Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen was probably an amazing game for it's time, but it feels super dated now.  Looks and plays like a PS2 game, with texture maps stretched over blocks.

The game boasted combat and initially it was very good, fighting bigger beasts like ogre and griffin - but having to climb them and attack sections, while teamed up with a party of "pawn" adventurers.  It got pretty tedious though, perhaps there is fast travel convenience that I didn't discover - but it was a whole lot of walking on the same road that spawned the same enemies in the same position for 15 minutes before I could do anything.  Plus "running" was in limited supply, you could only do it in bursts or your character will stop and pant for a while.

The next game this company makes will be awesome.

Detention

Detention is a point-click sidescrolling horror adventure where you fall asleep in a class lecture and wake up to an empty school that has roaming zombie-like creatures that you have to hold your breath and/or evade to pass, all while you are looking for clues as to where everyone is and how you can get out of the area (typhoon reported coming, but bridge is out).

That's when it takes a darker turn.  You're character ends up getting caught and then hanging upside down from the ceiling and you start playing as the girl you found.  Apparently he was NOT dead, however - as one of the notes you uncover shows the draining of blood into a bowl, which you ... do to the guy who found you and was hanging.  He opens his eyes in wonder as you drain his blood into a bowl, but not for some demonic purposes, simply to get an imprint of a code from the desk of another student.

Wow.

All the while you are picking up notes that give clues as to how to deal with the various zombie types, but also a bit of the backstory to the characters.   I stopped playing because I don't like a "try clicking on everything with the paint bucket until something works" type puzzles, when they work they work, but wandering through multiple levels looking for what you missed is a yawn.

I did read the Wiki to see what was actually going on, and it seems quite good.  Spoilers, but apparently the girl is going through stages of purgatory after a suicide based on the guilt she had over the events that led to it.  Something about reporting the smuggling of banned books and a mistaken love triangle.

Shadow of War

Shadow of War is the sequel to Shadow of Morgoth where you play as Talion, a ranger that is inhabited by the spirit of Celebrimbor, who was the original forger of the rings of power.   You create a new ring in order to rival the dark lord.

These games do a great thing with what they have coined the "Nemesis System" where the orcs remember and evolve after your encounter.   In the original game - I had an undying nemesis that eventually was so mutilated from my repeated killing of him that it drove him insane.   This time I had a legit nemesis - a guy who was pretty much invulnerable to every attack I had, had a "no chance" perk that means you don't get to escape a mortal wound, and had a ranged attack that would mortally wound you.   Every time I encountered him he just got stronger.

Eventually I found an orc that I was able to command that could be his rival and set him as my champion - then repeatedly shamed this guy until he was super low level. 

This also had a really thoughtful tribute to one of the developers who was nicknamed "Forthog" who died of cancer during the production of the sequel.  He will occasionally show up and rescue you if you are up against an overwhelming foe -- and then there is a sequence the added at the end of the credits where he slow walks into battle against a horde of orcs.  <3 Forthog.

Elden Ring

What can I say?   Elden Ring was fan-fricking-tastic.  Fromsoft has made a few different style games recently, but this was like stepping into an old comfortable pair of pants.   This was Dark Souls but in an open world.

Of course there were recycled elements, which was initially off-putting, but then these are all optional bosses and having them tweaked to different difficulties and skills was fantastic - in classic DS, there is no way to easily replay a boss, this gives you a number of ways.

I've played through as a strength based warrior and a mage, but I'm putting in on the shelf for a while now to get to some other things.  So good.  SO GOOD.

Cuphead

Cuphead is a bit of a throwback - in both game and style.

The controls are reminiscent of early coin-op side scrollers, and the delivery is staged as a cartoon from the 1950's.  The combination is fantastic, the levels are super-SUPER hard, but the replayability of a level is almost immediate, so there is a bit of a groove that you can get into.

This game is Betty Boop on the surface, but Dark Souls in the "difficulty to stay alive".  Fun!  I ended up grabbing it a couple days before Elden Ring was scheduled to come out as something to fill a tiny gap.