I finished the game. As a whole it’s a better experience than the previous title, with slightly more interesting writing (both are great), better balance and an expanded format of acting as a shadowrunner. There’s only one issue that really affected my enjoyment throughout and that’s the amount of large combat scenarios (waves or rooms with 10+ enemies attacking at the same time). They weren’t a majority thankfully, but they were common enough to get a little tiring, to say the least.

I like Shadowrun in its small scale and more personal form, anything big (important jobs with tons of enemies, epic stakes) and I lose interest pretty quickly. I don’t know why games feel the need to end with saving the world or equally important scenarios but it’s the most boring direction a story can go for me at this point. Dragonfall did manage to put a reasonably interesting spin on that at least and I think it did it slightly better than Returns so kudos for that at least.

I loved the side character story arcs - small, personal, some more tragic, other ending happily. Advancing them after every run was one of my favourite parts of the game. I wish such mundane and unimportant story beats played a bigger part in RPGs in general.

After finishing two games I think I’m ready to say I really like this series, WAY MORE than I ever expected to. I had some reservations initially, both due to the setting (not because the idea is bad, I just wasn’t feeling it) and jumping in after a long break from isometric RPGs but these games managed to win me over.
I just wish they had more unofficial content. All I have left is Hong-Kong (with its DLC campaign) and 2 user campaigns for Dragonfall (one of them being a remake of the SNES Shadowrun) - once that’s done I’m out of modules. Cant’s say I’m looking forward to that moment.

It’s an indie tactical(ish) FPS made in EDuke32 engine. It has decently feeling and sounding weapons with really nice sprite work, nine levels (of varying quality) and unique hand drawn cutscenes.

Game aims for a more grounded approach, with relatively low health, reloading, aim-down-sights mechanic and 4 weapon limit. Oh, there’s also localised damage system for enemies (well… head shots), simple squad mechanic (with voice acting for combat barks!) and a stealth system.

Enemies are rather brain dead and have trouble aiming when approached from slightly elevated position - they can still tear through your health if you’re not careful though. Levels are a mixed bag, some parts look pretty good, some are a bit undercooked (simple design, broken lighting on certain models, occasional lack of skybox etc). Heck, one of them might cause some Max Payne’s nightmare level related PTSD flare ups due to its design and pixel perfect platforming. On a more positive note, various map elements have pretty cool damage effects, you can really see the your handiwork after more chaotic encounters.

Outside cutscenes some story segments are displayed as dialogue boxes at the bottom of the screen. Unfortunately, these disappear pretty quickly which paired with their tendency to show up in the middle of the action make them easy to miss. It might not be the best story ever but it would be nice to have a chance to enjoy it.

It’s a neat if amateurish project but it’s fun enough way to spend 3-4 hours with. If anyone’s curious about the game it’s free on Steam.

It’s the final thread of the year so I thought I’d write a short recap. I managed to finish 16 games (that I properly remember) last year, 9 of which were bought this year - I was thinking this kinda puts a dent in the idea of backlog clearing but regardless of their tenure on my “to play” list, the end result is still better than the last few years combined. Backlog is shrinking, if only a little.

Anyway, here are the games I finished in 2025:

• A.W.O.L.
• Ace Combat 7
• Ace Combat Zero
• Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
• Halo 1-4, ODST & Reach
• Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded
• Project Wingman + Frontline 59 DLC
• Sam & Max Hit the Road
• Shadowrun Returns
• Shadowrun: Dragonfall
• Umurangi Generation + DLC

There were also other things like visual novels (if you’re interested in those feel free to join us in the [email protected] community) and some smaller indie titles whose names escape me at the moment. All in all a pretty decent number, I’d say.

Can I beat it next year? Probably not but I’ll give it a shot. There are still a lot of titles waiting for their turn so even this pace means a few years of work just to get through everything. I’ll be happy as long as I can finish the year with a slightly shorter backlog than I started it with.

Decided to give it another shot (third or fourth so far), ended as usual - played through about half of the game and got stuck. I’m obviously missing some logic here but things just aren’t coming together, no matter what I try.

Oh well, see you again in another year or two.

I wasn’t really planning on playing it right after Returns (don’t want to burn myself on the series or play style) and mostly installed it to see the difference between the two. Started playing anyway.

I like it so far. I miss being a solo in a new place and the new hub doesn’t feel as cosy as the Seamstress Union but it isn’t bad. Having a proper story related team does make things different enough to keep things interesting. Tone of the writing is pretty different, more “standoffish” and grey than in the first game.

I wasn’t full sold on the updated UI initially but it managed to win me over. I do however have way more issues with miss-clicks in this game. I’m not sure exactly why and while I recognise that it’s my own fault it didn’t make the resulting consequences any more painful unfortunately.
Enemy encounters seem to be a bit more balanced than in the first one and everything feels like an improvement for the most part. That said, there are some scenarios that were… not exactly unfair but definitely weren’t as fun as the rest of the game. It’s fine when there’s an option to scatter and run but that’s not always possible and it did end up affecting my enjoyment at times.

Besides starting the base campaign I also looked into unofficial modules. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit disappointed by my research (there’s only handful of them and most are unfinished) but I did find 2 that might tide me over if I want more after finishing the story. I’ll take what I can get at this point.

So far so good, I’d say. There are some things that turned out better than in Returns and some that don’t really hit the mark but as a whole it’s a pretty good follow up to the first game. I can only hope it sticks the landing as well.

Still playing and following through with my plan to finally do some “adventurous” missions.

It’s pretty much a full-on role-play of a weak person tasked with various “hero” jobs. Need sneaking? I can do that. Fighting weak enemies? Sure! Get something from a dungeon filled with powerful hostiles? I… can try sprinting through? Things can be a bit difficult at times when playing a non-combat character (until now) so I ended up bailing on few of the quests but I’m slowly improving.

It’s an interesting way of playing compared to the usual power fantasy. It also helps me to finally get used to the approach of “failing is fun” - not the same as “losing” since I keep going instead of starting from scratch but dealing with consequences (however minimal in this game) is something I’d like to expand to other games I play.
It’s not an easy switch after years of being “the chosen one” but I’m getting there.

Continuing with my point and click adventures I decided to try Leisure Suit Larry. I got it for free on GOG some years ago but never really gave it a shot since I didn’t think it was up my alley. Here are some brief thoughts:

• Art looks nice but the art style is very inconsistent. I’m sure it’s intended but it it doesn’t always work in my opinion.
• It could really use subtitles. There are no separate volume sliders and dialogue lines can get lost under the music (there’s an option to turn off the music but that’s not a great choice either for me).
• Gameplay is simple but enjoyable, there are no dead ends according to the tutorial but you can absolutely screw yourself by running out of money. You can (and later have to) get more through gambling but that’s not really a viable solution without save scumming.
• Writing is… not my cup of tea but it’s fine for what it is. Constant narration can be a little annoying at times.

All in all, it was fun enough but I don’t think I’ll be checking out other games in the series. I’m glad to scratch this off my backlog at least.

I was a little worried since I haven’t played this kind of RPG (let alone a Shadowrun title) in a long time but it’s been pretty straightforward so far. Combat is simple and enjoyable even without a proper tutorial. I appreciate the amount of skill and item checks so far, leading to multiple ways of solving problems. Not all of them, obviously, but it’s still common enough to be noticeable.

Art style and graphics in general hold up really well, so does audio. I also like the writing so far, especially how pleasant the conversations can be - just two people being courteous towards each other, without the need to act edgy just because cyberpunk. The only thing I don’t particularly care about is the mix of sci-fi and magic. Not that I hate it, it just does nothing for me despite being a pretty unique approach to the genre.

So yeah, it’s cool and I’m enjoying it so- What’s that? Unbeatable just released? Yeah… I’m gonna have to take a break from Shadowrun for a bit. I’ll be back once I’m done doing crime.

Tried playing it on my Steam Deck but it doesn’t want to cooperate unfortunately. Despite multiple attempts over various versions of PPSSPP (emulator) and playing around with settings, game always crashes after 15-30 minutes of play.

I might try setting it up on my desktop as a last ditch effort but that will have to wait as I don’t care enough to bother with it at the moment. I’ll finish it one day.

After my failure with GTA:LCS I wasn’t really sure what to play and decided to go back do Daggerfall instead. Not much new to say about it for now as I only updated the mods and did a few quests. Still haven’t touched the main story outside of reporting to Castle Wayrest since my character is not a fighter and was sent away to train before proceeding (not that I expected anything else, it’s just where I stopped with that for now).

It’s time to play the game properly for a bit, I guess.

I finished the game two or so weeks ago but I’ve been thinking about it again over the last few days so I might as well mention it here. Despite my initial reaction (I liked it well enough, just not to a huge degree) I’ve been slowly warming up to it, especially the writing.

I think the main reason behind my previous opinion had to do with the fact I’m not having a good time in general at the moment so everything I do is tainted by my foul mood. I needed some time to let my brain catch up and understand what I just played.

The more I think about it the more satisfied with the game I become - it’s an interesting reversal since I usually tend to lean towards being more critical as time goes one and I have the chance to look at things from a distance. I also started watching someone else’s playthrough which allowed me to look at things from a different perspective as well. All in all, it’s a lovely (and rare) surprise.