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faxmachinations.bsky.social
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@faxmachinations.bsky.social
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faxmachinations.bsky.social
#5 Code Vein- I love me a good job system, but that can only carry a game so far. Repetitive level layouts, unimaginative enemy designs, and a real nothingburger of a story that leans hard on dramatic music tracks to tell a player how they're 'supposed' to feel. I sure hope the sequel is better!
Key art for the video game "Code Vein" featuring two anime styled vampires called 'revenants' in a ruined cityscape
January 28, 2026 at 9:57 AM
faxmachinations.bsky.social
Intolerable amounts of Battleborn erasure
January 26, 2026 at 8:26 PM
faxmachinations.bsky.social
#4 Wolfenstein: The New Order- first i need to complain that the headbob in this game is WAY TOO MUCH. Like BJ's a dang bobblehead. Ok now I can say this game rules. Every level has a new idea, cutscenes channel war and heist films, and BJ's internal monologue ties it all together with poetic flair
key art for the video game "Wolfenstein: The New Order" featuring a nazi trooper holding an assault rifle against a black and red backdrop of silhouettes of more troopers.
January 23, 2026 at 12:23 AM
faxmachinations.bsky.social
#3 Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn- this one's unfortunately pretty rough around the edges and struggles to bring all its ideas together into a coherent vision. It's neat to see the evolution of ideas from Ashen, and I still think A44 are devs to watch, they just haven't quite had their big hit yet.
key art for the video game "Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn" featuring protagonist Nor Vanek wielding a flintlock pistol and axe next to her horned and feathered fox companion Enki.
January 13, 2026 at 10:32 PM
faxmachinations.bsky.social
#2 Another Crab's Treasure- I knew this game was gonna be good, I just wasn't prepared for it to be *this* good. I still can't get over how well the theme is done. Crab with a tortellini hat? slushie lid + striped straw as a jousting lance?!? party popper blunderbuss????!?!?! Genius.
Key art for the video game "Another Crab's Treasure" featuring protagonist Kril the hermit crab underwater wearing a rusty tin can as a shell and wielding a rusty fork as a weapon. Allies and the city of New Carcinia appear on the left, while enemies and bosses are on the right. Trash drifts down from above. Paul Hollywood's repeated use of the word "moreish" on the Great British Bake Off compelled me to finally look up the dang word. I wasn't really familiar with it as an american - it means something like: pleasing or tasty in such a way that you want to say 'ooo I'll have some more thank you very much.' Turns out it's a really useful word, been using it a lot since then. This is all to say Another Crab's Treasure is moreish as hell. The delicious pace at which you find another shortcut, another boss, another hidden goodie - it's so easy to keep saying 'ok I'll just play a liiiiiitle bit more' over and over. The devs have a real knack for crafting that souls-like level design into bite-sized chunks so that you're never quite as overwhelmed as you might be in a Dark Souls or Elden Ring, but each bit of progress still feels satisfying to earn. The only real snag you might hit comes with the platforming, it's a little rough as bounce pads or grapple points or climbing surfaces don't always act the same way on repeat attempts, which can really hurt when your microplastics (souls/currency/xp) are on the line. I'd personally recommend going into the assist options and turning off pitfall damage, smoothed over the issue completely for me. Speaking of microplastics, this game's theming is executed impeccably. Every last drop of creativity is squeezed out of the premise, enemies and environments impress from start to finish. Just to give one little example, a common enemy type is a seahorse sniper which fires those little expanding dinosaur sponge pill toys at you (the kind you put in the water and the capsule melts) and carries around more by using a tic tac case as an ammo box, all while wearing a sriracha bottle cap nozzle as a helmet. There's a museum where you can view the enemies in a less hostile context, and you'll have plenty to chuckle at if you inspect the fine print on all the trash in the environment. ON TOP OF ALL THAT, they somehow managed to update the game…
January 9, 2026 at 5:34 PM
faxmachinations.bsky.social
#1 In Stars And Time- real good game to start the year off with. I love silly little Siffrin and his goober family and honestly would be real interested to see more of this world. Maybe the dev isn't keen on returning there just yet, but there's so much more that could be explored.
key art for the video game "In Stars And Time" featuring protagonist Siffrin looking back over his shoulder through a sort of time portal (maybe? maybe not?) at his party/family members. my positive recommendation of the game "In Stars And Time" on Steam, full text is as follows: at the time of writing this game already has overwhelmingly positive reviews, so maybe nobody needs me to heap more praise on the pile.... but imma do it anyways. I think it might be easy to look at the trailer and screenshots and feel like you have a good idea of how the game looks and feels, you might be tempted to think "oh it's just a really good rpgmaker game, i get how those are" but you don't, not this one at least. I realized the dev's mastery of presentation was on another level when I was struggling not get anxious and panicky with the characters as they piped in devilishly subtle heartbeat sounds. Not just some generic heartbeat sounds though, specifically the kind you hear when you're so tense you feel your veins in your ears thumping more than you 'hear' them. Trust me when I say that is just one example of many. If you've ever suffered from anxiety or panic attacks, that should give you an idea of how earnest and real this game is in grappling with Siffrin's (the player character) time-looping plight. Overall I think "earnest" is a real good word to describe the game in general. It's not ashamed of its surprisingly neat worldbuilding nor its sorta-rock-paper-scissors magic system. There is not an inch of wasted space in the game world, everything is placed with intent, and only drawn out or cut short when needed for dramatic effect. And, and this one of my favorite things, it takes its premise seriously and really thinks through all the implications and consequences. If you like games that wear their heart on their sleeve, or want to see a masterclass in what you can do with old-school-rpg style aesthetics, or are just looking to adopt some new beautiful baby blorbos, I recommend you play In Stars And Time (Closed out with a sparkle emoji)
January 4, 2026 at 2:01 AM
faxmachinations.bsky.social
#35 Elden Ring Nightreign- I was surprised by how much the stories of the individual nightfarers grabbed me, and with the DLC, i've got two more! It isn't the best at the roguelike parts, it has a painful lack of variety. Plus I would KILL for plain and numerical descriptions of relic effects/skills
Key art for the video game "Elden Ring Nightreign" featuring characters (from left to right) duchess, wylder, and guardian being hurt by the encroaching night.
December 21, 2025 at 8:12 AM
faxmachinations.bsky.social
#34 Cryptmaster - Such a jolly time. One of those special titles that feels like the developers are personally inviting you in to have fun with their creation. Little personal fingerprints are all over the place, from the dry sense of humor to the voice acting to the delightfully quirky characters
key art for the video game "Cryptmaster" featuring the cryptmaster himself looking over the title with his bony white visage and glowing eyes.
December 21, 2025 at 7:48 AM
faxmachinations.bsky.social
#33 Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance - Weird subtitle for this redux, as the titular "vengeance" is very general and impersonal. So many little improvements over the original SMTV though, makes the whole game smoother, but it takes a little too long to *really* get into the new story content imo
key art for the video game "Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance" feautre the protagonist with blue hair posing dramatically in front of the four qadistu (from left to right), Namaah, Agrat, Lilith, and Eisheth
December 21, 2025 at 7:41 AM
faxmachinations.bsky.social
#32 Demonschool- I love the nintendo DS and i get the feeling the developers of this game do too. There really needs to be a nice concise term for this budding subgenre of trpg focused on 'line em up, knock em down' type gameplay- domino tactics? If you are a STYLE APPRECIATOR this is a must play
key art for the video game "Demonschool" featuring protagonist Faye in spooky purple shadow and pink light
December 20, 2025 at 8:22 PM
faxmachinations.bsky.social
This is the one from GSC that always gets me since you're not gonna hear more than the first 5 seconds unless you stay still

youtu.be/aP0m-PJozWo?...
Pokemon Silver/Gold/Crystal - Surf Theme
YouTube video by pokemonmusicmaster
youtu.be
December 17, 2025 at 10:10 PM