Bry

This is a copy of two comments I posted under the videos TOP13 2025 - NAJLEPSZA SERIA! (TOP13 2025 - THE BEST SERIES!) and TOP13 2025 - NAJWIĘKSZE ROZCZAROWANIE! (TOP13 2025 - THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT!) on the Polish Youtube channel Staszek iGRAszkowski.

I wondered if there is even a point in turning them into a blog post, like I did earlier with the comment about games I'm waiting for, because I'm mostly referring here to a let's plays that you can't watch if you don't speak Polish. But ultimately, the core of this is still the games themselves, so why not after all?

For context, at the end of each year, he holds a poll where his viewers vote for the best and most disappointing games he has played on his channel.

THE BEST SERIES!

Last year was exceptionally successful for me when it comes to your series. While in previous years I never really managed to compile my top 13, this time I had to cut some entries to stay within the limit xD I can add that according to YouTube, I was among the top 4% of viewers of your channel last year ;)

I deliberately prepared my comment before the top list was published so I wouldn't be influenced by it... and I see that my list doesn't really overlaps with the general consensus :0 [The full list is shown at 36:47]

The biggest surprise for me was the top two spots. Not because I thought I expected to see different titles there, but because I thought these two games would be in reverse order, given what a gigantic, global phenomenon the game in second place was.

My biggest regret is that I didn't have time to follow or catch up your let's play of Deep Sleep: Labyrinth of the Forsaken, but who knows, maybe I should treat that as an excuse to play it by myself?

So, this is how it looked for me:

13th: Do No Harm by Darts Games

It was fun to watch, but that's about it. I remember hoping that you would continue playing this title, but looking at what came out later last year, I'm not surprised that didn't happen [he completed only one ending and planned to continue the series in the future]. I still remember and appreciate this title enough to include it here, but not enough to want to buy it and play it by myself.

12th: Dishwashing Simulator by Frinky and Frosty

The game is janky, but it had something about it that made me want to keep watching it on your channel. And for some reason, I also like these, I don't know, low-budget, pseudo-retro titles? Sorry, I don't know how to describe it better xD Plus the pool remix by Amelia20x is a banger.

11th: Level Devil by Unept

I think you said it by yourself in the episode that it's fun to watch someone else struggle, so what more can I add xD and the game had some cool ideas for surprises, so I appreciate that.

10th: Date Everything! by Sassy Chap Games

Lots of waifus, lots of husbandos, cute art, well-written characters. What more could you want? I saw only about half of the series because I would like to play the game by myself someday.

9th: Microtopia by Cordyceps Collective

The type of game that I would be terrible at playing myself [due to its high difficulty level], but I love watching someone else figuring it out.

8th: Riddlewood Manor by Peanut Button

As you said in the summary, the dark horse of last year. The riddles were simple, but very enjoyable. The kind of puzzles where I could think through them by myself and also enjoy watching how you solved them. And the duck wins everything. If you know, you know xD

7th: The Planet Crafter: Toxicity DLC by Miju Games

From the few episodes I watched, I spent over 70 hours on the base game myself, so just based on that fact alone, I can't leave it off this list.

6th: Supermarket Simulator by Nokta Games

Well damn, it's an asset-flip*, but when you were playing it, I honestly anticipated the episodes from the let's play of this game the most. To the point where, even when the regular series was still going on, I bought it myself and it ended up being my second! most played game on Steam last year xD (it would have been third, but Planet Crafter didn't make it into Steam's year-end summary).

*I even managed to find where those assets came from! - the Modern Supermarket set from AndragorInc, costing €64.40 in the Unity Asset Store.

5th: Legend of Grimrock by Almost Human Games

2026 is the year where you play older titles, but the Grimrock playthrough [from the previous year] hit me with especially strong nostalgia, because years ago, I watched let's plays from this game on a various YouTube channels... without ever playing it myself. I need to finally fix that, because it's definitely one of those titles that has aged like fine wine.

4th: A Game About Digging A Hole by DoubleBee

It would be in my top three :v, if it weren't for the fact that I think the ending was crap xD Well, I have a certain weakness for this type of "games," so what else can I say :v I probably play too many free titles from itch.io in my life, because compared to some of them, this game about digging a hole is an incredibly elaborate and complex title xD I also really liked listening to your "podcasts" about gamedev that you did in the let's plays from this game... which is more thanks to you than to the game itself xD. And since we're talking about series here, not just the games themselves, that's why it gets fourth place in my ranking :p

3rd: Strange Antiquities by Bad Viking

For me, it's an example of a perfect sequel. An expansion of the already very well-executed formula from Strange Horticulture, which I played myself last year, influenced by your Antiquities livestreams. And while I still really enjoyed it, at every step I could see that Antiquities pushed the ideas from that game a step further.

2nd: Blue Prince by Dogubomb

What a masterpiece. I really enjoyed watching your gameplay, I looked forward to every episode. And to think that I almost missed this series, because I only got interested in it when there were already around 20 episodes on the channel... which after click play on the first one I immediately binge-watched [all of what was available], and then I was like, oh no, now I have to wait a whole day for the next episode, how will I survive this ;-;. This is also another example on this list of a game that works for me as a series to watch, rather than a title to play, because the overall randomness of the mechanics and the [English] language based puzzles would quickly cut short my attempts to face the Blue Prince. And that lack of ability to save [in the middle of a day without ending it] - something for which I would send the developers to the gulag.

1st: Lorelei and the Laser Eyes by Simogo

And Lorelei had normal saving system, which was the deciding factor in beating Blue Prince* in my personal ranking xD well, and also the fact that artistically and narratively, this game resonated with me more. Because let's be honest, I consider Lorelei the best thing I saw on your channel last year (and partially this year). Therefore, from my perspective, I can only be glad that the long break between episodes happened [he started playing it at the beginning of last year and, after a break of several months, finished it at the beginning of this year.], because you started playing Lorelei when I had less time to watch gameplay videos, and it originally flew completely under my radar. It breaks my heart that this title isn't anywhere in the viewers' top list, but last year was so fantastic [in the terms of the new games] that it doesn't surprise me, considering how niche this series was.

Additionally, it's one of those games where I really appreciate that you add Polish subtitles to your gameplays (or translate it live, like you did during the livestreams), because while I have no problem playing games in English, the level in Lorelei would have defeated me. So thanks to these translations, I was able to experience this wonderful title <3 Thanks!

[*In the original Polish comment, there was a joke that is impossible to translate directly, where I wrote Blue Prince as Bul Prince, which was a running joke throughout his let's plays, that was born "thanks" to the lack of proper saving system in it. Blue minus e and swap l with u = Bul which is the phonetic representation of the Polish word ból, meaning pain.]

THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT!

Last year was exceptionally successful for me, both in terms of the games I played and those I watched at your channel. So I only have two disappointments, but unfortunately, both are quite significant for me :/

I want to have fun with it, but I'm not having fun., I'm stealing that quote because it perfectly captures my feelings about both titles below.

2nd: No, I'm not a Human by Trioskaz

I love the graphic style of this game. But basically, that's it. Watching your let's play, I had the feeling that yes, the developers had an idea for the gameplay loop, but they didn't test it at all to see if it would work in practice. Even bad games can somehow stick in your memory, but boring ones don't remain there. When I saw this title in the voting poll, I was like oh right, something like that came out last year. And unfortunately, No, I'm not a Human was boring for me in terms of gameplay.

While you were still playing this title, I realized that, looking at how this game is works, it would take ages to discover anything in it... if you even manage to do so at all, because as we saw, even NPCs who were important to the plot could be taken away when you had only just scratched the surface of their storyline [each day, game removes or kills some of the NPC that were in your house, randomly choosing which one]. So I read some lore analyses, checked out how the endings look like, etc., to see what was actually going on in this title story-wise. And what's going on it that story, I will sum up with the fact, that I don't remember anything from that lore anymore xD

So when I saw the word "finale" [on the thumbnail], I knew you still had some of the game's secrets left to discover. But my reaction wasn't oh, what a shame that you won't show more of this title, but rather I'm surprised you played it for so long. I would have given up a few episodes earlier.

1st: Amanda the Adventurer 3 by MANGLEDmaw Games

:| This game really raised my blood pressure when I started wondering what went wrong xD but I already went into detail about that in my comment under the final episode [copy of that comment is at the end of this post]. However, in that comment I didn't mention one thing that I realized some time later, and which ultimately bothers me the most about it.

I think the way Amanda 2 and 3 turned out sabotages the first game. If someone wants to play the first one now, they're basically in a situation where You know what, the game is cool, the puzzles are cool, but the narrative layer, which is, I don't know, a significant part of this game's content? The reason you're even looking for hidden tapes in the first place? Well, you can skip that, because it won't actually lead to anything meaningful later x'D. I don't know, I hope that if these developers ever make a new game, it will be a completely new title and not another attempt to monetize this corpse. Because aside from the retcon of the plot of the sequels, for me this story is already buried. And let it remain in that grave, amen.

Now moving on to what was in the your video and a few entries I didn't vote for:

12th: Gas Station Simulator For me, it's a typical mediocre title. Nothing special, maybe that's why it made it onto this list? Considering how many great games came out last year, an average title compared to them might turn out to be a disappointment. Which I have a feeling that was also the reason for several other titles [to appear on this list].

If I had to point out something I personally didn't like, it was the mafia subplot. Supposedly something that was meant to add some variety to the gameplay, but it discouraged me from playing it myself. I prefer the Supermarket Simulator approach, where you run your store and have fun without worrying that someone will get rid of you, because you didn't pay them in time. But that's just a matter of preference.

11th: Dishwashing Simulator Yes, I disagree with this one too [for him it wasn't a disappointment, so he didn't agree with its presence on this list]. Heck, this title was on my list of the best series, so yeah xD The game is exactly what it was supposed to be. The only thing I could call a disappointment is the platformer section at the end because was pointless, but otherwise everything else is fine.

[Outside the top list] Hollow Knight: Silksong - I saw 15 minutes of the gameplay and turned it off xD I only checked the video due to the hype around this this title, but I found that it didn't really grab my attention at all. Especially since this was the time when I was catching up on your gameplay of the first Danganronpa, so I had something to watch anyway.

[Outside the top list] Escape from Duckov - I didn't vote for this title, but in retrospect, I think I should have. A game that takes zero risks so ultimately didn't do anything interesting. At first, I enjoyed watching it because I was curious what this title had to offer, only to find out that there wasn't really much. I saw about half of the fourth episode [the last one he recorded], I don't even remember why I stopped, but I meant to come back and finish it later, which didn't happen because there were more interesting things to watch.

MY REVIEW (WITH SPOILERS) OF AMANDA THE ADVENTURER 3

First off, I wiill say that I'm writing this comment from the perspective of someone who wasn't particularly impressed by the first Amanda either. It was just an okay game for me, I didn't vote for it in any top list. But I have to say that despite the passage of time, I still remember it quite well and recall it rather positively than negatively.

I watched the let's play of second one a few months after the disappointments list, which by the way, it won by leaving the competition far behind, and I recently rewatched that gameplay, because I didn't remember anything from this title at all.

So in the case of the third Amanda [that concludes the story], my feelings basically align with what you said in the video [he was disappointed by it]. Well, not every puzzle game can be Blue Prince, Lorelei, or even the first Amanda. So ultimately, for me, this title isn't material for any of this year's top lists.

The best series list? Too strong competition this year. Besides that, even with weak competition, there was nothing in this game that would make it worth to be on a best-of list. Disappointments? Well, that's the thing - it didn't disappoint me. It was exactly what I expected after the second one - mediocre title, without any real vision for itself. Something I will soon forget.

After the first one, I wondered for a bit how they might continue certain plot lines. In the second one, I was more annoyed that they were muddying things by adding more plot complications, just so theory channels could make videos about them (which, to be honest, was also my criticism of the first game to some extent, but it didn't bother me as much in it's case). In the third one, there's no substance, there's nothing. The finale, and that's it.

Who is the player character even supposed to be?? Still Riley? Rebecca's father?? I suppose this is something I could dig deeper into, but honestly, why bother? It won't affect my opinion of all of this anyway.

The camera from Amanda's room. Come on, couldn't they just put that footage from the first game on that little screen? But nope, I'm watching your let's play and I'm wondering what you're supposed to do with it. [they put a static noise on that screen and you had to figure by yourself, that it's just a reference to the first Amanda and nothing else]

I don't like that the reveal of Wolly's identity is in the achievement, not in the game itself. For that matter, I don't like who he turns out to be either xD I don't like that the Butcher, such an important character in the first Amanda, never appears again after it.

You mentioned plot consistency, and that's something I genuinely don't understand. I would expect that when they sat down to make the first game, they already had at least a partially completed script for the whole thing. At least the most important plot points. Because all of this still had to be recorded with actors [the game contains live-action cutscenes]. But from what I saw, I get the impression that they sat down and wrote the script for the first Amanda and then they decide that they will figure how to continue the story during the development of the sequels. And well, they didn't manage to figure it out.

Sigh, I wrote above that this title isn't material for my best-of or worst-of lists, but I will probably vote for it in the disappointments anyway. [and I did that]

Advertising space: