Emmett Watkins Jr
LightNews LightNews
banner
ejsponge61.com
Emmett Watkins Jr
@ejsponge61.com
3.4K followers 2.4K following 7.7K posts
Writer @vgutv.bsky.social, Player's Club Podcast Host, ⅓ of Welcome To The Thing (w/ @tlfoster.bsky.social & @jarrettjawn.bsky.social), Kinda Funny Prom Prince, 100% Negus
He/Him [email protected]

emmettw.me
Posts Replies Media Videos
ejsponge61.com
That's all I have for now. Will likely come back with more because I have a lot of obscure games to try, and looking to get more. Here's what I picked up so far used online or back when the 360 store was still up. Never owned a 360 so I'm excited to get into the dark corners of it's catalog.
Big Bumping, The Club, Vampire Rain, Legendary, Clive Barker's Jericho, Fracture, Stranglehold, Call of Juarez 1. All of these are physical copies on a table. Pic of a screen showing Kane and Lynch: Dead Men, Final Exam, and Black Knight Sword Pic of a screen showing Alone in the Dark, Bionic Commando, Warp, Burnout Crash, and Destroy All Humans: Path of the Furon Screencap of Infinite Backlog showing several 360 games. Some are duplicates from prior photos, so the new additions are: Bloody Good Time, Fire Burst, GUN, 99 Nights, Toy Box Turbos, FEAR Files (FEAR 1 DLCs on a standalone disk). Asura's Wrath, Beyond Good and Evil, and Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirrors of Fate are also listed, but those were Games for Gold games claimed or backwards compatible games bought long ago
January 11, 2026 at 2:42 AM
ejsponge61.com
891 quotes
January 10, 2026 at 4:29 PM
ejsponge61.com
🙂
The Legend of Spyro Down of the Dragon on a screen with me holding a 360 controller in front of it
January 10, 2026 at 1:01 AM
ejsponge61.com
not reacting
January 10, 2026 at 12:19 AM
ejsponge61.com
I guess pretty soon I'll...pick up Styx
January 8, 2026 at 5:18 PM
ejsponge61.com
Get ready to forums buddy
January 7, 2026 at 1:02 PM
ejsponge61.com
sorry that im like this
January 6, 2026 at 1:23 AM
ejsponge61.com
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
January 5, 2026 at 12:34 PM
ejsponge61.com
My ★★★★½ review of Sayonara Wild Hearts (2025) https://infinitebacklog.net/users/ejsponge61/reviews/sayonara-wild-hearts--1
Sayonara Wild Hearts cover art Sayonara Wild Hearts Review Fall Into The Groove Ejsponge61 Written by Ejsponge61 on 4 Jan 2026 Beaten on PS5 in 1 hour This game has a purity that you just don't often see in full scale console releases. The game literally only uses one analog stick and once face button, but it gets so much excitement and emotion out of those few inputs. I know that Simogo, the developer of the game, worked on several mobile games before this, and even this began life as an Apple Arcade title I believe. But this specifically gives me vibes of old flash games. The simple controls and emphasis on insane animations just feels like I'm both playing something on addictinggames.com and watching the most insane Newgrounds animation at the exact same time. But what makes it feel at home on a console is how much it feels so much like the climaxes of other AAA games distilled to the entire runtime of this one, very short, game. Like for anyone who misses the over the top quicktime event sequences of the classic God of War games or something like Asura's Wrath (which I really wanna play now?), this is a must play. The same excitement and awe inspiring scale is achieved, but what surprised me is how this game ended up having quite a bit of heart as well. I already loved the game. I already loved how gleefully the game topped itself and subverted my own expectations time and time again. While I was never good enough to rack up a gold rank on any level, I enjoyed the chase of trying to align myself in the ideal path to collect enough stuff to please Queen Latifah. But the ending, other than being a immensely satisfying climax for the entire gameplay experience, also recontextualizes the sparse bits of narrative that were sprinkled throughout. I had no idea this game actually had a story. Well, I knew there were characters, and the aesthetic choices were all certainly made for a reason, but I couldn't have told you what the game was about even after starting it. But with just a line or two at the end, it made all the events click into place and kinda hit me pretty hard. I've spend enough time, maybe too much, this past year writing about how different art I've experienced has hit me different now that I'm at a different place in life. This is, again, one of those games. I saw myself in the main character, as I spent much of 2025 going though a similar internal journey. But it's a new year, and I've progressed passed that point in the last few months. So, instead of me seeing who I am in this game's story, I saw who I was, and it made me even more appreciative of that journey that is now behind me. Really cool game overall, mad I slept on it for so long. The good Insane visuals Simple gameplay Insane scale and animations Great music The bad Short as hell Kinda hard Ejsponge61 played this game through a subscription service. Sayonara Wild Hearts information Sayonara Wild Hearts (2025) Platform: PlayStation 5 Developer: Simogo Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
January 4, 2026 at 5:44 PM
ejsponge61.com
beat it
January 4, 2026 at 4:39 PM
ejsponge61.com
My ★★★½ review of CLTRS (2025) https://infinitebacklog.net/users/ejsponge61/reviews/cltrs
CLTRS cover art Ejsponge61 Reviews CLTRS CLTRS Review Instant Climax Ejsponge61 Written by Ejsponge61 on 3 January 2026 Beaten on PC 3 min read I was put onto this game by Snigglegros writing a review for it. It's a short interactive metaphor for the heights achieved when one successfully plays with the title of the game long enough. That's really all there is too it, but I don't want that simple description to make the game seem bad. It's actually beautiful, and maybe would have been even more so if it didn't struggle to run on my ROG Ally X. In fact the second biggest issue I have with the game is that there is no setting menu or anything, so I had to just run the game as is. But despite that, I really did think the art and music was pretty evocative. But the visual and auditory art is the main highlight, as the gameplay, despite being so barebones that nothing is mapped to any button or trigger, is a bit stiff. The world you "explore" has a lot of fine details you may want to interact with, but you are glued to the ground the entire time, so despite being interactive, the whole experience has a big "look but don't touch" vibe. For a game that is art first, and toy second, it makes sense, but it makes the interactivity feel a bit pointless at that point. There is one major flaw however, and I will be a bit vulnerable and admit that this may be an issue exclusive to my limited understanding of the subject matter. The idea of the game seems to be that you have to do a bit of exploration to find and reach climax. I think this is true. Exploration of not only one's physical body, but also one's understanding of sexuality, is necessary to fully derive pleasure from another, at least in my opinion and in my experience. However, and again, maybe this is just due to my narrow set of experiences, but I rarely have experienced a journey like this that was over in...like 15 minutes? The runtime isn't supposed to be the point, I don't think the devs should have made the game any longer, and a major reason I even tried the game out is because it was super short. But the core concept of the game just doesn't work as well when the metaphor isn't to scale. I mean, even from the perspective of the owner of the name of the game, if that journey only lasted 15 minutes, they may very well be upset with the one exploring, nor would they even reach the end of their journey in such a short amount of time. I know, this is a massive nitpick, but I just would have loved some kind of framing or portrayal of the time involved in the activity to make the metaphorical journey feel more authentic, or maybe at least more authentic to my experience, which may not even be a fair ask. But hey, for what it is, it's pretty cool. It is incredibly straight forward, but I can indeed manage to find a critique to make about a game that's as long as a single episode of Spongebob. But hey, that's why experiencing art is so fun! I applaud the creator of this for portraying their truth, and even if I am hung up a bit on that not being the full truth. But at the end of the day, I would love to see more games like this about topics like this. The good pretty unique subject matter The bad clunky movement barely interactive no settings screen CLTRS information CLTRS (2025) Platform: Windows PC More game info 7/ 10 Good 6.0 6.0 7.0 6.0 7.0
January 4, 2026 at 4:17 AM
ejsponge61.com
the black & white filter hits like this
Deep fried Obama
January 3, 2026 at 7:30 PM
ejsponge61.com
Guy looking at phone with several bags under his eyes
January 3, 2026 at 11:49 AM
ejsponge61.com
Surprise! That 12 for 12 Challenge was a part of something bigger I was working on.

I have 10 gaming related goals I'll be working on in 2026, and idk if I can check em all off, but looking at them, it shouldn't be so hard...right?

Read all about them on the site right now!
4. Play the Final Sequel to my Favorite Game of All Time: Bayonetta 6. Start a Franchise that I Already Own Games From 8. Finish a few complete franchises 9. Play a Little More Trash
January 2, 2026 at 11:28 PM
ejsponge61.com
I played more games than I watched movies in 2025. That's wild lowkey but I'll accept it.
January 2, 2026 at 8:46 PM
ejsponge61.com
Nate from Baby Steps with a speech bubble coming out of his mouth towards the quote skeet
January 2, 2026 at 1:54 PM
ejsponge61.com
More data, please witness me!
January 2, 2026 at 1:11 AM
ejsponge61.com
If not for FOMO I'd completely ignore all the music wrapped posts until the year fully ends because @last.fm fast the best wrapped feature of ALL TIME.

Mainly because it's the only place that tracks my listening across Apple, Spotify, & YT Music. Yay data! www.last.fm/user/Ejspong...
January 2, 2026 at 1:11 AM
ejsponge61.com
Okay ONE last minute change, I will take off Immortality (which still looks cool!) for Curse of the Golden Idol, which I did specifically buy for this challenge and WONT DO FOR ANY OTHER GAME. I figure it's recommended so much, and that's the point of the challenge anyway, so I'll do it right!
12 for 12 Challenge grid with 12 games filled in: Sayonara Wild Hearts, Tekken 8, Furi, 1000XResist, No More Heroes, Being a Dik, Deathloop, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy XVI, Stellar Blade, Curse of the Golden Idol, and AI: The Somnium Files.
January 2, 2026 at 12:19 AM
ejsponge61.com
And finally, @endorphinssc.bsky.social recommended AI: The Somnium Files forever ago and I picked it up for cheap during the Winter Steam sale. I think now is the time to finally give it a shot, so I will!
12 for 12 Challenge grid with 12 games filled in: Sayonara Wild Hearts, Tekken 8, Furi, 1000XResist, No More Heroes, Being a Dik, Deathloop, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy XVI, Stellar Blade, Immortality, and AI: The Somnium Files.
January 1, 2026 at 10:03 PM
ejsponge61.com
I appreciate the recs, but I'm trying to stick to things I have in my backlog already. And of the games like this that I own, I pick Immortality. All of these games have vids I've wanted to watch but can't due to spoilers, but after Immortality I can finally watch the NoClip and Jacob Gellar's vids.
12 for 12 Challenge grid with 7 games filled in: Sayonara Wild Hearts, Tekken 8, Furi, 1000XResist, No More Heroes, Being a Dik, Deathloop, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy XVI, Stellar Blade, and Immortality
January 1, 2026 at 9:52 PM
ejsponge61.com
I hit up the homie @almightyrich.bsky.social to get his input and he recommended Stellar Blade. I legit forgot this game even came out despite being pretty excited for it and picking it up the year it dropped. I'll be finally playing that this year, thank you!
12 for 12 Challenge grid with 7 games filled in: Sayonara Wild Hearts, Tekken 8, Furi, 1000XResist, No More Heroes, Being a Dik, Deathloop, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy XVI, and Stellar Blade
January 1, 2026 at 7:26 PM
ejsponge61.com
Bet! I absolutely adore DMC V so I'm sure I'll like the combat, but I have no idea if I'll like the story at all. I've never played a Final Fantasy game but I picked up 16 for cheap recently. I'll make sure it doesn't sit on the shelf too long!
12 for 12 Challenge grid with 7 games filled in: Sayonara Wild Hearts, Tekken 8, Furi, 1000XResist, No More Heroes, Being a Dik, Deathloop, Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy XVI
January 1, 2026 at 7:18 PM
ejsponge61.com
My ★★★★ review of Hypogea (2025) on
@infinitebacklog.net infinitebacklog.net/users/ejspon...
Hypogea cover art Ejsponge61 Reviews Hypogea Hypogea Review Classic PS2 Style Platforming Ejsponge61 Written by Ejsponge61 on 1 January 2026 Beaten on PC in 2 hours 3 min read I've yet to really act on this impulse until right now, but for years I've been craving a platformer inline with the classic Tomb Raider games. I don't even exactly mean the PS1 era games, because I've barely touched them, but the era that ended with Tomb Raider Underworld is what I'm talking about. I love the prequel series and their light RPG elements and action set pieces, but I've missed lately quietly navigating a giant, old environment with some fancy acrobatics. Well, guess what you're doing for almost the entirety of Hypogea? Now, there is music here, but it's super lowkey as the sound effects take a more prominent role. Plus, the story is so bare bones that there isn't even dialog, though the game is just over 2 hours so there's not much narrative to get invested in. Really, the game is more vibes than story, and those vibes are immaculate. This game is so reminiscent of the PS2 era not only because it reminds me of that era of Tomb Raider, but because it looks so much like a PS2 game. Sure, the polygon count is low, but also the art design feels like a blend between Metal Arms: Glitch in the System or I-Ninja and You Are Empty or Industria. That is to say, it's cute and creepy at the same time, and that never stops being cool to look at. But it's even more fun to play! The gameplay is the main reason it reminded me of Tomb Raider, as it requires a lot of near miss ledge grabs and mild acrobatics to get around. The staff you carry is the biggest gameplay hook (sometimes literally), as you use it to pole vault, balance onto for extra high jumps, and to hook onto ring and into certain walls. It's a quirky mechanic, but it is immediately intuitive and fun to use. I can't stress how fun it was to jump around with that little stick, to the point where I almost wish the game was longer. The game is short, but sweet. On top of that excellent core mechanic, there are some great new mechanics introduced throughout that not only keep the game fresh but challenge in unique ways. This could easily be 3 times as long, but I respect the fact that the game runs through these ideas instead of trying to squeeze them all for everything they're worth. I could still be convinced to play a longer version of this someday, even if I am very pleased with the amount of variety in this game already for the playtime asked of me. There's really not much to this game, it is exactly what it looks like. But that doesn't mean it doesn't do what it does incredibly well. I feel like there's some gameplay ideas left on the table, but as this seems to be the devs first game, I hope to see that sliver of unrealized potential be revealed in future titles, even if it's not Hypogea 2. Still though, this game is incredibly strong and worth a try to anyone who loves atmospheric platformers. The good Atmosphere Staff mechanics rule Excellent art and mood The bad Leaves you wanting more Hypogea information Hypogea (2025) Platform: Windows PC Developer: Charlie Wagner Publisher: Charlie Wagner More game info 8/ 10 Great 9.0 9.0 8.0 7.0 8.0
January 1, 2026 at 6:31 PM
ejsponge61.com
Okay, adding Chrono Trigger to really get me out of my comfort zone. I don't think I've ever beaten a JRPG, I need to play more classics from the past, and I think @tlfoster.bsky.social really fucks with the game so Imma try and get through it this year.
12 for 12 Challenge grid with 7 games filled in: Sayonara Wild Hearts, Tekken 8, Furi, 1000XResist, No More Heroes, Being a Dik, Deathloop and Chrono Trigger
January 1, 2026 at 4:44 PM