Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare... for the Gameboy Color?

I got a year of Nintendo Online with my Switch 2, which obviously means I'm playing old games on the emulators more than the handful of Switch 2 games. 

I hadn't looked at the library in a few years. It's still mostly Nintendo first party games from various regions. Maybe a few of the big bangers from Capcom and Konami. 

And then there was a record scratch moment. Alone in the Dark the New Nightmare for the Gameboy Color.

I know Alone in the Dark The New Nightmare as a Resident Evil clone (which was an Alone in the Dark clone, snake eating tail) on the PlayStation 1. It had you exploring a sprawling mansion, searching for key items, and solving puzzles. So how did they pull it off on the Gameboy?

Crow County

Crow County was sold to me as a throwback to 1990s era survival horror. Immediate buy for me. I've fallen for this trick before, and most of the time it doesn't pay off. (I think notoriously about a game called Back in 1995 that had game ending bugs) Every time there's a new one, I come back to suckle on that which is familiar and comforting to me. 

Crow County takes place completely in an abandoned amusement park. The McGuffin is the park owner who had disappeared and reports of some weird stuff happening at the park. Shortly after entering, you run into the first NPC that has no business being there and not surprisingly, is injured. We're officially hooked. Barry is looking at the blood on the ground and Jill is wandering into the first zombie hallway.

Game of the Year 2025 Number 1 - 5

This was a hefty year for me and video games. Probably because everything around us is crumbling and terrible and video games were one of the easier disassociation techniques. 

Now the "as always disclaimer" is that these are not games that came out in 2025, just games I played in 2025. I don't have the time to stay up to date on all the newest games. (God damned adult job)

Here's what we've looked at so far

• Games 28-18
• Games 17-6

5. Star Wars Outlaws

• Hardware: PlayStation 5
• Release Year: 2024

I think this is the only one of two games I played on the PlayStation 5 this year. That's some sort of condemnation of console game. I can't believe they are talking about a PlayStation 6, when it feels like the PlayStation 5 hasn't gotten much love. But anyway, that's not why you are here. 

Star Wars Outlaws is the game I've wanted for decades. Instead of redoing the, "down on your luck, lost, aimless, citizen to Jedi pipeline," you're just a dirtbag with a heart of gold. No lightsaber needed. This is the Han Solo game, although much less charismatic. But that's good. That makes all the trouble feel believable. 

You get to travel at high speeds across planets on speeder bikes. You get to infiltrate Imperial Star Destroyers. You get to make business deals in shady cantinas. You get to play one of three gangs off of each other, each giving you a benefit or punishment. 

This was an Ubisoft checklist game, but it didn't feel bogged down like some of the more recent Assassin's Creeds have. Many of the checkmarks were behind puzzles or stealth instead of simply climbing a thing. 

Game of the Year 2025 Numbers 17 - 6

This was a hefty year for me and video games. Probably because everything around us is crumbling and terrible and video games were one of the easier disassociation techniques. 

Now the "as always disclaimer" is that these are not games that came out in 2025, just games I played in 2025. I don't have the time to stay up to date on all the newest games. (God damned adult job)

Here's what we've looked at so far

• Games 28-18

17. Heretic + Hexen

• Hardware: Steamdeck
• Release Year: 2025

I don't know if I consider this game above Doom for real, but I've played Heretic and Hexen less than I've played Doom. 

The first person shooter revolution of the early/mid-90s was moving fast. I had the Shareware version of Heretic, but by the time I had enough allowance, we had Duke Nukem 3D and Quake. 

So this is sort of a fun time capsule for me. Something that feels familiar, but something I've never played. 

16. Elden Ring: Seamless Co-Op and Shadow of the Erdtree

• Hardware: Steamdeck
• Release Year: 2022

I bought my brother Elden Ring years ago and he was too intimidated to play it. I was looking for a reason to return. I watched the progress of Seamless Co-Op and figured I'd offer myself up as a guide to the world. 

It wasn't perfect. There were some really frustrating times on Linux where the Coop mod had an update and wouldn't find my save. So I would go through this dance of finding the save file buried on my Steam Deck, copying it somewhere else. Starting a new character. Playing until the first checkpoint. Finding the new save file. Then overwriting that save file. 

I didn't play the DLC the first time through. Shadow of the Erdtree was still weeks away when I rolled credits and frankly, I was ready to move on. The DLC is cool. It has more of a fantastical feel. The original game tries to ground the world in a reality that we can understand, ruins and castles, forests and swamps. The DLC feels like Morrowind. Like something that can't exist on this planet. 

Game of the Year 2025 Numbers 28 - 18

This was a hefty year for me and video games. Probably because everything around us is crumbling and terrible and video games were one of the easier disassociation techniques. 

Now the "as always disclaimer" is that these are not games that came out in 2025, just games I played in 2025. I don't have the time to stay up to date on all the newest games. (God damned adult job)

28. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

• Hardware: Steam Deck
• Release Year: 2024

I like a lot of the 3D Prince of Persia games and wanted to support this reboot effort, so I bought it.

I'm not into Metrovanias most the time, so I assumed this game wasn't going to hit all that hard. But it didn't just not hit hard, it barely hit at all, and it was mostly the combat. It just didn't feel good and there's a lot of combat in the game. 

Onimusha: Warlords Remastered

I consumed everything about the PS1, but once the PS2 dropped, I knew I wouldn't be able to afford it for a while. I got my first job, saved up a few paychecks, and the day the Resident Evil DVD dropped, I went to Babbages and bought both Resident Evil and a PS2. 

Two years of games had come out at the point and I was completely out of the magazine game by then. So I really had no idea what was out, what was good, what was not. 

Dishonored

I'm a sucker for a stealth game, specifically in the style of a Metal Gear Solid or Mark of the Ninja. Dishonored should have hit so hard for me. 

I apparently started a game years ago. I barely remember it, but I had a save at like the 40 minute mark. Definitely not enough to really get a good idea of the game. 

After I found Death Loop to be so surprisingly enjoyable, I wanted to give Dishonored another chance. 

I beat it this time. It was a weirdly paced game. 

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Holy crap, they did it. They made me feel like Indiana Jones in a video game. 

I've played just about every Indiana Jones game out there. All of them were either too action oriented (Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine) or too slow paced (Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis). But you can tell that the people making this game are fans of the films. 

The films always start with a really cool action sequence, taking a play out of the James Bond universe. Then there's a sort of setup scene where you see Indy interacting with some of the side characters for the story. Then a McGuffin. Then Indy has some quiet reflection on his massive encyclopedia of a brain. Then an action sequence as he has to read something in some tomb. Reflection. Action. Reflection. Action. Explosion. Dead Nazis. 

Deathloop

 

I couldn’t get a hold of a PS5 for a while when it was released, so I casually followed game news, hoping one day to get a hold of one. Deathloop was one I had my ears out for. Bethesda published (whatever that means nowadays in the Microsoft organization) by the people that brought us Dishonored. Dishonored is one of those games that should grab my attention and hold it, but I’ve always bounced off. But I’ve always really liked the engine. So out of the PS5 games, this one stuck out. 

Oblivion Remastered

Platform: Steamdeck

Release Year: 2025

Note: There will be many Oblivion spoilers below. 

Oblivion was THE launch window game for the Xbox 360. Maybe the commercials for Halo 3, Dead Rising, or Gears of War got you intrigued, but if you got that original 20 GB Xbox 360, this was the game to show off the "next gen." I remember a roommate of mine telling me I was wasting time playing the game and I looked them in the eye and said, "Why would I go outside, when this world looks and feels better than the real world?"

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

I'm starting to see the cracks of not having central games oriented sites as prevalent. I'm off Reddit. I'm off X. I till occasionally go to IGN and GiantBomb (Viva la independence!). I knew almost nothing about the new Dragon Age coming out. I barely knew it was coming. And this is coming from someone that loved the majority of past Dragon Age games. 

I started seeing complaints about the art direction first. I take gamer forums, especially regarding previews, with a huge grain of salt since the "Cellda" days killed any chance of us getting another Wind Waker style game in a long time. I looked at some screenshots, maybe not my favorite art direction, but I certainly didn't think it looked "child like" or whatever the complaints were. In action, it looks fine. 

Last of Us 2 is a Bread Sandwich

Warning: There will be some spoilers below

The Last of Us is one of my favorite games of all time. So when Last of Us 2 was coming, I was excited. 

Unfortunately for it (and me) and landed just 2 months into complete lockdown for the Covid 19 pandemic. 

So I'm depressed, because the global pandemic has me locked in my house like everyone else. And this game about a global pandemic that is also incredibly depressing arrives in the mail... and I don't know if I've ever hit a level of despair holding a PlayStation controller as I did playing through LOU2.

Game of the Year 2024 Top 5

2024 turned out to be a hell of a year for my personal gaming in general. Yes, there were some old safe classics I played and they made the list, but the new games were bangers as you'll see in the top 5 here. 

Game of the Year 2024 Numbers 16-6

Another year, another batch of games I've played. Since I'm not a huge IGN sized blog, I generally only have about 20 games I've played for the year. So I try to give each game at least a sentence. 

This was an interesting year. I found myself reaching for the Switch less and less as the year went on. The PlayStation 5 went through spurts of abandonment. The Series S got relegated to the basement room. It was the year of the Steam Deck. 

So here we are, games 16-6 of 2024. 

May the 4th Be With You - A Star Wars Videogame ranking

I've been a Star Wars fan since I can remember. 

My parents taped Return of the Jedi off of network TV around 1990, and I wore the tape out.

I rented a New Hope from the library. By the time I saw Empire, I was already buying books with schematics of the ships and Timothy Zahn books.

I play almost every Star Wars game that comes out, so over 40 years, I've played a lot of games. 

I feel like I'm missing something from this list, but I can't figure out what it is, so with that caveat here's my definitive list

Top Games of 2023

It's been another incredible year of games. I haven't had time to play everything I've wanted to. There's been a few games that likely have made my top 10 of all time. There's a few I haven't played, that will likely make that list as well. 

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom have changed the sandbox game. No longer can Rockstar or Bethesda phone in their open worlds.  

Balders Gate 3 has moved the line of what a Dungeons and Dragons based RPG should be. 

And Resident Evil 4 Remake is a masterclass in pacing. 

I played many games this year. I'll rank them all. Remember, these are games that I played this year, not necessarily games that came out in 2023. 

Callisto Protocol and the Importance of Why?

I, like a lot of people, were looking forward to Callisto Protocol. Dead Space was one of the best newer horror games of the past few decades. So a new space horror game brought to you by some of the people that worked on the original Dead Space sounded great. 

Dead Space seemed like a thriving franchise, but EA, in their typical EA fashion, ran it into the ground after adding un-necessary coop and microtransactions, and milked what made the original so special right out of the franchise. I've heard the remake of the first one is pretty damn good, but I've yet to try it. 

Callisto Protocol felt like it could exist in the Dead Space universe. It thrived to be that level of game. What I think we got, was a game running up against smaller budgets than needed to accomplish the vision. 

Final Fight

I recently got the Capcom beat-em-up collection for the Switch, which is such an interesting look into where games were heading in the late 80s and early 90s. 

Games like Double Dragon and River City Ransom took the world by storm and it seemed like as long as games were on a 2D plain, beat-em-ups were going to have a place in the world. 

I returned to Final Fight for the first time in probably 20 years at this point, and I got thoughts.

Sony PlayStation State of Play 2023

Man, I miss E3. The State of Play presentation was great, but it feels like a tease. I'm conditioned to think, "I have at least two more presentations that are going to try to one up this one."

Anyway, Sony's State of Play happened to little fan fair. Yes, the internet talked about it. Reddit was filled with trailers. But this did not carry the same social cachet that the E3 event used to have. 

There's something missing from not having the big presentation, the live audience, the sweaty game journalist living on energy drinks and dreams. Not seeing the GiantBomb couch after hours. It's just not as special. 

But... enough old man yelling at the clouds... we have some games coming. 

Backlog: Far Cry 6

I have a question about Far Cry 6... why?

Just why?

I'm an Ubisoft apologist. They are check list games nowadays, but sometimes it's nice to just pop on a podcast and play in these sandboxes. 

But at what point does the check list start feeling more like a grocery list or a work to do list? I think it's the point we've been at with Ubisoft for a couple years now.