52 Games Challenge 2023!!!

[bikingjahuty]

7. Snowboard Kids (N64)

I actually have a very vivid memory of renting Snowboard Kids around the time first came out in early 1998. It wasn't because the game blew my mind or that it was a particularly memorable game, but rather a day or two after I rented it, a neighbor of ours at the time collapsed in his front yard and died of a massive heart attack while playing with his kids. I bring this up not as some random morbid memory, but because it was my first experience with death involving someone I personally knew. I was only 10 at the time so it was very weird for me. I remember playing this game while my mom and the neighbors were shooken up by it quite a bit, and even remember taking the instruction manual to the guy's funeral to look at when my mom and other adults were talking. It was probably a bit of a coping mechanism, but it's how I remember this game more than anything.


With that you'd think I'd sort of hate this game or at least have a negative association with it. And yes, while it does feel a bit strange playing this game again for the first time in literally 25-years, I've come to find that Snowboard kids really isn't anything amazing. It definitely blends that line between another late 90s snowboard game with a game like Mario Kart 64 where you're collecting power ups and weapons to help get you across the finish line before your opponents. Overall these mechanics as well as the basic controls of the game aren't anything special and in fact can feel cumbersome, but they're all more or less serviceable. Luckily the graphics and OST are pretty good; I'm actually listening to some of the soundtrack while writing this review which is always the sign of a great OST in my book. Still, this isn't a game I can see myself regularly returning to, however it does hold a special, yet strange place in my heart and for that I feel like it's a part of me just like Super Mario 64 or Ocarina of Time is, but obviously not even close to how good those two games are. (1/20/23) [31/50]

[telly]

Game 4 – Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Switch) – 15 hours

I have really been on a roll so far in 2023! A lot of these games so far are ones I started in 2022, but at least for now I’ve been beating 1 game a week!

I played the first Luigi’s Mansion quite some time ago but skipped the 2nd game for this offering on the Switch. The first thing that stuck out to me is how unintentionally funny the game is. Luigi has so many little goofy and lovable quirks to appreciate as you cause thousands of dollars of property damage destroying or sucking up everything in your path. All the levels in this game are beautifully designed and themed and it was fun to appreciate them while also wreak some havoc as you explore. The boss ghosts of each level are really fun and unique with memorable personalities, and it makes you a little sad when you defeat them. The gameplay itself is quite fun and using Gooigi as an additional puzzle solving mechanic was interesting to utilize. Overall a very solid and entertaining experience.

There were a few things that I thought could have been better. The game is stuffed to the brim with money to collect but there’s barely anything to spend it on. It would have been nice if you could have bought some upgrades for the Poltergust but all of your ghost-hunting tools are given to you right away which removes any sense of meaningful progression. You do get one upgrade towards the end of the game, but it’s used to open precisely one door and then never touched again. I felt that the game is quite easy overall. You can slam ghosts into each other, and combo tether them easily afterwards, so they don’t pose much threat, even in large numbers. Boss fights are quite challenging however, though it’s mostly because it’s difficult to dodge boss attacks and counterattack because the slow cumbersome pace that Luigi moves. These fights left me more frustrated than anything because while the way that Luigi moves and uses the Poltergust are great for exploring, really doesn’t work for the bosses that are in the game.

[conduit]

#3 Rule of Rose (PS2)

To me the game felt like a bargain bin Silent Hill 2, and I mean than in the best possible way. The in-game graphics and FMVs were great, the story was interesting and the whole game carried a constant sense of unease and uncertainty. Although they never reached the levels I felt playing though SH2 for the first time. The airship, where most of the game takes place in, is a cool location to explore initially. Once I got a few chapters in, it started to become tedious as most of the game's objectives had you going from one end to the other with very little happening in between. Jennifer moves rather slowly and the 3D movement control failed to synergize well with the pseudo-fixed camera system. In game music suffers from the same problem. Great at first, but toward the end I'd hear the same tracks constantly, bogging down the experience.

For what it is its a solid game. Good for a single playthrough, or two if you're compelled to figure out the story beats for yourself.

[kashell]

Rule of Rose was cool. I almost dropped it during the fight with the mermaid because, let's be real, Jennifer is not a fighter. But, I'm glad I endured because the story was truly something else.

[vivigamer]

02. Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One (PS5) - 26/01/2023

Really struggled with this game! There is a lot I like about it, the stories behind the cases, the setting & Sherlock as a character but the gameplay is just insufferable! The problem is I always found myself getting stuck on what or where to go next. What's most infuriating is you have a sidekick you could help you but never does. I know the nature of the game is to be a detective and figure things out but a lot fo the time there was no indication what so ever. One example, I had to enter a dock and find out information in a building, I found the building and couldn't enter. The game wanted me to ask people around for the location but to do that I had to change outfit into a police officers uniform for them to talk to me... Yes, I had to use a guide and kept one at hand because events like this would happen so often! Another example would be that you would need to go to 1 of 3 buildings which have archives for you to research details on the cases your on – But there was no mission objective to inform you to go there next, so I wouldn't know, despite really if that was Sherlock's intention to progress details on where to go next would make sense from a narrative & gameplay perspective.

Then there is the sidekick Jon, like I said before he is a great opportunity to offer hints or indications as to how to progress but he doesn't. Actually, he is much worse because if you talk to the wrong people or don't find out the right information 1st time he has a journal which he criticises you... The more mistakes you make the more he does and it felt like there was this karma system with him within the game which stopped all aspect of exploration for me - As I felt I was getting backhanded by my 'buddy' at every turn!

The games setting is very nice but it is too big for the content on offer - There is fast travel at least. The open world has collectables and side missions to encounter so there are extras to explore but my patiences wore thin with the experience and I just focused on the main narrative - which was satisfying overall.

[kashell]

6. Touken Ranbu Warriors

Take legendary swords from Japanese mythology and history, turn them into the prettiest boys you've ever seen, add in the Dynasty Warriors formula and you have this. But, let's sweeten the deal even more by adding time travel, relationship building, and mini-games. I have no idea where this game came from, but the world is a little sillier and better because of it.

[kashell]

I know that including Jackbox games on here might raise some eyebrows, but this is my gaming journey and I plan to keep on tracking new experiences. Last night, some friends and I played through four of the games in Party Pack 9.

7. Junktopia

This was my favorite of the bunch because it required some quick thinking and improv. You write backstories for weird objects and then get them appraised. The player with the most valuable items wins.

8. Quixort

Trivia! We split into teams of two and sorted falling answers into their proper order before they hit the floor.

9. Nonsenory

This one took the longest to grasp. You had to write or draw something with a crazy prompt. Other players had to rank it on the prompt's scale.

10. Roomerang

It was The Circle, but in Jackbox form. We had to respond to prompts and role-play to avoid being voted out. It was a lot of fun.

[kashell]

11. Sands of Destruction

Overall, I liked this a lot more than I thought I would - especially after taking passing glances of opinions from other websites, users, media, etc. The problems with it are real, but I overlooked them. Unlike Avalon Code, which I dropped, this one kept me coming back with a bit of eagerness to see what happened next, and to see just how brutally I could murder my enemies. Seriously, after a certain point, enemies with very little HP are dealt so much damage it feels like every attack is a Brutality from Mortal Kombat.

[kamikazekeeg]

3 - Powerwash Simulator (PC 2021) - BEAT - It's weird to say that I put 30 hours into a game that is dedicated to simulating power washing, but it's such a chill, casual, turn your brain off thing lol It's absolutely what it says on the tin, but I think they did a good job working in humor and there's some silly scenario stuff that they slowly work up to that keeps things fresh.  I can't exactly recommend the game since most people wouldn't like it, but if the idea of steadily cleaning grime from buildings and vehicles sounds weirdly engrossing, give it a go, it's on Game Pass so you don't even ahve to buy it.  Also, those 30 hours, I didn't even do the couple bonus levels and I think there's a challenge mode too that I probably won't play.

It's wild they got a rather huge Square-Enix crossover as they are now releasing Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy 7 content for free within a game about power washing lol

[kashell]

12. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion

The beginning portions are rough. Zack is great, but he's got the maneuverability of a Buick. It takes a fair amount of time before you're able to fully utilize him. He's always by himself and options are limited. But, once Materia fusion opens up and you're able to actually survive the more difficult side-missions, things ended up being a lot more fun. It's still a flawed game but at least the flaws work in your favor instead of against. And the ending is hard to watch for all the right reasons.

[bikingjahuty]

Ristar (Genesis) - ABANDONED

I remember seeing this game as a kid at various rental places and at least at the time I thought it just looked like another lame, wannabe platformer mascot that some random company was trying to use to sell games. Little did I know at the time that this was actually a first party Sega title, and years later after discovering this I really wanted to try this game and see if it was a good as many of Sega's other first party platformers of that era. Ristar has essentially been a backlog game for like 15-years for me and I finally decided to play it this evening and, umm...well, it was pretty boring.


I know some people really like this game, but I found the whole arms grabbing mechanic to be very gimmichy and also not implemented all that well either. I get the impression Sega was trying to make their own version of Kirby in a way, similar to how Sonic was their answer to Mario. But I found virtually everything about this game to be average at best, and the end result was me getting bored with it before I'd even completed the first world. I made it about halfway through the game before I just couldn't do it anymore and turned it off. In a way I'm happy I finally played Rister, but at the same time I wish I'd spent 2-hours playing a different game this afternoon. (2/3/23)

[kashell]

Oh, I didn't think to add abandoned/dropped games to the topic. I have a few that I'll post about later.

[bikingjahuty]

8. Golden Axe III (Genesis)

As a kid I had a rich friend who had the Sega Channel, however all we did when I went over to his house was either play Mortal Kombat II or some other game we could have just easily rented or bought at the store. Little did we know that the Sega Channel actually had exclusive titles on it, one of which was Golden Axe III. My experience with the Goldene Axe franchise is literally limited to just the first game, which a different from of mine owned back in the day. So I thought I'd give the elusive III a shot and see how it stacked up.


Golden Axe III has some decent qualities such as its branching paths, attempt at a story, fairly cool bosses and some enemies, but overall the game is pretty subpar not just compared to the first Golden Axe, but as a 1993 Genesis game. The graphics are ugly and murky looking, the music is decent, however the gameplay is fairly bland and towards the end of the game, it gets downright cheap and annoying. I did enjoy playing this game for a bit, but by level 5 or so I just wanted it to be over with, even though I was only about halfway through. So yeah, it's not a great game and honestly US Genesis owners, particularly ones that didn't have the Sega Channel were not missing out on anything special when it comes to Golden Axe III. (2/4/23) [25/50]

[kashell]

Avalon Code - Dropped

If there was ever a posterchild for a Nintendo DS RPG, then it's this. This is a good and bad thing as indicated by my adding it to the dropped pile. It's a tedious game filled with busy work and repetitive combat. As always, there was a ton of potential for something great but it was masked by the above (and other) issues.

The Caligula Effect: Overdose - Dropped

Yeah...this game is not the one. It's not the two or the three, either. I admired the ambition, but I was just straight up not having any fun. The interface was a lot to tolerate, too. It's really disorganized from every vantage point. I feel like my teenage self would have eaten this right up. Today? Not so much.

[kashell]

13. Doki Doki Literature Club

Neat game. The twists and turns near the beginning were more impactful than the ones near the end. I guess I've played so many games that nothing surprises me anymore, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the effort. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes to read and likes the unexpected. Getting 100% completion, however, was a real chore. VN's shouldn't require so much random chance to get everything. It makes me think the creators were more pretentious than anything else.