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[BusierDonkey]

Game 28

Contra: Operation Galuga - Completed 2-player co-op playthrough.

This is probably my second favorite of the Contra games behind Hard Corps on the Genesis. It's a remake of the first game with modern touches, some good, some bad. Overall, I came away from the game pretty happy with the time I spent playing it. The game is just straight up Contra except that while it's still hard, it's not impossible. The game has difficulty selection and unlockable bonuses that allow a variety of buffs including the "Konami Code" for 30 lives which refill every stage. This game has some pretty severe hiccups unfortunately. It crashes occasionally, sending you to the Switch menu. Given the visuals are okay but nothing mind-blowing, the load times seem on the long side. Most of the added characters you unlock are downgrades, losing things like the double jump or introducing cumbersome new mechanics. The game has points you accumulate to unlock perks and new characters but unlocking all the characters and perks would require dozens of playthroughs. While I could see myself returning to this now and then, I'm not dumping 30 hours into it just to unlock potentially worse playing characters. The game also added a "story" told through cutscenes that feel longer than the game itself and would be more at home in a mobile game with cardboard cutouts spewing exposition. The main cutscenes are animated in some pretty western-looking art. Luckily it can all be skipped and you can just go back to running and gunning.

 

[Wolzard]

This year I definitely won't hit 52 games if I keep playing RPGs.

#3 - Tales of Zestiria (2015) - PC

This is the first game in the franchise that I've played in earnest (I'd already tested Phantasia to see why the game was 72 MEGAPOWER on SNES). I'd also watched the first part of the anime (I didn't watch the second part so I wouldn't see the ending) and I really liked the characters. I think the theme of this game is really good, with Sorey and the seraphins. The gameplay is excellent, so much so that I grinded a lot in the game and became really strong. At a certain point, every boss was easy. I only had trouble with Dark Turtlez, because he was really cheating by using specials all the time.

Wonderful soundtrack, I really liked the part where the people gather at night in Lastonbell and this song plays, very beautiful.



I'll keep an eye on the franchise, I'll buy Berseria and Arise, as well as getting some for PS3 and older.

 

[TuFaN]

#17⠀|⠀Astrobot⠀|⠀PS5⠀|⠀22-Mar-2025⠀|⠀20 hours⠀|⠀10/10

Astro Bot is a flawless platformer and my easy pick for the best game on PS5, even outshining FFVII Rebirth. Every moment was pure joy ^^ this is a 10/10 experience I'd recommend to anyone.

#18⠀|⠀Final Fantasy (2021)⠀|⠀Switch⠀|⠀09-Apr-2025⠀|⠀12 hours⠀|⠀7/10

I've been looking forward to play the Pixel Remasters of the Final Fantasy series for such a long time. I finally started my Pixel Remaster journey with FF1. The added quality of life features and the faithful yet modernized gameplay make this classic more accessible and enjoyable than ever before. Love it! (edited)

#19⠀|⠀Final Fantasy II (2021)⠀|⠀Switch⠀|⠀13-Apr-2025⠀|⠀20 hours⠀|⠀5/10

The grind-heavy core system of FF2 remains its biggest flaw, and not even the pixel remaster could redeem it for me. This is easily one of the weakest entries in the entire series for me. (edited)

#20⠀|⠀Final Fantasy III (2021)⠀|⠀Switch⠀|⠀16-Apr-2025⠀|⠀11 hours⠀|⠀7/10

Having played the original, the 3D remake, and now the pixel remaster, I still prefer the 3D version, but this game holds a special place in my heart. The story is simple and predictable, but nostalgia makes me appreciate it even today.

#21⠀|⠀Final Fantasy IV (2021)⠀|⠀Switch⠀|⠀22-Apr-2025⠀|⠀22 hours⠀|⠀7/10

FF4 Pixel Remaster instantly hooked me with its charming pixel graphics and classic JRPG atmosphere. The story and characters are a step above previous entries, making it easy to get emotionally invested. This is a timeless experience that proves why retro RPGs still captivate players today.

#22⠀|⠀The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered⠀|⠀PC⠀|⠀12-May-2025⠀|⠀120 hours⠀|⠀8/10

The surprise release of Oblivion Remastered was a dream come true, and exploring Cyrodiil for the first time felt like discovering a brand new world. The included Shivering Isles DLC and memorable guild questlines, especially the Dark Brotherhood, made my 120-hour playthrough unforgettable.

#23⠀|⠀Clair Obscur: Expedition 33⠀|⠀PC⠀|⠀20-May-2025⠀|⠀87 hours⠀|⠀10/10

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the best thing that has happened to me gaming wise in 2025. It is a masterpiece that moved me deeply, evoking strong emotions and even bringing me to tears at times. The soundtrack is so phenomenal I could listen to it all day, anywhere, and it easily deserves a perfect score on its own. Gameplay is equally outstanding, blending smooth, satisfying turn-based combat with real-time elements like precise dodging, parrying, and free-aiming for weak points. The robust customization system lets you tailor both playstyle and appearance, with a wealth of weapons, pictos (talismans), lvl based stats, costumes, and hairstyles to choose from. The well-written characters and gripping narrative elevate the entire experience to an incredible level, making it a must-play for any RPG fan.

 

[Kacho]

DOOM: The Dark Ages

Quake 64

 

[BusierDonkey]

Game 29

Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance - Completed Vengeance route 100%

This is unapologetically a modern JRPG. Turn-based combat with a learning curve, clunky traversal controls, pretty awful performance despite relatively simple visuals, etc. That all being said, this is a fun trek through the strange universe Atlas has been building for decades that doesn't always make any sense but hasn't always made any sense. Unlocking and upgrading your demons is the brunt of the time spent in this game. During battles you have the option to talk to your foes and attempt to recruit them. The demons range from cute little critters like Jack Frost to gruesome piles of gore. The variety is great and while you're bound to find favorites, the game will force you to choose between your favorites or compendium completion. While the visuals themselves won't blow your mind, the atmosphere in the game is done very well, a bleak, strange and despondent version of Tokyo that has been laid to waste. The music in the game is exactly what it should be, with each track perfectly suited to the part of the world you're exploring. I'm relatively new to Atlas RPGs, Tokyo Mirage Session #FE Encore being the only other game I've played in the series. I enjoyed this game much more than Tokyo Mirage Sessions as the exploration and setting were much more up my alley. I'll dive further down this rabbit hole in the future, maybe dig into the Persona series.

 

[Kacho]

Quake: Scourge of Armagon

 

[BusierDonkey]

Game 30

The Pedestrian - 100% Complete

The puzzles in this game were great. You move around "signs" and connect them so that the little guy from the pedestrian crossing sign can platform his way through them. There are a bunch of accompanying mechanics that all work together really well to create some actual head-scratchers. The music is pleasant, though I won't remember a note of it by the end of the day. The game has a few issues unfortunately. The developers disabled the reset icon in the game citing it was to prevent people from abusing it to cheat. It you get stuck; you have to shut the game down and re-launch since there is no way to just reload a save which is not ideal as getting stuck can occur in multiple areas. The other issue is the general absence of options for anything, there are just rudimentary graphics and sound option, that's about it.

The puzzles and the platforming are good, but the game really needed more options and maybe a tad more time in the oven.

 

[BusierDonkey]

Game 31

Sheepy: A Short Adventure - Completed playthrough

Named appropriately, this game is really short (about an hour), but it's also free. The game looks nice, sounds good and plays well. It's too bad the game is so short, what I played I liked more than some big indie darlings like Inside or Limbo where you mostly just press right on a d-pad. Hopefully the dev is working on a bigger game with more content. If you have an hour to kill, give this a run.

 

[BusierDonkey]

Game 32

Gun Devil - 100% Complete?

This is another free game and honestly, I had fun with it. The pixel art is great, think late NES, everything looks clean. The music all fits the game well and the platforming/shooting are both great. Unfortunately, the game doesn't use a d-pad for movement which is sacrilege in an action/platformer. The game ends unexpectedly though with no boss fight and an apology note from the developer. The game was 2 hours long which is comparable to a lot of old NES games and given the price that's pretty good, but I hate that I had the rug pulled from under me which soured me on the experience. Oh well.

 

[falling into hell]

Atelier Ryza Ever Darkness and the Secret Hideout 3/5
I didn't like it as much as the other Atelier games there was too much time you had to spent on creating items.

 

[TuFaN]

#24⠀|⠀Final Fantasy V (2021)⠀|⠀Switch⠀|⠀26-May-2025⠀|⠀28 hours⠀|⠀8/10

FFV holds a special place in my heart. I love the story, the memorable characters we meet along the journey, the locations we explore, and the satisfying conclusion. This is a remarkable game that, upon its release, was much better than its predecessors, easily surpassing the first four entries in the series. The job system of previous titles has now been greatly expanded on and lets players mix and match abilities from different jobs, which is incredibly fun. Mastering every job and returning to the Freelancer job rewards players with powerful bonuses. My party consisted of four freelancers during the endgame, hehe.

I like these pixelated graphics of the remaster, but nevertheless, I have to admit that the Pixel Remaster is unfortunately a step backwards when compared with the SNES version, visually speaking. The richer colors and the experience of playing on a CRT made the original far superior in terms of presentation. The CRT filter included in the PR is abysmally bad, to say the least. The quality of life improvements make up for the previously mentioned deficit, though. These changes make the game more accessible and enjoyable today, especially for those who lacked the time or patience before to experience this classic.

 

[BusierDonkey]

Game 33

Restless Soul - 100% Complete

This is a fun little adventure where you're a dead guy trying to find a way back to the land of the living. The game is basically a collection of dad jokes, a simple but fun to explore world and a battle system consisting of Robotron style shooting. There are some fun diversions and side missions to keep you busy between the intentionally horrible jokes. In terms of visuals there's not much to talk about, simple is an understatement. Music was fine, nothing memorable but well-suited to the game. If you like absurd humor and are looking for a relatively easy game to pass some time, give it a shot.

 

[BusierDonkey]

Game 34

Helltaker - 100% Complete

Another free to play Steam game, but I would have happily paid for it. This is a pretty short block puzzle game where you have a set number of moves in four directions to complete the puzzle and get an opportunity to recruit a big tiddy devil woman to your harem. When you talk to them you enter a speech check which can result in your death, but it's fun. Alongside the block puzzle levels are levels where you have infinite moves but have to dodge pitfalls and traps. The game also includes some decently hard bosses which I honestly struggled with a fair bit since I absolutely suck at games that require good timing. The "true" final boss took me 1/3 of my playtime to beat. Despite being free, the game looks nice, the music is great and again the gameplay was fun. I definitely recommend giving this game a try.

 

[jshackles]

Game 25 - The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd - PC / Steam - Completed May 26th, 2025
This is the fifth game in the Legend of Heroes series that I've finished, and I have to say that I'm really digging the vibe these games have. In a lot of ways, each game feels like a season (or two or three) of an anime show, but every season is interconnected even if they don't focus on the same characters. This time around, I absolutely loved playing as Kevin and getting to see his backstory and interactions with the rest of the cast. Reis was also a good addition, but a bit of a stick in the mud most of the time. Good to see everyone else doing their thing, but sad to know that most of these characters won't get much (or any) screen time going forward. Can't wait for the next game! Gotta catch up with the story.

 

[Andyliini]

Game 10 - Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition - Nintendo Switch
This is the reason I beat no games in April, tackling this beast took me 170 hours to do. I did all the quests I could find (one common quest I couldn't do because of the need to fell a superboss for it) and completed all the segments outside of some though tyrants. Xenoblade is one of my favorite series of all time, and has no bad games. This is another gem. It's a bit different than the main series, but very satisfying to play.

Game 11 - Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana - Nintendo Switch
I found this series when I got Ys Origin for Switch to review, and have played a few games ever since. These games have varying performance on Switch, but this game runs just fine. It's short and accessible, without being too easy. Grinding can get you a long way, although some of the bosses are maybe a bit too steep difficulty spikes. Still, a good game for fans of the series.

Game 12 - Zero Wing - Sega Mega Drive
I just wanted a third game for this month, so I booted up Nintendo Switch Online, and took a look at what could I finish quick. This Shmup from 1991 fit the bill. I scummed my way through with easy difficulty. I'ts a solid game, I guess. People mostly know it from the badly translated intro scene, though.

 

[BusierDonkey]

Bonus Game

Stellar Blade Demo - Completed everything available to do in the demo.

I spent 2 hours in this demo, but I don't count demos regardless of length. Pretty impressed with the performance of this game especially given it just released and runs Denuvo. I'll need to actually play the full game but what was here was alright. It's the "War with aliens creatures fought by hot women in revealing clothing" thing, but I like that. Gameplay is quick and fun, I can see spending a lot of time farting around with builds. Traversal is alright, pole swings, climbing and jumping are all pretty average. I find when slowly moving around while exploring Eve tends to take extra steps after I let go of the stick which I never like. I get the animation isn't done and the game is all about the visuals, but I would honestly rather have the character just put her foot down than move without my input. I have a massive backlog and Mario Kart World is dropping in a few days, so I'll hold off on buying this for the time being, but I think I will eventually grab it.

Game 35

Awaira - 100% Complete

This was another short but free game made by the same dev that made Helltaker. This one wasn't as good, but it was okay overall. This is a time management game where you're a technician that has to keep repairing generators being sabotaged by big tiddy ghosts. When the machines break down a timer starts, and you need to collect the required parts to repair them from around the room. Some parts need to be inserted into a second dispenser to make a new part. As you're running around grabbing parts the ghosts chase you around the stage attacking you which adds a random element to the stages, it also makes the game pretty hard and at times a bit frustrating since you can be doing everything right and then just get trapped by a bullet hell mess. Of course, on the flipside sometimes things work out perfectly. I prefer games to be a bit more predictable. This game would have benefitted from a few more complicated combination parts and less dodging enemies and their projectiles.

Game 36

Babbdi - 100% Complete

Another free game, I'm not even deliberately choosing free games, just going through my backlog. This is a weird game where you're trying to escape what appears to be a city surrounded by water, contained within massive dam walls. The only way out is to find a train ticket which has you explore the entire city, talking to its freakish citizens and finding secrets along the way. This is a cobbled-together thing with zero combat and what appears to be early AI-generated textures mixed with a lot of N64-tier textures. The only music in the game is the odd ambient tune or a trumpet you can find which is surprisingly complex but otherwise entirely useless. I had fun poking around the city using the goofy items like the leaf blower, motorbike and a bunch of other goofy items. Not a bad way to kill 2 hours and $0.

 

[Kacho]

Cultic

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

Full List!

I have done an abysmal job of updating as I finish games this year. That said, I am doing a great job with finishing games as I just hit goal! Looking at my history this year, almost everything is old and I didn't realize it until just now. Maybe I need to start up some newer games!

52 was a special game to go after since I have had it since launch and never got anywhere in the game. Playing Conker now, I was a tad letdown by the insane issues with camera/control/difficulty in the end. It zapped a lot of my enjoyment from the game overall. I did appreciate the ending a lot though!

Best so far this year: Either Star Fox 64 or Super Mario RPG (Switch) - ended up loving both of these games by revisiting them.

Star Fox 64 worked well on the Wii U and it led me to finally play through SF 1 and 2 which I had never actually played. Star Fox 64 was in heavy rotation on my 64 as a kid and honestly it holds up. Might give Adventures another go and then try the remaining games in the series. Hopefully Zero isn't as bad as claimed.

Super Mario RPG - what a fantastic refresh of this game. Everything held up perfectly for me and I had a blast running through it. It's a fantastic length and the gameplay is still breezy and fun. Would love for them to connect with Square-Enix and give it a true sequel!

Worst so far: Where's Waldo for the NES. Played this so many times as a kid and found ways to beat it...but it isn't fun, and they really limit the enjoyment with the insane timer. Waldo looks nothing like Waldo, and this was a really bad trip down memory lane.

Angry Alligator was close, and I wonder if any of you have even heard of it. It was across the board awful. There was no change in the gameplay from the start to the end. The most annoying part was just eating enough creatures and not dying from hunger. Avoid at all cost!

Spoiler: List if you care!

13. The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants (NES) - 5/10
14. The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino & Hoppy (NES) - 7/10
15. The Last of Us: Part II (PS5) - 9/10
16. Star Fox 64 (Wii U) - 9/10
17. Home Alone 2 (NES) - 6/10
18. Hidden Expedition (3DS) - 7/10
19. Sorcery (PS3) - 6/10
20. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Footclan (Switch) - 7/10
21. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Back from the Sewers (Switch) - 8/10
22. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (Gen) - 4/10
23. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Arcade (Switch) - 8/10
24. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters SNES (Switch) - 6/10
25. Space Quest V: The Next Mutation (PC) - 7/10
26. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Remastered (PS4) - 8/10
27. Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures (Xbox 360) - 6/10
28. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project (Switch) - 8/10
29. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time (Switch) - 8/10
30. Zork I: The Great Underground Empire (PC) - 8/10
31. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue (Switch) - 6/10
32. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game NES (Switch) - 9/10
33. Runny Egg (3DS) - 7/10
34. Space Quest 6: The Spinal Frontier (PC) - 6/10
35. The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit (PC) - 7/10
36. What the Bat? (Meta Quest 3) - 8/10
37. Super Mario Land (3DS) - 7/10
38. The Amazing Spider-Man (Xbox 360) - 6/10
39. Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins (3DS) - 8/10
40. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (Wii) - 6/10
41. Angry Alligator (PS4) - 3/10
42. Pick Pack Pup (Playdate) - 8/10
43. Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition (PS4) - 7/10
44. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (3DS) - 7/10
45. Super Mario RPG (Switch) - 8/10
46. Star Fox (SNES) - 7/10
47. Star Fox 2 (SNES) - 8/10
48. Platformer (Playdate) - 7/10
49. Killzone HD (PS3) - 7/10
50. Monster in My Pocket (NES) - 8/10
51. Donkey Kong Land 2 (3DS) - 6/10
52. Conker's Bad Fur Day (Xbox Series X) - 6/10
53. Undertow (Xbox Series X) - 7/10
54. 1942: Joint Strike (Xbox 360) - 7/10

 

[BusierDonkey]

Hopefully Zero isn't as bad as claimed.

I was a little shocked by the control scheme and ended up dropping the game before I really gave it a chance. I found myself needing to recenter constantly which was pretty annoying. I will go back and play through it someday.

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

I was a little shocked by the control scheme and ended up dropping the game before I really gave it a chance. I found myself needing to recenter constantly which was pretty annoying. I will go back and play through it someday.

Yeah, that makes me nervous. I always go in with the best intentions of handling a game and quirky controls and then fail miserably. I'll probably knock out Assault, Adventures and the DS one and then dip my toes into Zero. Did you play the Guard game that came with it?

 

[BusierDonkey]

Yeah, that makes me nervous. I always go in with the best intentions of handling a game and quirky controls and then fail miserably. I'll probably knock out Assault, Adventures and the DS one and then dip my toes into Zero. Did you play the Guard game that can with it?

Sadly, I didn't, but I should, it's actually supposed to be a pretty fun tower defense game

 

[marcincz]

I've spent last weeks together with Lara. Never beaten old TRs. Great titles, but I need a rest before TR3.
Edit: added Sine Mora EX

Game 27 - Tomb Raider Remastered (PS5) - 20h 22m
Beat 21/05/2025 - my score: 9/10

Game 28 - Tomb Raider Remastered - dlc Unfinished Business (PS5) - 04h 58m
Beat 24/05/2025 - my score: 4/10

Game 29 - Tomb Raider II Remastered (PS5) - 29h 08m
Beat 04/06/2025 - my score: 9/10

Game 30 - Tomb Raider II Remastered - dlc Golden Mask (PS5) - 05h 35m
Beat 07/06/2025 - my score: 7/10

Game 31 - Sine Mora EX (XBO) - 02h 53m
Beat 09/06/2025 - my score: 8/10

 

[SpiceRacz]

#19 - Breath of Fire III

44 hours total. Started this one numerous times and never finished it. One of my favorite games from the PS1 era and I think it's the best in the series. Coming off BoF2 last month, this one is a massive improvement (encounter rate, pixel art, music). Probably doesn't belong in the same tier as the Final Fantasies and Chrono Cross, but it's at the top of whatever tier is below those games.

 

[yamaci17]

made it to the half thanks to steam next festival

1	Indiana Jones and the Great Circle	60 hrs	9-January-2025	4	87.45
2	Horizon Forbidden West	54 hrs	8-February-2025	3	78.7
3	Horizon Forbidden West Burning Shores	16 hrs	14-February-2025	3	78.8
4	Doom Eternal Ancient Gods Part 2	8 hrs	17-February-2025	4	83.1
5	Alan Wake 2 Number One Fan	1 hrs	20-February-2025	3	72.45
6	Alan Wake 2 North Star	1 hrs	1-March-2025	3	73.15
7	Alan Wake 2 Time Breaker	1 hrs	1-March-2025	3	75.2
8	Alan Wake 2 The Lake House	4 hrs	2-March-2025	3	77.65
9	Black Myth Wukong	80 hrs	16-March-2025	4	85.8
10	Mullet Mad Jack	6 hrs	18-March-2025	3	72.1
11	Assassin's Creed Shadows	130 hrs	12-April-2025	4	81.85
12	Avowed	75 hrs	11-May-2025	4	83.1
13	Necromunda Hired Gun	8 hrs	15-May-2025	1	57.25
14	Doom The Dark ages	30 hrs	24-May-2025	4	85.1
15	Rematch Beta Test	9 hrs	30-May-2025	3	70
16	Stellar Blade Demo	2 hrs	31-May-2025	3	70
17	Hell is Us Demo	1 hrs	3-June-2025	3	70
18	Star Wars Outlaws	43 hrs	7-June-2025	4	84.05
19	Star Wars Outlaws Wild Card	4 hrs	7-June-2025	3	74.6
20	Star Wars Outlaws A Pirate's Fortune	4 hrs	9-June-2025	3	74.75
21	NINJA GAIDEN Ragebound Demo	2 hrs	11-June-2025	3	70
22	Vextorial Demo	1 hrs	11-June-2025	3	70
23	Mythrealm Demo	3 hrs	11-June-2025	3	70
24	MIO Memories in Orbit Demo	5 hrs	13-June-2025	3	70
25	METAL EDEN Demo	2 hrs	14-June-2025	3	70
26	JETRUNNER Demo	2 hrs	14-June-2025	3	70
27
28

 

[applesaucejaxon]

Previous post
Alright, June update time.

28: Mushroom Wars 2 - Switch via Switch 2 - Beat 6/17
I love this game. I used to play it all the time with my sons. But a strange thing happened a few years back: it stopped working. I tried it on my launch Switch, my OLED, and both of my sons' Switches. I don't know why, but the game just stopped booting. I was extra annoyed because I was about half way through the campaign.
Well I got a Switch 2 and decided to give it another try and it loaded up! I was very surprised, and jumped right back in to my old campaign save. All these years later, I was finally able to beat this darn game.
I think I might keep chipping away at my Switch backlog for the time being. There were a lot of games I didn't play in the hopes there would be better performance on the new hardware. Looks like my gambit paid off.

29: Ape Out - Switch vis Switch 2 - Beat 6/24
I wish I beat this one sooner. This was a really fun game and a great art style. And the music was obviously good, too. Was a bit shorter than I was expecting, but that's not really a bad thing. Bought this the day it launched, so obviously I waited 6 years to play it.

30: Fort Defense - PC (Steam) - Beat 6/25
Not sure when I got this game. I'm assuming it was when I was really in to Black Flag and Pixel Junk Monsters, seeing as it's a very basic nautical themed tower defense game. Nothing mind blowing. Solid 6.5-7 out of 10.

31: Super Mario World - SNES via Switch 2 - Beat 6/30
Still my favorite 2D Mario. I haven't played this in years. It definitely holds up. I did forget how trivial the cape makes a lot of the levels, though.
I was pretty unimpressed with the Switch 2 SNES emulation. There was slowdown and judder that I know didn't exist on the SNES. Was it horrible? No. It just could have been better.

So I'm stuck on the last level of Verlet Swing. I totally assumed that was going to be the #31 game for me. I'm actually starting to question whether or not I can actually beat that game. That's a feeling I haven't felt since the NES days. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Wolzard]

#4 - Final Fantasy XIII-2 (2011)

FFXIII was a game that took me a long time to finish, I played it on PS3 in 2012, bought it for PC in 2015 and finished it around 2017. The game was quite boring at the beginning, the story was confusing, but it started to get good towards the end before ending abruptly.

Then came FFXIII-2, which I thought would just be Square Enix cashing in on the success of the game, but no, the game expands on the original story in a very interesting way, by breaking it into multiple timelines. In a way, FFXIII-2 is a modern Chrono Trigger, although the timeline trips aren't that far apart.

The gameplay remains very refined, the paradigm system with Noel and Serah works better than in the original, which had many characters. The game also improves the "fantasy corridor" issue, as here there are several small open-worlds in each timeline.

Returning to the story, it is typical of a dramatic anime, it starts off a little sad given the events of FFXIII, then there are some moments of excitement and then the revelations of the story make the story a little sad.

The game is visually superior to the original, the character models are very well done and the scenarios are wonderful. Now the soundtrack helps a lot, the composer was inspired, as there are many good songs, especially in the dramatic scenes. There are many sung compositions in the game.



The final boss was tiring, because in addition to having a lot of life, he summoned other bosses with a lot of life and then he would cast some magic that forced me to burn the potions and use the healing and protecting paradigms a lot.

The ending, for a change, is a huge cliffhanger. At the time, I don't think anyone had heard of Lighting Returns yet, so this really seems like a dirty trick on Square Enix's part.

Speaking of which, I started Lighting Returns and so far I'm not liking it. The story is confusing, although I'm slowly fitting it into the ending of FFXIII-2. Just like the other two games, the story will probably tie itself together as the game progresses. The characters are super well done, almost CG level, but it seems like they sacrificed the scenery for that, the map, so far, is PS2 level, a huge downgrade compared to XIII-2.

 

[March Climber]

Tier List update for halfway through the year:

A Tier:	Sackboy: A Big Adventure, The Crew 2, Zombi, Forza Horizon 1, Forza Horizon 2, Little Big Planet Vita
B Tier:	Little Big Planet 3, Forza Horizon 4, Uncharted Vita, Jak & Daxter: TLF, Little Big Planet PSP, Eternal Ring, Resistance: Burning Skies, Killzone: Liberation, R6: Extraction, Little Big Planet 2
C Tier:	Little Big Planet Karting, Little Big Planet 1, Steep, Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves, Forza Horizon 3
D Tier:	TBD
F Tier:	TBD

22) The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered (Xbox Series X)

Some notes of mine from the official thread:

While the leveling system in this remaster is significantly better than the original, there is still a level of restraint that's needed from the player so that you don't level too fast for your own good, because the enemies after level 10, 15, and 20 will be built for a tanky player with a strong weapon, not a guy who mastered the art of talking and trading. And as far as I'm aware there is no respec aside from a completely fresh start.

The enemy scaling will sort of funnel you into being a spell slinger or caveman warrior with low personality/speech until 60+ hours in, whether you like it or not. And it's somewhat odd, because the game's quest structure itself will attempt to funnel you into the opposite direction using more speech/trade related skills in order to reach next steps or earn higher rewards.

I can't think of many other RPGs outside of a Bethesda published game that has this very specific leveling issue, because it's mainly their RPGs that have level scaled enemies, which means there aren't really many places, if any, to safely grind on 'older' mobs to correct a mistake. I specifically state "Bethesda Published" because I had this same problem with Fallout New Vegas even though I really liked that game.

I can't put Oblivion above Skyrim in rating. I consider this remaster specifically, on nearly equal terms with Skyrim, with it's own special positives and negatives, with quest writing, scenario writing, and dialogue being one of the biggest positives.

I have and will recommend this Oblivion Remaster to people who really love Skyrim. It will for sure bring those same feelings, but at the same time I would highly recommend that same person do research before hopping into this game. Research skills, attributes, spells, etc. Save yourself wasted runs/wasted bad early game builds and instead just min-max as if this were a second playthrough so that you're not caught off guard later on.

This game is a very strong A rating to me. It will (hopefully) only improve with further updates and time, and as I've stated before I think a survival mode would suit this game perfectly. So I hope they include it one day because I RP-walked back and forth to locations for a bit earlier in the game out of curiosity, and I think there is huge potential there.

I think there is some merit to it, but it needed some tweaks. 1 v 1 melee combat feels good and has moments where I think 'wow that was cool' like when a 2Hand weapon enemy baits me into moving forward to strike, only to sidestep and heavy swing to hit me in the side.

There was also a moment where a hand to hand enemy did a power attack while I was blocking, knocked my weapon out of my hand, picked it up before I could, and started using it against me. Another bow enemy kept attempting to kite up stairs while shooting below, granting him headshot advantage.

They will also go in for a rush attack once they manage to deplete your stamina, which would be the equivalent to a slight daze or breaker punish in a fighting game.

Like the game has the skeleton of a cool combat system there and decent AI for it, but to me where it actually falls apart is when you encounter more than two enemies. Then it just becomes a messy brawl where everyone is accidentally hitting each other and yet you, the player, are taking all of the damage on top of that and sometimes the enemy might take none (from other enemies next to them).

One of the things I feel the next Bethesda game should address better are the concepts of friendly fire and human shields. There needs to be even more of a risk of friendly fire specifically, especially if human shields ever becomes a mechanic. It would make for a much more fun engagement and flow of combat.

The game consumed my time, by itself, for over a month. It deserves the A rating, and again the tweaks they made to the game were great and made it way more consumer friendly while keeping it difficult and obtuse enough to not be too easy. I recommend playing on hard difficulty. Yes, it will be a bit tough at first, but you will for sure feel that next level up, that next ability, that next piece of equipment, as you truly sneak, kite, run, and battle your way through the game until you finally feel that power 3/4 of the way through the game. It feels much more earned on hard difficulty. This rating can easily change to an A+ after mod support is patched in and especially after they put in a survival mode, which would be absolutely perfect for this game moreso than Skyrim.

Rating: A

23) God Eater Resurrection (Playstation 5 Backwards Compatibility)

This is a remaster of the first God Eater game. I had decided to try this out since I was such a fan of Code Vein. It starts out well enough and does a good job of being it's own spin on Monster Hunter. I liked the systems and special abilities it presented to make itself stand out from MH.

However, there are things that drag it down that will probably, hopefully be improved once I play God Eater 2. Firstly, the game is way, way, way too long. The resurrection edition has multiple campaigns because it adds the content of God Eater 1, God Eater Burst (the first remaster) and God Eater Resurrection (the second remaster). This would be fine, but the main campaign has so much grind (a ton of side-mission grind) that really drags the story and stretches it out to it's absolute limit. This is a problem that plagued Final Fantasy 16, and just like that game, by the time I reached the end I felt like I never wanted to pick this game up or go near it ever again.

After the first ending of this game I just wanted it to be over, but little did I know I had 40ish more hours to go for 2 more endings. Not only was this an issue, but the second issue is that the game increases in difficulty over the course of it, to the point where you have to start researching cheese builds because nearly everything will kill you in 1 or 2 hits, especially one monster that moves way too fast for the player's own movement/actions. Things started coming down to RNG in the last few battles, and things coming down to RNG is one of my biggest pet peeves in gaming.

Other than those glaring issues, it was an enjoyable enough experience knowing that it was this team's first outing at a MH-like franchise. Plus, it had some cool music to go along with it (with the same composer as Code Vein):



Rating: C

24) Doom: The Dark Ages (Xbox Series X)

Some notes of mine from the official thread:

I'm really enjoying the fact that the cutscenes are showing Doomguy/Doom Slayer as this relentless Terminator.

No words, just action and a simple directive: Eliminate all demons. He is a force of nature that people look at with slight intrigue and awe yet visible fear when he's headed in their direction. At the same time, the gameplay itself makes you earn that feeling.

It's a great balance that not many other franchises nail.

My impression of this game is as follows:

Doom: The Dark Ages feels like Doom 64-part 2 from an alternate universe where it replaced Doom 3 for the Xbox/Xbox 360.

At first it took me a minute to get used to this, but once it started to click, along with the gameplay, I realized I was playing a game that would have fit perfectly on the first two Xbox consoles as a pre-CoD 4 experience, right next to the series of both Halo and Unreal Championship (The Xbox Unreal games).

If it had come out back then, I could definitely see this leading to Doom 2016 on Xbone/PS4, which is supposed to be the direct sequel. The speed of 2016, comparatively, would match a post-CoD 4 timeline.

It makes me wonder if they purposefully made the open level design and slightly slower/defensively paced game design like this, to almost fully mimic a game that would have released back then and eventually led to Doom 2016.

I would need to see more dev diaries about this, but if so it is a fascinating concept to execute on in such a way.

I really liked this game, but I can completely understand why Doom Eternal fans are taken back by it and it's differences. For me, as a Doom 64 fan, this was Doom 64-2 with a shield and melee attacks. I had to change the way I thought of this game because at first I did try to play it like Doom 2016, but it simply is not that. It's a bit slower, a bit more methodical, but not too much to where it feels soulslike or anything.

My slight negative in rating is simply because of two things:

1) Enemy off-screen signifiers aren't good enough. It was better for me to back up sometimes to make sure that I have as many as possible within my eyesight, especially the ones with constant long range spam attacks. It's even worse when an enemy will refuse to use their green skill and will instead spam red skills until you get a shield break, thus following up with a green skill that causes heavy damage due to your shield being on cooldown.

2) The game takes a while to fully feel it's best. It feels like a fighting game where you are using a limited moveset until the halfway point of the game. Literally around mission 11 out of 22, things not only clicked much more, but they clicked because of the amount of options and unlocked weapons/moves/perks I finally had, to where I could enter a sort of flow-state with the combat, much moreso than the first half. The halfway mark is also when they get a bit more creative with the level design, especially the hell levels which contained some mind-bending moments and puzzles.

Another side note: While not Mick Gordon's music, they did have some cool music choices especially in the second half of the game:





I wish they had leaned more into this movie orchestra-mixed-with-Metal because that was when the soundtrack felt like it had found it's own path.

Rating: A-

 

[marcincz]

Last update in the first half of 2025.
Replayed both Mafia games after many years. Especialy 1 is still amazing title. Currently playing, for the first time, 3rd part. I am going to beat in July and my preparation for August release of Old Country will be finished.

Game 32 - Mafia: Definitive Edition (XBO) - 12h 57m
Beat 15/06/2025 - my score: 9/10

Game 33 - Mafia II: Definitive Edition (XBO) - 12h 31m
Beat 18/06/2025 - my score: 8/10

Game 34 - Mafia II: Definitive Edition - dlc Joe's Adventures (XBO) - 10h 15m
Beat 21/06/2025 - my score: 5/10

 

[BusierDonkey]

Couple of Neo Geo shoot 'em ups. I played a handful of Capcom CPS1 shoot 'em ups as well but I'll pile those together for another day.

Game 37

Ironclad - Complete all routes

Ironclad sits between top-down and side scrolling. everything moves horizontally and is viewed from a 45-degree angle which I don't think I've seen before. The game is pretty cool; you choose your path to five possible endings and can change course up or down on a map after each stage. The stages are the real draw here, there are blasted out towns, factories, hell at one point I blew my way up from underground into a church and came across a man playing a giant organ. His seat transformed into a huge mech boss. I kept going back because I had to see all the stages. This game is all pre-rendered visuals as it was the thing at the time. It doesn't look bad, but compared to the pixel art on the system it looks more lifeless.

Game 38

Blazing Star - Completed playthrough

This is one of those games that borrows a ton of stuff from Gundam and just goes to town with it. The cylindrical colonies, the mech designs, the battle into Earth's atmosphere, etc. Not that I mind it, I'm a huge fan of Gundam as I'm sure the guys that made this were. Visually this was a product of it's time, like Ironclad it ditched pixel art for pre-rendered visuals which are really well animated but lack the detail seen on hand animated pixel art on the Neo Geo. In terms of gameplay this is about as run of the mill side scrolling shooter as it gets.

 

[Andyliini]

Game 13 - Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown - Nintendo Switch
This is the first Prince of Persia game I have ever played. I was intrigued at the Metroidvania gameplay, and for the most part the game is fun. The world map is huge, and can take a lot of time to traverse. Sadly, there aren't that many quick travel points. They unlock more of them towards the end of the game, but that's very late in game. Some of the difficulty spikes are also nasty, even on normal difficulty.

Game 14 - Mario Kart World - Switch 2
I count this as beaten, since I reached the end credits, but that's only scratching the surface of what this game has to offer. I haven't even unlocked the Mirror Mode yet. It's a fun racer, even for someone who didn't enjoy Mario Kart 8, for one reason or the other

Game 15 - Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour - Switch 2
This is not a game per se, more like a interactive tech manual for Switch 2, with some mini games scattered thorough. Most of the game time is taken on reading infoboards and taking quizzes based on them. It doesn't even include credits, so I have no idea who actually made this title.

 

[SpiceRacz]

#20 - Mario Kart World

Not really a backlog game, but I'll count it here. Immediate thought when I started playing was that this is way better than I was expecting. I don't particularly like these games. This one is exceptional though. Some of the best course design in the series. From the previews, the levels looked very broad and boring. That's not the case at all though. The new rainbow road is jaw dropping. Boo Cinema is another standout track. The music has a lot of remixes from not only past Mario Kart and Nintendo games. The whole thing feels like a celebration of Nintendo. I love it.

#21 - Disney Illusion Island

This is basically baby's first Metroidvania. The art style is an interesting choice. It looks nothing like the previous Illusion games. There's little to no challenge here either. You can't attack enemies. However, the actual platforming is quite good. You get a wall jump, floating ability to extend jumps, floor smash, etc. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this one. I think if they make another one and add some actual challenge, it could be really good.

 

[Barakov]

10. Death Stranding : Director's Cut

 

[March Climber]

As a refresher from the last few games I played, I decided to try out the Shantae series. All of them.

25) Shantae (Playstation 5)

This game needs a remake. It is a serviceable port of a Gameboy Color game that feels like it was trying to be a quirky version of Castlevania 2. It moves very slow, it has some jank to it, and some of the 'where to go and what to do' can be obtuse. It also has a day/night cycle that can lead to annoyances depending on what you're trying to achieve. A decent idea originally made for hardware that wasn't advanced enough for it.

Rating: C

26) Shantae: Risky's Revenge Director's Cut (Playstation 5)

This game felt like the idea of the first one, but a bit more fully realized. However, they abandoned the Castlevania 2-style of exploration with this odd 'stacking' map, I assume to show off some sort of technology for the gameboy advance or DS, the two systems it was originally designed for. You essentially jump into a foreground or background area in order to explore further and find secrets. While cool at first, it can become slightly annoying due to the amount of backtracking needed and the fact that you have to access 'jump points' in order to change plane. Other than that, it was a fun experience and is also used as the basis for her control in the sequels.

Rating: B
27) Shantae and the Pirates' Curse (Xbox Series X)

This is where things started to feel like they approached a peak. Extremely smooth, fast gameplay, put in a level-based metroidvania experience. Every skill you get is meaningful, and it doesn't make you backtrack too much to be annoying and instead feels rewarding to do so. One negative is that the map is very basic with barely anything other than the layouts of the levels, which can lead to backtracking. Thankfully you have a speed boost in this game so it isn't that big of a negative, but it's something they forgot to consider.

Rating: A-

28) Shantae: Half-Genie Hero Ultimate Edition (Playstation 5)

This game was a slight step back, and that's mainly because of what they're asking the player to do. The experience is kind of bite-sized and is level based, but the Metroidvania aspects have been removed in favor of short replayable levels with new secrets to find once you unlock new abilities. A tip for anyone playing this, try as much as you can to wait until the final stage (you'll know once it unlocks) before backtracking and unlocking more. It's less of a time-waster that way.

The reason it isn't quite an A is because the other modes of the game ask you to replay the same levels over and over, finding more secrets, over and over, and the main thing that changes is the gameplay of the new character that you're playing. Replayable yes, but it can get tiring over time.

Rating: B+

29) Shantae and the Seven Sirens (Steam Deck)

This game goes back to the Pirates' Curse foundation and instead of making it a level-based metroidvania, it makes it a full-on metroidvania experience/map, not separated by levels anymore. Instead they give you designated warp points and save points, like a metroidvania would. So far the experience has been an A level, aside from a few obtuse moments that will give you zero hints. It also introduces a card-RPG system that I'm curious to see how far they'll take it. Also, this game boasts fully animated cutscenes. Impressive stuff.

Rating: Pending, but leaning towards an A

 

[BusierDonkey]

5 Capcom CPS1 arcade games. I play all these arcade and Neo-Geo titles through FPGA emulation on an Analog Pocket.

Game 39

Giga Wing - Completed playthrough with all characters.

This shoot 'em up has you hold the fire button to activate an ability that draws in all the enemy fire around you, then blasts it back into the enemy for massive damage. The game has multiple characters to choose with special dialogue and endings for each character.

Game 40

1941: Counter Attack - Completed playthrough

This is just your typical 19XX game. Massive bosses, tons of enemies, lots of tiny, fast projectiles and a lot of getting blown up a second after finally picking up a weapon upgrade. I've always had a fondness for these games.

Game 41

Carrier Airwing - Completed playthrough

Carrier Airwing is a pretty fun side scroller which uses "real" planes. The game features awesome music, interesting stages and huge boss fights with multiple stages, I found the weapon upgrades in this one lacking, with most weapons only affecting a thin line ahead of you. Special weapons were a bit better but were only active a short time. It was pretty cool to blast holes in skyscrapers so I could fly through them.

Game 42

Forgotten Worlds - Completed playthrough

I played this game a year or two ago on the Genesis with my brother. You're flying around with a jetpack. Unfortunately, when playing the game on the Analogue Pocket it uses the D-pad to rotate the character, resulting in very slow aim movement where in the arcade the characters rotate much faster using a knob. Despite that, the game is a lot of fun. You play as two goofy commandos, you can enter stores to upgrade your arsenal and buy supplies, it's a very unique game.

Game 43

Nemo - Completed playthrough

This game is both better than I expected and yet entirely forgettable, it's also really short. The art and music remind me of the SNES games I'd rent and enjoy for a weekend and then never think of again. It's good, it controls well, it was fun to play, and I'll never touch it again.

 

[BusierDonkey]

Game 44

BZZZT! - Completed playthrough, all bolts, all challenge chips. Don't think I'll be able to 100% this one.

This game was worth playing for the great art alone. This is a precision platformer, but not a razor thin margin one. You can beat the game while making multiple mistakes but if you want to 100% the game you have to complete the levels without getting hit, collect all the bolts and do it in a time limit that while tight, is fair. I had fun with the stages and the goofy story going on in the background. The platforming itself is superb with your standard assortment of moves like air dashes, double jumps and wall climbing. There are plenty of pitfalls, lots of instant death, but nothing ever felt cheap and every time I died, it was clearly on my end. The music is also great, lots of electric tracks that fit the game perfectly with a mix of nostalgic chiptune beats. I wish the game was longer, though it might take dozens of hours to get 100%, assuming I even can.

 

[BusierDonkey]

Game 45

Mario Kart World (Free Roam) - Found all P Switches, Peach Medallions, and ? Panels in Free Roam

I'm mostly discussing the new free roam part of this game here. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a better circuit racing game than Mario Kart World. That's not to say this one isn't good, but for me it's just not near the same level as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Unlike past Mario Karts this game isn't just a circuit racer, it's got this massive open world to explore and find secrets in. I love exploring and farting around in games, so this part of the game is right up my alley. This world they've put together is full of charm and plenty of things to discover. I never got bored of the P-Switch challenges. Some were brutal but eventually I finished each one. I'm hoping they keep adding more over time. I also enjoyed looking for the medallions and panels, though at a point I had to cave and use a guide for all three as the game has no mechanism to track them which is a pretty glaring oversight. The game looks great, runs really smooth, draw distances are insane and the music is absolutely one of the best parts about the game. The OST features remixed versions of Mario titles going right back to the start including even oddball Mario entries, all done in different musical genres. Jazzy versions, rock versions, classical versions, etc., of tracks you'd think wouldn't even work all just sound fantastic.

Not everything is perfect though. The map sucks, roads are faintly portrayed. P-Switches, panels and medallions don't get marked when found. Fast travel is limited to the main tracks or where the characters sit around the map so often getting to where you want to be takes way longer than it could. Another issue is traversal is often blocked by sheer cliffs requiring long detours to get to where you're going, a few ramps here and there would solve the problem. I hope they do another in this style but have the courses be more dedicated to circuit racing and have the open world be almost its own separate thing, kind of like how real racetracks are. At the end of the day, I put 55 hours into a Mario Kart game. Looking back, I was having fun the entire time, except the parts where I was raging out at a few of the challenges 50 attempts in, but it wouldn't be Mario Kart without the odd rage-out.

 

[applesaucejaxon]

July Update!
So here's my last post...

32: Verlet Swing - PC - Beat 7/2
Oh my god, this was probably the hardest game I've ever played. I would say that only applies to the last 5-10 levels, but those were some hard ass levels.
I loved this game. I never heard of it, and I saw it siting down at the bottom of my Steam library. The swinging just feels great, and the the level design was fantastic. The last 3 levels I legit didn't think were possible to beat, but they ended up being beautiful in their simplicity once I got the hang of what to do. I would imagine this would be insane in VR. And I'm sure I would have to play it with a bucket sitting in my lap. 9/10. Easily in the top 3 of what I've played this year.

My son got me God of War: Ragnarök for my birthday, so I might give that a spin next. On the other hand, my oldest son got me Fire Emblem: Three Houses like 5 years ago for my birthday and I never played that. Either way, I'm sure I'll end up beating something else in the meantime while feeling like a real POS deadbeat dad.

33: Little Nightmares - PS4 via PS5 - Beat 7/5
This was alright. The controls reminded me of Little Big Planet. And not in a good way. Visually, it was pretty amazing. The art direction was top notch and it was a very pretty game.
So I'm just going to say it: I have no idea what was going on in this game. If there was a story, it went completely over my head. And the boss? She had nothing to do with anything else that seemed to be going on. At least as far as I could tell. Was this all the point? If so, why??? I have the sequel, so I'll play that at some point and see if I can crack this egg finally.

I DID start GOW:R and made sure Fire Emblem was updated on my Switch 2. Baby steps and redeeming my fatherly duty.

 

[applesaucejaxon]

"#21 - Disney Illusion Island

This is basically baby's first Metroidvania. The art style is an interesting choice. It looks nothing like the previous Illusion games. There's little to no challenge here either. You can't attack enemies. However, the actual platforming is quite good. You get a wall jump, floating ability to extend jumps, floor smash, etc. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this one. I think if they make another one and add some actual challenge, it could be really good."

I almost checked this one out from the library earlier today. Is it worth a play? Is it relatively short? My 2 year old daughter really likes Mickey Mouse and I was thinking she might like watching this one get played, but toddler attention spans don't last too long...

 

[SpiceRacz]

I almost checked this one out from the library earlier today. Is it worth a play? Is it relatively short? My 2 year old daughter really likes Mickey Mouse and I was thinking she might like watching this one get played, but toddler attention spans don't last too long...

I would say so. It's pretty simplistic and easy, but has all the trademarks of a metroidvania. It's only around 5 or 6 hours. So, it's not a huge time commitment either.

 

[BusierDonkey]

Game 46

To the Moon - Completed playthrough

This game was made in RPG maker and for an RPG maker game it looks really good. The game has no battle system, the map is almost entirely located in a handful of small areas, and there are really no environmental obstacles to deal with. The game just has you interact with things placed around the map followed by a tile flipping puzzle game at the end of each section. Traversal is extremely clunky with your character getting hung up on just about everything around it. The game is rough, but at the same time the entire point of it is the story taking place. You play as a team of specialists who use equipment allowing them to implant memories into people's minds, their goal in to allow dying patients to alter their memories so that they can remember accomplishing something they regretted not doing before they die. In the case of this game, it's a man who wants to go to the moon. You're hopping through his memories trying to get to his oldest memories making changes so that he wants to become an astronaut. The story and characters are alright, the music is decent and again, for an RPG maker game it looks really good. Unfortunately, as a whole the game is missing too many parts to feel complete.

 

[Barakov]

11. Death Stranding 2 : On The Beach

 

[marcincz]

Now I am prepared and ready for Old Country. In June beat Mafia I & II.
Third part is like most ubisoft open world games. Boring and repetitive missions. However soundtrack is great.
It's not mistake with my notes for dlcs.

Game 35 - Mafia III: Definitive Edition (XBO) - 28h 35m
Beat 02/07/2025 - my score: 6/10

Game 36 - Mafia III: Definitive Edition - dlc Faster Baby (XBO) - 01h 30m
Beat 02/07/2025 - my score: 7/10

Game 37 - Mafia III: Definitive Edition - dlc Stones Unturned (XBO) - 03h 02m
Beat 04/07/2025 - my score: 7/10

Game 38 - Mafia III: Definitive Edition - Sign of the Times (XBO) - 03h 05m
Beat 05/07/2025 - my score: 6/10

 

[SHIV4]

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are among the best gaming experiences I've ever had especially SOTC, which I created a lot of fan art for.

The Last Guardian had been on my mind for a long time, but I never had the chance to properly try it.
I remember playing it for about an hour a few years ago, and I couldn't get into it. I felt disappointed, like it was a downgrade from their previous games.
But I was so wrong.
TLG is honestly an underrated game, and I feel like it never got the love it deserved.. it's a true artistic masterpiece.
The first thing I have to do is praise the now-disbanded development team.
That team was incredibly talented when it came to animation and physics.
TLG delivered the best character animation I've ever seen.The boy's interactions with the environment were incredibly realistic.
For example, I was standing next to the giant cat-like creature "Tirco" ,and its tail passed under the boy,he tripped and fell in a very natural way.
tirco animations were also stunning.
Every movement made sense.If you throw a food anywhere around it, it smoothly turns and reacts in a believable way to eat it.
The team absolutely nailed the interaction with the giant animal.
Its reactions and behavior throughout the game really made you feel like you were dealing with a real, living creature.
The water animation is among the best I've seen.. even better than most modern games.It's so realistic that it's actually part of a puzzle: you make the creature jump into the water to create a huge wave that lifts you to a ledge to progress.
Technically, the game holds up really well even by today's standards.
And as always with this studio, the art direction is magical.
My main issue, though, is that the game runs at 30fps, and tbh, I found that pretty annoying.It would've been way better at 60fps, but Sony never updates their older games.
As for the gameplay, your character (the boy) doesn't do a lot on his own.His main role is to clear paths for the creature, crawling into tight spaces that the creature can't reach in order to open a path, then riding on its back to get to new areas.
The game also features some very clever puzzles that really make good use of the game's physics.
but there is issue with the gameplay.. most of the time you have no idea where to go, and the creature doesn't always respond to your commands, which makes progression feel slow and sometimes frustrating.I think that might turn some people off.
Also, the checkpoint system,( especially in the more difficult platforming sections) is way too spaced out.
I really liked the story, and the ending was beautiful.
The game isn't too long either, which I found perfect.

My final score: 9.0/10

1- the last guardian (PS5) My score 9.0/10

 

[Wolzard]

#5 - Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (2013)

After an extremely confusing beginning, the game's story unfolded quickly and placed me where FFXIII-2 had ended. The story tries to be more complex than it actually is, there is a lot of redundant dialogue, where the characters keep reinforcing the same thing they said at other times. It reminds me of an anime called Guilty Crown, which was basically just a battle shonen. FFXIII is more or less that.

I found the change in battle style very strange, but I quickly got used to it. It's almost like an action RPG, where movement is free but limited by the ATB bar. Taking the idea from FFX-2, there are several outfits that give Lightning different abilities and you can use 3 sets in battle and switch between them, putting different spells and abilities in each set so you can combine them in battle. It's really cool when you already have some good spells, like thunder that leaves most enemies vulnerable when you use it multiple times.

Visually, the game is pretty weak in terms of scenery, with PS2-level rendering. All this savings were placed on the characters. They have a high polygon count and are almost like CGs. The music is repeated from FFXIII and FFXIII-2, with a couple of new songs. It's not that bad, because the music from the previous games is magnificent.

Overall, it was a good experience. I think the FFXIII franchise is a bit unfair, as it doesn't have any bad games. I just think it's a bit poorly directed. They're not all exciting at first, but they grow over time. The battle system is very good. For me, it should have been how the franchise should have followed with FFXV and XVI. Who knows in the future, considering that Square Enix kept an eye on the success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

 

[TuFaN]

#25⠀|⠀Super Mario Land X⠀|⠀Game Boy⠀|⠀27-May-2025⠀|⠀1 hour⠀|⠀6/10

Super Mario Land X is a ROM hack of the original Game Boy classic, Super Mario Land, and also the first ROM hack I have ever finished an entire playthrough of. While its increased challenge is a welcome twist, it simply does not measure up to the magic of the OG SML on the Game Boy. I went in hoping for a somewhat comparable experience, but for me, the two games are worlds apart, to say the least. The OG is a masterpiece for me, one of my absolute favorite games of all time! It is timeless, nostalgic, and perfectly crafted, with every single pixel burned into my memory from decades of replaying it. SML X, on the other hand, is just an ok-ish/decent experience, but not even good enough to earn a 7/10. I'm glad I played it once, but it never touched my soul like the OG, and I don't feel the need to revisit it anytime soon again.


#26⠀|⠀Crash Bandicoot⠀|⠀PS1⠀|⠀30-May-2025⠀|⠀4 hours⠀|⠀8/10

Crash Bandicoot on PS1 was my introduction to 3D platformers. Crash was a weird-looking but instantly recognizable and iconic hero. I loved that, even as a kid, I could finish the game, unlike so many brutally unfair games of the era made difficult just to lengthen playtime. Without an N64 or Mario 64, this was my gold standard for 3D platforming. Its cartoony flair, wild nature, tight corridor-style level design, and memorable music made it a true PlayStation classic.

#27⠀|⠀Castlevania: Bloodlines⠀|⠀Mega Drive⠀|⠀11-Jun-2025⠀|⠀3 hours⠀|⠀8/10

I played Bloodlines for the first time this year and enjoyed my time with it. It's a good game even by today's standards, with challenging gameplay, memorable bosses, and some of the best visuals and music on the Mega Drive that I've ever seen. The carefully planned level design, distinct style, and the choice between two unique characters make it a standout and memorable adventure

#28⠀|⠀Mario Kart World⠀|⠀Switch 2⠀|⠀13-Jun-2025⠀|⠀40 hours⠀|⠀8/10

Mario Kart World is exactly what I thought it was going to be. I have to admit I'm not the biggest Mario Kart fan out there, but I've played every entry and even finished a few. For me, Mario Kart World isn't a system seller, unlike something like Breath of the Wild was on the original Switch. To have that as a launch title was just pure insanity. I picked up the Switch 2 on day one because I was hyped for the console itself, not specifically for Mario Kart World, and I knew I'd want to play all the big Nintendo releases down the line. The launch lineup was pretty meh, but the new console launch still felt magical, and I even bought one for my nephews. I'll never forget their faces with huge smiles and shining eyes as they left their car one by one and slowly saw that I was holding a Switch 2 MKW bundle in my hands, hehe.

What I did enjoy about Mario Kart World surprised me, not gonna lie. The new interconnected world is genuinely impressive. Being able to freely explore between courses without any loading screens is neat. The Free Roam mode lets you drive wherever you want which adds a fun, relaxed layer to the game. Races with up to 24 players are wild and chaotic in a good way though, and the Knockout Tour mode, with its Fortnite/PUBG-circle-like eliminations, kept things tense and fresh. The dynamic weather and day-night cycle actually affect how your kart handles, which is a cool touch and something I absolutely was not expecting. I also liked the expanded roster and new power-ups. The soundtrack is humongous and full of great remixes.

That said, there were a few things I didn't love, unfortunately. While the open world is ambitious, sometimes it can feel a bit empty. It generally is a good thing to have 24 players, but at times it can be chaotic, and also at times, luck sadly seems to play an even bigger role than skill. Even with all the new content, the core gameplay loop hasn't evolved enough to keep me hooked for the long run, and I also don't know what there is that could be changed to hook me harder.

Mario Kart World is a great game and easily an 8/10 for me, but it didn't last very long. I was done with it after about 40 hours. Like I said at the start, it's not a system seller in my eyes, but I get why others might see it as the best Mario Kart ever. For the right fan, it could be a new favorite, and I respect that.


#29⠀|⠀Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge⠀|⠀Game Boy⠀|⠀13-Jun-2025⠀|⠀2 hours⠀|⠀5/10

Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge on Game Boy is nearly unplayable for me nowadays and took real effort to finish. Its punishing, sometimes unfair difficulty overshadows the solid visuals and classic soundtrack. Even nostalgia, as I played it in the 90s and still own the original cartridge from back then, can't save this game. I just don't enjoy it, and I have no desire to revisit this short but relentlessly tough entry. It's not a bad game, but its dated design and brutal challenge make it too mediocre to spend any more time on


#30⠀|⠀Mega Man II⠀|⠀Game Boy⠀|⠀13-Jun-2025⠀|⠀2 hours⠀|⠀6/10

Mega Man II on Game Boy is another title I played in the 90s, but it's far from the system's best. While it's ever so slightly better than Dr. Wily's Revenge thanks to fairer boss fights and improved controls, the uninspired level design and odd soundtrack make it a forgettable, mediocre entry. The addition of sliding and Rush Marine is nice, but it doesn't save the game from feeling like a bland remix of NES content


#31⠀|⠀Lies of P: Overture⠀|⠀PC⠀|⠀22-Jun-2025⠀|⠀35 hours⠀|⠀9/10

Lies of P: Overture is a DLC I absolutely adored, so much so that I started an entirely new playthrough just to experience it with a fresh build, rather than steamrolling it with my overpowered character in NG+5. I ended up finishing the DLC twice, both on NG & NG+, and it had a similar, positive impact on me like the main game (which I played a few months ago for the first time ever), even if it's shorter in length. If it weren't for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 stealing the spotlight this year, Overture could have easily been a GOTY 2025 contender for me. A huge thanks goes out to Sandfall and Kepler Interactive, I guess?

What makes Overture special is how it delivers more of what made Lies of P great, while still feeling like a fresh experience. The new areas are atmospheric and diverse, with standout level design that is at a similar creativity level like the base game. The enemy designs is wild as hell and even wilder than the main game at times. Some creatures are disgustingly put together combinations/mutations of already existing creatures and I love that! The bosses were great but the final one is a real real highlight for me, offering the by far most tense and rewarding fight. I loved experimenting with the newly added weapons and Legion Arms, which add fun twists to combat and encourage different playstyles. I'm so glad that I had so much fun with the new equipment that I didn't have an urge to swap back to previous equipment from the main game to overcome challenges. Not even during the final boss, the most challenging fight of the dlc+main game.

The story is also beyond amazing, it actually deepened my connection to Krat and its tragic world by fleshing out character backgrounds and lore in a way that ties beautifully into the main narrative. The DLC also introduces very welcome quality-of-life updates in my book, like new difficulty settings which cater to both hardcore players and also those looking for a more accessible experience.

Not everything landed perfectly, though. The new freeze/ice status effect felt underdeveloped, I only needed to use an antidote once in both playthroughs, so it never really impacted me at all.

Overall, Lies of P: Overture is a fantastic expansion that stands shoulder to shoulder with the main game, both in quality and impact. For me, it's a clear 9/10 experience and a must-play for any soulslike fan out there.


#32⠀|⠀Solar Striker⠀|⠀Game Boy⠀|⠀03-Jul-2025⠀|⠀2 hours⠀|⠀7/10

Solar Striker on Game Boy is a nostalgic favorite for me. It is a fast-paced, smooth vertical shooter with perfectly balanced difficulty. Its short, 1-2 hour playtime is ideal for gaming on the go, and it's aged well enough that I'd still recommend it to newcomers today. Simple, satisfying, and a great example of classic Game Boy design


#33⠀|⠀X Multiply⠀|⠀Arcade⠀|⠀07-Jul-2025⠀|⠀2 hours⠀|⠀7/10

Its unique tentacle power-up system is cool, though I wish there were more weapon options. This game is a visually stunning 1989 arcade horizontal shooter that blew me away on my Miyoo Mini + handheld in 2025. The game's grotesque, bio-organic visuals stand out. I have to admit that the game is brutally tough. It was clearly designed to eat coins, with memorization of a lot of sections required to have a shot at surviving. It's one of the hardest shooters I've played, but also one of the most memorable for its style and challenge


#34⠀|⠀Alan Wake II⠀|⠀PC⠀|⠀08-Jul-2025⠀|⠀18 hours⠀|⠀8/10

Alan Wake II on PC wasn't the masterpiece I'd hoped for, despite all the glowing praise from almost everyone who had finished the game. It's just not my cup of tea, it seems, though I did enjoy its atmospheric visuals, strong performances, and creative narrative structure. I also enjoyed how visually stunning it looks. It definitely pushed my RTX 4090 to its limits and made me slightly think about how much of a mistake it was to sell the RTX 5090 I had bought. Honestly, while it was a great experience in parts, it's not a game I'll look back on fondly or feel compelled to revisit, unfortunately.