2018 GAMING DIARY

Hey,
this is probably everything for January. I'll post a more detailed list on my tumblr (pixelrender.tumblr.com) on 1st.
Another change is that I'll use the op just for names and posts for descriptions and pics. This one's for January.

January::..
1. Beyond Rproach
A very small game about pushing plants out of your way. Can be downloaded for free on itch. Play it, f you like zany walking sims.


2. Static Speaks My Name
Ten minutes of a very disturbing a visually striking content. It's slightly depressing as it is about suicide. Can be downloaded for free on both itch and steam.


3. Emily is away too
So, this a game about internet chats and relations. It's good with a load of witty stuff, but i think that the subtlety of the first game got lost.
Still, well worth the money.


4. Oneiric Gardens
Small and weird walking sim you can download on itch for free. There cool moments like surfing on the ocean, but overall the game's quite ugly and noisey. I can't say that i liked it.


5. Tacoma
A beautiful game about AI and corporations from my favourite devs. It's great, full of emotional moments and quirky details. Story's not as important as it was in Gone Home. Tacoma's again about recovering past, but this time it's about moments and living them.


6. Hitchhiker: First Ride
I got this game as Humble Monthly subscriber and It's about siting in a car, while strange things happen. It's based on one short story from Kafka (they don't mention it, but I read). It's trying to be weird and deep. Hitchhiker has some charm but I don't think I'll play the rest when it's out.

7. Armello
Armello is a digital board full of clever mechanisms and often compared to Game of Thrones. I love its cute animals and like almost everything else. The tutorial is great and if you got Armello in your collection I recommend playing just that part of the game.
Otherwise, it feels slightly like a waste of time to play it alone or online. It could be fun as a hot seat but I would rather sit around a real board.

I'm still wasting time with Civ V.

I actually played games in May and June and I should post about it.

May-June::..
1. Alwa's Awakening
I'm taking my time with this one, but I'm almost finished. It's a sweet retro hardcore metroidvania with lovely graphics. It likes to punish you a lot. The design is very tight and controls precise. Movement and Jumping feels good. Some enemies seem to have their hp boxes little off.
I'm recommending it to everyone, who likes the genre.


2. Kingdom: Classic
Actually, I didn't manage to win yet, but I saw enough to consider the game completed. The game's beautiful and its pace and mechanics are refreshing at firsts, but they start to suck after you repeat the game several times. The third gate's clearly more difficult to clear. I'll try one more time and move on New Lands.


3. Into The Breach
A turn-based strategy, which is an absolute gem. If you liked Advance Wars, you're for a treat. The condensed battlefields leave no space for mistakes and once you learn to avoid them, you feel like an absolute genius.
Game of the year.


And that's it for now. I spent roughly 10 hours in Alwa, 7 in Kingdom and something over 20 hours playing Into The Breach.

July::..
1. Proteus
Calling Proteus a game doesn't make it any justice. It's more than that. It's an experience, a way to turn off your surrounding and think. There're distractions in the game, but they are not there to lead you away from your meditation. You can always just sit down and watch sunrise or fog moving through hills.
I only played for 20 minutes, but I already feel like I know the game well.


2. Glitchhikers
I like this subgenre of drivealong games. They're peaceful as much as walking sims, but they're also completely on-rails. This makes their narrative more focused and usually focus on a dialogue.
Glitchhikers are like surfing on some drug. You meet weird people, who just appear in your car. Dialogue goes deep pretty fast and the end is beautiful. Soundtrack rocks.


3. Mouse Corp
This game from catemites is great. The music is bombing and gameplay's actually quite addictive. I really like the world too. It's weird, on acid-like. If you like his games, you should totally try it.


4. Exit 19
A mediocre walking sim employing an interesting visual filter, which partially hides how uninspired the place actually is. Not really worth downloading.
It's a part of a very interesting ambient mixtape, from which I'll pray more games in the future.


5. Station to Station
This piece was made for slow game jam and its visual are super pleasant. Other than that, it's an active screensaver with some relaxing train sounds.


6. The Thing I Don't Want To Think About
An interesting piece about dealing with your past and getting over things. Voices are annoying, but the gameplay is actually fun.

7. Little Lands
A cutesy small survival strategy, which is actually quite big and certainly quite challanging. It was made as a Ludum Dare entry, but the version I played is very polished and even little addictive.


8. Garden
A very polished game based upon Pacman? It's kinda relaxing shooter, in which you're cleaning your ghost's garden from various ugly fellas. The ambient track and wobbly graphics make it very pleasant.

September::..
1. Chronicles of Tsufanubra
Ofc, I keep calling the Chronicles of Tsufanebra. I wrote a review, so maybe check that for my opinion (a solid old-school jrpg).

It's pending. I submitted it over a week ago.

November::..
1. Gun
Ok, I wanted to try out this game for ages. And as I'm getting rid of all of my games (with exceptions being Might and Magic series and The Sims 2, which are not really mine to throw out), I installed it. This western GTA with horses is interesting and it plays quite smoothly, but it starts being boring really soon. Missions are very uninspired. The design of open world games have moved elsewhere since as well as western. Also, it's possible that I just don't enjoy this kind of games anymore.


2. Wonders Between Dunes
This is a walking sims I hoped to get around to for ages. And it is great. It feels a lot like something from the New Blade Runner and it is calming and exotic and very minimalist in its use of architecture. Sound design is also good. I don't think it's extremely memorable but it succeeds at making this an even more atmospheric experience. The feeling of wonder is real within this gam. If you like orange colour this is must play.


3. Sacramento
This is a cool little walking sim, which is for some glitching af on my machine. I don't complain. It makes the game groovy. The game contains some very pleasant colours and sound. The art was hand-drawn.


4. Guild Wars 2
From time to time I get this urge to play something bigger, more consistent, an mmo. So, this november I spent a couple of days reading articles and watching videos on various mmorpgs. And Guild Wars 2 being f2p was a must try for. The game's quite captivating and I could see myself spending a lot of time in it 3-4 years back. The sense of exploration is strong and rewarding. Other than that fights are little on the boring side. I can't find a way to uninstall it, so it's possible that I'll return to it in the future.

That's it for 2018. I certainly played less games and less time this year than I expected. Most of these were short games under 1 hour. I enjoyed most of them and some heavily inspired me.

There were some big games I haven't sticked with like Gun and Guild Wars. I only really spent time with Civilization and Into The Breach. I uninstalled Steam because of the latter. These two games are like drugs to me and I plan to play more of them in future.

There were several mid-sized games I liked but failed to finish. Hyper Light Drifter, Nuclear Throne were games, which expected me to drill my reflexes to succeed and I wasn't on the same page at that point. I would like to return to them and win, but I might end up not doing it just because of the load of other games in front of me.

I would like to finish Alwa's Awakening in 2019. I really liked the game and it was best served in small portions. This would be a great Switch title btw.
Speaking about games I liked I made a list on my blog. Tacoma left a lasting impression on me.

I made two other lists Top 10 upcoming games and Top 10 games I missed in 2018. These two lists lead to a simple question. How will 2019 look for me gaming-wise?

I think I should be able to play some 20-30 hours/month, which would make for up to 15 days of time total during the year. That's a lot. I might end up playing less and being more active in gammak too.
There are many games I would like to play, but here are some I will prioritize.

1. My itch.io purchases
I don't want my library to bloat with titles I haven't played. So, I would like to play at least 5 from 7 games I purchased on itch and haven't touched. These are: A Good Gardener, Marginalia, Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass, No Response, Fugue In Void, Wheels of Aurelia, Paratopic

2. New releases
I would like to play some 10-20 small new games from both here and itch. I would like to give back to community here and start being more active as a reviewer here. I would like to stay in touch with recent developments on itch and be more invested in end of the year lists.
Ofc I would like to play most games from my Top 10 upcoming games list. I probably will skip Imperator and Goose Game. I'm hyped about them, but I can't imagine prioritizing them at this point in my life.

3. Civilization V, XCOM, FTL, Into The Breach, Alwa's Awakening
These are games I put hours in and I would like to put even more time in them. In case of Alwa, it would be to finish the game. I would like to have a successful run of FTL. In Civ i plan on playing one or two games, try more mods in at least one of them. XCOM is another game I would like to finish. Into The Breach is likely to sneakily install itself on my machine.

4. GBA ROMs
I started playing Advance Wars for the first time and I plan to continue with several other GBA games. Advance Wars 2, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, Metroid Fusion, Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lodis, Fire Emblem.
I always wanted to play these on an original machine, but never committed myself to buying one as there was always something better to get. I would like to get GBA one day, but this is the fastest way for me to play several essential games of my two favourite genres.
These are all big fat games and it might be quite problematic to find time for them.

5. Gothic and Gothic 2
I would like to explore compact words of these two games and make some oil paintings along the way.
This might take several months.

6. Older RM games
Flesh, Fire RMNblem, Faxanadog, Hellion, Paradise Blue, Soma Spirits in particular.

7. Games from my list of interesting itch games
Mostly games from my list of missed games plus several even older releases. And more tactics. Tanks of Freedom and Terra in particular.

8. games from my steam library
I will have to check my steam to get an idea, but i got a lot of games to play there. I would like to play at least 5 of them in 2019.

9. Games from my Steam and HB wishlists