Monthend

MEVGWU: October 2026

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Silent Hill: Townfall (PS5) – You know, I’ve got a lot of very complex thoughts about this game. Probably too many to fit in this little blurb space, so here’s the cliff notes: very good game overall, great story, great characters, great atmosphere, but is lacking a certain je ne sais quoi in regards to its Silent Hill-ness. I kind of despised the stealth gameplay (but liked the puzzles) and never want to play it again, but still had an overall very good time (the puzzles were real good). I told you it was complex.

Pokémon Fire Red (Switch) – Well this isn’t a very spooky game, is it? No. But you know what was? Trying to beat the Elite Four with my nuzlocke team. I managed to tough it out eventually, but definitely lost the nuzlocke when Lorelei wiped almost my entire party on my first attempt.

Weeping Falls Massacre (PC) – An indie horror where you travel to an abandoned orphanarium to discover the cause of a massacre that happened there years earlier. Not quite a walking simulator, because there is a stalker enemy during the second half of the game, but he really isn’t much of a threat due to extremely basic AI. I had a good enough time running around and solving basic puzzles, only took about an hour and a half, and the price was right at free.

MEVGWU: September 2026

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Overcome Your Fears: Caretaker (PC) – Yet another Fears to Fathom clone, and not even a good one, combining the simplicity of Home Alone with the padding of Carson House.

Scarlet Skips (PC) – This isn’t a game you can beat, per se, it’s just a high score chaser. But I got my fill of it and that’s about that.

Serve or Die (PC) – “Routine job horror” where you manage a sandwich shop and spooooky things start to happen. It was honestly starting to lose me, but then the ending went bananas and was funny enough that I’d give it a pass.

MEVGWU: August 2026

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Splatoon Raiders (Switch2) – it’s basically all I’ve wanted from Splatoon since the series’ inception, and has left me wanting for nothing. Except more, maybe. Okay, and a lot of the post-game content is just grinding for rare drops and money, which is not the best, but the gameplay is fun enough that I keep doing it anyway.

Into the Gloom (PC) – A 2014 indie horror that got a massive update a couple years ago that brought it from “pretty good” to “this is one of the best indie horrors I’ve ever played.” Yes, it’s got poo graphics and shows its age, but its genuinely creepy atmosphere and actually good puzzles propel it above a lot of its peers, in my opinion.

Evil Awaits (PC) – A perfectly serviceable Resident Evil 4 clone, though it’s a wee bit janky and crashy. But it’s not too long and has a fun upgrade system, so I’m looking forward to some NG+ action. If I ever make the time.

MEVGWU: July 2026

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Deltarune (Switch2) – I know I say this every time a new chapter releases, but chapter 5 has definitely been the best so far! Flowery is such an entertaining character, the side-scrolling gimmick is super fun, and I really like that at least for this chapter, we’re examining the idea of how “good” and “evil” are relative to one’s point of view. And as always, the music and creative boss fights are some of the best that video games have to offer.

Night at the Gates of Hell (PC) – A horror comedy that I’ve tried to watch several times, but I always fall asleep. So I just friggin’ bought it to tie up the loose thread. While the start is a little rough, once it got going and I got the hang of the jank, it was a pretty fun little game. Plus, it comes bundled with the hilarious “The Booty Creek Cheek Freak” as an unlockable mini-game.

Bomberman (NES) – If I’d known that this game was essentially just the same level 50 times over, I probably would have just skipped it. Sure, I had a suspicion after about 15 stages, but at that point I was already committed to getting to the end.

MEVGWU: June 2026

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Nine Sols (PS5) – If you’d told me that a metroidvania with parry-based combat where you play as a cat would completely enthrall me, I would have slapped you and called you mad. But here we are, and I thoroughly enjoyed this game, despite my horrendously bad reflexes. The beautiful visuals and overarching theme of Taosim really went a long way to sell it to me, but the gameplay was also just shy of stellar. Except for the bullshit final boss, who is exponentially harder than anything else in the game and forced me to knock the difficulty down after hours of trying to over come her first phase.

Bloodwash (PC) – I’ve lost track of how many let’s plays of this game that I’ve watched, but it was still fun to actually play for myself. There was a little less to explore and discover than I’d hoped, to be honest.

Mega Man Battle Network 2 (GBA) – I vividly remember finally 100%ing this game many, many years ago. I was on my original GBA, sitting in my mom’s car, as we waited to pick my youngest brother up from school. Playing it again brought a lot of those fond memories back, and I honestly had a wonderful time revisiting it, even though it took me about a year to actually get through it.

MEVGWU: May 2026

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Wicked Seed (PC) – A third-person survival horror with a heroine that looks like Claire Redfield and Parasite Eve-style combat. There are tons of things to unlock, including a randomizer mode, so it’s built for replays. What more could a boy ask for? Honestly, if it weren’t for RE:Requiem and Pokopia, this could easily be my game of the year. Speaking of which…

Tower Hunter: Erza’s Trial (PC) – Remember earlier this year when I played Frontier Hunter? This is the game that came before it, and it’s a 2D-action roguelite. Controls are a bit funky, but it’s decently fun once you get into it… and are able to decipher the astonishingly bad Engrish translation.

Resident Evil Requiem (Switch2) – Booted ‘er up to try out the new Leon Must Die Forever minigame. It’s cool and all, but not really something I want to grind.

MEVGWU: April 2026

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Minishoot’ Adventures (Switch2) – All my thoughts here.

Peglin (PC) – All Cruciball levels for all characters are finally complete. 400+ hours later, this game is DONE. At least until the next update.

Back to the Future: The Game (PC) – If I were a bigger Back to the Future fan, I’d probably have stronger feelings about it, but as things are, I just think it was a pretty average episodic adventure game. I can’t say that anything about it really stood out besides the IP, which, as far as I can tell, was used to the fullest.

MEVGWU: March 2026

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Resident Evil Requiem (Switch2) – I have a couple misgivings, but overall this is a fantastic video game. I will someday say more. Much more. Probably.

Pokémon Pokopia (Switch2) – What can I say about this other than it’s what I spent like 70% of March doing? I guess that all I needed in life this whole time was a Pokémon-themed “cozy” game.

MEVGWU: February 2026

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Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind (Switch) – I’d been listening to the (excellent) soundtrack lately, and it reminded me how much I enjoyed the game. So I gave it another run. Apparently it’s been significantly polished up since launch, but I didn’t notice much difference aside from the (seemingly pointless) new level-up system.

Resident Evil 3 (PS5) – Sometimes you’ve gotta set it to Assisted mode and just have a good time. Got myself an S rank, even. With a measly two minutes to spare!

The Last Train: Baquedano (Switch) – A surreal cat-and-mouse horror game where you’re trying to escape a train station while a killer stalks you. It’s strange and a little difficult at first because it doesn’t give you any direction, but once you figure out your goal, it’s actually pretty thrilling. Also, might just be a meme game – I’m not sure, I’m too old.

MEVGWU: January 2026

Ah, it’s a new year again. Seems like these keep coming around at fairly regular intervals. How odd…

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Mega Man X (SNES) – The most important tradition, is that this is the first video game I play every year. Though I’ve written about it so many times now that there’s nothing left to say. I didn’t even attempt a PB this time around, as one try a year isn’t nearly enough practice for speedrunning.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (PS5) – It’s wild to me that somehow I dropped this game before beating it last year. It’s just so damned good. But, I finally resolved to pick it back up and actually finish it, and I’m glad I did. Just getting back into the world for a while (a long-ass while, since I did all the optional stuff too) was worth the time. Though I did end up kicking the difficulty down to Story while working my way through Verso’s Drafts. I never looked up any game-breaking character builds, and I was getting thoroughly ruined before I gave in to easy (well, easier) mode.

The Hungry Fly (PC) – Well this was an experience. You buzz around as a fly, looking for things to eat. Those things are… not what you’d expect, in most cases. It’s a very surreal kind of game, and I have no idea what, if anything, it was trying to say. Sadly, not engaging enough for me to have kept playing for all three endings.