52 Games. 1 Year. 2019.

Bosh · Feb 11, 2019

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#6: No More Heroes 2 Desperate Struggle (1/27/2019) | 8/10 | Wii | ~ 10.5 Hours | Recommend: Y
# Overall - 8 | Took the good portions of NMH 1 & elevated it to the next level.
Gameplay - 7.6 | Fun control schemes with graphical improvement. Enemy types is still low.
Sound -8 | Some cool tunes to bring you along for the ride
Story/Online -8 | Better story than NMH 1 with some funny moments.
Asking Price- 7.67 | Refined gameplay structure left less hours than the first but better time spent with side missions really well done.

#7: Killer 7 (2/9/2019 ) | 8/10 | Wii | ~ 14 Hours | Recommend: Y
# Overall - 8 | A unique game worth experiencing
Gameplay -8.6 | On the rails shooter that mixes up levels and fights very well
Sound - 9 | Fantastic soundtrack that sets the mood for every scene
Story/Online - 8 | I understood it for the most part, but its complex. Ending wrapped everything up very quickly.
Asking Price- 8 | Early Suda51 games have a unique lasting appeal that make me daydream about after beating. Good amount of content

Fire Bocchi · Feb 11, 2019

Rex_DX said:
What platform are you playing sunshine on?

using nintendont to play it in the wiiu's vwii mode, technically, all wiiu's are capable of playing gamecube games natively

RampagingSoul · Feb 11, 2019

Rex_DX · Feb 11, 2019

FireWarrior said:
using nintendont to play it in the wiiu's vwii mode, technically, all wiiu's are capable of playing gamecube games natively

Ah I thought so! This was going to be one of my winter projects but I forgot about it. Time to dig out the WiiU! Thanks for the reminder.

MiguelBañón · Feb 12, 2019

Here comes my first update! The played time for each game is just an approximation, since I don't have exact numbers except for Yakuza 0, which is indeed registered as the final save file shows.

All titles shown here respond to games which I've played for the first time, with a first run totally completed and with optional content completely ignored or very little of it done.

I've played a lot of PVP online games too, but since I don't know how to register the time I spend playing this kind of titles I think I'll just create a custom chart and I will upload it here too at the end of the year.

Rhaknar · Feb 12, 2019

Game #27 - Zwei the Ilvard Insurrection
Time: 20 hours

What a great game, just an awesome action rpg all around, one of those rare cases where I just loved everything about the game. Good story, surprisingly good writing and voice acting, the gameplay is simpel but addicting, very reminiscent of the Ys games (another Falcom staple), the art style uses simple poligon models but has a great style to it and a ton of character, there's lots of locations to visit, lot's of characetrs to meet, and yet it has a tight 20-ish hours runtime so it never overstays it's welcome like many rpgs do. Like I said, I just lvoed every aspect of it, and it's easily one of the my highest recomendations in a while, especially if you like action rpgs, especially the Ys games.

Game #28 - The Evil Within 2
Time: 17 hours

Mixed feelings on this one, as I feel for about half it's runtime it was solid, but it kinda falls a part in the second half and never manages to be as good, certainly not as scary as the first game. It's at it's best when its doing the psychological horror thing, which strangely it gets way from for long periods of the game, they go for a semi-open world design for some parts (the first half of the game is mostly this in one big town before going back to more tradional RE style "corridor" levels) and it works in part but at the same time it removes a lot of the tension from the game, not helped by the fact you reach Sam Fisher levels of stealth assassin the way you sneak around backstabbing zombies. The story was interesting until it just keep introducing more and more villains, none of which are ever as interesting as the first one

(or as Ruvik from 1, who is bizarrely absent in the game)

, the gameplay, both the stealth and the gunplay are fine, it looks great (even if it doesnt run that well on PC), but voerall it's just ok. It's a fine game that will probably scratch that Resident Evil itch (especially since there aren't many games like those) but that's all it is, fine. It's also much longer than it has any right to be and it runs out of steam long before the end. Sometimes less is more devs.

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Min · Feb 12, 2019

Absolutely no plans to attempt the challenge again, but this is a nice home for tracking number of games finished this year for the moment, hopefully very few:

God of War (2018)
Kingdom Hears III (2019)
Donut County (2018)
Goragoa (2017)
Baba Is You (2019)
Celeste (2018)
Gato Roboto (2019)

Weiss · Feb 12, 2019

Game 7. Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy - 12/02/2019

Was this game always so... rigid?

I used to think this was a GOAT platformer to rival Mario and a timeless classic, but playing the HD version on PS3 and it was kind of a miserable experience. Presentation was stunning and gorgeous but the actual platforming often felt stiff and unrewarding and far behind its contemporaries in the Ratchet trilogy. Is this just a thing in the HD version?

FRANKEINSTEIN · Feb 13, 2019

14. Golf Story (Switch) | 13th Feb - 16 hrs | 5/5
Just a charming little golf game. I enjoyed the story and the game play. Never got too difficult which with a game like this I appreciate.

15. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Switch) | 13th Feb - 3 hrs | 3/5
Ok throwback to the 8 bit Castlevanias. It's short enough that it doesn't get boring but I was still glad when it was done.

Deleted member 401 · Feb 14, 2019

11. Soulcalibur VI (28 hours)
Quite fun in the gameplay department, but both of the game's story modes dragged, and neither had compelling stories.

Full list to date

Tizoc · Feb 14, 2019

18. Ace Combat 7

My first AC game from the mainline series and it was a blast to play. While I disliked a few missions I overall enjoyed my time and the soundtrack was superb. Def. a GOTY contender for me.

Memory Pak · Feb 14, 2019

Bit of an update to the main post, there's a lot I still need to do write-ups for, but these 3 are done so why not post them now.

XX. Tokobot (2006, PSP) no rating - unfinished
Not giving this one a rating since it feels unfair to judge the game after spending less than 2 hours on it total. I cleared the first two dungeons/levels of this 3D puzzle/platformer and didn't feel compelled to continue. The character movement is really slow compared to the relative size of the levels, making the typical block pushing puzzles a real chore to execute. The controls are surprisingly complex for what are essentially just four moves, often requiring at least 2 or 3 buttons to be used at once - feels like this could've been much simplified by using a contextual action button. The music is a bit annoying, story felt incredibly predictable in that Saturday morning cartoon fashion, and to top it off you don't even play as one of the cute robots on the cover but rather some boring lil' boy guiding the robots. Skip this one.

9. Digimon Tamers: Battle Spirit (2001, WSC) ★★★☆☆
Pretty competent arena fighter, there were several of these in the early 2000s on handhelds (Medabots AX comes to mind especially). This one isn't absolutely packed with features; it's a simple fighting game with 8 stages in relatively predictable order. The twist they introduce is that the monsters (I don't know much about Digimon) don't have health bars. Rather, when you punch one of them, little blue orbs fly out which you need to grab in order to score points. I feel like that mechanic could've been deepened by showing how many orbs the A.I. has, rather than just guessing, as well as allowing you to steal orbs off the opponent. Currently the game kinda rewards hit-and-run tactics, which is a shame.
Doesn't help that every character only has 3 attacks (punch, projectile, mid-air attack). It would've helped if they relegated the second button to a few more moves, they could've put jump on the up button. It's cute they have taunts, but some Digimon have more than others. It's not the most famous ones either; I only recognised 2 and they each had a single taunt, but the worm insect gets 3? Weird. Overall though, a colourful game with okay music, which is fun to play in short bursts.

10. King of Fighters R-2 (1999, NGPC) ★★★★☆
As someone who isn't particularly competent at traditional fighting games, this is pretty appealing. The downsized sprites are cute and much less intimidating than the footage I've seen of King of Fighters '98, which this version is based on. Apparantly the movesets are mostly identical, and the roster is pretty big for a 20 year old handheld fighter. I've only run through the game with every character in team mode once, so I'm sure I've only scratched the surface. But it's cool to pull off moves that involve quarter-rotations and half-rotations, even if it's usually by accident. I don't really have the context for any of these characters, but some of the designs are fun and enduring.

Archduke Kong · Feb 15, 2019

I started this when I was still lurking so let me actually claim my post:

Progress so far:
January - 5 games
February - 1 game
March - 2 games
April - 4 games
May - 2 games
June - 5 games
July - 8 games
August - 5 games
September - 4 games
October - 4 games
November - 4 games

Thoughts on January
1. Super Mario Odyssey - I technically "beat" Odyssey's story last January when I first got my Switch, but I never got around to Darker Side, which is what I considered actually "beating" it. I only kinda chipped away at the moon count required to get to it throughout the year, so I figured I'd actually go for that this time. Revisiting kingdoms I didn't really spend a lot of time in while getting the 100 or so moons I didn't have yet was fun, and Darker Side was a really great challenge once I figured out what I was supposed to do for each section (and I love the first thing you're greeted with upon landing the Odyssey, it was charmingly motivating). Overall, the game ended as strong as it started and I had a LOT of fun in between, so 5/5.

2. Doom (2016) - I expected to like this game going in, it looked fun and most of the reviews compared its atmosphere to Metroid Prime. I don't think I expected to like it THIS much though (especially since I died like, 20 times in that first fight on Mars' surface in the first episode). The combat is satisfying, the levels had a lot of verticality to them (both in and out of combat) which made them more fun to explore, and I love the story. It was there, but it wasn't intrusive (it probably helped that I like Samuel Hayden's character a lot). Really my only major complaint was that it arbitrarily locks you out of going back through the level to look for secrets at some points. The rune challenges felt like chores sometimes too, but they were totally optional. They're more there to make players think outside the box, which I appreciate, they just weren't all that fun. Nitpicks aside, this game stuck with me and it's easily one of my favorite games I've played recently, so 5/5.

3. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards - I'm never too huge on Nintendo's more kid-centric 2D platformers since they kind of just... happen. I did remember renting this one as a kid though and wanted to see how it held up. It was good for what it was. It was really easy, with a few "eh, alright" sections. I'm not sure I'd replay it but I did feel compelled to 100% it so I could fight that final boss and I really enjoyed myself for a lot of it. The trick was them playing with camera angles as you go through the level, I think. It made the game feel grander and more interesting than it otherwise would have. The levels had good variety too and the little character interactions were really charming. They gave a sense of community, like the gang was all chipping in to help the greater good. Overall, not perfect, but a very pleasant and fun game, 4/5.

4. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - This one kind of disappointed me. It wasn't bad, it was a really solid Metroidvania, but I think I was expecting more from it since everyone praised it so much. I liked the soul system a lot (I'm a sucker for providing abilities to let players tailor their moveset to fit their play style). There were some interesting bosses (I really liked Balore) and once you get the bat ability, exploration was really fun. However, that's about 3/4 of the way into the game. The castle just wasn't all that interesting to explore for most of the game (in my opinion), and I can't quite put my finger on why. I also thought the weapon system was kind of pointless since you constantly picked up weapons (sometimes duplicates!) but never had a use for 3/4 of them since most enemies only really responded differently to 3 or 4 of them and not a lot of them played that differently. I'll admit this last part is nitpicky, but I hated the story. I LOVE dumb, stupid video game plots, especially if they're poorly translated from another language, because bad dialogue and nonsense are just fun. It's fun to play through a stupid game. This game's plot was stupid, and there were a few moments I got some enjoyment out of, but the actual dialogue that happened just felt.... bad. Unenjoyable bad. It felt like someone was writing a mediocre fanfiction, and I really did not like Soma as a character for most of the game. That's more of a me problem, but combined with the other things, it didn't help. It was an enjoyable game though, I did like quite a lot about it, and I enjoyed it the gameplay enough that I'll be playing Symphony of the Night sometime soon, so 3/5. Pretty good, but not noteworthy.

5. Donkey Kong Country - I had this one on my Gameboy Color as a kid and got about halfway through, but I never beat it. After maining K. Rool for most of my time in Smash Ultimate, I figured now is as good a time as any to try and beat this one, this time in its proper form (SNES). I loved this game. Every stage had its own specific gimmick that made it stick out from the others. Like Kirby, I loved the sense of community from all of the different Kongs showing up throughout the adventure between levels to give you "help" (Candy was the only useful one imo. Cranky only gave hints for the first few levels, and to be honest, I never quite understood what Funky was actually useful for in this game, but still; their presence was a welcome one). Also, I don't know what it was about the music in 1990s Rareware games but whoever the hell they were hiring for every single one of their games up until the end of the N64 were FANTASTIC at their jobs, and this game is no exception. I hate water levels, but the theme for this game's water levels made me look forward to playing the water levels. That is beautiful. I do think there are a lot of really cheap challenges though. The game was tough but fair for... most of it. Some levels felt deliberately designed to be doable, but frustratingly difficult as opposed to a fair challenge. This was the 90s of course, so they probably did that to sell strategy guides or something, but still, it means some of the levels suffer from really cheap level design. I also really hate how they lock the ability to save behind the first 4 or 5 levels. It's understandable for the time period, but I'm here to talk about my experience with it now, and it made progressing through the early game feel like a chore. That said, it's a pretty great game with room for improvement (which I'll no doubt see when I eventually play its sequel), so 4/5.

I'm aiming for 4-5 games per month. We're off to a good start so far!

Tambini · Feb 15, 2019

#8 IMPLOSION - 6.0 Switch - Feb 6th - 14 hours
Not quite the hidden gem I was hoping it to be but not bad. It's just very simple and repetitive and has some questionable design choices. Still, plenty of content and enough fun to play a few missions here and there

#9 Mutant Mudds Super Challenge - 7.5 Switch - Feb 10th - 9 hours
100% completed. Total death count 416. This game doesn't fuck around. Same simple but tight platforming as the original but much harder, which I liked..for the most part.

#10 Paint it Back - 8.5 PC - Feb 15th - 30 hours
100%. Very well made Picross game with a lot of content, difficulty options and good presentation. Reccomended to anyone who likes picross.

Deleted member 7279 · Feb 15, 2019

Main Post

January Report

For the month of January I completed 14 games.

My progress for this challenge is: 14/52

1. Battle Circuit - Finished on January 1 - 1 hour

This is a quirky little beat em up on Capcom's Beat Em Up Collection. I enjoyed the game but I died a ton and used many continues since I had never played it before.

2. New Super Mario Bros DS - Finished on January 2 - 6 hours

The original game in the New Super Mario Bros series. This game controls weird and everything feels like ice physics. I played most of this game before moving on to the 3DS sequel. When I came back to finish this, I died instantly because of the slippery physics. There is also a jump up to ledges or things where it looks like Mario isn't going to make it and he sort of crouches and it kills all momentum. I'm not sure what causes it but it is gone in the 3DS sequel and it definitely killed me a few times. For this run I beat every stage and got every secret exit but did not collect all star coins. I enjoy this game quite a bit and have beaten it many times so it is considered a replay.

3. Armored Warriors - Finished on January 3 - 1 hour

This game you play as you guessed it, an armored warrior! You can destroy other mechs and pick up parts and alter your skills. This ranges from a flamethrower replacing your regular gun to having treads on the bottom of your mech to improve movement speed and add additional attacks to finding a drill arm or saw blades to add to your melee arsenal. This keeps gameplay fresh and fun and interesting and I was always wondering what I would find next and how it would all work together to stomp baddies. Every mission is timed but I never really came close to failing a time limit and I consider myself a below average player of games like this despite enjoying them.

4. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker - Finished on January 4 - 10 hours

I originally owned this game on the Wii U and had a hard time getting into it. I bought it again on the Switch and the handheld mode of the game hooked me. I could play this a few levels at a time, focusing on collecting gems and progressing the plot of the game, which features the ridiculously charming Toad and Toadette on adventure looking for treasure. The game was short enough and most levels short enough where they never overstayed their welcome. Sure there were times where I died because the camera was wonky or I carelessly didn't watch where I was going, but the overall package was fantastic for the $40 price tag. While some levels felt limiting because Toad/Toadette are limited in what they can do, a majority of them work quite well. Between simple platforming, objects moving back and forth in the level, or just simple optical illusions, every level feels fresh. There are a few types of levels that repeat, but often enough there is enough variety where I never felt like I was replaying a level like I had already done before. And with 64 stages in the three main chapters, that is quite the accomplishment. I have not done any of the bonus content yet and I never really stopped and went back for the "stamps" so there is quite a bit more content to this game than I have touched and I feel like I could easily come close to doubling the 10 hours or so I've already put in.

5. New Super Mario Bros 2 - Finished on January 4 - 8 hours

For this run, I got every exit, collected every star coin, and finished the postgame World Star after beating the main game. This game is much more polished than the DS game and the physics feel more in line with a modern 2D Mario game. The one knock on the game is it is very easy. The DS game there is a definitely difficulty curve. Here the game starts out easy, gets a little more difficult, and really only has a few tricky stages and even fewer tricky star coins to get. Even the final Bowser stuff I did in one go both levels. The most difficult part was getting the star coins on the first go around to not have to redo an extremely long and annoying level more than once.

6. Onimusha: Warlords - Finished on January 5 - 3 hours

This was played on an imported Switch cart. This is one of my favorite games and when I heard it was being ported to current gen platforms I knew I had to get on it. I didn't even think twice about importing the physical Switch version from Japan. Game looks and plays amazing. I did the entire thing in handheld mode and it was fine. All this does is make me want to play the second and third games on my Switch in handheld mode. Among the minor changes made is a quick weapon swap. Not having to pause every single time I want to swap weapons meant that I was free to use whatever I wanted without having to pause and swap and pause back. It meant knowing easily how much magic I had for each orb. It meant being able to swap to my bow and save those guards in the keep that drop a magic jewel so I was able to max out my health and magic. The Switch version even comes with "honors" instead of trophies but they are exactly the same. I think I earned about 34 or 35 on my first playthrough.

7. Golf Story - Finished on January 12 - 17 hours

This charming little golf centered RPG saw a physical release from Limited Run Games last year and that is what I played. You are an amateur golfer with an apparently awful looking swing but with great control and a great short game. Everyone in this game has this sassy attitude and loves dumping on the main character but it is normally pretty funny. The writing and mood both add to the zany story and the many weird beats it hits. You fight off zombies, battle a wizard, hang out with disc golf hooligans, go to far off locales like deserts and snow covered courses, and even witness a rap battle. Even your "vengeful wife" shows up with her new man to rub it in your face that you are not a professional golfer and never will be. Characters like the shady Lucky, the talented but arrogant Max Yards, your Coach and his estranged son, and my personal favorite Lara, who you are constantly in competition with throughout the game and is always quick to belittle you but by the end I feel comes to respect you. As the credits begin the map you have been traveling on all game long was really a map of Australia. It was a reveal for me that I didn't see coming despite knowing that the developers were from there. It was just a cool little touch that I liked at the end of the game.

8. Final Fight - Finished on January 13 - 1 hour

This game takes place in Metro City where mayor Mike Haggar has to lay down the law on some goons. His daughter gets kidnapped in an attempt to control him and he isn't having any of it. Together with Cody and Guy you must fight through round after round of goons armed to the teeth ready to kill you as you attempt to get Jessica back from Mad Gear. A few of the characters in this game (namely Abigail) look a little like real life people. Not sure if this was intentional but Abigail looks like Animal of WWF fame. Some satisfying moments come when you get a sword a pipe and just beat the dickens out of some annoying enemy that loves to hang out just off screen and run in at you the second you move a little away. I enjoyed this game and I wish the second one was part of this too. Perhaps if they make another collection.

9. Yoshi's Island DS - Finished on January 19 - 10 hours

This game has great gameplay. The different baby mechanics and the elements surrounding that are fantastic. The rest of the game is a complete disaster. Rather than make a fun game that encourages exploring like the original Yoshi's Island, this game is just full of cheap level design full of lava, spikes, and bottomless pits. I swear to you one of the later levels took me at least an hour to finish. If I wasn't so close to the end I would have just dropped the game. I shudder to think what the bonus levels look like. I will never find out because I will never play this game again. Sometimes getting hit by things sends you flying. Sometimes all it does is knock the baby off your back. Sometimes certain degrees of slope while running just automatically eat your jumps. I feel like this game was designed with the maximum amount of frustration in mind. So many parts in so many stages are just perfectly tuned to just screw you over. Enemies at the precise height when you scroll the screen to hit you when you have the baby you need to progress. Hit boxes are also iffy. I took so many hits on things that just felt off to me. If you are even one pixel less than the very tip top of the enemy you take damage. So many stages where egg denial was real or where you were stuck with one baby who was the poorest choice of the available ones. Even the final boss manages to be a frustrating mess. The first time I made it to the end I died because there were at least three or four other Yoshis on screen and it is extremely hard to track which one you are. There were several times on the attempt I was successful where my baby was flying through the air and I just had to completely abandon dodging anything or getting an egg just to focus on which of the five Yoshis I was to not die right at the end. In addition to that I had no idea how to actually hit the final boss. I must have missed at least a dozen times. This just scratches the surface. Rocket segment is a OHKO? Awesome. Coins leading you straight down a pit? All over the place. The charm of bosses being blown up versions of regular enemies? Gone. Just awful.

10. The King of Dragons - Finished on January 21 - 1 hour

I enjoyed this game quite a bit. You choose one of five characters (cleric, dwarf, wizard, elf, or fighter) and battle your way through 16 stages of baddies, bosses, and more importantly treasure! You hear tales of monsters being in the north or a princess being kidnapped and finally a dragon with a treasure hoard waiting to be slain. There is a leveling system where you get more health and I'm guessing get more damage and defense. I played the Dwarf throughout the game and though I am bad at these games I enjoy them very much. Not having to drop quarters continuously into games like this is quite enjoyable.

11. Warriors of Fate - Finished on January 21 - 1 hour

Another in the Capcom Beat Em Up Collection for Switch. This one is based on China. Different in this one is the ability to ride a horse and fight on horseback. I enjoyed the game for what it was but the ability of enemies to perfectly time when you are about to get up and just spam their attacks to hit you perfectly and keep hitting you is frustrating. I definitely have enjoyed other games in this collection a lot more than this one even if it isn't actually bad. The weapons you can sometimes find are unsatisfying to use since they barely do more damage than just fighting with what you have. They are uncommon in many cases and only really shine when you have a horse, which again is even less frequent. In the end I didn't kill some random end boss in 15 seconds so I got the bad ending. Imagine paying a ton of money at an arcade to finish a game like this and then some random 15 second thing you know nothing about is the reason you get a shit ending and the main villain comes back. Instantly to the bottom of the list and a frustrating experience after the joy King of Dragons was.

12. Captain Commando - Finished on January 21 - 1 hour

My tour through Capcom's Beat Em Up history continue with this game. I remember the titular character from my days of playing Marvel Vs Capcom 2. This game is great. It does nothing specifically well or new other than being vibrantly colored, not overly frustrating, and decent controlling. In many other games my special attack, despite being mapped to the same button presses in every game, was hard to execute for some reason. This game I was able to use it quite a bit to good effect. Weapons that drop hurt and feel good to use. Giant mechs that you can ride in (think ride armor in MMX) are fun and infrequent enough to make you feel powerful. The one knock I do have is the final boss is really annoying, preferring to hover out of range and fire projectiles, or just outrange you with whatever attack he wants.

13. Knights of the Round - Finished on January 21 - 1 hour

The final game in the Capcom Beat Em Up Bundle is here! You choose between Lancelot, Arthur, and Percival. The game features a leveling system where points you score is your experience and as you level up, your attributes go up. You do the typical Arthurian legend good guy stuff like go to villages under attack and slay bad guys accosting innocents. Percival is slow and bulky. Lancelot is more agile. Arthur seems to be the happy medium. I love fighting on horseback since you do a lot more damage and can really crush a bunch of enemies very quickly.

14. Diablo 3: Eternal Collection - Finished on January 29 - 20 hours

Calling this one done after getting a seasonal Demon Hunter to 70 and getting the seasonal set complete. I'll still play around and grind some rifts and try to get better gear but for all intents and purposes I have accomplished what I wanted. Demon Hunter starts slow with some brutal early leveling. I had horrible gear throughout leveling and it was really once I got close to 70 with a good weapon that I was able to just reign death upon my foes.

FRANKEINSTEIN · Feb 15, 2019

16. Ninja Gaiden (NES through the Switch) | 15th Feb - 3 hrs | 4/5
This was one of my favorite games as a kid but like most my NES games, I never beat. Well thanks to my free online trial with Switch and the save/load ability, I finally beat it. Still holds up. Second to last boss was a bitch to get through. I'm actually surprised how easy the final boss was.

Tizoc · Feb 16, 2019

19. Zenge

This is a jigsaw puzzle game with a few twists to how you need to put the pieces together. It has really relaxing calm music and clearing puzzles tells you the game's story with the story's art coming off as abstract art. I didn't fully get the plot but I enjoyed my time with it.

Rhaknar · Feb 16, 2019

Game #29 - The Gardens Between
Time: 2 hours

Very cool puzzle game about time and stage manipulation with gorgeous graphics / art style and a simple yet touching story (what little there is of a story). It's a short game, I finished it in one 2-hour sitting, but it never overstays it's welcome and keeps using it's premise in inventive ways. Stages are gorgeous as this has one of the best art styles I've seen in awhile, I love how the levels rotate and move as you manipulate them. Just a very well done puzzle game that is a easy recomendation for any fans of the genre, especially if you can get it on sale or as part of some service (for example game pass, which it's a part of right now in fact).

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LazyLain · Feb 16, 2019

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Just beat these two short little Game Boy platformers this morning:

#7. Wendy: Every Witch Way
The OG Gravity Rush. Great little concept for a game, executed in a very satisfying and charming manner. The single biggest criticism I could levy against it was how simple it was to cheese the final boss. But the final boss still had a novel use of the game's gravity flipping mechanic, and I generally like my games to be nice and easy, so I'm fine with that.
4/5 - "Good"

After that one, I wrapped up...

#8. Trip World
Cute and quirky, but I would be hesitant to call the gameplay good... it was a mixed bag with no major standout features or qualities. If you're a platformer aficionado and/or really dig the art style, it's worth checking out... but otherwise you won't be missing much.
3/5 - "So-so"

FRANKEINSTEIN · Feb 16, 2019

17. D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (XboxOne) | 16th Feb - 6 hrs | 2/5
A game I bought when it first released and finally got to. Really liked it at first. Had the Swery weirdness I enjoy and I like all the characters. But it just ends. No resolution to any of the story arcs and we definitely not getting a season 2. Would have given a 4/5 but that ending is bullshit.

rahji · Feb 17, 2019

6. Hitman - Finished on 2/15/2019 Time: 20 hours

My first experience with the long running franchise and boy did I enjoy it. The amount of freedom to reach your goals is immense and the first time I beat a level I felt really good. You feel so smart especially if you can figure out some of the opportunities yourself. I am still drifting around completing challenges in different missions even though the credits already rolled. There is so much content in that game and I am not tired yet to experience all the missed ways of completing a level.

Coming up: Maybe I will try For Honor, but it will probably wait for DMCV.

Spyware · Feb 17, 2019

Weekly update 7!

I keep playing insanely good games! I have to find a dud soon, right?

18. Escape Goat 2 (PC) | 14th Jan - 9hrs | 5/5

I really loved the first Escape Goat and I have no idea why it has taken me this long to play the sequel. It's everything I could have wished for, simply bolder, bigger and better. It takes everything that was good about the first game and adds to it. 100%-ing the game was challenging but I had fun all the way through.

19. The Mind's Eclipse (PC) | 15th Jan - 3hrs | 5/5

What a surprise this was! Went in completely blind and didn't know at all what to expect. I was initially a bit annoyed by the way you have to open the map to move to a different area but I quickly realized this was actually a really nice thing. That means nothing clickable led to another area, so I could click around without worrying about missing anything. Because there is a whole bunch of clicking going on here. Thankfully the game was very good at showing what was clickable and I didn't miss a single item/log during my playthrough. I have nothing negative to say about this game. It was a superb experience.

_____________

Master Post!

UnexpectedEnemy · Feb 17, 2019

Here's my 3 games beaten from January and a list of what I've been playing since the new year! You can also checkout my personal gaming blog where I write and keep track of everything I play each year here!

1. GRIS, developed by Nomada Studio, is a short & sweet puzzle-platformer with a beautiful hand-drawn aesthetic. Games like Braid, Limbo and INSIDE have popularized and reignited the 2D "art-formers" of yesterday and classics like Another World, Prince of Persia, Heart of Darkness and even Abe's Odyssey/Exodus paved the way for what a lot of indie studios are achieving today, GRIS included. Despite its strong emphasis on narrative and storytelling through art and minimalism, GRIS is a lot more game-y than I was expecting it to be. GRIS is an abstract journey which depicts a female character who's lost her voice and the trials & tribulations one must go through to find one's self-worth (or that's what I've gathered at least as the game has virtually zero dialogue).

In a Metroid-like fashion, the game is centered around an interconnected hub, which evolves as the player unlocks new abilities and completes each of the areas that branches from it. Every level is thematically unique, both in its visual presentation and gameplay mechanics. In one world, for example, the player obtains the ability to become a block, which allows one to break through certain environmental pieces or solve puzzles. The game doesn't overstay its welcome, either. Each world is relatively linear, but some levels do allow certain objectives to be tackled in a non-linear fashion. My biggest disappointment with the game, however, is that you cannot backtrack to older areas, but there is a chapter select which gives the player an opportunity to discover any missed secrets (which there are a handful to be discovered).

I completed the game in two or three sessions on my Nintendo Switch, but I've yet to find all the hidden items or unlock the secret challenges. I will likely go back and complete the game at 100%, but I'm in no rush to return to the experience anytime soon. Although GRIS is a beautifully animated journey, it didn't quite deliver the hard & heavy emotional gut-punch I was hoping it would. I would certainly recommend it to those who enjoy a lot of the aforementioned 2D puzzle-platformers, but it didn't have the same impact on me as games like INSIDE or The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories.

2. Black Bird, developed by Onion Games, and from the visionary mind behind such titles as Chulip, Little King's Story (a personal favorite of mine) and Rule of Rose, comes a side-scrolling shooter that pays homage to the classic arcade shooter, Fantasy Zone. Onion Games is a Japanese independent studio consisted of a handful of industry veterans, including Yoshiro Kimura, Kazuyuki Kurashima and Tom Ikeda. While their previous games have been exclusive to mobile devices, Black Bird is Onion Game's first console/PC debut and boy is it one weird game! One could say that Black Bird's presentation evokes a silent film from the 1920s, complete with the film graininess and strange vignettes between stages that one would expect. There's no spoken dialogue, but the game appears to portray the life of an orphaned girl whose parents were killed in gruesome accidents (or even murdered?).

After the girl appears to be shied away from an orphanage, the little one collapses and a man with a cane turns her into an egg, which ultimately hatches and becomes a disembodied crow-like head that wrecks havoc on the inhabitants of what appears to be a European-styled town. It's dark and disturbing yet nonetheless charming due to its cute sprites, strange denizens and enemies that animate, dance and march throughout the city streets. The player can fly left or right and the stage will loop until all target enemies (towers) are eliminated. Each level culminates in bizarre boss battles, which are supposed to resemble the things/people who have scarred/harmed the girl from her past. The game is also relatively short, but it is meant to be replayed as there are multiple endings based on certain max/total score thresholds. In each level, there are hidden characters to shoot for bonus points and opportunities to earn more health, screen-clearing bombs and speed power-ups (which make the player move faster).

Black Bird's got traditional "shmup/STG" mechanics at its core, but everything melds together rather nicely. It seems like completing each stage quickly while using bombs at max score multiplier is the intended way to play, as the "True Ending" is quite difficult to achieve if you don't know the game/enemy patterns by heart. It's not the easiest shooter, either. There are no lives/continues, however, the crow's hit-box is rather small and there are plenty of opportunities to stock extra health, bombs and the like. There's a nice risk/reward system at play here, too. Play defensively and hoard bombs/health to survive or play aggressively (yet smart) in order to climb the leader-boards and earn the coveted best ending. Good stuff! I completed the game a few times (including its True Mode), but have yet to earn the best ending (which I believe requires 25,000,000 points). Practice! Practice! Practice!

3. Florence, developed by Australian studio, Mountains, and published by Annapurna Interactive (a company that is slowly becoming the de-facto house for quality indie titles), is an extremely breezy short-story/visual novel for mobile devices. The game centers around a woman's day-to-day life and the personal struggles she experiences as one enters adulthood. Florence depicts the life of two individuals whose hopes and dreams become sidelined as life and love "get in the way", so to speak. What's interesting about Florence (similar to Black Bird and GRIS) is that there's no spoken dialogue. Everything is communicated to the player visually and the conversations between the two main characters are presented by puzzle-pieces.

It's a clever mechanism to deliver a narrative, as communication is often confusing and sometimes words don't quite connect the way they are supposed to, especially when emotions are involved. The game itself utilizes basic touch-screen maneuvers/controls (such as tapping and swiping), yet it's all rather intuitive. In some chapters, the player will have to brush their teeth by swiping a digital toothbrush from left to right, tap on colors/prints to customize a butterfly or unpacking their significant other's belongings by dragging and dropping certain items into a storage box. It sounds simple and boring, quite like life, right? The game elevates these mundane tasks and life moments through its beautiful visual presentation and music, however. I completed the game in about an hour on a 4-hour flight and had plenty of time to fart around on my phone or play something else afterwards.

In-progress & Ongoing Affairs

At the begging of each year, I like to try a bunch of new games I've been meaning/wanting to play. I will usually spend the first week or two of January pulling games from my backlog until something sticks (or finishing games that have been in-progress). I liken the period to throwing darts at a dart-board until I hit the bull's-eye. A lot of cool/interesting games I've been looking forward to released during the first month of the year as well, including Resident Evil 2, Ace Combat 7 and Kingdom Hearts III. I've managed to checkout a few of the new releases in addition to some older titles, but I haven't formulated my thoughts on a lot of these games yet (which will subsequently be written about in the coming months). I also continue to play my ongoing games like Destiny 2, Monster Hunter: World and Overwatch. So, here's what I've dabbled with over the past month or so and what you can look forward to me writing about!

PS4:

Destiny 2: Forsaken
Overwatch
Monster Hunter: World
Shadow of the Colossus
Yakuza Kiwami
Chasm
Timespinner
Ace Combat 7
Resident Evil 2
Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories (KH HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX)

Nintendo Switch:

Splatoon 2 + Octo Expansion
ARMS
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Mom Hid My Game!
Wandersong
Lightning Force: Quest for the Darkstar (Sega Ages)

Xbox One:

Ashen
Forza Horizon 4
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden
Crackdown 3
Below

Mobile:

Monument Valley + Forgotten Shores & IDA's Dream DLC
Monument Valley 2
The Room
Dandy Dungeon: Legend of Brave Yamada
Pixel Puzzle Collection
Part Time UFO
Million Onion Hotel
Dragon Quest

Bii · Feb 17, 2019

UnexpectedEnemy said:
Here's my 3 games beaten from January and a list of what I've been playing since the new year! You can also checkout my personal gaming blog where I write and keep track of everything I play each year here!

1. GRIS, developed by Nomada Studio, is a short & sweet puzzle-platformer with a beautiful hand-drawn aesthetic. Games like Braid, Limbo and INSIDE have popularized and reignited the 2D "art-formers" of yesterday and classics like Another World, Prince of Persia, Heart of Darkness and even Abe's Odyssey/Exodus paved the way for what a lot of indie studios are achieving today, GRIS included. Despite its strong emphasis on narrative and storytelling through art and minimalism, GRIS is a lot more game-y than I was expecting it to be. GRIS is an abstract journey which depicts a female character who's lost her voice and the trials & tribulations one must go through to find one's self-worth (or that's what I've gathered at least as the game has virtually zero dialogue).

In a Metroid-like fashion, the game is centered around an interconnected hub, which evolves as the player unlocks new abilities and completes each of the areas that branches from it. Every level is thematically unique, both in its visual presentation and gameplay mechanics. In one world, for example, the player obtains the ability to become a block, which allows one to break through certain environmental pieces or solve puzzles. The game doesn't overstay its welcome, either. Each world is relatively linear, but some levels do allow certain objectives to be tackled in a non-linear fashion. My biggest disappointment with the game, however, is that you cannot backtrack to older areas, but there is a chapter select which gives the player an opportunity to discover any missed secrets (which there are a handful to be discovered).

I completed the game in two or three sessions on my Nintendo Switch, but I've yet to find all the hidden items or unlock the secret challenges. I will likely go back and complete the game at 100%, but I'm in no rush to return to the experience anytime soon. Although GRIS is a beautifully animated journey, it didn't quite deliver the hard & heavy emotional gut-punch I was hoping it would. I would certainly recommend it to those who enjoy a lot of the aforementioned 2D puzzle-platformers, but it didn't have the same impact on me as games like INSIDE or The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories.

2. Black Bird, developed by Onion Games, and from the visionary mind behind such titles as Chulip, Little King's Story (a personal favorite of mine) and Rule of Rose, comes a side-scrolling shooter that pays homage to the classic arcade shooter, Fantasy Zone. Onion Games is a Japanese independent studio consisted of a handful of industry veterans, including Yoshiro Kimura, Kazuyuki Kurashima and Tom Ikeda. While their previous games have been exclusive to mobile devices, Black Bird is Onion Game's first console/PC debut and boy is it one weird game! One could say that Black Bird's presentation evokes a silent film from the 1920s, complete with the film graininess and strange vignettes between stages that one would expect. There's no spoken dialogue, but the game appears to portray the life of an orphaned girl whose parents were killed in gruesome accidents (or even murdered?).

After the girl appears to be shied away from an orphanage, the little one collapses and a man with a cane turns her into an egg, which ultimately hatches and becomes a disembodied crow-like head that wrecks havoc on the inhabitants of what appears to be a European-styled town. It's dark and disturbing yet nonetheless charming due to its cute sprites, strange denizens and enemies that animate, dance and march throughout the city streets. The player can fly left or right and the stage will loop until all target enemies (towers) are eliminated. Each level culminates in bizarre boss battles, which are supposed to resemble the things/people who have scarred/harmed the girl from her past. The game is also relatively short, but it is meant to be replayed as there are multiple endings based on certain max/total score thresholds. In each level, there are hidden characters to shoot for bonus points and opportunities to earn more health, screen-clearing bombs and speed power-ups (which make the player move faster).

Black Bird's got traditional "shmup/STG" mechanics at its core, but everything melds together rather nicely. It seems like completing each stage quickly while using bombs at max score multiplier is the intended way to play, as the "True Ending" is quite difficult to achieve if you don't know the game/enemy patterns by heart. It's not the easiest shooter, either. There are no lives/continues, however, the crow's hit-box is rather small and there are plenty of opportunities to stock extra health, bombs and the like. There's a nice risk/reward system at play here, too. Play defensively and hoard bombs/health to survive or play aggressively (yet smart) in order to climb the leader-boards and earn the coveted best ending. Good stuff! I completed the game a few times (including its True Mode), but have yet to earn the best ending (which I believe requires 25,000,000 points). Practice! Practice! Practice!

3. Florence, developed by Australian studio, Mountains, and published by Annapurna Interactive (a company that is slowly becoming the de-facto house for quality indie titles), is an extremely breezy short-story/visual novel for mobile devices. The game centers around a woman's day-to-day life and the personal struggles she experiences as one enters adulthood. Florence depicts the life of two individuals whose hopes and dreams become sidelined as life and love "get in the way", so to speak. What's interesting about Florence (similar to Black Bird and GRIS) is that there's no spoken dialogue. Everything is communicated to the player visually and the conversations between the two main characters are presented by puzzle-pieces.

It's a clever mechanism to deliver a narrative, as communication is often confusing and sometimes words don't quite connect the way they are supposed to, especially when emotions are involved. The game itself utilizes basic touch-screen maneuvers/controls (such as tapping and swiping), yet it's all rather intuitive. In some chapters, the player will have to brush their teeth by swiping a digital toothbrush from left to right, tap on colors/prints to customize a butterfly or unpacking their significant other's belongings by dragging and dropping certain items into a storage box. It sounds simple and boring, quite like life, right? The game elevates these mundane tasks and life moments through its beautiful visual presentation and music, however. I completed the game in about an hour on a 4-hour flight and had plenty of time to fart around on my phone or play something else afterwards.

In-progress & Ongoing Affairs

At the begging of each year, I like to try a bunch of new games I've been meaning/wanting to play. I will usually spend the first week or two of January pulling games from my backlog until something sticks (or finishing games that have been in-progress). I liken the period to throwing darts at a dart-board until I hit the bull's-eye. A lot of cool/interesting games I've been looking forward to released during the first month of the year as well, including Resident Evil 2, Ace Combat 7 and Kingdom Hearts III. I've managed to checkout a few of the new releases in addition to some older titles, but I haven't formulated my thoughts on a lot of these games yet (which will subsequently be written about in the coming months). I also continue to play my ongoing games like Destiny 2, Monster Hunter: World and Overwatch. So, here's what I've dabbled with over the past month or so and what you can look forward to me writing about!

PS4:

Destiny 2: Forsaken

Overwatch

Monster Hunter: World

Shadow of the Colossus

Yakuza Kiwami

Chasm

Timespinner

Ace Combat 7

Resident Evil 2

Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories (KH HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX)

Nintendo Switch:

Splatoon 2 + Octo Expansion

ARMS

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Mom Hid My Game!

Wandersong

Lightning Force: Quest for the Darkstar (Sega Ages)

Xbox One:

Ashen

Forza Horizon 4

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

Crackdown 3

Below

Mobile:

Monument Valley + Forgotten Shores & IDA's Dream DLC

Monument Valley 2

The Room

Dandy Dungeon: Legend of Brave Yamada

Pixel Puzzle Collection

Part Time UFO

Million Onion Hotel

Dragon Quest

I like your write-ups. The link to your blog, I'd have to have a Wordpress account to view it? Ehhh..

Deleted member 21255 · Feb 17, 2019

Bii said:
I like your write-ups. The link to your blog, I'd have to have a Wordpress account to view it? Ehhh..

I think he just posted in the wrong url (looks like an admin one maybe?), if you take out the first part you can view it:

https://mattyjohn.blog/

5pectre · Feb 17, 2019

11. Tetris DS (NDS)
First I completed Marathon Mode which I think is 200 lines. That gave me the credits and unlocked Marathon Mode Endless. So I decided to see how far it went. The Lines max out at 999.

Fantastic version of Tetris with lots of modes and pretty beginner friendly as it's not super duper hard, not even on the fastest level. The presentation is excellent.

5/5

Main Thread

Deleted member 1265 · Feb 17, 2019

S.T.A.R.S Beret - 12/52 Games (8 first playthroughs, 4 replays)

---

Game 9 - Resident Evil 2 (PS4) - 11 hours, 12 minutes - 3/5

Played through Claire and Leon's campaign which is the equivalent of what I considered beating the original game.

Thankfully an improvement after I was less than enthused with RE7 but it still could've been better. Still trying to process my feelings overall but here's some pros/cons.

Pros:
Aesthetically amazing
Map/level design

Little gameplay elements like boarding up windows add strategy/depth

The game expanding outwards and including some extra locations new to this remake

Cons:
Every enemy feels like an ordeal. They dish out and can take heavy damage while dodging can be a disaster in and of itself most of the time. (I can see the appeal of this but it was annoying and not scary or otherwise enjoyable for me)

The bits where you play as Ada and Sherry were both less than stellar

Ink Ribbons/limited saves being locked behind Hardcore difficulty (While on that matter, Standard and Assisted feel like they could have a difficulty between them since they're miles apart)

The sewers are dragged out on and on

Game 10 - Tekken 7 (PS4) - ~3 hours - 3/5

I played through the story and all of the mini character episodes.

I wasn't a fan of the centralized story mode and missed having individual story modes for characters. I guess the little episodes were similar enough but they weren't quite the same.

Also didn't like being locked into assisted/auto commands for playing the story on the easiest difficulty. The next difficulty up was too hard for me most of the time but the easy difficulty pretty much locks you into certain combos and doesn't give you room to learn things/improve.

Panda is still a Legend.

Game 11 - Spyro the Dragon (PS4) - 6 hours, 28 minutes - 3.5/5

Played this all the time in my childhood but never actually made substantial progress (never played anything past the second world). It was nice to actually get around to beating this even if it was in a remaster.

Similarly to the Crash remaster there were definitely things that felt off. Some of the physics/hit boxes, especially in the gliding stages felt off which got frustrating after a bit. I don't know how much of this is accurate to the base games as is versus new things. (I know the hitboxes and slippery ledges are exclusive to the Crash remaster.)

Going to play 2 and 3 soon but I hope they don't follow a similar trajectory that the Crash games did (an increased focus on gimmicks/mini-games).

Game 12 – Marvel's Spider-Man (PS4) – ~25 hours – 4/5

I can't believe this was actually good. This was kinda fighting an uphill battle with me as it's both a superhero game and an open world one which I like neither of (I've always been partial to spider-man though). It managed to overcome all of that and then some.

I played this to 100% completion for the base game in a little over a week and I definitely felt like I could've played more if there was more to do. I don't know, it wasn't anything particularly new or unique but it did everything that it did do so well. There's been a lot of superhero games over the years that I've tried but none have nailed the feeling of actually Being a superhero like this one did. Add in stuff like the large variety of suits (catering to my enjoyment of playing dress up in video games), the traversal, and even the characters/story for an all around good time.

I'll definitely be here for the sequel to this on day one as long as it doesn't end up looking like trash.

DrMoguera · Feb 18, 2019

Really falling behind on the write-ups now! Gonna cram some in now.

Main Post

6. Onimusha: Warlords (PS4/PS2) | 19th Jan - 02 Hrs 20 Mn | 4/5
I liked Onimusha quite a bit, and it's kind of a surprising game because on paper it sounds like a disaster. An action game with RE-style controls and camera angles? The camera angles are one of DMC1's few detriments! But it's interesting, because Onimusha feels like a nice peer to Devil May Cry, two action series with similar groundwork that took very different directions. DMC1 feels like an action game that wants to break out of its "chains," while Onimusha thoroughly embraces them to make a different kind of action game. The one hit kill system, the dodging and blocking, it all works surprising well with the control and camera limitations given. It's a universal set of controls that works just as well as the tank controls for movement, being easily adaptable to whatever the camera angle looks like. And some of the shots with the camera are fantastic, perfectly setting the mood and giving the Onimusha castle a unique vibe even moreso than DMC's castle.

In this new port, they do give you an option for modern controls but I found they got in the way more than they helped. They are especially iffy with the dodging system, and so the only time I really used them was to cheat the last boss with the ability to quickly move backwards (I did the no healing item and no upgrades trophies on the same run). Otherwise it all looks nice enough and the option for the Japanese voices was great.

7. Spyro the Dragon (PS4/PS1) | 25th Jan - XX Hrs | 4/5
Spyro is a cool game that captures a lot of what makes the platformers of this era fun. The open level design is a joy to explore and they've layered things in a way where most of the levels are easy to backtrack through. Even as an early Insomniac effort, there's a ton of character to it, and maybe even moreso in the remake which updates the areas and character designs in usually interesting ways. The game dives a bit in quality in the swamp world, where the levels start to get more obtuse and annoying in their design, but overall I enjoyed it a lot.

8. Resident Evil 2 (Remake) (PS4) | 27th Jan - 06 Hrs 18 Mn | 4/5
I had a lot of fun with the Resident Evil 2 Remake. It's very interesting and pleasing to see Capcom go even further in the direction of bringing back what originally made this series so fun: the horror, the tactics, the resource management. But...I think it's lacking in a lot of areas. It's maybe not totally fair, but the very concept of this game is putting it in direct competition with my two favorite Resident Evil games, the remake of the original Resident Evil, and well, the original Resident Evil 2. I don't think this new remake beats either of them.

As a remake to the original, it cuts a lot of corners that some people may write off but reeks of development compromise to me. It strikes a fundamental question to me: should a remake of a 20 year old game be able to use limited budget or development time as an excuse to end up with less content and less interesting content than the original? I think in some cases they can get away with it, but then you have the remake of the original Resident Evil as a direct comparison in the same franchise. That remake not only had all the content of the original, but it added more, it twisted and changed things based on player expectations, in many ways it felt like a true evolution of the original that pushed the concept as far as they could at the time.

The RE2 remake does not really push anything to me. It feels like a return to the design philosophy of the originals, but it does not surpass what they accomplished. I have a laundry list of things I don't really care for, some minor, some major. I think their reimagining of the police station is fairly boring, their changes to the characters kind of strange and unnecessary (did they really need to turn the gun shop moment into such an out-of-place downer, or have Marvin around longer only to be a less effective version of what was already in the original, or spend so much time redeeming Annette for no real reason?), the game is full of weird things that damage the atmosphere like the lame, almost nonexistent soundtrack and characters talking like they're in Deadly Premonition while shooting. The new Sherry and Ada sections actually feel worse and more derivative than the original, and they were already kind of the low point in that game. In a general play sense, the enemy grab attacks have a strange, almost magnetic property to them that goes wider than it should visually and makes avoiding the zombies really bizarre and not fun compared to the original. It emphasizes the shooting aspect in a way that feels kind of jank

Stuff I did like, though: the zombies and the many ways they interact with the environments and being attacked are great. Making Mr. X a looming threat even moreso than the original, the lickers feeling more dangerous than before, the addition of the original REmake defensive items, fun ideas like making the windows a more constant threat. I think the game as a standalone product is fun, and I enjoyed doing some of the speedrun challenges. There's a lot of good ideas here, I think to the point where if they had to put them to an actual new game instead of leaning so heavily on the past I would have enjoyed it more.

Will write up some more later!

YaBish · Feb 18, 2019

Playing Red Dead, then God of War, and now DOS2 has really slowed down my momentum towards 52, but I'm having fun, so who cares really.

PC90 · Feb 18, 2019

Original Post

3) GRIS (Steam -January 13th - 3 hours - 3/5)
Truly beautiful game, but it didn't quite grab me. Too abstract for my liking, which I get is part of the appeal and totally a me problem. EIther way, well worth a playthrough just because of how stunning it is.

4) Sara is Missing (Android - January 26th - 2 hours - 3/5)
It's neat, especially for a free game. Great fit for mobile.

5) Resident Evil 2 (Steam - February 9th - 43 hours - 5/5)
A tremendous video game. Possibly the best Resident Evil yet and an early GotY contender. Capcom's been killing it lately.

6) Marvel's Spider-Man (PS4 - February 16th - N/A - 4/5)
Enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. It's very fun to play and to roam around the city. Nothing revolutionary, but what it does it does well.

Currently playing
Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition
Paint it Back
Kara no Shojo
Sonic Mania

Deleted member 1759 · Feb 18, 2019

Main Post

#13: Zarya-1: Mystery on the Moon (PC) | 2.8h | 18 Feb | ★★★½

You take on the role of the mission's commander and have to make decisions on how your team is supposed to act. Basically, you read a lot and then decide between 2-3 options on how to advance. It sounds pretty basic and it probably is but the story is well written and it gets pretty intriguing. I also came to like the characters. And there seem to be a lot of different paths you can take/endings you can reach, so there's definitely some replay value. But I stopped after reaching the good ending on my third attempt.

Deleted member 43077 · Feb 18, 2019

Main Post
Update Feb 20

Game 9: Monster Prom (PC)

It was a graveyard smash!

Coming into the new year this is a game I DID NOT expect to play let alone own but since I was gifted it on Steam said why not!
I have mainly only done 3 person games so keep that in mind. (I dont think this game is as great if you play solo)

The game takes place in a Monster school as you try desperately to impress one of your classmates so you have a date ready for Monster Prom!! (or you can take yourself :P)
The game is fun with people as you can help (or hinder!) them to get date! Character will bring up other players and the game has a neat mini game to decide the order in which players
go each turn by giving them a prompt (ie Whats your favourite animal) and the players coming up with answers which they then decide among themselves which best fits the following question
(ie which animal would best describe Player 3).

The games art is great and the writing is fine (some could probably find some characters cringey tho, thankfully we didn't)

Overall its a pretty fun party game with a bunch of distinct characters and secret endings to discover! Id give it a shot, not everyone even has to own the game!! just jump in a discord call and you can set
a 2-4 person game locally while they choose the dialogue options.

Game 10: Crackdown 3 (Xbox One X)

Quack Quack Motherducker!

Its finally out and its more Crackdown.
This game online from what I see is getting a lot of mixed reactions from people. The critics really dont like it but a ton of players seemed to be enjoying it!
I think if you liked games like Saints Row 3/4 and obviously the previous Crackdowns you will enjoy it.

The gameplay is easy to understand and polished. The world can be a little empty but I expected a sandbox to play in and thats what I got so im not disappointed.
The game can honestly be a looker and you will just be like "damn...this game looks real nice" other areas can be met with "eh, its fine" reactions. The "it looks like a 360 game" comments are honestly just trolls so best to ignore them tbh.

The place where this game lacks is the depth of the multiplayer (there isnt a level or unlock system. What you get at the start is what you will have after 100hrs) and the campaigns finale. Its just not that impactful and ends like if you just did a regular mission instead of beat the top baddy.

This game is great fun and with Gamepass there isnt an excuse to try it out for those on Win10 PC's or on Xbox!

Game 11: Apex Legends (PC)

I kill you im better.

Respawn did a fantastic job taking the gameplay from Titanfall and translating that to a fun and very polished battle royale.
There isnt much to say about this game, the gameplay and visuals are great and really show what a AAA take on the genre can be.

As a plus its also completely free!!

LonestarZues · Feb 19, 2019

Master Post

14. Dragon Age Inquisition - Replay 4th time. I absolutely love the lore and world building for the Dragon Age franchise and hopefully Anthem doesn't cause the demise of Bioware as I really want to get the 4th installment of the series. While this game is the "worst" of the franchise it's still a great game with arguably the best OST of the series.

15. Far Cry New Dawn - Didn't care for the RPG mechanics as I had to grind and that's something I don't care for. Aside from that overall I enjoyed my time with the game as the gameplay is really fun and the story while not great was good enough to keep me going.

Phendrana · Feb 19, 2019

[10/1/19 - 15/1/19] ~12 hours.

This was a fun time overall, but it might be the most consistently unremarkable game that I've ever played. I don't even mean that in a particularly negative sense; Dead Space is a good game. I just don't think it does anything especially well. It never broke through the ceiling of being 'good' for me.

The biggest sin it commits is that it just completely fails at being horror, despite feeling like it's very much trying to be a landmark title in the genre. And no, it being 10 years old isn't an excuse. I've played older and uglier horror titles that maintain a much greater degree of tension throughout. Dead Space never really builds up that tension in the first place imo, and mostly just relies on increasingly predictable jump scares. I wouldn't even say that the atmosphere is noteworthy. The game was definitely a letdown in this regard.

Thankfully, the mechanics are solid enough (somewhat clunky melee aside) that it was an enjoyable enough action romp anyway. The Plasma Cutter really is the saving grace tbh. I knew next to nothing about the game coming in, so dismembering being the big selling point was a welcome surprise. It's fun, and even made combat feel slightly strategic at times, as I naturally started prioritizing slowing certain enemies down while picking off others. Unfortunately, none of the other weapons feel anywhere near as good as the initial one, and my reliance on it definitely made encounters with enemies become increasingly more repetitive as the game went on. That they never posed much of a threat certainly didn't help matters.

What else? The story didn't do anything interesting. I actively disliked all of the characters and their performances. The game also happens to feature one of the worst final bosses that I've ever seen. I was genuinely waiting for a final form to emerge or something, but nope. No idea how that happened.

That stomp, though. 7.5/10

(I'm actually keen to try the sequel, especially after hearing that in leans into and polishes the combat more).

[17/1/19 - 17/1/19] ~4 hours.

This was such a novel experience. Aside from having it recommended to me as a similar type of game to Return of the Obra Dinn (which I adore), I went into Her Story completely blind. I'm sure those who have played it can relate to how utterly confused I was at first. Even after watching a few of the interview videos, I had absolutely no idea what I was meant to be looking for, or what the win condition was.

So I just...kept watching videos. And naturally started taking down notes of connections that I picked up. The coolest thing about my time with the game is that I started playing while on a 23 hour flight from Australia to the UK, and I honestly can't think of a better time to get stuck into something like this. I was able to focus on it with absolutely no distractions. It took me about three hours to reach the 'end', and another hour or so to track down the rest of the videos. Spoilers from here on out:

Working through the tapes was a wild ride. It didn't take me more than a few videos to start suspecting twins. Twenty minutes later I was positive it was DID. Then I started noticing disappearing tattoos and was back on the twin theory train. Ultimately, I do find myself leaning more towards it being split personalities. The idea that kids could coordinate something like this and step in for each other undetected for years (while living in the attic) is a bit hard to believe. I think the beauty of the game lies in there not being a definitive answer, though.

What a unique and clever concept. 8.5/10

salary0n · Feb 19, 2019

Ted said:
How were the optional challenges? I like a little min-maxing here and there and the "complete the game in x number of steps" achievement intrigues me for all the wrong reasons!!

Sorry for the late reply, your quote doesn't appear in my notifications tab. The optional challenges is actually not that hard, the only guide I read is for collecting the Mr Raccoon, while the other trophy I get naturally trying to maximize my own run.

The "complete the game in xxx steps" trophy is pretty easy if you know what to get and where the enemies located, it's pretty fun too, figuring out the best route without wasting step doing unnecessary things. Just try it, trying to get platinum made me appreciate this game more.

If only Apex Legends isn't so fucking good, I think I already get S+ for all my Hardcore Scenarios.

Ted · Feb 19, 2019

No problem salary0n, I suspect I edited my post and I don't think edits are picked up in notifications so it's really me who should apologise for not reading the whole thread before composing a reply. Thanks for getting back to me regardless, it's much appreciated.

That all sounds good, I'm really tempted generally by the game as I like a bit of min/maxing, like survival games and like sparsity as a challenge but I've never played a resident evil (bar a group play through of 7) and I'm not quite sure it's for me. One for the wish list I think for now.

Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the advice/comments (I really must try Apex Legends, I downloaded it and everything!). Have a good week!

Falore · Feb 19, 2019

I'm having a pretty good year i'm up to 74 completions already, my two most recent completions were solitaire and mario paint

Tizoc · Feb 19, 2019

Original post- https://www.resetera.com/threads/52-games-1-year-2019.90649/post-16464136

20. Escape from Monkey Island

15336-escape-from-monkey-island-playstation-2-front-cover.jpg

Rather enjoyed my time with the game but I do have criticisms about it. Chiefly the tank controls make playing through the game slow and the final part of the game focused on Monkey Kombat was dull and takes too long.
I do enjoy the humor, voice acting and the visuals, but if I could set up a more convential non-tanky control scheme to the game it'd clear up at least one of my major gripes with the game.

Deleted member 401 · Feb 19, 2019

12. Bleed 2 (1 hour)
It's more of the same as with the first game - short, challenging, but forgiving. Good stuff.

Full list to date

Rhaknar · Feb 20, 2019

Game #30 - Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Time: 7 hours

Always a good sign when a game leaves you thinking about it after you finish it. This is a gorgeous looking game, that albeit very linear, has some cool perspective / level changing puzzles and satisfying combat (with surprising amount of moves for a game described by many as a walking sim), as you guide (follow?) Senua's journey to redeem her dead lover's soul. The game uses heavy mental illness themes, particularly psychosis in very smart ways both story wise and mechanically, as Senua is constantly hearing voices everywhere and a lot of the puzzles as mentioned invovle a lot of "seeing things that arent there" type stuff. As I started by saying, it's hard to not put focus on the graphics, it's just an amazing looking game and some of the best mo-cap I've ever seen, to the point where a videogame character's acting is actually impressive. Great voice acting aswell, and while there isnt much variety in the puzzles and certainly not in the puzzles, its neither long enough to overstay it's welcome, nor expensive enough that this would be a slight against it. Very curious tos ee what Ninja Theory does next now that they are owned by Microsoft and will, one assumes, have funding for a AAA game.

Game #31 - Gears of War Ultimate Edition
Time: 9 hours

I was a fan of Gears 1 and 2 back on the 360 but then fell off the series and havent played any other, so I'm excited to revisit / play them all this year, starting off with the one that started it, now remastered in the Ultimate Edition. And I'm happy to say, it totally holds up. Gears was always ahead of it's time visually (not unlike playing the odler Uncharted games these days which also completely hold up) and this remaster looks gorgeous, the gameplay is still super fun (if sometimes a little frustrating with how fragile the Gears are out of cover, but I guess that's the point of a cover shooter) and the story while super simple is still a fun "rag tag band of misfits coming together" type ride. This also includes the stuff added to the PC version of Gears, which is actually quite substancial and makes Act 5 (and the game) much longer. I don't really play MP so my thoughts on this (and Halo eventually) are just for the campaigns, and imo it's totally worth to go back, or to play them for the first time if you haven't. "Hoorah" vibes aside, its a fun shooter with a fun cast of characters and gorgeous visuals.

Main Post

SweetSark · Feb 20, 2019

Quick question [again]:
Is there a quick program which I can use to resize the images which could use always the same options all over again?
In other word when I want to resize a image to not need to select the size again.
Thank you.

Ted · Feb 20, 2019

SweetSark I think Irfanview (link) remembers your last settings (even on restart) when using the resize/resample function under the image menu. It's free and pretty lightweight.

SweetSark · Feb 20, 2019

Ted said:
SweetSark I think Irfanview (link) remembers your last settings (even on restart) when using the resize/resample function under the image menu. It's free and pretty lightweight.

Thank you so much for your suggestion!
I will try it right away!!!

Ted · Feb 20, 2019

No problem at all SweetSark I hope it does what you need. Good luck!

Deleted member 401 · Feb 20, 2019

13. Street Fighter (1 hour)
Me to Capcom: "YOU'VE GOT A LOT TO LEARN BEFORE YOU CAN MAKE A COMPETENT FIGHTING GAME. TRY AGAIN,KIDDO!" [sic]

Full list to date

Bosh · Feb 21, 2019

MAIN THREAD

#8: Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes (2/15/2019) | 8/10 | Switch | ~ 10 Hours | Recommend: Y
# Overall - | Aggregate of 4 components below. Decimal rounded up or down by personal bias.
Gameplay - 8.2 | Plenty of powerup's mixed with a unique concept delivered to players
Sound -9 | In my opinion Grasshopper games generally deliver a great soundtrack and TSA is one of their best
Story/Online - 8 | A love to previous Suda51 games. The bosses also have interesting backstories that give them life.
Asking Price-8 | A good amount of content for gameplay type. Something I can see myself coming back to for a level or two.

#9: Crackdown 3 (2/20/2019) | 5/10 | Xbox One | ~ 6 Hours | Recommend: N
# Overall - 5 | It feels like a game that cut the campaign and left all the map side content.
Gameplay - 6.8 | The gameplay can genuinely be quite fun at times, paired with the players movement.
Sound - 7 | Sound is generally okay with a few alright tracks and fun explosion sounds.
Story/Online - 5 | Characters could of been much more interesting. Lack of campaign led to snooze here. Did not touch online/rate
Asking Price- 4.67 | Open world games tend to have a campaign then a bunch of small things littered on a map to do if you enjoy the game. It did a good job getting those little small extra things, it just forgot to build a campaign.

Aggregate of 4 components below. Decimal rounded up or down by personal bias.

10: Perfect or Incredible experience
9: Near Perfect, definite recommendation to anybody.
8: Great, has a few, non-major flaws here and there
7: Fun, enjoyable experience
6 Alright , has a few minor flaws holding the game back.
5: Mediocre, "It is a game." I like parts, I hate parts
4 or Lower: Bad, Needs major fixing, you should skip

Fire Bocchi · Feb 21, 2019

completed super mario sunshine for the second time
had a issue where a blue coin would freeze my wiiu, so i had to move save file to pc to get it on dolphin and move it back

main post

Blindy · Feb 21, 2019

4) Mega Man X4(PS4)

This has to be maybe my 3rd or 4th playthrough of this game although this might be the most recent playthrough because of the Mega Man X collection after I had predominantly played this in middle school. The game still holds up very well to this day and technically it's the best of the 4 even if I had more fonder memories of X1 and X2 due to more replays of those and them coming during my elementary school days. The ability to play as Zero for the first time was simply awesome and Zero offers(For me) more difficulty in his boss battles where you don't necessarily have the win button at your arsenal when facing the eight X Hunters where as with X you can cheese them to death with their weaknesses.

The sprites at first take a little bit of time to get use to, especially coming off the SNES trilogy of X1-X3 and the music in this game does not touch the first two or heck even three games but besides that, the game is damn good and still holds up rather well. Both X and Zero have an exclusive boss in their respective campaigns but for the most part, there isn't too much reason in replaying another campaign outside of the game being very good and being rather short.

The highlight of this game is the cheesy voice acting and anime cutscenes that are so bad they are good. The infamous Zero scene is the lead star of this but there are some other delicious nuggets too. It's a problem of it's time but even as a middle school kid I found them absolutely hilarious.

Just an overall gem of a game, will go after X5-X8 later though I know it's only going to go downhill from here(I did play X5 in the past but the others.....eek)

Gio · Feb 22, 2019

Hey everyone! In the last 4 months or so I've been eliminating games from my backlog like Kane at the 2001 Royal Rumble; and at this pace I might have a decent shot of actually hitting 52 this year. I'm not sure why but I'm just super motivated to play right now. Anyway, I've also felt like writing a little about each game, so this thread is just what I'm looking for. Note that I'm gonna have to guess at some of the play times up to this point because I hadn't started keeping track of them. Check out my Backloggery page if you want to see my past completions, or what's currently on my docket.

*Writeups coming soon*

2015: 8
2016: 10
2017: 15
2018: 29

Tizoc · Feb 22, 2019

21. Ninja Blade

Well turns out this ISN'T a QTE game, and the QTEs themselves can be set so you don't need to press buttons to clear them. Rather ho hum action game, each stage takes as little as 20ish minutes to complete up to an hour for some.
While from a gameplay perspective, it's pretty low in terms of From Soft's output, the QTE action scenes themselves are pretty neat scenes. If I could find a way to disable all HUDs, they'd be fun to watch and make GIFs of.

If there is any other positive I could give, at least to the PC version, is that using NVidia Inspector, I was able to really clean up and smoothen the visuals so they're nicer to look at.

52 Games. 1 Year. 2019.

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Unshakable Resolve - One Winged Slayer

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