Souls Like Strings

Don't talk to me or my dragon son ever again

Why

• Unique, charming and funny in clever ways
• Fantastic aesthetic and soundtrack
• Never stops surprising you with how many layers a match 3 + visual novel can have

Why Not

• You need a lot of action to enjoy a game

Impressions

Titanium Court is a weird hybrid of visual novel and match three game, but never has 'more than the sum of its parts' been more appropriate. I was pulled in right away by its unique premise and style; then kept around by...

• Talking to open source maintainers (even within your company) about an idea is good to do before you make a PR
  • You might find their reasoning is very different, even if both your approaches achieve the same goal
• It's possible to install React Compiler in your React 19 project and have it do absolutely nothing
  • For example, if you used webpack (for some reason) and delegated handling of TS files exlusively to ts-loader
  • When the plugin that does the React Compiler stuff is a babel plugin
  • And babel-loader only handles JS files
• ESM...

We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker.

What if corporations could enshittify... us

Finished this on the train to drop The Wife off at the airport for her yearly trip home then promptly forgot to write a review for it in the excitement of unlimited gaming time, so this is over a week late.

That's no particular reflection on the book though; it felt very relevant to the times and had some interesting characters/dynamics between them. It came a year and a half after ChatGpt launched so I wonder when the author started writing it and how much...

Sokovania? Metroban?

Why

• A Metroidvania with Sokoban-style gameplay is unique
• Plenty of variety, with new weapons & enemies introduced semi-frequently
• Character portraits in conversations are stylish, and overall a nice GBA-esque aesthetic

Why Not

• A lot of collectibles/story which I didn't have a reason to care about
• Map is janky and makes it hard to distinguish areas
• Very unclear where you should go for primary objectives at times

Impressions

Sliding Hero eschews the classic 2D platformer formula for Metroidvanias and instead asks 'what if the only way to move was sliding until you...

The psychedelic gardening metroidvania

Why

• A real sense of exploration, not just of the map but of systems
• The 'attack variety' mechanic puts an interesting twist on otherwise basic combat
• Incredible, psychedelic art direction
• The central time-loop conceit is a big swing

Why Not

• Lack of direction can be frustrating at times
• There are times where you know the solution but just need to wait for it to grow
• Time looping requires plenty of back tracking

Impressions

Ultros isn't content with having been designed by an art team eating LSD like it's food;...