This is a GameCube game that I played on the Switch 2. I actually bought the official GameCube controller from the Nintendo store to play it, since it’s such an odd controller that mappings can be pretty cumbersome.
I’m not actually sure when I bought this game, but it’s in my Steam library. It was probably in a Humble Bundle. I saw it being mentioned online as an excellent Metroidvania, so I thought I’d give it a go.
This book takes place in an alternate history, set in the UK. There are three twin boys in what appears to be some kind of orphanage, they are being cared for by three women that are taking shifts and are called Mother. For instance the woman that wakes them at starts the day is Mother Morning, she notes each of their dreams down in a large book.
I’d seen multiple people online saying that this is one of the best games ever made. I held off playing it, feeling that I needed to give it proper attention. It’s not really a game to dip in and out of. I’m glad I did, the game is genuinely fantastic, with excellent writing and a fascinating world. It felt like the game truly responded to each decision I made along the way, with the narrative unfolding in a way that seemed unique to me. I think at some point I’ll need to play this again, and make very different choices to see what happens.
This came as a part of a bundle when I bought my Switch 2 in June. In this version all of the tracks in the game are part of one giant map, and there is a free roam mode where you can drive around and find secrets. It also has a new mode call Grand Tour where you race from one end of the map to another going through six tracks along the way. As you reach the end of each of these sections players below a certain position are out of the race. By the end there are only four people left, and the person in first at the end is the winner. I particularly enjoy this mode online, it is absolutely hectic especially at the start.
I’d been waiting for this game for 18 years. I love the Metroid series, and the first Prime game is one of my favourites. This game seems to have had a very troubled development, it took eight years and they changed developer half way through from Bandai to the developer of the original trilogy, Retro.
This is the second Paper Mario game, a sequel to the N64 one. It was originally released on the GameCube, but I played the recent Switch remake. It’s an RPG with a neat graphical style, all of the characters are made out of flat pieces paper. This actually has numerous gameplay implications, you can turn to the side to fall down grates, you can fold up into a paper aeroplane to get over gaps and countless other things.
This is the thirteenth Discworld book, a stand-alone story set in Omnia. It tells the story of Brutha, a trainee monk who has a photographic memory and the Great God Om, who is currently in the form of a tortoise.
I saw this book appear in the Standard Ebooks newsletter since they had just added it to their catalogue. I was intrigued, I remember liking Crime and Punishment very much, and I had never heard of this novel. I ended up not reading that version, although I think they make excellent ebooks, it is the Constance Garnett translation that is in the public domain and it seems there are far better ones now.
This is a short Japanese novel about an architect who builds a tower to house criminals. The tower is not a prison but a good quality housing block. The term Homo Miserabilis has been adopted to refer to these people, in contrast to Homo Felix for the rest of the population. This distinction is an attempt to recognise that they are not entirely in control of their own destiny, and to elicit sympathy for them.
This is a psychological indie horror game that is currently on sale on Steam. I played through it on the Steam Deck in a single sitting, it is quite short and very engaging. The game is first person, and mostly a walking sim style game. You explore the ship, talk to the crew mates, and solve simple puzzles.
This is a history book written by David Mitchell, who played Mark Corrigan on Peep Show. I love that show, and I’m interested in history, so thought I’d give this a go. This book sits at an interesting level: he is a comedian rather than a professional historian, so it’s funny, and he’s happy to gloss over details and call people twats. I think he did actually study history though, and I believe he is fascinated by it so it’s not just a superficial celebrity book.
This is a biography of Terry Pratchett written by his assistant, Rob Wilkins. He says that Pratchett always meant to write an autobiography, and had lots of notes for the beginnings of one, but his early onset Alzheimer’s meant that it was never finished.
I spotted this in WHSmith while waiting for a flight to Hong Kong. I almost bought it, but it turned out I already had a copy on my e-reader. I read some of it while on the flight, but ended up putting it aside, as it really isn’t holiday reading. Once back, I picked it up again and finished it.
This is the third Discworld book, and the first in the witches series. It introduces Granny Weatherwax, one of the main characters of the whole series.