52 Games Challenge 2023!!!

[dhaabi]

42. Yakuza 5 Remastered || PlayStation 4 || 12.19.23



Slowly but surely, I'm continuing to play through the Yakuza series, having just finished the main story to Yakuza 5 Remastered. Quite honestly, I'm surprised I've now beaten four already in a two-year span.

Like its predecessor, Yakuza 5 is broken into multiple sections each with a different character serving as the playable protagonist. Overall, its narrative is successful and is perhaps the best it's been since the second entry. Of course, its drama complexities pervade every plot progression point, but I love how the series continues to incorporate characters who wouldn't be expected to be involved as part of the story. In fact, they're just just present but a part of the main cast, even. Just like previous entries, the narrative is melodramatic in its twists and turns, but it's obviously what series fans enjoy as it makes such a memorable impact.

To be brief and not so detailed, narrative events revolve around the Tojo Clan of Tokyo having major power struggles with the Omi Alliance of Osaka. As should be expected, plenty of secrets and hidden truths slowly become known only for them to be proven wrong, time and time again. While franchise protagonist Kiryu is again present, the game seems to focus on everyone but him. Actually, I felt that not a lot of time is devoted to the characters themselves on an individual level but instead to the connecting problem which brings them together. Of the five playable characters, it's interesting how only two are directly connected with the yakuza having been members or ex-members, whereas the remaining three all somehow manage to end up being a part of the conflict. One playable character doesn't even have combat, which I thought was actually a bold and fun decision. There is also a new playable character which is something I think the franchise struggles with to a degree, with this instance being one I feel is not nicely woven into the overarching narrative.

Something needing mentioned is that, as the fifth entry in a series that's known for its abundance of available content, Yakuza 5 arguably suffers from too much content. First, it should be known that much of the direct story path to the game actually involves combat or combat-comparative sequences. To accommodate for that, four of the five playable characters each have their own unique and expansive gameplay modes separate from general sub-quests. While some of this is optional, not all of it is. While I have no issue with the content itself, I feel as if it could have been integrated differently, more separate from the narrative path. Of course, I understand why this sort of content was introduced and fully welcome it, since this is the fifth entry in a series where gameplay is largely the same across all entries. That each of these characters are developed even more than what's provided along the main story is enjoyable to see, because they each have lives and interests outside of the yakuza. But, personally, I feel as if the core gameplay being at the center-front should be the main attraction without question, as I imagine that's why most players gravitate to the games. So, more or less, I feel as if these non-narrative elements need to exist as secondary ones, not primary.

As for the combat gameplay itself, it is largely the same with minor tweaks. However, unlike before, combat is not loaded with brief cutscenes preceding but instead in real-time. Some may say that it's a favorable change, but I feel opposite. Because of this change, a huge portion of the game's snarky, personable banter full of stupidity and humor is lost. There is some brief dialogue spoken from anyone hassling the player-character, but since it's not text, much of the pompous, hotheaded characteristics from NPCs is lost on those who can't comprehend Japanese since the spoken dialogue is untranslated. For me, a lot of the game's personality was lost from this single change, and it was made worse battle dialogue from enemies has a short pool of options, whereas the text box dialogue in previous entries were much more unique. Outside of street battles, boss encounters are noteworthy. Yakuza 5 is surely a product of its time, as short action sequences relying upon QTEs break up player action at regular intervals. They provide a fun look at the brawl from a cinematic point of view as sequences are thrilling, but they're not challenging gameplay elements.

While Yakuza 5 has both its strengths and weaknesses, the former certainly outweigh the latter. I've not yet finished my time playing through the game due to its available content that I'd like to experience, so it will be some time before I carry on with the franchise. Playing the main Yakuza games in order of release, I'm excited to play the prequel entry next.

[dhaabi]

43. Cube Escape: The Lake || Mobile || 12.20.23



Hoping to move through the Cube Escape series at a quick pace, only one day passed since beating Seasons before I continued onward with Cube Escape: The Lake.

Fully following the same format as its predecessor, The Lake takes place in a cabin at Rusty Lake which the player-character has only just discovered. Being mostly empty, the cabin contains several locked doors to cabinets and the lake. Fishing supplies are scattered which allows the player to cast a line out into the lake, reeling in whatever the waters offer us.

Essentially one-quarter in length than Seasons, progression is simplified since there are only so many possible interactions. Still, I found myself confused by one mirror puzzle. It seemed as if I was needing to recreate the given code comprised of unknown symbols but in a mirrored fashion, but that actually wasn't the required action to take. Looking back, perhaps I could have solved this step of the game on my own had I devoted more time to it and gave a thorough analysis of the puzzle at-hand, but perhaps not.

Apparently there are two endings, which I achieved the alternate one. Using some knowledge from the previous game, I entered a code which is hinted at to gain a variation to another item that's acquired. In short, they are interchangeable to the game's end puzzle and, depending on which item is selected, results in one of two endings. Being blunt, both endings are quite abrupt which took me for a surprise.

While the first game offers plenty of dark themes, nothing ever made me feel vulnerable. However, this game is opposite, as I actually got a sudden chill when trying to interact with a new element. That said, nothing about the game felt too horrific, at least in tone. Unlike Seasons, The Lake offers little to an explained narrative. Events seem to happen simply because they help build the overarching Cube Escape lore. Still, as I continue to play through the series, I'm hoping some sense can be gained from this game. There is no explanation as to who we are, what year the plot takes place in, or what the effects are from the game's canon ending, so hopefully some playable events unfold in later entries which answer those questions.

With two games completed and the sequel being a shorter experience with nothing new regarding gameplay added, I'm hoping that some new gameplay element, however minor, is added. A more captivating narrative would be welcomed, as well.

[kamikazekeeg]

37 - The Finals (PC 2023) - ENDLESS - Put a few hours into this (Would've been more, but the servers are getting the crap beat out of them today, so it's barely working), but I think this is overall a pretty decent F2P shooter.  I was put off abit with the game when it was shown they were using AI stuff for the announcers, and it's pretty noticeable with how stiff and lifeless they sound most of the time, but I did want to give the game itself a fair shot, even if I will never like seeing AI used like that in games.

The positives is that it has some of the best destruction we've seen in a game in years, feeling like we are back in that earlier Frostbite era of Battlefield games where you could bring buildings down and spread a lot of havoc to people inside structures (Which makes sense, these are ex-DICE devs).  Gameplay is solid with some realistic weapons, so weapons have kick and such, and there's a lot of good mobility going on.  I'd probably commend the visuals, but I'm playing everything on low to run it well lol

Negatives are that there aren't a lot of game modes, there's only two normal ones, an objective defense mode, and then what is kinda like a kill tags mode, but you have to deposit what you've picked up.  Not sure I like the deposit mode, though it has an extra team in play.  Balance is all over the place I feel right now, I kinda question the heavies health pool, how fast melee weapons can melt people, and then like I picked up the auto-shotgun for the heavy, got into a fight with another heavy, put a full mag of shotgun blasts into them from point blank range, no more rounds, then used quick melee strikes (Which are way weaker than an equipped melee), and still didn't kill them.  Also feel like mobility could be a tad better despite what I said, like it's very fast paced despite the very slow TTK, but it's not as good as say Apex Legends.  That might also just be due to me having 150 hours in Apex and my brain every so often is like "Why am I not sliding when I land or why can't I climb up this high wall?" lol

I'll probably keep playing for a bit at least, this is the first time in awhile I've played a more small scale multiplayer game, I don't really play these sorta "arena" type fighters anymore as I prefer multiplayer games with more people and scope in them, though they could totally add more players in maybe a new mode eventually, because a lot of these maps are fairly big I feel. Also too large at times when you team respawn and you are across the map and it's gonna take like 30 seconds to a minute to even reach the cash box as it's being captured.

[dhaabi]

44. Cube Escape: Arles || Mobile || 12.22.23



In my first review for series, I mentioned that I've watched full playthroughs of each game in the Cube Escape series. While playing through Cube Escape: Arles, however, I can't say I remember anything about it. I'm still playing each game without remembering anything about the puzzles themselves, but this may be the first instance where everything is actually new to me, meaning I may have not watched footage for it.

Playing as artist Vincent van Gogh in year 1881 at his home, I was interested in how this fictional story would play out in context to other games in the series. In the end, I don't really anticipate these specific events to have some deep connection to the others, though. Nevertheless, I'm beginning to understand what this unnamed shadowed presence is, given what is known about van Gogh's mental instability and finality, which is perhaps why this game was created and is formally a part of the series. On that note, I'm now realizing I've yet to mention this presence in any previous review. In each game so far, some dark entity gazes upon you as the player-character from afar through mirrors, entryways, and windows. Is it a force come to claim us in our depression? Is it some manifestation of our suicidal thoughts? Is it us? Perhaps it's all of the above. At this point, I can't be entirely sure, but it must be some culmination of those three possibilities.

As the third series entry, Arles finally begins to feel more complex, as puzzles aren't all just about interacting with an object using the right item selected. This time, symbols need to be decoded, and a puzzle involving the deduction of numerous items' weight actually required me to gather a pen and paper.

With one-third of the series now completed, my interest is still being held. If there is any real disappointment I have, it's in myself for not being able to overcome every puzzle on my own. I've relied on guides for only a handful of specific moments, which, in hindsight, two or three of them feel like challenges I could have solved eventually. Still, I did better this time playing Arles than in the two previous games.

[bikingjahuty]

57. Resident Evil 4 (PS5)

Out of all the RE games I've played and beat over the years, Resident Evil 4 is the one I remember the least. I beat it back during the summer of 2005 on the Gamecube, and while I remember a handful of things about it, I actually don't remember much about it other than it was pretty fun. Still, I have always had mixed feelings about the 4th game in the series since I blame it for RE radically changing from survival horror to action horror with an emphasis on the action. Going into the remake, I figured I'd enjoy it once again, but be left with a preference for the older, survival horror style games, which also includes the remakes of 2 and 3. I am surprised to say that while yes, I do prefer the classic survival horror gameplay of the original 3 games plus 0 and Code Veronica, I actually liked RE4:Remake more than any other RE game I've ever played with the exception of REmake for the Gamecube.


RE4 Remake is a phenomenal game all around. It maybe has some of the best pacing of any RE game I've played. On top of that the gameplay is very addictive as it takes a third person, over the shoulder view which lends itself perfectly to how the game throws enemies at you, as well as the amazing boss fights. As I said, RE4 started the trend of making the series more about action than horror, but I still have to give RE4 credit for having several genuinely creepy sections of the game, most notable where you first encounter the regenerators. My only real gripes with the gameplay are how bullet spongy the enemies are, which makes sense for a few types, but particularly the infected humans are still human and a well placed headshot or 2 should be enough to take them out. Instead, I'm emptying 4, 5 and sometimes even more bullets into their head to take them out which just seems excessive for standard difficulty. While it's the antithesis of the survival horror part of the series I enjoy more, I also found the frequent ammo and item pickups to be a fun mechanic, as was collecting things like gems, shooting various things to complete challenges, or going after the games optional bosses to unlock various things. The game just has so much content that I really never felt bored for nearly the entire game. Storywise, RE4 is right up there with the best in the series, and while i do lament the lack of the T-Virus and everything that goes with it, the Los Plagus is just as interesting and cool in its own way. Visually, the game looks pretty damn good, and while not the best looking PS5 game I've played, it still doesn't skip a beat visually for the most part, and there is a ton of detail to be seen in nearly every place you find yourself in. The audio is also great, mostly due to the excellent voice acting and dialogue. The OST is pretty good, but I found it to be far less noteworthy than the aforementioned voice acting, or the sound design that can really oput you on edge. As I said before, RE4 Remake was a very, very welcome surprise and it honestly changed my perception on the it and the more action focused games that followed. Admittedly, I've never played RE5 or RE6, but at least now I can go into playing them knowing that I may not be getting the more resource focused, horror atmosphere of the older RE games, but for what they are, they can still be fun and enjoyable. Still, I am left with a feeling of deep satisfaction following my completion of RE4, and I'm actually a little sad it's over. (12/23/23) [43/50]

[dhaabi]

45. Cube Escape: Harvey's Box || Mobile || 12.23.23



For those who've played the Cube Escape games in order of release up until the point, the fourth entry's title Cube Escape: Harvey's Box may leave you pondering. Knowing that titular Harvey is a pigeon, I was curious to see what kind of atmosphere and mood would be established while playing.

Almost immediately, it was abundantly clear that this game's puzzles have much more variety and depth. There are two noteworthy examples, with the first being a music sheet puzzle requiring notes to be transcribed while being familiar with sheet music note placement, meaning anyone who doesn't have that knowledge must refer to resources explaining it. Next is a game of dominoes which has already been completed but is needing each individual piece to be put back in its place, as if to recreate the game already played.

Not wanting to divulge more about this game's other puzzles, I'll only mention the game's degree of difficulty regarding the two aforementioned ones. For the former sheet music puzzle, I had a lot of fun with it, and it required me to again rely on pen and paper. On the other hand, the dominoes puzzle was a little overbearing. While the game dominoes is simple to understand, this puzzle is more of a matter of testing patience than testing intellect. I spent around twenty minutes—perhaps even closer to thirty minutes—on this puzzle alone. With perhaps thirty spaces total needing filled, only one is revealed to guide the player. But, in spite of that inclusion, it is actually little help, as there are numerous possibilities which seem correct but aren't, with only one actual answer being correct. There isn't a good way to keep track of possibilities previously tried, so it's easy to repeat the same mistakes. For this specific puzzle, I actually did rely on the in-game hint system, because I was only wanting a few spaces revealed indicating where to place dominoes specifically, instead of finding an online guide where the entire answer would be shown.

Soon after, another puzzle stumped me. I understood what the pieces to the puzzle were, only I didn't understand where to apply that information. While not mentioning it before, The Lake featured a part of the environment needing clicked, only it was not noticeable to me at all. Another one of those instances occurs in Harvey's Box, and it's at the end of the game. In both games, the smallest indention in the wall is present which signifies an item in-hand being able to interact with it. If these spaces were even marginally larger, I feel as if I could have solved through both problems on my own. Along those lines, I'll also mention that one puzzle requires long-pressing the interactive item as opposed to simply clicking it. Throughout the first four games, this sort of mechanic hasn't been utilized before, so it was not immediately apparent as to what action was needed.

Having finished Harvey's Box, I'm left thinking that it's an odd but amusing game set in the Cube Escape universe. As we know that Harvey makes an appearance in Seasons, the Harvey's Box's given timeline of 1969 aligns to the events which take place in Seasons. I can imagine that there are some who don't see the importance Harvey's Box may have in the grand scheme of the series, but I think it gives a brief yet thought-provoking look at who Seasons's protagonist, whose exact identity is unknown to us, is.

[dhaabi]

46. Cube Escape: Case 23 || Mobile || 12.24.23



Well, the more I continue playing though the Cube Escape series, the more sure I am that I actually haven't watched playthroughs for all nine games years ago. I realized this almost immediately upon starting Cube Escape: Case 23, which made me feel a little more excited as to what's to come.

As vague as the first four Cube Escape games are, that was certainly not the case for the Case 23. Broken into four chapters like Seasons, Case 23 is, comparatively, a narrative-dense experience. Before each chapter, there's actual narration, although it's brief. In one instance, there's even a short conversation. Involved in a murder investigation case, a detective named Dale serves as our playable protagonist. At the crime scene, he wonders what this mysterious place referred to as Rusty Lake actually is. Across each game so far, brochures for Rusty Lake are often present, pinned to bulletin boards. It's the same brochure each time too, simply reading "Mental Health & Fishing."

Spanning four chapters, Case 23 offers a plentiful amount of fun puzzles that I was able to clear almost all on my own. Generally, their level of difficulty is about on par with those from previous games. Although, perhaps puzzles were less obtuse, or maybe I'm growing accustomed to this type of puzzle-solving. Like the last two games, I needed pen and paper on-hand, which I'm greatly enjoying.

Trying not to divulge much about this aspect, I was not expecting the ending's sudden panic, literal escape-the-room puzzle which was actually stress-inducing. Despite the game's level of forgiveness at this part, it actually managed to noticeably quicken my heart rate. I don't know if a game's ever had that effect on me before, so that's commendable.

While I wouldn't necessarily say that the quality of the series has improved with Case 23, I'm even more excited about the games going forward, hoping that more of its lore is explored.

[tripredacus]

57. The Simpsons Road Rage
Since my Xbox 360 isn't working, I figured I'd try xemu. There must be some trick to making an ISO of an Xbox game, since it came out too small and/or xemu didn't think it was a game. So then I tried the PS2 release. Good to know my PS2 can still read DVD games, that it works in general (including the controller) and the memory card.

I'm fairly certian I may have played this before, but perhaps I'm thinking of Hit & Run. It seems like a Simpsons remake of Crazy Taxi. The drivable Springfield is cool. I did play it for some time, but the aspects of "beating" this game look to be more than I want to bother with. The novelty wore off quite fast. Having a timer on the Road Rage portion is OK but the missions are not something I care about to do. The manual says you beat the game when you get to $1m and considering I only got to $30k in an hour, I was looking at a tedious grind if I wanted to try beating it. I'm just not that into it.

58. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
I had made some inquiries to get an Xbox 360 and Japanese PS2 recently but I had been holding off just in case emulation would work. I found PCSX2 to be somewhat confusing when it came to the BIOS files. Because these disc-based emulators do not come with them, and the ROM packs on Archive have everything in them. I did manage to figure out which one to use to represent a Japanese PS2. Making the ISO worked fine as well. However the issue here ended up being two-fold. First the resolution that the emulator ran at seems incorrect as all of the text was blurry or had artifacts. Once the game actually loaded, there were a ton of texture glitches and I just knew that this wasn't going to be worth the effort to emulate. So I will go about and buy myself a Japanese PS2 instead and try this again in the future.

[bikingjahuty]

58. Resident Evil 5 (PS4)

Riding my RE4 Remake high, I decided to take a leap forward into the RE series and see where the mainline story went post RE4. I've been meaning to do this for a very long time, in fact, replaying RE4, remake or the original, has been the textbook definition of a backlog game for me for over a decade, as were its various direct sequels. Well, I finally got around to the infamous RE5, the game that many fault as the point where the RE series really lost its way. Of course, I tried going into it with an open mind and hoping that most of its many criticisms were exaggerated by the internet, and the game was in fact highly enjoyable when played in the right frame of mind. Nope!


While I do feel like some of RE5's criticisms, particularly the "game breaking" Sheva AI has been greatly exaggerated, I actually think RE5's biggest crime is how 90% of the game doesn't feel like an RE game at all. Even when compared to the more action focused RE4, RE5 just feels like some generic 2000s third person action game that RE references were thrown into via cutscenes and journal entries found throughout the game. Beyond these things and a few of the bosses, I honestly didn't feel like I was playing an RE game in any way. There are no puzzles, 90% of the enemies are human enemies, most of which never do anything to indicate they have the Las Plages parasites in them, item management of any kind is almost non-existent, and doing things like punching boulders, shooting people on dirt bikes from the back of a truck, and the whole co-op gameplay mechanic completely took me out of the RE experience. Speaking of the co-op, it was pretty much a superfluous feature that did nothing to enhance the gameplay or make things more fun. In fact, all it did was make the game harder by having to babysit Sheva while she used up too much ammo and healing items, all while she offered nearly nothing to the game's story. The game's story is honestly the highlight of RE5, and while not the best in the series, it was at least decent and at least ties up some loose ends in the franchise while also providing some much needing context that bridged classic RE with the newer titles. Beyond that, the audio was fairly generic for the most part, and the voice acting was a mix of bad, decent and good. Finally, the visuals were pretty good for a game released in 2009 on the PS3/360, although there was a major lack of enemy variety and the atmosphere that nearly every other RE game I've played had was pretty much non-existent. Again, this was certainly not a horror game, and did little to feel any different than some forgettable generic action game from the time RE5 came out. Sadly I can't say RE5 is the worst RE game I've ever played, but it is certainly the worst mainline RE game I've ever played. Unfortunately I still have RE6 to play, but I'll save that for another time. I need to take a break from the RE series again for at least a few months until I'm ready to get back on the horse. RE4 Remake inspired me to play more RE titles, while RE5 makes me weary about playing any of the ones I've yet to try out. God help me. (12/26/23) [27/50]

[telly]

Game 23 - Castlevania: Circle of The Moon (Switch) - 9 Hours

It felt really good to play a Metroidvania again, this time from the well-beloved Castlevania franchise. I haven't played one of these since Symphony of the Night maybe 10 years ago, and I've never played the entries on the Game Boy Advance. I found this collection to be a great way to play these games just like the other Konami collections. This version has some additional helpful tools you can turn on, for example, in this game you can tell which enemies will drop cards for you to collect.

I found the first Casltevania game on the GBA to be excellent, despite being released very early in the system's life span. Later GBA entries in the series would up the flashiness and visual spectacle, but Circle of the Moon still brings a lot to offer to the table with crisp, clean graphics, excellent controls, impressive monster design and gorgeous music. It's a simple game, but a damn effective one. The card system is the new spice added to this game which adds a new magic element to your gameplay and RPG decision making and I experimented with all the ones that I was able to pick up while playing. The addition of a run button was a nice bonus as well. While the story isn't anything amazing, and I wish enemies would drop items a bit more frequently, I really enjoyed my time with it.

[tripredacus]

59. Evoland
The second Evoland was good and I did finish it but not 100%. This first one is really cool in the beginning, as you unlock different functions over time to reflect how an RPG evolved over time. It starts at 2D style like on a Game Boy and not at text based like on a computer. Overall it is fine up until a point where you unlock fireballs. Then there is a tedious movement puzzle. And the controls are not quite as responsive or smooth as I would like. It is evident even earlier that there is some sort of sliding that happens when you move. I'm not going to bother doing a platforming puzzle where you end up dying every 2 seconds. So I guess I didn't get out of the tutorial for this one.

[bikingjahuty]

59. Sonic Superstars (Switch)

After deciding a needed a break from Resident Evil, I decided to start playing one of my Christmas presents, Sonic Superstars. I've been a longtime Sonic fan, ever since the early 90s when I played the original at my cousin's house at the tender age of 4. While I have mixed feelings about many of the sOnic games released over the last 20-years, it's still a franchise I have a ton of love for and is a series that hits my nostalgia button in a way few other franchises can. I was really excited about Sonic Superstars when it was first announced since other than the 3D characters models and stages, it looked and felt like a classic Sonic game. Oh, for the record I'm not a huge fan of most of the 3D Sonic games (ie. Sonic Adventure, Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog), but am really into most of the 2D and 2.5D titles.


I guess I'll start with my least favorite part of Sonic Superstars, the graphics. While they are fine for what they are, and at times can be fairly charming, the whole time I was playing Superstars I was wishing the game was done in gorgeous sprites in the same way Sonic Mania was. The characters, the enemies, the bosses, and the stages all seemed to suffer somewhat because of the 3D graphics, but for what they were, they still had a charm to them. Beyond the 3D graphics, I loved the cutscenes, both the illustrated ones and the ones that used the 3D character models. The audio in Superstars is excellent. The OST fits in perfectly with some of the best Sonic games I've played and there are several tracks that I found very catchy. Other than that, you have your basic Sonic sound effects, and thankfully there is no voice acting to be found in this game. Gameplay is mostly good, however my mileage varied depending on what stage I was playing through, or what boss I fighting. Superstars had some of my biggest highs for a Sonic game, but also some of my lowest lows in terms of my enjoyment. I loved several stages, while several I really didn't care for due to their flow and design. Likewise, a few of the bosses were among the most enjoyable to fight in the entire series, while others brought me within an inch of throwing my controller across the room given how chreap and poorly designed they were. Overall though, the game is pretty fun and I'd say is about average when it comes to gameplay in a classic style Sonic game. While I wouldn't necessarily rank Sonic Superstars in the upper echelons of my all time favorite Sonic games, it's still way more enjoyable than several I've played over the years, including a decent amount of the 2D titles. For what it's worth, I'd say anyone who's a fan of classic 2D Sonic should definitely play this game. Just don't expect it to be as good as Sonic's glory days on the Genesis, or even Sonic Mania which as far as I'm concerned is just as good, if not better than the games from the Genesis era. (12/28/23) [35/50]

[kamikazekeeg]

38 - The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (PC 2014) -  BEAT - This was one of those games that I picked up the original release on PC forever ago, put like 10 hours in, never hit the "end" lol RNG would wreck me every time before I got through a run.  Not this time though.  Just grabbed this version for the heck of it, this is a remake of the original, new art, all sorts of content, and while I did "beat it", this game is functionally endless and there's more content that unlocks upon finishing a run.  I'm not huge on the whole roguelite genre, I've played a number of them, but they are a decent enough time to screw around in.  My annoyance with this game is that it's hard to tell what everything actually is item wise and there's an absolute ton of items in this game.  A guide in the game would've been nice.

[telly]

Game 24 - Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (Switch) - 11 hours

In what is probably going to be the last game for 2023, here's a review of Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance. I found this game to be in some ways an improvement over Circle of the Moon but a letdown in other ways. Where this game excels is it's graphics and environments. They really pushed the GBA hardware in interesting ways and there are some fantastic monster designs and gorgeous creepy environments. The monster design is as great as ever, with a plethora of bosses to fight, though there are a few too many "giant" walking boss monsters that feel like filler after a while. The different spell books you can unlock add a lot of variety to your subweapon and they are all visually stunning. Overall, Harmony of Dissonance brings a visual spectacle while still being a fun game to play.

I think where this game falls short is it's controls and music. For all the flashy graphics and monster design, the music is kindof awful. It's like bad Game Boy music, and doesn't live up to the high standards of games previous. I found the game to be a lot floatier and less precise than Circle of the Moon, though I got used to them eventually. I didn't like that your subweapon and spellbooks can't be used simultaneously, you either have to pick one or the other, which was different than the DSS system in Circle of the Moon.

It's funny how many Konami games I've actually beaten this year between Castlevania and Contra. I'd say this year was a great gaming year for me and bring on 2024!

[kashell]

65. Mega Man X4 - X, PlayStation Version/Vita

One more for the road, I suppose. For real, this time. I can't go a full year without playing my favorite Mega Man game, ever. There's nothing new to report. I have this game just about everywhere in my game library and decided to a quick run through with my blue brother X.