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StarTopic The 2024 Completed Games Thread

1. Super Mario Wonder - 1/2/2024
100%ed the game. Overall I did appreciate how creative it was and there were a few moments that genuinely delighted me. Overall it doesn’t reach the heights of 3 or World to me but it was a pleasant surprise. Some lowlights were some worlds were rather barren (world 3), bowser’s fight was cool but simple, and the music was surprisingly lacking (outside of the song levels). I also would’ve loved a boo house or something equivalent. The graphics and animation were great and I surprisingly loved the talking flowers. The flowers were generally hilarious. Probably would be fun to play this multiplayer
 
Jan 2024 - Super Mario RPG

This RPG is not going to win awards but it was fun while it last. Easy and breezy, I simply took the 'defeat EVERYONE' approach and by the time I'm at the final boss, I am almost level 30 and so over-powered. Level 30 is overpowered. In a JRPG?! After playing so many massive 100+ hrs JRPGs in 2023 (P5R, XC3 and more), I can live with one that is short, sweet and doesn't overstay its welcome.

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The writers went ham on the monsterpedia write-ups. I like that. The only thing I dislike about the game was the active platforming parts. 11 seconds to do some precise jumping on multiple koopa shells? I can't do that. This is why my exposure to Mario is purely on all the side games.

Finally, this game really make me miss the Mario and Luigi RPG series. Maybe I should fire up the 3DS and get around to finishing M+L: Paper Jam. But those precise timings required to unlock stuff are so tiring...

mario sleep


Update! Since this is too short to warrant a whole new post!

Jan 2024 - Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery

A game that is way too short to justify a physical purchase. But I did anyway. I heard good things about this on the Gomba Stomp podcast in the past so I was always a little interested in it. So snagged it during the Iam8bit Black Friday sales. The visuals look really good and the atmosphere cozy. I was expecting the twist to be that the artist was dead all along. But it seems that I was wrong. Or only partially wrong.

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The ending was confusing but I think I've sort of figured out the supernatural element of it. At the end of the day, it is a story about fleeting love that was not meant to be. Really quite bitter sweet. It wasn't tragedy that took them apart. Just different directions in life.
 
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Alright! I'm finally here in the completed games thread. I wanted to start posting here for the new year and going forward since I should chronicle what I finish on more than just twitter lol.

1. Star Ocean The Second Story R (Nintendo Switch) - 1/1/24

My first Star Ocean game. It was a good idea for them to have a new remake of one of the fan favorites ones after the 6th one came and went a year prior heh.

Super fun gameplay, story is fine, VA is a mixed bag but overall really enjoyed it! I'll do a Rena playthrough another time this year. Star Ocean 3 in 3D-2D remake style when?

2. Sonic Superstars (PC - Steam) - 1/4/24

You know...it's intriguing to play another Ohshima-directed 2D Sonic game after it's been so long since Sonic CD.

Overall I'd say this is a solid 2D Sonic platformer with some issues, though I think most of these issues would become an absolute pain with the multiplayer. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would have. The main issues I think would be both the the boss philosophy where you can only hit Eggman/miniboss at certain moments and the music overall is pretty good but I wish Jun Senoue would find a YM2612 and the correct instruments so his compositions can properly emulate the Sonic 3 Genesis sound like this.

Bosses can get a little cheap at times but my favs were some of the later bosses surprisingly. I don't really hate them, but some of the earlier midbosses have a certain tedium waiting for the moment to strike...I think the later level bosses are a little better about this. I'll be playing this off and on throughout the year though, as 2D Sonic is best on frequent playthroughs.
 
ZSaberLink said:
1. Super Mario Wonder - 1/2/2024
100%ed the game. Overall I did appreciate how creative it was and there were a few moments that genuinely delighted me. Overall it doesn’t reach the heights of 3 or World to me but it was a pleasant surprise. Some lowlights were some worlds were rather barren (world 3), bowser’s fight was cool but simple, and the music was surprisingly lacking (outside of the song levels). I also would’ve loved a boo house or something equivalent. The graphics and animation were great and I surprisingly loved the talking flowers. The flowers were generally hilarious. Probably would be fun to play this multiplayer
Click to expand...

2. Mario & Rabbids Kingdom Battle - 1/4/2024
Finished my second game - Mario & Rabbids Kingdom Battle. All I had left at this point was the DLC - DK Adventure, but I spent the past 2 days finishing the last 2 worlds in the game. The main game is fun, although I admit the puzzles possibly took a bit too much time for my tastes. The DK Adventure DLC was a fun twist with DK overall. Funnily enough the last world in the DK world was pretty easy, outside of the speed requirements to get a great rating. The last boss fight was a bit underwhelming, but otherwise it was a fun experience.

1. Super Mario Wonder - 1/2/2024
2. Mario & Rabbids Kingdom Battle & Donkey Kong Adventure DLC - 1/4/2024

This is definitely a fast start for me, but I imagine it'll slow down as I have no more games very close to complete.
 
ZSaberLink said:
This is definitely a fast start for me, but I imagine it'll slow down as I have no more games very close to complete
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Well you’ve at least got the ball rolling! As for me my plan is to blaze through a bunch of short games after I finish my big one right now lol

Red Monster said:
I don't even know what to say. The ending hits like a punch to the gut.
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Congrats on finishing! Was it the remake you played?
 
First game of the year completed!

1) Fire Emblem: Three Houses (second playthrough) - 10/10
This time I took the Edelgard route, and boy, I was NOT disappointed. I don’t remember the Blue Lions route quite so well anymore because it was half a year ago and this is much fresher in my memory, but I absolutely adored this. This was a NG+ playthrough and I set it to Hard (I usually play Normal), and my next playthrough will certainly be in Maddening. All in all… fantastic game; I got another 35 hours out of it and there’s sure to be many more. This has probably propelled itself to my top 5 Switch games, and I can’t recommend it enough. What a fantastic way to start the year… and I’m sure this won’t be the only FE entry on this list ;)
 
Alright, I suck at these kind of things so let's see for how long I can keep up. Anyway, first game is already done:

1. Pikmin 1 (challenge run)
My second play through. I challenged myself to only use 1 type of Pikmin per day. It was fun using types for things they were not meant to be used for. The only real challenge was getting the Libra (that took me 30 minutes...). Somehow I still managed to beat my first play through with regards to number of days needed, surviving pikmin and perished pikmin😅. So I'm tempted to do another run.
 
Red Monster said:
1) The Last of Us Part 1 (PS5)

I don't even know what to say. The ending hits like a punch to the gut. I'm gonna go lie down now.
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“Frank Reynolds in The Last of Us” might help you bounce back 😂

Seriously though: perhaps the most depressing game series ever. I like Part 1, but Part 2 is one of my all-time favourite games. Can’t wait to hear some thoughts there.

switchum said:
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
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This is way up high on my “give this game another shot” list; enjoyed your review! Has me looking forward to giving it another go.
 
meatbag said:
Congrats on finishing! Was it the remake you played?
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Yep, I played the PS5 remake. It’s probably one of the prettiest video games I’ve ever seen. The only time I noticed that TLOU was originally a PS3 game was during the Salt Lake City section with the giraffes. Otherwise it looks incredible.

I can’t speak on the gameplay improvements because I haven’t played the original. I can say that the combat feels pretty darn good to play. But I have to say that carrying ladders around and finding pallets to ferry Ellie over water got old.

I’m gonna play the DLC chapter, and then I’ll watch the HBO show. By then Part II Remastered should be out.
 
Red Monster said:
But I have to say that carrying ladders around and finding pallets to ferry Ellie over water got old.
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Ah that was a thing in the original too. I imagine the gunplay was improved though. Definitely play the DLC, it's ace.

Also wth they're remastering Part II? Well okay lol.
 
My 2024 year-in-review
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02 — GoldenEye 007
My dad & older brother were way into shooters on the PC in the 90s, and despite being eight years old I had played a bunch of ‘em by the time Goldeneye came around. It’s bad! It is so incredibly, ploddingly slow. It dares envision a first-person shooting game that mitigates almost all of the need to track moving targets. On the rare occasion you actually get to do something Bond-like, like use your laser watch or download some files on the down-low, I wondered about what could have been if 99% of the game wasn’t wading through molasses and holding down the fire button while you auto-lock to everything on screen. I sacrificed sleep to finish this for some reason. Yikamikas!
 
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big lantern ghost said:
GVLCwF5.gif

02 — GoldenEye 007
My dad & older brother were way into shooters on the PC in the 90s, and despite being eight years old I had played a bunch of ‘em by the time Goldeneye came around. It’s bad! It is so incredibly, ploddingly slow. It dares envision a first-person shooting game that mitigates almost all of the need to track moving targets. On the rare occasion you actually get to do something Bond-like, like use your laser watch or download some files on the down-low, I wondered about what could have been if 99% of the game wasn’t wading through molasses and holding down the fire button while you auto-lock to everything on screen. I sacrificed sleep to finish this for some reason. Yikamikas!
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The small video bits you add with the score are really cool!

(The clip here also goes nicely with the score lol)
 
9mTx7va.png


1. Xenoblade Chronicles 3

I started this one during the holidays, but only rolled credits today – so imo, it counts. It's a long game, and after 65 hours, I only completed the story, all the hero unlocking and base class ascending quests, and a couple of sidequests. There's plenty of stuff I haven't seen, but I decided to finish the story first, and maybe return for a bit of cleanup later. Probably my favourite Xenoblade game yet, and I'm looking forward to dive into Future Redeemed as well.
 
I wrote down my backlog between my two consoles:


Currently Owned
Baldur's Gate 3
Alan Wake Remastered
Control
Hades
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Star Wars Jedi Survivor
God of War Ragnarok
Final Fantasy VII Remake + Integrade
Elden Ring
Persona 5 Strikers
Hitman Trilogy
Yakuza 0
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Doom 2016

To Be Added
Resident Evil 4 Remake
Cyberpunk 2077
Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption 2
Alan Wake 2
Persona 3 Reload
Persona 4 Golden
The Last of Us Part II
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Marvel Midnight Sun's
Horizon Fordbidden West

Currently Owned

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope
Pikmin 4
Pokémon Legends Arceus
New Pokémon Snap
Fire Emblem Engage
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Advance Wars 1&2: Re-Boot Camp
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove

To Be Added
Another Code Recollection
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy
Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Princess Peach: Showtime
Paper Mario TTYD Remake
Splatoon 3: Side Order

So, yeah. A lot of games I want to play, and that's not even counting "forever games" like Street Fighter 6 or Fortnite.

Baldur's Gate 3 is the immediate priority. I'm on Act 3 but I imagine it'll still take a fair bit of time to conclude.
 
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Game number 1. Yakuza 0, I have to say, what a game, not my first Yakuza as I played the first a few years ago but I feel committed to fully play this series this year. Kiryu is now one of my favorite video game protagonists
 
Offering my first entry for 2024: Six Cats Under, which is a short point-and-click game about an old lady accidentally croaking in her home, and now she must use her ghostly powers to open the door and let her kitties get out of the house. Good on granny, thinking of her pets until the end.
 
Jahranimo said:
Alright! I'm finally here in the completed games thread. I wanted to start posting here for the new year and going forward since I should chronicle what I finish on more than just twitter lol.

1. Star Ocean The Second Story R (Nintendo Switch) - 1/1/24

My first Star Ocean game. It was a good idea for them to have a new remake of one of the fan favorites ones after the 6th one came and went a year prior heh.

Super fun gameplay, story is fine, VA is a mixed bag but overall really enjoyed it! I'll do a Rena playthrough another time this year. Star Ocean 3 in 3D-2D remake style when?

2. Sonic Superstars (PC - Steam) - 1/4/24

You know...it's intriguing to play another Ohshima-directed 2D Sonic game after it's been so long since Sonic CD.

Overall I'd say this is a solid 2D Sonic platformer with some issues, though I think most of these issues would become an absolute pain with the multiplayer. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would have. The main issues I think would be both the the boss philosophy where you can only hit Eggman/miniboss at certain moments and the music overall is pretty good but I wish Jun Senoue would find a YM2612 and the correct instruments so his compositions can properly emulate the Sonic 3 Genesis sound like this.

Bosses can get a little cheap at times but my favs were some of the later bosses surprisingly. I don't really hate them, but some of the earlier midbosses have a certain tedium waiting for the moment to strike...I think the later level bosses are a little better about this. I'll be playing this off and on throughout the year though, as 2D Sonic is best on frequent playthroughs.
Click to expand...

3. Shantae (Nintendo Switch) - 1/5/24
I started with Pirate's Curse on Wii U almost 9 years ago and played the other Shantae games after that, but never beat the GBC original. I was off and on this one the past couple of months but I got through it and had fun overall. The sprite work and music are excellent!

I recommend others to try it if you've played the others in the series.

Also I chose to play the GBC version instead of the GBA enhanced version just because I like the darker color palette more. I know I missed out on a bonus thing or two, no worries.
 
My 2024 year-in-review
MEeWOJ5.gif

03 — Kuru Kuru Kururin
The characters and story are charming, in that batshit sorta way. And it has an undeniably unique design: controlling an ever-spinning stick through increasingly devious obstacle courses is surprisingly tense! Ultimately there’s just not that much to it, and I felt like I had my fill before the short trip came to an end. Maybe it’s because I’ve been trying to eat better recently, but I was a big fan of CAKE LAND.
 
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New game beaten for 2024: Tunic.

A wonderful blend of Zelda, Dark Souls 1, and Hollow Knight. Nearly everything about it is immaculate, minus the music which goes for the ambient music but I'm not as big of a fan. Go into this one blind, and trust your gut when playing it and try not to overthink TOO much.
 
big lantern ghost said:
MEeWOJ5.gif

03 — Kuru Kuru Kururin
The characters and story are charming, in that batshit sorta way. And it has an undeniably unique design: controlling an ever-spinning stick through increasingly devious obstacle courses is surprisingly tense! Ultimately there’s just not that much to it, and I felt like I had my fill before the short trip came to an end. Maybe it’s because I’ve been trying to eat better recently, but I was a big fan of CAKE LAND.
Click to expand...

Including video as part of your 'Completed Games' update is such a massive flex. I love it.
 
I'm doing the 52 games / 1 year challenge over on ResetEra, so is it fine if I just copy-and-paste my comments/main post from there into here?

EDIT: I'm taking these 'Yeah!s' as a yes lol
 
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52games1yearchallengebanner.jpg


One of my main plans for this year is to try and clear shit up in my life, and my gaming backlog really should be a part of that. Doesn't hurt that, frankly, I find myself enjoying 'life' in general more when I'm actually playing games instead of just arguing with people here/elsewhere, or mindlessly watching Youtube videos. So, hopefully, this encourages me to do so. And even if I don't do the full 52 games I'm aiming for, I plan to do as many as I can.

So here goes!

1: Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Switch | Finished 4/1/24 | 100% | 15 Hours Played | 9/10
This is ever-so-slightly cheating, as I 'finished' the game (as in, rolled credits) earlier in 2023. However, I only completed it today, and given that I was going for completion from the very beginning, this is where I'm truly finished with the title (for now).

What can I say, this is Nintendo firing on all cylinders when it comes to creativity. Enough so that, frankly, my biggest criticism is that it has so many new ideas, that any single one of them doesn't stick around for longer than it really should have. I don't mind the relative lack of difficulty (most notably because of that fucking evil last special world level), as - like with Mario Galaxy and Odyssey before it - this is more of a presentation of, well, wondrous ideas than a hardcore, challenge-first experience. One thing you can really tell with this is that the developers had so, so much passion whilst making it, wanting to fill the game with as much 'new' stuff as they could. It's truly amazing.

2: Super Kiwi 64
PC (Steam Deck) | Finished 4/1/24 | 100% | 44 Minutes Played | 6/10
Now, I know this is a really short one... but I love this guy's games so I'm 100% counting it here. This is the definition of bite-sized, a full 3D platformer experience complete with cheat codes, multiple wide zones, and loads of stuff to collect, all told within a single hour. It's got the typically very-tight controls of Horn's other works, alongside his usual spooky-yet-cartoony vibes, and simple-yet-fun level design.

I'd give it higher, but it really is very short and without the production values of something like Sayonara Wild Hearts to make up for it. The level elements also do start feeling a bit repetitive, and its health mechanic is so underused that I didn't even know you could get hurt lol.[/

3: Chants of Sennaar
PC | Finished 6/1/24 | 100% | 9 Hours Played | 8/10
Post

4: The Exit 8
PC | Finished 15/1/24 | 100% | 1 Hour 20 Minutes Played | 5/10
Post

UPDATE: Baldurs Gate 3 - Act 1
PC | Finished 21/1/24 | 35 Hours Played
Post

5: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - Reunion
Switch | Finished 26/1/24 | 17 Hours Played | 6/10
Post

6: Turnip Boy Commits Tax Exasion
PC (Steam Deck) | Finished 29/1/24 | 100% | 2 Hours 40 Minutes Played | 7/10
Post

7: Final Fantasy VII Remake: INTERmission
PS5 | Finished 14/02/24 | All Trophies Earned | 14 Hours Played | 7/10
Post

8: Final Fantasy VII Remake | REPLAY
PS5 | Finished 18/02/24 | Platinum Achieved | 45 Hours Played (82 Hours Total) | 8/10
Post

9: We Love Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie
PC | Finished 23/02/24 | All Achievements Earned | 11 Hours Played | 8/10
Post

10: Sonic the Hedgehog
PS5 | Finished 25/02/25 | 1 Hours 30 Minutes Played | 5/10
11: Sonic CD
PS5 | Finished 25/02/24 | Good Ending | 4 Hours Played | 6/10
12: Sonic the Hedgehog 2
PS5 | Finished 26/02/24 | 3 Hours Played | 8/10
13: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
PS5 | Finished 27/02/24 | 4 Hours Played | 9/10
ADDENDUM: Sonic Origins Plus
Platinum Achieved
Post

14: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
PS5 | Finished 16/2/24 | 72% Trophies Earned | 83 Hours Played | 9/10
Post

15: Pseudoregalia
PC | Finished 18/2/24 | 5 Hours Played | 8/10
Post

16: The Utility Room
PC (VR) | Finished 19/2/24 | 1 Hour Played | 9/10
Post

17: Sonic Adventure
PC | Finished 23/03/24 | All Stories Completed | 9 Hours Played | 6/10
Post

18: Sonic Adventure 2
PC | Finished 25/03/24 | 8 Hours Played | 6/10
Post

19: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
PS5 | Finished 02/04/24 | 32 Hours Played | 10/10
Post

20: Another Code: Recollection - Two Memories
Switch | Finished 07/04/24 | 4 Hours Played | 6/10
21: Another Code: Recollection - A Journey into Lost Memories
Switch | Finished 14/04/24 | 7 Hours Played | 7/10
Post

22: Dark Souls 3 | REPLAY
PC (Steam Deck) | Finished 21/04/24 | 22 Hours Played | 8/10
Post

23: Children of the Sun
PC | Finished 21/04/24 | 3 Hours Played | 8/10
Post

24: Demon's Souls | REPLAY
PS3 | Finished 28/04/24 | 12 Hours Played | 8/10
Post

UPDATE 2: Baldurs Gate 3 - Act 2
PC | Finished 01/05/24 | 65 Hours Played
Post
 
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Beat the last boss in Signalis and the game crashed during the ending

I'm a little upset about this. I'm gonna go cry and puke
 
Clov said:
Beat the last boss in Signalis and the game crashed during the ending

I'm a little upset about this. I'm gonna go cry and puke
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Sympathy Yeah!

My game completely bugged out during the final boss of the GoW: Ragnarok DLC, and it just felt awful. Really shit when stuff like that happens :(
 
2. Quake 2 remaster (Steam Deck)

Specifically, the Ground Zero, Quake 2 64 and Call of the Machine campaigns, as I beat base Quake 2 and The Reckoning last year.

Quake 2 is a serviceable if unspectacular FPS, at least from a single-player perspective. It's probably more well known these days for multiplayer, mods and the engine. I actually prefer Quake 1 for its atmosphere and setting and find 2 to be kinda dull by comparison. Plus they absolutely murdered the Rocket Launcher in 2. At least the Railgun is cool.

As per usual for Nightdive, their remaster is solid and it plays perfectly on the Steam Deck. This includes both official mission packs (The Reckoning and Ground Zero), the Quake 2 64 campaign, and an all-new campaign in Call of the Machine. The original soundtrack by Sonic Mayhem is intact and remains one of the highlights of the game, and the remaster also touches up the graphics and models while staying true to the original look of the game, unlike Quake 2 RTX. They also add a compass which when used will lay out where to go, which is a godsend in some of the more maze-like levels. About the only issue I have is that they updated the AI of the enemies and the Berserker now has this really annoying jump attack that knocks you back and comes out way too quick to realistically avoid.

All the campaigns are worth a play, but Call of the Machine is the clear winner, which shouldn't be a surprise, given it's not limited by the original engine and was made with years of experience and advancement in level design. It throws you through six mini-episodes of sorts as a team of marines searches for data discs to allow their squad leader to locate and destroy the Strogg Maker. It does rely a bit on arenas with tons of enemies thrown at you, not totally unlike the modern Doom games. But the levels are by far the most interesting to traverse and the most complex without being pointlessly labyrinthine, with the possible exception of Operation: Firewall, the only one of the mini-campaigns I didn't really like. The final boss, a pair of Quake 1 Shamblers called the Masters of the Machine, is also a bit of a letdown and fails to really capitalise on the buildup.

The worst campaign is Quake 2 64, which as I mentioned in my last post is an interesting one. Quake 2 64 was an original campaign built on the same custom engine powering Quake 64, using assets pulled from the PC version. While it has some areas from the PC original, they've heavily truncated and remixed with original segments. Sadly, they're not really that interesting to play through, and the levels are short and not especially memorable, the one exception being the penultimate level which is insanely annoying. They also dropped Sonic Mayhem for Aubrey Hodges, who does great work when it comes to haunting, atmospheric music... but Quake 2 is enhanced by the pounding riffs of Sonic Mayhem, and Hodges' music misses the mark here. The campaign is a neat addition, and I don't mind its presence, but it's more a curiousity than anything else.

Still, overall, pretty enjoyable and the best way to play Quake 2 imo unless you really have to have raytracing.
 
1. Hi-Fi Rush (PC) [Finished January 4th, 2023] - 9.5-10/10:
Holllllllllllllyyyyyy Shiiiiiiiiiiitttttttt. This game was soooooo goood! Going into it I was a bit worried because there was a couple of things about it that didn't look like my thing. I'm not a big fan of Western comic book art styles, I'm not a big fan of wacky "WOOOAH I'M A CARTOON" self-referential humor (someone said this game looks like it has Joss Whedon humor and that is a very accurate concern lol), and the hype around it made me a bit weary. Also as a big fan of rock fan my first impression of the game was "Who the fuck uses Black Keys' Lonely Boy for a punk rebellion vibe".

It really did end up blowing past all my expectations though, once you get immersed in it the games art style is amazing. The humor definitely isn't always witty either but there's a real genuine quality to the game which is so endearing. I said that after playing this for a bit I started liking it a lot once I realized it was basically a Futurama character action game and while that's not entirely accurate it has a similar soul. I have a couple of small problems - mainly I felt like the game got a bit worse in the second half. They have to make two separate jokes about boss fights being cut or not shown, which made me sad. The game in general doesn't have a lot of bosses which is unfortunate. I also thought the writing got a bit shakier towards the end -
while Korisca has probably my favorite archetype of the team, her going from being an antagonist to joining the team felt a bit rushed, like her becoming neutral and being an antagonist against Spectra was well set up, but her actually learning to like the team happens almost instantly after her boss fight.
 I also didn't like how late the team was to figuring out Peppermint was Kale's sister, a pet peeve of mine but I don't like it when you're just supposed to assume all the characters are stupid. I normally wouldn't mind but I thought the game had a surprisingly good story especially for the genre until about the last third or so.

Still I really liked it overall. One thing I thought was interesting was that in the process of making the game a rythm game and action game combo they kind of solved two problems that a lot of action games have had, level design and difficulty. This game doesn't totally eschew level design like in the second half of DMCV, it still has things to do other than just go through combat arenas, but it's also not filled with annoying bullshit or tiresome QTEs like Bayonetta. With the difficulty, I feel like we've reached this ironic state where games with more complex combat systems have to make the games ridiculously easy in order to make them more approachable on normal difficulties, which means you essentially don't have to learn the game. This creates a scenario where games with easier combat systems like Souls games or God of War can have very hard parts on normal, but complex action games can't. Hi-Fi Rush doesn't really pull punches, while I wouldn't say the game is hard as I didn't die a lot it wasn't afraid to make you learn its systems on normal mode, this game gave me more bite than Bayonetta 2 or DMCV ever did (didn't play Bayonetta 3 yet).

This is like if someone made a modern Playstation 2 game

They played fucking Nine Inch Nails in a cat boss fight 😭 😭 😭 😭
 
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#1 - Yooka-Laylee (05/01/2024)

And so it begins! I bought Yooka-Laylee during the Christmas sales, having greatly enjoyed its' follow-up, The Impossible Lair, a few years back. I can't say this game is quite as good; it inherits some of the same flaws that Banjo-Tooie had.

The levels are far too big, and they can be slightly convoluted at times to explore, particularly Hivory Towers. That said, most of the platforming challenges in the levels are enjoyable, as well as the areas that make use of the duo's moveset, so it isn't all bad. The major exception to this is Capital Cashino, which has too many banal objectives in place of... well, much interesting platforming. One area of the level design which is particularly disappointing across the game were the enemy encounters: the same enemies are used throughout the entire game, so encounters become repetitive quickly. I didn't mind the combat itself, but it definitely doesn't add much to the game.

The controls and camera are what let the game down moreso than the level design. The camera is useless - though I hear it was worse at launch - as it feels a little sluggish. General movement is fine, but some moves feel too slow to activate - and don't get me started on the Flappy Flight ability. Other level gimmicks feel similarly half-baked, especially the Kartos sections and a few of the transformations. The former controls terribly, and the latter feel underutilised most of the time. The arcade-style mini-games are equally terrible, as many of them last far too long and also control poorly.

The game does look and sound great, however. I do love the grunt noises all the characters make, although I did find the audio balancing to be slightly off.

In all, the game generally lacks a layer of polish that the Impossible Lair did - such as Yooka getting stuck on level geometry - but seeing as this Playtonic's first project, I can see why. Irrespective of these complaints, I did enjoy my time with Yooka-Laylee - enough that I did 100% clear the game. I'd give the game a solid 7/10, considering the aformentioned flaws. I hope the sequel takes the opportunity to modernise the collect-a-thon genre by encorporating QoL features that games such as A Hat in Time and Super Mario Odyssey have, such as a map.

  1. Yooka-Laylee (05/01/2024, 7/10)
 
1. Octopath Traveler II
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This is probably cheating but :p

I already loved the original Octopath Traveler, so I was really excited to finally play OTII after so many good impressions and reviews. I honestly didn't expect to like it that much more than OT but the truth is that it improves on so many ways that it's hard to actually recommend playing the first one now.

Octopath Traveler II is honestly one of the best JRPGs that I have played in the last 15 years and I have played a lot of them. It has everything to become an instant classic in the upcoming years and it's an absolute crime that this game isn't celebrated more.

Combat wise, I loved the inclusion of the Latent Powers. During my playthrough, a few times I was on the verge of wiping out but these powers came in clutch at the right time to turn the tides of the battles and that made me feel a rush that I haven't felt while fighting bosses in JRPGs for a very long time. Double speed in battles is also a godsend and a much needed QoL.

I also really liked what they did the story structure in this game. While I loved many of the Traveler's stories in OT1, in Octopath Traveler II I was hooked with every single story, even Agnea's. I was smiling hard when I reached the ending and everything came together because that was one of my, and many others, complaint about the first game. The campfire scene was amazing, they made the cover from the game a scene and even placed them in the same order as the cover, that was a great touch. The epilogue absolutely destroyed me. Of all places they could've played the main theme, they chose this one. I was almost in tears while hearing the song and Agnea's speech. Always treasure the moments you spend with your friends, family and loved ones. Always.

The "Crossed Paths" stories were amazing, I loved them all. I loved the pair dynamic everyone had going on and how it helped to flesh them out a little bit more. My favorite pair was Temenos and Throné. Perhaps my favorite characters from this game.

I'm also glad that they didn't stick to 4 chapters only and gave some travelers more breathing room to flesh out their stories with 5 chapters.

I had my suspicions about Kazan right off the bat and I was proven correct, but I was honestly shocked to learn about Ori, sister Mindt and, I'm sure there are subtle pieces of dialogue that foreshadow their true nature though.

The soundtrack was amazing (as expected) but as of now, I think OT1 has the superior OST. Maybe as I hear more of it I'll like it more, who knows.

I'm really excited about the future of the series, if they somehow improve on OT2 then they could be crafting something truly magical here. The ending left me wanting a Team Asano game with a more traditional story structure though, if they make it I have no doubts that it's going to be amazing.


"Walk astride to the dawn."

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As for my "tierlist" of characters stories:

1. Castti - Just an amazing story all around. I was weary about the Amnesia trope but they pulled it off imo. Her backstory is so heart wrenching. Imagine recovering your memories only to find out that your friends are fucking dead. Castti's the one I truly cared the most. Great English VA and stellar character theme. Also her boost quotes are so fucking badass. NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN.

2. Temenos - The funniest character hands down and he has the most intriguing storyline of them all. The sherlock Holmes vibes were amazing. His chapter 1 was the strongest but imo it's all downhill from there and never manages to reach the same heights. Still great.

3. Throné - She was my main character and could've easily taken the first spot but her final chapter ruined it all, which is a shame. It was honestly so bizarre how Claude dumps on you some "what the actual fuck" pieces of information, you proceed to kill him, and you are left with a blank face until the ending.

4. Partitio - With Agnea and Ochette, Partitio is the other ray of sunshine we needed with all these dark and gloomy stories. I wasn't really feeling it after the 1st Chapter as it was long by OT standards with little to no combat but his story kept improving with each chapter.

5. Osvald- Osvald is great as a character, but his story had so much wasted potential. Mainly because of Harvey, he kinda ruined it for me? I also wasn't a fan of the power of love ending saving the day to be honest.

6. Agnea - I already talked about her in one of my previous posts but I really liked her story even if it had 0 stakes. Best character theme in the game and BEST final boss theme, hands down. Song of Hope is absolutely beautiful.

7.Hikari - Maybe a hot take but I think he's one of the blandest characters in the game, I thought the shadow inside him was going to play a bigger role in the overarching plot but it was just kind of there. His final chapter was AMAZING though, one of my favorite final chapters in the game.

8. Ochette - This hurts a lot because I really liked Ochette but her story just didn't do it for me. There's some interesting lore but it all became irrelevant in the overarching plot like the Dark Hunter and the Night of the Scarlet Moon. Big fan of her "Awoooo!" though, I never removed her from my party because of that.
 
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2. Metroid Prime Remastered

Metroid Prime Remastered is pretty much perfect as far as remasters go. It gives you tons of options for control from throughout various releases, it looks great, and it sounds the same as ever.

I haven't played this game in years and had a great time.

That said, it's definitely frontloaded with good moments which become rarer as the game goes on.

Scanning - an absolutely astounding tool for various lore - pretty much goes away after Chozo Ruins for various flavor text, which is a shame. When scanning grass, broken bridges, trees, and ancient writing you might get an impression that whole game is like this, but upon descending to Magmoor for the first time the game pretty much drops the gimmick up until space pirate logs which are cool, but are effectively diaries. You won't see any explanation for any machinery Chozo has left behind or the world in general after you beat the first major boss.

The progression through the game, mainly thanks to my memory, was fairly smooth even with infamous Chozo Artifacts, yet there are a few areas when you'll be tasked with going back and forth through nearly immediately, and no amount of new enemies make a long corridor that is Magmoor more fun to traverse. Frankly, it just makes it more annoying. The way the world is split apart in general makes it hard to remember which elevator connects to what place, as even the map feature is very vague when it comes to area connections. This probably should've been fixed so that elevators on the map have names, for example "To Crashed Frigate", "To Upper Mines", "To Ruins' Entrance" as opposed to "To Magmoor North" which just leads you to fiddling with the map a lot.

When it comes to this remaster in particular, I wish it had a few more extras, as all it can offer is a concept art gallery presented with no context whatsoever (some thought process by the artists would be nice) and a soundtrack, but otherwise it's a definitive Metroid Prime experience. Even if it is rusty in places, it withstood a test of time and is still a blast.
 
I stopped crying and puking and finished Signalis without the game crashing. It was amazing! Ending was sad though. I should play through it again and try to get a different ending.
 
2. Return to Shironagasu Island (NSW)

Very solid murder mystery/horror VN with enough spooks and intrigue that kept me engaged the whole run. It has a few tame jumpscares, but the main focus is atmosphere and suspense. There are some parts where you investigate scenes and have to exhaust every click-able object or dialogue option to proceed. Those are more like bumps in the road instead of something that derails the journey. It's only like $8 on the eShop, check it out!
 
I did pretty good last year but the last game I completed was TotK. So gonna try to do better this year in the second half. Was just too busy from July onward with other things. I have a plan this year to play a lot more of the 15 hour or less games and mix in some of the shorter games between the AAA types (we will see if this holds…). Probably will suck a big portion of my time away to puzzle games and whatnot though.
 
Just beat Pac-Man World Repac on Switch. Yeah this is a really solid remake of the classic. I think some of the assets got staler due to Unity, but other than that it was good.
 
Sonic R: I will preface this little review by saying that I played the Roblox version. Now, you may be asking, “what do you mean Roblox version?” and it’s a port of the game with online someone made in Roblox called Sonic Recharged. As a kid I saw my brother try to make a game on Roblox and it seemed so complicated, so to see someone port a whole ass game, and a SATURN one nonetheless, is insane. But enough about Roblox, because this game is actually surprisingly good, and offers some cool ideas for future racing games. Having ring collecting actually offer additional paths and collectibles makes the levels significantly more deep, and having every character have a major weakness/ strength only adds to this. 7/10, weird Sega never made a new sonic racing game where sonic and the crew run instead of drive. Speaking of driving….
Sonic drift 1/2: Generic racing games, kinda fun for a game gear racing game, but still. 5/10
 
#2 - Buckshot Roulette (06/01/2024)

Figured this thread might also bring attention to some smaller games that typically fly under the radar. Buckshot Roulette is a small $1 itch.io game with a simple premise: imagine a game of Russian roulette, but instead of a pistol, there's a sawn-off shotgun pointing at you. Reminiscent of the "21" mode in Resident Evil 7, you use various items to inform whether you aim at yourself, or the mischevious AI opposite you.

A pretty solid experience, with a great visual style and good ambience throughout. A little easy to beat - the odds do feel slightly in your favour, even if they technically aren't - but certainly a memorable experience nonetheless. Would love to see this updated with some trickier difficulty options, to improve the replayability. By indie horror standards, this was a solid 8/10!

  1. Yooka-Laylee (05/01/2024, 7/10)
  2. Buckshot Roulette (06/01/2024, 8/10)
 
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2. Astro's Playroom (PS5) [Finished January 5th, 2023] - 4.0/10:
There was one moment in my playthrough where I legitimately wanted to call this the worst game I've ever played. In the GPU Jungle and SSD Speedway levels, the suits you use - which are like the special gimmicks that are specific to each level, almost like a powerup - really hurt my wrists. Both of them require you to use the gyro to turn your controller - and as a big fan of gyro, the way you were supposed to do it felt really unnatural. You use the gyro in the controller for large directional shifts on the x axis as well, meaning that you're basically turning this big bulky controller like a steering wheel but with such low sensitivity that you basically have to bend your wrist. It felt really bad and it's a problem I've had in basically no other game, I used to have this problem with Splatoon too until I realized that Splatoon barely uses the gyro for the x-axis aside from very small movements and that you aren't supposed to make such dramatic shifts, and that seems like it's for a good reason. It's possible I just have a bum wrist, I guess?

Anyways, for the rest of the game, it's a fairly fun if somewhat bland platformer. It's sort of like if you took the worst examples of Galaxy's gimmicks and Odyssey's lack of challenge and made it into a game. The gimmicks often aren't very fun and the platforming is very monotonous, but it's all very cute and comfortable. The references are cool and what especially surprised me is that I actually didn't get a decent amount of them, it made me really want to look them up. I do think it's a bit lame that the references barely fit with the levels they're in except for a few occasions, but that's a petty nitpick I admit. Similarly I was kind of disappointed that they weren't a bit more clever with the whole "the level is the actual console component" gimmick. The music is also surprisingly great, though sometimes tracks will devolve into sounding like tracks that didn't make it into The Sims OST. Like I said earlier, bland but comfortable.

I don't want to entertain the idea of if this is a cynical work or not becaus ultimately that seems pretty disingenuous - yes it is essentially marketing, just like all commercial art, but the game really makes you believe it's a labor of love.

Overall it's a fine game, like a 6/10. But when you consider that 2/4 of the levels suck, it gets worse from there. Ultimately while Team Asobi isn't technically part of Japan Studio anymore, it's funny that I still mostly feel the same way about Astro's Playroom as I do all Japan Studio games I've played - that the concept is very cool and I want to see more of this from Sony, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired.
 
Finished in 2024 #1: Pixel Puzzle Makeout League

It's Picross combined with a visual novel dating simulator about a group of puzzle themed superheroes. For me, this was enough of a selling point. Jupiter's Picross games are better at being pure nonogram puzzle games, but the fact that the puzzles relate to the plot and it being surrounded by a plot that was very wacky but knew when to be earnest helped carry it. Somehow the story gets even more bonkers than the initial premise in ways I was not expecting, and I ended up finding these moments really compeing. Saying too much would be spoilers, so I'll be brief. If you're willing to buy into the game's goofy premise and give the game time to show its more earnest moments, it's a good time.
 
1) The Last of Us Part 1 (PS5)

2) The Last of Us Part 1 - Left Behind DLC (PS5)

This is pretty much a perfect piece of DLC. Getting to spend time with Ellie and Riley is wonderful, and in the “current” timeline, the story of the helicopter crew was very compelling. Exploring the two malls was cool, flipping between the current, frozen mall, and the more lively and romantic one in the past.

I also have to talk about the combat here - I initially thought that there wouldn’t be any real combat scenarios, given that Ellie isn’t nearly as strong or well-equipped for fighting as Joel is. But the way Ellie changes up how you have to approach each encounter, along with the extreme lack of resources, does a lot to keep the fights fresh. Not to mention how you can get the human hunters and the infected to kill each other while you wait to pick off the scraps. Good stuff. I still can’t believe I made it through that final encounter - there were a couple really close calls!
 
Why do I always have so much to say about Sonic but then most every other game I can get my thoughts out very quickly
 
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1. Rachet and Clank: Rift Apart

Had a lot of fun with this one. Quite liked the variety throughout with the gameplay mechanics (more so the set pieces I guess that mix up what are essentially combat arenas). Always like mascot platformers with unique weaponry. Combat did end up being just releasing a ton of the area affect weapons (Ms fungi, the bombarder thign, and the little robots) then using the more ranged joking weapons, but still had some things to mix it up. Liked the rift mechanic and traversal. Actually wish there were more rails sections and speed platforming. Maybe could have used some score chaser arcade modes for those. Also liked the anomaly lemmings type puzzles but felt they were a little too easy.

There were some wonky traversal portions though where you would get hung up invincible walls and some of the more spread out levels seemed to be time sinks with traveling across the map. At least they gave you speedier options for those. Games like this are more fun as strictly linear or arena battles.

Doubt it will happen but would be nice to get a resurgence of this style of game. Think this was maybe it though (from a Sony first party sense) since the sales potential probably isn’t as great for these big corps.
 
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