52 Games. 1 Year. 2020.

3. Dicey Dungeons (Steam - March 29th - 81 hours (lots of afking though) - 7/10 - A bit of a chore to complete)

As work was getting really hectic, I wanted to have an easy to pick-up & learn rogue-like that I could play on and off whenever I needed some relaxation. After searching around for a while I stumbled upon Dicey Dungeons. I had heard of it before but never delved deeper in it. What really caught my eye though, was that it was a game by Terry Cavanagh, which other games, VVVVVV and Super Hexagon I really enjoyed. The game really delivered on the easy to pick-up aspect. I think the tutorial took about 5 minutes and all the extra characters were easy to understand as well. It's a very relaxed experience (while it can still be very aggrevating at times, looking at you Witch), no skillful execution required, just trying to get an OP build with a little bit of luck sprinkled in. All of the characters added a unique flair to the game. However some characters could become really annoying in some of the later challenges due to luck starting to play a bigger and bigger aspect. For the later challenges especially the damage aspect could become really annoying where enemies could output an insane amount of damage with some luck while you're trying to get this set-up for a character working because that's the way the character is intended to play. A lot of times what ended up happening was making a deck where, from the start, you could output a lot of damage instead of going for the set-up the character was designed around. There were also a bit too many dungeons you had to go through before being able to tackle the end-boss. I do sound a bit negative about the game but I did really enjoy my time with it. It feels great to get an absolutely OP set-up going and it's fun to think about all the ways you can make that insane build. I did about 1-2 runs every evening after work for the past month which attests to its easy to pick-up & play nature.

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27. Asura's Wrath: Episode Pack IV (XB1BC) Mar 29 2 Hrs ★★★★
I dropped it a star from the base game because this should have been included. Same crazy ass story with a real ending. Pretty mad I missed this game last gen.

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Weekly Update 13: My best week of the year so far. Didn't have much to do this week as a result of Covid-19 so I took advantage of my extra fee time at home. Finished 5 games this week and should/might have 2 games finished for this upcoming week.

19. Doom (2016) - I tried this around launch and wasn't feeling it back then. Decided to give it another whirl and I'm happy I did as I loved it. Apart from some platforming sections it was a near perfect game. The music intensifying as the combat does is really well done.

20. Titanfall 2 - Another game like Doom (2016) that I couldn't get into the 1st time around and ended up loving the 2nd time around. The dynamic between Jack and BT was really good, but pales in comparison to the gameplay which is where the game shines. The game is surprisingly short and the back half of the game feels rushed, but otherwise it's hard to find many faults in the game.

21. Sparkle 2 - Good game to pass the quarantine time. Not much to say about it other than if you like match 3 type games to give it a try.

22. Control: The Foundation - A decent sized dlc that answered some leftover questions from the main game. There was a side quest that was really well done and it had some Sayonara Wild Hearts vibes. Looking forward to the next dlc and seeing where that goes.

23. Silent Hill 2 - My first playthrough in over a decade and it's still one of the greats. The voice acting ultimately does not hold up, but the way it dives into the psyche and has you questioning why you're in Silent Hill is very well done.

Currently Playing:
1. Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII - According to a mission list on the internet I'm only 3 missions away from finishing. My thoughts haven't changed much from last week in that it's a swimming in 7's type of game.

2. State of Decay 2 - Tried it at launch and the bugs killed it for me. Decided to jump back in after the latest update and I'm hooked. I loved the first game and this is better in every sense. Should be done with the Warlord this week and I'll count it as finished at that point even though I'll probably play it every now and then for the other 3 types of leaders.

I'll also be starting Persona 5 Royal and Resident Evil 3 Remake this week and might/should finish Resident Evil 3.

28. Tekken 7 (XB1) Mar 30 3 Hrs ★★
I enjoy the fighting of Tekken 7 but the story mode is ass. And the load times are ass too.

#14 Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid | 3/29/2020 - 2.5 hrs | 3/5
Had some interest when this came out and decided to play it on Game Pass. I thought the story was decent, though it was really jarring only having one actual VA from the show. Gameplay-wise it was pretty middling. Maybe I'm just bad at fighting games, but the CPU kicked my ass later on in the game and I had to resort to cheesing to beat it.

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Game 10: Half Life 2: Episode One (PC) (3 Hours) (1/5) (March 29th, 2020)
While Half Life 2 very quickly moved into my top 10 games of all time, the same can't be said of Episode One, this game has all my least favourite parts of Half Life 2 with the exception of the airboat. Covering antlion holes in this game made fighting antlions bad, and with no payoff like in Half Life 2 where you can control them. The endgame Gravity Gun from Half Life 2 appears at the start of the game and it just doesn't have the same effect. In Half Life 2 it was there after hours of fighting the combine and was a pretty sweet moment considering everything that happened BEFORE that point. Alyx always gets in your way in this game, she just always finds a way, and after being one of the best characters in HL2 she just seems so, wonky? I just got really annoyed by her in this game I think. The game is also really short and honestly could have been tacked on to Episode 2 for a full game.


Game 11: Half Life 2: Episode Two (PC) (4 Hours) (3/5) (March 29th, 2020)
Now THIS is how you make a Half Life expansion. This game expands on the large open areas of Half Life 2 and makes the car even more fun to enjoy and ride around in. Alyx gets redeemed by having better AI and not getting in your way all the time. They also introduce the Hunters, also known as the best Half Life enemies, these guys are so cool and are actually fun to fight. The game LOOKS amazing and the worlds actually have incentive to explore. It feels like they remembered how to make Half Life because compared to Episode One, this is way, way better.


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6. Nioh 2 | 19th Mar - 50hrs ~ and keep counting | 5/5
An amazing sequel to the first title which already excellent. The combat is still good, the build now have more variety and the bosses are better than the first Nioh. Really enjoying my playthrough, will keep playin until I get the platinum, which will be a good time sink before my most anticipated game of this year, FF7 remake.

7. Enderal: Forgotten Stories | 31st Mar - 92hrs | 5/5
Another excellent game that I played this month, calling it just a mod is an understatement, since the story is so much better than Skyrim, the battle system actually a bit more balanced, even though leveling your stats using your gold is a bit of a chore. But the quest, the writing and the characters really draw me in, I love every minutes I spend in Enderal, too bad I can't continue after finishing the main quest, but I'm pretty satisfied with ending and the whole game.

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Seem to have been in a bit of a SP funk since being on lockdown. Just been playing more MP games (CS & Rocket League as well as lots of OSRS).

45/52.

44. CoD4:MW:R - Excellent campaign and really think they added excellent detail to make everything look brilliant. 4/5

45. Ori & The Will of the Wisps - Beautiful playthrough but unfortunately I was hounded with freezes/lock ups. Still pushed through to really enjoy this. 4/5


Waiting on Nier:Automata coming to game pass now.

29: Super Punch-Out. End: 3/31/2020. 4 Hours. Liked-A-Lot.

I've had plenty of experience with the Punch-Out series, but this entry is one that I had very little experience with. Glad to finally put it behind me. All things considered it's a fun title with solid gameplay.

March is almost over, and more than any other month in basically my entire life, I can barely recall the beginning of it. Remember the time when we could be in groups of more than five people at a time on a regular basis, or go eat out at a restaurant, or not cower in fear every time you get within six feet of a stranger? That was 800 years ago. Everything this month has been pandemic this and quarantine that, it's inescapable.

Fitting, then, that the only two games I completed this month should be these:




The Division 1 feels kind of rough nowadays, though I know many people favour it over the sequel. (I didn't do any endgame stuff, though.) But man, The Division 2 just feels more fun to play. Even with my frequent whining about not being able to do tough content (and then a few days later managing to do it after tweaking my build), the 60+ hours I've put into The Division 2 this month kind of flew by. And that's a big reason why I didn't get much else done this month. Luckily, I'm still ahead of schedule, but it's time to get some new games completed.

Horizon: Zero Dawn is still in progress. I'm really enjoying it still. Finally got to a convenient part in the story to start The Frozen Wilds, and wow--the production quality is on a whole other level compared to the base game. I also started Doom Eternal and Half-Life: Alyx this month, and I'm especially enjoying the latter. Doom Eternal is weirdly taking some time to grow on me, and I've kind of left it by the wayside in favor of strapping on the Oculus Quest to play more Alyx.

Sadly, I probably won't finish this months' game club game for the 52 games club, Ori and the Blind Forest. I think it's just not my cup of tea, though I don't think I dislike it exactly. But with the onslaught of fresh games already starting, I just don't see why I'd pick up a game I'm only sort of enjoying. (Same goes for Crash Team Racing, which I think I can finish but will be mostly a game to add to the 52-game list rather than something I'm looking forward to finishing.)

So what does April look like? Extremely full. With Persona 5 Royal and Final Fantasy 7 Remake coming out in the first half of the month, and Sakura Wars and Disaster Report 4 coming out a bit later, I'll have no shortage of lengthy games to enjoy. My goal will be to try and finish some smaller games in between, just to regain some momentum. A Short Hike is on my list, as is Pikuniku.

COMPLETION COUNTER: 21/52

Latest Completion:

21. Black Mesa (PC) | 1st April - 26hrs | 9/10

Black Mesa is a stunning game. It is especially stunning in comparison to most shooters released in the past decade or so, with its focus on extreme mobility and player control. The circumstances of its existence also shouldn't be ignored - it is a labor of love, an ascended fan-remake that got the blessing of the original team, with very good reason. Black Mesa is the definitive way to play the first Half Life for both newcomers and long-time fans alike.

The economy of storytelling and strong environmental design is preserved from the original, this time with a new paint job that serves to enhance the original's art direction rather than overwrite it. Black Mesa is nothing if not faithful to and reverent of the original 1998 release, which speaks to the strength of Valve's original design work. Then, there is Xen.

Upon its original 1998 inclusion in the original Half-Life, Xen was a rushed and unpolished final act in an otherwise excellent game. Often spoken about with disdain, Crowbar Collective sought to rework Xen into something more in line with the rest of the game and bring back many of the ideas left on the cutting room floor by Valve originally. Black Mesa's Xen is a crowning achievement, and easily one of the game's highest points.

Gordon Freeman's No Good Very Bad Day starts with him arriving late to work, and ends with him accepting a new role outside the company. In many ways Half Life is about the worker's grind, the horrors of a day job, and the bureaucratic Powers That Be that dictate the life of a company and its workers. The enemies, nightmarish creatures from beyond the pale are nearly Lovecraftian when juxtaposed with the Black Mesa Research Facility, the military shooting unarmed scientists a forceful takeover and attempt by management to contain an unruly and unmanaged workforce. It isn't until you find out more about what is going on that the table is flipped; as Gordon, in the words of one scientist late in the game, "learns more than any one man should" about how all of this fits together the player soon takes the role of the invader, trudging through Xen as the gun-wielding and armor clad warrior wreaking havoc on the unsuspecting and largely untamed wildlife of the borderworld. Combat changes from hectic, corridor based run and gun to deliberate puzzle-based encounters that highlight Gordon the scientist and problem solver rather than a simply lucky man with a helpful suit and a couple of high powered guns. In this way the game shares a lot of DNA with Metroid Prime, and often, its beauty.

There are a few small complaints however as the game comes to a close. Some of the final fights are particularly overtuned, and I found myself having to save scum at times to try my luck due to lacking resources. For a good 2 hour stretch during Interloper I found myself with no ammo aside from some trip mines, requiring me to do some really goofy finangling in order to escape combat situations and trigger the necessary puzzle solutions to move forward. Nihilanth as well was a hectic and difficult fight, but one I enjoyed quite a bit. It was easy to see where ideas evolved from Half Life 1 to Portal as Valve's design ideology changed, and again how Crowbar Collective applied their own tweaks to the formula.

Overall Black Mesa is a fantastic game, one highly worth playing, and one I won't forget for some time. Absolutely give it a chance if you can.

Reviews for games 1-18 can be seen in the Original Master Post
Reviews for other games can be seen in my ongoing 2nd Master Post

March update, quarantine edition

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10- FF7REMAKE -1h- 4/5

Amazing demo, really looking forward to play the full game.

Cannot wait to get my hands on this game.

11- RE:Code Veronica (replay) -12h- 4/5

Much better than I remember it the last time I played it as a kid

Great map design, level backtracking and interesting plotwists in the story. Also, badass Wesker is one of the best villains in vidya


I need to play more capcom old games replays.


12- Yakuza 6 -23h- 4/5


The ending of an era, the era of Kiryu.



Perfect ending for closing this saga and solid yakuza game in general. Altough it lacks the last games mechanic of simultaneous playing various characters.

Nonetheless, amazing game and great closing for Kiryu.




13- RE:ZERO (replay) -6h- 2/5

Man, on the opposite site of remembering things bad.

TERRIBLE Resident Evil with a lot of misplaced mechanics and map design

Probably the WORST RE game we have.

14- Nioh 2 -67h- 5/5

The game that ate most of my playtime this month.

A massive upgrade from Nioh, an already great game.

The mechanics added in this sequel makes the game levelup in quality and challenge, the Oni transformation & skills mechanics makes the game fast, fluid and rewarding.

Another of the key parts this game improves from Nioh is the level design, much better and varied stages, specially side-misions, altought we have some reused maps from Nioh

Best game released this year and GOTY contender for me.

BRUTAL and unfair boss fights with great OST.



Now playing

- DOOM ETERNAL
- ORI 2

More great reviews, thoughts and musing everyone! My wish list gets bigger every month!

My March has been intense with work stuff, mostly in response to the Coronavirus situation even amongst 12-14 hour days I've needed something to put some clear blue sea between work and sleep so after spending a couple of hours with my better half I have been managing to squeeze in a half hour or so here and there.

I up to 12 complete now so am still just about on schedule for completion. Unfortunately during the lock-down work is still chaos and I started playing COD: Warzone with some cross platform friends and started Divinity Original Sin 2 so expect my completion rate to go down substantially in April!

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My thoughts on the games I completed in March:


GAME #09: Death & Taxes
Placeholder Gameworks - PC - ★★★☆☆

Completion State:
Got a few endings including the goodest and became the new keeper of world order (5.1 hours, 50% achievements)

Comments:
I initially thought I wasn't going to get into this but it's pretty intriguing in the way it tells it's story. I ended up playing through a couple of times despite my initial doubts. It's got some weaknesses here and there but overall I'm glad I played it and it raises some interesting meta issues worthy of thought. Poor gerbil.


GAME #10: Dear Esther
The Chinese Room / Robert Briscoe - PC - ★★★★★

Completion State:
Reached the end of the story (1.2 hours, 60% achievements)

Comments:
Beautiful, poignant and melancholic but with a dash of hope. Dear Esther, thank you.


GAME #11: Master of Pottery
AZGames - PC - ★★★☆☆

Completion State:
Made a lot of beautiful pots and some ugly ones too (9.2 hours)

Comments:
It's been a long month so I've mostly been looking for relaxing, contemplative experiences that don't ask too much of the player mechanically. Master of Pottery fit the bill perfectly and though it can't really be completed I think I'm largely done with it. It was good while it lasted but I've done just about everything I can with it so it's time to move on.


GAME #12: Half-Life 2 Episode One
Valve - PC - ★★★☆☆

Completion State:
Reached the end of the story and replayed some sections with the developer commentary (5.8 hours, 46% achievements)

Comments:
I think it holds up better than the main game and has a pacing and length that I prefer. I like the developer commentary as well, it includes some interesting insights in to the design process.

Monthly update: March 2020



Comment: Well I can't remember a month I played as much as this one. Thankfully my personal situation has improved, and maybe from now on I won't be able to play as much as I played these 3 months, but I at least, I'll be able to afford more recent games and consoles.

Also, I'm quarantine, but I want to use the time I have left of it (who knows if by the end of this month...we can return to our ordinary lives) to develop a new skill (digital art).

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Update 10, a very late one!

Been terribly sick so this update is very late. Yes I am at 50 games and have not been able to finish two more in almost a month. Hopefully our little Game Club can help with that. We're gonna play Metro 2033 in April and the Q2 game is Final Fantasy 9. If you wanna join in on the Game Club fun, join the Discord (link in the OP)!



46. The Forest (PC) | 4th Mar - 55hrs | 4/5 | 100% Completion

Prior knowledge:

The positives:

The negatives:




47. Ori and the Blind Forest (PC) | 5th Mar - 25hrs | 4/5 | 100% Completion

Prior knowledge:

The positives:

The negatives:




48. Eventide 2: The Sorcerer's Mirror (PC) | 6th Mar - 4hrs | 3/5 | 100% Completion

Prior knowledge:

The positives:

The negatives:




49. Murder by Numbers (PC) | 10th Mar - 20hrs | 5/5 | 100% Completion

Prior knowledge:

The positives:

The negatives:




50. Reigns (PC) | 11th Mar - 12hrs | 3/5 | 100% Completion

Prior knowledge:

The positives:

The negatives:

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13) Street Fighter 3 - Third Strike
Street Fighter has always been my favorite fighting series ever since SFII came to the SNES. That said, I never wound up playing SFIII - any iteration of it - until now. It did not disappoint. One of the best 2D fighting games I've played.
14) KH: Dream Drop Distance
Really loved the game play with this and ever iteration of the main games I've played in the series so far keeps improving from the previous. Storywise, this game completely lost me by introducing time travel into the mix. The series overall story is complicated as it is, esp with the soft retcons, without adding this in. Oh well - still a great game.
15) Mortal Kombat 11
My second favorite fighting series and wow this entry was great! As primarily a single player gamer, this game delivers in spade the amount of content for someone like me.
16) Darksiders Genesis
Confession - I own Darksiders 1 and 2 but have never played, this is the first one I played even though it's a spin-off that's is very different than the mainline games (from what I've read). This is a short but fun Diablo-style dungeon crawler. The difficulty spikes with some of the bosses, esp the final boss, is pretty damn annoying though and held it back in my eyes.
17) Mario + Rabbids
Really fun take on the Mario franchise. I was kinda meh on the game until the 2nd world then everything started to click and I really enjoyed myself with it.
18) Assassin's Creed III
This game was a bit of a let-down after the amazing Ezio trilogy. That said I do respect them for trying to add different aspects to the game in order to spice up the formula.
19) Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Great Metroidvania. I loved the first Ori and since this is very similar - loved this one too. The artstyle of these two games is beautiful. The combat is better than the first but still a weakness to the game. The platforming is still superb.

Probably a bit late to start this whole crazy thing, but I'm just now beginning to believe I will reach the mythical number 52 for the year. Anyway, here's my list.

1. Control - 8/10
2. Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea - 6/10
3. Contrast - 6/10
4. LEGO Marvel Superheroes - 7/10
5. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot* - 9/10
6. Dishonored - 8/10
7. Injustice 2 - 7.5/10
8. Burly Men at Sea - 7.5/10
9. Outer Wilds - 10/10
10. inFAMOUS: First Light - 7/10
11. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - 8.5/10
12. Dreams - 7.5/10
13. Celeste - 9/10
14. Bully - 10/10
15. Dragon Ball FighterZ - 6.5/10
16. Rise of the Tomb Raider - 6/10
17. A Short Hike - 8/10
18. Metal Gear Solid - 9/10
19. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin - 8/10
20. One Night, Hot Springs - 7/10

In progress:

1. Tearaway Unfolded
2. The Walking Dead Season Two
3. The Witcher 3
4. Fallout 4
5. Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age
6. South Park: The Fractured But Whole
7. Earthbound
8. Dark Souls III
9. Persona 4 Golden
10. LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4

Game #24 - Murder By Numbers
Time: 25 hours
Rating: ★★★★★

Wonderful gem this turned out to be, a really well made mix of visual novel and picross, with great writing, a lengthy story with 4 cases that end up being more interconnected than expected, with a ton of picross puzzles to solve, and even more to unlock the better you do on each case. The art is great, and while the picross isnt the hardest around, it's certainly competent and the whole package is super charming. Highly recomended for fans of picross, or fans of visual novels that might want to get into picross.

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March update: 15/52

I certainly didn't expect that I would have beaten ten games in a month, but here we are. It's a bit of a shame that nine of them were games I've beaten before, though. I guess when the world around you is collapsing, it's easier to play something you're familiar with rather than jumping into the realm of unknown games. Also incredible timing to play Death Stranding right before society as I knew it shut down.

Anyway - here are the ten games:


6. March 7th | Mega Man 3 | Playstation 4/NES | 1hr | Replay | ☆☆☆½(/5)
7. March 7h | Mega Man | Playstation 4/NES | 31min | Replay | ☆☆☆
9. March 15h | Mega Man 2 | Playstation 4/NES | 45m | Replay | ☆☆☆☆☆
10. March 15th | Mega Man 4 | Playstation 4/NES | 1h 19m | Replay | ☆☆☆
11. March 23rd | Mega Man 5 | Playstation 4/NES | 1h 12m | Replay | ☆☆½
12. March 23rd | Mega Man 6 | Playstation 4/NES | 1h 6m | Replay | ☆☆☆
14. March 29th | Mega Man 7 | Playstation 4/SNES | 1h 45m | Replay | ☆☆☆½
15. March 29th | Mega Man 8 | Playstation 4/Playstation | 1h 59m | Replay | ☆☆☆½

I play Mega Man 1 and 2 at least once a year but haven't touched the others in several years, so it was fun to revisit some of them. 2 is still the best and one of my favorite games of all time. It's one of the first games I ever played, and even though it's probably been, like, 20 years since I was introduced to it I have never once grown tired of it. It's got such tight controls, the robot masters are all memorable and fun to fight, the stages never drag and the soundtrack is legendary. Also maybe the most beautifully melancholic ending to any 8-bit platformer ever?

The Wily 4 boss is terrible though.

Mega Man 2 feeling just like I remembered it wasn't exactly a surprise, but I was surprised at how my opinions changed about a lot of the other games in the classic eight. I never liked 8 before, for example, but now I feel that it's extreme penchant for a new gimmick per stage makes for a really fun and fresh game after seven pretty similar games. It's not amazing or anything, but now that I'm an old, wiser man than before I can really appreciate how they tried to do something new. Also it looks really good and the cutscenes are corny as hell (this is a positive). Looking forward to playing it again someday, which definitely wasn't the case before.

I found the opposite of 8 in 5, which I really liked when I was younger but now felt didn't really bring anything new to the table. Didn't even seem to try, really. It looks okay, it sounds okay, and it plays okay, but that isn't enough in a franchise where every game is basically the same. Why would I ever want to go back to 5 when I can play basically the same game but better in 4, 3, 2, 1, 6, 7, 9, 10 or 11? I guess the Super Arrow is sort of neat, but that's about it. The core gameplay of Mega Man is such genius that even something as uninspired as this is mostly fun to play, but it's definitely the weakest game in its series.

Mega Man 3 also felt a bit worse than I remembered. It's always had some problems with input lag, and the Doc Robot stages are probably the worst executed concept (and the Doc Robot himself has a hitbox larger than a house) in any Mega Man game, but I somehow didn't remember the severe slowdown and how often it happened. It's mostly a great game with some really tight level design that's probably even better than Mega Man 2's, but there are so many things, both big and small, that just keeps me from loving it. It just drags more than it should, and the Wily stages are rendered trivial by the fact that you get like 10 E tanks per stage, and none of them are really hard enough for you to need a single one (though I guess the same thing can be said of 2). I recall hearing that the game was rushed to meet its release date, and you can really feel it at times. Not in the music though. Definitely one of the best 8-bit soundtracks ever, if not THE best.

7 is about as good as I remembered. Always felt like it was a bit underrated. Sure, it's extremely slow and the final boss is way too hard for such an otherwise easy game, but it plays really well and the 16-bit facelift really helped it stand out among its peers. I can't sit here and say that it's great or that it reinvents the Mega Man formula in any way, but it's succeeds really well in what it's supposed to. No level is too long, they're all well designed, the graphics are great, and I really like this game's set of robot masters as well. It's maybe worth mentioning that MM7 was one of the first Super Nintendo games I ever played, so nostalgia might be clouding my judgment. Tried to do a pacifist run of the game (gave up after the first four bosses and got stuck on Spring Man's stage where the enemies were basically impossible to avoid) btw, so I beat it a lot slower than I normally would.

1, 4 and 6 I don't really have much to say about. I love 1 (don't love the fact that it took me over 30 minutes to beat it though) because 1) I'm really good at it, and 2) it's such a pure, no nonsense video gamey game. It's also a stiff, ugly, and buggy mess that no sane person should be playing (for the first time) in 2020 for any other reason than the fact that it came first. 4 is unremarkable but competent in every way and at least gave us the mega buster (and some really mean enemy placements). 6 is like a better 5 in that it's mostly just okay but tried some new things. Neither the rush suit or the branching paths ever felt that special for some reason though.

Anyway - fun games! All worth playing if you haven't. Except 1, I guess, but that one can at least be really fun if you learn to exploit its many glitches. Listen to the soundtracks at least. They're all mostly great.

Soundtrack highlights:
Mega Man 1 - Cut Man Stage
Mega Man 2 - Flash Man Stage
Mega Man 3 - Spark Man Stage
Mega Man 4 - Dust Man Stage
Mega Man 5 - Proto Man Fortress
Mega Man 6 - Wily Fortress
Mega Man 7 - Shade Man Stage
Mega Man 8 - Bass' Theme


8. March 13th | Death Stranding | Playstation 4 | 80h 56m | ☆☆☆☆
It's not often that you play something so completely unique as Death Stranding. It's hard to really talk about without making it sound like the strangest and maybe least enjoyable thing ever: "you deliver countless packages across a huge world where your biggest foe is your weak balance and sometimes oily ghosts and like-addicted terrorists.", and it really isn't much more than that.

But it also is much more than that. Even though the game is set in a post apocalyptic USA (or UCA) where the few people you actually meet are out to kill you, and its gameplay consists almost entirely of traversing back and forth through increasingly difficult (and long) paths while trying not to damage your packages, it's a strangely pleasant experience. Just taking your time, walking or driving through that beautiful world is a strangely meditative experience, and when the licensed music kicks in (the few times it does) it evokes a feeling that's difficult to explain. I don't think you can really watch someone else play the game to really get the charm of it. You probably have to experience it for yourself, and really just soak in that world and get in the headspace of someone who's just delivering packages of high performance underwear, day after day, mile after mile. Should feel like torture, but somehow doesn't. At least one or two really good boss fights in there as well, even though they're nowhere near Metal Gear Solid 1-3 level quality.

The story itself is really hit or miss. I love Kojima, but the man is insane and it really shows in this game where we both get him at his crazy best and crazy worst. There are some severe pacing issues here and there, and there are some shameful exposition dumps, but there are also some really cool moments. Especially one chapter where it feels like Kojima is just mocking video game tropes is great (and feels Kojima as hell), and I actually really liked the super long ending. The performances were really good as well, especially Troy Baker (which honestly was a bit surprising considering the rest of the cast), but I would have liked more Mads :(. The characters themselves are most of them pretty bland, but in traditional Kojima fashion they all have some sort of strange gimmick which makes them interesting anyway.

Really nice implementation of other players too. It's an online game where you're all alone, but other people's structures (bridges, vehicles, etc.) are randomly placed in your world. Pretty heartwarming to see a game where simply by playing it you'll inevitably help someone else further down the road.

Oh, and the original soundtrack's amazing. My favorite track is probably A Final Waltz.

So yeah, overall I really liked Death Stranding and if I'd played it last year it would probably have been in my top 3 of 2019. It doesn't stick the landing on all of its aspects, but it's an experience unlike any other and has a really interesting story (even though it's pretty poorly told a lot of the time). Also just incredible from a technical standpoint. Definitely wouldn't recommend it to just anyone though.


13. March 28h | Bayonetta | Playstation 4 | 8h 36m | Replay | ☆☆☆☆
I've been really wanting to play Vanquish for several years now, so when it was announced for PS4 I bought it immediately. I sadly still haven't played it, but I did play the game that came with it: Bayonetta. Played this the first time when it was released on the Switch and really liked it, so felt compelled to experience it all again (with a better suited controller for this type of game). Great the second time around as well, even though I wish I had gotten better at it than I have. Played on normal and averaged silver, but I really should have been able to get gold.

Problems with me aside - has there ever been any gameplay mechanic as satisfying as witch time? I mean, probably, but I really can't think of any right now. Bayonetta would have been just a really good character action game without it, but with that little extra touch it sails to the top of my list alongside Metal Gear Rising. Every time it triggers it somehow creates the illusion of me being any good at the game, and I like feeling like I'm decent at something.

What I don't like, though, are incoherent stories and extremely unfair quick-time events. Unfortunately Bayonetta has both of these. The overall gameplay is incredible, but every time you go to a cutscene between stages everything just falls apart. Mostly, at least, the cutscenes with Bayonetta and Jeanne are always fun insanity, but usually they just kill both my brain and the pacing. The quick-time events are just bad trial and error as they give you so little time to react and usually lead to an instant death if you fail them, which is a bit annoying in a game where the ranking system punishes you for dying so severely. I actually like the game's overall high difficulty quite a bit, but I have my limits for what's fair and not. I also have some issues with the extreme sexualisation of Bayonetta herself, but it's never enough to make me want to quit the game. Just hide the fact that I've played it from the rest of the world.

Any problems I have aren't enough to make me dislike Bayonetta though. It's fast paced, fun action with boss fights that just get progressively crazier and crazier. Unlike the sequel (which is probably the better game in most ways) it also feels like a complete game and not one that just sort of ends. Just skip the story and you have a great, fairly short game on your hands.

And just like every game I played in march: great soundtrack. A highlight for me was Red & Black.


Wow, that was a lot of words! Planning to get to Mega Man 9, 10 & 11 next month. Also really looking forward to the FF7 remake. Like, more than I have any other game in a long, long time. Hope you'll all have a great April and that the world around us doesn't end!

Currently Playing:
System Shock (PC)
999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (PS4)

30: Yakuza 3. End: 4/2/2020. 25 Hours. Between a Liked and a Liked-A-Lot.

In my attempt to get caught up on one of the blanks in my gaming history, we come to Yakuza 3. There's a lot here to like, but it is starting to feel like the series is getting into a rut. I think I'll be taking a break from this series for a bit. Let myself recharge and enjoy whenever I get around to 4.

23. Panzer Dragoon Orta - 02/04/2020

The remake of the original classic has me in a Panzer Dragoon mood, so I booted up a run of Orta. I actually came away a little down on it, since I think it' a little too technical for an arcadey genre.

Can't wait for Panzer Dragoon Zwei's remake.

Main Post

January
February

March
15. Gravity Rush 2 (PS4 - 27 hours) March 1st : Great follow up to a great game. I could've spent more time on the side quests, but many of them just felt pretty weak.
16. 198X (PC - 1 hour) March 8th : Loved the aesthetic and the music, didn't enjoy it as a game...way too edgy.
17. Diablo III: Eternal Collection (PS4 - 30 hours) March 18th : First time playing a Diablo like game. It felt...really grindy and easy, but that's probably because I started on Normal (never felt like I could die)
18. Ori and the Will of the Wisps (PC - 11 hours) March 22nd : I liked this one better than the first. Great game, can't recommend it enough
19. Hidden Through Time (PC - 2 hours) March 24th : Really easy find-the-hidden-object type game. Nice visuals, just wish it had more levels outside player made ones
20. Squidlit (PC - 30 minutes) March 29th : I don't know, just meh. Really short
21. Seasons After Fall (PC - 4 hours) March 31st : Another one from the backlog, too much backtracking, but overall decent game

Currently Playing: Eliza by Zachtronics

Seven games in March and I'm over half-way, now up to 28 games in total. Master post here.



22. Rusty Lake Paradise (Steam) | 1 March 2020
100% of achievements unlocked. Rusty Lake Paradise is the final game in the Rusty Lake trilogy and takes a somewhat different approach from its predecessors - while much of the puzzle-solving gameplay remains similar, this time around, the game takes place across ten chapters in chronological sequence, each taking place in the same small set of areas, a direct contrast to Rusty Lake: Roots, where each scenario is largely standalone, but only across one or two areas at a time. This makes the game feel significantly smaller in scope - while there's a somewhat increased sense of continuity in the game as we see gradual changes in each area (seasonality is the easiest example to give while avoiding spoilers), which allows for some variety, ultimately the changes aren't significant enough to hold interest completely across ten chapters.

Rusty Lake Paradise also feels somewhat more akin to traditional 'point-and-click' adventure games, as often you need to travel between areas looking for a key item to allow progression, which detracts from the enjoyment of the core puzzle-solving gameplay. This isn't to say that the game is bad, as it's a long way from that - it just doesn't quite live up to the standard set by its direct predecessor in Rusty Lake: Roots.


23. AER: Memories of Old (PS4) | 2 March 2020
Platinum trophy earned. AER: Memories of Old is a fairly straightforward, but very relaxing exploration/3D platform game, with some straightforward puzzle-solving. The protagonist has the ability to transform into a bird in the main overworld segments, which brings with it an excellent, satisfying sense of freedom in motion. This is also essential to the gameplay, with the world made up of groups of floating islands across a range of biomes - which bring the potential for some beautiful scenes, despite (or perhaps because of?) the fairly simple, stylised graphical style. With three primary underground 'temples' as the basis for the game's progression, these each have some enjoyable puzzle-solving, but overall the game is quite short, comfortably beatable within 3-4 hours - which is probably about right given it's general simplicity, to ensure that the game doesn't outstay its welcome.


24. Tetris 99 (Switch) | 8 March 2020
Achieved Tetris Maximus, i.e., first place. Well, I'd pretty much accepted that I'd never manage this, but I *finally* won a game of Tetris 99 so, while I'm still going to be playing it, I'm counting this one in my list here - it's a really great feeling to win! It's been said many times over by now, but the combination of Battle Royale mechanics with the evergreen purity of Tetris' core gameplay works extremely well; the additional game modes offered by the Big Block DLC then extends the game's offering to a nicely rounded package. The main game mode inherently comes with some frustration from feeling 'ganged up upon' at times, which can just be from blind chance, but conversely, achieving 'knock outs' is very satisfying. Meta-progression through daily 'quests', levelling up and the award of different player icons for a wide range of achievement criteria ensures that there's always a reason to keep playing, which I'm sure that I'll be doing for a fair while longer.


25. Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (Switch) | 10 March 2020
100% in-game completion on normal difficulty; all achievements unlocked except those imposing play-style restrictions (no deaths, no abilities, etc.).
I've previously played Ori and the Blind Forest when originally released on Xbox 360, but never - until now - this Definitive Edition, despite owning it three times over. The game remains exceptionally beautiful, both visually and aurally, alongside a touching storyline that ties in very nicely with this overall aesthetic. The gameplay starts off a little basic, but as Ori learns new abilities, the traversal possibilities open up massively and become very satisfying - especially with the fantastic 'bash' - as well as being well-rewarded with a plethora of secrets to discover.

Ori has a well-deserved reputation as a challenging game, and certainly can bring its fair share of frustration in places - but instant restarts upon death help to minimise this, and as ever, the satisfaction upon success is proportional to the level of challenge. This does, however, mean that completion on Normal difficulty is *plenty* for me!

Bring on The Will of the Wisps!


26. Professor Layton and the Curious Village (3DS) | 20 March 2020
135/135 puzzles completed, 5,302/5,302 picarats, 200/200 hint coins collected and none used. Starting the Professor Layton series (which I've now bought the majority of), I had a good time with this. The game has a nice variety of puzzles, all bound together with an fun detective story - even if it stretches its credibility by the end. There's perhaps a little too much reliance on lateral thinking type puzzles, though those are actually the most enjoyable to solve - and a well-realised hint system is available is available for those times when you might find yourself stuck. Excellent music and very characterful hand-drawn graphics/art round out an impressive first instalment for the series, which I'll definitely be continuing to play more of.


27. PictoQuest (Switch) | 22 March 2020
All puzzles completed. PictoQuest is a decently entertaining picross game, probably a little on the easier end of the scale. The RPG theme promises quite a lot, but ultimately adds little to the game - I didn't find it necessary to make use of the available items at any point, especially as they'd only have served to make the puzzles easier - which is somewhat contrary to the point of solving them! Ultimately, it's still picross so if you enjoy this type of puzzle you'll have a good time with this, but, while some competitor games innovate with multiple colours, multi-part puzzles or other variants, PictoQuest doesn't really push the genre in any significant way.


28. Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 27 March 2020
100% in-game completion on normal difficulty; all achievements unlocked except those imposing play-style restrictions (no deaths, no abilities, etc.). Another stunningly beautiful 'Metroidvania', this follow-up to Ori and the Blind Forest improves on that already excellent game in a number of significant ways. Once again the game trades place in a well-designed world that's a joy to explore, now with a greatly expanded set of abilities to mix up the gameplay. In particular, combat is greatly improved and feels much more meaningful, with a range of meaningfully different weapons on offer - from a basic sword to spears and throwing stars. The trademark escape sequences return, though perhaps here are a little more forgiving and the story, while fairly simple, is suitably emotional and touching. The one notable criticism is that at present the game is somewhat rough technically, with fairly frequent seconds-long freezes after the game's been running for a short while and also a few complete crashes - hopefully a patch will be along before too long to fix these!

Game #25 - Away Journey To The Unexpected
Time: 4 hours
Rating: ★

What a colossal disapointment, even after reading about it. The game has one thing going for it, the cool art style, the rest is a awful mess of bland, unresponsive first person action, mind numbingly boring gameplay loop of repeating the same empty levels until you collected the 8 party members to be able to finish the game (each party member gives you a star and you need 8 to reach the end "boss"), the whole thing barely lasts 3-4 hours (and most of it is because you need to replay levels because some of the party members wont join you if you anwser questions wrong), just the worst possible way to do a rogue like and one of the worse games I've played recently, certainly the most boring.


Game #26 - One Step From Eden
Time: 25+ hours
Rating: ★★★★

On the other end of the rogue-like spectrum, we have this fantastic mix of Slay the Spire and Megaman Battle Network, which is a few patches away from being one of my favorite games of the "one more run" genre. Great pixel art, lot's of cards to unlock, 8 different characters (all feeling very different which surprised me), gameplay it fast and chaotic (a bit too chaotic but we'll get into that) and it has, like I said, the same great "just one more run" hook that the great games of the genre like Slay the Spire or Dead Cells have. Unfortunately, the game feels very unbalanced near the end, as bosses get way too much health and tools compared to what you can get, and the whole thing gets too chaotic and most of the time it's hard to even tell what kills you. Still, with a few patches (the developer is already talking about it which is a good sign) and the difficulty toned down a smidge this could be one of the all time great rogue likes.

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24. Yakuza Kiwami 2 - 03/04/2020

There is a scene in this game in which a feudal Japanese castle splits open to reveal a gold plated castle filled with ninjas, samurai, and two actual tigers that Kiryu defeats by punching super hard.

COMPLETION COUNTER: 24/52

Latest Completion:

24. Resident Evil 3 (PC) | 2nd April - 11hrs | 8/10
A tightly wound, briskly paced romp through Raccoon City on its last day. Concurrent with RE2make., This game feels like a true companion piece, with similar (if a bit tweaked) gameplay to suit the two new playable characters, Jill and Carlos. RE3Make is much more action oriented than RE2, though its story is well written and its performances are some of the best in the biz. It is really weird to say about a Resident Evil game, but the script is excellently well written and the game has a genuinely terrific arc for its main heroine. Unlike RE2Make, however, there is a general lack of polish. The game is somewhat buggy, with its primary predator, Nemesis, often despawning and respawning in a way that reminded me of the vanilla, unmodded Alien AI from Alien Isolation. Many people will complain that this game was also too segmented and short, but this didn't bother me as the game is mainly designed around replays. After completing a run an in-game item rewards shop unlocks along with more difficulty modes than RE2make and an assortment of weapons and costumes to keep players coming back for more. Overall it's a tight little package and one I deeply enjoyed playing . I will likely go back to clean up some of the other modes, and will definitely be trying out Resident Evil: Resistance, the multiplayer component. Just don't expect quite the same amount of polish as RE2make.


23. Half-Life: Blue Shift (PC) | 1st April - 3hrs | 7/10
Gearbox's second expansion to Valve's Half-Life, Blue Shift, puts the player in the role of Barney Calhoun, a Black Mesa security guard coincidentally also running late for work on the same day as Gordon Freeman. Blue Shift is an excellent, albeit short return to Half-Life's excellent environmental and scripted storytelling and features some genuinely excellent environmental puzzles that build off of Valve's tightly designed base. Originally conceived as a Dreamcast exclusive add-on that would release alongside a port that never fully came to fruition, Blue Shift takes all of Half-Life's strengths and condenses them into a bite-sized whole. Contrasted from Opposing Force, there are a high amount of interactive environmental objects this time around that give the player a peek into the runnings of Black Mesa. My personal favorite Easter eggs were the security camera feeds featuring other lore-important characters in the Half-Life universe that Barney can watch when he begins his shift, something that grounds the experience in its "a day in the life" trappings even as the resonance cascade pours the unfathomable terrors of the Xen borderworld across dimensions and into the Black Mesa facility. Gearbox is at top form here, having learned many gameplay lessons from Opposing Force. Ammo and health are no longer as scarce, and combat encounters are focused around tighter groups of enemies placed in complex environments, often requiring the player to pay close attention to what each encounter is asking of them in order to proceed. The issue with the jarring art assets from Opposing Force is, for the most part, smoothed over. Blue Shift is dripping with atmosphere and has a strong sense of place -- perhaps even more potent than the base game. While I felt that Opposing Force paled in comparison to the original Half-Life, Blue Shift stands among it as a well deserved peer. Give it a try, it's short but is packed with that signature Half-Life character and charm.


22. Half-Life: Opposing Force (PC) | 1st April - 6hrs | 4/10
It isn't hard to see what Gearbox was going for with this first expansion to Valve's classic Half-Life. With that being said, the moments of genius are hidden within the framework of an incredibly disappointing and bland corridor shooter. Taking place during Freeman's infamously bad workday, the player is tasked with taking the role of Corporal Adrian Shephard, a HECU Marine sent to Black Mesa during the resonance cascade under orders to contain the facility and eliminate witnesses. It doesn't take long for the G-Man to take an interest in Adrian's adaptability as the marine encounters inter-dimensional creatures flooding into the facility through the Portal Storm initiated by Freeman's journey. The game is significantly shorter than Half-Life, though it does feature a wide variety of levels that build off the concepts introduced in Half-Life, and even takes some of the puzzles further with more physics objects and rope-climbing segments. Unfortunately, the combat encounters are not particularly well designed and the enemies can be a bit spongy, leading to a much more annoying trial and error experience. The new alien designs are a little bit less inspired than the original, with art direction that clearly indicates which assets aren't from the base game. Overall, this is a safe skip, and as interesting as Adrian's story is on paper, it doesn't appear that we will be sharing much more time with him anytime soon.


Other reviews and links in my 2nd Master Post

31: Hey! Pikmin. End: 4/4/2020. 8 Hours. Liked.

I've never been a huge Pikmin fan, and I do understand why others may not have been wild about this particular game, but I thought it was a fun little game. I've had it for years, but finally dusted it off and played it this year.

main thread

15. Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Xbox One X) - 16½ hrs

Played both Ori games for the first time and back to back so I have everything fresh in my mind.

I don't think this 2nd game is as good as the first one. The story is kind of a rethread with different story beats.
The platforming doesn't feel as polished as the first one. Areas you should be able to get to are more difficult to traverse than they have to be.
I'm playing on Xbox One X and the game has it's share of bugs. Stuttering and straight up freezes after you teleport to new areas. Hard crashes and achievements not popping?

I like that you start out with more skills this time around but the whole middle part of the game is so frustrating as there's no natural flow to the game and you can go where you like so there's a lot of backtracking to see which areas you can actually go to.

The chase sections are annoying. Some of them are quite long and no checkpoint. On a few of them I died RIGHT at the end and had to do the whole thing again.

On the positive side the 2nd game looks as beautiful as the first and the music is great. Once you get more skills traversing the landscape gets much easier and there's a better flow in what you do.

62. Hand of Fate


This would be my first full foray into the genre of Rogue Like+card game style games and far as this game goes, I quite enjoyed it!
The game uses a simple hack and slash combat system as well, which occurs during boss fights or when you trigger certain events. The game's entire set up and progression is tied to cards.
There could be cards that start a quest line and eventually reward you with equipment cards and cards intended to progress that quest line as well.
For me, the game shined as I got more quest cards, though by the end game, they didn't show up as often making the game rather stale.
Still for much of my playtime I really enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone interested in games that follow that combination of genres.

COMPLETION COUNTER: 25/52

Latest Completion:

25. Half-Life: Decay (PC) | 4th April - 2.5hrs | 5/10
A neat, level-based multiplayer campaign set concurrently with Half-Life and developed by Gearbox, Half-Life: Decay features the wearers of the two missing HEV suits from the start of the main game, Gina Cross and Colette Green. While unpolished in many ways and featuring some strange optimizations in its original release on PS2, Decay feels a bit like a tacked-on last Hurrah for Gearbox. That being said, there is some interesting story beats tucked away in the campaign surrounding the wheelchair-driving Dr. Keller as he tasks the two women with closing the portals opened by the Resonance Cascade prior to the glassing of the Black Mesa facility. Despite some flaws, there are some really interesting moments that show Gearbox was willing to play with the Half-Life formula and make players scratch their heads and flex their problem solving muscles in order to progress. In many ways this game is the seed from which Portal 2's Cooperative Testing Initiative grew, and it's clear many lessons were taken from this expansion and refined by Valve a decade later when it released.

2nd Master Post

25. Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows - 04/04/2020

I kinda built this up too much with rose tinted glasses, but it's still a fun ride. Plague Knight's tricky and customizable gameplay is great after you get used to it.

16. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (45+ hours)
It may have a crafting system, a slower start than usual, and a more defined goal than usual, but it's still Animal Crossing at its core.

Full list to date

1. Death Stranding - 4/10

I'm always intrigued by games that take the focus away from combat. The Witness and Alien Isolation are some of my favourite games of last generation so I was very curious how Death Stranding would handle this. The aspect of managing your cargo and delivering it to several outposts is an interesting concept and is relatively well executed within the game. Where the game falls flat however is in its worldbuilding, writing and storytelling. Death Stranding takes itself overly serious with its cast of high profile actors and scenes full of haughty speeches. That would be fine if the game had the writing to back up this serious tone...which it hasn't. The writing has no nuance or subtlety and characters are constantly repeating themselves. Frankly, the writing is some of the worst I've seen in the industry. All of this significantly hampered my enjoyment of the core systems, which are still solid. Although here as well there is the issue of a lack of contextualization and worldbuilding. A fetch quest without an interesting back story or motivation is still a fetch quest. None of the characters or trappers are properly fleshed out, making the world feel like a soulless husk. Death Stranding shows potential but is ultimately a major disappointment.

2. God of War - 8/10

I never played a God of War game before yet that didn't really negate my enjoyment of the latest installment. Nearly all elements of the game are executed very well: the combat feels visceral, the story is interesting to follow, the relationship between Kratos and Atreus is very well written and the side content is meaningful and provides the necessary context to the world. Also the other characters in the game do a very good job at making Midgar and the other realms feel alive. The game suffers from a few mishaps here and there. The boss fights, while visually spectacular, are mechanically not very intricate or engaging. The realm of Niflheim is a bit of a disappointment. And the plot meanders too much, sending you too often on a mission for a particular magical item, detracting from the main narrative. But overall God of War is an excellent and newcomer-friendly action game.

3. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle - 6/10

The Nintendo Switch is my first Nintendo console and given the price tag Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle became my first Mario game ever...developed by Ubisoft. I was a bit skeptical at first but over the course of approximately 20 hours I had a good time with the game. Even though I really dislike the Rabbids (please bring back 3D Rayman) they are surprisingly tolerable in this game. The combat, while not overly complex or difficult, is satisfying enough to keep you interested for the ride. My major issue is with the progression system in the game. New weapons and skills aren't overly exciting and don't change much over the course of the game. You can rotate your line-up but there is a big discrepancy in the power of certain characters, pushing you towards a select roster of about 3-4 characters (excluding Mario). Visually the game has a distinct style and it looks pretty well at times. The story is sadly not very interesting and the humour...is not very good either. Most puzzles are simple but still fun to do. All in all Mario Rabbids is a solid turn-based strategy experience that could use some improvements for a possible sequel.

8. Yakuza Kiwami - Finished on 02/04/2020 Time: 25 hours

It was my first Yakuza game so I had to learn a lot of the mechanics. Beating the crap out of everyone was really satisfying. The story was good, the beginning and the last chapters especially. The middle chapters felt a little bit boring. I thougt the Majima system was a bit too much for me and it became annoying. Good game!

Coming up: Resident Evil 3 Remake

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3) Spider-man: The Heist | PS4 | 3 Hours | March 21, 2020 | 4/5



I continued onto the DLC for Spider-man immediately after finishing the main game. This first chapter begins as the Black Cat returns to New York and steals an extremely valuable painting that the Maggia, New York's most dominant crime family, want for some reason. It's up to Spider-man to track her down and figure out what's going on.

This was a decent first chapter to the story arc. Peter and Felicia have some great chemistry and there are a few pretty funny moments that come out of it. Game-play is more or less the same with some new enemies added in and a few new side quests. Most of them are pretty enjoyable with one glaring fucking exception; Screwball

Screwball has to be the worst Spider-man villain I've ever seen. She was thankfully relegated to one small side quest in the main game but unfortunately she is thrust front and center throughout all of this DLC. She takes the place of Taskmaster from the original game, giving Spider-man dumb challenges throughout the city to complete. Problem is, where Task Master was mysterious and interesting, Screwball is one of the most annoying fucks I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with. She never shuts up during any of her challenges which are frustrating enough to begin with, and all of her banter is the absolute fucking worst. She's supposed to be a character that exemplifies the worst parts of streaming culture; the narcissism, vanity, greed etc. but judging from her dialog it feels like she was cooked up by a middle aged dude who had no idea what streaming culture actually is. She just throws out stupid catch phrases that are already starting to date the game in my opinion. "We stan a QUEEN!!" "OMG...lulz!" "I'm ROTLFing RIGHT NOW!!" are some of the many dumb phrases you're gonna have to put up with during every single one of her dumb fucking challenges. She is the single worst part of this DLC and I never want to see her in another Spider-man piece of media again. FUCK SCREWBALL. More on her later.

Overall the main story in this one was intriguing enough to keep me interested and I loved the banter between Spidey and Black Cat. A pretty decent first chunk to this DLC.

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4) Spider-man: Turf Wars | PS4 | 3 Hours | March 24, 2020 | 2.5/5



This one was just ok. Story wise we pick right back up from where the last game left off. Hammerhead has managed to get his hands on some sable tech and is using it to try and takeover the Maggia and New York's crime scene as a whole. The story in this one wasn't nearly as interesting to me but I recognize most of it's plot threads will be finished in the final chapter. Hammerhead is an imposing enough villain and it is a nice change of pace to be fighting against the mob in this DLC rather than super powered villains. Once again no real change to game play but a couple new enemies are once again introduced that require you to think fast on your feet to beat them. Why is my score so low you ask? Because our favorite waste of skin, Screwball is back once again to fucking ruin it harder than she ever does before!!

This time around, Screwball's challenges are even worse as she has two stealth challenges that are probably the most frustrating things in this entire game, main story included. Stealth missions were ok in the main game because they all focused on speed and efficiency so after some trial and error, none of them were too tough to beat. Screwball's however are all about her stupid fucking 'Photobombs' which require you to take out an enemy in a certain vicinity of the combat arena. Of course the spots are chosen to be as hard as possible, forcing you to take out guys that are surrounded by like 5 other thugs and ones you would never attempt to take out first in normal circumstances. This makes these less like stealth challenges, and just more like luck challenges as you hope you get a favorable patrol pattern to complete the challenge successfully. Every fucking one of Screwball's challenges operate this way where the main way to score points is to take out guys in her 'Photobomb" areas which constantly change. There's no focus on skill in any of them, it all comes down to luck and that's fucking bullshit. And of course the entire time, you have to listen to Screwball's inane chatter constantly berating you and using her dumb 'L337' speak to try and connect with the kids. I don't know a single person who actually enjoyed this character and for good reason.

These challenges take the score down so low because you need to complete all of them to unlock the extra costumes in each chapter and you need to get at least silver in all of them to get the trophies for them as well. None of them were fun and they actively made me hate this game while I was playing them. Once again FUCK SCREWBALL and never bring her back for anything ever again!

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5) Spider-man: Silver Lining | PS4 | 3 Hours | March 29, 2020 | 4/5



The final chapter to The City That Never Sleeps wraps things up pretty nicely. Silver Sable has come back to New York to reclaim her stolen tech and take down Hammerhead once and for all. All the loose ends from the previous chapter appear to be tied up here and one of the side quests even gives us a nice set up for the sequel (I'm assuming). The final fight with Hammerhead is pretty cool and it's nice to have an actual ally for once during the fighting. Overall a pretty solid DLC that gives you a little more of the great main game.

So the only question now is, what happens to Screwball, who some idiot thought was a good idea to keep as a main plot point throughout this entire story. Does she get hit by a truck? Do you get to beat her to a bloody pulp and take revenge for all the shit she's put you through? Does she accidentally fall off a building and kill herself? No, the end result of all your suffering is one long chase through Manhattan, doing more of her stupid Photobombs all the way (which makes no fucking sense in canon, as why would Spider-man entertain her bullshit when lives aren't at stake?). All this culminates in one tackle by Spider-man and a short cut-scene watching her being loaded into a police cruiser where she vows to continue to stream until she gets to prison. What a fucking load of shit. Screwball is so awful in an otherwise decent DLC that she stands out all the more as the worst part of this entire game. It's so disappointing that out of all of Spider-man's rougues gallery: Chamleon, Lizard, Prowler, Hyrdo-man, Hobgoblin etc. they decide to take this complete fucking waste of a character featured in one mission in the main game, and make her a huge player in the DLC. Fucking awful decision. FUCK SCREWBALL!!!!!!!!

Game #27 - Resident Evil 5
Time: 12 hours
Rating: ★★★★

The year of (portable) Resident Evil continues with a replay of a old favorite, and I continue to enjoy it quite a bit, although I forgot how much it leaned towards action and completely dropped any puzzles whatsoever (I thought that was more of a RE6 thing). Still, a great and unique setting for the series, the same fun survival action from RE4, and some wonderfully cheesy anime style action (punch that giant boulder Chris!) make this a very fun romp. Still holds up visually too, and looks great portable, and while I dont prefer the pure action route the series took with 5 and 6, I don't necesserily mind them either as there are plenty of other RE games more focused on the puzzles.


Game #28 - Resident Evil 5 Untold Stories
Time: 2 hours
Rating: ★★

A collection of two DLCs, with the first having you play a flashback of Chris and Jill in a RE1 style mansion, which was cool since it scratched the more puzzle based gameplay that RE5 main game was missing, and the second being purely action based as you play Jill and Josh as they escape the events of the main game, and this one really brought the whole thing down because the AI kept dying and it was just frustrating. They are each about 1 hour and only the first one is really worth playing, and even then barely, it doesnt really fill anything in that the flashback cutscenes in the main game didnt show. Disapointing overall.

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14/52.


Aviary Attorney | Steam | 3/5 | 4 hours
I've made very little progress after a hot start and getting into several long games and wanted to complete something so I felt accomplished. I actually played this game for about 90 minutes in like 2018 (!) and never finished it. It was still installed so I figured I'd finish it up. I remember very little from the first session I played and was pretty lost when I booted it back up. The mechanics of the game aren't hard, I just didn't particularly remember what I was doing. This game (I guess?) is like the Phoenix Wright games where you investigate / question animals and then have a trial where you defend them. It was pretty fun and funny at time. I also liked the music and art style. There are multiple endings but I only got one.

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32: Resident Evil 3 Remake. End: 4/6/2020. 5 Hours. Liked-A-Lot.

I didn't think I would enjoy this game. I had heard they changed Nemesis, which was the core of the original RE 3. I think you have to look at it as a complete reimagining of RE 3. And on that level, I really enjoyed this game. I'm shocked that I liked it as much as I did. But blowing away zombies felt pretty cathartic in today's world.

29. Resident Evil 3 (XB1) April 5 6 Hrs ★★★★★
Loved it. Slightly less than RE2, but still amazing game. I'm now a big fan of Jill and Carlos. Nemesis isn't as scary as Mr X but when not around still got that feeling of not knowing when going to pop out when going to new areas. Bring on RE4 remake!

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Weekly Update 14: A day late with this update, but nonetheless 2 games finished this week. Most of my week was spent on Persona 5 Royal which is in the lead for my current GotY.

24. State of Decay 2 - Tried it back at launch and wasn't feeling it despite liking the 1st game. Tried it again after seeing it got a big update along with bug fixes and while it still has some bugs. It's nothing to how broken it was at launch. Finished it with a warlord leader and ended up enjoying it more then the 1st game. Looking forward to trying out the Heartland expansion/dlc later in the year.

25. Resident Evil 3 Remake - Loved it more then the original. Really enjoyed the dynamic between Jill and Carlos and playing as both of them throughout the campaign. Nemesis will haunt my dreams for the foreseeable future.

Currently playing:
1. Persona 5 Royal - Just starting the 3rd palace, but this is everything I loved about the original plus more.

2. Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII - Not much progress on this from last week, but I'll be 100% finishing it this week before Final Fantasy VII Remake launches.

3. There's a trifecta of games i started on Game Pass, but still within the 1st hour of all 3 so I'll list them together. Subnautica, State of Decay 2: Heartland and Jurrasic World Evolution.

Looking forward to starting Final Fantasy VII Remake this Friday as well.

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16. Blazing Chrome (XOne) - 3hrs - 4/5

Absolutely fantastic game. >Very 16bit Contra

fatyoshi - 23/52 games (16 new, 7 replays)

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Game 14 – Dishonored 2 (XB1) – 7h 47m – 3.5/5

I don't even care too much about the stealth gameplay but the level design (as always with Arkane games) was absolutely incredible. What a treat.

The Clockwork Mansion is one of my favorite levels in a game in a long time.

Game 15 – Life is Strange (PC) – 14h 18m – 3.5/5

It's still good and it means a lot to me emotionally but this has fallen off a bit. Max is my least favorite protagonist in the series which puts a damper on things.

Episode 5 managed to exceed my prior memory and be even more shit than I had recalled. I'm fine with my ending when it comes down to it but everything that got there in the episode gameplay and content wise can rot.

Game 16 – Ori and the Blind Forest (XB1) – 9h 14m – 3/5

Not 100% sure about this one. I love the aesthetics and soundtrack but most of the platforming was varying shades of miserable for me lmao.

Not sure why games with platforming that call for precision or quick well timed movements always seem to have the floatiest mechanics. Things were mitigated a bit in time with new abilities and skills but early in it's especially rough.

Game 17 – Silent Hill: Origins (PSP) – 2h 1m – 2.5/5

Not BAD so much as uninspiring, I guess? If I wanted a game that played more like the classic Silent Hill games I'll reach for 1-4 and if I wanted a later Silent Hill game I'd rather play Downpour. It can't win.

The cult stuff has always been less appealing to me in terms of Silent Hill so it's too bad the series just continued to double down on it time and time again.

Stay away from the PS2 port. It's held together with duct tape.

Game 18 – A Plague Tale: Innocence (XB1) – 14h 55m – 2.5/5

A compelling narrative and solid cast of characters tarnished a bit by rancid gameplay. The more they tried to develop gameplay systems or offer new abilities the more things fell apart.

A game with instant fail states all over the place mixed with mechanics that are at times in shambles isn't a good mix.

Game 19 – Final Fantasy VII (PS4) – 32h 31m – 3/5

I don't know, this was very Fine. I enjoyed the game the most during the Midgar portion and then things kinda fell off. Wasn't a fan of the mini-games that were part of the actual progression in this. Side content/mini-games aren't a strong part of the series for me but usually they're as mentioned, side content. That RTS styled bit? Delete it.

Anyways, I'm glad I got around to this finally. It's probably my least favorite of the non-I and II FF games I've played but that's okay. Here's to me getting around to the rest of the ones i've yet to play.

Game 20 – 1000 Amps (PC) – 8h 42m – 2.5/5

A solid enough puzzle platformer with metroidvania elements. Didn't really stand out in any meaningful way as this kind of aesthetic has been done again and again but not everything needs to.

Lost points for me a bit with the map design (it was so small/grainy that it might as well have not existed) and the boss encounter. Both of which were blemishes on an otherwise fine game experience. Would love to see a sequel or similar game attempt from the same dev, there's a lot of potential here.

Game 21 – Tetris 99 (Switch) - ~25h – 4/5

Marking as complete because I finally won/got Tetris Maximus and that was the requirement I set for marking this as "beaten". I never thought it was going to happen. What a rush.

Will be spending a ton of time still, it's one of my favorite games on the Switch.

Game 22 – Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch) – 90h and counting – 3.5/5

Marking as finished now that I've hit the first credits sequence. Obviously still have a bit to go and I'm not quitting any time soon but I'm marking this finished anyways as a result of the open ended nature.

Not as big on the focus on crafting and further customization of everything. I feel like we're getting further and further from the feeling of the original game. Breakable tools are nasty.

Game 23 – Resident Evil 3 (2020) (PC) – 7h 48m – 1.5/5

I'm out.

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25 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Switch | April 07 | +60 hrs | 4/5

This game really came out at the perfect time. Wonderfully laid back and peaceful game. I have only played some of AC: New Leaf before this addition in the series. I did enjoy that game too. There were some changes made that made the game easier to flow, like clothing shopping.

I do wish there was a bit more: seeing where your villagers are on the island and more of a reason to visit islands after getting ten villagers. But all in all, I'm enjoying it. I have got my first credit screen but I will be playing more of this gem.

P.S. That's Lobotomaxx and myself judging Filbert's house. Hopefully crafting something for his dirt flooring lol. Enjoy more pictures!

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63. Bladed Fury


A 2D action game in the vein of Muramasa: The Demon Blade but with a Chinese theme and setting. The combat is simple but has a good feedback from landing hits and so on.
While the level design is simple as well, they do mix up how to access areas and have some light platforming in later levels as well.
It's not too long and even has a cheevo for completing it in under 2 hours or so. Quite enjoyed the game though the final boss was a true test of skills that I kept botching and managed to defeat with about a sliver of health left XP I think the only upgrades I didn't get all pieces for were the health upgrades.
Recommend it any fans of Muramasa or 2D action games in general.

9. Resident Evil 3 Remake - Finished on 05/04/2020 Time: 5 or 6 hours depending on the two timers

It was a short and sweet game. The campaign goes by so fast and all the things in there happen at breakneck speed. I enjoyed my ride with it and beat in 3 settings. There is a lot of action in there and it definitly feels different than Remake 2. I can recommend that game for a short sweet action tour a la die hard.

Coming up: I don't know really. Maybe The Last Guardian or FF7R

4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 5/10
Nintendo's focus in Breath of the Wild is clear: create an open world that rewards creativity and entices people to experiment with all the different mechanics. And they have clearly succeeded in that part. It is very satisfying to play with the physics system to beat enemies or puzzles. Next to that they managed to create a unique art style that successfully conceals the technical shortcomings of the game and allows the many beautiful vista's in the game to come to life.

However, an open world game requires more than fun sandbox mechanics to keep me engaged. While it is fun to throw around metal crates and push enemies off cliffs, the basic mechanics of the combat system really fall short for a game of this magnitude. While you can usually avoid combat, it is still a core element of the game that is lacking. Besides combat stealth is also not well implemented and feels more like an afterthought. Link in general does not control very fluently. Aside from the combat also the worldbuilding in Breath of the Wild leaves a lot to be desired. Hyrule looks beautiful on the outside but on the inside it feels like a soulless husk. A large part of this can be attributed to the stiff and uninspired writing that plagues every NPC in the game. This sadly also extends to Link, one of gaming's most iconic characters who has been reduced to a blank slate in this game. As a result a large part of the incentive for exploration falls away. On the one hand you explore to find new gear and treasure. On the other hand you explore to find out more about the world. But who wants to find out more about a world devoid of anything interesting going on? Breath of the Wild succeeds as a sandbox-lite game but the believability of its open world leaves a lot to be desired.

* I called it a day after completing 2 Divine Beasts and midway through the third. Maybe I'll return to the game if I feel like it but for now I will drop it.

26. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - 07/04/2020

The other greatest platformer of all time, and a masterclass in how it's done.

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17. Dead Space: Ignition (X360) - 2 hrs - 3/5
Fun little visual novel that sets up the start of Dead Space 2. has some fun puzzles in it.
I think the voice acting is ok, but I couldn't get over how awful the graphics were? Handdrawn scribbles with no animation. They conveyed the story just fine but it was hard to look at.

I never played ignition back in the day, but playing it now ignited a tiny spark that makes me want to go back and play the trilogy.

06. FAST Racing Neo + DLC (2015, Wii U) ★★★★☆
I like F-Zero, I like Shin'en-produced games, so here's a shocker: I like FAST Racing Neo (a lot). This futuristic racer looks gorgeous, sounds the part, and offers quite the challenge. (Definitely feels like the A.I. is cheating at times.) There's some minor differences from F-Zero you have to (un)learn; I was really yearning for a sideswipe for instance. The production feels a bit lacking in personality too. F-Zero never really had well-rounded characters, let alone compelling drama, but compared to FAST it suddenly becomes clear how much having any characters at all, regardless how bad, still injected a sense of identity into the game.
Yes, it's unfair to continually compare the two, but FAST actively courts this comparison by even hiring the announcer from F-Zero GX. This is not as good as GX, but offers a parallel universe glimpse at what could have been. Recommended.


07. Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (1994, Wii U) ★★☆☆☆
Capcom have done an admirable job in the republishing of this one, but while improvements like configurable controls, achievements, online co-op, and endless continues are welcome... They are ultimately window dressing trying to distract from a rather dated and clunky beat-em-up. You're sorely lacking a block button for example, and the enemies can easily trap you in cycles of stun-locks. The attempts at creating replayability through multiple characters and branching paths are a good fit for the D&D setting. Fiercely disliked the Shadow Elf boss!


08. Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara (1996, Wii U) ★★☆☆☆
Rather iterative sequel, which adds some options for guarding, more characters, and a slightly smoother combat experience. Nice touch is how traps are no longer sprung without telegraphing, so you can avoid them if you're quick. I still wish you could trick enemies into traps, but they remain unaffected by them. The story on this one is incomprehensible nonsense by the way. There's some jarring transitions, like ice caves leading directly to airships??? They've also clearly copy+pasted some bosses, enemies, and level lay-outs from Tower of Doom.

COMPLETION COUNTER: 26/52


Latest Completion:

26. Half-Life: Alyx (PC) | 8th April - 12hrs | 9/10
What isn't there to say about Half Life: Alyx that hasn't already been said? It's a revelation, VR's Killer App, a true sequel to Half-Life 2 and the best game Valve has put out since Portal 2. It's a swan-song for an era where people thought Valve was done with a series that was legendary, it's a triumphant return to form. It's the dawning of a new age of games, and it could come at no better time.

Half-Life: Alyx is astonishing, both in equal parts mechanical and narrative. Valve effectively wrote themselves out of a nearly 13 year dead end, one that was one of the most brutal and emotionally devasting cliffhangers of all time. And yet here we are, equally devastated, equally confused, and most certainly equally excited to see where the story goes.

HL:A is effectively a game about its world. Alyx is, in many ways outside of the physical, a player surrogate. She has known no world other than the Combine's oppressive regime and it is through her conversations with Russell (played excellently by Rhys Darby) that the player is informed of the history and culture that came to be during Gordon Freeman's slumber. We learn of a life without Vodka, or at least without factory distillation, the development of the Resistance in both the rest of the world and in the Bulgarian City 17. It's a world of scrappy hope, one that is perhaps suited well to our current times. It's a tangible world, one filled with newspapers and ammo and bottles, with people attempting desperately to go about their daily lives without causing a stir.

At one point I picked up a newspaper and began reading an article. "Who is Wallace Breen?" it asked in Bulgarian, and for a moment I wondered the question. Who would sell out the world, and who was Alyx to stand against him? And then it dawned on me that I was there, for even just a moment. I was holding this newspaper in my hands. Valve has spent considerable time tweaking and experimenting with player experience in VR and the testing has paid off. They nailed it, and I'm excited to see where they go from here.

The game is constantly experimenting with level design in typical Valve fashion. It's never the same thing twice, and with the added layer of VR things that would otherwise be simple become exhausting, difficult, and laborious tasks. This is not a complaint. The game stops to smell the roses and gives the player the utmost agency with which to take their time and solve problems in their own unique ways. At one point, faced with a room of mines that would instantly kill me if I set them off, I cleverly climbed up a ladder and, hanging down, threw a box into the room to trigger the mines while I was safely above the blast. It's in this space that Half-Life: Alyx plays, and it's in this physicality that Valve crafts its most ingenious moments. Gunfights become organic and kinetic in ways that take what would otherwise be a standard encounter outside of VR -- three guys with machine guns and a guy with a shotgun -- into adrenaline pumping puzzleboxes that test a player's skillset. It is, in a word, delightful. Maybe even devilish, as the game is quite hard at points on its higher difficulty setting.

The finale is mind-bending, calling to mind Remedy's Ashtray Maze from last year's excellent Control. Without getting into spoilers, the ending is both reassuring and satisfying. I don't think this is the last we'll see of Half-Life in the near future. Famous last words, I know.


Reviews for logged games in my Master Post