Board 8 > Post Each Time You Beat a Game: 2021 Edition

(+) Yeah! (+)

Penumbra Requiem (PC)

Yeah I know it sucks but I played it for the puzzles and for completion's sake.

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Pan-Pan (Switch)

If you would have told me that this was made by Ustwo (Monument Valley) I would have believed you, but I guess the art style must not be unique to those games and has an actual name. Anyway, this was a neat puzzle adventure that unfortunately made the decision to give you the impression it was open-ended but instead actually force you to do things in a specific order without any forewarning or help.
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Sniper Elite III (Steam)

Solid enough game. A great example of the downsides of realism in video games; the maps are so big but you'll probably be playing stealthily the entire time, but seeing as you're crouched, you'll move pretty slowly and progress will take forever. Sniping feels very satisfying, especially the slow-motion camera.

Some technical issues with getting blocked by objects, not being able to pass through or under things it looks like you should be able to pass by/through and sniping over cover is a nightmare. Africa is a neat setting but is kinda underutilized, as none of the maps really seemed that incredibly unique to me, although there are some neat structures and settings, most of it feels like a very bland desert. Decent game, but it has superior alternatives.

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Night in the Woods (XB1)

Man, how long has it been since I went through Lost Constellation? Five or six years maybe?

For a game revolving around young adults/teens, the game did an excellent job I thought at avoiding unintentional cringe. With a nice, compact setting, great characters, and an engaging slice-of-life tale, you have a great adventure game on your hands. I found the dreams tedious, and I think some plot points don't hold up to scrutiny, but I thoroughly enjoyed this from start to finish, even if it took me months to get through.
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Penumbra Necrologue (PC)

Thought I was done with the series, eh? As it turns out, the cult classic was so popular, it received a couple of fanmade sequels. Two of them a total conversion mod of Amnesia, and one currently in the works as a total convert of SOMA.

This mod is simply stellar. You'd think it really was the "third" Penumbra game, capping off the trilogy very nicely (the next one is a prequel). There are assets, backdrops, and models straight from Penumbra, with the only differing thing being the voice actors for obvious reasons. The second game was enough closure in itself, but this "third" one is a proper bookend, referencing not only the first two games but surprisingly even the rather droll Requiem as well, considering it canon of all things.

The fact that you enter the game delving into some mines (in Overture) and eventually a lab facility (in Black Plague) only to find out you're never going back means that this mod-sequel has a perfect opportunity to take you back the way you came. Through the labs in Black Plague and through the mine in Overture. And as such, Every important setpiece from the original games comes is recreated in the new Amnesia engine and it looks great!

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Hexcells (PC)

Don't even know if you can count this as a beaten game, but hey. It was a video game, and I beat it. Very fun puzzle concept and atmospheric music, but I did everything in about 1,5-2 hours. That was very, very short and fairly easy too. Fortunately, it only cost 3 euros and there are two more games, because it is a lot of fun. I feel like you're supposed to play all three games, because a large portion of this one was also tutorial levels.

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Slowly making my way through my Vita backlog.

London Detective Mysteria (Vita)

A rare visual novel and otome game localized by XSEED rather than Aksys who you would expect it from. This one, as you can tell from the title, takes place in London, around the end of the 19th century and stars many characters who are references to famous literary detectives or others from around that time period. The main character, Emily Whiteley, is also a detective and attends a detective academy with the other characters in the story.

The game is a straight visual novel, but does make it interesting as the characters solve various mysteries, however none of the mysteries are anything surprising and will be easy to figure out for anyone who has played a similar game like this. So far I've only gotten one of the destined endings but I'll be going back and getting the rest at a later date.

Samurai Warriors: Chronicles 3 (Vita)

Dropped this back in 2016 for no real reason and picked it up again this year after downloading the free DLC packs in the store, which made a few trophies easier to unlock. Unlike the main Samurai Warriors games, that focus more on the historical retelling of the Sengoku period in Japan, this has a created character go through the Sengoku period instead, and tells not only the true history but also a number of hypothetical paths that might have happened if certain events were changed. Having played through the Legend of a Land United in Samurai Warriors 4 earlier this year I'm most interested in how the hypothetical paths branch off, and I've already gotten myself to two of the many endings the game has. I'll be continuing to play this until I've gotten them all, and I'll see where I'm at after all that if I want to try and get the platinum here.

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Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition (PS4)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79613153

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Penumbra Twilight of the Archaic (PC)

Lovely little mini-dlc ish fan mod that answers some lingering questions brought on by Necrologue and the original games. It include yet even more Requiem levels which honestly surprises me into actually accepting Requiem as canon.

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Aragami (PS4)

Cool stealth game in the mold of Tenchu. It lacks polish, but it was highly entertaining throughout. I am very much looking forward to the sequel that is soon to come out.
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I don't count it as a full game because it was too short and literally 0 difficulty until the final scene, but I'd like to drop a mention that I just played through The Last of Us: Left Behind. It was some nice backstory but not worth $10. I was expecting a lot more, even knowing that this would only be a roughly 2 hour experience. If I'd known exactly what this was I would have just watched the cutscenes on Youtube. Also, it must be my PS3 because I seem to experience a lot of bizarre glitches on a lot of games, but I encountered this weird glitch where if I didn't move Ellie for a few seconds, she would suddenly start straddling to the left uncontrollably and the only way for me to make her stop would be to move her myself. It always happened at the end of a cutscene or conversation, and later in the game started happening during survival scenes as well.

That being said, there are some DLC expansions that I probably would count as a separate beaten game. Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion, for example, from what I can tell is a brand-new full-length single-player campaign, so if I ever buy/beat that I'd probably count it toward my number.

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Omno (XB1)

I was pleasantly surprised at how much more platforming and puzzle solving was involved
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A Hat in Time (PS4)
The first Kickstarter game I ever really followed (though I didn't back it due to being even more broke then than I am now), so I've been excited to play it for a long time while also being a little resistant and wary, because 3D collectathons are mostly big time hit-or-miss affairs to me.

Well, my fears were unfounded, because this one hit. It's about as charming of a video game as I've played in a very long while. Hat Kid is a super cute and likeable protagonist and her movement pretty much always feels good. Level design didn't grab me immediately but hits its stride very quick, to the point that Alpine Skyline is almost definitely my favorite level in games of this type ever.

Can't recommend this strongly enough if you're a fan of these sorts of platformers. I'll be coming back to do the DLC and 100% it someday, but I want to get through Pyre before Tales of Arise comes out in a few weeks and completely monopolizes my time.

Speaking of which, want to shout out Hades again because I finished up all of its 49 achievements the other day and that was quite a journey. Been a good few months of gaming.

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Wow, see my review of AHIT much earlier in this topic to see how our opinions differ.

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Underleveled posted...

Wow, see my review of AHIT much earlier in this topic to see how our opinions differ.

I definitely see where you're coming from with all of those complaints, but yeah, I just can't say I really had the same experience with any of them. The camera was certainly far from perfect but the only times I can recall having issues with it to the point that it impacted my ability to play the game were in some tight corridors in the movie studio chapter. The physics always felt quite smooth to me. And while some hourglasses were quite long to be sure, I never thought any of them overstayed their welcome; I'm very much a quality over quantity guy in collectathons - give me long and involved quests for ~40 time pieces in AHIT over 900 moons in SMO that you get for sitting on a bench.

Certainly think your critiques are fair, but yeah, the game just hit the right notes for me.

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Super Mario RPG

So I had played a good chunk of this game when I was younger. I stayed at a friend's house and I don't think I slept that night because I got through the fifth star. Then I never went back to play it again, nor did I touch it again until. I felt like even without beating it I had the full experience, little did I know that the first five stars are maybe half the game. Those last two stars felt like they took forever to get compared to the early ones, but now the task is complete.

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Pyre (PC)
This is the best game I've ever played and likely will ever play that I... didn't really enjoy that much. Gonna spoiler tag for safety although I'm not revealing anything specific about the plot at all.

I don't know. The world of Pyre just felt a little too bleak to me. The whole journey is so aggressively zero-sum from almost the very beginning to the end that I kind of always just felt... bad about myself while playing. And I obviously realize that that sort of hollow melancholy is the exact feeling you're supposed to take, which is why I can applaud the game from an objective standpoint for so superbly accomplishing its goals, but it just wasn't for me. I never felt a sense of satisfaction from pretty much anything I did here, and I like my games to be satisfying.

Plus, some of the plot points themselves felt a little too contrived, the main story overstays its welcome just a tad for how little the Rites ever actually differ, I'm not big on visual novel-esque gameplay in general... The whole experience just feels less tight than other Supergiant efforts. It's got all the great art and music and lore that I've come to expect from them, and again, at its core, Pyre is pretty masterful in what it presents. But I think the fact that this was kind of an experimental game that diverges from their comfort style a bit definitely shows.

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Apotheon (PS4)

This game would be good if it was not so damn glitchy. It has a unique ascetic which is neat and the 2D action gameplay is pretty fun, but I was unable to 100% it because of its problems. Sidequest items randomly fail to appear in the world, and inexplicably, treasure chests can be inadvertently disturbed by enemies or the player, which can cause them to move outside of the field of play permanently. One chest was knocked off a cliff and I could not access it after that.

The game was still beatable, but the problems left a sour taste in my mouth that never really left. I am pretty sure I got it for free at some point so at least I didn't waste money on it. It was not too long either. It had enough good moments that I do not feel like I wasted my time, either. Just disappointed.

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Final Fantasy IX (PS4)

Another Final Fantasy game played and beaten after I, III (DS), IV, X, X-2, XII, XIII and XV. Still have quite a few left (am some way into V and have gotten similarly far into VI in the past), and while I may not play all of them in the end, there are still a few bucket list titles remaining (mainly VI).

Anyway, I already owned FFIX on PS3, but found it unbearably slow. The PS4 enhancements made it a faaaar less tedious experience and overall it's a fantastic Final Fantasy. Battles and animations still feel slow, especially magic, summons and Trance, but at least I can speed it up now. There were moments I found the gameplay itself quite unappealing, but it's still manageable.

It's not at the top for me, but this game comes together as something larger than the sum of its parts. I was still teary-eyed at the final cutscenes. I love how these characters are not your typical, grandiose exaggerations, but relatable, showing both the joys and hardships of life but in a subtle way. You can see their humanity aside from their assigned roles and character tropes. The little ATE's really helped to convey that as well. I felt FFIX was at its best when it was keeping things small. Basically, it was very cute. Also, the cutscenes were amazing and delivered at precisely the right moments. And the theme for Terra, Dark Messenger and Melodies of Life give me absolute chills.

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Haven (XB1)

Combat was poorly explained, poorly designed, and eventually pointless. Movement around the world was stiff and all too easy to input the wrong maneuver or fall off a ledge that can create a plethora of issues. Exploration could be a pain given the lack of a detailed in-game map to indicate elevation and objects (specifically flow lines) that are often required to reach certain exits. That being said, this game is far greater than the sum of its parts because I loved it in spite of all its glaring and numerous flaws. I got really into the loop of uncovering more of the world to understand it and find parts for your ship. I really felt a sense of progression in improving your home/surrounding area. The two leads are very likable with good voice acting too.

I can only imagine what this game could have been like with more polish and better system designs.
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Quantum Conundrum (PC)

I'm a sucker for a good puzzle game, and this is one of them. Some people prefer a progressively difficult game, but I actually like somewhat flat ones like this where random levels here and there trip you up. My only real issues is with the platforming where aside from mid-air degree of control, it could be akward and in my experience, full of input delays that lead to cheap deaths.
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The Beatles: Rock Band (Wii)
Oh, The Beatles. My favorite band, and probably the reason I even got into music and wanted to be a musician. Obviously when I first heard that this game was coming out I was ecstatic. And it didn't disappoint. The level of fanservice here is phenomenal. From the Beatles aging in real-time to the deadly-accurate outfit recreations to the recreation of music videos to all the little photos and tidbits and other behind-the-scenes goodies, there is enough here to satisfy any Beatles fan.

The setlist is really great too. It's not perfect by any means, and even if you count the DLC there are still many glaring omissions, but they spread it pretty evenly through their career (that combined with the fact that they used actual concert venues, followed by the Abbey Road recording studio for later material, really made it feel like you were playing through the Beatles' career), they included great deep cuts including some of my obscure favorites (I think the most pleasant surprise for me was "If I Needed Someone"), and they gave George and Ringo enough singing time to not just be background characters (fun fact - if you include the DLC, more than half of all Ringo-lead songs made it into the game). That combined with cute little tidbits, like girls rushing the stage, or Paul saying "Let's try that again" if you restart a song in one of the studio chapters, and the wonderful chapter introductions, made this a really carefully-crafted experience made for die-hard Beatles fans.

I mean, I'm gonna say this - I've always been very mediocre at Rock Band/Guitar Hero, which is kinda sad given how much I used to play them back in the day. I just could never get good. In fact, I never beat this. I can't remember what song tripped me up back in the day, but I got stuck and just couldn't finish it. I ultimately had no problem beating it this time, but I hadn't touched one of these games in probably a decade prior to restarting this one last night, and it showed. It took me many, many tries just to get past the second song, which ended up being one of the more difficult songs in the game anyway. Which brings me to a legitimate negative - because the songs are presented chronologically rather than by difficulty like in most rhythm games, the difficulty curve is more like a difficulty roller coaster, with both easy and difficult songs scattered all over the setlist. So somebody playing for the first time would probably be discouraged when they found hard songs so early on, and then be confused when they get stuff like "Getting Better" and "Yellow Submarine" that a 2-year-old could do in the middle of the game. But frankly I'm totally happy having it chronologically. As a fan it makes for a better experience. It's just not without its gaming flaws.

Another gripe, and this could have been the controller I was using, but to activate Beatlemania, I had to lift the guitar so high that it was practically impossible to play and almost always caused me to lose my note streak. I don't remember it ever being that bad before. I remember even just a slight tilt would activate Star Power in any of the relevant games. Whatever though. I made it through and I was using the Harrison-inspired guitar that my parents got me for Christmas with the game. Always feels good to complete a gift game.

I'll definitely keep playing this and going for some high scores. There's so much more to see. Sadly, I have it on the Wii, so the DLC store is long closed off to me, but there's plenty of great songs for me to play on here. I may even try and 100% a few. I did 100% Twist and Shout back in the day. It was one of only three songs I ever 100% in relevant games (the other two being "When You Were Young" in Guitar Hero 3, and "We Got the Beat" in Rock Band 2, the latter of which I 100%'d the first time I ever played the song). I guess I should mention that I'm always talking about Expert here. Anything less than that is babby mode on these games (though that wasn't the case when I added GH3 and GH Aerosmith to my beaten games list back in the day lol). It'll also be a fun one to play with friends. If you know what Rock Band is all about, and if you know whether or not you like The Beatles, you already know whether or not you should play this game. But if you're a fan of Rock Band and a fan of The Beatles, why haven't you tried this yet? You'll love it!

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A Case of Distrust (Switch)

I regret not getting this on PC because I didn't realize this was point-and-click, but it was an interesting micro-noir tale.
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The Last of Us Part II (PS4)
So I was both excited and cautious going into this. Obviously excited because I loved the first one, but cautious because I know that, upon release, this one was the subject of an incredible amount of vitriol, and, am I being controversial in saying I think it was unwarranted? Obviously it wasn't as good as the first, and had some very glaring flaws, but I think the hate was really, really overblown.

Obviously the emotional turmoil was a lot more disturbing in this one, particularly the protagonist killing a pregnant woman and later the final boss fight being entirely provoked by the protagonist against someone who didn't want to fight anymore are things that make you question whose side you really should have been on (the latter of which actually had me saying out loud "this is fucking twisted" while it was happening). And while these are kind of extreme I also think that players ought to know what they're getting into with a game of this caliber. To a lesser degree, it was kinda difficult playing through Abby's part of the story and seeing her friends in a different light already knowing full well what happens to them.

Speaking of which, was it playing as Abby that got so much hate? I guess I can see that. It wasn't particularly compelling and certainly felt like it artificially extended the length of the game by at least 5 hours, but that part of the game did have some fun gameplay, including by far the toughest boss fight in the game that felt so fucking satisfying to finally finish it.

Was it the strained relationship between Ellie and Joel? I'll admit that that had me really questioning why she would go through all this for someone she was long estranged from until the final moments of the game when it all kinda paid off. I'm not sure how the LGBT community responded to the LGBT characters and themes in the game, and I'm not going to comment on it because I don't think it's my place, other than to say that if they had issues there and felt that they were misrepresented in any way then that's fair enough. But otherwise I think the hate for everything else I mentioned was overblown.

But the gameplay was the same good old gameplay that I knew and loved from the first one. The constant fear of running out of supplies at a crucial moment. The suspicion when a quiet part of the game is riddled with ammo and supplies. The new, tougher enemies that had me going "fuckfuckfuckFUCK!" (in a good way). The thrill of wiping out a hoard of enemies with Molotovs, or whacking some unsuspecting thug with a pair of scissors duck taped to a 2x4. The Uncharted-like adventuring as you go down the rabbit hole of whatever environment you're currently exploring. The constant worrying of the survival of the supporting characters (I was very surprised that Tommy survived the struggle in the theatre). Problems with the story aside, I really can't get enough of this kind of gameplay, even if some extended parts of the game were needlessly slow, I can at least see why they had to be that way. And to be honest, I think this series portrays pretty well how people and society would behave on a wide scale post-zombie apocalypse.

One last thing I want to address - the guitar segments really made this something special for me. As a musician who often finds solace during tough times in creating and listening to music, I thought it was implemented pretty perfectly. Maybe my favorite use of a musical instrument in a non-rhythm game, and yes, I'm even including the Zelda series. Overall the game wasn't perfect by any means but the hate it got on the internet was really overblown and I for one can't wait for the series to continue.

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Valentina (Switch)

This game was absolutely awful. I put this game off for a year and I finally went back to finish it off.
You play as Valentina and you have a bow and arrow as an attack. You get different elemental arrows that does different damage. English is not the dev's first language and reading most of the dialogue was absolutely dreadful. This game could seriously have used a checkpoint system. The parts with rising platforms over water is the worst and you can die when your ankles touch the shallow water unless you time your jumps right while the platforms rise over the water. WTF. You also have to make sure you have a plentiful supply of arrows as well or you're screwed. You don't even have to fight the enemies half the time and can just get the chests that have arrows/potions (enemies can drop arrows as well) and you only have to fight when you need to. The boss fights are also a slog and are very boring.

Worst part of the whole game for your troubles? It ends on a cliffhanger. I promptly deleted this game off my Switch in disgust. Totally not worth it, even if I did get it at a cheap price. Stay away from this trash game.

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (Switch/NES)

Replayed via the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. I finished with a time of 05:10:18 and got the Best Ending.

A Hole New World (Switch)

This game was ok. Felt like an NES game which I guess is what they were going for. You play as the Potion Master as you go through Upside Down World. I guess the unique thing about this game is being able to jump into pitfalls that lead you upside down and if you jump back in the ceiling you go right side up again.

Kinda gimmicky and I didn't really need to go upside down much unless I really had to. I probably missed out on a couple of secrets though.

Some of the boss fights in this game are pretty bad. Well, just two of them. Bad as in "WTF were they thinking with those patterns?" kind of bad. The last boss sent me into fits of rage but I eventually did beat the game with the normal ending. Dunno if I really want to bother going back for the true ending.

Super Life of Pixel (Switch)

This game was really charming. You play as a pixel in a pure platformer where you go through a bunch of levels based off of consoles from the ZX81, Atari 2600, ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC 464, Commodore 64, Game Boy, NES, SNES, Amiga, Apple II. There's probably a few more consoles I still need to unlock.

Football Game (Switch)

This was...quite the point and click game. You play as Tommy who is a high school football star who has plans to meet up with his girlfriend at a college football game.

This game was a little on the short side but it did not overstay it's welcome. This game led me asking so many questions after I had finished the game. I even reloaded my save near the end and watched the ending like three times just to try and figure out on what just happened. Felt like one of those games where you piece in all the clues yourself and try to figure it out in your own interpretation.

Submerged (Switch)

This game was pretty chill. You play as a girl named Miku who has to go through a submerged city to look for supplies for her brother. You get to go around on a boat and the best part of the game is climbing around the buildings. It was a nice game to experience.


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Oh god my one a month is way down. I'm gonna have to make a push, but at least I have one thing done.

Fire Emblem: Blazing Blade (GBA)

Did what was basically a casual draft with some friends, purposefully chose some units I never tend to use. Some of those did not win me over.

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Hunter's Arena: Legends (PS4)

You can't really beat this game as it's an online battle royale, but I got the platinum trophy which is the closest thing to it, I guess.

It's a battle royale game that has elements from fighters and mobas. There are over a dozen characters that are basically a bunch of Asian tropes (monkey, ninja, assassin, etc.) and each have unique attacks and abilities. Each one has 4 abilities that can be used off cooldown, and an ultimate power that is unlocked during the match. Starting at level 1, you fight mobs or other players to gain levels and collect stronger equipment. You use a mix of normal and heavy attacks, blocks, and dodges, which is a pretty simple system but hard to master. Each match is over when only one player or team is left alive.

There is a single map that seems very large at first, but after playing enough it starts to feel pretty small. I put in probably 30 hours or so for the platinum, and I was basically done with it at that point. I had a good time but did not feel like there was any reason to still play it at that point. There are some balance issues and probably the biggest problem is that fighting other players near the beginning is downright detrimental to your chances of winning. The game should have better rewards for taking on human players instead of just looting chests or fighting mobs. But maybe they will iron out these issues down the line. It's a game that has some promise, but I'm not sure if it will get the player base necessary to succeed.

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Dishonored (PC)

Great experience. I wasn't expecting so much when I started this game but it really delivered. I love the kinda steampunk setting with the plague background; it's recognizable enough while still feeling really unique. The gameplay is top-notch; you get enough skills to kill or stealth, even though there probably could've been more (stealth-wise you really only need Blink and maybe Dark Vision). The level design is where this game really shines though, and it's really great to finally have a game that shows a route that you can actually take, climbing up ledges on walls and bypassing entire areas. This game will definitely teach you to look up. The writing was engaging enough, I liked most of the characters, even if some aspects of the plot (like everything with the Outsider) could have used some more development, and the ending felt kinda abrupt too. Graphics and soundtrack complemented all the things the story wanted to do so really glad to have experienced this game.

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The Banner Saga (Switch)

I have a love/hate relationship with games that constantly present you with lose/lose situations. It makes it all the more engrossing, but man do I fret about what I am doing and the potential consequences.
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Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot (PS4)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79638007


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Final Fantasy V (GBA)

One of the very few games I had still left on my GBA backlog, but after about 15 years in my possession I finally beat the game, right after I beat FFIX less than a week ago!

I couldn't get into this one for a long time and it didn't get easier after playing through the entire Bravely series plus Final Fantasy III basically in a row last fall/winter, with FFV being yet another game with the job system, so I played this one on and off. However, I went on a bit of a marathon the last few days, especially today, to finally finish it. It's a great game, the job system inherently makes this one of the better Final Fantasy titles in terms of gameplay, but there were a lot of times where I felt a little bored as well, either from it being tedious or feeling uneventful. The story became more interesting after the first part while still keeping that lighthearted tone, which was nice to see. And as always in these job-system games, you can get stupidly overpowered at the end and it's always fun to arrive at that point. I absolutely smashed the final few bosses and I love that. Nevertheless, because I had already played those Bravely games, Final Fantasy V wasn't as impressive or exciting to me anymore, even though it came first of course. I think the charm, homages, little jokes and easter eggs are the best things about it. Overall, I think it's going to be a mid tier FF for me, around FFIV (which was the opposite of FFV in terms of its strengths and weaknesses), but I still have II, VI, VII and VIII left to play/beat.

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Firewatch (PS4)

An overall decent walking simulator as you play as the main character Henry, who after some depressing events in his life, takes a job to take the controls of a watchtower in the middle of nowhere to get away from it all. His only companion is a radio, where his superior Delilah gives him orders or just converses with him on occasion. The dialogue between the two is the main highlight as the conversations can get really interesting, and it isn't the story because while it builds up well it eventually falls flat on its face and made me hate the overall storyline. Still glad I played it for all the dialogue, and I do wonder how long it took to record all the alternate voice lines between the two characters - all dialogue is voiced, and even though the game is only four hours at most there's still a lot!

The Midnight Sanctuary (PS4)

Now this is a weird one - it's a visual novel set in a secluded Christian village in Japan, the game stars Hamomoru Tachibana, a guest tasked with trying to modernize the village and integrate it with the rest of the world, as Christians in Japan shortly before the time period the game takes place in, were persecuted due to the influence of the Tokugawa shogunate. However, the appearance of another guest dubbed the Saint has changed the faith of the people in the village, and soon Hamomoru learns the real truth of the village. It definitely has a good hook and going any further would spoil a lot - though I was disappointed overall with the game itself - never really got invested in any of the characters and the game ended abruptly due to its short length.

In short, I wouldn't recommend playing either of these games. Hopefully the next game I play will be more enjoyable!

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Bloodborne (PS4) (Platinum get)
I loved it. I briefly attempted it in the past but bringing my Souls experience helped, even though it plays quite differently. The setting and enemies, transforming weapons and uniqueness all helped to make it stand out in an already great series.

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Ghouls 'n Ghosts (Genesis)

Played it via my Genesis Mini.
This is the first game I have beaten in the series legitimately.
I am very happy I took the time of the day to sit down and played through it all the way.
I'm proud of this victory.

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Super Meat Boy (PC)

I know this game was pretty universally acclaimed once upon a time - have opinions shifted since its release? I ask because I don't really see anyone talk about it anymore, to the extent that I didn't even know there was a recent sequel of sorts. And also because... I don't really think this is a very good game. For a precision platformer, it never really felt all that precise. Even after having finished it now, I still don't think I understand the physics very much at all. I was jumping straight into sawblades right up until the credits rolled because Meat Boy's jumps just never took the trajectory I expected them to.

Look, I can do punishing difficulty; over this last year in particular I've played through a notoriously tough game or two. But SMB's difficulty felt pretty artificial a lot of the time. Bosses who give little to no indication of where they're attacking so that it's literally impossible to beat them in a 1-hit-death game until you've already seen their patterns at least once. Occasional enemies whose movements seem almost random. That one damn level in Rapture where you have to wall jump back and forth across the room repeatedly while missiles fire at you as you wait for the key blocks to unlock. There were just too many occasions where I felt like I just got a little lucky in finishing a level rather than getting a sense of accomplishment from it. Then you've got controls that overall feel a bit slippery if not outright unresponsive at times, not to mention the extremely off-putting Newgrounds humor that had me skipping cutscenes for almost the entire playthrough...

I don't know. Maybe it's just a game that straight-up hasn't aged well in the wake of games like Celeste, because I can see how it would have been an impressive product when it first came out and there was nothing much like it on the market. But here in 2021 when this sort of game has now been done so much better, it doesn't compare.

Glad I played it, I guess, just to have it on my gamer resume. Glad I beat it, which going by Steam achievements is a rare enough feat, especially since it only took 3 and a half hours in the end. But I've gotta be honest... Bad video game.

Edit: Forgot to mention, after all the ridiculousness in the game, and particularly some frustration with the levels in the last world for being way too long for their own good, I somehow first-tried the final boss. Figured that was as good a place as any to wash my hands of it forever.

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Hot Shot Racing (XB1)

A modern take on old arcade racing games like Out Run and Daytona USA but with standard lap-based racing setups, including grand prixes. I say that it is a modern take not only because of the driving style but because they have timer-based checkpoints. However, I didn't see any changes surrounding that when it came to what difficulty you chose, so I wonder why they even bothered with the checkpoint system because when I routinely had a dozen or more seconds left to spare each time. I even tried it once where I purposely wiped out immediately after a checkpoint and didn't use boost or drafting just to see how close I could cut it. It was something like seven seconds, so I just don't see how it is possible to fail a checkpoint.

Other than that, it was a brief but very solid experience. I didn't care for the side modes, but the main racing portion is good with some solid course design.
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Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja (Switch/Arcade)

I was a bad enough dude to rescue President Ronnie from Ninjas.

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The Great Ace Attorney (Switch)

Just finished the first game of the two. Overall, I loved the presentation and atmosphere, and many of the characters are wonderful in this one. However, I'm happy there's a second game to continue the story and I hope it delivers, because this game on its own I found one of the weaker ones. It's missing some oomph, and only the final case actually feels like a full Ace Attorney case. It's clear this game was made with a sequel in mind and is created around that, so I'll play the sequel first before I evaluate this one further.

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Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King (Switch)

Trying to emulate A Link to the Past, Blossom Tales is a solid action-adventure game that you just wish did more to craft its own identity.

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Gate of Doom (Switch/Arcade)

This game seemed like it was going to be fun at first glance.
Nope.
Even with infinite credits/quarter feeding, I actually felt miserable throughout the game when I was trying to avoid the enemy patterns but to no avail.
I used the Bard cause he has the best range with the spear.

Wizard Fire (Switch/Arcade)

The sequel to Gate of Doom. You get one new move, a rapid attack, but I felt about the same way as I did with Gate of Doom. I once again went with the Bard.
One nice thing I did like about this game was the cut scenes in between the levels and the voice acting. Those were nice production values for it's time.

Sly Spy (Switch/Arcade)

Slyyyy Spyyyy
This game was heavily inspired by James Bond.
It was a fun game. I used about less than 20 credits.

Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (PC/Arcade)

Replayed this with a friend online via Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara.
I was the Fighter and he was the Dwarf.
Decent beat em' up. The sequel, Shadow over Mystara is superior in every single way.

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got a decent few since last time I posted

OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood - Hard arcadey skateboarding game, finally finished all hard levels after years of not touching the game because it was too hard.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 - hell yeah tony hawk, fantastic remake and great choice putting in gameplay elements from future games into this one

WWE 2K Battlegrounds - eh, not very good. boring game imo

Rez Infinite - Cool game but really short and lacking in replay value since the 5 levels are exactly the same every time you play it. Need to do Area X still, but I beat the main game.

Tricky Towers - It has been years since I played this back when it was free on PS+, and I was only missing the very last trial to beat it. Took me a couple hours, but I finally got it. Probably one of the best PS+ games I ever got, largely because it's just so much fun, doesn't get old quickly, and is easy to pick up and play.


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Mega Man X (PC/SNES)

Replayed via Mega Man X Legacy Collection.

Legendary game.

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Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (PS3)
I always knew about the Sly Cooper games and thought they looked interesting. Then in 2015 the remastered trilogy came with my PS3, and I started playing the first one and actually did find it to be a really fun 3D platformer! I'm not sure why I stopped, but recently I restarted and again had a lot of fun. The gameplay is really great - the platforming elements that build as you progress through the game are really fun and even most of the minigames are cool. The level design, with the exception of one world, was really good. I love how there are collectables and challenges with some decent rewards but they aren't so advantageous that beating the game without them is impossible. Opening the vaults was still more about the challenge to me than the power-ups. This is the kind of game that I could viably see myself going back to 100% someday, or trying to 100% future games in the series (assuming collectables and challenges that count toward percentage don't get too ridiculous).

The story and characters were all pretty fun with one exception - fuck Murray, fuck his voice, fuck his levels. Otherwise, not a bad character in the bunch. I do like how they gave the villains (and honestly everybody really, but especially the villains) sympathetic backstories. Fleshed them out a little more instead of just making them cackling baddies, and provided a contrast between them and Sly, who also had a rough upbringing but became more of a Robin Hood-esque thief, being a decent guy at heart despite technically being a criminal. The rivalry between Sly and Carmelita Fox is really entertaining and I'm looking forward to seeing that play out in future games.

Now for the bad. I felt like there were some hit/collision detection issues. I felt like there were times when I hit an enemy head on and they didn't die, and times when I was nowhere near an attack or hazard but I did get hit. There were also a million times when I was practically touching a glowing setpiece and pressed the circle button but I didn't go into the necessary action, thus dying in what seemed like a death that wasn't my fault. The swamp world absolutely sucked. For a game in which you can't swim and water kills/damages you, there was way too much water in this mid-game world. One-hit kills suck in general, but what makes them even worse is when you're struggling on a level and the game automatically ups the amount of hits you're allowed to take the more times you fail, and there's no way to turn this off, making you feel less accomplished when you finally do succeed. This was particularly frustrating in the final world, but incidentally I did actually finally end up beating the final boss without taking a hit.

Overall I enjoyed this, despite some frustrations, and look forward to playing future games in the series. Hopefully they fix some of my complaints.

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Metroid (Switch/NES)

Replayed via Switch.
Hyped for Metroid Dread.

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NEO: The World Ends With You (PS4)

I loved the original TWEWY and I've always wanted a sequel to it. So when they announced a sequel so many years later, I was hyped but also a bit wary since you never know how it's gonna turn out.

Well, after playing and platinumming it, I can say I was satisfied. I wanted more TWEWY and I got more TWEWY. The original is still better but the sequel managed to live up to it imo.

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Supraland (XB1)

I played some very early segment(s) years ago, but I finally played the full thing recently. The exploration and puzzle elements are outstanding, but combat should have just been nixed entirely. At best, it is an inconvenience, and at worst it was a momentum and enthusiam-killing slog. Enemies keep respawning too, so that alongside the lack of an counter/tracking/map regarding secrets/upgrades (late game will see you a super expensive chest tracker, whatever that specifically does) served as a discouragement to seek out extra stuff.

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Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (GBA)

Fire Emblem, to me, is a series kind of defined by peaks and valleys. The majority of its entries all have one or two aspects - whether it's map design, characters, plot, overall gameplay, etc. - that it does notably better than most other games in the franchise and one or two that it does notably worse.

Sacred Stones bucks that trend for me by just being pretty consistently decent throughout. There aren't any real standout chapters or any that I had a miserable time with. The narrative is pretty standard FE fare, and it feels pretty rushed at the end, but it has some interesting beats, most of which come from Lyon - I know he's kind of polarizing among the fanbase, but I found him to be one of its more compelling villains. And Ephraim (whose route I played) is probably one of its better Lords. The rest of the cast is fine but probably one of the more forgettable lineups all said.

The gameplay ended up being the weakest piece for me. SS does some things I like, like branching promotions (even if that ends up being kinda half-baked and poorly balanced), shops on the world map, and the trainee system... in theory, at least. But it's just waaaay too easy, and that's a big deal for an SRPG where so much of the inherent draw comes from the challenge. Most of my army felt invincible by the end as long as I didn't do something silly like put Syrene in range of a Sniper, and that's with the only grinding I did being for supports (a system which still sucks, by the way). Granted, my Ephraim got very RNG blessed, but no one else was having any trouble either.

Overall, I think it lands toward the bottom-middle of my series ranking, but with Fire Emblem being one of my favorite series, that's not an insult; it takes a lot to make an FE game actively bad to me. Good game.

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The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (PC)



The game has it's ups and downs, but at the end I think it was pretty good
Not a top tier Ace Attorney game by any means, but much better than say...Apollo Justice

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Death's Door (PC)
I beat something on my own! A nice overhead hack & slash game, very charming. Not ambitious exactly, not long. But worth playing.

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Mega Man X2 (PC/SNES)

Replayed via Mega Man X Legacy Collection

It's my personal favorite in the series.

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