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StarTopic The 2023 Completed Games Thread

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1. Ori and the Will of the Wisps ( 8.5/10 )

2. Rayman 2 Revolution ( 8.5/10 )

My first time playing this one, and wow, I def have a lot of thoughts on it. I feel like this is a game with both highs and lows. I'll start with the visuals:

The atmosphere can be amazing at times. My favorite area was the Sanctuary of Water and Ice, just an incredible area that's easily one of my favorites in video games. I also really liked The Fairy Glades, and the marsh/swamp and fire/lava areas were pretty good too. The sections where you're gliding downward with Rayman's helicopter also stood out to me as feeling incredibly cinematic feeling for a platformer. Overall, though maybe there were a few misses, I feel like the character/enemy/object designs were all really well-done too. Basically, this has some of the best art direction I've ever seen for a platformer...sometimes.

There are a lot of other areas, especially later on, that tend to blend into each other. Lots of pirate fortresses, pirate ships, etc. These areas feel much more dull/less vibrant to me than the other areas. Which leads me to, that a lot of the environments in this game have a very dark vibe to them. As much as I like some of the areas like mentioned above, pretty much all the other areas feel pretty dark, or dull/bleak. Even the marsh/swamp and fire/lava areas have some of this too. It's unfortunate, because overall I think the game has a really interesting art style, and there are some amazing areas in there, it's just there are also so many of these dark areas which kind of blend into each other and aren't as memorable/interesting to me.

The gameplay is mostly really good. It starts off as a pretty simple, easy feeling platformer, but the difficulty quickly increases, leading to some legitimately hard sections later on. It reminds me of games like Pac Man World 2, or Mario Galaxy 2, where the levels are linear but there's also some openness to them, more than something like Crash. I love the Crash style too, but I also really like the mix here you get with some obstacle-course style platforming, but also some openness. Rayman also has some really unique, nice feeling movement. It might be cool to get some kind of forward momentum move like the roll jump in DK/Jak and Daxter, slide jump in Crash, long jump in Mario etc. But Rayman has this really nice sense of lightness/bounciness to him, and the helicopter ability is great. I also really like the touches of him flipping in the air, and rolling on the ground as he lands. I usually don't even like floaty characters that much, but Rayman's movement really worked for me here. If the gameplay was like this the whole game, I'd really have no issues with it.

Unfortunately, it isn't just platforming like this. There's also a pretty large amount of combat. I already like platforming a lot more than combat in general, and I guess the combat in this game isn't horrible, it's just really repetitive and nowhere near as fun as the platforming imo. You essentially just spam the fire button, and strafe/jump a bit. Since it's a pretty early 3D game, the lock-on targeting system can also feel pretty janky at times. In general, it feels like they were trying to come up with a lot of different ideas to keep things fresh. While sometimes this is really good, since it leads to a lot of variation with the platforming, it also leads to stuff like the combat, or...missile shell rides. These might be the most stressful parts of the game for me. It isn't the best feeling to move anyway, but the environment feels so sensitive, like even touching the air around a wall will cause the missile to explode. There are later flying missile shells which feel extremely hectic to control, and they even use one of these in the final boss fight. Definitely something I'd like to see completely redone in a modern remake, or better yet removed entirely.

Well, overall, it might seem like my feelings on this game are completely mixed, but the positives do outweigh the negatives for me. Overall, despite the issues I have with it, it's a very unique and memorable game, and even a top 10 contender for me I think. I'd love to see a remake, or just another Rayman game in general. It's a series that I'm starting to get pretty into, I just wish Ubisoft had that same interest lol.

Edit: Also, this is the Revolution version of the game, which is basically a PS2 remake. I guess most things are probably the same, but some big differences too, most notably that instead of a level select there are 3 big hub world areas. I guess I was mixed on the hub worlds, it's kind of cool how they add to the world, but they could also be a little confusing sometimes about where to go, and I'm usually someone who prefers a more level-based style anyway. It would be interesting to play the original level-based version and see how it feels different, hopefully they release it on N64 NSO for Switch at some point.
 
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6. Star Fox 64 3D (3DS) [7/10]

In theory this is just as good as Star Fox 64, but a few things weigh it down. Overall now that you can play Star Fox 64 on the go thanks to the beloved Nintendo Switch Online I would only recommend this version if you want to try the gyro controls or really want to play in 3D. I wish there was an option to play with the N64 graphics in 3D, that would be cool.

The Good:
3D is nice for aiming
Gyro aiming works well
Score attack mode is a neat idea

The Bad:
Small screen compared to N64
Worse visuals compared to N64
Worse line reads compared to N64

Maybe it's just because it's the 3D version, but I was pretty underwhelmed. Star Fox Zero may be my favorite game in the series now, or at the very least it is close to tied. It's hard to go back to the slower pacing, smaller enemy counts, and horrible All-Range Mode of 64 after beating Zero.
 
I think i'm going to need an elaboration on this, because i'm playing it right now for completion and visuals are vastly superior to the N64 original, imo.
They are on paper, but in a way that makes things worse overall. It's similar to other 3DS remakes like Majora's Mask 3D. Hard to explain in detail but the most striking example to me is that the planets on the level select screen feel less spherical despite technically having more polygons.

I think 3D would have looked very nice and clean with an original graphics mode honestly
 
I think 3D would have looked very nice and clean with an original graphics mode honestly
Kinda agree, ut also kinda not. The issue here is that most 2D elements that aren't UI have been recreated with 3D models, so we're getting not completely spherical planets, for example.

There are some downsides to having a N64 game remade for 3DS, that being one of them.

I was surprised to read you didn't say anything about the soundtrack, wich is way weaker than the original.

Another game i'm playing right now is the decompilation Super Mario 64 port with Render96's models, and that one makes me agree with you on the original graphics looking really clean on stereoscopic 3D, but there's always something that throws you off, and in this case it was Mario's model, hence why i went with Render96's character models.

Starfox64 used a lot of 2D trickery, and sadly that doesn't fly with a stereoscopic screen. But yeah, your reason for not disliking it is fair.

It's similar to other 3DS remakes like Majora's Mask 3D
I think i get this one. In the case of the Zelda games at least, Grezzo desaturated lots of dark places to avoid 3D ghosting, breaking the atmosphere the originals had. The Kakariko well and Shadow temple look way less creepy for example, as well as Gannondorf's castle.
 
Kinda agree, ut also kinda not. The issue here is that most 2D elements that aren't UI have been recreated with 3D models, so we're getting not completely spherical planets, for example.

There are some downsides to having a N64 game remade for 3DS, that being one of them.

I was surprised to read you didn't say anything about the soundtrack, wich is way weaker than the original.

Another game i'm playing right now is the decompilation Super Mario 64 port with Render96's models, and that one makes me agree with you on the original graphics looking really clean on stereoscopic 3D, but there's always something that throws you off, and in this case it was Mario's model, hence why i went with Render96's character models.

Starfox64 used a lot of 2D trickery, and sadly that doesn't fly with a stereoscopic screen. But yeah, your reason for not disliking it is fair.


I think i get this one. In the case of the Zelda games at least, Grezzo desaturated lots of dark places to avoid 3D ghosting, breaking the atmosphere the originals had. The Kakariko well and Shadow temple look way less creepy for example, as well as Gannondorf's castle.
That makes sense! You're totally right about the 2D elements, that would be tough to make it work. Guess it's kind of a no win situation then, but I still think it's worth experiencing the 3D once. And wow, the music was so forgettable I forgot to mention it lol, you're right about that being a big downside.
 
12. Operation C
13. Gex 3

Y'know, for as memey as gex games are... they aren't THAT bad. 2 I couldn't complete because levels and their repetition sucked, but 3 has some pretty good ones! You can also set Gex' voice to 0 in each game but unlesss you're yelling "What the fuck are you talking about?!" at the screen at the end of each level, it's not an authentic Gexperience. The series definitely lost its voice after the first part, and only one level lets you climb walls almost freely, and it's kind of a shame. There's SOMETHING there.

14. Mega Man X

Decided to show my husband MMX. I don't think he was too impressed, as he likes a bit more story in his games (Shovel Knight seems to be the very least he can muster and like) but I still had a kick-ass time. Armored Armadillo theme still rules.

15. Mega Man 2
16. Mega Man 3

16 games in 15 days... Yeah I lost my job how can you tell.
 
Until Engage comes out in 19 days (23 for me, CE delayed :/ ) I will be dealing with my backlog. Next up is Fire Emblem 3 Hopes.
So when I started 3 Hopes (a few weeks ago), Spirit Hunter NG went on sale and I liked the first one. I finished it today and it was fun. I still think the first one is scarier (due to the locations and spirit designs) but the characters in NG feel more fleshed out. Back to 3 Hopes lol.
 
1. Desperados III [ PC ] - 9
2. Ace Attorney Investigations: Prosecutor's Path ( Replay ) [ DS*] - 10

3. Resident Evil Deadly Silence [ DS*]

The dual screen in terms of usage for interface and the like is great, puzzles aren't much more complex than usual, but the touch screen and microphone give them an extra novelty, the knife battles make some fun encounters, and are a nice surprise not expecting where they'll pop up, some control improvements from later entries apply here, and Rebirth Mode is cool for a more action oriented run more akin to 2, a really good way to experience the original game with some cool bonuses and taking good advantage of the DS hardware.
 
filled out my Pokémon Scarlet pokédex so I think that counts!

next up, hoping to finally finish Solar Ash
 
also Inscryption? or maybe that was over the holidays? I can’t remember tbh, between my iffy memory and the covid I’m cut like an A24 film
 
#01 Aladdin (SNES)
#02 Disney's Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse (SNES)
#03 Magical Pop'n (SNES)
#04 Bonkers (SNES)
#05 Portal (Switch)
#06 Star Fox (SNES)

#07 Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania (Switch)

This was my first Monkey Ball game besides playing a bit of SMB Jr on the GBA. I didn't manage to finish everything in the game (more on that later), but I did finish story mode and saw the credits, so I'm counting it as finished.

This game can be equal parts extremely fun and extremely frustrating. Sometimes I'm in a good SMB day and it clicks and I'm able to go through the levels with ease, other days it feels like the controls are extremely over sensitive and I can't do anything right. I never played the originals, but I think not having the octogonal lock from the GCN controller heavily impacted this game's gameplay. I don't feel it's possible to do those narrow paths consistently, I still haven't been able to beat the original Catwalk, for example.

Anyway, even then I was able to get through story mode. There was only a single level I wasn't able to beat in it without helper function, and that was 8 Bracelet. I don't know how to beat that one honestly, the ball just doesn't speed enough like it does on the videos I watched, so too bad. But then comes challenge mode... Like, wtf are these levels. I was able to beat everything in Beginner and Advanced, but Expert and Master are impossible. And you're telling me the original games expected you to complete these with limited lives? lmao that is expecting olympic levels of skill from the player, like practicing months and months just to beat the game, that's not really my jam. I don't know how you can complete something like Stamina Master with such finnicky controls, maybe the GCN version controlled better, I don't know, I just didn't bother.

So I wasn't able to unlock the EX Expert levels because I needed the helper function for like 5 levels in it, so I guess I'm never accessing those. Only saw all the Master levels because I skipped 3 levels, no way I'm ever going to beat Stamina Master. And that was only SMB1. As for SMB2, I finished Beginner and Advanced, but I don't think I'm gonna bother with Expert and Master because 1- I'm sure I won't be able to beat them anyway without helper or skipping levels and 2- the SMB2 levels vastly inferior/more annoying than the SMB1 ones, they are infested with those weird contraptions that are too janky and infuriating.

One thing I have to say is that my patience for the game was severely reduced because of a personal condition. I have a chronical inflammation on my pelvic area that makes it very tense and unconciously clenched all the time. The tension makes it more inflammed which makes it more tense and so on, it's a bitch. This made my life hell in 2020 because I reached ridiculous levels of tension which severely impacted my health in a lot of ways and made me feel intense pain all the time, every day. I'm feeling much better and relaxed now, but I do have to watch out for any situations that might make me tense, and playing videogames is one of them. With most games I can manage, but some action and precision oriented games make me involuntarily clench (we all do it, I just do it much harder), and, unfortunately, SMB is the worst game I've played so far in that regard. I'm clenching all the time while playing and thus it made my pain flare up again these days, so playing the game literally isn't healthy for me. I guess I could approach it with more patience if it wasn't for that, but I'm starting to associate it with a very dark period of my life when I was in pain every day, so I decided to call it day on it. Maybe I will be back one day when I feel better to try the SMB2 challenge modes.

Anyway, sorry for the (rather personal) rambling. I will try to play some chill games for now to bring my tension levels down a bit lol I'm still going through Yooka Laylee, which improved a lot since the last time I wrote about it, and Golf Story, which might be maybe a little too chill lol
 
Nice!

I've been playing some older titles and cleaning up backlog. Up until now, I've beaten...

(0.) Legends Arceus - I strictly finished it on January 2nd, but I think this deserves to count on the 2022 list rather than here.
1. Super Mario Land - fun to play as an oddity, I don't thinkI will ever pick it up again.
2. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins - sooooo much better, the leap between the two games is huge, and this being an OG Gameboy game is amazing.
3. Super Mario Land 3: WarioLand - and the third one, this was one of my childhood games and although it's remarkably easy, I find it a little superior to 6 Golden Coins and, well, the difference with the first one is simply amazing.
4. Inside - it was... cool? but tedious on some parts. I was a little dissapointed, to be quite honest. It's not bad by any means (it's fun!) but, I don't know, all that buzz surrounding it... i was a little hyped and it didn't pay off that much. That said, I loved that Akira-esque ending. that's for sure.

And now, I'm playing GC Twilight Princess at home whenever I can manage to have some time alone, It Takes Two with my SO, and, on the bus and generally on the go, Three Hopes. The first two... I'm loving them - Twilight Princess is the last remaining Zelda I had, and a game I played when I was a child but never was I able to go further than the third dungeon; now I'm on the last one and I love it. It Takes Two, totally different game, but very Mario-esque on its approach to one level-one idea phylosophy. But Three Hopes... yeah, I'm not feeling it. After +200h on Three Houses and ~150h on Age of Calamity, I was over the moon with the release of this one, but I'm finding it... kinda tedious? I couldn't care less about the main character and it's a retelling of something that I spent 200 hours in, so nothing new on this front. I don't know if I'll finish it or I'll let it down in some days.
 
1) Nier Automata (Switch)
Could be super cheeky here and list this as completions 1 through 6, because I got the 5 'main' endings and an additional endings and every time there's a closing credits roll I count it as a completion... but given the unique structure of the game, I think I'll behave and just list this once. I thoroughly enjoyed it overall, and I'm glad I finally got around to playing it.

Fire Emblem Engage to dig into at the weekend, but might get and play Lunistice before then.
 
1) Guardians of the Galaxy - Cloud Version (NSW)

The literal day after I bought this we were hit with a decent storm that messed with the internet a bit. As someone who is not frame sensitive at all it was literally unplayable. I was only able to get it to connect early in the morning and even then, it was very choppy with lines of dialogue missing due to the poor streaming. I was concerned I'd wasted my money, but once the internet stabilized in the next few days it played fine (for me). Not a fan of the combat system, but the writing is phenomenal. It felt like I was watching a 20hr Guardians movie with some aggressively average combat mixed in. Your mileage may vary on how much fun that sounds like. I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

2) Rise of the Third Power (NSW)

This one really surprised me. I had played Stegosoft's previous game Ara Fell last year and enjoyed it, but this one was better in nearly every way. Set in a world that is still in recovery from a recent war and on the precipice of another, the characters and plot were exceptional. Mixes drama and humor well. Beware the character's portrait art though. The style feels disconnected compared to everything else on display here. I was able to look past it, but it's something to consider.

3) Haiku, the Robot (NSW)

A very enjoyable metroidvania. Combat and movement feel good. Not much story here, but what is there was intriguing enough to keep me going through the credits. Easy recommend to anyone who enjoys the genre.

----

I've also been playing Spelunky but I won't be rolling credits on it. The quality is evident, but it's not really my jam. I've been to the Temple level once, but I do not think I'll be revisiting it much from here on out. I enjoyed my time with it, but I think the 10-15 hours I've put into it is enough.
 
7. Star Fox Command (DS) [8.5/10]

Bought this back in the day and considered it one of the best DS games, especially with friends. After seeing the negative reception to it overall I was interested to see if it held up as well as I remembered. And I was right! It's really good. Highly recommended and great in that DS way where you can play for 15min or hours and have fun either way.

Star Fox Command continues the story started in Star Fox 64, but from a gameplay perspective its more of a sequel to Star Fox 2. The game has a great control scheme and art style which use the DS hardware perfectly without feeling compromised. The strategy needed to effectively utilize the map and your bombs feels really good when you do it right. It's fun to unlock new characters each with their own unique vehicle. And most importantly, it's made to be replayed over and over and has excellent writing that makes you want to see each story path to the end.

This game is overflowing with ideas and as much as I love Zero, it really is a shame it was a soft reboot after how strong Command's story is. The obvious next step is to continue the Fox and Krystal ending which reunites the team with a new member, but honestly they could make spinoffs out of all the bad/gag endings and have tons to work with.
 
#2. Tuff E Nuff (SNES)

Another game from my exploring NSO project, Tuff E Nuff is a pretty standard Street Fighter clone. It plays well enough to be decent but it's not unique enough to really warrant a recommendation. It has dope music though.
 
The guys playing 25 year old original FFVII in 2022 and not getting the hype are amusing. Just wait til everyone tries Goldeneye for the first time whenever it finally makes it to NSO.
 
Beat my first game yesterday for 2023.

1. Kaze and the Wild Masks (1/6/2023) - Fun but short game (100%ed it in 8 hours). Fairly reminiscent of DKC, but never quite as creative as those games. Still fairly good for indie game, and the unique transformations not from DKC were pretty fun.
Felt the same way; like a clear imitation. Stopped halfway through and just went to the real thing. Now 3 worlds into Tropical Freeze again lol.
 
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1. Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope - Different style than the first but I really enjoyed it. Everyone saying it looks more simplistic than the first is right but IMO the game still was really appealing to look at. A few of the worlds had really nice aesthetics. Doesn't crack my top 10 for 2022 but is an honorable mention.
 
1) Guardians of the Galaxy - Cloud Version (NSW)

The literal day after I bought this we were hit with a decent storm that messed with the internet a bit. As someone who is not frame sensitive at all it was literally unplayable. I was only able to get it to connect early in the morning and even then, it was very choppy with lines of dialogue missing due to the poor streaming. I was concerned I'd wasted my money, but once the internet stabilized in the next few days it played fine (for me). Not a fan of the combat system, but the writing is phenomenal. It felt like I was watching a 20hr Guardians movie with some aggressively average combat mixed in. Your mileage may vary on how much fun that sounds like. I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.
I have tried the demos for some cloud games on Switch but have never taken the plunge. Cool to read your review, and to hear the experience was pretty good to boot!
 
1. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii) [4/10]

I kept notes while I was playing through this game for the community event so I could look back and give it as honest an evaluation as possible-- from memory this was one of my least favorite Metroid games. Sadly despite having a few nice moments I really think it is actually quite bad and very likely not what Retro wanted it to be at all based on interviews I've seen. So much of the game is being told about a certain piece of machinery that you need to go either turn on or turn off, and even the motion controls which work very well are mostly used to operate that same machinery or slowly hit glowing weak points as they appear. In Prime 1 and 2 you could do all this with the scan visor in a fraction of the time so it stands out as particularly unfun when even the final quest to find the Lovecraftian living planet Phaaze consists entirely of finding batteries and moving them from one spot to another. The ship is a huge focus in the first half of the game and everything about it is frustrating or boring.

Things I liked:
  • Hypermode is a cool mechanic with a good risk vs reward pull
  • The grapple beam is the best use of the motion controls and yanking off armor feels fun
  • The Phazon seed core bug thing is cool
  • Sniping with the x-ray visor and the nova beam is really satisfying, this would have been great if it was introduced early on
  • It's cool that the bounty hunters straight up die when you kill them
  • The Sky Town is a really cool location with a lot of atmosphere and even a nice Prime 1 throwback despite going on too long and having one of the worst ship segments
  • Bryyo ice is neat, would have been nice to see more moments like that
Don't want to belabor the point, but wanted to give some justification for the low score. Hopefully Prime 4 is a return to form whenever it releases.
I'm not going to argue, but a 4/10 seems criminally low. Unless you're just not a Metroid fan, I don't see how you give any Prime game less than a 7. It was your experience and your opinion, both of which I respect--it just shocked me, I guess.
 
0
I have tried the demos for some cloud games on Switch but have never taken the plunge. Cool to read your review, and to hear the experience was pretty good to boot!
Guardians was the third cloud game I've played on Switch, the other two being Hitman 3 and Control. The experience isn't great on any of them, but they are certainly playable for someone like me who is not frame sensitive and doesn't notice input lag unless it's egregious. I understand the resistance to cloud gaming and I'm not in love with it, but as someone with only the Switch for gaming I'm grateful I get to play them at all.
 
I really haven't played anything new this year as I wait for Fire Emblem. Every game I want to play is like 30-40+ hours and that's a time commitment that may lead to me dropping those games when FE comes out.

So unless I crack out The Quarry, which is like 10 hours, FE should be my first game.
 
Finished my first game of the year:

1. Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes

I only played through Scarlet Blaze. Overall, I enjoyed it, since I like the Three Houses cast. It was cool to be able to control them directly. I think they did a decent job with imitating the non-battle segments from Three Houses, though obviously a smaller area. Lots of menus to go through. I don't really have the motivation/desire to play through two more paths, but I'm satisfied with the one I played. Just in time for Engage.
 
17. Gunstar Heroes

Man, I love games like this. Discovered it along side Dynamite Headdy, and while the latter has better vibe, it's also way harder. Absolutely loved Gunstar Heroes.

18. Ghostbusters (Genesis)

I've been looking through Genesis library because I'm pretty much unfamiliar with all of its games, and I remember liking it as a kid when I was a Ghostbusters fan. Not a bad game, although final levels are kinda long and boring compared to the main four.
 
Game One
Super Mario World
[SNES NSO]
[5/5]

It's perfect.
 
0
Ended up replaying Gorogoa, so I guess that's my first game completed for the year. It's a fantastic snack-sized puzzler, one of those that's about playing with perspectives.
 
18. Ys III

Jesus. So I've played a few Ys games now: remakes of I and half of II, and a few Steam releases (Origins and some other...) but I can't understand how this series was popular enough to get to those better titles. Ys I and II are janky short RPGs where you hug enemies to death and Ys III is a bad Zelda II that can be completed in 2 hours if not for all the grind and enemies with wonky hitboxes eating your health immeadiately without any invincibility frames.
I quite like their RPG mechanics and mysterious atmosphere (although Ys III has no mystery, all items are just given to you), reminds me of La-Mulana, but holy shit those are not good.
Frankly, by the time I fucked up my game once and restarted (it drops you into a cave with no immediate exit and way stronger enemies + a boss and lmao if you save over your file), I just used grinded to max level early with enemies that walk straight into you. Still a hell of a game at the end, though.
 
Killing some time before FE Engage releases

5. Bloodstained Curse of the Moon: Nightmare mode. It's interesting to see how the game changes by not having Zangetsu and you need to adapt your gameplay by not having his abilities / subweapons. Also the way the final boss fight happens was cool

6. Astalon: Got the physical version so had to replay it and the map design is still very good and surprisingly went with a different route than my previous play (went firts to the basement getting Brams earlier). Also didn't know they updated the game with a new game + version which remixes the item location and have new rooms. Gonna play it later

1. SAMURAI MAIDEN
2. Legend of Zelda
3. Mighty Gunvolt Burst *replay
4. Funky Kong Country Tropical Freeze
 
1) Super Metroid (NSW)
2) Metroid Fusion (Wii U)

3) Metroid Dread (NSW)

Metroid Dread is so good. It might actually be my favorite game of all time. This playthrough marks my seventh full run of the game, but it's my first time playing it since the game came out. This time I just did a basic playthrough; Normal difficulty, no sequence breaks or anything, didn't even go for 100% or anything. But I see myself coming back to Dread again and again because it's just so much fun to play.

I think this marks the end of my Metroid series replay and I'll be moving on to other games. Metroid is awesome!
 
Game 2:
Well that Live a Live down at 46 hrs and 20 minutes with both main ending. Missed the happy gang ending tho but not up for replaying to get that right now. I’m content. The reverse boss battles were awesome
 
I finished Cult of the Lamb and Moderen Warfare remastered.

Cult was fun till the end, the last area is pretty crappy.

I don't understand the love for MW, it's fine, but I've played better FPS stories.

Edit; just finished Outriders, what a bad game. Probably worst looter shooter I've played.
 
Last edited:
By system:
PS5 - 1
PS3 - 1
  1. Lost Judgement (PS5) - 125 hours (started in Dec. 2022, and the majority of this was then) - 10/10
    My second playthrough of this and it's just as good as the first. The main story is whatever, but the side cases are fantastic, the school stories are all great, and Kaito Files is just great too. Combat is the best Yakuza's ever been too.

  2. Ryu Ga Gotoku: Kenzan! (PS3) - 35 hours - 10/10
    Definitely a bit dated these days, but the combat's fun and the design of the world/story is so different to the rest of the Yakuza series that it feels really fresh, despite being the third oldest game in the series (and its first HD outing). I'm in the second last chapter and not quite done but it's a 10/10 and it's not gonna drop from there.
 
19. Mega Bomberman

Every time I see a Bomberman in the library I'm obligated to play it. This one kinda sucks. It's pretty ugly with a lot of background elements not being animated, and yet managing to hit a whopping 5 fps every time like 4 enemies are on screen.

20. Valis

Much like Ys, I kinda can't help but ask how this one got a series. A very middling Sailor Moon-y type game with Castlevania-like mechanics, except jump sucks and the screen only scrolls once you're burying your nose in its right side. Easy enough to be completed in a sitting which is what I did. Some pretty "great" localization, but not enough of it to call it entertaining. I think "Jewel" is spelled "juely"

21. Insector X

It's a shmup but with insect themes. Eh.
 
Finally, I completed my first game;

1. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion

It was fun! Zach is a likeable guy and with cameos from other familiar faces makes the game fun. Battle system is decent and snappy, the DMV/leveling system completely random, but I enjoyed my time with it.

Next up, Fire Emblem :D
 
1a. The Last Of Us Remastered: Left Behind (PS4)

Wanted to finish this up so I could watch the show with hopefully limited spoilers (already could tell some of this is in the trailers/previews). Counting this as a subset of the Last of Us since I just finished that. Have to say this was a great DLC. Will put the rest behind spoilers:

I absolutely loved the whole conceit of this being 2 separate timelines in a mall with vastly different outcomes. One is Ellie working to save all she has, and the other is her stubbornly losing the most important thing in her life. Fleshed out the character so much more than what we had before and sets things up (I assume) for the next part in some sense. In some ways this was easier despite the more limited toolset/life bar.
 
Finished in 2023 #1: Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (Game Boy)

As Famiboards's Self-Proclaimed #1 Super Mario Fan, I have cleared pretty much every main Super Mario title. Most of them I've cleared 100%, and all but a few I've played through multiple times. But I have a lot of holes in the Mario-adjacent franchises. Never completed a Yoshi game, never completed a Donkey Kong game, and only ever completed one Wario Land game (2, specifically). Well, that changes now, as I've now completed the first Wario Land game!

If Wario is the bizzaro-Mario, then this is the bizzaro-Super Mario game. Wario Land ticks a lot of the Super Mario boxes. There's platforming in mostly linear levels. There's a power up system that doubles as a health system. There's a world map to select levels. There's secrets to find and hidden paths to explore. But Wario himself makes all the difference. In Mario, movement is the name of the game, with momentum-based running and jumping in various degrees. Wario de-emphasizes these aspects, with little in the way of momentum and no run ability (which is perhaps better suited for the Game Boy than the faster-paced Mario). Instead, Wario is content to take his time, scouring levels for every last coin and treasure he can find and using his own power ups to beat up any foes he comes across. And those power ups are nicely balanced! Buffing Wario's charge and giving him a world-shaking ground pound, increasing Wario's speed and letting the charge soar through the sky, or replacing Wario's charge with fire breath! Neither one felt like it usurped the other in utility, and I wanted to use them all. Wario Land is a very different experience that still echoes the more familiar Mario formula, and it is a title that manages to stand out as a result.

If there is anything I can say that I don't like about this one, it's that I find playing as Tiny Wario to be kind of a pain. It's way more of a punishment than Small Mario is - jumping is not Wario's primary form of attack, and the grab and throw mechanics are more clumsy than the other forms of attack (to the point where I only did it when I had to). This ends up affecting the boss fights too, making them all rely on the jumping and throwing, which are not Wario's strong suits. Though to be fair, the game overall isn't very challenging outside of a few levels, even when finding all Exits and treasures. Make of that what you will.

In a separate thread on Fami, I stated that Wario Land is a great game on its own, but not necessarily recommended for a Mario fan. Having played the game in full now, I half stand by that. If you're the kind of Mario fan that plays the games for the kinetic movement, then Wario Land won't be the game to jump to. But if you like to explore, like to collect coins and try neat powers, like to bust up foes and nab treasure? Then Wario's a worthy successor to the Mario Land franchise.
 
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1. Desperados III [ PC ] - 9
2. Ace Attorney Investigations: Prosecutor's Path ( Replay ) [ DS*] - 10
3. Resident Evil Deadly Silence [ DS*]

4. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney ( Replay ) [ 3DS ]

I still love most of this game, the balance of the game as a crossover is mostly well done, with some shortcomings.

Gameplay is pretty split between both series, the exploration segments are pretty much exclusively Layton, and the courtroom proceedings exclusively Ace Attorney, there is a puzzle that incorporates the contradiction flow of Ace Attorney into Layton, and that is incredibly memorable, properly making a crossover of gameplay in that way would have elevated the game more for me, though understandably coming up with a bunch of puzzles of that narrative nature is definitely difficult to achieve. What gets hurt the most in this case, as something that kind of has to be semi entry level if someone is only a fan of either franchise, are that the Layton puzzles don't have the same curve of difficulty as his main games, most of the puzzles fall on the simple side. In terms of Ace Attorney one can clearly see what would inspire the Great Ace Attorney mechanics and presentation, I appreciate them more here, more so now after playing GAA, the mob cross examination isn't as simplistic as it is in those games, also not as hand-holdy.

Presentation wise, game is pretty much perfect, it blends the art direction of both games really well, with a balance of designs inherently Layton and Ace Attorney, and for the most part a great translation of AA in 3D, taking advantage of it through some neat 3D animations that those characters wouldn't have pulled off in the sprite entries. The score is marvelous and carries the spirit of a crossover well in its tunes, a mix of arrangements from both of their first entries and plenty of original, catchy music, Link, Mob examination allegro, are some of the best examples of the perfect mix of flavor from their respective music styles, impressive for a purely orchestral game I feel, also something that this game did better for the AA series than GAA.

And the story is for the most part good, the atmosphere is great, so is the banter and character moments, the court cases themselves have a good deal of intrigue and pacing for the most part, taking in consideration the shared spotlight, the balance goes off the rails towards the ending, where it becomes almost exclusively Layton that just so happens to feature Phoenix Wright, which is a shame, it doesn't help that I find most of the ending kind of stupid, I don't think taking a Layton style twist and making overtly complicated really helps anything, makes a lot of the final chapter drag for what should be a much simpler reasoning, and dragging it some more for a very inconsequential twist, the absence of
Barnham
in the ending is really bad still, the
Evespella
relationship is what kind of holds my sanity together for the end revelations.

Ending theme is still peakest of peaks tho.
 
#3. AI: The Somnium Files

A visual novel by the author of the Zero Escape games, AI follows the story of a sort of detective investigating a crime. Most of the time you'll be reading dialogue but there is gameplay in the form of "somniums", which consist on exploring the dreams of different characters, investigating them for clues. These sections act as the equivalent of puzzles from the Zero Escape games but, IMO, aren't as good. Most are very cryptic and feel more like trial and error than you actually figuring out stuff.

Regarding the story, I feel a bit torn. Like many VNs, it features branching paths so your appreciation of the story may depend on which way you explore it. In my case, my route felt very slow paced and it took a while for the game to actually get interesting. I did eventually enjoy the story and characters but it didn't click immediately.

Overall I enjoyed it but definitely not as much as the Zero Escape games. Both the story and gameplay didn't fully click with me and even the dialogue was annoying at times with its cringy teenage humor.
 
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22. Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure

I remember kids in my class had GBAs and I was really into this game. Surprisingly, it's actually pretty good. A very solid 2D platformer!
Didn't complete it though, because even though I've gotten all the gems, apparently last boss is locked behind speedrun challenges. Screw that.
 
1. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D [3/5] - Majora's Mask has always been my least favorite of the 3D Zeldas (which is still pretty good to be fair) so I was curious if the 3DS version would change my feelings at all. And ultimately...it didn't really. Some of the changes, like the new Double Song of Time and Bomber's Notebook, are definite improvements, but some of the others, like the new Gyorg and Twinmold fights, were just kind of tedious. Overall, I just think the whole style of the game with being under a constant time limit and having to repeat things in order to progress a lot of sidequests is not my favorite thing. Still had some fun with it, and would probably stick with the 3DS version if I ever have the desire to replay it again.

2. Persona 5 Royal [3/5] - These games are undeniably addictive, but are also without question too long for me. I was fairly into it for a good 60 hours or so, but after that there was still another 40 hours left and it was a real slog to get to the finish line, even playing through most of it on easy mode. I definitely preferred Persona 4's story and characters as well - the attempts at cleverness and profundity in this one really fell flat for me. Overall, a well-made game, but not one I can see myself ever returning to.

3. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice [4/5] - Beautiful game. Don't really have much to say about it except that I enjoyed nearly every minute of it, even at times when I was losing terribly. I struggled a bit early on, but once the combat clicked it was such a satisfying experience. Had a more compelling story than the other Miyazaki games I've played too.
 
23. Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced

And there goes the goodwill of the first game. Gimmicky levels that are way too short are more plentiful and easy side collectables make it extremely short and not really memorable.
 
Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations

I was going to leave the series rest for a bit to avoid saturation, but started the first case to pick it up later and couldnt avoid to get hooked. Oh well.

I would say, as far as i have played until now, this game is the Super Mario Bros 3 of the series. My main complaint of JFA - the disjointed cases - have disappeared and it gives us a perfectly narrated story with enough twists and turns to build two rollercoasters.

It closes every single lead that has been opened since PWAA and it does it masterfully. Quality drops a bit in the third case, but i would say that's a staple by now, and it also helps that, seemingly, that case was originally written for JFA. Still, it was enjoyable and gave us an apparently unimportant piece of info that will be extremely relevant later on.

Last case acts as a perfect finale for the series, everything comes to an end and it has what i would say were the most hype moments in the original trilogy

It starts HARD with Phoenix disregarding his own safety to cross the burning bridge and try to save Maya
THEN We're put in the role of motherfucking Miles Edgeworth. I can't believe how much of a fanboy i have become for such character
The Five Pyshelocks on the door of the training cave is genuinely scary WTF moment
The Iris and Dahlia switcheroo
Dahlia's return!
Dahlia's defeat and Iris' confession
And, finally, the final showdown agaisnt Godot

No matter what i play next, i KNOW that it's not going to top this. Yesterday i was bawling my eyes out at 1 a.m. while knowing that
Phoenix, much to his own regret, was basically exerting too much an already exhausted Maya, who only wanted to protect the man that saved her life
and then at the ending.

I now understand why the original trilogy is so well regarded. These games are fucking masterpieces.
 
Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations
Sincerely, thank you for the hype moments list because wow that set off a nostalgia bomb in my brain. Absolutely agree that the five Psychelocks on that door was an OH CRAP moment. Also Godot is just perfection as a character.

I don’t play as many visual novels as I used to but damn I’ll always come back to Ace Attorney.
 
I’ve so far beaten 2 games this year

Spider-Man Remastered (PS5)
Sackboy: Big Adventure (PS5)


I think I am also close to beating Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (NSW) I’m just beginning Chapter 9 but it feels like the endgame is approaching
 
So far this year I’ve completed:

-The Jungle Book (Disney Classic Games Collection
-Aladdin (Disney Classic Games Collection)
-Power Wash Simulator
-Tinykin

Would have finished The Lion King as well but it glitched on me and I accidentally saved in the moment and have to restart from the beginning 😩 Some day lol

Now I’m currently going through Fire Emblem: Engage, One Piece Odyssey, and will start/finish Dead Space remake this weekend.
 
The guys playing 25 year old original FFVII in 2022 and not getting the hype are amusing. Just wait til everyone tries Goldeneye for the first time whenever it finally makes it to NSO.

Who is this idiot? I need to kick his ass

Here we go! Hoping to clear out some of the backlog before Octopath II hits.

January
1. Skyward Sword HD [NSW]
2. Captaid Toad: Treasure Tracker: Special Episode (DLC) [NSW]
3. Final Fantasy VII [NSW]
4. The Last Campfire [NSW]
5. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger [NSW]

Professor Layton and the Lost Future [DS]
Suduko #1 [NSW]
Bayonetta 3 [NSW]

Octopath Traveler II [NSW]
Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon [NSW]
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom [NSW]

Axiom Verge
Stardew Valley
Spyro Reignited Trilogy
Halo
Live A Live

5. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger [NSW]

I liked this one, 5 hour long arcade shooter with some pretty addicting 'history nuggets' as collectibles.
Often on deep discount on the e-shop and has a pretty great motion controller scheme added to the game.
 
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