52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

[kashell]

28. Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana - Nightmare

I'm getting good at this. The only thing notable during this playthrough was that the trophy for playing more than 20 hours unlocked. Having Suikoden to play made going through Ys more enjoyable. Up next: Hard Mode.

[dhaabi]

15. Heads Off || Mobile || 03.08.25



Earlier last year, I went through the Google Play Store to see what kind of free games may interest me, and I made note of them. After going through that list again and removing ones which require a purchase to access to the full content, I settled on Heads Off. Before playing, I only really knew that the game was eccentric which seemed like a good enough reason to try it.

As the game title suggests, players control a decapitated head that rolls endlessly across a 2D plane. Where it's going or why it's moving at all, I'm not exactly sure, although the added inclusion of annual milestones in the form of text alongside the visual presentation of cliffs, pitfalls, and flat planes suggest that this rolling journey symbolizes the head's life. At the right side of the screen, randomly generated text blurbs scroll up and off the screen which coincides with the player's progress through stages. Once players succumb to the pit below, a prompt appears saying that's the age of the head's death which also represents the player's score.

In order to bypass obstacles and also to maintain momentum, players must tap and hold the screen which controls and head's screaming. With that said, screaming serves two purposes: the first being to either speed up or slow down (which also allowed the head to backtrack, moving toward the left) and second being to gain vertical distance off the ground. There is a need to time screaming as you will project yourself in the opposite direction the head faces which moves along with a slow but constant auto-rotation. For instance, the player will project themselves upward when the head is facing downward. Because of the auto-rotation which persists while in mid-air, players can control themselves with more fluidity.

Apart from seeing how long the head avatar lives, there are also some sort of spirits to collect which serves as the in-game currency. While at the main menu, players are able to freely choose which head they'd like to play as. At first, there is only one to choose, but players will quickly be able to unlock more with the aforementioned currency. At another menu, a tree stands tall with cocoons resting on its limbs, and players are able to select specific ones to send drifting spirits toward them to mature and eventually be born. Once born, new heads drop down to the ground as if they're a fallen seed and then roll along off the screen, awaiting to be select at the main menu.

Based on my time playing, this seems to be all that Heads Off offers. There are about forty heads to unlock, but, as far as I can tell, they all function the same. They do differ by design and by their screaming voices, and there is some minor gameplay variation based on the shape of each individual head which does influence how they roll. The entire premise is clearly an odd concept, and the initial screaming did startle me some at first despite already knowing that was part of the game's design. From images I've seen online, the furthest players can reach is age 100 which is far past what I've been able to achieve with age 39. Overall, gameplay doesn't evolve although stages do get progressively difficult the older heads reach. At the same time, stage design remains static, as it seems that stages are randomly generated in real-time.

Heads Off heavily adopts arcade-like gameplay, meaning there doesn't really seem to be a traditional end unless players wish to reach age 100 with all head types. So, I've played enough of it to be considered complete. In the end, I unlocked about half of the heads. I'll also mention that, as a free mobile game, it doesn't feel obtrusive. There are some ads on the main menu and also optional ads to watch to gain more spirits, but it's all easy to ignore. Additionally, there are no restrictions for how long players choose to play, which I know is a game design many mobile games utilize.

[kashell]

29. Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana - Hard

No comments needed, haha. Just another run through to unlock stuff for the platinum.

[bikingjahuty]

29. Hang-On (Arcade)

When it comes to 80s Sega arcade games, the original Hang-On seems to overshadowed by another Sega racing game, Outrun. I get why Outrun is remembered so much more and more fondly, however that game was an evolution of Hang-On which walked so Outrun could...umm run.


Despite how revolutionary Hang-On was for arcade racing games, it's still a very basic game. More or less, you're simply taking hairpin turn after hairpin turn, all while trying to avoid going off track, hitting obstacles just off the shoulder of the road, and also not to hit other motorcycles you're racing against. In truth, however, you aren't really racing against the other motorcycles as you are just trying to avoid hitting them. They are by far the most prevalent obstacle in the game and a continual source of annoyance as they'll slow you down one way or another, and be what causes you to run out of time, requiring another quarter or two be placed in machine. This is the main source of Hang-On's difficulty, which while being core to its gameplay, is also what annoyed me the most while trying to get through this one.


Hang-On's greatest strength is its visuals, which are pretty primitive by today's standards, but back in the mid 80s, they were pretty amazing. Seeing objects and landmarks on the horizon get closer and closer to you really gives you a sense of distance and progression through each section of the race. The motorcycles and obstacles are also vividly rendered which is just another aspect that add's to Hang-On's visual appeal. The audio is nothing special, but also pretty good for its time. There are only a few songs within the game, but they're all good for the most part.


Hang-On is certainly a classic and also one of those watershed games that really helped define racing games in 1980's arcades. While it has been overshadowed by various other racing games that came out shortly after, including its own sequel, it's still worth playing if you can find a working machine or even if you emulate it. (3/11/25) [32/50]

[telly]

Game 4 - 2064: Read Only Memories (Switch) - 10 Hours

This is still my favorite adventure game. I absolutely love the games visuals, characters, soundtrack, voice acting and story. Something about it just really clicks with me. I really don't have much to say beyond my initial review a few years ago. I'm excited to start exploring the sequel which just came out!

Original Review

[kashell]

30. Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana - Easy

Finally, the game has been platinum'd. Well, "finally" might not be the right word because it took just over 20 hours. Finishing the game so quickly after some files has me likening it to something like Mega Man X; games I know like the back of my hand. After finishing Easy Mode, I went through all of the Time Attack modes. Finishing those unlocked the remaining gallery items. Getting all of those was the final thing needed for the platinum trophy. Even if you aren't a trophy hunter or aren't playing on PlayStation, I do recommend this game. It's a brisk yet thorough adventure and showcases my favorite style of Ys.

[bikingjahuty]

30. Space Harrier (Arcade)

Despite being released the same year as Hang-On (1985), Space Harrier is a much more fun and interesting game from multiple fronts. For one, the game looks better even though they both use the same super scaler graphics and tech. There is just way more going on at any given time in Space Harrier, and has you blasting all sorts of weird creatures, robots, and objects away while also dodging obstacles and projectiles too. Whereas with Hang-On, you're simply turning your bike and trying to avoid hitting other racers or obstacles. The visuals are definitely Space Harrier's strongest attribute, however its soundtrack and audio aren't too far behind. The main theme of Space Harrier is one i've always loved, however the other music, while pretty limited, is also great to listen to while playing. This brings us to the final aspect of this Sega arcade classic which is Space Harrier's gameplay. Being a rail shooter essentially, Space Harrier does give you freedom of movement as everything imaginable comes at you surprisingly fast, maybe even too fast at times. On top of that, the limitations of the graphics and gameplay sometimes make it hard to see certain objects or projectiles until it's too late, or you'll find yourself accidentally hitting something because you misjudged how much space or distance you had between objects or enemy projectiles. This can lead to some very frustrating deaths and also artificially makes this game harder than it otherwise should be. Still, despite this fairly big blemish on Space Harrier's gameplay, it's still pretty fun just going crazy and blasting everything in site. This is definitely one of my personal favorite 80s arcade games, even though there are aspects to it that haven't aged the best and do hold back my overall enjoyment of the game to a noticeable degree. (3/12/25) [34/50]

[bikingjahuty]

31. Shenmue (PS4)

It's no secret to anyone that knows me that Shenmue (and Shenmue 2) are my all time favorite games and have been ever since I first played and beat them in the early 2000s. These games are as fundamental to me as a gamer as it gets and every time I go back and play them I get to fall in love with them all over again. There is just something so undeniably special about these games that really needs to be experienced to be understood. After beating Shenmue again, I can fully grasp why this game captivated so many gamers, including myself, and continues to be so cherished even over 25-years since it first came out in Japan. Before getting into my thoughts on Shenmue, I will say that I did play this game with a slightly more critical eye than I ever have before, and fortunately for me and the game, my opinion on its merits have barely changed.


Throwing it out there right off the bat, Shenmue is undoubtedly one of the best video games ever made. It was truly a pioneer, not just in the concept of a narrative driven, open world video game, but also in terms of in game cinematics and story telling. The story of Shenmue perfectly places you within the shoes of its main protagonist, Ryo Hazuki, allowing the rest of the game to immerse you in its world after you've committed yourself to Ryo's quest for revenge after his father's murder. The execution of the game's story, characters, and plot, combined with the gameplay make it impossible not to be fully immersed in the world of Shenmue. I always worry each time I'm about to play Shenmue, that age will finally catch up with this game and I won't be able to get as immersed and invested in it as I did the last time I played it. More or less, I was unable to put this game down since starting it just a few days ago, and that was after countless hours of engaging in all the optional side content and missions you can immerse yourself in. This game is incredibly addictive and you'll want to do several things all at once, which is always the hallmark of a great open world action adventure game. There is just so much you can do in Shenmue, which is still impressive even by today's standards. There are arcade games to play, rooms to explore, non-arcade games like billiards and darts you can play, unique people to interact with, a job to perform at the docks, and various other things that ensure you'll never have a dull moment while playing Shenmue. The only criticism that I can lay at the feet of Shenmue and one area I was able to concede this time after playing the game is that not all the many activities and gameplay elements are executed as well as they probably could have. For example, the fighting mechanic which you'll use quite a bit isn't the greatest despite it being pulled heavily from the Virtua Fighter games. It can at times feel clunky and somewhat delayed while you're taking on a gang of bad guys or some thug you ran into. The other gameplay mechanic which seemed to annoy me a little more than it has in the past is the quick time event (QTE) system that this game pioneered, for better or for worse. The time frame and intuitiveness of the QTEs can be fairly annoying and unforgiving in this game, which is only made better by the fact that QTE events can be redone over and over again with little or no penalty to your overall progression. Overall though, these less than perfect gameplay elements do little to distract from the sheer amount of things you can do in Shenmue, and even despite the flaws that exist with some of those systems, they 're still enjoyable overall and definitely don't distract from the overall feeling of engagement you'll have while playing.


In terms of presentation, there is not a single flaw in this game. You won't find a single recycled NPC model, and despite realizing that certain voice actors performed voice overs for multiple characters, they often do a good enough job of changing the way they talk enough to where you'll barely notice most of the time. Every store, every room, and every object you interact with feels real, unique, and tediously crafted to feed into that overall feeling of immersion. Characters emote and act as if you were watching real actors perform, and even with the limitations of 1999 video game technology, this game still looks good over 25-years later. I dare say Shenmue may have been the best looking game when it came out, and even games released years later during the 6th gen still don't look as good as Shenmue. The audio is also perfection with an amazing score that various dramatically depending on what's going on around you, the place you happen to be, or the overall theme of whatever cutscene you're watching. There are so many amazing, beautiful songs in this game that are integral to why this game is so special, just as much as its visuals and gameplay. The audio design is also top notch with the sound of animals, vehicles, background music from a nearby business, or other elements making the world of Shenmue feel like a living, breathing world. It actually does this better than many modenr AAA games do which is saying something seeing how much older Shenmue is than many of those titles.


I don't think there will ever be a time in my life where I don't adore Shenmue or don't consider it my favorite game of all time. Game's like Shenmue (and Shenmue 2) had never been made prior to its release, and in may ways never since. It has an almost undefinable presence as if the game itself has a soul. The heart of everyone, especially its creator Yu Suzuki, can be felt strongly all throughout the game and it's impossible not to be sucked into it unlike any other game I've ever played. I am overjoyed I got to play through Shenmue again and I hope there will be many more times I get to immerse myself in its masterfully crafted world and story. And of course, I hope so much that the Shenmue saga is one day concluded. (3/13/25) [49/50]

[dhaabi]

31. Shenmue (PS4)

You have got to play Yakuza, and I have got to play Shenmue.

After reading some details regarding voice work, I think my only immediate issue I have prior to playing any of the games is that Shenmue II takes place in Hong Kong, but everyone speaks Japanese. That seems like a pretty major limitation for that game. Still, it seems that the consensus (from what I've gathered) is that Japanese voice is the better experience for both games.

As the successor of sorts to Shenmue, Yakuza games fortunately don't have that problem. There are often Korean and Chinese characters in those games and appropriate actors are used to voice their dialogue. English dialogue spoken from western characters isn't an issue from what I remember either, though for some reason they're spoken by Japanese actors which means that foreign dialect is present. But from what I remember, there aren't any major English-speaking characters pertaining to the main narrative throughout the six Yakuza games I've played.

[dhaabi]

16. Get Packing || Browser || 03.14.25



Going through a list of free itch.io games that have caught my attention, I decided to play Get Packing. It was developed for a game jam and garnered positive reception, and the little I knew about it prior to beginning interested me.

With a simple premise, Get Packing is a game about the often overlooked side of video game transactions—the viewpoint of the marketplace merchant and their own needs to make a profit. With that said, its gameplay is divided into two sections: selecting the seller's items to buy and then selling them once more through bulk wholesale. As the second half of gameplay utilizes space limitations and organization for its puzzle mechanics, the player's success at earning a high score is dependent on setting budgets and selecting just how much you're willing to spend on customers' items. If no budgets are set and every item presented to you is purchased, the player will inevitably not score high. With all this said, the first half of gameplay requires consideration for both the total amount of items being acquired and the variety of items you're being presented.

In the merchant section, items appear in a list with their market value, net profit value, size, and item properties with the total amount to be spent at the bottom. Because items are both sold and purchased in bulk, there is no way to individually select what all you want to buy. Instead, there is a slider which controls how much you're willing to spend, and items are removed from the list from the bottom-up depending on that amount. There is no haggle feature—you either pay the customer's asking price or are unable to gain the item you're wanting. While this section doesn't require that much careful consideration, really, there is no time limit, so players are free to plan as much as they're able to should they be wanting.

However, the second part of each day is timed. Quickly, players must attempt to pack as many items as they're able within a limited space while ideally prioritizing items' net value. Items have different sizes, shapes, and item properties, so there are numerous details to consider when organizing them. Regarding item properties, there are ones such as hot and cold which influence food alongside heavy which prevents players from selecting the item again once set, though several others exist, and they all serve as puzzle roadblocks. it's also worth mentioning that items can be rotated, which certainly helps provide more organization options. And of course, there is limited space in the crate, so utilizing the most of it is required to make a profit which serves as the player's main objective and score.

Across my two playthroughs, I was mostly focused on just using all available space to the best of my ability while avoiding negative effects from items. I didn't make an effort to capitalize on certain item effects which raise the value of other items. As I mentioned above, Get Packing was made for a game jam, and the event's theme was centered on role reversal. I think Get Packing makes creative use of that prompt; its mechanics are simple but fun, and I could see something like this being expanded upon for a full game.

[marvelvscapcom2]

15. Call Of Duty: Vanguard [PS5] - Finished Mar 15th, 2025

One of the greatest war games of all time




Call of duty as a whole has been stigmatized. Some criticisms fair. Many not. But at its core. The franchise has impacted my childhood and gaming as a whole and is essentially in it's senior legend era of iconic games that simply have shaped my love of world history. I love call of duty. Very much. And my passion for WW2 was seeded by world at war back in middle school. And today I have traveled to see the riveted behemoths in person. T34 tanks. Owns text books on them. The horror, cinematics and stories of triumph. World War 2 had the bravest men the world had ever known. And the most evil. Two spectrums of a wobbling top on a oiled table of misery. And I owe call of duty a great deal in showing young me the heroism of those before me.

Call of Duty Vanguard is a blooming rose on the next console gen raising a series from campaign ashes to tell a story of valor, glory and dispair. It gives WW2 and its lesser known heroes a story (The aussies, the women snipers, and the black batallions in NAC) the golden grail COD that will be remembered favorably. And overall. It's the greatest Call Of Duty Campaign ive played since World At War in 2007.

WW2 and Its Unsung Heroes

As a historical nerd, and someone who has studied WW2 since probably early middle school, Call Of Duty Vanguard paints a picture like picasso.  It tackles the individual stories of people like Wade. A hot shot pilot who only knows two modes of living. Flying and landing. #2 being optional. The story of Boggs. An Aussie infantrymen.  This tells a deep story of how Australian soldiers were treated lesser than the British due to crown semantics. The "rats" of toburk. Shooting a suka bomber with a revolver. It's all glorious as the perfect graphics. In these conflicts you come accross the 333rd batallion. A group of black soldiers who as you can imagine in 1944. Arent exactly treated similar to say a RAF pilot.  But of course the horrors lend a story that typically brings fourth a brotherhood a man. A quote stands out. "We arent in the credit getting business".  Scenes drenched in sorrow. Strength and conviction. And lastly.

POLINA "LADY NIGHTINGALE"



This is where the game hits insane stride. You play the role of Polina, a woman living with her father and brother in Nazi occupied Stalingrad. During a shock blitzkrieg you are stripped of humanity, dehumanized, yet carry this umbrella of familial bonds with you like a butterfly carrying you through the dark.  The sense of necessity, siblings bonding, and community spirit drenched in Polina is stronger than most movies based on this war. It is epically done. Really is. 

Polina is a sort of female interpretation of Russian sniper "the white death" a marksman who parkours through the shadows to absolutely peg off Nazis like darts through cork. The diologue, cinematics and way she assassinates Nazis is similar to the movie inglorious Bastards.  Crawling through sewers of snow and rats. Emerging cleaner than aqua panna water.  Without spoling much.  Polina adds a more sense of loss to the story. When you feel these stories. It puts the war in.scope. it also hits harder when the war is very much so real. And the people while fictional are also based on true stories. The story of Polina is similar to the story of Reznekov. It shows what stalginrad became.  A sort minister of death. She lost all she had.  Nothing but a knife was left to her. 


"I have nothing outside of the war. The only time I come close to feeling something is when I am killing nazis. So I am right where I belong" when asked where she wishes she was in the moment. Cold beer? Hawaii? Nope. Vengence. She was a harbinger for revenge and man did I love sniping dirty nazis. 


The game also touches on the pacific campaign.  Midway battle was gloriously redone. Dogfights.  Accuracy of uniform and guns. Simple clean dialouge. And characters that connect so easily through the screen make this one of the best war games ever made.

Rating - 94/100

[bikingjahuty]

31. Shenmue (PS4)

You have got to play Yakuza, and I have got to play Shenmue.

After reading some details regarding voice work, I think my only immediate issue I have prior to playing any of the games is that Shenmue II takes place in Hong Kong, but everyone speaks Japanese. That seems like a pretty major limitation for that game. Still, it seems that the consensus (from what I've gathered) is that Japanese voice is the better experience for both games.

As the successor of sorts to Shenmue, Yakuza games fortunately don't have that problem. There are often Korean and Chinese characters in those games and appropriate actors are used to voice their dialogue. English dialogue spoken from western characters isn't an issue from what I remember either, though for some reason they're spoken by Japanese actors which means that foreign dialect is present. But from what I remember, there aren't any major English-speaking characters pertaining to the main narrative throughout the six Yakuza games I've played.

Yeah I do! I bought Yakuza Kiwami last year with the intent of it being my entry into the series. I tried playing the original Yakuza on PS2, but unfortunately had a hard time getting into it. From what I read online during the time, this isn't entirely uncommon and most people seem to recommend starting with one of the later games or one of the Kiwami remakes. It's a series I feel like I could definitely get really into. A lot of people like to say Yakuza is the successor to the Shenmue series, and while I disagree with this opinion, they do undeniably share a of of the same or similar DNA.


As for the voice work, everyone speaking English or Japanese despite being in a country where neither of those languages are widely spoken never bothered me. Probably because it's how I grew up playing them, but the English dub never bothered me. I'd even go as far as to say it's fairly endearing and does often cross the line into so bad it's good territory. With that said, the Japanese audio and voice acting is way more competent all around, and just feels more authentic, especially in the first game. But as much as you can, I'd try and look past the lack of Chinese being spoken in Shenmue 2 because it truly is a very unique and special game, albeit one that isn't for everyone.

[marvelvscapcom2]

ABANDONED: Cobra Kai 2: Dojo Rising [PS5]


Not worth a picture. Truly havent been this disappointed in a game since a kid. This is what kids felt like unwrapping and firing up superman 64 for the first time. This development team should be ashamed of themselves.


First off. The game had hope. It had potential. If anything the gameplay itself is fun, simple and ambitious. That's where the praise stops.

The game is sadly broken. 5 trophies wont unlock at all despite meeting requirements. 4 times now I have gotten half way through a level only for a game ending bug (such as enemies spawning infinitely because the boss is glitched through the floor) and had to close the game to restart.


Thatd be cute and dandy if the game had simple save points.... It doesnt

It forces you to play the whole level again and on top of that sometimes you recruit allies for the all valley tournament only to find that they did not join thus wasting a half hour of your life  

Audio glitches.  Sometimes you cant even pause which means theirs no way to back out to dojo.  The whole thing is bugged and messy. Cant be played.


I am at a loss for words guys. This hasnt happened in a long time. Most games are the opposite. They work but are dull.  This game was vibrant fun, a cute beat em up with cool power ups and nostalgic boss ideas.  Hidden behind a cloud of glitches and unpatched fecal matter. And its sad because I was really enjoying my time with it. Even Shaq Fu had a fluid style. No bugs.

I got the game for the price of a red baron microwave pizza. And still overpaid. Thats how bad it is.  And truly. A dev knowing this.  And allowing it to be promoted on ps store for suckers like me to buy. While not illegal. Is truly scum territory. Its a broken dumpster fire and instead of patching it. They make it on sale to soak cash for slop.

Hopefully cobra kai 1 is better (user consensus says it is)

35/100

[bikingjahuty]

32. After Burner (Arcade)

Unlike most other classic Sega AM2 Arcade titles, I have never been able to get into After Burner despite literal decades of trying. The game looks fantastic and especially if I ever got to play it in the rotating cockpit arcade machine back in the day, this game may have completely blown my mind, but having only played standup versions of it or emulation, the game has never wowed me. In fact, I kinda don't even like this game. I find the lock on and dodge mechanics to be poorly implemented, making this game very frustrating. There's nothing worse than a game where you feel like you're doing everything you can, but still continually getting your ass kicked by the game. Of course, these types of games were favorites of arcade operators back in the day, but for players they just annoyed the hell out of most of us. After Burner's OST and sound effects are pretty good, but nothing amazing. The end result of all this is a game that easily draws you in, however once the game has your money (or time), it delivers an underwhelming, if not just downright annoying gameplay experience that I've never been able to get into. (3/16/25) [28/50]

33. Shenmue II (PS4)

Like I usually do, I immediately jumped right into Shenmue II after beating the first game just a few days ago. Like the first Shenmue, I absolutely adore Shenmue II and its a game I've never been able to remove as my number one game, sharing that spot with its predecessor. In many ways, both Shenmue and Shenmue II are very similar games; both have similar graphics, gameplay, audio, and various other superficial qualities. However, the games are dramatically different as well, mostly in their scope and theme which I will get into later. In the end, both games are fairly different experiences while having a sense of familiarity across both games. Let me now dive into the second half of the greatest duology of video games I've ever played and likely ever will play.


Shenmue II is an absolutely stunning looking game for the time period it came out. Even today, the visual presentation and attention to detail within Shenmue II is impressive. Every area feels distinct, uniquely designed and crafted, and just highly detailed. It really gives the impression of a living, breathing world as you're walking down the streets of Hong Kong, or exploring the dilapidated high rise building of Kowloon City. Character models and facial expressions are probably the most detailed of any game of its era, and many show off a surprising amount of expression, even unimportant NPC characters that run shops or gambling stands. There are very few characters recycled in terms of their facial models, which adds greatly to the sense of immersion. As for the main characters, they are given even more attention in terms of detail and range of expression. This is amplified even further by Shenmue II's cinematic presentation that makes this game feel like a high budget movie at times whether or not you're watching a scripted scene. On top of all this, Shenmue II shows off an incredible amount of beauty in its environments. Whether those are the more urban areas found in the first 2/3 of the game, or the ones found in Guilin where you're surrounded by gorgeous mountains and forests, everything in this game is saturated in a beauty that many games still aspire to recreate.


The audio of Shenmue II is a definite 10/10 in my book as well. While the English voice acting can be hammy, stiff, or even awkward at times, it seldom distracts from the tone or atmosphere the game is trying to portray. Even if the voice acting was a degree or so worse than it is, the game's amazing OST would still elevate it to a level many other games aspire to reach. Shenmue II has one of the most beautiful and well made soundtracks of any video game I've ever made. You'll get excited and amped up by it during the more action packed portions of the game, and then other times you'll be moved by it when the tone of the game becomes more serious. I cannot overstate how amazing Shenmue II's OST is, and well as its overall audio design. Just allow yourself to laugh at Ryo's awkward dialogue from time to time.


Finally, we get to Shenmue II's gameplay which is an improvement on the first game in some ways, while being a noticable downgrade in others. Before getting into these differences, there are undeniably more things to do in Shenmue II, which really adds to the array of things you can do while playing this game. There are WAY more gambling type games in Shenmue II, including everyone's favorite Lucky Hit. There is also different types of jobs and activities ou can engage in for money, including street fighting. This brings me to one aspect of Shemue II's gameplay which is undeniably better than the first game; its fight controls and mechanics. Shenmue II actually feels like port of Virtua Fighter 3 when engaging in hand to hand combat. The moves feel a lot easier and more responsive to pull off, you opponents show off a surprising amount of balance and skill, and just overall, combat feels noticeably less clunky than in the first Shenmue. However, not all systems from Shenmue improved in the sequel. This especially applies to the quick time event (QTE) system. At best, the QTE system is the same as it was in the game, which wasn't terrible, but it was far from amazing too. Unfortunately there are WAY more QTE events and sections in the game, probably 5x as much. So. yeah, those annoyances with the QTE systems are made that much more noticeable in Shenmue II. Where the QTE system gets notiveably worse is the new combo QTEs which have you doing multiple inputs in quick succession for the same QTE prompt. I found these combo QTE's to be extremely frustrating half the time, even when they only requires to button presses to accomplish. If you do them too slow, you fail them, but if you do them too fast, you fail them too. What pissed me off the most about them is when they were required at the end of a very hard battle with a boss character, even though you'd just defeated them utilizing the game's fighting system. If you failed the combo QTE at the end, it forced you to fight them again from the beginning which is just as annoying as it sounds. What all this amounts to is the gameplay is better in enough in some ways, while being noticeable worse in others to where I didn't feel like the overall experience wasn't better or worse than the first game...just different.


Shenmue II's scope is way more grand and epic overall than the first game. While you do lose some of the smaller, but highly detailed feel of the first game, you make up for it with a much bigger feeling world within the various sections that make up Hong Kong, Kowloon City, and Guilin. You really do just feel like a stranger wandering almost aimlessly in a strange foreign land, which is exactly what Yu Suzuki and AM2 likely wanted you to feel while playing Shenmue II. I will also say that the highs of Shenmue II are definitely higher than anything you'll experience in the first game, but also the lows are much lower too. In the end, I cannot say which game is better or more fun to play. They both absolutely are some of the most beautiful and special games I've ever played, and their quality and fun speaks for itself given how dedicated and committed the Shenmue fanbase has been to this series for decades, even with Shenmue III out now, but the overall story still incomplete no less. Shenmue and Shenmue II will forever be my favorite games of all time, and ones that I will forever cherish and hold dear to my heart every single time I play through them. (3/16/25) [49/50]

[telly]

Game 5 - Read Only Memories: Neurodiver (Switch) - 5 Hours

When I first realized that 2064: Read Only Memories was receiving a sequel, I was extremely excited for the game. I really enjoy 2064, with it still being my favorite adventure game. Well, years and years passed and the game was delayed again and again. New trailers that were dropping didn't seem to be as good as that first trailer in 2019, but I was still holding that it would be worth the wait. Well, after finally playing it, I can say that it's a pretty disappointing experience.

Not all of the game is disappointing however. The visuals are some of the best 2D sprite work I've ever seen, and the environments are absolutely exquisite. The music, while not being by the same composer, is also top notch and fits the mood brilliantly. So the game still brings it when it comes to atmosphere. Where this game falls flat is the story, voice work, and characters, which is really some of the most important parts of an adventure game because there is so little "game" to speak of.

First, I think one of the problems is the game's short length (half as long as 2064) does not give enough breathing room to flesh out the more than 10+ characters that have been added to this game, plus recurring characters from the first game, AND tell a compelling story to boot. The first characters you meet, the Old Birds, I thought were going to be a major part of the story but they're only in the first mission then dropped like a rock and you never see them again. The rest of the game consists of revisiting the main characters from the first game, which was fine, but didn't really feel all that exciting.

Because the game is so short, the story is far more simple, and it left me feeling unsatisfied. It has nowhere near the stakes and scope of the first game. Given the state of things after the first game ended, I was excited to see where the sequel would go next, but the game presents a boring, simple exorcism story with a confusing villain with no backstory whatsoever that is anchored by very superficial chapters for each of the individual characters.

The last thing that really felt off to me was the voice acting. Don't get me wrong, it's competently done, but there were several little things that got under my skin over time. First, I really hate when voice actors go "off script" and say things that are different than the subtitles on the screen. Just a pet peeve of mine. The mixing was really poor, and characters love dipping into that lower softer register that is difficult to hear over the music without fiddling in the sound settings. Also, the lip-sync liked to come and go as it pleased and characters mouths would stop moving even while the character was still saying something. The really dealbreaker for me was the new voice actor for TOMCAT, who was one of my favorite characters from the first game. This new actor sounds nothing like the original, not even remotely close, and there's no explanation given for why in the game. I would have accepted a voice change surgery after a freak accident, anything. But it seems the original actor couldn't be acquired so they just stuck whoever in as a replacement. All of these things really add up when the majority of the game is just listening to people speak.

Lastly, the gameplay changes weren't exactly my cup of tea. You have to discover these pieces of evidence that you use to fix rifts in people's memories. Temporally it didn't make sense that you were given dialogue options for a character inside a memory that has already happened. Also, the fixing of memories was all just trial and error. The evidence you find has no interconnection or relevance with the broken memories so most of the time I just plugged in random solutions until one worked. It didn't make me feel like I was solving a complex mystery.

So yes, this game overall was not really that great. It's thankfully short and it looks and sounds incredible, but you can really see where things just don't hold up to the original.