and here we go again.
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Game #1 - Final Fantasy XIV
Time: 600+ hours
Rating: ★★★★★
Might aswell start with this one as it has consumed my life and it will be on the list anyway. Played through A Realm Reborn last year and liked it well enough, but as you get into Heavensward, the frist expansion, and you start understanding all the systems better, it truly becomes something special. Totally in love with the game, both as a MMO and a Final Fantasy game, and it's one of those rare cases where it just keeps getting better and better. Super excited to start Stormblood next, with Shadowbringers still on the horizon for me which most say is the best expansion yet. Easily one of my favorite games in years.
Game #2 - Fate / EXTELLA The Umbral Star
Time: 40 hours
Rating: ★★★
I'm a little torn on this one, as the first Musou game I've ever finished and I'm left very luke warm on it. I liked a lot of it, mainly the gameplay and the flashy anime skills, but the matrix meets anime harem story was shit and the whole stuff with the waifus is kinda creepy (especially the master / servant stuff). The gameplay is very fun, with fast paced combos and action, cool looking skills and characters, but it also suffers from a problem I'm noticing with Musous (noticed it in One Piece as well), if you like the character you are playing the game is great, but if you don't like a particular character and you are forced to use it, the whole experience drags down significantely. Add to that the fact that the story mode is way too long, and like I said, I'm left luke warm. Apparently the sequel is much shorter and more focused so I'm curious to play it, as I did like the gameplay in this quite a bit.
Game #3 - Doom (2016) Switch Version
Time: 10 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
One of my favorite First Person Shooters ever, this replay on the Switch this time doesnt change that, and the amazing port is a achievement on to itself. Game wise, it's still the balls to the wall fast frenetic shooter that we got back in 2016, super fun to play, amazing campaign with great level variety, and it's really something to play this portable on Switch, because besides looking a little soft (very soft sometimes), it still manages to look absolutely fantastic and something I never imagined a portable could do. Just an awesome game wherever you play it.
Game #4 - Bomb Chicken
Time: 4 hours
Rating: ★★★★
What a wonderful little gem this was. Fantastic puzzle platformer with some deceptively simple gameplay (literally a one button game) with great level design, really good 2d art and great sound design, its just a joy to play, a joy to look at, and at 4-5 hours long depending on how much of a completionist you are, it doesnt overstay it's welcome. One of those games you can't really say anything bad about and highly recomended for fans of 2d puzzle platformers.
Game #5 - One Piece Pirate Warriors 3
Time: 15 hours
Rating: ★★★
Another musou down, and much like the Fate Extella game before, I had a lot of fun but it's starting to feel like I'm playing these games wrong. I only care about the story modes, which granted seem quite beefy in these games (this was 15 hours and Fate was like 25) but it always feels like the story modes are just a means to unlock a bunch of characters for side modes that I have no interest in playing. Still,. great performance on Switch portable, looks and sounds good, has a ton of moves to get and if you know One Piece, the story follows it pretty faithfully (except for the last level in Dressrosa for some reason), in fact I would say you won't get nearly as much out of the game if you aren't already a fan of the manga/anime. If you are tho, it's a easy recomendation, especially since good OP games are a rarity.
Game #6 - Glass Masquerade
Time: 4 hours
Rating: ★★★★
Of all things I did not expect to grab me as much as it did, a jigsaw game was certainly up there. But this was shockingly good, with beautiful art style in the various glass mural style puzzles from various countries, it's a bit short but it's super well made and I pretty much played it in one session. Not much to say really, it's "just" a jigsaw puzzle game with gorgeous art, so you pretty much know what you are going to get. Highly recommended if you are looking for a chill experience.
Game #7 - Cuphead
Time: 10 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
Finally got around to playing this and it's one of those rare cases where something does indeed live up to the hype. Unbelievable presentation, from the graphics to the soundtrack, the animations and just overall polish, the super tight controls and of course, the make-you-want-to-crawl-into-a-hole-and-cry brutal difficulty that games like the Souls series are known for, and like those, extremely satisfying once you beat a boss, Cuphead really is something special and I can't wait to see what these guys make next.
Game #8 - Eqqo
Time: 4 hours
Rating: ★★★
Very cool touch based adventure game that has you guide a blind boy through various puzzles, none of which are ever too complicated (it's originally a iOS/android game) but are satisfying nonetheless. Surprisingly meaty campaign through various temples and ruins, very cool visuals, a cute story that is narrated as you play, just a very enjoyable game overall reminiscent of Ico and other games like that, never overstays it's welcome and is just a enjoyable time all around. It was a nice surprise and something I would easily recommend.
Game #9 - The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince
Time: 5 hours
Rating: ★★
I'm a little let down by this one, I really wanted to love it but in the end it's ok at best and the gorgeous 2D art can't quite make up for the boring gameplay. A cute fairytale-like story of a wolf princess who accidentaly blinds a prince and has to take him to a waitch to heal him, as you guide the prince by his hand Ico style in various 2D levels whilst solving simple puzzles and keeping the prince from danger using your wolf form to kill enemies. The whole thing just feels very slow and shallow, as the level design rarely does anything interesting and when it tries, the awkward controls just don't mesh well with it. The story is quite cute and like I said the visuals are just fantastic, and since it's not very long, that might be enough for you to play this one, but be warned as a game (mechanically or gameplay wise), it's really not very good.
Game #10 - Kunai
Time: 9 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
And my first GOTY contender for 2020 is something I had never even heard of until just this week. A fantastic "metroidvania" top to bottom, from the great 2d art, especially animation wise (the monochromatic color pallete might not be for everyone), to the super smooth and fast gameplay, great level design, lengthy story mode, great character design, good weapons to use and progress, just everything you would want from the genre done well. Easily one of my favorites in years, this will be looked as a cult classic down the line, mark my words.
Game #11 - Wolcen Lords of Mayhem
Time: 100 hours
Rating: ★★★
I'm so torn on this one. As you can see by my time spent with it, I like the game. In fact, I would say I like it quite a bit. It's a fantastic arpg, diablo-style with great visuals (easily the best looking of the genre, well I havet played Lost Ark), great gameplay, a cool class and skill system, amazing sound design, just everything about it is great... except it's plagued by one of the worst launches I've ever seen, it's plagued with bugs, from servers not working, passives not working, items disapearing, just a whole mess that leaves me incredibly disapointed because at its core its really good and I hope they can fix it, add to it, and I will keep coming back to it. But as it stands, as much as I love it, it's hard to recomend. Maybe in a few months we'll see.
Game #12 - Picross Lord of the Nazarick
Time: 40 hours
Rating: ★★★★
A anime offshoot of the Picross S series, so even tho I don't know (or care really) about the anime, you play these games obviously for the puzzles, and this has a ton of content between normal puzzles, mega puzzles, color puzzles and more. The art is nice and the puzzles are great (it's my first of the S series so I really enjoy the quality of life stuff compared to other picross games, like the tip roulette for example), so if you want more picross in your life, and I always do, this is easily recommended.
Game #13 - Children of Morta
Time: 15 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
One of my favorites in a long time, this action rpg rogue-lite hit all the right notes and the end result is one of those special games that feels like a real labour of love. From the absolutely fantastic pixel art style with forgeous animations and a ton of little details everywhere, the great soundtrack and voice acting from the story's narrator, and shockingly good writing with a story focusing on the family which makes every one of the playable characters feel important, everything just feels well crafted. Great gameplay aswell, with every character feeling unique, and the togue-lite nature meta system being one of the best as when you level up your various characters, they get passives and items that affect the remaining family members, just very well done and makes you want to play everyone. I can't recomend this enough if you like these types of games, especially since it feels more like a "normal" single player rpg than most rogue likes.
Game #14 - The Mummy Demastered
Time: 6 hours
Rating: ★★
Pretty disappointed with this one as I heard great things, but at the end of the day it's a very run-of-the-mill metroidvania with some really frustrating gameplay moments and nothing making it stand out, except I guess for it being a decent licensed game. The graphics are the best part as it has some really good pixel art, and the gameplay is alright for the most part except it uses old school style enemy collision that makes you get "pushed" back in the air (think the NES Castlevania games) which causes a bunch of missed jumps and it's super annoying. Add to that bosses that feel incredibly bullet spongy, and the whole thing just left a bad taste in my mouth. It's not terrible, and the exploration and zones are good, and I guess for a lincesed game it's the most bizarre project, but still, it's a C-tier metroidvania that only the most hardcore fanboys of the genre (like me) should bother with.
Game #15 - Bastion
Time: 7 hours
Rating: ★★★★
I love when I replay games and they are just as good as I remember them. Still the same awesome isometric action game from back in 2011 (wow it's almost 10 years old), this replay was on the Switch and it looks gorgeous on the small screen. The game itself is still a tight action adventure with great gameplay, tons of weapons to get and upgrade, fantastic visuals and soundtrack, great voice acting (mainly the narrator but still) and perfect length, just overall one of my favorites in a long time, and this Switch version is just as good, as it feels fantastic portable.
Game #16 - Resident Evil Revelations
Time: 7 hours
Rating: ★★★
Finally got around to playing this and maybe it's just a right time right place sort of thing but I really enjoyed it. It never felt like a side-story as I feared it would, nor did it feel mechanically inferior to the "main" games, sure the levels are more old school, corridor based given the limitations of the original 3DS version, but at the same time as I said, it has a old school feeling the newer entries are missing. I quite like the water based enemies, it has a few cool set pieces and even the underwater swimming parts (a first for a RE game?) were cool. Also, while not the best looking RE game by any means (again, its a remaster of a 3DS game), it looked quite decent on the Switch's smaller screen. All in all I had a lot more fun than I expected and it also made me wqant to play more portable RE games.
Game #17 - Resident Evil Revelations 2
Time: 10 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
Wow, talk about a nice surprise, I did not expect to like this as much as I did, especially coming of the first Revelations which I enjoyed but wasnt amazing or anything, the sequel turned out fantastic and is now actually one of my favorite Resident Evil games. Building on the systems of the first game like scanning the environment for items and the weapon part upgrade system, and bringing in the dual character narrative of games like RE2, except instead of seperate campaigns, its one continuous story where you visit some of the same places and some new ones 6 months later, it works super well and really manages to bring the story together using both timelines. It's also much darker and grittier than the first game, in fact, it's the most "horror like" Resident Evil game probably since the first one, as you visit some really gnarly places and fight some creepy ass enemies, the whole thing feels more like a Silent Hill game than a Resident Evil game to be honest. Add to that a meaty campaign, some cool set pieces, good puzzles, and just overall it's low-key one of the best entries in the series.
Game #18 - Kemono Friends Picross
Time: 30 hours
Rating: ★★
Weird one for me to talk about, because as part of the Picross S series (well, an offshoot like Lord of Nazarick) the picross part is still great mechanically, but the art is horrible and all the puzzles result in some sort of moe girl dressed as an animal, that it really made me question if I like picross because of the puzzle mechanics themselves, or does the art you uncover by beating the puzzle also matters. Turns out, it does matter, so I really can't recommend this one unless you are specifically into moe girls dressed as animals I guess.
Game #19 - Resident Evil 4
Time: 22 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
I'll preface this by saying I had only played RE4 once, back in 2014, and the game didnt do much for me. I thought it was fine but never really got the "GOAT" feeling many people do about it, and I thought it was a product of it's time and you kinda "had to be there" when it originally launched. Well, on this replay, maybe it was just a right time right place since I'm on a huge RE kick lately, I absolutely loved it. Once I got over the awkward gameplay hump (which is very real and caught me off guard because in my mind's eye it played more like a modern third person shooter) and got used to it, pretty much everything else is fantastic. Super lengthy campaign (maybe a tad too lengthy in fact), great locations and puzzles, great weapons, great story, great characters, just everything comes together perfectly to make the ideal Resident Evil game. Sure it looks a bit dated (but at least the Switch's smaller screen helps that a bit) but it's still amazing and I finally agree with the classic status most people bestow on it.
Bonus: Seperate Ways (Ada's campaign)
If this was DLC it would easily be another entry but since it's not (heh different times huh?) I'll leave a note for it here because I feel it deserves it. A meaty piece of extra content (took me about 4 hours) that chronicles Ada's adventures whilst Leon does his thing, it has a ton of neat little moments that directly connect to the main game and really compliments the whole thing. Its a shame the cutscenes look awful as for whatever reason they didnt remaster them like the main game.
Game #20 - Ori and the Blind Forest Definitive Edition
Time: 10 hours
Rating: ★★★★
So close to greatness, and yet so far. This is how I felt when I played Ori back in 2015, and this replay on the Switch didnt change my mind unfortunately. It's still a fantastic metroidvania that could, or should be amazing, but it's completely marred (in my opinion of course) by awful "escape" sequences (if you played the game you know the ones) that really grind any momentum the game has to a halt and are often incredibly frustrating full of OHKOs and ultra precise platforming that makes you restart the whole thing when you die. It was a shame back then and its a shame now, as otherwise the game is just absolutely fantastic, and so is the Switch port, a near perfect port that looks even more beautiful if thats possible on the smaller screen. A great game that could have been an amazing one, and apparently they doubled down on those escape sequences in the sequel so I am not looking forward to that at all whenever I get around to it.
Game #21 - Borderlands 3
Time: 43 hours
Rating: ★★★★
Not much to say about this one, as it basically boils down to "do you like Borderlands and do you want more Borderlands?". If the answer to those two questions is yes, like it is for me, then this is probably the best game in the series so far, it's by far the biggest one, with more locations, it has the best changes to class design and loot seems more generous this time around, there's a nifty new slide move to add mobility, but at it's core, it's still the same game for better or worse. The writing hasnt changed much either, it's still often super cringy, ocasionally funny, so again, you know what to expect. I sound dismissive but I really liked it, but again, I'm a huge fan of the series and the gameplay loop.
Game #22 - The Final Station
Time: 5 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
Absolute gem of a game, this 2d survival horror romp condenses the best part of games like Resident Evil into a super tight 2D adventure, where scavaging for resources to craft healing items or ammo is as important as using your melee or getting headshots correctly to save ammo. Great pixel art, fantastic moody soundtrack, great gameplay as you go from station to station on your train, saving survivors, maintaining your train via various little minigames, just a fantastic mix of systems and gameplay and at around 5 hours long, it never overstays it's welcome and it's easily one of my favorite indie games in the last few years.
Game #23 - The Final Station: The Only Traitor
Time: 2.5 hours
Rating: ★★★★
Great DLC that gives you more Final Station goodness and also introduces some new mechanics. Much like the main game, it leaves a lot of questions up in the air, but the survival horror / resource gathering gameplay is still great, the writing is still tight and the whole thing feels both like more of the main game, but also different enough to be worth playing. It's not very long (neither was the main game) but if you liked / played The final Station, it's pretty much a must play.
Game #24 - Murder By Numbers
Time: 25 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
Wonderful gem this turned out to be, a really well made mix of visual novel and picross, with great writing, a lengthy story with 4 cases that end up being more interconnected than expected, with a ton of picross puzzles to solve, and even more to unlock the better you do on each case. The art is great, and while the picross isnt the hardest around, it's certainly competent and the whole package is super charming. Highly recomended for fans of picross, or fans of visual novels that might want to get into picross.
Game #25 - Away Journey To The Unexpected
Time: 4 hours
Rating: ★
What a colossal disapointment, even after reading about it. The game has one thing going for it, the cool art style, the rest is a awful mess of bland, unresponsive first person action, mind numbingly boring gameplay loop of repeating the same empty levels until you collected the 8 party members to be able to finish the game (each party member gives you a star and you need 8 to reach the end "boss"), the whole thing barely lasts 3-4 hours (and most of it is because you need to replay levels because some of the party members wont join you if you anwser questions wrong), just the worst possible way to do a rogue like and one of the worse games I've played recently, certainly the most boring.
Game #26 - One Step From Eden
Time: 25+ hours
Rating: ★★★★
On the other end of the rogue-like spectrum, we have this fantastic mix of Slay the Spire and Megaman Battle Network, which is a few patches away from being one of my favorite games of the "one more run" genre. Great pixel art, lot's of cards to unlock, 8 different characters (all feeling very different which surprised me), gameplay it fast and chaotic (a bit too chaotic but we'll get into that) and it has, like I said, the same great "just one more run" hook that the great games of the genre like Slay the Spire or Dead Cells have. Unfortunately, the game feels very unbalanced near the end, as bosses get way too much health and tools compared to what you can get, and the whole thing gets too chaotic and most of the time it's hard to even tell what kills you. Still, with a few patches (the developer is already talking about it which is a good sign) and the difficulty toned down a smidge this could be one of the all time great rogue likes.
Game #27 - Resident Evil 5
Time: 12 hours
Rating: ★★★★
The year of (portable) Resident Evil continues with a replay of a old favorite, and I continue to enjoy it quite a bit, although I forgot how much it leaned towards action and completely dropped any puzzles whatsoever (I thought that was more of a RE6 thing). Still, a great and unique setting for the series, the same fun survival action from RE4, and some wonderfully cheesy anime style action (punch that giant boulder Chris!) make this a very fun romp. Still holds up visually too, and looks great portable, and while I dont prefer the pure action route the series took with 5 and 6, I don't necesserily mind them either as there are plenty of other RE games more focused on the puzzles.
Game #28 - Resident Evil 5 Untold Stories
Time: 2 hours
Rating: ★★
A collection of two DLCs, with the first having you play a flashback of Chris and Jill in a RE1 style mansion, which was cool since it scratched the more puzzle based gameplay that RE5 main game was missing, and the second being purely action based as you play Jill and Josh as they escape the events of the main game, and this one really brought the whole thing down because the AI kept dying and it was just frustrating. They are each about 1 hour and only the first one is really worth playing, and even then barely, it doesnt really fill anything in that the flashback cutscenes in the main game didnt show. Disapointing overall.
Game #29 - 3000th Duel
Time: 14 hours
Rating: ★★★
Pretty good Souls-style metroidvania marred only by bad visuals (it has that "mobile" look going for it) and somewhat simple combat. Still, it's quite lengthy, the map and locations are pretty good, the combat feels nice (even if its very simple), there's magic to gather, weapons to upgrade, a meaty skill tree, a ton of bosses to fight and overall it manages to tick all the necessary boxes to be quite enjoyable while never reaching the heights that the best games in the genre do, but at the same time doesnt feel mediocre like some of the weaker ones do either.
Game #30 - A Plague Tale Innocence
Time: 10 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
Absolutely loved this, one of my favorite stealth games in a long time, and a game that was actually deeper mechanically than I expected (I thought it was something more akin to Hellblade, heavy on the story and light on the gameplay). It looks absolutely gorgeous, the gameplay is varied as it keeps introducing new mechanics throughout (until the very end in fact), the levels feel unique, it has a nicely paced campaign, not too short but doesnt overstay it's welcome either, and the story is actually quite good. Just one of those games I have nothing bad to say and I loved from begining to end.
Game #31 - The Surge 2
Time:
Rating: ★★★★
Wonderful surprise with this one as I really disliked the first game (one of the few games in recent memory I "hate-finished") but this manages to fix all the problems I had with the first game, adds a lot more bosses, and overall is a really good Souls-like game. The main difference is that fodder enemies no longer one-shot you all over the place, so the pace feels much more like a Souls game. You still need to be careful but you at least feel powerful as you level up, which I felt never happened in the first game because the fodder was so damn deadly. The upgrade system with cutting limps for parts is still great, it looks good, the campaign isnt very long (certainly compared to Souls games) but it also doesnt overstay it's welcome, and some jankiness aside doesnt prevent this one to be a very solid game in the genre, one that I would easily recommend (which I did not do with the first game).
Game #32 - The Last of Us Remastered
Time: 15 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
Finall got around to play this in anticipation of TLOU2 in June, and I'm happy to say it lived up to my expectations (and to the hype). Naughty Dog are the masters of cinematic videogames, but instead of the bombast that is the Uncharted series with it's crazy set pieces, this is much more subdued and character focused. And that is where the game really shines, as the story, athmosphere, characters, voice acting all mesh together to create something really special. It's good too because much like Uncharted, the gameplay isnt really where it shines (in my opinion of course), it's certainly serviceable but it has the same heavy, animation priority feel that the Nathan Drake games have, and the gameplay isnt exactly stellar. Still, as an experience it's near perfect, and it made me really excited for the sequel. Oh and it looks gorgeous even today, but what else is new with ND games.
Game #33 - The Last of Us Left Behind
Time: 2 hours
Rating: ★★★★
This is a great piece of content that really should have been part of the main game, at least half of it, as part of it covers one of the big timeskips in the main game (some of those timeskips felt jarring to me) and is the more gameplay focused since it's basically the same as the the main game mechanically. The other part serves as a prequel and it shows what happened before Ellie met Joel, and it has some fantastic character moments, but is light on actual gameplay. Still overall it's a must play if you played and liked TLOU.
Game #34 - Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Time: 15 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
Whew, this one absolutely floored me. Easily my favorite entry in the series, it's one of those games I can't really say anything bad about. It looks absolutely fantastic, bonkers at times especially with the crazy chaotic set pieces it pulls out, gameplay is still fun with a big focus on stealth this time around which I liked, a new grappling hook and semi-open world zones with a ton of ground to cover (including some nifty Jeep traversal), the best set piece in a videogame I've ever seen and played (you know the one) and a really good story that is the perfect wrap up for these characters (if not the series, but as we will see soon, I don't mind if they keep making more, just leave these characters be, their story is done). A true show off for the system, it's crazy to think what Naughty Dog will do with the next gen (just lay off the crunch tho).
Game #35 - Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Time: 8 hours
Rating: ★★★★
Pleasantly surprised with this as I didn't expect a fully fledged Uncharted game since it was a budget title, but that's what I got. With Nateand Elena's adventure's done in 4, we follow Chloe and Nadine on a adventure of their own that takes them to India for more crazy Uncharted style climbing, shooting and ocasional chaotic set piece. It's super solid and Chloe is a great protagonist (just as chatty as Nate too), it's still gorgeous and still just as fun as Uncharted 4, and even manages to have one of the bet Uncharted level / set pieces in the last level, the only problem is that the whole thing feels a re-do of U4, you get the obligatory semi-open world zones complete with the Jeep and the winch, you get the grappling hook, you even get the APCs back from U4. It's also much shorter and if you ignore a particular side activity in Chapter 4, you can probably finish it in around 4-5 hours. It's still very much worth playing if you like the series, and proves they can continue making these with other characters, as it still "feels" like a Uncharted game.
Game #36 - Rive
Time: 4 hours
Rating: ★★★★
Wonderful little indie gem from Two Tribes (makers of the Toki Tori games) as it combines platforming, dual stick shooter and side scrolling shoot em up into one neat little package that boasts some great visuals (looks gorgeous on the Switch's portable screen) and a fun short campaign that doesnt overstay it's welcome. It can get pretty hard and chaotic at times but with good checkpoints and fast respawns I never felt frustrated, and the way it changes the levels you've been in before in a "faux metroidvania" way (it's not, it's actually level based) was really cool. The only downside is the writing and subsequent voice acting are quite poor, full of fourth wall breaking and pop culture references. But the shooting is great and that's what matters, easy recommendation especially since it's a shorty.
Game #37 - Gears of War 3
Time: 10 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
The original Gears trilogy ends with by far the best entry in the series (so far), with a super fun campaign that nails the Gears formula to a T, looking better than ever and finally wrapping up a few plot points. Gameplay is still great and "meaty", the campaign is a nice length, level variety is great (I particularly liked the mad max-y desert level) and it looks fantastic, especially X enhanced at 4K (it really is a testament to the xbox's back compatability tech lately). Just a great cap off to the trilogy and to Marcus Fenix's story that unfortunately was followed up by a sub-standard spin off before continuing in the current generation.
Game #38 - Gears of War Judgement
Time: 9 hours
Rating: ★★★
This was actually better than I thought it would be given the flak it gets, but it's still the weakest entry in the series. The whole thing feels much like a side mission (which it kind of is), the new characters barely get any attention, and the whole thing lacks the polish the original trilogy had I encountered quite a few bugs). Also the control changes seem completely arbitrary and unnecessary. Still, it tries new things which I appreciate, from the way it tells the story from each character's viewpoint, the declassified system which adds modifiers to each little chapter, the wave-defense based sections, it tried to do new and different things and for the most part it suceeded, but overall it's only for those that really need some more Gears in their lives. Solid but ultimately forgetable and unnecessary entry to the series.
Game #39 - Gears of War 4
Time: 9 hours
Rating:
★★★★
I wasn't sure what to expect as I didn't know much about the curren gen Gears, and after a very bland and slow start (that didn't really feel like Gears at all) I was worried the series had lost it's touch, but thankfully everything after Act 2 is fantastic and I had a hell of a time with it, to the point it's probably my favorite Gears after 3 now. Gorgeous visuals (those windflares are really just for showing off huh?), great gameplay as usual with a fantastic addition with the ability to yank enemies from cover and execute them, great set pieces, and a story that re-establishes the mythology for a new set of characters (who are written much more "normal" than the previous Gears meathead squad), a nice lengthy campaign that doesnt overstay it's welcome, and some cool new weapons add up to almost everything I could want from a next gen Gears. Slow start and very bland main character aside (why isnt Kait the MC like she is in 5 is beyond me, she is clearly the focus of the story even in 4), I loved it and am excited to jump on the next one.
Game #40 - Gears 5
Time: 10 hours
Rating:
★★★★
I'm a bit torn on this one, as while I appreciate them trying new things, I don't think the new semi-open world structure works well for Gears, at least for me. Gears has always been very cinematic, moment to moment action to me, so making it semi-open world with sidequests and whatnot and less of a focus on set pieces didnt really work, especially not when those two acts are very same-y looking throughout (one is a ice zone, the other a desert zone, and everything is either very blue, or very red), which is a shame because the game looks absolutely amazing otherwise. It's no surprise my favorite two acts were 1 and 4 when the game is basically like a "normal" Gears game. Story wise it also feels very much like the middle chapter in a trilogy for better or worse. Still, it plays great, looks fantastic ike I said, and the new open zones are well made for what they are, so it's still very much worth playing, but I hope they go back to tradional Gears for 6.
Game #41 - Halo Reach
Time: 7 hours
Rating:
★★★★
And we move on to the other big Microsoft shooter franchise, the one that started it all (err for Microsoft I mean), and we're starting with the prequel to do it in chronological order. I've only played half the Halo games and this wasn't one of them, and after getting over the dated graphics (even if its sharp on the XB1X), I ended up absolutely loving it. Halo games are just super fun to me, and Reach has a fantastic campaign with great levels, where you start doing one objective, move on to do something different, have your own little set pieces without actually being the typical cinematic set pieces, the whole thing is just very chaotic and very fun. Story is pretty somber (probably the darkest in the series?), the visuals are actually not bad (especially for a 360 game let's be honest) and the gameplay is fantastic... but there is a huge issue with the game, the soundmix is completely fucked, half the time the game sounds super muffled (known issue it seems) and that unfortunately dragged the experience down for me. The companion AI is also quite buggy, they are useless in combat and often times wouldnt get on my vehicles. I still loved it but can't go the full monty on the score because of the issues.
Game #42 - Monster Train
Time: 150+ hours
Rating: ★★★★★
And here is my first real game of the year contender. An absolutely fantastic card game, not unlike Slay the Spire which is the big comparison most people do, but I honestly feel it's more akin to "real" card games like Hearthstone or MTG, as it's very focused on creatures, board placement and the like, much like the games mentioned. Structure wise it is like Slay the Spire as you are progressing on a map, choosing paths with various events or upgrades, with a key difference being you can actually go with a deck in mind (again, not unlike a MTG or Hearthstone draft, which is what it feels like to me). Great cartoony artwork, fantastic sound design, just overall a near perfect card game in my opinion that clicked with me so much, it actually made me not only want to record videos of it, but got me into recording videogame videos in general, which is bizarre for my old ass but here we are. I can't recommend this enough.
Game #43 - Deck of Ashes
Time: 10+ hours
Rating: ★★★
Another card game, although this one is nowhere near the quality of Monster Train... or to be fair, the games it's trying to emulate (mainly Slay the Spire). I actually quite like it, and feel it's a solid entry in the genre (the genre in this case being the card builder roguelike), but it's just that, a soid entry that I can only really recommend if you like to play multiple card games. The dark fantasy art is nice, and it has some nice new rules as there is a lot of card management as you need to burn card to your discard pile on purpose sometimes, but overall it just feels you are doing too much of the same thing in every level. All the maps are basically the same, the events are super boring and the way you just roam around the map semi-randomly as you wait for each boss to show up (instead of following a path like other games) while different doesn't really work. The classes (aka the decks) are good and distinct, and there is some cool narrative to make playing with different ones worth it, but like I said, overall its just "good" and only for hardcore card games that need the next fix.
Game #44 - The Last of Us Part II
Time: 27 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
No need to go into much detail on this one, suffice to say that besides a few story beats that didn't gel with me (especially near the end) and being a bit too long (and having quite a few pacing issues), it's easily the most fun game I played this year gameplay wise (fun is a weird word to use given the themese of the game), it looks absolutely ridiculous, the acting is fantastic as usual from the people involved, and just overall is such an impressive package, regardless of what you feel about the story. Dark, bleak, super tense, it was one of my favorite games of the year and easily my favorite Naughty Dog game yet.
Game #45 - Shadowhand
Time: 14 hours
Rating: ★★★
Neat little indie card game, that unlike most deck building roguelikes these days, takes a different (and very original) approach of combining Solitaire with an RPG, and it succeeds in both. The solitaire gameplay is solid (even if it relies a bit too much on luck and the CPU can get some cray Pule Quest type combos that borderline feel like they are cheating) and the rpg aspect is shockingly decent with lots of gear to get and use that affect gameplay and stats to allocate. The stats part is actually a bit annoying because you can build your character in such a way that you are locked out of some of the challenges later on, which was quite annoying, but its still well worth playing for a relaxing good time, especially if you like Solitaire.
Game #46 - Dicey Dungeons
Time: 33 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
Easily one of the best roguelikes right now, one of those games that does almost everything perfectly, with only the sometimes excessive RNG dragging it down a bit (but that's a staple of the genre so). Fantastic art style, great soundtrack, and some of the best semi-deckbuilding (it's not really, except for 1 of the classes, but it's the closest comparison) gameplay around, like I said its one of those games that does almost everything perfectly. Six character to play as that play very differently from each other, 6 episodes for each of them to access the final boss fight so there is a ton to do, and it mixes roguelike with story and a final goal excellently. I can't say enough good things about it, the only thing that bummed me out was the RNG on some of the episodes (each episode hass different rules that changes the gameplay), but you can easily save scum if you want to remove some of the frustration. Highly recomended.
Game #47 - Resident Evil HD Remaster (Switch)
Time: 11 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
Not much to say about this one, as everybody has played it by now. It's a fantastic remake of Resident Evil, and this HD version is the ultimate way to play the game. Still holds up after all these years, the new stuff added compared to the original (as in the Playstation 1 game) is great and adds nicely to the overall experience (all the stuff with Lisa) and the updated controls feel nice. It's a all time classic and everyone should play it if they haven't. This playthrough was on Switch and thankfully it's pretty much a perfect port, and looks gorgeous on the Switch's screen.
Game #48 - Donut County
Time: 2 hours
Rating: ★★★★
This was a delight, a super cute puzzle (I guess?) game reminiscent of Katamari (or reverse Katamari if you will) where you play as a hole and you need to eat up various physic-y items throughout the levels as your hole grows to eat up bigger items (hence the Katamari comparison). It's not hard in the slightest, and its pretty short at around 2 hours, but the writing is witty, the visuals are simple but gorgeous (reminds me a lot of Untitled Goose Game) and the idea is really cool, overall if you want a funny and chill original experience, you can't go wrong with Donut County.
Game #49 - Picross S
Time: 25 hours
Rating: ★★★★
As usual, Jupiter's Picross games are the best in the business, and this is no exception, its fantastic, it only lacks content. You only get normal puzzles and mega-puzzles, no colored ones for example like the later entries. Still, a ton of content between the normal and the mega versions, so if you like picross and can't get enough, its a easy recomendation, but there are better entries in the series.
Game #50 - Darksiders Warmastered Edition (Switch version)
Time: 15 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
I'm a huge Darksiders fanboy, particularly of the first game with it's heavy Zelda influences, so my ratings for these games will be higher than usual, but it is what it is. Still a fantastic game with great level design, good action, the cartoony artstyle holds the test of time and it still looks great, and the Switch port is quite decent especially in portable mode. A 360/PS3 era classic that is still fantastic for anyone looking for a Zelda fix.
Game #51 - Borderlands (Switch version)
Time: 15 hours
Rating: ★★★★
Another series I'm a big fanboy off, I was actually prepared to go in to this replay of the first game and give it a lower score since it's a bit dated compared to later entries, but I ended up having a blast again, especially since the Siren is still probably my favorite class in the series. Switch port is fantastic, pretty much perfect and the game (or the series) is tailor-made for portable play with how easy it is to just jump in for a few quests and just fuck around with some schlooting (that's right I said schlooting!). Gonna treat the DLCs as their own entries since that's how they were released initially.
Game #52 - Borderlands: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned (Switch)
Time: 4 hours
Rating: ★★★
Neat little DLC with a cool halloween-esque vibe to it (and a welcome change in color pallette), with a funny story involving Dr. Ned (who is totally not Dr. Zed from the main game, really!) and lot's of action given it's zombie theme, since enemies just swarm you everywhere. It's very short, I did every quest in about 3 hours, but its a worthwhile addition to Borderlands.
Game #53 - Borderlands: Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot
Time: 2 hours
Rating: ZERO STARS
Horrible arena wave-based DLC that goes on forever, with no narrative and three arenas with the same 5 waves in every one of them. Just a slog to get through, the only good thing about it is you get a skill point from the quest (in each difficulty), but its hardly worth it for that. Hard pass on this one, it's pointless.
Game #54 - Borderlands: The Secret Armory of General Knoxx (Switch)
Time: 5 hours
Rating: ★★★
This was shaping up to be my favorite DLC for Borderlands, as I really liked the story, level design and focus on driving and the Crimson Lance (which only really showed up at the very end of the main game), but the lack of fast travel maing you have to drive everywhere made doing all the quests really tedious. Shame because otherwise it's a strong expansion.
Game #55 - Borderlands: Claptrap's New Robot Revolution(Switch)
Time: 3 hours
Rating: ★★★
This is the last DLC for Borderlands 1, and while still good, I was pretty tapped out by this point and ready to move on (to the sequel or something else), I pretty much just did the main story and ignored the sidequests (I was already super overleveled as it is). Still, the content is good, good level desing once more and the idea of the expansion is funny, but some nasty fetch quests kinda ruin the vibe.
Game #56 - Heroes of the Storm
Time: Ongoing
Rating: ★★★★
I got back into HotS the last few months, and I'm having a blast again. For a dead game, it sure is active (in fact apparently it's having somewhat of a ressurgence lately which is nice to see). Still the only MOBA I ever played or intend to play, and still has all the trappings of a MOBA (or any team game I guess) where you get frustrated a lot, but it's a ton of a fun and I still love it. The few heroes they added since I stopped last year are all very good which helps.
Game #57 - Borderlands 2 (Switch)
Time: 28 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
A better game in every way compared to the first one, it's much bigger, with much more zone variety, better weapons, the story is better (still nothing to write home about tho), Jack is a great villain and the classes are great, it's just a uch more refined version of the first game. The Borderland games don't change much, so you know you are in or out for pretty much any of them, but since I'm a big fan of the series, this is easily one of the best (I'm actually one of the few big pre-sequel fans), and the Switch port, much like the first one, is super solid, and it's really fun to play Borderlands portable.
Game #58 - Borderlands 2 Captain Scarlett and her Pirate's Booty (Switch)
Time: 6 hours
Rating: ★★★★
We're starting off the Borderlands 2 DLC in a fantastic way with the best DLC the series has seen so far. Great little story, awesome locations, a great final level and set piece, good weapons, just overall a great add on to the game and a must play for fans of Borderlands 2.
Game #59 - Dark Souls Remastered (Switch)
Time: 35 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
It's Dark Souls, but portable. I mean, that's about all it needs to be said,it's still absolutely fantastic and one of my favorite games ever, and playing it portable was the right kind of different enough to warrant yet another run. Great port, apparently the sound is low quality but I never use headphones as it is so I couldnt tell, otherwise its pretty much Dark Souls on a small screen. Wish they would port 2 aswell at least since it ran on the same systems initially, oh well.
Game #60 - Dead Cells
Time: 35+ hours (ongoing)
Rating: ★★★★★
Amazing roguelike, one of the best I've ever played, and one of those titles where almost everything is perfectly crafted. Gorgeous 2d pixel art (especially gorgeous on the Switch's screen), fantastic fast paced gameplay with a ton of weapon and style variety, tons of locations, and a great meta system for the roguelike aspect that makes you want to do "one more run" over and over again. I didnt get the "true ending" yet which requires you to finish the game with 5 boss cells (I only have 2 yet and its already damn hard), but I've seen all there is to see and I'm taking a break from it atm so its a good time to add it. I might come back to it later, but if not, I more than got my moneys worth and I loved every second.
Game #61 - Borderlands 2 Mister Torgue's Campaign of Carnage (Switch)
Time: 6 hours
Rating: ★★★
A bit split on this one, I don't think it's bad but the bland environments and Torgue's annoying (but sometimes funny) character didn't do much for me. The story is actually ok, and appearances by Moxxi and Tina are apreciated, but overall it was a step down from Captain Scarlett in my opinion.
Game #62 - Borderlands 2 Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt (Switch)
Time: 4 hours
Rating: ★★
And the downward spiral of the Borderlands 2 DLC quality continues with what is in my opinion not only the worst DLC so far for the game, but one of the worst in the series so far, on par with the Arena DLC for Borderlands 1. A crap and short main story, some of the worst and most annoying sidequests in the series, a heavy focus on giant bosses with a ton of health which sucks for single player, bad weapons, boring locations, I just hated everything about it, I would rate it lower but to be fair, there is content here (unlike the Arena DLC in the first game), I just don't like any of it. Shame because I love Hammerlock as a character.
Game #63 - Borderlands 2 Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep (Switch)
Time: 7 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
And we thankfully end the show with the showstopper, as Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep is by far the best DLC for the series thus far (only counting 1 and 2 mind you). Fantastic main story in the guise of tina and the gang playing a sort of D&D game with Tina as the Dungeon Master, both funny (well, I guess that depends on how you feel about Tina as a character, I happen to like her quite a bit) and shockingly emotional (?), good sidequets, lots of fantasy references (a lot of Game of Thrones, guess it was the hotness when the dlc launched), great location, actual original weapons for once, just overall super well made and a great way to cap off Borderlands 2.
Game #64 - Pokemon Shield
Time: 42 hours
Rating: ★★★★
Was torn on what to rate this, 4 or 3, but ultimately the good outweights the bad and more importantly the fun I had outweights how hard I fell off the game. This was my first Pokemon game and I had a absolute blast at first, and for a long while really, I got super into just collecting Pokemon (the 40+ hours could have easily just been 20 or so if I just mainlined the game), the gameplay is simple but fun, the graphics are good and colorful and the music is fantastic. It's a great "time waster" that unfortunately I kinda just dropped near the end, and every time I tried to go back months later to finish it I truggled to get through the last chapter, I'm not sure but like I said, I fell off the game hard. But I finally did it tonight and I actually enjoyed it again (even if the ending is super rushed), but I feel like I got what I was going to get out of the game so stuff like the post game and especially the DLC isnt for me. Still, I had a great time for the most part, and will most likely get future titles now.
Game #65 - Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin
Time: 32 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
The ugly duckling of the Souls series, and probably my favorite (not the best mind you), which is weird but yet another replay of it didnt change my mind, I still love it. It has a bunch of quality of life improvements over DS1 (4 rings yay), its a huge game with a ton of bosses and zones, has great armor and weapons, and some fantastic looking locales (I know the lighting system isnt what they promised but I still think the one in the game looks great also). A lot of the bosses aren't very good and technically its not one connected world anymore, but I love it nonetheless. Wasn't sure if I was going to count the DLC seperate or not since they are included in Scholar, but they were seperate initially so I might aswell, I've already completed the challenge anyway.
Game #66 - Dark Souls 2 Crown of the Old Iron King
Time: 6 hours
Rating: ★★★★
This is actually the second DLC for DS2 but I wanted to try out the Fume Ultra Greatsword, which needs a boss soul from this DLC, so I started with it (and good thing I did). A fantastic location with great level design, cool new enemies and some tough as nails bosses (a little too tough maybe?) make this a must play for anyone playing DS2. Unfortunately the weapon I wanted ended up dissapointing me, oh well.
Game #67 - Dark Souls 2 Crown of the Sunken King
Time: 5 hours
Rating: ★★
Maybe it's a good thing I didn't start with the first DLC as it would have soured me on the entire game. The complete opposite of the second dlc in my opinion, with an awful and confusing zone, terrible enemies to fight, cramped spaced, bunch of traps and pits to fall, and only 2 major boses, both of which pretty dissapointing. It's up there with Shrine of amara and Blighttown as one of my least favorite zones in the series.
Game #68 - Dark Souls 2 Crown of the Ivory King
Time: 5 hours
Rating: ★★★★
Last but certainly not least, this is probably my favorite of the DLC trilogy, with an awesome snowy/icy castle zone with constant blizzard, some actual narrative for once, cool bosses (snow tiger!) and just overall a fitting end for the game. That being said, I'm pretty Souls'ed out after all that, so I guess my DS3 replay won't happen anytime soon.
Game #69 - Street Fighter 5 Champion Edition
Time: 30+ hours
Rating: ★★★★
Finally picked this up this year after not playing the game since vanilla, and I have to say I had a lot of fun. Abigail is mah boy, and I got into ranked for the first time which was...interesting. Story mode, even revamped, is still trash, but the game is gorgeous and I love the gameplay, and it finally has the roster it deserves so it's something i'll come back to now and then as they keep updating it.
Game #70 - Hades
Time: 50+ hours
Rating: ★★★★★
And I have found my game of the year. Absolutely masterpiece of a roguelike, managing to finally mix a compelling narrative with the repetition based game that all roguelikes have, Supergiant really outdid themselves with this one. It's by far their best game and one of the best games I have played in years, I absolutely love the gameplay, the artstyle, the music, its damn near as perfect of a game as I can remember. If there is one nitpick is that it only has 4 zones, so it might get old to keep doing runs faster than it would otherwise, but even after seeing the credits roll, Im already eager to do more runs and upgrade my weapons and all the other stuff you can do post game. Highly recommended.
Game #71 - Fury Unleashed
Time: 10 hours
Rating: ★★★
Fury Unleashed is a very serviceable roguelike shooter that does a lot of things well and is very fun to play, but in a sea of roguelikes, and especially going up against monsters like Hades or Dead Cells, it doesnt offer anything substancial to anyone but the hardcore roguelike fan that just likes to play a variety of them. It also doesn't have much content, with three zones with three bosses each (you need to beat the 3 bosses in each zone to be able to start from the later ones), and little reason to replay after you finish them all, but again, its very fun to play, has a great soundtrack, tons of weapons to find, it's a fine game to pick up on a sale or bundle, just don't expect anything amazing.
Game #72 - Paper Mario The Origami King
Time: 35 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
This was a massive surprise to me, as I wasnt sure what to expect from this having never played a Paper Mario game, and it turned out to be one of my favorite games of the year. Just a wholesome, wonderful, fun adventure that had me hooked from start to finish. A meaty campaign filled with a ton of different and wacky zones, tons of gameplay and minigame variety, and a super interesting and unique "combat" system", plus a bunch of collectibles to find make this overall just a fantastic package. Add to that some actual funny writing, gorgeous visuals and a great soundtrack, and like I said, it's one of my favorite games this year and I have nothing but praise for it.
Game #73 - Torchlight 3
Time: 40+ hours
Rating: ★★★★
I was ready to rip this a new one given my experience with it in Early Access earlier this year, but after spending about 40 horus with the final version, finishing the game twice with two classes (so I unlocked the endgame mode for both), I can happily say they turned the game around and it's actually very solid in the end. In my opinion Torchlight was never the most serious diablo-like series around, both graphically but mechanically, it was also the more simple cousin compared to things like Path of Exile or Diablo 3, but that's not a bad thing per se. And TL3 continues this trend, delivering a very polished little package, with a 3 act campaign with very distinct zones, 4 shockingly good classes (these are probably my favorite classes in the series, not counting mods), the same simple and cartoony graphics we've come to expect and a host of very well made systems. The big issue, and it's a big one, is that the whole thing feels like a $20 game when in reality it released at $40, and I know that 20 is the new 10 and 30 is the new 15 these days, but that doesnt make it right, and this is a game that would be a very easy recomendation at 20 (pretty much like TL1 and 2 were), but at almost triple A price, you should wait for a sale because what's in here is very solid.
Game #74 - Return of the Obra Dinn
Time: 16 hours
Rating: ★★★★★
Holy shit what an amazing experience this was, easily becoming one of my favorite games ever (a rarity for modern games), this puzzle / detective game is so finely crafted that between this and Papers Please before it, Lucas Pope might be an actual genious. Fantastic monochromatic art style as you move around scenes frozen in time trying to deduce what happened to the crew of the titular Obra Dinn ship, and to even explain how you go on about doing that would probably spoil and ruin the experience. A one of a kind game that had me hooked from start to finish. If I HAD to nitpick, some of the conclusions are a bit obtuse to reach (a particular one near the end actually made me angry) but its just a nitpick in what I honestly consider a modern day masterpiece.
Game #75 - Glass Masquerade 2 Illusions
Time: 10 hours
Rating: ★★★★
Not much to say about this that I didn't say about the first one, it's mostly the same just longer with more puzzles. Still gorgeous, still has great music and it's still super relaxing and just weirdly compelling to play. One of those cases where if you like one you need to get the other since it's more of it (they are actually bundled together on Switch).
Game #76 - Sundered Eldritch Edition
Time: 12 hours
Rating: ★★★★
Yet another metroidvania, albeit a very solid one this time, with gorgeous 2d art (between this and Jotun, Thunder Lotus Games really excells at 2d art huh?), fantastic movement options (especially if you go with the dark powers) and a meaty campaign, that suffers only from a lack of enemy variety and a semi-procedural map system that might turn some people off (the overall zone maps are fixed but each node or room in the map is procedural, if that makes sense). It's also light on story, but heavy on action, which feels great with all the combos and aeriel momentum you can get. Overall it's well worth playing if you like the genre, it's just missing that something to make it stand with the big boys of the genre. Oh and some of the bosses are hair pulling hard, be warned.
Game #77 - Code Vein
Time: 30 hours
Rating: ★★★★
Where to begin with this one... on one hand, it's a very solid Souls-like with some cool new ideas, great graphics and snappy gameplay, with some of the msot impactful feeling weapons this side of Dark Souls. On the other hand, the horrible fan service really drags the whole experience down, and I ran into a few nasty bugs, one of which actually prevented me from getting the best ending. Still, at around 25-30 hours for the main story (with proper exploration), plenty of weapons and fighting styles to use, and some gorgeous anime style visuals, if you can stomach the fan service, it's a good time in a "my first Souls game" way.
Game #78 - Carto
Time: 5 hours
Rating: ★★★★
Super cute puzzle game with a great map/terrain manipulation mechanic, a wholesome story and cast of characters, and it's short enough to not overstay it's welcome. Very well made and the game does a lot with it's main mechanic, it's just one of those games that it a joy to play, and the puzzles are never too hard once you figure out the mechanic (I never had to check a guide unlock most puzzle games for me). Very easy recomendation if you're looking for a chill adventure.
Game #79 - Carrion
Time: 5 hours
Rating: ★★★★
This was a bit different than I expected, as it's more of a traditional level based 2d game (well, traditional is not what I would call the actual gameplay heh) and less metroidvania that I expected, but that's actually a good thing in this case. It's very linear and you will rarely get lost, as it has very little backtracking (there is a bit), instead you get a really weird but fun playing game that basicaly emulates The Thing as you tendril your way throygh levels consuming people and solving various puzzles to proceed. The game is SUPER fast, you move at a blitz pace which is really disorienting until you get used to it, but its very original, it looks gorgeous and it's the right length for me to easily recommend it for fans of 2d action games looking for something that plays very different than most.
Game #80 - Touhou Luna Nights
Time: 5 hours
Rating: ★★★
Huge disapointment this turned out for me personally, after huge praise both here on Era and Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam (something not common), I ultimately found this to be a mediocre "metroidvania", albeit with great 2d art, but the twitchy gameplay never jelled with me, nor did the time stop mechanics. Add to that a very short campaign (4-5 hours), some frustratingly hard bosses and last levle, and the whole thing just left a bad taste in my mouth. Oh and the way the game acts like you're supposed to know all these characters (I assume from other games or anime?) is bizarre. I didn't hate it but it's very low on the genre's list for me.
Game #81 - Tetris Effect Connected
Time: 4 hours
Rating: ★★★★
Fantastic experience that is a real sensory overload with gorgeous visuals (my god does it look good on a OLED) and great music that reacts to your gameplay, the only downside is that it's a bit short, and on the highest difficulty it gets a bit too silly to the point where pieces don't drop, they just appear at the bottom, and it actually soured me a little bit on the whole experience. Still, its a short game and a must play if only to play through once, it really has to be seen (and played) to apreciate it.
Game #82 - Darksiders 3
Time: 14 hours
Rating: ★★★
Very torn on this one, as I love Darksiders 1 and 2, and while I didnt hate this one or anything, it's easily the worst of the three, it's quite buggy and just has a bunch of little things that sucked my enjoyment out of it. If DS1 was Zelda, and then DS2 leaned more into Diablo with all the loot, DS3 sorta tries to emulate the Souls games (collecting souls to level up which you lose if you die and need to recover from your body, a estus flask style system, removing the map bafflingly, and various other things from the FromSoft games), and even tho I love the Souls games, here it rubbed me the wrong way, Fury is strangely fragile (you know, because it's like Souls), the lack of a map works for the souls games but not for the Darksiders games in their more metroidvania ways, just everything about the game is cool one second, and then bad the next. The graphics are great sometimes (the art style as usual helps) but also very bland in other places, the puzzles are very obtuse sometimes, the gameplay is good but also frustrating at times, just a constant back and forth on my emotions towards it, but ultimately, while I enjoyed it, it's not something I wish to replay anytime soon, and that I guess it's it's greatest sin (no pun intended) sicne I replayed both the first and second game many times.
Game #83 - Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary
Time: 9 hours
Rating: ★★
What a colossal dissapointment after Reach (which had problems with bugs but not with the game itself), a huge bummer in fact because I actually enjoyed the game for about 70% of it, but then everything after The Flood is introduced is abysmal and the game takes a huge nosedive. The last sequence in particular (the driving sequence) has to be one of the worst things I've ever played in my 35+ years of playing videogames. Technically, it's fine, especially for a remake of such an old game (it's quite wonderful to switch between the old version and the new in real time to see the difference), it looks fine even today (4k 60 helps), and the music and sound effects are fantastic. And like I said, I liked the gameplay (dated as it is) until the flood stuff and onward, it's one of the most egregious examples of a game retroactively ruining itself for me for stuff introduced late in the game. But, it is what it is, I'm glad I played it for completion sake, but I don't think I'll ever replay this one.
Game #84 - Halo 2 Anniversary
Time: 9 hours
Rating: ★★★★
One of the better sequels I remember ever playing, it improves on everything I already liked about Halo, adding cool stuff like dual weilding weapons and most importantly, drastically reducing the frustrating Flood gameplay of the first game. I love the addition of The Arbiter both to the lore and the campaign, as it really mixes things up as you switch between him and Chief (apparently a controversial choice back in the day? I never played the OG Halo 2), the remake is even more impressive than the first game and they added a shitload of high quality CGI cutscenes that really round the whole package up to a super fun, not very long story. That abrupt ending tho...
Game #85 - Halo 3
Time: 8 hours
Rating: ★★★★
Easily my favorite in the series up to this point, Halo 3 takes everything I love about them and just makes it better, it has the best weapons and the best vehicles in the series (again, thus far), a cool story (that actually finishes this time lol), Arbiter is still a big part even if you don't play him this time around, and it's just all around super fun. Looks great too, especially for a early 360 game, and while it does have it's frustrating spots (shocking noone they usually involve the Flood as usual), they are few and far between and don't ruin the voerall game, unlike Halo 1 in my opinion. Unfortunately it still has the same sound mixing bugs the other games in the MCC have, so much like Reach I can't go the full monty for it, but I really liked it.
Game #86 - World of Warcraft Shadowlands
Time: Ongoing
Rating: ★★★★
And the last game of this shitty year and pretty much the only thing I've been playing the last month and a half or so, is the latest WoW expansion Shadowlands, which thankfully is a return to form after BFA was one of my least played expansions. Great new systems, cool (if a bit short) zones, a new semi-roguelike system with Torghast which unfortunately isn't as good as I expected (but has some promise for the future) and some great dungeons and raid make this a good start to a new expansion. I still wish there was a new class (it broke the new class every two expansions "rule") but I'vebeen having fun and still haven't burned out even tho i'm about to hit the 2 month mark with it which is usually when I tap out with wow expansions, so for now, it gets a big thumbs up, we'll see if it continues into 2021.
And that's it, I won't finish anything else before the year ends for sure (again, especially since I'm pretty much only playing wow atm), so I guess 86 is the finall tally, lower than 2019, but still not bad I guess (especially when I'm also doing the 52 tv seasons challenge).
