I've never played the Investigations games, but people say AAI2 is really really good, so maybe give it a chance!Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
This one has taken more time and effort from me to go through it, and it's not exactly because it's harder than the original PW trilogy.
I have very mixed feelings and i'm kinda sad about it, because the core of the game is unironically good, it takes the Ace Attorney gameplay and adapts it to the in-universe prosecutor's role, and frankly, the formula works, but the game feels mismanaged.
Without giving details of the plot, i was left with the feeling that the cases weren't presented in the proper order, that the main antagonist isn't given a proper introduction before the info blowout (it's just a mere shadow for most of the game) and that the main mistery (the Yatagarasu) is weared out by being constantly named once a certain character appears.
The infamous third cases on the original trilogy have a role that goes unnoticed until you play this: They distract you from the main plot so it can come back later in an amazing season finale, they act as the relief you don't have in this game.
And then, there's the final case, wich final segment draw out in such a way that i have ended up stopping myself from turning off my 3DS several timesWhen you finally have everything and are ready to make the big bad confess, you get cockblocked several times (around 6 or 7) and he keeps getting himself off the hook over and over again. It's ridiculous, and does nothing for the final conclusion.
Best thing about the game is Miles Edgeworth himself, and Franziska von Karma by association. Finally we get a good view of Miles' acts and thoughts and he comes out as naïve and endearing under all his smartassery, same can be said (though on a lesser level) about Franzy, who is a bit more three dimensional than in Trials and Tribulations.
I hate to say this, but this game has accelerated my Ace Attorney burnout, so i'm leaving aside the series for a little while. Maybe it was a bit too much after playing the original trilogy in succession.
I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed reading this. It took me back to my old Master System days and how my cousin and I would play the Wonder Boy games for hours. Thank you.Finished in 2023 #4: Wonder Boy (Arcade)
Around the time the Nintendo Switch launched, I picked up Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap purely on the basis of its gorgeous art design. Ended up enjoying it a lot! The varied transformations constantly mixed up the gameplay, and although the level design was rather primitive (lots of straight lines), its more open structure leads to it being one of the stronger "Metroidvanias" of its era. The remade art and sound was also extremely gorgeous, which helped! It made me curious to eventually try out the other Wonder Boy games, see how they got to The Dragon's Trap and what happened with it afterward (Monster Boy, I'll get to you eventually, I promise!). The Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection lets me do just that, with multiple versions of each of the six original games ready to go (not to be confused with last year's much smaller Wonder Boy Collection). So how does the very first game stack up?
Well, it's a 2D arcade platformer in the vein of games like PAC-LAND and Super Mario Bros. Get to the end of each stage avoiding traps and enemies, with a big focus on continuous forward movement. Where Wonder Boy differs is that, instead of a timer, you have to collect food to keep up your energy meter. Food will spawn in at different points, and the game is all about mastering its flow. Run fast and jump accurately to pick up food, but don't go so fast that you slam into an enemy or hazard. Hold the run button to go faster and jump higher, but don't rush through and get careless or else you'll end up dead. Time your arcing attack just right, but know when to kill an enemy and when to just dodge them. It's solid fun, but like with many arcade games after your quarters, the challenge is pretty relentless. Tricky enemy placements, tight platform patterns, at most two hit points (and you only have the second while riding on a skateboard that constantly moves you forward), it all makes for something that could take years to master for a one credit clear, let alone even finishing the game without rewind or save states. As I was mostly playing this one as a curiosity, I let myself get sloppy, using the copious amount of rewinds available in the Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection to just get through to the end. And that's without trying to go for all of the hidden dolls to unlock the bonus eight world, something which I ended up skipping. Sure, the collection has maps and stuff, but I think I'm good! Outside of difficulty, the one serious critique I have for the game is that, although there are 32 total levels, only around a dozen of them are actually unique - instead, most of them are cloned with different enemy and hazard placements. And these aren't insubstantial, but the title can still feel very repetitive after a few worlds. It makes the five clone levels in Super Mario Bros. feel like small potatoes in comparison. Even so, I generally had a good time with this one, though I probably won't rush to play this again any time soon.
Now, many people know the first Wonder Boy better as the NES game Adventure Island - Hudson Soft got the rights to port the game from the developers, but since SEGA owned the Wonder Boy trademark and characters, they made a new protagonist and ended up creating a whole franchise based off it, with original sequels hewing closer to the original Wonder Boy gameplay than the more divergent Wonder Boy sequels. Adventure Island is mostly the same but it's a bit easier - there's a second tier of your main attack that can destroy boulders and rocks, you do not need to collect all of the dolls (now pots) to see all 32 levels, and there are now hidden bonus areas to rack up more points and energy. The game also has a better soundtrack with more (and better) songs than the original, but of course the NES graphics aren't as impressive. I'm curious to try this version out and see how it compares. Another version I have my eye on (and this version is included in the Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection) is the Master System version, which includes eight additional levels on top of the thirty-two already in the game.
Yeah, i've read that AAI2 fixes a lot of AAI's issues, but i think i'll give myself a rest anyway, AAI (particularly the last case) has really accelerated my burn out.I've never played the Investigations games, but people say AAI2 is really really good, so maybe give it a chance!
Got a lot of bigger things in the offing so I'm going to unload these before I forget!1.) Death's Door [Switch] - I am completely smitten with this game. It wears its inspirations on its sleeve, but I think it does enough to forge its own identity. The narrative is a little more grim than the typical Zelda, though it does pepper in just enough comic lines for welcome levity. The art direction is cutesy, kind of like some of the more cartoonish Zelda games, and glossed over with a healthy dimmer switch (and it looks fantastic on an OLED screen). The music is...well, I don't know, I'm not a music guy. It sounds like Zelda by way of Shadow of the Colossus? Maybe? Again, not a music guy. As far as the game itself goes, the combat and puzzles are all pretty simple. There are some difficult encounters to be sure, but I always felt like I had enough tools at my disposal to make relatively quick work of even the toughest bosses. Props to the developers for including power-ups that all work and meaningfully improve your arsenal!
Anyways, I just want to reiterate that I think this game is fantastic. It's probably my favorite of the many games that have tried to ape Zelda in the past several years. Had I played this when it launched, I would have placed this very highly on my GOTY list.
- Hades: I didn't like this much on release, I'll never understand all the praise it gets. So I gave it another chance to see if I was missing something...but my opinon hasn't changed a bit: It has an extremely shallow combat system in which the build is much more important than player skill. It's the second game from SuperGiant that I play (the other being Transistor) and both times I've walked away with the same impression: They're the perfect example of what happens when you have simplistic gameplay, you polish it a lot and you wrap it in a very good presentation.
- Sifu: Amazing game, I couldn't put it down. I love how you start getting your ass kicked and barely making it past a level, but later you're able to stylishly destroy even the hardest boss. I also like a lot how there are many new moves to unlock, so as you're getting better you have more and more moves in your arsenal, so you always have to keep improving and learning how to juggle more options every time.
- Tohou Luna Nights:A very sweet surprise! It's a short Metroidvania based on a bullet-hell IP with an amazing combat system, really clever mechanics and incredible boss fights. It's a bit linear and it lacks a good dash move, so exploration suffers a bit, but it more than makes up for it with it's incredible gameplay systems:
- You attack by throwing knives, which uses MP and recharges slowly over time.
- You can slow down time for a short while by charging your attack.
- You can stop time completely using your time gauge, which recharges over time.
- While time is stopped, your attacks will use the time gauge instead of MP.
- Some elements react differently when time is stopped. Normally things will just freeze in place, but yellow stuff will move in reverse, green stuff will only move when time is stopped, purple stuff is completely unaffected...This is used in really interesting ways through all the game, both in attacks that the bosses use and in puzzles you find in normal rooms. In fact, the game does an amazing job in teaching you all these little things through puzzles that grow in complexity and then it tests you with a boss that will use that concept in some challenging way.
- You can use special attacks like throwing a multi-hitting chainsaw upwards, a knife barrage, a stunning electric knife...These consume a lot of MP but are very useful, specially against bosses.
- Like in bullet-hell games, you can graze enemy attacks by getting very close to them. This will recover your HP, but if you do it while time is stopped you'll recover MP instead.
- THE GRAZING MECHANIC IS GENIUS: Bosses will kick your ass the first times you fight them. Then, you'll start to learn to avoid their attacks, which may include learning when to stop or slow down time for the most tricky attacks, while still being able to recharge it on time for the next attack where you'll need it. Then, you'll start to use more special attacks to deal more damage more quickly, which will increase the rate at which you consume MP. So you'll have to think about a way to graze the boss attacks to replenish MP. But this will use time, so you have to manage your time gauge more carefully to still be able to use it for the more tricky attacks. But you may also get hit, so you will also need to learn to graze attacks without stopping time to replenish HP. As you're not using time, you will then have more time to replenish more MP, or even to attack the boss if you have enough. Each boss becomes a fantastic multi-layered action puzzle in which as you get better, more options and tactics become available to you. The game ends with an optional boss rush in which you can destroy all the bosses that gave you so much trouble one after the other and marvel at how much you have improved. The graze mechanic is the key ingredient that makes all of this possible. I put this mechanic in an altar next to Splatoon's ink or Ori's bashing, it's that good.
- I loved Sifu, but for now this is my GOTY.
- Tunic: Starting it this weekend, I have heard great things about it.
- Metroid Prime Remake: This will be next once I'm done with Tunic.
- Record of Lodoss War-Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth: Another short Metroidvania by Team Ladybug, the creators of Touhou Luna Nights. After how much I loved that one I'm itching to play this.
This was one of my favourite games from last year, but I can completely see that it isn’t for everybody. My cousin saw me devour it so he (as a lover of adventure games) gave it a try, and it didn’t grab him at all.33. Pentiment
A clear labor of love that I wish I was more into. My husband, who is a lot smarter than me, was a spectator and clearly enjoyed it more.
It's a Night-In-The-Woods-like, I guess. You walk around town talking to people, and that's it's biggest downfall for me. Talking to people is interesting, but retracing your steps isn't.
The ending was great, though, especially considering early previews made it seem like the big mystery wouldn't be solved. It's... Not exactly true, it gives enough closure.
One of those games that I would recommend for everyone to check out. It might not be for you, but it's a niche title and we need more of those
It's been a while but I completed 2 more games!
3. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (2/12/2023) - Fun game but pretty off the wall. For a game boy game, it's great, but it's interesting how 2D Zelda translated much better to the GameBoy than 2d Mario imo. They had to make the sprites so big and thus the screen real estate was kind of small. I really liked the final level & the final boss fight with Wario.
4. Kirby's Dreamland (2/12/2023) - I've only played the "Spring Breeze" version of this from Kirby Super Star before. Short game but a lot harder than the Spring Breeze version. Normal game was fine. The extra mode was a whole different ball game. The extra mode would've taken me a ton longer without save states (with save states I was able to learn the boss patterns since I could try over and over again). I still did never quite get how to dodge the blimp's attacks, especially in extra mode. Things almost seemed kind of unfair at times when things just flew onto the screen.
It's kind of nice playing some shorter games. I typically get into really long games. Still playing through Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle & Yakuza 0 currently. Getting close to finishing the former, at the beginning of Yakuza.
Here we go! Hoping to clear out some of the backlog before Octopath II hits.
January
1. The Legend of Zelda: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]
6. Sudoku #1 [NSW]
7. Bayonetta 3 [NSW]
8. Professor Layton and the Lost Future [NDS]
February:
9. Mario Kart: Super Circuit [NSW-GBA]
10. Kuru Kuru Kururin [NSW-GBA]
11. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Champion's Ballad [NSW]
12. Immortals: Fenyx Rising [NSW]
I know I'm going to greatly appreciate Zero Mission after my experience with the original!The original Metroid is currently the only game I've quit this year after never having played it. I just couldn't stand how little it felt like it respected me as a player at times and just being able to shoot directly in front of you and above you is so limiting that I just couldn't stick with it. I kept asking myself why I am I pushing myself through this? Why am I not playing Zero Mission instead?
And after losing to Kraid like 10 times in a row, I officially decided I'd seen enough and played Zero Mission instead. Best choice I could have made TBH lol.
5. Metroid Dread * - 10/10 ❤Couldn't help myself and had to play another Metroid game after Prime Remastered. Dread is easily one of my favorite game in the series and I almost didn't play it since release. What a great game. I want Metroid 6 so bad.
Wario Ware is one of those golden egg ideas from Nintendo. Tying together a bunch of shoddy microgames into an increasingly frantic score attack is nothing short of arcade gaming genius.It's brimming with creativity and it's so out there for something that came out in 2003
I remember reading about this before it released and thinking it sounded good, but now I’m glad I didn’t buy it. The last horror point and click I played was The Last Door which was glorious and just dripping in atmosphere, so I had been hoping that this game would be something similar.35. The Excavation of Hob's Barrow
Well... I don't like to shit on indie games, but this was kinda bad.
It's a point-and-click game with very Lovecraftian influence. So Lovecraftian, that effectively nothing happens in the story until the very end, which is predictable and disappointing, albeit the best scene in the game.
It reminds me of Darkseed somewhat - a fairly middling-looking game interspercced with close-up animations, which, unfotunately, were mostly spoiled in the trailer. And of course H. R. Giger didn't design anything here, unlike with Darkseed.
About a third of the game is a fetchquest that could be cut with no issue and is clearly there to pad out the game, and despite your protag appearing smart and the game giving you choices, does the dumbest shit and stumbles towards the completely linear path.
The puzzles are either dumb or require outside knowledge, which is baffling. None of it is incredibly niche, but the game expects you to know some greek alphabet and a few latin words.
Truly a Lovecraftian game in that it's boring as hell. At least the black man wasn't demonic.
You’re goddamn rightStill on my list:
- Don't ask
The game definitely clicked for people considering the "Very Positive" reviews on Steam. It has atmosphere, and the voice acting is on-point, but I feel like the resources were mismanaged. Instead of weird "get apple to get flowers to get milk" (that's literally the thing you do) quest, the game could've been shorter and actually made your choices matter.I remember reading about this before it released and thinking it sounded good, but now I’m glad I didn’t buy it. The last horror point and click I played was The Last Door which was glorious and just dripping in atmosphere, so I had been hoping that this game would be something similar.
Adding this to my wait for a deep sale list.
I always convince myself I love Lovecraft, but then when I read any of his work, or play any Lovecraftian games, I just find them boring. I think I need to accept I’m really not a fan.The game definitely clicked for people considering the "Very Positive" reviews on Steam. It has atmosphere, and the voice acting is on-point, but I feel like the resources were mismanaged. Instead of weird "get apple to get flowers to get milk" (that's literally the thing you do) quest, the game could've been shorter and actually made your choices matter.
Like, if you LOVE Lovecraft and if you think that games like Shadow of the Comet are true masterpieces, I'd recommend it, but if you prefer your games to be faster paced and more spooky, I'd say watch a Let's Play or something. I really don't like saying it because the game is clearly made with a lot of love, but alas.
Lovecraft is better as an idea than he is as a writer.I always convince myself I love Lovecraft, but then when I read any of his work, or play any Lovecraftian games, I just find them boring. I think I need to accept I’m really not a fan.