Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: September 2024

~ Game Over ~

Peglin (PC) – What more do you want me to say? I guess I could stop listing it in the “Game Over” section, but does a successful run not count as “beating” the game?

FNAF VR: Help Wanted (Quest) – Played this again for the sake of a let’s play. Good times were had, except for the stupid Funtime Foxy levels. Those are the WORST.

FNAF VR: Help Wanted 2 (Quest) – As much as I enjoyed the first game, this is one is scores better. While it doesn’t have any mini-games that are quite as engrossing as the FNAF1-3 recreations, it also doesn’t have any ridiculously difficult mini-games like the stupid Funtime Foxy levels.

Continue reading Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: September 2024

TE Video: Coming Soon (Oct 2024)

Spooktober is nearly upon us! To celebrate, I’ve not only got exclusively horror games on deck for the month, but I’ll also be posting three videos a week instead of the usual two! Make sure to keep an eye on your subscription feeds on Saturdays!

Bloody Ink (PC) – [Oct 1, 7, 14, & 21] – This four-part series is the newest offering from Doesn’t Matter Games. The first video is actually of the demo, which is packaged in with the full game and acts as a prologue. It’s all very Doesn’t Matter, but didn’t quite tickle my fancy the way that Lost Alone did.

Who Knocks (PC) – [Oct 3 & 10] – Conversely, this is Doesn’t Matter Games’ first game. Playing them back-to-back really illuminates how the DMG formula hasn’t really changed over time, but it has been refined with a number of quality-of-life improvements. I think this is actually my second-favourite game from DMG.

Continue reading TE Video: Coming Soon (Oct 2024)

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: August 2024

~ Game Over ~

Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition (PC) – 20 years later, I finally understand why this game has a cult following that is desperate for a sequel. I’m not in that boat myself, but I get it. Alas, to a cynical Modern Ryan, it seems kinda like a very ambitious project that ran out of money halfway through development.

Peglin (PC) – Several rather large updates means, of course, more Peglin.

TMNT: Splintered Fate (Switch) – 2000+ words coming soon. I like this one. A Lot.

Continue reading Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: August 2024

Shudder Film Review Double Feature

More movies have been watched. As Halloween season is rapidly approaching, I feel even more like I need to be writing about them. Both of the films reviewed below are Shudder originals, as you can plainly see on the posters. Preamble complete.


~ Deadstream ~

This one is about a livestreamer who goes to spend a night in a “haunted house” as something of a stunt to entertain his following. This premise is absolutely as cringey as it sounds, at least until about 15 minutes in and you realize that it’s actually a comedy. Kind of like Evil Dead 2 but with a modern twist.

That said, I had to watch Deadstream in two sessions, because it scared the absolute crap out of me the first time around. Early on in the film, our “hero” Shawn enters the house and starts recounting the tales of why it’s haunted, and he tells a story about a ghost called the Corner Man. If you weren’t already aware, I have a strong irrational fear of ghosts. Having all the lights turned off and watching movies about ghosts alone never ends well for me. I tried my best to remain rational, but I very quickly had to turn off the movie and turn on the lights, because my brain immediately started thinking it was seeing things in my peripheral vision. There aren’t a lot of things that genuinely terrify me, but my overactive imagination is definitely high on the list.

A couple night later, my fears had receded, and I decided to push through. This time with the lights on. As it turns out, after that singular scene, the movie’s tone changes dramatically, and it goes from horror-comedy to pretty much just straight comedy.

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TE Video: Coming Soon (Sept 2024)

Here’s your monthly reminder to subscribe to my video channels on Rumble and YouTube. Also, if you could actually watch the videos too, that would be awesome and muchly appreciated. I have no idea how important the watch time metric is to the algorithm these days, but it couldn’t hurt to see it improve.

That said, what’s coming down the pipe in September?

Sizeable (PC) – The finale episode airs Sept 2. The first two are just me completing the game, and this one is hunting down and finishing all the secret levels. A lot of fun was had by me. Will you enjoy watching me enjoy playing the game?

Wario Ware, Inc: Mega Microgames! (GBA) – Episode 5 goes live on Sept 5. This is the beginning of “the grind” portion of the series, and I could see how even folks who are interested in this game might drop off here. Roughly half of Part 5 is just me racking up a ridiculously high score in Sheriff, Part 6 is over two hours of farming microgames (yikes), and Part 7… is a surprise!

Continue reading TE Video: Coming Soon (Sept 2024)

On Pits and Going Into Them

A new Five Nights at Freddy’s game came out last week. I knew it was a thing, but also forgot about it until I saw a bunch of let’s plays roll into my YouTube feed.

And who am I to do anything but throw another video on the pile? Well, multiple videos. There are at least two more for this game coming… eventually. Not sure how I’m going to schedule them yet, but they’re on the way.

Three Fun-Size Film Reviews

Some movies, I can very easily ramble on and on about. Others don’t capture my attention/imagination quite as strongly, and I find it difficult to write about them. The following three films are of the latter variety.


~ Arcadian ~

It kind of seems like this one was marketed as whatever the movie equivalent of a “killer app” is for Shudder. I got a lot of emails promoting it! Although, it is a Shudder original, so maybe they just pushed it harder because it’s theirs. Anyway, it’s somewhat similar to A Quiet Place but with Nic Cage. Also, it’s not stupid due to major plot holes and braindead characters, but rather because stupid is just kind of the vibe it’s going for, which I can appreciate.

Plot is as such: About fifteen years after humanity falls to… something, Nic Cage lives on a farm with his two teenage sons. Every night, they maintain a stoic vigil to protect their home from attempted invasions. Obviously, the sons are polar opposites: one a hot-blooded tough guy, the other a quiet inventor. Their inability to reconcile their desires (girls vs learning) ends up ruining the balance that they’ve maintained for years and puts everyone’s life in danger. Because of course it does. Teenagers, am I right?

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Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Completionist

You know what’s weird? I didn’t ever write all that much about Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door when it was originally released on GameCube. I did a thing where I critiqued a TV Guide review of the game, but that’s effectively it. In retrospect, it’s a bit weird because I think about TTYD all the time. Mostly because the battle victory theme is what plays in my head every time I achieve a personal victory. It’s a bit of a stretch, but it counts!

Anyway, there’s a new Switch remaster that came out a while ago, which I’ve now finished playing. Like Super Mario RPG before it, it’s unfortunately the same game with a new coat of paint, some localization tidying, a few quality-of-life improvements, and a teeny-tiny portion new content. Oh, and also both games have fantastically re-arranged soundtracks. I would actually argue that the new soundtracks are reason enough to buy and play either game, because they are marvelous.

With the TTYD remaster, I’ve finally put in the effort to actually finish the game. And not like, just get to the end of the story. I did that already back in 2004. No, this time I finished the game. I found all the badges, I collected all the star pieces, I made all the recipes, I solved all the troubles, and I beat all the optional bosses. I truly got 100% and earned the special new badge that turns Mario gold.

And it was not at all worth the effort!

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Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: July 2024

~ Game Over ~

Froggo’s Adventure: Verdant Venture (PC) – A cute little game highly reminiscent (like, suspiciously so) of Kirby’s Adventure. Only it’s like seven levels long. Very reminiscent of Whipseey, only it looks more NES than GBA.

Froggo Swing ‘n Grapple (PC) – Simultaneously better and worse than its sequel (mentioned above). Better because it’s about twice as long, is much more challenging, and has more gameplay mechanics in general. Worse because the central “swing ‘n grapple” mechanic is a little too loosey-goosey and doesn’t feel great.

Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars (PS4) – An old-school RPG represented entirely in cards. It’s a bit slow and much too easy, but it’s a Yoko Taro game, so the story, characters, music, and art all make it worth the price of admission.

Continue reading Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: July 2024