Lurker > SpoinkRulezz

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (Switch - Advance Collection)
I beat the game! Second time beating it, first time was on an emulator. This was definitely a much better experience now. Some design choices were questionable though, such as every equippable being locked behind RNG drops that have very low rates. The DSS system is quite fun to experiment with, but it's just too inaccessible. Also, while I love the amount of Health/Magic/Heart upgrades that are found while exploring, they really should have mixed it up with DSS cards and armor as rewards.

But still, really fun Castlevania game. Great soundtrack as well.

Katamari Damacy REROLL (Switch)

Something short and quick to play from my collection when I wasn't able to play on the TV. I dipped my toes in a while ago, but now I played it more and beat it. My first Katamari experience and it was a really nice, quirky game. Super satisfying to get bigger and roll up everything in a huge ball. However, it did take me a while to get used to the controls and the camera, but I eventually did. Also, the game was incredibly short. I know you're kind of supposed to replay levels a lot and get better scores, but I think it could have just had more levels/bonus levels.

All in all, a nice amount of pure Japanese weirdness. One playthrough of this is enough for me, but I'm happy to have experienced a Katamari game. Who knows, I might get the We Love Katamari remaster at some point as well.

The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve (Switch)

And that's the end of this duology for me! Beat the first game quite a long time ago already and I started this second game around a year ago I think, but very slowly progressed through it. Now I've been in the mood to actually finish games and since my partner started watching along around halfway through case 3, it gave me extra incentive to play this daily and finish the game.

Doing it together was quite fun and all in all, this was a solid Ace Attorney game. Better than the first, but they should be played as one whole anyway. The presentation was beautiful, the setting was really nicely done and the characters were really fun and had great animations. I liked Ryunosuke a lot as a defense lawyer, he's actually smart and grows quickly throughout the games. The other main characters were also pretty much all really cool or funny. They're definitely also getting weirder each game. Sometimes, that does take me out of the immersion a bit. But aside from the wordiness and repetition of quirks/catchphrases, it was all right in this game. Sholmes and all the other references to Sherlock Holmes made for a fun focal point.

The overarching plot was also cool, if a little predictable and loving some Deus Ex Machina here and there (always the case in these games though). I do feel that at this point and after so many AA games, there's only so much creativity that can still be put in some of these elements. But the historical setting and the great presentation give the game its own identity within the series nevertheless. The new gameplay features are cool and work well with the setting, but they don't amount to much in terms of changing how you play the game.

However, I was missing that oomph in the revelations and the twists a bit. So overall, while it's a very solid package, it never reaches the heights that some other games in the series do for me. As a balance, the games have almost no actually bad cases. That goes for both part 1 and part 2. Some solutions, murder methods and all that really ask you to suspend your disbelief, but again, this is Ace Attorney and it happens in older games as well. Part 2 is definitely longer and more involved, so I like that one more overall.

Mega Man Battle Network (Legacy Collection -Switch)

First real foray into this series, although I have played this first title a little bit before on an emulator. All in all, it was okay. It did have charm and a surprisingly nice story and universe. Core gameplay concept is unique and really suits the Mega Man universe in terms of making it an RPG. It looked and sounded okay too, if a bit repetitive.

But this is otherwise pretty barebones and it has some really tedious design elements. Most random encounters (which trigger constantly and cannot easily be escaped from if you don't draw Escape cards) are easy with an occasional bad luck combo where you have no safe spots to go to on your grid. Some bosses are very easy and others are frustrating, especially as those hard ones tend to come right after another boss. Drop system is very annoying. I like that there are good things to get from exploring the environments, but the environments themselves are very tedious to navigate, especially with you being taken out of it every few steps. The dungeon puzzles I thought were actually fun in concept, but are again made worse by the dungeon structure and encounters. The Power Plant was horrendous of course. Oh, and there were a loooot of spelling/grammatical errors. Not that big of a problem, but it does come across as cheap.

Still, I did know that this game would be rough as I've been reading that everywhere and that most other games in the series are far better. So I am still interested in MMBN2 and seeing how that improves things.

Octopath Traveler II (Switch) - I've been playing this for 3 months and put 90 hours into it, but now I've truly beaten it. Well, aside from the super boss, but I don't care about that.

Tough game to evaluate for me. It was very chill to play, lots of freedom and it improved on the first game in basically every way. However, those improvements do feel like edits to me moreso than grand changes that might have made it completely transform into something truly amazing. It is very good, very solid, lots of content. The latent powers end up being pretty important by the end, so that gameplay change made a bigger impact than they initially seemed to. The game also at least tries to play around with its structure a bit, even if it's not always that significant or deep. The stories and characters are more interesting, but the problem is that for me the increase in scope and epicness doesn't really translate well to the short story format. The game also felt easy, which can be prevented, but still. The final battle was really cool though.

A game that I liked a lot for what it is and I respect that the developers tried their best to combine their own vision with the criticisms of the first game, even if it's fairly minimalistic in its impact. I don't think it's a vastly different experience compared to OT1, but the small improvements and little things they put in do add up.

999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (PS5 - The Nonary Games edition)

Played this through mostly with my partner watching. I had already played it and gotten one ending on the DS version years ago, but there was still soooo much to uncover. We really got into this, I love these kinds of visual novel-style games. I also got completely absorbed in Danganronpa 1 (and 2 as well to a sliiiightly lesser extent, haven't played 3 yet).

However, 999 is much darker and the characters are a lot more realistic. Just amazing. The escape rooms were generally pretty easy and kind of guide you along and there is a lot of script here, but the structure of how the mystery unfolds is just great.

Simoun posted...

Hell yes. Glad to see someone who puts 4 on such a high pedestal. I am forever biased by the Megaman I grew up on and I always felt it had the best music. Dustman being my favorite.

Agreed. Love 4. I never get why people rag on its issues whereas both 2 and 3 have real issues themselves. 4 is big, Cossack's castle is unique, its soundtrack has its own identity and is more layered than the other NES titles, it gives you options with a great variety of good weapons (people complain about the Mega Buster but 5 and 6 literally have OP busters but not great RM weapons unlike 4, especially 5). It could do with slightly tougher Robot Masters and platforming, but in the same vein the others lack a lot of stuff as well.

Ghost of Tsushima (PS5)

Beat the game and did everything I could from the main game! I haven't played the DLC yet, but I most likely will do that soon.

This is a game that I've had a vague interest in but never bought. When I saw it included in the PS Plus Extra selection, I thought it was a great opportunity to try it, especially since I almost never play modern games multiple times anyway and it's very expensive. So I got it from the catalogue to try it out and I got absolutely hooked. It's in many ways another very formulaic open world game, but this one for some reason clicked (maybe it helped that I hadn't played one for a while). I think it also helps that the PS5 just lets you jump into a game in about 2 seconds.

I really loved this game. It was just very chill to play, even if on normal difficulty it became very easy at some point with everything you have at your disposal. I really enjoyed the story and characters for an open world game as well and the ending was quite beautiful.

I did sometimes find the controls to have a bit of clunk to them and there were some glitches/bugs, but nothing really major. I did personally find Act 3 a little weaker than the other two. Maybe it's just me, but the final mission from act 3 kind of disappointed me as well. Nevertheless, those gripes are still fairly small. Overall, I enjoyed this game a whole lot for 56 hours, probably 60 when I'm done with Iki Island.

Metroid Fusion (NSO) - A fun, quick run. Zero Mission is my favorite 2D Metroid to pace through, but playing through Fusion again made me realise how good it is with how it keeps building up, creates a sense of suspense and mystery, throwing surprises your way all the time and its difficulty. It is more linear and story-heavy than most other Metroid games, but it's really well done here. Only some of the hidden stuff and boss placements are questionable, but other than that still a pretty amazing game after 20+ years.

Mario

Super Mario Galaxy 2

But BM: AA was amazing too.

999

Metroid Prime Remastered (Switch)

Just did the final stretch of bosses today! It's not that challenging on Normal mode, but Omega Pirate was still the trickiest of the bunch for me. The game is still amazing and it looks so good in this version. It was, and still is, my favorite game of all time.

Oof...I love Demon's Souls but my vote goes to

Super Mario Galaxy 2

It's just so fun!

Phoenix

Dark Souls

X5 is definitely the first game in the X series where the problems really start, but it's still okay. Badly executed gimmick and some stages are not great and designed stupidly, but some are decent and fun.

X6, oh dear. I think they did the soundtrack first and had no time left for the actual game. I still wonder how such a banging soundtrack exists in this otherwise pile of garbage. Not a single stage I played I thought was good or fun. Very problematic camera/views, ridiculously annoying sections that seems overkill, incredibly convoluted with the nightmares/rescuing/parts...I beat 3 or 4 stages and then just couldn't take it anymore in Blaze Heatnix' stage.

X7 I have barely played, but I don't think I'd add much that wasn't already said. Just a bad 3D attempt.

Somehow I struggled playing X8, I couldn't figure out some things/controls, so I didn't get very far. However, that one seems to be much better than X6 and X7, if still probably worse than X-X4.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch)

Beat the final boss! Well, technically I still have to play the postgame world, which I've played the first level of, but for the sake of my own criteria, I consider it beaten as I've now played all the main unique content and seen the credits. Not going for 100% anyway, but I'll keep playing a bit as long as I feel like it.

All in all, really good Kirby game! One of the best ones. It's still formulaic as Kirby games typically are, but this one is pretty good at masking it through its creative level designs and looks. The abilities are fun to play with and so are the transformations. Treasure Road was also a great inclusion to really let every ability shine. I've played a few Kirby games now and I'd say this is the best one I've played. It's not even that insanely easy at some moments. Still, it's a game that I definitely enjoy but never really peaks very high for me. In the end, for the most part it felt like the same old Kirby but with a fresher, 3D coating.

Fire Emblem Engage (Switch)

And that's the game beaten on Hard/Classic! All maps done aside from the non-Tiki Divine Paralogues. That was a lot of fun overall. Just a really nice, well-playing Fire Emblem game. Its side dishes weren't always great, but the main course was delicious. Mostly great maps, fun and flexible battle systems wrapped in style with a solid look and fantastic soundtrack. Characters were charming. Story and other gameplay-related content were not the greatest, but they don't hinder much either. I think the Skill system could have been better for me and the balancing of some stuff as well (gacha bond rings, animal adoption/rewards, ingredient distribution for cooking). But overall, very good Fire Emblem game.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (3DS)
I'll count this for this year, even though I've played through this game quite a few times throughout my life. Another fun run, it's interesting to see how my perception of the dungeons changes as I play through this multiple times. The 7th one is always a complex maze no matter how old I get, but I did complete it somewhat comfortably without any help this time. But the 5th, 6th and 8th dungeons, which used to be tricky for me too, are now pretty much a breeze. Especially the 8th one (Ancient Tomb), which is considered one of the harder Gameboy Zelda dungeons I believe, was not very complex as it's so segmented and didn't have as many puzzles as I remembered. Of course I'm taking into account that I've played this and other Zelda games a lot, but it's not like I know these dungeons inside out either.

Awesome games! But my votes go to:

Layton
Phoenix

NBIceman posted...

Mega Man 4 (NES)
Either I'm finally getting a little better or this is the easiest of the first 4 MM games.

Think my ranking so far is 2 >= 4 > 3 > 1.

Yeah it is (I still love MM4). Sure it helps that you've played the other 3 now, but MM4's has a few trivial bosses and the non-trivial ones are very predictable. That plus Mega Buster and imo easier platforming in general makes it definitely easier.

5 and 6 won't get much tougher, though!

Hollow Knight (Switch)
I did only get the first ending, but for me that's good enough to consider it beaten. I saw most of the game (got 89%) and have 30 hours in it. I can always opt to do the rest later if I want to challenge myself.

Really great Metroidvania game. There is not much wrong with it. Tight controls giving you lots of options to fight and traverse. Amazing music. An enormous amount of places, characters and items to discover. Lots of boss fights. Lore. Atmosphere. The only small gripes I had were slightly too sparse bench placement (which makes backtracking a bit repetitive) and some boss battles which I thought were more annoying hard than fun hard. Getting the final nail upgrade, Unbreakable Strength and Quick Slash helped a lot in the end, I could basically facetank stuff and hit repeatedly to win a few fights.

Nevertheless, what a good game. It took me so many years to get into it, but now I've finally experienced this gem.

FFX

FFX

1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
2. Fire Emblem Engage

And HM to Diablo IV I guess, mainly out of nostalgic feelings for Diablo II. Hopefully it'll be more fun than D3 although that was pretty good in the end (never cared for more than 1 playthrough though).

Interested in Hogwarts Legacy if it end up being good. Maybe FFXVI if it somehow is a return to form for the mainline series and if I actually have a system to play it on.

Arbok
Seviper

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Phanpy
Sandaconda

Paper Mario: TTYD.

I do love SotC as well though.

what ever he is the game your just the players

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

Metroid Prime!

Granbull
Dachsbun

FFX

Barraskewda
Feraligatr
Milotic
Mudkip
Octillery
Totodile
Vaporeon
Wailord

Pinsir
Kricketune (dat cry)

RE4

Grapploct
Sirfetch'd
Falinks

Well done Galar.

Another tough one...

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Darkrai
Mabosstiff

Arcanine
Typhlosion
Darmanitan
Fuecoco

Paper Mario: TTYD

Resident Evil 4

KD is definitely charming, but RE4 is just a much more memorable and fulfilling journey.

Oh crap...

Colossus. I love Metroid, I really like Fusion but it's just a little less unique in the grand scheme and I have a few Metroid games I like better than it (especially Prime, Super and Zero Mission, probably Dread as well).

Dragon Quest 8
Zelda: Twilight Princess

That being said, SH2 is amazing.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
-

Symphonia. I actually just like the more puzzle-filled dungeons in that one.