General and Gaming > General

52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

<< < (20/118) > >>

telly:
Game 3 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (PS5) - 24 Hours

I enjoyed my time with this game very much like the previous 2 entries. It bothers me that this is called "2" when MM serves as an important lead up story that in my opinion has to be completed first, but oh well. Much like before, what I really love about these games is the free-roaming exploration around the city, swinging at will, taking in the sites, and helping the citizens of New York as I saw fit. The game is essentially unchanged combat or exploration wise, though there are some additions that I liked including the web wings that allow you to cover distances more easily, and the web line that gives you a tightrope to make stealth takedowns from. The game gets a little unwieldly with the 2 Spider-Men that each have different skill trees and moves to unlock and customize. I kind of wish it was just one Spider-Man, but it does give you a lot more variety with your controls.

Where I don't like this game is really in the story and game-design DURING the story in particular. While the game is very open-ended in general, when doing the story missions you're either crawling through linear environments that are orchestrated to feel intense and scary but are pretty scripted and predictable while you listen to just the characters talk to one another, or your being dropped into linear rooms with copy-pasted enemies to take out with the occasional large boss fight. That's if you're even fighting, because a decent chunk of the missions are just glorified cutscenes with mindless activities like a theme park or cleaning your apartment, or Mary Jane stealth sections that are admittedly better than the first game but not a huge improvement. None of the story missions feel particularly exciting to finish, and on top of that, I just really didn't like the whole "angsty" Spider-Man approach taken this time around. Kraven as a villain was so lame and uninspired and it was strange to me that he could just take over the entire city and none of the police or military try to stop him, which was a big part of the first game with Li.

I might come back to this game to try and snag the platinum. This game is really fun still once you get past all the stuff I didn't really care for with the story.

kashell:
21. Elden Ring

My goodness. What a game. For those wondering, I played it with my other account where I don't care about trophies. This was more of an "enjoy the ride game." And enjoy I did. For the most part. Open world games and I don't mesh. Elden Ring was as open as they come. But man. It was beautiful, rewarding, frustrating, and a bunch of other things that I've come to expect from From Software. But it also got redundant near the end. I'm not sure how people are able to acclimate to the intense, fast-paced combat with a melee build because enemies shred through health more than usual. It seemed that way, anyway. Using a magic build, I had to duck and cover often. I often found myself comparing it to Bloodborne which was just as intense but I was able to acclimate in Yharnam moreso than The Lands Between. All in all, I can see why the game has been so well-received.

22. Moonscars - platinum'd

This game was a bit more my speed and served as a good palette cleanser/in-between during Elden Ring. It was also a game I had my eye on for quite some time. Other than Irma seemingly being made of paper, this game was really fun. The narrative was easy to follow. The combat was tight. The setting was gorgeous and had music to match. I am kind of bummed that I got the platinum because it means there's not much reason to go back other than a random replay. Which, I might do at some point since there were still some witcheries I didn't learn. Fans of a Metroidvanias should enjoy this. Funnily enough, a year or so around this time, I just finished The Last Faith and griped about how much of a disappointment it was.

marvelvscapcom2:
10. Monster Jam: Showdown Finished Feb 15th, 2025


11. Super Mario Bros. Wonder Finished Feb 20th, 2025



THE NEW "NEW" SUPER MARIO


Mario Wonder at it's core is one of the best Mario Games ever made. What it lacks in classic nostalgia it makes up for in so much creativity. You can kinda tell the project was a labor of love for the design crew :)


The power ups are wildly imaginative, weather it be blowing bubbles to encapsulate enemies, bulldozing underground, the elephant ability. It's got a power or move you're gonna remember amongst the crowd.

Levels

The game has incredibly ambitious level design. Some levels you race worms. Some you go through gauntlets of enemies seeking the fastest time. All of this is really rad and pretty risk taking for a usually one dimensional and dare I say dated franchise. I know nintendo likes to tout the "new" super mario bros on games that were fairly on brand. And hardly new at all.  This game? Everything it does is massively inspired and cute.

This game is fresh. Fresh as Korean street food cooked right in front of you. A new fusion food of Mario games. A deep fried oreo if most mario games are classic Keebler. The game is fresh. And boy is it fun.

pacing

Pacing is important for games to me.  This game is paced so incredibly well. It isnt too short where its a gameboy game. But it doesnt overstay its welcome. It lays the plot out. Gives amazing cinematics and then gets you to home plate before too long. It's very compact and worth adventuring again and again.

Overall the game is blissful. And a must play for anyone who grew up with the blast that was Mario World.  This is only the 3rd Mario side scroller I have beaten. And im proud its with the greats.


Rating - 90/100

bikingjahuty:
16. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)

It's a bit funny that I'm finally reviewing a game I've put easily over a 1000 hours on over the past decade between two different consoles. Mario Kart 8 has been one of my goto games to play in between games for the last 10 years. There are times I go weeks without playing anything else and just spend an hour to 4 or 5 hours straight just playing MK8 races online. The reason I'm finally reviewing this game is because 1) it's been a long, long time since i played through all the 150cc cups in single player, and 2) I've never played every single cup, including all the DLC cups and their courses back to back. Essentially, my recent experience with playing through every cup and track represents the most complete single player playthrough of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe I've ever done, and it absolutely warranted a review.


To put it lightly, I ADORE Mario Kart 8 Deluxe! MK8 was actually the game that motivated me to grab a Wii U back in the day, and it was the game I played the most on that ill-fated console. And despite having played MK8 for 3 years prior to its Switch release, it was still a big factor why I bought a Nintendo Switch at launch (along with Breath of the Wild of course). But anyhow, MK8 Deluxe is the best, most entertaining, and certainly most endearing racing game I've ever played. There are a mind boggling 96 tracks to race through in this game, which has to be some sort of record for a racing game. The vast majority of tracks are a blast to race through, with some certainly being better than others. Unfortunately, some of the more recent DLC tracks, mainly the Mario Kart Tour stages, are among the weakest in the game, but I guess they're there if you really want to select them. Most tracks are designed very well to optimize fast, frantic, and sometimes absolutely chaotic gameplay while up against opponent racers. There is also a tremendous amount of balancing in most tracks, as well as the placement of shortcuts, item boxes, and the many different hazards present in MK8. There is definitely quite a bit of risk/reward in each stage which just makes most stages very fun and dynamic to play through. Then of course there are the many, many racers and vehicle configs you can choose from which contribute even more to MK8 Deluxe's depth given character weight, wheels, vehicle type, and a plethora of other factors play into how fast or agile your racer will be.


Visually, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe still looks excellent despite technically being a 10-year, almost 11-year old game. Stages mostly all look vibrant and engaging, with tons of familiar, yet very fun Nintendo staples doing thing both on and off the tracks, as well as most levels having a distinct identity of their own which makes them feel unique and interesting. The 3D cartoonish look of the character models and stages has aged incredibly well, and I imagine any visual updates in MK9 will look marginally better, if at all despite it being over a decade newer whenever that game finally comes out. I honestly cannot fault any of the visuals in MK8 Deluxe, it's practically perfect as far as I'm concerned.


Finally, MK8's audio is excellent all around with some very catching songs throughout the 96 stages. There is a lot of throwback music and arranged versions of classic Mario Kart tracks as well, which only adds to the auditory bliss you'll experience while playing MK8 Deluxe. Characters also are voice acting excellently and capture the charm and presence those same characters exhibit in other Nintendo properties too. There are also some excellent stage sound effects and distinct noises like a blue turtleshell coming your way that just add the the already high bar set by the rest of the game's audio.


Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is so freakin amazing, it's almost impossible to imagine how Nintendo is going to make MK9 better. I feel like the best chance it has is to be just as good, but I guess time will tell with that one. Regardless of how good MK9 ends up being, MK8 Deluxe is an absolutely stellar game and a must play if there ever was such a thing in gaming. (2/21/25) [45/50]

dhaabi:
10. Picross e2 || Nintendo 3DS || 02.15.25



Since some time has passed, I found myself wanting to play through another slow-paced, methodical puzzle logic game, so I settled on Picross e2. I have all of the e series games installed on my 3DS system after enjoying the first game, so I may end up playing an entry every year or so.

Overwhelmingly, Picross e2 is an extension of the first game in that there are few differences between the two games across all facets, from gameplay to presentation. Simply put, picross is a logic puzzle which tasks those solving to analyze how each tile comprising a large grid is filled, and its translations as a video game port well. For many of the larger puzzles introduced, there is often just enough information supplied that forces players to—initially, at least—work toward the solution in a linear way. At times, there is even only one immediate action to be taken based on the known information revealed, but it's easy to overlook that action when so many possible ones still exist. Like the first game, difficulty progresses at an expected pace, but players are free to solve any of the game's puzzles in any order they choose which is a welcomed decision, as some players may be unable to solve a puzzle but not want to feel stuck on it and instead move forward past it.

Compared to my time playing the first series entry, I found later puzzles within the game's Free Mode considerably more difficult. Even with the hint assist feature toggled on which highlights the rows and columns which currently can be solved based on all known information, I repeatedly found myself make some sort of incorrect action that negatively impacts the remainder of the puzzle-solving process. At times, the puzzle may eventually be fully completed but not solved because of some mistake made and players may be able to rectify the problem, but many of these instances require fully restarting. Unlike my previous playthrough which was more of a learning experience for me as I was unfamiliar with picross, I played through the majority of Picross e2 without using the hint assist feature, although there were still moments toward the end of the game and mistakes would sometimes be made that I did use it.

In a way, solving a picross grid is like solving a puzzle backwards, and it's especially true for more complicated ones. Over the course of my playthrough, there were three or four individual puzzles that I truly had no understanding how to progress early on after little progress was made. I went so far as to search videos discussing advanced problem-solving techniques, but I was surprised to learn that I was already familiar with them after naturally figuring them out while playing the previous game. I also searched for video walkthroughs to help gain insight, but they don't really exist. So, for those few challenging puzzles, I resorted to an illustrated walkthrough to help me progress; I picked a row and column plot that was in the general area that seemed like the most obvious point of where the next immediate tile solution would be. I'd have much rather just learned what exactly I was missing while analyzing everything, but that just wasn't an option.

While much of Picross e2 is like Picross e, there is one major difference—a new mode is introduced named Micross. In this mode, giant 8x8 grids are sub-divided into 10x10 sections which means the full puzzle is 80x80. Because of their size, there is a lot of opportunity for detail, so all of the puzzle illustrations are based on historical paintings. While there are only five of these Micross puzzles, many of them took me about one full hour to complete. Unlike other modes where there is a natural difficulty progression, micro-puzzles vary in difficulty since they're representative of only a tiny portion of the entire piece. For instance, middle pieces where subject matter is most often present may be complex, but side and corner pieces are elementary as little visual information appears. Some instances of the elementary ones truly take a handful of seconds to complete, but they're a nice break between the ones which take several minutes to complete.

Having now played the first two entries in the Picross e series, I'm hoping that subsequent entries introduce more quality-of-life changes and general advancements. There are 155 total puzzles in Picross e2 and still only one music track available to listen to. Even adding just one more would be a notable improvement. Hopefully there are new things to enjoy with the third installment.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page