Thanks! I take so many screenshots when playing stuff so I figured I might as well do something with them.
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52 Games. 1 Year. 2020.
- Thread starter Wozzer
- Start date
A little late posting this, but today game is P.OW. for the NES.
Admit I am not very good at this game, but I always wanted to own after seeing it on the old Gameplayer Gametape VHS that I had as a kid. Probably one of those games I am forced to use a Gamegenie on.
Admit I am not very good at this game, but I always wanted to own after seeing it on the old Gameplayer Gametape VHS that I had as a kid. Probably one of those games I am forced to use a Gamegenie on.
#11: Dark Souls 2: Crown of the Sunken King (1/25/2020) | 8/10 | PS4 | ~ 3.5Hours | Recommend: Y
# Overall - 8 | A unique DLC that offers equal challenge in enemies and in puzzles
Gameplay - 8 | While the enemies offered a challenge, they where all rehashes of previous enemies in game. Environments were top notch
Sound - 8 | Had some nice background songs to accompny the pain
Story/Online -8 | This was a super cool area, which Souls games tell the story mostly through environment and items.
Asking Price- 8 | Good amount of content and value and a highlight area in the game.
Today game is Fire Emblem The Blazing Blade
I never beat this game, as it was Sacred Stones on the Ambassador Program is what got me finally into the series. I really should try beating it this time. I just need to remember that this game doesn't have the handy rewind Three Houses has, as I lost Florina due to over extending.
I never beat this game, as it was Sacred Stones on the Ambassador Program is what got me finally into the series. I really should try beating it this time. I just need to remember that this game doesn't have the handy rewind Three Houses has, as I lost Florina due to over extending.
8. One Night Stand (XB1) Jan 25 2 Hrs ★★★★
Sounded interesting and really cheap and I had a few bucks left in my account. I really enjoyed trying to get some different endings. Full disclosure, I used a guide to get the rest.
5. Bit.Trip Runner 2 (PsVita) / 22/01/2020 - 8:38h / 4/5. Another one of those "pick and play anytime" games. Fun and pretty easy to complete and get all his collectibles.
6. VA-11 HALL-A (PsVita) / 25/01/2020 - 10+h / 4'5/5. Easily the best game i played this month. I'm not a visual novel fan, but i absolutely loved how the story was developed on this one. I don't know what to say about it, tbh, but i absolutely recommend playing it.
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I picked this up recently for the same reason that it was cheap and sounded different but have yet to play it. Good to hear some positive impressions.
8. One Night Stand (XB1) Jan 25 2 Hrs ★★★★
Sounded interesting and really cheap and I had a few bucks left in my account. I really enjoyed trying to get some different endings. Full disclosure, I used a guide to get the rest.
16. Remember me
I enjoyed this a lot more than the first time I played it on PS3, but it does have its shortcoming with some dull traversal sections as well as forced walking scenes as well.
Non the less it has some interesting gameplay ideas/mechanics such as the memory remixing.
I enjoyed this a lot more than the first time I played it on PS3, but it does have its shortcoming with some dull traversal sections as well as forced walking scenes as well.
Non the less it has some interesting gameplay ideas/mechanics such as the memory remixing.
Master Post edited. 16/52.
16. Season Match - Pretty laid back gem matching game. Completed both quest mode and arcade mode which took me around 6 hours. Bought 2 & 3 in the steam sale too. Easy to watch something on my other monitor and play this casually.
16. Season Match - Pretty laid back gem matching game. Completed both quest mode and arcade mode which took me around 6 hours. Bought 2 & 3 in the steam sale too. Easy to watch something on my other monitor and play this casually.
Update 5!
An update with only games from Prime! I've decided to try to clear the backlog of games from services before that collection gets too big or I forget what I have available there. Ended up finishing seven games and tried out but dropped four more. Now I only have eight games left in the "want to try" category on Prime!
21. Gato Roboto (PC) | 19th Jan - 4hrs | 4/5 | 100% Completion
Prior knowledge:
The positives:
The negatives:
22. A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build (PC) | 20th Jan - 4hrs | 3/5 | 100% Completion
Prior knowledge:
The positives:
The negatives:
23. Anarcute (PC) | 20th Jan - 7hrs | 3/5 | 100% Completion
Prior knowledge:
The positives:
The negatives:
24. Ape Out (PC) | 22nd Jan - 1.5hrs | 3/5 | Normal Mode Beaten
Prior knowledge:
The positives:
The negatives:
25. Pikuniku (PC) | 23rd Jan - 4hrs | 4/5 | 100% Completion
Prior knowledge:
The positives:
The negatives:
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Master Post
An update with only games from Prime! I've decided to try to clear the backlog of games from services before that collection gets too big or I forget what I have available there. Ended up finishing seven games and tried out but dropped four more. Now I only have eight games left in the "want to try" category on Prime!
21. Gato Roboto (PC) | 19th Jan - 4hrs | 4/5 | 100% Completion
Prior knowledge:
Knew the genre and how it looked but nothing else.
The positives:
Most of it! Perfect length and difficulty, responsive and perfectly paced. Looks great (with two or maybe three of the palettes) and was an overall very enjoyable.
The negatives:
The cat is a little floaty when not in the mech which led to a couple of deaths. She flew off ledges however slow I was moving so I had to learn to jump down them if there was an enemy close to where I wanted to land. Most of the collectible color palettes look terrible and were unusable for me. No real issues, good game!
22. A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build (PC) | 20th Jan - 4hrs | 3/5 | 100% Completion
Prior knowledge:
Knew the genre.
The positives:
It's tricky in a good way and had a pretty cute theme. It has a nice difficulty curve but kinda goes bananas with it at the end.
The negatives:
I had to look up what to do near the end of the game, not a puzzle solution but how to even reach a part where there are more puzzles. I also had huge issues with the controls. I think it would work well on a touch screen but with m/kb or controller the sluggishness of the movement lead to a whole bunch of wrong inputs and rewinds (great that the game had that function). If I know I have to go "up-up-right-up" I wanna be able to click that and not wait seconds between every input (yeah a little hyperbolic, but you get the point, the "delay" is long enough to be disruptive).
23. Anarcute (PC) | 20th Jan - 7hrs | 3/5 | 100% Completion
Prior knowledge:
None!
The positives:
The name is spot on, it's a very cute game! Everything in it is cute, even the enemies in a way. The difficulty is really nice since it's easy enough to get through each level alive and see the story, and just tricky enough when you want the best rating and unlock every animal.
The negatives:
The game crashed a couple of times. Thankfully the game autosaves frequently but it was annoying the one time it happened when a level was going really good. The group you control often keep together nicely and you can easily get them through everything, but sometimes they split up and throw things the wrong way, walk into hazards and enemies without you having a reliable way to group them together again. I also did not enjoy the boss levels at all.
24. Ape Out (PC) | 22nd Jan - 1.5hrs | 3/5 | Normal Mode Beaten
Prior knowledge:
Something about "Hotline Miami but with an ape".
The positives:
It's so fun! Being encouraged to go "apeshit" on everything without it being in any way realistic is almost cathartic. I guess that sounds a bit bad but it's only because of that non-realism. It's simple, fast-paced fun and doesn't overstay its welcome. A couple of levels near the end were really challenging but it was fun trying to find a path through them.
The negatives:
Sometimes it felt like a move I made should have hit an enemy but it didn't and I died because of it, so something felt a little wonky with the hitboxes at times. I also had a big problem with the busy graphics. I like the general look but the game puts a busy filter over everything and with my bad vision this became a problem pretty quickly. Would have loved to give it a higher rating but this really holds it back for me.
25. Pikuniku (PC) | 23rd Jan - 4hrs | 4/5 | 100% Completion
Prior knowledge:
None, not even the genre.
The positives:
Definitely the goofiness of it all. How the character moves, the items you get and the absurd story. The "boss fights" and challenges are fine and I think that's what I would describe the game as overall. It doesn't do anything really great but nothing is really wrong either.
The negatives:
Super nitpicky, I know, but the lack of capital letters at the start of sentences and no punctuation drives me nuts. There was also a little too much walking without anything interesting happening.
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Master Post
Game number 11 done! Or number 10? I don't remember...
Anyway, I just finished Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot and I am definitely buying the DLC further on because I had a great time with it. I kind of hope we get a similar game with the Super Sagas + Movies if they need some padding. 8.5/10
Anyway, I just finished Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot and I am definitely buying the DLC further on because I had a great time with it. I kind of hope we get a similar game with the Super Sagas + Movies if they need some padding. 8.5/10
Master Post
Weekly Update 4
5. Sayonara Wild Hearts - Nice short game. Really enjoyed most of the levels and none of the themes overstayed their welcome. Really good music also.
Other games I'm currently playing
Death Stranding - Chapter 6 around 38 hours in.
Baldur's Gate - Also Chapter 6 right outside Candlekeep.
Chrono Trigger - 12 hours in about 2/3 of the way thru.
Weekly Update 4
5. Sayonara Wild Hearts - Nice short game. Really enjoyed most of the levels and none of the themes overstayed their welcome. Really good music also.
Other games I'm currently playing
Death Stranding - Chapter 6 around 38 hours in.
Baldur's Gate - Also Chapter 6 right outside Candlekeep.
Chrono Trigger - 12 hours in about 2/3 of the way thru.
Game 6: Halo Reach (PC) (5 Hours) (4/5) (January 26th, 2020)
I love Reach. It's by far my favourite Halo game and finally being able to replay through it on PC was such a treat I don't think I'll ever play it on a controller again. The gunplay of Reach is so fantastic and every level feels better than the last. The vehicles are fun, the characters are fun and boy does it look good at max settings. The music is the best part of Halo even if I think they mixed it wrong? Each track is just so uplifting and pushes you through the level and makes you really feel what the character is feeling. Guns are all so good like the shotgun, the marksman rifle, the sniper rifle and the god damn Spartan Laser. The flying is very hit and miss and I think there's maybe too much focus on it. This game is by far the best Halo. It's short and it's focused on being about being the little guy taking on something so much bigger than you.
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This year is going the be a little different for me being a new father, I'm focused on smaller experiences/ arcade games etc.
January 2020
1. Vader Immortal Episode III - (Oculus Quest) | 2nd January | 1h | 9/10
The Oculus Quest has been a revelation for me being my first VR experience. First game I picked up last year for the Quest was Episode I of Vader Immortal so when the last episode came out I had to jump on it right away. Whist the game is very much on rails it really does feel like a genuine Star Wars experience and for people who read the books and comics it really 'fits'. I had a great time playing Episode III tho it felt shorter than the first 2 but the gameplay/experience was more epic. Possible ties into the Rise of Skywalker as well :)
2. Simpsons Arcade Game (Arcade/MAME) | 7th January | 45 Mins | 6/10
A game that I've always wanted to play, it was a fixture of our local video store back in the 90's but we never had any money to play ourselves. This ended up in a lot of watching other people play. So to christen my new arcade machine my sister and I played it together from start to finish (with the luxury of unlimited continues :)). A fun game that has not aged well but for nostalgia reasons really hit the spot. The last boss Mr Burns would have cost a fortune to beat back in the 90's.
3. Blade Master Arcade Game (Arcade/MAME) | 17th January | 50 mnis | 7/10
I'd never heard or seen of Blade Master before, whilst flicking through my Arcade cab this game started playing with its horribly recorded sound effects, maybe they were a limitation of the time but wow they were bad. I wasn't interested in playing it at first but my wife liked the look of it so a few days later we sat down and played through the entire game. It was much better than I first expected their were quite a few enemy types and the boss battles were challenging but enjoyable. Another pocket destroyer tho (in the 90s)!
4. Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings (PSP) | Playing...
January 2020
1. Vader Immortal Episode III - (Oculus Quest) | 2nd January | 1h | 9/10
The Oculus Quest has been a revelation for me being my first VR experience. First game I picked up last year for the Quest was Episode I of Vader Immortal so when the last episode came out I had to jump on it right away. Whist the game is very much on rails it really does feel like a genuine Star Wars experience and for people who read the books and comics it really 'fits'. I had a great time playing Episode III tho it felt shorter than the first 2 but the gameplay/experience was more epic. Possible ties into the Rise of Skywalker as well :)
2. Simpsons Arcade Game (Arcade/MAME) | 7th January | 45 Mins | 6/10
A game that I've always wanted to play, it was a fixture of our local video store back in the 90's but we never had any money to play ourselves. This ended up in a lot of watching other people play. So to christen my new arcade machine my sister and I played it together from start to finish (with the luxury of unlimited continues :)). A fun game that has not aged well but for nostalgia reasons really hit the spot. The last boss Mr Burns would have cost a fortune to beat back in the 90's.
3. Blade Master Arcade Game (Arcade/MAME) | 17th January | 50 mnis | 7/10
I'd never heard or seen of Blade Master before, whilst flicking through my Arcade cab this game started playing with its horribly recorded sound effects, maybe they were a limitation of the time but wow they were bad. I wasn't interested in playing it at first but my wife liked the look of it so a few days later we sat down and played through the entire game. It was much better than I first expected their were quite a few enemy types and the boss battles were challenging but enjoyable. Another pocket destroyer tho (in the 90s)!
4. Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings (PSP) | Playing...
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Just beat: watchdogs 2.) i bought this two years ago on sale and didnt get around to it until the start of this month. It was a fun time! I was surprised given my disdain for watchdogs 1 which i couldnt bother to finish. The protagonist and side characters were fantastic and the game had a great message. Using police and gang hit squads to clear out hide outs was alot of fun to do while i sat just outside the restricted area's. Sanfransisco looked fantastic.
on deck: middle earth shadow of war, and splatoon 2
on deck: middle earth shadow of war, and splatoon 2
I could probably never do this because of time restraints, but I wish everyone good luck!
For people who have finished this challenge before:
Do you feel you gravitate towards shorter games in order to complete this challenge or do you just play whatever? I feel my problem lies in that I choose my games rather sporadically, which mixes in extra lengthy games every now and then.
For people who have finished this challenge before:
Do you feel you gravitate towards shorter games in order to complete this challenge or do you just play whatever? I feel my problem lies in that I choose my games rather sporadically, which mixes in extra lengthy games every now and then.
I usually start with shorter games and finish up the long games I didn't manage to beat at the end of the previous year. Not so much for the challenge, even if it is fun to make quick progress here too, but for my backlog. It's satisfying seeing the backlog number go down and I always have the most motivation to play at the start of a year. I know I will have dips when I don't want to play anything at all for a month and maybe I just wanna play Sims 4 all summer, or something like that. It's nice to know I have already made good progress when it happens.
But I don't restrict myself to short games. If I wanna play the longest RPG ever then I do that. Maybe I'll beat some short games here and there between sessions with the RPG tho.
Just as an FYI, this link won't work for anyone with a different posts per page setting than you. You need to use the permalink that you'll get directly from the post number at the top-right of the post, not the URL for the page after it loads.
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3. Dead Space - 12 hours
As someone who's playing a lot of "old" games, I can confirm that some of them might not age well. Not just because of graphics - shitty controls or outdated gameplay could make even highly acclaimed games of the past almost unplayable now, especially if you don't have nostalgic feelings about them. But while such disappointments are bound to happen, I've experienced completely opposite situations as well, when instead of clunky artifacts from the past, I was discovering games that were easily overshadowing even the latest releases on the market. And Dead Space is one of them, a timeless masterpiece that took me by complete surprise.
Surviving in such intense situations is hard, but it's possible - in Dead Space you have 7 types of weapons at your disposal, but you can carry only 4 of them at once. Each weapon has an alternate fire mode and they'll be useful against different types of enemies. My favorite weapon in this game is The Ripper, which launches a remotely controlled circular saw blade that is cutting everything on its way. During the first levels, you will also acquire two special "skills" - Stasis Module, which will allow you to "freeze" the enemies and objects, and Kinesis Module, which is working kinda like Gravity Gun from Half-Life 2. Along with combat, those modules are used for removing obstacles and solving simple puzzles. You can also upgrade your gear with Power Nodes that you can find on the levels or buy in stores, but there are not enough Nodes to upgrade everything within a single run, so you need to think carefully about what to upgrade next.
Even the most praised and acclaimed story-driven games rarely have such things as great pacing and direction, but even there the developers of Dead Space managed to outdid themselves. It's a very solid and balanced interactive story that instantly hooks the player and keeps providing interesting situations during the whole playthrough. It's literally perfect in terms of pacing, the game skillfully rotates intense combat moments with episodes like Zero-G basketball match. This game has never ceased to amaze me and provided so many unique situations, that even the stuff I showed you in this video is just the tip of the iceberg. Another thing that Dead Space is doing on an impressive level is such a rare thing as environmental storytelling - it's not just about cutscenes and audio logs, you can learn a lot about the game's world just by looking at decorations of places you are going to visit during your playthrough. For example, all those weird writings on the walls that you can find almost on every level - it's actually possible to decipher them and learn interesting details about what happened on that ship. It will take you around 12 hours to complete this game, which is quite a lot for a linear story-driven game, but this time will pass quickly, believe me.
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3. Dead Space - 12 hours
As someone who's playing a lot of "old" games, I can confirm that some of them might not age well. Not just because of graphics - shitty controls or outdated gameplay could make even highly acclaimed games of the past almost unplayable now, especially if you don't have nostalgic feelings about them. But while such disappointments are bound to happen, I've experienced completely opposite situations as well, when instead of clunky artifacts from the past, I was discovering games that were easily overshadowing even the latest releases on the market. And Dead Space is one of them, a timeless masterpiece that took me by complete surprise.
Back in the days when Dead Space just released, I didn't play it because I was not a big fan of the horror genre and reviews in my local magazines on this game were not very glowing. Well, I'm not sure if it really was not that impressive back in 2008, but now Dead Space feels like a breath of fresh air. It's such a well-crafted game that has so many amazing ideas literally in every aspect, from gameplay and narrative to UI and sound. It's hard to believe that it was published by EA, a company that to these days are more interested in milking their sports licenses than in greenlighting original ideas.
There are so many great things in Dead Space, I honestly don't know where to start. Well, let's start with something that is usually being the last priority for most of the game developers - User Interface. Don't know about you guys, but personally, I play games to immerse myself in their virtual worlds - but all those minimaps, life bars, and task lists are always getting in the way, and in most cases disabling the HUD makes the game unplayable. Developers of Dead Space solved this problem in a clever way - they've simply turned almost the entire UI into the part of the game's world. They've put the protagonist's healthbar literally on his spine, and all those inventory and map menus are floating in the air in front of you. And it works like that not just for the player, other characters have the same health indicators, and you can see NPCs using the holographic displays for video calls just as you do. Such small details significantly add to the Dead Space atmosphere, and honestly, it's a shame that most developers are not trying to make something like this in their own games.
Almost everything in Dead Space is working for creating the right mood and atmosphere - graphics, sound, level design, all of this help to create a dark, dreadful feeling of constant danger and despair. The sound design in this game is truly its second biggest achievement - all those scratches and screams that unexpectedly breaking the silence will make feel uneasy even the biggest horror fans. And at some point, you'll start hearing indistinct voices and whispers, which will only make you doubt your sanity even more.
The game is doing an outstanding job in terms of atmosphere and immersion - though the world of Dead Space is not the one you would want to be part of. You are taking the role of Isaac Clarke, who's just a simple engineer that arrives at the spaceship called USG Ishimura as part of the rescue team. So basically, your job was supposed to be about fixing stuff, not the combat operations. Indeed, you'll have to occasionally do some repairs - but your main goal is going to be survival on the ship that is flooded with alien life forms that are using dead bodies for their reproduction. There's a lot of enemies in this game, starting from "common" mutants with sharp blades on their hands, and ending with huge brutes with heavy organic armor in the front. In most cases, you'll be attacked by large groups of different mutants from every direction, including from the air and vertical surfaces.
Surviving in such intense situations is hard, but it's possible - in Dead Space you have 7 types of weapons at your disposal, but you can carry only 4 of them at once. Each weapon has an alternate fire mode and they'll be useful against different types of enemies. My favorite weapon in this game is The Ripper, which launches a remotely controlled circular saw blade that is cutting everything on its way. During the first levels, you will also acquire two special "skills" - Stasis Module, which will allow you to "freeze" the enemies and objects, and Kinesis Module, which is working kinda like Gravity Gun from Half-Life 2. Along with combat, those modules are used for removing obstacles and solving simple puzzles. You can also upgrade your gear with Power Nodes that you can find on the levels or buy in stores, but there are not enough Nodes to upgrade everything within a single run, so you need to think carefully about what to upgrade next.
In most cases, it's not enough to simply shoot at the enemy - in order to destroy those mutants quickly you have to cut off their limbs. Dismemberment process is well animated and opens possibilities for a more strategic approach like you can slow down fast enemies by shooting down their legs and then deal with other treats before finishing them off. There are also boss fights that will require you to figure out a specific strategy in order to beat them. The combat in Dead Space is very aggressive and always keeps the player under heavy pressure, so it forces you to act quickly and use all available tools in order to survive. And such unpredictable and violent fights makes the gameplay extremely satisfying and fun.
Even the most praised and acclaimed story-driven games rarely have such things as great pacing and direction, but even there the developers of Dead Space managed to outdid themselves. It's a very solid and balanced interactive story that instantly hooks the player and keeps providing interesting situations during the whole playthrough. It's literally perfect in terms of pacing, the game skillfully rotates intense combat moments with episodes like Zero-G basketball match. This game has never ceased to amaze me and provided so many unique situations, that even the stuff I showed you in this video is just the tip of the iceberg. Another thing that Dead Space is doing on an impressive level is such a rare thing as environmental storytelling - it's not just about cutscenes and audio logs, you can learn a lot about the game's world just by looking at decorations of places you are going to visit during your playthrough. For example, all those weird writings on the walls that you can find almost on every level - it's actually possible to decipher them and learn interesting details about what happened on that ship. It will take you around 12 hours to complete this game, which is quite a lot for a linear story-driven game, but this time will pass quickly, believe me.
There are a few reasons to criticize Dead Space, but they are all just minor flaws. Like, for such an action-packed game, lack of a button for a quick 180-degree turn is rather inconvenient. But my major problem with this game is the fact that developers turned Isaac into a silent protagonist - it's just strange that with all that crazy shit going on around him, he doesn't say a word. Yeah, his cries in pain and anguish when he's getting assaulted by monsters, but outside the combat, he just always remains indifferent and allows himself to show emotions only during the ending. Perhaps, by making Isaac emotionless, developers tried to make it easier for players to identify themselves with the protagonist. But it didn't work very well in my case, because if you want me to feel like I'm the protagonist, then you also need to give me more freedom in making choices. In many situations, I personally would have acted differently than as I was forced to act because of the plot. Like, if I had found my girlfriend whom I was searching for so long at this damned ship, the first thing that I would have tried to do was to at least give her a hug, not just silently stand nearby as I've just met my coworker during lunch. And given that all entries in the journal are written by Isaac himself, it means that he actually has his own personality and thoughts about what's going on, so it's just strange that he doesn't express them in the game itself. Anyway, I'm not a big fan of that design decision about making him mute all the time, and I think it's more hurting the narrative logic rather than helping in immersing the player into the game.
But overall, Dead Space was a damn pleasant surprise for me. I was expecting to see a generic western clone of Resident Evil, but instead, I've discovered one of the best story-driven games I've ever played. Dead Space aged like a fine wine and it feels especially good when you compare it to those soulless, tasteless surrogates that many modern AAA games have become. It's obvious that this game was made by a team of passionate people, who carefully thought out even the smallest details of this game and filled it with a tense atmosphere, engaging story, fun gameplay, and outstanding sound design. If you just like me missed this amazing game back when it was released, then I highly recommend you to fix that as soon as possible, because Dead Space is an absolute must-have for everyone who loves good singleplayer games. It is a pity that this series ended up in a typical EA manner, but I've heard that at least the sequel turned out to be a good game, so I definitely have Dead Space 2 on the list of games that I am going to play in the near future.
#12: Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin (1/25/2020) | 9/10 | PS4 | ~ 45 Hours | Recommend: Y
# Overall -9 | Fantastic game that presents another interesting world in the Souls series
Gameplay 8.6- | Slightly easier than other Souls games, but the amount of variety in weapons, enemies and environment are great
Sound -8 | Biggest area that lacked compared to other souls games. Some decent tunes but failry lackluster
Story/Online -9 | Told through the world and items. Single player campaign was fantastic also.
Asking Price-9.67 | Tons of content and replaybility with different items & respec'ing your character.
#13: Dark Souls II: Crown of the Old Iron King (1/26/2020) | 8/10 | PS4 | ~ 5 Hours | Recommend: Y
# Overall -8 | Another interesting layout presented in DLC with brutal bosses
Gameplay - 8.2| Enemies better than 1st DLC although boss designs were worse.
Sound -8 | Similar to main game, nothing exceptional
Story/Online -8 | Tower itself was not very interesting but moving through it was.
Asking Price-8.05 | Good amount of content and things to find for DLC
# Overall -9 | Fantastic game that presents another interesting world in the Souls series
Gameplay 8.6- | Slightly easier than other Souls games, but the amount of variety in weapons, enemies and environment are great
Sound -8 | Biggest area that lacked compared to other souls games. Some decent tunes but failry lackluster
Story/Online -9 | Told through the world and items. Single player campaign was fantastic also.
Asking Price-9.67 | Tons of content and replaybility with different items & respec'ing your character.
# Overall -8 | Another interesting layout presented in DLC with brutal bosses
Gameplay - 8.2| Enemies better than 1st DLC although boss designs were worse.
Sound -8 | Similar to main game, nothing exceptional
Story/Online -8 | Tower itself was not very interesting but moving through it was.
Asking Price-8.05 | Good amount of content and things to find for DLC
Two things, one I finished my second game out of the 52 for the year, with Pokemon Red being completed in 13 hours.
As for today "game a day", it Megaman Battle Network.
I beat this back in the day and remember liking it a lot, but never got into the sequels for some reason. Planning on picking those up sometime to fix that.
As for today "game a day", it Megaman Battle Network.
I beat this back in the day and remember liking it a lot, but never got into the sequels for some reason. Planning on picking those up sometime to fix that.
3. Warframe (PC) - 77hrs
My friends and boyfriend got me into playing Warframe for a bit, and I was enjoying working through the story quests and having fun with people, but, once they dropped off, I kind of did too. It's definitely a game I very much enjoy playing with others and not so much by myself
4. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore (Switch) - 44hrs
I had this on Wii U, but, I never made it past the first dungeon in the end, the load times were abyssmal and combat dragged on with sessions playing out in full every time. I was excited to see it come back to Switch, and even more so with the load times. The Session mechanic is super fun (Though the ability to fine-tune the Session order would be nice) and it was a lovely casual RPG to spend time in. Itsuki is about as interesting as a block of wood, and, the game is so anime it hurts, but, it's got charm
I've managed to finish the challenge in the past with lengthy games mixed in; the last time I actually finished the challenge was the year I played two Yakuza games and 200 hours of Persona 5, so it can be done. That said, by the end of that year I was scrambling to make it to 52 by going through my backlog and finding small games to play. In earlier years I struck more of a balance naturally, but even in those years there were 30-50 hour games in there for sure.
This year I've managed to make it to eight games so far, and on average I've spent about 10 hours per game. This actually works great for me, as I kind of like knowing that I'll be done with a game within a week or two.
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17. Pajama Sam 4
The last Humongous Entertainment game I had left to play, at least far as their adventure game series go :(
Didn't enjoy this as much as I hoped esp. with the lack of subtitles. It's not a bad game but it's underwhelming compared to the previous games.
Humongous Ent. had a good run IMO, and their games still hold up well despite how light and simple they are.
17. Pajama Sam 4
The last Humongous Entertainment game I had left to play, at least far as their adventure game series go :(
Didn't enjoy this as much as I hoped esp. with the lack of subtitles. It's not a bad game but it's underwhelming compared to the previous games.
Humongous Ent. had a good run IMO, and their games still hold up well despite how light and simple they are.
Yeah, I guess building a buffer before going into something huge is the way to go so you're not in month 3 and still stuck in the same game. It's just that, my gaming time is limited so I would probably have to restrict myself to only playing short games if I ever were to do this.
10 hours games would work great for me, too. I just tend to gravitate towards longer games lately. Chip them down whenever I have any time to play. I wouldn't want to find myself in a situation where I panic and just go through short games for the heck of it though, but on the other hand I guess that would give me an excuse to try some of the games I don't normally play. In terms of backlog, I've pretty much given up getting through each and every game though, but that was never the point of my collection anyway.
These days I treat the 52-game challenge as more of a benchmark to compare my year against, but not something I need to flagellate myself with if I'm not on pace. In 2018 I finished only nine games, partially because of life, partially because of Pokemon Go, and partially because of the experience of 2017 where I was looking up random games in my library on HowLongToBeat.
After that I decided that the challenge should be for my own fun, not mainly to hit an arbitrary number. So I only give the challenge as much power over my gaming time as I want to, and if it's not working out I just revise my goal to be more realistic. It's not like a fitness workout where sticking to the goal has its own benefits. This is all just for fun!
to be perfectly honest 50% of the reason I keep doing these is because I like talking about games I've played, and the other 50% is because making cool graphics for each game is fun
18. Guevara (Arcade)
Che Guevara and Fidel Castro shoot their way across Cuba as they liberate it from Fulgencio Batista. Played it via the SNK 40th anniversary collection, although I found the twin stick control scheme a bit stiff at certain points. Game does not relent near the end game as enemies shots require your slow moving guerrilla to properly navigate through and around enemy fire to avoid dying.
19. Psycho Soldier
I enjoyed this more than Guevara but its gameplay loop remained the same throughout.
This is a 2D action game where Athena or Kensou can jump or down lanes as they fire at enemies and gather power ups to shield themselves with. The game has 5-6 stages and each end with a boss fight. The stages get a bit tricky later on with certain enemy patterns and the final boss just would not diiiiieeeeeee.
Still, it was worth it to experience one of Athena's earlier adventures, during her bright idol career zapping at monsters.
Che Guevara and Fidel Castro shoot their way across Cuba as they liberate it from Fulgencio Batista. Played it via the SNK 40th anniversary collection, although I found the twin stick control scheme a bit stiff at certain points. Game does not relent near the end game as enemies shots require your slow moving guerrilla to properly navigate through and around enemy fire to avoid dying.
19. Psycho Soldier
I enjoyed this more than Guevara but its gameplay loop remained the same throughout.
This is a 2D action game where Athena or Kensou can jump or down lanes as they fire at enemies and gather power ups to shield themselves with. The game has 5-6 stages and each end with a boss fight. The stages get a bit tricky later on with certain enemy patterns and the final boss just would not diiiiieeeeeee.
Still, it was worth it to experience one of Athena's earlier adventures, during her bright idol career zapping at monsters.
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As long as you're having fun, unless what's the point yeah? I beat maybe 7 or 8 games last year and if you count to lifetime achievements (yes, I like spreadsheets and jotting down stuff like that) I'm up to about 1 game per month since the beginning of my gaming time. 52 games in one year would be stretching it by a wide margin. Would be a cool thing to accomplish though.
Still my favorite Mega Man series. I remember doing the same, only played the first one and never played the sequels even though I liked it alot.
I'm hoping Capcom releases a legacy collection for them like how they're doing with the other Mega Man series, that'll get me to play them.
20. Beast Busters (Arcade)
While it is unforgiving being an arcade game of the 80s, this has to be one of the brutal and goriest games of the era, despite its rather cartoony look.
This is an on-rails shooter where the entire population of Earth are turned into monstrous zombies, including football players and biker gangs. Worse yet, even the dogs, barracudas and hawks have turned into zombies!
The game isn't very long but I quite enjoyed it despite any issues I'd encountered with the core gameplay itself, assuming the emulation wasn't culprit here.
While it is unforgiving being an arcade game of the 80s, this has to be one of the brutal and goriest games of the era, despite its rather cartoony look.
This is an on-rails shooter where the entire population of Earth are turned into monstrous zombies, including football players and biker gangs. Worse yet, even the dogs, barracudas and hawks have turned into zombies!
The game isn't very long but I quite enjoyed it despite any issues I'd encountered with the core gameplay itself, assuming the emulation wasn't culprit here.
Today game is....Beyond the Beyond oh boy.
So not every game I want to play for this are good games. And this is one my parents got when we first got the PS1. I didn't play much of it, but my dad somehow beat it. It largely got forgotten about when Suikoden and Final Fantasy VII came out. Sad thing is, this game wouldn't be so bad if the enemy stats were adjusted. Just the small bat in the picture take too much damage to kill and can randomly guard while attacking twice. I do wonder if when I get to the successor Golden Sun if the above feeling will be the same, as I did finish that game.
So not every game I want to play for this are good games. And this is one my parents got when we first got the PS1. I didn't play much of it, but my dad somehow beat it. It largely got forgotten about when Suikoden and Final Fantasy VII came out. Sad thing is, this game wouldn't be so bad if the enemy stats were adjusted. Just the small bat in the picture take too much damage to kill and can randomly guard while attacking twice. I do wonder if when I get to the successor Golden Sun if the above feeling will be the same, as I did finish that game.
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6. Samurai Shodown (PS4) 6 hours, Jan 29
Season 2 DLC for this game was announced recently and the upcoming characters looked neat, making me interested. I found the game for a really cheap price at Gamestop so it was worth trying out.
Getting into this game wasn't too difficult even for someone like me who isn't great at fighting games. It's all about knowing when to strike rather than stringing together difficult combos. Unfortunately the game is lacking in singleplayer content and I don't really want to renew my PS+ just to play online matches for this. If the PC version is good and I'm still interested in the game by the time it comes out, I'd be willing to play more there.
I think the game looks great visually so I'm excited to see what SNK can do next. I ended up skipping King of Fighters XIV because of how ugly it was so maybe that won't happen with XV now.
6. Samurai Shodown (PS4) 6 hours, Jan 29
Season 2 DLC for this game was announced recently and the upcoming characters looked neat, making me interested. I found the game for a really cheap price at Gamestop so it was worth trying out.
Getting into this game wasn't too difficult even for someone like me who isn't great at fighting games. It's all about knowing when to strike rather than stringing together difficult combos. Unfortunately the game is lacking in singleplayer content and I don't really want to renew my PS+ just to play online matches for this. If the PC version is good and I'm still interested in the game by the time it comes out, I'd be willing to play more there.
I think the game looks great visually so I'm excited to see what SNK can do next. I ended up skipping King of Fighters XIV because of how ugly it was so maybe that won't happen with XV now.
Today game is Gunstar Heroes
I actually ended up beating this in one sitting. Still a fun game, through I wish the checkpoints were better, as the map before the ship shooter section has no checkpoints and several mini bosses. And yeah the box is a reprint cover with a actual original Genesis case with a legit copy. (madden game donor box). I am not a fan of the offical cover art for the game so I used the fan one that uses the Japanese cover art.
I actually ended up beating this in one sitting. Still a fun game, through I wish the checkpoints were better, as the map before the ship shooter section has no checkpoints and several mini bosses. And yeah the box is a reprint cover with a actual original Genesis case with a legit copy. (madden game donor box). I am not a fan of the offical cover art for the game so I used the fan one that uses the Japanese cover art.
I know a lot of people would disagree, but i just couldn't enjoy it.
Don't take me wrong. I love how the game opens itself full to explore, the level design is superb, and the character and world design is absolutely beautiful; but the story fells bland and the gameplay ends up being boring and repetitive. I guess this one isn't for me.
Almost forgot the morality system of this game. It's kinda non existent, tbh.
7/52
#7: Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY (beaten 1/30/20) | Steam | 4/5 | 16 hours
I had previously beaten this game 5 or 6 years ago and wanted to play through it and Arkham City again. While this is an obviously old game and I'm used to present day mechanics (fast travel anyone?), I still thought this game was pretty sharp. I played it on hard difficulty this time which led to more frustration because I had to be more on the ball with my fighting. I was a fan of Batman: The Animated Series so it's always a joy to hear Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill digging at each other. A definite recommend if you haven't played it before but be prepare for Batman to control a little "heavy" and have his momentum carry him off ledges.
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#7: Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY (beaten 1/30/20) | Steam | 4/5 | 16 hours
I had previously beaten this game 5 or 6 years ago and wanted to play through it and Arkham City again. While this is an obviously old game and I'm used to present day mechanics (fast travel anyone?), I still thought this game was pretty sharp. I played it on hard difficulty this time which led to more frustration because I had to be more on the ball with my fighting. I was a fan of Batman: The Animated Series so it's always a joy to hear Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill digging at each other. A definite recommend if you haven't played it before but be prepare for Batman to control a little "heavy" and have his momentum carry him off ledges.
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08 | Batman Arkham Asylum
PC Steam | Jan 30 | 16 hrs | 3/5
It was an okay experience. It's a ten year old game and (don't hate me please) not a huge Batman universe fan. I'm not super familiar with many of the villains or references. There's a ton of collectables; I imagine fans would appreciate those more than myself. This was before "fast travel" in many games, so the back and forth hunting between areas was tedious.
The fighting was alright. Sometimes fluid, then sometimes not. I would guess the second game gets better?
But hey, Jonathan Crane is in it so that was awesome.
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PC Steam | Jan 30 | 16 hrs | 3/5
It was an okay experience. It's a ten year old game and (don't hate me please) not a huge Batman universe fan. I'm not super familiar with many of the villains or references. There's a ton of collectables; I imagine fans would appreciate those more than myself. This was before "fast travel" in many games, so the back and forth hunting between areas was tedious.
The fighting was alright. Sometimes fluid, then sometimes not. I would guess the second game gets better?
But hey, Jonathan Crane is in it so that was awesome.
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21. Quake
Now this was a great shooter, although the final episode had some tough stuff to deal with due to the game resetting your weapons requiring you to pick them up again in every new episode.
I quite enjoyed exploring the stages, finding resources and battling the enemies, who despite being around a dozen or so, don't detract from the game's enjoyment.
It was a great game 25 years ago, it's a great game today, esp. with many graphic mods available for the game.
Now this was a great shooter, although the final episode had some tough stuff to deal with due to the game resetting your weapons requiring you to pick them up again in every new episode.
I quite enjoyed exploring the stages, finding resources and battling the enemies, who despite being around a dozen or so, don't detract from the game's enjoyment.
It was a great game 25 years ago, it's a great game today, esp. with many graphic mods available for the game.
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This year I'm going to try to post progress monthly.
January
1: Sayonara Wild Hearts - 2 hours
Sayonara Wild Hearts is a visual spectacle, bursting with color and style. The gameplay variety is surprisingly good and you'll find yourself on a motorcycle one minute and flying through the air with free control the next. The best part of the game is the way the music blends perfectly with the gameplay. It's not quite a rhythm game but you could do a pretty decent job playing the game based on the music even if you couldn't see it. The soundtrack isn't bad in its own right either, it's energetic and matches the visuals and gameplay well.. The combination of the gorgeous creative visuals and the heights of the music builds a pretty emotional experience to play. I'm not entirely sure that I understood what was going on in the story but I left the game feeling like I definitely understood the experience.
7/10
2: Creature in the Well - 5 hours
Creature in the Well has you playing as a defunct robot who can power up, shoot, and deflect powered balls and has to use those powers to restart a weather machine and save a town from disaster. It ends up playing sort of like Breakout if Breakout was a character action game. The gameplay loop wears a bit thin as the game goes on but there is a nice sense of progression as you unlock more weapons and power-ups that change the properties of the power balls or make them hit harder. The balls can also be frustrating to control and some of the harder rooms feel unfair but all the bouncing projectiles from you and enemies do keep things exciting. The creature is an interesting and mysterious antagonist but it never truly feels like the threat that it should.
8/10
3: The Outer Wilds - 18 hours
I don't have a great history with time loop games. Back when I was a kid I loved Ocarina of Time and saved up my allowance for months to buy Majora's Mask for $75. I hated it. The time limit was stressful and I felt like I was constantly being interrupted and told to start over when I had gotten somewhere interesting, and the limited time events that you had to decipher and plan around was annoying. Outer Worlds largely avoids these problems by having a very short loop time of 22 minutes and by having a solar system and planets that all feel very large but where it is easy to get back to where your last loop ended. I didn't really understand what the story of the game was supposed to be or what it was building towards for the first 6-8 hours of the game, but once it started to click I loved the way it unravelled. Most of all, I love that it was truly self-driven. Like The Witness your currency for progression is just learning how things work in Outer Wilds and what the Nami, your predecessors, did in the galaxy and why. It works brilliantly and is much more approachable than in the Witness, plus the narrative they are telling here feels a bit more interesting in comparison. I think the best thing about the game is how unique the planets are. I was awe-struck every time I visited a new planet and started to pull away the layers. I loved how the game used music so sparsely but with so much impact. No matter what lonely black pit you found yourself in when the 22 minute loop was approaching its end and the galaxy was about to be destroyed, you could always pull out your radar and hear other explorers playing a familiar song for you.
9/10
4: Tick Tock: A Tale for Two - 3 hours
Starting with "We Were Here" there have been a few indie games over the last few years that created an escape-room-like experience, but used the nature of videogames to allow people to have parallel intersecting experiences rather than just solving a single puzzle together. Tick Tock continues this trend and is smartly made, not only allowing players to play the game cross-platform, but actually allowing people to play without connecting to each other at all. You simply pick whether to be player A or B and since neither player will progress far without talking to and receiving information from about puzzles from the other player, you naturally sync up. I liked the content of the puzzles and the weird mad-clock-scientist story that the game told. It's a simple but well made puzzle game that was a lot of fun to play through with a friend.
8/10
5: Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age - 60 hours
I didn't know that I was missing a game like this in my life, or that JRPGs had even changed so much over the last 15 years. I thought that I'd just aged out of the genre: that the awkward edgy character designs, juvenile character writing full of anime tropes, and stale uninteresting combat were always a thing, and that I'd simply gotten too old to tolerate them. DQXI feels a bit like a miracle to play: it's a high-budget, beautiful, and extremely well-made version of older JRPGs that is just as engaging and fun to play now as the SNES and PS1 JRPGs I remember from my youth. I've tried playing older JRPGs over the last few years and they really do show their age in a lot of ways, so the fact that DQXI manages to evoke the same feelings as those older games without feeling antiquated is a really impressive balance. I loved how gorgeous and inviting the world felt, full of vibrant colors and lush scenery. I loved how the game told small, almost episodic, stories in each town you visited which kept things fresh and let the game breath a bit over its long playtime. I loved how fun and almost progressive the characters in the game felt, each pretty memorable outside of the regrettably silent main character. DQXI is a game that is swimming in nostalgia but almost never feels like it is pandering. It's proof that JRPGs still have this magical ability to transport you to another world and get you totally engrossed in the story and setting. It's not a perfect game but it was a joy to play through.
9/10
6: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - 8 hours
Hellblade is such a unique game. At times it feels like a survival horror game, full of ghastly imagery and hostile environments, it's outright stressful to play. It doesn't feel exploitative though or like it's using these tools to be cool or scary: the imagery in the game feels like a genuine hell that Senua is living. You never know what's real and what isn't, but then neither does Senua, and this is her reality, so what does it matter? I think the biggest differentiating factor between Hellblade and other dark psychological horror games is the acting performance for Senua herself which is absolutely incredible. The face capture technology is impressive itself but it's met by an equally impressive performance from the actress playing Senua. It's at times vulnerable and sad at other times frantic and outraged. You always feel deeply for Senua because the game does a great job conveying emotion and you're living through this hell right alongside her. The audio with headphones is incredible, convincingly sounding like people and thoughts are playing right in your ear (or maybe even in your head). I wasn't wild about the Rune puzzles but the making-of feature was very insightful, showing how many decisions they made to authentically represent what psychosis might look or feel like, and I have a lot of respect for why they built the puzzles the way they did after watching it. There were some really beautiful moments in this that I will remember for a long time and I'm really excited to see what they do with the sequel.
9/10
This year I'm going to try to post progress monthly.
January
1: Sayonara Wild Hearts - 2 hours
Sayonara Wild Hearts is a visual spectacle, bursting with color and style. The gameplay variety is surprisingly good and you'll find yourself on a motorcycle one minute and flying through the air with free control the next. The best part of the game is the way the music blends perfectly with the gameplay. It's not quite a rhythm game but you could do a pretty decent job playing the game based on the music even if you couldn't see it. The soundtrack isn't bad in its own right either, it's energetic and matches the visuals and gameplay well.. The combination of the gorgeous creative visuals and the heights of the music builds a pretty emotional experience to play. I'm not entirely sure that I understood what was going on in the story but I left the game feeling like I definitely understood the experience.
7/10
2: Creature in the Well - 5 hours
Creature in the Well has you playing as a defunct robot who can power up, shoot, and deflect powered balls and has to use those powers to restart a weather machine and save a town from disaster. It ends up playing sort of like Breakout if Breakout was a character action game. The gameplay loop wears a bit thin as the game goes on but there is a nice sense of progression as you unlock more weapons and power-ups that change the properties of the power balls or make them hit harder. The balls can also be frustrating to control and some of the harder rooms feel unfair but all the bouncing projectiles from you and enemies do keep things exciting. The creature is an interesting and mysterious antagonist but it never truly feels like the threat that it should.
8/10
3: The Outer Wilds - 18 hours
I don't have a great history with time loop games. Back when I was a kid I loved Ocarina of Time and saved up my allowance for months to buy Majora's Mask for $75. I hated it. The time limit was stressful and I felt like I was constantly being interrupted and told to start over when I had gotten somewhere interesting, and the limited time events that you had to decipher and plan around was annoying. Outer Worlds largely avoids these problems by having a very short loop time of 22 minutes and by having a solar system and planets that all feel very large but where it is easy to get back to where your last loop ended. I didn't really understand what the story of the game was supposed to be or what it was building towards for the first 6-8 hours of the game, but once it started to click I loved the way it unravelled. Most of all, I love that it was truly self-driven. Like The Witness your currency for progression is just learning how things work in Outer Wilds and what the Nami, your predecessors, did in the galaxy and why. It works brilliantly and is much more approachable than in the Witness, plus the narrative they are telling here feels a bit more interesting in comparison. I think the best thing about the game is how unique the planets are. I was awe-struck every time I visited a new planet and started to pull away the layers. I loved how the game used music so sparsely but with so much impact. No matter what lonely black pit you found yourself in when the 22 minute loop was approaching its end and the galaxy was about to be destroyed, you could always pull out your radar and hear other explorers playing a familiar song for you.
9/10
4: Tick Tock: A Tale for Two - 3 hours
Starting with "We Were Here" there have been a few indie games over the last few years that created an escape-room-like experience, but used the nature of videogames to allow people to have parallel intersecting experiences rather than just solving a single puzzle together. Tick Tock continues this trend and is smartly made, not only allowing players to play the game cross-platform, but actually allowing people to play without connecting to each other at all. You simply pick whether to be player A or B and since neither player will progress far without talking to and receiving information from about puzzles from the other player, you naturally sync up. I liked the content of the puzzles and the weird mad-clock-scientist story that the game told. It's a simple but well made puzzle game that was a lot of fun to play through with a friend.
8/10
5: Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age - 60 hours
I didn't know that I was missing a game like this in my life, or that JRPGs had even changed so much over the last 15 years. I thought that I'd just aged out of the genre: that the awkward edgy character designs, juvenile character writing full of anime tropes, and stale uninteresting combat were always a thing, and that I'd simply gotten too old to tolerate them. DQXI feels a bit like a miracle to play: it's a high-budget, beautiful, and extremely well-made version of older JRPGs that is just as engaging and fun to play now as the SNES and PS1 JRPGs I remember from my youth. I've tried playing older JRPGs over the last few years and they really do show their age in a lot of ways, so the fact that DQXI manages to evoke the same feelings as those older games without feeling antiquated is a really impressive balance. I loved how gorgeous and inviting the world felt, full of vibrant colors and lush scenery. I loved how the game told small, almost episodic, stories in each town you visited which kept things fresh and let the game breath a bit over its long playtime. I loved how fun and almost progressive the characters in the game felt, each pretty memorable outside of the regrettably silent main character. DQXI is a game that is swimming in nostalgia but almost never feels like it is pandering. It's proof that JRPGs still have this magical ability to transport you to another world and get you totally engrossed in the story and setting. It's not a perfect game but it was a joy to play through.
9/10
6: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - 8 hours
Hellblade is such a unique game. At times it feels like a survival horror game, full of ghastly imagery and hostile environments, it's outright stressful to play. It doesn't feel exploitative though or like it's using these tools to be cool or scary: the imagery in the game feels like a genuine hell that Senua is living. You never know what's real and what isn't, but then neither does Senua, and this is her reality, so what does it matter? I think the biggest differentiating factor between Hellblade and other dark psychological horror games is the acting performance for Senua herself which is absolutely incredible. The face capture technology is impressive itself but it's met by an equally impressive performance from the actress playing Senua. It's at times vulnerable and sad at other times frantic and outraged. You always feel deeply for Senua because the game does a great job conveying emotion and you're living through this hell right alongside her. The audio with headphones is incredible, convincingly sounding like people and thoughts are playing right in your ear (or maybe even in your head). I wasn't wild about the Rune puzzles but the making-of feature was very insightful, showing how many decisions they made to authentically represent what psychosis might look or feel like, and I have a lot of respect for why they built the puzzles the way they did after watching it. There were some really beautiful moments in this that I will remember for a long time and I'm really excited to see what they do with the sequel.
9/10
22. Chopper 1/The Legend of Air Cavalry
So this is one of them Arcade games that loops once you finish the final level. Rather nice shump, but the chopper itself felt slow to move around, and some enemy bullets were difficult to discern due to them being tiny :P
23. Fantasy
This is a curious little game. Originally released in 1981, the game follows Tom as he hops in his hot air balloon and sets out to rescue the kidnapped Cheri. First she's kidnapped by pirates, so in the first level you navigate your hot air balloon to land on the ship while dodging its canon fire. Once inside the game changes perspective; moving right or left will have Tom attack with his sword weapon which is the only way to defeat the pirate enemies. Once all are slain, you can approach Cheri to free her, but wouldn't you know, she gets kidnapped by a giant bird that takes her to some jungle. You take chase in your hot air balloon once more this time dodging flying enemies as the game dictates you must reach 3,000 Kilometers in order to clear this level.
This is a small idea of what this game is about, but being a really old arcade game, it's not necessarily one I'd recommend playing unless you are VERY curious about how games were like back in the day.
All in all though...I do rather like it. The concept of the game is curious, interesting and hella random. It's not a game I might replay any time soon but I am quite intrigued by its concept.
24. Guevara (NES)
The NES ver. of this game is an entirely different beast and an overall better game IMHO, even if it is a tad more difficult.
Ammo does not deplete which also holds true for grenades, which is a blessing since the weapons were really effective in the original game.
Both Guevara and Castro move much faster than in the arcade ver. making navigating around the game much better, however the NES emulation in the SNK 40th ann. collection retains slowdown from playing it on an original NES, which helps in some sections but at the same time comes off irksome to me.
A solid run and gun game all things considered. Still difficult but a good one.
So this is one of them Arcade games that loops once you finish the final level. Rather nice shump, but the chopper itself felt slow to move around, and some enemy bullets were difficult to discern due to them being tiny :P
23. Fantasy
This is a curious little game. Originally released in 1981, the game follows Tom as he hops in his hot air balloon and sets out to rescue the kidnapped Cheri. First she's kidnapped by pirates, so in the first level you navigate your hot air balloon to land on the ship while dodging its canon fire. Once inside the game changes perspective; moving right or left will have Tom attack with his sword weapon which is the only way to defeat the pirate enemies. Once all are slain, you can approach Cheri to free her, but wouldn't you know, she gets kidnapped by a giant bird that takes her to some jungle. You take chase in your hot air balloon once more this time dodging flying enemies as the game dictates you must reach 3,000 Kilometers in order to clear this level.
This is a small idea of what this game is about, but being a really old arcade game, it's not necessarily one I'd recommend playing unless you are VERY curious about how games were like back in the day.
All in all though...I do rather like it. The concept of the game is curious, interesting and hella random. It's not a game I might replay any time soon but I am quite intrigued by its concept.
24. Guevara (NES)
The NES ver. of this game is an entirely different beast and an overall better game IMHO, even if it is a tad more difficult.
Ammo does not deplete which also holds true for grenades, which is a blessing since the weapons were really effective in the original game.
Both Guevara and Castro move much faster than in the arcade ver. making navigating around the game much better, however the NES emulation in the SNK 40th ann. collection retains slowdown from playing it on an original NES, which helps in some sections but at the same time comes off irksome to me.
A solid run and gun game all things considered. Still difficult but a good one.
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Master Post edited. 18/52.
18. Season Match 3 - Much better than 2 and offers a lot more content. I put in 8 hours overall and finished both the single player quest and arcade playthrough. 3/5
18. Season Match 3 - Much better than 2 and offers a lot more content. I put in 8 hours overall and finished both the single player quest and arcade playthrough. 3/5
5. Yakuza Kiwami (37 hours)
A clear step down from Yakuza 0 from pretty much every angle, but a fun game on its own merits.
Full list to date
A clear step down from Yakuza 0 from pretty much every angle, but a fun game on its own merits.
Full list to date
Baron von Loathsome Hell even the ORIGINAL PS2 Yakuza game was underwhelming. Yakuza 2 is a step up but it has its own issues IMO like side quests being available much later in the game than I would've liked.
25. World Wars (Arcade)
In 1987, SNK released a shoot'emup called Bermuda Triangle. This game had an issue when I played it; your ship is too wide, well too wide for me to properly navigate around enemy projectiles and such.
On the right is your energy bar which fills up as you pick up E icons making your ship deal more damage and it functioned as a health bar as well.
The concept is sound but due to the ship's size making navigating around the screen difficult, I didn't bother to finish it.
Interestingly enough, assets from this game would be re-utilized in making this game, World Wars. This was a much better experience IMO, but it did get frustrating in later stages with certain enemy shots and positioning requiring you to be carefulw ith your positioning. All in all it was a bit lengthy but a decent shoot'em-up...and I only learned in THE FINAL BOSS FIGHT that the game lets you rotate your 'turret', making it a twin-stick shooting like affair :V
My dumb ass would've benefited a lot from knowing this to begin with to make certain sections a lot easier to handle than what I've just played, but I'll leave that for a future playthrough.
26. Prehistoric Isle
Hadn't played this in a few years but I still find it good. Although the later stages up the difficulty, it's a visually nice looking game with good animations for the enemies which include fire breathing dinos and axe flinging cavemen.
25. World Wars (Arcade)
In 1987, SNK released a shoot'emup called Bermuda Triangle. This game had an issue when I played it; your ship is too wide, well too wide for me to properly navigate around enemy projectiles and such.
On the right is your energy bar which fills up as you pick up E icons making your ship deal more damage and it functioned as a health bar as well.
The concept is sound but due to the ship's size making navigating around the screen difficult, I didn't bother to finish it.
Interestingly enough, assets from this game would be re-utilized in making this game, World Wars. This was a much better experience IMO, but it did get frustrating in later stages with certain enemy shots and positioning requiring you to be carefulw ith your positioning. All in all it was a bit lengthy but a decent shoot'em-up...and I only learned in THE FINAL BOSS FIGHT that the game lets you rotate your 'turret', making it a twin-stick shooting like affair :V
My dumb ass would've benefited a lot from knowing this to begin with to make certain sections a lot easier to handle than what I've just played, but I'll leave that for a future playthrough.
26. Prehistoric Isle
Hadn't played this in a few years but I still find it good. Although the later stages up the difficulty, it's a visually nice looking game with good animations for the enemies which include fire breathing dinos and axe flinging cavemen.
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Master Post
Update #002
06. Pokemon Shield | Nintendo Switch | Completed 28/01/2020 | ★★★
This is the first Pokemon game I've finished in easily over a decade and it was... fine? Even though it wasn't the evolution people hoped it'd be moving to a console getting to play the new Pokemon game on a TV really kept me engaged. Just something about handhelds keep me from ever finishing games on them. I liked the structure of the world and thought the wild area was a fun idea that they continue to expand moving forward. I just really, really don't need every Pokemon game to be about some world ending even brought on by a legendary Pokemon or whatever. It's so boring. I really appreciated how for the majority of the game the bigger story stuff just kinda happened around you while people kept telling you to focus on the gym challenge, but then the end of the game just drags you right into it and it felt like I was just slogging through *hours* of boring story stuff I didn't care about at all that soured the whole experience for me.
Also Sobble's evolutions suck so hard and I really regret not googling them before hand and being stuck with this goofy looking stupid idiots.
07. Sayonara Wild Hearts | iOS | Completed 29/01/2020 | ★★★
This is my second time playing this game after playing it last year when it came out on the Switch. For whatever reason I just can't get this game to click with me the way it probably should. I just get way too wrapped up every time in getting gold rank and all of the diamond things in the opening levels before remembering it doesn't really have to be like that. My ideal version of this game is where, the first time you play, it's just like album arcade mode where the whole story happens to you all at once, but *without* the scoring so you can just experience the story and then unlocking ranked mode after that. I understand why they wouldn't design the game that way, but it would do a lot for me personally to just get the idea of scores out of my head and allow me to focus on the experience which, when I was eventually able to let those gameplay hangups go, is still incredibly moving and good
08. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot | PC | Completed 31/01/2020 | ★★★★
I was so up and down on my opinions on this game while playing it that I never would have thought my views would be so positive when I was done with it. It's far from perfect and has a lot of issues in how it plays and how it delivers the story, but you can just tell this game was made by people who genuinely care about and/or respect the source material and wanted to present the story in it's entirety (and then some) in the best way possible. As an action game on it's own it's probably lacking pretty heavily, but as a Dragon Ball product for Dragon Ball fans I think it's very good and totally worth playing
09. Minit | PC | Completed 31/01/2020 | ★★
I like the concept of this game and think it executes on it pretty well, I just felt like it kinda... ended? It seemed like there was going to be a lot more to it than there really was. There's a lot of secrets and coins that I didn't find but I didn't really feel incentivised to find them outside of just filling a percentage meter. I get why people were super into it when it came out but once you get past the cool concept of the time loop and see the tone for it's charming world it wears a little thin
Update #002
06. Pokemon Shield | Nintendo Switch | Completed 28/01/2020 | ★★★
This is the first Pokemon game I've finished in easily over a decade and it was... fine? Even though it wasn't the evolution people hoped it'd be moving to a console getting to play the new Pokemon game on a TV really kept me engaged. Just something about handhelds keep me from ever finishing games on them. I liked the structure of the world and thought the wild area was a fun idea that they continue to expand moving forward. I just really, really don't need every Pokemon game to be about some world ending even brought on by a legendary Pokemon or whatever. It's so boring. I really appreciated how for the majority of the game the bigger story stuff just kinda happened around you while people kept telling you to focus on the gym challenge, but then the end of the game just drags you right into it and it felt like I was just slogging through *hours* of boring story stuff I didn't care about at all that soured the whole experience for me.
Also Sobble's evolutions suck so hard and I really regret not googling them before hand and being stuck with this goofy looking stupid idiots.
07. Sayonara Wild Hearts | iOS | Completed 29/01/2020 | ★★★
This is my second time playing this game after playing it last year when it came out on the Switch. For whatever reason I just can't get this game to click with me the way it probably should. I just get way too wrapped up every time in getting gold rank and all of the diamond things in the opening levels before remembering it doesn't really have to be like that. My ideal version of this game is where, the first time you play, it's just like album arcade mode where the whole story happens to you all at once, but *without* the scoring so you can just experience the story and then unlocking ranked mode after that. I understand why they wouldn't design the game that way, but it would do a lot for me personally to just get the idea of scores out of my head and allow me to focus on the experience which, when I was eventually able to let those gameplay hangups go, is still incredibly moving and good
08. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot | PC | Completed 31/01/2020 | ★★★★
I was so up and down on my opinions on this game while playing it that I never would have thought my views would be so positive when I was done with it. It's far from perfect and has a lot of issues in how it plays and how it delivers the story, but you can just tell this game was made by people who genuinely care about and/or respect the source material and wanted to present the story in it's entirety (and then some) in the best way possible. As an action game on it's own it's probably lacking pretty heavily, but as a Dragon Ball product for Dragon Ball fans I think it's very good and totally worth playing
09. Minit | PC | Completed 31/01/2020 | ★★
I like the concept of this game and think it executes on it pretty well, I just felt like it kinda... ended? It seemed like there was going to be a lot more to it than there really was. There's a lot of secrets and coins that I didn't find but I didn't really feel incentivised to find them outside of just filling a percentage meter. I get why people were super into it when it came out but once you get past the cool concept of the time loop and see the tone for it's charming world it wears a little thin
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Some interesting thoughts on some interesting games from everyone. Top job everyone!
Main Post
I'm done for January. I played a lot more than I thought despite beginning the month in a Destiny 2 shaped hole. Completed 6 games so far but the year is starting to crank up the commitments and work life balance will only suffer going forward. Oh, and Cook, Serve, Delicious 3 came out [in early access]. Good month I reckon.
My thoughts on the games I completed in January:
GAME #01: The Painscreek Killings
EQ Studios - PC - ★★★★☆
Completion State:
Completed the game both alive and dead (11.7 hours, 90% Steam achievements)
Comments:
Good, layered detective adventure game. Find the clues, solve the puzzles, ascertain who the killer is. Easy to say, harder to do but never so hard as to feel obtuse or unfair.
Looks dated at this point but that's neither here nor there, it kept me gripped for the full 10 hours.
GAME #02: PAKO - Car Chase Simulator
Tree Men Games - PC - ★★★☆☆
Completion State:
Unlocked all levels and tried a few challenges (3.8 hours, 30% Steam achievements)
Comments:
One of the best games i've played120 seconds *ahem* 30 seconds at a time!
Ridiculously hard but a lot of fun. It occasionally feels unfair mostly due to the view but restarting is so quick who cares!
GAME #03: Sleeping Dogs
United Front Games - PC - ★★★☆☆
Completion State:
Completed the story and some side content (21 hours, 30% Steam achievements)
Comments:
Great game with some fun melee combat marred by some padding in the back third which is exacerbated by the insistence I use guns for the final few missions. With the shooting being so bad it leaves a bad taste in my mouth just as the story is coming to a pretty OK conclusion.
GAME #04: PAKO 2
Tree Men Games - PC - ★★★★☆
Completion State:
Unlocked all levels (9.5 hours, 63% Steam achievements)
Comments:
A perfect sequel the PAKO - Car Chase Simulator, more advanced in every way but without losing any of the charm or style of the original PAKO. Fantastic stuff.
GAME #05: Sleeping Dogs - Nightmare in North Point
United Front Games - PC - ★★☆☆☆
Completion State:
Completed the story and some side content (1.5 hours)
Comments:
Short DLC included with the definitive edition of the game. Fun diversion I suppose but it changes the whole pallet of the game to fit the dream/nightmare themes and it takes A LOT away from the uniqueness of the locale.
GAME #06: Sleeping Dogs - Year of the Snake
United Front Games - PC - ★★★☆☆
Completion State:
Completed the story and some side content (2.5 hours)
Comments:
Short DLC included with the definitive edition of the game. Better than Nightmare in North Point but still too much shooting.
Main Post
I'm done for January. I played a lot more than I thought despite beginning the month in a Destiny 2 shaped hole. Completed 6 games so far but the year is starting to crank up the commitments and work life balance will only suffer going forward. Oh, and Cook, Serve, Delicious 3 came out [in early access]. Good month I reckon.
My thoughts on the games I completed in January:
GAME #01: The Painscreek Killings
EQ Studios - PC - ★★★★☆
Completion State:
Completed the game both alive and dead (11.7 hours, 90% Steam achievements)
Comments:
Good, layered detective adventure game. Find the clues, solve the puzzles, ascertain who the killer is. Easy to say, harder to do but never so hard as to feel obtuse or unfair.
Looks dated at this point but that's neither here nor there, it kept me gripped for the full 10 hours.
GAME #02: PAKO - Car Chase Simulator
Tree Men Games - PC - ★★★☆☆
Completion State:
Unlocked all levels and tried a few challenges (3.8 hours, 30% Steam achievements)
Comments:
One of the best games i've played
Ridiculously hard but a lot of fun. It occasionally feels unfair mostly due to the view but restarting is so quick who cares!
GAME #03: Sleeping Dogs
United Front Games - PC - ★★★☆☆
Completion State:
Completed the story and some side content (21 hours, 30% Steam achievements)
Comments:
Great game with some fun melee combat marred by some padding in the back third which is exacerbated by the insistence I use guns for the final few missions. With the shooting being so bad it leaves a bad taste in my mouth just as the story is coming to a pretty OK conclusion.
GAME #04: PAKO 2
Tree Men Games - PC - ★★★★☆
Completion State:
Unlocked all levels (9.5 hours, 63% Steam achievements)
Comments:
A perfect sequel the PAKO - Car Chase Simulator, more advanced in every way but without losing any of the charm or style of the original PAKO. Fantastic stuff.
GAME #05: Sleeping Dogs - Nightmare in North Point
United Front Games - PC - ★★☆☆☆
Completion State:
Completed the story and some side content (1.5 hours)
Comments:
Short DLC included with the definitive edition of the game. Fun diversion I suppose but it changes the whole pallet of the game to fit the dream/nightmare themes and it takes A LOT away from the uniqueness of the locale.
GAME #06: Sleeping Dogs - Year of the Snake
United Front Games - PC - ★★★☆☆
Completion State:
Completed the story and some side content (2.5 hours)
Comments:
Short DLC included with the definitive edition of the game. Better than Nightmare in North Point but still too much shooting.
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9. Resident Evil 2 (XB1) Jan 31 14 Hrs ★★★★★
Amazing game. I enjoyed the other RE games I've played but this one was on a whole different level. I am now pumped for RE3 in March. Day 1.
Pretty good start with January ending with 9 games beat.
OP
52 Games. 1 Year. 2020.
I'm in. 2020 is the year of clearing out the backlog for me and I always love reading this thread so lets go! STATUS: 67/52 Games
www.resetera.com