With the year coming to a close, I have to accept that a lot of the games I wanted to play this year, I won’t get around to. That includes Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles and Monster Hunter Wilds. These are games I would love to consider for my favs of 2025, but I haven’t found the time to start them.
This week, I did get around to playing a few games that surprised me. Additionally, I wish I had gotten around to playing them sooner. So, let me share my thoughts on them now.
Silent Hill f
I played two Silent Hill games last year. One was forgettable, while I wish I spent more time with the Silent Hill 2 remake. In all honesty, the Silent Hill series is one I’ve wanted to like for a long time, but could never get over the hump. Silent Hill f feels different. I’m drawn to this story more so than the other games. I like the mystery that the game throws at you early on.
Yes, there are scares and plenty of fright. What I am enjoying most is the mystery behind our lead character, Himiko. The puzzles are also interesting. I’m currently playing the puzzles on “Hard,” but the first few that you encountered do not pose a problem. I’m curious when the difficulty of those starts to ramp up.
I’ve reached the school and have been going through its puzzles. It feels like a boss fight is coming, so I need to prepare myself. That’s my only gripe with the game. While I do like that they made Himiko clumsy, it causes frustration. Her windups for heavy attacks are long, so it’s easy for enemies to get a hit.
I’d love to finish one playthrough before the year ends. Again, the story is holding my attention, and I want to see how it ends before spoilers are hard to avoid.
Is This Seat Taken?
When it comes to puzzle games, Is This Seat Taken? takes an interesting approach to seat planning. The game is all about putting people in the correct seat. The concept is simple: you have a group of people, and you need to arrange them in such a way that everyone is happy. For the first dozen or so levels, there isn’t much of a challenge.
I’m noticing that on most levels, there isn’t one correct answer. There is a bit of wiggle room, so you never feel like characters can only be in one specific spot. You do have a few super-specific characters. For example, in a movie theatre, you will have someone who must sit in the middle. Once they are in place, it becomes easier to put everyone else in the correct spot.
I’m about halfway through. It’s fun, but I am not sure how much more I’ll end up doing. There isn’t a story here worth following. You do see some of the same characters, but that’s about it. This is better in bursts. Complete a few levels and chip away at its contents at a gradual pace.
StarVaders
I have no idea how StarVaders came across my purview. It’s possible I saw it on the SteamDeck Top Played List. Or, it got recommended because I play other card-based games. This is my kind of game: a deck-builder with roguelike and tactical mechanics.
This is a game where your mech is defending against alien forces on a grid-like structure. Enemies begin at the top of the screen and make their way to the bottom. You have to prevent them from reaching the bottom few rows. If they do, they cause damage. If they do enough damage, your run ends, and you start over. There are other elements, including heat. If you overheat, the card you used becomes burnt, making it unusable the next turn. While this does let you use more cards on a turn, the risk of having a useless card the next turn is something to think about.
I’ve put in a couple of hours and have had some fun. The randomization makes the stages interesting. Also, there are some cool cards and other mechanics that keep battles interesting. I finished a run on the game’s default difficulty, but there is a lot more for me to do. This is another one of those games that I wish I played earlier in the year. This one could sneak onto my Favorites of 2025 list, but I need to spend a bit more time with it.
