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52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

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dhaabi:
19. Picross e || Nintendo 3DS || 04.19.24



As Nintendo's 3DS and Wii U online servers shut down about two weeks ago, the opportunity presented itself for someone to mod my 3DS. Seeing as the systems aren't supported anymore, I decided to take up the offer. While browsing the full catalog of games before me, I eyed the Picross series while realizing it's a line of games I've somehow evaded all these years. Moments later, I began playing Picross e.

Known properly as a nonogram puzzle, picross (short for picture crossword) is a type of logic puzzle that tasks players to fill in a grid based on the outside numbers along the X and Y axes which will, once solved, reveal a picture image. At the game's beginning, difficulty is naturally low with grid size being only 5x5 that accomplishes in teaching the fundamentals of the system. This tutorial section does not last long, though, as the game's difficulty progression feels natural when playing in stage order as players learn and are forced to think in new ways to solve for possibilities. I mention this because, at any point, players are freely able to select any of the game's 150 stages which increase in grid size to 15x15.

When solving individual spaces, players have two options: either to mark it as part of the puzzle or as white space. Of course, determining which action to take is dependent on the information across the X and Y axes which indicates both how many blocks are in a row or column and how many are in a sequence. So, for example, if a row is labeled as 3 1 2, then this translates that, beginning at some point across the row, there is a sequence of three marked spaces, at least one unmarked space, one marked space, at least one unmarked space, and finally two marked spaces. Using the each and every row in conjunction with each and every column is paramount to solving each puzzle, which becomes much easier said than done in later stages. Generally, stages begin slowly as there are a lot of possibilities to remove as they're determined to be impossible, but once a fair amount of information has been revealed, players should be able to advance with definitive choices being made speedily.

Throughout each stage, in-game hint systems are also available which are, in general, small but valuable support elements to both hasten puzzle-solving and aid in challenging moments. With the hint system toggled on, the game indicates which rows and columns provide a logical means for players to deduce the answer with the existing grid information. As more actions are taken, hints for specific rows and columns routinely toggle on and off, allowing for players to seek information somewhere else. However, just because a row or column becomes fully grayed out as sections are completed does not mean they are correct; instead, this means that only a specific row or column has had their puzzle requirements answered (e.g. 3 1 2.) So, should players make a mistake, there will inevitably be a moment (often nearing the puzzle's conclusion) when the realization that an error has been made. During my playthrough, I allowed for the hint system to remain on, although it is automatically toggled off once every five stages.

Continuing through Picross e in its intended stage order while having finished both Easy and Normal sections, I wasn't sure what the game's third section Free exactly meant. Eventually, I realized that there are two different gameplay modes available. In brief, the standard mode faults a player with a time penalty once an incorrect action has been made. Because of this, players will immediately have the correct answer available to them. Meanwhile, Free mode removes this penalty altogether which leaves the player believing each and every action they take is correct, up until the point they realize an error has been made. Initially, I found myself more favorable to Free mode, but some puzzles in this mode became quite challenging. Without that immediate feedback, I often found myself reaching a point in the puzzle's completion where an error (possibly numerous errors) could be anywhere in the grid, meaning I determined it easier to fully restart the stage. On average, I spent about 17-20 minutes for each 15x15 puzzle, so about that much time was lost each and every time time I noticed an error was made. While 15x15 isn't necessarily large as nonogram puzzles can be much larger, I still realized just how much there is to analyze all at once, even though I considered myself to be taking actions with careful consideration.

Apart from the game's puzzle mechanics, the use of a timer encourages replayability, although I was not interested in besting my own scores. Alongside simple record-beating, solved puzzles will degrade from full color to grayscale once the hour threshold has been crossed, so poor puzzle-solving encourages faster playthroughs as well, so as to reveal the picture in color. One other aspect worth mentioning is the game's use of music. Unfortunately, there are only two tracks available, one of which is only used on the main menu screen. So, for numerous hours, only one track accompanies the actual puzzle-solving.

After years of not really knowing what Picross is, I'm glad to have finally completed the first game in the e series, which there are a total of nine. While I'm not wanting to play through these games one after the other, I know I will, at some point, return to play more.

realpoketendonl:
6. Super Metroid [SNES / Nintendo Switch Online]

Finally finished my first full playthrough of Super Metroid. It almost felt weird I had never played more than the start of this game before, considering I'm a pretty big Metroid fan and I've beaten every other 2D Metroid game that came after it. But the previous times I played it, I could just never get into it. Maybe it's just that me and my tastes and skills have changed over the years that now it did grab me.

I'm sure it won't be a shocker when I say the game is great. There's something so enthralling about exploring these worlds, feeling how Samus grows more powerful throughout her journey, finding new things wherever you go, it's like you're always lost while never being lost at the same time. The spritework and audio in this game is incredible too. It without a doubt deserves the praise it gets and still stands as a fantastic title today.

However, I will say it's not my favourite in the series. Some small parts either haven't aged well or were always kinda meh (I don't know, I'm 25). I found myself fighting with the controls in a couple of scenarios, especially when it came to the Space Jump and ESPECIALLY the wall jump. That move just does not work right and it's pretty maddening. And I know this is a staple of old games, but that doesn't make it go away: there were some points where I did feel the secrets you needed to figure out to progress were downright unfair. One that stuck with me was when you get the X-ray visor to spot invisible passageways, but then later they add other invisible passageways which just don't show up for some reason. How the hell are you supposed to figure that out? So yes, I did need a guide a few times.

Overall though, the game still is fantastic and well worth of the praise it gets. Not my favourite 2D Metroid (Dread is up there, and I need to replay Fusion but I remember loving that), but a fantastic game I'm glad to have finished. And just really glad to have no finished all 2D Metroids (well, except for the NES and Game Boy games, but I've heard even Metroid fans won't judge you for skipping them).

kashell:
37. Soul Hackers 2 - Beyond the Infinite Ending

I had way more fun with this than I thought I would. It was more SMT than Persona, but still had the few tidbits of Persona that I enjoyed. Toss in a futuristic, hyper neon Japan backdrop and a groovy soundtrack, and boom. A solid game that I'll definitely play again for the platinum. My biggest issue is that New Game Plus doesn't carry over the Soul Matrix Levels. That means having to go through each one again while building them up to 200. It's not a major con, but it's what's causing me to take a break from the game instead of jumping right back in. The FF feature will definitely be used to the fullest on that journey. It's weird because nearly everything else seemed to carry over, so why not the Soul Matrix levels? Either way, great game and one I'll get to back later (much later, likely) this year.

bikingjahuty:
25. Red Dead Redemption (PS3)

I completely slept on RDR1 when it first came out, mostly because of its wild west theme which is something I'm generally not too interested in. It wasn't until my wife bought RDR2 that I jumped into the series, and despite my lack of interest in westerns, RDR2 ended up being not only one of the best games I've ever played, but also a game that changed my perspectives on various things. It was one of the few games that had a lasting impact on my personal life, which is something I can say about very few games I've ever played. So of course this reignited my interest in RDR1 despite it being over a decade old by the time I played RDR2. Playing RDR1 kept on getting bumped back over and over again, until recently I was watching several unrelated youtube videos and two different channels made the bold statement that they thought RDR1 was the superior game in many ways. This immediately caught my interest and inspired my enough to finally pick up RDR1 and see if it actually was better than the sequel, or at least just as good.


While RDR1 is a pretty good game, it in no way compared to RDR2 in almost any way. While definitely impressive for a game released in 2010, RDR1 falls short in every possible category you can judge a game by. Visually, the game looks pretty good most of the time, however I wished that the game made better use of its vast open world map and filled it with more interesting events, places, missions, and various other things that turned something like the untamed west into something way more intriguing and engaging.Character models were a mixed back, but mostly good, as were locations like towns and natural land marks. Audio was also a mixed, but mostly good bag; some of the voice acting is top notch, while other characters almost sound like they paid a Rockstar intern to record the lines. Sound effects were great, and the music felt mostly appropriate and certainly helped enhance the experience of whatever it was you're doing. The gameplay was probably the weakest part of RDR1. While it wasn't awful or anything like that, it certainly reminded me more of a PS2 era GTA game, then something closer to GTA5, or hell, even GTA4 which was released before RDR1. It just felt very clunky and lacked a lot of variety and depth I was hoping for; there were way too many missions that were beyond tedious and mundane, or just felt like rehashed versions of missions i'd already completed 2 or 3 times already. Still, with all my gripes, the gameplay certainly worked for the most part creating a pretty good experience overall. The story left a lot to be desired too, especially comparted to how insanely good it was in RDR2. The characters; motives, interactions, and dialogue was pretty good for the most part, but wasn't as fleshed out as it maybe could have been. Again, GTA4 is a great example of how this could have been accomplished, but it just wasn't there like I was hoping. By no means was the story or writing not great, because it was, it just could have been better. I really enjoyed RDR1 overall, but sadly, playing RDR2 first almost ruined this game for me, and that's not even because it's a way older game at this point. I'd still recommend playing it, if for nothing else than a good supplement to the events of RDR2. (4/27/24) [35/50]

Cartagia:
Baldur's Gate 3 has finally let me out of it's strangle hold.  Just an utterly phenomenal game that has almost too many options and features.  That coupled with my severe case of completion-itis meant that I was playing this for almost 2 months.  The writing is terrific, and the voice actors really just crush it.  Between this and Divinity: Original Sin 2 I can't think of any RPG series that offers such a complete cornucopia of options.  I'll be marinating in it for a while, and I'm already tempting into making a new character.

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