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52 Games. 1 Year. 2022.

marcincz

Member
Game 02 - Persona 5 Strikers (PS4) - 56h 47m
Beat 22/01/2022 - my score: ★★★

Game 03 - DiRT 5 (PS5) - 13h 00m

Beat 27/01/2022 - my score: ★★★

I love Persona 5. Strikers has completely different battle system, which I didn't like till the end. Story, trip and new characters are really good. I liked everything except battles.

Dirt 5? Very mediocre racer. Thanks to PS plus I beat it and that’s all. One more thing. If you want platinum trophy, one of the trophies (1000 miles) is totally ridiculous. 3-4 hours of grinding, after credits, to achieve it.
 
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3. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition

This game got added to game pass this month and I decided to try it out on a whim, really enjoyed the story bits, it's one of the only visual novel type games I've played and I was pleasently surprised with the social style of gameplay of hanging out with your fellow students, I was interested in the story and it didn't disappoint picked up the other 2 during the steam sale.

3.5/5
 
Main Post

Solid start to '22

1. The Outer Worlds (Xbox Series X) - 7/10 - I bounced around with really enjoying this game and other times being bored by it. It has its moments but for being a relatively short game...it felt kinda long. Story wasn't super captivating either. Interested to see where they can take this with a better budget in the sequel.
2. Final Fantasy VII: Remake INTERMission (PS5) - 8/10 - A nice appetizer for a sequel we have no idea when we will see. I loved Remake pt 1 and I enjoyed this small episode. I felt some of the bosses punched way harder than they did in the base game.
3. Creepy Tale (Switch) - 7/10 - Free game from some holiday giveaway. It was interesting and I enjoyed my time with it. It can be a bit obtuse at times in figuring out what to do but eventually you figure it out.
4. Star Fox 64 3D (3DS) - 8/10 - Took me a bit to get used to the controls on 3DS but when they clicked it reminded me why I loved this game so much as a kid. Classic game and wish we had a legit great follow-up at this point.
5. Luigi's Mansion 3 (Switch) - 8/10 - Lot's of fun and actually quite challenging. I was really impressed with the graphics and the variety they packed into this game. Hope they continue on with the series and maybe work on making Luigi control just a tad bit better.
6. Ys Origin (PS4) - 8/10 - Finally finished my 3rd run of this to complete each character. This was my first Ys game and I really enjoyed it. Will probably give I & II Chronicles at some point this year.
7. Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight (PS4) - 9/10 - Loved everything about this game. The short metroidvania adventure, the graphics and the challenge. It all felt fair and earned. I really want to explore more of this series.
8. Medal of Honor: Frontline HD (PS3) - 9/10 - Have had this with my Medal of Honor PS3 disc and wanted to see if the game held up as much as I loved it back in early college. This game is still special, obviously dated but it just seems to have something that a lot of these war FPS games are missing these days. The music is still top notch. I wish we could get another MoH in this spirit vs trying to clone CoD.
9. Level 22: Gary's Misadventures (PSTV) - 8/10 - Another game that I got off PS+ years ago and randomly fired up. Fun puzzle game that was basically just sneaking around an office to get to your desk. Simple premise that was just a lot of fun.
 
4. The Choice of Life: Middle Ages

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20min or so. All endings.

Since I have Google Play Pass for my kids, I sometimes spend bathroom breaks and the likes browsing it and playing whatever games look interesting. This was one of these times.

Unfortunately, this was not one of the good ones. It's not really much of a game, even. Like Reigns, you have to choose one of two (Sometimes more) options in order to progress the story. Unlike Reigns, the story isn't charming, the art is bland, the deaths aren't amusing, there is only a couple endings, and it's generally 20 minutes that would be better spent playing something else.

But...

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My Score: ★

Original post
 
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Game 21 - Super Double Dragon - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 40/100
While not the worst Double Dragon game I've played recently, it's still pretty awful. Movement is slow as walking through a stream of shit and the visuals are about as bland as I've seen on the SNES. For some reason Jimmy is wearing pink, I have no idea why. The game is entirely lackluster and the adventure you take through the game is entirely forgettable. You don't rescue Marian, you just fight some turd with a pony tail and then it's over. I didn't even realize it was the last boss until the last kick put the game into slow-motion (ironic as the entire game is in slow motion by my standards). Not a great but also not laughably bad like so many of the games in this series. There are some pretty good remixes of the original music in here too.

Game 22 - Battletoads Double Dragon - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 70/100
This is probably the best Double Dragon game and it's a pretty good Battletoads game too. Stripped of the impossible difficulty it's also a manageable game. What it lacks is the music from either Battletoads or Double Dragon. Instead it's mostly noise. The game itself is a fun adventure taking you into space, through a giant ship, back into space, onto a missile and ending... in space. It's a fun romp that ends with an insanely cheap last boss fight against the Dark Queen (the real one with tits and a latex leotard and thigh-highs, not the thunder-thighed flat chested cringe-fest from the new game) that for some reason limits you to a flat plane.

Game 23 - Final Fight 2 - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 70/100
I really liked this game. The gameplay is pretty quick compared to some beat-em-ups but not twitchy. The adventure is really fun spanning the globe as you look for Maki's friend and her father kidnapped by the Mad Gears. The adventure is what makes these games which are often quite repetitive so enjoyable. The characters are good too. Carlos is a hilarious new character who swings 2x4s like he's fencing and stands like he has a 2x4 up his ass. Maki is wearing almost an outfit with a little material, a little fishnet and a stripper's ponytail. Then there's Mike Hagar, the mayor who the game describes as the mayor that "Rules" Metro City. I imagine if he was the mayor here I'd probably avoid rattling any cages lest he take hold of me, stuff my head in his sweaty crotch, leap 30feet in the air and turn my head into a can of pizza sauce as we crash into the ground. The game has a few cameos too, you'll see Street Fighter's Chun-Li eating at a food stall in China and Guile hanging out at the military base in France for example. The game has you taking on Rolento who later becomes a fighter in Street Fighter Alpha 2. Good times.

Game 24 - Final Fight 3 - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 75/100
I liked the second game and expected more of that, but this game really threw a lot of changes into the mix for the better. For starters the music is better. The game plays faster and you have more abilities to use including Street Fighter style moves using d-pad inputs (like a Shoryuken or Hadoken motion). In this one you head out around Metro City looking for more garbage people to beat the shit out of. There are four characters you can choose from this time including a bland female police officer and a mysterious fighter who immediately tells you who he is, ruining the mystery. These aren't story-driven games though so who really cares? I think this is the best of the Final fight games on the SNES.

Game 25 - The King of Dragons - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 70/100
This was a pretty cool beat-em-up I wasn't actually aware of. My brother picked it to play so it was a bit of a surprise. You play as a group of six knights, all with different abilities helping people of the land and eventually take on the Red Dragon. The game is pretty cool, allowing you to level up your gear throughout each stage. Better weapons and shields will buffer your character to the point you'll be one-shotting enemies you struggled with earlier. The music... exists. It wasn't unpleasant but it's about on-par for a beat-em-up soundtrack. The game looks pretty nice too, with some creative ways to make bosses seem bigger than they are.The game plays really fast for a beat-em-up, closer to Ninja Turtles than Double Dragon which makes it a lot more engaging than most games in the genre. It's definitely worth a playthrough.

Game 26 - Captain Commando - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 65/100
What an odd game. You play as a Mummy commando, Captain Commando himself, a Ninja commando or a baby driving an adult human-sized Mech. This game takes you to the streets to mop up local crime (imagine that) and takes you for a bit of a ride through several interesting locales including an aquarium, the circus, a spaceship and... another planet? You fight a pile of strangely named enemies and bosses before coming back to earth a hero. The game plays quick which is always nice in this genre. The levels vary enough to keep things interesting and fun. Definitely another beat-em-up worth trying.

Game 26.5 - Captain Commando - Switch - Completed 2P playthrough - 70/100
This is the arcade version of Captain Commando which is a much better game overall than the SNES port. Better stages, bigger and better enemies and just more punch to the gameplay. If I hadn't already played the SNES version the adventure would have been even better with all the wacky locales you visit, including a trip into outer space.

Game 27 - Knights of the Round - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 70/100
This game was a lot like The King of Dragons in a few ways. Like TKoD you increase your strength as you progress, but this game awards progression based on score and the changes are subtle as you go through the game. For example I used Perceval who wields an axe. When I started he was a big guy wearing pants holding a battle axe, by level 13 he had massive spiked armor, a huge techno-axe and was wearing a speedo as the only cover on his now massively ripped body. This was another pretty fast playing beat 'em up with some pretty nice art. While not on-par with the arcade version it was still pleasant to look at. The music, though not engrained in my memory, was actually decent as well. Definitely worth a shot if you like the genre.

Game 27.5 - Knights of the Round - Switch - Completed 2P playthrough - 75/100
This is the arcade version of Knights of the Round. It's better in many ways than the SNES port save the music which I found much better on the SNES. As is the case with arcade ports in the day the original has bigger sprites, more enemies on screen and the action goes much faster since the coin-op machine needs you to play your game and fuck off so someone else can pile quarters into the thing. This really was a pretty decent beat 'em up.

Game 28 - The Pirates of Dark Water - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 60/100
Pirates of Dark water is based off a cartoon that ran for a season long ago. It's got a fun cast of pirates running around collecting treasures and eventually taking on the menacing captain... Bloth. Yes, Bloth. Along the way you'll kick the shit out of everyone you meet and face a bunch of really large human boss characters as is the norm for the genre. The games is full of pitfalls, traps and random hazards which get a bit grating but is quite generous with extra lives so even on hard the game is pretty manageable. Early on the game introduces enemy characters in interesting ways similar to a Ninja Turtles title but as you progress enemies start appearing almost exclusively from the screen edges and at this point they have a tendency to hang out off-screen which made for some pretty annoying fights. As for music the game has a few pleasant tracks but overall it's your typical fare for this genre in this era. The adventure was pretty fun though.

Game 29 - Sunset Riders - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 75/100
I played this game on the Genesis in December and I have to say this is another game entirely on the SNES. For starters the music is way better, the game plays faster and the entire game takes on a slight isometric view. The bosses are given hilarious voices in this version that the Genesis game missed as well like "Bury me with my money". There's an entire level that takes place on a train that was missing from the Genesis version as well. The game is a blast to play.

Game 30 - Wild Guns - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 75/100
This is a game I forgot existed and therefore never played until now. It's a shooting gallery game like Cabal, but you play in a steampunk Western setting as either Clint, your typical cowboy based off Clint Eastwood (The Good the Bad and the Ugly theme plays when you get a 1-up), or Annie, a young blonde woman who resembles Little Bo-Peep with about half her tits hanging out and a pretty good view of her legs from the front. The graphics in this game were really nice with a ton of destructible items in the environments and some great animation. The music is really well done and keeps things upbeat through the game. Definitely worth the couple hours it takes to play though.
 
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5. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations

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20h-ish.

The thrilling conclusion of the original Ace Attorney Trilogy! So cute and charming MURDER zany, wacky, jokey DEATH. It's somewhat more experimental than the previous two, with an overarching story that actually begins in the previous game and that sets the tone for the whole game (Except for the couple of unrelated cases in the middle, of course). There's a new Defence Against Dark Arts professor prosecutor, which seems unrelated to the story until the end, and generally the game tries to wrap Mia's story in an epic, high note.

Unfortunately, this is the game where the localization starts making everything weird. "Eat your hamburguers Apollo" levels of weird. The localization really hurts the last case, mostly set in a japanese temple in the cold, snowy mountains of, uh, downtown L.A, I think.

I think I generally enjoyed it less than the previous two, but I recognize it's, generally speaking, a better, longer, more fleshed-out game than them. A worthy conclusion to the Phoenix Wright origin trilogy... Too bad, after Phoenix is told "You're a brilliant lawyer and your mentor lives through you", he loses his license and becomes a hobo. That's a failed soft reboot for you!

My Score: ★★★★☆

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Game 31 - SUPER SMASH T.V. - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 65/100
This game is just non-stop shit being flung at you from all directions. It's brutally difficult until you figure out the safe place (it rimes with "horner") Even then the bosses just never die and surviving even the first one is pretty unlikely. The game is basically Running Man the game with you and a buddy shooting your way through an arena killing everything in sight. You collect prizes along the way like "a magnificent 2600" TV", Luxurious Vacation", a "Sleek 1999 Roadster" and of course piles of cash. The game is a frantic top-down shooter that plays like Robotron (or Geometry Wars) using the D-pad to move and the SNES face buttons as a second d-pad for shooting.

Game 32 - Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues - SNES - Attempted to play every stage but every stage is unplayably awful - 15/100
This game is absolute shit.

Game 33 - Darius Twin - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 70/100
This is similar to Gradius or R-Type except that you can actually play it for more than 30 seconds without dying. It's a side-scrolling shooter where you and a buddy take on an invading fleet of ships designed after Earth marine life. It's wierd but at the same time the enemy vehicles were always interesting. The music is pretty good, the movement is fast and the game rewards you with upgrades quite often. This isn't a bullet hell either so with some practice you can get pretty far and with some more this one is possible to complete.

Game 34 - Raiden Trad - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 55/100
I played through this with my brother (We've been binging 2P SNES games) and when we finished he showed me the FM Towns version. The SNES version is comparably absolutely gutted. The framerate is ass, the colors are ass and the music is about half as good as that version. This was a low-effort port.

Game 35 - Power Rangers: The Movie - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 65/100
This was actually better than I thought it would be. The game is a beat-em-up that takes place on two planes that you can jump to or from with different hazards on each plane. Enemies range from absolutely braindead to pretty fucking dumb so there isn't much challenge in fighting grunts but the bosses like to teleport punch and wreck you. Notably absent from this Power Rangers game are the Zords. You play as the teenage rangers in their street clothes and once you power up enough you change into rangers but never control the Zords either individually or combined as the combined Megazord. I have to say it was a bit of a letdown.

Game 36 - The Peace Keepers - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 50/100
So this game has some interesting characters, an actual (but strange) story, branching paths, interesting levels and some decent visuals. Unfortunately we played the English language version which has all the music removed. You play this crazy fast-paced beat-em-up and it's just ambient background noises and beat-em-up grunts. It really sours the game.

Game 37 - Venom Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 65/100
This game has some really great mechanics. You can swing, trap enemies in your web, reel enemies in with your web, create a shield, climb walls, pull yourself up out of harm's way, pick enemies up, call in other Marvel heroes for support, etc. The problem is you almost never use any of it. There's one section in one stage with web swinging over pits. The other major issue with this game is that it's incredibly difficult. Enemies will immediately run behind you and attack, knocking you down. Try picking up an enemy to pound him and you'll be laid-out before you get a shot in. With enemies that take a dozen hits to kill it gets really annoying. The visuals are pretty crap too. While the cutscenes use comic book art, the game sprites are more like the 1990's American animation while the backdrops are early 1990s garbage pre-rendered CG. Nothing works together.

Game 38 - Joe & Mac - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 65/100
Everyone remembers the screenshots of the big dinosaur bosses from this game. The T-Rex, the Brachiosaurus, the T-Rex head with floating balls for a neck, the gray T-Rex with floating balls for a neck... yeah... So this is not a great game but it was a fun couple of hours. The best part of the game is that it keeps track of which player is hitting the boss the most and rewards that player with a kiss on the head from the rescued cavewoman at the end of every stage while the loser sits there crying like a little bitch.

Game 39 - Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 40/100
This game was not as good as the first one which wasn't exactly great itself. The platforming is even more basic. They took out the high jump and the ability to jump off the other player. Weapons are all temporary upgrades and aren't as good. There are more dinosaur bosses but for some reason they made them look a bit too realistic compared to the rest of the game's art so they don't really fit. The game added an RPG-style overworld allowing you to pick stages in any order which doesn't add anything. They also added the ability to upgrade Joe and Mac's houses, give flowers to cavewomen and have families with them which was weird. At the end of our game Joe landed a fat chick and had a goblin child. Meanwhile Mac went home to a completely empty house (which I find to be the superior outcome). Then Joe abandoned his poor life choices and joined Mac as they fled the village in search of more adventures that never came because the franchise is dead.

Game 40 - The Legend of the Mystical Ninja - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 60/100
This is a game I jumped into already loving it because I love this IP. The game is unfortunately not that great. The game boils down to free-range towns full of random enemies wandering around for you to kill, usually with one hit, while you build up cash to buy enough shit to survive the side-scrolling sections of the levels. The side scrolling levels are decent with tight controls and some interesting platforming sections which were a bit on the easy side, honestly it felt like we basically flew right through them. Bosses are all basic "shoot them until they are dead" fare so nothing too exciting there. There is this great ability for crouched movement where you literally hump the floor to move about. I tried it in real life and got rugburn which lowered the score.
 
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Cryio

Member
Game 1 - Prince of Persia Sands of Time - PCSX2 - 9.5/10

Not a new game for me by any chance, but I wanted to see if the PS2 port was different in any way to PC. And yes, Farah has a different looking face apparently. Otherwise, not really. The Prince's texture has better resolution on PC, but aside from that, it's a pretty 1:1 conversion.

Game 2 - Prince of Persia The Two Thrones - PCSX2 - 9.5/10

Another replay, same principle. This time with great results. Two Thrones on PS2 looks significantly better than PC. Better textures in a lot of spots, better lighting, better colors, more light shafts, more particles, planar reflections in spots (or just geometry mirroring), correct bloom. Transparent dash effect on sword slashes. I'm glad I was finally able to see one of my favorite games in its best light possible.
 
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marcincz

Member
Game 04 - Disco Elysium (PS4) - 30h 47m
Beat 05/02/2022 - my score: ★★★

What a crazy game. Main hero, story, created world, npcs and quests are great. My only complain is about political nonsenses.
Very good title and great crpg.
 
Game 4: Marvel's Guardians of The Galaxy (PS5)
Finished 2/12/2022 score 3.5/5

I really enjoyed the game, although the combat was extremely repetitive by the end, overall I enjoyed the entire story though and the music soundtrack in the game was amazing.
 
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Game 41 - Ghoul Patrol - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 40/100
This was a direct sequel to 'Zombies Ate My Neighbors'. In this one you find an evil book and after being sucked in you fight your way back out. Just like that game you navigate maze-like top-down levels looking for survivors of a monster invasion while trying to survive yourself. These are very hard games and this one has many added challenges over the first like actual jumping sections and more environmental hazards. The game also has more bosses which should be great, unfortunately they are all just nice floating pixel art bullet sponges with no creativity involved in the combat itself. The game's biggest flaw is brought over from the first game, you get hung up on absolutely everything. Add to that the enemies in this one all block you in and you'll find yourself stuck every few seconds which gets really frustrating.

Game 42 - Pop'n Twinbee - Super Famicom - Completed 2P playthrough - 60/100
This is a Cuter Shooter from the era where that could be a thing. Under the cute paint job this is a typical upward facing top-down shooter. Lots of enemies on-screen and lots of projectiles everywhere. It's not a bullet hell though and you get a lot of powerups constantly being dropped to help you deal with the increasing number of ships coming to kill you. The levels are all charming with a nice mix of locations. The bosses were fun, slowly breaking apart until you can see the cute little command crew running them (who you then kill). It was a fun little game.

Game 43 - Kirby Superstar - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 75/100
Kirby games are a special kind of game. They look adorable and attract children as a result but they're actually pretty tough at times. This game is no different. Loaded with several sub-games this game took us around 6 hours to get through. That's a pretty long game for the time. The sun and moon are fighting and you basically rip around Dreamland ruining other's lives while the jester Marx is gathering all the star power so that he can become a god. At one point you beat the shit out of a bird, steal it's chicks to feed them apples only to immediately give the chicks back. I have no idea what that was all about, but it sure was fun!

Game 44 - Rival Turf! - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 40/100
If you read my previous reviews you might have seen a game called 'The Peace Keepers'. Turns out that was the third game in a series and this was the first. This had it's soundtrack intact which was nice (as far as this genre is concerned the music is okay). Like 'The Peace Keepers' this game has a lot of branching paths and a selection of several fighters like "Not M.Bison" or "guy in a jean jacket". Like all beat-em-ups it's the adventure that keeps you playing and this one was pretty basic. You get to fight in elevators, busses, office buildings, all sorts of typical beat-em-up locales. It all culminates with you fighting a guy named "Big Al" on a roof.

Game 45 - Goof Troop - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 65/100
You will read the following review in Goofy's voice. This and Aladdin on SNES were Shinji Mikami games. Aladdin did especially well which led to him making the Resident Evil series. This game is a top-down adventure with puzzle elements similar to Zelda. The puzzles mostly involve things like hitting switches in order and kicking blocks around. It's a decently long game for the time but a lot shorter than I expected. Some of the block puzzles are pretty damned tricky but overall it's just a comfy game that would have been a perfect rental game back in the day. Gorsh!

Game 46 - Mickeys Magical Quest 3 - Super Famicom - Completed 2P playthrough - 70/100
With licensed games you can always expect the quality to drop as the series goes on. This game was a bit surprising. The first game was a masterpiece with great level design, fun gameplay and a great assortment of costumes to change up the gameplay. The second game 'Great Circus Mystery' we played on the Genesis and frankly it was not great. This game was considerably better than that game but still lacked the charm of the first with only a small selection of costumes and of those even fewer felt very useful. Level design was also better than the second game, but nowhere near the first. The game still plays well and was fun to run through.

Game 47 - Brawl Brothers - Super Nintendo - Completed 2P playthrough - 65/100
This is the second game in a series with 'Rival Turf!' and 'The Peace Keepers'. All three were localized individually for whatever reason but all three share some characters and all share a story arc. All three play differently enough that they feel like they're from different lines. This is the best of the three and is actually a pretty decent game. The gameplay in this one is fast and fun. The adventure takes you all over the place, through the sewers, on an elevator/fighting arena, on a space ship/fortress, etc. You end up fighting some rich asshole. Luckily we were "eating the right breakfast cereal" and kicked his ass.

Game 48 - Kirby's Dream Land 3 - Super Nintendo - Completed 2P playthrough, 100% complete - 85/100
This must have been released after the PS1 because I have no memory of ever playing it back in the day. It's a really good game and for a SNES platformer it's also really long. We took 8 hours to finish this game properly. Like most Kirby games It ranges from walk in the park easy to decently challenging. I was a bit of a cranky little bitch the second day we played this so I just wanted to hate it but the game can't be hated. Each level has a character waiting at the end who has a specific requirement. Some characters need items, others need you to do certain things in the stage. Doing these things gives you a gem which allows you to fight the area boss again, expel the corruption from it, and truly defeat it. Doing this in all the stages unlocks the true final boss. As is the standard in Kirby Games everything is soft and cute and the game deliberately plays floaty. It really is a great game and everyone should play it.

Game 49 - Twinbee Rainbow Bell Adventures - Super Famicom - Completed 2P playthrough - 65/100
This game is a tough one. On one had it was really fun, but on the other some mechanics were kind of broken. It's a side scrolling platformer that plays at times like a Sonic game but also has a boost mechanic that allows you to fly in any direction. I loved the aesthetic and the game design is pretty interesting but the boost mechanic had me tearing out my last few hairs. Basically you hold jump and a small gauge fills until it flashes. At this point you release the jump button and you'll fly straight in the direction you were holding on the D-pad. The problem is one of the characters' gauge fills so quickly that you often fill the gauge making normal jumps so you accidentally boost all over the place leading to a lot of unintentional deaths. Meanwhile another character takes three lifetimes to fill their gauge which makes them just as frustrating. The 2-player game is handled interestingly. Whoever is moving the fastest has the focus of the camera and leaves the other player off-screen. Hitting select can recenter the camera on your player and pressing X teleports you to the other player. We ended up simply taking turns working our way through levels with each of us playing the areas we were best suited for. I have no idea if the story was good because I don't read Japanese. I'll assume it was.

Game 50 - Super Bomberman - Super Famicom - Completed 2P playthrough - 75/100
This is really just a review of the 'normal game' mode. Bomberman is not meant to be played like a typical game with a start and finish, the story mode is really just an add-on to the real bread and butter which is multiplayer. The story mode is really just Bomberman stages with enemies to kill in them then move on to the next stage. There are bosses though which were mostly sponges you have to bomb a few hundred times, eventually you fight evil CPU Bomberman characters who are really frikkin' hard and finally you take on Carat Diamond and Dr. Mook before freeing your kidnapped friends. It's an incredibly short but fun mode accompanying the battle mode which is basically an infinitely re-playable game.
 
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Cryio

Member
Game 3 - Prince of Persia Warrior Within - PCSX2 - 9.5/10

Replay again! Warrior Within is the first game in the trilogy where the PS2 shows up. Sands of Time is a 1:1 conversion (Farah's face aside), Two Thrones is a significant step up visually on PS2. Warrior Within has better bloom in spots and better fog (for a late game section). Also no random game slowdown and audio desync, that seems to be a PC thing. It's still a masterpiece in story, combat, level design, audio design and even visuals I'd say, for its day.
 
"I'm aiming for 104 this year."

>looks at completion list
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Are you sure you didn't mean 1,040?

I still have over 50 games to go to hit 104 and the rest of 2022 will be very different than the first couple months. I'm back into Flight Sim and have a backlog full of RPGs, rogue-type and adventure games I want to play. When Starfield, BOTW sequel, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Forza Motorsport all release in a string I'll hit that wall hard. I expect I'll have at most a game or two a month listed by then.
 

Phase

Member
I still have over 50 games to go to hit 104 and the rest of 2022 will be very different than the first couple months. I'm back into Flight Sim and have a backlog full of RPGs, rogue-type and adventure games I want to play. When Starfield, BOTW sequel, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Forza Motorsport all release in a string I'll hit that wall hard. I expect I'll have at most a game or two a month listed by then.
Ah I see, I see. Similar to me (though I'm on a smaller scale). Really can't wait for some releases this year. Definitely not sticking the the "no new games" rule for Starfield and a few others. Good luck carrying the momentum to the finish!
 
6. Pokémon Legends: Arceus

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53:10h.
All requests completed, included post-game. Due to the fluid nature of the game I didn't have a "final team", but my most used team was probably: Hisuian Typhlosion, Basculegion, H. Goodra, H. Braviary, Ursaluna and Sneasler.

I am generally quite wary when a company tries to do something "new" with my favourite games (See Yakuza: Like a Dragon), but in this case I was excited from the beginning. Pokémon really needed some new air, after the disappointing SwSh generation and as much as I loved Brilliant Diamond for its "classic-ness".

Yes, Pokémon Legends: Arceus doesn't have the best graphics (I don't get the GameCube comparisons, though - the game looks much better than that) but it does a lot of things right. Hunting Pokemon is now fun less tedious. The mandatory battles are reasonably challenging, and you can easily die faint black out white out? if you're not careful... and now, when you white out, you lose a bunch of random shit, which can make you groan depending on what the RNG decided to take away from you. While there are no gyms, there are a couple trainer battles which can easily overwhelm you if you've not been leveling out your team. The alphas are mean and daunting and first, much like those megabosses in the initial areas of Xenoblade. The NPCs are mostly scared of pokémon, and rightly so; the areas feel untamed and dangerous, like a Monster Hunter Lite, and that's fun.

When I was a kid, and I'm sure like 80% of Pokémon fans agree, I dreamed of a massive open world Pokémon game, with real-time hunting and battling, with overworld Pokémon roaming around. This is not completely it - the world isn't sprawling at all, and the battles are still RPG-based (Luckily; I believe this is the best iteration of the Pokémon battle system so far). The Switch simply doesn't have the technology. But this is a definite step in that direction and given the critical acclaim of the game, I believe this is the path Game Freak will walk from now on.

My Score: ★★★★

Original post
 

Cryio

Member
Game 4 - Crysis 1 Remastered - 9/10

Crysis needs no introduction. I believe it's one of the best ever made, clearly one of the best FPS games ever made. I waited out all the patches before giving the Remaster a go. I was impressed.

Vastly better textures. SVOGI is like a soft-core RTGI, which looked amazing, especially in forested areas. RT reflections? In Crysis 1? Haha. It was nice to see how many things actually got small reflections here and there.
The LOD distance for objects, shadows and vegetation is insane. For normal PCs, Normal to High preset is more than enough though. Also, TAA? So good. Crysis 1 only had MSAA or FXAA like post-process for tree leaves and nothing else. Now with TAA? Everything is just so clean in motion all the time.

And hey, I got to experience ray tracing in DirectX 11 with my 5700 XT at acceptable levels of performance I might add. That was cool.
 
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7. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd

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49:07h.
Normal difficulty. Opened almost all doors, couldn't do the Arena one.

I considered having TitS 3 be the only TitS game I didn't give 5 stars to. It begins really really weird, looking almost like a roguelite. After a 20 min introduction, you get thrown into a several-layer dungeon with little explanation. The early to mid game has a lot of combat and sorely misses having a strong, established protagonist like Estelle (Not that Kevin is a bad character - more on that later). While the combat is great as always, non-stop fighting gets old soon, and the most interesting content is provided by the optional Doors, which let you see tidbits of lore for one of the 16 playable characters, and in some cases, even tie the Trails story to the then-upcoming Erebonian arc. This tedium reaches its high point in the 5th plane and the begginning of the 6th; the Monochrome Schoolhouse may be the worst dungeon in a Trails game.

THIS SAID... TitS 3 has a very, very strong final act. From the Black Ark onwards, the story begins to unravel at a fast pace. The plot becomes darker (and so do the Doors... that 15th Star Door is a giant WTF moment), Kevin's own backstory is revealed and he retroactively becomes a great character in both this game and the previous one. Suddendly the pieces TitS3 has laid on the table for the last 30 hours start to click and make sense. Then the game ends with a final hurrah of a three-part 16-character dungeon, a nice resolution to Kevin and Ries' story, and a bittersweet ending that has undertones of a final farewell for most of the characters involved.

So, TitS 3 has a slow beginning but does pick up the pace and manages to end the trilogy on a triumphant note. Only two games more before I can play TOCSIV!

My Score: ★★★★★

Original post
 
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jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
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Game 8 - Katamari Damacy Reroll - Xbox Series X - Completed Feb 20th, 2022
I last played this game on the Switch but the Switch was a really poor choice for this game's control scheme. Playing it again on the Xbox was a ton of fun, as the controllers analog sticks are a lot more sturdy. The music, as always, is one of the best parts of this game. I didn't unlock all of the presents, but I got a few of them! I also didn't bother with the Xbox achievement for "roll up everything" because that's extremely tedious and not-fun. Overall though, I love this game and it's wacky sense of humor and style.
 

marcincz

Member
Game 05 - Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep: AWO-sA (PS4) - 07h 27m
Beat 07/02/2022 - my score: ★★★

Decided to shorten this ridiculous long title. Remaster of dlc?! Crazy times.

Game 06 - Judgment (PS4) - 38h 49m
Beat 20/02/2022 - my score: ★★★

Yes, yes. I am a big fan of Yakuza universe and this game is another fantastic entry. New main hero (real nice one), new characters, good story and Kamurocho...again. Despite this same place over and over it's a very good game and one of my fav. Yakuza titles.
 
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51-60

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Game 51 - Aero Fighters - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 25/100
This game is pretty good. This game is also 15 minutes long. It's a top-down shooter but instead of being a bullet hell the bullet hell is coming from your side and you are always filling half the screen with constant barrages of missiles and heat-seekers. The art is top-notch and the music is fine. It's just really really short.

Game 52 - TMNT Tournament Fighters - SNES - Played VS mode - 65/100
This is one of the best non-major fighting game franchise fighters I've played. Compared to the absolutely shit Genesis game it's a masterpiece. I actually played the Genesis one recently and it was such a complete piece of shit I didn't bother including it on my list. This one has tight controls, cool new characters and art on the same level as some of the bigger fighters of the day.

Game 53 - Taikono Tatsujin: The Drum Master! - PC - Got at least silver on every song - 65/100
This game is goofy fun. I suck at rhythm games and this one is no exception but the execution of the game kept me playing. It's about as simple as rhythm games get and the songs are often actually worse than the original version because of the drumming but I was having too much fun to care too much. Not a lot here though.

Game 54 - Flight Simulator - PC - 90/100
This is not a game, there are challenge modes and shit like that but the core of the game is taking off from one place and landing in another, taking in the sights along the way. This is by far the best looking thing I've ever played. The scale is unmatched. It's the actual planet and it's all there. On top of the game looking good it's a proper simulation of how planes work, air currents work, clouds work, temperatures work a time vacuums work. I can sit down, turn this thing on and look up at the clock only to realize that hours have passed while I was checking out a real place I will never see in real life. I wish my Dad were still around to see this thing, when google earth first came around we spent hours farting around looking at the then-blurry map and exploring places he'd been to in the past. This would have blown his mind.

Game 55 - Final Fantasy X - PC - Finished main story - 60/100
I never played any of the FF games beyond IX before this but Final Fantasy is a cherished franchise to me. The older titles are wonderful games and I only ever stopped because after the PS1 I stopped playing JRPGs for years. My favorite game of all time is Final Fantasy VI. I loved Final Fantasy VII. Final Fantasy VIII tried to change the formula too much too fast. Final Fantasy IX reigned that in a little though it wasn't perfect it was a decent attempt to steer the ship back on course. After literally 20 years of hearing about how great this game was I finally decided to play it. 10 hours in and I was only alright with the game. 20 hours in and I was already starting to see some major flaws with how the combat system works on top of a severe lack of character development. 105 hours in I can confidently say this is the worst Final Fantasy game I've played and I honestly can't say I'd rate it well against even something like Tales of Zestria. The characters are completely empty, the world is empty and bereft of any sort of soul. I will forget all of these characters and this world. The visuals were not great as most backgrounds were once again merely jpegs or low poly assets with jpeg backdrops. Animations are mechanical even for the time. Voice acting is abysmal. The characters in the FMV and in-game have different art styles. There is no overworld map and there are no good reasons to revisit areas. The story is a straight line from start to end with absolutely nothing in the way of plot twists. Optional things at the end of the game are at best tedious and at worst infuriatingly unbalanced. There is only one way to tackle the endgame extras which is to obtain and upgrade the character's Celestial weapons and tracking down the items required is extremely boring (the Village of the Cactaur quest that has you running back and forth through the desert for three hours, dodge 200 consecutive lightning bolts, capture every enemy type in the entire game, etc). Another end-game surprise was super bosses who do 99,999 damage per hit placed around the world keeping you out of most places until you have spent more time grinding than actually playing the game itself. I was about half complete attaining the celestial weapons before I decided it was just not worth it and finished the game. This might actually be the most disappointed I've ever been in a game.

Game 55-2 - Final Fantasy X-2 - PC - Abandoned so fast - 10/100
Jesus fucking Christ who asked for this? Dress Spheres? Airship looks like an accountant's Harley? Why?

Game 56 - DragonBall FighterZ - PC - 75/100
I love Dragon Ball. This game seems to have gone the correct route with the fighting and the character models but holy shit the backgrounds are straight-up PS2 in terms of poly-counts and textures. The strange chibi characters used in the convoluted overworld/menu seem entirely pointless and I actually kind of hate the whole setup. Actual gameplay is fun, very fast movement, over the top attacks and finishes are the bread and butter here. The monetization is in your face which I also don't care to see. I'll see if I like it more after I put more time into the game.

Game 57 - PiKUNiKU - PC - Finished playthrough - 70/100
This was a fun but short little piece of shit. You're a terrifying beast that escapes from it's cave and wreaks havoc on the local business man who only wants to give the people of the land free money and to create a perfect society. The graphics are... there are graphics, the music is fun and the humor is great. This is a good few hours wasted.

Game 58 - Far: Changing Tides - PC - Finished playthrough - 85/100
I really liked this game. You find yourself in a dystopian wasteland and need to pilot a strange sea vessel out to safer seas. The game has you managing resources and piloting your ship which only moves in a straight line, but doing so efficiently requires platforming. You run and jump around the inside and outside of the ship putting fuel in the boiler, adjusting the ballast, changing throttle, cooling the engine with a hose, raising the sails and adjusting them based on wind direction, etc. The ship itself aid in the the character gameplay. Your mast can be raised to reach high places and the sub can dock with some buildings, opening up the interiors. This game has you keeping a close eye on your surroundings as a lapse in judgement can break the ship. If the ship passes close by something you could break the sails, lighting can damage the mast, you might hit the mast on a low bridge or outcropping, the engine can overheat, the bellows can start leaking if you use them too fast, etc. You have to keep an eye on the radar as well as it will pick up items you can use to fuel the ship. Definitely worth giving a shot.

Game 59 - My Friend Pedro - PC - Finished playthrough - 70/100
This game is pretty cool but is really too short. I blew through the game in about 4 hours racking up mostly B scores and a couple S scores, but I might play through it again to raise them. The game mechanics are really well executed there are limitless ways to complete each stage. The game is obviously made to be played multiple times to improve your score, but I can't help but feel there wasn't enough here. The game itself is full of goofy humor and often trippy level designs. It's a very creative game, definitely worth playing if you like this style of platforming and shooting in a game.

Game 60 - Skull: The Hero Slayer - PC - Abandoned - 85/100
This is a rogue-type that feels awfully similar to Dead Cells in many ways. Unlike Dead Cells however this one takes a while to ramp up and the result was what felt like grinding to level up enough stats to not have to play overly cautious which robbed some of the fun from the game. The game is awesome though, you're a little skeleton knight who can put on different heads to obtain new abilities. Each ability feels unique and the animations are top-notch. The pixel art in the game is also top-tier along with the music. Overall a very polished indie game that I will keep playing for a while.

After leaving the game for several months and trying to jump back in, I'm too rusty and the game is pretty tough. I might give it another go yet but for now I'll call this one abandoned.
 
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8. Alter Ego

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3h-ish.
All endings.

A weird hybrid of Visual Novel and clicker game, Alter Ego (No relation to the famous interactive fiction from the 80s) is an artsy fartsy game, the kind I usually despise. However, this was not bad. The main draw of the game are the conversations with Es, which may look deep at first glance but are pretty basic freudian stuff if you took Philosophy in college (Or paid attention to it on high school). But they're nicely framed and manage to keep your attention until the end.

My Score: ★★★

Original post
 
9. The Universim

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18h. Got a self-sustaining colony in the Moon.

The Universim is very much in beta, and it's still (hopefully) missing lots of contents. However, the current goal of the game is to reach the Moon, as explained by the game's narrator itself. My policy with early access games is, if i reach the end of whatever content there is, it counts. So there.

So, this game is purportedly a God Game, but it has traits of both 4X and games like Spore. You control a civilization from their early days to their spacefaring era. Your role is mostly placing buildings, and your civs basically fend for themselves as long as you guide them. You also have several "God powers". Think Black and White, but without the giant monsters. Actually, the game is very B&W, from the sense of humor to the way civilizations evolve.

However, the "God Game"ness takes a backseat the more you evolve your civ, though. As their needs grow, the main gameplay loop becomes creating the resource chains needed by your civilization's industry, making sure the planet doesn't become a polluted mess. By this point, the only things you will do as a God are: create trees and water as needed and purify "infected areas" (aka rotting corpses). Sometimes you might need to send a bolt of lightning to recharge a battery. You can do a lot more stuff, like creating tornadoes and earthquakes, but they're virtually useless as enemy civilizations have a perma-shield that makes them invulnerable to god magic.

This is the point I found more lacking in The Universim: politics and warfare are basically inexistent. As per Politics, all your civs (sorry, "nuggets") know is democracy. There are no other systems; every X years your nugs vote and that's it. I'm not even sure what the civilization leader does; you can appoint ministers yourself, which take care of the building needs of your civlization. They do this job very, very badly.

As per warfare, you can create soldiers and suicide bombers, but "war" is reduced to "send soldiers until the enemy city breaks down". A more fleshed out warfare with different units and being able to use the powers creatively (I can't explain how disappointed I was when using an earthquake next to an active volcano didn't drown the enemies in lava) would make this part of the game 100% more fun.

And finally, the endgame (for now). Terraforming the Moon is loads of fun, but ends early and it's on the easy side. There's next to no reason to use the terraforming buildings because creating rain and creating trees will achieve the same results in a much cheaper way. Once the Moon is safe for your civs, then it's the normal game loop again in a much smaller stage, which quickly becomes boring.

But The Universim may be something great if the devs manage to add more meat to this juicy bone. If they revamp the warfare, add more interesting terraforming options, different planets with different biomes, a more complicated spacefaring system, maybe even alien civilizations... it might be what Spore wanted, and failed, to be.

My Score: ★★★☆ (Temporarily)

Original post
 
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jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
iu


Game 10 - Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master! - Xbox Series X - Completed Feb 24th, 2022
This game released on Game Pass, and I've been looking for a new rhythm game now that Rock Band is on life support. Unfortunately, Drum Master is not that game. While I appreciated the song selection immensely, I just couldn't get over how incredibly average the gameplay was. Two types of notes (press left or right on the controller) and nothing like star power or multipliers made the game incredibly dull when compared with something like Rock Band. The over-the-top Japanese aesthetic was cute but also a bit distracting. The game had a few elements of feeling unfinished, like I bought a new instrument in the store (with in-game currency, not real money) but didn't like the way it sounded and spent the better part of 20 minutes trying to figure out how to set it back to default (hint: you can't). I bought a different instrument to replace it, and that was cool but that's the only way to change it out even though I "owned" several at that point. Very weird. Anyway, game was below average at best - glad I played it through Game Pass, definitely not worth $50.
 

bender

What time is it?
iu


Game 10 - Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master! - Xbox Series X - Completed Feb 24th, 2022
This game released on Game Pass, and I've been looking for a new rhythm game now that Rock Band is on life support. Unfortunately, Drum Master is not that game. While I appreciated the song selection immensely, I just couldn't get over how incredibly average the gameplay was. Two types of notes (press left or right on the controller) and nothing like star power or multipliers made the game incredibly dull when compared with something like Rock Band. The over-the-top Japanese aesthetic was cute but also a bit distracting. The game had a few elements of feeling unfinished, like I bought a new instrument in the store (with in-game currency, not real money) but didn't like the way it sounded and spent the better part of 20 minutes trying to figure out how to set it back to default (hint: you can't). I bought a different instrument to replace it, and that was cool but that's the only way to change it out even though I "owned" several at that point. Very weird. Anyway, game was below average at best - glad I played it through Game Pass, definitely not worth $50.

Buy a drum controller. :)
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Buy a drum controller. :)
I definitely thought it would play better with an actual instrument!

This song slaps, at least (easily the best one of the bunch)

 

bender

What time is it?
I definitely thought it would play better with an actual instrument!

This song slaps, at least (easily the best one of the bunch)



Actually, don't buy a drum controller. Most of them are garbage. It does make the game a lot more fun however. The only solution is to fly to Japan and play it in the arcade.
 
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10. Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds

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Around 12h. Around 90%-ish completion.

It might be weird that I completed this before completing the original game, but I got told by my mates that the best point to complete TFW is when you're around 70% into Zero Dawn, as you will be the perfect level for the challenges in the Cut. So that's what I did. Some spoilers in the text:

And even though I didn't finish Zero Dawn, I can see a definite evolution between ZD and TFW. Particularly, both Aloy and the NPCs look more alive. They gesture, use their hands, touch each other, emote. No more of that Mass Effect 1-level robotics. This alone makes The Frozen Wild a more visceral, cinematic experience, and it's frankly welcome.

As per the difficulty curve, TFW is a mini-ZD in that regard. The new area starts impossibly hard, and as you level up and get enough Bluegleam gear it becomes manageable. The new machines are implacable, particularly the bears, and I'm afraid nothing in Zero Dawn will be much of a challenge after this - but, as a self-contained experience, it feels just perfect.

The story is also a mini-ZD. Everything was going decently well after a malevolent AI started turning the machines crazy. Nothing world-shaking and certainly not original, but to be frank it's hard to separate Horizon from this concept, and it works particularly well with the direness of the new area and its sturdy people. Though by the end of TFW you are a bit tired of seeing everything white and going back to the old areas is frankly relaxing for your poor eyes.

My Score: ★★★

Original post
 

marcincz

Member
Game 07 - Dishonored 2 (XBO) - 17h 52m
Beat 26/02/2022 - my score: ★★★

Game 08 - Dishonored Death of the Outsider (XBO) - 08h 39m

Beat 04/03/2022 - my score: ★★★

Both titles are good, but DotO is better in my personal ranking. Dishonored 1 is still my favourite part in this ip.
 
11. Horizon Zero Dawn

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Around 32h. Around 90%-ish completion.

Finally done with one of the games that has been rotting in my backlog for longest (I purchased it on launch for PS4, I finished it on PS5). This is because it took a sweet while for Horizon to click with me. No matter how much I tried, it always lost me like 6-7 hours in. This is probably because of how hard the early game can be, and how obnoxious the initial NPCs are. The initial hours in the Nora lands are easily the worst part of the game and once it's done with, and the whole game world opens for you, things change dramatically. Lowering the difficulty during the first few hours and then dialing back up helped.

Graphically the game is astounding. One of the reasons it was hard for me to get into Horizon in PS4 was the sluggish framerate. With this gone, you can appreciate that Horizon was really a technical marvel back then. The facial animations are Mass Effect Andromeda levels of wooden, but everything else is top-notch. At 4k 60fps it's basically a PS5 game in all but name. The fights against the biggest robots were "damn"worthy and basically I think Guerrilla are time traveling tech wizards.

The storytelling was also surprisingly good. The game started very cliche'd, but the final reveals were pretty clever and helped make everything click. This is not thanks to Alloy, but despite her; I don't really like her as a protagonist. She's the "confidently cocky" kind of protagonist that everybody in the game world adores because she's redhead Jesus and the best thing since sliced bread and she just smugly accepts the heaps of praise dumped over her. I mostly hated Sylens because he was an asshole, but everytime he said something like "This isn't about you for once" I couldn't but agree. The fact that she's literally a clone of the smartest, most important woman ever doesn't help things, but I admit it was really clever that she was just created as a failsafe for the failsafe. Also not a fan of having a discount Elon Musk as the cause of all the ails in the world, again, but seems to be a very fashionable trope.

I think this is one of the best open world games ever made. The collectables were few, relevant and fun to get. The story imrpvoed steadily until it became gripping, and technically the game is flawless. All the faults I've described are a matter of personal preference and I freely admit that I'm picky about some things. If you haven't done it yet, buy this game.

My Score: ★★★

Original post
 

marcincz

Member
Game 09 - Tekken 7 Legendary Edition (PS4) - 11h 25m
Beat 10/03/2022 - my score: ★★★

Game 10 - Team Sonic Racing (PS4) - 07h 28m

Beat 19/03/2022 - my score: ★★★

Game 11 - Sine Mora EX (XBO) - 02h 37m

Beat 19/03/2022 - my score: ★★★

Next titles. March is quite good to me.

Tekken is amazing. Since MK2 and SF2 on Amiga 500 I've played many fighting games, but T7 is currently my fav. Great, just great game.
TSR - from PS plus and that's all.
Sine Mora Ex. Wow. Beautiful shmup. Very interesting project. Enemies can't kill us, but "kill" our time. One of the best shmup I've ever played.

Time to back to Xenoblade on n3DS (almost 15h in) and I am going to start The Dark Pictures Anthology on PS4.
 
I made the mistake of playing MGS V again so I've been off-track on my 104 game goal...

61-70

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Game 61 - Olija - PC - Finished playthrough - 70/100
This is a very interesting game. It's not particularly stellar at anything and it's really short but it has a really cool old-school pixel art style I really enjoyed. It reminded me a lot of games like Out of this World, Flashback or Blackthorne. The gameplay is actually really fun but rough around the edges. There were several times where things happened in the game that were a bit frustrating. The last boss fight in particular was downright frustrating as he drops his hands on you from above and often despite being completely outside their range the game counted a hit. The boss does a lot of damage per attack so a few misread hits and it's game over. In the end overall I really liked the game, the world and the story. The game's story was told entirely through gameplay, not boring cutscenes full of exposition. The few that were there were mostly used to set up the mood for the section of the game you were entering then left you to figure things out. I think the game could have been longer, several mechanics were under-utilized but again when comparing this to some of the older games it borrows from it's actually a really long adventure. Definitely worth checking out.

Game 62 - Tunic - PC - 100% Complete, all achievements - 75/100
Remember when you were a kid and used to scribble down game secrets and codes on pieces of paper (or the instruction book, remember instruction books?)? This game is a celebration of just that. The game literally provides every single thing you need to figure out each of the puzzles in the game through it's clever "instruction manual" mechanic. All you need to do is actually read the instructions and pay attention while playing to figure out literally every puzzle in the game. It's fantastic in that aspect. As you play you find pages of a original NES-Style instruction book done in the style of the original Zelda games. The pages are full of clues and secrets but almost everything is written in a fake language (apparently it's already been deciphered). By using the information from the pages you can find maps, secret locations, items, solutions to puzzles, and shortcuts around the world. This game had me burn a half of a pad of note paper writing shit down as I played so as I figured out new mechanics I would have a record of places I'd seen where that new ability might work. That was the star of the show, I love games that require you to actually pay attention. The game also draws heavily on old Zelda in terms of hidden locations. See a waterfall? You can probably go behind it. See something out of place? Try everything and maybe it'll do something. As far as story, this game has the perfect amount, none. You can chose to piece things together by paying attention while you play but at no time does the game give any exposition at all. In fact the few NPCs you can interact with speak in the game's fake language so they offer almost nothing. Backtracking around the map never felt like a chore as the world is pretty small and you get traversal upgrades that allow you to move around the map very quickly. Where the game falls short is most of the rest of the game. The music, despite not being terrible, is often ill-suited to the game's setting. The art is not my cup of tea, the game looks a lot like Art of Rally. It's kind of a deliberate low-poly flat-shaded style with lots of blur and bloom. The game's combat is just okay, while the gameplay is pretty solid I found almost everything took a lot of attacks to kill and enemies have a tendency to swarm. If you got a group of birds fighting you chances are you'll be burning a few potions as they pile-on. Bosses in particular were a bit spongey for my tastes but luckily they didn't spam ads in the fights like a lot of games do. Finally, the game's worst offense is the d-pad input puzzles. One example is a secret door in the game holding the manual cover page that requires a 100+ button press combination. I kept losing track of where I was in the sequence and messing it up. These could easily have been replaced with a simpler mechanic. In all it was a mostly pleasant experience, definitely worth trying but not for anyone that expects to be able to blast through without paying attention.

Game 63 - Weird West - PC - Completed playthrough - 70/100
This game has a very unique setting. Old west meets the occult. You have cowboys, robbers, moonshiners but also werewolves, zombies, witches and vampires. Very cool setup, I loved the characters you find around the world and how the game lets you decide whether to care about digging deeper or not. Like a Bethesda game there are a ton of books laying about you can read through to discover more of the world. Spoilery stuff ahead ---> The mechanic of starting over every time you inhabit a new character was a pretty cool idea but unfortunately it was just too easy to re-acquire everything so it was wasted. The story overall was actually pretty cool and the reason for why the game has you do the things you do is fleshed out nicely. Graphics in this game merely exist. Despite that, there were a ton of performance issues in this game and a LOT of bugs that basically required me to save every time I entered a new area. NPCs walking through walls, seeing across the map, turning hostile for no reason, etc. This game could have used more time and it could have been something really special.

Game 64 - Kirby's Dream Land - Game Boy - Finished playthrough - 60/100
My brother was very kind and bought me an Analogue Pocket system so there are going to be a lot of Game Boy games on this list in the future. I started with the OG Kirby. This game was a demo honestly, not a full game. It's about a half-hour long but if you really fart around it can be stretched to an hour. There is not much to this game outside being an introduction to Kirby. The bosses are very simple and easy to beat without getting hit once and the levels can basically be flown straight through. This was before he had his copy powers or animal friends. This was also before the "true ending" stuff was put into the games so beating the game is the only goal which is pretty easy to do. The game is packed with charm of course and the music is timeless. That 55/100 would probably be a 40 if it wasn't for the nostalgia I felt running back through this again.

Game 65 - Mario's Picross - Game Boy - Completed all puzzles - 60/100
Cute game where, using numbers set along the sides of a square, you place pixels in order to uncover an image. The images often barely resemble what they depict. Very addictive game though even if it's not really a game you'd ever play through more than once.

Game 66 - Bonk's Adventure - Game Boy - Finished playthrough - 55/100
I never really played a Bonk game before, mostly I've seen them for a few minutes while farting around with emulators or when the TurboGrafx-16 mini was released. The game boy game is okay but nothing special. Difficulty is almost non-existent in the game with the ability to basically spam the spin to float over most obstacles and enemies. Hit boxes are a bit confusing as I hit the same enemy type in the same way multiple times and often I would take damage instead of the enemy character. The game ends with you discovering Bonk is is attracted to lizard furries.

Game 67 - Bonk's Revenge - Game Boy - Finished playthrough - 55/100
Exactly like the game above this game was really nothing amazing. The bosses in this game were even easier than in the first game with most allowing you to simply bounce off them repeatedly. The stages themselves were more challenging this time, though still not all that difficult I did spend a bit more time on the last 1/4 of the game than I expected to. This game has new power-ups, one allows you to chew on enemies, another is a super hero suit and the third is a prisoner outfit that lets you pick locks on doors scattered all over the levels. As far as I can tell though that always sends you to jail and takes half of your smileys away. The game has bonus stages where you fight what appears to be Robocop in a series of duels. Weird.

Game 68 - Felix the Cat - Game Boy - Finished Playthrough - 60/100
Felix the Cat is a comic I read in my elementary school library in the 80s. Feliix has a bag of tricks that allows him to reach in and dress up or acquire items that give him powers. The mechanic is well used in this game with Felix adopting many of the costumes and items seen in the old comics. Interestingly, a lot of the upgrades are significantly worse than your base abilities but the upgrades stack and are worth an extra hit each. This is a kid's game and the difficulty reflects that, there isn't much danger of losing all your hits as the game constantly dumps upgrades on you faster than you can lose them. The game plays nice and tight, the music is decent and the nostalgia rush was great.

Game 69 - Dr. Mario - Game Boy - Finished stage 1-20 - 65/100
I've always loved puzzle games and have always been a fan of Dr. Mario. This version of the game suffers from it's lack of color as you can't rely on peripheral vision as much as in the NES version. The game is also missing a line on top of the screen so the later stages can be nearly impossible depending on the hand you're dealt. I finished stage 20 with some difficulty and when put into stage 21 was immediately screwed over by the virus placement and pieces dealt. It's still a great puzzle game but given the choice I'd stick to the NES version.

Game 70 - Kirby's Dream Land 2 - Game Boy - Finished Playthrough - 75/100
The is the first real Kirby game. Kirby's Dream Land was just an introduction to the franchise, a demo of sorts. This game introduced Kirby's copy ability and was the first appearance of his animal friends which opened up the gameplay to so much more potential. As with all Kirby games the controls are super tight and the game is an overload of cheerful music and visuals. Difficulty is higher than the original and there are secrets to find. I haven't played this since the 90's but the game holds up incredibly well. It's also harder than I remember trying to get the real ending.
 
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jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I'll admit - trying to tackle Trails in the Sky and Elden Ring have really put a damper on this year's challenge for me. I love both games to pieces but I've spent about 70 hours between them so far. And there's a chance I might not even have the patience to finish Elden Ring (never beat a Soulsborne before).
 

bender

What time is it?
I'll admit - trying to tackle Trails in the Sky and Elden Ring have really put a damper on this year's challenge for me. I love both games to pieces but I've spent about 70 hours between them so far. And there's a chance I might not even have the patience to finish Elden Ring (never beat a Soulsborne before).

I'm at 170 hours in Elden Ring. Granted I've spun my tires a lot waiting for my co-op partner to catchup to my level of progress, mostly by exploring every nook and cranny and helping random people take down bosses. The game is massive and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I love Elden Ring and I love how and crafted it feels, but I do kind of feel like it is too big for it's own good. Whereas the past Souls games felt dense with useful items, I'm not sure Elden Ring does. There are too many chests or item pickups that result in stuff like Rune Arcs or other one-off crafting materials. A good portion of the world structure feels predictable or recycled and for how interesting the hand crafted open world is, the drawback is that it is chock full of the twisty-turn'y pathways found in other Souls games which can make traversal a bit cumbersome, so much so that I fast travel a lot which is something I hate/don't do in open world games. And as much as I hate to say it, the Souls tropes are getting pretty long in the tooth. Nothing really surprises me and it's much easier to predict the tropes (enemies throwing bombs at explosive barrels, hidden enemy placements, secret pathways found by jumping off of elevators, steel ball traps, etc.) and it is all starting to feel long in the tooth. I liken it to Symphony and Metallica. It's all the hits the band is known for with a few new songs all collaborated with the SF Symphony Orchestra (the open world in ER). There is some good stuff too (expanded magic system, summons, ashes) but I'm starting to wish it was all in a more condensed package. The size of Elden Ring makes me think I'll never want to replay it.

That all sounds terribly negative. I still have 170 hours into it so I'm obviously really enjoying it but I'd probably rank it after all of the Souls titles save for DS2.
 
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12. Dealer's Life 2

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21:39h

This is... not much of a game? I still played it through because it's on mobile and I like having my eyes busy while I poop. The memes are fun but really, Dealer's Life 2 is about reading the same four sentences and doing the same three motions for 24h.
Thanks Google Play Pass.

My Score: Scoring this would be like scoring Microsoft Excel

Original post
 
13. Eastward

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19:15h

Eastward is the perfect example of why, in gaming, the end product can be more or less than the sum of its parts. At a first glance, this game had everything it needed to triumph. Fantastic pixel-art, great characters, a compelling setting and plot, serviceably addictive combat. Why, then, isn't this game more highly lauded? (Apart from its cult following that every indie darling has?)

It's because of the way the plot develops. Eastward has 8 chapters that can be divided in three very differentiated "acts". The first act is all kinds of awesome; things happen at just the right pace to keep you engaged. Then the second act arrives and the game becomes a tremendous SLOG. To put things in perspective, I bought this on release. I played the first 5h in a single day - then, after reaching New Dam City, I got so bored that I abandoned the game for six months. When you're finally done with the horribly boring second act, the third act becomes interesting again but also feels horribly rushed in comparison, and the ending is unsatisfying as it can be, and leaves a sour aftertaste the mostly bittersweet journey. It's not a "bad ending" (not that I mind those). It's just simply... kind of there. It's not even interesting enough for it to be a sequel hook.

It's a pity. This had all the trappings to be one for the ages. It's like the scriptwriters got handed a bunch of high-quality assets and code and they didn't know what to do with it.

My Score:

Original post
 
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TuFaN

Member
1. Demon's Souls (PS5) | 17. January - 20 hours | 5/5
The main reason why I bought a PS5. I never had the chance to play the PS3 version and since I'm a Soulsborne lover I had to check it out at some point. It is indeed easier than all the other Fromsoft Souls games but it was still fun and I enjoyed it alot. And last but not least, its mind boggling how incredible a game can look if it was optimized and created for only one platform, it looks so good I love it.

2. Elden Ring (PC) | 13. March - 196,4 hours | 5/5
I was incredibly hyped for this game ever since the first announcement of the game, not knowing what to expect I was kinda worried. I was at the edge of having a heart/panic attack as soon as I heard the game was going to have an ''open world setting''. I thought that fromsoft was going to ruin what they stand for and create another Far Cry / Assassin's Creed formula open world, don't get me wrong I love some of the Assassin's Creed games and Far Cry 3 was actually amazing, I just didn't want my souls games to be like that. But there was no reason to be worried at all because Fromsoft created a incredible world with the greatest open world I have seen so far, even better than Breath of the World's open world. This game blew me away, It felt like Dark souls 4+5+6+7 content wise. I'm looking forward to have more playthroughs once we get DLC's for it. I got 100% Achievements on Steam as a side note.

3. Bloodborne (PS4) | 19. March - 60 hours | 5/5
Since I had purchased a PS5 not that long ago and I could finally go through some old PS4 games, thats exactly what I did. As soon as I was done with Elden Ring I jumped into Bloodborne and got the Plat trophy. I love this game alot. The fight I enjoyed the most was vs Orphan of Kos.

4. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Remastered (PS4) | 24. March - 9 hours | 5/5
I had a friend telling me for years how good Uncharted was and how much he liked the series. I kept telling him that from what I had seen in gameplay videos and trailers that Uncharted was a Tomb Raider Clone and why I should waste time on a clone if I could have the real deal with Tomb Raider and Lara Croft. Holy smokes I was so wrong... Uncharted is actually amazing. The Story is brilliant and the Characters are one of the most memorable ones I have seen in my entire 30 year gaming history. <3 Nathan, Sully and Elena.

5. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Remastered (PS4) | 25. March - 14 hours | 5/5
This game is Hands down one of the best games I've played in the past years. I wish I would've witnessed it back on the PS3 during its prime. I'm sure that it would've left an even better impression if I played it back when it got released. The story, platforming, puzzles and even the shooting are top notch. The only thing I did not like at all was
the final boss fight right before the game ends. Where you have to shoot the blue sap to kill mutated Lazarevic. For a split second I was glad that the bossfight was not a quick time event but shortly after I realised that it was even worse. It was too easy for my taste and you had to do exactly the same thing until the boss died, which is shooting the blue tree sap if the boss gets close to it.
But this was not enough to drag the score of the game down for me. It is easily in my top 30 games of all time. This was such a great experience and I'm looking forward to get the platinum trophy someday.

6. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Remastered (PS4) |28. March - 9 hours | 5/5
Giving this game 5/5 is kinda weird, because I know that it deserves the 5/5 rating but on the other hand it is definitely not as good as the first and the second game of the series. Compared with those titles I can say that the story could have been way better, the ending is also a big anticlimax.
 
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marcincz

Member
Game 12 - The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan (PS4) - 04h 31m
Beat 26/03/2022 - my score: ★★★

Game 13 - The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope (PS4) - 04h 59m

Beat 27/03/2022 - my score: ★★

Game 14 - The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes (PS4) - 05h 44m

Beat 31/03/2022 - my score: ★★★

Beat three parts of anthology and that was good titles and very good interactive games. I am looking forward next productions.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
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Game 12 - The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - PC / GOG - Completed Apr 3rd, 2022
Wow. I can't believe I hadn't played this game before, especially since I'm such a huge Ys fan. After 50 hours spent with Joshua and Estelle, I can safely say that this is an amazing game that I won't soon forget. While the graphics were pretty dated the characters, gameplay, and music made up for it completely. I also played most of the game using the Japanese voices from the Evolution Vita release which were fantastic. A gripping story that held me interested from start to finish (and what a finish it was!) is a pretty incredible feat for a game that lasts fifty hours. I can't wait to play the sequels, although I'm going to chew on this one for a little while and play some other games first. Seriously if you're a JRPG fan, and you haven't played this game, now is the time.
 

TuFaN

Member
7. The Last of Us Remastered (PS4) | 02. April - 18 hours | 5/5
Finished on Hard difficulty and also beat the DLC Left Behind. This was a title I was longing to play for years, my PS5 purchase made it finally possible. I've got no idea how to describe what I felt while playing the game, I am basically speechless. The gameplay is very polished and alot of fun, playing it on Hard Difficulty was the perfect sweet spot for me personally, the encounters I was facing were challenging but not overwhelmingly challenging.

8. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4) | 04. April - 14 hours | 5/5
Finished on Hard difficulty. I can't tell if Uncharted 2 or this one are my favorite Uncharted game. The story, platforming, puzzles, gunplay are excellent <3 naughty dog. This was also the first 120 fps game I played on PS5 yet, it was really smooth and fun.

9. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (PS4) | 06. April - 8 hours | 5/5
Finished on Hard difficulty. An Uncharted game without Nathan Drake and Viktor Sullivan can't be fun is actually the mindset that I had going into this game. I actually liked Chloe and Nadine as the main characters alot and I would like to play another game with them. Gameplay and graphics wise it felt like a Uncharted 4 clone but thats not bad, because we get to witness a whole new story with this game. I liked it alot and I would go as far as saying that this game is even better than Uncharted 3.

10. Ratchet & Clank (PS4) | 07. April - 20 hours | 5/5
Finished first on casual difficulty and afterwards on hard, in challenger mode (New Game Plus). Going for Platinum trophy, at 95% right now. I initially thought ''what a miserable game'' and that I was wrong trusting metacritics high score. I started this game multiple times in the past months. I finished the Uncharted series, The Last of Us and Bloodborne inbetween. Everytime I said ''ok I just finished a pretty long game, lets go for a snack and play Ratchet and Clank, I unfortunately ended up quitting after 5-10 minutes of gametime. I recently forced myself to finish the game, no matter how bad it is AND OH BOOOOOOOOOY was I wrong... I've never played a Ratchet and Clank game before, so I had absolutely no idea that you get new abilities, unlock tons of interesting weapons, can upgrade your weapons in a meaningful way, encounter interesting enemies and even bosses. Ok the story is kinda wack but the level of humor it brings on the table is very enjoyable.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
iu


Game 14 - Chocobo GP - Nintendo Switch - Completed Apr 9th, 2022
This game is the definition of bullshit, full stop. The races are completely unfair and rely almost solely on RNG. Even doing the story mode on "easy", I would still complete the game's objectives (like, finish the race in under a 1:25) and still fail because I'd be in 5th place. I probably played the final chapter's race about 30 times before finally winning by sheer luck. The theme song in the main menu was fun and quirky at first, but got annoying FAST as it played between every level. The GP mode is fuckin pointless, as you have the same RNG stuff but now it's online. You can buy the "battle pass" using real money, but it takes about 5-7 races to level up. Level up to 60 and you unlock Cloud, or just straight up pay $20. Game is straight garbage.
 
14. Everlasting Summer

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25:40h

Warning: Rant

This was a tough one for me. It was the oldest Visual Novel in my list, and it ended being somewhat disappointing. I was going to give it 2 stars until I played the last two routes, which sort of fixed some things, but not all of them. The routes seem to be very different from one another (Almost... as if they were written by different people!) I'm going to review them separatedly. Warning, heavy spoilers. Actually let me preface this with the MOAS (Mother of all Spoilers) and the only one I'm going to tag: It Was All A Dream. Yep, the worst trope ever rears its ugly head.

Anyway, the common route was my favourite so far. Even though there is more than a bit of USRR nostalgia there, I can understand why. I spent most of my youth going on lengthy stayaway summer camps and it's impossible not to feel nostalgia for those even if they were organized by the Hitler Youth. Moreover, the description of typical late-80s Soviet stuff that is totally alien to me as a westerner (Tooth powder, the menus from the canteen, Elektronik, how rare a foreign VCR was...) had me enthralled and wanting to know more about this strange world on the other side of the Iron Courtain. Then the routes diverge and well...

Slavya's, Alisa's and Ulyana's routes are just bad. Without going into specifics, Semyon spends some time with his chosen lady, who invariably acts and speaks like she's suffered some brain damage (The amount of "I don't know...." "Who knows..." "What about you...?" I've read in the last few days...) and then Semyon wakes up and experiences some personal growth somehow related to his experiences in the camp. Also, all routes end with an unexpected appearance of your dream girl in the real world, hinting at you being able to be happy ever after after all. You might be wondering if the routes have bad endings? They do! The only difference though is some dialogue hinting you fucked up somewhere and the absence of the dream girl in the game's last shot. So yeah, not exactly high-stakes here.

To be fair, there are four exceptions to this norm; Lena's Route, Miku's route, the "Unromanced" route and the "???"/"Harem" route. Lena's route is... I'm not going to spoil it for you. Just going to say, her good ending is the most satisfying one as it's totally different from the template the other girls seem to go by, and her bad ending is... :messenger_fearful: . Miku's route is the most "out there", as it transforms into a kinetic novel with a single ending and becomes a horror thriller with a twist Inception would be proud of. While it initially confused me, it ended being my favourite of the bunch, really. The Unromanced ending is a bad ending of sorts, as it raises more questions than it explains, but even then it has a good and a bad ending route; the bad ending simply does a fucking Sopranos on you. But in the final route the game finally talks about its internal logic, giving a possible? reason for why all the girls are so airheaded, explaining what's with the pioneer camp, and giving you two satisfactory conclusions; you either get an harem or a catgirl. Yay!

So yeah, this game was pretty disappointing. The art ranges from amateurish (the sex scenes) to fantastic (the backgrounds). The music is constantly good, which is a big plus, but the story is all over the place. In the contest of "The best Visual Novel made by a bunch of nerds in an imageboard", I'm sorry but Katawa Shoujo still takes the win. 🇺🇸🏆

My Score: ★★★☆☆

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15. Elden Ring

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61:56h. "Age of Stars" ending. Killed all main bosses except Malenia (Will try again later today...)

I remember how, when Elden Ring first released, some Ubisoft goons complained about its "unfriendly" user interface. Yes, Elden Ring doesn't bombard you with contextual icons, arrows or mapfucking. It's just you and your horse against a vast, rich world, with the only help of a map that you actually have to read to use. When I first booted the game, I felt lost and alone in this beautiful, hostile place. But as I found maps, discovered the stunning locales, talked to the few friendly NPCs and unraveled the world's history, I started feeling a sense of belonging. The more I explored, the more I felt at ease in the Lands Between. And it was because I worked on it, not because my character said to himself "I better go investigate that cave, it might be important"

This is because Elden Ring is exploration done right. I loved Ghost of Tsushima, but you don't really explore its world much - you just go to where the contextual icon tells you. Yes, the world is probably just as beautiful as Elden Ring's, but you won't likely go anywhere the game doesn't want you to, nor will you accidentaly step in a high-level area and be utterly destroyed. The feeling is similar to the old World of Warcraft, before addons, WoWHead, flying mounts and "QoL improvements" ruined everything. The feeling of straying into Caelid by mistake is very similar to the feeling of blithely wandering into the Burning Steppes when you're happily questing in Elwynn Forest. You just got savage'd by a bunch of "Skull-level" enemies, you don't know why they were there, but it was just so exciting. The tradeoff is that some of the game's secrets basically require you to use a guide (I can't think of anybody just stumbling into Ranni's ending, for example) but that's From for you.

Still, it's hard to speak about a From game and not talk about the difficulty, but Elden Ring is different. It can be the easiest From game or the hardest From game. People complaining about its excessive difficulty haven't realized the giant amount of "easy mode switches" you get. Play a magic build? Once you weather the hard early game you destroy everything with ease. Upgrade Mimic Tear to +10? Enjoy your permanent tank. Dex build with bleed weapons? Almost nothing can stop you. There is a dozen options to make your life much easier. But the game expects you to use those tools, so some of the bosses are horribly overtuned to compensate for it. They move and attack like you're Sekiro and supposed to mikiri counter them, and they will not give a fuck about your rolls because most of them will change the direction of their attacks on-the-fly or use an extremely hard to avoid one-hit-kill attack. What's cool about Elden Ring is that you CAN beat all those bosses without the easy mode tools and without cheesing! But it's truly a feat.

I played a pure STR build and as you can see (I've beaten the game in like half the usual time) I mostly followed the critical path... by mistake; usually I just found it while exploring. Most of the bosses were no trouble; only the Valiant Gargoyles, Mohg, the final boss and Malenia got me stuck for a while. I'm notoriously bad at games and I was (unknowingly) gimping myself with a difficult build, and yet, I managed to beat the game without much problem. When a boss was too difficult I popped the Mimic Tear. I enchanted my weapon with Hoarfrost from time to time. Purists will say I didn't "beat" the game. I will tell them to lick my Elden Ring. The game gives you tools to make it more accessible and if you don't use them, you're either challenging yourself (Which is cool!) or don't know about them. Don't misunderstand me - the game is still hard as balls even if you use those tools. It's just more accessible to us mortals.

Yes, Elden Ring is not perfect. It's obvious it's reusing assets (Something I'm fine with personally). It's janky, it's sometimes buggy, it's cheap. Graphically, it's a cross-gen game, so it's not as good as it could be. And yet, I believe it's the most important game From has ever released. It teaches other game companies that you can make open-world games without patronizing the players, and it teaches From itself that you can make a game both hard and accessible in a way that keeps everyone happy. In those two ways, Elden Ring is a design masterclass.

My Score: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

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16. Lost Judgment - The Kaito Files

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6:11h. Normal difficulty


A bite-sized Judgment experience, The Kaito Files is a nice, if a bit expensive for its short length, DLC campaign. The story is unashamedly derivative (A hulk of an ex-Yakuza looking for a lost flame, while acting as a surrogate father to her troubled kid, only to discover that the kid's real father (a mean millionaire, since money=evil in the Gotokuverse, is the real villain!. Where did I see that before? At least this time there wasn't 100 million yen flying out of the Gran Blu Marino...

The game suffers from the lack of substories (Really, would it have been so hard to include like half a dozen substories? They're Yakuza's bread and butter) and from Kaito's lack of charisma as a main character. I suspect this DLC is the RGG Team testing the waters to make Kaito Judgment's protagonist, considering Takuya Kimura is probably leaving due to licensing issues - and I can tell them, Kaito is a sidekick. He lacks Kiryu's comedic stoicness, Itchybum's (sorry Yahtzee) wacky untreated schizophrenia, or Yagami's GaryStu-ness. He's just... kind of there. Also for a protagonist that FOR ONCE GETS A HAPPY ENDING I would love for it to last.

Still, while it lasts, The Kaito Files is a game worthy of its lineage. The fighting is fun as always, the story is gripping as always, and more Yakudgement is always a good thing.

My Score: ★★★

Original post
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
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Game 16 - Vampire Survivors - Steam Deck - Completed Apr 22nd, 2022
For $3, this is one of the most fun games I've played in a long time. I spent 25 hours with the game and unlocked all of the achievements and in-game power-ups. The game is pretty simple but has a bit of fun complexity to it with different weapon builds and such. The core gameplay is like a single-stick shooter (think twin-stick shooter, but with auto-attacking) which I found to be surprisingly engaging. There were also rogue-like elements, since every time you died, you spend the money you earned that run on permanent upgrades for your subsequent games. Highly recommended. Still in early access, so I'm sure I'll revisit this when it fully releases.
 

marcincz

Member
Massive update:

Game 15 - A Memoir Blue (XBO) - 01h 09m
Beat 06/04/2022 - my score: ★★★

Game 16 - Telling Lies (XBO) - 03h 15m

Beat 08/04/2022 - my score: ★★☆☆

Game 17 - The Artful Escape (XBO) - 04h 35m

Beat 10/04/2022 - my score: ★★★

Game 18 - The Pedestrian (XBO) - 06h 26m

Beat 14/04/2022 - my score: ★★★

Game 19 - Last Stop (XBO) - 05h 29m

Beat 17/04/2022 - my score: ★★★

Game 20 - FAR: Changing Tides (XBO) - 07h 56m

Beat 18/04/2022 - my score: ★★★

April is definitely my indie month. Till the end of month, I should finish Tunic.
I can't edit my main post. Like last year - 30k trouble.
 
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