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52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

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bizzgeburt:
03 - Scrabble (PlayStation)

https://vgcollect.com/item/282025

I like boardgame-adaptations in PlayStation one. I don't know why exactly, but I think they're neat ...
... I was kinda bored playing PokéMon Silver for months, grinding, so I gave this one a try, considering it finished by playing and winning all possible variants.
If you're into lovelessly assembeld, unspectacular games with lame to no music, this one might be what you looking for  ;D honestly, maybe if someone's really into Scrabble in general or likes mind-challenging games, you'll be able to enjoy this, but don't expect much in terms of presentation. It is was it's packaging promises - despite different styled boards and pieces, which are mentioned in the back text, but don't appear to actually be in the game at all, at least I couldn't find them anywhere as options and progressing through different rounds didn't change those either. I felt disappointment for a while, but dangit, Mattel toys were never products of prestine quality, right  ;D

I don't know anything further to tell about this game ... playing it was a somewhat "miscelaneuos" experience for me.

On to the next one...  8)

bikingjahuty:
56. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PS5)

When I beat Metal Gear Solid late last month, the first thing I wanted to do was jump into its sequel, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, as fast as possible. I more or less did this and experienced what was technically the first Metal Gear game I ever played. A good friend of mine growing up bought or rented Zone of the Enders which included a demo disk of MGS2 in it. I fell head over heals in love with ZOE, but at one point I wanted to try this Metal Gear Solid 2 game that was bundled with it. MGS2 couldn't be more different than ZOE despite both being Kojima games. I remember struggling with the stealth, but did end up getting to the Olga fight where I eventually turned the game off and decided it wasn't my thing. I'd carry this sentiment towards the MGS series, and stealth games in general, up until recently when I decided to set my expectations right and attempt one last time to get into the MGS series which is something I've wanted to do for a long time. Luckily, I was successful and having now beat the first two MGS games, I have some thoughts.


In some very big ways, MGS is a definite upgrade over its predecessor. Beyond the obvious of it having better graphics due to originally being developed for a way more powerful hardware (the PS2), its visuals aren't actually an area I think it's better than the first MGS game. MGS1 was not only iconic and groundbreaking in its cinematic presentation, but also in just its overall look and feel. That game had such an amazing presence and vibe to the whole game, which while MGS2 absolutely has its own look and feel too, it's just not on par with MGS1. Big Shell, a giant structure in the middle of the ocean similar to an oil rig, just didn't do it for me like Shadow Moses did. Too much of Big Shell looks somewhat bland and uninteresting and this is despite part of it being under water and it having a decent variety of settings within each of its parts. The character models, while technically more detailed, just weren't as interesting to me either, with a few exceptions. Don't et me wrong, MGS2 was one of the best looking PS2 games and one of the best looking video games when it came out, but so was MGS1 when it came out. I just wasn't as impressed with MGS2 from a visuals standpoint as I was with MGS1.


One area where MGS2 is not lacking compared to the first game is its audio and gameplay. Like the first game, there is a ton of excellent voice acting, some of which is appropriately over the top, but still very good. I'd say there are actually fewer spotty performances in MGS2 than there was in MGS1. I will say, however, Rose who you speak with quite often due to her saving your game, annoyed the ever loving hell out of me and made me think twice about saving sometimes. Other than that very minor gripe, I still really loved MGS2's voice cast. The soundtrack was also excellent with there being a lot more jazz and early 2000s sounding drum and bass music that really helped give this game a very cozy vibe. Of course with MGS2 being an action game, there were also plenty of high energy tracks to compliment the craziness occurring in front of you. Sound effects and design were also pretty top notch with weapons mostly sounding good, the sound of guards and footsteps depending on the surface, and a multitude of other audio delights made MGS2's overall audio quality near perfect in my book.


While I'd say MGS1 and MGS2's audio is about equal in terms of quality, one area I will say was noticeably better than MGS1 was in MGS2's gameplay. I'm not going to deny the fact that a lot of MGS1's gameplay annoyed me despite it being more enjoyable than not. The controls just felt clunky, many of the baked in mechanics felt not fully realized, and the shooting, which you had to do quite often, just felt like crap for the most part. Luckily nearly every mechanic from MGS1 got better in MGS2, sometimes way better. While this game doesn't suddenly turn into Unreal Tournament or Half Life, the shooting in MGS2 is remarkably better thanks to a first person aiming mode with all the weapons, which easily allow you to aim your weapon and enemies and fire where you want. Not only did this increase my immersion in MGS2, but also just my overall enjoyment of knowing I could fairly easily hit my target with little to no issues. Other returning mechanics such as sneaking, hiding, and melee combat all got noticeably better despite none of these systems being executed perfectly either. One new mechanic, swimming, did feel a bit awkward, but luckily outside one particular part of the game, it's not heavily used. Boss fights in MGS2 were mostly better than they were in the first game. There were a few exceptions to this, particularly the final boss which has you using a specific fighting mechanic you don't learn until later on in the game, that like swimming, was not implemented as well as it could have been. Some other bosses like a Metal Gear Ray fight later in the game, are definitely more enjoyable and well implemented than a somewhat similar Metal Gear fight in the first game. Overall, the gameplay is just a way better experience despite it being far from perfect and having its own new unique frustrations still.


MGS2 might be one of the most U-shaped gaming experience I've ever had. The game starts out really good with Snake infiltrating a large sea tanker that is housing a new type of Metal Gear, but then when the game fast forwards two years later and you're playing as Raiden, infiltrating the Big Shell base, my personal interest and enjoyment somewhat cratered. It wasn't until about 4 or 5 hours into playing as Raiden that the game starts to really pick up after a specific event occurs, and it just never lets up after that. And trust me, that 4 or 5 hour dip was brutal to the point where I actually wanted to be done with the game so I could move onto something more enjoyable. Thankfully, the last third of the game is very good, not to mention bat shit insane! The amount of twist and turns the story and plot takes towards the end would make a pro rally car driver projectile vomit as just when you think you know what's going on, the game flips everything on its head...again. It honestly felt like a bit too much actually, but overall, the story and what the game is trying to say is so fresh, unique, interesting, and eerily prophetic that I couldn't help but love it. It was so good that I had a hard time deciding who I sided with in the end, but I just recommend playing this game to see for yourself how insane and oddly relevant to the real world the ending is.


There is no doubt in my mind that I liked MGS2 more than MGS1, despite MGS2 having lower lows than the first game, but also way higher highs. I'm still going back and forth as to whether I want to jump into MGS3 sometime this summer, or just wait a few more months and experience that game for the first time thanks to MGS Delta. Regardless, you can now consider myself a fan of this franchise and one I hope as a future just as bright as its unique past. (5/2/25) [38/50]

bizzgeburt:
04 - Schlümpfe, Die (PlayStation)

https://vgcollect.com/item/282229

I bought this german version of The Smurfs for PlayStation just a few days ago. I liked the Smurf-franchise as a kid and own several Smurf-themed videogames along different systems. Most of them target young kids and are frankly easy to beat. I wasn't surprised to beat this game 100% within a few hours. Some sequences may seem frustrating, but with a few more tries this game offers little to no challenge for an experienced gamer.
Nevertheless, graphics and presentation are crisp for a PS1-game of it's type, the 9 different stages are made with much details and all deliver their own specific ambience. In every stage there are 3 crescent moon symbols to discover - most of them are easy to catch, but few of them are hidden better or require you to backtrack a little. Due to the detailled graphics and many background animations like leafs, butterflies, snow, rain, etc. the size of the single stages seems quite small, which further leads to this game being of the short kind.

All in all I consider this title a good distraction on a rainy sunday afternoon. Nothing to challenging, yet not boring at all.

On to the next one ...

marvelvscapcom2:
25. The Exit 8 [PS5] - Finished May 2nd, 2025



Exit 8 is a psychological horror just like Stanley Parable Deluxe which I never finished and abandoned. This one makes me much less uneasy and doesn't deliberately attempt to mess with me as much.

Premise is simple. Walk down a corridor and attempt to spot anomolies that have changed.  Think "spot the difference" and if an anomly is spotted. You gotta turn around.  Some anomolies are creepy but only in a "thats not supposed to be there" kinda way. It's tollerable.


Overall it was the quickest video game of the year. Coulda benefited from more hallways and some sort of enemy that will attack to add spookiness. I do enjoy the puzzle solving elements. Not sure its worth 4 dollars. But I will accept it for what it is.

Also it has a poster of a pomeranian... which adds 4 points.

Rating - 72/100

bikingjahuty:
57. Unreal Tournament (PC)

Occasionally I'll play a game that I knew of from the 90s or early 2000s, but never played back when the game was relatively new, yet the game hits a nostalgic nerve. In the late 90s, my goto arena FPS was Quake III Arena. I never owned it, nor would it have even run on my PC to begin with, but my best friend at the time had it and we played it regularly for about a year whenever I'd come over on a Friday or Saturday night. Whenever I'd hear about Unreal Tournament at school, I always dismissed it, mostly due to my unfamiliarity with the series. It actually wouldn't be until the mid-2000s and watching various Gmanlives videos that inspired me, I bought Unreal Tournament off of GOG and decided to see what all the fuss was about. Funny enough, in recent years I've come to actually prefer Unreal over Quake III despite having that connection to Quake growing up.


Unreal Tournament is just an amazing game all around. The gameplay is fast, fluid and ridiculously addictive. I've admittedly not been a fan of mutliplayer focused FPS games, especially when played online, for the better part of 20-years. However, the matches with bots is so amazing that it's easy to just lose yourself in this game for multiple reasons. There are a bunch of great and unfortunately not so great weapons at your disposal. Weapons have multiple fire modes and can do different things too if you hold the left or right mouse button down before firing. It really gives this game a lot of depth and allows you to strategize about how you'll take our your opponents. There are also certain weapons better suited to certain stages. Speaking of stages, they are a fairly mixed bag with some being incredible and others being absolutely terrible. I'd say on average the stages are typically about a 7 out of 10 in terms of their layout, balancing, and enjoyability. One issue I did have with some stages more than others was having a hard time finding guns despite all the gun pickups spots respawning every 20 seconds or so. Unfortunately, in a game where you're constantly having to move in order to stay alive, this can be problematic. For the most part, it wasn't too big of an issue in what is overall an excellent gameplay experience. The shooting in Unreal Tournament feels very precise and smooth, which is a big reason why this game is so hard to put down. This is complemented even more by the game's various modes which will give you hours of additional entertainment. In fact, some maps are exclusive to specific modes like capture the flag. I personally love Domination and Deathmatch modes the most, but it's nice Unreal gives you other options as well in case you get bored of one mode.


Beyond just the look and feel of Unreal Tournament, its soundtrack is undeniably a product of the late 90s. The combination of drum and bass and trance music dominates the OST, but there are also a few rock inspired songs thrown in for good measure. It all just sounds so period appropriate, but beyond that it's just freakin awesome! Playing a game like this on PC while chill drum and bass music plays in the background just takes me back to being 12 on a Friday night and just gaming until my eyes wouldn't stay open anymore. Outside its amazing OST, the sound effects of the weapons, explosions, and some environmental sounds here and there all definitely fit in well with the action going on. There is also some limited voice acting in Unreal Tournament as well, but beyond being called a bitch every other time you die, there's not much to say about it. Really, the OST is the bread and butter of Unreal's audio and what you'll remember possibly even more than the excellent gameplay.


Finally, Unreal Tournament is a great looking game. Obviously, the Unreal games have always been a showcase for Epic Games' new engines and at the time, the Unreal engine was about as good as it got in terms of graphics. There are a decent amount of characters you can choose from and also do things like customize their appearance with different heads or body types. Really though, it's the stages and action taking place that are the main visual focal point while playing. Just like some stages are better than others when it comes to gameplay, some of Unreal Tournament's stages look way more appealing than others. While I commend there being a decent variety of stages to choose from, there are maybe a few too many industrial looking stages that this game would have benefited from giving a different style. Oddly enough, however, these industrial themed stages are some of the best in the game, but from a visual standpoint they can get kinda old after a while. The visuals effects from the various weapons all look great for the time as well. Overall, Unreal Tournament is just a great looking game from top to bottom.


Again, it really is remarkable how much Unreal Tournament takes me back to the late 90s and early 2000s despite it not being a game I played until years later in the mid 2010s. The game just so accurately nails the vibe and zeitgeist of what it was like to be a young gamer nearly three decades ago. It reminded me of all those weekend sleepovers I used to have with friends where we'd gorge ourselves on Doritos and Soda all night and try and stay up until the sun came up the next morning. Or going to a friend's birthday and playing laser tag somewhere (almost like real life Unreal Tournament...minus dying off course). While the game isn't perfect and I've also somewhat outgrown arena multiplayer shooters at this point, I still really enjoyed playing through the various different modes of Unreal Tournament and would absolutely recommend anyone play it that wants to know how amazing the late 90s gaming scene really was. (5/2/25) [38/50]

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