Month in Review: February 2026

[mysterytoast]

New games -

• ATLYSS (started 2/19)
• Botany Manor (started and completed 2/22)
• Squeakross: Home Squeak Home (started 2/7)

Games continued playing -

• A Little to the Left
• Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
• Hytale
• Little Witch in the Woods
• Organized Inside
• Terraria

Demos (outside Next Fest) -

• ATLYSS
• Find Matt's (Hidden) Cats

The last few days of February were fully occupied by Next Fest. February is short anyway. In terms of raid, we got our first clear of M10S and I got mistaken for a dps again. I took… half the month off from independent M11S prog due to snow and then Next Fest, but I've been working on my mitigation plan and I think I have a pretty good layout for main tanking when I get back into prog. Considering the later mechanics, I'm not super optimistic about the static's ability to get through M11S before 7.5 rolls around, but I think I'm reasonably on pace to potentially clear on my own before the end of March (if I lock in and provided pf cooperates) haha jk I forgot I'm losing half the weekends in March, at best I can lock in for enrage. I've already laid out what gear I need and what I can upgrade with nuts in 7.5.

ATLYSS

Played the demo on recommendation from a friend, then immediately bought the game after enjoying it. The game is surprisingly fun. Then again, it's a dungeon-plus-connecting-overworld game, so it hits a gameplay loop that I enjoy in a number of MMOs. The combat and movement feel very responsive and the gear and level grind are surprisingly fun to engage with, even when it is a bit of a gear grind slog.

It's definitely furry though. The character designs are obviously by people who are deeply into a specific subset of furry fandom. It's also really obviously a game that originally only had female playable characters, though I do appreciate how feminine you can make male characters as a result. If it weren't for the excessively massive chests on the female models, most males with chest sliders turned up would be indistinguishable, especially kubolds with their generally large chests.

Botany Manor

It took me about 2.8 hours to do the story from start to finish and an additional half hour to go back for the rest of the achievements.

The primary goal of the game is to grow nine flowers to fill out a herbarium written by the protagonist, though there are a few other environmental puzzles in order to unlock areas, both to get necessary items and to access new areas. Even though the game ultimately only has 9 flower puzzles, I thought they were well designed. I particularly appreciate how, despite all five chapters taking place in a single manor, each chapter was a standalone region - all hints for a plant were found within the area. There was one exception, that being the geneology tree used for the library lock puzzle, but that was also a puzzle between chapters.

If I have a complaint on the gameplay, it is the implementation of the hint system. I really would have liked if we could reference hints through the book, instead of being forced to look at the actual hint if you forgot the information on it. Some hints are just kinda difficult to find again. On the other hand, the hints are designed to pretty loudly repeat info. It's honestly… a little bit much in some places. The most egregious of these was the nightbloom - I feel like the storybook wasn't necessary when the fairy painting and the letter already existed.

Accompanying the overall narrative arc (completing the herbarium) is a heavy depiction of the experience of educated women in 19th century Britain. There is so much belittling of educated women, from the rejection from one college because Arabella is a woman, to minimizing the contributions of women to botanical studies and upholding men as the only gender worthy of academic respect, to the constant reminders that Arabella should be seeking a husband and focusing on domestic labor. While there were some men who work with Arabella and seem to give her the attention, respect, and opportunities she is cut off from solely due to gender - like her uncle (who, idk, is suspiciously unmarried on the family tree), who gives her access to university resources and tells her to give them his name if they question her, and the professor, who seems fairly genuine in bringing her on expeditions - as well as fellow educated women who also grapple with navigating their society, the game definitely succeeds in creating a stifling, sexist atmosphere. And I thought that the ending, while disappointing, was brutally realistic and gives the player food for thought (Arabella clearly makes several new scientific discoveries, and yet her book is once again rejected for publishing because she refuses to let a man take the credit - but at least she also has the avenue to pass on her knowledge to students, in the hopes that one day the contributions by women will be recognized properly). It's honestly a shame that the wokeness rating group doesn't seem to have this game on their list. I really want to know what their judgment on it would be, ie. whether they possess media literacy and can discern when a depiction is meant as a criticism.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time

Sometimes I am normal, and then I fall into the trap of a fun, somewhat mindless grind, and Fantasy Life i is once again a fun mindless grind. I will say I kinda miss the touchpad of the first game - the quick slots aren't as intuitive to open. The ability to freely swap between jobs is so incredibly nice. No more having to run back and forth through the same areas just because I wanted to gather and level multiple jobs! The expanded companions and the way non-combat jobs can travel with you and provide their own benefits is also super nice.

I'm currently taking a breather, as these games tend to warrant, due to the sheer amount of items. I know there are fairly robust inventory filters, but going through it is still overwhelming, especially when I also have to consider gear on current and future party members. At least equipment tabs have 999 slots each, so I'm not in a great hurry to get rid of old gear.

Find Matt's Cats (Demo)

I played this before Next Fest. I've been keeping up with the development of this game for a couple years and I'm glad it's finally coming out and that the demo is very good. Do I think it adds a revolutionary concept to the genre? No… but it is a solid addition to it. The hints types are solid and the way you gain currency for them is nice. I really like the sound design, and how basically everything is clickable with its own sound.