Burning the midnight oil at noon

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: June 2025

~ Game Over ~

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.

More Banana for your Buck

I dunno. It’s another one of these.

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.

Pink to the Nth Degree

If you’ve been around these parts for a long (long) time, you may remember that I reviewed Candy Cane Viva Puffs a great many years ago.

Well, now I’ve reviewed the Barbie edition of their sister cookie, Whippet. Will this video be as cringe in 15 years as that article is today? Will we even still be using “cringe” as an adjective at that point?

Cookies and Diet Coke

You may or may not be aware that I’ve been donating blood on a fairly regular basis for a while now. I made a short video about it. That is all.

Oh, Obnoxious!

I did a new Pop-Tart review *checks watch* almost a month ago now and forgot to highlight it here. Not that this is going to drive views or anything, but it’s nice to once in a while remember that I still run a blog.

This is easily the most annoying one I’ve done to date. And while that is by design, that doesn’t really make it any better. So… enjoy?

A Tradition of Art

So I drew this thing:

Overall, I’m very satisfied with it. It aligns very well with the vision that I had before starting up. Of course, as an artist, I look at it and can immediately pick out a hundred little things I’d like to tweak or clean up. But I can’t; it’s already been submitted and published. So I won’t bother losing any sleep over it.

The ONE thing that I do want to grouse about is -in my opinion- the not entirely cohesive style. When I began this project, I decided to go more cartoony than I normally do. And I think that’s very clear over on the right side of the image. But as I made my way up and around through the various characters, I think I kind of lost sight that direction and faded a bit into my more usual style; I got a little too distracted by trying to figure out how to make each person at least somewhat recognizable and distinct. And it’s fine! It’s not a big deal! I don’t think anyone but me would even notice. But it bugs me just a little.

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: April 2025

~ Game Over ~

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.