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52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

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dhaabi:
11. Murder Dog IV: Trial of the Murder Dog || PC || 01.30.24



For some time, I've been wanting to play games which make use of 3D physical materials as their art design, specifically from game creator thecatamites. Finally, I went ahead and did that, choosing Murder Dog IV: Trial of the Murder Dog at random. I'll also note here that, despite the game's title, Murder Dog IV is a standalone entry.

As the title suggests, Murder Dog IV begins at the start of titular Murder Dog's trial for murder. In the game's first moments, it's apparent that Murder Dog is, to no surprise, quite guilty and very well still murderous. Acting as Murder Dog who seems to be without legal representation and therefore defending themself, players are given three actions to perform, three pieces of evidence to examine, three witnesses to call, and a panel of jurors to interact with. Of course, if one is wanting to reach a Not Guilty verdict, it is in their best interest to utilize all these options. However, the option to ignore certain elements or even every element is entirely possible.

Progressing through the short narrative, players will witness the game's over-the-top commentary on the modern justice system. It's never a question as to whether Murder Dog is guilty or innocent, as their bloodlust and ultraviolent actions are merely a click away. But, by gaming the justice system, players have the choice to wrongfully prove Murder Dog's innocence by undermining and even tampering with evidence, vilifying witnesses, and flat-out lying. While Murder Dog can easily go on a rampage to murder everyone, the game's real ending requires using every resource in your favor by supplying believable counterarguments while denying all accusations, in addition to besting witness accounts and testimonies. At its core, Murder Dog IV is a choice-based narrative with varying outcomes through its branching paths. As an example, the vert first choice is to testify as Guilty or Not Guilty, with the former resulting in its own immediate ending. Unexpectedly, the story can be contained fully in the court room and even outside it. One ending specifically mentions it being the "best canonical" ending which aligns to Murder Dog's nature, although it's the least rewarding.

Alongside character dialogue, there is also some sort of narration which serves as commentary to the events unfolding. Ordinarily, dialogue advances by clicking, but sometimes it auto-advances which wasn't pleasing. Similarly, all commentary auto-advances, which was especially irritating. There is often little time given to read it, let alone process it. This detail is upsetting because the game itself is a commentary on the justice system, and the in-game commentary reflects that. So, a sizable portion of the game's message isn't conveniently accessible. Nevertheless, there is fair amount of humor throughout the story, and I found myself laughing out loud a few times during moments which caught me off guard.

Having decided to play the game based on its art design, I was a little disappointed. Offering a simple but fun collage of art through mixed media including paper, modeling clay, found items, and crude digital art, Murder Dog IV reserves its 3D elements exclusively for the one static image of the courtroom's set design, with all other art instead either being photo imagery or digital. Despite its limited use, I still think highly of what little 3D art there is, as I find it interesting in how little there needs to be to communicate a scene. At this point, I'll also briefly mention the game's music, which consists entirely of a looping banjo track which does become repetitive.

In the end, Murder Dog IV offers a highly satirical view on the justice system which translates nicely as a game. I wasn't aware of the game's premise prior to playing, so the humor was an added bonus.

bikingjahuty:
2. Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner (PS3) ABANDONED

Growing up, the first Zone of the Enders was one of my favorite games of all time. I was addicted to its anime aesthetic, insane fast paced gameplay, its soundtrack, and just the fact that it was a mech game immediately attracted me to it. When its sequel came out, The 2nd Runner, I was mostly very excited about it other than finding out it was cell shaded, which at the time I hated that graphics style. Cell shaded graphics aside, the game just didn't leave the same impression on me despite giving me more of the things I loved so much about the first game. I've wanted to go back and replay 2nd Runner for many years at this point, and I finally did, although part of me wishes I hadn't.


First and foremost I get that this is the general favorite when it comes to Zone of the Enders games, and on some level I completely understand why. The game doubles down on that anime vibe I talked about earlier by using actual anime cut scenes, anime avatars for the characters, and the story itself is fairly anime-ish, at least the little of it I was able to follow. On the point of the story not making much sense, I felt like I needed to have watched or read something beforehand to follow what was going on, which is not entirely unfounded as a lot of the lore and back story for this game is mentioned in the anime OVA Idalo. I have seen the OVA, but it's been so long that I barely remember it, and also I'm not going to prep for a game by having to watch an anime too. So yeah, the story is not this game's strong suit, nor is the voice acting and dialogue which is terrible. I got through nearly half the game with the more fleshed out gameplay carrying my interest, however there was one part that nearly broke me, and then another later on that finally did. The game just threw so much at me so fast, and no matter what weapon, sub weapon, or strategy I used, I just couldn't get past it. I tried for hours before I was literally one more failed try from shattering my PS3 controller into a hundred pieces so I shut the game off. I'm all for difficulty in games, but some of the sections of this game are textbook cheap and bullshit to the core. Being someone who plays games to have fun, I've learned to walk away from a game when it's not just that I'm having fun, but I actively feel rage. It's too bad things happened the way they did, because I wanted to re-experience this game and see if maybe I could enjoy it more than the first game despite the massive amount of nostalgia I have for that title. However, despite abandoning 2nd Runner, I can safely say I still don't like it as much as the first game, and in fact, I kinda hate this game to a degree. (2/1/24)

kashell:
12. Rondo of Swords - Path A/Good Ending

Getting this ending required a lot of trial and error, and even more patience. These requirements actually apply to just about every aspect of Rondo of Swords. I have never played a strategy-RPG like this. It takes even the most basic concepts, throws them out the window, and says, "Good luck! Figure it out!" There are tutorials built in, and of course the instruction manual breaks things down a bit, but there is nothing that can prepare even a seasoned veteran for Rondo of Swords' antics. I still have no idea what compelled me to play this. The strange thing is that I want to do a replay and see how the story develops in Path B. I'm confident that there will be the same amounts of cursing, griping, "AHH COME ON!"-ing, and what have you. But dammit, the game is addictive as hell. Adorable character sprites and campy voice acting don't hurt matters, either.

undertakerprime:
1. Lies of P (PS4) 1/31/24

Finally beat my first game this year, and whew, was it a doozy.
My very first Soulslike, the aesthetics grabbed me so I bought it on sale just to try the genre….

and I LOVED it.

Couldn’t stop playing. I knew it was supposed to be f’in hard, and it was. But considering it was my first jab at the genre, I didn’t have nearly as much trouble as I anticipated; I’ve seen online comments from people who said they died 100+ times on one boss, and I never came close to that (my most was maybe 20-30 tries on the Nameless Puppet…a few bosses took 5 attempts or fewer). I did make sure to take full advantage of what was available, like throwables and the specter, but I’m not ashamed  ;)
I actually had more trouble with some mid-bosses than the main bosses (that Mad Clown Puppet can GO TO HELL and DIE SLOWLY).
The blade/handle weapon customization system seems so simple, and yet is honestly ingenious in its depth. Wanna stick a giant ax made of puppet limbs to a tiny dagger handle? GO FOR IT  :D

Now, is it the greatest game I’ve ever played? No. But it’s a solid good time, and it’s got me looking at other games in the Soulslike genre to see what might be good. I got my eyes on Bloodborne and Seikiro.

8/10

bikingjahuty:
Another Sega arcade night. This time I tried some games outside my comfort zone.


20. Sky Target (Arcade)

I have a very vague memory of playing Sky Target in the arcade, however if I did, I'm honestly not surprised that I forgot about it. Sky Target is essentially the 90s version of After Burner, except it has half the charm, and is not nearly as fun or iconic as that arcade classic. This game looks pretty good in the visuals department, but other than that, there is very little that is remarkable about Sky Target. The gameplay is very bland, generic and borning, and the audio is nothing special either. In fact, the audio can get fairly annoying thanks to an announcer that literally says the same thing every time you lock onto an enemy, which is what you're doing almost constantly while playing. Overall, Sky Target is just a very forgettable, boring game that I can't see myself ever wanting to pick up again. (2/2/24) [26/50]

21. Sega Water Ski (Arcade)

I'd never heard of or played this game until tonight, and while the game is very short and limited on content, it makes up for it with a very catchy OST and the stages are all vibrant, cheerful, and buzzing with a lot of things going on as you play our your water skiing fantasy. The gameplay is very similar to Top Skater, except you're having to ski between markers in the water and you'll have to do tricks of the various jumps in each stage. This all works fairly good, although, it's all to easy, and tricks don't require any real effort, which is kind of a bummer in terms of fun. But as mentioned, the presentation really knocks it out of the park in this game, and Sega Water Ski ended up being my favorite game of the evening because of this. (2/2/24) [32/50]

22. Sonic Championship (Arcade)

The final game I tried out tonight was one I've wanted to check out for a very long time. I never saw this one in the arcades back in the day or since. I pretty much know about Sonic Championship thanks to my love for the Sonic franchise and because the game has become an unfortunate internet curiosity over the years. With no exaggeration, Sonic Championship is one of the worst fighting games I've ever played, at least from a gameplay perspective. The combat is super basic, clunky, and just unpleasant to play all around for the most part. Really, the only redeeming factor in regards to the gameplay is the fact that each of the selectable character as their own moveset, which can make things entertaining to a degree. The presentation, both in terms of audio and visuals is pretty good for the most part, but it's still not enough to make me forget how crappy this game is to play. I couldn't even recommend this one to the most passionate of Sonic fans. (2/3/24) [25/50]

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