Watched The Vourdalak with my girlfriend last night, which I had never heard of and am DISTRAUGHT has not found more of an audience. It's very bluntly queer, full of gender politics, shot entirely on Super 16, and makes the INCREDIBLE choice to have its vampire played entirely by an amazing puppet.

Just out of curiosity and for posterity, I did search up the interview with the Senior Producer that the commenter seemed to be referencing after I saw that little exchange: www.euronews.com/culture/2026...

The life I'm trying to live.

Mostly only played co-op games with loved ones over the holidays, so I'm finally getting back to burning through the backlog. Starting with this guy:

SLAY THE PRINCESS Finished this over the break now that The Pristine Cut is out! Absolutely deserves the praise and attention it gets. I have high standards for time loopy VNs - especially their climaxes - and it didn't disappoint. Melancholic but hopeful and, most important to me, very personal.

MOUTHWASHING Forgot to post this one before the holidays. Fantastic story about how flawed, scared, broken, and often evil people can be for no better reason than "that's just people." It's funny everyone pitches it as a horror game; I'd say it preys on you EXPECTING horror game tropes, really.

And that's Arco done. Really phenomenal tactics RPG with a very grim, very affecting tale. Combat and even just buttoning through dialogue is wonderfully "snappy" and fast. Makes a great Steam Deck game. One of those rare titles I wish was a touch LONGER, because I'd love more of the gameplay.

POOLS: Kind of an interesting, purely vibes-based "horror" game where nothing is chasing you and there are no jump scares (it just creates the FEELING that something COULD jump out at you). As far as backrooms-inspired games go, this one is at least trying some interesting ideas. Pretty, too.

Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus - VERY cool tactics framework. You explore different regions of a planet, hunt their overlords, and beat each in unique fights to keep them from helping the final boss (on a time limit). A bit plodding by the end, since it gets too easy, but can't wait for the sequel.

Almost forgot to update the backlog list this weekend, but: Aliens: Dark Descent is done! Fantastic real-time tactics game with lots of clear influences from modern XCOM and Darkest Dungeon. Though it's bogged down by a MOUNTAIN of technical issues that never got addressed post-release.

Axiom Verge! This one really helped solidify for me that NEW Metroidvanias now exist in a "post-Hollow Knight world." THIS is more in conversation with the indie sphere around Fez, Hyper Light Drifter, and Tunic (and yearning for Metroid, duh) than Dark Souls and its twisting Castlevania DNA.

And that's Ghostwire: Tokyo done. Really strange game that comes up short in so many little ways (namely combat variety, quest design, and story) but still feels admirable. It's a decent Ubisoft-style open-world game with cool combat by the end that wants to be so much more and ALMOST gets there.

And that's Gearbits also off the backlog! It's like Armored Core meets Earth Defense Force on a mega-shoestring indie budget. Very rough around the edges (e.g. grammatical errors and uneven difficulty/balance), but the gameplay finds its rhythm fast and stays super solid.

BRIGADOR - Play unbearably awful mercenaries, betraying your home for cash and a ticket off-planet. The HUGE sequel has you hunting down said traitors from the first game! One of the best mech games going. Though the campaign structure isn't for everyone (I'd like more vehicle tinkering, myself).

FROM is a really fun show, but whenever any of these men are on screen I get so frustrated I want to crawl into a whole.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon - Definitely a rough draft of better things to come (i.e. Aria of Sorrow). It's not exactly "hard" like people often say. The movement is just very stiff and it's FULL of busywork like grinding for skill cards. Still a solid entry after you get past the slow start!

The Excavation of Hob's Barrow - Really, really great folk horror in a point-and-click adventure wrapper. I get why people don't like the climax, though. The writing and voice performance for the main character are SO good and charismatic that the mega dark ending feels completely at odds.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown - Easily one of the best Metroidvanias... ever? Stylish, huge world, excellent movement and combat, very challenging (yet JUST SHY of frustrating). Clearly a lot of direct Hollow Knight love/inspiration, too. Such a goddamn shame we'll likely never get a sequel now.

This is my favorite picture of Canti in quite some time. Maybe ever, in fact.

Took more spooky games off the backlog this weekend, like FAITH: The Unholy Trinity. Obviously a FANTASTIC exercise in minimalist horror, getting a ton out of sound design and rotoscope, bogged down a bit by some gnarly checkpoints. Can't wait for Tenebris Somnia to hopefully build on these ideas!

Finished up The Room: Old Sins a couple days ago, too. Still just an amazing puzzle series. Turning the central conceit into a magic dollhouse lets the game have its cake and eat it, too, mixing the self-contained polish of the first game with the horror bombast of the sequels.

Continuing the spooky vibes for the month by finally playing Little Nightmares. For some reason, the series never really caught my eye, but that was a nice little creepy showpiece! The controls are a little squirrel-y with the 2.5D environments, but it's obviously gorgeous. Well, "gorgeous."

Knocked House of Da Vinci off the list, too. This one missed the mark for me as a big fan of The Room games... Starts promising, but drowns in the worst kind of trial and error, sliding tile puzzles, and pixel hunts. Rushed through the end with a guide to reach the by-all-accounts-better sequels.

You Will Die Here Tonight is off the backlog, too! This one got (I think) weirdly brutalized in reviews. Though I came to it after a round of QoL updates that REALLY help. Some questionable and sometimes rushed writing, but a solid and unique love letter to Resident Evil Gaiden (of all things).

And finished with Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth! Bit of a trifle, without enough runway to make good on its Ikaruga x Castlevania pitch, but it's a good weekend distraction if you're somehow STARVED for that genre. The story is totally incomprehensible if you don't know Record of Lodoss War, though.

Also wrapped up The Bookwalker: another very flawed indie that I don't think comes together nearly as well. The story ends up falling especially flat. Didn't hate it, though, and it has some interesting ideas for how to expand on point-and-click adventure gameplay.

FINALLY cleared Withering Rooms off the backlog. One of my favorite indies in a while, even if it does wear out its welcome. There's something so brazen about how BIG it is. What feels like it should be a quick horror romp ends up closer to a run-based, souls-like organ farming witch simulator???

Oohhh! My girlfriend @corruptivespirit.bsky.social did such an amazingly cute drawing of my Tarnished! I love how adorable the Albinauric face looks here.

Extremely funny to make a "Journalist Mode" for the people complaining the DLC is too hard after all the journalists already played and gave it a 95 on Metacritic. Real "this is what communism looks like," and it's just a picture of empty shelves in a Virginia Kroger, energy.

The list keeps getting bigger as I remember (and buy) more stuff, but I'm making progress! Darkest Dungeon 2 and Hi-Fi Rush are finally finished, plus a ton of progress in Trails from Zero and Still Wakes the Deep.