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52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

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bikingjahuty:
124. Resident Evil 3 Nemesis (PS1)

As long as a game isn't abysmally bad or I suppose incredibly mediocre, I always think it's good to revisit a game to see if maybe my opinion on it has changed since the last time I played it. This can be a double edged sword in that sometimes I dislike the game more upon beating it again, but sometimes things go in a more positive direction. Such is the case with Resident Evil 3 Nemesis (RE3), which I last played in 2020, and prior to that I've beat it at least twice before since first beating it back in the early/mid 2000s.


Resident Evil 3 is still my least favorite of the classic RE trilogy, but that is by no means a slight at RE3. RE3 is a very fun game that possesses all the charm and atmosphere of the previous two games, albeit it just doesn't do it for me in other departments, mainly its gameplay. The gameplay in RE3 is nearly stripped right out of RE2, however where it falls short somewhat is in how much more linear of a game it is and also how there are certain puzzles and mechanics that do impact the overall experience in a negative way. Is there were more puzzles in RE3, the ones it does posses wouldn't stick out at much, but unfortunately RE3 has some of the worst puzzles in the entire franchise, especially the music box and water purity puzzles. Aside from that, it is worth noting that RE3 introduced a sidestep mechanic which allows you to dodge an enemy attack by pressing the aim button at just the right time. As I noted in my previous review, this mechanic can be useful, but I found it also put me in harms way just as soon as it took me out of it at times. After replaying RE3 again, part of me isn't sure if this is more due to poorly designed boss fights at certain points or the side step mechanic itself. Either way, I didn't find it as useful as Capcom probably intended it to be.


Still despite these blemishes, your mileage will certainly vary with this game depending on how fond you are of classic RE tank controls. Personally, I kinda like them and they are how I originally experienced these games back in the day when I first started playing them in the early 2000s. Capcom did a great job of making the otherwise stiff and cumbersome movement controls work in the games favor and also add to the foreboding, almost hopeless at times atmosphere the game is heavily going for. Still, despite RE3's attempts to lure you into its brutal, harrowing setting, this game is probably one of the easiest in the franchise, even when playing in hard mode. Ammo practically grows out of the cracks in the cement, herbs and healing sprays are plentiful, and enemies, minus a few boss encounters, are easily dispatched after just a few rounds from a shotgun. There is also gun powder littered throughout the game which can be transformed into more ammo, not that you'll ever need it. While you would be missing out on all the crucial story bits present in RE1 and RE2, if you wanted to ease yourself gently into the classic RE games, this would definitely be the one to do it with.


Before I move onto this game's presentation, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the most memorable part of this game, Nemesis. Nemesis is the original stalker enemy type (although I suppose scissor man in Clock Tower sort of beats him by a few years), and this guy will put you on edge throughout the game. RE3 does advertise when he's potentially going to pop through a door at the end of an ally or chase you into a nearby building with various music cues, but this does little to distract from how tense this game gets when he's near. It's not until the end of the game where you can truly beat him; your only options are to run from him or empty an obscene amount of ammo into him, which only stalls him for a bit and allows you to collect special items if you do this. I always choose to run from him until the parts in the game where you have to face him, but otherwise he is what absolutely makes RE3 standout from any other game in the series.


RE3 looks incredible for a PS1 game released in 1999. The pre-rendered backgrounds with 3D character and enemy models still look excellent in 2025, and it all definitely contributes heavily to why this game is still so charming to look at. Games that look and feel like this are somewhat of a lost art, even though at the time of release, RE3 wasn't the best looking game. The only thing holding this game back from being a perfect visual masterpiece is the derivative setting and enemies that make this game feel more like an RE2 expansion at times rather than a full fledged sequel. Like RE2, the game takes place in a zombie infested Raccoon City with everything around you literally falling apart. You even revisit some of the same locations you did in RE2 like the police station. There is just a bit too much deja vu in RE3 for my liking, but in many ways this isn't such a bad thing given how awesome the setting was in RE2 and still is in RE3.


Finally, the sound design is pretty good for the most part. The soundtrack in this game, while not the best of the classic RE games, is still good and fits with the action and eeriness of the game very well. There's also a lot of hammy voice acting in RE3, just like in the previous two games. For me, it's not nearly as endearing, but equally amateurish as those previous games. Sound design is also pretty good overall, with the sound of zombies in the distance constantly reminding you how dire everything is around you. Likewise, you'll often hear the footsteps or moans of enemies before you actually see them, putting you on edge as you round every corner.


As I said earlier in this review, RE3 is my least favorite of the old school Resident Evil games, but even with that said, I definitely enjoyed and appreciated this game more than I did in my 2020 playthrough. RE3's distinct ideneity absolutely makes it worth playing and makes it fit right in with RE1 and RE2, almost making it essentially that you play all three of these games. Over 25 years later and encountering Nemesis still makes me say, "Oh Shit! Oh Shit!" out loud every time I encounter him. Definitely play this amazing, classic horror game. It's not perfect or as good as the first two games, but still a riot to play even to this day. (12/20/25) [36/50]

bikingjahuty:
125. Home Alone (Genesis)

Despite not being aware of it at the time, one of the most important days of my entire life was the day my dad walked through our front door on my 6th birthday with a massive bag in hand. I wouldn't even let him wrap it for me, which he probably gladly obliged and just gave me what was inside the bag. The contents of the bag would include my first game console, the Sega Genesis, along with four games, Batman Returns, The Flintstones, Home Alone, and the console pack in of Sonic the Hedgehog. Being completely unaware at the time that my dad likely just threw whatever games were in the bargain bin at Sears or wherever he bought the console, I was stoked to have four new games to play! All four games are insanely nostalgic for me and take me back to my early days of gaming as a young kid. A game I spent a copious amount of time with despite it probably taking me weeks to figure out how to actually play it was Home Alone.


Home Alone is a hard game to classify in terms of genre. It's not really a platformer or an action game. The closes thing I can think of is the most boring run and gun game you will ever played. Oh, and in true Home Alone fashion, it has traps for you to set for the wet bandits. The objective of the game is to inflict as much pain on the Wet Bandits before they successfully loot the five houses in your neighborhood. Aside from setting traps, you can also craft several guns from items you find in the house, as well as snowmen you can ram your sleigh into when traveling between homes. Aside from the setting of traps, none of this other stuff is all that intuitive and as I mentioned, it took me weeks as a 6 year old to figure out what I was even supposed to do in this game. Unfortunately when you do figure it out, it doesn't make the game much better as you'll pretty much just be causing as much damage with your traps before they disappear and then you'll need to just bait Harry and Marv into chasing you so you can unload into them again, and again, and again...and again until you've saved the house. It's as boring and tedious as it sounds. Do this for 20-minutes and ensure at least one of the five houses hasn't been looted and flooded, and boom! You just beat the game!


Fortunately Home Alone's presentation is much better than its gameplay, but still does very little to make this an enjoyable game. Kevin, Harry, and Marv all look they like do in the movie, albeit with a 16-bit, 2D makeover. Even the houses feel reminiscent of how Kevin's home looks in the movie. Speaking of the houses, each of them has its own distinct look and charm to it that makes them unique. One house is meant to be the McCallister house, but there's a neat futuristic home, a home that looks like it's condemned, and then finally two other homes that semi resemble Kevin's house, but with their own little quarks. The devs could have easily just taken the lazy way out and just made the homes color pallet swaps of each other, but the fact they made them all distinct definitely deserves recognition.


Speaking of making the homes distinct, each home also has its own theme, which for a movie game from the 90s actually has a pretty good soundtrack! On top of that, sound effects from Kevin's weapons and booby traps all have their own cool noises which also give them a bit of character. It's just too bad the dev for this game didn't put as much effort into the gameplay as the visuals and music.


I won't mince words or try and deny it, my nostalgia carries this game immensely. Had this not been a game I played, beat and did it all over again countless times as a young kid, I'd likely have not even got through the whopping 20-minutes it takes to beat it. Home Alone isn't a terrible game, but it's also not a good one. If you're looking for a 16 bit Christmas themed game, I guess give it a try, but don't expect some sort of hidden gem here. Even with my sentimental feelings for this game, I still find it to be a mostly boring, tedious, and shallow game that would have been barely worth a rental back in the 90s. But hey! I owned it and still do lol. (12/20/25) [28/50]

dhaabi:
63. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis || PlayStation || 12.08.2025



Looking back to just a few months ago, I can't remember if it was Resident Evil 2 (RE2) or Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (RE3) that I felt most hesitant toward playing. Before playing each, I was aware of the games' immediate antagonistic force that patrols the player's movements, which is a horror gameplay element that perhaps most makes me uncomfortable. So since RE2 didn't provide that level of despair, I began playing with more emotional caution than I typically do before starting a new horror game, since surely it was this third entry that would elevate the franchise's horror which has, up to this point, not really been intimidating.

Unlike the previous two titles, RE3 forgoes the character select system while instead offering only one narrative campaign. Since I haven't played through the previous games more than once to know what their other campaigns are like, I presume there's really not much different between them besides some minor progression differences. With that said, I think the decision to focus on only one campaign is to the RE3's benefit, as I find it on a general development standpoint more superior. Whether it's because the game doesn't need to limit itself to a smaller and more confined area or if it's just the natural evolution of the series, this third entry is far more open-ended than what's preceded it. During outdoor exploration, the city itself is divided into two halves and feels larger than any one environment presented so far. There's a fair amount of freedom for players to explore and solve puzzles in the order they want to, and the city's size makes remembering all the individual puzzles that typically can't be completed when they're first discovered a challenge in itself.

I imagine that throughout development, Capcom concluded that another game set primarily indoors would become tedious to players, so much of this third entry takes players outdoors in an expansive city overrun by the undead and mutated. However, this is not to suggest that players are limited to outdoors only during this section of the game, as it's further divided into smaller sections of both indoor and outdoor areas, which is something that I find to be a sharp contrast to the previous two games' environments. Another novel approach to level design is that players briefly return to the city police station that's the main hub section of RE2. As the stories of both RE2 and RE3 take place simultaneously, this stage progression provides an interesting opportunity to see what takes place at a familiar site at a earlier point of time while also forming a more holistic understanding of what will become three of the franchise's protagonists. But what's also being accomplished is that this inclusion provides the immediate means of morphing the familiar into something different to maintain anxiety.

Regarding the level of success the game's horror achieves, it is somewhat difficult to assess. Something I've already realized even before having played through this third entry is that it's common for boss encounters to be more challenging than they have any reason being. It's not that any encounter (whether its challenge is appropriate or not) has ever barred me from progressing, but it's become expected for some to be so needlessly difficult. In RE3 specifically, there were several instances requiring numerous attempts to win, therefore requiring having to reload the save file, adjust my inventory, travel to where I'm needed to be, and rewatch any cutscenes (some of which, fortunately, can be skipped.) The entire process becomes irritating, and it all cultivates into a sense of emotion that's removed any horror from the experience and instead negatively reinforces that this is a game with reoccurring unfair game design.

Still, I can't discuss the nature of Nemesis itself, the eponymous antagonistic entity who stalks the player. Prior to playing RE3, I thought Nemesis would be a much more threatening and ominous force, but that wasn't the case as there it's only active during certain scripted segments. In fact, even when Nemesis is present, it's easy to avoid; I don't think I was ever once attacked by it outside of boss battles even. Throughout the beginning half of the game, Nemesis makes several appearances but can just be avoided altogether, as it's only at the end of the game when the final showdown occurs. Nevertheless, there is some heightened tension during any of the timed Nemesis encounters. More often than not, players will need to make a mad dash to the next immediate point of interest, and Nemesis is almost always right behind you, slow to follow you but then quickly gaining momentum due to its faster speed.

As the series advances with each title, some quality-of-life updates are to be expected and are introduced. My favorite of such changes are to the map system, which has up to this point has lacked detail. Now, maps indicate structural details such as staircases, where the room is walkable or blocked off, and are even clearly labeled including pinpointing where save point typewriters are located. Other small updates relate to exploration and combat. A button input allowing players to perform a 180° quick-turn has been implemented, though I almost exclusively utilized this capability during certain boss encounters. Additionally, the ability to dodge enemy attacks is now available, though I found it more cumbersome to actually purposefully utilize than not. Another small detail I'll mention now is that destructable environmental pieces are now integrated into combat, such as oil barrels, though it's a feature that's seldom present. And, lastly, I'll briefly mention the game's puzzle design. For the first time in the series, puzzles are consistently well-designed that go far beyond the banal find-item-and-use-it-elsewhere barriers the previous two games almost exclusively utilized.

Meanwhile, two larger gameplay mechanics are also introduced: ammunition crafting and the Live Selection choice system. The former is actually robust and allows for players to prioritize combat how they prefer, but it's also a feature that's presented altogether at once in the game's initial playable moments and may come across as convoluted at first. Directly related to this system is the game's heavy emphasis not on resource management but inventory management. RE3 regularly provides players with several items at once despite their limited inventory size, so they'll be forced to drop off items and return to collect what's remaining. I spent far more time than I'd ever think I would have in the inventory. Now, the latter Live Selection system is intriguing, and it has far more consequence than I was led to believe during my playthrough. At certain moments, players will be forced to make one of two choices, leading to two different outcomes. As I played, I assumed that one choice simply made the situation more difficult, but the choice players make determines level progression and the opportunity to acquire some items earlier or even at all. While there are two overt options to choose, there is actually a third, which is the decision to not select either choice. From my understanding, this indecision never gives advantage to the player. As I'm now better informed about this system, it's easy to acknowledge how this alone can alter one playthrough from the next with some degree of significance.

Now, what is perhaps, in my opinion, the least important aspect worth discussing is the game's narrative. For what it is, the story is adequate and maintains player engagement. The subplot regarding a certain character and their alignment felt underdeveloped, though there is more than ever before to discover and read regarding the events leading up to the ongoing outbreak. As an aside, I'll also briefly mention the game's technical qualities. At this point, vocal performances have lost their low-quality camp while still maintaining a subpar delivery, so it only comes off as amateurish. However, graphics are detailed and feel lively: raging fires block off city streets, broken fire hydrants are burst open with water spewing high, and zombies may barrel out from seemingly abandoned vehicles.

Somewhat to my surprise, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is a game that I enjoyed considerably more than the second title and maybe even more than the debut title too, which is certainly in part to its comprehensive environments and more fulfilling accomplishment of exploration. Still, its greatest weakness is just how willing it is to remove players out of the action and instead into the inventory, resulting in horror often becoming sheer frustration.

dhaabi:

--- Quote from: bikingjahuty on December 20, 2025, 06:11:29 pm ---124. Resident Evil 3 Nemesis (PS1)
--- End quote ---

It's interesting to see where our opinions overlap and differ from another. Despite mentioning how I think I may have enjoyed Resident Evil 3: Nemesis more than the previous two series titles, I'm not one to rank or score games. To me, they're all three about on par to each other considering their time of release and existence as debut, sequel, and third entry titles.

Also, at this point, I can see why Resident Evil is the most popular horror franchise (objectively at this time and arguably not anymore), but I'm still far more captivated and unnerved by Silent Hill. Yet even if Silent Hill debuted first, I think Resident Evil would have gained the broad audience appeal.

telly:
Game 29: Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated - 10 Hours

This might be my final game beat of the year! It's been fun going back to some of these nostalgic older games from my childhood. Just like with Ty the Tasmania Tiger, SS: BBB is a really fun romp that while definitely not as challenging as I remember, was still a very enjoyable platformer with great gameplay and fun level design. The sound and music was a little annoying, and the game has some general glitchiness and jankiness, but then again, so did the original. Nothing really else that I can say, still a fun game after all these years!

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