What Video Game Did I Play Yesterday?

The First Descendant (XBox Series S)

March 31st, 2025

Yesterday afternoon, after a roughly five year break, I picked Kemono Friends Picross back up like I'd never put it down. I don't know why I quit, but I like picross and it's a cute theme, so I'm glad I went back to it! My gaming habits are normal and mega efficient.

I also decided to try The First Descendant, because I was itchy for something shiny and new but didn't want to spend any money. There's something very similar about all these big free to play semi-RPGs, and it seems bizarre to me that my giant demon-horned mech man in this felt the same double jumping in this as my tiny, fashionable girl in Infinity Nikki. I also forgot the gun controls and accidentally called for backup about 30 times straight in an early mission and felt guilty for interrupting people's monster shootin' time with all my nonsense. This is very okay, though, and I think I'll go back to it.

At the end of the day, I got out my Astro City Mini and actually had an excellent time with Fantasy Zone, wiping out some of my bad feelings about the system. The first stage gave me tons of trouble, but the second was way easier. Clearly, this was down to poor difficulty balance and not my skills improving as I went. This is a cool game, though. It's satisfying to knock out all the bases before a boss fight, and it made me feel like I was making good, steady progress, even as I repeatedly exploded. I don't know if I'll focus on it right now, but I definitely want to play more of this!