Waltorious Writes About Games

Game-related ramblings.

Month: July 2024

Scratching That Itch: Utopias: Navigating Without Coordinates

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On July 30, 2024

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This is the one hundred ninety-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. This particular entry is also part of the Keeping Score series about games and their soundtracks. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our one hundred ninety-sixth random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is imagining not one, but nine different perfect worlds. It’s Utopias: Navigating Without Coordinates by AAA, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

A utopian planetary system of nine worlds, a collective hallucination woven…

Get ready to hallucinate nine times.

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History Lessons: Getsu Fuuma Den (The Legend Of Getsu Fuuma)

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On July 23, 2024

In Uncategorized

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.

Reader, I must apologize. After a rather disorganized start to this series, during which I kept expanding the scope and going back to add more games that messed up the timeline, I thought I’d made a comprehensively researched list of every game I might want to include. Once I got all caught up with Final Fantasy II, I thought it would be smooth chronological sailing. But while tracking down a fan-made translation for the next game to follow Clash At Demonhead, I ended up on the website for Nebulous Translations and took a look at the other games they’ve translated. It’s not a long list, and yet: I still found a couple of interesting games that weren’t on my list. So I’m going back in time once again.

The first of these games is Getsu Fuuma Den, which translates roughly to The Legend of Getsu Fuuma. Released for the Japanese Famicom by Konami in July 1987, it slots in after Wonder Boy In Monster Land and before Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family in our timeline. That’s actually pretty early, only the 13th game by original release date, which makes its combination of a top-down world map, side-scrolling platforming, and grid-based dungeon crawling all the more notable. It’s likely this game was an inspiration for a bunch of others I’ve already covered.

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Scratching That Itch: The Political Compass: Devil’s Labyrinth

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On July 20, 2024

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This is the one hundred ninety-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.

Our one hundred ninety-fifth random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is awkwardly mocking modern Western political discourse. It’s The Political Compass: Devil’s Labyrinth, by majestic12, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

See where you fall on the political compass spectrums

Reader, I would not take this claim too seriously.

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Scratching That Itch: Heroic Asset Series: Buildings Pack

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On July 18, 2024

In Uncategorized

This is the one hundred ninety-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.

Our one hundred ninety-fourth random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality has gone on a construction spree all around us. It’s Heroic Asset Series: Buildings Pack, by Aleksandr Makarov, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

Tiny animated buildings pack with 64 colors!

The only things better than tiny buildings are animated tiny buildings.

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Scratching That Itch: Goopty Goo

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On July 10, 2024

In Uncategorized

This is the one hundred ninety-third 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 one hundred ninety-third random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is bouncing into view on little cubes of goop. It’s Goopty Goo, by Dylan Brown, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

Stomp goop cubes and avoid the floor.

Pesky floors. I try to avoid them whenever possible.

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Scratching That Itch: POM SIMULATOR 9000

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On July 9, 2024

In Uncategorized

This is the one hundred ninety-second 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 one hundred ninety-second random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is hiding a lot of sharp teeth beneath its cute exterior. It’s POM SIMULATOR 9000, by d Marie, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

weary, transformation, dog, burger, comfort

I am intrigued by this selection of words.

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History Lessons: The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (Part 2)

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On July 5, 2024

In Uncategorized

Other History Lessons posts can be found here. You should read my first post about Daggerfall before proceeding. Also, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

In part 1, I discussed Daggerfall’s absolutely massive open world, filled with thousands of towns and dungeons, with players free to travel in any direction they wish. It lends an incredible sense of scale to the game, but shows its limitations all too soon, lacking many ways to meaningfully interact with that world. I was left wishing for a modern game to take inspiration from Daggerfall and build a similarly vast world that has a little more to find in it. Let players travel the land, work for different kingdoms and duchies that are vying for power in the region, and stumble upon cool places in the countryside. In short, a game that would capture some of Daggerfall’s early magic.

But there are two things about Daggerfall that remain compelling even after the world loses its charm: designing and growing a character, and following the main story. Let’s tackle those in order.

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Scratching That Itch: Brushwood Buddies

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On July 4, 2024

In Uncategorized

This is the one hundred ninety-first 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 one hundred ninety-first random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is cobbling together advanced magical artifacts out of raw materials. It’s Brushwood Buddies, by Steven Colling, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

An unusual puzzle game about crafting with a lovely atmosphere and some…

To solve these puzzles, we’re going to have to get crafty.

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