I relate to this so much. I have yet to find a good NY bagel substitute in Chicago but if you're willing to try something a bit different, R&A's sourdough bagels in Ravenswood are good in their own right!

I'm so glad I went in with an open mind. As a tech geek who loves learning about all the little details, Welcome Tour is both fascinating and oddly addicting, especially towards the later areas. It's probably going to be the first game I complete on Switch 2.

I'm most curious about games without explicit patches like Xenoblade Chronicles X to see if that 60 fps mode from the data-mine is supported or Paper Mario TTYD to see if it can run above 30 now

Very cool! Excited to see your results. I bake a lot but have never had the kitchen space for a stand mixer until recently. Would this be good for other mixing tasks or is it mostly for dough? I'm wondering if this is one and only mixer I'd need.

I unexpectedly loved Indiana Jones and the Great Circle! The aesthetic, music, and gameplay are all so immersive and thematic. Although it could be repetitive at times, it made me into a solid Indiana Jones fan. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ bckl.gg/dbJr

I really enjoy Backloggd as a platform for posting all my mini thoughts on games.

Citizen Sleeper 2 didn't quite reach the narrative highs of the first game for me, but its expanded gameplay and world scope make it stand out in its own right. I'll never miss an opportunity to get sucked back into this universe, thanks to some of the best writing in games. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ bckl.gg/chMQ

In the aggregate I think the system is doing its job. "mixed" to me indicates "can be good with caveats" and encourages me to read specific reviews on why that is.

I finished Arco today. It's an engaging and beautiful experience, but the lackluster UI and opaqueness of the combat often frustrated me. The pace slowed down a ton in the middle act, but was redeemed by the strength of the final two chapters. Kudos to the outstanding pixel art and music! ⭐⭐⭐

230 sounds like a lot more than I remember/would have estimated for the first game. Is this game longer than the original?

After a year of exclusively split screen co-op play, I've finally finished Baldur's Gate 3! 🎉 I loved the game but my feelings are complicated so best to read the full review www.backloggd.com/u/vogelscrip... (⭐⭐⭐⭐)

And please enjoy this epic rescue mission from very early in our campaign 😎 #BG3

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is going to be my go-to puzzle or mystery game recommendation for years. The mystery is addicting, the atmosphere is striking, and there are plenty of narrative and gameplay twists that surprised me. Although at times, I found the puzzles to be a bit too frictionless. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank Goodness You're Here! made me smile often and its buttery smooth cartoon art style was a delight throughout. Despite the simplicity of the slap-and-jump gameplay, the fetch quests were able to surprise, largely due to the excellent twists on the animation. A likable little romp. ⭐⭐⭐

Earlier this month I finished 1000xResist, a captivating sci-fi dystopian narrative told via genuine voice acting and elegant cinematics. What little gameplay it has can be janky at times, but the multi-layered, thought-provoking story is enough to keep me thinking about it for years. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

To begin, my GOTY of 2024—Metaphor ReFantazio! It's one of the most satisfying and smooth-playing RPGs ever, with an insanely lovable main cast and poignant yet timely story about friendship and equality. The combat was so addicting and it's tempting to do NG+, but hard to justify the time. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

That checks out—Balatro feels different to me because it's less about expanding your deck over time and more about finding combos within the run as a whole via jokers. it's more like deck-tweaking to me since you start with 52 cards instead of 10 like Slay the Spire or its tabletop counterparts