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Games I Played in 2025 - Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana

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  Console: PS2 Developer: Gust Release Date:  June 28th, 2005 Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana  is a turn-based RPG with a focus on item crafting.  Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana  is the first game in the  Atelier  series to be released outside of Japan, and is the sixth game in the franchise. Pretty notably, the  Atelier  games are, more or less, yearly releases, and have been since 1997's  Atelier Marie . As a result, these games are typically a bit lower in terms of quality and budget than other big JRPG series like  Final Fantasy.  Fittingly,  Atelier Iris  is the first game I played in the series back as a teenager through emulation, but I wasn't able to defeat the final boss despite loving the game. Now, I actually have the game and played it on my PS2. I've more or less completed 100% of the game: the bestiary is filled (though not all item drops are registered), the item list is complete, and there's nothing left for me...
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Games I Played in 2025 - Sonic Frontiers

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Console: PS4, PS5 , Switch, PC, XB1, XSX Developer: Sonic Team Release Date:  November 8th, 2022 Sonic Frontiers  is an open world action platformer centered around exploration, collectibles and combat. As a bold new entry in the  Sonic the Hedgehog  series,  Frontiers  is the first time the series earnestly tries to be an open world game, and according to the director, is meant to be the model for future games, similar to how  Sonic Adventure  was when the series first transitioned to 3D. 
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Games I Played In 2025 - Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II

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Console: PS5, Switch , PC Developer: Experience Release Date:  February 15th 2024 Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II  is a horror visual novel game with mystery and adventure mechanics that centers around exploration, puzzle-solving and its narrative. The third game in the  Spirit Hunter  franchise,  Death Mark II  is the most recent entry in the series and is actually a crowdfunded game. The game takes place four months after  Death Mark , and is thus technically a midquel due to taking place a few years before  NG . It is also a direct sequel to  Death Mark , featuring most of the characters from the game and putting the player in Kazuo Yashiki's shoes once again.
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Games I Played In 2025 - Spirit Hunter: NG

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  Console: PSVita, PS4, Switch , PC Developer: Experience Release Date:  October 10th 2019 Spirit Hunter: NG  is a horror visual novel and adventure game with a focus on life and death choices, puzzle-solving, and ghost hunting. The second game in the  Spirit Hunter  series,  NG  is a standalone sequel to  Death Mark  that takes place around 5 years later, but it freely references it.  NG  came out about a year after  Death Mark , and unlike  Death Mark  it has no additional content of any kind, but is a little longer overall. Though it's a standalone game in essence, I'll be referencing  Death Mark  during the review, so if you want, you can  go back to my Death Mark review if you're curious . Naturally, I won't spoil anything important.
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Games I Played in 2025 - Spirit Hunter: Death Mark

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  Console: PSVita, PS4, Switch , PC, XB1 Developer: Experience Release Date:  October 31st 2018 Spirit Hunter: Death Mark  is a horror visual novel and adventure game with a focus on life and death choices, puzzle-solving, and ghost hunting. The first in the  Spirit Hunter  series,  Death Mark  is a game I've long been curious about and I'm glad to have played. I didn't even know the premise of the game outside of the fact it's a sort of ghost hunting detective game, and obviously since it's so narratively driven, I won't spoil anything important.  Death Mark  itself is a fairly interesting game in terms of its release, since the Switch version includes Chapter 6, which used to be DLC on other platforms, and also is the only version where the DLC Chapter 7 is available... which was released in April this year. It's a very strange thing to see, but I thankfully have the Switch version, so I had access to this DLC chapter.
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Games I Played in 2025 - Resident Evil (2002)

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  Console: Gamecube, Wii, PS3, PS4 , PC, Xbox 360, XB1, Switch Developer: Capcom Release Date:  April 30, 2002 (Gamecube), January 20, 2015 (PS4) Resident Evil (2002)  is a survival horror remake of the 1996 game of the same name. It's centered around inventory management, threat management and puzzle solving. To be quite honest, I've never been a survival horror person; I'm much more into horror adventure, action, or visual novel games and games that lean more into spooky than scary. However, I love watching people play games like  Resident Evil  and  Silent Hill , and as a way to step out of my comfort zone, I decided to tackle this game. 
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Random Rambles - The Identity Crisis and Contradictory Design of Animal Crossing: New Horizons

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  Animal Crossing: New Horizons  came out in March 2020 after being uncharacteristically delayed a few months. It took the world by storm, helped by the global pandemic locking down everyone at home. It became a way for a lot of people to both socialize and dissociate from reality for a while, and it felt impossible to avoid, at least in gaming circles. While I wasn't planning on getting it immediately, I remember going "ah, why the hell not" and buying it, because I'm an Animal Crossing fan anyway, and it'd give me something to play with my friends. Plus, it brought about an intriguing new twist to the series, placing the player on a deserted island instead of a random village. Within a few weeks, I found myself completely dropping it, and my thoughts about it haven't changed since then, but I'd like to actually analyze why I feel that way.
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Games I Played in 2025 - Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition

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Console: PC, Switch, XB1, PS4 Developer: Team Cherry Release Date:  February 24, 2017 (Voidheart Edition: September 25, 2018) Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition  is a complete version of  Hollow Knight  including its DLC  The Grimm Troupe  and three free content packs  Lifeblood ,  Hidden Dreams , and  Godmaster .  Hollow Knight  is a 2D metroidvania with a strong emphasis on boss battles, gameplay customization, and exploration with a moody, dreary atmosphere. An indie darling from the first day its Kickstarter campaign went life (if not before),  Hollow Knight  is almost universally beloved and widely considered as one of the greatest indie games ever, if not greatest games ever full-stop. I had only tried it once years ago and bounced off of it, not being in the mood for it, and I came back to play it, as many did, since its extremely anticipated sequel,  Silksong , is finally coming out.
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Games I Played in 2025 - The Sirena Expedition

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  Console: PC , Switch Developer: Giraffe Cat Release Date: October 26, 2023 The Sirena Expedition  is a short and sweet atmospheric horror-themed puzzle platformer that takes place fully underwater and can be finished in about an hour. Made almost completely by David Thatcher, with Amy Greir contributing to the soundtrack and voicing the main character,  The Sirena Expedition  was borne from a Game Jam and made over two years following it.
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Games I Played in 2025 - Buddy Simulator 1984

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  Console: PC , Switch, PS4, PS5, XB1, XSX Developer: Not A Sailor Studios Release Date: February 18, 2021 Buddy Simulator 1984  is a narrative game whose genre evolves over time, based around the relationship between the player and the eponymous Buddy, a computer program who is designed to emulate the feeling of playing games with a "best friend". Not A Sailor Studios is a team of four, and made  Buddy Simulator 1984  with some additional help from about four more people. I'd consider the game to be split into four major parts, and I'll tackle them all without spoiling as much as I can. 
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