52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

[kashell]

48. Kirby Super Star Ultra

The Kirby kick continues. I didn't do all the things here. Instead, I picked up an old profile to get to 100%. I had to finish the True Arena and Meta Knights' adventure to reach 100%. But, for funsies, I decided to also do another round of Milky Way Wishes and The Great Cave Offensive. I got all treasures in the latter, for those wondering. This game is pure cuteness and fun personified. I loved the game on Super Nintendo and I love it here on the Nintendo DS.

[dhaabi]

Finally we get to SF6's weakest area and honestly the aspect of it that kept me from wanting to play this game until it was cheap enough for me to justify buying it. Putting it bluntly, I hate the art direction of SF6. I never thought in a million years that the Street Fighter franchise would fall victim to the Fortnite/Zoomer shooter art aesthetic, along with all of its annoying cliches, but here we are. Nearly every returning SF character looks worse than they ever have in this game, while literally every new character to the series looks like crap from an artistic, design point of view.

Don't Street Fighter characters adopting a Fortnite art style look like this?



I don't play Street Fighter so I don't really have a deep opinion on the matter, but from what I can tell from other discussions, the general consensus seems to be that Street Fighter 6 greatly improves upon the previous two entries' cartoon-y, cel-shaded style known for characters' giants hands (particularly in regards to Street Fighter V.) So, it's interesting to read a dissenting opinion from the minority.

[dhaabi]

41. Saturday Edition || Playdate || 06.26.2025



As I near the end of the Playdate's included season one of games that I intend to finish, it's become obvious that there are many who strongly favor the system's pick-up-and-play design that's complemented by arcade-style games. However, while I do think the system is ideal for arcade gameplay, what I find most successful and interesting are adventure genre experiences. So, I was greatly looking forward to Saturday Edition upon realizing it's an adventure game.

When we begin, it is 1976. The game's protagonist John Kornfield has returned to earth after being abducted by some alien race. For four years, Kornfield lived among them closely and happily. Things were good. Then, unexpectedly, Kornfield is brought back confused and with much of the public choosing to disregard any credibility from his recounted experiences. Now, ten years later, strange events are beginning again. Dozens of people are being reported missing each and every day, and connections are made from both the police and the media that these new disappearances mirror Kornfield's own past disappearance. So, Kornfield sets off on his own investigation working alongside friends, associates, and the police to uncover what his role in this ordeal is exactly. And in time, a disturbing truth regarding the city's history of widespread, unexplained disappearances becomes learned that is a fulfilling story to play through.

Throughout this fairly short adventure narrative, players assume the role of Kornfield while exploring a small city environment. Exploration is limited to less than ten total in-game areas that are each accessed from Kornfield's vehicle as he drives to them. Once there, movement is bound to a 2D plane which players will survey to glean new information from either the game's supporting cast or the environment alongside few instances of obtaining or using items in combination with light story-advancing puzzle segments. While exploration is limited at the beginning, new areas become accessible as reason to be there is given as the story continues. Each area is small with only a two or three screens forming it, but the world is large enough to meet the scope of the game. The act of taking learned information to see what it can unlock by utilizing in specific social encounters is a simple fun toward uncovering a mystery that only intensifies as more details are learned as Kornfield and town citizens come face-to-face with a local generational danger.

Largely, gameplay consists of engaging in conversation with the game's supporting cast in a certain order. And, since the crime case relating to the missing persons is exciting, triggering even the smallest changes through the right interaction is rewarding. Throughout it all, Kornfield expresses doubt and questioning through internal dialogue, and there are times when he comes across as some unreliable vehicle at the center of it all. With the small number of individuals aiding his investigation, conversations are to-the-point largely as a result of the cast regularly being emotionally distant, detached, and simply strange in off-putting ways that reinforce the plot's mysteries. At every point, Saturday Edition requires players to follow a strict linear path in terms of plot progression. There are a large amount of separate parts with seemingly nothing to do with another, so finding out how one piece of information relates to another through some social connection is regularly surprising to maintain player interest.

Concerning the game's presentation, I greatly enjoyed its limited and focused use of animation apart from character movement. At top, there is a small window which appears to preview what little action transpires in real-time. A power cable being plugged into an outlet. Television buttons being pressed to change one channel to another. Eyes panning off to the side to avoid uncomfortable eye contact. A preview window also appears when approaching something that can be interacted with, so there is no difficulty in discerning what is or isn't important. Complementing visuals is the game's sound design which is equally effective. Music is beyond spare for quite some time with only the game's environmental sounds being present, such as Kornfield's footsteps or when the car engine turns over when traveling between locations. Another aspect is the game's inventory system. Once they've been fully used, they're automatically marked as being unusable though do remain in the player's possession. Items are often just paper notes waiting to be crumpled, but this inclusion helps establish a sense of player accomplishment and is cleverly used in an unexpected way in the game's final moments.

While I didn't have any real expectations prior to playing, Saturday Edition proved to be one of my favorite games that's a part of the season one catalog. I'm a fan of these small graphic adventure games that I don't really play all that often, and this game and genre altogether have proved to make excellent use of the system's portability. It's likely not a game someone would play again until they've forgotten the story, but it's still one that was fun to experience.

[telly]

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)

[dhaabi]

42. Forrest Byrnes: Up in Smoke || Playdate || 06.28.2025



Before starting Forrest Byrnes: Up in Smoke, I was interested to see that the official page for it on Playdate's site describes it as a racing game. Until now, I've not played any racing games for the handheld, so I was curious how well that type of gameplay could work for this system.

However, Forrest Byrnes is not a racing game but instead a fast-paced action game with light platforming and arcade gameplay elements. In short, players assume the role of the titular protagonist Forrest Byrnes, a park ranger who's calmly evacuating some environment disaster. While avoiding hazards and the impending fiery destruction that follows behind you along the horizontal plane, the player is simply tasked with reaching the stage end safely. Regarding movement, controls work well but will take time for the player to become comfortable with. Specifically, positioning one's self at the edge of a platform is tricky while requiring precision, and I regularly was injured because of it. While Forrest runs toward safety, rocky walls must be scaled, dying trees must be toppled, and general hazards such as beehives and bear traps must be avoided. With each stage attempt, the player is given three units of health, though it's worth mentioning that player health remaining bears no impact on on stage completion. Simultaneously, neither does the time it takes to clear the stage. Actually, there is no time counter at all in the game, so that the game could be construed as racing game seems somewhat disingenuous. There is even a score grading system present, but again, it serves no purpose as stages cannot be manually selected.

With that said, individual stages cannot be selected. Instead, beginning the game spawns the player into some random one. And, whether failing or succeeding, players will be introduced to a different stage immediately after. Personally, I am not particularly keen on this approach to game progression. After thinking about why such a decision was made, I still can't really consider any valid reasons for how this either improves the gameplay experience or rewards players. If anything, being able to freely select stages allows players to practice them upon failure. It helps grant them the means to become more adept with specific platforming challenges to later use those same skills with new encounters. While the game is considerably short, stages are somewhat difficult due to the game's tight platforming at times. If choosing to do the bare minimum, the game is relatively easy, though there is no sense of accomplishing when playing this way whatsoever.

Before moving along, I'll now also mention the game's stages. While I may be wrong, it seems as if stages are randomly generated instead of being individually designed. After playing more and more, it certainly felt this way. If not, there is a fairly large pool of stages the game will load randomly then. While I'll mention collectibles more in-depth further below, it seems either substantially difficult or even impossible for players to collect everything in each stage presented, as I experienced several instances where I couldn't solve how to reach certain platforms due to the player-character's movement capabilities. I suppose my inability each time could have been the result of rushed gameplay as there is little time to actually think while easy penalizing mistakes. And, since there is no menu select screen alongside unlockables not being tied to any one specific stage either, I feel more confident that my thoughts are more than just a presumption.

Despite the grading score system come across as something that can be entirely ignored from a completionist's perspective, it is still present. During the journey toward evacuation, there are several types of collectibles which players may seek out to earn a better grade, though there's really no incentive to do so. Nevertheless, each collectible requires a different player response to successfully gain it, which includes campers needing saved from various traps (one of which utilizes the system's crank) and digging out medals from the ground. Just like with the player-character, campers can even be lost to the fire creeping behind you, which is a gameplay element I liked though didn't experience more than once. However, it is only puzzle pieces which bear any meaningful significance toward actually completing the game as they unlock fragments of gallery images, which there are five that are each divided into four segments. When they're all revealed, the game is effectively completed as there is nothing else to do since there are no in-game systems implemented revolving around player performance.

Unfortunately, Forrest Byrnes is not a game I particularly had fun playing, though that's largely due to the game's structure. I think what's built from a gameplay perspective could be fun if players were tasked with set challenges tied to stages, or if the game incorporated some sort of time trial system, or really anything else to provide depth. Because without any of these things, there is not much inherent value provided which results in the game being ultimately dull.

[dhaabi]

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)

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!   

[bikingjahuty]

74. Star Fox 64 (N64)

I'm of the belief that the rail shooter genre is criminally underrated. Whether it's of the lightgun variety (ie. Time Crisis, House of the Dead) or the space ship/projectile firing mutant (Star Fox, Sin and Punishment), they're all quick, fun experiences that I wish more devs would explore. Star Fox 64 was a seminal title in fostering my love for the rail shooter genre and it's still one of the best examples you can find that doesn't having you aiming a brightly colored pistol at a screen.


Star Fox 64 was about as perfect of a rail shooter as you could get, in terms of gameplay at least, in the late 90s. The controls, the stage design, the simplistic upgrade system, the cool open battle field sections, and everything else is just pure magic to experience in this game. Star Fox 64 also has tons of secrets and alternative paths you can take. It's really a game that not just requires multiple replays to experience everything you can in Star Fox 64, but motivates you to want to do so. Each stage is unique and memorable in its own way. There are also alternate vehicles you will use depending on the stage, all of which are unique in how they control and how the level is experienced. There really isn't a dull moment in Star Fox 64 no matter which route you take.


While the visuals are also noteworthy and excellent in their own way, they don't unfortunately impress like Star Fox 64's gameplay. In 1997, Star Fox 64 was very impressive to look at, but there were definitely games that looked better, even on the N64. That's not to say this game doesn't stand out visually, and as mentioned, every stage is unique and interesting, in no small part to the art directions and graphics in them. Star Fox 64 also loves to throw tons of enemies at you at once, really giving you the feeling of fighting a large scale epic battle. There is also a surprising amount of enemy and boss variety too, with some being giant battle station-like bosses, while others are flying smaller, way more agile ships like the Arwing Star Fox and his team pilot. It all contributes heavily to why this game is so addictive, fresh, and fun to play.


The audio in Star Fox 64 is probably its weakest attribute. It's by no means bad or even mediocre, but it just doesn't stand out in the same way the soundtracks in games like Super Mario 64 or even third party games like Turok did on the N64. While the voice acting and silly lines from voice cast have become the stuff of countless internet memes and even gamer culture itself, it always came across as more annoying than anything. Still, I have to give credit where credit is due and it does go a long way to give this game that unique identity that really made it memorable, not just back in 1997, but to this day as well.


While Star Fox 64 is undeniably one of the best rail shooters ever made, and also one of the best N64 games ever made, it's also a game that I have a tone of love and nostalgia for. It was a game I played religiously growing up and even obtained most of the stage medals, which is definitely no easy task. I will say, however, that my own personal enjoyment of Star Fix 64 has diminished slightly since the last time I played it (probably about 5 years ago or so). Despite this, it's still a game I enjoy playing more than 90% of all other games I touch regularly. But yeah, if you want to play a must play N64 game, a must play rail shooter, and a must play game from the 90s, look no further than Star Fox 64. (7/8/25) [40/50]

[ignition365]

Main List
Previous List

bold games are games that have been beaten, previously beaten, or are unbeatable.
italicized games are in progress.
standard games are games I am not currently trying to beat.
strikethrough games are games that have been abandoned.

53. Elden Ring (PS4)
This is my third time 100%ing this game.  I don't recall why I decided to 100% this again, I would think it rolled in Dungeon for PT, but it shouldn't have been able to populate if I've never played it before on PS4.  I don't know, I really don't, but I did.  I spent a chunk of April playing this.  This experience was different than my Xbox and PC experience as Xbox the game was brand new, I was playing with my wife, and I have Game Pass and PC it doesn't require a subscription to play online and the lion's share of players are on there.  PS4, I don't have a Plus subscription anymore, so I couldn't play with others and had to solo the game.  It did make for a new experience having to rely on summons and spirit ashes, but the game was more than doable and I really enjoyed my time running through for the umpteenth time.  I'd say 3rd, but I played through a few times on PC using randomizer which only does so much to change up the experience (Still recommended).  I can't recall what spirit ashes I relied on early game, but towards the end I was leveraging the mimic tear and my character was a tanky tanky tank tank with double giant weapons and so many natural buffs that my weapons did like 1k damage each and putting that on my spirit ash as well made just about every boss in the game go down in less than a minute, it was insane.  The exception was probably solely Parthurnax or whatever, the optional tough ass dragon boss, but I think even Radagon+Elden Beast went down super fast with my spirit ash and I just bonking the shit out of them.
Rating: Highly recommended, though suggest PC over console.

54. Fill-a-pix (Android)
I don't recall how I found this, I don't generally look at phone games, but I found this game that was a cross between picross and minesweeper and just kind of fell in love with the game.  Spent so much of my spare time playing this and just thinking how much I'd love for a game like this on Steam to earn achievements.  Eventually I found that on Steam, games like this are called Mosaic games and there's a developer who makes a ton of these games.  I bought a bunch of them and have beaten 1 and started another at this point, but I'll get to those later.  This one has a standard level based system broken down by difficulty, that's what I went through.  The game also has daily/weekly/monthly puzzles that rotate, I only checked those out a little bit, but I just don't generally bother with that stuff because I'll forget to keep checking and I like to move on to other things.  All in all, a real fun and cool game that definitely has that puzzle factor of playing too much of it and seeing the puzzles when you close your eyes.  Consider that a pro or a con on your own, I've got strong feelings about it, but in both directions, definitely means that the game is addictive, but also means the game is addictive. Now that all said, knowing they have the mosaic games on steam, I wouldn't recommend this over those, but definitely consider the puzzle style if you enjoy minesweeper and picross.
Rating: Soft recommendation

55. 100 Christmas Cats (PC)
Another find all the cats thing.  This is another one where the developer puts out new versions regularly, but they are generally profile limited so I don't play them until they get verified generally.  Most of these are free which is always good, but some are paid.  I'm sure this one was free, it being a christmas one.
Rating: Soft pass

56. 100 hidden mice (PC)
Another 100 hidden game.  I almost shouldn't bother writing anything.  I will run out of these games to play eventually and my lists will hopefully get more meaningful again lol
Rating: Soft pass

57. Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk (PC)
I had seen this on Twitter from Wario64 a bunch, but it wasn't until a person on Discord talked about it being one of their favorite games that I decided to go buy a bunch of this developers games and wishlist the rest.  I'm so susceptible to suggestion from folks about games to play, even if they are awful.  Anyway, a real short game, like under an hour, that is so very obviously about mental health, definitely more an experience than a game, but definitely worth checking out.  It's cheap enough and can be had for under a dollar frequently.  I definitely recommend the experience.
Rating: Soft recommendation

58. Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion (PC)
Got this one picked for me as a PoP game.  Every time I write about a PoP game or a PT game I get a little depressed that I've sort of lost my autonomy of picking games for myself because these keep me so busy I don't have time to pick stuff for myself, plus I have limited play time since I really can't play anything in front of my kid.  This is one that should be friendly enough that I should be able to play it in front of my kid, but I fear Adventure Time might be too silly and too violent (can you believe that) for my kid given how impressionable he is.  I do like the humor and writing of Adventure Time and would like the finish the series one day.  This has its own stand alone adventure, which does reference content from the show, possibly even stuff I haven't yet seen because I don't think I made it that far into the show, maybe season 2, couldn't check if I wanted to I imagine.  Combat is fine but definitely gets grating towards the end, but the game is only a 15-20 hour game and a fairly simple 100% completion.  Overall really enjoyable licensed game, and wouldn't surprise me if it's the only good or best Adventure Time licensed game, but I will try to play the others eventually.  I'd say I might replay this one day because I do have it on console, but I don't know that I'll waste my time replaying a game even if I do recommend it.
Rating: Soft recommendation

59. KungFu Kickball (PC)
I think this was a backlog dungeon pick and a steamgift win so I played it to improve my play ratio for my gifts.  Overall a pretty simple and fun sportsball 1v1 arcade game, like a little less convoluted #IDARB.  It's fun enough, but I'm never quite that fond of couch multiplayer games, mostly because it's not something I can really do, but I know I would've enjoyed something like this in my high school or college days.  That said, there are definitely better more fun more interesting games to play than this, so I wouldn't recommend it over any of the better ones.
Rating: Soft pass

60. How Buddy's parents met - jigsaw puzzle (PC)
simple jigsaw puzzle game, not even that interesting either, and frustratingly the achievements for it require playing each of the games like 6 puzzles at varying piece amounts.  I like the art, but I can't abide that level of bs to force increased play time.  If I really wanted jigsaw game to waste hours, I'd consider it, but I just can't see it worth the time.
Rating: Hard pass

61. We <3 Katamari: Reroll + Royal Reverie (XS)
I think I only played this because my kid saw me play Katamari Damacy earlier in the year and loved watching me play and I didn't want to play that to 100%, but I definitely wanted to check out Royal Reverie.  We <3 Katamari itself is a fantastic game, an amazing improvement over the original, but Royal Reverie doesn't add much to the game really, a few extra levels where you play as a young King of the cosmos and get a little extra story on the character.  It's neat, and it is added content which is also great, but it is annoying that you can't unlock the young king for the main game, he's just on his own on the side.  I did manage to 100% the game, which I don't think was too much of an annoyance, I think the game did have collectively easier achievements than the first one as it did require 100% completing the item collection, which is truly a PITA.  That all said, the game is still amazing, and one shouldn't look a gift horse in the ass when given a great game + good content.
Rating: Solid recommendation

62. Lots of Cats in Every Moment (PC)
This one, one of the few games that I have an exclusive category for Beat (Needs DLC), a game that I would've completed before DLC ever released, but since DLC released, I've got to wait to buy the DLC to be able to properly complete the game.  Standard find the cat game, but stupid dlc achievements.  And it's not just a few, 50% of the achievements are paid DLC... really brings down your average completion rates.
Rating: Hard pass

63. An Arcade Full of Cats (PC)
Can you believe it, back to back both games that required the creation of the Beat (needs DLC) category.  Another game where the game's got a load of DLC achievements, this one is worse though, because over half of the achievements are paid DLC.  I "completed" as much as I could without dlc and I'm only at 42% completion.  Another one weighing down my average completion rate.  Don't get me wrong, I'll probably buy the DLC eventually like a dope, but it certainly sucks, but at least in this one's case, the proceeds to go to shelters and such.
Rating: Hard pass

64. Another Crab's Treasure (XS)
So, I completed this game last year when it was brand new, but the game got a major title update this year adding new game plus, boss rush, and a bunch of other stuff.  I hopped back into the game to get all of the new achievements, none paid DLC mind you, just a free title update.  Added content is great and appreciated and not too difficult to complete, but definitely stuff that had I known were coming and had been on the fence on starting the game, I would've waited for the DLC to come out to start the game.  Still an amazing game, highly recommended.
See Game 29 of 2024
Rating: Solid recommendation

65. 100 Capitalist Cats (PC)
Gosh this feels like not that long ago, but maybe I'm getting periods mixed up and this isn't even the group, truly might not be the group.  Anyway, another find the cat game, boy are these a dime a dozen and unfortunately not financially, just how common the game style exists.  Anyway, nothing really special about this one once again.  I'd probably find more joy in playing Artifex HOGs with stories that last me an hour or so rather than these shallow 5 minute games.
Rating: Soft pass

66. 100 hidden aliens (PC)
Insert generic message about these 100 hidden games.  Again, 5 minutes for 100% not worth the time, game doesn't provide value lol
Rating: Soft pass

67. Beautiful Katamari (360)
I beat this game years ago, a decade ago at least.  My kid beat We <3 Katamari, so I decided I'd show him the 3rd main entry.  I know there are a lot more Katamari games and this probably isn't the 3rd, but I'll call it that.  This one actually kinda sucks, it's kinda like Super Mario Bros 2, the real SMB2, not SMB USA, the game is tough, it can be fun, but it expects you to be a master of Katamari just to progress the game, ignoring the fact that the achievements for the game are even tougher and I think there is a lot of online components to the achievements too which might be doable if you coordinated with people, but surely that's tough too even with the game being backwards compatible.  It does do some interesting things, but it's all mandatory which in previous games the interesting stuff was optional and you had the pure Katamari experience.  This game forces all the goofy stuff upfront, plus the game has a weird scoring system so even if you meet some arbitrary goal, you've got to come back to do it the way it wants or as good as it wants so you can get a higher score.
Rating: Soft recommendation

68. Assassin's Creed: Origins (X1)
I started this game years ago, not sure if it was around release, but it was definitely around the time that Ubisoft starting swapping all of their games to... geez I don't even know what to call it, cursor based menus and lvl based equipment.  You know where they encourage you to redo stuff over and over hoping to randomly get better loot.  Would you consider that Diablo style equipment, I have no clue.  I abandoned it pretty quickly, more because of the menus than the equipment BS.  Personally, I'm not a fan of level based equipment, just give me unique weapons with stats and an upgrade system, adding a level system on top of all of that makes upgrading useless.  I don't think I upgraded a weapon once in this game, because there just wasn't a point if I'm going to abandon the weapon as soon as I find a higher level version.  1 or the other, not both.  Anyway, I came back to this recently, partly wanting to continue my franchise run and I think partly because I pulled it in backlog dungeon and it was a personal productive thing to do.  One of the few instances of playing something I do actually want to play even if I had a site pick the game for me.  I was always interested in this and the newer ones because the combat was described as more Dark Souls and less whatever the fuck the older Assassin's Creed games were, which to be fair were great for stealth, but actual combat it was like "you should've used stealth, moron".  I enjoy that freedom.  The story in this game is fairly good, feels fairly disjointed until things start piecing together and there's a lot left desired, but cohesively the experience is one of the best Assassin's Creed games to date.  I really look forward to playing Odyssey and Valhalla.  The game does bring back the whole outside animus story thing and seems to be trying to get back on track and connects back to Desmond's story iirc, it has been a while since I played this, but I look forward to the overarching story to continue.
Rating: Solid recommendation

69. Monaco (PC)
So, this is one of those games I bought on 360 way back in the day, but never got around to playing.  Truly do regret so many 360 era arcade purchases, especially this one.  I got it on Steam eventually and had it picked for me for PoP so I made myself play it.  Game has 2 acts, which makes it sound like you need to play both acts to beat the game, but really the two acts are the same, just different perspectives, so you get the whole story with act 1, you just get an alternate telling of the story with act 2.  Act 2 however, has different and I think harder criteria to beat the game, so it's basically a hard mode/ng+ type of deal, so I noped out.  Had to explain that to the event organizer, because I just really had no interest in spending more time with the game to beat it a second time to consider it beat.  Luckily they didn't give me that hard of a time about it, but had they said no, I might have forced myself to go through with the Act 2, but I would've hated every second of it.  This game didn't click with me that well and I think I didn't get the controls + strategy and stuff because every level I wound up just murdering my way through because I just didn't understand so many of the mechanics.  I'm sure I should have been able to stealthily get through every level undetected, but I just didn't get it and there were so many things that were difficult for me to tell because some stuff was color based.  I'm not even confident I followed the story other than your generic heist stuff where you get betrayed at the end.
Rating: Solid pass

70. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (NS)
Every year, at some point in the year I wind up playing this game for a day or two because I'm trying to convince my kid to play.  We actually wound up finding a 3rd copy for real cheap this year and I had made the comment that since we each have our own switch, maybe we could try and once a week play this like a family and visit each others islands and stuff.  Didn't last, didn't even open the 3rd copy.  Couldn't get my wife to actually play with us and it only took a day for my kid to start being a bully in the game again.  He tends to walk around and hit the villagers with his bug net until they get mad and say they are going to leave his island.  So we have to stop playing pretty quickly.  I constantly forget how much of an asshole my kid is sometimes.  I honestly don't recall what my previous ratings were, so I'll update this if I had said something different in a past year when I get around to collating 2025.
Rating: Soft recommendation

71. Resident Evil 3 (PC)
Another PoP picked game.  These are particularly annoying.  I tell my pickers please don't pick games that are marked as games that I've already beat, but every season they always always always pick games that are marked as such.  This season (right now, not then), I've got at least 2 that are marked as such.  It's such an annoyance because I want to be more productive on games I've never played, but especially annoying in situations like this where I'm still technically in the middle of a franchise run and I'm replaying older games in the franchise that I've already played.  And once again, this season I got another Resident Evil game, I may go check, I'm wondering if I've gotten Resident Evil games every season for the past few seasons.  Anyway, I like this game, despite it being shorter than RE2, RE2 is better for sure, but I will always hate the areas in these games where you're running from giant Tyrant man.  I didn't play this for PoP... I don't know why I played this.  Maybe backlog dungeon?  I really don't know.  I'm actually quite perturbed by it.
Rating: Soft recommendation

72. The Darkside Detective (PC)
This one was definitely a PoP game.  I don't want to say this is one of my first experiences with point and click games, but I don't usually play this type of game.  I've got no issue with them, but I think I don't have the time or patience to play them the way they are meant to be played.  I generally follow a walkthrough, especially if I check out the achievements and notice there are missable achievements that could be easily obtained by following a guide.  If a game has straight forward story based unmissable achievements, I might give the game an honest go without a guide, but that's rarely the case.  Almost feels like cheating with these types of games, but I also feel like these games are always so obtuse, rigid, and overly specific in what they want you to do and how they want you to do it.  The humor of this just barely doesn't click well with me, and it doesn't help that the art style doesn't click with me either.  This game isn't bad, it's quite good even, but they'll always lose points for those two things because with how little these games provide, these two things are really important.  Game is case by case which makes the game a tad more palatable than longer point and click games given its sort of episodic nature.  I don't believe the game has an overarching story where the cases culminate in some larger thing, but I don't recall.  Short, pretty good, I'll say the extra cases at the end make the game last just a little too long and if they were optional (read as not having achievements) I'd be pretty happy personally, but the game did wear out its welcome by the time I got through the extra case.
Rating: Soft recommendation

Next List

[kashell]

49. Kirby Mass Attack

I've gotten the Kirby out of my system for the year. All it took was my stubbornness of getting through this game (and lots of cursing along the way). I didn't like this game the first time I finished it. Now, that dislike has evolved to something closer to loathe. Seriously, screw this game. This was the biggest let down of the DS titles. Anything that relies solely on touch screen controls can get all the way wrecked. Kirby deserved better. Also, any of the Nintendo mascots would have worked just as well for this. At least the game is pretty to look at it.

[marvelvscapcom2]

46. Taiko No Tatsujin: Rythym Festival [PS5] - finished July 7th, 2025



Taiko No Tatsujin Rythym Festival is a fun little (not so little) Japanese treat to grace American audiences in recent memory. (I know it did decades ago. But I mean how massively popular it has become has had a recent spike to it). You know those cute little Japanese candy poppers that explode? Or the sodas with the marbles in them? That Japan has had for decades but have now since become trendy in the states? That is this game. A hidden treat that I think is dabbling into a space in American gaming where guitar hero would have once lived. The rythym genre! And i'm happy its gained some cult like attention. Sorta riding along the lines of games like Dance Dance Revolution which were games that blew up to popularity in tokyo arcades and then made it to be ported to pretty much every worldwide form of delivering entertainment. Im surprised their wasnt a dance dance revolution on dvd players using a remote to play the darn thing. Oh wait....


There was lol.



However Taiko No Tatsujin at its greatest value NEVER waivers from what it is.  I played the vita version which was released almost a decade before Rythym Festival. Its the same exact game. Different songs and UI of course. But it doesn't play around with becoming too saturated or too ambitious. And I feel its such a delightful pick up and play game because of it.  Its just faithful and fun.  Colorful and cute.

Players must simply hit the outer rim of a drum (a taiko peripheral. Sold seperate) for blue notes. And center drum for red notes although the game can also be played via controller. This raises accuracy and easiness of the game.  But removes some of the immersive realism of drumming away. Which is a optional trade off for casual play on the couch.

The songs are mostly J Pop, but their are some K Pop (such as black pink's dudududu) and English songs such as Disney's frozen II and classics such a bethooven symphony no.5.  The set list is varied, juicy and ripe with fun. And even though I maybe know 5 words in Japanese. It's something that every song beems with life. They have different tones, poignant appeal and lush visuals that compliment the intent of delivery. Melodies. Rock, japanese techno. It all is a big rave in a world so foreign to me and I do love that.   It can also be noted that if you buy the japanese copy of the game like I did. And play it on an ntsc playstation 5. The ps5 will automatically translate it to the language on your ps5. Its no different than owning the american copy aside from paying 30 dollars less lol. 


Overall the controls are smooth. The character Don Chin that looks sorta like a spring roll with green outer skin is adorable.  He is accompnied by a cloud with yellow strings?  I honestly feel like being non lingual in the games language makes it more abstract. I cant tell what the creatures are. But based on what ive read online. Japanese speakers and natives also find the game fairly off the wall and wild in terms of what is going on.  Theirs a lot of colorful visuals. It's one of the most colorful games I have ever played. 

Overall its a concise rythym game that has a smooth UI. Fun tracks. However lack of vocals, guitar or synths make it one dimensional. So you have to love drums. And particular ONE drum. To enjoy it.  It was fun for the many hours I put into it. However I actually think my vita experience was even better.

87/100

[marvelvscapcom2]

47. Who Pressed Mute On Uncle Marcus [PS5] - finished Jul 9th, 2025



47. Who Hit Mute On Uncle Marcus

This game is dank lol. Maybe dank is self described. Dank as in a moldy dish rag on a placenta dragon's door hinge. It's a silly flash in the pan that ends way too soon. It doesnt get where it needs to go. Like if someone double dog dared your crush to kiss you.  It's like your hearts racing, you dont know what to feel. It sorta was what you imagined, it sorta wasnt and in the end? You dont know what to do but hope for it to extend upon itself and it never does.  It's this FMV British comedy soup that is funny at times. But since its basically a 15 minute episode of Ricky Gervais's the office with half the humor and twice the amount to unpack. I personally think it needed more time to get into its footing. It's a clustered up little mess of amusement. Maybe worth 2 dollars. Heres the issue... I paid 4 lol.


So essentially you are Abby. A family outcast who I suppose is close to Uncle Marcus. It doesnt extend into why she is. Uncle Marcus confides in you the details of a big mystery of how he was poisoned by someone in the family. And you are tasked to interrogate a set of family members (aunt, mom, cousins and grandmother) to find evidence. This is not a spoiler because its literally the games title and description in store lol. Once you gather evidence you can hopefully save Uncle Marcus or unviel the truth.  Theirs most likely many different endings. The issue is the game is over as fast as it starts.  I mostly got this game because I was itching for another game like Erica.  Erica is also an fmv. The game is actually camera footage of real humans and actresses and that game was 10/10 incredible and I beat it 3 times it was so engrossing. Like an unraveling hbo max movie. It felt like I was digging into an actual mystery. Shutter Island style. And this game? Its something I imagine would come on adult swim at 3am when everyones off to bed. Something you watch only out of lack of options. It just doesnt have any major unraveling. Its too short. And it's rare I ever say that.  But it just is. You cant just put someone at the helm of a 30 minute murder mystery and rush that to that extent.  But maybe some will find enjoyment in its novelty.

69/100