommend it, as it’s pretty cool game. Very stylish, with some neat powers and tough bosses. This one will definitely conclude in March, with part 7 being the finale.

Bad Parenting #1: Mr. Red Face (PC) – One-shot goes live Feb 6. I thought this was going to be a bit more of a light-hearted spook-em-up, but it’s actually intensely dark. One of the bleakest games I’ve played in recent memory.

DEAD OR SCHOOL (PC) – Parts 4 and 5 on Feb 13 and Feb 27 respectively. I honestly don’t know if this is going to be any fun at all to watch, but I had a grand old time playing it. Check it out if you like seeing me in pain and anime nonsense.

Midnight Prowl (PC) – One-shot goes live Feb 20. Yamoto’s first game, and easily the weirdest of the three. It’s better than Akai Onna, but can’t hold a candle to Urayama. As with most of these games, I put in the effort to get both endings.

As always, any unplanned videos will get their own posts as they go live (or more likely, a few days afterward). That seems a bit unfair, honestly, but what are you going to do? You’re going to subscribe to my channel and hit that notification bell. That’s what you’re going to do.