New Games This Year!
Published April 6, 2026
I am playing a bunch of old games that are possible to emulate in 2026 to improve my gamer cred. Just the best games of all time that are older, so I have a new baseline for what counts as an "amazing" game.
I am rating games on a scale of 1–5. A 3 means a game that is good enough to get me to the credits, a 4 is a game that's actually good, where I raced to finish it, and a 5 is a perfect game (like Baldur's Gate 3).
Games on the List
- ✓ EarthBound Finished
- Dark Souls To play
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time To play
- Baldur's Gate II To play
EarthBound
Overview
EarthBound is a role-playing game released in 1993. It's about a boy named Ness, who happens to be the hero of the entire world. He goes out into the world by himself (he's 13), where he fights people, gets high, meets awesome party members, and fights the literal manifestation of evil.
What I Thought About the Game
This game is a masterpiece and definitely ahead of its time. It was frustrating that I couldn't really run in the game, but the storytelling is really good. The fact that the game is so linear helps its pacing. You're never really lost, and even if you somehow do get lost or stuck, there's a hint guy who gives you the literal next steps you need to take.
The story is insanely well written. Despite what I said in the overview, Giygas, the literal manifestation of evil mentioned earlier, is a really scary final boss. You hear about Giygas from other people in the story as if he's a concept, but some villains and bosses talk about him as if he's a person they talk to and hang out with.
The music is amazing. It has almost a funky beat to it, and other than Dungeon Man's (a human named Brick Road who had a scientist, who was lacking in the ethics department, turn his entire being into a large dungeon) music, it was insanely fun.