Hi everyone, and welcome back to My Week Unwrapped, where I discuss all the games I’ve been playing over the last seven days. Actually, it’s a bit more than seven days, as I didn’t have the energy on Friday to work on this. But that also gave me a chance to add an extra game to the mix. I’m still healing from my thumb injury, so skill-based games that require dexterity are difficult for me to play. I’m still trying to cover them as much as I can, but bear with me. Anyway, there’s a lot to discuss so let’s get started.

DREDGE

DREDGE has been out for a couple of years now on other platforms but it only just made its way to mobile this week. The gist of it is that you’re a fisherman and you sail your boat around, fishing for both fish and objects and then selling them or giving them to people if they’re quest items. You talk to townspeople and buy upgrades for your boat, but all the while, something strange and sinister is going on. You’ll notice it if you stay out past dark. You’ll start to see things and might even get attacked by sea monsters. I’ve spent a few hours with and I love the whole vibe. The art, music, writing, atmosphere are all exactly what I would want from a game like this. I especially love the mystery and it’s kept me invested. But what might make me quit is the slog. It feels like too much of a slow grind. The days are very short. Even after acquiring an ability that lets me move a lot faster, I don’t feel like I can do a whole lot before it gets dark. Also, every piece of equipment or upgrade for your boat requires resources you need to either fish for or earn from quests. So there’s probably a point where I’ll be able to stay out longer without worrying about damaging my boat, but it’s taking a very long time to get there. I’m not sure I have that kind of patience. I really just want to go out and explore but I always have to head back to the dock before it gets too late. At one point, I damaged both my engines and had to crawl at a snail’s pace all the way back to town so I could fix them. That said, it doesn’t seem like a particularly hard game that I wouldn’t be able to finish. I just don’t know if I have the patience to work through the grind to get to the point where it’s more enjoyable for me. It is free to try, though, so I recommend doing that and maybe watching some of my videos to see what it’s like a little further on.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light was on the App Store in the past, but this new port from Feral Interactive is separate and optimized for modern devices with better visuals, full gamepad support, and all 14 levels from the original game (as opposed the the 10 from the first mobile release). I never played it before in any form, but I was impressed with how good this new one looks and performs on my 2021 iPad Pro. It also feels great, although it took me a bit to get used to the jumping and rolling controls. And again, my left thumb is still healing, so I was playing with a slight handicap. I managed fairly well up until the first boss, where I threw in the towel. I really did not see that happening without being able to use my left thumb normally. Perhaps I should have played on Easy mode or with a controller. But I may just wait until I’ve healed more and then try to make more progress. It is a well-made game and I was enjoying myself. If you’re comfortable with action adventure games, I think you’ll enjoy it. It looks absolutely stunning and the voice acting pulled me in immediately. You can also watch some of my gameplay video below if you want to see what it’s like before spending the $10.

Isoland: Pumpkin Town

COTTONGAME has been releasing games at such a fast pace lately that I can hardly keep up! Their latest one ties into the Isoland series and is called Isoland: Pumpkin Town. I played through a big chunk of it (though it doesn’t appear to be a long game) before taking a break. Some of the clues are not as obvious for me but I still made decent progress. I’ll probably finish up on my own, but if you like their other games I think this is a safe bet, especially at such a low cost of $0.99. It’s got quirky characters and some tricky puzzles. And the occasional weird translation, like calling broccoli cabbage. There’s also a lot of achievements, if you’re into that sort of thing. Again, you can watch some of my gameplay video if you’re not sure whether it’s something you’d like.

Genshin Impact

And last, I finished up the Mikawa Festival event in Genshin Impact and moved on to the other two events, one that battle focused and another in which you look for characters around the game map and talk to them. I’m still trying to earn all the rewards for the battle event and may need to try using food. The next banners arrive tomorrow night, so there should be other events coming soon.

And that’s everything I’ve been up to this week. I also rewatched the first season of Severance and then caught up on the second season, so I’m now watching the rest together with everyone else. I think this season is a bit too out there and all over the place compared to the first, but I’m still eager to see where it’s all going. I also saw My Dead Friend Zoe, which had a potent story told in a very slow and boring way. My friend and I almost walked out in the middle but we wanted to see how it played out. Anyway, let me know in the comments section which games you’re enjoying and I’ll see you back here next time with more of My Week Unwrapped.