Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones finishes the PlayStation 2 trilogy of the series. It was co-developed by Ubisoft Montreal and now-defunct Ubisoft Casablanca. The game returns in many ways to The Sands of Time -- like with Yuri Lowenthal reprising his Sands role out of fan demand -- yet it does retain Warrior Within narrative elements that make it darker than the first game.

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is a direct sequel to The Sands of Time and a surprising change in tone. The game is darker and not just visually: the Prince got a new voice actor, music is even heavier on the rock band instruments it's played on (with the Persian elements gone), and enemies get dismembered (bleeding sand instead of blood, though). Warrior Within is also longer than The Sands and non-linear experience, featuring instead quite a lot of going back and forth.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

GOG was like: "Wanna buy four Prince of Persia games? For cheaper than the usual sale price for you, newsletter subscriber." and I was like: "Okay, fine, I'll do a Prince of Persia franchise run." I unchecked The Sands of Time from the offer, though, because Ubisoft had already given it away for free during their 20th anniversary. I also bought a fifth game, The Forgotten Sands, on Connect because GOG doesn't have that one (yet anyway).

Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr

I try my best to avoid isometric/top-down action roleplaying games these days despite how cool they may look. They ultimately offer a very similar experience to each other; I might as well return to Diablo III if I ever feel like playing the genre. However, I had to add Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor - Martyr onto my wishlist when I saw NeocoreGames releasing Sororitas Class DLC for the game. I thought that was a rather unique proposal; how many games allow you play as a sister of battle? I would say, though, that even this game does not allow you to truly play as one because the classes -- while determining your abilities and all -- are merely your character's background: you're an inquisitor in the game. There's a bit too much of pondering in the role, not enough religious fervor of the Adepta Sororitas.

God Emperor of Dune

I was -- I guess still am -- on a reading slump, not being able to finish full length novels. I had The Second Great Dune Trilogy by Frank Herbert borrowed from the library for months and eventually had to return it half-finished. It didn't help that it's a massive hardcover 3-in-1 book that's difficult to hold comfortably. The second book in this trilogy, Heretics of Dune, didn't exactly grab me either. But I did at least get through the one before it.

Blood West

During the same Prime trial month I claimed Sands of Aura, I also grabbed Blood West. It had been on my wishlist due to allegedly being an immersive sim as well as for having been made by Hyperstrange, the developers of Elderborn, which I had quite enjoyed. I had been somewhat hesitant if I wanted Blood West due to the setting (I'm not the biggest fan of) and the game's low-fidelity visuals. But free is a good price. And then there are the curvaceous prodigal daughter enemies -- they certainly grab your attention on the game's store page.

Artificial Condition & Rogue Protocol

The volumes 2 and 3 of The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells are likewise novellas -- fairly entertaining quick and easy reads.

Games I Finished in 2025

It seems the consensus by a landslide for the 2025 game of the year is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Not for me, though; I don't care for the JRPG combat and exploration style. I don't quite know what I would nominate as the game of the year myself. Atomfall and Wuchang: Fallen Feathers were fun and I actually played them. Of the ones I didn't, AI Limit is the highest on my wishlist. It's an anime-looking soulslike but it's not by a Japanese studio, so it gets a pass.

Sands of Aura

Sands of Aura is a top-down soulslike action RPG developed by Chashu Entertainment. The game was up for grabs on Prime Gaming (now Amazon Luna) about a year ago. After having beaten it, I feel free (Prime trial) was a fitting price for the game. It has some cool ability and item design but levels and gameplay have problems that make the experience occasionally rather infuriating. I suppose that's not uncommon for a soulslike, though.

Routine

Routine (stylized in caps as ROUTINE) is a first person (light-)survival horror game first announced all the way back in 2012 at Gamescom. The project disappeared into development hell until finally resurfacing a decade later to the surprise of those who had been aware of the game (which hadn't included me). The wait probably wasn't worth it and even without it, Routine hasn't much meat to it. The game released few days before my latest Game Pass month was up -- which was plenty of time to beat, and 100%, the around 7-hour experience.