Deliver Us The Moon

Deliver Us The Moon is a first/third person puzzle adventure game developed by KeokeN Interactive. I would like to call it a walking simulator for the simplicity of its puzzles but that would misrepresent the game since there are action sequences that offer plenty of opportunities to actually fail.

Observation

Microsoft is currently offering three months of Game Pass Ultimate for 1€. Unfortunately I subscribed a day before that deal went live so I only got the previous deal which was one month for the price. But looking at how I've already beaten three games of the five (or six if/when EA Play is included in the service on the 15th) I wanted to play in less than two weeks, one month will be just plenty.

Blindsight

I was browsing internet forums for science fiction book recommendations, for what I should keep an eye out. Blindsight by Peter Watts appeared in few lists. One person described it as like watching Alien for the first time. That definitely piqued my interest but after reading the book, I wouldn't compare it to Alien exactly. It does have a first contact with an extraterrestrial life form, and I suppose it can be a bit creepy, but that's about it. Alien is horror in a futuristic setting whereas Blindsight is hard science fiction -- really hard science fiction.

NEON STRUCT

The other indie immersive sim included in Steam's 0451 sale I later bought was NEON STRUCT (as it's stylized), in the cover art also subtitled Die Augen Der Welt ('the eyes of the world'). It's only a 90 MB download, which is kind of impressive but the small size also means you won't be getting much in terms of assets.

Spirits of Xanadu

Few months back Steam had a little sale titled the 0451 Sale: titles of the immersive sim kind i.e. Deus Ex, BioShock, Dishonored, and the like. I already had all the big names since there are so few of them but the sale included a handful of unknown indie titles as well. They looked kind of suspect but I wishlisted a couple of them regardless to maybe buy them later when they're on sale again. Spirits of Xanadu was one of them.

Assassin's Apprentice & Royal Assassin

Robin Hobb is kind of an obvious pen name though I didn't realize it until my sister pointed it out. I pretty much never guess when an author is using a made up name and when not. Based on the name I also assumed Hobb (Margaret Lindholm Ogden) is a man even though that's not at all clear from just Robin.

Risen

Here's Risen, another title I had hidden on Steam -- a whole trio of Risen games in fact. I thought I might do a full franchise run but apparently whatever Deep Silver bundle the second game came in didn't include its DLC, so that will have to wait until a sale happens.

Tales of the Otori Trilogy

I have had the first volume of Tales of the Otori trilogy for many years but never had sought to read the rest. I guess I hadn't been impressed. Then the second and third part happened to be shelved in library and I borrowed them if only for the sake of closure or something. I also re-read the first one to refresh my memory since it had been so long.

The Darkness II

I hadn't bought a new game in a while -- I've been waiting for great sales and the game pass is now more costly too (although by making a new account you might still get that 1€ month) -- yet I wanted to play something I hadn't before. So I went up digging the pile of hidden games in my Steam library. Out came The Darkness II, which I guess was part of some Humble Bundle I bought years ago. The game was developed by Digital Extremes who are best known for Warframe.

The Name of the Wind

Before starting The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss, one should be aware that the series's completion seems uncertain at this time. Its first volume came out in 2007 and the second was published in 2011 but third book is still on its way. In this year's July, Rothfuss's editor, Betsy Wollheim, wrote that she has never seen a word of book three and she believes the author has not written anything for six years. Her words may have been colored by her frustration but Rothfuss sure has been taking his time.