52 Games Challenge 2020

[kamikazekeeg]

45 - Demon's Souls (PS5 2020) - BEAT - While Astro's Playroom was a nice little warmup to the PS5 hardware, Demon's Souls is the proper PS5 experience and I think it shows.  Very good looking game, super smooth gameplay, pretty quick loading between all the areas, it's just all around quality  It's not gonna visually blow people away like some other games would like a Ghost of Tsushima or Spider-Man: Miles Morales, games that really pop visually, but it's a real nice looking game.  This is a remake, so I will say that if you haven't played the original Demon's Souls, but played anything from Dark Souls and on, I feel like this game is gonna come off a tad clunky in places, because it is meant to recreate an 11 year old game, so they didn't change a whole lot. I think they updated and cleaned up a few small things, but some aspects don't take into account what has improved over the Soulsborne lifespan.

Boss fights I think stand out as generally not being good compared to the other games, as most are very one note.  They have a gimmick, you exploit the gimmick, and you are done.  Only a few fights come off as particularly hard, and I only felt like one of the fights felt like a real solid fight.  Some are visually very cool and cinematic and that what makes them standout, but I'd never say they are as good as what the games will go on to do.

Otherwise it's what you expect out of a Souls game and I enjoyed my time with it and is a solid start for the PS5.

46 - Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5 2020) - BEAT - As expected with this game, it was a fun time.  From the outset, it seemed to be basically "Spider-Man 1.5" and that's what it was, so if you played the first game, you've played this one.  I think where it does set itself apart, aside from the PS5 just make everything play and look better, is stuff with the story and the additions to gameplay.  The story is a good time, basically a way to do somewhat of a Spider-Man origin thing, without rehashing Peter Parker's experience that has been explored to death in other media and games at this point.  It's all pretty good stuff.  Gameplay is extra impactful with the inclusion of the venom powers, which are generally DoT/High Power strikes and make for some really cool visuals.

The negatives for me probably come down to the lack of villains or hero's showing up much in the game.  Like there's Rhino, and Tinkerer is basically an original character at this point, and other than the Prowler who is a notable character for Miles, that's it, other than a very tiny appearance of a villain through a computer screen and barely worth mentioning.  I know they probably wanted to focus on Miles more, him becoming a proper Spider-Man, and this is a shorter game, but I feel like they needed some other characters to show up, even for a one-off, like there's not even anyone on the level of like Screwball for the game compared to the first one and it sorta sags the middle of the game just a tad.

Minor complaint aside, it's still a fun game, swinging through New York is never not a good time and Miles is a fun character.  The tease for what I assume is Spider-Man 2 is pretty exciting.

[bikingjahuty]

52. Cho Aniki: Kyuukyoku Muteki Ginga Saikyou Otoko (Saturn)

Undoubtedly this is the most strange shooter I've ever played. You play a genie shooting a variety of creatures and body builder men in Speedos while collecting white protein pills to power your shot up....yeah....


Extremely Japanese Strangeness aside, this game is definitely below average in nearly every way possible. Graphics are pretty ugly, gameplay is pretty messy and imbalanced, and the music is nothing to write home about. Still, you'd be extremely hard pressed to play a weirder game, SHMUP or otherwise, which makes this a pretty entertaining game at the very least. (11/18/20) [27/50]

[bikingjahuty]

53. Eschatos (PC)

I had really high hopes for the game after years of meaning to play it and just never getting around to it. Hell, in that time I was lucky enough to come across a brand new physical copy of it which I still have. However, I thought it best to play it on Steam before committing to opening a game that fetches $200+ on ebay in its current condition, and luckily I did that. Eschatos is probably on of the most unimagintive shumps I've ever played, especially in the visuals department; all the ships and bosses are pretty much variations of polygonal shapes with various flashing balls in them. The backgrounds, while certainly better, aren't really that great either. Musically Eschatos is pretty good with a cool, upbeat techno soundtrack. The gameplay is certainly above average, however overall it's just fine overall. I definitely appreciated having multiple weapon types, however the including of a speed mechanic as well as various issues with avoiding projectiles when the game's perspective changing was fairly annoying. While I certainly have played worse shooters, this one is certainly one of the weaker SHMUPs I've played in recent memory. (11/27/20) [26/50]

[bikingjahuty]

54. Akai Katana (360)

I pride myself in the fact that I've played and beat almost all of Cave's SHMUP library, however this was one of the holdouts I'd been meaning to return to for some time. Akai Katana feels like the spiritual successor to Progear No Arashi, however it is way, way more than that. Akai Katana enhances the gameplay dramatically over that game by adding a tethered attack orb that you can position in various ways depending on ship you select, as well as an alternative ship you can temporary transform in in order to get through certain parts easier. It almost feels like this game has a tinge of Hyper Duel in it which is just amazing! However, there are some balancing issues in the gameplay, primarily towards the end, but overall this is definitely one of the better Cave shooters I've ever played. On top of that the graphics look great, the soundtrack is fun and cool, and overall this one is a very, very good bullet hell shooter that needs to be played! (11/27/20) [37/50]

55. Raiden IV (360)

I feel like the Raiden series is definitely hit or miss for me when it comes its various titles. In many cases I seem to either love or hate the games in this franchise, however this one I oddly felt neutral on. Raiden IV is a decent shooter and I mostly enjoyed playing it until I got to the last couple stages when all balancing went out the window. On top of that this game loops and the second loop is even more imbalanced and bullshit throughout the whole thing. Your ships speed and hit box are both poorly suited for the action taking place on screen which pretty much results in you spamming bombs to get past the harder parts of this game which just makes the game boring at times. However, during the portions of the game where the difficulty and gameplay mesh perfectly is when this game is amazing. Graphically Raiden IV is a pretty good looking game and also has a cool soundtrack. While far from being one of the better 360 SHMUPs, Raiden IV is still a pretty good time overall. (11/27/20) [31/50]

[telly]

Game 41 - Midnight Club: Los Angeles (PS3) - 26 Hours

The Midnight Club and Need For Speed series during the 2000s are very close to my childhood, and few racing games are as nostalgic for me as Midnight Club 3 DUB Edition Remix. I remember playing that game with my brother all the time and exploring every nook and cranny that we could, building custom tracks to race on, and destroying each other's car in the arcade mode. We've had the last entry to the series on PS3 for a while now, so I've been chipping away at the game's story campaign little by little while I'm home visiting family.

Generally, this game plays as well as any from this generation of racers. The game controls well for the most part and races are exhilarating and fun. However, (and maybe this is nostalgia talking here), I found this game to be barely an improvement over the 3rd installment. Some of the things the game does right are added race modes during the campaign including a delivery challenge, demolition derby, pinkslip races, and time trials, among others. But as far as car and customization selection, this game is actually a little worse than MC3. Seriously, only 2-4 options for exterior customization? Only 2 vehicles to choose from in the SUV category? Really disappointing. The game takes place in a huge city which you think would be fun to explore, but only has a basic collectable to find, which again, is about on par with the previous game. I also really wish there was a fast travel option, as oftentimes you'll finish a race with the next one you want to compete in being located halfway across the city. The music, one of my favorite aspects of Midnight Club 3, felt much weaker in this game, with only a small portion of soundtrack that I liked.

As I continued through the game, I found it to be less and less enjoyable. The game gets incredibly repetitive after 15 hours of nonstop racing and there's very little else to keep you entertained once you've unlocked the best vehicles to race in. The game also has almost no story to speak of. You're just a generic unlikable cocky douchebag and you're here to race. And when you beat everyone, that's it, done, you win. It was cool that once you beat the game you can make any car you like for free, but that was a small consolation.

Ultimately I finished this game wondering if my opinions of those older racing games from my childhood would change if I were to revisit them. I think these earlier racing games have been largely replaced by Forza Horizon, and even Rockstar's own race customization tools in GTA 5. I wonder if that's why there hasn't been another Midnight Club game since Los Angeles.

[telly]

Game 42 - The Yawgh (PC) - 1 Hour

+

After hearing about this game years ago I finally had a chance to play it with one other person. The game is incredibly short, so we were able to play through the game twice in under an hour. This is a fun little choose your own adventure with some absolutely beautiful visuals and a captivating soundtrack. The game has some really dark moments for how cute and charming the game looks, which was definitely a surprise, and it was fun to replay the game trying to get a different ending.

-

Unfortunately, the game really doesn't have a lot of substance to it. Just the fact that you can beat the game in 1 hour already should tell you that. But even after playing through two sessions with two people we already started to get repeat scenarios and even repeat endings, so not even that draw of the game felt that special. It seems like after you've played the game through a couple times it would be incredibly easy to figure out all the options and how the game works behind the scenes and it kind of breaks the mystique a little bit.

[bikingjahuty]

56. Nights into Dreams + Christmas Nights (Saturn)

I've probably replayed this game every year since we've been doing the 52-games challenge on VGcollect so I'm not going to go into a lot of detail. But the short and sweet is I adore this game and there are few games more nostalgic and special to me. The presentation is excellent even though the gameplay is less than perfect, but still pretty good overall. I will always cherish and love this game. (12/5/20) [41/50]

[telly]

Game 43 - God of War (PS4) - 26 Hours

+

This was actually the first God of War game I've ever played, so I don't have the previous games to compare to at all. That said, I really enjoyed this game, particularly the combat. Felt incredibly fluid and fast and it was so satisfying to land a big hit with your axe or nail something at a distance. It was a nice touch to discover and be able to use the Chaos Blades as well. I absolutely adored the puzzle solving throughout the game which was required to find all the secrets and upgrade materials. I found Kratos and Atreus's relationship to be incredibly well done and the story touches on some really interesting themes of parenting, the price of keeping secrets, and dealing with one's past that felt very impactful despite me not having played any of the previous games. The world of Midgard was soo well done with beautiful visuals and lots of lore and backstory woven in beautifully though the boat rides that you take while traveling. Seems like there's a lot of extra stuff to do which would keep you playing for hours, so I'm looking forward to exploring that a bit more. The music was also really great too.

-

I did have some complaints with the game. My biggest issue was largely with the story. What would appear to be a straightforward quest to spread your wife's ashes felt so bogged down by distractions and detours that felt tacked on at the last second to prolong the length of the game, and it felt a little sloppy. And that objective felt like in constant competition with your attempt to escape from Baldur and the Aesir who hunt you, and the two storylines didn't come together until the last 5 minutes of the game. On that note, you hear all game about how Odin and Thor are the most powerful beings in Midgard and all that, but you don't see them at all during the entire game. So disappointing. The final boss in particular didn't really sit right with me. I didn't understand Kratos's decision protect Freya after she requests for Baldur to kill her, then contradicts his own actions after the fact by explaining to Atreus that some parents would sacrifice themselves if it meant their offspring could live a better life, and that he would do the same thing. I felt like a lot of the bosses were copy-pasted in general, especially that one troll with the huge rock. Lastly, it was really disappointing how sparse and empty the individual realms were, compared to Midgard which had like a million things to do. And you only get to visit about half of the realms anyway.

[kamikazekeeg]

48 - Dark Souls: Remastered (PS4 2018) - BEAT - After beating the Demon's Souls remake, I really got into a big urge to play through the rest of the games.  I have played all of them, but I never beat Dark Souls 1 and 2.  I did beat Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3, DS3 being my favorite, but I wanted to kinda go from Demon's Souls and then see how the series progressed.  I'm sorta having to mentally deconstruct Demon's Souls into what I think it was like originally, like I know they updated things here and there, but kept a lot of the core gameplay, design, and bosses intact.  It was just an alright Souls game, that was elevated by being an incredible PS5 game in terms of visuals and performance.

As for Dark Souls 1, I definitely prefer it to Demon's Souls.  It really brings in that "shortcut porn", there's some better bosses and levels, and the remaster in particular made everything way better than what I originally played, as I think I played the original PC version which was abit sketch.  Like I remember burning my eyes out with the lava in Izalith lol It's not without its problems, its got some jank of course, the Souls trademark, the inventory system really sucks, and some other annoyances here and there.  I did accidentally punk out Gwyn at the end of the game, as I was kinda in the mood to move on, so I brought a player to help out and he just straight up nuked Gwyn like it was nothing, but it does look like a legit fight otherwise lol  I will say the story kinda sucks, but that's something I'll say about every Souls game, I'm not a fan of its story structure most of the time, because it's all handled piecemeal with item lore and NPC conversations, like there's no ending cutscene at all after you complete it, which feels very unsatisfying.  It's something I hope is notably better with Elden Ring.

On to Dark Souls 2 next, probably after Cyberpunk.  I'm looking forward to it because I really don't have any memories of it, though I know it's kinda considered the weakest of the Dark Souls.

[bikingjahuty]

57. Jurassic World Evolution (PC)

I played this game originally on the PS4 when it first came out and I liked it quite a bit for the most part. However, I feel like these park/city sim type games are better experienced with a mouse and keyboard on a PC. When Evolution and most of its DLC were on sale on Steam over the summer I decided to repurchase it and give it a go again. My experience with the game was mostly the same as the PS4, however the inclusion of more content because of the DLC made it more enjoyable, as did using a mouse+keyboard instead of a controller. All together though it only slightly enhanced my experience and I still have all the same complaints and issues that I did on the PS4. Still, for any dinosaur or Jurassic series lover this is one of the best games to be released for the franchise. (12/9/20) [38/50]

[koemo1]

I'm never going to make the 52 game threshold but I'm still kinda proud.
Maybe the Christmas vacation will be kind and allows me to reach 30!

1. Bayonetta 2 [WiiU]
2. Super Mario 3D World [WiiU]
3. Seek and Destroy [PS2}
4. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag [360]
5. Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway [360]
6. Medal of Honor: Warfighter [360]
7. Call of Duty 2: Big Red One [PS2]
8. Call of Duty 3 [PS2]
9. Star Wars the Force Unleashed [360]
10. Uncharted: Nathan Drake's Collection [PS4]
11. Uncharted 4 [PS4]
12. Dex [PS4]
13. Assassin's Creed: Origins [PS4] PLATINUM
14. Battle Garrega.rev.2016 PLATiNUM
15. Yakuza Kiwami [PS4]
16. Caladrius Blaze [PS4]
17. Battlefield 1 [PS4]
18. Call of Duty WWII [PS4]
19. Assassin's Creed: Odyssey [PS4] PLATINUM
20. Bloodborne [PS4]
21. Smuggler's Run Warzones [GC] [IN PROGRESS]
22. Red Dead Redemption 2 [IN PROGRESS]
23. Nier Automata [FINISHED]
24. Tomb Raider [IN PROGRESS]
25. Red Faction  [UPCOMING]

[telly]

Game 44 - Shantae and the Seven Sirens (PS4) - 8 Hours

+

I would say that this game is my second favorite in the Shantae series, behind Half-Genie Hero. It seems to me like every new Shantae improves over the previous iteration and this game is no different. The game adopts a full-on Metroidvania style to it's level design which provides you a large interconnected area to explore with some additional towns and shops, which was really nice. This game also adds special monster cards which you can collect from killing enemies and equip to gain different abilities (kind of like the charms in Hollow Knight). I liked how the different transformations were mapped to a button press instead of having to perform a dance to use. The dances in this game felt kind of like summons, and they were pretty useful. Lastly, I thought the game had a pretty good story and the cutscenes were a nice bonus.

-

There were two aspects of this game that I found a little disappointing. The biggest one is in fact the game's new Metroidvania design, which overall felt very underdeveloped. About 60% of the game takes place in an underwater city/ship with a very basic and minimal art style, and it looks very boring. There are practically no secret areas or side quests for you to partake in, which was lame. On that note, there's also very little for you to actually discover while exploring, which throws all the fun of playing these kinds of games out the window. The only things you can upgrade are your health, and equip 3 total abilities with the aforementioned monster cards. There are secret monster cards, but these are only found by collecting nuggets which can then be traded in for maybe 5 total abilities? Compared to Hollow Knight where you can upgrade your health, soul, nail, charms and charm notches ALL by exploring, this game just doesn't reward you for going off the beaten path. All of your hair upgrades, magic spells, etc. are just bought in the shops like any other game. Really missed potential there. The other thing that was disappointing was the music. Without Jake Kaufman, the music took a slight dip in quality in my opinion, though there are still some really good tracks.

[ignition365]

I'm hoping to beat at least one more game before the end of the year... but I'm gonna start building my end of year stats post soon.

[telly]

I imagine I will probably be able to beat Kirby Superstar by the end of the year, but that might be it. I'll probably make my stats list over the holidays!

[Cartagia]

I'm on game 51 right now, which is a long form RPG (Pillars of Eternity).  I've got a big stretch of time off now, so I should be able to finish it and something short before the end of the year.