iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 31/10/2026

Sonic Dream Team! On PC! I waited so long for this damn game to get freed from the shackles of iDevices, but who knew it'd actually be really good! Unlike that Apple Arcade Shantae, the devs put high effort into this one. #MacReviews

Like a dream, I have awoken from Sonic Dream Team, a soothing nap that lasted 5h. It's really an actual Sonic game. How did they seal this away on Apple devices for so long? 9/10

Pros:
>Actual Sonic platforming! It feels pretty great! It's no Shadow Generations but it's better than Forces and Heroes
>The levels have a solid amount of variety in paths, giving opportunities for skill expression, pathing, and exploration
>Some banger tunes, from surprising composer Michiel van den Bos (Deus Ex, Unreal, Overlord)
>Playing as Rouge and Cream again is long overdue, even if I wish they weren't Knuckles and Tails clones, respectively
>Ariem is a totally killer design and I hope she shows up again
>The bosses are pretty good! Sonic games have a bad track record with bosses so this is a general step up in quality
>Most of the unlockable costumes are fucking inspired (Drummer Cream, Rockstar Rouge, and Idol Shadow should return in every game, tbh)

Cons:
>Visuals in the first few zones are a bit samey, with a sort of McDonald's PlayPlace vibe
>Not enough unlockable songs, especially since they choose some very mid options like Westopolis
>The CG-motion-comic cutscenes are really tragic when the models look this good and the properly-animated sequences are done so well
>Sonic only gets one costume? It's cool, but why

Port-Specific Cons:
>Had some bad stutters, also a crash
>A few cases where I was moving straight forward and started gliding as Knuckles only to suddenly jerk to the right for no reason, or I'd make a small adjustment while running and suddenly come to a complete stop and run back toward the camera for a brief moment
>Menus are still laid out for touchscreens so navigating them is a bit clunky on gamepad

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 31/10/2026

For Halloween I picked up two new horror game ports, Ecstatica and Dead of the Brain, and played both. Finished Ecstatica first and loved it! This game is so fucking silly. Had a fantastic time streaming it in discord to some friends. #MacReviews

Finished Ecstatica (2026 Remaster) in 2.2h. An absolute gem of a classic DOS game, dripping with goofy charm. 1994/10

Pros:
>Absolutely ridiculous amounts of small, incidental animation
>Tight game world where almost everywhere you go leads to some kind of progression or information
>Some of the funniest moments of slapstick I've ever experienced in a game
>This game doesn't explain shit. Get fucked, loser! Figure it out!
>You can push a priest off a roof

Cons:
>Listen I'm just gonna be totally clear: Some of this comedy aged like milk (the gimp-masked naked slave men and moaning whores
in the dungeon, for an obvious example)
>Subtitles can be a bit wack
>A few areas where camera angle changes are a bit too extreme
>Combat hitboxes are total dogshit lmao

100 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 27/10/2026

Finished another game from the bundle which I'd been interested in for a while: Botany Manor. A charming, bittersweet personal story told under a series of well-crafted environmental puzzles about growing plants. I really enjoyed this! Short and sweet. #MacReviews

Botany Manor key art, showing the titular Botany Manor

Finished Botany Manor in 2.6h. Women literally can't have anything, smh. 9/10

Pros:
>A series of well-crafted little puzzles
>The way Arabella and the manor's histories are laid out over a series of notes and letters makes it really enjoyable to discover
>Really lovely soundtrack woven into each moment of the game

Cons:
>The absence of "red herring" items to interact with in the environment means you can often figure out a goal by inference
>Would've liked the ability to hold multiple items at once
>No 1440p resolution option..? Bruh this came out in 2024

100 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 26/10/2026

Is This Game Trying To Kill Me? Maybe. I grabbed a bunch of puzzle/escape room games off Fanatical today and played through this one in Discord with some friends. Really had fun with this, even if bits are a little undercooked. #MacReviews

Steam Banner for Is This Game Trying to Kill Me?

Finished (all endings) Is This Game Trying to Kill Me? in 2h. It's a really charming and well-designed Escape Room with a unique gimmick. 8/10

Pros:
>The mechanic of making changes inside and outside of the in-universe videogame to progress is really fun
>The visuals are charming
>Solid puzzle design all around!

Cons:
>Music is generic (stock, presumably) and there's only like three songs
>Some mild bugginess (nothing that prevented progress)
>Script has some grammar jank, could've used a solid pass from an editor
>"Lore" elements are an unnecessary and half-baked attempt at doing Pony Island

100 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 26/10/2026

It's fucking insane that this isn't completely illegal, to be honest

Netflix opening page for One Piece, showing a full-screen ad for AMERICA'S NAVY: WE GET THE JOB DONE, EVEN WHEN NO ONE'S WATCHING

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 21/10/2026

Oh! I forgot to post this! Whoops! I finished a fun fangame called UFO 50 Nonograms, which is...a UFO 50 Nonogram game. I'm such a larper because I haven't played UFO 50 yet lmao. It's a good nonogram game, and it's available here: m3zik.itch.io/lx-nonograms #MacReviews

Finished UFO 50 Nonograms in an indeterminate amount of time (~20h?) It's nonograms of UFO 50 sprites. 8/10

Pros:
>Lots of nice flavor. It could've just been a few menus but instead it has this funky UFO 50 theming that makes it feel like a legit spinoff game
>Banging OST (it's the UFO 50 OST)
>Fun little progression system to earn resources and unlock the parts of your ship and finish the game
>Tons of puzzles

Cons:
>A few too many patterns of the type I can only describe as "hedge maze" which is the most tedious and boring kind of nonogram to solve
>Few "assist" features for easier play (I don't use these, but I think they should be there for newer and less skilled players)

100 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 21/10/2026

A surprising franchise revival that manages to feel like it fits the legacy while being a bold new direction. I'm so glad the new Castlevania fucks, and isn't just Deadcellsvania. One of my favourite games this year, but I think 2026 is too stacked for it to be a top-three. Recommend! #MacReviews

Incredible key artwork for Castlevania: Belmont's Curse

Finished all endings of Castlevania: Belmont's Curse in 16h. They really did something to forge a new identity, and I respect it massively. 9/10

Pros:
>The game is gorgeous, just totally insane how good it looks in gameplay
>Navigation and map structure is excellent, with areas weaving back on themselves in satisfying ways that makes exploring and backtracking fun
>A soundtrack with a really new sound for the franchise which pays homage to classic themes without being beholden to them
>Combat feels very deliberate and well-designed, and while it wasn't my preference for the game to have such an emphasis on it, it's never a detriment to the game
>Has love for the lore and history of the franchise in a way that is interesting instead of just needlessly reverent. I mean, they put fucking Brauner in this game. The Valmanway is here. These guys are clearly Castlevania sickos
>Really good character and creature designs across the board (especially the coolest a Succubus has ever looked)

Neutral:
>This game isn't like a classic Castlevania or an Igavania. If you just wanted them to continue these games it could be disappointing...but Bloodstained is right there. Years of indies jacking off Symphony's legacy are there. I'm happy to see something new in this series that feels like an evolution of ideas, not a trend-chasing husk (Lords of Shadow)

Cons:
>I turn into a beast when Skeleton Archers are in the room. I cannot function. I attack wildly and I get hit. Totally unable to react. This is a me problem, but I will complain anyway
>Some of the bosses feel like pushovers but maybe I was just cracked idk-- it seems like a side effect of the world being so nonlinear that you can do them wildly out of order
>Doesn't add anything to the timeline. An irrelevant quibble, since this is a gameplay-first series, but I hope we see a 1999 game someday
>Leveling seems like a vestigial mechanic, since the game has collectible ATK/DEF Up books, and weapons with increasing power anyway

100 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 08/10/2026

I bought one bicycle light set from Amazon over a year ago, for my bike which got immediately stolen, and I haven't owned a bike since (over a full year), but okay yeah

Interests and hobbies
Cycles regularly for transportation or recreation

Departments
Cycling equipment

Product Preferences
Consistently maintaining cycling equipment

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 05/10/2026

holy shit I cannot believe what a flawless trio of 10/10 albums this purchase was. Metal is so back (it never left)

Bandcamp post-purchase download page showing the following albums:

Innergazer by The Blind Philosopher
Solaris by The Ocean
Goh-Ka by Sigh

Links:
https://theblindphilosopher.bandcamp.com/album/innergazer
https://theocean.bandcamp.com/album/solaris
https://peaceville.bandcamp.com/album/goh-ka

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 30/09/2026

I really don't know what more people could ask for than what you already tell them

"NO AI WAS USED IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS VIDEO" snipped from the intro to an MLYP video

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 30/09/2026

I already wouldn't play your game with shitty GenAI voice acting but it's amazing how much a disclosure can make me actively *hate* the person who wrote it. (the game is Active Matter)

AI Generated Content Disclosure
The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

In-game AI character Ms. Second is using AI generated voice. Using humans voices for AI character would be cultural appropriation.

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 30/09/2026

I cleared the final window of The Artisan of Glimmith so I'd say I "beat" it. I'm gonna try and clear the rest of the puzzles because it really is quite good. Well-crafted, cozy, brain-tickling kind game, with *way* more puzzles than I expected. Really enjoyed my time with it. #MacReviews

Beat The Artisan of Glimmith (All Windows Restored) in 13h. 10/10
It's the kind of puzzle game that perfectly executes what it's trying to do.
Pros:
>Beautiful, clear visuals
>A very simple set of rules that make for complex puzzles
>Gives you a lot of freedom in how many puzzles you clear and how difficult you want your experience to be
>Searching for hidden puzzles on the map is fun

Not Really Cons:
>Music is a nothingburger (unobtrusive, unmemorable, and somewhat pretty)
>I am incapable of wrapping my head around the "Loopy" and "Bricky" rules and they routinely resulted in a lot of bad, dumb trial-and-error gameplay from me. This isn't the game's fault. I just suck

100 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 18/09/2026

Managed to finish Onimusha: Way of the Sword before @kenny.secretwalrus.club, whose copy I was playing. (Get fucked dude, I'm just built different!) This is my AAA GotY. Nobody but Capcom is making games this absurdly good at this level of fidelity. Gorgeous, and extremely fucking cool. #MacReviews

Finished Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Kinda-sorta did the Will Borger challenge, in that I never used the hozuki pouch for health, but I did use the one that refills Oni and Awakening Gauges, on the rare occasion that I remembered I had it. (Also used some consumables to increase Souls gained.) Either way, it took me 26h and it's a 9.5/10 game.
Pros:
>Truly satisfying combat design with deep systems that give you tons of control over the flow of each fight
>Boss design, both visual and mechanical, is absolutely top-notch across the board, including the best Blowjob Brothers in gaming history
>I don't know how any other parryslop could ever beat this. Three types of timed parry systems (and timed dodges!) each with their own advantages in battle
>Absolutely adore the level of risk/reward of going for an Issen, because it always makes you feel godlike when it pays off
>Miyamoto Musashi is a top-tier action game protagonist
>Sasaki Ganryu is also a top-tier villainous pathetic freak
>All of the cutscene animation work is totally insane. Characters have such expressive facial animations (especially Musashi, who fell right out of a lost Toshiro Mifune jidaigeki)
>I'm gonna dunk on the open-world aspects in the Cons, but a few of the hub's major sidequests (marked with the butterfly icon) were really memorable. I won't soon forget the Three Worms lady

Cons:
>Kudos to whichever guy on the staff had a specific fetish and made sure Lady Murasaki's lips made an audible smack whenever it zooms in on them, but I do not consent to being party to this
>The "open-world" hub area stuff is an unnecessary addition to a game that is otherwise quite well-paced. The rest of my Cons are all because of this design decision
>It would be much more interesting if they'd put hidden archery targets in the levels without needing to accept a quest and then tediously revisit large chunks of area you've already cleared. Then, maybe the quest would just add map markers to make it easier to clean up later (RE4make's blue medallions did it this way if I recall)
>All of the Chance Encounters are just busywork, and while I appreciate they sometimes put you in unique combat encounters, they were never difficult or interesting enough to be worth the time. It really was just padding to get upgrade materials that could've been doled out via progression if the game had just been a series of linear levels

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 14/09/2026

Oh man I love my RG35XXSP. I've had great luck with KNULLI as a firmware, and set a custom boot screen that my lovely wife @silmaera.bsky.social made.

photo of an Anbernic RG35XXSP, with a custom KNULLI boot screen showing my little scrimblo Macthulhu

Full resolution of the aforementioned Macthulhu artwork

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 12/09/2026

It's likely that if a friend of mine buys a game for me that isn't a Christmas gift, it's actually a gun pointed at my head. Bad Rats, Forspoken, etc...and now this. I am obligated by Discord Law to stream this entire fucking game to @themagnificentz.bsky.social now.

You’ve received a gift!

Your friend Aliens from Planet Z has given you Drag'n Wash on Steam.

Click the button below to accept this gift and add it to your Library.

[Drag'n Wash Steam banner]

I know how bad you wanted this, so here. Enjoy.
Signed: Aliens from Planet Z

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 11/09/2026

If the term "friendslop" suggests the existence of "friendkino," then Big Walk is the latter for sure. The best description I can give is "like Co-Op Myst," with a focus on exploring, communication, and experiencing moments as they happen. Played and reviewed with seven good friends. #MacReviews

The Walrus Club beat Big Walk in 8.4h. Collective review score: 10/10
Collaborative Review:

Pros:
>You can grab a friend and murder-suicide off a cliff
>It's so cozy. Riding the monorail or chairlift with your friends, chatting in one of the hangout spots, or just walking and having a conversation.
>I have never been more rewarded for pointing at something and saying "wow, what's that let's go there."
>Probably the best co-op puzzle game I've played so far? It owes a bit to the fact that you can split up and do the puzzles in groups instead of everyone doing the same puzzles all the time.
>Colourful and engaging puzzles
>Absolutely hilarious puzzle design, constantly making you find new and unique ways of telling your friends what to do.
>*inaudible*

Cons:
>Game advocates for everyone to be the same color at the end (paint-eugenics?)
>I didn't see that balloon like I wanted to so I hate you.
>Need nicer friends who won't steal my emotional support teapot 🙁
>Nighttime is scar

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 05/09/2026

I was underwhelmed by Hollow Knight, not because the game isn't good (it is!) but because I just didn't enjoy the map design/structure. As a huge Metroidvania fan I think it's sloppy. It also needs an input-buffering rework to fix its many dropped inputs. The rest of it is great, though! #MacReviews

Hollow Knight cover image, showing the (not-titular) Knight

Cleared the main game of Hollow Knight in 19h (Sealed Siblings and Dream No More endings. No Godmaster or Grimm Troupe stuff.). 7.5/10 It's frustratingly flawed, but beautiful and memorable.

Pros:
>Looks absolutely gorgeous
>Impeccable atmosphere, with huge props to the music
>Many boss fights are truly great; in particular I loved fighting Lost Kin, Dung Defender, and Grey Prince Zote

>Taps into the desolate and mysterious feeling of Dark Souls without feeling like a knockoff-- No wonder the game sparked so many people's imaginations, the setting really does have the sauce
>Zote is the goat
>Aside from the (many) times the walljump failed me, the platforming is quite good and the White Palace Super Meat Boy Buzzsaw Challenge
was a good flex of it
>The ability to refight some of the bosses with harder patterns was really appreciated and quite fun, I love when games do this
>The finale was really excellent

Cons:
>I just don't think it's very good at being a Metroidvania. I spent easily 1/3 of my playtime backtracking unnecessarily, because I had no clue where to go, and it was becoming really demoralizing to reach the ends of new paths and find a new, different kind of roadblock dozens of times without any hint at progression. Every time I sat down at the game I was spending upwards of an hour just trying to find a place I could make progress, and that is very unusual for me (who has been blazing through Metroidvanias for over twenty years)
>I don't really think the difficulty has a curve, just a series of random spikes and dips
>Probably the absolute worst walljump I've ever felt-- this shit had me repeatedly taking damage and missing jumps because of its horrible inconsistency
>Similar to my issues with Mina the Hollower, I think the Soulslike elements don't do anything to aid the game, and can make it very irritating when you're forced to do a corpse run to an area you know is a dead-end because you had the misfortune of dying on the way back

100 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 30/08/2026

Well, I rolled credits and am satisfied with the game, so I'll call it "beaten." So, Cursed Words! It's really good! I think I enjoy it more than Balatro, even. You should put your hand in this blender. #MacReviews

Well, I guess I beat (rolled credits on) Cursed Words. As for progress, I've done about 10% of the challenges and gotten a Pink Crown (fifth prestige) on one character. Calling it anyway. 35 hours, and this is a solid Yes out of 10

[a screenshot showing the text "COMPLETION PERCENTAGE: 26.8%"]

Pros:
>It's really got the juice of Balatro's score-and-multiplier build management system
>Absolutely crazy variety in builds, making each run feel pretty distinct
>The music is fucking fantastic, especially the way it intensifies as you progress, or warps as your multipliers rack up during scoring
>Cute writing, not that there's a lot of it
>I'm a big fan of all these weird puppet freaks

Cons:
>Much like Balatro, which is only nominally a video-poker game, the Bookworm gameplay is only a slim veneer that only becomes more irrelevant as the upgrades roll in, leading to "words" consisting of 12 chess pieces, a pair of socks, and the number 9. I don't think this makes the game worse, but it does make it a poor substitute for Bookworm (which it isn't trying to be!)
>Many of the characters' innate effects become largely irrelevant in your builds as they don't scale very strongly (with some exceptions)

[Another screenshot showing the character Michael saying "I mean seriously... (a string of symbols) and (another string of symbols)? They're just a jumble of tiles! Words used to mean something you know?!"]

100 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 20/08/2026

Finally finished Unbeatable. Took me ages because I really couldn't play unless I could sit down and commit my focus for an hour+ at a time. This is one of those messy, unpolished gems I absolutely must recommend, even if the gameplay didn't work that well for me. You should buy it. #MacReviews

Square Unbeatable icon from the Playstation store. The main character, Beat, is depicted with a guitar slung over her shoulder.

Discord post screenshot by Mac (me) from August 17th. It reads:
I beat Unbeatable in 10h. They really shouldn't have called it that. 8.5/10 It's perfect in every way except all the ways it's not. This one's complicated...

Pros:
>Really great writing, and some of my favourite dialogue ever
>Most of the rhythm minigames are great, especially the batting cages
>I mean yeah the music is fucking amazing, that should go without saying if you know anything about this game
>The end-of-chapter setpieces were really fun
>what if FLCL was a video game???
>Made me cry. Fuckers.

Cons:
>I...actually don't think I like playing the rhythm game part of this? It consistently felt like my failures were due to the UI being unintuitive, the timings wack, and the visuals highly distracting
>The text and voice lines are frequently disjointed, which was super distracting, and there's some instances of voice lines triggering on top of each other, even without pressing a button to progress early
>Some of the overlapping text boxes (that indicate one character interrupting another) trigger too fast and prevent you from reading what was being interrupted
>In general the flow of text is a huge mess and needs a lot of work. It's particularly annoying because the writing is so good
>Some of those insanely cool setpieces that cap each episode are suffering from a biiit too much jank

110 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 14/08/2026

I kept posting screenshots of my gameplay in Cursed Words until @xideony.bsky.social made this perfect explanation of a typical run. #CursedWords

The "Work Rules" meme with the "Awww, you're sweet" panel saying "Longest Word: ??[X][X][X]???[X][X]???[X][X]??E??[X][X]" and the Hello, Human Resouces?! panel saying "HENSHIN: Invalid Word"

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 08/08/2026

>Sold Out NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Act III: This City Made Us - Red 2XLP
Vinyl
SOLD OUT

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 03/08/2026

Welp, my first clear (I don't even have any Arcarum Blessings yet lol) I don't think a single battle has ever taken me this many turns, but as slowly as the boss was dying, I was also completely unkillable, so it was just a war of attrition (and hoping I didn't run the timer out)

Granblue Fantasy screenshot, showing the final boss of Evoking Solomonis: Allotropic Microcosm. The turn counter is at 121, and the boss is at zero HP. Only three of the four active character slots are filled, showing Gran (Kengo), Caim, and the Fullmetal Alchemist Collab character Edward Elric

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 31/07/2026

Support physical media and depressed anime girls at shop.hcnone.com

A photo of an order from hcnone, including a physical copy of Endless Monday: Dreams and Deadlines on a CD-R with a custom sketch on it. The other items are two stickers, a postcard-sized promo print for Endless Monday: In Progress, and a small Zine-style printed comic

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 29/07/2026

Not a clue. New owners had some weird ideas. It was spun as some charity thing (they put money from the NFT stuff into their Foundation) but even the original creator has said he hates it:

Question: Hey as you are the creator of WinAmp, I was wondering what your thoughts on this is? winamp.com/winamp-nft-initiative/
Asked by ShitfaceMcGee (67.86.16.x) on March 16 2022, 8:46pm

Reply on March 16 2022, 11:24pm (edited at March 16 2022, 11:25pm):
Strong disapproval for multiple reasons. Environmental impact is terrible, and also it is a negative-sum ecosystem so anything that encourages more people to buy into it so that the people who previously bought it (or mined-in) can cash out is a bad thing.

Helpful in-depth links:
Line Goes Up
David Rosenthal's EE380 talk

020 2

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 23/07/2026

Okay, I put 5 hours into Angel Essence but still haven't found all the secrets. Rolled credits, and was very satisfied. I am 100% a mark for this genre of game (Schmovement platformer metroidvanias with N64-inspired graphics) and will play every single one I can find. HARD RECOMMEND! #MacReviews

Completed Angel Essence in 5h. This is my hole. It was made for me. 10/10

Pros:
>Platforming is absolutely sick, just some of the most satisfying schmovement in the genre
>Music and atmosphere is on point. It's dreamy and I got absorbed into it
>Tons of places where tight movement can accomplish skips and sequence breaks, with later movement abilities trivializing some platforming while making you feel like a badass (this is basically the perfect combo for movement progression in a platformer, in my opinion)
>Cute characters
>I was desperate for more Pseudoregalia-likes and this satisfied the itch completely

Quirks:
>The stiff, janky animations are charming and low-rent. I really became endeared to them
>Some of these sound effects are so close to Zelda (especially OoT) it's borderline actionable lmao
>The story is simple, vague, and not very present...but also that's how I want a game like this to be, so I didn't mind

Cons:
>I was conditioned to hold the Run button while moving (you do not need to do this to keep speed in the air, btw!) so I kept wall-running
(once I unlocked the ability) by accident when trying to wall-kick. Not a big issue but I think a run toggle (LS/L3 maybe?) would be preferable to holding RT/R2
>A few low-budget-indie bugs and quirks, which I won't even bother listing here because they're wholly irrelevant and never impacted my play

110 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 21/07/2026

Watching @kenny.secretwalrus.club play the Alan Wake 2 DLC and this is the first thing I learned

INSIDE YOU THERE ARE TWO WOLVES

[A photo of a wolf looking at a motorcycle against the backdrop of the moon]

ONE OF THEM IS A MOTORCYCLE

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 06/07/2026

Support physical media. Appreciate your local depressed office worker. Buy burgers for anime girls. shop.hcnone.com

shop.app checkout results showing Very Tired Sticker and [Limited Edition] Endless Monday: Dreams and Deadlines Physical Edition (CD-R) purchased

I'm Doing My Part kid meme from Starship Troopers

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 27/06/2026

Moonsigil Atlas is a good game but I was annoyed by how many builds are functionally useless due to enemies (bosses especially) hard-countering them. Either way I had fun and I'll be there for any upcoming content updates. It also looks really pretty. #MacReviews

Beat Moonsigil Atlas in 18h. A quite creative deckbuilder with imperfect design. 8/10

Pros:
>Beautiful presentation
>Low resource usage so my PC fan isn't heating me up (this is important in the summer weather lately lmao)
>Very unique take on the genre of deckbuilder

Cons:
>Several deck builds can be hard-countered by certain enemies or bosses, and since the main three bosses are fixed, there are strategies that are fundamentally unplayable (several Tark'Thul builds are especially punished this way)
>Balance is wack, especially in regards to cards' tile size, with some strong cards being way too small and abusable
>Nearly every enemy has a mechanic to scale in difficulty as the turns pass, making any slow or defensive strategy completely untenable. While this means you can't have an interminably slow run, it also means you're pushed to build only the speediest high-damage builds for every character
>Music is quite boring

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Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 22/06/2026

Mina the Hollower makes me insanely frustrated, because I think it's good, but the best parts are smothered under choices that made the game very difficult to enjoy. It's flawed, and messy, and tragic. I hope their next game doesn't take this long to develop. (Spoilers in Alt Text) #MacReviews

Completed Mina the Hollower in 16.5h. This game makes me more frustrated than any other game this year possibly could. 7/10

Pros:
>Soundtrack is really excellent (Jake Kaufman does it again!)
>Sprites and art are great and Mina is super-duper expressive and adorable, even in her tiny sprite form
>The world has so much in it, so it can be enjoyable to simply explore
>Many of the environmental puzzles are really cool and fun to solve
>I like these little creatures, even the horrible clown freak who I hit every single time because he's a bastard and should suffer

Cons:
>Every Soulslike element of this game drags it down,
>Enemy/trap placements are often designed to "get you" rather than be a challenge
>Exploring the world, while fun, is weirdly devoid of satisfying rewards. Currency is pretty boring as a reward to a long optional platforming section, and fighting difficult enemies merely to find a place that spawns a Subweapon absolutely blows. Why can't there be Heart Containers or other permanent upgrades? I would've preferred that to the grinding-centric Zelda 2 leveling system
>Subweapons are a truly awful system for a game with this design. I do not want to spend time navigating the game world to collect a subweapon from a very specific location, especially for one that is either necessary (Bike or Parasol for platforming, early in the game) or to replace with one that's useful against a certain boss. These simply should be selectable from the Underlab like weapons are; this would also help with the previous issue as finding a new subweapon would instead be really cool!

>The game frequently obscures information in ways that nearly guarantee cheap hits. Sometimes these are due to intentional design (every time the game puts you in silhouette, where you sometimes cannot see an enemy's position or even that they exist, or the final dungeon's singular fully-undetectable mousetrap
, for instance) or caused by unintentional design issues (many bosses have attacks which can telegraph from offscreen, leaving you without a chance to react)
>Actual moment-to-moment gameplay feels pretty bad until you get a few trinkets that fix the shit that sucks. Then your trinket slots are mostly wasted on making the game play the way it feels like it already should have; this pretty much guaranteed I would never experiment with interesting new combinations, leaving at least 3/4 of the Trinkets totally useless to me
>Following from the previous complaint: Tons of the trinkets should be permanent upgrades that you have to earn, instead of equipment that takes up crucial limited slots, instead there are almost zero permanent upgrades beyond HP and Subweapon capacity (which are mostly earned by just buying them!!) so you don't have a feeling of growth through the game
>Post-boss Tower climb minigame is extremely awful! I truly hated playing it every time! When the second phase of the Final Boss was one of these I almost lost my mind until realizing they removed all of the mechanics of it and it's basically just for aesthetic purposes

>The final dungeon's auto-scroller section
is amazingly fraught with problems, including the screen boundaries being completely deceptive and a specific enemy's pattern causing a potential chain of repeated fall damage that guarantees a death
>The game had notable issues with lagging, which dropped inputs frequently, during specific platforming sections (namely the breaking ice floors, and the flickering timed platforms in the mirror world
)

100 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 18/06/2026

Some of these are a bit less obscure than others, but these are the games I want to hype up the most, from the past few years

Astlibra Revision, Paradise Killer, Endless Mondays: Dreams and Deadlines

Cryptmaster, Void Stranger, Carimara: beneath the forlorn limbs

Silly Polly Beast, Hypogea, FlyKnight

020 2

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 18/06/2026

Got a few surprise days off and took the time to double-down on gaming, so I finished the inimitable Titanium Court! This game is so, so wonderful. Unique in basically every way, and highly recommended. #MacReviews

I fully completed Titanium Court. 19h and it's basically impossible to rate as a game. 10/10 for what it is, and what it is was really amazing.

Pros:
>The writing started endlessly charming and then, at some point, became thought-provoking and emotional, without ever feeling like it broke stride
>Totally unique visual style that gestures toward retro without actually aping anything that came before
>While it eventually becomes apparent the gameplay loop isn't The Point, it's still a very creative and engaging loop
>Completely bonkers soundtrack had me frequently thinking "damn, nothing else sounds like this" which might be the highest praise I can offer
>Solo developer/composer/artist/writer??? Bro, how the goddamn

Cons:
>No game mode for simply playing, and as the game is quite dialogue-heavy it would've been nice to have a detached "Arcade" mode for just enjoying the core gameplay loop as it's so well-done it deserves more space to breathe

131 3

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 14/06/2026

Also finished the video game/illicit drug/roguelike hellhole called BALL x PIT. I shouldn't recommend this, because it's evil and addictive, but I will, because it's also extremely good. Go play it. #MacReviews

Rolled credits on BALL x PIT in 21h. Crack cocaine for a guy who grew up really into Breakout clones. 9.5/10

Pros:
>Maybe the best "pixel art put onto 3D models" visuals I've seen to date, as the 2D and 3D elements feel perfectly symbiotic
>Gameplay loop is fantastically fun
>The same "one more run" feeling that only the very best roguelites incite
>A sufficiently huge selection of balls and trinkets (aka weapons and passives) to keep runs varied
>You can become extremely broken and overpowered
>Soundtrack is all bangers

Cons:
>Because there is a raw numeric leveling process, you can't ever win a round by sheer skill
>Would've liked some levels to be a bit more "out there" and deviate from the formula
>A couple of the fusions are downgrades in some ways, and could use a tweak to make them more worthwhile

150 5

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 14/06/2026

An ancient Flash classic that launched a million clones. Crimson Room Reverse is a cool PSP remake of all the original Crimson Room games, and I had a lot of fun! Mastered on RetroAchievements, too, since it was very simple. Recommended as a piece of indie gaming history! #MacReviews

Cover art of Crimson Room Reverse for PSP

Mastered Crimson Room Reverse (PSP) in approx 3.5h. A collection of games that constitute the codifiers of the "Escape Room" genre of flash puzzles. Neat to try but not very substantial. 6.5/10

Pros:
>Being one of the very first doesn't mean it's not still unique
>Strong visual style with its stark primary-color aesthetic
>Cool skeleton (which might be you?
)

Cons:
>Some shit is a little more obtuse than necessary
>Some pixel-hunt parts where you're trying to find that one spot to click that moves the camera into a new position
>Very short
>Basically absent any plot

120 2

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 05/06/2026

I did the thing. Beat Bubsy. I wish I could beat him with a large metal pipe. Despicable creature. Very good game. Recommended. I hate this cat. #MacReviews

Beat Bubsy 4D in 2.5h. They made Bubsy good, but even God cannot make Bubsy cool. 8.5/10

Pros:
>Schmovement, as a bit
>Bubsy is so pathetic (charming)
>Levels are great to either speedrun or explore
>Very enjoyable to replay levels for good times

Cons:
>Real short
>Jank as shit, mostly visually
>Bosses are just okay

110 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 28/05/2026

Finished Pragmata! Capcom is truly untouched in the Triple-A gaming space; nobody is consistently knocking out bangers like them. Probably the best Small Child™ in gaming, as far as behaving kind of like a real kid and not constantly being condescended to. #MacReviews

Pragmata's boxart, showing the main characters Diana (a robot little girl) and Hugh Mann (a human in a spacesuit)

Finished Pragmata in around 13h (Steam playtime 15.5h). Capgod just never stops. 9/10

Pros:
>As you rewire your brain to keep track of hacking, dodging, and shooting simultaneously it becomes extremely satisfying
>Tons of tools to customize your approach to encounters
>Exploration is rewarding
>Sound design is phenomenal
>Precious robot daughter

Cons:
>Not much going on with the narrative
>The movement can be a bit stiff for what the VR side-missions ask of you
>"Take this!" (Hugh says this, and only this, whenever you execute a Finisher, which I was doing 3-5 times per encounter. They could have maybe recorded one or two more voice clips for this action considering how frequently it occurs)

110 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 11/05/2026

I beat Forbidden Solitaire! Yeah this game slaps. My only issue is that it is lacking in playtime compared to the dev's other Solitaire titles. I recommend it highly if the aesthetic calls to you, but if you only crave the gameplay, get Shadowhand. #MacReviews

Beat Forbidden Solitaire in 3.7h. Yeah, this is exactly what a game made by the Home Safety Hotline and Shadowhand developers would be like. 8/10

Pro:
>The retro-PC-game aesthetic is so fun and well-done, the game almost never feels like it's breaking the rules of prerendered CG from the era

Neutral:
>Instead of being convincing or engaging, the meta-plot is instead played really silly, like a bad creepypasta video. This is a taste thing, I personally thought it was really fun!

Cons:
>Not very long (less than one fifth of my Shadowhand playtime)

110 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 03/05/2026

April 24: Finished all the available content in Vampire Crawlers. Can't wait for updates to this! Absolute fucking banger. Nothing I say will be new information, y'all already know. #MacReviews

Finished Vampire Crawlers in 20h. 9/10. This game is a fucking dopamine hit, alright.

Pros:
>As with their previous game, the soundtrack absolutely rips
>The gameplay is satisfying, easy to pick up, and has more than enough depth to devise wild combos
>A barrage of slot-machine-esque audiovisual feedback that would blow the dick off a medieval peasant
>The (minimal) voice acting is the perfect kind of low-rent that makes it very charming

Cons:
>Somewhat disappointing lack of enemy variety, would've liked them to reuse a larger pool of Survivors' sprites
>When your hand gets too overfilled it can be annoying to navigate through the cards, especially with the UI partially covering the far ends
>Not as much content to replay or secrets to uncover as in Survivors, though to be fair the game clearly requires more effort to develop

110 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 03/05/2026

April 5: Played the great BNK translation of Progenitor. I really enjoyed this. A neat little space exploration game with a charming plot and fun characters. Also, it's the first PC-98 game I've ever beaten! #MacReviews

I beat PC-98 sci-fi game Progenitor in approximately 15h. This was a really fun little obscure gem. 8/10

Pros:
>PC-98 art and UI never fails to make me smile, and this has some great stuff
>A story that was interesting enough to keep things moving and not feel exceedingly dry
>A unique space combat system that seems to have inspired Platinum's Infinite Space years later
>Music is a bop (although there isn't much of it)

Cons:
>Some of the main cast basically never get any characterization at all
>A complete lack of side quests (beyond flavourless optional jobs for money) makes a bit of a straight shot through the story
>[Translation v.2025-12-11] Some of the optional text was left untranslated, which was always a bit frustrating to run into

100 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 03/05/2026

Mar 21: I beat Resident Evil 9! I think I would've preferred this be two full-length games but both halves are still so well-crafted that I can hardly complain. I'm already eager to replay it. I have experienced the entire Leon Kennedy Trilogy now. 6 isn't real, fuck you. #MacReviews

Finished Resi9ent 9vil Re9uiem in 14h. It's peak, I'm afraid. Re9uiem/Res10ent Evil.

Pros:
>It's basically two games stapled together, honoring and polishing the last decade of this franchise's gameplay styles
>Leon has become something between Dante and The Doom Slayer. It's so cool. It's so hilarious.
>The scares are legitimately really good in Grace's sections
>Leon can basically parry anything. It's absolutely insane and makes you feel like a god
>The best Resident Evil soundtrack out of any I've heard (it's also funny that Leon basically has DOOM 2016 music)

Cons:
>It's basically two games stapled together, instead of being two separate, better full-length games
>Parry timings feel wack sometimes
>Not enough unlockable cosmetics (smdh gimme Leon's RE4 jacket, this shouldn't be fuckin DLC)
>Replaying the Young Grace
section will be super boring and annoying

120 2

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 26/04/2026

Mar 16: Saw the finale of No Man's Sky. This one is crazy, as I've watched this game explode in content since playing it for 20-ish hours at launch (PS4). This isn't even the same game that released 11 years ago, and I have huge respect to the team for their decade-long dedication. #MacReviews

Beat No Man's Sky in 99h. After years of continuous development, they have made a shallow-but-pretty 5/10 exploration game into a really interesting, dense and pretty 7/10 survival game.

Pros:
>Hello Games' dedication to delivering a decade of free updates has made it the greatest zero-to-hero story in gaming
>The vastness of the game's scope cannot be overstated, not just in the procedurally-generated content, but the myriad gameplay systems
>Variety in world types is actually shocking, to the point that I was finding weird new planet types all the way to the end
>The story uses concepts that could be clichéd and boring, but handles them in a way that is really compelling
>Soundtrack is a legitimate post-rock masterpiece, and there isn't really a single weak point in the game's excellent sound design

Cons:
>This game is still a budget project from an indie studio, and it shows in some really awkward ways, especially animations, textures, and polish
>Piling dozens of new gameplay systems into a game that shipped as an empty wasteland leads to a kind of disjointed experience, as you're pulled in dozens of directions simultaneously. The upswing of this is that you always have new things to try, but it often felt distracting and messy instead
>An aging codebase suffering under the weight of its many systems, plagued with a lot of bugs, especially regarding collision or multiplayer
>Modern gaming's second-place award winner for Worst Pop-In, behind only Pokémon Sword & Shield.
managed to avoid hitting 100 hours

100 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 26/04/2026

On March 15th I rolled credits on Pokémon Pokopia. This is definitely making it to my 2026 GotY list. An incredibly charming, creative, and satisfying simulation game. Also, absolutely gorgeous. This kind of heart-filled spinoff is what keeps stoking my love for this franchise. #MacReviews

I beat Pokémon Pokopia in 60-65h. 10/10. I wish Animal Crossing: New Horizons had given me half the satisfaction of this game.

Pros:
>The scope, depth, and degree of freedom make it feel enormous-- I was constantly finding new places and things
>A gameplay loop so compelling that I honestly struggled to put the game down
>Animations and writing are so charming that they made me fall in love with mons that I previously felt nothing about
>The soundtrack (mostly arrangements of older tracks) is cute, catchy, and sometimes beautiful
>The way the music evolves with the development of each area is executed perfectly, helping each zone grow from somber to lively
>Probably the single best selling point for the Joycon 2 Mouse Mode feature, it's a godsend for large building projects
>I think I'd die for any of these little guys. Pokémon matter more to me than most people.

Cons:
>Some of the repeating actions eat just a bit too much time, the biggest one being artifact appraisal
>Interacting with objects or placing blocks (without the Joycon 2 Mouse Mode) is often clunky and hard to aim

110 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 26/04/2026

March 11th: I 100%ed a little indie roguelike autobattler called Wireworks. Its biggest flaw was being short on content, as I saw every possible offering within a short three hours, but it was also only $6 and felt very unique. It's had a few updates, so it should be even better. #MacReviews

I 100%ed Wireworks in 5.3h. It's a brain-massaging little roguelike deckbuilder with a great gimmick. 7/10

Pros:
>The mechanic of wiring your modules together to make a Tower Defense is really cool
>Looks good and hits the brain chemicals good when you get your busted combo going

Cons:
>There just is not enough content for a game like this, with very little build variety possible with the highly limited item pool
>The game lagged horrendously (sub-1fps!!) when my build got a little too unhinged
lots of updates could make this a real contender in the Vampire Survivors / Balatro space, but it's not in Early Access so I have no idea if it's going to get any future development. Worth it at least on a sale if nothing else
it's like $5

110 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 26/04/2026

March 5th: Mastered the RetroAchievements for Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers (PSX). Despite being a bit jank, I really enjoyed it. This era of cartoon adaptation games were so charming. #MacReviews

PS1 boxart for Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers

Beat Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers (PSX) in 3h15m. Shockingly, a fun 7/10.

Pros:
>It's a really competent Crash Bandicoot clone
>Full of little charming things, especially the way Donald is animated
>The music is totally unhinged (complimentary)
>Several unlockable costumes that are callbacks to classic Donald Duck cartoons
>Levels are super short and sweet, making the Time Trial runs really enjoyable

Cons:
>Controls can be wack in the way only early 3D games can be (especially ones made to be controlled via D-Pad)
>Collision is sometimes inconsistent, especially in regards to enemies, which is always frustrating when it impacts your run through a Time Trial

100 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 25/04/2026

March 2nd: I beat Generations Lost for the Sega Genesis. This one was kind of a stinker, but I was working on developing a RetroAchievements set for it while I was off work, as a learning exercise. There aren't many "cinematic platformer" games that rise above a 5/10, and this ain't one. #MacReviews

Genesis cover art of the game Generations Lost. A sweaty muscular man is looking up wistfully as his sweaty body is cast in an ethereal blue glow by the lightning behind him. This art is wholly unrepresentative of the game's content.

I've done this a couple of times before, but today I did it without savestates so I'll post this now:

Finished Generations Lost for Sega Genesis in about 45-50 minutes. This game is kinda dogshit. 4/10

Pros:
>Pretty good sprite work, particularly the backgrounds
>Has ambitions of being a real story with a message
>Executing some of the platforming sections, especially in the second zone, feels really satisfying
>Short enough that it makes for a great first game to develop achievements for

Cons:
>The controls are stiff and unresponsive
>Collision is waaaay too unreliable for how strict the game's platforming is
>The game's only two bosses are fought back-to-back about 60% of the way into the game
>The music is really forgettable and sound effects are either blah or annoying
>Clumsy and rushed execution of the story that makes it feel like an awkward adaptation of a film or TV show
>Some stuff that feels legitimately unfinished, like being able to repeat the dialogue with the Machine Mind endlessly

110 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 25/04/2026

Haven't been posting these lately so it's time to catch up. Feb 13th: Beat Powerwash Simulator, which I started in 2023. It's one of the best brain-off games ever, still. It's also half off on Steam right now, plus two free licensed DLCs that are about to be delisted. #MacReviews

Power Wash Simulator key art, showing a house that is exactly half-clean. There is a cute cat also. The cat is important, somehow, to the narrative of the game.

Finished Power Wash Simulator (34h). I saved the universe. Water Gun Emoji /10

Pros:
>You wash the stuff.
>It give the good chemicals.

Cons:
>Woke.

This review was a joke because there really isn't anything to say about Power Wash Simulator. Also I don't even think it's woke. I hope Power Wash Simulator 2 is woke.

100 1

Mac @myotismac.secretwalrus.club · 11/04/2026

Picking one for each category really leaves out a ton of my all-time favourites.

Favorite Game: Kingdom Hearts II
Best Story: What Remains of Edith Finch
Favorite Art Style: Cryptmaster
Biggest Personal Impact: Sonic Adventure 2
Best Combat: Bayonetta
Overhated: Final Fantasy XII
Underrated: Pokemon Sun / Moon
Overrated: Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Needs a Remake: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Criminally Overlooked: Astlibra Revision
Favorite Protagonist: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Favorite Antagonist: Hades
Best Soundtrack: NieR
Best Multiplayer: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Not Usually My Thing, But...: NFL Street
Turn My Brain Off: Vampire Survivors
Best With Friends: Elden Ring Nightreign
Best Retro Game: Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Nostalgic Childhood Game: Lunar: The Silver Star
Game Everyone Should Play: NieR:Automata

040 4