i wasn't sure if I was going to continue the series at first since I was lukewarm on some parts of KH1 (and I heard that CoM is a really mixed bag)

but Do No Harm got me hyped up about this series again and I don't have any other big games I'm playing right now, so why not! I'm curious about this!

overall, I ended up playing a lot more new releases than initially thought. I wish I put some more of the smaller stuff up higher but the big obvious showstoppers were generally what I was obsessed with the most. a year of games Overflowing With Content. a year of excess.

continued:

- OFF (2025) didn’t make the cut because it’s basically a rerelease but man that version is really solid and that game is so incredibly special to me.

- FACE LOVE is also technically a rerelease but I wanted to throw it a bone after Great God Grove just barely missed the cut last year

continued:

- The Roottrees are Dead is fantastic but I should note that the original freeware version (which I did not play) used AI assets. even though it's completely spotless it still feels a bit icky

- Deltarune/ENA/etc. are in this episodic gray area but c'mon I wasn't about to leave them out

some disclaimers:

- Digseum came out in 2024 but I included it since it came out in December and I only played it this year anyway, I guess the cutoff point going forward is the end of November

- I didn’t play DRA:L myself but I played it together with friends, I think it deserves to be here

this strategy should work on most things in life I think. maybe the key to getting through my backlog is to recreate everything in Kirby Air Riders Machine format

I actually just beat A Chamber of Stars today! immortalizing Starr as this floating vehicle thing gave me the push I needed to finish it. really cool game!

the mythical perfect cone snail… 😌

to make a video game is to constantly be thinking about what elements you need to put into place to trick people into thinking this emotionally troubled computer program you built is a real video game

like I wasn’t sure what to feel about it at first (The Endless Empty was much more upfront about its stakes and it feels strange that the sequel reiterates it so much) but like dude. this is *going places*

each Wednesday was a night where I almost died laughing. thank you and everyone on the team for this wonderful and strangely compelling experience

...I'll get there. working on the game has always been about self-actualization anyways. the journey's the most important part, not the destination.

I might not be where I want to be yet, but I have to work towards becoming that sort of person. I want to see this project through.

anyway, even if I'm really anxious like all of the time, I'm glad that I've gotten a bit better at pushing past that feeling. getting things in the game lends more weight to my ideas than stewing over them ever could. still, it's demoralizing how everything constantly feels out of my reach.

still, even if I've been able to have a little more faith in wherever the project is headed, I still don't feel confident in my own abilities. progress is gradual and I don't stay too discouraged for too long, but it feels like I'm a hundred steps behind where I should be.

I've moved past the era of the project where I worried that my game was fundamentally uninteresting or impossible to make. it's something worth fighting for, and it doesn't feel like something about it is inherently broken anymore. putting together something nice just takes time and effort.