52 Games Challenge 2021

[kamikazekeeg]

Beat Saber (VR 2018) - ENDLESS - First game to get added to the list this year and it was something I've wanted to play for two years now.  I use to be a huge Guitar Hero/Rock Band player and this game just hit me hard with those same kind of feelings even if it was an entirely different rhythm experience.  I played it once for a couple songs like in 2019, and that was it.  But I finally got an Oculus Quest 2, figured that with the unit being standalone, I can get Beat Saber and a handful of other experiences, I could get enough out of VR for the first time.  VR is pretty neat, the headset can be weird to figure out to get comfy, but overall it's been interesting.

Beat Saber I love, even if I don't like most any of the songs they have in the game (If they want electronic stuff, get like some 90's Eurobeat or like DDR type songs in there lol).  I'm counting this game as endless, even if it has a campaign, but I'm probably not gonna touch the campaign much.  That being said, I have a lot of fun with the game, it's simple, but it gets me active and it looks super cool.  I'm gonna be looking at adding custom songs to the game very soon as I need some freaking rock and metal going on!

[Cartagia]

Beat Saber (VR 2018) - ENDLESS
[...] I'm counting this game as endless, even if it has a campaign, but I'm probably not gonna touch the campaign much.  That being said, I have a lot of fun with the game, it's simple, but it gets me active and it looks super cool.  I'm gonna be looking at adding custom songs to the game very soon as I need some freaking rock and metal going on!

I played on PS4, and found the campaign super fun and difficult, actually.  Though I do agree it needs more variety in the music would be really appreciated - the downside of not playing on PC.

[kamikazekeeg]

Beat Saber (VR 2018) - ENDLESS
[...] I'm counting this game as endless, even if it has a campaign, but I'm probably not gonna touch the campaign much.  That being said, I have a lot of fun with the game, it's simple, but it gets me active and it looks super cool.  I'm gonna be looking at adding custom songs to the game very soon as I need some freaking rock and metal going on!

I played on PS4, and found the campaign super fun and difficult, actually.  Though I do agree it needs more variety in the music would be really appreciated - the downside of not playing on PC.

I might give it a shot then, it didn't really seem to have a lot going on, and it starts out on Easy, so stuff is kinda slow, but couldn't hurt to try it.  My main goal is custom music and there's a ton of other stuff I want to play.  I'm getting my link cable in today, so hopefully I can figure out adding a bunch of cool songs.

[mrfreise]

Is it okay if I use your listing format? The start and end date is something that I never thought of using and I really want to implement it on my list

of course!!

i had set mine up that way as i know i will consistantly not finish in a single sitting/day so i just threw it up like that

p.s.  ijm stealing your rating column tho 

[droaa]

Is it okay if I use your listing format? The start and end date is something that I never thought of using and I really want to implement it on my list

of course!!

i had set mine up that way as i know i will consistantly not finish in a single sitting/day so i just threw it up like that

p.s.  ijm stealing your rating column tho 

Thank you. I specifically saw the start date section and thought it would be a good idea to see when exactly I started and entice me not to start something and leave it in purgatory like I usually do. No problem sir

[dhaabi]

02. Golf Story || Nintendo Switch || 01.07.21

When first buying a Switch a few months after its release, Golf Story immediately stood out to me in the then-sparse eShop. At the time, I played through roughly half of the game but then became too busy to finish it. After 2.5 years, I created a new file and was able to play through the entire game, and the experience was just as great as I had remembered before. Billing itself as golf with RPG mechanics, Golf Story by no means treads lightly in its comedic approach by introducing ridiculous characters and scenarios. As someone who ordinarily has little to no interest in the traditional sports genre, titles like Golf Story excite me while giving me hope in the creative process in modern and indie gaming. I would love to go more in-depth about certain story elements within the game, but that truly would be robbing those who are interested of a more fulfilling experience. As far as the golf mechanics operate, I've not played other traditional golf games to compare them to, but, overall, Golf Story's gameplay is simple to learn while difficult to master.

[kamikazekeeg]

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (Switch 2020) - BEAT - I really dug Hyrule Warriors back when it first came out, getting spinoff Zelda games are so rare, let alone a Zelda game that lets you play as more than just Link.  This game continues that by letting you play as all the Champions and some other characters and its just nice to jump back into Breath of the Wild and get more fun story stuff.  Not that it gets any particularly great character stuff, Zelda is sorta the only one with an arc to her, but it's still just nice to see more of them.  There's some fun stuff with the story too that works great for a spinoff game.  I do wish this game had villain characters to play as like you could in the previous Hyrule Warriors, there's only two you get, one I haven't unlocked, but I feel like there should be more, and for some reason it makes me feel like they are gonna have a villain DLC pack that is hopefully free because it should be of characters that already exist in the game.

I do really like the world map in this, it doesn't have that nostalgic charm of the Adventure Map from the previous game, having sprite based characters running around old school overworld maps based on Zelda games, but functionally it's better than that.  Everything is on one map, you can pick or choose way more of what you want, and it makes it feel like part of the game, rather than a separate mode.

Don't have any real complaints other than performance, it of course runs pretty poor, the first game didn't run great either, but it bothered me less than I expected, mostly because I was just having fun with the game.  It's mindless and grindy, but having all this big action in a Zelda game with all these characters, I love that and I'm gonna keep playing it also, working to max out my characters, unlock more costumes, and I still have 2 post-game characters to unlock and I just hope they add some DLC later on.  Heck, I'd love it if they just outright added Hyrule Warriors characters back into the game.  Bring back Linkle! lol

[dhaabi]

03. Flipping Death || Nintendo Switch || 01.09.21

Having bought Flipping Death mostly after hearing good things about the developer's previous title Stick It to the Man! while also interested in the game's unique art style, I started playing the game without having any expectations for this puzzle-platform title. Although not of the adventure genre, Flipping Death plays as much easier adventure title with some simple platforming mechanics. And, as someone who has played a few games within the adventure genre over the years, I've always appreciated the effort and love put into creating fun characters and challenging puzzles, although I fully admit that good adventure titles often force me into looking up more answers online than I'd like. Overwhelmingly, these two aspects of the genre make or break an adventure title.

Unfortunately, I have to report that Flipping Death doesn't score high at all to my personal tastes. Opposite to what I listed of good aspects of adventure titles, Flipping Death does not introduce interesting or even fleshed-out characters. Instead, the cast can largely be divided into two character groups: the odd, living townspeople and the ghosts—both who are severely underdeveloped to the point that I don't really care when their stories and problems are solved. As far as game's puzzles, most of them are straight-forward which results in the player almost feeling as if the lackluster story is running on automatic if it were not for the player's needed engagement to control the character back and forth from problem to obvious answer again and again. When two of the most important aspects to a genre aren't successful, your game is left lacking and disappointing to its players. Coupled with these issues, the game's platforming mechanics—chiefly its character movement and actions—are difficult enough for me to talk about them, which only adds more to the list of what Flipping Death suffers from.

Overall, I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend Flipping Death. Even if the game were on sale, I know that newcomers to the genre would find much more entertainment value from games similar to it that I know are more highly-acclaimed, whereas those invested into the genre would find no enjoyment playing Flipping Death at all.

[bikingjahuty]

Damn! It's awesome to see how on the ball people are with this challenge this year already! I need to get my ass in gear and quit playing so much video pinball and actually beat some more games! Might actually jump into one tonight

[Cartagia]

Damn! It's awesome to see how on the ball people are with this challenge this year already! I need to get my ass in gear and quit playing so much video pinball and actually beat some more games! Might actually jump into one tonight

Both the games I've started are long-ish RPGs, so I'm probably not getting any completion notches for another week at least

[bikingjahuty]

2. Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)

Something dawned on my late last year that just didn't sit right with me; despite having played the original Sonic a million times over the past 30-years and it being the reason I wanted a Sega Genesis back during the early 90s, I'd never actually beat the game! Well, that all changed tonight when I beat the game from start to finish in one sitting! Overall, it's definitely the weakest of the 4 main Sonic games on the Genesis, but it's still very easy to see why this game was so revolutionary and innovative back when it first came out in 1991. I found some levels to be amazing, while others, mostly the ones with any sort of water, to be somewhat tedious and annoying. Still overall, I enjoyed my time with this game quite a bit, and if for nothing else it's always a massive hit of nostalgia for me. Visually this is a very, very good looking game for 1991 and the soundtrack is top notch, even though all the other Genesis Sonic titles have it beat in that department. But what an absolutely special game and one that is personally very important to me as a gamer. I'm happy that I can finally close the door on this one though and say I beat it. (1/9/21) [37/50]

[droaa]

Damn! It's awesome to see how on the ball people are with this challenge this year already! I need to get my ass in gear and quit playing so much video pinball and actually beat some more games! Might actually jump into one tonight

I'm trying to get in as much as possible before I start class in 2 weeks because I know when it starts knowing my track record that my gaming will be at a decline. I don't want it to be but it is bound to happen. Thankfully, I'll be in my final semester

[bikingjahuty]

3. Zero Wing (Genesis)

Since I had my Genesis plugged in still to play Sonic I decided I wanted to play a 16-bit SHMUP I've never played, but thanks to the internet and meme culture I was fairly familiar with. Yes, Zero Wing's opening seen is pure, poorly translated comedic gold, however it's all kinda downhill once you start the game. For a SHMUP for this era Zero Wing is okay for the most part. It has decent graphics and audio, and I really like how cool some of the bosses looked, but the gameplay is what really holds this game back. Zero Wing uses a checkpoint system like various other older shooters which in a way works for these older games, but still can be fairly annoying. Luckily Zero Wing saves right before an item drop enemy appears which is a welcome gameplay feature since many shooters from the late 80s and early 90s that employ power ups love to maroon you if you die in the middle of a stage. Luckily Zero Wing doesn't do this, but it might as well given how poorly designed certain sections of the game are. I feel like the harder this game got, the less I enjoyed it since the limitations of its gameplay become most aparant during its more challenging sections. Still, it was a decent old school shooters and I'm happy I finally got around to checking out this memefest of a game. (1/9/21) [30/50]

[cosmos]

Damn! It's awesome to see how on the ball people are with this challenge this year already! I need to get my ass in gear and quit playing so much video pinball and actually beat some more games! Might actually jump into one tonight

I know what you mean.

I’m fully immersed in Cyberpunk. Apart from the numerous crashes, I am really enjoying the game and not ready to move on anytime soon.

52 games may be a stretch!

[telly]

I just finished Ventus's story in Birth By Sleep, but I'm not going to count the game as finished until I've done Terra and Aqua's stories as well.