52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

[telly]

Game 2 - Coffee Talk (PS5) - 6 Hours

I made a point to purchase as many "cozy" games as possible with some birthday money last year and here's a review of the first one I've finished!

Coffee Talk isn't  the most engaging of a game from a gameplay perspective. It's mainly just reading text boxes and occasionally choosing ingredients to make coffee, tea and other drinks. If you're the person who likes engaging core gameplay, this won't be for you. But, if you like something that's very chill, and engrossing in a narrative and atmospheric way, this game is great. It's the little things that make the atmosphere special. The rain falling outside of the shop (although it rains every single day which is a little off). The movements of the characters, the music and sound effects, all of it blends together into a game that puts you into a zen.

I enjoyed the game the most when I limited myself to just one night in the coffee shop play session. If I tried to play multiple nights in a row it became less entertaining. I also found that for a game where the story is the main attraction, it actually wasn't that interesting. Some compelling threads here and there, but mostly superficial storytelling without a lot of pizazz that would really make it great. Part of the problem is the character you play as, the barista, who has no stake in any of the stories being told, which means as a player your investment in what's going on is significantly diminished.

Coffee Talk isn't a game for everyone, but I still enjoyed my time playing it. It's a kind of game that I don't really play that often, but I'm glad I gave it a shot.

[telly]

Game 3 - Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (PS5) - 3 Hours

A very pleasant, light platformer with a cute story and characters, solid gameplay, and some really nice music. The game has a really unique atmosphere with a mix of dreamy and unsettling music, characters and dreamy atmosphere that really contributes to the game's themes. I wish Klonoa's attack had a bit more range to it, but I found the challenge to be just the right level and it was fun to master the controls. Really not a whole lot more to say about this one. It's pretty short, and there isn't any replay value, but I did really enjoy my time with it.

[bikingjahuty]

9. Cyberpunk 2077 (PS5)

Having bought Cyperpunk 2077 (CP2077) on day one when it came out in 2020, I was one of those crazy people who stuck it out with the game despite glitches and game breaking bugs galore. Adding to the insanity of my perseverance even more, I purchased the game on the PS4, which was infamous for being the least optimized, poorest running, and most unstable release compared to all other platforms CP2077 was released on. The fact I was able to beat the game at all on the PS4 back in 2020 (I actually beat the game on 1/1/2021, but whatever) was a miracle akin to V dodging a cascade of bullets and coming out the other end unharmed. Maybe the craziest thing of all was I actually walked away from this early build of CP2077 on a console it probably should have never been released on to begin with, with an overall positive impression of the game. Sure, some of the bugs and glitches, and the fact there was terrible frame rate and pop in issues throughout certainly dampened my opinion of the game somewhat, but I still had a great experience by the time the credits rolled.


Hearing nothing besides how CDPR turned the game completely around and even made it way better with its expansion, Phantom Liberty, had be eager to replay CP2077 and see how much more I'd enjoy it now that the game was fixed and no longer borderline unplayable. Originally, I was going to review the base game of CP2077 and Phantom Liberty as one game, however after beating base CP2077 and completing what the internet tells me is the first 1/3 of Phantom Liberty, I just ddin't feel right lumping the main game and expansion together. Phantom Liberty, at least so far, is a very different experience in so many ways compared to the base game. Some of this, again so far (I haven't beat Phantom Liberty yet), is a good thing whole some I'm not quite sure about just yet. Either way, it just feels very jarring and shoehorned into the pretty solid, cohesive narrative present in the main game of CP2077. However, with that out of the way, here are my thoughts on CP2077 5 years since originally playing it.


CDPR has improved virtually everything in this game as of version 2.31. Almost every gameplay mechanic and system works way better, possessing a level of polish almost every feature in version 1.XX was missing. Stealth works a 100 times better, shooting is actually fun and effective now, hacking and completing missions or areas outside of the box now actually feels doable, and the leving/progression system is noticeably tighter and better thought out. Honestly, the only thing that still feels kinda crappy is driving, which obviously sucks, but it's a far cry from how almost everything in CP2077 was pretty busted back in 2020/2021.


The game offers an almost overwhelming amount of missions, side objectives, oddities to explore, and other fascinating things to see and do, that you'll rarely feel bored or underwhelmed by what CP2077 has to offer. Unfortunately, many of these missions do play out the same way more or less (break in, steal this, kill that guy), but luckily the writing does a fairly good job at spicing some of this side content up. Beyond just the combat and exploring Night City, there isn't a ton of more out of the box side experiences, which is a bit of a shame, but the core of CP2077 is so good now, that it hardly needs that side crap anyways.


The story of CP2077 is pretty good overall. There are so many ways to experience this game differently depending on what back story you choose, what dialogue and action options you decide to make, what side missions you choose to complete, and so may other variables, CP2077 can almost feel like an entirely different game between playthroughs. Whle the middle 50% of the game mostly plays out the same, the beginning of the game and the ending can look dramatically different depending on your in game choices. While I'm not going to spoil anything, the ending I got during the playthrough blew the alternate ending I got doing my 2020 playthrough completely out of the water! And what's even crazier is there are even more ending I could see depending on choices I make. Combine all this with some excellent character writing, dialogue, and a pretty original, gripping plot and you have a video game that rivals many sci fi books and movies in terms of how interesting it is.


Still, with all that said about the story, it still has a few parts that aren't as interesting or great. The writing in side missions can outstay its welcome at times. And if I'm being completely honest, the dynamic between certain main and semi-main characters can sometimes feel all over the place, even when not talking dialogue options into consideration. Still, these are fairly minor gripes to what is otherwise a really enjoyable, well made story.


I honestly don't have a single bad thing to say about the visuals or audio in CP2077 on the PS5. The game runs silky smooth, even during more hectic sections of the game. The amount of detail in Night City absolutely makes it feel like a real living, breaking place. There are random allies you can explore that look completely unique even if there is otherwise nothing remarkable or noteworthy about it. Just the level of visual detail is off the charts in CP2077 and I can say with absolutely certainty that this is one of the best looking video games ever made. Audio is also amazing. Great soundtrack, nearly perfect voice acting, amazing sound effects of all sorts. The audio is legendary and needs to be heard to be believed!


While some of its flaws and shortcoming do hold this game back for me as being one of my favorite games of all time, it's still no understatement to say that CP2077 is one of the best games ever made. It's nothing short of incredible how much CDPR turned this game around in just a few years and delivered the title we had all hoped for back in 2020. But as they sau, better late than never. Now, I just hope I enjoy Phantom Liberty just as much, if not more, even though that game is quickly turning out to be a bird of another color. (1/25/26) [42/50]

[kashell]

9. Grandia II HD - platinum'd

My second platinum of the year, and one step closer to 150! Compared to the first game, Grandia II is the better title for the most part. I don't like how drastically and quickly Ryudo changes personalities, but otherwise the cast and story is a step forward in development with a more mature story line to match. I played the game on Hard mode, which was a new addition to this HD collection. Overall, it wasn't that much more difficult than the standard difficulty. The two toughest fights were the Body of Valmar and the final boss. The final boss was tough because its speed was insane. Spell after spell after spell. Thankfully, I held onto all my important items like feathers and SP restoratives. The game is a true classic, but this port? Man, what a letdown. First, there's the sound quality. Moving the cursor up and down has this laser beam "pew" sound and it is loud. There's no way to adjust sound quality, either. Music will fade out, and then restart. That's not a big deal but it's noticeable in an otherwise epic soundtrack. Then, there's the freeze-framing that happens when a battle ends. It looks like the game is about to glitch - the character that does the victory pose will often freeze for a split second before finishing said pose. However, the only time the game crashed on me was in a random dungeon when I was walking. Annoying? Yes. But, RPG 101: save often, and Grandia's full HP/MP/SP restorative save points are everywhere. I lost all of 10 minutes of game time so, not a big deal but still something that happened when I wasn't expecting it. This is my third time going through the game. First was on PlayStation 2 and it was a passable port. Second was on the Dreamcast and it's crazy to think that this original version is still the best version. Now, we have this HD port and while the game is still a lot of fun, it's probably the worst way to go about playing it.

[kashell]

10. Mega Man Zero 3

I ended up jumping into this instead of Advent, and I'm glad I did. This is still my favorite from this sub-series. The Recoil Rod is a lot more fun than the special weapons from the other games. It's not used as much as the saber or gun, but still a fun little trick weapon. I managed to keep an A ranking the entire time. I also managed to get most of the secret disks. I'll probably do another run through this year and go for the ones I'm missing while attempting to get an S rank.

[bikingjahuty]

10. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (PS5)

When it comes to substantial bonus content and large expansion for games, I rarely complain or think the base game would have been better if the expansion never existed. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is no different in this regard, however I do feel like its inclusion, should you choose to play it, feel fairly out of place and jarring shoved within the CP2077 narrative. Taking place during the events of CP2077, and even offering up an entirely new ending should you make certain decisions towards the end of Phantom Liberty, the game really throws things askew plot and storywise from the main game. Base CP2077 is built upon Johnny Silverhand becoming imbedded within your psyche and your struggle to remove him and survive becomes just as much your story as it does his. However, in Phantom Liberty, Johnny almost takes a back seat to some of the new characters plot threads that have far less to do with him and his past and more to do with the what's going on with these new characters. In a lot of ways, regardless of what path you decide to take in Phantom Liberty, it undermines the story already established towards the beginning of CP2077 and abruptly ends a lot of the threads that game was established, which mostly all get resolved by the ending of the base game.


So in a way, choosing to play Phantom Liberty is done so at the expense of the main plot and story, even though it does do its best to tie into it and resolve certain problems that arise within case CP2077. What this all means for me is that I didn't care for the story Phantom Liberty had to tell even though I did find myself interested and even intrigued at times by what was happening throughout most of it. Again, Phantom Liberty just felt bluntly shoehorned into the overall story of Phantom Liberty, like someone who managed to bash in a square peg into a circular hole.


My issues with the story aren't the only problem I had with this game. While far more minor, I didn't care that much for Dogtown, the new main area offered in the Phantom Liberty expansion and where the bulk of that game takes place. Beyond it giving me some strong Escape from LA vibes and also being reminiscent of Kowloon City which was essentially an independently ran anarchy city nestled nearly Hong Kong during most of the 20th century until the entire city was eventually demolished, there wasn't really anything that interesting about Dogtown that made it stand out heavily from other parts of Night City you'd already seen. Sure, some of the building looked post apocalyptic as they sat there in a mid state of decay, but upon closer inspection, their layouts and features were just like any other place you'd already been in the base game. While you can venture out back into the rest of Night City whenever you want, the main story of Phantom Liberty as well as the new side missions offered to you nearly all happen within Dogtown or at least right outside it. Otherwise, this game, including Dogtown, look just as good as the rest of CP2077.


Phantom Liberty's gameplay is more or less yanked right out of the base game of CP2077, with a few noteworthy exceptions. For one, Phantom Liberty leans way more into action than the base game, almost becoming an action game first and an RPG second. The reason I won't say that, however, is the inclusion of Relic abilities and points which give the main character, V special abilities not offered in vanilla CP2077. Otherwise, you'll be leveling up the same and putting points into various character attributes like Agility or Tech. Because of the greater emphasis on action in Phantom Liberty, there is way more ammo and weapons just lying around, which you'll absolutely need given how much shit you'll be shooting in this expansion. In fact, the first third of Phantom Liberty is so action packed that I almost forgot I was playing CP2077 for a minute. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, although it does contribute somewhat to the jarring tone and plot shift I mentioned earlier.


Audio is still top notch in Phantom Liberty. The voice acting from the new characters introduced in this game is at the same high caliber seen in the base game. While my connection and investment in the new characters wasn't as strong as it was with many characters introduced in base CP2077, that had nothing to do with the voice acting or the performances given in Phantom Liberty whatsoever. Music and sound effects are mostly just lifted from the main game, which is by. no means a bad thing given how good that all was there.


While playing Phantom Liberty was something I always intended to do whenever I got around to replaying the base game again, one of the biggest selling points of Phantom Liberty was the proclamation of it "fixed" the ending of the base game. To be clear, the base game has five endings if memory serves me right, so I guess it's more accurate to say Phantom Liberty offers an additional sixth ending. The ending I got in Phantom Liberty was more a conclusion to the events of Phantom Liberty rather than a definitive ending to the story of CP2077. I did watch the definitive ending that is offered in CP2077 and found it to actually be less satisfactory than most of the endings in the base game. This is saying something since one huge thing is never fully resolved in the base game's ending and most are all somewhat bittersweet if not mostly negative. The same is true in Phantom Liberty's conclusive ending which just made me feel kinda depressed and unfulfilled. Obviously, this is more of a subjective thing, but I really feel like I was sold a false bill of goods with the internet collectively saying the ending of Phantom Liberty was so much better than the ones in base CP2077. It isn't and neither are the endings that just loop back into the events of the main game.


I feel like I had a lot of negative things to say about Phantom Liberty, but at the end of the day, it's still a game based on an already great game. While it does fall noticeably short in various areas compared to base CP2077, I would say that it's still worth playing through to make your own opinion on. Just be prepared for the game to shift tonally in a pretty sudden and jarring way if you decide to play Phantom Liberty. (1/28/26) [38/50]

[supremeusername]

4. Gears of War: Reloaded | 2025 | "Hardcore" Difficulty Solo Campaign | Xbox Series X | 1/25:



     A leftover from 2025, I have finished playing Gears of War: Reloaded: a remaster of a remaster of the original game. I have played plenty of Gears of War 4 many years ago, but barely anything from the original trilogy. Rare props to Microsoft for handing me a free copy for owning the physical version of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition.

     Anyways, this is 100% Gears of War through and through, love it or hate it. It's pretty surprising how much the first game got right with its gameplay, art direction, and characters. The campaign is nothing ground-breaking or life-changing, but it's still a solid few hours to play through today. What I am disappointed with is with the remaster. This is the third release of the same game and still has some of the worst friendly AI I have ever seen. You get the option to direct your teammates' (mainly Dom's) actions, but they do almost nothing. They may listen to you when you tell them to regroup, then continue to rush the enemy and get downed 5 seconds later. The enemy AI isn't much better either, and there were some graphical & gameplay glitches throughout my playthrough (I posted an image of one of my first glitch encounters above). You think someone at The Coalition would bother tinkering with the original game's code for once?

     I did have more fun than I expected playing a solo Gears campaign that's almost 20 years ago at this point. There are a lot of memorable set pieces and locations that you trudge through -- which was more than I expected for a game that only uses gray, dark green, and sepia as colors. This remaster does make the game more pleasant to look at and play through, at the cost of the original game's gritty art direction. Overall pretty solid, but I do have to question if we will see an 8K resolution, Gears of War: Supreme Edition remaster of the first game another decade from now?



Grade: C+

[dhaabi]

05. Pikmin || Nintendo Switch || 01.25.2026



For nearly fifteen years, Pikmin has been a game I've been meaning to complete. It's been fifteen years specifically because it's been that long since I first played the game without really knowing what to expect at all, so it was both a franchise and a genre of games I was unfamiliar with. As to be expected from this specific game that offers three different endings dependent on player performance, I earned the worst possible outcome and moved onto something else. So since I never properly played Pikmin to completion, having it as part of my backlog all this time still has long bothered me. Fortunately, that's since changed.

To set the scene, Pikmin begins with the protagonist Olimar crash-landing on an alien planet while navigating through space. Needless to say, Olimar's ship is unable to take off once again as numerous parts of it—thirty, to be exact—have scattered around the surrounding regions, waiting to be found. To make matters worse, there is a grave sense of urgency to reclaim these pieces as Olimar's space suit only has enough power to filter out this world's toxic air composed of oxygen for thirty days. So, to be direct, Olimar has one month to repair his ship or else he'll die. Fortunately, however, Olimar isn't alone on this life-or-death mission but is instead accompanied by upwards of hundreds of alien creatures, the eponymous Pikmin, who eagerly aid his cause serving as tools at his disposal. So for thirty in-game days that are roughly 13 minutes in real-time, both Olimar and the Pikmin must accomplish their short-term goals of reclaiming one ship piece at a time which will enable the ship to navigate short distances across the planet from one region to the next at certain milestones, where other parts await to be found.

While Olimar's alone at first, it's almost immediate that he discovers Pikmin, this sort of hybrid plant-animal species. Quickly, Pikmin's numbers multiply as the they themselves harvest resources that enable them to reproduce at propagation pods. This is a slow process at times as they move slowly throughout it, but it's typical for the collective Pikmin to pool together their power at the whim of Olimar's direction that enables both parties to accomplish their survival goals. For without Olimar's command, the Pikmin are rather useless and fall prey to the numerous predators that roam the wilderness. While Olimar's chief goal is to bring back each fallen ship part back to their home base, it's often interrupted by predators and the terrain itself. So, even though the main objective is for multitudes of Pikmin to carry these parts—as there is strength in numbers—they must routinely clear the path for both Olimar and themselves to traverse safely which is, in itself, Pikmin's chief gameplay loop. At times, this is as simple as opening a blocked path or as dangerous as confronting a much larger, much more capable predator. It's often not clear what sort of resources are needed for each individual circumstance, so there is a fair amount of trial-and-error involved throughout a first playthrough. Discovering and understanding new information is paramount to making progress, and it's made easier by daily field reports from Olimar himself.

Even though Pikmin is quite approachable for anyone new to real-time strategy games with an emphasis on resource management, I found the experience to be somewhat challenging for me—for a while, anyway. And what I mean by that exactly is that, for the majority of my playthrough, I'd consider myself to have been bad at maintaining Pikmin's numbers, as they'd constantly die with high frequency. That being said, while the Pikmin population is an important factor to monitor and replenish, it becomes even more crucial to bolster the numbers of each individual type of Pikmin, which there are three: red, yellow, and blue. While each of these three types have the same basic qualities and can perform the same simple actions, they differ in more finer abilities and are required to be used in certain scenarios to continue progress. Since only one hundred Pikmin in total can be dispersed on the field at a time, it's crucial to balance the actions you assign them to maximize the limited time that's available each day, with tasks such as constructing bridges or collapsing wall barriers being the highest priority since these obstacles impede further progress. Of course, simply finding a ship part is only one segment of the game, as overcoming each region's trials and successfully bringing the part back to Olimar's ship is the real challenge.

Of course, Pikmin are more than capable of defeating their predators while following Olimar's commands. Using them as tools, Olimar can direct Pikmin to attack predators or even fling Pikmin on top of them to gain advantage. Still, it's to be expected that many of Olimar's forces will die. Together, they act as an army against much larger and more capable predators, but that doesn't mean predators will simply allow themselves to die. Alongside simply being eaten alive, Pikmin can die in scenarios such as falling victim to the environment itself that includes being burnt and drowned or merely becoming separated from the group and then being left in the wilderness overnight on their own where they'll be preyed upon. Olimar can also disengage any active Pikmin at any time that's made easier by separating them by color type, though it's sometimes more ideal to lead them back to their propagation pods where they're completely safe. As new regions are discovered, predators become more active, so any Pikmin that's on the field but not currently with Olimar are easy targets. Alongside typical predator creatures, there are also several boss-type predators in the far corners of each stage which guard ship parts. They require their own strategy, and it's best to come prepared with a full army.

Overall, the game's core objectives are straightforward to accomplish. While players are tasked with rebuilding Olimar's ship with broken-off parts, finding these parts is made relatively easy with a map that somehow has the location of every part marked. As days continue to pass, Olimar eventually reveals in a daily report that he believes only some of the lost parts are needed for the ship to properly function. So while there are a total of thirty parts to collect, only twenty-five specific parts are actually needed. However, the game doesn't reveal which parts are optional to reclaim. For there to have been a means to know which specific ship parts have been found from the stage select screen would have been ideal, but I suppose a mechanic like that serves little purpose unless knowing which parts are required. Regardless, collecting all thirty parts rewards the player with the best ending, whereas merely obtaining the required twenty-five rewards the adequate one. Meanwhile, anything less triggers the worst ending with Olimar unable to leave. Of course, this means that Pikmin does offer some level of replayability, though that replayability is largely related to besting one's own records concerning how many in-game days it takes to gather all thirty parts or how few Pikmin die.

After all these years, I'm glad to have finally completed Pikmin and being rewarded with the best ending. Obviously, my playthrough was far from perfect, but it's a game that's dependent on players learning new information regularly after both successes and failures. While I know some basic details regarding how the series changes, I'm curious just how different each sequel actually is from this debut title.

[bikingjahuty]

11. Guitar Hero II (PS2)

Games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band were more or less a core part of the Millennial experience back in the mid to late 2000s. I was in college at the time, and these two games were everywhere. Parties, student unions, dorm rooms, retail stores, you name it. Despite me probably being the least into video games I've ever been around this time, I still was unable to avoid getting sucked into the plastic guitar game hysteria. Given how social these games were, they meshed well with my priorities of friends and dating during this time, and well, needless to say, I played a shit to ton of Guitar Hero and Rock Band between 2006 and 2008.


The first game I bought for my own personal enjoyment was the second game in the Guitar Hero series. I used to play this game all the freakin time, both alone and with friends. At one point, I actually got pretty good at it and was able to get four stars on most songs in hard mode. Being the first of these guitar rhythm games I really threw a lot of time into, Guitar Hero 2 holds a special place in my heart. Eventually, Rock Band would become my preferred series in this sub genre, especially Rock Band 2, but I'll always have a huge soft spot for Guitar Hero 2. It's been close to 20-years since I last played one of these games and the itch to replay Guitar Hero 2 has been strong for quite some time. Picking up my original red plastic Gibson guitar replica that came with the copy of Guitar Hero 2 I bought new 20 years ago, I jumped back into this game yesterday. And oh man, what an experience that ended up being!


Tons of wonderful memories game flooding in as I played every song through Concert Mode. Between trying to keep the rhythm of each song and not miss any notes, I was reminded of all the wonderful times I had with friends whole playing Guitar Hero 2 and all those other guitar/instrument rhythm games from the 2000s. And beyond just how nostalgic Guitar Hero 2 is for me, the game still holds up incredibly well, even to this day.


The gameplay of Guitar Hero 2 and other games in the series is fairly simple; you're simply pressing a combination of five colored buttons on the neck of you plastic guitar controller while flicking a switch which is meant to simulate the strumming of the strings. Button commands and timing do a fairly good job of simulating what you'd have to do while playing the actual song, albeit significantly simplified. There are other actions as well such as using the whammy bar during held chords and also doing a rocking motion with the guitar itself to go into a point multiplayer mode. However, at its core, you're going to want to hit as many notes corresponding with the guitar chores in the song to rack up as much points as you can while also not missing too many, causing you to get booed off stage by your digital crowd, requiring you to start the song over again.


Guitar Hero 2's simplicity is a massive part of why this game and others like it became so successful, however back then and even now, it does leave a bit to be desired at times. I also found that some songs leant themselves way better to Guitar Hero 2's gameplay far better than others. Still, for the most part, nearly every song in this game is synced up well with the guitar notes in the actual song, making for an engaging, fun experience as you play through all 30 or so songs.


Speaking of Guitar Hero 2's songs, there is a pretty diverse mix of rock tracks in this game, spanning four decades of music. You'll play some well known classic from Black Sabbath or Kansas, followed by playing something far more obscure and modern like Avenged Sevenfold or Reverend Horton Heat. It definitely keeps this game interesting, even though I wish maybe Activision would have acquires slightly more well known songs, bringing the overall song count up at least a dozen or so at least. My only other gripe with the songs in guitar hero is their all sang as covers by some vocalist Activision payed. The vocalists, both male and female, definitely do some songs justice far better than other, but some just sound borderline bad given how much the hired vocalist's voices clash with how the song originally sounded. This is a fairly minor gripe, but in a game with only around 30 songs, it's a shame about 1/6 or so of them sound kind of blah due to the original song vocals not being used.


Finally, there's Guitar Hero 2's visuals, which you'd be at times mistaken for thinking, "what visuals?" 98% of the time you're playing Guitar Hero 2 you're either looking at a menu between songs, or at the notes you need to press on your controller which is represented by a flow of colored prompts on a digital guitar neck coming towards you. In the background you have a motley crue (no relation to the band) of mismatched cartoony rock stars jamming out on various venue stages. You'll almost have no time to actually look up to see your cartoon rockstar avatar head banging or playing their guitar behind their back. Still, these 3D characters and their performances have a certain charm to them that certainly adds to the appeal of the game. But really. this game is more about its music and gameplay anyways, which means how good or not the 3D character models, stage props and other visual elements look is almost irrelevant.


Some games are absolute time machines for me, and Guitar Hero 2 is absolutely one of them. Nearly the entire time I was playing, memories of playing Heart Shaped Box or Free Bird with friends back in college came flooding back. It reminded me how much I miss a lot of them, some of which I haven't spoken to or seen in almost as long a it's been since I last played this game. The ability for some games to take me back to simpler and sometimes better times is part of why I love this hobby so much. And fortunately for Guitar Hero 2, it's still an awesome game that is a hell of a good time to play. (1/30/26) [37/50]

[bikingjahuty]

12. Clayfighter 63 1/3 + Clayfighter Scultor's Cut (N64)

This morning when I woke up, I felt the sudden urge to revisit the original Super Smash Bros on the N64. Despite owning most of the N64 games I care about and like, I play 95% of my N64 games off an Everdrive 64. To my surprise, for some reason I'd overlooked Smash Bros ans it was nowhere to be found in the list of N64 ROMS I had on the flash cart. Feeling too lazy to pull Smash out of its box protector and box, I decided to instead play some other game on the N64. Out of all the excellent N64 titles I could have chosen to play this morning, I landed on what is considered one of the more infamous games on the N64, Clayfighter 63 1/3.


While I never owned Clayfighter 63, I vividly remember renting it as a kid around the time it came out. I remember thinking the game was goofy and ridiculous, which as a 10 year old was all I required to like a game sometimes. I'm pretty sure that was the last time I'd played the game, so here we are nearly 30 years later and I decided it was high time I played through this game with an adult's perspective to see if Clayfighter 63 was as decent as I remembered it being or as terrible as the internet claims it is. Since I was playing Clayfighter 63 off a flashcart, I decided to play it and it's questionably enhanced, updated version, Clayfighter Sculptor's Cut back to back to see if one game was better than the other. Honestly, despite there being some gameplay and presentation differences, these games are still essentially 95% the same game, so I didn't feel right counting my playthrough of Sculptor's Cut as its own game beat. So when I refer to Clayfighter 63, I'm essentially referring to both games even though Sculptor's Cut does have more characters to choose from. But anyhow, with that out of the way, what did I think of Clayfighter 63 1/3 in 2026?


To my surprise and I guess delight, Clayfighter 63 isn't as bad as I expected it to be. Sure, the gameplay in this game is not great, in fact I'd say it absolutely leans in the direction of bad, but it's not so horrible that the game is unplayable or even unenjoyable to play, at least in small doses. Clayfighter 63 is a gag fighter through and through, and knowing this going into it definitely makes it a more enjoyable experience rather than thinking you're getting some competitor to Super Street Fighter II or some other way better game. Most of Clayfighter's gameplay issues stem from poorly implemented opponent AI and controls that seem somewhat inconsistent. Other than that, you could definitely do way worse when it comes to fighting game gameplay, but yeah, Clayfighter's gameplay isn't going to land it in the EVO rotation any time soon.


This game's main asset is its pretty goofy, very 90s presentation of strange gross out humor and bizarre fighters. Most fighters are either parodies of some sort or ridiculous caricatures. Then there's the cool guest characters from other Interplay games, specifically Earthworm Jim and Boogerman. Along with these characters are entertaining moves, goofy one liners, and various other flourishes that make you forget you're playing an inferior fighting game. Stages are also surprisingly entertaining and fun, at least for N64 game standards. There is also a decent variety of both stages and characters to choose from, even more so in Sculptor's Cut. While the music in this game is nothing special or noteworthy, the character voices and one liners are what'll stick with you the most after playing Clayfighter 63.


I almost feel like you'd have to be a 90s kid to really understand and appreciate Clayfighter 63; it's a game that took so much of the zany, weird, and often gross humor of 90s cartoons and kid shows and distilled it in a fighting game that never takes itself seriously, almost to a fault. Still, there is definitely some value in playing this game, especially if you get some friends together. But even playing this game alone, it's worth the 15 minutes it takes to clear this game with on a single playthrough. As I said earlier, you could do far worse when it comes to 5th generation fighting games, and at the very least, Clayfighter 63 is a goofy, entertaining game that is worth checking out at least once. (1/31/26) [29/50]

[supremeusername]

5. Dr. Mario 64 | 2001 | Mario & Wario "Story" Campaign | Nintendo Switch 2 (originally N64) | 1/30:



     I recently renewed my NSO subscription after about 2 years of Switch 1 neglect. Dr. Mario 64 was one of the last games I expected to play when booting up the N64 Switch app for the very first time. I love puzzle games, but I've been most comfortable with ones that emphasize logic: stuff like The Witness, or even a game more universal like Sudoku or Picross. I'm not the best when it comes to games like Puyo-Puyo or Tetris, and Dr. Mario 64 was a big reminder of that.

     Even after putting the game on Easy for my 2nd playthrough, this game still kicked my ass. Like the aforementioned Puyo-Puyo, you will want to stack and build combos to crush your opponent. It may seem optional, but in some modes like "Marathon", it's almost mandatory to use combos in order to get a higher score. In other modes like "Story" -- which I spent most of my time playing -- you can clear stages by only focusing on eliminatining Viruses (thankfully).
     
     This game is a lot of fun and I do feel like I did get better at it -- even after abusing the "Rewind" function more times than I would like to admit. The story mode is short but there are different endings to get, depending upon the difficulty beaten and whether or not you beaten the game without using continues. The endings aren't super crazy or anything, but it does add more replayability to the mode.

     There's a lot of content in Dr. Mario 64 to play through however, so there's an abundance of replayability and chances to improve. It's very barebones in terms of using the power and hardware of the N64. I would've liked to see more work go into the models of the Story mode and more expressive animations during gameplay. I still had a good time regardless. Grade: B-

[kashell]

11. Mega Man ZX Advent - Ashe

I did it for the booty. Compared to ZX, Advent is ten steps above. Even the horrid voice acting adds to the charm. It's similar in a lot of ways to ZX, but it offers more things to collect, more forms, and better data management. Transforming into old bosses feels like such a surreal thing. I've played nearly all Mega Man top to bottom, and being able to fully transform into a downed RM or Maverick is something unheard of. I forgot how fun it was to do so. We'll see if I do a Gray file. The Star Force collection is coming out next month and I feel like this is a great way to get ready for it.

12. Star Ocean: First Departure R - Timeless Treasures

The Timeless Treasures ending was the one I was the most worried about getting, but really it wasn't bad. Using the Publication Super Specialty, everyone was able to have level 8 affection with Roddick. Then, rotating them between the final boss fights boosted the affection to 9. There was no need to worry about dialogue options or Private Actions. Seeing that ending was heartwarming - I'm glad I took a few extra steps to get it. That aside, this has been a great replay so far! I feel like this is an underrated iteration in the series. Yeah, it's one of those games where it's short length feels padded by lots of backtracking, but it's a lot of fun since it copies the design from the original Second Story which is still fun to play and highly regarded.My final party is Roddick, Cyuss, Ioushua and Millie. I took some time to grind levels with the silver trumpet and it made a world of difference for the final challenges. Will it help with the upcoming Cave of Seven Stars? That's TBD, but I'm looking forward to it.

[dhaabi]

06. Finding Father || Browser || 01.31.2026



Although I can't remember how I came across Finding Father, I imagine it was during a time while searching for hidden object puzzle games. More than likely, the reason why this game in particular stood out to me is how it subverts the genre.

Whereas in traditional hidden object games players are presented a series of visual objects or descriptions of those objects to find, Finding Father offers no objective information in such a fashion. What I mean is that, instead of an icon, a cropped image, or even a word that describes what to find, the only clues as to what's needing to be found are brief audio recordings. Interestingly, there is a simple story setup that does provide a reason why we as the player would be tasked with such an activity, and it serves its purpose well. Throughout the game, players are freely allowed to revisit these recordings as they search across the environment, clicking on objects while hoping that the sound they make is a match to the recording. There is never just one object needing to be found which helps alleviate becoming stumped, meaning players will need to actively select a specific recording in order to successfully discover the object it represents.

When clicking the environment, many of the objects in frame create sounds. Some are similar, though many differ from another. An aspect I appreciated is that there are instances of multiple objects of the same kind that sound different from another. For instance, one recording players are tasked to find is of a bird call. Though there are several birds to click, many have individualized sounds alongside there being only one bird to find that matches the recording. And while there are a number of objects to find throughout the game, they're divided into sections. At first, what players are tasked to find is easy and shouldn't be a sound that players question as to what it may be. But as the game continues, audio recordings become more vague. You as the player may think you have an idea what a sound could be and are actively looking for an object that may make it, but what's really needing to be found is something different altogether.

While much of the game's short experience is through its sound recording audio, there are other aspects worth highlighting. As previously mentioned, there is a story of sorts that's narrated. I did encounter once instance when this voiceover provides added context to the supplied audio recordings, but it can't be replayed. So, in the event players weren't paying attention as it's easy to skip past or even ignore, valuable information is lost. To be expected from a game with this scope, there is only one cityscape screen environment to inspect. Though simple in design, the game's black-and-white illustrative style is eye-catching albeit uninspired when compared to other games within the genre. Also, while players do have the capability to zoom in and out, it's not possible to zoom out fully to look at everything all at once.

Overall, Finding Father offers a novel take on the hidden object genre by replacing a core visual element that's objective to something that's far more indistinct. With that said, however, I feel as if this idea limits the gameplay to be either too easy or too difficult with no real in-between as a thoughtful but manageable challenge, since sounds will either be too obvious or too nebulous.

[kamikazekeeg]

1 - Peak (PC 2025) - BEAT - Finally beat this, I've been trying for awhile, I have 13 hours in the game, and that's just me trying to get to the top ONCE lol That's maybe a dozen tries at this point, I'd basically just play till I die and then that would be it, but it's not a long game.  If you have a solid run, I think it's maybe an hour'ish, but it's so easy to die.  One bad leap, running out of food, not enough supplies.  I probably could've made it like 2 runs back, but I was trying to get an achievement which gets you a costume and I accidentally killed myself in the last zone lol

The game is fun, it's built around co-op, but it's very playable solo, you just don't get any extra help which is good for like bad falls and what not. It's a little survival oriented, needing supplies, there's decent randomness to it as the two middle zones can be a variation of 2 different ones per zone, and each week they put out a newly created version of the mountain, so it's randomized, but not every single time so you can learn what routes are bad or good for that week to help get through, it's a nice middle ground.

No real complaints, it's exactly what it needs to be and I dug it.  Plus it's super cheap and I can see if you got a group of friends eager for this, it's a perfect co-op game.

[marvelvscapcom2]

And the first game I've completed for 2026 is TMNT IV: Turtles in Time (Arcade) from the Cowabunga Collection on PS5. Played some co-op with my son for a fun time.

Really rad! The arcade version of this game is 10x better than the console version imo. Love they included it in the collection.   Shredders Revenge is also a blast of a time for co-op.