Emerica

I always get them at Sam’s Club, they’re around 5% off the face value there. Can’t remember the exact price but was somewhere around $18.92 for a $20 card. Not a huge discount but will definitely miss it.

I have actually played some CrossCode, it’s a surprisingly a big game! I fell off of it after ten ish hours for some reason but plan to eventually go back. Love the world it is set in and the characters.

Drova really surprised me as well! I usually have a hard time sticking with RPG games but I couldn’t stop playing this one. The different factions were fun, loved the world building and surprise interactions and really enjoyed how the terrain was almost a puzzle sometimes. Hidden entrances to move up or down terrain and access chests or secret areas.

I’ve been trying to find another game like it but have failed so far.

Surprised it hasn’t been mentioned yet but Aeterna Noctis is one of my favorites and I have played a LOT of metroidvanias. Some of the platforming sections are quite difficult but there is an easier mode with easier enemies and platforming. It has a huge map and some really cool mechanics I haven’t seen before.

Edit: a couple more I thought of that aren’t listed. HAAK is a fun one, another one with some interesting mechanics and a fun story too. Souldiers is more of a 2d RPG game but it still has some Metroid mechanics. Four classes you can play as with a good story.

I was pleasantly surprised how great it felt when I tried it a few months ago. They just released an update that apparently “massively improves movement feel”, haven’t tried it since then but it was already really nice.

As I typed that I kinda forgot this post was about a Fighting game. I was speaking more generally about GaaS. It’s good fighters still have something akin to old school DLC!

There has been one constantly updated game that I loved, I think because it wasn’t actually live service.

Dead Cells! They were always putting out balance passes but also included a new weapon occasionally, then would release a true DLC that added new levels, new enemies and new weapons. Would spend some time balancing that drop and eventually release a new one.

I miss games like that, I’m happy to buy an expansion of a game I love, not going to buy a new battlepass or skins or whatever though.

Islets is SO GOOD! Glad to see someone else that feels the same! Was very surprised how good it was and feel like it didn’t get the love it deserves.

Yea I really wish it wasn’t exclusive too. Such a unique game

The sequel shipped with a ton of bugs and a lot of the non-golf sports felt very shallow. If I remember correctly the devs announced it was delayed like a week before its original launch date then went radio silent for almost a year. Feels like something went wrong behind the scenes because last I checked they never put out any major patches to try to fix it up.

Golf Story is always a good time. It was one of those games I bought on a whim and fell in love with. Top down golf based RPG with a lot of humor and good pixel art. Have Yuzu on my Deck mainly to go back to Golf Story every once in a while.

They made a sequel called Sports Story that wasn’t nearly as fun.

Can’t really go wrong with any of their games but Infinifactory and EXAPUNKS are my favs.

Zachtronics is back!! Was bummed when they said they weren’t making anymore games, guess they just changed names.

They made some of the best programming games out there for anyone that hasn’t heard of them.