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11/15- Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair for PC 

 

A while ago, I played the first Danganronpa game: Trigger Happy Havoc. Despite my complications with some of the gameplay elements and the ending, it was a fun murder mystery visual novel involving teenagers. I knew there were currently two other mainline Danganronpa games. Eventually, I was going to beat 2, but... I spoiled myself about a year before, thanks to an online playthrough. Still, even though I remembered some huge events, it's not like I remembered most of the smaller details. So, did Goodbye Despair fix what I hated in the original game and improved in other areas? 

Goodbye Despair stars Hajime Hinata and fifteen other students from the world renowned Hope's Peak Academy. Hope's Peak Academy is a school that nurtures talented students called Ultimates. Although they wish to learn at the academy, a magical rabbit named Usami teleports the students to a tropical paradise. Usami wants everyone to get along and not fight each other. Essentially, she wants peace. But, after the students decide to go swimming at the beach, a familiar creepy voice has returned. Monokuma somehow came back, and Usami tries to fight him off. However, Monokuma beats the life out of Usami, destroys her Magic Stick, and transforms her into an abomination. Monokuma gains control. He then tells the students that in order to leave the island, they must kill each other. But, a class trial will begin to decide if the killer lives and the rest die, or the rest live and the killer dies. Some references to the past game are mentioned, and a traitor is revealed to be among the group. Like the last game, this game is split into 6 chapters. Who lives? Who dies? I won't spoil it. As for the cast, I think I like this cast more than the first game's, even though there are some obvious ones who will be on the island and I can't wait to see die.  

Goodbye Despair does a lot more visually and audibly, even though the game uses some assets from the first game. First off, the tropical setting makes the game a lot more colorful than the stale school setting of the first game. And, there's a lot of places that would fit on the six separate islands. Plus, I like the cast designs more compared to the first game. But, the biggest upgrade is the music. Beautiful Ruin or whatever sounds a lot more pleasant than Box 15 and the like.  

Goodbye Despair made several improvements in gameplay. Exploration is a little bit better, by allowing Hajime to run in overworld locations. As the amount of locations and islands are a lot, it cuts down on needless time wandering around, looking for the right location. Also, location investigation has been streamlined a lot too, since the game won't allow Hajime to leave until he looked around that area thoroughly. There's also no reactions when talking, making dialogue a lot more manageable. Hope Fragments are like what happened during talking in the first game, but it seems giving people items makes a bit more progress than before, and the items are not randomized this time around. All one needs to do is use Monokoins at the Rocketpunch Supermarket. Also, random Monokuma stuff will appear in the background and will reward Hajime with Monokuma Coins. Hajime can also take care of a virtual pet, even if it seems it does nothing.  

The Class Trial is mostly the same, but most of the stuff is new or improved. Non-Stop Debates now contain truths, which Hajime can confirm with evidence. The puzzle and rhythm minigames have returned, and have been given some much needed attention. The Closing Arguments are a lot better, since a row of certain panels have to be used before another row comes along, and there's also hints. Rebuttals happen when a character is often confused, so Hajime just needs to cross swords and present evidence. Logic Dive is a racing snowboarding minigame where Hajime answers basic questions. So, yes, it's mostly better, even if the rhythm minigame really sucks. 

I enjoyed the ending a little more this time, even if it was really insane and got a lot more philosophical than the last game. But, it was still a lot more fun than the first game, for sure. Can't wait to play V3. My heart is in anticipation!  

 

12/9- Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony for PC 


 

Spoiler

 

My journey into the Danganronpa series has been mostly positive. Although I thought the first was decent, I found the second game to be better in almost every way. Then, I realized that the next game was a spin-off shooter, and the continuation of the first two games was an anime. Last, I remembered that V3 is so far the conclusion of the series as a whole, even though fan support has still grown strongly since then. But, what's going on? Is V3 really the last game the fans will ever get, or was that just a prank since 2017?  

 

V3 takes place some time after the events of the first two games. Players take control of Kaede, a seemingly ordinary girl who wakes up and falls out of a locker in a classroom. A boy named Shuichi comes out of the locker near her. They are confused about their situation; and when they walk out of the classroom, things get worse as a big machine chases after them. The two race to the gym, where they find fourteen other teenagers just as confused as the two are. Then, all five of the machines show up in the gym, and five bear-like creatures named the Monokubs jump out from the machines. The Monokubs realize that something is "wrong" with the pathetically normal high school students, and give them interesting clothes with matching Ultimate talents to boot. The game seems to have started again, with Kaede remembering her talent as the Ultimate Pianist, and Shuichi as the Ultimate Detective. While exploring and finding the other students, they learn that they are in school grounds of the Ultimate Academy for Juvenile Delinquents and a trapped within the confines of a huge wall. Back at the gym, the Monokubs and the machines known as the Exisals return. Monokuma makes his grand return, and explains the rules of the killing game as before. As for the cast, I think it's perhaps the best in the series, even though I like some of the characters of the first two games much better. But, the problem is that unlike 2, there's no foil to Monokuma like Usami, and the Monokubs can't really make that same magic. And, don't get me started on RISE AND SHINE, URSINE! But, unlike the first two games, where the emphasis was about hope and despair, V3 also takes in account two contrasting themes.   

 

Now, I have mixed opinions on the visual designs. Because of the jump from 2 to V3, there is a lot more color used. Or maybe it's the design of the world. I'm not sure if there's a lot more freedom of the characters' clothes compared to 2, but the characters seem to have more animations and expressions. Also, during investigations, there can be more than one character on screen using different frames! I love that new detail! Still, even though there's a lot more greenery of the Ultimate Academy compared to Hope's Peak, I really prefer the island setting of 2's Jabberwock Island. Plus, exploration once again mostly revolves around moving in the first person, whereas it was first and third person in the second game. If the Ultimate Academy took place in an artic world, then that would've stand out a lot more than the first game. But, the music is really astounding, and it's mostly original this time around. Some tracks do return, but the soundtrack is nice and fresh. It even got me listening to Clair De Lune by Claude Debussy. 

  

The investigation system is borrowed from the first two games, but the Hidden Monokumas and the Monomonomachine are a step back. The Hidden Monokumas I feel are way too hidden, while the Monomonomachine uses the lottery system like the first game. Still, players can now get Monocoins by knocking down stuff, and there is a casino where certain other unique items can be acquired for making relationships. There's also a Love Hotel thing... but I never used it. There is an Observe thing that locates clues that help some players find clues too obscure for them. I rarely used it for help, and it being mapped to Y was weird.   

 

The Class Trial has been improved most of all in this game. Along with Non-Stop Debates, Mass Panic Debates exist, where three characters at a time will talk over each other. The puzzle and rhythm minigames have returned once more, and are perhaps the best iterations.  The rhythm minigame has turned into something similar to that of Hatsume Miku. The Closing Arguments segment should've been implemented the row system from the second game, instead of using the locks. Psyche Taxi is an improved Logic Dive, since the only true obstacles are cars, and the music is a lot catchier. Though, I could've done without Mine Mind, and they should've turned into simple mutiple-choice questions. But, the best new additions are Lying/Perjury and Mass Scrum Debate. Instead of using people's evidence against other's now, there are chances where lies are used to protect another character. (And, sometimes, they are followed by interesting Back Routes indicated by the change of music.) Mass Scrum Debates are used when two parties are nearly split among themselves, and correlating bullets are used to refute the other side. The music of the Mass Scrum Debate is wild! 

 

However, even if this game surpasses the first two games in many aspects, it does have perhaps the weakest and worst ending of the trilogy. First, there is a time limit to the investigating because a certain robot wants to destroy the Ultimate Academy. I thought it was an automatic game over if the time limit ended, but apparently I did not have to restart from the very beginning of the case. Two, the first case is retried, with one of the most boring characters ever, Tsumugi, in the series being the culprit. It not only completely screws up the killing game rules, but also perhaps makes the first case weaker by affiliation. Then, the villain JUNKO ENOSHIMA HAS RETURNED, and it turns out the survivors were given false "memories". In fact, the whole story was fake. The killing game is being televised by an audience who wanted it, and it's currently in the 53rd season. Shuchi, Himiko, and Maki say that they no longer want any part of this, but Junko says it's not up to them, as one of the other survivors, K1B0, is a robot told what to do by the audience. The audience and Junko wants the killing game to continue, but the others don't listen and DO NOTHING. Because even if they were fictional, everything they felt was real to them. When voting time happens, the survivors, and even Tsumugi, rely on the audience to choose on whether the killing game will continue or not. The audience surprisingly do not vote, and it feels like they don't want the game to continue. The Ultimate Academy blows up, and only Maki, Shuchi, and Himiko remain. What happens next is unknown, but for now, the killing game has finally ended. So, because of the ending, a lot of people really hate that this game is perhaps the last in the series. It also feels too meta-narrative and too complex for its own good. The second game might have taken inside a game, but for the whole series to be fake to its own characters is pretty out there. But, by making the characters self-aware, it also means that the game somehow gave a metaphorical middle finger for those who actually liked playing the games with this ending. Because of that, some people HATE that this is perhaps the last Danganronpa game we'll ever get. The only positive I really see from this is that the ending at least got people talking years later after its release, whether good or bad. I like most of the cases in the game, but the final case is perhaps the worst... well, there is the dreaded third case too... With that rant aside, V3 is worth the money, even though I got it on sale at Steam and the button schemes with a 3rd party controllers needs to be worked on in the Steam settings before playing the game.

 

 

12/20- Assassin’s Creed II for Xbox One 
  
 

Spoiler

It’s been over a year since I defeated the first Assassin’s Creed, and started my journey into the sequel. While I thought the first Assassin’s Creed was okay, there were some obvious gameplay problems, and there was a huge cliffhanger at the end of it. Hopefully, the sequel helped those questions in my mind. Why was that assistant Lucy wearing clothes with blood? What was Abstergo Industries looking for? What was the Apple and that Piece of Eden? 
 
The story begins with Desmond and Lucy escaping the facility of the first game. They stop at a warehouse, and Lucy introduces her friends and a new Animus. Lucy wants Desmond to link his mind to Ezio Auditore, a new assassin from Italy, not only to inherit Ezio’s skills and abilities to become a better assassin, but also to find out where the other Pieces (yes, Pieces) of Eden are. 
 
Ezio lived his life in Rome with his assassin family up until he was 17. A close friend of his father’s betrayed his family during a political struggle and ordered them to be executed. While he, his mother, and his sister escaped, his father and his two brothers died in the public. His remaining family retreated to the countryside, where they were given shelter by his uncle Mario. Mario trained Ezio to be an assassin and told Ezio to seek out the ones responsible for his family’s deaths. While Ezio travelled across Italy for revenge and justice, he gained many new allies, including a young Leonardo da Vinci who was instrumental to Ezio’s growth.  
 
Many interesting developments happen as before, and because the game took place in 2012, a shocking but now horribly dated theoretical calamity is soon discovered. The same old discussions of truths and lies and morality are still present.  
 
And here is where I’ll claim the second game is better than the first not only because Ezio is a much more relatable assassin than Altair ever was, but because… I like Italy and the Renaissance a lot more. The game even uses Latin, and I’m a huge sucker for a dead language.  
 
The game looks very beautiful, and I like the creative freedom they had when making the Italian settings. Although the number of locations is shorter, I feel like there is a lot more depth and scale for each city Ezio visited. Also, there is a day and night cycle. If it isn’t obvious enough, I love this game for the Italian scenery. The music is still as atmospheric as before, but I won’t give the game any flak because if that. But, some of the faces look uglier than before.  
 
Assassin’s Creed II did a lot to improve on the original’s gameplay. Eagle Vision can be used in the third person and can be used while moving. Like before, Codex pages can be found, and this time researched by Leonardo for upgrades and new weapons. Swimming and using gondolas have finally been implemented. Although the combat has been updated, the actual combat is still counter-oriented and hiding is still just as important. Speaking of which, Ezio can hide among any group, rather than just a few. The many ways of assassinating and distraction have also been increased, such as smoke bombs and killing from haystacks. A new notoriety system replaces the Social Status icon, depending on the good and bad actions Ezio performs. Ezio can also leap while climbing, making impossible feats in the last game feasible in this game. But, climbing is still a little bit awkward and not totally perfect. The mission system has also seen some changes. Ezio also has a frequent use of a base in the form of his uncle’s villa. Ezio can use the base to not only review his collectibles, but also upgrade certain shops via to receive certain discounts and even income. …Those darn bards are just as annoying as the beggars… And, finally, quick travel. THANK GOSH!  
 
Less time is also spent on Desmond, even if he has a few minutes to test out his new assassin skills. But, a big concern happens in the second sequence where he is playable. It turns out the Animus can have long-term mental side-effects if a person stays in the Animus for too long. And Desmond figures out one of these soon enough.  
 
If there was anything negative about the game, the final boss fight is just ridiculous as it sounded. And, the stuff afterwards really dates the game. It’s not as bad as the first game’s ending, but history has proven the ending very wrong. Still, besides some gripes with facial designs, the bards, climbing, and the combat, Assassin’s Creed II is leagues better than its predecessor. There’s a lot of bonus content that comes with finding every collectible, but I can just look it up online and not really care. There’s also Altair’s gear and sword, but because I like Ezio’s white robes more, I only got the sword. Now, even though there’s a III, Assassin’ Creed took on the Kingdom Hearts approach and gave Ezio two more games. With “current circumstances” still present, I think it’s best for me to finish the trilogy. No matter how good or bad the sequels are. Then again, I do like Italy and Ezio. Maybe they’ll be just as good as II.  

 

12/20- Fire Emblem Heroes Season 4 for iOS 

 

12/23- Samurai Shodown II for Nintendo Switch 

 

Just the first game with an updated cast. It's okay as an arcade game.  

 

12/24- Metal Slug 4 for Nintendo Switch 

  

Metal Slug 3 but now with robots. Okay. 

Edited by Link, the Hero of Dreams
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- Carrion (Switch)
A devilishly macabre take on the monster movie formula where you play as the monster. It's bloody, gory, and a lot of fun, though I wish it were longer and had a bit more gameplay depth.
 
- Pikmin 3 Deluxe (Switch)
As delightful as I remembered it, though it seems shorter—maybe I just rushed through the game too quickly. I'd gladly play a Pikmin game twice or thrice as long, just give me more stuff to collect and more weird creatures to fight.
 
- The Last of Us Part II (PS4)
I'd read that this was an emotionally draining game, even compared to the first one, and that's an apt description. I didn't totally love the way all the story beats played out, and the number of flashbacks was beginning to border on comical by the end, but it's still an engaging story. And I still quite like the stealth gameplay, though I played on Normal difficulty which seemed way too easy overall, I probably should've just jumped straight to Hard at least.
 
- Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling (Switch)
Wonderfully charming RPG in the vein of Paper Mario that I fear hasn't gotten enough attention this year. If you're looking for a classic Paper Mario RPG experience, definitely check this game out.
 
- Control (PS4)
Really enjoyed this one, from the weird and creepy story to the combat and breadth of abilities you unlock. Ending felt a little abrupt, really feels like they just left things hanging for the sake of DLC or a sequel, but oh well. Also I wish the game ran better on the PS4; it wasn't unplayably terrible but boy the frame rate drops and blurred textures got annoying after a while.
 

Console: 110

Overall: 110

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Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan 

Shadow of the Colossus 

Castlevania

Golden Sun

Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country 

Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand

Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood 

Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition 

Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected

Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade 

 

Shantae and the Seven Sirens - New Shantae adventure finally came in the mail and I am very happy with it. The collector's edition is enormous and beautiful and comes with a soundtrack full of jammin' tunes that despite Jake Kauffman's absence fit right in with the theme and tenor of the Shantae series. Half Genie Hero was something of a low point for me because it downplayed the series' Metroidvania elements in favor of linear stage design and in doing so sacrificed the grace and ease with which the world could be explored. Also of note is the fact that previous games outside of Pirate's Curse necessitated a halt in the action to dance whenever you wanted access to say, some extra jump height from your monkey transformation. The new way transformations are handled is seamless and satisfying and feels like an important step in the series, and brings the game flow much more in line with Pirate's Curse.

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- Bastion (Switch)
Guess I've been on a Supergiant kick this year. I do like Bastion but it's my least favorite of Supergiant's games—they really refined their style in later games compared to this one. Still fun though.
 
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (Switch)
I knew I'd enjoy this when it was announced, but man I really got sucked into this game, couldn't put it down for days. And on the flip side I tried to draw it out as much as possible so the experience wouldn't be over too quickly.
 
- Picross S4 (Switch)
Is it possible I've played too much Picross this year? Nah, no such thing. Besides, tuning out and playing through hundreds of puzzles while listening to podcasts might be one of the best ways to keep myself sane this year.
 
- The Last Campfire (Switch)
Quite a mix of cute and melancholy. I liked the puzzle gameplay, even if it was never too difficult, but I wish the game were at least a bit longer.
 
- Aer: Memories of Old (Switch)
A beautiful little game, somber and meditative with decent puzzle-exploration (even if it's never particularly difficult) and a fun flying system. That said, I would've been a little disappointed if I paid the full price for such a short and simple game. Also the slightly choppy framerate kind of undercut some of the game's style and atmosphere.
 

Console: 115

Overall: 115

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