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52 Games Challenge 2025!!!
bikingjahuty:
68. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (PS2)
When it came to 6th gen Mortal Kombat games, I mostly sat that era out. Between MK4, Deadly Alliance, Deception, and Armageddon, I only sunk serious time into Deception, with MK4 being the game I played the second most, but still not that much. I actually owned Armageddon around the time it came out, but due to life circumstances around that time and the game being fairly underwhelming, I barely played it. That leaves Deadly Alliance as the game I've never played, not even once until just recently. Going into MK Deadly Alliance, I expected it to be a lot like Deception, and while in some ways it was, it was also fairly different too, and not particularly in a good way.
Deadly Alliance was a bit of a foundational game that was built upon heavily by Deception, and also slightly by Armageddon. It somewhat streamlined MK as a 3D fighting game in the early and mid 2000s, while also introducing a fairly crude, but serviceable Konquest mode as well as the currency driven Krypt where you can unlock everything from concept art to new characters. Unfortunately, these extras are not fully realized in the way they were in later games, which makes them not as enticing as they would later be. The other issue I had is you unlock coins to unlock things in the Krypt by playing the game, which in itself isn't that much fun.
I do enjoy certain things about MK Deadly Alliance's gameplay, but there is a lot I don't. At the heart of Deadly Alliance's gameplay is its combat switching mechanic, which allows you to toggle three different fighting styles for each character, including one based around the use of weapons. All the styles have weaknesses and strengths, which do add some depth, but overall, I just felt this system felt a bit bloated and unnecessary. I also found MK Deadly Alliance's actual controls and fighting to be a bit dull and cumbersome. I struggled to get the hang of pulling of certain special moves, or at least using them to get an upper hand on my opponent consistently. I will fully admit that part of this might have been because I didn't sink as much time into this game as I needed to in order to git good, but having played through Arcade mode a few times, the gameplay and combat just never clicked with me despite it being decent and certainly an upgrade over what was found in MK4.
The visuals of MK6 are probably the most noticeable improvement over MK4, which character models and art looking quite a bit better. The one area I did zonk of this game when it came to visuals is the stages are probably some of the least memorable in any MK game I've ever played. Unfortunately they all come across as a bit underwhelming and generic, and also lack that special MK grittiness most other stages from other MK games have. I will also say cutscenes don't look the greatest either, but there are fairly few of these, and the in game graphics are good enough to where you'll mostly forget about those.
Finally, the audio in MK Deadly Alliance is pretty good, but also not amazing either. The soundtrack is appropriately MK sounding, but doesn't get me pumped in the same way many of the earlier MK OSTs did. There is also voice acting, which for an early 2000s PS2 game isn't half bad.
After all was said and done. MK Deadly Alliance is far from being a low point in the series, but it's also just not a particularly memorable or overly fun game. There was nothing in Deadly Alliance that I found down right annoying, frustrating, or broken, but overall the game is just sort of there and does little to inspire me or make me want to play anymore than I have to. Had I played this game back when it first came out, I'd probably have appreciated it more, but playing it close to 25-years later and also having some incredible MK titles released since then, this game just sort of feels like a relic reserved only for those with intense nostalgia for Deadly Alliance, or people curious about some of the earlier 3D entries in the series. I definitely below to the second camp, and after playing through a decent portion of Deadly Alliance, I'd say skip this one unless you're just that hardcore about your MK games. Just don't expect an incredible time when you do play this one. (6/18/25) [30/50]
marvelvscapcom2:
41. The Precinct [PS5] - finished Jun 19th, 2025
Take on the role of Officer Nick Cordell, a green, wet behind the ears new kidd on the beat of Averno's finest that the PD has to offer. Attempting to solve the mystery of what happened to his father who is also a cop in a prestigious lineage of cop pride. The game... is fantastic!
2025 has had quite the indie explosion for me. Call me indie...ana.. Jones. Ok... I digress. (Apples thrown from onlookers at the comedy club) ;D
Precinct plays like a top down PS1 era revolution of the format that made GTA 1 and 2 so deliciously consumerable but it ups it to 10,000. This game is more of a police simulator than police simulator which is a game I played. But goodness was that game so mundane. It's a fine balance between real life bore and real life dramatzied to form a video game. This game helps you feel the life of a officer. From the parking meters to the big city hiests. But does it without making you want to sign up for an early 401k lol. I felt like a cop and felt a obligation to clean up the streets of this fictional city.
Its got comedy, grace, plot, and stunning visuals for the most part. Its absolutely addictive to pat people down. Find controband, frisk, search trunks, and ultimately scroll through a wheel that allows you to pin a litany of charges on these would be crooks.
Your partner Leo Kelly. Sergant accompnies you on the many beats which can range from helicopter patrol. Drug busts. Speeding violations. All with the intent to uncover vital evidence. Vital evidence then translates into information. You can then tackle underbosses and bosses. Ect... the game is a blast.
Averno City is drenched in night light soaked, siren serenaded metropolis feels. 1970s police force. Chevrolet Caprice cruisers. Classic lingo. Wild colors. And a vibrant emciornemmt make it all memorable. As a player. I never forget writing my first parking ticket. It all feels full circle.
From the cracks in the cobblestone Nick Cordell rose. A lion among sheep. Try all they want but they will never become free. And only will their ever be one... he. Seperating the word grit from inteGRITy one hancuffed dime store crook at a time. Welcome to the patrol kid.
I overall loved precinct. A indie game that came out of nowhere and sidelined me into fun.
The only gripe I have is sometimes the perps drop wildly incriminating evidence. Like a SKS assault rifle. And have gang affiliates. Yet it doesn't count as "vital evidence".
But it keeps stride. And has a neat noir style comic sketch sorta art style. Theirs a lot to love here.
Rating - 93/100
kamikazekeeg:
12 - Snacko (PC 2025) - BEAT - Think I forgot to do something for this when I beat it, but this was an enjoyable little game, fun art style, basically Stardew Valley crossed with abit of Animal crossing. It was a little buggy and lacking in some areas, probably shouldn't have released when it did, but they are super active with patching. I'll probably come back to this like next year to see the improvements and additions for another run.
kamikazekeeg:
13 - Deltarune: Chapter 1 to 4 (PC 2025) - BEAT - Been waiting way too damn long for the next chapters in this game, almost 4 years since Chapter 2 came out, and it's been 7 years in total since Deltarune came out. I really wish they had worked abit quicker to get this out, but I did enjoy myself with these last two, they were big steps up in like gameplay variety, particularly Chapter 3, which had some fun minigames throughout. I did do a full replay of the game as it had been years since I played the first two, and it was nice to go back through those chapters again.
I always have a great time with this series, it's enjoyable because they aren't real "RPG's", like technically they are, but you play them by not fighting, not leveling, it's like some sort of interactive visual novel or something, so a lot of the time it's quite chill, though certain fights could be a real kick in the teeth. The secret boss of Chapter 4 proved to be real problematic as it focused on focused on interaction that required expert directional aiming and it was abit wonky. Made it the hardest fight I've experienced yet as it felt like I was really fighting my controls through it.
I will say, even after all this time, I'm not sure if I like Deltarune music as much as Undertale. There's some cool songs, but so many songs have stuck with me from Undertale more than Deltarune has and I'm not sure why. It's not a dig on Deltarune music, just something I've noticed, like songs throughout, I'm hearing them and hearing callbacks to Undertale songs in them and that makes them more recognizable lol
I do love this weird little series, kinda the only turn based stuff I play these days lol Might go back and do a violence run, not sure exactly, but we'll see. With 4 chapters, it's a decent chunk of playtime now as it took me over 16 hours to do a full run, though I didn't do everything single thing.
Thankfully Chapter 5 is confirmed for next year, so no more giant waits hopefully.
kashell:
44. The Devil in Me
This has been my favorite of the Until Dawn-esque games. I'm a big fan of true crime, and The Devil in the White City was my very first true crime read. So, seeing a game that pays homage to it was awesome. The story felt really disjointed at times and I have a ton of questions, but overall vibes and spooks were the best. I can see myself doing a replay of this one in the future making different choices. I highly recommend this.
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