Week of 06 Apr 2025
“Yikes forever!”
Achievements Earned In:
- Little Misfortune
- South of Midnight
- Palworld
- Vampire Survivors
I still had to burn a little time until Tuesday when I could play a new game the same day as its launch into Game Pass, so I went with a silly narrative title I’d picked up recently. Little Misfortune was the game, and… it was sure something. My kiddo and I had watched the Game Grumps play some of it, so I had an idea of how it’s a dark comedy tale about a little girl who is just the worst. I guess not she herself, but I can’t express how much I hate her voice and mannerisms. Maybe it stems from when her dad hit her in the head with that stone. Can’t go too much into the plot as always since that’s a huge bit of the draw, but if this game doesn’t make you a tad uncomfortable then I question your empathy! Completion-wise, it’s very easy and straightforward with a guide to make sure you know when to save and load for split routes with achievements.
Achievements unlocked: 35 (+35) | Completed
“But not the last.”
The big game for the week was South of Midnight, which was released on Tuesday into Game Pass. This is one of Xbox’s big exclusives announced last year, and it immediately had my attention with the unique stop-motion type animation and focus on mythology from the American South. What really sealed the deal for me playing this ASAP (something I don’t tend to do) was the price point: $39.99! Was I going to buy it? Absolutely not. But, that price point means it’s a “AA-game”, which is a smaller experience that I’d ready to blow through. The game follows Hazel as she searches for her mother in a mystical version of Louisiana, dealing with the hurt and pain of various creatures she meets. It’s all very linear, which is definitely not a knock against the game. Sometimes it’s nice not to dive into an open world journey that takes tens of hours to work through. All of the performances are great, and the writing had me both feeling feels and laughing plenty. If I had one complaint, it’s the combat, which seems to be the critical consensus. It’s not bad, it’s just kinda simplistic. But, no worries! If any part of the game is giving you trouble you can just skip any chase, combat section, or boss fight. Overall, the completion is similarly simple, but… there’s one caveat keeping this from being an Easy Completion.
There are three achievements for beating the bosses without getting hit at all. You can turn on invincibility for these fights, but this won’t help. While it’s never super difficult and you don’t have to be sweaty to get them, this obviously means there is a fair level of actual skill needed to unlock all of the achievements. I’d say the second boss is probably the most combat-intensive of the three, and if you don’t stay on this owl through phases two and three you’re gonna let it activate a beam attack that leaves behind damaging areas on the ground that will make it exponentially more difficult to keep from being damaged. I’d say the third boss is the most stressful, as if you stop moving or dodging you’re likely going to find yourself getting hit by the various area-of-effect attacks she spews everywhere. I still highly recommend this anyway. If you can’t get those achievements as easily as I did, git gud noob, you need to enjoy this work of art.
Achievements unlocked: 40 (+40) | Completed
Shakin’ Bones, I’ve come to bargain.
As I knew would come sooner or later, Palworld got more achievements this week with the cross-play update. All of them are tied to elements already in the game, which was nice! Namely, a bulk of them and the time to get them are assigned to the Expeditions and Research. I got a fair chunk of them last time I was playing, so a bunch popped right away when I loaded the game up. I also got the new one for collecting 300 Lifmunk effigies right away; thank goodness, it would have been a pain to seek even more of those out. I sadly didn’t get the one for discovering 70 places total, meaning I’ll have to take my Ragnahawk out for a ride around the map. Everything else is all about idling, so at least none of this will be difficult!
Achievements unlocked: 39 (+6) | Completion: 89%
As always seems to be the case, only one game can’t get an update, with Vampire Survivors also getting more achievements in an update. Say it with me: complete the new Adventure, collect a new Relic, unlock a new weapon, and evolve a new weapon. There are the usual few miscellaneous achievements as well, but these were all easy and nothing really surprising. But it’s also still a blast playing through these games! I almost always play much longer than is actually necessary, but I’m having fun so whatever.
Achievements unlocked: 228 (+8) | Completed
This add-on is heavily chicken-based.
Rarest Achievement:
EXTRA: To End An Ice Age in Vampire Survivors [20.96]
Most Common Achievement:
Night of the Flood in South of Midnight [1.00]
