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52 Games Challenge 2025!!!
bikingjahuty:
We're not even 3 full months into the year and I'm already halfway to 52 and over a quarter the way to my personal goal of 100 games beat in 2025! I'm doing my best to maintain this pace, not that I'm complaining about getting to play some damn good games or anything lol.
26. Half Life: Blue Shift (PC)
I wasn't planning on playing Blue Shift immediately after beating Opposing Force, but I enjoyed that game so much I just didn't feel like I had enough of the Half Life franchise so I decided to jump into the good, bet less loved Blue Shift. This was my first time ever playing or beating Blue Shift and while overall I really enjoyed it, I definitely agree with the popular sentiment that Opposing Force is the better of the two Half Life expansions. What did surprise me, however, is that there are things about Blue Shift I actually liked more than Opposing Force, which definitely increased my enjoyment of this game.
Starting off, Blue Shift doesn't look or sound as good as Opposing Force. While everything more or less looks the same between both games, as well as core Half Life, both Opposing Force and the main game have way more diverse, interesting environments to explore. In Blue Shift you're mostly wandering through the same similar dingy maintenance tunnels, with brief periods of being on the surface. This is in contrast to how much of Black Mesa you see in the main game and Opposing Force. It's not a major point of contention, but it's still something I felt worth mentioning when describing why Half Life: Blue Shift is inferior to those two games. As for the audio, the voice acting and sound effects definitely have the same degree of quality found in the other two Half Life games, however where Blue shift does fall short is its OST which offers few memorable tracks. However, one area that surprised me where I can say Blue Shift has a slight edge on Opposing Force at least is its gameplay.
This might be a bit of a controversial statement, but I found the progression in Blue Shift to be more intuitive and therefore more enjoyable than in Opposing Force. It definitely had the same mostly intuitive level design found in core Half Life, albeit shrunk down into a much shorter game. I did lament the smaller arsenal and enemy variety, as well as the complete absence of any bosses, but in terms of pacing and flow, Blue Shift has a very small edge over Opposing Force in my book. For better or worse, depending on your perspective, Blue Shift is way easier than both the main game and Opposing Force. There is a much greater abundance of health hits and charging stations, armor, and ammo pickups through the game. I played both Opposing Force and Blue Shift on normal difficulty and I died probably 80% less in Blue Shift. I appreciated the challenge present in Opposing Force, but I suppose it was nice being able to take. stroll through Black Mesa without feeling like death awaited me around ever corner.
One final thing I wanted to touch on before wrapping this up is there is far more foreshadowing of what was to come in Half Life 2 present in Blue Shift, beyond the obvious reason which is you literally play as one of the main characters in Half Life 2 in Blue Shift, you are also introduced to the actual Dr. Kleiner and not just one of a 100 scientist models that look like him throughout all three of the original Half Life games. There is also more discussion on the less fantastical used of the teleportation tech, which we see in Half Life 2. It was also interesting to see how Barnie and Dr. Kleiner ended up escaping Black Mesa together, which sets up the two of them being together in Half Life 2.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Half Life: Blue Shift, even if it is undoubtedly the inferior Half Life expansion. That shouldn't sway you from trying it out if you love Opposing Force or the main Half Life game since it carries over all the thigs that made those two games great as well. It's also a short and sweet game that you can get through in an evening. In other words, there's no reason not to at least try it out, which you should since a great game awaits you. (3/8/25) [36/50]
marvelvscapcom2:
14. Life Is Strange: True Colors [PS5] Finished - March 8th, 2025 (Platty)
GUYS MY FIRST PLATTY OF THE YEAR!! Woot woot. What can be said, oh wowie Howie. Since Dhaabi said this was a stand alone game I chose it as my first experience into the franchise and boy am I glad I did. As a fan of telltale games since I was a teenager. This may the best sheer audible storyline I've experienced in one. It trounces.
Here we meet Alex Chen, Alex Chen is a empath and a former juvenile product of foster care system neglect but above all she is a girl entrapped in whirlwinds of conspiracy, betrayal and death. I wont spoil anything which is hard with a game based so much on plot. But the town of Haven just feels so ALIVE. Like a crow feather falling among a sandy beach filled with doves. It's so fascinating how the game captures the community of small town bonding in such a medium sized run time. And how darkness can consume small town with quickness. The ins and outs of peoples trials and tribulations.
By the end of it. You know your fellow neighbor on a personal level. It feels like each individual is fully fleshed out. Even NPC feel like they have journeys, backlogs and conversations bleed authenticity.
Steph and Ryan are intelligently designed. Gabe is presented in a way that you can just feel how cool people think he is.
The ability to essentially read peoples auras gives the dialogue an elemental layer because you can talk to people without having to talk and learn their intentions beyond what is spoken. Think 6th sense. The color concept of emotion is very disney inside out meets matrix. It's wildly imaginative.
The collectibles, stores. From a little pot dispensary to a record store. It's really glorious. The interactions tackle themes of grief, coping, emotion and trauma. And it made me cry numerous times. Albiet that I am a big babbling baby with telltale games anyhow lol.
The plot twists are bountiful, the environment is exploration within reason and never feels mundane or overdone. It feels like an episode of like cold case mixed with super hero psychology doctor strange stuff. Its got it all. The town is the sell. Theirs so much to see and interact with. And if thats any testament to the devs. This franchise I want to explore more.
Alex as a protagonist is well written and believable. Because so many times characters in these things dont feel like someone you could meet at whole foods or something. They feel almost analytical. But Alex is human experience characterized in a game. Games where the characters thoughts are audible add a level of connection. Its a testaament to the devs really knocking it out of the park as a protagonist with depth and relatable. And in turn its easy for a player to be like "I get it" about the experiences conveyed. Writing for characters has come so far in video games.
Steph probably has as much depth but wont share for spoiler purposes.
With that said lol. Not to go full geek. But also. This game is a massively fledged out playable movie. Feels sorta like an hbo max series in a way. And if you like action blended with romance. I highly reccomend it.
Rating - 99/100
bikingjahuty:
27. Nidhogg (PC)
Nidhogg certainly isn't the type of game I typically buy or play, but years ago I found myself watching some sort of gaming commentary video where the narrator was talking about something completely unrelated to this game while playing it in the background. I found the super stylized, yet fairly primitive 2600ish graphics to be very appealing, as did its basic, but still very fun looking fencing gameplay. It left enough of an impression on me to where I bought the game during one of Steam's sales and its since remained in my library unplayed all these years. I decided to give the game a go tonight and while I did find Nidhogg somewhat enjoyable, it's very basic presentation and gameplay is what inevitably had me wanting to do something else not long into playing it. Essentially you're a little blocky pixel man fighting an opposing blocky pixel man, and all you have is a fencing sword and your feet and fists if you so choose to use them (I wouldn't advise it). You have a variety of other abilities such a jumping and wall grappling as well, but they do little to make this game any more dynamic and enjoyable to play past a half an hour or so. Your objective is to get to the other side of the screen, requiring you to kill or dodge enough of your opponents attacks to do so. Both of you have unlimited lives and continually respawn until one of you reaches the opposing side of the screen. The actual combat is fun, but once again, its very limited and basic nature make it only a briefly enjoyable experience before boredom starts to set in. I really liked the presentation other than the fact that it only has a handful of stages that will be recycled over and over again as you progress through Nidhogg. Perhaps Nidhogg's best quality was its music. Even though there are only a few tracks, I really liked how lowfi and gritty they sounded and somehow they complemented the rest of the game and its art style very well. The reason I said this isn't the type of game i typically play or buy earlier is because this game seems to be made for streaming; it's shallow, yet captivating and unique enough to get people's attention, as it did with me. But actually playing it yields a relatively unremarkable experience as most will probably forget all about Nidhogg shortly after turning it off. Still, an interesting game to try out for a few minutes, however basic it may be. (3/8/25) [31/50]
kashell:
27. Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana - Inferno
Thanks to all my maxed out equipment and Adol's max level, this was done in a flash. Still, I'm finding myself getting a little burned out with the game. I started up the Nightmare level playthrough and while I don't doubt it will take long, I think I need to find something else to play quickly to cleanse the palette.
bikingjahuty:
28. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Wii)
I actually had fairly high hopes for RE: The Umbrella Chronicles. Being a big fan of lightgun games and the Resident Evil franchise, I figured it was almost a sure bet I'd love this game. I would also like to add that I conveniently forgot how bad or mediocre Capcom's other attempts at RE lightgun games have been in the past. Well, blind optimism unfortunately ended up biting me in the ass as The Umbrella Chronicles is just as underwhelming, if not outright bad as the other RE lightgun games.
For starters, not all of The Umbrella Chronicles is bad. In fact, the game's graphics and visuals presentation are pretty good for the most part. Character models of the main RE cast look noticeably worse than other contemporary iterations of them, but especially the stage and monster graphics show off a surprising amount of detail for a Wii game released in 2007. It was fun exploring those old RE environments in first person and seeing details of what they'd look like in the eyes of the main protagonists. The audio of RE: The Umbrella Chronicles is decent, bordering good. Sound effects are great, voice acting is predictably cheesy, but competent, however the OST is remarkably blade which did drag this game down audiowise overall. Unfortunately, that about where my praise ends for this game as we get into what really drags Umbrella Chronicles down, its gameplay.
All Capcom had to do was try and emulate the pacing and action of games like House of the Dead or Time Crisis, but instead the game is more or less a slow paced stroll through various iconic RE settings from RE0, RE1, and RE3, where you round a corner, encounter 3 to 6 zombies, blast them all away, round another corner or go into another room and run into something like a zombie dog or Hunter, and that's it. There is no suspense, no real sense of action, and it gets just as boring as it sounds after an hour or so into the game. However, the worst part of The Umbrella Chronicles is its piss poor controls and bullet sponge enemies and bosses. Beyond just shooting the various monsters you run into, you'll also have to perform QTE button presses to evade attacks or go into a certain area before something bad happens to you. The QTE's are fairly unresponsive and clunky as there were times were I was repeatedly pressing the button command and nothing happened, resulting in me taking damage. This wouldn't be as big of a deal if you weren't unloading an entire clip of ammo into a single zombie with your handgun while several others were waiting to take a bite out of you. The game does have stronger weapons like rifles, shotguns, and machine guns, but ammo for these is limited, meaning you have to be very selective when you use them. Unfortunately, they to feel very underpowered so it's easy to run out of ammo for these stronger weapons by the time you need them the most during boss fights. The boss fights mostly revolve around you shooting a specific weak spot over and over again. Unfortunately, you can be shooting that spot dead on, but sometimes it still isn't enough and the boss will deal damage to you anyways. All of this is as frustrating and annoying as it sounds, and made getting through half this game an absolute chore.
I didn't completely hate RE: The Umbrella Chronicles. If not for its graphics and taking place in one of my favorite video game universes, I'd have likely abandoned this game well before even getting through a quarter of it. But for what it's worth, it's a game I still struggle to recommend to even the most hardcore RE fans as it's just not a very good game overall. I guess play this one at your own risk. (3/9/25) [26/50]
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