Throughout the year, I’ve been playing video games. Old games, new games, it doesn’t matter when it came out. All that matters is if you have fun. And to quote Reggie Fils-Aimé, “if it’s not fun, why bother?” This school year has been a long one, as it is every year. New experiences lengthen one’s awareness of each moment, before it becomes expected and usual, then it becomes a short year. However, the spice of life that is my game library keeps me aware of every day spent in this college environment, blending around me. They mark nodes in time I can look back on, remember the good with the bad, and experience something beyond the now and the then on their own: they come together to help me reflect on more than just the past and the present, but what I can take towards the future.
What I mean to say is that I’ve been reading a lot of Fire Force, and here are five games (that I’ve never written about before) out of the many (more than 10) games I played in the ’25-’26 school year.
Later Alligator: Genre: Minigame Point-and-Click Adventure | Released: Sept. 18, 2019 | Where: PC, Switch | Developed by: Pillow Fight | Published by: Pillow Fight
You play as a detective hired by the ever-paranoid Pat the Alligator and travel across Alligator New York City to snuff out a soon-to-be murderer from all of his Alligator family members and friends! Oooor they’re all planning a surprise birthday party and good ol’ Pat is fretting over nothing. Meeting the distinguished members of Pat’s neighborhood of friends and family features hilarious dialogue, expressive and personalized animations, and tons of minigames to master just in time to attend Pat’s party. Not many games are this effortlessly charming and funny, but that’s because everything has been tuned to fit the ’70s style Alligator New York City we all know when we see and hear it. It’s a grand ’ol time!
Umbrawclaw: Genre: Action Platformer | Released: May 30, 2024 | Where: PC, Xbox, Switch, Playstation | Developed by: Inti Creates | Published by: Inti Creates
A game that came from the crestfallen hope that his cat might come back to life one day, Satoru Nishizawa’s fourth directing position after the acclaimed Blaster Master 03 Trilogy is a platformer unlike any other. You play as the deceased house cat Kuon and journey through the Soulplane, a land filled with unsightly monsters and ferocious creatures, with the goal of escaping to reunite with your owner, Tsukumo, a young girl who always took good care of Kuon. As you explore the striking colors and paper-cutout-inspired environments, you collect gems to unlock abilities that reflect the traits of other animals, like a porcupine’s spikes to attack, a bat’s wings to fly, a tiger’s legs to charge, and many others. But you only gain access to them by taking damage yourself, and spending one of your nine lives. After you lose your lives, you take on a humanoid form, with more traditional controls and more powerful attacks. But once you leave the level, do you give up your power and restart from the bottom of the chain? Or do you keep your powers, and become something further from yourself …
Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo: Genre: Puzzle Visual Novel | Released: March 8,2023 | Where: PC, Switch, Mobile | Developed by: xeen | Published by: Square Enix
Not usually my vibe, but this truly was one of the most gripping narratives I’ve ever experienced. You play through multiple intersecting storylines, uncovering the mysterious arrangement of murders across the city of Honjo, Japan, where a deadly game has begun, full of people given supernatural abilities to curse those under specific conditions, only the curse bearer knows. You can’t trust anyone, and you don’t know who to trust, as the clock moves closer to night, and the curses come to light again, piecing together the mystery becomes a matter of life and death. The gameplay is a deceptively simple visual novel, but the puzzles are much more aware of that fact than you might think. With sharp character designs featuring unnervingly expressive faces and a soundtrack that sends as many chills down your spine as there are grooves, this is one to play in the dark. With the lights off and your nose just inches away … from your fate …
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin: Genre: Metroidvania | Released: Nov. 16, 2006; Aug. 27, 2024 | Where: Nintendo DS, PC, Xbox, Switch, Playstation | Developed by: Konami, M2 | Published by: Konami
In 1944, during WWII, Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin, descendants of those entrusted with the Belmont’s Vampire Killer whip, go and explore a castle that has mysteriously appeared over Europe, fearing that Dracula’s resurrection during the global conflict would bring the world into ruin. But instead of playing as one character, you play as two. Jonathan does the weapons, and Charlotte does the spells. This leads to one of the most unique Metroidvania games out there, as the combat is built with juggling two characters with a tap of the button, as their strengths and weaknesses compensate for each other. Charlotte can cast buffs on Jonathan as well as hit far-off targets with mana-consuming spells, and Jonathan has a variety of melee weapons for whatever the occasion requires. You could also have both characters on play at once, one being controlled by you and the other by a computer, letting the mana bar also be their health, adding a risk-reward aspect to the combat and exploration. It is my favorite of the DS Castlevania games, and with the Dominance Collection, they can now be played on modern hardware, where the newest title in the series, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, will be the first new mainline game in 18 years.
Hollow Knight: Silksong: Genre: Metroidvania | Released: Sep. 4, 2025 | Where: PC, Xbox, Switch, Playstation | Developed by: Team Cherry | Published by: Team Cherry
It’s Silksong. What do you want me to say? It’s all already been said. The fluid animations, the expressive acrobatic combat, the rich environmental storytelling, the multitude of bosses to fight and friends to meet, and the illustrious soundtrack. What else is there to say? … Well … honestly … it wasn’t THAT difficult really. Hollow Knight was harder, but that’s because I didn’t think I was able to beat it. The fact that I got through it gave me a hundred times more confidence to carry through Silksong than I ever thought possible, and that helped me beat some of its toughest challenges with a smile rather than a frown. That giant fly fucking sucks though fuck that guy.
Closing notes … closing notes … what to say … uh …
I really hope the Zelda movie is good! Here’s to more silly games and anime to talk about next year! Cheers!
*does a sick backflip*
