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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!
« on: January 01, 2026, 10:27:13 am »Almost 2 years since took part in this. Let's go and howdy yall.
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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!
« on: December 31, 2025, 12:07:49 am »
With tomorrow already booked out and busy, I'm calling it for the year. 130 games beat...wow. I aimed for 100 games beat at the beginning of 2025, but never imagined I'd clear my goal by THAT much! I don't know if I'll ever beat this many games in a single year ever again, but I have to say it was one hell of a ride. See you all in 2026!
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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!
« on: December 30, 2025, 07:21:56 pm »
Wow...what a game to close the year out with.
130. Celeste (Switch)
Other than knowing it was a platformer and it was a big deal back in 2018/2019, I knew very little about Celeste prior to playing it. With me being on a bit of an indie game kick recently, I decided to add Celeste on the Switch to my Christmas list and luckily my wife came through with getting it for me this year. Popping Celeste into my Switch, I didn't quite know what to expect or why this game is so widely loved and praised. After beating it, I now fully understand why.
There really is no other way of saying it; Celeste is a very special game. In a modern gaming industry, or really just the modern world we live in, there is so much nihilism, cynicism, and general negativity that it's a massive breath of fresh air to get something so encouraging and positive like Celeste in the midst of all this. While Celeste does tackle things like mental health heavily in its story, it tells a way deeper and meaningful story than just a generic "be kind to yourself" kind of story. The characters, the setting, the plot, and pretty much every piece of Celeste's story oozes with character and charm. Despite the retro inspired 2D visuals, I was more invested in what was going on during my playthrough than I have been during the vast majority of much more visually impressive, AAA modern games. The story and characters possess a relatability and realness that is seldom seen in any game, let alone a platformer. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't played this game, but you will almost certainly love Celeste's protagonist Madaline, as well as the other characters that really help make this game standout way above most other games when it comes to story. Keep in mind, this is a platformer we're talking about, not an RPG or sprawling adventure epic. That's just how powerful and wonderful the story and characters are.
As mentioned, Celeste is a retro inspired 2D platformer which masterfully uses its sprite based graphics to construct a world that absolutely stands out amongst the hoard of other retro inspired indie titles. Backgrounds, interactive assets, obstacles, enemies, and everything in between look unique and gorgeous. The characters in Celeste are also given cute avatars with text based dialogue, and they regularly change expressions to help drive home the meaning of a particular line of dialogue. Really, my only gripe with the visuals has to do with stages sometimes reusing art elements a bit too much, as well as recycling some of these stage themes and elements later on in the game when it would have been cool to have more unique stages. Still, this is a fairly minor grievance to what is otherwise a very good looking game.
Celeste's music is arguably its best quality. The soundtrack is unreal how good it is! A mixture of classical tunes on a piano, some more upbeat techno like music playing in certain parts, and call be crazy, but some tracks sounding like David Wise of Donkey Country Country fame collaborated on them makes Celeste's soundtrack one of the very best I've heard. I can't think of a single song that felt undercooked or out of place in this game. Other than the OST, characters are voiced similarly to the characters in Animal Crossing. In other words, they mostly just speak cute gibberish. That's fine since it somehow works so well with everything else, particularly the cartoonish, yet very endearing character avatars I mentioned earlier. Sound effects are also great and well implemented as well. Celeste's audio is pretty much a perfect 10/10, no question.
While still very good for the most part, probably Celeste's weakest quality is its gameplay. The platforming in this game is absolutely a challenge and you will die many, many, many times. That is a guarantee. Luckily the game doesn't make you wait through any stupid death animations or continue screens and immediately throws you back at the last checkpoint you hit. Checkpoints are plentiful and are present at every portion of a level section that required a transition to it. There are many stages and areas with far more obstacles that will instantly kill you than safe places to land. A core mechanic of getting through this insanity is using Madaline's dash mechanic which allows you to zip to a higher platform, get past a dangerous obstacle more quickly, or perform some other feat that requires quickness and precision. The dash is also limited, meaning you will need to land on solid ground or hit a variety of dash recharging stage elements to perform more dashes. You'll often be stringing together more dashes and recharges to clear an area, which is almost always way easier said than done. However, the reason for Celeste's gameplay faults have nothing to do with its high difficulty, but rather some of its controls which make getting through some of these sections way harder than they should be.
I was unable to determine whether it was the game's fault, my Switch's Joycon analogue stick, or something else, but I found the act of changing directions mid air during dashes to be inconsistent about 75% of the time, especially during diagonal dashes. When trying to dash up-left or down-right, or some other diagonal direction, the game would register my analogue stick input as just up or left, or down or right, leading to my death the vast majority of times. I always would get past a certain section eventually, but this inconstancy really made a few sections rage inducing to get past. I was literally having this issue all the way until the very end of the game so I know it wasn't just me getting used to the controls or whatever. It makes me wonder if I'd played this game with a Pro Controller or on another console if I'd have had the same issue. Maybe someday I'll see.
My only other compliant with Celeste's gameplay had to do with a few stage elements making certain parts of the game far less pleasant than they would have been without them. These mainly include these cloud platforms which are supposed to make you bounce and give your standard jump greater height. I had a hard time getting consistent height off these clouds when using them to propel Madaline higher, which made using them pretty annoying at times. Another stage element which I hated was the win mechanic that was mostly only present on stage 4 I believe. Dealing with the wind is what made this stage memorable I suppose, but in some ways for the wrong reasons. This wind stage was my least favorite, mostly because of how obnoxious the wind pushing you back or forward made an already very challenging level even more so.
Despite these gripes with Celeste's gameplay, the vast majority of my time with this game was spent blissfully getting through the game's hard as hell stages. The term, "tough, but fair" absolutely applies to Celeste's level design; you can tell an insane amount of time was put into testing and fine tuning each part of each stage to as close to perfection as possible. Even after dying over 20 times in certain sections of Celeste, I always felt myself improving more and more until I finally cleared it and was able to move on deeper into the level. This trial and error is a huge part of Celeste's charm and enjoyability which definitely had me coming back for more, despite dying a total of nearly 1200 times by the time I reached the end credits.
Games like Celeste are why I adore video games. They are able to achieve a level of meaningfulness while also being fun, interactive entertainment. In this regard, Celeste nails what makes the very best games so amazing. The game's heartfelt story, unique gameplay and visuals, and beautiful soundtrack all mech together in near perfection to create one of the most unforgettable, enjoyable games I've ever played, let along this year. What a wonderful way to close out 2025. (12/30/25) [43/50]
130. Celeste (Switch)
Other than knowing it was a platformer and it was a big deal back in 2018/2019, I knew very little about Celeste prior to playing it. With me being on a bit of an indie game kick recently, I decided to add Celeste on the Switch to my Christmas list and luckily my wife came through with getting it for me this year. Popping Celeste into my Switch, I didn't quite know what to expect or why this game is so widely loved and praised. After beating it, I now fully understand why.
There really is no other way of saying it; Celeste is a very special game. In a modern gaming industry, or really just the modern world we live in, there is so much nihilism, cynicism, and general negativity that it's a massive breath of fresh air to get something so encouraging and positive like Celeste in the midst of all this. While Celeste does tackle things like mental health heavily in its story, it tells a way deeper and meaningful story than just a generic "be kind to yourself" kind of story. The characters, the setting, the plot, and pretty much every piece of Celeste's story oozes with character and charm. Despite the retro inspired 2D visuals, I was more invested in what was going on during my playthrough than I have been during the vast majority of much more visually impressive, AAA modern games. The story and characters possess a relatability and realness that is seldom seen in any game, let alone a platformer. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't played this game, but you will almost certainly love Celeste's protagonist Madaline, as well as the other characters that really help make this game standout way above most other games when it comes to story. Keep in mind, this is a platformer we're talking about, not an RPG or sprawling adventure epic. That's just how powerful and wonderful the story and characters are.
As mentioned, Celeste is a retro inspired 2D platformer which masterfully uses its sprite based graphics to construct a world that absolutely stands out amongst the hoard of other retro inspired indie titles. Backgrounds, interactive assets, obstacles, enemies, and everything in between look unique and gorgeous. The characters in Celeste are also given cute avatars with text based dialogue, and they regularly change expressions to help drive home the meaning of a particular line of dialogue. Really, my only gripe with the visuals has to do with stages sometimes reusing art elements a bit too much, as well as recycling some of these stage themes and elements later on in the game when it would have been cool to have more unique stages. Still, this is a fairly minor grievance to what is otherwise a very good looking game.
Celeste's music is arguably its best quality. The soundtrack is unreal how good it is! A mixture of classical tunes on a piano, some more upbeat techno like music playing in certain parts, and call be crazy, but some tracks sounding like David Wise of Donkey Country Country fame collaborated on them makes Celeste's soundtrack one of the very best I've heard. I can't think of a single song that felt undercooked or out of place in this game. Other than the OST, characters are voiced similarly to the characters in Animal Crossing. In other words, they mostly just speak cute gibberish. That's fine since it somehow works so well with everything else, particularly the cartoonish, yet very endearing character avatars I mentioned earlier. Sound effects are also great and well implemented as well. Celeste's audio is pretty much a perfect 10/10, no question.
While still very good for the most part, probably Celeste's weakest quality is its gameplay. The platforming in this game is absolutely a challenge and you will die many, many, many times. That is a guarantee. Luckily the game doesn't make you wait through any stupid death animations or continue screens and immediately throws you back at the last checkpoint you hit. Checkpoints are plentiful and are present at every portion of a level section that required a transition to it. There are many stages and areas with far more obstacles that will instantly kill you than safe places to land. A core mechanic of getting through this insanity is using Madaline's dash mechanic which allows you to zip to a higher platform, get past a dangerous obstacle more quickly, or perform some other feat that requires quickness and precision. The dash is also limited, meaning you will need to land on solid ground or hit a variety of dash recharging stage elements to perform more dashes. You'll often be stringing together more dashes and recharges to clear an area, which is almost always way easier said than done. However, the reason for Celeste's gameplay faults have nothing to do with its high difficulty, but rather some of its controls which make getting through some of these sections way harder than they should be.
I was unable to determine whether it was the game's fault, my Switch's Joycon analogue stick, or something else, but I found the act of changing directions mid air during dashes to be inconsistent about 75% of the time, especially during diagonal dashes. When trying to dash up-left or down-right, or some other diagonal direction, the game would register my analogue stick input as just up or left, or down or right, leading to my death the vast majority of times. I always would get past a certain section eventually, but this inconstancy really made a few sections rage inducing to get past. I was literally having this issue all the way until the very end of the game so I know it wasn't just me getting used to the controls or whatever. It makes me wonder if I'd played this game with a Pro Controller or on another console if I'd have had the same issue. Maybe someday I'll see.
My only other compliant with Celeste's gameplay had to do with a few stage elements making certain parts of the game far less pleasant than they would have been without them. These mainly include these cloud platforms which are supposed to make you bounce and give your standard jump greater height. I had a hard time getting consistent height off these clouds when using them to propel Madaline higher, which made using them pretty annoying at times. Another stage element which I hated was the win mechanic that was mostly only present on stage 4 I believe. Dealing with the wind is what made this stage memorable I suppose, but in some ways for the wrong reasons. This wind stage was my least favorite, mostly because of how obnoxious the wind pushing you back or forward made an already very challenging level even more so.
Despite these gripes with Celeste's gameplay, the vast majority of my time with this game was spent blissfully getting through the game's hard as hell stages. The term, "tough, but fair" absolutely applies to Celeste's level design; you can tell an insane amount of time was put into testing and fine tuning each part of each stage to as close to perfection as possible. Even after dying over 20 times in certain sections of Celeste, I always felt myself improving more and more until I finally cleared it and was able to move on deeper into the level. This trial and error is a huge part of Celeste's charm and enjoyability which definitely had me coming back for more, despite dying a total of nearly 1200 times by the time I reached the end credits.
Games like Celeste are why I adore video games. They are able to achieve a level of meaningfulness while also being fun, interactive entertainment. In this regard, Celeste nails what makes the very best games so amazing. The game's heartfelt story, unique gameplay and visuals, and beautiful soundtrack all mech together in near perfection to create one of the most unforgettable, enjoyable games I've ever played, let along this year. What a wonderful way to close out 2025. (12/30/25) [43/50]
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General / Re: Do you ever buy Non-Original accessories
« on: December 29, 2025, 11:19:00 am »
I don't have an issue with others buying third party accessories, but I always choose first party, authentic ones. At least for me they feel the best to use and have the highest build quality (typically). I've had a few third party controllers back in the day and I always hatted using them because none of them felt as good to use and play with as the original, first party materials. While this falls under the third party accessory category, I've never used a clone controller I actually liked. The buttons just feel off and if there is any sort of analogue stick they're either less responsive, or just feel stiff. So yeah, I typically always go first party, original.
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General / Re: Your 2025 Gaming and Collecting Goals
« on: December 28, 2025, 10:08:34 am »I've got no plans or goals related to gaming.
I have interest in seeing what Nintendo is bringing with the Switch successor. If they have at least two games at launch that are of interest, it's affordable and there are more games in the works of interest, then I'll add a goal of getting the new system by next Christmas.
The one thing I had was the Switch 2 and that didn't happen.
1. In comparison to the OG Switch, it's not affordable. That said, with all computer components skyrocketing in price thanks to AI greed, I don't see game systems becoming cheeper...ever.
2. The only game released on it so far that I have any interest in is the new Hyrule Warriors and with Nintendo playing things so close to the chest anymore, they haven't announced any games in production that I have any interest in. That doesn't mean they aren't making something I or my kids would enjoy, they simply haven't announced anything yet.
3. The key card cartridges are a massive red flag. Nintendo is moving forward with removing ownership of physical games. What's the point in collecting them when you don't own the game in digital or physical editions? There is none and Nintendo are affectively removing themselves from consideration for future purchases in my house.
I'm kinda in the same boat as you. I have some interest in a few games fpr the system, but overall there isn't any anything currently exclusive to it or on the horizon that would even remotely justify its pretty steep price. I'm grateful Nintendo has kept all their first party titles on cartridge, however third party games are pretty much a wash when it comes to the key card nonsense. There are a handful of third party games that have kept their games on the cart, but they are outnumbered 10 to 1 when it comes to third party releases. I'm hoping Nintendo at least doesn't resort to using key cards ever for their games. If that remains the case for another couple of years, maybe three, I might take the plunge and grab a Switch 2. Mostly though, there has been nothng released or announced that has made me go, "Holy shit! I need this game!"
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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!
« on: December 27, 2025, 11:10:48 pm »
129. Xeno Crisis (Switch)
For Christmas I had asked my wife for the Bitmap Bureau Collection, mostly just for one game included on it, Xeno Crisis. I fell down an indie game rabbit hole a few months ago and Xeno Crisis was one of the titles that really stood out to me as a game I really wanted to own and play. It's scifi overhead run and gun gameplay looked amazing and there were just so many things about it that looks fun as hell. Luckily, my wife ended up coming through on Christmas and getting me the collection and I finally had a chance today to see if this game was as incredible as it looked. Sadly, the answer to that would end up being a disappointing no.
Xeno Crisis references so many scifi and horror franchises, both related to gaming and movies, it will make your head spin. I'd say a large portion of this game will make you think of the Aliens franchise, but there is so much more than that. There is some Resident Evil, Tremors, Half Life, Metal Gear, and The Thing thrown in as well, and probably a few I'm forgetting. It all comes across as pretty insane, but at the same time really entertaining since you never know what will come up next. The only problem is that most of these cool references are delivered in such a high degree of repetition, in fairly lackluster looking stages that it is a bit lost on the player, at least it was for me. Luckily, there are some really awesome boss encounters in the game that make up for the kinda meh stages and overly used enemies.
The audio in Xeno Crisis is also pretty good. Music is all well done and has that 16 bit retro sound to it, which fits in with the sprite based action visuals. There are the expected weapon and action sound effects as well which all have a pretty good crispness to them too. Overall, the sound composition isn't the greatest, but it is far from the worst. I guess it can at times feel a bit on the generic side while not doing anything offense or bad at the same time. But yeah, the audio is definitely fairly good for the most part.
Presentation wise, Xeno Crisis does a pretty good job, and it is what really attracted me to the game. However, the Smash TV style gameplay that looks like it was applied the Aliens IP also really inspired me to want to get this game too. Unfortunately, the totally unbalanced gameplay that will constantly throw way more at you than you can manage is what began to diminish my enjoyment of Xeno Crisis only a few stages in. This was only compounded by the fact that you can literally run out of ammo in a game that more or less requires you to constantly be leaning on the fire button to even remorely have a chance of surviving. Oh, and then to add insult to injury, the game gives you like three continues before making you start all over from the very beginning of the game again. There is a way to remedy some of this by activating the unlimited ammo and continues cheat, which is what I did. However, while I thought I'd fixed a few of this games biggest flaws, I was met with the game's worst ending and also denied fighting what may be the coolest boss in the game as a result.
Not necessarily because I used cheat, but because I dared to use even a single continue, which come in the form of Elixers. I won't spoil anything, but you will not get to see the good endings of this game unless you 1cc the entire thing, which seems unimaginable given how bonkers the default gameplay is. Even if I played this game religiously for months, the incredibly haphazard, unbalanced gameplay would likely not allow me to even reach the fourth or fifth stage before needing to use a continue. However, I'd likely have gone insane from how repetitive and tedious this game could be as a result before that happened. Due to all that, the bad ending I received for using continues was pretty much the final slap in the face to what was otherwise a a fairly monotonous game with some good, entertaining aspects thrown in.
I certainly don't hate Xeno Crisis, but it is just a flawed game in so many ways that it would be hard for me to recommend it to someone looking for a cool, fun retro throwback action game. There are definitely pieces there that tease what could have been a much better game, but honestly these positive aspects are not utilized or designed well enough to make this game better than a one and done experience that you're better off using cheats to experience than torturing yourself through a sloppily difficult game with enough tedium to induce comatose. (12/27/25) [29/50]
For Christmas I had asked my wife for the Bitmap Bureau Collection, mostly just for one game included on it, Xeno Crisis. I fell down an indie game rabbit hole a few months ago and Xeno Crisis was one of the titles that really stood out to me as a game I really wanted to own and play. It's scifi overhead run and gun gameplay looked amazing and there were just so many things about it that looks fun as hell. Luckily, my wife ended up coming through on Christmas and getting me the collection and I finally had a chance today to see if this game was as incredible as it looked. Sadly, the answer to that would end up being a disappointing no.
Xeno Crisis references so many scifi and horror franchises, both related to gaming and movies, it will make your head spin. I'd say a large portion of this game will make you think of the Aliens franchise, but there is so much more than that. There is some Resident Evil, Tremors, Half Life, Metal Gear, and The Thing thrown in as well, and probably a few I'm forgetting. It all comes across as pretty insane, but at the same time really entertaining since you never know what will come up next. The only problem is that most of these cool references are delivered in such a high degree of repetition, in fairly lackluster looking stages that it is a bit lost on the player, at least it was for me. Luckily, there are some really awesome boss encounters in the game that make up for the kinda meh stages and overly used enemies.
The audio in Xeno Crisis is also pretty good. Music is all well done and has that 16 bit retro sound to it, which fits in with the sprite based action visuals. There are the expected weapon and action sound effects as well which all have a pretty good crispness to them too. Overall, the sound composition isn't the greatest, but it is far from the worst. I guess it can at times feel a bit on the generic side while not doing anything offense or bad at the same time. But yeah, the audio is definitely fairly good for the most part.
Presentation wise, Xeno Crisis does a pretty good job, and it is what really attracted me to the game. However, the Smash TV style gameplay that looks like it was applied the Aliens IP also really inspired me to want to get this game too. Unfortunately, the totally unbalanced gameplay that will constantly throw way more at you than you can manage is what began to diminish my enjoyment of Xeno Crisis only a few stages in. This was only compounded by the fact that you can literally run out of ammo in a game that more or less requires you to constantly be leaning on the fire button to even remorely have a chance of surviving. Oh, and then to add insult to injury, the game gives you like three continues before making you start all over from the very beginning of the game again. There is a way to remedy some of this by activating the unlimited ammo and continues cheat, which is what I did. However, while I thought I'd fixed a few of this games biggest flaws, I was met with the game's worst ending and also denied fighting what may be the coolest boss in the game as a result.
Not necessarily because I used cheat, but because I dared to use even a single continue, which come in the form of Elixers. I won't spoil anything, but you will not get to see the good endings of this game unless you 1cc the entire thing, which seems unimaginable given how bonkers the default gameplay is. Even if I played this game religiously for months, the incredibly haphazard, unbalanced gameplay would likely not allow me to even reach the fourth or fifth stage before needing to use a continue. However, I'd likely have gone insane from how repetitive and tedious this game could be as a result before that happened. Due to all that, the bad ending I received for using continues was pretty much the final slap in the face to what was otherwise a a fairly monotonous game with some good, entertaining aspects thrown in.
I certainly don't hate Xeno Crisis, but it is just a flawed game in so many ways that it would be hard for me to recommend it to someone looking for a cool, fun retro throwback action game. There are definitely pieces there that tease what could have been a much better game, but honestly these positive aspects are not utilized or designed well enough to make this game better than a one and done experience that you're better off using cheats to experience than torturing yourself through a sloppily difficult game with enough tedium to induce comatose. (12/27/25) [29/50]
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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!
« on: December 27, 2025, 11:26:29 am »
This year I have little doubt I'll reach 52 games beat again. Given how I play a pretty balanced combo of shorter games (lots of arcade style games and games that can be beat in under a couple of hours) and longer games (10+ hours), it won't be hard for me to beat 52 games again. However, where I might fall short compared to 2025 (I beat around 130 games) is committing myself to other things as well in 2025 that I either neglected or didn't put as much time/effort into as I should have. This will no doubt reduce my games beat output, but to what extent is to be seen. I'm estimating I'll beat around 80 games this year, but that number could go up or down depending on how things go in 2026. It's even possible I hit triple digit games beat, but again, my need to prioritize other, non-game related things in 2026 will likely get in the way of that. Anyhow, like always I'm super excited to complete the challenge again and look forward to seeing what everyone else beats too!
COMPLETED
1.
ABANDONED
1.
COMPLETED
1.
ABANDONED
1.
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General / 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!
« on: December 27, 2025, 11:26:21 am »
It's here again! With less than a week left in 2025, I figured we can get a 52 games challenge thread going to stir up excitement and also to reserve spots in the thread for next year.
For anyone who's not familiar with the 52 Games Challenge, it's essentially VGcollect members committing themselves to beat at least 52 games (one game a week on average) in one calendar year and reducing our backlogs. This challenge is a lot of fun, not just playing and beating games, but also seeing what others are beating as well. A lot of good game discussion happens here as we comment on each other's reviews and blurbs about games. When you beat a game, abandon one, or whatever feel free to write a small blurb about it, or a super long, detailed review too if you want.
Let's beat a ton of games in 2026 and make it another awesome year of gaming!
For anyone who's not familiar with the 52 Games Challenge, it's essentially VGcollect members committing themselves to beat at least 52 games (one game a week on average) in one calendar year and reducing our backlogs. This challenge is a lot of fun, not just playing and beating games, but also seeing what others are beating as well. A lot of good game discussion happens here as we comment on each other's reviews and blurbs about games. When you beat a game, abandon one, or whatever feel free to write a small blurb about it, or a super long, detailed review too if you want.
Let's beat a ton of games in 2026 and make it another awesome year of gaming!
9
General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!
« on: December 26, 2025, 02:26:25 am »
After opening presents with my wife, having breakfast, and calling some family, I had a pretty low key, relaxing day. I took advantage of it by playing a lot of the new games I got for Christmas, but mainly I spent a ton of time today playing the following.
128. Demon's Tilt (Switch)
I've been wanting to try out Demon's Tilt for quite some time seeing how I'm a pretty big pinball guy. I love playing real pins on location when I can as well as virtual pins on the PC and console. Speaking of virtual pinball, I've learned to adapt to the inherent lack of any analogue, tactile sensations of hitting a physical metal ball around a physical playfield. There is always some level of delay and while virtual pinball doesn't necessarily provide a 1:1 substitute for the real thing, it at least scratches the itch most of the time when certain tables aren't available. I mention all this to preface some of my thoughts and feelings on Demon's Tilt, which was a fun game for the most part, but certainly lacking when it comes to an original virtual pinball game.
Demon's Tilt is definitely more about spectacle than gameplay. Being a highly stylized, retro inspired game, I feel like Demon's Tilt wants to wow you with its neon bullets that fill the playfield when you hit a specific target or complete certain shots. Or, certain targets in the form of beasts or a priestess in the middle of the 2nd level of the playfield changing throughout the game is also there to provide a level of entertainment. And for the most part, this all works pretty well. Being essentially three playfields stacks on each other to make a single game, Demon's Title has a lot of see and experience as you play longer and longer. Unfortunately, you will see 95% of what Demon's Tilt has to offer visually by the time you reach the 100 million to 200 million point range. Once seeing certain events happen on the playfield for the dozens time begins to wear off, you're left with gameplay that isn't terrible or even bad, but certainly not amazing either.
When I mentioned the delay and sometimes questionable physics of virtually all virtual pins, Demon's Tilt is no different, and if anything felt a bit worse. The delay when using flippers was very difficult to get used to and even after 3 hours or playing, I still didn't feel completely used to it. Likewise, the physics in this game felt all over the place, making actions like performing consistent shots fairly difficult. Not that there are a lot of great shots in this game. Some of the best real pinball machines gained their accliamed status due to how well they shoot and how well the playfield, ramps, and other features are laid out. Unfortunately the devs behind Demon's Tilt missed the memo on this and there are very few good or even satisfying shots in this game. You pretty much are just aiming the ball at the same dozen or so targets with a few ramps and other minor shots thrown in.
Finally, the audio in Demon's Tilt is pretty good. The music in this game is definitely a retro throwback similar to its visuals. The sounds in this game harken back to various 16 bit games from the 90s, as do the pixel graphics that make up the visuals. There are some catchy songs that all fir in pretty well with what's going on. Speaking of going along with the visuals and action, there are some good call outs and other sound effects that definitely add to how enjoyable Demon's Tilt can be.
While I enjoyed Demon's Tilt and kept on running into the "One more game" trap while playing, this game's visual charm that dips its toes into bullet hell chaos at times does wear off the more you play the game. When that begins to happen, you are left with a game that will mostly make you wish you were playing most other real pins that have been made over the past 30 years. Even if that means playing those other pins digitally. Still, as a fun way to spend a few hours, Demon's Tilt is certainly worth it. (12/25/25) [33/50]
128. Demon's Tilt (Switch)
I've been wanting to try out Demon's Tilt for quite some time seeing how I'm a pretty big pinball guy. I love playing real pins on location when I can as well as virtual pins on the PC and console. Speaking of virtual pinball, I've learned to adapt to the inherent lack of any analogue, tactile sensations of hitting a physical metal ball around a physical playfield. There is always some level of delay and while virtual pinball doesn't necessarily provide a 1:1 substitute for the real thing, it at least scratches the itch most of the time when certain tables aren't available. I mention all this to preface some of my thoughts and feelings on Demon's Tilt, which was a fun game for the most part, but certainly lacking when it comes to an original virtual pinball game.
Demon's Tilt is definitely more about spectacle than gameplay. Being a highly stylized, retro inspired game, I feel like Demon's Tilt wants to wow you with its neon bullets that fill the playfield when you hit a specific target or complete certain shots. Or, certain targets in the form of beasts or a priestess in the middle of the 2nd level of the playfield changing throughout the game is also there to provide a level of entertainment. And for the most part, this all works pretty well. Being essentially three playfields stacks on each other to make a single game, Demon's Title has a lot of see and experience as you play longer and longer. Unfortunately, you will see 95% of what Demon's Tilt has to offer visually by the time you reach the 100 million to 200 million point range. Once seeing certain events happen on the playfield for the dozens time begins to wear off, you're left with gameplay that isn't terrible or even bad, but certainly not amazing either.
When I mentioned the delay and sometimes questionable physics of virtually all virtual pins, Demon's Tilt is no different, and if anything felt a bit worse. The delay when using flippers was very difficult to get used to and even after 3 hours or playing, I still didn't feel completely used to it. Likewise, the physics in this game felt all over the place, making actions like performing consistent shots fairly difficult. Not that there are a lot of great shots in this game. Some of the best real pinball machines gained their accliamed status due to how well they shoot and how well the playfield, ramps, and other features are laid out. Unfortunately the devs behind Demon's Tilt missed the memo on this and there are very few good or even satisfying shots in this game. You pretty much are just aiming the ball at the same dozen or so targets with a few ramps and other minor shots thrown in.
Finally, the audio in Demon's Tilt is pretty good. The music in this game is definitely a retro throwback similar to its visuals. The sounds in this game harken back to various 16 bit games from the 90s, as do the pixel graphics that make up the visuals. There are some catchy songs that all fir in pretty well with what's going on. Speaking of going along with the visuals and action, there are some good call outs and other sound effects that definitely add to how enjoyable Demon's Tilt can be.
While I enjoyed Demon's Tilt and kept on running into the "One more game" trap while playing, this game's visual charm that dips its toes into bullet hell chaos at times does wear off the more you play the game. When that begins to happen, you are left with a game that will mostly make you wish you were playing most other real pins that have been made over the past 30 years. Even if that means playing those other pins digitally. Still, as a fun way to spend a few hours, Demon's Tilt is certainly worth it. (12/25/25) [33/50]
10
General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!
« on: December 25, 2025, 06:21:43 pm »
127. Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves (PS5)
Like most long time Fatal Fury fans, I was very excited to hear a new game in the series was finally being made after over two decades since the last installment. Not only that, but the game that proceeded City of the Wolves, Mark of the Wolves has remained the gold standard for the Fatal Fury series since its release in the late 90s. To say City of the Wolves had some big shoes to fill was an understatement, however if SNK has proven anything since the late 2000s, it's that they still know how to make some incredible games, albeit with a few stinkers thrown in here and there too. Of course, I preorder City of the Wolves as soon as I could and was counting down the days until its release...and then there were some last minute character announcements that really threw a cold bucket of water on my enthusiasm for this game.
Ronaldo and Ganacci as characters in a fighting game might go down as one of the most odd and most stupid decisions a publisher has ever made. But what made their inclusions even more of a bitter pill to swallow was the omission of two Fatal Fury staples, Joe and Andy, and making them paid DLC characters. This massive fumble on SNK's part was enough for me to cancel my preorder and deciding I wasn't going to buy this game until I could do so for under $30. Less than a year after City of the Wolves was released, I finally was able to pick it up for that price and see if maybe I was too harsh on this game initially. While I do think maybe my anger about a real life pro soccer player and some rando Bosnian DJ being made into Fatal Fury characters was a bit excessive, I have no regrets about waiting to pick this game up until it was much cheaper.
My main issue with City of the Wolves is how restrictive its gameplay is. Sure, you can play the game however you want to in terms of your style. However, the game is clearly designed for a specific type of play style, specifically a much more defensive one that heavily relies on counters, rather than just aggressively pushing your opponent. Especially with the KOF series and Fatal Fury, I absolutely prefer to play these games more aggressively, so needing to play more defensively to have a shot felt very weird for me. I played this game a ton and beat it with many of the characters, but the entire time, I still wished the game allowed me to play much more offensively and still be mostly competitive. And I mean, this kind of works against mid and lower level CPU controlled characters, but against experienced players and harder CPU opponents, you're pretty much screwed.
Despite City of the Wolves punishing more aggressive play styles and favoring more defensive ones, I thought the rev meter and SPG system were good mechanics, although I felt like neither tilted or balanced matches as much as maybe they should. This made them feel a little superfluous, but they still offered some fun variation to the gameplay compared to most other modern fighting games, SNK titles included. I also felt like character balancing was definitely considered heavily when making this game, but again, pigeon holing people into a few play styles sorta sucked a lot of the fun out of what could have otherwise been a much more enjoyable game to play.
While the gameplay of City of the Wolves does leave a lot on the table, the visual presentation mostly does not. City of the Wolves is a mostly detailed, vivid looking game with mostly great character designs, stages, and animations. This game heavily reminds me of Street Fighter IV's art style which is a huge compliment towards this game. Also, stages are pretty memorable for the most part, with a few being a little on the stale side. One issue I did have with the visuals has to do with the cutscenes that play out between matches. These are mostly done using semi-still images of the in game character models in certain poses as dialogue plays. Doing these cut scenes like this just felt a little lazy and also dampened my desire to unlock them all like I did in games like KOF 14 which had lots of hand drawn, fully animated cutscenes for many characters. There are some animated cutscenes, mostly character endings, but these still play out in a somewhat uninteresting way as montages of stills, rather than fully animated scenes.
While the visuals are mostly praiseworthy, the audio is not. In fact, City of the Wolves' audio is probably the game's weakest quality. The english voice acting us umm,,,not great, but luckily you can just switch over to Japanese audio which fixes this issue. No, my main issue with the audio is action the soundtrack which mostly just sounds stale and uninteresting. I don't think there was a single track in this game that caught my attention or made me go, "whoa! This song sounds awesome!" That's a real shame since most Fatal Fury games have great soundtracks, or at least a song or two that really catches my ear when I'm playing them. Unless I'm forgetting a specific older game, City of the Wolves might have the worst soundtrack in the series, which is really too bad.
I have to say, even with choosing to wait for City of the Wolves, I'm still a bit disappointed in it. By no means do I think this is a bad game, or even think it's unfun; rather, I feel like after a 25 year wait, this game just isn't as good as we all wished it would have been. It didn't even necessarily have to be better than Mark of the Wolves, just better than the majority of other Fatal Fury games. Instead, it's a game I'd place somewhere in the middle of the series in terms of how good it is. I also think if you are a more defensive minded fighting game player, who really enjoys punishing opponents with counters and reversals, you will probably enjoy City of the Wolves more than I did. I liked this game, but it's just too bad I didn't like it maybe just a bit more. (12/25/25) [33/50]
Like most long time Fatal Fury fans, I was very excited to hear a new game in the series was finally being made after over two decades since the last installment. Not only that, but the game that proceeded City of the Wolves, Mark of the Wolves has remained the gold standard for the Fatal Fury series since its release in the late 90s. To say City of the Wolves had some big shoes to fill was an understatement, however if SNK has proven anything since the late 2000s, it's that they still know how to make some incredible games, albeit with a few stinkers thrown in here and there too. Of course, I preorder City of the Wolves as soon as I could and was counting down the days until its release...and then there were some last minute character announcements that really threw a cold bucket of water on my enthusiasm for this game.
Ronaldo and Ganacci as characters in a fighting game might go down as one of the most odd and most stupid decisions a publisher has ever made. But what made their inclusions even more of a bitter pill to swallow was the omission of two Fatal Fury staples, Joe and Andy, and making them paid DLC characters. This massive fumble on SNK's part was enough for me to cancel my preorder and deciding I wasn't going to buy this game until I could do so for under $30. Less than a year after City of the Wolves was released, I finally was able to pick it up for that price and see if maybe I was too harsh on this game initially. While I do think maybe my anger about a real life pro soccer player and some rando Bosnian DJ being made into Fatal Fury characters was a bit excessive, I have no regrets about waiting to pick this game up until it was much cheaper.
My main issue with City of the Wolves is how restrictive its gameplay is. Sure, you can play the game however you want to in terms of your style. However, the game is clearly designed for a specific type of play style, specifically a much more defensive one that heavily relies on counters, rather than just aggressively pushing your opponent. Especially with the KOF series and Fatal Fury, I absolutely prefer to play these games more aggressively, so needing to play more defensively to have a shot felt very weird for me. I played this game a ton and beat it with many of the characters, but the entire time, I still wished the game allowed me to play much more offensively and still be mostly competitive. And I mean, this kind of works against mid and lower level CPU controlled characters, but against experienced players and harder CPU opponents, you're pretty much screwed.
Despite City of the Wolves punishing more aggressive play styles and favoring more defensive ones, I thought the rev meter and SPG system were good mechanics, although I felt like neither tilted or balanced matches as much as maybe they should. This made them feel a little superfluous, but they still offered some fun variation to the gameplay compared to most other modern fighting games, SNK titles included. I also felt like character balancing was definitely considered heavily when making this game, but again, pigeon holing people into a few play styles sorta sucked a lot of the fun out of what could have otherwise been a much more enjoyable game to play.
While the gameplay of City of the Wolves does leave a lot on the table, the visual presentation mostly does not. City of the Wolves is a mostly detailed, vivid looking game with mostly great character designs, stages, and animations. This game heavily reminds me of Street Fighter IV's art style which is a huge compliment towards this game. Also, stages are pretty memorable for the most part, with a few being a little on the stale side. One issue I did have with the visuals has to do with the cutscenes that play out between matches. These are mostly done using semi-still images of the in game character models in certain poses as dialogue plays. Doing these cut scenes like this just felt a little lazy and also dampened my desire to unlock them all like I did in games like KOF 14 which had lots of hand drawn, fully animated cutscenes for many characters. There are some animated cutscenes, mostly character endings, but these still play out in a somewhat uninteresting way as montages of stills, rather than fully animated scenes.
While the visuals are mostly praiseworthy, the audio is not. In fact, City of the Wolves' audio is probably the game's weakest quality. The english voice acting us umm,,,not great, but luckily you can just switch over to Japanese audio which fixes this issue. No, my main issue with the audio is action the soundtrack which mostly just sounds stale and uninteresting. I don't think there was a single track in this game that caught my attention or made me go, "whoa! This song sounds awesome!" That's a real shame since most Fatal Fury games have great soundtracks, or at least a song or two that really catches my ear when I'm playing them. Unless I'm forgetting a specific older game, City of the Wolves might have the worst soundtrack in the series, which is really too bad.
I have to say, even with choosing to wait for City of the Wolves, I'm still a bit disappointed in it. By no means do I think this is a bad game, or even think it's unfun; rather, I feel like after a 25 year wait, this game just isn't as good as we all wished it would have been. It didn't even necessarily have to be better than Mark of the Wolves, just better than the majority of other Fatal Fury games. Instead, it's a game I'd place somewhere in the middle of the series in terms of how good it is. I also think if you are a more defensive minded fighting game player, who really enjoys punishing opponents with counters and reversals, you will probably enjoy City of the Wolves more than I did. I liked this game, but it's just too bad I didn't like it maybe just a bit more. (12/25/25) [33/50]
11
General / Re: VGC's Anonymous/"General" Topic:
« on: December 25, 2025, 01:53:31 pm »
Merry Christmas VGcollect! I appreciate all of you who have stuck with the site and genuinely enjoy seeing you all post. I hope all of you have a great day with your families or just chilling.
12
General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!
« on: December 24, 2025, 06:15:12 pm »
126. Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (Arcade)
Over the years I've been heavily into retro gaming, I feel like I've heard Cadillacs and Dinosaurs mentioned in passing numerous times. Still, over all these years of hearing this game get name dropped, I knew very little about it up until maybe a couple of years ago. When I did finally get more info on this somewhat obscure early 90s beat em' up beyond just its name, it began to emerge as an obscure gem that has been unfairly overshadowed by other more well known beat em' ups for the past 30 years. Since beat em' ups generally don't take more than half an hour to play all the way through, I figured I had nothing to lose in seeing whether this game was actually a forgotten classic, or just another game "hardcore" gamers use to gate keep and flex with.
I can fortunately say that Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is a REALLY good beat em' up! This game is apparently based on an existing IP, a comic series I believe, that I know nothing about, but still, with the limited story delivered through still cutscenes and dialogue, I have to give props to Capcom for making things feel original and interesting. Cadlllacs and Dinosaurs takes place in a distant, dystopian future where dinosaurs have been brought back from extinction and the four playable characters you can choose from are on a mission to save them and also defeat an evil scientist who is fusing humans and dinosaurs together as weapons. All this is show off with incredibly detailed character and enemy sprites, as well as very intriguing stages and backgrounds. I'm a bit disappointed there isn't more dinosaurs or Cadillacs in this game, but even with fighting a lot of the same human type enemies throughout the game, it does a good enough job at keeping things pretty interesting and fresh from a visuals standpoint. The dinosaur hybrid enemies are also very creative and well designed too.
Perhaps Cadillacs and Dinosaurs' best quality though is its soundtrack and overall sound design. This game has such an awesome soundtrack with nearly every stage song being memorable and catchy as hell. There are also unique sound effects and brief voice clips for all four characters as well as some side characters. Some of the weapon sound effects are also great, and have a great sense of impact which is in no small part because of how good the sound quality in Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.
Discussing the gameplay of a beat em' up, especially an older one is often where I have to start being a bit more critical and negative, but luckily I can that Cadillacs and Dinosaurs' gameplay is actually pretty good given the genre it belongs to. There are a tone of weapon and item pickups in this game which definitely mix up the two button combat of attacking, jumping and pushing a combo of the two for special attacks. You can also run in this game by double tapping left or right, which allows for its own uniqe attacks and strategies. Still, despite this, umm, added depth, the Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is still expectedly cheap at times and also easy to cheese certain moves to make the game easier than it should be. Still, the gameplay is definitely well made enough to where this game is fun to play almost the whole time from start to finish and doesn't have anything about it that's egregiously broken or flawed.
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is indeed a great early 90s beat em' ups that certainly deserves to be mentioned with other genre greats like Final Fight, Streets of Rage, Xmen, The Simpsons, and Aliens vs Predator. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this game and unlike a lot of beat em ups, I can actually see myself wanting to return to this game eventually. It's truly a classic arcade beat em' up if there ever was one, and one I'd easily recommend to someone looking for a more obscure, but still very enjoyable game. (12/24/25) [36/50]
Over the years I've been heavily into retro gaming, I feel like I've heard Cadillacs and Dinosaurs mentioned in passing numerous times. Still, over all these years of hearing this game get name dropped, I knew very little about it up until maybe a couple of years ago. When I did finally get more info on this somewhat obscure early 90s beat em' up beyond just its name, it began to emerge as an obscure gem that has been unfairly overshadowed by other more well known beat em' ups for the past 30 years. Since beat em' ups generally don't take more than half an hour to play all the way through, I figured I had nothing to lose in seeing whether this game was actually a forgotten classic, or just another game "hardcore" gamers use to gate keep and flex with.
I can fortunately say that Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is a REALLY good beat em' up! This game is apparently based on an existing IP, a comic series I believe, that I know nothing about, but still, with the limited story delivered through still cutscenes and dialogue, I have to give props to Capcom for making things feel original and interesting. Cadlllacs and Dinosaurs takes place in a distant, dystopian future where dinosaurs have been brought back from extinction and the four playable characters you can choose from are on a mission to save them and also defeat an evil scientist who is fusing humans and dinosaurs together as weapons. All this is show off with incredibly detailed character and enemy sprites, as well as very intriguing stages and backgrounds. I'm a bit disappointed there isn't more dinosaurs or Cadillacs in this game, but even with fighting a lot of the same human type enemies throughout the game, it does a good enough job at keeping things pretty interesting and fresh from a visuals standpoint. The dinosaur hybrid enemies are also very creative and well designed too.
Perhaps Cadillacs and Dinosaurs' best quality though is its soundtrack and overall sound design. This game has such an awesome soundtrack with nearly every stage song being memorable and catchy as hell. There are also unique sound effects and brief voice clips for all four characters as well as some side characters. Some of the weapon sound effects are also great, and have a great sense of impact which is in no small part because of how good the sound quality in Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.
Discussing the gameplay of a beat em' up, especially an older one is often where I have to start being a bit more critical and negative, but luckily I can that Cadillacs and Dinosaurs' gameplay is actually pretty good given the genre it belongs to. There are a tone of weapon and item pickups in this game which definitely mix up the two button combat of attacking, jumping and pushing a combo of the two for special attacks. You can also run in this game by double tapping left or right, which allows for its own uniqe attacks and strategies. Still, despite this, umm, added depth, the Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is still expectedly cheap at times and also easy to cheese certain moves to make the game easier than it should be. Still, the gameplay is definitely well made enough to where this game is fun to play almost the whole time from start to finish and doesn't have anything about it that's egregiously broken or flawed.
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is indeed a great early 90s beat em' ups that certainly deserves to be mentioned with other genre greats like Final Fight, Streets of Rage, Xmen, The Simpsons, and Aliens vs Predator. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this game and unlike a lot of beat em ups, I can actually see myself wanting to return to this game eventually. It's truly a classic arcade beat em' up if there ever was one, and one I'd easily recommend to someone looking for a more obscure, but still very enjoyable game. (12/24/25) [36/50]
13
General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!
« on: December 24, 2025, 02:07:37 pm »
9. Gaiares (Genesis) - ABANDONED
In general, I love shumps. however, I am not afraid to say that the most shmups of the 80s and even up to the early 90s has some incredibly annoying gameplay issues that prevent me from enjoying many of them, including what are generally considered to be some of the better shooters from that era. Power up marooning, arbitrary stage checkpoints you have to restart from when you die, and poor enemy/projectile balancing plague so many of these games. While there are definitely some older shmups that possess these vices that are way more tolerable than others, in general it's something I am so happy most shooters moved past by the late 90s. Unfortunately, 1990's Gaiares suffers from all three of these old STG gameplay pitfalls to an extent that made the game unplayable for me fairly early on.
This isn't a case of the game was too hard; I love shmups and there are very few that I would classify as easy. However, outdated gameplay mechanics and design are just that, outdated. There's a reason the genre moved past removing all your power ups when you die, only to die over and over again at the same spot you died before even with all the power ups you had originally. Also stage checkpoints are just arbitrary and annoying as hell too. Gaiares also puts you in many situations that are either just downright cheap or just poorly designed. The game's saving graces is that it looks excellent for a very early 90s shmup and the soundtrack is very catchy. Sadly though, I kinda hated playing this game to the point where I just couldn't do it anymore just three stages in.
Gaiares was on my backlog earlier this year and due to time constraints and feeling like playing other games instead, I just never got around to playing it. With a week left in the year, I got a wild hair and decided I was going to play it. I kinda wish I hadn't now. I'm happy for people that really like this game, but I'm certainly not one of them. (12/24/25) ABANDONED
In general, I love shumps. however, I am not afraid to say that the most shmups of the 80s and even up to the early 90s has some incredibly annoying gameplay issues that prevent me from enjoying many of them, including what are generally considered to be some of the better shooters from that era. Power up marooning, arbitrary stage checkpoints you have to restart from when you die, and poor enemy/projectile balancing plague so many of these games. While there are definitely some older shmups that possess these vices that are way more tolerable than others, in general it's something I am so happy most shooters moved past by the late 90s. Unfortunately, 1990's Gaiares suffers from all three of these old STG gameplay pitfalls to an extent that made the game unplayable for me fairly early on.
This isn't a case of the game was too hard; I love shmups and there are very few that I would classify as easy. However, outdated gameplay mechanics and design are just that, outdated. There's a reason the genre moved past removing all your power ups when you die, only to die over and over again at the same spot you died before even with all the power ups you had originally. Also stage checkpoints are just arbitrary and annoying as hell too. Gaiares also puts you in many situations that are either just downright cheap or just poorly designed. The game's saving graces is that it looks excellent for a very early 90s shmup and the soundtrack is very catchy. Sadly though, I kinda hated playing this game to the point where I just couldn't do it anymore just three stages in.
Gaiares was on my backlog earlier this year and due to time constraints and feeling like playing other games instead, I just never got around to playing it. With a week left in the year, I got a wild hair and decided I was going to play it. I kinda wish I hadn't now. I'm happy for people that really like this game, but I'm certainly not one of them. (12/24/25) ABANDONED
14
General / Re: VGC's Anonymous/"General" Topic:
« on: December 23, 2025, 03:27:51 pm »This is something fairly gaming adjacent to me, but one thing I'm so sick of is how fake and contrived so much of the internet is today. Compared to even 5 or 6 years ago, it's so hard to find genuine gaming content or discussion. Everything is either sponsored, an ad, clickbait, hot takes, rage bait, AI generated, or bots. I know there are still some genuine people and places to discuss gaming (this site is one of them), but it's getting discouraging on pretty much all mainstream sites like Reddit, Facebook, and Youtube. I hate how I have to second guess if I'm interacting with a bot now, and even if I'm not, so many people just talk and act the same way online now. It's awful. And then when it comes to finding new youtube videos, Youtube will recommend to me the same ultra clickbaity, contrived sponsored video essay 3 times before it actually recommends me some newer video from a smaller youtuber who genuinely just wants to talk about his favorite Resident Evil or SHMUP games. Again, I can still find this stuff, but it's getting more and more rare and difficult.
I know this stuff is happening more and more, but part of me also feels like maybe I'm just outgrowing the social aspect of the internet. I do genuinely like to discuss gaming with people online and in person, but maybe I just have a lower tolerance for people parroting the same opinions or saying some stupid BS just to drum up outrage, and therefore engagement.
I miss the old and also the not so old internet so badly. I know it wasn't perfect and was filled with its own problems, trolls, bad actors, and other unsavory characters, but at least it felt mostly genuine and authentic. Everything online just feels so fake now. I'm so grateful that small forums like this still exist even though they've become an endangered species thanks to social media.
I agree with you 100%.
I don’t think it’s you outgrowing the internet. I think it’s all the bullshit has made it so unsavory that we crave real people. We just want something that is real and not just generated for clicks. Social media made people curate their online appearance just so they could get some likes. Your friends weren’t sharing their real life with you, and you weren’t with them.
It’s rough when the “realest” thing on the internet is porn.
Even porn is becoming more and more suspect with how realistic generative AI has become. Just pictures and short videos in general are getting to the point where they're no longer just fooling gullible boomers in their 70s. I still feel like I'm able to spot AI most of the time, but I feel like just a year ago I had probably a 95% accuracy rate when detecting AI, now it's probably closer to 80%. I pretty much question everything I see online now be it a picture, social media post, video, or whatever.
And you're right about people throwing their fake life up on the internet for clicks and likes. I've tried making a conscious effort to be as genuine to who I am in real life online, but I too played the "look at how great my life is!" game that 98% of people on social media play. I detest mainstream social media in general and if not for FB Marketplace and one gaming group I belong too (which is built around meeting in person anyways), I'd have deleted my FB profile at least a decade ago. I will never create a TikTok account, X account, or any of that other cancerous shit. I've had my fill of how fake social media is for one lifetime. I just wish Youtube would stop getting shittier and shittier every year. I know there are amazing content creators and people with genuine, real opinions on there, but YouTube's algorithm buries them if they don't check the right boxes. I'll type in "Best Castlevania games" and get a dozen the annoying clickbait hot take videos on Castlevania, then another dozen videos about things loosely or completely unrelated to my search, and then it'll just recycle those same search results again. I freakin hate it.
15
General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!
« on: December 22, 2025, 02:55:02 pm »124. Resident Evil 3 Nemesis (PS1)
It's interesting to see where our opinions overlap and differ from another. Despite mentioning how I think I may have enjoyed Resident Evil 3: Nemesis more than the previous two series titles, I'm not one to rank or score games. To me, they're all three about on par to each other considering their time of release and existence as debut, sequel, and third entry titles.
Also, at this point, I can see why Resident Evil is the most popular horror franchise (objectively at this time and arguably not anymore), but I'm still far more captivated and unnerved by Silent Hill. Yet even if Silent Hill debuted first, I think Resident Evil would have gained the broad audience appeal.
The original three games each definitely bring something new to the table that makes them memorable. I guess all things considered, the originality and creepy mansion setting of the first game, and the crazy scope and story of the second game elevate them over Nemesis chasing you around Raccoon City in the third game. You're definitely not alone in liking the third game more, and if anything it seems like more people than ever consider the third game the best. For me though, I love the first two noticeable more despite really liking 3 still.
I really need to branch out more with the Silent Hill franchise. I adore SH2, but I don't care for the first game as much, mostly due to how dated the gameplay feels. I know they both use tank controls (as do the early RE games), but I jsut got frustrated with how much less precise they felt and how I kept on getting hurt or killed when I knew what I was supposed to do. The game just wouldn't let me do it, or at least not do it as well as I would like to actually succeed. But yeah, I still really want to play 3, 4 and some of the later games. SHF is towards the top of my To Play list for next year. I really looking forward to trying that one out.