Congrats!More and more for the Hall of Fame, gz on the 2022 win! :D
52 Games. 1 Year. 2022.
- Thread starter Wozzer
- Start date
38 - Cult of the lamb - PS5 - 14 hours / 23rd August - 10/10
Fantastic blend of dark humour, roguelite gameplay and village management. Nothing else like it and a treat to play. It is full of bugs but that did not distract me enough from what I'd consider one of the top games of the year. Nothing else like it.
Fantastic blend of dark humour, roguelite gameplay and village management. Nothing else like it and a treat to play. It is full of bugs but that did not distract me enough from what I'd consider one of the top games of the year. Nothing else like it.
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GUILTY GEAR STRIVE
8/10
In what may be a controversial statement, the last Arc System Works fighting game I played before this was BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma, which was like 10 years ago, and with me getting back into fighting games with Tekken 7, I thought I was overdue to visit a game I have heard so many good things about.
The result? Really fun fighting game, with some annoying quirks to the arcade mode that absolutely WASTED an entire evening of mine whilst going to the platinum. I'm not the best fighting game player, but have some fundamentals, and running through arcade mode without losing a round, and then getting absolutely slammed by Nagoriyuki nearly drove me to insanity. Might be the most absurdly difficult think I've ever pushed through.
Playing zoning dickhead I-No online, though? Absolutely hilarious.
BRIGHT MEMORY: INFINITE
9/10
Probably the game that reviewers were most wrong on this year, so far at least. The high-pace melee and shooting is blended tremendously well, and there are enough special moves and new guns to build up over the game that keeps the combat fresh. Game looks fantastic as well, I think the shorter length really allowed the (tiny) dev team to pump up the quality.
I think you might feel short-changed by the length, but for me I enjoyed the game keeping the pace and in some regards being a bit of a speedrun game, and I basically went into NG+ on the Hell difficulty straight away. I reckon if you are a bit worried about not getting your money's worth, wait for sale, but it's 100% worth playing, and definitely shooter of the year so far.
GUNVOLT CHRONICLES: LUMINOUS AVENGER iX
7/10
Decides to have a crack at this after I saw it available on PS+ Extra, and the flow of the early game is really great. High-paced, combo-driven with minimal Mega Man-esque bullshit. Bosses keep that, encouraging you to manage your ammo to protect yourself and keep damage flowing. Tutorial is pretty shit though, so you might need to have a play around to work out how you are actually meant to play the game.
And then you get to the EX version of the final boss, when the game completely changes and every attack will inflict damage, against the rules of the game that apply to almost every prior damage source. This wouldn't be so bad, as after a few tries you know what to expect, but awkward tells and a complete lack of i-frames make a large amount of attacks complete horseshit. Sure they needed a bit of a difficulty boost for the end-boss, but this isn't the way to do it.
CUPHEAD: THE DELICIOUS LAST COURSE
9/10
Revisiting Cuphead earlier this year, I was a little down on it compared to how much I loved it previously. Some of the flaws in the bosses reared a bit more, and I ended up hating every plane boss. I played The Delicious Last Course to 100% competition, and this is absolutely MDHR at their best. Back to back bangers for bosses, pretty much all of whom crack my top 10, including the only fun plane boss. The final boss is so insanely well-animated that it's like you aren't even playing a game, but it still has perfect tells so you know exactly what to expect.
Ms. Chalice is a lot of fun, different enough to Cuphead that it's worth going through the original game again with her (which I did to finish up the platinum), and the new upgrades and weapons from the shop fit well into the game, though they do make some bosses much easier. The King's Court is also a fun little break in the action, much better at separating the boss rush than run and guns.
JAZZPUNK
7/10
Comedy games can be very hit-or-miss, and I think Jazzpunk's jokes definitely land more than they don't. The levels hide some fun little secrets that reward exploration, and whilst they aren't a lot of levels, each is relatively sizable. The gameplay is pretty much only within minigames, which is fine, but most of the time you'll be walking around whilst funny dialogue happens.
I think if you've watched a trailer and the comedy landed, it's worth playing, but the tone is pretty consistent, so I wouldn't bother if it doesn't resonate.
FROGUN
6/10
So this one I am very divided on. I like the presentation, the mechanics, a lot of the level design is good and I enjoy how each level has some bonuses for completing extra challenges. Bosses are also decent, but a couple have awkward mechanics that basically hit you no matter what. Across the board though, the game has a lot of things going for it.
The main issue this game has is in piss-poor checkpointing, not saving collectibles on death, and some huge inconsistencies in the twitch platforming sections. Reading patch notes, it seems that these problems are being addressed pretty quickly though (especially as it's mostly a 1 person project), so the game might get knocked up a point or 2 when it comes to it.
NOBODY SAVES THE WORLD
9/10
This game has the best perspective on roguelike gameplay I think since The Binding of Isaac, isolating the randomised elements to each dungeon and having a hand-designed overworld to explore. The decision to make each dungeon a unique concept was genius. Things don't get too crazy in terms of randomization, and it does retain gimmicks across runs, meaning you can learn a dungeon even with it's layout shifting.
The form switching gimmick starts off slow, but when you gain the ability to customize forms with moves from other forms, the possibles really blow up, and there a load of combinations to come up with that you can break the game with. I actually found NG+ way easier because of this. I would've liked to have seen more effort put into bosses though (although the final boss is solid), as they are by far the least memorable part of the game. Ian Campbell doesn't miss.
CONTROL
7/10
A pretty notable game that slipped me by when it released, but finally got around to playing it and found that it is certainly an interesting experience, but I think a massive waste of potential. I went in expecting a focus on a very SCP-style universe of objects that do insane shit, and whilst there is a little bit of it, the story and game mostly focuses on an entirely different subject that eventually I basically did not understand at all. I've heard they play a lot more with Altered Items in the DLC though, which I haven't played yet.
Combat is pretty fun but often annoying, with some terrible checkpointing making certain encounters very tedious. The bosses are universally dogshit, and are 0 fun to fight. I really recommend turning up ammo and focus regen if you haven't played Control yet, I guess it makes the game easier but it's also way more fun.
ROLLERDROME
7/10
Was hoping for an absolute killer game after how much I hated OlliOlli World, and whilst this is nearly there, it is so light on mechanics and content with some clearly neglected aspects. While this may seem hypocritical with how much I've defended shorter games, blasting through the levels in Rollerdrome without going for challenges or high scores basically makes the game an hour long, and there is not a huge variety in environment types either, basically just Stadium, Mall, Desert, Snowy.
At it's core, the gameplay is fun, and there's definitely a bit of OlliOlli in there, combined with the traditional skating game style of a Tony Hawk game. Flipping around and blasting people in slow motion is fun, but they really struggled to find ways to make the game challenging but fun. The Prowlers are annoying as hell, and the two bosses ("two") are fine, but they could've done so much more. At it's core though, fun gameplay loop.
I AM DEAD
8/10
Richard Hogg does it again, absolutely beautiful game with a real distinct style and presentation, really brought to life by a varied cast of voice actors bringing the characters to life, with solid performances across the board. The story is more about the journey than the destination, and it does end weirdly abruptly, but if you are familiar with British culture (specifically seaside culture) you'll really grow to love these characters.
As a puzzler, it's not the hardest game in the world, and you'll be able to solve pretty much everything just by checking objects, but the x-ray gimmick works well, and the bonus puzzles are a little bit tougher and require some more thinking and taking in the world around you. If you enjoyed Hohokum for it's presentation, play this, and if you enjoy a chill puzzler with a warm story, play this.
GUILTY GEAR STRIVE
8/10
In what may be a controversial statement, the last Arc System Works fighting game I played before this was BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma, which was like 10 years ago, and with me getting back into fighting games with Tekken 7, I thought I was overdue to visit a game I have heard so many good things about.
The result? Really fun fighting game, with some annoying quirks to the arcade mode that absolutely WASTED an entire evening of mine whilst going to the platinum. I'm not the best fighting game player, but have some fundamentals, and running through arcade mode without losing a round, and then getting absolutely slammed by Nagoriyuki nearly drove me to insanity. Might be the most absurdly difficult think I've ever pushed through.
Playing zoning dickhead I-No online, though? Absolutely hilarious.
BRIGHT MEMORY: INFINITE
9/10
Probably the game that reviewers were most wrong on this year, so far at least. The high-pace melee and shooting is blended tremendously well, and there are enough special moves and new guns to build up over the game that keeps the combat fresh. Game looks fantastic as well, I think the shorter length really allowed the (tiny) dev team to pump up the quality.
I think you might feel short-changed by the length, but for me I enjoyed the game keeping the pace and in some regards being a bit of a speedrun game, and I basically went into NG+ on the Hell difficulty straight away. I reckon if you are a bit worried about not getting your money's worth, wait for sale, but it's 100% worth playing, and definitely shooter of the year so far.
GUNVOLT CHRONICLES: LUMINOUS AVENGER iX
7/10
Decides to have a crack at this after I saw it available on PS+ Extra, and the flow of the early game is really great. High-paced, combo-driven with minimal Mega Man-esque bullshit. Bosses keep that, encouraging you to manage your ammo to protect yourself and keep damage flowing. Tutorial is pretty shit though, so you might need to have a play around to work out how you are actually meant to play the game.
And then you get to the EX version of the final boss, when the game completely changes and every attack will inflict damage, against the rules of the game that apply to almost every prior damage source. This wouldn't be so bad, as after a few tries you know what to expect, but awkward tells and a complete lack of i-frames make a large amount of attacks complete horseshit. Sure they needed a bit of a difficulty boost for the end-boss, but this isn't the way to do it.
CUPHEAD: THE DELICIOUS LAST COURSE
9/10
Revisiting Cuphead earlier this year, I was a little down on it compared to how much I loved it previously. Some of the flaws in the bosses reared a bit more, and I ended up hating every plane boss. I played The Delicious Last Course to 100% competition, and this is absolutely MDHR at their best. Back to back bangers for bosses, pretty much all of whom crack my top 10, including the only fun plane boss. The final boss is so insanely well-animated that it's like you aren't even playing a game, but it still has perfect tells so you know exactly what to expect.
Ms. Chalice is a lot of fun, different enough to Cuphead that it's worth going through the original game again with her (which I did to finish up the platinum), and the new upgrades and weapons from the shop fit well into the game, though they do make some bosses much easier. The King's Court is also a fun little break in the action, much better at separating the boss rush than run and guns.
JAZZPUNK
7/10
Comedy games can be very hit-or-miss, and I think Jazzpunk's jokes definitely land more than they don't. The levels hide some fun little secrets that reward exploration, and whilst they aren't a lot of levels, each is relatively sizable. The gameplay is pretty much only within minigames, which is fine, but most of the time you'll be walking around whilst funny dialogue happens.
I think if you've watched a trailer and the comedy landed, it's worth playing, but the tone is pretty consistent, so I wouldn't bother if it doesn't resonate.
FROGUN
6/10
So this one I am very divided on. I like the presentation, the mechanics, a lot of the level design is good and I enjoy how each level has some bonuses for completing extra challenges. Bosses are also decent, but a couple have awkward mechanics that basically hit you no matter what. Across the board though, the game has a lot of things going for it.
The main issue this game has is in piss-poor checkpointing, not saving collectibles on death, and some huge inconsistencies in the twitch platforming sections. Reading patch notes, it seems that these problems are being addressed pretty quickly though (especially as it's mostly a 1 person project), so the game might get knocked up a point or 2 when it comes to it.
NOBODY SAVES THE WORLD
9/10
This game has the best perspective on roguelike gameplay I think since The Binding of Isaac, isolating the randomised elements to each dungeon and having a hand-designed overworld to explore. The decision to make each dungeon a unique concept was genius. Things don't get too crazy in terms of randomization, and it does retain gimmicks across runs, meaning you can learn a dungeon even with it's layout shifting.
The form switching gimmick starts off slow, but when you gain the ability to customize forms with moves from other forms, the possibles really blow up, and there a load of combinations to come up with that you can break the game with. I actually found NG+ way easier because of this. I would've liked to have seen more effort put into bosses though (although the final boss is solid), as they are by far the least memorable part of the game. Ian Campbell doesn't miss.
CONTROL
7/10
A pretty notable game that slipped me by when it released, but finally got around to playing it and found that it is certainly an interesting experience, but I think a massive waste of potential. I went in expecting a focus on a very SCP-style universe of objects that do insane shit, and whilst there is a little bit of it, the story and game mostly focuses on an entirely different subject that eventually I basically did not understand at all. I've heard they play a lot more with Altered Items in the DLC though, which I haven't played yet.
Combat is pretty fun but often annoying, with some terrible checkpointing making certain encounters very tedious. The bosses are universally dogshit, and are 0 fun to fight. I really recommend turning up ammo and focus regen if you haven't played Control yet, I guess it makes the game easier but it's also way more fun.
ROLLERDROME
7/10
Was hoping for an absolute killer game after how much I hated OlliOlli World, and whilst this is nearly there, it is so light on mechanics and content with some clearly neglected aspects. While this may seem hypocritical with how much I've defended shorter games, blasting through the levels in Rollerdrome without going for challenges or high scores basically makes the game an hour long, and there is not a huge variety in environment types either, basically just Stadium, Mall, Desert, Snowy.
At it's core, the gameplay is fun, and there's definitely a bit of OlliOlli in there, combined with the traditional skating game style of a Tony Hawk game. Flipping around and blasting people in slow motion is fun, but they really struggled to find ways to make the game challenging but fun. The Prowlers are annoying as hell, and the two bosses ("two") are fine, but they could've done so much more. At it's core though, fun gameplay loop.
I AM DEAD
8/10
Richard Hogg does it again, absolutely beautiful game with a real distinct style and presentation, really brought to life by a varied cast of voice actors bringing the characters to life, with solid performances across the board. The story is more about the journey than the destination, and it does end weirdly abruptly, but if you are familiar with British culture (specifically seaside culture) you'll really grow to love these characters.
As a puzzler, it's not the hardest game in the world, and you'll be able to solve pretty much everything just by checking objects, but the x-ray gimmick works well, and the bonus puzzles are a little bit tougher and require some more thinking and taking in the world around you. If you enjoyed Hohokum for it's presentation, play this, and if you enjoy a chill puzzler with a warm story, play this.
wow!!
very organized and well made posts!!!
also congrats for the amount of games finished!!
very impressive!!
I finished my game number 52 this week!!
Just getting courage to post all them here!
never expected to achieve the challenge…
I usually finish 10 to 20 games for year…
I think I am just playing to much videogames nowadays!
46 | Spyro: Year of the Dragon Reignited
PS4 | August 18 | 10.5 h | 3.5/5
I received the Reignited trilogy in 2018; beat the first two games but never finished 3. So here it is! I have put many hours into all three of these Spyro games growing up. I think the first Spyro game may be my favorite. The second my least and this one stands in the middle.
It improved the new playable character levels of the second game. They felt more polished. Not the best, but better. For instance, the yeti character needs a better camera position because he's tall. It vastly limits your view. The level designs are improved from the second game. More enjoyable to explore since they are linear and not large maps. They have improved the speedway levels to be more clear in the order of collection.
I also love the fact they brought back dragon animations. Instead of rescuing adults dragons from statues, you are collecting eggs. Each rewards you with an animation that is much more fun than simply getting a boring orb in the second game. Some of your helper NCPs return from the second game. Namely the professor and Hunter. The professor I understand, but Hunter? He's still useless. Not sure why they brought him back. Comic relief? The story and villain are more fleshed out and shown here.
In the future, I'll come back and replay the trilogy again. It's a part of me at this point.
Main Post
PS4 | August 18 | 10.5 h | 3.5/5
I received the Reignited trilogy in 2018; beat the first two games but never finished 3. So here it is! I have put many hours into all three of these Spyro games growing up. I think the first Spyro game may be my favorite. The second my least and this one stands in the middle.
It improved the new playable character levels of the second game. They felt more polished. Not the best, but better. For instance, the yeti character needs a better camera position because he's tall. It vastly limits your view. The level designs are improved from the second game. More enjoyable to explore since they are linear and not large maps. They have improved the speedway levels to be more clear in the order of collection.
I also love the fact they brought back dragon animations. Instead of rescuing adults dragons from statues, you are collecting eggs. Each rewards you with an animation that is much more fun than simply getting a boring orb in the second game. Some of your helper NCPs return from the second game. Namely the professor and Hunter. The professor I understand, but Hunter? He's still useless. Not sure why they brought him back. Comic relief? The story and villain are more fleshed out and shown here.
In the future, I'll come back and replay the trilogy again. It's a part of me at this point.
Main Post
56. Wave Race 64 (24/8/22) ★★★★
gif shamelessly stolen from another era thread
A rare case of a first party N64 title that's eluded me (in good company with other sport racing hybrids like 1080 and Excitebike 64), I wasn't sure what to expect when finally playing this game, discussion around it is almost always pretty positive yet lacks the fan fervour around most lost Nintendo franchises, a niche classic? an acquired taste? appreciated for being a drop of water in the especially dry early N64 drought?
WR64 it turns out, is probably second to Super Mario 64 itself in highlighting the newfangled analogue stick, a game with simple controls submerging the depth just under the surface, the amount of deft control the analogue stick offers is quite unlike any other racer I've played on the platform. Jetskis perfectly lending themselves to shifting the weight forwards or backwards with the rider, taking wide or sharp turns, all without having to hit any cornering specific button, it's just all right there in the stick.
Supporting this are of course the titular waves, I'm absolutely bowled over that this is a launch window N64 game, it's wave and water physics relating to the player's craft and input is second to none, it doesn't feel remotely dated in this department, the push and pull of stormier conditions on Marine Fortress to the sheer control contrast on the smooth surfaced Drake Lake.
The game's not boasting a vast amount of tracks, but they absolutely get their full mileage out of what's there, each one is distinct visually and tends to offer its own twist on the formula. Changing difficulty levels shifting the buoy marker positions to up the challenge, while often adding new hazard elements or even new sections of track , I've played each track a lot over the last week or two and they still feel exciting for me to tackle, topped off by the game opting for reverse mode instead of mirror.
The game's character roster is even smaller, four racers that even before tinkering with the vehicle stats, all control quite differently, if there's a stumbling block in learning this game it's just how varied the four can feel to use and then lobbing the three tweakeable stats on top of that, it can make it hard to find what's right for you.
There's also the feeling in my mind that two characters are designed for races, the other two mainly for the trick mode.
The game's style also feels far removed from what you expect from a Nintendo game, it was a different era, a different time, this game's visuals may not look it now, but they're clearly aiming for realism, right down to the four characters lacking any sort of mascot flavour, they're just some dudes (and of course, the sole lady who is decked in pink of course), I'm just saying that no one is out there repping D Mariner and his impeccable polygon booty for Smash Bros.
This isn't to say I found it lacking flavour, the tracks have a very lived in vibe (as strange as they sounds to type), port blue and marine fortress carry this very real sense of industry compared to the glitz of Twilight City or beach vibes of sunset bay. The announcer brings it all together, he's a bit snarky even when you're bumbling about which adds that extra bit of spice to the proceedings.
The highest difficulty really required me to break out the SAVE STATES before each race, I know, I'm a monster, but shit me if this game doesn't turn up the heat and become cruelly punishing, between the trickier track layouts and more competent AI, it's easy to make one flub up and never sniff the chance of victory in that race again. The CPU are also wildcards in themselves, they're not infallible and actually prone to crashing themselves, they'll also use this power to crash into you (guess who comes off worse!), accidentally blockade you and miss checkpoint markers without the player's speed loss punishment. So even before me not being quite expert enough for expert, it felt like I was rolling the dice on the CPU at the highest level of challenge, my trip through the glacier track was hitting super meat boy levels of retries, and to think the game as is on the N64 would not allow you such a luxury during the 8 track gauntlet.
Well I guess you gotta extend playtime as much as you can when there are months between your £60 game releases.
Oh and just to really squeeze as much out of the existing content as they could, the game also has a surprisingly satisfying trick mode, based upon tricking off ramps (all done via the stick as well, the versatility!) and hitting rings to build a score combo, it's honestly one of my favourite aspects of the game because it uses the existing gameplay to create a unique spin on the tracks, hitting the tricks feels incredibly satisfying, some top tactile feel and dopamine hit stuff as you land that barrel roll onto choppy waters.
And now I'm gonna be one of those people asking for a never happening wave race revival, the potential here with a more fleshed out title feels huge (in fun...not sales I expect), then again the gamecube sequel exists and didn't seem to set the world on fire, one day I'll get to give that one a go as well.
gif shamelessly stolen from another era thread
A rare case of a first party N64 title that's eluded me (in good company with other sport racing hybrids like 1080 and Excitebike 64), I wasn't sure what to expect when finally playing this game, discussion around it is almost always pretty positive yet lacks the fan fervour around most lost Nintendo franchises, a niche classic? an acquired taste? appreciated for being a drop of water in the especially dry early N64 drought?
WR64 it turns out, is probably second to Super Mario 64 itself in highlighting the newfangled analogue stick, a game with simple controls submerging the depth just under the surface, the amount of deft control the analogue stick offers is quite unlike any other racer I've played on the platform. Jetskis perfectly lending themselves to shifting the weight forwards or backwards with the rider, taking wide or sharp turns, all without having to hit any cornering specific button, it's just all right there in the stick.
Supporting this are of course the titular waves, I'm absolutely bowled over that this is a launch window N64 game, it's wave and water physics relating to the player's craft and input is second to none, it doesn't feel remotely dated in this department, the push and pull of stormier conditions on Marine Fortress to the sheer control contrast on the smooth surfaced Drake Lake.
The game's not boasting a vast amount of tracks, but they absolutely get their full mileage out of what's there, each one is distinct visually and tends to offer its own twist on the formula. Changing difficulty levels shifting the buoy marker positions to up the challenge, while often adding new hazard elements or even new sections of track , I've played each track a lot over the last week or two and they still feel exciting for me to tackle, topped off by the game opting for reverse mode instead of mirror.
The game's character roster is even smaller, four racers that even before tinkering with the vehicle stats, all control quite differently, if there's a stumbling block in learning this game it's just how varied the four can feel to use and then lobbing the three tweakeable stats on top of that, it can make it hard to find what's right for you.
There's also the feeling in my mind that two characters are designed for races, the other two mainly for the trick mode.
The game's style also feels far removed from what you expect from a Nintendo game, it was a different era, a different time, this game's visuals may not look it now, but they're clearly aiming for realism, right down to the four characters lacking any sort of mascot flavour, they're just some dudes (and of course, the sole lady who is decked in pink of course), I'm just saying that no one is out there repping D Mariner and his impeccable polygon booty for Smash Bros.
This isn't to say I found it lacking flavour, the tracks have a very lived in vibe (as strange as they sounds to type), port blue and marine fortress carry this very real sense of industry compared to the glitz of Twilight City or beach vibes of sunset bay. The announcer brings it all together, he's a bit snarky even when you're bumbling about which adds that extra bit of spice to the proceedings.
The highest difficulty really required me to break out the SAVE STATES before each race, I know, I'm a monster, but shit me if this game doesn't turn up the heat and become cruelly punishing, between the trickier track layouts and more competent AI, it's easy to make one flub up and never sniff the chance of victory in that race again. The CPU are also wildcards in themselves, they're not infallible and actually prone to crashing themselves, they'll also use this power to crash into you (guess who comes off worse!), accidentally blockade you and miss checkpoint markers without the player's speed loss punishment. So even before me not being quite expert enough for expert, it felt like I was rolling the dice on the CPU at the highest level of challenge, my trip through the glacier track was hitting super meat boy levels of retries, and to think the game as is on the N64 would not allow you such a luxury during the 8 track gauntlet.
Well I guess you gotta extend playtime as much as you can when there are months between your £60 game releases.
Oh and just to really squeeze as much out of the existing content as they could, the game also has a surprisingly satisfying trick mode, based upon tricking off ramps (all done via the stick as well, the versatility!) and hitting rings to build a score combo, it's honestly one of my favourite aspects of the game because it uses the existing gameplay to create a unique spin on the tracks, hitting the tricks feels incredibly satisfying, some top tactile feel and dopamine hit stuff as you land that barrel roll onto choppy waters.
And now I'm gonna be one of those people asking for a never happening wave race revival, the potential here with a more fleshed out title feels huge (in fun...not sales I expect), then again the gamecube sequel exists and didn't seem to set the world on fire, one day I'll get to give that one a go as well.
MAIN POST
Congrats to everyone who made it to 52 already! I don't think I'll be joining you this year...
13. Puyo Puyo Tetris (Switch) - ★★★★☆
I forgot to include this earlier and can't recall when exactly I finished the story mode, so why not throw it in with this month's lot? Anyway, there's not much to say about this one. It's two of the most iconic puzzle games mashed together, so of course it's good. I'm sure people who are super competitive at both games have their issues, but as a casual fan who's never survived a match of Tetris 99 and sometimes lucks into getting more than 3 chains in Puyo, it's terrific. The swap mode is great fun, allowing players to make crazy combos by switching between both games, but the Fusion variant kind of blows. Shame that the story mode forces you to do it so much. Special mention should be made to the hilarious English script, for both the fish puns and making the phrase 'as ASAP as possible' something I say on a regular basis.
14. Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition (Switch) - ★★★☆☆
I'm not a fan of the Warriors games but I enjoyed Fire Emblem Warriors and the Three Hopes demo so I decided to go back to this one. After playing through Hyrule Warriors' main campaign (I think, since there were no credits), I can't help but feel like Fire Emblem is a better fit for the formula than Zelda. The strategy elements are downplayed here; you can give orders to your allies but you'll have to constantly switch between characters because they can't do anything when left to their own devices.
The crossover storyline is terrible, and is little more than an excuse to briefly show moments from Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time and Skyward Sword. The original characters also feel completely out of place. The game tries to work in items, monsters and sound effects from the series, but it just doesn't feel very Zelda. The Zelda elements that are in here don't make the game any more enjoyable, like sub-bosses where you have to wait around for them to expose their weak point, which slows down the flow of the combat. For a series renowned for its music, the soundtrack is surprisingly awful too.
The movesets are quite creative and it's nice to see a lot more characters than just Link and Zelda. Still, a lot of the more interesting characters are locked behind the adventure mode, which has so many similar objectives and convoluted item systems that I don't feel like sinking much time into it right now. There's heaps of Content here, but it's not for me.
15. Triangle Strategy (Switch) - ★★★★★
Triangle Strategy, on the other hand, was extremely my jam. I went into the game expecting it to be a throwback to Tactics Ogre or Final Fantasy Tactics in the same way that Bravely Default referenced Final Fantasy V, but that wasn't the case. Though the pixelated presentation is similar, the game mechanics and approach to storytelling are quite different in ways that I really appreciated.
The storyline is remarkably grounded, focused on a conflict over not magic crystals, but salt crystals (which was a real thing throughout history, apparently). The path of protagonist Serenoa splits off at several points, but Triangle Strategy twists that tired old mantra that ''your choices will matter'. Instead it's your companions' choices that affect the game and you're just trying to convince them to choose a sensible option. There's quite a lot of talking, but the English script is well done (the voice acting, on the other hand, is a bit of a mixed bag).
The turn-based battles keep that familiar isometric perspective, but each of your troops plays completely differently. There's a stealthy spy that can go invisible and stab foes in the back, a hawk rider who can fire off arrows from high and a guy that can place spring traps to launch the enemy off a cliff or set up ladders for the team to get around. It all leads to a lot of creative strategies and challenging fights. I don't know why it took so long for Square-Enix to release another strategy RPG (nor why they're suddenly releasing so many of them in 2022) but I'm glad they did.
16. Yazuka: Like a Dragon (Xbox Series S) - ★★★★☆
After six instalments, it's hard to continue a series with a completely different cast and gameplay style, but Yakuza: Like a Dragon absolutely nails it. Ichiban is a great protagonist, completely different from usual Yakuza lead Kiryu, but charming in his own way. And while the story has some of the contrived plot elements the series is infamous for, it also has some great character development and ends up being surprisingly political. I appreciated that the cast is made up of people who are on the fringes of society, with ex-convicts, sex workers, racial minorities and homeless folk all standing up against ultra-conservative political groups. I'm used to a lot of Japanese RPGs shying away from contemporary issues, not going after historic ties between organised crime and right-wing politicians! There's a lot here that took me by surprise, especially the sudden assassination of a Japanese politician, which hits completely differently these days.
Since Ichiban is such a big fan of retro RPGs, the game has been changed into more of a modern take on Dragon Quest, for better or worse. The characters can switch to different nightlife jobs like bodyguards, chefs and hosts by going to Hello Work, which is an inspired bit of product placement and a fun twist on JRPG job systems. The turn-based fights also successfully work in some action elements in a way that doesn't slow down battles or put too much emphasis on pulling off button presses successfully. But there's a lack of interesting encounters to make use of all the different jobs and crazy crayfish summons. It's also the rare modern RPG where you really do need to level grind thanks to a nasty difficulty spike near the end. The dull dungeons also suffer from the more contemporary setting. Nobody wants to spend time exploring sewers and warehouses!
As usual, there's plenty of diversions to discover in Yokohama. The side stuff is a bit better than the last few games since there's no awful clan creator mode, but nothing that holds a candle to Yakuza 0 and its cabaret club game. It's an interesting direction for the series with a great new cast of characters, but there's plenty here for the next instalment to improve on.
17. Omno (Xbox Series S) - ★★★☆☆
I've already forgotten a lot about this indie game, which is a mix of light 3D platforming and puzzle solving. There's some beautiful environments here, but exploring them is a bit of a chore at first. Thankfully Omno gets better as your little dude gets more movement options, like surfing on his staff or quickly warping to far off locations. It's hard to be too harsh on Omno when it's pretty much all the singular vision of a solo developer. It's a vision that's remarkably similar to Journey, but a vision nonetheless. It's a totally fine way to spend a few hours wandering through some nice scenery and interacting with strange critters. Should you rush out and play it? Um, no.
Congrats to everyone who made it to 52 already! I don't think I'll be joining you this year...
13. Puyo Puyo Tetris (Switch) - ★★★★☆
I forgot to include this earlier and can't recall when exactly I finished the story mode, so why not throw it in with this month's lot? Anyway, there's not much to say about this one. It's two of the most iconic puzzle games mashed together, so of course it's good. I'm sure people who are super competitive at both games have their issues, but as a casual fan who's never survived a match of Tetris 99 and sometimes lucks into getting more than 3 chains in Puyo, it's terrific. The swap mode is great fun, allowing players to make crazy combos by switching between both games, but the Fusion variant kind of blows. Shame that the story mode forces you to do it so much. Special mention should be made to the hilarious English script, for both the fish puns and making the phrase 'as ASAP as possible' something I say on a regular basis.
14. Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition (Switch) - ★★★☆☆
I'm not a fan of the Warriors games but I enjoyed Fire Emblem Warriors and the Three Hopes demo so I decided to go back to this one. After playing through Hyrule Warriors' main campaign (I think, since there were no credits), I can't help but feel like Fire Emblem is a better fit for the formula than Zelda. The strategy elements are downplayed here; you can give orders to your allies but you'll have to constantly switch between characters because they can't do anything when left to their own devices.
The crossover storyline is terrible, and is little more than an excuse to briefly show moments from Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time and Skyward Sword. The original characters also feel completely out of place. The game tries to work in items, monsters and sound effects from the series, but it just doesn't feel very Zelda. The Zelda elements that are in here don't make the game any more enjoyable, like sub-bosses where you have to wait around for them to expose their weak point, which slows down the flow of the combat. For a series renowned for its music, the soundtrack is surprisingly awful too.
The movesets are quite creative and it's nice to see a lot more characters than just Link and Zelda. Still, a lot of the more interesting characters are locked behind the adventure mode, which has so many similar objectives and convoluted item systems that I don't feel like sinking much time into it right now. There's heaps of Content here, but it's not for me.
15. Triangle Strategy (Switch) - ★★★★★
Triangle Strategy, on the other hand, was extremely my jam. I went into the game expecting it to be a throwback to Tactics Ogre or Final Fantasy Tactics in the same way that Bravely Default referenced Final Fantasy V, but that wasn't the case. Though the pixelated presentation is similar, the game mechanics and approach to storytelling are quite different in ways that I really appreciated.
The storyline is remarkably grounded, focused on a conflict over not magic crystals, but salt crystals (which was a real thing throughout history, apparently). The path of protagonist Serenoa splits off at several points, but Triangle Strategy twists that tired old mantra that ''your choices will matter'. Instead it's your companions' choices that affect the game and you're just trying to convince them to choose a sensible option. There's quite a lot of talking, but the English script is well done (the voice acting, on the other hand, is a bit of a mixed bag).
The turn-based battles keep that familiar isometric perspective, but each of your troops plays completely differently. There's a stealthy spy that can go invisible and stab foes in the back, a hawk rider who can fire off arrows from high and a guy that can place spring traps to launch the enemy off a cliff or set up ladders for the team to get around. It all leads to a lot of creative strategies and challenging fights. I don't know why it took so long for Square-Enix to release another strategy RPG (nor why they're suddenly releasing so many of them in 2022) but I'm glad they did.
16. Yazuka: Like a Dragon (Xbox Series S) - ★★★★☆
After six instalments, it's hard to continue a series with a completely different cast and gameplay style, but Yakuza: Like a Dragon absolutely nails it. Ichiban is a great protagonist, completely different from usual Yakuza lead Kiryu, but charming in his own way. And while the story has some of the contrived plot elements the series is infamous for, it also has some great character development and ends up being surprisingly political. I appreciated that the cast is made up of people who are on the fringes of society, with ex-convicts, sex workers, racial minorities and homeless folk all standing up against ultra-conservative political groups. I'm used to a lot of Japanese RPGs shying away from contemporary issues, not going after historic ties between organised crime and right-wing politicians! There's a lot here that took me by surprise, especially the sudden assassination of a Japanese politician, which hits completely differently these days.
Since Ichiban is such a big fan of retro RPGs, the game has been changed into more of a modern take on Dragon Quest, for better or worse. The characters can switch to different nightlife jobs like bodyguards, chefs and hosts by going to Hello Work, which is an inspired bit of product placement and a fun twist on JRPG job systems. The turn-based fights also successfully work in some action elements in a way that doesn't slow down battles or put too much emphasis on pulling off button presses successfully. But there's a lack of interesting encounters to make use of all the different jobs and crazy crayfish summons. It's also the rare modern RPG where you really do need to level grind thanks to a nasty difficulty spike near the end. The dull dungeons also suffer from the more contemporary setting. Nobody wants to spend time exploring sewers and warehouses!
As usual, there's plenty of diversions to discover in Yokohama. The side stuff is a bit better than the last few games since there's no awful clan creator mode, but nothing that holds a candle to Yakuza 0 and its cabaret club game. It's an interesting direction for the series with a great new cast of characters, but there's plenty here for the next instalment to improve on.
17. Omno (Xbox Series S) - ★★★☆☆
I've already forgotten a lot about this indie game, which is a mix of light 3D platforming and puzzle solving. There's some beautiful environments here, but exploring them is a bit of a chore at first. Thankfully Omno gets better as your little dude gets more movement options, like surfing on his staff or quickly warping to far off locations. It's hard to be too harsh on Omno when it's pretty much all the singular vision of a solo developer. It's a vision that's remarkably similar to Journey, but a vision nonetheless. It's a totally fine way to spend a few hours wandering through some nice scenery and interacting with strange critters. Should you rush out and play it? Um, no.
Game #58 - Shadowrun Returns
Time: 12 hours
Platform: Switch
Rating: ★★★★
Portable replay for this one, and it's still great to this day. Fantastic writing and some good strategy gameplay make this a joy to play, the story is simple whodunit story but it works well, especially when it goes into some crazy places late in the game, and playing this on the Switch worked great, even if the port is a little wonky, as I ran into quite a few bugs and times where buttons just wouldn't register. Still, overall it's a good port of a great game, and a easy recomendation for people getting into the trilogy, especially since it's pretty brisk compared to the later games.
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47 | Triangle Strategy
NSW | August 24 | 64 h | 4.5/5
Really great tactical experience with high replayability. The pixel art is charming; I love all the sprites and drawn, detailed headshot for each character. There is a ton of lore and backstory I haven't seen in my two playthroughs. There's more I could have played, so don't think 64 hours is high. I found it fascinating that character side stories are stretched across different playthroughs. You can't see it all in one. That encourages to replay and keeps the content fresh.
The battles are fun; I had to learn new mechanics that I haven't seen in Fire Emblem. (I haven't played many tactical games, so my references are very small.) I did enjoy that the gameplay differs. I could have played more runs for new story bits, but my tactical itch was satisfied. I was pleased with my screw-everything-up run and the golden route. The story isn't meant to be a mystery book, but you learn which allies are baddies real quick. You can have a good guess what's going on behind the scenes. That felt like the weakest point to me. But the character depth, history, and magic were well done.
In my first playthrough, my screen would rapidly spin around in combat. I don't think it was my stick getting stuck; I haven't experience that in other games. Then the second playthrough was fine. It didn't constantly rotate the camera. Certainly odd.
48 | Kena: Bridge of Spirits
PS5 | August 24 | 18 h | 3.5/5
This is an absolutely beautiful game. No joke, this studio could be making animated movies or shorts. They did an outstanding job on graphics and style. Everyone looks like they belong in Dreamworks. Kena even has the smirk!
Since I cannot emphasis enough how amazing this game looks, let's move on to gameplay. The exploration with your Rot buddies is wonderfully fun and adorable. There's some puzzles and platforming. Neither are mind blowing, but it's generally fun. I enjoyed the larger areas more. You have two main sections to freely explore. Once you get to the third area, it doesn't feel rewarding finding currency and ability points you can't spend.
The combat does not match the cuteness vibe that the graphics send out. I couldn't help but compare this to Dark Souls. They don't play the same at all, but expect to die in Kena. A lot. Unless you're a gamer with great parry and evade reflexes. But they may not help. There are specific enemies that ignore your shield, so you will get hit regardless. Other enemies have amazing homing attacks. If you evade, you better evade at the right SECOND so it doesn't follow you. It's really....something. You have to learn the mechanics of each enemy and Kena is surprisingly punishing. You cannot heal freely; you need an ability action to heal. Plus you need a flower in the area to heal. Some areas will not have this option. It's an absurd game design.
I played through the game on normal until the final fight. I finally said screw it, put it on easy and the difference was laughable. In normal, Kena will die in 4 hits. I didn't even need to heal after getting throttled by the final boss because the damage was miniscule. I have no idea why there is such a gap between easy and normal.
Kena is a Dreamworks Dark Souls. If you enjoy tight combat, give it a try.
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NSW | August 24 | 64 h | 4.5/5
Really great tactical experience with high replayability. The pixel art is charming; I love all the sprites and drawn, detailed headshot for each character. There is a ton of lore and backstory I haven't seen in my two playthroughs. There's more I could have played, so don't think 64 hours is high. I found it fascinating that character side stories are stretched across different playthroughs. You can't see it all in one. That encourages to replay and keeps the content fresh.
The battles are fun; I had to learn new mechanics that I haven't seen in Fire Emblem. (I haven't played many tactical games, so my references are very small.) I did enjoy that the gameplay differs. I could have played more runs for new story bits, but my tactical itch was satisfied. I was pleased with my screw-everything-up run and the golden route. The story isn't meant to be a mystery book, but you learn which allies are baddies real quick. You can have a good guess what's going on behind the scenes. That felt like the weakest point to me. But the character depth, history, and magic were well done.
In my first playthrough, my screen would rapidly spin around in combat. I don't think it was my stick getting stuck; I haven't experience that in other games. Then the second playthrough was fine. It didn't constantly rotate the camera. Certainly odd.
48 | Kena: Bridge of Spirits
PS5 | August 24 | 18 h | 3.5/5
This is an absolutely beautiful game. No joke, this studio could be making animated movies or shorts. They did an outstanding job on graphics and style. Everyone looks like they belong in Dreamworks. Kena even has the smirk!
Since I cannot emphasis enough how amazing this game looks, let's move on to gameplay. The exploration with your Rot buddies is wonderfully fun and adorable. There's some puzzles and platforming. Neither are mind blowing, but it's generally fun. I enjoyed the larger areas more. You have two main sections to freely explore. Once you get to the third area, it doesn't feel rewarding finding currency and ability points you can't spend.
The combat does not match the cuteness vibe that the graphics send out. I couldn't help but compare this to Dark Souls. They don't play the same at all, but expect to die in Kena. A lot. Unless you're a gamer with great parry and evade reflexes. But they may not help. There are specific enemies that ignore your shield, so you will get hit regardless. Other enemies have amazing homing attacks. If you evade, you better evade at the right SECOND so it doesn't follow you. It's really....something. You have to learn the mechanics of each enemy and Kena is surprisingly punishing. You cannot heal freely; you need an ability action to heal. Plus you need a flower in the area to heal. Some areas will not have this option. It's an absurd game design.
I played through the game on normal until the final fight. I finally said screw it, put it on easy and the difference was laughable. In normal, Kena will die in 4 hits. I didn't even need to heal after getting throttled by the final boss because the damage was miniscule. I have no idea why there is such a gap between easy and normal.
Kena is a Dreamworks Dark Souls. If you enjoy tight combat, give it a try.
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53: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD. End: 8/28/2022. (3.5 out of 5)
This is a very frustrating game to discuss. It's easy to understand why the development team felt the need to completely reinvent the franchise after this, but it does have some real highs. And that's ultimately the frustrating thing about this game. It has some rather frustrating aspects to it, but it also has some real highs that usually come with Zelda games. Glad they took this series in a different direction after this game.
This is a very frustrating game to discuss. It's easy to understand why the development team felt the need to completely reinvent the franchise after this, but it does have some real highs. And that's ultimately the frustrating thing about this game. It has some rather frustrating aspects to it, but it also has some real highs that usually come with Zelda games. Glad they took this series in a different direction after this game.
39 - Blackwell Deception - Steam Deck - 5 hours / 29th August - 9/10
The prologue is really fun and the first act is great, it does get a bit sluggish towards the middle and a ome of the puzzles can be a bit too obscure but the final act is fantastic and both wraps the story and breaks the whole lore wide open. It's a great story overall with a very satisfying ending.
The prologue is really fun and the first act is great, it does get a bit sluggish towards the middle and a ome of the puzzles can be a bit too obscure but the final act is fantastic and both wraps the story and breaks the whole lore wide open. It's a great story overall with a very satisfying ending.
37. Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (X360) | 29 August - 1 hrs | 5/5
This, in it's 2012 patched form to power down the twins, is my favorite fighting game of all time. Perfectly balanced and a huge roster.
View: https://youtu.be/3zZQLk7cLEU
This, in it's 2012 patched form to power down the twins, is my favorite fighting game of all time. Perfectly balanced and a huge roster.
View: https://youtu.be/3zZQLk7cLEU
Finished up with August. Main post through here.
Only 7 more games to go, and should easily be able to do that in the last few months of the year barring some unforeseen disaster.
September (48/52)
46. The Last of Us Part 1 - PS5 - 12 hours, 52 minutes
47. Splatoon 3 - Switch - 11 hours
48. Beacon Pines - Xbox Series X - 4 hours, 37 minutes
Only 7 more games to go, and should easily be able to do that in the last few months of the year barring some unforeseen disaster.
September (48/52)
46. The Last of Us Part 1 - PS5 - 12 hours, 52 minutes
47. Splatoon 3 - Switch - 11 hours
48. Beacon Pines - Xbox Series X - 4 hours, 37 minutes
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A nicely productive month (time off from work certainly helps!), in August I've hit the 52 target and made some good progress beyond, with a mix of shorter and some lengthy games.
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50. Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut (PS5) | 8 August 2022 | 9/10
Platinum trophy earned, complete playthrough, all tales completed, all gear upgrades, 100% of tracked collectibles obtained. Thoroughly excellent, Ghost of Tsushima follows the struggle of samurai Jin Sakai to resist the Mongol invasion of the Japanese island of Tsushima. The depiction of late 13th century Japan is impressively believable, alongside an impressive cinematic style that allows for genuinely stunning setpieces. Of course, there's *much* more on offer here than an aesthetic, with a story that's easy to become invested in, alongside a memorable cast of characters - from Jin's uncle Lord Shimura, steeped in the traditions of the samurai, through to the far more pragmatic thief Yuna, and many more besides. A large complement of side quests help to fill out the backstory of each of these. With Jin being a samurai, inevitably combat is a large focus of the gameplay and this doesn't disappoint, each encounter feeling suitably dramatic and dynamic, with responsive controls and a well-judged variety of abilities, including both sword stances and combos, and supplementary 'tools' (kunai, smoke bombs, etc.).
Inevitably, the game isn't perfect. A few control choices feel sub-optimal, with activation of photo mode made more accessible than calling your horse, and summoning of the 'guiding wind' (an in-game representation of the wind, directing Jon towards his destination in lieu of explicit waypoints) being a little awkward with a touchpad swipe. The side quests mechanics do get to feel somewhat repetitive at times, frequently requiring little more than travelling to a location and a brief battle, and an over-use of following footprint trails - but arguably for these, they're less important factors than the excellent backstory development. None of these take away significantly from a very impressive achievement from developer Sucker Punch, a fully justified highlight of the PS4/PS5 exclusive catalogue.
51. Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island (PS5) | 8 August 2022 | 9/10
100% of trophies earned, complete playthrough, all tales completed, all gear upgrades, 100% of tracked collectibles obtained. An impressive expansion to an already excellent game, Iki Island sees protagonist Jin travelling to nearby Iki, overrun by an offshoot Mongol tribe led by enigmatic shaman, "the Eagle". With some interesting further exploration of Jin's earlier life, alongside expanded combat mechanics including enemies able to switch weapons and receive buffs via chants, there's plenty here to enjoy.
52. Bright Memory (Xbox Series X) | 9 August 2022 | 6/10
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked (1,000G), with mandatory three playthroughs. Arguably more of a tech demo than a full game, Bright Memory is a graphically very impressive first-person shooter, with some interesting tech powers augmenting the standard gunplay. A complete playthrough here takes only around 30-45 minutes, so it's all over very quickly, even if you go after the three runs required for all achievements. However, while it lasts, this is a fun experience, with particularly smooth and satisfying movement - and then upon realising that this is the work of a solo developer, it becomes an extremely impressive achievement! A few bugs cause frustration, with sometimes random-seeming amounts of ammo upon respawns alongside occasional loss of experience, but the short runtime means that these don't have the chance to become too pronounced.
53. Citizen Sleeper (Xbox One) | 9 August 2022 | 9/10
Completed with all 100% of achievements unlocked, all endings reached. I'm honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed Citizen Sleeper, an unusual combination of turn-based tabletop-style RPG, visual novel, management sim and survival game. The game casts the player as a "sleeper", a digitised human consciousness in an artificial body, waking on an unfamiliar space station which must then be explored, learning more about the societal background, finding a way to survive, make allies (and a few enemies) and, ultimately, thrive aboard or escape from the facility.
The game plays out primarily through selecting from a series of actions scattered throughout the station and then assigning one of a number of dice to completing that action - with resulting positive, negative or neutral outcomes. Heavily text-based, progress generally is measured by the progression of 'clocks' associated with a particular goal, achieved by favourable outcomes from these actions - and strategic use of the dice awarded for each in-game 'cycle' being vital to success. You'll want to assign high-value dice to the riskiest actions, while also taking advantage of bonuses afforded by progression through a skill tree.
While it may sound somewhat dry, in practice this system works amazingly well and, alongside consistently excellent writing and well-realised characters, makes for a highly immersive experience. Certainly there's a fairly steep initial learning curve, but it doesn't take all that long to overcome with a little effort - and the potentially unforgiving difficulty can be overcome once you discover certain reliable methods to maintain yourself in the face of the survival mechanics.
The promise of a series of free DLC is the icing on the whole package; the first of these has been released at the time of writing and maintains the high quality of the rest of the game, providing an additional questline with a real sense of urgency.
54. Stray (PS5) | 11 August 2022 | 7/10
Platinum trophy earned, including all collectibles obtained and two full playthroughs (one speedrun). Wonderfully novel, Stray could be reductively described as a "cat simulator", but there's a lot more to it than that, with a well-told post-apocalypse story, interesting characters, and impressively detailed locations to explore. The player takes control of a cat, separately from their pack and exploring an underground robot society in the search of a way back to the surface. There's a surprising use of horror themes at times, as we quickly find that swarms of oversized tick-like creatures have overrun portions of this environment, but these areas mix nicely with much more relaxed exploratory sequences.
Of course, with a cat protagonist as the player character, verticality to the environments is a must and there's plenty of that on offer here, though aside from a handful of collectibles and a few short 'dialogue' snippets, there's not a huge amount of benefit to exploration away from the main story progression, and interaction feels somewhat limited. Really the game's greatest achievement is how well it captures the behaviour and mannerisms of a cat (there are achievements for scratching and sleeping!), but in the end I'm left feeling a little underwhelmed - probably largely due to the excess of hype that Stray attracted prior to launch rather than any fault of the game itself. There's an impressive achievement here, but one that should be taken in the context of its 'indie' nature.
55. Time on Frog Island (Xbox One) | 13 August 2022 | 6/10
Main quest line (fixing the boat) completed. Time on Frog Island is a fairly relaxed 'life simulator', with the player taking control of a sailor shipwrecked on an island inhabited by anthropomorphic frogs. While the core aim is to repair the boat to allow departure from the island, there's a range of other quests/tasks to complete, fulfilling requests from the populace. Most of these are fairly shallow, typically requiring the retrieval of an item, though quite often that leads to a chain of other requests that must first be fulfilled. The main questline can readily be completed within 3-4 hours, then that can perhaps be doubled by the optional content, so the overall length is fairly short, but not excessively so. However, with no map, no quest log and sometimes vauge requests (characters communicate only in images), it's very easy to get lost in knowing what to do/where to go next and I couldn't maintain enough interest to push through beyond a beating the main quest. There's a decent game in here, but it's very much in need of refinement.
56. Shank (PC - Steam) | 13 August 2022 | 6/10
Complete playthrough. Even in this early release from the studio, Klei's fantastic sense of style is on full display. Shank is a fairly simplistic side-scrolling beat 'em up, with some light platforming mixed in to provide a bit of variety. While there's little in the way of a complex combo system, a wide range of different enemies and a selection of weapons - the basic 'shank' dagger alongside several heavy weapons and guns - serve to provide some depth. With around 3-4 hours needed for a full first playthrough, the game is fairly short, but the limited mechanics on offer here (to some extent inherent in the genre) mean that you wouldn't really want it to be any longer. A hard mode and co-op option are there to provide some replay value for those who want it. Overall, Shank is a decent entry in its genre, but doesn't do much to stand out besides its stylish presentation.
57. Shank 2 (PC - Steam) | 23 August 2022 | 7/10
Complete playthrough. While very similar to the first game, once again a side-scrolling 2D brawler, Shank 2 improves in several significant ways. The combat mechanics and controls see some well-judged improvements - fights have a more nuanced feel, with judicious use of platforms and other level design features to mix up the encounters, rather than just massed hordes of enemies; there's an improved combo system and greater range of weapons and effects; and actions that once shared a controller button are now separated. Often there are several paths through a level, while 'intel' collectibles provide some sense of reward for exploration. Ultimately, though, there's a limit to how long brawler mechanics can keep me engaged, so the genre inherently limits how highly I'll rate the game, but within that limitation Klei have put together a strong package in Shank 2.
58. Live A Live (Switch) | 26 August 2022 | 9/10
It does a real disservice to Live A Live, a re-release of a Super Famicon RPG, that it's never seen a western release until this Switch remaster. The plot takes a highly original approach (which will have been all the more so at its original release) that follows the individual stories of seven different protagonists, spread over time from pre-history to the far future, by way of Imperial China, the Wild West and more, each engaged in their own personal struggle. With a free selection of chapter right from the start, these seemingly disparate strands do of course eventually coalesce, but each is strong enough to stand on its own as a 'short story'. I really enjoyed this approach, with runtimes ranging between around 2-4 hours each, in contrast to the 'epic' approach so common to RPGs.
Of course, combat is (generally, but not always) a key part of each scenario, and again the game takes an enjoyable approach, with battles taking place with a pseudo-turn-based approach in a freely navigable 2D grid and each character having a diverse range of abilities that they learn with successive level-ups. Each character has their own particular quirk to the gameplay - from telepathy to stealth, or a round-based beat 'em up-style approach, via several others that I'll not spoil - which succeeds at ensuring a strong level of engagement and continuing interest.
The "HD-2D" graphic style that we've seen previously used by Octopath Traveller and Triangle Strategy absolutely shines here, with detailed pixelart that really pops, and the soundtrack is similarly catchy and memorable. While I can see that the shorter scenarios mean that some of the RPG mechanics aren't developed to the same extent as games with a more traditional approach, I'm not sure that that's necessarily to the game's detriment - and overall, Live A Live is a very impressive achievement, one that easily stands up against modern RPGs and a worthy candidate for consideration as one of 2022's top releases.
59. Telling Lies (PC - Game Pass) | 27 August 2022 | 6/10
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked (1,000G). Picking up on this as we approach the release of Immortality, as a follow-up to Her Story, Telling Lies once again has a strong concept at its core, casting the player in a detective role, presented with a database of short video clips from which to figure out the circumstances leading up to a crucial – but initially unknown – event. Each clip shows us one side of a video conversation primarily involving four core individuals, with the other side of the conversation also recorded. The challenge comes from the limited manner in which the database can be interrogated, with searches referring to the words spoken in each clip, but only ever returning a maximum of five results.
The underlying 'mystery' is an interesting one to figure out and the detective approach ensures a strong level of engagement (it'll be hard to make progress if you're not following the events/discussions) and the acting is of a good calibre. However, in practice overall it's not as strong as might be hoped, as the one-sided view that we get of each discussion can become somewhat frustrating to try to follow (though I know that this is, at least to an extent, by design) and there are often long periods of silence as the other participant is speaking. There's also a fair amount of ultimately fairly trivial videos, as well as unnecessary interface frustrations such as the inability to quickly start a clip from the beginning (by default, the clip starts playing from the queried words). The presentation here *is* more polished than Her Story and sees some quality-of-life improvements, but they're not able to offset some of the negatives inherent in the concept – the ability, for example, to pair up conversations – only once you've located both within the database, to maintain the challenge – would be a great help, for example!
60. Tested on Humans: Escape Room (PC - Steam) | 29 August 2022 | 6/10
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. Tested on Humans: Escape Room achieves a convincing translation of the 'escape room' concept to a videogame, with a varied mix of puzzle types – including observation, pattern-recognition, mathematics and logic – and a fairly compelling narrative (based around human experimentation) to discover as you progress. With a series of seven linked scenarios (all in a single environment), each with around 5-7 puzzles, it's a fairly short experience, about right to maintain interest. However, as a single-played game, it's not really possible for Tested on Humans to recreate the sense of teamwork, which can also allow the range of puzzle types to be solved more easily due to the mix of team skills, that's arguably core to what can make escape rooms so compelling.
61. TIMEframe (PC - Steam) | 30 August 2022 | 5/10
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. TIMEframe is a really quite basic 'walking simulator', with its gimmick being that it takes place in the final ten seconds of a doomed world, just before being hit by a comet – but with time slowed down significantly and those ten seconds stretched to ten minutes; the game then loops back to the start, resetting the player to a central location. The ultimate goal of the game is to visit each of 14 landmarks spread throughout the world, each rewarding the player with a paragraph of lore to provide some context. There are some attractive, fairly grand, vistas on offer, but these can't offset the shallowness of the gameplay, with no jumping, running or interactivity (other than registering each landmark upon locating it), while the time-loop feels something of an unnecessary frustration, potentially resetting your location just as you're about to reach a landmark.
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50. Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut (PS5) | 8 August 2022 | 9/10
Platinum trophy earned, complete playthrough, all tales completed, all gear upgrades, 100% of tracked collectibles obtained. Thoroughly excellent, Ghost of Tsushima follows the struggle of samurai Jin Sakai to resist the Mongol invasion of the Japanese island of Tsushima. The depiction of late 13th century Japan is impressively believable, alongside an impressive cinematic style that allows for genuinely stunning setpieces. Of course, there's *much* more on offer here than an aesthetic, with a story that's easy to become invested in, alongside a memorable cast of characters - from Jin's uncle Lord Shimura, steeped in the traditions of the samurai, through to the far more pragmatic thief Yuna, and many more besides. A large complement of side quests help to fill out the backstory of each of these. With Jin being a samurai, inevitably combat is a large focus of the gameplay and this doesn't disappoint, each encounter feeling suitably dramatic and dynamic, with responsive controls and a well-judged variety of abilities, including both sword stances and combos, and supplementary 'tools' (kunai, smoke bombs, etc.).
Inevitably, the game isn't perfect. A few control choices feel sub-optimal, with activation of photo mode made more accessible than calling your horse, and summoning of the 'guiding wind' (an in-game representation of the wind, directing Jon towards his destination in lieu of explicit waypoints) being a little awkward with a touchpad swipe. The side quests mechanics do get to feel somewhat repetitive at times, frequently requiring little more than travelling to a location and a brief battle, and an over-use of following footprint trails - but arguably for these, they're less important factors than the excellent backstory development. None of these take away significantly from a very impressive achievement from developer Sucker Punch, a fully justified highlight of the PS4/PS5 exclusive catalogue.
51. Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island (PS5) | 8 August 2022 | 9/10
100% of trophies earned, complete playthrough, all tales completed, all gear upgrades, 100% of tracked collectibles obtained. An impressive expansion to an already excellent game, Iki Island sees protagonist Jin travelling to nearby Iki, overrun by an offshoot Mongol tribe led by enigmatic shaman, "the Eagle". With some interesting further exploration of Jin's earlier life, alongside expanded combat mechanics including enemies able to switch weapons and receive buffs via chants, there's plenty here to enjoy.
52. Bright Memory (Xbox Series X) | 9 August 2022 | 6/10
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked (1,000G), with mandatory three playthroughs. Arguably more of a tech demo than a full game, Bright Memory is a graphically very impressive first-person shooter, with some interesting tech powers augmenting the standard gunplay. A complete playthrough here takes only around 30-45 minutes, so it's all over very quickly, even if you go after the three runs required for all achievements. However, while it lasts, this is a fun experience, with particularly smooth and satisfying movement - and then upon realising that this is the work of a solo developer, it becomes an extremely impressive achievement! A few bugs cause frustration, with sometimes random-seeming amounts of ammo upon respawns alongside occasional loss of experience, but the short runtime means that these don't have the chance to become too pronounced.
53. Citizen Sleeper (Xbox One) | 9 August 2022 | 9/10
Completed with all 100% of achievements unlocked, all endings reached. I'm honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed Citizen Sleeper, an unusual combination of turn-based tabletop-style RPG, visual novel, management sim and survival game. The game casts the player as a "sleeper", a digitised human consciousness in an artificial body, waking on an unfamiliar space station which must then be explored, learning more about the societal background, finding a way to survive, make allies (and a few enemies) and, ultimately, thrive aboard or escape from the facility.
The game plays out primarily through selecting from a series of actions scattered throughout the station and then assigning one of a number of dice to completing that action - with resulting positive, negative or neutral outcomes. Heavily text-based, progress generally is measured by the progression of 'clocks' associated with a particular goal, achieved by favourable outcomes from these actions - and strategic use of the dice awarded for each in-game 'cycle' being vital to success. You'll want to assign high-value dice to the riskiest actions, while also taking advantage of bonuses afforded by progression through a skill tree.
While it may sound somewhat dry, in practice this system works amazingly well and, alongside consistently excellent writing and well-realised characters, makes for a highly immersive experience. Certainly there's a fairly steep initial learning curve, but it doesn't take all that long to overcome with a little effort - and the potentially unforgiving difficulty can be overcome once you discover certain reliable methods to maintain yourself in the face of the survival mechanics.
The promise of a series of free DLC is the icing on the whole package; the first of these has been released at the time of writing and maintains the high quality of the rest of the game, providing an additional questline with a real sense of urgency.
54. Stray (PS5) | 11 August 2022 | 7/10
Platinum trophy earned, including all collectibles obtained and two full playthroughs (one speedrun). Wonderfully novel, Stray could be reductively described as a "cat simulator", but there's a lot more to it than that, with a well-told post-apocalypse story, interesting characters, and impressively detailed locations to explore. The player takes control of a cat, separately from their pack and exploring an underground robot society in the search of a way back to the surface. There's a surprising use of horror themes at times, as we quickly find that swarms of oversized tick-like creatures have overrun portions of this environment, but these areas mix nicely with much more relaxed exploratory sequences.
Of course, with a cat protagonist as the player character, verticality to the environments is a must and there's plenty of that on offer here, though aside from a handful of collectibles and a few short 'dialogue' snippets, there's not a huge amount of benefit to exploration away from the main story progression, and interaction feels somewhat limited. Really the game's greatest achievement is how well it captures the behaviour and mannerisms of a cat (there are achievements for scratching and sleeping!), but in the end I'm left feeling a little underwhelmed - probably largely due to the excess of hype that Stray attracted prior to launch rather than any fault of the game itself. There's an impressive achievement here, but one that should be taken in the context of its 'indie' nature.
55. Time on Frog Island (Xbox One) | 13 August 2022 | 6/10
Main quest line (fixing the boat) completed. Time on Frog Island is a fairly relaxed 'life simulator', with the player taking control of a sailor shipwrecked on an island inhabited by anthropomorphic frogs. While the core aim is to repair the boat to allow departure from the island, there's a range of other quests/tasks to complete, fulfilling requests from the populace. Most of these are fairly shallow, typically requiring the retrieval of an item, though quite often that leads to a chain of other requests that must first be fulfilled. The main questline can readily be completed within 3-4 hours, then that can perhaps be doubled by the optional content, so the overall length is fairly short, but not excessively so. However, with no map, no quest log and sometimes vauge requests (characters communicate only in images), it's very easy to get lost in knowing what to do/where to go next and I couldn't maintain enough interest to push through beyond a beating the main quest. There's a decent game in here, but it's very much in need of refinement.
56. Shank (PC - Steam) | 13 August 2022 | 6/10
Complete playthrough. Even in this early release from the studio, Klei's fantastic sense of style is on full display. Shank is a fairly simplistic side-scrolling beat 'em up, with some light platforming mixed in to provide a bit of variety. While there's little in the way of a complex combo system, a wide range of different enemies and a selection of weapons - the basic 'shank' dagger alongside several heavy weapons and guns - serve to provide some depth. With around 3-4 hours needed for a full first playthrough, the game is fairly short, but the limited mechanics on offer here (to some extent inherent in the genre) mean that you wouldn't really want it to be any longer. A hard mode and co-op option are there to provide some replay value for those who want it. Overall, Shank is a decent entry in its genre, but doesn't do much to stand out besides its stylish presentation.
57. Shank 2 (PC - Steam) | 23 August 2022 | 7/10
Complete playthrough. While very similar to the first game, once again a side-scrolling 2D brawler, Shank 2 improves in several significant ways. The combat mechanics and controls see some well-judged improvements - fights have a more nuanced feel, with judicious use of platforms and other level design features to mix up the encounters, rather than just massed hordes of enemies; there's an improved combo system and greater range of weapons and effects; and actions that once shared a controller button are now separated. Often there are several paths through a level, while 'intel' collectibles provide some sense of reward for exploration. Ultimately, though, there's a limit to how long brawler mechanics can keep me engaged, so the genre inherently limits how highly I'll rate the game, but within that limitation Klei have put together a strong package in Shank 2.
58. Live A Live (Switch) | 26 August 2022 | 9/10
It does a real disservice to Live A Live, a re-release of a Super Famicon RPG, that it's never seen a western release until this Switch remaster. The plot takes a highly original approach (which will have been all the more so at its original release) that follows the individual stories of seven different protagonists, spread over time from pre-history to the far future, by way of Imperial China, the Wild West and more, each engaged in their own personal struggle. With a free selection of chapter right from the start, these seemingly disparate strands do of course eventually coalesce, but each is strong enough to stand on its own as a 'short story'. I really enjoyed this approach, with runtimes ranging between around 2-4 hours each, in contrast to the 'epic' approach so common to RPGs.
Of course, combat is (generally, but not always) a key part of each scenario, and again the game takes an enjoyable approach, with battles taking place with a pseudo-turn-based approach in a freely navigable 2D grid and each character having a diverse range of abilities that they learn with successive level-ups. Each character has their own particular quirk to the gameplay - from telepathy to stealth, or a round-based beat 'em up-style approach, via several others that I'll not spoil - which succeeds at ensuring a strong level of engagement and continuing interest.
The "HD-2D" graphic style that we've seen previously used by Octopath Traveller and Triangle Strategy absolutely shines here, with detailed pixelart that really pops, and the soundtrack is similarly catchy and memorable. While I can see that the shorter scenarios mean that some of the RPG mechanics aren't developed to the same extent as games with a more traditional approach, I'm not sure that that's necessarily to the game's detriment - and overall, Live A Live is a very impressive achievement, one that easily stands up against modern RPGs and a worthy candidate for consideration as one of 2022's top releases.
59. Telling Lies (PC - Game Pass) | 27 August 2022 | 6/10
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked (1,000G). Picking up on this as we approach the release of Immortality, as a follow-up to Her Story, Telling Lies once again has a strong concept at its core, casting the player in a detective role, presented with a database of short video clips from which to figure out the circumstances leading up to a crucial – but initially unknown – event. Each clip shows us one side of a video conversation primarily involving four core individuals, with the other side of the conversation also recorded. The challenge comes from the limited manner in which the database can be interrogated, with searches referring to the words spoken in each clip, but only ever returning a maximum of five results.
The underlying 'mystery' is an interesting one to figure out and the detective approach ensures a strong level of engagement (it'll be hard to make progress if you're not following the events/discussions) and the acting is of a good calibre. However, in practice overall it's not as strong as might be hoped, as the one-sided view that we get of each discussion can become somewhat frustrating to try to follow (though I know that this is, at least to an extent, by design) and there are often long periods of silence as the other participant is speaking. There's also a fair amount of ultimately fairly trivial videos, as well as unnecessary interface frustrations such as the inability to quickly start a clip from the beginning (by default, the clip starts playing from the queried words). The presentation here *is* more polished than Her Story and sees some quality-of-life improvements, but they're not able to offset some of the negatives inherent in the concept – the ability, for example, to pair up conversations – only once you've located both within the database, to maintain the challenge – would be a great help, for example!
60. Tested on Humans: Escape Room (PC - Steam) | 29 August 2022 | 6/10
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. Tested on Humans: Escape Room achieves a convincing translation of the 'escape room' concept to a videogame, with a varied mix of puzzle types – including observation, pattern-recognition, mathematics and logic – and a fairly compelling narrative (based around human experimentation) to discover as you progress. With a series of seven linked scenarios (all in a single environment), each with around 5-7 puzzles, it's a fairly short experience, about right to maintain interest. However, as a single-played game, it's not really possible for Tested on Humans to recreate the sense of teamwork, which can also allow the range of puzzle types to be solved more easily due to the mix of team skills, that's arguably core to what can make escape rooms so compelling.
61. TIMEframe (PC - Steam) | 30 August 2022 | 5/10
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. TIMEframe is a really quite basic 'walking simulator', with its gimmick being that it takes place in the final ten seconds of a doomed world, just before being hit by a comet – but with time slowed down significantly and those ten seconds stretched to ten minutes; the game then loops back to the start, resetting the player to a central location. The ultimate goal of the game is to visit each of 14 landmarks spread throughout the world, each rewarding the player with a paragraph of lore to provide some context. There are some attractive, fairly grand, vistas on offer, but these can't offset the shallowness of the gameplay, with no jumping, running or interactivity (other than registering each landmark upon locating it), while the time-loop feels something of an unnecessary frustration, potentially resetting your location just as you're about to reach a landmark.
57. Astro's Playroom (27/8/22) ★★★★
After a good 2-3 weeks deliberation I finally decided that I'd bite the bullet on upgrading to a PS5 under the pretence "well it's not gonna get any cheaper any time soon I expect"
Well, I was certainly right, I hadn't even considered the price going UP, the £30 I saved is now the PS extra fund because these £60 games are no joke.
There's perhaps no game from the last generation I wanted to play more but couldn't than Astro Bot, I just ain't about dropping the money on the PSVR for the thimbleful of games on offer, even if a highly praised first party platformer was among them.
So I was pretty pleased that Astro could make the jump to a non VR title so I could see what the fuss was about (I'm under the impression that the core gameplay here is similar)
In a sense this outing is hard to rate because for all intents and purposes, this is a tech demo, specifically more a dualsense controller demo reel, in that respect it does exactly what it needs to.
Haptic feedback galore, the next step in rumble's evolutionary change, I can dig it, I'm also not bowled over by it, though I'm still pretty impressed at how they replicate the feeling of different terrain and weather via the controller, it's neat, not much more than that for me, but neat nonetheless.
As someone who still played a Wii into the twilight of its life, I'm pretty open to motion control antics, Astro has 'em, it does them well, it's the more interesting thing to talk about because as a platformer Astro is just rocking the basics, he feels good to move, his jump feels nice and he interacts with everything inluding his chums by punching them, wow, what an Astrohole.
As such the Bot reminds me of Tearaway (hey, same composer!) and more recently, Kirby and the forgotten land, which is to say it's more the sum of its parts on top of a simple and satisfying base that make the game work.
It's also interesting to comapre to fellow PS5 Sony mascot platformer, Sackboy A big Adventure, and note that while Sackboy can do more, he just isn't as fun to control, Astro Bot has the important basics down pat.
To jump back to the motion controls, each of the four main areas offers segments with suit power ups that shift the genre somewhat, it's all very mario galaxy and I ain't complaining, but between the ball rolling, spring hopping (as I said, very SMG) there's one that stands out above the rest.
The monkey suit, while not perhaps as open in segment design as the rest, is just such a highlight of the entire outing, like, outside the oft forgotten Donkey Kong King of Swing/Jungle Climber duology, climbing walls (in the activity/sporting sense) and swinging/reaching to handholds are woefully underutilised in games (especially when you consider how many games have wall climbing of some variety). Here in Astro it's the perfect marriage of motion, resistant triggers and novelty, the holds that crumble unless you only partly hold the triggers to grip? brilliant, that's now the input to beat for the Dualsense.
I do really wish I liked Astro himself more, I like robots, I like mascot characters, I expected an easy slam dunk for my rather vacant sony mascot fave category, but there's something about Astro that's a bit too full on. It strikes me as a game trying perhaps too hard to be endearing, the first time Astro waved back at me I was like "cute".
Then I realised he does it like every time you leave him still for a mere three seconds and he's looking back at the camera, maybe this is more a holdover from the VR game but still, the frequency dilutes the charm pretty quick.
Which is also where the many, many game cameos can end up, you're basically tripping over other bots referencing Sony's first party outings (big and small!) and history of third party big hitters (I absolutely popped for Alucard Bot), perhaps it wouldn't feel quite as overkill if the bots weren't also just milling about on every corner with their reused animation antics on top of these referential nods, oh those WACKY bots and their shenanigans, please love them, please.
What I didn't expect was to be so enthralled by Sony's homage to hardware and peripherals, perhaps it speaks to how I tend to view them as a company but I was getting far more of a kick out of picking up multitaps (we laugh now, but I still can't believe the PS2 didn't have four ports by default), the eyetoy and numerous console revisions. Between these and the many, many ways they manage to cram the four main controller symbols in here, I think I find playstation's legacy comes across stronger via its hardware and core PS brand in itself.
It feels almost like the opposite of Nintendo to me, where for them I see the characters as king, yet I don't give a shiiiit when they wheel out another nod to the virtual boy or ROB.
That was an odd side tangent, so uhh, the game yes, I really like the idea of theming worlds around the console itself, blending genre tropes with the inner machinations of your PS5, inspired takes on some old classics.
Building up the vault of Sony gear and that slick wall art of their hardware legacy feels good, the game never really puts a foot wrong, at worst it's the feeling that they've left a fair amount on the table for a proper follow up, there's certainly worse fates than having me want more.
58. Demon's Souls (29/8/22) ★★★
Speaking of games I find it hard to rate, here's one of the big ones.
Demon's souls legacy cannot be understated, so much of what makes up this year's mega hit Elden Ring still goes right back to this very game.
The stamina based combat, the bleak tone, the online functionality, the approach to difficulty and so much more.
Yet Demon's for me always felt more like the game that walked so Dark Souls could run, it's the okay and ocassionally spotty Mega Man 1 compared to the refined sequel barrage that followed. Interestingly I've never actually beaten Demon's Souls it turns out, just played like 98% of it, in fact I vividly remember my last foray into the PS3 version.
I was hotseating the game with a friend, probably between Bloodborne and DS3 in souls release timeline, we had our fun but stopped because internet guides were insistent that the only way to get past the dragon at the end of 1-4 was to fill it with 200 arrows in a moment of pure tedium, so that was that then.
Imagine my surprise on the PS5 version when the same time came, I just dashed past the drake's fire and thought "wait, could we always have done this? was our timing that bad?", I feel foolish.
But I'm getting ahead of myself, it's Demon's Souls, the one I like the least, can a new coat of paint and improved performance elevate it above the usual whipping boy of Dark Souls 2 and Elden Ring ?
Not quite, but I give them points for trying.
It might be faster just to note what I like more about Demon's Souls compared to its spiritual successors, I suppose its atmosphere has a stronger oppressiveness to it ? while I don't consider it to have the best boss lineup, I do at least appreciate it opts for variety and tries a whole bunch of ideas. The archstones give you a good amount of choice in how to tackle the game as well.
And uhhh, well that's kind of it, and even the atmosphere point isn't really much because the lore and characters of Boletaria do less for me than the rest of From's worlds since this one.
So that's where I'm at with Demon's Souls, it's a good time if you like souls gameplay, ocassionally a frustrating time, but still a good one.
It's just so hard for me to not look at every piece of the package here and note how the sequels improved upon it, the iteration in these games is so closely tied together that there's clear through lines in the level archetypes across games. Valley of Defilement was iterated upon with Blight Town, the general concept behind the ritual path led to the catacombs, even one of the longer standing unique pieces of Demon's with the Latria Prison eventually came back around with DS3's Irithyll dungeon.
And it's not to say that these segments are obsolete or anything, there's still merit to them.
Latria's repetitive layout aims to leave you lost and to risk losing yourself down a hole when you start thinking you know it enough to sprint everywhere.
The lower Stonefang caverns are a cramped maze of trying to piece together a mental map in a samey location.
The swamp is gruelling, a gauntlet through the dark that leaves you wondering if you're even making progress to anything.
Demon's Souls is a vibe, I can certainly say that.
It's just unfortunate that a lot of the design in here feels a bit rough around the edges even for these games, Demon's is obsessed with tight corridors, narrow paths where tanky enemies can and will just block you while some variety of A-hole shoots ranged magic at you when you can't even roll anywhere, my weapon clattering off walls was so painfully commonplace here compared to the sequels that space out corridors and wide spaces more carefully. Claustrophobic you could call this one.
On top of that the game still carries a number of its antiquated design forward in the wake of all the successor's improvements.
Overstuffed weapon upgrading ores in desperate need of streamlining
Healing options that leave you having to halt progress to tediously grind out grass in the early game if you hit a wall, but then get buried under healing grass in the late game like it's suddenly christmas in Boletaria.
Limited item space (thank the gods you can now send to storage at least) and extra inventory management to fiddle through
Cling ring feeling mandatory for soul form which lets face it, you'll be spending most of the game in.
Whatever the heck they were trying with world tendency, there was an attempt
Unseen build up and reduction of posion/plague/bleed
Souls/experience payout across stages feeling like they were throwing darts to decide the numbers, and Shrine of Storms basically got all the high numbers while Valley of defilement missed the board entirely.
I'm glad I finally got to finish this one, and I think that for the most part Bluepoint did good with reimagining the world visually, for me though Demon's Souls is still bottom of the souls lineage, which means it's still good, I just can't really rate it much higher when its competition is so fierce.
After a good 2-3 weeks deliberation I finally decided that I'd bite the bullet on upgrading to a PS5 under the pretence "well it's not gonna get any cheaper any time soon I expect"
Well, I was certainly right, I hadn't even considered the price going UP, the £30 I saved is now the PS extra fund because these £60 games are no joke.
There's perhaps no game from the last generation I wanted to play more but couldn't than Astro Bot, I just ain't about dropping the money on the PSVR for the thimbleful of games on offer, even if a highly praised first party platformer was among them.
So I was pretty pleased that Astro could make the jump to a non VR title so I could see what the fuss was about (I'm under the impression that the core gameplay here is similar)
In a sense this outing is hard to rate because for all intents and purposes, this is a tech demo, specifically more a dualsense controller demo reel, in that respect it does exactly what it needs to.
Haptic feedback galore, the next step in rumble's evolutionary change, I can dig it, I'm also not bowled over by it, though I'm still pretty impressed at how they replicate the feeling of different terrain and weather via the controller, it's neat, not much more than that for me, but neat nonetheless.
As someone who still played a Wii into the twilight of its life, I'm pretty open to motion control antics, Astro has 'em, it does them well, it's the more interesting thing to talk about because as a platformer Astro is just rocking the basics, he feels good to move, his jump feels nice and he interacts with everything inluding his chums by punching them, wow, what an Astrohole.
As such the Bot reminds me of Tearaway (hey, same composer!) and more recently, Kirby and the forgotten land, which is to say it's more the sum of its parts on top of a simple and satisfying base that make the game work.
It's also interesting to comapre to fellow PS5 Sony mascot platformer, Sackboy A big Adventure, and note that while Sackboy can do more, he just isn't as fun to control, Astro Bot has the important basics down pat.
To jump back to the motion controls, each of the four main areas offers segments with suit power ups that shift the genre somewhat, it's all very mario galaxy and I ain't complaining, but between the ball rolling, spring hopping (as I said, very SMG) there's one that stands out above the rest.
The monkey suit, while not perhaps as open in segment design as the rest, is just such a highlight of the entire outing, like, outside the oft forgotten Donkey Kong King of Swing/Jungle Climber duology, climbing walls (in the activity/sporting sense) and swinging/reaching to handholds are woefully underutilised in games (especially when you consider how many games have wall climbing of some variety). Here in Astro it's the perfect marriage of motion, resistant triggers and novelty, the holds that crumble unless you only partly hold the triggers to grip? brilliant, that's now the input to beat for the Dualsense.
I do really wish I liked Astro himself more, I like robots, I like mascot characters, I expected an easy slam dunk for my rather vacant sony mascot fave category, but there's something about Astro that's a bit too full on. It strikes me as a game trying perhaps too hard to be endearing, the first time Astro waved back at me I was like "cute".
Then I realised he does it like every time you leave him still for a mere three seconds and he's looking back at the camera, maybe this is more a holdover from the VR game but still, the frequency dilutes the charm pretty quick.
Which is also where the many, many game cameos can end up, you're basically tripping over other bots referencing Sony's first party outings (big and small!) and history of third party big hitters (I absolutely popped for Alucard Bot), perhaps it wouldn't feel quite as overkill if the bots weren't also just milling about on every corner with their reused animation antics on top of these referential nods, oh those WACKY bots and their shenanigans, please love them, please.
What I didn't expect was to be so enthralled by Sony's homage to hardware and peripherals, perhaps it speaks to how I tend to view them as a company but I was getting far more of a kick out of picking up multitaps (we laugh now, but I still can't believe the PS2 didn't have four ports by default), the eyetoy and numerous console revisions. Between these and the many, many ways they manage to cram the four main controller symbols in here, I think I find playstation's legacy comes across stronger via its hardware and core PS brand in itself.
It feels almost like the opposite of Nintendo to me, where for them I see the characters as king, yet I don't give a shiiiit when they wheel out another nod to the virtual boy or ROB.
That was an odd side tangent, so uhh, the game yes, I really like the idea of theming worlds around the console itself, blending genre tropes with the inner machinations of your PS5, inspired takes on some old classics.
Building up the vault of Sony gear and that slick wall art of their hardware legacy feels good, the game never really puts a foot wrong, at worst it's the feeling that they've left a fair amount on the table for a proper follow up, there's certainly worse fates than having me want more.
58. Demon's Souls (29/8/22) ★★★
Speaking of games I find it hard to rate, here's one of the big ones.
Demon's souls legacy cannot be understated, so much of what makes up this year's mega hit Elden Ring still goes right back to this very game.
The stamina based combat, the bleak tone, the online functionality, the approach to difficulty and so much more.
Yet Demon's for me always felt more like the game that walked so Dark Souls could run, it's the okay and ocassionally spotty Mega Man 1 compared to the refined sequel barrage that followed. Interestingly I've never actually beaten Demon's Souls it turns out, just played like 98% of it, in fact I vividly remember my last foray into the PS3 version.
I was hotseating the game with a friend, probably between Bloodborne and DS3 in souls release timeline, we had our fun but stopped because internet guides were insistent that the only way to get past the dragon at the end of 1-4 was to fill it with 200 arrows in a moment of pure tedium, so that was that then.
Imagine my surprise on the PS5 version when the same time came, I just dashed past the drake's fire and thought "wait, could we always have done this? was our timing that bad?", I feel foolish.
But I'm getting ahead of myself, it's Demon's Souls, the one I like the least, can a new coat of paint and improved performance elevate it above the usual whipping boy of Dark Souls 2 and Elden Ring ?
Not quite, but I give them points for trying.
It might be faster just to note what I like more about Demon's Souls compared to its spiritual successors, I suppose its atmosphere has a stronger oppressiveness to it ? while I don't consider it to have the best boss lineup, I do at least appreciate it opts for variety and tries a whole bunch of ideas. The archstones give you a good amount of choice in how to tackle the game as well.
And uhhh, well that's kind of it, and even the atmosphere point isn't really much because the lore and characters of Boletaria do less for me than the rest of From's worlds since this one.
So that's where I'm at with Demon's Souls, it's a good time if you like souls gameplay, ocassionally a frustrating time, but still a good one.
It's just so hard for me to not look at every piece of the package here and note how the sequels improved upon it, the iteration in these games is so closely tied together that there's clear through lines in the level archetypes across games. Valley of Defilement was iterated upon with Blight Town, the general concept behind the ritual path led to the catacombs, even one of the longer standing unique pieces of Demon's with the Latria Prison eventually came back around with DS3's Irithyll dungeon.
And it's not to say that these segments are obsolete or anything, there's still merit to them.
Latria's repetitive layout aims to leave you lost and to risk losing yourself down a hole when you start thinking you know it enough to sprint everywhere.
The lower Stonefang caverns are a cramped maze of trying to piece together a mental map in a samey location.
The swamp is gruelling, a gauntlet through the dark that leaves you wondering if you're even making progress to anything.
Demon's Souls is a vibe, I can certainly say that.
It's just unfortunate that a lot of the design in here feels a bit rough around the edges even for these games, Demon's is obsessed with tight corridors, narrow paths where tanky enemies can and will just block you while some variety of A-hole shoots ranged magic at you when you can't even roll anywhere, my weapon clattering off walls was so painfully commonplace here compared to the sequels that space out corridors and wide spaces more carefully. Claustrophobic you could call this one.
On top of that the game still carries a number of its antiquated design forward in the wake of all the successor's improvements.
Overstuffed weapon upgrading ores in desperate need of streamlining
Healing options that leave you having to halt progress to tediously grind out grass in the early game if you hit a wall, but then get buried under healing grass in the late game like it's suddenly christmas in Boletaria.
Limited item space (thank the gods you can now send to storage at least) and extra inventory management to fiddle through
Cling ring feeling mandatory for soul form which lets face it, you'll be spending most of the game in.
Whatever the heck they were trying with world tendency, there was an attempt
Unseen build up and reduction of posion/plague/bleed
Souls/experience payout across stages feeling like they were throwing darts to decide the numbers, and Shrine of Storms basically got all the high numbers while Valley of defilement missed the board entirely.
I'm glad I finally got to finish this one, and I think that for the most part Bluepoint did good with reimagining the world visually, for me though Demon's Souls is still bottom of the souls lineage, which means it's still good, I just can't really rate it much higher when its competition is so fierce.
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August is over! Let's look at the tally for the month:
32. No Man's Sky: Polestar (PC, 2022) - 9:11 - August 4
...whoops.
The "problem," so to speak, was spending a bunch of time in games without actually finishing them. I have a playthrough of Chorus I still haven't given up on, but seem to only return to once in a blue moon. I also spent some time in Hardspace: Shipbreaker and Powerwash Simulator, which are both fun but have started to feel a little bit repetitive, making it difficult to power through either of them. And then two games came out at the end of the month that are going to take some time, Saints Row and Soul Hackers 2. But the game I spent the most time in without a completion to show for it was... well, it was Colorful Stage, but let's not count that because I "finished" that earlier this year.
The OTHER game I spent a ton of time in is Dysmantle. Wasn't really sure what to expect from it at first, but it sounded like a neat survival-lite game. I didn't realize how immense it is; 27 hours and I still feel like I'm only halfway through. It's just the right level of challenging for me: I can't just breeze through tougher zombie encounters, and I still worry about dying or camping in an area I haven't found the link tower for yet, but it doesn't make me constantly hate life either. Smashing stuff into bits to build new stuff that'll actually be useful to you is satisfying, especially since upgrading a weapon means you kill zombies faster, it also means you might have access to a new material because suddenly you can destroy some object in the world you couldn't destroy before.
Ooblets leaves early access today, which might just mean it has to get in line behind Hardspace and Powerwash, and Shin-Chan has also finally come out on Steam. Other than that, though, September will hopefully be a month of catch-up.
32. No Man's Sky: Polestar (PC, 2022) - 9:11 - August 4
...whoops.
The "problem," so to speak, was spending a bunch of time in games without actually finishing them. I have a playthrough of Chorus I still haven't given up on, but seem to only return to once in a blue moon. I also spent some time in Hardspace: Shipbreaker and Powerwash Simulator, which are both fun but have started to feel a little bit repetitive, making it difficult to power through either of them. And then two games came out at the end of the month that are going to take some time, Saints Row and Soul Hackers 2. But the game I spent the most time in without a completion to show for it was... well, it was Colorful Stage, but let's not count that because I "finished" that earlier this year.
The OTHER game I spent a ton of time in is Dysmantle. Wasn't really sure what to expect from it at first, but it sounded like a neat survival-lite game. I didn't realize how immense it is; 27 hours and I still feel like I'm only halfway through. It's just the right level of challenging for me: I can't just breeze through tougher zombie encounters, and I still worry about dying or camping in an area I haven't found the link tower for yet, but it doesn't make me constantly hate life either. Smashing stuff into bits to build new stuff that'll actually be useful to you is satisfying, especially since upgrading a weapon means you kill zombies faster, it also means you might have access to a new material because suddenly you can destroy some object in the world you couldn't destroy before.
Ooblets leaves early access today, which might just mean it has to get in line behind Hardspace and Powerwash, and Shin-Chan has also finally come out on Steam. Other than that, though, September will hopefully be a month of catch-up.
38. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (XOne) | 01 September - 7 hrs | 4/5
View: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch_18nKo1xL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
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Long overdue update...
#26 Timesplitters - PS2 - 2 hours - 5.0
I know people liked playing this splitscreen but as a solo sp experience, it's not very good. Difficulty is very unbalanced with unfair AI, zero mission variety with objectives and the missions themselves are too short and simple, I appreciate it probably didn't have the budget of something like Perfect Dark but it compares very poorly next to it. I do like the varied locations the time travel aspect provides but there is no story or mission briefings so it feels like an unfinished demo. I'm aware 2 and 3 have more emphasis on the campaigns!
#27 Metro 2033 Redux (Replay) - Xbox - 8.0
Metro has great atmosphere and the shootouts can be pretty intense. It loses steam in a bit in last third. I played on ranger difficulty which removed the hud and make you/the enemy die a lot quicker, which added a lot to my replay
#28 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Replay) - Gamecube - 3 hours - 7.0
Nostalgia aside, it's a good but not great game, the hit dection a little wonky, it's way shorter than I remember but the gameplay is enjoyable enough and for the time, the way it captures the movie is impressive
#29 Resident Evil Revelations 2 - Xbox - 10 hours - 7.5
I liked this way more than Revelations 1. Enviroments are a little generic but I enjoyed both campaigns despite the kind of low budgetness of it
#30 Buzz Lightyear of Star Command - Dreamcast - 3 hours - 5.0
This is one I had as a kid but never finished before. It's just a fucking weird game, I don't know what they were on when they came up with it. On-foot racing is your Buzz Lightyear game?? Same dev as Toy Story 2 so I don't know why they didn't just make a clone of that, well props for trying something different I guess
#31 Spider-Man: Miles Morales - PS4 - 10 hours - 8.0
Liked the story and gameplay, same as the first game, just didn't hit me as hard the second time around, but still a good time. I do wish these open world games would use their open world in the mission design a bit more. I wanna swing outside in the missions, not be in some boring building!
#32 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge - Xbox - 2 hours - 7.5
I won't pretend beat em ups are one of my favourite genres but as a one and done in co-op, they're a good time. Music and graphics are super good
#33 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Replay) - Gamecube - 4 hours - 8.0
Nice improvement on the first game, loved playing this co-op as a kid. Pretty much everything is better, the combat feels smoother, the levels are longer and more epic, it's just a damn good movie tie in
#34 Wolfenstein: The New Order (Replay) - Xbox - 9 hours - 7.0
I don't really rate the shooting mechanics of the Wolf games that high, the aiming in particular feels really bad on controller. I also don't like the way it keeps taking away your weapons at the start of a level. The story and cutscenes are very high quality however
#35 Wolfenstein: The Old Blood - Xbox - 4 hours - 7.5
A little improvement on the first game. I like the stoney castley vibes of this one, but it has terrible final boss just like the 1st game
#26 Timesplitters - PS2 - 2 hours - 5.0
I know people liked playing this splitscreen but as a solo sp experience, it's not very good. Difficulty is very unbalanced with unfair AI, zero mission variety with objectives and the missions themselves are too short and simple, I appreciate it probably didn't have the budget of something like Perfect Dark but it compares very poorly next to it. I do like the varied locations the time travel aspect provides but there is no story or mission briefings so it feels like an unfinished demo. I'm aware 2 and 3 have more emphasis on the campaigns!
#27 Metro 2033 Redux (Replay) - Xbox - 8.0
Metro has great atmosphere and the shootouts can be pretty intense. It loses steam in a bit in last third. I played on ranger difficulty which removed the hud and make you/the enemy die a lot quicker, which added a lot to my replay
#28 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Replay) - Gamecube - 3 hours - 7.0
Nostalgia aside, it's a good but not great game, the hit dection a little wonky, it's way shorter than I remember but the gameplay is enjoyable enough and for the time, the way it captures the movie is impressive
#29 Resident Evil Revelations 2 - Xbox - 10 hours - 7.5
I liked this way more than Revelations 1. Enviroments are a little generic but I enjoyed both campaigns despite the kind of low budgetness of it
#30 Buzz Lightyear of Star Command - Dreamcast - 3 hours - 5.0
This is one I had as a kid but never finished before. It's just a fucking weird game, I don't know what they were on when they came up with it. On-foot racing is your Buzz Lightyear game?? Same dev as Toy Story 2 so I don't know why they didn't just make a clone of that, well props for trying something different I guess
#31 Spider-Man: Miles Morales - PS4 - 10 hours - 8.0
Liked the story and gameplay, same as the first game, just didn't hit me as hard the second time around, but still a good time. I do wish these open world games would use their open world in the mission design a bit more. I wanna swing outside in the missions, not be in some boring building!
#32 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge - Xbox - 2 hours - 7.5
I won't pretend beat em ups are one of my favourite genres but as a one and done in co-op, they're a good time. Music and graphics are super good
#33 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Replay) - Gamecube - 4 hours - 8.0
Nice improvement on the first game, loved playing this co-op as a kid. Pretty much everything is better, the combat feels smoother, the levels are longer and more epic, it's just a damn good movie tie in
#34 Wolfenstein: The New Order (Replay) - Xbox - 9 hours - 7.0
I don't really rate the shooting mechanics of the Wolf games that high, the aiming in particular feels really bad on controller. I also don't like the way it keeps taking away your weapons at the start of a level. The story and cutscenes are very high quality however
#35 Wolfenstein: The Old Blood - Xbox - 4 hours - 7.5
A little improvement on the first game. I like the stoney castley vibes of this one, but it has terrible final boss just like the 1st game
Game #59 - Greak Memories of Azur
Time: 7 hours
Platform: Switch
Rating: ★★★★
Another day, another metroidvania, thankfully this one is not only very good, but has a unique gimmick that sets it apart from the rest, that gimmick being (eventually) controlling multiple characters, each with it's own abilities and combat style. Basically a metroidvania version of something like Lost Vikings of Trine, You start with just the titular Greak, but eventually you find your sister and control both, and by the end you find a third character and then you have three to control, which is where the game really shines as puzzles involve each character different ability (one can swim, one can use a hook etc). Story is your standard fantasy fare but it doesn't really matter, the visuals are absolutely GORGEOUS, and the gameplay is good enough, outside of what is probably the only negative the game had for me: the bosses. The problem being, it was actually better to do the bosses with just one of the characters, leaving the others in some safe place, than using all of them (you can press a button to lock them all together and you move the 3 as 1), because one of them always gets hit, or doesnt jump as high as the other, and its a bit of a mess, and the only thing in this multi-char design they couldnt seem to fully handle. Still, its a great one of these, and a easy recommendation for fans of the genre, it's just a hair away from that top tier status because of this boss thing.
Game #60 - Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning
Time: 62 hours
Platform: Switch
Rating: ★★★★
One of my all time guilty pleasures, this third person action rpg isn't amazing by any means, but I always had a soft spot for it since it's basically a single player mmo, and I used to be huge into mmos (still am now and then) when it came out. Playing this on the Switch was fun enough, mainly since I played it at work where I could just veg out, do some quests, lvl up my character and watch some cool loking spells (much like a mmo), but it's one of those games where I like it for such a specific reason, it's hard to easily recommend. Even I was pretty much ready to be done with it by the time I finished, and I still had the DLCs to do which I pretty much just auto piloted through. Still, I had fun revisiting it, but I doubt I would have done so if it wasnt in portable form.
Game #61 - Picross S3
Time: 27 hours
Platform: Switch
Rating: ★★★★
Right, so everyone knows the Jupiter picross games are the best picross around, and with S3, they introduce color puzzles, the last type of puzzle they introduced. Its another great title, with a ton of content as usual, but I'll save the 5/5 for later titles with more color puzzles (they are great but S3 only had a handful of them to start with), and also the game has way too many multi-image puzzles, whcih are my least favorite since they are usually just a bunch of small images which are not very exciting to do.
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55: Soul Hackers 2. End: 9/3/2022. (3.5 out of 5)
There are a lot of little things here in the game that are quite interesting. But ultimately I found that it doesn't do a whole lot to stand out. So it's mostly a solid JRPG. Which in and of itself is fine. The characters are interesting and appealing, but that can only do so much. Hopefully if there's a Soul Hackers 3 they can do more.
There are a lot of little things here in the game that are quite interesting. But ultimately I found that it doesn't do a whole lot to stand out. So it's mostly a solid JRPG. Which in and of itself is fine. The characters are interesting and appealing, but that can only do so much. Hopefully if there's a Soul Hackers 3 they can do more.
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28. Ys: The Ark of Napishtim
I had heard a lot of terrible things about this game. All of them were true. I love the Ys series, but there's little to enjoy here. Controls can't be mapped with the control mapping tool they provide, so that was a bad start. I ended up playing keyboard, if only so I could perform the stupid dash jump a little easier. Speaking of, mechanics are clunky and bad. Adol will only dash jump maybe 60% of the time of you're lucky. Every now and then he just won't jump at all and that was fun, let me tell you. Bosses are either boring, annoying or both. Story is fine, it's an Ys game so it doesn't really matter. Adol turns up at some place and will kill a god or something, we know the deal. There's nothing really in this game that elevates it at all. Every other Ys game just does it better.
28. Ys: The Ark of Napishtim
I had heard a lot of terrible things about this game. All of them were true. I love the Ys series, but there's little to enjoy here. Controls can't be mapped with the control mapping tool they provide, so that was a bad start. I ended up playing keyboard, if only so I could perform the stupid dash jump a little easier. Speaking of, mechanics are clunky and bad. Adol will only dash jump maybe 60% of the time of you're lucky. Every now and then he just won't jump at all and that was fun, let me tell you. Bosses are either boring, annoying or both. Story is fine, it's an Ys game so it doesn't really matter. Adol turns up at some place and will kill a god or something, we know the deal. There's nothing really in this game that elevates it at all. Every other Ys game just does it better.
49 | Goat Simulator
PC/Deck | August 31 | 16 h | 2/5
I came into this game knowing it's supposed to be silly. Your goat rag dolling, objects flying around, etc. It's over the top. But damn, goat sim still bothers me.
I received it in a bundle and figured it was the perfect game to mess around on the Steam Deck. The first time it was booted up, it worked fine. The second time it would not do anything after hitting "start." The game does not function; it completely freezes up. After troubleshooting it, I gave up. I opened it on my PC and after the second play time, it will not work on a controller. Only keyboard and mouse. It has issues, clearly.
Gameplay wise: the main world and the MMO are the most fun. The main world has more of the high score points rather than objectives. Less objectives = less the game messing up. I have played a bit of every DLC included. The gameplay is about the same but some worlds have more objectives. Again, I understand this isn't supposed to be taken "seriously," like it's a silly game right? But I was incredibly annoyed on a personal level when trying to complete objectives, only for things to fly out of my control or the game bugging out. You have to respawn the entire level erasing any progress you made previously. I like structure and this game doesn't have it. Never mind the bugs.
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PC/Deck | August 31 | 16 h | 2/5
I came into this game knowing it's supposed to be silly. Your goat rag dolling, objects flying around, etc. It's over the top. But damn, goat sim still bothers me.
I received it in a bundle and figured it was the perfect game to mess around on the Steam Deck. The first time it was booted up, it worked fine. The second time it would not do anything after hitting "start." The game does not function; it completely freezes up. After troubleshooting it, I gave up. I opened it on my PC and after the second play time, it will not work on a controller. Only keyboard and mouse. It has issues, clearly.
Gameplay wise: the main world and the MMO are the most fun. The main world has more of the high score points rather than objectives. Less objectives = less the game messing up. I have played a bit of every DLC included. The gameplay is about the same but some worlds have more objectives. Again, I understand this isn't supposed to be taken "seriously," like it's a silly game right? But I was incredibly annoyed on a personal level when trying to complete objectives, only for things to fly out of my control or the game bugging out. You have to respawn the entire level erasing any progress you made previously. I like structure and this game doesn't have it. Never mind the bugs.
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Game #62 - TinyKin
Time: 8 hours
Platform: XBOX Series X
Rating: ★★★★★
Wow did not expect this one to be this good. A fantastic Pikmin-clone that is actually a much better game than te actual Pikmin games in my opinion, with much more streamlined (and thus less annoying in my opinion) minion controls, some very decent 3d platforming, gorgeous visuals and a ton of charm, this really is something special. It's not very long but it doesn't overstay it's welcome either, each level is just a wonderful sandbox of objectives to do, with really good level design and stuff to do if you are a completionist. If you have any interest in Pikmin-style games (or just 3d platformers in geenral) it is an absolute must play, easily one of my favorite games this year.
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50 | Tearaway Unfolded
PS5 | Sep 03 | 12 h | 4/5
One of the most creative games I have experienced. The studio was handed a Playstation controller and they went above and beyond to make the gameplay unique. You are able to draw on the touch pad and see your creations in game. Plus, move objects in the world with the pad. You can even use the controller's microphone to give a character a voice - your voice! It was an absolute a joy to play.
For as much consideration they gave the story and gameplay, I wish some of that energy was towards the camera. Really the only negative I had playing the story. Sometimes it would force the camera to look in a direction that was not helpful, making it easy to miss collectibles or die.
Since I had fun playing it, I wanted to platinum it. This is where the frustration set. The enemies were annoying because even if they did die, they may not count. Forcing you to replay a section or an entire level. There's no indication of which enemy you missed, so you'll have to fight everything again. The misplaced gopher is an NCP that requires you to carry them through half of a level without dying. You'll get into fights and have to avoid falling, getting squished, shot at, etc. without dying. Easier said than done. Trophies can 100% be challenging but the way this is set up is aggravating. The gopher can be ripped out of your hands by other NCPs only to be chucked off a cliff to their death. Or maybe you were nearly at the end for the gopher, only to slip up and die. Now the game's checkpoint saved over your progress so you get to repeat the entire level again. Damn that gopher to Dante's inferno.
51 | Bugsnax
PS5 | Sep 07 | 15 h | 5/5
You arrive on an island to find a crew that made a fantastic discovery. Living creatures that are part bug, part snack!
A goofy premise for an adventure game that I'm still a bit bummed that I finished. I cannot find anything I wish it did differently. This was a blast to play. When I wasn't playing Bugsnax, I was thinking about playing Bugsnax! There's growth in the characters. All the zones are super fun to explore. Filling out your book with the snax was enjoyable. The tools are quirky.
I don't know what else to say? I really, really liked it.
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PS5 | Sep 03 | 12 h | 4/5
One of the most creative games I have experienced. The studio was handed a Playstation controller and they went above and beyond to make the gameplay unique. You are able to draw on the touch pad and see your creations in game. Plus, move objects in the world with the pad. You can even use the controller's microphone to give a character a voice - your voice! It was an absolute a joy to play.
For as much consideration they gave the story and gameplay, I wish some of that energy was towards the camera. Really the only negative I had playing the story. Sometimes it would force the camera to look in a direction that was not helpful, making it easy to miss collectibles or die.
Since I had fun playing it, I wanted to platinum it. This is where the frustration set. The enemies were annoying because even if they did die, they may not count. Forcing you to replay a section or an entire level. There's no indication of which enemy you missed, so you'll have to fight everything again. The misplaced gopher is an NCP that requires you to carry them through half of a level without dying. You'll get into fights and have to avoid falling, getting squished, shot at, etc. without dying. Easier said than done. Trophies can 100% be challenging but the way this is set up is aggravating. The gopher can be ripped out of your hands by other NCPs only to be chucked off a cliff to their death. Or maybe you were nearly at the end for the gopher, only to slip up and die. Now the game's checkpoint saved over your progress so you get to repeat the entire level again. Damn that gopher to Dante's inferno.
51 | Bugsnax
PS5 | Sep 07 | 15 h | 5/5
You arrive on an island to find a crew that made a fantastic discovery. Living creatures that are part bug, part snack!
A goofy premise for an adventure game that I'm still a bit bummed that I finished. I cannot find anything I wish it did differently. This was a blast to play. When I wasn't playing Bugsnax, I was thinking about playing Bugsnax! There's growth in the characters. All the zones are super fun to explore. Filling out your book with the snax was enjoyable. The tools are quirky.
I don't know what else to say? I really, really liked it.
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Hit 52 and realized I have done an awful job of updating my games played this year. Bit of a downer game to earn it on but I am glad 7 year old me would agree with me now...Roger Rabbit on NES sucked.
10. New Super Luigi U Deluxe (Switch) - 8/10
11. Super Metroid (SNES) - 9/10
12. Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX (PS5) - 5/10
13. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (PS4) - 7/10
14. Super Mario All Stars: Super Mario Bros. 3 (SNES) - 10/10
15. Wolfenstein II: The Freedom Chronicles (PS4) - 5/10
16. Sonic Generations (Xbox 360) - 7/10
17. Elden Ring (PS5) - 10/10
18. Super Mario 64 (Switch) - 8/10
19. The Last of Us: Remastered (PS4) - 9/10
20. The Last of Us: Left Behind (PS4) - 8/10
21. Alan Wake's American Nightmare (Xbox 360) - 6/10
22. Thomas Was Alone (PSTV) - 8/10
23. Medal of Honor: Heroes (PSTV) - 7/10
24. Ratchet & Clank (PS3) - 7/10
25. Return to Arkham Asylum (PS4) - 8/10
26. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II (Xbox 360) - 6/10
27. Picross e (3DS) - 8/10
28. Halo 3: ODST (Xbox Series X) - 7/10
29. Ninja Gaiden (NES) - 8/10
30. Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones (NES) - 7/10
31. A Hat in Time (Switch) - 7/10
32. Minit (Switch) - 8/10
33. Streets of Rage (Genesis) - 8/10
34. Final Fantasy VII (PS4) - 10/10
35. Ikai (PS4) - 6/10
36. Spirit of the North (PS5) - 8/10
37. Doki Doki Literature Club (Switch) - 8/10
38. Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy (Switch) - 8/10
39. Papo & Yo (PS3) - 7/10
40. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (PS3) - 7/10
41. Wonder Boy (PS4) - 6/10
42. Wonder Boy in Monster Land (PS4) - 5/10
43. Wonder Boy in Monster World (PS4) - 7/10
44. Monster World IV (PS4) - 7/10
45. Medal of Honor: Warfighter (PS3) - 7/10
46. Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara (PS3) - 6/10
47. Toree 3D (Steam Deck) - 7/10
48. Alien Rage (PS3) - 5/10
49. The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest (Wii) - 7/10
50. Little Nemo: The Dream Master (NES) - 8/10
51. The Adventures of Chris (Steam Deck) - 8/10
52. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (NES) - 3/10
Hit 52 and realized I have done an awful job of updating my games played this year. Bit of a downer game to earn it on but I am glad 7 year old me would agree with me now...Roger Rabbit on NES sucked.
10. New Super Luigi U Deluxe (Switch) - 8/10
11. Super Metroid (SNES) - 9/10
12. Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX (PS5) - 5/10
13. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (PS4) - 7/10
14. Super Mario All Stars: Super Mario Bros. 3 (SNES) - 10/10
15. Wolfenstein II: The Freedom Chronicles (PS4) - 5/10
16. Sonic Generations (Xbox 360) - 7/10
17. Elden Ring (PS5) - 10/10
18. Super Mario 64 (Switch) - 8/10
19. The Last of Us: Remastered (PS4) - 9/10
20. The Last of Us: Left Behind (PS4) - 8/10
21. Alan Wake's American Nightmare (Xbox 360) - 6/10
22. Thomas Was Alone (PSTV) - 8/10
23. Medal of Honor: Heroes (PSTV) - 7/10
24. Ratchet & Clank (PS3) - 7/10
25. Return to Arkham Asylum (PS4) - 8/10
26. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II (Xbox 360) - 6/10
27. Picross e (3DS) - 8/10
28. Halo 3: ODST (Xbox Series X) - 7/10
29. Ninja Gaiden (NES) - 8/10
30. Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones (NES) - 7/10
31. A Hat in Time (Switch) - 7/10
32. Minit (Switch) - 8/10
33. Streets of Rage (Genesis) - 8/10
34. Final Fantasy VII (PS4) - 10/10
35. Ikai (PS4) - 6/10
36. Spirit of the North (PS5) - 8/10
37. Doki Doki Literature Club (Switch) - 8/10
38. Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy (Switch) - 8/10
39. Papo & Yo (PS3) - 7/10
40. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (PS3) - 7/10
41. Wonder Boy (PS4) - 6/10
42. Wonder Boy in Monster Land (PS4) - 5/10
43. Wonder Boy in Monster World (PS4) - 7/10
44. Monster World IV (PS4) - 7/10
45. Medal of Honor: Warfighter (PS3) - 7/10
46. Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara (PS3) - 6/10
47. Toree 3D (Steam Deck) - 7/10
48. Alien Rage (PS3) - 5/10
49. The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest (Wii) - 7/10
50. Little Nemo: The Dream Master (NES) - 8/10
51. The Adventures of Chris (Steam Deck) - 8/10
52. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (NES) - 3/10
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29. Tinykin
This has been the easiest 5/5 all year. I have not a single complaint about this game. Beautiful art style, perfect length, great music, easy controls and huge amounts of charm. It does exactly what it sets out to do, make a chill collectathon platformer with huge worlds, fun characters and interesting lore. Wonderful.
29. Tinykin
This has been the easiest 5/5 all year. I have not a single complaint about this game. Beautiful art style, perfect length, great music, easy controls and huge amounts of charm. It does exactly what it sets out to do, make a chill collectathon platformer with huge worlds, fun characters and interesting lore. Wonderful.
16. Lost in Play - 8/10
Very cute game that's a nice mix between adventure game and visual novel. No obnoxious puzzles but instead there is a large variety of minigames which are actually very fun to do and strike a nice balance in terms of difficulty.
17. Tinykin - 7/10
A platformer that provides a good amount of fun and cute bugs. A bit too long for its own good maybe, I would love to see some more variety or difficulties in the future.
1. The Forgotten City (XSX) | 3rd Jan - 8 hrs | 8
2. Psychonauts 2 (XSX) | 8th Jan - 15 hrs | 7
3. The Gunk (XSX) | 9th Jan - 5 hrs | 6
4. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (XSX) | 13th Jan - 8 hrs | 8
5. Expeditions: Rome (PC) | 29th Jan - 70 hrs | 8
6. Dying Light 2 (PC) | 17th Feb - 60 hrs | 8
7. Death's Door (XSX) | 30th Mar - 10 hrs | 7
8. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade (PS5) | 10th April - 30 hrs | 3
9. Immortals Fenyx Rising (PS5) | 27th April - 40 hrs | 6
10. Ghost of Tsushima (PS5) | 4th May - 50 hrs | 6
11. Chinatown Detective Agency (PC) | 1st June - 10 hrs | 5
12. Lost in Random (XSX) | 18th June - 20 hrs | 9
13. Until Dawn (PS5) | 13th July - 8 hrs | 8
14. Nightmare of Decay (PC) | 15th Aug - 3 hrs | 7
15. As Dusk Falls (XSX) | 19th Aug - 6 hrs | 8
16. Lost in Play (Switch) | 3th Sep - 6 hrs | 8
17. Tinykin (PC) | 10th Sep - 8 hrs | 7
2. Psychonauts 2 (XSX) | 8th Jan - 15 hrs | 7
3. The Gunk (XSX) | 9th Jan - 5 hrs | 6
4. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (XSX) | 13th Jan - 8 hrs | 8
5. Expeditions: Rome (PC) | 29th Jan - 70 hrs | 8
6. Dying Light 2 (PC) | 17th Feb - 60 hrs | 8
7. Death's Door (XSX) | 30th Mar - 10 hrs | 7
8. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade (PS5) | 10th April - 30 hrs | 3
9. Immortals Fenyx Rising (PS5) | 27th April - 40 hrs | 6
10. Ghost of Tsushima (PS5) | 4th May - 50 hrs | 6
11. Chinatown Detective Agency (PC) | 1st June - 10 hrs | 5
12. Lost in Random (XSX) | 18th June - 20 hrs | 9
13. Until Dawn (PS5) | 13th July - 8 hrs | 8
14. Nightmare of Decay (PC) | 15th Aug - 3 hrs | 7
15. As Dusk Falls (XSX) | 19th Aug - 6 hrs | 8
16. Lost in Play (Switch) | 3th Sep - 6 hrs | 8
17. Tinykin (PC) | 10th Sep - 8 hrs | 7
59. Tinykin (3/9/22) ★★★★
Because comparison points are always the easiest/laziest way to get a game's angle across, here's Chibi-Pikmin-Kazooie.
Or just read many of the above entries with the same game I guess!
What's engaging about Tinykin is how immediately flowing the game feels once you hit the first main area, brief tutorial aside, you get dropped in the living room and are given a "hey you should go talk to this guy first" to get the ball rolling on the area's main objective, but more importantly, you can just wander off and explore on your own and nothing is majorly locked off from the player.
This really engages the collectathon wanderlust combo play, it's just pure poking a nooks and crannies, no matter what direction you went in, the gradual increase of tinykin and pollen are accommodated, the ability to nab some objective crucial items before even initiating said quests. Effectively this makes the moment to moment gameplay always worthwhile, your lil' Astronaut duder Milo has basic yet snappy movement that simply feels good, the ability to hop on your bar of soap to swiftly speed over vaster floor space. This is a game that simply feels good to move around it, despite the lack of a deep platforming toolbox.
Tinykin opts to be pretty much friction free, despite the pikmin inspirations, there are no enemies here, few environmental hazards presented as full on obstacle courses, and you don't need to manage the movements of the following tinykin. Thus it's a pretty breezy title, perhaps too breezy at times as the stages tend to share similar objectives that does make the experience run a bit together, yet I was never bored.
It's the kind of game that does exactly what it needs to, for exactly the right runtime, when I did find myself feeling like it was perhaps running out of tricks/being a bit samey, I found its final stage to be a perfect distillation of the game to such a degree that I had to respect its craft.
One could point to the fact that the tinykin themselves never really get to plumb much mechanical depth, you can almost throw and forget when it comes to moving objects around the map, the green tinykin's oh so satisfying and swift ladder creation swiftly neuters the platforming pathfinding in some cases, and that in general the applications of all colours are pretty one note, yep, I'd think that's fair.
But then when you see that this is all part of the plan, a very kid friendly, or casual friendly spin on your boomer platforming pikmin, that just wants the player to explore and uncover things stress free, a concept that could be unwieldy being made so easy to play, it's something of a feat in itself.
All it's really missing are some big set pieces to push the gameplay and stages higher, even the game's deepest lore has some fun twists and turns (and feels) by the end. The devs previous outing was an interesting but perhaps unwieldy fast paced 2D run and jump (n' gun, sorta) platformer called "The Splasher" that had a nice core ,but I found to be aesthetically a bit dull and control wise a touch unwieldy. Tinykin can't be directly compared to it, but I can say the aesthetics are more varied here, more pleasing and the controls never get fiddly, it shows a stark improvement to me despite the different style of game.
60. Spiderman: Miles Morales (8/9/22) ★★★★
Well here's something I wasn't quite expecting, somewhat ironic because the game is ultimately still exactly what I'd expected.
The original Insomniac Spiderman outing was a perfectly fine game, but I did not get the GotY hype machine for it at all. In brief it felt like a well realised Spiderman skin draped over the general combat and stealth concepts of the batman arkham games, but not as strong and also a perfect example of open world filler/bloat/middling content to pad out the experience.
Miles Morales is like, the ultimate addition by subtraction video game, in essence here's even more of a game I felt I'd already had enough of, just more tightly designed in every area. Turns out this makes the whole game go down a lot better for me, less but more meaningful side content that doesn't feel quite as repetitive, the exorcising of Spiderman's worst sins that were the not spiderman stuff (MJ stealth! Pete's science minigames!) and gameplay additions to both combat and stealth that makes it go down a lot better this time around, albeit still being like Arkham flippy dippy edition.
The trimming down of side activities and collectables also has a net benefit on the skill tree and other upgrades, less time spent grinding out those side quest resources and less to use them on actually works in my favour, the skill tree now feels like a collection of neat bonus skills and not just locking away stuff you should already be able to do. Throw a 60FPS performance mode on top and my enjoyment of Miles flew so far past Peter's escapades, I just still can't quite believe it.
There's also some novelty to knowing less about Miles, his campaign capable of more surprises for me than the "surprisingly long countdown to Doc Ock" of its predecessor. Really enjoyed Mile's more freestyle and unrefined movements as a rookie webslinger to contrast Peter, enjoyed his supporting cast and while the plot doesn't hit the emotional beats of 2018, it's still a fun ride.
A perfect example of a 1.5 sequel, it doesn't mean to be anything more than a slight iteration and on this ocassion in worked out for me, enough to get all I could out of the title before new game plus was a factor.
Because comparison points are always the easiest/laziest way to get a game's angle across, here's Chibi-Pikmin-Kazooie.
Or just read many of the above entries with the same game I guess!
What's engaging about Tinykin is how immediately flowing the game feels once you hit the first main area, brief tutorial aside, you get dropped in the living room and are given a "hey you should go talk to this guy first" to get the ball rolling on the area's main objective, but more importantly, you can just wander off and explore on your own and nothing is majorly locked off from the player.
This really engages the collectathon wanderlust combo play, it's just pure poking a nooks and crannies, no matter what direction you went in, the gradual increase of tinykin and pollen are accommodated, the ability to nab some objective crucial items before even initiating said quests. Effectively this makes the moment to moment gameplay always worthwhile, your lil' Astronaut duder Milo has basic yet snappy movement that simply feels good, the ability to hop on your bar of soap to swiftly speed over vaster floor space. This is a game that simply feels good to move around it, despite the lack of a deep platforming toolbox.
Tinykin opts to be pretty much friction free, despite the pikmin inspirations, there are no enemies here, few environmental hazards presented as full on obstacle courses, and you don't need to manage the movements of the following tinykin. Thus it's a pretty breezy title, perhaps too breezy at times as the stages tend to share similar objectives that does make the experience run a bit together, yet I was never bored.
It's the kind of game that does exactly what it needs to, for exactly the right runtime, when I did find myself feeling like it was perhaps running out of tricks/being a bit samey, I found its final stage to be a perfect distillation of the game to such a degree that I had to respect its craft.
One could point to the fact that the tinykin themselves never really get to plumb much mechanical depth, you can almost throw and forget when it comes to moving objects around the map, the green tinykin's oh so satisfying and swift ladder creation swiftly neuters the platforming pathfinding in some cases, and that in general the applications of all colours are pretty one note, yep, I'd think that's fair.
But then when you see that this is all part of the plan, a very kid friendly, or casual friendly spin on your boomer platforming pikmin, that just wants the player to explore and uncover things stress free, a concept that could be unwieldy being made so easy to play, it's something of a feat in itself.
All it's really missing are some big set pieces to push the gameplay and stages higher, even the game's deepest lore has some fun twists and turns (and feels) by the end. The devs previous outing was an interesting but perhaps unwieldy fast paced 2D run and jump (n' gun, sorta) platformer called "The Splasher" that had a nice core ,but I found to be aesthetically a bit dull and control wise a touch unwieldy. Tinykin can't be directly compared to it, but I can say the aesthetics are more varied here, more pleasing and the controls never get fiddly, it shows a stark improvement to me despite the different style of game.
60. Spiderman: Miles Morales (8/9/22) ★★★★
Well here's something I wasn't quite expecting, somewhat ironic because the game is ultimately still exactly what I'd expected.
The original Insomniac Spiderman outing was a perfectly fine game, but I did not get the GotY hype machine for it at all. In brief it felt like a well realised Spiderman skin draped over the general combat and stealth concepts of the batman arkham games, but not as strong and also a perfect example of open world filler/bloat/middling content to pad out the experience.
Miles Morales is like, the ultimate addition by subtraction video game, in essence here's even more of a game I felt I'd already had enough of, just more tightly designed in every area. Turns out this makes the whole game go down a lot better for me, less but more meaningful side content that doesn't feel quite as repetitive, the exorcising of Spiderman's worst sins that were the not spiderman stuff (MJ stealth! Pete's science minigames!) and gameplay additions to both combat and stealth that makes it go down a lot better this time around, albeit still being like Arkham flippy dippy edition.
The trimming down of side activities and collectables also has a net benefit on the skill tree and other upgrades, less time spent grinding out those side quest resources and less to use them on actually works in my favour, the skill tree now feels like a collection of neat bonus skills and not just locking away stuff you should already be able to do. Throw a 60FPS performance mode on top and my enjoyment of Miles flew so far past Peter's escapades, I just still can't quite believe it.
There's also some novelty to knowing less about Miles, his campaign capable of more surprises for me than the "surprisingly long countdown to Doc Ock" of its predecessor. Really enjoyed Mile's more freestyle and unrefined movements as a rookie webslinger to contrast Peter, enjoyed his supporting cast and while the plot doesn't hit the emotional beats of 2018, it's still a fun ride.
A perfect example of a 1.5 sequel, it doesn't mean to be anything more than a slight iteration and on this ocassion in worked out for me, enough to get all I could out of the title before new game plus was a factor.
52 | Wytchwood
PS5 | Sep 10 | 11 h | 4/5
Another enjoyable game from PS plus. The gameplay is not as creative as Tearaway or Bugsnax, but I had fun with the casual experience.
To put Wytchwood's mechanics simply, it's a crafting fetch quest. You pick things up. You craft. Get harder recipes. Repeat. I knew the gameplay was relaxing before starting so I was okay with it. The downside with this is how repetitive the game plays. After 10 hours, I was starting to feel it was overstaying its welcome.
I absolutely love the world. The illustrative art style and narrative/dialogue makes you feel you're inside a fairy tale book. It's done very well. I liked exploring and getting to know the souls I was collecting. Overall, a fun casual game. I'm glad I was able to play.
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PS5 | Sep 10 | 11 h | 4/5
Another enjoyable game from PS plus. The gameplay is not as creative as Tearaway or Bugsnax, but I had fun with the casual experience.
To put Wytchwood's mechanics simply, it's a crafting fetch quest. You pick things up. You craft. Get harder recipes. Repeat. I knew the gameplay was relaxing before starting so I was okay with it. The downside with this is how repetitive the game plays. After 10 hours, I was starting to feel it was overstaying its welcome.
I absolutely love the world. The illustrative art style and narrative/dialogue makes you feel you're inside a fairy tale book. It's done very well. I liked exploring and getting to know the souls I was collecting. Overall, a fun casual game. I'm glad I was able to play.
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Game #63- Haiku The Robot
Time: 11 hours
Platform: Switch
Rating: ★★★★★
Always a great feeling when a game lives up to the hype, and man does Haiku live up to the hype. From the first few moments you can feel it's going to be one of the greats, just a perfectly executed metroidvania, with a tight runtime, great gameplay, fantastic level design, ton of abilities and items to get, lots of secrets, lots of bosses, a true ending (and true boss), just everything you can think of when you think of "good meroidvania". It's a bit monochrome (but the pixel art itself and the animation is great) but that's about the only nitpick I can think of. Easily hangs with the big boys of the genre, and really should be talked about more. An absolute must play for fans of the genre.
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It was real good, glad you liked it.
Game #63- Haiku The Robot
Time: 11 hours
Platform: Switch
Rating: ★★★★★
Always a great feeling when a game lives up to the hype, and man does Haiku live up to the hype. From the first few moments you can feel it's going to be one of the greats, just a perfectly executed metroidvania, with a tight runtime, great gameplay, fantastic level design, ton of abilities and items to get, lots of secrets, lots of bosses, a true ending (and true boss), just everything you can think of when you think of "good meroidvania". It's a bit monochrome (but the pixel art itself and the animation is great) but that's about the only nitpick I can think of. Easily hangs with the big boys of the genre, and really should be talked about more. An absolute must play for fans of the genre.
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Wozzer I have a bone to pick with you, how come peeps that finished the 2022 challenge have a medal with a 5 on it instead of a 6.
2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 is 6 years, explain yourself sir!
right back at you with TinyKin
2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 is 6 years, explain yourself sir!
right back at you with TinyKin
OP
OP
The medal things started the year I took the thread over in 2018, and I started taking down avatars and names and such from that point on :D. Loosely references the medal starting in 2018 in the first post FAQ with;
What are those medal icons I see on avatars?
That's the 52 Games Challenge Medal™, achieved by beating the challenge on a given year. The number within the medal represents each year you've beaten the challenge since 2018."
61. Stray (11/9/22) ★★★
I like cats, I like robots, should stray be a match made in heaven? not quite.
I can't help but find these two elements of Stray's storytelling don't entirely fit together, almost like there's potential for two games in here, one a silent adventure as a lost cat just doing cat stuff where no spoken interactions can be understood, and the other is a dialogue and lore driven tale of robo dystopia. In any case the two elements are slammed together here as your cat who I'm now going to refer to as "Ginge", becomes the silent (ish) protagonist to support your talkative droid companion, so like feline Okami but the droid is better than that little turd Issun.
Stray's atmosphere is pretty top notch, the environments make the most of their shared assets and have this dense lived in vibe, the robots swagger about in a manner that perfectly hits a semblance of robots mimicking humans with some fun design quirks.
For the most part this falls into the cinematic platformer genre, sort of because the platforming is entirely automated. Now I get that the idea is that if the player could keep fudging jumps then it kinda takes away from the slick feline feeling of effortlessly traversing the environment, but I'd like to think there was a middle ground between this and a game that feels something like a series of "press X" prompts to solve any pathfinding conundrum.
Really the hook of this game is good ol' Ginge, look at Ginge, you have a meow button, you jump on tables and knock things over, you lick yourself, sleep, just cat stuff that's well animated to really sell the cat sim experience. You also see pretty much the extent of this within the first hour so once the novelty of me clawing at a door like my own fat cat at 4am kinda wore off and I found myself a lot more into the robots.
This isn't to say I didn't enjoy my time with Stray, it's a solid 5 hours or so of perfectly okay antics, I did enjoy the first urban area's more roaming exploration (I felt that the cat traversing a dense and open environment like this one felt more fitting for the cat antics than the other linear segments). I just can't really hype up the by the book stealth and puzzle segments that add variety, they sure exist and are completely inoffensive, it's very much just there.
Effectively you're here for the experience, I can see why some really liked it and the mass appeal of GINGE means that this shouldn''t really be a mechanically dense endeavour, I just can't see myself ever revisiting it.
...except the OST, that I'll revisit
I like cats, I like robots, should stray be a match made in heaven? not quite.
I can't help but find these two elements of Stray's storytelling don't entirely fit together, almost like there's potential for two games in here, one a silent adventure as a lost cat just doing cat stuff where no spoken interactions can be understood, and the other is a dialogue and lore driven tale of robo dystopia. In any case the two elements are slammed together here as your cat who I'm now going to refer to as "Ginge", becomes the silent (ish) protagonist to support your talkative droid companion, so like feline Okami but the droid is better than that little turd Issun.
Stray's atmosphere is pretty top notch, the environments make the most of their shared assets and have this dense lived in vibe, the robots swagger about in a manner that perfectly hits a semblance of robots mimicking humans with some fun design quirks.
For the most part this falls into the cinematic platformer genre, sort of because the platforming is entirely automated. Now I get that the idea is that if the player could keep fudging jumps then it kinda takes away from the slick feline feeling of effortlessly traversing the environment, but I'd like to think there was a middle ground between this and a game that feels something like a series of "press X" prompts to solve any pathfinding conundrum.
Really the hook of this game is good ol' Ginge, look at Ginge, you have a meow button, you jump on tables and knock things over, you lick yourself, sleep, just cat stuff that's well animated to really sell the cat sim experience. You also see pretty much the extent of this within the first hour so once the novelty of me clawing at a door like my own fat cat at 4am kinda wore off and I found myself a lot more into the robots.
This isn't to say I didn't enjoy my time with Stray, it's a solid 5 hours or so of perfectly okay antics, I did enjoy the first urban area's more roaming exploration (I felt that the cat traversing a dense and open environment like this one felt more fitting for the cat antics than the other linear segments). I just can't really hype up the by the book stealth and puzzle segments that add variety, they sure exist and are completely inoffensive, it's very much just there.
Effectively you're here for the experience, I can see why some really liked it and the mass appeal of GINGE means that this shouldn''t really be a mechanically dense endeavour, I just can't see myself ever revisiting it.
...except the OST, that I'll revisit
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Wozzer: "2017 challenge?"
Game #64 - Curse of the Dead Gods
Time: 50+ hours
Platform: Switch
Rating: ★★★★
This is a fantastic action roguelike that for the most part actually stands up there with Hades quality wise, but unfortunately a combination of way too much relliance on RNG compared to others like it, no meta upgrade system to help you "brute force" the game like most roguelikes have (it does have unlocks but nothing like health upgrades for example), and a HORRIBLE last boss that almost made me rage quit the game really drag it down. Still, even tho I sound negative, I loved the game, the majority of it is a blast to play until the final run (which is a combination of all the dungeons), theres tons of weapons with actually different gameplay between them, it looks and runs great, and I would still say it's a must play for fans of the genre, just be prepared for a ridiculous difficulty spike in the last level that really forces you to "git gud".
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01. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (Dreamcast) | Jan/02 - 10hrs | ★★★★★
02. Super Mario World (SNES) | Jan/02 - 5hrs | ★★★★★
03. Super Mario 64 (N64) | Jan/08 - 17hrs | ★★★★★
04. Unpacking (PC) | Jan/08 - 4hrs | ★★★★☆
05. Contra III: The Alien Wars (SNES) | Jan/15 - 3hrs | ★★★★☆
06. Panzer Dragoon II Zwei (Sega Saturn) | Jan/16 - 2hrs | ★★★★★
07. Rhythm Heaven Fever (Wii) | Jan/18 - 12hrs | ★★★★★
08. Banjo-Kazooie (XBO) | Jan/24 - 11hrs | ★★★★★
09. Cyber Shadow (XBO) | Jan/28 - 8hrs | ★★★☆☆
10. Destiny 2: Forsaken (PS4) | Jan/29 - 8hrs | ★★★★☆
11. The Medium (PC) | Feb/15 - 9hrs | ★★☆☆☆
12. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered (PS4) | Feb/16 - 35hrs | ★★★★★
13. Touhou Luna Nights (XBO) | Feb/18 - 6hrs | ★★★★☆
14. ARCADE GAME SERIES: Ms. PAC-MAN (PS4) | Feb/19 - 2hrs | ★★★★☆
15. Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Session! (PS4) | Mar/01 - 40hrs | ★★★★★
16. Persona 5 (PS4) | Mar/28 - 150hrs | ★★★★★
17. Xeodrifter (PS Vita) | Mar/30 - 2hrs | ★★★☆☆
18. Gorogoa (XBO) | Apr/06 - 1hr | ★★★☆☆
19. Need for Speed (PS4) | Apr/07 - 25hrs | ★★☆☆☆
20. Kero Blaster (PS4) | Apr/10 - 5hrs | ★★★★☆
21. Jak II (PS4) | Apr/17 - 15hrs | ★★☆☆☆
22. OFF (PC) | Apr/19 - 6hrs | ★★★★★
23. Celeste (PS4) | Apr/22 - 14hrs | ★★★★☆
24. The Artful Escape (Xbox) | Apr/23 - 3hrs | ★★☆☆☆
25. Flywrench (PS4) | Apr/27 - 2hrs | ★★★☆☆
26. Streets of Rage 4 (XBO) | Apr/28 - 3hrs | ★★★★☆
27. Save Room - Organization Puzzle (PC) | Apr/29 - 2hrs | ★★★☆☆
28. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (PS4) | May/13 - 6hrs | ★★★★☆
29. Never Alone (Kisima Inŋitchuŋa) (PS4) | May/15 - 3hrs | ★★★☆☆
30. Transistor (PS4) | May/22 - 16hrs | ★★★★★
31. Resident Evil (PS4) | Jun/05 - 16hrs | ★★★★☆
32. Mega Man 2 (Mega Man Legacy Collection) (PS4) | Jun/08 - 2hrs | ★★★★★
33. Mega Man 3 (Mega Man Legacy Collection) (PS4) | Jun/09 - 3hrs | ★★★★☆
34. Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition (PS4) | Jun/15 - 35hrs | ★★★★☆
35. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (PC) | Jun/18 - 3hrs | ★★★★☆
36. Umurangi Generation (PC) | Jun/19 - 3hrs | ★★★★☆
37. Tetris Effect (PS4) | Jun/21 - 20hrs | ★★★★★
38. Trek to Yomi (XBO) | Jun/23 - 3hrs | ★★☆☆☆
39. Asura's Wrath (XBO) | Jun/25 - 12hrs | ★★★★★
40. Disc Room (PC) | Jun/26 - 4hrs | ★★★★☆
41. Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Switch) | Jul/11 - 54hrs | ★★★★☆
42. Cuphead (PC) | Jul/22 - 7hrs | ★★★★★
43. Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course (PC) | Jul/22 - 4hrs | ★★★★★
44. Katamari Damacy REROLL (PC) | Jul/23 - 5hrs | ★★★★☆
45. Tunic (PC) | Jul/25 - 12hrs | ★★★1/2
46. WipEout 2048 (PS Vita) | Aug/10 - 15hrs | ★★★1/2
47. Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (PS4) | Aug/12 - 10hrs | ★★★★
48. Shovel Knight (PS Vita) | Aug/15 - 4hrs | ★★★★★
49. Strike Vector EX (PS4) | Aug/17 - 4hrs | ★★★1/2
50. The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match (PS4) | Aug/17 - 4hrs | ★★★★
51. Sky Force Anniversary (PS Vita) | Aug/19 - 7hrs | ★★1/2
52. Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) (PS Vita) | Aug/23 - 7hrs | ★★
53. One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 (PS Vita) | Sep/12 - 60hrs | ★★★1/2
54. Super Meat Boy (PS Vita) | Sep/12 - 10hrs | ★★★
02. Super Mario World (SNES) | Jan/02 - 5hrs | ★★★★★
03. Super Mario 64 (N64) | Jan/08 - 17hrs | ★★★★★
04. Unpacking (PC) | Jan/08 - 4hrs | ★★★★☆
05. Contra III: The Alien Wars (SNES) | Jan/15 - 3hrs | ★★★★☆
06. Panzer Dragoon II Zwei (Sega Saturn) | Jan/16 - 2hrs | ★★★★★
07. Rhythm Heaven Fever (Wii) | Jan/18 - 12hrs | ★★★★★
08. Banjo-Kazooie (XBO) | Jan/24 - 11hrs | ★★★★★
09. Cyber Shadow (XBO) | Jan/28 - 8hrs | ★★★☆☆
10. Destiny 2: Forsaken (PS4) | Jan/29 - 8hrs | ★★★★☆
11. The Medium (PC) | Feb/15 - 9hrs | ★★☆☆☆
12. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered (PS4) | Feb/16 - 35hrs | ★★★★★
13. Touhou Luna Nights (XBO) | Feb/18 - 6hrs | ★★★★☆
14. ARCADE GAME SERIES: Ms. PAC-MAN (PS4) | Feb/19 - 2hrs | ★★★★☆
15. Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Session! (PS4) | Mar/01 - 40hrs | ★★★★★
16. Persona 5 (PS4) | Mar/28 - 150hrs | ★★★★★
17. Xeodrifter (PS Vita) | Mar/30 - 2hrs | ★★★☆☆
18. Gorogoa (XBO) | Apr/06 - 1hr | ★★★☆☆
19. Need for Speed (PS4) | Apr/07 - 25hrs | ★★☆☆☆
20. Kero Blaster (PS4) | Apr/10 - 5hrs | ★★★★☆
21. Jak II (PS4) | Apr/17 - 15hrs | ★★☆☆☆
22. OFF (PC) | Apr/19 - 6hrs | ★★★★★
23. Celeste (PS4) | Apr/22 - 14hrs | ★★★★☆
24. The Artful Escape (Xbox) | Apr/23 - 3hrs | ★★☆☆☆
25. Flywrench (PS4) | Apr/27 - 2hrs | ★★★☆☆
26. Streets of Rage 4 (XBO) | Apr/28 - 3hrs | ★★★★☆
27. Save Room - Organization Puzzle (PC) | Apr/29 - 2hrs | ★★★☆☆
28. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (PS4) | May/13 - 6hrs | ★★★★☆
29. Never Alone (Kisima Inŋitchuŋa) (PS4) | May/15 - 3hrs | ★★★☆☆
30. Transistor (PS4) | May/22 - 16hrs | ★★★★★
31. Resident Evil (PS4) | Jun/05 - 16hrs | ★★★★☆
32. Mega Man 2 (Mega Man Legacy Collection) (PS4) | Jun/08 - 2hrs | ★★★★★
33. Mega Man 3 (Mega Man Legacy Collection) (PS4) | Jun/09 - 3hrs | ★★★★☆
34. Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition (PS4) | Jun/15 - 35hrs | ★★★★☆
35. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (PC) | Jun/18 - 3hrs | ★★★★☆
36. Umurangi Generation (PC) | Jun/19 - 3hrs | ★★★★☆
37. Tetris Effect (PS4) | Jun/21 - 20hrs | ★★★★★
38. Trek to Yomi (XBO) | Jun/23 - 3hrs | ★★☆☆☆
39. Asura's Wrath (XBO) | Jun/25 - 12hrs | ★★★★★
40. Disc Room (PC) | Jun/26 - 4hrs | ★★★★☆
41. Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Switch) | Jul/11 - 54hrs | ★★★★☆
42. Cuphead (PC) | Jul/22 - 7hrs | ★★★★★
43. Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course (PC) | Jul/22 - 4hrs | ★★★★★
44. Katamari Damacy REROLL (PC) | Jul/23 - 5hrs | ★★★★☆
45. Tunic (PC) | Jul/25 - 12hrs | ★★★1/2
46. WipEout 2048 (PS Vita) | Aug/10 - 15hrs | ★★★1/2
47. Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (PS4) | Aug/12 - 10hrs | ★★★★
48. Shovel Knight (PS Vita) | Aug/15 - 4hrs | ★★★★★
49. Strike Vector EX (PS4) | Aug/17 - 4hrs | ★★★1/2
50. The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match (PS4) | Aug/17 - 4hrs | ★★★★
51. Sky Force Anniversary (PS Vita) | Aug/19 - 7hrs | ★★1/2
52. Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) (PS Vita) | Aug/23 - 7hrs | ★★
53. One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 (PS Vita) | Sep/12 - 60hrs | ★★★1/2
54. Super Meat Boy (PS Vita) | Sep/12 - 10hrs | ★★★
52. Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) (PS Vita) | Aug/23 - 7hrs | ★★
Another mediocre Need for Speed from the past decade, hard to believe it was made by Criterion. Like the original from 2005, Most Wanted has an open world and the game is all about surpassing the 10 best street racers in town, but without any kind of story to create more context this time. This city is a bit boring to drive around though, even more so for a high-speed game like this. The visual presentation is great, but driving the car isn't as pleasant as I thought it would be. The game also has very limited customization options. Overall, a clunky and uninspired game.
53. One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 (PS Vita) | Sep/12 - 60hrs | ★★★1/2
It's hard to imagine that someday a game will live up to the greatness of the world of One Piece. But, as a musou, PW 3 is pretty decent. It has two main game modes: "Legend Log" which basically follows the original story of the series until the Dressrosa arc (with a different development, as the arc was not finished when the game was released), and a "Dreams Log" with more generic combat situations. Finishing Legend mode is a good experience, especially for remembering lots of great One Piece moments. Although most of the cutscenes are in a "visual novel" format utilizing the 3D characters models, I was positively surprised by the amount of dubbed dialogue, even in specific situations within a battle. The "Dream Log" mode is interesting for the situations that can be generated by exploring the various characters available, since Legend is played almost entirely with Luffy. But the grind to unlock everything is huge, which can make things a bit tedious. As the version I'm playing is portable, I'll probably come back every now and then to test out some specific character.
54. Super Meat Boy (PS Vita) | Sep/12 - 10hrs | ★★★
I have a lot of respect for Super Meat Boy's history on the indie games. But after dropping it a couple of years ago and now deciding to complete this time, it's hard for me to appreciate what he does in the final worlds in regards of challenge. I like the many secrets and extra stages scattered around the game, but as the stages get bigger and more complex everything generally feels worse, even the art in the later worlds is pretty uninteresting. After a few hundred deaths I managed to get past the final boss and was pretty satisfied, even though there was more content available after that.
39. Operation Wolf (Arcade) | 13 September - 1 hrs | 3/5
View: https://www.instagram.com/p/CicGy4NLfjP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
View: https://www.instagram.com/p/CicGy4NLfjP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Tanuki week is done.
26. Pocky & Rocky with Becky (2001, Wii U - GBA vc) ★☆☆☆☆
Very tedious top-down action game. Seven stages of recycled enemies, with the last two stages even dropping the minor maze elements in favour of straight corridors. Enemies respawn endlessly, so there's no point in playing skillfully when rushing and avoiding is actively rewarded. You have two moves and a special, but determining which move damages which enemy is left to trial and error. When it comes to bosses your choice is easier: only your shot is of much use against them. Melee doesn't swat away projectiles from bosses, and your special is disabled outright against them (so there's really no reward in saving it through a difficult stage).
The whole thing is mostly set to curiously low-energy music trying to evoke a traditional Japanese vibe, but sounding closer to 90s edutainment tunes. Even the dodgy translations aren't quite dodgy enough to earn a laugh. At least it's short.
27. Pocky & Rocky Reshrined (2022, Switch) ★★★★☆
Starts out as a remake of the SNES game, but soon deviates substantially. Reshrined is a lovingly crafted action game, with dense and detailed pixel art sprite work. If games never invented polygons this would be considered a graphical showcase. It plays excellently, with little slowdown even when the screen fills with bullets, and the expressive animations make new enemies a joy to encounter. It's not all great though: the storyline takes itself curiously seriously, with (too) long cut-scenes, and multiple(!) deus ex machina moments to undercut the slivers of tension it tries to invoke. There's also a rare miss with the level 6 boss fight, where the perspective makes attacks difficult to avoid. Lastly, it seems odd to lock the co-op mode behind a clear of the game on Normal. Not a big issue, but it means one co-op player will be more experienced than the other.
28. Tanuki Justice (2020, Switch) ★★☆☆☆
This isn't a bad game; in fact, I'd argue it achieves most of the goals it set out for itself, and shines in its level design. But as a big mark for retro run & guns with a mild PC-Engine vibe I came away disappointed. If this was a 1990 game, with its lack of auto-fire, memorisation-heavy stage design, and very slightly too short i-frames... I'd play it on the TG-16 Mini, crank up the turbo switch, and save state/rewind my way through the more annoying encounters.
However, as a retro throwback lacking in such luxuries you're left repeating encounters until you've either got them down, or have developed carpal tunnel syndrome. At least you can still pause the game, but daring to do so results in the game refusing to record your scores. This feels borderline contemptuous - I'm only pausing to give my thumbs a rest because there's no auto-fire, and the timer prevents me from idling in place. If the idea is to prevent people constantly pausing to see what's ahead... 1.) puzzle games solved that 30 years ago by blacking out the screen or hiding sprites when paused, and 2.) who cares when your game is already all about memorisation anyway?
This is a game you play on its terms, and those terms are strict to the point of it almost approaching rhythm game territory. You can't do things like blow up other enemies in the blast radius of explosions, or drop down ledges, or even progress sometimes without killing everyone - no pacifist runs allowed. A last nitpicky request, this game has decently tight controls, but what I really want is a way to combine locking my shot direction with a handbrake of sorts to stop movement dead when pressed. These sorts of annoyances wouldn't be deal-breakers by themselves, but they compound to make my primary memory of this game to be irritation, and it's extra frustrating since the solutions seem doable to implement (which I realise is easy to say as an outsider about a 1-man developed game).
26. Pocky & Rocky with Becky (2001, Wii U - GBA vc) ★☆☆☆☆
Very tedious top-down action game. Seven stages of recycled enemies, with the last two stages even dropping the minor maze elements in favour of straight corridors. Enemies respawn endlessly, so there's no point in playing skillfully when rushing and avoiding is actively rewarded. You have two moves and a special, but determining which move damages which enemy is left to trial and error. When it comes to bosses your choice is easier: only your shot is of much use against them. Melee doesn't swat away projectiles from bosses, and your special is disabled outright against them (so there's really no reward in saving it through a difficult stage).
The whole thing is mostly set to curiously low-energy music trying to evoke a traditional Japanese vibe, but sounding closer to 90s edutainment tunes. Even the dodgy translations aren't quite dodgy enough to earn a laugh. At least it's short.
27. Pocky & Rocky Reshrined (2022, Switch) ★★★★☆
Starts out as a remake of the SNES game, but soon deviates substantially. Reshrined is a lovingly crafted action game, with dense and detailed pixel art sprite work. If games never invented polygons this would be considered a graphical showcase. It plays excellently, with little slowdown even when the screen fills with bullets, and the expressive animations make new enemies a joy to encounter. It's not all great though: the storyline takes itself curiously seriously, with (too) long cut-scenes, and multiple(!) deus ex machina moments to undercut the slivers of tension it tries to invoke. There's also a rare miss with the level 6 boss fight, where the perspective makes attacks difficult to avoid. Lastly, it seems odd to lock the co-op mode behind a clear of the game on Normal. Not a big issue, but it means one co-op player will be more experienced than the other.
28. Tanuki Justice (2020, Switch) ★★☆☆☆
This isn't a bad game; in fact, I'd argue it achieves most of the goals it set out for itself, and shines in its level design. But as a big mark for retro run & guns with a mild PC-Engine vibe I came away disappointed. If this was a 1990 game, with its lack of auto-fire, memorisation-heavy stage design, and very slightly too short i-frames... I'd play it on the TG-16 Mini, crank up the turbo switch, and save state/rewind my way through the more annoying encounters.
However, as a retro throwback lacking in such luxuries you're left repeating encounters until you've either got them down, or have developed carpal tunnel syndrome. At least you can still pause the game, but daring to do so results in the game refusing to record your scores. This feels borderline contemptuous - I'm only pausing to give my thumbs a rest because there's no auto-fire, and the timer prevents me from idling in place. If the idea is to prevent people constantly pausing to see what's ahead... 1.) puzzle games solved that 30 years ago by blacking out the screen or hiding sprites when paused, and 2.) who cares when your game is already all about memorisation anyway?
This is a game you play on its terms, and those terms are strict to the point of it almost approaching rhythm game territory. You can't do things like blow up other enemies in the blast radius of explosions, or drop down ledges, or even progress sometimes without killing everyone - no pacifist runs allowed. A last nitpicky request, this game has decently tight controls, but what I really want is a way to combine locking my shot direction with a handbrake of sorts to stop movement dead when pressed. These sorts of annoyances wouldn't be deal-breakers by themselves, but they compound to make my primary memory of this game to be irritation, and it's extra frustrating since the solutions seem doable to implement (which I realise is easy to say as an outsider about a 1-man developed game).
Main Post
July update: 37/52
28. July 2nd | Mega Man (The Wily Wars) | Switch | 49m 30s | ☆☆(/5)
29. July 2nd | Mega Man 2 (The Wily Wars) | Switch | 55m 10s | ☆☆☆
30. July 3rd | Mega Man 3 (The Wily Wars) | Switch | 1h 4m | ☆☆☆½
31. July 3rd | Wily Tower (The Wily Wars) | Switch | 38m 51s | ☆☆☆½
Now here's a fairly interesting way to start the month. As a big Mega Man fan, I'm obviously familiar with The Wily Wars, a Sega Mega Drive/Genesis remake of Mega Man 1-3 with a short bonus game unlocked after you've beaten them all, and I have definitely emulated it in the past, but felt that the slowdown and overall tweaks to the gameplay just made for a pretty bad experience so I never really spent any meaningful time with it until now.
Starting out with the first Mega Man, I did not see any reason to change my opinion of the Wily Wars, because this is a pretty terrible remake. Mega Man 1 is not exactly some masterpiece of game design, but I personally enjoy it a lot and how weighty Mega Man feels in comparison to later games, and how you can completely break it open with very easily exploitable glitches. It's a fun, 30 minute adventure that I can just blast through if I just want a relaxing little experience.
The Wily Wars version of Mega Man removes a lot of these glitches, changes Mega Man's physics to match the ones in 2 and 3 better which ruins some of the rhythm when playing the stages designed around him feeling that particular way, making for a much worse time, and in some cases much more difficult than it should be, like the magnet beam room before Yellow Devil where Mega Man's movement is so sensitive that you're bound to just slip right off the beam in that tight space, wasting energy, climbing down to the previous screen to refill and then realizing that this game doesn't respawn any items after you've picked them up, making it so that you basically have to game over if you screw up at that point.
It also suffers from enemies and bosses invulnerability phases just lasting way too long, making a fight like the one with Cut Man just drag on forever if you don't have the Super Arm (which you're also pretty much bound to miss with since the arch of the throws have been tweaked by an absolute madman to just be as bad as possible), and without the use of glitches, some of these fights are just plain boring, especially the ones against Yellow Devil and Wily's final form that just drag on and on without really being all that challenging (though the change in Mega Man's weight does make some jumps against Yellow Devil a lot harder than they should be.) The game itself is just a bit too slow overall (though I think this Switch release fixes most of the slowdown?), but it doesn't really become a big issue until you're stuck in these fights where the bosses either take too little damage or spend too much time invulnerable.
Just avoid this version, honestly. It makes the fights against Fire Man and Copy Mega Man a lot more manageable, but is otherwise a downgrade in every single way. Looks and sounds okay, though.
Mega Man 2 is hard to mess up too bad, but they certainly tried here! It's not the failure that the MM1 remake is, probably because Mega Man 2 is pretty hard to screw up too bad, but it does feel noticeably worse. Once again, the lowered speed of the entire thing, and much longer invulnerability phases after taking damage drag the experience down, and the Genesisification of the soundtrack is a crime, and maybe it's just because I'm playing on the Switch instead of actual hardware, but the controls really don't feel as tight as they do in the NES original.
But that's basically it. Mega Man 2 remains Mega Man 2 despite the flaws in this version. Mega Man 1 really is the offender here, and despite the issues inherent to Wily Wars, I didn't have a bad time with this one. Flash Man is kind of a nightmare thanks to the invulnerability phase, though. The tables really turned on that fight, but on the other hand they fixed the enormous hit box on the Wily machine's attacks (though also made them harder to avoid, so pretty +-0 on that one)
Mega Man 3 is honestly a slight improvement on the original in my mind, which is sort of a shock after playing 1 and 2. I know a lot of people absolutely love 3 and think it's the best in the series, but I've always found it to be a very obviously rushed game, with severe slowdown way too often, a lot of hit boxes that are about as a big as the screen, and even without those issues also the Doc Robot Stages that just completely ruin the game's pacing. This remake does have that invulnerability phase issue, yes, it is a bit too slow, yes, and they did remove the weed theming of Top Man's stage, yes, but they also fixed the slowdown issues, and the absolutely giant hit boxes, making even the Doc Robot fights feel decent and not like you've suddenly lost a third of you're health by touching the air a few metres from him. Still don't love the stages and the pace killers that they are, but at least their boss fights feel a lot more fair. Do I prefer the look and sound of the NES version? Of course, but this honestly plays better for the most part, and is probably the one I'll play the next time I want to revisit Mega Man 3.
Wily Tower is an interesting one. The one game in this compilation that I had never played before, and it's honestly really good, though a bit too short. Just three stages and four Wily stages, with a very low difficulty thanks to you being able to mix and match a total of eight abilities from all the previous three games ahead of each stage, and, as it turns out, broken abilities from the previous games stay pretty broken here as well. Cool concept, though, and depending on which ones you pick, you might get to explore different parts of the levels that no matter which path you take have a nice length and maybe not the most exciting designs, but they get the job done and end on some really well designed bosses, plus one that I'm pretty sure is the only boss in the entire series with two health bars. Music, now that it's actually made exclusively for this console and not just rearranged, is also really good and, surprisingly enough, composed by Kinuyo Yamashita who I know best as the composer for the first Castlevania and not much else.
Wily Tower isn't some all-time great Mega Man experience and it does sort of feel more like ancient DLC (or an expansion pack, as we said back in the day) than its own game, but I'd say if you enjoy classic Mega Man and haven't played it before, it's certainly worth a try. I mean, it's certainly more fun than 4-6. Sort of wish the developers had gotten the opportunity to make a fully fledged, original Mega Man game, but it is what it is.
Soundtrack highlight:
Wily Stage 2 (Wily Tower)
32. July 11th | Resident Evil: Director's Cut | Playstation 5 | 2h 25m | Replay | ☆☆☆
You know, it does feel a bit weird that I keep coming back to this game. I really don't like the original Resident Evil all that much, but somehow I've beaten it at least once each of these three years that I've participated in this challenge and I now own it on Playstation 1, DS, and the PSOne Classic version that's now on PS 4 & 5. Weird, indeed.
I'm making it sound like I dislike the game. I really don't. still very much enjoy how easy it is to just pick up and play, and how simple it is in it is design fantastic but sparse map design that I can just do this almost 2,5 hour playthrough in one sitting and have a pretty good time almost the whole time. It's also very good at almost always very naturally pushing the player forward and giving out keys for some door you passed before and couldn't open, while also giving shortcuts so that the way back to it won't be too long (or too filled with zombies.) At the same time it also knows when to move you to a new setting – from mansion, to cabin, back to mansion, to cave, to lab – often enough as to not make any of them start to feel stale or boring. The mansion is obviously head and shoulders above the other areas in its design and puzzles, but I get that the developers couldn't match that very high quality, and it's not like the other areas are actively bad or anything. All of these very good decisions result in a game that I admire a lot, though it's hard to really recommend any of it over the remake that I find superior in almost every way. Not to say that this original game has become obsolete or anything, but if you want to play just one version of it, let it be the remake. Do experience this one's voice acting if you somehow haven't, however.
Why I'm not completely in love with this almost genius game has to do with several things. Some tiny annoyances here and there, of course, but the main issue I have with the original RE1 is how I feel like it sort of works against itself. It is a fun, well designed game with some iconic voice acting, but it's also a game designed around and incentivizing the player to play it as fast as possible, while also halting them in their way at every possible turn, with extremely slow loading animations not only for doors, but for some reason stairs as well. Even opening the menus feels just slow enough for it to be noticeable and it does start feeling a bit tedious fairly quick. Every single boss fight is also pretty bad, but it's mostly these pace killing interruptions that are constantly thrown at you. I get loading screens are a thing and sometimes there isn't anything to do about that, but considering how the screen transitions and pausing are much faster in the second game which also looks so much better than this one, I can't helt but feel that this could have been better. I still had a good time playing Normal mode with Jill (having played both DS's Rebirth Mode and the Director's Cut's arranged mode, this is by far the best way to play it in my mind, by the way), but it's also pretty clearly made by a team inexperienced with making this kind of game in 3D and it is sometimes to its detriment. Not putting an item box at the beginning of the caves is also such an annoying decision, and yet another reason to play the superior remake. I should probably complain about the battery puzzle right before that as well, but it's so hilariously inconvenient that I can't help but love it.
Now rerelease the dualshock edition with the terrible soundtrack, you cowards.
Soundtrack highlight:
More Rooms
33. July 21st | God of War (2018) | Playstation 5 | ~13h | Replay | ☆☆☆☆
My history with the God of War series is very short. I knew about all the games as they were released, but I didn't play one until I got the PS4 remaster of III in early 2018, a game I completely by mistake played on the hardest difficulty and because of that had a pseudo-miserable time more often than not, but still a fine game, albeit not really one that stuck with me all that much and I therefore still haven't played any games released before it.
I have, however, played what came after it, by which I mean the 2018 game and not Ascension. Pretty sure it was the last game I beat before I moved out of the apartment I spent three pretty pointless years in, and relocated to another part of the country, and I remember liking some parts, but also being really frustrated with others and feeling like the game really could have cut some story content for a smoother ride. Replaying it almost exactly three years later (of course in anticipation of Ragnarök), my feelings haven't exactly changed, but I think I can appreciate more facets of the experience. I still don't think it should have won Game of the Year over Red Dead 2, but who cares at this point. Who even cared back then.
God of War sort of feels like the safest game a Sony Studio has made in recent years. An already successful IP, taking on the very successful Sony template of third person, story driven action, and even sort of doing a Last of Us with Adult and kid traveling to a place and getting into serious trouble on the way. It's not reinventing the wheel in any way, is what I'm trying to say, but I also don't think it needs to since what it does, it still does so damn good. Now, I'm not a huge fan of some parts of the story and it's very clear that some parts got cut (like some decent character development for Atreus instead of him just having, like, an evil switch that is flipped on for a part of the game, and the suddenly flipped off), forcing some plot points feeling a bit sudden and forced, and the amount of troll fights is a disappointment when the game doesn't have much else in the way of actual boss fights. But otherwise it's a very fine experience.
Like, really, really competent. A nice journey with a flair for the cinematic, utilizing its almost one-take approach in a way that really puts you in Kratos' shoes and gives the whole thing a more intimate feel, which is fitting for such a personal story that, while Kratos and Atreus do experience some pretty grand things, is ultimately about spreading his wife's ashes from atop the highest mountain in the realms, and he doesn't really care much about those other things, enemies along the way sort of just being in the way and not really like he's fighting them out of some of that ancient rage of his, but simply because he wants to honor the one he loves. Not to say that he doesn't feel like old Kratos at times, but it's nice to see how he's changed over time and even though he can be a very strict father still clearly cares about his son. Like I said, it's not some groundbreaking storytelling at play here, but it's still mostly very good and the emotional beats to do hit most of the time since the game really does earn them, mainly through interactions between Kratos and Atreus throughout the whole game.
The action's pretty nice as well. At least when playing new game+ I felt like the enemies and especially the few bosses had a bit too much health in contrast to how easy they were to fight, but at the same time I never got enough of throwing the axe and calling it back to me, or just plowing through hordes of enemies with the Blades of chaos (really love how sad the sequence where he picks those up again is, by the way. Like a recovering alcoholic falling back into their addiction and being very well aware of it) so they definitely got the feel of it right. Feels like there probably could have been maybe one more weapon just to give a bit more variety to battles, but it's fine the way it is, and despite it being a God of War game, it's not like you have any longer fights all that often. Most of the game, at least it like that to me, is mostly wandering around absolutely beautiful environments (Freya's Garden being a real highlight) solving some minor puzzles that while simple at least have some variety to them, and listening to Mimir's stories while paddling around in a tiny boat, a surprisingly relaxing activity. Doesn't hurt that playing the game on PS5 let me experience it at max resolution and 60fps, instead of my base PS4 where it certainly wasn't that and my console constantly sounded like it was about to explode at any second.
There are some side activities as well, but since I focused completely on the main story (outside of a few Valkyries. Absolutely fantastic optional fights, by the way) and haven't touched any of that since May 2019, I can't really say anything about that. I'm sure it was okay. You know what's not really okay, though? Brok and Sindri. I don't know what SSM were thinking with putting these two comic relief characters in this very serious game and giving them such big roles, but it really doesn't work. Wouldn't say the RPG mechanics they bring along with them are all that interesting either, but they're at least pretty inoffensive while these two idiots really just feel like they've been teleported from another game to this one, and the results are not good. The other major characters are really well written and interesting too, so I have no idea what happened here.
Anyway – I wish I had a hot take here, but good game is, as it turns out, good. Great soundtrack by Bear McCreary!
Soundtrack highlight:
Valkyries
34. July 23rd | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations | Nintendo 3DS | 23h 40m | ☆☆☆☆
This took a while. Started playing Trials and Tribulations on January 19th, apparently, and roughly seven months later I finally beat it. Not because I didn't enjoy it, but for some reason other games have taken priority over it. Feel like that's often the case with portable games to me. Anyway, I have beaten Trials and Tribulations at last, closing out the trilogy after playing the first game in 2018 and loving it, the second game in 2019 and really not liking it to such an extent that I waited years to play this third one, which in hindsight was a big mistake considering how good most of Trials and Tribulations turned out to be.
Now, I don't really know how to talk about a visual novel-ish game like this since a big part of its charm is the story, and I don't want to reveal too much. There are obviously point & click elements to the investigation parts, but there's not really much to say about those other than that they exist and can sometimes be a bit tedious because of psychic locks that are back from the second game and certainly haven't been improved here. The trials are... well, they're also there, mechanically the same as the second game, but better thanks to the cases being a lot more interesting to me this time around. Like in previous games, parts of them are great and it feels very good to present the correct evidence at the right time, but it can also be really frustrating how extremely specific it can be with presenting at the right time, and often being well aware of what's going on a good while before Phoenix seems to grasp the situation. Fun gameplay mechanic to be sure, but I do sometimes wish it was more flexible.
Most of the cases are also pretty standard. Nothing particularly bad like Turnabout Big Top in the second game, but cases 2 & 3 are pretty unremarkable outside of some pretty fun premises. The second one especially has some pretty annoying sequences during the trial where it's just so farfetched what evidence you're supposed to present while Maya and Phoenix keeps saying "come on, this is so fucking easy. Just use THAT piece of evidence", and does get sort of frustrating after pulling my hair out for a while, not having a clue what the game is asking of me. Third one is sort of dumb in how it justifies punishing Phoenix for pressing a witness on most of their statements, but I guess they wanted to find a way to give the trial a kind of different flavor from the usual. Both of them, and most of the game really, are at least very funny, which isn't something I would say about 99% of games. First case is on its own about as good as other tutorials in the series, and the fourth one definitely stands out for its ending, but it's otherwise not that interesting and sort of weirdly placed in the story (especially considering how the setup for it is actually supposed to take place in the middle of the final case.)
What makes Trials and Tribulations so much better than its predecessor, Justice for All, and probably on par with the first game is almost entirely thanks to the final case, which just has everything I'd ever want from an Ace Attorney game. Fantastic case, with genuinely unexpected twists and turns everywhere (outside of the true identity of Godot, which is extremely obvious even before the case begins) where Phoenix is taken out of action a while, a corpse flies over a burning bridge at night, several people channel the spirit of what might be a murderer, and Maya Fey is yet again a murder suspect, but maybe also dead? Also a very long, but also very rewarding trial that is very long (not as long as the finale of the first game, but I doubt anything is), but never really drags and just keeps raising the stakes and introducing new, absolutely insane revelations about what's been going on. Finally, It also even manages to use the psyche lock in a clever and not at all gimmicky way that actually feels like it fits with the story and isn't just a new gameplay mechanic.
Previous cases in the game are pretty good (albeit with some annoying things here and there), especially the first and fourth which both tie into this one, but here is where it goes from a good game to a great one, even referencing the previous two games and ending on a note that sort of closed out the entire trilogy on a bittersweet, but positive note where I, despite not having played the previous games in years, actually got a bit emotional when being reminded of this entire journey and it now being over. There were obviously more games in the franchise made after this one, but this one really felt like it ended an arc, so to speak, of the Ace Attorney saga. Also, ending the trial on a fake-out where it seems like you've presented the wrong evidence for a second? Amazing moment.
Looking forward to playing Great Ace Attorney someday, and maybe the the three games following this Shu Takumi trilogy if they're ever re-released, but that's experiences for another day. Highly recommend Trials and Tribulations if you, like me, for some reason just stopped at the second game and need the extra push in the form of a recommendation from a random guy on the internet in order to play it.
I do wonder, however, why the Judge's brother is extremely Canadian when the judge himself very clearly isn't.
Soundtrack highlight:
Godot ~ The Fragrance of Dark Colored Coffee
35. July 27th | Ratchet & Clank 3 | Playstation 3 | 9h 43m | Replay | ☆☆☆½
The Ratchet & Clank journey slowly continues. I remember buying this when it was still fairly new, maybe 2005 or something, and while I did enjoy all three games quite a bit, this one was definitely my favorite. Playing it now, that's not particularly surprising since it's very much the most accessible of the games, and also with the most cohesive story and a great villain in the form of Doctor Nefarious.
By accessible, I basically mean the most streamlined. There aren't that many puzzles, most stages are very linear, and the difficulty is definitely lower than in the previous games. This is sort of both good and bad, because while it doesn't have as much variety in its gameplay, R&C3 instead focuses almost completely on the combat, and maybe because of that also has the best feeling contrrols and by far the most fun arsenal of weapons thus far. Sure, stages aren't the most interesting either design-wise or aesthetically, and platforming is now basically an afterthought in most worlds, but the action is so tightly paced and every weapon so impactful and actually useful throughout the entire game that I honestly didn't mind. Even the planets that are just combat missions where you just stand around, shooting at enemies in a very small area were a joy thanks to this, and I saw them mostly as an excuse to upgrade my weapons.
It's honestly sort of a zen experience despite all the chaos, where you can just sort of act without having to think after a while, simply reacting to the world around you and witnessing a multitude of explosions at basically all times. Once you get into the rhythm of it, you just let go, and it's a surprisingly relaxing experience once past that point. Sure, there are some challenging parts where you do have to be more alert, but most of it really is just an opportunity to do cool things with extremely smooth controls and just having a good, chill time. Sometimes you find serenity in the strangest places, I guess.
That's all very well and good, but there is something lost when the game lacks the variety of previous games. I'm not saying I wish for more of 2's Giant Clank segments, space battles or anything like that (though there actually is a Giant Clank segment in this game and it's a lot more tolerable than any of the ones in 2), but some of the charm is lost when you're almost exclusively shooting at things. Sure, gadgets are still a thing and there are a few Clank segments that are about as interesting as usual, but they've become a much more minor part of the experience by this point and while I'm a bit happy about that to be honest, them being missing also shows how much character they added to these games. Ratchet & Clank 3 is by far the most fun I've had with the series thus far, but it also feels the most generic. I barely remember any planets from this game, and the story, while being a lot better focused than in previous games, feels very saturday morning cartoon, and those were usually pretty bad and so is this one.
Like, I know these games are for children, but this is the first one where it feels almost exclusively made for a younger crowd (outside of the space president being a parody of Bill Clinton, which is just bizarre for a game released four years into the Bush administration) and the corporate satire has been almost completely lost. Not that it was amazing before, but it was at least very noticeably there and gave the games some bite to them. Just like the previous two games, this one also ends extremely suddenly, which is sort of a disappointment when the plot otherwise feels pretty well paced. All that's really left to remember is the combat, and while basically the best action gameplay on the PS2, is that really all that Ratchet & Clank should be? I personally don't think so, but I also feel like I would have complained about the more gimmicky mini-games if this had been more like 2, so maybe I'm the issue here.
But I still am very pleased, though. Like I said: this is the most fun I've had with the series and despite losing some of its unique flavor from past games, it's just a blast from beginning to end, and I wouldn't sacrifice any of that sweet, sweet gunplay to get some more gadget puzzles or horrible mini-games. This certainly isn't the most memorable game out there, it sometimes even feels like one of those many failed sixth generation platforming mascots in its narrative, stage design and art direction, but at the same time I can't think of many games released around that time that are even half as fun in their moment to moment gameplay as Ratchet & Clank 3 is, so it's hard to really complain about what's been served. Having not played the later games in about a decade (and not even having touched Into the Nexus), and barely remembering them, I'm a bit worried that they'll just be the same as this and I'll just grow more and more tired of this formula as I go along since it is, after all, pretty focused on one thing and one thing only for the vast majority of the game. Who knows, but for now, Ratchet & Clank 3 was a swell time from beginning to end and one that I certainly did not tire of before it ended.
Soundtrack highlight:
Aridia - X12 Outpost
36. July 28th | Pokémon Puzzle League | Nintendo Switch | 1h 10m | ☆☆☆½
Here is a strange one. I mean, Panel de Pon isn't that strange and neither is Pokémon, but the way in which it's done just baffles me. This was a real Nintendo 64 game developed by the equally as real Nintendo Software Technology, and you'd think a first party developed Panel de Pon game would look and feel like a proper Nintendo Game, even if it's been reskinned to look like Pokémon. I mean, Tetris Attack is a beautiful game and that was just a reskin for the western market, unlike Puzzle League which looks the same in every region. Expecting this game to at least look like someone spent any time on it really isn't that crazy.
And yet, this is one of the cheapest looking and sounding games I've played in my entire life. Like, these extremely flat, low resolution Jpegs of Pokémon Trainers ripped straight from someone's VHS cassettes from the anime, paired with the absolutely terrible MIDI covers based on music from the iconic CD Pokémon 2.B.A. Master. I am not exaggerating when I say this game has the aura of a 2001 Newgrounds Flash game that could maybe have gotten a daily 3rd place or something. It's so bizarre to me that this is somehow an actual, real Nintendo game, but that's exactly what it is.
And I sort of love it? Pokémon Puzzle Challenge with its beautiful pixel graphics and great remixes of the Gen 2 soundtrack is obviously the superior Pokémon/Panel de Pon hybrid, but I get immensely nostalgic just looking at these games and these extremely 90's anime character designs, that weird, westernized music and those voice clips that just repeat over and over again. It certainly doesn't feel like a labor of love, but now that over 20 years have gone by, it's become something of a time capsule of a very specific moment in time where Pokémon really was so huge that it could get away with something like this. I mean, people talk about Sword and Shield feeling like cash grabs, but Just. Take. A. Look. At. This!
There's some extreme confidence in the brand at play here, and I can't helt but admire it, but honestly, it mostly makes me think back to my own childhood in the early 2000's, where Pokémon very much did rule mine and my friend's lives for a good while, and I would emulate Red with my brother and fill our dad's work computer with viruses because we downloaded the ROM from some extremely suspect site (which I'm pretty sure basically every website housing ROM files were back then?) I'm not someone who hates adult life and wishes I could just go back to simpler days or anything like that, but it is nice to get flashbacks to these moments from Pokémon Puzzle League, thinking about those times and wondering a bit about what happened to some of the people I used to be so close friends when I was, like, 6 or 7 years old and then gradually lost contact with over the years for one reason or another. Hope life's treating them well whatever they're up to these days. It's rare that a video game affects me in this way, but the power of Pokémon and that first season of the anime cannot be underrestimated.
And yeah, it's just Panel de Pon so obviously it's a lot of fun. Its mechanics are hard to mess up, and despite not at all looking the part, this does play exactly as you'd expect a good PdP to do. A lot of different ways to play as well, though I only did the story mode and beat the game on Hard since I'm pretty sure you don't even get credits on the lower difficulties. I know you face Mewtwo as the real final opponent on higher difficulties, but I was content with just finishing at Champion Gary and getting that absolutely terrible ending screen (which I used as the picture for this game, by the way). Mainly because I'm too dumb to even beat the first opponent on Very Hard, but I'm fine with that. I had a good time either way.
Soundtrack highlight:
Sabrina's Theme
37. July 30th | Stray | Playstation 5 | 7h 25m | ☆☆☆½
I'm really not a cat person. I did live with one for a few months of my life about three years ago, but didn't particularly care for it. I don't hate them or anything, but I mostly enjoy them in moderation and not in my own home, so a short game starring one felt like the right amount of cat in my life. This obviously looked very charming ever since it was revealed at that first PS5 showcase a few years ago, and later showings only made it look even better, with its cool atmosphere and fantastic animations for its main protagonist. Later being revealed to be on PS Plus at launch certainly didn't hurt my interest in playing it either.
Here I am now, having actually played (and platinumed) it, and... it's good! It's not some masterpiece and maybe not exactly what I wanted, but it is a good time that mostly hinges on vibes and good atmosphere since neither the platforming, stealthing, or, uh, running away-ing is all that engaging. Platforming especially feels like it could have been better, and I feel like they could have gone with some Uncharted solution where you can jump at all times, but still have those automated jumps up to higher points by pressing X while at the right spot. It's not terrible as it is since you can still jump onto mostly everything, but it does feel a bit stiff and not exactly cat-like. The story honestly isn't that good either, and I'm not sure if it was intentional to make me not at all care about my little robot side-kicks journey or opening the sky or whatever to make me really feel like a cat, or whether it was just bad storytelling, but it really did absolutely nothing for me, being mostly just a reason to get to new locations.
But the vibes! The atmosphere! This is a game where I just wanted to soak in the environments, especially the first more open city area where I just walked around the streets and jumping around on the rooftops for a good while without really caring all that much about moving the plot along. I'm also a sucker for clearly hand crafted environments in games, so these areas with their fantastic designs, and also interiors with such carefully crafted decorating just makes me happy to see and be in. So many different apartments or shops to visit, all with completely different feel to them, and probably quite a few, but not just the same assets recycled every time. For being made up completely of robots, weird shadow creatures and a cat, it's fantastic how alive this world feels as you're playing through it. Sort of wish this game didn't have to have the story it did, and it was instead just wandering around a larger city as a cat instead, doing some minor side quests if you felt like it, but certainly not forcing you to really do anything. Just looking at things, taking in the environments and sometimes getting a taste of that sweet, sweet soundtrack that just sets the mood perfectly. I like what we did get quite a bit for the most part, and I guess it's to the game's credit that I want to spend more time within its world, but I just wish it could ditch the uninteresting story and very shallow stealth mechanics and have the courage to just be sort of aimless instead, and not really ending but just reaching a point where I was satisfied with the experience and would turn off the game since I had gotten my fill of this French made world based on a Chinese city.
That's obviously not what the game is, since it does have a very clear beginning, middle and an end-structure to it, and I'd say every act is at least some variation of good. The city segments are, obviously, my favorite parts of the game, but even the more linear stages are well crafted, and the puzzle-platforming within them is for the most part pretty fun, if not all that interesting since it's all pretty simple. Animations for the cat, the Stray if you will, are absolutely fantastic and really does make it feel like a pretty believable animal even when the story makes it unreasonably intelligent at times. Having a button purely for meowing was obviously also extremely smart of the developers to include, and letting that meow sound come out of the DualSense was even smarter.
So that's Stray, I guess. Not sure if I really said anything worthwile about it, but it was a good time when I played it back in July, anyway. Not the greatest gameplay out there, but full of little touches both in gameplay and world design that makes it hard not to enjoy quite a bit. It's certainly got a lot of heart, and sometimes that can take a game a pretty long way in my book, especially when all that heart results in such an interesting world (that's equally as warm as it is hostile) to explore as this one. Also, every game should have designated areas where it lets your player character just fall asleep in some spots while the camera pans out, letting you take in the beauty in the world during a calm moment.
Soundtrack highlight:
The Notebooks
Currently playing:
The Last of Us Part I (PS5)
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (PS5)
Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster (PC)
July update: 37/52
28. July 2nd | Mega Man (The Wily Wars) | Switch | 49m 30s | ☆☆(/5)
29. July 2nd | Mega Man 2 (The Wily Wars) | Switch | 55m 10s | ☆☆☆
30. July 3rd | Mega Man 3 (The Wily Wars) | Switch | 1h 4m | ☆☆☆½
31. July 3rd | Wily Tower (The Wily Wars) | Switch | 38m 51s | ☆☆☆½
Now here's a fairly interesting way to start the month. As a big Mega Man fan, I'm obviously familiar with The Wily Wars, a Sega Mega Drive/Genesis remake of Mega Man 1-3 with a short bonus game unlocked after you've beaten them all, and I have definitely emulated it in the past, but felt that the slowdown and overall tweaks to the gameplay just made for a pretty bad experience so I never really spent any meaningful time with it until now.
Starting out with the first Mega Man, I did not see any reason to change my opinion of the Wily Wars, because this is a pretty terrible remake. Mega Man 1 is not exactly some masterpiece of game design, but I personally enjoy it a lot and how weighty Mega Man feels in comparison to later games, and how you can completely break it open with very easily exploitable glitches. It's a fun, 30 minute adventure that I can just blast through if I just want a relaxing little experience.
The Wily Wars version of Mega Man removes a lot of these glitches, changes Mega Man's physics to match the ones in 2 and 3 better which ruins some of the rhythm when playing the stages designed around him feeling that particular way, making for a much worse time, and in some cases much more difficult than it should be, like the magnet beam room before Yellow Devil where Mega Man's movement is so sensitive that you're bound to just slip right off the beam in that tight space, wasting energy, climbing down to the previous screen to refill and then realizing that this game doesn't respawn any items after you've picked them up, making it so that you basically have to game over if you screw up at that point.
It also suffers from enemies and bosses invulnerability phases just lasting way too long, making a fight like the one with Cut Man just drag on forever if you don't have the Super Arm (which you're also pretty much bound to miss with since the arch of the throws have been tweaked by an absolute madman to just be as bad as possible), and without the use of glitches, some of these fights are just plain boring, especially the ones against Yellow Devil and Wily's final form that just drag on and on without really being all that challenging (though the change in Mega Man's weight does make some jumps against Yellow Devil a lot harder than they should be.) The game itself is just a bit too slow overall (though I think this Switch release fixes most of the slowdown?), but it doesn't really become a big issue until you're stuck in these fights where the bosses either take too little damage or spend too much time invulnerable.
Just avoid this version, honestly. It makes the fights against Fire Man and Copy Mega Man a lot more manageable, but is otherwise a downgrade in every single way. Looks and sounds okay, though.
Mega Man 2 is hard to mess up too bad, but they certainly tried here! It's not the failure that the MM1 remake is, probably because Mega Man 2 is pretty hard to screw up too bad, but it does feel noticeably worse. Once again, the lowered speed of the entire thing, and much longer invulnerability phases after taking damage drag the experience down, and the Genesisification of the soundtrack is a crime, and maybe it's just because I'm playing on the Switch instead of actual hardware, but the controls really don't feel as tight as they do in the NES original.
But that's basically it. Mega Man 2 remains Mega Man 2 despite the flaws in this version. Mega Man 1 really is the offender here, and despite the issues inherent to Wily Wars, I didn't have a bad time with this one. Flash Man is kind of a nightmare thanks to the invulnerability phase, though. The tables really turned on that fight, but on the other hand they fixed the enormous hit box on the Wily machine's attacks (though also made them harder to avoid, so pretty +-0 on that one)
Mega Man 3 is honestly a slight improvement on the original in my mind, which is sort of a shock after playing 1 and 2. I know a lot of people absolutely love 3 and think it's the best in the series, but I've always found it to be a very obviously rushed game, with severe slowdown way too often, a lot of hit boxes that are about as a big as the screen, and even without those issues also the Doc Robot Stages that just completely ruin the game's pacing. This remake does have that invulnerability phase issue, yes, it is a bit too slow, yes, and they did remove the weed theming of Top Man's stage, yes, but they also fixed the slowdown issues, and the absolutely giant hit boxes, making even the Doc Robot fights feel decent and not like you've suddenly lost a third of you're health by touching the air a few metres from him. Still don't love the stages and the pace killers that they are, but at least their boss fights feel a lot more fair. Do I prefer the look and sound of the NES version? Of course, but this honestly plays better for the most part, and is probably the one I'll play the next time I want to revisit Mega Man 3.
Wily Tower is an interesting one. The one game in this compilation that I had never played before, and it's honestly really good, though a bit too short. Just three stages and four Wily stages, with a very low difficulty thanks to you being able to mix and match a total of eight abilities from all the previous three games ahead of each stage, and, as it turns out, broken abilities from the previous games stay pretty broken here as well. Cool concept, though, and depending on which ones you pick, you might get to explore different parts of the levels that no matter which path you take have a nice length and maybe not the most exciting designs, but they get the job done and end on some really well designed bosses, plus one that I'm pretty sure is the only boss in the entire series with two health bars. Music, now that it's actually made exclusively for this console and not just rearranged, is also really good and, surprisingly enough, composed by Kinuyo Yamashita who I know best as the composer for the first Castlevania and not much else.
Wily Tower isn't some all-time great Mega Man experience and it does sort of feel more like ancient DLC (or an expansion pack, as we said back in the day) than its own game, but I'd say if you enjoy classic Mega Man and haven't played it before, it's certainly worth a try. I mean, it's certainly more fun than 4-6. Sort of wish the developers had gotten the opportunity to make a fully fledged, original Mega Man game, but it is what it is.
Soundtrack highlight:
Wily Stage 2 (Wily Tower)
32. July 11th | Resident Evil: Director's Cut | Playstation 5 | 2h 25m | Replay | ☆☆☆
You know, it does feel a bit weird that I keep coming back to this game. I really don't like the original Resident Evil all that much, but somehow I've beaten it at least once each of these three years that I've participated in this challenge and I now own it on Playstation 1, DS, and the PSOne Classic version that's now on PS 4 & 5. Weird, indeed.
I'm making it sound like I dislike the game. I really don't. still very much enjoy how easy it is to just pick up and play, and how simple it is in it is design fantastic but sparse map design that I can just do this almost 2,5 hour playthrough in one sitting and have a pretty good time almost the whole time. It's also very good at almost always very naturally pushing the player forward and giving out keys for some door you passed before and couldn't open, while also giving shortcuts so that the way back to it won't be too long (or too filled with zombies.) At the same time it also knows when to move you to a new setting – from mansion, to cabin, back to mansion, to cave, to lab – often enough as to not make any of them start to feel stale or boring. The mansion is obviously head and shoulders above the other areas in its design and puzzles, but I get that the developers couldn't match that very high quality, and it's not like the other areas are actively bad or anything. All of these very good decisions result in a game that I admire a lot, though it's hard to really recommend any of it over the remake that I find superior in almost every way. Not to say that this original game has become obsolete or anything, but if you want to play just one version of it, let it be the remake. Do experience this one's voice acting if you somehow haven't, however.
Why I'm not completely in love with this almost genius game has to do with several things. Some tiny annoyances here and there, of course, but the main issue I have with the original RE1 is how I feel like it sort of works against itself. It is a fun, well designed game with some iconic voice acting, but it's also a game designed around and incentivizing the player to play it as fast as possible, while also halting them in their way at every possible turn, with extremely slow loading animations not only for doors, but for some reason stairs as well. Even opening the menus feels just slow enough for it to be noticeable and it does start feeling a bit tedious fairly quick. Every single boss fight is also pretty bad, but it's mostly these pace killing interruptions that are constantly thrown at you. I get loading screens are a thing and sometimes there isn't anything to do about that, but considering how the screen transitions and pausing are much faster in the second game which also looks so much better than this one, I can't helt but feel that this could have been better. I still had a good time playing Normal mode with Jill (having played both DS's Rebirth Mode and the Director's Cut's arranged mode, this is by far the best way to play it in my mind, by the way), but it's also pretty clearly made by a team inexperienced with making this kind of game in 3D and it is sometimes to its detriment. Not putting an item box at the beginning of the caves is also such an annoying decision, and yet another reason to play the superior remake. I should probably complain about the battery puzzle right before that as well, but it's so hilariously inconvenient that I can't help but love it.
Now rerelease the dualshock edition with the terrible soundtrack, you cowards.
Soundtrack highlight:
More Rooms
33. July 21st | God of War (2018) | Playstation 5 | ~13h | Replay | ☆☆☆☆
My history with the God of War series is very short. I knew about all the games as they were released, but I didn't play one until I got the PS4 remaster of III in early 2018, a game I completely by mistake played on the hardest difficulty and because of that had a pseudo-miserable time more often than not, but still a fine game, albeit not really one that stuck with me all that much and I therefore still haven't played any games released before it.
I have, however, played what came after it, by which I mean the 2018 game and not Ascension. Pretty sure it was the last game I beat before I moved out of the apartment I spent three pretty pointless years in, and relocated to another part of the country, and I remember liking some parts, but also being really frustrated with others and feeling like the game really could have cut some story content for a smoother ride. Replaying it almost exactly three years later (of course in anticipation of Ragnarök), my feelings haven't exactly changed, but I think I can appreciate more facets of the experience. I still don't think it should have won Game of the Year over Red Dead 2, but who cares at this point. Who even cared back then.
God of War sort of feels like the safest game a Sony Studio has made in recent years. An already successful IP, taking on the very successful Sony template of third person, story driven action, and even sort of doing a Last of Us with Adult and kid traveling to a place and getting into serious trouble on the way. It's not reinventing the wheel in any way, is what I'm trying to say, but I also don't think it needs to since what it does, it still does so damn good. Now, I'm not a huge fan of some parts of the story and it's very clear that some parts got cut (like some decent character development for Atreus instead of him just having, like, an evil switch that is flipped on for a part of the game, and the suddenly flipped off), forcing some plot points feeling a bit sudden and forced, and the amount of troll fights is a disappointment when the game doesn't have much else in the way of actual boss fights. But otherwise it's a very fine experience.
Like, really, really competent. A nice journey with a flair for the cinematic, utilizing its almost one-take approach in a way that really puts you in Kratos' shoes and gives the whole thing a more intimate feel, which is fitting for such a personal story that, while Kratos and Atreus do experience some pretty grand things, is ultimately about spreading his wife's ashes from atop the highest mountain in the realms, and he doesn't really care much about those other things, enemies along the way sort of just being in the way and not really like he's fighting them out of some of that ancient rage of his, but simply because he wants to honor the one he loves. Not to say that he doesn't feel like old Kratos at times, but it's nice to see how he's changed over time and even though he can be a very strict father still clearly cares about his son. Like I said, it's not some groundbreaking storytelling at play here, but it's still mostly very good and the emotional beats to do hit most of the time since the game really does earn them, mainly through interactions between Kratos and Atreus throughout the whole game.
The action's pretty nice as well. At least when playing new game+ I felt like the enemies and especially the few bosses had a bit too much health in contrast to how easy they were to fight, but at the same time I never got enough of throwing the axe and calling it back to me, or just plowing through hordes of enemies with the Blades of chaos (really love how sad the sequence where he picks those up again is, by the way. Like a recovering alcoholic falling back into their addiction and being very well aware of it) so they definitely got the feel of it right. Feels like there probably could have been maybe one more weapon just to give a bit more variety to battles, but it's fine the way it is, and despite it being a God of War game, it's not like you have any longer fights all that often. Most of the game, at least it like that to me, is mostly wandering around absolutely beautiful environments (Freya's Garden being a real highlight) solving some minor puzzles that while simple at least have some variety to them, and listening to Mimir's stories while paddling around in a tiny boat, a surprisingly relaxing activity. Doesn't hurt that playing the game on PS5 let me experience it at max resolution and 60fps, instead of my base PS4 where it certainly wasn't that and my console constantly sounded like it was about to explode at any second.
There are some side activities as well, but since I focused completely on the main story (outside of a few Valkyries. Absolutely fantastic optional fights, by the way) and haven't touched any of that since May 2019, I can't really say anything about that. I'm sure it was okay. You know what's not really okay, though? Brok and Sindri. I don't know what SSM were thinking with putting these two comic relief characters in this very serious game and giving them such big roles, but it really doesn't work. Wouldn't say the RPG mechanics they bring along with them are all that interesting either, but they're at least pretty inoffensive while these two idiots really just feel like they've been teleported from another game to this one, and the results are not good. The other major characters are really well written and interesting too, so I have no idea what happened here.
Anyway – I wish I had a hot take here, but good game is, as it turns out, good. Great soundtrack by Bear McCreary!
Soundtrack highlight:
Valkyries
34. July 23rd | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations | Nintendo 3DS | 23h 40m | ☆☆☆☆
This took a while. Started playing Trials and Tribulations on January 19th, apparently, and roughly seven months later I finally beat it. Not because I didn't enjoy it, but for some reason other games have taken priority over it. Feel like that's often the case with portable games to me. Anyway, I have beaten Trials and Tribulations at last, closing out the trilogy after playing the first game in 2018 and loving it, the second game in 2019 and really not liking it to such an extent that I waited years to play this third one, which in hindsight was a big mistake considering how good most of Trials and Tribulations turned out to be.
Now, I don't really know how to talk about a visual novel-ish game like this since a big part of its charm is the story, and I don't want to reveal too much. There are obviously point & click elements to the investigation parts, but there's not really much to say about those other than that they exist and can sometimes be a bit tedious because of psychic locks that are back from the second game and certainly haven't been improved here. The trials are... well, they're also there, mechanically the same as the second game, but better thanks to the cases being a lot more interesting to me this time around. Like in previous games, parts of them are great and it feels very good to present the correct evidence at the right time, but it can also be really frustrating how extremely specific it can be with presenting at the right time, and often being well aware of what's going on a good while before Phoenix seems to grasp the situation. Fun gameplay mechanic to be sure, but I do sometimes wish it was more flexible.
Most of the cases are also pretty standard. Nothing particularly bad like Turnabout Big Top in the second game, but cases 2 & 3 are pretty unremarkable outside of some pretty fun premises. The second one especially has some pretty annoying sequences during the trial where it's just so farfetched what evidence you're supposed to present while Maya and Phoenix keeps saying "come on, this is so fucking easy. Just use THAT piece of evidence", and does get sort of frustrating after pulling my hair out for a while, not having a clue what the game is asking of me. Third one is sort of dumb in how it justifies punishing Phoenix for pressing a witness on most of their statements, but I guess they wanted to find a way to give the trial a kind of different flavor from the usual. Both of them, and most of the game really, are at least very funny, which isn't something I would say about 99% of games. First case is on its own about as good as other tutorials in the series, and the fourth one definitely stands out for its ending, but it's otherwise not that interesting and sort of weirdly placed in the story (especially considering how the setup for it is actually supposed to take place in the middle of the final case.)
What makes Trials and Tribulations so much better than its predecessor, Justice for All, and probably on par with the first game is almost entirely thanks to the final case, which just has everything I'd ever want from an Ace Attorney game. Fantastic case, with genuinely unexpected twists and turns everywhere (outside of the true identity of Godot, which is extremely obvious even before the case begins) where Phoenix is taken out of action a while, a corpse flies over a burning bridge at night, several people channel the spirit of what might be a murderer, and Maya Fey is yet again a murder suspect, but maybe also dead? Also a very long, but also very rewarding trial that is very long (not as long as the finale of the first game, but I doubt anything is), but never really drags and just keeps raising the stakes and introducing new, absolutely insane revelations about what's been going on. Finally, It also even manages to use the psyche lock in a clever and not at all gimmicky way that actually feels like it fits with the story and isn't just a new gameplay mechanic.
Previous cases in the game are pretty good (albeit with some annoying things here and there), especially the first and fourth which both tie into this one, but here is where it goes from a good game to a great one, even referencing the previous two games and ending on a note that sort of closed out the entire trilogy on a bittersweet, but positive note where I, despite not having played the previous games in years, actually got a bit emotional when being reminded of this entire journey and it now being over. There were obviously more games in the franchise made after this one, but this one really felt like it ended an arc, so to speak, of the Ace Attorney saga. Also, ending the trial on a fake-out where it seems like you've presented the wrong evidence for a second? Amazing moment.
Looking forward to playing Great Ace Attorney someday, and maybe the the three games following this Shu Takumi trilogy if they're ever re-released, but that's experiences for another day. Highly recommend Trials and Tribulations if you, like me, for some reason just stopped at the second game and need the extra push in the form of a recommendation from a random guy on the internet in order to play it.
I do wonder, however, why the Judge's brother is extremely Canadian when the judge himself very clearly isn't.
Soundtrack highlight:
Godot ~ The Fragrance of Dark Colored Coffee
35. July 27th | Ratchet & Clank 3 | Playstation 3 | 9h 43m | Replay | ☆☆☆½
The Ratchet & Clank journey slowly continues. I remember buying this when it was still fairly new, maybe 2005 or something, and while I did enjoy all three games quite a bit, this one was definitely my favorite. Playing it now, that's not particularly surprising since it's very much the most accessible of the games, and also with the most cohesive story and a great villain in the form of Doctor Nefarious.
By accessible, I basically mean the most streamlined. There aren't that many puzzles, most stages are very linear, and the difficulty is definitely lower than in the previous games. This is sort of both good and bad, because while it doesn't have as much variety in its gameplay, R&C3 instead focuses almost completely on the combat, and maybe because of that also has the best feeling contrrols and by far the most fun arsenal of weapons thus far. Sure, stages aren't the most interesting either design-wise or aesthetically, and platforming is now basically an afterthought in most worlds, but the action is so tightly paced and every weapon so impactful and actually useful throughout the entire game that I honestly didn't mind. Even the planets that are just combat missions where you just stand around, shooting at enemies in a very small area were a joy thanks to this, and I saw them mostly as an excuse to upgrade my weapons.
It's honestly sort of a zen experience despite all the chaos, where you can just sort of act without having to think after a while, simply reacting to the world around you and witnessing a multitude of explosions at basically all times. Once you get into the rhythm of it, you just let go, and it's a surprisingly relaxing experience once past that point. Sure, there are some challenging parts where you do have to be more alert, but most of it really is just an opportunity to do cool things with extremely smooth controls and just having a good, chill time. Sometimes you find serenity in the strangest places, I guess.
That's all very well and good, but there is something lost when the game lacks the variety of previous games. I'm not saying I wish for more of 2's Giant Clank segments, space battles or anything like that (though there actually is a Giant Clank segment in this game and it's a lot more tolerable than any of the ones in 2), but some of the charm is lost when you're almost exclusively shooting at things. Sure, gadgets are still a thing and there are a few Clank segments that are about as interesting as usual, but they've become a much more minor part of the experience by this point and while I'm a bit happy about that to be honest, them being missing also shows how much character they added to these games. Ratchet & Clank 3 is by far the most fun I've had with the series thus far, but it also feels the most generic. I barely remember any planets from this game, and the story, while being a lot better focused than in previous games, feels very saturday morning cartoon, and those were usually pretty bad and so is this one.
Like, I know these games are for children, but this is the first one where it feels almost exclusively made for a younger crowd (outside of the space president being a parody of Bill Clinton, which is just bizarre for a game released four years into the Bush administration) and the corporate satire has been almost completely lost. Not that it was amazing before, but it was at least very noticeably there and gave the games some bite to them. Just like the previous two games, this one also ends extremely suddenly, which is sort of a disappointment when the plot otherwise feels pretty well paced. All that's really left to remember is the combat, and while basically the best action gameplay on the PS2, is that really all that Ratchet & Clank should be? I personally don't think so, but I also feel like I would have complained about the more gimmicky mini-games if this had been more like 2, so maybe I'm the issue here.
But I still am very pleased, though. Like I said: this is the most fun I've had with the series and despite losing some of its unique flavor from past games, it's just a blast from beginning to end, and I wouldn't sacrifice any of that sweet, sweet gunplay to get some more gadget puzzles or horrible mini-games. This certainly isn't the most memorable game out there, it sometimes even feels like one of those many failed sixth generation platforming mascots in its narrative, stage design and art direction, but at the same time I can't think of many games released around that time that are even half as fun in their moment to moment gameplay as Ratchet & Clank 3 is, so it's hard to really complain about what's been served. Having not played the later games in about a decade (and not even having touched Into the Nexus), and barely remembering them, I'm a bit worried that they'll just be the same as this and I'll just grow more and more tired of this formula as I go along since it is, after all, pretty focused on one thing and one thing only for the vast majority of the game. Who knows, but for now, Ratchet & Clank 3 was a swell time from beginning to end and one that I certainly did not tire of before it ended.
Soundtrack highlight:
Aridia - X12 Outpost
36. July 28th | Pokémon Puzzle League | Nintendo Switch | 1h 10m | ☆☆☆½
Here is a strange one. I mean, Panel de Pon isn't that strange and neither is Pokémon, but the way in which it's done just baffles me. This was a real Nintendo 64 game developed by the equally as real Nintendo Software Technology, and you'd think a first party developed Panel de Pon game would look and feel like a proper Nintendo Game, even if it's been reskinned to look like Pokémon. I mean, Tetris Attack is a beautiful game and that was just a reskin for the western market, unlike Puzzle League which looks the same in every region. Expecting this game to at least look like someone spent any time on it really isn't that crazy.
And yet, this is one of the cheapest looking and sounding games I've played in my entire life. Like, these extremely flat, low resolution Jpegs of Pokémon Trainers ripped straight from someone's VHS cassettes from the anime, paired with the absolutely terrible MIDI covers based on music from the iconic CD Pokémon 2.B.A. Master. I am not exaggerating when I say this game has the aura of a 2001 Newgrounds Flash game that could maybe have gotten a daily 3rd place or something. It's so bizarre to me that this is somehow an actual, real Nintendo game, but that's exactly what it is.
And I sort of love it? Pokémon Puzzle Challenge with its beautiful pixel graphics and great remixes of the Gen 2 soundtrack is obviously the superior Pokémon/Panel de Pon hybrid, but I get immensely nostalgic just looking at these games and these extremely 90's anime character designs, that weird, westernized music and those voice clips that just repeat over and over again. It certainly doesn't feel like a labor of love, but now that over 20 years have gone by, it's become something of a time capsule of a very specific moment in time where Pokémon really was so huge that it could get away with something like this. I mean, people talk about Sword and Shield feeling like cash grabs, but Just. Take. A. Look. At. This!
There's some extreme confidence in the brand at play here, and I can't helt but admire it, but honestly, it mostly makes me think back to my own childhood in the early 2000's, where Pokémon very much did rule mine and my friend's lives for a good while, and I would emulate Red with my brother and fill our dad's work computer with viruses because we downloaded the ROM from some extremely suspect site (which I'm pretty sure basically every website housing ROM files were back then?) I'm not someone who hates adult life and wishes I could just go back to simpler days or anything like that, but it is nice to get flashbacks to these moments from Pokémon Puzzle League, thinking about those times and wondering a bit about what happened to some of the people I used to be so close friends when I was, like, 6 or 7 years old and then gradually lost contact with over the years for one reason or another. Hope life's treating them well whatever they're up to these days. It's rare that a video game affects me in this way, but the power of Pokémon and that first season of the anime cannot be underrestimated.
And yeah, it's just Panel de Pon so obviously it's a lot of fun. Its mechanics are hard to mess up, and despite not at all looking the part, this does play exactly as you'd expect a good PdP to do. A lot of different ways to play as well, though I only did the story mode and beat the game on Hard since I'm pretty sure you don't even get credits on the lower difficulties. I know you face Mewtwo as the real final opponent on higher difficulties, but I was content with just finishing at Champion Gary and getting that absolutely terrible ending screen (which I used as the picture for this game, by the way). Mainly because I'm too dumb to even beat the first opponent on Very Hard, but I'm fine with that. I had a good time either way.
Soundtrack highlight:
Sabrina's Theme
37. July 30th | Stray | Playstation 5 | 7h 25m | ☆☆☆½
I'm really not a cat person. I did live with one for a few months of my life about three years ago, but didn't particularly care for it. I don't hate them or anything, but I mostly enjoy them in moderation and not in my own home, so a short game starring one felt like the right amount of cat in my life. This obviously looked very charming ever since it was revealed at that first PS5 showcase a few years ago, and later showings only made it look even better, with its cool atmosphere and fantastic animations for its main protagonist. Later being revealed to be on PS Plus at launch certainly didn't hurt my interest in playing it either.
Here I am now, having actually played (and platinumed) it, and... it's good! It's not some masterpiece and maybe not exactly what I wanted, but it is a good time that mostly hinges on vibes and good atmosphere since neither the platforming, stealthing, or, uh, running away-ing is all that engaging. Platforming especially feels like it could have been better, and I feel like they could have gone with some Uncharted solution where you can jump at all times, but still have those automated jumps up to higher points by pressing X while at the right spot. It's not terrible as it is since you can still jump onto mostly everything, but it does feel a bit stiff and not exactly cat-like. The story honestly isn't that good either, and I'm not sure if it was intentional to make me not at all care about my little robot side-kicks journey or opening the sky or whatever to make me really feel like a cat, or whether it was just bad storytelling, but it really did absolutely nothing for me, being mostly just a reason to get to new locations.
But the vibes! The atmosphere! This is a game where I just wanted to soak in the environments, especially the first more open city area where I just walked around the streets and jumping around on the rooftops for a good while without really caring all that much about moving the plot along. I'm also a sucker for clearly hand crafted environments in games, so these areas with their fantastic designs, and also interiors with such carefully crafted decorating just makes me happy to see and be in. So many different apartments or shops to visit, all with completely different feel to them, and probably quite a few, but not just the same assets recycled every time. For being made up completely of robots, weird shadow creatures and a cat, it's fantastic how alive this world feels as you're playing through it. Sort of wish this game didn't have to have the story it did, and it was instead just wandering around a larger city as a cat instead, doing some minor side quests if you felt like it, but certainly not forcing you to really do anything. Just looking at things, taking in the environments and sometimes getting a taste of that sweet, sweet soundtrack that just sets the mood perfectly. I like what we did get quite a bit for the most part, and I guess it's to the game's credit that I want to spend more time within its world, but I just wish it could ditch the uninteresting story and very shallow stealth mechanics and have the courage to just be sort of aimless instead, and not really ending but just reaching a point where I was satisfied with the experience and would turn off the game since I had gotten my fill of this French made world based on a Chinese city.
That's obviously not what the game is, since it does have a very clear beginning, middle and an end-structure to it, and I'd say every act is at least some variation of good. The city segments are, obviously, my favorite parts of the game, but even the more linear stages are well crafted, and the puzzle-platforming within them is for the most part pretty fun, if not all that interesting since it's all pretty simple. Animations for the cat, the Stray if you will, are absolutely fantastic and really does make it feel like a pretty believable animal even when the story makes it unreasonably intelligent at times. Having a button purely for meowing was obviously also extremely smart of the developers to include, and letting that meow sound come out of the DualSense was even smarter.
So that's Stray, I guess. Not sure if I really said anything worthwile about it, but it was a good time when I played it back in July, anyway. Not the greatest gameplay out there, but full of little touches both in gameplay and world design that makes it hard not to enjoy quite a bit. It's certainly got a lot of heart, and sometimes that can take a game a pretty long way in my book, especially when all that heart results in such an interesting world (that's equally as warm as it is hostile) to explore as this one. Also, every game should have designated areas where it lets your player character just fall asleep in some spots while the camera pans out, letting you take in the beauty in the world during a calm moment.
Soundtrack highlight:
The Notebooks
Currently playing:
The Last of Us Part I (PS5)
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (PS5)
Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster (PC)
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34) Coffee Talk(100% completion) XB1 8/20-8/21
A recent Game Pass game appeared not too long ago in the 2020 Visual Novel game "Coffee Talk" and it was a game on my radar due to the acclaim & attention it was commanding. It was only a matter of when, not if, I would find a deal to grip me to give this game a chance...and it being free on Game Pass was the clincher. And man was it a clincher because I ended up 100% the entire game!
Coffee Talk is very reminiscent to a game I did not play yet in VALHALLA: Cyberpunk Bartending Action, only this game isn't about serving cocktails and alcoholic drinks but more so about serving tea & coffee over to your patrons instead. There's plenty where this game hits the spot on.
The lounge & cozy music feels like an absolute perfect ambiance to the chillness & laxness of Coffee Talk. A lot of perfectly fitted coffee lounge music. The writing that takes place in this game is pretty good. Admittedly, the beginning stories of each character do get a bit clique in some sense(Themes of Game Crunch, Interracial relationships, Online Dating etc. are discussed) but each character is oozing personality where you end up enjoying everyone's presence. No one truly outstays their welcome, and that includes your top customer Freya who is a writer who is looking for inspiration to overcome writer's block for her dream novel. The graphics feel like very retro and are totally fine for what this game is aiming to achieve in the couple of hours it has your undivided attention. It's a very digestible 6-7 hour game if your fully completing it and the game isn't a very hard 100% completion. Admittedly though, some of the trophies like 50 correct orders in Challenge Mode or trashing/discarding 25 drinks or staying in the Foam Art for 1 hour for a trophy/achievement seems silly and pretty unnecessary outside of maybe padding the game length but again this is for purely full completion. I admittedly used a spoiler free guide when it came to the story of the game but I imagine needing to get the orders done correctly for your regular customers might seem tough if you have little to no idea of what a certain drink is without trial & error.
The gameplay, however little of it, consists of you needing to follow directions and make a drink the exact way the patron/customer wants it. You will be running into about 8 different regular characters throughout your time with Coffee Talk and there's not too much punishment if you don't get their order correctly. It's a game led by it's story & writing over actually needing to get the correct orders or not which makes this game absolutely ideal for a chill evening game after work or something. Admittedly, it's a very linear story with no real branch paths to take but that's okay! I like how controlled of a story this game is and there you end up getting closure on every character's struggle and emotional pouring to you as the barista if anything. It's a simple formula but it does get you invested in the characters to the game's credit.
Very easy recommend of a game, it's a game that does not wear out it's welcome and even has a secret ending sort of put into NG+ where you can select a few parts of the story to revisit for exclusive dialogue that leads to more explanation of the crazy twist that this game has by the end. There are other modes to such as Challenge Mode that has you in a timer get the desired drink of your patrons out where trophies/achievements are attached to it.
This game has a sequel coming out within the next year or so, curious where this game goes because the formula is very simple and there are plenty of other ways this game can do meta-criticism towards with topics in and out of the gaming industry. However, the lead writer Mohammad Fahmi passed away a couple of months ago so there are fairly big shoes to fill in that regard. Game was worth the hype, had a nice time with it. Can't say any of the characters or stories will stick with me forever but the game does a bang up job in what it sets out to do.
35) Tinykin(XB1) 9/2-9/3
So far, my pleasant surprise of 2022. Feels like every year, courtesy of XBOX Game Pass, I just happen to stumble upon a little underdog sleeper of an Indie game. Last year was Dodgeball Academia, this year is the very similar(in art style) Tinykin. The fact that I beat this in 3 mere sittings and in 2 days shows you just how much I was into this game. Yes it does not run very long(7-8 hours if you are trying to go for as much completion as possible) but heck if the game isn't super chill & fun.
Think of this game like if Pikmin was an Indie title and was done on a much smaller scale, only with platforming that is similar to the vein of Psychonauts. That's basically what Tinykin is in a nutshell. Your archeologist protagonist has a serious case of curiosity about the purpose of human life and develops a machine to try and get answers about who and why we are the way we are. Accidentally, he gets casted off into a completely different world and he stumbles upon new creatures and a world filled with different bugs and has to collect set pieces that are scattered throughout each level in order to have the means to get back to his home. Along the way, he stumbles upon little companion helpers named 'Tinykin' that range anywhere from being explosives to being bridges to being helpers/carriers to be able to form a voltage line to connect outlets to being used to form a ladder of some sorts to get around to higher platforms. What this game does well is despite the mechanics seeming at first like they might be a bit complex, they are really eased in pretty well and very rare if at all did I ever feel like the task was just too much for me to grasp upon. The cutscenes that occurred after discovering each one was super cute and I enjoyed the mini cartoons that highlighted each Tinykin's ability.
Where this game shines quite a lot is that the stages were so large and robust that there was so much to do, you didn't even know where to start. You know the game does it's job well when you find a brand new spot previously undiscovered as your collecting pollen or artifacts and you just begin to stumble upon all sorts of new parts of the stage. The platforming is pretty standard though the jumping does take a little bit of time to get used to, this is one of those type of games where the more you progress, the better your character will be when it comes to jumping(You earn extra bubbles/floating which gives you more time to float around from different vantage points throughout a giant level). It took a little bit of time to get used to how quickly your character lands after a jump or double jump but nothing too off-putting. What I appreciate about Tinykin is this game goes above & beyond to reward you shortcuts so you aren't forced to re-navigate areas. You break parts of yarn and they can be used as a tight rope to navigate through back and forth. In addition, you are given a massively important soap bar/vehicle to quickly go places in a level which is massively convenient. This allows you to grind aforementioned tight ropes or to just traverse around at a much quicker rate. Game really does a good job in making this as painless of an experience possible when it comes to exploration, as it should.
My lone real gripe with this game would be not giving you the ability to track and find what exactly your missing in a level. There was a level that I checked far & wide to try and find 3 missing pollen(The collectible that can be used to get the extra aforementioned bubble which is important to navigate otherwise impossibly far areas of a level) but it would have been much more convenient to have even some sort of radar or detector to find out where the missing pollen is at. Can be rewarded for post game or for getting all of the artifacts, just something would have been grand and made me go all the way toward trying to 100% the game. Very nitpicky but that is about it as far as blemishes go. I guess game length, I feel an extra level or a different Tinykin power would have gone a long way, especially if your buying this game at full price($25 over here).
Just a really good game, definitely hit the spot at a time I was just looking for something to grip me. Highly recommended, especially if you have XBOX Game Pass which it is free on.
36) A Hat In Time(PS5) 8/25-8/28, 9/3-9/4
Heading into A Hat In Time, I should have loved this game. The platforming, the spunk/personality of the game, the collect-a-thon that this game was inspired by the likes of Banjo Kazooie, this should have worked. However, I simply liked A Hat In Time but didn't fall in love with it. To me, this game felt sort of like a budget game that lacked the polish and direction of say a Nintendo platformer. I think for an Indie company to accomplish what A Hat In Time represents, you give them the tip of the hat(pun intended). But in comparison to some other platformers ala Super Mario Odyssey that came out around the same time, the game just pales in comparison in regards to the aforementioned polish & direction. The open world exploration is always appreciated but certain levels lacked a real rhyme or rhythm, such as this open world wilderness level where there was little to no plot involvement in regards to the level. It was essentially just a platform-a-thon which is great(at least for me) but for a game that was oozing in charm and personality, this level stuck out a bit like a sore thumb. Fortunately, this was the only level that felt like this as the rest of the game is carried by that aforementioned bubbly personality. Game has tons of voice acting that fit and are cartoony but not insulting as well. This is what arguably sets A Hat in Time apart from the pack, this bubbly personality that the game has that really makes you feel like the 1990's again that I think some platformers nowadays lack.
It's a game that plays pretty well and has a fair level of difficulty. There were times I did die in the main campaign after feeling like it was borderline easy(as expected) in the early portion of the game. Game ran me a good 7-8 hours trying to get a vast majority of collectibles(In the forms of hourglasses that your main protagonist loses as apart of the story). This game gives you a lot in addition to the campaign with DLC that was tacked on for me in 'Death Wish' which are the admittedly very challenging optional missions or two different DLCs, one of which I tried and ended up not really getting into(I endured a glitch that forced me to leave the game, that ended up stopping from wanting to finish this DLC). I didn't buy the 2nd one but have heard nothing but good things about it so it's something I may end up revisiting down the road, especially if it goes on sale!
The platforming of A Hat in Time is pretty good, the gimmick behind this game is throughout Hat Girl's journey, you stumble upon different hats/powerups. This ranges from your standard top hat that allows you to see the objective or what to do next to an ice cap that allows you to bounce on lanchpads designed to take advantage of turning yourself into an ice statue to a bomb hat that allows you to charge up explosives to blow up boxes etc. to a scary fox hat that allows you to keep inanimate platforms in tact to traverse to hidden spots to a speed hat that allows for quicker movement throughout a world. To create these hats, Hat Girl has to collect yarn pieces which are scattered throughout each of the worlds and are in limited amount but ultimately serve purpose for being the material used to craft your necessary hats. As long as you are somewhat going out of your way to try and get these, you should be in good position to make the hats to progress with the story. In addition to this, there are different badges that you stumble upon throughout the story that (mostly) power you up with a different trait and make you pick what to equip to help progress further. This can range from turning your speed hat into a motorbike or allowing you to cleanly cling onto walls rather than bounce off them and potentially fall to peril to all sorts of other different relics.
Much like with Banjo Kazooie, A Hat in Time locks further progress of the story behind collecting Hourglasses that were purged from your ship in the story's plot with the 7 different worlds all having them scattered throughout. The way to collect them are all mission stuctured and you can only collect one at a time before having to re-enter the world or seeing the world expand to allow you to get the next hourglass on the map(Think of it sorta like Super Mario 64). Alongside this are hidden areas in both the HUB world as well as the worlds themselves that are basically tight platforming 101, which arguably were some of the best parts of this game. Each of these hidden bonus level with the secret hourglasses are found via warpholes that are created either due to progress of the story or making exhibits/models in the HUB world consisting of items you find throughout your journey in each world. It's usually pretty hidden when trying to find these warpholes so admittedly for 1 or 2 of them, I did need a bit of a Youtube video on where to go to find them!
Overall, I liked A Hat In Time but I wanted to love it. This game is considered a real cult classic so plenty of people have fallen in love with the humor, charm, presentation and solid platforming that this game offers...and it's easy to see why. But the lack of polish on certain parts of the game reared it's ugly head for me in addition to the checkpoint system being somewhat rough, pulled out of something from the N64/PS1/PS2 days despite the game only being a few years old. Different strokes for different folks admittedly but it stunk dying in a bonus level, only to have to restart from the beginning with all collectibles lost. But there is so much more to like with this game versus what I didn't care for so I would say it is a easy recommend to all 3D platform fans for sure. The question isn't will you like A Hat in Time but more so where does it fall in comparison to some of the other well-heralded 3D platformers and that is most certainly up for discussion.
37) The Artful Escape(XSX) 9/10, 9/13-9/14
What is the best way to describe The Artful Escape? A 4th of July Fireworks show. By this I mean, a real spectacle and ultra pretty show full of sparkle, color and eye-catching visuals. But it comes.....and it goes and it's over. No real staying power for me, it came for the 4 or so hours it was here and that was it.
There are certain things to like about this game. The voice acting was good for what is practically an Indie budget game with such names like Carl "Apollo Creed" Weathers, Michael "Teen Wolf" Johnston among other names all putting solid enough performances. The art is by far the biggest takeaway of this game, the designs that are all over this game are extremely impressive, admittedly so. Especially on a current generation console such as the XBOX Series X. So much thought was put into this part of the game with just breathtaking visuals galore happening left and right, everywhere you are playing this game. The light shows, the fireworks in the background, there is just so much happening throughout your journey that you can't help but be blown away with what you are playing. The game takes you on such a bizarre and far out journey that it really feels like one of those ether Tim Schaffer/Double Fine or funky 1960's/1970's/1980's music movies(Think Yellow Submarine) and credit to The Artful Escape in capturing that feeling. There's no doubt in the couple of hours that you are playing this game that you will be blown away from a visual standpoint.
But there are most definitely some blemishes that exist within The Artful Escape. For one, the formulaic gameplay within the game. Take it from me as someone who really enjoys his visual novels every now and then that I don't need to play games dominated & carried by action and grippling gameplay, far from it in fact. But the issue with The Artful Escape is that everything was too similar. For a game so imaginative as this game was from a visual perspective, the gameplay lacked this said innovation where it got way too vanilla for my liking. The game is basically Simon Says patterns+ moving left and right on a map while interacting with NPCs+ platforming while running down slopes, needing to make simple jumps over gaps(Which the game is good with it's checkpoints if you happen to fail on of these). That's it, for 4-5 hours. There was a new mechanic introduced relatively late in the game that lasts for 1-2 minutes before never appearing again but this is the majority of the game. Again, it's important to note that I don't need heavy gameplay to like a said game but I gotta have something better than this.
The other knock on The Artful Escape isn't the game length, which if anything makes the game far more digestible. However, my 2nd big knock happens to be the lack of significance of NPCs in this game or just characters in general outside of maybe the main 4 characters. It feels like you interact with an NPC early in the game, only to never see them again until ether the very end or never at all. The conversations mean little to nothing with what your having and this was a reoccurring theme throughout the game. Even the big creatures you meet during your journey come and go like the wind, they have little to no real meaning outside of allowing a vent/dialogue for your main character to find himself as an artist/person.
Segwaying to the story, without saying too much, you play the nephew of a well-famed folk musician and are expected to walk in his shadow and be what he once was after passing away. Even though the nephew/Francis Vendetti wants to do this, he at the same time wants to etch out his own legacy which ends up taking him onto a journey that makes him question what he wants to do from a music and personality standpoint. It's semi meta-criticism in the sense of wanting to push the boundaries as an artist and not settle towards being another cookie cut musician but it never gets too pretentious or obnoxious about this point of emphasis, which is appreciated. Along the way of this psychedelic trip(And I really hammer on home, this is a psychedelic trip of epic proportions), your protagonist Francis meets all kinds of people such as the "lead act"/leader of this galactic spaceship in "Lightman" who is a rock & roll legend across the galaxy, and a light show wunderkind who is snarky but means well in Violetta along with a tons of other characters. These characters are fleshed out rather well unlike the tons of NPCs you run into the game and arguably carry the plot to some form of enjoyability. I get where The Artful Escape was going but I think the fact that it is short sort of means the interactions you have with these creatures/NPCs in the journey end up staying for the little bit that it does before getting pushed back in the void, with no real recollection of what you just endured.
I admittedly went into The Artful Escape with a fair amount of curiosity as the premise looked interesting and the fact that it was leaving Game Pass in Mid September 2022 made me have the game cut the proverbial line of my backlog so I am glad in that regard. I just wish the gameplay and some of the pacing/storytelling could have fared out a little better to really make this game stick out to me because otherwise....yeah it's a total looker but that's about it. Maybe there was more meaning for artists/musicians than there is for people who aren't but I felt I could never get immersed into this game. The game tries hard to do what it does but it is a total hit or miss for me. It's worth a play, especially since it isn't a long game but how much you take out of it really comes down to you.
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Game 14: Pokemon Black 2 (DS) (15 Hours and 30 Minutes) (3/5) (September 14th, 2022)
What a wild surprise, after playing a few of the traditional Pokemon games last year I definitely thought to myself "Maybe traditional Pokemon isn't for me" but after jumping into one of the few Pokemon's I hadn't played I realised that it's less to do with the potential of these games and more the quality of what Pokemon put out.
Really I didn't like Black, Platinum and Heart Gold as much as I used to for pretty similar reasons; story, pacing, random encounters and a whole lot of other reasons and Black 2 is a lot of the same. The story is much more focused and much better paced than in previous games, there's a big part of story dump regarding the villains mid game (which kind of sucks) but the game lets you just play Pokemon until you beat all the gyms and it wraps up it's story it's trying to tell in a nice little bow. It's quick, doesn't try and do too much and wraps up without overstaying it's welcome.
The gameplay is well, Pokemon. Slow paced battles with strategy regarding typing with random encounters and trainer battles along the way. That being said, wow did they fuck up trainer battles here. It's not the battles themselves that suck but it feels like the amount of trainers you see is a LOT in comparison to other games and especially towards the end, I found myself skipping more trainers than I usually do but you'd get the occasional area where you have to fight like 10 of the same bad guy team and it ultimately slows down what is one of the highlights in this game. Also, Pokemon trainers starting rotation battles and triple battles with little to no warning is so annoying, especially when it's in the back end of a dungeon where you just want to get out and go to the next town
The variety of Pokemon is actually pretty good considering it's a direct sequel to Black and White, they sprinkled in enough older Pokemon to jazz it up and the new areas in the game are all highlights, seriously great job to make some of these areas previously visited interesting again. The scale of the game is also a real highlight, with one highlight in particular being the 7th gym which, while creating a lot of lag because the DS wasn't really built to handle it, they did a really good job at making a BIG room in a Pokemon game. The cutscenes are also great, when can you say that in a Pokemon game?
Overall, pretty fun and maybe the best traditional Pokemon overall, but brought down by the gameplay loop being brought down by a huge amount of unavoidable trainer battles.
Probably not on track to finish the challenge, but aiming for 26 games total before the year is done, halfway there at least
Original Post
18. Halo Infinite - 5/10
My first Halo game didn't really leave a strong impression. The campaign throws you in the deep end, expecting you to know who Cortana is, what her relationship with Master Chief is en what the Banished are. After a while you can put things together from context but it still remained confusing. The story made little sense to me and the banter between the characters was just terrible.
Story aside I did enjoy the gameplay in the campaign. Grappling and punching enemies was a lot of fun and there are some cool weapons too. The level design sadly wasn't particularly inspired. The open world is equally bland and presents you with some of the worst open world design has to offer. Chasing collectibles without too much context. Taking over enemy camps and collecting audio logs feels more like a way to pad out the game. Traversal is pretty fun and hijacking planes and cars definitely made navigating the open world a less dreary experience.
1. The Forgotten City (XSX) | 3rd Jan - 8 hrs | 8
2. Psychonauts 2 (XSX) | 8th Jan - 15 hrs | 7
3. The Gunk (XSX) | 9th Jan - 5 hrs | 6
4. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (XSX) | 13th Jan - 8 hrs | 8
5. Expeditions: Rome (PC) | 29th Jan - 70 hrs | 8
6. Dying Light 2 (PC) | 17th Feb - 60 hrs | 8
7. Death's Door (XSX) | 30th Mar - 10 hrs | 7
8. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade (PS5) | 10th April - 30 hrs | 3
9. Immortals Fenyx Rising (PS5) | 27th April - 40 hrs | 6
10. Ghost of Tsushima (PS5) | 4th May - 50 hrs | 6
11. Chinatown Detective Agency (PC) | 1st June - 10 hrs | 5
12. Lost in Random (XSX) | 18th June - 20 hrs | 9
13. Until Dawn (PS5) | 13th July - 8 hrs | 8
14. Nightmare of Decay (PC) | 15th Aug - 3 hrs | 7
15. As Dusk Falls (XSX) | 19th Aug - 6 hrs | 8
16. Lost in Play (Switch) | 3th Sep - 6 hrs | 8
17. Tinykin (PC) | 10th Sep - 8 hrs | 7
18. Halo Infinite (PC) | 18th Sep - 15 hrs | 5
2. Psychonauts 2 (XSX) | 8th Jan - 15 hrs | 7
3. The Gunk (XSX) | 9th Jan - 5 hrs | 6
4. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (XSX) | 13th Jan - 8 hrs | 8
5. Expeditions: Rome (PC) | 29th Jan - 70 hrs | 8
6. Dying Light 2 (PC) | 17th Feb - 60 hrs | 8
7. Death's Door (XSX) | 30th Mar - 10 hrs | 7
8. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade (PS5) | 10th April - 30 hrs | 3
9. Immortals Fenyx Rising (PS5) | 27th April - 40 hrs | 6
10. Ghost of Tsushima (PS5) | 4th May - 50 hrs | 6
11. Chinatown Detective Agency (PC) | 1st June - 10 hrs | 5
12. Lost in Random (XSX) | 18th June - 20 hrs | 9
13. Until Dawn (PS5) | 13th July - 8 hrs | 8
14. Nightmare of Decay (PC) | 15th Aug - 3 hrs | 7
15. As Dusk Falls (XSX) | 19th Aug - 6 hrs | 8
16. Lost in Play (Switch) | 3th Sep - 6 hrs | 8
17. Tinykin (PC) | 10th Sep - 8 hrs | 7
18. Halo Infinite (PC) | 18th Sep - 15 hrs | 5
40. Metroid Fusion (GBA) | 18 September - 4 hrs | 4/5
View: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cipa5WkIDLf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
View: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cipa5WkIDLf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
41. Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter (Arcade) | 19 September - 4 hrs | 4/5
View: https://youtu.be/kH8CLsklgO0
View: https://youtu.be/kH8CLsklgO0
Game #65 - Shinsekai Into the Depths
Time: 10 hours
Platform: Switch
Rating: ★★★★
another metroidvania, but a very unique one as you play as a deep diver and the whole game (well, for the most part) is underwater, so the gameplay is very floaty (no pun intended) and slow, and it's hoenstly a bit hard to get used to. Once you do, and get over the physics-y jankiness of it, you'll find a very original take on the genre, with a big focus on exploration over combat. I really enjoyed it, as the uniqueness of it is a big strength in a genre that, let's face it, is super overcrowded these days, it's the right length for what it's going, it looks pretty good at times and there's still a lot of items and upgrading to do for fans of the genre. If you love metroidvanias and are looking for something a bit different than usual, give it a go, but it might not be for everyone.
Main Post
10. 22/09/2022 - super mario 3d world + bowser`s fury - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - switch - 12 hours
it was such a relaxing and fun experience. i love mario.
main post.
it was such a relaxing and fun experience. i love mario.
main post.
42. XMEN vs Street Fighter (Arcade) | 22 September - 1 hrs | 3/5
Never actually completed this game before.
This was actually released the year before Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter and it shows because it doesn't feel as nice to play and Apocalypse is a push over. No Cyber Akuma and the final battle feels very out of place.
That intro though will forever be one of the greatest of all time!
View: https://youtu.be/4h217KiOJfw
Never actually completed this game before.
This was actually released the year before Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter and it shows because it doesn't feel as nice to play and Apocalypse is a push over. No Cyber Akuma and the final battle feels very out of place.
That intro though will forever be one of the greatest of all time!
View: https://youtu.be/4h217KiOJfw
62. Splatoon 3 (19/9/22) ★★★★
I honestly wasn't expecting too much from Splatoon 3.
Splatoon 2 was a sequel that i managed to enjoy, while being pretty disappointed at the same time.
Now I'm not of the mindset that it was a 1.5 sequel, iterative yes, but there was enough added to earn that 2.
Unfortunately S2 has a habit of getting in its own way, aspects I forgave the original for because it was their first swing at an online shooter, cropped back up in 2 and at this point it was harder to handwave.
From locking away it's main new multiplayer mode behind specific time windows, maintaining the unskippable idol intros, still not putting friends into the same online teams in turf war, connection woes etc.
So funny thing about S3 is, if you called it Splatoon 2.5, I'd actually be inclined to agree somewhat, yet that .5, that point five, are mostly the tweaks that would've salvaged Splatoon 2 for me.
Outside of connection woes (insert Nintendo online jab here), those above S2 gripes are pretty much fixed.
Then there's a bevy of other small tweaks under the hood, improved gyro, giving weapon purchases their own currency so you don't go bankrupt between fighting and fashion, a campaign structure that feels a bit more sure of itself and less of a S1 redux.
S3 definitely benefits from the complete S2 package, this time the game has come out the gate feeling like it has a good amount of content to begin with, even if a lot of that like the weapon variety owes a lot to S2's dripfeed (mah undercover brella!), it has me looking forward to what they'dd add in future updates.
they even threw in a new side mode, the somewhat understated in pre release table turf battle, that takes the premise of the game's central turf war and adapts it to a turn based deck builder card game, turns out this works pretty well.
Splatoon 3 has had me bouncing between turf war, salmon run, table turf, the campaign and the ranked competitive modes for hours on end, an addictive loop that reminded me why I enjoyed the original game on the WiiU.
It's of course not without problems, connection woes must be reiterated because any other online focused game with this many issues (albeit still less than 2) would be (or are) ripped apart. The spectre of latency fuckery looms as you get splatted after you went behind a wall or apparently by the ink pile of the very person you just splatted yourself. Uneven matchmaking that threw anyone importing their Splatoon 2 data into the same ranked bracket (feed my B rank self to the S and X rank wolves why don'tcha?), still only having two maps per mode in the two hour rotation where the 50/50 odds keep slamming you on just one of the two maps over and over.
There's also the feeling that the single player could be more at this point, the same enemies for three games now, and general level design concepts that are like a psuedo crash course in all weapons/sepcials in prep for multiplayer, it's anything but fresh, even with the general structure drawing from the last game's DLC to its benefit.
The game even opens with an intentional jab at doing the same thing for single player as 1 and 2, it then goes "haha, just kidding...but also not really because here's more of the same mario galaxy lite level design anyway just in a new style of hub". At this juncture I think Splatoon should consider looking more towards mario sunshine than galaxy for its campaign, a sense of actual place and more expansive levels interwoven with obstacle courses, ehh maybe for the DLC if I'm lucky.
On the whole though, this was a threequel worth doing instead of just adding to 2, it's given the ground for a new start that as a lapsed splatoon player, I needed, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the game evolves from here.
63. (replay) Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (20/9/22) ★★★
If I'm harsh on Crash 4, it's because I care, sort of
CB4 is so close to getting it right, the game is clearly made by a team that cared a lot about the franchise, and went out with the goal to create THE Crash Bandicoot game.
Now I only consider the original trilogy to be a batch of perfectly okay platformers, all hovering around the same level of quality, so I always expected that Crash 4 would be an easy win for me to be the new best Crash game, and in many ways it is.
It also unfortunately flew too close to the sun, probably because it thought it was another collectable to add to its percentage criteria.
My thoughts on this game haven't really changed much from the original release, it's a strong yet safe/familiar take on the series after years of mediocre entries buried the franchise. This PS5 upgrade basically just gave me some appreciated faster loading, otherwise it felt pretty much the same to me as it did on PS4, which says a lot for how spiffy that version looked to begin with.
My feeling with Crash 4 is that it goes extra to its detriment more than its benefit, discussion of this title often revolves around its completion criteria, much like classic DKC, classic Crash's secret sauce is how it blends full completion (break all the crates/find the gems) into its level structure that shakes up some otherwise standard jump n run stages.
Crash 4 goes absolutely N'sane (hoho) on this front, it throws far too many crates into every stage, full of one shot only crates, off screen crates, actively obscured from vision by scenery crates, bonus rooms that rapidly become trial and error "puzzles" to figure out how you can actually get the crates and leave alive (why the hollow outlined crates don't tell you what they'll turn into upon being activated, I have no idea, that alone would alleviate a lot of the die and retry issues).
It's completely overboard as every stage will have you stopping standard level progression to make sure to carefully bounce out every possible wumpa fruit from multibounce crates in all sorts of slight variations multiple times (and do it again if you die of course), work around gotcha traps like a batch of 10 crates than hides a TNT one behind and under the rest so you get killed for just spinning into the lot, twiddle fingers waiting for the fire spewing crates to stop doing their thing etc...
If the old games used crates to compliment their level design, this one uses them to smother it, it starts falling into that Yoshi's Island esque "avoid everything and the stage feels a bit hollow, aim to collect everything and the game starts feeling a bit dickish", especially factoring in the length of the stages and how much the pace can slow trying to eke out every wumpa for those gem thresholds.
Level design is otherwise pretty solid, albeit rather repetitive, Crash is still rocking the corridor level design and I find that's fairly limiting in the 3D space,, there's not much here that hasn't been done before by the PS1 games.
It's kind of like a Crash greatest hits style of level design right down to classic staples like riding a polar bear/jetski or being chased into the foreground (can't have crash without that let's be real). Throw in a few new mask segments that slightly tweak the basic pendulum obstacles/nitro evasion/fall away platforms that make up a lot of the game's level design by adding a layer of temporary time slowing or phasing them in and out of existence.
I feel like it was intentional that they had the masks not change the fundamentals of design all that much, which is a shame as the gliding esque tornado spin mask is easily the most interesting to me by being something that actually feels like a bigger shake up to a level's design.
The important thing is that Crash 4 is fun to play on a core level.
To throw another 2020 platforming game in here on my current PS4 to PS5 upgrade path, I've been dipping back into Sackboy a Big Adventure, which I'd argue it has a lot more interesting and varied level design to Crash 4, yet isn't actually as fun to play as crash because it feels a touch too slow and plodding, Crash has always had this kinda simple yet satisfying feel to his crate bopping and it's on full display here in 4.
My return trip had me realising that I never actually finished all the game's inverted/N'verted stages, I'd done about 3/4 of them.
So obviously this had to be remedied....and then I remembered why I left the last quarter of them in the first place.
As another entry into Crash 4 trying to add extra value only for it to somewhat backfire, inverted stages basically slap mirror mode and a visual filter of some variety on a stage. The majority of these filters are unfortunately unmitigated arse that make the already somewhat cluttered visuals harder to read, obscure your own shadow (thank god for the game having that option for a highlighted drop shadow that circumvents these filters, as self defeating as it feels to need) and do a great job of showing why we leave these in photo modes or as a purely optional feature for weirdos.
Let me tell you, going back through the final Cortex Castle segment that's like Crash does Celeste, but messier, except now in blurro vision when you can't exactly remember what the game wants you to do, criminal.
Some of these actually do change the levels somewhat though, the future city stages get an underwater filter complete with low gravity, the bayou stages get an old timey film reel that has the game play at like 1.5X speed, and my word do I feel sorry for the 100% crowd who had to do flawless no death, all crate runs of "run it bayou" in inverted mode.
In any case I still ultimately enjoyed running through all the stages again, the game's flaws are still there, but I did feel like I might've appreciated what the game gets right a bit more, it's just a shame to me because I think there's a stronger game in here if someone on the team put their foot down more often and if they didn't lean so hard into trying to appease this niche within a niche audience of players that yell "hurt me more!" as they go for N'sane relics.
64. Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX (22/9/22) ★★
The absolute whim that I played this on, literally this morning I saw it in the PS extra lineup and was like "sure why not?"
So Alex Kidd, one of the earliest games I can remember seeing, note "seeing" and not playing, to this day I'm not sure why my Grandad didn't let me have a go, I can only assume he'd made more progress than ever before and he wasn't about to let some wet behind the ears rookie eat up his remaining lives!
Never had it on my own master system, but having had a master system meant I felt a mighty need to beat this game, plus I must avenge my grandad!
This is a tricky title to judge, it's a visually overhauled but mechanically faithful recreation of the original game. From the standpoint of the audiovisuals, is it a good remake? mostly I think so, clean pixel art, jaunty remixes, does has some odd moments of foreground obstruction that were very deliberately added for some reason, otherwise yeah it's appealing to the eyes and ears. It's no Dragon's Trap remake (what is visually?), but it has the similar and always appreciated option to change the visual style whenever you want to appreciate the jump.
Gameplay though...
WELLLLLL
Look, it's a 2D platformer from 1986, it's gonna have some well aged quirks...
- Slippery arse physics meet one hit deaths and single block wide platforms
- Fairly basic and repetitive level design
- Tiny attack hitbox
- GOTCHA moments, quite commonly in the form of "?" blocks potentially hiding ghost dudes that chase you for daring to hope you'd get an item
- Guess work Janken/Rock, Paper, Scissors encounters (or just get a guide like I eventually did, they always make the same picks thank god)
- Dat Bike lol
I almost bounced off on stage 1 as I wrestled with the mechanics, had some dubious blind drops, and that aforementioned git in the "?" box.
Still, I wanted to experience that jank bike so I could to could join the legions of players who have uncontrollably ploughed into a wall, and boy did I!
So I kept playing, and it's fairly enjoyable when you just embrace the errors of its time, simple and to the point platforming.
What I appreciated was the effort to shake things up, swimming stages, flying stages where I immediately crash and it becomes another swimming stage!
The late game and endgame castle stages are interesting maze like outings, I thought my run was over when I met THAT ROOM in the final castle.
If you've played the game you probably know, a swimming segment with the tightest, kaizo mario-esque spike corridors the height of your sprite to slink through, when the game's water physics constantly push you upwards.
Oh it looked IMPOSSIBLE, I died multiple times, running through the whole stage again to get another chance that would end after three taps of the dpad.
So obviously it was google time, and good grief lol, turns out Alex can float INTO spikes, he just can't bob down onto them, makes no sense at all but takes the room from the biggest difficulty spike in game history to a complete doss, amazing nonsense.
Thus I conquered the Janken King (Janking?), the game has a fairly nice sense of progression and story (so to speak) for its time.
I'm not sure it's a good game, it's more of an interesting historical piece, and I almost feel bad for me wheeling out two stars yet again for a Sega game this year like I'm still living in the 90's console warz
Yet I never really disliked my time playing it, I just don't really recommend it either, unless you're a platformer fiend and want to experience a slice of Sega's history.
In any case, Sonic was the right choice to be Sega's mascot.
I honestly wasn't expecting too much from Splatoon 3.
Splatoon 2 was a sequel that i managed to enjoy, while being pretty disappointed at the same time.
Now I'm not of the mindset that it was a 1.5 sequel, iterative yes, but there was enough added to earn that 2.
Unfortunately S2 has a habit of getting in its own way, aspects I forgave the original for because it was their first swing at an online shooter, cropped back up in 2 and at this point it was harder to handwave.
From locking away it's main new multiplayer mode behind specific time windows, maintaining the unskippable idol intros, still not putting friends into the same online teams in turf war, connection woes etc.
So funny thing about S3 is, if you called it Splatoon 2.5, I'd actually be inclined to agree somewhat, yet that .5, that point five, are mostly the tweaks that would've salvaged Splatoon 2 for me.
Outside of connection woes (insert Nintendo online jab here), those above S2 gripes are pretty much fixed.
Then there's a bevy of other small tweaks under the hood, improved gyro, giving weapon purchases their own currency so you don't go bankrupt between fighting and fashion, a campaign structure that feels a bit more sure of itself and less of a S1 redux.
S3 definitely benefits from the complete S2 package, this time the game has come out the gate feeling like it has a good amount of content to begin with, even if a lot of that like the weapon variety owes a lot to S2's dripfeed (mah undercover brella!), it has me looking forward to what they'dd add in future updates.
they even threw in a new side mode, the somewhat understated in pre release table turf battle, that takes the premise of the game's central turf war and adapts it to a turn based deck builder card game, turns out this works pretty well.
Splatoon 3 has had me bouncing between turf war, salmon run, table turf, the campaign and the ranked competitive modes for hours on end, an addictive loop that reminded me why I enjoyed the original game on the WiiU.
It's of course not without problems, connection woes must be reiterated because any other online focused game with this many issues (albeit still less than 2) would be (or are) ripped apart. The spectre of latency fuckery looms as you get splatted after you went behind a wall or apparently by the ink pile of the very person you just splatted yourself. Uneven matchmaking that threw anyone importing their Splatoon 2 data into the same ranked bracket (feed my B rank self to the S and X rank wolves why don'tcha?), still only having two maps per mode in the two hour rotation where the 50/50 odds keep slamming you on just one of the two maps over and over.
There's also the feeling that the single player could be more at this point, the same enemies for three games now, and general level design concepts that are like a psuedo crash course in all weapons/sepcials in prep for multiplayer, it's anything but fresh, even with the general structure drawing from the last game's DLC to its benefit.
The game even opens with an intentional jab at doing the same thing for single player as 1 and 2, it then goes "haha, just kidding...but also not really because here's more of the same mario galaxy lite level design anyway just in a new style of hub". At this juncture I think Splatoon should consider looking more towards mario sunshine than galaxy for its campaign, a sense of actual place and more expansive levels interwoven with obstacle courses, ehh maybe for the DLC if I'm lucky.
On the whole though, this was a threequel worth doing instead of just adding to 2, it's given the ground for a new start that as a lapsed splatoon player, I needed, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the game evolves from here.
63. (replay) Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (20/9/22) ★★★
If I'm harsh on Crash 4, it's because I care, sort of
CB4 is so close to getting it right, the game is clearly made by a team that cared a lot about the franchise, and went out with the goal to create THE Crash Bandicoot game.
Now I only consider the original trilogy to be a batch of perfectly okay platformers, all hovering around the same level of quality, so I always expected that Crash 4 would be an easy win for me to be the new best Crash game, and in many ways it is.
It also unfortunately flew too close to the sun, probably because it thought it was another collectable to add to its percentage criteria.
My thoughts on this game haven't really changed much from the original release, it's a strong yet safe/familiar take on the series after years of mediocre entries buried the franchise. This PS5 upgrade basically just gave me some appreciated faster loading, otherwise it felt pretty much the same to me as it did on PS4, which says a lot for how spiffy that version looked to begin with.
My feeling with Crash 4 is that it goes extra to its detriment more than its benefit, discussion of this title often revolves around its completion criteria, much like classic DKC, classic Crash's secret sauce is how it blends full completion (break all the crates/find the gems) into its level structure that shakes up some otherwise standard jump n run stages.
Crash 4 goes absolutely N'sane (hoho) on this front, it throws far too many crates into every stage, full of one shot only crates, off screen crates, actively obscured from vision by scenery crates, bonus rooms that rapidly become trial and error "puzzles" to figure out how you can actually get the crates and leave alive (why the hollow outlined crates don't tell you what they'll turn into upon being activated, I have no idea, that alone would alleviate a lot of the die and retry issues).
It's completely overboard as every stage will have you stopping standard level progression to make sure to carefully bounce out every possible wumpa fruit from multibounce crates in all sorts of slight variations multiple times (and do it again if you die of course), work around gotcha traps like a batch of 10 crates than hides a TNT one behind and under the rest so you get killed for just spinning into the lot, twiddle fingers waiting for the fire spewing crates to stop doing their thing etc...
If the old games used crates to compliment their level design, this one uses them to smother it, it starts falling into that Yoshi's Island esque "avoid everything and the stage feels a bit hollow, aim to collect everything and the game starts feeling a bit dickish", especially factoring in the length of the stages and how much the pace can slow trying to eke out every wumpa for those gem thresholds.
Level design is otherwise pretty solid, albeit rather repetitive, Crash is still rocking the corridor level design and I find that's fairly limiting in the 3D space,, there's not much here that hasn't been done before by the PS1 games.
It's kind of like a Crash greatest hits style of level design right down to classic staples like riding a polar bear/jetski or being chased into the foreground (can't have crash without that let's be real). Throw in a few new mask segments that slightly tweak the basic pendulum obstacles/nitro evasion/fall away platforms that make up a lot of the game's level design by adding a layer of temporary time slowing or phasing them in and out of existence.
I feel like it was intentional that they had the masks not change the fundamentals of design all that much, which is a shame as the gliding esque tornado spin mask is easily the most interesting to me by being something that actually feels like a bigger shake up to a level's design.
The important thing is that Crash 4 is fun to play on a core level.
To throw another 2020 platforming game in here on my current PS4 to PS5 upgrade path, I've been dipping back into Sackboy a Big Adventure, which I'd argue it has a lot more interesting and varied level design to Crash 4, yet isn't actually as fun to play as crash because it feels a touch too slow and plodding, Crash has always had this kinda simple yet satisfying feel to his crate bopping and it's on full display here in 4.
My return trip had me realising that I never actually finished all the game's inverted/N'verted stages, I'd done about 3/4 of them.
So obviously this had to be remedied....and then I remembered why I left the last quarter of them in the first place.
As another entry into Crash 4 trying to add extra value only for it to somewhat backfire, inverted stages basically slap mirror mode and a visual filter of some variety on a stage. The majority of these filters are unfortunately unmitigated arse that make the already somewhat cluttered visuals harder to read, obscure your own shadow (thank god for the game having that option for a highlighted drop shadow that circumvents these filters, as self defeating as it feels to need) and do a great job of showing why we leave these in photo modes or as a purely optional feature for weirdos.
Let me tell you, going back through the final Cortex Castle segment that's like Crash does Celeste, but messier, except now in blurro vision when you can't exactly remember what the game wants you to do, criminal.
Some of these actually do change the levels somewhat though, the future city stages get an underwater filter complete with low gravity, the bayou stages get an old timey film reel that has the game play at like 1.5X speed, and my word do I feel sorry for the 100% crowd who had to do flawless no death, all crate runs of "run it bayou" in inverted mode.
In any case I still ultimately enjoyed running through all the stages again, the game's flaws are still there, but I did feel like I might've appreciated what the game gets right a bit more, it's just a shame to me because I think there's a stronger game in here if someone on the team put their foot down more often and if they didn't lean so hard into trying to appease this niche within a niche audience of players that yell "hurt me more!" as they go for N'sane relics.
64. Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX (22/9/22) ★★
The absolute whim that I played this on, literally this morning I saw it in the PS extra lineup and was like "sure why not?"
So Alex Kidd, one of the earliest games I can remember seeing, note "seeing" and not playing, to this day I'm not sure why my Grandad didn't let me have a go, I can only assume he'd made more progress than ever before and he wasn't about to let some wet behind the ears rookie eat up his remaining lives!
Never had it on my own master system, but having had a master system meant I felt a mighty need to beat this game, plus I must avenge my grandad!
This is a tricky title to judge, it's a visually overhauled but mechanically faithful recreation of the original game. From the standpoint of the audiovisuals, is it a good remake? mostly I think so, clean pixel art, jaunty remixes, does has some odd moments of foreground obstruction that were very deliberately added for some reason, otherwise yeah it's appealing to the eyes and ears. It's no Dragon's Trap remake (what is visually?), but it has the similar and always appreciated option to change the visual style whenever you want to appreciate the jump.
Gameplay though...
WELLLLLL
Look, it's a 2D platformer from 1986, it's gonna have some well aged quirks...
- Slippery arse physics meet one hit deaths and single block wide platforms
- Fairly basic and repetitive level design
- Tiny attack hitbox
- GOTCHA moments, quite commonly in the form of "?" blocks potentially hiding ghost dudes that chase you for daring to hope you'd get an item
- Guess work Janken/Rock, Paper, Scissors encounters (or just get a guide like I eventually did, they always make the same picks thank god)
- Dat Bike lol
I almost bounced off on stage 1 as I wrestled with the mechanics, had some dubious blind drops, and that aforementioned git in the "?" box.
Still, I wanted to experience that jank bike so I could to could join the legions of players who have uncontrollably ploughed into a wall, and boy did I!
So I kept playing, and it's fairly enjoyable when you just embrace the errors of its time, simple and to the point platforming.
What I appreciated was the effort to shake things up, swimming stages, flying stages where I immediately crash and it becomes another swimming stage!
The late game and endgame castle stages are interesting maze like outings, I thought my run was over when I met THAT ROOM in the final castle.
If you've played the game you probably know, a swimming segment with the tightest, kaizo mario-esque spike corridors the height of your sprite to slink through, when the game's water physics constantly push you upwards.
Oh it looked IMPOSSIBLE, I died multiple times, running through the whole stage again to get another chance that would end after three taps of the dpad.
So obviously it was google time, and good grief lol, turns out Alex can float INTO spikes, he just can't bob down onto them, makes no sense at all but takes the room from the biggest difficulty spike in game history to a complete doss, amazing nonsense.
Thus I conquered the Janken King (Janking?), the game has a fairly nice sense of progression and story (so to speak) for its time.
I'm not sure it's a good game, it's more of an interesting historical piece, and I almost feel bad for me wheeling out two stars yet again for a Sega game this year like I'm still living in the 90's console warz
Yet I never really disliked my time playing it, I just don't really recommend it either, unless you're a platformer fiend and want to experience a slice of Sega's history.
In any case, Sonic was the right choice to be Sega's mascot.