Humble Choice May 2025

First Tuesday of the month! First Tuesday of the month! You know what
that means; time for new games! It's always a great day when it's a
day when you get more games! But what games do we get? That's the
purpose of this post! Let's see what we get this month!


* The Thaumaturge: Deluxe Edition
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1684350/The_Thaumaturge/
    I don't know much about this game beyond what it says on
    the store page. It says its a third-person RPG, and that
    you -the eponymous Thaumaturge- have the magical ability
    to see into the minds of others, and you use this power
    to solve mysteries. Sounds intriguing, but I'm not sure
    how much fun it actually is. Combat is apparently something
    of an afterthought, and most of the game revolves around
    dialogue choices; the game itself is fairly linear and
    it's rather slow-paced. I'm not sure the implementation
    lives up to the ideal, but it's worth giving it a shot,
    I think.


* Amnesia: The Bunker
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1944430/Amnesia_The_Bunker/
    The latest in the first-person horror/survival Amnesia series.
    I've a love/hate with the franchise; on the one hand, it did
    a lot to reinvent the genre, but on the other hand I find
    its enforced powerlessness of the protagonist to be really
    tedious. And like too many similar games, there's just too
    much faffing about looking for light sources. It's a good
    example of the genre but overall I think I'm a bit played
    out on the whole concept.


* Evil West
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1065310/Evil_West/
    This one is a weird-west third-person shooter; play as a
    cowboy shooting freaky monsters in the wild west. Mainly
    intended as a co-op experience, it can be played solo too.
    In terms of mechanics and attitude, it feels a bit like a
    throwback to games of the 2000s and 2010s; that's not a bad
    thing but not to everyone's taste. It's a bit unpolished
    but overall an acceptable B-tier game.


* Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1545560/Shadow_Gambit_The_Cursed_Crew/
    This one seems to be a cross between a traditional RPG, a
    "Commandos" style stealth game, and "Pirates of the Caribbean".
    Find the cursed artifact that has turned you and your crew
    into undead scalawags. Looks interesting, and the reviews are
    very favorable; I'm a bit less sanguine since those sort of
    stealth-games never really appealed to me, and I'm not a big
    fan of the pirate genre. Still, maybe I'll give it a try.


* Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1658280/Eiyuden_Chronicle_Hundred_Heroes/
    "A modern take on the classic JRPG" is probably an exciting
    description for some, but seeing as I never enjoyed classic
    JRPGs (neither the ridiculous storylines and characters, nor
    the mechanics) it's something of a mood killer for me. The
    reviews aren't that favorable either, citing slow pacing
    (and considering JRPGs are by nature slow, "Eiyuden" must
    be glacial!) and tedious combat. If you're a fan of the
    genre you'll probably be able to glean some satisfaction
    from this one, but it gets a big 'meh' from me.


* Star Wars: Bounty Hunter
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2419090/STAR_WARS_Bounty_Hunter/
    It's May, so of course there HAS to be at least one Star
    Wars game. This one's a port from the Playstation 2, and as
    a port it's acceptable; at least you get mouse/keyboard
    support. But in terms of gameplay, it's fairly mediocre.
    Even when it was new, "Bounty Hunter" was merely average;
    it hasn't aged well either. If you adored the character of
    Jango Fett or just need to immerse yourself in even more
    Star Wars, it isn't a terrible experience; it's just not
    that memorable either. But if you're lukewarm on the
    franchise, there's nothing here to attract you either.


* Ultros
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2386310/Ultros/
    A 'psychedelic metroidvania' is what the store page
    describe this game as, which seems to translate as a
    'mediocre platformer with such a garish color palette that
    you'll have a blinding headache after playing the game for
    fifteen minutes' (honestly, just looking at the screenshots
    hurts my eyes). The reviews are more favorable but I'm not
    sure I could endure long enough to appreciate any of its
    twists.


* Corpse Keeper
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1601740/Corpse_Keeper/
    A side-view roguelike (think something like "Darkest
    Dungeon" where you lead your party of undead minions
    into an underground labyrinth. Visually, it looks like
    a high-res DOS game and mechanically, it lacks
    satisfying combat and is very repetitive. I just don't
    see the appeal.



So we get our usual mix; a few interesting games, a bunch of average
titles, and a few stinkers. I'd probably be happier with this month's
offerings if I didn't own some of them already, or if some of the
other games better suited my tastes (e.g., "Shadow Gambit" looks neat,
but it's just not my thing). Still, overall I'd say this is a slightly
above-average selection and probably worth the price of entry. Anyway,
it makes The Number happy, and isn't that what this hobby is all about
in the end?