52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

[bikingjahuty]

6. Silent Hill F (PS5) - ABANDONED

As cliche and annoying as it is, I'm starting to wonder if I'm less of a Silent Hill fan and more of just a Silent Hill 2 fan. I adore Silent Hill 2, both the original and the remake. They stand as a couple of the best games I've ever played and ones I frequently compelled to go back and play. However, I have struggled to get into the other games in the series I've tried. Unfortunately, Silent Hill F is yet another game in this series I just could not vibe with no matter how hard I tried.


Probably my biggest issue with F was not understanding at all what I was doing, why things were happening, or what was even my characters motivations. And before anything was even remotely explained, the game would throw several more new things at you without any explanation either. It made it hard to care or really feel invested in anything character or story-wise during my brief time playing Silent Hill F. In fact, this game felt so nonsensical that it even was killing the horror aspects of the game for me as I wondered why I was even in some creepy setting in the first place, or why an enemy type had appeared or what it's significance was. I know Silent Hill games are heavily metaphorical and drenched in layers of psychological horror, but Silent Hill F didn't have a single foot on the ground to root me into anything that was happening. It felt like some drug trip I was meant to experience and promptly forget as soon as I sobered up. Compare this to Silent Hill 2 where the character has a clear motivation of why he's where he is and what he's looking for. In Silent Hill F...I couldn't tell you why the hell I was going from one place to another other than the game telling me to go there because it was marked on the map.


Luckily, the gameplay of Silent Hill F wasn't among my problems with the game. While nothing special, it worked well enough for me to take on most enemies I ran into. Visuals and audio were also pretty good too. Not incredibe, but certainly good for a PS5 game.


The final straw for me in abandoning F was looking up when the hell this game was supposed to start making any sense, only to find it'[s not meant to make sense at all or really even reveal why anything is happening until you've beat the game multiple times. I audibly said out loud, "you gotta be shitting me..." when I read this. I could barely play this game for two whole hours and the creators of this game want me to beat the exact same game with minor extra story reveals three more times, culminating in a nearly 40 hour experience before it's going to even give me the main cahracter's motivations? Screw. That.


Because of this alone, it's tempting to throw Silent Hill F up on ebay and never entertain the thought of playing this game ever again, but funny enough I don't feel this way, at least not completely. I still feel like someday I may want to ride the game out, at least t beat it once, and then determine whether or not I'd like to play again to experience the full game. Chances are I'm deluding myself, but I'm just saying this is more of a shelved game rather than one I'm outright abandoning and never picking up again. Although, I very well could decide this game just isn't worth it given it's poor story and writing structure. We'll see someday I guess. (10/4/26) - ABANDONED

[dhaabi]

6. Silent Hill F (PS5) - ABANDONED

As cliche and annoying as it is, I'm starting to wonder if I'm less of a Silent Hill fan and more of just a Silent Hill 2 fan.

Out of curiosity, which games in the franchise have you played? Silent Hill 3 is arguably just as good as its direct predecessor while also having a very clear (and good) narrative to follow with character motivation, so it's easy to recommend.

[telly]

Game 21: Castlevania: The Adventure (PS4) - 5 Hours

The CASLTEVANIA ADVENTURE (as I will always call it), was very early Game Boy release that definitely shows its age playing it today. The graphics and music are pretty basic, and with only 4 levels it will be over before you know it. The biggest issues for me were the somewhat suspect hit detection and some input lag that limits your ability to do simultaneous actions (like whipping while ducking). Without any special items to increase your range/attack options, you're just kind of left to your whip to serve you through the whole game and it only works marginally well. It was particularly annoying that whip upgrades are lost when you get hit.

The saving grace was that with unlimited continues and a generous checkpoint system (that's native to the game), it wasn't too difficult to push through as long as I had a save state at the start of each stage. Not to mention that all the bosses were pretty easy even though individual levels could be challenging, especially the ones with instant kill spikes/pits.

The Castlevania Adventure isn't a horrible game, but it really doesn't have anything special to it. I think the sequel on Game Boy is a massive improvement and am looking forward to giving that a shot soon.

[telly]

6. Silent Hill F (PS5) - ABANDONED

I personally liked the story, but I completely understand if it's not for everyone. To me the biggest offender with the story like you mentioned was the expectation that it cannot be fully understood until you complete the game multiple times (or just look it up online like I did, haha). If the game were a fun, colorful romp, then maybe I'd be down. But this game isn't something I can play multiple times over. Certainly not back-to-back-to-back. Maybe in like 5-10 years I'd replay it.

The other thing for me is that the multiple endings make the symbolism almost impossible to decipher. Because some endings make some symbolism unimportant, and the symbolism is really only truly connected to the "correct" ending, leading for a very messy experience if you aren't at that ending yet.

[realpoketendonl]

25. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (PC/Steam Deck)

Pff, this game. I have never properly played either of the Sonic Adventure games before, only trying out a level or two like ten years ago. Considering how iconic Sonic Adventure 2 is, I wanted to give it a fair shot and experience it for myself. And well, I can't say I particularly enjoyed it. I honestly can't pin whether this game did not age well or whether it was never that great.

There were some parts I enjoyed, no doubt. When the Sonic/Shadow stages work, they work and are fun to run through. But that's about where it ends. The Tails/Dr. Eggman stages are often pretty dull. The Knuckles/Rouge treasure hunting stages were a chore that I never enjoyed seeing pop up. The bosses I find not that well designed (having us run towards the camera? Really?). And even the Sonic/Shadow stages, I found pretty janky from time to time. I would be glad when a stage was over, but I was rarely happy to start a new one. Even when I tried to go along with the game's radical vibes, as soon as the gameplay would start I'd immediately be pulled back out.

It's a shame. I will always like this game to some extent for its cultural impact and iconicness. I really like Shadow, I will always sing along to Escape from the City and get hyped from Live and Learn, I will always quote the iconic SA2 fandub, and I really fondly remember seeing the third Sonic movie in the theatre with my friends and the whole audience roaring with laughter and cheering at all the iconic moments stemming from this game. But in terms of actually playing it? Well, I suppose I'm glad I actually played it now, but I can't say that overall I particularly enjoyed it. I don't see myself coming back to it again.

I do still ship Sonadow tho /j