Spinning Discs - September 2025
Spinning Disks is a feature where I collect thoughts on a smattering of games I’ve been playing lately, over the last three months. Often these are smaller works, or games I haven’t finished yet but still wish to talk about.
Most of my last few months have been spent playing the Higurashi chapters, which has taken up majority of my gaming AND reading time. I’ve enjoyed it greatly, and if you haven’t checked out my messy thoughts on the Questions Arc. Answers Arc is upcoming, it is taking me longer to untangle my myriad of thoughts on it.
And sorry this one is a bit late – late September/early October ended up being busier than I expected and I wanted some time away from my computer.
Neurokino Retrograde
It has been a while since I wrapped up playing it, so I can’t say my poor memory recalls too much on it. Visually a standout, with it’s very riffing off of PC-98 looks, and the familiarity with the Australian writing. I enjoyed trying to figure out which combination of glyphs would access certain memories, or events. Probably would like to return to this one and see other endings, if possible, since it is a fairly short game.
The Citadel
Waaaaay back in earlier this year, I started playing Beyond Citadel and enjoyed it. I didn’t finish it due to a mix of things, most namely my wrist pains that prevent me from playing a majority of first-person anythings but it is a game I would like to come back to. I also wanted to give the first game a go before that, to get a feel for what had changed and what hadn’t between the two games. It’s fun! I think I like the more involved reloading and some of the level design of Beyond, but what’s here is still a broadly varied and makes for an engaging time.
Webfishing
Just playing it with friends, a pretty chill game to hang out in. And fish.
Streets of Rage
Been poking at beat-em ups for a little bit lately, since that’s a genre I have little familiarity with, and I’ve been bit by the arcade bug for a while now. It’s been a challenge! There’s this fun to be had in having to learn how to play something unfamiliar and especially for a genre that used to be so common but fallen to the wayside. Game’s fun! Game’s good! I don’t really need to say that it’s fucking Streets of Rage.
Kero Blaster: Zangyō
Replaying Kero Blaster and well...it’s a blast! Perfectly sized stages... Zangyō is such a fun way to revisit the remixed levels and the newer additions are add so much to something that was already great. Fantastic video game.
This one is short this time. I’ll have more to talk about in the next issue.