Going Through My Steam Library: Part 5
Part 4 Part 3, Part 2, and Part 1 are here.
To The Moon series
Lumping several games into one here. One of my favorite series, even if it is quite sad and poignant. Keeping these and waiting eagerly for whenever the final part comes out.
Nodebuster
Incremental meets twin-stick shooter. For this style of incremental (looping resource screen to skill tree and back again), it's quite good. But like many games of this type, once you've completed it, there's very little reason to go back unless you like watching things explode the same way again. Definitely recommended if you're looking for an incremental game, but I'm going to purge it.
In Stars and Time
Probably the best RPG I've played. It deserves its own post. A game that I've encouraged others to go play in the past. Go play it yourself if you haven't. Keep.
Digseum
Another short incremental about digging up things for a museum. Also quite good. Earns its Overwhelming Positive rating just like Nodebuster, but it has the same issue of not much play value once you have completed it. Purge, but recommended.
Magic Archery
Same criticisms as for Digseum and Nodebuster. Same recommendation to try it if you like the sort of thing. Purging it.
The Roottrees Are Dead
Fantastic deduction game, and complex enough that it would be very hard to remember everything for a repeated playthrough. It's due for a replay. Keep.
Dead Letter Dept.
Great unsettling horror game. I'm going to put it into tentative, though. I'm not sure about the replayability, but it's done so well that I think one can get the unsettling experience again, even if you already know what is happening.
Octopath Traveler and Octopath Traveler II
Back to the JRPG criticism. By my past play history, I should be a true fan of these games. Older JRPG aesthetics, multiple short stories, strong characterization, not everyone is a child, and many little secrets.
So why did I play 17 hours of the first, then bail and haven't touched either of them since March 2025? I imagine it's because of the time investment to complete them. The site HowLongToBeat.com puts both of them at 60 hours minimum to complete, and about 100 hours for completionists on average.
That's nearly a month of work time playing both of them. I just flat out don't have the free time or the stamina to work at something that hard for entertainment (Same reason I don't watch a lot of television series, to be honest).
In contrast, In Stars and Time takes 20-40 hours. This is on the high end of my tolerance level, but it is so good, and the story has so much to say about life that it feels good to play. And contrasting the Final Fantasy games, it's hit or miss depending on the game, and they may all still go.
So, I have to say they need to get purged. Haven't touched the first in over a year and never even touched the second. My tastes and tolerances have just changed.
Faceminer
An incremental horror game about facial recognition and AI. Relevant for today's times. I think it is worth another replay. Keep.
Utter A Name
Deduction murder mystery game that is complex enough that I should give it another go now that I've largely forgotten the details. Like a simpler version of Return of the Obra Dinn. Keep.
I'm not keeping close track, but there are now 16 games in Keep and 8 games in Tentative.