52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

[telly]

I agree with this opinion, but I also believe that the same can be said of any exercise routine. After a certain point, you simply go through the motions which isn't very exciting in itself, slowing adding more reps and sets as muscle is built. Easily, the game's biggest motivators for continued play is the inclusion of titles to earn alongside being able to compare your personal data with friends' data, with the former being the main reason I played the game for a lengthy amount of time (without checking, I think somewhere between 120-150 hours.) The game also offers a rhythm mode and maybe even other types of alternative forms of exercise, but I never did explore those options.

It's doubtful that I'll ever go back to Ring Fit Adventure since I was playing during the height of the pandemic while staying indoors. Maybe one day, though.

If I'm remembering correctly, my least favorite exercises were overhead presses (specifically when being tasked to perform them in quick succession) and seated forward presses. Meanwhile, my favorite exercises were planks and mountain climbers. These two, to me, felt most substantial toward actually feeling active. Did you have any particular exercises you enjoyed or disliked?

I adopted a mixture of some intense and some lighter workouts throughout my time playing. I don't have any particular favorites, I was mostly looking at damage/types/number of targets. but the ones that I did frequently were thigh press, leg raise, mountain climbers, thigh twist, bow pull, ring raise combo, and squats (not wide squat/overhead squat because those never worked for me). I liked the yoga poses too.

[kashell]

I got about three to four hours in the demo for SaGa Emerald Beyond. Maybe less. Like any game, even one in my favorite series, I kept my expectations low. But, yikes. This was not a good demo. If it's indicative of what's to come then I'm bummed.

I played on Switch, so I was forced to select Ameya. The overall controls and schematics were clunky. Inputting selections for menus had delays whether docked or handheld. For those that play on other consoles it might be different. Exploration was fine. Combat? Not so much. Either I missed something during the influx of tutorials, or combat is truly that random. Basically, both sides might act twice, or interrupt one another, or do other bizarre things that didn't make a lick of sense.

Finally, the game was ugly. At least Scarlet Grace had some polish.

[kashell]

34. Star Ocean: The Second Story R - Rena

Rena's journey is finished. The final party was Claude, Ashton, Dias and Precis. I got the Rena x Precis ending, which was kind of dull given Precis' usual chipper attitude. I did a fair amount of scene skipping since a lot of the narrative is old-hat, and since I like Claude more than Rena. But, this was still a fun file in an already fun game. So, with the platinum trophy acquired, now what? I know for a fact that there will come a time when I get that urge to do yet another replay. This game has that kind of staying power and draw. The QoL features added make it so much easier and accessible to jump into a replay, too. A new game with Claude where I can have both Noel and Chisato in the group is next on my list. But, that won't be for a while.

[kashell]

35. Samba de Amigo: Party Central

After clearing all songs on Normal, a few on Hard and Very Hard, and doing some of the stuff on Streamigo, I figure that I can count this as finished. I remember seeing the original game once at an anime convention years ago during the Dreamcast's heyday. It looked fun, but other games looked more fun so I didn't bother waiting in line to try it. So, this was my first time experiencing anything related to the world of Samba de Amigo. Like any motion-based rhythm game, this one has the usual good and bad. The good is the great selection of music (some of the tunes made it onto my gym playlist), a ton of ways to customize your amigo, and just an overall "fun" feeling when you vibe to the music. The bad is that things can get really distracting and the Wii-like motion controls. That last part is why I preferred to play with a controller. It didn't have that same maraca-feeling, but at least the timing was more precise. Both controller and joy-con have their issues, but it doesn't stop the overall package from being fun. I recommend it to music fans those looking to kill some time with a friend or by themself.

[dhaabi]

18. Nanaca Crash!! || Browser || 04.08.24



While browsing through game titles for 3DS, I just so happened to be reminded of the browser game Nanaca Crash!! that I was introduced to nearly twenty years ago. Knowing its arcade-like qualities, I decided to revisit it.

Throughout the game, you play as the unsuspecting victim of a bike crash named Taichi. Instead of merely falling to the ground, he's instead hilariously projected into the skies, dozens of meters high above everything else. Along the horizontal path he flies across, Taichi's accident worsens as passerby continue the barrage of physical encounters, therefore prolonging Taichi's safe landing. With each kick and punch Taichi is dealt, the velocity dramatically increases and is maintained by continued pummels.

In the screen's corner, a box shows which NPCs offer Special attacks that rely on speedy player reaction to initiate. To be expected, they're each with their own unique animations which add another element of fun to the game's premise and notably more powerful than basic attacks. As Taichi speeds along past everyone in a randomized loop, Special encounters blink on and off, so timing is involved which players can manipulate to a degree.. Interestingly, only the women NPCs are a threat to Taichi; while the men act as an obstacle too, they instead will either slow down or sharply alter Taichi's angle of movement. However, one woman NPC is worth noting, as she will grasp Taichi during encounters, thus saving him from his prolonged disaster. Ordinarily, this is the sequence, but the same NPC also deals the most powerful attack once encountered when their Special move is active.

Despite what it may seem, there is a strategic element to the game's arcade-style gameplay. Alongside the game's introduce which begins with the player controlling the initial crash's velocity, two types of bike crashes may be summoned at any point—even in mid-air—which grants greater success to a longer run. Obviously, these summons are integral to prolonging each game, as players can manipulate whether Taichi slows down to a complete halt once their velocity has dwindled or instead choosing to avoid or encounter certain NPCs.

Even though there isn't a lot of depth to Nanaca Crash!!, I've always considered it to be a fun game for its ridiculous premise alone. I'm sure that, as the years go on, it'll be a game I return to after being randomly reminded of it.

[kamikazekeeg]

13 - Grounded (PC 2022) - BEAT - Been a few since I beat something, FF7 is on hold at the moment, but had a real mood to jump back into this game after seeing it's possible final update happening, which added a bunch more cool stuff.  I had a save that was most of the way done, but I still put in like 10 hours in the past couple days to beat the game, though I'm gonna beat the Wasp Queen soon so I can do New Game + and experience that new content, but I still love this game.  This is my 2nd or third time beating it, I forget, but it's so good.  I think at this point it's my favorite survival game.  It was this and Subnautica up there, but I just like so much about this game and it's been great to see all the content they've continued to add. 

I hope it gets a sequel someday, I'd love to have something that has you maybe dealing with multiple area types, so not just a backyard, but maybe like a house location too, there's just a lot that can be done with a "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" situation.

[telekill]

Finally beat FF7 Rebirth (PS5). That marks my 3rd game completed this year. I won't go into details of the story, but I enjoyed it and look forward to the third and final entry in the Remake.

I opted to try out Fallout 4 which thankfully was a PS Plus title last year that I had claimed. I'm also playing Helldivers 2 (can't really beat this can you?), God of War R (PS5) and going to replay RE5 (PS4).

[kashell]

I finished The Rising Tide in Final Fantasy XVI. I'm hoping that this is the last DLC. While it was more interesting than Echoes of the Fallen, it was more of the same stuff that the game has become infamous for. New Eikon skills and abilities were appreciated, and the story about Leviathan was done very well. Mysidia was absolutely gorgeous and the new tracks hit. Sadly, the second group of abilities you get are too little, too late because by the time you get them, the entire game will have already be completed by people like myself that started the game on day one. Ultimately, there was nothing transformative about this DLC. Once again, most of the time is spent in combat fighting enemies with inflated HP. The party AI seemed a bit more helpful this time around but it's really hard to say since Clive is constantly having to dodge and counter, giving little time to see what's going on around him. And then, there's the final battle against Leviathan. Eikon battles were already problematic, but this one just amplified it turning FFXVI into a full-on third-person shooter. Even if you disregard the time limit midway through the fight, all of the nonsense and cinematography going on turned the game into a button mashing snooze fest.

[kashell]

36. Klonoa: Empire of Dreams

Another week of meetings and demos where I don't have to do too much means more time to get into some portable fun. I did a replay of one of my favorite characters: Klonoa. Empire of Dreams on the Game Boy Advance is definitely one of the easier titles in terms of action games, but Klonoa is so damn cute that it doesn't matter. Some of the stages are more challenging due to their puzzle-like layout than the enemies. It was fun to revisit this.

[realpoketendonl]

5. Princess Peach: Showtime! [Switch]

Fifth game down. What can I say? I like cutesy girly stuff. I know reviewing this game is always gonna sound a little petty because it's so clearly aimed at little kids, but I'll still try to give my two cents. I thought it was decent. It was cute, some of the gameplay styles were fun enough. But I wouldn't call it amazing. I mainly felt like it could be fairly restrictive sometimes. I'm talking not even letting you jump over a ledge but forcing you to walk down the stairs type stuff. And I know it's a kids game, but kids can handle freedom and control in games. Also, to throw in the classic: it's 2024, where is the voice acting?
Arlo actually did a review of it on YouTube I pretty much entirely agree with. Recommend that one.
I still think it's enjoyable enough, and if you have a kid who loves princess Peach, I think it's worth it on sale. But unless you're a Peach fan yourself, you're not missing much.

So that's 5 games beaten. Not a huge number yet, but to add to that, I've also already read 7 books this year. So I'd say in terms of finishing media in general I'm doing decently!

[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.