What Video Game Did I Play Yesterday?
May 2026
May 31st, 2026
It's the last day of May, and I am in a shockingly low mood! I'm trying to fight it off with crafts and project planning, but it's not working great. That's ok, though! Tomorrow is another day.
I'm feeling pretty good about having an RPG rotation, so I played more of Final Fantasy yesterday. This game moves really fast, and at least in this first part, I don't feel like the prices to upgrade my equipment are too brutal. Plus, I like that floating eyeballs are a big problem at sea. It must make cargo shipping in this world just a nightmare.
Over in Pokemon Violet, I fought and defeated my first Titan. The sense of scale in this game, whether it's my character up against a kaiju sized Pokemon, or just standing on a cliff and looking out of the world, is really nice. I'm a big fan of 2D games, but even the biggest overworld sprites never conveyed scale in the way this is managing. It's really cool!
I played Sunseed Island for a little bit before bed, too, which was a decent way to get to sleep! Since I've exclusively been playing this game while dead tired, I didn't realize until last night that I could refill my stamina with food. It makes sense, so I do feel dumb, but it'll make the rest of this easier.
Over in mobile games, I ran past my dailies in Dragon Quest Smash/Grow, feeling slightly frustrated. I'm having some trouble levelling up in a decent amount of time, which is not good when the game itself is "a bullet heaven, but slower and with minimal upgrade options." It's not terrible, but it does mean I might not do all that much reward chasing in this after I have event stories cleared.
May 30th, 2026
I feel very suddenly zoomed in on RPGs, because I have great focus and of course this is going to be productive for me. I acted on this by starting Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, which seems like a convenient, but not beautiful way to play the first Final Fantasy. I used the name randomizer to great effect, ending up with a party led by a monk named Yubert, and am enjoying how straightforward everything is. My XBox isn't saving my screenshots, though, perhaps because it knows I disrespect its all caps rebranding, so I have no postcards from yesterday's journey.
I played Pokemon Violet for a while, too, heading over to the first Titan's area. I just didn't care about the gym last night and wanted to see some new scenery.
May 29th, 2026
I'm very sleepy today, but in a positive way. I took the day off work and went to make a little beaded potted plant at a local arts center, and I've been doodling and gluing little sparkly gems to stuff otherwise. I'm trying to do a little craft, or at least something creative daily, and even though it's not helping with my sleep whatsoever, like I'd hoped, it is a nice feeling.
In an effort to help with my sleep, I played Vampire Survivors for a while last night. I got to sleep soon after playing, but woke up super early. That's not the game's fault, though. One of the Balatro DLC characters just lets you equip up to 100 passive weapons from the standard level up menu, and I want to use this to somehow cause problems for the game.
I did some extra play past my dailies in Dragon Quest Smash/Grow again, too. I hit a point where I need to level grind a bit to clear a stage, so I might work on that some this weekend. I have a ticket to go beat up some metal slimes, so it won't be too bad.
May 28th, 2026
I needed to regain some HP last night, so I just played mobile games, with a special focus on Dragon Quest Smash/Grow. There's some new missions to chase for the series' 40th anniversary, which is fun. I also forgot this for a week or so mid-event and am catching up a bit. I enjoyed this for a pretty reasonable amount of time, then got some decent sleep.
May 27th, 2026
I kept waking up over and over last night, even though my headache lessened a little. It was unpleasant and I'm hoping to rest better tonight.
Last night, I played Pokemon Masters EX after my dailies were done, trying to knock out some event tasks. It was a solidly pleasant time, and I gathered piles of new party members. I don't feel at a disadvantage as a free player in this at all yet.
Before bed, I played some Pocket Quest, too, really matching the heck out of some gems. It was not exciting, but I didn't want to play anything exciting.
May 26th, 2026
I have a really nasty nighttime headache, so this won't be my best post. I got quite a bit further in the demo for Warhammer Survivors, though. It really threw off my Memorial Day coleslaw making schedule, but I did get to see that this game has kind of a party-based mechanic connected to weapon selection, which could be interesting! I also started evolving weapons and unleashing mayhem, which was great.
I played Pokemon Champions a bit past daily quests, too, trying to scum through some of the weekly quests. They're interesting in that they're getting me to use some Pokemon I wouldn't normally try, which is neat.
May 25th, 2026
I have a really nasty nighttime headache, so this won't be my best post. I got quite a bit further in the demo for Warhammer Survivors, though. It really threw off my Memorial Day coleslaw making schedule, but I did get to see that this game has kind of a party-based mechanic connected to weapon selection, which could be interesting! I also started evolving weapons and unleashing mayhem, which was great.
I played Pokemon Champions a bit past daily quests, too, trying to scum through some of the weekly quests. They're interesting in that they're getting me to use some Pokemon I wouldn't normally try, which is neat.
May 24th, 2026
Yesterday, I finished off an incremental game I'd been playing, called MMO98. I don't find this kind of game very interesting to write about until it's done, so I haven't kept up with the clickers I'm playing here. This one only took two afternoons to polish off, though, and it was more active than I expected. The idea of it is that you're a late 90s MMO development studio, so the "numbers-go-up" stuff comes from developing game sequels, building data centers, and leeching data from the player base. It has a good aesthetic, but once I had all the upgrades, I didn't have any enthusiasm about going back to play again and get the other ending. That is ok, though! I mostly liked this, and it was a good game for clearing out my brain.
I started Bubsy 4D, too, since I'd been excited for it to come out. Movement-wise, there's a lot going on with it! It has a lot of really quick feeling aerial platforming, and I'd say my only problem with it so far is that it wants the player to learn all of the moves for that all at once. It's a small-ish game, from what I've heard, so there's maybe not the room to spread out the tutorial like there would be in a more-AAA platformer. It's a little daunting! Even not knowing what I'm doing, though, it's fun, so I'm looking forward to getting good at it!
Most neutrally, I tried Pokemon Champions, too, which is just Pokemon Stadium but online. I don't hate it, but I can see dropping it because there's just not a ton going on. I'm really fixated on Pokemon right now, though, so I'll play at least for a while. The dailies are fast, and that might help me keep it up.
May 23rd, 2026
Because I was reading last night, I didn't end up with much game time. I did plod forward a little in Pokemon Violet, though, doing a raid and making a nice little cheese sandwich. I'll probably have a better post tomorrow.
May 22nd, 2026
I didn't feel good after getting off work tonight and did the normal thing to recover, which was reading an 1890s Danish novella about trapeze artists for whom horniness was the greatest tribulation, followed by a memoir about the Titan submersible, in one sitting each. I also ate some soup. It gave me a lot to think about.
Anyway, I'm posting late tonight, but I just kept on with the setup stuff in Pokemon Violet last night. It was pleasant, and I continue to find this game very charming.
May 21st, 2026
I didn't play any games until right before bed last night, and decided to go to sleep with some rounds of Columns. I hadn't done this for a while and was as terrible at it as ever. Towards the end, though, I either got slightly better or just got more confident because I was falling asleep. Either way is fine!
May 20th, 2026
One of my friends asked me if I'd tried Bloody Roar yesterday. I hadn't, but faintly remembered picking the first one up on PS3, as a PSOne classic, so I tried it. The whole turning into giant animals that punch each other is one thing, but the real draw is that you can fight some guy named Greg and knock his hat on the ground. It was a neat game, though. Maybe it was a little more deliberately paced than I'd expected, but certainly not sluggish, and as I plodded through an easy arcade playthrough as Long, I felt like I was getting to grips with how it played pretty quickly. It's goofy and enjoyable, with nice, bright polygons, and I think I'll probably play more.
May 19th, 2026
Last night, I just played Vampire Survivors for a while. I kept on the adventure mode I was working on the night before, and it was nice! I slept well, too, so that was also good.
May 18th, 2026
I had forgotten that I picked up Toree Saturn ages ago, so it was a big delight to load it up and play it yesterday! I do like the Toree games in general, but this one is above and beyond 1 and 2. It plays like if the Sonic/Shadow levels in Sonic Adventure 2 only had running and zipping through the air parts, and it is a total delight! I played through the story mode yesterday, but I'm going to go back in for some collectibles. It's so fun that I don't want to just set it down so soon!
I also picked Hyrule Warriors back up, trying to decide how to move forward with it. I played some story mode back on Wii U, as one of the two or three games I actually played on there, so I'd been messing more with Adventure Mode. I want to go back to the story mode, though, so I might get back into that soon.
I did play some before bed Vampire Survivors, too, starting Imedla's adventure, but I guess I didn't get a screenshot. The church level it started off with was neat, though, and I'm looking forward to going further.
May 17th, 2026
I remained not super excited about games yesterday, but I did play some. I tried out Sky Force Anniversary, a shmup with upgrades and levelling, and really enjoyed the start of it! I do not mind level grinding at all when I'm zoned out, so it was nice.
Before bed, I played some Vampire Survivors to clear my brain out, too. It was the best I'd been able to sleep in days.
May 16th, 2026
I didn't want to play video games much yesterday, but I played a few minutes of Space Invaders: Infinity Gene on my lunch break. It wasn't really enough to get a decent grip on the game, but it seemed like a very stylish way to update Space Invaders in those first few levels!
May 15th, 2026
This weekend, I want to get back to fighting games and Pokemon, but yesterday, I did neither. I finished off Fashion Holic, which was frustratingly strict and limited, but an ok way to waste 90 minutes nonetheless. I cleared the last mission by wearing white to a friend's wedding and got the same feeling I imagine people having when they run over a pedestrian in a Grand Theft Auto.
I also played a little of Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed, which was a lovely time driving around in circles. I am not good at this game at all, but I did feel satisfied with the couple of achievements I nabbed.
May 14th, 2026
Sleeping is still an uphill battle this week, but I had the energy to try a few new games yesterday. I spent the most time with Forbidden Solitaire, which is a faux retro horror game and also a very solid game of Tri-Peaks. I had a lot of fun and think I will end up finishing this off Saturday or Sunday.
I also tried Slipstream, which is a bright and cheery OutRun type game. I tried auto-drifting and am not sure if I liked it or not! It was a nice feature, though.
Right before bed, I didn't want to get involved in Pokemon or a fighting game, so I finished off the day by starting Fashion Holic from the Samsung Instant Plays store. It's a pretty inflexible dress-up challenge game, but it seemed like an okay time-waster and has a concrete end in site. That's enough to get it tossed up here.
May 13th, 2026
I didn't sleep the night before last, so I was super zoned out yesterday. I mostly did crafts, but before bed, I tried Black Jacket on Game Pass. It's a blackjack roguelike, and so far, it seems okay. I'll probably try it again, but I'm pretty neutral on it so far.
May 12th, 2026
This week, Pokemon Go has a challenge to walk 42 kilometers, the equivalent of a marathon. I kind of think I can do it. One of my friends was really encouraging about it, too, but she has more faith in me than I do myself. I'm going to give it a shot, though. Maybe I won't make it, and I'm not sure where all I'll walk when I'm not at my office, but it will be fun to try.
Anyway, last night I played the second half of Kirby's Dream Course while Discord chatting with one of my work friends. I'm not sure what to make of this game! It's perfect for playing casually while chatting away, and it has some really neat and creative level designs. I love the look of it, too! I maybe think it's a little tedious, though. Multiplayer is totally fine, and I'd happily play through again that way, but I don't have a lot of interest in single player. It's super well made, but maybe not for me.
For my fighting game run last night, I played Akira's arcade mode in Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage. Usually, I do not enjoy playing as Akira, but I might be getting used to him. This was fine.
May 11th, 2026
I'm posting late tonight, but yesterday was really a fun games day! On GamePass, I tried Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, which I didn't expect to be any good. In fact, it is a solidly playing Smash Bros style roguelike where eventually I'll be able to play as Norb and Dag from The Angry Beavers, which is game quality I could not have possibly have forseen.
I went back to Tekken 8 while I had my XBox on, but just did Alisa's character episode again for a dumb little project. It's important to have activities at hand.
I also played some Pokemon Violet, but rather than making progress, I bought sunglasses and cute shoes. It made me want to replay Fashion Dreamer and see how it is now that the servers are offline.
May 10th, 2026
Yesterday was more of a craft day than anything, so I didn't play games so much. I did go back to Soul Calibur 2, pushing ahead in Weapon Master mode and doing another arcade run.
I also played some more Pokemon Violet, not making any real progress but feeling very charmed by how the wild Pokemon will trot right up to see what I'm up to. It's so cute! I don't really want to fight the little nosy guys, so my levelling is maybe a bit lower than it would be at this point in other Pokemon games.
May 9th, 2026
I coped with my standard Friday night burnout last night through lots of games. I picked up a 6 dollar Switch fighter called Weapon User, because it looked somewhat busted and I couldn't find any information on it. It is better than I expected, but has some choppy animation and a lot of strange jank. I kind of like it, though. It feels like someone's passion project, and it plays well enough that I'd like to go through all I can in it. My fighting game skills are so low compared to where they were at my best, though. I need to practice, just at the genre in general.
I also went through Soul Calibur 2's arcade mode as Taki because it made me feel powerful.
Right before bed, I played Pokemon Violet for a while, too, continuing to catch back up to where I was. This game is so charming that I don't mind much, but I want to get back to where I was.
May 8th, 2026
I went out to dinner with family and then did a treats run at Walmart last night, so I got home late and ultimately only played Dragon Quest: Smash/Grow. I've mostly just been doing dailies in this, which gets me far enough. Last night, though, I was able to focus in a bit more on both the main story and the first DQ game's event. It was fun, and I felt like I made good progress!
May 7th, 2026
Last night, I restarted Pokemon Violet so I can play it alongside, but likely way slower than, one of my sisters. It runs a little better on Switch 2 than it did on the first Switch, but that seems so silly to me! It should have run fine on the system it came out for. Other than that, I'm still way at the start, so I don't have a ton to say. It'll be fun to go a bit further in this!
May 6th, 2026
I wanted to take a bath, but there was no hot water, so now I am posting to kill time. Yesterday was a pretty lame day as far as games go, though. I didn't play anything until right before bed, and then I just ran through a couple levels of Nonograms: Prophecy on my old Switch. This was a free holiday giveway download, but it seems ok for that. I didn't get a screenshot because it was really late when I played, but I think I quit while going through some 8x8 puzzles. I can't say I'm hyped to play more of this, but it's nice enough that I probably will.
May 5th, 2026
Yesterday, getting a new phone set up without my dearly departed phone available to help was a big pain in the butt, so I didn't do much gaming. While I did other things, I ran Heiwa Parlor! Pro: BunDori King Special, a PS1 pachinko game. I saw all the riichi animations, or little animations the slot machine plays before you might win, within an hour and a half. In the atari (jackpot) sequences, though, the game showed me some truly wonderful little claymation weirdos. There's nothing too special about this PS1 pachinko other than the little clips of weird claymation guys, but I love them so much. They bring me great joy.
May 4th, 2026
My phone died this morning, so I lost my game photos from yesterday! I did not love this because I played Happy Match, an ultra simple memory match game, on my 666-in-1 Famiclone. Happy Match is not great even for a game for little kids. It only takes about 2 minutes to whip through and pop back to the title screen, which is way too short! The card art is easy to tell apart at a glance, though, which is nice, and it functions totally fine. It's just kind of a nothing little game. I did want to make sure I had a screenshot of something so obscure, though, so I went back and played it again tonight to get one.
I played some Tekken 3, too, but did not bother to go in and get an image for that. It's just the tiniest bit better known than Happy Match, so I felt less obligated.
I lounged around and played Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage for a while in the afternoon. I picked up the old fashioned polygonal model DLC again, since I find it charming, and'll probably use it for the rest of the game. It was very practical.
May 3rd, 2026
Yesterday I got set on the idea that I need to clear one game on each gaming device in my apartment, and started with Animal Blocks. This is a mahjong solitaire game I hunted for through a few cheap portable famiclones, finally finding it on one that looked like a PSP in red plastic. It's pretty deeply flawed, with tile designs that are a bit tough to tell apart, graphics that make it really hard to see how the tiles are stacked in bits, at least one aggressively difficult layout, and crummy music. That being said, I sat down and played it in one pretty enjoyable two hour sitting. I was in the mood for an unfair and slightly incompetent mahjong solitaire challenge, and after clearing all 10 stages, I called myself a god of tile matching in at least one text conversation. Animal Blocks is really not very good, but I had a satisfyingly frustrating time with it and'll probably play it again.
May 2nd, 2026
I was wiped out last night, so my only gaming was some material grinding in Dragon Quest: Smash/Grow. It was nice to finally get some class levels taken care of, but I just went to bed rather than playing anything else. It was the right choice.
May 1st, 2026
I got my internet back yesterday, so I was able to play the Switch 2 port of Virtua Fighter 5: REVO World Stage. It felt so good to play! Virtua Fighter 5 in general always feels so fast and graceful to me, like I'm able to make the game move in a way I can't achieve with anything else. I know that's silly, since I'm not even good at it, but it makes me so happy. I look forward to playing it for ages while my first party Switch 2 games languish in a corner.
I also played Dragon Quest: Smash/Grow for a while as I watched an 80s monster movie at my mom's house. I chipped away at the in-game event and tried to move the story forward a bit. It was very okay gaming!
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