I'm Not Good Enough Beating Ourselves Up in the Guise of Self-Reflection

open.substack.com/pub/stormrai...

Article I guest wrote for the Stormraige and Pals substack. Stop weaponizing your self-reflection.

I'm not certain that time is coming, so we might just have to settle for "still great."

5. Hollow Knight: Silksong
4. Blue Prince
3. Mass Effect 2
2. Mass Effect 3
1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

2025 Game Rankings: Part 5 The Final Countdown. Do do doo doo. Do do doo doo doo.

Because I'm not really a content creator and I'm bad at this stuff, I realize I never actually shared the article for the top 5 of my 2025 game rankings here on BlueSky. I imagine most people following me here already saw it elsewhere, but just in case...

stormraige.substack.com/p/2025-game-...

2025 Game Rankings: Part 4 Ringing in the new year... by looking back at last year's games.

Part 4 of my 2025 game rankings are up, covering slots 6-10.

10. Celeste
9. Hogwarts Legacy
8. Powerwash Simulator 2
7. Mass Effect: Andromeda
6. Avowed

Click through to read more of my thoughts on each, and check back for my top 5 next week!

stormraige.substack.com/p/2025-game-...

2025 Game Rankings: Part 3 It's the most wonderful time of the year!*

Part 3 of my 2025 rankings is up!

15. Open Roads
14. Maquette
13. Kona
12. Balatro
11. South of Midnight

Click through for my reviews of each, thanks to @stormraige23.bsky.social for allowing me to use his platform to share this with you!

stormraige.substack.com/p/2025-game-...

2025 Game Rankings: Part 2 The "Good Not Great" tier. Right where I belong.

The next installment of my game rankings is up on Stormraige's substack. Click through to hear my thoughts on Clover Pit, Return to Grace, Final Fantasy III, Dordogne, and Close to the Sun.

open.substack.com/pub/stormrai...

2025 Game Rankings: Part 1 You didn't ask for this. But you're getting it anyway.

Time start my countdown of the 24 games I played for the first time this year.

24. Road 96: Mile 0
23. Humanity
22. Manifold Garden
21. Herdling

One game that left me disappointed, and 3 games I liked, just not well enough to finish.

You can read my reviews of each at substack.com/home/post/p-...

Dragon Age: Origins: the human noble, a companion, and his dog, fighting rats in the pantry. The combat system was clunky and hard to manage on console. I did not enjoy how it played. Unfortunate, because the characters and story were excellent. Thanks to Squelch for narrating through the game, otherwise I would have likely not experienced what it had to offer.

Wildgate: a first person view as the player puts out fires on their ship. Players control ships and explore, trying to find mission objectives, while opponents try to board and sabotage them. Though I only got to play through some of the tutorials, I've enjoyed spectating others as they played. It's a great team game, and one I recommend people try out.

Two good games I barely played: I loved listening to @squelchpod.bsky.social play through Dragon Age: Origins, but it controlled (and aged) poorly on console. #Wildgate is a super fun crew based shooter with ship to ship combat. I'd definitely play more if I gamed on PC. I highly recommend this one.

Darkest Dungeon: four party members on the left stand in a line facing two enemies on the right, swine abominations, one huge, one small. They are standing in a dank brick corridor with what appears to be a circular portcullis to a sewer passage in the background. Many informational displays regarding stats, abilities, and maps are lined up across the bottom of the screen.

Nine Sols: the main character, a cat ninja in yellow robes, is on the left, engaged in battle with an armored centaur-like creature at least five times his size, wielding something similar to a double ended scythe. They are in a steampunk setting, with machinery and lines reminiscent of computer symbols in the background.

Two games I want to like but couldn't get into yet: Nine Sols and Darkest Dungeon. DD was leaving Gamepass so I tried it and had fun, but would have to put too much time into to fully enjoy. NS has an excellent story and atmosphere, but I did not like the parry based combat. I will likely try again.

Magical Delicacy, the main character (a white haired young woman) walks down the sidewalk of a well kept urban neighborhood. I couldn't really get into the main gameplay mechanic of collecting and using ingredients to follow recipes.

Volcano Princess, a small girl standing in a bedroom with lots of buttons and banners tracking different stats and resources. I hated navigating these on console. Also, from the beginning the game is riddled with grammatical errors I couldn't get past. It felt like a bit of a mess to be honest, and definitely not the style of game I enjoy.

Two more games I tried but gave up quick because they weren't my style: Magical Delicacy and Volcano Princess. MD has a cute artstyle and good writing, but I'm not super into crafting/cooking type games. VP is a social sim game where you raise a daughter, but the translation and menus were terrible.

Blizzard Arcade Collection, with Rock and Roll Racing, The Lost Vikings, and more. I didn't play them much as a kid, so I don't look back on them fondly, and they don't live up to modern indie games.

Retro Classics, a collection of Atari-style retro games. I didn't find anything fun to do here. It's neat to look back at what used to be, but it's not worth spending much time on compared to everything else in my backlog.

I'll start my 2025 rankings by listing a few games I played this year but will not officially rank, because I did not play them enough to seriously consider. I find it hard to go back to retro games I don't have nostalgia for, so I fell off of Retro Classics and Blizzard Arcade Collection quickly.

It's that time of year! I've once again ranked all of the games I've tried for the first time this year, and will be giving a countdown throughout December along with mini reviews of each.

I'll also be expanding on these as a guest writer on @stormraige23.bsky.social's substack. Happy gaming!

But then we don't get to hear @dannyodwyer.bsky.social say "LOSAIL!" as much.

This month has not been good enough for me to also feel like I'm this bad at the thing I do for fun.

*Screams in parent-of-teenager.*

For legal reasons let's assume you mean extremely persistent and well organized protests.

@stormraige23.bsky.social

Giveaway "Across the Timeways ⏳️" kindly provided @playhearthstone.bsky.social
⏳️Follow&Like&Share
⏳️Comment and tag your fav content creator! Let's show some ❤️
⏳️Winner drawn on Nov 2nd
Good luck everyone!!! ⌛️

Blizzard provided 2 Across the Timeways bundles for me to giveaway to the Hunter community!
(1 here & 1 on X w much worse odds)

You get:
⏳60 Packs
⏳1 Card Back
⏳2 Random Legendaries

To enter:
⏳Follow @SidisiTV
⏳Retweet

✅Winner drawn on Oct 28th.

Orisa. A 7 mana 6/8 legendary priest minion. Text: Ultimate. Taunt. Elusive. Cannot be silenced. When a minion attacks this, silence it. Art: Orisa is a 4-legged robot with two arms, somewhat like a centaur. She is reaching out with her left hand to stop a car in its tracks. Yellow horns protrude down past her cheeks giving her a Bull-like appearance.

Terra surge, a 6 mana legendary priest spell. Text: choose a friendly minion. It gains immune this turn. Force all enemy minions to attack it. Art: Orisa is golden, using her fortify ability that raises her defense and makes her immune from status effects or interrupts. She is reared up on her hind legs spinning a charged up javelin over her head, ready to crash it down on her enemies. Several heroes, including Pharah and Reinhardt, are drawn in close to her, about to get smashed.

Well... if it isn't our favorite robot horse crossing guard, Orisa. Halt! She is fortified with pure stopping power. It's going to take some big minions to get through her. Control priest anyone? The Terra Surge ult draws helpless minions in and most won't make it back out. #Hearthstone x #Overwatch

It seems like a card that got a bit ignored during the reveals in favor of the quests. Seems like it's going to be a solid addition to already existing aggro priest decks.

www.hsguru.com/deckviewer?c...

Decklist for imbue jug priest, link in comments.

I'm not a fan of the Pre-Release Brawl, as people not buying preorders have to play clipped versions of old decks, and trying new cards in an artificial meta feels empty to me. That being said I still joined in, and went 6-1 with imbue jug priest. Archaios creates very sticky boards. #Hearthstone

Brigitte, a 3 mana 3/3 legendary Paladin minion. Text: ultimate. Divine shield. Rush. Whenever this deals damage, restore 1 health to all friendly characters. Card art: Brigitte holds up a transparent shield that is starting to crack as she pushes forward into gunfire. Her large extending whip mace is held in her right hand. As a squire to Reinhardt, she is similarly armored and also focused on close quarters melee combat.

Rally, a 4 mana legendary Paladin spell. Text: choose a friendly minion. Give all friendly minions divine shield, then that minion attacks a random enemy. Art: Brig stands in the center of her teammates with her mace raised in the air like a torch, leading their charge into battle. Zarya, Bastion, Hanzo, and Pharah stand or fly around her while firing at their enemies.

I thoroughly enjoy Brig, and think she fits perfectly into Paladin. Her inspire passive heals teammates as she plunges into battle, while Rally shields your minions. I was toying with the idea of a whipshot battlecry, but rush fits the card better. Mace to the face! #Overwatch x #Hearthstone

Lost City bundle!

Blizzard provided 2 Lost City of Un'goro Bundles for me to giveaway to the Hunter community!
(1 here & 1 on ✖️ w much worse odds)

You get:
🦖60 Packs
🦖1 Card Back
🦖2 Random Legendaries

To enter:
🦖Follow @sidisi.bsky.social
🦖Repost

✅Winner drawn on July 7th.

You've heard this a million times by now, rightfully so. I'm saying it too.

#BringHatBack

@ridiculous.chat has done exceptional work for Blizz over the last 2 years and it isn't exaggerating to say hiring him was the best decision they made in recent memory. Keeping him now would be the 2nd best.

The Full House trophy for drafting a room in every single open slot of your house.

A layout of my completed house, along with my inventory and upgrades.

I've been absolutely sucked into #BluePrince and finally earned the Full House trophy last night for completely filling the grid. Every time I play I find some new goal to work toward.

I know the game can feel very RNG heavy, but if you enjoy puzzle games I encourage you to stick with it!

It's skunk cabbage sprouting but I always thought it looked a bit like nirnroot from the Elder Scrolls games at this stage.

How nice of them to shadow drop the Oblivion remake right as we hit Nirnroot season.