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Modern Video Games / Re: Report: PS6 2029 | Switch 2 price increase soon?

« on: Today at 01:48:25 am »

Although I've gotten more use out of my PS5 this past year, it's still far from where I wanted it to be when I bought it.

PS4 was a step down from PS3 for me, and PS5 a step down from PS4. Just the selection of games has gotten thinner as dev times have been stretched out, meaning a single letdown hurts way more. Back in the PS3 days there were usually a dozen or so games I was looking forward to in a given year. I mean really looking forward to, like I wanted to play them Day 1. PS5 though? I'm lucky to have half that in a year. And in years 1 and 2 there was even less.

I will likely be focusing on retro next gen and not making the same mistake of expecting things to pick up after a slow start. Unless they come out of the gates swinging in year one to change my mind, PS6 will largely be a skip while I focus on more affordable consoles of yesteryear.

This is pretty much me too, except I do like the PS4 more than the PS3. As for my PS5, I still don't feel like it's paid for itself yet in terms of worthwhile exclusives and how much enjoyment I've got out of it. And I've had mine since 2021. I'm counting on next gen being 100% digital, which will only make my decision just to play retro and older titles that much easier.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: April 17, 2026, 10:33:23 pm »

2. Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil (PS2 - ABANDONED

The first Klonoa game was probably one of the most surprisingly good games I can remember playing. I remember going into that game with fairly mild expectations in terms of its quality. Sure, I'd heard over and over again online how great it was, but I tend to not believe the hype when it comes to retro games getting heaps of praise thrown on them, particularly when the games are more on the obscure side. When I actually did play Klonoa on the PS1, I was blown away by how fun it was, but also how deep, and impactful the story was too. I was definitely not expecting that. So after falling in love with that first game, it's been a longtime backlog goal of mine to tackle its sequel, Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil on the PS2. Unfortunately, that game didn't hit me nearly as hard as the first game and in pretty much every way felt like a noticeably inferior game.


I really didn't care for most things in Klonoa 2. The OST, gameplay, and visuals are all okay, if not even being pretty good overall, but I guess in the end, the game just felt way less special or interesting as the first game. Levels often go on for way longer than they should. Most bosses aren't particularly enjoyable or fun. The story is a massive downgrade over the first game, at least up to the point where I stopped playing. I just couldn't get into this one as hard as I tried.


With all that said, I'm not going to discount how unfortunate events in my personal life recently might be tainting my opinion of Klonoa 2, but honestly more convinced that I just didn't enjoy this game. I'm certainly not ruling out someday trying to play this game again, but for now, the combination of me struggling to continue playing it and also me being unsure how much my personal problems are dampening my enjoyment led me to the decision to drop this game for the time being. Time will tell if I ever get around to playing this one again, but for now it's going back on the shelf. (3/17/2026) - ABANDONED

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: April 17, 2026, 12:41:33 am »

Thanks everyone for the encouraging and kind words. Yeah, it's pretty devastating and to make matters worse the job market is awful right now. Tons of people looking, but not nearly enough jobs to go around. Luckily I'm considered senior level in my field, but that only gives me a slight edge in the current economic climate. I'm also on the company payroll for another 2 months and I have a decent severance package headed my way. Still, the prospect of potentially being unemployed, or even under employed is pretty terrifying. I can hold on until probably later this year before I have to make some very hard decisions, assuming I don't find something before then. I've already applied to nearly 50 jobs and haven't even been given an interview yet. As I said, the job market is crap right now. I've never even remotely had this much trouble landing a job before.


On a side note related to this thread. I am in the middle of another game. Unfortunately, I'm not enjoying it as much as I'd hoped, but it's still the kind of game I felt like I needed right now. I'm guessing I'll beat it sometime this weekend. We'll see though.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: April 10, 2026, 09:15:15 pm »

31. Pilotwings 64 (N64)

I feel like all gamers have those special comfort games they play when life isn't at its best or maybe they just need to be reminded of simpler times. In my case, I felt like I needed both. I found out last week I'm getting laid off from a job I've had for 8 years. I don't work from some mega corporations where layoffs are the norm and the company is certainly small enough to where everyone is fairly connected to everyone else, even the executive management team. So the fact that I was one of about 40 people that were told we're getting let go soon came as a complete shock. This unfortunate news derailed my playthrough of Chrono Trigger, a game from a genre I struggle to get into even when I'm not dealing with life changing events. When I finally did feel like doing something other than frantically navigating a terrible job market, I decided to play a game I've thoroughly enjoyed since I was a young kid, and one that reminds me of those simpler times better than most.


I've probably played and beat Pilotwings a dozen time since it came out in 1996. It honestly makes me feel ancient even thinking about this game being 30-years old this year. But over the past three decades, this game has always made me smile. Whether it's the surprisingly good, and fun gameplay, the almost perfect OST, or the fact that this game still looks fairly impressive, even with how aged N64 graphics are typically seen now. Pilotwings 64 is a legitimately enjoyable, well made, and special game.


My only gripes with this game involve the camera, some of the controls, especially when playing the unlockable modes, and yes, the graphics which are very impressive for a game in 1996, but have lost most of that luster they once may have had. However, all these issues are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. Anytime you get frustrating trying to control the hang glider or hit Giant Hawk with a missile, playing the birdman mode instantly makes all those frustrating melt away.


I know this game isn't typically discussed when the upper echelon of N64 games is brought up, however I feel like Pilotwings 64 almost belongs in that conversation. If you grew up with this game like I did, you'll no doubt be unable to resist its mid-90s video game charms, but more than that, the game and its various modes still control and play very well, and its various areas all have a distinct charm to them, even of they are relatively small in scale. Pilotwings 64 is an absolute must play on the N64 and a game I'm very thankful to have right now. (4/10/26) [39/50]

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: April 08, 2026, 01:05:44 am »

I was left a bit surprised by how much this game feels like a prototype to Mario Kart 8 than its own distinct Mario Kart game. Don't get me wrong. MK7 dos have enough of its own unique stages, music, and visuals to set it apart from 8 or any of the other Mario Kart games, but I guess I was surprised by how similar the gameplay mechanics were between 7 and 8, as well as most of MK7's better tracks being included in MK8, many of them within the vanilla game.

It's funny how playing them in this order can change your judgement on the game. It's like playing Mario Kart DS after Mario Kart 7 and pointing out how they play alike and that some of the best tracks from DS are in 7.

Not saying you're wrong. It's factually the case that 8 is an improvement over 7. But that's kinda the case for the entire series (outside of the latest entry imo).

Just thought it was funny how the order we play games can affect people's perception on games. One of the reasons I tend to play games in release order when I try a new series.

That is true, however DS and most other MK games feel very distinct from one another. DS and 7 feel and looks completely different from one another, whereas 7 and 8 almost feel like the same game often, albeit 8 looking way better. And being similar to 8 is absolutely a good thing (8 is my favorite in the series), but it does make me wish 7 felt a bit more unique and distinct.

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General / Re: What are some of the worst games you've ever played?

« on: April 04, 2026, 01:46:36 am »

Resident Evil 6

I will never for the life of me understand why this game gets so much hate online. I played it for the first time a few years ago and expected it to be nearly unplayably bad. Instead I found it to be a really fun, albeit flawed. I especially enjoyed Leon and Ashley's campaign. I think my least favorite was Sherry and Jake's campaign. I also didn't like a lot of the retreading of the same area across campaigns. But despite this, I found it incredibly entertaining and fun in its own way.


RE0, RE5, and a good chunk of the spinoffs are certainly worthy of way more hate than RE6. The fact that people were acting like the Outbreak games were some sort of hidden gems once people learned about Grace Ashcroft's mom's connection to those was laughable. RE6 was also well received by most gaming sites back when it came out too, which leads me to believe the hate is 90% an internet bandwagon thing, which I'm sure will reverse in the next decade once the "RE6 was actually a masterpiece tho!" vids start appearing on YouTube with reaction faces and red arrows in the thumbnails.

I think the game sucks, but nothing about it makes it a "worst game ever" for sure lol Everything about it is all functional and fine as a game, it's a decent game for what it is if you want a co-op action shooter, to me it was just the culmination of everything wrong with RE at that point in time.

I feel like compartmentalizing the franchise helps me enjoy it more. Separating classic RE (0, 1, 2, 3, CV), from action era RE (4, 5, 6), from first person Ethan Winters era (7 and , and the whatever the hell RE9 is really allows me to appreciate the games for what they are. Still, there are certainly better games than others across the franchise.

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General / Re: What are some of the worst games you've ever played?

« on: April 03, 2026, 10:16:49 pm »

Resident Evil 6

I will never for the life of me understand why this game gets so much hate online. I played it for the first time a few years ago and expected it to be nearly unplayably bad. Instead I found it to be a really fun, albeit flawed. I especially enjoyed Leon and Ashley's campaign. I think my least favorite was Sherry and Jake's campaign. I also didn't like a lot of the retreading of the same area across campaigns. But despite this, I found it incredibly entertaining and fun in its own way.


RE0, RE5, and a good chunk of the spinoffs are certainly worthy of way more hate than RE6. The fact that people were acting like the Outbreak games were some sort of hidden gems once people learned about Grace Ashcroft's mom's connection to those was laughable. RE6 was also well received by most gaming sites back when it came out too, which leads me to believe the hate is 90% an internet bandwagon thing, which I'm sure will reverse in the next decade once the "RE6 was actually a masterpiece tho!" vids start appearing on YouTube with reaction faces and red arrows in the thumbnails.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: April 03, 2026, 01:07:29 am »

30. Mario Kart 7 (3DS)

Up until today, I've never once played 2011's Mario Kart 7. After doing so and beating it several times, I was left a bit surprised by how much this game feels like a prototype to Mario Kart 8 than its own distinct Mario Kart game. Don't get me wrong. MK7 dos have enough of its own unique stages, music, and visuals to set it apart from 8 or any of the other Mario Kart games, but I guess I was surprised by how similar the gameplay mechanics were between 7 and 8, as well as most of MK7's better tracks being included in MK8, many of them within the vanilla game. While Mario Kart 7 was certainly a very appealing and attractive game for its time, particularly with it being a handheld exclusive, it still begs the question as to whether MK7 is still worth playing or if you should just immediately play MK8 Deluxe on the Switch instead.


For a 15 year old game (God, saying that makes me feel super old) and even mostly by today's standards, Mario Kart 7 is a good looking and sounding game. While it didn't have the best 3DS graphics, they'e still no slouch in MK7. Stages, characters, animations and everything else your eyeballs can absorb look so vibrant, colorful, and creative. That trademark Nintendo charm is absolutely on full display here, and if you like other Mario games and other first party Nintendo titles, you're bound to love the visuals here. Audio is also great with some very good tracks in this game, yet overall, I wouldn't necessarily say it's the best in the series when it comes to music and overall sound design.


Where I feel MK7 shines the brightest and leaves its most noteworthy mark is in its gameplay. Having spent hundreds of hours playing Mario Kart 8, I felt right at home with the mechanics and gameplay of MK7. However, it must be said that compared to its younger brother, 7's controls do feel a tad more floaty and imprecise. That's by no means a massive ding on this game either; controls are still good as is being able to place your racer where you want them and have them do what you want as well. MK7 and MK8 mostly share all the same power ups and as mentioned earlier, many of the same stages.


Stages are split 50/50 between tracks introduced in MK7 and ones that are from previous Mario Kart titles, albeit with a 3DS coat of paint. While I did say earlier that many of the better stages in Mario Kart 7 where recreated a few years later in 8, not all of them are. And what I found was many of these still MK7 exclusive courses are actually better than the majority sent over to the WiiU and Switch. And going one step further, some of the tracks that are shared between 7 and 8 actually flow and work better in the older game. I'm looking at you Neo Bowser City. But yeah, tons of great tracks in this game across 8 different cups will keep you occupied for some time.


So is MK7 irrelevant? No, it is not. However, if you are coming back to this game after spending a lot of time with MK8, or maybe you're like me and have never played 7, you will find a lot of redundant tracks and gameplay that just worked way better in MK8. Still, those stages that MK7 did better combined with the ones that will likely always remain locked on the 3DS alone make a playthrough of Mario Kart 7 worth it. (4/2/26) [37/50]

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General / Re: Do you still prefer physical games or digital?

« on: March 31, 2026, 10:51:43 pm »

I will always go with physical. I don't consider digital games a form of ownership regardless of whether they were purchased or downloaded illegally.

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

« on: March 28, 2026, 01:38:05 am »

I grabbed Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection on the Switch this evening. I really wish it had been available physically on the PS4 like the other collections, but I won't complain.

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Modern Video Games / Re: Report: PS6 2029 | Switch 2 price increase soon?

« on: March 27, 2026, 03:16:21 pm »

All this AI nonsense that is giving us nothing good, just completely decimating the PC and console market.  Hate it so much.

I work in an industry that is very adjacent to the boom in AI adoption, and it's absolutely disgusting how much greed is fueling all this. CEOs and executive teams are frothing at the mouth over all this and they speak with glee about replacing large percentages of their workforce and investing in thousands of new data centers. They simply do not care how much this is decimating certain industries, all they see is massive dividends for themselves and their shareholders.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 26, 2026, 01:31:02 pm »

I think at this point there are no more undiscovered retro gems,

There certainly are, such as games that never released in the US that don't have English language options alongside titles for older PC systems. Although, maybe you specifically said this in reference to the US home console market which is probably more true than it's not.

Sometimes playing the bad games helps us appreciate the good games that much more.

Absolutely, and obviously this isn't limited to video games. If you're someone who has a favorite genre within a particular medium, then engaging in lower-quality contemporaries gives you the opportunity to think critically about what it is you do actually like. Sometimes, people don't know why it is they like a particular aspect because they don't actually have anything bad to compare it to.

With how long YouTube and various other large online spaces have been around, any game you can possibly think of has been discussed to death at this point. There are some fairly obscure PC games I grew up with and even those have at least a handful of dedicated reddit threads (sometimes whole subreddits) or there's a few videos on YouTube discussing them to some degree. Sure, there are probably unreleased games that have never seen the light of day that no one but the original devs know about, but if it's been released, it's known about and the internet has fully thrust it into the gaming community consciousness by now.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 26, 2026, 10:27:28 am »

29. Xyanide (XBOX)

One pet peeve of mine is how freely the word "hidden gem" is thrown around online. At this point, saying hidden gem is more or less just a buzz phrase to bait people into clicking on your YouTube video or Reddit post. The reason I mention this is because over the years of playing countless examples of supposed hidden gems, I've come to discover that the overwhelming majority, probably around 90% of them, range from being wildly mediocre to absolute trash in reality. For most of these obscure titles, there's a very good reason they remained obscure and relatively rare. And while I realize there are exceptions and special cases when it comes to this, most obscure games remained that way because, well, they kinda suck. Case in point, Xyanide on the original XBOX.

Yeah it annoys me too lol. I feel this 100% If they were good games, even if they didn't sell well at the time for whatever reason, collecting is such big hobby now that they would have been found by now.

I think at this point there are no more undiscovered retro gems, but for whatever reason there still seems to be quite a few games that have this reputation for being good, under appreciated, and lessor known, yet I just don't see it when I've actually played them. As I said, I think hidden gem has become a clickbait phrase more than anything, but I also think sometimes people dupe themselves into thinking a game is way better than it actually is due to the game's rarity, value, or desirability among collectors.

Sometimes playing the bad games helps us appreciate the good games that much more.

Very true. I tend to try and play games that have a pretty solid reputation for being good, but I also like to get adventurous and try out stuff that is lessor known, but also have reputations for being at least decent. I'm pretty sure I found my copy of Xyanide before Metal Jesus Rocks posted his XBOX Hidden Gems video, but at the time it gave me hope that game would actually be a gem. After all, I'm a pretty big fan of shumps, so I figured the game at to at least be okay. Nope...

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 26, 2026, 12:33:45 am »

29. Xyanide (XBOX)

One pet peeve of mine is how freely the word "hidden gem" is thrown around online. At this point, saying hidden gem is more or less just a buzz phrase to bait people into clicking on your YouTube video or Reddit post. The reason I mention this is because over the years of playing countless examples of supposed hidden gems, I've come to discover that the overwhelming majority, probably around 90% of them, range from being wildly mediocre to absolute trash in reality. For most of these obscure titles, there's a very good reason they remained obscure and relatively rare. And while I realize there are exceptions and special cases when it comes to this, most obscure games remained that way because, well, they kinda suck. Case in point, Xyanide on the original XBOX.


Never heard of Xyanide? Well, that's because this game is horribly made twin stick shooter released late in the original XBOX's life in 2006. The premise and even the opening cutscene of the game seem very promising, however when you actually play the game, you'll find a horribly designed dumpster fire of terrible gameplay balancing, inability to perform crowd control in a genre where it's absolutely crucial, a practically useless primary weapon and an arguably even worse more powerful secondary weapon, and to top it off, background enemies and visuals which often confusingly become part of the foreground, that frequently result in your ship colliding with another one. Not to mention, shooting anything in the background is about as clunky and inaccurate as it gets. The only reason I even finished this game was due to it fairly short length and also very easy mode slightly mitigating some of Xyanide's most egregious gameplay sins. Otherwise, I would have easily dropped this game well before ever reaching the end of the game, something I still feel like I should have done.


As mentioned, the visuals become a gameplay problem when enemies are flying in an out of the background and foreground while other enemies remain in the background firing at you, and you trying to fire back at them. There are some cool sci-fi visuals as you're blasting away at everything, but overall the 3D visual and gameplay style of this game did not mix together very well. I will also give some credit to the game's cutscenes which while limited do show off some very interesting sci-fi world building and pretty creative ideas. Unfortunately, they're not even good enough to redeem this game or the fact that the visuals are part of why this game sucks too.


Finally, we get to the best part of Xyanide, the music. While nothing special or overly catchy, the OST in Xyanide is still fairly good and definitely goes along with the theme and setting of the game. There are also exposition and various weapon sound effects as well, but they do little to enhance the overall experience of playing this game. I guess you could say the audio is slightly above average, which is among the only things about this game I can say that about.


Xyanide would have been a complete waste of money back in 2006, and it's still an even way bigger waste of money now seeing how it's fallen pray to the retro video game tax. Unless you're just some hardcore XBOX collector and have to have one of the consoles more rare titles in your collection, I'd strongly suggest spending your hard earned cash someplace else. This game is an absolute train wreck of gameplay design and one of the worse games I've finished in quite some time. (3/25/26) [18/50]

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General / Re: Older consoles or handhelds that you regret sleeping on when they were modern

« on: March 25, 2026, 11:45:26 pm »

you don't necessarily need to have grown up at the time to have experienced said consoles back in the day when they where brand new.

I got to play consoles like the genesis as a kid just cause my older cousin still had one. fun times really some whacky games on said consoles always got to play on said console when I visited. same for N64 and the snes.

ps1 eventhough an older gen was plentyfull and quite some folks still used ps1 games on a ps2 even quite some years later, it lasted for quite some time longer than most older consoles as a result in which most friends still had a stash of ps1 games or pirated ones. don't think there was a kid around that didn't play ctr or some of the re games where I was at.

GBA: What's sad is I actually did have a GBA in the early 2000s. I actually got a GBA for Christmas the same year they came out, along with Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 (which wasn't that great tbh). The only games I remember really getting into on my GBA were Advance Wars and later on Pokemon Ruby. Especially over the last couple years, I've developed a newfound appreciation for the GBA, one that has blossomed over time into full blown love. So, so many excellent games were released on it, and I find its graphics and sound to be beyond charming and nostalgic. I just wish I'd spent more time with the GBA back in the 2000s when I owned my original one, but I guess it's better to appreciate something eventually rather than never.

GBA era was something else. speaking of pokemon it was arguably the gen with the best puzzles and mysteries. Them talks about them regi puzzles and using braille on them school grounds or how you could brag if you could breed feebass which was insanely hard to get in these games only appearing in 4 tiles in a huge area that was random per copy. also advance wars against other was an absolute blast. or dbz advanced adventure multiplayer that stuff was goated. also in terms of rpg's the fire emblem games, golden sun the medabots rpg's. very packed system

I'll say this I love the console allot but have seen it's flaws more and more as the years go by so sadly I have appreciated the console a bit less over the years in favor of comparable home console counterparts with more grander 2d games. than again that's just me being less interested in handheld gaming as the years go on. at the end of the day plenty of experiences that are only on gba that ain't really replaced on other consoles and some soundtracks will always hit that nostalgia bug for me thinking back of more simpler times.

I guess there is just something special about experiencing and being fully engrossed within the excitement of a current gen console that cannot be replicated years after it's no longer being produced. It's almost like being in the right place at the right time, and having memories or experiences that only other people that were fully on board the hype train at the time can fully relate to. I completely fee that way with the N64 and pretty much every 6th gen console. I still love going back and revisiting games on the PS2 or Dreamcast, but even playing games for it now, it's just not the same as when I was younger and would get so excited to see some new game come out for either of those consoles, and be even more excited to actually play it. Even if you played a console back when it came out, I guess it's possible to feel like you still missed out of it due to limited exposure or lack of opportunities to actually play it.


With Pokemon Ruby, I didn't actually beat it back around the time it came out. I was in high school at the time and had all sorts of other things going on in my life during that time. I started it, got like four badges, and then sporadically played it for like the next year until I stopped playing it before even reaching the Pokemon league. Still, when counting my GBA experiences back in the day, it was one of them. Speaking of being in high school, there were far fewer of my peers that had a GBA or really had much interest in it. On the flip side, my little brother who is 5 years younger than me was way more into it, as were many of his friends. He certainly had way more exposure to the system back in the early and mid 2000s that I did. I even remember him obsessing about wanting a blue SP when those first came out. Had I been even just 3 or 4 years younger in 2002 or 2003, I feel like I'd likely not be wishing right now that I'd spent more time with the GBA, since the console would have been far more up my ally at the time.