Messages

1

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: Today at 10:14:12 pm »

24. The Typing of the Dead (Dreamcast)

The House of the Dead series, specifically the first two games are among my favorite and most special arcade games from the 90s. While the first House of the Dead game was a treat I really only ever got to experience in arcades, I would eventually get the arcade perfect port of House of the Dead 2 on the Dreamcast shortly after I got one back in late 1999. I've probably played through and beat House of the Dead 2 over a hundred times in my life and it remains possibly my favorite lighten shooter of all time. So yeah, when Sega took House of the Dead 2, replaced the guns with keyboards, and had you typing zombies and monsters to death, my initial reaction was likely WTF...


It's been many years since I first played Typing of the Dead and it's been the sole reason I still own an official Dreamcast keyboard. I decided to play through the game once again and what's crazy is it's just as charming and fun as the game its based on. And this is despite the fact that I'm not a very good typist. In addition to carrying over all the visual and auditory charm that made House of the Dead 2 so memorable and fun, Typing of the Dead is more than just type words and sentences that appear on the screen. First off, the things the game will have you type are distractingly hilarious at times. Phrases like "cat toilet", "stinky finger", and other ridiculous phrases commonly appear on screen and will often made it hard to type while you're laughing at what you're trying to type. Likewise, there are certain sections and bosses that will have you typing out the answers to questions or completing spoofs on nursery rhymes that had me audibly laughing out loud. Keep in mind all this is happening while James, Harry, and Amy have Dreamcast consoles strapped to their backs while a keyboard is propped up in front of them as they're walking. This game has an amazing sense of humor and I commend Sega for going that extra mile and adding silly stuff like this to make this game even more memorable. Still, covering inputs from a lighten pointed at a screen to rapidly typing words, phrases, and sentences with a keyboard was not a seamless transition.


There are parts in Typing of the Dead that make the use of the keyboard a bit frustrating. For one, once you start typing a specific word or phrase to kill a specific zombie, you're locked into it. That means if a projectile is heading towards you, typing the proper letter or word to "type" it out of the air won't be possible until you finish the word or phrase you started on. This situation is where I took the most damage in this game and made certain parts fairly frustrating. Likewise, the game is particular about you using punctuation and special characters when prompted, but it doesn't care about the spaces between words? It's a bit strange and inconsistent, but aside from some frustration, it wasn't a huge deal in the grand scheme of this game.


I dare say that Typing of the Dead is just as good as House of the Dead 2, maybe even arguably a bit better due to its unique, unconventional gameplay. Had Typing of the Dead been around when I was learning to type on a keyboard in elementary school, I might have actually been motivated to correctly type instead of the weird T-rex style I've adopted sine I was a kid. This game is such a hilarious, and unique game and is worth tracking down a Dreamcast keyboard (and I suppose even a Dreamcast console too) just for the pleasure of playing it. If it hasn't been already, this game is begging to be ported to modern PCs, which would not only make it more accessible, but also not having to cross my legs to use as a makeshift desk for my Dreamcast keyboard would have been nice. Regardless, this game is awesome. (3/12/26) [37/50]

Oh man I always wanted this game but never wanted to commit to buying the keyboard peripheral for just the one experience. Then I discovered how much I love the JP Clear version of the dreamcast keyboard so now I am stuck waiting for a "deal" on one that never comes lol.   This review may have reignited my need for this game. 


Between this and Seaman, dreamcast had some novel and off the wall concepts that some how worked.  I found that SEGA made a version of this game for PS2 but I have no clue if its as good. It's certainly not as beloved.  I need a reason to fire up my dreamcast considering I only have 1 game for it for the past 15 years of owning it. Whats funny is when I bought the dreamcast. The guy told me "get typing of the dead. Best game for it".  And thats why I want it so bad.

I played Seaman years ago and had a hard time getting into it. I get it's supposed to be super weird and all, but I got to a point where I could get Seaman to do anything else and just sort of got stuck with it. But yeah, Typing of the Dead is amazing. It's freakin hilarious and fun too. I'd just grab a standard keyboard and a copy just to try it out. What's nuts is I bought my copy of the game around 2011ish, when you could still buy brand new Dreamcast back stock directly from Amazon. I think I got my copy new for like $15 or something like that at the time. Feels like forever ago.

2

General / Re: Intro thread

« on: Today at 10:10:02 pm »

Heyo, names Niko. Have been coming to the realization that I actively hate Reddit and what it has done to fandoms/hobby communities, and trying to branch off from using it so much. I already have a few other sites I've been using since forever, but it never hurts to join more. Especially since most forums are pretty slow moving these days, so just having more people to talk with never hurts.

I've been collecting games (as in actively building a collection, not just getting games as a kid) since 2012 or thereabouts. I mostly collect Japanese GBC and GBA right now, but I'm a modern gamer too and play new games on Switch 2 and PS5 mostly.

Anyways nice to meet you all. Even if its a pretty small community at least I know you're all (likely) human and not some bot lol

Fellow Reddit hater here lol! I generally don't like using mainstream social media in general to discuss my hobbies. The bigger the platform, the more idiots, bots, tourists, and trolls use it too. While I wish there would be slightly more activity on small forums like this, the sense of community can't be beat and I'd rather see a few posts every few days than dozens or hundreds of low quality posts in some place like Facebook or Reddit.


I feel like many of the regulars here have significantly slowed down when it comes to collecting, but there is still a lot of great discussion around playing games, nw game announcements and releases, and general game discussion. Hopefully you'll enjoy it here. Welcome!

Thanks. Yeah I feel the problem with a lot of the collecting community on the mainstream platforms is everyone starts to compete to see who can be the biggest consumer, rather than a place for collectors to discuss games. At least once a week I'll see a post like "My collection after 2 years" and it's bigger than my collection ever was. And they never actually play any games, cause they spend all their time looking to buy games. They are just in a completely different place in the hobby compared to me, as I don't really care how big your collection is I just want to discuss games lol What are people playing, hidden gems, what you would buy if you had $100 right now. Those kind of topics.

Also, as you said, when they get that big you tend to have more tourists, bots and trolls which makes discussions even more difficult. Had a "discussion" with someone who was trying to tell me that "real gamers" don't play Nintendo... like what? lol

I think collecting and not playing is pretty silly, but I also recognize that people are in this hobby for different reasons. Back in the early to mid 2010s, I was absolutely way more of a collector than a gamer. Although, everything I bought I had the intention of someday playing, even if I was fooling myself at times in thinking I'd ever play a good chunk of the games I bought back then. They were just so cheap at the time, I kinda just went for it as long as I had even a mild interest in the game. I think a lot of collector first people are at a similar stage in collecting that I was back then, although being able to grab quality PS1 or Gamecube games for a few bucks each are a distant memory now. Essentially, when someone posts their PS1 JRPG pickup, you know they paid out the nose for it. I think this is where some of the clout chasing on social media comes from; people wanting to flex how much money they have by having bigger collections, more expensive pickups, you know?


But yeah, there are some dumbass opinions online for sure. One of the first gaming forums I used to regularly post on was Gamespot back in the mid 2000s, and "Real Gamers don't play Nintendo" sounds exactly like the kinda of nonsense I used to see all the time back then. Rest assured, no one who regularly posts on here is that freakin stupid lol.

3

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: Today at 02:14:05 pm »

24. The Typing of the Dead (Dreamcast)

The House of the Dead series, specifically the first two games are among my favorite and most special arcade games from the 90s. While the first House of the Dead game was a treat I really only ever got to experience in arcades, I would eventually get the arcade perfect port of House of the Dead 2 on the Dreamcast shortly after I got one back in late 1999. I've probably played through and beat House of the Dead 2 over a hundred times in my life and it remains possibly my favorite lighten shooter of all time. So yeah, when Sega took House of the Dead 2, replaced the guns with keyboards, and had you typing zombies and monsters to death, my initial reaction was likely WTF...


It's been many years since I first played Typing of the Dead and it's been the sole reason I still own an official Dreamcast keyboard. I decided to play through the game once again and what's crazy is it's just as charming and fun as the game its based on. And this is despite the fact that I'm not a very good typist. In addition to carrying over all the visual and auditory charm that made House of the Dead 2 so memorable and fun, Typing of the Dead is more than just type words and sentences that appear on the screen. First off, the things the game will have you type are distractingly hilarious at times. Phrases like "cat toilet", "stinky finger", and other ridiculous phrases commonly appear on screen and will often made it hard to type while you're laughing at what you're trying to type. Likewise, there are certain sections and bosses that will have you typing out the answers to questions or completing spoofs on nursery rhymes that had me audibly laughing out loud. Keep in mind all this is happening while James, Harry, and Amy have Dreamcast consoles strapped to their backs while a keyboard is propped up in front of them as they're walking. This game has an amazing sense of humor and I commend Sega for going that extra mile and adding silly stuff like this to make this game even more memorable. Still, covering inputs from a lighten pointed at a screen to rapidly typing words, phrases, and sentences with a keyboard was not a seamless transition.


There are parts in Typing of the Dead that make the use of the keyboard a bit frustrating. For one, once you start typing a specific word or phrase to kill a specific zombie, you're locked into it. That means if a projectile is heading towards you, typing the proper letter or word to "type" it out of the air won't be possible until you finish the word or phrase you started on. This situation is where I took the most damage in this game and made certain parts fairly frustrating. Likewise, the game is particular about you using punctuation and special characters when prompted, but it doesn't care about the spaces between words? It's a bit strange and inconsistent, but aside from some frustration, it wasn't a huge deal in the grand scheme of this game.


I dare say that Typing of the Dead is just as good as House of the Dead 2, maybe even arguably a bit better due to its unique, unconventional gameplay. Had Typing of the Dead been around when I was learning to type on a keyboard in elementary school, I might have actually been motivated to correctly type instead of the weird T-rex style I've adopted sine I was a kid. This game is such a hilarious, and unique game and is worth tracking down a Dreamcast keyboard (and I suppose even a Dreamcast console too) just for the pleasure of playing it. If it hasn't been already, this game is begging to be ported to modern PCs, which would not only make it more accessible, but also not having to cross my legs to use as a makeshift desk for my Dreamcast keyboard would have been nice. Regardless, this game is awesome. (3/12/26) [37/50]

4

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: Today at 12:34:13 am »

23. Ready 2 Rumble Boxing (Dreamcast)

Ready 2 Rumble Boxing is one of those games that is forever seared into my memories of the early days of the Dreamcast. Between seeing this game all over various gaming magazines, its heavy representation in Sega's "It's Thinking" Dreamcast commercials, and also its inclusion on the pack in demo disk that came with brand new Dreamcasts back in 1999, it's impossible for me not to associate Ready 2 Rumble with my favorite console of all time. I do remember trying Ready 2 Rumble out via that demo disc back in the day, but can't say it really left any sort of impression on me or made me want to go out and get the full game. Decades later, here I am in possession of the full game and its sequel for the better part of two decades, and tonight was the first night I ever sank any serious play time into this game. Unfortunately my underwhelming response to the demo back in 1999 should have been a warning sign of things to come when it came to experiencing the full game of Ready 2 Rumble Boxing.


Ready 2 Rumble is one of the most awfully designed games I've played on the Dreamcast to date. The game essentially has zero depth, strategy, or really anything beyond mashing buttons and hoping you block or dodge enough attacks while simultaneously landing as many punches as possible to KO your opponent before they KO you. There is literally no strategy, no tells or indicators of where your opponent is about to strike. It's just luck of the draw with every button press. As you can imagine, this makes for an incredibly tedious and boring experience. Unfortunately, the gameplay isn't the only thing working to starve you of fun.


For a game with such over the top characters and a fairly silly, cartoonish aesthetic, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing takes itself so seriously that it can't even be bothered to have music playing during your matches. There are only a handful of tracks in the entire game and they all play during the intro, menus, and credits...that's it. The only saving grace to the audio are the limited lines of the ridiculous roster of characters, but more importantly Michael Buffer (aka, the Let's get Ready to RUUUUMBLLLLEEE! guy) lends his voice to the game. Beyond saying is trademark phrase before every match, he also introduces all the fighters as well. Sound effects are fairly limited and uninspired, so yeah, it's pretty much just Michael Buffer making the audio worth anything for the most part.


Undoubtedly, Ready 2 Rumble's best quality is its visual presentation. While certainly far from perfect, the character design and graphics all work together pretty well to create a fairly silly game. Characters are all fairly charming and unique. On top of that, fighters show off an impressive level of damage during the course of each fight. This is shown in the form of bruises, black eyes, and sweat. It's all pretty cool and definitely adds to the entertainment value in Ready 2 Rumble, which let's be honest, desperately needs something to keep you from wanting to just turn it off. Unfortunately, the is a major lack of variety in the rings you'll be fighting in, audience members are 2D cutouts of actual people, and yeah, beyond those cool looking characters, nothing else is all that noteworthy or even good looking in this game.


Luckily, you can get through a full game of Ready 2 Rumble boxing pretty quickly despite constantly having to use continues due to the absolute travesty this game calls gameplay. With how negative I've been on this game, I'm almost too embarrassed to say that I don't completely hate it. It reminds me of the simpler times of the late 90s and how adolescent me was head over heels in love with the Dreamcast back then (I still am, but I mean, I was OBSESSED with the Dreamcast when Sega was still supporting it). Still, my sentimental nostalgia for Ready 2 Rumble is nowhere near strong enough for me to recommend this game to anyone. In fact, I'd strongly recommend avoiding it entirely and just playing the vast array of actual good games on the Dreamcast. (3/11/26) [20/50]

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General / Re: Intro thread

« on: March 11, 2026, 01:40:46 pm »

Heyo, names Niko. Have been coming to the realization that I actively hate Reddit and what it has done to fandoms/hobby communities, and trying to branch off from using it so much. I already have a few other sites I've been using since forever, but it never hurts to join more. Especially since most forums are pretty slow moving these days, so just having more people to talk with never hurts.

I've been collecting games (as in actively building a collection, not just getting games as a kid) since 2012 or thereabouts. I mostly collect Japanese GBC and GBA right now, but I'm a modern gamer too and play new games on Switch 2 and PS5 mostly.

Anyways nice to meet you all. Even if its a pretty small community at least I know you're all (likely) human and not some bot lol

Fellow Reddit hater here lol! I generally don't like using mainstream social media in general to discuss my hobbies. The bigger the platform, the more idiots, bots, tourists, and trolls use it too. While I wish there would be slightly more activity on small forums like this, the sense of community can't be beat and I'd rather see a few posts every few days than dozens or hundreds of low quality posts in some place like Facebook or Reddit.


I feel like many of the regulars here have significantly slowed down when it comes to collecting, but there is still a lot of great discussion around playing games, nw game announcements and releases, and general game discussion. Hopefully you'll enjoy it here. Welcome!

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General / Re: When will your backlog actually be completed?

« on: March 11, 2026, 01:33:25 pm »

For me it's entirely up to how you define "backlog" I guess.

If it's just games I've bought and haven't played, I could realistically do it in a couple years. It's somewhere between 100-200 games and I generally play between 30-50 games a year (depending on the games I play. If it's lots of RPG's that number is closer to 30). My collection is actually not as massive as it once was cause I purged a good 50% of it like 7 or 8 years ago. I went from just collecting everything that looked interesting and putting it on my shelf to creating a highly curated collection featuring only my top 50 games on each system. So I've actually beaten a good 90% of the games in my collection, with most of the unfinished ones being games I picked up in bundles on Steam.

But if you broaden the definition to just "any game I want to play but haven't", it will take much, much longer. I am constantly looking for new games to add to my collection. It's really fun for me to find a game that makes me rethink my collection. Like "if I add this to my collection, what will I take out". On top of that there are systems I haven't really collected at all yet like the Famicom and Super Famicom, So I'll probably have to play through 100+ games before I can settle on my top 50 I actually add to my collection.

I definitely subscribe the the more broad definition of a backlog. I also did a huge downsize several years back and am continuing to downsize still, albeit at a much less aggressive pace. Any game that's in my collection currently will be played at some point. If I ever come to the realization that I won't play that game ever, to eBay it goes. Also, if I play a game, don't like it or I can't see myself ever wanting to play it again, it also gets sold off. Still, there are a ton of games I don't own that I plan on playing eventually too. Essentially my backlog is never ending and I'll never truly complete it, even if I live to be 100.


On a side note, you should participate in the 52 games challenge we do on here. Pretty much it's users trying to beat at least 52 games in their backlog a year. It's a fun thread and I always enjoy seeing what others are currently playing. Would love to see someone else participate in it. The more, the merrier lol.

7

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 10, 2026, 02:53:03 am »

22. Freedom Planet 2 (Switch)

One of my biggest gaming surprises of 2025 was beating the first Freedom Planet game and falling completely in love with it. As a Sega kid back in the 90s and a lifelong fan of Sonic the Hedgehog, particularly Sonic's 2D platformers, I'm genuinely surprised Freedom Planet didn't pop up on my radar sooner. For what it's worth, Freedom Planet was one of my favorite games I beat last year and I've been dying to try out its sequel. After my wonderful wife gifted me Freedom Planet 2 on the Switch for our recent anniversary, I was ready to see if the second game in the series was as fun, memorable, and passionately crafted as the first game. In many ways, yes, it is just as good. In other ways it's even better than Freedom Planet, and in some ways it's actually a decent amount worse.


Let's start off with Freedom Planet 2's best quality, it's visual presentation. If Freedom Planet 2 doesn't have the best sprite work in a game I've ever seen, it absolutely deserves to be placed in the top 5 when it comes to its 2D visuals. This game's visuals were crafted by masters of 2D pixel art and it lovingly shows in absolutely every inch of the screen. Whether it's the amazing character animations, gorgeous stage backgrounds and set pieces, extremely memorable bosses, or pretty much just anything you experience with your eyeballs, everything in Freedom Planet is gorgeous. While I have a soft spot for the exceptional, but undeniably less refined look of the first game, Freedom Planet 2 is undeniably more polished and better looking than its predecessor. There are also 3D elements thrown in sparingly and these arguably look just as good as the 2D artwork on display. While Freedom Planet 2's visuals are an improvement, I can't necessarily say the same for the game's story.


Freedom Planet 2 takes place 3 years after the events of the first game. A new threat has emerged and like last time, it's up to Lilac, Carol, Milla, and now playable newcomer Neera to stop their new foe, Merga. Along the way, the four heroes will encounter new friends, enemies, twists and turns, and everything else in between. It's an undeniably entertaining story and plot that is complemented by the game's incredible visuals, as well as very well done character animations. These animations allow for a huge range of emotions and expressions that had me caring about the characters, as well as making me laugh at various points too. Where Freedom Planet 2 falls short compared to the first game's story is in its writing. Some of the plot as well as certain character motivations seem very poorly developed and weak. And it's not like the first game was a story telling masterpiece by any means, but I found my interest in Freedom Planet 2's story to be lacking compared to the first game.


Just like the amazing visuals of Freedom Planet 2 enhance the overall experience of playing through this game, so does the game's audio. Freedom Planet 2's OST is nearly as good as the first games. A mix of high energy tracks that would fit perfectly into some of the better Sonic games is combined with more chill, almost atmospheric retro tunes which fit in very well with the action going on as you play through the game. However, what arguably steals the show in the audio department is Freedom Planet 2's incredibly talented voice cast. Virtually all the voice actors from the first game return to reprise their respective rolls. There are also a decent amount of new characters and new actors to give them life, all of which do just as good of a job as those veteran voice actors. Speaking of veteran voice actors, some of the new characters are voiced by well know anime voice actors which I found to be a pleasant surprise. Other than the voice acting, sound effects and other auditory flourishes all sound great as well.


Much like the first game, Freedom Planet 2's weakest quality is its gameplay. By no means is Freedom Planet 2 an unpleasant game to play, nor is it a complete mess from a design or control standpoint. Maybe Freedom Planet 2's greatest gameplay sin is putting quantity over quality throughout much of the game. There are A TON of stages in Freedom Planet 2, over 30 to be more specific. Between the story cutscenes and the exploring hub levels, this is a 10 hour platformer, which for a 3D example of the genre is a long ass game. While this does somewhat impact the pacing negatively, the biggest issue is actually with the inconsistent quality of stages and boss battles. Most stages in Freedom Planet 2 are great, some even better than any stages found in the first game. A noticeable chunk are okay, and then another junk are borderline bad. This is also true of the boss battles too. I found some boss battles to be excellent while others were just terrible. Luckily the good ones outnumbered the bad ones by about 4 to 1, but I couldn't help but think maybe the devs should have focused on making fewer really, really good stages and bosses instead of just throwing everything plus the kitchen sink at this game.


Aside from the Sonic-esq stages you'll be dashing through as one of the four characters, there are also things like shops, mini games, and other distractions you can engage with throughout Freedom Planet 2. I found these added extras to be of limited value, including the ability to buy special items that are supposed to help make the game easier, but they mostly seemed irrelevant when deciding whether or not I succeeded or failed at a specific stage or boss encounter. There is also an overworld that you get to explore in this game, but other than showing a form of progression throughout the game, its inclusion seemed a bit unnecessary.


The four playable characters all control and handle differently. I played through the game as the game's main protagonist, Lilac, but I did play about an hour as Milla and Carol just to see how different the game was from a gameplay perspective. Undoubtedly, your experience with each character is going to make Freedom Planet feel noticeable different depending on what character you choose, and this extends beyond just how they play and control. There are certain parts of Freedom Planet 2's story that are exclusive to specific characters. In other words, to get the entire story experience of Freedom Planet 2, you will have to beat it with all four characters. While I really enjoyed Freedom Planet 2, I just don't have it in me to beat it three more times to see every inch of the game's story. Given the story isn't amazing as mentioned earlier, this doesn't really motive me to go back in with the other three characters and do it all over again, at least not so soon.


While I know it's contrary to the popular opinion, I actually prefer the first Freedom Planet slightly more than its sequel. I get why Freedom Planet 2 is often considered the superior game; it's hard not to be bewitched by how amazing this game looks and sounds. However, the tendency for Freedom Planet 2 to feel a bit bloated, sometimes at the expense of having fun with the game keeps it from being as enjoyable as the first game. Still, Freedom Planet 2 is an outstanding retro inspired platformer that is still better than most of Sonic the Hedgehog's 2D adventures, which is saying a lot considering we wouldn't have Freedom Planet 1 or 2 without Sega's flagship platforming mascot. So yeah, go play Freedom Planet 2 if you're a fan of 2D Sonic games, it's so incredibly good! (3/9/26) [40/50]

8

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 09, 2026, 12:13:49 am »

21. Reanimal (PS5)

My first exposure to the Little Nightmares series was watching my wife play through the first two games. I remember thinking the atmosphere, art, and interesting puzzle/platforming gameplay looked interesting enough to where I wanted to try playing these games myself at some point. Well, that point came last year where I finally played the first Little Nightmares game and....it was okay. I honestly thought I'd like it more than I did, but for what it's worth, I still thought Little Nightmares was a decent, spooky game and given how short it was, I found it hard to be upset about not liking it more.


Given my lukewarm reaction to the first Little Nightmares was, I was in no rush to play Little Nightmares 2 and after my wife's fairly negative appraisal of Little Nightmares 3, I had no intention of playing that one. Enter Reanimal. Yes, I'm aware that Little Nightmares 3 is pretty much a Little Nightmares game by name only given it was developed by an entirely different team. On the flip side, Reanimal is essentially the real Little Nightmares 3 despite having a different, unrelated name. This was enough for my wife to want to pick up Reanimal and due to the inclusion of a local co-op option, I was willing to play it with her during our first playthrough. At only around 4 hours to beat, we blew through this game in a few evenings, beating the game tonight. And well, I feel about the same towards Reanimal as I did the first Little Nightmare games.


Like Little Nightmares, you control one of two children who are forced to navigate through a dreary, horror-filled world in a state of ruin. However, unlike Little Nightmares, there seems to be a bit more emphasis placed on some sort of story involving a well, sheep, and a bunch of other crap I was never able to wrap my head around. Luckily, the avant garde horror plot barely matters and instead the game's focus seems to be more on the experience of getting through each of the nightmarish sections that comprise Reanimal's world.


I actually didn't care for this game during the first quarter of it. You're being chased in a dilapidated city surrounded by a forest while a guy who looks like Coraline's Other Father collects skin suits from a bunch of unnamed inhabitants of the city. This section didn't really scare me or put me on edge, and honestly I just felt sort of bored. Luckily the game quickly picks up right after this part and outside an ending that was somewhat annoying to play through, the game does accomplish being a fairly interesting, unique horror setting. This setting is rendered pretty well in the game's visuals, however I have to point out that some areas become difficult to navigate or avoid obstacles due to how dark they are or how the fixed camera seems to be in the wrong place at times. Also, given how zoomed out most of the game is, there were a handful of times where I mistook my character I was controlling for the one my wife was controlling, or a few NPC characters that join you sporadically throughout your journey. These issues came up enough to where they certainly impacted my overall enjoyment of the visuals in Reanimal, but not enough to ruin the game or for me to even consider the visuals just decent. No, Reanimal's visuals are pretty good as is the overall art direction.


The audio in Reanimal, while pretty good from a sound design perspective, has little else to offer beyond that. Yes, there is an original soundtrack here, but outside enhancing the horror atmosphere, I never found it to be particularly alluring or good. There is a touch of voice acting in Reanimal, but honestly it's so infrequent and the characters speaking are practically whispering that it might as well have not been included. No, the best part of this game's audio is its sound design and effects which do a pretty good job of ramping up tension or anxiety as some hostile creature is running after you or something creepy suddenly appears out of nowhere.


This leaves Reanimal's gameplay, which is umm, pretty good...mostly. Anyone who has played Little Nightmares or its sequels will be familiar with how Reanimal controls. As one of the playable characters, your abilities remain fairly limited. You can essentially run, jump, and interact with a plethora of objects using an action button. Reanimal also gives the player an extra source of light in the darker portions of the game, just like its predecessors of a different name. However, Reanimal also offers the ability to fight, allowing you to use a variety of weapons to handle specific situations you run into. Unfortunately, these weapons and how often they're used does reduce some of the anxiety and tension the game is trying to make the player feel. It's also worth noting that due to some of the visuals issues I mentioned earlier, it's easy to get hung up on something or accidentally get detected when you thought you were hidden in cover. I also found the movement controls to be a bit vague and even floaty at times, which was an issue when I needed to make a jump or quickly change direction while trying to escape something. These were certainly issues, but on the whole, Reanimal is absolutely playable and mostly a well crafted experience to get through.


While I do have a decent amount of good things to say about Reanimal, I still unfortunately feel like this game just didn't land with me much like the first game. I'm at the point where I'm fairly certain these games use aren't for me when it comes to horror video games, a genre I'm typically a big fan of. Reanimal is not a bad game, not at all. However, it's a game that fails that really draw me in or give me anything objective to heap praise on, which means this will almost assuredly be the first and last time I ever play Reanimal and possibly be the last Little Nightmares-like game I have it in me to play. (3/8/26) [34/50]

9

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 05, 2026, 11:51:51 pm »

20. Resident Evil 2 (PS4)

One major sign that tells me I really enjoyed a game is when I immediately want to jump into another game in the series right after. This is especially true of any game that takes me more than 4 or 5 hours to beat. Such is the case with me playing the Resident Evil 2 remake (RE2) right after beating Resident Evil Requiem just a few days ago.


Initially going into RE2, I really wanted to play as Leon and revisit where it all began for one of the heroes of Requiem. However, once I fired RE2 up and realized the one and only time I played through RE2 back in 2020 was with Leon, I inevitably decided to take the game on as Claire instead. With RE Code Veronica being the first RE game I ever sunk serious time into and beat, I have a soft spot for the sister of Chris Redfield and felt like I wanted to experience RE2 in a fairly different way than I had during my first play through. I have to say, despite undeniable differences, the campaigns are still remarkably similar in how they play out. I suppose if I wanted a much different experience I'd have to play the B scenario with one of the characters instead of just doing back to back A scenarios. Still, some of the changes with Claire were certainly welcome. For one, Claire is the easier of the two campaigns. A lot of this has to do with being able to get a grenade launcher fairly early on which makes real short work of some of the toucher enemies and bosses in the game. Also, the tyrant monster that plagued my first playthrough as Leon, Mr. X, is barely in Claire's campaign. What this essentially meant is playing through RE2 as Claire was a far less tense and stressful affair than it had during my Leon playthrough.


Regardless of who you're playing as, RE2 is an excellent game to play. The remake's upgrade to the original by modernizing nearly everything about the gameplay absolutely helps elevate RE2 remake over the classic 1998 game. Gone are the tank controls, and in its place is a much more engaging, dynamic, and immersive third person perspective that allows you to view your surrounding and aim weapons where you want them. I'm certainly not one of those classic RE tank control haters, but the new style of aiming, shooting, and exploring in RE2 remake is undeniably more appealing and easier to play.


Combat in RE2 is mostly pretty good. Characters are given a fairly wide arsenal of primary and secondary weapons to get this the tense survival horror setting of this game. Primary weapons take the form of guns that you manually aim when pressing one of the shoulder buttons. This allows you to put the bullet right where you want it. However, this is easier said than done since enemies can be very mobile and erratic, making it easy to waste ammo when trying to aim for a zombie's head or leg. As for secondary weapons, thes take the form of knives and grenades mostly. Secondary weapons can be used both when in the clutches of an enemy, almost like a get out of jail free card that will prevent you from taking damage. Or they can be used preemptively to attack enemies before they've got a hold of you. Both weapon types work pretty well, however combat still isn't perfect in RE2.


My main gripes in RE2 have to do with enemy balancing and placement. There are more than a handful of sections in this game that really make it ver difficult, if not impossible to take damage. Most of these issues have to do with how many zombies and other enemies the devs crammed into a fairly tight, small area. More than once, I found myself getting attacked, recovering, and getting attacked almost immediately after with almost not chance to get away, attack, or heal in time. Regardless of whether or not I died, these areas always felt very cheap and poorly designed. This also extended to several boss battles which felt way too confined and restrictive. It was almost inevitable that I'd take damage from the boss, once again making the overall combat experience feel cheap and annoying. It also doesn't help that even when running, Claire (and Leon too) feel like they're wading through sludge with how slow they move. This was a big enough issue to where it did distract somewhat from my enjoyment of this game, but there was too much else present in RE2 remake to make me feel like this game was anything short of amazing.


Puzzles in RE2 are great, resources such as ammo and healing supplies are in short supply, and just the atmosphere from start to finish is outstanding. This game is true survival horror mastery and how you update a 20-year old classic for the modern era. Yes, RE2 remake does lean slightly more into the action side of things more than the game it's based on, but even so, this is still about as good as survival horror gets in the modern era of gaming.


RE2's visuals are near perfect. Every area, section, room, hallway, enemy, boss, and practically everything else in between looks absolutely amazing! The RE Engine is a stunner as seen in so many modern Resident Evil titles since RE7. Unfortunately, where RE2 falls noticeably short is in some of its character models. Some models, chiefly Leon's and Marvin's look amazing, highly detailed, and just have that polish that nearly every character model had in RE7. Then there are models like Claire, pre infected William, Sherry, and a few other minor characters you encounter. During gameplay they mostly look fine, however it's during cutscenes where these specific character just look more flat or even, dare I say, kinda ugly. They just look more flat or their face models just look a bit off. Again, compare this to virtually every model in RE7 and you'll know what I mean. And RE7 came out a couple years before RE2 did, making this downgrade in character models a bit puzzling. But yeah, none of the models are downright terrible and while it is worth noting, it's still a bit distracting as you play through RE2.


When it comes to the audio in RE2 it's pretty damn good, albeit not perfect. The soundtrack in this game is good, however I actually prefer the original RE2's soundtrack to it. There are some arranged tracks from the original RE2 here, but just overall, the OST is noticeably less memorable or enjoyable as it was in the 1998 game. Voice acting is arguably an improvement to OG RE2; the somewhat cheesy performances in the old RE games have a unique, weird charm to them and somehow just work so well with those games. While RE2 Remake has noticeably more competent voice actors, I guess none of them captivate me like those older performances. Even compared to the performances in RE7 (with Ethan Winter's voice actor being a HUGE exception to this) RE2 just isn't as good. Games like RE4 remake and RE8 prove voice acting can be much better than they were in RE2. And finally, the sound effects, including monster noises are excellent here. The sound of foot steps from Mr. X, zombies moaning further down a hallway, or the banging of zombies clamming against doors and windows is awesome and certainly contributes to RE2 being overall a delight for the ears.


I'm not sure if it's because I preferred Claire's A scenario over Leon's, or perhaps the game just grew on me in the 6 years since I last played it, but I found myself liking RE2 just a tad more than I did back in 2020. The game isn't perfect and there are still several RE games I like more than it, but for it to be better than nearly all the classic RE games as well as a good chunk of modern Resident Evil titles is a true testament to RE2's quality. This is a must play for anyone wanting to play an excellent modern survival horror game, even being so good as to be a substitute for the original RE2, which is undisputed classic. By this logic, RE2 remake is an undeniable modern classic if there ever was one. (3/5/26) [41/50]

10

Classic Video Games / Re: So what are our thoughts on Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen coming bacc?

« on: March 05, 2026, 10:42:12 am »

The mostly positive reaction to Winds and Waves make no sense to me. It still looks like garbage despite being a Switch 2 exclusive. The waves in the trailer look fine but the ground textures still look like garbage. Those starters though.. wow. They are really out of ideas. I'd say starters started falling off around gen 5 with gen 9 being particularly bad but now they aren't even trying.

Weird choice to show very little gameplay of Pokémon Champions which is finally releasing for free on the original Switch in April.

I've come to terms with that fact that Pokemon isn't a franchise for me anymore. It's sad when the last few generations make Sun and Moon look like a masterpiece despite Sun and Moon being the first Pokemon generation I just couldn't get into. I tried getting into Sword and Shield, and couldn't be bothered anymore just a few hours in. I still enjoy 6th gen and prior, but the new Pokemon games are just bland, soulless, and seemingly cater to toddlers and adult fanboys who've made their childhood nostalgia for Pokemon their personality. New Pokemon design has been crap for over a decade, and going down hill well before that. The formulaic gameplay has overstayed its welcome and somehow become even more watered down. I could go on and on, but new Pokemon does not appeal to me whatsoever. I'm at least happy I can still enjoy Red Version or Ruby, but it's undeniable that seeing Pokemon where it is now has made me a fraction of the Pokemon fan I used to be.

11

Classic Video Games / Re: So what are our thoughts on Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen coming bacc?

« on: March 05, 2026, 10:35:39 am »

but unless they're over $100 loose, I'd say you might as well just get the physical cart and skip the digital copy.

so unironicly they are over a 100$ each for loose carts and not even from retro stores that put a markup on em, actual market value

Well id that's the case than I really don't have a problem with this. Unfortunately, accessibility becomes an issue over time as games age. This includes price, and despite Fire Red/Leaf Green being good games, they're nowhere near good enough to justify that sort of money. I feel like the entire Pokemon brand has become a bit of a Ponzi scheme in the last year or so and I'm not surprised the games have become part of that. If I didn't already own both games and I wasn't comfortable with emulating, then yeah, I'd fork over $20, or even $40 for both games just so I could avoid paying $100+ for a single loose cart + a GBA system assuming I didn't own one.

12

Modern Video Games / Re: Report: Sony single player games exclusive again

« on: March 05, 2026, 10:31:32 am »

I don't pretend to be an industry expert or insider, but it seems like releasing AAA games exclusively for a single platform is no longer a financially viable option. Sure, I don't think Sony should be releasing their first party games on XBOX or Switch 2, but that PC market is expanding and already pretty large. Even if you maintain console exclusivity for a year or so, it's better than never releasing them on PC ever, at least from a financial standpoint.


In a way, I do get where Sony is coming from with this as well. More and more gamers are moving away from consoles entirely, which is obviously bad news for the companies making consoles. We all know XBOX's future is complete toast, however I'm sure Microsoft hardly cares since all the PC gamers are gaming on Windows machines anyways. Nintendo is sort of its own ecosystem and experience, mostly separate from what Sony and Microsoft have been doing for the last two decades. That leaves Sony who's sort of the last man standing. However, I think Sony has really dropped the ball this last gen with making the PS5 a meaningful purchase for exclusive experiences. I remember every previous console having a ton of exclusives, both first and third party. The PS5 however has been mostly lacking in this department with most of its games being multiplats, even when disregarding what's also on the PC.


I guess this just all highlights how precarious the game industry is right now. I read a few weeks ago that something like a third of all game industry employees have been laid off since like 2022 or something. There are other signs the industry is just not healthy at the moment either. I've said this before, but I feel like the whole AAA game model has become somewhat unsustainable. Sure, it works out incredibly well if your game is a mega hit, but if it's anything less than that, your studio faces imminent closure. I think these bigger studios needs to focus more on less expensive, AA games, or even budget games made by small, talented teams. I feel like this would work better than putting all your eggs in one basket and betting the farm on a single game.


Anyhow, now I'm going off on a tangent. But yeah, I don't think it's feasible for Sony to make their first party games exclusive despite me seeing the motivation to do so.

13

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 04, 2026, 10:44:06 pm »

I decided to jump back into RE2R after beating RE9. I haven't beat it since early 2020 and never as Claire. It's still a phenomenal game.

I literally did the same thing, I'm kinda casually playing that while trying to do some challenges in RE9 I still have, because I played through Grace's section and it gave very big RE2 vibes, so I think I'm gonna do a chill run with infinite ammo through it lol

Because of my experience with RE9, I'm kinda on a RE kick right now. I'm playing through Claire's campaign in RE2 currently, but am considering going back and doing a lot of extras in RE9 after I'm done with RE2. When I actually want to go back and do extra stuff, that's the mark of a really good game imo.

14

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 03, 2026, 03:23:58 pm »

20. Resident Evil 2 Remake - Claire

While the rest of the world was hiding as Grace or blasting away as Leon, I was trying to do a bit of both with Claire Redfield. I've been hopping from game to game out of order and I'm finally getting around to playing the remake that started it all. Compared to the others, this was a fun but drastic change of pace. The odds were stacked against players from the start. Every enemy was resilient, making item management and ammo conservation essential. I really enjoyed playing as Claire because I feel like she doesn't get as much time in the spotlight compared to Leon. (I'll still play through the game with him at some point). Her mini-grenade launcher was an excellent weapon. I think my biggest gripe with the game was the necessary back and forth managing limited item space. That, and the tight quarters when fighting bosses or attempting to deal with Ivies. Otherwise, this was a great game. I can see why many still consider it the best of the moderns.

I decided to jump back into RE2R after beating RE9. I haven't beat it since early 2020 and never as Claire. It's still a phenomenal game.

15

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 01, 2026, 07:22:12 pm »

19. Resident Evil Requiem (PS5)

Resident Evil Requiem (RE9) is really a tale of two games. On one hand, you gave some of the best survival horror gameplay and atmosphere the series has seen since RE7 and some of the classic RE titles. On the other hand, you have a balls to the wall horror action game that takes its cue's directly from some of the more over the top entries such as RE5, RE5, and dare I say, even a hint of RE6 (I mean that it the best way possible, honestly). The first half of the game absolutely leans way more into the unfiltered survival horror gameplay mentioned, while the second half is predominantly an action game first and foremost. For some, this is going to be fairly jarring, however the way it is implemented and how things play out in terms of RE9's settings and stories absolutely works. The end result is one of the best Resident Evil games ever made, and possibly the best modern RE game.


During the 10 hours it takes to beat RE9, you'll be transitioning between the two main characters of the game, Grace Ashcroft and series veteran, Leon Kennedy. Despite being an FBI agent (FBI analyst if you want to be more specific), Grace is a fairly fragile and relatable character. Aside from a few key parts, Grace definitely comes across as a fish out of water and is struggling to survive, much less just stay sane and calm in the insane situation she finds herself in throughout the game. She isn't a trained badass like Jill Valentine or a natural born badass like Claire Redfield; Grace is just a fairly ordinary first who is just trying to survive with the little personal and physical resources given to her. As you've probably already surmised, Grace's gameplay is pure survival horror where you'll be doing all you can to avoid conflict, which will always be the prescribed method of success given how little ammo, health items, and general resources are available to her.


On the complete flip side of this, Leon's gameplay is all action, stealth and avoidance be damned. The way forward with Leon is always through an endless wave of zombies and other BOW enemies, leaving in your wake a trail of blood, guts, gore, and destruction. RE9 supplies you with plenty of ammo and supplies to accomplish this, although I'd be lying if I said there aren't a few sections of the game where maybe you'd want to be more judicious about how much ammo you're using and how many enemies you engage. Luckily, there are a variety of more creative ways to slay your enemies such as traps and obstacles, almost taken right out of RE4. The bottom line is that you there is barely a dull, slow moment when Leon is behind the wheel.


RE9 starts you out in Rhodes Hill Care Center, a building that takes a lot of inspiration from the Spenser Mansion in terms of his design and aesthetics. Still, the care center offers enough of its own unique qualities where you won't just feel like Capcom reheated the main setting of RE1 and threw a new coat of paint on it, hoping no one would notice. No, Rhodes Hill is a genuinely interesting and fun survival horror sandbox where as Grace you'll be carefully backtracking to different areas of the complex, collecting keys, solving puzzles, and pretty much doing all the amazing survival horror tasks many old school fans of the franchise can never seem to get enough of. There are brief sections where RE9 switches you over to Leon and you'll go from carefully avoiding zombies to killing anything that moves, but the first half the of game is mostly a survival horror experience. Those action portions with Leon are simply an appetizer for the second half of the game.


While I won't spoil where the second half of the game takes place, let's just say it was featured in a lot of the trailers so it should hardly be a surprise to anyone. Within the dilapidated ruins of this new area, you'll be playing almost exclusively as Leon. While there are some light puzzles and areas that flirt with survival horror, make no mistake that the vast majority of RE9's second and final acts are action packed. For some, this may be disappointing, but given how well, both the action and survival horror aspects of RE9 are, it's hard to imagine anyone being disappointed with any portion of the game. Still, all things are not created equal between RE9's survival horror and action gameplay.


I felt like RE9 did a way better job being a survival horror game than an action game. That's not to say the action portions were bad, I just found them not as well designed, with some parts of Leon's trek through the second half of the game to be a chore at times rather than genuinely fun. As for the survival horror gameplay and experience, it wasn't perfect, but I almost always enjoyed these sections more, minus a few minor complaints. With all that said, I feel like there were several amazing and also not so amazing boss fights in Leon's portion of the game. In fact, two of these boss encounters and their respective reveals had be going, "HOLY SHIT!" when they happened. Again, I'm not going to spoil anything, but fans of RE2 especially are going to love some of the crazy shit that happens later on in the game whole playing as Leon.


My main complaints with Grace's survival horror gameplay is avoidance of enemies did not always feel consistent. You're given a variety of tools and techniques to avoid confrontation entirely, but I found these conflict free methods to be fairly inconsistent in terms of them working as intended. For example, you can throw empty bottles to distract enemies so you can try and slip by them. However, sometimes enemies would ignore these broken bottles or be distracted for a couple seconds, before quickly turning around and spotting me, forcing me into a situation where I can to fight to avoid taking damage. There are also a few sections, particularly in the Rhodes Hill Care Clinic that maybe should have been thought out a little longer given how restrained they can feel, forcing you to take action in them even if you're trying to avoid that. As mentioned before, these complaints are fairly minor and don't distract too much from what is otherwise an amazing survival horror experience while you're playing as Grace Ashcroft.


I have far more complaints when it comes to Leon's action oriented gameplay. I played the game on standard difficulty, and even when doing this, some standard enemies were unbelievable bullet sponges. The worst part is how inconsistent it all was. One zombie taken out with a headshot from a shotgun at close range, would go down with one shot, while another standard zombie would take three head shots. Speaking of zombies, there is a variant of the walking dead that appears fairly early on in the game that is a complete nuisance and I dreaded fighting them for all the wrong reasons. Aside form just straight up combat, this is one section with Leon you encounter at around the halfway mark that sort of outstays its welcome. By the time I moved on to the next areas, I was beyond done exploring that previous part of the game. Like my complaints with the survival horror parts of RE9, the issues I have with the action gameplay are relatively minor, but certainly more of a big deal to the overall enjoyment of RE9 than those in the aforementioned parts of the game.


When it comes to RE9's story, it's mostly pretty good, but certainly has some flaws and annoyances. While I played playing as her, I wasn't completely sold on Grace's character and at times even found her to be a bit on the annoying side. Sure, she was definitely a fairly relatable protagonist, but I feel like the voice actress almost overacts when it comes to expressing Grace's terror and anguish at several parts. I also don't buy that an FBI agent would be as woefully unprepared to deal with a situation like the one Grace find herself in. Still, the character has enough development throughout RE9 to where I mostly came out in the end liking her. Still, she'd no Jill, Claire, or Ada, that's for sure. As for Leon, he's the same Leon us RE fans have been in love with for almost 30 years.


In terms of the plot, RE9 almost feels like a direct sequel to RE2 rather than being the 9th entry in a long running franchise. I say this in the absolute best way I possibly can as I haven't enjoyed a new, non-remake RE game like this in a long time. There are some genuinely nostalgic moments in RE9 that will make any RE2 fan become overwhelmed with feels. It certainly had the impact on me. Still, despite how lovingly RE9 serves as an almost direct sequel to RE2, the writing isn't perfect. The main villain is fairly hokey and almost becomes an afterthought in the second half of the game. Some of the plot too can be a little silly and also disappointing, but overall, the story and plot of RE9 is definitely pretty good and worth playing the game just to experience it.


Visually, RE9 looks incredible. It's hard to believe the RE Engine is almost a decade old given how amazingly well it renders characters, backgrounds and other visuals elements. I'd say there are small indicators it may be showing its age just slightly, but it still holds its own in 2026, that's for damn sure. Rhodes Hill looks amazing, however there are some more bland looking areas later on in the game, which while it makes sense why they'd look the way they do, they're still a bit on the bland side, especially when how long you have to play through one of them in particular. There's also an impressive variety of enemy models in the game, and also a pretty good spread of enemy types. Bosses are all amazing looking as well, with a few being among the best looking bosses we've had in an RE game since the 90s and early 2000s.


Finally, RE9's audio is pretty good for the most part. Music is a mix of creepy, original music made specifically for RE9, however it also possess some arranged and remixed classic RE songs that go with specific parts of the game. One of these arranged classic tracks gave me goosebumps in combination of what was happening on the screen. Still, I didn't feel like the original songs or the arranged songs in RE9 were as good as some of the older entires in the series, but saying they're anything less than pretty damn good would be inaccurate. The sound effects are also top notch and never miss a beat in terms of portraying the impact of weapons or damage to enemies and environmental objects. Enemies all sound nice and creepy too.


The voice acting in RE9 is a bit of a mixed bag. I already talked about some of my grievances with Grace's voice actress, but one of the main bad guys is also guilty of hamming it up a bit too hard and even overacting. I don't know if this was deliberate in order to remind players of some of the cheesy voice acting of the old, PS1 era RE games, but it didn't sound self aware enough to make me think this was the case. Still, outside these relatively minor issues with the voice cast, all the other performances were excellent, with Leon's being the best by far.


I knew going into RE9 that I would almost assuredly like it, however I'm once again surprised by just how much it exceeded my expectation regardless. RE9 is one of the most phenomenal entries in the series and is bound for greatness in a series with some very strong competition. I'd even go as far as to say RE9 is the best new Resident Evil game we've had since the PS1 era. I can't think of a single RE game, save the remake of the first Resident Evil game that does it for me quite like RE9 does. If not for maybe a bit more refinement to the story, gameplay, and audio, this would undoubtedly be my favorite RE game ever made. But even at second place, this is an outstanding game that I cannot recommend highly enough. (3/1/26) [43/50]