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Video Games Finished in 2020


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I cannot count this game part of the competition, but as a little pat on the back. 

 

2/21- Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War for SNES 

 

 

For a while now, I didn't know if I should've played this game. Genealogy marks the birth of skills and certain weapons, and it also has a really fascinating story. But, this game is also rather long and tedious do a big factor I'll get into later. But, since it's the month of love, and this game is really known for that, it's time to play one of the most critically acclaimed Fire Emblems that was never given an international release as of now. 

The story... is about a Holy Knight named Sigurd, as he tries to settle matters from other countries. Sigurd lives in the continent of Judgral, home of the twelve crusaders and their weapons. Along the way of saving kingdoms and lives and stopping evil from taking over, he runs into his friends and rivals turned good. But, as he progresses through his story, a bigger threat unfolds itself. This threat, known as the Lopto Sect., is planning the resurrection of their god. Will Sigurd save Jugral from this evil, or will his tale be lost to all of mankind? 

I admit, the characters and maps look very detailed for an SNES game. It's not the best of the series, but it is still very welcoming. The music... I'm sorry, except for a few songs, I just turned it down, and watched YouTube videos. It's not that the music is bad, but I'll tell you why I didn't want to hear it. 

The game has some basic elements of Fire Emblem, but it was the first one to implement skills. Some skills are game-breaking, while others are worthless. Astra to this day is my favorite, and it's for its better implementation in Three Houses. Yes, the skills are okay, but Three Houses' abilities did it the best. Class changes without items and even level 30 caps even came from this game. While visiting castles, there's a good amount of stuff to do, like the item shop and storage. Yes, this game uses maps that have castles. Not just one or two. A player can go from one castle to another to seize it. To defend a castle, all a unit needs to do is guard it. If the home base castle is taken over, it's game over. Now, I have a huge grievance of this game when it comes to level design. The maps are too huge. On a normal playthrough, it could take three to five turns to get from one castle to another. That wouldn't be too bad if the map design was just too basic. It's usual nothing but castles, trees, houses, hills, and mountains. I know it's the SNES, but what good is waiting for three enemy troops (because this game is also somewhat responsible for that) for at least a minute or three. This is where the Horses Emblem meme comes through. The only units good enough to advance through the fields are mounted and even flying units. Armored and infantry units are a hassle in this game. Too bad there was no auto-skip in the past. That's where my patience for the music ran thin. To circumvent this glaring problem, I cheated and got infinity actions. Yes, this game has about eleven chapters, but even with cheating, they take at least an hour. It wouldn't be much of a problem if the movement speed wasn't so lackluster.  
 

The gameplay in Genealogy is so unique, that later games like Path of Radiance and Awakening brought those features back. That's how much significant this game is. 

 

Still, it does not excuse some of the most cheapest bosses ever. Even with an all-stat growth cheat, my characters have the hardest trouble in the last chapter. Yes, there's a good reason the bosses are to be feared, but Genealogy uses instant-shield/evade bosses too many times. They abuse the skill system too much. Genealogy is an important game because of its story and its introduction of its mechanics, but its mechanics needed finer tuning. I do not hate this game, but compared to Awakening and Three Houses, I just think it's okay and maybe overhyped. Who knows if a possible remake could make things better. 

 

Now, this game's importance in the Fire Emblem series has to deal with something spoiler-heavy. If you know what it is, go on ahead, but I will also give away the plot too. (I don't know what the spoiler went to the end here, I planned on it being around the gameplay part.)

 
 


 

Units in this game can marry each other. Sigurd, Deirdre, Ethlyn, and Quan are all examples of this. Even the supporting cast. A player might not think it's important, but it really is a game changer. 

 

But, why is there a focus on marriage? Well, to cut to the chase, Sigurd and his friends die. Due to really horrible circumstances. With Sigurd gone, the light and hope of Judgral seems forever lost. 

 

HOWEVER, THE GAME DOES NOT END. IT'S NOT A GAME OVER. IT STILL GOES ON!

 

Seventeen years later, oppression takes place in the world now. Sigurd's son, Seliph, begins a liberation army, in hopes of saving the continent. And new units help Seliph out too, even if they seem like copy and paste versions of the old team. This is where marriage, romance, and the children comes into play. If a woman of the First Generation does not fall in love before the Second Generation begins, the child that the game intends to use is replaced by a trashy substitute. The substitute gets none of the stat growths, skills, and weapons from the mother. And, for a great reason, you do NOT want that substitute. Because the game is on a chapter system, there is an urgency to marry as soon as possible. This isn't how Awakening did it. 

 
 
 

 

Edited by Link, the Hero of Dreams
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Not sure if the Cindered Shadows DLC counts for Three Houses. It has fewer chapters than the main game, and it's more of a side-story anyways.  

 

I'll just put my thoughts of it here. 

 

 



 

Pros: 

 

The new characters are fun. And the return of old classes like Tricker and Troubadour are fun to boot. Their skills are cool too. 

A little more backstory for Byleth's mommy. 

The initial set-up was fine, and there's more lore to the Fodland world.   

Finally, I get to play as the three lords and Byleth. 

I didn't know if it could have worked, but the few resources actually worked in this DLC. 

The game accommodates for the classes that are used, however restrictive. 

Once you beat it, the characters and other stuff are integrated in the main play-through.  

Great music. 

 

Cons: 

 

The waves upon waves of reinforcements. What is this, FE6?! 

Abyss. It's more compressed than the Monastery, and there isn't much to do here. 

The villain sucks. The final boss is a chore to get through! 

The story after the first chapter is complete-y predictable. And even plain. There's nothing wrong with it, but there's nothing that stands out. 

The map designs are basic. And the gimmicks have wasted potential. 

Too bad the new lore won't contribute much to the main game. 

There's not much to do. There's no need to come back.  

Only eleven units get in on this story. Really, sleepy-head is in this?  

The price to pay. You can only get this by buying the 25$ expansion pass. I think I might have felt ripped off. I thoughts this was going to be another Revelations. Sadly, it wasn't the case.   

 

It's just so-so. If it were at a lower price range, I'd be okay with it.  

 

 

 

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2/25- A Hat In Time for Nintendo Switch

 

 

Super Mario Odyssey was a juggernaut of 2017 with its open world design. There were a few platformers that year that tried to follow in its footsteps that year. One was Yooka-Laylee, which I heard sort-of failed, and the other was A Hat In Time. Going into A Hat In Time, I thought it was going to be a mediocre game. So, after two years since it came out with new DLC (which I haven't played), what do I think of this indie game?  

The story begins in space. A girl named Hat Kid is planning on going home, when a goon of the mafia accidentally opens the hatch of her spaceship. She, and the forty hourglasses she uses for fuel, land in the nearby planet. She wakes up after a while, and later comes across another girl named... Mustache Girl. She has a mustache. Hat Girl is set on retrieving all of them, and after some events happen, Mustache Girl really wants to collect them herself. The hourglasses have the potential to rewind time, as shown as when Mustache Girl accidentally breaks one herself.  Mustache Girl wants to rid the world of all the baddies, and because Hat Kid says no, hates Kat Kid and thinks she is selfish. So, now it's a race to find the hourglasses. 

The game is cute and cuddly, even when the performance is lacking at times, and the camera can get on my nerves every once in a while. Super Mario Odyssey camera control, it isn't. But, the music fits the four worlds that accompany it. Yes, this game is really short compared to other platformers. Except for Bubsy. But, the characters and the four worlds make up for its length too. I love the second one itself, even if it has a gimmick that I hate in platformers. 

Hat Kid can jump, double jump, slide, and even jump after the slide, like in Super Mario Odyssey. Except, she cannot the hat as another means of jump. Hat Kid can jump from ledges, wall-jump, and can use the slide on the ground and midair as an attack. Speaking of attacking, Hat Kid can use her umbrella to hit enemies with. Now, what about her hats? Hat Kid can equip and use a few hats for basic world puzzles. The new hat she immediately gets allows her to sprint. The hats need yarn to be made, and they're scattered in every world. She can also get badges that do a few other things, like being able to use a grappling hook. And, compared to Super Mario Odyssey, that's all. It's a basic twist on the platforming genre with nothing really complex. 

Although it's a basic platformer, I wish I could say it was great with the level design. Sometimes, getting onto ledges and platforms was a real pain. it was a true trial in the fourth level. The bosses are a bit challenging, but after one gets the hang of their moves, the bosses go down no problem. The final boss, and even last level, uses all of the techniques Hat Kid can use effectively, while implementing genius new tactics. They went down after thirty minutes. Although I won't complete the game and play its DLC, A Hat In Time was definitely a different experience. It's a comfy game, and if one wants a simpler platforming game, then I can recommend A Hat In Time.

 

   

3/3- Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn for PC 

 

 

 

 


 

Okay, so, wow. This will be the first time I ever have defeated the base game of a MMORPG. I never defeated World of Warcraft, DOTA, or whatever else can be a comparison. Until a few years ago, I didn't have a steady income to pay for monthly subscriptions. I was a college student who focused too much on studying to apply for a job. And, I wasn't too much of a fan of the series until around that time as well. I eventually defeated I-VII, with the exception of II, and even Tactics of all things, and I thought that I would beat IX, X, and XII before XIV. (But, IX can wait. I'm not in the mood for it yet). My favorite game of the series will be VII for now, but that doesn't mean I'll find a FF that will surpass it one day. Back to the matter at hand, I was a little hesitant to beat it because I didn't know if I needed prior knowledge of all the games beforehand. Turns out, the games I have defeated were good enough to make me understand the game. So, with all this in mind, how amazing is Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn? 

 

First, let's get that Realm Reborn subtitle to use. The beginning starts with the old Eorzea completely destroyed thanks to Bahamut Prime (I think). The end. 

 

...Of the first incarnation game. Thanks to the powers that be, Eorzea exists once more. Years later, new nations are born, but a beast-tribe is bent on waking Primals to destroy the land in their own image. Meanwhile, an empire rises and wages war on the other nations too. The player avatar becomes a Warrior of Light thanks to a big huge divine Crystal, and is told to save the world from ruin once more. And that's the general plot. When it comes to the stories in between, I didn't care. I didn't care about giving a solider some soup or some random emote. I couldn't care less about saving a city from some worthless minions. And I didn't care about retrieving items. Skip. Skip! SKIP! When it came to saving the world on a larger scale, that felt way more important. Because, some of the bosses in this game are incredible. One can even face off against some familiar faces. And, find certain homages to the series too. 

 

The game is gorgeous, even when it drops in frame-rates at times, and the characters at times emote and express too generically. The music... might not be the best of the series, but it is wonderfully orchestrated. Honestly, it's incredible that this game plays well! 

 

The gameplay itself it rather complex, so I'll just mention some of the basics. Customization when it comes to creating the avatar is amazing, such as hair color, size, and race. There's a lot of armor and weapons. Grinding is a thing. When it comes to combat speed, it's like FFIV, XI, and XII combined. By that I mean, actions have a cool-down effect, but you can execute some at different times than others. But, enough of that: what is Final Fantasy without... JOBS?! XIV has a total of 15 jobs (thanks to the amount of expansions over the years). Some are really iconic to the series, like the White Mage and Monk, while others are a bit lesser known, like Scholar and Samurai. Trust me, as a person who played THOSE games, I went with Black Mage and Dragoon first. Yes, one can change jobs by simply changing the weapon being held. Still, each class and job is categorized into their respectable uses. White Mages are healers, while Paladins are tanks. And, because of the Duty system, those roles are important. There are missions within the game that require certain party make-ups, so balance is important. Except for a few moments of frustration, rarely did this turn out against my favor. This game is tricky at times, but fair, challenging, and rewarding. Just, don't do the Crafting and Gathering classes, unless one really wants to be a perfectionist. 

 

And, with the amount of bonus content it gets month after month, this is a Final Fantasy worth getting, right? Yes, but again, I think playing the first seven games (without II), if one can get a hand on those, should be the stepping stones before playing this game. They'll miss out on the references, and think of which job to get based on player preference. Now, what do I think of this game? It can get a little too grindy at times, but the payoff of getting new skills and progressing the story is worth it. As a homage to the series it's based on, it exceeded my expectations for the most part. But, could it be the best Final Fantasy? Only time will tell for what I think of it.

 

 

3/14- Shovel Knight: King of Cards for Nintendo Switch

 

 



 

It's been a while since I've played Shovel Knight, but I finally beat the last campaign mode of this game: King of Cards. After playing the mediocre Plague of Shadows, and the great Specter of Torment stories, I wondered how well King of Cards, and King Knight himself, would be. I'm a Yu-Gi-Oh fan since the early days, so I wondered if the card system would hold up to my expectation. 

 

King Knight wants to be the very best at a card game called Joustice. He roams the lands to become the champion by beating all other players. Basic and simple. But what sells this game is King Knight and his relationship with his mom. His mom still sees King Knight as a kid, while King Knight is going through that awkward phase of not being embarrassed. It's cute, even though what happens in the end is tragic. This takes place before the main campaign. Along the way, King Knight meets other characters who join him, but out of reluctance. And like Specter of Torment before it, there are new stages and bosses to encounter. Not all of the stages require fighting a boss, so that was an interesting change itself. 

 

Game sounds and looks beautiful. Next. 

 

Controlling King Knight is similar to that of Wario in the Wario Land games. He has a tackle, followed by a little twirl, similar to the shovel bounce. He gets other abilities, but those two commands are fine on their own. Each stage challenges King Knight on his performance to tackle and twirl, with other gimmicks thrown in as well. Not going to lie, I really hated some of these stages, because sometimes the tackle and twirl are a little bit hard to work with. King Knight can also roll after the tackle, but I rarely used it. 

 

But, what about Joustice, the card game? Players move cards from one space to another to occupy spaces with gems. Get the majority of gems, and one will win. It seems simple, but each place within the four "regions" have cards which drastically play differently. Most of the cards have an arrow, and moving cards require facing the "back" direction. Cards cannot move with opposite directions, except in certain situations. Although it's a cool concept, I wish the AI weren't so cheap, especially the regional experts. They get to use BS boss abilities. So, it's a good thing there's a cheating system in place as well. Losing really hurts, when the opponent CAN TAKE ANY ONE OF YOUR CARDS. Best advice: don't play with really rare cards. One can buy them back, but the rare ones of course cost the most. And because I like Yu-Gi-Oh... Joustice become the one thing I loved and hated in this game. Now that I finished the game, I won't go back to it. STILL, THANK GOSH IT ISN'T REQUIRED TO BEAT THE GAME. I just did it because of an odd obsession.

 

King of Cards sadly left a sour taste in my mouth for the end of the first Shovel Knight game. While Shovel Knight and Specter Knight play wonderfully, I wish there was some more playtesting with Plague Knight and King Knight. The overall experience is not that bad. I just can't wait for the next Shovel Knight game now. ... Not that puzzle game thing, the next platformer game.

Edited by Link, the Hero of Dreams
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- Darksiders Genesis (Switch)
Really happy to get another Darksiders game created by some of the original developers of the series. Even in a new style the action/adventure gameplay is still a lot of fun, and I always enjoy the universe and lore of Darksiders.
 
- Borderlands 3 (PS4)
Surprised to see several tepid reviews for this one, though maybe patches have smoothed out some of the game's rough edges since launch? It was pretty much exactly what I expected and generally wanted from a Borderlands game; I guess some of the series's formula is getting pretty repetitive but I still enjoyed the gunplay, the variety of guns, and building up Amara's skills to become a walking siren bomb.
 
- Ghost Parade (Switch)
I was interested in the art style but boy everything else about this game is pretty poor.
 
- The Witness (PS4)
I think I would have been happy with just a series a puzzles to complete instead of wandering the island trying to find puzzles and picking up tiny bits of story at random.
 
- Soma (PS4)
Had this on my PS4 for the longest time from PS Plus but finally gave it a try, and I really enjoyed it! The indie horror genre can be a bit of a mixed bag, but this was a good creepy sci-fi story.
 

Console: 20

Overall: 20

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Beat: Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter World Iceborne

 

Igneous42 2020 Games Beaten

1/8: Dragon's Crown (PS4] 

2/19: Monster Hunter World (PS4)

3/8: Monster Hunter World: Iceborne

 

C: 3

 

Actually beat World a  couple weeks ago just haven't been on my computer too much lately to update. For other games in the past I've counted expansions as another game as long as they have their own campaign/credit roll so I assume it's ok to do so with Iceborne as well. As always I'm going to put my thoughts on the game in spoilers below. I'm gonna put my YTD stuff first instead though because I think it looks better going forward, and less to dig through when needing to reference the posts in the future. 

 

Spoiler
 
Spoiler

I'm a Monster Hunter Newbie, World is the first one I ever played and damn how did I never try this series until now?  I know World was made to be a bit more welcoming to new players so I can't really use it as a reflection of the whole series. Even so I've had a blast with MHW, probably playing it a little too much to be honest but oh well. The funny thing is I first picked it on its launch day. I remember because it came out the same day as Dragon Ball Fighterz. I played it for like 20 minutes that day and occasionally hopped back on since then and went to the training grounds but was never really feeling it. It didn't help that I bought it on sort of a whim and had been waiting for Fighterz. Though it took some time to hook me but now that it has it's got me good. 

 

Then a combination of my friends talking about it and the  Dragalia Crossover made me want to try it out a bit again. It didn't take long, probably around the first Anjanath hunt for those who have played it for me to realize "oh I may really like this game. Part of my problem was I jumped in determined to use the Greatsword, which for how simple it seems is actually pretty tough if you don't know the Monster's very well. I think I got hooked once I started trying other weapons and fell absolutely in love with the Switch Axe. Now with both Vanilla and Iceborne beaten I'm still maining Switch Axe but have also played Charge Blade quite a bit and have even given Greatsword another chance and am liking that too now that I know more about the game and monsters. I'm so into the game I've actually already started another file. Playing mostly Bow on that one which I enjoy quite a bit and then some Dual Blade here and there. In fact, I don't think I haven't liked any of the Weapons but I'm still pretty lost on the Bowguns as using them almost feels like a different game. Suffice to say, between the already replayable nature and the multitudes of weapons I can see myself sinking a lot more time into this game. It's actually piked my interest in the other games, see if I'm actually a fan of the series or I need World's beginner-friendly quality of life features. 

 

To close out this wall of text: My favorite Monster was the Glavenus. 

 

Next Up: Probably More Monster Hunter, but I feel like I'm missing something if I don't say Three Houses Silver Snow. I feel like it's a personal meme that I can't motivate myself to finish Silver Snow. 

 

Edited by Igneous42
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On 1/2/2020 at 2:44 PM, purple_beard said:

As always, I beat what I beat, when I beat it.

 

To start the year off I have these in progress

 

Octopath Traveller

Monster Boy Cursed Kingdom

Trials of Mana

 

******************

 

3/13 Luigi's Mansion 3 / Switch

 

 

 

Beat Luigi's Mansion 3 tonight...  Kind of ironic it was on Friday the 13th... and the whole Coronovirus thing going on too.  I have to say I would recommend the game overall and it was a much better experience than the first Luigi's Mansion I played for the GC.  I really loved the level design, the music, and the graphics.  Gooigi was a cool idea.  I finished with a A rank and I got probably 75% of the gems, 1 Boo, and none of the "special" ghosts that I know of.  I might go for the other gems but most of the ones I missed were in early levels....I somehow had an easier time finding stuff in the later stages of the game.

 

My knocks on the game would be the controls in certain situations really annoyed me.... I had to change them for the last two bosses--the aiming was really aggravating.  Also, in the heat of battle where it was necessary to have Gooigi handle somethings and Lugi handle others I was way to easily switching or killing Gooigi.  I also wasn't a fan of some the back tracking with the Polterkitty and a few other things.

 

Stand out levels to me were Greenhouse, Boilerworks, Casino, Desert, and Pirate stages.  The Master Suite was kind of cool in its own way with its rooms, traps and what not.  I would give an honorable mention to the Fitness area.

 

If I were to improve on LM3 for heading into LM4, I think I would up the enemy variety, and scale the difficulty with bosses out a little further-- I mean the latter 3 bosses were just way more annoying and hard than any of the earlier ones in the game up to that point.  I think there might be a way to incorporate multiple mansions... or maybe go the haunted Peach's Castle or Bowser's Castle route.  Keep the Gooigi gimmick.  And while I haven't played the multiplayer myself,  I do think there is room for upgrading those ideas into fuller experiences for local or online multiplayer.

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5 hours ago, EH_STEVE said:

Finished BotW+DLC on Switch

 

 

I want to ask, what I consider internally to be a dumb question, but whatever...

 

I have a beat game file for BotW already.  I got the DLC pack as a Christmas 2019 present.  Can I play my save file under the DLC or do I have to start a whole new game and then do DLC from that?  I tried asking my brother but didn't get a good answer because he decided to start from scratch....  I'm not sure if I have the mental toughness to start from scratch again, as doing the 100 shrines again might be more than I want to do LOL.

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26 minutes ago, purple_beard said:

 

 

I want to ask, what I consider internally to be a dumb question, but whatever...

 

I have a beat game file for BotW already.  I got the DLC pack as a Christmas 2019 present.  Can I play my save file under the DLC or do I have to start a whole new game and then do DLC from that?  I tried asking my brother but didn't get a good answer because he decided to start from scratch....  I'm not sure if I have the mental toughness to start from scratch again, as doing the 100 shrines again might be more than I want to do LOL.

 

You can use your existing save file for just about everything (Champion's Ballad, Master Sword trials, costume side quests). The only reason to start from scratch is if you want to play in Master Mode, and you should also know that MM operates as a separate save file so you don't have to lose your existing playthrough if you want to try MM.

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37 minutes ago, purple_beard said:

I want to ask, what I consider internally to be a dumb question, but whatever...

And if the question is whether the DLC counts as its own individual beat, I'm fine with that. 

 

Which means 

6 hours ago, EH_STEVE said:

Finished BotW+DLC on Switch

I would count this as two beats, as it were. 

 

I'm trying to be lenient with what counts as a beaten game here, to which I hope no one objects.

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