chaosh.at

A light day.

2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z

Final Fantasy Resonance

Nichol rocks.

Started the day off by getting Odin and beating down Aether/Cid. The Aether fight was pretty simple and I do feel bad for defeating him so hard. He just misses his family.

Grabbed some side quests too, I'll wrap those up and then probably do the next tier of the colosseum if I can. I'm mildly concerned/paranoid about these tablet shards and having to backtrack to find an errant one or two.

A first test for the canon: Belmont's Curse

2026-11-03T00:00:00.000Z

As I write this, currently, I don't know if Belmont's Curse is a canon game for me over Metroid Dread. I've struggled, I've gone back and forth, and there's a clear cleavage of why this is such a challenging choice for me. And why do these two clash instead of just having both? Having both on doesn't say anything new about me, they're redundant on the business card. They just say "Hat likes Metroidvanias." So what's the case for either?

Is Rose the chosen one?

Metroid Dread is deeper and well, artsier. It has more to say, it's doing different things narratively. This is partially crazy because Dread is so thin on plot. Samus is so silent, most of the plot is driven one sidedly by Samus's AI companion. Belmont's Curse has all kinds of characters for Rose to talk to and bounce off of thanks to the tarot cards, and she just banters more with the villains.

But Dread does a better job of storytelling through atmosphere. I went on about this in some depth on that one's article. It makes you feel things that Belmont's Curse never did. I would say the experience is, emotionally, pretty flat.

At the same time, Castlevania feels like it's more opinionated and unique as a setting. Belmont's Curse just looks good and has such a unique style compared to Dread's sterility. Due to that lack of dialogue and exposition, Dread feels generically sci-fi. While maybe it benefits from Dracula being a cultural shorthand to understanding it, Castlevania has a lore to it, it feels more specific.

It just looks good.

But on the other hand, I think Belmont's Curse might just be more fun? It feels tuned for me specifically.

Curse has better platforming, the segments of it are generally more interesting and more attainable than Dread's. Every moment in there I felt strongly that I could do this, it was just one, two more attempts away from me locking in and getting it done. Even though sometimes it ended up being many more it always felt like I got this.

Whereas Dread had some challenges where I looked at it and said...no. Absolutely not. I'm not grinding this out for a half an hour to get some arcane speed boost storing window exactly right.

Further, combat is more varied and fun. So much combat in Dread is very samey, the fight locations are very similar and Samus isn't the most mobile character in a lot of ways. While Samus is quick and jumpy and her platforming feels good, Rose's movement is more dynamic, she gets to whip around the map, pull herself to enemies, and airdash from a very early point. She gets a variety of weapons to change up her playstyle, and the spells from her tarot cards. These are ways you can express yourself in the gameplay by having your own preferences.

I really appreciated how the library had a low fi beats soundtrack.

The little challenges in Belmont's Curse are better too. I vastly prefer the Works of Mercy to the insane platforming challenges of Dread. The Works of Mercy felt much more attainable, but also more rewarding. An extra missile pack or super bomb is nice, but it's not needed. And, neither are the Works of Mercy benefits but they go back to that customization, you can get rewarded for using the things you like and they can modify your playstyle.

Dread's minimal storytelling actually does a better job of signposting, I rarely felt confused about where to go next. Belmont's Curse had long stretches of "well I have no idea what even to do." I know for many diehard fans this is the point, but I personally don't love the feeling of extended flailing on the critical path. Optional stuff? Go nuts. Dread is probably closer to the other extreme of too much handholding, but I would prefer that to the feeling of flailing about and eventually having to look it up online.

Me, backtracking aimlessly again.

Ultimately, I have no idea right now. My gut might nod towards Belmont's Curse but that's because it's new, and the version of Bloody Tears absolutely rocks. This has really caused me to review my goals and the mindset of the canon and its rubric. What is the right amount of turnover? At first I was biased towards more change: challenger wins ties. I thought this was okay because the canon now has a changelog, so other games just graduate into the Hat Hall of Fame. I also don't want the canon to calcify, that's one of the primary concerns here. It's meant to be current.

But my concern became well, what if the canon and changelog are just a large subset of "the games I played," would that be good? And what if I have this discussion again in a few months when Metroid Ravenous comes out? That feels like too much. I thought about an annual cadence to review the entire canon and all the possible contenders but that felt too static and like I'd forget. It's too slow.

I just thought this moment was funny.

So where do we end here? I think I've decided that essentially, the Court of the Canon will not open until there are enough cases on the docket to consider. When enough builds up and I feel like examining it, then I'll do that. I thought about adding a contender flag to games to help me remember, but then I figured if I don't remember, there's my answer, isn't it?

And of course, it's my list, my rules, and I can change or break them whenever. So if something really knocks my socks off and I want to promote it immediately. I can do that. As a certain pirate once said, they're more like guidelines.

So Belmont's Curse is a contender and it'll get its day in court. Probably. But as of now, it's a fantastic game, well loved, and an easy recommendation from me.

Chapter five: COMPLETE!

2026-11-02T00:00:00.000Z

Final Fantasy Resonance

Max power Mechabo!

So I did the Rain and Lasswell duel which was, off the top of my head, the best scene in the entire game. Although it was a little weird. They have this Goku/Vegeta thing going on where they each want to push each other to the edge, but they're somewhat afraid of the consequences of what would happen if Lasswell wins? It has this exchange that was really funny.

Rain: You're going easy on me Lasswell! Why would you do this?
Lasswell: I'm afraid of what it would do to you if I beat you!
Rain: Do you think so little of me? If you beat me I'd be happy for you and I'd train until I beat you. Our friendship can withstand this.
Lasswell: Okay, here goes!
Lasswell handily defeats Rain.
Rain: Oh no he beat me! Not like this Lasswell, everything is ruined!
Lasswell: Oh no I beat him, everything is ruined! Why did I fly too close to the sun? All I ever wanted was to be assistant to the regional manager! I'm not regional manager material!
Rain: Why Lasswell? How could you have done this to me? To us? Our friendship cannot withstand this!
Rain spaces out thinking about his glowing inner light
Rain: Oops actually I do have more power, let's go again!
Lasswell: Okay!
Rain beats Lasswell
Both: Hooray! The proper balance is restored!

There is high drama here but they're both being a little ridiculous. Lasswell's motivations also seem a bit unevenly characterized. There were times when I thought he might flip out of jealousy, a more true Vegeta character who burns with a secret hatred of someone who gains something so effortlessly that they struggled with. His inner Salieri. On the other hand, he was so loyal and good the rest of the time it felt hard to believe he could ever be torn about his adoptive brother.

I did call the Raegan double twist too, the voice was a giveaway.

Wrapped up some additional side quests, we have a fully powered Mechabo! Also did Jake's personal quest and the follow up. I feel like his brother definitely loves Amelia.

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort

Played some with Lily again today. We tried volleyball and I didn't like that much at all. The timing did not feel intuitive. Both tennis games are fine, table tennis is maybe a little better. Bowling and archery are both great, although I did not like 100 pin bowling at all. It's annoying that there's no option for simultaneous play on it. It overall just feels very gimmicky and there's less ability to recover on a second throw.

Reflections on my relationship with game difficulty

2026-11-01T00:00:00.000Z

Final Fantasy Resonance

I don't need no staggers to beat this zombie.

Went through the shrine dungeon some and then had about 10-15 minutes wiped out by a gamenative crash on the Thor. That's the first time that's happened, it's been pretty rock solid, but it was annoying. Got back into it and got to the next save point quickly, I was at least helped by knowing where the missable items were so I was able to minimize backtracking.

Fought some tonberries, that's always a bit of a frightening moment when you encounter them in a Final Fantasy. We got to the end of this shrine and we got a "your crystal is in another shrine" moment. This has to be the gaming equivalent of "it was all a dream."

A mysterious last minute intervention?!

I have hit what is essentially the final form here on some of these characters. Rain and Lasswell are monsters, multiattacking so hard. I am actually really liking this second shadow shrine, which is essentially a boss rush mode. This is something where I do kind of wish that I actually kept the difficulty higher because I'm able to just brute force a lot of these bosses and they're probably more interesting puzzles and challenges if you can't.

The whole gang after slaying a series of bosses.

This is something I always have trouble understanding about myself and is likely worth some additional self examination. Not that it's wrong, just to understand why. I could make this game harder and it would be more rewarding if I did, at least in certain aspects. But I don't really want to. Part of me doesn't want to just get bogged down and keep progressing. I think it might be some element of getting used to that pace and then feeling like I'm running behind.

I think there's another frictional piece to it. So one, I don't want to have the difficulty increase on random mobs. That seems much too grindy for me. But I also don't want to have to spend more time in the menus swapping my stuff around, my visions, my party members. If the game allowed you to switch visions or tag in party members mid match, I think I'd be much more amenable to that. But having to quit, reload the save, then make your adjustments is quite annoying. Well, and there's some annoyance in having to rearrange everyone's loadout for one fight, then set it all back afterwards. So they could help me out and let me save a default loadout to restore back to. I suppose I could avoid that by just using a guide to know what I'm supposed to have for a load out in advance but I don't feel I should have to do that.

Fire Emblem: Binding Blade

They got me. Had to restart the map, got a little overextended. Also I feel like growths are either terrible in this game or I'm very unlucky. Or it's confirmation bias. This Ostia map is pretty interesting, there's a lot of houses to check. I did clear it the next try, although I missed out on some chests. Didn't feel like starting over to bring the thief.

This post isn't Halloween themed!

2026-10-31T00:00:00.000Z

Final Fantasy Resonance

This game has some good looking scenes.

We're back at it, making it to the final(?) island. Or are they continents? Anywho, immediately upon getting there, I immediately abandoned the main plot to do a bunch of side quests. The side quests are mostly pretty sweet, especially the party ones. I was a little surprised the follower quests don't have any combat, but that's made them a bit of a nice diversion.

Like the ears didn't tip that.

I do wonder where they're going with this elf stuff. It's a curious amount of time to spend on something that appears to have no plot relevance so far.

We've progressed to the doorstep of the final shrine and the plot beats just keep coming. I'm really liking it now. I'm going to guess, due to the flower in her hair, that non-Archwitch Fina is [spoiler]

Play that funky song!

I'm interested to see how much game is left since I believe this isn't the full Brave Exvius story. Being somewhat genre savvy, I imagine some sort of final twist will happen at the end of this dungeon which will set up The Final Showdown and a broad expanse to finish up a bunch of side content before doing that final dungeon.

A smattering of games

2026-10-30T00:00:00.000Z

Burnout 3: Takedown

I turned on widescreen and in the menus this feels stretched but in races it seems...fine? I'm not sure, but it does seem easier to read wider. The rubberbanding in this game feels pretty unfair sometimes, very one sided. The CPU is always right on your ass but then you'll be an insane amount of seconds behind...and growing. It's especially tough on the eliminator races where there just aren't other opponents to hit to get the boost to get back into it. The tension is good, it pushes you to take those risks, but it can feel a little all or nothing.

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort

Played some of this with Lillian this afternoon as she had an early dismissal. Did a smattering of sports/events, we tried the archery variant where everyone hits the same target, that was pretty fun. You have to determine how much you want to risk a good shot and maybe giving your opponent points, or just playing it safe.

Also tried the three point basketball challenge and had a buzzer beating winner which was fun. I don't totally get table tennis, I don't understand what translates into a good hit or where it goes, and regular tennis seems like it's on a very weird delay. We also did bowling which is classic and I set a new personal high.

The jump rope warm up is not joking around either.

Fire Emblem: Binding Blade

I like Shanna but I am a sucker for Pegasus Knights

A couple more chapters beaten! Starting with five I split a group to the north path and then sent the bulk of my forces west towards the gate the townsfolk offered to open. Going the way of the gate might actually be the hard way, it was a lot of stuff to deal with at once and I thought I might have to restart several times but we white knuckled our way through. (I am the kind of Fire Emblem player who likes permadeath for the challenge but cannot have anyone die.)

Your plan can't be that flawless if I stabbed my way through it.

Then, on to chapter 6. The start of chapter 6 does bring back the unit selection screen but now I have so many units and not many stand out favorites. This chapter also had unrelenting waves of enemies, some of which surprised me as I opened some doors! I got to recruit a new character but she was a prisoner which meant she didn't come with a weapon which is...logical but annoying since she was then just useless.

I'm really interested to see where this goes and whatever other references I'll get due to Blazing Blade. I got real excited for my first unit from Sacae. Will I get to see Lyn? I got to see Eliwood and Hector so I feel like odds must be pretty good.

Aurora Watch

Another thing I've tinkered with a bunch lately is images! I wanted to start documenting my playtime with screenshots for a few reasons. I think it's fun and is a nice way to kind of remember what I was doing. I think it helps break up the text some so I'm not just writing tomes and tomes of things. And it's just more colorful!

The first version was one where it just spanned the entire text column, which wasn't great because that felt like too hard a stop for me. I don't want the image to just completely break up the flow of the reading (sometimes that can be a good tool, it's not what I want to be the default).

The next one I tried looked the best by far, it was a more magazine style layout where it half indented the text which flowed around it. I really, really liked how this looked but it was so annoying to format. The text would wrap weird and I would spend a bunch of time trying to move the pictures around, modify my sentences and paragraphs to hit length targets for the pictures. That was work that is maybe viable for one off essay work, but is annoying to have to consider for dailies which are supposed to be easy and mostly stream of thought. I do some light editing and organization of thought before they go out but that's about it.

So this is my middle ground, the right side gutter for images. If anyone reads this and has feedback please let me know! Also, if anyone has feedback on where they'd prefer an Aurora Watch to be! I put a few at the top, but then I considered any reader might want to know more about the games first, so now it's at the end.

A Spookytime Castlevanias Post Mortem

2026-10-30T00:00:00.000Z

A real theme I've been noting since I started reflecting on games more regularly is just the question of ambition and scope. How do you decide what to change, what are your sacred cows of the series and what can you play with? What is too much at once? This is overdue and as such my memory has degraded a little bit, but I wanted to consolidate some thoughts about the DS Castlevanias I played earlier this year through this lens.

I found Dawn of Sorrow pretty forgettable. It runs back a winning concept in Soma and the souls system but ultimately doesn't do much to add to that. The seals thing is so derided that there's a fan patch to remove it. The plot definitely cannot hold up to Aria of Sorrow, and that's saying something: these plots are pretty thin to start. Soma was a new and interesting character in Aria, the revelation that he was the new heir to Dracula's power was a twist. Aria also dropped some real lore on how all of this works, with Dracula's relationship to Chaos and why he keeps coming back.

Dawn of Sorrow was not a glow up for Soma.

Order of Ecclesia is the opposite. Where Dawn of Sorrow plays it pretty conservatively, Order takes some risks. It deviates from the established post Symphony of the Night structure by bringing back the old linear levels of the original games and also radically changes the way the equipment and power gaining work via the glyphs system.

The glyphs are a great idea and an interesting evolution on Soma's souls mechanic. You commonly gain them from enemies and you can absorb their power and make them your own. The glyphs each have typing, (slashing, bludgeoning, fire, lightning, etc) and certain enemies are weak to certain flavors. This encourages you to think about each fight and what you need to give yourself an advantage. I felt encouraged to switch to bludgeoning weapons even just to take down skeleton trash mobs.

The glyphs are unfortunately let down by the controls. You can assign your primary attack glyphs to X and Y and you can even double up on the same glyph to double your dps by spamming the buttons alternatingly. In theory, this is an interesting trade off. Do you use the same weapons to make it easier to increase your damage since both weapons operate the same way, or do you try to get some versatility and halve your output?

This doesn't work out that way though. I nearly always doubled up because the dps loss felt big, but also it was just mentally easier to do that. I would have preferred it if they had balanced the game around not being able to double up glyphs and just having you equip two different options. This would have also removed the slightly awkward playstyle of having to rapidly alternate the buttons.

Another control issue is that you can swap between three profiles pretty quickly but I kind of always forgot exactly what was on which. Three profiles wasn't enough to just set and forget them, I had to keep changing them up. I can imagine a world where this game has a radial menu on an analog stick where you can assign a helpful icon to each of six positions. You absolutely want to use the profiles since returning to the menu every time to swap out a piercing weapon for this given monster would be a pain, but as is it feels like half a quality of life improvement.

Shanoa is just cool.

The linear levels however did not pay off for me, I found them to be kind of a slog. But nothing ventured nothing gained and overall I can respect OoE for taking chances. And Shanoa is a cool character, her design is great and the concept of a different Dracula management group is a nice shakeup from the familial Belmonts and Alucards who normally handle this.

The DS Castlevanias are both games that are fine. I wouldn't tell anyone to go out of their way to play them but if you're a fan of the genre they're worth trying out. But what do they tell us about what you can change?

These are my favorite questions, the ones without hard answers. But these games both feel like Castlevania games, so we know they didn't miss any sacred cows. They have spooky gothic settings where you kill Dracula and the mechanics feature backtracking and power gaining. Messing with the shape of some of the equipment mechanics doesn't change that soul, even if they have mixed results. Order comes closest to messing with the cows with the linear levels, but they're mostly early and get out of the way, it's not enough to ruin what I like about the series. They're mostly a bit of spice here or there that I don't like, but they don't spoil the dish.

You might be wondering where Belmont's Curse fits into all of this, and well, it doesn't fit into this essay but it has a lot to do with this conversation.

There's no rule that says a jellyfish can't do archery.

2026-10-29T00:00:00.000Z

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort

Yes, that is I, Dad Parent Mike the Jellyfishman. Also: Nice.

Did some more of this today, taking on the island champ series in archery and table tennis. Archery definitely loses some of its zen like quality when you're playing against someone. It obviously becomes much less about perfecting yourself and doing the best you can. Although, I suppose it still is and maybe that says something about how I view competition. I got to rank 10 in archery, the last one was tight and the first time I ever lost a set. I fared much better in table tennis, getting a rank jump to 13 after sweeping the first two or three opponents. I'm not sure which.

This game is a nice little break to stand up and get active and I want to try and do it more regularly in little bursts for that reason. It is relaxing. Also you get 1000 coins to get stuff from the store the first time you play a game every day and I got this cool jellyfish head.

Final Fantasy Resonance

Sakura just doin' some Ultima stuff.

Some interesting lore drops up in Archwitch Fina's psyche. The plot is definitely getting interesting here, a little less boilerplate in chapter five. I done called it regarding [spoiler]. It is a dick move to make me fight Archwitch Fina who puts a pile of status effects on me without Fina, the character who clears my status effects.

I hope it works out for you girl.

I found the ~~final~~ penultimate mechabo side quest and the little stealth cats in the quest area suck. That instakill move plus that high dodge? Woof. But, I've been farming a bunch of metal cactuar while I search for the side quest mob which is great.

Goodbye my friend.

Also, Victoria's enhanced MRP gain is broken. I gained a LOT of levels and my characters are really maxing out some visions which is making the swaps a bit annoying/overwhelming again.

I do feel bad for Archwitch Fina. Just finished her personal quest, how bad must it be for the dude you're into to not only be into some other girl but she's just alternate you? Woof. It's also mildly annoying that you have to call her Archwitch Fina. Just give her a different name.

Also finished Gilgamesh's actual final quest. He was a nice bit of comic relief and always an interesting fight. Safe travels.

Resonance's Revenge

2026-10-28T00:00:00.000Z

Final Fantasy Resonance

Alright, had a couple tough fights where I had to either change a vision or alter the party order (because someone kept snorting them away). Nice to have a couple fun challenges. I've really considered upping the difficulty because the game feels a little too easy to force me to really interact with the systems, but I'm afraid it'll just make it feel grindier and more annoying. Optional T bosses (Titan and Typhon) down though. I also found where Sephiroth is and got promptly annihilated by him.

This did not go well, as you can see.

It's absolute nonsense that I have to spend the hundred gil to rest on my own ship! Hey person running the inn, how about you let me sleep for free or I toss you overboard? This, like the tents, is something that just doesn't need to cost money at all and it's absolutely not a problem that it does, it just feels...insulting.

In other minor bugaboos, this game has also trained me to not really bother buying the upgraded weapons and armor at shops. Too many times I've done that just to immediately find either that exact item or a better one for free in a random chest or something.

Mysidia! (It's only a model)

I found Mysidia and it's the coolest (haha) place so far. I also got Sakura and let me just say, I really dislike the "looks like a child but is actually super old" trope that seems essentially obligatory in so many JRPGs. While on Mysidia, I gathered a bunch more visions, Lighting, Vaan, Victoria. Victoria's quest was amusing and I do like her. Love her design.

It's so crazy how many visions there actually are in this game, it's such a love letter to this whole gigantic series. It makes me want to play more of them, although I've very recently bounced off a bunch of the old ones. The airship also allowed me to find a bunch of optional bosses and there are a BUNCH. And the level requirements are quite high.

Yet another vision or side character I'd rather recruit.

Another crystal destroyed on our watch. We're doing a real bad job at crystal saving. Archwitch Fina is back and fortunately I was already leveling Fina on Y'shtola, so she can still heal. I do wish this game made it easier to swap party members in and out but there's very little reason to and I feel like I'm rocking the best crew (Rain, Lasswell, Nichol, Fina). The vision system definitely helps mitigate that thing I dislike in JRPGs where they take away your characters when you need them since the vision can help someone else fill in that job.

Burnout 3: Takedown

Saw a RetroGameCorps video on a new Xbox emulator and wanted to figure out something to test on it and it was this. This game immediately gave me so much nostalgia. The soundtrack, the destroying of things. It's a little hard to see things on the Thor screen which is a bummer, but man this is such a fun arcade racer to dip in, play a couple races in, and get out.

Introducing: the Tabletop Canon

2026-10-28T00:00:00.000Z

Since expanding the site for more mediums, those mediums will all each get their own canons! My rubric is essentially similar to the one for video games and here's a post that celebrates the initial roster of the canon.

Concordia

Concordia is a monument to simplistic but deep design and it has so much freshness just from new maps. It's a game that, to me, represents what this hobby is at the sweetest spot. Easy to learn, hard to master, lots of depth. I love the card cycling and the scoring methods and the tension of when to pull your hand back.

Fromage

For a while this was Tzolk'in, which is still an all timer, but I think Fromage gets you almost all of the same temporal thinkiness but with the killer bonus of being more streamlined and allowing for simultaneous turns. It plays faster which means it's so much easier to get a good game in. I also appreciate a non-traditional theme (although Tzolk'in is still unique) and that it's a little less intimidating for new players.

Rokoko

Speaking of non-traditional themes, Rokoko is another banger. A fancy dress making game is so fun, and this has what feels like an early version of the worker placement/deckbuilding in Lost Ruins of Arnak and Dune: Imperium. It can be surprisingly vicious as you fight for locations in the palace and different materials and patterns.

Android: Netrunner

The greatest competitive constructed deckuilding card game of all time, bar none. I love the asymmetrical play which gives you two different puzzles to consider. The tension in the runs is so delightful from both sides. As a corp you're desperately trying to keep your cool and not reveal anything to the runner, and as the runner you're sweating, hoping you have what it takes to get in and it's not a trap. I also love how the IDs offer such a varied deck building hook within the factions.

Forest Shuffle

My current favorite tableau card game. A nice, naturalist theme and fun combos. It plays quickly and I always love multi use cards and the tension that comes when in order to play the cards you have to spend the others in your hand. It forces tough choices but also interacts with how you acquire cards. Your opponents can draw from the discard which can really limit the cards you're willing to discard. No, I don't need this, but I'll be giving it to my opponent. With good timing, you can wait until the clearing is full and the discard is...super discarded, but it can be painful to wait.

Hot Streak

This is, right now, the best party game. It sets up quick and has a bright, fun presentation. It's so easy for everyone to enjoy and is always a delight. It gives players the right amount of information to feel like you've got the inside scoop but you can always be surprised by the deck not panning out.

Heat: Pedal to the Metal

A gateway game that fits the theme and also scales to be something more interesting if you're looking for depth. For new players it's easy to understand and feel like you're in a real race, and for the more experienced it offers the additional modes and the championship series for extra challenge and customization of your car. The car automa is also well tuned and simple enough to run so even at low player counts you benefit from additional cars to block and draft off of.

Arkham Horror LCG

Arkham LCG is a little TTRPG in constructed deck building form. You get that feeling of dungeon crawling, building and optimizing your character over a campaign. The xp mechanic is brilliant and forces you to choose between your greed and safety. Pulling the chaos tokens out of the bag instead of dice as your randomizer is another tension builder and also allows for fun ways for characters to interact with the variance. It's a fun co-op game that lets you agonize and debate the best moves with your partner but is also excellent as a solo experience.

River Valley Glassworks

My choice for lightweight abstract gateway game right now. It's fun and cute, plays quick and is easy to learn. The scoring is what makes this good, having to go wide AND tall ensures balance in your approach and gives those high highs and occasional low lows.

Arboretum

I love a small box card game that plays amazing at two players and is kind of mean. Your Lost Cities, Battle Lines, etc. Arboretum wins because it looks so good and I love how the spatial element of laying your trees out can make you feel so clever. A huge bonus is that you can play up to four with it, and it's still great that way, and when you play with fewer players, you can pick what trees you want in the deck. Does that matter mechanically? No, but the trees look different and you can have a fun chat about the color palette you want for your next game with your partner.

Daggerheart

Daggerheart is the post-OGL "D&D killer" that I've spent the most time on and it's a really good system. I'm pretty confident I would play it over D&D 90% of the time if given the choice because it's simpler, easier to learn, and is a bit more flexible. I have problems with it, no system is perfect, but it moves in the right direction for how I'd like to play which is decidedly less crunchy. The standout part of Daggerheart is the dice system. I'm not sure I've seen a dice system that allows for a wide range of outcomes (but not too wide, looking at you FFG Star Wars) and is so simple.

So there's the canon. I do expect a bit less turnover on these since board gaming is a hobby that requires more people so it's harder to get a lot of plays on games since I can't just crank them out solo. Having said that, there's a good blend of old and new here and I'm always looking forward to more games.

Resonance resonates with me

2026-10-27T00:00:00.000Z

Final Fantasy Resonance

Alright, I got a good grip of visions and I even got the next level of Magicite to be able to get some of them to level TWO. I made it through the rebel base and cleaned up most of the stuff to the weapons factory.

Bahamut, not messing around

I don't like fights that you're supposed to lose/cannot win. I think they're a waste of time. Just make it a cutscene. Or prevent me from wasting resources at the very least. I wish there was a way to check what the buff icons meant too. A lot of times I'm not certain what Formation Nichol has used. They also shouldn't make you have tents. Tent cost is a rounding error rapidly, it's just pointless.

Did a cool thing with Rain where I used the ability to take all hits for all allies and then he countered the boss four times. The balance of this game does seem a little weird. Like I can't imagine not using Fina and Lasswell for the most part, and Rain is the primary protagonist so it seems like he has to be in too.

Honestly? Ignis isn't a bad dude.

Ignis is at least a pretty cool dude. I am interested in seeing where Lazarov and the Sworn Six's goals diverged. Also the Prince Shera and his dad thing seemed pretty predictable. I don't know why we're raising the rebel flag at the top of the castle though. The imperial succession is intact, I assume they're not changing everything about Zoldaad.

Lazarov, on the other hand, sucks.

The resolution with Lid and Evan is really good and also cements Jake as basically the best. Lazarov remains a huge dick.

Spent a bunch of time afterwards cleaning up a bunch of side questies, getting Leviathan and Ifrit, the latter of whom was the first real challenging fight I had. He beat me twice before I got him, he hits really hard. I think I did them out of order as I did the sidequests before getting the airship, which was good. Leviathan was very helpful in helping beat Ifrit.

The most challenging fight so far.

Speaking of, the airship is pretty cool! Good digs. Extra friends. Oh, speaking of extra friends, my sidequesting got me Aileen, Wilhelm, and Camille. I also finished off the first tier of the colosseum and got the hammer, so I can get Titan soon. Overall, the sidequesting has been a nice little break from the main quest, I have one more to wrap up with Lid, and then I'll be ready to head on to Mysidia.

Stylish AND spacious.

Earlier I said I found it a bit overwhelming but now I am enjoying the visions system a lot. I just mushed a bunch of guides together and took a bit of an average of the consensus and have been following that to lower the choice paralysis. No, you know what? I'm enjoying this whole game a lot. It's very charming and laid back and wonder what the ceiling of that is. Does something have to be revolutionary to get an A grade? Or does execution just get you there?

You Can See Everything

Upon further reflection and research, I think she's a big fat phony. Obviously she agreed to this for the purpose of putting herself in a better light and trying to absolve herself. When you also look at the evidence the jurors heard in the trial, I think it's very clear that she is, indeed, a liar with intent to mislead. She admitted to doctoring testing reports to add the logos of Pfizer and other companies to make it look like they had evaluated it.

That's lying Mrs. "I've never told a lie in my life."

The movie is still really good, it remains a fascinating window into a woman and how she could be so intense and captivating and make you believe. But now I'm a little afraid this is going to be what she needs to get a bunch of naive people to believe her and she'll launch a second act as a MAHA grifter. "The traditional medicine establishment took me down, they don't want you to know that the oil of snakes is all you need to cure what ails you! I'm a nice neurodivergent lady who was manipulated by strong bad men." If that occurs, it'll be a little hard for me to separate how good the movie from giving her a lifeline.

Fire Emblem: Binding Blade

I booted this up for the first in a bit and it's still fun. Was just feeling a little burnt out on Lazarus. I'm up to Chapter 5 and wondering if I'll ever get to select my units and load out before maps or if that technology was only added in Blazing Blade. It still geeks me out every time to see the old versions of the units I loved so much in Blazing Blade, and also Roy is just this mini celebrity from Smash.

Pirate Parlaying Prevents Problems

2026-10-26T00:00:00.000Z

Aurora Watch

You might have noticed some rapid font changes on the site and that's because I've been trying to fix some things. One thing they never tell you about pixel fonts is how annoying they are! Pixel fonts have to scale in whole numbers to look crisp and not blurry (so you have to go from 1x to 2x in size) and for a while I was hacking it with a 16.5 px font but I got irritated at how often that looked blurry.

So the answer has been to try some fonts out and get hacky with it a bit. This size is too small, this size is too big, what if we make the small one bold? It's very annoying because I'm very picky with both the blurriness and the site trying to look cohesive and not a mishmash of fonts.

If you're thinking about designing a website, maybe don't do pixels. It's a little annoying!

Final Fantasy Resonance

This was not a phrase I expected to hear.

Water Shrine done. Why do all games with a water dungeon/temple/shrine/whatever have to have some sort of water puzzle/mechanic? Is it just mandatory? This was quite linear and not a pain in the butt.

Wait why can't I recruit Mercedes? What a waste of art assets.

Although one thing that IS a pain in the butt is how JRPGs are so linear but offer forking paths for the explicit purpose of hiding something there. So then you have to check each and every nook in case there's a cool thing to find there and sometimes there isn't. And they definitely get you with some situations where you're not sure which fork to go down and you get the primary path and then you have to backtrack to the secrets path and then go down the primary path. They're not even clever it's just "here's a chest at the end of this path with a dead end."

Uhhhhhh...

Some interesting plot drops here. If I had to guess it seems like this whole dual personality thing is also part of the Sworn Six, and it's possible that Fina, in her Archwitch persona, is/was one of them but who broke off. What's a little confusing here is that it seemed like The First Cid was a bad dude, or maybe a good dude who was doing bad things for reasons but Alluvion was definitely pretty bad, then snapped out of it and had to come to terms with it. Cid never seemed the same. He felt maybe more like a Felix to steal a reference from Golden Sun. I have some theories about the Sworn Six, one of them being [spoiler].

I think the odds of Fina being some kind of trickster bad guy who would betray the protagonists went way down here. Also quite touching with, uh, I want to say El? I did think he was going to save the crystal for a bit. Also a real gut punch with Arsha when we got back. I mean I expected that but still dang.

Well I wonder where we'll be going.

We pushed ahead into early chapter 4 and got to the Imperial Capital but had some adventures along the way. Jake is exactly the kind of rakish Han Solo adjacent scoundrel that just makes me smile. I look forward to seeing more of him soon.

Alright Lid, that's pretty cool.

After leaping off the train I smartly backtracked instantly because that's where they'd hide something and indeed, a Vision, Shantotto. I have no idea who that is. Speaking of Visions, Fina was the first one to max one out, Leah. It's cool that it gives you the ability to wholesale equip all their stuff once you do so, saving on slots.

Capital seems like a bleak place, amusing how the weapons and armor are not only high priced but they put them in yellow as if to say "No, don't buy these. You'll be angry later."

Introducing: MOVIES

2026-10-25T00:00:00.000Z

Aurora Watch

Alright, I always intended to have the optionality for movies and other media and it took me some time to figure out a site layout for it that I liked. You'll see me start to fill out those shelves over the next while and I'm going to work on canons for the other media.

I still expect games to be first and foremost, and I might not have the energy to analyze every type of media I consume, but we'll see. It can be a "as I have something to talk about" option.

You Can See Everything

And boy, do I have something to talk about. This movie was so fascinating. I instantly kind of got the message of this movie. Holmes is so...captivating and somehow charming in her odd intensity and quirks. You feel compelled to believe her, but then there's so much evidence against her. It seems plausible that she could have been in the dark about some things, but not everything.

But then you see how she acts and her blind faith in her new terrible husband and you think "yeah, maybe this is what happened." She's willing to trust this guy (who absolutely sucks) with everything. No second guessing, no checks. Nothing. So maybe she's just naive and much too trusting. And taken advantage of.

Then I start to consider how maybe that's me being sexist. Oh, this poor innocent white woman couldn't be the mastermind, she was taken advantage of by mean men. But maybe the other view, that she's a wicked siren who manipulated all these powerful men and wrapped them around her finger is the other sexist extreme!

The whole thing about getting paid for the doc is just more fuel for this ambiguity. Does she actually not care about the money? Or is she just manipulating, pulling the strings, and she knows this dude is exactly the kind of patsy, a fall guy, who could conceivably be seen as taking advantage of a woman who loves too much, too quickly.

We'll likely never know the answer. That's what makes her such a compelling figure. You can see what you want in her and you can be right, the evidence exists to support any take you'd like. Whichever the answer actually is it's very clear that something is broken inside her.

If she's a liar, she's the best to do it. She's exceeds George Costanza levels, I think even he would have had shame at some point. He would have broken down and given up. If she has a mask, it never slips. I think lesser liars would have slipped up in their need to be perceived as masters of their domain, competent, and smart. I'm not sure a liar that pursues what she attained would be okay with being seen as not understanding Who's On First.

And if she's not a liar, she's just...too inherently trusting and something prevents her from just seeing through these people or understanding how she comes off or the ambiguity of what she says.

I think I'll probably have more to say about it. It seems like the kind of thing I'll continue to chew on, which I think is the sign of a pretty good movie.

Final Fantasy Resonance

Why aren't protagonists more genre savvy? "We must get past the defenses of the water shrine before the bad guys do so we can protect the water shrine." C'mon guys.

Alluvion is not a nice lady.

Archwitch Fina is a certified badass, although I'm not sure how pure her intentions are? I assume she's good but she definitely goes about it in, at best, an anti-hero way. I could have seen the possibility that the Sworn Six are good, but Alluvion seems like she sucks. I also miss regular Fina's skill set.

Pokémon Lazarus

Got myself a metal coat for Goomy after spending an embarrassing amount of time figuring out the Dexnav. Gotta press A to creep up. So I caught the Dwebble with the red shard and was able to trade it for the coat.

The current crew.

I keep swapping people in and out. Just feeling out what I need but also want. I do feel like I maybe got rid of people to put status on things to help with capturing.

Some QOL/minor complaints: I wish Piraeus would let me skip the boat scene and just arrive at my destination. Also, I swear my opponents hit every time with any possible status. It's insane. I thought I had to evolve Goomy and Sneasel while holding the items but you use the items. So I wasted that Goomy. I got a new Goomy and fixed it.

Aquapolis Adventures

2026-10-24T00:00:00.000Z

Final Fantasy Resonance

Disappointed I didn't have to fight this esper.

This game rocks. While it doesn't do anything particularly new or groundbreaking, I love how it looks, the music is great, and it's a very chill and comfy experience. I really like it a lot so far. We are truly spoiled for great games right now. I think this game is going to fly real under the radar and that's a bummer because I would really like more.

Took down a bunch of bosses, some optional, got a new esper, and beat a little girl at jump roping. The bosses have a recommended level but I think that number is too conservative. They were never really too big a challenge and I usually came in at around or a level under that recommendation. I never felt like I needed to pick my visions based on attacking their weaknesses. We downed a water dragon, a rukh, and a shoggoth.

Got Nichol on the team and I'm really interested to try him out further. Lid was an interesting character but in combat she just felt okay. I think Nichol's support leanings will make him super useful in any fight.

Pokémon Lazarus

Used some of the in game cheats to give myself a pile of money and rare candies. I wanted to stop having to return to the Pokemon center constantly and I wanted to change my party around and it was annoying to have to level them up from scratch. I appreciate that the romhack maker recognized that I might want to not deal with that.

The new addition was a Sneasel, the non Johto one with fighting poison. I don't remember the region.

Off we go, into the wild blue yonder!

2026-10-23T00:00:00.000Z

Final Fantasy Resonance

Apparently it's pronounced "Ra-MOO" which is less cool than this deserves.

We beat up a Ramuh today, huzzah! Added him to the team. The fight was tough but not too bad.

I'm not totally sure on what my strategy with the visions should be, especially now that I have more than enough for the party. Early on I just kind of round robin'd it so everyone would max out everyone because well, what else were they going to do? But now it feels like I have to consider a build and such.

Cloud looks so good in this style.

Did a bunch more fights and worked on some side questing before trekking on to the Wind Shrine. Once there, we defeated Aether, whose post fight reveal was spoiled seconds before the fight started for those genre savvy enough to pick it up. I went about the island and wrapped up some stuff, grabbing the Onion Knight vision before we left on the airship. That officially ended chapter 2, Eternal Blue.

She said the name of the chapter!

Plot feels like it's picking up a bit. Did some exploring of the next zone before going to bed, found a lead on my next esper. Was a bit underleveled coming into this zone, the trash mobs took a dramatic step up after being pretty easy on the prior area. Although maybe that was my fault, I kept escaping from fights to level up that Chocobo Kick power.

The characters are overall pretty charming if standard. I'm really interested to see how Fina evolves back into that Archwitch. I am enjoying these Mechabo upgrades and the NPC who does them. He seems suitably insane.

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort

I did look into archery and decided that was too expensive for me. It's like $2k a year at this place local to me. That's so crazy. It's still very fun in this game though so I guess that's how I'll experience it.

Played three holes of golf and it was also very fun. I have almost no temptation to do that in real life because it sounds like a real pain in the ass. You take a bad shot now you gotta walk over and find that sucker. I bet it's real rewarding when it goes well though.

My sugarboo, I'm resonating.

2026-10-22T00:00:00.000Z

Final Fantasy Resonance

This game looks so good.

Alright, this is out now and like the demo, it's still fun! I put about another hour into it after the Demo, I do think it could have used a "last time on Dragonball Z" reminder of where we were at and what we were doing, but it's fine. I'll get there.

Robocobos go!

I got a new character, Lid, and she seems totally fine. I like her robo chocobo. Robocobo.

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort

Played this with Lily a bit. It's a good time! Boxing is chaos and I don't quite understand it. She won the first bout against me with the physical version of button mashing. Basketball is kind of weird but it does make you want to go "not in my house."

I may have given my daughter the too small.

I played some table tennis, I don't one hundred percent understand what differentiates it from regular tennis? I guess maybe it's a little faster. Also tried jetskiing, it's just okay, skateboarding was a bit more interesting.

Archery was kind of the stand out there. Really relaxing, kind of zen. I always liked archery when I did Boy Scouts. Maybe I should take up archery.

Kiss From a Rose (Belmont)

2026-10-21T00:00:00.000Z

EA shuttered BioWare and while the studio has been effectively dead for a while, it's still shocking to see them officially throw in the towel on what has been an amazingly influential studio. BioWare games (along with Blizzard) really defined a lot of my growing up, if you check the game shelf Mass Effect, the original two Baldur's Gates, and KOTOR all rate highly for me still.

If there's a silver lining, it's that in a few years we'll get a bunch of games "from the makers of Mass Effect" in new studios. Best of luck to everyone out of a job though, I know exactly what that's like.

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse

Spooky.

I finished 100%ing Notre Dame! Since the game is kind about letting you finish 100%ing it after you beat it I decided to finish it. I'll see how I feel about going for the full clear, but it's nice to just get it off my plate with a clear conscience before Resonance.

This is also something where I'll probably feel better about just idly doing this on the Thor or something. I had expected this to feel like something I'd be able to carry as my second quick and light game but it's been fun enough to occupy my whole attention.

The Dracula fight is challenging, my biggest complaint is that the mid fight cutscene is unskippable. It is appropriately epic though. This is by far and away the best Castlevania in my opinion. It's much more Metroid-like than the others. I'll probably have more decompression thoughts but it's late and I do need to go to bed.

Epic.

Pokémon Lazarus

Meet the Goomster.

Third gym is down! We've made some team adjustments mostly because I got tired of this dumb dragon and got a cute one instead. Goomy is a cool dude and I want to find a metal coat to make it the Hisuian flavor.

The game does feel a little grindy, I keep having to go back to heal and stuff every few fights. That's one of my biggest complaints with Pokemon, I don't think they give you enough stuff to actually feel self sufficient while exploring. A lot of other JRPGs give you free innate healing at the cost of MP, but healing seems so expensive in Pokemon. You really have little recourse but to go back to town, especially with a faint in the early game. That feels so painful with limited mobility on longer treks.

Fortune's Weave is too much steak

2026-10-21T00:00:00.000Z

I wish there was something that tracked a live graph of how much I liked this game as I played measured in millifuns (yes, we're metric on this blog). It would be a real rollercoaster. There's the initial optimism, the "heck yeah we're Fire Embleming" that starts good. Then we arrive at the slow downward "oh no this might not be for me." Then about ten hours or so in I got to "this game is not good and I don't like it," which was the nadir. Afterwards it climbs steadily and there was a moment where I thought "yes, this is the best Fire Emblem, this is my new canon" before I settled into my final thoughts on it.

And yes, my final thoughts. I am pausing this game in the middle of act 3, chapter 2, but I think it's incredibly unlikely that my thoughts will meaningfully change. There's not enough time for it. Sure, it could go up or down a little, but I don't think it could move a whole letter grade. So what are those final thoughts?

This game is only okay.

And that's a weird stance to take for a game I have around 130 hours on. I think about those Steam reviews: "thumbs down, this game is bad, total waste of time. 90 hours played at time of review." But there's some nuance here. Fortune's Weave is so good that it's ultimately its own worst enemy. The highs make the valleys seem so deep, vast, and hard to ignore. It's a victim of its own ambition and hubris, it tells Icarus "hold my beer." But let's start with the highs before we dig into it because there are very high highs.

The best.

Leda's story is really unique for Fire Emblem and her cast is one of the best in any game. She's also by far the most interesting unit that has ever existed in Fire Emblem. She has so many options in combat where she can be so impactful in different ways: she's a capable fighter on her own, being able to use swords and having balanced offensive stats and high speed that make her a threat with a regular or Levin sword. She also has bow access, letting her take out fliers. She can dance to let another unit go again, or she can sing and provide powerful buffs to the whole squad. She's wonderful.

The map design for main story maps is very good and creative, especially towards the end of act 1, the paralogues, and act 2. A lot of these were interesting puzzles and act 2 became challenging enough to really make me try and think about it. Sand is also just a runaway improvement over Divine Pulse. It gives you a lot of other options for how to use the ability and can let you feel smart and proactive instead of just being a redo button.

New to Fortune's Weave?

Fortune's Weave follows the path of four main characters, Flame Lords, who compete in the Heroic Games, a tournament where the winner is granted a wish by the Divine Emperor. Our four lords are:

Cai, an idealistic young boy fighting for his family's future
Theodora, a queen focused on the prosperity and future of her people
Leda, a mysterious woman with a revenge list scrawled in blood
Dietrich, washed up from a foreign country only living for the thrill of the fight.

There's also Eshmel, a mysterious figure created by the player who travels through time to assist the Flame Lords, becoming the main character in the final act.

It has a three acts, the first takes us through each lord's path, the second is a shared story where each lord has some unique moments, and a final act where the lords unite to fight the boss.

The story is told in chapters, each one anchored by a main story battle, with variable amounts of free time between the primary missions. Free time is used to increase the bonds of your characters, train, do additional skirmishes, or delve into dungeons with jrpg style battles.

Divine Sand is a meta power that can be spent to rewind time in combat or gain powerful temporary buffs to hit harder or be more defensive.

The combat mechanics are also a step in the right direction if not yet perfect. I am a weapon triangle lover, but if they're going to stop using the triangle then at least they're carving out niches for each weapon. They also solved the issue in prior games where the best option was to jam everyone into flying classes, more advancement paths feel viable. Durability loss on combat arts only is a good happy medium to make durability matter but not something to stress about.

The actual story is good, if convoluted a bit and weighed down with so many proper nouns it's hard to keep everything straight, but still I craved MORE. I would have loved a little in game dictionary that could pop up during cutscenes so I could remember who the heck this character is and where else in the story I saw them. I wanted more supports, more interactions with these characters.

But as for why this is short of the canon? I just have too many issues with it and so many of them seem self inflicted. They're issues that feel like they were either unfinished for money or deadline reasons, or things that I don't understand how they thought literally anyone would like this. A good litmus test for Fire Emblem mechanics is how does this help me with the core of what the franchise is about: the story of allies forging bonds in the fires of war told through support and tactical battles.

The game is oddly weighted and inconsistent as a whole, it's more several games roughly bolted on to each other. Act 1 is so disjointed and there's so much of it that it makes the game bottom heavy. If they wanted to do this, they should have made the lords and their stories based around parallel play, making it easier to see how everything is interwoven, but that has issues with burying the player in mechanics and making it take 100 hours or more to get to the second act. At least the way it is now a player can critical path one lord and move on.

Dungeons are so thin. The combat is uninteresting and they know that. That's why they put in a skip battle option but there's still so much of them. They feel like someone just saw the critical acclaim of Persona 5 and then decided they needed to copy it and just latched onto Mementos being the thing Fire Emblem doesn't have. But Mementos sucks, it's the worst part of Persona 5! It's just drudgery, but at least Persona's combat is interesting.

The overworld map mechanics are...plentiful. Too much so, and this comes to a head in the third act when it says "hey here's all of them at once and then some more for good measure, try not to have your head explode." They also aren't all equal in time and attention. Leda's mechanic feels tacked on, like they had to do SOMETHING for her because everyone else had one (but this was actually one I liked because I was so burnt out on elaborate overworld mechanics). Dietrich's mechanic invites you to do more generic skirmishes which is not this game's strong suit (1v1 battles on the tactical maps too? Who thought that was interesting?)

Theodora and Cai's unique mechanics are the ones I'd be most interested to see fully fleshed out in a main game where they can be the star of the show, but in this game I mostly forgot about Theodora's battalions (or relegated them to farming duty). Cai's mechanic feels like the mounted units are balanced against that making them worse in the three other campaigns.

That's ultimately the story of Fortune's Weave's new mechanics. When I play Fortune's Weave, I feel like I'm demoing a thousand different things that could be fleshed out into the focus of a whole game and I'm overloaded with systems that aren't quite finished.

It's the same with the stories. So many of these stories are rushed, there isn't proper resolution or time for them to breathe. The stories are forced to fit into equal boxes because they have to be paced and given an equal amount of content to the other three flame lords but they don't all need the same things. I would kill (ironically) for a Leda solo game that would give the proper time to depict her descent and redemption and have more space to explore the ramifications on her friends.

Another story issue that grinds my gears: there are plot critical cutscenes that are totally missable! Baozi is a character introduced in the main thrust of Dietrich's story and then his resolution is done entirely by missable cutscenes! From my perspective, until I saw it on youtube, it was a real "Poochy died on the way to his home planet" except I didn't even get that resolution! He's just never in any more scenes after a certain point.

This cutscene used in promotional material is plot relevant and totally missable!

The game later feels like Theodora is meant to be the main character, act 2 is the Theodora show. Everyone else is relegated to being a side character, commenting in little scenes that you can tell are meant to be swapped out for other characters without actually interfering with the narrative. They're like ghosts who can see but are unable to interact with the physical world. It makes me wonder why we even bothered pretending the other characters are on the same level as the actual ruler of a nation, surely a game that tried to make these characters equal participants could have made them more vital to the story.

Act 2 is closer to how I would like Fire Emblem to be, it reduces the time between the meat of these games, the story missions, but it's too threadbare on the other end. I'm not some kind of GBA era purist who thinks these should just be battles with brief talking head exposition scenes in between. The modern games add real benefits to the formula. Things like meals and gifting, while they could be streamlined, help with an issue in the GBA games: gaining support was annoying! You only earned it when the units physically stood next to each other on the battlefield. A way to have the characters bond out of combat helped further the narrative that these characters were becoming closer, cared about each other, and then also fix the difficulty of unlocking those supports. Win win!

Compare this to say, weapon skill, where now you can train this in the arena (or school in Three Houses) but this was something you automatically gained from just playing the game, you improved skill by battling. This means that games have to be balanced around the fact that you can grind skill outside of battles so they have to reduce the in combat rate. They took something I got for free and made some hoops for me to jump through. There are some benefits to being able to train on the side, in helping characters supplement a weak skill or allowing them to work towards an unconventional class, but that's not really how the game presents the usage of it. It's just keeping up with the Joneses and I wasn't disappointed that it was gone in the second act, it fails the litmus test from earlier.

Then in act 3 Eshmel comes in and takes the reins from the lords, which feels...really unearned. Eshmel pushes everyone to the side (now Theodora knows how it feels) and is this flat, uninteresting character when we just spent time bonding with everyone else. I cared more and was more attached to the other four Flame Lords who don't even get their own paths. I'd much rather get more time with Talimun or Anatolia than have Eshmel.

Leda's face is exactly how I feel about Perfect Bird Time.

Perfect Bird Time is where this should have been fixed but it does nothing to help us understand why the characters would feel so much affinity toward Eshmel. The Eshmel A supports have such a creepy familiarity with Eshmel, as though she's Leda's old friend and confidant catching up after a few years. Leda, Eshmel was a bird you fed a couple dozen times and were weirdly emotionally reliant on. You got wildly upset when the bird would sing instead of nodding. She's not your best friend and it feels fake.

I'm also just over the silent player insert protagonist but if you're going to do it, do it well. This should have been a game where Eshmel was the primary character that you had on every route, going back in time over and over to keep fixing the past until you get it right. Instead, Perfect Bird Time is a bandaid fix that has memeable upside for the marketing team. It just feels added in because we obviously need to have tea time for those fans.

And that is truly the original sin of Fortune's Weave. It needs to throw in every idea, nothing too bold, too big or too small, and no critical examination of does this need to be here? What is it accomplishing? Is it doing that well? Who cares. Throw in mounts and battalions and bird time and dungeons, and and and. The more the merrier.

I like this game a lot! I couldn't have played this long if it was bad. It's just I can see where this could have been truly amazing and instead it just feels simultaneously too big and not enough. Well made and underdone. It's like an amazing quality steak that was cut much too thick and cooked way too hot so it's burnt on the outside cold on the inside but there's a middle band where it's just perfect. When you bite into that part you just see what the whole thing could have been.

I hope that by letting this steak rest, it'll even out and I'll have more patience for the game's foibles and issues. I'm also excited for whatever comes next. Hopefully the lesson Intelligent Systems learns is what works and what doesn't and it can take the best from here and refine it. My fear is they'll just keep making it bigger and bigger.

Every Rose (Belmont) Has Its Thorn

2026-10-20T00:00:00.000Z

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse

Okay, mirror world allllll done. 100%'d that one. Got a new legendary weapon which is nice to have some whipping variety. We also went and got the Sage's power which seems interesting although one that I probably won't use a ton.

Moving the goal posts a bit here Rose.

I've also 100%'d a few more locations, basically all of the out of castle spots, Paris Streets, Catacombs, the Graveyard. Mammon was slightly more challenging at first, his patterns were a bit more confusing to handle. We also got the judge thing having finally gotten enough hearts to tank the drain.

Still working on Notre Dame though. These virtue challenges were TOUGH. Of the four, I think the Judge and Eleanor were the hardest, Joan was fine, and the Ferryman's was...insultingly easy. Like wow.

Nega Rose was a cool fight, the mechanic of having to stop her from gaining the health potions were fun.

I still have some stuff to clean up in this church, and then a bunch of crap in Dracula's Castle.

I'm going to try to get this done tomorrow-ish so I can focus on Final Fantasy Resonance but we'll see. I think I may not have quite enough time here.

I'm going to edit a counterspell into this.

I haven't talked about the spells too much. Some thoughts about spells:

The Gargoyle has to be the worst spell. It's so useless and the Works of Mercy for it seem tough. Going to have to grind that out.
I really like Mammon's spinny disk, it's a fun mini game to manage during combat.
The succubus life drain is okay. Having to just stand there feels sub optimal, it's not enough damage to overcome that.
The blood tide that causes bleeding damage is phenomenal. One of my favorites. I wish it worked on bosses.

Desert Rose (Belmont)

2026-10-19T00:00:00.000Z

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse

Alright, we unlocked the crazy mirror world! Huzzah. I do dislike how it won't let you use the dang map so I can get my bearings. You jerks. The amount of hoofing it to get the unlocks for this was okay but sub ideal. The arrangement of this map is a little worse than one big castle, there are a lot more linear stretches, you can't just make a loop and hit everything, you have to backtrack a lot as part of your back tracking.

She really does suck, doesn't she Garth?

This mirror world is a pain in the ass though. I just had to break down and look at a guide. Without the map it's just too challenging to keep my heading and figure out what I have left. Nothing in the area itself was too hard, it was just keeping it straight.

We also beat ourselves a Succubus boss. This was the easiest one, partially because I think the whip absolutely broke it. She just floated in mid air and let me absolutely wail on her. It's disappointing because the whip is the most thematic weapon but it feels too good.

Thankfully, this game gives me a real heading now with the queen having absconded by herself. I expect that to quickly resolve itself and leave me wondering where to go next though.

Final Fantasy Resonance reviews should drop tomorrow morning. Real excited for that. A late entrant to the GOTY possibilities and then we're on to some backlogging. Things I want to try before year end (besides Resonance) are Monster Hunter Stories 3, Galactic Racer, and FFVII Rebirth.

My Rose (Belmont)

2026-10-18T00:00:00.000Z

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse

Those moments when you think you've found the next step and you've really cracked this game wide open and then...it's another relic. Ugh, I feel rewarded but also cheated a bit.

I definitely am lost. I have a lot of little hints but no real concrete ideas or leads right now. Tried going back to the tarot cards to see if I could do glean anything but nope.

I would love to see the actual order they expect you to collect the weapons in too. I got a new spear and was excited because I like the spear but...I've got the level 4 whip and it's just level 3 so it's no good. And there are going to be a LOT of chests like that now.

I actually like how it got me to give a second chance to weapons that I had an initial lukewarm impression on. That's why I wouldn't want to change it to a system where you just find an upgrade token and pick which item, but we should be able to find a happy medium.

Pokémon Lazarus

Beat up the team...whatever grunts. Got an egg! Hopefully it's something cool as hell. I've been trying to raise this Jangmo-o but it kind of sucks. It just has bad moves and it doesn't evolve forever. It may not be long for this team.

Whole Lotta Rosie (Belmont)

2026-10-17T00:00:00.000Z

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse

This thing is on my goty shortlist for sure. Had a non fight with the artist, then I finished up the Library and Carmilla. Carmilla was the easiest fight yet, I got her in one shot and didn't even have to burn any potions. I really like her spell a lot.

About as close as it gets.

Then, paintbrush in hand, we went to Notre Dame and got to beat up Death. Well, he beat me up a lot first. Death was probably the most challenging fight I've encountered so far. I died a lot which seems appropriate. It's funny how sometimes I would arrive to the fight with an extra health potion and think surely this is what will tip me over the edge. I got it this time. And then I'd immediately end up burning it on some stupid mistake. When I got him, it was by the skin of my teeth.

The double jump and dash are definite back tracking game changes but unlike the ground pound it's not as immediately obvious where I need to go back and pick up some secrets. I might save backtracking again for when I feel like I have most of the powers so I'm not having to make the rounds nearly as often.

Pokémon Lazarus

Second gym down. We were a bit over leveled even though we're playing on hard. I rotated some newbies in, mostly just trying to go for more difference.

The current gang.

I'm really having a good time with this game although to be honest I'm not sure how much if it is actually this game or pokedaisy. I will say this game has overall excellent presentation and it's had a good mix of Pokemon.

Rose (Belmont) Colored Boy

2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse

Yeah this game rocks. It's a blast. Spent a lot of time going around in giant circles, having fun exploring, but not really progressing anything. Then I got a good clue and some things clicked into place and I had some wind in my sails. Beat another boss. Let's go!

My heart is yearning, but Paris is burning.

Thought I had a new heading. Nope. Did some back tracking with my new power. Got some cool upgrades! Found some level 3 weapons before getting the level 2 ones.

So I guess what I'm saying is that this could use a bit better sign posting. But it's really fun. Again, the challenge level seems good and when it's clicking it clicks so good. Every time I run into the main hall and that theme plays it's just so excellent.

I think I also figured out how you can get the "Beat the Game in 4 Hours" achievement. I think I found where to go to end the game but as it stands right now I would definitely get a bad ending.

Nevermind, it was a bad ending. But hey, you get some extra cool scenes and an achievement and a skin! So how bad can that be?

Let me hit the switch from long range with the spear you cowards.

I don't have a specific weapon preference yet, they're all fun in their own way, which is a change from when I unlocked the initial set. I even liked the greatsword and I'm not usually a big slow weapon person. When I got the level 2 spear I liked it a lot, but I got the level 3 gloves soon after and found them to be strong. I bounced off the level one version (it felt like the uppercut always whiffed high) but this time it was clicking. Then I got the level 3 dual swords, the level 1s felt like t-rex arms, but now? Slice and dice. Maybe I just understand combat better.

It still feels like a miss that you just get the upgrades you get and that they're so much better than the previous tier. It just forces you to use it. But maybe that's good because I wouldn't have come back to the fists.

As for spells, petrify is a standout. The fact that it refunds its own mana is so useful. It doesn't work on bosses but it's a great tool for just moving around and fighting generic mobs. Nothing else has really stood out to me, the crucifix is kind of the de facto boss option.

Pokémon Lazarus

Pokedaisy is actually just really close to the optimal Pokemon playing experience. I just love knowing what attacks are good, being able to check my box or what Pokemon are in the zone and if I have them all. One thing I've really been prioritizing is not having to access a guide or a second screen and this does that. I can just stay focused on the game.

I never promised you a Rose (Belmont) garden

2026-10-15T00:00:00.000Z

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse

Oh yeah, this game is fun! It took a little for me to get used to the controls, I still had muscle memory from Prince of Persia, but after that we're good to go.

We beat some bosses! I liked the second boss, [spoiler], which was a bit of a challenge until I learned her patterns. Medusa wasn't too bad, although I killed her on a photo finish. After that I then found out that somehow, inexplicably, [spoiler] was behind the whole thing. Who could have possibly guessed he was behind the shadows, plotting his return? Not me!

Who could possibly be in this castle?

I like the weapons in this although I do think there's an issue where you upgrade one and then it's just by far the best one and the other options seem much worse until you can find one.

It's really fun though. I like the platforming, I'm figuring out the combat too. I think I just don't quite know how to read the things and time the parries yet but when you get it right sometimes it feels so good. It's so fun to use the whip and be able to zip around and slam into people.

The difficulty, somehow, feels juuuuust right. Things are hard and we die but it never feels unfair. The platforming, the bosses, they seem attainable, I just need another couple tries and to tighten it up. I could also make a supercut of me just absolutely dying over and over again in some truly hilarious ways on some platforming challenges.

For an eternal vampire lord and avatar of Chaos he has some breathtaking decor.

Sometimes this game looks absolutely gorgeous. This game does feed my ADHD in a specific way. There are so many directions to go! The music is an absolute bop, it was very cute when the library music got a lo fi beats version.

The story is interesting for a Castlevania game, the extra "party members" that Rose gets through the tarot cards add some spice to a normally very solitary protagonist experience.

Overall just having an absolute blast. Great game so far.

The real Belmont's Curse is the wait

2026-10-14T00:00:00.000Z

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

This game is pretty fun! I might actually try to play it alongside Belmont's Curse? As I say that, that does seem vaguely insane. I might just nurture it here or there to keep it live so later on I don't feel like I need to totally start over. We'll see.

The platforming and puzzles are consistently fun and make you feel great when you do them but also aren't so harsh that I get angry at it. Somehow this hits a very sweet spot of it takes me a couple tries and then I get it. And I'm aware that might be exactly for my band of skill, there are worse people getting angry and better people who think this is way too easy. But for me? Doing stuff like using the chakram to move platforms calling it back midair to move them, and then shooting something else to make the platforms appear? Just fun.

I like the amulet system, this kind of stuff is always fun to be able to customize and pick your own playstyle and items or weapons of emphasis. I got this ability where you can leave a shadow and warp back to it. That's where the platforming might get kind of mind melting.

I don't love the unbeatable boss battle (also this game got incredibly anime during that) but it was fun. Although maybe it was beatable if you're very good but if that's the case I wish it was easier to replay it. Also that dude who chases you down and imprisons you? That's an EMMI. You can't fool me.

Sovereign Tower

This game is actually kind of hard and I feel like I need to go back and understand the mechanics here and how it works. This is also the most interesting time travel/rewind mechanic in any game.

There's a tension here where I don't want to use it because well, it's a demon. That can't be good. But the game also kind of wants you to use it. There's plot and mechanics and twists to it. Also, it's not just a rewind and do it again with more knowledge. There's some of that, but then it also throws curveballs at you.

I got to a point where I had lost someone and I wanted to rewind to get them back because I had a lot of quests that required two knights, so having an odd number was really constraining my output. So I went ahead and did that and then a couple days later [spoiler] So of course I was torn between...do I do it again to fix it? Or is this a consequence, is it balancing itself out?

Of course, the demon popped by to taunt me. At first I thought it was going to claim credit for it, but no it was offering it's services. If only I could go back in time with foreknowlege of what's going to happen, I could avert this crisis. So now I kind of feel like I need/want to, just because hey, can I catch this traitor in advance? But what other calamity will befall me?

Pokémon Lazarus

I've been just putting a few minutes here or there for a while and decided I wanted to play it a bit more to use this new Pokedaisy app that someone made that adds dual screen support on the Thor. It's really nice. It also adds a widescreen mod and it does things on the second screen like tell you what the other Pokemon is weak to which is so nice because there are so many Pokemon and I'm always like "oh yeah it's also this." It's just nice to not have to remember.

I beat the first gym and I've captured some pretty cool Pokemon so I feel good about it now.

It's no Thousand Year Door.

2026-10-13T00:00:00.000Z

Super Mario RPG

I beat the spear boss, Yaridovich, and that took forever. I was mostly just having Peach heal tank it, she barely escaped his aoe water attack with 3 hit points left over and also got one shot with his stab attack. We took so long to fight him that he ran out of FP. This is the Homer Simpson boxing strategy.

I think I'm done with this one too. It's just so samey. And I had this awful fight against the Piranha Plant boss, I wiped three times for some pretty terrible feeling reasons, this game loves status effects that take away control of your character. I tried to have Peach use the anti-mushroom effect accessory and it just took some luck for her not to die and be able to take it down.

Also...THESE things:

Why?

I'm not sure what it is with the perspective here but I found jumping between these to be really challenging! Too many gat dang minigames here.

There's just not enough combat novelty and now that I have Peach I feel like I've kind of solved the game as an attrition battle. The moment I tried to NOT use Peach I ran into that Piranha plant and I desperately needed her heal and status cleanse in one.

There's something to analyze here about why this isn't working for me. I don't feel like this game is fundamentally less complex than a lot of things I've completed recently like DQV. Maybe there's just an element of burnout here but I'm not so certain about that. It's no Thousand Year Door and that game is also pretty thin.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Played this a bit, I think I actually just got past the part I stopped last time which was this Manticore boss? Took a couple tries but got past it, then got the special magic ore for the forge god. I don't think I'm good enough at the game to get rid of these little helper amulets in exchange for a parry benefit.

I also feel kind of dumb playing this right now before I drop it for Belmont's Curse in a couple days. It was almost enough to make me just consider dropping it right now. If I picked it up later I'd almost certainly be starting over again. Bleh. Indecision.

How things got to be on the canon.

2026-10-13T00:00:00.000Z

When I was creating the canon for the site, I really struggled with narrowing some of these down. My mental model for the canon, aside from just a personal exercise for fun, is something I think of as a gamer business card. I want to be able to give you this short list of games and very quickly understand where I'm coming from, what I like or value, and use that as context for the rest of my writing.

By discussing my mental rubric here, you'll understand how those things get on the canon. None of these rules are hard and fast. Some of this is just looking at what's on there and seeing what feels correct as a collection of ten games. Some things will get on there and break these rules.

My first example is Baldur's Gate 2. It's a tremendous game and one of my favorites. I have fond memories of taking the giant spiral-bound manual it came with in my backpack to read on the bus to school. I battled with this for a long time. It's so influential to who I am now on so many levels. I'm not sure I would be a TTRPG player without this. So should I put this on the canon instead of its successor, Baldur's Gate 3? Doesn't BG3 owe BG2 everything?

I say thee nay! BG2 is great. I think it STILL holds up. However, Baldur's Gate 3 builds upon that foundation and realizes it even further. It doesn't owe BG2 anything for the legacy. It inherits that legacy, does it justice, and then advances the genre.

That leads us to the first rule: games don't get credit for legacy. I don't want games to be unassailable due to nostalgia, or what the genre "owes" them. This is video game canon rent seeking behavior and I refuse to enable it. That's also how you get ten games on a list that never change because of the sheer weight of what they accomplished. The point of the list, from the jump, is to be something that grows and evolves as my tastes and the games change! This should be a fresh list that describes how I am currently as a gamer and also serve as some modern recommendations.

The next game we're looking at is Mass Effect (the series (no it's not cheating they were released as one game as the Legendary Edition (yes that counts))). Mass Effect is such a towering achievement of ambition and scope: a three-part game where your decisions mattered not only in that game, but in the games to come is so incredible. In the modern era of gaming where investors are impatient and developers are sold, shuttered, and projects can change hands this is an even more impressive accomplishment.

The next rule is therefore: beatability. In the spirit of keeping this a living, updated list, the question is will anything beat this? The list stops saying anything interesting about me if the ten games don't evolve. I have to be able to envision a realistic world where something can do better. Its incredible scope means that a real competitor to that slot would take at least a decade to finish, if ever! That's why it's a favorite, and not canonical.

Fallout: New Vegas was on the list for a long time. It's the best Fallout game by a mile and I love that series. I've played every game in the mainline series (and also Tactics). So why is there no Fallout representation?

It fails the next rule: derivability. Anyone who sees this list with Baldur's Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 is going to be able to figure out that Hat likes CRPGs. A lot. Fantasy, sci-fi, first-person, top-down, whatever. This list needs to represent me as a gamer and span a lot of different stuff. I can't burn that many slots on RPGs just because I like them. They each need to at least say something different and New Vegas doesn't quite reach that.

This isn't a strict genre quota, but because these games all answer the same questions about me, they don't further the conversation or say anything new. We could imagine Steam recommending New Vegas to someone who owned/played the other games on this list, and that means it's not doing anything new.

Another great example of how this worked in practice was Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver. Literally as I was writing its entry in the Canon Premiere post, I knew it didn't belong on there because I was struggling to write the paragraph of why. It was earning that spot heavily through nostalgia and obligation to include a mainline Pokemon game. It's something that I don't think anything could beat because of that, and therefore it didn't earn its spot. And "Hat likes Pokemon" is derivable because of all the other RPGs and Pokopia (and also just demographics I mean come on it's one of the biggest media properties in the world).

When I stripped all of that away, what made Gold and Silver memorable to me was pretty thin: content. The value of the second act after beating the Elite Four was amazing, but not something to keep it on the canon.

The goal is for each slot to say something different, to let each one earn its way onto this list, and in that way show who I am as a gamer, what I like and value. The rubric is here to help me figure out ten different ways to say that. Ten good games is just a top ten list; the canon is an attempt to have a conversation with you and give you the tl;dr about me. So when you're reading my posts you can say "of course Hat likes that, it's just like this thing in BG3."

Four Stars Down

2026-10-12T00:00:00.000Z

I think I've committed to holding off on Galactic Racer until it goes on sale. Now, Sovereign Tower is on sale...

Super Mario RPG

Got Bowser, so this is officially the farthest I've ever been in this game. I think I was already well past that with Moleville but I know I've gotten Geno and I've never gotten Bowser.

It's fun, but silly. So far Geno is cool but he's made of glass and keeps dying. I've been using Bowser over Geno just because he's a thick Koopa King. Peach is a pretty amazing healer but she's extremely one note but she heals so efficiently it's hard to not use her I think. I'd say you definitely need her or Mallow and Mallow is more well balanced, but the AOE heal and cleanse effect are so strong.

This Booster series of events is so weird and fever dream like. It's just unhinged from start to finish. The sunken ship nearly broke me though. Sooooo many fights all the time. Good lord. I think it's a good thing this game is so short I'm not sure the gameplay is strong enough to be invested in the long haul.

Sovereign Tower

Alright I did get this and god damn what a "one more turn" game this is. Addictive. It really put a smile on my face when you use the time travel effect and the game accounts for that and you can forsee the future in your conversations.

It's an rpg where you play as the king who is chosen by this tower to rule and you basically take audiences from people who need things and then send your knights out to do stuff, make decisions, try to manage the kingdom. It's kind of like a first person Civ game kind of. You hear people during the morning, assign your knights to quests, hope they do well and then you do it again!

I almost forgot my daily picture so I signed back in. Enjoy this picture of the forge menu.

I did let a knight die. That was a bummer, but I really don't want to abuse the time travel aspect because you know...it's a demon. That doesn't sound prudent.

Getting my butt kicked in several rpgs

2026-10-11T00:00:00.000Z

We continue on with the dabbling, this time will be known as The Great Dabbling. Neither of these I'm like super gung ho for but they're fine enough amusements right now. I am really tempted to grab Star Wars Galactic Racer though. It's just got so much good buzz.

Pokémon Crystal Legacy

Actually whited out once! Dang. Just pushed it a little too far against this random trainer. There are definitely some holes in my squad for sure too but there's nothing I want to replace right now. I did manage to beat bug gym.

It's possible that hard was a mistake here. Could I handle it? Surely. But I'm looking for a chill time here.

Super Mario RPG

Got through a couple bosses here, the crocodile which goes straight into the sword guy in the Mushroom Kingdom. Mallo is kind of garbo to start, although after a few levels of just pumping strength he's starting to be okay? I get he's a caster but they don't really give you enough FP so you need to be able to punch things to get through trash mobs. Hopefully this new stick he got from Frogfucius helps.

What a fun entrance.

We beat the sewer boss, he was definitely one of the easier ones to beat that I've gone through so far. The bowyer wasn't bad either, and Geno is cool as heck.

Fire Emblem: Binding Blade

Aaaaand let's throw another one on the pile. I do want to play a Fire Emblem and I thought it might be Engage's time to shine but it's just nice to play a lightweight one on the SP. Played a couple maps of this.

I made an angry face when I saw Erik of Laus named! And this map is identical to the Blazing Blade entry. God the nostalgia here.

Don't touch that Totodile!

2026-10-10T00:00:00.000Z

Pokémon Crystal Legacy

Defeated the first gym here, no big deal. Got very excited when I found a level 2 Larvitar. Come with me. You will be my mighty one.

Got all the way up to the second gym. Had a couple tough fights where I felt a little under leveled so I assume that's the hard mode.

Having some trouble figuring out who I want on the team though. Right now we're rolling deep with Larvitar, Gastly, Bellsprout, Mareep, Togepi, and Totodile. This Bellsprout is outta here as soon as I get something cooler. This creepy dead eyed plant monster.

Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals

Also fired this up a bit just to test it out. It's been vaguely on my radar for a while. It seems pretty bog standard so far but I'm literally just past the first non training dungeon.

Super Mario RPG

Dabbled in this too why not! It's been on my list forever, I have memories of renting it as a kid and being really interested in it and getting, you know, about as far as a kid can on a blockbuster rental. Just doing the SNES release because I'm enjoying being able to use the RG35XX SP.