Nate E-K
@newertkrocker.bsky.social
Game history enthusiast | Hosted and produced GO BACK AND PLAY (2016 - 2023) | Used to write about VGM for Fanbyte, Paste | he/him | probably shouldn't have hacked those 3DSs for my kids
#30 - System Shock (2023)
What a lovely remaster! Faithful to the original’s cruelty and poor conveyance (at least on the default difficulty settings), but with plenty of tweaks and new spit and polish to help it *feel* modern. Nightdive did a bang-up job here!
What a lovely remaster! Faithful to the original’s cruelty and poor conveyance (at least on the default difficulty settings), but with plenty of tweaks and new spit and polish to help it *feel* modern. Nightdive did a bang-up job here!
November 14, 2025 at 3:58 PM
#30 - System Shock (2023)
What a lovely remaster! Faithful to the original’s cruelty and poor conveyance (at least on the default difficulty settings), but with plenty of tweaks and new spit and polish to help it *feel* modern. Nightdive did a bang-up job here!
What a lovely remaster! Faithful to the original’s cruelty and poor conveyance (at least on the default difficulty settings), but with plenty of tweaks and new spit and polish to help it *feel* modern. Nightdive did a bang-up job here!
The boys* are back in town**
*the little FF guys Kari painted in 2011
**my office wall instead of stuck in a box for 2+ years
*the little FF guys Kari painted in 2011
**my office wall instead of stuck in a box for 2+ years
November 9, 2025 at 7:31 PM
The boys* are back in town**
*the little FF guys Kari painted in 2011
**my office wall instead of stuck in a box for 2+ years
*the little FF guys Kari painted in 2011
**my office wall instead of stuck in a box for 2+ years
I verified my age and look at all the incredible content I was missing!!
November 6, 2025 at 1:08 PM
I verified my age and look at all the incredible content I was missing!!
Yikes. (Cleveland Metro School District announcing their plan to put the entire district into a blender)
November 6, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Yikes. (Cleveland Metro School District announcing their plan to put the entire district into a blender)
Nearly a million New Yorkers ready to bodily dissolve, joining into colossal, amorphous flesh being if Mamdani elected
November 3, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Nearly a million New Yorkers ready to bodily dissolve, joining into colossal, amorphous flesh being if Mamdani elected
#29 - Tactical Breach Wizards
Best writing in any game I’ve played this year. Delightful dialogue, lovable characters, and to top it all off, the best thinky strategy in anything I’ve played since Into the Breach. Absolutely do not sleep on this one.
Best writing in any game I’ve played this year. Delightful dialogue, lovable characters, and to top it all off, the best thinky strategy in anything I’ve played since Into the Breach. Absolutely do not sleep on this one.
November 2, 2025 at 3:35 PM
#29 - Tactical Breach Wizards
Best writing in any game I’ve played this year. Delightful dialogue, lovable characters, and to top it all off, the best thinky strategy in anything I’ve played since Into the Breach. Absolutely do not sleep on this one.
Best writing in any game I’ve played this year. Delightful dialogue, lovable characters, and to top it all off, the best thinky strategy in anything I’ve played since Into the Breach. Absolutely do not sleep on this one.
PRO TIP: have a little creature come and live with you
November 1, 2025 at 7:19 PM
PRO TIP: have a little creature come and live with you
#28 - Alan Wake II: The Lake House
on Halloween, Nate can have little a Control, as a treat
on Halloween, Nate can have little a Control, as a treat
October 31, 2025 at 2:51 PM
#28 - Alan Wake II: The Lake House
on Halloween, Nate can have little a Control, as a treat
on Halloween, Nate can have little a Control, as a treat
Never forget what they took from us etc
October 29, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Never forget what they took from us etc
Actually their staff are quite dedicated, if a bit unorthodox
October 29, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Actually their staff are quite dedicated, if a bit unorthodox
#27 Alan Wake II: Night Springs
Oh man, what a hoot! Just a couple hours long, clever reuse of assets, confusing and deliberately misleading relationship to “canon” — every element designed to frustrate Gamers and positively delight me. Remedy is cookin’, and I say: let them.
Oh man, what a hoot! Just a couple hours long, clever reuse of assets, confusing and deliberately misleading relationship to “canon” — every element designed to frustrate Gamers and positively delight me. Remedy is cookin’, and I say: let them.
October 25, 2025 at 9:30 PM
#27 Alan Wake II: Night Springs
Oh man, what a hoot! Just a couple hours long, clever reuse of assets, confusing and deliberately misleading relationship to “canon” — every element designed to frustrate Gamers and positively delight me. Remedy is cookin’, and I say: let them.
Oh man, what a hoot! Just a couple hours long, clever reuse of assets, confusing and deliberately misleading relationship to “canon” — every element designed to frustrate Gamers and positively delight me. Remedy is cookin’, and I say: let them.
"Friends" is a beloved American sitcom that aired from 1994 to 2004, following six young adults-Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe - living in New York City. The show explores their friendships, romances, careers, and personal growth over ten seasons.
October 24, 2025 at 1:37 AM
"Friends" is a beloved American sitcom that aired from 1994 to 2004, following six young adults-Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe - living in New York City. The show explores their friendships, romances, careers, and personal growth over ten seasons.
Read my way through PC Gamer's yearly Top 100 list and realized I had a considerable number of them in my backlog, given away as freebies on various storefronts. Twenty-three of them, to be exact, more than I could finish in a year if it was the only gaming I did. 😩
October 23, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Read my way through PC Gamer's yearly Top 100 list and realized I had a considerable number of them in my backlog, given away as freebies on various storefronts. Twenty-three of them, to be exact, more than I could finish in a year if it was the only gaming I did. 😩
Finally got around to starting Tactical Breach Wizards, and the writing is incredible. Just great lines all over the place.
October 22, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Finally got around to starting Tactical Breach Wizards, and the writing is incredible. Just great lines all over the place.
#26 - The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
Some issues with pace, but only because it attempts to smash two of my favorite things together -- the Searching for Friends section of FFVI and the Building a Private Army element of Suikoden. Seven games in and this series is still going strong.
Some issues with pace, but only because it attempts to smash two of my favorite things together -- the Searching for Friends section of FFVI and the Building a Private Army element of Suikoden. Seven games in and this series is still going strong.
October 20, 2025 at 7:15 PM
#26 - The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
Some issues with pace, but only because it attempts to smash two of my favorite things together -- the Searching for Friends section of FFVI and the Building a Private Army element of Suikoden. Seven games in and this series is still going strong.
Some issues with pace, but only because it attempts to smash two of my favorite things together -- the Searching for Friends section of FFVI and the Building a Private Army element of Suikoden. Seven games in and this series is still going strong.
Who's solving the Louvre robbery?
Right answers only.
Right answers only.
October 20, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Who's solving the Louvre robbery?
Right answers only.
Right answers only.
when the game has a divertissement
October 14, 2025 at 9:37 PM
when the game has a divertissement
I am once again thinking about Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis (2001)
October 14, 2025 at 1:07 PM
I am once again thinking about Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis (2001)
#25 - 9 Years of Shadows
Plucked this out of my backlog because the art looked lovely, and found a perfectly cromulent Metroidvania. Borrows (steals) some stylistic cues from the GBA Castlevanias and Metroid Fusion. Some great bosses! You could do a lot worse.
Plucked this out of my backlog because the art looked lovely, and found a perfectly cromulent Metroidvania. Borrows (steals) some stylistic cues from the GBA Castlevanias and Metroid Fusion. Some great bosses! You could do a lot worse.
October 10, 2025 at 7:06 PM
#25 - 9 Years of Shadows
Plucked this out of my backlog because the art looked lovely, and found a perfectly cromulent Metroidvania. Borrows (steals) some stylistic cues from the GBA Castlevanias and Metroid Fusion. Some great bosses! You could do a lot worse.
Plucked this out of my backlog because the art looked lovely, and found a perfectly cromulent Metroidvania. Borrows (steals) some stylistic cues from the GBA Castlevanias and Metroid Fusion. Some great bosses! You could do a lot worse.
#24 - Mafia: The Old Country
It would be a tall feat indeed to top the panache of Mafia III, and this one doesn't quite manage it, but boy howdy if it isn't a supremely confident lastofuslike. I wish this style of game was still in vogue; I'd gladly take more of these slimmed-down, focused outings.
It would be a tall feat indeed to top the panache of Mafia III, and this one doesn't quite manage it, but boy howdy if it isn't a supremely confident lastofuslike. I wish this style of game was still in vogue; I'd gladly take more of these slimmed-down, focused outings.
October 4, 2025 at 9:10 PM
#24 - Mafia: The Old Country
It would be a tall feat indeed to top the panache of Mafia III, and this one doesn't quite manage it, but boy howdy if it isn't a supremely confident lastofuslike. I wish this style of game was still in vogue; I'd gladly take more of these slimmed-down, focused outings.
It would be a tall feat indeed to top the panache of Mafia III, and this one doesn't quite manage it, but boy howdy if it isn't a supremely confident lastofuslike. I wish this style of game was still in vogue; I'd gladly take more of these slimmed-down, focused outings.
#23 - Momodora III
I’m a big fan of when games are small, cute, and take less than an hour to beat. No notes.
I’m a big fan of when games are small, cute, and take less than an hour to beat. No notes.
October 4, 2025 at 12:26 PM
#23 - Momodora III
I’m a big fan of when games are small, cute, and take less than an hour to beat. No notes.
I’m a big fan of when games are small, cute, and take less than an hour to beat. No notes.
#22 - Max Payne
I didn't hop on the Remedy Train until the first Alan Wake, so it was very amusing to spend a couple hours shootin' my way through this one and seeing just how much of their "house style" was already in place from the jump -- and which bits of it they sprinkled into Alan Wake 2!
I didn't hop on the Remedy Train until the first Alan Wake, so it was very amusing to spend a couple hours shootin' my way through this one and seeing just how much of their "house style" was already in place from the jump -- and which bits of it they sprinkled into Alan Wake 2!
October 2, 2025 at 7:27 PM
#22 - Max Payne
I didn't hop on the Remedy Train until the first Alan Wake, so it was very amusing to spend a couple hours shootin' my way through this one and seeing just how much of their "house style" was already in place from the jump -- and which bits of it they sprinkled into Alan Wake 2!
I didn't hop on the Remedy Train until the first Alan Wake, so it was very amusing to spend a couple hours shootin' my way through this one and seeing just how much of their "house style" was already in place from the jump -- and which bits of it they sprinkled into Alan Wake 2!