52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

[realpoketendonl]

14. Lula 3D [PC]

Lula 3D is a 2005 adventure game. It's also rated AO (or for my fellow Europeans: VERY 18+), so I won't go into too much detail. I will say this: gameplay-wise it's dull and (if you don't abuse a guide) insanely tedious, but I was just playing this to get a laugh out of it. And a few times, I did get a laugh out of it (be it intentional or not). But many other times I was just kinda bored, and a few early sections in particular were shockingly drab and depressing for the tone the game sets out with. Also, in the final sections of the game I got a few random voice clips in German, the game's original language, which tells me the publishers weren't expecting many people to actually beat this. (Still not the oddest bug I've encountered this year tho: that honour still goes to the random hordes of clowns in Dr. Trolley's Problem.) I recommend the brutalmoose video on this game on YouTube (if you're over 18), but unless you're morbidly curious or really enjoy really odd games like me, don't even bother playing this. But hey, a game beaten is a game beaten.

[kashell]

47. X-Men Arcade Game - Dazzler

Oh, Dazzler. Dazzler, Dazzler, Dazzler. Other than Cyclops, she's not as fun to play. I will say that she has a fun outfit that screams the early 90s. So there's that. It's easy to be reminded of why no one ever played as her. Her mutant power just isn't as useful as the others. Her power can be useful if timed right, but this is an arcade game where you're button mashing your way to victory. Ain't nobody got time for strategy. Still, it was my first time playing her through to the end. So, yay?

[kamikazekeeg]

18 - Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree (PS5 2024) - BEAT - Gonna be honest about this, but I was kinda disappointed with this DLC.  I think it leans way too far into the worst aspects of Elden Ring and gave me a DLC experience that might be one where I don't like fighting any of the bosses.  The Shadow Blessing mechanic adds an insane challenge to this game it didn't need, the map is far too massive, so much of it empty and while visually cool, is a chore to explore with often little to find, and what is found, barely worthwhile.  There's some annoyances with the camera in certain fights and while this doesn't affect me personally, apparently the PC version has performance issues.

I know people will play this, with no hit runs, using a banana, while blindfolded, but that's not me.  This DLC is specifically made for like the top 15% most hardcore of the playerbase and kinda no one else it feels like.  I've played all their other games and their DLC and never had this rough of a time, it's wild lol It makes me so desperate for them to not do Elden Ring 2 next, I need things scaled back down like with DS3 and BB.

*EDIT* Random note to add, but I almost rage quit the DLC for good at the final boss, because I thought it was too insane, until I was reminded reading something to not use summons, which jacks up the bosses health lol Completely forgot that was a thing.  Just use a Mimic if you need help in any of the fights.

[telekill]

11 - Dino Crisis 2 (PS1) -- After all these years, Dino Crisis 2 still remains an incredibly fun game. The story could definitely use some expansion and tweaking, but the gameplay and presentation are spot on. Primary enemies need a bit more variation as well as you'll be killing hordes of velociraptors and oviraptors with the occasionall smattering of different dinos in the mix. The ability to run and shoot was a step above Resident Evil. The locations are far better and more varried in the second game over the first, but again, warrants expansion.

One of my favorite areas was the underwater lab where you take on small crocodile sized mososaurs. The feel of a gravity difference was spot on and the underwater wave effect for the visuals was well executed.

Recharge, shop and save stations were well done and welcome. Unlike Resident Evil, no need to worry about storage outside of health items.

The occasional run and gun is separated out with the occasional drive and shoot. Jeeps, tanks and boats all play a role in this game, though you're on rails generally.

The game took me about 3 1/2 hrs to beat on normal.

I can only hope that Capcom one day remakes the first, sees success and remakes the second. If they were to remake even just the first and release an outrageous collector's edition with Regina statue, I may actually be tempted.

[realpoketendonl]

15. A Snake's Tale [PC (Linux) / itch.io]

Continuing our trail through small indie games I got in charity bundles on itch.io, we have A Snake's Tale (which I keep mistyping as Tail, but no, it's Tale). This is a puzzle game with snakes on a grid, that you have to move around to get your snake to the goal. It's kind of like that physical puzzle game Rush Hour, which I played a lot as a kid, only the cars are longer and can bend. It's a cute idea. The game has a decent amount of levels, and different snakes with different gimmicks to spice stuff up from time to time. I found it to be a relaxing game to quickly spend a few minutes in. Most of the game is not too hard: with enough fidgeting you'll beat most levels eventually. I do have to admit though that the final puzzle was too much for me and I needed a little help to get started. But oh well. Either way, it's a cute game. Worth at least a look.
Also: it has a native Linux version, which I massively appreciate. Always gotta shout that out.

[kashell]

48. Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising

Before playing this, I gave Hundred Heroes a test run on Switch. It wasn't good because the load times were too much to deal with. So, I decided to swap it for the PlayStation 5 version. In the interim, I figured it would be good to play Rising so that I could get some more insight on the story and get some additional bonuses for when I restart. Rising itself was fine. It's a 2.5D action-RPG that, at first, reminded me of Valkyrie Profile. Once that veneer wore off, it was just another palette cleanser of a game that was easy to finish. There was plenty of clunking and junking, but nothing I couldn't handle. The platinum required less outside farming than I thought would be necessary. CJ, Isha, and Garoo ended up becoming a likable trio that I look forward to seeing down the road. Best of all, the loading times were non-existent. I hope that carries over into the main campaign, too.

[telekill]

12. Dino Crisis (PS1) -- After having a blast with the second game, I decided to go back to the first and give it another go as it had been quite a few years. I'm always talking this series up so I thought it'd be interesting to see how the game has held up. Well, it was still a blast, but not nearly as fun as the second game.

The sequel has far more emphasis on action with running and gunning. There's no shortage of ammo as you can refill at nearly any time with shop/save stations throughout the game. With the first, it's far more like Resident Evil where you have to figure out codes... a lot of codes. Many puzzles were duplicated, especially the DDK discs that needed two of each kind as well as the ID cards. Now, from a laboratory standpoint, this makes perfect sense for 1990's security, but it does tend to get a bit old in the last half of the game. Sure, there are a couple puzzles to do in the second game as well, but the first has far more of them.

What the first game does better is choices of action between Rick and Gail. You'll be asked to side with one of them a handful of times throughout the game with different scenarios adding quite a bit of replayability. This is also where a total of 3 different endings comes in. Want to unlock everything? You have to replay the game 3x getting all three endings on the same save file. Classic Shinji Mikami... emulating RE1 and 2 pretty well.

That said, I preferred the more action oriented gun-fest of the second. Both games are fun in their own way, but it was definitely the second game where Dino Crisis moved more into it's own thing instead of being a mix of Resident Evil and Jurassic Park.

Fingers crossed that Capcom moves forward with giving both games the Remake treatment. Time will tell... but if it doesn't happen... I can always revisit the classic PS1 games on disc.

[telly]

Game 11 - Super Paper Mario (wii) - 18 Hours

First, there a lot of clashing opinions about this game on the internet. I went into it thinking that this game was kind of misunderstood, and I honestly wanted to give it a fair shot. Unfortunately, I really didn't end up liking this game very much. Thinking back I actually enjoyed Color Splash more and I critiqued that game extensively.

There are some elements in this game that do retain the Paper Mario feel, particularly the characters and dialogue. Several of the games worlds are downright brilliant. I loved the nerd and caveman levels in particular. Some of the puzzles were really fun to solve, and I liked the main hub town which has a lot of secrets and collectables to uncover. Lastly, there were a few levels where I did enjoy the gameplay, particularly in Chapter 7. Other than those things, I think that's where my praise ends for this game.

Super Paper Mario was the first in what has been a longstanding attempt to remove the RPG components from the series as much as possible, a trend that continues even with the new releases. At it's core, the main reason why I don't like this game is that it attempts to combine the RPG foundation of Paper Mario with a platformer, and as a result it doesn't succeed very well in either. From an RPG side, well frankly the game isn't much of an RPG at all anymore. There are no badges or choices to make upon leveling up like in previous games, which was very dissapointing. The game is a linear set of levels with no interconnected word. Other than the main hub town, there are very little holdovers from the game's RPG origins. I wouldn't mind it so much if the platforming were fun, but this game plays like an watered down, clunky, and awkward version of regular Mario. Part of it is that the power-ups remain shackled to an RPG design and they're some of the worst in the series. Most powerups just heal you or give you exp/money. The only ones that really "power" you up is the 8-bit Mario, which was clunky and awkward, and the Star, which mainly used for setpieces with a lot of enemies and don't feel very organic. The main gameplay/upgrade change are the Pixls and that you can play as Peach, Bowser and Luigi. I don't know if there is another Mario game where that happens, which was cool, but I wish there was more story between the 4 characters. The Pixls are fun, but between 8 of them and 4 story characters you have to do a lot of changing between all of them to make it through the game which was a little tedious after a while.

On the topic of gampeplay, the 3D aspect of this game really perplexes me. I don't know why they thought restricting the game to 2D and then acting like the 3D change is this huge thing because if you look at any other game in the series.... they all operate on the same 3D plane. It's just the camera angles that are making the big difference in how you experience all the levels. Not to mention that every 3D space you enter is essentially a long corridor without anything truly interesting. The 3D is really just a modality to introduce puzzles like hiding pipes, ledges or platforms and it felt very superficial. I also dispised the timer for using 3D mode, it was so annoying that I would just let Mario take damage so I could keep exploring the world in 3D. There's no really gameplay reason why that timer exists. And coming from Alundra the problems of trying to hit enemies in 3D space was very all to fresh in my mind.

Lastly, the character design is also some of the worst I've ever seen in a Mario game. Most of the NPCs are indescribable cardboard cutouts made up of the strangest shapes imaginable and they look amaturish while clashing with the generally nice environmental design. It's like truly baffling, a couple of characters nonwithstanding.

I'm sad that Super Paper Mario was not a very enjoyable experience for me, although it was a pretty easy game to play through. I just need to play Sticker Star and Origami King next!

[dhaabi]

26. Going Under || Nintendo Switch || 06.30.24



Looking back, I can't quite say why exactly I was drawn to Going Under which led me to purchase it a few years ago, but I suppose that's what will happen when so much time passes before playing it. Despite that, I was looking forward to the experience ahead. Unfortunately, my time playing was one of the rare instances of myself taking an extended break before completing the game (around 18 months), and it's been bothering me this entire time to pick up where I left off. Finally, I did that.

Upon starting, players are introduced to the player-character Jackie, the newly-hired but unpaid intern to one of many startup companies that's a part of the larger umbrella corporation Cubicle that places a major emphasis on AI, named Fizzle. Seemingly brought on to the team without purpose, Jackie is formally assigned to clear the neighboring dungeons created from other startups that have failed. At the same time, Jackie becomes a general assistant of sorts to all other Fizzle employees holding formal positions, therefore adding to her demanding workload. As a recent college graduate who's unfamiliar with professional settings, Jackie simply goes along with the odd tasks she's asked to complete, assuming that this sort of expectation is fine and shouldn't be questioned.

Throughout the course of her internship, Jackie must overcome three failed startup companies which are relevant to the real-world tech industry. I generally shy away from divulging more information when providing an overview, but I'll expand upon this time what sort of environments which players should expect. The first of three companies glorifies worker exploitation with the "side gig" form of employment many young people in the modern era find themselves working, comparable to a mix of real-world Amazon and Fiverr. Meanwhile, the second is a clear representation of Tinder and similar dating apps. Lastly, the third mocks any and all of the countless cryptocurrencies available on the market. Each of these three dungeons has their own unique design and enemy variety that stand out in fun and entertaining ways.

In just about every part of its presentation, Going Under approaches modern day office work for millennials and older Gen Z by poking fun at how trivial, unrewarding, and demeaning jobs can be. The most obvious indicator of this stance, and to my welcomed surprise, is the writing which contrasts self-defeating attitudes from those at the bottom to superfluous and self-gratifying corporate speak and buzzwords spouting from those above. While the game's writing offers plenty of laughs, it was its art style and set pieces which made a fun game even more so. Utilizing a popular visual design choice in the years leading up to its release, Going Under features characters who have colorful but unreal skin tones such as blue and orange while simultaneously having exaggerated proportions and geometric body shapes presented in a cartoon style. For anyone acquainted with popular tech industries or even certain marketing campaigns on a basic level, this sort of visual style should be familiar while feeling stale and overused.

Moreover, characters are funny while being written as caricatures full of modern workers tropes. More detailed character portraits accompany dialogue which are energetic, and the dialogue box itself is expressed as SMS messaging. Fizzle's office which acts as the hub area exemplifies the ethos of certain startup companies with its open spaces and modern architecture, complete with a playground slide to emphasize how fun they are and that work can be fun too. Contrasting to Fizzle which hasn't gone under, the failed corporations below serving as dungeons still rely on these principles but further reiterates a feeling of being captive to one's job. For example, seemingly positive motivational posters may be plastered on walls while leaky ceilings drip water onto contract workers who are physically represented by overworked monsters.

With all this said, I've yet to comment on gameplay itself. At its core, Going Under is a randomized dungeon crawler highlighting difficulty and the to-be expected repeated attempts to overcome stages. While navigating these environments, Jackie accrues two types of currency and skill experience based on which skills she's unlocked for the current run. All three elements aid Jackie as she overcomes each dungeon's three floors and final boss. For each dungeon, rooms and random alongside the enemies within them and the weapons and skills being available. I found there to be a good balance of traditional dungeon-type weapons and nontraditional ones, such as a greatsword or spear contrasting more novel weapon choices including monitors and wastebaskets. Even funnier items like potted succulents, ping pong paddles, and yoga balls may be used which reinforce the game's commentary on how certain companies either promote an alternative work environment or simply don't have a professional grasp on how to function by exceeding the budget on unnecessary purchases. Before, I mentioned how Jackie becomes the unofficial office assistant to everyone while completing the tasks they ask of her. This sort of activity relates to character growth as it enables the ability to assign a specific employee as a mentor which grants unique abilities that provide a stronger opportunity to complete dungeons.

Related to gameplay, something the game makes apparent to players is its difficulty. While the total number of dungeons is low, players will inevitably fail repeatedly in their attempts to reach and defeat the boss. Because of the game's randomized dungeon creation, the very nature of each attempt requires both skill and chance. From the game's start-up screen, difficulty options are available which I admittedly did use for two specific roadblocks I faced which had me spending hours trying to make any sort of progress without luck. That said, the game has also received several updates over the course of its development to make an already challenging game even more demanding. Personally, that sort of elevated challenge doesn't interest me, so I didn't explore it; but, I know it to have been well-received from other players looking for that extra difficulty.

In the end, a lot of amusement was brought to me while playing Going Under, but a lot of frustration did as well. I don't usually opt to play these sorts of games with randomized level structure, and I may not have even known about it prior to playing. Nevertheless, I think the game's execution in just about every way is strong, but it certainly won't be a game for everyone. Although, the aforementioned difficulty settings do allow for a much more manageable experience, should one choose to use them.

[ignition365]

Finally caught up and wrote out stuff about all the games I've played so far this year... now time to fall behind again lol

[telly]

Game 12 - Super Monkey Ball (GC) - 6 Hours

I love this franchise, it's so simple yet so addicting and fun. I counted this game as beat after I finished all of the beginner, advanced and expert stages. At first, it seemed to me like expert was going to be near impossible to finish, but with enough practice you kind of get in this zen state and levels that were really hard at first become a breeze later on. It's really interesting to witness. The other thing is that if you play the game enough, you'll eventually unlock unlimited continues so then it just becomes a matter of time until you can brute force your way through everything. That's what kind of happened to me on my first completion run of expert as at the time I had only gotten to floor 43 once.

Floor 36 - first continue
Floor 41 - second continue
Floor 42 - third continue
Floor 45 - fourth and fifth continue
Floor 48 - sixth and seventh continue
Floor 50 - eighth continue

I mentioned this when I reviewed the second game, but my biggest problems is that there's no camera control. You'd think the c-stick could have been used for the camera or at least a button that centers it behind your monkey. It makes some of the levels a lot harder than they needed to be. That's the only negative thing I have to say, the game is a great source of fun, both for single player and for parties.

[dhaabi]

27. Silent Hill: Origins || PlayStation 2 || 07.01.24



After having finished the original numbered titles of the Silent Hill franchise at the very end of 2022, I wasn't exactly sure when I'd be picking up where I left off with the next entry Silent Hill: Origins. Prior to playing, I knew that this entry marks a major deviation from what many fans of the series deem good, but I didn't know for what reasons and began playing without any opinions clouding my own judgment.

As the title name implies, Origins is a prequel to the debut Silent Hill meant to provide additional details to the events pertaining to the town of Silent Hill and Alessa. However, little is actually explored in how this entry's protagonist Travis connects to the story. This isn't to say that the events of Silent Hill aren't mentioned—because they certainly are—but instead that the central focus revolves around Travis's own past and traumatic experiences. At the same time, it's worth noting that the details of pre-established lore isn't strictly adhered to as some of its finer points have been altered. However, this may potentially be the fault of a third-party studio being the ones to develop the a game in the series for the first time and not fully grasping the plot. Whichever the case, there isn't really anything new Origins offers with its narrative relating to previous games, with it instead feeling like an attempt to recapture the success of the original entry to middling success. Again, Travis's own story is the game's highlight, but it is far more transparent than anything presented so far, with its big reveal being almost immediately able to be deduced once introduced.With that said, Travis doesn't seem outwardly bothered by the past he now faces while instead just going through the motions of finding a way out of Silent Hill.

Be that as it may, Origins does convey mood and atmosphere alongside exploration and puzzle-solving effectively. To clarify, nearly every staple element such as paths and entryways being obstructed, an off-putting cast appearing unexpectedly, the traversal from the fog world to the other world, and cryptic puzzles solved through collecting notes are all present. But, one major difference which Origins introduces is how exploration is accomplished. Before, player-characters have no control when they're taken from the fog world to other world, but Travis is fully capable of freely moving between the two through mirrors. While I think the mechanic is implemented well, it does negate the horror setting and fear instilled onto players, similar to my opinion of Silent Hill 4: The Room's traversal means but worsened. Nevertheless, key items in one world will be needed in the other, meaning there is more depth to puzzle-solving and player discovery and a fair balance between both sections of the game.

However, what isn't balanced is the weapon system, as hordes of monsters needing to be felled stand in Travis's way. Unlike in previous games which feature a small total number of melee weapons which remain constant in players' inventory, a large portion of combat in Origins revolves around weapon durability. To me, it seems as if the developers were wanting to instill a sense of desperation as weapons will routinely break, but this presumed sense of fear quickly diminished as I amassed a large arsenal of weapons ranging from hammers to portable TVs that allowed me to carefully consider my fighting play style in the presence of specific enemies. By the game's end, I had used and broke plenty of melee weapons but around forty still remained, so I never felt unprepared for combat or needing that I had to evade it. Disregarding weapons themselves, Travis is more than capable of using his bare fists to pummel enemies which I made liberal use of against lesser monsters. When you can punch a monster to death without much resistance, the fear meant to be conveyed becomes nearly unachievable.

On the topic of combat itself, the next major difference Origins provides are QTE sequences which some enemies trigger. For certain types of enemies, they utilize grapple attacks which the player must counteract by either quick, precise button inputs or fast-paced button-mashing. While this sort of action gameplay has aged poorly in more recent years, I myself didn't find it out-of-place as it matches the more aggressive play style Travis brings. From my assessment, enemies aren't difficult to kill and seem easier then in previous entries, but the more irritating grapple system helps balance this problem. Resulting from the grapple system, it is also easy for enemies to bombard the player in groups and especially so when in tight quarters. So, while enemies on a general level pose no considerable challenge on their own, several different situations make them a threat. However, on that note, boss segments come across as elementary, as players only need to circle around them while shooting a ranged weapon, which the game provides more than enough ammunition as melee combat will likely regularly be utilized. So, generally, I never felt incapable of fighting or outright vulnerable but instead empowered at times, largely due to the combat and aforementioned weapon systems. There is still a finite number of resources, though, so some level of item management should be employed.

With both exploration and combat alike, the game's camera system and visuals cannot be ignored. Throughout the game, a third-person camera perspective dictates our movement, but it isn't a camera which follows alongside the player's movement. Instead, viewing angles must be adjusted at the push of a button so players can properly view what's ahead of them. At first, it seems like a mediocre system but still one that's manageable. But, players will quickly find fault with it considering how Origins heavily relies on changing fixed camera angles similar to the debut entry. As a result, players will inevitably continue their movement and veer into the wrong (and often opposite) direction. Naturally, this sort of system creates aggravating enemy encounters which constantly forced me to reorient myself. Of course, this system is only made worse because, unlike in Silent Hill, these sorts of abrupt viewing angles aren't utilized with tact or in innovative ways which reveal information; instead, they're used simply for the sake of it. Simultaneously, Origins is perhaps the darkest game I've ever played, and there are no brightness options to remedy this. When exploring environments without enemies around, I felt forced to spam the action button in the hopes of discovering usable items. Regularly, this means that the item discovery prompt will be skipped over quickly which forces the player to open their menu to deduce what was collected.

To quickly round off my thoughts, Akira Yamaoka reprises their role as the game's composer, and I found both music and sound to be on par with the work of previous entries. One track in particular I remember being so absolutely terrifying to the point that I stayed still during its harsh, jarring highs and only moved onward during moments of rest. Concerning the game's visuals, little can be said due to how dark everything is. Nevertheless, I was impressed with the game's FMV sequences—especially the ones nearing the game's conclusion.

On its own, Origins provides an adequate survival horror experience with its balance of somber themes and competent gameplay. But, when analyzing the game within the context of those preceding it, it becomes more difficult to judge its quality. Some fans of the series may find fault with some of the game's liberties it takes, but I ultimately found them done sufficiently. Regardless, I finished my playthrough feeling satisfied overall, although the game's visual performance significantly worsened my time playing.