Week in Review - 6/26/2026

 

This review will cover this week and last week, because I was out of town and did not get a chance to update as much as I hoped. Now that Soul Hackers 2 is crossed off my list, I'm having trouble deciding what my next big game will be - so standby for choice paralysis. 

• Dave the Diver (PC - Steam)

This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who knows me, but I do really enjoy fishing in video games. Dave the Diver is not your typical fishing since it's more about diving with a harpoon than fishing with a rod, but I love it all the same! This is one of my comfort food games. I go back and restart it once a year and I daresay I've never even finished it. Every time I come back there is new DLC to (maybe?) check out if I get far enough into it - and this year is no different. "Into the Jungle" just came out, so I decided to dive back into Dave. I'm really going slow and building up the restaurant more than I ever have before. I doubt there will be new content because Bancho a prequel story has been announced and I'm there for it. 

• Dead Cells (Switch)

This is another comfort game. It's another game I start over and over again - collect things over and over again, but never really get to its ultimate conclusion. It's another game that always seems to have new free content or new DLC each time I come at it. It's another game that I think content is at its cap, though, because this team has been working on a new game that I am super excited to get my hands on this year. Konami actually gave these guys the keys to the kingdom to make a new Castlevania game - the first in over a decade! Castlevania: Belmont's Curse comes out this fall - right around my birthday! - and has a female protagonist to really entice me into buying it on its launch day. I love Dead Cells and I am so excited to see what they do in Castlevania. 

• Don't Starve Together (PC - Steam)

I have been playing this once or twice a month with a close friend. I used to play Don't Starve (the original game, not Together) quite a lot when it came out and I got quite far into it. I have forgotten all my skills, or Together is just such a different animal that you have to relearn how to stay alive. That said, this last attempt we got to our first winter - and immediately died. It's the farthest we've made as a team! There's so much time that passes between each attempt, though, that anything we learn will have to be relearned and relearned over and over. Progress is very incremental, but it's a fun way to pass a few hours laughing and enjoying time with a friend or two. 

• Soul Hackers 2 (PlayStation 5)

I beat this game last week. I really had to force myself to keep playing it. As I mentioned, I tried it while it was in its last few days on PlayStation Plus. I knew it had bad reviews, but the beginning of the game actually impressed me. The visuals are great. The character designs are great. The graphics in battle - especially the demons themselves - are outstanding. The battle system is very fun. As it fell off PlayStation Plus, it was on sale with all DLC for $17 and I bought it. However, the game really starts to fall off after those initial good vibes. The story is incoherent. It's interesting, but I never really had a clue what was going on. The dungeons are so, so boring. I hope you like subway systems and warehouses. This is just a very mediocre entry in the franchise that does not live up to its potential. 

Games I Need to Finish

• Pokémon Blue (Genlocke)
• Yakuza 3 Remaster
• Yakuza Kiwami 3 / Dark Ties
• Monster Hunter Stories 2
• CyberPunk 2077
• Trails to Azure 

Week in Review - 6/12/2026

  

I feel invested in Soul Hackers 2 since I bought it during a time where I'm trying not to spend (too much) money on video games. However, the game just really wore out its welcome and I'm struggling to sit down and play it when I only have an hour or so a night (if I'm not too tired). 

It was also a big week in gaming news and reveals. Some of the things I'm most excited about were the smaller projects that got swept away by big reveals like Final Fantasy 7 Revelations, Ocarina of Time and Persona 4 Revival & Persona 6 confirmation. I'm more interested in Castlevania: Belmont's Curse made by the team that did Dead Cells which was a great game inspired by the Castlevania franchise. I dare say Final Fantasy Resonance is about the most exciting Final Fantasy announcement I've seen in years. Brave Exvius was a game that looked awesome and I really wanted to play, but never got a chance - so I would love to see that game play out across Resonance installments. The trend of re-creating quality mobile gacha games into solid single-player experiences (Octopath 0, Another Eden) continues to delight me. 

• Monster Sanctuary (Switch)

I only got to sit down with this game for a few minutes this week, so I don't have much to report. Instead, I will tell you my early game team. I chose Spectral Lion as my Spirit Beast (starter) and his name is Solaris. I'm also using a Blob named Bloop as my healer. A Vaero named Beat as my buffer. I have not invested in my backup crew; they each have 9 skill points I have yet to distribute because I do not know how to build them. The backup crew includes Yetimon the Yowie, Magpi the Magmapillar, and Brock the Rocky. That's really all I have to say about it. I want to beat this game because it's good, but there's also something not-quite-right about it that doesn't hold my attention very long. My previous attempt, I got 24% completion and I'm sitting at 16% right now. 

• Rogue Legacy (PC - Steam)

This is a very fun rouge-lite game. I want to do some kind of challenge log with my son, but I haven't quite conceptualized what to do. The gist of this game is that you're playing a family bloodline that's trying to explore this dungeon. Each death is permanent, but then you choose your descendant to start a new run. Between runs, you build up your local township which unlocks new classes for future generations, increases their stats, or unlocks new items and equipment. The gameplay loop is very satisfying. Each character has a class they're locked into but they are also afflicted with genetic traits that can be positive or negative (and a few completely neutral). For example, if your descendant is colorblind, the entire run will be monochrome. It's very clever. 

Week in Review - 6/5/2026

 

I haven't had a chance to play games in the previous two weeks. I am a bit more committed to keeping up with the Week in Review this year, but I'm just so busy these days I don't have as much time for games! 

• Monster Sanctuary (Switch)

This is a very creative blend of monster taming and Metroidvania. I have started this game a couple of times now and never quite made it through to the end, but it's one I definitely enjoy. These developers recently made a pseudo-sequel which is monster taming mixed with roguelite elements in the same universe as Monster Sanctuary so it has reinvigorated me to come back to this world. That game is called Aethermancer and it is currently in early access. Monster Sanctuary lets you travel with 6 monsters that have unique field abilities to access new areas of the Castlevania/Metroid style map. You battle in 3v3 monster battles with your typical elemental weaknesses. The monsters have skill trees to make customizing them very unique. 

• Soul Hackers 2 (PlayStation 5)

I continue to push through this game because I bought it on sale as it fell off PlayStation Plus. My first impressions were overall positive, but as I continue through the game I see more and more flaws. The characters and monsters are quite stunning visually, but the dungeons are some of the most boring environments I've ever seen. Do you like sewers? These game developers do. The dungeon designs are really quite bad. The story is very confusing. This game is carried by its great combat system (a mix of Shin Megami Tensei & Persona) but everything else is starting to feel quite lazy. I know they also patched in some QOL elements like running and fast-forwarding battles. I can see why this game launched to unfavorable reviews. The more I play, the more I wish I was playing Shin Megami Tensei or Persona. 

Week in Review - 5/15/2026

 

• Planet of Lana (PC - GamePass)

I'm really hitting a lot of games before they disappear from the subscriptions that I pay for. This is a very short and very beautiful game about a girl named Lana separated from her ... friend? Sibling? The graphics are amazing. The music is amazing. I believe it took about 4-5 hours, so it's not a huge commitment of time for a very emotional and simply told story. It's a puzzle-platform game, so it reminded me of old classics like the Oddworld franchise - Abe's Oddysee and Abe's Exodus. It has such a minimalist story told through the exploration of the world to reunite these two children - and you get a cute little pet to accompany you on the journey. I can't recommend this short game enough. I'm glad I got a chance before it disappeared out of my sphere of games. 

• Soul Hackers 2 (PlayStation 5)

This is another game that I've wanted to try but is falling off PlayStation Plus on May 19th. I highly doubt I will be able to finish it in time, but if I get hooked then maybe I will buy it on an upcoming sale. For a spin-off in the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, it doesn't have the greatest reputation. I have to say the opening sequence was extremely confusing. The graphics are awesome and gameplay seem very fun so far. I see the name Kuzunoha is mentioned in this game. That's another game (Raidoh Kuzunoha) I need to play. It is so far and overall enjoyable. I'm not entirely sure what all the negative press was about, but it has also gone through a few patches as I'm playing it 2 years after its launch.

Week in Review - 5/8/2026

 

• Don't Starve Together (PC / Steam)

Back in the day, Don't Starve was a constant favorite. I've owned Don't Starve Together since it was created because I enjoyed playing the original in tandem with others to compete to see how far we could survive. Together takes it to a whole new level. I'm really bad at it. Though I don't starve that often, I can't seem to stay alive for longer than a week or two. I really want to get better at surviving in this game. So far, I only play Wilson. Perhaps I need to branch out.

• Sand Land (PlayStation 5)

I finished Sand Land this week. It took a lot of determination. It's not a bad game, but I found it very mediocre. The story is cute. The characters are endearing and memorable. It reminds me in a lot of ways of Blue Dragon in that regard. However, I had a lot more fun playing Blue Dragon due to it being a turn-based RPG with a robust job system. The systems in Sand Land feel very half-baked. I really enjoy crafting and kitting out the vehicles - which feels like the main draw of the game - but the combat itself is so repetitive and ultimately quite boring. I had to really force myself to finish the game on a deadline. It was enjoyable, but also rather forgetable. It made me want to play other tank-based RPG games like Valkyria Chronicles or something in the Metal Max franchise. 

• Vampire Survivors (PC / Game Pass)

This game has been on my radar for a long time. It's very popular. People love it. Everyone says I'd like it, but it doesn't look like a game that I would like. Since I absolutely love Vampire Crawlers, I finally tried it. Shocking news! I don't like it. I played it for 45 minutes then uninstalled it. I did like the references in Vampire Crawlers as they translated from this game, but I don't like the gameplay loop at all of this game. I don't like bullet hells in general - or reverse bullet hells, apparently. The exception is Hades because my love for Greek mythology surpasses vampires, I guess. 

Week in Review - 5/1/2026

 

• Pokémon Blue (GameBoy)

I started a project that I wanted to do for a long time. This is Phase 1 of a Generational Nuzlocke or Genlocke where I try to go through as many games as possible in a Nuzlocke-style. Each subsequent game (or Generation) I will carry over surviving members of the team that made it into the Hall of Fame as a new generation. I also cannot use any previous evolution lines that have been used (gained experience) so if I lose a Pidgey in Pokémon Blue then I can never use a Pidgey-line ever again in the run. 

• Sand Land (PlayStation 5)

This game launched right around the death of legendary Akira Toriyama. I had thought to buy it and play through it as an homage to the great creator, but upon playing the demo of the game was sadly underwhelmed - I played a bit of Xenoverse and Kakarot instead. This game leaves PlayStation Plus on May 19, so I decided now or never on checking it out. The demo is not representative of the game, but the game is still fairly mediocre. I'm enjoying the characters and the story, but the gameplay is repetitive. 

• Vampire Crawlers (PC)

I took a pass on Vampire Survivor, but this game is right in my wheelhouse as a dungeon exploring deck-building adventure. I may have to rethink Vampire Survivor since this game is just so amazing. I have lost countless hours checking this game out this week. I don't know what to say about it except it feels like my new deckbuilding obsession akin to Balatro or Slay the Spire back in their day. 

• Yakuza 3 Remaster (PlayStation 4) 

It should not be a shock at this point that "Like a Dragon" is in my TOP 3 best franchises. Yakuza 3 has been sort of the odd man out in this journey because the remaster didn't really do enough to make the game as accessible as Kiwami versions of 1 & 2. However, be careful what you wish for. I'm playing Yakuza 3 alongside the newly released Kiwami 3 and I daresay I'm enjoying the remaster of the original a lot more than Kiwami 3. They changed too much. 

• Yakuza Kiwami 3 (PlayStation 5) 

That brings me to Yakuza Kiwami 3 which is a good game. It's fun. It's silly. It's got great combat, but they just changed too much of the story for reasons I cannot understand. They ditched hostesses; they took 100 substories down to 30 and most of them are new and add nothing of substance. The addition of the biker gang story is fine, but nothing to write home about. Turning the orphanage into its own side-content is a strange choice, because on the one hand it's a lot more in-depth managing the orphanage and hanging out with the kiddos, but removing it from the mandatory storyline means a lot of people might pass over getting to know these kids - which impacts how you feel about Kiryu and how you feel about the orphans in the future games. 

Overall, Kiwami 3 feels like an attempt to make Yakuza 3 more fun to a modern gamer, but totally disregards how it will translate into Yakuza 4-5-6-8 of Kiryu's journey going forward. The choices RGG made to keep, add, remove content is so strange to me. I think it's a good, fun game, but now it doesn't quite fit in with the subsequent games.