Game-related ramblings.

Month: August 2022

Scratching That Itch: Standoff

This is the one hundred thirty-seventh entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Another random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is staring us down, accompanied by some epic trumpet music. It’s Standoff, by Matthew R.F. Balousek, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

A game about telling ridiculous stories together.

That’s right folks: it’s time to get ridiculous.

History Lessons: Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished – The Final Chapter

Other History Lessons posts can be found here. If you’re looking specifically for console games, those are here. As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

When I first started writing about early console games, I was only planning to play through the Final Fantasy series. Then I decided I should probably go back and play the Dragon Quest series too. Then I decided I should also play a bunch of other role-playing games, and then that I should add some action role-playing games… the result was something of a mess in terms of the timeline, jumping back and forth as I kept expanding my list of games. This post, however, brings my (now massive) list back into order. My last post was about Hydlide 3: The Space Memories, which originally released on November 22, 1987. The original Final Fantasy (the very first post I wrote in this console history series) appeared about a month later, on December 18, 1987. A mere two days after that, the excellent Phantasy Star released. Next came Dragon Quest III on February 10, 1988. And, finally, that brings us to Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished – The Final Chapter, originally released in Japan on April 22, 1988 for Japanese home computer systems like the PC-88. From here on out, we should be going in chronological order!

As the name suggests, Ys II is a direct sequel to the original Ys that finishes up the story. The connection is so strong, in fact, that both games were later remade and re-released as a single title, Ys Book I & II, for the PC Engine CD/TurboGrafx-CD in December 1989. That’s the version I played, and I’ve already written about Ys I. I then paused my playthrough to cover other games that released between Ys I and Ys II. Now, I’ve gone back to finish off Ys II.

Scratching That Itch: Story Time Frames

This is the one hundred thirty-sixth entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our next random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality has announced itself via a social media post. It’s Story Time Frames, by NotWriting (AKA Michael Elliott), and its tagline in the bundle reads:

A social media storytelling game!

Stop scrolling through cat pictures for a second, folks. It’s story time. (Frames.)

A Backlog Roulette And History Lessons Double Whammy: The Secret Of Monkey Island: Special Edition

This is Backlog Roulette, a series in which I randomly pick an unplayed game from my backlog and play it. This particular entry is also part of the History Lessons series. As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

About a year ago, I picked an unplayed game at random from my terrifyingly organized spreadsheet containing all the games I own. The random number generators selected Wild Metal Country, an oddity from 1999 that I found surprisingly calming for a game about tank battles. Now, I decided to roll the digital dice again, officially making Backlog Roulette a series of sorts. But this time the dice popped up a far more recognizable game: The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition. I acquired this some time ago, intending to write a History Lessons post about it eventually, so… here it is.

Scratching That Itch: HATCH

This is the one hundred thirty-fifth entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

This random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is climbing ever upwards into view. It’s HATCH, by Rubeki, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

Climb your way to the top of a strange tower in a strange land

As everyone knows, strange towers are the best of all things to climb.

Scratching That Itch: HubWorld

This is the one hundred thirty-fourth entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Another random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is fading into view with a wash of ambient synths. It’s HubWorld, by jeremyulrich, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

Interact and explore.

I think I should be able to manage that.

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