2025: let's play weird games

been putting together a list of cult classics & other stuff i just wanted to check out but hadn’t yet, god knows all of this could go to shit between super switch dropping with some must-play shit, and the deluge of classic JRPG rereleases ill likely get caught up in again (suikoden, lunar etc)

that said! the purpose of this silly thread is to discuss the titles i have in mind: taking suggestions, both on expectations, ideal seasonal times to give them a go & the like
follow the philosophy of my backloggery: i am not gonna force myself to play anything here to completion, unless i’m having a good time and/or are intrigued enough where i just wanna see it through. it’s perfectly fine to spend and evening or two and say “yeah, i’ve experienced about as much of this as i’m gonna” and move on; god knows i’ve forced myself through so many forgettable slogs, i don’t wanna do that anymore

so here’s how it’s looking!

  • january - my birthday month! let’s start this chaotic year off with some raw danger, mixed with a side of seaman << i watched my roommate play a bit of it in the day, but if i can get the controller ports on my dreamcast sorted soon, i should be down for this

  • february - valentine’s seems right for chulip, and maybe the fan translation of linda cubed (is this better in another month/season?) << haha i just remebered, there’s a whole-ass pirate yakuza game this month, let’s see if i get around to much else

  • march - lack of love/l.o.l. seems like a short enough one, thinking of trying the fan translation of wonder project j2 here and maybe rounding off the month with as much as i can muster of LSD on acid haha (note: this ideal might be horrible)

  • april - let’s try UFO: a day in the life, and start the spring season of with another fan translation, this time sakurai taisen! as a classic sega fan, i’ve never really dove into this series yet, but kimmimi’s writeups have me hyped

  • may - i have baroque here (we’re absolutely spoiled for translations these days!), and star tropics for some reason? never did play the latter, it’s quite the combination though

  • june - boku no natsu also got a recent translation, that seems perfect (especially now that i’m living near a forest of summer cicadas). i also wanna get back into chibi robo and see how far i get this time! oh wait, maybe that one’s better for spring cleaning season?

  • july - let’s keep these summer vibes going with mister mosquito and some gitaroo man, for good measure

  • august - i bailed on tail of the sun way too early back in the day, let’s try it again with some more perspetive/cellular damage. i also have bishi bashi special here? i don’t even remember what that game was about, but it must’ve caught my interest

  • september - hell yes, it’s time for spooky season! gonna open with brandon-advocated kouldeka, then some seven mansions

  • october- oh man, so sometimes ill open the month seeing how far into toby fox’s earthbound halloween mod i get before bailing, that’s like a few hours at best. then onto:
    dead of the brain - this one looks so dope, and translated too! i should have a turbo everdrive plus ready to go for this one
    after this, the list gets a little crowded, so please vote for the ones you think i really should check out!
    enemy zero
    d2 (this is prolly great and i love eno but playing it right after d was such a jarring genre swtich at the time)
    germs nerawareta (?)
    deep fear (i usually try to put some classic RE type shit in this month)
    countdown vamp - looks like dumb fun
    dark messiah

  • november - tying the season off with heart of darkness, maybe some klayman never

  • december - as a twin peaks freak, mizzurna falls looks so up my alley, as does some planet laika
    i was debating finally trying blue stinger here too, but i may do that next month since i don’t have too much lined up, beyond a very dumb goal of playing more shadow the hedgehog on gamecube before the 3rd movie drops

there you have it - very ambitious, right?! if i can close out next year feeling like i accomplished half of this, it’ll be pretty cool, and ill definitely have more to add around here as well.
i dunno man, next year’s gonna be some shit with this trump admin, and a risk-averse industry is likely to stick to more “safe” remasters/etc, seems like a good time to get into some cult/influential weirdness! please share your thoughts here, y’all

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Is there an English translation for BokuNatsu 1, or are you planning on playing the BokuNatsu 2 translation?

Cool list. We just did Baroque in the game club thread (I’m the only one who didn’t like it). You might have fun reading that thread when you play it.

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Something being thought of as weird is usually the ultimate compliment. I agree that next year will be a great time to lean into uniquely awesome experiences to balance out all of the other crap.

Is this an okay place to talk about other weird games experienced in 2025, or would you prefer the thread to focus on your weird games journey?

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definitely the latter, unless the first one gets a translation by next summer! seems a fine place to start

and damn i’m terrible at keeping up with game club threads, but i’m absolutely gonna read through that one for help, cheers!

oh hell yes, please feel free to talk about other weird games in here. absolutely want input, maybe if some folks say one should be passed on, i can bump it for another y’all talk about that i wasn’t even aware of!

:sunglasses: heck yeah. I played this game for the first time last year in the lead-up to Zelda being released and had a wonderful time with it.

I think I’ll also be playing BokuNatsu 2 next year, but in January most likely, basically repeating what I did with BokuNatsu 1 (day by day). Nice to escape winter for a few minutes each day.

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ohh a day-by-day boku session sounds really cool, how did it turn out?

and yeah, i have the NES one but wondering if star tropics might work as an analogue pocket game? it just always seemed weird, from an era where i fell in love with the maniac mansion port as a kid, but never got a chance to play it or the sequel, feels in-line with the year’s vibe

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StarTropics definitely has a weirdness about it, but in a kind of charming, childlike way I suppose. the tone strikes me as like…80s/90s kid show or maybe some era of comic books? it’s a nice time.

daily Boku was great! my partner watched while I played and we bonded over some great moments (shouting BIG! when we caught a big bug for instance). it’s a very warm experience and opened my mind to ritualizing games.

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