Messages

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: September 04, 2026, 03:53:46 pm »

62. Shovel Knight - Specter of Torment

I can't remember the last time I fluctuated between "this is awesome!" and "I'm about to throw my Switch out the window!" So far, this has been my favorite of the campaigns but man. The controls for this one were finicky. The idea was there; I see what the developers were going for. But it didn't always work because of how damn precise a lot of the stages were. As expected Propeller Knight's stage was a nightmare to get through. If anything, this one had the most interesting story. It was cool to see the origins behind the Order, the Black Knight, and Riese. I'll also say that this game had the best collectables. Learning new dark arts was fun since most of them had their usefulness.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: September 02, 2026, 11:02:16 am »

61. Shovel Knight - Plague of Shadows

This was more fun than the original campaign, but not without its issues. Plague Knight is obviously not as sturdy or mobile as Shovel Knight - at least not initially. As the upgrades start pouring in, things get a lot more fun. The number of combinations for the bombs, their detonations, etc. is worthy of praise. Still, his overall movement and design makes bad stages (Propeller Knight, the final areas) even worse. Unless there was some combination of tools I didn't explore, I had the worst time getting through these last stages of the game. I ended up not bothering with collecting the remaining green coins because I wanted things to be done with. I'm glad I played this but I won't be replaying it.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: August 29, 2026, 08:25:33 am »

60. Signalis - False

It felt serendipitous that this popped on my radar not long after finishing Crow Country. I did find myself unfairly comparing the two. Signalis has a better story, vibe, and atmosphere. Crow Country had better gameplay. (When I write a review I promise I won't be constantly comparing them.) Despite getting the worst ending and despite it requiring multiple playthroughs for all endings, I recommend this. I think my biggest issue with Signalis was that things just got insane near the end in terms of enemies and their placement. Those things combined with the tiny inventory space and the small field of range/vision made exploring fascinating areas tedious.

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General / Re: August 2026 - Recently added to collection/recently purchased

« on: August 27, 2026, 08:20:04 am »

I rarely post on these topics, but I wanted to add another way to capture a recent haul. I went to Seattle to visit family and came back with a few things. There were a bunch of game stores scattered throughout the city and outside the metro area.

Detroit Become Human (PS4)
Obscure: The Aftermath (PS2)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (PS4)
Sea of Stars (Switch)

I also got some books but that's for another forum.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: August 24, 2026, 12:01:45 pm »

59. Shovel Knight - Switch

I fear this game hasn't aged as well as I and fans would have liked. Back then? Great. Nowadays? Fine. The market is so oversaturated with these throwback style games now that do a lot of things better, so playing Shovel Knight lacks that nostalgic oomph and it reminds me of all the issues from that era. The most specific thing is the knock-back. This happens way too much in this because every enemy (once again) wants to bum rush the poor digger. 99% of my deaths were from getting knocked back into a pit. Oh well. It was fun to replay it. I needed something quick and easy to get into and this fit the bill. I might check out the other games in this Treasure Trove edition.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: August 18, 2026, 05:14:46 pm »

58. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book - Moon

I have a few more things I need to collect before this is at 100%, but I saw the true ending and the credits roll. The variety in this game was through the roof even after finishing the first part of the game. Again, some of the discoveries took either too much effort, took too long, or had obtuse instructions. Still, it was an overall enjoyable experience and a great palette cleanser. It'll be tough going from this to something else - I have some heavy RPGs coming out soon and a few in my backlog I'd like to start before October (reserved for spooky games).

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: August 15, 2026, 08:59:36 am »

57. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book - Bewildered Bird

I'm guessing there's a lot of extra content, so I'll just dub this the normal ending. Initially, I was not feeling this game. Especially after doing a fresh playthrough of Yoshi's Island. But, once my way of thinking shifted and I understood the game lacked urgency and had its own pace, I had a much better time. I would go as far to say it's better than Wooly World and Yoshi's Story. Some of the tasks necessary to fill in Mr. E's pages were ridiculous but they were few and far between. I really liked seeing creatures from Yoshi's Island getting their time in the sun and "learning" more about them. I was able to name the creatures and I, of course, went with a theme. The theme was "names of people I met in real life that I thought had goofy names." Time to continue filling in those pages!

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: August 06, 2026, 09:37:50 pm »

56. Astalon: Tears of the Earth

I have a few grievances with this game that I'll review eventually. But, they're not worth getting into here because overall I had a really good time with this. The inspirations from Dragon Quest, Castlevania III, Link II and a few more I'm probably missing came together in a unique Metroidvania/Rogue-Lite. After getting 100% map and item completion, I think I can put this one away for a while. The first boss in Boss Rush Mode is probably the worst boss in the game. The other mode I unlocked was fun to dabble with for a bit, but it's nothing like say Julius Mode or Richter Mode from golden-aged Castlevanias. If you don't mind some frustrating initial struggles, then I highly recommend this because it scratches multiple genre itches.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: August 02, 2026, 12:52:23 pm »

55. Crow Country

Inspired by Telly, I got back into this and cleared it without much trouble (3.5 hours) and a having a guide handy for when I got lost. I needed a palette cleanser after the long Trails through Daybreak II. The throwback, janky polygons meshed well with the modern controls and storytelling. The story was compelling, too. I wanted to learn more from the start and things got revealed at a nice pace. I kind of wish there was more narrative or information about the origins and monsters. There was stuff provided but not enough for me. The twist at the end caught me by the surprise!

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: August 01, 2026, 03:21:51 pm »

54. The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II

I always joke that most RPGs that acts as a part two to a series is always better than the first. Arc the Lad 2. Tales of Xillia 2. Lunar 2. Etc. That rule applies to Daybreak II. While not as intense as Reverie, this was a big one. On the other hand, unlike Reverie, the time really went by quickly. Maybe it's because I went in with low expectations. It's not that I expected the game to be bad. I just expected more of the same. I got some of that samey-ness, but overall this might be up there Azure in rank. The new gameplay features were bountiful. The bigger party count was much needed. The Marchen Garten bonus area is one of my new favorite bits of side-content in a quite a while. I have a fair amount of grievances that will get covered in a review. But, one I want to point out now is how this series (and a number of modern RPGs in general) love to play "show n' tell" with the gamer. There were way too many moments when something happened and...someone had to point out what that something was despite the clear visual we had.

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General / Re: VGC's Anonymous/"General" Topic:

« on: July 29, 2026, 08:33:48 am »

I think that's a solid plan. I've really grown to love my Switch 2. I have a few games reserved for it, and a few games in the backlog getting ready to be played. I still like my PS5 and play it frequently so I wouldn't trade mine. But, if you're not using yours then it could help get rid of a chunk of the Switch 2's cost.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: July 27, 2026, 08:57:24 am »

53. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

Baby Mario is another reason why I'm pro choice. That aside, I finished a 100% file. All worlds and their bonus stages have been finished with the maximum number of points. This was such a fun game back then (not counting BM's crying) and it still holds up. I forgot how much variety there was: transforming into vehicles, skiing, mini-stars, items that can be used from the pause menu, and a variety of bonus challenges. The core gameplay is great, too. It was so fun and satisfying collecting all the red coins and flowers. All bosses were enjoyable. Most stages were enjoyable. And the colored pencil/crayon aesthetics still look look gorgeous. It's such a silly, happy game that has an unexpected level of challenge.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: July 13, 2026, 12:50:03 pm »

Game 12 - Crow Country (PS5) - 5 Hours

Absolutely fantastic horror game, top to bottom. This game perfectly evokes an early 3D game style with beautiful and thoughtfully crafted environments, great atmosphere and music, amazing sound effects, and all of it works together in a masterful way to create a very creepy and unsettling yet entertaining horror game experience.

While it isn't the longest game, you can tell that every single inch is just stuffed to the brim with detail. The game has near perfect environmental design, great enemies, solid controls, an interesting story with just the right amount of spice, and puzzles that were just difficult enough but not frustratingly so. I don't think I can name a single flaw with this game, other than maybe the shooting controls being a little wonky, but to me it fits very well within the style the game is trying to evoke, and the era of gaming that it pays homage to.

Crow Country is easily my favorite game that I've played so far this year, and you like old school Resident Evil or PlayStation one games in general, definitely check it out.

I loved reading this write-up! I have a file somewhere for this. I'll likely start the game from the beginning since I can't remember where I left off. Knowing that it's short makes me feel better about that.

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General / Re: VGC's Anonymous/"General" Topic:

« on: July 07, 2026, 10:28:50 am »

Sony's announcement to go pure digital by 2028 is disheartening, but I think it means I can finally, FINALLY get caught up on my backlog and replay those games I've wanted to replay for years.

https://www.gematsu.com/2026/07/sony-interactive-entertainment-to-end-physical-game-disc-production-in-january-2028

It's looking more and more like the rest of my life is going to be getting caught up with my backlog. I'm fine with that, but a part of me is saddened that I won't be able to get excited for new releases anymore, even if the game looks amazing. If I can't own the game, I'm not buying it.

I was thinking about this some more. I looked at the games that I want to replay and the games I have that I still haven't played. By my estimate, I got a few thousand hours worth of game time ahead. I guess that's another perk of playing longer games.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: July 06, 2026, 09:03:54 am »

52. Mega Man X

Of course, my 52nd game for the year had to be a classic. And, what a classic. It's not my favorite game in the series, but it's still top tier in every regard. I played it on my SNES Classic so I got as close to an authentic experience as possible. I fought the Mavericks in my usual order, but I did try to change things up and not use their weaknesses against them. This made the fights against Sting Chameleon (and his long-winded introduction) and Spark Mandrill a lot more difficult. But, it was worth it. Of course, I got the Hadoken and used it when I could. All in all, this game is a masterpiece that shows you can make an amazing game on amazing hardware without thousands of people working on it. *cough Rock Star cough*