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52 Games Challenge 2025!!!
dhaabi:
--- Quote from: telly on July 02, 2025, 03:35:57 pm ---So I've been doing this challenge now for 10 years. I've decided to take all of my reviews and compile them into a Google doc that I will eventually print out and keep on a shelf so I can still look back at them over the years. It's been fun to read all of my reviews (terrible as some of them are) :)
--- End quote ---
With the amount of effort some of us put into toward collecting our thoughts on games after completing them, that sounds like a good idea. I only just locally saved my writing over the last five years a few months ago which is fine for my purposes. I wish that I had been a little more detailed once I began, but that's the natural writing process if one puts in the effort. Regardless, I'm glad I began writing since it forces me to be more analytical while also simply helping me remember key details that I otherwise probably would have forgotten. I feel like there are a lot of games I played prior to when I started writing that I just have a vague opinion on without remembering anything specific or substantial.
kamikazekeeg:
15 - Death Stranding 2 (PS5 2025) - BEAT - Gonna keep this one simple, but beat the games story, still have more I'm gonna do to try and complete, but I really enjoyed the game. I put it on the same level as the first, a game I really adored, and it does a lot of new stuff right, but it does stuff I don't love. It's this uptick, but then brought back down, so it kinda evens out. I think the overall story is better in the first and in some ways the world you traverse is better, abit more challenging, but I still really like this game.
marvelvscapcom2:
45. Jusant [PS5] - finished July 6th, 2025
Jusant is one of those cute little indie "engines that could" games of the PS Plus games monthly world. But rarely do they throw a home cooked meal feel type of masterpiece like this. That I am honored to have grace my screen. What a warm experience. Take on traversals as you climb beautiful sun soaked mountain scapes, abandoned ruins and wild plants through gloriously beautiful open air. The world becomes your playground with each trigger tap and it's quite BEASTLY.
You are accompanied by a companion called a ballast. The sole way to describe them based on the letters you collect throughout the game are fabled demi gods that use sound waves to make mythical use of environments. Plants respond to the cries of the blue ball of cuteness on your back allowing vines to pertrude and then you climb. The backstory of the ballasts unravels itself as you read diary journals left behind and letters from a woman named Bianca. Who I suppose climbed the path you are before you did. They act as a sort of guidance into the unknown.
The climbing elements are similar to say Uncharted but far more quick, light and varied. The game relies on environmental changes to vary the climbing. Wind will blow a windmill that you are climbing changing its position. Some plants wither in the sunlight meaning you must rush those sections. It's so fluid, it's non newtonian, the gentle breezes vibrate the dualsense. It becomes intertwined in your fingers as you feel you and the main protagonist become one. It's a zenful experience and doesn't do anything to sway your focus from its beauty. Its clean cut perfection in terms of 3d platforming.
Throughout the world are collectibles. Cairns which essentially are rocks that someone decided should be stacked. Letters from bianca. Frescos. Which are pretty glow paintings. And the spinny rock pillar things. Shells to listen to echos from nature itself. It all is so peaceful. The earl grey tea of video games. A warm mid evening sip of a hot cocoa that leaves you wondering if a hot cocoa becomes cool is it a cool cocoa or does it remain hot in name despite coolness in it's tempatural existence. Every plant, every rock. It all just feels booming with calm. Which is neat considering the game is packed with action. It's meditative beauty.
One of 12 Frescos in the game. Colorful murals for the player to find
The games soundtrack is very amazon nusic calming sounds sorta vibe mixed with games like Ori and the blind Forrest. And considering its free to play right now if you have the subscription for ps plus extra (I believe its for extra subscribers but it may be for standard ps plus members too) it's just impossible to not chase a platinum trophy on this one. It's concise but not too much. It does just about everything right. Tbh. One of my favorite games of all time. Which is shocking but its just simple, quick, clean and perfect. Which is my favorite experiences now a days.
Rating - 100/100
telly:
Game 13 - Silent Hill (PS1) - 5 Hours
Ah yes, Silent Hill. My plan for this year is to play through the first four games saving Silent Hill 2 for last and then jump into the remake sometime in October.
There's a lot about the first Silent Hill game that still feels very fresh and interesting. For the time, it was definitely a different take on survival horror than what had been previously established by Resident Evil. Certainly it in my opinion blows the horror element of previous games out of the water and establishes a very creepy atmosphere that's perfectly encapsulated by the music and the graphics particularly the heavy use of fog and darkness. The gameplay itself is a huge improvement over Resident Evil and yet strikes a balance between being functional without the player feeling too overpowered. I happen to really love the tank control scheme that was very prevalent during games of this era even though a lot of people tend to not like them. For me the easiest way to control these games is just to use the directional pad buttons rather than an analog stick, and it works incredibly well. The monster design is really quite impressive however I felt like the boss designs in this game are definitely some of the worst in the series most of them are just giant insects without really any interesting features.
Another aspect of Silent Hill that was unique at the time was the puzzles and in this game the puzzles range from pretty simple to pretty complicated. My favorite puzzle is definitely the piano key puzzle with the birds. I remember having a lot of trouble with it first time I tried the puzzle but this time it was actually pretty easy. The worst puzzle is that damn Zodiac appendage puzzle because it's not well designed at all and is based on faulty logic and information. (FYI, tails and fins are also considered appendages in real biology, and I don't know why a scale would be considered to have two appendages either. It's just a mess of a puzzle). The puzzles aren't the only aspect of the game that's a little hit or miss for me. I found that I enjoyed the story a little bit more than my first playthrough but in general the heavy occult like nature of these games is something that I just have never really been able to get into. I just don't find them particularly interesting and given that the cult is essentially just made of 1 member at this time it just doesn't feel too substantial. Plot is also pretty confusing and once you kind of get what characters are saying to you it fits together pretty well but it's easy to get confused on our first time playthrough. I do like the multiple ending feature which encourages you to replay the game and try to explore new areas in order to uncover all the game secrets.
So overall even though Silent Hill has aged poorly in some aspects it still holds up in a lot of areas and I did enjoy my time playing it
marvelvscapcom2:
Platinum'd Jusant. One of the more enjoyable Platinums. Boy this years "year in review" thread is gonna be very difficult for me. I feel like I've played at least 7 games that will stick with me for life. Congrats everyone on progress at a little past the half year mark!
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