Author Topic: 52 Games Challenge 2022  (Read 32082 times)

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022
« Reply #180 on: May 16, 2022, 09:27:39 pm »
15 - Insurgency: Sandstorm (PC 2018) - ENDLESS - Since Battlefield 2042 failed, I haven't had a good new shooter to play lately.  Tried a few things, but nothing has settled in too much, but Insurgency: Sandstorm was on sale and figured I'd give it a shot.  I think I had played the first one abit, but I'm not as huge into hardcore shooters normally.  They tend to be more on the small scale, no respawn, sort of things.  Insurgency does have that stuff, but it also has modes with almost 30 people in it with wave respawns and its not overly complicated and too in depth compared to something like Squad.  Definitely hardcore, but it's not overwhelming with the mechanics.  Really, the thing you have to learn most is just the maps so you know all the angles you can get shot at.

Solid enough shooter, I think it could hold me over for abit I think.

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022
« Reply #181 on: May 19, 2022, 01:11:38 pm »
Main List
Previous List

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.
strikethrough games are games that have been abandoned.

86. Elden Ring (PC)
We got my wife a gaming PC built, so we bought her Elden Ring, but then she wanted me to play with her and help her and stuff, so she bought me Elden Ring too.  I have a laptop that can play the game so it all worked out.  Last time I built a mage character, this time I went full strength with this character... like to the point that I'm real squishy, but I can one shot most enemies, most bosses only take 2-3 hits too lmao.  I finally started putting points into vigor so I'm getting less squishy.  I've basically only played to level up, keep up with her, and upgrade my sword and mimic tear summon ash.  It's been a lot of "Hey, I need help here", OK, give me a few minutes to get there, where I absolutely run through bosses with me and my summon ash.  I even had the pleasure of completely skipping the Castle Sol dungeon by jumping off a cliff straight to the boss room.  Enjoying my time with this game again on PC, even vanilla.  I took it a step further with this character and duel wielded massive strength weapons to the point almost every enemy got one shot and most bosses were trivial.  Had a lot of good fun playing with that new play style for me.  Next up is a second randomized run (after I finish getting the achievements) with seamless co-op so my wife and I can play randomizer together.
Rating: Highest Recommendation

87. SkateBIRD (X1)
Another game leaving game pass real soon.  I started it up first I think, but I just wasn't feeling it.  I don't know if I was tired, in a mood, or just didn't understand what was going on with the game, but I dropped it pretty quickly because I was like whatever, I don't get it.  Then a day or two later I came back and decided to give it another go because I wanted to play something and thought it would be silly to play it in front of other people.  Then I really got into it and beat the game in like 2 days.  I've got one achievement left on the game, but it's the achievement for beating all missions, collecting all collectibles, etc.  I've actually only got like 6 collectibles left to get and all of the missions from the post-game park, so I could play tonight for instance and probably get the last achievement today.  Overall the game is fun and plays like OG Tony Hawk with simple button moves.  The missions are pretty repetitive but simple, the story is there but I couldn't be bothered to pay attention to be honest.  It's a good game that probably is better than I let it be because I couldn't be bothered to actually pay attention.  I also wasn't quite sure I understood the ending, did the human get fired and get a severance check?
Rating: Soft pass

88. The Artful Escape (XS)
Game was leaving game pass so I finally decided to get around to finishing the game.  I had only gotten maybe 5 minutes into the game before I had abandoned it originally, but I stuck it through this time around.  Honestly, the game sucks hard.  There really isn't much to it, just walk right and infrequently play simon says.  Story isn't even that interesting nor does it make much sense, just a kinda weird game.
Rating: Hard pass

89. Lost Words (X1)
I saw this game on Game pass and it looked like a game my son would maybe be interested in watching me play so I started it up for him.  First time he barely paid attention.  Second time he paid enough attention for me to get through the 1st Chapter.  Third time he paid better attention and I think I got to Chapter 4, but it was bedtime so I said no more and he's all "Chapter 5!".  Haven't been able to get him to pay enough attention to keep playing, so who knows when I'll get to finishing this.  It's a pretty basic platformer, with a children's story book plot mixed with a real world plot that might be a bit more interesting for adults, and then it's got a bit of choose your own adventure, but I'm thinking it makes no difference on the overall story, just changes the tone and flourish.  Wound up finishing the game on my own as my kid wasn't even mildly interested in watching it anymore.  He was into this game when he was learning to read, but once he learned to read, he moved onto math and was infatuated with that to the point that words bored him.
Rating: Hard pass

90. Going Under (X1)
Another game leaving game pass, this seems to be a pattern where I'm either playing games I've already beaten or I'm doing game pass things.  Anyway, just a rogue-ish dungeon crawler game.  I played the game with tons of accessibility features turned on because I just didn't have the time to dump 20+ hours into the game with it leaving soon, so the game was quite easy for me, which isn't a complaint, just an observation.  Just a weird corporate internship gone awry type of thing.  The context is interesting, but the execution is a bit weird.  Not my bad personally, but I could see a lot of folks enjoying this game and it's jokes.  The jokes either fell flat or hit too hard
Rating: Soft pass

91. Save Room (PC)
First game I beat on my Steam Deck, not really on purpose, just this game was short and I happened to play it after ending Elden Ring sessions.  It's literally a puzzle game based around the inventory management system in Resident Evil.  Really not much else to it.
Rating: Hard pass

92. Bloodroots (XS)
Game was leaving game pass and it looked interesting enough.  I played through about half the game like normal but started getting agitated with the concepts and mechanics so I leveraged accessibility features to get through the rest of the game quickly.  It's got that same style of gameplay as like Hotline Miami where you kill everyone and you die in one hit, so quick repeated runs.  Game gets a little too hard towards the end and the platforming in isometric perspective will have you waste runs because you couldn't gauge distance or depth.
Rating: Hard pass

93. 100 Frogs (PC)
Literally a black and white image with 100 frogs hidding in the image, click the 100 frogs.  Honestly a pretty chill experience and I see there are a lot of similar games out on Steam, I don't know that I'd recommend the game, but it's chill to play.
Rating: Hard pass

94. Forza Horizon (360)
I had beaten this game like a decade ago but I decided to go back to it and see if I missed anything.  I also had in my head that I'd check out the 1000 club DLC stuff because I never checked it out.  Well the DLC was free, but it's locked behind their servers which don't exist anymore so nothing to do there.  I wound up driving around and earning a few of the remaining achievements that I could get without the servers.  Game still stands on its own without the DLC or servers, but it's also only like a 10 hour experience.
Rating: Soft recommendation.

95. Forza Horizon 2 (X1)
Don't get me wrong, all of the Forza Horizon games are great, but I have a thing with this one where I truly believe this is the one Horizon game that will stand the test of time.  It was little to no server reliant features like 4 and 5, and it may only have so many races, but they stretch that out by recommending that you do all of the races under all of the various car types which stretches it out to hundreds of championships to earn.  I haven't done a meaningful chunk and I've already dumped like 40 hours into the game.  3 is the only one I'm not sure about because it's been so long and I don't believe 3 had the same online features as 4 and 5, so 3 might stand the test just as well as 2.
Rating: Highly recommended

96. Forza Horizon 3 (X1)
Apparently I bought all of the expansion DLC for this game and kind of just never played it, so I've actually got a lot of stuff to do in this game still, but I'm also finding so much to do in 2, 4, and 5 still.  I have to say keep this review with a bag of salt because I could have so much more to write when I really get back into this one, which won't be this year.
Rating: Highly recommended

97. Forza Horizon 5 (XS)
I've been trying to do more in the older games, but with the 10th anniversary content being rolled out I've decided to play this one a bit.  For some reason I've been doing the seasons content for this series, not sure why, I think I had it in my head there was some fancy thing you'd get for doing the 10th anniversary series, but :shrug:  I still really hope they at EoL enable it so folks can go back and do old series content offline, like at least the non online elements.
Rating: Highly recommended

98. Project Wingman (X1)
This is the only game leaving game pass this time that I was mildly interested in.  I went in expecting Ace Combat paint by numbers and what I basically got was Ace Combat paint by numbers.  It was a fun experience, it had lots of warnings about no checkpoints, but I believe Ace Combat was the same way, either way, I knock it points for that, I hate having to replay huge sections and stuff... but I overcame it and beat the game.  The end of the game, like the last 4 missions, is where the game got interesting and had me actually paying attention.  That's really unfortunate to be honest because I skipped over so much because I just didn't care about the plot.  I saw a meme about the game after beating it which had me actually look up stuff about the game, which the game itself wasn't interesting enough for me to do after the fact, so I have a slightly better idea of the plot thanks to a meme convincing me to look more into it.  Honestly, it's a good game, but it just makes me want to play Ace Combat.
Rating: Soft pass

99. Atelier Ryza 2 (NS)
It took me a really long time to get into this game and get around to this game.  I really loved the first entry in this trilogy and bought the 2nd game day one, expecting to immediately play it, but I just put it off.  Not because I didn't want to play or anything, I just kept putting it off. Then I finally started playing the game and kept getting distracted.  Once the 3rd entry got announced I knew I couldn't put it off any longer, so I dove in.  The game is great.  More of the same from the first game with some minor improvements and some not so great things.  Story is good, characters are great, gameplay loop is borderline addictive... however some faults: the limited storage at your Atelier, it took time to hit it, but once I did I was annoyed at having to essentially throw stuff away, either give me no limit, or allow me to reduce to gems/sell to town lady instead of just tossing stuff; Let me reduce to gems on the fly in the field, it would make the game much better not to have to just throw things away, give me a way to reduce to gems on the fly; Too many team members, the 3 person main team with a single support is pretty good, I very rarely actually leveraged the support person, but I wound up with my team of 3 and just never used anyone else... either give me incentive to use other characters or just don't give me the option? These are minor things but I feel like it kind of breaks up the purpose of stuff.  Early game had a lot of emphasis on 'help the townsfolk' but that quickly just went away and I rarely saw any incentive to doing the quests as I rarely bought stuff from anyone and the rewards were honestly not important if you aren't buying from merchants.  It would've been nice if some of the quests could've earned you things directly instead of money to go buy things.  It's a dumb thing, but if you give me the money to buy a table, I'm not going to buy a table, but if you give me a quest that just gives me a table, I'm more willing to do the quest, not really sure why I work that way, but I do.  I also would've liked ways in game to earn/create outfits instead of just oh sorry that's dlc, but I get it... I guess.  Anyway, great game, first game is better, but this game is still fantastic.
Rating: Highly recommended

100. Miss Kobayashi's Dragonmaid: Burst Forth (NS)
A little sad that this wound up being game 100, but I decided to play this because I figured it would be short, it would give me a chance to give the shmup genre another chance, and I like the anime.  First off, this game isn't English dubbed, so this is my first experience with the Japanese dub's VAs.  I've heard a lot of shit about the English dub for this series and I always shrugged it off saying meh, it's ok.  First thing I'll note is that 90% of the cast the different character's have similar tones between English and Japanese and I think that's really cool that, imo, it matches... however, that last 10%... Lucoa, in Japan she's sultry and almost cougarous, but in English she's bubbly and an airhead... so if that's the complaint... I get it, it completely changes the tone and quite frankly the character.  Anyway, as for the game itself, it's just a standard shmup it feels like, it's got accessibility options that makes the game easier for folks who suck or just can't care, but I feel like most shmup games probably have that.  And I was not expecting the game to do the, I guess, perv thing of as you take damage you lose your clothes, that seems weird for this, but maybe I'm forgetting that that probably happened in the anime too, I guess.
Rating: Hard pass

101. Next Space Rebels (X1)
Another leaving game pass games.  This one is a rocket building game, you start with like little model rockets and work your way up to the point that you can launch out of the atmosphere and into space, with the end goal of launching a satellite into orbit.  You get different endings based on certain decisions made throughout your playthrough.  Honestly it's a pretty fun game to play and kind of addicting to sit there and mess with configurations to do different things... though I will say the robotics parts I didn't get so I fudged my way through those challenges and I wound up youtubing how to solve a few different challenges and I never really got the hang of the tagging system to progress, even using a cheatsheet with all of the tags, I still didn't really get the system, especially at the end I was actively trying to leverage the system to do stuff and it still wasn't quite doing what I expected it to do.  And then with all of that, there is no good ending, all three endings are pretty bad and seem to just tell the tale that people are dumb and don't know what they are doing or something.  As fun as this game is, I have to imagine something else does it better.
Rating: Soft pass

102. Sonic Unleashed (360)
I got Sonic Frontiers on the cheap and have been hearing how good it is, so I decided to get back into my Sonic franchise run.  Slightly surprised that this is my first attempt this year (November) at continuing this run.  I honestly went into this game with higher expectations than I should have because I'd heard good things about this game, like retrospective stuff.  Obviously I hated the janky Sonic sections because the physics and everything are always broken, but I had higher expectations for the Werehog sections.  Side rant, "were" means human and "hog" would more be in reference to pigs... so he's a man-pig.  It won't ever not bother me.  Should be Hedgewolf or something.  Whatever.  Anyway, the "werehog" sections started out fine and I relatively enjoyed it... until I realized that it had Mario 64 style progression where you have to collect stupid medals to unlock levels.  So I had to make sure to start paying attention to that, which was kind of annoying... by the end of the game I had to go and replay levels to get medals so I could unlock the last level.  Then the game started its betrayal... so many levels felt like the enemies just wouldn't stop coming, I kept dying, but I kept trying and eventually they'd stop spawning, so it was okay... but then the final level/set of levels actually had multiple sections where the enemies really do infinitely spawn... I sat there through so many lives and so much time until I googled it and found out that they do spawn infinitely and you just need to find the hidden button and gtfo of there.  Like honestly, it's still the best 3D Sonic I've played, but that's a real low bar.
Rating: Soft pass

103. Sonic Rush (NDS)
I started this one I long while back, but being on DS it was hard to keep going for some stupid reason.  Anyway, found my DS and picked this back up, beat it pretty quick.  Not too long of a game, solid 2D sonic experience.  I honestly don't have a ton to say about this one as it went by real fast, but by the numbers 2D Sonic from what I recall. 
Rating: Soft pass

104. Sonic Rush Adventure (NDS)
I started this one immediately after Rush, expecting more of the same, but it's like a cross between Rush and like an adventure game.  The game obviously relies too much on DS mechanics like they are shoehorned in, but they do that shit for DS and Wii a lot.  Gameplay is pretty good, but I didn't realize that the game is one of those games where you have to manually save, so when the game crashed towards the end I had to start over, so I said fuck it, went and found a save online, put it on my cart and continued where I left off at, but like the save file had obviously beaten the game, so I had to kind of figure out where to go and what to do on my own.  Honestly it ruined the entire experience for me, had I not been able to find a save file as quickly as I did, I would've abandoned the game and just honestly I might have stopped the entire franchise run of this.  I get a lot of shit for this opinion, because it's a common staple of RPGs, but like games should just fucking have autosave, don't tell me it's my fault for not saving often, I know that, it isn't helpful, and autosave isn't that complex of a feature when you already have a save system, you are just automatically initiating a manual save.
Rating: Hard pass

105. Sonic Riders (PS2)
Hooked up my PS2 and started this one.  Reminded me of Rivals at first because of how bad I was doing and how I didn't know what the fuck to do with this game.  So I went and grabbed the instruction manual and read through.  That helped a little, but gawd this game really requires you to get your shit together to get through it.  Honestly, this game is tough as nails and doesn't give you much leeway to work with if you fuck up.  Plus the rubber banding is real.  That seems to be a thing in these competitive Sonic games, the rubber banding works for the bots but not for you.  I worked pretty hard to get to the final set of races, and the final race was just fucking tough as nails that I had to do the race over and over and watch what the bots were doing and kind of piece everything together until I managed to get a perfect run together.
Rating: Hard pass

Next List
« Last Edit: November 25, 2022, 11:32:23 am by ignition365 »


dhaabi

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022
« Reply #182 on: May 19, 2022, 01:18:34 pm »
07. Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion || PlayStation 4 || 05.17.22

Almost a year ago to the day, I began playing Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion (PotE.) For some reason, I stepped away from it and never came back until recently. I hadn't realized that, when I stopped playing, I was over halfway finished. While the game isn't anything groundbreaking and even offers a less-than-average experience, I'm glad I finally finished my playthrough.

As the fifth and likely final game based on the Adventure Time TV series, PotE offers a new narrative that the new cast is introduced to and is tasked with solving the problem at-hand just as they do with any other typical adventure they're faced with. Easily, the plot offered is one that fits well within the context of the show's later seasons and its overall themes. PotE's story could be compared to some of the longer episodic format mini-series that the show featured at times. In this regard, for the story alone, I think that most fans of the show would be pleased.

Offering a light RPG experience, PotE is the most successful video game entry to-date within the series by allowing players to explore its world and to experience first-hand the lore that had been crafted for a decade. While there is still much to be desired in these regards, the world of Ooo feels more alive than ever in a video game format, as the 3D exploratory nature aids players in feeling that they're a part of it. However, the battle mechanics of the game do need to be addressed. As mentioned before, the RPG elements are simple and do not yield a challenging experience. For those familiar to the genre, combat provides little difficulty as most enemies are low-leveled while items are plentiful. Unlike many other RPGs with a traditional level-up system and stat progression, PotE allows players to upgrade their individual stats and abilities at any given time by way of in-game currency. Throughout the entire time playing as I finished my playthrough, enemies were lower-leveled than my party members, so battles seemed already in my favor. Battles have more depth to them in theory, as there are status effects, multi-hit attacks, and AoE attacks, but they are limited in occurring against the player's party; when they do occur, there is little consequence.

One of the game's chief gameplay elements is traversing across the overworld in a boat, as the majority of the world is currently flooded. While traveling, there are items to find in addition to a small amount of events to discover, such as enemy pirate ships. Unlike other games, there is no fast-travel system, although this is fine since this is not an open-world game and defeats part of the exploratory design choice. While the overworld is not large, it is large enough. With that said, the game could hugely benefit from greater UX design, as there are no map markers nor mini-map. Often, I would be forced to open the map system from the game's main menu to see the route I was needing to take. This issue became more problematic, as the boat comes to a complete halt during this time. So, while only a second or two was added after each time the map was opening, it accumulates to a high amount quickly. During one story element, an area you're needing to explore is surrounded by a wide radius of overworld barricades that are only appear when nearing and not present at all on the map. Since the game offers open exploration, I did not confine myself to this one area exclusively during this time. I repeatedly found myself trapped and unsure of how to successfully travel to and from this section and quickly became irritated.

To comment briefly on character movement when on land, it is clunky and not designed well. Characters feel heavy while moving about while the player is limited to a walking pace. I should note that there is a faster means of travel by way of a scooter of sorts, but it is not reliable as there are many ledges to climb and small platforming elements while being on land. When exploring a confined area, there are also a small number of environment interactions that relate to character abilities, but these are largely focused on one character whose abilities allow the party to cross wide gaps or vertical travel. For both overworld and environment travel, the mechanics feel clunky and would ave greatly benefited from more development.

As someone who has now played and finished all five of the series games, I can say that, while PotE isn't the best entry in the series, it isn't the worst. The game doesn't offer a lot of substance and may have been designed with a younger demographic in mind, but, as a fan of the Adventure Time series, I still enjoyed my time playing. With that said, if you aren't a fan of the TV series, then there isn't any reason at all to consider playing.

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022
« Reply #183 on: May 20, 2022, 09:50:26 pm »
21. Uncharted: Lost Legacy (PS5) 5/20/22

And with that I am finished with the Uncharted series once again. I know this isn’t everyone’s favorite simply because Nathan’s not in it, but I honestly think is actually one of the best in the franchise; just another example of how Naughty Dog gets shit right.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdzV7d0tAG7/

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022
« Reply #184 on: May 22, 2022, 08:58:49 pm »
22. Mario Golf: Super Rush (Switch)

I really used to like Hot Shots Golf back in the day so I was kinda hoping that Mario Golf have a similar feel; and while it did at first, it gradually became less and less like Hot Shots. Overall the game was just kinda meh.. some parts good, others annoying, and there were several times when the resolution would drop down so low I thought I was playing the damn game on a graphing calculator or something. It wasn’t terrible, but just not really my thing.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd4ZlLAtaL1/

kashell

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022
« Reply #185 on: May 23, 2022, 08:43:33 am »
33. Shin Megami Tensei V

Great game, although I'm still a bit miffed that I missed some flags for the true neutral path. Otherwise, I had a lot of fun with this. Navigating the Da'at areas was tough at times because the minimaps weren't helpful. Otherwise, just an all around solid RPG.

telly

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022
« Reply #186 on: May 23, 2022, 09:38:26 am »
Game 6 - Final Fantasy X (Switch) – 33 Hours


I think this is the 4th time I’ve finished this game. This time I played with my girlfriend watching so I tried to speed through this playthrough and skipped a lot of postgame stuff. Only got the hidden Aeons and did a few Jecht Spheres and some of the minigames. Had an old BradyGames strategy guide to use while playing as well which was entertaining. Playing on the Switch was a slight downgrade with only one game in the collection being on cart and there was a little slowdown as well during some busy moments. Otherwise it’s a faithful port. Still no ability to skip cutscenes which is annoying. During this playthrough I was really wishing I could move the camera and look around. Based on interviews I’ve read I think there were a lot of technical challenges regarding making a partially 3D game for the PS2 so I think for the time it’s excusable.

Other than that, I don’t have a whole lot to add to my review of the game a few years ago. I still love this game and it’s one of my favorites.

old review
« Last Edit: May 23, 2022, 09:40:06 am by telly »
Currently Playing:
DOOM (PS4)

My music collection | My Backloggery

dhaabi

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022
« Reply #187 on: May 25, 2022, 03:52:50 pm »
08. Bit.Trip Presents... Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien || PlayStation 4 || 05.20.22

Having played a few of the previous Bit.Trip entries, I was looking forward to playing Bit.Trip Presents... Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien (Runner2) soon after it initially released. Five years ago, I started playing but got busy about halfway through and never picked it back up. I'm glad I finally re-visited it with a brand new playthrough after all this time.

Without much narrative and focused solely on providing an arcade-like gameplay experience, Runner2 is a side-scrolling platform game with auto-run mechanics offering hi-score mechanics for those interested in leaderboard aspects. Controlling the player-character, the player must dodge an array of obstacles in order to reach a stage's end goal. Throughout each of the 100 stages, level designs are interesting while maintaining a sense of busyness due to fast-paced gameplay that requires quick reactions and visual reading capability. While Runner2 does not have formal ties to the rhythm genre, it borrows heavily from the genre by way of an interactive soundtrack and audio cues for the player to rely upon in addition to visuals.

Throughout the first three areas spanning 60 stages, new gameplay mechanics are routinely introduced as new stages become playable. Over time as each new element becomes integrated alongside others, nearly every button of the controller becomes a reaction input. In this regard, Runner2 greatly reminds me of PlayStation classic Vib-Ribbon. These additional elements provide a gameplay experience that never comes close to becoming monotonous, as it seems if if there is always something new to become accustomed to the player's visual learning.

However, unlike Vib-Ribbon, the chief difference in Runner2 is regarding when a player faults. Instead of a Life or Health system, once the player faults, they are set back to either the stage beginning or stage checkpoint. I found this design decision welcome and most ideal, considering the average 2-minute stage length. The Restart system grants easier capability for the player to master stages segment by segment. At the same time, this design choice's success is elevated further as there is no load screen in-between faulting and restarting; it is a function that absolutely would have been detrimental to a player's experience had not been implemented.

In addition to the basic objective to reach the stage goal, Runner2 offers a variety of other elements in each stage that warrants numerous replays. Across stages, the player will periodically come across entrances to retro-like 16-bit stages, alternate paths revealing new stages, and treasures to collect that unlock other playable characters and outfits. These aspects coincide with the basic stage collectible of a gold bar that also allows the player to advance further along the overworld map. The latter collectible is not something that the majority of players will need to worry about, as nearly every one can be collected without much difficulty. On that note, three difficulty options are available for players to select from which do provide a substantial difference for how stages play. Having played on Normal difficulty, I thought there was a healthy amount of a challenge offered for completitionists.

Overall, Runner2 is an excellent entry in the expansive Bit.Trip series. If you're a fan of side-scrolling platformers, you'll have a lot of fun.

dhaabi

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022
« Reply #188 on: May 29, 2022, 01:45:09 pm »
09. Creature in the Well || Nintendo Switch || 05.25.22

I'm not quite sure how exactly I became aware of Creature in the Well, but I'm definitely glad that it's a part of my collection and that I've completed it. Many projects which combine genres together to create an unusual play style is something I'm routinely drawn to, and this game exemplifies that notion.

Taking control of an unnamed robot awakening in in the rotting rubble of a lonely desert plagued by a storm, the player slowly begins to uncover exactly who the player-character is, where they are, and what they are to accomplish. Being informed early on that you are but one of many—and presumably the final remaining—BOT-C engineer who was built to save the nearby town Mirage. As the surrounding land has been encompassed by a never-ending sandstorm, the town has existed for centuries in the eye of the storm, with its townspeople being unable to leave. While exploring Mirage, its citizens remain within the safety of their homes, spreading rumors and information about the old world from all those hundreds of years ago that now exist as innocent folktales.

Moving forward with an internal drive to carry out their goal, the Engineer travels to the mountain which was the base of operations for a weather machine that was designed to end the storm. Almost immediately as you enter the mountain, an unknown entity simply referred to as the Creature observes you from the depths below although is never to be seen properly aside from its grotesque, long arms reaching toward you out of the darkness and its lit eyes from the lonely shadows. For reasons unknown, the Creature has personal goals in having the land lay desolate, plagued by nature's threats. The Creature has no reserves in telling the Engineer that their goals of revitalizing the Mirage will be thwarted by him, just as the countless other BOT-C engineers had been.

Inside the mountain, the player's goal is to collect energy power from the eight separate reserve sectors in order to regain control of the weather machine that has become obsolete. This is accomplished by redirecting energy from energy bumpers to locked gates, which allows for the Engineer to reach each sector's main hub where specialized machinery sits idle. However, this is not a straightforward task. In these hundreds of years in solitude after sabotaging the people's efforts in remedying nature's plight, the Creature has hijacked existing sector components which now serve as a security system toward any intruders. Combating these threats, the Engineer engages in what is described by the developers as "pinbrawler" gameplay, or "pinball hack-and-slash" mechanics. In short, the Engineer is needing to deflect enemy attacks timely and at specific angles to disengage enemy weaponry while simultaneously collecting energy from energy bumpers. With two distinguished weapon types known as charge weapons and strike weapons, the player must find a balance in utilizing these tools while dodging both aimed and AoE attacks. In a way, each room serves as a small, enclosed pinball board that unlocks new paths.

On that note, Creature in the Well does offer a degree of exploration and secrets to uncover. In some areas, disengaging the room's threat entirely reveals hidden paths which contain new types of weaponry, upgrade tools, and cosmetic items. With that said, each room varies in how it is to be disabled. While some rooms are designed with brute force in mind, other require the use of puzzle-solving by way of timed inputs. Each sector seems to have trap encounters that are best overcome by relying on specific weapon effects, so seeking out these secrets is in the player's interest. In late-game battle sequences, having the full array of weapons at-hand greatly benefits the player's chances of winning. In the final boss encounter specifically, I lost repeatedly no less than ten times—it was after I realized my current setup was leaving me at a disadvantage that I readjusted my equipment and finally had success.

As a final note, I would like to comment briefly on the game's visual style and soundtrack. Alongside the desert landscape outside, each sector features a standout color palette that utilizes textured patterns that really help differentiate each area from another while feeling vibrant. For example, the outside environment is given bright earth tones of yellow, orange, red, and brown with scratchy layered textures that illustrate how damaged the world has become. These textured effects are a reoccurring design choice that take on a new effect alongside each area's varying colors. The stylized textures may convey so many effects, such as cracks, scratches, mold, rust, decay, growth, and erosion which I found quite successful.

With all that said, I had a lot of fun playing Creature in the Well. Offering a short campaign of six hours to fully complete, the game offered a unique experience paired with an impressionable style that delivered its goals strongly.

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022
« Reply #189 on: June 01, 2022, 01:30:14 am »
It's been a month and a half since I beat a game which is completely understandable since in that time I closed on a house, moved myself including my multiple massive collections and all my other crap, and set it all up in my new house, which is also in a different state than the one I moved out of. So yeah, there has been nearly no time for video games which recently has had been itching to play something as things are finally starting to settle down. I am in the middle of playing a longer game at the moment, but not wanting May to be a gameless month I decided to spend my evening with several games that are very near and dear to my heart, and ones I've played for many hours prior to this evening. Of course, I'm referring to the classic Tekken trilogy, specifically the original arcade versions. Funny enough, I've barely played the arcade versions of the original three Tekken games, but like most I played the hell out of their PS1 ports. So it was pretty fun going back and replaying them the way they were originally released. But anyhow, here are my reviews on each of them.


26. Tekken (Arcade)

While I have played the original Tekken in the arcade many years ago, it wasn't a game I really remember seeing. But playing the original Tekken is really a trip for me back to a very fun, exciting time in arcade games when 3D was becoming more common and it really made me feel like I was entering the future. Unfortunately these early 3D game graphics haven't aged the best and Tekken is no exception, although I must say I appreciate the zeitgeist they represent and for the time most people thought they looked pretty cool. One other memorable thing about the visuals were the 3D platforms that you fight on with static 2D backgrounds, which while primitive actually look pretty cool most of the time, especially when the right lighting is applied. The OST is also pretty good with some really chill and techno tracks playing as you combat your foes. And then there's the gameplay which while not bad, in fact it's slightly above average, does have some blaring balancing issues and is also very basic when compared to later entries. Still, the original Tekken was an excellent templet to improve upon, which is precisely what Namco did with its sequel a year later. (5/31/22) [33/50]

27. Tekken 2 (Arcade)

Tekken 2 literally took everything from the original and improved on it and then some. The graphics and visuals look noticeable better in every way. The OST and sound effects are slightly better. But what really steals the show in regards to improvements is the gameplay. Tekken 2 really feels more like the Tekken gameplay that people have come to love and appreciate over the years, albeit pretty crude compared to later entries. But for a start and compared to its predecessor the gameplay is not bad by any means, and in fact is actually pretty damn good. I really enjoyed playing this one, especially since it gives you WAY more characters to select and some of my absolute favorite Tekken stages to this day such as the 90s New York City level with the World Trade Center building in the background as well as the amazing Hong Kong Sky Scraper level. Tekken 2 is an absolute classic if there ever was one. (5/31/22) [35/50]

28. Tekken 3 (Arcade)

If I had played Tekken 3 in the arcade ever back in the day I'd completely forgot how much better it looks over the PS1 port. While I'd say the first two Tekken game look pretty close to the arcade versions on the PS1, the Arcade version of Tekken 3 looks way better than the PS1 port. In fact, I'd say Tekken 3 in the arcade is one of the best looking games of its time. This game felt like a big leap forward compared to Tekken 2, and in the same way that game improved upon the original Tekken, so does 3 compared to 2. My favorite improvement is definitely the gameplay which is definitely where you'd want to see improvements to a fighting game. The controls and balancing feel so good in Tekken 3, and it's such a joy to learn how to do the many techniques in this game that have made it a favorite amongst the hardcore fighting game crowd for decades now. While it's personally not my favorite Tekken game it is certainly understandable why its widely considered the best game in the franchise. It's definitely a must for fighting game fans. (5/31/22) [37/50]

kashell

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022
« Reply #190 on: June 01, 2022, 09:28:04 am »
34. Chocobo GP

I finished the story, did some trials, unlocked some course, and I'm already going through Extra Story Mode to get more tickets. I'm really enjoying this more than I thought I would. I love being able to play as Vivi and a lot of my favorite Espers.

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022
« Reply #191 on: June 01, 2022, 04:32:21 pm »
May Update

I played a lot more World of Warcraft!

But then, I beat Elden Ring 2 more times to get that sweet, sweet platinum trophy.


Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022
« Reply #192 on: June 02, 2022, 02:16:20 am »
29. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2)

This one almost goes up there with Sonic Adventure as a game from my past that I returned to and wish I hadn't. Most of my retro GTA nostalgia is with 3, however I was hyped to the max for Vice City when it was announced. I went to a local mall with a friend so he could pick up his copy and we promptly drove back to his house and played it until his parents essentially kicked me out of the house. I too acquired my own copy of Vice City shortly after and remember enjoying the game for the most part. However, it never had the specialness of memorability of 3 for me or even San Andreas. Well...going back and beating it again for the first time in about 20-years I've been shown why this is probably the case.


First and foremost, let's get GTA: Vice City's presentation out of the way. The game oozes 80s charm in a very 6th console gen sort of way. There is tons of neon, the NPCs and main characters are all wearing period appropriate clothing, the cars look like real ones from the 80s, and overall it's impossible to mistake where and when this game takes place. And then there's the OST which holy freakin god man! I literally drove around Vice City just to listen to the games excellent catalog of 80s music. On top of the excellent 80s OST of hits from the time, the voice acting is also excellent with many big name actors and actresses providing the character vocals. While I have overwhelming praise for these aspects of Vice City, the rest of what I have to say about it isn't so nice.


I hear a lot of people praise Vice City's story, however I found it to be one of the weakest parts of the game. It follows the plot of Scarface pretty close in a lot of ways, and as for where it differs it mostly comes across as very generic and even poorly written. This is no more evident than one characters motivation for betraying you which will probably have you scratching your head since it comes out of nowhere for pretty much no reason more or less. But what plagues GTA: Vice City above all else is its gameplay. The gameplay was ripped right out of GTA3, however the mission design in that game seemed to take into account the limitations of its gameplay and lay the missions out accordingly for the most part. Vice City's missions range from okay to rage inducing since the crap controls will provide more of a challenge to the player then the bad guys or objectives in the missions themselves. Driving is difficult, running around in an area is difficult, and shooting is difficult, all because the poor controls and gameplay of Vice City. Combine all this with the aforementioned boring Miami gangster story and it becomes pretty hard to have fun when you keep dying over and over again due to partially broken controls and you know nothing terribly interesting is on the other side of succeeding at the mission. All things considered I am saddened that Vice City will join a infamous list of older games from my childhood and teens that I've become disenchanted with to where I can't even pretend to speak highly of the game anymore. And look, I wasn't some massive Vice City fanboy before, but I at least could have said that Vice City was a really good game. Now I struggle to say it's even an okay game. However, if you're looking for an excellent throwback to the 80s from a game made in the 2000s its definitely hard to beat Vice City. (6/1/22) [32/50]

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022
« Reply #193 on: June 03, 2022, 01:49:07 am »
30. Tekken 4 (PS2)

Yeah, I'm on a Tekken kick right now lol. But after Tekken Tag Tournament I sort of checked out of the franchise for a while and never played any of the later Tekken games, at least not until years after their initial release. Tekken 4 was unfortunately one of those games that completely flew under my radar at the time it came out and I never even remember seeing it in the arcades in the early 2000s. But anyhow, now that I have played Tekken 4 quite a bit and beat it several times, Tekken 4 isn't amazing, but it's certainly not a bad game either. Gameplay is pretty good with some additional mechanics introduced which don't really add much to the gameplay beyond more realistic stages that can be interacted with minimally. The controls work great as you'd expect, but don't really feel as good as either Tag Tournament or 3 which is a shame. Graphics are decent, however this game is undeniably an early PS2 game given the lack of fidelity in the 3D models that is more common in later PS2 titles. Still, the characters look pretty good for the most part as do the stages. Finally, the OST is okay for the most part, but characters are also fully voice acted which definitely adds to the quality of Tekken 4. Overall this game feels like a small step back from a few of the previous entries, but for what it is, Tekken 4 is still pretty damn fun. (6/2/22) [34/50]

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2022
« Reply #194 on: June 04, 2022, 11:17:20 am »
31. Tekken 5 (PS2)

As far as modern-ish Tekken games go, 5 is the one I've played the most, however I figured it was high time I took a deeper look at it and decided where it stood compared to the other games in the franchise I've played. Tekken 5 is an amazing fighting game! Replaying all the previous Tekken titles has really made me appreciate how much this series has evolved over time and with while I do believe Tag Tournament was the peak of the series and 4 was a bit of a slump, 5 is an amazing return to form and it shows with how well crafted and enjoyable this game is to play. On top of that I'd forgotten how good Tekken 5 looked; the character models and plentiful stages almost look next gen for the time and it amazes me how much better it looks than 4 which was released just 3 years prior. OST is also an improvement as is the increase in voice acting and dialogue between characters. Unfortunately some of Tekken 5's alternate modes aren't as good as in previous games, however one massive bonus this game has on the PS2 is the inclusion of Tekken 1-3 as well as an unlockable version of the underrated arcade gem Starblade. I haven't decided if I'm going to continue this Tekken kick I've been on and play 6, 7, and Tag Tournament 2, but for what it's worth 5 is an outstanding title in the series! (6/3/22) [39/50]