Apex Legends. I only made it to the character selection screen. I thought to myself that the game looked fun, but I already have a BR game that I play regularly and I'm not ready to give it up.

I quit Spelunky in the first area. I couldn't make the first jump properly. It was just a confirmation for me I don't like platforming games and I suck at them. I got it for free somewhere (maybe it was one of the Pinata's back then) and just wanted to check out if I indeed dislike platforming and I'm right in not buying any of those games. Turns out, I am.

I don't think it is weird. Super Meatboy is a pretty straight forward game. It's a brutal platformer but it focuses on that and you know what you should do. In Rogue Legacy and Spelunky you always have some decisions to make. For example: should you try to beat a difficult opponent to earn some cash or should you rush and try to beat a boss? Should you explore a bit more? In SMB you face a very difficult obstacles and have to deal with them. In Rogue Legacy and Spelunky you can choose which obstacles to face (to some degree at least) and how to deal with them. There is more freedom here so these are different games although they all are pretty difficult

Shopkeepers? I don't remember any shopkeepers in Spelunky... oh, wait! Do you mean loot guardians? Yup, I love to kill them! ;)

Oh, I know exactly what you mean.. I think I stopped around the same level.
Heh, I actually finished that one. Well I beat the main path. But gave up on doing it without using shortcuts. And I won't even try getting to some of the bonus stages.

Path of Exile.

I played it... a LOT. But eventually the extremely unbalanced combat with "kill the screen or get one-shot" got too much for me, especially coupled with losing hours of progress each time you died. So I quit. Was it for ever? We'll see. But for now I've moved on to other things, and not regretting it one bit.

Don't get me wrong, there are some very good features in the game, like a seriously sick tech tree and lots of variations between skills, gems and suchlike, but the grind - oh my god - the grind. And the multiple RNG walls. And it's free. That's kinda nice too (although I spent a decent chunk on it anyway, although nowhere near the people who spend irrational amounts).

Homeworld 1 and 2 plus catacysm (aka emergance)

I have been playing these game since they where originally released and still they never get old or boring.

but I have a massive list of unplayed games due to those accursed sales, and while they sit there unplayed they are a massive waste of money.

No doubt I will return to home world but for the time being I need to start working my way through all these unplayed games.

Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate - GPD Win 2 via Steam
I wanted to like this game really, but the controls and gameplay are so atrocious. Controls are finicky and don't respond well enough and with the guided camera it can sometimes get even worse. Gameplay leaves little room for error in stealth and in boss fights I found myself dying way too often to make continuing worth my time.

The map and back tracking are confusing as hell. I appreciate the effort and thought of making a Batman metroidvania, but the execution is just not there.

And to make matters worse, Joker is still a villain in the game. 4 games into the Arkham series.

Unless you are an absolute die-hard Arkham fan, I would say pass.

Portal Knights (PS4)

I got this game for free with PSPlus a couple of months ago, I put it on my list to try because I thought I might enjoy this game as I do enjoy Minecraft and this game has a very similar look and feel.

However, instead of having a huge open map to explore (like Minecraft) there are instead a series of small (VERY small) worlds connected by portals, you collect stuff from the current world (by killing creatures and completing short quests) to open the gate to the next world. The focus of this game seems to be primarily action and combat instead of exploring and building. I tried it solo first, but I read it's supposed to be better co-op so I played for a while with my son, but there was no increase in enjoyment.

Overall it’s got pretty good reviews, so there must be an audience for this type of game out there (aRPG/Minecraft mixture), but I’m just not part of that audience.

Speaking of blood I popped a haemorrhoid a while ago, There was blood everywhere!

Transpose (PSVR)

This is a VR puzzle game, your goal in each level is to get the cube(s) into the receptacle(s). Of course, this is not as easy as it sounds, and in this game the gimmick is that you replay the same level multiple times with multiple versions of yourself (each version being yourself in a prior playthrough), each performing a different task required to complete the level.

In theory, this sounds like a good idea. And I think it would be, if the puzzles were purely intellectual challenges. However, those types of levels were rare, most of the time at least part of the puzzle will require you to throw cube(s) to particular location(s), and possibly even catch the same cube later with another version of yourself. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I suck at both throwing and catching, making the game incredibly frustrating and repetitive for me as I continue failing to throw the cube to the desired location and having to redo it over and over and over, again and again and again. And again. In addition, the levels are fairly repetitive with not many new elements added as the game progresses. I struggled through to the final level, but just looking at it I knew it would be the pinnacle of frustration and by then I had had enough.

Therefore I cannot recommend this game, due to the heavy focus on throwing skill.

The Witness (PS4)
EDIT: Gog forum isn't liking my embedded link, and whenever I fix it the forum auto-corrects it back to the wrong one... I think because it has parentheses in it? So here is a GOG link to the game instead:
https://www.gog.com/game/the_witness

This is a first-person puzzle game.

The main flaw in this game is that the puzzles are extremely repetitive and boring AF. The puzzles are all the same 2D mazes, the only difference is the different rules added to the puzzles. These rules are never explained, it’s up the the player to stumble through the puzzles and figure them out. Each time a new rule is introduced, there are tons of repetitive puzzles to solve using it (way too many in my opinion) before moving on to a “new” type of puzzle. Some puzzles use multiple rules.

My recommendation: unless you’re a huge fan of 2D maze-like puzzles, avoid!!

Frozen Synapse 1

The randomness factor in troop location spawn, loadout of troops, and randomized map everytime the mission is reloaded is interesting, but really sucks for timed missions.

Tangledeep

I'd been tempted to buy this at full price months ago, but thankfully did not.

I keep really wanting to like roguelikes, and in general, the reality seems to be that I just don't. It's not bad, but it doesn't even seem to measure up to Tales of Maj'eyal, which I also quit, but at least lasted 5-6 hours and tried a number of characters, and actually liked a few things about the game world.

This...is puzzling. It looks appealing, and people seem to like it, but I guess I'm not sure why. It really doesn't have much of a story, or a game world, and the mechanics seem pretty simple. I guess the gear options are kind of interesting, but that doesn't really make a game.

IDK.

TLDR: Genre I want to like but don't; game that looks promising but actually felt really thin in practice.

What exactly do you mean by finishing Rogue Legacy? Did you also unlock the traitor class?

Oh it's been a while, but I only finished* it. That is, I beat all the wings of the castle and the associated bosses, as well as the final boss. But after that the game starts over and you have to do it all over again, except it's far more difficult. I think I got as far as that big eye boss again, but just gave up because it became way tougher with extra attacks etc. :P

I'm afraid I can't remember whether or not I managed to unlock a new class