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General and Gaming => General => Topic started by: ignition365 on December 31, 2018, 05:05:06 pm

Title: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: ignition365 on December 31, 2018, 05:05:06 pm
It's New Year's Eve and that means it's time for a new thread for the VGCollect annual 52 games challenge.

Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: ignition365 on December 31, 2018, 05:05:16 pm
Met my goal in 2016 (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,6762.msg105641.html#msg105641), 2017 (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,7980.msg132350.html#msg132350), and 2018 (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php?topic=8821.msg149004#msg149004), with 2016/2017 being 104 games and 2018 being 52 games as the goals.  2015 (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,5879.msg103895.html#msg103895) I tracked the info super late and I had another really busy year that year.  Last year saw some changes in my life and I was unable to put as much time into my backlog as I used to, but I still managed to beat 52 games even though I didn't explicitly set it as my goal.  This year, I'm hoping to continue that trend and hit 52 games again.  I'm not going to explicitly carry over titles from previous years just like last year.  If I start playing such a game again, I'll bring over the info, but I'm not going to clog up my post with that info.

Quote from: Legend
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.

2019 52 Game Challenge

In a continued effort to keep track of my favorite games played each year.

Top Games played that released in 2019

Top Games played NOT released in 2019

Top Games played overall in 2019

Honorable Mention

Games 1-19 (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg162656.html#msg162656)
Games 20 - 41 (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg162784.html#msg162784)
Games 42 - 62 (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php?topic=9921.msg165030#msg165030)
Games 63 - 80 (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg165825.html#msg165825)
Games 81 - Current + Abandoned games (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg168028.html#msg168028)
Final Stats (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg173552.html#msg173552)


Gonna track my wife's progress too

Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: ignition365 on December 31, 2018, 05:05:23 pm
Main List (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg162655.html#msg162655)

Quote from: Legend
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.

1. Ether One (PS4)
Beat this one on New Years, but completely forgot about it because I sorta just purged this game from my mind.  Game isn't terrible per se, but I just wasn't into it and then I got to a point where there was a puzzle to complete and I couldn't find the answer.  I looked online and every response with an answer said that the answer to the puzzle isn't in the game and that you just have to trial and error until you get it right.  At that point I decided I was done with the game and just beat it about 15 minutes later, complaining the entire time.  Made my wife pretty angry because she really likes this game, but I can't stand it because of that.
Rating: Highly recommended... that you never touch this game... because it sucks.

2. Moonlighter (NS)
Decided to jump into this and I'm not sure why.  I was in the mood to play another Metroidvania game, so I started up Salt and Sanctuary, but I kinda wasn't feeling a Dark Souls metroidvania, so I abandoned it for the time being.  I'm really enjoying this game.  It's part Link's Awakening and part Harvest Moon with a little Binding of Isaac.  I'd consider this game rogue-ish or rogue-lite.  The dungeons are procedurally generated every time you enter, but I think when you die you just exit the dungeon having lost what you've collected and maybe your money, idk, I've yet to die with anything.  You exit the dungeon using a teleport device, but it costs money to leave, so you have to make sure you enter the dungeon with enough money to teleport out or you might wind up screwed.  The game does provide you a way to gain cash inside the dungeon, but it isn't efficient.  When you exit the dungeon you can go and open up your shop and sell what you collected in the dungeon.  The money you earn can be used to upgrade the town, your shop, or you.  Town and shop is pure money, upgrading town gives you new shops to buy from and upgrading your shop provides you manners of earning more money or improving yourself.  Upgrading yourself requires money and resources, so you have to manage keeping some resources for upgrades and selling what you don't need.  There's no permadeath aspect to this game, but I imagine if you die you lose a lot of resources and money.
Rating: Recommended.

3. Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
I've been having the urge to play the old DKC games, and for sure I only know that I've beaten DKC1 before, I can't recall on DKC2 and I know for a fact that I've never beaten DKC3 because of my brother.  So I started it up a couple of days ago and beat it over the course of two evenings.  I did take a lot of breaks because I was getting sorta bored with the game.  Hopefully 2 and 3 can keep my attention better, but I find that linear platformer games generally lose my interest pretty quickly.
Rating: Recommended, it's a retro staple.

4. Owlboy (NS)
I'm still doing the intro to this game, but holy fuck does everybody hate this guy.  Writing this up well after I finished the game.  The controls of this game can be quite frustrating, particularly if you are a Smash player who doesn't use tap jump.  Both Up on the D-pad/Stick jumps and the jump button, so if you press jump and then up and jump, Owlboy will throw out his wings to fly and then immediately put them away and fall.  There is also a cannon mini-game, which is optional, that is frustrating in that the controls for it aren't... intuitive, I really can't explain it any better than that.  The game also has no map of any kind, so back tracking to find stuff just isn't reasonable.  Calling this game a metroidvania is being lenient with the term.  There is no back tracking, upgrades don't really exist, the game is largely linear, there is hardly an overworld, none of the areas interconnect, there's no map, equipment needed to access new areas are just given to you.  This is like a baby's first metroidvania.  Game is overall kind of disappointing if you put it to that comparison.  Even the combat in the game is sort of confusing and disappointing.  The only upside is that the story is pretty good, there are a couple of twists, and the ending is relatively nice.
Rating: Meh. Soft recommendation, it isn't terrible, but there are other games that are more worthy of your time.

5. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES)
Okay, first off, I've played this game a ton through my life and I just found out when playing this that the game is not called "Diddy Kong's Quest", it's called "Diddy's Kong Quest" like a pun on Conquest.  That fucked me up a little bit.  Don't really know what to say about this game, it's a lot more of the same from the first game, though Dixie does kind of lighten the difficulty with her helicopter hair.  Some of the levels are devilishly difficult and the levels in general seem longer than they were in the previous game.
Rating: Recommended, but definitely a scenario where the original is better than the sequel.

6. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (NS)
Wife's cousin and my nephew were over this past weekend for PAX South and we played Smash for quite a bit.  It's weird adding Smash every year given that I don't really DO anything with it other than just play matches, but I play a ton of Smash throughout the year, more than I spend in most games.
Rating: Obviously recommended.

7. Tetris Effect (PS4/VR)
Started playing this right before PAX in VR, and then during PAX I played it outside of VR, and then I beat it outside of VR.  Game is solid on its own, but the VR is what really makes this game.  Story mode is rather short at only like 5-7 levels.  Effects mode has about 10 different modes you can play which are all pretty interesting, but the game doesn't have much replay value outside of just seeing cool visuals, beating your high scores, or listening to the dope music.
Rating: Highly recommended for VR, recommended in general.

8. Dexed (PS4/VR)
I believe this game is VR only, I can't recall if I attempted to play the game outside of VR, but it really seems like it would work outside of VR.  Throughout my playthrough I kept getting confused on which trigger fired off which element, that was my main pratfall with this game.  Not much to this game other than that it's an on rails shooter.  It's also incredibly short at 5 levels.
Rating: Soft Pass.

9. GNOG (PS4/VR)
Pronounced as nog.  This game appears to be VR optional, as at some point I sort of did one puzzle outside of VR.  This game is fun on its own, but like Tetris Effect, the VR kind of MAKES this game.  After each puzzle you get this little outro thing for the puzzle that does some trippy animations that just can't be appreciated outside of VR.  I think the intros to the puzzles have a similar thing.  The music in this game is also pretty great and the puzzles are really cool.  I'd honestly compare this game's content to Statik VR, but this might honestly have more puzzles.
Rating: Recommended.

10. Spider-man (PS4)
Decided to jump into this one because I've been super interested, all of the DLC appears to be out, and Laura Bailey voices Mary Jane.  Something about MJ's facial animations reminds me of Ryder's animations in Mass Effect Andromeda, it feels almost laughable sometimes.  This is my first time playing a Spider-man game, I own a lot of them, but I've never played one yet.  The open world stuff is fun and feels very reminiscent of the Infamous titles and the combat is almost tit for tat the Batman Arkham games.  The game is slightly weird to me that it isn't a Spider-man origin story, but it's also the origin of some of his biggest villains.  Characters are cool, story is cool, and gameplay is cool.  Overall a cool game.  I got the platinum on my first playthrough, so it is a quick, easy, and enjoyable platinum to earn.  Working on the DLC, finished the first DLC with 100% completion with the final mission.  Preparing to do the same thing with the second DLC.  Looking forward to jumping into the 3rd DLC.  Not looking forward to the combat in the new DLC though.  Each DLC seems to bring about new enemies that are more frustrating than the last.  Specifically a Big Enemy with a Minigun and an enemy with a shield, jetpack, and leaves an electro trail that disables your gadgets and provides AoE damage.
Rating: Highly recommended.

11. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (NS)
Finished up Owlboy and decided to jump into another platformer.  I'm really enjoying playing platformers on the Switch and I'm actually kind of going big on platformers in generally lately, I'll probably get burned out at some point and need to go play something else.  Game appears to be fairly reminiscent of Wonder Boy 3... but I suspect that's the point. This game is super bland, repetitive, and just overall frustrating.  I'd consider abandoning the game if it weren't for the fact that I'm trying not to abandon games in general.  I have no interest in playing this game ever again, so when I finish, I'll probably sell it.  Finally finished this god awful game.  Went at the final boss and beat him, game proceeded to just show a black screen and nothing happened when it was supposed to load the ending.  So I had to restart the game and beat the boss again.  Very angering.  Beat the boss in a couple of minutes because really he wasn't the hard the second time around knowing what I needed to do.  This game does a lot of interesting things, it's really close to being a fantastic game, but there are just too many things that make this game just plain unbearable.  Some enemies are frustratingly difficult to fight.  1 boss in particular is just an exercise in futility.  And everything deals so much god damned damage.
Rating: Hard Pass, just go play Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap.

12. Tetris 99 (NS)
This is one I want to not count, but I will.  I played a couple of rounds.  Got 2nd place on my first round and then sucked my second round because I was so flustered from the first round.  1st round ended with me having a perfect opportunity for tetris, but I kept pressing the swap block button instead of the rotate button and wound up laying the long block sideways instead of making tetris.  I proceeded to immediately lose, because I was so flustered.  It's an interesting implementation of Tetris and who can argue with free, but is it really worth your time?
Rating: Soft Pass.

13. Final Fantasy XV (PS4)
I've seen so many memes and heard so many people talk about how much they liked this game... but it was never enough to get me to play it... but the Assassin's Festival going away forever was enough to get me to start playing it... and I'm really enjoying it.  I'm playing 2 JRPG games at the same time, and I'm not feeling any fatigue yet.  Luckily FFXV doesn't play like usual JRPG games and is way more action oriented.  I'm enjoying the characters and their bantering, the battling feels a bit like what Dragon Age SHOULD be, instead of an R2/RT simulator.  Managed to get to Chapter 8 and do the Assassin's Festival before it went away.  Currently Abandoned in favor of waiting for the Royal Edition.  Now that Royal Edition has been released and it's been confirmed to not be on disc, this game might be permanently abandoned due to poor decisions by Squeenix.  Was going to pick up the Royal Edition to finish this, but Squeenix confirmed that there will continue to be new paid content for FFXV, but this content won't release for free for Royal Edition owners, so I'd still have to buy extra content, so indefinitely abandoned until we get Royal Edition 2... assuming that's finally the complete edition.  Finally bought the Royal Edition during BF last year, mostly because the second season pass was mostly cancelled, except Episode Noctis, I think.  Jumped back in and finished the story.  Took a bit to get back into the game, and re learn the controls, but I started to really enjoy myself after not too long.  I couldn't remember a lot of the story and characters, so some stuff was confusing.  This is a large part of why I'm trying to abandon fewer and fewer games in general.  Realized that other than story related stuff, I was pretty damned close to the platinum trophy for this game, so I decided to go for it.  At this point, I just need to do the cooking and fishing trophies, which shouldn't take me more than a couple of hours, I think.  Finishing the cooking trophy, didn't take but maybe 20 minutes of just repeatedly cooking at camp.  Only have the fishing trophy left and I'm at level 8 right now, so maybe an hour of fishing should do it.  Working on two fishing quests right now, so that'll probably fulfill the rest of what I need as they are both legendary level fish.  The game does appear to be finicky with when it decides to autosave, so be vigilant and save often.  I've had to repeat multiple days of effort multiple times towards the end for various reasons.  Also Regalia Type F is useless and quite dangerous if you don't save often.
Rating: Recommended.

14. Final Fantasy XV: Episode Gladiolus (PS4)
As much as this takes place during the main story, it's its own content separate of the main story and has its own credits, so I count it along with all of the other DLC.  DLC takes roughly 1-2 hours, my time was 3 hours and change because I left the game running for an hour or 2 while doing other stuff.  Pretty quick and pretty basic.  Only wound up getting one trophy from it, because the trophies are more complex here than the main game.  Story is interesting, but I wouldn't call it necessary.
Rating: Soft Pass, but if you really want every bit of story you can get, Soft recommendation.

15. Final Fantasy XV: Episode Prompto (PS4)
Seems these stories take place during the main story when the respective characters disappear for a while.  Interesting story that really delves into Prompto's history and I suppose his psyche.  Combat is interesting and this gives Aranea some character, which I felt like the main game didn't really do.  But again, unless you're invested in these characters, this DLC doesn't do much to add to the overall story of the game.  I didn't really get into the open world at the beginning of this DLC so I probably missed a good bit of content that could have been extracted from this.
Rating: Soft Pass, but if you really want every bit of story you can get, Soft recommendation.

16. Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ignis (PS4)
Thinking about it, Ignis never disappeared during the story, but an event happened to him that never really got explained, so it's obvious that this would be that story.  This DLC felt more inspired than the previous as there is more to do with it's short open world Chapter 1.  I didn't do too much in that open world-ish section, so I might've missed content, but I don't feel like it would've made much of a difference.  The ending seems to explain what happened and overall it's super interesting and kinda badass and weird that it never came up in the main game, but maybe nobody knew but Ignis.  The Chapter 3, Verse 2 is where the magic happens though.  It's an alternative telling of the story of the game... and it's actually kind of badass, I definitely wouldn't go and call it the better ending, but it is very interesting.
Rating: Soft Recommendation as it portrays an alternate story if you do the Verse 2 section.

17. Minesweeper Genius (NS)
Played this game at PAX South and really enjoyed it... enough so that I knew I'd wind up buying the game shortly after it came out.  It's a part minesweeper, part sudoku, part maze game.  Will probably wind up 100% completing this game when I'm done with it.  There isn't really much to say about this game, it's a puzzle game with fairly simple mechanics with a couple hundred puzzles.  If you fail a puzzle or retry, you get a new puzzle, so every playthrough is technically different.  Game has replayability with custom levels.  I expect to try and do the hardest custom puzzle when I finish the campaign.  100% completed the game and even did what I could construe as the hardest puzzle type I could come up with.  Enjoyable.
Rating: Soft Pass unless you like puzzle games, then highly recommended.

18. Resident Evil 0 (PS4)
I really want to try and work on the Resident Evil franchise this year, but with my little kid getting to an age where he's paying attention to everything, I can only play this game while he's asleep.  Started this up last night after he went to bed and played quite a bit, never played it before, so I don't know how long the game is or if it ever really leaves the train.  I'm a decent hour or two into the game though.  I'm quickly reminded how much of a pain in the ass the limited inventory mechanic is though.  I enjoyed a lot of the mechanics of this game, but I also really get annoyed with the constant inventory management.  Makes me feel like ZombiU was a modern take on this old RE mechanic.  Game wasn't terrible, and having started Resident Evil HD, I yearn for how well this game played.  I want to read up on what happens with these characters after the end of the game, but I kind of don't want to spoil things.  I think Rebecca comes back in other games, but I get her confused with Claire a lot.
Rating: Good, not so survival horror, but good nonetheless

19. West of Loathing (NS)
Decided to pop this in and give it a try because I read a lot of good things about it.  Another instance where I start to finished a game before writing anything up about it.  This game is pretty freaking fun and funny.  I went a very standard route on my playthrough, essentially being a fighter.  But at the end of the game I did all of the necromancy stuff and wound up destroying a perfectly good character and got sorta mad about it.  Now I know better and I might play through again as a different class now that I know different things.  Seems like a game that could be enjoyable to playthrough multiple times with different classes and stuff.  The game does fairly quickly throw you into situations that just straight up can't be done because you didn't know to be prepared or you couldn't be prepared because you made some decision earlier on, and it doesn't matter the decision, it will wind up closing certain doors elsewhere essentially.  Made my wife really mad when she played, but you don't really miss out on anything I think.
Rating: I really enjoyed this game a lot.  Highly Recommended.

Next List (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg162784.html#msg162784)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on December 31, 2018, 05:07:34 pm
Moving over Iconoclasts and Kingdom Hearts 2 over to this year to start things off.

-------------------------
GREEN - BEATEN - The games story or core experience has been finished.
BLUE - PLAYING - In the process of playing the game.
BLACK - ENDLESS/MULTIPLAYER - Games with no clear ending or purely for online multiplayer.
RED - DROPPED - Either hated the game, lost interest, or found reasons to quit.
-------------------------

1 - Iconoclasts (PS4 2018) - DROPPED
2 - Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix (PS4 2017) - BEAT
3 - Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (PS4 2018) - DROPPED
4 - ZeroRanger (PC 2018) - BEAT
5 - Resident Evil 2 (PC 2019) - BEAT
6 - Kingdom Hearts 3 (PS4 2019) - BEAT
7 - Metro Exodus (PC 2019) - BEAT
8 - Mass Effect: Andromeda (PC 2017) - DROPPED
9 - Devil May Cry V (PS4 2019) - BEAT
10 - Bayonetta (PC 2017) - DROPPED
11 - Crypt of the Necrodancer (PC 2015) - BEAT
12 - Sekiro (PS4 2019) - BEAT
13 - Far Cry: New Dawn (PC 2019) - BEAT
14 - State of Decay 2 (PC 2018) - BEAT
15 - Blaster Master Zero 2 (Switch 2019) - BEAT
16 - Mortal Kombat 11 (PS4 2019) - BEAT
17 - Days Gone (PS4 2019) - BEAT
18 - Godzilla (PS4 2014) - BEAT
19 - Castlevania (NES/Switch 2019) - BEAT
20 - Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest (NES/Switch 2019) - BEAT
21 - Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (NES/Switch 2019) - BEAT
22 - Castlevania: The Adventure (Gameboy/Switch 2019) - BEAT
23 - Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge (Gameboy/Switch 2019) - BEAT
24 - Super Castlevania (SNES/Switch 2019) - BEAT
25 - Cadence of Hyrule (Switch 2019) - BEAT
26 - Castlevania: Bloodlines (Genesis/Switch 2019) - BEAT
27 - Godzilla Unleashed (PS2 2007) - BEAT
28 - Darksiders 3 (PC 2018) - BEAT
29 - DayZ (PC 2018) - ENDLESS
30 - Mutant: Year Zero (PC 2018) - DROPPED
31 - Astral Chain (Switch 2019) - BEAT
32 - Monster Hunter World: Iceborne (PS4 2019) - BEAT
33 - Borderlands 3 (PC 2019) - BEAT
34 - Inside (PC 2016) - BEAT
35 - Gears of War 4 (PC 2016) - BEAT
36 - The Outer Worlds (PC 2019) - BEAT
37 - Gears 5 (PC 2019) - BEAT
38 - Death Stranding (PS4 2019) - BEAT
39 - Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PC 2019) - BEAT
40 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (PC 2019) - BEAT
41 - Shovel Knight: King of Cards (PC 2019) - BEAT
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: shfan on December 31, 2018, 05:14:00 pm
Previous Years

2018 (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,8821.msg149025.html#msg149025) - 44 beaten, 41 tried and discarded
2017 (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,7980.msg147415.html#msg147415) - 37 beaten, 9 tried and discarded
2016 (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,6762.msg132260.html#msg132260) - 21 beaten

Games beaten

01] The Game Paradise: Cruisin Mix (PS4)  |1 Jan| Beaten on what must be arrange mode, the original arcade version was just ridiculous.
02] Saw: The Video Game (360)  |11 Jan| Enjoyed it, another hidden gem. This is already taking too long between games being beaten though!
03] Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders From Planet Space (Vita)  |14 Jan| Good fun as EDF games always are, so far so fine, still need to pick up the pace.
04] This War of Mine: The Little Ones (PS4)  |22 Jan| Yet another replay of one of my favourite PS4 games, finally got January's share completed, need to keep up the pace.
05] Resident Evil 2 (Remake) (PS4)  |27 Jan| Excellent game, really happy to have picked it up as a day-1 purchase, hopefully they'll remake Nemesis too.
06] Final Fight (PS4)  |27 Jan| Aged poorly, enemies only have to fart in your general direction to halve your energy bar, still, fond memories.
07] The King of Dragons (PS4)  |29 Jan| Not one that our local arcades had, have enjoyed it on emulators and retro packs in the past though.
08] Captain Commando (PS4)  |29 Jan| Now this one's a childhood favourite, always reminds me of the movie They Live too, which is no bad thing, nice.
09] Warriors of Fate (PS4)  |30 Jan| Never played this one, good to play another game based on the three kingdoms era China, enjoyed it.
10] Knights of the Round (PS4)  |31 Jan| Another one I played on retro game packs and emulators, good to play it again.
11] Armored Warriors (PS4)  |1 Feb| Emulated in the past, good to play it again, fun beat em up.
12] Battle Circuit (PS4)  |3 Feb| and that's the end of the beat 'em up collection, have to go back to longer games now, if I can find the time. Good game.
13] Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype (Vita)  |9 Feb| Replay, handy when I was waiting in the car.
14] Earth Defense Force 5 (PS4)  |12 Feb| A gem, the best EDF game by a mile, well impressed.
15] Ice Cream Surfer (Vita)  |13 Feb| Decent little shmup, enjoyed it.
16] Skyhill (PS4)  |13 Feb| Tough randomized game, managed to get to the bottom of the tower on Easy. (It wasn't 'easy', even then!)
17] Riddled Corpses EX (Vita)  |21 Feb| Frantic lo-fi twin-stick shooter, repetitive due to having to grind for cash, but still it's been good (un)clean fun.
18] Doom (PS4)  |2 Mar| Decent sized game, basically Dead Space on triple speed, enjoyed it, took a lot longer to get through than I thought it would.
19] Ape Escape 2 (PS2)  |2 Mar| Surprisingly challenging, played this back in the day but I doubt I beat it. Really great to have access to my PS2 games again, so many gems.
20] Fighting Angels (PS2)  |16 Mar| Cheesy ultra-budget wrestling/fighting game, was still fun.
21] Bloodborne (PS4)  |23 Mar| Wow, that was one hell of a journey! Definitely a stand-out game and one which was a real pleasure to explore.
22] Resident Evil 5 (PS4)  |5 Apr| NG+ replay, had a blast again, the endgame does suddenly appear pretty abruptly, but great fun nonetheless.
23] Bio Hazard Battle (PS4)  |11 Apr| Had to use the rewind function on the PS4 MD game pack just to get to the end, this game is mad fast, managed to get there after much slogging.
24] Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (PC)  |28 Apr| Replay after God knows how many years, really enjoyed playing an RTS campaign after so long, excellent as I vaguely remember it.
25] Resident Evil: Revelations 2 (PS4)  |4 May| Replay on survival (next hardest above normal) difficulty, first time I beat an RE game on more than normal difficulty, really good to replay this.
26] Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (PC)  |20 May| Ugh, the last mission was such a slog it dragged the game down a bit, just pointless back and forth -.-
27] Feeding Frenzy (360)  |29 May| Been god knows how long since I played this game, munched through the main mode in an evening, good clean fun.
28] Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (PS4)  |9 Jul| A cracking game, not perfect by any standard, but a good SOTN clone with its own feel.
29] Alien Shooter: Vengeance (PC)  |19 Jul| Mindless blasting, just what I needed.
30] Drivegirls (Vita)   |7 Aug| Playable enough, not a lot else to say about it.
31] Dragon Quest Builders 2 (PS4)  |24 Aug| I think there's at least 2 full games worth of content in here, but I got there eventually, very good.
32] Build-a-lot (PC)  |1 Sep| Great casual game from back in the day, pleased to have seen it through to the end. Woefully behind now though, probably won't match last year's.
33] Time Crisis 4 (PS3)  |5 Sep| Been awhile since a light gun game appeared here, they make a nice change from mechanic-heavy games.
34] Katamari Forever (PS3)  |16 Sep| Long overdue replay (years I think), I need a break from trying new games all the time, so it's good to go back to something so familiar.
35] Garden Defense (PC)  |21 Sep| NG+ replay, managed to beat all levels on normal difficulty but 'perfect', with no bugs reaching the flowers. Excellent tower defence game.
36] Day of Meat (Flash)  |22 Sep| Tower defence flash game, semi-automated (more of an upgrade type game), had me hooked.
37] Miss Management (PC)  |5 Oct| Finally limped across the finish line in this time management game I used to play a decade ago, tough as hell later on, so stuck to the most basic 'pass' in levels.
38] Luigi's Mansion 2 (3DS)  |7 Oct| Not bad, preferred the original's more open format, but it was still a good game, October's looking like it's going to be OK.
39] Demon's Souls (PS3)  |31 Oct| Yep, definitely failing again this year, too many timesinks like this one in the mix, great to finally beat it though!
40] BioShock (PS4)  |15 Nov| NG+ replay, must admit the early game was mangled a bit due to being overpowered.
41] Castlevania (Lament of Innocence) (PS2)  |22 Nov| Back in the day I had a hissy fit with this one, couldn't get my head around it, GameFAQs to the rescue, really enjoyed it this time.
42] Luigi's Mansion 3 (NSW)  |4 Dec| Fantastic game, thoroughly enjoyed playing this one, can't wait to try Mario Odyssey and some other Ninty ones.
43] Final Fantasy Adventure (NSW)  |9 Dec| Been what, 20 years since I played through this? One of my forgotten favourites, it was a real treat to play this in the evenings on holiday.
44] Secret of Mana (NSW)  |16 Dec| Another one I haven't played in God knows how many years, still fun, but the mechanics haven't aged well at all.
45] Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (PS2)  |24 Dec| Beaten late Christmas Eve, this was a great little game, not sure where all the animosity surrounding it comes from.

Games Tried/Disliked/Got Rid Of

01] Gray Matter (360) Adventure game, interesting story but the game is unclear as hell with what it expects of you to progress, turned into an exercise in frustration and examing everything over and over.
02] Zuma (PC) Marble-popper I used to adore years ago, playing it now though it's clear the game has no real 'fairness' to it on later levels, became extremely irritating eventually, bummer.
03] The Game Paradise: Cruisin Mix (PS4) I actually found this to be a really sub-par shooter with a stupidly difficult arcade mode to boot, just not enjoyable at all.
04] Corpse Party: Blood Drive (Vita) Really enjoyed the plot, but the game itself is dreadful, stripped-down survival horror to the point it's just cat and mouse in empty halls. Pity.
05] Wasteland 2 (PS4) Not as funny as it thinks it is, limited (and badly tries to disguise the fact), repetitive combat, just didn't enjoy it at all, a real let-down.
06] Deadly Strike (PS2) Unresponsive, poorly put together, boring, unbalanced. It's necessary to grind points (cash) just to make the game playable (and even then it's still dull as hell). Nope.
07] Eternal Quest (PS2) Well-presented but woefully unbalanced Japanese roguelike, goes insane-cakewalk-insane-dead, just a joyless and pointless experience.
08] Daemon Summoner (PS2) Shoestring budget FPS, an instant game-over stealth section on the second level (where it wasn't obvious how I'd messed up) put paid to this one.
09] Wonderboy Returns (PS4) Slipshod production, playable enough, but the bosses are 1-hit annoyances which eventually peed me off enough to drop it onto the trade-in pile.
10] Shogun's Blade (PS2) Mediocre rather than absymal musou type game, but the amount of grinding that would be necessary just to progress through the game massively outstrips how much time it's worth.
11] Bunny Must Die! (PS4) A Metroidvania with rubbish controls, great. Trade-in pile, now.
12] Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4) A loan, the juddery-animated tutorial featuring a lumbering 6 year old girl with the face of Val Kilmer was enough to put me off this open-world snorefest.
13] Burn, Zombie, Burn (PC) It took less than two minutes of gameplay to figure out this sub-par twin-stick shooter was inferior to other games I have. So need to check many other games in the collection.
14] Gladiators of Rome (PC) Inoffensive, just not fun and with very limited scope.
15] Resident Evil: Dead Aim (PS2) Awkward to control initially, I mastered the controls soon enough but got well and truly stuck on the end boss, what a waste, the game's too meh to make it worth continuing.
16] Resident Evil Survivor 2: Code Veronica (PS2) What the heck is this? It's like a student project not a full-priced official RE game, dreadful!
17] Realm of the Dead (PS2) OK, but then a late-game difficulty spike pushes it into 'nah' territory.
18] Unepic (PC) Sigh, another game I was seriously enjoying, but there's a massive difficulty spike later on and it just got grindy and tedious. Too many games ending up like this during this year!
19] Hunter The Reckoning - Wayward (PS2) Again, this one's inoffensive but I just can't be arsed to trog around fuzzy 3D game worlds looking for random doohickeys just to progress.
20] Fate of Hellas (PC) RTS, started strong, but the first non-tutorial level chucks overwhelming enemies at you right from the off, don't get it, at all.
21] Stranger of Sword City (Vita) Ugh, wilfully painful dungeon RPG which punishes you without you needing to make mistakes. Absolutely cannot be bothered with it.
22] The Surge (PS4) Second time I've picked this up and tried this, there's a lot of aspects of the game I like, but the full package is really not worth the trouble.
23] Never Dead (360) Really not a bad game at all, but just too slow and plodding for me to get excited about. Chaos Legion is my go-to game in this genre and will suffice.
24] Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story (PS4) Fairly decent experience for several hours, but eventually the shallowness of the game's mechanics left me bored with it.
25] Eternal Ring (PS2) Effectively King's Field in all but name, however the game systems are underdeveloped and I pretty quickly ran out of interest, not a 'bad' game, but not good enough.
26] Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (PS2) OK for the most part, unbrilliant, but the mandatory hoverboard race after the halfway point just destroyed it, it's so badly designed.
27] Ace of Seafood (PS4) The clunky game design doesn't bother me, it was fun, but after almost beating all the reefs it really got boring and repetitive.
28] Crimson Sea 2 (PS2) Beat the first game a few years ago on Xbox, just can't get my head around this one, ramped difficulty and a poorly dated experience = nah.
29] Bloody Roar 3 (PS2) Not even sure why I got this, I don't even like 1-on-1 fighters, sure enough I'm not a fan of this.
30] Paper Mario Sticker Star (3DS) Enjoyable on some levels, but my tolerance for dubious or downright obnoxious game design has disappeared, another one I nearly completed then got sick of completely.
31] Battle Princess Madelyn (NSW) Gameplay vids make this look great, but the confusing as all hell layout quickly soured my opinion of it, got sick within an hour. My first Switch game too :(
32] Dynasty Tactics (PS2) Turn-based tactics isn't my thing anyway, despite liking the DW setting this one was dry as sticks and unplayable for me, both it and the sequel got traded in.
33] Hellmut: the Badass from Hell (NSW) Bog standard twin-stick shooter, got tired of it within minutes, need to be v. careful with my purchases, this really was a misfire.
34] Aggelos (NSW) Decently playable WBiMW clone with dodgy controls, got on fine till the last boss, who seems cheap as hell and eventually sickened me off it.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on December 31, 2018, 05:26:28 pm
2019 New 52 Challenge

1. Destiny 2 (Xbox One) 1/1 - Beat
2. Moonlighter (Switch) 1/1 - Beat
3. Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy) 1/1- Beat
4. Bayonetta (Switch) 1/5 - Beat
5. Balloon Kid (Gameboy) 1/11 - Beat
6. Bayonetta 2 (Switch) 1/13 - Beat
7. Mega Man 11 (Switch) 1/13 - Beat
8. I Am Setsuna (Switch) 1/31 - Beat
9. Bastion (Vita) 2/1 - Beat
10. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (Switch) 2/4 - Beat
11. Castlevania Circle of the Moon (GBA) 2/26 - Beat
12. Shovel Knight (Switch) 2/27 - Beat
13. Red Dead Redemption 2 (PS4) 3/4 - Beat
14. Uncharted Drakes Fortune (PS4) 3/13 - Beat
15. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS4) 3/29 - Beat
16. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS4) 4/6 - Beat
17. Final Fantasy IX (Switch) 4/6 - Beat
18. Yoshi's Crafted World (Switch) 4/8 - Beat
19. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Switch) 4/9 - Beat
20. Super Meat Boy (Switch) 4/21 - Beat
21. Undertale (Switch) 4/29 - Beat
22. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4) 4/30 - Beat
23. Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita) 5/6 - Beat
24. Mortal Kombat 11 (PS4) 5/8 - Beat
25. Super Monkey Ball Banana Splitz (Vita) 5/11 - Beatish
26. Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age (Switch) 5/26 - Beat
27. Castlevania (Anniversary Collection) (Switch) 5/29 - Beat
28. Super Mario Bros. 2 (Switch) 5/30 - Beat
29. Super Mario Bros. 3 (Switch) 6/2 - Beat
30. Kirby's Adventure (Switch) 6/12 - Beat
31. Uncharted The Lost Legacy (PS4) 6/22 - Beat
32. Final Fantasy VII (Switch) 6/26 - Beat
33. Castlevania 2 (Switch) 6/30 - Beat
34. Castlevania 3 (Switch) 7/20 - Beat
35. Marvel's Spider-Man (PS4) 7/24 - Beat
36. Marvel Ultimate Alliance (Switch) 7/29 - Beat
37. Super Castlevania 4 (Switch) 7/31 - Beat
38. Dark Cloud (PS4) 8/15 - Beat
39. Guacamelee (Switch) 8/18 - Beat
40. Super Mario World (Switch) 9/10 - Beat
41. Star Fox (Switch) 9/12 - Beat
42. Kirby's Dreamland 3 (Switch) 9/16 - Beat
43. Super Metroid (Switch) 10/1 - Beat
44. The Last of Us (PS4) 10/11 - Beat
45. Kid Dracula (Switch) 10/19 - Beat
46. Dead Space (360) 10/24 - Beat
47. Little Nightmares (Switch) 10/25 - Beat
48. Silent Hill (PS1) 10/29 - Beat
49. Link's Awakening (Switch) 11/14 - Beat
50. The Legend of Zelda (NES/Switch) 11/19
51.Luigi's Mansion (3DS) 11/29
52. Dead Space 2 (360) 12/8
53. Dragon Quest (Switch) 12/8
54. God of War (PS2) 12/29


Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on December 31, 2018, 05:55:52 pm
I did 46 in 2018.  Let’s see if I can beat that!

1. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (PS4) - Beat
2. Ducktales (PS4) - Beat
3. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood - (PS4) - Beat
4. Ratchet & Clank (2016) (PS4) - Beat
5. Paper Mario (Wii) - Beat
6. Resident Evil 2 (2019) - (PS4) - Beat
7. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - The Champions' Ballad (Switch) Beat
8. Tetris 99 (Switch) - 2nd Place
9. Dishonored 2 (XB1) - Beat
10. Dishonored: Death of the Outsider (XB1) - Beat
11. Chip N Dale’s Rescue Rangers 2 (PS4) Beat
12. Talespin (PS4) - Beat
13. Darkwing Duck (PS4) - Beat
14. Ducktales 2 (PS4) - Beat
15. Batman: Arkham Origins (PS3) - Beat
16. Into the Breach (Switch) - Beat
17. The Evil Within (PS4) - Beat
18. Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition (PC) - Beat
19. Astro Bot: Rescue Mission (PSVR) - Beat
20. Shadow of the Tomb Raider (XB1) - Beat
21. Double Dragon Neon (XB1) - Beat
22. Ashen (XB1) - Beat
23. Resident Evil 5 (XB1) - Beat
24. Castlevania: The Adventure (Switch) - Beat
25. Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge (Switch) - Beat
26. Stardew Valley (Switch) - Community Center Complete
27. Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch) - Story Mode Complete
28. Mortal Kombat (2011) (PS3) - Beat
29. Mortal Kombat X (XB1) - Beat
30. The Messenger (Switch) - Beat
31. Knights of the Round (Switch) - Beat
32. Star Wars: Empire at War (PC) - Lost Save / Abandoned
33. Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Switch) - Beat
34. Tetris Effect (PSVR) - Beat
35. What Remains of Edith Finch (PS4) - Beat
36. Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (PS4) - Beat
37. No Man’s Sky (PS4 / PSVR) - Artemis Rescued
38. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (XB1) - Beat
39. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Switch) - Beat
40. The Unfinished Swan (PS4) - Beat
41. Until Dawn (PS4) - Beat
42. Until Dawn: Rush of Blood (PSVR) - Beat
43. Gato Roboto (Switch) - Beat
44. Celeste (Switch) - Beat
45: Marvel's Spider-Man (PS4) - Platinum
46. The Last of Us - Left Behind (PS4) - Beat
47. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (XB1) - Beat
48. Cuphead (XB1) - Beat
49. Guacamelee (XB1) - Beat
50. Kid Dracula (Switch) - Beat
51. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords Restored Content Mod (PC)  - Beat
52. Shovel Knight: King of Cards (PS4) - Beat
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: NickAwesome on December 31, 2018, 05:56:54 pm
I skipped out this year, ready to jump back on 2019.  Shooting for 26, but let's see what happens. 

1.  Into the Breach- Beat 1/16/2019- This is one of those games where beating the game is really just scratching the surface, but I don't beat a ton of games so I'm going to count it.  Game is awesome. 
2. Celeste- Beat- 1/27/2019
3. Dragon Quest XI- Beat 7/7/19- Still got Post Game to do
4. Knack 2- Beat 1/20/2019- finally finished this one with my fiancee.  Gets a lot of hate but it's great co-op fun.  Dialogue/story is hilarious too. 
5. Resident Evil 2
6. Kingdom Hearts III
7. Rage 2- Beat 6/10/19
8. Katana Zero- Beat 6/8/19
9. Gris
10. Descenders-Beat 6/17/19
11. Doom (2016)- Currently Playing
12. Outer Wilds- Currently Playing
13. Sekiro Shadow Dies Twice- Currently Playing
14. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2- Beat
15. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3- Beat
16. Tony Hawk Project 8- Beat
17. Arkista's Ring- Beat
18. Lost Odyssey
19. Cosmic Star Heroine
20. Dragon Quest Builders
21. Detroit Become Human
22. Donkey Kong Country 2- GBA- Beat
23. Donkey Kong Country 3- GBA- Beat 12/1/19
24. Death Stranding- PS4- Beat 12/12/19
25. Judgment

Only beat 13/52- better luck next year!
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: rhinoceros on December 31, 2018, 05:57:57 pm
I’ve just joined, but I would like a try at this!

Not sure I’ll manage 52, but I will give it a good crack  :)

Key
In progress
Beaten
Retired




Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on December 31, 2018, 06:00:19 pm
New Games Played in 2019:
1. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (NS)
2. Salt and Sanctuary (PS4)
3. Super Ghouls and Ghosts (SNESc)
4. Metal Slug 3 (PS2)
5. Midnight Club: Los Angeles (PS3)
6. Shenmue III (PS4)
7. Saga Frontier (PS1)
8. Yoshi's Woolly World (Wii U)
9. Tales of Berseria (PS4)

+ New Games Beat in 2019: (Click the link to see each post I made about the game!)    
10. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (PS4) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg164217.html#msg164217) - 1.28
11. Undertale (PS4) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg165407.html#msg165407) - 2.24
12. Stardew Valley (PS4) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg165767.html#msg165767) - 3.8
13. Shantae: Risky's Revenge (PS4) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg165989.html#msg165989) - 3.17
14. (5.) Cosmic Star Heroine (PS4) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg166528.html#msg166528) - 4.5
15. Spelunky (PS4) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg166864.html#msg166864) - 4.16
16. The Last of Us: Remastered (PS4) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg167161.html#msg167161) - 5.5
17. Tales of Xillia (PS3) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg168470.html#msg168470) - 6.30
18. Shenmue (PS4) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg168698.html#msg168698) - 7.11
19. (10.) Ys Origin (PS4) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg169031.html#msg169031) - 7.27 
20. Titanfall 2 (PS4) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg169375.html#msg169375) - 8.8
21. Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2007 (DS) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg169532.html#msg169532) - 8.16
22. Final Fantasy X-2 (PS4) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg169837.html#msg169837) - 8.31
23. Shenmue II (PS4) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg171714.html#msg171714) - 11.2
24. (15.) Pokemon Y (3DS) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg172461.html#msg172461) - 11.26 
25. Hollow Knight (PS4) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg172637.html#msg172637) - 12.8
26. InFamous: Second Son (PS4) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg173162.html#msg173162) - 12.21

Games Replayed in 2019   
27. Final Fantasy X (PS4) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg162909.html#msg162909) - 1.4 
28. Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (PS4) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg166194.html#msg166194) - 3.19
29. (20.) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNESc) (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg170793.html#msg170793) - 10.4

Previous Lists
2015 List (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,5879.msg104675.html#msg104675) - 27 finished, + 10 played but not finished
2016 List (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,6762.msg105642.html#msg105642) - 32 finished, + 16 played but not finished
2017 List (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,7980.msg132293.html#msg132293) - 26 finished, + 13 played but not finished
2018 List (http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,8821.msg149017.html#msg149017) - 23 finished, + 6 played but not finished
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: droaa on December 31, 2018, 06:14:56 pm
January
1. VIP(PS1)
2. Rock'em Sock'em Robots Arena(PS1)
3. Tekken 3D: Prime Edtition(3DS)
4. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle(Xbox One)
5. Battle Arena Toshinden Remix(Saturn)
6. WWE 2K19(PS4)
7. The Town Of Light(XBO)
8. Vampyr(PS4)

February
9. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate(Switch)
10. TMNT: Mutants in Manhattan(X360)
11. Mega Man 10(Switch)
12. REmake 2(PS4)
13. Mega Man 11(Switch)

May
14. Super Mario Bros.(SNES)

June
15. Mortal Kombat 11(PS4)

July
16. Axiom Verge(Switch)
17. Bloodstained: Curse Of The Moon(Switch)

August
18. Capcom Beat Em Bundle(Switch)
19. Dead Or Alive 6(PS4)

September
20. Power Rangers: Battle For The Grid(Switch)
21. The Darkness II(Steam)

October
22. Bloodtained: Ritual Of The Night(PS4)
23. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening(Switch)
24. Super Mario Bros. 2: The Lost Levels(SNES)

December
25. SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy(Switch)
26. Rogue Warrior(Steam)-Replay
27. Spec Ops: The Line(Steam)-Replay
28. Her Story(Steam)
29. Primal Carnage(32X)


Playlist
Urban Chaos
Resident Evil 2
Kingdom Hearts III
Bloodtained: Ritual Of The Night
Undertale
Super Mario Bros. 2: The Lost Levels
SoulCalibur VI
Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kevininja on December 31, 2018, 06:46:10 pm
January:
 1. Rogue Quest: The Vault of the Lost Tyrant (Steam) | January 1st - 0.7 hours | ★★☆☆☆
 2. DOOM 3 (Steam) | January 2nd - 10.6 hours | ★★★★☆
 3. DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil (Steam) | January 2nd - 3.4 hours | ★★★☆☆
 4. Princess Remedy 2: In A Heap of Trouble (Steam) | January 3rd - 1.7 hours | ★★★☆☆
 5. Borderlands: The Secret Armory of General Knoxx (Steam) | January 6th - N/A | ★★★☆☆
 6. What Never Was (Steam) | January 13th - 0.4 hours | ★★★☆☆
 7. Vampyr (Steam) | January 13th - 27 hours | ★★★★☆
 8. A Story About My Uncle (Steam) | January 14th - 2.4 hours | ★★★★☆
 9. Life is Strange: Before the Storm (PSN) | January 16th - N/A | ★★★★☆
10. Life is Strange: Before the Storm - Farewell (PSN) | January 16th - N/A | ★★★★★
11. inFAMOUS: Second Son (PS4) | January 20th - N/A | ★★★☆☆
12. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PS4) | January 20th - 5.8 hours | ★★★☆☆
13. What Remains of Edith Finch (Epic) | January 21st - N/A | ★★★★☆
14. A Normal Lost Phone (Steam) | January 29th - 1.2 hours | ★★★☆☆

February:
15. Torchlight II (Steam) | February 3rd - 27 hours | ★★★★☆
16. Rogue Reaper (Steam) | February 3rd - 0.4 hours | ★★☆☆☆
17. Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story (Steam) | February 4th - 1 hours | ★★★★☆
18. Evoland (Steam) | February 9th - 3.9 hours | ★★☆☆☆
19. Kung Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise (Steam) | February 9th - 4.7 hours | ★★★☆☆
20. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Ultimate Sith Edition (Steam) | February 9th - 7.4 hours | ★★★☆☆
21. Star Wars: Republic Commando (Steam) | February 12th - 8 hours | ★★★★☆
22. Papers, Please (Steam) | February 16th - 2 hours | ★★★★★
23. Double Dragon (Steam) | February 17th - 0.8 hours | ★★☆☆☆
24. Double Dragon II: The Revenge (Steam) | February 17th - 1.4 hours | ★★☆☆☆
25. Star Wars: Dark Forces (Steam) | February 19th - 7.7 hours | ★★★★☆
26. The Reject Demon: Toko Chapter 0 - Prelude (Steam) | February 20th - 2 hours | ★★☆☆☆
27. Snake Pass (Steam) | February 23rd - 4.4 hours | ★★★★☆
28. A Tale of Caos: Overture (Steam) | February 24th | 7.2 hours | ★☆☆☆☆
29. Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Steam) | February 27th - 4.1 hours | ★★★☆☆
30. How To Cope With Boredom and Loneliness (Steam) | February 27th - 0.5 hours | ★★★☆☆

March:
31. Metal Slug 3 (Steam) | March 1st - 1.2 hours | ★★★☆☆
32. Victor Vran (Steam) | March 2nd - 8.3 hours | ★★★☆☆
33. Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (Steam) | March 3rd - 3.7 hours | ★★★☆☆
34. Glass Masquerade + DLC (Steam) | March 9th - 7.4 hours | ★★★★☆
35. How to Survive (Steam) | March 10th - 9.8 hours | ★★★☆☆
36. Soul Gambler (Steam) | March 16th - 1.9 hours | ★★☆☆☆
37. Estranged: Act I (Steam) | March 19th - 1.6 hours | ★★★☆☆
38. Tekken 3 (PSC) | March 23rd - N/A | ★★★☆☆
39. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (Steam) | March 28th - 35 hours | ★★★★★
40. Batman: The Telltale Series (PS4) | March 30th - N/A | ★★★☆☆

April:
41. Brawlout (Steam) | April 6th - 3.7 hours | ★★★☆☆
42. Portal (Steam) | April 14th - 2.5 hours | ★★★★☆
43. SUPERHOT (Steam) | April 20th - 2.5 hours | ★★★★☆

May:
44. Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition (Steam) | May 19th - 23 hours | ★★★★☆
45. Sleeping Dogs: Nightmare in Northpoint (Steam) | May 20th - 1 hour | ★★★☆☆
46. F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn (Steam) | May 21st - 1 hour | ★☆☆☆☆
47. Back to Bed (Steam) | May 22nd - 1.1 hours | ★★★☆☆
48. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series (Steam) | May 25th - 9.2 hours | ★★★★☆
49. Hector: Badge of Carnage (Steam) | May 29th - 6.9 hours | ★★★☆☆
50. Max Payne 3 (Steam) | May 30th - 7.6 hours | ★★★★☆

June:
51. Tacoma (PC Download) | June 22nd - N/A | ★★★☆☆
52. missed messages. (Steam) | June 22nd - 0.5 hours | ★★★☆☆
53. Shadwen (Steam) | June 23rd - 5.4 hours | ★★★☆☆
54. Poker Night at the Inventory (Steam) | June 26th - 2.4 hours | ★★★☆☆

July:
55. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS) | July 1st - 11 hours | ★★★★☆
56. Tennis in the Face (Steam) | July 3rd - 2.5 hours | ★★☆☆☆
57. Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered (Steam) | July 7th - 11.5 hours | ★★★☆☆
58. Hard Reset Redux (Steam) | July 8th - 5.5 hours | ★★★☆☆
59. El Matador (Steam) | July 12th - 3.4 hours | ★★☆☆☆
60. Saints Row: The Third - Gangstas in Space (Steam) | July 15th - N/A | ★★☆☆☆
61. Saints Row: The Third - The Trouble With Clones (Steam) | July 15th - N/A | ★★☆☆☆
62. Saints Row: The Third - Genkibowl VII (Steam) | July 16th - N/A | ★★★☆☆
63. Monster Prom (Steam) | July 23rd - 0.5 hours | ★★★☆☆
64. Marvel's Spider-Man: The City That Never Sleeps - The Heist (PS4) | July 24th - N/A | ★★★☆☆
65. Marvel's Spider-Man: The City That Never Sleeps - Turf Wars (PS4) | July 25th - N/A | ★★★☆☆
66. Marvel's Spider-Man: The City That Never Sleeps - Silver Lining (PS4) | July 25th - N/A | ★★★☆☆
67. Samantha Swift and the Golden Touch (Steam) | July 28th - 5.7 hours | ★★★☆☆
68. RAGE: The Scorchers (Steam) | July 30th - N/A | ★★★☆☆

August:
69. RAGE (Steam) | August 3rd - 21 hours | ★★★☆☆
70. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Steam) | August 7th - 6.3 hours | ★★★★☆
71. 3D Sonic the Hedgehog (3DS) | August 11th - 1.9 hours | ★★★★☆
72. Katana ZERO (Switch Download) | August 12th - ~4 hours | ★★★★☆
73. 3D Altered Beast (3DS) | August 12th - 0.8 hours | ★★☆☆☆
74. One Finger Death Punch 2 (Steam) | August 31st - 12.9 hours | ★★★☆☆

September:
75. Shatter (Steam) | September 3rd - 2.3 hours | ★★★★☆
76. The Hex (Steam) | September 4th - 4.6 hours | ★★★☆☆
77. Advent Rising (Steam) | September 7th - 9.1 hours | ★★☆☆☆
78. Kathy Rain (Steam) | September 8th - 3.6 hours | ★★★★☆
79. Pegasus-5: Gone Astray (Steam) | September 9th - 3.6 hours | ★★☆☆☆
80. To The Moon (GOG) | September 11th - 4.1 hours | ★★★★☆
81. Safety First! (Switch Download) | September 13th - ~1.0 hours | ★★★☆☆
82. Mutiny!! (Steam) | September 14th - 4.4 hours | ★★☆☆☆
83. The Blackwell Epiphany (Steam) | September 16th - 4.5 hours | ★★★★☆
84. Unavowed (Steam) | September 17th - 7.5 hours | ★★★★★
85. I Love You, Colonel Sanders! (Steam) | September 24th - 0.9 hours | ★★☆☆☆
86. RED HOT VENGEANCE (Steam) | September 27th - 1.4 hours | ★★☆☆☆
87. Bleed 2 (Steam) | September 27th - 1.0 hours | ★★★☆☆
88. Left 4 Dead 2 (Steam) | September 28th - 8.3 hours | ★★★★☆

October:
89. Borderlands 2 (Steam) | October 6th - 27 hours | ★★★★☆
90. Borderlands 2: Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty (Steam) | October 7th - N/A | ★★★☆☆
91. The Bradwell Conspiracy (Steam) | October 11th - 4.0 hours | ★★★☆☆
92. Borderlands 2: Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage (Steam) | October 12th - N/A | ★★★☆☆
93. Cold Fear (Steam) | October 13th - 5.8 hours | ★★★☆☆
94. Wizorb (Steam) | October 20th - 3.2 hours | ★★☆☆☆
95. Concrete Genie (PS4) | October 23rd - N/A | ★★★★★
96. Aragami: Nightfall (PSN) | October 24th - N/A | ★★★☆☆
97. MediEvil (PS4) | October 26th - N/A | ★★★★☆
98. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Steam) | October 30th - 18.9 hours | ★★★★☆

November:
99. Costume Quest (Steam) | November 1st - 5.5 hours | ★★★★☆
100. 428: Shibuya Scramble (Steam) | November 10th - 19.9 hours | ★★★★★
101. Another World - 20th Anniversary Edition (Steam) | November 14th - 2.0 hours | ★★☆☆☆
102. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (Steam) | November 19th - 4.5 hours | ★★★★☆
103. APE OUT (Steam) | November 21st - 2.0 hours | ★★★☆☆
104. FULFILLMENT (Steam) | November 23rd - 0.3 hours | ★★★☆☆
105. Codename: Gordon (Steam) | November 24th - 1.2 hours | ★★☆☆☆
106. Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing (Steam) | November 27th - 2.0 hours | ★★☆☆☆
107. Hikaru's Cube (Steam) | November 28th - 0.8 hours | ★☆☆☆☆

December:
108. Peggle Extreme (Steam) | December 1st - 0.7 hours | ★★★☆☆
109. BUTCHER (Steam) | December 1st - 3.9 hours | ★★★★☆
110. Halo: Reach (Steam) | December 5th - 6.9 hours | ★★★★☆
111. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (Steam) | December 7th - 3.8 hours | ★★★★☆
112. My Friend Pedro (Steam) | December 15th - 4.1 hours | ★★★★☆
113. Clustertruck (Steam) | December 15th - 4.1 hours | ★★★☆☆
114. Guts and Glory (Steam) | December 17th - 6.1 hours | ★★★☆☆
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on December 31, 2018, 11:03:41 pm
1. Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter (PS1): Ironically this was one of the last games I beat last year, so what better what to start the new year than by playing its vastly inferior PS1 port lol. In all seriousness though, MSHvSF on the PS1 is not a bad game, but it's hard to play when stacked up next to the Saturn version which is arcade perfect. Compared to the Saturn version, the graphics look more dull and less crisp, the sound is noticeably poorer in quality, the FPS and gameplay is slower, and the loading times are 4 times longer. Perhaps the biggest offense of the PS1 version, however, is how it completely takes out the tag team gameplay and substitutes it for an assist character mechanic, which is also present in the Saturn version, but wth the added benefit of being able to tag out and actually play as the other character you selected. Not the PS1 version; the 2nd character you pick will just pop in and deliver a single attack before disappearing again. This significantly changes how you play this version and makes it far more shallow and less interesting to play overall. I dare say it almost changes the nature of the game so much that this should almost be called a different game all together. Again, not a bad game, but just play the Saturn version. (1/1/19) [35/50]

2. X-Men vs Street Fighter (PS1): Just like the PS1 port of Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter, the PS1 port of XvSF is vastly inferior to its Saturn port. However, in the case of XvSF, it's even more obvious. Every shortcoming that the PS1 port of MSHvSF has compared to the Saturn version is even more pronounced between the ports of XvSF. It doesn't end there however; the use of your secondary fighter is even more limited to just being able to use them during super moves which provides little to no strategy in the long run. Speaking of pointless/broken gameplay, this games pacing is even more stifled by blocking being OPed and having little consequence other than drawing out battles as long as possible. Despite this, the PS1 version of this game is still mostly fun, and if you do not have a Saturn or the means play the Saturn version of XvSF than it's okay I guess even if the PS1 version is so different and inferior that it's almost a totally different game. (1/2/19) [32/50]

3. Panzer Dragoon Orta (XBOX): Years ago when I first bought this game, I remember popping it in my XBOX and playing through about half the game before quitting in frustration. Returning to Orta years later I was reminded why I left he game in anger, but to an extent that was in part due to this game being particularly difficult, even on easy mode. Orta is an on-rails shooter just like the first two games in the series, and allows you to attack and be attacked from 360 degrees around you. This creates some frantic and fast paced gameplay, but is also the cause of a lot of frustration as the controls to move the camera can easily overshoot or undershoot your intended direction. Likewise, Orta adds a speed up/area shift mechanic where you and your dragon change positions relative to an enemy, typically a boss. This shift mechanic seemed to not work sometimes when it should have, resulting in some very cheap hits from bosses that were unavoidable. Another mechanic in this game that was a mixed bag was the dragon mode select, which is an ability to change your dragon to be a heavy and powerful type, but with poor maneuverability, a light type with poor attack, but with enhanced maneuverability, or a balanced type in between. Changing modes changes the physical appearance of the dragon which is cool, but I found myself using the balanced type 95% of the time which begs the question why this mechanic is in the game at all. Overall though, the gameplay works and is mostly functional, albeit with a few glaring and annoying problems. Regarding the music and graphics, both are excellent, especially the art direction of the game which is incredibly interesting and really gets you invested in the world the Panzer Dragoon games take place. Speaking of world building, there are a ton of unlockable extras in this game which help enhance that world building aspect and fill you in on the lore, creatures, factions, and all kinds of other info regarding the Panzer Dragoon universe. The best unlockable of all, which luckily only requires the game to be beat once, is the ability to unlock a complete port of the original Panzer Dragoon. There is no denying this game is damn good value in that regard. I'd definitely recommend this game even if it is no Star Fox 64 or Sin and Punishment. (1/5/19) [37/50]

4. Tekken 3 (PS1): I was watching old Classic Game Room episodes and for anyone familiar with the show, Mark, the host, loves him some classic Tekken. I originally got inspired to play Tekken 2, a game I've barely played, but unfortunately my copy will not work. So I did the next best thing and played Tekken 3. I rented Tekken 3 a really long time ago and remember thinking it was pretty fun. My opinion of it has not changed as I find the gameplay to be excellent and the graphics and sound to be above average as well. Perhaps the thing I enjoyed the most was unlocking new characters, modes, and seeing each character's movie once you beat Arcade mode with them. Tekken Ball mode is fun, but it's no Tekken Bowl, but then again nothing is. This is definitely a fun game, however I'm just not as much of a fan of Tekken a many other's who consider it to be the seminal 3D fighting series. I can certainly understand why they'd feel this way about it, but for me I prefer the 2D fighters. Still an excellent game, even to this day. (1/8/19) [35/50]

5. Elevator Action Returns (PS2): Knowing nothing about the original game, I found out about its sequel from a random youtube video recommendation and thought it looked really cool. Luckily for me this game is available on the Taito Legends 2 compilation; outside of that it was in the arcade or there is a very pricy import Saturn version. So after playing through the game I'm left feeling like I just played an okay arcade game that I'm honestly not surprised I'd never heard of it; the graphics were fairly unremarkable, although I liked the stage design, but the enemies and stage props were very repetitive. The soundtrack was also mostly nothing to right home about, although it occasionally had some catchy rifts. The gameplay was far from polished either, having various parts that were impossible to avoid getting hit and the amount of enemies were very imbalanced at times. On top of that, the controls did not allow you to succeed during the more difficult parts of the game, instead you had to just keep on using continues to push through them. Despite this, I mostly had fun with this game and enjoyed it, but it is far from an arcade title I'd recommend to others. (1/9/19) [28/50]

6. Bug! (Saturn): There are several Saturn games that are very nostalgic for me. I had two friends growing up, Tony and Evan, each had a Sega Saturn and beyond hanging out with them playing their Saturn games was my favorite thing to do when I went to their houses. My friend Evan had Bug! which at the time I thought was a cool, quarky platformer with a very 90s cartoonish mascot character, in the vein of Earthworm Jim or Boogerman. In that regard Bug! is great, but my praise of this game mostly ends there. Playing Bug! now I'm able to see that while it was a pioneer in early 3D platforming, the game just doesn't play that well and the combination of very basic controls, very hard gameplay, and various issues such as enemies charging you/firing things at you off screen and extremely hard to gauge jumps due to the game's 3D environments, make for a pretty unenjoyable game. The soundtrack is nothing more than very cartoonish loops that are fitting at first and then get annoying after hearing them for more than 10-minutes. Bug makes goofy comments that don't overstay their welcome which is nice, but that's about the best I can say regarding the audio. And then there are the graphics, which are mostly very plain with stages being maze-like and filled with the same dozen or so enemies with some unique bosses at the end of each stage. Overall, Bug! isn't a terrible game, but it isn't a good game either. I will give the developers a hand for creating one of the earlier 3D platformers available before Super Mario 64 created the gold standard in that genre, but sadly I just feel like playing games like Donkey Kong Country 2, Sonic and Knuckles, and various other 2D platformers that came out during the same time that are way, way better. I'd give this one a solid pass unless you are curious to see 3D platforming before Super Mario 64 revolutionized that entire genre. (1/17/19) [21/50]

7. Shadow of the Colossus (PS4): I remember how in awe I was regarding Shadow of the Colossus when I first played it earlier this decade on the PS2. I had a hard time believing I was actually playing a PS2 game given how visually stunning that game was. Unfortunately that level of awe is not carried over to the PS4 version, but still the remake of Shadow of the Colossus is an absolutely gorgeous game, especially the environments and various ruins throughout the game; they all leave you with a sense of wonder and awe, as well as a curiosity about the forbidden world the game takes place in. The soundtrack and overall soundtrack is also excellent, and I'm also a fan of them using a made up language for the characters with subtitles as I feel like it adds ro the game's immersion. My biggest gripe with Shadow of the Colossus and what holds it back from potentially being one of the best games I've ever played are the controls, particularly the climbing and platforming controls. I get that the game is trying to make things hard for you while you're attempting to slay a 50ft beast, but the camera has a bad habit of flipping out in the middle of the action, making certain fights needlessly hard. I also found the controls of the character, while riding the horse, and again while grabbing onto ledges clunky and unresponsive at times. You do sort of get used to the controls after a while, but you are still reminded nearly ever battle how much better they could have been. However, despite all of this, good and bad, the story, which is told minimally through the game's cut scenes and through a few short dialogue scenes is absolutely my favorite part; it gives you just enough info in order to leave a lot of the story up to your imagination which makes the game even more interesting than it already was. Combine this with one of my favorite video game endings and you have a game that is definitely worth playing at least once for the overall experience. This game is definitely in that masterpiece category, however for me it just doesn't cut in with how the game plays. (1/21/19) [39/50]

8. House of the Dead (Arcade): Growing up there were several arcade games that were staples of my childhood. House of the Dead and it's sequel were among the most memorable to me given how violent they were; you could blow individual limbs off zombies as well as decapitate them, or if you really wanted just blow their entire torso off. It was unlike anything else I'd seen in the arcades and it definitely left an impression on me back then. However, at a point I had a really hard time ever seeing one of these machines anywhere, in fact I used to see House of the Dead 2 in arcades more at a ratio of 10:1 when that game came out. Because of this, and the very good Dreamcast port of House of the Dead 2, I played it significantly more growing up. However, a local barcade chain opened a new location just 10-minutes from where I live and as luck would have it they have a very clean House of the Dead machine that has allowed me to spend some serious time with this machine over the past month. At 25-cents a credit I have been able to play through the whole game twice. I first played through a few weeks ago and afterwards I thought about writing this review then, but something bothered me; when I went to score House of the Dead it ended up a point higher than its sequel, a game I have played way, way more over the years for the reasons mentioned above. I wasn't convinced and decided I'd do another full playthrough before delivering my final judgement, and having done so today here are my thoughts. While House of the Dead 2 is a longer game, has slightly better bosses, and the bad voice acting is the stuff of legends, the overall experience in the first game just feels more unique and cool. House of the Dead 2 takes place almost entirely in a dreary looking European city, and despite each area taking place in a different part of the city, it still has that dilapidated, dreary look. That doesn't change until the final two levels, with the final level being kind of bland honestly. House of the Dead does not suffer from this issue at all; each level is unique and distinct from the last, and because it all takes place in a giant house and the surrounding areas, it makes this even more impressive and cool. I just love the stages, stage layouts, and branching paths more in the first House of the dead even though there are only 4 of them compared to 6 in the sequel. The music in each game are about equal in terms of quality, but the voice acting in the second game gives it the edge in sound. The tie breaker comes in gameplay, since the arcade cabinet has a precision that none of the Dreamcast lightguns can match. Th Dreamcast version does play well, but the slightly diminished accuracy gives the Arcade version of the first House of the Dead the edge. It's just too bad the Saturn port of House of the Dead is so subpar compared to the arcade; I really, really, really hope Sega decides to release House of the Dead and other classic arcade lightgun games to home consoles someday in their arcade perfect quality. Until then, however, I guess I'm fortunate to have the game so close to me and accessible. (1/27/19) [37/50]

9. Street Fighter Zero (Saturn): I absolutely adore Mid 90s to early 2000s Capcom fighting games, particularly many of the Street Fighter or games based on the Street Fighter engines of that time. I feel like Street Fighter Zero was really one of the pioneer games that really launched this progression that would eventually give us incredible Street Fighter titles like the later alpha games, many of the Capcom vs games, and also Street Fighter III and its subsequent releases. However, being a pioneer in this movement of fighting games, the first Alpha game, aka Zero in Japan, lacks the refinement and plosh that exists in many of the titles that followed. This is particularly evident in the graphics and sound which are even inferior to earlier releases like Super Street Fighter II, although the character sprites are admittedly better looking. However, the biggest improvement over the early 90s Street Fighter II titles is the gameplay which has a speed and polish to it that greatly improves upon those earlier games. This already excellent gameplay would later be improved on even more in later Capcom fighting game releases until I feel like it was perfected in titles like Third Strike, Alpha 3, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. On its own, Zero is a very fun game, but definitely not the level of game that later Capcom fighters of this era are, especially in terms of presentation. (1/29/19) [32/50]

10. Street Fighter III: Third Strike (Dreamcast): Out of all the games in the Street Fighter franchise, I've probably spent the least time with the third game and its various versions. Growing up I never saw this game anywhere, and it wasn't until I was older that I ever realized there even was a third game in the Street Fighter series. But after playing the Third Strike release pretty extensively, I can easily say Capcom definitely left there seal of quality on this title as well. The sprite graphics look great in this game, as do the backgrounds despite not being as memorable as Super Street Fighter 2 or even Alpha 3. Audio-wise this game has a great dance/jazz ost that definitely compliments the gameplay, which by the way is this game's strongest asset; the fighting mechanics are near perfect in this game and the gameplay is fast and smooth, although I'm not a fan of having to select one of three specials when selecting your character instead of having all of them available whenever you want to use them. With so much praise of this game, I have to wonder why I didn't like this game more. On a personal level this game felt fairly generic and unlike pretty much every other Street Fighter game I've played it just wasn't that memorable to be honest. Regardless it's a great game and certainly worth checking out for any 2D Fighting game fan. (2/2/19) [38/50]

11. Dynamite Deka (Saturn): Most people know this game as Diehard Arcade and the Japanese version is no different other than the in-game text being in Japanese; even the voice acting is the same campy english audio found in the US version. Dynamite Deka does suffer from a common issue with games of the Beat em' up genre in that it can get repetitive after a while, but luckily this game remedies that by making the enemies, stages, bosses, and overall game as diverse, interesting and fun as possible. Also, for better or worse, this is one of the shortest Beat em' ups I've ever played which is saying a lot since most of these games take under an hour to beat; my final playthrough before writing this clocked in at around 20-minutes. Regardless, this is a very fun Beat em' up. There is a cool combo system that allows you to pull off quite a lot of moves not seen in many other games of this genre, almost making it feel like a fighting game at times. Also, the inclusion of various gun, melee weapons, and random objects in the environment make for a very fun and diverse game as you play through the game's stages, which blend together very well, making it feel like a fun adventure getting to the end of the game. And as mentioned, the voice acting, mainly all done by the main villain is campy as hell, which just adds to the game's charm. While it may be held back by the genre it belongs to, Dynamite Deka is definitely one of the best examples of great Beat em' ups and truly a classic on the Saturn. (2/10/19) [36/50]
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: mizzach86 on December 31, 2018, 11:26:24 pm
I'm in again. I started halfway through the year last year so we'll see what I can pull off from the beginning.

This year I'm going to focus on games I've never beaten or even played, especially newer games, since I ended up replaying a lot of games I have beaten before last year. For each game I'm also going to decide on "completion requirements" for when I can add the game to my "completed" list and I'll be posting those in future posts as well. I also made a resolution to learn how to play fighting games proper, so I'll probably have 2 or 3 of those I'll be playing all year  :)

I'll start with games I got for Christmas. Good luck to everyone!

Games I’m Playing
Star Fox 64 3D (2011) [3DS]
Hitman (2016) [PS4]
Mega Man Legacy Collection (2015) [PS4]
Doom 3: BFG Edition (2012) [Steam]
Doom (2016) [PS4]
Mortal Kombat 11 (2019) [PS4]
Mortal Kombat (2011) [PS3]
Ratchet & Clank Collection (2012) [PS3]
Spiral Scouts, The (2018) [Steam]
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (2015) [PS4]
Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (2017) [NS]
Mutant Mudds Collection (2017) [NS]
Dead Space (2008) [PS3]
Okami (2006) [PS4]


Games I’ve Completed
1. Overcooked (2016) [PS4]
2. Super Mario Odyssey (2017) [NS]
3. Mega Man 4 (1991) [PS4]
4. Batman: Arkham City (2011) [PS3]
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: shatterstar69 on January 01, 2019, 03:16:06 am
First attempt at this and my backlog is so huge that I don’t really know where to start
I mainly want to focus on the Final Fantasy games I have never finished namely 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, and 15.
I have also never actually finished any of the Assassin’s Creed games.  I mainly want to focus on Ezio’s
Trilogy (2, Brotherhood and Revelations).  My criteria for games is to focus on Main Story completion and
ignore trophy hunting

Completed:
Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed II
Batman The Telltale Series
Borderlands 3
Final Fantasy II: Dawn of Souls Edition
Final Fantasy III - PSP
Final Fantasy V Advance
Game of Thrones
Infamous
Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
Marvel Spiderman
Metro 2033 Redux
Metro Last Light Redux
Metro Exodus
Outer Worlds
Tales From the Borderlands

Currently Playing:
Afterparty
Batman Enemy Within
Doom (2016)
Grim Fandango Remastered

List Updated 4/3/2019
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: jce3000gt on January 01, 2019, 04:00:59 am
Reserve.


Playing:
StarCraft
Rage
Aven Colony


Completed:
TBA
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: blah1342 on January 01, 2019, 10:01:43 am
The game that I have beaten this far in 2019.

1- Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995), SNES Did not collect every DK coin. Beat Every level
2- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998), N64 Wanted to go for a 100% but I have a few skulltulas left to collect.
3- Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988), NES Me and my brother we played every single level in 2 player mode, this game was a lot harder then I remember.
4- Disney's DuckTales Remastered (2013), Ps3 Played this in one sit for no reason one night, pretty fun game. Awesome soundtrack
5- Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991), SNES My friend came over we did over a 100 match, I got beat pretty bad until I figured the control. After he was doomed, legends says he still hears: Yatta! to this day. Sorry Mike.
6- A Way Out (2018), Ps4 Platinum  Played coop the whole way got the planitum trophy.
7- South Park: The fractured But Whole (2017), Ps4 Platinum
8- Absolute Drift (2015), Ps4 Platinum
9- Resident Evil 2 (2019), Ps4 Platinum
10-Ni no kuni II : Revenant Kingdom (2018), Ps4 Beated the game, still working towards getting the platinum trophy.
11-Super Mario World (1990), SNES Same as mario bros 3 me and my brother went throught all the exits.
12-Uncanny Valley (2015), Ps4 pretty boring game tbh, since I had to run it 3 times for the platinum trophy. Platinum
13-Super Mario Odyssey (2017), Switch Managed to beat this just before 2020.

Happy new years guys. Hope I do better next year. I plugged a lot of my older console on my new setup. Hopefully I will be able to play a lot more.


Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: chrismb on January 01, 2019, 10:30:36 am
Beat it last year with 107 games

2017 : https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,7980.msg149108.html#msg149108
2018 : https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,8821.msg160906.html#msg160906

1. The King of Fighter XIV [Playstation 4]
2. Soul Blade [Playstation 1]
3. Hitman Codename 47 [PC]
4. Unravel 2 [Playstation 4]
5. Tekken [Playstation 1]
6. Yakuza 5 [Playstation 3]
7. Shadow Of the Tomb Raider [Xbox One]
8. Soulcalibur [Dreamcast]
9. Tekken 2 [Playstation 1]
10. Super Castlevania IV [Super Nintento]
11. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin [Playstation 2]
12. Tekken 3 [Playstation 1]
13. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 [Xbox 360]
14. Mortal Kombat [Arcade]
15. Killer Instinct Classic [Xbox One]
16. Hitman: Contracts [Playstation 2]
17. Half-Life [PC]
18. Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection [PSP]
19. Mortal Kombat II [Arcade]
20. Killer Instinct II Classic [Xbox One]
21. Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny [PSP]
22. Ultimate Mortal Kombat III [Arcade]
23. Red Earth [Arcade]
24. Marvel's Spider-Man [Playstation 4]
25. Hitman: Blood Money [Xbox 360]
26. Soulcalibur VI [Xbox One]
27. Red Dead Redemption 2 [Xbox One]
28. Half-Life: Opposing Force [PC]
29. Mortal Kombat Gold [Dreamcast]
30. Hitman: Absolution [Playstation 3]
31. Yakuza 0 [Playstation 4]
32. Half-Life: Blue Shift [PC]
33. Hitman [Xbox One]
34. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain [Xbox One]
35. The Simpson Hit & Run [Playstation 2]
36. Vampyr [Playstation 4]
37. Sniper Elite 4 [Xbox One]
38. Hitman 2 [Playstation 4]
39. Pipe Street BMX [PC]
40. Skater XL [PC]
41. Blade & Soul [PC]
42. Watch Dogs: Bad Blood [Xbox One]
43. Yakuza Kiwami [Playstation 4]
44. Half-Life 2 [PC]
45. God of War HD [Playstation 3]
46. The Walking Dead: The Final Season [Xbox One]
47. NBA 2k14 [Xbox One]
48. Half-Life 2: Episode One [PC]
49. The Simpsons Game [Xbox 360]
50. Assassin's Creed Odyssey [Xbox One]
51. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life [Playstation 4]
52. Half-Life 2: Episode Two [PC]
53. Gun [Xbox 360]
54. God Of War II HD [Playstation 3]
55. Just Cause [Xbox 360]
56. Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive [PC]
57. God of War: Chains of Olympus HD [Playstation 3]
58. Just Cause 2 [Xbox 360]
59. God of War III Remastered [Playstation 4]
60. Yakuza Kiwami 2 [Playstation 4]
61. Final Fantasy XV [Playstation 4]
62. Killer Instinct [Xbox One]
63. God Of War Ghost of Sparta HD [Playstation 3]
64. Bioshock [Xbox One]
65. Just Cause 3 [Playstation 4]
66. Little Nightmares [Xbox One]
67. Just Cause 4 [Xbox One]
68. Bioshock 2 [Xbox One]
69. God Of War: Ascension [Playstation 3]
70. Bioshock Infinite [Xbox One]
71. NBA 2K15 [Xbox One]
72. The Witcher Enhanced Edition Director's Cut [PC]
73. Days Gone [Playstation 4]
74. The Sinking City [Playstation 4]
75. God Of War [Playstation 4]
76. NBA 2K6 [Xbox 360]
77. NBA 2K16 [Xbox One]
78. NBA 2K19 [Xbox One]
79. NBA Live 18 [Xbox One]
80. NBA Live 19 [Xbox One]
81. NBA Street Vol. 2 [Playstation 2]
82. NBA 2K7 [Xbox 360]
83. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater [Playstation 1]
84. NBA 2K8 [Xbox 360]
85. NBA 2K9 [Xbox 360]
86. NBA 2K10 [Xbox 360]
87. NBA 2K20 [Xbox One]
88. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 [Playstation 1]
89. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x [Xbox]
90. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition [PC]
91. Dragon Age: Origins [Xbox 360]
92. EA UFC 3 [Xbox One]
93. Mass Effect [Xbox 360]
94. Skate 3 [Xbox 360]
95. Red Dead Redemption [Xbox 360]
96. Judgement [Playstation 4]
97. Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare [Xbox 360]
98. Gears 5 [Xbox One]
99. Watch Dogs 2 [Xbox One]
100. Life is Strange 2 [Xbox One]
101. Little Nightmares: Secrets of The Maw [Xbox One]
102. Madden NFL 20 [Xbox One]
103. Watch Dogs [Xbox One]
104. LA Noire [Xbox 360]





Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bfbeam on January 01, 2019, 10:42:02 am
I have a few games I started 2018 that can move over to 2019. Going to focus on Switch mostly but also have some PS4 games I'd like to check out.

Games to Play
God of War (PS4)
Horizon Zero Dawn
Night Trap (Switch)
Yooka Laylee (Switch)
Saturday Morning RPG (Switch)
Fire Emblem: Warriors
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch)
ETC

Currently Playing
Pokemon Let's Go: Pikachu
Red Dead Redemption 2
Dead Cells (Switch)
Flinthook (Switch)

Games Beaten
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood (Switch) 1/17
Parappa The Rapper (PSP) 2/04
Katamari Damacy REROLL (Switch) 2/10
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on January 01, 2019, 03:00:41 pm
2019 is off to a great start! Just finished Destiny 2, I started it in 2018 but beat it today so I'm gonna call that the first game of 2019!!
I've also been playing Moonlighter on the switch and I'm getting close to finishing that too and I'm starting Red Dead 2 tonight! 2019 is going to be a great year!
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on January 01, 2019, 06:47:38 pm
And just finished up Moonlighter, that's the last of the games I started in 2018, from here on out its fresh games for 2019!!
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on January 01, 2019, 10:18:38 pm
First review is up :)


Going to play the PS1 version of X-Men vs Street Fighter again soon to see how it stacks up to the Saturn version as well.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on January 01, 2019, 10:54:25 pm
Had a little extra time today so I knocked out Kirby's Dream Land on the Gameboy. 3 games in one day!
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: droaa on January 02, 2019, 10:24:24 am
Question, so aside from having one post with what games you have finished, you can also post separate posts for reviews or even just to say some impressions?
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: ignition365 on January 02, 2019, 10:36:36 am
Main List (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg162655.html#msg162655)

Previous List (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg162656.html#msg162656)

Quote from: Legend
bold games are games that have been beaten, previously beaten, or are unbeatable.

20. Snake Pass (NS)
Decided to start this one after finishing West of Loathing.  Started up and beat the first couple of levels collecting everything, and then levels started putting stuff out where I kept dying, so I said fuck it and I'm already deciding that I'm just gonna play to beat this game and nothing more.  The controls for this game are wildly frustrating.  Maybe I just don't get it, maybe it's sorta Octodad terrible, I don't know, but I don't have a great grasp on the controls for this game.  Also, while trying to do stuff, the camera will automatically move around, generally where you don't want it.  The button placements don't make for a pleasant experience in that you need to be able to press face buttons, move the right stick, and press the shoulder buttons all at the same time.  Also, that same thing makes it wildly uncomfortable to use the joycons while playing.  Overall, early impressions, this is a pretty terrible game.  My hands hurt like crazy after 1 level.  It wasn't until about 12-13 levels in that I decided to read up on the game and found out that the little bird that follows you around can pick up your tail and help you so you don't fall.  This would've been great to know from the beginning but the game never let me know that.
Rating: Pass.

21. Resident Evil HD (PS4)
Started this game shortly after completing 0.  First thing I noticed with this game is that it takes like 15 bullets to down a zombie, compared to 0's 3-4 bullets.  And I learned very slowly that you are supposed to burn any zombies that don't despawn so that they don't become quick strong zombies, but they don't give you enough kerosene to keep that going because the zombies are unlimited, but kerosene is not.  And the strong fast zombies take like 3-4 shotgun shots to kill... I tried to kill one with a pistol and used 15+ bullets and that didn't even faze it before it killed me.  I've gotten more used to the game in general, but I am constantly having to manage inventory because I need to carry around 3 big damage dealing weapons because everything can't be killed with a pistol, not that I have pistol ammo at this point.  I'm pretty sure I'm pretty close to the end of the game.  I'm not really enjoying this game so much as I'm not a huge fan of survival horror in general, and this one is super spoopy and dangerous.  I think about playing again, to play through as Chris, but I just don't know if I can be bothered because of how much I'm just not enjoying this game.  I may think about it, but play it on super easy or something.  As it is, it's frustrating that you can't change difficulty on this game after starting, I'm not enjoying the difficulty I chose, but I don't want to start over.  In retrospect, I enjoyed my experience and I constantly looked forward to hopping back into the game... but was it stressful and difficult.
Rating: Soft Recommendation, I have a lot of complaints, but Resident Evil is a solid franchise for the most part and lore/story.

22. Resident Evil 2 (PS4)
Current Progress: Leon B
Been looking forward to this as Resident Evil 2 was one of my favorite Resident Evil games.  Game plays so well with the over the shoulder controls, inventory expansion is a freaking godsend, but I still had to do an annoying amount of inventory management.  Game doesn't let you drop items, so if you discard something, it's gone forever.  A lot of folks I've read are bothered by the fact that Leon and Claire look nothing like their OG counterparts.  I'll agree that it's jarring, but it didn't take long for me to get used to it.  Leon's face is a little too psychopath for me.  Claire only bothered me the entire game because the character model constantly looked like an actress (I know it's not who I'm thinking of) but I couldn't figure out who she reminded me of.  Closest I could come up with was Trish from Nick and Norah's infinite playlist, but I'm still pretty sure that's not who I was thinking of.  I enjoyed the game until Mr. X/Tyrant showed up.  Once he left I got back to enjoying the game.  I understand it's a survival horror game and it adds more to that survival OMG I'm gonna die feel, but I just don't enjoy being constantly hunted by an unstoppable killing machine when I have so limited ammunition.  Mr. X is probably the reason I won't complete Leon B, just because I don't want to deal with that shit on top of the game giving LESS ammo.
Rating: Recommended.

23. Golf Story (NS)
I've heard so many good things about this game that I decided to finally pop it in and give it a go.  I think I was expecting more of a Harvest Moon type of game for some reason, but it's not.  It's honestly what you should've expected from the game, a golf based RPG game.  It's an interesting and funny game, but if you can't get past the fact that you're essentially playing an old school golf game, you're gonna hate the game.  I won't say I love this game, but it's good.  The game adds in interesting enough mechanics to keep the game from being too bland, you gain xp and increase your skills (I think specifically your driving range), and get paid so you can buy equipment.  The dialogue is interesting and funny at times.  As I reached the final course of the game, I found myself feeling like the game had overstayed its welcome, but the next day I was perfectly fine playing again, so that might have just been me being in a mood... this was the same night that I felt that RE2 had overstayed its welcome as well... so it's possible.
Rating: Soft Recommendation, if you are okay with the fact that you're essentially playing an old school golf game.

24. Dear Esther: Landmark Edition (PS4)
I wanted a short game to play just to fill an evening before Sekiro comes out.  My wife suggested this one, and I have had it suggested to me before.  Can honestly say I didn't enjoy this game very much.  It didn't quite outstay its welcome at 40 minutes to beat the game.  I didn't really follow the story, part apathy and part my infant crawling/cruising and just kinda yelling at everything.  Slightly better than Ether One and Everyone's gone to the rapture, because it's short... but good god did this game really not deserve a physical release.  Might sell my copy.
Rating: Hard Pass.

25. Scooby Doo Mystery (SNES)
I really don't know why, but I was super in the mood to play a Scooby Doo game, so I popped in Scooby Doo for the SNES.  Basically a platformer escape game.  Game is 4 mysteries and each mystery probably takes 30 minutes to an hour.  Quick simple game with mildly frustrating mechanics, but it holds up well enough.
Rating: Soft Pass.

26. Fire Emblem Warriors (NS)
I went through hassle to get the CE of this game on launch day given BB screwing things up for me.  Was sitting in my car for an hour or so over the weekend, so I played this for an hour or so and got through a few chapters.  I think I'm at Chapter 4, not entirely sure.  Has that generic Musou gameplay.  Feels bland compared to Hyrule Warriors so far.  Sounds like the game is almost exclusively Awakening/Fates characters with a few of the really popular heroes from other games added in.  There is a tad of that Fire Emblem style to it.  There are some "tactic" type things you can do, like telling specific characters to go and do certain things, and you can swap between playable characters mid battle, all things that weren't available in Hyrule Warriors, but it still just feels like the same game.  I'm not a giant Musou fan, so this may be a long play for me, doing a Chapter every now and then.  I'm having trouble with this game in terms of its mechanics.  The characters have pretty strong weapons by default, so I see no reason to "upgrade" the characters so they can use higher class weapons because their default weapons are pretty strong, only seems to make sense if you're going to add skills/attributes to weapons.  Also, I get messages that characters are unlocked, but I see no way to swap what characters I use in story mode, I seem to be stuck with Lianna, Lissa, Cordelia, and Camilla.  I'd be pretty happy to swap out Lissa for someone better and Camilla is fairly strong, but I feel like she's too slow of an attacker, plus having 2 characters who instant die against archers isn't great.
Rating: Soft Pass.

27. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (PS4)
I'm enjoying this game too damned much.  Played the majority of the weekend it came out and 3 days later I've put in nearly 20 hours so far.  This game is closer to Bloodborne than any of the Souls games.  The prosthesis feels similar to the alt modes on the weapons in bloodborne and the deflect system is similar to the gun mechanic in Bloodborne.  This game is currently my #1 game for 2019, but still behind Spider-man and West of Loathing for games played.  Spider-man because the characters, character models, and voice acting were just out of this world.  West of Loathing because it just blew me away, didn't expect it to be that good.  This game is so damned good and I feel pretty damned great playing it.  I shouldn't feel so proud when I use poorly implemented AI against itself and cheese some of the bosses, but it works.  I'm fairly certain I'm close to the end of the game, I've got 8 or 9 of the prayer necklaces now and there are 10 total.  I'm just short of entering one of the late game areas, but I decided to go do some clean up and beat some stuff I skipped.  Right now, what I have left before continuing is the Headless enemies (which I dread doing because divine confetti is not an easy resource to come by) and the Headless Ape fight, also dreading because the first fight was pretty damned hard.  This game might possibly push itself past West of Loathing.  Finished the game the other day and started up NG+ hoping to aim for the platinum... I need roughly 2 million XP to get all skills, so I might wind up with all trophies except this and the platinum when I give up.  I think by the time I get to where I need to start grinding, I'll probably be a little less than 2 million xp, but earning like 2-3k xp per minute will still take forever.
Rating: Highly recommended.

28. Fairune (NS)
Started this up after finishing Fire Emblem Warriors.  Pretty simple little Zelda game with next to no combat, but with a ton of back tracking and you definitely have to pay attention.  Took about 2 hours to beat the game, and was a pleasant little experience.
Rating: Soft Recommendation.

29. Sekiro (PS4)
This is a new thing for me, as I've never really done this before in previous years, but since I beat Sekiro twice, I'm gonna count it twice.  This wasn't some save scum thing, I start to finish beat this game again, right after beating it in general.  I want to not count it because I already beat it, but I put in the time and the effort and beat the game a second time.  If I decide to go for NG++ I'll probably count it a third time.
Rating: Highly recommended.

30. Fairune 2 (NS)
I don't really know how to track the progress in this game, so I won't.  More of the same from the last game, slightly better artwork, new world, new story.  I think this game was compared to Hydlide to me, so having enjoyed this game, I may go play that after I finish the Collection.
Rating: Soft recommendation

31. Fairune Origin (NS)
This is a short little ten minute 8-bit mini version of Fairune.  This was actually a pleasant experience and I would almost suggest starting with this one as it works out as a nice little tutorial and tests the waters before jumping into the longer games.
Rating: Soft recommendation

32. Fairune Blast (NS)
This is just a shmup, you can play through little shmup levels similar to how the final boss fights of the games work out.  I'm not a huge shmup fan and there is no story mode or anything, you have 1 level to play and you can play as 3 different characters.  That's it.
Rating: Hard pass

33. Reverie (NS)
Bought this because of FOMO.  Don't really regret it because I knew I'd prefer it on NS over PS4.  Enjoying it so far.  Looks like Earthbound, plays like Link to the Past.  Not much dialogue, game isn't particularly silly and dialogue isn't very memorable so far.  Feels like you're essentially playing the story of a Kiwi children's bedtime story.  Game is relatively fun, fairly short, and not too difficult... but it just doesn't stand out as a good game.
Rating: Soft Pass.

34. WWE 2K16 (X1)
I was having trouble deciding what to play next and this was already installed so I started playing this, partly because I was just yesterday watching some old WWF PPVs, so I was kinda in the mood for this.  Might only do the Showcase and call it quits.  At some point the devs completely changed up how these games play and I've just not really been a fan since.  I especially don't care for the submission and pin system, because I'm not good at those mini games.  I bot could knock me down and pin me right at the start of the match and they'd probably win right away.  I certainly had bots knock me down and immediately do a submission move and I tapped immediately.  I considered doing more in the game, but all of the online features are disabled and there are some online only content that you just can't unlock anymore and their recurring trend of story mode consisting of 2k showcase and a create a wrestler story mode just kind of irks me.  I think in previous years they had multiple story modes for various wrestlers, this game only having a story mode for Stone Cold seemed repetitive as they've done Stone Cold multiple times before, but this one includes his time in WCW and ECW which was enlightening and interesting.  I did find it interesting that they left out Stone Cold's Wrestlemania X8 fight with Scott Hall, which was allegedly one of the reasons Stone Cold left the company for a year, could be that they knew the fight sucked or the fact that Scott Hall was reserved as a DLC character.
Rating: Soft Pass

35. WWE 2K17 (X1)
I haven't actually started this yet.  I installed it last night after I finished 2K16 because I knew I wasn't going to put more time into 2K16.  I'm not interested in the WWE Universe mode as it's essentially one of those write your own story mode things, which is just too involved for me not knowing half of these wrestlers because I stopped paying attention to wrestling back in like 2004.  And I don't think I can put in the effort of creating a custom wrestler in each of these games.  I'll probably just do 2K Showcase again.  Well apparently this game has no 2K Showcase, the only form of a story mode this game has is Universe which is essentially Create A PPV type of thing and the CAW story mode.  I planned to do the CAW story mode with a female wrestler just to kinda get through it, but after spending like an hour building a character I found out that story mode doesn't support female wrestlers.  I'm just marking this as beat because as far as I can tell this game is a endless/unbeatable/no story game.
Rating: Hard Pass.

36. Lili: Child of Geos (PS4)
I wanted something to play while my kids was awake so I decided to play this.  Game didn't clearly explain the battling, so I just scraped by in most battles, until I started losing constantly, so I tried to figure it out on my own, eventually pieced it together and started getting 3 stars constantly.  Camera work is janky and laggy.  Dialogue is interesting and sometimes amusing.  Game wouldn't be terribly difficult to get the platinum if you planned for it from the start as there are some glitches that can be taken advantage of to make things less grindy, I missed out on the glitches.  Overall the game just isn't worth your time.
Rating: Soft Pass.

37. Far Cry: New Dawn (X1)
Been sort of wanting to play a kind of mindless shooter game and I picked this up cheap, so I decided to pop this in.  I'm enjoying it well enough so far.  Like all Far Cry games, it has its annoyances.  Like during one fight, a group of friendly NPCs pushed me off of a bridge as a car was driving, car ran me over and killed me, car stopped on top of me so I couldn't be revived.  Finished the game, overall the game wasn't terrible, but the final fights of the game were completely different than every other fight in the game.  The fight's were more raid boss than shooter boss, I felt like the game didn't properly prepare you for such a fight.
Rating: Soft recommendation if you enjoyed Far Cry 5.

38. Mortal Kombat XL (X1)
Decided to play this because I'm going to get MK11 at some point to play.  I've beaten MKX before, so popping this in, there really wasn't much for me to do.  I re-watched some cinematics to kind of catch back up on the story.  I played through the tower a couple of times unlocking endings for some characters and popping the credits.
Rating: Soft recommendation

39. Injustice: Gods Among Us (PS4)
I've been interested in this game for a long time, if only because I've heard really good things about the story.  Playing through the story, I'm realizing that I'm already aware of the story and I guess that's because they did an injustice comic line at some point and I'm aware of the story line.  Game's still enjoyable.  Combat is mildly frustrating in that O doesn't do low kicks like in MK, but does character specific things (i.e. wonder woman switches weapons, batman spawns little bat drones, etc.)  Story mode is short enough that in the 3 hours I played yesterday, I am almost done.  I'll probably finish within an hour.  Major disappoint was that the advertised Harley never really appears in the game.
Rating: Soft Pass.

40. Injustice 2 (PS4)
Immediately after starting up the game, I notice that the entire game is literally unplayable.  Every menu option gives an "Estimated time until available:" with an unchanging time.  I let the game install yesterday so I wouldn't have to deal with Xbox-esque usability where I can't play for hours because it's "installing".  Load up the game, and I guess it needs to install, but it does it through the game instead of the OS... but it doesn't tell you that or show you any form of a status.  I just get to sit there and wait until it magically starts working.  About an hour later I was able to play.
Rating: Other than the annoying install, this is an improvement over the previous entry.

41. Mortal Kombat 11 (X1)
Went through a whole hassle getting this game preowned because Gamestop was being retarded at best.  Took 3 days for me to be able to pick it up because they never told me they were holding it for me and when I called they said they didn't have it, hold finally expired and I was able to go pick it up, because it popped back into the system.  Story is interesting, but the last few MK games, since the reboot really, have been tough to follow.  This one seems to set up another reboot.  Series has really been downhill since the reboot, shit even Armageddon was kinda shit.  AI fighter is a really helpful bit and had me "playing" longer than I probably would've.  The krypt was interesting, but honestly it seemed pointless to me so after I while I gave up on it as well.
Rating: Soft Pass.

Next List (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg165030.html#msg165030)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: rayne315 on January 02, 2019, 10:43:09 am
1. Kingdom hearts 3 (ps4): this was defiantly a fun game and I loved it but I do have major issues with 2-3 worlds in particular. they JUST followed the movie and pulled the movie sceenes into the game. those were seriously the most boring thing ever and it made it worse they were at the start. set a bad taste in my mouth until the further worlds brought it back with careful crafting and good storytelling. unfortunately the hardest difficulty Proud mode was a walk in the park. half way through the game I put on zero exp just to artificially inflate the difficulty and ended up beating the game at level 28. overall I think it was a 8/10

2. The Witness (PS4): this was a complex puzzle game that took me almost a week to complete. it is well worth it to anyone who is a fan of puzzle games. story line is a little iffy but the graphics are great and open world is of interest. depending on where you go there are also things of visual interest like trees at the right location that look like the clouds are the leaves or a giant being and a small person reaching for each other at the right position. overall very enjoyable. 9/10. if you play through it and want to try the most complex puzzle do it before completing the game as it will start you from square 1 when you beat it.

3. Red Dead Redemption 2 (PS4)

4. Katamari damacy (ps2)

5. Bully (ps2)

6.

7.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: droaa on January 02, 2019, 09:19:49 pm
Ignore this
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: thewelshman on January 03, 2019, 12:43:22 am
I started off exceptionally strong and then seriously petered out as soon as the summer hit. To my defense, I was studying for my Security + certification, and we had a major software deployment at my job. Sadly, I ended the year with only completing 17 games. A far cry from the 52, but I hope to complete more this year. Started 2019 out with finishing Dragon Quest 1 on IOS. I'll follow the same format from last year.

Completed

1. Dragon Quest: (IOS) Completed 1/1/2019 - Started this after completing DQ11's platinum trophy. Quick, easy, and as straightforward as you can get for a NES era game. Was cool to see where DQ started after playing the most recent release. I look forward to beating DQ2, and DQ3 on IOS as well. My goal is to beat all of the NA release DQ games this year.
2. Dragon Quest 2: (IOS) Completed 1/11/2019 - Decided to continue the Dragon Quest series on IOS after completing the first one. This release was definitely a step up from the first one as you recruit another prince, and a princess in your journey. Things are much easier with two caster/healers at your side. Looks like Dragon Quest 3 is next.
3. Trails in the Sky 3rd: (PC) Completed 1/13/2019 - It was bittersweet finishing Trails in the Sky 3rd. Wrapping up the Liberl Arc Trilogy was as quite satisfying as I got to see a part of the immense Zemurian world and the amazing character growth of the main protagonists. I've already started the fan translations of Trails to Zero to continue the story and plan on buying the PS4 releases of Trails of Cold Steel I & II. I only hope we get the announcement for Trails of Cold Steel III, and IV coming state-side.

Currently Playing

1. Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness: (PS4) I'm close to 30 hours into Star Ocean I&F and have enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The main storyline is quite linear, but I'm fine with linear stories. The side quests, recipes, multiple endings, AND higher difficulties will make the platinum a long journey, but beating the main storyline should only take me another few hours.
2. Dragon Quest 3: (IOS) After beating the first, and the second, it only makes sense to move to the 3rd one. I've only played about 30 minutes of III, so I'm interested how its going to feel with the "create a party," part.
3. Trails to Zero: (PC) Wrapping up the Trails in the Sky Trilogy reminded me how much I enjoy these games, and the whole world brought to us by Falcom. Never getting an official North American release, I'll be using the fan translations for Trails to Zero, and Trails to Azure.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on January 04, 2019, 03:10:14 pm
Game 1 - Final Fantasy X (PS4) - 55 hours

I finally decided to go and beat Sin after spending several hours getting the ultimate weapons and doing side quests/grinding. Wakka was hitting for 99999 thanks to the AP trick so the final bosses were beaten in short order. Anyway, this will definitely be one of my longest reviews I've posted since doing the 52 games challenge. I haven't played this game in about 10 years, and it's always been in my top 5 games of all time. However, it was the first RPG I ever played back in my sophomore year of high school, so I've always wondered if it's been nostalgia that made me remember the game so fondly.

This time around I'll talk about everything I liked then try to speak to the main criticisms of the game to give my own perspective. It's time to gush  ;D

+

~ First of all, the story is probably one of my favorites in all of gaming, period. And I don't say that lightly. This is a long-ass game, but the intriguing premise, impactful plot twists, and almost perfect pacing kept me hooked back then and still so to this day. I love the themes in the story including the dangers of theocracy, the inevitability of death, and the reconciliation with Tidus's father at the end of the game. Even though I already know how the story ends, there were still several moments that made me misty-eyed. lol

I also want to touch on the unparalleled worldbuilding in this game.  The game's story and pacing fills you in on the culture (like the prejudice against the Al Bhed and Guado), history, religion, different languages, and favorite pastimes of Spira in a very digestible manner. It's incredible the amount of detail and consistency that was put into this game, especially for the time. Don't believe me? There are even three different kinds of scripts in the game (Spiran, Al Bhed and Yevon), and they're implemented into real world locations even in places you wouldn't think to look.
(https://i.imgur.com/96ToET2.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/anvT0LH.jpg)

There's a fascinating article about it here https://levelskip.com/rpgs/spiran-inscriptions-writing-ffx

~ I really love the characters in this game (we'll talk about Tidus down below). I think Wakka is hilarious yet humble, Auron and Kimahri are badass, and Yuna is one of my favorite female video game characters of all time. She's gentle yet determined, and just awesome. I also think the voice acting was on the whole, very good. Especially for the time. The secondary characters really impressed me on that front.

~ The combat was traditionally something that I wasn't the biggest fan of, but overall I think it's good. I like how you can use all of your party members, which was always a bummer in previous FF games where you could only pick 3 of 4. I like how you have to actually use buffs, debuffs, and unique character traits to get and edge on your enemies. The sphere grid is also really interesting, especially on the expert version. In this playthrough I made Kimahri a powerhouse with a mixture of Auron and Wakka's abilities, and I took Rikku down Tidus's path instead of her own.

~The graphics still hold up, even to this day in my opinion. The pre-rendered backgrounds are beautiful and so are the 3D environments. The cutscenes are also great too.

~ The music is masterful, as always. I've been listening to this soundtrack for a long time now, and it's still great even today. The hymn of the fayth is still beautiful and mesmerizing, and there are countless other amazing songs like To Zanarkand, Seymour Battle Theme, Besaid Island, and Assault.The new arranged music they added into the HD version is a nice touch too, but I hardly ever turned it on.

~The side quests are fun and the rewards are actually worth it. It's fun hunting for the celestial weapons, extra aeons, secret areas, and Al Bhed primers/Jecht Spheres. I plan on platinuming the game too, so I'm also looking forward to the bosses I never fought on the PS2, including the Dark Aeons, Nemesis, and Penance.

Now for the criticisms!
-
~ Tidus is a bad/annoying character I know this may be controversial, but Tidus is my favorite Final Fantasy protagonist. I totally agree that he's arrogant, whiny and annoying, but that was intentional; he's a star blitzball player after all! So he's going to be cocky, pampered and self-entitled. Square took a huge risk designing a character like that, but it makes him flawed and a hell of a lot more interesting than Cloud or Squall. Tidus actually grows and develops over the course of the game because he's designed as a "fish out of water" protagonist. First, he has to realize he can't go home anymore, then because of that he develops and investment in saving Spira, protecting Yuna on her journey, and eventually he falls in love too.

I will say though that James Arnold Taylor (the voice actor for Tidus) doesn't show his best work here. There are some definitely some awkward lines and he doesn't handle anger well at all. It's tough to say how the limitations from bringing the game over from Japan affected the localization given the resources, but on the whole, it's great.

Oh, and I'll just leave this video here from James Arnold Taylor talking about the story behind the infamous laugh scene for y'all ;) It's one of the most misunderstood parts of the game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRWab0q9aw4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRWab0q9aw4)

~The game is "too linear" I have never agreed with this criticism for two reasons. For one, I feel like the nature of the story fits a more linear style. The story is about a pilgrimage: going to a very specific set of locations in a very particular order, to gain the power to beat Sin; and all throughout the journey Auron and others are stressing the importance of haste and not lollygaging. I think if this game was more open ended, the impact and focus of the story would be completely lost. Also, I think the only thing that's really different compared to previous FFs, was the removal of the overworld. But come on... every Final Fantasy up until this point was mostly linear. When you leave Midgar in FF7, you have what, two places to go to? The big open overworld gives more the illusion of an open ended setting, but it really isn't. It's a very very small sacrifice that I really don't mind at all.

~The minigames all suck Now this is something that I totally agree with. All the minigames in this game are terrible. The butterfly catching, lightning dodging, hide and go seek/red light green light with Cactuars, and Chocobo riding are all terrible, tedious and frustrating. The only redeeming one is Blitzball, but even after 30 games or so it also becomes a drag. It's the only thing that I can say I don't like about the game.

So now that I've beaten the whole game for the 3rd time I can definitely say that this game is still one of my favorites of all time. It might even been in my top 3.

 Back to my list (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg162665.html#msg162665)[/list][/list]
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on January 05, 2019, 11:31:04 pm
Just finished up Bayonetta on the Switch, this was my first experience with a Bayonetta game and holy shit was it a wild ride! Gonna start up the second one next.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on January 08, 2019, 01:25:54 am
This will be my master list

Completed
1. Adventures of Lolo(NES-Nintendo Switch Online)
2. Kirby's Adventure(NES-Nintendo Switch Online)
3. Shadow of the Colossus HD NG+(PS4)
4. Unravel Two(PS4)
5. Journey(PS4)
6. Yoshi's Crafted World(Switch)
7. Sekiro(PS4)
8. Sonic Mania(PS4)
9. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker(Switch)
10. Clu Clu Land(NES Nintendo Switch Online)
11. Double Dragon II: The Revenge(NES-Nintendo Switch Online)
12. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor(PS4)
13. Horizon Chase Turbo(PS4)
14. Fire Emblem: Three Houses(Switch)
15. Demons Crest(SNES-Nintendo Switch Online)
16. Kirby's Dreamland 3(SNES-Nintendo Switch Online)
17. Super Mario Kart(SNES-Nintendo Switch Online)
18. F-Zero(SNES-Nintendo Switch Online)
19. Fez(PS4)
20. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening(Switch)
21. The Last Guardian(PS4)
22. Luigi's Mansion 3(Switch)
23. Pokemon Shield(Switch)

Plan to play
Detroit: Become Human(PS4)
SNES-Nintendo Switch Online
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War(PS4)
Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition(PS4)
Destroy All Humans 2(PS4)
Kingdom Come(PS4)
Horizon Zero Dawn: Frozen Wilds(PS4)
Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness(GC)
Katamari Damacy Reroll(Switch)
Hollow Knight(Switch)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on January 08, 2019, 02:53:36 pm
Finished my first game of the year.  It certainly helped that I've been stuck at home sick the last three days.  Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is the fifth AC game that I have beaten, and I would probably rank it at #3 out of those 5.  I'm actually a little disappointed after all the praise I have seen heaped on it it since the release.  Maybe it's because I've already played Syndicate, which handles much better?  The setting is fantastic, but the whole shtick got kind of tedious after I was boarding my 15th ship or so.  The ship-to-ship combat was great, but to fully take a ship required boarding and it was just the old standard button mashing AC combat.  Still, I generally had fun, but it is not one I will revisit.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: vivigamer on January 09, 2019, 06:20:07 am
Just Beat:
2.Resident Evil Remake:
I'm awful at survival horror games, I have a bad habbit of saving every chance I get which these games scorn, I also just seem to be torn up and lack ammo most occassions. I admit I accidently played this on Easy - The difficulty selection menu was not clear, I genuinely thought I selected Normal. I managed to get through the game with ease... but I did have a good time :) I can see why thise Remake is well regarded. Graphically it is phenominal for the time and holds up very well. The analogue input instead of the classic tank navigation is very welcome and I liked the addition of the Crimson Heads and character development they built around a newly added boss.

I haven't beat Chris's campaign yet, but I will do so before I play the upcoming RE2 REMAKE, but now it's all about Kingdom Hearts & beating the series backlog before KH3 in a couple of weeks :)

Playing:
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (PS4)

Plan to play:
Kingdom Hearts III (PS4)
Resident Evil 2 REMAKE (PS4)
Final Fantasy V (PC)
Ni No Kuni (PS3)

List of games beat by the end of 2019:
36. World of Illusion (Mega-Drive-Mini), 35. Lost Planet 3 (PS3), 34. Lost Planet (360), 33. Dead Rising 2 (PS4), 32. Virtua Fighter 5: Showdown (PS3), 31. NeverDead (PS3), 30. Shenmue III (PS4), 29. Shenmue II (PS4), 28. Shenmue (PS4), 27. Team Soinc Racing (PS4), 26. Sonic All-Star Racing Transformed (Vita), 25. DOOM-Original (PS4) 24. AER Memories of Old (PS4), 23. Catherine: Full Body(PS4), 22. Man of Medan (PS4), 21. State of Mind (PS4), 20. Dragons Crown PRO (PS4), 19. Judgment ( PS4), 18. Devil May Cry V (PS4), 17. Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition (PS4), 16. Devil May Cry 2 HD (PS4), 15. Devil May Cry 1 HD (PS4), 14. Spyro The Dragon - Reignited (PS4), 13. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (PS4), 12. Wolfenstein: The New Order (PS4), 11. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PS4), 10. Final Fantasy V (GBA), 9. Firewatch (PS4), 8. Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (PS4), 7. The Simpsons Game (PS3), 6. Devil May Cry 3 HD (PS4), 5. Kingdom Hearts III (PS4), 4. Resident Evil 2 REMAKE (PS4), 3. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (PS4) 2. Resident Evil REMAKE (PS4) 1. Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded (PS4)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: droaa on January 09, 2019, 12:42:04 pm
Quote from: vivigamer on January 09, 2019, 06:20:07 am
Just Beat:
2.Resident Evil Remake:
I'm awful at survival horror games, I have a bad habbit of saving every chance I get which these games scorn, I also just seem to be torn up and lack ammo most occassions. I admit I accidently played this on Easy - The difficulty selection menu was not clear, I genuinely thought I selected Normal. I managed to get through the game with ease... but I did have a good time :) I can see why thise Remake is well regarded. Graphically it is phenominal for the time and holds up very well. The analogue input instead of the classic tank navigation is very welcome and I liked the addition of the Crimson Heads and character development they built around a newly added boss.

I haven't beat Chris's campaign yet, but I will do so before I play the upcoming RE2 REMAKE, but now it's all about Kingdom Hearts & beating the series backlog before KH3 in a couple of weeks :)

Playing:
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (PS4)

Plan to play:
Kingdom Hearts III (PS4)
Resident Evil 2 REMAKE (PS4)
Final Fantasy V (PC)
Ni No Kuni (PS3)

Beat:
2. Resident Evil Make (PS4) 1. Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded (PS4)

No lie, I read that as RE2 Remake that you just beat instead of REmake
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: vivigamer on January 10, 2019, 04:20:43 am
Haha no, just numbered it as the 2nd game I beat this year :P

Considering how many people seem to have got Kingdom Hearts III early I wouldn't be surprised if many have already. I'm still undecided if I will have time to beat RE2 Remake before I dive into KH3. I should have a solid weekend to play it during the 26th & 27th - which I have booked Holiday off for anyway, along with the following week, really want nothing to get in the way of Kingdom hearts III :P & as that is released on the 29th, I reckon I should be able too :)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on January 11, 2019, 07:03:16 pm
1. Adventures of Lolo(NES-Nintendo Switch Online)

I honestly never even expected to play this game for more than a few levels but, I really had a lot of fun with it which is surprising as I never can get into NES games. I love how it is simply designed and am impressed by how fairly complex each level can be. It also had zero bugs as far as I could tell. I hope Nintendo puts the second game on their service.

I also want to point out how OP Lolo is. He can kill the Devil with two bubbles, how does no one bring this up when talking about powerful Nintendo characters?

Time: 5-10 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on January 11, 2019, 10:42:09 pm
I crushed out game #2 last night.  I played the NES Ducktales on the Disney Afternoon Collection.  The music is incredible, and its pretty great sprite work, but is laughably easy once you know what you are doing.  Pogo-ing around as Scrooge will never not be fun.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: azure on January 12, 2019, 01:32:58 pm
Failed hard last year and stopped updating before the halfway mark  :-\ Giving this another go this year to see how far I can get, considering my new year resolution is to play more games.
________________________________________________

Current Ranking: 2/52


Currently Playing:

Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter (Steam)
Shin Megami Tensei If... (SNES)
Bujingai: The Forsaken City (PS2)





Finished:

Super Mario Bros. (NES) [1/2/2019]
Devil May Cry HD Collection: Devil May Cry (PS4) [1/8/2019]

Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on January 14, 2019, 12:08:17 am
3 more games to add to the list:

5. Balloon Kid (Gameboy) 1/11 - Beat
6. Bayonetta 2 (Switch) 1/13/19 - Beat
7. Mega Man 11 (Switch) 1/13/19 - Beat


Balloon kid I've been playing off and on for about a week, progressing a little further each time and finally beat the damn thing the other day. For such a simple game, it can be a little tricky here and there.
It snowed this weekend and I was stuck inside which gave me a chance to finish up Bayonetta 2; I think I enjoyed it even more than the first one and cant wait for 3 now. Mega Man was kind of a wild card for me. I've always been terrible at Mega Man games, but since this new one has different difficulties I figured I'd give it a shot. I tried on normal to get started and got my ass handed to me, went back and played it on newcomer to get the hang of things and beat it. I decided to give normal another shot after that and it went much smoother, just had to learn how to play the game! Might open the door for some of the older games this year for me!
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on January 18, 2019, 01:37:34 am
Some games are better left in your past:


6. Bug! (Saturn): There are several Saturn games that are very nostalgic for me. I had two friends growing up, Tony and Evan, each had a Sega Saturn and beyond hanging out with them playing their Saturn games was my favorite thing to do when I went to their houses. My friend Evan had Bug! which at the time I thought was a cool, quarky platformer with a very 90s cartoonish mascot character, in the vein of Earthworm Jim or Boogerman. In that regard Bug! is great, but my praise of this game mostly ends there. Playing Bug! now I'm able to see that while it was a pioneer in early 3D platforming, the game just doesn't play that well and the combination of very basic controls, very hard gameplay, and various issues such as enemies charging you/firing things at you off screen and extremely hard to gauge jumps due to the game's 3D environments, make for a pretty unenjoyable game. The soundtrack is nothing more than very cartoonish loops that are fitting at first and then get annoying after hearing them for more than 10-minutes. Bug makes goofy comments that don't overstay their welcome which is nice, but that's about the best I can say regarding the audio. And then there are the graphics, which are mostly very plain with stages being maze-like and filled with the same dozen or so enemies with some unique bosses at the end of each stage. Overall, Bug! isn't a terrible game, but it isn't a good game either. I will give the developers a hand for creating one of the earlier 3D platformers available before Super Mario 64 created the gold standard in that genre, but sadly I just feel like playing games like Donkey Kong Country 2, Sonic and Knuckles, and various other 2D platformers that came out during the same time that are way, way better. I'd give this one a solid pass unless you are curious to see 3D platforming before Super Mario 64 revolutionized that entire genre. (1/17/19) [21/50]
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: shfan on January 21, 2019, 08:19:46 pm
04] This War of Mine: The Little Ones (PS4)

One of my favourites of this console generation, played it about 3 times last year, it also finally finishes off January's 4. I just hope I can get stuck into some PS2 games and start February's early by beating the next one by the end of this month.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on January 26, 2019, 08:55:33 pm
5 - Resident Evil 2 (PC 2019) - BEAT - Finally have a game I can put down as "beat" as I've been jumping around games all month, mostly because I was anxious for RE2.  And here it is! And it's great! I'm coming at this as someone that knows plenty about RE, but never beat any of the original games before RE4, because the controls primarily.  I think they are terrible and time has not changed that.  So I've been wanting this game for a long ass time now.

I did only beat the first scenarios for Leon and Claire and technically there are two more, but I'm counting this for the challenge and I'm gonna go back and try to do everything else.  Hardcore is gonna be ridiculous.  I think this game does most everything right, expanding on parts when it needs to, making the story more enjoyable, graphically it looks amazing, and it has pretty great gameplay.  My only real nitpick, one that I know will be divisive in the community forever, are how bullet spongy enemies can be.  I don't think the enemies are super terrible, though there are times, when it's like you've put 6 to 8 pistol rounds into a zombies head and its still going.  There are things to help like knifing and just kneecapping them in certain areas that you can maneuver around in, but it feels so rare to get crit shots on them.  Lickers are real rough for Leon to fight to with the shotgun.  Just avoiding them doesn't work either in most areas as they have a pretty large grab range.

Other than that, I'm loving it.  Hard for me to say if I like RE7 or RE2 more.  RE7 has way more consistent tension and atmosphere, but I like the more widespread exploration in RE2 overall.  Either way, both of these are two of my favorite RE games.  RE4 is still good, but taking out nostalgia for it, I think some elements have aged and I'd much rather just play these two games.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on January 26, 2019, 10:57:51 pm
I just finished the original Paper Mario.  I was pretty underwhelmed.  It’s not bad, but I don’t really think it’s anything special.  It’s incredibly easy, but also stuck with a very slow gameplay rhythm.  It’s not nearly as clever or funny as it thinks it is.  Maybe I’m being harsh because Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is one of favorite games of all time, but I don’t think so.  Again, it’s not bad, but I don’t think it’s nearly as good as it’s reputation would suggest.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on January 28, 2019, 10:29:45 pm
2 - Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix (PS4 2017) - BEAT

I was glad to get this done right before KH3 is released and I actually enjoyed my time with this one compared to the slog that was the original Kingdom Hearts game.  This is such a vast improvement over the original, though to be fair to the original, I honestly feel like it handles the Disney part of the game better than KH2.  The first game was about Disney Villains causing havoc, but here, the Disney stuff is completely unrelated to the plot going on.  One thing I feel like both games do kinda poorly is dealing with the Disney "Worlds" as a lot of them are just really half-assed little locations that take you through bad short versions of the movie they are from.  Some involve more of the characters of the actual plot going on or do more with the world, which is why they are the better ones, but stuff like Mulan, Atlantica, Lion King, and some others just aren't very good.

That said, it's clear every bit of my nostalgia comes from this game.  There is some charm and fun moments throughout the improvements to gameplay and the RPG elements is way more better.  This one is worth going back to, not so much the first one.

It'll be interesting to see what Kingdom Hearts 3 is even about as I have no clue.  Never played any of the other games other than KH1 and KH2, but I will be looking at some retrospectives and discussions about the series to learn all the information I need to, prepping myself for once I actually get to playing KH3 as I probably won't actually play it for a few more days so I can finish up the stuff I have left in Resident Evil 2.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: vivigamer on January 29, 2019, 03:44:19 am
Just Beat:
3. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (PS4)
This is the game of the series I'm playing for first time during the series playthrough of the series & I had a blast! I will say I didn't like the Flowmotion commands at first but as i got new abilities throughout t he game it made combat more natural to my liking. I also didn't care for looking after the Dream Eaters - Pokemon like monsters you train and learn abilities of. It just felt weird having generic monsters as companions especially when you see characters from the world in cutscenes with you t hat suddenly aren't within the gameplay portions. Speaking of Disney Worlds, I was utterly delighted with some of the more obscure choices in this game - Some really treats of a Disney fan. As for the story as a whole it's good but I think the ending of KH Coded has steered the story down the a path which I didn't really approve of and the antagonists methods of force in this game is very questionable but it is key to setting up the scene of Kingdom Hearts III which I am eagerly awaiting today!

4.Resident Evil 2 REMAKE (PS4)
A fantastic modernisation of the RE Classic - Simply does everything you could hope for and then some! I will say I found the game hard (I am terrible at Survival Horror games) & at the end of my first play through I barely scrapped by with the minimal resources I had. I adored the games atmosphere and how Mr. X would appear at the worst timing to make you have change route to your objective. One thing that really surprised me was how well they humanised the main cast! The acting for Claire and Leon was superb and I adore them more as characters for it. I beat Leon (A) & Claire (B) But I think I will take a break as Claire's (B) was just a bit to familiar to my liking. Brilliant game though and can't recommend it enough to anyone who loves horror titles.

Playing:
Kingdom Hearts III (PS4)

Plan to play:
Final Fantasy V (PC)
Ni No Kuni (PS3)

Beat:
4. Resident Evil 2 REMAKE (PS4), 3. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (PS4) 2. Resident Evil Make (PS4) 1. Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded (PS4)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on January 29, 2019, 09:41:56 am
Game 2 - Ace Combat 7 (PS4) - 20 Hours

First game of the year done! All in all I will say that this is definitely a step in the right direction for the series. Even though I loved Infinity and enjoyed Assault Horizon, this game is still a lot better than recent offerings in the series.

+

For one, the gameplay is fantastic. It's just as good as any other AC game with some minor tweaks. The new dynamic weather is really cool and adds a whole new strategy to missions. You have to navigate through rain, sandstorms and lightning and deal with strong winds that can blow you off course. The mission design is also superb. You can use clouds to avoid missiles but then you can't see or target other pilots. There are a lot of really fun, open missions that build up your skills and test them as a pilot. I found the game a pretty decent challenge on hard mode and I came out of the missions feeling like a grizzled experienced veteran, which goes to the game's credit. The aircraft tree carried over from Infinity was a brilliant addition to the campaign and the 1 to 1 carry over with multiplayer was a nice touch. There are some great ideas in the story overall, like the drones vs humans, the confusion following the communications failure, and all the Osean/Erusean pilots coming together to destroy the Arsenal Bird. The game looks great, and the music is good. Not the best in AC history, but still really good.

-

My biggest complaint is the story's execution. It felt unnecessarily bloated and confusing, and while the anti war theme isn't new for the series, it just didn't come across very well. The story especially drags during the prison area of the story. It made no sense that you would allow a bunch of convicts to fly around in fighter jets fully armed with weaponry. They didn't even try to explain why the prisoners didn't make a break for it right then and there. It totally took me out of the story. Those missions were also filled with really annoying snarky back and forths between the convicts and the AWACS, and it got extremely old very quick. Far to many one liners about solitary confinement. That was by far the lowest part of the game for me.
I have some minor gameplay complaints too. It would have been nice to be able to control the other members of your squadron like in past games, and see when a unit was damaged like in 5 and Zero. I would have also liked to see Mage and Golem squadrons again during the story, but they completely disappear after you get arrested.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: shatterstar69 on January 31, 2019, 03:10:08 am
RESERVE
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on February 02, 2019, 08:45:42 am
I finished the Leon A / Claire B last night.

From a gameplay / design / graphics this game is phenomenal, and the A scenario is completely incredible.  However, after finishing the Claire B campaign, I have to 100% agree with kamikaze, it mirrors the A campaign too much.  The first half isn't that bad, but the second half just becomes a blitz to do almost exactly the same things you did in scenario A with only a few items moved around.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: shfan on February 02, 2019, 09:33:34 am
I had a feeling that the campaigns were basically the same game tinkered with inconsequentially, thanks for the confirmation - I'll save scenario B/Claire for a replay down the line.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on February 02, 2019, 10:06:41 am
Quote from: shfan on February 02, 2019, 09:33:34 am
I had a feeling that the campaigns were basically the same game tinkered with inconsequentially, thanks for the confirmation - I'll save scenario B/Claire for a replay down the line.
I can't speak to how different Claire A / Leon B is so it may be a more radical departure.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on February 02, 2019, 01:45:06 pm
Finished up a few more:

8. I Am Setsuna (Switch) 1/31 - Beat
9. Bastion (Vita) 2/1 - Beat

I feel like I Am Setsuna is pretty underrated, if you like oldschool JRPGs you really owe it to yourself to check it out.
On the other hand, Bastion is kinda overrated... I get that its kinda designed to multiple play throughs, but the first play through didnt really engage me enough to want to play it again. The soundtrack was amazing though.


I wanna get some opinions on something too, My first two games this year were both games that I started last year and just happened to finish them new years day this year.. So I'm not sure if I should include them in this years list since the majority of the game was from last year.. what does everyone think?
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on February 02, 2019, 03:41:44 pm
Quote from: shfan on February 02, 2019, 09:33:34 am
I had a feeling that the campaigns were basically the same game tinkered with inconsequentially, thanks for the confirmation - I'll save scenario B/Claire for a replay down the line.

Scenario B Claire does have original stuff in it.  She gets to enter some rooms Leon can't, she deals with Sherry and someone else instead of Ada, she gets her own weapons, and it gets you the true ending.  It also unlocks the 4th Survivor challenge mode.  It certainly isn't all original and it's 80% what you did in Leon's, but basically Leon A/Claire B is the full campaign, even if Claire B isn't all original stuff.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on February 03, 2019, 01:23:35 am
Somehow I've already beat 10-games this year. Luckily I've also been very productive in my personal life as well. I guess it helps to play arcade ports :p


10. Street Fighter III: Third Strike (Dreamcast): Out of all the games in the Street Fighter franchise, I've probably spent the least time with the third game and its various versions. Growing up I never saw this game anywhere, and it wasn't until I was older that I ever realized there even was a third game in the Street Fighter series. But after playing the Third Strike release pretty extensively, I can easily say Capcom definitely left there seal of quality on this title as well. The sprite graphics look great in this game, as do the backgrounds despite not being as memorable as Super Street Fighter 2 or even Alpha 3. Audio-wise this game has a great dance/jazz ost that definitely compliments the gameplay, which by the way is this game's strongest asset; the fighting mechanics are near perfect in this game and the gameplay is fast and smooth, although I'm not a fan of having to select one of three specials when selecting your character instead of having all of them available whenever you want to use them. With so much praise of this game, I have to wonder why I didn't like this game more. On a personal level this game felt fairly generic and unlike pretty much every other Street Fighter game I've played it just wasn't that memorable to be honest. Regardless it's a great game and certainly worth checking out for any 2D Fighting game fan. (2/2/19) [38/50]
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: vivigamer on February 05, 2019, 04:01:43 am
Just Beat:
5. Kingdom Hearts III (PS4)
It has been and now gone! But gosh what a ride KH3 was, It was exhilarating from Start to Finish! I loved so much about this title, the graphics while admittedly took a bit of getting used to we're spell-bindingly good! The level design was immensely diverse, instead of the majority of it being rooms with encounters the game offered so many different gameplay features and discoveries, it's certainly the best so far in world projection - As a classic Disney fan,I do admit I wish there was a couple classics represented more but still very content with the worlds we got!

The combat was Amazing though! I had so much fun just exploring all the different Keyblades and Forms – What is cool about this game is that you upgrade each keyblade so all can be used in later game challenges! I loved the way the Disney Rides were utilised as attacks – My favourite one being a Log Float ride which you control around to hit enemies as you release a trail of water, then when the time is up having the float back track in a fun wild ride before striking the final blow! Also having forms activate after doing so much offence was a blast and the transformations are just unreal!

If I had to note a down point it would be the lack of post game content, there were no secret dungeons or Colosseum battles, a collection of easy battles but that was it really - Which is a let down for a series which is known for a boastful amount of post game content.  Beyond that it was a case of grinding and mopping up tasks for the trophies which did drag on a bit due to the lack of content to justify reaching max levels.

But, The game absolutely delivered on a compelling story and one that does justice to a series nearly 20 years old, fans of the series which are undoubtedly playing this already are in for a treat and can sigh a relief it is not the mess that became Final Fantasy XV. This really has been onf of the best PS4 experiences I've had & I'm very grateful for it.

Playing:
Devil May Cry 3 HD (PS4)

Plan to play:
Final Fantasy V (PC)
Ni No Kuni (PS3)
Vampyr (PS4)
Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (PS4)

Beat:
5. Kingdom Hearts III (PS4), 4. Resident Evil 2 REMAKE (PS4), 3. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (PS4) 2. Resident Evil REMAKE (PS4) 1. Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded (PS4)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: shfan on February 06, 2019, 11:31:07 am
Quote from: Cartagia on February 02, 2019, 10:06:41 am
I can't speak to how different Claire A / Leon B is so it may be a more radical departure.

Somehow I doubt it, I think the scenario A/B and dual story thing was more of a ;) for fans who wanted as much connection to the original as possible rather than something that they couldn't have worked around in a single playthrough.

Quote from: kamikazekeeg on February 02, 2019, 03:41:44 pm
Scenario B Claire does have original stuff in it.  She gets to enter some rooms Leon can't, she deals with Sherry and someone else instead of Ada, she gets her own weapons, and it gets you the true ending.  It also unlocks the 4th Survivor challenge mode.  It certainly isn't all original and it's 80% what you did in Leon's, but basically Leon A/Claire B is the full campaign, even if Claire B isn't all original stuff.

That's cool, thanks for the info, even 20% bumps it further up my replay list than there being nothing there.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: vivigamer on February 06, 2019, 03:12:41 pm
Just Beat:
Devil May Cry 3 HD (PS4)

I decided to play Devil May Cry in prep for DMC5 in March. I reallyed struggled with the game at first to the point where I was just going to put it off for good. But I found as soon as I was able to upgrade the Swordmaster to Level 2 The game became far more managable! I was struggling with managing to get resources every Mission but I neevr struggled like I did within the first 3 Missions.

The game it self was enjoyable but I must admit it felt much more cheesier than I remember and the overall narrative wasn't the compelling - I think part of it is due to Dante's Younger 'COOL' attitude. I also wasn't t hat keen on one of the later missions which required precision in a platforming section - The standard jump as just so stiff and wasn't so fun.

I might take a break from playing the others to be honest, I felt mixed about the experience overall.

Plan to play:
Final Fantasy V (PC)
Ni No Kuni (PS3)
Vampyr (PS4)
Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (PS4)

Beat:
6. Devil May Cry 3 HD (PS4), 5. Kingdom Hearts III (PS4), 4. Resident Evil 2 REMAKE (PS4), 3. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (PS4) 2. Resident Evil REMAKE (PS4) 1. Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded (PS4)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on February 07, 2019, 02:58:07 am
6 - Kingdom Hearts 3 (PS4 2019) - BEAT - Was gonna write a good bit more here, but I think I'm just gonna keep it short.  As a casual fan of the series, having only beat the first main two games, I enjoyed my time with this game.  It's absolutely the best game in the series, though unfortunately for anyone else, it's not a game to just jump into.  It's purely a game for the diehard fans in every way possible.  The Disney worlds are genuinely good this time, even the worst one in the game.  The visuals are great and the gameplay is smooth.  The difficulty is definitely too easy on normal, especially with all the gameplay features they added, and the story/dialogue has never gotten all that much better, but overall I thought this was a totally fine game.  A nice way to put a bow on the story they were telling over these past nearly 20 years, while also setting up for new adventures in the future.  Not sure if I'll keep up with them after this, but it would be nice for them to try and make a new jumping in point for the series.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on February 07, 2019, 08:52:44 pm
Finished up New Super Mario Bros U. Deluxe. I played it originally on the wii u but kinda forgot it. It was an enjoyable play through. not sure if its worth full price to people who have it on Wii U, but if you never got a chance to play it I'd say pick it up for the switch. 
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on February 11, 2019, 12:21:57 am
Part 2 of my reviews:


12. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (SNES): I was on a bit of a beat em' up kick today and after seeing an overpriced copy of Turtles in Time at a local game store, I became inspired to go home and play this game. Being born in the late 80s, by the time I was of the right age to really get into TMNT the franchise was starting to lose steam and I wasn't able to get into the series as much as I could have if I had been born a couple ears earlier. Regardless, I remember thinking TMNT was really cool, with my favorite contribution from the franchise being the 2nd live action movie, Secret of the Ooze. Unfortunately I never got to play any of the video games until many years later, which sadly included Turtles in Time, the seminal TMNT video game. TMNT is definitely one of those games that deserves its reputation as being one of the great beat em' ups and definitely one of the coolest games on the SNES. The game perfectly captures the feel, sound, and look of the cartoon, and I can only imagine how freakin blown away by this game I would have been if I had gotten more into TMNT as a kid and played this at the right time, either in the arcade or the SNES. Either way, the graphics are colorful and vibrant, and while the enemies are fairly repetitive, with only minor changes to appearance or color between them, this does little to distract from the visual charm of this game. Speaking of visual charm, the bosses in Turtles in Time are all awesome with every single one ripped from the TV series; I honestly cannot think of better villains from the show they could have used for this game. Likewise, the music in this game is phenomenal! Probably the weakest part of this game is the gameplay which is partially the result of the genre and it's very repetitive nature, but also because the controls in this game just don't seem to be as consistent as they should be, which can result in some fairly frustrating situations throughout the game. Still, the game is a blast from start to finish and I mostly enjoyed every minute of it. This game is not just a must play for fans of beat em' ups or TNMT, but anyone who owns an SNES. (2/10/19) [39/50]

13. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Hyperstone Heist (Genesis): After playing Turtles in Time I was curious to see how its Genesis counterpart, Hyperstone Heist, stacked up against it since I've heard varying accounts about which game is better. After playing both a day apart, and also looking at footage of the actual arcade version, there is no question that Turtles in Time is the superior game, at least when comparing the two console ports. Turtles in Time barely feels like it was compromised when it was ported to the SNES; sure the game doesn't look at nice and is missing various sound and graphic flourishes present in the arcade version, but 95% of that experience is retained and it shines through the entire game. However, Hyperstone Heist feels heavily compromised compared to the arcade and even the SNES version. While not a bad game by any means, the game feels like it was shoehorned onto a console like so many other arcade games of the time that got console ports. The sound, graphics, and even the gameplay feel inferior to Turtles in Time on the SNES, but perhaps the worst part about it is how the game itself was changed. Hyperstone does offer some cool, unique features such as a few new bosses, Tatsu being the coolest, and some variations to the stages to make them feel unique, including one stage that is mostly all unique, but overall there are so many things that are tweaked that it changes the essence of what my made the SNES and arcade version so amazing. There is also a very annoying filler stage that is essentially a giant boss rush mode that I found incredible annoying since you literally just fight all the bosses you've already fought instead of playing against cool, new bosses like in the SNES version. Bottom line, just play Turtles in Time on the SNES, or if you have access to the arcade version play that. This game is little more than Konami throwing Sega owners a bone back in the day, even if that bone was half as good as the others. (2/11/19) [32/50]

14. Panzer Dragoon (Saturn): I'm a pretty big fan of rail shooters and the Panzer Dragoon series has always been an enigma of the genre for me, at least until recently. I had played the original Panzer Dragoon numerous times, but mostly just to try it out. However, recently with my longing for Panzer Dragoon Saga, I decided to scratch the itch slightly by playing other titles in the now dormant franchise, and what better place to start than the first one. Panzer Dragoon is definitely a fun rail shooter, but being a relatively early example, it doesn't have much of the refinement that titles like Star Fox 64 or even Panzer Dragoon Orta have. The 360-degree rotating perspective is a really cool idea, however its actual execution is alright at best. This also effects the games balancing and aiming as well, which is mostly good, but leaves a lot to be desired. The game's soundtrack is pretty good as well, although I never found it to be particularly memorable at any given point. This game's biggest asset is its graphics and art direction; the game takes place in a distant post-apocalyptic setting filled with vast ruins, desolate landscapes, and ancient technology that is both familiar and alien looking at the same time. The world of Panzer Dragoon really draws you in and is fascinating to say the least. Despite this, some of the levels, of which there are only 6, can be a bit plain at times and the very pixelated graphics have not particularly aged well despite being fairly impressive back when this game came out in 1995. Overall though, Panzer Dragoon is a pretty fun game and certainly a game worth checking out not just on the Saturn, but as one of the cooler rail shooters out there.(2/20/19) [34/50]

15. Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn): My full review of this game in on page 5 of this thread. (3/2/19) [36/50]

16. Tetris (Gameboy): There is no denying that Tetris is truly a classic and a pioneer in the puzzle game genre. It's simplicity it perhaps its biggest strength, but also its biggest weakness as the game is fun, for a time, before it gets repetitive given the lack of depth and variety in the gameplay. Speaking of repetitive, the music is limited to a handful of tracks that you can only play one at a time, and no matter what track you listen to its the same under one-minute loop of that song over and over again until the game ends. Despite these criticisms I did find this game hard to put down for about a day, but eventually I did get burnt out on it and felt okay with shelving it for another decade before I got the urge to play it again. Tetris is a great puzzle game to this day, however there are far better, more interesting puzzle games these days that I'd rather play. (3/7/19) [35/50]

17. Thunder Force IV (Saturn): I reviewed this game either last year or the year before, but I never felt satisfied with my initial assessment of this game. I recently purchased Thunder Force Gold Pack 2 which includes both this game and Thunder Force AC which is an arcade port of Thunder Force 3, and I was immediately impressed with the visual upgrades to the game on the Saturn. Before I get into my re-review of Thunder Force IV I have a couple of confessions. One, I didn't beat the game, in fact I'm only able to get through about half of it; this is a hard ass game, and while it is fun (spoiler!) it's a game I'm okay saying that I'll probably never see the end of given how difficult it is. My other confession has less to do with the game and more to do with something I did while playing it; I destroyed one of my Sega Saturn controllers. I don't controller rage often and to date I've only destroyed one other controller (a Dreamcast controller while playing Marvel vs. Capcom when I was about 13), but there was one level that seriously pissed me off hardcore and I casually chucked one of my Saturn controllers at the floor, but instead hit the base of my TV stand. This literally broke the D-pad clean off the controller. I guess it's nice that Saturn controllers aren't too expensive. But with that out of the way, let's talk about the game again shall we. My enjoyment of Thunder Force IV improved quite a bit since I last spent a decent amount of time with the game, mostly due to me giving the gameplay more credit than I had originally; as mentioned the game is ridiculously hard and will truly test your reflexes and memorization. Other than that the game uses a power up system where you collect power ups that give you additional shot types, shields, and 1-ups. This is all fine and dandy except when you get shot down you lose most if not all your power ups and are left with your basic front and rear shots, which if forced to use these are certain parts of the game, particularly during the boss fights, you are essentially marooned and will be lucky to survive to see the end of the stage. This gameplay mechanic does diminish my enjoyment of the game about the same as it did before, however I do feel like the balancing in the game is better than I originally gave it credit for. Likewise, I praised the visuals and sound when I first reviewed Thunder Force IV, but I feel like I didn't give these aspects the recognition they deserved. Both the soundtrack, fx, graphics, and art design are excellent and among the best out there for shooters, especially during the era this game came out. Everything considered, I definitely place Thunder Force IV in my top 20 shooters of all time, albeit it is a lot closer to #20 than #1; the gameplay is flawed, but has enough redeeming qualities along with an outstanding presentation to bump it up the list. (3/17/19) [37/50]

18. Motorstorm (PS3): The first game I ever played for the PS3 when it first came out was Motorstorm which I played on a PS3 kiosk at a local Best Buy back when the console and game were brand new. I remember thinking how awesome and impressive the vehicle damage and explosions were and ever since then I lusted over this game. In fact, when I finally would get a PS3 a couple years later the two games I got with it were Skate 2 and Motorstorm Pacific Rift. But years later after the original Motorstorm came out it is still a great time to be had and one of the most fun racing games I've ever played. It's still great to see your driver and vehicle get filthy from dust, mud and dirt and also take damage from the other racers, stage hazards, and nature itself. It's just too bad there are so few stages in this game and all take place in a very deserty area that does get old after a while. The gameplay is mostly good, with racing controls being responsive and dynamic depending on which vehicle you're using and what sort of terrain you find yourself on. Also the boost mechanic creates a fun depth to the racing, and can make or break your ranking in a race depending on when and how much you use it. My only real complaint with the game has to do with the game's physics engine going crazy at times where approaching a jump to fast or barely touching a small rock can make your vehicle explode on impact as if C4 was just detonated inside your car. However, this complain is minor, and overall the ridiculousness of your care exploding so easily makes this game more entertaining than frustrating most of the time. The music is a combination of original rock and EDM music, as well as various licensed music which varies in quality. The sound Fx of the vehicles sound cool and believable as well. This is definitely a great game and I can't wait to spend more time with its sequel as well as the third game, Apocalypse which I've actually never played. (3/29/19) [36/50]

19. Motorstorm: Pacific Rift (PS3): Compared to the first Motorstorm, this one improves upon it in nearly every way; more vehicles, more tracks, and more race modes. The end effect is a game that is definitely more enjoyable overall. It's also set in a very Hawaiian-esque location complete volcanos, tropical beaches, and sugarcane fields. While it isn't significantly more interesting than its predecessors tracks, there are more of them and the inclusion of manmade obstacles and structures also adds a nice touch to the game. The only area of the game I felt wasn't as good as the first Motorstorm was the music, which to be honest it wasn't incredible in the first one, but the inclusion of licensed music made it a bit more enjoyable. The OST in Pacific Rift is mostly original music that doesn't inspire or get you pumped, but it does fit in the game. The sound Fx on the vehicles are pretty cool though with each vehicle, even of the same class sounding at least a little different. Definitely better than the first Motorstorm game. I look forward to seeing how Apocalypse compares to this game. (4/5/19) [38/50]

20. Uchan Nanchan Honoo no Challenge: Denryuu Iraira Boi (N64): This is essentially the N64 port of Irritating Stick which was released in the US on the PS1. Like the PS1 game you guide a small circle through a maze and are unable to touch the walls or else you get a manic announcer scold you and then you have to start the stage over. While it sounds simple it's actually pretty challenging and enjoyable, for a little bit at least. This is probably one of the laziest, cheapest looking games I've ever played, with the backgrounds essentially being dark rooms with random objects like stage scaffolding to occupy it. The music is also not very memorable, however that's not the worst thing about the sounds that come from this game. The game offers commentary from a manic Japanese announcer who says, rather screams, things in Japanese as you progress though each stage. At first this is entertaining, however after playing a few minutes you'll essentially hear everything this guy has to say and this repeats during the entire time you play.  To say it gets old is an understatment. And then finally is the lack of variety in stages, with only 5 being available in single player. In other words the appeal of this game is short lived and has major drawbacks. (4/9/19) [25/50]

21. Tekken Tag Tournament (PS2): Last year I replayed most of the best games I'd ever played for the purpose of assessing where they currently stand within my top games of all time. Tekken Tag Tournament was one that unfortunately slipped through the cracks and I was unable to fit it in amongst the many other games I played. While Tekken Tag Tournament would not have made my top top, it would have come very, very close as it is still one of the best fighting games I've ever played to this day. I got this game along with my PS2, and NHL 2001, for Christmas along with my PS2 back in 2000 when those games and the PS2 first came out. I was so excited to get this game and the PS2, I ended up hooking up my PS2 at my Aunt's house where I opened them and ended up playing it there in between mouthfuls of Christmas Eve dinner. It's one of my most cherished memories, largely in part because of how impressed I was with Tekken Tag Tournament. To this day the game holds up very well in every regard. While it in no way holds up to modern games in terms of graphics, it was very visually impressive for the time and is still pleasing to the eyes for a game that is now considered retro. The gameplay especially holds up, as the fighting is both deep and highly accessible at the same time, making this game easy for anyone to play however they want. It would be a crime not to mention all the modes, unlockables, and just crazy amount of content in this game too, which is representative of a bygone time when video games were chalk full of content that came with the game you purchased day 1. Particularly Tekken Bowl, which is a full fledged bowling game built into Tekken Tag Tournament, which you unlock by playing arcade mode, is almost worth the cost of the game alone as it is still the best bowling video game I've ever played.And finally there is the soundtrack which is very memorable and catchy. Combine all this with a huge roster of Tekken characters with lots of costumes and you have a hell of a fighting game. And for me personally, the nostalgia I have for this game only makes it even more special. (4/22/19) [42/50]

22. Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker (Switch): I played this game cooperatively with my girlfriend over the course of several months, not necessarily because it's a long game, but because I just had a very hard time staying engaged and interested in it. As a platformer (sort of) this game is pretty basic, simple, and easy. There isn't much challenge throughout the game, even when doing the stage challenges which are different for each stage, but typically belong to one of about 10 types of overall challenges you can do. As a result, the game is kind of boring and underwhelming. Visually the game is colorful, vibrant and creative, but the levels are all essentially giant, floating cubes in the sky that you have to navigate through, with each level being completely separate from the last. In the end it is mostly a good looking game while also being very plain at the same time. The soundtrack is nothing to write home about, but does feel very Nintendoee so I'll give it that. Sadly, upon finishing this game I was somewhat relieved that I was done despite having fun at times. Unfortunately this will go down as one of the most underrated first party Nintendo titles I've ever played, although Yoshi's Crafted World, which I'm also playing right now, if certainly giving Captain Toad a run for its money. (4/22/19) [29/50]
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on February 11, 2019, 07:22:10 am
Quote from: justin8301 on February 07, 2019, 08:52:44 pm
Finished up New Super Mario Bros U. Deluxe. I played it originally on the wii u but kinda forgot it. It was an enjoyable play through. not sure if its worth full price to people who have it on Wii U, but if you never got a chance to play it I'd say pick it up for the switch.

Yeah, I thought I had played this one, but I was watching a playthrough and couldn't remember a single level I was watching be played.  So either I beat it and it's super forgettable or I didn’t actually play it.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on February 11, 2019, 03:24:46 pm
Quote from: Cartagia on February 11, 2019, 07:22:10 am
Quote from: justin8301 on February 07, 2019, 08:52:44 pm
Finished up New Super Mario Bros U. Deluxe. I played it originally on the wii u but kinda forgot it. It was an enjoyable play through. not sure if its worth full price to people who have it on Wii U, but if you never got a chance to play it I'd say pick it up for the switch.

Yeah, I thought I had played this one, but I was watching a playthrough and couldn't remember a single level I was watching be played.  So either I beat it or it's super forgettable.

Its a good game while you are playing it, but theres nothing that sets it aside from any of the other New Super mario bros games. I did enjoy it, but I'm sure I wont remember anything about it in a few months.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on February 14, 2019, 11:30:31 pm
2. Kirby's Adventure(NES-Nintendo Switch Online)

It's Kirby, not much to it, just good simple fun. Although Nightmare is such a slog to beat, not necessarily hard but, very slow going.

Time: 5 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: ignition365 on February 20, 2019, 10:06:12 am
Main List (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg162655.html#msg162655)

Previous List (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg162784.html#msg162784)

Quote from: Legend
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.

42. Cosmic Star Heroine (NS)
I finally gave up on Flinthook.  Haven't decided if I'll sell my Switch copy, but the game is frustrating.  I really hate rogue games.  This game is pretty good so far.  I can already tell this game is going to have that trope where the organization that the protag works for is the real evil.  Game is really good, combat is interesting and fairly unique, no random battles, optional side quests, and not so long that you feel like it's a slog to finish.  Overall, I really enjoyed the game and almost don't regret double dipping.  I even reassessed my list for the year and decided that in retrospect I don't like Moonlighter that much and replaced it with this on my list.
Rating: Recommended.

43. Kamiko (NS)
After finishing CSH, I decided to jump into this because I won it in a Discord giveaway.  Game reminds me a TON of Fairune, like graphically and tons of the characters look straight ripped out of it... and having just googled it, the game was either made by the same people or at least published by the same people.  I think this game would've been a great addition to the Fairune Collection as opposed to Fairune Blast... but oh well.  Game is about an hour long and has 3 stages I believe, maybe 4 or 5, I don't really remember.  Combat is full hack and slash as opposed to Fairune's sort of non-combat combat.
Rating: Soft Pass.  It's not bad, but I won't call it memorable.

44. Burnout Paradise (360)
I've been in the mood for mindless games and for me it doesn't get much more mindless than racing or shooting games.  I waffled between playing CoD/Battlefield and some random racing game and I wound up installing a bunch of racing games.  This one installed first I think, so I went with it.  Game feels pretty dated in many aspects, but it's entirely playable and super enjoyable.  Not a big fan of having to drive all the way back to a junkyard to switch cars and no form of fast travel makes it sort of a slog.  Game is enjoyable as most Burnout games are.
Rating: Soft Pass, maybe go for the Remastered edition.

45. My Girlfriend is a Mermaid (NS)
Decided to jump into this game because I didn't know what else to play.  I've never really played a VN before, I've played a little bit of Clannad and a little bit of 428, but not very much of either.  I'm not really feeling this game, I don't really relate to being attracted to mermaids, and the writing in this game feels like the type of cringe/edge bullshit you'll read on 4chan.  I swear it's just button clicks until I get a fucking "M'lady" out of the main character or he decides to put on a fedora.  "I'm glad I do after school clubs otherwise I wouldn't have the power to carry this girl".  Yikes.  Honestly... I think my review here is going to be me straight ripping on this game until I finish it or give up.  I'm still playing this because I'm trying to figure out how to get a not terrible ending.  Might have to do some googling.
Rating: Hard Pass

46. Final Fantasy IX (PS4)
I actually started playing this game with my wife watching about 2 years ago shortly after it came out on PS4, but I wound up abandoning it pretty quickly.  Might've been boredom, might've been my wife deciding not to watch anymore.  Anyway, we hopped back into this and now I'm early on in Disc 2.  I'm using a lot of the game boosts, I think, the ones that don't disable achievements.  I'm basically skipping over battles because I just can't stand random battles on console games.  My wife says I'm cheating and missing out on a good portion of the game, but I kind of don't care and just don't want to spend 40 hours on a game when I can spend like 10 and not wind up burning out fast on it.  I'm more or less in this game strictly for the story.  Finally finished the game.  Not terrible, but probably mostly because I relied on the games built in boosts.  My wife wants me to play FFX next... maybe I'll do that, but the boosts are probably the only reason that this wasn't terrible.
Rating: Soft Recommendation.

47. Minefield (PS4)
Minesweeper game that I bought a long time ago.  Got 100% of the trophies in about an hour.  Not even a very good minesweeper game.  Doesn't have the ability to manually trigger an auto fill if you know there are no bombs not flagged directly surrounding a selected block.  A huge time saver in minesweeper.
Rating: Hard pass.

48. Last Day of June (PS4)
Pretty good game, a little slow at parts with the repetition, but overall a pretty good game.  Puzzles aren't so hard that it's frustrating, but hard enough that it gives you a sense of accomplishment.  Story is pretty good, even with no dialogue.  Characters convey dialogue and emotion through Sim-esque noises and gestures.  Minus points for creepy no eye having faces.  Overall agreement that the game should be patched to add in googly eyes.
Rating: Recommended.

49. Slime-san (NS)
Current Progress: DLC
Decided to start up this game after I sort of abandoned Mermaid Girlfriend.  Played through a couple of levels and started to feel like I was going to abandon the game like most platformers for me.  I have a tough time finishing plain old platformers.  Game is essentially Super Meat Boy and while I enjoyed what a played of it, I abandoned it pretty quickly back in the day.  I get bored too quickly with the repetition.  But something happened and I managed to get through the majority of the game.  I think Switch makes it easier for me to deal with stuff like this because I can just play 5-15 minutes at a time and not feel like I have to keep playing.  Doing the Add-on content right now.  Haven't started it yet, might wind up only playing a little if it's too difficult.
Rating: Soft recommendation.  Gameplay is good, everything else is sorta meh.

50. Rage 2 (X1)
It took me a bit to get into the game as I was adjusting to the weird controls (Stick sensitivity I think, had to do adjusting) and then I was only playing for like 10-15 minutes a day, so I wasn't really getting much into the game before quitting for the day.  Now that I've gotten to put time into the game, I'm really enjoying it.  Minor complaints are the relative lack of fast travel and the giant holes in the world that prevent cutting across the map.  Did more adjusting, I think it was more my controller than anything else since I have the elite controller, I was using a poor setup for FPS games.  It sort of plays like an amalgamation of Mad Max, Far Cry, Bioshock, and Doom.  Decent vehicular combat, open world exploration with outpost based side events, collectible equipment/resources and magic skills, and fast paced sort of twitchy combat.
Rating: Highly recommended.

51. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (X1)
I popped in Forza Horizon 4 after finishing up Rage 2 and decided that I wanted to play Skyrim for some reason instead... so I did.  I've beaten this game before so I'm starting it off saying I've beaten it because I have.  I decided that I wanted to go against my normal play style of a rogue build and go all in on a mage build.  I've been enjoying it so far, and it's a different enough experience for me, but I'm noticing a lot of things that make this game difficult to essentially role play.  Early on, I had 1 or 2 fights that were just impossible to do as a mage because the enemy was resistant to all magic attacks and I had no followers available.  And then the game makes it super easy to essentially be great at everything, which I don't want, and then to get all of the achievements you either have to play 20 times or make your character all styles.  I hit the point in the main path where they essentially force you to become a rogue character, which is explicitly what I didn't want to do... so I've stopped playing.
Rating: Recommended, but as a role playing game, it doesn't really let you play your own role.

52. Aeero (PS4)
Decided to play this to distract my kid because he loves music.  Didn't really distract him very much, but I enjoyed my time with the game that I wound up playing even when he was napping.  Beat it pretty quick.  LRG release doesn't include DLC.  Game doesn't really deserve to have a physical release as it really isn't that noteworthy of a game.  I'd rather see Amplitude get a physical release.
Rating: Soft pass.

53. A Normal Lost Phone (NS)
Nintendo was having a sale on the Lost Phone Stories collection, Transcripted is free if you own any one of many games that included this, and I have gold coins that are expiring soon... so I bought this.  Game is relatively short at about an hour or so.  Story is a little preachy towards its story, which doesn't offend me, but I can see how folks would play this and look at it as pretentious hipster garbage because of the story.  Gameplay wise, I enjoy being a filthy snoop so it appeals to me.
Rating: Honestly, price for value, I'd say Hard Pass, but on sale for cheap enough, I'd recommend this game as it's enjoyable and doesn't overstay its welcome.

54. Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt (X1)
I tried to play this game years ago, I think on PS4, but I couldn't get into it and abandoned it pretty quickly.  I'm kind of out to find an RPG game that lets you play a role, and it seems that Witcher isn't that game either.  You play the role they chose for you with minor variations.  I'm gonna try and stick with it since it is widely considered a great game.  I think I've made it a little further than I did last time I played, I think I didn't even make it to that first tavern the first time I played.  I am going to track this game by my current level, because nothing else makes sense to track.  I still don't quite understand the combat in this game.  Blocking leads to me being staggered and stunned, parrying works fantastically when I do it.  Blocking makes no sense in this game when every hit makes you stagger.  Maybe every enemy does block breaking attacks, but I don't know how to do block breaking attacks, my strong attacks don't break enemy blocks.  Fundamentally there is something I'm not understanding.  I lowered the difficulty because I just don't get the combat.  The game is much more enjoyable now.  There is so much about this game that I just don't understand, but I am continuing to play the game, so that's something.  It's good enough so far that I'd say it's a top 5 game, I just don't know where it ranks.  Though it probably ranks around the same as FFXV for me.  We'll see.  My opinion stays the same, it's just above FFXV though.  I did manage to put over 100 hours into it, so that's a good sign.
Rating: Recommended

55. Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story (NS)
Part 2 of the collection that is Lost Phone Stories.  Story in this one is much better, and gameplay is more refined overall.  Just a better experience overall in this one.  Gameplay time is about the same as the first, so in totality I'd say this collection is between 2-3 hours of content with no replayability, but it's short enough that you could reasonably hand your Switch over to a friend and have them beat it in a single sitting.  There is something to gain from that in terms of value.
Rating: See #53 A Normal Lost Phone.

56. The Grand Tour Game (X1)
I finished Season 3 of Grand Tour and started watching it over again from Season 1.  Decided I finally wanted to play the game.  Went and bought it on Amazon.  Game consists of chunks of the show's content (not all of it mind you) spliced with short little races/mini games.  If they managed to do all 3 seasons rather than 1 episode for S1 and 2 and then every episode of S3 PLUS made the entire episodes available within the game, I'd argue that even if it's a shitty game, it's definitely worth the money... but it's not the case.  You get episode 1 of Season 1 and 2 plus all 13 episodes of Season 3 as playable episodes, it's not 15 chapters/episodes though as some episodes are combined into one like their actual survival touring episodes.  Also, each episode gives you a button to watch the full episode, but what the game does is launch the Amazon Video app, where I presume if you don't have Prime, you are unable to watch the episode... so it's a garbage gimmick feature that just straight up shouldn't exist.  The game has nearly 200 achievements with them being worth on average 5-10 points per achievement.  Gameplay is very arcade, reminiscent of the old Cruisin games, which is kinda cool.  I've heard complaints that folks expected a realistic driving game by professional car journalists... and I'm just like lul what?  I already know my rating, but I'll wait until I'm done.
Rating: Soft Pass.  It's actually a really decent arcade racer akin to Cruisin, it's very enjoyable, both in single player and multiplayer, but not much in the way of substance.

57. Octopath Traveler (NS)
Current Progress: Therion Chapter 4
Decided I was done with Slime-san after completing the main game and majority of the Krakken section.  Did my usual ask my wife for a pick between a slew of games and as usual she was useless.  She decided Octopath because it was the one game I had picked that I hadn't actually handed her the case to.  I didn't hand the case because it was still in the Wayfarer box.  I'm being a pill and playing the game in OCTOPATH order, so I started with Olberic.  I always have 2 problems with RPGs in general.  The huge amount of dialogue and the music.  I'm not one for filler, so long winded dialogue with otherwise useless information bores the hell out of me.  Music and sound in RPGs are a huge thing, but I prefer RPGs on handheld where I can't really have sound, so I either miss out on sound or I need earbuds.  I didn't keep updated on this game, but I've been playing it for nearly 3 months (along with Witcher 3 for most of it), I'm sitting at 81 hours and finishing up the final chapter of the final character for me, so I might finish today.
Rating: Recommended.

58. God of War (PS3)
I don't even know why I decided to finally start playing these games, but I'm gonna get through them this year, probably this month as they are all relatively short games.  Played this one on normal difficulty and by the end of the game I was pretty drained and frustrated especially with the final fights being so radically different than the rest of the game.  I never got offered easy mode though, don't know how many times you need to die to get that, but I recall being pretty frustrated with how things were progressing on normal.  I decided to do easy on GoW2 to see how I'm feeling after that, so more on that in the GoW2 section.  Story is fairly good, I feel like this game would've been great for me in my youth as I was so angry and probably would've related with Kratos on a spiritual level, but now I feel like I'll probably relate with the 2018 Kratos, so I'm looking forward to that.  I still hate the instant death mechanics of the Gorgons.  Fixed camera is such a lazy shitty feature that causes so many issues with platforming.
Rating: Soft recommendation.

59. God of War II (PS3)
Started this one on easy, and by the end I wasn't so frustrated, so I'll probably continue on easy so I don't get burnt out by the time I get to GoW 2018.  Story was mildly interesting, didn't seem to go into any of Kratos past, so I probably could've played through the prequel games before starting this one, so I'll probably do the prequel games after this one but before GoW3 even though one of them released after GoW3.  Story was slightly more interesting, graphics were WAY better than the first game for having been the same platform and only 2 years later.  Instant death mechanics are still annoying and frustrating.  So much of the game is so obvious that the 3rd game is going to be about the Titans betraying Kratos.  GoW1 had some stuff that implied that GoW2 would be about Kratos brother, but I guess that's one of the prequel games (Ghost of Sparta I think).
Rating: Soft recommendation.

60. God of War: Chains of Olympus (PS3)
Wow does this game look WAY better than the previous two games.  I don't know if it's because the PSP was better than the PS2 somehow or if they full on gave the game the HD treatment for its PS3 release, but it looks great.  I'm beating these games so quickly that I'm not really getting to write any notes on them.  GoW had you mashing R2 to open things, GoW2 had you mashing R1, and these Origins games have you mashing O.  Real inconsistent.
Rating: Soft Recommendation.

61. God of War: Ghost of Sparta (PS3)
I'm having trouble keeping things in the right order, I think the GoW franchise is definitely a franchise that could use an alternative play order.  GoW -> Ascension -> CoO -> GoS -> GoW2 -> GoW3 -> GoW2018.  I haven't played Ascension yet, but I definitely feel like this is the proper play order... though I've heard many terrible things about Ascension... though it sounds like it's the same people who say don't play Resident Evil 6, which despite how you feel (I've still not played it yet) it's a mainline game.  I'm surprised I'm not sick of these games yet.  I'm not a huge fan of hack and slash, but I'm okay with brawler games which really aren't that different.  But I kinda like Greek mythology, so it stays interesting consistently.
Rating: Soft Recommendation.

62. God of War: Ascension (PS3)
Damn man, this game took 45 minutes to install.  It's my first instance of a PS3 game that required updates and such... took forever.  My copy had codes for the online pass and the DLC characters for Playstation All Star Battle Royale, codes still worked.  That's pretty dope.  I've always had an interest in the Furies, so even if this game is meh or sucks, I expect that alone to keep me going... shit I half expect to really like this game... just depends how much they rely on co-op and online stuff.  I expected to really like this one because of the Furies, and while I did enjoy the story and the Furies... I have a lot of complaints that make this definitely my least favorite GoW game, doubt it will be beat.  The QTE sequences seem shorter, but they aren't exactly colorblind friendly, half the time I don't even see the QTE prompts show up on the screen, so I have to basically just hope I see it.  The puzzles felt less intuitive and more frustrating than normal.
Rating: Soft Recommendation, maybe soft pass.

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Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on February 21, 2019, 12:03:19 am
7 - Metro Exodus (PC 2019) - BEAT - - I've been a fan of this series and the sorta precursor series "STALKER" for quite a long time.  Games built around atmosphere, tension, and rather bleak circumstances in a Russian environment.  STALKER had good survival elements, while Metro took what that did and crafted better visuals, story, and gameplay around it all, even though it changed to a more linear experience.  Metro Exodus feels very much like more of a return to what STALKER was doing, offering big open world areas to explore though still in a linear sense, being that you can't go back to any previous area.

I feel like it mostly works, but there's a lot of sloppiness going on.  The game crashed on me twice, dialogue is constantly overlapping each other along with audio bugs, and there's been all sorts of little glitches and other annoyances going on.  It's generally stable, but the dialogue stuff is particularly egregious as it looks purposeful and I don't know why.  As for the good, I love the change to being able to craft on the fly.  It's done in a way that feels involved, I love being able to change parts on my weapons when I want, and it works well with the survival setting.  Feels better than kind of the more generic crafting experience that something like Far Cry offers.  They definitely did a reasonable job making Metro more of a sandbox experience without just feeling like a Far Cry knockoff, something I bring up again as the bigger settings bring it more into that series territory, even if they do have noticeable differences between them.

That said, I feel like I mostly preferred Last Light more.  New good additions and a change of scenery aside, I think the slightly smaller scale works better in their favor, because it allows them to craft a more engaging experience.  It's a good game, especially if you are already a fan, but I think some of the games voice acting and kinda sloppy story stuff could rub people wrong, or if they were expecting a more action heavy experience.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: baileykun on February 25, 2019, 12:45:46 pm
I'm trying to crush some of my backlog. It's getting pretty bad. So I've decided to take on this challenge as well. It's quite interesting for me cause I tend to always have a few multiplayer endeavors at any time.

Games beaten in 2019 thus far:

Nightshade (PC)
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes (Switch)

Playing:
TWEWY Final Mix
KH3
Yakuza Kiwami
NMH 2
Catherine Classic
Little Busters
Some other VNs
Some other games
I'm pretty all over the place. That's why I'm doing this.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on February 27, 2019, 12:30:12 am
slow month but

11. Castlevania Circle of the Moon (GBA) 2/26 - Beat

Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on March 02, 2019, 07:43:17 am
Dishonored 2 is solid.  The narrative is pretty underwhelming compared to the first game.  I think it might actually be a little bit easier than the first as well.  It makes up for this in level design.  The Clockwork Mansion and A Crack in the Slab are two of the most interesting levels I’ve played in a long time.  The penultimate chapter is pretty good as well, but lacks a true plethora of options like the first game offered.  The last one was pretty disappointing, as it was pretty simple and straightforward.

Overall pretty good, but I can see why it underperformed.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on March 02, 2019, 07:44:20 pm
Game 3 - Undertale (PS4) - 17 hours

~~SPOILERS!!~~ Definitely play the game before reading.

First, let me say how I played the game first. I went into it with almost no knowledge of the game. I played through it once and got the neutral ending with a LV of 7, then reset the game and played it through a second time getting the perfect ending. I didn't look up anything about the game until I beat the game a second time, where I looked up some of the other endings and the general mechanics of the game.

This game is really hard to review because it has such a reputation surrounding it. In a way, I'm glad I played it four years after it came out since the hype has died down just a little. Anyway, I can definitely see why this game is so popular, and I do think it's very, very good. But I do think there are some things that could have been better.

+ I know there's a lot of opinions on what the "message" of this game is, but for me, the game is a really interesting deconstruction of what an RPG or even a game is. Obviously the goal is to not fight anyone, which seems totally counter-intuitive on it's own, but even boss fights, equipment and stats, and the scenarios the game throws at your are all presented as either a joke or in a "turned on its head" kind of way. Speaking of jokes, the game is very funny and charming with some great characters and hilarious dialogue. I also really loved the battle system of dodging projectiles and the game throws some cool curveballs at you too. The music is some of the best I've ever heard in gaming, probably one of my favorite soundtracks of all time. The game has a ton of replay value too, and I had a ton of fun playing the game a second time and picking up on stuff I missed on, and exploring stuff like the hidden lab.


- I think while the overall themes the game presents are good, the story presentation could be better. It's basic premise is kind of cliche and boring and there really isn't a lot of pizzazz to it. The game gives almost all of the exposition in a text dump in the final hallway of the game, which feels sloppy. I also don't know if the puzzles were meant to be kind of shitty or not, but most of them are really boring and straightforward. There are some good ones though.

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Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on March 02, 2019, 11:10:06 pm
3. Shadow of the Colossus HD NG+(PS4)

I just played through again on NG+ trying to pick up some extra trophies I missed the first time. It was alot more fun this time because I used the items you unlock through Time Attack and I was more able to orient myself this time.

I really want to try The Last Guardian and Ico now.

Time: 11h43min
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on March 03, 2019, 02:40:35 am
This is probably going to be my longest review as part of the 52 Games Challenge I've written yet so I am going to post it separately from my usual list of games which is currently on page 4 of this thread. I just beat Panzer Dragoon Saga tonight and I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about it, some positive, some negative. But here is my review of the game.


15. Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn): One of my biggest, if not my biggest reason for returning to US Saturn collecting was to someday own Panzer Dragoon Saga in order to play this game which is often considered not just one of the best Sega Saturn games of all time, but one of the best video games of all time. Such a bold proclamation combined with me reading many personal testimonies that corroborated these claims, combined also with seeing some pretty impressive footage of the game was all I needed to take the plunge and own this piece of video game history. It took some personal reassuring and coaxing, but I purchased a complete, near mint copy a few weeks ago for just shy of $600, and I immediately started playing it too see what all the fuss was about. A little over a week and 16-hours of gameplay later I beat the legendary Panzer Dragoon Saga, and am left feeling conflicted more so than exhilarated, as I was hoping to be after finishing it.


Panzer Dragoon Saga is not a pretty game, not just by today's standards either, but even for the time it was released its very muddy, blocky, and pixelated textures really undermine the game's visual fidelity, particularly during gameplay and during the in-game cutscenes. This is far less distracting when riding your dragon either in combat or around an area, but it becomes painfully obvious when you are on foot as the game's main character, Edge. Whether it is a cutscene where he exchanges dialogue with another of the game's NPCs or just wandering around the town Zoah, or any of the other locals, the buildings, tents, structures and NPCs all look pretty bad, and I can't imagine that many people in the late 90s thought differently when comparing it graphically to many other games of the time. There is a bit of a silver lining to the muddy and often subdued colors and textures of the game, as they do add to the game's dismal and hopeless atmosphere. Panzer Dragoon Saga goes to great lengths to immerse you in a world where humans are few and they are continually on the edge of extinction as a result of the bio-engineered monsters that have infested the world. More on the game's story and plot soon. But the game's visuals certainly lend themselves well to the overall feel and vibe of the game. One other area of praise I will give to this game is the details given to your dragon, especially the ability to morph your dragon's appearance depending on how you change its stats, which is done on an impressively minute scale; simply moving the stats marker slightly towards defense will change your dragons physical appearance differently than placing it even further into the defensive stats, and even more differently when placing the stats marker in the opposite direction towards agility stats. Combine this with your dragon leveling up its appearance at various times during the game and you have nearly unlimited customization of your dragons appearance which are fully realized during gameplay. In addition to this, many of the bosses are large and visually impressive as well, however the overall enemy variety in the game is a bit lacking, especially when compared to many other JRPGs released around the same time.


The game's soundtrack and voice acting are perhaps one of if not its greatest asset. The soundtrack is incredible, with nearly each piece of music feeling memorable and impactful; it really drives home the importance of what is going on at that moment in the game, or amplifying the feel of a particular location you happen to be visiting. Panzer Dragoon Saga's voice acting, which is a mix of Japanese and a fictional language made up for the game are done well, and many characters, even non-important NPCs are fully voice acted. Many characters will often say something different after you just finished talking to them as well, which is excellent attention to detail.


Gameplay is fairly simplistic despite having the appearance of being a lot more deep and complex. What I mean by this is the game's core gameplay which mostly takes place during battles revolves around positioning yourself around the enemy or enemies you're fighting, finding the right place to be in order to defend yourself while also being able to inflict maximum damage on your opponent(s). This is a cool system, but often involves little more shifting continuously in order to optimize defense at times and attack during others. This is further complimented by needing to pay attention to three action gauges which fill throughout battle, with some of your more powerful/effective abilities requiring two or more gauges to use, meaning you always have to plan on when to use and when to save your gauges in battle. As mentioned, you can shift your dragon's stats around in order to provide you the most optimal stats depending on what you're up against. Despite how useful this sounds, I found this system to be somewhat unnecessary during most of the game. I mostly relied on a balanced build for my dragon to get through 90% of the game. Aside from that, the game has all the items and special abilities you'd expect from a JRPG released during this era. In regards to gameplay out of combat, it involves you either navigating areas with your dragon, allowing you to fly in all directions as well as up and down. You can also use your dragon's lasers to activate switches, break open item containers, and go through doors as well. Likewise, when on foot as Edge, you can navigate around the game's various towns and select various objects and items throughout the area you are in. These out of combat gameplay controls work and allow you to do what you need to get around. Unfortunately this is the entirety of the gameplay, and lacks a lot of the depth, detail, and diversity seen in many other JRPGs released before and after Panzer Dragoon Saga. The game is incredibly linear with very little deviation from where the story takes you, which certainly has the benefit of keeping the game focused and to the point, but takes away from the depth often found in other games of the genre. Finally, Panzer Dragoon Saga is a very short RPG, taking only 16-hours to beat, probably an hour or two less for someone who is replaying the game a second or third time. I found the game's linearity and shortness to be a positive as it helped with the game's pacing and kept the game focused throughout, but others who enjoy the typical, expansive, 60+ hour RPG experience might see this as a fault.


Then last and certainly not least is the game's story. Panzer Dragoon Saga is a sequel to the first two games on the Saturn, both rail shooter action games, but acts as a capstone to the stories of those two games while also giving context and additional info to both. But more so than that, Panzer Dragoon Saga's own story is excellent, well, at least the first 3/4 of it. Panzer Dragoon Saga starts out with your character Edge seeking revenge on the game's main antagonist Crayman and his henchmen for killing Edge's friends at an excavation site that they were guarding on behalf of the Empire. His motive of revenge is what drives the plot and story of the game, however when you finally catch up with Crayman the story takes a fairly unexpected twist that is both interesting and a little off putting as well, as it creates a new motivation for Edge that is not nearly as well established as his desire for revenge, nor does it completely make sense in the context of what transpired throughout the story or in regards to the greater story and plot of the Panzer Dragoon games. I know this sounds vague, but I am trying to not spoil anything here. In addition to this unwelcome shift in the story, the ending of this game really bothered me. It's essentially one of those "open to interpretation" endings which has some interesting implications, but for me it mostly felt like a copout on the developer's part because they didn't have the resources to complete the story how they originally envisioned. There are various other aspects of this game that seem to support this, including the aforementioned shift in the story and plot during the last quarter of the game. Unfortunately the ending somewhat diminished my overall experience with the story of Panzer Dragoon Saga, which was for the most part pretty good up until the end.


Overall, Panzer Dragoon Saga is a pretty good JRPG which some flaws, but overall it's definitely above average. However being above average is perhaps the game's biggest problem; games included in greatest games of all time lists are not just "pretty good" or "above average." Then there is the issue of the game's price. I know Panzer Dragoon Saga is a very rare game, from my research there were only 20,000 to 25,000 copies printed in North America, but that hardly justifies the game's $600+ price tag. The most I can reasonably see this game being worth factoring in these two things would be $250 to $300. However, there is one more factor that needs to be considered, the game's accessibility. It is commonly known to many Saturn and JRPG fans that the source code for Panzer Dragoon Saga was lost years ago during Sega's restructuring during the late 90s and early 2000s. What this essentially means is that Panzer Dragoon Saga will never be ported to another console or platform, remaining forever locked on the Sega Saturn as the only way to ever play it. It is possible that someday Sega or someone might come along and remake the game from the ground up, but to do so would rob the experience one feels when playing the original. With all that said, it makes more sense to justify its current price, although it is still a little too steep if you ask me. Panzer Dragoon Saga is certainly a great JRPG and undoubtedly one of the more unique examples from that genre, however one cannot help but wonder if the price of admission is a bit too steep, especially when there are many cheaper JRPGs out there that are superior to it, both that came before and after it.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: vivigamer on March 06, 2019, 06:39:42 am
Just Beat:

8. Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (PS4):
The biggest issue I have with this game is it's unwillingness to break away from it's objective structure. There are moments in which say a crisis suddenly appears within the city, but instead of it being an event that suddenly picks up moment, the main character observes this and notes how he will have to discuss this with the city's mayor/leader... and then it cuts to you waking up the next morning and having to talk to them before proceeding to deal with the crisis at hand! The whole game was like this, having nonsensical delays in where the pace should ramp up to 11! It honestly made it a slog to get through, this coming from someone who generally likes Yakuza games too- Which you could call this game a re-skin of them games.

I will say the one part I really did enjoy that felt unique was working in the Bar. I enjoyed the silliness put into making the drinks and getting involved with all the scenarios that would come from meeting people there. But beyond that it's really a lot of the stuff we've seen in Yakuza before - Casinos, Club Management etc. I did actually put effort into watching some of the series before playing to gather context for it, so I didn't just jump in without knowing much about FotNS but I really feel this title is a step back from Yakuza games and I'd really just recommend them instead.

7. The Simpsons Game (PS3)
I recently played through this with a friend, being a rarity of a Co-op game! At first it just seemed really janky and formulaic but there is a section in the later half of the game where you can see where budget went. The game features a lot of fourth-wall breaking and parodies but in the later game it literally parodies other games with levels based on Medal of Honor or one focusing on JRPGs! The creativity in the level design increased dramatically! and the scenarios were really engaging and the game went from just ok to pretty great!

6. Devil May Cry 3 HD (PS4)
I must admit I didn't have a fun time playing this, I was intending to play through the series in prep for 5 but just playing this put me off entirely. the difficulty is very unbalanced, I found once I was able to get Trickmaster to Level 2 I was able to dodge effectively and didn't struggle as much after that, but the opening segment was very frustrating! Also, the story has a lot less depth than I remember, I know it's primarily an action game, but I always thought this title had more historical context being the prequel, but I just found it rather flat. I know Dante is meant to be younger and more cocky, but sometimes I just found him too irritating and not a character I really liked being. I may get back into the DMC series and I am sure I will get 5 someday but for now the series interest is shelved.

Playing:
Final Fantasy V (PC)

Plan to play:
Ni No Kuni (PS3)
Vampyr (PS4)

Beat:
8. Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (PS4), 7. The Simpsons Game (PS3), 6. Devil May Cry 3 HD (PS4), 5. Kingdom Hearts III (PS4), 4. Resident Evil 2 REMAKE (PS4), 3. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (PS4) 2. Resident Evil REMAKE (PS4) 1. Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded (PS4)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on March 06, 2019, 05:00:49 pm
I played through Shadow of Colossus NG+ Hard, but I'm not sure if I should add it as another game beaten. Each boss is actually different in Hard Mode with more vital points and more defense so there's that.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on March 06, 2019, 06:26:14 pm
Adding a few more to the list:

12. Shovel Knight (Switch) 2/27 - Beat
13. Red Dead Redemption 2 (PS4) 3/4 - Beat

Also if anyone is interested, I started an Instagram account to keep track of my progress as well, you can follow me @bravethebacklog
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on March 08, 2019, 10:00:54 am
Dishonored: Death of the Outsider was pretty meh.  The mechanics and gameplay are fine, but the Outsider stuff is what I care least about in this series, and building a whole (very short) campaign around it didn't really speak to me.  Maybe if they got a little more in depth with the story, but it feels way too light and breezy for what feels like the ultimate end of the franchise.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on March 11, 2019, 10:41:18 am
Game 4 – Stardew Valley (PS4) – 66 Hours

I counted this game as finished when I got to year three and got my evaluation from Grandpa.

+
Really enjoyed my time with this one, it’s one of those games that’s really hard to put down and the hours just kind of rack up without you noticing. I hadn’t played any farm-sim games before, though I’ve had some Harvest Moon games on my wishlist for years. The gameplay and freedom to do whatever you want are what really sell this game for me. Nothing is held back from you and there’s a wonderful sense of discovery combined the feeling of working up towards all those big goals and achievements. It’s interesting how a game that’s mostly doing same actions every day over and over again can be so engrossing, but it’s because there’s a lot of different things to do, like growing crops, raising animals, fighting monsters, mining for gems and minerals, or falling in love. The soundtrack is also wonderful, and the graphics are nice too.

-
I have one main complaint and a more nitpicky concern. I feel like the way your character moves in 2D space doesn’t really jive with the grid-based placement of plants and fencing. It can be really easy to accidentally destroy something or place a plant in the wrong space because you aren’t facing just right. Placing furniture in your house is ESPECIALLY irritating. To this day I still can’t figure out how to place something as simple as a picture frame! There are also some minor glitches, jittering, spelling errors, and other bugs that prevent the game from being as polished as it could be. It might be because I’m playing on console though.
 
On the topic of glitches, one of my favorites was when I bought a bus ticket to go to the desert, but my horse was in the way, so my character got stuck spinning around in circles for about 10 seconds on top of my horse, then magically teleported into the bus. I thought I softlocked the game xD

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Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: ignition365 on March 13, 2019, 12:09:37 pm
Main List (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg162655.html#msg162655)

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63. Gears 5 (X1)
Decided to take a break from God of War to play something else.  Popped in Control but it had a huge update and I already preloaded this thanks to Game Pass, so I decided to play this.  I remembered not particularly caring for Gears 4.  I think I didn't care for JD Fenix, the story didn't seem to explain enough of why the Locust (Swarm) were back, story was pretty short, and the ending was abrupt.  This game fairly quickly hands over the reigns to Kait (Laura Bailey ofc).  Kait is a more likely protagonist, so that helps.  They make JD sorta a bad guy for not much of a good reason, but then it's just fine... sorta disjointed.  Story and background is really good this time around though, I'm finding myself wanting to play the game instead of just about anything else.  Doubt it'll be a top 5 overall, but it might make top 5 for the year, if they can manage to not screw up the epilogue and the climax.  Epilogue and climax were pretty great, but the final boss fight was so frustrating that I think that alone disqualified it from being a top 5 game.  I'll go look at my list and see where it stacks... but Control will definitely outrank this so it might not matter.
Rating: Recommended.  It makes Gears 4 not so bad and the story is pretty good.

64. Control (PS4)
I don't even know how to talk about this game.  The story is so trippy and complicated... the game even starts you out with little subtle hints of what to expect.  There really isn't much I can talk about without spoiling things, but this game is pretty freaking great.  Combat is interesting and can be frustrating at times.  Combat provides so many different button actions that can be done that I find myself getting flustered with the options at hand pretty frequently.  The trophy list for the game looks really simple so I'll probably wind up going for the platinum on this game.  Wound up going for the platinum for this game.  This game was amazing.  It was difficult enough that I got the same feeling I got with Souls games while wandering around just waiting for shit to attack me and boss fights trying to figure out strategies.  Only 3 downsides with this game. 1) The loading screens when you die feel like forever, because you just want to jump back into it.. 2) Unpausing the game or loading from a loading screen leaves you with a couple of seconds of horrible framedrops (<10 fps).  Both annoying, but not game breaking.  3) No checkpoints, any progress you make is always saved, but when you die you get loaded back to the most recent control point (bonfire), this makes the game even more Souls like.  I hate to call this the Souls of 3rd Person Shooters, but it kind of is.
Rating: Highly Recommended.

65. Catherine: Full Body (PS4)
I've been interested in this game for a long time, anime puzzle game?  Sign me the frick up.  Puzzle gameplay is... sorta meh... it's the anime/story that keeps you going.  The puzzle gameplay isn't tiresome, so it's all good.  The story however is pretty damned good and has me wanting to play more.  The internet rage machine mostly spoiled the new content for me so I wasn't really surprised at the twists.  I never played the original, so I'm not patently aware of the ramifications to gameplay and story of them adding in Rin.  It makes me consider going back and playing the original... but I'll probably just do Youtube.  I decided to go for the Rin ending because it seemed like the thing they wanted you to do, I felt the obvious feelings towards K/Catherine, so I wanted to see what Rin wound up like.  I also heard something akin to that doing Rin's ending lets you do chapter select and no other endings give you that, and I want chapter select.  I was doing laundry late last night so I wound up playing really late and hitting Stage 10 by the time laundry was done running, I really wanted to finish the game, but I figured that would wind up keeping me up for another hour or so.  Finished the game.  I don't think I cared for the game quite enough to playthrough multiple times for the multiple endings, especially don't like the idea of replaying the same puzzles over and over.
Rating: Soft Recommendation.

66. God of War III Remastered (PS4)
Started this game shortly after finishing Catherine.  Kept falling asleep while playing, I'm unsure if it's because I was that bored of the game or if my allergies were just acting up that badly.  Took me getting about halfway through the game because I really got invested.  Honestly, this may be my least favorite God of War game.  Honestly, it's kind of a toss up between this and Ascension.  Ascension had a lot of colorblind unfriendly aspects, but so did this I assume.  Every game I ended with max stats... except this game.  Apparently there were invisible chests throughout the game that I didn't know about until the end of the game.  Apparently I was supposed to know that when there is mirage looking lines on the screen that that means there is an invisible chest, the game never really conveyed that information.  I messed around looking at these mirages every time they appeared, but I never tried to use the item that would've activated it, so I missed a ton of collectibles and would've wound up with max stats.  Yeah, definitely my least favorite game in the franchise.  Seems to tie up a lot of the Greek Mythology loose ends and stuff.  He appears to die at the end, but as GoW 2018 exists and he's got the scar from his wound at the end, obviously he lived.... somehow.  My only complaint is that Athena died in a previous game, she's in this game as a ghost, she is corporeal enough to hold a sword, seems like the only left antagonist and she just walks away at the end, sorta anticlimactic and seems to leave a single loose end.
[/b]Rating[/b]: Extremely soft recommendation.

67. Untitled Goose Game (NS)
Bought and started up this game over the weekend so I would have something I could play in front of my kid.  Only wound up playing for like 20 minutes or so before I was able to get back to playing whatever I was playing.  As short as this game is supposed to be, it will probably last me a while.  This game is actually really short, probably took me like 2 hours over the course of a week or so.  Game gives you things to do after beating the game, but I lost my motivation and just quit.  The ending made me laugh.  It's one of those endings where you saw or could've saw a thing at the beginning that would give away the ending, and you get to the ending and remember what you saw and just laugh.  Cost is fairly high for a game that will last you a couple of hours, it's fun and funny, but I feel it can lose its appeal pretty quickly, but I see replayability in it if you care for being an asshole goose.
Rating: Soft recommendation

68. Cube Escape: Seasons (Android)
My wife convinced me to play this game last night.  It was an enjoyable experience.  The game is about 30-40 minutes long and it's your traditional escape game but it gets pretty dark.  It's free, but it's also the equivalent to an old flash escape room game.  It's apparently a part of a long running series of escape games and it's well reviewed.  I might play a few more of them.
Rating: soft pass.

69. God of War (2018) (PS4)
Started this up after GoW3, been waiting so long for this game.  Bought this game day one with my PS4 Pro, finally started playing it on the day it got announced as a Greatest Hits title.  I've always had a mild fascination with Norse mythology, so I'm really digging this game.  I know nothing of the ending or if they are planning a whole trilogy around this, but I'm very excited about this experience.  Combat is pretty frustrating in this game.  It's like it wants to be hack and slash, but it also wants to be Dark Souls, but it isn't quite doing either very well.  Combat isn't so frustrating that I won't go for the platinum trophy, but I'm planning on going for the platinum as it's rated as a 3/10 for difficulty.  Story is pretty great, characters are well developed and portrayed, voice acting is amazing, gameplay and combat are fun and interesting.  Ending was really good, gave you a little bit of closure but didn't end in a manner that it doesn't make sense to continue running around and doing stuff, but also leaves tons for a sequel.
Rating: Highly Recommended.

70. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4)
Beat this game years ago when it came out, I've been playing it yearly slowly working towards the platinum.  Played a little bit and got frustrated that even almost a year later, there are things not spawning that I need to finish the game.  Got over it and kept playing.  After a few days of playing through missions over and over, I finally S-ranked all missions and completed all mission tasks and earned the platinum trophy.  No clue how much time total I put into the game because there were a lot of days that I left the game on and unpaused over night to unlock stuff.
Rating: Still a freaking amazing game.

71. WWE 2K19 (X1)
Since getting back into wrestling around Wrestlemania this year, I've been super into wrestling.  I wanted something sort of mindless to play while I was sick the past week, so I played this.  I forget constantly that since it because the 2K series, it's been pretty garbage overall.  I try to look online into how to adjust the game to make it super easy, because that's what I want when I play these games, just sort of mindless challengeless violence... but changing the settings to what should read as essentially the bot standing there and taking it, the bots will reverse everything still and you could utterly destroy the bot and never take a hit, but the pin system is so broken that you could lose at full health with a pin and a single reversal can earn them a finisher and they constantly reverse finishers.  I spent the entire game just doing what I can to burn their reversals so they couldn't reverse my finishers, because if they have a reversal stored 10/10 they will reverse finishers.
Rating: Hard pass.

72. Legend of Zelda, The: Link's Awakening (NS)
Finished Goose Game and my wife insisted that I start playing this even though I wasn't feeling it.  So I kept screwing around and did the thing I do when I'm made to do something I don't want to do.  I play stupid, I feign ignorance, and I'm all around annoying to people watching me play.  My wife got really angry and wanted me to stop playing because I kept getting myself killed on purpose and doing the wrong thing on purpose.  I also kept skipping over all dialogue so I legitimately had no clue what to do next.  No clue if I'll get through this game.  Finally being mildly serious about this game and through with the 2nd dungeon.  Kept playing through the game and finished it... I don't think it even places on my top 5 for games this year, unfortunately, it's a great game, but it just doesn't check all those boxes for me.
Rating: Recommended, definitely recommended over the original for it's QoL improvements.

73. Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes (GCN)
After having played Phantom Pain and trying to find other stuff to play and playing other stuff, I kept just wanting to play more Metal Gear.  So I sat down and tried to decide what to do, Metal Gear Solid (PS1 Classic), Metal Gear Solid (PS3 download), Metal Gear Solid (PS1 on one of those portable screens), or Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes (GCN).  Through my research a lot of folks insisted that PS1 was the way to go as PS1 Classic loses the memory card thing, PS3 probably loses the memory card thing, and people have some weird issue with the GCN release.  I have PS1 memory cards with saves, but probably 0 Konami games, but I do have a GCN memory card with tons of saves for tons of games.  GCN release has many QoL improvements, looks better, and I get the neat Nintendo references.  Played through the game over the course of a few days, really enjoyable experience for the most part, but nothing out of this world compared to other games I've played this year.
Rating: Recommended, much better experience than I had with what little I played of the OG MGS.

74. Two Eyes (Android)
My wife showed me this little app/game and now I'm playing it as my handheld/mobile game for now.  Will probably last me a while too.  Picross with a story(ish).  Really not much to say about this, even the story is kind of meh and non-existent.  It'll be a soft pass for this one, maybe even hard pass as the Jupiter Corp Picross games are the ultimate picross games.  After finishing the Wolf story I've gotten super interested in the game because I want to see the Deer story and the finale, so the story grabbed me I guess.  Finished the Deer story and started up the finale, I really didn't expect the finale puzzles to be 30x30, so it's taking a long time and will continue to take a long time.
Rating: Hard Pass.

75. Outer Worlds, The (X1)
Got super excited to try out this game as it got closer, literally knowing next to nothing about the game.  Free with Xbox GPU, so I knew I had to try it out.  Pleasantly surprised that it was pretty much Fallout: New Vegas X Firefly.  It's pretty freaking great... but it has a lot of... downsides.  World is very sci-fi, like almost No Man's Sky level of world sci-fi-ness.  Exploration feels super boring, and to be quite honest, everything looks like everything else, so half the time I don't know where I need to go and where is accessible.  Weapons are super boring, only recently realized that as you get better versions (base, MK2, Ultra) you get more customization options, which is nice.  Inventory management is atrocious as at a glance there is no way to know where what you want is without being able to just recognize the weapon's icon/image, text would go a long way.  Companions aren't likeable.  Closest to likable is Ellie and Pavarti, and even they can be annoying.  The game does a poor job of motivating you as a player to get involved.  You just wake up in a ship and get told to save everyone.  Fallout at least had reasons (find dad, get revenge, find son, etc).  It's been 70 years, I should have some pre-freeze knowledge, but I have nothing and the game gives you nothing.  As a role playing aspect, I don't know what I should and shouldn't know, seems like 70 years would be a long time and there would be things.  I don't know that this game will even break the top 5 for games released this year, it's definitely not on the top 5 for the year.  I find myself getting bored of the game and wanting to do something else.  I will likely give the game a second chance and go on a murder rampage just going full evil and kill everything.  I finished the game, thought about doing a second run like I suggested and couldn't put myself up to it.
Rating: Recommended for Fallout fans. Soft recommendation for everyone else.

76. Tangle Tower (NS)
Bought this game near launch because it was having a launch sale.  This game is made by the folks who brought you Detective Grimoire (same franchise), Snipperclips, and The Legend of Zelda: The Lampshade of no real significance.  That last one is a real flash based game, and it's actually pretty fun/funny.  This game has amazing voice acting, the character animations are just phenomenal, the story is interesting, the dialog is funny and a little bit irreverent (read as British), and the puzzles aren't too simple and hints are given with no punishment.  I absolutely adored this game and am trying to get my wife to play it as I think she'd love it.
Rating: Highly recommended.

77. Metal Gear Solid 2 HD: Sons of Liberty (X1BC)
Started this up after finishing Twin Snakes.  I was mildly concerned that going from a game that was made after Snake Eater, to a game before Snake Eater, that I'd be missing QoL improvements and have a miserable experience, but the HD collection release has QoL improvements over Twin Snakes even... so that's nice.  I did notice that the collection sort of default expected you to play Snake Eater first.  Seems the devs picked chronology over release order.  I played Sons of Liberty on PS2 way back in the day, but I never even got to the Olga fight I believe.  It wasn't a goal for me for this year, as I said God of War was my goal for the year, but I'm thinking I might get through the MGS franchise this year.
Rating: Recommended, essentially a direct sequel to MGS.

78. Metal Gear Solid 3 HD: Snake Eater (X1BC)
Started this up right after finishing Sons of Liberty.  There are a few throw backs to the previous games, and it appears to really just answer some back story questions that Sons of Liberty left about the Patriots.  I feel like this game provided backstory to help connect 2 and 4 together, but I'm thinking this whole franchise really could've been played in chronological order... maybe even should've.  Going 1995 > 2005 > 2007-2009 > 1964 > 2014 > 1974 > 1975 > 1984 by release order just throws things in such a weird order to try and piece together.  Plus I tend to look at MGS as a split.  Half the franchise should be looked at as Big Boss games and half should be looked at as Solid Snake games.  There seems to be very little overlap between them.  The only constants are Revolver Ocelot, The Emmerich family, and Metal Gear.  Essentially chronological pre MGS and post MGS.  Like I feel like this game really just served the purpose to set up who the Patriots are for MGS4, which while necessary, wasn't necessarily needed to take place between 2 and 4.
Rating: Recommended, provides a lot of information about a lot of characters (i.e. world building).

79. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)
Started this game up and just really wasn't feeling it.  Got frustrated a lot because they try to justify the radar capability behind an item you have to keep equipped that runs on a battery.  Game throws endless enemies at you when alerts happen which is quite frustrating, so you can't even be like I'll just kill everyone because they'll immediately infinitely spawn.  As always story is kind of confusing and difficult to follow.  A lot of things come up that directly revolve around the events of Snake Eater, so this game is making that game necessary, but even played in chronological order, you would've already played that, but it would've been 100's of hours before this game, so events might have been forgotten, which could influence your intake of the story.
Rating: Recommended, closes off a lot of plot holes and arcs.

80. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (X1BC)
Started this up shortly after finishing Guns of the Patriots.  Moderately enjoying it so far.  Definitely feels and plays like a portable game with it's small area sections.  Definitely feels like the transition game moving from Tactical Espionage Action to Tactical Espionage Operations with the mission system.  Honestly the game is great, it's basically a prototype for MGSV which is just an amazing game to me.  The Outer Ops are quite annoying to me in conjunction with the limited 10-11 fultons per mission, but it's side content, so whatever. A lot of annoyances with this game, but it's actually really freaking fantastic.  Not as good as Phantom Pain, but it's pretty damned good and directly connects
Rating: Highly recommended.

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Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on March 16, 2019, 02:45:31 am
9 - Devil May Cry V (PS4 2019) - BEAT - Despite not being a fan of this series, not liking DMC4 and only beating the DMC reboot, I had a ton of fun with this one.  It's so over-the-top and cheesy and it is really just a blast to play.  I'm not particularly good at combos, but I will say, play on Devil Hunter unless you know you are absolutely terrible, because "Human" is way too easy, but I was more there for the experience than the challenge.  About the only thing I didn't like was playing as V.  He's not bad, but compared to Dante and Nero, he's both lacking and just not nearly as fun to play.  Like Dante gets all these different weapons and Nero has the Devil Breakers, and there's V sending out his pets to do the dirty work while finishing off the creature.  I'd honestly have been happier with the game if he had not been a playable character.  Fun game otherwise.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on March 16, 2019, 09:23:40 am
I finished the games that I hadn't previously played in the Disney Afternoon Collection.

Chip N Dale’s Rescue Rangers 2
Talespin
Darkwing Duck
Ducktales 2

Darkwing Duck is probably the only one worth revisiting.  None of them are bad, but Chip N Dale and Ducktales are fine sequels but are pretty short and easy compared to their first game and Talespin is an ok bullet hell shooter, but that's not really my genre.  DW is fun and semi-challenging, with some pretty cool level and boss design.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: mizzach86 on March 16, 2019, 02:45:11 pm
1. Overcooked (2016) [PS4]
Completion Requirements:
•   3 stars on all levels in main campaign
•   3 stars on all levels in Lost Morsel DLC
•   3 stars on all levels in Festive Seasoning DLC
•   Obtained all trophies

Yay, I finally finished a game in 2019. This game was a lot of fun and shows how a simple concept of cooking food and running a kitchen as the core gameplay can be entertaining. I played this co-op with my brother. It's probably more fun as a multiplayer game than single player. Recommended.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on March 17, 2019, 11:31:20 am
Game 4 - Shantae: Risky's Revenge: Director's Cut (PS4) - 6 Hours


This game was decent, but isn't as good as Pirate's Curse or Half-Genie Hero. I don't know why, I just didn't enjoy this as much as the other two. I think going backwards in the series may have something to do with it, because the game just feels like... less of an experience than the other two, which is pretty substantial because most of these games are relatively same-y. This game has less transformations, less power ups, less boss fights, and less stages. The game is still fun though, pretty good gameplay, great music, lots of secrets and decent replay value.

Touching on some stuff that I really didn't like, it was frustrating how you couldn't just pay for upgrades and you needed an extra item in addition to money. There was also a moment where you need a crucial upgrade and it's locked behind a wooden barrier that you're supposed to burn down with an optional power-up you buy in the shop. The game doesn't tell you that you can burn down wooden barriers however, which was extremely annoying to find out. The other thing about power-ups is that you can only increase your hair's whipping speed, not attack power. So even towards the end of the game, early level enemies will still take the same number of hits making those areas a slog to re-go through. Lastly, I wasn't the biggest fan of the layered presentation of the areas. It worked best in Scuttle Town, but everywhere else it felt cumbersome.

 Back to my list (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg162665.html#msg162665)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on March 17, 2019, 01:43:59 pm
14. Uncharted Drakes Fortune (PS4) 3/13 - Beat

Finished up the first Uncharted on Wednesday. I'm hooked, i'll be playing through the whole series now lol
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on March 17, 2019, 11:57:16 pm
4. Unravel Two(PS4)

I was very happily surprised when this was announced randomly last year because I loved the original so much. I finally got to playing it and I am a little disappointed by how short it is. Me and my sister played through it in about 5-6 hours total which definitely feels shorter than the first. It improved a lot on the gameplay mechanics, graphics, and the customization options and with the addition of a second character it adds another dimension to each puzzle. Overall a great sequel to the first and it was nice playing a multiplayer game with my sister for the first time in a bit.

Time: 5-6 hours

5. Journey(PS4)

I also played this again for the first time in a few years and it was just as wonderful as the first time. Very fun, relaxing, and thoughtful.

Time: 3 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on March 18, 2019, 01:24:07 am
4 - ZeroRanger (PC 2018) - BEAT - I'm counting this as beat, even if I didn't get the true ending lol This is a really great little shoot'em up with cool art and music, and I beat the last boss, just to get to one more thing to do that basically requires me to not lose against one more boss or my save is deleted...I lost.  I'm not gonna go back and redo the game again, maybe way down the road, but I'm good for now.  I do recommend the game, but on PC, I'd do some save manipulation next time where you backup the save, so that you can just get back to where you were before as I'm not super huge on these types of meta things most of the time (Undertale being one of the other notable ones that does it well.)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: vivigamer on March 21, 2019, 07:33:04 am
Just Beat:
9. Firewatch (PS4):
I snagged it on sale for £4 this weekend and played it in one evening. This is a prime example of what I hope for in an Indie game, while not a AAA budget, it still has enough to not cop out on things like being in 1st person and not seeing your character model pick up things. The game itself was very compelling, well written and I enjoyed my time within the narrative. I have no real complaints, it was a solid experience and one of the best shorter games I've played this gen. I had fun just exploring an getting familiar with the environment and getting involved with the interaction with the dialogue choices - To which you hear your protagonist actually say the line - I hate it when games present a line and skip to the reaction. I don't want to spoil anything but highly recommend it for an evening experience.

Playing:
Final Fantasy V (PC)

Plan to play:
Ni No Kuni (PS3)
Vampyr (PS4)

Beat:
9. Firewatch (PS4), 8. Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (PS4), 7. The Simpsons Game (PS3), 6. Devil May Cry 3 HD (PS4), 5. Kingdom Hearts III (PS4), 4. Resident Evil 2 REMAKE (PS4), 3. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (PS4) 2. Resident Evil REMAKE (PS4) 1. Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded (PS4)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on March 22, 2019, 04:54:09 pm
Game 5 - Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (PS4) - 6 Hours

Finished this game for the 3rd time I think? My plan is to get the platinum on this which will require 3 more playthroughs  :o

+

This is one of my favorite games, but I do need to go back and play AC04 to see how it stacks up in my memory. Anyway, it was great to play this game again, especially on PS4. My favorite part about Ace Combat games has always been the gameplay. You just feel like such a badass playing it, and the awesome music, sound effects and radio chatter all add to the awesome feeling. The arcade mode where you play as Mobius 1 and just get to go crazy was another nice gameplay feature. The squadron function actually does make a difference and you need to use them effectively to get by some missions especially on the harder difficulty levels. *Most* of the missions are really well designed and the arkbird and submarines were cool bosses to fight. And of course "Journey Home" is an astounding mission to play.

Moving past the gameplay, the music is top notch, and is easily one of my favorite video game soundtracks of all time. The main and secondary characters are all pretty good, especially Nagase, she's such a badass. The voice acting is also excellent, with some big heavy hitters playing key roles. I especially liked how Bartlett was voiced by Steve Blum and Snow was voiced by Beau Billingslea. Total throwback feelings to Cowboy Bebop given that this is a jet combat game. Lastly, the story is also really good, and has that typical "war game about anti war" schtick with just the right amount of conspiracy and MGS style flair.

-

There are only two things I can think of that I didn't like. There are definitely some sour lines especially from Chopper, he can definitely come off as obnoxious a lot of the time. There are also some really bad missions, like the poison gas mission and the one where you have to find and rescue Nagase. Honestly, that's all I can think of though.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on March 24, 2019, 09:40:18 am
I finished the main story of Batman: Arkham Origins last night.  I think I'd put it pretty close to on par with Arkham Knight.  The gameplay isn't as tight, but it doesn't have a shoehorned mechanic like the Batmobile shoved down your throat.  The story is probably a little better as well, even though some of the writing isn't as strong.  It's also the first Arkham game where I didn't collect all of the Riddler Trophies.  They didn't feel as thoughtfully planned out as the ones in the other games.  I was going to do all of the case files, but the second to last one bugged, and even though I completed a step it wouldn't move the quest marker along.  I could go to the next area, and beat up the thugs, but the trigger for the next step in the chain wouldn't activate.  Once that happened I just stepped away.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on March 29, 2019, 01:49:23 pm
15. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS4) 3/29 - Beat

The Uncharted series is really turning out to be something special; but i guess most people already know that lol. Among Thieves is easily in my top 10 now. 
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on April 06, 2019, 02:30:05 am
12 - Sekiro (PS4 2019) - BEAT - From Software really knows how to nail it with these style of action games, that's for sure.  Compared to Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne, I think this game does some stuff really well.  I love having more of an actual narrative, the movement is super great, and the gameplay built more around posture makes the gameplay a little more tense as it's definitely about putting pressure on the enemy more than even Bloodborne.  That said, I  still like BB and DS3 more.  It's mostly due to the variety those games offer that I don't think Sekiro has, but it doesn't make Sekiro a bad game in the slightest.  Highly recommended if you enjoy these types of games.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on April 07, 2019, 10:37:38 am
Game 7 - Cosmic Star Heroine (PS4) - 13 hours

+ Visually, the game is stunning. It's incredibly well done and I would purposefully walk slowly through some of the areas to take in all the vibrant and varied scenery. I loved those little cutscenes the game throws in with the story too.

I like most of the characters, they have fun unique qualities and just enough characterization to make them relatable. I especially like Alyssa, she's strong and badass.

The music is top-notch, and as I listened to it more and more it really grew on me. It's got a lot of great psy-fi, phil-noir and rocking tracks, and it's a joy to listen to both in and out of the game. Some of my favorites include "Arcade Rat", "The Vast Nimbus", "Wicked Metropolis" , "Alien Blues", "White Hat Hackers" plus many more. My only complaint is that some of my favorite tracks weren't used in more places!

The combat is fantastic, and is probably my favorite aspect of the game. There are a ton of original and fun ideas and strategies like status health bars, the use of techs that recharge with the defend command, and lots of unique and fun abilities (both inherent and equippable) to test out and experiment with. It all adds up to a wonderful combat system that's easy to get into, but hard to master. It gives the game some much needed identity and sets it apart from what would otherwise feel like a complete clone of other 16-bit RPGs. I played on Heroine difficulty and overall it was pretty good balance, I never needed to grind. Some abilities are really abusable though xD My final party was Alyssa, Chahn, Z'xorv and Sue

-

My biggest complaint was the pacing of the story. It's a pretty short game, which is fine, and the game's story started out really strong, but it kind of fell apart about 8 hours in. All the cool battle scenarios are frontloaded in the first hour, and you just find yourself getting thrown into all the final battles and bosses with little buildup, and it felt very rushed.

Some of the characters felt pretty underdeveloped, especially Finn and Clarke.

There were some weird visual glitches and quirks including collision errors, weird lines showing up while moving around, and some text bugs. Nothing too crazy though, I've heard that people have experienced much worse.

Overall I'm really happy I took a chance on buying this when it was announced through LRG, I had never even heard of the game beforehand. I think it's a great starting point for Zeboyd to expand upon with a future sequel (it seemed like that was going to happen based on the credits).

Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on April 08, 2019, 03:12:59 am
13 - Far Cry: New Dawn (PC 2019) - BEAT - Been a long time I've played these Far Cry games, all of the mainline ones since the first and this spinoff (I never got to Primal).  While this game was overall alright, totally fine like Far Cry 5, I think this series has run its course.  Probably needs a complete reboot as they basically blew up the world and there's not much I think they could do gameplay wise to make this interesting.  While post-apocalypse is usually my jam, this was sort of a bland one.  It's done mostly kinda realistic, except for some tougher animals, and the nonsense bullshit that is Bliss...the magical mcguffin of both games that never made sense.  Otherwise it's just running around the FC5 setting, but everything is just abit more shit looking. Okay game, but I wouldn't recommend unless you get it cheap and you just really like open world shooters.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on April 08, 2019, 02:14:19 pm
Finished up two more games the other day.

16. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS4) 4/6 - Beat
A lot of people say this game isn't as good as 2 but playing them back to back I'll have to say it was every bit as good; in fact I'd even say there are parts that are better. I felt like the story was more engaging and there were some crazy twists and turns. I would have to agree there are a few choke points where I wanted to throw my controller but I made it through it and am glad I did.

17. Final Fantasy IX (Switch) 4/6 - Beat
What can you say about this, Its FFIX. The switch is really shaping up to be the best way to play some of my favorite retro games. This port was excellent, the upgraded character models were awesome and even though it still uses the same low resolution pre-rendered backgrounds its kinda like they applied a filter to them that makes it almost look a watercolor painting.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on April 09, 2019, 05:11:36 pm
18. Yoshi's Crafted World (Switch) 4/8 - Beat

Easily the most charming game I've ever played. You can really tell the developers poured their hearts into this game; from the level design to the music it just feels like you're playing a game straight out of a child’s imagination. I honestly think I was smiling the entire playthrough... except the level with the Murder Clowns... screw those guys.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on April 10, 2019, 06:44:50 pm
19. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Switch) 4/9 - Beat

Played this one on casual mode but it still wasnt the easiest game ever played. Really fun and I enjoyed the character switching mechanic.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on April 17, 2019, 09:36:07 pm
6.Yoshi's Crafted World (Switch)

I really love how cozy and imaginative this game is. The music could have been way batter than it was, each stage had a variation of the same tune throughout the game. It doesn't hit that same spot that Whooly World did but it's still a good time.

Time: 40 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on April 18, 2019, 03:10:04 am
14 - State of Decay 2 (PC 2018) - BEAT - I'm basically counting this as beat as I essentially completed the main goal of the game, which is to wipe out the plague hearts, making your town safer.  The true "ending" is just completing the leader goals, which I don't think there is much left to do there, before you get an ending that has you leaving to a new town and essentially starting over in New Game +.  Because the game has no real story or characters and is really just a one note survival sim game, I'm basically good where I am.

I was actually kinda worried about fighting the plague hearts this time, because they felt so troubling last year I played, but turns out all you do is spam molotovs or fuel bombs and it's completely easy.  This game is just a real half-baked concept.  It wants to be a survival sim, but there isn't enough depth to make that engaging.  It wants to be this hack and slash action zombie game, but combat isn't interesting and there's not a lot of variety of things to accomplish.  The game just sits in this weird place where it either needs way more story and action or way more survival elements to really customize and explore your options, but it has neither.  Like by the time I got to the end, I realized that there almost no humans to fight and I could've swore in the first game you had to worry about humans along with zombies, so not sure what happened.

Anyways, this is just a mildly tolerable, alright, game, that is a generally underwhelming sequel.  I can't really recommend it to even people who like zombie games.  I only played it as I did because I realized it would be fine as a podcast game where I really don't need to focus too hard on things and I can catch up on podcasts I've had building up.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on April 20, 2019, 09:47:56 am
Game 8 - Spelunky (PS4) – 8 Hours

This is one of my favorite games and I was so happy to hear when it got a physical release from LRG, it was actually one of my dream games to be released physical. I had played the freeware version years ago and watched tons of this updated HD version too, so it was great to actually play it for myself

+ The game doesn’t have much of a story, the real meat and potatoes is in the gameplay. All its levels are randomly generated which makes the game brutally difficult but also incredibly satisfying to beat. It took me 80 runs or so to beat Olmec, and there are still secret areas to go through and achievements to unlock which keeps the replayability high. Despite the random level generation, the game is also pretty fair (for the most part), and 95% of the time when you die, it was because of a mistake that you made. The game truly forces you to learn and get better because you can’t memorize level layouts, and it’s one of the finest tests of your skills as a platformer that I’ve ever experienced.
Outside of the gameplay, the graphics are quite appealing and the music is solid too. It’s one of those games that I will probably put aside and then come back to later on to try and finish a hell run and a 500,000 gold run.

- Because the game is randomly generated, there is the occasional bullshit level layout or situation that you can’t get out of without using one of your bombs or ropes, which I don’t like. The biggest issue is in the shops/black market when a shopkeeper has a fighter for hire or a kissing booth. If the people they’re selling gets damaged by an enemy (like they’re eaten by a mantrap or something), they attack YOU, even if you’re not in the shop. It’s a really dumb oversight but thankfully it doesn’t come up that much.

I’m really excited to dive into Spelunky 2!
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on April 21, 2019, 08:35:39 am
Just finished The Evil Within.  It’s Resident Evil with twice the gruesomeness, half the polish, and none of the charm.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on April 21, 2019, 03:18:02 pm
Quote from: Cartagia on April 21, 2019, 08:35:39 am
Just finished The Evil Within.  It’s Resident Evil with twice the gruesomeness, half the polish, and none of the charm.

Evil Within 2 is a lot better if you ever get to it. 
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on April 23, 2019, 12:42:45 am
I haven't bumped one of my reviews on here in a while, but if anyone has been following my most recent reviews on page 4 I've been steadily playing games even though I've been super busy with other things. Anyhow, here's my newest review. Looking forward to this Summer as I should have way more time to play games, even though 22 so far is a pretty respectable number.


22. Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker (Switch): I played this game cooperatively with my girlfriend over the course of several months, not necessarily because it's a long game, but because I just had a very hard time staying engaged and interested in it. As a platformer (sort of) this game is pretty basic, simple, and easy. There isn't much challenge throughout the game, even when doing the stage challenges which are different for each stage, but typically belong to one of about 10 types of overall challenges you can do. As a result, the game is kind of boring and underwhelming. Visually the game is colorful, vibrant and creative, but the levels are all essentially giant, floating cubes in the sky that you have to navigate through, with each level being completely separate from the last. In the end it is mostly a good looking game while also being very plain at the same time. The soundtrack is nothing to write home about, but does feel very Nintendoee so I'll give it that. Sadly, upon finishing this game I was somewhat relieved that I was done despite having fun at times. Unfortunately this will go down as one of the most mediocre first party Nintendo titles I've ever played, although Yoshi's Crafted World, which I'm also playing right now, if certainly giving Captain Toad a run for its money. (4/22/19) [29/50]
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on April 24, 2019, 12:46:40 am
20. Super Meat Boy (Switch) 4/21 - Beat
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on April 26, 2019, 04:49:54 am
16 - Mortal Kombat 11 (PS4 2019) - BEAT - Just beat the story, but while there is still alot of extra stuff left, it's really unfortunate that this games legacy is gonna be known for the frustratingly designed time towers and the pretty crappy currency system with mobile-like resource features.  This stuff will be patched, adjusted, and tweaked for awhile, but this is like a 9/10 fighting game with incredible visuals and a good story to it, with some real cool things like the lore heavy Krypt, but it's just marred by bad, anti-consumer, ideas.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on May 05, 2019, 08:49:05 pm
Game 9 - The Last of Us Remastered (PS4) - 16 Hours

+ This game on the whole was fantastic. Really polished and well presented and overall very entertaining. First the game looks gorgeous. The huge environments with all the destroyed and overgrown buildings and interiors are simply breathtaking. The sound design is also fantastic, and the minimalist music sets the tone really nicely. The story, while overall pretty simple, has enough impact through the plot twists, and character developments keep you wanting to keep playing. There were some really emotional moments and I definitely teared up at some of them. I really liked Joel and Ellie and the dynamic they shared as you play the game. The voice acting in general was really good. Gameplay wise, the game wasn't anything spectacular but plays well and the crafting system was well implemented. The game's pretty scary at times too! I enjoyed dealing with the infected way more than the soldiers/bandits because they were scarier to fight.


- I have a few minor complaints but they're more related to how I like to play games that have a stealth element in them, like Metal Gear Solid. I don't like to have to kill people if I can avoid it, but the game sometimes forces you to kill everyone before you can move on to the next area. There are also some glitches and immersion breaking moments especially when your allies run directly in front of the enemies you're trying to sneak around. Lastly, I did not like the ending at all. It felt really anti-climactic and I wish there was a simple choice option where you could decide what direction you wanted to take the game.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on May 06, 2019, 01:03:40 am
7.Sekiro (PS4)

Fantastic game. I love that the difficulty isn't in how cheap a boss is but how skillful you are with the options available to you. That is such a breath of fresh air. On top of that it has quite a compelling story throughout. I've never played any of the Soulsborne games and I found it to be a lot of fun and a great challenge.

Time: 70 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on May 06, 2019, 02:54:06 pm
Just passed a tech cert test I've been mentioning on here for a couple years now. With that out of the way I am going to play the shit out of so many games now!
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: mizzach86 on May 07, 2019, 08:43:23 pm
2. Super Mario Odyssey (2017) [NS]
Completion Requirements:
•   Collected 999 Power Moons
•   Purchased all hats, outfits and souvenirs
•   Completed capture list
•   Acquired all music
•   Reached rank 50 in Luigi’s Balloon World

Game #2 of 2019 is finally completed! I've been playing this since Christmas time and I absolutely love this game. The graphics, the locations, the best 3D Mario controls I've used, and an amazing soundtrack have all made playing this a great experience. I'm almost tempted to say this game might finally dethrone Super Mario World as my favorite Mario game, but at the bare minimum it's my favorite 3D Mario game. I've been having a rough time this year at work and in life also, so this game has been very therapeutic for me over the past 4+ months. Nintendo games have always done this for me anyway. This is a bucket list game for sure if you haven't played it.

Tip: If you want to purchase all the hats and outfits, play Luigi's Balloon World. It's by far the easiest way to rack up coins. I didn't figure this out until I'd spent many hours grinding coins in bonus areas.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: vivigamer on May 08, 2019, 04:30:01 am
Just Beat:
11. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PS4)
Weirdly, I've never beat this game before, even after 3 past attempts... I'm really not sure why either, it's not like it's immensely difficult - I had a part in mind where I got stuck, but I think I mistook it for The New Order as that part didn't appear in this game upon my playthrough. The game is overall very solid, it suits my playstyle very well as when I play FPS I don't tend to use the Aim function much but focus on aligning my characters positioning more.

The game was pretty simple, but considering this wasn't originally considered a stand alone game the scale is impressive! I love these type of DLC's which are 4-8 hours long and feel like their own game. This is what I think all DLC should aspire to and not simply be a tacked on little episode. I admire it plenty on that factor alone. I finally for the DLC to Wolfenstein II on sale, so I am planning to play through each title before the new title next month :)

10. Final Fantasy V (GBA)
I don't really play 16-Bit games very much, but I want to experience each FF at least once, this time it was FFV. I played it on Emulator, 1080P and with my PS4 controller... which was fantastic (I own the GBA cart before anyone gets huffy!). The game itself was okay, it didn't have many iconic that the series usually inspires but it was enjoyable from start to finish.

I'm still not sold on the job system, I mostly found myself having all my party as Samurai which gives them high HP and the ability to throw money... which is better than the notable best Magic spells of the game... I just found that the idea of swapping classes didn't really work well and I much prefer set classes similar to Final Fantasy IX's structure. While the characters had a decent amount of time to explore their backstory they just weren't very memorable, nor was the villain who was rather 1 dimension in his intentions :P But Gilgamesh was a riot, who stole the show every time he made an appearance. Overall it's a very mid-tier FF game for me, not one that I think of fondly, but certainly not in the lines of Bad like Type-0 or XV.

Playing:
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PS4)

Plan to play:
Wolfenstein: The New Order (PS4)
Wolfenstein II (PS4)
Ni No Kuni (PS3)
Vampyr (PS4)
Devil May Cry 1 (PS4)
Lost Planet (Xbox 360)

Beaten List:
11. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PS4), 10. Final Fantasy V (GBA), 9. Firewatch (PS4), 8. Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (PS4), 7. The Simpsons Game (PS3), 6. Devil May Cry 3 HD (PS4), 5. Kingdom Hearts III (PS4), 4. Resident Evil 2 REMAKE (PS4), 3. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (PS4) 2. Resident Evil REMAKE (PS4) 1. Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded (PS4)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on May 10, 2019, 07:16:29 pm
Part 3 of my reviews


23. Sega Marine Fishing (Dreamcast): Fishing games are typically not my thing, nor have they ever been, however I remember reading an article in Gamepro Magazine back in the early 2000s at the very end of the Dreamcast's life about games you must play on the console. Sega Marine Fishing was one of those recommended games. Wanting to get all the milage out of my Dreamcast I could I decided to purchase the game and remember being pleasantly surprised by how fun and enjoyable it was. I haven't played Sega Marine Fishing since the early 2000s and my hope was that I'd still have the same high opinion of it now. While I still do find it highly enjoyable, it's just not as fun as I remember it being. Sega Marine Fishing has an incredible soundtrack; nearly every single track in the game is memorable and really makes you wish you were on an exotic fishing trip somewhere warm and tropical. Unfortunately that's the best thing about the game. The visuals in the game are nothing impressive, even for a game from that time, and the limited amount of stages and fish really make this game feel repetitive. However those limited stages and fish do look good despite some visual issues. Gameplay is alright; the fishing line tension meter which gauges how tense or loose the line is is fairly easy to manipulate, even though larger fish are supposed to add increased difficulty. I never had too much trouble bringing in any fish regardless of size. Still, it is exhilarating for a while to bring in a big fish, but unfortunately this novelty wears thin after a few hours. Adding to this game's replayability is the inclusion of Original Mode where you can unlock aquarium items, additional fishermen, additional lures, song remixes, and various other things. There are a lot of these items, however getting them all either means you're willing to replay the same 5 stages over and over again, catching the same 15 or so fish in the game, or you genuinely really like this game. Sega Marine Fishing is definitely a good game, I'm just not sure I agree with 2001 Gamepro's recommendation of this game being a "must play" on the Dreamcast. (5/10/19) [34/50]

24. Star Wars Trilogy Arcade (Arcade): When I was a kid one of my favorite places to go was our local Dave and Busters, and one of the arcade machines I always looked forward to playing the most of Star Wars Trilogy Arcade. Beyond the fact that I've loved Star Wars since Kindergarten, during the late 90s this game was the most authentic Star Wars experience around outside watching the movies. My love for this game was only enhanced by the Special Editions of the original trilogy coming out around this time as well. But regarding the game it is a superb on-rail shooter where you play through the most icon parts of the original three films, including some of the non-space battles such as getting off of Hoth and the forrest battle on Endor. The shooting controls which are mostly the same for both the ship and on foot sections of the game control wonderfully given you are playing a well maintained machine, but more on that in a minute. The part where the controls are somewhat let down are the lightsaber duels, of which there are two. One is against Boba Fett and one against Vader, both requiring you to place the joystick in the correct direction in a short period of time. This works alright when the directions are up, down, left, and right, however the diagonal inputs were always hit or miss, making these duels kind of janky. But overall this is a small gameplay blemish on what is otherwise a solid on-rail arcade game. The sound design is incredible bar some questionable voice acting, and the graphics are of very high quality for this period of time, arcade or otherwise. Despite all this, your mileage will vary depending on the state of the arcade machine you're playing on. The machine I played on tonight had a fairly loose joystick, making it difficult to aim, resulting in some cheap deaths and probably an extra two or three quarters required to beat this game. Not as impairing, but still annoying is that this game is prone to having damaged CRTs with burned Star Wars Trilogy Arcade logos forever etched into the screen. This distorts all the colors and some of the details for the remainder of the game, which on the machine I was playing on didn't distract too much, but it was still very unfortunate. Obviously the state of specific machines is not the fault of the game itself, but unless you've played this game on a very well maintained machine it can negatively impact your experience with this game, which is otherwise a classic from the late 90s. (5/16/19) [39/50]

25. Undertale (Switch): Ever since I first heard of this game I've heard nothing but how it's one of the best indie RPGs ever made, and is frequently praised on Tumblr and Reddit for being this work of genius. I'm always willing to give a game the benefit of the doubt, however from experience very few games live up to the monumental praise that sometimes surrounds them. Sadly, Undertale is no different. For the record, Undertale is not a bad game, it's just...okay. Perhaps my favorite thing about the game was the battle system which combined traditional turn based combat with SHMUP gameplay. In execution, however, this form of gameplay did not always work out, either because your movement speed or the game's tendency to throw way too much at you in order to reasonably dodge everything coming at you. This was especially true towards the end of the game. One other downside to the combat was the lack of emphasis on weapons and armor. The game encourages you to spare your enemies rather than defeat them, which is a net concept, but one I thought was slightly annoying. Outside of combat there are various puzzles you need to complete to progress, however all of them were very easy, offering little more than an unnecessary obstacle rather than a stimulating challenge. Undertale's story is fairly unique, as is the setting, characters, writing, and overall plot which throws you through a loop several times throughout the game to keep things interesting. Also, this is a very short game; I beat it in under 10-hours, which is more of a good thing as far as I'm concerned since most modern RPGs can be very longwinded and outstay their welcome by 20 or 30 hours sometimes. The music in this game was very nice too, as was the majority of the sound direction including the comical noises enemies made then their dialogue appeared on screen. Perhaps the thing I didn't like the most about Undertale were its visuals; the game was visually all over the place in terms of art direction and graphics, however it appears it was going for an old 1980s PC RPG look, which is a look a lot of modern retro-styled games don't go for. In addition to the visuals, the game came across as very pretentious sometimes, as was its copious use of quirkiness for the sake of being quirky. Overall, Undertale was far from being a bad game, in fact I'd say it was closer to being a pretty good game rather that a bad one, but for me it fell very firmly in that middle ground where it was something I mostly enjoyed while playing it, but likely will never play it again, nor will I remember much about it in several months. At least I can say I've played Undertale now lol. (5/27/19) [32/50]

26. Samurai Aces (Switch): When I bought the Psikyo Shooting Collections I knew full well that I wasn't the biggest fan of Psikyo developed shooters. Many of their shooters use a generic template that they simply reskinned for many of their top down shooters, and each one felt very similar to the previous one. And it all started with this game, Samurai Aces. The game is a decent looking shooter from a graphical and art style perspective; I really liked the hand drawn sprites and the industrialized mecha depiction of feudal Japan. However, my praise essentially ends there. The soundtrack, while not horrible, is very generic, and doesn't do anything to enhance your experience while playing. The gameplay is definitely below average, with very floating, delayed controls, and a bomb mechanic that still leaves you vulnerable about a second after deploying it, resulting it some cheap, frustrating deaths. On top of that, this is a very short game, even for a shooter; it took me under 20-minutes to beat the 7 stages in the game despite having to retry several times as a result of running out of continues. For a shooter, and especially for a video game in general, Samurai Aces is not that great. I've certainly played worse SHMUPs, but that's still not saying much. (6/1/19) [22/50]

27. Strikers 1945 (Switch): Often when playing shooters for the first time I'll automatically make comparisons to other shooters I've played that remind me of the game I'm playing in terms of style, mechanics, and just overall enjoyability. While playing the aforementioned Samurai Aces, my experience of it was so dull I thought I'd see how it compared to the second worst shooter I've ever played which also happens to be on the same Psikyo Shooting Collection volume as that game, Strikers 1945. I played Strikers 1945 on the PS1 several years ago during a SHMUP renaissance I went through about 3-years ago. I absolutely hated it in almost every possible way, however wanting to see how much better (or worse) Samurai Aces was, I decided to replay through it again. Occasionally I'll replay a game and think to myself, "what the hell was I thinking?" in terms of my initial impression of the game. Sometimes this means I think way less of a game when revisiting it, but often it means I actually have a way better time with it the second time around. I've attributed this to maybe my mood at the time I originally played it or some other factor that probably has less to do with the game and more to do with me. But anyhow, I certainly don't think Strikers 1945 is a masterpiece now, however I no longer believe it to be the abysmal piece of crap I've considered it to be for the last 3-years. Strikers 1945 is an okay shooter; the gameplay is certainly an improvement over Samurai Aces, especially in the first 5 stages or so where your ships movement is well balanced with the flow of enemy projectiles coming in your direction. The graphics are pretty cool, with large bosses that sometimes have multiple forms. The sound is still very meh, but I certainly have a better impression of it than I did the last time I played it. Where this game loses major points, and was probably a huge influence on my very low opinion of Strikers 1945 are the last few stages that take place in space; they are wildly imbalanced and essentially come down to you spamming all you bombs on the bosses because there is little chance you'll be able to beat them otherwise given how insanely fast and frequent the bullets are. It was this part of the game that really decreased my enthusiasm while playing since up until this point I was thinking my previous review was grossly inaccurate with how much fun I was having this time around with the game. Replaying Strikers 1945 taught me two things; one is that Samurai Aces is definitely an inferior game, and also that Strikers 1945 is not a terrible game, which is in my opinion the most valuable thing I picked up after playing both. (6/1/19) [24/50]

28. Forza Motorsport 4 (360): I am not ashamed to say that I am a Gran Turismo guy and have been since the second installment on the PS1. When Forza game along and claimed to be better than Gran Turismo I was highly skeptical, and it wasn't until Forza 2 that I put this claim to the test and found Microsoft's racing series to be severely wanting despite having many cars that the GT games didn't. While it has been a long time since playing Forza 2 and I'm fuzzy on what I didn't like about it, one thing I do remember is that I quit after about 10-hours with it out of boredom. Fast forward and I recently got the car bug again after a fairly long haitus, and my research led me to Forza 4 as the best in the series and one of the best racing sims ever created, supposedly. I have to say my impressions of Forza 4 are overall about the same as they were for Forza 2; initially I was enthralled by the great graphics, respectable roster of cars, and the great sounds the cars made, but as the luster of these things began to dull I was left with gameplay that felt a lot more arcade-like than it should have and a progression system that just felt lifeless, dull, and way too easy. I love how in Gran Turismo 4 you have to be careful about how you spend you money while progressing, and that every race feels challenging. In contrast Forza 4 just feels mundane and perfunctory as you progress. I played Forza 4 for about 10-hours before giving up on it, just like the 2nd one. Perhaps someday I'll give one of the XBONE titles a go, but for now i'll stick to Gran Turismo. (6/8/19) [35/50]

29. Banjo-Kazooie (N64): Banjo-Kazooie takes the solid groundwork that Super Mario 64 laid out by revolutionizing the 3D platformer genre and improves upon it in almost every way. The controls are just as solid, and you are given way more to collect and do throughout the game, as well as having more secrets to uncover makes exploring the game more of a treat. In terms of graphics, presentation, and art style I have to really give it to Banjo for one uping Super Mario 64 with its incredibly varied levels with their own themes, characters, enemies, and objectives; no two areas look alike and each level is memorable and fun in its own way. The only part of Banjo Kazooie I don't like as much as Super Mario 64 is its OST, which is a very hard act to follow given how timeless Super Mario 64's soundtrack is. Despite this, Banjo Kazooie makes up for not having as good of a soundtrack by giving characters hilarious, non sensical voices when they talk which add to the game's copious charm and charisma. With all of that you'd think I liked Banjo Kazooie more than Super Mario 64, and honestly they are incredibly close in my book, but Super Mario 64 just barely edges it out for me. I have nostalgia for both games as I owned and played both growing up, however super Mario 64 holds an incredibly special place in my heart as the game that transformed my interest in gaming from something I just did to something that defined me. And it is because of this that Super Mario 64 beats out Banjo Kazooie by only a hair. Still, Banjo Kazooie is an absolute classic and not just one of the finest 3D platformers ever made, but also one of the best games ever made, most certainly from its era. (6/21/19) [43/50]

30. Cruisn' USA (N64): More than any other arcade racing game I spent the most time as a kid with Cruisn' USA and its sequel Cruisn' World. A local Pizza Hut had a cab and I remember dropping a ton of change into it every time I'd go there with my mom. So when I found out one of my favorite arcade game was coming to home console I naturally was super excited. Shortly after getting my N64 I got Cruisn' USA and despite its shortcomings compared to the arcade version I absolutely loved playing it, and spent countless hours during the summer of 1997 playing this game with my friend Evan. Since then I haven't played the N64 version in quite some time, and even more so with the arcade version which I surprisingly don't see very often anymore. But given my memories of playing Cruisn' USA during the summer when I was 10, I thought it would be fun to play it again for old times sake. I do not say this about retro games often, but Cruisn' USA has not aged that well, in fact it's aged pretty bad. For starters the objects in the background and foreground in the stages look like cardboard cutouts, and everything else looks somewhat bland and pixelated as well. In terms of gameplay you mostly just dodge cars and the occasional obstacle in the road, but little else. At the time this game came out it wasn't that impressive either, especially since games like Outrun had been doing this well before Cruisn', just in 2D. The music is the same four or five tracks that are okay for the most part, but there is little various in the music Speaking of lack of variety, half the tracks in this stage take place in California, while some of the others are quite puzzling considering they had so many cool places in the US to create stages; why anyone would get excited about racing across Iowa or Indiana is beyond me. Luckily the gameplay is pretty good, with the controls being mostly accurate and tight, allowing you to easily dodge traffic and other hazards. Unfortunately going back and replaying Cruisn' USA was a little sobering as it really showed this games age and how it has essentially been made obsolete by far greater arcade style racers, some that even came out in the 90s. Still, I have a significant amount of nostalgia for this game, both in the arcades and on the N64, and that nostalgia certainly allows me to appreciate this game way more than someone who played this game long after this game came out originally. (6/22/19) [27/50]
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on May 11, 2019, 12:23:57 am
Finished a few more that I haven't added to the list yet.

21. Undertale (Switch) 4/29 - Beat
      Everyone seems to love this game, I sorta get it, but I don't think its as great as everyone else seems to

22. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4) 4/30 - Beat
      Another masterpiece if you ask me. My favorite of the Uncharted series hands down

23. Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita) 5/6 - Beat
      If you have a vita and you like Uncharted there's absolutely no reason not to play this game.

24. Mortal Kombat 11 (PS4) 5/8 - Beat
      Finished up the story mode and learned that I and fucking terrible at fighting games, although I did have a lot of fun with it. I'll continue to play this one with the wife mostly.


Currently Playing Final Fantasy 12 The Zodiac Age on the Switch. I'll save my comments on this till I beat it but holy shit am I having fun with it. Kinda kicking myself in the ass for not giving it more of a chance when it originally came out on the PS2
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: mizzach86 on May 11, 2019, 12:56:06 pm
3. Mega Man 4 (1991) [PS4]
Completion Requirements:
•   Acquired Wire and Balloon upgrades
•   Defeated final boss

I've been gradually playing through the Mega Man Legacy Collection over the past couple years and completed this one today. I think Mega Man 3 is my favorite, but this game is great also. I think the robot masters are harder to defeat even with the weapon that plays on their weakness compared to the first three games.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: mizzach86 on May 12, 2019, 12:50:59 pm
4. Batman: Arkham City (2011) [PS3]
Completion Requirements:
•   Finished the game 100%
•   Finished Catwoman DLC 100%
•   Finished Riddler’s Revenge DLC Maps 100%
•   Finished Harley Quinn’s Revenge 100%
•   Completed the above on normal and hard
•   Obtained Platinum Trophy

I beat the main story of this game last year, but I completed it fully as of today so I figured I put enough time into it to add it to this year's list. My thoughts remain the same, this is such an awesome game in every respect, especially for fans of Batman like myself. I look forward to playing Arkham Knight in the future and even revisiting Asylum and City through the Return to Arkham series.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on May 12, 2019, 08:45:29 pm
I beat Baldur's Gate last weekend, and I beat Astro Bot: Rescue Mission yesterday.

BG is still a great isometric RPG.  It's a bit rough and tumble and dense because of the systems it was built on, but once you get used to those it is a blast.

Astro Bot is freaking adorable.  It's a pretty solid platformer that has solid use of the VR mechanic.  However, it lacks any semblance of cohesiveness.  The worlds are all just through at you randomly with no sense of story or theme.  While it is mechanically solid it is also unfortunately easy.  I didn't 100% it, but if I wanted to I could have that done pretty quickly.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on May 15, 2019, 12:08:12 am
17 - Days Gone (PS4 2019) - BEAT - I was never very excited for this game, even as someone that enjoys open world games and zombies, but in the end, I think it's a good game.  Not one I'd super recommend right now, mostly because this game is kind of a mess.  Performance issues, especially in the later game areas, I had a couple crashes, with a third one being so bad, it like shutdown my PS4 and corrupted my save.  Luckily the auto/quick save was still good as otherwise I would've quit the game had I lost like...10 to 15 hours of time spent since my other save. 

Bugs and performance problems aside, it's a solid enough game.  Nothing amazing, but I think the story, characters, and voice acting did a lot to keep me invested.  I was actually surprised to find out that I knew who played the lead (Voice actor and previously known for the lead in the tv show Being Human) and he does a great job as Deacon.  He's not some rehashed take we've seen before and I think it makes him fairly memorable.

Again, I can't really recommend wholeheartedly due to the problems it has, but if they get to some serious patching, or you can get it real cheap, I'd say it's worth the time.  Honestly, I enjoyed it more than my time spent in Red Dead Redemption 2 lol
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on May 17, 2019, 06:59:53 am
Quote from: kamikazekeeg on May 15, 2019, 12:08:12 am
the story, characters, and voice acting did a lot to keep me invested.  I was actually surprised to find out that I knew who played the lead (Voice actor and previously known for the lead in the tv show Being Human) and he does a great job as Deacon.  He's not some rehashed take we've seen before and I think it makes him fairly memorable.

Yeah, Witwer is pretty great and underrated.  He's Starkiller in the Force Unleashed games and is the new voice of Darth Maul from the Star Wars cartoons and Rogue One and does other genre stuff on the reg.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on May 18, 2019, 01:55:01 am
18 - Godzilla (PS4 2014) - BEAT - With my Godzilla hype at peak levels, I of course had to dive back into the only playable modern Godzilla game, which is the 2014 release.  I needed to unlock Burning Godzilla still (I did), I wanted to max out the main Godzilla (I did), and I felt like playing through a few of the kaiju I haven't played yet.  This is only a few hours of play, its not a game that has any real length to it, it's mostly small modes that you can beat in under an hour, where the purpose is to regularly replay them to upgrade your kaiju. 

This still isn't a great game, it's just a great fanservice experience for Godzilla fans and only Godzilla fans.  I'm kinda hoping that within the next year we see a new version of this game with more depth to the missions, and a lot more kaiju.  They can replace 2014 Godzilla with the 2019 Godzilla (There is a slight difference lol), we can get Godzilla Earth, Shin Godzilla, and there are others that could be added to.  Those that aren't Godzilla would be like King Ceasar, Baragon, Megalon, Megaguirus, Titanosaurus, MUTO (The 2014 creatures), Orga, Monster X (Keizer Ghidorah), and I think there are still more.  I'm sure there's honestly tons of stuff they could add to the game in general to add more variety and depth, which is what this game sorely needs.  Please Bandai/Toho! PLEASE! I need a new Godzilla game that isn't a trashy F2P mobile experience that I will play, but will hate every moment of!
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on May 18, 2019, 10:27:12 am
Quote from: kamikazekeeg on May 18, 2019, 01:55:01 am
18 - Godzilla (PS4 2014) - BEAT - With my Godzilla hype at peak levels, I of course had to dive back into the only playable modern Godzilla game, which is the 2014 release.  I needed to unlock Burning Godzilla still (I did), I wanted to max out the main Godzilla (I did), and I felt like playing through a few of the kaiju I haven't played yet.  This is only a few hours of play, its not a game that has any real length to it, it's mostly small modes that you can beat in under an hour, where the purpose is to regularly replay them to upgrade your kaiju. 

This still isn't a great game, it's just a great fanservice experience for Godzilla fans and only Godzilla fans.  I'm kinda hoping that within the next year we see a new version of this game with more depth to the missions, and a lot more kaiju.  They can replace 2014 Godzilla with the 2019 Godzilla (There is a slight difference lol), we can get Godzilla Earth, Shin Godzilla, and there are others that could be added to.  Those that aren't Godzilla would be like King Ceasar, Baragon, Megalon, Megaguirus, Titanosaurus, MUTO (The 2014 creatures), Orga, Monster X (Keizer Ghidorah), and I think there are still more.  I'm sure there's honestly tons of stuff they could add to the game in general to add more variety and depth, which is what this game sorely needs.  Please Bandai/Toho! PLEASE! I need a new Godzilla game that isn't a trashy F2P mobile experience that I will play, but will hate every moment of!


This is one of those games I lucked out on getting. Target was clearancing out a bunch of PS4 games several years ago and this one was in the pile for like $15 or something. I had been interested in it since it was announced and picked it up. Since then it's been going up in price a lot. My copy is still sealed and given the current prices for the game it's hard for me to want to open it now, especially when I've heard it's not a very good game.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on May 18, 2019, 03:03:35 pm
Quote from: bikingjahuty on May 18, 2019, 10:27:12 am
This is one of those games I lucked out on getting. Target was clearancing out a bunch of PS4 games several years ago and this one was in the pile for like $15 or something. I had been interested in it since it was announced and picked it up. Since then it's been going up in price a lot. My copy is still sealed and given the current prices for the game it's hard for me to want to open it now, especially when I've heard it's not a very good game.

Oh geez, I didn't know it was going up in price like it was, seeing it for like 50 bucks on average used.  Pretty sure I got it pretty dang cheap too a long while back.  I definitely wouldn't recommend opening it just to play, even as a die hard fan in this case.  Like it's probably the best in terms of offering a Godzilla experience as most of the Godzilla games are a lot more cartoonish, but it's definitely not offering a lot as a game aside being able to play as a bunch of classic Godzilla characters.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on May 20, 2019, 08:30:10 pm
19 - Castlevania (NES/Switch 2019) - BEAT - Finally diving into this series as I never really played it in the past.  Here and there I've dabbled with the first two, but never really playing them, so with the new collection, that changes.  Starting things off with the first one and overall it's not bad.  I don't really like how Castlevania feels, the very stiff movement, which gets annoying in certain areas, but the game is actually quite lenient in that it has no continues, so at the worst, if you run out of lives, you just restart the level.  I used save states near bosses to alleviate some of the repetitiveness, which made the bosses more tolerable as I found Grim Reaper and Frankenstein/Igor kinda of obnoxious with the stiff movement to fight.  I eventually beat Grim Reaper with no hits (My save only had one hit left and I wasn't getting any better runs up lol) and mostly just brute forced Frankenstein/Igor.

In the end, it's abit of a better game than I expected, but I know things are taking a turn with with Castlevania 2.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on May 20, 2019, 09:31:47 pm
I love the Castlevania series and the Collection makes me super happy that I can finally play 3 (and the Japanese version when the patch comes).

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is pretty easily the worst of the new trilogy.  It’s not a bad game, just not as good as the first two, which are both pretty phenomenal.

Double Dragon Neon is a terrific update to a classic that is also wickedly funny.  A great way to kill an afternoon.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on May 21, 2019, 07:31:56 pm
20 - Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest (NES/Switch 2019) - BEAT - I know this game has quite the reputation within gaming culture, one of the big "bads" of the classic era, but honestly? It's not the worst.  Like it's not good, it's just really boring.  Exploration sucks, figuring out stuff sucks, it's just not fun.  I do like the basic RPG aspects they added, it's actually a better take than what Zelda 2 did, because at least the core gameplay is still in tact, it's just a lame setup.  Dumb game, never touching it again, onto Castlevania 3.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: vivigamer on May 22, 2019, 04:16:37 am
Just Beat:
12. Wolfenstein: The New Order (PS4):
Replayingthis was just a treat, it's just a very well made game from start to finish! I love the bold direction this title took the series in which is just so rich in it's vision for telling it's alternative history story. What also surprised me is just how much I enjoyed the story for it being a FPS - It had many NPC characters that were compelling to follow during the story. One interesting nod was to the previous game on P360/PS3 (Wolfenstein 2009), Which a character recalls events to it... making it canon to this reboot... which I found very bizzare considering the dev team even stated their dislike for it... - Thought it is something I may consider playing now, as I really liked the adaptation of the character in The New Order.


As for the gameplay, it's certainly my type of shooter! As I mentioned with The Old Blood, I don't tend to use the aim function, but focus on moving my characters position and find myself getting precise accuracy without it better - While aiming the directional input of the Right Analogue just feels more constricting, so I prefer to aim without it. I had a lot of fun with this game and I also enjoyed the intermission periods within the resistance camp. For a FPS, the game really allows you time with the supporting cast, which is really appreciated! I had fun focusing on the Perks - Getting Kills in certain ways to unlock abilities and found the game very engaging. I'm not quite sure where they are going with the Alternative Timeline feature, as the NPC you choose to support doesn't seem to make much a difference in the overall story at all.

Great game overall though! As I said I don't usually get on with FPS titles, but this is easily among the best I've played & I hope the sequel continues that level of quality - Which I can now begin with buying the Season Pass on sale.


Playing:
Wolfenstein II (PS4)

Plan to play:
Wolfenstein (PS3)
Ni No Kuni (PS3)
Vampyr (PS4)
Devil May Cry 1 (PS4)
Lost Planet (Xbox 360)
Final Fantasy VII (PC if I can get a solid build)

Beaten List:
12. Wolfenstein: The New Order (PS4), 11. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PS4), 10. Final Fantasy V (GBA), 9. Firewatch (PS4), 8. Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (PS4), 7. The Simpsons Game (PS3), 6. Devil May Cry 3 HD (PS4), 5. Kingdom Hearts III (PS4), 4. Resident Evil 2 REMAKE (PS4), 3. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (PS4) 2. Resident Evil REMAKE (PS4) 1. Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded (PS4)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on May 26, 2019, 03:58:39 am
21 - Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (NES/Switch 2019) - BEAT - After the disappointment that was Castlevania 2, I am glad to say that I finally hit a CV I can say I like.  It's definitely a big improvement over the first game and as the influence for Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, it actually has given me a lot more respect for that game.  That said, it's still the kinda clunky Castlevania movement and action and it's still not done the best at times.  Some of the levels were bullshit later on, though generally all the bosses felt better to fight.  I did save scum the crap out of the game to keep my sanity intact and even then, this game gets hard as hell with how much damage you take and how easy it is to die.

It's not a game I'll ever play again, bu so far it is definitely the best one.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on May 26, 2019, 07:31:09 am
Quote from: kamikazekeeg on May 26, 2019, 03:58:39 am
21 - Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (NES/Switch 2019) - BEAT - After the disappointment that was Castlevania 2, I am glad to say that I finally hit a CV I can say I like.  It's definitely a big improvement over the first game and as the influence for Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, it actually has given me a lot more respect for that game.  That said, it's still the kinda clunky Castlevania movement and action and it's still not done the best at times.  Some of the levels were bullshit later on, though generally all the bosses felt better to fight.  I did save scum the crap out of the game to keep my sanity intact and even then, this game gets hard as hell with how much damage you take and how easy it is to die.

It's not a game I'll ever play again, bu so far it is definitely the best one.

There's a patch coming that is going to make the Japanese version of the games available - and CV III is going to benefit the most from that.  THe music is substantially better and the game is easier overall.  I'm actually holding off on this one for that reason.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on May 26, 2019, 06:38:23 pm
Two more done and with that I'm at the halfway point.

25. Super Monkey Ball Banana Splitz (Vita) 5/11 - Beatish
I used to love Super Monkey Ball 2 on the NGC so I figured Super Monkey Ball Banana Splitz on the Vita would be a great game as well… I was kinda wrong lol. It turns out Banana Splitz doesn’t really have a story mode, instead they have these arcade style challenge modes where you have to get through a chunk of levels with a limited number of continues. I blew through the Beginner mode and cleared Normal mode in one night, but Expert mode… well fuck expert mode. Calling this beat

26. Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age (Switch) 5/26 - Beat
I have to say I have mixed feelings about this one, mostly good though. Final Fantasy XII was the first main, non-mmo game in the series to really break away from the traditional turn-based combat; back when it was first released this kinda turned me off but coming back to this game after so many years it really is refreshing. The gambit system was/is rather innovative, allowing you to almost automate your combat choices giving you the freedom to really focus on switching things up on the fly when shit got crazy, the only issue with this is shit almost never gets crazy. I was pretty much able to brute force the entire game, never really needing to use magic or any strategy really. I know there are insane optional bosses that can really test you, but it would have been nice to have a little more challenge in the main game. With all that said the story was amazing, the level and sound design was on point, and this ended up becoming one of my favorite Final Fantasy games.

Now playing Final Fantasy VII
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on May 27, 2019, 12:03:43 pm
Newest review:


25. Undertale (Switch): Ever since I first heard of this game I've heard nothing but how it's one of the best indie RPGs ever made, and is frequently praised on Tumblr and Reddit for being this work of genius. I'm always willing to give a game the benefit of the doubt, however from experience very few games live up to the monumental praise that sometimes surrounds them. Sadly, Undertale is no different. For the record, Undertale is not a bad game, it's just...okay. Perhaps my favorite thing about the game was the battle system which combined traditional turn based combat with SHMUP gameplay. In execution, however, this form of gameplay did not always work out, either because your movement speed or the game's tendency to throw way too much at you in order to reasonably dodge everything coming at you. This was especially true towards the end of the game. One other downside to the combat was the lack of emphasis on weapons and armor. The game encourages you to spare your enemies rather than defeat them, which is a net concept, but one I thought was slightly annoying. Outside of combat there are various puzzles you need to complete to progress, however all of them were very easy, offering little more than an unnecessary obstacle rather than a stimulating challenge. Undertale's story is fairly unique, as is the setting, characters, writing, and overall plot which throws you through a loop several times throughout the game to keep things interesting. Also, this is a very short game; I beat it in under 10-hours, which is more of a good thing as far as I'm concerned since most modern RPGs can be very longwinded and outstay their welcome by 20 or 30 hours sometimes. The music in this game was very nice too, as was the majority of the sound direction including the comical noises enemies made then their dialogue appeared on screen. Perhaps the thing I didn't like the most about Undertale were its visuals; the game was visually all over the place in terms of art direction and graphics, however it appears it was going for an old 1980s PC RPG look, which is a look a lot of modern retro-styled games don't go for. In addition to the visuals, the game came across as very pretentious sometimes, as was its copious use of quirkiness for the sake of being quirky. Overall, Undertale was far from being a bad game, in fact I'd say it was closer to being a pretty good game rather that a bad one, but for me it fell very firmly in that middle ground where it was something I mostly enjoyed while playing it, but likely will never play it again, nor will I remember much about it in several months. At least I can say I've played Undertale now lol. (5/27/19) [32/50]
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on May 27, 2019, 12:23:56 pm
I finished Ashen this morning, which is a pretty solid indie Souls-like.  I love the aesthetic and it was nice to play one of these games that was optimistic for a change.  Usually these are dour affairs about the end of the world, and Ashen is actually about the awakening of the world.  Pretty solid voice acting all around.  The biggest drawback is that the game is very linear, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it disincentivized world exploration.  If you like the Souls games pick this one up and give it a shot.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on May 27, 2019, 09:36:11 pm
22 - Castlevania: The Adventure (Gameboy/Switch 2019) - BEAT - Figured before I went into Super Castlevania IV, that I'd do the Gameboy games first and went in kinda expecting not very much.  While the GB version of Castlevania really isn't any better than the NES ones, I might be alright with it more? I don't really love Castlevania yet, it's an alright series with kinda clunky gameplay (As of the NES games),  but because Adventure is such a stripped down and short experience, it's kind of a good time.  I only had annoyances with one enemy type, I wasn't asked to do tons of platforming that felt too bad, and there wasn't much time when it asking more out of what I was capable of.  I wasn't swarmed with enemies and the boss fights were simple, but mostly reasonable (Except for the lizard men fight...kinda annoying).  The game is totally okay.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on May 28, 2019, 06:52:51 pm
Quote from: kamikazekeeg on May 27, 2019, 09:36:11 pm
22 - Castlevania: The Adventure (Gameboy/Switch 2019) - BEAT - Figured before I went into Super Castlevania IV, that I'd do the Gameboy games first and went in kinda expecting not very much.  While the GB version of Castlevania really isn't any better than the NES ones, I might be alright with it more? I don't really love Castlevania yet, it's an alright series with kinda clunky gameplay (As of the NES games),  but because Adventure is such a stripped down and short experience, it's kind of a good time.  I only had annoyances with one enemy type, I wasn't asked to do tons of platforming that felt too bad, and there wasn't much time when it asking more out of what I was capable of.  I wasn't swarmed with enemies and the boss fights were simple, but mostly reasonable (Except for the lizard men fight...kinda annoying).  The game is totally okay.

I just finished this one myself.  I agree with pretty much everything you said, though I found the last boss to be the toughest.  The platforming was sluggish, but generally fine.  For a Game Boy game of its age I thought it was as solid as could be.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on May 28, 2019, 07:00:01 pm
Quote from: Cartagia on May 28, 2019, 06:52:51 pm
Quote from: kamikazekeeg on May 27, 2019, 09:36:11 pm
22 - Castlevania: The Adventure (Gameboy/Switch 2019) - BEAT - Figured before I went into Super Castlevania IV, that I'd do the Gameboy games first and went in kinda expecting not very much.  While the GB version of Castlevania really isn't any better than the NES ones, I might be alright with it more? I don't really love Castlevania yet, it's an alright series with kinda clunky gameplay (As of the NES games),  but because Adventure is such a stripped down and short experience, it's kind of a good time.  I only had annoyances with one enemy type, I wasn't asked to do tons of platforming that felt too bad, and there wasn't much time when it asking more out of what I was capable of.  I wasn't swarmed with enemies and the boss fights were simple, but mostly reasonable (Except for the lizard men fight...kinda annoying).  The game is totally okay.

I just finished this one myself.  I agree with pretty much everything you said, though I found the last boss to be the toughest.  The platforming was sluggish, but generally fine.  For a Game Boy game of its age I thought it was as solid as could be.

The last boss seemed really challenging at first till I found out he has a ridiculously easy pattern in both forms and I was able to basically do it without getting hit by the end lol I had way more trouble with the Frog Men and the...harpy thing that flies around.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on May 28, 2019, 07:21:03 pm
Yeah, once I got the pattern it wasn’t too bad.  The only issues I had at that point were the platforming.  It was not easy to jump and hit at the same time.

It’s not a good game, but I don’t think it deserves quite all the shit that gets piled on it.  For what it is, with the technical limitations it’s fine.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on May 29, 2019, 11:05:03 pm
27. Castlevania (Anniversary Collection) (Switch) 5/29 - beat

Everyone else is doing it so I figured why the hell not. This is one of those games that I always loved as a kid but just never really could beat, so I figured it was time to sit down and finish the damn thing. What can you say about Castlevania that hasn’t been said before? It’s amazing; there’s a reason this one is considered a classic. Except for the Grim Reaper, fuck that guy…
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on May 30, 2019, 05:10:51 am
23 - Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge (Gameboy/Switch 2019) - BEAT - The last of the pre-16 bit games in the collection and I gotta say that it's also not bad, though it's pretty easy up till the very end, even with save states in mind, but like it's all very tight and plays well and movement might be the best out of all the Castlevania's so far.  I'm not likely to ever replay these ones, but both the Gameboy games are very reasonable games.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on June 01, 2019, 01:21:57 pm
Halfway through the year, and a little over halfway through 52 games! Just posted my 26th and 27th reviews on page 8 :)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: vivigamer on June 05, 2019, 02:31:24 am
Just Beat:
13. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (PS4)

I've heard this game has quite a bad rep'... I'm genuinely not sure why after playing it! I do feel the story is hit or miss, I enjoyed most of the content, but if i am honest I didn't like the new cast members. I did however enjoy the attention to BJ's backstory, which was one fo the highlights for me. There are a lot of good moments to I won't spoiler them but the game is certainly diverse in the locations you explore again and the art direction just shines so brightly with it's alternative history theme - They have these wild adaptations of Motorbikes! I will say the ending lacked the momentum needed but it was no way near as bad as people make out.

The game has a 'hub' system to explore between levels like the previous game, which I would say is more expanded, with training missions, mini-games, sidequests and extra missions all available. You can also talk to the crew as the story progresses, which like the first game is great for character building. The games difficulty was also hit and miss - The problem I has was with the checkpoint system, it doesn't recover your health at 100% but 50% So If I were to die at a certain area  and repsawn, i'd be at a further disadvantage than I was when I started the confrontation - the game has a save state system but lacking the foresight of when an encounter is going to happen I can't pre-pare for that. .One thing which puzzled me for a while was upgrading the Pistol to have a silencer through the games new Upgrade Kit system, but as soon as I understood that and upgraded it, I was back to the familiar play style of the 1st game.

But overall a great game! I haven't played the DLC but from what I gather it doesn't even included story content related to the games story itself... so I might skip it.

Playing:
Spyro The Dragon - Reignited (PS4)

Plan to play:
Wolfenstein (PS3)
Ni No Kuni (PS3)
Vampyr (PS4)
Devil May Cry 1 (PS4)
Lost Planet (Xbox 360)
Final Fantasy VII (PC if I can get a solid build)

Beaten List:
13. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (PS4), 12. Wolfenstein: The New Order (PS4), 11. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PS4), 10. Final Fantasy V (GBA), 9. Firewatch (PS4), 8. Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (PS4), 7. The Simpsons Game (PS3), 6. Devil May Cry 3 HD (PS4), 5. Kingdom Hearts III (PS4), 4. Resident Evil 2 REMAKE (PS4), 3. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (PS4) 2. Resident Evil REMAKE (PS4) 1. Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded (PS4)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on June 08, 2019, 04:23:29 pm
8. Sonic Mania(PS4)

I can not praise this game enough! It has all the feel and charm of the classic Sonic games with cool new mechanics and new gameplay options and it was still fun even though this was my 4th time playing through. If you love Sonic you will love this game, it's my second favorite Sonic game only behind Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Also if you haven't picked it up on PS4 yet it's FREE on PS+ this month, which is an absolute steal for this game.
Time: 10 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: ignition365 on June 10, 2019, 09:02:40 am
Main List (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg162655.html#msg162655)

Previous List (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg165825.html#msg165825)

Quote from: Legend
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.

81. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (X1)
I've already beaten this before, but I never did any of the Side/Extra Ops, so now I'm going through and doing some of that stuff.  Seems like all of the side ops stuff are during the day time, which sucks because this game plays best and easiest as a night time mission stuff.  I knew nothing of the MGS story when I played this so I missed so much when it came to Paz and Chico and other references in general, so I have such a greater appreciation for the story of MGSV overall due to playing the other games, but especially Peace Walker.  It really makes me want to replay Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain from scratch to truly appreciate all the things that meant nothing to me on the first playthrough.
Rating: Great connector between Peace Walker and Phantom Pain, nice bite size game. Recommended.

82. Code Vein (X1)
A gentleman on one of the discords I'm on was giving away codes for games, and I grabbed this one.  I've been mildly interested in this game for some time because of the Souls comparisons and the Anime themes, but the game largely went under the radar so I just let it go because it must've been bad.  Started playing the game as soon as I got the code, and I'm really enjoying it. I really didn't update on this game as I was playing it, but it's damned good and deserved more fanfare than it got.  It's an absolutely solid Souls like game, with a decent story and characters.  The equipment is my only complaint, and it's mostly because I just didn't follow what mattered and made a difference.
Rating: Highly Recommended.

83. Death Stranding (PS4)
See Game Challenge 2020 (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php?topic=10536.msg173290#msg173290)

Dragon Quest XI (PS4)
This is my alternate game that I'll play during the day when my kid is awake.  I was hesitant to play this because the switch version is coming later this year and will add more content, but I already bought this, so I'm gonna give it a try.  So far, I already feel like this game would play better being handheld, so ugh.  It's slow going and I'm not at a point in the game where I'm really into it, so we'll see as I progress, but I'm foreseeing that this game will wind up like DQ8 where I'm under leveled because of no random battles and I can ignore a lot of enemies.
Rating: Abandoned pending Switch release.
See Game Challenge 2020 (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php?topic=10536.msg173290#msg173290)

85. Wreckfest (X1)
See Game Challenge 2021 (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,11230.msg185665.html#msg185665)

84. Pixel Lines DX: 500 more puzzles (NS)
Current Progress: 136/500
Really don't and won't have much to say on this, it's a link-a-pix game like the previous entry in the series.  I'm already over 10% done with it and I just started it yesterday, I will likely finish it before the end of the year... might wind up being my last game beat for the year too.  Didn't get too close to my goal, but I did play a lot of longer games.  I got to a point where I was just hating this game and constantly seeing this game whenever I closed my eyes.  So I abandoned it.  Might come back one day.

86. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (X1)
Current Progress: Beginning
I started this up because my wife sort of insisted on it over my other choices.  I have abandoned this game before, but I didn't have my save data so I straight up started over.  1st playthrough was a Claptrap playthrough, this time I did Athena.  I probably got just as far as I got last time before I abandoned it when I abandoned it this time.  I'm going to try with this game at some point, but I want to get through this before even thinking about trying Borderlands 3.

87. Days Gone (PS4)
Current Progress: Beginning
Started up this game while Pre-sequel was installing and updating.  I've heard nothing good about this game... matter of fact, I've heard almost nothing about this game, so I know that doesn't bode well.  I played a bit and found the character and interactions to all be very sluggish and almost annoying, so I abandoned it, I'll definitely come back, but I'm definitely feeling playing Metal Gear games right now.

88. The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker (PS4)
Current Progress: Day 4 I think
Started up this game a while back and it's an interesting game, but I abandoned it for better games.  Interesting characters, but the stuff I saw before I bought it made it seem like you could ask your own questions, but the game doesn't seem to.  I ask a question, get nothing.  Click through the provided questions.  Then I ask that same first question, and now I get a response, but it's the exact response I got from one of the provided questions.  So it's not like you can use your own intelligence to piece things together to decide "Oh, I should ask this" because it doesn't work.  Very disappointing and misleading.

89. Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (X1BC)
Current Progress: Beginning
Started this shortly after completing Witcher 3, bad idea, I should've played this first if I was gonna do it.  The QoL improvements in 3 are worlds above 2.  This feels like playing Codename 47 after playing Hitman Absolution.

90. Life is Strange: Before the Storm (PS4)
Current Progress: Episode 1: Train Depot
Started this up at my wife's insistence.  Played a little and got bored, so I started up something else.  Will definitely try to come back to it.

91. Flinthook (NS)
Current Progress: Uug or some fuck.
I've put in about an hour so far into this game and I'm enjoying it well enough... but I'm concerned that this is a Risk of Rain thing where the game doesn't really end.  I'm having trouble finding any form of a walkthrough online that would detail the game and HLTB doesn't have very many results for the game and it's average is quite large for a platformer.  So I'm seeing that this game is really made for you to die and rerun through areas over and over and over.  I'm really not a fan of that.  I got to the second boss, died just before killing the boss, so now I have to start over.  This is only the second boss, I'm going to wind up abandoning this game for something less annoying.  I got all the way to the 3rd boss and died when he had like 100 health left.  I got flustered and I took a lot of damage early on because he spammed putting bullseyes on the hooks and not letting me have an opportunity to damage him.  He literally spit out bullseyes 5 times in a row.  I'm getting real close to abandoning this game.  I've already listed my PS4 copy on ebay because I know I'm NEVER revisiting this game.

92. Mages of Mystralia (PS4)
Current Progress: Sky Temple
After finishing Lili, I asked my wife to pick between a couple of games for what I should play next, she chose this.  I think I was expecting something slightly different, mostly in the isometric perspective.  The controls and design lean more towards a twin stick shooter than a Zelda type thing as they expect you to aim and attack at more than 8 different angles... one of the twin stick things I've not been great with.  Game crashed on first run during the intro, so on second run I had to skip the intro... apparently this is a known thing.

93. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble (SNES)
See Game Challenge 2021 (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,11230.msg185665.html#msg185665)

94. Sniper Elite 3 (PS4)
Current Progress: Mission 2
Been wanting to continue this franchise for some time after really enjoying Sniper Elite V2.  So far, I'm not really enjoying this entry, but I think it's just the getting used to the controls again.

Code of Princess EX
Current Progress: Stage 16
I thought I had stuff written for this game, but it wasn't here, so I'm writing this shit months after having abandoned the game.  The game was moderately enjoyable up until this stage.  The game's difficulty ramped up to a point that I just can't be bothered with this game.
Rating: Abandoned

Wild Arms 3 (PS4)
Current Progress: Little Rock
I started up this game at some point shortly after it came out on PS4.  Then I picked it back up last year when I needed a baby friendly game to play while my son is paying attention now that he's paying attention to things.  So this game is going to be played when I kind of can't play other games.  Finished the Prologue at some point last year and finished up the beginning train section on New Years.  So I'm just at the beginning of the game.  I love this game because of its part Zelda puzzle dungeon stuff and part traditional turn based RPG.  But 2 major complaints about this game that I forgot about.  1. The random battles while you are trying to solve a puzzle, it's frustrating having to do the like 15 steps of a puzzle, but having like 30 random battles, makes the puzzles less enjoyable because you have to essentially figure them out all over again after each battle, because who remembers what the puzzle was between the battles.  2. The games HIGH use of status effects.  After getting through the prologue stuff, almost every battle, random or boss, deals with you being given a plethora of status effects, so you are constantly having to manage curing these ailments and managing to keep remedies on hand for all of the 10 or so different status effects.  And some of the status effects are just plum pains in the ass.  Amnesia being the most annoying personally, because if you end a battle with Amnesia, you gain 0XP.  I've got one character with like 2k more xp overall than one of my other characters because he never gets amnesia and she ALWAYS gets amnesia.  Given battle will gain you about 20-30XP, with bosses handing out like 200-300xp.  Played quite a bit over the weekend and forgot to save all weekend... wound up at THE HARDEST battle of the entire game and I was woefully under prepared, so I game over'd 15 times before giving up, lost all progress.  Not coming back to this for a long time.
Rating: Abandoned.

Final Stats (https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,9921.msg173552.html#msg173552)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on June 13, 2019, 08:11:58 pm
9. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker(Switch)

I've been wanting to play this for a while but it always got pushed to the side for other games that came out. It's definitely a fun little puzzle game but, it's much shorter than I thought it would be. The camera and movement can be a bit funky sometimes feeling like it doesn't have 3D movement. I would only recommend this if you're a big fan of puzzles and Mario, otherwise I would skip out on it.

Time: 15-20 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on June 15, 2019, 01:13:12 am
11 - Crypt of the Necrodancer (PC 2015) - BEAT - Finally finished what I'm counting as "beat", which is Cadence's story.  The game still continues afterwards as I think all characters have their own story, but this is something I'll casually keep playing on my own for awhile probably, but I mostly wanted to hit a point of "beating" it before I jumped into Cadence of Hyrule. 

This game is a fun time.  Normally I don't like these kind of a randomized loot games, I never beat them or get very far as seen by Rogue Legacy, Binding of Isaac, Enter the Gungeon, they sorta just come down to luck most of the time.  Crypt does it better as there isn't much you can pick up that is a negative to you and they offer up a way for you to start the level with gear if you have diamonds from your previous run.  It also tells you what you'll be getting with each item, which was a huge problem in Binding of Isaac where there was so much shit and no way to tell if it was good or not.  Being able to play with your own music is pretty neat too.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on June 15, 2019, 08:02:04 pm
10. Clu Clu Land(NES Nintendo Switch Online)

A fun and simple game that gets very hard in the later levels. I'm not sure if this game has an "end" persay but the levels started recycling after level 40 so that's where I finished it.

Time: 10 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on June 16, 2019, 08:54:52 am
The GF and I beat Resident Evil 5 co-op yesterday.  It's basically RE4 but without the charm or fun.  I'm glad I waited to actually play this one co-op, because if I had tried to play with an AI companion I would have lost my mind.  There a couple of encounters that are just too obtuse to be expected to be beat quickly without a guide, and trying to trial and error them with an online companion would have bee nightmare-ish.  It's not horrible, but its alright at best.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on June 16, 2019, 02:27:19 pm
11. Double Dragon II: The Revenge(NES Nintendo Switch Online)

Never played it before, it's simple enough to learn and quite fun but, pretty short.

Time: 2 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on June 17, 2019, 06:00:46 pm
25 - Cadence of Hyrule (Switch 2019) - BEAT - Absolutely charming little game.  Was such a surprise to initially see and after picking up Crypt of the Necrodancer, I was looking forward to the game.  It has great art, great music, and while it's not overly hard and it's rather short, it doesn't feel like it's wasting any of my time or that its dragging on for too long.  It's really just a classic Zelda game, but with a rhythm based combat style.  if you are a Zelda fan, you will likely enjoy it.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bfbeam on June 17, 2019, 06:02:19 pm
Quote from: kamikazekeeg on June 17, 2019, 06:00:46 pm
25 - Cadence of Hyrule (Switch 2019) - BEAT - Absolutely charming little game.  Was such a surprise to initially see and after picking up Crypt of the Necrodancer, I was looking forward to the game.  It has great art, great music, and while it's not overly hard and it's rather short, it doesn't feel like it's wasting any of my time or that its dragging on for too long.  It's really just a classic Zelda game, but with a rhythm based combat style.  if you are a Zelda fan, you will likely enjoy it.

Is there any hope for this game getting a physical release? It sounds like a fun experience from everything I hear but I'd rather be able to put it back on a shelf when I beat it.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on June 17, 2019, 06:12:19 pm
Quote from: bfbeam on June 17, 2019, 06:02:19 pm
Quote from: kamikazekeeg on June 17, 2019, 06:00:46 pm
25 - Cadence of Hyrule (Switch 2019) - BEAT - Absolutely charming little game.  Was such a surprise to initially see and after picking up Crypt of the Necrodancer, I was looking forward to the game.  It has great art, great music, and while it's not overly hard and it's rather short, it doesn't feel like it's wasting any of my time or that its dragging on for too long.  It's really just a classic Zelda game, but with a rhythm based combat style.  if you are a Zelda fan, you will likely enjoy it.

Is there any hope for this game getting a physical release? It sounds like a fun experience from everything I hear but I'd rather be able to put it back on a shelf when I beat it.

If it didn't get one already, then I'm going to say it's not very likely.  It's only option would be Limited Run Games, but none of the games they've done on Switch have anything to do with an official Nintendo property.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on June 24, 2019, 05:16:32 am
24 - Super Castlevania (SNES/Switch 2019) - BEATG - Took a little break from the collection, but came back to finish this up just to have it done before Bloodstained, which I'll have today.  Overall I really enjoyed the game.  Most of the challenge made sense outside of a couple things towards the end that drove me nuts.  Compared to the previous ones, being able to attack in multiple directions is so necessary.  It makes Castlevania way less obnoxious and I'm annoyed to see that Bloodlines goes back to the older style of no multi-angle attacks.

Super Castlevania is definitely gonna be my favorite one so far, with Castlevania 3 following up behind it.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on June 24, 2019, 07:14:34 am
If you play as Lecarde instead of John Morris you get more directional attack options (and the game is way easier).
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on June 24, 2019, 10:55:26 am
Part 4


31 and 32. Maximum Force (Arcade)/Area 51 (Arcade): To my surprise a local barcade near my house had a Maximum Force/Area 51 combo cabinet, which was amazing for a few reasons. The most obvious was that I could replay the arcade version of Maximum Force again, something I haven't been able to do since probably the early/mid 2000s on account machines for that game are hella hard to come by. I also get the added bonus of being able to play Area 51, which has always been one of my favorite and most nostalgic arcade games. But also for a more personal reason that made coming across this cabinet so special. Yesterday was my birthday and every year for my birthday I choose to spend the whole day celebrating it by doing things I don't typically do, many of which I used to do as a kid. One example of this is going to a laser tag place that has been around since I was in third grade, or at least that's the first time I ever went there. The place is called Laser Quest and it's bar none the best laser tag I've ever played, mostly because it takes place in a huge two story maze, you get a heavy duty vest and a big laser gun, it's dark with black lights and neon paint everywhere, and they play excellent techno music while you frag other people. It's an incredibly fun, immersive, and for me, nostalgic experience that never grows old for me. One other attraction of Laser Quest is their selection of arcade games, which unfortunately isn't what it used to be. Back in the day they had all the wall space in their lobby filled with arcade games, one of which was the Area 51/Maximum Force combo cabinet, as well as a dedicated Area 51 machine at one time. It was where I first played both games, and especially Area 51 left a lasting impression on me. However, both cabinets are long gone, but regardless things ended up working out in the end. I went to Laser Quest around 2:30pm yesterday, played a couple of games with my girlfriend, my brother and his girlfriend, and then later that evening after dinner and presents I went to the barcade with my girlfriend. It was there that I played through both Maximum Force and Area 51. So just like when I was a kid I got to enjoy the amazing experience of going to Laser Quest, but also got to play both arcade games that heavily reminded me of being kid again, even though I ended up playing them some place else. But with all that out of the way, here are my thoughts on the arcade versions of Maximum Force and Area 51. Maximum Force has always been second fiddle to Area 51 in my book despite looking better than its older brother. Both games were developed by the same people at Atari, and you can definitely see how they tried making Maximum Force a better game. The FMV terrorists and civilians look a lot higher quality than the aliens and zombies in Area 51, as do the levels, but that's about all this game has above its light gun predecessor. Neither game has that great of a soundtrack or sound fx, but Area 51's is slightly better due to its OST lending to its scifi theme, while Maximum Force's just checks all the boxes, amounting to little more than a generic action game score. Gameplay is pretty much identical across both games. One issue I have with both titles is shooting enemies on the edge of the screen, which often registers as you reloading instead; this can result in a lot of cheap hits to you, but otherwise the shooting gameplay is fine, pretty accurate, and very enjoyable. Despite all this however, Area 51 is still my favorite mostly because it's always been the more memorable game, which I think few would argue against. Still, both are classic staples of 1990s arcades and definitely worth playing through if you grew up with these two great games! (6/23/19) Area 51 [32/50], Maximum Force [31/50]

33. Nights into Dreams (Saturn): I don't use the word "special" to describe many games, but there is no doubt that Nights can certainly be described as such. While I do fully admit that I have a massive amount of nostalgia for this game which certainly contributes towards me feeling this game is special, the game is just so imaginative, creative, light-hearted, and unique that it's impossible to say that it isn't. At the time it came out there was nothing like it and even to this day there are few games capable of capturing the wonder and innocence within this Nights. Lending itself to this specialness are the game's vibrant and surreal visuals which really capture not only the aesthetic of many Sega games of the mid to late 90s, but also the qualities of what you'd expect to see in a child's dream, which is the main theme and setting of this game. While the graphics are very blocking and crude by today's standards, at the time this was an impressive game visually and that's how I am judging it; I also have a soft spot for early 3D games like this, but that's something that goes more towards my person score of the game. The soundtrack is incredible and while playing it continually brought a smile to my face in nearly every level of the game. Where the game does show some noticeable flaws in the gameplay. The controls, while mostly good, can be a bit unresponsive at times and I dare say inaccurate when you need them to be anything but. This might have to do with me not using the 3D controller which is what was bundled with the game, but while playing it seemed to be more of an issue with the game's programming itself. Also, this is a very short and very easy game for the most part; some of the bosses can provide a bit of a challenge, and if you are playing for scores than it can be particularly challenging, but to beat the game is not a terribly hard feat. It kind of baffles me that I am just being the game now in 2019 even though I've played and owned the game many times over the last 23-years its been out. Despite Nights' gameplay flaws, it is still a highly enjoyable game, and one that hits the scratches the nostalgia itch better than 95% of any game I played as a kid. This game will forever remain a very special game to me for the rest of my life. (6/25/19) [41/50]

34. Waverace 64 (N64): if we're talking extremely nostalgic games, Waverace 64 is hard to beat. I didn't originally own Waverace 64 back in the day, but it was a favorite rental of mine during the early days of the N64; something about racing jet skis in a very summery setting (mostly) with the cool, calm music in the background really resonated with me, and still does. Even to this day the water and wave physics and how they effect your jet ski are still very impressive, and were even more so back in 1996. However the cool water physics are what sort of make and break this game for me. I love how your craft's handling is so dramatically effected by the water in front of you, however this also results in some really annoying, and cheap mistakes, as well as makes the buoys in the expert setting extremely hard to maneuver around. Still, the gameplay is pretty enjoyable. As I mentioned, the music is so soothing and for me is like taking a needle filled with 90s nostalgia and injecting it directly into me. Waverace might not be the best racing game on the N64, however it is undeniably one of the best even to this day. (6/29/19) [39/50]

35. Marvel Super Heroes (Saturn): Growing up there was a roller rink that I used to love going to, and occasionally my elementary school at the time would have school nights there where a bunch of kids I went to school with would meet there and have an amazing time. Beyond skating around and also hanging out with my friends, the roller rink had a lot of great arcade titles during my childhood, and one of those games was...well, I thought it was Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, then I realized it was actually X-Men vs Street Fighter, but the game I remember most vividly, especially now after playing it for a while was Marvel Super Heroes. The roller rink did have a X-Men vs Street Fighter cab at one point, but it is the aforementioned Marvel Super Heroes cab that was the one I remember the most. Funny how memory works like that. But anyhow, the Saturn port checks almost all the boxes of what made the arcade version so memorable, well almost all the boxes, but more on that in a sec. Presentationwise, Marvel Super heroes is damn near perfect when it comes to its graphics, especially when compared to most other fighting games at the time. The stages are mostly dynamic and are constantly changing the longer you are in them, and also include a fair amount of elements that can be destroyed while fighting your opponent. The character sprites look incredible, the animations are great, and just overall this is a top tier looking fighting game, I dare say the best in the entire Capcom versus series. The soundtrack is amazing as well, and has a very unique late 90s Capcom arcade feel to it that just makes this game intoxicating. However, this game has one blaring issue specific to this port; the framerate. Marvel Super Heroes is compatible with a RAM cart expansion, and this is how I originally played the game. I expected it to run like grease lightening since the RAM cart makes both XvSF and MSHvSF play near arcade perfect, however to my surprise and disappointment the same cannot be said for this game. I did some research online about this issue and it turns out the game was never programmed to be optimized with the RAM expansion despite it being compatible, which means that the game actually runs worse when using the RAM cart. Switching this off the frame rate did improve noticeably, however it still was a lot slower than any of its 2D sequels on the Saturn. On top of that the roster of characters is very limited with only 10 playable fighters. The game also uses an item/leveling system that allows you to use infinity stones to give you brief power ups in battle. I overall didn't care for this feature and always had a hard time using it. Sadly, if this game had been better optimized for the Saturn like XvSF or MSHvSF this probably would have been my favorite of these Marvel licensed Capcom games, with the exception of Marvel vs Capcom 2. Despite this the game is still enjoyable, and I actually like it a hair more than X-Men vs Street Fighter mostly because of its superior presentation and sound, but by a similarly small margin I like MSHvSF more than this game. All three games are incredible, and this one is definitely worth playing just like the others. (6/30/19) [39/50]

36. Marvel Super Heroes (PS1): It's nice having the luxury of being able to play two ports of the same game back to back, especially when it comes to Saturn and PS1 ports of Capcom fighting games. Most of the time the Saturn version is far superior since the Saturn did 2D way better than the PS1, however the difference wasn't as profound as I was expecting in Marvel Super Heroes. The main difference were the graphics and frame rate which were both marginally better in the Saturn version. In terms of audio I didn't really notice that much of a difference. However, the fact that the Saturn version does look and play better makes it the better out of the two. This is probably a personal preference, but I think the game is better with the Saturn's 6 face buttons versus the four on the PS1, plus the trigger buttons. Still, I have to give the PS1 version credit since it typically fell far behind the PS1 when it came to this era of fighting games, which is not the case here. (7/2/19) [37/50]

37. R-Type (PS1): Despite the game's iconic status as an essential SHMUP, my experience with R-Type was about the same as it's been with most other classic shooters; meh. I feel like the SHMUP genre hit its peak in the late 90s up until the mid 2000s, and even though there are certainly examples of excellent shooters before and after that time period, most of those are definitely of the more recent type. R-Type being a 32 year old game at this point is still great looking and back in the day it was probably one of the best looking arcade games of the time. The sound is also pretty good as well. However, my biggest problem with R-Type has to do with its checkpoint system and it's tendency to maroon you if you lose your power ups. These two gameplay follies in shooters are some of my biggest pet peeves and if a game has them it's likability goes down significantly in my book. Still, I will give the game credit for not being as punishing when it comes to not providing any decent power ups in a timely manner; the check points are typically in sync with the arrival of a power up or two shortly after your ship respawns which greatly increased your chances of survival. Still, while playing R-Type I can't help but wish I was playing something else. Not a terrible game, but there are certainly way better examples from the genre than this so called must play shooter. (7/3/19) REDUX: I belong to a facebook group of collectors/retro gamers that do a lot of things, one of which is a monthly game competition. I've competed in several of these, and in fact I won first place a few months back in an Ikaruga competition. I'm playing R-Type right now as part of this month's competition and so I have the extra advantage of playing it a lot more than I normally would when just playing a game casually on my own. Unfortunately in the case of R-Type my opinion of this game has decreased more and more the more I've played it, and in fact I decided to retire from this months competition because of how miserable I was while playing this game more. Yes, R-Type is a hard game on account the genre it belongs as well as it's an old arcade game meant to swallow quarters. But much of R-Types difficulty lies in an enormous hit box, arbitrary checkpoints that make you replay the same section of the game over and over (assuming you have the credits), and marooning the player each time they day by stripping away their power ups, ensuring their death even faster than before. In small amounts these things are simply an annoyance, but replaying the game dozens of times legitimately made me angry. After about 4 more hours with this game since I reviewed it I absolutely dislike this game way more than I did before! When I score games 20 points out of the 50 are my subjective enjoyment of the game, with a 10 meaning I didn't really like it or hate it, it was just okay. I originally gave R-Type a 9 on account of its annoying gameplay mechanics that diminished my enjoyment, but after more time with it I've actually cast this games fun factor down to a 5; it isn't all bad, but my god it is very close! I kept the objective measures of gameplay, graphics and sound the same. (7/4/19) [25/50]

38. Elemental Gearbolt (PS1): I've always had a love of lightgun games, but Elemental Gearbolt flew completely under my radar growing up and it wasn't a game I knew about until I began collecting games. Going into Elemental Gearbolt I knew very little about it other than it was a lightgun game with RPG elements that sounds interesting. After playing and being the game I am left with an appreciation for this game on a level I didn't expect, but that is both a good and bad thing. For one, this is a very unique, interesting, and in a way, beautiful game. The stage graphics are a dark fantasy settings mixes with some sci-fi. The cut scenes are full on anime cut scenes that give me massive 90s anime nostalgia, including the voice acting which is pretty bad. There is a story in there somewhere, but it barely makes any sense, but in a weird way it's nonsensicalness actually ads to the game's charm. More than it's visual presentation though, the game's soundtrack is amazing as it is fully orchestrated, which seems odd in a game like this, but oddly it works very well with the game's setting. If only for that this might go down as one of the best light gun games I've ever played, but remember that RPG element I talked about? Yeah, that's where the problem lies; this game tries to be way more deep than it really needs to be. You are given three different shot types, but all but the main shot type are pretty much useless throughout the game. The leveling system makes you stronger, but in the end it didn't really have to be there either. In the end, this game would have benefited way more from just being a straight up lightgun game minus all the extra crap that weighs the game down more than anything. Still, I mostly enjoyed Elemental Gearbolt, save a few parts, but it is definitely one of the most unique games I've played on the PS1, and certainly one I'd like to revisit in the future. (7/15/19) [35/50]

39. Propeller Arena (Dreamcast): The story behind Propeller Arena is as interesting as it is tragic. This game was supposed to be released for the floundering Dreamcast on September 19, 2001, however it was cancelled before release because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The reason for this was the game's artwork showed a plane flying around some building and one stage takes place in a large city with sky scrapers. Given the Dreamcast's issues at the time and everyone being hyper sensative about anything having to do with Plane's crashing, especially into building, this game was cancelled despite being finished and set to release a week later. Luckily it was leaked online and through a cool guy I know who makes high quality Dreamcast repros I was able to get an unofficial copy of this game. Propeller Arena is a arcade style dogfight sim that has that undeniable late 90s/early 2000s Sega arcade vibe. The game has you flying around themed stages trying to shoot down your opponents while dodging their attacks, and collecting power ups to assist you in winning. Each match is on a time limit or until you or one of your opponents reaches 10 kills. The game plays very well, however the powerups are mostly unnecessary and I never felt like they really provided any sort of tactical advantage to me or my opponents. The graphics are pretty good and there is cool variety in the stages and characters, however there is a lot of empty space in most of the levels that can make trying to track down your opponent somewhat boring after a while. One thing that this game does not have going for it is it's soundtrack; I try not to mark a game's score down based on my own preference in music, but this game's OST is comprised solely of punk rock which for some reason seems out of place in this game. On top of that the same song plays in each stage until you run out of continues of go for another match. Not as big of a deal, but still annoying are the three or four lines each pilot has whenever they hit another opponent or kill them; it's nice they gave each pilot their own personality, but hearing the same few one liners over and over again gets pretty old fast. Under much better circumstances if f Propeller Arena had been released I don't think it would have been revered as a classic in the same way other Dreamcast arcade ports like Crazy Taxi or Marvel vs. Capcom 2 are, but it certainly would have been a fun edition to the library despite being released too late in the Dreamcast's life to make any sort of difference. (7/28/19) [32/50]
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on June 24, 2019, 02:56:15 pm
Quote from: Cartagia on June 24, 2019, 07:14:34 am
If you play as Lecarde instead of John Morris you get more directional attack options (and the game is way easier).

Oh nice, I didn't know that, I had just popped in to check out Bloodline after I beat Super Castlevania and just went with Morris and assumed Lecarde was the same.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on June 24, 2019, 03:36:03 pm
Added a few more to the list for the year:

28. Super Mario Bros. 2 (Switch) 5/30 - Beat
29. Super Mario Bros. 3 (Switch) 6/2 - Beat
30. Kirby's Adventure (Switch) 6/12 - Beat
31. Uncharted The Lost Legacy (PS4) 6/22 - Beat

Let me just say that Lost Legacy was WAY better than I was expecting it to be, I really want another Uncharted with Chloe and Nadine now.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on June 26, 2019, 05:51:33 pm
26 - Castlevania: Bloodlines (Genesis/Switch 2019) - BEAT - Initially I thought this was going to be more of a downgrade after playing Super Castlevania and in terms of general gameplay, it kinda is, as they dropped being able to attack in any direction...Mostly.  Now you have two characters, one that is more your standard Castlevania whip character like in the NES days and then there's a spear user who I guess is supposed to be more like Super Castlevania, who is able to attack in different directions, but it feels slower and more limited compared to SC.  Overall it's a good game though.  The difficulty isn't too crazy and it didn't have some of the level shenanigans that annoyed me towards the latter end of SC.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on June 30, 2019, 05:31:24 pm
Game 10 - Tales of Xillia (39 Hours)

Long review comin' atchaaaa. Overall I think this is my new favorite Tales game. At least it’s the one that I’ve enjoyed the most, even though it has plenty of flaws.

+
The combat is downright fantastic, and really makes up the meat of what I love about the game. I racked up over 850 encounters and the combat still didn’t feel stale at the end of it. It feels pretty similar to Tales of the Abyss but with lots of little refinements and additions. The linking system felt really well implemented and it adds a lot of depth to the battles.

These are hands down my favorite characters in any Tales game. They have fantastic personalities and character development over the course of the game. Usually there’s one character that I can’t stand (Anise in Abyss; Genis and Zelos in Symphonia), but here I loved all of them. The skits ranged from funny to touching to awkward to downright unwatchable. But thankfully they're entirely optional and just add to the character's personalities.

There are lots of sidequests, little plot details that flesh out the world, and secret areas and weapons to find. The fact that you can play the game again as a separate character also adds a lot of replay value to the game

-
Overall I think the story is good, but as the game continued I started to like it less and less. It has a lot of elements combined of Abyss and Symphonia, and doesn’t take a whole lot of brand new steps, but it’s competently thought out. Just the numerous plot twists and retcons and stuff makes you not want to believe anything anyone is saying and it gets really annoying. I don’t really enjoy narratives that throw like 20 curveballs at the player as a substitute for actual good storytelling, just makes me want to roll my eyes at the end of it all.

There are a couple plot inconsistencies that bugged me too, such as:
• Teepo reverts to his pre-booster self at one point and it’s this big point of drama but then he just becomes normal again like 2 hours later and this isn’t explained
• Ivar rips a hole in the schism with the Lance of Kresnik and brings all the ships from Elympios and almost kills Milla… and nobody confronts him about this afterwards.

I do have one major gripe with the story, and that is that playing as Milla first really leaves a lot of plot details missing. There were three instances where this happened.  `

• When you meet Muzet in Kanbalar she just... shows up with no explanation or rationale for why she’s a part of your team now.
• When you die after killing Gilland and you revive yourself using the arte provided by Maxwell, LITERALLY the next thing that happens is you’re dropped into this random no-man’s land where Jude is fighting Maxwell. And the game doesn’t tell you why Jude and company are there now and why they’re fighting. You’re just expected to join in no questions asked.
• After you get to Elympios, you find out about several important plot elements that happened while you were in the spirit world as Millia. Apparently... Jude kills Presa and Agria, Alvis almost shoots Leia and they and Jude have a huge fight, and Ivar was also defeated a third time and sent away for good. Those are huge plot details that are only explained in an OPTIONAL skit that you could completely miss. If I had skipped that skit, Ivar, Presa, and Agria would have never came back into the story with no explanation at all.

All of these happened while Millia and Jude were separated for an extended period of time, so my hunch is that the developers wanted you to play as Jude first. So when you play as Millia those story elements didn’t need to be explained to you a second time because you would already get it. But.. if that’s the case, they should have just made you play as Jude first. Would have made things a lot less sloppy.

Anyway, a couple other nitpicks. Removing the world map is nice, but a lot of the areas that you have to traverse feel really stale after a while. It’s just random highroad with tall cliffs and trees over and over again. All of the unique areas pretty much disappear after you leave Shariton. The soundtrack was also pretty mediocre. I really loved all the music on Elympios, and there are some other good tracks (like the opening). Most of it’s pretty bland and uninspired. Lastly, there was some serious slowdown at later points of the game.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on July 03, 2019, 08:51:59 pm
12. Midde Earth: Shadow of Mordor(PS4)

This games nemesis system is such a fun mechanic to play with because even when you die it contributes some change to this overworld you play in. I also love that literally any orc you fight could become a captain/warchief. The gameplay also surprisingly did not get stale for me because it wasn't just button mashing and countering wasn't overpowered, you actually had to fight different orcs with different approches. The only real complaint I have is how empty the world can feel with only orcs and slaves running about.

I also ran into a seriously bad bug that I only realized was a bug about 10 hours into playing. So you're supposed to jump from this tower at the games start and get a cutscene fight to explain the games mechanics. For whatever reason I didn't activate this cutscene when I jumped off and after playing for 10 hours none of the orcs that were killing me would show up as captains and by this point I had unlocked a lot of abilities and collected all of the collectables in the first area. It's an understatement to say I was pissed but thankfully after I restarted it didn't take too long to get back where was, as I knew the game pretty well at that point.

Besides that problem I really loved this game and I can't wait to see what's different in Shadow of War.

Time: 33 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on July 04, 2019, 09:12:35 pm
15 - Blaster Master Zero 2 (Switch 2019) - BEAT - Took me awhile to beat this one as I was only playing it when portable, which is uncommon for me, but finally beat it.  Compared to the first one, I think it improves on most areas, particularly in the story department which is nice.  I kinda like the contained world of the first game more compared to the separated areas of this game, but it's still generally the same experience.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on July 06, 2019, 12:50:03 am
I completed the Community Center in Stardew Valley and played all of the story mode levels for Super Mario Maker 2.

SV is the perfect way to veg out and just play some games, but I kind of wish that SMM2 provided a bit more of a challenge - a fair challenge mind you, not the player made kaizo crap.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on July 07, 2019, 12:23:36 am
27 - Godzilla Unleashed (PS2 2007) - BEAT - Been quite awhile since I've played something retro on the original hardware, usually playing it on some port or collection, but decided to start picking up Godzilla games for my Godzilla collection and now that I have this on PS2, and no new Godzilla games exist, I figured I'd give this one a run through. 

It's your basic arena brawler, plays well enough, though it has some serious slow down in fights.  Also they apparently cut like 6 monsters from the PS2 version, with the Wii version in general sounding like the better version perhaps.  I was kinda excited to hear about new monsters they added just for this game, but the PS2 version just has Obsidius, a rather bland magma/rock monster and the other new monster is Krystalak, another bland crystal based monster.  Neither really fit the common Godzilla style.

Overall, it's maybe a 6 out of 10 in general feel.  It has a very competent amount of monsters and the gameplay is totally fine, but the slow down gets pretty bad, the camera is confusing,and the lock on is mostly proximity based making it hard to fight in groups sometimes.  Alright game, but as I think it usually is for Godzilla games, it's mostly a game for Godzilla fans.  Really curious to check out the Wii version of the game as it has 6 more monsters and new gameplay mechanics.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: vivigamer on July 10, 2019, 05:13:49 am
Just Beat:
14. Spyro The Dragon - Reignited (PS4)
Had a blast playing through this, though I must say it is a lot shorter than I remember, I beat the game 120% within 6 hours! Still, it was a blast and Toys for Bob did a brilliant job in bringing Spyro back. the visual designs is so vibrant and really pops out.

15. Devil May Cry 1 HD (PS4)
Played through the original again and honestly, I still find it to be the most engaging one. I like the more gothic atmosphere and the story was more interesting than DMC3.

16. Devil May Cry 2 HD (PS4)
I heard the rumours, but I simply didn't remember how bad this game was... until I replayed it. The level design lacked focus, almost every boss encounter I faced I found a way to break it - One I stood on a higher platform and just shot at it from a distance. The tone and direction of this game was just so bland... which is one thing DMC should never be. A very vague and uninteresting story, even a new playable character couldn't breathe life into this after they already toned Dante down. I beat both campaigns under 2 and a half hours...there simply is nothing remarkable about this title at all

17. Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition (PS4):
A vast improvement over 2. The cinematic action style is back and there's a lot to like about this game, while Nero wasn't particularly interesting his character was serviceable. I do love the Devil Arm mechanic put into this, part of the problem with the score system in older games is that my chain would be broken from enemies in the distance  (Firing guns never seemed to maintain it), so having an ability to drag enemies back for a further beating was great. Sadly this game suffers from being bloated! You have to fight every boss encounter 3 times, for no good reason! especially the 3rd time which you have to progress through this stupid checkered board game and at the end of every area you'd have a boss encounter with no context. It just ruined the games momentum and I don't know why they did it as the games length would have been fine without it.

18. Devil May Cry V (PS4):
Immensely disappointing! Final Fantasy XIII got slammed for being linear, yet this game has the exact same corridor level design - it got to the point where I could tell when every encounter was going to happen due to the widening of the path ahead. Previous DMC's would have you navigate a big area similar to Resident Evil where you would progress and find keys to unlock other areas of the mansion - not this game, it was mainly just passing through cityscapes. The game also has a serious problem with it's loading times. the worst being the loading times before and after entering the shop, sure it's wonderfully animated but it really breaks up the pace and would honestly just put me off starting up the next mission. The story wasn't remarkable either, I was excited to see a new character within the series... but I did not like the direction they went with his story. Like DMC2 really there just wasn't anything remarkable about this title at all.

Playing:
Judgment (PS4)
Crash Team Racing (PS4)

Plan to play:
Wolfenstein (PS3)
Ni No Kuni (PS3)
Vampyr (PS4)
Lost Planet (Xbox 360)
Final Fantasy VII (PC if I can get a solid build)

Beaten List:
18. Devil May Cry V (PS4), 17. Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition (PS4), 16. Devil May Cry 2 HD (PS4), 15. Devil May Cry 1 HD (PS4), 14. Spyro The Dragon - Reignited (PS4), 13. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (PS4), 12. Wolfenstein: The New Order (PS4), 11. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PS4), 10. Final Fantasy V (GBA), 9. Firewatch (PS4), 8. Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (PS4), 7. The Simpsons Game (PS3), 6. Devil May Cry 3 HD (PS4), 5. Kingdom Hearts III (PS4), 4. Resident Evil 2 REMAKE (PS4), 3. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (PS4) 2. Resident Evil REMAKE (PS4) 1. Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded (PS4)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on July 11, 2019, 07:36:43 am
I beat the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot which was pretty good.  Great story, ok gameplay - a couple of AI fights are super cheap.  Not a bad time to spend a few hours.

Then I started Mortal Kombat X which is flipping fantastic.  Everything good about MK2011 is made even better.  The biggest flaw is that I'm playing on XB1 and the controller is not great for this game.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on July 11, 2019, 10:17:22 pm
Game 11 - Shenmue (PS4) – 19 Hours

So… walking into this I already knew that this would be a very difficult game to play for two reasons. Similarly to games like FF7 and OoT, this game has a legacy, and is beloved by so many and put up on such a pedestal that it makes it very difficult to experience. Second, I never know whether to consider ambitious games like this within the standard at the time or compared to what’s standard today. I tried my hardest to take the game in the context of when it was released, but I do believe there are  elements of this game that didn’t age well, and I would argue there are parts that were never that good to begin with. I think it’s fair to say that because of those two factors I came out of this game feeling a little disappointed with the overall experience, but we’ll get into it.

Let’s start with the parts that have held up, and surprisingly I found that this game has fantastic visual presentation. Even 20 years after the fact, this game looks amazing, and the amount of detail and polish in the exterior and interior environments is still impressive (there are a few rough spots but nothing major). The ambitious level of interactability you have with your immediate surroundings is very entertaining and the lack of a clear direction or structure to the story feels very refreshing. In many ways you have complete agency over how you decide to spend each day in the game, and it allows you to take things as slow or as fast as you would like. The background sound design is excellent too and helps build a cohesive and very absorbing atmosphere. I felt a strong desire to keep playing because I wanted to see what happens next

I also like Ryo as a character, but he’s entertaining probably for the wrong reasons. I just find it hilarious that he oscillates between dopey clueless and emotionless to a no-shit taking badass at the drop of a hat. It’s especially great when he’s interrogating people. I did not enjoy his interactions with Nozomi though, he’s just so dull and emotionless in general that it totally ruins all those romantic moments, and that felt perfectly exemplified by the motorcycle scene towards the end of the game.

While the sound direction was very strong, the voice acting is downright horrendous. I would say it’s about 15% good, 40% bearable, 35% bad, and 10% awful. The writing is also awful. Ryo asking about XYZ thing then pretending like it’s not important afterward were my favorites. If period games like Metal Gear Solid can produce well scripted and acted cutscenes, this game really shouldn’t have that much trouble either, especially with the budget they had.

One piece of the game that disappointed me was the music. Not that it’s bad… it’s just not at all what I thought it would be. While there are some great tracks, most of the music is made up of these very brief incidentals that while effective in building the atmosphere of the game, don’t really do much for me at all as a standalone soundtrack. I also had a very hard time finding a suitable audio level for the game. The default settings have the voices way to soft, and the music and sound effects way too loud. Even after all my finagling, there are sounds that are still too loud, like the gatcha sound effect, or walking into the Tomato Convenience store. I’m guessing this was an issue when the game was brought over to HD though.

Another portion of the game that especially disappointed me was the story. I really thought the narrative would be much stronger, but upon actually finishing the game it felt pretty superficial and poorly executed. For one, I found the way you progress in the game to be extremely frustrating. I didn’t mind that you had to wait around for things to happen at all, like the infamous tattoo parlor scene. What annoyed me was that the first 6-7 hours consist of you walking around and asking people about 10 different questions one after another. First it’s the black car, then it’s about Chinese people, then it’s about sailors, then it’s about Nagai Industries, then it’s about Charlie, then it’s about a tattoo parlor, then it’s about Warehouse 8, then the harbor, and so on. And then your housekeeper actually drops the real lead out of nowhere on you. It's just not good story progression. Then in the latter half of the game, the only thing you can do is work in the harbor for 5 days moving crates over and over and it gets incredibly tedious really quickly. The other issues I had with the story was that it’s just not very interesting. There were some good moments, like finding the Phoenix mirror and Master Chen for the first time but most of it’s just so.. mundane. The gravity and scope of this game just felt quaint and almost a little childish to me. I don’t know why, it just didn’t resonate with me.

So all in all, I feel like this game spent way too much time and money on the visual horsepower of the game and let almost everything else sag and slip through the cracks. I don’t think the potential in the amazing 3D word that was built for this game was realized at all and that’s a shame. I imagine it's because a game like this had never been made before and it was tough to know how to bring the storytelling and gameplay to match your newfound capabilities. To me, it’s almost like foreshadowing to how modern developers nowadays spend way too much resources on cutting edge graphics and lighting techniques instead of spending those resources on producing an entertaining experience (alright, cynicism moment over  ;))
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on July 14, 2019, 12:24:25 pm
13. Horizon Chase Turbo(PS4)

Just so simple but tons of fun, I did not expect to love this game so much. It's a great callback to the classic racing games just with updated mechanics, graphics and newer cars. If you like racing games you'll love this, so if you've got the time it's free on PS+ this month.

Time: 20 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on July 14, 2019, 09:09:08 pm
From here on I'm mostly going to be playing some of the more expensive/rare games in my collection. Really want to see if these games hold up as being awesome or they're just overprices, overrated trophies. I'll definitely play other games here and there, but if anyone has been following the games I've beat expect to see some big titles for the remainder of the year and probably next year too.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on July 25, 2019, 10:37:21 pm
been busy and havent had a chance to post an update in a bit, but i've been still playing the game!

32. Final Fantasy VII (Switch) 6/26 - Beat
33. Castlevania 2 (Switch) 6/30 - Beat
34. Castlevania 3 (Switch) 7/20 - Beat
35. Marvel's Spider-Man (PS4) 7/24 - Beat
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on July 27, 2019, 12:04:23 am
Game 12 - Ys Origin (PS4) - 9 Hours

First Ys game ever done. All in all I'd say the game's pretty good! Not perfect, but an enjoyable experience.

+ The gameplay is definitely the best aspect. It's fast, addicting and fun. There aren't a lot of RPG elements in the game, it's more about your timing, reflexes, and knowing which magic skill to use. Overall, it plays really well. The music is also really good, with some great ambient and intense music that sets the mood perfectly. I played as Yunica, and I really liked her character, she has some nice development over the course of the game. Even though the game is pretty short, the story presented is well told and the writing is really solid.

- I had a few nitpicks. Other than the main character, the other characters are pretty boring and same-y. The HUD is miniscule and really hard to see. It's so difficult to see how much life you have left, how much money you have, and the bonuses that you pick up from slaying monsters. Lastly, I wish the game didn't only take place in the tower. The areas start to feel really copy-pasted after a while, it would have been nice to battle monsters outside or something.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on July 29, 2019, 09:24:50 pm
36. Marvel Ultimate Alliance (Switch) 7/29 - Beat
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on July 29, 2019, 11:30:17 pm
28 - Darksiders 3 (PC 2018) - BEAT - I really love this series.  The over-the-top heavy metal aesthetic, the action, the story, it's all just a fun time and I think Darksiders 3 pushes very close to being the best of the three.  I only feel like it stumbles due to some aspects of its new general setup.  A cool thing about the series is hows its changed based on the gaming landscape of the time.  Darksiders 1 adopts God of War and Zelda, mixing them well.  Borderlands and open world games were becoming more popular, so Darksiders 2 enlarged its world and introduced a loot system.  Darksiders is purely just Dark Souls.  Gone are the "Zelda Temples" and big open world, in favor of something more scaled down like the first Darksiders, but interconnecting the areas more.

Where it falters is kinda the Dark Souls setup, in that you die real fast, even from scrubs, so there's a lot of dying and running back.  In Dark Souls this work out more, because that game is just constantly intense, needing to be way more careful about everything you do, but Darksiders 3 is still at its core a big hack and slash experience.   So it's hard, but not hard, and constantly getting killed from attacks you don't dodge right just feels more annoying.  Fury is basically a glass cannon and I think I would've rather enjoyed things abit more had I not been constantly running back, even if the runs aren't terrible.  This also isn't about wanting an EASIER game, I specifically wanted a nice challenge, but just handled more like the games were before.

That said, Fury is the best of the three so far.  War and Death's personality for the most part are just "Don't mess with us, we are tough".  Death could get a snarky, but Fury revels in it.  She's about finding the next fight, disgusted with humanity, she mocks and belittles those she comes across, she makes mistakes and really grows as a character.  It's great and she's easily my favorite.

Definitely can't wait to play Darksiders Genesis and see how Strife compares.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on August 02, 2019, 02:30:46 am
29 - DayZ (PC 2018) - ENDLESS - Finally bit the bullet and decided to pick the game up.  Dayz, a game in development for so long, that it missed the survival game boom it helped to create.  Numerous other survival games have come and gone in that time, though funny enough, it's the only one still standing.  Sure there's a few stragglers out there still in early access or wallowing about near death, but DayZ, despite the development time and problems, including entire shifts in the gaming landscape, can have like 3 to 10k viewers on Twitch depending on who is playing and there's more than enough servers to play on.  I had been watching the game on Twitch for awhile now from a few different people, and when things go right, it can be very intense.  Sure, it's not the best game ever, but the experience it offers is really only something possible in this game.

Compared to the mod, which I last played like 5 to 7 years ago, it's a big step up.  While it doesn't feel like it has all the content it needs or should have and it can still have plenty of glitchyness, it's still absolutely a more functional game now than it use to be.  I was actually expecting the game to still have a lot of that ARMA jank and clunkyness, they did clean up most of that.  There are still a lot of things that aren't easy at a glance to figure out, such as reloading stuff quickly and a number of other things that will take time to learn, but it's pretty straightforward for the most part once the basics are figured out, though I had a lot of help figuring out stuff beforehand just watching people play the game.

It's not the best game, but it's still an incredibly unique game that offers up a pretty free form experience.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on August 03, 2019, 10:18:47 am
Part 5


40. Horizon Chase Turbo (Switch): I haven't played a ton of modern, retro-inspired games, but I was immediately attracted to this one because I got a heavy Outrun/Cruis'n USA vibe from it. While it shares more in common with the former, it's still a different type of game in that you race around circuits rather than going on some journey like you are in Outrun towards your eventual goal. I dramatically prefer the gameplay in Outrun despite the various regions you race in Horizon being unique and different than the last. I also appreciated the weather effects as well in this game. But again another area of Outrun I preferred was that you just raced, that's it. In Horizon you can literally run out of fuel and have to refill mid race by collecting fuel icons that float on various places on the track. While this wasn't a big deal most of the game, I ran out of fuel during several races, forcing me to restart, which was more than a little annoying. There are also other icons that float on the track such as additional nitros and also bonus point icons which you'll need to collect all of them to get a perfect score on each stage. The soundtrack is pretty good! It's a lot of synthwave and retrowave, however the limited number of songs and the fact that the sound fx are nothing special mean this game's overall sound is little more than above average in the end. Funny enough, playing this game made me realize that I often just wish I was playing an actual retro game rather than a modern game that is trying to imitate that retro experience. Horizon Chase Turbo is a pretty good game overall, but if given the choice to play this or Outrun, I'd definitely go with the latter. (8/2/19) [33/50]

41. Super Buster Bros (PS1): I've mentioned a retro gaming facebook page I belonged to before in my R-Type review. Anyways this group holds a monthly gaming tournament where a game is chosen and people in the group compete for the high score over the course of the month. This month was none other than Super Buster Bros, a game I've played a little, but never spent any significant amount of time playing. I found out why I never sunk any real time into this game while going for a high score. The game is fairly simplistic; you have a gun that shoots what looks like a dagger on the end of a rope (think the Hook Shot from Zelda) and you are tasked with destroying balls that bounce all over the stage. You also are given other obstacles and foes to deal with that increase the difficulty of this game. While this might sounds really fun, I found the game pretty boring and lost interest super fast despite playing long enough to have the current high score for this month so far (565,600 points in case you were curious). I just couldn't get into the game and I found the gameplay to be fairly primitive and overly simplistic, almost like a game you would have played on Atari back in the early 80s. However, the graphics are fun and cheerful and the music is upbeat, albeit not that memorable, but still decent. This isn't a game I could really see myself wanting to play again. (8/4/19) [27/50]

42 and 43. Metal Slug (PS2) and Metal Slug 2 (PS2): I have very foggy memories of playing one of the Metal Slug games, maybe several of them at various arcades growing up, but beyond being aware of it I was never really into this franchise when I was younger. I feel like now i have a greater appreciation of it, but still my limited of experience with it inspired me to take a look at it again and see what my current opinion of these games are. While there are quite a few of these games I decided to play the first one as well as its sequel as it was likely one of these two games, possibly both of them, that a played when I was younger. The first Metal Slug is a pretty fun, entertaining game. It's graphics and overall presentation are definitely the highlight of the game with very cool, war-like settings with a splash of anime, sci-fi and steampunk. The character animations are excellent as well and there weren't many 2D games in the arcade or otherwise that looked as good as this game in 1996. The sound in the first game is decent although it does little than to keep the game entertaining as you play it, and there weren't any particular tracks or other audio that caught my ear while playing. The gameplay is fairly simplistic as you're a lone soldier against a literal army of enemy soldiers, tanks, and other war machines as you make your way through the games different levels. There is always a lot going on on the screen which keeps things fun and interesting in a genre that can get fairly repetitive after a while, which Metal Slug certainly suffers from, but not to a fault like with other run and gun games. As for Metal Slug 2 it looks better and in some ways plays better in that you are given more vehicles, enemies, and level diversity, as well as something that might resemble a plot in how each level and various other themes seem to progress through the game, which definitely dulls the monotony described above, but not to a significant degree. Still, Metal Slug 2 is definitely an improvement on its sequel and the one I'd be more likely to go back and play if I ever do replay either of these games. (9/7/19) Metal Slug [33/50], Metal Slug 2 [35/50]

44. Deathsmiles (360): I feel like it's been a while since I reviewed a good shmup, and Deathsmiles is certainly a good one. While I have played much better shooters in my day, this game does not disappoint. Probably its two biggest draws are it's creative, colorful levels, characters, and enemies, as well as the gameplay which is among the most balanced I've played. The scoring system is also pretty fun too, which is why I initially started playing this game, as well as it being very Halloween themed with its various monster enemies and bosses. Unfortunately like most Cave games its OST was nothing special or memorable for the most part. While this game was pretty fun and enjoyable there was just something missing from it that really sucked me in the same way games like Radiant Silvergun, or even other Cave games like Mushihimesama Futari and Dodonpachi do. I guess it just felt very run of the mill modern-shmup to me, although saying that is denying it some well deserved credit for being a pretty fun game, and certainly one with checking out. (10/6/19) [36/60]

45. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1): See page 13 for full review (10/12/19) [47/50]

46. Grand Theft Auto III (PS2): I have a lot of fond memories of this game back around the time it came out in 2001. My best friend at the time and I were having a sleepover on a Friday night and we went to a local Blockbuster to try and find something to rent for the night. Unable to find anything that at least interested me, my friend suggest we rent Grand Theft Auto III which is a game I didn't even realize was out at the time. My only exposure to the series prior to this was one of the earlier top down titles that I'd briefly played and wasn't a big fan of, so to say my optimism and expectations of GTA3 were low would be an understatement. But unable to find anything else we felt like renting I reluctantly went along with my friend and we rented it for the night. And oh what a night that was! I don't think I've ever been so surprised by a game as I was with GTA3 that first night my friend and I played it. We were both absolutely addicted to this game and if memory serves me right we literally didn't sleep all night. Neither of us had ever played a game like it before, and what was supposed to be a one night sleepover turned into the whole weekend of us working jobs for the mob, running over innocent pedestrians, and stealing cars. For its time GTA3 was revolutionary and unlike anything anyone had played. However, a long time has passed since then and we've got multiple sequels to GTA3, each progressively better than the last. Because of this GTA3 has become somewhat of a relic of its time, which it's still a fun game, but unless you really want to scratch that early 2000s itch, GTA3 has been outdone in every possible way by all of its sequels. Regardless the gameplay is pretty good aside from some floaty car mechanics and clunky on-foot controlled. The shooting controls which rely on a lock on mechanic are also a but spotty, but mostly work. However, all of these mechanics work well together to allow you to fulfill all your wildest crime fantasies, with limitations of a game released in 2001 of course. There are various other problematic features in this game like having to go all the way back to where you receive a mission if you fail, which given how big the open world is can be very annoying and time consuming. There are also a few missions which are fairly tedious and cheap that I didn't like, but luckily there were only a handful of these. Aside from the gameplay, the music is decent, but what really steals the show in the audio department is the voice acting which utilizes some famous actors lending their voice to several characters. The graphics are nothing special, however the scope of Liberty City and the amount of detail and variety in a game from this era definitely require recognition as it was unmatched for its time. While GTA3 was a remarkable game back in the early 2000s, it's still a great game that really helped lay the foundation for future open world Rockstar games, as well as many copy cats, and even other games belonging to other genres. The importance of this game cannot be understated, however it has certainly been outdone repeatedly over the years. If you really want to see where it all began, or you have a lot of nostalgia for this game like me, it's definitely worth playing. (11/5/19) [38/50]

47. Alien vs. Predator (Arcade): This was never a game I played or even saw in the arcades growing up. I'm very familiar with other famous arcade beatem' ups of the 90s like The Simpsons and Die Hard Arcade, but I never knew about this one until well after all the arcades had sold off or scrapped this classic. I believe I found out there was a 2D AvP game in the mid 2000s when I was researching how to get Mugen working on my computer, which ended up being very surprising and awesome news. But anyhow, I've played this game several times via MAME and tonight I decided to play it with a more critical eye for the sake of this review. AvP is an excellent Beatem' Up, however it suffers from the same issues that plague virtually all other beat'em up; the fact that it's a beat'em up. I do enjoy this genre for the most part, but I'm also the first to admit its repetitiveness, not just in gameplay, but in enemy variety, bosses, and power ups. AvP is no different, however where it certainly stands above many other games of the genre is the outstanding presentation via its beautiful, detailed sprite graphics and its source material as well. Unlike a lot of beat'em ups AvP actually has a story, albeit a fairly generic one, but when combined with the Aliens and Predator lore it just works. It also helps motivate you to continue through the slog of killing hoards of enemies, which luckily are of a decent variety as you'll go against a variety of aliens, humans, machines, and even zombies. There are some cool bosses too, however the game literally recycles every single one, including the final boss, but because it's the alien queen it's somewhat excusable. The OST is unfortunately nothing to admire, nor is the limited voice acting of grunts and incoherent mumbling from the human and predator characters. I tried not to make this review sound negative, because it certainly was not a negative experience playing through AvP, but there are many things this game suffer from due to its genre and a variety of other factors that drag this title down.Otherwise though it's an excellent example of one of the better beat'em ups from the 90s. (11/5/19) [35/50]

48. The Simpsons (Arcade): Unlike AvP I actually do remember seeing this one in several arcades I visited growing up and played it a handful of times. Despite being a big fan of the show during the 90s, I don't remember ever being enamored with this game like many others Simpsons and arcade fans. Replaying it now gives me a glimpse into why that might be. It's a beat'em up, but unlike a lot of beat'em ups, this one is very, very basic gameplaywise; you have an attack button and a jump button, with the ability to do a jump attack if you'd like. That's it. Sure, Marge has a vacuum and bart has his skateboard, but it's all essentially the same. You can pick up various items to use, but this does very little to make the overall gameplay more appealing. The difficulty of the game doesn't lend itself well to these basic controls either, as it is punishingly difficult at times, to the point of downright cheapness. Despite the gameplay being a low point for this game, The Simpsons theme and setting makes this game appealing, especially for fans of the show. Konami got very creative with the levels, some of the enemies, and various other aspects to make this game feel very authentic with the source material. While the graphics do fit the look of the show well, there is a general lack of variety in most of the enemies which is a common sin of beat'em ups, and The Simpsons is no different. Still, the creativity in a lot of the levels makes up for this slightly. And then finally their in the OST which is pretty good as it uses a combination of original tracks and tracks from the show. Breaking all this down, this game is more interactive fan service for an early 90s Simpsons fan, more than a captivating arcade game. Still, it manages to have its moments despite being fairly perfunctory for the most part. (11/6/19) [31/50]

49. Sonic Mania Plus (Switch): I played through Sonic Mania once before on the PS4 back when it first came out and was digital only. When they announced it would be getting an enhanced physical release I knew I had to have this game, again. Ironically my preferred platform for Sonic games ever since Sega's demise on the console market has been on Nintendo consoles. So buying Sonic Mania Plus on the Switch was a no brainer. But anyhow, what do I think of Sonic Mania Plus; it's outstanding! As it one of the best 2D platformers I've ever played. What is most remarkable about Sonic Mania is that it feels like it very well could have been the successor to Sonic and Knuckles back in the late 90s; the game looks like it could have been made for the Saturn, and one can fantasize about an alternative universe where we got Sonic Mania instead of Sonic 3D Blast or Sonic Jam. The gameplay of Sonic Mania takes everything that made Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles on the Genesis and makes it even better somehow. The controls absolutely feel very polished and arguably better than its 2D predecessors, however there is something to be desired in regards to the stage design of certain stages. I absolutely applaud Christian Whitehead and the team that made this game in creating new and original levels, however many of the newest levels are the weakest in terms of level design. Half the stages are remixed versions of old Sonic levels from previous games which feel right at home in this game, and the design is noticeably better on most of these stages. Sonic Mania is a gorgeous game with so much attention to detail, and amazing sprite based 2D graphics. It's one of those games that makes me wish more devs actually made their retro throwbacks in this style and give it the care and attention to detail that Sonic Mania displays. I'd go as far as to say it might be the best looking newer 2D games I've played in the last 15-years. Audio is absolutely incredible as well; I still think Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles have the best Sonic OSTs of the entire franchise, but this one isn't far off. The game uses a combination of new tracks and remixed older tracks which all sound excellent and compliment this game in nearly every way. As I said, this game feels like it should have been released on the Saturn in 1997; it literally feels that authentic and true to Sonic's original 2D glory days. On a personal level I was very surprised to see that I actually like this game a hair more than Sonic 3 which is not only my main Sonic game from my childhood, but absolutely one of the most sentimental games for me, period. The improvements in gameplay, the incredible graphics, and absolutely awesome soundtrack literally give this game the edge over my fondness for Sonic 3 and all that games objective merits, Sonic Mania is just that good! (11/9/19) [41/50]
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: aliensstudios on August 04, 2019, 05:27:10 pm
Quote from: bikingjahuty on August 03, 2019, 10:18:47 am
Part 5


40. Horizon Chase Turbo (Switch): I haven't played a ton of modern, retro-inspired games, but I was immediately attracted to this one because I got a heavy Outrun/Cruis'n USA vibe from it. While it shares more in common with the former, it's still a different type of game in that you race around circuits rather than going on some journey like you are in Outrun towards your eventual goal. I dramatically prefer the gameplay in Outrun despite the various regions you race in Horizon being unique and different than the last. I also appreciated the weather effects as well in this game. But again another area of Outrun I preferred was that you just raced, that's it. In Horizon you can literally run out of fuel and have to refill mid race by collecting fuel icons that float on various places on the track. While this wasn't a big deal most of the game, I ran out of fuel during several races, forcing me to restart, which was more than a little annoying. There are also other icons that float on the track such as additional nitros and also bonus point icons which you'll need to collect all of them to get a perfect score on each stage. The soundtrack is pretty good! It's a lot of synthwave and retrowave, however the limited number of songs and the fact that the sound fx are nothing special mean this game's overall sound is little more than above average in the end. Funny enough, playing this game made me realize that I often just wish I was playing an actual retro game rather than a modern game that is trying to imitate that retro experience. Horizon Chase Turbo is a pretty good game overall, but if given the choice to play this or Outrun, I'd definitely go with the latter. (8/2/19) [33/50]

I played it on my PS4 earlier this year. I absolutely loved it! Had I known it was coming to Switch at the time, I wouldn't have imported the Brazilian copy but it was fun either way.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on August 10, 2019, 09:01:20 am
Game 13 - Titanfall 2 (PS4) - 7 Hours

+

I had heard a lot of good things about this game and I will say that as far as shooters go, this one is pretty good! The best part is probably the gameplay. The parkour, wall running and jumping blends in nicely with the level design and enemy placement.  Playing the game on Master difficulty meant that I needed to think carefully about how to approach enemies and it was enjoyable. The titan gameplay is a fun change of pace and requires you to fight differently than when you’re on foot. The game really picks up in the ruined lab/time travel mission, which was incredibly fun. BT is a great character and adds the right amount of humor and tone to the game. The music is also pretty great as well. Overall a pretty fun Saturday night popcorn game

-

My biggest complaint was the way the story ended. After you destroy the fold weapon the main bad guy and the evil general get away, and there’s no closure on whether the war’s even over or not. You just kind of go home and that’s it. I also found most of the characters either bland and boring, or barely developed. Other than Jack (who’s really stock), BT, and Sarah Briggs, everyone else is totally forgettable. Lastly, it was annoying that your titan can’t jump unless you have a specific loadout.

There was also one really annoying glitch that I experienced. In the factory level I was pursuing BT and jumping across various platforms, when I got thrown off one and fell to my death. However, I hit a checkpoint on the way down. So when I respawned, I would just keep falling to my death then respawning over the same empty pit over and over again, and I had to restart the whole level.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on August 16, 2019, 10:40:28 pm
Game 14 - Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2007 (DS) – 96 hours

As you can see from my play time, I clocked in a ton of hours on this game, basically have been playing it on and off all summer while travelling to conferences and vacation, etc. This game doesn’t have a hard ending, so I considered it beat when I unlocked the level 6 duelists and beat them all five times. My completion rate so far is:

Duels played: 689
88% of all cards obtained
81% of the game finished

+

If you’re a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh in any capacity, I really recommend checking out one of these games. This is my third game finished in the series and I never touched any aspect of game or the cards beforehand. This game is a fun little slice of the meta and forbidden/limited list during 2007, and it’s so much fun building, testing and dueling with a deck you created yourself (I’ll post some of the decks I used down below just for funsies). The gameplay is great as ever; chains and effects are resolved quickly and cleanly, and the AI is pretty solid. (for the most part, but what do you expect from a complicated-ass game like this).

What really surprised me was how easy it was to play using the DS touchscreen. It’s very slick activating cards and effects, and selecting cards to fill your deck/extra deck. I almost used the touch screen exclusively while playing. Outside of dueling with your own deck, the theme duels and limited duels force you to build a deck to various constraints which can be challenging and fun. The duel puzzles are also great. All those modes really test your knowledge of the game.

-

Unfortunately, you have to be really into dueling to enjoy this game because it doesn’t have much else to offer otherwise. The biggest problem with this game is it STILL doesn’t have a story. It’s just a dueling simulator, and while it’s well made, there’s little else to entertain you. I also don’t like that you can’t buy singles of cards until you actually pull them from packs. Some cards are very hard to obtain if they’re Super Rare or higher, which means constantly grinding out DP until you can buy enough packs to finally pull that one card you’re looking for (sometimes upwards of 30 packs worth!). Lastly, there is no point of the side deck in these games. Every duel you play is just a one-off; there’s no best of three match like in real competitive play. So there’s no point in siding in any tech cards to deal with your deck’s weaknesses because you’re never given an opportunity to swap any cards out.

Here are the two decks I used for most of the game if anyone was curious
1.   Dark Worlds (https://ygoprodeck.com/card-database/deck-prices/?d=eJwVT8kRBEEIymdfXoiUqU3wa7+k5FKpMGztLzlm5eLBjHZhcn/R4TVTj5dHc7SBKVZzM2FDf2aUJtTLGEXxOVnuDNlBJVDefdC7EuFYAmYxZxHoVVpX+wl7J1+8zaJZpF4aTpY5l5bKSocfnT6dWvBqQdvGRE3EMYfuseVdUbzNjbg+ft8f86Yy0Q==) (used for the first 60% of the game)

(https://i.imgur.com/dVbsLkOl.jpg)

Necroface (https://ygoprodeck.com/card-database/deck-prices/?d=eJwdj0mORVEIQvfzRooNGLf2F1/emhEkeKAZcyz3i5QNKnAyaBkuWxYhcT8wPZxnfYAwVMTJ6FIKvuFhNe6LwAnORpSJPlfHKjOol1P0zFmf9qjqVwEZlb3F0uVW3kwKr7MTL9MXiQK2jqpjNmtilH43NcTRgs58TypKqINWnUH+DzI8/twJ84b57/cHJ30z+A==) (used for the last 40% of the game and survival duel. I managed to beat 15 duels in a row with this deck in survival before losing)

(https://i.imgur.com/sVGDr4zl.jpg)

Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: shfan on August 24, 2019, 11:50:32 am
31) Dragon Quest Builders 2 (PS4)

Well.. bloody hell. That took as much time to plough through as a full-fat turn based RPG from back in the day, there's just so much to it. I unexpectedly got a little emotified at the ending too *waves hands under eyes* , didn't see that coming. I've read a few reviews (silly me), which suggested it's too drawn-out, and must admit a few sections do overstay their welcome, but the complete package is a dream - the make-it-yourself area is now integral to the game, rather than hived-off like in the original, which is all the better, there's also separate areas to explore to gather materials and recruit new folk. I'm just really impressed by it.

It's also interesting to note it was (at least partially) developed by Omega Force, the Koei Tecmo developer which churns out Dynasty Warriors etc. games - perhaps that's why DW9 was an open world game - trying out for this one, or influenced by this one's creation? Just a pity they keep messing around with the DW formula without ever nailing it.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on August 31, 2019, 10:32:38 am
Game 15 - Final Fantasy X-2 (PS4) - 29 Hours

Woo boy, another long-ass review coming from yours truly. Seems like every game I have a lot of thoughts about these days.  :o

Preface: I had always just brushed this game off by my first impressions of it’s opening cutscene. I love FFX, and my kneejerk reaction had always been that this game sucks only based off the changes they made to Yuna. I felt like that wasn’t really a fair assessment, so I decided to give this game a shot. I think my love of FFX certainly influenced how much I have to say about this game though.

Probably the most interesting aspect of this game, aside from the gameplay, is the open ended “mission based” design, which is a huge departure from the first FFX. You can do as many side missions in whatever order you please before jumping into the main missions, which is kind of nice. You get the freedom to play the game at your own pace. However, the problems with structuring the game like this is it completely fractures and kills any pacing and momentum in the main story. For example, in chapter 3 there are all these fiends pouring out of the temples and it’s touted as this big important crisis. But you don’t have to take care of the fiends, you can take 3-4 hours doing side content… and I guess the people in the temples are screwed…? They’ll just have to wait until you’re ready…? Really sucks out all the gravity of those story bits. Furthermore, the mission-based design means that everything has to be structured in this quick “open and shut” storyline, so none of the missions really go anywhere. Most of them are extremely basic and rudimentary, and they feel like padding. Some of them, like the mission with Issaru in Zanarkand, literally made me open my mouth in disbelief at how stupid it was.

As far as the story goes, I wasn’t really a big fan. The beginning of the game is INCREDIBLY rough with the pacing, it almost feels as if you’re being dumped into a game already in progress. You really need to watch the Eternal Calm short first to really know what the hell’s going on. The rest of the story is bland, cliché and uninteresting. Not to mention far more confusing and not as profound as FFX. The sphere hunting gig only made sense for Yuna to me, didn’t make any sense why the rest of the Gullwings would care about spheres. I only did about 65% of the story content, so I’m sure there was stuff I missed, but I wasn’t invested in the story enough to really care. I did like the addition of the new game plus though. Nicely fits the mission-based game structure.

Now let’s talk about the characters. The one character I was pleasantly surprised at was Yuna. I honestly like the direction that they took with her in giving her an independent free-spirited personality. I also like the idea of an all-female cast, but unfortunately Rikku and Paine don’t deliver as much as Yuna. Rikku was annoying as always, but I never liked her in the first game, so I guess no change there. Paine is basically a piece of cardboard. Boring, no personality, no backstory, nothing. She feels like she was just thrown in the game so they could have three females of a similar age, and they made her stoic like that so they didn’t have to do any character development. Most of the other characters are passable, with the exception of Brother. Holy shit, he acts like he did a line of cocaine before recording each line in this game. He’s loud, obnoxious, extremely creepy, and just downright insufferable.

I will say, that the one redeeming factor with this game is the combat, which is excellent. Other than the character outfits which look ridiculous, the combat flows nicely, has a lot of strategy, and decent challenge. Couldn’t ask for more. Was really the only thing keeping me playing to be honest.

I want to touch on how lazy this game felt to me. The devs basically ripped out every asset and enemy they could from the first game and plopped them in the sequel without any contextual changes. The veteran FFX player can really see how bad it is. My favorite was how they made Shelinda a reporter in Luca who’s denounced Yevon, yet she’s still wearing Yevonite regalia! Or how Lulu was supposed to be pregnant, but they couldn’t bother putting in an updated model. Or how Shuyin’s battle is just all Tidus’s attacks and overdrives. That was ridiculous. Other than Kilika, Bevelle, and the Farplane, everything is just copy pasted, or uninspiring bland corridors and caves which make up most of the game’s dungeons. I think I counted only 9 unique enemies created for this game, which is unacceptable. Most bosses are just recycled from FFX with some minor AI changes.

There are a lot of mini-games in this game, and some are okay, but most are pretty bad or uninteresting. My favorite was the gunner’s gauntlet. Least favorite by far was Blitzball. They completely ruined it. I tried and tried to get even a single win but every one was a 0-5 blowout. All your opponents have 3-4 times greater stats than you in the first game! Not to mention they took away all control from the player so once you start a match you can just go off to amuse yourself and let the game play itself.

The music overall is okay, but not up to the same standard as previous games. There are some funky/fun and memorable tracks though. It grew on me more and more over time. The pop songs were never my favorite though.

Ultimately, I think what really turned me off to this game was I was expecting something like FFX, which this game is not. This is just a cash grab that doesn’t take itself too seriously more than anything. Once I started to view the game on it’s own merits and stopped expecting the same experience as FFX, I started to enjoy it a lot more.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on September 03, 2019, 01:58:23 pm
14. Fire Emblem: Three Houses(Switch)

This is one of those games that I didn't even have on my radar for this year, but I kinda wanted to see what Fire Emblem was like as I've never played one before, so I pulled the trigger and impulse bought it.

I've never been so invested in videogame characters as I was in this game. Each character is completely unique with their own likes, dislikes, and other little quirks. Their individual relationships with all the other characters is unique as well, which leaves you with tons of possible endings and pairings from friendships to marriage.

As I've never played an FE game before this I can't really comment on gameplay changes. I really liked prepping each student before battle depending on the map or even opposing army compositions, although the map pool was a bit shallow having to face different comps kept it interesting. You also have to repair weapons, replenish battalions when you loses troops, teach students different skills depending on their latent abilities, and keep each student well equipped.

I can really only give my opinion on Blue Lions characters because that's the route I played. I felt like every student in BL had a unique relatable tragedy or struggle that they all dealt with, which helped make them feel more human. They also made good villains/morally grey characters

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this game and I'm glad I decided to pick it up.

Time: 160+ hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on September 03, 2019, 08:05:46 pm
Three Houses is my third (or fifth, depending on how you want to count Fates) FE game, and it is terrific title to be an introduction to the series.  Even as a (semi-)veteran it was a little obtuse at first, but once you get going its super intuitive, engaging and fun!  My biggest complaint about it is that is might be a little too easy.  I played on Normal mode, but on Classic style, and only had one or two battles where I was remotely out of my depth.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on September 07, 2019, 04:15:01 pm
15. Demons Crest(SNES-Nintendo Switch Online)

I decided to play this because I've never heard of it and the name sounded cool. I'm usually pretty indifferent to NES/SNES games because I didn't grow up with them, but this game is actually really fun and the movement is very crisp.

One of the cool things about this game is that you don't have to go through the levels in any real order except for the first level. Although going out of order is a bit harder it's still possible. It gives me Megaman vibes because you can beat certain levels easier with specific powers or forms.

Time: 5 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on September 07, 2019, 09:54:09 pm
I haven't reviewed/beat a game in over a month, partially because I've been very busy in my personal life and also because I'm in the middle of playing a JRPG right now, which is a genre I struggle with. It's not that I don't like JRPGs, well some of them, but rather I find RPGs a huge time commitment that given the demands of my life is something very hard for me to do. What will often happen is I'll get really into a JRPG for like a week, then I'll get really busy, barely play it at all for a week, will remain busy, not play it for several weeks, and then eventually I lose motivation to play the game anymore and abandon it. This has happened many, many times over the last 10-years and I struggle to figure out a way to stick with 90% of the JRPGs I start.


But today I decided to play Metal Slug and Metal Slug 2 after some people in another retro gaming group I belong to were discussing it. I posted my review for it at the top of page 12 if anyone is interested in reading it. Hopefully my next review will be the JRPG I'm playing, although I'll be taking another detour from it soon to play Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast starting Monday in order to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Dreamcast's launch in NA.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on September 10, 2019, 09:13:23 pm
16. Kirby's Dreamland 3(SNES-Nintendo Switch Online)

As Kirby games go this has been a fun one. I really like the game mechanic of Kirby's friends enhancing his copied powers and making tons of different combos with them. I also loved the "side mission" of getting the star hearts in each level, it gave each level a bit more complexity.

Time: 10 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on September 11, 2019, 10:46:07 pm
17. Super Mario Kart(SNES-Nintendo Switch Online)

This is my first time fully playing this game and boy have the controls not aged well. The mechanics work perfectly fine but they are inherently bad in my opinion. Turning is slippery and even drifting is slippery but you control which way you're slipping, which is sometimes worse. It was bearable but I definitely would not play it again.

Time: 1 hour

18. F-Zero(SNES-Nintendo Switch Online)

Alternatively to SMK, this is a lot more fun to play, everything is faster including recovering from a hit/crash, and the controls are much easier to jump into as well as being super tight. It really makes you wonder how it didn't take off better than Mario Kart. My least favorite part is the bouncing. In certain stages you literally become a pinball. Other than that I really loved the whole game.

Time: 1 hour
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on September 15, 2019, 09:27:10 pm
19. Fez(PS4)

Fez is absolutely mind blowing! It never felt like I was playing a game, but instead going on an adventure to figure out this virtual worlds secrets. I love that the puzzles are completely unique to this game and really take time to figure out. I also love that some puzzles require real world tools to complete them. The art, music, and mechanics blend together perfectly to deliver this highly innovative and creative game.

Time: 16 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on September 18, 2019, 01:23:16 am
33 - Monster Hunter World: Iceborne (PS4 2019) - BEAT - Boy did this expansion live up to my hopes for it.  It's more content, more goodies to earn, more monsters to kill.  It won't change anyones mind on the game, like if you didn't enjoy MHW before, nothing about Iceborne makes that better, but if you loved it before, you'll love this.  I think I've put about 50 hours into the game and just beat the final boss of the story, but there's still a bunch left to do as I've heard the endgame is more notable this time, so I could end up putting the same amount of hours into the expansion as I did the original game, which was around 240 hours (rookie numbers in the Monster Hunter sense from what I've seen lol).  Awesome expansion, definitely a top 5 game of the year for me.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on September 28, 2019, 01:43:46 am
32 - Astral Chain (Switch 2019) - BEAT - It's been a pretty solid year for action games I'd have to say.  Devil May Cry 5, Sekiro, and now Astral Chain.  More directly I'd compare Astral Chain to DMC5 and I gotta say that I personally go with Astral Chain over that.  Not that one or the other is better, I just enjoyed the experience more with Astral Chain.  The gameplay is more my style than kinda the combo heavy, higher skill, type of gameplay in DMC5, plus I hated playing as V in that game. 

Not that Astral Chain doesn't have its problems as it gets kinda repetitive with its side quest stuff and locations.  Also the story isn't the best, I mean it's anime shlock, what you'd expect, but I feel like there are some plot holes that don't really make any sense unless I overlooked something.  Though the story still has some pretty awesome moments and the game is very true to its Platinum designs, taking in a few things I feel from their work on Nier Automata.

Good game though, I really needed this as the Switch has had so little good stuff on it this year.  This and Cadence of Hyrule were the only exclusives I played all year and there wasn't much else exciting other than Super Mario Maker 2, which I didn't get.  I had a great time with Astral Chain and really hope Bayonetta 3 isn't too far off.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on October 02, 2019, 10:17:41 pm
20. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening(Switch)

This is one of the few 2D Zelda's that has always interested me and I'm glad to have finally had the chance to experience it. I really love the toy like style they used for everything, it reminded me of Nintendoland which I also loved the look of. I also like how weird it is compared to other Zelda games by using Mario characters/enemies and the general zaniness from the NPC's. Gameplay is exactly what you expect from Zelda, nothing crazy. It also made me realize how limiting old zeldas used to be with movement before Breath of the Wild and I gotta say I feel like there's no going back after they gave us such freedom of movement/travel. I felt like it took forever to get anywhere even with warps. Overall a fun, quaint adventure was had.

Time: 15-20 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on October 05, 2019, 10:12:16 pm
Game 16 - Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNESc) – 16 Hours

Ah, this game. An old favorite of mine since I was a kid. This is one of my favorite games of all time, and it was fun to replay it on the SNES classic, partially because I was so accustomed to playing the GBA version. Was interesting to see how things were different between the two versions.

+ For me this is like the definitive early Zelda game. It took the first Zelda and improved on it in almost every way. It’s easier to play, more explorable without being too cryptic, and introduced so many staple items and themes that continue through the franchise even to this day. The music is masterful, the dungeons are challenging, and the little tricks and secrets that you pick up as you play make you feel like you’re naturally becoming a badass hero. I have fond memories of sharing secrets and tips with my one friend growing up as we both tried to beat this game. I tried to discover as many secrets as I could, ended up being a couple pieces of heart short :(

- I think if there was one thing that kind of wore on me after a while, it was some of the music. Not that it’s bad, it’s super iconic, it’s just that it a few tracks get incredibly droning after a while because some tracks play EVERYWHERE. Looking at you, Dungeon of Shadows. There were also some slight gameplay tweaks that were done in the GBA version that I missed.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: oldgamerz on October 10, 2019, 03:51:15 am
the reason Why I don't participate in any game challenges. I don't like to rush through a game only to post that I've beaten it.  :-\

and For me I like play a lot of video games that are take months to beat or don't have and ending, but I did beat
Halo: Combat Evolved for the first time on Xbox 360, this year and damn that was a hard game for me, and long, But I'm sure I'll give it a second shot because I really liked beating that game,

I have a lot of great games that I just don't want to beat them only to post that I've beaten them
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on October 10, 2019, 07:37:29 am
For me it's just a way to keep track of the games I beat and my thoughts on them at the time ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I never get to 52 games, and I still play things at my own pace.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: ignition365 on October 10, 2019, 08:19:06 am
Don't be a negative nancy bud.  I see your mind set, but tons of folks participate with no intention of meeting any form of a goal.

I do, but it's mostly driven by knocking down my huge backlog.  I mostly do this so that in a year, when I want to think about how much I liked a specific game, I can go back and see what thoughts I had when I had played it and recently beat it.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on October 10, 2019, 09:18:39 am
^ exactly
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: oldgamerz on October 10, 2019, 10:35:19 am
Quote from: ignition365 on October 10, 2019, 08:19:06 am
Don't be a negative nancy bud.  I see your mind set, but tons of folks participate with no intention of meeting any form of a goal.

I do, but it's mostly driven by knocking down my huge backlog.  I mostly do this so that in a year, when I want to think about how much I liked a specific game, I can go back and see what thoughts I had when I had played it and recently beat it.

I understand  :) Heck if my head and health was better I'd be doing the same thing, I got a huge backlog because due to a chronic migraine problem all I do is listen to music and drink caffeine to try to numb the pain. Nobody knows what is causing the massive headaches in my head.

 I can't play a video game while having a migraine or I'll throw the controller at the wall. I don't get mad at games themselves I just get really mad that my body is fatigued. and sometimes I take it out on the game. If I was feeling  heck I'll even play a game for 12 hours like I used to before I got sicker.

I beat Halo:Combat Evolved but it was during multiple play sessions and I forced myself to beat it. It was not easy for me and the difficulty was on the lowest

Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on October 11, 2019, 12:55:34 pm
I love this challenge because it motivates me to actually play more of the games I've accumulated over the years. I've discovered some amazing gems in my collection that before playing them I was only somewhat familiar with how good they were. Likewise, I've played a lot of games that I was very excited about getting after hearing how amazing they were from others, only to find out that I thought the game was just okay. This challenge is one of my favorite things about VGcollect at this point, and while I would still come here and remain active without it, it certainly motivates me more to stay.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on October 11, 2019, 03:00:07 pm
In the past I had a really bad habit of starting games and never finishing them and when I found this challenge a few years back it inspired me to actually finish something. I never intended on actually finishing 52 games though.  In 2017 I only finished 8 games but I was proud of that, I was actually finding time to sit down and play the games I always wanted to. In 2018 I told myself I was just going to try to finish more than the previous year; I finished 27 game and it felt amazing.

This year I told myself 2019 is the year. I was going to go all in and do 52. I even started an instagram account to help motivate me even more (@bravethebacklog if you care to follow). I didn't expect to hit 52, but it gave me something to shoot for; here I am in October and just finished my 44th game for the year, so 52 is absolutely doable. Never did I feel rushed, I just tried to play the games I wanted when I had time. There were some games I started and just didn't really enjoy and when that happened I'd just move on to something else. The years not over, and something could come up that prevents me from hitting 52, but if thats the case I dont care; I've had such a good time this year playing so many amazing games nothing can ruin that for me.

Next year I don't think I'll shoot for 52, but I'll still participate. Maybe put my spin on it, only play RPGs for the year or something. who knows.

its been a while since I posted an update so here are the games I finished the past few months:
37. Super Castlevania 4 (Switch) 7/31 - Beat
38. Dark Cloud (PS4) 8/15 - Beat
39. Guacamelee (Switch) 8/18 - Beat
40. Super Mario World (Switch) 9/10 - Beat
41. Star Fox (Switch) 9/12 - Beat
42. Kirby's Dreamland 3 (Switch) 9/16 - Beat
43. Super Metroid (Switch) 10/1 - Beat
44. The Last of Us (PS4) 10/11 - Beat
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on October 12, 2019, 06:29:37 am
34 - Borderlands 3 (PC 2019) - BEAT - Just beat the story mode and while there's still a ton of side content to do, I'll probably take a break for awhile.  At a point, I was feeling like grinding out every mission wasn't being super fun and decide to focus on the story, which I enjoyed more.  Figured if I go back to it, I'll do it with another character.  I beat it as Amara, because I thought she had kind of the coolest character and still think she does, but didn't super love her moves.  They improved after like level 15 to 20, felt better and more useful, but I'd really like to give Moze a go with her mech.

For better or worse, this game is pure Borderlands.  It's good because looter shooters like this aren't really that much of a thing anymore, instead leaning towards the lame live service action of games like Destiny or The Division.  That said, it's also a game that feels like it was made right after the second one.  There are absolutely improvements and additions, but I find that most of the experience comes off as the same feel of the previous games.  Did you like Borderlands and want more? You got it.  Did you hate Borderlands? You will find nothing to like here.  It's all the same humor, gameplay, and dumb stuff as before.

Overall, I liked the game, it didn't really blow me away or anything and I'll definitely return to experience all the side quest stuff later on, but as someone that enjoyed the BL games, I'm mostly good with this.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on October 12, 2019, 09:05:21 am
Quote from: bikingjahuty on October 11, 2019, 12:55:34 pm
I love this challenge because it motivates me to actually play more of the games I've accumulated over the years. I've discovered some amazing gems in my collection that before playing them I was only somewhat familiar with how good they were. Likewise, I've played a lot of games that I was very excited about getting after hearing how amazing they were from others, only to find out that I thought the game was just okay. This challenge is one of my favorite things about VGcollect at this point, and while I would still come here and remain active without it, it certainly motivates me more to stay.
This exactly.  I'm a goal oriented / driven person.  I'd be playing the games without it, but it helps with the motivation to have something like this. 
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on October 13, 2019, 12:32:09 am

So I beat Symphony of the Night for the first time ever this evening, and yeah, I kinda liked it....

45. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1): I originally started writing this review and upon finishing it I realized something; all the criticisms I had, which there were very few by the way, paled in comparison to everything incredible and wonderful there was about this game. Not only that, but my rating of how much I enjoyed Symphony of the Night didn't match up at all with how much I was praising and expressing my love for this game. I then went back, re-evaluated by score of Symphony of the Night and adjusted it with the following conclusions; Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is as close to perfect as any game could ever be, and is truly the pinnacle of 2D, side-scrolling action games. Yes, the game is near flawless, and any flaw it does have is so insignificant compared to the everything else it does so incredibly well that this game deserves 10/10's across the board, no questions asked!


Symphony of the Night's graphics and overall presentation are outstanding, and I dare say unrivaled when it comes to 2D Action Games, even to this day. Every character, every boss, every enemy, every castle section, every room of this game is filled with detail, character, presence, and individuality. Enemies and Bosses all behave differently, and are each memorable and distinct from one another. Each section of the castle feels very different than any other part, making discovery of a new section a treat in itself as you are immersed in its secrets and themes. Speaking of these sections of the castle, the art direction of each is incredible, offering hints of some sort of deeper history and adding to the lore that Symphony of the Night's actual plot only scratches the surface on. Not only that, but the art direction, enemies, and bosses that make up each section in Dracula's castle make them all very memorable which aids in memorizing where they're at relative to the rest of the cast. This is incredibly important because you'll be doing a lot of backtracking throughout the castle while playing through the game, but more on that soon. While there is reuse of various enemy types, the game changes things up so much that visually you are never board and constantly intrigued by everything Symphony of the Night treats your eyes too. The game has such an incredible horror, spooky atmosphere that makes playing it in October almost intoxicating.


As for Symphony of the Night's audio and sound, it too is an example of perfection rarely heard in most video game. The soundtrack is absolutely stunning, and there are very few tracks that don't leave an impression on you, or don't induce some excitement when visiting a specific area of the castle. Speaking of, each section of Dracula's castle has its own individual music and perfectly compliments the theme and action of those sections. This is a soundtrack you'd not only want to play around Halloween, but even to just jam out to in your car while driving to work on a random day in May. It's that good! Then there is the game's famously bad voice acting and dialogue. I am certainly not one of those people that automatically sees bad voice acting as blemish on quality; my favorite game series of all time is Shenmue after all. But the cheese and delivery of the voice acting isn't that different then acting in a lot of B horror films that are beloved by most fans of horror cinema. Symphony of the Nights voice acting is no different; it will charm you each time there is an interactive cut scene between Alucard, the main character, and any of the game's other voice acted protagonists and antagonists. Outside of that, the sound Fx are excellent and like everything else in this game they compliment the horror setting perfectly.


Last and certainly not least we have the gameplay, which is where Symphony of the Night arguably shines the brightest. Symphony of the Night offers up a non-linear gameplay style similar to Super Metroid that requires you to do a lot of exploring, backtracking, and returning to old areas once a new skill or item is acquired. While this might sound tedious, in execution it's very rewarding and fun as you'll constantly be wondering what's behind a certain door, or what is on a specific ledge that you're not able to reach yet since you do not have the skill yet to find out. And there are so, so many skills, abilities, and items in this game, all of which give you the tools you need to survive and progress despite whatever challenges you'll eventually encounter. Symphony of the Night also implements an RPG leveling system that allows Alucard to grow more powerful as you progress through the game. Unlike a lot of RPGs that require some amount of grinding occasionally to overpower a certain enemy or boss that blocks your progress, Symphony of the Night's leveling is very well paced and unless you are trying to avoid most enemies you will level up enough to where the game remains challenging, yet not so difficult that you're getting destroyed by a single hit from a boss or enemy. In terms of length, this game is huge! Without spoiling anything, half this game is potentially hidden if you don't acquire something specifically and use it in a specific situation. Obscuring half the game and it's true ending compliments the excellent gameplay even further, and adds value to this game rarely seen by any game of its time or even today. Overall the gameplay always allows you to succeed if you know what to use and how to use it in a certain situation, and also allows you to explore Dracula's castle deeper and deeper the more you learn and acquire.


Each of my reviews is weighted heavily by my own subjective enjoyment of each game since these are my reviews. To clarify this further, each review I do is judged on 30-points for the game's objective qualities, and then 20 more points to account for my subjective enjoyment, or lack thereof. The previous three paragraphs were discussing the objective parts of this game, and all are a glowing 10/10 in my book. As for my subjective enjoyment of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, I enjoyed it, like a REALLY enjoyed it, way more than I thought I would. I am writing this review as someone who beat this game for the first time 22-years after its initial release in 1997. Games that are capable of leaving this kind of impression so long after their initial release are truly rare, and I think more than any other marker this indicates a game that is truly special, and can truly be considered a masterpiece. I throughly agree with Symphony of the Night being considered a masterpiece, and I absolutely enjoyed this game with almost no interruption in that enjoyment from start to finish. There were several bosses and parts of the game I found annoying or slightly tedious, but these minor gripes and annoyances barely hold a candle to what was otherwise a fantastic experience! In fact, my experience with Castlevania was so incredible that I can confidently say it's one of the best games I've ever played, and it earns a definitive place in my top 10 games of all time. This is something that almost never happens as most games I play are either okay to above average, but not Symphony of the Night. I will say it once more; Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is an absolute masterpiece and its reputation as one of the best video games of all time on many different lists is well, well deserved. (10/12/19) [47/50]



Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on October 13, 2019, 01:46:24 am
35 - Inside (PC 2016) - BEAT - This ended up being a real quick playthrough, like 3 hours at best.  I had kinda always wanted to check this game out, it looked interesting, even though I was slightly spoiled on what comes towards the later end of the game.  That didn't end up ruining the game, it had me keeping an eye out for everything more, and while the gameplay is good with some very casual puzzle solving (It all ends up being easier than it looks, overthought more than a few of the situations), the ending is kinda the worst.  It's very much "So what do YOU think it means?" and I hate that. 

I'm okay with something being abit open ended, but I didn't feel like the game offered me enough information for me to piece together the entire story since there are no cutscenes or dialogue at any point.  Like interesting stuff kept happening, and I'm trying to figure out how it all pieces together, but by the end it just ends and I feel like I got all these clues and nothing that pieces them together.  I got a very vague idea of how the ending sorta comes to be, but it doesn't do much for me. 

I personally wouldn't recommend the game, as while it's overall a real good and interesting game, the ending is one of the most unsatisfying endings in quite awhile.  Not sure the last time this bothered me that much with a game.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on October 13, 2019, 05:32:24 pm
21. The Last Guardian(PS4)

The Last Guardian is truly breathtaking! The combo of Its incredible artistically unique visuals and heartwarming/stressful story nearly brought me to tears and I never thought a videogame would ever be able to do that. I have never felt so connected or invested in a relationship to a character in a story as I was with Trico. The whole game feels so cinematic even when you're just meandering through some grass to your next destination, it felt like an interactive movie in the best way possible. Only gripes are some minor frame issues and control problems. Otherwise a uniquely emotional experience!

Time: 12 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on October 24, 2019, 04:03:10 am
36 - Gears of War 4 (PC 2016) - BEAT - The Xbox Game Pass on PC has basically dumped a pile of games in my lap, right with some big games coming in November, but I think I got a couple that aren't particularly big time sinks.  Gears of War 4 was a start, as I figured that Gears 5 leads off of this, and I was right.  Seems this is another trilogy like the first 3 games were.  Of which, I haven't played this series since like Gears 2 and it feels exactly like they were since the first game lol I was always more of a Halo guy than a Gears guy, and I'd still say I was. 

The gameplay just isn't particularly great I feel, it's super bullet spongy outside of like the power weapons.  Speaking of, I don't know if it's just me, but some weapons felt kinda useless your bad, like the Longshot sucks compared to the charge sniper and the Torque Bow.  The saw blade gun, which I remember being promoted when this game was advertised borders on useless, and the Drop Shot is very annoying to get right.  Some of the bigger enemies really suck to fight to, they just aren't very fun.  The gameplay in general just feels like I'm playing an early 360 era game.

All the story stuff is good and fine, though because it's built as a trilogy, the game feels like it's ramping up the moment it ends, so it ends abit lacking that they don't really figure out much of the actual plot of what is going on other than The Locusts have changed for some reason.  Pure cliffhanger material.

That said, I think the game is totally fine.  I may not really like the Gears gameplay alot, but running around with Marcus again, blowing up the Swarm, getting to pilot a mech, and it's all done in like a tidy 10 hours or less, it's not that bad at all.  I liked it enough to play Gears 5 eventually.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kevininja on October 26, 2019, 07:29:14 am
Updated my list, been quite some time since I last did that. Getting close to 100 games beaten this year!
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on October 29, 2019, 06:22:48 am
37 - The Outer Worlds (PC 2019) - BEAT - I was always sporting kind of a middling view on this game from its announcement to its release.  I'm a big fan Fallout fan and while initially I was excited for what was looking to be Obsidians own original take on Fallout, hearing how it was more scaled down than that had me unsure.  In the end, I was half right with my feelings.

The good and best part of this game is outright the dialogue and writing.  Fallout was always a mixed bag with its voice acting and writing, with the writing getting an uptick in New Vegas thanks to Obsidian, but losing that with Fallout 4.  In Outer Worlds, there were genuinely moments that made me laugh or feel bad and I wanted to deal with the conversations way more than I did in Fallout.  It definitely allows you to roleplay more and will appease folks that felt disappointed by Fallout 4.  The gameplay and feel of the game in general is nicely done, especially coming off Fallout with all its jank.  It's not like this is particularly well done gameplay, feels like you are playing like a mid-2000 era shooter, but it at least feels cohesive.  The streamlined customization, gear, etc does make for a more simpler experience.

That said, as a Fallout fan and someone who did enjoy Fallout 4 despite having issues with it, I think there are some noticeable negatives for me.  Exploration is kinda boring.  Gear at a point starts to become more palette swaps than anything or they add a MK2 or Ultra onto it with higher stats.  I basically ended up looking mostly the same from the first world to the last other than in different colors.  The loot also is pretty uninteresting and personally barely used most of what I looted.  The AI also is pretty bad for both enemies and companions.  The companion abilities are great when you are in a pinch, but it's all pretty terrible AI, even when compared to Fallout.  There's also zero randomness to the game.  There are basically spots where the enemies spawn and that's all they will.  There won't be spontaneous creature attacks, or ambushes, and you won't see different factions fighting most of the time or enemies fighting off creatures.  It goes back to making exploration feel boring.  Also the AI only reacts with certain distances to combat, so you can fight people in a building where you'll fight a group and another group 100 feet away don't even react.  It's a weird feeling.

I know this is meant to be a smaller, scaled down game, it's not one big open world, it's not a 100+ hour experience, it's not a series that has been around for years with tons of content to rely on, but while the dialogue is great and makes for a way more interesting experience with the story and missions than anything Fallout has done I think, I just didn't really love it.  Outer Worlds isn't a bad game at all, I'd probably give it like a 7/10, but yeah, I think I'm gonna end up hunting for some new mods and just jump back into Fallout 4.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: shfan on October 31, 2019, 07:57:34 pm
39] Demon's Souls (PS3)

Beaten about 20 minutes before midnight on 31 October, quite the halloween game, managed to make it two games beaten this month rather than one, to top it off completing this now and Bloodborne back in March means I've now beaten all of the Soulsbourne games. A long time coming, pleased to have started this one from scratch and get through it. Have to accept that, short of chewing through a bunch of games which can be beaten in one sitting, I'm definitely not going to make it this year either. Still, the challenge is certainly focusing me on getting through some games, and after a massive clear-out this year I'm not so swamped but unplayed/unbeaten games.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on November 02, 2019, 09:39:52 am
I’m maybe 30 minutes away from beating Celeste.  I don’t know if I want to try to unlock the final Chapters or not.  I don’t really care for when true endings are hidden behind obtuse puzzles that aren’t explained to you - or when you reach the “end” and the game tells you that you need to go back through the whole thing in some capacity.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on November 02, 2019, 10:04:51 pm
Game 17 - Shenmue II - 28 Hours

I think in general, Shenmue II is a much more even-handed experience compared to the first game. The first game had both amazing strengths and crippling flaws at the same time, and the sequel improves on pretty much everything, which meant I enjoyed it a lot more overall. However, the same issues with the first game held back the experience in the second game for me.

+

Let's first talk about what's been improved. Hong Kong and Kowloon are incredibly well designed and modelled. I thought the first game was impressive, but this game takes it to a whole new level. The game's sprawling streets and apartments, detailed restaurants and shops, and expansive environments bring a whole new standard of environmental polish.

The game provides more content to keep you occupied while you're waiting for story elements. You can do more games like pachinko, street fighting, the arcade, gamble, pick up a part time job (though none of the jobs are particularly fun), or sell trinkets you collect at the pawn shop. I really liked all the different gambling and street games you can participate in. I enjoyed the music significantly more as well, it felt like a genuine soundtrack and it was very well done.

The voice acting has improved significantly and there were only a couple of characters that sounded off to me. I enjoyed the more fleshed out characters like Ren, Joy, and Wong. The game still gives you a lot of freedom to move at your own pace which is still refreshing and certainly was still innovative for the time. Lastly, the story progression is in general has a little more meat to it than the first game and there were some great moments overall.

The fighting is still good, there seemed to be less of it but it came up in the right places with the story. I liked how there were more boss fights as well. I only wish there was an actual place to train like you could in the park in the first game. I could have just missed it though.

-

The two main points that were not improved upon in this game was the writing and the story. Ryo just fails to reciprocate any kind of meaningful conversation in like 70% of his interactions with both NPC and story characters. I swear, half of Ryo's lines are just repeating the same details that were spoken by another person with a question mark at the end. It's like Metal Gear Solid levels of bad. The conversations with Shenhua were especially grating because they go on for like 2 hours during your hike through the mountains. The writing in general just felt sloppy and disconnected throughout. Part of the issue is the open world design because it means Ryo will often be given or ask for information you as the player have already figured out if you talk to more than one person.

Easily the biggest disappointment with Shenmue II is the story, for three main reasons. The first game ends with you going to Hong Kong to pursue Lan Di, which was a fine way to end things. But the first 2/3rds of this game are just made up of you pursuing people who can help you even locate Lan Di (Lishao Tao and Yuanda Zhu). So the game immediately takes two steps back with the story progression and you're just working to get back to the status quo left by the first game. The second problem is, like any piece of media in the middle of a series, is to contribute anything meaningful to the story when the real beginning and conclusion are in different games. The moments where Ryo is training with Xiuying, and the big reveal 24 hours in were the only things this game added to the overarching narrative. Thirdly, the ending in particular created more questions than answers and left no real closure to continue onto the third game with. I'm seriously curious how the third game will pick up because this game's ending just has nothing to go off of.

Lastly, I really didn't like the over reliance on quick time events this time around. They didn't bother me at all in the first game, but here they overstay their welcome. The ones where you had to press multiple buttons in sequence were especially obnoxious.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on November 03, 2019, 12:08:38 pm
I've decided for next year I'm only going to allow myself 13 of the over 52 games, or 1 in 4, to be a game I've played before, or at least am fairly familiar with. No doubt that this challenge has exposed me to a lot of stuff I've never played before, but I also feel like I often replay games I've already played a decent amount in the past. I really want to play a fair amount of brand new, never before played games next year, or even games that I've barely ever played. One of the games I'm currently playing inspired me to do this for next year.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on November 03, 2019, 12:32:32 pm
I used to only play new games for this challenge but now I've been counting games I've replayed as well.

I really want to give Suikoden II another playthrough right now...
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on November 03, 2019, 10:37:14 pm
Quote from: telly on November 03, 2019, 12:32:32 pm
I used to only play new games for this challenge but now I've been counting games I've replayed as well.

I really want to give Suikoden II another playthrough right now...


I count all games, even if I have played them in the past. Last year I deliberately played a lot of games I'd already played, mostly to see if they still held up for me. This year I haven't done terrible with just replaying stuff, but I've done it far more than I would have preferred. Of course the reason I replay games is because I like them or would like to have a more modern opinion of that game, but I feel like I need to start playing games I've never played before or at the very least barely played.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on November 07, 2019, 07:04:39 am
38 - Gears 5 (PC 2019) - BEAT - Wasn't planning to play this one so soon after Gears 4, as I wasn't really blown away by what they did in that game, really just feeling like a prettier version of the original trilogy on 360.  Didn't impress.  That said, Gears 5 turned out to be a notable improvement.  General movement is better, smoother, the Jack robot adds some extra and much need gameplay features, and they even have two semi-open world sections to explore.  Doing all that and getting rid of what I thought were kinda boring horde mode sections in the story really uplifted this game.  It's still at its core the same type of Gears gameplay, fighting behind cover, but more utility makes it more engaging.

Genuinely a good game that I'd recommend, even if it's technically part 2 of a new trilogy, it gives a recap at the beginning and I think it would just be better to skip Gears 4.  A number of sections in that dragged for me (I hated fighting the robots lol) and Gears 5 just ended up being more enjoyable.  Actually interested to see what they could do to step up Gears 6 and finish out this trilogy.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on November 07, 2019, 02:22:41 pm
Finished up my Spooktober with a few more horror games and ended up adding an unexpected game to my list of favorites. Going into this I never had any intention to play Dead Space, it had been sitting on my shelf for years, and somehow I managed to avoid any information about it over the years. I had no idea how loved this game was until one of my friends mentioned I should play it for October. I gave it a shot and ended up loving it, so much that I plan on continuing on with the franchise this month.
I'm starting to hit the home stretch for this challenge, I set out this year just to try to finish as many games as I could and never thought I'd actually hit 52, but at this point its totally within reach!

45. Kid Dracula (Switch) 10/19 - Beat
46. Dead Space (360) 10/24 - Beat
47. Little Nightmares (Switch) 10/25 - Beat
48. Silent Hill (PS1) 10/29 - Beat
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on November 08, 2019, 04:04:08 pm
Gunning for the Platinum is Spider-Man.  Super fun game, and actually a fun collectathon!
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on November 09, 2019, 10:39:08 pm
part 6


50. Mortal Kombat (Arcade): I think everyone and their dog has some sort of back in the day Mortal Kombat memory. Mine was seeing it at a local arcade in a shopping mall and thinking it was a game that dangerous, cool teenagers played. This of course made me really want the game even though I was only 6. During this time my cousin was living with us and he was the definition of one of those cool, dangerous teens that would play Mortal Kombat, and he was just that; why do you think he was living with us? He actually bought the Sega Genesis version for me, but my parents made him return it since they didn't think it was appropriate for me at that age. As I got a little older my parent's restriction on what I played relaxed considerably, but by the time this was happening MK3 was out and the original was no longer that hip, violent game that everyone was talking about. Over the years I haven't found many original MK cabinets in my area, but recently several barcades in my area of had it and I decided it was time to see if this game was really the legend I made it out to be. And before i get into my thoughts on the original Mortal Kombat, I do understand that perhaps its most lasting legacy was its lifelike violence for the time which earned it a lot of media attention, political scrutiny, and parental ire. It was because of this that this game was allowed to prosper and gain the reputation it did amongst gamers, however playing it now I'm thinking that's about all this game was. Mortal Kombat is a pretty shallow, mundane, and pretty simplistic fighting game. The controls are two strengths of punches and kicks, and blocking, that's it. There are special moves and of course Fatalities, but there is little to make it stand out from the pack. Fatalities got a lot of attention back in the day, but my issue with them in this game and all the original 3 MK games is how ridiculous it is to input the right buttons to do them. I'm sure with a ton of practice anyone could figure them out, but for the casual player they were a bit ridiculous. I also feel like the special moves like Sub Zero's ice blast or Kano's energy boomerang were not streamlined until later games. The OST is nothing that great either, but does at least compliment the spooky asian, martial arts setting the game is going for. Speaking of the visuals, the graphics have a charm to themselves that I actually feel is a big part of this games continued appeal; more than anything I enjoy looking at the character models, stages, and other visual details which really made this game feel different than most other games in the arcades at that time. And then of course there's the blood and gore, which you have to mentioned when discussing the visuals. Despite all this, playing the first Mortal Kombat game how it was meant to be played, in the arcade, is a bit like meeting someone you idolized heavily growing up, only to meet them as an adult and find that they weren't even remotely as great as they appeared to be when you were younger. The game is by no means bad, just pretty mediocre overall, particularly because of the very basic gameplay. This was improved, along with everything else in later installments, but for what it's worth, Mortal Kombat is a fairly bland experience that's value in 2019 is more about nostalgia and the experience than the actual act of playing a great retro fighting game. (11/9/19) [28/50]

51. Pokemon Sword (Switch): Playing this game marked a very sad and unfortunate realization. Pokemon has meant a lot to me ever since it came out in North America in 1998. I was one of the first kids at my middle school to get into it and what ensued were some of most fondest, most cherished memories of my late childhood and early adolescence. I was into Pokemon at its height all the way past the release of Gold/Silver, however like many fads that kids get into I eventually lost interest and probably around 2001 or so I temporarily grew out of Pokemon. I remember getting somewhat excited about Sapphire/Ruby when that came out a few years later, so much so I bought them around the time they came out, but just couldn't get into them like I used to be. This is pretty much exactly what i'm experiencing right now with Sword/Shield; I feel like I'm literally forcing myself through this game, keeping boredom away by having Youtube videos on in the background or taking breaks in an attempt to recharge my interest. Essentially I could not even muster the motivation to play this game, and playing it more than half an hour just left me bored out of my mind and wanting to do something else. I believe the reason for this is because I've finally reached that point where the tried and true Pokemon formula has finally lost its appeal to me. Combine this with a lot of lackluster new Pokemon, the ultra gimmicky Dynamax system, and some very annoying characters that you're forced to interact with far too often and I literally could not do it anymore. After 7-hours it pains me to say that I'm abandoning Pokemon Sword. While this isn't the first game I've abandoned, it's the first one I've counted as playing despite abandoning it. The reason I never counted any other games that I gave up on in the past was because part of me didn't feel like I deserved to include it in my tally for the year. However, I feel like playing a game you gave an honest effort to enjoy, but fell far short of that deserves some kind of recognition. I am not going to give this game a score since I didn't finish it, or come close to finishing it, but it is worth noting that I did play it for a reasonable duration of time. It makes me sad that a Pokemon game will be the first to employ this system. (11/16/19) Abandoned

52. Shenmue III (PS4): See below for my full review. (11/24/19) [48/50]

53. World of Heroes Perfect (PS2): I'm pretty well versed in all the main Neo Geo fighting games from the 90s, however one series that I have nearly no experience with at all is the World of Heroes series. I've always had minimal interest in these games, mostly because I almost never hear anything about them, and tonight I found out why that is. Compared to nearly all of its mainstream contemporaries, including many other Neo Geo fighting games of the time, World of Heroes Perfect is pretty bad. The only somewhat redeemable thing it has going for it is its visual presentation, which is decent, but nowhere on par with pretty much most other 2D fighting games released in 1995; the graphics are fairly plain and slightly blurry, obscuring a lot of detail that would otherwise be a welcome addition. However, the character sprites and animated backgrounds in the stages are decent enough for the most part. Now that I've been nice, now to why this game sucks. The soundtrack is very, very lacking and has no kick or ring to it that gets you pumped while playing. As for the sound Fx, it's mostly the same grunts and screams coming from each character, which even during the course of a single match will start to get on your nerves. This could maybe be forgiven if World of Heroes played like a competent, good fighting game, but it does quite the opposite. Controls are very stiff, mid air attacked are unresponsive to the point of feeling useless, special moves are very minimal and overly cumbersome to pull off, and there is no presence of character balancing or real depth at all. Most matches felt like a slap fight to see who would die first. This game lacks nearly all the fluidity and balance that make games like King of Fighters, Samurai Shodown, and Street Fighter II so awesome. In the end I felt pretty bored while playing World of Heroes Perfect. If this is the best this series has to offer (presumably since it was the last title released in the franchise), then I have almost no hope for the three games that come before this one. Unless you have a mad touch of nostalgia for this game, it's best ignored and forgotten. (11/26/19) [17/50]

54. Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order (PS4): I remember last summer watching gameplay for Jedi Fallen Order at EA's E3 showcase and being cautiously interested in this game. Sure, the gameplay looked cool and fun, but I wasn't sure how interesting this game would be from a story perspective given the tripe we've got from Disney over the last couple years in the form of The Last Jedi, Solo, and the Resistance TV series. Star Wars has been a very damaged brand as of late, so my skepticism was high when it came to this game and how much i'd enjoy it. Then it was released and I heard nothing but great things about it, not just from video game sites, but also the Star Wars community which has mostly held the same disenchantment with the franchise since Disney purchased Lucasfilm. It was mostly the latter endorsement that had me the most interested, so i ponied up $60 and bought it the day after it came out. I expected to like Jedi Fallen Order at this point, but what ended up happening is I ended up loving it, like way more than I ever thought I would. By far the best part of this game is it's story and characters which are absolutely Star Wars to the core; this is the most authentic Star Wars experience I've had since watching Revenge of the Sith back in 2005. There were many parts in the story that made me laugh, fanboy out, and even cry. Yes, this game actually made me cry at one point with how tragic and impactful a specific part was. Beyond being an outstanding entry to the Star Wars canon, Jedi Fallen Order also looks and sounds quintessentially Star Wars in nearly every way. Visually this game was very, very impressive; the various planets you visit feel very different from one another not just in one is a snow planet and the other is a lush rain forrest, but the attention to detail in geography, architecture, layout, history, and so many other facets absolutely enhanced the immersion I felt whole playing this game exponentially. As for the sound, the game nailed the voice acting and sound effects, however the OST, which was mostly originally didn't hit me as much as John William's original compositions for the saga. That's not to say they were bad, but I realized how much less impactful they were when music composed by John Williams did come on and I realized that the original musical contributions just weren't on the same level. Still, it felt Star Wars and that's all I really wanted in the end. Finally, there's the gameplay of Jedi Fallen Order which was a bit of a mixed bag for me, but overall great. The combat was definitely good, and as many have said very reminiscent of the Souls franchise. However, like the Souls games, the combat was sometimes very clunky and cheap at times which created frustration for me at various parts throughout the game. The other huge piece of the gameplay is the exploration part which felt very similar to another well known franchise, Uncharted (or Tomb Raider if you prefer). Exploring the various planets was actually one of my favorite parts of the game, especially since in doing so you often find various cosmetic upgrades to your character, your ship, and even your droid companion. You also find parts for you lightsaber which you can customize as well. Throw in your ability to use the force in different ways while exploring and you have a recipe for awesome! I almost cannot recommend this game enough, especially to anyone who has been less than happy with the direction Disney has taken Star Wars in recent years. Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order is a phenomenal game and is certainly the best Star Wars game I've ever played. Even beyond that it is one of the best video games I've ever played, ever. (11/28/19) [47/50]

55. Blood (PC): Blood is a game I've wanted to play for a long, long time. The first time I ever heard of this game was from a good friend of mine in elementary school whose dad was a huge PC gamer at the time. My friend would talk about this game as well as quite the cultists in the game. Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to play Blood since I didn't have a PC until a few years later, and by then I was too busy playing other things. Fast forward midway through this decade and I came across a youtube channel that I'm still a subscriber too and still like quite a bit; I'm talking about GGGmanlives who if you don't know is a huge FPS fan and this is one of his all time favorite FPS games. Watching his review of it got me ultra hyped about wanting to play Blood, and also around that time I built my current gaming PC. Given Blood's widespread availability on various digital platforms, often for super cheap I bought the game without a second though. Unfortunately, yet again, it took me several more years to play it, but here I am finished with the four episodes that comprised the original game before the expansions with a review and some opinions about this game. Blood is one of those highly praised old school FPS games that people like to bring up in the same conversations as games like Doom or Duke Nukem 3D. While I don't disagree with it being placed on the same platform as those games, it also shares a lot of the issues and frustrations that was almost a hallmark of 90s FPS games. First off, yes, this game is fun, fast paced and delivers on all the gloriously 2D violence of FPS games from the 90s. However, it also has some questionable, if not just bad gameplay and level design issues that really drag this game and other games like it from that era down. For example, it's pretty annoying to open a door have an enemy point blank you before you've even had time to react. This happens a lot in blood, along with characters being hidden behind you in seemingly empty corners. For someone on a first time playthrough, or really anyone who hasn't played the game back and forth over and over, this results in a lot of really cheap damage taken. Regarding the level design, most levels in Blood are pretty fun, to plain good, but many others are just poorly designed with a lot of backtracking through areas where you've wiped out everything. While most of the levels themselves are pretty interesting, borrowing from a lot of horror themes and movies, having to backtrack as much as you do in Blood really drags down each level's pacing. my other gripe is that the first episode in the game, which you'd think would be the easiest is probably the hardest on account that ammo and health is sparse, and I dare say that it gives an almost unrepresentative impression of the rest of the game where these things are in abundant supply. As I said, there is a lot borrowed from horror movies and literature, and depending on your fandom of these things your mileage will vary. Still, combining these things with very well done 2D sprites, horror themed levels and weapons, and lines from the protagonist referencing a lot of horror pop culture make for a pretty good time overall. The sound in Blood is pretty good overall. The voice acting from the main character can be amusing although he speaks so infrequently it's almost not worth mentioning. The music is appropriately horror themed and really complements the look and vibe of the game, although I didn't feel like many of the tracks really stood out for me. There were a few "tracks" if you can call them that towards the very end of the game which got very, very annoying to the point where I turned the sound off completely so I wouldn't have to hear them anymore. Without spoiling anything, imagine kids shouting at you in the back of the car saying something along the lines of "are we there yet? are we there yet?" and that kinda sums it up. Aside from that the sound quality was above average for the most part. Overall, Blood is a pretty fun, challenging FPS game from the 90s, that possesses all the things that made games from that period great, but also the things that made them frustrating, annoying, and cheap as well. (12/5/19) [36/50]

56. Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout (PS1): In the late 90s and early 2000s I was obsessed with Dragon Ball Z, and pretty much the entire Dragon Ball franchise. I remember learning about GT on the internet and wanting nothing more than to watch this series, which wouldn't be officially released in North America for several years after I somewhat got out of DBZ. But anyhow, while finding out all that I could about Dragon Ball GT I found out that there was actually a Dragon Ball GT game released in North America in 1997, and I nearly lost my mind! Of course upon trying to find this game, it was out of print and every copy on Ebay was going for around $200 which was way more many than I had. However, if I had the money I would have bought it at that price without a second thought. I'm now forever grateful I never was able to do that. To put it bluntly, Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout is one of the worst fighting games I've ever played. So much about this game is broken and poorly designed that even the most diehard Dragon Ball fans would have a hard time enjoying this one, even by the standards of 1997. The controls are very delayed and unresponsive, the hit detection is atrocious, and this game literally has unbreakable combos called Meteor Attacks that can pretty much drain 90% of your health bar from 100% full. The gameplay is just a total mess that is only aided by the fact that you can unlock characters (although most of these unlocked characters or just the Super Saiyan versions of characters you can play as default), there's a semi interesting training mode that allows you to make characters stronger, and there is a tournament mode. Other than that this game is a total mess. Visually the game looks pretty bad too, with very blocky depictions of the Dragon Ball fighters, and very plain, uninteresting levels for the most part. The audio is equally bad, but kind of hilarious at the same time. Parts of the character dialogue is dubbed in english, specifically when selecting a character and at the end of a fight when a character wins. However the voices during the fights are still in Japanese; the result is hearing a very adult male sounding Goku at the character select screen, followed by Goku sounding like a 70-year old screaming Japanese woman while fighting. The soundtrack is severally lacking with no traces of the OST from the show present outside a remixed version of the Japanese DBZ theme during the ending credits. When Dragon Ball GT: Final Bought released in 1997 it was all we had, and based off that alone I guess I'd say it was worth getting only if you were a hardcore Dragon Ball fan at the time, and you were able to get the game at or below retail. However, there is almost no reason at all to own or play this game now unless you want it for sentimental or collecting purposes. The game is terrible. (12/8/19) [18/50]
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on November 12, 2019, 12:47:33 am
Quote from: Cartagia on November 08, 2019, 04:04:08 pm
Gunning for the Platinum is Spider-Man.  Super fun game, and actually a fun collectathon!

I did get the Platinum for this yesterday.  Completing all of the random crimes got just a hair too grindy for my taste at the very end, but the combat was fun enough that I didn't let it stop me.  Overall a very solid fun game.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on November 19, 2019, 05:58:37 am
39 - Death Stranding (PS4 2019) - BEAT - Having just beat the game, I think I am just way to exhausted to give this a proper review lol This game is ALOT.  It's gonna be very divisive due to its gameplay loop, but I got super addicted to it.  It's that right kind of busy work, combined with the right rewards and interesting story that kept me wanting to do more and more.  I eventually hit a point where I just wanted to beat the game, but I think I had beaten most of the game at that point.

That said, despite being divisive, this is an incredibly well crafted game no matter how you look at it.  Good feeling gameplay, the visuals are top notch, and the acting and voice work hits kind of a new technical level in gaming.  Not every character hits that, but a few in particular are fantastic.  The setting is awesome, I love it, the story though...it's generally good, it's a lot of the inbetween and some of the story beats that it gets kinda rough, and there is absolutely stuff I feel lost with lol I can't lie though and say I didn't get abit emotional at a point or two.

Overall, it's a hard game to recommend because of what the game is, but it's quite an experience no matter what.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on November 23, 2019, 04:52:54 pm
I just beat Cuphead this morning, and I’ve passed my 2018 total, but just a hair short of 52.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on November 24, 2019, 10:39:19 pm

Well I reached 52 games for the year, and what a way to reach that magical number. Given Shenmue III has been my most wanted game for over a decade I only felt it was appropriate to write up a pretty thorough, extensive review of it. So here you go!

52. Shenmue III (PS4): It is a bit crazy to me that I'm here writing a review for Shenmue III; a game I was so certain for so long would never be made, and here I am, fresh from beating the sequel to my two favorite games I've ever played and I can safely say Shenmue III was everything I ever wanted it to be...well almost. Here is my spoiler free review of Shenmue III.


Perhaps Shenmue III's biggest strength is how it managed to capture the look, feel, and presence of Shenmue nearly two decades after the last installment was released. However, what's most remarkable about this is that it also manages to give Shenmue a polish and luster that neither of its predecessors had as a result in massive leaps in technology since the days of the Dreamcast. The end result is a game that looks both beautiful and modern, yet 100% authentic. Shenmue's graphics, especially those of the various landscapes, cities, architecture, furniture, people, and virtually everything else that inhabits this game looks excellent.


Now, before people start jumping down my throat and saying how this game doesn't even come close to touching games graphically like Uncharted 4 or The Witcher 3, let me explain. As I said above, this game retains all of its visual authenticity. If this game had gone for an almost photorealistic look like the two aforementioned games, that authenticity would have been lost. Instead we still have characters with grossly exaggerated features, for better or worse. We still have rooms littered with objects and props for you to rummage through, and we still have a world that is more reminiscent of an anime or manga, than we do a realistic Hollywood movie. However, all these things were updated visually as much as they possibly could have without making one doubt for a second that they were playing a Shenmue game. And for that they nailed it!


When talking about the authentic Shenmue experience, you can't go without talking about Shenmue III's increible, beautiful soundtrack, as well as it's so bad it's good voice acting. The Shenmue series has always had amazing, memorable music and Shenmue III's soundtrack is no exception. There are new tradition Chinese and asian instrumental songs, as well as remixed versions of previous Shenmue music that absolutely add to the game's epic scope. As mentioned, the cheesy, at times laughable voice acting is also carried over into the third game, with many conversations between Ryo and other main characters as well as NPCs having that awkward charm that the previous two games had in spades. While some might see this as a negative, it has always been a trait of endearment for Shenmue fans, again making this game feel 100% like a Shenmue game.


One last note on the topic of Shenmue III's authenticity. Shenmue III is very much so a throwback title in every regard. We have seen many modern throwback video games that attempt to emulate the look and feel of games from the 8 or 16-bit era, however we are much less accustomed to games that attempt to capture the look, feel, and gameplay of a game made in the late 90s and early 2000s. Like those modern 8 and 16-bit throwback titles, Shenmue III takes the template of games from the era it is trying to emulate while making those games look and play better while staying faithful to the era of which it is taking inspiration. There is a bit of controversy about the quality of games from the 6th gen period, but it is undeniable that this era of gaming produced some of the best video games ever made, absolutely including the first two Shenmue games. It is for that reason that I am judging the gameplay of Shenmue III from more the perspective of a game released 18-years ago than a game released in 2019. Although, there definitely needs to be some consideration of advancement to Shenmue III's gameplay as they relate to how video games have evolved since the days of the original two Shenmue titles.


Shenmue III plays very much so like the first two games. You are tasked with finding clues about your father's murder and many different sub goals that are inevitably leading to your goal of revenge. You accomplish this by asking the various NPCs and side characters questions related to the problem at hand, whether that's finding a specific person or place, or gaining info on a particular subject. The bits of info often lead to some sort of revelation at some point that has baring on the story as a whole. In between however you are given the freedom to do many, many different activities including various forms of gambling, chopping wood for money, practicing martial arts, shopping, buying capsule toys, blowing off steam in an arcade, or foraging for herbs, just to name a few. Even by today's standards the variety and breadth of things you can do in Shenmue III is excellent, and in 1999 when this game came out it was astonishing.


As for getting to and from where you need to go, controls are very faithful to the original two games, meaning they are somewhat stiff and tank-like. Ryo's movements could have been a little more agile during regular gameplay, but again, it's hard to say how authentic the game would have been if he controlled more like Nathan Drake rather than Ryo Hazuki. Movements are not restricted to just waling around the towns and villages the game lets you explore; martial arts have been a cornerstone of the Shenmue experience since the first game and Shenmue III dramatically improves this system by not only improving gameplay during fighting gameplay, but the story itself heavily revolves around Ryo's desire to master Kung Fu in order to accomplish various sub goals throughout the game, and inevitably have what it takes to avenge his father against the formidable Lan Di. This is accomplish by incorporating a leveling system when it comes to Ryo's kung fu ability which effects his HP and attack stats. Further complimenting these more RPG-like aspects, you must also keep Ryo's stamina up with food, as well and budget to purchase move scrolls which expand Ryo's plethora of moves that came be used on the many opponents you will fight during the game. The need for food also comes into play during basic gameplay where it can be kind of annoying, however it makes you budget for what sort of resources you need for the day ahead, increasing the depth of immersion that Shenmue III does an excellent job at.


There are however several shortcoming when it comes to gameplay however that need to be mentioned. Perhaps the biggest one has to do with the lack of licensed Sega arcade games in the various arcades throughout the game. Fans of the first two games will no doubt remember how awesome it was to play Space Harrier or Hang On at the You Arcade in Yokosuka, or finding the Outrun and After Burner machines in Shenmue II. There's no doubt that the reason for these games being excluded from III is because of licensing and this game working in an independent development budget, but it would have been nice to have at least one licensed classic Sega arcade game present. The game teases you with official posters of the mentioned games, as well as other games like Virtua Fighter 3, but none are anywhere in the game to be played. Maybe they'll get included at some later date, but for the time being you are forced to play mediocre carnival like games instead and a very crude Virtua Fighter II knock off using fat duck things that plays almost nothing like Virtua Fighter. We can only hope that future updates are applied to make Shenmue III's arcades a lot more interesting.


The licensing issue in the arcade extends to the capsule toys you can collect as well. Aside from chibi Senmue character capsule toys, no other licensed Sega properties are present in Shenmue III, meaning no cool Sonic, Virtua Fighter, Alex Kidd, or any other toys you can obtain. Instead you are given the option to collect mini fire extinguishers, plastic gems, or mini Buddhist statues from the games many capsule toy machines. It's about as fun and interesting as it sounds. Speaking of capsule toys, the monetary system in this game is a bit weird. You have actual money in the form of Chinese Yuan, but for whatever reason all the gambling is done using tokens that you have to purchase. The tokens are then accumulated through playing Lucky Hit, Turtle Racing, Street Fighting, and various other gambling activities, which then can be redeemed at designated Prize redemption shops throughout the game. You then have to go around and pawn whatever gifts you chose to redeem your tokens for, which then are converted back to Yuan. If that sounded overly complicated and annoying that's because it is. I don't know what the development staff's thinking was in making this a predominant form of making money in the game, but it would have been far simpler and enjoyable if Yuan and only Yuan was used for all gambling and purchasing activities. Regardless, those Tokens can be exchanged for items you can either choose to Pawn or keep, including various outfit changes to Ryo which add a cool new feature to Shenmue III.


And last, and certainly not least is Shenmue III's story, which is arguable the most important part of the entire game. It was the story that left nearly one in suspense since 2001, and what kept us all wondering what would happen next in this epic tale. Shenmue III's story is interesting and does explain various things about the plot that we had all been wondering all this time, however this game doesn't do a ton to move the overall story along. Fortunately we do find out what lay beyond the cave that Shenmue 2 marooned us in, as well as info on the mirrors, more back story into specific characters, and a finale that many of us have been waiting for, but despite all this it feels like little is pushed forward at all during the events of Shenmue III. There is also an issue as it pertains to the development of Shenhua and Ryo's relationship which for a while, and without spoiling anything, becomes very intriguing and then suddenly and disappointingly just drops off midway through the game without things developed before being carried through the remainder of the game. I apologize for the vagueness of this statement, but for the sake of keeping this review spoiler free I kind of have to be.


I really get the impression that this chapter in the Shenmue Saga was really about Ryo's development as a martial artist with most other aspects of the story, plot, and character development of other characters taking a back seat to this. While this is interesting in its own right, there is a lot to be desired in this regard. However, the reason I'm not flat out calling Shenmue III's story mediocre is because it is a piece of the entire puzzle that will be answered (hopefully) in the greater Shenmue Story. Given Director and Creator Yu Suzuki's admission that Shenmue IV and possibly Shenmue V would be needed to conclude the Shenmue Saga, I feel like there is still a ton of potential to be fulfilled not only from Shenmue III, but the other games as well. Still, if I had to pick the single biggest disappointment with Shenmue III, the story and various plot elements would be it.


In the end, your mileage with Shenmue III will vary greatly on your history with the franchise as well as your level of fandom going into it. If you are a long time fan or at least a casual fan of the previous games, you will thoroughly enjoy and appreciate what Ys Net and Suzuki's team have accomplished here. It is hard to imagine a more faithful sequel to Shenmue II even with the spread of 18-years between them. However, if you've never played a Shenmue game or you have and didn't like them, this game is not going to change your mind about the series. Shenmue III is as much a love letter to the fans of the series as it is the next chapter in the Shenmue saga; there are flourishes and tributes to the previous games and the Shenmue fanbase all throughout the game, and it these elements that remind anyone playing Shenmue III why this game exists and who it was made for. Overall, Shenmue III is the game I wanted it to be in nearly every way, and even in the various ways it underdelivered, it still did almost nothing to diminish my enjoyment of this excellent, long awaited, and much anticipated game that I will be forever grateful exists for everything to play. (11/24/19) [48/50]
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on November 27, 2019, 02:00:39 pm
Currently working on game 54, and after that I'm considering taking a break from gaming for the remainder of the year. It's not that I'm burned out or anything, but seeing how I reached the 52 games goal I want to explore my other interests a little until around the new year. I typically get a lot of cool video game related gifts for Xmas so there's a chance I may squeeze in a couple more games before we get into 2020, but overall I can't see myself beating more than that after game 54 gets posted. In addition to that there are a few things I need to take care of that pertain to the holidays and end of year goals that I need to tend to.


Regardless, I'm going to hit the controller hard next year and I have every intent of reaching 52 games and beyond next year. Very excited about it already :D
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on November 27, 2019, 04:42:28 pm
I beat Pokemon Y last night, and may be able to beat a couple more games before the end of the year. Once I'm done with Hollow Knight I will probably boot up Shenmue III to finish that off.

Hollow Knight wise I just got the Monarch Wings and beat the boss in the Ancient Basin (I forget it's name)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on December 01, 2019, 08:39:44 am
Game 18 - Pokemon Y (3DS) - 31 Hours

While I did enjoy playing this game, I think this was unfortunately my least favorite Pokemon game to date. I really enjoyed Sun/Moon and ORAS, but this version falls short in several aspects.

+ Like every Pokemon game, I enjoyed the standard mechanics of catching and raising a team of Pokemon, and this edition is no different. However, X/Y added a lot of upgrades that I really appreciated. Customizing your character was a welcome addition, the PSS and O-powers were really helpful, I used Super Training a fair amount, and Pokemon Amie was charming as always. This was the first game to really improve shiny hunting too, which was nice, and I messed around with the three main ones (chain fishing, Poke Radar, and Friend Safari). Graphically, I used to not like the way the game looked, but my opinion improved over time, I think the game actually looks quite nice. The music was also pretty solid, like with most Pokemon games.

- I have three main complaints. The first is the story, it was really underwhelming and anemic compared to Black and White. Team Flare might be the worst evil team ever introduced in a Pokemon game; for one thing, the basic grunts are super lame and boring. Lysandre's whole cause of "resetting the world because it's corrupt" schtick is not only cliche as hell but it makes absolutely NO SENSE because the world of Pokemon is basically as perfect a utopia as you could ask for. Pokemon worlds are so goody two-shoes like all of the time, so there was no conflict, competition for resources, nothing that would make me even begin to buy into what Lysandre was going on about. It also didn't make any sense to me that A-Z would build a machine to bring his Pokemon to life but simultaneously wipe out other Pokemon in the process. Felt kind of hypocritical to me. Secondly, the controls were not quite refined for my liking. You can only move fluidly with the roller skates, which makes you move too fast to handle tight spaces. So most of the time I would run around without the skates, which forces you to move in 8 directions only. Thankfully they fixed this in the later games, but this didn't fully get addressed until Sun/Moon. Lastly, the postgame basically has nothing. You get to go to one new town with a crappy battle facility and that's it. And there was one new cave with Mewtwo in it. Was really disappointing.

My final team:

McGonagall (Delphox) - Level 66
Rex (Gogoat) - Level 65
Hrimfaxi (shiny Cloyster) - Level 64
Raptor (Garchomp) - Level 63
Caladbolg (Doublade) - Level 67
Hawk Hana (Hawlucha) - Level 65
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on December 04, 2019, 04:09:43 am
40 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (PC 2019) - BEAT - Initially wasn't planning to get the game, but sorta last minute with some combined money I still had on the account and the Black Friday sale, I decided to jump into the game.  I wasn't really impressed with the game during beta, Ground War being the only mode I was interested in and it was a mess, but playing it here, they did seem to clean it up quite abit.  It's still sort of a mess, like it's basically knock off Battlefield and offers none of the substance that series does, but I'm finding myself alright with it.

Also ran through the campaign, which was just alright.  Like it's an absolute bog standard shooter campaign, it's really no different an experience from the first Modern Warfare game, they just polished it all to a very fine sheen.  Graphically it's fairly nice, gunplay feels abit better, and the story worked well enough to keep me engaged, but it's nothing great.  Only really beat it so I could unlock the Operators for multiplayer.

The multiplayer seems fine, and hopefully they keep up with the regular updates as Ground War is the only mode that interests me and I think there's only 4 maps for it right now.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on December 08, 2019, 01:24:48 pm
Game 19 - Hollow Knight (PS4) - 29 Hours

+ On the whole, this game was fantastic. The enemies, environments, sound design and music are absolutely gorgeous. The game has both creepy, scary, awe-inspiring and beautiful places for you to explore, and it was a treat getting to experience it all. The soundtrack was masterful and perfectly set the mood for the game. The gameplay and combat were both excellent, and provided the perfect amount of difficulty. The charms provided a deep and fun customization system, and it was fun to collect them and try out new ones. Lastly, the game had loads of replayability and secrets to discover. I finished at 79%, so there's still a lot that I could go back and try to figure out if I wanted to (will probably need a guide though because I heard this game's secrets are pretty obscure).


- That said, I have two things that I didn't really enjoy. I really didn't like the way the map system is implemented, especially how you can't update your map with areas you've visited until you've bought a map from the shop AND backtracked to a save bench. Plus you need the Wayward Compass to even see your position on the map. Some really poor design decisions if you ask me, and it made me have to backtrack to a lot of areas because I would miss an additional corridor or something while exploring. I also wasn't a huge fan of the narrative design. Most of the characters speak with a lot of heavy and haughty metaphorical jargon that makes it really hard to understand what's going on. I found the story of similar games like Ori to be far more fulfilling and comprehensible because it strikes a better balance between good writing while still clearly conveying the story to be told.

This might be because I was playing on PS4, but there were a couple significant glitches too. One of which I almost thought broke my save file. There was a locked door to Lurien in the City of Tears that didn't open even after I flipped the correct switch. Of course I didn't know that at the time, until I got stuck trying to find Lurien and had to look it up online, and at that point I had well saved over the glitch. I thought I had wasted 24 hours of gameplay when I started up a session one day and the door was magically open. Another time the Soul Master froze after I beat him and I had to reset the game to continue playing.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: wolfen on December 08, 2019, 11:31:05 pm
22. Luigi's Mansion 3(Switch)

It does a good job of staying grounded to the basics of the OG Luigi's Mansion while pushing the franchise into to a more puzzle/collectathon/adventure oriented game. Creative bosses, unique floors, and so many different styles of puzzles throughout the game kept it very fresh from beginning to end. I loved it a lot but I do wish it was just slightly more creepy like the first Luigi's Mansion. Still it's a great experience and I'm glad Nintendo has decided to put effort into Luigi for a change.


Time: 30 hours

23. Pokemon Shield(Switch)

I think it's the most innovative Pokemon game in a while. The amount of different Pokemon catchable in the wild is insane and I never was really bothered by not having every single Pokemon in the game. Dynamaxing, raid battles and all that stuff is pretty neat as well. Catching wild Pokemon is actually difficult in this game for once. I had to put in effort to catch everything I came across, it was nice to be challenged like that.

Time: 90 hours
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on December 10, 2019, 07:01:04 am
Quote from: telly on December 08, 2019, 01:24:48 pm
Game 19 - Hollow Knight (PS4) - 29 Hours

+ On the whole, this game was fantastic. The enemies, environments, sound design and music are absolutely gorgeous. The game has both creepy, scary, awe-inspiring and beautiful places for you to explore, and it was a treat getting to experience it all. The soundtrack was masterful and perfectly set the mood for the game. The gameplay and combat were both excellent, and provided the perfect amount of difficulty. The charms provided a deep and fun customization system, and it was fun to collect them and try out new ones. Lastly, the game had loads of replayability and secrets to discover. I finished at 79%, so there's still a lot that I could go back and try to figure out if I wanted to (will probably need a guide though because I heard this game's secrets are pretty obscure).

After playing Hollow Knight it pretty easily became my GotY for 2017.  It's just one of those games that hit every single right note for me.  I got 103 or 104% completion - whatever was
max at the time.

Quote
- That said, I have two things that I didn't really enjoy. I really didn't like the way the map system is implemented, especially how you can't update your map with areas you've visited until you've bought a map from the shop AND backtracked to a save bench. Plus you need the Wayward Compass to even see your position on the map. Some really poor design decisions if you ask me, and it made me have to backtrack to a lot of areas because I would miss an additional corridor or something while exploring. I also wasn't a huge fan of the narrative design. Most of the characters speak with a lot of heavy and haughty metaphorical jargon that makes it really hard to understand what's going on. I found the story of similar games like Ori to be far more fulfilling and comprehensible because it strikes a better balance between good writing while still clearly conveying the story to be told.

Sounds like this is one of those different stroke for different folks things.  I liked pretty much each one of these - especially the Wayward Compass.  It was like a modular hard mode, similar to the destroyable checkpoints in Shovel Knight

Quote
This might be because I was playing on PS4, but there were a couple significant glitches too. One of which I almost thought broke my save file. There was a locked door to Lurien in the City of Tears that didn't open even after I flipped the correct switch. Of course I didn't know that at the time, until I got stuck trying to find Lurien and had to look it up online, and at that point I had well saved over the glitch. I thought I had wasted 24 hours of gameplay when I started up a session one day and the door was magically open. Another time the Soul Master froze after I beat him and I had to reset the game to continue playing.

That definitely sucks.  My playthrough was on Switch and I had zero bugs (well, aside from the game itself) as far as I can recall.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on December 10, 2019, 10:20:50 am
Quote from: Cartagia on December 10, 2019, 07:01:04 am
Quote from: telly on December 08, 2019, 01:24:48 pm
Quote
- That said, I have two things that I didn't really enjoy. I really didn't like the way the map system is implemented, especially how you can't update your map with areas you've visited until you've bought a map from the shop AND backtracked to a save bench. Plus you need the Wayward Compass to even see your position on the map. Some really poor design decisions if you ask me, and it made me have to backtrack to a lot of areas because I would miss an additional corridor or something while exploring. I also wasn't a huge fan of the narrative design. Most of the characters speak with a lot of heavy and haughty metaphorical jargon that makes it really hard to understand what's going on. I found the story of similar games like Ori to be far more fulfilling and comprehensible because it strikes a better balance between good writing while still clearly conveying the story to be told.

Sounds like this is one of those different stroke for different folks things.  I liked pretty much each one of these - especially the Wayward Compass.  It was like a modular hard mode, similar to the destroyable checkpoints in Shovel Knight

I could understand if people like the story, but I really wish the map system could have been better. Or maybe have it as a setting with the hard mode you unlock after beating the game.

It seems after looking stuff up online that I have a lot of extra content that I haven't done yet which I think you mentioned at one point regarding play time.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on December 21, 2019, 04:42:28 am
41 - Shovel Knight: King of Cards (PC 2019) - BEAT - The end of an era here, with Shovel Knight finally releasing it's last major DLC.  5 years since it's release and longer in development as it was my first Kickstarter game I supported.  Much like the last campaigns, it's not something entirely different, utilizing stuff from the main Shovel Knight campaign to create all new levels, while adding some new bosses, and having a new gameplay gimmick.  Plague Knight was the most drastic, with Spectre Knight having some pretty notable mobility.  King Knight fits more in between Spectre and Shovel, but also adds in the new "Joust" card game.  Honestly, I wasn't a huge fan of the card game part, but it's 100% optional to beat the game, so I'm glad they thought that through.  I've had fun with all the campaigns, with Shovel Knight being the best, then probably Spectre Knight, followed by King Knight, and then Plague Knight, just because his gameplay wasn't as fun as the others.

Overall, it's a great game and what Shovel Knight is now with the Treasure Trove is really an impressive package.  It's 4 story campaigns, each one with New Game +, a multiplayer battle mode, and tons of bonus extras.  If you like platformers, there is no way you won't love this game.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on December 21, 2019, 02:24:48 pm
Game 20 - InFamous: Second Son (PS4) - 14 hours

I played the first InFamous several years ago and I remember really enjoying it. Picked this game up used some months back and enjoyed it fairly well. It's got a lot of really good components carried over from the first game (from what I can remember anyway).

+ The gameplay is really great. You're given a lot of different powers and all of them are fun to use, even though you don't get to use concrete powers for very long. While the offensive powers are more or less the same, the movement options you are given with each power is fun to use. Seattle is really beautiful and looks a hell of a lot more vibrant and colorful than Empire City did. I really liked the sidequests with the spray paint can, it was a unique use of the Dualshock 4 controller. The game has a lot of extra content to keep you busy which is also nice. I got 100% completion on expert difficulty but there's still a lot that I could have done (I didn't get to level 5 karma, and obviously I could play the whole game again with evil karma too). I like how the enemies have their own powers to contend with instead of just having guns. The game overall was an enjoyable challenge. Lastly, the story wasn't really anything special, but was told decently enough.

- Wasn't the biggest fan of Delsin to be honest. He's kind of an arrogant tool if you ask me. Something about Troy Baker being the lead just sets it off for me because he's in so many other things. Most of the side missions were kind of boring too. It's mostly just find a certain objective and then either shoot it or pick it up (paint missions aside). That's about all I can think of.

This will probably be the last game of 2019. Pretty low showing this year, but I had several other priorities this year that took precedent. Was still able to play some awesome games this year. :)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on December 23, 2019, 08:12:44 pm
I’ve been playing Knights of the Old Republic II for the first time in over at least a decade.  I’ve got it on Steam, so I used the Restored Content mod, so with the distance and new material it is like playing a new game.  It’s so freaking good, and deals with a lot of themes that the sequel trilogy struggles with.  I keep squirreling away to my office to get more play time.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on December 23, 2019, 09:52:27 pm
Quote from: Cartagia on December 23, 2019, 08:12:44 pm
I’ve been playing Knights of the Old Republic II for the first time in over at least a decade.  I’ve got it on Steam, so I used the Restored Content mod, so with the distance and new material it is like playing a new game.  It’s so freaking good, and deals with a lot of themes that the sequel trilogy struggles with.  I keep squirreling away to my office to get more play time.


Both KOTOR 1 and 2 are on my list next year to play. I haven't played KOTOR 2 since it first came out, but actually remember liking it more than KOTOR 1. Some of the best Star Wars we got outside the films at that time.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on December 23, 2019, 10:05:13 pm
Part 7, and probably the final part of my reviews for this year


57. Gunblade NY (Wii): I played both Gunblade NY and LA Machineguns a few years ago on the Wii, but I never properly reviewed them, so here I am doing that. I didn't want to play anything too involved since my fiancee is great at giving me awesome games for Christmas every year. But anyhow, I never played Gunglade NY as a kid, not do I ever remember seeing it in any arcade I went to growing up. I don't think I was made aware of its existence until the compilation on the Wii including it and LA Machineguns was released. Gunblade NY is a balls to the wall arcade rail shooter in the same vein as Virtua Cop or Time Crisis, except there is no reloading, taking cover, or waiting for bad guys to pop up from behind desks and furniture. You literally just have your finger on the trigger the whole time blasting anything that gets in your way for the entire game while you fly around like a madman. The fast paced action is this games greatest asset, as its its great visuals for the time, as well as its destructible environments, and how enemies show physical damage as you pelt them with bullets. Speaking of the enemies, all are a variety of different military looking robots that explode after putting several bullets in them. There are also boss fights at the end of each level of of the two game stages. Boss fights are usually not that difficult however, nor is the game in general. While being able to constantly be shooting at everything is part of this games charm, it is also its greatest weakness; I found myself at times wondering what I was going to have for dinner, or when I had to meet people for Christmas in a couple of days given the task of just aiming and shooting at anything that moves. Don't get me wrong, it's still a very fun game, but like many arcade style shooting games of the 90s, its a pretty shallow experience that can become mundane after a while. Luckily the game can be beat in around 20-minutes so it never feels like it overstays its welcome. The graphics are very impressive for a game, arcade or otherwise, released in 1995, and the soundtrack has that unmistakable Sega Rock/Techno sound that many other Sega arcade games from early and mid 90s had. It's absolutely a trip down memory lane, even if I never played this game growing up. The end result is one of the best, most fun arcade shooting games I've ever played, even if it suffers from same repetition and monotony of games from that genre. (12/23/19) [37/50]

58. LA Machineguns (Wii): Unlike Gunblade NY, I did actually grow up playing LA Machineguns as a kid, and it was one of my favorites at the arcade in the late 90s. Out local Dave and Busters actually had a machine for it up until probably 3 or 4 years ago, no doubt because of how much of a draw it was, and how much fun it was to play. The gameplay is more or less the same as Gunblade NY, except there are fewer levels to go through, but the levels that are available are a bit longer, so the amount of time it takes to get through it is roughly the same. There are also innocent civilians you have to try and avoid shooting, and like good guy NPCs in other lightgun arcade games "accidentally" shooting them comes with a penalty. Luckily in LA Machineguns its just a point deduction and not your health which was something that always sucked in games like House of the Dead or Virtua Cop. Having been released 3 years after Gunblade NY, LA Machineguns is a much better looking game than its predecessor, and with that comes much more vibrant stages, cooler looking enemies and bosses, and cooler destructable objects within the environment. The soundtrack is also a bit better, and also shares that amazing 90s Sega arcade sound. Despite having more nostalgia for LA Machinegun, I actually find myself liking this game about the same as Gunblade NY; LA Machineguns is a prettier game and the OST gets me more pumped, but Gunblade NY doesn't having the annoying NPCs to contend with and gets originality points for being the first to adopt this sort of balls to the wall, giant gun arcade gameplay. Their both amazing arcade shooters, and the compilation on the Wii that includes both is a must have for 90s Sega arcade fans. (12/23/19) [37/50]

59. Nights into Dreams (PS2): Very few people outside Japan realize that Nights into Dreams received a PS2 port back in the day. Not only that, but it includes both the original Sega Saturn version as well as a visually remastered version that looks significantly better. I received Nights into Dreams on the Saturn over the summer so if you want to know what I think about the game in more depth go find that review somewhere in here lol. This is pretty much the definitive edition of Nights as it includes both the mentioned versions, a movie mode where you can rewatch all the cut scenes, as well as the ability to unlock a remastered version Christmas Nights, a game I'd never played until today. All it is is a Christmas themed mod for the first Elliot and Clarise stages, which is very novel and nice, but outside everything getting a coat of Christmas themed paint, nothing is different about the gameplay. One thing that disappointed me about Christmas Nights is the boss for both character stages are the exact same; it seemed like a missed opportunity to not reskin the fat opera singer lady you have to inappropriate grab and then throw into a giant Santa. But regardless it's a charming addition that really makes this a very nice package for anyone who loves this game and has find memories for it as I do. In the end however, I would barely rate the Saturn version higher, mostly because of how big a deal that game was when it came out, and also for it looking visually impressive for a game released in 1996. The remastered version of Nights looks great for the standards of the time it was released, but unfortunately it no longer had that visual awe that the original had back in its day. (12/25/19) [40/50]
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on December 24, 2019, 12:13:51 am
39 - Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PC 2019) - BEAT - I'm really happy for this game existing, as it definitely is up there as one of the better pieces of Star Wars media they've released in quite a long time, no matter how you view the movies, because what we have here is a real quality, beginning to end story, that doesn't feel like it's trying to be like anything that came before, or relying on nostalgia to sell it with established characters.  Everyone you interact with is a pretty good character really and pretty well done.  Both Cameron Monaghan and Debra Wilson do real well for their characters though they got her character model abit off in game, which makes her look sorta bug-eyed, when it's not that noticeable in real life and she actually looked better in her short appearance in the recent Call of Duty game.  Greez and the other characters were good too as it's not a huge cast, but there wasn't anyone who felt off or out of place.

That said, I think the best way I've seen the game described is one reviewers tagline of "Perfect Star Wars.  Imperfect Game." It's a sloppy game.  Performance, gameplay, it's all over the map.  Frame drops, pop-in, lots of performance stuff going wrong that even with patches and me figuring out how to make the frame stutters stop, it's still not the best.  Gameplay is okay, I like that it's trying to be Dark Souls mixed with Tomb Raider, but the gameplay isn't nearly as tight as what the Souls games do and there's notable issues with it, like tracking with the lunging heavy attack is awful.  I've probably missed with that attack over a few dozen times at least because the guy or creature shifted slightly to the left lol  Exploration is fun in that Tomb Raider/Uncharted way and I like opening up shortcuts and with this being a singleplayer game with no microtransactions, there's always some customization options to find for Cal, BD-1, and The Mantis.

It's not the best game ever, but it's a real fun Star Wars game and hopefully they'll make a sequel because I really want to see them improve on all the problems the game has, expanding customization, and maybe having more worlds to explore, especially ones with like towns you can visit.  I think that's the next step for these games.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on December 24, 2019, 01:32:44 am
I adored Jedi Fallen Order, and found way less faults with the gameplay, but I do agree that it is a better piece of Star Wars than a game. I beat it several weeks ago, but still contemplated replaying it this last week because of how much fun I had with it. I really hope the quality of story telling and writing in this game, as well as Mando, is where the franchise is headed post Rise of Skywalker. It's hands down the best Star Wars game I've ever played, which is saying a lot!
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on December 24, 2019, 01:39:36 am
Quote from: bikingjahuty on December 24, 2019, 01:32:44 am
I adored Jedi Fallen Order, and found way less faults with the gameplay, but I do agree that it is a better piece of Star Wars than a game. I beat it several weeks ago, but still contemplated replaying it this last week because of how much fun I had with it. I really hope the quality of story telling and writing in this game, as well as Mando, is where the franchise is headed post Rise of Skywalker. It's hands down the best Star Wars game I've ever played, which is saying a lot!

Even with my faults with the gameplay and performance, this might be up there in terms of best Star Wars game for sure.  For as long of a history Star Wars has had, I can probably almost count the games I've loved on like one hand...Star Wars: Shadow of the Empire, Episode 1 Racer, Star Wars Galaxies, Rogue Squadron, Republic Commando, the original Battlefront games, and that might be sorta it, but I don't remember too much about Knights of the Old Republic, and I never really played much of those late 90's/early 00's Jedi Knight/Dark Forces games.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on December 25, 2019, 10:30:38 am
Quote from: kamikazekeeg on December 24, 2019, 01:39:36 am
Quote from: bikingjahuty on December 24, 2019, 01:32:44 am
I adored Jedi Fallen Order, and found way less faults with the gameplay, but I do agree that it is a better piece of Star Wars than a game. I beat it several weeks ago, but still contemplated replaying it this last week because of how much fun I had with it. I really hope the quality of story telling and writing in this game, as well as Mando, is where the franchise is headed post Rise of Skywalker. It's hands down the best Star Wars game I've ever played, which is saying a lot!

Even with my faults with the gameplay and performance, this might be up there in terms of best Star Wars game for sure.  For as long of a history Star Wars has had, I can probably almost count the games I've loved on like one hand...Star Wars: Shadow of the Empire, Episode 1 Racer, Star Wars Galaxies, Rogue Squadron, Republic Commando, the original Battlefront games, and that might be sorta it, but I don't remember too much about Knights of the Old Republic, and I never really played much of those late 90's/early 00's Jedi Knight/Dark Forces games.


There are a lot of other great ones out there, especially KOTOR and the Dark Forces series. It's funny you mention Galaxies since other than Everquest it's the only other MMO I ever played extensively. I played it before they completely overhauled the leveling system, when becoming even a bounty hunter meant sinking 200+ hours into it. I played it a lot, but not even close to what was needed to become one of the more advanced classes. Anytime I saw a jedi in the game I couldn't help but admire their dedication since I'm sure they probably had to put their life on hold to get there. It was a pretty cool game for a while, but I just couldn't do it anymore given how insane the grind was in that game.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on December 25, 2019, 07:33:33 pm
Quote from: bikingjahuty on December 25, 2019, 10:30:38 am
There are a lot of other great ones out there, especially KOTOR and the Dark Forces series. It's funny you mention Galaxies since other than Everquest it's the only other MMO I ever played extensively. I played it before they completely overhauled the leveling system, when becoming even a bounty hunter meant sinking 200+ hours into it. I played it a lot, but not even close to what was needed to become one of the more advanced classes. Anytime I saw a jedi in the game I couldn't help but admire their dedication since I'm sure they probably had to put their life on hold to get there. It was a pretty cool game for a while, but I just couldn't do it anymore given how insane the grind was in that game.

It's the only MMO I've also played for hundreds of hours.  Like I put some time into WoW, but I adored Galaxies.  Played it so much till the game overhaul that killed the game off.  I remember making a new character on a new and traveling to a planet, just to watch a fight between one of the rare Sith and Jedi in the game, where dozens of other people showed up to watch the fight, before I think it reached hundreds of people and then we actually crashed that planets server lol
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: Cartagia on December 26, 2019, 11:27:13 pm
So the longer I played KOTOR 2 the more I was feeling like I only half remembered the game.  So, I did some research on the Restored Content Mod, and it turns out that the first planet I chose was the most drastically changed from the original release.  I flew to my second planet and remembered almost everything.  It is still a pretty different experience overall, though.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on December 27, 2019, 05:39:13 pm
Quote from: kamikazekeeg on December 25, 2019, 07:33:33 pm
Quote from: bikingjahuty on December 25, 2019, 10:30:38 am
There are a lot of other great ones out there, especially KOTOR and the Dark Forces series. It's funny you mention Galaxies since other than Everquest it's the only other MMO I ever played extensively. I played it before they completely overhauled the leveling system, when becoming even a bounty hunter meant sinking 200+ hours into it. I played it a lot, but not even close to what was needed to become one of the more advanced classes. Anytime I saw a jedi in the game I couldn't help but admire their dedication since I'm sure they probably had to put their life on hold to get there. It was a pretty cool game for a while, but I just couldn't do it anymore given how insane the grind was in that game.

It's the only MMO I've also played for hundreds of hours.  Like I put some time into WoW, but I adored Galaxies.  Played it so much till the game overhaul that killed the game off.  I remember making a new character on a new and traveling to a planet, just to watch a fight between one of the rare Sith and Jedi in the game, where dozens of other people showed up to watch the fight, before I think it reached hundreds of people and then we actually crashed that planets server lol


hahaha that's amazing! I had a friend that was really into it, and he actually got his character to Bounty Hunter and thought he was the coolest for it. He used to give me a lot of free loot in the game since he was more powerful than like 90% of the other players in the game. He probably helped me get a lot further than I normally would to in terms of credits and items.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: shfan on December 28, 2019, 12:38:53 pm
I'm sticking at 45, the last one being Dirge of Cerberus on the PS2, amazed to have gotten that far considering what a hectic year it has been. 2020's going to be hectic as well, but everyone needs a little down-time so I'm hoping to start off with beating a few games and seeing how far I get.. Good luck for next year everyone.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on December 28, 2019, 01:26:18 pm
I'm at 59 currently, but since that's an ugly number I'm going to try and beat one more game before the end of the year. Heavily leaning towards playing Sin and Punishment: Star Successor. I'm on a bit of a Wii kick at the moment.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: justin8301 on December 29, 2019, 06:08:25 pm
Well I did it! At the beginning of the year I honestly didn't think I'd be able to, but figured I'd give it a shot anyway and in the end it worked out. I decided to take off the first two games on my list since I had played them mostly in 2018 and just finished them up on the first of 2019, which brings my 2019 total to 52 exactly!

1. Destiny 2 (Xbox One) 1/1 - Beat
2. Moonlighter (Switch) 1/1 - Beat
3. Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy) 1/1- Beat
4. Bayonetta (Switch) 1/5 - Beat
5. Balloon Kid (Gameboy) 1/11 - Beat
6. Bayonetta 2 (Switch) 1/13 - Beat
7. Mega Man 11 (Switch) 1/13 - Beat
8. I Am Setsuna (Switch) 1/31 - Beat
9. Bastion (Vita) 2/1 - Beat
10. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (Switch) 2/4 - Beat
11. Castlevania Circle of the Moon (GBA) 2/26 - Beat
12. Shovel Knight (Switch) 2/27 - Beat
13. Red Dead Redemption 2 (PS4) 3/4 - Beat
14. Uncharted Drakes Fortune (PS4) 3/13 - Beat
15. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS4) 3/29 - Beat
16. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS4) 4/6 - Beat
17. Final Fantasy IX (Switch) 4/6 - Beat
18. Yoshi's Crafted World (Switch) 4/8 - Beat
19. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Switch) 4/9 - Beat
20. Super Meat Boy (Switch) 4/21 - Beat
21. Undertale (Switch) 4/29 - Beat
22. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4) 4/30 - Beat
23. Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita) 5/6 - Beat
24. Mortal Kombat 11 (PS4) 5/8 - Beat
25. Super Monkey Ball Banana Splitz (Vita) 5/11 - Beatish
26. Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age (Switch) 5/26 - Beat
27. Castlevania (Anniversary Collection) (Switch) 5/29 - Beat
28. Super Mario Bros. 2 (Switch) 5/30 - Beat
29. Super Mario Bros. 3 (Switch) 6/2 - Beat
30. Kirby's Adventure (Switch) 6/12 - Beat
31. Uncharted The Lost Legacy (PS4) 6/22 - Beat
32. Final Fantasy VII (Switch) 6/26 - Beat
33. Castlevania 2 (Switch) 6/30 - Beat
34. Castlevania 3 (Switch) 7/20 - Beat
35. Marvel's Spider-Man (PS4) 7/24 - Beat
36. Marvel Ultimate Alliance (Switch) 7/29 - Beat
37. Super Castlevania 4 (Switch) 7/31 - Beat
38. Dark Cloud (PS4) 8/15 - Beat
39. Guacamelee (Switch) 8/18 - Beat
40. Super Mario World (Switch) 9/10 - Beat
41. Star Fox (Switch) 9/12 - Beat
42. Kirby's Dreamland 3 (Switch) 9/16 - Beat
43. Super Metroid (Switch) 10/1 - Beat
44. The Last of Us (PS4) 10/11 - Beat
45. Kid Dracula (Switch) 10/19 - Beat
46. Dead Space (360) 10/24 - Beat
47. Little Nightmares (Switch) 10/25 - Beat
48. Silent Hill (PS1) 10/29 - Beat
49. Link's Awakening (Switch) 11/14 - Beat
50. The Legend of Zelda (NES/Switch) 11/19
51.Luigi's Mansion (3DS) 11/29
52. Dead Space 2 (360) 12/8
53. Dragon Quest (Switch) 12/8
54. God of War (PS2) 12/29
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kamikazekeeg on December 29, 2019, 06:37:44 pm
Only got to 41 this year, but I don't really try for the challenge anymore since I've done it twice now, it's more about keeping track of what I played.  I actually played way less games this year compared to last year where I played over 60 and over 50 before in 2017, but there wasn't a ton hitting me this year.   Especially on Switch, there was barely anything I wanted to play on that and I was kinda forcing myself to play a few games on there.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: droaa on December 29, 2019, 06:50:11 pm
I knew I wasnt going to hit 52 this year but the point of this was to get some games out of the backlog which I did although 2 of them were replays. That said,  I know for a fact now and maybe something that I should have known before was that the constant stream of purchases wasnt going to do me any favors and hence why during the summer, I slowed down my purchasing outside of pre-orders and a few games I knew I wanted beforehand rather than impulse purchase but then Black Friday happened and some post BF deals which broke that but it is what it is. I do feel going with that mindset from the summer to start off 2020 will help significantly to better focus what I already have.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on December 29, 2019, 07:46:10 pm
I was only able to beat 20 games. Hopefully I can bring that nhmber up for next year! I usually shoot for half of 52.
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: vivigamer on December 30, 2019, 03:35:18 am
I've not updated my list since July! but I am going to go through all the games I have beaten since quickly:
19. Judgment ( PS4) - Decent Story, didn't enjoy the fighting styles.
20. Dragons Crown PRO (PS4) - Great Co-op action!
21. State of Mind (PS4) - Great Interactive Drama, must for Quantic Dream fans!
22. Man of Medan (PS4) - A lot of inconsistencies and a bit of a let down really...
23. Catherine: Full Body(PS4) - Great game, but the implementation of the new Catherine doesn't work so well.
24. AER Memories of Old (PS4) - Anti-Climatic!
25. DOOM (PS4) - Beat the original DOOM for the 1st time (Even has co-op!)
26. Sonic All-Star Racing Transformed (Vita) - Playing it a lot this year, not getting all the S-Rank though.
27. Team Soinc Racing (PS4) - Great racing title, had a lot more fun with it than the Crash Team Racing remake... which remains incomplete...
28. Shenmue (PS4) - Remains in my Top 10 favourite games.
29. Shenmue II (PS4) - Explored the game in much bigger detail, love it!
30. Shenmue III (PS4) - While lacking in narrative was a wonderful gaming experience!
31. NeverDead (PS3) - Not as bad as everyone says, strangely compelling.
32. Virtua Fighter 5: Showdown (PS3) - Played it a bunch.
33. Dead Rising 2 (PS4) - The game has horrible time keeping issues, to the point if you don't make an objective in time the whole game shuts down on you... but it's co-op!
34. Lost Planet (360) - Very Decent Action B-Movie
35. Lost Planet 3 (PS3) - Frustrating combat mechanics, but decent main character and story.
36. World of Illusion (Mega-Drive-Mini) - Played World of Illusion on my Mega-Drive Mini, still one of the finest platfomers ever made!

36 isn't too bad considering I don't play short arcadey games, prett content with that really.

Playing:
Death Stranding (PS4)
Borderlands 1 GotY (PS4)

Plan to play:
End of Eternity (PS4)
Ni No Kuni Remastered (PS4)
Infinite Indiscovery (360)
Yakuza 1 & 2 Kiwami (PS4)
Final Fantasy VII (PC if I can get a solid build)

Beaten List:
36. World of Illusion (Mega-Drive-Mini), 35. Lost Planet 3 (PS3), 34. Lost Planet (360), 33. Dead Rising 2 (PS4), 32. Virtua Fighter 5: Showdown (PS3), 31. NeverDead (PS3), 30. Shenmue III (PS4), 29. Shenmue II (PS4), 28. Shenmue (PS4), 27. Team Soinc Racing (PS4), 26. Sonic All-Star Racing Transformed (Vita), 25. DOOM-Original (PS4) 24. AER Memories of Old (PS4), 23. Catherine: Full Body(PS4), 22. Man of Medan (PS4), 21. State of Mind (PS4), 20. Dragons Crown PRO (PS4), 19. Judgment ( PS4), 18. Devil May Cry V (PS4), 17. Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition (PS4), 16. Devil May Cry 2 HD (PS4), 15. Devil May Cry 1 HD (PS4), 14. Spyro The Dragon - Reignited (PS4), 13. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (PS4), 12. Wolfenstein: The New Order (PS4), 11. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PS4), 10. Final Fantasy V (GBA), 9. Firewatch (PS4), 8. Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (PS4), 7. The Simpsons Game (PS3), 6. Devil May Cry 3 HD (PS4), 5. Kingdom Hearts III (PS4), 4. Resident Evil 2 REMAKE (PS4), 3. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (PS4) 2. Resident Evil REMAKE (PS4) 1. Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded (PS4)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: kashell on December 30, 2019, 08:17:38 am
Copied and pasted from another forum:

RPG:
1. Final Fantasy V
2. Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition
3. Final Fantasy IV Advance
4. Song of Memories - platinum'd
5. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 - not finished
6. Chrono Cross
7. Valkyria Chronicles Remastered - platinum'd
8. Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna the Golden Country
9. Shining Force Neo - not finished
10. Death end re;Quest - platinum'd
11. Nostalgia - not finished
12. Forever Kingdom
13. Guardian's Crusade - not finished
14. Mary Skelter Nightmares
15. SaGa Frontier - Rouge
16. Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age - not finished
17. Odin Sphere Leifthrasir
19. Dragon Star Varnir - platinum'd
20. I Am Setsuna
21. Drakengard 3
22. Battle Hunter - not finished
23. Trials of Mana with Kevin (D/D), Charlotte (L/L) and Riesz (D/D)
24. Nier: Automata
25. Shadow Hearts: Covenant
26. Trials of Mana with Duran (D/L), Angela (D/L) and Charlotte (D/L)
27. Crystar - platinum'd
28. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete
29. Trials of Mana with Riesz (L/D), Hawk (D/L), and Kevin (L/L)
30. Final Fantasy Adventure
31. The Legend of Oasis
32. Final Fantasy VII
33. Phantasy Star IV
34. Lost Sphear
35. Trails of Cold Steel - not finished
36. Vanguard Bandits - Empire Branch, Sadira's Ending
37. Romancing SaGa 3 - Ellen Carson
38. Vandal Hearts II
39. Dokapon Kingdom - not finished
40. Salt and Sanctuary
41. SaGa Frontier - Riki

Non-RPG:
1. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
2. Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn
3. Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk - not finished
4. Britney's Dance Beat
5. God Hand
6. Um Jammer Lammy
7. Mega Man X4
8. Einhander
9. Vampire Savior
10. Akatsuki Blitzkampf
11. Power Stone
12. Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa
13. Ehrgeiz
14. Pop N' Music
15. Jubeat
16. Dance Dance Revolution Xtreme
17. Resident Evil 4
18. Period: Cube ~Shackles of Amadeus~
19. Samurai Shodown - platinum'd
20. Super Mario World
21. Rival Schools
22. Trauma Center: Under the Knife
23. Axiom Verge
24. Our World Is Ended - Normal Ending
25. Kuon
26. What Remains of Edith Finch
27. Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2
28. Dead Cells
29. Superbeat: Xonic
30. Spirit Hunters: NG
31. Death Mark - platinum'd
32. Castlevania: Bloodlines - Eric Lecarde
33. Demon's Crest
34. Manhunt
35. Earthworm Jim
36. Muv-Luv Extra
37. Muv-Luv Unlimited
38. Turtles in Time
39. Mega Man 5
40. Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: ignition365 on January 02, 2020, 09:27:34 am
As is my tradition, time to close out the year's challenge with a stats post.

Top Games played that released in 2019

Top Games played NOT released in 2019

Top Games played overall in 2019

Honorable Mention

Console breakdown

Platform with Most Beat Games: PS4 with 27 games beat. 3 of those being PSVR games. NS was a close second with 25 games beat, but nearly double the games beat as last year, so NS has seen another major increase in play time as last year was nearly double over the year before too.  X1 actually came in a decent third with 18 games beat, I expect to see X1 make a big come back for 2020 as I'll be running through the DMC series on there and it's shifted to be my primary home console.

Platform with Most unfinished titles: That would be PS4 with 8 games unfinished, with 1 in progress and 2 straight up abandoned.  1 of which was abandoned in favor of the Switch version, which I'm starting today (DQXI:S)

Current v. Retro v. Mobile/Handheld v. PC: 70 - 10 - 2 (I am considering anything not PS4/X1/NS to be "retro")

Game that ate up the most time: For once I didn't actually put a lot of time into Phantom Pain, as I was actually quite close to the platinum.  I'd venture to guess Witcher 3 or Octopath might be the winner of that this year, maybe Sekiro as earning the platinum was like 100 hours of grinding.

Quickest game beat: I'm gonna go with Cube Escape Seasons as it took less than an hour.  Next to that I'd say Fairune Origin.

Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: bikingjahuty on January 03, 2020, 12:42:52 pm
Here is my breakdown for 2019


Total games played: 59


Total games completed: 58


Number of games played per platform
PS1: 9
PS2: 8
Saturn: 8
Arcade: 7
Switch: 7
Dreamcast: 4
N64: 4
PS4: 3
PS3: 2
360: 2
SNES: 1
Wii: 2
Genesis: 1
Gameboy: 1
PC: 1
XBOX: 1


Top 10 Best Games Played in 2019
1. Shenmue III (PS4)
2. Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order (PS4)
3. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1)
4. Tekken Tag Tournament (PS2)
5. Sonic Mania Plus (Switch)
6. Nights into Dreams (PS2)
7. Shadow of the Colossus (PS4)
8. Star Wars Trilogy Arcade (Arcade)
9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (SNES)
10. Street Fighter III: Third Strike (Dreamcast)


Top 10 Worst Games Played in 2019
1. Pokemon Sword (Switch)
2. World of Heroes Perfect (PS2)
3. Dragon Ball GT Final Bout (PS1)
4. Bug! (Saturn)
5. Uchan Nanchan Hoono no Challenge (N64)
6. Samurai Aces (Switch)
7. Strikers 1945 (Switch)
8. Super Buster Bros (PS1)
9. Cruisn' USA (N64)
10. Elevator Action Returns (PS2)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on January 03, 2020, 01:45:31 pm
My numbers

Total games played: 29
Total games finished: 20

Longest game: Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2007 (DS) - 96 hours
Shortest game: Shantae: Risky's Revenge (PS4) - 6

Number of games played per platform
PS4: 19
PS3: 2
SNES Classic: 2
PS2: 1
PS1: 1
3DS: 1
DS: 1
Wii U: 1
Switch: 1

Top 5 Best Games Played in 2019
1. Ace Combat 5 (PS4)
2. Final Fantasy X (PS4)
3. Hollow Knight (PS4)
4. Tales of Xillia (PS3)
5. Last of Us Remastered (PS4)

Top 5 Worst Games Played in 2019 (Except X-2, none of these were bad per se, just the "least good")
1. Final Fantasy X-2 (PS4)
2. Pokemon Y (3DS)
3. Shantae: Risky's Revenge (PS4)
4. Super Ghouls and Ghosts (SNESc)
5. Shenmue (PS4)
Title: Re: 52 Games Challenge 2019
Post by: telly on January 03, 2020, 01:59:30 pm
Quote from: kashell on December 30, 2019, 08:17:38 am
Copied and pasted from another forum:
~

If it's not too much trouble for you, I love reading your reviews on your website, maybe you can drop the links in here when you finish them so I know when a new review is up and we can see your progress on the challenge and everything :)