Messages

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

« on: December 06, 2025, 11:11:05 pm »

N64
- Space Station Silicon Valley

PS1
- Vandal Hearts

PS2
- Shadow Hearts

Dreamcast
- Space Channel 5
- Skies of Arcadia
- Gundam Side Story 0079: Rise from the Ashes
- Jet Grind Radio

3DS
- Etrian Mystery Dungeon
- Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX

Switch
- Emio: The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: December 06, 2025, 11:03:37 pm »

20. HELLDIVERS 2 | 2024 | PC - Steam | 5/23:

Like R.E.P.O., Helldivers 2 will vary in entertainment value depending on who you play with. A lot more different from R.E.P.O. however is the gameplay: where you are armed to the teeth with weapons and varying stratagems, battling and running after monsters like giant bugs, zombies, and robots. Well actually, you will have to run away plenty of times from these monsters given circumstances. You can, for example, have the perfect gunfight going your way and all of a sudden, a giant walker drops in out of nowhere and wipes out your entire team. I was expecting this game to be a lot more like Earth Defense Force -- which it is -- but it does try to keep itself a little more grounded than the other series while still being ultimately fun. I started right when "Super Earth" was being invaded and had a blast fighting off the Illuminate with a couple of buddies. It's an overall glitchy, but fun experience that gets better the more guns and tools you unlock. Grade: B

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: December 06, 2025, 10:53:13 pm »

19. Zenless Zone Zero | 2024 | Season 1 | PC | 5/23:

This is a review of the first year since the launch of Zenless Zone Zero. I've played Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail on-and-off since the releases of both games. For ZZZ and the direction it's going in, I think it has the potential to be the best MiHoYo game of the three. There's been a lot of good changes (especially coming up with the 2.0 release) that have come directly from player feedback. The drab "TV Mode" in the main story has been replaced, each character has their own Ultimate meter instead of having to share, and there's been constant changes to "Hollow Zero" and other endgame content that has me continuously coming back. It feels like the game has been building itself up since launch, which was needed as the 1.0 launch was lacking in content. The main story ebbs and flows in terms of engagement, but it doesn't really meander like Star Rail and Genshin usually do (that damned Paimon). Events aren't really that exciting, which is one area I hope the ZZZ team does a better job on beyond version 2.0. The best part of the game is the hack-and-slash gameplay, which it excels at. Each additional character gives more depth to the game as you figure out the best builds and the best rotations that will be most efficient in dealing the most damage to enemies in the shortest amount of time in end-game modes. There's flexibility to team-building, so you don't need to pull the one particular character you don't like or feel forced to just because the meta says they are busted. This will all depend on how often you play the game and your luck with the gacha, so results will vary. Grade: B+

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: December 06, 2025, 10:41:41 pm »

18. Viper Phase 1: USA | 1995 | Arcade | 5/18:

To be honest, I didn't care much for this one. There isn't much variety in the enemies or the setting, making the game feel pretty monotonous by the 2nd half. I don't think it would've been as glaring of an issue if the game was 5 levels instead of 8 (like a lot of other shmups). It felt like I was playing for an hour when it was actually half of that amount. I thought the difficulty was fair, but the fat ass ship you pilot doesn't give a lot of wiggle room when dodging projectiles (I'm not a shmup expert, that's just my opinion). Grade: D

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: December 06, 2025, 10:40:11 pm »

17. Maximum Force | 1997 | Arcade | 5/18:

Another Atari arcade game (this time as a publisher). This is the light gun shooter "Maximum Force". It was quite a bit of fun for me since I hadn't played an arcade shooter for maybe a couple of years at that point. It doesn't quite hit the mark as other classics around that time, like House of the Dead or Time Crisis. The game looks pretty dated today, but it's so corny with the FMV characters and blood splatters every time you kill an enemy that it felt pretty enjoyable to me for its quirkiness. The cabinet I played on was pretty accurate with the light gun's aim, but it would sometimes get stuck "reloading" when I had the gun perfectly horizontal and that would cost me a life or two. The background colors are a lot darker than the enemies as well, but I will attribute that to the age of the cabinet rather than the game itself. Grade: C-

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: December 06, 2025, 10:35:11 pm »

16. Fire Truck | 1978 | Arcade | 5/15:

I don't know if I should count this since I only played one game of it, but whatever. This is "Fire Truck", a 1978 arcade game developed by Atari and probably one of the oldest arcade games I've ever played. It's simple: you have to navigate a fire truck through a neighborhood without crashing it. The title is a little misleading because you won't be fighting any fires here. What really made this game for me is that there's a co-op mode where the player sitting in front drives the fire truck, while the person standing in the back has to steer the longer end of the truck using a separate steering wheel. It seems boring gameplay-wise, but the way that co-op is implemented with the machine must have been very exciting and innovative for its time. Both players have to really be locked-in & in-sync, or else you crash and lose your chances on getting a better score. I spent most of the time watching two of my friends attempt the world record, before realizing that the WR card on top of the machine counted for only single-player. I don't know if 530 is a good enough score to beat the two-player WR (it's probably not), but I figure it has to be close. Anyways, "Fire Truck" is still an admirable game despite its looks. Grade: C

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: December 06, 2025, 10:26:04 pm »

15. Little Kitty, Big City | 2024 | 100% Achievements | Xbox Series X | 5/15:

A fun, little adventure game where you star as a cat -- granting unique opportunities of platforming and traversing small sections of a city's environment. No real danger in terms of gameplay, similar to "Lil Gator Game". You accidently fall from one of the tallest skyscrapers in the city and your main goal is to get back up. That is the main story, but most the adventure is near the ground. Most of the challenge comes from figuring out how to navigate the environment as a cat, which can get finicky at times but it's at the very least entertaining. You can probably beat the game in under three hours, but I had a lot of fun spending more time going for 100% completion. Grade: B-

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: December 06, 2025, 10:24:21 pm »

14. Botany Manor | 2024 | 100% Achievements | Xbox Series X | 4/15:

Going in, I was expecting something similar to The Witness but got something else entirely. Botany Manor isn't as abstract or difficult with its puzzles as The Witness was, but it's still pretty fun all things considered. I wouldn't say it's worth the full price of $25, but it's a fine game to spend a couple of hours on if you get it on sale. It's just enough fun that it doesn't overstay its welcome and there's a nice little story that's told to you through notes left behind in the manor. Grade: C-

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: December 06, 2025, 10:21:46 pm »

13. Lil Gator Game | 2022 | 100% Achievements | PC - Game Pass | 4/1:

A charming little game that doesn't take much time or effort to complete, and there lies part of the problem for me. I understand that this is a game mainly for kids, but hey, so was The Patrick Star Game and I enjoyed that one way more than I should've. To sum up this game briefly, it's like a cross between The Legend of Zelda and A Short Hike. I feel like this game tries to do everything it can to try to engage with the player -- such as with the colorful characters, a main story that harkens back to the innocence of childhood, and gameplay that tries to be simple, yet engaging for both kids and adults. It's just: most of what I mentioned really didn't click for me. I couldn't feel any attachment to the characters because for most of them, you meet for barely a couple of minutes before you complete their quest and they decide to bugger off to the town you are recruiting for. The story didn't feel like anything new to me and gameplay-wise, I felt bored playing the game since there's no danger in the combat (it's more of a collect-a-thon). It's not for me. Grade: D+

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: December 05, 2025, 04:09:20 pm »

12. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game | 2024 | 100% Achievements | Xbox Series X | 3/20:

Like I briefly mentioned with the SpongeBob BFBB-Rehydrated review: development of that game was rushed, causing some unnecessary glitches and rushed add-ons that the original never had. I think it's pretty much a theme for SpongeBob games in general (the most recent Cosmic Shake had also been rumored to be under a strict deadline). I think the devs of the newest SpongeBob Patrick Star game knew this and said, "fuck it, let's just make the most barebones gameplay, but fill the sandbox with as much stupid fun stuff as we can with the limited time we have to develop this thing and without the game completely breaking altogether". I've taken this quote from somewhere on the internet, but to sum up this game: If Patrick Star himself made a video game, it would be exactly like this. It's janky, glitchy, and held together by Scotch tape, but it's above all else: fun. It's a true sandbox in every sense of the word: you can go wherever, do whatever, and you are encouraged to do so since the game doesn't exactly tell you how to complete challenges or where to go next. I've seen people online complete the skydiving minigame in record time driving a box while using the water sprayer. I've witnessed a race where I won with no competition at all because I hit all the other racers off course, causing them to get stuck and continously drive and back up into the same wall infinitely. Yeah it's Goat Simulator, but better because it has SpongeBob and Patrick Star in it (I may also be biased). Grade: B

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: December 05, 2025, 04:02:59 pm »

11. MULLET MADJACK | 2024 | PC - Game Pass | 3/18:



Probably one of the most inventive and flat-out fun FPS games I've played so far this decade. It's kind of like Hotline Miami where you clean room after room of bad guys meticulously, but while competing with a timer that trickles down quickly if you stay idle or get attacked. Everything this game has to offer does it and does it well. Combat is fluid, the story is brief but cheeky, and the gameplay is constantly engaging thanks in part to the pseudo-roguelite elements. You get a certain number of upgrades to choose from after completing each floor of bad guys, but lose everything when you die and get sent straight back to the beginning of the chapter. Very addicting! Grade: A+

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: September 25, 2025, 12:37:42 pm »

10. SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated | 2020 | 100%! | Xbox Series X | 3/15:

This one's a real hood classic for me. This is my fourth time completing this game from what I can remember (2x the original, and now 2x the remaster). I recognize in this recent playthough that some of the aura and shine this game once had for me as a kid is a little more duller now. Some jokes don't land as well as they once did and parts that were once troublesome (puzzles, Kelp Forest, etc.) have felt way too easy this time around (that one bowling ball puzzle in the Mermalair still F'd me up though). Despite some faded nostalgia, I still have a lot of love for SpongeBob BFBB. It's simple yet fun to play and gives you just enough content that it never overstays its welcome. It's to me still the greatest, most immersive SpongeBob game money can buy (the point-and-click Employee of the Month game is a close second though).

I do wish the remaster devs were given a little more time for this game to bake in the oven. There were a lot more noticable glitches this time around, more so than the original game. There's also that "multiplayer mode" tacked on that may be one of the most unneccessary bonus modes I've ever seen in a video game. I will say: I am more appreciative of the saturated color palette used in the remaster this time around, as some areas in the original look almost too dark now (looking at you Kelp Forest). Grade: B

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: September 25, 2025, 12:32:39 pm »

9. R.E.P.O. | 2025 | Early Access | PC - Steam | 3/6:

More than a year after its release, I still play Lethal Company regularly with friends. I think it's a testament to not only the greatness of the game, but also the lasting appeal that game has. Apparantly, other indie devs may feel the same as I do because there's been a recent influx of early access, horror co-op games on Steam with procedurally-generated areas and endless scrap to collect. Of the ones I've played so far, R.E.P.O. has probably felt closest to the Lethal Company experience. It's pretty silly, with the physics-based gameplay that has you navigating tight spaces and keeping loot from smashing into walls while hiding from monsters that will more than likely shatter you in one-shot. For an early-access game, it's pretty well-polished and a lot of fun. I can imagine it will be even better overtime with updates and mods, but the base game is good enough on its own to warrent a $10 purchase. Grade: B+

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: September 25, 2025, 12:27:51 pm »

8. Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap | 2025 | PC - Game Pass | 2/13:

I haven't played any of the previous games in the series, so I don't have anything to compare it to. From what I've played, "Deathtrap" is more of a roguelite compared to prior entries: with larger maps and 4-player co-op now. Seems to me that they made changes that has left people polarized. Personally: I've had my fun playing the first few hours with friends, but it got stale after about hour 10. There's a lack of variety in the roguelite elements. You will get a lot of repeats of cards used to upgrade your traps & character every game, with like 4 bosses and 6 maps that the game pools from. In some ways, it does feel like I was playing an early access game and I did a double-take by checking the store page to make sure, and sure enough I was playing a fully-released game. It's a fun time with friends for a couple of sessions, but not a game I would go out of my way to purchase (and I definitely wouldn't recommend it for solo play unless you're a super fan). Grade: C-

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: September 25, 2025, 12:24:28 pm »

7. Balatro | 2024 | PC - Steam | 2/10:

This game is literally crack in video game form. I got the same feeling playing this for a short while as I did when I first started Binding of Isaac: Rebirth almost a decade ago. It's fun trying to come up with a build on the fly that will give you just enough points to make it past the ante. Similar to Isaac, some builds synergize better than others, so creating the right build that can "break the game" and make the rest of the run a breeze to go through is very rewarding. The only problem I have with this game is real-life time management (I checked the clock: it was midnight a minute ago, why is it 3 o'clock now?). Grade: A+