No, wait – it’s at least a C+!

Fishing in Video Games
https://ko-fi.com/s/a5f96086a1

This is a free comic zine about fishing in video games. It’s 28 pages long, fun and easy to read, and very insightful and sweet. I’m bookmarking it because I’d like to create something like this myself one day – maybe trees in video games? – but also because I just wanted to share. What an absolute ray of sunshine.

Anyway, something I think everyone should know about me is that it took me at least four months to understand the sea bass pun in Animal Crossing. In my defense, it was a pandemic.

Tales of the Black Forest

Tales of the Black Forest
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1093910/Tales_of_the_Black_Forest/

Tales of the Black Forest is a 16-bit RPG Maker narrative adventure game whose tone is split evenly between wholesome cuteness and graphic horror. Although Tales of the Black Forest features a few simple puzzles, a few short chase sequences, and limited elements of exploration, it may be more appropriate to call it a “visual novel” instead of a classic “adventure game.” Tales of the Black Forest takes about three and a half hours to play, and more than half of this time is spent reading character dialogue as you progress through a linear story.

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Tales of the Black Forest isn’t perfect, but it’s a solid 7/10 game that’s elevated to an 8/10 by virtue of the love and care that the two-person development team put into every aspect of its creation. Tales of the Black Forest caters to all the Japanese pop culture nerds who are fans of both cute anime characters and creepy urban legends, and I’m surprised that it hasn’t attracted more attention since it was released in 2019. In my eyes at least, this game is a small but shining hidden treasure.