I'm gonna pop up in here if that's okay! I was on a big trophy kick in the early part of the year, so that's going to show through on my list here.
January
1. Batman - The Telltale Series (PS4)
★★★
Better than I expected. Interesting takes on the characters and while I didn't like the direction they went with everyone, it was still engaging!
2. Coffin Dodgers (PS4)
,
★★
Bland cart racer. Easy trophies, I guess but not really worth playing.
3. Wheels of Aurelia (PS4)
★★★
Interesting narrative choose-your-own-adventure style narrative game all taking place while driving. Not for everyone but I enjoyed it.
4. Adam's Venture: Origins (PS4)
★
Ooof. Could've been okay but it feels like the devs bit off more than they could chew. Some fun puzzles I guess but they were all pretty easy and the voice acting was atrocious.
5. Thimbleweed Park (PS4)
★★★★★
Incredible game. Well-designed puzzles that weren't simple but didn't fall into the impossible logic some point-and-click games do. Fun story, fun writing, and didn't take itself too seriously. I loved it.
6. Guardians of the Galaxy - The Telltale Series (PS4)
★★★
Another decently fun Telltale game. Decent storyline that tended to drag from time to time but for the $7 I paid for it at Target, it was well worth it.
7. Mecho Tales (PS Vita)
★
Awful, awful, awful. Terrible platforming and imprecise shooting mechanics with boring level design. Stay far away.
8. Virginia (PS4)
★★★
Interesting narrative game with no dialog. Another love or hate it game but I enjoyed it for what it was. Plus it's only a couple hours long so it's worth a shot for anyone.
9.Riptide GP2 (PS4)
★★
Eh, bland racing game that has its moments of fun. I'm convinced that the computer cheats too.
10. The Count Lucanor (PS Vita)
★★★
A pixelated horror/puzzle game with a good atmosphere. I enjoyed my time with it but can't give it more stars because of major game crashing and save corrupting bugs.
11. What Remains of Edith Finch (PS4)
★★★★
A great narrative/walking sim style game with a strong story, lots of neat little twists and turns and some neat mechanics. Well worth checking out for anyone interested in the genre.
12. The Coma Recut (PS4)
★
I hated this game. Hated hated hated hated it. It's a 2D horror game where you're helpless and being chased. Terrible story and the translation felt weird to me too. Never fun, always frustrating. Avoid like the plague.
February
13. Bleed (PS4)
★★★★
Tons of fun. A low-budget indie run-n-gun game that has almost no downtime and a ton of replay value. The game is short, especially on easier difficulties, but it's ALWAYS fun.
14. Steamworld Dig (PS Vita)
★★★
Neat little game, like a metroidvania mixed with Mr Driller. Not a lot of meat on it but it's fun for the short duration it lasts.
March
15. School Girl Zombie Hunter (PS4)
★★★★
I question my own taste sometimes because I god damn loved this stupid game. It's shallow and shameless but I was never bored while I played it. Some times low-budget garbage hits the spot.
16. Goosebumps: The Game (PS4)
★★★
It is what it is. A simple point-and-click game, almost like a Shadowgate aimed at a younger crowd. Good atmosphere but is pretty obtuse in places.
17. The Little Acre (PS4)
★★★
A beautiful looking but simple adventure game. Easy puzzles but a fun story and great looking hand-drawn art. Pretty short and can be finished in an afternoon,so give it a shot!
18. Fort Defense (PS4)
★★
Really basic tower defense game that tries its damnedest to sell you microtransactions. Bought it on sale, glad I didn't pay much for it.
19. Floor Plan: Hands-On Edition (PSVR)
★★★
Simple little VR puzzle game that takes place in an elevator. It's very charming and has a nice sense of humor. Cheap, short, and sweet.
April
20. Minit (PS4)
★★★★★
Fantastic game! A game that takes inspiration from classic Zelda and throws in a gimmick that only lets you live a minute at a time. Puzzle solving using that minute is implemented wonderfully and never feels annoying or constricting. Brilliant designed all around.
21. Gnog (PSVR)
★★★
Part puzzle, part music box. It's very charming and relaxing and the VR is pretty cool.
22. Dead Secret (PSVR)
★★
I couldn't quite justify giving this a 3 but I enjoyed my time with it. A short little VR adventure game with mystery and horror elements. A little simple but it made me jump a couple times!
May
23. Lara Croft Go (PS4)
★★★
Solid puzzle game. A really nice progression curve. I hated that I had to use the analog stick to move though, caused some issues in places.
24. Blackwood Crossing (PS4)
★★★★
One of my favorites in the narrative adventure/walking sim genre. The graphics are bright and colorful and a nice emotional storyline. Worth playing for sure!
25. Small Radios Big Televisions (PS4)
★★★
Really interesting game that I don't know quite what to call it or describe it. Some will hate it but it's unlike anything I've played.
26. The Park (PS4)
★★★
Another narrative/walking sim game but this has a horror theme. Another one with a good atmosphere. Not sure if it's worth full price but I liked my playthrough.
27. Psychedelia of the Black Butterfly (PS Vita)
★★★
An otome visual novel. Usual fair but it was a fun read. Surprisingly lack of romance for a otome on the main path. I didn't mind but someone might.
28. Headlander (PS4)
★★★
A decent little Metroidvania with the Double Fine style sense of humor. A little boring at parts and the boss fights were never fun but overall it was pretty good!
29. Heroes of the Monkey Tavern (PS4)
★★★
A basic throwback dungeon crawler. I had a lot of fun with it though it was frustrating at times. It never does anything spectacularly but it's completely competent.
30. Slayaway Camp (PS4)
★★
Not for me. It's all sliding puzzles and I hate sliding puzzles. Nice aesthetic though!
June
31. Rock Boshers DX (PS4)
★★★
Nice retro throwback to the microcomputer days. I think I would've liked it better if I didn't go for the trophies since the collectables ended up frustrating me.
32. Overblood (PS1)
★★★
Campy, weird, and interesting, there aren't any other survival horror games quite like it. I'd give it another star if it didn't have the worst boss in the history of gaming.
July
33. Mary-Kate and Ashley: Crush Course (PS1)
★
Oof. I don't know why I decided to play this one. Funky controls, insulting mini games, just awful.
34. Boomerang Kid (NES)
★★★
The most frustrating and tricky platformer I have played on NES but I kept playing. There are only 18 levels to play through but good luck getting through this one! It's fun once you get in the groove though.
35. Dragon Warrior (NES)
★★
Historically important but man oh man what a slog to play through nowadays. I'm working on the second one right now and it's already a major improvement.
36. Rayman Legends (PS4)
★★★★★
I guess I technically finished this months ago but I finally popped the platinum today so I'll count it now. Such an amazing game; I'd easily call it the greatest platformer of all time. I played it for months trying to get that platinum trophy and it never got boring. It was fun the entire time. A charming art style and brilliant level design. Everyone owes it to themselves to play it.
AUGUST
37, Dragon Warrior II (NES)
★★★
Overall, a MUCH better game than the first one. The combat is interesting, the enemies are varied, the world is bigger, it's just overall better. It kind of fell apart for me a bit after finding the boat though. Once that happened, I never felt like I had a clear direction on where to go and had to consult a walkthrough multiple times just to make progress. Still, it's a clear improvement and a sign of growth for the series overall. I'll have to get to the third one eventually!
38. Ninja Golf (Atari 7800)
★★★★
This game is dumb as hell but surprisingly fun. It's a quick playthrough but that's probably for the best. Nine holes of golf and after each swing, you need to fight your way to where the ball landed. Other ninjas and wildlife both try to stop you! If you make it to the green, you have to throw ninja stars at a dragon in a similar way to the Shinobi bonus rounds. It really doesn't make a lot of sense as a whole but I really enjoy it. It never does anything super well but it's charmingly stupid. Atari clearly didn't understand the market anymore at this point but I'm glad they put this out.
39. Knee Deep (PS4)
★★
I wanted to like this game a whole lot more than I did. The idea is great; taking a narrative game in the vein of Telltale's works and framing it like it's a stage play. The developers just couldn't quite pull it off though. The graphics are incredibly ugly, looking like Poser models, but I could live with that if the writing was good. The writing is not good. It takes forever for the plot to go anywhere and when it DOES go somewhere, it goes somewhere really stupid. Like one of the dumbest reveals I've ever seen seen for a plot point. The mechanic of writing reports with each character gets completely dropped halfway through and that was the most interesting thing in this game. To try and create the stage atmosphere, all of the audio has massive echo on it, making things harder to hear. It was just disappointing overall.
January
1. Batman - The Telltale Series (PS4)
★★★
Better than I expected. Interesting takes on the characters and while I didn't like the direction they went with everyone, it was still engaging!
2. Coffin Dodgers (PS4)
★★
Bland cart racer. Easy trophies, I guess but not really worth playing.
3. Wheels of Aurelia (PS4)
★★★
Interesting narrative choose-your-own-adventure style narrative game all taking place while driving. Not for everyone but I enjoyed it.
4. Adam's Venture: Origins (PS4)
★
Ooof. Could've been okay but it feels like the devs bit off more than they could chew. Some fun puzzles I guess but they were all pretty easy and the voice acting was atrocious.
5. Thimbleweed Park (PS4)
★★★★★
Incredible game. Well-designed puzzles that weren't simple but didn't fall into the impossible logic some point-and-click games do. Fun story, fun writing, and didn't take itself too seriously. I loved it.
6. Guardians of the Galaxy - The Telltale Series (PS4)
★★★
Another decently fun Telltale game. Decent storyline that tended to drag from time to time but for the $7 I paid for it at Target, it was well worth it.
7. Mecho Tales (PS Vita)
★
Awful, awful, awful. Terrible platforming and imprecise shooting mechanics with boring level design. Stay far away.
8. Virginia (PS4)
★★★
Interesting narrative game with no dialog. Another love or hate it game but I enjoyed it for what it was. Plus it's only a couple hours long so it's worth a shot for anyone.
9.Riptide GP2 (PS4)
★★
Eh, bland racing game that has its moments of fun. I'm convinced that the computer cheats too.
10. The Count Lucanor (PS Vita)
★★★
A pixelated horror/puzzle game with a good atmosphere. I enjoyed my time with it but can't give it more stars because of major game crashing and save corrupting bugs.
11. What Remains of Edith Finch (PS4)
★★★★
A great narrative/walking sim style game with a strong story, lots of neat little twists and turns and some neat mechanics. Well worth checking out for anyone interested in the genre.
12. The Coma Recut (PS4)
★
I hated this game. Hated hated hated hated it. It's a 2D horror game where you're helpless and being chased. Terrible story and the translation felt weird to me too. Never fun, always frustrating. Avoid like the plague.
February
13. Bleed (PS4)
★★★★
Tons of fun. A low-budget indie run-n-gun game that has almost no downtime and a ton of replay value. The game is short, especially on easier difficulties, but it's ALWAYS fun.
14. Steamworld Dig (PS Vita)
★★★
Neat little game, like a metroidvania mixed with Mr Driller. Not a lot of meat on it but it's fun for the short duration it lasts.
March
15. School Girl Zombie Hunter (PS4)
★★★★
I question my own taste sometimes because I god damn loved this stupid game. It's shallow and shameless but I was never bored while I played it. Some times low-budget garbage hits the spot.
16. Goosebumps: The Game (PS4)
★★★
It is what it is. A simple point-and-click game, almost like a Shadowgate aimed at a younger crowd. Good atmosphere but is pretty obtuse in places.
17. The Little Acre (PS4)
★★★
A beautiful looking but simple adventure game. Easy puzzles but a fun story and great looking hand-drawn art. Pretty short and can be finished in an afternoon,so give it a shot!
18. Fort Defense (PS4)
★★
Really basic tower defense game that tries its damnedest to sell you microtransactions. Bought it on sale, glad I didn't pay much for it.
19. Floor Plan: Hands-On Edition (PSVR)
★★★
Simple little VR puzzle game that takes place in an elevator. It's very charming and has a nice sense of humor. Cheap, short, and sweet.
April
20. Minit (PS4)
★★★★★
Fantastic game! A game that takes inspiration from classic Zelda and throws in a gimmick that only lets you live a minute at a time. Puzzle solving using that minute is implemented wonderfully and never feels annoying or constricting. Brilliant designed all around.
21. Gnog (PSVR)
★★★
Part puzzle, part music box. It's very charming and relaxing and the VR is pretty cool.
22. Dead Secret (PSVR)
★★
I couldn't quite justify giving this a 3 but I enjoyed my time with it. A short little VR adventure game with mystery and horror elements. A little simple but it made me jump a couple times!
May
23. Lara Croft Go (PS4)
★★★
Solid puzzle game. A really nice progression curve. I hated that I had to use the analog stick to move though, caused some issues in places.
24. Blackwood Crossing (PS4)
★★★★
One of my favorites in the narrative adventure/walking sim genre. The graphics are bright and colorful and a nice emotional storyline. Worth playing for sure!
25. Small Radios Big Televisions (PS4)
★★★
Really interesting game that I don't know quite what to call it or describe it. Some will hate it but it's unlike anything I've played.
26. The Park (PS4)
★★★
Another narrative/walking sim game but this has a horror theme. Another one with a good atmosphere. Not sure if it's worth full price but I liked my playthrough.
27. Psychedelia of the Black Butterfly (PS Vita)
★★★
An otome visual novel. Usual fair but it was a fun read. Surprisingly lack of romance for a otome on the main path. I didn't mind but someone might.
28. Headlander (PS4)
★★★
A decent little Metroidvania with the Double Fine style sense of humor. A little boring at parts and the boss fights were never fun but overall it was pretty good!
29. Heroes of the Monkey Tavern (PS4)
★★★
A basic throwback dungeon crawler. I had a lot of fun with it though it was frustrating at times. It never does anything spectacularly but it's completely competent.
30. Slayaway Camp (PS4)
★★
Not for me. It's all sliding puzzles and I hate sliding puzzles. Nice aesthetic though!
June
31. Rock Boshers DX (PS4)
★★★
Nice retro throwback to the microcomputer days. I think I would've liked it better if I didn't go for the trophies since the collectables ended up frustrating me.
32. Overblood (PS1)
★★★
Campy, weird, and interesting, there aren't any other survival horror games quite like it. I'd give it another star if it didn't have the worst boss in the history of gaming.
July
33. Mary-Kate and Ashley: Crush Course (PS1)
★
Oof. I don't know why I decided to play this one. Funky controls, insulting mini games, just awful.
34. Boomerang Kid (NES)
★★★
The most frustrating and tricky platformer I have played on NES but I kept playing. There are only 18 levels to play through but good luck getting through this one! It's fun once you get in the groove though.
35. Dragon Warrior (NES)
★★
Historically important but man oh man what a slog to play through nowadays. I'm working on the second one right now and it's already a major improvement.
36. Rayman Legends (PS4)
★★★★★
I guess I technically finished this months ago but I finally popped the platinum today so I'll count it now. Such an amazing game; I'd easily call it the greatest platformer of all time. I played it for months trying to get that platinum trophy and it never got boring. It was fun the entire time. A charming art style and brilliant level design. Everyone owes it to themselves to play it.
AUGUST
37, Dragon Warrior II (NES)
★★★
Overall, a MUCH better game than the first one. The combat is interesting, the enemies are varied, the world is bigger, it's just overall better. It kind of fell apart for me a bit after finding the boat though. Once that happened, I never felt like I had a clear direction on where to go and had to consult a walkthrough multiple times just to make progress. Still, it's a clear improvement and a sign of growth for the series overall. I'll have to get to the third one eventually!
38. Ninja Golf (Atari 7800)
★★★★
This game is dumb as hell but surprisingly fun. It's a quick playthrough but that's probably for the best. Nine holes of golf and after each swing, you need to fight your way to where the ball landed. Other ninjas and wildlife both try to stop you! If you make it to the green, you have to throw ninja stars at a dragon in a similar way to the Shinobi bonus rounds. It really doesn't make a lot of sense as a whole but I really enjoy it. It never does anything super well but it's charmingly stupid. Atari clearly didn't understand the market anymore at this point but I'm glad they put this out.
39. Knee Deep (PS4)
★★
I wanted to like this game a whole lot more than I did. The idea is great; taking a narrative game in the vein of Telltale's works and framing it like it's a stage play. The developers just couldn't quite pull it off though. The graphics are incredibly ugly, looking like Poser models, but I could live with that if the writing was good. The writing is not good. It takes forever for the plot to go anywhere and when it DOES go somewhere, it goes somewhere really stupid. Like one of the dumbest reveals I've ever seen seen for a plot point. The mechanic of writing reports with each character gets completely dropped halfway through and that was the most interesting thing in this game. To try and create the stage atmosphere, all of the audio has massive echo on it, making things harder to hear. It was just disappointing overall.
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