Syl's Blog

This is a horror game that takes place in a snowy, remote village in Japan, where you play as a doll maker who's trying to... um, make a new friend. There are light puzzles to solve, and you spend a lot of time walking around, exploring the village and taking in the gorgeous hand-painted environments. It has a strangely cozy vibe for a game that gets as dark as it ultimately does. The narrative is paced really well, starting out relatively mundane and slowly giving you glimpses into the main character's mindset as the story develops and culminates into its malicious ending.

If you're of a certain age, you might remember late nights spent in front of the TV, flipping through channels just to see what was on. Between Stations seeks to capture those moments. You're presented with an old CRT TV, and all you have to do is change the channels, opening up a universe of late-night commercials, infomercials, and other randomness. Give this game a shot if you're into nostalgia, old tech, and that strange state of being somewhere between awake and asleep.

A sci-fi farming sim that hearkens back to late PS1-era graphics and has an end goal. Farming sims tend to overstay their welcome, so it's a breath of fresh air to be given a sense of finality that isn't just running out of things to do or getting bored with the gameplay loop.

The cast of characters is small, but each person you meet is distinct and memorable. The gameplay is satisfying, with rainy and dry seasons adding unique challenges to your typical daily routine. You're encouraged to explore, and the process feels natural, like you're finding your feet alongside your character and memorizing the village and its little intricacies as you go. Full of character, well-written, and some really fun discovery.

A visual novel about a group of tech developers who are programming an AI that's meant to change the world. Lamprey is a well-written cautionary tale about the perils of not only AI but also crunch culture. The cast of characters is diverse, with distinct personalities and motivations. The pixel art and UI are clean and crisp, which suits the tech-startup setting. The music and sound effects are nice atmospheric bonuses as well. Definitely check this one out if you're into people-centric sci-fi, cautionary tales about AI, and sticking it to the capitalist man.

A visual novel about murder and intrigue among a group of nuns in a Benedectine monastery that's so well-written it had me alternately gasping and laughing my head off. The nuns are vibrant, dynamic characters with distinct personalities and backgrounds. It feels a lot like reading a book or a play, but the jazzy trip-hop music and hand-drawn illustrations add so much to it. Check it out if you're into good, in-depth stories with accurate historical touches and a vibrant cast of characters. I'm very much looking forward to Volume Two!

A cute and surprisingly deep exploration game where you go around with a net and catch bugs, then you put them into the night sky as constellations. The story affected me more than I expected it to. It's a bit sad but very sweet. The bright and colorful graphics are a feast for the eyes, and it's a lot of fun exploring each biome and discovering the bugs there. There are other things to do as well, besides catching bugs, like helping complete tasks for lost spirits and interacting with different items you find around the environments. Lovely game.

An addictive game that takes the concept of inventory management to another level. You purchase items from a shop and arrange them in your backpack to maximize damage, buff yourself, and heal, among other strategies. Then you auto battle other players' builds and see how well your planning paid off. You can choose from four different classes, and the game is still in early access, so I imagine there will be additional classes in the future. At the moment, ranger is my favorite. I can't stop playing this game!