Welcome, one and all to a new year and a new February. Last year, I didn't do very well at all, so this year, I'm going to try my utmost to actually vanquish four games off of my tottering pile of games that I've collected over the last forty+ years.

Before I get into my picks, let's - very quickly - go over the rules for Four In February:

Pick four games

This one's fairly self-explanatory: choose four games from your backlog as the games you challenge yourself to beat.

Play them during February

Again, fairly self-explanatory. Starting on the 1st of February and ending on the 28th, I must - for some time - attempt to play one of my four games so that I can beat them.

Obtain any win-state.

If a game has many win-states [like multiple endings, for example], I can go for any of these. As a crude example, Papers, Please has a BUNCH of endings. I only need to achieve one to have "beaten" the game.

Play From Any Point

This means that I can pick a game that I have started and pick up the save file I abandoned years ago. Eg: I'm very close to the ending of Saint's Row 3, I could, if I wanted to, pick that game up and complete it as my "first" four in February game. [This isn't something I intend to do, by the by.]

So, with the rules out the way, let's discuss my four games. In alphabetical order, I present:

ABZU

Beautiful visuals, a soundtrack by Austin Wintory and some of the folks from thatgamecompany. What could possibly go wrong?!

Abzu is an amazing looking, short-ish game from some of the people that used to be part of thatgamecompany. I loved watching Lucahjin play through Journey, many moons ago and am very excited that some part of thatgamecompany broke free of Sony to produce a game-type that they're comfortable with. I would have - at launch - bought the thatgamecompany collection that came out a few years ago, if it were not confined to one specific console.

Broken Age

Broken [Promised] Age. Uh huh, Tim. Pull the other one. It has bells.

I am no longer a fan of Tim Schafer.

Broken promise after broken promise, coupled with the squandering of money has left me quite cold to Double Fine in general and Tim in particular. I paid as little as I could for this so that I could see what resulted from his particular Kickstarter gamble. I am completely ready to be underwhelmed.

Ryse: Son of Rome

I am a guy from Rome! And I have come to QTE! That's the same as pillage, loot and destroy, right?!

My understanding of this game is that it's QTE central. Either way, we don't get a lot of games actually set in the Roman Empire. The last [that I'm aware of] was Apotheon and then Titan Quest before that. My understanding is that this is a fantastical take on a story-of-Rome, so I'm quite interested in seeing where it goes. Yes, I'm aware it's completely shallow. I might even be OK with that, in fact.

Some Mystery Game

So many games! So little time! Help me, internet, you're my only hope!

Help me help you!

Let's pick a game together that I can hopefully complete in the last week of February.

I like: slow, story-driven, thoughtful PC games that - if they feature a combat mechanic allows me to pause the game, somehow, or allows me to slow down time so that the screen doesn't become visual stew.

I'm very much a fan of games with comic elements, the fantasy genre as a whole [but high fantasy turns me right off] and science fiction [again, hard science fiction does nothing at all for me.]

I do not like: generally fast paced games and/or shooters of any persuasion. I find them to be mostly generic and mostly bland.

A crude list of games I am interested in for your voting perusal:

2064: Read Only Memories
Book of Unwritten Tales 2
Epistory: Typing Chronicles
Kingdom: New Lands
Life is Strange
Never Alone
Night of The Rabbit
Rymdkapsel
Seasons After Fall
Technobabylon
YOU WRITE IN AND DECIDE!

Thank you in advance for your game suggestions and good luck on your own Four in February [if you're playing along.]

Greywolfe’s 4 in February.