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[BusierDonkey]

Game 50

Ghostbuster: The Video Game Remastered - Finished playthrough, all upgrades and PKE scans.

This was a very good game, or for a licensed game it was great. Written by Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd and starring all the actors from the films, the game carried the same sarcastic and often absurd humor the first movie did. In this game you play a rookie member who just joined the team just after the events of Ghostbusters II and work your way through set pieces and location from the movies scattered around New York city like the hotel, library, sewers, etc. The music is also pulled straight from the films. Gameplay is 3rd person and honestly feels really good. There is almost no HUD, everything is displayed on your proton pack, similar to Dead Space, something I wish more games did. Progressing further into the game, as dimensions merge, you find yourself in increasingly bizarre locations and unlocking more functions of your proton pack. There are several fun boss fights and plenty of exploration to do while looking for secrets with your PKE meter. The game is pretty short by modern standards at around 8-10 hours, but I feel that is about as long as the game needed to be without getting repetitive,

Game 51

Resident Evil Remaster - Finished Jill run, 100% items

This is the first Resident Evil game I've ever finished. I absolutely suck at this style of game. The deliberately clunky controls coupled with the fact that I can back myself into a corner with item overuse and the fact I hate not killing the zombies every time I see them means I tend to get frustrated way too fast playing these. I am a huge fan of the games though; I used to watch my siblings play them. The setting and story are fascinating, uncovering the messed-up things that happened in the mansion are the kind of thing I've always gravitated toward. I finally did myself a favor and forced myself to play the game properly and push past my grievances with the controls. As one would expect, it took an hour or so before I stopped noticing the controls and started enjoying exploring the mansion. This version of the game has a ton of new content over the original PS1 title, and the animated backdrops hold up quite well despite how much time has passed. The voice acting is still trash, but not nearly as awful as in the original game. This was a massive hole in my gaming history, I'm looking forward to trying more games in the series.

Game 52.

Resident Evil 2 (Gamecube) - Finished Leon Scenario A and B, Jill Scenario A and B

I went into this game expecting it to be more than a little rough but came away surprised at how well it holds up. While I never played this game back in the day, I did watch my siblings play it a lot, I remembered a lot of it, but in pieces. While I still tend to struggle with tank controls at times they never get in the way of the game. In this game the mansion is replaced with the Raccoon City Police station and all the strange structures tied to it. The PD is similar in size compared to the mansion, but the layout feels easier to navigate. The separate areas are also more contained, meaning keys and secret items tend to be used mostly in the area you find them in. This game takes itself a bit more lightly than the first, with goofy characters and scenarios popping up throughout the game. The game is chock full of jump scares, most expected but back in the day the licker jumping through the interrogation room mirror was pants-shitting stuff, not because I was scared but because I just felt like doing it, I do what I want when I want, it's my hot body! Splitting the game up into multiple scenarios makes replaying the game worthwhile, I only played scenario A for both characters, but I'll eventually run through scenario B for both which brings in new things and events, like the Mr. X encounters. I've since completed both scenarios for both Jill and Chris. The scenario B adds a lot of new areas and content. I would like to play as Hunk and Tofu but they require perfect runs to unlock and perfect isn't something I'm capable of with these games.

Game 53.

Resident Evil 3 - Completed playthrough, killed off Nikolai

This game is better than 2 in many ways, new control features mean you can quick-turn and dodge attacks, you can make your own ammo, and the visuals got a huge bump up from RE2 (sometimes). Unfortunately, Raccoon City's map is nowhere near as well-planned and fun to traverse as RE2 and when you need to backtrack it's down a spaghetti mess of narrow, samey alleys. Puzzles are of a similar vein as previous entries, nothing is too hard to figure out as long as you look around for the answer. The atmosphere in this game goes further down the goofy path from the original, Umbrella becomes more and more cartoon villain-tier evil as the series continues, but I actually like that. Nemesis was fun, he shows up all the time at the worst possible times and unless you take care of him, he won't let up. The choose your own adventure sections are an interesting addition to the game but honestly, I doubt I would replay this one just for a slightly different section here and there, it's a far cry from the various scenarios in RE2 that completely change how the game is played. In the end I found this game felt way longer than it needed to be but then I discovered that I had only played it for 7 hours. Where I still want to go back to RE2 after a dozen hours, I think I'm good moving on from this one.

Game 54.

Resident Evil: Code Veronica X - Completed playthrough

I had a lot of fun with this one. Umbrella continues to become more and more cartoonishly evil with a literal Bond villain-tier military complex run by an insane lunatic. It's got everything a good villain island fortress could ever need. There are a bunch of great characters like the prison guard who regifts you your own lighter, Steve "Not John Connor" who doesn't know how to hold a gun, Wesker who has become a supervillain and of course there's Alfred Ashford who is actually schizophrenic. This game changes the series forever with a switch from pre-rendered 2D to fully polygonal backdrops. On one hand the game lost the gritty (but low resolution) details off previous entries but in place of that came dynamic camera angles that had a degree of movement making it easier to see and required a lot less camera swapping. Despite still using tank controls, the game feels a lot tighter to control and thanks to the polygonal environments you can tell where the collision boxes are, so you get hung up a lot less than in previous entries. The map in this game was really well done, compared to previous games it's much bigger but at the same time easier to navigate. Backtracking is frequent like before, but it never feels like I'm going out of my way or that a safe room is annoyingly out of reach. This was by far the most enjoyable map to explore so far. There's not too much new in terms of weapons, but the combat feels quicker with the quick turn returning and more responsive movement. Jump scares are constantly popping up but I found the game was lighter on the horror aspect this time. Overall, this is my favorite of the Resident Evil games I've played so far, but I expect RE4 will probably top it.

Game 55.

Resident Evil 0 - Completed playthrough

I actually started playing the Gamecube version using Dolphin and got past the train section where the emulation had issues getting past a bunch of FMV sequences. Apparently I own it on Steam as well so I restarted the game there. The game itself doesn't follow Code Veronica in its presentation. While Code Veronica moved to polygonal environments this went back to the FMV backdrops first used on the Gamecube REmake. The Gamecube game was a really good looking game in its day but the PC HD remaster is really pretty. The FMV backgrounds were all redone in higher resolutions and in many cases they were completely changed including slight camera angle changes. I would honestly love to see this done with modern storage. The gameplay also goes back to REmake, but with a new co-op mechanic where you control Rebecca, Billy or both at the same time. Solving puzzles over multiple floors of the training facility was a new twist for the series and for the most part was a fun addition. Another new feature was the removal of item boxes, instead each part of the map could contain a set number of items, allowing you to just dump items you either don't need, or want to save for later. The AI controlled character was, unfortunately, an idiot. Even in the middle of a boss fight they would often just stand there waiting to get hit before retaliating. The origin story in this was absolutely goffball-tier stuff, once again Umbrella is pushed further into cartoon villain territory which I 'm loving. I didn't expect to enjoy this one as much as the others but overall came away pretty impressed with it.

Game 56

Resident Evil 4 - All Treasures/Bottlecap figures

This game was so different from all the REs so far. It kind of picks up where Code Veronica leaves the series, going more towards action than before. The game is constantly throwing enemies in your path and unlike previous games just running by them isn't always a great option. You're given plenty of ammo, health and support items thanks to an almost magical merchant who is always around to sell you weapons, upgrades and health if you're in desperate need. There are also save locations all over the place, so you don't need to go back and forth to one location constantly to save. The puzzles are toned down in this, and the map is much less maze-like than before. For the most part your goal is always dead ahead, with only minor backtracking or exploration. Despite that, the game environments are fantastic, taking you from the woods, through a ruined village, the surrounding farms, a church, a massive castle, then finally to a military island. The gameplay in this goes from laid-back to absolutely frantic and often back and forth, nothing ever feels unfair, while enemies will rush up to you, they slow down giving you a chance to get a shot off. The bosses are all great, often including the environment in the fight. The story fits well with the series, though the game is a lot grittier than Code Veronica, it's full of goofy shit like a giant robot, fire-breathing dragon statues, and things that were clearly added just to make the game fun. The supporting characters are all good, Ashley isn't annoying and can be stuffed in a box if you think she'll get killed. Ada pops in and out to torment Leon, Luis seems like a fun guy at parties. The visuals in this game (especially back in 2005) hold up remarkably well. It goes back to polygonal environments, but they are much more detailed and fleshed out than Code Veronica. While they aren't quite as detailed as RE0, the new over the shoulder camera angle would be impossible with FMV environments. My gripe with this game is the overabundance of QTEs, which I absolutely detest. I was playing the Steam release in which the QTEs are broken unless you play at 30fps which made them even more annoying. Once I lowered the framerate they give you plenty of time to press the buttons, but I still hate them.

 

[Barakov]

Game 12. Robocop Rogue City

 

[Kacho]

27.	Earthion	PC	1 hour	9/10	An incredible shmup from Yuzo Koshiro. The music took me back to 1992.
28.	Patapon	PC	16 hours	9/10	More cryptic than I remember. Very fun though and immersive. Has soul like a Katamari game.

 

[SpiceRacz]

Took a break for a bit, but I'm back at it. Not sure I'm going to hit 52 by the end of the year. Going to do my best. The following games are newer and not backlog. Still adding them to the list though.

#22 Chronicles of The Wolf - Apparently the team behind this have been doing Castlevania style games for a bit and it shows. This is a combination of Simon's Quest and Symphony of the Night style gameplay. If you have even a passing interest in metroidvanias, I'd urge you to play this. It's way better than it has any right to be. Will probably make it's way into my top 10 at the end of year.

#23 Earthion -This is a love letter to Sega Genesis shmups from my childhood. Except rather than some random indie studio, it's from Yuzo Koshiro and Ancient Corp. People that actually worked on games back in the 90s. There's a lot of imitators out there - modern games made for retro consoles. Earthion is authentic to the Genesis and the genre in a way that truly feels like it could have came out in 30 years ago. Gameplay is smooth. It introduces a shield mechanic that I can't recall seeing before in this type of game. Graphically, it's as impressive of a Genesis game I can remember.. Most importantly, it's not brutally hard and there's adjustable difficulty settings. Anyone that's a fan of the Genesis or retro games in general needs to play it.

#24 Ninja Gaiden Ragebound - I just finished this one tonight, but will maybe write something up later.

 

[Wolzard]

#6 - Final Fantasy Type-0 HD (2015)

It's a fantastic game, despite its original limitations, as it's a PSP game. One of the best games in the franchise I've ever played.

The story is interesting, it shares mythologies and concepts from the FFXIII saga, especially because it was initially going to be a canonical game, but then Square changed their minds.
The story centers on a war between nations, in which a group of cadets acts as an elite force, carrying out special infiltration missions into nations and destroying them from within. It's very interesting that the game has 12 protagonists, which greatly varies the gameplay. The game is quite violent for Final Fantasy standards. The ending is sensational.

Despite being repetitive, the missions are very enjoyable. However, one thing I hated were some missions where you planned an invasion and had to guide troops through an open-world, similar to an RTS. The controls there weren't very user-friendly.

The graphics are mixed. Sometimes they look like a PSP, sometimes they look modern, making them quite inconsistent. Square improved the character textures and polygon count, but left some scenarios with poor geometry and low-resolution textures.
The game has a lot of bugs, at least in the PC port. After playing for a while and experiencing random freezes, crashes, or even missions that wouldn't progress, I discovered it was because the framerate was unlocked. I locked it at 30 fps, and the game never crashed again. It was difficult to adapt to 30 fps, but I soon got used to it.
The soundtrack is wonderful, imposing, and gives the game a warlike tone.
This game deserves a remake or a new version, as it has a lot of potential.





#7 - Guitar Hero III (2007) - RPCS3

While I was struggling with FF-Type-0, I decided to play Guitar Hero 3 on RPCS3 to de-stress. My hands ended up hurting because playing with an Xbox controller (8bitdo) isn't very ergonomic. GHIII campaign mode is pretty cool, and the game is still very good. I think I'll get a guitar.

 

[Shaggidy]

21: Dino Crisis (ps5) 5 hours
It's taken me years to beat this game, as I previously attempted on the PSP/Vita. A normal controller, and some save states, made it a breeze. Really wish we could get a good dinosaur survival horror game. Not sure why Capcom hasn't remade this but let's hope it's soon.

22: Star Wars Bounty Hunter (ps4)
This game would've been a helluva lot more fun if I didn't get all the trophies. How this game got a ps4 port AND a ps5 remaster and nobody bothered to fix how the secondary bounties worked is ludicrous. Otherwise, a pretty enjoyable time.

23: Nightmare Reaper (ps5) 36 hours
I liked this game a lot. I think the RNG can be a little much at times, and the samey environments in the middle started to drag. Overall pretty fun if your into more acradey shooters.

24: Forgive Me Father (ps4) 27 hours
I wanted to like this game more than I do because I love the premise and the art style. I think its a bit overtuned honestly, and I actively had to lower the difficulty down at the third boss and then again in the last episode. The respawning enemies and the difficulty curve just made it very frustrating and I wanted to get it over with.

25: Devil May Cry (ps4)
I had previously only played the third game and it was nice to go back and check this one out. It's a pretty solid foundation, though the stiff jumping was aggravating. No dedicated dodge button was a pain as well.

26: Powerslave Exhumed (ps4) 22 hours
I freaking love Powerslave. What a strange little fps from the 90s. Has one of the best endings in any game ever made. I do wish this remaster had fixed the hitbox on the lasers. Those made me want to tear my hair out.

27: Chasm: The Rift (ps5)
How on God's green Earth this game got a modern port over Blood or OG Shadow Warrior is a mystery for the games. Great little piece of Slav jank that can be a little grating at times. Still need to finish the expansion.

28: Devil May Cry 2 (ps4) Dante+Lucia
This one... was boring. I'm still glad I got through it but it was just kinda nothing? I can see why outside of the reboot, this is the worst of the bunch. At least it was short

29: Doom 64 (ps5) 13 hours
A helluva lot more fun than Doom 2, and didn't become a slog either. Reminded me of a more fair Sigil. I highly recommend checking this one out

30: Devil May Cry 3 (Ps4) 26 hours for DMC HD
I played this as a kid but never finished it. Best of the series that I've played so far. SO much fun. Though, I personally don't really like the other styles besides Trickster.

 

[Barakov]

13. Earthion

 

[applesaucejaxon]

August Update!

Here's my July Post...

So it's starting to look likely that I'm going to finish 52 games this year. Honestly didn't think I had this in me again this year.

42: Strider - PS4 - Beat 8/7
This game was awesome. The controls and everything were so tight, and the art design was pretty decent. You can definitely tell it was a lower budget game, but it was a great experience. I will say, I would have liked to have been able to play using the D-pad. And the final boss was a little on the easy side. But the good far outweighed the bad.
I'm thinking next up is probably Gunman Clive 2. That or the original Silent Hill. I dug my PSP out of my basement and installed a new battery, so I immediately downloaded Silent Hill and a few other games from back in the day that I've never beat. Fun fact: I've never played Silent Hill. Or any Silent Hill, for that matter. Unless you count P.T.
I want to jump back in to God of War, but that will probably wait until next Tuesday when the kids go back to school. Hopefully it's not crazy long and I can zip through it next week. I was going to get Madden on launch this year, but decided against it when I saw impressions about it today. It's a lot of the same old same old. And it looks like the Switch 2 version is a bit rough, so I'll wait for a sale. Also doesn't help that one of my cars broke down, so I'm sure I'll have a nice little bill for that tomorrow.

43: Gunman Clive 2 - Switch - Beat 8/8
While this was definitely a better game than part 1, it was also more frustrating at times. The Starfox-esque levels were bad. The major issue with those was that enemy projectiles have the same colors as Clive's. It took 2 attempts on the first level to even realize I was being shot at, because I just assumed all the green was from my gun. Then the final boss. I beat the damn boss as it was finishing and blowing up, Clive falls. When I hit the ground, it had me hit an enemy which ended up killing me. That was bogus in a whole new level. Thankfully the next life went off without a hitch. There were a few other annoyances, but those were the big ones. I wish I played it on the 3DS as you can tell it was really tailored to the 3D screen in a lot of places.

44: What Remains of Edith Finch - PS4 - Beat 8/8
This was pretty interesting. Definitely held my attention better than Everyone's Gone to the Rapture. I kind of want to know more about the history after playing through this. Like a book of Fitch family lore. I don't know why I loaded this up today. I saw it sitting on the bottom of my installed game list on my PS5 and just decided to give it a whirl. It's a game day today since it's too damn hot to do anything else. Might finish Overcooked with my kids after we water our garden today.

45: WWE2k24 - PS5 - Beat 8/9
I beat the Showcase mode, and it was pretty decent. I haven't played a WWE game since 19, and this one plays a lot better than I remember the Yukes games playing. Good on them, because I remember the hubub about how bad it was when 2K initially took over completely. Some of the matches were iffy. Doing the challenges with 3 way matches was a pain. I'm actually interested in playing 2K25 now. I had basically given up on them, so I'm kind of surprised. In a good way.

46: Journey to the Savage Planet - Switch via Switch 2 - Beat 8/13
Another fun one! On one hand, I wish I beat it on another system so that it didn't look crummy. On the other, I don't think I would have beat this without being able to be played handheld. That all aside, this was a fun game with lots to explore. Scanning everything gave me good Metroid Prime vibes, and the world and drip fed story kept me invested. Would like to play the sequel. I see it's on Gamepass...

47: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins - Game Boy - Beat 8/14
Definitely better than the original Super Mario Land, but I just didn't really like it. The downgrades and changes from NES Mario games were just too much. It's interesting to me how far portables have come. I remember playing my friends' Game Boys back when they first came out and being amazed. It's crazy how minimal the compromises have become with modern portables.

48: God of War: Ragnarök - PS5 - Beat 8/19
I started this game not really liking it mostly because I couldn't stand Atreus. I really disliked him in the last game, and that carried over here. By the end, I didn't hate him so much. Very good game, but it seems to finish of Kratos' story. After the ending, I'm not really sure where you would go. And even though I ended up not despising Atreus, I won't buy a game where he's the main. So I hope that's not where they're going with this. I will say, the last 3 bosses were way too easy. Some people might not think so or even have an issue with that. I was a little disappointed.

AS AN ASIDE... I just finally upgraded my TV and have an OLED. I broke it in with God of War, and it was absolutely beautiful. Glad I was playing this when I made the upgrade.

49: The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe - PS5 - Beat 8/21
I spent a stupid amount of time playing this. It was so strange and funny. I still have no clue if I've seen everything in the game yet, but I got to to a point where it didn't seem like I could trigger anything new to happen. Regardless, it was very creative and I recommend anybody that hasn't played it to check it out.

50: Lunistice - PC - Beat 8/21
This was a satisfying little game. They really nailed the mid/late 90s Sega feel, even down to the music. The platforming at times felt imprecise, but us typically solid. I don't know if it was the stray wonky camera view or what that messed me up, but there were a few times I really struggled in some stupid parts.
The game needed a proper ending, though.
So I've been trying to beat Overcooked with my son, but we've hit an impasse. We don't have enough stars to continue, but I can't pull him through any levels with more stars. And the game is starting to get heated at times. Not just on my side, either. I've also been chipping away at Silent Hill, but I really don't like it. I might try play it on my PS3 on a big screen, but this one is very close to just being abandoned. No pun intended. Playing it is just a chore at this point. I might switch gears and play some Panzer Dragoon. Another game I've never played outside of a demo way back in the day. Unfortunately all I have is the remake on the Switch.

51: Panzer Dragoon Remake - Switch via Switch 2 - beat 8/22
Ran great on the Switch 2, but supposedly is pretty ropey on OG Switch. So I guess I'm glad I never played it on my old system. Pretty solid game. I saw some complaints about the controls online, and I honestly don't get it. Was just fine to me. I think younger gamers are just too soft. The ending left a lot to be desired. That's 2 games in a row with garbage endings. Game 52 is going to be a little different and more of a treat for my daughter than anything.

52: Bluey: The Videogame - XBOX - Beat 8/22
I played this one for my daughter and she loved it. For her, I'm sure this just felt like watching a big episode of Bluey. She's only 2, so she couldn't "play" the game. She like making Bluey run around and just seemed really happy for the 3 hours we played. The story felt like an episode and I looked the part. Looking at stuff like this and the South Park games, it's cool that licensed games based on cartoons can finally FEEL like they're in the world. Not like the Simpsons games and stuff from the NES days.

And that's officially 52 games for me this year! I finished about a month earlier this year than last. Like I've felt the previous 2 times I've done this: I'm glad I did it, but I'm glad it's done. I feel like I need to finish as quick as possible and playing games consumes all my time. But in the end, the last 2 years have really cut down my backlog. I'll keep this thread updated if I finish anything else this year. I'm sure I'll get through a handful more this year.

Highlights this year were Fire Emblem: 3 Houses, Verlet Swing, and God of War: Ragnarök. Stanley Parable and Avowed were also big highlights.

This years stinkers were led by Altered Beast. AER was pretty meh, and the first Game Boy Castlevania was especially stinky. And Biomutant was an absolute drag.
But this was a really solid year on the whole. I played a lot of stuff that I didn't even realize I owned, and some of those were fantastic. That's always a pleasant surprise.

 

[BusierDonkey]

Game 57

Andro Dunos - I think I finished it, but I honestly barely remember playing it.

This was a side-scrolling shoot 'em up that was so exceptionally unexceptional. It has powerups, it looks fine, the music is actually pretty good, but none of it stuck with me at all.

Game 58

BYE-BYE BOXBOY! - 100% Complete

I played the majority of this game last year but when the summer ended my 3DS went in the case for the cold months. I finished all the bonus stages and completed the game 100%. This is a great puzzle platformer, it doesn't leave a lot of room for error but at the same it time it isn't so tight that you have to be pixel precise. The visuals are basic as can be but that's the direction the series has always taken. The music is really good too.

-

I dove back into my Resident Evil project after this, I've already finished RE5 and Revelations (out of order, I forgot about the Revelation games). After that I'll play Revelations 2, RE6, Biohazard, Village, then revisit the remakes of 2, 3 and 4.

 

[Kacho]

29.	Gradius 3	PC	4 hours	8/10	Fun but the difficulty is too much. I prefer the SNES version.
30.	Gradius	Gameboy	30 minutes	4/10	A very stripped down experience for the Gameboy. Fun but absurdly short.
31.	Earth Defense Force	SNES	1 hour	9/10	Super fun 16-bit shooter.
32.	MUSHA	Genesis	1 hour	9/10	A bit on the easy side in the beginning, but the difficulty ramps up. Very fun.

 

[Kacho]

Gradius (EU Arcade version)

First game in the series so it's a bit basic. Barely any boss variety. Easy until the final stage where you get spammed to death for more quarters.

Switch via Contra Collection

Beat this four times technically. 2xEasy 1xNormal 1xHard. Holds up so well. A breezy 20-30 minute run unless I play on Hard where it takes me a couple hours to succeed.

Switch via Contra Collection

The EU version of Contra 3. Same game except it has a dumb name and the main guys are replaced by robots. Giving Germany/EU the side eye on this one.

PC

Got this on sale for $2. And that's about what it's worth. Did a few play throughs on the various difficulty options. Fun with a mouse. Awful with a controller.

 

[March Climber]

37) Blue Fire (Xbox Series X)

I had to put this separate than the recent games for gold games I have been playing lately because it's that good. Looks can be deceiving, and by that I mean the cover of this amazing game. It is 1 part 3D Zelda, 1 part 3D Mario, with a slight sprinkle of soulslike (You lose a currency upon death that needs to be collected).

This game is basically the best aspect of 3D Zelda games, which are it's dungeons (with puzzles), but designed as back to back connecting areas (so no overworld). It has the Zelda-style lock-on system with combat, a block, a dodge, but with added air combos for certain airborne enemies. Each dungeon has their own set of puzzles, but the difference here is that they require verticality. This is where the other half comes into play, the platforming mechanics.

Jumping, dashing, wall running, wall bouncing, air dashing, etc. that all feels very 3D Mario (Mario 64 inspired) in terms of gameplay feel and looseness all fun and fair. Also, to earn a new heart container you have to do a platforming challenge that is the equivalent to a special level or bowser level in a 3d Mario game. Some of them will test the limits of your skill when it comes to good platforming.

The only 2 drawbacks that make it an A- is the fact that I had a few game crashes in the fire dungeon (not sure what caused them) and the fact that there is no map in the game, so you will have to try your best to remember some key areas to come back to later, however that aspect isn't too bad since there aren't that many areas in the game itself due to being under 15 hours.

It has wonderful music as well:



Three tips when playing:

1) Don't bother backtracking until you unlock fast travel. It's after the second dungeon (water dungeon). Nothing is time-based and you won't be locked out of anything so don't worry.

2) The small wallet that you need first will be a bit further in the game, even though the first merchant you meet has a larger one.

3) Don't do the harder heart challenges (4 star or 5 star) until you unlock enough traversal skills. You will come across them while exploring and may have to backtrack for some.

The two aspects of Mario+Zelda combined made for a very unique experience and felt like a dream in terms of gameplay design and controls and made for what I consider a really amazing experience, that took me slightly under 15 hours to complete, fully worthy of the A- rating I'm giving it. It is the very definition of a hidden gem. A hidden diamond.

Rating: A-

38) Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound (Steam Deck)

Here is my review for Ragebound:

Just finished it myself.

Unfortunately, this game has a split personality (no pun intended here) when it comes to it's gameplay loop. There are two ways to play this game. One way is a combination of these two games:

The other way is more careful and methodical, like this game:

Playing it either way will lead to the game attempting to punish you for it. For example, being more methodical will lead to enemies either respawning too fast or more enemies spawning from outside of the screen area, running towards you full-sprint. Nothing wrong with the idea, but it starts to feel like I'm grinding in an RPG with zero experience points. The first way, the faster way, has it's own shortcomings too. I think the game's over-reliance on the pogo stick-style mechanic of bouncing on enemies is part of what causes this problem.

Secondly, in the second half of the game, it starts to funnel you more and more into taking either path, because the checkpoints are fewer and far between and the enemies are more and more armored (with some having moves that give them super armor). Also, before anyone says anything, my issue has nothing to do with difficulty. Difficult games are fine and I usually prefer hard modes anyway. My issue with this game is with the gameplay loop and it's design, and I think I simply prefer the NES Ninja Gaiden games over this, as odd as that may sound.

However, aside from this glaring issue, the boss fights were really fun, the game looks gorgeous and the levels were varied enough to keep things interesting. I wasn't a fan of the enemy types in the last 3rd of the game, nor the story twist regarding why you're fighting these enemies, but I guess that enemy type is sort of a Ninja Gaiden staple at this point. I was nearing a point where I started to feel like I wanted to get the game over with and thankfully it ended right before I fully felt that way.

I was hovering at a C+ for my rating of this game but I think I'll push it over to a B-

I hope, if they are successful enough to greenlight a sequel, that they use a different 'hook' for it's gameplay.

Rating: B-

39) Anthem (Xbox Series X Backwards Compatibility)

I played this using the 60fps mode on Series X. My thoughts on this game are pretty much similar to my thoughts on First Descendant, except this game has two problems that make it worse.

1)

In this game, you do a mission, go back to home base, then do your rounds talking to people (they give you more missions). The problem isn't that they just talk a lot, but there's not a lot of substance behind the things that they say. It's a lot of back-patting, meandering, and what feels like stretched out 'small talk' to the point where the plot and villain felt like they were pushed into the background until they were randomly brought back up during a twist 2/3 into the game. Also due to this I never truly felt immersed into this world. Instead it felt more like looking at a theme park from a distance.

2) The loading and backtracking are too long. The First Descendant solved this with fast and snappy loading, in and out of missions. It also helped by loading you into specific parts of a map to not make you walk all the way back to an objective. Since Anthem came before TFD, Anthem had neither of these solutions. So it had the old school "walk all the way back" thing going on, but multiple times to the same area to complete a story thread.

One interesting but odd thing here is that once you complete the game, you essentially are in this "MGS V: Chapter 3" moment of being in an Epilogue with an unfinished plotline. So you're kind of doing side missions for people but there is no leadup or conclusion to some of them, and it eventually comes down to the game pretty much saying 'well, this is it, help others online with missions and build up credits for your base' as it's endgame. It's definitely odd and I guess this is the second time in my life I've ever seen something like this with the first time being MGS V.

Otherwise, I agree that this feels the closest to an Iron Man-like experience in a video game. Maybe one day I'll find a copy of that ultra-difficult Xbox 360 Sega game and see what that's about. Anthem's gunplay felt nice, environments look nice, and the lore is kind of interesting.

It's just a shame that I could kind of tell from playing the game that there were development issues, potential disagreements on the plot, and lastly it just felt like Bioware's heart not being in the right place on this one. The game will be shutting down at the beginning of next year.

Rating: C

 

[BusierDonkey]

Game 59

Resident Evil 5 - Completed Chris playthrough

I liked this much more than I thought I would. I'd barely call it a resident evil game though, it's not survival horror, it's just straight action. I'd compare it to Gears of War but that game isn't nearly as clunky as this. This game takes the series even further into the action genre than RE4 did. It does away completely with the save system, replacing it with checkpoints. The map is so linear the map is almost pointless save for the odd section once in a while. Gone is the item management and the cool attaché case from RE4, replaced with two 3x3 storage squares for both Chris and Sheva. Speaking of Sheva, she was a great addition to the series and though I don't like NPCs stealing my items and picking up stuff on the map, she wasn't always completely useless and on the odd occasion actually helped. Gameplay itself isn't as good as RE4, way too many QTEs, too many sections where the enemies never stop spawning and so much instant-death it got annoying. The visuals in this game not only hold up well, I genuinely think that how the shots were framed coupled with great art design make this game look as good or better than some of the newer games that my PC struggles to run, The flamethrower in particular still looks insanely good. Unfortunately this game is from the era where cutscenes are FMV resulting in several blurry, low framerate cinematics. If I wasn't comparing this to other games in the series I probably would have rated it higher because I did have fun with the game, but I can't ignore how much is missing here.

Game 60

Resident Evil Revelations - Completed playthrough

This game had a really cool setting, out at sea on a ship. There is a pretty cool twist leading to a lot of back and forth between Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield's teams. The game is back to survival/horror as you explore the massive cruise ship. Plenty of jump scares, lots of grotesque creatures and the boss fights were pretty impressive in scale. The jumping around in time and to different characters made the story fun to piece together and the characters supporting it all were pretty well-written. The issue I had with this game was the instant death. Fail a QTE, dead. Walk too close to a hunter, dead (There are so many Hunters in this game), wading in water? You're going to get ambushed a dozen times by aquatic enemies that you either have to destroy your analog stick to shake off, or death. QTEs are just the worst, and they really dragged this game down. I also wasn't too sold on the whole Terragrigia thing, the city doesn't seem like it fits in the same universe as prior RE games.

Game 61

Resident Evil Revelations 2 - Completed playthrough

This game is Barry Burton's redemption story. In RE2 he sold out the entire Stars team because the bad guys threatened his family but in the end he tried to stop the bad guys. In this game his daughter and Claire are kidnapped and taken to an island where experiments are being run on innocents (in a Resident Evil game? You don't say) in order to do something sinister. The game has you exploring as Claire Redfield and Moira Burton, but also as Barry Burton and Natalia Korda. Each team has a character who shoots and a second character that can discover secrets and access areas the other can't. The two teams' adventures on the island also take place six months apart and due to this, items collected in the past by Claire and Moira are no longer there when Barry and Natalia make their way around the map, that includes the map itself. If Claire picks up a map it's gone and Barry has to explore blind. Alternately, there are things you can do to affect the environment in the past that will change things in the future. It was a really fun mechanic. Gameplay in this game is back to maze-like structures and decently complex puzzles, but keeps a lot of the action and controls from newer games in the series. Less reliance on QTEs and instant death made the game way more enjoyable.

Game 62

Resident Evil 6 - Completed Leon playthrough

This game jumps from fun, to boring, to infuriating, to just plain stupid. The first section of the game wouldn't let me actually control my character, regardless of the direction I pressed on the stick, Leon just followed a path. This happens now and again throughout the game when they REALLY want you to look at something. QTEs in this game just never stop either. There is a boss fight I swear is twenty minutes long, and it's just peppered with these annoying QTEs. The game has steered the series so far into the action genre they didn't even bother putting a map in the game. The item inventory screen is a soulless PS3-style menu. The notes found lying around giving backstory and context are all gone too. The setting and visuals are great, bosses look amazing, and the body horror is on another level, but all that is overshadowed by the clumsy movement, poorly designed world, and very poor game design choices. I was hoping this one would surprise me like RE5 did, but in the end, I found myself way more annoyed with it than I expected.

Game 63

Resident Evil VII Biohazard - Completed playthrough

I was blown away by how much I enjoyed this game. I assumed from watching videos that the game had deliberately slow movement, but the gameplay was great. This game is pure horror and really never lets up. Jump scares are everywhere, body horror, and a constant feed of creepy vibes. The sound design is brilliant, you hear doors closing throughout the house, random footsteps, people muttering and the buildings settling all the time. The lighting throughout the game really helped set the tone and the ambient music helped ramp things up when things were about to take a turn. The Baker family were terrifying. Jack takes on the same role as Nemesis from RE3, only he's dialed up the fear factor to eleven. Marguerite isn't as much of a menace, but she kept my pants pooped with her sudden appearances. Lucas is mostly just a jackass, but his part of the game included an escape room that was a lot of fun to run through. The game's map isn't massive, especially when you compare it to basically any RE since RE2, but the way you make your way through the environments is a master class on how to optimize a map. Everything is distinct and making your way around the structures never gets tedious. Backtracking never feels like it because the house is being destroyed as you go, opening up new passages. Boss fights were also a lot of fun, notably the fight with Jack in the garage. After a little back-and-forth Jack tears the roof off your car and starts doing donuts in the garage, fun stuff!

Game 64

Resident Evil - Completed Jill Scenario, saved Barry and Chris

I started this whole Resident Evil project with the Gamecube remake of the original Playstation release, but since I plan on playing through the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 3, I figured it would be an injustice not to run through the original game as it was first released. First off, I was surprised that it plays as well as it does, it's a bit more clunky than Resident Evil 2 and there are some minor annoyances like no dedicated map button, but it's not too bad. I was also surprised at how much of the stuff in the Gamecube version I thought was new for that release actually wasn't. Most of the changes were changes that merely augmented the original, all the areas are here, and all the bosses are here. There are actually some aspects of the original release I prefer over REmake, the mansion itself isn't a complete ruin, seeing as it was inhabited right up to the time you explore it, it makes more sense that it's clean and kept up. I also prefer the awful voice acting. It's a product of its time and some of the lines were hilariously poor. REmake has bad voice acting too, but it's just bad, not "funny" bad. The live action FMV is pure late-1990's.

Game 65

Resident Evil VIII Village - Completed playthrough

I expected I would like this game, but I wasn't expecting to like it this much. This game brought back all the best stuff from the series. The horror is front and center, the setting has notes of Resident Evil 4, the attaché case returns for item management after decades being absent. The game is full of silly things that make the series so memorable (Oh no a tractor is blocking a path, better get a jack to jack it up so I can crawl under it instead of literally getting into the seat and then just getting off the other side) The environments in the game are fantastic as are the creatures inhabiting it. The village and surrounding locations are full of detail and despite looking as good as it does, the game performs flawlessly. The cast of villains and their unique areas made the game hard to put down as I was always excited for what came next. I'm really looking forward to playing Resident Evil Requiem to see where they go from here.

Game 66

Resident Evil 2 (2019) - Completed Leon 1st run / Claire 2nd run - 100% pickup collection except this one area where the Leon and Ada were doing a walk-n-talk and I didn't think to look around, turns out it was also the only place in the game I couldn't return

I can't believe what a great job Capcom did with this remake. Having just played through the original four times in a short timeframe, I expected to be kind of coasting through it. I couldn't stop playing it. When I finished my Leon run I immediately started my 2nd run with Claire. They changed so much stuff without changing the actual tone and feel of the original game. Some areas are an order of magnitude larger than the original versions but it's easy to place every room and setting against the original game. Characters have been given more dialogue giving them more personality. While a lot of the goofy campy stuff from the original has been changed, nothing has been outright removed. The new areas like the orphanage brought with them fun new things to do. Mr. X (the Tyrant) deserves some mention here, he has been greatly improved, and he is a constant menace. He can always be heard stomping around and as he gets closer the music kicks in. You never feel safe in the police station because he never stops looking for you. Other creatures have seen similar upgrades like the alligator or the G-virus creature. The visuals in this game are exceptional; everything has an atmosphere about it and each area has a very distinct look to it that departs from the original game in some ways but still remains instantly recognizable. The added gore and dismemberment looks disgusting in the best way, chunks blow off as you blast zombies and limbs break away at multiple points. Gameplay is classic Resident Evil polished to such a degree that in my entire time with the game there were zero accidental item uses or missed shots that weren't my own fault. This might just be the best remake I've played so far.

Game 67

Resident Evil 3 (2020) - Completed playthrough - Almost 100% pickups but once again was screwed by a cutscene

I heard nothing but complaints about this game, but I had fun the entire time I played it. A LOT got changed from the original, including characters but honestly every change I felt was an improvement. The Nemesis encounters were scaled up tremendously from the original and the Nemesis just kept getting bigger and faster with each fight, culminating in a massive creature the size of a house. The city was another major improvement, going from small alleys and streets to the version of the city that was first shown in the Resident Evil 2 Remake. New buildings and businesses populate the streets and with them came some pretty cool new set pieces. Being chased down the stairs by a giant mascot's head was not something I was expecting. The Saint Michaels clock tower has been removed entirely and replaced with a hospital sitting on top of another Umbrella laboratory. Once again this makes way more sense and provided a window into how the hospitals were dealing with the outbreak in the city. The downsides to this game are that it was unfortunately short compared to 2. While I went back to play another run in RE2, This one is a one-and-done. Although limited to a few, QTEs made a return to the series which I despise.

I do not currently own RE4 Remake, so for now this is the end of my Resident Evil project, unless it shows up on sale in the next few months.

 

[Kacho]

Ace Combat 6

I remember the game being challenging and having played it again — yep. The soundtrack is incredible. It's not as good as the PS2 games but still a fun time.

 

[marcincz]

Game 41 - Cygni: All Guns Blazing (PS5) - 03h 20m
Beat 05/08/2025 - my score: 6/10

Game 42 - Mafia: The Old Country (PS5) - 13h 41m
Beat 12/08/2025 - my score: 7/10

Game 43 - Lost Judgment (PS5) - 32h 04m
Beat 21/08/2025 - my score: 8/10

I like shmups, but Cygni isn't my favourite. Rather disappointed.
Mafia is good. Not as good as first and second part, but certainly better than third. Sicily is beautiful and voice acting fantastic.
Lost Judgment. I love Yakuza games. Played almost all of them and LJ is good installment. Not in my top, but all right.

 

[falling into hell]

31. l always wanted to play this game. It was on sale and I still had gold coins to spend, so I just got it. The game is hard but I still enjoyed. It's was fun I will certainly replay it. 4/5

 

[applesaucejaxon]

OK, so since I just finished my 52 here's the consolidated list. Hope everybody else finishes strong. Lots of year left.

My last detailed post...


1: Mission in Snowdriftland - Switch - Beat 1/2
2: Mega Man 2- NES - Beat 1/2
3: Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 - Switch - Beat 1/10
4: Spiderman: Miles Morales - PS5 - Beat 1/25
5: Red Dead Redemption 2 - PS4 - Beat 2/25
6: Avowed - PC and Xbox - Beat 3/24
7: Hitman - PS4 (Via PS5) - Beat 3/26
8: Mullet Madjack - PC - Beat 3/29
9: Dead Space (2008) - PC - Beat 4/6
10: Event[0] - PC - Beat 4/7
11: AER Memories of Old - PC - Beat 4/7
12: Travis Strikes Back Again: No More Heroes - Switch - Beat 4/23
13: Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse - NES via the Castlevania Anniversary Collection (Switch) - Beat 4/29
14: Aviary Attorney - PC - Beat 4/29
15: Donut County - PC (Gamepass) - Beat 4/30
16: Kid Dracula - NES via Castlevania Anniversary Collection (Switch) - Beat 4/30
17: Altered Beast - Genesis (via Genesis Classics Switch version) - Beat 5/2
18: Infamous: First Light - PS4 via PS5 - Beat 5/2
19: Castlevania: The Adventure - Game Boy via Castlevania Anniversary Collection - PS5 - Beat 5/2
20: Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge - Game Boy via Castlevania Anniversary Collection - PS5 - Beat 5/5
21: Castlevania Bloodlines - Genesis via Castlevania Anniversary Collection - PS5 and Switch - Beat 5/5
22: Super Castlevania 4 - SNES via Castlevania Anniversary Collection - PS5 - Beat 5/6
23: Good Job! -Switch - Beat 5/14
24: Streets of Rage - Genesis (via Genesis Classics Switch version) - Beat 5/21
25: Biomutant - PS5 - Beat 5/23
26: Mortal Kombat 11 - PS5 - Beat Story Mode 6/1
27: Huntdown - PS5 Beat 6/4
28: Mushroom Wars 2 - Switch via Switch 2 - Beat 6/17
29: Ape Out - Switch vis Switch 2 - Beat 6/24
30: Fort Defense - PC (Steam) - Beat 6/25
31: Super Mario World - SNES via Switch 2 - Beat 6/30
32: Verlet Swing - PC - Beat 7/2
33: Little Nightmares - PS4 via PS5 - Beat 7/5
34: It Takes Two - PS5 - Beat 7/15
35: Mario Kart World - Switch 2 - Beat 7/16
36: Bowser's Fury - Switch 2 - Beat 7/17
37: Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Switch - Beat 7/23
38: Gunman Clive - Switch - Beat 7/25
39: EA Sports College Football 25 - XBOX - Beat 7/26
40: Retro Bowl - Switch - Beat 7/28
41: Saints Row the 3rd - Switch via Switch 2 - Beat 7/31
42: Strider - PS4 - Beat 8/7
43: Gunman Clive 2 - Switch - Beat 8/8
44: What Remains of Edith Finch - PS4 - Beat 8/8
45: WWE2k24 - PS5 - Beat 8/9
46: Journey to the Savage Planet - Switch via Switch 2 - Beat 8/13
47: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins - Game Boy - Beat 8/14
48: God of War: Ragnarök - PS5 - Beat 8/19
49: The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe - PS5 - Beat 8/21
50: Lunistice - PC - Beat 8/21
51: Panzer Dragoon Remake - Switch via Switch 2 - beat 8/22
52: Bluey: The Videogame - XBOX - Beat 8/22

 

[March Climber]

40) Styx: Master of Shadows (Xbox Series X)

A stealth game similar to thief/splinter cell starring a character in a fantasy world who oddly has an accent that's close to a new jersey/new york style. This game has moments where I would definitely rate it near a D or F, and it sometimes has moments where it could go as high as a B+, but all in all I think it settles at a C for me. The problem lies with it's jank and game design. It doesn't provide you the option to invest in skills until you beat 3 levels. Level 2 has a very high difficulty filter that made me feel like throwing my controller, but I just dealt with the insanely high death count and moved forward. Then after level 3, you finally get a chance to use skill points.

I have some advice for anyone who is like curious about this title. The difficulty levels are wrong, and no I'm not joking and no this is not a 'casual' moment.

Easy = Hard
Normal = Extreme
Hard = European Extreme

And yes, it is european extreme because if you get caught on the hardest mode it's a game over. On normal you get maybe 1-2 hits or falls before death, which makes it a very, very slight step below Hard. Easy mode technically starts out easy, but again level 2 instantly ramps up the difficulty, making the term 'easy' meaningless.

My second bit of advice is to put points into kill, stealth, and agility skills as fast as possible. There are literal things you cannot do without unlocking them first, such as corner kills, silent movement, silent lands, and hanging kills. Then later on put points in summons/clones so that you get the ability to kill from hiding inside of a closet or chest.

After doing this, the game goes from frustrating to fun, but then slowly they rip away the fun in the second half of the game by slowly introducing more, and more, and more enemies who are considered 'too strong' to be taken down. Suddenly you start to get maps filled with them, which means you're being pushed into Hard mode regardless which means that there literally is no point to picking difficulty aside from how much damage the 'smaller' enemies do to you. Then in the final few missions they introduce enemies who not only can't be killed, but they also can 'sense' you like a radar, except the game doesn't display their sensing range so at times it feels like literal RNG.

My last bit of advice: Manual Save. Often. The checkpointing in this game is absolutely atrocious, and levels can be upwards of 40 minutes or more each with multiple sections. You'll be doing good, then make one simple mistake which can lead to a death, and suddenly you have erased 30 minutes of progress. Sometimes in certain levels, unless you know to stand at specific spots to activate a checkpoint, you won't ever get a checkpoint the entire level which means the game will send you all the way back to the beginning of the level.

40-60 minutes of progress, gone. To me that huge chunk of time being lost is more devastating than any loss in a Souls game. So do yourself a favor. Manual save. Save often.

Would I recommend this game? Kind of. I don't know. There's not many stealth games like this anymore, but you have to stomach a massive amount of imbalance in the first half, jank, and checkpointing issues and if you can do that, there can be some fun to be had here. The story in this game is surprisingly good and that's what actually motivated me to finish it and one of the main reasons why I'm giving it a C.

I liked the twists it presented and the main character had a unique motivation that you don't normally see in other games, so much so that I think if this game had released on the PS2/Xbox or PS360 it would have been considered a hidden (but very difficult) gem.

Rating: C

41) Blasphemous (Steam Deck)

I decided to give this a shot because I played Ninja Gaiden Ragebound and the devs made this beforehand. This is a great video game and I can understand why people were hyped about the dev making Ragebound.

The art is very unique, the story is very unique, the metroidvania level design is fun and doesn't overstay it's welcome, and the combat is very satisfying and at times strategic (like picking which skills to go into a boss battle with, like a loadout). My only small gripes with it is that there are a few side-platforming sections which are oddly too difficult, and they are difficult because the controls are a bit finnicky, specifically on ladders and grabbing onto a ladder during a jump.

My other small gripe is that it has the same issue souls games have, where some of the wording and lore are so obtuse it simply led to me doing googles outside of the game in order to figure out things. For example one moment I had to give some random object to a guy I met hours ago, at a specific interval of time, or I miss out completely on something. It's only something you would know if you either already played the game (maybe more than once), or randomly found out, or learned from someone else.

Other than those two small issues, this is a great game and definitely worth playing, especially for the insane art alone.

Rating: A-

 

[Andyliini]

Game 16 - Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster - Nintendo Switch 2
This is the cause of me not being able to finish any games in July. It took me 100 hours to do. This time I went with the bad ending, while I originally went for good ending. It's still a masterpiece after all these years, and this is the best version available.

Game 17 - Donkey Kong Bananza - Nintendo Switch 2
Another gem here, this time a completely new game. I played it in course of maybe two of three weeks, and could barely put it down. This is my GOTY so far.

Game 18 - Drag X Drive - Nintendo Switch 2
I got this to review it. Good thing was, it didn't need much time to play. Not much else good to say, the controls can make sense if you give them time and practice, but there are barely any reasons to keep playing.

 

[Barakov]

14. Silent Residence

 

[applesaucejaxon]

53: Donkey Kong Bananaza - Switch 2 - Beat 9/3
Incredible game. Seriously, it's going to be hard for this one to be topped during the Switch 2 lifetime. And I thought it looked great. I've seen people crap all over this one, but I love the art style and I think it looks neat. Performance wise, I was expecting a slideshow the way some talk about it. While it's not silky smooth at all times, it holds steady at 60 the VAST MAJORITY of its playtime.

 

[Barakov]

15. Raidou Remastered

 

[Skeptical]

I've been neglecting my writeups. Hope I can catch up before the end of the year.

22.Doki Doki Literature Club (3h, ★★). I'm clearly not the right audience for this game. For starters, the Millennial obsession with depression annoys me. Also, I don't get immersed in games. So when it starts getting all meta and stuff, I'm just annoyed when it is taking forever rather than having my mind blown or whatever. I can see why it got popular, but my response was mostly disinterest.

23. Metroid Dread (8h, ★★★★★). If you would have asked me in Sept 2021 if a highly linear Metroid could be better than Super Metroid, I'd have laughed in your face. Now, I'm not so sure. The action, map layout, and theme all harmonize together perfectly, making a more linear experience appropriate for the game. And the difficulty is perfect too. The game demands you respect it, but not much more. And yet it still rewards you for mastering it in subtle ways, both in combat and exploration. Is it better than Super? I don't know, they're wildly different games. But both at the peak of their design.

24. Bioshock (10h, ★★★) I admit, I was rolling my eyes at the beginning at how blatant the Atlas Shrugged ripoff was and bracing myself for an annoying political screed (regardless of how one feels about it, stating Objectivism is bad because it will inevitably lead to magical genome editing powers that will doom us all isn't exactly a well designed argument). Thankfully that wasn't the case. I'm not big into FPS or narrative games, but I didn't mind this one. Probably because of the atmosphere. The Art Deco, old fashioned vibe was great. The ruined underwater city was great. Big hulking diver suits was great. Good enough for me.

25. Machinika Museum (4h, ★★) Nothing really special about this one. A simple little puzzle game with a simple light story behind it. There usually wasn't much trial and error, although occasionally it got rather obtuse. Not much to say about it really; it was a pleasant enough diversion but not much else.

26. Hyrule Warriors [Definitive Edition] (135h, ★★★★★) Send help. It's repetitive, it becomes samey after a while, and it has so so much content that does not offer anything new to make it worth playing through it all. And yet I got addicted, again. It may not be deeply strategic, but it is still valuable watching the map and planning three steps ahead. The combat may be incredibly repetitive, but it still feels fun to hack and slash. And the sheer amount of fanservice helped keep me coming back; of COURSE I had to complete the maps of my favorite games! Hopefully I will never be tempted to spend another 100+ hours here again...

 

[March Climber]

42) Styx 2: Shards of Darkness (Xbox Series X Backwards Compatibility)

A much improved sequel to the first game, with much better level design, gameplay feel, and player mechanics, allowing for more creativity with stealth, better control when navigating, better checkpointing, better skills, much more freedom with how to proceed, and also you can gain XP in multiple different ways without having to resort simply do second objectives to get XP.

It feels like a game on par with PS4/Xbox One video game experiences, with added cutscenes, decent color grading, and better presentation.

There are a few negatives. Much like the first one, after the halfway point, they start introducing enemies who can't be killed or interacted with aside from the killing you in one hit when they spot you. Since the difficulty is balanced much better this time, since you can escape better, and since their 'vision cones' are designed well this time, it just becomes more of an inconvenience rather than hair-pullingly aggravating like the first game.

Second negative, the story took a hit from the first game. This one was unfortunate because the story arguably held up the first one. While the presentation is miles better, what is happening in the story feels a bit...disconnected and not interesting enough. I can't quite put my finger on why. However, Styx himself is still a fun and unique protagonist who isn't motivated by good but instead motivated by greed, which is one of my favorite aspects about him. He has no stake in the conflict that is happening around him, he just wants to be the one to make the most money out of it and leave before it gets worse. I'd like to say that this is the problem, but it wasn't the problem in the first game, that game's conflict, and his motivations not really being a part of it.

Third small negative, the two boss fights in the game are oddly designed and a bit jank. Stealth games don't really need boss fights and this game proves that.

On a side note, this game has co-op and I've heard it's pretty good.

Last game received a C, this one gets a B. Hoping when the next one comes out, they can improve upon the formula again and it can reach an A.

Rating: B

43) Crimson Dragon (Xbox Series X Backwards Compatibility)

A Spiritual successor to Panzer Dragoon built as an Xbox 360 XBLA-style experience (but that version was cancelled) put into the body of an Xbox One game. It's kind of neat when you think about it, but it has problems that hinder it.

One, I don't know what this game used to be, but I can tell that it had a system that used to be in it where players would purchase in game currency with real money. It's also what I read about it online. In addition it also has daily log in bonuses. This style of currency almost messes up the flow of the game, and it for sure messes up the game's balancing, because you have to buy very expensive revives with said currency.

Two, You will start this game feeling very sluggish and low damage. It's on purpose. Once you level up and get a better dragon, things will feel better, but it causes you to have to go back and play older missions if you want to achieve good rankings for them. Also, when playing older levels no cutscenes can be skipped. You might have to play older missions a few times anyway because there's a point in the game where it will ask you to grind for a certain material. Again, something that feels like a former money trap that was maybe patched out.

Three, the camera is atrocious. This game constantly moves and sways the camera around but the enemies are shooting in one of 4 areas of the screen: Upper right, upper left, lower right, lower left. The camera will sway and suddenly an attack that looks like it is doing upper right is actually registering to the player as upper left. You could also be moving upper right but thanks to the camera swaying, suddenly your dragon appears to be moving upper left. That feels broken.

Aside from this, the game was still decently fun after some hours in (once I was a high enough level for the game to feel right), and the story was an interesting take on the concept of dragon riders. If anyone wants a much superior experience of this though, find a copy of Panzer Dragon Orta for the Original Xbox.

Rating: C

44) Lamentum (Xbox Series X)

A surprisingly good top-down survival horror game set in mid-19th century New England, with a gameplay mixture of Resident Evil and Silent Hill. You'll understand why I brought up Silent Hill once you play the game and delve into it's story. The game is about 8-10s in length for a first time playthrough but it does contain multiple endings depending on some key moments with key NPCs.

The gameplay itself however is more like old school resident evil. Find an item, find out what it goes to, backtrack, etc. along with some good puzzles for the player to solve, including six inventory slots and save rooms with an inventory box that is accessible from any save room around.

That save room even has pretty good Resident Evil-esque save music:



There are a couple of negatives. One negative comes from a bit of jank from fighting certain big enemies due to their hitboxes, but not enough jank to make it bad or anything. The other negative comes from the fact that the game suddenly ramps up very high in difficulty in the final area. If you're not prepared for it, prepare to have a very tough time.

Otherwise, this was a great quality surprise game for me. I'm always up for a Resident Evil style experience and this fulfilled that.

A bit of important advice: When you get the infinity key in the room with the mirror, go back and open the doors with that key symbol. The mirror cutscene is a point of no return and you will miss out on stronger weapons for the final area if you don't do this, which leads to a tougher time. I went and loaded an older save to do so. Save yourself the time.

Second advice: The gun should be used for emergency moments, either to save yourself from a sudden death or kill a boss, etc. They will give you the gun to start, but it is a trick to make you waste bullets early on. Use the knife, and then use the next melee weapon you will get, and the next one, etc.

Rating: B
Quick Edit:

45) Knight Squad (Xbox Series X)

A 30 minute arcade game that essentially has you fighting LttP Zelda-esque bosses in a boss rush. Aim for the highest score (which essentially means how fast can you beat the boss). It's a fun bit sized experience that ends way too soon, and because of that I can't go higher than a C.

Rating: C

 

[marcincz]

Game 44 - Sea of Stars (PS5) - 33h 31m
Beat 04/09/2025 - my score: 7/10

Game 45 - Sea of Stars - dlc Throes of the Watchmaker (PS5) - 08h 33m
Beat 07/09/2025 - my score: 6/10

Beat SoS with free dlc. Free dlc for almost 9 hours of good gameplay! Very nice gift from developers.
SoS is good rpg title, which reminded old jrpgs from 90s. If you like older rpg/jrpg, you should try SoS.

 

[BusierDonkey]

Game 68

Donkey Kong Bananza - 100% Complete

This was a lot of fun pretty much from start to end. While not nearly as precise in its gameplay or as meticulously crafted in its level design as the best 3D Mario games, I can't just go into one of those and blow up the entire world. Donkey Kong's new look is great; he's super animated and new life is brought into the character through his interaction with Pauline. I thought I's get sick of Pauline really quick, but she doesn't talk non-stop, she doesn't solve puzzles for you and her voice actor wasn't speaking in a squeaky shrill voice like many VAs use when voicing children. In the end the pair are a great team, and I enjoyed every minute of their adventure. The powerups were mostly fun to use, though I found the Zebra to be useful only when you had no other choice and his charge was kind of annoying to use. I sucked using the snake, but that was a me thing. The elephant was awesome, totally wrecking everything at lightning speeds. The boss fights were brilliant, there are four final bosses in this game, every time you think you've finished the game, another boss fight happens. It really was fun. On the negative, I found as I went on the stages got worse, that's not to say they got bad, but going from the first lagoon stage to the landfill stage or the dreary tempest stage things were much less interesting to look at. The resort stage, full of giant cubed fruit, was about half the size it should have been. My main gripe with the game was DK taking action on his own, like doing hops at the top of a climb without me hitting the jump button or letting go of a wall instead of going around a corner because the camera was not facing it. Minor annoyance but again, when you look at a 3D Mario game these things don't happen. That all being said I dumped 60 hours into this thing. I really hope they make a sequel to this but use physics for the materials so you can have things like loose sand or liquids, or even parts of the stage collapsing as you dig out the foundations.

 

[Barakov]

16. Gears Of War Reloaded - PS5

 

[March Climber]

46) Maid of Sker (Xbox Series X)

This is an odd one, and my feelings on this game mirror how I felt about Resident Evil Revelations 1 and 2.

The game's main campaign/story mode is a first person survival horror game where you avoid enemies by holding your breath and being quiet as you navigate a mansion/caves, solve puzzles, and reveal the secrets of what is happening within. Sometimes the sound detection of the enemies can feel a bit jank and the 'final boss' just hears you at all times regardless of what you do, forcing you to run through a section that has multiple documents to read and other things to discover. The campaign is fun for what it is. A very odd decision, but there's something more odd here.

The reason I said 'main campaign/story mode' is because much like Resident Evil Revelations 1 and 2 there is another mode here that raises it a full rating for me, much like Raid Mode did for those games. You unlock it after finishing the campaign and it's called 'Challenge Mode'. In this mode, they put you into the same mansion, have you explore through it and escape, but this time you are given weapons and it is an actual survival horror with different unique weapons and ammo. It also completely changes enemy designs and introduces completely new enemies that are exclusive to it's mode (which is another negative for the main campaign because that lacked enemy variety). It changes the entire nature of the game itself and makes it much more fun to navigate.

It almost feels a bit insulting, to the point where I could feel the devs would say "These are the mechanics we could have done on the main campaign, but we decided to put this into a fun little side mode instead." My question would be: Why?? What's here in this mode is much more fun than the just decent Alien Isolation type of game that the main campaign is.

This side mode is literally a better experience and I recommend any player who plays this game to give it a shot. If you can find a way to unlock and play it first, even better. For this one mode, it raised my rating from a C to a B-.

Rating: B-

47) Inertial Drift (Xbox Series X)

Inertial drift is a bite-sized racing game experience with a cool 'drift-stick' mechanic where you have to use both the left and right stick to carefully angle turns and drifts. Once you get the hang of it, the game ends up pretty fun. It also has a nice soundtrack going for it. Unfortunately, the game's story mode is skippable due to the dialogue feeling way too bland. Also, it is simply way too short. There are only 5 areas with maybe 8-ish race tracks and they are reused multiple times throughout the short campaign.

This was one of my 'games with gold' games so I wasn't too torn up about this, but the game ending where it did definitely felt abrupt and almost like I completed a trial instead of a full game. It does also have arcade mode and challenge modes, but again these are on the same few race tracks, so you'd really have to like the game to complete all of it and unlock other racers (who don't have their own story modes).

Rating: C+

48) Lost for Swords (Mobile)

*As a disclaimer, this game was initially made for Steam/PC, but was ported to mobile. I chose and purchased the mobile version on purpose because I felt the experience matched a phone much better, like Balatro.*

This is an incredible 5 by 5 grid strategic roguelike that ends up feeling like it's own version of chess. There are specific skills, sets, and move that all work in their own really balanced way. Your job is to climb 5 towers, reach the top, and beat the boss, all while selecting skills to collect or remove between floors. Your enemy is constantly making smart moves to corner you, and the game will sometimes throw you a curveball by having an item on the board you have to take out before doing something like healing or maintaining damage.

What makes it all work is how extremely fair and beatable everything felt. There was no moment where I felt that the game was 'cheating' me, and for that and for the amount of fun this provided me over the past few months (including it's new game plus) having me glued to the screen whenever I started playing, it deserves the very, very high rating it is getting.

I think what kept this from being an "S" for me (which does exist in my rating system but I rarely give it out due to an S belonging to All-time lists) is that rare moment where I had no choice but to re-roll when I went too far in one direction, and also the fact that the game sadly felt a bit too short. I think 10 or 12 towers would have been the sweet spot.

Otherwise I highly recommend checking this game out for good strategic fun that also moves at a modern pace and doesn't waste time with long-moving turns.

Rating: A+