Toren

I’ve Ascended (Finally Beat Toren!)

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Four months into 2024 and I’ve finally completed another game in what feels like an ever growing collection of entertainment. After all these years I finally defeated the Dragon, conquered the overall clunkiness and ascended Toren with only one achievement to go back for on another day. It’s only a couple hours long, but if you’re thinking of getting it I recommend waiting for a sale. While the visuals are stunning, and the music is immersive as well as breathtaking, the controls were off putting enough for me to take long breaks until finally willing myself to sit down and finish it. I put up a short review on Steam for it if anyone wants to see another opinion cast into the ocean of mixed reviews.

If you do end up buying it I’d recommend it more as a Linux game than a Windows one. If you play under Windows the game has a nasty habit of not closing out the executable properly, but if you play it on Linux or Steam Deck it functions normally. A good reason to be dual-booting! 🙂 (Now if Linux could support my Sound Card properly that would be greaaaaaaat)

So far both games I’ve finished this year have been Indie games. I wonder what the third game I’ll finish this year will be… There’s a good chance it could be another indie game, but who knows? Maybe a triple-AAA game will slip in there somewhere.

Only time will tell.

Toren: A Game That Aged Like Fine Wine

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For a game that came out in 2015, the graphics are still lovely even in 4K! Plus the refresh rate makes it feel like this game has matured like a fine wine. I decided to play a bit of Toren during lunch today, and ended up picking up where I left off for my one hour of gaming. Toren supports cloud saves, so I’m hoping it’ll help me finish it. As beautiful as the game is I am reminded of why I took a long break from it; some of the controls feel a little clunky. Although I am doing better platforming certain areas that I kept fucking up on the last time I played.

If you’re not familiar with Toren, it’s a game where you play as a young girl. You’re alone in a tower, that is frequently harassed by a dragon with a petrifying shriek. So far I’ve only been petrified twice. Both times it was part of the plot though…

You end up dying and being reborn numerous times. The last time I played I only got to her teenage phase before calling it quits. Now I aim to finish this one once and for all. I was impressed with how well it ran on Deck earlier. I played for about half an hour, and it only used about 9 percent of the battery, the fans barely even kicked on. It certainly fits the bill for lunch time/evening distraction!