52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

[bikingjahuty]

I know it's still very early September, but I've been putting a lot of thought into what games I'm going to playing leading up to Halloween. Like many, October is a month I typically spend playing horror themed games, or games that have a more spooky aesthetic to them. I usually start playing games like this in September since there doesn't seem to be any shortage of games that meet these criteria. Here is my play wishlist until October 31st.


1. Silent Hill (PS1) - I played this game years before and thought it was pretty good, althought it's no SH2 in book. I want to give it another go and see if maybe like like it better the next time around.


2. Resident Evil 6 (PS4) - I've never played RE6 and am curious to see if it's as bad as many say it is. After playing RE5 late last year, I'd be surprised if I liked it less than that game.


3. Resident Evil 0 (PS4) - I haven't played this game in at least a decade, but remember enjoying it quite a bit. I originally played it on the Gamecube back when it first came out and remember liking it a lot. That's why it surprises me that so many people consider this to be one of the weaker RE games now. I'm looking forward to playing it again and seeing if it is in fact weaker than I remember.


4. Little Nightmares (PS4) - My wife played this game and the sequel a few years ago and I remember thinking they looked really interesting and fun. I'm looking forward to playing them myself


5. Castlevania Rondo of Blood (PS4) - I've played Dracula X on the SNES, which was alright, but to my understanding the original PCE Rondo of Blood is a significantly better game. Seeing how much I love Symphony of the Night, I'm really looking forward to trying this one out.


6. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64) - I've been meaning to replay this game for the better part of 20-years now. I acgually haven't beat MM since it first came out in the early 2000s. It always had a bit of a fall-ish feeling to it, and the mask mechanic obvious reminds me of Halloween. I really hope I get around to playing this one.

[kashell]

65. Cosmic Fantasy 2

The good news: you can walk in eight directions instead of four, the anime movies are crisper, and the graphics are slightly better. The bad news: everything else. At the time of their initial releases, both Cosmic Fantasy 2 and the first game were attempts to keep pace with other heavy hitters like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Phantasy Star. They have the look but not the feel. Cosmic Fantasy 2 just isn't fun to play. There's a lot wrong that I'll probably gripe about in a review. Did Working Design's published version receive any acclaim? Were these games well-received in Japan? I have no idea. All I know is that I'm done with this series. I'm still glad I gave it a chance but lessons learned. If LRG does another collection then I'm ignoring it.

[telly]

Game 15 - Moon (Switch) - 26 Hours

Something about video games that I've always been really interested in is the use of violence. The vast majority of video games, even something tame like Mario, rely at least somewhat on violence as part of the experience. As a result, I've always been really interested in games that are designed with a non-violent approach. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing bad about a violent video game - I enjoy them as much as the next person. I just think that in general, video games tend to lean more towards violence because it's the easiest way to present a challenge or obstacle for the player. It's why I think games can be a turn off for a lot of people where other forms of media are not restricted in this way.

It's for this reason why I found Moon to be an incredibly interesting game that I still don't think gets enough attention, despite it's established cult following. It is most known for it's subversion of tropes frequently present in RPGs. When you play an RPG, you're often murdering creatures indiscriminately. You barge into people's homes and take all their stuff. It's only about what makes me better in terms of stats and experience points. Moon asks the question if maybe what you do in an RPG isn't ethical, and places you in the position of a boy stuck in the video game world that he ravaged as the player, who is now tasked with rectifying all the destruction he previously caused. Through playing the game I considered if what I did as a video game player was really worth all those experience points. That stray dog that you scare off and almost kill is actually pretty cool in the end and you can actually teach him tricks. That monster you almost destroyed was actually someone else's pet. So your goal is to revive all the animals that you previously killed and befriend all the villagers, with the overarching goal of collecting love rather than levels. It was so refreshing to play a game that explores some different ideas about the relationship between you as a player and the game itself.

I also absolutely loved the game's visuals and music. While this may not be all that exciting to some, something about this game's look just clicked with me. It's a mixture of 2D sprites and claymation figures on pre-rendered backgrounds and I think it looks so good. The soundtrack is simply divine, featuring an eclectic variety of music ranging from Debussy to hard rock, blues, techno, 90s-era rap, shamisen, pop, and so much more. The game's overall scenarios also reminded me a lot of the quirkiness seen in Earthbound. Each character and animal has their own unique little personalities and idiosyncrasies that you need to uncover in order to obtain love, and it was such a charming and humorous experience trying to collect as much love as possible.

While Moon is billed as an anti-RPG, this is really only referring to the story. Gameplay wise it's just a puzzle game with no real RPG holdovers. It's a puzzle game mostly about trial and error, where you acquire a multitude of different items that you can use to help explore the world and rescue all the animals. The gameplay to me felt very much like Shenmue in the sense that the game operates on a day/night 7 day week cycle and you have to be in certain places to trigger events and progress in the story. So like Shenmue, there's a lot of wondering around and waiting for things to happen which can get very tedious. There are a collection of different mini-games that do break up some of that monotony however.

No, my biggest complaint about Moon is the game's ending. To summarize, basically the game cannot be truly finished until you recognize that the only way to truly obtain love is to go outside and stop playing the game. While this is a nice sentiment, it completely goes against what I thought was the overall message of the game. It felt like a slap in the face "gotcha" moment where the game told me that none of the actions you make in a video game actually matter, when the whole point is to imagine a "what if" scenario where your actions in a video game do matter and have consequences. It creates so many plot holes and inconsistencies in the story, and given the existence of an unused, much darker ending that better fits with the game's message and ties together the story better, I was very disappointed in how it was handled.

All that said, I still think this game is excellent, one of the most memorable games I've played in a long time. If you're at all interested in Japanese games that are quirky, different and off the beaten path, definitely give Moon a shot. Particularly if you like RPGs.

[kashell]

Someone else that played Moon! Nice work, Telly. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[kashell]

66. Time Hollow

I feel like this game was one, massive wasted opportunity. Or maybe, this would have been better as an anime or movie. The actual gameplay isn't bad, but it's really tedious. The story never goes anywhere despite it being a time-traveling murder mystery sent in the present era. The problem solving is simply done with trial and error and/or saving and reloading. Just so much stuff that didn't get towards half of the potential promised by the game's concept. It makes the six or so hours of game time feel longer. At least the anime movies are gorgeous. I can't recall the last DS/3DS game I played that had them. Maybe Sands of Destruction?

[dhaabi]

4. Little Nightmares (PS4) - My wife played this game and the sequel a few years ago and I remember thinking they looked really interesting and fun. I'm looking forward to playing them myself

If you do end up playing and enjoying Little Nightmares, be sure to add Reanimal to your radar. Tarsier Studios, the original developers of Little Nightmares, never had the IP rights to the franchise as it's instead owned by Bandai Namco. So, when they were purchased by Embracer Group, this led them to create what, to me, seems like an even more horror-focused platforming adventure title. The trailer for Reanimal brings a lot of anticipation.

Game 15 - Moon (Switch) - 26 Hours

All that said, I still think this game is excellent, one of the most memorable games I've played in a long time. If you're at all interested in Japanese games that are quirky, different and off the beaten path, definitely give Moon a shot. Particularly if you like RPGs.

Moon: Remix RPG Adventure has been something I've wanted to play since learning about it well over a decade at this point, and especially so considering the developers involved. Since I own a copy of the game now, hopefully I get around to playing it much sooner than later. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!

[telly]

Game 16 - DaGeDar (DS) - 5 Hours

Someone randomly gave me this game and I needed a DS game to play anyway so tada! A review of DaGeDar. I know nothing about this line of toys but apparently there's a racing game about them. I thought this game was going to be trash, but it turned out better than I expected. At it's core, it's a fun 2D racing game with a good consistent speed. It's reminiscent of F-Zero with the bouncing around the track and use of speed boosts. There are 33 courses which are open ended encouraging you to experiment and find shortcuts. It's fun trying to collect all of the different racers too, which you can obtain from finishing the campaign, time attack rounds, or by finding collectables in each stage.

Unfortunately while this game is fun, it's not the deepest experience. There is no interaction with the other racer (there's only one) so you're really just going against the clock regardless of whether you pick time attack or the main campaign. Speaking of the campaign, there are three divisions based on difficulty but all the tracks are the same in each one. It's just your opponent that gets harder. So I had already seen all of the game's content just by finishing the Novice division. You'll also see all of the features of a given track in the first race, meaning there aren't any surprise twists as you finish each cup. Lastly, although it's fun to collect the different racers, you can't customize your racer at all and they all just end up being blurry and indistinguishable on screen anyway.

DaGeDar was ultimately a pretty superficial racing game but there was enough there that I did enjoy my time playing and thankfully it didn't outstay it's welcome.

[dhaabi]

35. Yakuza 0 || PlayStation 4 || 08.29.24



It had been a short while since I'd last played through a Yakuza title, so I knew it was time to revisit the franchise. For a lot of reasons, I was excited to play Yakuza 0, the entry that's often credited for popularizing the series outside of Japan.

To begin, I must first mention the order of games as they're intended to be played. Despite Yakuza 0 releasing as the sixth entry in the series, a large number of fans recommend to play it first, as it exists as a prequel. However, I feel adamant about prioritizing games being played in the order of their release, and the Yakuza franchise is no different, although later entries Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 serve as fine substitutions as remakes for the original two entries, should someone want to prioritize playing them instead. The reason for these contrasting opinions largely exists because of the aforementioned remakes, as they contain some added content with references to Yakuza 0. At the same time, though, all sorts of references to later events are also present through the prequel entry, so the argument for playing it first isn't really sound for that reason alone. Another aspect to consider is observing each of the two protagonists, Kiryu and Majima, nearly two decades before they're first seen during the events of the debut entry. As Yakuza is a narrative-driven franchise reliant on the characterization of its large cast, the first five entries provide players with an extensive amount of time in knowing its characters and the relationships they hold. So, to prioritize the prequel first forgoes this context altogether, meaning there's no impact to impart onto those new to the series when these aspects are subverted when peering into the past.

Since the game serves as a prequel, it's amusing to see franchise protagonist Kiryu young and fresh without influence, as he isn't even a yakuza member for a large portion of the game's events. In fact, he's much less refined and quick to confrontation with a hotheaded attitude which may shock series veterans, although he still maintains upstanding morals even so long ago. Similarly, delving more into Majima's past to see more reasons as to why he scorns the yakuza is just as compelling, with he too being temporarily exiled as a member during this time. As the conflict unfolded, I found the internal politics they're forced to overcome as less of a threat on a general level as issues relate to lower ranking officials who lack the sheer power of authority later antagonists harbor, although this is sound logic when considering the position both characters are in. With that said, I felt as if the plot wasn't as layered as it's shown it can be when compared to previous entries, as it's fairly straightforward while largely omitting twists and turns.

Having already been mentioned, Yakuza 0 is now the third entry which divides gameplay among multiple characters, albeit only two this time. Overall, there is a satisfying back and forth between Kiryu and Majima, in terms of dividing the narrative. Considering the number of player-characters, the story offers a much more focused progression than the previous two entries, which was welcoming to see. Like with Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 5, how these two seemingly distinct stories come together isn't apparent, which makes for a fun reveal by the time they do collide. On that matter, though, the game's two protagonists only meet at the game's closing scene, with no interaction between the two shared before then. Nevertheless, how the two are brought together in a clash against the game's antagonists from two different perspectives is rewarding. In fact, I found it to actually drag on considerably with a lot of repeated dialogue and pauses, as the divide between story and gameplay is not balanced.

Relating to combat itself is the game's leveling mechanics which places an emphasis on money. In brief, stat progression managed through an open-ended skill tree system. With this system, players who are wanting to prioritize certain fighting styles or character build are given some freedom to explore that possibility, though casual players strictly adhering to the main narrative will likely be barred from advancing far due to how pricey certain ability upgrades become. Nevertheless, for most players, the system accomplishes what it sets out to do. Throughout the game, money is liberally rewarded to players from all sorts of means, though the skill tree's inevitable taxing fees won't likely be paid for through combat alone, as fights yield little profit. Instead, excessive gains are almost all collected through the game's two major side ventures: real estate and cabaret club management. Of course, these minigames are fun, but they also force players to interact with side features to enhance character growth, which is irritating, as combat-focused games generally rely on some sort of experience system instead to progress. Be that as it may, Yakuza 0 succeeds at promoting players to explore and interact with its world through its aptly named Completion Point system. With this system, players accrue points to spend on other general gameplay benefits, such as being able to secure more money through various means.

Regarding gameplay, Yakuza 0 is the first game proper in the series that introduces a variety of fighting styles for players to seamlessly shift to and from throughout combat, which is likely a design decision made after building different styles for each character in previous entries. In general, the system is entertaining while providing some needed variety during action segments. Yet, in spite of this variety, it also feels a bit limited in scope as individual styles on their own lack depth, although that seems like an unavoidable trade-off given that there are now three initial styles per character. While players will likely prefer one style over another, there is some strategy involved, as certain enemies will be much easier to defeat with a specific move set.

Apart from plot and gameplay, there is the game's setting. Throughout this prequel entry, the story takes place in the middle of Japan's economic bubble in 1988 which pervades nearly every facet of the game with its super inflated economics. With five prior entries each set in their contemporary time, going back in time nearly 25 years to see a familiar place be vastly different is such a visual treat. All sorts of fun aspects are present throughout the game's two cities which come together almost as a character itself, ranging from disco and breakdancing to broad-shouldered suits and telephone clubs. I think there is a lot of fondness of this specific time period in Japan whether experienced personally or not, and the game excels at capturing this moment in time completed by Yakuza's outlandish attitude.

Ultimately, I greatly enjoyed Yakuza 0, though for its systems, mechanics, and setting instead of narrative. After completing my playthrough, it doesn't come as a surprise why this is regarded as the fanbase's favorite's entry, although I still enjoy Yakuza Kiwami 2 most.

[kamikazekeeg]

20 - Star Wars: Outlaws (PC 2024) - BEAT - I was cautiously hopeful for this game, as it's the type of Star Wars game I've wanted for many years now.  It's not about any of the expected Star Wars fan favorite characters, it's grounded gameplay without all the Force/Jedi stuff, and it's open world.  I think the game nails most of that pretty well.  Got the right tone, the characters are good, they nailed the setting.  You feel like you are in Star Wars.  Kay Vess is a fun lead, the crew you build up that'll lead to an eventual heist I liked, Nix and ND-5 are bro's, that's all great stuff.

Where the game falters is in it's gameplay and bugginess.  Gameplay leans heavy into the stealth aspects, you can duke it out in missions that don't require stealth, but you are a thief, stealth is preferred.  Combat is fine, Kay is equipped with a multi-blaster weapon, but I really would've liked to instead have the options of like caring whatever pistol I wanted and then a rifle on the back.  I don't need her to be the Doom Slayer and go Rambo on everyone, but little blaster that doubles as a tool is kinda blah.  She can pick up blasters off the ground, but they have ammo and will run out.  She also has one of those powerup attacks, lets her auto target in slow-mo, basically Cassidy's ultimate from Overwatch.  This is actually the only thing that can be used while on Speeder, because for some reason, you can't ride and shoot normally for some reason.  They have the camera put to the tight turns, but you don't need the tight turns with mouse.  It makes me think they just ran out of time for Speed combat, so you just get quick boosts of adrenaline and you spam her auto-attack. 

Enemy AI is not great, it's functional, but bland, most AI doesn't do much other than go into cover or push forward.  Death Troopers actually feel like they have something to go on, but you are rarely fighting them.  Space combat is basic too, it's not bad, but it's fine. 

Lots of bugs too, mostly visual glitches, it gets bed on Tattoine where there's lots of lights flickering and on the swamp planet, the main town ground would get super weird.  This can be sorta fixed by turning on Ray Tracing, but RT tanks the frames, so I didn't like to use.  I feel like it got a smidge better with the update the other day, but not much.  There's also lots of goofy bugs I saw ND-5 twice in a cutscene, lots of weird stuff with him in general, not much gamebreaking, but I think this game needed another 6 months of polish and beefing up aspects of the game.

The open world is simple, but solid, like I know people want to rag on it for being another Ubisoft open world game, which it is, and normally that would be bad, but I think it's like OLD Ubisoft open world games, like Far Cry 3, AC: Black Flag sorta Ubisoft era.  There's no levels to grind, you aren't having to climb towers constantly, you get these nice hand made areas to explore, there's 3 land open world zones and I think 3 space zones to explore, so there's just enough to do with feeling abhorrently huge, there's lots of clothing to find that offers bonuses, but I just dressed in whatever looked good as you don't need to wear it for the stats.  I beat the game and did a bunch of side stuff like maxing out two of the gangs rep in 25 hours.  I assume it's about 40 to 50 for completion sake, which is very reasonable nowadays.

So it's that split, where they nailed everything they need for the story, setting, and characters, but the game itself is mixed.  It's probably not far off from what Jedi Fallen Order was like, where they did a lot right, but it had jank and slop that kinda undercut stuff.  Can't compare it to Jedi Survivor yet as I haven't played it, but will soon.  I would say if you are a Star Wars fan and you want something dealing with the underworld, no Jedi, this game is decent, I'd just wait a little while for it to patch itself up and go down in price.  I'm hoping it gets a sequel, I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't though, as I think there's so much room for improvement and I really want to see where else they go with it.

[dhaabi]

36. The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me || PlayStation 5 || 09.09.24



After nearly three years since I've played an entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology series, I finally picked it back up by playing the final title in what's referred to as the first season: The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me. I was a little surprised at how much time had past between then and now, so I was curious at how much, if at all, my opinions about the franchise altogether had changed during this span.

To set the scene, the events of The Devil in Me surround a struggling film documentary crew comprised of its failing owner and amateur crew members. On paper, the dynamic between the cast's five playable characters seems appealing: a bumbling boss who earns little respect, a recently-ended relationship, a budding relationship, and a bitter rivalry. Of course, these dynamics also coincide with the individual issues each character faces. However, the success of the game's writing—arguably its most important aspect—is questionable, although I'll later delve more into those thoughts. Nevertheless, the game's cast finds themselves being invited under mysterious circumstances to a remote location perfect for the subject matter of their recent project, that being a recreation of a 19ᵗʰ century hotel that was the site of America's first serial killer. Hours into their stay, it's quickly made apparent that their host is a killer set on murdering them in a twisted way, made possible by the building's technical modifications including sliding doors, animatronic mannequins, and life-threatening traps that can only be overcome with a calm and methodical mind or, often when multiple people are caught, through self-preservation.

Like with the previous games, this latest installment is a choice-driven branching narrative experience which leads to a high number of possibilities and warrants multiple playthroughs with its cause-and-effect system. Though traditional action-oriented gameplay is limited, a variety of QTE prompts appear throughout the story alongside general navigation, including ones which require precision aiming, breath control, hiding, and general action responses. Additionally, basic modes of exploration exist such as crouching, climbing, balancing, and shimmying across narrow pathways, although they're not particularly implemented in any interesting way. Regarding hiding which is new to this title, these moments came across as if the player is meant to fail them, as there is little time to scout the surroundings, which was most evident in one instance in particular. At the same time, only four of these prompts appeared in my playthrough with a lot of time between them, so I never became adept at them as I forgot the controls and would fiddle with the controller in a panic. Perhaps that's fine as it probably better mimics a real life scenario, though.

Alongside the aforementioned mechanics, the game's most novel use of varied gameplay lies in unique character actions. These skills, so to speak, largely relate to each character's role as a crew member. So, for instance, one character can control a sound mic to hear distant noises while another has the ability to fix broken fuse boxes, and these abilities are available to help progress the story, although a lot of their use is optional, as they're tools to use to help reward player curiosity. However, being tasked to use these actions even when prompted is not always obvious, and the novelty of some wears off quick. Overall, I think the idea of this kind of system is worth further exploring in later titles, as it wasn't implemented well during its debut. Since players are forced to control one specific character during each event, there isn't any puzzle-solving relating to them, or party management, or even the opportunity to be barred from certain interactions. And while these ideas may not be well-suited for the series, I think it's worth considering those options, as it seems the series is moving in the direction of being more action-oriented, although the degree of it remains to be seen.

Going back to the topic of the game's writing, I admittedly found it subpar, which is a shame considering the type of story-focused experience The Devil in Me is. While the five playable characters are written with promising character relationships, there is little character interaction which offers the opportunity to witness them or have them change. In general, even, there is little time devoted to players, as they seem more focused than ever in this installment to escape the perils before them. Where it matters most, characters seldom talk to another. But, oppositely, I repeatedly encounters moments where I'd be tasked to read important found documents as one character with the other talking extensively, as to interrupt my action. While ultimately inconsequential, it was annoying. Apart from the characters themselves, though, some segments felt boring, for lack of a better term. At times, the player is tasked to simply move from one room to another with no consequence, sometimes made worse by elementary puzzle design and extremely dim-lit environments. For most of these instances, I found them to be unnecessary. Overall, it took a long time for the narrative to gain my interest as the beginning chapters are slow even once the threat's been known. But, perhaps there's only so much to offer players as they run from a killer before it outstays its welcome.

As with most things, horror is subjective. With that said, there are a lot of creepy, unsettling set pieces to encounter which complement the game's serial killer theme, but none which instilled any sense of fear or disgust in me. For me, the same can be doubly said of the actual killer, however silent and pursuing they may be, although perhaps that's because it felt like I had very few direct confrontations with them in my playthrough. More so than in any previous entry that I remember, there is a high number of jumpscares to startle players. During every moment that I was taken aback, it was a result of some jumpscare, which always felt like a cheap thrill as it's not reliant on the mood or subject matter itself.

Across the first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology, entries are known to have quick development times which often leads to a long list of issues. In my playthrogh, the most notable problem was an audio glitch that left me confused, as I wasn't sure if it was intentional or not for some time. Something else was on-screen UI that would vanish at times, and there was an instance or two of visual hiccups. Parts of the game certainly need more work on a general level, though, as menu UI needs improvement alongside the game's character AI. Altogether, though, these issues were nothing major—certainly nothing game-breaking, at the very least.

In my playthrough, not everyone survived. I had considered to start a second playthrough right away, because I am curious in how different scenarios may play out, but I decided not to, for now. Ultimately, The Dark Pictures Anthology is a series I'm still fond of playing, and I'm hoping that the second season to be introduced in the coming year is made with higher standards. As a concluding thought, there is a lot to consider when determining if an entry is best or worst across certain parameters in the context of its contemporaries. While I can't objectively say The Devil in Me is the worst in the series, it's certainly not the best.