52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

[kashell]

8. Silent Hill 2 Remake - Leave
9. Silent Hill 2 Remake - In Water

Despite following a guide, I have been locked out of the last of the three endings that you could get on a New Game. I'm not gonna lie - I'm a bit annoyed. I thought I did everything necessary to get the most difficult ending but I guess not. I'm going to have to do a New Game Plus run with multiple saves to do it. That major annoyance aside, this was a lot of fun. This is how you do a remake of a classic. James is still a bit of a lumbering oaf, but he handles much better. The atmosphere and setting have been amplified to the nth degree. I absolutely recommend this to all fans of survival horror.

[marvelvscapcom2]

6. Hogwarts Legacy - Finished - Jan, 19th 2025



(My character.  She's a goblin-kind's bad dream. A ranrok humbling boss. Wizard Name?  Madam Clorophyl
The life force of hogwarts)


LUMOS

Review - Where does one begin with hogwarts legacy. It will seem as though i'm glazing the games this year. But it just so happens these are generational games that are already top 20 all time in terms of greatness.  If you like Harry Potter, If you like taming dragons, causing goblins to impose self harm, wielding dark magic, brewing things, if you like brushing mythical alpaca looking animals. It doesn't matter. Hogwarts Legacy is for you


To say the game is grand is an understatement. I have 105 hours in this beast front to back and havent even scratched 70 percent of a completionist run. The plot is blooming like a barbados fig fruit garden with colorful characters.  The city of hogsmeade feels like a secondary home.  You become entrenched. You live the life of a 5th year in hogwarts, and as someone who didn't know what to expect being as ive never seen Harry Potter or read the books. The game is just grandiose to the highest order and one of the most deliciously beautiful video games ever created. 

GRAPHICS




I don't say this lightly. It's a top 3 game all time for me in terms of graphics. From the lumos ability glowing rock architecture in forbidden tombs, to the way ray tracing makes lights reflect off the floors. The way every piece of the castle seems to be busy. Random NPCs will have full conversations. The games pictures will dance via magic. Everywhere you turn is a delightful mini game or even a beast. A enemy. A merlin trial. Treasure. And each professor is as memorable and deeply entrenched as the next.  Ghosts fued within school halls, other students address your former competitons. House elves request your help.  When you walk. It feels like walking through a bustling school in your teen years.  Trade nerds for gobstone collectors. Trade jocks for quiditch champions. Trade home rec to beast class.  You'll spend hours just looking around. Being like "woah thats cool"


From professor figs paternal guidance.

To professor garlick's love for the agricultural unknown.

To professor Sharpes gritty and intimidating overtones.


The thing bleeds from its core, fan service excellence and it almost never.missed.  The best of this is seen in your side relations.  They get nuanced and clever.


The game gives unsurprising amount of control over both dialogue and the way you attack. With maybe 30 combat related.spells. it's easy to get into the game and just play your way.  I find myself freezing enemies into ice cubes and bashing that ice cube into a billion bits. You may find yourself using depulso to body slam flamed enemies into eachother. It's endless.


The map is expansive and flu flames make fast travel a synch.


Poppy is a absolute delightful character with a solid moral compass.

The inner fued between good and evil is palpable. 


In short, the game rocks.  It's truly a masterpiecen. Clothing, very customizable. It feels like you're in hogwarts. You kinda soak into the plot like a sponge and their is endless things to see. It is the breath of the wild of the harry potter universe. 

Time to beat - 105 Hours

Rating -  100/100

[marvelvscapcom2]

Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe Temporarily Abandoned Mostly Finished




I technically reached "end credits" in this game so i'm half counting it. I wont put it in my official list because I intend on fully beating it and when I do I'll edit it.  It's got wierd half endings. And overall is a game designed to make you feel in some sort of existentialist crisis lol.   I'd consider it more of an elaborate mocking of games than a game itself. It's clever. But perhaps too clever. It's a very ominous and creepy game due to the way it makes you feel smothered and powerless. Maybe i'll come back to it. But possibly not.  I do reccomend it due to it being free on ps plus, being about 4 minutes to beat and also being wildly unique and thought provoking. Just not for me.


Rating - 55/100

[dhaabi]

04. Phogs! || PlayStation 4 || 01.15.25



After noticing Phogs! was a part of the PlayStation Plus catalog, I decided to begin a playthrough. Ordinarily, I don't know if I would have chosen this particular game to play, but I actually completed a short demo of the game three or four years ago on a whim and thought it was interesting.

Predominantly, Phogs! is some sort of puzzle-platformer that subverts the platformer genre by emphasizing stretching, bouncing, barking, and biting instead of jumping. Throughout the game, players control a pair of the titular phogs: two dogs linked together at the belly and therefore share one elongated, stretchy body. While stretching is the game's main gimmick, all of the phogs' actions are necessary to navigate through environments and puzzles. Basic exploration requires moving both joysticks in the same direction to maintain momentum, as each joystick corresponds to an individual dog. Various obstacles such as ramps, platforms, wall mounts, and locked doors must be solved to move onward. It's also important to note that, even before the game loads the main menu, a prompt lets players know that the game may be experienced by either one or two players.

To accomplish the general puzzle-platformer gameplay, physics-based movement is employed. Perhaps to be expected, physics are loose and springy, although it's mostly manageable if patient. However, there are certainly times when the physics hinder the puzzle design as it becomes far more of an issue trying to get the stretching mechanics to function properly as they should instead of just trying to solve the puzzle. It's also worth mentioning now that players have no control over the 3D camera at all. This lack of control was generally fine, though I would have preferred to have that viewpoint mobility. Outside of platforming, the puzzle genre also incorporates simple elements from other genres, such as action and stealth. There is one small section of the game that focuses on these other gameplay types, and I found them to be all enjoyable and a nice change of pace. As far as the game's overall difficulty, it's on the lower end of the spectrum, and that's largely accomplished by the game's forgiveness once falling off from the play field and respawning at regularly placed checkpoints.

Generally, puzzle design throughout Phogs! is fine and admittedly simple, but it seems appropriate for what's to be assumed a game marketing toward a younger demographic. Objectives tend to be indirect as text and dialogue are absent from the game, but they're usually simple enough to understand. Still, there were a handful of moments when I really just didn't understand what exactly was being tasked for me to solve. On several occasions, I mistakenly moved past the stage section by mistake; in every instance, there was no means to return to backtrack without fully restarting the stage. However, these moments all coincided with fulfilling side objectives. As is commonplace within the 3D platformer genre, various collectibles and secrets are hidden throughout each stage, often in the form of NPC requests.

Throughout the campaign, there's an easygoing and mostly relaxing experience to be had. The game's tone is greatly enforced through its colorful and cartoon-like visual design, and I think there's an automatic level of fun that many players will have just by controlling dogs who behave ordinarily to actual dogs. On that note, there are small yet fun details to see, such as how the phogs can sleep (both together or individually) if player action is inactive. To a degree, this is elevated by the game's collectibles which serve as currency to unlock cosmetics for the set of phogs to wear.

For better or for worse, Phogs! is carefree across gameplay, presentation, and tone, and I think there's a lot of enjoyment for younger players to have. Still, in what should be simple to execute regularly isn't due to the game's controls, and there was the rare section where I found myself frustrated to perform what was necessary.

[dhaabi]

05. Mingle || PC || 01.19.25



While browsing prolific game jam events of the past, I came across the small project Mingle which stood out as something I figured I'd like.

As the title suggests, the player is tasked with mingling with all sorts of cartoon characters as they walk around and converse with another. Who you're to mingle with at any given point is indicated by your current character design. As the game's official page describes, you're to find the character just like you, your "perfect match." Once you create a pair, you transform into another character automatically and who you approached disappears from the crowd. Then, players repeat the process until the crowd fully disperses and you're left alone with only one other individual. It's a straightforward but fun game loop for what the project sets out to accomplish. In a way, the game simplifies the hidden object puzzle genre to its minimum.

Apart from gameplay, character designs are fun and come across as animated doodles, and it's a visual design that I think greatly complements the simple premise. Animation is incredibly fluid, largely in part to how simple the single-screen presentation is. While wandering about the void, everyone within the crowd has a voice which forms together as collective banter, and its volume adjusts in real time. It's a small but effective detail to emphasize the game's goal.

Ultimately, Mingle is a brief, bite-sized game jam project that has a lot of charm. I wasn't exactly expecting a hidden object type game before beginning my playthrough, so that was a pleasant surprise.

[telly]

Game 2: Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales - PS5 (11 Hours)

The first game on the PS5 is finished! I don't have a whole lot to say about this game. Most of what I said in my review of the first game is still relevant here. The game plays beautifully especially free-swinging through the city and just doing whatever tasks strike your fancy. The side quests and collectibles are fun to complete, even though, again, there's really nothing that new from the first game. There are a few small changes to the gameplay but none of them felt especially groundbreaking.  The one addition that is noteworthy is the cloaking feature which is very easy to abuse. You can essentially reset stealth mode at any time you want and it really dumbs down the combat difficulty.

The story was not the best but is serviceable for what's overall a pretty short game. The main villains and players aren't really all that exciting and there aren't very many supervillains in the game at all. I still enjoyed it fair enough though. One change that might seem subtle yet was very welcome to me was the slight change of the music to a more hip-hop focused approach than that intolerable generic orchestral crap that just drove me crazy in the first game.

Miles Morales is a decent side-quell that provides a consistent, if forgettable experience. I hope the true follow up is a little more substantial and I plan on playing it soon!

[kashell]

10. Silent Hill 2 Remake - Dog
11. Silent Hill 2 Remake - UFO
12. Silent Hill 2 Remake - Bliss

I finished the game three more times. I won't comment on the gag endings (Dog/UFO) because they're just that: gags. I did enjoy them, though. The Bliss ending was one of the new ones. It was hard to watch, but it may have just been my interpretation. I'd say the most important thing about these files is that I was able to knock out some of the seemingly annoying trophies: one for a speed run, one for finishing new game plus, and one for never using a firearm. Of course, having a chainsaw in James' possession helped with that last one.

[kashell]

13. Silent Hill 2 Remake - Stillness
14. Silent Hill 2 Remake - Rebirth

Two more endings over and done with. Both were new to this remake. Stillness was a more involved version of Leave. Rebirth was...something ominous. Now it's time to see if I can finally, finally get that Maria ending.

[kashell]

15. Silent Hill 2 Remake - Maria

And boom. The last ending needed for a fully completed game and a platinum trophy. I didn't just play this game. I inhaled it. I can't remember playing a game that made me so distracted outside of game time in forever. I kept wanting more, which is kind of aligned with the way you go about getting the Maria ending. I am really, really excited to get a review going for this. Also, I have some friends that want to experience it so I'm looking forward to watching them and seeing their reactions to the surface level scares, as well as the psychological ones.

[dhaabi]

06. Dragonsweeper || Browser || 01.20.25



After watching some brief introductory gameplay to Dragonsweeper, I knew it was a game I'd want to play.

As its name implies, Dragonsweeper is a game heavily based on the mechanics introduced by Minesweeper as its foundation. In short, both games task the player to avoid certain tiles along a grid playing field in order to reach their main goal. However, Dragonsweeper sets itself apart in a unique way: instead of trying to merely identify where all the mines are, its true goal requires vanquishing the dragon. Also, for some reason the player assumes the role of a knight named Jorge.

While the game is still a primarily within the puzzle genre, there is much more strategy involved in clearing the field in this adaptation, and much of that is due to the additional systems being presented. Numbers within tiles now represent the total level of monsters or explosives surrounding it, and the player will be required to interact with the former in order to win. Throughout the journey, players will be forced to battle methodically to defeat enemies which yield experience in order to level high enough to defeat the high-leveled dragon. During each encounter, the monster's level also represents the total damage they'll deal to the player alongside how much experience they'll grant. However, the total number of experience required to level up—after the initial level advancement, that is—is always higher than the amount of life the player has. While there is a limited supply of health restoratives to use alongside health being fully replenished with each level advancement, it's impossible to defeat each enemy. Players will constantly be selecting a certain order to defeat enemies while ignoring others.

With that said, much of the game's strategy also requires being observant and knowing when to simply mark empty tiles as ones to avoid or ones to interact with later. While it's not always possible, there is plenty of information to gather from what isn't outright revealed. So, when players are at full health and know that the unknown danger surrounding certain tiles is only at a certain maximum level, then blindly selecting them is worth the gamble, as new information to some degree will be gained, unlike if the player will to simply defeat an enemy already revealed. At the same time, a resource that doubly serves as the game's rule book and also hint guide is able to be referenced at any time. The hint guide portion details how much of each enemy remains, so there will be times—probably toward the end of a game session—where players will be able to reach a solution based on knowing which enemy types have yet to be defeated.

Concerning the game's presentation, it's minimal yet provides everything the player need to win. Sprite design is simple, and the little animation present is as well. However, if there is one thing I think would benefit from refining is the game's music. While it has some ambiance of dungeon exploration, it's in the style of downtempo hip hop that plays on loop. There's only one track that's a few minutes long in length, and it quickly becomes repetitive.

It's been a number of years since I've played a game directly inspired by Minesweeper, and Dragonsweeper was a good reminder why I enjoy logic puzzle games on occasion. The additional systems it introduces sets itself apart in a novel way that is much more demanding than its source material, so it was certainly rewarding being able to finally conquer the dragon which marks the game's end.