Abram Buehner
@abrambuehner.bsky.social
Writer & Editor | He/Him | All Opinions My Own | abram@lostincult.co.uk
Something I'm increasingly valuing in games is the feedback from small and inconsequential interactions, the joy in prodding an object and seeing what happens. A lot of Nintendo games are in tune with this, and my biggest takeaway from Big Walk so far is that it excels in this way too
Welcome to our newest cult member (and Lifestyle Content Creator), Connor Orton! ✨ When not sipping something fruity by the beach, Connor's spent a decade working as a filmmaker and content creator 📹 He's also got two cats called Buffy and Mavis! Say hi, everyone! 💖
IMO friendslop is a fine term for a genre less concerned with the markers of prestige or the presence of rigorous mechanics. It's about digital spaces to enjoy casually with friends. Interesting that there's resistance to using the term for Big Walk, which presents as more "serious" than its peers
Bluesky app is off the phone. Shorts are disabled in the YouTube app. We're making critical moves today
The Fortune's Weave tracks they put out on Nintendo Music just now are great. What a fantastic use case for the app, this should just be a staple part of promoting every Nintendo game imo. Not sure why they only selectively use Nintendo Music in this way
Abram Buehner@abrambuehner.bsky.social · yesterdayOk Fire Emblem looks SERIOUS. Now that's a game that really announces itself. They're calling it the game with the most systems ever. They're calling it the game Abram is most anticipating for the rest of the year. How did they know that
Ok Fire Emblem looks SERIOUS. Now that's a game that really announces itself. They're calling it the game with the most systems ever. They're calling it the game Abram is most anticipating for the rest of the year. How did they know that
My biggest criticism of Final Fantasy X after the first 6 hours is that Tidus needs to lock in. He's spending all this time and energy on Yuna when Lulu is right there
I think August forward will mark a real upheaval of my favorite 2026 games list, so in the interest of taking a mid-summer snapshot, my current top 5 is: Marathon Rhythm Heaven Groove Splatoon Raiders Resident Evil 9 Star Fox
Really sorry to be doing pricing discourse but I do think that if Mario Tennis Fever had made it out into the world at $50 instead of $70 it would've been quickly identified as one of the Mario sports goats. It's neck and neck with Super Sluggers for my favorite. Just really strong central ideas
I guess Blarney just really likes Final Fantasy
Abram Buehner@abrambuehner.bsky.social · 3w agoBlarney and Cait Sith are becoming fast friends
Most importantly, Rebirth has made me so Final Fantasy-pilled and now I'm currently 2 hours into Final Fantasy X
Abram Buehner@abrambuehner.bsky.social · 4d agoFinal Fantasy VII Rebirth's excess is as unmistakable as it is endearing. A moving, messy journey that accumulates feeling through its best and, more importantly, its most tedious episodes. I love this game, and I'd love it if you checked this out! medium.com/@abrambuehne...
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's excess is as unmistakable as it is endearing. A moving, messy journey that accumulates feeling through its best and, more importantly, its most tedious episodes. I love this game, and I'd love it if you checked this out! medium.com/@abrambuehne...
Catching on Rough Edges
There’s a dungeon hidden in the guts of Shinra Manor. Much of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s eleventh chapter is spent there, solving…
medium.com
Fun blog about FF7 Rebirth coming tomorrow morning :))
Abram Buehner@abrambuehner.bsky.social · last wk.I truly loved Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. It took a little while, but once I gave myself over to its melodrama and excess and beauty I was just so swept up. Felt truly magical to me. Also HOOOLY that final boss fight
I loved Brand New Day so much I would now pay 250 to have Tokon RIGHT NOW
Abram Buehner@abrambuehner.bsky.social · 6d agoI'd pay $100 to have Marvel Tokon today
Lil Wayne could go into the studio and leave with like 60 tracks. It'll take me days to write a 600 word blog post. Something's wrong here
I finished my eighth book of the year last night! My 2026 goal is to read a book a month & I'm well on my way to achieving that. It's been nice to reconnect with the love of reading that I lost touch with, not to mention how reading has done a lot to rehab my awful attention span
I feel like decades of online Mario Sunshine discourse has flattened the game into its 5 worst (and obviously) bad Shine missions. Sand Bird, pachinko, watermelon etc. are both pretty inconsequential AND indicative of the risk-taking that otherwise makes Sunshine very special
as it turns out, putting blood, sweat, tears into surviving to 24 and writing a book during your hardest year is worth it. thank you @lostincult.co.uk 💜 i definitely haven't processed this being my reality yet, but they're right there nonetheless. on my shelf. my book. that i wrote.
[Nintendo Today!] 🤖 New post: "Nintendo GameCube – Nintendo Classics and Virtual Boy – Nintendo Classics - Release date announcement for Super Mario Sunshine, ZERO RACERS, and D-HOPPER" View in the app: 🔗 nintendo.today
Nintendo's 2026 looks like this for me: The games I love: Xenoblade Chronicles NS2E, Rhythm Heaven, Splatoon The games I like a lot: Star Fox, Mario Tennis Fever, Mario Wonder NS2E The games I find very interesting: Yoshi & the Mysterious Book, Pokopia Disappointments: Tomodachi Life, ACNH 3.0
It took 10 hours or so for Splatoon Raiders to reveal itself to me. The lead-up to the final boss & endgame have given me enough tools to be able to express myself and rigorous enough obstacles to feel inspired to pursue creative builds. It's gone from a game I like to one that I solidly love
an interesting side effect of all this talk over criticism: folks asserting that there’s a proper way to be a critic, or decorum to follow. I don’t think there is! There are as many ways to be a critic (or a writer) as there are of being a person.
Feels like Nintendo games are increasingly viewing credits as a checkpoint rather than the actual end. This year alone, Yoshi, Rhythm Heaven, and Splatoon are all great examples of this. Their pre-credits campaigns are just the stretch before the leap of more rigorous applications of their ideas
One thing that's missing from the discussion about this Pokémon Red/Blue decomp/voxel 3D mod thing is the acknowledgement that it's really, really ugly
As someone whose job is computer, let me tell you this: keeping a little physical notebook on your desk for to-do lists and reminders and brainstorming is a real quality of life improver
Discussion around FF Rebirth often centers its status as open-world, when to me it was a 40 hour linear RPG. It being open-world doesn't register bc I found that stuff boring, but I don't operate in a way that I felt compelled to engage with it, or like my thoughts on the game were injured by it
Hey! We're releasing three more physical video games: the excellent Sektori, Dread Delusion and Easy Delivery Co, all with lavish artwork, packaging and extras. Thrilled to work with @spadgy.bsky.social, @thewillarowe.bsky.social and @ultrabrilliant.xyz on the essay booklets. www.lostincult.co.uk
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