Monthly in a Month #10: The Christmas Special

Reply here once done.

Some crossover with the other event :)

Edit: removed Opus Magnum - I'm too dumb for these games haha

I'm gonna try some more topical releases this time around:

• Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York - REVIEW + PROOF (achievements) ✅
• The Shapeshifting Detective - REVIEW + PROOF (achievements) ✅
• The Occupation - Given up ❌(abandoned)
• A Case of Distrust - REVIEW + PROOF (achievements) ✅
• Through the Darkest of Times - REVIEW + PROOF (achievements) ✅
• Evergarden - Given up ❌(abandoned)

Bonus redemption game:

• Basingstoke Given up ❌(abandoned)
• Distance - REVIEW + PROOF (achievements) ✅
• Minit - REVIEW + PROOF (achievements) ✅

Since I already have a few long games for the monthly theme on BLAEO, I'll take the easy route here

198X
Etherborn
Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard
Monster Prom
Paratopic
Planet of the Eyes

Thanks for another month of this fun event, this time I'll go with the 2020 edition

ahshitherewegoagain.jpg

ghostrunner looks awesome! will start working on games today.

• ryse: son of rome
• macdows 95
• darksiders 3
• the haunted island, a frog detective game
• frog detective 2: the case of the invisible wizard
• a short hike

This is why I left 2 spots open for the other event. Also activated 8 new games so plenty of choices

Thanks again!

Games that overlapped with A.G.O. :
Don't Escape: 4 Days to Survive "Don't Escape", beat 12/14/20
Smile for Me-- "The way back home", beat 12/6/20
Broforce--"Area Liberated", beat 12/13/20
Gris--The End", beat 12/20/20
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Beyond Eyes--"Closure"
Metrico+--"I didn't try to go after achievements in this game, but screenshot of me finishing the game

Not sure I'll be able to do this one but gonna reserve in case. :) You've been giving away an absurd amount of great games, a big thank you from all of us! Hope you have a safe & wonderful holidays!

A Short Hike
Don't Escape: 4 Days to Survive
Slime Rancher
Smile For Me
Stories Untold
Tsioque

Thank you for the double events with even more gifts.

The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game - achievements

Like Paratopic, I first saw this on a friend's stream which helped make figuring the game mechanics out easier. I don't know exactly what you'd call the developers' brand of humor, but it does mostly resonate with me, so Frog Detective made for an enjoyable enough ~45 minute experience.

Finding Paradise - achievement

Played this for Awesome Games Only, so there's some overlap.

Smile for Me - achievements

Second game also played for Awesome Games Only.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - achievements

I didn't expect the game to have quite so many puzzles, but knowing how the game was aspiring to be a "mid-budget" independent game, I can understand the reasoning behind it. The presentation of psychosis and the way the game incorporates those elements of struggling with mental issues into the story are impressive, and I hope Ninja Theory can continue that work with the sequel. At the time, seeing a developer succeed with the mid-budget concept was admirable as well.

I completely forgot all the discourse about the permadeath mechanic being a ruse, so I was a bit more cautious than I would have been otherwise. I think deceiving the player about that is the wrong move, but I'm not too worked up about it overall.

Emily is Away Too - achievements

A lot of "Emily's" callbacks to the mid 2000s, and how people behave in high school, are incredibly relatable. Sometimes it's so embarrassing I want to look away, but maybe that's just a "me" thing -- I get the same feeling with the scenes of high school awkwardness in the recent Spider-Man films. In most cases, the slang used definitely doesn't feel like it was back then, but I understand the difficulty in fully replicating the experience as it was different for everyone depending on region. The bands and movie references are pretty on point.

As for the gameplay/story, the auto-typing mechanic is a welcome improvement, although manual typing is better at conveying the feeling of composing difficult messages when things get emotional or hairy. I will say, from my perspective, this game suffers a bit in comparison to the original, in a way a lot of smaller games do when they expand their concept and potentially get too big for their britches. (Spoilers for both Emily games) In my view, a story that always has an unhappy ending can feel better than a story that doesn't, if the happy ending hinges on strict limitations with player choices and dialogue decisions.

Eliza - screenshots

Sorry to bring up a mainstay of Monthly in a Month, but I was running out of time and ideas.

Anyway, the game had some dull points early on, but was overall a pretty engaging and thoughtful visual novel. Some of the philosophical discussion and topical themes Eliza presents, while sometimes a bit too on-the-nose, are surprisingly relatable and universal. It's surprising to see the Zachtronics name on a visual novel, but that aesthetic does shine through in the way the sleek technology and minigames are presented.

I still am not sure what games I'll play, but I'll definitely try!

Update #1 (14 December): Beaten Overcooked! 2 campaign, seasonal updates, and DLC Surf 'n' Turf.
Update #2 (18 December): Beaten A Short Hike.
Update #3 (24 December): Beaten Path of Giants.
Update #4 (25 December): Beaten Little Misfortune.
Update #5 (27 December): Beaten The Darkside Detective.
Update #6 (28 December): Completed Tacoma. Challenge completed!

Edit: Guess time flies and I won't get there^^

Since I probably have more time on my hands than normally it's time to clean my backlog.

I think I'll go for some games from this list:

A Short Hike
Finding Paradise
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Basingstoke
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Darkwood
11-11 Memories Retold
Vampyr

I finally have enough unplayed games to qualify for participation and Cyberpunk 2077 keeps crashing, so let's do this!

Might be a bit ambitious doing this event and your other one in only a couple of weeks, but considering my post-grad has kept me so busy this semester, I feel like I need to make up for all the time lost. Can't wait until exams are done! c:

221 comments in awesome games thread vs 26 here xD
welp, thanks to the option to combine games I'll try both events
Candidates:

edit: thoughts:
HIVESWAP was ok. Interesting setting, but gameplay-wise — a bit boring. You read all descriptions in one area for 5 minutes, then use one object on another, move to another location, repeat. And never come back. But with p'n'cs I value setting above all, so I'll play act 2 someday anyway.
Path of Giants — very good. Solid puzzle game, without any story, though, but it doesn't matter.
Youropa — also very good. Unusual and captivating gameplay. This one I can recommend to all, not only puzzle lovers :)
Purrfect Date — art is excellent, story is good, but you should replay minimum 3 times for true ending, and dev didn't add "skip" button for already read text. It's a real shame that I can't recommend such a cute cat game to all players.
Tsioque & Smile for me are from your other event

Playing:

wandersong : beaten
hive swap act 1: beaten
death's gambit: beaten
neon chrome : beaten
mages of mystralia: beaten
underhero: beaten

Thanks again for the event~

A Short Hike - Finished https://steamcommunity.com/id/FruitNDoggie/stats/1055540/achievements/
Crazy Machines 3 - Finished https://steamcommunity.com/id/FruitNDoggie/stats/351920/achievements/
Distance - Finished https://steamcommunity.com/id/FruitNDoggie/stats/233610/achievements/
Don't Escape 4 Days to Survive - Finished https://steamcommunity.com/id/FruitNDoggie/stats/611760/achievements/
Fidel Dungeon Rescue - Not Started
Minit - Finished https://steamcommunity.com/id/FruitNDoggie/stats/609490/achievements/

Back Up Choices/For Future Entries
Fran Bow
Frog Detective 1 & 2
Mr. Shifty
Slime Rancher
Zwei: The Arges Adventure

Welp. I'll try with those. Yes.

• Beyond Eyes Done. 100%. Yes.
• GRIS Done. 100%. Yes.
• The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game Done. 100%. Yes.
• Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard Done. 100%. Yes.
• Little Misfortune Done. 100%. Yes.
• The Shapeshifting Detective Done.

I have no idea why i can't make the table work.