Game Journal: December 2024
A list of games I played on my steam deck in December with 2-3 line comments.
December was cold and wet and not very inspiring in terms of normal life for me. Due to personal circumstances and a sudden bad life event my gaming halted while I had to help a family member in dire need. As I finish this draft things are looking up though and we are more positive for 2025 for them.
So in no particular order my games of December 2024.
Vampire Survivors
Mow down thousands of night creatures and survive until dawn! Vampire Survivors is a gothic horror casual game with rogue-lite elements, where your choices can allow you to quickly snowball against the hundreds of monsters that get thrown at you.
This game gripped me at the end of November and I continued to add hours into it for most of December to unlock all the different stages and characters. I love the fact that it is easy to pick up for 20-40 mins and then let it be again. It is funny how little and often results in multiple hours being played on a game. haha. I haven’t downloaded the Castlevania DLC yet but that might be next.
Bloomtown: a different story - demo
Bloomtown: A Different Story is a narrative JRPG mixing turn-based combat, monster taming and social RPG set in a seemingly pleasant 1960s Americana world. Join Emily and her group of friends to save their cozy town from the demonic creatures that live in the hearts of its residents!
I was so intrigued by this game when it was on sale during the autumn steam sale, but I just decided to play the demo. It looks great and I love the pixel art. The story is mysterious and has a bit of a stranger things season 1 vibe. The part I struggled with is the turn based game play. While it has other interactions too, I wasn’t sure if I want to play the whole thing after completing the demo but I do appreciate that it could be for me when I feel in the mood for it in the future.
Hades
Defy the god of the dead as you hack and slash out of the Underworld in this rogue-like dungeon crawler from the creators of Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre.
I splurged on Hades during the sale, as I have been wanting to play this ever since I enjoyed dead cells. I am only a few hours in, and have gotten to a couple of the stages. I really like the isometric view (I thought I would struggle with it), and the character design is lovely and artistic. I am a sucker for mythology and folklore so this game also fulfils that interest. This might however end up like Dead cells where I never complete it properly, but I like the pick up and do run nature of it.
Dredge
DREDGE is a single-player fishing adventure with a sinister undercurrent. Sell your catch, upgrade your boat, and dredge the depths for long-buried secrets. Explore a mysterious archipelago and discover why some things are best left forgotten.
I got annoyingly stuck with Salt and Sanctuary so when Dredge appeared as part of prime gaming, I think, I jumped in and completed it in 8ish hours. I did struggle with it initially due to my own fear of the open sea … silly I know … but then enjoyed the mystery, super sad music and low poly art. There is a lot of DLC content for this game so I might pick it up again to play some of that too.
Oxenfree
Oxenfree is a supernatural thriller about a group of friends who unwittingly open a ghostly rift. You are Alex, and you’ve just brought your new stepbrother Jonas to an overnight island party gone horribly wrong.
I had no idea what to expect from this game and it blew me away. The gameplay is more of a point and click adventure with excellent voice acting and some decision making. The sound engineering is incredible and I felt scared and uncomfortable throughout. It was an excellent game for escapism.
I wrote a more detailed review here.
What did you play in December? Did you stick with cosy games or a mix of different genres? Did you pick up anything new in the sales or receive any games for christmas? Let’s talk about it.
Hades is on my list for after I finish Baldur’s Gate 3!
I started playing Bloomtown recently and it has been pretty decent so far! But I'll be honest, I am playing it alongside Persona 5 Royal, which is proving to be a mistake. Bloomtown takes SO much inspiration from P5R, and I find myself wanting to go back to playing P5R instead. There is also a lot of inspiration from Disco Elysium in terms of game mechanics, which is fun. But the Persona inspiration could have been held back a little. Maybe I'll go back to Bloomtown when I finish P5R and I'll enjoy it more.
Happy to hear about Hades! It's one of my favorite games ever, and it always makes me happy to hear other people enjoying it as well.