Back when Hitman (2016) was released, I remember an old friend of mine telling me how the stealth formula in the popular franchise is simply getting too old. The AI of these NPCs never work together. And each iteration did try to amp up AI behavior, but it hasn’t changed so drastically. It did give enough room for players to waltz in the high security zones and assassinate targets; it created some amazing speed runs. It has its own unique quirky funs, but it never made that smooth spy movie-like infiltration gameplays.
From Review
Fear the Timeloop – Prologue Spiel
I prefer not to talk about a game that is not fully released, let alone a demo, but Fear the Timeloop seemed to have positioned itself in a different spot. The reason behind avoiding making a comment on a game before the full release often comes from the common practice amongst the developers not to reveal critical game information, such as gameplay or basic lores. Fear the Timeloop seems to have warranted enough talking point, though I do wish to see some major polishing work before it can be launched.
Ikea Mittzon Standing Desk Spiel
I don’t know if this would come as a surprise, but Mittzon is not my first standing desk setup. I have actually owned a portable standing desk of sort that sits on top of an existing traditional desk. It also pulled double duty as a flat surface laptop stand, so that I may use it on a couch or a bed. But the one I had didn’t have the fine height control I wanted from a standing desk experience.
Return of Obra Dinn Spiel
The legendary developer of Papers, Please returned with another retro style game, or had returned in 2018. Yes, I am writing for a game 6 years too late, despite it not getting a major update since. For 6 years the game is left with what I would call a breathing room for improvement, while having an overflowing narrative based on dry world-building exercise.
Logitech MX Master 4 Spiel
Would you believe it, if I had said I was in the process of writing a review for MX Master 4 only to find out on the day of publishing Logi Options+ stopped working. I had to scrap most of what I had written to reflect on where Logitech is going with this blunder, and the level of software support we can expect from the manufacturer before the mouse or the keyboard become obsolete.
The King is Watching Spiel
I have lost much hope for RTS genre. I am growing too old for it. Starcraft II was one of the recent real-time strategy I enjoyed, but that game came out in 2010. I recall the game and the genre in general progressively becoming more physically demanding to add more contents, until we saw Overlord or a game designed to automate or pre-program combat encounters. The King is Watching, in many ways, sits in between. It has a tick-based clock, but the game enforces the progress of “real time” in its own right.
Shinkansen 0 Spiel
I am always bit confused about Chilla’s Art games. The developer has published many retro styled Japanese horrors, and as far as I could gather, games are never set post 2010s, the age of smartphones. There is always a digital camera, a flashlight, or a camcorder. The supernatural horror as we know it, or at least the one I grew accustomed to, rarely functions within the boundaries of current technologies. Shinkansen 0, as far as I know, is the only game that is set in contemporary world with onboard WiFi.
Faceminer Spiel
AI was the talk of the town during Christmas dinner, so I thought to give Faceminer a chance. Even before AI was such a hit, we — everyone who has seen the crypto ads on social media — have seen the whole mining rig as a business opportunity to ‘work from home’. It has been always been a brief talking point during light hearted dinners. What if we had bought ourselves a powerful workstation fit for crypto mining or local AI training to switch jobs?
The Operator Spiel
As a fan of Orwell series, a similar game released in 2016, The Operator immediately had my fullest attention with its retro take on agent-handler system. The retro futurism from the 90s was wild, and the game does not shy away from it. The media thought ancient computer systems hooked up to a CRT monitor could handle nation-wide surveillance and advanced softwares to zoom in beyond the tinest pixels.
Anker MagGo Power Bank (10K, Slim) Spiel
It is quite unusual for a manufacturer to include readable description such as (10k, Slim) in its product name, but part of me thinks it is at least comprehensible than some random numbers we see on some generic electronics. For clarification purposes, I would like to add the one I’m discussing in this post is the slim version that is launched in 2025 with no screens or stands. It’s purely a power bank that is slimmer than the previous 5k one.
Routine Spiel
Routine is, or was, a game in development hell for 13 years. Announced in 2012 with the release window set in 2013, it is no wonder the talks I could find on the game are largely the pure surprise on the mere fact it had not been fully abandoned. No doubt with 13 years of development the game has gone through major changes in directions as well. As a gamer, fortunately, I was not waiting in limbo for 13 years as some of the eager players must have been.
Pools Spiel
There is a new subgenre of horror which most horror lovers would have already seen one way or the other — liminal horror. Some of the liminal spaces went viral online, such as the Backrooms, for invoking sense of eeriness or uncanniness to the space itself. It is an acquired taste, even in the world of horror.
Philips Hue Light Bar Spiel
Philips had multiple IoT lighting products, including generic desk lamps, floor stands, and light bulbs. I wanted to focus specifically on, perhaps not their latest, but quite frankly, the most versatile product I’ve seen yet from Philips Hue. It can stand up right; it can stand sideways; it can be attached to a surface with the stands; it can be attached without.
Silent Hill f Spiel
Silent Hill franchise finally has a new installment in the franchise, and it’s called Silent Hill f and it’s set in 1960s, Japan. I know there were quite the concerns about the status of the IP under Konami and the future outlook of it; I believe The Short Message and Silent Hill 2 (2024) have shown it can be preserved. Whether or not a globalized “Silent Hill” would work as a proper standalone title, however, was somewhat dubious, partly because The Short Message was more or less a playable teaser to announce the revival of the franchise.
AirPods Pro 3 Spiel
I’ve tried AirPods, AirPods Max, and AirPods Pro. Of them three, AirPods Pro grew on me recently as I began to use my prescription glasses more often — headphones, no matter how comfortable it sits around the head, still has some force on the legs of the glasses. Since the release of AirPods Pro 2 in 2022, noise canceling earbuds came long way. Some of the reviews from 2024 and earlier this year openly recommend to take a risk with lesser known brands for better bang for the bucks.