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It's been a year but still true.

This video is so good- why do you have so little subs? This is Whitelight quality!!

A more than welcome new year's treat, well worded and beautifully put together once again. Happy new year, looking forward to new Uploads - oh and I'd love your prosaic thoughts on a beautifully melancholic little winter game called Panelki.

This was always a fascinating project to see in the subscriptions feed, Tom. Something about concise, but extremely thoughtful critique of a bunch of varied games really helps a person overcome the multi-hour runtime maximalism that the TH-cam video essay world seems to embrace these days. Even when stacked together into a 1-hour whole, it all still felt very humble. Sometimes, just a quick little 4 or 5-minute long critique is all you need for a game. And as I've said many times in the past, you're a fantastic writer. I don't feel like a single word is wasted anytime you narrate. This anthological criticism format is a compelling one in so many ways, but I totally understand your desire to sunset this project and try out something new in 2025. Either way, I and many other people will happily keep watching. Have a great new year, sir. Looking forward to whatever you cook up next.

Hey man just wanted to let you know that your videos are amazing and although I have only discovered you with this video but it really made my day. I also subscribed and am looking forward to more amazing videos while I'll go watch your old stuff.

Good laugh at the sign off there, glad to see you got to Ys 1, an all timer! Unfortunately 2 loses that momentum that everyone comes to love with the original by introducing projectile magic, not overly egregious but it might not evoke the same feelings you expect from the first, just a wee heads-up. Seriously has to be said congratulations on everything this year mate, despite this particular project having a weariness to it there's been a lot of energy to your work this year I await each substack and video gleefully.

I really enjoy these micro essays

video is so well made and ur voice is soothing this deserves all the love, ty for something good to listen to while i level in WoW

I enjoyed the video; will have to check out the rest of this series! By the way, could you clear up a reference for me? You use a sound effect each time you show a title card for a game under discussion. I have seen other retro game TH-camrs use this sound effect in a similar way, which suggests this is a sample from an old game, but I can't place it. Where is this sound from?

What a pleasant time this was, learned a lot, added a few games to my own backlog. :) Wherever you take this channel next, I'll be there.

From where do I know the soundeffect that plays between the chapters? I've heard it before, but I can't remember where.

What's up with Double Fine and dentists?

Happy Holidays Love your reviews of obscure games I heard about years ago

I've been a bit slack on your videos this year but I'll make sure to go back and watch them! Great work though bud!

Did you play Inside?

There he is. The year has flown by.

imo Umurangi is one of the most under rated games out there

Great video! I recently started playing Balatro. It’s a fun game but I’m not blown away by it. I would give it a good 7 or 8 if I’m being generous. But then I often catch myself thinking about balatro outside of the game. Why does it capture me when I definitely enjoy other games more? I’m really interested in the game design behind this special game. Subscribed for the Disgaea mention 👌

I love this game. Hopefully those two lads will keep making these beautiful experiences.

disgaea car

I've had it about a month and I'm I'm planning on checking out these games over a very long time. I've only played about 10 games so far, and only deep dived on 2-3. Party House, Rock Island, and Mini & Max.

During October, I put a self ban on From Software games (Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and Bloodborne are basically the only games I play anymore) just to try and keep them from getting stale. I checked out UFO 50 on a whim, and was immediately hooked! Over 100 hours in and I still haven't dusted off every game My favorites so far are Rock On! Island, Warptank, and Bug Hunter

Disgaea is best described as a numeric sandbox. Lots of RPGs have a couple of absolutely busted things in them, the big thing about Disgaea is that it hands you all these ways to break the game over your knee and essentially tells you to go nuts. Things like Baal and Carnage Lieze are really nothing more than benchmarks for just how busted your guys are.

Great video, I do despair a wee bit seeing the rise of complaints against "time wasting" in games, because it's not just folk parroting critics, but these people are not considering their own relationship to games may be significantly different to that of a person on the constant algorithm grind who want games to be as frictionless as possible so they can hit a deadline and move on to the next thing. I can't help but imagine UFO 50 was constructed with that kind of culture in mind.

I was so prepared for this collection to eat up my time and it did until the next steam sale. I need to return to it because these games are just so good and interesting to me. This is the type of project that keeps my excited for and playing games even though it takes so much time and sometimes energy to do. I fear I might have subconsciously done what you describe in this video. Written off this collection as a group of fun minigames that I could always go back to when I have five minutes to kill. What a ridiculous idea! I've spent 4 hours playing that cowboy rpg that I can't remember the name of right now and I'm no where near done and I don't like rpgs (I might need to revisit that facet of my gaming personality fue to some recent revelations). Avians and House Party make me so happy that a board game designer was on the team you can really tell, expertly designed puzzle/strategy games. I haven't gotten very far into the action games because classic style games are hard and I am not very good but I will beat them all.

Has anybody noticed that this man backlog clearing is "paradoxically" the expansion of ours?

the problem is simple. 5 was so good it was very difficult to top it. 6 definitely didn't help since it looked like they just gave up after 5.

really love your writing voice, the art you engage with, and how you deliver narraration. A quick subscribe from me!

Cool video. Only thing I wished you did was put title cards of the names of the games. Maybe even a bug in the corner that lists the game being shown to make it easier to look up later

I love the "calm, slightly wistful philosopher" voice with which you narrate your videos :)

i love that this video opens with Babbdi. one of my favourite surrealist experiences

great video! i can tell you're gunna go far :) always nice to see other people who search for the weird and thoughtful indie gems

Wow, what a great gems collection! I can only imagine how much time you invested into this to come up with those picks. I very rarely leave comments. Why you have only 2k subs is beyond my understanding, so im leaving this comment for youtube algo to pick up.

In some ways this video is cathartic and reflective for me. I used to be someone who loved this game and thought it was just the best thing ever, and then I replayed it about a year ago and realized that as a game, I think it's kind of bad, actually. I definitely get what they were going for, and I do still love the aesthetic, art style, and dialogue, but to just look at those three things and not the package as a whole does a disservice to the audience and to the work itself. However, the real problem that I have is that this game has been endlessly praised and lauded as one of the best games of all time in retrospectives and online accounts, as if there's no possible reason this game could have failed. The mechanics of the game are frustrating and broken, and the story suffers from severe pacing issues to say the least; These points are almost never brought up in discussion of the game, save for new players simply being told to look up a walkthrough if they struggle with it- at that point, why even play the game if you're just going to follow exactly what someone else did? Yes, it's impressive and it's aesthetically pleasing for the time, and the dialogue is witty and sharp like a real noir film or novel, but the fact is that it's not a movie, it's not a book, it's a game, and the game part is what lets it down. But with that being said, it's important to appreciate that this game did have something to offer, and it did have a few things going for it, especially at a time when most games were derivative, gritty modern-day or futuristic FPS titles with very little in the way of artistic merit. It's obvious that there was a lot of passion behind this game that simply wasn't able to make it out because of hardware limitations, budget restraints, and release deadlines. Underneath all the executive and corporate horseshit, there's a passion project that poses some interesting questions about how we view the past vs. what it was really like, and allows us to question the concepts of honor, victory, and glory, and whether any of that really matters. I definitely don't unconditionally love the game like I used to, but I gained an appreciation for it having the courage to break the mold and pose deeper questions than most games were capable of or willing to do at the time.

Great essay for a fantastic game

This is such a comfy series, already looking forward to the christmassy episode in december <3

"An evil version of 'brat summer'" is such a powerful way to describe The Shrouded Isle

More games should copy Grandia's battle system just the right level of engaging and intuitive. Very good video series, hope the grind's not too much on you though!

Took me 3 years over time to beat hollow knight. By the time I ended it. I was at 101% done and had spent 70 hours in it . Still one of my favorite games ever made

Did anyone got into "D&D Classics" it's a bundle of old 30 D&D games and I think this a well I'd feel really good. I want to be immersed inside Loom (1990) like i was deeply immersed with Jack The Ripper (2004).

It's very very hard to catch up as an adult when I own over 300 games for one console alone not even counting the free ones I get and the other consoles I have . My life is so busy. Their are some games i know will never ever be finished and I'm more and more okay with it

I really want to get into Bullfrog Games, it's my favorite company, one that i remember when i was a kid, while not knowing what those are. I don't know why Theme Hospital was so interesting to a 6 y/o, the managing aspects are just so good. Never played Syndicate and it's sequel (the old Bullfrog ones), never played Dungeon Keeper nor 2 but really want to. Theme Park was nice. Populous The begining was and is still amazing. I want to know why Xcom Apocalypse is so well regarded. I want to play the other series of the company that gave me the best game of all times that is Jagged Alliance 2, but I want to play Wizzardry 8. I dunno what Realms of Arkana trilogy is but I want to know if it's good. And finally is The Longest Journey is the greatest story ever made. So I bought all of them. and wishlisted 60 (67) more PC games.

i wish you played black mesa instead of the original half life. nice video either way though

Small feedback - your timestamps are messed up

Balatro was the only game I bought this year. I heard it was inspired by Luck be a Landlord so I thought it would be good, and it did not disappoint. Simply the best roguelike made.

I've been watching hiking videos in home city. I love seeing people venture and explore some of the most beautiful regions of the world. I see them camp and subsist on their environment alone. It provides me residual satisfaction. The desire of escaping urban life and its baggage is alluring to me. Seems like a chance to return to the self and engage in the most serious reflection. There were many excuses to why I can't hike such as "I don't have the right gear", "there aren't any good trails near me", "I am too tired from work", etc. Now I am in Europe studying abroad, I have 4 months to essentially do whatever I want yet I am here, playing video games and writing a comment on TH-cam.

D5 is the big jrpg period.

wow really? i've also fallen out of interest with the Disgaeas, but this is one i think about often as well. hope it doesn't get done dirty like the remake of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles

Remakes are supposed to be different. Critiques about Demon Souls and SoTC are somewhat valid, because they are actually more remasters than remakes. There was no expectation around them from what a real remake would bring. People only expected the same game with a new visual coat of paint, and that's what they are for the most part. But SH2R isn't a remaster, it's not even a remake-lite like the ones above, though many fans think that's what it should be. It is, and rightfully so, is more like the Resident Evil remakes. Regarding the originals, yes, it sucks you can't really play the old titles on modern consoles, but there's no real responsibility for companies to constantly release old titles on new hardware. And remakes' purpose is not preservation of the original, nor is it replacing the original. You can and will always be able to play the original.