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52 Games Challenge 2025!!!
dhaabi:
49. Blackout || Browser || 08.01.2025
A while ago, I was searching for some higher-quality point-and-click adventure games priced for free, and Blackout caught my attention. Prior to playing, I knew that it would be fairly short to complete, so I was hoping that it would prove to be a fun and standout experience despite its length. Originally, Blackout was developed in 48 hours for a game jam, but I played the more refined version that was updated afterward.
When players begin, the first in-game action that properly progresses the game past its looping animation screen is falling off a building's roof which effectively causes a lapse in the protagonist's memory. Who or where you're at are unknown, but what is known is that you're at some residence with spooky albeit laid-back atmosphere. In fact, we're presented as a witch, and appropriately horror-themed items and decor are scattered throughout the environment. What all this means exactly, though, we as the player don't know for sure since we're mostly alone. Mostly alone, of course, aside from the corpses that litter the floors from room to room. Other bodies even appear reanimated and serve as barriers to advance the story as well. Despite the protagonist being an unknown identity, she's written in a very fun way with a charismatic personality. The small, off-hand comments she makes when observing her surroundings and set pieces are amusing, and it's largely a result of her dismissive and judgmental attitude.
As the protagonist works toward learning why she happens to be at this residence, darkness acts as a major obstacle throughout exploration. Because of the dark environment, a majority of the set pieces are, for some time, unable to be interacted with. However, there is good reason for this as players the story unfolds and as the game's title suggests. So, until the game's concluding segment, players are left to navigate the limited environment as much as they can while slowly solving puzzles to bypass blocked paths. There isn't any larger goal presented to the player really besides exploring, so progressing comes across as a little game-y without reason. Nevertheless, Blackout offers enough fun in its gameplay and mystery narrative. Unfortunately, though, the majority of the playthrough is spent with only holding onto one or two inventory items at a time which diminishes the puzzle aspects to a degree. One of the final puzzles proved to be challenging for me, though this was largely due to not noticing the item needing to click on was interactive. Otherwise, puzzle interactions are straightforward with items gained being used in ways you'd expect them to be used alongside the limited number of items altogether.
Near the end, the game shifts abruptly which allows for additional exploration to be done under contrasting conditions. What this shift would be exactly was again pretty easy to deduce far ahead of time, but it was executed well enough for a game of this scope. At this point of the game, players enter a free roam state with no objective besides clearing the game properly. With that said, there is one final task past this shift in tone and narrative to trigger the concluding scene. And, I actually did find the conclusion to be a little unexpected in a satisfactory way.
In the end, Blackout satisfied what I was wanting to play, and it's a well executed game for its size and length. Point-and-click games traditionally are defined by a much more obtuse difficulty that Blackout circumvents, which is a design choice that I think definitely makes it more accessible for a quality casual experience.
marvelvscapcom2:
I've encountered major video game burnout of some sort, at the 50 mark it seems everything I put on just doesn't grip me and i'd rather either binge Netflix or go outside and do stuff in locals driving around attractions. Which is fine but this is definitely the longest drought I've hit with games since maybe 2019. Perhaps doing 50 in around half a year was too much too fast. Anyone else ever experience a burnout? Ive tried both short and long games.
Maybe Mafia Old Country will be the one to get me back on the horse. 52 is on the horizon. Hope to join you guys again soon!
kamikazekeeg:
18 - Five Nights at Freddy's: Secret of the Mimic (PC 2025) - BEAT - This is funny enough, despite being like the...11th or something core game in the series, my first actual FNAF game I've beaten...still kinda trudging through FNAF1 and that jank lol I tried to get into Security Breach before this, a game I tried in 2023, but refunded when it ran poorly and surprise, even with a new PC, it still runs poorly. This game is the same company and I took a chance with it being that I heard better things and using my refund money, I got this.
And I'm glad I did, it's solid. I can see elements that are shared with Security Breach from the little I played of that and what I've seen otherwise, but it's basically like "What if Security Breach was good". Runs mostly fine (Does still need some optimization patches to clean it up), gameplay is solid, it's creepy and better looking than Security Breach, it's what I think that game was doing, just at a smaller scale.
Gameplay is solid, I was a little worried about mouse controlled movement interactions, pulling the mouse back to pull a cord on a generator, turning devices to move them, it only messed me up a few times, but overall I enjoyed it as it went on. Generally it's hide-and-seek mixed with some general puzzle solving. Towards the end I ended up just looking up the codes for a few doors that get you to the collectibles, honestly found that stuff kinda tedious when I realized how you were supposed to actually solve them, so I don't mind cheating with those as I was just trying to get the collectibles for the special ending lol
Overall really dug the game, it's a lightly creepy experience that shows some much better work than Security Breach. Now if they could just take this experience and remake Security Breach to be way better and I'll be happy to give that game another hsot lol
bikingjahuty:
--- Quote from: marvelvscapcom2 on August 05, 2025, 10:11:15 pm ---I've encountered major video game burnout of some sort, at the 50 mark it seems everything I put on just doesn't grip me and i'd rather either binge Netflix or go outside and do stuff in locals driving around attractions. Which is fine but this is definitely the longest drought I've hit with games since maybe 2019. Perhaps doing 50 in around half a year was too much too fast. Anyone else ever experience a burnout? Ive tried both short and long games.
Maybe Mafia Old Country will be the one to get me back on the horse. 52 is on the horizon. Hope to join you guys again soon!
--- End quote ---
I took a break from gaming in the mid 2000s, but that was mostly due to me starting college, dating, and getting more into other interests of mine. I didn't get fully into it again until around 2009/2010. A more recent example was around 2020/2021 where i was still playing a lot of games, but they just didn't have the same impact on me they once did. i think part of this burnout was due to me hitting my expiration date as a collector, but I also think it was a bit of me playing so many games for so long that I just needed to take a break. So, that's what I did. I started modding game consoles a lot, which is still video game related, but i was doing that far more than playing them.
When I got back into gaming, I feel like I approached it from a new perspective of wanting quality experiences over quantity. I still like branching out and playing games I'm curious about, but I became far more okay with admitting some games aren't for me or there are certain games I'll likely never make the time to play. Also, revisiting some of my all time favorite games helped me figure out why I loved gaming so much, which also helped.
But yeah, be patient, do other things for as long as you need to and eventually you'll likely come around and get back into a gaming again. It might be in a month, possibly 6 months, or possibly several years. Just ride it out and see what happens.
telly:
Game 18 - Stray (PS5) - 7 Hours
One of the big initial draws of this game for me was being able to play as a cat. This is the first game that I've really played where you get to be an animal in this capacity. It was really fun, with a lot of intentional gameplay decisions that mimic the behavior of cats. I kind of wish they had more things that you could do and interact with as a cat because there’s a lot of untapped potential here. But what really sucked me into this game was the setting and atmosphere, which for me created an incredibly immersive world that was fun to explore.
I do kind of wish that there was more to the world, because most of the game takes place in very linear enclosed environments, and there isn't a lot of free roaming and exploration outside of the two town areas. There also isn't a lot of very deep gameplay elements. I ended up turning off the jump prompts so that I had a bit more of a challenge figuring out how to traverse the games very vertical environments. But other than a few light stealth sections, the platforming isn't very deep, and there’s very minimal combat, which makes the game really rely heavily on its setting, story and atmosphere to be entertaining. Which it does but i would understand if this game was kind of boring to someone else.
Thankfully for me the story was well told, giving you lots of space to wonder about the undertones to this ruined world that was clearly brought about by stark class and wealth divisions. All of which is inhabited by interesting characters who add a lot of vibrancy to what is otherwise a pretty depressing game. And I think the non-violent nature of this game’s storytelling helps fit these themes. The music was also phenomenal. I typically don't like a lot of ambient music in games, but this game’s score really helped set the mood well.
Stray is a touching emotional experience that while linear and light on the gameplay, was still entertaining. The fun for me comes from exploring the intractability between yourself and the world around you, in ways that are unique. One is in the sense that you’re an animal, and the other is you’re in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by only robots who don’t truly grasp their existence. These two ideas intertwine in a compelling experience.
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