Messages

16

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: June 14, 2025, 12:04:44 pm »

65. Cannon Spike (Dreamcast)

One part of my life that I've become fairly nostalgic for despite it having occurred not too long ago was when I was at the height of my video game collectorism back in the early and mid 2010s. While I pretty much collected everything from the NES all the way up to the newest consoles at the time, the console that I always got the most excited about when it came to acquiring new games was the Dreamcast. I've probably mentioned it a million times at this point, but the Sega Dreamcast is my favorite console of all time, so it makes sense why the finding new games for it would get me completely amped. One of the games that I remember being the happiest and most excited about getting was Cannon Spike. Beyond it being one of the rarer titles in the NTSC/US library, it's also a game that's actually good and fun to play. I got Cannon Spike as a birthday gift from my wife years ago and aside from playing it when first got it back in 2012, possibly 2013, I haven't touched it since. One thing I feared going into replaying Cannon Spike was that I might not enjoy it as much as I did, or that my feverish pursuit of Dreamcast games back then blinding me to the game's faults, similar to what I experienced in recent years with Tech Romancer and Sonic Adventure. While definitely a game with some flaws, I was pleasantly surprised to rediscover that Cannon Spike is just as fun as I remembered it being, maybe even slightly more fun.


Cannon Spike is more or less a SHMUP that has you free roaming in a square shaped arena set to the theme of a city street or inside some top secret lab, while you blast away enemies coming in from all directions. The closest thing I can compare it to is Geometry Wars, but in a way it shares similarities to other Psikyo SHMUPs like Zero Gunner. Unfortunately, this gameplay style is hampered by the fact that you can't aim and shoot at the same time. More or less, you have to let go of the fire button and somewhat awkwardly position your character in the direction you want to fire and then you can hold down the fire button to shoot enemies in that direction. This mechanic works seamlessly in the aforementioned Geometry Wars since duel analogue sticks allow you to fire and aim intuitively at the same time. I have no doubt Cannon Spike would have benefited greatly from this had the Dreamcast control been equipped with a second analogue stick, but as is, it's certainly functional and relatively easy to get used to, but still hampers the gameplay somewhat. Fortunately, the gameplay is so fast paced and engaging that you won't mind this relatively large gameplay blemish as many different enemy types will be coming at you from every direction. Before you know it, you'll then fight some sort of sub boss, immediately followed up by the main stage boss. In all, each stage is only a few minutes long, and for the most part they're all visually distinct from one another and possess their own enemy types, bosses, and themes. One stage is literally a haunted courtyard where you'll fight zombies and a giant zombie gorilla as a sub boss, while the next takes place on a city street where the final boss is three cool looking mechs that attack you at the same time. It's all really interesting stuff and makes this game really fun to play despite it's issues.


As for the characters you'll get to play as, the game has a fairly generous roster made up mostly of recognizable Capcom characters such as Mega Man and Cammy, but also a few more obscure ones like BB Hood and Arther from Ghosts n' Goblins fame. There are also two original characters that stylistically fit right in with the other selectable characters. All characters control more or less the same, and all have an automatic basic shot which you'll be using most of the time, as well as a close range melee attack too. Aside from how they look obviously, where the characters do differ is their special attack. Your characters also have a health bar which you can replenish by picking up health power ups from fallen enemies, but also you can pick up additional special attack power ups which allow you to use your special attack more often. While some characters are absolutely better than others, mainly due to how effective their special attack is, it's still fun to play as all of them for the most part.


One final aspect of Cannon Spike's gameplay I wanted to address is this game's general lack of difficulty balancing. As you'd expect, the game does get harder and harder as you progress, however there are a few boss encounters specifically that are downright annoying, especially the final few bosses in the game which hit you with attacks I'm not even sure are possible to avoid. I get this game began its life as an arcade title, which are known for being purposefully cheap in order to get more quarters out of you, but it still doesn't change the fact that these annoying elements diminish the overall quality of the game. Cannon Spike is no different, but luckily there is still more there to love than there is to dislike.


I already somewhat touched on the visuals of Cannon Spike just now, but to summarize, their excellent, mostly due to the detail and variety in them. Likewise, the selectable characters you can pick from all look beautifully rendered in 3D. Attacks and visual effects are also fairly unique and cool, but for the most part since this is a SHMUP at its core, you'll see a lot of round enemy projectiles coming at you that you'll want to dodge. It's honestly hard to fault anything with Cannon Spike's visuals and overall presentations. It's just that good!


Finally, Cannon Spike's audio is also pretty awesome. Capcom games from the late 90s and early 2000s are famous for having amazing OSTs in general and Cannon Spike is no exception. While there are a few somewhat boring tracks thrown in the game, Cannon Spike makes up for it by having some absolutely excellent tracks as well. The characters are also voice acted, which has them saying limited lines if they are damaged or you use your special attack, but it's still a nice touch I was happy to see.


While they have certainly released some amazing games since then, for me Capcom absolutely peaked in the late 90s and early 2000s, and Cannon Spike is a shining example of why that is. They were just pumping out such creative, interesting games during that time, and who'd have ever guessed they'd make their own version of Super Smash Bros, but as a SHMUP and with Capcom characters of course. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever see such an innovative and interesting era of gaming like this ever again, but luckily we still have these classics and obscure gems like Cannon Spike to return to. (6/14/25) [37/50]

17

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: June 14, 2025, 12:52:59 am »

I'm still marching forward towards 100 games beat by the end of the year. With summer around the corner, I have several games in mind that I really want to try and play before the fall. Some of these games are more summery in nature (I guess), but overall I just want to make sure I play and beat the following games before the beginning of September. Here is my current list of summer time games I plan on beating.


- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Donkey Kong 64
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- Halo 2


I definitely plan on playing more than just those four games, but those are the ones that if nothing else, I definitely want to make sure I've beat them before summer's end.

Unfortunately, I abandoned The Witcher 3 earlier this week, but in its place I decided to replay one of my all time favorite games, Zelda OoT. Oh, and before anyone asks, no I didn't plan on it being the 64th game I beat this year. It was just kinda of a cool coinicidence :p


64. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)

In terms of personal, special games, there are few games, if any, that are more at the core of who I am as a gamer than Ocarina of Time. I got this game when it first came out in 1998 as a birthday gift and it was unlike anything I'd ever played up until that point. Funny enough, that ended up being a bad thing initially as I struggled with its non-linear gameplay and puzzles (I was 11 years old, cut me some slack), and decided I didn't like the game by the time I got to the Deku Tree. I let a friend borrow the game shortly after and it was him praising the hell out of it that inspired me to give OoT another chance when I took the game back. Fortunately, the game clicked for me in ways I could have never imagined. It took me around half a year to beat OoT the first time I played it and it instnatly became my favorite game of all time.


For nearly 30-years I have got back and replayed OoT maybe more than any other game I've ever played. It's a game that heavily made me into the gamer I am now, and for a long time it was an annual playthrough for me. At some point, the frequency of me playing OoT became more and more spread out, with the last time I beat it until now being back in 2018, 7-years ago. When I realized just how long it had been since I last played through the entire game, I made it my mission to make sure I beat OoT in 2025, which is precisely what I have just done again!


I often go through the individual aspects of a specific game (ie. gameplay, visuals, and audio), but there's almost no reason for me to do this with OoT. It's a game that essentially speaks for itself at this point. It pushed the action adventure genre of games to new heights when it came out in 1998 and for many years it reigned supreme within the genre. Literally, everything in this game is perfect or near perfect and that's not just for the time it came out. This game is still incredibly good and super fun to play. I don't have a bad thing to say about OoT when looking at the games objective merits. It's a game that absolutely deserves all the praise and love around it, and I dare anyone to call it overrated and be taken seriously. The only reason this game doesn't score a perfect 50/50 score in my book has to do with the more subjective side of things.


Due to me playing and replaying OoT so many times over the last three decades, any novelty this game once had is now long gone. This is one of the few longer games where I know almost exactly what to do and when to do it. Nothing in this game is a challenge for me anymore. I even know where a ton of the optional items are and how to get them from memory. I know where all the fairy fountains are, where probably 2/3 of the gold Skulltulas are, and also most of the heart pieces. There is not a single dungeon I get lost in, nor do I have any problems or difficulties beating any of the bosses. Because of this, this game feels almost too familiar at this point which has unfortunately dulled some of the excitement I once felt when playing this game or when trying to figure certain things out in it. Despite this, however, how special this game is to me and how it makes me feel on a more sentimental level are just as potent as ever, maybe even more than ever.


As I said, I played this game originally back when I was 11-years old. I'm now quickly nearing 40, and the whole concept of traveling back and forth between two very different eras is not lost on me. The Hyrule kid Link lives in reminds me in many ways of being a kid in the 90s, where everything seemed exciting, fun, and optimistic. Things weren't perfect, but overall the zeitgeist of the time was something millions of people my age look back on with the utmost fondness. Compare that to the world we live in now and it's a much more depressing and dismal place to live, much like it is as adult Link in OoT. More than anything, the entire game takes me back to a much more simple, naive time in my life that I wish often I could have back somehow. OoT also represents somewhat of a pinnacle in gaming where the games and industry as a whole as at its best, most innovative and creative, and it just seemed like a new classic game or franchise was getting released weekly. It is this aspect of how OoT makes me feel that makes me believe this game will never ever budge from its place in my top 5 games of all time. Beyond just being a very fun game, despite how familiar I am with it now, it's also a game that means so much to me on so many levels, and one I will always cherish and love. (5/13/25) [48/50]

18

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: June 08, 2025, 11:44:20 pm »

5. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PS4) - ABANDONED

Full disclosure, I'm not the biggest RPG fan. Beyond the massive commitment they require to get through, I just don't have the patience for them like I used to. My ratio of finished to abandoned RPGs is slightly better when it comes to action RPGs, but it's still not great. Overall, I probably only complete 1 out of 5 RPGs I start, which is a shame because it used to be my favorite genre of games 25-years ago, but for reasons still not entirely clear to me, it's now one of the genres I have the hardest time with. In the case of The Witcher 3, my patience with it met its end over my struggles with the combat as well as me wanting to try out side quests and finding I was woefully outmatched in most of them. I barely struggled with the main quest up until I quit, but even just traversing the world made me feel like a baby rabbit surrounded by rapid, starving wolves. I just got so tired of dying over and over again when my only crime was wanting to explore more of the world, much of which I found fascinating. I also really struggled to get a hang of the combat, specifically the use of signs, exploiting enemy weaknesses, and various other things that have me feeling a bit pathetic, but after dying for probably the 20th time within just 5 or 6 hours in, I just sort of gave up and wanted to move onto something more up my ally. I will say that The Witcher 3's story, writing, and dialogue is incredible and is why I played as much of the game as I did before finally quitting. I actually do plan on giving this game another go someday, but for now I feel like I'm getting more annoyed with The Witcher 3 than I am having fun. Maybe the game just isn't for me, but I'll wait to make that determination for another time. For now, I'm shelving this game. (6/8/25) ABANDONED

19

Modern Video Games / Re: Summer Game Fest 2025

« on: June 08, 2025, 11:38:19 am »

There are definitely some new games that still appeal to me, but it's becoming more and more obvious that whatever devs have in mind for new games, they don't have people like me in mind. Whatever, I'll take what I can get.

What sort of aspects would you like for developers to have in mind for audiences like you? More arcade-style gameplay? From what I know about what you play, those aspects seem to be a major interest of yours considering the majority of what you play seems to be from fighting and shoot 'em up genres. Are you opposed to less commercial games? I feel like plenty exist even on consoles, but maybe that is a quality you don't want to sacrifice with what you want to play.

I guess the tl;dr of it is certain genres I really enjoy are under represented now, especially by bigger studios, and I also feel like the industry is a bit stuck due to greed and low risk tolerance. That is what I mean when I say it doesn't feel like the industry is making games for me anymore. Obviously, there are a lot of people who are still buying many of these titles, but it definitely isn't me.

I understand your opinions, and there is a lot of overlap between them and mine. And they're not unpopular ones either—just maybe not the most popular by comparison. Still, trends change, so what's popular now won't be in another ten years, just like what was popular in 2015 isn't what's popular now (or most popular, anyway.) I think that general opinion toward free-to-play models alongside the battle royale and hero shooters genres is dwindling and isn't even sustainable for developers, so something new will need to be found to command consumer attention.

Gaming has obviously been commercialized for decades, but big money corporate investors far greater than ever before are firmly rooted now and obviously have major influence over how developers design their games. And since big-budget, AAA games more often than not take five or more years to develop, there are many instances of titles chasing trends which either aren't popular by the time they finally release or release in a market where that style of game has become oversaturated (i.e. games influenced by Souls gameplay, games inspired by Ghost of Tsushima's setting and tone, or action-adventure platforming games wanting to be the next Hollow Knight.) Still, this has always been the case. It happened before the '90s too, but some of the biggest examples of developers chasing the trend previously was with Doom and Resident Evil (both the original title and Resident Evil 4 specifically) previously, and the market became flooded. There always were and always will be alternatives, but I suppose that depends on an individual level based on how open someone is to playing a variety of gaming genres.

But despite that, I'm still consistently drawn to numerous games during each of these kinds of events. They're not all games I know I'll play just since I can only play so many, but I still acknowledge their uniqueness and for the possibility for them to be successful and to attract a passionate audience of any size. Fortunately, the kind of games I tend to play don't incorporate micro-transactions and seldom release DLC which means that there are plenty of modern games which avoid those practices. I suppose it helps that I also don't play that many newly released games either, so I never feel as if I'm just waiting for something new to play.

I definitely feel like this whole AAA game dev model is becoming more and more unsustainable. These studios are putting more or less all their eggs in one basket, which makes sense why they wouldn't want to make any big risks, but at the same time it's really causing modern gaming to feel stagnant and dull. I think a good middle ground where games are given more than a shoe string budget, but are also not these massive 5+ year long projects that rival blockbuster Hollywood movies in terms of budget are the way to go. We do get a fair amount of games like this, but I feel like many of them are still chasing trends and still have a heavy corporate hand weighing passion and creativity down.


I'm certainly not some well informed industry insider and can only give my armchair opinions on what I think would set the ship right, but I know what I feel and I just don't feel optimistic about the future of video games or really where they currently are. With that said, I'm not so doom and gloom where I don't think any interesting games will ever be made again, but as I said in my first post, it's unlikely there will be more than 2 or 3 new games a year that really speak to me and make me want to buy them. I'd love to be proven wrong about that, but at the moment, that's where I stand. I'm really hoping Microsoft reveals some cool stuff in about an hour from me typing this and I can maybe at just one more game to get excited about.

20

Modern Video Games / Re: Summer Game Fest 2025

« on: June 07, 2025, 12:50:16 am »

There are definitely some new games that still appeal to me, but it's becoming more and more obvious that whatever devs have in mind for new games, they don't have people like me in mind. Whatever, I'll take what I can get.

What sort of aspects would you like for developers to have in mind for audiences like you? More arcade-style gameplay? From what I know about what you play, those aspects seem to be a major interest of yours considering the majority of what you play seems to be from fighting and shoot 'em up genres. Are you opposed to less commercial games? I feel like plenty exist even on consoles, but maybe that is a quality you don't want to sacrifice with what you want to play.

Yes, that would definitely help. I miss when there were more fighting games out there and also SHMUPs released by very talented Japanese studios like Cave and Raizing. The other part of it is I'm annoyed Souls-like games took over the 3D action genre and now most devs want to model their games after successful From Software games rather than games like God of War or Devil May Cry. I'm annoyed that Battle Royal Zoomer Shooters like Fortnite have more or less taken over the action third person shooter genre and even the FPS genre too. I was mostly content with where new games were even 10-years ago; E3 2015 is still the best game conference I've ever watched to this day. But now, I just feel like what's being made doesn't speak to me like games did barely a decade ago.


Another part of it is the way many games are made now. I detest DLC no matter how much its been normalized, micro transactions in a game is a fast way to turn off all interest I may have had in a specific game; the predatory practices of game devs and publishers giving as little as possible while charging a premium has also made me very jaded about the modern industry. Hell, I didn't buy a Switch 2 at launch because I don't have enough faith in Nintendo to continue to do first party titles on the game card instead of switching to key cards like almost all third parties are doing on that console.
 
I also feel like gaming has lost so much authenticity and soul too. When I see a lot of new games get announced, they just don't scream passion or that the devs really cared about the game. I don't doubt they worked really hard on it, but it just seems like a lot of games were made out of some corporate mandate with a bunch of checkboxes that had to be filled rather than a passionate visionary being at the helm that was allowed to more or less do whatever they wanted. I get that things are this way due to how insanely pricey games have become to produce, but it's really a perfect example of publishers getting in their own way. They need to hire the crazy creatives and let them go nuts, but that is simply too risky now. The result is getting a lot of games that just sort of blend together and I pretty much forget about less than 5-minutes after they're revealed.


Don't get me wrong, there are some new games that get announced that I think look at least mildly interesting, and a few that I still get properly hyped about. Unfortunately, as time has gone by, I feel like this happens less and less. I don't enjoy watching Summer Game Fest or The Game Awards just to crap on most of the games, in fact I kinda hate it. I want to love and enjoy most of what is being shown off like I did in the not too distant past, but that spark in modern gaming has greatly faded in a relatively short time.


I guess the tl;dr of it is certain genres I really enjoy are under represented now, especially by bigger studios, and I also feel like the industry is a bit stuck due to greed and low risk tolerance. That is what I mean when I say it doesn't feel like the industry is making games for me anymore. Obviously, there are a lot of people who are still buying many of these titles, but it definitely isn't me.

21

Modern Video Games / Re: Summer Game Fest 2025

« on: June 06, 2025, 07:59:08 pm »

There were a few announcements that I was moderately excited to see, but overall the only trailer that got me really hyped was RE9. I love how the series seems to be going back to its roots with the Raccoon City incident from 2 and 3 and taking a step away from the stupid supernatural/Texas Chainsaw Massacre aesthetic of 7 and 8. I'm just super relieved Ethan Winters isn't going to be the main protagonist again. If they reveal its going to be a third person shooter like 4 or the recent remakes it'll definitely be a day 1 purchase for me.


Sadly, I feel like I'm lucky if there are more than a 2 or 3 new games a year that I want to go out and buy, and this year's SGF really doesn't make me feel like it's going to change. There are definitely some new games that still appeal to me, but it's becoming more and more obvious that whatever devs have in mind for new games, they don't have people like me in mind. Whatever, I'll take what I can get.

22

Modern Video Games / Re: Nintendo Switch 2

« on: June 05, 2025, 04:05:30 pm »

While I do need a Switch 2 just because I don't have a Switch anymore, I'm kinda glad to wait for the system, not just because of the price issues, but I need more games to hype me up.  Donkey Kong isn't out till July and there's nothing else this year that's really exciting to me.  I was initially more hyped on Mario Kart World because of the free roam, but it sounds like they kinda half-assed it abit, where this stuff to do, but not enough to justify it, but we'll see, it's Mario Kart, it's still gonna be good, it's just always been a multiplayer game more than anything, and I'm not big on doing online Mario Kart too much.

Kinda of in the same boat. Nothing at launch excited me that much, but that could and probably will change throughout the Switch 2's life. The other factor I'm waiting on is to see how widespread the use of key cards are. 3rd party games already overwhelmingly use them which was a reason why I didn't jump for one at launch, but I'm also waiting to see if Nintendo starts releasing first party games as key card only physical releases. If that does happen, I probably won't get one, but time will tell I suppose.

23

Modern Video Games / Re: Nintendo Switch 2

« on: June 05, 2025, 11:00:35 am »

So, did any of us get one?

I didn't. Just from what I've seen online, it seems like the launch was a bit underwhelming. I think the primary factor was the price, but I also feel like there just wasn't the same level of hype and interest as there has been in previous Nintendo console launches. That's just from what I've been seeing. I have no idea if it ended up selling it in my area or not, but I'm sure a few people on here grabbed one.

24

Modern Video Games / Re: Playstation: State of Play 6-4-2025

« on: June 04, 2025, 09:36:58 pm »

I was pleasantly surprised to see this State of Play not suck, or at least be underwhelming. Like always, the MK Kollection was what I got most excited for, but I am also officially on the Konami hype train with Silent Hill F and MGS Delta. I've never been a Hitman fan, but the new Bond game looks like it might be good too. Other than that I didn't see much that I was really interested in, but there was enough to make me happy.

25

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: May 29, 2025, 11:18:22 am »

63. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)

My eventual goal is to play every Castlevania game ever made, at least the more mainstream released. Castlevania is one of those accliamed franchises that I am woefully behind on, having only beat a handful of entries in the series. For the next Castlevania I tackled, I referred to the infinite wisdom of the internet to recommend me a really good entry in the series I haven't played yet. Of course, Symphony of the Night was recommended constantly, but having beat that game already, I opted for what is commonly considered the second best game in the Castlevania series, Aria of Sorrow. While I was thoroughly impressed with Aria of Sorrow, I feel like some of the praise this game gets is a bit overblown, mostly due to the limitations of its platform.


Aria of Sorrow is absolutely an excellent game. As a metroidvania style entry in the series, you're given a huge map to explore at your leisure. Of course, you'll have to come back to certain portions of the map later on once you've obtained a specific ability to access it, but this formula is what really makes Aria of Sorrow and similar metrovania Castlevania games so good and addictive. Like Symphony of the Night, there are a ton of abilities you can obtain. As mentioned, some of these are used to progress through the castle, while others are used to boost stats, give you new secondary weapons, and some just have strange effects that can be useful in some situations. This is all coupled with an RPG-like leveling system that also leans on the use of items to boost stats. In a way, Aria of Sorrow and other early metroidvanias almost feel like 2D precursors to the Souls games. This is even more evident in the plethora of horrow themed enemies and bosses you'll encounter throughout the game. Pretty much everything from zombies, killer plants, spider women, harpies, demons, and just about everything else you can think of that would fit well into a horror movie are present in Aria of Sorrow. The bosses are all mostly larger than life and require different strategies and abilities to beat. All this culminated in an incredibly fun, rewarding, and just straight up addictive gameplay experience for the most part. However, there are absolutely annoyances and problems that I encountered despite the game being very well made overall.


For starters, the difficulty balancing is all over the place in the game. While I'd say the first third of the game has a progressive difficulty that straddles that line between being hard, but fun, the game sees a massive spike in difficulty once you reach the Death boss. However, this spike is only briefly present until you're given access to a series of items later on that are so OP'ed that I was taking out enemies and bosses that would have otherwise been way, way harder to defeat. As I quickly leveled after destroying them, I found myself so powerful that the rest of the game was a relative piece of cake. Keep in mind, this was at roughly the halfway mark in the game. Way more time and effort should have been spent on the difficulty balancing in this game in order to maintain that excellent difficulty/fun ratio that the game does a pretty good job at during the first third of Aria of Sorrow. My second biggest grievance is the fact that you'll be relying on healing items a fair bit during some of the more hectic sections of the game, however unless you're lucky enough to stumble upon them throughout the map, you'll mostly be relying on the game's lone shop to buy them with money you collect by smashing lanterns and killing enemies. This shop is located at the very beginning of the game and requires a decent amount of backtracking to get to. Even with the minor aid of teleportation rooms scattered throughout the game, it is alwasy a pain in the ass to have to go all the way back to the beginning of the map if you need to stock up on items or buy more powerful gear. There are plenty of save point rooms throughout the game. Hell, there are also quite a few empty rooms with new purpose in Aria of Sorrow. Why couldn't one of those just have been a shop room? It's just bad gameplay design and something I'm surprised was overlooked. Other than that, I could nitpick various small things that created minor annoyances during my time in Aria of Sorrow, but just know 90% of my issues with this game belonged to the two major faults mentioned above.


Aria of Sorrow's presentation is very impressive for a handheld. While this game could never look as good as Symphony of the Night given its hardware limitations on the GBA, it does a good enough job with what it has to deliver a game I seldom could fault from a visual standpoint. Perhaps my biggest issue with the visuals in how derivative many of the enemies and bosses are compared to other Castlevania games, especially Symphony of the Night. I would have definitely liked to see some more originality in that department, while also having some of those series staples that most entries possess. I get that his is the same Dracula's castle from many of the previous games either, but I would have also liked to see it get more of a makeover too seeing how some of the sections of the castle were ripped from Symphony of the Night, albeit with a different layout, different enemies, and slightly altered visuals. And while it's not necessarily the fault of the game given the limited hardware capabilities of the GBA, but the map and overall game just felt a lot more basic, shallow, and shorter than it did in Symphony of the Night. For what it is though, I have little to complain about in Aria of Sorrow from a visual presentation perspective and absolutely loved what I was looking at most of the time.


Finally, the audio in Aria of Sorrow is pretty top notch when it comes to GBA OSTs. Again, limitations of the GBA are what primarily kept the game's audio from being amazing, but that's not to say it wasn't very good, because it absolutely is. The OST is catchy and well done as in most Castlevania games. Unfortunately, this games story and characters would have benefits from some sort of voice acting, if that were possible. Instead, dialogue is delivered through text boxes which just don't have the same punch as a well implemented voice acting cast. Once again, I'm going to compare this to Symphony of the Night which did have voice acting. Even though the dialogue was hammy and not always done well, the original english dib of Symphony of the Night has become the stuff of legends and the game's overall charm would have suffered without it, as it does in Aria of Sorrow.


Before I get to my closing thoughts of Aria of Sorrow, I'm well aware that I've mentioned Symphony of the Night in this review a ton of times, probably to some people's annoyance. Seeing how Symphony of the Night cane out 7-years before this game and set the standard for all metroidvania games in the series that followed, its the benchmark I use for determining how good the other games are. Symphony of the Night is one of my favorite games of all time so the other Castlevania games get to reaching its greatness, the better the game is. Aria of Sorrow falls noticeably short of Symphony of the Night in nearly every conceivable way, with the main factor for this being the system it was developed for. Had Aria of Sorrow been developed for the PS2 or Gamecube, I have no doubt that it would have given Symphony of the Night way more of a run for its money. Instead, Aria of Sorrow is an impressive handheld game and one of the best on the GBA. Even with the limitations of the GBA, Aria of Sorrow still stands as one of the best Castlevania games I've played, second only to...you guessed it, and also possibly Lords of Shadow, but I haven't played that game in nearly 15 years so I'll hold off on that comparison for now. I'm really excited about playing the other games in the series, especially the other metroidvania games to see how they stack up against Aria of Sorrow, especially the other GBA and DS games. Perhaps Aria of Sorrow will become my new gold standard for the handheld metroidvania games. It certainly was good enough to potentially be that for me. (5/29/25) [41/50]

26

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: May 28, 2025, 11:28:38 am »

I'm still marching forward towards 100 games beat by the end of the year. With summer around the corner, I have several games in mind that I really want to try and play before the fall. Some of these games are more summery in nature (I guess), but overall I just want to make sure I play and beat the following games before the beginning of September. Here is my current list of summer time games I plan on beating.


- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Donkey Kong 64
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- Halo 2


I definitely plan on playing more than just those four games, but those are the ones that if nothing else, I definitely want to make sure I've beat them before summer's end.

Enjoy the 2 N64-titles, they're absolutely awesome, Zelda in particular. 

Thanks, but I've actually beat OoT from start to finish probably a dozen times already, and I've played through most of DK64, albeit that was nearly 25 years ago. OoT is one of my favorite games of all time, but sadly I haven't beat it since 2018. I decided this summer was a good time to do something about that and beat it again. I'm really looking forward to replying DK64 as well.

27

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: May 28, 2025, 01:38:32 am »

I'm still marching forward towards 100 games beat by the end of the year. With summer around the corner, I have several games in mind that I really want to try and play before the fall. Some of these games are more summery in nature (I guess), but overall I just want to make sure I play and beat the following games before the beginning of September. Here is my current list of summer time games I plan on beating.


- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Donkey Kong 64
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- Halo 2


I definitely plan on playing more than just those four games, but those are the ones that if nothing else, I definitely want to make sure I've beat them before summer's end.

28

General / Re: May 2025 - Recently added to collection/recently purchased

« on: May 25, 2025, 11:10:43 pm »

I was dumb and ordered a punch of stuff from Limited Run Games together. This essentially meant I wasn't going to get any of my order until the last game in it finally came out. For reference, one of the games in the order was shipped over a year ago to most other people who bought it on its own. Anyhow, I ended up getting the following in the mail.


Capcom vs SNS: SVC Chaos - Classic Special Edition (PS4)
Persona 3 Portable (PS4)
Persona 4 Golden- Midnight Channel Edition (PS4)


My wife also picked up a couple of Otome games on the Switch recently, but I can't for the life of me remember the names of them since neither appeal to me whatsoever.

29

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: May 24, 2025, 01:02:51 am »

62. Vanark (PS1)

A long time ago, I remember someone saying that part of the reason the NES library was so good was because it had so many weird, obscure, and odd games released for it, in additional to all the classics like Super Mario Bros 3 and Contra of course. However, I would argue the PS1 was even more chock full of strange, obscure releases, as well as a ton of games that are now considered iconic classics. One of those strange games that I would even consider to be a borderline gem was 1999's Vanark. Vanark is essentially the PS1's answer to Star Fox 64 and Panzer Dragoon, with a very light dash of Resident Evil thrown in. Yeah, I told you this game was freakin strange!


Vanark is a rail shooter at its core, which means you'll be blasting through seven stages in your X-wing style ship, that is also modestly customizable with different weapon loud outs. Be warned, however, this customization system is far less deep and interesting than it sounds, and more or less you'll fair about the same no matter how you equip your ship before a mission. The same goes for the selectable pilots; they each have their own stats, but honestly picking one pilot over another seemed to do absolutely nothing compared to the others. Even the ship looks exactly the same with one exception in a single stage, but this is more of a scripted event rather than something that occurs because of what character you picked. The controls and combat in Vanark are actually surprisingly good. It's easy to steer your ship where you want and also to shoot down enemies too. I will say that some of the enemy balancing a game design is a little suspect, but for the most part this is a pretty competent rail shooter as far as the late 90s are concerned. There are a few stages that feel a bit too similar in my opinion, but things are mixed up enough between the stage designs and themes, as well as there being unique objective and gameplay experiences for certain stages. Bosses come in the form of mid level sub bosses and final bosses. I actually found most of the boss fights to be one of the weakest areas of Vanark's gameplay, but with a couple of exceptions, none of them are really annoying to fight and are decent for what they are. Before moving into Vanark's visual and auditory presentation, I can't not mention the "Resident Evil" influences of this game. While you're not going to find zombies lurking in rooms or hunting down keys that look like figurines or anything like that, there is a mothership where you'll interact with the other characters and where the story is mostly fleshed out between missions. While there isn't a ton to look at, you'll be exploring the mothership with third person tank controls seemingly ripped out of RE. Albeit, the devs of Vanark somehow made the tank controls in this game even trickier to control, but the mothership portions are so brief and fairly inconsequential to the game that it isn't too much of a hassle to get around during these parts. A will say, these mothership story exposition and exploration parts do more to harm the game than help it, mostly with how they really kill the pacing of the game despite how interesting the whole third person on foot hub portions are as a concept in a game like this.


The visuals of Vanark are actually pretty good for a PS1 game. By no means if Vanark as visually captivating or good on an artistic level as Star Fox 64 or any of the Panzer Dragoon games, but it still holds up particularly well for a game from this era. There are some genuinely memorable and interesting stages, and some of the bosses were pretty cool too (some were also pretty lame as well). There is a lack of variety when it comes to some of the enemies and the first two levels in particular feel fairly similar, which is a bummer. Visual effects and attacks are pretty good for the most part. Certain ships will show of some fairly cool destruction animations when destroyed by your various weapons. The mother ship hub sections are probably the weakest looking parts of the game, with characters looking fairly bland and generic against mostly bland fixed backgrounds. There are a surprising amount of cutscenes in this game, which definitely add to the visual charm of this game and give it an almost movie like quality. Unfortunately if Vanark were a movie it wouldn't be very good given how bad and confusing its writing it, but luckily that's not why you'll be playing or enjoying this game.


The music in Vanark is pretty good for the most part. The various tracks that play while you're on the mothership were the most enjoyable, with a few of the stage songs being good, but not as well. Unfortunately, the audio design of Vanark isn't the best as the sound of your weapons being fired will often drown out the OST playing in each stage. Vanark is also a game that would have benefited from voice actors, however given the budget feel this game has, I doubt that was within the dev's means to afford. But even some crappy, non-professional voice acting would have gone a lot further than none at all. I definitely think it would have gone a long way to improve the buzz kill the mother ship hub sections are in this game.


While I found my copy of Vanark many years ago for real cheap, it's hard for me to recommend this game for anywhere close to its current going rate (around $150). While Vanark is a decent 5th gen rail shooter that does a lot of things right and has some very interesting ideas, it is in no way as good as almost all of its rail shooters contemporaries. Star Fox 64 can be bought for nearly a fifth what Vanark goes for and is way, way more enjoyable and well made. Outside a curiosity and being one of those odd ball games that almost never get made anymore, Vanark is definitely not worth paying over a hundred dollars for, however I will say it's still a decently fun game and certainly a unique one from one of my favorite eras of gaming. (5/23/25) [31/50]

30

General / Re: May 2025 - Recently added to collection/recently purchased

« on: May 18, 2025, 09:33:38 pm »

Picked up Capcom Fighting Collection 2 on Friday. Thank goodness for the retro game compilations or else there'd be barely any reason for me to buy new games lol.