52 Games. 1 Year. 2021.

KtotheRoc · Sep 16, 2021

51: The Artful Escape. End: 9/15/2021. (3 out of 5)

A very stylish game that really wants you to know how awesome music is (and music is quite awesome). Even though it's a short game, I found I wasn't invested in the narrative.

Weiss · Sep 16, 2021

29. Deltarune Chapter 1 - 16/09/2021

I feel really bad for Eastward but omg Deltarune Chapter 2 tomorrow aaaaaahhh

Weiss · Sep 18, 2021

30. Deltarune Chapter 2 - 17/09/2021

I'm counting it don't @ me

djinn · Sep 18, 2021

Weiss said:
30. Deltarune Chapter 2 - 17/09/2021

I'm counting it don't @ me

I'm going to do the same 👍

KtotheRoc · Sep 19, 2021

52: Flynn: Son of Crimson. End: 9/19/2021. (3.5 out of 5)

And so I end 2021's 52 game challenge on Flynn: Son of Crimson. A pixel based action-platformer that feels like a deliberate throwback to games past. Not without its problems, it was an interesting experience to end the challenge on. (But I will be just fine if I never have to play a game with the Scourge again. That mechanic wore out its welcome with me.)

Sillen2000 · Sep 19, 2021

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August update: 31/52

I didn't forget about doing the update this month. I've just been lazy and even doing these very first draft-y write ups takes quite a bit of time.

As always though: games!

28. August 7th | Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition | Switch | 120h | ☆☆☆☆½(/5)
I played Xenoblade Chronicles 2 when it was new and like a lot of people, I found it a pretty mixed bag. The character designs were awful, the story went nowhere for at least half of the game, the map was pretty terrible at pointing out where you could go etc.. I did grow to like it in the end, but most of those complaints never really went away, and even though I was interested in playing the first game, my feelins about the sequel and the fact that this was at a time when it could only be played on the Wii and was extremely expensive (though I guess it was possible to but it on Wii U as well, but the less time I have to spend with that console the better), so it never happened.

Until now, obviously. Bought it during last year's Black friday, but it always takes me a while to actually start playing huge RPGs since the prospect of spending so much time on one game is a fairly daunting one. But here we are now. With me not only having finished Xenoblade Chronicles but having done basically everything the game has to offer. I'm pretty sure I've done every side quest, reconstructed Colony 6, defeated every super boss, gotten every achievement outside of, I think, five really tedious and grindy ones and having done all of this - I'm pretty sure this is a contender for a position in my top 10 JRPGS of all time.

I love some good exploration in video games, and while Xenoblade Chronicles isn't really about that, I found that running around its many huge zones and soaking in the world, sometimes finding secret areas, was both extremely relaxing and joyful at the same time. I feel like playing video games is often about going through the motions more than anything else, but with this game I really found myself completely immersed in the world in a way that I haven't in a long time. I saw someone comment on this game that its charm disappears as soon as you get to used to the vastness of it, but I don't think I ever did? I never just play a game without a clear goal in sight and I haven't in this either, but I often think of just loading my save file and running around Eryth Sea again because I simply like it so much. Every single zone in this game gave me so much joy, and while the side quests in this game usually aren't anything special, the fact that they motivated me to seek out new areas in new times and fight new enemies in these fantastic landscapes also meant that I also constantly found new things to do in them.

And with "new" I guess I mean "did another fetch quest" or "fought another unique enemy", which is a legitimate complaint to have about the game. The side quests usually aren't the most exciting, but for someone who just enjoys being in the game's world I never had any real issue with them. Same with the combat, which isn't the deepest ever (though I'd say the super bosses require a lot of planning if you don't just topple lock them, which I didn't even know was a thing when I fought them and therefore didn't) and can definitely get a bit tedious when enemies with high aggro decide to attack you from a mile away, but I really liked it. It works well, no fight is too long, and every character feels viable to play as. I do wish Shulk would learn a few more moves, but the other characters complement him well (until you reach endgame with all of the monado skills he learns from side quests and he suddenly becomes a one man army).

My only real issue with the game comes with the story which I'm obviously not going to spoil here, but there are some parts that just feel poorly written, and a few of the characters (both in and outside of the main party) could have used some more development. Otherwise it's pretty standard shonen anime fare. Not exactly bad, but seldom particularly excellent either. There are great moments, but as a whole it's fairly inoffensive. I do enjoy how absolutely insane it gets in the final act though!

I was worried about Xenoblade Chronicles going in, but all of my worries were swept away almost immediately. Should probably replay 2 now that I'm more well versed in the series, but as it stands this first game is definitely my favorite between the two. Not sure which of them has the better soundtrack though since both are absolutely incredible. Choosing just one highlight for this game wasn't easy!

And I haven't played Future Connected yet. Not sure if I'll count that as one of my 52 when I finally do since I usually don't count DLC campaigns (and I know this isn't DLC, but it's not quite its own separate game either) and things like that, but we'll see. Looking forward to playing it either way!

Soundtrack highlight:
Eryth Sea (Day)

29. August 9th | Demon's Souls | Playstation 3 | 27h | ☆☆☆☆
I don't own a PS5, so I went back in time to get my next gen experience. Out of all FromSofts Soulsborne games I've only played Bloodborne before and I mostly enjoyed it, but not to the degree that I felt the need to really play any other games in the "series". For some reason I bought Demon's Souls last year, though, and after Xenoblade Chronicles I was in the mood for something heavy on action and low on story, which is definitely what I got.

Demon's Souls is a fascinating game because it really shouldn't work as well as it does. It has very obtuse mechanics, it absolutely hates the player with how harsh it is with its checkpoints, the bosses are more often than not extremely lacklustre and there's not real motivation to keep playing since the story is so obtuse. It also has 5-2.

But at the same time, and it might be because of my time with Ikaruga earlier this year has made me more keen on taking on challenges, I enjoyed almost all of my time with the game. I did enjoy how hostile it felt, how little it cared about me, and how extremely janky it can feel at times. I also found myself enjoying how very linear it was after Bloodborne which I found at times to be a bit too open for how similarly hostile and unwilling to explain itself as it was. I played a strictly melee build since I've heard magic completely breaks the game, and while it certainly didn't make the game easy, I don't think it was ever all that difficult either. It's tough, sure, but I don't think it's ever really unfair. There are obviously some terrible enemy placements (like the mindflayer on the stairs in both 3-2 and 3-3), but there are usually some tricks or rings to get by pretty painlessly.

Also really found myself enjoying the game's atmosphere. It's not exactly oppressive, but it's very clear that this is a world that doesn't want the player character to run around in it, and while the art direction outside of enemy design isn't all that interesting, the stage designs really brings home that this used to be a living, breathing world where something's gone horribly wrong. It's also just an incredibly dark games (visually, I mean. This is at times the Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem of video games) where you can barely see what's just a few steps ahead, and I love it. Makes you cautious and really respectful of what's potentially ahead. I didn't really feel it with Bloodborne for some reason, but getting to the next check point and clearing the next boss (despite them, as previously mentioned, being pretty so-so more often than not) really felt satisfying in this game, and I think it was because of this atmosphere. I persevered where I really shouldn't have, and my reward is to keep existing. Most of the time I also got most of my health back since becoming a ghost in this game is insanely punishing (though it is pretty generous with giving you items that give you your physical body back), but it's mostly down to atmosphere.

I also had a sword which ignited enemies when I attacked them, which was pretty cool. I still have no idea how world tendency affects anything and that's probably for the better.

Soundtrack highlight:
Maiden Astraea

30. August 15th | Rival Schools: United by Fate | Playstation | 1h | ☆☆☆½
You know, I really struggle every time I have to write something about fighting games. I obviously enjoy playing them since I've beaten a fair amount, but I also really only play the arcade modes and am then ready to move on. I usually don't really know if a game is unbalanced or anything technical like that. I just know if I enjoyed it, and at times barely even that.

Rival Schools is a game that seems to have some sort of cult following and one that I, for some reason, have been interested in playing for a long time but it's often very expensive to buy if you want an actual copy of it. I finally got my hands on a reasonably cheap copy (around the equivalent of $25-30) a while back, so now I've finally played it!

And... it's alright. I mean it's better than that Game Boy Fist of the North Star game, but being the amateur that I am I didn't really find it to be anything all that special. The way supers work is great and I like the game's very 90's anime aesthetics, but it feels a bit slow and the not great 3D graphics sometimes made it hard to see if I should do a crouching or standing block against an opponent's attack. The story's also... just awful. Absolutely awful. Not in a fun "haha, this is so bad", but legitimately just a waste of time. Now, I just played one of character stories (Batsu and Hinata's), but I doubt the others are much better.

Other than the writing and my issues with high and low blocks, it's honestly a lot of fun. Like I said it's not really anything all that special, but it does the job and it does it well. The characters I tried out all felt distinct, the arcade mode was a fun challenge without being either too difficult or too easy, and for some reason Sakura is a playable character. Not really sure why, but I guess they needed a Street Fighter guest character and she was the only one of appropriate age. The controls also felt a lot better than what I'd expect from a fairly detailed 3D fighter on the PS1 (though now that I think about it, I grew up with Battle Arena Toshinden 3 and that played fine as well so maybe it shouldn't have been that surprising)

Probably an amazing game for real fighting game connoisseurs, but I simply found it... good but with enough charm to be quite memorable.

Soundtrack highlight:
The School Yard of Taiyo High School

31. August 19th | Order a Pizza: A Visual Novel | PC | 19m | ☆☆
I don't often play visual novels. I've dabbled in my House in Fata Morganas, Zero Escapes and Ace Attorneys (though I guess it's debatable if that's really a visual novel), but it's still a genre that I don't have a lot of experience with. I have played Doki Doki Literature club, though, and absolutely loved it. I say this because Order a Pizza feels a lot like it's trying to do what that game did, but without seemingly getting what exactly that was.

You're a father ordering pizza for your girlfriend and daughter who both happen to be visiting at the same time. Both seem displeased, but you're not sure why, and through getting stuck in a loop of ordering this pizza for the over and over again you start unravelling everything that's wrong. It's a really good premise, but it's not as well executed as it could have. Doing this "starting very mundande before becoming some sort of horror" is not easy to pull off, and it's even more difficult when it has to be done in less than 20 minutes. There's no depth to the characters, the tonal balance between drama, humor and horror is all off and especially the writing of more humorous scenes is straight up bad.

This is one of those "itc.io bundle with a million games" games that looks like fun, but when you play it it turns out it just had a very distinct title and looked better than, for example, New Ice York which came before it on the never ending list and you just needed to download and play something to stop yourself from spending more time looking at said list. Music's better than it has any right to be, but the actual game feels like it could have needed more time for rewrites.

Soundtrack highlight:
Menu Theme

Currently playing:
Persona Q2 (3DS)
Eastward (Switch)

Weiss · Sep 19, 2021

31. Quake - 19/09/2021

This was really really really fun and I want to play more classic FPS games and also what the fuck was that final boss

Whimsicalish · Sep 19, 2021

37 | Half Past Fate

PC | Sept 8 | 5.5 hrs | 4/5

Cute slice-of-life adventure game. You play six different characters in their romantic encounters/interests.

HPF has a beautifully bright color palette. The cheery vibe really plays on the rom-com story. The art style is a wonderful pixel blend of 2D characters in a 3D world. The room transitions, moving through doors or stairs, are smooth and the music adjusts. Basically, the game is eye candy.

The story is pretty cheesy; I don't see that as a negative since I had an idea what to expect. The game does describe itself as a rom-com. I felt it had enough sad, happy, and funny moments in balance. It's good to watch/play/read cheesy stories at times. Feel good, ya know?

Two negatives: odd solutions to progress or gain achievements and the story was told skipping between the past and the present. Telling a story non-linear isn't bad. But it can be confusing. Thankfully the game does tell you which "timeline" you're in but totally not my style when I have to remember "where" I am in the storytelling.

It's a feel good, cheesy game that I needed at the right time.

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Whimsicalish · Sep 19, 2021

38 | Mass Effect Legendary Edition (ME3)
PC | Sept 18 | 50 hrs | 5/5

This third installment fixed many of my grievances from the second. The previous ME was such a disappointment.

The combat is soooo good. I feel powerful as my picked class! There were still challenging fights and new enemies to keep it fresh. Mods to add to your weapons. The gameplay wasn't 60% scanning planets in this game. The story was still linear but the environments were improved. The world felt more "lived in" rather than a backdrop. They also threw out the stupid hacking minigame.

You actions still mattered, the universe and your companions were on the verge of destruction. I'm glad they included the DLCs in this collection because two of them absolutely belonged with the main story. The third one was a blast to play.

I still don't understand why they decided to go QTE in story decisions but not a deal breaker. One fight in particular was dreadful. The instruction wasn't clear and the pixel perfect aim made me die a handful of times, desensitizing my experience to that enemy. I have encountered a few bugs that required me to close the game and restart since I couldn't progress. But forgiving those negatives because the world, story, and characters were awesome.

I do think the bugs should be fixed at this point since this game isn't new, it's a collection. Thankfully they didn't stop me from continuing after I rebooted the game.

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Palomitero · Sep 20, 2021

Late august update

Main post here

19- Persona 5 Strikers -42h- 3,5/5

Interesting spin off. You have a VN masked as musou, with some persona elements, in fact it's more VN than musou.

Great stories and villains, with decent tier writing and building. Combat musou-like with some modern elements that feel fantastic.

Feel like a drag the last hours tho. However, enjoyed the game nonetheless.

20- FFXIV Heavens Ward -30h- 5/5

One of the best FF experiences I've had ever.

Fantastic in all parts. Story, characters, OST and epic moments.

Very surprised with the level of story and world building it creates, the writers really step up their game from the previous game.

Now I see why everyone that plays the MMO says it's the best FF, MUST play for every FF fan

21- 12 minutes -3h- 2,5/5

Interesting idea and story.

However, didn't really "click" and feel like a cheap Saturday movie.

22- Tales of Arise DEMO

Great first impression

Fun combat and amazing visuals

23- FFXIV StormBlood -25h- 4/5

Samurai thematic expansion with EPIC villain and characters? Oh yes

Again, 10/10 OST and story, although not Heavenward levels.

Really enjoying the FFXIV ride

Now playing

-Tales of Arise
-FF14 shadowbringers

Weiss · Sep 20, 2021

32. Psychonauts - 20/09/2021

I've got over 40 games in my backlog and all of them got dropped so I could replay Psychonauts. Not only did I beat the game for the first time without the max money cheat, but I finally did a 100% run of the game too and other than a few stray collectibles it wasn't that bad.

It's sure as fuck better than the sequel!

djinn · Sep 21, 2021

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26. Deltarune: chp 2
Toby Fox, you cheeky Devil. Making me drop everything to play your latest installment in...whatever the hell this game is. There's not much I can say without spoiling but this is a real labour of love. Thoughtful, funny, (can be scary!) and delightfully weird, Deltarune is engaging and entertaining throughout every single minute and then long after you finish. Take the banana 🍌

Weiss · Sep 21, 2021

33. Shin Megami Tensei: Synchronicity Prologue - 21/09/2021

Just play it, oh my god. It's free. It's a Metroidvania with Ikaruga mechanics.

watdaeff4 · Sep 22, 2021

Challenge Complete! Just finished my 52nd game today!
OP:

52 Games. 1 Year. 2021.

The challenge is all about games that you've beaten - but feel free to add a few words about what you're currently playing/plan to beat next when posting an update.

www.resetera.com

51) Omno
This was a very chill game. I wasn't expecting much and in fact would have passed altogether except I heard some praise regarding it on a Xbox podcast (It's on GamePass) so gave it a whirl. Was such a refreshing change from the bigger games I was/am playing at the same time.

52) Assassin's Creed Odyssey
I was going to have Skyward Sword as my 52nd game, but I just got pulled into this world. I loved this game from start to end (got the platinum). This was the only mainline AC game I hadn't played yet and I think it's now my favorite one, going around 2 and Origins.

Some goals I had for the year:
1) Complete a numbered Final Fantasy -
Completed not only FF12, but also FF1 and working on FF2. This will leave me only missing out on FF3, 5, 13 and 15 from the Non-MMO mainline games. So pretty happy with that.

2) Complete Zelda games that I haven't before. These would include:
Majora's Mask
Oracle of Ages
Oracle of Seasons
Phantom Hourglass
Spirit Tracks

Started Majora's Mask and just wasn't feeling it that well. While I played Skyward Sword on the Wii, I'm currently playing the HD version and enjoying it. I've done the first tour of Hyrule (those who have played the game will know what I mean)

3) Complete a game from one of the big RPG series I've never completed a single game in - either Fallout, Legend of Heroes or Witcher

Did not do this yet, but after I finish up FF2 and Skyward Sword, I think I may try Tales of Arise as my next "big" game

I felt like I played a nice variety of games across different platforms. For me, my top 5 games in no particular order that I played and would recommend to all were:
1) Hades (well this one was my hands down favorite)
2) AC Odyssey
3) Nioh
4) RE8
5) Super Mario 3D World/Bowser's Fury

KtotheRoc · Sep 23, 2021

53: Night in the Woods. End: 9/22/2021. (N/A)

I don't think you can actually score a game like this. I think you're either totally in it for the characters (which the player may or may not relate to on some fundamental level) or you just aren't into it at all.

Still parsing my own thoughts on it.

KtotheRoc · Sep 24, 2021

54: Castlevania: Dracula X. End: 9/24/2021. (2 out of 5)

On its own, I think people would think of this as just another difficult Castlevania game. But as a downgraded version of Rondo of Blood, it's hard to look at this one.

Whimsicalish · Sep 26, 2021

39 | Cats Organized Neatly
PC | Sept 21 | 13 hrs | 4/5

Adorably cute 2D puzzle game with cats! There are 80 levels, all handcrafted with creative cats. The cats are essentially unique shapes that you're fitting into a grid. Your objective is to complete the grid with each cat with no empty spaces.

The game play is straightforward. The controls are easy using a mouse. The puzzles are charming; the difficulty upped the further I progressed. It could have been more difficult for me since I don't play these types of puzzles often.

There is a skip button, which I believe, lets you come back to a puzzle later. I do wish there was a hint button. Maybe it could place a piece in the correct spot to get you started if you're stuck? Some kind of hint since there were levels I spent so much time staring at the same problems.

Cute and challenging puzzle game. Definitely worth the price.

Main Post

Whimsicalish · Sep 26, 2021

40 | Bravely Default 2
NSW | Sept 25 | 72 hrs | 4/5

I have not played either of the other games in the series. This is my first introduction to Bravely Default. Overall, I had a ton of fun playing this RPG. The story was fairly generic; evil being in the world needs to be defeated by a rag tag group of four. There were some very dark subjects that the story briefly touched. I was a bit surprised but nothing was shown, only spoke about.

The combat is fun! Super important in a long turn-based game. There are a total of 24 jobs and any character in your party can be any job. You can have multiple people with the same jobs. Any job can act as a sub job to create more unique combinations. It encourages you to mix and match.

The environments and city designs are beautiful. They have a fantasy storybook vibe that make it fun to explore. The downside for the city view is the camera. It's placed far away so you will constantly run into people, walls, and buildings. It can get annoying constantly bumping into something.

I had an issue with performance on my Switch for this game. It was slow, sometimes laggy when you started a dialogue or cutscenes. The fights seemed fine, but the game had to take a moment to bring up party chat. Odd considering I have played more complex games with no problem.

Throughout the story, I didn't have to go out of my way to grind until the end game. There was a difficulty spike that dragged out the game. it does give you content and options to grind. However, as I get older, maybe my patience has run out for grinding. I hate level grind for the sake of level grind. Just let me go through the story without spending hours on gaining levels. It's not fun for me.

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djinn · Sep 26, 2021

Whimsicalish said:
39 | Cats Organized Neatly
PC | Sept 21 | 13 hrs | 4/5

Adorably cute 2D puzzle game with cats! There are 80 levels, all handcrafted with creative cats. The cats are essentially unique shapes that you're fitting into a grid. Your objective is to complete the grid with each cat with no empty spaces.

The game play is straightforward. The controls are easy using a mouse. The puzzles are charming; the difficulty upped the further I progressed. It could have been more difficult for me since I don't play these types of puzzles often.

There is a skip button, which I believe, lets you come back to a puzzle later. I do wish there was a hint button. Maybe it could place a piece in the correct spot to get you started if you're stuck? Some kind of hint since there were levels I spent so much time staring at the same problems.

Cute and challenging puzzle game. Definitely worth the price.

Main Post

Yay! Someone else played this awesome game!

Divine Moleman · Sep 26, 2021

has anyone made the joke yet where someone makes this thread but just plays Action 52?

Weiss · Sep 26, 2021

34. Wario Land II - 26/09/2021

I wrote my actual thoughts in my usual hangout so I'm just using this post to call out Nocturnowl as a massive clown even more massive than the dumb clown final boss of the far better Wario Land 3.

Deleted member 5086 · Sep 27, 2021

Aerith said:
Reserving a post. I'm committed to taking part this year.

Currently playing

Loop Hero (PC)

Disco Elysium (PS5)

Completed games

January:

1. Sackboy (PS5) - 01/01/2021
2. Bugsnax (PS5) - 02/01/2021
3. Haven (PS5) - 08/01/2021
4. Demon's Souls (PS5) - 20/01/2021
5. Raji: An Ancient Epic (PS5) - 23/01/2021
6. The Last Campfire (PS5) - 28/01/2021

February:

7. Carto (Xbox One) - 06/02/2021
8. Grindstone (Switch) - 09/02/2021
9. Call of the Sea (Xbox One) - 10/02/2021
10. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (Switch) - 16/02/2021
11. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (PS5) - 24/02/2021
12. The Pathless (PS5) - 26/02/2021

March:

13. Gone Home (PS5) - 03/03/2021
14. Maquette (PS5) - 08/03/2021
15. Dark Souls Remastered (PS5) - 13/03/2021
16. Nioh 2 (PS5) - 21/03/2021

April:

17. Bloodborne (PS5) - 03/04/2021
18. Monster Hunter Rise (Switch) - 05/04/2021
19. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin (PS5) - 15/04/2021
20. Ghost of Tsushima (PS5) - 28/04/2021
21. The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories (PS5) - 30/04/2021

May:

22. Nier Replicant (PS5) - 11/05/2021
23. Halo 2 (Xbox One) - 16/05/2021
24. Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (PS5) - 20/05/2021
25. Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter (PS5) - 24/05/2021

June:

26. Control (PS5) - 02/06/2021
27. God of War III Remastered (PS5) - 15/06/2021
28. Murder by Numbers (Switch) - 15/06/2021
29. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5) - 17/06/2021
30. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (PS5) - 25/06/2021

July:

31. FFXIV: Heavensward (PS5) - 14/07/2021
32. Dark Douls III (PS5) - 30/07/2021

August:

33. Goragoa (PS5) - 09/08/2021
34. Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood - 18/08/2021
35. Twelve Minutes (Xbox One) - 25/08/2021
36. Boyfriend Dungeon (Xbox One) - 31/08/2021

September:

37. Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers (PS5) - 18/09/2021
38. Kena : Bridge of Spirits (PS5) - 23/09/2021
39. Tales of Arise (PS5) - 29/09/2021
40. The Artful Escape (Xbox One) - 29/09/2022

Game 40 beaten. Need to beat 12 more games this year to make it. It'll be tight, but I think I can do it.

KtotheRoc · Sep 27, 2021

55: Lost Words: Beyond the Page. End: 9/27/2021. (N/A)

Here's another game that I found basically impossible to review. It's got a beautiful narrative that tells a story that can definitely stay with you. The actual gameplay is nothing to write home about.

Saphirax · Sep 28, 2021

I kinda forgot to update this...oops. Just a list this time otherwise it'd take too much time and space.

22. Horizon Zero Dawn
23. Art of Murder - FBI Confidential
24.The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing
25.The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II
26. Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
27. True Fear 2
28. Resonance of Fate
29. Dragon Quest Builders
30. King's Quest
31. Wasteland 3
32. Legend of Mana
33. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
34. Phoenix Wright: Justice for All
35. Phoenix Wright: Trials & Tribulations
36. Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon
37. Tales of Arise
38. Dracula 3 - The Path of the Dragon
39. Goetia
40. Resident Evil 4

Whimsicalish · Sep 28, 2021

41 | Sanitarium
PC | Sept 28 | 9.7 hrs | 3.5/5

For the most part, I did enjoy this point-and-click adventure horror. It was released in 1998 so the language isn't the best. One particular ableist slur and demeaning toward mental patients. The main character, Max, refers to patients as "crazies" when they appear to be suffering.

Overlooking that, I did enjoy the overall story (in the real world). There are some surreal moments that make you question "wtf is going on" but in a good way during those chapters. The puzzles are mostly fun up to the last chapter, then it's just trial and error pattern puzzles. Awful design.

There are 9 chapters and 3 of them are "nightmares" where you don't play directly as Max. Those three were easily the weakest points in the game. They had very little purpose. One chapter was so over the top "horror" that it became laughable. Imagine a horrible thing in a room. Then you move to the next room, where there is something more horrible. You move forward to the third room and GASP it's even more horrid! The game kept trying to one-up itself on horrible and evil things. Plus you knew it wasn't real so why bother to care? I was desensitized and only wanted to move on. Those chapters didn't need to exist. They only dragged out the game.

If the game could completely cut out, or least heavily condense those chapters, it would have been a tighter, more fun experience. I didn't need to see weird things happening in the nightmare world because weird stuff was happening in the real world that was more impactful.

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Cipher Peon · Oct 1, 2021

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My Summer update

Ten games... but over several months. Really rough time for beating games, but I made up the slack earlier so I'm doing alright.
I'm relatively back into the swing of things though, so I'm definitely on track to hit 52!

Quick thoughts

A Hat in Time

Really cute and fun game. Love how mischievous Hat Girl is, which led to several laughs. Didn't quite scratch the collectathon itch I have though 7/10

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

A sequel that I thought very little of for years, but always stuck with me for its ambitious story and gameplay expansion. I think it's a giant mess but a haunting and memorable one, and you know what my initial score of 4/10 is out of date. 7/10

Doom (2016)

A pretty fun romp that feels like it takes too much visually from Doom 3 but keeps none of the elements that I liked about the game. Definitely my least fav Doom game. 7/10

Doom Eternal

A complete 180 degree swerve, Doom Eternal is one of my favorite shooters ever made. Magnificent resource management and pacing leads to a rollercoaster beyond all imagination. Absolutely adored it 9/10

Scarlet Nexus

An insufferably long and boring slog with a detestable protagonist. I got no fun out of this one. 4/10

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2

I was expecting more out of this since I liked Ritual of the Night, but nope. Found it just as mediocre as CotM 1. 5/10

NEO The World Ends With You

Probably my GOTY. A sequel that feels a bit strange at points but once it gets where it's going, it's a complete slam dunk. 9/10

Warioware: Get It Together

It's fun but slight. My first Warioware game and to be honest, I expected a LOT more microgames. I breezed through the game in two sittings and felt like I had seen everything several times over. 7/10

Horizon: Zero Dawn

The more time that passes, the less I like this game. Horrific combat with an unlikable protagonist traversing a world with a pretty interesting backstory. Like the robot dinos tho. 4/10

Returnal

Would probably be my GOTY if NEO TWEWY didn't exist. A magnificent shooter that always keeps me on the edge of my seat, with awesome roguelike elements. Incredible game. 9/10

sabertoothzombie · Oct 1, 2021

Main Post

September
53. Lake (PC) | 3rd September - 6.5hrs | 4/5 : A little jank, but was super relaxing to play, and it was just what I wanted from it
54. Pathfinder: Kingmaker (PC) | 18th September - 45hrs | 3/5 : I think PoE spoiled me, because this didn't play or look as good, and the story was forgettable
55. Costume Quest (PC) | 19th September - 5hrs | 3.5/5 : I had try to play this before but bounced off. Now, I found it actually enjoyable, if a little easy
56. Costumer Quest 2 (PC) | 20th September - 7.5 hours | 3/5 : Not as good as the first game, the costumes and story were weaker
57. Portal (PC) | 25th September - 4 hours | 4/5 : Replay, just felt like going back in and doing it again. Still great, still not sure why I can't get rid of the screen tearing
58. Night in the Woods (PC) | 27th September - 9.5 hours | 4/5 : Never beat it on PC, but bought it on there for some reason. Still great, felt like a good game to play during Fall

On the docket:
Lost Judgement

Bosh · Oct 1, 2021

MAIN THREAD

Quick Update:

Halo Reach: Fantastic game, while the series is trending towards being rather linear it was a ride from start to finish.
Halo 4: On the lower end of Halo games scale. Found it better than ODST, but the game felt very constricted. New enemy types was welcome.
Halo 5: Not a fan of this game, took the worst aspects of 4 and made them more prevelant. Game also drags a ton and story keeps trying to hold things alive it shouldn't. Also really overused new enemy types unfortunately.
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood: Fun game, great soundtrack. Really only negatives are stage 5 & 6 are brutal compared to rest of game.
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (PS1): Enjoyed first half of the game a lot, second half fell off a bit. While not as fun as RE2, still an enjoyable experience (Especially for someone who is not a fan of tank controls in general).

Weiss · Oct 1, 2021

35. Wario Land 3 - 01/10/2021

Playing Wario Land II just made me want to play WL3 again a lot so once I finished I ended up ignoring my backlog so I could do that instead.

Did a 100% run which doesn't have the cool ultra hard level WLII did, which is a shame. You just get that one meme picture of Wario, but the actual act of clearing the levels for all the treasures is real fun especially in the post-game as the difficulty and craftiness of the puzzles ramps up now that the mandatory ones are gone.

Anyway Wario Land 3 is a near perfect game and much like Wario Land 4 better than all Mario games, don't @ me.

Lord Fanny · Oct 2, 2021

So finally getting around to doing this, late this month. Main post with all months here.

Lord Fanny said:
Completed Games (53/52)

50. No More Heroes 3 - Switch - 12 hours, 16 minutes
51. WarioWare: Get it Together! - Switch - 2 hours
52. The Artful Escape - Xbox Series X - 3 hours, 29 minutes
53. Life is Strange: True Colors - Xbox Series X - 8 hours, 42 minutes

Finished off the challenge with The Artful Escape, so that was fun. October has a few cool titles, so looking forward to it.

Completed Games (55/52)

54. Metroid Dread - Switch - 10 hours
55. The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes - Xbox Series X - 6 hours, 7 minutes

chrominance · Oct 3, 2021

September:

31. Microsoft Flight Simulator w/ Neofly Mod (PC, 2020) - 17:04 - September 1
32. Returnal (PS5, 2021) - 30:59 - September 2
33. Star Drift Evolution (PC, 2021) - 8:16 - September 4
34. The Henry Stickmin Collection (PC, 2020) - 4:27 - September 6
35. No Man's Sky (PC, 2016) - 84:12 - September 18

Returnal and No Man's Sky are the highlights here. I remember being worried that Returnal wouldn't be the game for me: it's incredibly difficult and it had a roguelike structure, two things that can be quite frustrating for me. But somehow, the game managed to stay on the right side of annoyance for most of its running time. Every boss fight I won felt rewarding, which is not that common for me; usually, overcoming high degrees of difficulty just exhausts me, but not here.

I played No Man's Sky at launch, and felt like I got my money's worth out of it at the time. But then Hello Games kept adding more and more, and after a while I figured I should put the game back on my to-do list. With the recent Frontiers update, it felt like it was finally time. What I found was a game that felt very much the same, and also completely different. A lot of the basics were still in place: fly from planet to planet, fix up your ship and gear, discover the secrets of the universe. But the lonely wanderlust of the original game has subsided somewhat, replaced by new pressures. You're encouraged more to play with others, thanks to the Anomaly social hub. You can set down on a planet and build bases that last long after you leave; you can even come back to them in the blink of an eye. It's a different experience, and not everything is better, but No Man's Sky has become a tremendous achievement. And finally, after years away, I've finally seen the "end" of it, having reached the last part of the game's story. But like many sandbox games, the end of the story is just a new beginning, literally so in No Man's Sky. I'll probably spend some time away from it for now, but I look forward to returning after a few more major updates.

The games I was supposed to get to in September fell a bit by the wayside thanks to No Man's Sky, though I've picked up Lost Judgment at least. Deathloop had some PC issues at launch, and while I didn't suffer any serious problems, it was enough to hold off for a spell, and I haven't been back since. Soon, hopefully. And Tales of Arise? Sorry, Lost Judgment comes first. (I haven't even played Berseria yet!) Luckily, I only have two games on my radar for October: Hot Wheels Unleashed, a last-minute purchase decision that hasn't arrived yet, and Metroid Dread, a game I probably won't get to for a while (and only purchased because Nintendo games never go on sale, so might as well jump on the Special Edition now).

Clive · Oct 3, 2021

And I reached 52!

The 52nd game was Sengoku 2 played via the ACA NeoGeo series on Xbox. Maybe not the most special game to do it with but it was an OK beat 'em up. There aren't really that many moves and the enemy reaction and combos just don't feel as good as in other 90's beat 'em ups like the Final Fight and Streets of Rage. The transformation mechanic also felt a bit clunky since you have to scroll through a "list" of characters without the action stopping. Some nice, colorful and big sprites and bosses at least and I had a decent time.

LonestarZues · Oct 3, 2021

Congrats to everyone who's been hitting 52 games!

Illusionary · Oct 3, 2021

A fairly light month for me, just four games beaten in September, with three being fairly short episodes, but plenty of time sunk into the superb Psychonauts 2.

Master post here.

63. Sam & Max Save the World Episode 2: Situation Comedy (PC - Steam) | 6 September 2021
Complete playthrough. Focused on a collection of spoofs of various TV shows (gameshow, sitcom, etc.), I didn't enjoy this second episode of Sam & Max as much as the first. It's still well-written and humourous, but overly formulaic in my mind.

64. Psychonauts 2 (Xbox Series X - Game Pass) | 19 September 2021
100% complete in-game, 100% of achievements unlocked (1,000G). A fantastic sequel, Psychonauts 2 may well have a claim to being one of the all-time greats of its genre - primarily a 3D platformer, but with action-adventure elements. The wonderful creativity of the first game is once again here in spades, with a eclectic range of levels themes once again displaying the wonders that can come from the mind of Tim Schafer - but now the gameplay is much more polished and satisfying. The core 3D platforming is enhanced by the psychic powers of protagonist Raz, and I've always enjoyed the 'collectathon' ethos that the game embraces - even if it can be a little frustrating to track down the last few items in some of the larger levels. Wrapping it all together is an enjoyable plot, as Raz becomes an intern of the eponymous Psychonauts spy agency, with generous lashings of humour throughout and delightfully written characters.

65. Sam & Max Save the World Episode 3: The Mole, the Mob and the Meatball (PC - Steam) | 19 September 2021
Complete playthrough. Back on form after a somewhat disappointing second episode, this fairly short episode of the Sam & Max series was great fun. Here, the cop duo find themselves trying to infiltrate a mob operation fronted by a casino, with enjoyable tasks required to prove themselves. The puzzles here are perhaps a little *less* obscure than other instalments - a good thing! - and the writing continues to hold up.

66. Sam & Max Save the World Episode 4: Abe Lincoln Must Die! (PC - Steam) | 26 September 2021
Complete playthrough. Back again with another excellent episode, Abe Lincoln Must Die! finds Max running for US President after inadvertently 'killing' a literal puppet standing in for the role, competing against a giant statue of Abe Lincoln. With a musical number popping up at a wonderfully unexpected moment, this whole episode was a great time to play through.

Rhaknar · Oct 3, 2021

Game #39 - Diablo 2 Resurrected
Time: Ongoing
Platform: Switch
Rating: ★★★★

Great remaster of a very dated game in my opinion, but then again I never really had any nostalgia for it. Looks and runs great on Switch, and it's definitely fun but it has a lot of outdated mechanics in my opinion that often drags the experience down.

Main Post

bushmonkey · Oct 3, 2021

Main post Here

16 - Death Stranding: Director's cut - PS5 - 99hrs / 3rd October - 10/10
One of my favourite games to come back to and just walk around fixing roads and building zip lines. The director's cut doesn't add much but I love the 4K widescreen mode and the firing range exercises were fun, they reminded me of the MGS VR missions.

17 - Hades - PS5 - 20hrs / 3rd October - 10/10
I only finished my first escape so calling it finished may be cheating? I will be going back through with other weapons and unlock traits but I'll still happy to call it completed if I never return to it so I'll mark it as a "done".

currently playing: 13 sentinels and FF7R

Whimsicalish · Oct 4, 2021

42 | Paratopic
PC | Oct 03 | 2 hrs | 3/5

Strange fever dream walking/driving simulator. Not even sure how to rate this?

It was an absurd, surreal experience. The first playthrough took about 50 minutes. It was eerie; I had a lingering feeling I wasn't alone or that I was being watched throughout that run. It's soundtrack resembled an 80's beat that simultaneously was unnerving and annoying, lol. It was good at making me uncomfortable. I did two more runs to collect all the achievements but I don't feel like I learned anything new. After the third, I'm still puzzled what I played.

43 | Serena
PC | Oct 03 | 48 mins | 3/5

Short, free walking sim. You're in a cabin reliving old memories. Since the game is less than an hour, I don't want to give much away. This game made me incredibly sad, then angry, and finally "oh fuck." I thought it was making a relatable story about a condition. Nope, but the twist was welcomed!

44 | Observer
PC | Oct 04 | 6.9 hrs | 3/5

Another game with a strong start, only to annoy me the more I played. I loved playing the detective/investigative parts of the game. You have different eye augmentations that allow you to gather hints. You are encouraged to speak with NPCs for information. Naturally I banged on every door I could find. I enjoyed the interactions with them; it helped build the world and characters. It had more frightening moments here than the "scary" interrogations.

Absolutely did not enjoy the "horror" interrogation parts. They were unnecessarily long, repeated, and confusing. Flashing lights, loud screaming and noises do not make good horror. The environments appear "glitchy" and pixelated making it more difficult to see where I am going when being chased. The enemies are uninspiring. Bland design. They barely move from the door you need to progress, making them similar to guard dogs rather than patrolling sentient monsters.

And the ending? Do not pretend to give me choices when the "choices" end up in the same shitty path.

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Neil98 · Oct 4, 2021

36. Half-Life: Opposing Force PC
37. Half-Life: Blue Shift PC

KtotheRoc · Oct 4, 2021

56: Avengers. End: 10/4/2021. (2 out of 5)

You can tell there's a decent game buried underneath all of this game's bullshit. The problem is there is a lot of bullshit to dig through to reach it. That being said, the narrative is fine. Kamala Khan (aka Ms. Marvel) was a great choice for the narrative's protagonist.

Psychotic_Mantis · Oct 7, 2021

Main Post

46. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker - Switch - Score - 8/10
Played this years ago on Wii U and I feel it holds up quite well. Some of the added levels were fine but the base game by itself just has so much charm. Hard not to smile while playing this one.

captain-toad-treasure-tracker-review-image-1200x688.jpg

47. MediEvil - PS4 - Score - 7/10
I have never played the original or the first remake but I have wanted to dive in at some point. After playing the PS4 version, I find it a mixed bag. Some of the controls are wonky and the difficulty spike is a bit ridiculous at times. I had to go hunting for health vials to ensure I could make it through the game. It has it's charm and moments but definitely held back by some jank.

48. Final Fantasy VI - SNES - Score - 10/10
I never really loved RPG's until I played this one as a kid. It has stuck with me forever and it's hard to see another FF let alone JRPG taking it's place in my heart. The music/story/gameplay are perfect to me and it still really holds up. I love many final fantasy games but this is the one that caused me to really want more out of games than simply battling monsters and saving the day. Classic!

49. Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest - PS3 - Score - 6/10
My arms are extremely sore after this game. The controls don't always work well and it can lead to some frustrating moments, especially during boss fights. It's definitely a one-note game that probably is stretched a bit thin on it's premise. I enjoyed most of my time with it but I couldn't play it for long periods of time...especially when pulling arrows behind my back.

50. Mortimer Beckett and the Secrets of Spooky Manor - Wii - Score - 6/10
A bargain bin Wii game that my son wanted us to play for Halloween. It's a hidden objects game and not much else. It's fine but you have to be pretty close to the screen to notice many of the objects. If you know what you are going into, it's not the worst game.

Blindy · Oct 7, 2021

43) Dodgeball Academia(XB1): 9/7-9/8, 9/11-9/12

Just finished a recently released game in Dodgeball Academia, this game came out low key in late August 2021 and it deserves much more attention because it's pretty fun for what it tries to be. It's a 'Sports RPG' which is a genre that isn't done much if at all, basically you play as a clique high school kid who transfers over schools in order to be an all time great Dodgeball player and to primarily focus his teenage days as a dodgeball player first and foremost with some academic studies here and there. Contrary to what his dad wants for him, which is to give up the dodgeball dream and do something else, Otto(The main character's name) says no and embarks on his quest to meet new friends, rivals, and defeat foes in his quest to be the best dodgeball player in all of the high school. Think of the story as say Pokemon the anime, it's a very friendship and teamwork sort of clique message throughout the story. The sprites are very Paper Mario-ish in a way and you get a good 10 or so hours of gaming content in this bad boy. The game follows so many Anime/Manga tropes that if you watch plenty of that, this game will really not shock you much if at all. You have the rival, the fiery main character, and teammate who doesn't think he can play dodgeball until put in a do or die moment to help the team etc.

Where this game does shine is the combat. It's basically rounds of dodgeball but you work as a team of 3 with you controlling a main character and in most battles, if he or she dies, it's next man up followed by the last man standing for you as you try and beat other teams in a game of dodgeball. If you know anything about dodgeball, you pretty much know the rules of the game, HP is damaged and lost by throwing dodgeballs at opponents and vice versa, when you wipe out a team's health, you win the match. There are different dodgeballs that range from ELEC to ICE to FIRE to CURSED to POISON to a couple of other different & unique balls to give the game some variation. In addition, there are different games that are chosen from the traditional dodgeball game to free for all where you go wherever in a court and don't have to stay behind a line to knock out games where downed teammates/characters can still be involved by taking balls away from your side and/or throwing at you from behind(Albeit for less damage). Yes the combat does get borderline repetitive as you go further into the story but by no means is this game easy. In fact, there are a couple of difficulty spikes most definitely and this isn't a game you just brute force your way through all the time, dodging and parry(Or catching in this) are key to survive and build up your ultra meter to unleash a game changing attack that does loads of damage. My lone real gripe are in the knock out games, if you happen to kill someone with a super first, the rest of the enemies aren't effected by it which is lame as heck so if you kill one person, it resets the balls and everything minus health.

Game has side missions that are for the most part okay(Few are really tough and should be saved for endgame when you are high enough level because it gets ridiculously tough, like this Underground sidequest that you have to face groups of 1 then 2 then 3 then 4 then 5 and have to run the gauntlet and not lose once or back to the beginning. There are eight chapters altogether and each run you a good 90 minutes give or take if you intend to fully complete everything. No voice acting and the music is pretty generic altogether but this is a Indie title and for what it's worth, this game has a funny enough dialogue that it got a few laughs out of me.

Not a game that I will remember or stay with me but for the 10 hours or so, I was very much entertained by Dodgeball Academia and it's been by far one of the better games I have played all year long thus far. If you got XBOX Game Pass, it's free there so give it a try.

44) Katana Zero (XB1) 9/18

Beat Katana Zero in one Saturday afternoon mid-day sitting, very fun game. Think Hotline Miami's "One Life, gotta kill em all or else you restart" idea along with the absolute beautiful synthwave music blasting along side with a real Devolver(Developer of this game) esque straightforward 2D-ish linear action platformer. The gameplay is very good, you have a katana(Hence the name) that you swiftly dice up enemies to their bloody death all the while being able to manipulate time in a Max Payne Bullet time esque homage that you can reflect slowed down bullets back to the enemies skulls for a brutal kill along with getting more leinecy on your roll dodge to escape pending doom. Very quick pace, very action oriented, again it's either you die in 1 hit or they die in 1 hit. No HP, you are playing for keeps. While there are certainly a fair share of checkpoints scattered through each of your assassin runs as you are given a hit to carry out each level(Which only takes a couple of minutes at best), it's Hotline Miami like in the sense that for each screen your in, you have to kill everybody to progress. No pacifist methods, not kill everyone but leave 1-2 alive. Nope. And if you die, you restart the screen over as if nothing happened.

The presentation is very 80's like with the VHS tape and cassette rewind and all, if you an 80's(Well 89) baby like me, you know exactly what I am talking about. Blue screen for pause screen, very VHS iffy quality on your TV with white lines consistently blurring around. The music is fantastic and frantic paced, always love me some Synthwave as it keeps that 80's feel and is a perfect blend of video game music all in one. Very John Wick esque in some regard, this is as close to a gunless John Wick game you will get honestly. Even when you die, the game rewinds you in a VHS sort of rewind which is awesome.
The game took me about 4 hours to beat, just did one run but I know there are more dialogue choices to be had so I know there might be some sense of replayability hidden in there, just not for me. The story kind of went over my head as the game is very vague at times(purposely) and doesn't want to truly let the player "in" on everything and sort of want to let the game unravel it's mystery altogether. I had to watch a synopsis over on Youtube to answer any kind of things that I didn't get so all made sense by the end of it. Without going into too much detail, you play a memory-less, amnesia esque killer Samurai/Assassin who has a past of being in some sort of war, which explains just how technically gifted he is. He is given medication in return for carrying out hits for a shrink, in a sort of Hitman esque way that you dice everybody who is in your way. SWAT officers, drones, guys with shotguns or machine guns, fellow samurais with swords, there's a lot of different enemies here and all have a different way to go about it. SWAT officers with shields can take sword slashes with little to no damage which means your wide open to get killed, so you have to attack em vertically and dice em downward where the shield has no way to protect them. Very little things like that, change up your entire way to go about it.

There is a decent amount of twists & turns in this game for sure but you can find yourself lost a little bit as the game really goes on a psychedelic ride and really means to mess you up with the hallucinations and PTSD your character occurs throughout. Think Hotline Miami if you can with this. Game is like Hotline Miami except you have a mainstay sword that is the bread and butter of your wins. You can awesome use items like Molotov cocktails or glass bottles that may lay around an area and are means to throw and instant kill an enemy so you have a form of projectile and aren't stuck trying to get up close against 3-4 guys all at once. Game offers up variety on how to survive and win, everybody will do something different but the main goal is to survive and move on.

What you find out throughout the story without spoiling too much is there's a good reason why the protagonist has to do what he does and that he isn't the only one who has the symptoms or problems he deals with. Game is set in a futuristic town but there's almost no real exploration of it, tons of cutscenes, almost as many cutscenes as there is gameplay, good balance like what Hotline Miami does.

Just an overall good game, another one I am glad to have XBOX Game Pass for as it's a very short game and I get it, there is a Speedrun mode and Hard Mode so again future playthroughs are encouraged but really not necessary to unravel & uncover the plot.

45) Castlevania: Circle of the Moon(PS4) 9/27-9/29, 10/1-10/2

That was a superb couple of day revisit upon my 1st ever Castlevania game as a little kid, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, which was brought to you by the newly released Castlevania Advance Collection 4 in 1 digital download that came out last week. This was the 1st ever game I got for my Game Boy Advance(Along with Golden Sun) so I played the living hell out of C:CotM. Did Vampirekiller(Which is the intro mode), Fighter mode which is only whip, no magic, magician which is reliant on magic, Belmont which you play as Castlevania staple Simon Belmont as the protagonist, thief which I think is items only. Well actually I don't think I finished this game with items only in fact, because that's just downright boring

Unless you get the cross asap which is considered the weapon of all side weapons in the series.

The game holds up extremely well but there are flaws for sure that I could overlook as a 7th grader that I cannot now but we will get to that shortly. What this game does extremely well is it borrows off of the foundation that well beloved Castlevania: Symphony of the Night brought forth and that's a level system and damage system that is calculated by hit points. You get rewarded in your grinding which level ups which like in every single RPG ever, makes you stronger, sturdier and luckier. In addition, enemies drop armor, or wearable items that increase your stats or elemental resistances which is typical RPG goodie stuff. Circle of the Moon is no different, it makes you want to kill everything on the screen. Enemies are typical Halloween esque monsters from Frankensteins(!) to witches to medusa head to skeletons to bats to mermen to a heck ton of enemies all throughout the game. It's Dracula's minions after all that are trying to kill you as you attempt to do what so many have done before you and it's to slay Dracula and save the world from impending DOOM!

Plot is simple Castlevania stuff, Dracula is revived after dying once before by a nutjob antagonist, that's very bad but for him to get full power he needs a ritual of a previous Vampire Killer so in pure revenge he locks up your mentor, with your being Nathan Graves who has no blood lineage of a Belmont or any of the notorious Dracula slayers but is someone chosen by Morris Baldwin, who along with your protagonist parents ended up sealing Dracula away. Morris Baldwin has an annoying, envious son in Hugh Baldwin who is the rival/partner of yours and is frustrated his father chose you/Graves as the Hunter Whip(Knockoff, much weaker version of the Belmont's Vampire Killer whip) controller and not himself. The envy plays throughout the journey as H. Baldwin feels slighted each time he cannot do something that you as the protagonist end up doing like slaying a boss that nearly killed him or getting far into a part of the game that it took him ages to even get to. I mentioned a nutjob antagonist had a role in reviving Dracula in Camilla who helps play a huge role in reviving Dracula as she supports and agrees with his philosophy that darkness controls man and should help bring an end to civilization so you know she will get her teeth kicked in down the road for that because we can't have that nonsense & tomfoolery going on!

Game plays like a typical post Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, it allows for double jumping and very nice traverse throughout parts of the castle. By no means are you some super speed demon but lets just say....you learn some awesome abilities throughout your journey inside the castle. Every boss is rewarding you with something, from a path being opened to a new item that lets you progress further. What's awesome with this game is there are technically TWO optional bosses that don't have to be done, I even remember not bothering to do them ages ago. But the catch 22 there is because your not treking to take down these two bosses(And one of them is really tough), you are making the mandatory part of the game much harder so there's a real reward in going the extra step to finishing the two optional areas along with trying to get the most out of the game.

On this run, I did everything except the Battle Arena which is a optional colosseum of tons of enemy fights which I guess is there for you to do but I felt good with the over 90% map completion by game's end that I skipped that. The game time says I beat this game in 6 1/2 hours but that's a lie because I had to have easily needed 10 or so hours of real time, not sure how the game calculated that! And about 1 1/2 hours of game time(3 hours maybe? of real time) were on me trying my best to grind 2-3 levels for the final boss and try and collect some cards in this game! Cards? Yeah cards.

The real perk of this game is the card system, which is basically combing two different elemental cards, to get an experimental outcome of a new ability exclusive to the combination. Example, you can get a rose whip attack from a combination of MERCURY+MANDAGORA or you can summon a Stone shooting Cockatrice by combining COCKATRICE+URANUS. It's the planets in combination with a mythical creature, which is otherwise known as the "DSS" system. It's a really useful perk and sure you could play without the card gimmick but it really makes life a lot easier. Like lots. The real drawback of this is the drop rate of these cards are terrible, we're talking it took me over a half hour to get a certain enemy to finally drop me the damn card I really wanted! Even by increasing your luck(Luck effects drops, which is big time here), it was no easy task to even get the damn cards so despite a trophy/achievement being attached to getting all of the cards in the game, to me, it just wasn't worth it! I got the card(URANUS) that I remember using to abuse the final boss and sure enough it saved my bacon for the final boss here as well. There was a glitch that you didn't have to get all of the cards to use their abilities as there was a start button exploit that had you get the power of cards you didn't even have which was ridiculously broken since you can do this as early as the beginning game and essentially increase your stats and damage output way beyond what you should even be doing that early in the game.

The music which is a core positive of the series is very good here, you get Vampire Killer among other iconic tunes that maybe due to my nostalgia of the game, was a fun listen when traversing through parts of the castle that made me want to rip my head off. Took me a few minutes to get used to the control of the whip, what's good in this collection is the ability to reconfigure the attack and map buttons differently because on my PS4 controller, SQUARE has to be attack and CIRCLE can be the map which is the total opposite of what the game has to present to you. One big drawback of this game(Which I don't remember in the GBA version) is minor slowdown when multiple enemies or the use of the aforementioned summons via the card system happen. Not really anything major but it was evident nevertheless. One core mechanic standpoint is the lack of a merchant to sell off the abundances of items/duplicates that you will get throughout the journey. We're talking 20+ leather god damn gloves that serve no purpose! Other games later in the series had this so maybe it's due to this being an early 2000's game and all but man it would have been great to sell off unneeded items for health potions or what not!

You best save when your given save points because you will kick yourself if trying to get greedy and not save and end up dying and losing all of the hard work and discovering that you made. I do wish the quick points were done a little better but the game is a product of the times. There are 5 different portals scattered very far out throughout the castle that allow you to bounce all over the castle in warp spots, these become massive when backtracking for HP UPs or MP UPs or HEART(Items) UPs or progressing in the story but heck if I wish there were more portals available in what is a large castle.

The game is certainly challenging but nothing head banging diabolical worthy either, this collection does offer up a REWIND ability that allows you to rewind previous to your death or mistake that is very beginner/casual friendly which is great for those who need it. That I never got to use, nor didn't because that's not how I want my Castlevania experience to go!

An overall great game, it might not be as great for brand new players to the genre or game itself but for people like me who did numerous playthroughs of the game as a kid, this was a real throwback and brought back so many good memories. Such an easy and effortless game to get into, just a simple enough adventure that I had a lot of fun playing in like 3-4 nights or so it took of me to down this game. What made this such a fun playthrough is I knew I was underleveled for so much of the boss fights that I died once or so just because I did so little damage and the bosses did so much but getting their patterns down and having some decent reflexes overcame so much here. When looking at a guide for late late game information(Who drops what card wise for example), they had recommended levels a good 6 or 7 levels higher than what I actually did it at. I beat 1st form of Dracula at level 37! Some guides says should be in the high 40's! All about the reflexes, it was a typical Dracula Castlevania fight that very 1st form. The true Dracula form is no joke though, had to grind about 4 levels to down that fucker! Recommendation was at least level 50 there. Hate to toot my own horn but it's not an impossible game, especially if you have some understanding of the Castlevania series, especially the Castlevania: SOTN style and all.

1 down, 3 to go. We are far from over of this awesome Castlevania Advance Collection!

46) Kena: Bridge of Spirits(PS5) 9/22-9/25, 10/2, 10/6-10/7

Such a mixed bag for me. Think of this as Playstation's ReCore in the sense that it's a Indy-esque platformer that features tons of fights with enemies in a action adventure sort of game. The story thus far got me to tear up a little recent, which I don't think hasn't happened to me since Ori & The Blind Forest(God help me trying to play the sequel). Game revolves around a spirit guider named Kena who has to send lost spirits away in a land/forest she has come to, but she runs into a spirit who refuses to go and feels that she is overstepping her boundaries trying to send stray spirits to the afterlife peacefully. Ultimately, the entire village and area gets covered in corrupted darkness and it's your mission to progress through the area and save everything from dying as you try and find how or why this is happening. As you progress through the story, you encounter lost spirits in the form of children/kids and there's a whole tragedy that without spoiling gets a "happy" ending if you can even call it that that got the reaction out of me.

Where the game isn't as great for me is the combat. Think Tomb Raider Reboot with the bow and arrow and puzzle guessing mixed with the climbing that the game features but the boss fights are sort of dark souls-esque where you will die quite a bit. By far, there have been two bosses out of the six or seven I have faced that are giant difficulty spikes, talking one of the bosses took me about 45 minutes to conquer. Mind you, I am doing this on the hardest difficulty possible(Which is the 2nd one since the harder is unlocked after beating the game), but the checkpoint system feels very PS3 ish where you die from a boss or enemy barrage, you begin from the start which is frustrating but not the end of the world. The combat is sort of weird in that you control these Pikmin inspired mini guys(or gals) that can help you stun enemies in place with a meter you build up by damaging enemies. These little guys are called Rot and can also help you solve puzzles in the "overworld"(If you can call it that). The closest thing are the NiOh Kodama's because you can fashion them up for cosmetic purposes but they play sort of like Pikmin where they are really beneficial in helping you out in tough fights. The bow & arrow does more damage than your basic rod so you will learn to get good with the Bow & Arrow, which is very much Tomb Raider like, so if you are familiar with that(They even have the slow mo aerial shooting which is big when trying to hit a enemy's weakness), you will be good. Game has same couple of enemies and is basically just one big gauntlet of enemy waves which is typical with this genre.

One of the mid game bosses that I beat is terrible in the sense that the hitboxes make zero sense(He has a grab that can almost one shot you but if you roll past him, you should in theory be okay....................except he grabs you while you roll out and the camera treats it like a full fledged perfect grab). In addition, it has a Dark Souls-ish problem by it being so big, it has hitboxes where your blatantly under it and the swing, not the blade gets you and deals mega damage. In addition, a very minor shockwave from a ground pound slam can also hurt you despite dodge rolling past the initial attack which was 50/50 on whether it hit me or not. There is a shield/parry system sure but the timing is rough to nail at times and the shield dies down extremely quick. In addition, there are limited health regains(2) and given the enemy can 2 shot you with any of it's moves and yeah, it's a rough boss. Not too good.

It's such a topsy turvy game for me. The positives are the emotional parts of the story(Feels Pixar like with the story telling), the look of the game(Looks really nice and of course the load times are great for the PS5) and the game has content available and isn't as short as many say it is. There's so much side content you can choose to do, sure the story is under 10 hours but there's collectables and side quests that can be done.

There is a lot of ambition on paper that the game tries to do well but it just doesn't. There's one too many gaming mechanic parts, of which where action commands are very similar to one another(If I try and shoot bow and arrow shots in air, once in a blue late game upon learning a new mechanic, I will do a downward aerial slam attack by accident), the checkpoint system is abysmal(Think PS2 days) where certain bosses have 2-3 phases, if you die at all, back to the beginning(This is especially for the final boss which I will get to a last second). Likewise certain segments have a "back to the start" mantra to it, and given it adds minutes of redundancy to the gameplay, it's pretty frustrating.

I can tell the difficulty levels between normal vs hard(Which I did 95% of the game on) because the final boss is obnoxious and has 3 phases enough that by Phase 3, I lost the war of nutrition and had to start from the beginning of the fight which forced me to drop the difficulty down to normal. And of course, 1st try with semi-ease, the boss goes down. Some games have the difficulty settings fully mastered, others make it either way too easy or way too hard, no great middle ground.

I mentioned before this game borrows a lot from games like Tomb Raider and the boss fights feel Dark Souls like, both series I like if not love. You can do bow and arrow attacks, throw bombs, do a super dash in late game among other tons of cool abilities. Again, there is so much to like with this game, just the little things can really use a fixing, like the checkpoint system and some of the game mechanics. In addition, not that this is outright terrible, this game sort of suffers from Dark Souls syndrome in that you have no idea what you are to do and don't know about certain game mechanics due to lack of information provided by the game. I grew up on cryptic SNES games so it's not the end of the world but I had to read up a guide to know about certain things like meditation spots that are scattered throughout the game(Not just ones that you get by finishing a major boss) or how certain enemies weakspots are, I don't think I am alone on this boat either.

There's a lot to like with Kena: Bridge of Spirits and for a 1st attempt by Ember Lab, the developers behind the game, this was a good try here. Just a few tinkers that can and should happen if a sequel were to ever happen.

Game is digital only at the moment and available for PC, PS5, and PS4 for $40($50 for deluxe but didn't think it was too worth it). Would be more upset if it was a full $60 or $70 dollar game but honestly, it's priced probably correct.

Memory Pak · Oct 10, 2021

39. Cosmic Express (2021, Switch) ★★★★☆
Port of a cute 2017 puzzle game which sees you assembling railroads inside little space stations. The various alien passengers check their phones with their eight eyes while waiting, or will not want to ride in carriages previously used by slimy aliens. Rails can't cross over/under themselves, but later it introduces crossroads, and even portals. A nice touch is how some levels have multiple exits to unlock different levels on the map, but this isn't maintained throughout - sometimes one exit will just unlock two levels, which is a bummer.
The difficulty resets at the start of every zone, so if you diligently complete zones in order you'll occasionally snap from a very hard to a very easy level when starting the next zone. In general I had a lot of trouble towards the end and looked a bunch of late level solutions up, but suspect that might just be my own ineptitude. Overall a cute execution of a strong concept, and a surprising amount of levels for its low price.

40. Mushihimesama (2021, Switch) ★★★★★
Every millisecond feels deliberately balanced in this Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind inspired shoot-em-up. You control a beetle-riding Bug Princess who wants to rid the forest of corrupting pollution which is turning insects hostile. A seemingly effortlessly paced ballet of bullets follows: stages 1 and 5 mirror their enemy placement, stages 2 and 4 both emphasise weaving patterns to anticipate incoming foes, and stage 3 is a unique inflection point. Enemies announce their impending arrival by scuttling in from the sides, below, or by casting shadows from above - you're never surprised by sudden incoming foes. Bright pink incoming fire ensures legibility, which in turns eases memorisation of sections.
Mushihimesama has the reputation of an absurd bullet hell thanks to videos of its Ultra difficulty mode, but I don't think it's entirely warranted. All 4 versions of the game included in this compilation (including a special Novice version) come with 3 difficulty modes, continues are infinite, and the harder Arrange and V1.5 versions let you slip through tinier gaps between shot patterns. It's not a perfect release, with some wonky translations, and an unwieldy menu interface. But this is the type of light-touch, expertly measured action which can easily induce a trance/flow state, sitting closer to Tetris than Raiden.

41. Carrion (2020, Switch) ★★★☆☆
Horror game where you play the monster: in this case a crimson amorphous blob of condensed rage looking to escape the facility it was created in. With obvious allusions to films like The Blob and The Thing, it's most successful in the visual and audio design. Your monster spreads its tendrils across the facilities, staining the pixel art surroundings in blood, tentacles and slime. Meanwhile the sound effects present your movements alongside sloshing noises, and sell the body horror with enough blood-curdling screams and crunches. A fitting, classic sci-fi soundtrack with swelling synths and pulsing noises is another highlight in the presentation.
Praise aside, I think the game fails to escalate in the last third: cutting the entire Bunker area might have led to tighter pacing and lets the game end in a nuclear power plant, which feels like a more high-stakes environment anyway. While it's a joy to steer the monster through areas and wreck everything in its path, or stealthily pick off squads of soldiers one by one through the air ducts, repetition did set in for me. Good game to start Shocktober with though!

KtotheRoc · Oct 10, 2021

57: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. End: 10/10/2021. (3 out of 5)

The first of the GBA Castlevania games. And probably the roughest of them. Still enjoyable, but some of the flaws do bring the game down a bit compared to later entries.

bushmonkey · Oct 13, 2021

18 - Toem - PS5 - 7hrs / 9th October / Platinum - 10/10
beautiful relaxing little game that doesn't overstay its welcome. I would t change a single thing about it.

19 - Telling lies - PS4 - 13hrs / 12th October / Platinum - 7/10
I enjoyed the mechanics of searching for missing videos but the story wasn't great and I wish you could watch both sides of a conversation together once you unlock them. I also wish it had a "timeline" feature like in visual novels where you can see when in the timeline the missing videos are. It's really frustrating to find the last few videos when you have no idea when in the story they could be and when you have to just randomly look for words, something's gone wrong in the game design.

currently playing: Jett: the far shore, I expect you to die 2, 13 Sentinels.

KtotheRoc · Oct 16, 2021

58: Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. End: 10/16/2021. (3 out of 5)

Still a very rough game, but it's a different kind of rough than its predecessor.

Weiss · Oct 17, 2021

36. Metroid Dread - 17/10/2021

My perfect games list has four games now and three of them are Metroid. Crazy how nature do that.

KtotheRoc · Oct 18, 2021

59: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. End: 10/18/2021. (4 out of 5)

What an improvement over its portable predecessors. The only reason I didn't rate it higher is because the games that came after (on the DS) were even better.

Griffin · Oct 18, 2021

MAIN POST

Well I'm three games into October, but it's never too late for a September recap.

36. Fuga: Melodies of Steel (Switch) - ★★★☆☆

I really wish I enjoyed CyberConnect2's Fuga more than I did. The art is great, and the turn-based battles are a nice twist on games like Grandia with a bunch of kids controlling a colossal tank's array of machine guns and cannons. The game keeps the stakes nice and high right from the start. If you take the wrong paths and fail to upgrade the tank's weaponry, it's possible to get backed into a corner and need to resort to the Soul Cannon, a battle-ending weapon that also happens to kill off one of the children. As a consequence, the characterization of all of the kids onboard the tank is a little too shallow. The game also stretches on for longer than it really should've, with several chapters that don't really drive the story forward. It's an interesting game, but one that starts to drag in the second half when this tank quickly runs out of gas. I wrote up some more thoughts here, if you're curious about this unconventional RPG.

37. Psychonauts 2 (Xbox Series S) - ★★★★★

This long-awaited sequel absolutely lived up to my expectations. It's not as laugh-out-loud funny as the original, but Psychonauts 2 tackles more serious topics in an irreverent way. As a psychic intern with the power to enter minds, you help characters deal with their mental blocks by exploring wildly creative levels like journeying through a psychedelic depiction of sensory overload and the sailing the alcoholic sea of a washed-up addict. It even deals with PTSD (my own, whenever the Meat Circus music played).

The platforming and action is much more polished, with this sequel introducing a larger variety of enemies that keep with the game's theming, like tough-to-manage panic attacks and regrets that are literally weighed down by a weight they drop on you. I do wish that some of the ideas, like connecting thoughts, were explored more and it's strange that the game introduces all these other oddball interns who don't end up getting much attention. But overall it's a big improvement on the first game and one of the finest 3D platformers in quite some time.

38. Espgaluda II -Be Ascension. The Third Bright Stone of Birth- (Switch) - ★★★★☆

Yes, that is apparently the game's full title. Here we've got another Cave shooter making its way to the Switch, filled with challenging patterns of bullets to evade and complicated scoring mechanics. The core gameplay system here is that the characters have the power to temporarily slow down time (and change their gender in the process?). It's a power that makes it much easier to manoeuvre through difficult volleys of bullets and also automatically deploys a bomb when you get hit. This makes Espgaluda II much more accessible for beginners, but the key to a high score seems to actually be taking the opposite approach. Rather than slowing down the bullets, you can also speed them up, with this form turning the bullets red and making them progressively faster. It's risk/reward taken to dangerous extremes.

This Switch port compiles all the different releases of Espgaluda II over the years, each with different mechanics, scoring systems and characters. It's quite a comprehensive package, although the English translation is atrocious. There are even some "novice" modes that make it incredibly easy to clear the game on a single credit, which is why I'm listing it as a "beaten" game at all. I do want to go for a real 1CC at some point, but the later stages are a struggle so it'll take a long time. It's hard to wrap my head around managing the gems and gold needed to change form while evading all the bullets filling the screen. I don't enjoy Espgaluda II as much as Ketsui or Mushihimesama, but it's another fine Cave shooter with sadistic boss fights and excellent music.

39. Pokémon Unite (Switch) - ★★★☆☆

It's not really a game that's possible to beat, but I completed the first battle pass and sunk 50 hours into it so I guess that'll do. I've never been interested in MOBAs and yet somehow this has ended up as one of my most-played Switch games. But am I actually enjoying it? Well, my score for Pokémon Unite jumps between one and five stars depending on whether I'm winning or losing and how annoying the meta is at any given moment, but it's definitely improved a lot since release.

Th short 10 minute matches are addictive and the controls and movesets are simple so it's easy to switch to different roles based on what the team needs (not that it matters when three of them start fighting over who gets to go to the central area). There's a lack of communication when playing with random players online, but I honestly don't mind it. I just want to chill out and play some matches without getting on voice chat - especially not when I'm seemingly being matched with only Japanese and Korean players. Lately I feel like I'm finally being matched with better players who know their role and don't suddenly go afk, but then my block list is getting pretty full. Pokémon Unite also the only free to play game that's ever got me to spend money (on the battle pass, not absurdly expensive Ninetales skins), for whatever that's worth.

40. Tales of the Tempest (Nintendo DS) - ★☆☆☆☆

I checked out this largely reviled entry in the Tales series out of curiosity, which was a mistake. Everything about this game is a mistake. Boring combat, characters with no personality, a story filled with clichés, hideous visuals, dull dungeons, Tales mainstays like cooking that are barely recognisable… I could go on (and I did). What really kills it is all the padding, with most of the game spent making agonising and random encounter-filled treks across the world map. It's by far the shortest entry in the series, but it sure doesn't feel like it.

41. The Great Ace Attorney: Resolve - ★★★★☆

The second half of this sprawling lawyering saga ended up being one of my favourite in the series, thanks in part to its fantastic characters. Ryunosuke might be the best protagonist the series has seen as he has a strong character arc and really grows from nervous wreck to saviour of the British legal system. The supporting cast are great too, especially Herlock Sholmes and his goofy deduction sequences. The Old Bailey's prosecutors are two of the most interesting foils to the protagonist in any Ace Attorney game, making the courtroom clashes exciting.

I also loved the game's depiction of England, which gets into the imagery and social issues of the era without constantly falling back on stereotypes (I can't say the same of the Italian con artist who likes-a the spaghetti). Although they do a great job of resolving some of the more unsatisfying parts of the first game, the cases do start to go on for too long, especially compared to the original Ace Attorney trilogy. It doesn't help that they're all interconnected and the final one is spread over two chapters. Still, I'm going to miss this cast.

Palomitero · Oct 19, 2021

Main post here

September update

24- FFIV ShadowBringers -40h- 5/5

The best expansion as a whole, top tier companions, OST, story and character building.

Truly epic and kino moments in this one, many great scenes with possibly the best villain the FF saga has to offer.

Interesting raid with a lot of fun bosses and mechanics.

Heavenwards may be better at companions/story, but this one is more packed with many little things that makes for a great experience.

Ready for Endwalker, what a ride.

25- Tales of Arise -45h- 4/5

Long time Tales fan, liked some changes and disliked others.

More serious themed, with little to no fan service humor that is characteristic to the saga

Combat and visuals are obviously a massive upgrade, the game is an eye candy

The last 3-5hours the game feels lighting fast rushed, with massive info dump in very little time, bad pacing.

All in all a great jrpg, we have to see how the saga evolves at the next one with the great sales and reviews this one got.

Now playing:

-NEO TWEWY

djinn · Oct 19, 2021

Main Post

27. Metroid Dread
An actual masterpiece. Fusion is my favourite Metroid and I'm so glad it got the sequel it deserves. I bow before my Space Queen.

52 Games. 1 Year. 2021.

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