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52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

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bikingjahuty:

--- Quote from: dhaabi on July 31, 2025, 11:33:57 am ---
--- Quote from: bikingjahuty on July 30, 2025, 09:13:35 pm ---Wow, what a drag. Half the games I was deadset on playing this summer are ones I eventually abandoned. While The Witcher 3 was a bit of a wildcard for me given my difficulty playing and beating RPGs, I thought for sure I'd love revisiting DK64. Unfortunately that was not the case and I ended up dropping it out of sheer boredom. Luckily the other two games I set out to beat this summer were ones I really enjoyed.
--- End quote ---

Good on you for having a goal toward playing specific games and at least seeing if they interested you enough to complete them. A lot of the goals I set for myself each year are more like motivators than anything else since I tend to stray from them. If I happen to actually clear a goal, it's just an added bonus.

--- End quote ---


I think because I've had so many other things going on in previous years, I never got to just go wild with playing games at the pace I wish i could. This year, while not completely free of issues or busyness (dealing with some of that right now actually), has been fairly open for me to play games at my heart's content. I'm actually happy I was able to play the four games I set out to play this summer too, since sometimes I jsut don't feel like playing certain games, which was certainly the case with all four of them at one time or another. I have similar goals for games i want to start playing in September and going into October. We'll see if I get to all those, but baring some crazy life event that completely derails me from playing anymore games, I feel pretty confident about beating 100+ games this year. Next year is looking fairly open too, but I'm probably going to tone my output of games played down a bit and focus on other interests, both gaming and non-gaming related.

dhaabi:
47. Mr. Driller || PlayStation || 07.27.2025



For a long time, Mr. Driller has been a game that's interested me for some reason. All this time, I thought it maintained a considerable amount more popularity than I think it actually does, though I suppose it was still popular enough for it to become a franchise. I'm not sure why exactly I bought a PlayStation Classic when I did at the time of its release, but this was actually the first opportunity I found to use it after all these years.

As its name may suggest, Mr. Driller tasks players with drilling downward through a seemingly never-ending layer of blocks as the titular Mr. Driller. One may presume this is some sort of action game—and it is—but it's predominantly within the puzzle genre but with lesser action gameplay alongside it. In short, the player's goal is to drill down far enough to reach a certain depth at 5ft intervals, but this is far easier said than done. While all blocks can be drilled through and destroyed in order to clear this goal, prioritizing one's safety instead becomes the biggest challenge. While drilling, blocks of various colors are stacked atop another in a grid-like fashion, and blocks with the same color link together which prevents them from falling further. Additionally, there are toxic blocks referred to as X-Blocks which I'll mention further below. Once a block connects with an existing group of three or more blocks with the same color, they disappear. Because of this, chain reactions easily form with or without the player's direct involvement, and remaining blocks left on the playing field threaten the player from high above as they fall down.

With that understanding, blocks left on the playing field after others have been removed are not fully bound to gravity. Instead, if a falling block comes into contact with another same-color block or blocks and isn't then automatically removed from the playing field due to block count, it remains suspended in place. This outcome is crucial to identify beforehand while drilling, as knowing what will be suspended and what will fall to the bottom is the difference between moving forward (downward, rather) or losing a player life since there is little working space for Mr. Driller to move throughout. And though each block's color defines them for puzzle-related purposes, they damage players indiscriminately in the same way. When blocks fall, there is a brief wriggle animation that players as they dislodge themselves from their current position. So there is some visual input provided to help aid players avoid death. As a result, players are only given a fleeting moment to plan their next move during this time, whether that be to continue drilling, side-step, or remain still. There is no health system but instead a finite number of player lives, so few errors can be made before reaching a game over. Unlike some other arcade-style games, there is no means to gain or re-gain player lives, although the option to slightly adjust this number is present in the main menu.

However, it is not just the falling blocks which pose a threat to players but time itself too. Instead of a depleting time meter, though, time is representing by the amount of air available for Mr. Driller to breathe as he explores beneath the world's surface. The breathing meter empties fairly quickly, though air capsules may be found nestled between blocks and collected. So, the amount of air available to Mr. Driller is constantly being exhausted and replenished. As players descend further and further below, the game's difficulty naturally increases, and this shift in difficulty forces priorities to change. While the goal of reaching to a specific depth still remains, the player's immediate concern instead becomes collecting air capsules. At first, air capsules are easy to access and with simple block barriers surrounding them, but they become increasingly difficult to gain later on as X-Blocks surround them. So, players are tasked with solving how to collapse individual block columns to actually collect air. Or, needless to say, they will lose a player life once the air meter reaches zero. It is past the game's opening segments that are easier when the game's puzzle mechanics become most present.

Unlike many other arcade-style games, Mr. Driller is not level-based but instead features several different modes including Arcade, Survival, and Time Attack. But for the purposes of my playthrough, I only focused on Arcade which is divided into two objectives: reaching 2,500ft and reaching 5,000ft. Additionally, I later discovered that each mode can have its difficulty adjusted. The expected Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulties appear, but Expert difficulty is also present. I was actually quite surprised at how difficult Normal difficulty is, as I was never even able to clear the 5,000ft objective and only ever reached around half that depth when selecting that depth goal. There is also an arcade scoring system, but I wasn't interested in it as just clearing the game at all proved to be so challenging. Even after spending several hours playing trying to improve my skill and understanding of the game, I felt as if I wasn't making any progress when selecting the 5000ft challenge even when altering my play style. Perhaps I just need to invest even more time into playing is all.

Requiring spontaneous reflexes and strategic planning, Mr. Driller is the kind of puzzle game I typically don't find myself playing. Despite not being that skilled at it, I did still enjoy my time playing, though. I'll probably play a few more rounds with the hopes of just clearing my personal depth record before properly retiring it. I own one other sequel entry I may get around to playing sometime, and I'm now curious just how challenging it may be.

dhaabi:
48. Will the Man Get Frog || Pico-8 || 07.30.2025



After trying to settle on something and having a difficult time doing so, I decided to play the game Will the Man Get Frog. It's not a game I'd typically find myself playing, but that's part of the reason I'm becoming drawn to smaller gaming experiences. Also, this marks the first Pico-8 game I've played to completion.

Why Will the Man Get Frog is an unusual selection for me to play is that it's a game about writing. Specifically, it's about writing haiku, a kind of poetry. While creative writing has a degree of being free-form without constraint regarding the possibilities it may take even when adhering to defining format and conventions, this game places hard limits on the player's writing capabilities. With each playthrough, players are restricted to only a small pool of thirty core words to choose from that aren't quite manually chosen and are ultimately assigned with each writing prompt. However, this barrier forces the player to think more creatively. Additionally, there is one major requirement, and that is being forced to use one specific word randomly assigned with each prompt which I'd argue also promotes better writing abilities. So, the required word in my playthrough seen above is the word fruit. And, finally, I'll mention now that there isn't any time limit to complete a haiku, meaning players can take as much time as they want to write.

Be that as it may, playthroughs are not fully randomized. In fact, players have a fair amount of freedom in the word types they're provided. While they can't freely select individual words, players have full control over the type of words that are distributed. So, this means how many nouns, verbs, and so forth are added to the pool is the player's choice. So, if a player thinks they'll need more nouns to write with, they should obviously select a greater number of nouns than other word types. But, naturally, there is a balance required in order for the end result to be cohesive and for there to be some inherent reward gained. But, in the end, it is the player themselves who are their own judge. There is no scoring system or online components integrated, so writing is entirely for self-fulfillment unless electing to share it later on with whomever.

Alongside the allotted words at random when choosing word types, many words are capable of morphing into other forms or a small number of synonyms. So, words like there will also grant access to their and they're, for instance. Or articles will be grouped together, such as a, an, and the. At the same time, certain words also have alternate words in the form of synonyms which helps writing sound more natural. An example of this would be rare supplying scarce. Lastly, prefixes and suffixes are present and freely provided alongside the thirty words, and default punctuation can even be changed. Words can be selected and discarded freely as writing editing is done, and there is no limit to word usage. So, needless to say, there is a lot of flexibility to express one's self even in spite of the imposed limitations.

Finding this game has actually been timely, as preparations are being made among myself and a few friends to begin following creative writing exercises and critiques, something which I've never really done before in that sort of setting. I don't really know if Will the Man Get Frog helped prepare me in any way for these upcoming plans, but it felt nice to write something creatively. In fact, I even completed two writings.

telly:
Game 16 - Silent Hill 4: The Room (PS2) - 9 Hours

I do miss this era of gaming when companies could truly take risks with their IPs. Most people will tell you that Silent Hill 4 is a game of opposites. That it has some truly great and truly terrible aspects all rolled into one messy experience. Personally, I agree: Silent Hill 4 has some fantastic ideas at its core, but there are lots of little gameplay and design decisions that hold back the experience from being truly great.

However, Silent Hill 4 is my second favorite game right after 2. My favorite idea is the room itself (well, more like “apartment” might be a better word. But whatever). Creating a horror game that builds up the player’s dependence with a safe space where they can rest, heal and save their progress to then pull that right out from under you is truly genius horror game design. The switch to first-person combined with a random element to the events that can happen keeps you engaged and on your toes. Staying on gameplay, several of the enemy designs were excellent, and the inclusion of the ghosts and Walter who are both indestructible and can go through walls and doors added a lot of tension to the environment.

I also really liked the story in this game, and the way that it was told. It’s told in a lot more straightforward way through the red diary and notes left throughout the forest areas. You can tell how this game was really forced into the Silent Hill mythos, but I still liked it better than Silent Hill 1 and 3. It’s a deep dive into Walter’s subconscious which brought back more of the intentional level design seen in SH2, while also giving backstory and personality to his life and history with the cult and his murder sprees. For my money, his story is way more interesting and fleshed out than Alessa’s.

Now, there is a laundry list of things that while not a dealbreaker on their own, all add up to lessen the game’s experience. The controls and camera have been completely reworked. Gone are the classic tank controls with a more standard control scheme that just doesn’t work with all the shifting camera angles throughout the game. The limited inventory, like in Resident Evil, causes a lot of unnecessary trips back to your apartment just to dump all your stuff. Having half of the game be an escort mission with Eileen gets to be a little frustrating with her somewhat dubious AI. Henry Townshend is pretty bland and forgettable with no backstory or any interesting features. And finally, the sound design, enemy design, art design and music can be a little hit or miss. Some of it is great, but others, like the stock sound effects for enemies, and Eilleen’s weird bloody skin texture, takes a lot of punch out of the game’s atmosphere. And come on, wheelchairs and bugs/slugs as enemies?

Even though Silent Hill 4 is deeply flawed, I still love it. Flaws included. Shoutout to dhaabi who sent me their copies of the other Silent Hill games so I can do a full playthrough of the series! Origins is next.  :)

telly:
Game 17 - Doom II (PS4) (Hurt Me Plenty Difficulty) - 19 Hours

Hey was able to finish another game this weekend!

Doom II is essentially just the original Doom +1. There are a couple new weapons and enemies, but it really isn't a massive departure from the original, and as a result everything I liked about the original Doom (as well as the things I didn't like) are still here.

I do think that some of Doom II’s level design, while great for the most part, has some issues. I didn’t like levels that were focused on platforming, or on puzzle solving. I like streamlined action, and level design that caters to running and gunning, which is the focus of the game for me. There are a couple levels, especially the citadel level, that felt annoying because they were so cryptic to figure out how to navigate and it sucked all the fun and pacing out of the experience. These levels don't take up most of the game, so for the most part I enjoyed myself. The only other thing I can think of is that the music was kind of lame. Going into the Doom series I knew it for being fast paced action and kick-ass music. Like the first game, the music, other than a few standout tracks, isn’t really that great.

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