Main Listbold games are games that have been beaten, previously beaten, or are unbeatable.
italicized games are in progress.
standard games are games I am not currently trying to beat.
strikethrough games are games that have been abandoned.
I'm starting to move my notes over to backloggery. I haven't decided if I'll keep posting my notes here to move over there or if I'll just cut out the middleman so to speak and just work over there. For now I'll try and post here until I'm done collating the information.
1.
Dreamland Solitaire (PC)
At the beginning of this year, I was having some health problems and was spending a lot of time laying in bed. Working from home in bed, playing games in bed, not bedridden, just spending a lot of time in bed. Eventually I did PT and got better, but I was laying in bed when I played this game. Real simple tri-peaks style solitaire type of game. Not really worth playing, but I always enjoy solitaire games.
Rating: Soft pass
2.
100 hidden fish (PC)
Same as all the other 100 hidden games, takes about 10 minutes to complete, enjoyable waste of time.
Rating: Soft pass
3.
Astro Bot (PS5)
I really enjoyed this game. I went for the platinum, and I still need to go back to it for the trophies they added in updates. The levels are relatively simple, some of the additional levels can be quite a chore, but overall the game is immensely enjoyable and all of the themed astro bots add a little something special. Entirely possible that this game will stick out as GOTY for me. I had some hopes for NightReign, but it's definitely not GOTY material.
Rating: Solid recommendation
4.
One Finger Death Punch (PC)
I won this game on steam gifts like 10 years ago or something and it had just been sitting and it finally got picked for me in a PoP cycle, so I played it. This is while I was still laid up in bed, but the game is playable with a controller with its basic controls. Overall a really enjoyable game, if not really really difficult to master and complete. I stuck with just beating the game because anything more seemed like it would make me hate the game, but overall it's a really enjoyable sort of rhythm combat game.
Rating: Soft pass, curious if the sequel is better
5.
100 hidden snails (PC)
Another 100 hidden game, all of these are a blur to me despite them having differing mechanics from time to time which do make the games better or worse. I could make the effort to check before I write these reviews, but let's be honest, it doesn't make much difference, the games are worth or not worth playing all the same.
Rating: Soft pass
6.
Cats Hidden in Georgia (PC)
Another hidden object game. These are just one big scene with cats hidden about. I don't care for this style of hidden object, 1 really big screen that you have to zoom in on, but it's still enjoyable.
Rating: Soft pass
7.
Finding Paradise (PC)
I can't recall if this was a PoP pick or if it was just a giveaway I won under the condition that I earn a single achievement (The game only has a single achievement :shakes fist:) Anyway, the game is really enjoyable, though it being the final entry in the To the Moon series, I wish I had been able to play the first 2 titles in the series first, because there are some call backs to previous entries though I don't actually know how important the call backs are as I've not played the previous entries. Overall enjoyable, but the game is a bit of a slow moving slog until you start getting into the tail end story which is always unfortunate for story driven games.
Rating: Soft pass
8.
100 hidden frogs 2 (PC)
Another 100 hidden game, I swear I am running out of these to play, but yeah, I'll continue to keep playing these... especially as they leave the profile limited status on steam.
Rating: Soft pass
9.
Minit Fun Racer (PC)
I don't recall, might have been a roll on Backlog Dungeon, but I enjoyed Minit and looked forward to playing whatever this little racer is. It is just a little left to right scrolling racer game where you collect things and avoid obstacles in an attempt to finish a race in a minit, I mean minute. Overall enjoyable and dare I say maybe worth playing given the proceeds go to charity. That said it's not much substance, but it has replay value
Rating: Soft recommendation
10.
Hidden Cats in London (PC)
I really enjoy these styles of hidden object games as the map colors in as you find everything in the area, so you know you don't have to look there anymore and that is such a great quality of life feature making the game much more worth playing over the other hidden cat/animal games.
Rating: Soft pass, but better than others lol
11.
Cats Hidden in Bali (PC)
Another hidden object game akin to the previous in Georgia game. Same rating.
Rating: Soft pass
12.
Double Cross (PC)
A steamgift win that got picked for me on PoP. I relatively recall enjoying the game, but I didn't go for the 100% because I'm pretty sure it either had missable achievements or required multiple playthroughs, which is generally a no go for me. Artwork was good, characters are interesting, story was a tad tropey and I think it wound up fairly obvious who the bad guy was, and I feel like some of the gameplay mechanics were frustrating. I will say, before I finish up this review, I'll go watch some gameplay clips to jog my memory. Okay, yeah, I recall enjoying the platforming, though some of the split paths might have encouraged replay or something to get missing collectibles and the combat I recall being frustrating because enemies would respawn frequently, and I feel like I recall some of the boss fights being frustrating. Overall a decent mega man clone, better than Mighty No 9 lol
Rating: Soft pass
13.
Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath (XS)
I had bought the ultimate edition or the DLC or something at some point, but had never come back to the game to check out the DLC over the years and decided to finally jump back into these games. I did load up Mortal Kombat XL to check out the extra content, but realized that it didn't actually add anything of value or I had already done the content and just didn't remember doing the content, so I was pretty quick to just move on to 11. Now I had played through 11 years ago, well before the Aftermath DLC came out, but this one for sure added more content, IIRC it did add almost sequel-esque story to the game showing what Lui Kang did with his new god powers... honestly at this point I'm at a blank for what the story was, I really need to be writing this stuff as I play these games and not literally months later when I can't recall for the life of me. Anyway, regardless, the added story is definitely worth checking out because it should link directly to MK1. Now I haven't played MK1 yet, but I am looking forward to it. I have the game and all of the DLC I believe. The rating for this is strictly for the DLC, I will say, for me personally, I will always find MK series to have the best stories for fighting games.
Rating: Soft recommendation
14.
Arcade Classics Anniversary: Vulcan Venture (PC)
Oh boy, I'm not gonna remember crap from any of these Konami Arcade classics. I sat down while in bed still and tried to play through the arcade games in the collection and this was the one first one I played through, I think. All of these games are just get to a certain score, earn the achievements, and then you're done technically speaking. I'm really not a fan of shmup games, it just doesn't click with me. I can play them for sure, especially with emulator features, unlike RTS games which I just absolutely can't get myself to play. Anyway, this one was a really straight forward horizontal shmup, minor annoyances largely due to my dislike for shmups and it is a really old game.
Rating: Soft pass, surely there are more worthwhile shmups to play
15.
Arcade Classics Anniversary: Twinbee (PC)
Tate style (I think) vertical scrolling shmup. I recall seeing tons of vertical shmup games through my youth and this seemed just as samey as the rest. I enjoyed this one more than Vulcan Venture, not that that one wasn't enjoyable, it just was so-so. This one felt more forgiving and thus immediately plays better to me lol. I enjoyed the pickups the made you progressively stronger. It made the game feel completely different if you managed to lose your powerups, which I suppose is probably a staple of shmup games. I'm super not knowledgeable on shmups, but I think Parodius and Game Paradise are vertical and I imagine the context of the game might make them more enjoyable, so I'll have to give those a try down the line.
Rating: Soft pass, fun enough, but again I'm sure there are better vertical shmups.
16.
Sweety Little Witch (PC)
Real simple jigsaw puzzle game. IIRC there are like 7 puzzles and you can change the difficult for the given puzzle by increasing the pieces available. Game has no achievements, the artwork isn't great, almost random art styles, so I'm concerned the art was lifted as it has no reference to AI usage. Overall, definitely not worth your time.
Rating: Solid pass
17.
Arcade Classics Anniversary: Nemesis (PC)
I'm really not big on shmup games, and I honestly don't recall enjoying many of the ones in this collection and I only really "suffered" through them because of the save states and the fact that the game was a gift and I'm trying to prioritize gifts I've received. I'm doing much better these days declining gifts from folks when I know I really won't enjoy the game, this is one I might have considered declining, but I also try to give classics a chance from time to time. I recall this one having a lot of BS stuff, but I also know a lot of these games will have really simple mechanics that make the game better that I constantly miss.
Rating: Soft pass
18.
Monkey Party (PC)
I was gifted this one a while back and didn't realize it was a Suika game, so I sat around for an afternoon and 100%'d the game. Pretty short, pretty simple. Honestly nothing to write home about because it's a basic kind of mechanic and the only thing that can make these games great or stand out is good art and this game does not have great art. It's just crappy google cut out images of various monkeys... but the game is enjoyable nonetheless, but it's a low bar for these kinds of games.
Rating: Soft pass
19.
Life Force (PC)
I think I didn't hate this one, but all it took was losing your upgrades just once to make the game unsufferable, so I really had to rely on save states and just hope that my save state didn't lock me into getting hit, because that was like a game breaker if that happened. I think I had to start over once because of that because I lost my upgrades and just couldn't make it through the level without the upgrades. I want to say I enjoyed this one more, but I also know I hated it more because of the stress of losing the upgrades.
Rating: Soft pass
20.
Cats Hidden in China (PC)
Another hidden object game akin to the previous in Georgia game. Same rating.
Rating: Soft pass
21.
Bar Dungeon (PC)
Oof this one, I really didn't know what it was when I agreed to it, like I was like ok on name whatever. It's a picture puzzle game of dudes (Nothing nude or anything iirc) in BDSM gear. Just really weird stuff, obviously don't recommend this.
Rating: Solid pass
22.
Ball Fall (PC)
No achievements to be had in this, and I was trying to improve my gift stats, but didn't realize that stat scripts skip achievementless games, fine regardless. This game is an endless game about a ball falling, that's it. There is really nothing to this game. Highly encourage not playing this game.
Rating: Solid pass
23.
Typhoon (PC)
Another vertical shooter, though this time a helicopter one. I enjoyed this well enough though I don't think I got the mechanic quite well of dropping the bombs. Game played well enough and sort of made me want to play the old chopper attack/helicopter games. I don't think I enjoyed those either, but something about it made me really think about playing those old games.
Rating: Soft pass
24.
Temptations X: Darkest Fantasy (PC)
Another one that I didn't look into before accepting. Had the art been better or the gameplay not been awful, it could've been serviceable in some manner, but both are pretty awful and made the game insufferable. Especially when the stuff is random and timed so it's nigh impossible to 100% the game.
Rating: Solid pass
25.
Dark Fear (PC)
I'm trying to watch a youtube playthrough to jog my memory of this game and I remember little bits. I remember the point and click nature of the game and the battle system, but not much else. It's a pretty short game and a relatively easy 100%. I recall not hating the game, but definitely not feeling like it was something I would've played had it not been picked to be played for me. This is definitely a game that this "review" would have benefited from me having written it shortly after playing the game because even watching a video I barely recall much of the game. I do recall the fights towards the end of the game actually getting difficult and having to worry about stuff but all in all I think this game was pretty forgettable.
Rating: Soft pass
26.
ChromaGun 2 Demo (PC)
I wouldn't normally include a demo on this list, but this demo had achievements, which is wild. But regardless of that, it was long enough that I'd consider it a full enough game. I enjoyed it enough I was preparing to purchase the first game when the developer let a lot of folks know that they'd get free copies of the first game for playing the demo, which was dope. I still need to play the first one, it's on my backlog now. Anyway, this game is very much portal inspired, especially Portal 2 where the different goos do different things, but less Portal and more just the goo from Portal 2. Still, obviously Portal inspired. It's actually quite a good game and I highly recommend checking out the first one and the second one once it comes out. I will give it a soft recommendation though, because it is just a demo
Rating: Soft recommendation
27.
#IDARB (X1)
I actually had "beaten" this game years ago and I have no clue why, but I decided that I would go out of my way to get the final achievement in this game. I'm not kidding, I truly have no clue why I decided. I don't think I rolled it in playtracker, but maybe, I've got no clue. I had to find someone on True Achievements who was looking to boost for this achievement, and managed to find someone in need. Maybe I was collating data and noticed it... I really can't recall. Afterward, the dude sent me a request and wanted to work on some other obscure games. This was a neat and fun game back in the day, but at this point it's just not got the support or players, but I recall the twitch interactions being real neat in concept for this game, though I'm fairly confident they are broken now.
Rating: Soft pass
28.
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen (PC)
For sure this is one I wish I had written about while I was playing and even after having played it. This game was originally recommended to me by my wife's best friend as it is one of, if not the most, her favorite games of all time. I've had this game recommended to me many times over the years, but I had skipped on the original when I heard dark arisen was coming and just never got around to it. There is something about those late oughts early 10s Xbox 360 era games that I just kinda can't stand. Had I played this game during that time period, I probably would've dumped a ton of hours and really tried with this game, but I just wasn't enjoying it as much and while I did give it the good old college try, I did kind of just try to breeze through the game at some point because I kinda just wanted it over with. Not because it was bad or I hated it, but because I just wanted to move on. I think part of it was that I didn't realize until it was too late that I had been missing out on quests that expired as you progressed events or as time passed and that really irked me. I get it in the scope of immersion and games trying to become more nuanced, but I just have never liked those types of concepts. Let me enjoy the game and we'll suspend our disbelief about events just sitting idly by while I'm goofing off with side quests. I think games have gotten better about that over the years, but during this time period that was definitely in rage or whatever. I never got deep into the games systems to really get into the mechanics that would have probably made the game "cooler" or for me to have an easier time with combat situations, but I did what I could without having to really get into much of that. I mostly just tried to make sure I recruited folks of rounded classes so I always had someone who could fill some role. Game is full of jank and can be super repetitive and I suppose because I didn't bother to learn a lot of the nuances of the game, the game just didn't stand out to me as a good game. I've not heard a lot of great things about the sequel and I imagine I feel about this game a lot of how folks feel about the sequel, which concerns me that when I finally get to that game I'm really going to hate that game, but who knows. I don't own it, but I know I will eventually. I will give it the softest of recommendations though, because it's not an awful game and does have some unique mechanics that do make it stand out and I can't just ignore the fact that this game has been recommended to me over and over.
Rating: Soft recommendation
29.
Hidden Cats: The Last of Cats (PC)
I don't recall, but I think this is a FIND ALL developer game, as opposed to some of the other hidden cat games, and this one was okay, but again these games are pretty quick, don't offer much, but are accordingly cheap
Rating: Soft pass
30.
Hidden Cats in New York (PC)
Same developer as Hidden Cats in London, so similar notes. I really enjoy these styles of hidden object games as the map colors in as you find everything in the area, so you know you don't have to look there anymore and that is such a great quality of life feature making the game much more worth playing over the other hidden cat/animal games.
Rating: Soft pass, but better than others lol
31.
Cats Hidden around the World (PC)
This is the same developer as Cats Hidden in [Country] but they gave you multiple locations with tons of cats to find in each, essentially tons of games in 1 compared to the other games. The annoyance is this game, unlike the other ones only has a handful of achievements because instead of an achievement for each cat, it's an achievement for each level basically. More content, less achievements, but not much else. I suppose technically there's more value in it and should be expected to be a better value, but the lack of achievements compared to the others annoyed me personally.
Rating: Soft pass.
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