iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

That said, I think I'll still keep the idea of finishing the shortest games I've got in the backlog each year - just that eventually I'll need full-sized reviews for those instead. Eh, there's always an option to adapt to later realities of my hobby.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

My Quick Reviews this year really aren't quick at all! So far, many of them have come very close to the 1K words, when in previous years I was trying to keep it to 500, maybe 700. I do think I'm approaching the end of Quick Reviews as a concept. Maybe one more year and that'll be it...

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Unfortunately, that's a fail. No review of Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles this year. I'll have to buy a whole new copy, 'cause now that I've started, I'll definitely want to finish it either way. Oh well, it happens. Such are the risks with flea market purchases.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Shovel Knight is one of the most famous indie franchises out there, so I was quite happy to finally experience it! A tough platformer with modern sensibilities, a fun tone, and plenty of additional challenge for those who seek it! Oh, and the Treasure Trove edition contains 5 games instead of one!

plannedallalong.blogspot.com

Quick Review: Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove

Planned All Along is a video game review blog that puts emphasis on the story aspect of games. With occasional comedy. New reviews on Fridays.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Well! A year late, but I'm finally starting Hazbin Hotel Season 2. Why a year late? As I said many times before, I try to stay away from streaming services. Especially Amazon... ...But someone in my family needed something on that platform, so screw it, Prime for two months to go with it.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Amazing movie. Not entirely inaccurate to say that it isn't for the faint of heart; you gotta know you're gonna watch some pretty intense body horror. The climax is best described as going so over-the-top it circles back to being hilarious... if you like really, really dark humor.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

So, if I want to properly review the game, I guess I'm gonna need to find a way to repair the game. Maybe there are shops near me that can do that. Either way, it's a little too late to plan this review for Halloween. Was hoping for a November publication... maybe it'll have to wait longer...

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

For my blog I started playing Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles on my Wii. I found the game at a flea market last year, and unfortunately it has a few flaws. I think it may be lightly scratched. I managed to play through a few missions, but the disc stops reading or crashes frequently.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Road 96 is a narrative-driven roguelite. How does that work? Every run is divided into story segments encountered in a random order! Thus, as you play through and either lose or win runs, you see the world and its characters develop towards the conclusion... however dark it may get.

plannedallalong.blogspot.com

Quick Review: Road 96

Planned All Along is a video game review blog that puts emphasis on the story aspect of games. With occasional comedy. New reviews on Fridays.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Finished adding images on my Friday review. Time to start a new game! I do enjoy this system I've made up. It allows me to play lots of my games through the year, it's near. I can feel the backlog getting smaller... Not fast enough, but still! Steps are taken!

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The game I'll be covering this Friday is Road 96. It is currently on sale at 75% discount on Steam! The offer ends right on October 1st, the day before I publish. Therefore, if you're interested, here's the link, and you can check it out in advance, maybe even buy it if you are interested!

store.steampowered.com

Save 75% on Road 96 🛣️ on Steam

Hitchhike your way to freedom in this crazy procedurally generated road trip. No one's road is the same!

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I probably could have said no Jokers be perishable in the very first shop either, but... Gotta keep a little bit of risk, I suppose. Just... the number of times lately I wasted my money on a pack, only to have BOTH Jokers be Rentals and/or perishables... UGH!

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

-Reduce Violet Vessel, because I've now had several Gold Stake runs where I was scraping by perfectly fine getting to 400,000, but NOT 1,200,000. Can you tell these specific details are my biggest annoyances with the game, based on all my attempts towards C++? Ugh.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Four ways I would personally improve Balatro: -Reduce card modifier (eternal, perishable, rental) chance for any Joker from 30% to 25%. -Make it so no Jokers in the first shop are Rental. These fucking suck. -Crimson Heart can't debuff the same Joker twice (unless it's debuffed every other joker 1X)

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Laura Shigihara's Rakuen, is an emotional journey. A boy in a hospital meets the other patients on his floor. Then, he and his mother discover doors to a fantasy world where people of the hospital have equivalents - and through those, we learn everyone's greater stories. Yes, tears will be shed.

plannedallalong.blogspot.com

Quick Review: Rakuen

Planned All Along is a video game review blog that puts emphasis on the story aspect of games. With occasional comedy. New reviews on Fridays.

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Reposted by Nicolas Hamel

AnimaloftheElements @sariahoward.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

@Cozycononline.com Commission done for @Hamelnico.bsky.social! She's such a cute birdie! #myart #anotelart

An anthro crow woman holds up two hands cheerfully, with her left holding a wrench. Her hair is black and short with blue streaks in a gothic style, her eyes are bright orange. She wears a yellow tank top with a red pentagram in the center

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Tonight, I finished the game I'll be talking about next Friday! It's Rakuen. The RPG Maker game. If I tell you how it's left me, it will be saying too much. Too early, anyway; gotta leave some stuff for the article.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

As others have pointed out, this all boils down to a core tenet that is often forgotten about the character. "If you cannot picture your Batman comforting a crying child, you haven't written Batman." Not my words (I likely paraphrased), and I forget who first said it, but it is entirely accurate.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Is Hellblade a puzzle-based walking sim? An action game? A horror game? Well, it's got all three. All with an excellent story about a young woman with a traumatic past and her own mental struggles, facing deities of Norse mythology on a possibly futile quest. It's dark, yet beautiful. And excellent.

plannedallalong.blogspot.com

Quick Review: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Planned All Along is a video game review blog that puts emphasis on the story aspect of games. With occasional comedy. New reviews on Fridays.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Ambivalent. Would certainly like to know I've travelled much more, held jobs long-term, made more friends, and he'd probably like to see that my blog is doing well. Most of the stuff he wouldn't like I would easily explain by all the bullshit that's exterior to me that happened these past 14 years.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Tomorrow's article is ready for publication! Well, has been since last night, anyway. I started playing the next game yesterday, and... oh boy, it already got tears out of me, and I'm not even halfway through. That one's gonna be an emotional journey.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Oh boy, I can't wait for the new season of Quebec's version of The Masked Singer to begin! *The very first clue video uses gen-AI* ....God damn it!

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Every accusation is a confession!

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Allan “Blood Suckin’ Freak” Lorde @allanlorde.com · 13/09/2026

100%. For those unfamiliar, Van Halen had a line in their rider that essentially said “no brown M&Ms.” It was a way to see if the promoter had actually read the contract. They had a shitload of gear to tour with, so if they’re skipping one thing, it’s guaranteed they’re skipping something essential.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Today's game is Guacamelee! A metroidvania with loads of homages to other games and pop culture, set in Mexican mythology. And all the special moves are given a wrestling/luchador theming, too! And it all works incredibly well!

plannedallalong.blogspot.com

Quick Review: Guacamelee! Gold Edition

Planned All Along is a video game review blog that puts emphasis on the story aspect of games. With occasional comedy. New reviews on Fridays.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Tomorrow! Already the fifth Quick Review of the year! Oh, and I've been making steady progress into the sixth game as well! Hopefully that one is finished in time for Friday next week as well!

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Technically I also have two copies of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, which I am about to start playing, though the second copy I have came with the first and is the VR version, so I don't really have a use for it. Guess I'll just focus on the original for that one.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Oh, right! I also have the original and Definitive versions of Ori and the Blind Forest. What do I do with those doubles? Review just one of the two? Cover both for the blog? That'd be repeating a lot of stuff, no? Do I keep the extra copies for, like, streaming? I stream so rarely...

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Games on Steam I have in two copies: Guacamelee! (1X Gold Edition, 1X Super Turbo Championship Edition) Super Lucky's Tale (1X original, 1X New version) And earlier this year I had the new version of classic FFVII (I will play the original) and the Spacer's Choice for The Outer Worlds.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Mercola sounds like the new Wakefield.

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Reposted by Nicolas Hamel

Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

This is shameful discriminatory and misogynistic reporting. People aren’t choosing disability to be “cool”. Young women don’t have to “prove” to you that they’re sick. Disability rates are skyrocketing because we’ve left a disabling virus rip through the population for over 6 years.

Photo from the telegraph. Red background with a roll of wheelchair stickers on white paper. Text reads “how having a disability became cool”

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Back home from seeing Coyote vs ACME again (but this time my father came along). I learned about these last few months we have to transfer our 3DS-era Pokémon to Bank and then to Home, so I'm doing that now. I have X, Sun and Ultra Sun Pokémon to move around. It's gonna be a lot.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Never thought a game would be made where the entire point would be to kill millions of rapidly-multiplying bunnies. And yet, I tolerate that more than some of the other jokes in this game!

plannedallalong.blogspot.com

Quick Review: Fluffy Horde

Planned All Along is a video game review blog that puts emphasis on the story aspect of games. With occasional comedy. New reviews on Fridays.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

That thread was such a delight to read, I must've gone back to it three times in two days. The movie will still be in theaters in my area tomorrow, I already went last Saturday, and I am planning to go again tomorrow with my father, a huge fan of the Looney Tunes. I know he'll love it.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Maybe it's the exhaustion from my busy yesterday but I so feel like doing nothing tonight... My review for tomorrow is ready and I should start playing the next game, but it's like interest (or will) isn't quite there. On the plus side, I'm already down to just 11 Quick Review games to test!

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Reposted by Nicolas Hamel

who @who128.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I love that Coyote has great taste in music.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

At the entracte and I have tinnitus. They are friggin' amazing though.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

At the Bell Center tonight to attend a Rush concert! As a fan of Dream Theater since 2013, I knew I wasn't gonna pass up a chance to see one of their biggest inspirations! Rush are legendary after all.

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Tuta @tuta.com · 31/08/2026

If you have a Gmail account, you need to read this. Google's AI now scans your emails and attachments, bank statements, tax files, medical letters, all of it. It turned on by default, and there's a class-action lawsuit over how. Here are 5 moves to shut it off, the switch is hidden in two places:

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Reposted by Nicolas Hamel

Quest 64 Official @quest64official.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

This is what my nightmares are like after I take too much cough syrup

A bunch of YouTubers doing the o face for GTA6

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Deal with your mafiosi crook of a president, get rid of your gestapo, and we will see if we still care enough to come back. Fucking DISCOUNTS?? While our independence is threatened on the daily???? While your guy, stuck between a war and the Epstein files, renames what he has no business touching??

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I went to see Coyote vs. ACME on Saturday night. It's excellent, I loved it. Go see it, as soon as possible. And I do mean it; as it might not stay in theaters for very long...

plannedallalong.blogspot.com

Movie Review: Coyote vs. ACME

Planned All Along is a video game review blog that puts emphasis on the story aspect of games. With occasional comedy. New reviews on Fridays.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Unfortunately I don't have 10. Have this list of 7 though! Dream Theater Weird Al Yankovic QW4RTZ Lisa LeBlanc Les Trois Accords Grand Corps Malade I've Made Too Much Pasta And in less than a week, I'll be seeing Rush, so... make that a potential 8. Wow, my music interests reach wide 'n weird.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Probably the toughest part of writing lately has been trying to remember very specific words and failing to recall them. Weird how often TVTropes has helped me with that, too; the latest one I was racking my brain trying to remember was "Rube Goldberg device".

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David Avallone @davallone.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

“Consumerism as activism” can be a questionable tactic… but it’s worth noting: if you all see COYOTE VS ACME this weekend and make it a giant hit… you will specifically humiliate David Zaslov and make him miserable… while also seeing an entertaining and heartfelt movie. The definition of win/win.

static.klipy.com

Wile E. Coyote Bored

Alt: Wile E. Coyote files his fingernails.

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Nicolas Hamel @hamelnico.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

At the theater for Coyote vs ACME!

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Reposted by Nicolas Hamel

Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Journalists need to stop describing these incidents in terms implying software has agency and intent. It does not. The people who created a faulty and dangerous product are the ones responsible for whatever happens, and must be held to account, with punitive financial penalties for damage done.

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