Sound Voltex

Sound Voltex is a Japanese (vertically scrolling) rhythm game developed by Konami. Attached below is a clip I recorded from one of my sessions:

There are four white buttons for the white notes and two orange buttons below the white buttons for the orange notes. There are also two knobs: the left one is for the blue laser and the right one is for the pink laser.

The goal of the game is to hit the notes and the lasers as they arrive at the judgement bar on the bottom of the screen as precisely as possible. The player chooses a song at some difficulty, and the the notes/lasers are arranged in a manner that complements the song, which plays while the notes/lasers scroll downwards (the specific arrangement of notes/lasers constitutes a "chart"). Each song has three to four charts of different difficulties ranging from 1 (the easiest) to 20 (the hardest).

Sound Voltex determines how precisely the player hits the notes/lasers with the following timing windows: ERROR (missed notes), NEAR (±150.0 ms), CRITICAL (±41.6 ms), S-CRITICAL (±20.8 ms). Hitting notes increases the player score, and S-CRITICALs award the same number of points as CRITICALs.

This game has an excellent selection of music, the visual style is stimulating and clean, and the charts are high quality (in some sense the collection of charts is curated, and effort goes into making them).

Sound Voltex assigns players a Volforce (see sdvx.org for a better description), which is roughly a numerical measure of skill. One goal of mine is to reach at least Volforce 20.000, which is labeled by the rank "Imperial". I started playing Sound Voltex in August 2024.

Minecraft

Minecraft is a 3D sandbox game developed my Mojang Studios. Attached below is a clip I recorded from a long time ago...:

There are many ways to play Minecraft, but there are two primary "modes" the game provides by default. In Survival mode, players spawn in a world with natural resources around them that they must extract and use to survive from hunger, monsters that come at night, and nature itself. A common goal players have is to defeat the Ender Dragon as part of their quest to progress. In Creative mode, players have access to the full palette of blocks and entities present in Minecraft and can build whatever they please. In both modes there is some invisible impetus for creativity and self-expression.

While not being the first sandbox game, Minecraft has had a lasting impact on the gaming community and popular culture due to its unique style, relative accessibility, and its user-generated content. There is a vast collection of mods, servers, player skins, texture packs, shader packs, custom maps, player-built contraptions, merchandise, YouTube videos, and even a movie that chronicle Minecraft's success and ubiquity in gaming culture.

My Minecraft account was made on June 21, 2013 at 1:14:51 PM. In the early years, I was briefly interested in redstone creations before spending quite a few years playing with command blocks. In later years, I developed an interest in playing modded Minecraft, and playing Minecraft with friends in Survival mode. Nowadays I do not play often, but it has always been a dream of mine to create a dungeon crawler experience in Minecraft.

Xenoblade Chronicles (series)

Xenoblade Chronicles is a series of Japanese role-playing games developed my Monolith Soft, published by Nintendo. Attached below is an informative video Nintendo made for Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition:

Currently, there are four games in the Xenoblade Chronicles series. The first, Xenoblade Chronicles, was released in 2010 on the Nintendo Wii, notably reappearing as Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition on the Nintendo Switch in 2020. In 2015, Xenoblade Chronicles X released on the Nintendo Wii U, reappearing in 2025 on the Nintendo Switch as Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 released in 2017 on the Nintendo Switch, followed by Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in 2022 on the same console.

The combat systems across the games are similar: the player controls one member of a party, which at a fixed rate automatically attack a targeted enemy. The player can make their controlled party member perform special moves, which are attached to a cooldown of some kind (other party members perform these special moves as well, but they are controlled by the game itself). The games also feature vast open worlds to explore, accompanied by several quests that non-player characters issue to the player.

The stories in each game are not directly connected to each other, and each story grows towards a grand conflict full of brewing subplots as well as dramatic reveals. As an example, the premise of the first game is as follows, quoting directly from its script:

Many years of the conflict between the Mechon and the Homs living on the Bionis take place. Eventually Shulk inherits the Monado, a special sword that is the only weapon that can damage the Mechon, from Dunban who had used it in the past to defend the Homs from the Mechon. But Shulk seems to have some kind of affinity with the Monado: while it is in his possession he occasionally gets visions of a near future that he can change in his favor.

Shulk's childhood friend Fiora is killed in a conflict with the Mechon. Sworn to seek revenge, Shulk partners with Reyn, another close childhood friend of his, to defeat the Mechon. Along the way, Shulk joins forces with new and familiar faces in his quest to stop the Mechon's persistent assault on those living on the Bionis. The mysteries of the Monado and why the Bionis and the Mechonis fight each other linger, to be revealed...

The first game had a significant impact on my values and personality, since I first played it in the eighth grade. Specifically, Shulk's persistence and humanity inspire me deeply, and other characters appearing in this game have informed my outlook on life similarly. Returning to discussing all of the games in this series, I feel that these games are sometimes heavy-handed in expressing some themes, but otherwise they have been decent experiences. Despite some of these mixed feelings, each game has a special place in my memory.

Baba Is You

Baba Is You is a puzzle game made by Hempuli in 2019. Attached is the trailer Hempuli made for the game:

The player controls a sheep named Baba (sometimes other characters) in levels where the rules appear as sequences of tiles within the level. These rules may be changed by moving the tiles around using the controlled character, which will need to be done in order to meet the win condition (also appearing as a sequence of tiles).

The premise seems simple, but the game explores these ideas in depth, leading to very interesting emergent gameplay. On a personal level, this game is probably the only puzzle game I tolerate because it is so well-made. Typically I avoid puzzle games because my job is to think throughout the day, and I would typically try not to think too hard while taking a break.

I have completed all 231 levels in the main levelpack, Baba Is You. My favorite level is The Return of Scenic Pond.

Yakuza/Like a Dragon (series)

The Yakuza (now internationally known as the Like a Dragon) franchise is mostly developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. Attached is videogamedunkey's video on Yakuza Kiwami that might help the reader understand the franchise more (spoiler warning):

Typically, the plot of each game is some kind of crime drama involving yakuza syndicates, taking place in various locations modeled after real locations in Japan. The gameplay is typically 3D beat 'em up style, but more recently some installments have used turn-based combat as the primary mode of gameplay. There are several (really funny) side quests and minigames featured in each game, as well as many collectibles and sights to see.

In my personal opinion, the plots featured in many of the games are somewhat involved and are not easy to remember, but I think these games are fun because they are aware of how ridiculous some of their plot arcs are and capitalize on it. Despite my mixed feelings on the story writing, I think the important characters appearing in the games are well-written. Lots of side quests explore different aspects of these characters as well, which is always fun.

I have grown to appreciate characters like Kiryu Kazuma, Akiyama Shun, Goro Majima, among others since they exhibit meaningfully good qualities despite their involvement in some morally grey areas (some more so evil than others). In particular, the games have a focus on the values that each character holds and the conflicts that arise because of them. In different ways, Kiryu and other characters remind me to fight for my values.

Super Paper Mario

Super Paper Mario is a platformer-role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo in 2007. Attached is a clip found on YouTube showcasing some great writing found in the game:

Super Paper Mario is a story about love. A new antagonist, Count Bleck, captures Princess Peach and Bowser, and brainwashes Bowser's forces. He forces Bowser and Peach to marry despite Mario and Luigi's attempts to stop him, which births the Chaos Heart. The Chaos Heart is a large black heart-shaped object that opens an inter-dimensional rift in the sky that will eventually swallow all dimensions.

Count Bleck then randomly teleports Peach, Bowser, and Luigi to random dimensions and returns to his lair to fulfill the prophecy written in the Dark Prognosticus that began with the birth of the Chaos Heart. Mario is saved by a Pixl (basically a kind of helpful creature) named Tippi, who brings him to a town called Flipside, where Merlon explains that the Light Prognosticus predicts that a hero matching Mario's description will stop the inter-dimensional void from swallowing everything. It is up to Mario and Tippi to find Luigi, Peach, and Bowser, and with the help of the other Pixls they must find the eight Pure Hearts across different worlds to stop the Chaos Heart and the Void.

The story is organized into chapters much like the previous Paper Mario titles. The visual style maintains some of the paper-like aesthetic from previous games, but takes on a more geometric and computerized style in this title. Mario learns how to "flip" into 3D, which adds more complexity to each of the levels in each chapter in the form of hidden platforming or more complex puzzles, for example. The greatest departure from previous titles is that the combat is not turn-based, but is in real time, closer to the usual 2D Mario platformers.

I think that the writing and the overall story are excellent, especially due to the pace at which the truth of the whole conflict with Count Bleck is revealed. The themes are heavier than one might expect, despite the colorful and stimulating visual style the game goes for. I first played this game when I was about seven years old and did not beat it until sometime later in elementary school, but it was only until I was older that I appreciated the story. I replay this game every few years. The soundtrack is also really fun.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Morrowind is an action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks in 2002, the third in The Elder Scrolls series. Attached is a hilarious early-game encounter:

Team Fortress 2

Fate (series)

Prince of Persia (series)