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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!
« on: August 17, 2023, 12:50:07 pm »
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97. Doodle God (PC)
I think I only played this game because I rolled it as a backlog dungeon game over on Playtracker. I played Doodle God way back in the day when it was just an iPhone game I think, but at some point I got the game on Steam and just never got around to it because well it's a dumb phone game. Maybe it was a simple flash game? I don't know, anyway, I played through the game and I think I 100%'d it because it was simple enough and Playtracker sort of incentivized me to do so. All in all it's really a boring as fuck game and a lot of the matches don't make a ton of sense, like it's a stretch to make a lot of the things it does with the combos, to the point that this game will wind up being painful trial and error or you're going to use a guide and that honestly just makes playing the game a chore instead of entertainment.
Rating: Hard pass
98. Wild Arms (PS5)
I recalled that Sony had released PS5 versions of PS1 games and it you happened to own the PS1 classic on PS3, you now automatically own the PS1 release on PS4/PS5, so I knew it was time to finally play Wild Arms. I've been a huge Wild Arms fan since before Wild Arms 3 even released due to a friend selling me a loose copy of Wild Arms 2 for $1. The situation in retrospect is kinda fucked, the dude wanted a dollar but didn't want to like owe me a dollar so he was like I'll give you this game for a dollar and I was like I can just give you a dollar dude, and he's like a) no, b) I don't wanna feel like I owe you, and c) this game is great, and you'll love it. So that was that and I played it and enjoyed it. Honestly, other than like Pokemon, it was my first real RPG experience and I loved it. That all said, I never actually ever played Wild Arms 1, I played Alter Code F, the remake, but never the actual original game, so this was a fantastic excuse to finally play it. Game has all the glitches that existed in the original PS1, so I took advantage of that and had a good old time with the game. Wild Arms in general I guess is known for being overly easy for RPG games, but my recollection was standard gameplay, but I also didn't optimize my builds or anything as a kid. I optimized the fuck out of my run and was one shotting everything throughout the game, so it stands to reason they aren't wrong. Alter Code F is for sure the definitive way to play this game as it's prettier and has extra content, but still fun as fuck and I honestly might play through again on PS4 for another platinum trophy.
Rating: Solid recommendation.
99. The Lemonade (PC)
I setup a curator group on steam (365 Puzzles) because I wanted to start reviewing puzzle games. I have a few other curator groups out there of a similar vein, but they've acquired no real interest, whereas this one I at least get curator connect offers, so I play puzzle games. First game ever offered to me that I fully played through was this game. Loads up as La Limonada, which is a bit whatever given it's advertised with a different logo in English, but it's fine. It's a sokoban game, but rather than a series of levels, it's one giant sokoban level. You can easily play for 20-30 minutes making progress and then realize you made a misstep right at the beginning and now you have to start over entirely. That happened to me a couple of times, but the game is short enough and enjoyable enough that it didn't bother me that much. Game also has an early out, you can technically beat the game at any point as long as you have collected 1 lemon, there are 100 lemons in total. I sat down and found all 100 lemons my first run and then did a quick run gathering just one lemon to see the differences. It's a pretty fun sokoban game and doesn't outstay its welcome because it's just one giant level and you can opt out at any point.
Rating: Soft recommendation
100. Armored Core: Project Phantasma (PSX)
Played this some amount of time after finishing the first game, but this time I was better prepared and managed to get all of the achievements in the game 100% for Retroachievements. Enjoyed my time with the game well enough, but these old Armored Core games are super aged. I really really need to not let myself play the newest one, even though I have it now, before finishing all of these old ones because it would be awful to make these painful compared to the newest, at least right now they play like I remember them. This one acts like a sequel to the first game, though it feels barely connected to the first one, but maybe I just didn't follow the plot well enough. I'm enjoying my time, but I honestly couldn't recommend folks go back and play these old games, especially since I'm playing in a manner that I can remap the controls and make the controls at least slightly more modern... more on that whenever I get around to writing about the PS2 games, I haven't yet been able to figure out remapping the controls on PS2 in a manner that allows the game to be playable, most because the emulator is being broken for some reason.
Rating: Soft pass
101. Armored Core: Master of Arena (PSX)
Unfortunately for this one, and it's not the game's fault, it's Steam/steamdeck's fault. Since I played the game offline, I can never get all of the achievements for the game because I hit 100% completion while offline and I can't flag the 100% completion again and I have no earlier save files that would be reasonable to use and that would still require me to replay through the game, so I abandoned the game. I mean I beat it, but I should've unlocked a bunch of achievements for completion and since they can't, won't, and didn't unlock, I'm not going to bother for the arena achievements. Game was mostly fun, had a ton of content and played pretty well, but that little bit ruined it for me. Game is great, but the steamdeck is kind of a piece of shit when it comes to trying to play on the go. I've had the same issue with Steam games, so it's not just a Retro Achievement issue, it's just horseshit all around when it comes to tracking achievements while offline. I won't knock this game for it, but I've got nothing good to say for this game because Steam ruined my experience.
Rating: Soft pass
102. Eyes in the Dark (PC)
This was the free game on Playtracker for taking part in the previous season and meeting the goal of 7 points. I heard some things about the game, after I already played it, regarding its unfriendliness with a certain phobia, which I have, but I didn't notice it, so either my phobia isn't that bad or the game isn't that noticeable with the unfriendliness. Unfortunately it's been like 2 months since I played this game and I really don't recall shit about it. Platformer roguelike type of game, you use a flashlight as your "weapon". I think I might not have technically "beat" this game in the sense that there are post game story stuff, an Act 4 or something, but I got the credits to roll and I think the additional story content might be locked behind doing like 100% type of stuff. I'll have to look into it. That all said, game is pretty fun and the game has accessibility features to make the game easier for folks who don't want to git gud. I really enjoy those things with roguelike games because these games almost by designed are made so you will fucking die, a lot, and you've got to either git gud and/or improve your character over repeating runs. Sometimes I enjoy that, re: rogue legacy, dead cells, etc, but for games like this that I'm really not invested in, I'll take advantage of the accessibility features so I can get through the game faster (re: hades, dreamscaper, etc). That all said, I didn't personally enjoy this game that much, and it didn't really stick out as a game that was worth spending the tons of time playing through like other good roguelikes, it's not a bad game by any means, but I just didn't connect with it.
Rating: Soft pass
103. Doom 64 (PC)
I won this game in a giveaway on a Discord server where the requirement for the win was to play through the game. I didn't mind that, but I couldn't bother to push myself to 100% this game again. I 100%'d it on Xbox One when Doom Eternal (I think) released because I got a free copy with my preorder I think. This time around I played on steamdeck and it was fine and fun and all, but I mostly played out of obligation. Great game, obviously aged design and such. See my 2020 review of the Xbox One version for more information
Rating: Recommended
104. Metal: Hellsinger (XS)
Wow how apt that I played this right after a Doom game. This game has the rip and tear feel of Doom/Doom Eternal, but it's all designed to be played to the beat of various heavy metal songs. I set up my playthrough to not punish me for sucking rhythmically, but I had no trouble as most of my beats were perfect if not good, but the game was leaving game pass and I didn't want to waste time if I couldn't get in the rhythm of it. Obviously a physical release of this game must be coming down the pipe soon, otherwise why leave game pass amirite. Gameplay is great, and the story is great too. I had the problem that the game had a humongous difficulty curve... only to realize that my son had messed with my controller at some point between levels and set the game to like nightmare difficulty, once I figured that out and went back to whatever difficult I was playing on (no clue, probably easy) I had no trouble again and the game was enjoyable. I'm sad that the game left game pass, so hopefully a physical release is coming down the line otherwise I'll maybe need to go buy it on Steam or something because the game is a real romp to play.
Rating: Solid recommendation
105. Last Call BBC (PC)
Pulled forward my notes from last year. I played TIS-100 for a few minutes the other day and then this came out and I read about it and was very very interested. Really largely interested based on a single screenshot that showed model kit building (which unfortunately it looks like there are only 3 model kits). As far as I can tell there isn't really a story to this game, you get some info/plot, but I don't think it'll build to anything, this is really just a puzzle game tbh. I've already done their versions of Solitaire, and 2/3 of the model kits, and most of the Dungeons and Diagrams. Solitaire 1 is kind of a normal solitaire, no undo button though. Solitaire 2 is kind of free cell, but again no undo and you don't get the side stacks for the decks and you're just aiming for 4 of a kind instead of a whole suit. Model kit is real cool because you clip, attach, paint, etc, the downside is there are only 3 kits and it is very tedious. Dungeons and Diagrams is like a Picross variant, it's pretty fun, but it's tough as nails and I know looking at it, it feels like it's missing 1 constraint from making it really good, like you aren't given enough information to figure out the puzzles. I'm sure you are, but it just feels that way. I'd say the only addition to be made to this is that I played through the other two things the game had to offer that I skipped and that was the restaurant programming game, which I didn't fully get and mostly went by a guide, and the creepy flesh game which I also used a guide for, but at least I understood what was going on to the point that I barely needed the guide to get what was going on. Overall another great entry by Zachtronics. I really need to get the solitaire collection. That said, these games have such tough puzzles that it's not easy to recommend to most folks.
Rating: Soft recommendation
106. Prodeus (XS)
Another game leaving game pass. I don't know if the physical release for this one is new, but I see it on sale occasionally and I'll have to consider it because this game was quite fun and I could enjoy finding all of the collectibles in the game with a guide or something. I will say I don't enjoy the art style nor do I enjoy that when trying to disable the art style it still just looks absolutely awful to look at. Gameplay is fun as fuck, but the art just honestly kind of gives me a headache, not for real, but it's just not pleasing to look at. It definitely has that rip and tear feel of Doom, and the crazy level design of classic doom games, but that art style is rough. If I could turn it all the way off, this game would get a solid recommendation from me, but this game did legitimately make my eyes hurt frequently enough.
Rating: Soft recommendation
107. Terminator: Salvation (ARC)
My kid got invited to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese and this year I wasn't stuck on kid duty like every other time we went to these, so I played the one game there that I figured I could care to play through. I will say after the fact I realized there was a NAMCO lightgun game over in the kids area that I would've enjoyed playing through, but time did not permit. I'm certain there will be a next time though. Anyway, straightforward arcade lightgun game, I'll say I didn't enjoy it as much as other light gun games as I don't care too much for fighting bullet sponge robots nonstop, but I can finally say I beat it. Still have a couple of other arcade games I'd like to playthrough, but logistically don't know how I'm going to get around to doing it.
Rating: Hard pass
108. Wild Arms 2 (PS5)
Now hopping into this one, which I have played before and really loved... I knew there were no glitches going into this one, so I was concerned that it would sully my memory of the game and just not be as enjoyable as the cakewalk that was Wild Arms 1... That said, I read some guides and really optimized my run here and the guides weren't wrong. If you spec into the Physical/Magic guard perks, you're basically invincible, which really trivializes a lot of the random battles and makes the random battles not as painful as I remember them as a kid. As a reminder, Wild Arms games are RPG games with puzzle mechanics spread throughout, doing the puzzles can be infuriating when you're hit with random battles while trying to solve a puzzle. Anyway, I had a blast with this game, I'd argue I had a better time with this than the 1st one because I did have to pay a bit of attention compared to leveraging a glitch and just breezing through the game.
Rating: Solid recommendation
109. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (X1)
I think rather than writing up something new I'll just refer back to my switch review at 52 Game Challenge 2022 Game 5. Looking at it, I didn't speak a lot on some things, so I'll at least add that this time around I went and did everything there was to do in this game as I earned all of the achievements and I even went and did the added content with the conductor. The Train content is sort of a little roguelike segment, it's kind of awful... but the game did add in accessibility features which I did eventually leverage so I could get through the game. I think part of me playing this when I did was because it was leaving game pass, that probably checks out. Review is still the same though.
Rating: Soft recommendation
110. Lies of P (XS)
I hate how far behind I get on writing these reviews. I hadn't planned on playing this game any time soon, but my wife started playing the game at release and I just couldn't stay away. I did 1.5 playthroughs to get all of the achievements for the game, Xbox is so difficult to do save scumming stuff, it's real unfortunate. I'll be honest when I say my experience with non-From Software Soulslike games is very minimal, maybe exclusive to Nioh, so take my statements with a bunch of salt. This game feels as close to a From Soft soulsborne game as you're going to get without it being made by From Soft. It's got tight responsive combat, intricate well designed maps, devious traps and enemies, and forces you to really think about solutions for situations. It definitely takes more inspiration from the non-Souls games (i.e. Bloodborne/Sekiro) while maintaining a single player experience. I'm of the opinion that adding multiplayer would be a huge addition to the game, but for me the game was perfectly playable solo. I love these games as is, but I'm also not opposed to adding accessibility so less skilled players can enjoy the experience, I'd hate to have the option of an easy mode (because I'd probably use it and diminish my experience), but there are other ways to be accessible without directly affecting difficulty (Elden Ring does a pretty good job at this). Enjoyed my time so much that I explicitly went and 100%'d the game.
Rating: Solid recommendation
111. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5)
What with Spider-Man 2 coming out, I felt it was time to finally play through this game. Originally my intent was to play through Remastered to check out the changes and prep for Miles Morales, but I just didn't have the time and couldn't care that much... plus I definitely would've had burn out. I may still go back to it and check stuff out though. Anyway, this one took me a bit to get into and I think I had to beat it twice for all the trophies, but the game got good enough that I didn't have too much trouble convincing myself to replay the game. Plus I had time to kill until Spider-Man 2 arrived. Unfortunately it's been long enough since I played that I don't have much else to say about this game. It was relatively short, the characters were all pretty new, it'd been long enough since I played the first that the city felt fresh, even if it were the same, no clue. Short enough too.
Rating: Solid recommendation
112. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (PS5)
Had been pretty hyped to play this and really ecstatic to get it for free. Will wind up having to buy the DLC or something down the line once it inevitably gets announced. Splitting the story between two characters (technically three I guess) makes the game feel a bit crowded and there are some bits in the game that irked me, mostly regarding the lack of communication between spider-man's about their problems. Absolute improvement on the MJ sections by giving her a defensive weapon. Game has some lasting power, also easy quick platinum trophy without the need for a full second playthrough (I think). Fantastic game, largely overshadowed by all of the other fantastic games that came out this year. 2023 was one of the strongest years in gaming for sure.
Rating: Solid recommendation
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Quote from: Legend
bold games are games that have been beaten, previously beaten, or are unbeatable.
italicized games are in progress.
standard games are games I am not currently trying to beat.strikethroughgames are games that have been abandoned.
97. Doodle God (PC)
I think I only played this game because I rolled it as a backlog dungeon game over on Playtracker. I played Doodle God way back in the day when it was just an iPhone game I think, but at some point I got the game on Steam and just never got around to it because well it's a dumb phone game. Maybe it was a simple flash game? I don't know, anyway, I played through the game and I think I 100%'d it because it was simple enough and Playtracker sort of incentivized me to do so. All in all it's really a boring as fuck game and a lot of the matches don't make a ton of sense, like it's a stretch to make a lot of the things it does with the combos, to the point that this game will wind up being painful trial and error or you're going to use a guide and that honestly just makes playing the game a chore instead of entertainment.
Rating: Hard pass
98. Wild Arms (PS5)
I recalled that Sony had released PS5 versions of PS1 games and it you happened to own the PS1 classic on PS3, you now automatically own the PS1 release on PS4/PS5, so I knew it was time to finally play Wild Arms. I've been a huge Wild Arms fan since before Wild Arms 3 even released due to a friend selling me a loose copy of Wild Arms 2 for $1. The situation in retrospect is kinda fucked, the dude wanted a dollar but didn't want to like owe me a dollar so he was like I'll give you this game for a dollar and I was like I can just give you a dollar dude, and he's like a) no, b) I don't wanna feel like I owe you, and c) this game is great, and you'll love it. So that was that and I played it and enjoyed it. Honestly, other than like Pokemon, it was my first real RPG experience and I loved it. That all said, I never actually ever played Wild Arms 1, I played Alter Code F, the remake, but never the actual original game, so this was a fantastic excuse to finally play it. Game has all the glitches that existed in the original PS1, so I took advantage of that and had a good old time with the game. Wild Arms in general I guess is known for being overly easy for RPG games, but my recollection was standard gameplay, but I also didn't optimize my builds or anything as a kid. I optimized the fuck out of my run and was one shotting everything throughout the game, so it stands to reason they aren't wrong. Alter Code F is for sure the definitive way to play this game as it's prettier and has extra content, but still fun as fuck and I honestly might play through again on PS4 for another platinum trophy.
Rating: Solid recommendation.
99. The Lemonade (PC)
I setup a curator group on steam (365 Puzzles) because I wanted to start reviewing puzzle games. I have a few other curator groups out there of a similar vein, but they've acquired no real interest, whereas this one I at least get curator connect offers, so I play puzzle games. First game ever offered to me that I fully played through was this game. Loads up as La Limonada, which is a bit whatever given it's advertised with a different logo in English, but it's fine. It's a sokoban game, but rather than a series of levels, it's one giant sokoban level. You can easily play for 20-30 minutes making progress and then realize you made a misstep right at the beginning and now you have to start over entirely. That happened to me a couple of times, but the game is short enough and enjoyable enough that it didn't bother me that much. Game also has an early out, you can technically beat the game at any point as long as you have collected 1 lemon, there are 100 lemons in total. I sat down and found all 100 lemons my first run and then did a quick run gathering just one lemon to see the differences. It's a pretty fun sokoban game and doesn't outstay its welcome because it's just one giant level and you can opt out at any point.
Rating: Soft recommendation
100. Armored Core: Project Phantasma (PSX)
Played this some amount of time after finishing the first game, but this time I was better prepared and managed to get all of the achievements in the game 100% for Retroachievements. Enjoyed my time with the game well enough, but these old Armored Core games are super aged. I really really need to not let myself play the newest one, even though I have it now, before finishing all of these old ones because it would be awful to make these painful compared to the newest, at least right now they play like I remember them. This one acts like a sequel to the first game, though it feels barely connected to the first one, but maybe I just didn't follow the plot well enough. I'm enjoying my time, but I honestly couldn't recommend folks go back and play these old games, especially since I'm playing in a manner that I can remap the controls and make the controls at least slightly more modern... more on that whenever I get around to writing about the PS2 games, I haven't yet been able to figure out remapping the controls on PS2 in a manner that allows the game to be playable, most because the emulator is being broken for some reason.
Rating: Soft pass
101. Armored Core: Master of Arena (PSX)
Unfortunately for this one, and it's not the game's fault, it's Steam/steamdeck's fault. Since I played the game offline, I can never get all of the achievements for the game because I hit 100% completion while offline and I can't flag the 100% completion again and I have no earlier save files that would be reasonable to use and that would still require me to replay through the game, so I abandoned the game. I mean I beat it, but I should've unlocked a bunch of achievements for completion and since they can't, won't, and didn't unlock, I'm not going to bother for the arena achievements. Game was mostly fun, had a ton of content and played pretty well, but that little bit ruined it for me. Game is great, but the steamdeck is kind of a piece of shit when it comes to trying to play on the go. I've had the same issue with Steam games, so it's not just a Retro Achievement issue, it's just horseshit all around when it comes to tracking achievements while offline. I won't knock this game for it, but I've got nothing good to say for this game because Steam ruined my experience.
Rating: Soft pass
102. Eyes in the Dark (PC)
This was the free game on Playtracker for taking part in the previous season and meeting the goal of 7 points. I heard some things about the game, after I already played it, regarding its unfriendliness with a certain phobia, which I have, but I didn't notice it, so either my phobia isn't that bad or the game isn't that noticeable with the unfriendliness. Unfortunately it's been like 2 months since I played this game and I really don't recall shit about it. Platformer roguelike type of game, you use a flashlight as your "weapon". I think I might not have technically "beat" this game in the sense that there are post game story stuff, an Act 4 or something, but I got the credits to roll and I think the additional story content might be locked behind doing like 100% type of stuff. I'll have to look into it. That all said, game is pretty fun and the game has accessibility features to make the game easier for folks who don't want to git gud. I really enjoy those things with roguelike games because these games almost by designed are made so you will fucking die, a lot, and you've got to either git gud and/or improve your character over repeating runs. Sometimes I enjoy that, re: rogue legacy, dead cells, etc, but for games like this that I'm really not invested in, I'll take advantage of the accessibility features so I can get through the game faster (re: hades, dreamscaper, etc). That all said, I didn't personally enjoy this game that much, and it didn't really stick out as a game that was worth spending the tons of time playing through like other good roguelikes, it's not a bad game by any means, but I just didn't connect with it.
Rating: Soft pass
103. Doom 64 (PC)
I won this game in a giveaway on a Discord server where the requirement for the win was to play through the game. I didn't mind that, but I couldn't bother to push myself to 100% this game again. I 100%'d it on Xbox One when Doom Eternal (I think) released because I got a free copy with my preorder I think. This time around I played on steamdeck and it was fine and fun and all, but I mostly played out of obligation. Great game, obviously aged design and such. See my 2020 review of the Xbox One version for more information
Rating: Recommended
104. Metal: Hellsinger (XS)
Wow how apt that I played this right after a Doom game. This game has the rip and tear feel of Doom/Doom Eternal, but it's all designed to be played to the beat of various heavy metal songs. I set up my playthrough to not punish me for sucking rhythmically, but I had no trouble as most of my beats were perfect if not good, but the game was leaving game pass and I didn't want to waste time if I couldn't get in the rhythm of it. Obviously a physical release of this game must be coming down the pipe soon, otherwise why leave game pass amirite. Gameplay is great, and the story is great too. I had the problem that the game had a humongous difficulty curve... only to realize that my son had messed with my controller at some point between levels and set the game to like nightmare difficulty, once I figured that out and went back to whatever difficult I was playing on (no clue, probably easy) I had no trouble again and the game was enjoyable. I'm sad that the game left game pass, so hopefully a physical release is coming down the line otherwise I'll maybe need to go buy it on Steam or something because the game is a real romp to play.
Rating: Solid recommendation
105. Last Call BBC (PC)
Pulled forward my notes from last year. I played TIS-100 for a few minutes the other day and then this came out and I read about it and was very very interested. Really largely interested based on a single screenshot that showed model kit building (which unfortunately it looks like there are only 3 model kits). As far as I can tell there isn't really a story to this game, you get some info/plot, but I don't think it'll build to anything, this is really just a puzzle game tbh. I've already done their versions of Solitaire, and 2/3 of the model kits, and most of the Dungeons and Diagrams. Solitaire 1 is kind of a normal solitaire, no undo button though. Solitaire 2 is kind of free cell, but again no undo and you don't get the side stacks for the decks and you're just aiming for 4 of a kind instead of a whole suit. Model kit is real cool because you clip, attach, paint, etc, the downside is there are only 3 kits and it is very tedious. Dungeons and Diagrams is like a Picross variant, it's pretty fun, but it's tough as nails and I know looking at it, it feels like it's missing 1 constraint from making it really good, like you aren't given enough information to figure out the puzzles. I'm sure you are, but it just feels that way. I'd say the only addition to be made to this is that I played through the other two things the game had to offer that I skipped and that was the restaurant programming game, which I didn't fully get and mostly went by a guide, and the creepy flesh game which I also used a guide for, but at least I understood what was going on to the point that I barely needed the guide to get what was going on. Overall another great entry by Zachtronics. I really need to get the solitaire collection. That said, these games have such tough puzzles that it's not easy to recommend to most folks.
Rating: Soft recommendation
106. Prodeus (XS)
Another game leaving game pass. I don't know if the physical release for this one is new, but I see it on sale occasionally and I'll have to consider it because this game was quite fun and I could enjoy finding all of the collectibles in the game with a guide or something. I will say I don't enjoy the art style nor do I enjoy that when trying to disable the art style it still just looks absolutely awful to look at. Gameplay is fun as fuck, but the art just honestly kind of gives me a headache, not for real, but it's just not pleasing to look at. It definitely has that rip and tear feel of Doom, and the crazy level design of classic doom games, but that art style is rough. If I could turn it all the way off, this game would get a solid recommendation from me, but this game did legitimately make my eyes hurt frequently enough.
Rating: Soft recommendation
107. Terminator: Salvation (ARC)
My kid got invited to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese and this year I wasn't stuck on kid duty like every other time we went to these, so I played the one game there that I figured I could care to play through. I will say after the fact I realized there was a NAMCO lightgun game over in the kids area that I would've enjoyed playing through, but time did not permit. I'm certain there will be a next time though. Anyway, straightforward arcade lightgun game, I'll say I didn't enjoy it as much as other light gun games as I don't care too much for fighting bullet sponge robots nonstop, but I can finally say I beat it. Still have a couple of other arcade games I'd like to playthrough, but logistically don't know how I'm going to get around to doing it.
Rating: Hard pass
108. Wild Arms 2 (PS5)
Now hopping into this one, which I have played before and really loved... I knew there were no glitches going into this one, so I was concerned that it would sully my memory of the game and just not be as enjoyable as the cakewalk that was Wild Arms 1... That said, I read some guides and really optimized my run here and the guides weren't wrong. If you spec into the Physical/Magic guard perks, you're basically invincible, which really trivializes a lot of the random battles and makes the random battles not as painful as I remember them as a kid. As a reminder, Wild Arms games are RPG games with puzzle mechanics spread throughout, doing the puzzles can be infuriating when you're hit with random battles while trying to solve a puzzle. Anyway, I had a blast with this game, I'd argue I had a better time with this than the 1st one because I did have to pay a bit of attention compared to leveraging a glitch and just breezing through the game.
Rating: Solid recommendation
109. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (X1)
I think rather than writing up something new I'll just refer back to my switch review at 52 Game Challenge 2022 Game 5. Looking at it, I didn't speak a lot on some things, so I'll at least add that this time around I went and did everything there was to do in this game as I earned all of the achievements and I even went and did the added content with the conductor. The Train content is sort of a little roguelike segment, it's kind of awful... but the game did add in accessibility features which I did eventually leverage so I could get through the game. I think part of me playing this when I did was because it was leaving game pass, that probably checks out. Review is still the same though.
Rating: Soft recommendation
110. Lies of P (XS)
I hate how far behind I get on writing these reviews. I hadn't planned on playing this game any time soon, but my wife started playing the game at release and I just couldn't stay away. I did 1.5 playthroughs to get all of the achievements for the game, Xbox is so difficult to do save scumming stuff, it's real unfortunate. I'll be honest when I say my experience with non-From Software Soulslike games is very minimal, maybe exclusive to Nioh, so take my statements with a bunch of salt. This game feels as close to a From Soft soulsborne game as you're going to get without it being made by From Soft. It's got tight responsive combat, intricate well designed maps, devious traps and enemies, and forces you to really think about solutions for situations. It definitely takes more inspiration from the non-Souls games (i.e. Bloodborne/Sekiro) while maintaining a single player experience. I'm of the opinion that adding multiplayer would be a huge addition to the game, but for me the game was perfectly playable solo. I love these games as is, but I'm also not opposed to adding accessibility so less skilled players can enjoy the experience, I'd hate to have the option of an easy mode (because I'd probably use it and diminish my experience), but there are other ways to be accessible without directly affecting difficulty (Elden Ring does a pretty good job at this). Enjoyed my time so much that I explicitly went and 100%'d the game.
Rating: Solid recommendation
111. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5)
What with Spider-Man 2 coming out, I felt it was time to finally play through this game. Originally my intent was to play through Remastered to check out the changes and prep for Miles Morales, but I just didn't have the time and couldn't care that much... plus I definitely would've had burn out. I may still go back to it and check stuff out though. Anyway, this one took me a bit to get into and I think I had to beat it twice for all the trophies, but the game got good enough that I didn't have too much trouble convincing myself to replay the game. Plus I had time to kill until Spider-Man 2 arrived. Unfortunately it's been long enough since I played that I don't have much else to say about this game. It was relatively short, the characters were all pretty new, it'd been long enough since I played the first that the city felt fresh, even if it were the same, no clue. Short enough too.
Rating: Solid recommendation
112. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (PS5)
Had been pretty hyped to play this and really ecstatic to get it for free. Will wind up having to buy the DLC or something down the line once it inevitably gets announced. Splitting the story between two characters (technically three I guess) makes the game feel a bit crowded and there are some bits in the game that irked me, mostly regarding the lack of communication between spider-man's about their problems. Absolute improvement on the MJ sections by giving her a defensive weapon. Game has some lasting power, also easy quick platinum trophy without the need for a full second playthrough (I think). Fantastic game, largely overshadowed by all of the other fantastic games that came out this year. 2023 was one of the strongest years in gaming for sure.
Rating: Solid recommendation
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Actually pretty mad about that because I was waiting to buy a specific game when it hit its historical low (28 cents) and the game went back on sale for 28 cents the day after steam put the new rule in place, so when you try to buy it steam tells you no, so now I have no choice but to pay 50 cents or more for this game, which sucks.
I played this game at launch on 360 way back in the day, I recall the game being mid, but then I also had this mindset that the game wasn't that bad. Unfortunately it's been a while since I replayed this at this point that I again don't really recall. Gunplay was fine enough, humor is aged and stupid but it's Duke Nukem what can ya do. I got a bunch of the achievements but I don't think there was any chance I was going to aim for 100%, I don't even think I got nearly as many as I did on the 360 release. I think my entire playthrough was on Steam Deck, played pretty great there. I might have played for a few minutes on PC, but I think the mouse and keyboard controls just didn't feel good, almost like the game was legitimately designed to be played with a controller, which is hella weird. My primary reason for revisiting this game was to finally play the DLC, I never bought the DLC for 360 back in the day and with this key from trip, I also got the DLC key. So playing through the main campaign was to relearn the systems/controls and story in prep for the DLC.