52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

[dhaabi]

08. Radio Hammer || Nintendo 3DS || 01.22.25



After looking over the small library of games I have installed on my 3DS system, I settled on playing the rhythm game Radio Hammer. Before playing, I really didn't know much about it aside from its gameplay, so I was hoping for it to be good enough to keep me engaged.

As a rhythm game, Radio Hammer adopts highway lane gameplay mechanics. From the right side of the screen, enemies representing musical beats run toward the player-character which requires the player to attack them. By default, there are only two lanes for enemies to traverse, meaning that there are only two different actions to take: either aim your attack toward the top or bottom lane. However, there is an option for players to limit the lane number to only one that instead forces all enemies to rush toward you in a line, which is much easier. In a way, I found it to be a handicap of sorts, and I only found myself needing to use it twice for overcoming optional late-game challenges. Additionally, there is some degree of control preference, as either the D-pad or face buttons can be utilized, and interchangeably too. Playing interchangeably was my preference throughout the entire campaign, as it seemed far easier for each of the two enemy types (top and bottom lane) to have full dedication to one hand instead of constantly moving both thumbs back-and-forth from one button to another.

During gameplay, action prompts are rewarded with typical rhythm genre feedback scores such as Perfect and Miss. At certain points during each track, a gift bonus appearing from the left side of the screen appears which can either be taken or ignored. Eventually, these gifts have the possibility to instead be trap boxes which should always be avoided. Otherwise, players should prioritize taking the gift as their bonus allowed for the special gauge to fill more quickly. There is only a short window of time for this while gameplay speedily moves along, but the timing for these boxes to appear follows along with the track beat and generally in short moments of rest, so it's not all too difficult knowing when to expect them. Regarding the aforementioned special gauge, its meter increases with each successful action and prevents the player from taking damage once full during its brief activation period.

For most players, they will be spending the majority of their time—or even all of their time—playing story mode. In what seems like it could be controversial among players, selecting a stage while in story mode often does not present just one song. Instead, a majority of stages combine as many as five individual tracks together which must all be completed to progress. Song transitions aren't mixed to be seamless, and there are even certain transitions which prompt a brief loading screen. Perhaps because the length for each track is short, stages will regularly recycle tracks previously played. Personally, I would have preferred dedicated songs for each stage and only limited to one in total, but this design choice was ultimately fine to play through. Still, as stage design is now, a lot of each chapter's late stages wear out their welcome even if total stage duration may only be five minutes at most. However, story mode does excel at presenting different styles and genres of music presented through its four characters. They each have their own simple narratives to follow and unique tracks to play too. In order to progress from one player to another, the player is required to fully finish the current character's story. For what it offers, the game's story mode is fine but it's really not noteworthy or memorable, and the three narratives are not interconnected.

Throughout the story mode, a score meter is present, but it has no bearing on the player's success. Instead, simply completing each stage with any amount of health remaining is the goal for this mode. Fortunately, though, there is an achievement system which adds some degree of replayability and an incentive to perform with higher proficiency. Only after achieving each stage's goals is the player awarded three possible stars, though earning them is entirely optional. With that said, another play mode becomes available as the player progresses through the story, which is a freeplay type mode that does judge the player based on their score. Those exploring this mode will be likely feel pleased that they're able to freely select individual tracks instead of a predetermined set. A randomized stage select mode is also present, complete with varying difficulty variances. I actually didn't spend time playing any other mode besides story mode, as I found it sufficient enough. I wasn't particularly challenged while playing and there are no leaderboards, so I saw little reason to play for score.

While I wasn't impressed with Radio Hammer at first—and I suppose I'm still not, though it's certainly a fine game—my opinion of it did become higher as my playthrough continued. There is a lot of replayability to be enjoyed for those who seek it, and its core campaign offers a good enough challenge (particularly the late-game, as to be expected) and especially so if wanting to achieve three stars for each stage.

[bikingjahuty]

11. Yoshi's Crafted World (Switch)

My wife and I were massive fans of the local co-op multiplayer of Yoshi's Wooly World on the Wii U, so when we found out it was getting sort of, kind of a sequel on the Switch, we were there day 1 to pick it up. Unfotunately, neither of us connected with Crafted World the same way we did with its predecessor, and we ended up dropping the game about 10 stages in. That was back in 2019, and since then we've brought Crafted World up numerous times and how we should have given the game more of a chance and also tried not to compare it too much with Wooly World. Well, nearly 6-years later we finally picked Crafted World back up and we are both very happy we did.


Yoshi's Crafted World is an incredibly charming, adorable, well made, and above all else, fun game. While it's still on the easy side when it comes to platformers, it's still very fun to see all the levels which all are different and unique from one another. One will be in a jungle setting, while the next is in a haunted mansion, and then the next will have you launching into space. Everything in the levels looks like some very well done school art project, and it's truly remarkable how creative the team that made this game was in finding every day items to model various enemies, bosses, stage props, and various other visuals aspects of the game with. It definitely kept the game feeling fresh and unique throughout and made me want to see what the next stage was like. One disappointment, especially when compared to Wooly World is the quality of the collectables and extras within the game. My wife and I replayed stages over and over again to get secret items and other collectables we needed to unlock different Yoshi colors or other unlockables. However, in Crafted World, you're more or less limited to using coins you collect in each stage to purchase fairly lackluster, bulky costumes for your Yoshi, which really didn't do anything for me, or incentive deep exploration of each level. Music and audio is pretty good in general, but nothing incredibly, especially compared to many other Nintendo OSTs. Overall, my wife and I really enjoyed Crafted World, althopugh I do have to admit that if I wasn't playing this game with her I'd have definitely enjoyed it less, mostly because of how easy the game is and its limited mechanics. But for what is' worth, I definitely recommend this game and its definitely one I misjudged at first. (1/26/25) [37/50]

[tripredacus]

6. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Steam)
There is not much that I like about this game. The sound is not good and the music is also not great. I mean the music is what you would expect but the levels vs sound is not correct. It also does not operate properly on actual 5.1, it puts the ambient sounds in the wrong places or doesn't play them at all. Obviously this is a console conversion that isn't done properly. Default controls do not use the mouse at all and uses a strange keyboard layout that is reminiscent of an 80s game. At least it supports the controller which is good enough. It was also interesting there is no dialog except for grunts and laughs.

It looks alright and the auto-aim on the blaster is good. I had some issues with the 3D space with facing the correct way or also when using jumps. As such, the platforming sections were somewhat difficult for me to do. I did recognize that the game is made for children and is quite forgiving in regards to difficulty. Also I like the collectible aspect in the game, it would have been quite fun to do when I was younger. There is no Steam achievements for this game so there is no real point in bothering to be a completionist or farm the enemies.

The game softlocked on me during the pod race stage. Basically I had not raced well enough in the first two laps so that when it autosaved at the start of the final lap, there was no chance for me to win the race. The gameplay and mechanics were not interesting enough to me to restart to beat that stage and I just knew there would be more 3D platforming sections I wouldn't be able to stand in later levels.

7. Xevious (NES)
This was not the game I thought it was. I haven't played this since I was a kid and I think I made the same mistake back then also with thinking it was a different game. I'm not concerned about finding out what the correct game was, as it doesn't matter. It has some interesting things in the stages but is really quick basic. Even using arcade stick I didn't feel like the ship was fast enough to evade during tough sections. Also this game gave me the feel that it was possible to do a peaceful run, but I'm not the type to take the time to learn how to do that.

[Cartagia]

Finished up Metroid Prime Remastered this morning.  I'm really amazed at how solid the overall level design feels for a first stab at a 3D Metroid-vania style game.  The updated controls make it actually playable, but I couldn't stop thinking about how much it feels like a new game that could have come out in the last 5 years.  It does start wearing out its welcome a little bit during the endgame fetch quest, and there is a pretty limited number of enemies (lots of recolors for different wekness, etc), but really, really please with how well the game holds up.  And the remastered visuals looks great!

[kashell]

16. Sayonara Wild Hearts

I was at a friend's house last night, and he wanted to show me this game. So he did. And then, we finished it by swapping the controller between levels. What a dynamic, euphoric, and addictive game this was. And the messages at the end really hit home given how much change I'm going through this year. Sometimes, games (like people) enter your life at just the right time. Now it's time to hunt down the soundtrack because OH MY GOD it was something.

[Cartagia]

Firewatch is definitely one of the best "walking simulators" I've played.  Good visuals, an actually engaging mystery, and amazing voice acting.  I don't think I would have actually played this if not for my Steam Deck.

[bikingjahuty]

12. Virtua Fighter Kids (Saturn)

I remember seeing ads for Virtua Fighter Kids all over the place in the mid-90s, as well as a friend of mine really wanting this game for some reason during that time. I think I played this game a handful of times growing up, I can't honestly remember, but I have played it as an adult several times, albeit not for a long time. Returning to Virtua Fighter Kids after all this time was a fun little novelty that I enjoyed for the 25-minutes or so it took me to beat the game with two different characters (Sarah and Akira). The high pitched voices of the characters cracked me up on several occasions, and the arranged, cute-ified OST can be catching, but is nowhere near as good as the original VF2 OST it's based on. Visuals are also decent with the stages being way more cartoonish and kid oriented, all of which goes along with the chibi-ish characters with their massive heads. There's also fun things like some of the characters getting X marks in their eyes when you defeat them. Gameplay, however, is Virtua Fighter Kids biggest weakness. It's not terrible, but it noticably has some strange hit detection and character reach isn't great either. Otherwise, the controls for the moves is about the same. One thing of note is that VF Kids is way easier than VF2, probably going along with the more kid friendly aesthetic. As mentioned, Virtua Fighter Kids is a fun little novelty title that is fun for maybe an hour or so, but I can't imagine this game being any more than a rental back in the day, or just a curiosity now. (2/1/25) [30/50]

[marvelvscapcom2]

Firewatch is definitely one of the best "walking simulators" I've played.  Good visuals, an actually engaging mystery, and amazing voice acting.  I don't think I would have actually played this if not for my Steam Deck.

I loved firewatch! My favorite is that you can almost feel where a trope would be, can almost feel the anticipation for a big sunset moment that never comes and the game always avoids it. It really was divisive on it's ending because of that. But I like that it felt more believable and went against the grain. It didnt try to force a octagon into a hexagon cutout for the sake of it.  One of my favorite character developments in gaming.

I do reccomend Road 96 if you enjoyed Firewatch. Also a walking simulator with deep character bonding but with maybe more range on what you can do dialogue wise. Think telltale but way less linear and you actually control
the character and with a really unique story. It has survival elements. Theirs plenty of ways to play. And lots of different ways for the story to unfold. A true hidden diamond.

[bikingjahuty]

13. Fighters Megamix (Saturn)

They may have never been a game, like ever, that I misjudged so much the first time I played it than Fighters Megamix. To put it lightly, I kinda hated this game the first time I played it. I have no idea why, since after replaying it tonight, I got hooked on unlocking as many characters as I could within reason, which by the way, is one of the most fun aspects of this game. But unlockable characters from a ton of different Sega properties aside, this is still an incredibly fun game. The gameplay is undeniably less deep than what is found in Virtua Fighter 2 or 3, and is even kinda broken at times, but for what it lacks in refinement, it makes up for in the pure joy of beating the hell out of your opponent as a character from Virtua Fighter or even the Hornet race car from Daytona USA. No, I am not kidding. The audio is also excellent as many tracks from the various represented Sega franchises are present, as well as some pretty catchy original tracks. Visually, the game as a ton to offer in terms of almost as many stages as there are characters, including the unlockable and hidden ones, and also the character models all look good for the most part. I seriously had a hard time putting this game down tonight; what started as me thinking I'd play this game for 15 minutes, beat it, and never want to play it again, turned into literally 4 straight hours of unlocking nearly every character in the game and beating it over and over again with a dozen characters at least. I full heartedly apologize to Sega for misjudging this game for years. I now actually like it slightly more than a few core VF games. Crazy how that ended up working out lol. (2/1/25) [35/50]

[Cartagia]

I'd watched a couple of different playthroughs of Doki Doki Literature Club, but I finally sat down to play it myself.  It really lets the writing and music shine when you are the one playing it.  The hints and clues about the real nature of the game are super subtle,but it's fun to try and spot them if you already know where it's going, and the big twist still works narratively.

[marvelvscapcom2]

8. MAFIA III Definitive Edition - Finished Feb 5th, 2025





Review - Mafia III is pretty rad folks. Its a vicious stronghold on MOB related video game media. Take on the role of Lincoln Clay.  You play as a black man in 1968. Where the main challenge of the game is well.... being a black man in 1968. Which as you imagine is about as one would assume.  The game is rampant with period appropriate culture from the POV of a man who has been scorned by a heavily racist, corrupt and often times turbulent south Louisiana. Which includes very real interpretations of true hardships of the time.  Lynchings. Rape. And of course cults. The game has it all.  It can be humbling at times. Not for the faint of heart. Especially racially.


The game has excellent art direction. The realism is many times greater than GTA or Saints row.  Cars behave believably. Traffic moves aside when you honk. Cars sometimes take a bit to start. Stealth feels extremely authentic. Where if an enemy spots you. They kinda second guess and move in to investigate. They dont just lock on like Bonnie and Clyde. Their are methods of diversion and the brutal kill sequences are gorey and sick.


The duality of man shows up when interacting with Father James. Who is a very important mediator to the games basis. Who is basically Lincoln's conscience in human form Lincoln is a man scorned. Hes been through pain. But tethering the ying from yang can be difficult for both player and the character. Father James has some of the most profound quotes ive heard in these types of sandbox games. Such as

"If you spend all your time looking for the evil of the world, evil is all you're gonna find"

And

"Their will never be another Bobby Kennedy. Never he another Martin Luther King Jr.  But their will always be a f-ing Sal Marcano (mobster)" 

The game engrosses you in another angle of mob culture. The victim of mob brutality seeking revenge. Without spoiling anything. The game is flat out unique in this perspective especially for the franchise.  And I love the idea of running a mob to fight the mob. Especially as a black man. As black run mobs did exist but this has a feel goodness to it to kill racists or even worse the klan.  It hurts at times to play.  its grossly painful to witness the racism. Think like watching the color purple.  But theirs also a Jackie Robinson redemption to it that is just fun to partake in. Killing NPC has never felt so good as when they just called you a dirty [racist explitive] two minutes prior.


The associates you meet are diverse in personality. Fun. And depending on your needs, interests and playstyle. You may find yourself angling towards giving rackets to certain affiliates.  Cassandra for guns. Vito for health and protection and Burke for cars.  I liked this aspect. And loved the meet ups.


The era appropriate music, ambiabce all feels like something right out of a vintage Jimi Hendrix vhs. Like a stinky vingnette. The game has that hue about it. It has art. Dialogue and music booming from the vibrant time of 1960s in America.


Lincoln's pain is palpable. The side missions and dlc such as when Lincoln bonds with the girl the evil cult drugged. It is just wildly sad. And some of the more profound moments ive seen in these types of games. You get engrossed quick.


My only con. The game is 100+ hours long. And towards the end. The side objectives of taking out infornants and robbing cash loots perhaps could have gone with a bit more variety on types of invasions. These are about 8 to do for each underboss and it woulda been better if it had more tailing missions, or plot driven cut scenes. These objectives seem to loop over and over and get a bit overdone by the end.


Overall I love how the player forms the story, and how Lincolns destiny unravels before us.  Sammys bar. The glory of making cobbler out of a rotten georgia peach.  The game is a cinematic movie and it well deserves a play.

Rating - 95/100

[marvelvscapcom2]

9. Gori Cuddly Carnage - Finished Feb 6th, 2025



Review - Gori Cuddly Carnage is pretty sick. Its basically Sunset Overdrive meets Conkers bad fur day. A rail grind hack and slash with a foul mouth hoverboard.  I basically decided to buy it because of another users recommendation (realpoketendonl)   So I do thank them. And i'm not disappointed in it. Its hacking gory glorious fun.  And actually kinda harkons back to a simpler time with games. It doesnt go heavy on movie style dragged on plot. Or go 100 hours in run time. It just really is a simple sit on the couch with your wife and laugh kinda game   and boy is it zaney.


The animation is neon, pastel, vibrant and wildly colorful. The bosses are memorable. Especially the final boss fight sequence which is a chef's kiss. The gore. Fluidity and consistent frames are always wonderful.  Its fast paced and never seems to feel out of control.

The slashing combos, collecting and shop all are great. It has a very ps2 era god of war button mash feel which if you love the genre of hack and slash. Its one of those must plays. You go what feels like 100+ mph but somehow seem to always be well in grip of everything. Its centered. The rocket leveling system. How grinding gives you fuel. Fuel gives you moves. Its all a well oiled machine
 Its certainly got a arcade feel to it. And I adore it. The cat gori and his group of misfit friends just endure. And grow to become very memorable.  It is simple to play. But their were moments where planning was necessary. And it still has lots of powers, moves, combos and neatness to how you tackle a boss. I feel it balances the best of both.


You just hoverboard through the world and slash unicorns as a scarred cat with a passive aggressive AI friend, a foul mouth hoverboard and a lunatic gold fish. Tons of sex jokes, crude cannibalistic teddy bears, severed baby doll heads and violence from a feline skating variable front flipper. If that doesnt sell a consumer. What will? Lol. Its just rad. One of the better indie projects ive played in a while. 

Rating - 86/100

[kamikazekeeg]

6 - Voices of the Void (PC) - BEAT - Redoing this abit as I ended up getting really absorbed and not only pushed far past my previous 19 day run I did back last summer, but I went and did a 48 day run, getting the achievement so I'm counting that as "Beat" even though it's basically something I can just keep playing forever and it's not exactly a beginning to end story, that's just the only story event content available. 

I was really helped along with this push by getting really into a Youtuber's series on this by The Librarian, very chill guy has done a few "seasons" of VOTV, basically counting each season as whatever he plays on the current newest build.  I watched him play the newest season and then went back to watch Season 1 and 2 and almost through 3.  It was actually interesting to see how this game has progress through it's alpha state, as it's had some crazy huge overhauls.  I started after they had the updated base, so seeing how ugly the base use to be is wild lol  I like the Youtuber as he does a nice bit of "roleplay" as the character in the game, even across multiple seasons when he knows something, but in later seasons doesn't just play dumb, and he comes across new stuff all the time, which makes the watch great

This is a perfect game if you like to get absorbed into a "chore".  Weird to say for a game, but a lot of folks have that game...Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, Minecraft, you do busy work.  This has that along with being a casual horror experience, but it's not just jumpscares, it's atmosphere, odd happenings, subtle stuff a lot of the time...Until it's not and it's very blatant and it's also not crazy serious about it.  Such a great free game and if it's this good right now, I can't wait to see what it becomes down the road as there is so much room for expansion.

[tripredacus]

9. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen (Steam)

This is a console port, and the UX is not really changed from that design. As such it is a strange way to control. Firstly I found it not good to use the controller and preferred the keyboard and mouse. However, the menus were not good to use. There is a lot going on with this game, many many mechanics and it was a lot all at once. I still do not think I know how to do everything, even basic things. There was always tons of things you could pick up but for whatever reason I could not find vendors to sell things, or the interface was confusing. Also the quest availability from NPCs was nice that it had a color coded display but it was also confusing. For example my mercs always had a quest icon on them but they wouldn't ever enter dialog. I didn't mind the online requirement. I think it is kind of cool that you can make mercs and other players can use them.

While it was quite interesting, the reason for abandonment was the save system. It uses autosaves BUT not like other games with autosaves. It doesn't autosave often enough. Say, if you complete a quest or start a new one it doesn't save at that point. If you die, it gives you options like "Retry" and "Last Checkpoint" but the game doesn't make it clear what the difference is between these. I've tried each and neither take you back to a usable point. So the main issue is that you can be like me. Play for 2 hours, walk an entire side of the map and complete 2 quests and the game did not save at any of point along the way. Then I get to some area and some unseen archer 1 shots me, I reload and its 2 hours ago again.

Maybe its a good thing. I feel like I've been playing too many similar medieval fantasy games lately.

[dhaabi]

09. A Way Out || PlayStation 4 || 02.03.25



Wanting to play a proper multiplayer experience, I eventually settled on A Way Out. Ever since I had played the developer's follow-up project It Takes Two, I've been curious as to how exactly that sophomore project of sorts built upon its predecessor.

As its name suggests, A Way Out introduces a narrative about two strangers both incarcerated who, after some initial defensive encounters with each other, agree to partner together to escape. While there is naturally at first little known about each of the game's two protagonists Vincent and Leo, more information comes to be known; while they're still strangers, they share more with each other than they first want to admit, and that factor is directly tied to both of their imprisonments. While I only played the game's scenario once—meaning I only assumed the role of one of the two characters—it was evident even beyond the game's writing to a degree that they each vary from another in their personalities: Vincent is deliberate and patient, whereas Leo is a bit negligent and quick-tempered. So, since the game closely follows this pair of opposite attraction, seeing that dynamic unite both through agreement and compliance was enjoyable. And while this final detail could be regarded as too much information being revealed, there is much more to the story beyond actually working toward becoming a fugitive, which I admittedly wasn't expecting but greatly appreciated since I normally am not interested in prison stories.

Concerning how the game's multiplayer features operate, they're much more impactful and unique when compared to previous endeavors of their kind as the game fully requires both players' active input to progress. Throughout the game's entirety, both players work together as each of the protagonists toward achieving their goal. At first, these actions are simple such as one person distracting a prison guard so the other may hide supplies, but they eventually become much more involved and action-oriented. For all of these tasks, they are time sensitive, so being able to work together as both the characters and players is paramount. Since A Way Out requires two players, there may be many circumstances when one player is unfamiliar with how games operate, but this experience does well in crafting a forgiving experience in the event of player failure with frequent checkpoints. However, much of the game's later segments—especially one in particular in the late-game—will be difficult for those inexperienced, so it's recommended for at least one of the two players to be familiar with a variety of game controls and gameplay genre types. Be that as it may, some of these more difficult sections which are action-oriented are lenient in one player carrying the other to goal completion, so to speak. Regarding the game's ending, I felt completely blindsided, though that's not a critique. In what was always before both players working in tandem, they now were actively working against the other.

While the majority of the game follows a standard narrative structure, how it's designed does warrant some replayability should players seek it. For certain sequences, each of the two characters are designed to complete one action instead of the other, so players will only have the opportunity to experience one-half of the game across one playthrough. Alongside these sections, there are also critical moments of choice which dictate how a certain goal is completed. For instance, one of these moments is featured when the pair encounters a bridge: do they navigate across it, or under it? For each of these segments, the choice directly relates to player personality—one will be more rational, while the other more rash. Similar to this choice-driven progression is character dialogue. While interacting with the environment and NPCs is almost wholly optional, there is a lot of world- and character-building to explore through the game's interactive environments. How the two characters interact with set pieces or NPCs differs, and I always found it fun to seek out all of these secondary elements before advancing to the next section. Lastly, the game introduces a number of mini-games and general activities which players can discover and play. For some, they're played individually with a high score counter, though others are proper multiplayer games with active competition.

Apart from gameplay and story, there are other aspects—both positive and negative—worth mentioning. Since this is a prison getaway game, one should expect plenty of action to be experienced, and how the game's camera operates during several segments is commendable. Ordinarily, both players act simultaneously with split-screen presentation, but there are moments when it focuses on one character while eventually transitioning to the next. During these times, the camera perspective is quite dynamic with the transitions being well-designed to emphasize the moment's high energy. Players should also expect QTE segments which often involves combat of sorts. While there are many criticize them, I found their implementation to be fine and complement the game. Meanwhile, my biggest issue (and my only worthwhile negative takeaway) is how sound and conversation operates. While I understand A Way Out is an active experience shared together by two individuals, there are many moments when both players are separate from another in conversation or even in cutscene. Seemingly at random, vocal dialogue will either mute one character while they other stays voiced, or the two characters will speak over another. I found these moments to be greatly annoying (especially when the latter was employed), since being able to focus on dialogue became an exercise in itself. Besides this problem, I did experience one bug that prevented my player from moving. Even when restarting the system controller, the problem persisted. Fortunately, only one player was needed to progress to the next direct event, though I imagine the problem would have been remedied from restarting that specific chapter from the main menu.

Having played It Takes Two first, going back to see how the systems and structure was built first in A Way Out was interesting to see. I don't particularly remember much conversation about A Way Out during the time of its release, but I think it's just as successful as It Takes Two in what it sets out to accomplish, although the latter is objectively more ambitious. In some ways, I find this game to be more successful than the follow-up such as in its writing and tone, though others may disagree. For any who've only played It Takes Two, I can confidently suggest to try out A Way Out should you be wanting more of that type of gameplay experience. I'm looking forward to the developer's upcoming multiplayer game Split Fiction, which I imagine I'll be playing sooner than later after it releases.