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52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

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kamikazekeeg:
14 - Grounded (PC 2022) - BEAT - This continues to be one of the best all around survival crafting games I think.  It has a good story and setting, good variety of gameplay and creatures, lots of stuff to build, gear to make, it has a lot of great stuff going on.  No real negatives, mostly just nitpicks, it has me really excited for Grounded 2, though I'm not likely to get into the early access that I think starts next month, I try not to do that with games anymore and I'm just gonna hope it'll be out within the next year or so.

bikingjahuty:
70. We <3 Katamari (PS2)

Back around the time We <3 Katamari first came out, I was working a crappy retail job. Two of my coworkers and I had bonded over our love of video games and anime, which led to one of them inviting us over to his apartment after work one night to play some weird game he had just bought. What ensued is the three of us playing We <3 Katamari until the sun came up the next day while listening to J-Pop and Dir En Grey. It was an excellent experience and beyond just the fond memories of that night, it also made me a fan of the Katamari series with We <3 Katamari being the game that started it all.


Replaying We <3 Katamari around 20-years after I originally played it, and having beat most of the other games in the series, it's hard for me to distinguish one entry from the other since they all share the same basic premise. You play as a weird little creature that pushes around a large ball, aka the Katamari, as you commence to role up objects, eventually being able to roll up larger and larger objects. In each stage, you're given an objective like rolling up a Katamari that is a certain size within a certain time limit, or to try and collect specific items or item types more than others. It's a pretty basic premise, but in the end it makes for an incredibly fun and cathartic gameplay experience.


As I was replaying through We <3 Katamari, I found that time just sort of melted away as I kept on completing just one more stage, then just one more after that, and then another. Before I knew it, hours had gone by and I still didn't want to stop playing. Despite how addictive and fun We <3 Katamari is, it's a far from perfect game. More than anything, the controls can feel a bit still and unwieldy at times. This can be frustrating when you're trying to steer your Katamari towards a specific object(s) and it just doesn't want to turn as quickly as you would like. There are also mechanics like climbing up short walls that sometimes don't work as intended which can also be frustrating. Overall, these gripes are not deal breaking whatsoever, but that do lead to frequent frustrations while playing.


We <3 Katamari is a very vibrant and fun looking game. None of the object, animal, or person models in this game look ultra detailed, but that seems to be deliberate, and goes along with the art style in this game perfectly. There are literally thousands of objects to roll up in your Katamari with some being fairly humorous. That leads me to how umm...weird We <3 Katamari is, as well as the other Katamari games in general. Everything from the characters like the Prince, the cousins, the Cosmo King, and practically everything else about this game will almost certainly be the strangest thing you've ever seen in a video game. It's the sort of game that could only have come out of Japan, and it is made better for it. There is actually a story in this game and also dialogue, but good luck making sense of any of it. It's still highly entertaining and funny in a weird sort of way.


Where We <3 Katamari falls short in its visuals is the reuse of stages and how limited those stages are. Most stages will take place in a very Japanese looking apartment, with some expanding out into the little town around it, but seeing how you will encounter these over and over again does get a little tiresome. There are a few different levels like a campground, a ski resort, and a race track, but the game always seems to default back to the apartment/town setting a bit too often. Other than this, I don't have anything else negative to say about the visuals.


Finally, the soundtrack of We <3 Katamari is a mixed bag. There are both some absolutely amazing songs in this game, but also an almost equal amount of really annoying songs. It all balances itself out to be pretty good overall in the end, but the real tie breaker that makes We <3 Katamari's audio transcend into really good territory are all the noises, sound effects, and funny reactions the various people, animals, Gods, and other creatures will have to being rolled up. It's all part of the strange charm this game has and those noises definitely do a decent amount to give the overall presentation of this game more depth.


Even though I have a difficult time distinguishing We <3 Katamari from the other entries in the series, it's still an very fun and oddly addictive game. We <3 Katamari will always carry a special place in my heart to for not just being the first game in the series I played, but also one that will forever remind me of simpler times, not just in my personal life, but in gaming in general. (6/25/25) [38/50]

marvelvscapcom2:

--- Quote from: bikingjahuty on June 25, 2025, 01:27:41 pm ---70. We <3 Katamari (PS2)

Back around the time We <3 Katamari first came out, I was working a crappy retail job. Two of my coworkers and I had bonded over our love of video games and anime, which led to one of them inviting us over to his apartment after work one night to play some weird game he had just bought. What ensued is the three of us playing We <3 Katamari until the sun came up the next day while listening to J-Pop and Dir En Grey. It was an excellent experience and beyond just the fond memories of that night, it also made me a fan of the Katamari series with We <3 Katamari being the came that started it all.

--- End quote ---

This was really a cool read! Reminded me of a simpler time back when late night, a PS2 and some Dominoes Pizza, the dim lit glow of the screen is all you needed. Carrying a gamecube next door after work. Gaming felt so social back then.

-----‐---------------------------------------------------------

43. Lego Rock Band [PS3] - finished June 24th, 2025


I think Chinese water torture and dog dander scented nasal drops are better than this game.  It is probably the worst rythym game ive played. And I didnt expect that.  But thats just the blunt reality of it.  So let's begin there lol.


Lego rockband is yet another rythym guitar/ instrument made by hermonix. Now with lego branding and you level up and basically play multiple different brick venues.  But where lego rockband shines in cute lego fun.  It dies in its complete disregard for the human soul, its incessant reliance on repetition, it's overwhelming need for bloat like a beached sun rotted Salmon and lastly. It's cliche plotless joke of a linear path that makes you feel like you're sitting through a spoken word circle at the local rec center.  It gets old so fast.


Lego Rockband.... ya know. What can be said truly other than it was like sitting at the dmv attempting to finish this game and I couldnt quite put my finger on to why. I'll explain why later. I almost felt the game itself ruined Rythym based games for me... I had lost it. The love for it all.  until I began Guitar Hero III right smack dab after. Guitar Hero III was the catalyst to show me what went wrong.  The legendary epicness of that game where not a single song feels out of place. Not a single fret wasted.  Shows in mirror contrast how bad Lego Rockband is.  I now realize I stuck out the bloated soundtrack not because I was bad.  The game had me tangled in stockholm syndrome missing what could be.  A life I never seen. 

Lego Rockband divides your playtime which is already incredibly bloated into forcing you to play the same songs 27 times to progress.  Some venues require 40 stars to proceed. Which means you gotta sit there and play the games setlist over and over.  The same "choose 2 songs" that become stale because the game unlike guitar hero 3 doesnt roll out a buffet for you. It basically leaves two bins of cold leftovers and recycles that for 2 weeks.  I played the song "boys and girls" by good charlotte solely because otherwise id be delegated to playing synthy pop music on guitar, dad rock songs that have aged like crud.  And even the songs that are fun. Like Sum 41's in too deep. Are mapped like shit.   The notes feel mundane.  The solos?? It will pop up on screen "solo time" and it will require you the player to nail these action sequences. Except you can tell they spent no actual effort to make the solo harder, faster, funner or more epic. It feels like a bridge. The notes are bland and lifeless. On hard difficulty it feels medium. 

Then the game gets the idea to make a set list that is required to beat to progress.  Guess what that entails? You must beat 5 songs in a row. All about 5 minutes each. Without stopping. By force. So I gotta sit here. For 30 straight minutes and play the lifeless dad rock. It doesnt even have the class to let you get bored in 4 minute increments at a time lol.   Guitar Hero yet again at its peak would never insist on a 5 song binge because 1. Its a terrible idea that adds nothing to the game.  And 2. Perhaps more obvious is that you cant stop. Some people dont play long game sessions.  Fingers cramp.  Ect.   I just dont get it.  I really dont. 

Then you got the longevity.  Theirs a certain tact in brevity.  A bit of love in simplicity.  The greats like Beatles Rockband knew how to do this.  Imagine if beatles rockband like a clingy tinder date demanded "nope. Beat helter skeltet 7 more times.  Because we didnt count the 1st one.  Oh and do all these yoko ono B sides.  These bizarre John Lennon unreleased solo tracks. And perform the entire Ed Sullivan show without taking a break.  It'd ruin it all. 


Even the lego concept isnt done great.  All that is lego about the game is you play as a lego toy character.  Id argue thats lamer.  Games like Forza Horizon 4 prove how massively special a lego experience can be.  Why not breaking fret boards? Blocks smashing? Notes that are lego bricks and as you play you build designs?   Something more than a skin?  It feels just cheaply pasted.

Also here is the sheer bloat im talking about. The game has 260 gigs covering over 1200 possible stars to collect and 10 vehicles to buy.  While the game has numerous venues, each one is essentially the same in terms of gameplay, with variations mainly in the visual decor. So you end up repeating set lists. Because the game only has 45 songs.  And of them songs. Maybe 30 dont fit the style of play to be considered good. So whatdaya got? Lol. 


All and all. Lego Rockband suffers from a lot.  Nothing is blaringly bad at face but it has maybe 10 bad things that make it overwhelmingly mundane as a cohesive unit.


Rating - 32/100

bikingjahuty:

--- Quote from: marvelvscapcom2 on June 26, 2025, 06:55:28 am ---
--- Quote from: bikingjahuty on June 25, 2025, 01:27:41 pm ---70. We <3 Katamari (PS2)

Back around the time We <3 Katamari first came out, I was working a crappy retail job. Two of my coworkers and I had bonded over our love of video games and anime, which led to one of them inviting us over to his apartment after work one night to play some weird game he had just bought. What ensued is the three of us playing We <3 Katamari until the sun came up the next day while listening to J-Pop and Dir En Grey. It was an excellent experience and beyond just the fond memories of that night, it also made me a fan of the Katamari series with We <3 Katamari being the came that started it all.

--- End quote ---

This was really a cool read! Reminded me of a simpler time back when late night, a PS2 and some Dominoes Pizza, the dim lit glow of the screen is all you needed. Carrying a gamecube next door after work. Gaming felt so social back then.



--- End quote ---


It definitely was another time, that's for sure. I have so many memories around that time of playing games with friends. It really peaked for me when LAN parties became more of a thing. I even hosted a Halo 2 party at my mom's house when I was still in high school. We had three XBOX consoles, three massive CRT TVs, tons of junk food, a fist fight almost broke out at one point, it was awesome lol.

bikingjahuty:
71. Mega Man X4 (PS4)

Not having an NES growing up, I completely missed out on the Mega Man franchise. It wouldn't be until the mid-90s when I got a Super Nintendo for my birthday in 1995 that I finally got to experience this series with Mega Man X. Despite how hard it was, I LOVED Mega Man X growing up. I never played X2 or X3 as a kid, and in fact, it wouldn't be until around 2000 when I finally got a PS1 that I experienced X's fourth entry. Like the first game, I was never skilled enough to beat it as a kid/adolescent, but it still left an impression on me. So much so that I've considered it one of the best games in the Mega Man series all these years despite my memories of that game fading more and more as time has marched on. After nearly 25 years since last playing X4, I finally decided to play it again with the goal of finally beating it. Well, I have, and unfortunately I kinda regret doing so.


No, I don't think Mega Man X4 is a bad game, however I will say it's overrated. In terms of level and boss design, it is vastly inferior to the first game, and even noticeably worse than X2 (I've never played X3, so I speak for that comparison). While it's been a long time since I've played X5 and X6, I do remember disliking those games more than X4 back in the early 2000s, however now I almost wonder if I might actually like them more now. There are just too many gotcha sections and moments in X4, and while some of the stages are decent, just as many are annoying as hell. I could say the same for the bosses which seem to range from incredibly easy to incredibly hard with very little in between. I'd also argue having the right power ups for most of the bosses makes them even a little too easy. But then not using that same power up and just sticking with the stock buster makes them insanely hard again. X4 is just a wildly inconsistent game whether you're playing as X or Zero, and neither character made me enjoy the game more unfortunately.


Visually, the game definitely improved over its SNES counterparts, at least X2 and X3, but in a way it didn't too. The visually fidelity of the stages, enemies, and bosses is noticeably better, however there is just so much about X4 that lacks the presence or personality of those SNES games. I guess it's just a less inspired, less memorable game despite still being visually impressive for what it is. There are also anime style cutscenes spliced into the game at various points and these, while cool, didn't really make the game any more enjoyable for me. They present a story that isn't particularly interesting and had me wanting to get through them just so I could play more of the game instead. Speaking of those added anime cutscenes...


Mega Man X4 contained voice acting, and well, it's pretty bad. While some of it does dip its toes into the so bad it's actually good territory, most of it is just bad to the point where you'd wish they hadn't even bothered dubbing them in English, or even had the anime cutscenes at all. Luckily, the game's OST makes up for this somewhat, but as good as it is, it still isn't as good as X and X2's soundtrack.


One of the risks I take when replaying games I played two or even three decades ago at this point is there's always the chance that my idealized opinion of that game is tarnished by my current point of view. Sometimes it also goes the other way where I wasn't able to fully appreciate how great the game was until I played it as an adult, and actually end up liking it more than I did as a kid or teen. Unfortunately, X4 falls firmly into the former category. Replaying this game in 2025 kinda shattered my once glowing nostalgic opinion of this game. As I said at the beginning of this review, Mega Man X4 is not a bad game, but it is certainly not nearly as good as I remember, and unfortunately I'd argue it isn't as good as a lot of people seem to believe it is. To each their own though. (06/26/25) [31/50]

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