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[TuFaN]

#55 Doom (2016) | PC | 8 hours | 8/10

 

[marcincz]

Mid June and I beat 9 games. Hard year so far, but I've played many long games.

Game 8 - Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (PS5) - 72h 29m
Beat 06/05/2024 - my score: 8/10
To be honest I expected something better. Previous part was better. Sorry Sega.

Game 9 - Persona 3 Reload (PS5) - 84h 50m
Beat 12/06/2024 - my score: 8/10
Quite good, but not as great as P5R, which I adore.

 

[March Climber]

13) Final Fantasy XIII (Previously DNF, I had stopped last time at the last chapter) (Finished playthrough on Xbox Series X Backwards Compatibility)

Rating: D+

To go from PS2's final fantasy games to this felt like a slap in the face. Because of the game being a literal straight line of walking (aside from one section) with zero backtracking and barely any sidequests, all it had to hinge on was it's story and characters. I'm fine with linearity, but if you're going to do so, everything else has to be better to make up for it. Unfortunately, the story does that thing where they use a word salad of in-universe terminology to explain other in-universe terminology, in an attempt to get the player to read up on what the hell everything means. After reading the lore I found out that it wasn't even worth reading. All of the characters had the anime-style performances, but this time amped up times 11 to the point where almost no one felt grounded, or relatable, or even human.

I say almost no one, because the voice actor behind Sazh must have had a different voice coach for all of his sessions. He was the only person in the game who spoke like an actual human being going through all of the crap the world was throwing at him while looking for his son. I dropped the game a while ago because I grew increasingly annoyed at it, thank goodness for cloud saves though. Over the years(including recent youtube videos) I heard so many good things about it's sequel, which is why I decided to finally finish it and move on to that sequel.

All in all, my opinion didn't change, and this should have just been a direct to dvd movie with some bonus featurettes. At least the soundtrack with the same few songs remixed over and over was nice I guess.

14) Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Xbox Series X Backwards Compatibility)

Rating: A-

What a turnaround, in almost every single way.

Positives:

• Improvement of the battle system (made the combat much more fun and added more depth with creature capturing system)
• Character Performances. Yes, some of the anime-style acting still lingers a bit (and it definitely shows whenever you meet a character from the first game) , but wow did they manage to ground the performances much more in this game, especially of the main cast. Thank you to the voice director and thank you Square Enix America for hiring Jason Marsden as Noel Kreiss (the second protagonist, who also did the voice for Kid Flash in DC's Young Justice).
• The writing has less terminology word salad. It's still there to a certain degree, but this is a much more straightforward story, which is crazy to me because the game's main feature involves time travel and paradoxes.
• Noel is a great main character and a great addition to the FFXIII cast. He looks like someone who came out of Kingdom Hearts but talks and acts like someone who has seen some shit and has faced hardship, adversity, and death on multiple occasions. There is a mile of difference between him, how he's written, and nearly everyone else from the original FF13.
• The mystery-solving storyline of time is much better.
• You can play this game without needing to play the first. It does a great job of bringing you up to speed and summarizing things enough to where FF13 is not needed as a playthrough.
• The time traveling feature. Going to areas in different timelines to change the past to change the future to change the past. This along with sidequests that do the same and unlock more areas of different timelines, which can lead to secret endings or battles. It's. All. Great. It's fun and it makes it fun to discover these things, whether accidentally or intentionally, like doing something the 'wrong' way to get a different outcome. I actually kept track of items and quests because I was curious to know where they led down the rabbit hole of time.
• Due to the time traveling, they make good use of multi-tiered explorable areas that can change depending on the time period. The maps feel much more fun to explore again compared to 13.
• A much better soundtrack (aside from two terrible screamo boss music tracks that don't belong), and yes part of it is because they borrow songs from FF13, but they also add a bunch of their own music to it with nice background vocals.

Negatives:

• The villain could have been better, and there was a point where I could see they could have written him slightly better. They do a good job of him telling you his motivation from the very start and making the player/main character think nothing of it, only to bring it back around and say 'Hey dummy, He told you multiple times this is what he wanted to do and what he wanted you to do' in a great twist later in the game. A part of me wants to believe that he was 'acting a part' due to how he was talking and behaving, because he had to in order for his goal to be accomplished. I just don't know if the director of this game was that good though and if that was intentional or not. It worked enough for me to like it however
• The minigames were below average, but I forgive this due to the amount of time shenanigans the game has.
• I guess you can say the graphics and cutscenes took a small hit compared to the last game, due to the scope of this game. I didn't care though as it was a better game.

I can type more and rave about this game, but I won't. This should have been the real FF 13. Instead it is this golden nugget that's sandwiched between one of the most divisive mainline games ever, and one of the most divisive sequels ever(Lightning Returns), to be neglected as a middle child that has been shoved into a box with both of them.

Still, if anyone is slightly curious about the FF13 trilogy, I mainly recommend FFXIII-2.

 

[TuFaN]

#57 Blade of Darkness | PC | 50 hours | 8/10

The action adventure game Blade of Darkness made its debut in 2001. The game received a remastered version in 2021, which improved textures and allowed the player to enjoy it at higher resolutions. You get to pick between the remastered and original versions as soon as you launch the game on Steam. I went with the remastered version because it is basically the same game, just with improved visual features. You can pick from four different characters: an Arnold Schwarzenegger-like barbarian who uses two-handed weapons; a typical knight with one-handed swords; a rogue who uses spears; and, last but not least, a dwarf warrior who specializes in axes and clubs. Blade of Darkness is one of the forefathers of today's Souls-like games, if you ask me.

This game could have definitely been among my favorite 10 games of all time if I had played it at release. I started playing as the barbarian, and I have to say that my start was pretty rough. For the first ten hours, I kept using only basic attacks. I had simply no idea that the game had an ability and combo system. Discovering how to use abilities and combos was an eye-opening moment for me. This single-handedly elevated the game from an acceptable experience to an amazing one. I'm not sure if I would have finished the game if I kept using only basic attacks. I also highly doubt that killing the final boss with basic attacks would have been possible. The design philosophy behind every single area, enemy, boss, and weapon was on point. Right after finishing the game, I uninstalled it and went to sleep. The very next day, when I woke up, all I could think about was Blade of Darkness. So I installed it again. Fast forward a few days, and I finished the game with all characters and earned all available achievements. I wish our paths had crossed 23 years ago. Omg, I cannot imagine how highly I would've rated the game if I played it back then.

 

[Jooxed]

Game 29 - 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - 6/20 - Nintendo Switch - WTF did i just play. Im still confused. Fun VN though, enjoyed the characters and mystery of the plot.

Game 30 - Faith the Unholy Trilogy - 6/19 - Steam Deck - Technically three games but they were all very short. Great little horror games. who knew 6 bit horror could be really creepy.

 

[Andyliini]

Game 15 - Ori and the Will of the Wisps - Nintendo Switch
I was not a huge fan of blind forest, and sadly this one is just more of the same. It's well done game, but it still has long escape scenes, where one error could be fatal. Thankfully the game isn't too difficult. There was also a strange bug in the Switch version, the longer the game was on, the more it would stutter.

Game 16 - Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy - Nintendo Switch
This series just keeps on going. Not to say ot's bad, the developers have made a fine game, with fun gameplay and interesting puzzles. It was also just the right length, and never overstayed it's welcome. I think I liked it more than the previous one.

Game 17 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan - Nintendo Switch
Game 18 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers
I wanted to complete some games quickly, and these were just there and easy to complete. There's nothing special about these, just watered down gameplay of the NES games. Those are better fit anyway.

 

[Sleepwalker]

Posting so I remember to update this soon.

 

[SpiceRacz]

Took a break for a bit, but I’m back and plugging away.

TTYD is a really sound, well made RPG and underwhelming at the same time. The game has been hyped up and I couldn’t totally understand why. I think Mario RPG and SuperStar Saga are way superior games. I found the dialogue and environments to be mostly pretty dull/boring. I didn't hate my experience with it, but I had to force myself to finish it. I'm not gonna elaborate on this one much. It was super easy and I just breezed through it.

Minishoot Adventures is an overhead 360 degree 'shmup bullet hell style metroidvania. And it totally works. The movement and gameplay is satisfying. Just cruising around and blowing shit up feels really good. You're getting a constant stream of upgrades, moves, and items. It's graphically simple, but colorful and attractive. I've never seen this style of game applied to the metroidvania format. Kudos to the devs. They nailed it.

Blasphemous is a masterpiece of the genre. I shared my thoughts on the sequel on here last year. I found myself seeking out every item and secret, trying to 100% the game. The last game I can recall doing that for was.....Blasphemous 2. That's a testament to great game design. These games are no picnic, but not nearly as hard as people make them out to be. Very dark souls esque with the dark fantasy imagery. Of the games that have tried to translate Souls to 2D, this is easily the best. Keeping my fingers crossed for Blasphemous 3.

 

[TuFaN]

#58 Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree | PC | 70 hours | 10/10

What a great time to be alive! This DLC has elevated Elden Ring from my personal top 20 games of all time into top 10.But be aware, the DLC is quite difficult. Prepare yourself to die multiple times until you figure out how to ''level up'' in the DLC. Thx for another masterpiece Fromsoft.

Sidenote: I have been going through a difficult time in my life for the past week. This DLC singlehandedly helped me cope with my problems <3

 

[Jooxed]

Game 31 - Hellblade II Senuas Saga - 6/28 - Series X - It was alright. Just like watching a movie. Nothing really to it. Enjoyed going through it, beautiful game. Awesome sound

 

[Skeptical]

25. Kirby's Dreamland 2 (3h?, ★★). A dramatic improvement over the first game. I'm not sure if it's better than Kirby's Adventure; I'll take secrets over the animal helpers any day. But for what it is, it works well. A reasonable amount of variety for what it is, some optional collectibles, not bad for a GB game.

26. Legend of Zelda (1h, ★★★★★). Yep, still my favorite game of all time. Ain't nostalgia grand? I know people hate this game for its obtuseness, but I love the nonlinear exploration. And the first quest really isn't that obtuse if you have all the tools available to you. But this game is the reason I laugh when people complain about Breath of the Wild and want "classic" or "traditional" Zelda instead. Nope, BotW is the classic Zelda. It's the first and only true sequel to the original. It's just you and a giant world out there for you to explore. Now get going.

27. Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 (4h, ★★★). These games are weird, and I may just not be good enough for them. Unlike a typical action platformer, these games are easy to finish, giving you so many over the top tools that even supposedly challenging bosses will go down after a couple tries. Instead, it's about mastering the game, which is insanely hard with so much stuff going on and needing to pick just the right toolset at a moments notice. Don't think I can do that. But I can't deny how fluid and fun the game is when you are doing things right and getting into a flow. So props for that.

28. Vampire Survivors (13h, ★★). I can see why this has an appeal; there's something primitively fun about surviving all of these waves. But unfortunately, it didn't quite have enough staying power. For starters, the 30 minute time limit is too long, as you are likely to max everything out well before then and thus just spend 10 minutes sitting around doing nothing. And when you do finally win your first round, it feels anticlimactic since so many other things unlock in different ways (along with the whole sitting around for 10 minutes thing).

29. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (2h, ★★★). I don't care what anyone says, I like this game. I also fail to see why people claim it is so hard. Haven't you played Castlevania or Ninja Gaiden or Battletoads or Ghosts and Goblins? This is a walk in the park! Nothing is too challenging, very little if any grinding is needed, and it's over before you know it. And while I know it can be cheesed, I still think it has one of the best final bosses of all time, or at least of its time.

30. Tinykin (7h, ★★★★). It's obvious why people compare this to Pikmin, what with being the size of a bug and being followed by loyal minions, but it plays entirely different. The Tinykin really aren't the star of the show, being more like tools than anything else. Instead, this is a relaxing, a low stress, but more importantly an enjoyable collectothon. The maps are well designed with lots of verticality and nooks everywhere, providing for plenty of exploration and some light puzzle solving. The variety of objectives with sufficient rewards without outright requiring you to find every last speck of pollen means there is still a satisfying end to the game without aiming for 100%. It's not usually my type of game, but it was a great time nonetheless.

31. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (4h, ★★★★). Kinda hard to say something about this game, since everyone already knows it is great. I'm going to say something negative instead. The overworld is kinda weak. Not the most fun to traverse, and not much there. This is also the only Zelda game where I was able to find all heart containers on my own. Boo! As someone who greatly prefers the exploration aspect of the series, it's a letdown compared to the first game (and yes, I know I'm the only one who thinks that). It's also an excellent game. But you know that already!

32. Metroid Zero Mission (3h, ★★★). It's better than I remembered. I know it gets a lot of praise, but I'm going to list some negatives. 1) It still feels too small and cramped (not quite as bad as I remembered), especially when you have to constantly move back and forth through the same rooms to switch from Brinstar and Norfair in the first 1/3 of the game or so. 2) Ridley is way way way too easy. Even Kraid was harder. That was one of the most "That's it?!?" battles I've ever seen. 3) I still think the idea of getting power bombs at the very end when you are so close to the final boss kills any incentive to actually try to get other collectables you missed and is thus a bad idea in general. But it's still better than Fusion. And while it may be small, it is nice that it can be completed at such a brisk pace.

33. Mega Man V (3h?, ★★). Holy Slowdown Batman! It's cool that they finally got around to doing an original Mega Man game on the Game Boy, and it's cool that it even has a fairly original plot. Some of the weapons are quite inventive. It's got the right elements there. But the slowdown is insane and neverending.


Nine games in one month. Half a year down, and only 19 games to go. Unfortunately, my list of short games grows thin, and my free time in the latter half of the year may be thinner. So my ability to finish this may still be in jeapordy

 

[Blindy]

8) Persona 3 Reload(XSX) 2/1-2/26

Such a great game, if I count a remake on my top 10 list(I did for RE4 but not Super Mario RPG), this might be my GOTY. I had that much of a great time with P3 Reload. Felt so good to go back to these cast of characters, felt sorta rough to leave everybody as the game ended. Will def. be in for jumping into The Answer later on this year and count it as a different entity since it's coming out in September! Much of the game stood the same from the original but the couple of QOL improvements really helped this game out. Positive changes such as no more fatigue for Tartarus made exploring those dungeons all the more better and worthwhile to go and finish a group of floors in 1 shot, giving you more time to do social links. The Theurgy attacks were awesome and def. made the game easier to deal with and the "Inactive Party Members can catch up in levels with an automatic level up increase mechanic" was awesome even if I wonder why it took like 15-20 hours for it to be introduced to the game. I was grinding out Tartarus with multiple party members to have a consistent overall team level where I would waste MP out without needing to use items to replenish them back until they introduced this aforementioned mechanic, which made me feel sort of stupid spending hours on grinding in this game when it simply isn't necessary.

Tartarus was manageable if you had a good podcast or album to listen to, I thought the voice acting was pretty good to great for the most part, music was nowhere near as bad as some made it out to be. The QOL elements were good(Full party control)but the lone blemish I had was they needed to have more chances to up social links in this game. Giving only 2 social link characters(Tanaka/Monk) is pretty poor, I ended up missing the full achievement reward by 4 days(2 on Fuuka, 2 for Bebe). You can't tell me that you could not social link with Mitsuru, Fuuka, Aigis and Yukari at your form, especially when by end game you have to repeat the same chores or sleeping in bed or CPU surfing to better relationship with a character. You are missing game content due to this! There's too many exams or visits to places where you end up missing out on valuable days that you could use to get the full social links mastered. You have to be borderline perfect with day management to get everything done with the social links when it should never be that necessary. It's such an easy QOL fix.

Overall, an easy 9.5/10. Near 100 hour playthrough(It went over 100 due to inactivity!), this will be by far the longest game I play this year for the XBOX so when the year end statistic pages show up, this bad boy is going to take a bunch of accolades. Hitting that true ending theme song was sweet and brought back really good memories, they did such a good job capturing some of the magic of Persona 3. The Answer DLC has some great tunes in itself, forgot Brand New Days was apart of that, easily one of my favorite tracks of Persona 3. The remixed Burn My Dread theme for the true final fight after the iconic The Battle for Everyone's Souls(Which remains rather untouched upon first listen which is a great thing) brought back some good nostalgia too.

P3 Reload was my most anticipated game this year and Atlus did such a good job with this one. The voice actors for the most part did great too, it was a job well done.

9) OOTP Baseball 24(PC) 1/1-2/26

My sim league ended on 2/26 so I wanted to include this on my 52 game challenge since I spent a lot of time and dedication in this league which ran for a while. Really fun simulation sort of game, if you know OOTP and what it is, there's not much to explain. If you know, you really know. It's the perfect game engine for diehard baseball nerds such as myself and I feel I only touched the tip of the iceberg with all things OOTP. You have legit control over everything from sales prices to stadium name/dimensions to creating players etc. As someone who played in a sim league, we didn't have to worry about this too much but it's there if you desire it. It's a lot to jump into and digest but once you're in, you're absolutely in.

Can't really put a grade on this but given how much I updated my baseball team in this, I think it warrants a spot on this 52 game challenge. Practically hands on every day with this sim league, good times.

10) Final Fantasy VII Remake: Intermission DLC(PS5) 2/26-2/27

Figured it was important to get some familiarity with the FF7 Remake series prior to jumping into FF7 Rebirth. I didn't have the time to go back and do a 2nd run of FF7 Remake so I opted to do a 1st playthrough of FF7 Remake: Intermission which was a short 5-6 hour campaign with the goofy Yuffie and her friend/"disciple" Sonon trying to protect their town of Wutai from the corruption of SHINRA while doing it on the downlow as an Avalanche-inspired network of saboteurs. The game right off the bat has a silly almost anime-ish like demeanor to much of the game up until maybe the end where things get extremely dark/twisted. Yuffie by nature in this remake and eventually in Rebirth is just a happy go lucky teenager with a positive vibe/energy to her where for players, it might be a little bit too "Kuwaii" per say but more times than not, the humor really hit for me and it made Yuffie an actually funny character with a decent enough background where her carefree attitude compensates for some of the stuff she ends up going throughout the game. This is more of a me issue but it was rough going into this game after not playing FF7 Remake for a few years so I would highly recommend playing Intermission immediately after FF7 Remake, in large part since I forgot the controls and the 1st real mini boss whooped me good a few times. This game has the introductions of minigames such as the Fort Condor minigame that eventually appears in FF7 Remake so you could technically spend a much longer time with the campaign than say I did. You also had collectibles in the form of these "Happy Turtle" stickers/logos that appear throughout areas of the DLC, particularly throughout the major hub that you start off in. There's enough variety if you're looking for objectives besides the story if you care enough to dive in.

Yuffie's combat as it would soon be in Rebirth, was arguably top 3 for me as far as the character go. She just has so many ninjitsu skills up her sleeve where she can cheese enemies with elemental shurikens and her partner Sonon also made for a good mix with his traditional standard play and being a good help up top in case you need a breather or to heal. It was essentially the perfect way to get right back into this series with the looming FF7 Rebirth coming in and spoiler......Yuffie was heavily featured in my playthrough of Rebirth when she arrived, in large part due to the sheer familiarity of her gameplay via Intermission.

It's a nice little DLC but I am glad I did not bite into this full price and am glad this was tossed in for free for the PS5 Edition of FF7 Rebirth+Intergrade. Just not enough content to really warrant the 20(?) dollar price tag when it initially dropped years ago. Would probably give this DLC an respectable 8/10.

 

[Glass Prison]

June 2024 Roundup
Total: 29/52

Original Post

I planned on playing a lot more games this month but I just couldn't find the time, so I picked a few short ones. Still happy that I could play a little bit of everything though - new release, one game from 2023 that I didn't have the time to play last year, and some old ones that were in my backlog or I wanted to revisit.

25. Hellblade II - 7 Hours - Game Pass - June 1st
Not too much to write about this one. I think it was a step down from Senua’s Sacrifice… the story is not that interesting (I liked the first one), the puzzles are too simple, the combat is too easy, and when not in combat you’re mindlessly walking forward.

26. The Getaway - 10 Hours - PS2 - June 2nd
This game deserves a full blown current gen remake, with improved gunplay and driving mechanics. The setting, storytelling and voice acting are really good and compelling to me. The fact that they’ve decided to make it as realistic as possible by recreating London as perfectly as they could at the time, even including some real life car brands, makes this game really immersive. It feels like you’re playing a Guy Ritchie movie.
However, if you’re planning on playing this, be prepared to be frustrated with the controls, they are painfully bad. The car chases are also not well implemented - there were multiple times I was being chased by rival gangs and the police at the same time which was comical. Even then I think this franchise deserves a return, maybe in the form of a remake like I said - they could easily keep this story and modernize the gameplay around it.


27. The Getaway: Black Monday - 6 Hours - PS2 - June 8th
This was my introduction to the franchise back in the day, and I honestly think I never got past the first mission when I was a kid. I loved it nonetheless, and I spent hours roaming around London while searching for the secret cars.
Revisiting it after playing the first game (and finally finishing it) was an interesting experience. The storytelling is not as good as the first one, and it definitely feels a bit rushed towards the end. I think the characters are not as charismatic as the ones from the first game, so that also didn’t help.
They’ve made some slight improvements in the gunplay and the car chases, but ultimately it’s still a rough experience compared to the games we already had at the time.

28. Prey (2006) - 7 Hours - Xbox 360 - June 22nd
One of the first games I’ve played from the 7th generation of consoles. I know the PC version is the better one, but it’s very difficult to get it to work so I decided to go for the 360 version.
This is not the first time I’ve played Prey but I wanted to revisit it for some time now. It’s a very simple game in terms of gameplay, but the level design was very innovative at the time, using portals which allowed for some physics bending areas and clever puzzles. I remember being mind blown at the time by entering a box and coming out at a hallway, or being thrown into a miniature moon. I miss when games experimented with this kind of stuff…


29. Cocoon - 5 Hours - Game Pass - June 29th
Loved it. Great game design throughout the entire experience - it has some really clever mechanics and puzzles, and yet I never felt like it was a ‘banging my head against the wall’ type of puzzle difficulty. The game is really good at showing the player some counter-intuitive mechanics and then slowly building on top of them to challenge the player.
It’s just a fun experience through and through if you enjoy puzzle games.

 

[jshackles]

We're now halfway through the year! If you're on track, you should have finished about 26 games so far (I'm at 25, but I'm balls deep in Starcraft and Shin Megami Tensei V). Good luck everyone!

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

June Update: Including 1 from July due to hitting 52!!
Main Post

44. Fez (PS4) - 8/10
I've wanted to give this a go for a long time. At first it all seemed pretty simple but the further out I got, the most confused I got. I really don't know if I understand anything that I did or saw in the game...but I enjoyed my time with it. I finished it but I am assuming there is more to it after the fact, but I didn't love it enough to jump back in and get 100%.

45. Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (PS4) - 6/10
I liked this one less than the original. Some levels were great, and others were confusing with not much information to go on. I enjoyed some bosses and some were huge difficulty spikes that took any of the fun I was starting to have out of it. There is something about the slick running nature of Spyro that doesn't jive with me. Is it me or is it this series?

46. Avenging Spirit (PS5) - 7/10
Really unique game where your spirit can overtake enemies on screen and then use their weapons to advance. It's all pretty random and strange but there is an old school charm that carries you through the game. It's also incredibly short and I don't know if you can actually ever lose in this version of the game. It just kept me going until the end. Get it on a good sale and have a fun hour or two with it.

47. Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon (PS4) - 8/10
This is the game that had me finally understand Spyro. I enjoyed each level and the progression of going through things. I found the challenges actually fun and interesting. Overall, it was a blast to play through. I was pretty impressed with the graphics, and I flew through it fairly quickly. Down the road I might look into where the seres went from here... assuming not great.

48. Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars (Wii) - 5/10
Worst game for the month. I remember picking this up at a bargain bin years ago with a buddy as a joke. It's somehow stayed on my shelf, and it seemed like an easy one to knock off. This game was rough. Levels are confusing, graphics are rough, and half the time you don't know what you are supposed to be doing. Some of the bosses absolutely wreck you in this game unless you know exactly what to do. I will give it points for being unique and trying different things. It is fairly short...but honestly didn't feel like it. Probably an easy pass.

49. Tapeworm Disco Puzzle (Playdate) - 9/10
Probably my game of the month. This was another perfect puzzle type game on my Playdate. I love playing this thing in short bursts, usually between work meetings and such. The music was fantastic, and the challenge was appropriate the entire way through. I saw that it has colors and updated NES graphics on Steam, and I might give it another replay to see if it increases the experience. I loved it.

50. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (PS4) - 7/10
Another relic from my younger years. The remaster does a pretty good job of updating controls and graphics enough to make it the most playable version available. It probably looks how I felt it looked as a kid playing on the N64. This is another collect every key type game to be able to fully complete it. I had to get a guide out at one point to track down a few keys that were unfairly hidden. The bosses in this game are no joke and I don't think I would've been able to actually beat this as a kid (unless I used some cheats). Definitely worth a play to see where Turok began and maybe we will see another game soon!

51. Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers (Gamecube) - 6/10
Don't remember how I came across this game, but it's been on the shelf for years and I was ready to clear it out. It's basically Crash Bandicoot with Donald Duck. The jumping is incredibly frustrating, and the hit boxes are abysmal. That said, you rack up so many lives that you really never break a sweat through the whole thing. And the whole thing...lasted maybe 2 hours. I was pretty shocked when I beat a boss and was told that was it. If you see it around and it's cheap, might be worth a quick playthrough...but probably just better to play Crash.

52. Jet Force Gemini - Rare Replay (Xbox Series X) - 7/10
This has been a game that I have wanted to tackle since I was young. I remember enjoying it in short bursts back then...but never got very far. As I got older I learned of having to get all of the Tribals and ship parts...honestly didn't know if I had it in me. I decided to make 52 a challenge with going through this one (definitely with a guide). Overall, it has some great spots and some extremely rough patches. The necessary things to complete to actuall finish the game are rough. There is a flying mission that is required to get a piece that then gets you to a random ship part after talking to someone. I don't know how some people did this without a guide. I read online that the last boss is one of the hardest ever, but I didn't think he was too bad. I thought that the double mantis boss with the dog were way worse. Anyway, it definitely plays better in the Rare Replay modern control package. It's definitely old school and you will need to fully commit if you want to see it through. Probably a few nostalgia points in that score...

 

[March Climber]

I played 3 beat em ups...

15) Gangs of Sherwood (Playstation 5)
Rating: C

This is a level-selection style beat em up.

Positives:

+Optional 4 Player Co-Op
+The game has good balancing around the 1 player playthrough
+Interesting Cyber-tech version of Robin Hood's story
+The gameplay is a lighthearted attempt at Devil May Cry's combat but in level-based co-op action. It feels better than D&D Dark Alliance
+My suggestion is to play the guy who has Devil May Cry's Beowulf gauntlets or the guy who has the bow. The other two's gameplay takes a long time to upgrade to feel good enough to play. The Beowulf gauntlet guy has the best feeling combat, parries, charge moves, etc. Bow player has second best skills.

Negatives:

-The game doesn't have unique enough scenarios to justify the under 4 hour game length (this is crucial for a short game to not feel monotonous).
-The upgrade system varies from good to bad, because some characters have their best abilities at the start
-The story is forgettable
-The game has about 6-7 unique regular enemies and only a handful of bosses
-It feels like a game that was supposed to receive more content but since it most likely bombed this didn't happen, leaving people with a game that is just okay for a light afternoon (like an old beat 'em up would be)
-The music felt lackluster

I had fun with it but not enough to suggest it as a fun experience, especially not for anything above 5 or 10 dollars in price.

16) Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance (Playstation 5)
Rating: C

This is a level-selection style beat em up.

Positives:

+Optional 4 Player Co-Op
+Fun combat styles
+Decent labyrinth style level design in each level
+Varied enemies and bosses
+Decent loot system
+The art design was nice

Negatives:

-The game has bad balancing around the 1 player playthrough
-The game is buggy at times, thankfully not buggy enough to cause deaths
-The bosses can be a bit buggy at times
-It's targeting/aiming system isn't built well enough for multiple enemies, thus you're at a disadvantage and will probably take damage in a fight.
-It feels like a game that was supposed to receive more content but since it most likely bombed this didn't happen, leaving people with a game that is just okay for a light afternoon (like an old beat 'em up would be)
-The music felt lackluster.

Similar but different to Sherwood. A game that needed more work and content but ultimately never received it. As with Sherwood, I would not recommend a purchase of this over 5 or 10 dollars.

17) Breakdown (Xbox Series X Backwards Compatibility)

Rating: C

This is a seamless first person beat em up with hard checkpoints.

Positives:

+Unique first person brawling mechanics, abilities, and combos
+Unique-enough story and there are fun moments through the campaign.
+There are moments where I could see they were inspired by Half-Life 1 in terms of scenarios.
+The music was decent.

Negatives:
-It's targeting/aiming system isn't built well enough for multiple enemies, thus you're at a disadvantage and will probably take damage in a fight.
-Due to the above, it leads to frustration as your character will do a string against one enemy and another to your side will interrupt. There are sweep attacks but the game needed a bit more.
-Gunplay is really bad, even as a lock-on system.
-Even when they finally gave me more power, I never felt strong enough. Just good enough to win.
-Boss encounters can range from BS to easy.
-The art direction was a bit lacking for me. There's ways to make multitudes of gray environments feel unique, this game didn't do that enough.


I know there are more negatives on this one, but the uniqueness of it is what made it land at a C for me. If any game would highly benefit from a remake, it would be Breakdown, but Namco feels random when it comes to what they will remake/remaster and what they don't, to the point that I think this will simply always be seen as a sort of concept game that's only playable on BC and original Xbox.

 

[marcincz]

Game 10 - Planescape Torment (PS4) - 35h 04m
Beat 30/06/2024 - my score: 8/10

Game 11 - Super Mario RPG (NS) - 15h 33m
Beat 12/07/2024 - my score: 8/10

Another 2 classic titles, which I finally completed for the first time.

 

[TuFaN]

#59 Red Faction | PC | 5 hours | 8/10

I remember vividly playing this game nonstop with my siblings back in 2001. It was one of the very first FPS we played with a gamepad. We used to spend countless hours in the multiplayer map warzone, playing with and against each other.

I've finished the campaign multiple times, and I have to say that the gameplay still holds up really well. This magnificent game is worth checking out and is definitely still enjoyable, even in today's gaming environment.

This game is a classic and will forever have a special place in my heart.

If you decide to play the Steam version of the game, make sure to use an app called Dash Faction. This app will fix a lot of game-breaking bugs and deliver an overall more enjoyable experience.



#60 Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon | PC | 51 hours | 8/10

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon earns a solid 8 out of 10. The game excels with its fast-paced combat, offering thrilling and dynamic mech battles. The extensive variety of parts for customizing your mech allows for a deeply personalized experience. Visually, the game impresses with stunning graphics that bring the mechanized world to life. Additionally, the engaging story adds depth and intrigue, making it a must-play for fans of the genre.



#61 Dusk | PC | 17 hours | 7/10

If the Discord server I am on didn't vote for Dusk as our monthly game, then I most likely would not have heard about it.

This game gave me old-school DOOM vibes, just with a scarier world and a way more horrifying enemy design. The weapons at our arsenal feel, sound, look, and play amazingly. Even with its old and pixelated graphics, Dusk manages to maintain an incredibly eerie mood throughout. The game's phenomenal soundtrack and sparse use of lighting contribute to an eerie atmosphere.

Dusk also has an HD-remastered version. Once you start the game on Steam, you get to pick between the original and HD versions. I have to admit that the original version was more pleasing to my eyes. I think it looks way better than the HD version of the game.

While playing the game, make sure to keep your eyes out for secrets and hidden places. There are some hilarious Easter eggs in the game. Without giving anything away, all I'm saying is baby faces!

 

[Jooxed]

Game 32 - Elden Ring DLC - 7/17 - PlayStation 5 - Difficult, but I had a good time, I've been slacking with completing lately.

 

[Jooxed]

Double post

 

[TuFaN]

Game 32 - Elden Ring DLC - 7/17 - PlayStation 5 - Difficult, but I had a good time, I've been slacking with completing lately.

Game 32 already, n1! All of us slow down here and there every now and then np ^^ life happens
What do you mean with 7/17, I don't get it? Is 17 your 100%? So 7 out of 17 would be 41%?

 

[Blindy]

11) Penny's Big Breakaway(Switch) 2/21-2/22, 2/27, 3/4-3/5
So heading into the year, Penny's Big Breakaway was easily a top 5 most anticipated game of the year for me.....a lot of hope was put into this one for me. Makers of the really good Sonic Mania? Check. Love letter to 90's 3D Platforming? Check. Very light hearted & silly fun trailer with the idea of a yo-yo mechanic that allows you to free reign around levels? Sold.
What could possibly go wrong here? Well 2 words: Switch Performance.

So maybe this is a "My bad" case that I should have played this on PC or heck PS5/XSX but this was a Nintendo marketed game so I figured "Go with the Switch, even if it's locked to 30 FPS it isn't the end of the world, portability and it isn't an overly graphically requesting game so this isn't a big deal". Boy was I wrong or what?

Lets start with some good.........game does give you a lot of ways to get creative in these 3D levels. There's tons of different routes to be taken with your character, Penny and her sidekick, a alive yo-yo that has a mind of it's own. You can go to the regular route or can get creative and go to a bonus area and bypass a section entirely. There are areas that you can sort of skip with a well timed yo-yo lunge/double jump, it very much strikes that balance of a 90's platformer where there's big risk/big reward by trying to go to a far off the route part of the level in hopes of getting a collectible. There's absolutely a learning curve when it comes to mastering the controls of this game that will enhance your overall enjoyment of this game but the times that it did click for me, it was really sweet. You can see the potential that was there. The major issue is unfortunately I ran into cases where it's almost too finicky where I am trying to go to point B from point A only to find myself flying off the entire map by accident. This wasn't a once or twice time issue, this periodically bit me in the butt quite a bit. The controls felt at times, almost too finicky where for precision jumping over pitfalls, I found myself flying off the intended platform that I wanted to land on. This became extremely frustrating as you can imagine and I get the reasoning behind this, "It's a 1990's platformer, this is exactly how those games were!" and you're somewhat right. 90's platformers had that jank to it, the same jank that a lot of people grew to accept or love when playing these type of games(Super Mario 64 or Banjo Kazooie). Again, I am someone who grew up on the N64/PS1, this is right up my ballpark. However, in 2024, there's a certain level that you should be trying to incorporate near 30 year old games's controls and game design choices. This wasn't a case here with Penny's Big Breakaway and I think it's one of the bigger flaws of the game. Another instance of this is the bonus levels which again are a must for this type of game, it's great how they do it. They offer up good challenge and despite most if not all of the bonus levels being pure trial/error, it's still fun if/when you do complete the bonus round. However, in a brilliant stroke of genius of a game design choice, Penny's Big Breakaway allows you only one chance at a bonus level clearance for a majority of the challenges. That's right in a trial/error filled challenge, you have to somehow learn on the fly what is being asked AND still perform while dealing with a timer that can/will time your chance of earning the collectible out if not done correctly. That's gaming 101 and would be again fine IF you get temporarily locked out of trying to do it again which became frustrating to say the least. The workaround of course if killing yourself till you lose all of your lives and can respawn at the (admittedly) very generous checkpoints that this game provides throughout the levels but it goes back to the point of why can't you simply leave the bonus level or get to retry it without the need of any of this? It takes about a minute or so to get back to the bonus level but again, if you don't complete it correctly on your 1st shot, it's rinse & repeat. There were a few of these challenges that took me longer to complete than the actual stage itself! Again, there's a means of going all the way with trying to be a 1990's homage to 3D platformers, there are these cases where Penny's Big Breakaway goes a little too deep in the water for my liking here.

Some of the music in this game are total jams and it was to be expected with Tee Lopes who did some work on Sonic Mania IIRC, even if the tracks sort of go on repeat a little bit too quickly. They fit and 1-2 actually are ones you can't help but smile while playing, they tickle that nostalgia that Evening Star(Studio behind this game) tried to muster. The art design are very N64 inspired and look almost like Nights: Into Dreams from the Sega Saturn but with a more refined look if that makes any sense. The story is cute and a simple and cartoony, looney experience that is easy to follow and isn't overly complex. The Penny celebrations after each level where you can do an optional minigame for more points with her "Walking the dog" with her yoyo among other yo-yo tricks is delightful. The good that this love letter to 90's platformers does, you can feel the developers tried so hard to nail this. Some of the bosses were super cool like a race with a puppet version of you or having a game of pool with a boss. Insanely creative stuff we're talking here! Unfortunately though, the biggest blemish for my time with this game was the Nintendo Switch's performance because man, saying this is a 30 FPS locked game is being way too kind.

So where to even begin? There's very few enemies in Penny's Big Breakaway but the ones that do come are in the form of the main antagonist(A giant penguin king, not Dedede, totally not him) and his minions that are sent throughout the levels to try and capture you for accidentally humiliating him in a cutscene early in the game(Don't blame the performer, blame the fully alive yo-yo!). These mini penguins come in bunches and they would normally be cool as mere distractions....except as multiple of them come on during certain levels, the FPS drops to near slo-mo levels of annoyance. In a platformer where your trying to escape these guys by going to different platformers, this became really nauseating to even play under. Certain obstacles that come after you like a giant rolling ball especially tanks the frames with these minions coming after you where it felt almost like a slideshow performance at times trying to escape the perils that were chasing me. There were a few instances of my character upon exploring an area getting swallowed up under the level and either instantly dying or being stuck in a glitchy limbo where I had to restart the level because I could not even die properly to go back to a checkpoint, happened a good 3-4 times on my playthrough though this might be more of a game bug more than anything.

Score: 7.5/10. This game suffers from that same Indie platformer jank that doomed A Hat In Time from scoring a 7/10 for me when I played it a few years back. There was so much thought and love put behind this game that if they fix the few flaws that Penny's Big Breakaway suffers from, they could have a potential series here worth a while. For now though, this stands as maybe my biggest letdown of 2024. Came in with such high hopes and left feeling confused. These weren't "Get good" type of gripes, these were blemishes that really hampered the overall experience of the game. Maybe playing on a different console the grade could have gone .5 or 1.0 even higher than usual but I think some of the fundamental choices halt this game from reaching GOTY conversion from me regardless of where I played it if I am being honest.

12) Final Fantasy VII Remake: Rebirth(PS5) 2/28-2/29, 3/2-3/8,3/11-3/18, 3/23-3/25

Unlike Penny's Big Breakaway, I was excited for the FFVII Remake sequel but not "Edge of my seat" levels of excitement that most had. Also unlike Penny's Big Breakaway, I came in with moderate expectations and came away pretty happy with what I played. In particularly, that Queen's Gambit minigame. Man was that shit good or what? HUGE learning curve but once you get it, it just clicks. SE giving you almost half a chapter of this goodness in the form of a tournament was sublime.

It's tough to describe FFVII Remake: Rebirth fully without touching upon it's story which can get a bit of convoluted for it's own good at times but the highs that it achievements has you in the feels for your journey with the case of characters. What I can say about Rebirth is if you like time wasting mini games, man does this game ever throw you some. Fall Guys inspired frog jumping, target shooting, choccobo racing that you control(So good), a punch out inspired 2D brawler(Not so good), here's how I would rank the minigames and my overall enjoyment of them:

The GOATs(Some of the best stuff FFVII Rebirth has to offer):
Queen's Blood
Chocobo Racing
Galactic Savior/SHUMP
Dolphin Show
Any Barret Minecart/on rail shooter
G-Bike Minigame(The end game bike minigame of the original has an appearance here)

Alright(Hit or miss, they're whatever):
3D Brawler(This verges onto shitty with a busted analog stick though as I am legit asking for a dodge only to have my character eat a punch)
Moogle Roundup(Got them all done)
Shooting Gallery/Pirate's Rampage
Frog Jump/Frog Guys(As I call it)
Run Wild
Piano
Desert Rush
Fort Condor
Junon Parade
Cactaur Crush(With Aertih this makes the awful category but it was fun with Yuffie, so this is case by case)

Awful(AKA take these out of the game):
Sit up challenge(Worst one yet again the gym section bombs, folks you might as well buff yourself up in real life over this nonsense)
Chocobo Flying(The hit detection for this one is bad but what kills me is the inability to get flight after driving downward, so inconsistent)
Gears & Gambits(This had a shot of being in the GOAT section until the final one, fuck out of here by giving the final boss multi elemental ability AND Regen that he can pop whenever. Time limit too.)

There is tons of bloat for sure and the game does sort of drag on but the final chapter being almost a boss rush in itself made the climax all the more fulfilling. The voice acting of the characters and cast of this game were well-done, Yuffie and Barrett's dialogue back and forth always got me to crack a smile(Like in my last post, you will either love or hate Yuffie but she is endearing to me as comic relief with some serious moments dashed in too). Tifa and Cloud's relationship is complicated where there's interesting developments there. Aerith as the moral support of the team much like the 1st game is cool and despite the loads of characters thrown at you(They do get to be too much to really keep track of), I like the entire cat/mouse aspect of the story where each side puts their cards up but aren't showing their full hand of the involvement they have towards the grand scheme of the story. It's tough to explain without spoiling but when the writing doesn't go completely off the rails, it's pretty good and had me interested.

Score: Overall a 8.5/10 for me, FFVII Remake: Rebirth was outside my top 10 for most anticipated games of the year heading into 2024. However much to my delight, Rebirth nails the open world stuff and has a little something for everyone in it's minigames and combat(Which hasn't drastically changed outside of new characters coming in like Red XIII). Slashing character? Cloud. Fist/juggling character? Tifa. Caster? Aerith. Projectile? Barrett. Your going to fall in love with at least one character's combat style and excluding a couple of times where your forced into a party of characters due to circumstances, you can play however you want to with the loads of customization at your disposal.

Yeah some of the maps weren't great to venture in(Looking at you Jungle Gongaga/some of Cosmo Canyon) but far from put the controller down levels of bad, just wish the map and the gimmicks of each didn't get too cute. I did all but 2 side missions so it really comes down to how much you are willing to do, very little of the minigames or side content is forced upon you which means you have full control of how much you fulfill. That's the overall beauty of this game, you control how much you want to digest and how much you don't. That nails the open world aspect to a tee.

13) Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II(PS5)(PLATNIUM): 3/26-3/30
(I didn't mean this horror VN to be unlucky no.13 but that's just dumb luck)

Easily my most anticipated visual novel, when I heard the news that the original Death Mark was getting a sequel with the ol' cast coming back, I was pretty amped. In the end though, I don't think the sequel hit me as well as the 1st one did but that also doesn't mean the sequel was a dud by any circumstances!

So lets point this out, the QOL improvements from Death Mark I and NG is evident, no more dungeon crawler movement aspects, they have character movements ala 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim or The Coma 1 & 2 if anyone has played this and so far, no gimmicks like Corpse Party where it forces you to navigate away from danger. 1st case is kind of basic but hoping that's just because it's the introduction. Love seeing the returning cast from Death Mark I assist your main character in the cases here, I still remember each one!

There's a new gimmick with this game that instead of the 2 person tag team combination attacks that were vital towards winning the battles vs the paranormal you encounter, Death Mark II has a new combat system. It's still you and a companion venturing out to find out the cause of the disturbance and how to purify them....but the 1-2 combat scenes you get in each chapter have a new success rate gimmick that was never featured before. You get different action choices to make with a percentage and how much health they take away from your character(s) in making them. However, I think the SUCCESS/FAILURE percentage rages seem kind of pointless. I get the intention behind them, using your wit to pick the best choices to try and combat an enemy vs picking a body part of the spiritual entity to throw an item at seems easier for the player to grasp and gives more diverse options to pick from. However, you can still pick the right action based off the story/spirit's biography(One spirit is attached to an item from someone they loved so giving them that item helps them remember themselves as a human, something like that) AND still get a failed option...all because of the chance/percentage it doesn't happen. You have to repeat the same thing only with your health getting cut twice in a row now due to this. See, I don't know if this is truly RNG or not, I have yet to get a game over but it seems really pointless to throw this in. I nearly died due to 2 failures in one session despite having over 65% odds both times in saying I would succeed if choosing this option. It just seems like a gimmick that works on paper to add tension to the combat and I appreciate no real timer being thrown at you to pick something or else....but picking the right option AND still not getting rewarded, all because of "percentages" seems lame. They said my character dropped the scissors in terror but I do the action again, and they execute perfectly fine this time. Sure. :lol:

The jumpscares this game threw at you in Chapter 2 got me, it's some trollish shit much like the previous games. The hilarious part is they warn you about jump scares and consider turning them off if you have a weak heart AFTER a real nasty jumpscare of the supposed reocurring antagonist of the game. There hasn't been any jumpscares that got me as good as the 1st one did, seems like there's 1-2 cheapies per chapter. Right on par with the series thus far.

You can def. tell there's a small budget for this game. These were never big budget visual novels to be fair and certainly not on the Ace Attorney/A.I. The Somnium Files/Danganronpa levels of flare & dramatics. I never noticed it for the 1st 2 games but stuff like reused pictures of the collectible of Death Mark II and victims/side characters not getting shown or any kind of art design/bio does sorta stand out. Half the bios has a character bio that does describe the character, and their prevalence to the story but there's no picture, no details, nothing. Some of them get shown 1-2 times, including their gruesome death scenes but they get talked off camera for the most part. Can def. see the corners getting cut here. And again, it's not a big deal. Games, especially of this genre don't need a big budget to be good. This series is living proof of that as I think this is one of the best VN series out there but between that and the story revolving around one major area(The reoccurring school, this school is the setting for like almost all the 4 chapter scenes!), you can't help but notice the budget cuts to get this out. The school that most of this game takes place in rivals the Resident Evil 1 Mansion as far as most visited area in a game that I've played. I wish there would be a little bit more diversity with the setting but it's a extremely minor nitpick.
(When I wrote this part,I didn't realize this was a game that was backed by Japanese pledges(Maybe the equivalent of Kickstarter over there?) so in that respect, now I fully understand why the budget felt off in this game. Makes total sense.)

You do go into a forest in the final few chapters which is cool but much of this game hangs around the school that you start off exploring in.

I died twice via RNG in the spirit battles, again I don't like this change at all. You can pick the right outcomes and use logic to pick why it is but because of RNG, you can end up failing. In real life, I get it....facing down horror/evil you will stumble and panic so I won't dock much off this game due to this. It's realistic....but like I have an 80% chance of succeeding and still getting a failure is frustrating, especially when you lose health points off cheap scenes that you have no control over. The great news is you can boost your characters abilities(How much energy is drained or increasing the percentages of RNG) via the collectibles in this game. However, they really hide these collectibles super well. Like one has you clap 3 times on a random post or something in the later chapter, there's absolutely no way you would know that. I had to burn all of my collectibles at the end to beat the final boss because it would eat your health in cheap scenes to and during the battles.

I thankfully followed a spoiler free guide for this reason and yeah the twist was somewhat predictable albeit not in the way I thought it would be. Overall, great 3 game series.

Score: 8/10

If I have to rank them for me:

Spirit Hunter: Death Mark 1(9/10)
Spirit Hunter: Death Mark 2(8/10)
Spirit Hunter: NG(8/10)

The DLC of Death Mark 2 is like a 20 minute fluff piece that had no real meaning and I am going to read another DLC that was exclusive to Japanese backers but whenever this series gets another entry, I am absolutely in.

14) Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2(XSX): 3/31-4/2, 4/7-4/9

Finished Fuga 2 and yeah it's just as good as the 1st one. Even the additional Qualities of Life additions like the ability to use a airship service to go back to path choices to get more EXP/treasure/health or SP regain spots to better prepare yourself for the end of chapter bosses is such a good feature. There's a neutrality system of empathy vs resolution that is kinda cool given you get unique features per each choice you make. While it doesn't really impact your story too much, there are endings tied to this if you go extreme in one of the choices(Picking pure empathy gives you a different ending vs doing it neutral or picking resolution). It's no InFamous good vs evil or anything but still something cool to add flavor to the story. I preferred the enemies/main antagonist of the 1st one as it's a more consistent threat from start to finish(Won't spoil why) but outside of that, the sequel just does everything better than the 1st one, as you'd expect. The soul cannon returns which again is OP attack that can kill all enemies but it comes at the cost of a permadeath of chosen character you sacrifice which ruins your true ending opportunities and ruins the morale of your team members for a given time.

What is new in Fuga 2 is the Monorail attack which is this game's soul cannon ability only it knocks out(Rather than kill) the chosen member who uses it and your entire party won't get experience for the fight that it's used in. Given your member cannot join again until end of the chapter if they're KO'd, you're gonna want to stay away from this attack and use only in emergency. What adds to the stakes of each boss fight at the end of the chapter is if you hit below a certain HP threshold, your new A.I. who guides you throughout Fuga 2 will decide to not take any risk, to give you a 20 move ultimatum to finish the fight or else the randomly chosen teammate is used as the soul cannon to finish the job. This is rough as it's 20 moves not turns so you have 20 plays you can make to finish the fight or else you lose a member via permadeath. This was frustrating for me at first until I saw you can lose an ability point(You get 20 AP per intermission much like in Fuga 1) to ease up with the threshold where instead of 50% down it's like 25% health left before the A.I. goes rogue and goes emergency mode. It adds to the decision making and makes it a point to heal and not be in the position to be forced to use the soul cannon or have it thrown upon you.

It's still a game that you are best to play it in spurts, like 1-2 chapters a day since it does get repetitive with the combat and can be very same-sy. However, much like with Fuga 1, there's no real way to avoid that. Yes, enemy variation could be a bit better here as the enemies feel very similar to not only what you fight throughout Fuga 2 but it even feels like it rips off enemy design/combat choices from the 1st game. The only unique regular enemies in this one are the rare enemies that you have a certain amount of turns to kill in a spoils go to the victor sort of way. They are tougher to hit(High evasion) and again you have a set amount of time to get them or else they escape but you get good rewards to help sell off to get more currency to improve your workbases etc.

Score: 9/10. Had I played this last year, this is fighting with Sea of Stars for my 3rd favorite game of last year, that's how much I love this series. It feels like a cartoon you'd see on Cartoon Network or something, yet the game still does get somewhat dark in nature. Few new gimmicks that open the game up as well. Easy recommend to play if you at all liked the 1st one as it continues the story and gives you more of what you liked about the 1st game. Fact that there is a teaser for a 3rd game is awesome considering I don't think either game sold well as it's a very obscure series. I would be so down to play this game for a 3rd entry for sure. Effortless 30 hours put into this one. Well done!

 

[Blindy]

15) Ender Lillies: Quietus of the Knights(PLATNIUM)(PS5): 4/9, 4/13-4/16, 4/18

Got my 22nd overall Platinum with Ender Lillies: The Quietus of the Knights, yeah it's as good as advertised. Such an easy to get into Metroidvania and doing everything takes about 20 hours give or take which means there's a decent amount of content without too much bloat. The only area I disliked was the Sub. Lab late game which felt sort of confusing and had unavoidable AOE damage, regardless of if you find the right relic to equip or not. Every other area felt super enjoyable and with a killer soundtrack and art design, it was such a fun playthrough. As I get older, I find the simpler that games are, the better time I have with them and Ender Lillies is no exception. As with most games of this genre, you jump into the gameplay after minimal cutscenes and it's simple to get into. What this game does great is the amount of different builds you have access to where you get various relics throughout your journey as well as absorbing each big boss you kill and inherit their ability(Think Mega Man only there's no weaknesses of each boss) which are extremely useful and serve as the this Metroidvania's "Progress" mechanic. Double jump, air dash, wall climbing, hookshot etc. The music is outstanding and has a level of delicate classical music that is pleasant to listen to when you're even trying to fully complete an area. Very decent amount of enemy variation which is sometimes an issue for Metroidvania and a very healthy amount of save points/quick travel spots too. This game does inherit some elements of Soulsbourne games like the Bonfire mechanic of reviving downed enemies upon saving/refreshing your health but unlike Soulsbourne games, you level up automatically with enough experience and are not at risk of losing currency that is necessary in leveling up or buying items. Game is very forgiving in that regard and the boss fights consistent of learning a pattern of each boss. There was never a boss that took me more than 5 attempts but that could be a case by case basis of each player.

The lone blemishes of this game is the aforementioned one late game area and the inability to respec in this game. You have so many different type of builds that you get access to at the end of the game but because you needed to spend your upgrades to power up early relics/spirits obtained, you can't get back what you spent already so you are unable to power up your newer abilities gained. Again, I get it, it breaks the game open if it was so simple but that's why you put this the respec option at the endgame as I feel like inferior spirits I don't feel the need to use are wasted currency by the end. This leads to grinding if you truly want to max out or just even upgrade abilities which could have been fixed with a simple solution. The game moves better as you get more abilities but that's a Metroidvania thing and it'd defeat the purpose if you get these abilities immediately so I get it but Ender Lillies much like all the other similiar genre games, feels much better the further you get into it.

Score: 9/10. So glad to fit this in here in 2024, especially with the sequel looming, the next Ender game becomes must play based off how good this 1st one was.

 

[Jooxed]

Game 33 - Trails of Cold Steel - 7/20 - Steam Deck - Had a tough time getting into this one, thats why it took me such a long time to beat. It was pretty boring as per typical first game in the arc in the series, then went form 0-100 real fast in the last chapter. Enjoyed the chapter and cliffhanger. On to 2!

 

[Wozzer]

First two for the year!;



Out of hibernation and awaiting the influx of completions coming in . I'm unfortunately still quite some ways away, but hopeful I'll make it for the year.

Lots of Guild Wars 2 as I try to plow through the last decade of expansions, and our Discord server monthly nominations. Currently deep in Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth and this months monthly Dusk

 

[Andyliini]

Game 19 - Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - Nintendo Switch
Finally time for me to play the only Mario RPG from Nintendo I have never played. I can see why some people remember it fondly, it has fun characters, and far less bullshit moments then it's predecessor. Even after this one, I still feel like Mario & Luigi is a better series, if only for being a more traditional RPG with less gimmicks. Other thing I didn't enjoy was the constant running back and forth. I read that there were a lot more of that in the original, but it must have been exhausting thing to do in the original.

Game 20 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist - Nintendo Switch
Just another quick game to finish, nothing special about this. Similar, if a bit worse game than Turtles in Time.

Game 21 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue - Nintendo Switch
This was far more interesting. Konami really did a Metroidvania title for the Turtles back then. It would be a fun game if it wasn't so archaic. Enemies respawn constantly, and do high damage. You can grind for health drops, but the more dangerous enemies will eat your health away fast. All the turtles share the same energy bar, and especially bosses are very difficult to avoid. There is also a life system, which you are given three. Once those are lost, it's back to the beginning. There is a password, though.

Game 22 - Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition - Nintendo Switch
Well, I did everything I could. I got all the pins, avatars, S-ranks and whatnot. The only thing I could not achieve was a straight line of S-ranks in the Legendary Challenge, that proved to be too difficult. I had m share of fun, but there should have been more content in here.

 

[Skeptical]

Getting closer...

34. Prince of Persia The Lost Crown (19h, ★★★★). Some Metroidvanias focus on exploration, some on action, some on platforming. Prince of Persia somehow manages to focus on all three, and does all of them well! Boss fights were tough but doable (and stylish!), platforming took a queue from older PoP games and took full advantage of your moveset, and (despite being quite long for a Metroidvania) it never dragged. In particular, the crystal time doppleganger thing was used well for both combat and exploration I think. It's not perfect, of course, but it's definitely a must play for any Metroidvania fan. Heck, it's worth playing even if you aren't.

35. Batman: Arkham Asylum (13h, ★★★). I can see the comparisons to Metroid Prime. Of course, one is overtly gameplay-centric with unique, varied environments, clever environmental traversal, immediate rewards for exploration, a fun, unique mechanism for traversal through tight spaces, and virtually no down time once you start. The other is constantly stopping you to hear people yapping away, the same gray gloom everywhere, fairly simplistic maps, nothing but boring lore for exploration, the same constant cut scene every time you walk through a vent... You can probably tell which one I prefer. Still, for a highly rated AAA Western game, it's pretty good.

36. Densetsu no Starfy (3h?, ★★). I always wanted to try this series since I first heard about it 20 some odd years ago for some reason. So I'm glad I got the chance; I just wish it could have been in English. Who knew that a cutesy little platformer would have so much text? Still, ignoring that, it had some pretty good ideas, a different type of movement, and a decent artstyle. It was also too easy and had a ton of fetch quests. One part made you redo a section 3 times, going a little further each time, making for rather painful padding. So I'm glad I played it, but I'm not going to go for the other ones at the moment.

37. Dusk (13h, ★★). I'm not an FPS person, so I'm not the best judge. All I know is that this didn't really move the needle for me. It's an obvious throwback to 90s era games, which is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it does it well, but there just isn't anything special enough to make me think I shouldn't just be playing Doom or Heretic. There were also a couple parts that just annoyed me, such as the massive difficulty spike of trying to do a boss fight over bottomless pits. I have terrible spatial recognition in FPS games; I don't need this kind of aggravation. And the epic final arena battle against hundreds was basically just me running around in circles waiting for everyone to kill each other, hardly fun. But if you already like old school FPSs, you'll undoubtedly enjoy this one as well.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Mind if I participate? I think I posted one in 2020 but it never got acknowledged. Only time I hit over 52 since I swamped in the GAAS trenches afterward. Never again.

1. Idol Days (Switch) - 9th January
2. Wanted: Dead (PS5) - 14th January
3. Star Ocean: The Second Story R (Switch) - 17th January
4. Poppy Playtime: Chapter 1 (PS5) - 20th January
5. Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash (PS5) - 3rd February
6. Tekken 8 (PS5) - 3rd February
7. Silent Hill: The Short Message (PS5) - 3rd February
8. Mega Man Battle Network (Switch) - 5th February
9. Pokemon FireRed (GBA Player) - 15th February
10. Plague Tale: Innocence (PS5) - 25th February
11. Resistance: Retribution (PS5) - 29th February
12. Star Ocean: The First Departure R (Switch) - 10th March

Only game I've played to enter personal top 5 this year so far is Star Ocean 2.

Haven't posted in months. Here's the full update as of today:

1. Idol Days (Switch) - 9th January
2. Wanted: Dead (PS5) - 14th January
3. Star Ocean: The Second Story R (Switch) - 17th January
4. Poppy Playtime: Chapter 1 (PS5) - 20th January
5. Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash (PS5) - 3rd February
6. Tekken 8 (PS5) - 3rd February
7. Silent Hill: The Short Message (PS5) - 3rd February
8. Mega Man Battle Network (Switch) - 5th February
9. Pokemon FireRed (GBA Player) - 15th February
10. Plague Tale: Innocence (PS5) - 25th February
11. Resistance: Retribution (PS5) - 29th February
12. Star Ocean: The First Departure R (Switch) - 10th March
13. Dredge (PS5) - 13th March
14. Final Fantasy II (GBA Player) - 23rd March
15. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (PS5) - 13th April
16. LA Noire (Switch) - 21st April
17. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (PS5) - 13th May
18. Resident Evil 0 (Switch) - 16th May
19. Resident Evil Remake (Switch) - 18th May
20. Infamous: Festival of Blood (PS3) - 29th May
21. Endless Ocean: Luminous (Switch) - 7th June
22. Final Fantasy VII (Vita) - 8th June
23. Silent Hill: Play Novel (GBA) - 15th June
24. Koudelka (PS3) - 24th June
25. Vampire the Masquerade - Coteries of New York - 26th June (Switch)
26. Vampire the Masquerade - Shadows of New York - 30th June (Switch)
27. Final Fantasy X - 13th July (Vita)
28. Demon's Souls - 20th July (PS5)
29. Streets of Rage 4 - 22nd July (PS5)
30. Puzzle Drop Carnival - 1st August (PS5)

30 games in. I think I'm gonna make it, I'm just swamped playing JRPGs rather than shorter experiences. lol. The Vampire the Masquerade games had the atmosphere down but sort of lacked the bite of Bloodlines but they were just VNs. Two best games of the 5 so far are still Star Ocean 2 remake and Demon's Souls, while I'm not mega passionate about was a great 20 hour Souls experience. I thought Streets of Rage 4 would he trash but it was actually decent, the music on the other hand...

 

[applesaucejaxon]

Here's my previous post: https://www.neogaf.com/threads/52-games-1-year-2024-backlogbeat.1665299/post-268765391

I figured I'd make a new post since that one was getting pretty long and I'm in the home stretch, now.

40: Grand Theft Auto 3 Definitive Edition - Switch - Beat 8/5
My god, I should have never bought or played this. I remember thinking this game was amazing when it first released on the PS2. In fact, this was the reason why I bought a PS2 in the first place. I played it at a friend's house and I was hooked, so I went out the next day and bought a PS2 and a copy of GTA3. Playing it now, this game sucks. The missions are mostly crap, and the cars feel like garbage. And this isn't just a "Definitive Edition" issue. I had to go back and play the original for a little, and it's definitely crappy. Definitive Edition issues: This is a PS2 game. It still looks essentially like a PS2 game. There is no reason for the Switch to look as bad as it does. Not only is it low res, but the frame rate actually feels like it has the same EXACT SAME crappy frame rate issues as on the PS2. It literally played mostly how I remember it playing originally. Choppy frame rate is bad enough, but choppy 30 fps is mind blowing considering what it is. Cars also blow up way too fast. And the new character models suck. The only upside is it looks significantly better handheld with the OLED Switch vs on the TV. But that's not really much of an achievement. I went in seeing the bad reviews, but I wanted portable GTA. I figured issues would be ironed out for the most part by now, but this is shameful. Not quite WWE 2K18 Switch version bad, but pretty close to it. One of my favorite games of all time has been Vice City, but I'm feeling like I should just not play it and let it still be awesome in my memory. Glad it was on sale. Was definitely not marked down enough.

41: Dead Island Retro Revenge - Beat 8/12 - Xbox
I can honestly say this was the most fun I've had playing a Dead Island game. Was a nice challenge towards the end. For once, I'll say it could have been a little longer.

42: Gears of War 4 - Beat 8/15 - Xbox
This came with my One S that I got forever ago, and I just never got into it. I liked it. It was a good Gears game that stuck to the Gears formula. But that could be a negative, also.

43: Steamworld Dig - Beat 8/17 - Switch
Another fun game that I struggled to really get invested in for a long time. I finally decided it was time to finish it, and I'm glad I did. Just a neat game all around.

44: Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD - Beat 8/17 - PS5
I haven't played a monkey Ball game since the original on GameCube. Holy crap, this game kicked my ass once I got to world 7. I had to walk away from it multiple times over the last week because I was essentially just banging my head against the wall. Regardless, I enjoyed it a lot.

45: Forza Horizon 5 - Beat 8/19 - Xbox/PC
I've been chipping away at this one a little bit at a time. It's a pretty decent game to do in bite sized chunks. I liked it. Not the best Horizon game, but still very good.

46: Pikmin 4 - Beat 8/29 - Switch
I've loved this series since the original. I enjoyed it for than 3. I liked that it had a lot of meat to it. It really kept me busy and held my attention.

47: Cat Quest 3 - XBox - Beat 9/3
I have to say, while simple, these games are consistently fun and improve with every iteration. This one hit for me especially because I'm a sucker for any game pirate related. Only gripe is this one felt easier than the other 2. May have been my load out, not sure.

48: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022) - PS5 - Beat 9/3
Pretty good campaign. I put a lot of time in to the multiplayer, but never played the campaign for some reason. Going to play MW3 next, and I at least already know that is going to be disappointing. Getting prepped for BO6. I want to finish these games up and finish up my 52 games or at least be at 51 by launch day. Once 6 drops, I'll probably just be playing that for the rest of the year.

49: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3(2023) - Xbox - Beat 9/4
This campaign was shit on so much that I think it lowered my expectations to critical levels. I actually kind of liked it. Could it have been better? Absolutely. But the open world stages gave me a Phantom Pain vibe. That was a nice change of pace to me from the usual linear experiences. That being said, it had the side effect of making those levels have a much less cinematic feel. And what do we play the COD campaigns for if not the cinematic experiences?

The grand conclusion will be here...

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

July Update:
Main Post

53. Thor: God of Thunder (Xbox 360) - 4/10
Have had this game sitting around for years. Maybe I should've left it there. It's a fairly typical action/combat game throughout and honestly a tad bit boring. The biggest issue for me was near the end of the game. They introduced a mechanic that you need to keep the spirits of Asgard high...but you can barely control it. You have to complete multiple challenges quickly to ensure you don't lose Asgard. This portion of the game probably took the longer than all of the other levels. It was painful and had me questioning why I was even bothering. Luckily, I figured it out and got through it and to the final boss (which was a breeze). This is definitely a movie tie-in that is best forgotten.

54. Crush3d (3DS) - 6/10
I had no idea this game would be as challenging as it is. There were some levels that I was extremely frustrated because I could not figure out how to make the game work for me. I didn't realize this was a quasi-remake, but looking at the original, I think the OG had better design than this. My biggest issue is that there isn't really a ramp into the difficulty, they just introduce things and then you are in the deep end. Sometimes the controlling of the camera and "crush" angles really messed with my brain. I picked this up near the end of the 3DS, and while I am glad I finished it...I don't know if I would recommend it or ever touch it again. This was a very hard puzzle game.

55. Icy Dungeon (Playdate) - 9/10
Another lovely experience on the Playdate. Doesn't use the crank, but it's still a fun experience that isn't available anywhere else. There are 70 levels and a few took me a bit to figure out. If you have a Playdate, you should definitely pick this one up.

56. Terminator: Salvation (Xbox 360) - 4/10
You battle the same 4 enemies across the entire game. I think my total playtime was 3 and a half hours. The mechanics of the game were honestly not bad, but you just end up fighting the same dang enemies the whole time. No variety in levels or environments. When the game ended, I was legit shocked, because I was running from an enemy and it seemed to be leading to a boss fight and then it just stopped. Bad game.

57. Space Quest I: Roger Wilco in the Sarien Encounter (PC) - 7/10
I have wanted to give the Space Quest series another go for quite a while. I only dabbled with SQ6 as a kid and could never get very far. I really did enjoy the game but it's definitely obtuse, even by the 80's standards when it was made. It is very easy to make a mistake and die in this game. I was saving very often to ensure I could make it to the end. I only had to pull out a guide a few times because I found no logical path fowards...which is typically the case with these old PnC games. If you love the genre, still worth a play!

58. Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge (PC) - 7/10
I enjoyed this one roughly the same as part 1. I think the puzzles were trickier and the difficulty higher, with potential death, but it all balanced out. The humor got a little better and I enjoyed the small advancements in the tech of the time. These are very old school point and click games and you really need to be a fan to find enjoyment out of it. I needed a guide for this game much more than part 1. I'll probably give SQ III a chance in the near future!

 

[Dacvak]

Oh, my love, Mario Maker. I’ve been a huge fan of this game since it debuted on the sadly limp Wii U. While the 2nd game unfortunately shed some of the silliness of the original (like Lanky Mario, and the Amiibo costumes), it easily made up for that with excellent engine changes, a better camera, and so many more items and features to exploit.

This is still one of those games where I’m shocked Nintendo let this through the initial boardroom pitch. Nintendo, who has been historically horrible about letting fans mess with their most popular IP, opened the floodgates by allowing the Average Joe to mold Mario in their own chaotic image.

This game somewhat suffers from its own popularity, being particularly difficult to find quality levels using the in-game mechanisms. But for someone like me, who seeks out the best and most creative stages out there, it’s an oasis of content. Of the five game engines, all of them have unique merit and feel fantastic. As long as you’re willing to search out the good levels, there’s no way you wouldn’t have an awesome time with this game.

Aside from the short single player experience, I wasn’t sure how to declare this game “beaten”, so I just went with the milestone of beating 1000 total levels.

Unsurprisingly, one of my favorite games ever.

9/10

Let me start by saying this is the very first CoD game I’ve ever played. I somehow managed to avoid this franchise for the 20-odd years it’s been around.

So, I’m an adult. I’ve got pretty limited time. So I’ve been seeking out more and more games that I can beat in under 8 hours, especially ones where I don’t have to think too hard. Turns out, Call of Duty absolutely fits that bill.

I won’t pretend that this game was somehow outstanding or unique in any way. It’s a short, linear, bombastic campaign that holds your hand through the entire experience. But frankly, that’s just what I was looking for.

I’m not good at console FPS games, and I’ve got no interest in competing online anymore. So this lowest-common-denominator-ass game was exactly what I was craving. It’s like eating a few Reese’s cups. Yeah, they’re not healthy, but they’re trashy and indulgent.

I absolutely loved the gameplay in MWIII. The gunplay was SO tight, and it ran at 120fps on my Xbox. Frankly, that alone was enough to propel me through the game. This probably isn’t new info to most of you who have played CoD games, but I was taken aback by how good and controller-friendly the gameplay was. God bless that subtle auto-aim.

The biggest issue with this game was obviously the “story”. It was so boring, and the cutscenes were just awful. I still sat through them, in case they told me what happened had to do in my next mission. But they were just dumb. (Though I say this as someone who hadn’t played MW1 or 2.)

Either way, I’m super glad I waited for a CoD to hit Game Pass. This isn’t a game I would want to actively pay money for, but it’s exactly the type of game I’d enjoy on GP. Nice and short, satisfying gameplay, and pretty easy to get through. Plus that frame rate is super nice.

8/10

 

[Jooxed]

Game 34 - Power Wash Simulator - 8/15 - Steam Deck - I used to mentally make fun of people I saw playing this game. I just wanted to issue a public apology, I get it now. Im sorry.

Game 35 - Valorant - Xbox Series X - 8/15 - Put about 50-60 hours into Valorant with my brother since its been on game pass. Its now our go to multiplayer game.

 

[jshackles]

Game 32 - Cat Quest III - Nintendo Switch - Completed Aug 15th, 2024
I enjoyed the first two Cat Quest games, so I was patiently awaiting the third entry in the series. While it was better than the second game, it still didn't surpass the first one, for me at least. The pirate theme was really cool, and it was a lot of fun riding the ship and doing ship-based combat. Took me about 10 hours to complete, so I feel like the $20 asking price was just right. The ending seemed to be setting up a Cat Quest IV, and I'll be there for that day one.

 

[applesaucejaxon]

Game 32 - Cat Quest III - Nintendo Switch - Completed Aug 15th, 2024
I enjoyed the first two Cat Quest games, so I was patiently awaiting the third entry in the series. While it was better than the second game, it still didn't surpass the first one, for me at least. The pirate theme was really cool, and it was a lot of fun riding the ship and doing ship-based combat. Took me about 10 hours to complete, so I feel like the $20 asking price was just right. The ending seemed to be setting up a Cat Quest IV, and I'll be there for that day one.

I'm jumping into this one after I beat Steamworld Dig and Pikmin 4. The first 2 Cat Quest games really surprised me with how good they were.

 

[Dacvak]

I’m a Genesis kid, but I surprisingly never beat Mickey’s Castle of Illusion. So I finally went and played through the game on my Genesis, and I gotta say… this game is… okay.

I really expected a lot more. I see a good bit of praise for this game (from folks like Joe from Game Sack, plus there’s a remake of this), but I just don’t see it. It’s decent level design combined with decent controls and gameplay. I mean, yeah, it’s definitely not bad, but it’s certainly nothing special.

This is a game that’s been on my list for a few years, and after finally playing through, I just don’t see the love for it. The movement is slow and uninspired, but it’s still serviceable I guess. But there’s nothing outstanding about this game at all.

I have no idea why some Genesis owners showcase this game as a staple platformer of the console. If it weren’t so popular and iconic, I’d probably give it a six.

7/10

Decent game, but keep expectations low.

 

[March Climber]

A tale of two wastelands:

18) Mad Max (Xbox Series X Backwards Compatibility)

Rating: C-

19) Sand Land (PS5)

Rating: C+

They both have decent strengths but very glaring issues that can't be ignored.

Mad Max is essentially an Ubisoft game in structure with a car. There are only a handful of unique sidequest objectives and literally every single boss, except one, fights exactly the same with the same exact hammer/mallet-like object. You dodge the running hit, run back and get some hits in, then do an extra shiv move. Every base has the same objectives as well. It's all grating after a while due to how boring it is doing the same things over and over with zero mix ups and the map for this game is way, way too huge for such a thing. At least the car combat had it's moments of fun. Outside of the car it was a worse version of a Batman Arkham game.

Sand Land has the same issue as Final Fantasy 16, with a few extra issues on top of it's own. It starts off with a bang, constantly introducing you to new story bits, mechanics, features, and unique gameplay moments with added charm. The tank/car/bike/bot combat feels really fun, about as good as a twisted metal game. Then, it keeps going...and keeps going...and keeps going...and oh no, there's a second, just as huge map in the game. Suddenly a game that should have been a 20 hour hidden gem has been stretched beyond it's limits to be 60 to 80 hours at most.

Thank goodness the combat encounters are kept fresh enough throughout the game to keep it fun, however the big issue here is that it suffers from bloat, both in storytelling and in location types. You will see all there is to see by the halfway point of this game. By that I mean you will know what to expect from cities, caves, plateaus, junker markets, etc. However, for some reason the devs thought you would want way, way more than you ever needed to be satisfied.

Here's a tip for anyone playing Sand Land: Don't bother exploring the map unless you really need to find an upgrade material for a vehicle. The game's sidequests and main quests will normally give you everything you need and lead you to places you will eventually explore and discover anyway.

Also second tip: It is okay to speed-read through most of the side quest dialogue. Most of it is fluff, just like Final Fantasy 16's side quests. I don't know if this is a recent thing with Japanese games but it feels like the writers for these games want you to treat the smallest of things with the largest of importance.

For example, a character who likes painting will give you multiple side quests to learn more about what they like when it comes to painting. However, it doesn't really lead to anywhere of importance and after all of this she just becomes another NPC with no dialogue. It is head scratching. In a slice of life/visual novel game this would be fine, but in an action adventure it feels...meaningless. It reminds me of another game with fun gameplay but meaningless dialogue: Sword Art Online Fatal Bullet.

The reason I am talking about Sand Land much more than Mad Max is because Sand Land managed to actually impress me a ton and evoke feelings out of me. That speaks way more than Mad Max, which bored me, on a franchise where I've very much enjoyed every movie of. Sand Land is a game with potential that was simply stretched far too thin on too low of a budget. I really, really, wanted to give it a B rating, and for quite a bit of the game it is a B. But then it just keeps going and going like an energizer bunny. Not stopping to consider if it should simply wrap things up and end, until it's way too late and the person playing is way too worn out.

The way I think that Final Fantasy 16 is an A level game that kept pushing it's way down to a B rating, is the same way I think that Sand Land is a B level experience that kept pushing it's way down to a C.

On a side note, I also recently finished an MMO's campaign:

20) The First Descendant (PS5, Campaign ending as of August 2024)

Rating: B-

There's not much to say here except for the fact that this game has very good and fast/snappy gunplay gameplay, in-and-out co-op, and it has pretty fun level design with varied bosses and platforming included. This game reminds me of how big of a game changer the SSDs are in these new consoles. The game's speed feels current gen and suited to modern audiences who just want hop in and go. There is no Destiny style wait-load-wait-load screen. It's open map or select mission, tap on a map marker, and like the snap of the finger your character emotes when transporting, you're instantly there.

I just have three minor complaints:

1) Hard mode should have been introduced much sooner. It feels like this game's actual difficulty and it's fun. It makes it feel more like a Gears game in pacing with you having to take cover against swarms of enemies.

2) The story is nonsensical to the point of me thinking that this was produced by some AI program. This includes the characters all define in-universe terms with other in-universe terms until everything becomes a word salad. It makes it very tempting to be a skippable dialogue experience.

3) They need to add a cover system and ADS switching from right to left. This will probably be done in the future so this complaint is even more minor than the other two.

 

[marcincz]

Game 12 - RoboCop: Rogue City (PS5) - 14h 28m
Beat 16/07/2024 - my score: 7/10
Game 13 - Nobody Wants to Die (PS5) - 06h 22m
Beat 18/08/2024 - my score: 7/10
Game 14 - Nobody Wants to Die (PS5) - 03h 33m
Beat 20/08/2024 - my score: 7/10

Nobody Wants to Die beat twice. First - bad ending. Second - good + platinum trophy.

 

[Jooxed]

Game 36 - Thank Goodness You're Here - 8/26 - Steam Deck - Pretty Okay Game, I didn't think it was as funny as everyone else seemed to, maybe im not big into British culture. Found myself chuckling at a couple things though.

 

[Andyliini]

Game 23 - Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest the Adventure of Dai - Nintendo Switch
More like Infinity Trash. Most of the game consists of watching cutscenes, made by showing still images of the anime series. And when there is gameplay, it's just boring and uninspired slog. I don't know how Horii would have approved of this, but maybe he shouldn't give everything a go anymore. Dragon Quest is a grand series, and deserves better than this.

Game 24 - Kingdom Hearts III - Playstation 4
My love/hate relationship with this series hits an interesting wall. I did not love this, but I didn't hate this either. Most of the game is basic button mashing, and story is all over the place as usual. I'm currently playing through the DLC, and am seriously considering on dropping it. The first part was just replaying the base game's final stretch, and second is just fighting superbosses one after another. I might be able to do it, but am not sure if it's worth it.

Game 25 - Haunted Castle Revisited - Nintendo Switch
If it wasn't for shadow drop of the Dominus Collection, I wouldn't have achieved my three game quota of the month. This makes a an effort of making Haunted Castle enjoyable game, and actually succeeds in doing so. There is literally no reason to ever touch the original game anymore. Well done Konami and M2.

 

[Jooxed]

Game 37 - WoW: The War Within - 9/1/24 - Mac - Completed my playthrough of the new world of warcraft main story as I do for every new expac. Unsubbed and will be back I'm sure for the next expansion.

 

[Skeptical]

38. Kirby Return to Dreamland (8h, ★★). I've never played a modern 2D Kirby, so this was a pleasant surprise. More fast moving than the slow pace I was used to, so that's a good thing. And the crazy variety in copy abilities is impressive. Level design was fine, nothing too exciting but it got the job done. The new epilogue was short but reasonably fun, albeit nothing special. But still, it's a fine package, and probably the end of my Kirby wanderings.

39. Spyro the Dragon 2 (7h, ★★★). It's been a while since I've played the first, but I think this one was better. The decreased emphasis on finding every gem (although still there for people who want it) and a Mario64-esque emphasis on multiple goals per level helped a lot. It simply felt like more variety which helped keep each world distinct and made it worthwhile to keep seeing different areas. I still find Spyro a little tough to control, but it's not a complete dealkiller.

40. Klonoa (3h, ★). There's something off in controlling Klonoa here. I think the hitboxes are off on grabbing enemies, I'm not sure. But something about this game made it uncomfortable to play. I was also surprised at just how short the game is. But frankly, given the frustration in some of the controls, I'm not complaining. Cool design on the character. Interesting concept for a platformer. But the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Hopefully the second game is better.

41. Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble (11h, ★★★★). Oh yeah, Monkeys are back. I still miss the pure arcade approach, of playing 30 stages in a row with zero saving. But I'll be honest, I probably couldn't handle it today, so I understand why they don't bother. And they do have Time Attack with leaderboards to at least mimic it a little bit. And as a replacement, we get some crazy good challenging levels, levels that quickly outclassed anything in the original outside of Extra or Master levels. There are a few of the ones I really hate (launching oneself straight up and trying to fall in the right location), but thankfully they are few and far between. So while the first game may still hold the top place in my heart, this is a solid silver medal and will undoubtedly be replayed many times.

42. Islets (7h, ★★★). This game surprised me. When I first started, it felt disappointing: an incredibly spongy first boss, blocky and boring level designs, and at least initially feeling like nothing was special. But as the game opened up, it grew on me more. Spongy bosses became more interesting. Traversal was fast, convenient, and fun (seriously, climbing up walls is as fast as running. This little detail, even if not realistic, makes a huge deal when backtracking through a game with plenty of vertical elements). The idea of connecting islands together led to an interesting progression. So while I started off feeling like this was just another Metroidvania, it became a solid entry in the genre.


Some pretty good games this month.

 

[Wolzard]

01 - Final Fight - SNES - Capcom - 1991 - 8 mega - 6.7
02 - Final Fight 2 - SNES - Capcom - 1993 - 10 mega - 7.1
03 - Final Fight 3 - SNES - Capcom - 1996 - 24 mega - 8.0
04 - Super Metroid - SNES - Nintendo - 1994 - 24 mega - 8.2
05 - Super Castlevania IV - SNES - Konami - 1991 - 8 mega - 7.5
07 - Castlevania Bloodlines - Mega Drive - Konami - 1994 - 8 mega - 9.1
08 - After Burner Complete - 32X - Rutubo Games - 1995 - 16 mega - 7.2
09 - Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse - Mega Drive - Sega - 1990 - 4 mega - 6.9
10 - World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck - Mega Drive - Sega - 1993 - 8 mega - 8.1
11 - Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles - Mega Drive - Sonic Team - 32 mega - 1994 - 9.5
12 - The Revenge of Shinobi - Mega Drive - Sega - 1989 - 4 mega - 7.9
13 - Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi - Mega Drive - Sega - 1990 - 4 mega - 9.3
14 - Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master - Mega Drive - Sega - 1993 - 8 mega - 8.1
15 - Splatterhouse - Turbografx-16 - Namco - 1989 - 4 mega - 7.9
16 - Splatterhouse 2 - Mega Drive - Now Production - 1992 - 8 mega - 7.6
17 - Splatterhouse 3 - Mega Drive - Now Production - 1993 - 16 mega - 6.9
18 - Golden Axe 32X Edition (Hack) - 32X - Sega/ jvisser - 1989/2023 - 16 mega - 8.5
19 - Golden Axe 2 - Mega Drive - Sega - 1992 - 4 mega - 6.7
20 - Golden Axe 3 - Mega Drive - Sega - 1993 - 8 mega - 4.9
21 - Rocket Knight Adventures - Mega Drive - Konami - 1993 - 8 mega - 8.1
22 - Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2 - Mega Drive - Konami - 1994 - 8 mega - 7.4
23 - M.U.S.H.A.: Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Armor - Mega Drive - Compile - 1991 - 4 mega - 7.5
24 - Panorama Cotton - Mega Drive - Success - 1994 - 20 mega - 8.1
25 - Alisia Dragoon - Mega Drive - Game Arts - 1992 - 8 mega - 7.3
26 - Shui Hu: Feng Yun Zhuan - Mega drive - Never Ending Soft Team - 1997 - 16 mega - 6.9
27 - The Adventures of Batman & Robin - Mega drive - Clockwork Tortoise - 1995 - 16 mega - 8.0
28 - Wings of Wor - Mega drive - NCS Corp - 1991 - 4 mega - 6.5
29 - Android Assault: The Revenge of Bari-Arm - Sega Mega CD - Human - 1994 - 2896 mega (362 MB) - 7.2
30 - Snatcher - Sega Mega CD - Konami - 1994 - 5000 mega (625 MB) - 9.5
31 - Sonic the Hedgehog CD - Sega Mega CD - Sega CS3 - 1993 - 4808 mega (601 MB) mega - 6.5
32 - Final Fight CD - Sega Mega CD - A-Wave - 1993 - 3584 mega (448 MB) - 7.0
33 - Keio Flying Squadron - Sega Mega CD - Victor Entertainment - 1995 - 4464 mega (558 MB) - 7.3
34 - Contra III: The Alien Wars - SNES - Konami - 1992 - 8 mega - 6.8
35 - The Firemen - SNES - Human Entertainment - 1995 - 8 mega - 9.0
36 - Gradius III - SNES - Konami - 1991 - 4 mega - 7.4
37 - Star Fox - SNES - Nintendo EAD / Argonaut Software - 1993 - 8 mega - 7.8
38 - The Ninja Warriors - SNES - Natsume - 1994 - 12 mega - 8.6
39 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time - SNES - Konami - 1992 - 8 mega - 8.1
40 - Cybernator (Assault Suits Valken) - SNES - NCS Corp - 1993 - 8 mega - 8.8
41 - The King of Dragons - SNES - Capcom - 1994 - 16 mega - 7.8
42 - Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition - SNES - Natsume - 1995 - 8 mega - 8.0
43 - Kirby's Adventure - NES - HAL Laboratory - 1993 - 6 mega - 9.0
44 - Knights of the Round - SNES - Capcom - 1994 - 12 mega - 7.9
45 - Wild Guns - SNES - Natsume - 1995 - 8 mega - 8.1
46 - Final Fantasy I: Dawn of Souls - GBA - Square Enix - 2004 - 128 mega - 8.2
47 - Final Fantasy II: Dawn of Souls - GBA - Square Enix - 2004 - 128 mega - 7.5

I decided to start playing the Final Fantasy franchise, so in the final stretch, I'm stalling a bit, since the games are longer.

 

[March Climber]

21) BLACK (Xbox Series X Backwards Compatibility)

Rating: B-

Tackled another underrated Xbox classic. With all of the creative destructive cover and environments I’d say this campaign rivals Red Faction 2’s campaign in some ways, but has more of the ‘walk forward and shoot’ linearity to it with some hidden collectibles on the side.

The combat encounter design is fun enough, but unfortunately, what brought it down for me was the bad enemy AI, the obnoxious enemy spawn closets (they are plentiful), and Mission 7: The Bridge (The mission before the last one), which might have some of the worst checkpointing I have ever seen in a video game level which is quite lengthy in distance.

It takes about 6-8 hours to beat. At least finishing it on hard mode will give you some fun infinite ammo cheat you can use, but the problem is you’re still going to have a tough time with enemies that all have perfect aim due to their very simplistic AI. So after I unlocked it, I realized this, then I realized I didn’t like this game that much and deleted it off of my hard drive.

Back in the 2000s this game would be the perfect example of a fun rental.

 

[Jooxed]

jshackles have you started working on visions of mana yet ? What do you think ?

 

[jshackles]

jshackles have you started working on visions of mana yet ? What do you think ?

I'm 12.5 hours in, and I love it. It's quickly climbing my list of the best games released this year. Before I would have said Rebirth was my favorite... this one is giving it a run for its money. Has a lot of the same nostalgia beats (if you were obsessed with Secret of Mana back in the day, like I was), but a good original story, fun combat, great traversal, just an all around great JRPG. You'll definitely wanna check this one out.

 

[applesaucejaxon]

Previous Post

50: Bugsnax - PS5 - Beat 9/6

I have mixed feelings on this one. It was fine. I liked the character designs for the most part. I really liked Filbo. The game just didn't do much for me. I could tell I was getting close to the end last night, so I stuck with it. Definitely a 6 out of 10 game. The Snax replacing limbs was fine and all, but it needed a better hook. Like maybe getting certain powers from certain Snax. The end

Spoiler: Spoiler-ish

was interesting, but it would have been fun to fight one of the big creatures. Just rehashing all the normal powers while dealing with the same Snax from the rest of the game was kind of a let down

So now I'm truly in the home stretch and have a small predicament. I'll be beating the Black Ops 6 campaign the week that comes out, so that leaves 1 game that I need to complete my 52. Settling on Bugsnax for 50 was already a struggle and I only picked it because it's been hanging out on my PS5 SSD since launch day and I just wanted to clear off some space. I definitely don't want to buy something new to play because my backlog is depressing, but I also just don't feel like playing basically any of those games right now.

My Backloggery account isn't super up to date, but I'm scrolling through and nothing is really sticking out to me as must play. I was thinking Fire Emblem: 3 Houses, but that game is so damn long and I just can't do that while I'm the primary caregiver during the daytime for my 1 year old daughter. I already feel like I've neglected her enough because of games this year. It was easier earlier in the year when she still spent the bulk of the days asleep. She's bright eyed and bushy tailed these days and I don't want her to be a couch potato watching videogames. I already have 3 boys - one of which that's an adult - that are like that...

Edit: Man, I just went through everything on my Backloggery, and this is just a FRACTION of my backlog. I never added almost any of my PS5 games, Series X games, or PC games. Jesus, Steam ALONE has about 300 games, and I only ever added 35 of them to the database. Somehow that makes it even more depressing. And it's missing all my PS1, PS2, PS3, OG XBox, and 360 games. Granted my 360 is apparently dead and I won't be finishing most of those, but man...

 

[Jooxed]

I'm 12.5 hours in, and I love it. It's quickly climbing my list of the best games released this year. Before I would have said Rebirth was my favorite... this one is giving it a run for its money. Has a lot of the same nostalgia beats (if you were obsessed with Secret of Mana back in the day, like I was), but a good original story, fun combat, great traversal, just an all around great JRPG. You'll definitely wanna check this one out.

I started it last night on steam deck, so far seems good performance does it hold up? Loved secret of mana

 

[Jooxed]

Game 38 - Black Ops 6 Open Beta - 9/8/24 - Series X - I put about 30 hours into the open bets in the past week with my buddies. Had fun but probably wont play the full game, COD seems to be much faster than I remember. I felt like Ricky Bobby after he got back on the track after his accident.

Wozzer Does this count even though its open beta? Ive just been judging how much time i spend in a game if its more than 20 hours ill include it. If not i will remove the game.

 

[Jooxed]

Game 39 - Luigi's Mansion 2 - 9/10/24 - Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Games are always on point however Luigi's mansion 3 was better in almost every way, in my opinion.

Game 40 - Splatoon 3 - 9/10/24 - Nintendo Switch - Probably my favorite multiplayer game. Just beat the DLC which was pretty lackluster IMO but I love the game so much.

 

[stn]

1. Dead Space Remake (XSX) - 9/10
2. Tekken 8 (PS5) - 9/10
3. Granblue Fantasy: Relink (PS5) - 9/10
4. Resident Evil 4 Remake (XSX) - 10/10
5. Rise of the Ronin (PS5) - 8.5/10
6. WWE 2K24 (XSX) - 8/10
7. KOF 13: Global Match (PS4) - 8.5/10
8. Bloodborne (PS4) - 8.5/10

This is for the year so far. I beat Bloodborne the other night, so working on 100%'ing it now. Next up I will focus on Stellar Blade (PS5), as I'm already 60% done according to the game stats.