Izzy's 2025

[jfissel]

This next one I already talked about via crim's "let's play a franchise gamer's club" last year. (I forgot what it was called exactly.) And it slots in here for me in my 2025.

• 20) Ecco The Dolphin (Genesis - 1992) (1.5 hours played) 2/5



There are so many games that I am intrigued with that yet remain tantalizing mysteries to me. There's only so much a person can play, and so many potentially interesting titles must get ignored via the simple properties of math…of time. Ecco The Dolphin was a game and series that intrigued me for many years, and thanks to crim, I dipped my toes into this franchise waters in 2025.

So what drew me to this - to including this on my list of potential gamer's club series to play? Well, in the first place, I've always found dolphins to be mysterious, almost magical creatures, given their obvious curiosity, intelligence, and strange place within the realm of Animalia. I had the opportunity to play with a dolphin along with my child and ex-wife many years ago. And while I probably wouldn't do it again due to stories I've heard about how these majestic creatures are sometimes treated within the confines of tourism and "entertainment," it was nonetheless a beautiful opportunity that I've always remembered very fondly. So a game focused on these unique beings was always fascinating to me.

The narrative has an interesting set-up. A strange “storm” separates Ecco from his pod in the introduction, and he must find/rescue them. Along this journey, some interesting questions are posed to tickle your curiosity - things like the question of why his kind lives below the waves if they breathe air. Without spoiling details of this experience, I will say that things are far deeper than a simple ocean-faring adventure. We're dealing with time travel, interplanetary drama, and aliens, oh my! Things really spiral down the rabbit hole in some intriguing ways that might not be expected based on playing a game about a dolphin. There's some real surprising depth (no pun intended) surrounding both dolphins in general and Ecco in particular. In concept, I was interested and really enjoyed this aspect.

Musically, things were really nice as well. I know many debate the merits of the Genesis sound chip versus the SNES, but for me, it has always been clear and obvious that the Genesis is far superior overall in that regard, SNES sound strengths and advantages notwithstanding. I think there is a bias in the larger conversation due to the fact that there were simply more SNES owners overall, an obvioulsy heavy Nintendo bias in many gaming circles, as well as the fact that most people don't have an ear for sound quality. (Shut up, my opinion is "correct." ) Of course that is probably my own bias speaking, as these things are inevitably subjective. Having said that, the Genesis IS the far, FAR superior sound chip. Deal! (And I love the SNES as well.) But the music is nice along with the general sound design. And the soundtrack has a nice, mysterious vibe that suits the adventure.

In terms of gameplay, it was much more of a mixed bag, if I'm being generous. Moving Ecco around and breaching the surface was a fun sensation. The one thing I looked forward to when starting this series was the sensation of being a dolphin...of being free and moving unencumbered in the vastness of the sea. In practice, however, this game is very restrictive most of the time. There are hazards and obstacles everywhere that really impinge upon the sensations I was hoping to experience. You'll often find yourself needing to move with great caution and precision, and that is at odds with the sensation I wanted and was expecting. To be fair, there are moments when you can really let loose and be "playful," and those are wonderful and in some ways are nicely emphasized by their relative rarity. But overall things had a much more confining and claustrophobic feel than I was looking for in a game that was set in the spacious ocean. And Ecco is primarily a puzzle-oriented (key and object fetching and moving) type of gameplay, which isn't playing to the setting's strengths. You have to activate certain underwater gems (glyphs) that activate or open others/other paths, and it's often sort of a mystery as to what you've actually done (or subsequently need to do). And Ecco moves too fast and irregularly relative to the precision required in some spots. Sort of an awkward feeling underwater "platformer." Not the most natural and intuitive combination. Generally speaking, things felt much more clunky than I would have liked overall. And there were frustrating sections where you have to go fast but go slow. There was a section pretty early on where you are on tight time constraints, but due to the conditions you were facing, you had to go exceptionally slow in spots. This was very frustrating. I really cannot stand that sort of thing where you are both rushed and restricted simultaneously, especially when controls lack tightness and finesse. Really an off-putting feeling for me. I don't mind difficult/challenging in and of itself; in fact, I really get excited by it - that can be really fun if well-designed. But I don't like tedious challenges. This was the latter. The language of progression is often quite hazy here, and it makes playing more of a chore than any sort of fun or mechanically interesting challenge. I admire the ambition and task on offer in principle, but it feels rooted more in the days of Blockbuster game rentals, where companies didn't want kids renting and forgetting over a weekend, as they looked to get those purchase dollars rather than being crafted as a genuine challenge without that financial cynicism in play. It was really kind of an anti-rental DRM before such concepts existed in the digital space. Another thing that makes this apparent is how brief the game ultimately is if you know what to do. The added difficulty and tedious progression really emphasize an effort to extend the playtime artificially, imo. Ultimately and practically, Ecco is just a series of mazes with awkward controls, unclear objectives, nightmarish checkpoints, and punishing time constraints, and that does not a fun game make, despite all the positives in terms of presentation. And it's just difficult in an un-fun way overall. There are plenty of things that can damage Ecco in the ocean, and that's on top of managing the fact that he has to continually breathe air. Sometimes you find yourself in places where the ocean surface is not available to replenish your air, and you have to seek out these pockets of air underneath. And they're not always convenient. And then if you mess up and die, it's back to the beginning of the level. Just annoying. And, full disclosure, I didn't finish it. It was interesting enough that I “finished” the game/experience by watching what I didn't complete on YouTube - something I rarely do. And it was in the spirit of the video game club to see it all, I thought. But the fact that I didn't want to play to the end tells the ultimate story about the game on balance for me. 2/5. Not really for me, unfortunately. I won't necessarily dismiss the rest of the series, though. There's some variety in this franchise, although I understand the second game, The Tides of Time, is pretty much more of the same, so I may or may not visit that one before Ecco Jr. and the 3D - Defender of the Future. I won't be so harsh as to forego everything else, but presentation aside - which was really very nice overall - the original Ecco just wasn't what I'd call a good game on balance. The potential was there, but it was all undermined by tedium in terms of both design and control. If it had been the same game in terms of presentation without the annoying gameplay elements, if it had even been mostly a “walking (swimming) sim” sort of narrative-first experience, I would have ranked it higher.

I don't think a lot of people made it past the first level in Ecco. Most people I knew just liked swimming around and flipping in the air, whatever works I guess.

[isthatallyougot]

I don't think a lot of people made it past the first level in Ecco. Most people I knew just liked swimming around and flipping in the air, whatever works I guess.

I'm sure you're right. It was a really punishing game, and not in a fun way. Did you play and finish it? And yeah, the fun "being a dolphin" in open water was what I would have liked, even if I did know, at least somewhat, that I was not going to be experiencing that sort of thing.

18) She and the Light Bearer (PC - 2019: 3.3 hours played) 3/5



I had accumulated quite a few games downloaded on one of my hard drives, and I decided I ought to clean them out by, you know, playing them, lol. I don't know why I bother installing unless I'm ready to play something, but alas, I do what I do. I wanted something that I could knock off the list rather quickly for that sense of progress and accomplishment that sometimes arises within the mental notion of a backlog, and I noticed a point-and-click game called She and The Light Bearer that seemed to have a pretty short run time, and so I fired it up. I'm pretty sure it was a part of some Humble Bundle because I don't remember purchasing it specifically, but it looked pretty interesting nonetheless.

So, what's it all about? Well, in the beginning, we encounter a group of children sitting around a campfire in the forest and complaining about tasks they have been given. The matriarch of the group intervenes and begins to tell them a story that, of course, turns out to be the story of the game itself. Within this tale inside a tale, the forest is suffering and out of harmony and a little firefly known as the titular Light-Bearer must find the Mother (of nature) and help to restore life and balance to overcome the "devourers" which could presumptively be references to humanity itself, although it's never explicitly stated.

The artwork is quite nice with lots of sharp, hard lines and geometrical shapes that one could presume to be a nod to the idea of sacred geometry, perhaps. The colors are vibrant, plentiful, and varied, and the music is mellow and enjoyable. In fact, the whole experience is very soothing and pleasant, yes, PLEASANT for sure; that's the predominant feeling. Even within the narrative backdrop of restoring the well-being of the natural world, there is very little tension or serious feeling drama, despite the stakes. It's all just so languid and sleepy with everything moving at a snail-like pace. If you want some action or spice, you will most certainly not find it here. The voices are the Okami-like gibberish non-words, which I almost always enjoy and seem to suit creatures that wouldn't speak via language familiar to us in the first place. The inventory is small, and there is very little resistance to the obvious puzzle solving, again making things very calm and peaceful. And the narrative is fine. I do love the idea of a harmonious world, a world where all beings live in a state of greater harmony, but I often wonder if such notions are exclusive to the realm of fantasy rather than any potential reality; certainly in my own brief sampling of this world, it would seem to be the stuff of dreams. But as a work of art, there is surely an inherent beauty to the idea of unity and peace, and the tone here was similarly enjoyable.

She and the Light Bearer wasn't a long game. Steam said I spent 3.3 hours with it, and as pleasant as it was, it was almost too gentle and comforting. It struggled to really engage me and felt a bit bland overall. I did enjoy it, but it just didn't have enough energy within its rhythms and imagery to really get me excited. Not bad, but probably best played if you're in more of a meditative or stress-reducing mindset, looking to harmonize with the idea of "Mother Earth," or maybe something to play with the kids or grand-kids due to how utterly inoffensive and peaceful it is. 3/5

[jfissel]

I don't think a lot of people made it past the first level in Ecco. Most people I knew just liked swimming around and flipping in the air, whatever works I guess.

I'm sure you're right. It was a really punishing game, and not in a fun way. Did you play and finish it? And yeah, the fun "being a dolphin" in open water was what I would have liked, even if I did know, at least somewhat, that I was not going to be experiencing that sort of thing.

I never finished it. Just played it at a friend's house who owned a Genesis. But I'm pretty sure we made it to the 2nd level.

[canedaddy]

... there is very little tension or serious feeling drama...

... it was almost too gentle and comforting. ...

I dunno man, that mushroom looks like he's raising hell!

[isthatallyougot]

I never finished it. Just played it at a friend's house who owned a Genesis. But I'm pretty sure we made it to the 2nd level.

Yeah, I'm sure many fell into the category of not completing this one. I don't mind challenge if it's fun, but this was more tedious than fun for me.

I dunno man, that mushroom looks like he's raising hell!

Indeed, but it's a gentle sort of hell.

17) Cat Quest (PC - 2017 : 7.3 hours played) 3/5



I was heavily involved with a couple of games for much of 2025 and realized I was going to have a pretty sparse number of titles played for the year. Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that, if you're having a great time, which I most certainly was, but I like to dabble, have some variety, and experience as much as I can within gaming. So, I gave myself somewhat of a little break from Inferno Climber (which I never finished, took a long break from, and now would probably start over, ugh. I hate when I do that.) and Out of the Park Baseball to explore a light-hearted RPG called Cat Quest that somehow made it into my Steam library. Now, I will say that I am NOT part of the epidemic of feline-obsessed people that seem to saturate both the internet and the regular world. I have nothing against them, and, in fact, I like cats, dogs, and essentially all other animals. But I have never understood the creepy (to me) fixation with these animals that the internet seemed to reveal to be a part of a significant segment of humanity, perhaps an unknown element of human nature prior to internet culture. So, I have to say that I may not have exactly been the target demographic going in. But, if a game is good, the characters and setting are flexible aspects to me that can take the form of most anything. So I went in with an open mind, tolerant of feline fanaticism as well as a bit of relief, if you could call it that, from some games that had become a fixation for me.

Well, to start off, I will say that Cat Quest is, in its essence, exactly what the plain and descriptive title suggests. It's a cat-centric RPG. As to the particulars, the game opens with your character's sister getting kidnapped by some baddie, something to do with dragons, your role as the "Dragonblood," and a quest to right all the wrongs in the world…naturally. There is plenty of cat-themed language play in the text-only dialogue where words are altered to impart the idea of some sort of “cat culture." The usage and alterations were all pretty predictable and only worth a mild chuckle in most cases. The story itself was largely forgettable as well. There was the main quest along with myriad side quests, and it felt like little care was given to these elements, and at some point I was honestly eager to rush through the dialogue as fast as possible and get to the action. There were, to be fair, a few tepid points of interest, but overall, I really wasn't engaged narratively, even if some of the tone and general silliness was mildly fun at times.

So things ultimately fell upon the action to deliver. You can engage with foes via both sword and magic, and there's a bit of a dance to these elements. Hitting enemies with your melee attacks recharges your magic, and so you find yourself looking for this perfect balance where you are constantly keeping your mana up so that you can alternate between both forms of attack, keeping a steady flow of whatever form of damage you are trying to deliver. It was decently fun, if not particularly deep. The enemies light up the ground red with their area of impending attack so that you know where and how far to roll out of harms way until you can return fire. There were a variety of types of enemy patterns - both in shape and timing - but it was all mostly similar. Just avoid the red and counter attack. But when you had upgraded forms of magic and had stronger weapons, things could be fairly fun, if not super deep or engaging.

In terms of the structure, Cat Quest really failed to engage. You have a little guardian spirit called "Spirry" who acts as your helping hand. But he is essentially just an intermediary between you and the arrows showing you where to go. Every situation was the same and had VERY repetitive foundations. Everything results in more combat, and it all feels pretty similar - kind of grindy without enough variation. Follow an arrow, engage in mediocre combat, and rinse and repeat from beginning to end while reading some not very funny dialogue that you just really want to skip. There just wasn't enough variety in scenarios to keep things fresh, even if the fundamentals of the action weren't offensive. You do eventually learn to walk on water and finally fly, and those things made exploring faster and more fun, but didn't remedy the otherwise rote patterns that permeated the experience from beginning to end.

In terms of presentation, Cat Quest was very colorful. Things were bright and attractive in a sort of painterly style. The whole game perspective felt like you were playing exclusively from the overworld map of PS1-era RPGs...this zoomed-out point of view. It worked but felt a little strange - as if you were always separated from the zoomed-in, in-town feel you might have in most RPGs. But the map was fairly large with some geographic variety to keep the scenery relatively fresh and interesting. The music was very peppy, upbeat, and adventurous, but it sounds like AI, even if it wasn't - a very formulaic and repetitive soundscape. But it did serve to make things seem more interesting than they were with that ever-present background flavor screaming, "This is fun!" throughout every moment, you know, just in case you were to slip up and forget.

In the end, Cat Quest was one of those games that doesn't do anything grievously "wrong" necessarily but is sort of lacking any punch or excitement - just a pleasantly numb experience. The presentation is nice enough, equipment and loot are obtained, the numbers go up, and so on, and yet it's pretty uninspired overall despite being relatively inoffensive. It's very formulaic, and the mobile-feeling roots are obvious. There's not much animation, bland, if colorful, visuals, etc. Just a mildly pleasant, minimal time waster. I will not say that it is a bad game, and I did have some fun with it, but it's not a VERY good or memorable game either, and the overwhelmingly positive reception on Steam is a bit undeserved in my opinion, unless we're to assume that everyone is giving a tepid recommendation like I am here. Yeah, I'm recommending it, but it's about as middle of the road as it gets. It's more of a time waster for a gamer with broad tastes who is willing to sample most anything than something of note. Again, cat freaks are their own separate category, I suppose, and perhaps they are the origins of the seemingly zealous love for this game. I already have Cat Quest III in my library somehow (but not 2), and I'll probably play it one day, but I'm in no hurry. This one was quite mewwdiocre. I'll see myself out. 3/5

[canedaddy]

Thanks for the word on that one. I've been tempted a few times in PSN sales, based on the positive reviews/recommendations I've seen, but it doesn't sound like my cup of tea.