Author Topic: 52 Games Challenge 2021  (Read 30996 times)

dhaabi

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2021
« Reply #300 on: December 31, 2021, 07:07:19 pm »
51. WTF: Work Time Fun || PlayStation Portable || 12.31.21

Beginning my WTF: Work Time Fun playthrough with the expectations of gameplay similar to WarioWario titles, I was sorely mistaken. While comprising of dozens of bite-size minigames, WTF brings an all new meaning to its title while challenging the definition of "game."

With WTF's Japanese title Baito Hell 2000 being a play on the Japanese loan word "arubaito" meaning part-time job, the original title certainly translates the game's true intentions well.  Without much narrative, the player finds themselves in hell where they must take on various part-time jobs. In a sense, the main menu hub serves as a sort of job center, with demons at center-screen who seem to run the operation while making snide comments. By far and large, these jobs are menial in nature while some paying pennies upon success. Of the title's 40 jobs, some of the most boring and repetitive tasks are ones such as separating newborn chicks by sex, picking up golf balls, counting pedestrian traffic, and perhaps WTF's most infamous job that requires the player to place pen caps correctly on pens as they're being processed along a factory line. Of the 40 jobs, some are quickly understood to not be worth investing time in playing to accrue money. At the same time, it became obvious that the game's most boring jobs were the ones that paid the most. Funny how that works out, right? In regards to the pen-capping game, the counter at bottom-screen can count up to 10^36 total pens, which is mind-numbing, although it humorously shows how endless the player-character's eternity in hell is to be.

At the game's onset, only four jobs are available as a means to earn income. However, what exactly is money spent toward? Well, numerous gachapon machines with varying pricing are able to be used which mostly unlock collectable trinkets. While these trinkets serve no purpose, they do provide some incentive to keep playing, with around 500 to collect in total. On occasion, unlockable tools and jobs may also be dispensed. So, in order to have an array of jobs to cycle through to earn money and to avoid complete monotony, the player must begrudgingly work through some of the most awful ones early on. With that said, I am not suggesting that all jobs to be unlocked are great, because that is almost objectively not true. Of the 40 jobs, only a fraction are decent with only a handful providing a somewhat worthwhile experience with only one, in my opinion, being fun. The job I'm referring to is one titled Buddha's Quest, which really is a sort of minigame unlike many others. In brief, it is akin to early first-person dungeon crawlers although it only focuses on the battle aspect and no exploration.

As I mentioned before, other items rewards such as tools may be collected from gachapon machines. I never actually took the time to try them out, but they largely serve one purpose and are practical in nature. Two in particular stand out to me in being funny, which are the ramen timer and restaurant bill splitter. I can only imagine someone in 2006 while out dining pulling out their PSP so they can evenly split their bill. Aside from the unlockables, there are other aspects to WTF accessible through network settings (I think) that I unfortunately did not invest time into setting up as I've had the game running throughout my entire playthrough. Nevertheless, these aspects are a sort of achievement system in addition to in an-game email network. Looking back, both of these features probably would have added some additional depth and the feeling of being rewarded to some degree, so I do feel a little disappointed about it.

Needless to say, WTF is not something I can seriously suggest people trying. When I understood what the game's true intentions were, I already felt obligated to keep on playing as I wanted to see just how much of it I could endure. And, with that said, I am still going to be playing the game off-and-on as I have been over these last few months. Despite WTF perhaps being the best candidate for what an anti-game could be in every sense of its identity, I still oddly had an interesting time playing. However, I am still surprised that WTF released outside of Japan and was even a first-party developed and published title.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2021, 07:08:55 pm by dhaabi »

dhaabi

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2021
« Reply #301 on: December 31, 2021, 09:12:30 pm »
52. Burnout 3: Takedown || PlayStation 2 || 12.31.21

As someone who has little history playing racing games, I still have often thought back to when I first played Burnout 3: Takedown over 15 years ago when I rented it over a holiday break. After all this time, I finally revisited the title and am so glad my fond memories were as enjoyable as I had remembered.

Unlike traditional racing games, Burnout 3 offers a more arcade-like experience to players as the game is heavily centered around crashing into opponents and the environment to secure victory. In fact, the game is split between two main gameplay modes, being racing and crashing, although crashing-type races are certainly to be found within the former as well. That being said, Burnout 3 offers a great variety of content that never leaves a player feeling worn out from any repetitive nature. Over the course of its 173 events, it always seems as if the player can progress without playing the same kind of game mode twice in a row. Aside from traditional races, modes such as road rage task the player to succeed in crashing into as many opponents as possible while maintaining your own vehicle while eliminator forces you to never be in last place over a six lap race are some of the variety within the game's offerings.

With a focus on close encounters and destruction, Burnout 3 provides an immense rush to players, whether they're completely demolishing opponents or struggling to catch the lead. In that regard, I found my constant true opponent to be the environment itself as opposed to any other racer. As a game that is dependent on a risk and reward payoff, it's crucial to squeeze into tight spots, turn hazardously, reach dangerous speeds, and drive close to non-racing vehicles that can easily wreck your own. Over time with more and more accidents to be expected, vehicles become tarnished while falling into pieces, but taking these risks are the fundamentals to success.

Aside from racing, a game mode wholly centered around crashing is available. Easily, this is my favorite aspect to Burnout 3, as even a player like myself who struggles with some races can win while finding immense enjoyment to the damage being created. During these courses, the player must travel along a short distance path and purposely crash into parked vehicles and moving traffic with the goal to reach a certain damage expenses quota. In this game mode, a degree of strategy becomes necessary, as understanding where to make the first crash impact becomes the crux of the outcome. With numerous vehicles available throughout this mode, these races may require a basic sports vehicle or something much more powerful like a fire truck.

Of the 173 available events, I've been able to unlock 161, with 146 of those having earned gold. As this point, I'm barred from progressing further only due to my skill level, as I've only left to unlock additional races while all 100 crash events have been completed by earning gold. As the game progresses, difficulty certainly ramps up and provides an ideal challenge while maintaining player interest. Overall, Burnout 3 offers a fun experience with an abundance of modes to please even those who typically avoid the racing genre.

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2021
« Reply #302 on: January 01, 2022, 12:29:01 am »
55. Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore (PS2)

Well looks like I might pad my games beat numbers a little more before it hits midnight for me in less than 2-hours lol


I LOVED DOA2 back in the Dreamcast days. I used to rent it pretty often before finally buying a disc only ex-rental copy of it eventually. Beyond the busty, bouncy female characters you can play as which umm, really appealed to me as a 13-year old boy, DOA2 was just just a fun, good looking game. This was true of its enhanced port to the PS2 DOA2: Hardcore. Essentially Hardcore is the same game albeit with more unlockables, modes, characters, and other goodies you get rewarded with for playing the game. This was the version I played the most given a) it was one of the first PS2 games I bought when I first got the console, and b) it had more of the fan service I enjoyed about the original on the Dreamcast. Essentially unlocking everything through all the modes was an addictive experience for me, especially stuff like CG mode and the extended endings. That was how I felt about it back in 2000/2001 at least. While I still like Hardcore's plethora of unlockables, they just don't appeal to me as a much less hormonal 34-year old man as they did pre-internet 13-year old boy. Still, the gameplay is fun and exciting, especially with the games counter system. But what really steals the show in DOA2 are its graphics and audio. DOA2 is probably the best looking fighting game for its time and one of the best looking games period in the late 90s and early 2000s. Everything from the very detailed characters, to environmental effects like wind and water splashing, to the destructible stage elements, this game is pure eye candy. As mentioned, its audio is also great with some excellent tracks and enjoyable voice acting too. I'm very happy I went back and played this one and it's certainly still an appealing game to me, albeit for slightly different reasons than it was over 20 years ago. (12/31/21) [37/50]

NickAwesome

PRO Supporter

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2021
« Reply #303 on: January 04, 2022, 10:09:19 pm »
I was able to beat 29 games in 2021. That's a lot more than usual. Hoping I can keep it up next year and beat more retro games too.


1.Bugsnax 1/1/21
2.Last of Us Part II 1/5/2021
3.Mafia Definitive Edition 1/6/21
4. 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim 1/12/21
5. Katamari Damacy Reroll 1/12/21
6. Transistor 1/15/21
7. Days Gone 1/20/21
8. Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition 1/23/21
9. The Pathless 1/25/21
10. Detroit Become Human 1/25/21
11. Infamous First Light 1/26/21
12. Rise of the Tomb Raider 1/30/21
13. Ori and the Blind Forest 2/5/21
14. Ys IX Monstrum Nox 2/20/21
15. SMT Nocturne 7/27/21
16. Scarlet Nexus 9/24/21
17. Demon's Souls 9/25/21
18. Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart
19. Lost Judgment 10/28/21
20. Deathloop 11/5/21
21. Artful Escape 11/9/21
22. Psychonauts 11/16/21
23. It Takes Two 11/18/21
24. Morkredd 11/18/21
25. Boyfriend Dungeon 11/19/21
26. GTASA Definitive Edition 11/26/21
27. Psychonauts 2 11/29/21
28. Returnal 12/4/21
29. The Gunk 12/31/21