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StarTopic The 2023 Completed Games Thread

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meatbag

meatbag

happiness
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Hey there! This thread is where we can proudly display our victories in conquering our backlogs. Tell us about the games you’ve beaten/completed for 2023, and if you’re so inclined maybe leave us your two cents on your gaming experience.

P.S. How do we label this as a StarTopic hahaha
 
Nice! I was planning on making it but had to go out.

meatbag said:
P.S. How do we label this as a StarTopic hahaha
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You had to select it when creating the thread

yVLEDjD.jpg
 
I generally cheat a little bit with how I categorize my games by year. I finish up everything I can in December, then start on some new stuff once that's finished. The new stuff goes under 2023, even if I ultimately played it within the final few days of 2022.

Case in point: Sonic Origins. Started it a few days ago, and ended up beating Sonic the Hedgehog yesterday for the first time, and as a result it's my first beaten game of 2023 (despite beating it in 2022). Definitely get a lot of the complaints towards the level design, it's rough in certain levels, but it still controls really nicely, and the building blocks for a great game are all there. Can't wait to see if 2, 3, and CD can live up to the hype.

Also currently in the middle of Trails from Zero. Had a crazy sprint to finish Trails in the Sky the 3rd before 2022 came to a close, so I'm definitely getting a bit burnt out by the series at this point, but I'm still having a great time with it.
 
I didn't participate in the 2022 thread, but I think it'll be fun to do so in 2023!

I'm gonna report both new games and replays. I'll also be differentiating games I started in 2023 versus games I started before then. Don't really have many "goals" this time around - I'm just here to have fun!

Finished in 2023
  1. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (Game Boy)
  2. Spark the Electric Jester (PC)
  3. Unpacking (Nintendo Switch)
  4. Wonder Boy (Arcade)
  5. Game & Watch Gallery 3 (Game Boy Color - NSO)
  6. Wonder Boy: Monster Land (Arcade)
  7. Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (Arcade)
  8. Pokémon Emerald Rogue (GBA Hack)
  9. Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA - NSO)
  10. Pulseman (Sega Genesis - NSO)
  11. Picross S7 (Nintendo Switch)
  12. Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (SNES - Super Mario All-Stars - NSO)
  13. Super Mario Bros. 2 (SNES - Super Mario All-Stars - NSO)
  14. Super Mario Bros. 3 (SNES - Super Mario All-Stars - NSO)
  15. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES - NSO)
  16. Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island (GBA - NSO)
  17. Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo Switch)
  18. Venba (Nintendo Switch)
  19. Sonic Superstars (Nintendo Switch)
  20. Pokemon Scarlet: The Teal Mask (Nintendo Switch)
  21. Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch)
  22. Picross S8 (Nintendo Switch)
Replays
  1. Mega Man V (Game Boy)
  2. Heart Star (PC)
  3. WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! (GBA - NSO)
  4. Super Mario Bros. (NES - Game & Watch Super Mario Bros.)
  5. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA - NSO)
  6. Super Mario Bros. (SNES - Super Mario All-Stars - NSO)
  7. Super Mario Land (Game Boy)
  8. Super Mario World (SNES - NSO)
  9. Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins (Game Boy - NSO)
  10. Super Mario Advance (GBA - NSO)
  11. Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (GBA - NSO)
  12. Sonic Mania (Nintendo Switch)
  13. Super Mario Bros. Wonder [Multiplayer] (Nintendo Switch)
Started Before 2023, Beat in 2023
  1. Sonic Frontiers (PS5)
  2. Picross S Genesis & Master System Edition (Nintendo Switch)
 
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Well just in time I finished my first game of the year, technically started the game in 2021 lol. It was Labyrinth of Refrain, post game and all (that post game was hell). Solid game, ending was alright, hope Galleria fixes some of my nitpicks in the combat.

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.
 
Thanks for the new thread @meatbag !

I’m hoping to get my first game done by the end of the week. I just started a replay of Super Metroid. My first run took about twelve hours, but I expect it won’t take me nearly so long this time around.
 
Crisis Core Reunion will probably be my first completion of the year, it’s not particularly long story and I’m already halfway through it. Pretty fun game! I did beat it on the PSP back in the day but remember almost nothing about it, weird how that works.

Jan 7 - Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII: Reunion (Switch)
Feb. 25 - Metroid Prime Remastered (Switch)
Mar. 16 - Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line (Switch)
Jun. 11 - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)
Sep. 19 - Sea of Stars (Switch)
Sep. 30 - The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails (Switch)
Oct. 20 - Assassin's Creed: Mirage (PS5)
Nov. 5 - Dave the Diver (Switch)
Nov. 12 - Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch)
 
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Nice! @meatbag you'll be a great op or whatever.

Last year was a big consuming year and this year is giving me more of a creating vibe. So I fully expect to finish way less games than I did in '22.
 
0
Finished my first game of the year today, Garden Story! I followed it for a while before its release (and got to interact with the dev and some of the publishers at the time, lovely people) but was in a really bad place emotionally when it came out, especially related to my time in the indie dev scene, so I didn't get around to it at release.

Lovely game, a cute 10-20 hours depending on how you play, I had a lot of fun with it! Definitely recommended to anyone who wants a short-ish action-adventure game with a couple minor life sim elements and some really nice art and music.
 
I have been keeping an apple note of all my completed games since 2015. This is a good way to also remember when I had more or less time for gaming in my life. Since I keep a record I might as well contribute this year. I have big plans (nothing specific) for competing a bunch of games this year but also have absolutely massive games. Might look small when all is said and done.
 
Wahey, I enjoy these threads. I'm currently 3 hours into Nier Automata on Switch as my first game of 2023. The plan is to sink a little time into that before starting Pentiment this coming weekend, and ideally have both games completed before Fire Emblem Engage comes out. Pretty funny, but last year I didn't get around to playing any actual 2022 games until March when I played Kirby and Triangle Strategy, so I had 2 months to catch up on 2021 games.

Happy 2023 gaming, all!
 
Alright, let's go! I started strong this year and finished 2 games already on the first day of the year.

2022 list:
#1 Shin Megami Tensei V (83h)
#2 Captain Toad Treasure Tracker (5h+)
#3 Taiko no Tatsujin Drum'n'Fun (25h+)
#4 The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time (30h+)
#5 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (75h+)
#6 Pokémon Legends Arceus (102h)
#7 The Great Ace Attorney Adventure (35h+)
#8 Rez Infinite (3h)
#9 Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards
#10 Megaman (Wily Wars version)
#11 Banjo Kazooie (13h)
#12 Megaman 2 (Wily Wars)
#13 Megaman 3 (Wily Wars)
#14 Pokémon Puzzle League
#15 Megaman 5
#16 Megaman 6
#17 Megaman 7
#18 Megaman 8
#19 Megaman X
#20 Megaman X2
#21 Megaman X3
#22 Megaman X4
#23 Horizon Zero Dawn (80h)
#24 Kirby's Return to DreamLand
#25 Paper Mario (28h)
#26 Kaze and the Wild Masks (6h)
#27 Dragon Quest VII 3DS (85h)
#28 Super Smash Bros Ultimate (80h)
#29 Pokémon Violet (105h)
#30 Carrion (5h)
#31 Super Bomberman 2

#01 Aladdin (SNES)
#02 Disney's Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse (SNES)

Picking up Super Bomberman 2 to finish it before the end of the year put me in a SNES mood and I decided I'm gonna explore more of its library this year. There are many games that I love and want to revisit, and there are many gems I still haven't played. So I started with one of each!

Aladdin was my first time actually playing the game despite watching my cousins playing it when I was a kid. For some reason I always thought the controls were a bit weird and clunky and never got past the first level, but with some good will they clicked this time and I finished the game in one sitting (it's so short!). It's a neat little game is what I can say. Didn't rock my world, but it's pretty, the Genie level is a lot of fun, and the soundtrack is great. I also loved both Jafar fights, the snake one is iconic and made me terrified as a kid. I didn't love how often the game put me over bottomless pits having to maneuver with less than ideally precise controls, but it was also pretty lenient with continues.

Magical Quest was a big game for me as a kid, I owned the cartridge and must have finished it several times. I hadn't played it in at least 15 years though, so this was a hard nostalgia trip. I absolutely love how whimsical the game feels, it starts very strong with a sky garden setting and the game does a very good job of feeling like an actual magical quest all the way through, including an enchanted forest, a windy moutain peak, a dark castle and literal hell. Playing it as an adult now, I can appreciate the fact that Shinji Mikami and his team basically created a world from scratch that feels like it came straight from a Disney movie. Unlike Aladdin and other licensed games, Magical Quest is an original game that uses Mickey and Pete (and also Donald, Goofy and Pluto as minor cameos) as characters, but every other character, enemy and scenario is original but still feel like they were designed by Disney. The controls are a little bit clunky (the game is from 92, and that was improved in the sequels) but the game has three different costumes that gives Mickey special powers and add a lot of variety (you can freely change between the costumes, their use isn't scripted). The game spawned two sequels and it's the weakest of the three but it's still really good, and I recommend the whole trilogy. To me, these are the absolute best games featuring Mickey Mouse. The third game is an absolute SNES classic that few people played because it didn't get an american release, but it's a must play nowdays if you haven't yet. I will replay it at some point this year too.

I still can't decide what big game I'm gonna play now that I've just finished Pokémon, so I already started another small SNES game and it's a very obscure one that I'm trying for the first time: Magical Pop'n. I should finish it very soon and will post my impressions here.
 
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January

1. Super One More Jump (all levels) - 6
2. Axiom Verge 2 (100%) - 7
3. The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope - 5

February

4. Trials of Mana Remake (100% Hard) - 7.5
5. Demontower* - 5
6. Metroid Prime Remastered - 10
7. The Quarry - 7.5

March

8. Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania - 7
9. Kattish - 5
10. The Legend of Zelda NES (Replay) - 10
11. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Replay) - 10
12. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening Remake (Replay) - 8

April

13. A Short Hike (Replay) - 8
14. Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster - 8

May

None. Played Zelda all month!

June

15. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - 8

July

16. Final Fantasy XVI - 7.5

August

17. Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster - 9
18. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons - 4
19. Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin - 8
20. Rogue Legacy 2 - 8

September

21. Sea of Stars - 10

October

22. Super Mario Bros. Wonder - 8

November

23. Final Fantasy VII (replay) - 10

December

24. Super Mario RPG Remake - 9
25. GRIME - 8

* - This is the Night in the Woods game within a game. I am counting it because it has its own credits when you beat it. Also it is hard as hell.
 
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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.
 
Replay #1: Mega Man V (Game Boy)

The Game Boy Mega Man games had an interesting journey. Starting as mashup remixes of the NES games with some original endgame elements, they were certainly not without their sore spots. I was a rough game that was much too difficult, II had a different developer and was much too easy (while also having some shrill music), and III was back to the first developer and had more polish but was also very difficult. But I feel like they finally started to hit their stride with Mega Man IV. Better balanced level design overall, a shop system for buying upgrades before the main games integrated one, and a killer final stretch.

Mega Man V takes this structure and goes for a fully original adventure. No bosses return from the NES games (though we do get the return of original bosses from the earlier Game Boy titles) - instead we have eight (plus one) new bosses themed after the planets, with original enemies and stage hazards and special weapons to play with. Even Mega Man's Buster gets a tweak, becoming a new fist-launching weapon that can get upgraded to latch onto foes and grab items. The special weapons aren't my favorite in the series, but there's some highlights - a slower but more powerful Buster shot that can heal you, an aerial bubble bomb that travels along ceilings, a destructive black hole, and an absolutely devastating homing laser given to you in the endgame. While the other Mega Man games on Game Boy are only really for the fan who wants to say they played every classic game, Mega Man V gets a hearty recommendation as a game that can stand on its own and has unique aspects that make it worth a look.

For those who might be put off by it being a monochrome Game Boy title, fear no more - a recent colonization hack has been released! This is the main reason I replayed this one - the hack does a great job overall at adding a new coat of paint, and there's even removal of slowdown! I don't see myself returning to the original while this hack exists.
 
VolcanicDynamo said:
Replay #1: Mega Man V (Game Boy)

The Game Boy Mega Man games had an interesting journey. Starting as mashup remixes of the NES games with some original endgame elements, they were certainly not without their sore spots. I was a rough game that was much too difficult, II had a different developer and was much too easy (while also having some shrill music), and III was back to the first developer and had more polish but was also very difficult. But I feel like they finally started to hit their stride with Mega Man IV. Better balanced level design overall, a shop system for buying upgrades before the main games integrated one, and a killer final stretch.

Mega Man V takes this structure and goes for a fully original adventure. No bosses return from the NES games (though we do get the return of original bosses from the earlier Game Boy titles) - instead we have eight (plus one) new bosses themed after the planets, with original enemies and stage hazards and special weapons to play with. Even Mega Man's Buster gets a tweak, becoming a new fist-launching weapon that can get upgraded to latch onto foes and grab items. The special weapons aren't my favorite in the series, but there's some highlights - a slower but more powerful Buster shot that can heal you, an aerial bubble bomb that travels along ceilings, a destructive black hole, and an absolutely devastating homing laser given to you in the endgame. While the other Mega Man games on Game Boy are only really for the fan who wants to say they played every classic game, Mega Man V gets a hearty recommendation as a game that can stand on its own and has unique aspects that make it worth a look.

For those who might be put off by it being a monochrome Game Boy title, fear no more - a recent colonization hack has been released! This is the main reason I replayed this one - the hack does a great job overall at adding a new coat of paint, and there's even removal of slowdown! I don't see myself returning to the original while this hack exists.
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Easily one of my favourite GB games. It rounds them off nicely, you can see the progression of them in it as well as it being an original game.
 
I posted in last year's thread for about a month or so, then was just hit with a bad depression spell kinda thing. Still not compeltely over it, but I am feeling better to play things now. I started off the year with 25 games in my backlog, I hope to hit 9-10 games left by the end of the year.

1. Cult of the Lamb- I wasn't planning on getting it, but I got talked into buying it. I put a total of ten mins in it before I stopped playing, but I picked it up a few days ago and just could not put it down. The building your cult town aspect was much lower key than I thought it would be and that was something that was really putting me off the game for a while. My town was not even close to looking good, but it got the job done. I ended up collecting way more decoration peices than I thought I would. I was also a much nicer cult leader than I thought I would be, I didn't make them fight to the death or eat their past cult members. Still I had fun with my little cult, doing things such as saving another cult memeber's family or marrying a memeber. I did have one cult memeber wait until my "current" spouse die to instantly ask me to marry them instead. lol

The temple/dungeon runs were easily my favorite part of the game, none of them felt too long and the tarot cards were actually pretty decent upgrades for the most part. They had some nice twists here and there in them as well, like when I got too close to the main boss of one temple, the boss released brainwashed memebers of my cult after me that I had to kill. Then there would just be nice NPCs you would meet every now and then that would unlock other side things to do like FISHING, playing a dice game and such. I didn't 100%, but I can see myself doing another run of the game eventually. The Switch version still had some stutters here and there, it was actually super annoying on the final boss. Other than that though I had a real fun time with the game.

Are we suppose to just have one post that we update or just make a new post for each game?
 
Pineapple said:
Cult of the Lamb
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Thank you for your impressions! Cult of the Lamb is one of the games I'm eyeing in the next sale.

Pineapple said:
Are we suppose to just have one post that we update or just make a new post for each game?
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I would honestly encourage making a post for each game you finish, it's a lot less cluttered that way, and you have more leeway to go in depth with your impressions! You can also reserve a post like a few of the fine folks above which you can periodically update with your overall list.
 
2. Star Fox 64 (N64) [9/10]

I finished a lot of games last year, this year I want to emphasize less raw numbers and more really enjoying the games I like. I picked Star Fox 64 because of the thread on the front page as well as some mostly superficial similarities to Steel Diver which I'm currently playing. This game excels due to the character dialogue-- it's really cheesy but also earnest which is nice, the escape segment at the end manages to pull emotion mostly out of nowhere. The game itself is short but the branching paths and medal system give you a lot to love, and I believe there's an extra mode on top of that which I've never gotten to before. Only thing holding it back is how all-range mode kind of sucks which is what I think Star Fox Zero tried to fix, but I've never played it.

As much as I love this game I do think a new game in the series either shouldn't happen or should be extremely different. A modernization of the 3DS game's visuals on Switch could be nice though.
 
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1. Mario Party Superstars (NS) [Finished January 1st, 2023] - 8:
I'll probably lower the rating for this the more I play it, but I got a particular high off finishing off with the Boo map, which was very fun. That's the biggest problem with this package, there's only like two good boards and the rest are just ok. I like the space map and the aforementioned haunted map, but that's about it. Still, it's pretty fun, even if just online.

2. Bayonetta (NS) (Replay) [Finished January 2nd, 2023] - 8.5:
Despite giving a fairly high rating, my experience with this was actually a rollercoaster of emotions. For reasons that are both dumb and silly, Bayonetta 2 kind of got me back into Nintendo during the Wii U era despite not having played the original until owning 2. So replaying this game almost 10 years after originally playing it was a crazy experience. I want to say I like it even more this time, but it's hard to say. I've gotten way more into action games in the time since, and trying to learn Bayonetta "properly" and not just button mashing was a brutal, agonizing, experience, one that felt like it was more punishing than just dodging the entire time and occasionally pressing x or a. The combat system is inventive and very different from something like Devil May Cry, but I think I kind of just prefer how the system works in that game: holding out your attack button and using dodge offset is so hard to juggle. It feels very unintuitive. I don't mind games where you have to learn how to play the game, but I think Kamiya's design philosophy generally takes it too far, compared to people like Mikami and Itsuno, who either task you with figuring out how to make the most of a simplistic and restrictive combat system or let the player decide how to use the wide tool set at their disposal while simultaneously easing them into skill checks. There are so many parts in the game where I was just frustrated at how badly things were designed or how obvious it was that things were put in place to annoy the player - the enemies on fire that do damage to you the moment you get near them, the bosses that will near instantly hit you after a cutscene ends, that one fucking chapter with the giant ball that makes it hard to do any combos on the ground. Funnily enough, I think the complaints about QTEs are actually pretty overblown after replaying the game, which is funny because I remember having the exact same complaints myself, but it doesn't change the fact that some QTEs will throw a button at you you weren't expecting and that will basically fuck you up entirely. What really gets me though is the rare fight where you'll get hurt by an object offscreen because you didn't point the camera in the right direction - how does the man who made DMC not realize how bad this is? Those missiles where you have to use a QTE to parry them but you won't see them coming if your camera is pointed the wrong way can seriously fuck off.

There are so many bizarre decisions, and honestly I don't even think the game teaches its combat well. I find it really funny that the first two or so bosses only take damage from wicked weaves, meaning players are basically encouraged to button mash, in a genre that is famous for people misunderstanding the combat systems as just pure button mashing. There's a lot of miscommunication on that front. That being said, the game is still really really fun. It's simply one of the most confident games of all time, which is nice to see. The presentation is great and honestly while I remember finding the 7th gen era yellow-grey-brown look of the game kind of dull, I can't say I feel the same way now, it really fits the more gothic feel of this game compared to 2. The story is also generally pretty good, even if like some of the gimmicky gameplay sections there are parts that overstay their welcome. I think this kind of game really benefits from playing it over and over, replaying stages, figuring out how to string together combos, so I'll probably try to replay it sometime later this year. But unfortunately that kind of means
that if you're just going through a quick playthrough of the game, there will be lots of parts that feel very, very clumsy.
 
Looking forward to keeping track of my victories again! I doubt I will finish 46 games again this year, but I'll see where the year takes me.

January-
Mario Party 1 (NSW)
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Wii)

February-
Fire Emblem: Engage (NSW)
Super Paper Mario (Wii)
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (NSO)

March-
Final Fantasy X (PS4)
Kirby's Dream Land (NSW)
Paper Mario: Color Splash (Wii-U)

April-
Space Harrier 2 (NSO)
Horizon: Forbidden West (PS5)*
Pokemon Stadium (NSO)
Horizon: Forbidden West- Burnin Shores (PS5)

May-
Forspoken (PS5)
Advance Wars 1 (NSW)
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (Wii-U)

June-
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (NSW)

July-
Mega Man X (NSW)
Final Fantasy XVI (PS5)
Super Mario Bros (NSO)
Super Mario Bros 2: The Lost Levels (NSO)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS4)
Super Mario Bros 2 [USA] (NSO)

August-
Pikmin 4 (NSW)
Super Mario Bros 3- NES (NSO)
Super Mario World- SNES (NSO)
Super Mario Land- GB (NSO)
Uncharted 2: Honor Among Theves (PS4)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (NSW)

October-
Starfield (Xbox)
Resident Evil 2 (PS5)- Both campaigns
Donkey Kong Country 2 (NSO)
Super Ghoul's 'n Ghosts (NSO)
Alan Wake 1 Remastered (PS5)

November-
Resident Evil 3 Remake: Nemesis (PS5)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (NSW)
Resident Evil 0 (PC)
Super Mario RPG (NSW)
Gravity Rush: Remastered (PS5)

December-
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (PS5)

NSW- 21
^NSO- 11
PS5- 8
PS4- 3
Wii- 2
Wii-U- 2
GB- 1
PC- 1
Xbox- 1
 
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AngryAlchemist said:
Mario Party Superstars (NS)
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I kind of agree with your assessment, but I also have a significantly more favorable impression of it. It's just so fun to play with family and friends. The silly minigames are also usually a hit with the young ones.

Josh5890 said:
I doubt I will finish 46 games again this year, but I'll see where the year takes me
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I will probably also be finishing fewer games this year, but that's fine! Better something than nothing. And it's not too bad as long as you're enjoying those vidya games!
 
meatbag said:
I kind of agree with your assessment, but I also have a significantly more favorable impression of it. It's just so fun to play with family and friends. The silly minigames are also usually a hit with the young ones.
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Oh I think it's a very good game, I just don't have much to say on it, so the only thing that came out was the complaint about the boards. I really like it!
 
Well, I think I might try and participate here as well.

1) Fairune (3DS)

I had forgotten about having picked this up, but after having read about it on the internet I was interested in eventually getting the Fairune Collection on Switch, only to discover it yesterday night on my 3DS. So there I went and beat it.

What, pray tell, is Fairune? Fairune is an homage to 80s Japanese action RPGs developed by Skipmore and published by Circle Ent. who are probably more known for KAMIKO on the Switch. Specifically, the game draws inspiration from T&E Soft's Hydlide and Falcom's Ys series - in that the combat works by simply walking into foes. The catch, though, is that there's usually just one or two enemies you can actually defeat at a time and gain EXP from - anything too high-level will kill you without being able to hurt it and anything too low-level won't yield EXP period - but that makes the game also enjoyable to play. Death isn't too severely punished and since the game world is fairly small, backtracking from the game's single respawn point isn't too much of an issue - though it pays to activate the healing points scattered across the map.

Progress is quite quick, but you'll be forced to figure out which path to take and, keeping in tradition with some NES games, some paths are hidden and occasionally, I found myself just hugging walls to find a hidden room that would allow me to go on with my quest. Said quest? Find three Spirit Statues and bring them back to where you began the game.

Do I think this will set anyone's world on fire? No, but much like KAMIKO, if you're a fan of old-school Japanese games and have a longer train trip to spare (my clear time was at just slightly above three hours, according to achievements you can theoretically beat it under an hour), it's a very nice way to spend your time.
 
#01 Aladdin (SNES)
#02 Disney's Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse (SNES)

#03 Magical Pop'n (SNES)

Magical Pop'n is one of the hidden gems on the SNES that never got a release outside Japan. More than that, as far as I know, the studio that made it shut down after it failed and there was never another game made by that team. It was on my list of SNES games to try, so I finally picked it up this week.

The game is, uhh, interesting. On paper, it has everything to be a classic. It controls great, the gameplay is varied with a lot of weapons, and the light metroidvania structure keeps the player engaged exploring the levels. The bosses are also very cool and well designed. The problem is, for some reason I can't comprehend, the devs decided to make the game brutally difficult from a certain point on. It has 6 stages, the first 3 are fine and fun, the last 3 start to get frustrating and ramp up until you're crushed but how stupidly difficult the game can be for no reason. It's not good difficulty either, it's cheap stupid stuff like abusing a grappling mechanic because they know it's janky and the player most likely can't do it consistently, and on top of that, making that section have a time limit and having to do all over again when you fail. There are rooms in the game that are absolutely impossible to navigate without getting hurt because they're are simply undesigned chaos, there are energy balls and projectiles randomly flying around while you have to maneuver around moving platforms with spikes that switch in and out.

All of that coupled with the fact that game doesn't have any way to save your progress makes it very clear to me why the game bombed in Japan. I'm not sure how you're supposed to beat this thing in one sitting with very limited lives. I abused save states to beat it and I still thought about giving up several times while trying to getting around those stupid grappling hooks.

To summarize it, I think the devs had a great thing going with the foundation of the game and then decided to shit the bed for no reason making it infuriating and nearly impossible to complete. It's not even from a time where being extremely hard was the norm either, it's from 1995. And in many ways, I think a lot of hard games from the 80s like Megaman or Ninja Gaiden were more fair than it. I can still recommend it as an interesting piece of SNES history, and if you don't mind spamming save states, it has lots of enjoyable moments.
 
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Yes! Getting in on the ground floor this year lol. Plan is to get through my holiday haul before March, then focus on new titles for the rest of the year (thanks, Game Pass!). Should have something to report soon. 🫡
 
Eased myself into 2023 with Fairune, a short indie game by Skipmore. The collection is on sale for a fiver so I took a chance on it.

It was a really tight, very fun evening. It’s like a very, very simple mix of Zelda and Ys. Only took me 2 hrs, 20 minutes to clear it but it was a lot of fun. Apart from the final boss 😄

Combat simplified down to walking over enemies- either you are too strong and kill them instantly for no xp, are just right and kill them for xp gain plus 1 hp damage, or you take 2 hp damage as they are stronger, or you can’t hurt them at all. Which makes backtracking a cinch. Once you get your head around the gameplay loop (it’s only got 3 main dungeons plus a short final one) it all makes sense and feels quite elegant. A couple of things had me stumped with ‘what do I use this for?’ or ‘how do I interact with this’ but it all feels quite elegant as there’s only a dozen or so items to collect and ones you don’t need any more get removed. The game world is pretty small too.

A couple of things I found annoying were a single room with insta-kill enemies and the final boss
who is the only real piece of combat in the game but pulls a complete genre flip into a bullet-hell shooter
 
1. Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward: This really pushed me over the edge for absolutely loving FFXIV and finally "getting it". The entire expansion was great with minimal downtime, and I loved where the story went. The new characters are some of my favorites in the entire game, like Aymeric. This expansion only made me more excited for Final Fantasy XVI, because I can see how they handle a story about political intrigue and warring nations. The Heavensward team absolutely nailed it, and I look forward to seeing what they are cooking up. This is pushing me forward to climb the insanely tall mountain that is FFXIV.

2. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - Reunion: This was the first time experiencing Crisis Core because I never had the game on PSP and didn't feel like tracking down a physical copy in later years. I'm so glad I gave this one a chance because I absolutely loved it. The structure and area design is the same as the PSP version from what I understand, which didn't hamper my enjoyment too much. The combat was actually quite fun and engaging, and the Materia Fusion system gave it just the right amount of depth for me to want to tinker with it. The story hit me like a ton of bricks. I knew the ending of the game via osmosis, and I've played Final Fantasy VII Remake so I was familiar with a lot of aspects. What a wonderful game and I'm so happy to have experienced it. The CG scene where Genesis and Sephiroth fight mid way through the game was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. The price of freedom truly is steep.
 
Starting 2023 with the backlog

1. SAMURAI MAIDEN: D3 going for another sword game, while it's simpler than other of the action games they have published it works and the progression makes kinda sense and the character design is nice. It does have a lof of enemy color palette swap (there are like, 4 enemy types only) and the stages are on the ugly side but since you are mostly fighting it doesn't matter that much. With that said the game goes into brutal difficulty after the middle part, and you really have to use all of your partners techniques to clear the stages and some of the bosses. Overall it's good to pass some time
 
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1) Luigi's Mansion 3. A little over 15 hours, I finally finished the story. Just loved everything about it, the boss fights were epic and the level design and variety was amazing. Not to mention the best graphics ever. Amazing. Can't wait for 4!!
 
1. Pikmin 3 Deluxe [Switch]

First game of the year down. Technically started near the end of 2022 but just finished it up. Fully played coop main story and all the side story content.
This is also my first Pikmin game and I had a lot of fun with it. I preferred the exploration feel of the main story content rather than the mission based side story stuff that had time limits to hitting objectives, but they were still interesting to play.
I feel like I can now appropriately be excited for Pikmin 4 when it comes out.
 
2023 starting off strong!

1. January 4th - Missed Messages (9/10)
It's surreal that this thing is less than 10 bucks and less than an hour and still manages to hit so dang hard. It's a heartaching but tenderly written experience about struggling with your inner demons, with a cute interface and gorgeous art to boot. It would be a bit of a spoiler to elaborate further, since the game rests on a pretty devious twist, but let's just say that I was left shook by it all. There's devastation here, but also hope, heart and the will to do good, and it all manages to seethe its way into the feels with only a few mouse clicks. I'm so happy that Angela He and their games exist, and the world could use more games like this.

2. January 4th - Florence (9/10)
It's surreal that this thing is less than 10 bucks and less than an hour and still manages to hit so dang hard. The way the game uses its interface and interactivity to ring its points home and communicate the rollercoaster of love, both at its most tender and at its most bitter, is ingenious to say the least. The touches and the prods on the screen turns into vivid expressions of affection that Florence herself displays towards her lover, and it's cute, adorable and sometimes awkward. The journey of falling in love, and how to go from there, feels so genuine here. And all of this without saying a word, too. Just amazing, impactful stuff.

3. January 5th - Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk and milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk (9/10)
It's surreal that this thing is less than 10 bucks and less than an hour and still manages to hit so dang hard. These games are so harrowing in their minimal but very effective framing of mental anguish that it positively creeps under your skin. I don't think I've ever played a game with a more simple and stripped-down style, but these games are gaming's ultimate proof that sometimes less is more. Helping the girl become a little bit happier feels important here, and something you want to put effort into. And the way the game puts all of this in the hands of the player in a complete shatter of the 4th wall makes the whole thing so authentic, and truly elevates what should be something dumb and tiny into something quite special.

(Let's just say that length and budget isn't everything)
 
1.) the witcher 3 - Xbox Series X
2.) bulletstorm - Xbox Series X
3.) Pokemon Scarlet - Switch
4.) Dead Space (2023) - PC
5.) Tomb Raider (2013) - PC
6.) HiFi Rush - PC
7.) Resident Evil 4 (2023) - PC
8.) Tchia - PC
9.) Final Fantasy 7 Remake (Integrade DLC) - PS5
10.) Pokemon Snap - Nintendo Switch Online
11.) Super Mario 3D Land - 3DS
12.) Horizon Forbidden West (Burning Shores DLC) - PS5
13.) Batman Arkham Knight - PC
14.) The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - Nintendo Switch Online
15.) StarWars: Jedi Survivor - PC
16.) Marvels Spiderman Remastered - PS5
17.) Wide Ocean, Big Jacket - Switch
18.) Diablo 4 - PC
19.) The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Switch
20.) Mario and Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story + Bowser Junior’s journey - 3DS
21.) Kirby Return to Dreamland: Deluxe - Switch
22.) Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - Switch
23.) Final Fantasy XVI - PS5
24.) Super Mario 64 (3D All-Stars) - Switch
25.) Rise of the Tomb Raider - PC
26.) Starfield - PC
27.) Cyberpunk 2077 (Phantom Liberty Expansion) - PC
28.) Pikmin 4 - Switch
29.) Shadow of the Tomb Raider - PC
30.) Cocoon - PC
31.) Marvels Spiderman 2 - PS5
32.) Luigis Mansion - 3DS
33.) Alan Wake 2 - PC
34.) The Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds - 3DS
35.) Super Mario RPG - Switch
36.) Super Mario Bros. Wonder - Switch
 
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Here we go!

Currently playing:
-

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]
13. Shadow of the Ninja [NSW-NES]
14. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - The Master Trials [NSW]

March:
15. Metroid Prime Remastered [NSW]

April:
16. Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon [NSW]

May:
17. Octopath Traveler 2 [NSW]

June:
-

July:
18: The Legend of Zelda: Teears of the Kingdom

August:
19. Pikmin 4 [NSW]
20. Valiant Hearts: Coming Home [Android]
21. Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed [NSW]
 
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2. Legend of Zelda: mentioned this in other thread where I usually always stopped at the 8th or final dungeon. Well I decided this time it was time to finish it (only the first quest) and holy hell that last dungeon was brutal, even with the red ring, now I remember why I never finished it. I can't imagine trying to clear it without the magic key or a full map, I think I was lost like 20 min then look at a walkthrough and yeah, no way I would've reached Ganon on my own lol. But it's done

fEQUYIZ.jpg


1. SAMURAI MAIDEN
 
2. Eastward- This is a weird game for me. There were parts that annoyed the living shit out of me, but I kept playing through it. I didn't fall in love with it, but didn't end up hating it either. Some of my biggest issues were the 5-6 crashes I had with the game, although the game does auto save a ton. So I never lost huge amounts of progress, but still annoying have to boot up the game again. Autosaves were a bother for me as well, as it locked you out from going back in some spaces. So I missed out on 100% early on and never looked back. lol Some of the fights were hard to control both characters, since you had to switch between them for a few and then their weapons. I felt there were two chapters that really dragged on as well, but there was enough of a balance between serious and goofy things for me.

I really liked Sam, she was a fun character. I loved how the game looked and the music for it. The cooking was probably my favorite part, just collecting food items and trying to make the best max possbile version of it. I didn't collect all the dishes, but I came awfully close. Story is interesting enough, but not sure if I understood all of the ending. There was also this cool FF/DQ side game you could play and collect things for, you don't have to complete that game to beat the game, but I liked the game within the game enough.

I expected to like this way more than I thought I would, but overall I think it's ok, perfect to try out on gamepass kinda thing.
 
1. Mario Party Superstars (NS) [Finished January 1st, 2023] - 8
2. Bayonetta (NS) (Replay) [Finished January 2nd, 2023] - 8.5
3. Pikmin (GC) [Finished January 5th, 2023] - 8.5:
At first my general impressions of this game was that it was the rare Nintendo game that didn't 'age well'. I specifically remember the tutorial mission doing this weird zoom in whenever I went to the onion ships, it being kind of clunky to group Pikmin, and the terrible music that plays during the tutorial, etc. It felt like a game that was fine, good, even really good, but wasn't as compelling or polished as its successors.

However, the more I played, the more I got into it, and I REALLY started enjoying it. I don't know if I just forgot the greatness that is Pikmin puzzles or if 1 genuinely has better puzzles than 3 Deluxe, because that's the only other Pikmin game I've played and I remember getting the distinct feeling that the puzzles in this game were often more creative and challenging then the ones in 3. Olimar being the only pilot adds a LOT to the atmosphere and is a really important part of the game. Building up your spaceship is great, and the timed aspect of the game is fantastic, something I wish they'd bring back.

However ... the longer the game went on, the more I started to see glaring problems. I feel like a lot of the difficulty in this game is kind of infuriating, and not in a "Dark Souls get gud" kind of way but more in a bullshit kind of way. Having a ton of Pikmin die because they go up to a sleeping enemy and touch them while carrying a part of the spaceship? Legitimately terrible, especially because there's always so much room to maneuver around the enemy. It's not like the player knows it's going to happen, either, because you aren't given any indication as to the path the Pikmin will take. Having Pikmin attack everything around them without your permission can either get them killed, or just waste your time by having to coach them back to you, it's honestly really surprising they kept that in because it's so annoying. Having boss fights that you fail because you can't tell the throw curve of your Pikmin? Frustrating. None of these are deal breakers by themselves, but particularly in the middle of my playthrough I kept getting into these kind of roadblocks or annoyances and it caused a lot of little grievances that added up. The last boss is also really unfun and repetitive, but that probably speaks to my skill level more than anything.

Despite my numerous complaints the overall experience is still pretty excellent and I think I prefer this to Luigi's Mansion, it just feels more like a game. If Pikmin 2 retains the same quality as 1 and 3 Deluxe, then I'll have to say Pikmin is one of the best and most consistent franchises Nintendo has ever made, flaws and all. I really hope for Pikmin 4 they don't just iterate, but refine and bring together old ideas. I want a game where the fruit system isn't the main objective but rather is used as a sort of food supply and that determines how many days you have for your limit based on how many side objectives you do to get fruit. I want a game that has the micro-management of 3 but with the loneliness of 1. I want a game that has the challenge of the older games (if what I've heard about Pikmin 2 is true), with the quality of life improvements of 3. And most of all, I want a game where if you sneak past sleeping enemies, your Pikmin won't wake them up for you ; )
 
3. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope- I feel really silly for sitting on this one for a bit, because turns out I was only 3 fights away from the final boss fight. lol I toss this one to the side for a bit, because I got bored. The improvements to the gameplay were great, don't get me wrong. However, it made things even easier for me, so I rarely if at all felt challegned and I played on hard diffculty too. I did like seeing Bowser as a playable character, I am looking forward to the Rayman DLC, liked the fact that the overworld had more types of little side quest puzzles and the fact you can mix and match your team however you want. Also I liked what they did for the final boss, even if the fight itself was kinda long to me. I missed the grading system, I miss having fights you couldn't avoid, and having actual new weapons. I feel most people will like this one over the first, but I really like the first one more overall, it's still not a bad game by any means. I just have to realize if they go forward with this, it will most likely be even more welcoming to new players for this type of genre.

Also I have no idea why they gave Beepo one of the few fully voice talking roles, that robot seem way more annoying in this one because of it.
 
3. Star Fox (SNES) [8/10]

In the past I thought this game was not good at all, but I grew on me as I finished all three paths. Once you learn to process what you're seeing you can appreciate the visual style and the music is classic. I want to keep playing this to see if it grows on me even more, definitely worth a closer look.
 
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.
 
Kicking off the year with Family Game of the year 2022!

Jan 2023 - Kirby and the Forgotten Land

I don't really have a lot to say about it other than it was really fun. This game made long journeys so much more enjoyable. I don't think it will be one of those games that I find myself thinking back about all the time BUT it definitely deserves to be one of the best games from 2022. Kirby is crazy cute and the music was wonderful. Can't get enough of the soundtrack.

From now till May 2023, I'm probably just going to be chipping at that backlog of games I acquired last year.
 
#01 Aladdin (SNES)
#02 Disney's Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse (SNES)
#03 Magical Pop'n (SNES)

#04 Bonkers (SNES)
#05 Portal (Switch)

Keeping on with the Disney lincensed games made by Capcom on the SNES, I played Bonkers. It's a really short game, even shorter than Aladdin, I must have finished it in 40 minutes or so. I remember enjoying the cartoon as a kid (although I remember nothing about it) and watching my cousin playing it one afternoon when he had rented it, but I never did play it myself. All in all it's... Alright? I mean, it's very average, there's nothing special about it but it's also pleasant to play. I think bland is the best way to describe it. I don't remember any sections of the game I particularly enjoyed, but I was entertained all the way through. God bless you, Bonkers.

I had finished the main story in Portal around the end of the last year but today I finished all the bonus levels so I'm done with the game. It was my first time playing Portal, and of course my mind was blown. Very few pieces of media are able to balance the tone so perfectly like Portal, it's always walking a very fine line between creepy, cynical and funny. The whole premise of the game revolving around a computer AI thinking humans are so simple minded that eating cake is enough of a stimulus to put them through murderous trials is a perfect example of this: it's both extremely funny and extremely creepy. The puzzles are amazing, of course, but what makes this game really special to me is how much of a vibe it is. I would put it together with things like Super Metroid or Rare DKC for games with best atmosphere. I'm so happy I finally got the chance to play it, and I'm excited to try 2 in the future.
 
Mbolibombo said:
Here we go! Hoping to clear out some of the backlog before Octopath II hits.

1. Skyward Sword HD [NSW]
2. Captaid Toad: Treasure Tracker: Special Episode (DLC) [NSW]


Currently playing with some decent progress in all of them
  • Final Fantasy VII [NSW]
  • Professor Layton and the Lost Future [DS]
  • Suduko #1 [NSW]
  • The Last Campfire [NSW]

In the waiting pipeline
  • Immortals Fenyx Rising [XSX]
Click to expand...

Captaid Toad: Treasure Tracker: Special Episode (DLC) [NSW]

Wanted a co-op game, so I downloaded the special episode for Captain Toad - And man, I really like Captain Toad.. I hope they release a sequel some day. Honestly, I dont understand why they havnt gotten around to it.
 
Well that’s Yoku’s Island express finished. Was fun. Content at 77% not going to 100% jt
 
4. Star Fox 2 (SNES) [8/10]

I bought the SNES classic back in the day but never bothered to play it. I'm blown away with how ambitious it is. Playing normal mode I could appreciate it for the novelty and the visuals which are much better than the first game, but wasn't sold on the gameplay. But once playing on Hard mode the strategy becomes much more important and it's a lot of fun. Definitely going to go back to unlock Expert mode at some point.

Big downside to this one is the lack of character dialogue. The new team members look great but sadly they have no personality because every member of the team mostly says "Press Y to boost" and "Press L or R twice to roll" through the entire game.
 
Just finished a replay of Pokemon White 2 for the first time since 2019. I was really motivated at first, then I put my 3DS away twice, then I got the motivation again and enjoyed another romp through Unova.
Started a replay of Pokemon X yesterday, and I'm already feeling similar thoughts as I did at the start of my White 2 replay. Will I put the 3DS away? Does that somehow motivate me more? Dunno!
 
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