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The Silliest Goose Online

Video Games

I am no Tim Rogers, but I would like to occasionally opine about video games. Like the section above, this would be a space for essays.

One project that I have been considering: Brief reviews of every English-language Sega Dreamcast game. Why not?

What I'm Playing

Grandia, Developed by Game Arts, Published in the U.S. by Sony Computer Entertainment. Playstation, 1999.

Banner of the Grandia Logo, pulled into frame by Puffy, the animal mascot of the game.

Grandia is a JRPG, originally made for the Sega Saturn. I discovered it through Hazel's YouTube video about Cozy Anime RPGs. Cute setting, fun writing, cheesy voice acting, and a neat implementation of an active time battle system. I am not accustomed to JRPGs, but it has been a great blend of challenging and approachable.

Update 2025-05-23: I fell off playing until recently. I am about 17 hours in, and I have zero clue as to how far I am. I know I will eventually hit a disc change, but I am avoiding online guides so I can experience this thing organically.

It has also been a great game for my emulation handheld. I have an Anbernic RG35XXSP (a mouthful, I know), which is basically a chonkier GameBoy Advance SP with a 4:3 screen. I'll probably write a little review for this thing sooner or later.

Pokemon FireRed

Gameboy Advance box art for Pokemon FireRed.

I never played a pokemon game, beyond briefly being handed a GameBoy at a basketball game by a classmate in elementary school, until recently! I got my hands on an emulation handheld (an Anbernic RG35XXSP, which looks like a GambeBoy Advance SP) and I have chipped away at FireRed as I feel like it. I'm playing Grandia on this handheld too. I never cared for JRPGs on a TV or computer monitor, but it just feels right on a little clamshell screen.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Developed by Sandfall Interactive, published by Kepler Interactive. PC, 2025.

Short clip from Expedition 33 Male lead character Gustav catches a flower petal in his hand while female character Maelle walks up behind him.

Where do I even start? I saw the hype boil over post-release and got curious. I had not been keeping up with new releases, but discovered it was available on Game Pass. I was absolutely blown away by the prologue and early sections, and after discovering the game ran decently on Linux, I hopped off the Xbox to buy the game on Steam.

The dev team knocked this game out of the park. Excellent story, a great implementation of old school JRPG mechanics with some modern creature comforts, an excellent soundtrack by a composor that the devs discovered on SoundCloud, and an altogether great experience.