Game Journal: October 2024

A list of games I played on my steam deck in October with 2-3 line comments.

October was an eclectic mix of games, from puzzle games to metroidvanias. I am actually surprised how much I managed to play considering work was really busy and I had a few social events too.

I completed the main stories of 3, abandoned 1, and kept one as a pick up and play every now and then game. A bit like a 10 mins palette cleanser. :D

Superliminal

First off I played my first ever puzzle game from first person POV, Superliminal. That was a lot of “firsts” in one sentence. Here is what the steam page says about the game.

Perception is reality. In this mind-bending first-person puzzler, you escape a surreal dream world through solving impossible puzzles using the ambiguity of depth and perspective.

I enjoyed the ominous atmosphere and surrealism. By adjusting your point of view or perspective you can find some creative ways to solve the puzzles. It was an unusual game style for me and I am glad I tried it. I might check out something like Viewfinder next.

Image from Superliminal gameplay

---

Dust: an Elysian tail

Immerse yourself in a gorgeous hand-painted world on a search for your true identity. As the mysterious warrior, Dust, your action-packed journey will take you from peaceful glades to snowy mountaintops and beyond.

For an 11 year old game, this held up really nicely. The combat was smooth, just enough hack and slash for me, and the voice acting was nice. The graphics surprised me positively and I do have a soft spot for Anthropomorphic characters. The story was good enough to follow along. There was a lot of content to explore, but I rushed through the story, as the world did not grab me, but I would say I enjoyed it enough.

---

Minit

Minit is a peculiar little adventure played sixty seconds at a time.

I should have noticed that this isn’t just a little puzzle game with simple black and white graphics (which I really liked), but the twist is that it resets you back at your “house” every 60 seconds. I found this really frustrating and not actually enjoyable.

While the first couple of puzzles were fun, as the map was unlocked I liked the timer less and less and I would love to be able to turn it off to complete the puzzles without it. I abandoned it after a couple of hours.

---

Downwell

Again another contender for simple graphics and fun. This is my new “just pick up and play” game in between other games.

Downwell is a curious game about a young person venturing down a well in search of untold treasures with only his Gunboots to protect him.

This is an easy to pick up and play for a few minutes game. You are falling and need to avoid and/or destroy enemies as you fall with your Gunboots. It is simple and easy to get in to and there is no complicated map to traverse. I am nowhere near completing it but this is one for when I just need to chill out for a little bit.

---

Blasphemous

Blasphemous is a brutal action-platformer with skilled hack’n slash combat set in the nightmare world of Cvstodia. Explore, upgrade your abilities, and perform savage executions on the hordes of enemies that stand between you and your quest to break eternal damnation.

You can find my detailed review of this game here, or just read my verdict below.

Blasphemous had the fun factor for me. I do describe it as a “2D Elden Ring” as it invoked that same feeling of frustration and wonder, followed by accomplishment in me, while having the eery and creepy factor in terms of art style.
I wanted to see the next section and beat it. If you can conquer the initial frustration of being a bit underpowered and needing to learn the various attack patterns of the enemies, there is a story rich game to explore with beautiful and brutal environments. You can easily sink 20 hours into the game, exploring all corners and collecting all loot, making it worth its price tag. Besides it is often on sale.

---

Blasphemous 2

The Penitent One awakens as Blasphemous 2 joins him once again in an endless struggle against The Miracle. Dive into a perilous new world filled with mysteries and secrets to discover, and tear your way through monstrous foes that stand between you and your quest to end the cycle once and for all. 

After completing the first one, I jumped straight into the second instalment. Initially I wondered if the magic that i felt played the first one was somehow missing, but once I unlocked a few more of the abilities, I started to really love the game. The combo of all the good bits (and some of the bad) of the first one and the addition of more puzzles and platform challenges are a nice improvement on the original. I can’t wait to share my thoughts in detail about this game.

---

What did you play in October? Did you stick with spooky games or a mix of different genres? Maybe you played just one game or ten? Let’s talk about it.