Arren
@arren.bsky.social
[XIV] Arren Laminna @ Cactuar | Lukewarm video game takes, twitch streams, cat pics, shitposts, maybe a politic here and there | He/Him
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Arren
@arren.bsky.social
· Oct 17
I suppose since we're starting fresh-ish, here's a short intro:
I'm Angelo, or Arren, and I work in (and play lots of) games! I've been playing games essentially entire life. I've played a lot, I haven't written about enough, and occasionally I even stream. Here are some games I truly love.
I'm Angelo, or Arren, and I work in (and play lots of) games! I've been playing games essentially entire life. I've played a lot, I haven't written about enough, and occasionally I even stream. Here are some games I truly love.
So, I finished a playthrough of Disaster Arms - Impact Project B.A.H.N. the other day (first game down of 2026!) and came out of it super impressed, it's a gorgeous 2D run-and-gun game with some really intense action. Kinda haven't stopped thinking about it.
store.steampowered.com/app/3462730/...
store.steampowered.com/app/3462730/...
Disaster Arms - Impact Project B.A.H.N. on Steam
- DRY CONTACT - INSTIGATION OF HYBRID SOLDIER LIFELINE - BIO-AFFECTIONATE HYPER NETWORK -
store.steampowered.com
January 5, 2026 at 11:59 PM
So, I finished a playthrough of Disaster Arms - Impact Project B.A.H.N. the other day (first game down of 2026!) and came out of it super impressed, it's a gorgeous 2D run-and-gun game with some really intense action. Kinda haven't stopped thinking about it.
store.steampowered.com/app/3462730/...
store.steampowered.com/app/3462730/...
Reposted by Arren
hey bsky. i used to make music. then i stopped because it was hard. now i'm doing it again because it's fun. and also i feel a lot of rage. anywho I'll be releasing a punk rock concept album about Chrono Trigger on January 30. it's called Ipso Facto Meenie-Moe MAGICO and I hope you think it's neat
January 5, 2026 at 11:20 PM
hey bsky. i used to make music. then i stopped because it was hard. now i'm doing it again because it's fun. and also i feel a lot of rage. anywho I'll be releasing a punk rock concept album about Chrono Trigger on January 30. it's called Ipso Facto Meenie-Moe MAGICO and I hope you think it's neat
Decades of precedent. Literal decades. The only thing that changes is the excuse.
Chavez in 2009, while being labelled as paranoid, outlines exactly what is happening today.
January 3, 2026 at 9:13 PM
Decades of precedent. Literal decades. The only thing that changes is the excuse.
Reposted by Arren
My biggest goal in 2026 is to create more. Stopping my brain from stopping myself when something isn't the absolute perfect version of The Thing I envisioned. So as part of this effort, the newsletter is back
Subscribe for free here
send-news.beehiiv.com/subscribe
Subscribe for free here
send-news.beehiiv.com/subscribe
January 2, 2026 at 5:12 PM
My biggest goal in 2026 is to create more. Stopping my brain from stopping myself when something isn't the absolute perfect version of The Thing I envisioned. So as part of this effort, the newsletter is back
Subscribe for free here
send-news.beehiiv.com/subscribe
Subscribe for free here
send-news.beehiiv.com/subscribe
I started a website today!
level-headed.com
Over the last few years I feel like I've made a lot of excuses for not pushing forward with creative stuff, but I'm making a concerted effort to be present in 2026 starting with a blog for video game takes and stuff. My opener is a 2025 Year In Review.
level-headed.com
Over the last few years I feel like I've made a lot of excuses for not pushing forward with creative stuff, but I'm making a concerted effort to be present in 2026 starting with a blog for video game takes and stuff. My opener is a 2025 Year In Review.
Level-Headed
A gaming blog that may or may not be as level-headed as the name suggests.
level-headed.com
January 2, 2026 at 3:52 AM
I started a website today!
level-headed.com
Over the last few years I feel like I've made a lot of excuses for not pushing forward with creative stuff, but I'm making a concerted effort to be present in 2026 starting with a blog for video game takes and stuff. My opener is a 2025 Year In Review.
level-headed.com
Over the last few years I feel like I've made a lot of excuses for not pushing forward with creative stuff, but I'm making a concerted effort to be present in 2026 starting with a blog for video game takes and stuff. My opener is a 2025 Year In Review.
I was at 19 games completed when I lost my job back at the beginning of November.
December 28, 2025 at 12:22 AM
I was at 19 games completed when I lost my job back at the beginning of November.
Saga Soraya's written two of my absolute favorite games of all time (Xenogears and Soma Bringer). Seeing her retirement announcement today was really painful for me, and a monumental loss. I hope she'll pick the pen back up some day.
December 27, 2025 at 3:11 AM
Saga Soraya's written two of my absolute favorite games of all time (Xenogears and Soma Bringer). Seeing her retirement announcement today was really painful for me, and a monumental loss. I hope she'll pick the pen back up some day.
I'm gonna be thinking about Unbeatable for quite a long time. You're just a part of my life now, and I can't get rid of you.
December 17, 2025 at 7:46 AM
I'm gonna be thinking about Unbeatable for quite a long time. You're just a part of my life now, and I can't get rid of you.
Just counting games that came out in 2025 (I played a lot from before!)
-The entire lead-in to room 46
-This scene with Maelle
-Lumines Arise's credits sequence
-The (not pictured) Unbeatable title drop
What a year, honestly. Hoping to catch a couple of the last major beats before it's over.
-The entire lead-in to room 46
-This scene with Maelle
-Lumines Arise's credits sequence
-The (not pictured) Unbeatable title drop
What a year, honestly. Hoping to catch a couple of the last major beats before it's over.
December 15, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Just counting games that came out in 2025 (I played a lot from before!)
-The entire lead-in to room 46
-This scene with Maelle
-Lumines Arise's credits sequence
-The (not pictured) Unbeatable title drop
What a year, honestly. Hoping to catch a couple of the last major beats before it's over.
-The entire lead-in to room 46
-This scene with Maelle
-Lumines Arise's credits sequence
-The (not pictured) Unbeatable title drop
What a year, honestly. Hoping to catch a couple of the last major beats before it's over.
Reposted by Arren
Just imagined Jason Momoa doing a Blanka Ball and laughed so hard I thought I was gonna throw up
September 5, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Just imagined Jason Momoa doing a Blanka Ball and laughed so hard I thought I was gonna throw up
Reposted by Arren
They call em indie games 'cause the devs are indie trenches
December 11, 2025 at 9:17 PM
They call em indie games 'cause the devs are indie trenches
Reposted by Arren
🅉🄴🅁🄾 🄼🄾🄼🄴🄽🅃
"it's out. the road getting to this point really resembles what the game itself ended up becoming. if you give it a go, i love you for it."
- @rj.dcellgames.com , director / writer / music + sound lead / etc
"it's out. the road getting to this point really resembles what the game itself ended up becoming. if you give it a go, i love you for it."
- @rj.dcellgames.com , director / writer / music + sound lead / etc
December 9, 2025 at 6:34 PM
🅉🄴🅁🄾 🄼🄾🄼🄴🄽🅃
"it's out. the road getting to this point really resembles what the game itself ended up becoming. if you give it a go, i love you for it."
- @rj.dcellgames.com , director / writer / music + sound lead / etc
"it's out. the road getting to this point really resembles what the game itself ended up becoming. if you give it a go, i love you for it."
- @rj.dcellgames.com , director / writer / music + sound lead / etc
Just saying, there was a deliberate uptick in noise in this Hungarian restaurant as soon as the piano cover of Last Christmas started playing. Doesn't matter where you go in this world...
December 2, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Just saying, there was a deliberate uptick in noise in this Hungarian restaurant as soon as the piano cover of Last Christmas started playing. Doesn't matter where you go in this world...
Reposted by Arren
Reposted by Arren
tetsuya mizuguchi truly, earnestly believes, with his whole heart and whole mind, that generic vocal trance from 2003 has the power to awaken humanity's shared consciousness and guide us to universal peace. The strength of his conviction is so powerful that it might actually cause this to be true
November 13, 2025 at 7:03 PM
tetsuya mizuguchi truly, earnestly believes, with his whole heart and whole mind, that generic vocal trance from 2003 has the power to awaken humanity's shared consciousness and guide us to universal peace. The strength of his conviction is so powerful that it might actually cause this to be true
You got here just in time, Lumines.
November 13, 2025 at 1:22 AM
You got here just in time, Lumines.
Reposted by Arren
I wrote more words about how it feels to be a translator watching the games press report on AI and labor, coming from a field that's fought these battles for decades. It may look like I'm beating up on one outlet, but it's not about them; I've been trying to write this for me and my peers all year.
You Can't Report on Hunger While Taking Bread Off the Table
On the proliferation of machine translation in video game outlets covering the effects of AI on labor.
dateemups.com
November 12, 2025 at 12:13 AM
I wrote more words about how it feels to be a translator watching the games press report on AI and labor, coming from a field that's fought these battles for decades. It may look like I'm beating up on one outlet, but it's not about them; I've been trying to write this for me and my peers all year.
The unemployment arc continues
November 11, 2025 at 1:57 AM
The unemployment arc continues
Hey, just putting this out there 'cause it's been such a huge part of my life for the last 7-ish years but today was my last day working at Square Enix. That means I'm also lookin for opportunities now so please feel free to let me know!!
November 6, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Hey, just putting this out there 'cause it's been such a huge part of my life for the last 7-ish years but today was my last day working at Square Enix. That means I'm also lookin for opportunities now so please feel free to let me know!!
Reposted by Arren
the doc is maybe even better
November 4, 2025 at 1:58 AM
the doc is maybe even better
Legit think I just watched the singular greatest game of baseball in my life. Finally, a Dodgers game to clear that 2016 Cubs/[Guardians] game off the top spot.
November 2, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Legit think I just watched the singular greatest game of baseball in my life. Finally, a Dodgers game to clear that 2016 Cubs/[Guardians] game off the top spot.
Shohei Ohtani going home tonight and hittin one of these
a pixel art of mario jumping over a bed in a dark room
ALT: a pixel art of mario jumping over a bed in a dark room
media.tenor.com
October 28, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Shohei Ohtani going home tonight and hittin one of these