Board 8 > The Great 2023 Video Game Challenge

(+) Yeah! (+)

27. Beat a game with mystery as a central theme
Gnosia

8. Beat a spin-off or a game that rebooted a franchise
Final Fantasy Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line

I doubt I'm even at 5% of my eventual playtime for Theatrhythm, but it told me I beat it, so I guess that counts?

7/52

forgot to roll a trope, here's what i got:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PsychicBlockDefense

might go for twewy, of these

25. Beat a game with horror as a central theme

Resident Evil 4

34. Beat a game with an animal lead
Diddy Kong Racing (N64)

I always wanted to go back and play through all of this. Really repetitive but also one of the only truly distinctive kart racers out there.

11/52

16. Beat a rhythm game

Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line

6/50

16. Beat a rhythm game

Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line

Still got a lotta playing left to do on this, but got the credits screen. Soooo many songs!

6/52

19. Beat a platformer
Spy Bros.: Pipi & Bibi's DX (Switch)

Played through this on co-op with a friend. I've never been into the Elevator Action kind of games before, but this holds up pretty well outside of some unfairness.

12/52

9. Beat a remake or enhanced port
Katamari Damacy REROLL

27. Beat a game with mystery as a central theme


Heavy Rain

While this is my first playthrough and it's been out well over a decade, I am comfortable in asserting Heavy Rain was not a well-written game at the time it came out, let alone now. It has aged very, very badly. It's nonsensical, cliched, thoroughly gross in most aspects, and is not particularly fun to play, although there's a few kinda cute gimmicks. I finished it through some morbid fascination and desire to see how much of a trainwreck it would be (I got my head bashed in after failing a single quick time event, but other than that, it was underwhelming).

10/52

38. Finish a game in one day
Space Funeral

47. Play a technically unbeatable game for at least six hours
Star Wars the Old Republic
Every few years I'll play through one of the class story campaigns, each one is kind of like its own little Star Wars trilogy and can be played through with a free account.
Two more to go, maybe I'll finally finish them all up next year.

9. Beat a remake or enhanced port
Diablo 2 Resurrected
The original was one of the games I probably spent the most time playing as a kid, definitely fun and nostalgic to play through it again. Went with an assassin build.

7/52

40. Beat a game with a Metascore below 70

Murdered: Soul Suspect

7/50

17. Beat a shooting game

Gears of War 4

2. Beat a game released between 1993-2002
Goldeneye 007

32. Beat a game with a non-white lead
The Gunk

27. Beat a game with mystery as a central theme
Norco

30. Beat a game with a female lead
Murder by Numbers

Feb update. Norco was my fav of the bunch, and I was surprised how fun Goldeneye still is as someone who had never touched it before.

uh I don't think I'll beat the challenge this year

9. Beat a remake or enhanced port

Persona 3 Portable

41. Beat a game with a Metascore above 90

Persona 4 Golden

Both over 100 hours, though I did go for all achievements on both. I guess this is the year of Persona for me since I'm going for all the spinoffs now. At least I can skip the P5 stuff since I did it last year

5/50

32. Beat a game with a non-white lead

Judgment

One of the games I was working on before Persona 3 and 4 dropped on Game Pass. Like the other RGG games I had a ton of fun playing this though they'll still never get me to play Mahjong without cheating

6/50

HBJDubs posted...

Judgment

One of the games I was working on before Persona 3 and 4 dropped on Game Pass. Like the other RGG games I had a ton of fun playing this though they'll still never get me to play Mahjong without cheating

Heck mahjong. I think it added like 50 hours to my time when I got the platinum

42. Beat another user's favorite game
Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

Glad I got around to it before The Nonary Games leaves Game Pass.

11/52

3. Beat a game released between 2003-2012
Diablo 3

Been a while since I've played D3, this 'last hoorah' season is pretty great for a send off to the game. Might actually make it to a 150 rift with the power boost from the Alter of Rites.

38. Finish a game in one day
Adios

Moving Space Funeral to 14. Beat an RPG

12/52

37. Beat a game you'd dropped or had a long hold on

Kentucky Route Zero. Played Act 1 a few years ago and never came back to it. The game leaving Game Pass soon got me back in it. Pretty weird story imo

7/50

8. Beat a spin-off or a game that rebooted a franchise
Like a Dragon: Ishin!

29. Beat a game with comedy as a central theme

South Park: The Stick of Truth

25. Beat a game with horror as a central theme
The Last of Us: Remastered (PS4)

Replayed this in tandem with the HBO series.

13/52

Once I get to like 20 games beaten, I think that I will finally add games to categories

13. Beat a game made by an indie developer

Blue Fire

24. Beat a game with romance as a central theme

Kaichu - A Kaiju Dating Sim

31. Beat a game with a child lead
Pokmon Violet

Bump

17. Beat a shooting game
Pokemon Snap

8/52

5. Beat a game released in 2023
Hi-Fi Rush

1. Beat a game released before 1993

Captain Commando

8/50

4. Beat a game released between 2013-2022

A Plague Tale: Requiem. The other game I was working on before Persona came out. Good game, on par with the first one

9/50

36. Beat a game that's been in your backlog for a long time
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

13/52

I was hoping someone would comment on my Pokemon Snap placement lol

I've become numb to people putting games in ill-fitting categories that I haven't commented on it since maybe 2020

5. Beat a game released in 2023
Fire Emblem Engage

GotY so far

9/52

3. Beat a game released between 2003-2012
Dust: An Elysian Tail

Almost four months but finally on the board!

15. Beat a puzzle game
Portal

First game started (and finished) on my new Steam Deck. Portal 2 likely not far behind, though will have to figure out what category it will go in.

7/52

March update

43. Beat a game based on licensed stories/characters
Guardians of the Galaxy

38. Finish a game in one day
Kirby's Dream Land

19. Beat a platformer
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

35. Beat a game with a lead from a fictional species
Kirby Super Star

1. Beat a game released before 1993
Fire 'N Ice

31. Beat a game with a child lead
Omori

This would've been a lean month if I didn't have the week of Switch Online. All good games! I was most surprised by Fire 'N Ice, a really solid puzzle game for the NES that has dated very well. Omori is really good, I could talk about it for some time.

23. Beat a sports game
WWE 2K23

Counting this since the MyRise mode has two campaigns with endings now rather than it never ending last year.

14/52

5. Beat a game released in 2023
Hi-Fi Rush

18. Beat a simulation game
Papers, Please

38. Finish a game in one day
Spelunky

46. Beat a game you received for free or through a paid subscription service
Adios

11/52

5. Beat a game relased in 2023
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog

15. Beat a puzzle game
Pokmon Puzzle Challenge

16. Beat a rhythm game
Rhythm Tengoku (GBA)

oh right this!

14. Beat an RPG: Super Mario RPG Randomizer
17. Beat a shooting game: Twinkle Star Sprites
37. Beat a game you'd dropped or had a long hold on: Vampire Survivors
38. Finish a game in one day: Dolphin Blue
19. Beat a platformer: GRIS

37) Beat a game you'd dropped or had a long hold on: Elden Ring

11/52

First time I've beaten a FromSoft game, and it's by far the best I've played. I have a lot of issues with certain fights (especially against anything large. The camera was obviously not designed with some of the later bosses in mind and some big bosses often partially clip through the floor or nearby objects? which I recognise is hard to avoid in a game like this but detracts from the experience pretty badly) and the difficulty curve, but I enjoyed it overall, and the open world is probably the most impressive I've ever seen content-wise. I think I beat it while pretty underleved and using only Rogier's Rapier (which I kept from basically the start and got up to +25 by the end), but there weren't many fights that felt blatantly unfair even while (I think) gimping myself, when compared to other games in the same genre. I'm glad that this sort of game has finally been made playable for those who aren't masochists or crazy good at games.

31. Beat a game with a child lead
Pokemon Fire Red (plus)

Slightly different version, with all trainers having stronger pokemon (higher leveled, and usually the evolution of first stage mons, if later in the game). Blaine, Gio, and all Elite 4 trainers had 6 pokemon also. AI had the opponent normally doing whatever was the best move they could do as well, so it was definitely a tougher run, but still got through it. Pokemon Emerald is likely the next pokemon game, because I've never actually beaten a pokemon game that wasn't gen 1, 2, or let's go: Eevee.

8/52

17. Beat a shooting game
Metroid Prime Remastered

30. Beat a game with a female lead
Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt

29. Beat a game with comedy as a central theme
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe

34. Beat a game with an animal lead
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog

3. Beat a game released between 2003-2012
Space Funeral

5. Beat a game released in 2023
Hi-Fi Rush

7. Beat a game in a series you've already played some of
Watch Dogs 2

8. Beat a spin-off or a game that rebooted a franchise
Wolfenstein: The New Order

9. Beat a remake or enhanced port
PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate

10. Beat a game made by a director/composer/artist/etc that you like
Chicory: A Colorful Tale

11. Beat a game made by a developer you like
Bugsnax

12. Beat a game made by a developer you've never tried
Chorus

13. Beat a game made by an indie developer
Mystik Belle

21. Beat a strategy game
Fuga: Melodies of Steel

23. Beat a sports game
Turbo Golf Racing

26. Beat a game with revenge as a central theme
Prodigal

28. Beat a game with the supernatural as a central theme
Psychonauts 2

29. Beat a game with comedy as a central theme
Return to Monkey Island

30. Beat a game with a female lead
Queen's Quest 5: Symphony of Death

31. Beat a game with a child lead
Lil Gator Game

32. Beat a game with a non-white lead
Chinatown Detective Agency

34. Beat a game with an animal lead
Webbed

35. Beat a game with a lead that's from a fictional species
Sheepo

36. Beat a game that's been in your backlog for a long time
Family Mysteries 2: Echoes of Tomorrow

38. Finish a game in one day
Adios

39. Finish a game that took you at least twenty-five hours to beat
Immortals: Fenyx Rising

41. Beat a game with a Metascore above 90
Persona 5 Royal

46. Beat a game you received for free or through a paid subscription service
Life is Strange: True Colors

47. Play a technically unbeatable game for at least six hours
Apex Legends

50. Beat three games in a series (First game)
Mass Effect

Stay tuned for another mass dump in five months!

43. Beat a game based on licensed stories/characters

Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles

8/50

30. Beat a game with a female lead
Umihara Kawase

10/52