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Video Games Finished in 2018


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Blazblue Continuum Shift Extend

 

Blazblue Chrono Phantasma Extend - Just the standard story mode so far. I still need to go through the Extend story, and see all of the gag endings, and then there's all of that non-visual-novel content. Boy, they really cranked it up to 11 with this one. I feel tired after that finale. Looking forward to seeing how Central Fiction wraps it all up. I still have a lot of time to spend actually fighting in this fighting game, and polishing my skills with my favorite characters. Especially since I still feel I'm only just learning how to play the game with intentionality, and not just mashing buttons. I love this cast of characters, and I'm sad that Central Fiction is probably the last one outside of crossovers like Cross Tag Battle. Still, Blazblue is the only fighting game series to date that has me caring about the story. I'm also kind of bummed that the online community for Chrono Phantasma seems to have entirely jumped over to Central Fiction, at least on PS4. I'm looking to improve my game. If anyone wants to be my practice partner, hit me up! ;) 

 

A Hat in Time - 100% of time pieces. Guys. If you haven't already, put down what you're doing and go play A Hat in Time. It's the tightest, cutest, best 3D platformer in years and it will awaken childlike wonder within your bitter heart and bring a smile to your face. It's funny, it's clever, it's terrifying, it's majestic, and it's always got you doing something different. It doesn't overstay its welcome, it's not even that hard to 100%, and every single mission is a joy to explore. And the best part is I get to look forward to revisiting it with two all-new worlds down the line!

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My first update of the year!
 
- Doom (Switch)

Everything you'd want/expect from a Doom game. Tons of brutal action, plus a lot of great level design. I didn't really like the multiplayer though. [image]


- Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch)
Finally finished this, though there is a ton of stuff I just didn't bother to do, including collecting all the rare Blades. I can understand the nitpicks with the game but overall I still really enjoyed playing it. [image]
 
- Sonic Forces (Switch)
Such a bland game. Most upsetting is how even the 2D sections control poorly. [image]
 
- Picross e7 (3DS)
Had that Picross itch. And of course, Picross games so rarely go on sale, and yet e7 gets a discount not two weeks after I bought it. -_- [image]
 
- Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (Wii)
Bought this cheap since I remember liking it when I originally played it. I don't quite like it as much now but part of the problem is playing with a Wiimote+nunchuk again. It's been a while since I played a game with these controls and it feels really clumsy now. [image]
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I would be willing to throw in a $20 eShop card for the person who clears out the most of their backlog for 2018.  Of course it would need to be verified and there would have to be photo evidence due to the fact a prize is being thrown in.  I guess backloggery would suffice considering it would be hard to verify otherwise.  I think this could be a fun proposition.  Let me know what you guys think about that.  Ultimately, it will be up to Gold since he is the one who is running the contest but my idea is to use backloggery.com and photo evidence for verification.  Figured that would be cool considering the whole point of this contest is to help motivate us to clear out that backlog.

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Just now, Irondog666 said:

I would be willing to throw in a $20 eShop card for the person who clears out the most of their backlog for 2018.  Of course it would need to be verified and there would have to be photo evidence due to the fact a prize is being thrown in.  I guess backloggery would suffice considering it would be hard to verify otherwise.  I think this could be a fun proposition.  Let me know what you guys think about that.  Ultimately, it will be up to Gold since he is the one who is running the contest but my idea is to use backloggery.com and photo evidence for verification.  Figured that would be cool considering the whole point of this contest is to help motivate us to clear out that backlog.

I have prizes lined up for the challenges, but if you want to toss in something for the games cleared part too, that'd be tight.

 

Photo evidence with names would be a must. Why backloggery past that?

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Challenges are here:

 

 

Bronze (Worth 1 point each)
1) Fist Fight – Beat a fighting game
2) Self Inflicted Pain – Beat Bad Rats
3) May The Force Be With You – Beat a Star Wars game
4) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) – Beat a eroge
5) Servant of the Elder Gods – Beat a game that deals with Lovecraftian horrors
6) Superman – Beat a superhero videogame
7) True Gaming – Beat a board game video game
8) Telltale Signs – Beat a Telltale game
9) This Fantasy Ain’t Final – Beat a Final Fantasy Game
10) I Reject Your Reality And Substitute My Own - Beat a VR game

Silver (Worth 3 points)
1) Bad Touch – Beat a game using the Power Glove
2) Furry – Beat a game where you play as an animal
3) Tactician – Beat a Fire Emblem game
4) Fan Of The Classics - Beat 5 games released before 1990
5) Life Or Hometown? - Beat a Senran Kagura game
6) Perfectionist - 100% a game (ex: all achievements/trophies obtained, all stars in a Mario game, ect)
7) Lady Boner Harder Dan Steel - Beat an Etrian Odyssey game
8) I Can’t See My Character - Beat a bullet hell game
9) It’s Over 9,000! - Beat a game with a number over 9,000 in its title
10) Gender Equality – Beat a game with a female protagonist

Gold (Worth 5 points)
1) Seeing Red - Beat a Virtual Boy title
2) Justin Bailey - Get the fastest ending in Metroid
3) Cardinal C-Note – Beat 100 games
4) The Future Is Now Old Man – Beat 30 games on the current generation of consoles (excludes mobile and PC)
5) Top Of The Food Chain - Beat a Monster Hunter game
6) Exterminator - Beat an Earth Defense Force game (does not include the unrelated Earth Defense Force game for the NES)
7) You Cannot Grasp the True Form of Giygas’ Attack! - Beat any Earthbound/Mother game
8) Smashing! - Beat a Mario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Zelda, Pokémon, Star Fox, Metroid, Earthbound, F-Zero, and Kirby game
9) Well Rounded - Beat games on 7 different systems
10) Seagull - Beat The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening without dying (picture proof must be during the bonus scene)

Platinum (Worth 10 points)
1) Breath of Fresh Air – 100% The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
2) Bloody Fingers - Get 100% on 'Through the Fire and the Flames' on Expert in Guitar Hero III
3) Takeshi's Challenge – Beat Takeshi no Chōsenjō (Emulator is allowed)
4) Masochist - Beat Hoshi wo Miru Hito [Stargazers] (Emulator is allowed)
5) Smashing Board - Beat ‘The Legend of Zelda’ doing the No Sword Challenge

 

Edited by Gold
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5 hours ago, Gold said:

I have prizes lined up for the challenges, but if you want to toss in something for the games cleared part too, that'd be tight.

 

Photo evidence with names would be a must. Why backloggery past that?

I would love to throw something in.  Figured backloggery would keep people honest as far as games being beaten that haven't been beaten type of thing.  However, if we want to do just the whole "whoever beats x amount of games win" I am cool with that too.  I was just thinking of something different when it comes to beating games.  I personally have around 50% or more of games that I have yet to beat. Just let me know what your cool with and I will throw in a prize somewhere.  

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6 hours ago, Irondog666 said:

I would love to throw something in.  Figured backloggery would keep people honest as far as games being beaten that haven't been beaten type of thing.  However, if we want to do just the whole "whoever beats x amount of games win" I am cool with that too.  I was just thinking of something different when it comes to beating games.  I personally have around 50% or more of games that I have yet to beat. Just let me know what your cool with and I will throw in a prize somewhere.  

If you want to use it that's fine. Backloggery is easy to edit is all, and because of that it's harder to prove you hadn't already beaten something.

 

I'll leave this up to your discretion. Since you're the one who is offering a prize, whatever you decide I'll add to the main post and keep track of.

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Beat: Nekopara Vol. 3, PC

Beat: A Raven Monologue, PC

 

A Raven Monologue is an interesting one. It's a short free game/story on Steam, it features some pretty great hand-drawn art as well as an excellent song. If you have a spare five or ten minutes, check it out. 

 

Also, just noting challenges. At least, what I think I have:

Bronze (1 point each)

1) Fist Fight – Beat a fighting game (Kung Fu Panda Showdown of Legendary Legends, PS4)

4) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) – Beat a eroge (Nekopara Vol. 3, PC)

6) Superman – Beat a superhero videogame (Batman: The Telltale Series, PS4)
8) Telltale Signs – Beat a Telltale game (Batman: The Telltale Series, PS4)

 

Silver (3 points each)

2) Furry – Beat a game where you play as an animal (Kung Fu Panda Showdown of Legendary Legends, PS4, A Raven Monologue, PC)

10) Gender Equality – Beat a game with a female protagonist (Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy)

 

Telltale's Batman does raise a question: I (and everyone else who has beaten the full season) popped all its achievements/trophies. Does this- or other Telltale titles of that ilk- qualify for perfectionist? 

 

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52 minutes ago, blcdude1 said:

 

Also, just noting challenges. At least, what I think I have:

 

Telltale's Batman does raise a question: I (and everyone else who has beaten the full season) popped all its achievements/trophies. Does this- or other Telltale titles of that ilk- qualify for perfectionist? 

 

 

Everything looks correct so far.

 

Yes.

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1/20: Fire Emblem Warriors (Switch)

 

Hey, I managed to get one in the first month of the year this time! Though still not as early as I would have liked. Here's hoping I'll do a bit better this year than last. I actually enjoyed Fire Emblem Warriors more than I thought I would. Hyrule Warriors was fun but the repetitive nature of the Musou games kind of got a bit old. If not for the Zelda influence I probably wouldn't have cared for it much. I guess light strategy elements was what it took for me to change my mind. Though the combat is still pretty simple having to monitor and assign characters to certain tasks added a much needed extra layer of gameplay. It is a bummer the roster was so limited, but hopefully, DLC or even a potential sequel could help with that. Of the original characters, I found Rowan very annoying but Lianna wasn't so bad. I actually think I'll put a bunch more time into this with History mode and such. 

 

 

Igneous42 2018 Games Beaten

1/20: Fire Emblem Warriors

 

Points:
Console - 1 
Handheld - 0
PC  - 0
Mobile - 0
Overall - 1

 
 
 

 

I'm not sure why I can't seem to create a list without that gap after "Overall"

Edited by Igneous42
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Beat: Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash, PS4

 

Stay fresh! 

 

This hits a challenge:

Silver 5) Life Or Hometown? – Beat a Senran Kagura game

 

On the subject of challenges...

"5) Challenges will be added periodically as people beat the older ones."

 

If I am to suggest a few... 

-Three's a Crowd: Beat a Trilogy (Not three games in the same series, but a trilogy of games. As in, the Metroid Prime Trilogy would count, but beating Metroid Prime Hunters, Metroid Prime Pinball and Metroid Prime: Federation Force would not).

-Oh, Controversial!: Beat a game listed on Wikipedia's List of controversial video games.

-10th Anniversary: Beat a game released in 2008. 

-Varsity Letter: Beat 3 different type of sports games (As in, beat a baseball, football and basketball game, not beat three different Madden games). 

-?: Beat a game with a question mark in the title. 

-Pocket Full of Quarters: Beat an arcade game at an arcade. 

-Completing the Incomplete: Beat an early access game. 

-The Book Was Better: Beat a "Tom Clancy" video game.

-What Happens Next?: Beat a game that ends with a "To Be Continued..." but does not have a sequel. 

-Worst. License. Ever.: Beat a Simpsons video game. 

-New Coat of Paint: Beat a Remastered video game.

 

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On 1/1/2018 at 2:47 PM, purple_beard said:

I beat what I beat when I beat it.

 

1/21 Mario Kart 7 *FROM SCRATCH

- 3* 100cc and lower

- >=1* 150cc and higher

 

 

I had lost my game about a year or more ago I think and when I went into Best Buy last week they had the game down to $20 on sale and with my GCU I got it at around $15!  Not a bad way to replace a game with a new cart.  On my prior save I had everything and might have even had 3* rank for everything too.  MK7 introduced 3D to the series but it will mostly be known for is the addition of Gliders and propellers for aerial and under water portions of the tracks that hadn't been preciously accessible during races for the most part.  It also introduced the ability to customize your cart somewhat with body, wheel, and glider parts to change its attributes.  I really did love this game and I would have to say its strongest tracks that it added to the series were Rainbow Road, Wario Shipyard, Bowser Castle, Piranha Plant Slide, and Rock Rock Mountain.  Honorable Mentions go to Mario Circuit and Cheep Cheep Lagoon.  I did enjoy the Wahu Island based tracks that came out of Wii Sports Resort but I feel the others were cooler.  Also, this game made one of my MKDS favorites, Air Ship Fortress, playable online for the first time.  I don't think this game had a bad track or a bad battle arena  in the lot.  Wiggler and Queen Bee one could argue were questionable adds but they weren't bad.

 

The only thing that is going to suck about redoing this game is going for the Gold Kart and the Gold Glider.....  I got those via the coin merits the first time around and will probably have to do the same on this new file as I don't think I'll play enough to get hit the VR thresholds before then.

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XLW's list:  

 

1) Console – 41
2) Handheld – 10
3) PC - 2
4) Mobile – 2
5) Overall – 55

 

1/23- Xenoblade Chronicles 2 for NS. 

 

 

I never really got into XCX as much as I did XC, so getting into the sequel of one of my favorite games wasn't easy. Although the combat changed a little bit because of the elemental powers and because of Blades (powerful beings that bond with Drivers, their mortal counterparts), it was still understandable on the way. I love the new characters and the new world,  Alrest. And I even love the plot, even though it's confusing at times because of the matter of war and politics. Some other problems were the vocal synchs and some odd graphical glitches/loading things. But, add in some genuine funny and sad moments, a great soundtrack as usual, and some messages to think about, this game tops right up there with the first game. 

 


 

I don't know where this will fit into my Top 100. Even this is a game that I beat in 2018, I'll let it slide, and put it in my 2017 Top 100 List Edition.  

 

 

 

2/19- Doki Doki Literature Club for PC. 

 

The heck did I just play?! 

 

2/25- Sonic Mania for NS.

 

 

I myself never fully completed a classic Sonic game, so this was a new experience!

  Even though I found some parts a little unfair, I loved the mix of old and new gameplay and levels.  I played as Knuckles, cause he’s awesome. I haven’t delved deep into this game, and I know I’m not hardcore and will get all the chaos emeralds. But, it’s a game by people who understand Sonic, and I loved the fact I played something they passionately worked on. 

 
 

 

2/27- Sonic 2 for DS. 

 

 

 


 

A lot better than its predecessor, Sonic 2 is twice better than Sonic 1. Even though I didn't get the true ending, until like the very end, I had a fun time playing this game. The level design is a lot more complementary to Sonic's speed. The levels are a lot more memorable and fun to play on. I played as Knuckles, and I didn't on getting any of the shiny jewels. Still, it's now on my list of my favorite video games. I know Sonic 3... And Knuckles is a gigantic beast to cover. A lot of stages.

 

I've been thinking of going back to other classic games with platformer elements for a while. I've played some of the first Donkey Kong, a little bit of Super Mario World, and a little bit of Mega Man X, and recently, I checked out Metroid: Zero Mission and Kirby: Super Star Ultra. Heck, I still own a copy of Sonic Advance 2. Not sure about 3D platformers yet, because I think I have poor depth reception. Why haven't I gotten to to them yet? I'm more proficient in RPGs, racers, and so on more than platformers. That, and I'm a casual. I don't know how, but Sonic 2 did it for me. 

 
 

 

 

3/1- Sonic 3 & Knuckles for DS! 

 

 

 


 

I beat both the Sonic and Tails & Knuckles routes. Really, this is the best game of the series. Fair and challenging. 

 

 

3/1- Sonic Advance 2 for GBA!

 

I never beat this as a kid, so replaying this game as an adult was... interesting.

 

3/2- Sonic CD for iOS

 

 

Although I did not get the good ending, I was a little taken aback by this game. Some of the levels are hit and miss, but I the boss ideas and the music. Though, I felt like the iOS controller was a little bit wonky at times.

 

 

And that ends my fill of 18-Bit Sonic games. I might head off into Adventure 2, since that's probably the best of the Modern Sonic series. Although, Colors might be good too. None of the other stuff though, especially-

 

Sonic Adventure- I'm having a hard time finding my identity.

Sonic 06- Hold my beer!

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric- Hold my bourbon, scotch, and beer! *plays George Thorogood riff* 

 
 

 

3/8- Sonic The Hedgehog for 3DS

  

 

 

 

I finished Sonic 1 3D for the 3DS. Thanks to the save feature, old obstacles were basically neutered. I even got all 6 crystals. Still, it doesn’t compare to the other Sonic games on the Genesis and CD. It’s no wonder only Green Hill was the only stage ever remade: the rest of the stages, sans Star Light, do not jive with Sonic. Water, slow platforming, horrible obstacles, traps, and bad enemies. (I beat this game before, so...) 

 
 

 

3/8- Monster Hunter World for PS4 

 

 

 


 

Ever since my first time with the series since Freedom, I've been trying to beat the next few games. Portable 3 never came out in the US, I hated Tri, I never got into 3 Ultimate because of Portable 3, and I haven't had the time to really go into 4 Ultimate and Generations. I've played other games, and had to do other stuff. Plus, Monster Hunter was known for its long grinding haul. Plus, beating the game meant playing single player missions. These games are played better with other people. I had other games to play as well which took less time than most Monster Hunter games. Still, Ultimate 4 and Generations are really great games.

 

So, I was happy when World was announced, and heard that it fixed most of my issues with the series. Monster tracking, the online components, how effective your attacks are, customization, the grinding and so on. I feel like it's the first accessible Monster Hunter game since the first game. Sure, it's just hunting monsters, and the story isn't anything to gawk about, but I always love trying to attack monsters and evade their attacks. 

 

Sure, there are a lot of things this game doesn't do right. Your companion, the lack of monster variety, and a camera jerk when tracking monsters. But, I don't care. Unlike the last few games, the pacing and flow felt natural to the series. And I like that it's an open world now, because I hated loading screens. Plus, new monsters are expected to come into the fray, thanks to new patches. There is a lot of potential for this game, and if there is more, more patches and possibly a sequel, I would welcome it. A series like Monster Hunter is expected to grow and adapt, especially if it's to cater to new and old players. It's not perfect, but the stepping stones for a brand new experience are in place for one of my favorite series. There is a bright future if Capcom plays their cards right.

 

It's hard to say right now, but Monster Hunter World is a contender for one of the best games of this year.   

 
 

 

 

3/17- Kirby Star Allies for Nintendo Switch.

 

My second favorite Kirby game behind Robobot. 

 

3/25- Kirby's Dream Land 2 for GB.

  

 

 

 

This time, I finally defeated the true boss of the game. I always went for the false ending, but this time I had to see how I could hold myself against both forms of Dark Matter, and how long I could get the Rainbow Shards.

 

Like all Kirby games are supposed to be, I defeated it in a day.  

 
 

 

3/27- Super Mario Bros. (All-Stars) for Wii.

  

 

 

 

It's a classic, but I feel like Mario's jumping and momentum is why I don't appreciate the game as I should. I love what the All-Stars version did in terms of presentation.  

 
 

 

3/30- Detective Pikachu for 3DS.

  

 

 

 

Detective Pikachu is by far the best character out of this game. His antics and interactions with everyone make this game. But, I'm also glad that the people who made this knew what they were doing with the other Pokemon in this game, and to me, that really tugs at my heartstrings. It's kind of like PMD in that sense, but some humans complement the Pokemon too. I felt like the story was very well... until the very, very, end. The game is gorgeous, even if it looks weird at times, and the music, although atmospheric, does its job well for settling the mood. I got the Detective Pikachu amiibo, and my gosh is it big! It's perhaps as big as the Mega Yarn Yoshi one. While it doesn't have much perks, I'm glad I bought it, as I am a Pikachu fan. Back on track, the gameplay is simple, and doesn't get too complicated like most detective/mystery games. I'm a Phoenix Wright fan too, so my expectations for that kind of stuff didn't throw me off.

 

Even though I love the combination of Pokemon and a mystery theme, this will take some time to process where, or perhaps if, this will be in my top 100 games. 

 
 

 

 

4/5- Final Fantasy Brave Exvius

  

 

 

 

 

 

Season 1

 


 

I'm not really a fan of Final Fantasy, but I do like what characters there are here, old and new. When I beat the game, I had Lightning, Cloud, Terra, Dark Knight Cecil (I have his other version too), and Warrior of Light. But, I have other characters from games I know of, like Lara Croft, Barusa from King's Knight, Glauca from XV, Vayne from XII, Gaffgarion from Tactics, Kefka from VI, Garland from I, and the other Cecil from IV. There's about 1000 characters in the game, even if some of them... suck. Still, each character has a certain job too, like Elemental Archmage, Counsul, and Paladin. I found the gameplay to be engaging and interesting... though, some of the enemies I faced were clearly cheap at times. Mostly the bosses. I like the main trio of characters the game starts off with, even though i never really used them, unless it was getting lapis. Lapis, like orbs in FEH, do a lot, like restore character's health if they die, and expand character slots. There's even more than just the main story. Events happen occasionally too. I've done a few, but really wanted to get into the story more than just go side-questing. I've spent about six months... maybe... to beat the story... and it was a great story. 

 
To see if it would be in my top 100 is going to be interesting.    

 

 

 

4/6- Far Cry 5 for PS4

  

 

It's going to be a while to dissect this game.

 

I think it’s about good as 4. 
 

 

4/6- King of Fighters XIV for PS4.

  

 

 

 

I buttoned mashed, and I won the story fights within an hour. I looked up the tutorials after the fact. I was familiar with some characters, but not 75% of the rest. This was my first KOF game. I’ve played Tekken and Street Fighter games, so I wanted to branch out. I played this game a little confused. But... I enjoyed my hour of being lost. I main’d Ralf, Geese, and Terry, since I associated them with other stuff. Until the end, where I used Geese, Mai, and... I forgot. 

 

 

4/7- Dragon Ball FighterZ for PS4.

  

 

 
I heard this was bigger than Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite. I don't know about that... but this game is super-engaging. There's a story revolving around a new mysterious fighter, clones, and a soul merging inside fighters to make them stronger. A good story, but one that is not as epic as the usual Dragon Ball stories usually are. The music, locations, and character models are all top notch. Is a visual and audial pleasant game. The gameplay is deep and complex like games such as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. And, it borrows the tag team mechanic MvC is always known for. In the story, the enemies were either pushovers or spam-attackers. But with trial and error, I finally managed to beat this game. It currently has Bardock and Broly as DLC, and more are to come later. I don't know if this game will top my satisfying fill of Dragon Ball Budokai 3, the best Dragon Ball game ever, but it is a game that anyone can enjoy... but maybe mostly the competitive scene. There's an insane amount of combos one can pull with the right team.    

 

Right now, I think it's just as great as DBZB3!    

 
 

 

4/30- Final Fantasy IV for DS.

  

 

 

 

Although the remake was a bit hard at times, and the new active battle system was a little odd to get used to after I played FFI and III, I thoroughly enjoyed the story of IV's much more than III's. Though it does get rid of the job system of the last game, the characters here are more fleshed out. I love that the hero of the game, Cecil Harvey, is on the side of darkness at first, though his means do not reflect who he really is. He's a man who loves his kingdom and king, but recent events make him lose faith in his own king. After a disaster, he and his close friend, Kain Highwind decide that what the king is doing is wrong, and start a rebellion. Though, what happens afterwards becomes a lot more complicated. I love this story, because Cecil means to redeem himself, although not many people trust him at first because he was still responsible for some tragedies. The music is wonderful, and the places Cecil and co travel in are unique. Also... save states in dungeons finally start here! The last part of the last game was not really good because there was none. All you need is a tent! Not much has changed about combat, but the active battle system changes the momentum of your party and the enemy. It's not as relaxing as I and III, and it's a bit stressful when something bad happens. In the remake, it's easier to get hit and die a lot. I thought it was going to be a breeze, but nope. That goes for the bosses as well. A new thing about this game is the augment system. After certain events, the party can require abilities, and only one can be given to one unit. Still, one can only equip four abilities to a unit (you CANNOT get rid of ITEM, as you hate to say it). There are a lot of requirements to get these augments, so don't pass by the chance if you can. A lot of them are useful. I did, and it made some bosses harder because I was ill-equipped. I think I might like this more than III. How it will stand against I in my preference... who knows.

 

I have VI on my virtual console, and I can't wait to play that. V goes back to the job system of IV... but I heard it's hard. After completing the DS remake of IV, I don't know how which will be. I plan on getting the GBA remake... the mobile ports are horrible.   

 

Edit: After thinking about it, I prefer I over IV. The active battle system is the major factor of my reasoning.   

 
 

 

3-4/??- Final Fantasy III for DS  

 

 

 


 

(Forgot when I beat it.) 

 

In this story, the four warriors of light, named Luneth, Arc, Refia, and Ingus, are bestowed power from the Four Crystals of Light. Their job is save the world from the overwhelming darkness coming across their land. It’s like I, but there are some moments of comedy and drama that make it better than I. Like I said, the visuals are okay, and the music, while not of great quality, has a certain charm. The job system started here, and while I liked the variety Tactics brought in terms of jobs, I found it was more practical to fight in a grid more than just an open field. Still, this game has its fair share of problems. The open-endedness is either a blessing or a curse. I got lost trying to find out where to go. Second, there are some story beats which require a certain condition or a class. Last, it took me about three in-game days to beat the game. The last fourth of the game is notoriously insane, and that’s because there’s no saving in towns and dungeons! And some of the bosses hit hard if one doesn’t use the right classes. I had a team of a Ninja, Dragoon, Magus, and Devout by the end. Not some of the best choices, since Summons became a thing since this game! Odin, Shiva, Ifrit, and more started here, and Bahamut is one too! Among the other new stuff are the fat chocobos and the moogles! It might not be perfect, but after I beat the last boss of the game, I felt accomplished!   

 
 

 

 

5/7- Final Fantasy V for GBA. 

 

 

 


 

Going from a DS game to a GBA game felt a little bit... interesting. A young adventurer named Butts (what I called him in this game, because of the fan translations), and his chocobo happen to stumble upon Lenna, the princess of Tycoon, and an amnesiac old man, named Galuf. Lenna and Galuf need to go to the Wind Shrine, because it's about to shatter, and Butts tags along because he has nothing better to do. Along the way, they meet Faris, a pirate, who also joins their quest for an unknown motive. The story has some of the beats of the first and second game. It also some really good moments of humor and drama. The characters express these scenes for what the hardware can do. Some of the music is hit and miss, but the battle theme is great, the mountains theme is wonderful, and there is a certain boss theme that ROCKS.  The GBA ramps up the graphical detail of the SNES, and it's still visually wonderful. The gameplay borrows the ATB system of the last game (but I don't find it annoying as IV), and it also borrows the job system of III and brings in more classes. Each character can also get a secondary ability, and they're interchangeable between all classes. The jobs level up differently by using the ABP, or Ability Battle Point, system. By the end, Butts became a Mystic Knight that could use magic with his blade, Lenna became a White Mage that could cast two spells at a time, Galuf became a Blue Mage with the power of Summoning and powers he acquired by being hit by certain enemies and learning their loves, and Faris became a Ranger, able to use a bow but also had the ability to flee from battle. I loved MOST of these new jobs, but some of them do not work in the Final Fantasy setting. Berserkers and Dancers are my evidence here. Now, here's where it's about to get... difficult. This game is known to be difficult. Some of the enemies and bosses... are cheap. They throw random spells that OHK your characters using some interesting methods, like killing characters whose level is divisible by 5. If one is not prepared, they will use spells that will send one's team packing in moments. It's never fun. This game is not really difficult if one is prepared well enough with the right jobs and abilities, magic, weapons, and equipment. But, this game does have its moments of cheapness. I, III, and IV for sure had cheap moments, but not the extent V does it. I feel like the remake of IV is the hardest so far technically because it doesn't throw as much random unfairness V does. I found a really great place for getting money and ABP at a well-paced time, but after a while, I got bored of hearing the battle music and the dungeon music. I listened to another YouTuber play Final Fantasy, as I effortlessly won battle after battle against the hordes of enemies. That was the least I wanted to do in a game. But, leveling up the jobs and getting the money for new stuff took so much of a long time that I became bored a few times until I wandered into a new place with enemies that could kick my butt at any moment. Except for improving some core concepts from the games beforehand... this game does not shout anything INNOVATING. It's just expanding what worked in the last four games, while it brings nothing SURPRISING! Compared to the last three games I've played, that's a little bit disappointing. It's not going to be easy figuring if or where this game will be in my Top 100. Some of the stuff has been carried over from I-IV and improved, but some of the stuff that I've seen has been recycled and possibly has been done better in the other games.  

 
 

 

 

  5/18- Final Fantasy VI for SNES 

  

 

 

 

I love this game. Though I resumed the game years later and forgot some beats, that did not detract from how wonderful this game is. Terra, like Cecil, starts out on the wrong path, but events finally turn her allegiance as she joins a rebellious force take down the corrupt empire. She meets a quirky cast of characters, like Locke Cole, a leader of the Rebellion and a “treasure hunter”. The story deals with a lot of drama, as not only does Terra have to find her place when she becomes good again, but many of the main cast goes through loss, heartache, pain, suffering and so on. It's not only a great story with how the story progresses, but it's also a well-balanced story of how each character has to cope with each of their problems. I love this attention to detail, because although one starts out as Terra, it's more of an ensemble piece. Unlike IV, where only a select few characters had a detailed backstory, most of the playable characters have a stake of what happens in this story. Of course, the greatest foil to all of them is Kefka, who is my favorite main antagonist of the series so far. He's a killer mortal joker who does horrible and horrendous actions who wants absolute destruction and chaos, and only cares about himself. He does not want to rule the world and make the world dark. He's just out to be a sadist, plain and simple. No one, not even some of his "imperial co-workers" really like him. This game isn’t all that depressing, as there are several moments of comedy too. Even though at one point Locke needs to stop the imperial soldiers from obtaining Terra, a group of Moogles help him out. And the characters are just as expressive as those in V. There’s also Ultros, a comic relief bad guy who the party fights on a few occasions (though, he’ll never replace Gilgamesh, the best thing out of V). Although I thought IV DS and V were okay artistically, I love every single detail of the characters and locations, even though it was sometimes hard to distinguish stuff that was part of the environment or not. And need I say anything about the music, when the Opera song is one of the best pieces of gaming music history? It's perhaps my favorite soundtrack of the series so far. I can relate to some of the stuff that most of the main characters go through, and being a theater geek, I loved both the complex and simple matters of this game. 

 

Remember when I gave V a hard time because it just expanded on some of the stuff III brought? Well... there are a few things this game really truly brought in terms of originality. Magicite are shards of espers, that not only summon said monsters, but allow a unit to gain an increase of one of their stats upon leveling up, and allow the unit their magic. A unit can learn Fire from holding onto the Ifrit magicite and so on. Anyone can learn magic with magicite, including those not known for using magic traditionally, like thieves and monks. The system for getting the magic is similar to leveling up job classes in V, but only the magic can be learned in this case. Espers are also very important to this game's story, and have a lot more significance here than in the last five games. Speaking about magic, Magitek Armor made its grand debut here. Though I don’t know how, the armor is able to use magic and fire beams.

 

Relics can do a multiple amount of stuff, like raise ATK and prevent a status effect to happen to a unit.

 

One of the best mechanics VI brought to the table is swapping out party members. Some characters are better at handling some enemies more than others. Unlike IV, which has a revolving door of playable characters, the playable characters in this game are able to fight the last final boss, even though the player recruits them at different intervals and some leave for a while because of plot relevant matters. Because each character is limited to one distinct role, and because Magicite doesn't seem to take more time to grind than the job leveling up system of V, I had a better time improving my team in this game more than V. Buuuut... this game has a lot more characters than V, so... It might be a tie in which one is more grind heavy. But, I think VI's battle theme is why I enjoyed the grind this time around. Actually, now that I think about it, I haven’t talked about the battle system. The ATB system is back, but each character has a distinct ability. Locke can steal from enemies, players can press buttons to make a character use a powerful Blitz attack, and another character can “follow” enemies to learn their techniques and use them while in a Rage mode, even though while in such a state the player cannot control them and they are either likely to use the learned abilities or just attack normally. Not only does most of the playable characters have a significance in the main story, but their special actions are also part of who they are. This is those oh-so lovely sprinkles on the lovely cupcake that is Final Fantasy VI.      

 

Until about 9/10ths of the game, I really loved this game's difficulty too. I say it's perhaps the best balance. The bosses for the most part were easy to deal with too. I didn't have a hard time like I to an extent, III, IV DS, and V. The last boss really threw me a curveball, but I eventually defeated them, and this time I felt really satisfied because they were a constant pain for the main playable cast to deal with within the plot. 

 

I loved I for getting me back into the series, but VI is really special and better than it. The amount of detail to every single thing from story to gameplay is outstanding. VII's up next, but I might wait until the remake comes out, even though the combat's not like the original, and the remake is currently in development hell. Until then, I think currently taking a break from the series will get me excited for the next line of games I need to finish. I will play VII’s remake, IX, XII, and XV to find a place where they fit in my Top Ten Final Fantasies. I’m not going to play II, VIII, XI, and XIII for good reasons. I might play X, though I know parts of it are horrible, and I might get into XIV, even though it won’t be on my list because it’s an MMORPG.  

  
 

 

5/23- Mega Man 1 (MMLC) for Switch.  

 

 

 

 

 


 

The fun thing about this game is abusing the heck out of the rewind button. Trial and error is next to obsolete when you have time-travelling deus ex manchina. I finished this game in about five hours... Though, I planned on playing it later on today because it was really, really into the night.  

 

With that said... Even with the rewind button aside, this game isn't perfect. The difficulty of almost all of the enemies, some cheap hazard placement, and Mega Man's slippery momentum at times bundled with his weight make this game ancient. But, I will complement Mega Man's ability to change weapons to suit any possible situation, the music, the visual feel, and the basic story (even though there's not a single sentence of dialogue or narration in the game, you still have some kind of idea by beating these other robots; they are bad, you have to stop them). The first game does have its merits in video gaming, and it shows, even though some of the stuff it has should not work in today's world of video gaming. 

 

But, here's to playing what is considered to be the best of the Classic games: 2.  

 

PSEdit: After thinking about it carefully, this game was close to being in my top 100. 

  
 

 

 

 

5/23- Mega Man 2 (MMLC) for Switch. 

 

 

 


 

2 is a lot better than Mega man 1 for sure! The story takes place after 1, and Dr. Wily has built eight robot masters to ensure his world domination! With the help of Dr. Light again, Mega Man takes off. But, I really love the intro scene to the game, as it goes from part of a skyscraper, to Mega Man being on the roof. And the music... oh soon good. What they did for the soundtrack is WONDERFUL. Dr. Wily Fortress 1-2 is some of the best pieces of video game music history! LOVE IT! And I think they did a lot better with visual flair too. The gameplay is about the same. The best part is acquiring new weapons, especially the most OP of his career: THE METAL BLADES! They don't take much energy, and they can be shot in eight angles. No other weapon can touch it! And, I used the replay button less because the difficulty wasn't too absurd (even though I played U.S. hard.) Still, it's not as bad as 1 when difficulty comes to mind, as well as hazards. Sure, there's still the same problem with Mega Man's movements, and there are some hazards and enemies and bosses that drove me nuts. It's just not as problematic as 1's. E-Tanks got their first start here, so Mega Man can replenish health more. They especially helped at the end of the game. I didn’t put the first Mega Man 1 on my list because of unfair game design and Mega Man’s control. Besides Mega Man movements still being an issue for me, it’s a lot fairer in 2. Mega Man 2 is considered to be the best in the classic series, even if there’s grounds for 3 as well. I haven’t played 3 yet, so that’s one thing I need to think about! 

 
 

 

 

5/24- Mega Man 3 (MMLC) for Switch. 

   

 

 

 

Although I loved the set-up to 2's story, this one is much better. This time, Dr. Wily helps build a robot with Dr. Light. However, eight robot masters have gone maverick again, and it seems a new shady robot with a catchy whistle theme is behind it all. Once again, you must save the day. The music and visual set-pieces are fantastic as always, though I think 2's is miles better, but the levels complement the robot masters a bit more here. Game-play has gotten a bit better thanks to Rush, Mega Man's new robo-dog companion, and the slide feature, though it does not helped it's mapped to the same button as the jump button. The weapons can never hold a candle to 2's, but Shadow Blade is the closest thing to Metal Blade.  Had to do a lot of rewinds because of that. I think 3 is perhaps easier than 2, except for the 2/3rd part of the game and for good reason. 

 

Mega Man 3 is great. Mega Man 2 set a high bar however that made future sequels hard to contend with it. I think 3's just as great as 2. It will be a hard time determining which is better.    

 
 

 

  5/30- Super Street Fighter II (SF 30th) for Switch. 

 

 

 


 

Ow... my hands. I love each of the characters, stages, and music, but I have the worst luck pulling off special attacks and the like. I tried to get into Super Turbo, but the speed and the random AI made me quit that. I would've gotten to Akuma if the enemies weren't so unpredictable and cheap. I think Ultra Street Fighter IV is better when it comes to fairness. I know the SFII series are some gems of the video game history because of the button layout, combos, and so on. The problem is is that this game requires more than ordinary reflexes and skills. Something my left thumb can attest to. 

 
 

 

 

5/30- Street Fighter Alpha 3 (SF 30th) for Switch 

 

 

 


 

Even though the last series was a bit harder to work with in the case of input commands and hard and random AI, here it felt a lot more responsive. This time, I played as Akuma. He's amazing. The music and locations might not be as recognizable as II's, but it's still great. Heck, this is chronologically the first game in the series, so it shouldn't feel this great. And I love the characters in this game as well. The new special moves are mind-blowing too, and if a fighter hits their target when the target's life is ending, the following movements feel cinematic. And until maybe the end boss fight with M. Bison, I had a better time playing this game. It's definitely more fun for me, and even though II is a household name for what it did back then, this game feels like a natural progression for the series. Now, here's to SFIII 3rd Strike! 

 
 

 

 

5/31- Street Fighter III 3rd Strike (SF 30th) for Switch 

 

 

 


 

I think I like Street Fighter Alpha 3 more when it comes to controls, music, characters. The graphics seem better here though. I know this game introduced Ibuki, Alex, Makoto, Urien, Elena, Yang, Yun, and Dudley, but that's more than half of the new cast that I know well, and the returning roster seem week in comparison. And, I swear the speed is somewhere between the II and Alpha series. That's why I love Ultra Street Fighter IV the most, and why it's the only one on my favorites list. It has all of the cast of II, most of the cast from Alpha 3, and 1/2th of the new cast from Street Fighter III, as well as new characters to boot. And the roster alone is why I haven't picked up Street Fighter V AE. Sorry, but compared to Alpha 3 and Super Street Fighter II, this game is perhaps my least favorite.

 

None of these three games will be on my favorites list, although Alpha 3 came really close, but that's because I don't have much of a personal history with Street Fighter compared to Tekken. Tekken 3 was my first fighting game, and because of an interesting story, I still treasure it to this day. That's not to say these three games are horrible. It's just that I grew up with a variety of games, and I usually don't go for the fighting genre. I'm just happy that this collection I got exists, and there may be more people who enjoy the chaos of II, the thrill of Alpha, or the freshness of III. 

 
 

 

 

 7/25- Mega Man X (Mega Man X Legacy Collection) for Switch 

 

 

 


 

To be honest... I haven't touched this game on the PS2 port for a while. My only problems were some enemy placements, some obscure places to find some items, and Sigma Stage 1. But, besides that... I really enjoyed beating it in a span of one day. Although there is a prologue video that describes the moments before the actual game when the remake came out, I'll start with where the game begins. X and Zero, a duo of cyborgs, plan to stop evil robots, known as Mavericks, from destroying the human population and from making chaos. The player controls X, who is a bit weak compared to his buddy Zero when the opening stage begins. That later plays into the story when X goes against Vile, one of the leaders of the Maverick Hunters. Vile floors X with his machine in no time possible; and when all hope seems lost, Zero saves X in the nick of time. X then travels across the world to get ready for the big battle against one of the most notable villains in video game history. As much as I loved the old nostalgic art style of Mega Man classic, Mega Man X is leaps and bounds better. Thank you, newer hardware! But, it's not only the visuals, since even the music and sound effects have been dramatically increased. A lot of the songs would work well with a metal or hard rock arrangement! I think it's one of the best soundtracks to date because most of the music is energetic! The opening stage is perhaps the best example of that... and game-play! I know a certain "Grump" would tell you how much important that stage alone is. Everything has evolved: a new charge shot, wall jumping, jumping AND shooting, and gliding! Plus, the other stages give the player a glimpse of the "potential" of X, through getting equipment that will make X become a better fighter. Mega Man classic might have done that with getting abilities from Robot Masters, and sure it's similar when X acquires his through the Maverick leaders (and eight of them, no less), but Mega Man X needed those new equipment for the bigger battle ahead, bigger than that Dr. Wily ever managed to do. I'm glad I had some videos and walk-throughs to help me out a little bit, because of the problems I mentioned. But, after coming back to this game... I'm glad I played it again. It might be on my top 100 now. There's also that sweet secret I got that fans of this game know of! It's amazing to pull off!

 

Almost forgot stage changes depending on a stage that was previously beat!   

 
 

 

 

 

7/26- Mega Man X2  (MMXLC) for Switch  

 

 

 

 

 


 

Not going to lie, it's a good game, but has some shortcomings when compared to X. Six months later after the first game, Mavericks still roam the world, and there are three leaders, Agile, Serges, and Violen, who are called the "X Hunters" and plan on rebuilding Zero to make him go Maverick. I love this plot, because Zero was a great ally in the last game, and the thought of fighting and possibly killing him would be the worst thing ever. I know that Zero is still involved in the later games, but that must have been a big deal when this game came out, and it's even more gut-wrenching knowing who made Zero in the first place. The visuals are as just as great as before, but there was a lot of experimentation when it came to wire-framing. Even though wire-framing was revolutionary a long time ago, now due to recent technology has become aged and timed. As for the soundtrack, I like about 50% of it and it doesn't come close to the perfection of the first game's. As for the gameplay, X can dash as soon as the game starts. Like before, he can upgrade himself, and he has some cool new abilities this time around. I didn't get the secret power-up this time around because it doesn't feel the same as the first one. I also used a password to get me everything except the secret item because I think this game is unfair at times. It's not because of enemies for the most part (thank the video game dev gods for ROOKIE MODE!), but because of stage hazards and because of a design flaw. Even though I knew I had to find the X Hunters, I unluckily never beat Violen the first time because I didn't know they were in a secret room. If one beats the stage without beating the X Hunter... the X Hunter does not show up until later, and there's no chance of getting one of Zero's parts. And that means X will have to fight Zero later on too. Back to levels, not only do I have problems with them in terms of hazards and the secret X Hunter locations, they don't share the neat gimmick of one stage changing another upon the boss' defeat. It worked well in the first game, and it's sad not to see that reimplemented here. Maybe the wire framing had something to do with it. The weapons also don't compare to the first game's as well... and that goes for most of the bosses as well. Some do that amazing quirk where hitting them with the weakness will cause it to behave differently than before like that first game. I find this game to be disappointing more than bad. I got the same feeling for other games I beat as well, but this is probably one of the big ones for me, especially since the first... is surprisingly high on my Top 100 list as of writing this.   

 
 

 

 

 

7/28- Mega Man X4 (MMXLC) for Switch  

 

 

 

 

 


 

If you're wondering where X3 is... I didn't beat it. Dr. Doppler Stage 1 was a nightmare to finish. Plus, I thought it was just decent compared to the first two games. The music is hit and miss, the new ride armors are barely functional, the enemy and level design is atrocious, Zero's implementation is not really good, and the story is just decent. I hoped I had a far better experience with X4. And... I did. The story is a mess, because after an attack on the Maverick Hunters H.Q., the Repliforce, a group of Reploids who want to live in piece, are suspects in the attack. The leader, General, says it wasn't their fault, but refuses to let him and his comrades to come into questioning out of... pride. It's convoluted and the deaths that occur in this game are because of this horrible script. Speaking of horrible, even though the graphics are outstanding because of the upgrade in hardware, and the soundtrack is better than 2's and 3's, the animated cutscenes, although beautiful... have some of the most notoriously guilty pleasure voice acting moments of all time. I burst into fits of laughter during what were supposed to be serious moments because of the deliveries. Moving to gameplay, this is where X4 really shines. Players can choose either X or Zero for each playthrough, who have different play styles this time around instead of Zero being... a limited X like in X3. X still plays the same as before, but Zero has his trusty Z-Sabre, which can use a different amount of combos. X fights with range and defense, while Zero fights like a glass tank. The difficulty is smoother because the stage hazards and enemy layouts weren't horrible, and because getting a game over only sends the player to the last checkpoint in the stage, not all the way back. And, with how many lives the two start with (10 instead of 3), this game is easier in comparison to the last three games. I used the Z-Sabre the most because the special weapons didn't do it for me until the last part of the game. The special moves are situational at best for finding secrets. And I didn't get some of the upgrades and the special item this time around because of this game's easy difficulty... and nothing will ever top the first game's secret. X4 might be my second favorite out of the X series so far, but I still think X1 is the best.   

 
 

 

 

 

7/29- Mega Man 4 (MMLC) for Switch  

 

 

 


 

I loved Mega Man 2 & 3, and I recently got into the X series. So... I played a mediocre Mega Man game. The story revolves around Dr. Cossack, who created his own eight robot masters. Stop him. Not as thrilling as the last two games. I forgot most of the stages, I think most of the music is lame, and I think that the weapons and Rush don't do it for me this time. Difficulty is hit and miss as well. I only found the prologue, Eddie, Skull Man, and Pharaoh Man amusing. I'm sorry, it's just that like Mega Man X3, it's a drop in quality, and MM4... is just bland and forgettable.   

 
 

 

 

7/31- Mega Man 5 (MMLC) for Switch  

 

 

 


 

Another mediocre game. Proto Man kidnaped Dr. Light and has made eight new robot masters. Stop him. Man, this is getting old. Gravity Man and Star Man are the only ones with their stages I care about, the music and graphics are decent, and the weapons are somehow worse as well. The difficulty is fine, but trying to get the collectibles is something I did not look forward too. Mega Man 5, along with 4, don't contribute too much for the series.  

 
 

 

 

7/31- Mega Man 6 (MMLC) for Switch  

 

 

 


 

Finally, it's a jump forward in quality... mostly. It's the first ever robot tournament, and the new Mr. X has taken control of new eight robot masters. STOP HIM. It's the same premise as before, but I love this game more because each of the eight robot masters take place in a different setting based on geographical locations, such as Knight Man having an English stage and Blizzard Man having an Canadian stage. The visual and musical detail reflect each of the Robot Master's stages. And even a lot of the new enemies and mini-bosses are set around the locations too. To my surprise, I think surpasses 2 and 3 in terms of that kind of design. And, it's because of the FANS, from around the world, that this game works well. Everyone was able to pitch in for the Robot Masters' designs, and I am happy that happened. It might be different nowadays, but it shows that Capcom really appreciated its fans once ago. I think the enemy power-ups that Mega Man get are decent, but the power and jet adaptors make Rush in my opinion the best he's ever been since 3. I didn't get Beat, but I still had a great time getting through the levels... even though some of the enemies were annoying to take down, and some of the gimmicks were annoying to get used to. But, it's not as bad and horrible compared to 4 and 5's difficulty. By the end of it, I was really prepared to take down the final boss, as I had the lives and E-tanks to do so.    

 
 

 

 

8/11- Octopath Traveler for Switch  

 

 

 

 

 


 

Recently, it's really hard to tell the quality of Square Enix games. Final Fantasy XIV and XV were really good, but... then there's ALL THE BRAVEST and the V and VI ports for the mobile devices. I even got this game as a birthday present because I didn't know what to make of it. I never saw any of the trailers, but I knew it existed and it was by the obvious RPG guys. After playing Final Fantasy I-VI (except II, because I heard it's REALLY BAD) and Tactics, I was wondering if Octopath Traveler was going to stand out for me in some way or just be a similar Final Fantasy RPG. I was sort of right with it being similar to Final Fantasy, buuuut... that never stopped me from playing it. The draw of the game is playing eight different characters: a warrior, a merchant, an apothecary, a cleric, a hunter, a thief, a scholar, and a dancer. (If you're wondering, the merchant and dancer do not play out like those from Fire Emblem, and the warrior here is more of like a knight from FF.) Every one of them have unique individual stories, and besides from brief moments between two characters, none of them have an overarching storyline. (I WON'T spoil what each character goes through and their backstories, because I WON'T ruin the magical moments of emotions that each of them go through and the raw genuine feelings I had for each.) A character does not need to be a part of another character's story so that it accomplishes a part of their story; some just merely tag along so that the rest might help them out in their story beats later on. Although, some of the story beats and boss moments fall flat on their butts, like when the lone-wolf thief doesn't trust anyone or when the merchant goes alone to help her village. It's as if the rest stay in the shadows until everyone is gone or when the boss fight happens. But, the character interactions are some of the most interesting parts of the game, because every character grows understand each other more and the interactions are filled with even awkward and hilarious moments. There's a point where the merchant has to buy a really expensive item, and I currently have the thief in the party. The thief is more than okay to help out and steal the item, but the merchant says she'll buy it out of the principle of the matter. The visual design is really odd, because even though most of world is sprite-work, the backgrounds and settings look photorealistic. I'm not sure if the clash works in the game's favor or is just a negative. But, the locations are distinct from another (such as a desert and a port), and character animations and reactions remind me a bit of Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy V and VI, which is not a bad thing. The music is incredible, and fits the battles, locations and characters. As for the gameplay, it's a combination of Final Fantasy I, IV, V. Each class can wield a variety of weapons, and some can use magic. Scholar's similar to the black mage, while warrior is similar to the knight. A twist to the formula is that enemies have a different number of "shields". When the enemy is hit by the weaknesses enough times, they are stunned, and are not able to attack for one to two turns. But, some enemies can have a total amount of five or more, and won't go down so easily. To take care of that problem, BP, or battle points will refill by one every turn, unless the character has a status effect, is knocked out, or the character has used BP to attack. Using more BPs allows a character to hit with their weapon up to four times, or allow the character to perform a better skill. Each character has an overworld and battle skill, like the thief being able to steal from townspeople and from enemies, and clerics being able to heal people. However, the overworld skills are limited to each character, so if one wants to steal from the townsfolk, they'll have to bring the thief along. One can switch any of the three party members except the leader when they go to the tavern. After a while, the eight can also get secondary jobs, like the cleric can use the weapons and battle skills from the scholar and so on. However, the secondary jobs can only be used one character, but there is the option to switch secondary jobs if one wants the cleric to use the alchemist weapons and skills. Now, even though I like a lot of this stuff... I sometimes hate enemies for having way too much HP, way too much attack power and range, and way too much shields. And that goes especially for bosses... and their lackeys at times. And it doesn't help that some of these enemies have wide attacks that include status effects. During the second out of fourth acts for each character, I would get constantly annoyed that enemies would do too much. And sometimes, it feels like the order of the party and the enemies in battles is inconsistent. Unlike Final Fantasy... most of them... the order of who goes is seen in battle. This is good and bad, because maybe killing enemies before they do a horrible move is good. However, after the enemies are stunned... if they are not killed, they go first the next turn and their shields are back. Stunning all of enemies is one turn is not really ideal, because if they don't die, they ALL go first and have a chance to make the battle a nightmare. Not to mention, when they are un-stunned, most of the enemies do some kind of big move. That has happened to me on more than one occasion. Last, when I revive my party members, most never go first the next turn. Now, if one says I need to level up, I do. But, the leveling up is only for being able to reach the next story point, and there is never any stat growth. Or if there is, it's minimal at best. The only real way to improve characters are weapons and armor. But, it might not be wise to buy them, because they cost a lot of money and one needs to get items to replenish health, get rid of status effects and more. And I swear getting money in battles is counterintuitive at times, because one might have to pay the same money they did when they to go to the store to the buy items they used. At least warping to towns is an option, as well as fleeing battles. Fleeing battles sometimes sucks, because if it doesn't work, everyone acts like they tripped and they waste their action. And that means there's more opportunities to enemies to send the characters to their graves. And if one does not have the right party configuration (aka ME), expect the battles to take a serious long time. With a little fine tuning, I would have loved this battle system more. I feel like some of the battles drag too long... even though, with bosses it's a lot more victorious. Some of the bosses have done horrible things, so to see them go down feels amazing. I myself wanted to see where these stories go, and earning that rush of joy was worth it. If this game ever gets a sequel, I hope my main problem with the gameplay balancing becomes fixed by then. I love most of this game, and there's a lot of potential here. Sure, some of the character tropes might feel... similar to those from Final Fantasy and other RPGs, but I don't care. When there's an emotional moment, I feel it. Because the HD rumble is on, and the rumble even makes breaking shields more intense.   

 
 

 

 

 

9/4- Kingdom Hearts for PS4  

 

 

 

 

 


 

I've played some of the classic Final Fantasy games, and I've actually had the big Kingdom Hearts Final Mixes for the PS4 for at least a year before I ever played the games. And, my Switch was being repaired at the time; so in preparation for Kingdom Hearts III (whenever that will come out) I decided to play one of the strangest combinations of all time: the gameplay of Final Fantasy, the worlds and lore of Disney, with a bit of exploration. I didn't get into the series when the first game came out because of that. Not to mention, my PS2 was barely accessible in my childhood, and I played other games on my GameCube and my GBA. I also heard that the story of this series became really confusing when the other games came out. Now that I've matured a bit with the helping of nostalgia, I thought it was a good idea to finally get into the series... with hopes that I beat the games before III comes out. The game starts out in a dream sequence, but the protagonist named Sora finally wakes in his world DESTINY ISLANDS. He and his two friends, Riku and Kairi, want to escape their world because they want so much more their provincial liiiiiiives. *coughs* One faithful night, a storm breaks out, and dark creatures, known as the Heartless, appear. Their world is destroyed, and Riku, Kairi, and Sora become separated. Meanwhile, Donald and Goofy have received word that their king, MICKEY OF ALL PEOPLE, is on a mission to destroy the darkness. They are tasked to find the one who holds the Keyblade, Sora, and to stop the other worlds from being engulfed into darkness. The three meet in Traverse Town, a world that homes those who lost their worlds in the ensuing chaos, and from there go to different worlds based on a few iconic Disney franchises. It's kind of fresh to know that the story isn't really complicated as far as this game goes. Plus, most of the villains the gang meets are those from Disney, but no spoilers there and the rest of the story. There are some unquestioned answers that the sequels address, and there are some face-palming moments made by usually smart characters, but as far as a real story goes, it's really interesting. Most of the locations and music take a lot of inspiration from the movies that each world is incorporated in. The first world, Wonderland, has the place where Alice turns small and big, has the court of the Red Queen, and the furniture and dinnerware from the Mad Hatter and March Hare unbirthday scene. And to fit the bill, the over-world and battle music is whimsical. Although I think there could have been a better representation of the Disney worlds, for a beginning game it works fine, and I can't wait to see how much they improved since then. I think some of the models look odd or just plain dated as of today, but the style of each world still works. As for the game-play, there are some basic adventure actions, like running, jumping, and talking. All of the environments are in 3D, but because it borrows some elements from Final Fantasy, I had a few problems. One: the camera was a pain in the neck sometimes when I just wanted to see straight. Two: jumping from platform to platform is a little wonky because of floaty controls. And three: hitting things and enemies is sometimes hard to work with, even with the lock-on feature. The lock-on feature sometimes doesn't even focus on the target I want to focus on. It's similar to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but I think Ocarina did combat and movement in a 3D space better. I do love fighting using the Keyblade and magic, but sometimes enemies would be really hard to hit, and other times the damage output from enemies would be extremely unfair, EVEN FOR BEGINNER MODE. If these points weren't discussed for the remix, then someone or some people thought it was okay to keep archaic controls. But, I got to give props for some unique boss battles, even though I think some are horrible and the final boss battle goes on for TOO LONG, even for a beginner. There's even some Final Fantasy characters (who I won't name) that I loved beating the crud out of. Kingdom Hearts has some really great moments and some really awful choices that I hope the sequels do improve on. It can be really fun or very frustrating at times, but I'm glad the series took off from a basic game.  

 

... Making and piloting Gummi ships are just okay. It gets boring after a while.   

 
 

 

 

 

 

9/9- Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories for PS4 

 

 

 


 

After i beat the first game in the series, I thought it was a good idea to go into the next game in the series. Not numerical, anyways. Following from the last game in the series, Sora, Donald and Goofy take a rest, but then a cloaked and hooded figure goads Sora into a nearby castle. The three are trapped inside of the castle and are told by the same figure that in order to escape, they'll have to go higher up in the castle. Donald tries to cast magic, but he is unable to do it. The figure says that they lost some memories when they entered the castle (CASTLE OBLIVION), and that progressing through the castle and recovering their memories requires the use of cards. The figure throws Sora one card, and proclaims that "to lose and claim anew, or to claim anew only to lose." It makes a lot more sense in the context of the game, but it means that the gang might recover some memories, while some are forgotten. In the middle of this is a girl who draws picture of Sora and his friends in another part of the castle. She too has a big role in the story, but I won't spoil it here. The gameplay ties to the focus of the story, and as a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh! myself, I was really intrigued to see where this change in the formula would go. However, the journey takes place in most of the worlds already seen in the first game (sans Tarzan's), and a few place that will become more important later on. I skipped any scenes that felt familiar from the last game, and only looked at those which had importance to this one in particular. It's mostly an abridged version of the first game to be more precise. Not to mention, most of the layouts seem repetitive at times, because of the gameplay element. I didn't like some of the rooms in the last game, but I think I hated most of the ones in this game. Nearly everything from the last game comes back into this one, except what I mentioned before, some new bosses and faces, and the gameplay. In the worlds that Sora and friends travel through, to get to another room, they'll have to use map cards won from battling enemies. Each door requires a different number and/or color, and sometimes a unique story card to use. (This is where to boring room layouts come into play.) Objects will sometimes drop cards, Moogle Points (more on that later), and health balls when struck. Monsters will appear, and with the right timing, one can hit them to prematurely make them lose damage in the pseudo-action card game battles. Finally, the combat. It's similar to the last game's, but with card strategy in mind. Each card has a number, from 0 to 9. The player and the enemies have cards that do different things. Sora can use attack, magic/summon, and item cards. The higher the card one plays, the other card the other one plays will be broken and will not be usable. 0 numbered cards can get rid of combos and sleights, which are a set of three combined cards to make a unique attack like blizzaga and tornado. So, using numbered 0 and 9 cards should be ideal, right? No. Each deck required card points, and for a deck to be playable, it needs the same or lower amount of card points. Leveling up can give one the option to raise their HP or CP. HP is also vital, because some bosses and enemies are not pushovers. So, what to do? Grind, find and use premium room cards that lower the price of a card after each battle, and use Moogle shops to buy cards with Moogle Points. Treasure rooms are good too, but I think for effectiveness, use cards that have enemies too. One will get more EXP AND perhaps a useful card. Most of the enemies were fine to battle at first, but became boring when I used the right sleights. And, the boss consistency is off as well. I had a breeze with some, while others were painfully annoying to beat. There was this boss who used ice powers, and until I grinded more, he was infuriating to work with. 0 numbered cards and these overpowered sleights... He was just a pain. Yes, bosses have decks too, so don't go soft on them like with normal enemies. This game was a rollercoaster of emotions, and it doesn't help that the ending... makes the journey feel pointless. There are some good things about this game, and I thought it was going to be better than the first game, but the repetitious nature of it all makes the journey feel mediocre.      

 
 

 

 

 

9/21- The Messenger for Switch    

 

 

 

 

 

 


I tried The Messenger out because of a certain YouTuber who recently played it and recommended it a few weeks ago. As a spiritual successor to Ninja Gaiden, I was a little bit... worried, or so, that this game would be very difficult. Well... it is. But, unlike Ninja Gaiden, I found the game to be challenging but fair... except for some moments where I swore heavily when things didn't go my way. But, taking some breaks actually helped me progress and march through this seemingly difficult game. I shouted to the heavens when I finally... beat The Messenger. The Messenger takes place on an island which is mostly populated by monsters. A small and secluded group of villagers are training to become better ninjas. They eagerly wait for the return of The Hero of the West, who will give one of them an important scroll and the title of The Messenger. The Messenger then has to make his way to the top of the island for the hope of mankind to continue. Even though the demons find the secluded village earlier than anticipated, The Hero of the West arrives in the nick of time to repel the demons and give the avatar the scroll. That's all I'm going to cover, because the story becomes a lot more interesting later on. Despite the apocalyptic vibe that the game presents in the beginning, this game also has some of the strangest but comedic moments I've ever seen. It's kind of like Undertale in its humor. But, the story is not the only thing I loved about the game. The retro vibe of the graphics is perfect for the amount of characters and locations that this game has, and the music is rich with pumping old school beats. No seriously, I think the soundtrack is the best part of the game, hands down. And, now for the gameplay. At first, all The Messenger can do is swing their sword and jump. But, when timed correctly after hitting something, the Messenger can "Cloud Step", which is another jump in midair. The Cloud Step is crucial to the game, as it saves the player from countless moments of death. Now, I say "at first", because the upgrades and weapons The Messenger gets are also integral. I won't spoil them, because they too are plot related. Now, I'd be lying if I said the game was easy. There are some really difficult moments and boss fights that will take time to master. Dying and repeating motions after motions will be common in this game. The game has infinite lives, so I'm glad the game is generous there. Like I said, conquering said moments and bosses is satisfying. Except for some moments where I thought I did one thing, and the game did another, I really love most of this game.  

 
 

 

 

 

 

10/9- WWE2K19 for PS4

  

 

 

 

 I skipped playing WWE2K18, because... of no story mode, and I feel like it was the same like it was ever when I played WWE2K17. That, and... no story mode. Maybe there was more to that, like Super Mario Odyssey coming out around that time too. But, the biggest thing that kept me interested this time? THE DANIEL BRYAN STORY MODE. DB is my favorite wrestler, as he wants to be one of the best wrestlers of all time, more than becoming famous and rich. But... it only has eleven matches, and because some former wrestlers won't ever come back, some of his famous matches couldn't be in the game probably due to legal issues. The fights between CM Punk, the WM31 Ladder Match, and who knows what else. Still, that's what the CAWs are for. Thank gosh for the CAW Community! The presentation... oh boy. They tried to make everything look nice, but the audience and some of the wrestlers just look weird as always. That's how it's always been with the current series, even though I wish they tried a bit more this time around. Since I haven't touched a new WWE game since 2K17, I didn't know what to expect when it came to actually playing the game. I couldn't tell you what was new in terms of matches, modes (except for this tournament thing that is pretty much for hardcore fans, and a better MyCareer), and so on (except for the new titles and new and lost wrestlers). Currently, I'm more into the Universe mode, and I'm planning on creating three wrestlers that combines the multiple personalities of Mick Foley and the "YES/NO!" gimmick of Daniel Bryan. The only thing that I haven't experimented with yet is the Payback mechanic, which seems to turn the tides for wrestlers. The one thing I did immediately after finishing the story mode was to make a Royal Rumble which had the best current stars from WWE and a few from New Japan. (Velveteen Dream won after taking out both Johnny Garganno and Bryan Danielson.) I think it's good compared to WWE2K16, and i think better than the last two games for sure. Who knows if it'll be one of the best wrestling games ever, but I won't ever sell it. Daniel Bryan, you know. 

 

10/13- Luigi's Mansion for 3DS 

  

 

 

 

 


It's odd that I beat the sequel before heading to the prequel. Maybe I'll do that one day with ALTTP! What intrigued me with the sequel was playing as Luigi solo and with different means to tackle enemies. That, and THE YEAR OF LUIGI. We all know that Luigi's Mansion was one of the first titles for the GameCube, when it's usually a Mario game that's the launch for Nintendo systems. I was never a huge Mario fan in my childhood, so I never experienced the drama, if any, that came with a new play-style. Instead of platforming, it was a... third person kids version of survival horror. A kids version of Resident Evil, even if that's a loooooong stretch. I bought the GameCube version before news of the remake came, but never played it because other games were on my mind. It's the same reason I haven't dove into Kingdom Hearts until recently. So, the story? Luigi wins a mansion, but is tricked when he goes to the location and finds out that the place is haunted. Not only is the place haunted, but Professor E. Gadd, a scientist who researched ghosts for most of his life, tells Luigi that Mario came to the mansion a while ago and is currently missing. E. Gadd gives Luigi the Poltergust 3000 and tasks him to find his brother and capture ghosts, of which E. Gadd wants to put several into portraits. So, the night begins! Compared to the sequel, there is only is there ONE mansion, and there are three floors and a basement. There's no recent Mario tropes here, and depending on skill alone, the adventure can take about five to seven hours! There's no missions too, which I think works for pacing, since one should always be on guard in a game like this non-stop. However, even though I like the variations when it comes to the theme song (Luigi humming to it is cute), I think the sequel did it better with changing up the theme because of the different locations Luigi went. Both play wonderful on a New 3DS, and I personally didn't see any frame drops with the remake. Enemy variation... while I prefer Luigi's Mansion Portrait Ghosts compared to the Possessor Ghosts in the sequel, I think Dark Moon had the better normal enemies. One: I like Greenie, Slammer, and so on because they look colorful and look different from each other compared to the pink and orange ghosts on the cover and so on. And except for the ghosts that usually invade Luigi's personal space, none of the ghosts posed a real threat, and I remember Dark Moon giving me a few deaths at times. Two: the ghosts in Luigi's Mansion are just chaotic evil, but the ghosts in Dark Moon are forced upon their will by King Boo. I love it when I turn back the ghosts to good, and see their cute smile. Luigi's Mansion might have had more frights, but I think I had more moments and feels when it came to Dark Moon. Now, the game-play. Along with using various buttons for the flashlight and the Poltergust, for this remake one also has to use the motion controls (namely, moving the screen) for precise movement. It's been a while since I played Dark Moon, but I don't remember the motion controls being finicky. At times, moving the screen works, other times it doesn't. And the Control Pad, D-Pad, and C-Stick aren't as useful too. I might have only died twice thanks to luck, but it was annoying when I didn't shine a light on Ghost Number 124 directly or vacuum them on time. And I got stuck a few times, because the game also has the GAME BOY HORROR, which can scan enemies for some weaknesses and search the room Luigi's in. There are two rooms that require Luigi to investigate two items, so that he can transport to another area in the Mansion. That's the only time I looked up online, because even though there are only a few hits of where to go and what to do, the game is easy enough to explore around. Besides the main story, there's more to do, like teaming up online with a player to take on the mansion. I haven't tried it out, but I might some time... maybe after when I'm done playing TWEWY Final Mix. Besides some potential end-boss shenanigans (which is easier than people make it out to be), the game is challenging, but fair. I got an okay ending, and I don't care getting the best. This game is good. That's all for now.    

 
 

 

 

 

10/16- The World Ends With You -FINAL MIX- for Nintendo Switch 

 

 

 

 

 


I mostly everything about it... except the gameplay, the random difficulty spikes, and the skippable post-game   

 

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 THERE'S A POSSIBILITY OF A NEW GAME, GET HYPED).  

Neku is forced to play a game where he has to complete random missions and survive for seven days. However, even though he acts anti-social and doesn't care about others, he has to team up so that he can fight against random enemies called noises. The story delves into messages about trust, art, friendship and individuality. Behind the... gameplay is an emotional game about Neku trying to open up to others, even if it's hard as it seems. The other characters Neku meet are just as complex as him, and not all of them are strictly good or bad. The world is based on the real world of Shibuya, a section of Tokyo, but is on another plane, so to speak. There's a lot of people and places, and most are DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS. I wasn't kidding about individuality, as that is central to the whole game. The music reflects Neku's emotional level, as he's basically... emo, for a lack of a better word. Unlike the usual games Square is known for, it feels right at home with a Persona game. But... teen-rated. The gameplay... is motion-controlled. I'll get to it straight, I hate it. Even when using the joy-cons. The original game was for a hand-held, and that kind of feedback does not work well with motion controls. And the game has the nerve to force me into changing my difficulty at times to get some items. And the bosses start at normal difficulty... and are a pain to beat because of their health bars. The random movements of enemies don't help either. The post-game strongly hints 

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THERE'S GOING TO BE A SEQUEL. I JUST HOPE THEY IMPROVE MY QUALMS WITH THIS ONE. 

There's a lot to love with TWEWY, but it's gameplay, like Luigi's Mansion (3DS) and Star Fox Zero's, makes me wish they did motion controls better. They're great games, they just needed fine tuning with the controls. 

 
 

 

 

10/24- Splatoon 2 for Switch  

 

 

 

 

 


 

Never played the last game for the story, but I think the story here is a lot better, because not only has the Great Zapfish gone missing (who would've seen that coming), Callie has gone missing as well. (Haven't played the Octo Expansion as of yet, but I heard it's really good.) Some missions were fun, unless I got a weapon I hated a lot, but was forced to use because it's Sheldon's "REQUIRED"... one. "REQUESTED" Most of the bosses were fun to defeat. (Though, I clearly remember hating Octo Samurai, because you're required to use Sheldon's "REQUESTED" weapon.) And the rolling Octarian balls and their missions can go roll into a dumpster for all I care. But, the game was never much about the story. Because the Splatoon games were mostly about the multiplayer! The music and stages are still amazing, and there are a lot of clothes and weapons and stats! The multiplayer still has Regular Battles (the team to ink more of the stages wins), Ranked Battles (different objectives), and the always fun Splatfests (the team who does the best in battles wins), but Splatoon 2 also has co-op in the form of Salmon Run and League Battles. I haven't played League Battles (but I assume it's the same as Ranked Battles), but Salmon Run is about hunting Boss Salmonid and capturing their golden eggs before the timer runs out. There are three waves, and the waves change based on different things, like there being higher tides and it being nighttime. The Boss Salmonid themselves are tricky too. Splatoon 2 is a wonderful game and a cool variety of a third-person multiplayer shooter, because it uses ink instead of bullets and the like, marine life instead of real people and aliens, and unconventional weapons instead of the usual guns and swords you'd see in Call of Duty and Battlefield. Fun note: My brother got it for me as a birthday present... last year, and thought it was digital. It was physical, and by the time I wanted to finally play it... a year later, I could no longer get it for free. Thank gosh I have a job, and got it when the Octo Expansion came out a few months earlier!    

 
 

 

 

 

10/28- Bayonetta for Switch 

 

I'm glad I played this game after... NEARLY TEN YEARS AGO?! Daaaaaaaaaaaang! The story is about the fight between the Lumen Sages and Umbra Witches after two of each clan birthed a child called Bayonetta. After fighting angels on a floating clock tower (inspiring the stage for Smash Bros.), it cuts to her fighting angels in a cemetery IN THE PRESENT. Except this time, she has lost her memories, except her name, her powers, and her identity. She travels to Vigrid City in Europe in order to obtain the Left Eye, a treasure known to have tremendous power and is part of the set known as The Eyes of the World. Along the way, she encounters a few friends and a buttload of angels, who have no qualm trying to kill her. And, stage by stage, she recovers parts of her past. The story is intriguing, but what really sells the game is... Bayonetta. Yes, she's one of the most raunchiest characters of video game history, but she's very facetious and jocular in how she interacts with others and the world(...s...). Unless serious matters happen, she's a cool and collected character. The game has a different amount of stages, enemies, and obstacles with the city. One will never know what they might come across in this game the first time they play this. Except for a few stages, I love the variety of what happens. And the music... what can I say about Bayonetta's Theme, the Fly Me To The Moon Climax Remix, and some remixes of other Sega games? It's one of the most pumping soundtracks in gaming history. Bayonetta has to fight the legions of angels, and that's where her combat comes into play. She not only can punch, kick, jump, and do sweet combos, but she's also shooting with four guns. She carries two with her hands, and holds two on her boots; and with how much stunts she pulls off... I believe that she can pull that off. She can also use some obscene Torture Attacks and finish fights off with Climaxes, where she uses her... hair to summon interesting creatures and pull off some gruesome specials. During both, it's a bit of a button masher, but the only thing it really affects are the ranks (which don't do much for me anyways). Last, she can dodge, and if the time is right, she can enter Witch Time, where time slows down and Bayonetta has more time to get hits on her opponents. It only lasts for a few seconds, but the stuff she can do within the time is reasonable. Some moments in the game are... quick time, but they aren't really as intrusive as other games. Except for a few moments of irritation, I really enjoyed Bayonetta, and I cannot wait to play the sequel and to get the third one when it comes out! I'm happy I played this around Halloween time!  

 

10/30- Bayonetta 2 for Switch  

 

 

 

 


 

I was genuinely surprised how much I loved the first game, so I asked myself if the sequel would top it in all manner. To be honest... Bayonetta 2 did not disappoint me! In what I think is New York City near Christmastime, Bayonetta and Jeanne (now playing for the... better side) fight more angels on fighter jets. After doing a Climax with one of the big angels, one of Bayonetta's summons... go out of control and attacks her. Even though Jeanne protects her, Jeanne's soul... is separated from her body and is sent to Inferno, one of the Three Realms of Reality. After taking care of the betrayer, and with not much time left to save her fallen comrade (for Jeanne is not truly dead), Bayonetta plans on going to Hell by finding the real Gates at... *checks Bayonetta Wiki* Fimbulventr, where all Three Realms (Paradiso, Inferno, and the human world) intersect. There, she runs into a new character pivotal her past, and goes up against a masked Lumen Sage (for those who played the last game, you might know who it is), who also now some more development. Still, not only is Bayonetta fighting the cherubic Angels, but she's now also fighting nasty Demons from Inferno, since the balance of Paradiso and Inferno is out of whack. Bayonetta is the still the cool chick that she is, but with Jeanne in a bind, we now get to see a little more serious side of her. She discovers more truths about her past and learns to accept them. She has a haircut now, and I kind of prefer the look over her weird one from the last game. But, make no mistake: her summons are still as powerful as before. The main focal point of the story is the town of Noatun, a beautiful port city located at the base of Fimbulventr. It doesn't share as much time as Vigrid City, but it's still as important. Like the last game, the game has a great amount of variety in terms of stages and baddies, even though I think the obstacles were toned down a little bit. I actually liked all of the stages this time around because there's not as much annoying things that happen. The music... okay, even I agree that the Climax Mix of Moon River and Bayonetta's new theme (Tomorrow Is Mine) show how brilliant the soundtrack is. Now with demons in the mix, how does the combat fare this time around? Bayonetta holds on to what her had and acquired in the previous game, but two new factors come into play. One: Bayonetta can now use Umbran Climax, which summons the powerful Wicked Weaves, an extension of Bayonetta's attacks thanks to her... friend, Madama Butterfly. (If one has played the first, she has basically appears in some of the boss fights). It uses the same magic as the Torture Attacks, but there is an option to do both. Second: the number Quick Time Events have been reduced to a reasonable amount, and pulling them off is not as bad as the first. A few more things really help the replay value of this game. A realm known as Muspelheim tests the combat with different objectives and time limits. (Apparently, a similar realm appeared in the first game, but they were much easier to spot in this game.) The game also has co-op, in which two players battle waves of Angels and Demons from the game in order to get more halos and some secret stuff. Last, the game has amiibo support, and like last time, Bayonetta can wear some of Nintendo's classiest of costumes. I love Bayonetta 2... a bit more than Bayonetta. With a third game currently in development, I await the day to fight once more as one of video game's sassiest of sisters.   

 
 

 

 

 

11/5- Undertale for PC. 

 

 

It's been three years since I've began my Undertale journey. I don't know why I never came back to the game until just recently. But, playing it again after a while made me realize... how odd this game is. The story starts off with a fight between humans and monsters. The monsters are sent to the land below after their defeat, but fate would have it that the monsters could rise again if the souls of sevens humans were taken. The protagonist is the last soul left for the monsters to rise to the surface. But, the main struggle is killing or sparing monsters, because none of them are truly... evil. They just want to escape, and the only one in their way is... YOU. Some of the monsters even become your friends. I'll come back to the morality thing in a bit. The graphics seem similar to another RPG game called Earthbound, and that's because Undertale was started as a ROMHack or the like from Earthbound. Although I never played Earthbound, I can see the nods, even up to the comedy and the humor. A lot of the jokes do well breaking the barrier between the player and the audience. For me, I love that self-aware kind of stuff, since I do perform for others too. The music is really amazing, and the one I've always loved is the DogSong. But, Papyrus' song is bouncy and fun too. The NPCs really help flesh out the tragedy and comedy. They're supposed to fight you, but in some cases, you go out on dates with them. The gameplay consists of rhythm-styled battling, using some interesting actions, and... dodging attacks in a bullet hell manner. Here's where the whole morality thing comes in. Battling and killing enemies gives you EXP... which turns out to be something more malicious. Actions and sparing enemies settle fights in a non-aggressive manner. If you see where I'm going with this... there are three routes a player can do on their play-throughs: The neutral run (where only some enemies are killed), the pacifist run (where no enemies except for a certain few are killed), and the extremely brutal GENOCIDE RUN (where everyone but you DIES). And the kicker is that the story is impacted by the choices the player makes... even on subsequent plays. This game is notorious of being self-aware it is a game. To say that the game is easy is a bold-faced lie. If one decides to do a pacifist run, then they don't get EXP and level up, and their stats don't increase, including health. The player only has 20 HP... and some attacks do a good amount of damage. Fighting bosses might be stressful if going down that route. That, and the bullet hell mini-games have a lot of projectiles coming in from everywhere, and using the four directional buttons don't help. I haven't tried the genocide route... And knowing one of the bosses, I'll never attempt it. I heard that Delta Rune was in the works recently (another game by Toby Fox.) Who knows how it will turn out, but I hope it's just as good as Undertale. 

 
 As much as I hate to say this, it's not on my Top 100. It's unique, for sure, but there are some things that hold it back for me. 

 

 

11/6- Resident Evil Zero for PS4 

 

 

As I was getting ready to wind down from my Bayonetta-Halloween time, I realized... I never once played a horror game before. I am easily spooked, frightened, and shocked. But, eventually I had to conquer my fear of ever playing a horror game, because I wanted to expand my horizons. And what other thing could be possibly more impactful than the big Resident Evil/Biohazard series?! But, I wanted to see where the story truly began, and Zero... provides some details of what was to come. The story begins with Rebecca Chambers, a member of S.T.A.R.S., who is investigating the location of Billy Coen, an escaped prisoner. A trail sends Rebecca to a nearby destroyed train, which was attacked by leeches and a mysterious person. She fends off a few zombies and eventually meets Billy. They both reluctantly team up in order to stay alive and to find out what's going on with the whole zombie thing. I love that kind of chemistry, because even in the worst of times the unlikeliest of people will stand tall to face the challenge. I really love the set-pieces that appear, and the different creatures that hop out of nowhere. As it was the first horror game, I was genuinely surprised. Even though the music is mostly atmospheric, I love the uneasiness of most of the soundtrack. The safe points easily have my favorite song, even if the safety is only temporary. Gameplay is sort of a mixed bag for me. While I do love the weapons in the game... the whole inventory system does not allow for good fighting situations. And, because some items are required to progress through the game and they too need inventory space...  it's annoying when one will eventually get them back. The worst part is the backtracking. Because there are many floors, and some rooms are spacious and long, and there's not many shortcuts at first, and it's easy to get lost, and the tank controls make movement a nightmare, and last because going from one to another has those un-skippable loading screens, one will spend a lot of time trying to get the thing they need. Picking up items is just as atrocious, because some times, when there's a nearby object, the game registers the one object one won't need, and sometimes, it will just register one of the random stuff in the current room. Some of the puzzles are outright ridiculous, because one won't have the immediate information on how to solve a puzzle. I got stuck on a puzzle where one of my characters has the ability to mix chemicals (but the other doesn't). The other character who can't has two of the pieces on the floor they're on. So, I start looking for one of the pieces with my character who can. I look around for ages in this certain area to find the piece, but after a while, i quit and look online. Turns out I can get the piece... IN ANOTHER AREA OF THE GAME. WHICH. MEANS. MORE. BACKTRACKING. If I sent in the character who can mix where the other person is beforehand, I wouldn't have spent a while trying to figure this puzzle out. And you might as why I can't let them trade places. Easy: Roadblocks. Some doors are locked, and the only way the other character got to the place they were was with a hookshot. And despite all reasonable logic, I was unable to send a hookshot down to that character through the hole my other character escaped from, nor send it in a delivery thing because there was no space, nor easily lift the character using the other. These failures in logic were unnecessarily for the sake of padding what could have been a short prologue to the first game. And last... the ink ribbons. Was it really a good idea to hide a save feature behind the use of a limited item?! And we complained about buying saves in MGS5 with money! But, limited inventory aside, it felt really good to aim and shoot at the monsters... even though the ammo is limited too. The bosses, though simple, brought some of the most turbulent reactions out of me. Killing them felt great. I might be done with Zero... But, I know the story really hasn't ended. I'll continue with the first game... just in time for 2's remake! 

 

Zero might not be in my top 100... but, maybe the first game can change be on it!

  

 11/10- Resident Evil for PS4 

 

 

 

 

 


 

My thoughts on RE0 were mixed in a lot of ways. The story, monsters, atmosphere, music, and characters of the prequel were good, but it was the backtracking, the puzzles, and the item management that kind of hurt the game for me. So, I finally played the first Resident Evil game wondering if it would get any better. Well... yes... and no. The story starts off with the Alpha Team of S.T.A.R.S. going to the Arklay Mountains, after hearing news that the previous team Bravo (which Chambers was a part of) has not reported back. The key members are Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, Barry Burton, and Albert Wesker. After looking around the forest area, Jill finds one of her coworkers... eaten by zombie dogs, also known as Cerberus. The four run away from the pack, and go inside a nearby house... I mean mansion. The four have to explore the mansion not only to find a way to get rescued, but find out what has been happening in regards to the zombie outbreak. The player chooses between Jill or Chris, and certain dialogue scenes play out differently for both of them. They'll meet up with Albert and Barry from time to time, for they're on their own for most of the adventure. Unlike Zero, the player is by themselves. Thanks to Zero, I know what might happen, but there's still some things in the game that are mysterious. One will encounter a certain creature about 2 or 3/5ths within the game, and they have a really tragic and horrible backstory detailed later in the game. Like the prequel, the atmosphere, the locations, and the music are still as eerie as before. I recognized some creatures I saw in Zero, but now there are Crimson Heads, which are zombies that get stronger if they're not blown in the head or burnt as a regular zombie. (Yes, one of the items in the game is lighter fluid, but like ammo, it's limited too.) Now, onto the gameplay. I played as Chris Redfield, because I wanted to get familiar with him before I played as Claire for the eventual remake. Turns out he's good in some aspects, but horrible in others. He's stronger, more durable, and faster; but Jill has a lock pick (which can make some doors cry in despair, as you need some keys to open certain doors), has a bit more inventory space, and can get out of trouble at times because of Barry. The backtracking is... a bit better. Even though one cannot drop items on the floor, there are item boxes within some rooms of the game. And every item collected can be stored in and withdrawn from the item boxes, so one doesn't have to find the right box they need. But, some doors are confusing one way through ones. There's a safe room next to a way outside of the mansion, but to travel back to outside, I have to go in a clockwise motion just to do so. It's not bad as the hookshot, but it still feels unnecessary. The inventory space is a bit better too. Not one weapon or thing requires two spaces this time around, and for Jill, she gets more. Picking up items still felt wonky to me, but I think the best update to the gameplay were the puzzles. Not all of them are great, but I feel like it's a step up from Zero's. And, despite my objections in the last review, I think there are a decent amount of Ink Ribbons in both games. Some of the bosses are generic, but they genuinely shocked me at times. But, there is an exception with one who is really difficult to take down. I loved the ending of the game, and even though it's not the end of the series, it's still a really good one. Resident Evil made "survival horror", and with what it did, I can't complain too much. 2's remake is still coming... but I heard 3 is like the between story of 1 and 2. And, except for some presentational things, I heard the GameCube port of 3 is just decent, so I'll just go with the PlayStation version. 

 

 

11/14- Resident Evil 3 for PS 

 

 

 

I beat it on my PS3, but as a PS Classic. (If you're wondering where Resident Evil 2 is... I'm waiting for the remake.) The third game stars Jill Valentine, one of the few surviving S.T.A.R.S. members from the Mansion Incident. Although the Mansion is blown apart, an outbreak of the T-Virus has now spread across Raccoon City. Many of the civilians have either died... or have become the undead. The police are ordered to stop the waves of zombies, but many of their forces die. Jill Valentine is one of the few fighting back. She not only has to survive, but she also has to find a way out of the city. Along the way she meets members of the Umbrella militia, who are ordered to evacuate any known civilians left. Although she knows Umbrella is responsible for the outbreak and should not trust them, she has no choice but to work with them. But, things get worse for Jill when a huge mutated monster zombie, known as Nemesis, starts to hunt her down because of her affiliation with... S.T.A.R.S. Nemesis is seemingly unbeatable for the entirety of the game, and the only thing Jill, and the player, can do is run. Resident Evil might have been the father of survival horror because of the numerous amounts of creatures and zombies, but Nemesis alone made this game a nightmare and a lot scarier and tenser. Some of the graphics and music of this game are a little bit dated, but the apocalyptic vibe of the city still makes this game a genuine scary game. Raccoon City might be larger than the mansion, but this game goes about it like it was a mansion with its different rooms and environments. If there was a choice to remaster this game, I'd say YES. Now down to gameplay. The remakes of RE0 and RE make me realize... how awful, awkward, or odd some of the old 3D controls were. Some elements from those remakes were borrowed from RE3, like turning 180 degrees and dodging, and I love that. But, turning and moving in RE3 felt a bit less natural, and that's because of tank controls. As much as I hated RE0 and Remake's puzzles, they weren't as atrocious as some of the ones in RE3, especially one near the final stretch. Item management is 50/50 as always, but the backtracking wasn't as bad as the first two games because there were fewer moments of "card and key" shenanigans. Mostly every door could be unlocked from the get-go. It's just that RE3 has more zombies in each area compared to RE0 and REmake... hoorraaaaaaaaaay... Most of the stuff from 1 is back and some of it is better, but what specifically makes RE3 stand out? Besides what I already mentioned, Jill also carries a machine gun. It's great, but after a minute or so, it will run out of clips. So, what now? That's where mixing gunpowder and making bullets out of them comes in! There's three types of gunpowder, A, B, C, and one can combine them too to make more ammo or other kinds of ammo. Gunpowder is necessary, because I mean it: THERE'S A LOT MORE ZOMBIES! There's also... Nemesis. During a select few moments when Jill faces him, the screen will go black and white, and the player is presented two options. A few will make Jill face Nemesis head-on (in Hard Mode, she's rewarded with some bonus items, which I won't get since I'm a guy who likes to play it easy), and the other choices will make Jill run away from it. Like I said, he is persistent, so don't think those will be the only times he'll come after Jill. In some moments, he comes equipped with a mother-loving ROCKET LAUNCHER. This game is exponentially harder all because of him. And if one takes on Nemesis in the first fight and thinks that he's going to hand you that win so early and so easy... no. He's the FIRST AND FINAL BOSS. HE'LL STOP AT NOTHING TO TAKE JILL DOWN. HE'S A COCKROACH WHO REFUSES TO DIE. HE CONSISTENTLY STALKS HER IN THE WHOLE GAME, EVEN IF HE'S WOUNDED FROM THE LAST FIGHT. HE'LL BE IN HER PATH WHEN SHE LEAST EXPECTS IT. No other zombie compares to his strength, not even TYRANT! Although I think the strength of a video game is to make sure a player has the tools necessary within its own game to make progress and to not rely on outside sources, this game, like the rest of the RE games I've played, doesn't do it well at some moments. I spent 45% of my time looking up on some walkthroughs, and I'm pretty sure I spent a lesser percent with the other games. And here's where it gets crazier. Although I can say with confidence that this game is harder than the remakes of 0 and 1... the last boss battle with NEMESIS (spoiling it because it's so OBVIOUS) and the ending actually made my ride getting to there worth it. I, along with Jill, finally felt stronger to take on the big evil and put him down... for good. I spent a good amount of ammo and guns I acquired on him. For anyone else interested, do what I did. ... But, maybe wait until the RE2make comes out to figure out how you should play each. I thought going through a chronological order would make things better.  

 

Maybe I was wrong to do things out of order. I'm not sure if that will impact how it might be in my Top 100.

 

 

 

11/16- Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion for Nintendo Switch

 

 

Most of the stuff that's in this expansion was part of the base game, so what is exactly new? The story begins with Cap'n Cuttlefish and an amnesiac and good Octoling, now named Agent 8, below the surface. Cuttlefish says that he along with Agent 3 battled with Agent 8 before they were attacked by something, and realizes Agent 3 is not with them. The two soon find a mysterious telephone which will return them to the surface- The Promised Land- if they help collect four Thangs for it. With no other option, the two board a subway train and go through different kinds of missions to find the four Thangs. Compared to the first and second base stories, it's quite refreshing. There's no plot of taking back the Great Zapfish; just a story about two marine creatures trying to get back up to the surface. Skipping to the gameplay, the expansion is mission based, and each trial requires a certain amount of CQ points to begin and retry if one gets a Game Over. The four Thangs are scattered in the map, and most of the lines are accessed by beating certain missions. Now one might be wondering if it's simple as the base game. It's not. Whereas most of the missions in the base game had a simple objective of going from Point A to Point B with the Octarians the only things in the way, some of the missions in the Octo Expansion were about moving an 8-Ball to the goal without it going out of bounds, making a huge statue of boxes identical to another statue of steel, and defeating enemies within a certain amount of time. Some of these missions are really fun and easy... while some are just plain cheap and difficult. Each trial also only uses specific types of weapons, which means the player has to use a few weapons they don't like. More CQ points are rewarded for using other weapons, but that makes the mission more difficult. After trying and failing enough times, it is possible to use some CQ points to skip missions that the player hates. But, the rewards for beating the missions legitimately are mem cakes, collectibles that are a part of Agent 8's memories. Some clothing and accessories can be obtained for multiplayer too. While the Expansion has some really frustrating moments, the last stretch of the expansion makes the journey all the much better. This was one of the best experiences I had with DLC, and I'm grateful that Nintendo is doing better with more content for their current games. If one likes the Splatoon games and want a real challenge, I highly recommend the Octo Expansion.

 

Black Friday- Spyro The Dragon for PS4 

  

 

Ever since I played Spyro 3 and defeated it about two decades ago, I've never went back to the original Spyro trilogy. The first Spyro is the one I've rented, while the other two are what I bought. With the Reignited Trilogy out, I've always wanted to finally give this game a real shot. During an interview in the peaceful land of dragons, Gnasty Gnorc gets angry when one dragon says he's "simple, no threat, and UGLY" on television. Gnasty proceeds to turn every dragon into crystal, except for Spyro, a small purple dragon. Spyro not only has to de-crystalize his kin, but has to stop Gnasty Gnorc from taking over the world. As someone who loved Spyro 3 and puts in on a pedestal, I love that Spyro 1 is simple in its story. It's been twenty years since, and I must point out that the game is beautiful, and the soundtrack still has the Stewart Copeland feel behind it. (The Police is one of my favorite bands.) And unlike the original, the voice acting for the rescued dragons doesn't sound horrible, even if a few dragons repeat or paraphrase the line "THANK YOU FOR RELEASING ME, SPYRO." Each of them have a different aura to them too, and that mention goes to Spyro as well. As for the controls, Spyro can burn and charge enemies, and can jump, charge, and glide for a certain amount of distance. What threw me off at first was Spyro's bouncy movement, since his movements seemed sharper in the original game. It's not a nitpick, but something unusual I found. Sparx, Spyro's companion, is his life bar. When Spyro is hit, Sparx turns to blue, then green. After that, Sparx dies, and then a life is lost when hit once more. Four chances to be hit. To be honest, it's not a problem. One can easily hit an enemy before they can hit Spyro, and there are different amount of wildlife that provide butterflies, which Sparx can eat to replenish his life. That doesn't mean the game isn't perfect. Landing on certain platforms require the right precise jump and flying and the right elevation. Spyro can lose lots of lives because of those annoying and cheap moments. A few enemies pose a real threat, but controlling Spyro when he's jumping and flying is somehow a little bit worse. The bosses aren't challenging too compared to some of the regular enemies. The first one takes barely any skill at all and is really pathetic. With all of that out of the way, Spyro The Dragon is entertaining to play, even now.

 

 

11/26- Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage for PS4  

 

Immediately after I completed Spyro The Dragon, I played what was argued to be the best Spyro game: the sequel. Unlike the first game and Spyro 3 where I have defeated both games... I have no memory of ever beating Spyro 2. Maybe it's the fact that I held Spyro 3 in high regard that I completely forgot some details of the second game... and the first. So, now that I have finally beaten Spyro 2, how well does the remake stand up? The story begins with Spyro and Sparx roaming in the rain. They plan to have a vacation at Dragon Shores, now that Gnasty Gnorc is gone. But, their plans are interrupted when the Professor (a mole), Hunter (a cheetah), and Elora (a go-faun) activate a portal that sends Spyro to their home of Avalar instead. A sorcerer named Ripto and his goons, Crush and Gulp, find the four, and upon seeing Spyro, Ripto orderes his goons to attack them, because Ripto does not like dragons at all. The portal is broken in the chaos, and Gulp accidentally swallows Ripto's scepter. Ripto and his goons leave the area, and Elora begs Spyro to stop Ripto from taking over Avalar. Because it's his duty as a hero and/or because there's no other way to get to Dragon Shores, Spyro agrees to help. Because the cliffhanger in Spyro The Dragon's epilogue was never followed up in any other games, that's one of the reasons it was never on my Top 100. At least this game has a proper ending with nothing left out. Like before, the graphics and music are really amazing. Spyro 2 has a bit more of storytelling because of the cutscenes that play out when Spyro enters and exists a stage and hub world. But, there was one thing I never put in the Spyro 1 review. Stewart Copeland has an advisory role compared to the original games, and now there is a new composer. I'm glad there's a setting to switch soundtracks, because... some songs have been remade well, but the rest cannot top the originals. And the drums were probably hit the hardest most of all. I don't hate the whole Reignited soundtrack, but I was just disappointed. Another disappointment is the voice acting. The voice acting in the new Spyro The Dragon is a lot better than their counterparts. But, in Spyro 2, some nods and humorous lines were changed for reasonable but not as hilarious voices. One example: the Electrolls, which sounded exactly like SpongeBob Squarepants! Why that decision was made is beyond me. And the Romeo one is not as clever as well. Speaking of characters, I'm still out on Elora's new design and Hunter's new voice acting. Elora looks a bit stranger from what I remember, and Hunter is trying way too hard to sound like Sonic. Moneybags might be better in this game, because he's a lot angrier when the situation calls for it, and he looks not only cute but imposing. Still, nitpicks and grievances aside, everything is about 75% better. So, what about the rest? Spyro can now swim underwater, climb, and headset, even though Moneybags hides those moves behind paywalls. Spyro also has a hover move, which can make him land on platforms a lot better compared to one. Last, the acid spit and shield/invincibility power-ups are the new timing mechanics, like super-charging, super-breath, and flying in the original game. In this game alone, Spyro has to defeat enemies to use their souls to activate such gates. Another thing I forgot to mention was that all three games come with a map, and Sparx can track gems in all three games, not just the second and third this time around. It’s a lot smoother from what I remember in the original game.  The collectibles in this game are orbs and several talisman. The talisman are basically given at the end of the stage, while orbs are usually earned by completing missions. Some are easy to do, while the rest require trial and error. Despite the star system the game provides for each mission, they're not impossible or really difficult. Because there's more variety when it comes to the allies Spyro helps, a player will not know how ridiculous some missions can be. One of the most infamous tasks is the Alchemist one, where the Alchemist takes a long route that is full of enemies that will end the mission when they hit the Alchemist only once, and Hunter's feet is stuck in concrete... for some reason. But, this game is just as easy as the first game. But, thankfully the bosses have a lot going for them this time around and actually pose a real threat. Granted, this game is possibly similar in game length as the first game, but I still had fun, even more than the first perhaps. But, after I complete Spyro 2... I'm finally going back to one of my favorite games I've waited almost two decades to dive in again.

 

11/30- Spyro 3 (Year Of The Dragon) for PS4

 

 

 


 

About two decades ago, I defeated the original Spyro 3. I put it on my Top 100 because I thought it was really great back then. But, it's been twenty years, and I've grown a little bit as a gamer. Has the new Reignited take on my cherished games changed it for the better... or for the worse? The story begins with all of the dragons sleeping in the meadows with the new dragon eggs. A rabbit/bunny girl named Bianca and her henchmen the Rhynocs steal all of the eggs and go back into their holes. But, as Bianca is about to leave, she trips on Hunter's tail, alarming everyone in sight. Bianca enters one of the holes and reports to her leader, The Sorceress, who tells her to make sure no one rescues the dragon eggs on her watch. Zoe, a fairy from the last game, informs the dragons where the eggs currently are. One of the dragons says that the location is The Forgotten Realm, where the dragons used to live. Because of the holes' size, Spyro... and Hunter... are the only ones able to retrieve the eggs. Although The Sorceress is no Ripto, not only does Spyro have to save the inhabitants of each world, but he has to find more of his kin before The Sorceress uses them for power. It's like a combination of 1 and 2's objectives. I'll say it once more, the Spyro trilogy has really great presentation and music. And I've always loved most of the Spyro 3 soundtrack in particular. The cutscenes for each entrances and exits are gone, but there are still story cutscenes and moments. Most of them revolve around Bianca's relationships to The Sorceress, Spyro, and Hunter, the last who... uh... Spyro's still the hero, but the third game is mostly about Bianca's growth as a character. Compared to the last game, I appreciated some of the new begins a bit more. Bianca is cute, The Sorceress is still as weird, Sgt. Byrd and Bentley are adorable, and Agent 9 is wacky as ever. I'm "eh" to Sheila, though. It's about an 80% ratio this time around, with some of the points last time still here. But, like before, what's new? Spyro still has the abilities he acquired in the last game, so to make Moneybags still relevant, Spyro has to pay for certain roadblocks and... the animal buddies. Sheila can kick and pounce, Sgt. Byrd can fly and shoot rockets, Bentley can bash and repel projectiles, and Agent 9 can shoot. Some might say that the variety of the characters should be focused more on quantity, but each character still has platforming mechanics. All of them have different objectives which are either straight-forward or complicated for the sake of an egg, and everyone can jump. Sheila would be close to Mario's style (basic punches and kicking), Bentley to Donkey Kong (hard and heavy hitter), and Sgt. Byrd and Agent 9 to Mega Man (using different weapons to dispose of objects and enemies). Their inclusion expands on movement in 3D, rather than detriments. Dragon eggs are easily collected by going to the end of a stage or looking around and by completing certain missions. It's like how one gets stuff in the last two games. Newer missions are now racing on tracks (with the usual time trials) and controlling Sparx in a top-down shooter. Again, more stuff that enhances replayability. The one thing that is obviously 90s and dated are the skateboard races and time trials. Doing tricks is either hit and miss in this game, and skateboarding is not as cool or hip as it was back then. Still, that's one of my few pet peeves in this game. I think it's middle of the road for difficulty. Some enemies are trickier to defeat, but others still go down way too easy. But, the bosses have definitely stepped up their game. I have yet to get a game over, even though I have less lives than I did at the end of Spyro 2. Spyro 2 and Spyro 3 are really amazing games, and it's hard to know which is better.

 

12/4- Pokemon Let's Go Eevee for Switch.

 

 

 

 


 

The original Pokemon games were the first video games of my childhood. (It was really Poke'mon Red, but shush.) To this day, I owe some of my life because of their importance to me. Maybe things would have been drastically different if I never played them; perhaps I would've been a different person and never played video games! ... I might be slightly thinking too much on those thoughts. When FireRed and LeafGreen came out, I still had a lot of fun with them as I did with the originals. They were updated with Generation I and II's mechanics in mind. Those started the questions of the eventual Gen II and III remakes. As of now it's Generation VII, and an app for phones called Poke'mon Go simplified catching Poke'mon, and as of 2018,  Poke'mon is over 20 years old! Everyone wanted Generation VIII immediately, but in a turn no one saw coming... we got Pokemon Let's Go Eevee and Pikachu, remakes of Poke'mon Yellow that had mechanics from Generation VII... and the convenience of catching from Poke'mon Go. The simplistic nature of catching in Poke'mon Go made fans wary of how easier the game could become, because no one could battle wild Poke'mon anymore. I bought the game because of pure nostalgia, but because I too have a ... long history of Pokemon Go, I was a bit uneasy of whether I should buy it or wait for it to be a Christmas gift. Would the game be... faithful to the experience I had twenty years ago? The story is the same as the original gen's, but there are now some "cutscenes" which highlight some important scenes, like the first encounter with Team Rocket and the first time seeing Oak. If I had one real complaint, it's the rival. He's not Blue/Green/Gary, but some some kid that's awfully friendly and not as bratty as Blue. He's the equivalent of Gen VI and VII rivals. Meanwhile, Blue... is a secondary character, and helps a little bit and challenges the player once in the story. I would like to say whoever is coming with this friendly rivals should be fired. Where have the likes of complex rivals like Gary, Silver, Wally, and Cheren go?! I want legitimate rivals who want to really test my patience. As for the details, it might not be full 3D or whatever, but the locations are spot-on, the Poke'mon look amazing, and people are still as expressive as they can be. It captures the first generation in a charming way. And, seeing Eevee and the Pokemon interact with the environment made me chuckle, like what the Gen II remakes did. The music... is really fantastic. Now, for the most complicated and divisive part: the changed features. First, like I mentioned, there's no more wild Pokemon battles anymore, and the Pokemon don't randomly show up as well. Each Poke'mon in the area pop up in the overworld, and some come with a red or blue aura, which means they're at their shortest or tallest height.  Random battles are no longer a thing... which might be a good thing for those who don't want a Zubat in Mt. Moon or Rock Tunnel. However, Poke'mon Go's method of catching is precisely the method in these games. Throw a ball, and hope that the Pokemon doesn't come out. Except for a few moments, there's no option to fight the wild Poke'mon... which might be a bad thing if it's implemented in the mainstream games from now on. Battling Pokemon meant finding their weaknesses in future battles, gaining EXP, and catching them with iron-clad strategies. Sure, the Poke'mon can move around and "attack", and catching Pokemon in these remakes still rewards players with EXP, but the simplicity of this new system might make catching Poke'mon themselves not as a big ordeal as it once was. There are no more HMs, so Eevee and Pikachu learn secret moves to do what the HMs could do, like swim or fly. (Why Eevee wants to hit a boulder three times its size is beyond me.) Abilities are long gone, and the Pokemon Box is an item now, and not just lying around at the Poke'Centers anymore. Not sure about Pikachu, but Eevee can learn moves that are based on its evolutionary forms with weird names to boot. With the new catching mechanic and Eevee's new arsenal of moves, I was wondering if this game was going to be a breeze. Actually, the game was really difficult at times when I played it. Except for times where my Pokemon did something amazing because of my encouragement, it was hard to take down other trainers' Pokemon at times. To be fair, I might have not trained as hard when some places had a good abundance of trainers. I have other games to play. This is where I am at a crossroads in my heart. As much as the new scenery, music, models, and some moments were amusing to look at, some story elements and some gameplay elements are going to hold this game back. It's not also good that the post-game is not as great compared to the FireRed and LeafGreen games. I wished I had much more fun with this game. It's not bad at all, just a little disappointing.

 

 

12/9- Kirby Super Star Ultra for DS 

 

I've been a fan for a long time ever since Dream Land II came out on the Game Boy to the recent adventures of Kirby Star Allies on the Nintendo Switch. But, I had yet to finish a great deal of Kirby games, which included one of the big ones and one of the fans' favorites of the series: Kirby Super Star. I played the Ultra version because it was portable, the best way Kirby should be played on because Kirby is the mascot of portable gaming. Going back to a game that was made... ten years ago (!), I wanted to ask myself if it works now. The game has a plenty amount of stories. One is a retelling of the first Kirby game, the next is about stopping a bird named Dynablade who cause destructions in Popstar, the third is about Kirby exploring a big cave, the fourth is about stopping Metaknight and his goons from taking over Popstar using his ship Halberd, and the last is about stopping the moon and sun from fighting by asking the power of Nova. While the first and third stories are simple, there are a few plot twists in the second and last, and the fourth has a countdown which makes the stakes higher. And each comes with cutscenes that detail certain events. The detail and music is a lot improved from that of the Game Boy games, and the DS version gives the game a bigger punch. The soundtrack in particular is one of the best in the Kirby lineup, from Meta Knight's Revenge to the last boss of the game. On to the actual game, there are a good amount of subgames, like the stories mentioned, to a few quick ones like the Gourmet Race. Each one has a certain amount of difficulty, like the easy Spring Breeze to the hard Milky Way Wishes, and a different set of objectives and rules, like just completing the basic story of Spring Breeze to not being able to copy enemies' abilities normally in Milky Way Wishes. None of the standard stories are very difficult to beat, but I'll get to why in a moment. Like the last few games, Kirby is able to swallow, inhale, exhale, and copy abilities. But, most of the abilities Kirby get have more move-sets this time around depending on the direction of the D-Pad and the like. The old and newer ones work perfectly... except for the obvious Sleep ability. What would come back in the current Kirby game is the Helper System, where a former enemy known as a Helper is controlled by the AI or a second player. The second player makes or breaks the fun, but in most cases makes the game easier, like the bosses. They can die a lot, but can be revived and made by Kirby throwing away the ability it already has. Most of the puzzles and enemies Kirby faces are simple and easy to beat, with a few being really challenging but fair. Now, the core game is easy, but the extra sub-games, like the True Arena and an Ultra story involving Meta Knight make the remake a bit more difficult. The bosses are harder but grander to beat. Since I know how it feels like in Triple Deluxe, and Star Allies has more content similar to the extra modes of some of the previous games, I'll pass for now. But, this game alone set the standard of the next games' post-game experience as well, as late as ten years later. Heck, some of the other stuff in the original game, like the sub-games and Arena, would be foundations for certain things not only in the next Kirby games but also in the Super Smash Bros. series. I had a lot of fun finally having the spirit to finish this game, even though it sometimes would crash on me unexpectedly on my New3DS (maybe it was because it was inside my crammed backpack for a long time or my New3DS has a slot problem when it comes to DS games) and I had to readjust playing an older Kirby game. Since Planet Robobot is currently my favorite, it's hard to say how my expectations will compare an older game with basically less to no problems to a current game with the same quality.  

 

12/11- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for Switch 

 

I've been a long time fan of the Smash Bros. series since Melee. Melee was fantastic, Brawl was decent, and the fourth games were amazing. Then, Ultimate became one of the biggest games they ever hyped. Mostly everything was coming back, plus more! I never played the demo or looked at any gameplay video because my excitement was real. I had to experience it for myself. I played it the day it came out, and... spent a lot of time on it. But, how does Ultimate fare against the rest? First, The World Of Light in my honest opinion is a lot better than the Subspace Emissary. There is a clear bad guy who is taking control over characters. Kirby's the only one who managed not to become a soulless puppet, so they go through many challenges to save allies and spirits. The map features different routes, spirits, enemies, and unlockable secrets, and it's mostly cloudy until a certain obstacle is defeated. Spirits in this game have different effects, like getting more physical attack, being immune to lava floors, and bonus stamina. The primary ones can become stronger by leveling up, and have one to three slots for secondary spirits. Both kinds of spirits can train at gyms and the like to learn different styles. Not only that, but exploring caves rewards players with loot and there are a few stores which house experience stuff and other spirits. The spirits also come in three different styles as well: attack, defense, and grab or whatever, and can give the fighter a disadvantage or advantage depending on the enemies' spirits. Some of the challenges can be easy, but there are a certain amount which are a pain in the neck. For the sake of my experience, I played on the normal difficulty. But, some challenges and even... bosses are annoying at times. They can be defeated, but some fighters use really cheap tricks to win at times. What I thought would take me about three hours... took about five. A good amount of fighters can be unlocked in this mode, as well as other things. The real final boss is possibly harder than Tabuu, but they're more satisfying to take down. The music and detail... is incredible. Smash has gotten better in terms of looking solid, and sounding solid. Most of the modes, like Smash and Classic Mode, have come back in style. Classic Mode now implements a new difficulty thing where the better the player plays, the difficulty increases. More stuff has been added, but the core controls still function as they should. If it sounds like I'm skipping a lot... well, it's because it's better to play and look for yourselves. With only the story to complain about at times, it's a solid game with more DLC coming down the road... including Piranha Plant and Joker from Persona 5. 

 

 

12/27- Shovel Knight... Plague of Shadows for Switch. 

 

A while after the main story hit the WiiU years ago, I haven't jumped back into Shovel Knight, despite saying that it's one of my favorite games of all time. The story was simple, the detail was amazing, the soundtrack was sound, and the gameplay, although inspired by DuckTales, was still very fun and easy to learn. That was 2014. Shovel Knight has newer homes, including the Nintendo Switch, and there are currently two new campaigns starring Plague Knight and Specter Knight, with a new one arriving in 2019 starring King Knight. Plague Knight's story acts an alternative, while Specter Knight's acts as a prologue. Both act as different games (my NS home screen can testify to that), and I haven't beat Shovel Knight's main campaign this year. As I beat Plague Knight's first, I'll get into what makes his "game" unique. Plague of Shadows stars... Plague Knight. Unbeknownst to his fellow Knights of the Order of No Quarter, a league of evil knights headed by the Enchantress, he wants to make the Ultimate Potion, capable of doing... anything. By his side is Mona, his female assistant who helps him with his goal. So, how will he make the Ultimate Potion? By taking the "essences" of his former knight  companions and the Enchantress. Plague Knight's nature is somewhat of an anti-hero, because although he's going against his former Order and boss, he's still looking for power which might allow him to rule the world, the townspeople hate his guts, and he's not siding with Shovel Knight any time soon. Still, it's not like the tone is sad or dramatic always. Plague Knight makes fun of his former comrades, and he has a budding relationship with Mona. And his "friends" are just as quirky too. Although the style is about the same, there's a few more songs that go with his story. Plague Knight is even more expressive in terms of animation. He's misunderstand-ibly adorable. So, since Plague Knight is different from Shovel Knight... what exactly is different? Instead of a trusty shovel, Plague Knight uses bombs. There's a variety in terms of their throwing arc, how they explode, and how fast they will detonate. Defeating baddies this time around acquire a bit more strategy due to their distance and the bombs themselves... Especially bosses, and the two I had the most problems due to PK's bombs and movement are Tinker Knight and Specter Knight. There are no more extra jumps when hitting enemies and obstacles, so in order to accommodate for Plague Knight's size and gameplay, he has a double-jump and a huge blast jump. Unlike Shovel Knight, Plague Knight has to deal with trickier and more precise landing and jumping. Plague Knight can double jump, then blast jump, then attack the air to land better and so on, but Plague Knight does not have ideal vertical and horizontal movement. Just like Shovel Knight, Plague Knight suffers from... knock-back syndrome, and he can be knocked back a good distance. Plague of Shadows is a little bit harder to in those regards... but it's not impossible to beat. Sometimes frustrating and cheap at times, but not impossible. Plague Knight can also change his jumping and some of his arcane powers by going to the shops and meeting a certain Relic lover. Really, it's similar to Shovel Knight's way of getting new arsenal. If the base game didn't keep one satisfied, I can easily recommend Plague of Shadows. While Plague Knight's means of combat and movement are a bit harder and the stages were meant for Shovel Knight in mind, everything else is really great. Not perfect, but enjoyable.

 

 

12/28- Shovel Knight... Specter of Torment for Nintendo Switch. 

 

 



 

Like I said, Specter of Torment is its own game, and I have the home page to prove it. Shovel Knight was a fantastic game, and its Plague of Shadows story thing was even great. But, what about the third campaign, Specter of Torment? The game is actually a prequel, as Specter Knight is ordered by The Enchantress to find eight knights so that they will form the Order of No Quarter. All of the knights were not bad guys, but extraordinary knights at blowing stuff up, airfare, and so on. Specter Knight has to do so not because of free will or because of power, but because of tragic events. He was once a treasure hunter (or an adventurer, the game doesn't specify) named Donovan, who partnered alongside his comrade Luan to get treasure from The Tower of Fate. What happens in the Tower of Fate changes their lives, but I won't spoil much more. If Shovel Knight was a true hero, and Plague Knight was an anti-hero, Specter Knight is a tragic hero or villain. He had good intentions, but eventually has to be evil. Specter of Torment not only adds more music, but the locations and so on have changed because the timeline of events. Familiar places will have old and new enemies, layouts, and obstacles. For example, King Knight's song is more joyous than scary in this campaign. And the beginning stage is in the night rather than the usual day time. It's the little touches that make this game stand out. But, Specter Knight also has different gameplay. He can attack with his trusty scythe, and not only can he attack whatever is in front of him while on the ground, but he can attack directionally while in the air. (Slashing up-right, up-left, down-right, down-left.) Unlike Plague Knight, where landing and combat was trickier because it was not for him in mind but Shovel Knight, everything was accommodated for Specter Knight's movement and combat mechanics. Enemies, platforms, and obstacles were placed beneficially. But, slashing things in the air comes with some costs. Specter Knight can lose lives by attacking something from above while there's a pit, or by attacking something from below while there are spikes on the ceiling. The timing of the strikes is crucial just as it was for Shovel Knight's shovel bounces. Specter Knight can also climb on and jump off of walls, like Ryu Hayabusa. There's two ways to get out of a wall jump, so beware. Like Shovel Knight, Specter Knight can obtain different powers and outfits. However, Specter Knight has to test out each new power he gets in a few short practice trials. If he also misses a chest which can boost his life and magic, he can buy it it from one of the venders... IN THE TOWER OF FATE. (I forgot to mention in Plague of Shadows that he can buy a variety of stuff in his secret laboratory.) The Tower of Fate is the hub-world of the game, replacing the map that Shovel Knight and Plague Knight use. Using a big magical transporter mirror thing, he can travel to ANY OF THE STAGES FROM THE BEGINNING, RATHER THAN PROGRESSING THROUGH EACH AT A TIME. One has to complete the beginning stage first, but the rest can be accessed at any time. The last few things that have changed are the boss fights. All of them have different attack patterns, and all of them have new circumstances, like fighting Propeller Knight on falling wood or such, and fighting Mole Knight using bouncing green blocks. They have become trickier to defeat, but not impossible. Like I said with Plague Knight, this game is very enjoyable. In order of skill and story... I'd go with Treasure Trove (Shovel Knight's main campaign), Specter of Torment, then Plague of Shadows. The base game is probably the easiest and has the main story, Specter of Torment is a little harder and has the prologue, and Plague of Shadows is probably the hardest and has an alternative story. I'm done with Shovel Knight until King of Cards... and maybe trying to defeat games till next year.

Edited by XLW
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On 1/16/2018 at 8:28 AM, Gold said:

If you want to use it that's fine. Backloggery is easy to edit is all, and because of that it's harder to prove you hadn't already beaten something.

 

I'll leave this up to your discretion. Since you're the one who is offering a prize, whatever you decide I'll add to the main post and keep track of.

I would be willing to just throw in $20 towards the challenges.  Obviously, same rules would apply, photo evidence and all.  That would be fine by me.  

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