What Video Game Did I Play Yesterday?

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure (Lenovo Legion Go)

July 28th, 2025

I kind of treated yesterday like a fluff day, playing lots of games and going to the movies. I kept going with Lego Indiana Jones, which ruled because I went back to the Raiders of the Lost Ark stages and made Lego Marion chuck glass bottles at people. It's immensely satisfying to break glass on a Nazi's head in such a cutesy little game, and I had a great time with this level.

I need to watch Last Crusade, the only movie in the series I haven't seen, before I get to that set of levels in this, so I'm just going to be in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Temple of Doom for now. I know this part of my planning is just super important to everyone reading, so I'm just passing that info on.

I've been feeling inspired by my time with Lego Indiana Jones to do more level based games, so I started Super Mario Bros 3 yesterday. I'd maybe only played the Super Mario All-Stars version of this in the past, and when I was a little kid at that. It's very fun, though! The jump felt a little slippery at first, but I got used to it fast and made it to the second world last night. My progress will be slower during the work week, but I'm really looking forward to playing this more!

I want a shmup in the mix, too, so I played Akai Katana Shin for a bit last night. This is a cool game, but it is not my vibe right now.

July 27th, 2025

Last night, I spent some time running up against some surprisingly inflexible puzzles in Lego Indiana Jones. This would probably be better with two players rather than leaning on the AI, but it still made me feel a little boxed in by what the game expected me to do. My biggest roadblock last night was a rope pulling puzzle where the game just did not like my intended solution. There were a couple ropes that only Lego Kate Capshaw could pull, because this game's logic declares that women jump higher than men, a very normal stereotype. My plan was to have her pull the ropes down, then swap out to Indy and Short Round to let Lego Kate Capshaw run back up, climb another rope, and cross the bridge that the jump-deficient boys made for her.

This looked like it would work, but the characters controlled by AI let go of the rope as soon as I switched back to Lego Kate Capshaw, which was a frustrating failure. It turned out that the rope up to that bridge was, unlike all of the other ropes, climbable by the other two characters, so I had to send Indy up to the bridge, switch back to Lego Kate Capshaw, who of course also instantly let go of the rope when I switched over to Indy, and then to rush the gaps one at a time.

I still think my solution was better.

The clunky puzzles aren't really a deal breaker yet, since this is a pretty breezy game otherwise. It's definitely frustrating, though, and I don't remember this being an issue in Lego games I've played in the past. I'll see how mad I get as I keep going with this, but hopefully it stays a minor annoyance.

July 26th, 2025

Today's been pretty laid back. I haven't really had to do anything, so I'm trying to do crafts and study Japanese a bit. It's not bad!

Earlier in the week, I had a dream where I was using shopping for an Indiana Jones lego set as a distraction while I hid from a giant bat that was decimating my coworkers. I just didn't have the right dedication to keep my nose to the grindstone with that much blood flying around, and I certainly wasn't leaving my purse and phone behind in the school gym where the bat was taking everyone out.

That dream inspired me to finally play Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, which lets you play as Alfred Molina a lot more than most games do. It's been a while since I last played a Lego game, but this is pleasant and fun so far. I don't know that I'm going to 100% this, but I would like to play through all of the levels. It would be even better if this started me on a path to actually get through my stack of Lego games.

I also kept letting my brain melt to Pokemon Friends. It is extremely useful in cutting stress, but perhaps not so interesting to write about.