iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 24/09/2026

Diving into a new Remedy game for the first time is always so special Here we go

Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 18/09/2026

And with that, I've finally finished every mainline Metroid My feelings on Return of Samus are pretty much the same as the original. Incredibly impressive work and I have nothing but respect for how it adapted itself to the the Gameboy, but I enjoy it more with a map handy and some rewind available

Metroid II: Return of Samus end screen

Samus stands in her armor next to the words "The End", beneath reads "Time 03:31"

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 09/09/2026

The combat in Sprawl Zero is gonna get a lot of attention, and rightly so. But just like the first one I need you all to know how sick the atmosphere is, because this is perfect

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 08/09/2026

God Sprawl Zero is so cool. Immaculate vibes, just like the first one It's a little thing but I love that we're doing Halo style letterboxed chapter titles now

The player in first person, holding a gun, looks out over a dense cityscape of dilapidated, clustered concrete buildings. The chapter text in the lower corner reads "The Sprawl"

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 08/09/2026

Today's most exciting gaming news: SPRAWL ZERO is here!

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 21/08/2026

I dunno how well the detail is gonna hold up to compression but South of Midnight is *stunning* In person those buildings in the distance almost look more like a painted background matte than an actual part of the level

Main character Hazel stands in some short grass looking off towards two wooden shacks surrounded by swamp trees. Behind them the light from sunrise/set spills in through the haze, saturating the scene in a warm glow.

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 12/08/2026

This was a tough one, cause a lot of these could have gone in multiple slots. Dead Space could take art, Mirror's Edge could take GOTY, both could take gameplay But I feel good about where this ended up. L4D and Dear Esther are easy locks

Game of the Year: Dead Space
Gameplay: Far Cry 2
Narrative: Dear Esther
Art Direction: Mirror's Edge
Soundtrack: Dear Esther
Multiplayer: Left 4 Dead

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 04/08/2026

"I love helping people who have no clue what they are doing" Couldn't say no to backing IC after how much I loved @routinegame.bsky.social

A rectangular, white and blue retro-futurist robot with a large screen that displays a very simple appearance of a face

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 26/07/2026

It's a damn shame this particular project won't cross the finish line. But Cyan has confirmed other Myst games are on the table! Beyond that, I'm glad the devs can show off a glimpse of their work instead of it getting buried in a vault somewhere. More canceled projects should be allowed to do that

"We are currently in development of a new game, codenamed Mudfish, set inside the Myst Universe.

This game is currently planned to contain denser, more intricate game spaces than ever before, with new ways of exploring and uncovering information. We are currently in very early development stages of this game and will share more news on this later.

A recording of our “Cyan State of the Union” during this Mysterium will be made available on various channels. More information on where to find this recording to come."

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 13/07/2026

Fuck I love the atmosphere of The Sinking City so much. Oakmont is one of those game cities I just like to Be In. It does this very specific vibe so well

The Sinking City Remastered (2025). The main character pilots a small boat through a flooded, decaying city street towards a small shabby wooden pier. It's a dark, foggy, rainy night. The water is full of debris. Overgrown plants and coral like growths climb up the sides of buildings.

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 13/07/2026

Wait is "Sweet Baby Detected" really the second biggest curator on Steam? Jesus fuck nuke it from orbit already. 481,752 whiny little asswipes. I hope they all get their balls stuck in their zippers

Steam Curator Most Popular page, showing PC Gamer and 728,516 followers and Sweet Baby Inc Detected at 481,752 followers

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 12/07/2026

God damn the open track to Baroque goes hard

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 02/07/2026

The best part is if you open the book it actually has an animated linking panel that plays the original flyby animation It also came with a replica of Ghen's pen and inkwell

The book box from the Myst 25th anniversary set, open to the first "page", where a small rectangular screen shows a flyby of Myst island

A pen and ornate metal inkwell that looks like a large beetle suspended over a circular base with D'ni script engraved around the edge

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 14/06/2026

There's something about realizing you're out of hotdog buns that kills a really specific, tiny part of your soul As a Chicagoan this always feels wrong. Portillos forgive me

Two hotdogs on slices of oat bread instead of buns

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 19/05/2026

"Thank god you've returned. I need your help. Do you know the solution to the Fire Marble Dome puzzle?"

An edited screenshot from the intro sequence to the Riven remake. A man, Atrus, sits in a dimly lit stone room at a desk with an old-fashioned lamp, a large open book, and an a few strange metal instruments. He's holding a smaller open book, and a PSVR2 headset has been crudely edited on his head.

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 21/04/2026

Managed to resist voting for Half-Life in every category. Narrative really could have gone either way so I figured I might as well give the nod to something else And it turns out I actually haven't played that many multiplayer things from '98 so HL kinda got that one by default

Best of 1998 votes:

Game of the Year: Half-Life
Gameplay: Thief: The Dark Project
Narrative: Metal Gear Solid
Art Direction: Resident Evil 2
Soundtrack: Half-Life
Multiplayer: Half-Life

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 15/04/2026

Vermis 3 and Godhusk showed up way sooner than I expected! Last time I checked the tracking they were still in Italy

Two books sitting on a black table: Godhusk and Vermis: Old Curses and Buried Horrors Forsaken Edition

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 27/02/2026

Resident Evil 9 went hard on rundown urban sprawl and I think I'm in love

A back alley in Resident Evil 9 on a cold, rainy, gray day. We're looking up at the buildings tightly packed together. A dense maze of fire escapes, wires, and the tops of chain link fences.

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 16/02/2026

Me trying to stay hydrated while sick

Screenshot from Chernobyl (2019): Dyatlov in the main control room saying "I need water in my reactor core"

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 07/02/2026

I think my favorite bit is this nod to the Star Fissure in the base. Beautiful little detail

Close up of the model stand without the dagger, which includes a long, jagged, irregular recess in the base behind the nameplate that echoes the Star Fissure from the games

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 07/02/2026

The Lego Riven dagger arrived and it's basically everything eight year old me could have ever wanted Not only is it a really clever set that looks perfect, but they even styled the instructions like Catherine's journal and included a note from her Great job @cyan.com and @timtoon.com

A closeup of the Lego model of a Rivenese Moiety dagger

The dagger, the box, the instruction booklet styled after Catherine's journal from the game, and a handwritten note from Catherine that reads:

I'm glad this totem has found you, but fearful for your task ahead. The people of Riven are too afraid of Gehn to leave their homes. Take the talisman to Riven - show it to the villagers and tell them of Gehn's capture. It is the only way they will follow us to Tay.

Hurry, time is short!

Catherine

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 24/01/2026

Nintendo made some truly bizarre decisions with how the N64 controls map to the Switch. Just confusingly bad. Even with the new remapping options I still can't get GoldenEye or Perfect Dark to handle correctly So finally I just got the N64 controller and thank fuck they're actually playable now

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 14/01/2026

"Otacon, what is this" "That's a PlayStation Portable, Snake." "PlayStation Portable, huh?" "That's right. It's brand new. You can play all sorts of games on it. Even watch movies!" "Movies?! On a handheld???"

Screenshot from the SeverLink store page on Steam. A close up of the main character holding a device that looks a lot like a PSP, displaying in-game info

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 12/01/2026

These kinds of rankings are always a little fuzzy and fluid for me but generally I think I'm happy with this Some things towards the bottom I haven't played, but I'm familiar enough to make some educated guesses/rank them on how interested I am

Your results:

1. Metroid Prime
2. Half-Life 2
3. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
4. Mass Effect
5. Resident Evil 4
6. Wolfenstein: The New Order
7. Dark Souls
8. Bloodborne
9. Deus Ex
10. Dishonored
11. Disco Elysium
12. Fallout: New Vegas
13. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
14. Final Fantasy VII
15. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
16. Baldur's Gate 3
17. Dragon Age: Origins
18. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
19. Grand Theft Auto IV
20. Clar Obscur: Expedition 33
21. Super Mario 64
22. Pentiment
23. Papers, Please
24. Hades
25. Red Dead: Redemption II
26. Stardew Valley
27. Final Fantasy X
28. It Takes Two
29. Final Fantasy VIII
30. Inscryption
31. Balatro

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 06/01/2026

Don't have a Then, Now is Riven Riven is one of the most impressive adventure games ever made, and in terms of sheer leap from its predecessor one of the most impressive sequels ever, across the board. It's a masterpiece (Also special shoutout to Doom 64 for being probably my fav classic Doom)

The cover art for Riven: The Sequel to Myst (1997)

Under an overcast sky, a very large tree with a door at the base stands in the middle of a lake surrounded by high cliff walls. Instead of normal leaves and branches, the top of the tree is a massive sphere that looks like gray terracotta or maybe a wasps nest. The sphere is covered in windows and the warm glow of firelight can be seen within.

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 03/01/2026

The cartoonishly huge box in question, for anyone curious I got one of these last year and it must have taken me like half the year to finish off

My hand holding a Sour Patch Kids box that's easily over a foot long. The label indicates it's actually a package of ten normal sized boxes inside

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 03/01/2026

Replaying Dispatch and opening the cartoonishly huge box of Sour Patch Kids I got for Christmas. Pretty good night There are games you like, games you love, and then there are games you wanna curl up in like a blanket and just live inside. That's Dispatch

Screenshot from Dispatch episode 4: Invisigal and Robert are sitting next to each other in a movie theater, both leaning in and smiling as Robert offers her a bag of Sour Patch Kids to which she replies "I fuckin love Sour Patch Kids."

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 31/12/2025

I think this is my favorite part of my Backloggd year recap stats. It's just so satisfying

A pie chart showing the release years of games I've played this year, divided into three almost perfectly equal sections.

Red: games released in 2025. 18 played. 33.3%
Purple: games released 1-8 years ago. 17 played. 31.5%
Yellow: games released 8+ years ago. 19 played. 35.2%

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 17/12/2025

There was no way I could resist getting a few things from the @remedygames.com 30th anniversary collection earlier this year An actual Threshold Kids VHS tape is so cursed in the best way

Three items from iam8bit's Remedy 30th anniversary collection. Two VHS tapes, one for Threshold Kids from Control, and one for Night Springs from Alan Wake, sit on top of Max Payne's pixelated shirt

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 11/12/2025

Finished Enter the Matrix and with that, I've rolled credits on 50 games this year I still don't have my brain as under control as I'd like, but as far as hammering my ADHD into shape this is actually pretty fucking neat

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 10/12/2025

"I call this one Bold and Brash"

Edited still from the Spongebob Squarepants episode "Artist Unknown"

Squidward excitedly holds up a painting he made: the famous Bold and Brash. The painting has been poorly replaced with an image of an old Microsoft Sidewinder Freestyle Pro controller, whose long, shapely grips mirror the original portrait

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 07/12/2025

And with that, Metroid Prime 4 is done! Beautiful game. Not sure yet where it ranks in the series for me but it's definitely up there. Couldn't be happier 🥰🤩

Metroid Prime 4 mission complete stats screen:

Scans Collected - 96%
Items Discovered - 100%
Time Played - 16:33

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 07/12/2025

There's a lot of things that could go here but off the top of my head: full ground up reboot of Condemned. More or less the same starting premise but with a plot that... doesn't do what the originals did

Box art for Condemned: Criminal Origins (Xbox 360, 2005)

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 03/12/2025

Longer thoughts on Horses. But the important part is: go buy it. Go play it. Support challenging art. Especially when the corporations don't want you to backloggd.com/u/SlideshowD...

And all of this overshadows the fact that the game itself is great. Excellent. At times hauntingly surrealist, and at times unflinchingly literal, it's a biting portrait of cruelty that remixes trappings and conventions of early black-and-white filmmaking to extremely clever effect. This is what the game should be known for, not the bans. If anything, I can see some people playing it because it was banned and being surprised it doesn't go further.

To be clear, Horses is absolutely disturbing. It's powerful. It's powerful because it's disturbing and disturbing because it's powerful. But nothing in it "deserves" the controversy that's been forced on it. The tragedy of Horses is not that someone made a game that was always destined to be shackled. The tragedy is that Horses should be allowed to run free.

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 25/11/2025

There is a real conversation to be had about letting this much of the PC and indie space be dominated by a single company. Especially one this notoriously inconsistent and uncommunicative Like, this sure sounds like a monopoly to me. That's not great no matter who's holding the reins

Excerpt from article, a quote from the developers:

"Around the same time, we were informed that Horses had been banned and would not release on Steam, which completely erased our ability to find an external supporting publisher or partner to fund the rest of the game, as no one in the industry considers an indie game that cannot be released on Steam to be viable. After two years of seeking these funds through traditional venues while trying to get the game unbanned, we had to seek private funding from friends to complete development, which puts us in a completely unsustainable financial situation unless the game somehow recoups its development costs."

The section "no one in the industry considers an indie game that cannot be released on Steam to be viable" is highlighted in the screenshot.

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 18/11/2025

When I started tracking games on Backloggd, I didn't want it to be about *competing* with myself. The goal is finishing games to engage with work I enjoy, not to Make Number Go Up and hit some imaginary high score Buuut since it's so close, I kinda wanna see if I can hit 50 before the year ends 😁

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 18/11/2025

Metroid Prime 3 replay finished! Haven't played through it since it first came out. Incredible conclusion to the phazon saga. And the first time I've gotten 100% in any of the Primes Might try to clear Hunters before Beyond drops just for the fun of it, but replaying the main trilogy was the goal

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007), mission complete stats screen

Text reads:

MISSION FINAL
Percentage Complete 100%
Total Time 12:21
Hyper Mode Difficulty Unlocked
Press A to Continue

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 14/11/2025

Situations like this always remind me of how gamers spent years complaining that "games are too short! I need hours per dollar!". A few years later suddenly everyone is complaining that "games are all bloated 200 hour open worlds now!" with zero self reflection They got what they said they needed

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 08/11/2025

This is the best impassable obstacle I've ever seen in a game If only this chair could be moved, perhaps on wheels of some kind...

A screenshot from Fatal Frame 4: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse

We're looking over the shoulder of the main character as she stands holding a flashlight and looking down a small dark hallway. In the middle of the hallway, with plenty of clearance on either side, is a bright red wheelchair, a bit old but otherwise looking in good condition

A text prompt in game reads: "The corridor is blocked by a red wheelchair."

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 06/11/2025

The band on my headphones just randomly cracked for no reason? Like, I just picked it up from the desk and noticed it wasn't fitting right I've only had these a couple years. And the cover was already peeling off the padding. I'm kinda sick of how quickly everything falls apart these days

Playstation headphones with an obvious cracked in the headband causing it to angle outward

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 06/11/2025

And that's Fatal Frame 3 done! A remarkably clever, surprisingly unique game in it's own right and an incredible cap to the PS2 trilogy That also makes 40 games finished this year according to Backloggd

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 05/11/2025

Me at Primehack It's just so cool that folks were able to make these kind changes to how Metroid Prime plays without having more direct access to the game itself. It'd be impressive effort for a full decompiled port, but purely an emulator running off an original disk image? Wild shit

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Mike Richards @slideshowdreams.itch.io · 29/10/2025

I never finished Metroid Prime 2 back on the GameCube as a kid, got stuck on the Boost Guardian. Got *very* close on the Wii but ended up accidentally falling off during the Sky Temple Key hunt It's nice to finally, *finally* close out one of my favorite games in the series

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes final results screen.

Reads:

"Mission Final
Percentage complete 80%
Total Time 15:58"

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