52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

[dhaabi]

I normally avoid playing remastered versions unless there's good reason to visit them, yet this is one of those few instances when it's worthwhile since a considerable amount of new content that was originally planned but ultimately dropped has been added. For all intents and purposes, the original game is obsolete.

I played the original Nier on the 360 years ago and I absolutely loved it (still one of my favorite games ever). I plan on revisiting it some time again through the remaster, but if there's two reasons why I'm a bit weary of playing it: one, the original western release uses an older, father-figure protagonist instead of the younger one in the remaster (in my mind, it's hard to picture another person in the role). Two, the art direction of the original to me is superb, and it's hard getting used to some of the screenshots I've seen of the remaster (Kaine to me looks too clean and made out of plastic).

Those are definitely two criticisms that seem valid. For the former in particular, it did make me feel better to know that even if the game was released as two versions in Japan (Nier Replicant and Nier Gestalt), it was originally designed for players to assume the role of the brother figure whereas the father figure counterpart was designed to appease to Western audiences. I can't really comment on the quality of the game's art due to my own bias (since I've only played the remaster), but the remaster certainly does adopt a more modern anime-styled look. It's not even a style I particularly like in games but am more neutral toward, but I never found it to be detrimental to the overall experience.

[dhaabi]

35. Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands || Nintendo Switch || 09.20.2026



Unexpectedly, I found myself playing through Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands—a game I've not once ever heard of before—based on the recommendation of a friend. I don't particularly know why they recommended this game, but I decided to try it out at the very least and ultimately did like it enough to complete which was actually surprising.

First, I'll mention that Deathbulge is a video game adaptation to the webcomic series of the same name. Just like the game, I was completely unaware of its source material but did take a short time skimming through some of the comics after completing my playthrough. From what I've read, the comics don't really have a strong sense of cohesion from one to another—or any cohesion, really—and a lot of the humor in them just doesn't captivate me because of it. However, the same can't be said of the game. As one extended narrative, Deathbulge features this immense chaotic energy found throughout its entire cast from primary to tertiary characters and worldbuilding that permeates with this playful expressiveness. To be brief, the plot revolves around the eponymous band signing up to compete in a Battle of the Bands competition. It's an event that almost immediately has deadly consequences for all except the winners of the event as participants become cursed by some ancient demonic power that enables them to attack others by playing music. And though the circumstance is certainly alarming, the members of Deathbulge especially confront the situation as a trio of idiots set on removing the curse without murder.

So throughout their perilous adventure, the members of Deathbulge inevitably encounter enemies of all kinds, seldom of which are actually other participants. And while its subject matter may suggest that the game incorporates rhythm genre mechanics, Deathbulge is actually a turn-based RPG—and one that demonstrates its distinctive qualities quite quickly compared to other games from the genre that I've played that often seem too similar to another. In battle, party members fight as one unit with a single member being active at a time, though the same can't be said of enemies which means that each player action carries a lot of weight. Fortunately, players are able to swap from one character to another at any point both during or after the turn bar has filled. It's an act so simple yet still strategic as it's important to monitor when enemies ready their turn so that party strengths are exercised and statuses stay protected. With that said, it's this status for both the party and enemies that is crucial to exploit and protect. Each side readies their turns demonstrated on the turn bar, and the bar itself is divided into four measures. Across each measure, status effects can occupy its slot which have drastic consequences on securing victory as whatever status is currently in effect lasts the entire duration of the measure. So, for instance, the player's bar could be affected by both positive and negative effects such as speed reduction followed by speed hastened, speed hastened, and health restoration—and these effects will repeat each turn until overwritten or removed. There's a fair variety in the types of status effects, and they're made even more complicated by other conditions including being reversed or even strengthened. Other conditions can even be applied to the bar itself, so there's often a lot to manage because all of these elements act in tandem as one battle system.

However, the most important aspect of battle is the party class system that's directly tied to which skills are currently active for each member. There are 76 skills in total to gain, though that total is divided among the three party members with no two skills being the same. And though each character has over twenty skills, only three can be equipped at a time with one also dictating that character's fluid class. With that understanding, there's a lot of freedom to customize the party to adopt to one's play style, although it's to be expected to regularly swap these skills as more are collected and certain enemies are confronted to develop winning tactics. Really, there's been a lot of attention toward designing the class system that's evident by how strong it functions. Individual skills each have their own short melody and accompanying animation that plays, and this extends to enemies' skills as well. Characters' classes don't just change in battle either—an appreciated detail is that their in-game models and character portraits update too. At the same time, there are standard attacks that can be used freely without spending one's magic pool. They may seem more basic by comparison, but they can be upgraded and even combined together in ways that stacks debilitating effects on enemies, or beneficial ones on the party. And on the topic of the game's systems, Deathbulge somehow even manages to make its inventory system unique. Instead of buying items repeatedly, each individual is only purchased once. Items can be used indiscriminately, but they all share a combined stock total and have varying point costs.

But despite all the praise discussed above, I feel as if much of my enjoyment of the game's systems is a bit complicated. For most battle encounters across each dungeon, players will be engaging in the same fights over and over again. It's easy to formulate a strategy and simply employ it each time to ensure victory because of that fact. Likewise, players are always given the option to outright avoid enemies on the field to prevent the start of battle, and enemies respawn when revisiting a room, so it's quite possible to simply pick-and-choose which enemies are confronted. So after a time, battles do become stale when engaging in the combat with some regularity in any fashion, and there were times when I felt more compelled to progress because of the game's tone than its gameplay. In some sense, how complex the game's battle system can be is only ever fully realized by the game's end as difficulty spikes considerably even when the player's already achieved the maximum level cap. Although most boss encounters throughout the entire campaign also prove to be difficult, but the same really can't be said of field encounters. But with that understanding, the end game—and in particular, one optional test of the game's intricacies in the form of fighting all of the game's bosses with considerably heightened stats and behavior—does prove to be particularly challenging in a way that's simultaneously rewarding. Really, the optional challenge is especially demanding as it absolutely forces the player to evolve battle tactics with each and every encounter.

Far before the game's end, it became clear that Deathbulge: Battle of the Bands was a suggested game to play that exceeded my expectations. And a large reason for this is just how robust and unique its systems are that was especially fun to experience, though I won't deny that there's some monotony to bear along the way. Gameplay is really something I wasn't expecting to have such high quality from a game with a development team of five and limited budget.