Board 8 > June's Game of the Month Club ft. Cave Story, Pikuniku, and F.I.S.T.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Junes Games:
Cave Story (PC/Switch/Wii/3DS)
Pikuniku (PC/XB1/Switch/Stadia)
F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch (PC/PS4/PS5)

What is Game of the Month Club?
Game of the Month is a community project open to all B8ers where users share, discover, play and/or discuss a select few games every month. The games featured each month are chosen by YOU the users (and Lady Luck)

The Basics
- Each month will usually feature three games that were chosen via a random drawing from a pool of games that users nominated
- For each game you beat, you get a cool point on our just-for-fun standings as well as a nomination for next month's randomized drawing
- In order to receive the point and nomination, you must beat said game within the calendar month
- If you beat one of the current month's games in the previous month, you can apply for a "recently beaten waiver," but you will only receive a point and no nomination should you do so
- Drawing for next month's games is usually on the 25th
- If you periodically keep us posted on your progress and/or talk about different aspects of the games, then everyone will think you are super awesome!

Nomination Rules
- You get one nomination automatically each month
- You receive additional nominations each month for every featured game that you beat
- Each game you nominate has to be unique from all other nominations and cannot include a game that has already been selected for GotM
- Each game must be a standalone game that can be acquired and played on its own (aka cannot be DLC/expansion that requires the base game)
- Nominations only carry over if you beat a featured game after the drawing for next month's games but before the end of the month
- You have 9 supports you can use throughout the year. Your only limitations are that you can't support your own nomination, and you can only use one support per game per month

Just-for-Fun Top 20 Standings
KCF - 147
gameking - 116
ArkOfTurus - 86
Mr Crispy - 84
Lolo Guru - 70
Cody - 51
KnightOfNee - 35
MegamanX - 28
Arti - 23
scarletspeed - 23
Wickle - 23
darkx - 18
ViolentAbacus - 18
FakeAccount - 16
Fenny - 16
GreatPaul - 16
MZero - 15
Suprak the Stud - 14
tazzyboy - 14
Robazoid - 13

Spreadsheet with history
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1X8E8oqzES42W4S82j7WTfNnzNa8c3uXdSE1rnqYG7WM/edit?usp=sharing

Additional noms this month
Cody - 1
Crispy - 1
MZero - 1
Paul - 1

Pikuniku is available on Game Pass for console and PC

I also have a Steam key for Pikuniku and am willing to give it to anyone is interested in the game and vows to make a concerted effort to beat the game during June (it's like three hours long)

Definitely doing Pikuniku and F.I.S.T.

Not sure about Cave Story yet.

Gonna give Pikuniku a try.

Beat Pikuniku

Short game but it was charming and had some decent variety.

Abacus has beat Pikuniku

Something about it kinda grated on me. I liked it early on, then by the end I wasn't really feeling it.

About 45% of the way through FIST, according to the game completion.

It's been all right so far. Not as good as the last couple of Metroidvania's I've played, but definitely interesting and good enough to keep my attention. Of course, part of the reason I'm not as in to it is me being terrible at combos when playing games.

Also, not sure how the PS4/5 ports are, but the PC port performs pretty rough at times. And that's coming from someone who thought Bloodstains Switch port was fine on release.

Edit: These games need to start giving me a way to mark things on the map.

Cody has beaten Pikuniku

What a peculiar game.

I'm just playing Dragon Quest 11 S Definitive Edition this month. And possibly even next month and the one after that tbh...

Gonna go ahead with my nominations.

Nominate:
Batman: Arkham Knight
Gone Home
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Pikuniku beated!

To be honest, I wasn't exactly sure what this game was, other than being a short indie game on my copious backlog. Turns out, it's a fine, serviceable puzzle platformer. Nothing special but decent for what it is.

About halfway through Cave Story. Haven't played this in about 6 years, according to Steam. I played the original indie release a lot back when it was released. It's still a pretty good game!

I'm pissed that I fucked up the steps to get to Hell (at the end of the game) and of course save Curly Brace though. I apparently had the same problem when I played 6 years ago... This time, I grabbed the Booster .8, when I shouldn't have. Ah well! Truth be told, I can't remember if I actually managed to beat Ballos way back in the day, as It's quite a long run to get to that point.

Just got the final normal bosses to go for Cave Story. My patience was running thin tonight, so I'll give it another go tomorrow.

KCF has beaten Pikuniku

There really isn't much more to say than I did the first time that I beat this a few years ago. It's goofy brand of humor is right up my alley, and the physics are equally fun and goofy, though they probably should have done away with anything requiring precision.

I'm just going to go with my usual two or fewer nom theme and go with some Game Pass games that will probably also be on sale during Steam's upcoming summer sale:

Olija
Paradise Killer

Cave Story beated!

Still a very good game. Maybe the next time I play it I'll remember to save Curly and see the true final boss. Of course by that point my dexterity and patience will have atrophied even further...

Probably won't be in on F.I.S.T unless there's a really good sale by Steam in a few weeks.

Beat Cave Story

First time playing it and got the normal ending. Very fun game but I don't think I could go for the best ending since I struggled a lot with the last couple of bosses.

Monthly Progress
Cave - JONA, Sean
Piku - JONA, Abacus, Cody, Sean, KCF
FIST -

Nominations
Cody - Batman: AK, Gone Home, LoZ: ALBW
KCF - Olija, Paradise Killer

Supports

I took a brief one week break from FIST and when I came back I had completely forgotten all of the combos and kept getting decimated in fights

Guess I'll nominate King's Quest (2015) again.

ArkOfTurus has beaten Cave Story

Normal ending. Still want to get around to a second playthrough for the good ending (although I dunno if I'll be up for beating that final area again,) but I don't know if I'll get around to it this month.

Nominate Neon White and TMNT: Shredder's Revenge

Nominate The Wonderful 101, Chicken Police - Paint it Red! and South Park: The Stick of Truth

Okay, I did it. I also beat Pikuniku

Probably won't also try to do Cave Story due to other things I'm playing but at least I did one thing.

Drawing in a week

I should have FIST beat by the end of the month, started playing it again.

Nominate
Doom 64
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

Nominate OFF and Yakuza 2 (Kiwami)
Support Wonderful 101

Think I'm near the end of FIST, just doing some cleanup on exploration before heading to the final area.

Abacus has beaten F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch

Overall it wasn't terrible, though got repetitive with the combat. Collected/finished 93% of the game. 12:39:23 was my final time.

Nominate Oddworld: Soulstorm

Nominate:

Tunic
The Pathless
Monument Valley 2

Monthly Progress
Cave - JONA, Sean, Ark
Piku - JONA, Abacus, Cody, Sean, KCF, Wickle
FIST - Abacus

Nominations
Abacus - DOOM 64, Warhammer 40k, Oddworld Soulstorm
Ark - Neon White, TMNT Shredder
Cody - Batman: AK, Gone Home, LoZ: ALBW
Crispy - OFF, Yakuza 2
Fake - King Quest '15
Jona - Wonderful 101, Chicken Police, South Park Stick
KCF - Olija, Paradise Killer
Sean - Tunic, Pathless, Monument Valley 2

Supports
Crispy - Wonderful

Drawing Saturday

Cave Story+ is on sale on Steam for $7.50 USD
https://store.steampowered.com/app/200900/Cave_Story/

Pikuniku is on sale on Steam for $3.25 USD
https://store.steampowered.com/app/572890/Pikuniku/

(I also want to remind people that I have a Steam key I'm willing to give away as well as have a 2 month trial for Game Pass Ultimate that can be redeemed by anyone who has yet to subscribe to it, which includes console, PC, and mobile gaming (via cloud for last one))

F.I.S.T. is on sale on Steam for $24.00 USD
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1330470/FIST_Forged_In_Shadow_Torch/

I went through the nomination list, checked out what was available on Steam and if they were part of the sale, and decided to change my noms to add a pair a low-cost options.

PixelJunk Shooter 2 (second half of PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate)
Paperball

I'll drop Link Between Worlds and nominate Detroit Become Human instead.

Support Paperball

Support Wonderful 101

Nominate Pokemon Black/White 2

Last call for noms, supports, and changes

Everything is closed. I will draw soon-ish

And your July Games of the Month are...

Paperball (PC/Switch)
DOOM 64 (PC/XB1/PS4/Switch/Stadia/N64)
Tunic (PC/XB1)

And to "celebrate" Shark Week/Month/whatever July has to do with sharks, our special fourth game will be Maneater (PC/XB1/PS4/Switch)

Congrats to myself, Abacus, and Sean for having their games selected!

Nice! Tunic is on Gamepass so may give it a try as well this month.

Paperball is on sale for $3 USD for PC via Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1198510/Paperball/

Paperball Deluxe (includes all DLC) is on sale for $4.50 USD for Switch
https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/paperball-deluxe-switch/

DOOM 64 is on sale for $1.25 USD or PC via Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1148590/DOOM_64/

DOOM 64 is on sale for $2.50 USD for Switch
https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/doom-64-switch/

DOOM 64 is on Game Pass for console, PC, and cloud gaming

Tunic is on sale for $27 USD for PC via Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/553420/TUNIC/

Tunic is on Game Pass for console, PC, and cloud gaming

Maneater is on sale for $20 USD for PC via Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/629820/Maneater/

Maneater is on sale for $20 USD for PS4/5
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP0115-CUSA14519_00-MANEATER00000001

Maneater is on sale for $20 USD for Switch
https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/maneater-switch/

Maneater is on Game Pass for console, PC, and cloud gaming

Maneater is also on the premium PS+ and has been a recent Epic giveaway and Humble Monthly game, so there are decent odds that one has access to the game.

Wooo Tunic!

Is Paperball just Monkey Ball?

I guess you can say Monkey Ball since it has the "behind the shoulder" camera, but all those games to me trace their roots to Marble Madness.

I will definitely play Paperball and Maneater. I just went through Tunic in April/May, and that is the kind of game that I would want to have multi-year breaks before playing again. DOOM 64 I just went through I think last year, but it's a maybe because I enjoy that genre and style.

In for Paperball, maybe Maneater if I have time.

Definitely in for Maneater (sharks rule), Tunic, and probably Doom as well. Bless Gamepass

@KCF0107 if you still have the key I'd probably try to squeeze in Pikniku since it's one of those things that I'm sort of interested in but not quite enough to prioritize over other games.

@Mr_Crispy The key on Steam or the key for the Game Pass Ultimate 2 month trial?

the key on steam.

thanks. I'll probably try to start it after dinner.