Games beaten01]
Snow Bros. Special: Anniversary Edition (STM, 2024) |2 Jan| For some reason the Switch version of this made me froth, but I've loved it on the PC after finally figuring out how to beat the new bosses, lovely jubbly.
02]
Maiden Cops (STM, 2024) |7 Jan| SoR2 style beat 'em up, playthrough with Meiga the cow-girl, the game works much better now with blocking available and after some updates.
03]
Dead Space (2023 remake) (STM, 2023) |8 Jan| Not bad at all, a few irritations at 'modern audience' stuff and for some reason they turned Nicole into her own mother, but hey it was a good game and a long overdue return to one of my favourites.
04]
Maid of the Dead (STM, 2024) |11 Jan| Bullet heaven with aspects of twin-stick shooters, maid cafe girls repel an onslaught of zombies in Akihabara
Not bad at all.
05]
Metal Slug X (STM, 2014) |11 Jan| Apparently just a tweaked version of MS2, still enjoyed it very much! MS games are always good stress relief.
06]
Resident Evil: Revelations (STM, 2013) |13 Jan| Oof! This certainly hasn't aged as well as its sequel, the first boss fight is still traumatic and the excessive cinematics and chapter interludes carried over from its episodic origin really break immersion. Functions fine as a standard third-person action game. Still enjoyed the much-delayed replay.
07]
Warriors of Fate (STM, 2018) |16 Jan| Probably my least favourite of the Capcom arcade beat 'em ups, despite the Three Kingdoms setting, hence got it done first, still enjoyed it though.
08]
Armored Warriors (STM, 2018) |19 Jan| Did this one next because I'm forever forgetting how good it is!
09]
Battle Circuit (STM, 2018) |22 Jan| After an abortive re-try of Tormented Souls it was time to get on familiar ground, wholesome lizard-smashing in space, lovely.
10]
Echo Generation: Midnight Edition (STM, 2024) |25 Jan| Snack-sized turn-based RPG with either voxel or similar graphics, evidently influenced by Earthbound and Stranger Things. Not bad. Got the full Steam achievements as well as beating the game.
11]
Plants Vs Zombies (STM, 2009) |29 Jan| Jr has slowly been building up to wanting to play this, having been watching gameplay on youchewb on and off for a year, helped him through adventure mode, counting it as I provided a lot of back-up, advice and telling him what Crazy Dave is ranting about.
Games Tried/Disliked/Got Rid Of01]
Tevi (NSW, 2024) |5 Jan| This one was an unexpected disappointment, bullet-hell/metroidvania from the developers of the delightfully batshit Rabi-Ribi, this should have been a shoe-in for one of my games of the year, instead it was a hot mess overburdened with funnel-fed overcomplicated movements and attacks, crap characters and empty-feeling spaces. Absolutely hated every aspect of it apart from the character art.
02]
Tails of Iron (STM, 2021) |10 Jan| Basically a 2D combat game with platform elements, on first glance it seems quite like a 2D platform soulslike (like Salt and Sanctuary), the developers put a lot of effort into papering over how limited the game's combat options are, loads of weapons and armour to choose from, affecting only damage/weight and sharing the same attack patterns, which are also extremely basic. Fetch quests, padding, lots of poor game design, no thanks! So glad I didn't pay £22 for this 0.0
03]
Sea Salt (STM, 2019) |11 Jan| I could never remember the name of this, finally saw the game pop up an a trawl through Kinguin's steam keys "ah!", got to try it at last. Major letdown, controls sloppily, the creatures you control follow your cursor and attack when the button is pressed, but they do their own thing and all is chaos as they scamper around and get picked off by gunfire or wander through a firebomb. Didn't like it at all.
04]
SteamWorld Dig 2 (STM, 2017) |14 Jan| Third SteamWorld game I've played and the third time there's just something about the series that disagrees with me, despite it being the kind of game I like to play. I think it's the graphics and the almost throw-away nature of the worldbuilding which just repels me every time.
05]
Cathedral (STM, 2019) |14 Jan| This retro style metroidvania seemed fine till I moved to a different area and just got ganked by a whizzing harpy after trudging for ages. Don't mind a fair thing, but I wasn't into 'Nintendo Hard' in the 80s and I'm not now.
06]
Streets of Rogue (STM, 2019) |15 Jan| Does an admirable job of applying some (randomized) structure to a randomized city sandbox, but the older I'm getting the more I crave linear games or ones where the exploration and experimentation rewards upgrades and unique loot.
07]
Mario & Luigi: Brothership (NSW, 2024) |20 Jan| AKA 'My First Mario & Luigi'. I've always seen Nintendo's post-N64 games about being accessable to children not about being focused on them as the intended audience, but this particular title tips over the edge into seemingly being aimed at 12 year olds. The lack of an interesting hook and the constant witless wittering from cookie-cutter NPCs very quickly turned me off this one completely. The much-loathed piantas from Mario Sunshine are an example of Nintendo creating 'races' using simplistic visual designs then cookie-cuttering them en masse to use as NPCs, that's pushed to the max here. The music also left me cold, very generic with the usual instruments and no panache at all, the music has always been one of the most important aspects of this series to me. Nope, sorry - Brothershit.
08]
There is No Light (STM, 2022) |20 Jan| "Yap yap" "Yap yap yap?" "Yap yap yap!" Shaddap! Bog-standard hack and slash thing with a bog-standard setting and plot punctuated by incessant yapping by uninteresting NPCs. Christ.
09]
Tormented Souls (STM, 2021) |21 Jan| There's nothing wrong with this beyond its budget limitations, it's just that it's a carbon copy of a game I'd rather remember fondly than actually play these days.
Previous Years2024 -
38 beaten,
5 tried and discarded2023 -
37 beaten,
14 tried and discarded2021 -
18 beaten,
9 tried and discarded2020 -
33 beaten,
20 tried and discarded2019 -
45 beaten,
34 tried and discarded2018 -
44 beaten,
41 tried and discarded2017 -
37 beaten,
9 tried and discarded2016 -
21 beaten
