Bored so decided to write about a bunch of notable experiences from media like the past couple or so months, I should probably post more so I'm probably going to and not make a mass post like this again. In order of recommendation and then within each recommendation category it's just in the order of what I remember juicing

Short list version of the things:

Music
- Kendrick vs Drake Beef
- Vince Staples - Dark Times
- Billie Eilish - HIT ME HARD AND SOFT
- death's dynamic shroud x galen tipton - You Like Music
- WILLOW - empathogen
- Iglooghost - Tidal Memory Exo
- múm - Finally We Are No One
- kidlit - spinning threads
- Villager - Sculptor EP
- Quadeca - SCRAPYARD
- kidlit - specimen
- Ninajirachi - girl EDM
- Twenty One Pilots - Clancy
- Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department
Anime
- Dungeon Meshi
- Sousou no Frieren
- The Dangers in my Heart
Manga
- The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All
- Sugar Girl Drip
- Sacchan to Ken-chan wa Kyou mo Itteru
Video Games
- Outer Wilds
- ANIMAL WELL
- TUNIC
- 1000xRESIST

Music

Kendrick vs Drake Beef

RAP OF ALL KINDSSS!!!!!!!!!
Recommend checking it out

Absolutely surreal experience it was witnessing Drake be absolutely bodied by Kendrick with the crazy quick back and forth at display. Drake's songs were very noticeably a tier below Kendrick's and a month or so since than proves it further with him deleting all his shit off Instagram and making probably the worst track ever (same with J. Cole what the fuck was Grippy man)

While I do think that Kendrick went above and beyond in his diss tracks, I still feel like the Like That verse was quite superfluous as a reaction to First Person Shooter. Like we get it brah Drake is fake as fuck and they are quite literally lower than you at rapping but off of that track??? I mean it was funny at least.

Also didn't really like some of the points kendrick made, mostly because I hate the idea of death as any form of justice, but it's the name of the game and I like to use that as an excuse that it's only performative and he doesn't actually believe he should die for his fucked up shit. But similarly, and also what makes the excuse weaker, is his idea of masculinity isn't very good on the whole notion of the defence of ego should be violent. Both of these things are primarily observed in meet the grahams, which is why it's my least favourite of the Kendrick disses; however, it was still WAY better than any diss Drake dropped, with almost everything else lyrically being a 💯 and the production being so effectively haunting.

Ughh these lyrics ;/
these lyrics bruh

The ending of the beef was also really disappointing though, made me like Drake as a person EVEN less somehow than I already had, and I've only been liking Drake less and less since his Scorpion era ~2017. I honestly do find it shocking that people who were in the loop of rap somehow didn't know of the things Drake had done especially since 2016 onward because it was even exposed then.

If i had to order the tracks from best to worst it'd be Euphoria >= Not Like Us > Meet The Grahams > Family Matters > Push Ups > taylor made >>>>>>> the heart part 6 fuck that track dogshit fucking track holy fuck

Euphoria is a clear winner in my head, but Not Like Us has insane brain worm injection capacity its wild. Way less effective as a diss and also not even nearly as good of a song compared to Euphoria but I have to give props of how accidentally surgical it is in being a banger u can't get rid of in ur head

despite the issues I had they were ALMOST inconseuqential when the highs were so high when keeping up with the beef. And the Kendrick music was just so fucking good. I rawdogged the shit out of Meet the Grahams above but I still think its a great track. Drake could never (especially considering how bad his disses were, and how questionable a lot of the things he said were, and how Kendrick just shat on him for that shit too which was REALLY good like REALLY REALLY good)

It really sounds like I'm shitting on the whole thing but I'm really not. I just feel like everything amazing about the beef has already been said by everyone and I just wanted to point out some things that felt like noone really talked about.

Vince Staples - Dark Times

Downtempo/West Coast Rap
Recommend checking it out

Vince's releases since Big Fish Theory were ones that I didn't really care about, and in Big Fish Theory there were a LOT of low lows (but some ridiculous high highs... WHAT THE FUCK IS "YEAH RIGHT"??? ABSOLUTELY GOATED TRACK WITH A GOATED LINEUP)

But Dark Times was completely unexpected to me. The production generally does feel a bit too lowkey for its own good generally, but when it hits, it hits like fucking crazy. All of the lyrical work done on the album is top notch, touching on a lot of introspective and personal themes with a manner of maturity I just was not expecting or ready for at my first listen. Some tracks feel like it's been said before a bunch of times though like the sample use in Liars (though to be fair, anyone who hasn't heard it before will probably enjoy it's existence).

I can understand why people may not like the album with how non-flashy and monotonous the prod choices generally were throughout the album, but I don't think it mattered enough at least for me to consider it much of an issue, and I also think it worked well thematically with how he went with portraying the topics that were at hand.

I have to say though Étouffée is a crazy stand out track even production-wise. Has to be song of the summer, could replay it for centuries and not get bored of it. Lyrically it's not the greatest in the album (I think Government Cheese is) but still very very good. Little Homies was also a standout prod track.

LIFE HARD BUT I GO HARDER 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

Billie Eilish - HIT ME HARD AND SOFT

Altpop/Chill/Synthpop
Recommend checking it out

Very unexpected release from Billie Eilish, and I can actually say a lot of what I want for this in a few words. It's very very well produced especially considering it's still just her brother producing the tracks and basically no one else aside Billie sometimes, and her vocal work is REALLY well done.

The album falls off a bit in my opinion in the second half of it with really bizarre beat switches that still make very little sense to me and/or are very poorly done especially in L’AMOUR DE MA VIE with the transition to really really bland 80's synthpop. The album still ends off really well though, and really that track is my only big issue in the album. I really liked the rest of it. CHIHIRO -> BIRDS OF A FEATHER -> WILDFLOWER -> THE GREATEST was a fucking sick order.

death's dynamic shroud x galen tipton - You Like Music

Glitch/Wonky/Dance
Recommend checking it out

Really surprising considering dds is usually are way more on the vaporwave side of things, but they stick to their plunderphonics and go ABSOLUTELY FUCKING BONKERSSS with the samples alongside galen tipton to create some mind bending dance tracks.

First heard Generate Utopia before the rest of the album, and that track was so fucking good. I was also in fucking shock because I quite literally had never heard anything like it before. Absolutely bonkers track. And EVEN with that track in the album, I still don't think it's the best one.

Full Body 2 Flip's sample usage was so fucking amazing that I still get goosebumps listening to that track the 24589342895234th time. The absolute creative skill at display in that track is fucking disgusting how the fuck. I can't wait to find out what samples they used and how they had altered them to achieve a lot of the things that were in that track.

And it's also not even just about technical prowess, the experiences evoked with some of these are absolutely fantastic ranging from surreal fear and despair all the way to absolute hype and adrenaline pumping excitement. I do have to say though that when the tracks start going into the more chaotic and fearful atmospheres, the record kind of starts lacking a bit. Herobrine Shell 2049 is a good example of it I think where it ends up making me feel wanting way more from the experience than it currently gives. The primary samples feel a bit too overused, and the switch ups don't feel like they are good or Cohesive Enough for me to keep going Ohhhh shitt holy fuick uh0oyl fuckinhg shit gfuck.

Very cool and sick though thank u for a banger album dds.

WILLOW - empathogen

Math Pop(?)/Jazz
Recommend checking it out

I actually don't really have much to say about this cut. Just really well done, VERY unexpected considering I quite literally haven't liked a single Willow Smith track before this album. I was not fucking with her emo rock from before either, but the emo rock influences in this record were really sick.

I do wish the tracks were like not a fucking minute long though some of it will just feel like blue vulvaing urself like u really just made a 1 minute track that barely goes anywhere man Ok w/e, but AT LEAST that 1 minute was very good, u just decided to not colour the owl after finishing the very intricate and detailed line art entirely.

This might actually be my favourite album of the year so far

Iglooghost - Tidal Memory Exo

Deconstructed Club
Recommend checking it out

Wowowowoowowoowo This is definitely iglooghost's best work so far. What a sick recontextualization of common EDM/UK hiphop sounds.

Every track feels like it's a completely different approach and direction towards that sort of sound palette with not only a complete deconstruction, but also a restructuring of the sound completely. Flux cocoon is a really good example where it feels like its so very apparently influenced by everything about UK Drill, but it's somehow completely redefined to where you literally also couldn't call it UK Drill.

I'm also at awe at how he also is able to STILL create such unique atmospheres and tonality that are also completely different from his previous work (that themsleves also had a very unique atmosphere to them) while also having the majority of it be all so completely coherent.

If I really had to say any issues I had with this album it'd just be that I don't really care for some of the attempts being made sometimes like in nemat0de it doesn't really feel like he goes nearly ham enough in completely flipping its sound over its head for its themeing. It's still a sick track though but there's multiple such cases.

Definitely one of teh best albums this year, maybe better than willow's album in my opinion but I can't tell.

múm - Finally We Are No One

micro or folk pop idk
Recommend checking it out

A REALLy sick album that is primarily very chill and comfy, until it's MOST DEFINITELY not somehow. It's almost like a statement about how people use this kind of sound to use as a really comfy but artificial world. It's actually inscrutable how they were able to effectively progress the album from start to finish, and how they figured out that the textural choices they made through the album were going to work as how they did.

I think there isn't actually anything I don't like in this album aside for that it stays still a bit too long for its own good albeit very rarely. Primarily example that comes to mind is Don't Be Afraid, You Have Just Got Your Eyes Closed's repetitiveness and progression feeling a bit lacking causing that feeling. There were like a few others but yea.

I have to say though Now There's That Fear Again was such a surreal experience the first time listening to it in context of the album. The textural choices are out of this world and the subtle switches to the overall transition of the atmosphere was brilliant. Definitely my favourite track.

kidlit - spinning threads

jpop/micropop/jazz
Recommend checking it out

Very sonically very well made with a LOT of nuanced textures throughout the tracks. I don't think I actually heard of kidlit before till a friend told me about her so I basically listened to this and her other album specimen around the same time.

Listening thru the album a lot of its soundscape was very well done. Felt very intentional and apparent generally. "distance" for example was a really sick spacial jazz but also minimalist song that has very intriguing chord progressions towards resolution after resolution also using that as a buildup that was REALLY cool. The chorus is so spacious and vibrant too. It's also not specific to this track where this is the case either, but that's one example where it feels all very well thought out and effective.

I do have to say though I feel like I don't remember some of the tracks because the way some of it's minimalism is targeted comes with the drawback that it's also taking from avenues that are very saturated and without a lot of new context being provided to them despite it all still sounding very well produced and well done. Like in "when you're sleeping" I quite literally immediately forget what I just heard because of that. Derives a lot from the old 70s/80s alt rock scene but ends up becoming very without enough personality even though in the moment it provides a great experience. I don't know how else to really describe it.

All in all though I really enjoyed the album and still come back to it, definitely a good cut from kidlit and definitely still provides a sick experience with a decent lot of the tracks.

Villager - Sculptor EP

Trance Garage???
Recommend checking it out

AI BG EWWWW!!!!!! Anyway I'm shocked at how tightly knit this cut is. Really fuckin sick EP that a friend recommended to me and it's really good. It's primarily more of the Future Garage kind but there's a lot of trance-like elements in this that I feel like hasn't actually been done before but works so well. I feel like it's something you'd expect from Skrillex but still like much better than I would have expected Skrillex to do somehow.

Admittedly though I think the starts off on a slightly weaker side of things even though i do think all the tracks are good. Oracle Eye has been a type of thing that has been done similarly a lot of times before, but is still a very good rendition of that type of thing. Every Step Of The Way is also similar but for a noticeably different type of thing.

Walk Away Now is when I think it starts to get REALLY juicy instead of just juicy. A really absurd progression of the track that works so well I'm shocked. Sculptor is a banger in its own right, and Floating is so texturally rich it's kind of crazy.

All in all very sick and very very solid stuff.

Quadeca - SCRAPYARD

Electronic Hip Hop(?)/Electropop
Recommend checking it out

Quadeca has grown so much over the years it's actually so fucking sick. This is probably the first cut I liked from him so far. I don't think its amazing or anything still though, but it's still good.

In my opinion the records vary a decent lot in quality, and it's quite evident based on how the record was made (and even based on the album title Lol), but the high highs are very fucking high in my opinion. EVERY single song in this doesn't feel like it has that cringness or imaturity that I experienced from any other Quadeca record I had listened to before, and it was evident from I didn't meant to haunt you that he was starting to get good at removing that from his work.

DUSTCUTTER was a really strong start for the album, and its very memorable as an album starter too. Really glad he decided in the end to start with that even though it wasn't the case with the split record releases he was doing with these """throwaways""".

I do have an issue with some of the tracks still having that tinge of tonality dissonance I experience. Tracks like PRETTY PRIVILEGE make me go like Damn bruh your prod is definitely very good, but are you sure you wanted to approach it in this angle? Because in that track it felt like trying to do that 1 Porter Robinson thing of masking your identity as something else, but it felt like the production decided to just not do that, as in like he wasn't able to figure out how to do it almost (if that's what he was even trying to do?) couldn't really tell but some tracks make me confused like that.

Really good lot of tracks though, that whole lineup of U DONT KNOW ME LIKE THAT -> I MAKE IT LOOK EFFORTLESS -> WAY TOO MANY FRIENDS -> GUESS WHO was so fuycking crazy 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 that's personally when I knew I liked this record

kidlit - specimen

various forms of pop with some jazz
Recommend checking it out

Kinda surp;rised this was released the same time as spnning threads because I think the other is just a straight up better record than this one. Still good though.

This one is less focused towards a more minimalist texture in general, and relies much more on electropop/synthpop type of stuff, and with a way more fuller mix in general. The cuts are also all very very short never ever reaching the 2 minute mark.

I don't have nearly as much to say about this record compared to the other one beacuse it feels way more like a bunch of throwaways that were really cool ideas that end up having nothing being really done with them so it was like Oh ok ill just release these. So as a result it's kinda similar to Quadeca SCRAPYARD where the quality varies at least in my opinion.

The highs are high as fuck though with their drawback being that there isn't enough of it sometimes due to the result of every track being less than 2 minutes. xxxnica is an anomaly track with having a similar thematic setup as what you'd expect in spinning threads. inner join is really sick and a completely different cut of pop, more similar to like what CAPSULE would release or shiina ringo when shes on an electropop mood, and is also still really well done without sounding too derivative. If onyl it wasnt 0 seconds long

But stuff like back street makes me go like ehhhhhhhh ehhhhhhhhhhhhh really man. I don't remember what it exactly reminds me of from west coast hip hop/ratchet but it feels like it was inspired by something from there and then some lowkey video game music to make a mesh of them without turning the blender on and then served that to me. It doesn't taste terrible but I don't exactly think it's great. Still a decent attempt at least though.

Tbh this record basically told me that I really like it when kidlit does more minimalist/texture kinds of music than she does with the more electropoppy type of music where it feels like her approach becomes too flat.

Ninajirachi - girl EDM

EDM
Maybe

I actually really enjoyed this EP, but there is a GLARING issue. Unlike Ninajirachi's Undo U, none of these songs feel like they are TRULY representative of something specific. Like if I think of the songs in this, I'm just thinking of the general idea of EDM and not about the songs if you get what I mean. I guess in other words, the tracks don't feel like they have an identity.

Undo U was actually the first song I heard from her, and I was so hooked on that song. Incredibly catchy, incredibly well produced drop, and just an incredibly well structured song in general. While all 4 tracks in these are great club bangers, they are also JUST club bangers. Well produced and get you hyped PROBABLY even more than most EDM songs that are out there these days now, it doesn't have enough depth.

Primarily though, I just hope that she doesn't end up like Illenium where it was like oh yea u are definitely making some good club bangers... but can you go back to when you made crazy shit like So Wrong.... and then he started shitting the bed and just basically did the closest u can get to making hte same song over and over again.

Twenty One Pilots - Clancy

Indie PopRock/WHITE BOY RAPP!!!!!!!
Don't recommend this

Nah I was fucking lied to here man this shit is NOT trench. Not only is it NOT trench, but it's also primarily really bad tracks, some mid tracks, and very few tracks I actually like.

For an example of each, Overcompensate is an insanely strong start of the album, and ALMOST what I was expecting from it when the literal thing they are gonna start with is "Back to Trench". I get it bruh there's probably some insane lore and it probably makes sense that way, but sonically it's literally not this. Anwyay that track was sick though.

And then a track like Backslide exists which is similar to a lot fo the songs in teh album. It's not like amazing or anything but this is like how I felt the weakest aspects of Trench sounded like. Almost catchy hook with some decent production but very forgettable verses and general experience. Vignette is an example ofa track that's better than Backslide, but still similar in almost catchy hook, better production, still very forgettable verses and general experience.

But then you have a fucking track like Navigating or something like Lavish and it's like ?????? do you even KNOW what you're doing?????? I legitimiately can't tell.... like what the fuck is that navigating hook bruh that is like a type of hook you remember cuz of how shit it is lol. The song as a whole is also like a really bad rendition of a wowaka song somehow which is so absurd, as in anything good about it wowaka basically did it better even if it's not exactly the same thing, and I just felt like I should've just listened to wowaka instead.

Lavish just in general is fucking terrible I have no words.... Yeah that was really disappointing NOT ONLY because of the expectations they set up with the intro track (which was also the first track they released), but also that i think the duo just isn't good man i didn't like scaled and icy or blurryface either. Trench is one of the greatest albums of the year it was released but I'm just considering it as an anomaly now.

Don't get me wrong though, this is still definitely better than those 2 other records, but it's still not good in my opinion.

Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department

Altpop/Synthpop for some reason?////? Shut uppp tAylorrr
Don't recommend this

I don't have much to say aside for that this is so ridiculously bloated with mid ass tracks that I can't actually believe anyone thinks this is amazing. Though to be honest, I also don't really believe anyone thinking this is the worst thing ever at least. But it's definitely not good, I would even say.,..... Bad...... just so inconsequential that I can't believe this will have an effect on literally anything despite every song topping the charts ROFL

ian - Valedictorian

White boy ironic playboi carti!!!!!!!! Yeyy!!!!
Don't recommend this

How did this even make the rounds at all

Sexyy Red - In Sexyy We Trust

Ironic Trap
Don't recommend this

I liked Hood Hottest Princess and even though she's a shit ass person I was like whatever man I'll spin this record too fuck it it's probably funny as fuck.

It's not really that funny and Drake's shit is ass we don't give a fuck.

Literally compare any track from hhp to this and the difference is immediately noticeable to me, but whever it ain't that serious this shit is troll rap anyway.

Anime

Dungeon Meshi

Fantasy
Watched 18 Episodes
Recommend checking it out

So at the time when I watched this there were only 18 episodes, so a friend and I just binged all of them, and we are probably just going to watch the remaining episodes after the season is done.

Anyway this show so far is pretty damn good. They are walking on a line that's gradually thinning though. Often times in the show there are cases where the writer noticeably fucks up a bit, but then they realize the issue and fix it in a pretty decent matter; the issue is that the story is gradually escalating, but so are the mistakes. It's possible that at some point later in the story there may just be a mistake the writer makes that completely fucks everything up and they won't be able to fix it. I'm hopeful that won't really happen though.

Regardless though it was a very fun watch and it was so far so good. I really liked how the dialogue between characters weren't so artificial and the character relationships are really fun and enjoyable. The story so far had been pretty simple, but it has recently changed courses to something that is likely to become much greater.

I haven't read any of it so I don't actually know what's going to happen, but so far I am very excited, and I hope it gets even better than already.

Sousou no Frieren

Fantasy
Watched 12 Episodes - Read manga upto the end of Golden Land arc
Recommend checking it out

Relatively speaking to the content that is within the series, the show is a VERY competent adaption so far. I had read much farther than where the anime probably ends, and there isn't any anime original content in the adaption, so the story itself is as good as it'd be as if you were consuming it from the manga, if not probably better(?)

I might actually say this might be one of the few cases it'd be better to watch it than read it unless you actually for some reason can't handle its pacing because the adapation is very very competent and the additional features that animation brings compared to manga are probably worth it.

Tbh I say probably because I don't actually know what the difference would actually be if you originally watched it as an anime to compare with my experience. But the whole issue that the direction is so incompetent that you may just be consuming what would most likely be a completely different experience I believe is not there.

As for the story.... well my favourite part of the story was just the first arc. I actually stopped reading because I started to not really care about the story enough anymore. Like ok man we get it u go on le adventure and u do funny things along the way Yey.

I am actually still interested in the initial reason they are adventuring, but I can't really bring myself to care that much about the arcs during their travels nearly as much honestly. It's fine though they aren't really terrible arcs or anything. That's teh reason I still recommend it instead of just saying maybe because watching the show is still enjoyable regardless even though I had even already read it all so far.

The Dangers in My Heart

Sol/Romcom
Watched 8 Episodes
Don't recommend this

I cannot believe how overhyped this shit is. I honestly don't even know what the point of this show is aside for the artist being horny about some model and then making a junior high school girl based off of her for some reason which is like ????? noncery ABOUND

They also don't even act like junior high students, in fact they don't act like anything really, I don't really know what the point is for anyone to watch this because you could TOTALLY just watch WAY MORE other sol/romcom shows that let you turn your brain off and feel happy things while it also not being shitty nonce bait of characters that aren't acting like anything.

Legitimately shocked that believe people think this is peak in any regard. I couldn't make myself continue watching after I realized how nothing it is. i've seen people praise it for "wow they are learning and developing their relationships" like fuck no they ain't, they ain't even characters... wha t the fuck are u sayinngggg i dont understand legitimately

Manga

The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All

Really tame yuri/Sol
Recommend checking it out

Pretty sure I ended up reading like all 86 chapters that were out at once when I found this. Really good read. It's primarily between the relationship of the 2 main characters and the gimmick the title is based on is dropped pretty early on in the story (which thank god honestly), though later on it did start to get into that habit of doing nothing each chapter.

It's a slow burn so far. Not sure how it will end or where it will go, but there does seem to be set up for some major events (relative to affecting their relationship) that will probably be the core focus sooner or later, so I am waiting for that. I don't think I can actively keep up with the manga though because of how slow it is, so I'm at least going to wait for a while before i pick it up again. Still, there's already a lot to read if you're going to read it.

Sugar Girl Drip

Yuri/Psychological Drama
Maybe

Very veryveryveryveryveryveryveryvery very very very veryveryveryveryveryveryvery very very new manga (quite literally only 3 chapters are out rn). also for some reason it's name is really close to Happy Sugar Life, and it's also yuri. This I believe is much better than Happy Sugar Life though at least.

This is a fucking roller coaster because the severity of the things that happen in the first 3 chapters are almost so severe that it feels absurd or even unserious, but certain dialogue is so well done that I was shocked. It's a really weird mixed bag of really good dialogue and poor situational setup already within 3 chapters, and I have no idea how badly this is going to effect how good/bad this manga will really become as a result of it.

I'm a believer though because the dialogue is so good that I cried a tiny bit at one point within the first 3 chapters already. It's also already really good setup to talk about really interesting stuff or provide really good commentary about stuff like how our social systems and structures are constantly aggravating violence against women. I also read someone say that the 2 main characters' relationship is also kind of a trans allegory which I can definitely see as well.

But so far there isn't nearly enough to be like Oh yeaaaa this is good shit or dogg shit. Once there's a nontrivial amount of content it'll probably become really apparent. Either way I'm looking forward to it, and it's something I consumed recently so I listed it here.

Sacchan to Ken-chan wa Kyou mo Itteru

Horny ass romcom
U can just look at porn probably

Idk why I read this or where I got it from but I did so whgatever. The art is acceptable, the story is literally nothing aside for some random horny shit that happens between the 2...Yea idk just go on gelbooru instead at that point or something

Video Games

Outer Wilds

Exploration/Puzzles/Mystery
Recommend checking it out

I read the word tunicwilds a couple days ago and my brain shut down and now I use the term to annoy everyone around me.

Anyway thjis game is quite good. Very interesting and good lore that you find and expand on more as you play more. Good puzzles that aren't really hard or anything but still engaging. Flight isn't annoying to use. Easter eggs are rly funny.

BUT i still think this game is overrated to shit. It's not THAT fun especially when the main gameplay of this is just going up to walls and scanning a bunch of times and playing some decent puzzles. That's like 90% of the game. The mind blowing that the lore provides is good but a shitton of games also do it to a similar degree if not MORE. If anything the reason this game is probably so highly praised is because of how ridiculously easily accessible it is I guess, and not really because it's the greatest game ever or something.

But I don't think anyone can really go wrong with picking up this game and playing it, you will very most likely have a positive experience. I just find it absurd that anyone really considers this the best game ever but yea.

ANIMAL WELL

Metroidvania/Puzzles
Recommend checking it out

I'm still shocked that the game is only 33 MB AND there's also like 50+ hours of gameplay in this shit.

The base game is REALLY REALLY SOLID like realllyyyy good. And by base game without spoiling I mean just collecting the fires. Afterwards... things start slowly getting a bit dicey in design choices... but they are still really good. I had gone Well past the base game, and by well past, I mean WELL past if you know what I mean.

I don't really want to spoil much so I probably won't say much for Animal Well since my problems really come entirely from spoiler territory. Just know that it becomes like La Mulana level difficulty in puzzles...and it's not done as well as La Mulana.

TUNIC

Soulslike/Puzzles
Recommend checking it out

I'm just going to say it right now that the combat is pretty fucking shit at a fundamental level. There's a couple good boss fights somehow even considering that which is really surprising though. The combat also becomes trivial later on aside for an area.

But where Tunic shines in my opinion is the text. I had the most fun playing Tunic when figuring out how the text worked and parsing everything together; HOWEVER, I was so sad that I did it so late in the game that it ended up feeling like I did it for almost no reason. Even lore-wise I basically already figured out what was happening.

The puzzles aren't really hard at all. Even the real epic finale puzzle isn't hard either it's just a bit tedious. Also apparently there's a decent lot of places where u can just clip fall through the entire map and die and it's like really????/? It's also really easily reproducible in certain areas. Oh well.

But yea I find this game to be much better than Outer Wilds. The puzzles are more engaging, the lore is more engaging, the WORLD is more engaging. THE MUSIC IS GODLIKE some of the best music in a video game contextually. The ending of the game was really fucking good and I'm glad this game is a game that exists.

If the combat wasn't shitty and the bugs were less rampant, I probably would have considered this as one of the greatest games of all time. But right now it's just a very good game... which is better than just good or quite good to be quite FRank.

1000xRESIST

Walking simulator/Visual Novel
Recommend checking it out

I played this all in 1 sitting yesterday from 3 am to like 3 pm. Very well written story I was actually shocked at how well written it was because the presentation makes it seem like it wouldn't be that amazing or anything at first, but holy SHIT that is 100% the strongest part of the entire thing.

The walking however is the worst aspect BY FAR because what the FUCK is this mechanic man. WALKING BACK AND FORTH ACROSS A PLATFORM TO CONTINUE DIALOGUE IS LIKE ???????WHAT???/??? ALSO the entire main area you're typically at in this entire thing is a PAIN IN THE ASS to get around anywhere. Whoever was the architect of that fucking place gotta get fuckin fired bruh you're JOKING.

The visual design in general takes a bit of getting used to in my opinion but it feels pretty good by the end. The voice acting was also suprisingly very competent. Especially considering the ridiculous amount of lines this game has I was like god damn they are doing it pretty fucking well. Especially 2 characters that show up later in the story.

But the writing is amazing man holy shit. The themes it delves in and how they interconnect and play out was some next level mindblowing in my opinion.

Spoiler rant about an opinion I read on this game

I read 1 take about how this is just about China bad, and I think that has to be the most delusional thing ever. This isn't really making a statement about different political structures and what's a good one or bad one at all, so I don't really understand how using the context of Hong Kong's struggle for the themes and topics it's ACTUALLY talking about just means China bad. That's some next level illteracy.

Ok I think that's all the content and I wanted to stop quite a while into writing this but it's ok I finished it now I guess

#video games

also: #videogame, #videogames

Game Beat - Gris

EyeOS

Some media I juiced lately