Games I Played In August 2025
2025 September 12 | video-gamesINSERT/DATE/HERE
Free Palestine. That's all I should need to say. You'll likely know what the game is about very quickly. The game takes no more than a couple minutes. If you make it to the results screen, at least play for just a tad more if you want everything to sink in even deeper.
Well - hopefully that's one of the darkest intros to a blog post I write for a while. I don't want to just ignore heavy topics because I want the blog to be fun. But I do want the blog to be fun, so now that we've taken a moment to not completely ignore the things happening around us, let's give ourselves a little bit of time for distractions
Yakuza Kiwami 2
Yakuza is known as a series that balances a serious plot with a humorous array of side content. Yakuza 2 displays the full range of this by featuring both "the rain scene" and the substory, "Be My Baby." But besides throwing down with gang members during an ageplay session (something Kiryu doesn't judge but just does not want to be a part of), does the game's remake actually offer what is promised?
Without dedicating too much time to the silliness (it's a vital part of Yakuza but online discussions tend to overvalue it), I do want to note the game certainly doesn't lack in it. One of the first minigames you unlock is "ToyLets." It's a game about pissing. It's not even particularly good, but it's clear this game certainly has space for shenanigans. There's also a substory about Kiryu and Date being old men and not understanding how modems work in 2006, that ends with a healthy serving of egg on Kiryu's face of course. And the main story has it's fun moments as well, often thanks to a certain fan-favorite man with a sight disability.
Memes are all fun and good, but what about the main substance? Kiwami 2 has the advantage of being a sequel to Yakuza Kiwami. The main villains all get their share of screen-time, they often serve thematic roles, and most of them are actually fun to fight. The supporting cast is certainly a step up, with them having their own arcs to navigate while Kiryu handles all of his business. Speaking of Kiryu, his arc is handled incredibly well. He carries a lot more emotional baggage after the events of the first game, and the story is not afraid to chuck it in his face and make him find a way to regain his composure. Kiwami 2 adds "the Majima Saga," which alongside the new performance really sells the duality of Majima's character in ways that Kiwami 1... well, let's just say it's miles better than fighting him in his disco suit 10 times.
Unfortunately, Kiwami 2 also has the disadvantage of being a remake of Yakuza 2. It certainly handles this better than Kiwami 1 did, but it still stumbles a few times. Kaoru's best moment is still her introduction, where she can do far more than hold her own. Kiryu needing to protect her more and more as the plot progresses is... annoying, but not damning. And while the script was adjusted slightly in her favor, I still never want to hear the line "You're not just a cop. You're also a woman" played straight ever again. Another point against Kiwami is that the licensed music available has changed. While I think the new tracks are mostly fine, I do strongly dislike another audio change in a scene where the backing track played a pivotal role. Again, the new music works well enough, but... all I'll say is "the knife sound."
I think a remake is most interesting when both it and the original can stand apart from each other. And while these aren't quite the differences I imagine when I say that, I think Kiwami 2 highlights the unique appeals of both versions of this story.
UFO 50: Magic Garden
One of the simpler games in the collection, helping make it quite easy to pickup and play when I'm looking to play a game for just a few minutes. It's probably more complex then I give it credit for. Not only is there a jump button that I have yet to find meaningful use of since the timing is quite strict, but I also didn't properly understand combos until my winning attempt. Regardless, I still had a winning attempt.
There are two types of orb-like creatures: one that ends your run if you make contact, and one you have to collect and bring to highlighted sections of the screen to score points. But also, it's like Snake in that you cannot run into a creature already following you. If you hit the button to "deposit" the ones following you, any not in the highlighted segment switch into the first type. However, each time after scoring, a bell appears. If you collect this bell a timer begins and if you walk into a hostile creature you remove it from the board and score an increasing number of points for each one removed before the timer ends. Collecting multiple bells increases the timer and raises the score earned.
That all sounds confusing, it's much more intuitive if you just play the game yourself of watch someone else do so.
It feels very much like a score-chasing arcade game in a good way. The movement is restricted in a way that keeps you on your toes but doesn't feel unfair once you've taken a little bit of time to get used to it. And the score-chasing element is enhanced by the game ending after you've deposited at least 200 friendly orbs, emphasizing the goal of planning your combos. My biggest complaint is that after scoring 50 orbs, the palette changes and the first palette swap is pretty harsh to look at. The ones after 100 and 150 are much less of a strain, thankfully.
Arctic Eggs
"I don't care about not being caught up," xe said as their initial reaction to opening Arctic Eggs' Steam page was "oh frick, this has been out for a minute" FOMO is silly, the real question is if the game was still interesting after being out for a year.
(Wow, what a depressing idea if that last statement is actually how to judge games and not just semantic decoration)
Arctic Eggs is absolutely a "vibes game," where the vibes are "everything sucks but I'm still alive." The constant clumsy controls are far from the only source of this enjoyable slight discomfort. When talking with NPCs there is a constant air of awkwardness, caused by not only the odd things they do and say, but also by details such as the typos that get corrected as their words are displayed. The environment feels oppressive yet tranquil, lifted up by the energetic soundtrack just enough to not quite entirely distract you from the harsher elements.
One of my most recurring thoughts, was that this game is very meditative. The constant failing and flailing has a tinge of frustration to it, but focusing on the movement of the eggs and other objects while trying to make delicate movements to ensure your flips don't have many knock-on effects is actually pretty relaxing.
In order to cope with an unfair world, sometimes you need to put on some good music, and do a repetitive but not quite tedious task. And if that task is frying eggs in freezing weather - okay that sound much more pleasant to do virtually, but sure, it's worth a shot.