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Video Games Finished in 2021


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Welcome to Video Games Finished in 2021! 

 

New year, new thread! 

 

We've been here before, but if you haven't? This is easy peasy. You keep a running tally of the video games you beat over the course of 2021, and post your completions in the thread! Feel free to join us, whether you're new or old. Let's see if we can top our collective tally of 420 video games beaten in 2020 this year! 

 

GAMES BEATEN:

When you beat a game, post the name and the system. That’s it. 

We are going by the honor system here. Line them up and knock them down, and let us know when you've finished one!  

Want to review your game? Go for it! It's by no means a requirement, but you can let us know how much you enjoyed- or didn't enjoy a game in this thread. Want to share a picture proving you beat a game? Go for it! It's not a requirement, but shots of the "The End!" or the credits are always welcome. 

 

If you want a way to keep track of your backlog, go to backloggery

 

RULES:

1) Make a new post when you beat a game, so I can easily see it and count it. The game and system you beat it on is all you have to post. However, having either your first post be a master post or keeping a running total on each new post helps me double check and make sure scores are accurate.
2) No emulators unless you actually own the game (or otherwise stated). 

3) You may finish a game you started playing in a prior year and count it. That's fine. In fact, I expect several users will beat games in January that the started playing last year. All I ask is that you don't open up a save file from years ago that is right before the final boss, beat it, and then claim beat the game. That's just goes against the spirit of the thread.
4) You can however, feel free to go back to a game you haven't played for year(s), start from the beginning and beat it and count it. That's fine. It is OK to beat the same game multiple years in a row. 

5) Beating a game multiple times in the same year will only count once. This includes the same game on different consoles and remasters. Consideration is offered to DLC campaigns and remakes. 

6) There is no Rule 6. 

7) Digital downloads count for the system you played it on, physical copies count for the system they were made for. 

8) Mobile games in the nature of gatcha, slight story, etc such as; Fire Emblem: Heroes, Puzzle & Dragons, Star Wars: Heroes, etc, can all be considered complete after beating all stages. For example, every story mode and paralogue stage in FE:H, all normal stages in P&D, all light, dark, cantina, and mod battles in SW, etc. These requirements can change if more story missions or stages are added. Just finish the levels available to you. I won't hold it against you if you claim a gatcha game as beaten and more levels are added later. Of course, if this happens, you can't claim to beat the game a second time in the same year. 

 

Categories:
1) Console – Switch, Xbox Series X, PS5, Switch eShop, PSN, Magnavox Odyssey², etc.
2) Handheld – 3DS, DS, Vita, PSP, GBC, 3DS eShop, PSN, Evercade, Game Gear, etc.
3) PC – PC and Steam Box
4) Mobile – Phone and Tablet games. 
5) Overall – Add up all categories above to get a total

 

NOTE: Since some PSN games have cross save functionality, you pick whether you beat it on PS4/PS3/PSV (if applicable).
NOTE: Physical copies of games count for their original system, digital copies of games count for the system you beat them on. You might remember this as Rule 7! This is true of emulators as well- if you own a physical copy of the game, it counts for the original system. 

 

Challenge Game of the Month:

Just like last year, we're doing a Challenge Game of the Month! Each month, I'll select a newly released game as "Challenge Game." Beating a challenge game gets you a special bonus challenge point!  

 

January: Cyber Shadow

February: Bravely Default II

 

RANKINGS:

Username - Games Beaten - Challenge Point

Eliwood8- 15 - 0

irondog666 - 5 - 0

Tyranogre - 4 - 0

EH_STEVE - 4 - 0
blcdude1 - 1 - 0

Link, the Hero of Dreams - 1 - 0

Laclipsey - 1 - 0

 

Updated through this post. The games beaten can be viewed on this Google Sheet.

 

Leaderboard History:

EH_STEVE --> Tyranogre --> Eliwood8

 

ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

First Game Beaten in 2021: Watch Dogs Legion, Xbox One, by EH_STEVE

10th Game Beaten in 2021: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game Anniversary Edition, Switch, by Link, the Hero of Dreams

20th Game Beaten in 2021: Borderlands, Switch, by irondog666

30th Game Beaten in 2021: Bioshock, Switch, by irondog666

Total Games Beaten in 2021: 31

Edited by blcdude1
Link to comment

My beaten games: 

 

1) Console – 32 (Birth By Sleep constitutes as three games.)
2) Handheld – 6
3) PC – 3
4) Mobile – 2
5) Overall –  43

 

1/19- Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game Anniversary Edition for the Nintendo Switch 

 

Even though the online is horrible, playing it again solo reminded me of how fun it was years ago!  

 

St. Patrick's Day: Spyro: Year Of The Dragon for PS5. 

 

First, I felt like cheating, by just completing the game from save data I beat the Reignited version from three years ago. But, because of an accidental save corruption, I had to play the entire game again. Maybe it was karma telling me to do this the old just way. This was my third tango with Spyro 3 in my life; and even though it was more of a speed through than just playing the game normally, that did not detract of what I loved about this game. But, I became aware of some problems I hated to admit. Bentley the Yeti is really slow, the range of one of the power-ups is pitiful, and the camera can be a pain at times. Still, THIS TIME, not only did I beat the game, I finally completed it. I finally took on the Super Bonus Round and all it had. That's including a rematch with The Sorceress. I never really did that until now. About 20 years later. It's so weird to say I completed one of my favorite games on the original PlayStation on the most recent hardware. 

 

(And I'm not bluffing. I can show the TV and PS5 together to prove this.) 

 

3/27: Final Fantasy VII Remake for PS5.    

Spoiler

 

I enjoyed the original Final Fantasy VII. After 13 years later... the long awaited remake came to be. But, the remake covers only the city of Midgar... with later installments coming later. So, how did I like it, as a fan of most of the series so far? 

 

Final Fantasy VII Remake, like I said, covers only the city of Midgar, from the opening to the bike chase. A lot has changed, though. A bunch of new side quests and new characters appear in the game. A bunch of new explorable places have opened up. New beats were added to flesh out the story, and a good amount of characters in the original, like Biggs and Wedge, got a lot more screen-time and personality. But, that's not the biggest surprise. These shadowy creatures, known as Whispers, make sure that the events of the original game aren't screwed up. The game goes on a clever meta-narrative of freedom and destiny, and the ending of this game ends on a shocking cliffhanger. The Whispers are defeated, Biggs has woken up in a bed, and Zack Fair, the one true SOLDIER who sacrificed himself to save Cloud in Crisis Core (the prequel to the original game)... is ALIVE?! What will happen now that the original course of events can be ignored?! How will Cait Sith, Yuffie, Vincent, and Cid Highwind appear in the later games?! Only time will tell. Although the game's story is interesting, there were some chapters that dragged on a bit TOO long, or were surprisingly slow. The ghost train-yard seemed like a cool throwback to the phantom train from VI, but... that chapter is IMMEDIATELY followed by the destruction of Sector 7's plate.  

 

On a visual inspection, the characters and locations all look very detailed. Midgar's new and old residents and locations look very amazing. Although, Sephiroth's face looks somewhat off. And, some pop-in and some odd visual glitches happened from time to time. Plus, the lighting is too bright or dark at times. The voice acting and delivery for every character is spot-on. Aerith's swear was unexpected though. As for the music... W.O.W.

 

The gameplay... Oh boy. First off, combat is real-time instead of the usual time-based mechanics the IV-IX games were known for. There's an attack button, but filling up the tried and true ATB bar allows each character to use an ability, spell, or item. Limit breaks are back, but as for summons... they're usually allowed when bosses show up. The material system also returns, but is downgraded to simplify this game. Characters can switch characters on the fly, and all of them are fun to play as. Such as, when it comes to flying enemies, Barret can easily defeat them all. But, this game excludes Red XIII from being playable, because he comes way too late. He's an NPC this time around. Still, he does have good moments. Aerith attacks with magic stuff instead of whacking enemies with her poles. The only problem is that the camera sometimes wants to focus on different enemies from time to time. That's annoying.  

 

What else is annoying? Pressing Triangle to move around to do seemingly intrusive actions. Seriously, opening a door shouldn't be tedious.  

 

The game has a handful of side-quests and a lot of mini-games. Since I know that Gold Saucer is the reigning champ of mini-games of all time, I'll pass on doing mini-games this time around.  

 

Last, there is a character that analysis materia so he can create new materia. Even though he's a researcher for Shinra, he says he's on Avalanche's side.

  

My verdict? ... I dunno. I love Final Fantasy VII. This remake baffles me. For good and bad.     

 

 

4/3- Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D for 3DS. 

 

Spoiler

 

The Donkey Kong Country series has been a weird "what-if" in my life. Except for the second game in the series, I've never really touched any of the Donkey Kong games. Then, a return to form, known as the title above, came out in 2010, eleven years ago. I thought Country 2 was mediocre or whatever because of some archaic design choices, so I thought Returns would be slightly easier. ... Right? 

 

Okay, so a new group of enemies from the Tiki Tak Tribe arrive to cause havoc and brainwash most of the animals on Donkey Kong's island. However, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are immune to the brainwashing, and set out to stop the new bad guys. The plot is basic, but it's still good. Because the Kremlings were created by a Rare developer, and because Rare was, and still is, owned by Microsoft, the people at Retro Studios had to make new enemies from scratch. And even though this is the only time the Tikis are seen in the series, they do pose as a threat, and have cameos in other non-Donkey Kong games. I do hate fighting some of the bosses though because of camera angles and hit-box detection. 

 

Even though the version I played was the 3D version, the game looks very beautiful. There are some parts in the game which utilize contrasting colors and darkness to a great effect and makes some platforming excitingly challenging. This game also uses the foregrounds and backgrounds, similar to Kirby Triple Deluxe. Still, there are some moments with the camera that I could do without during some boss fights, the running segments, and the autoscrolling segments. As for the music... the game does a tremendous job remixing the older classic music, and also has some great new pieces. The mine cart music heard in the Smash Bros. series is a good example of that. 

 

Donkey Kong still has his ground pound, his jump, and throw. But, now he can also roll, climb, and blow. And, he has three heart points. Diddy Kong is only available with the barrels, and he comes with his jetpack and and three more hearts. When those hearts are gone, he is temporarily unplayable until Donkey Kong destroys another barrel. The player can't switch between either like in the old games. Rambi and mine carts are back, along with new rocket barrel segments. I really hate those segments, only because of it's hard to know what will come next in a stressful situation and when it's a precise platformer. And it's not like the normal controls and normal platforming gets a pass either at times. Ground pounding, rolling, and blowing are all the same button; and Donkey Kong only rolls when the same button and direction are pressed; AND instead of the roll being continuous when the button is held, the player has to press the button over and over again for Donkey Kong to roll. I played the game with a certain button layout, and it required me to press any of the shoulder buttons. It was frankly obnoxious. Oh, and there's a light and normal jump like old-school Mario games, and it's annoying here. This game is a bit challenging and sometimes outright unfair at times. Professor Chops, a pig, is a checkpoint assistant, and also allows the game to play itself if the player thinks any part of the level is too difficult. I think this the first game to do something like that... and, yes, I did do that a few times. Because if the game admits that it doesn't cater to everyone, then if there are some levels I don't like, then I just let it slide. I have other games I want to beat, and I won't let this game take any more of my time with some of its design. Cranky Kong has a shop where the player can buy some items that can help ease that problems. Like the balloons that are basically 1-Ups. But, Donkey Kong needs to collect coins within the levels. But, there are some balloons within the levels, and getting 100 bananas guarantee a 1-Up as well. And those bananas don't go if Donkey Kong loses a life. The bosses are hard, but not impossible. The last boss, however, has one of those segments I can't stand before the player actually fights it.

 

Donkey Kong Country Returns has great visuals and music, a good story, and decent boss fights, but only improved what I thought was decent gameplay and platforming. I didn't care about getting any of the collectibles as before, and I didn't care about any of the post-game stuff as well. I too want it in my Top 100, but this kind of platforming is not for me. 

  

Easter- Katamari Damacy Reroll for Nintendo Switch  

 

Spoiler

 

I've seen this game played by a few amount of YouTubers as of now, and remember it just because of the main theme itself. I haven't played it... until seventeen years later. I always considered this game a hidden gem of the PS2 era, and I regret not ever giving it a chance until recently. So, I finally got into it on Easter. ... And beat it on Easter. Yeah, I thought the game was going to be longer, but it was one of the shortest experiences I ever had. What's that about?! 

 

A mysterious space man gets so drunk that he destroys the stars and the moon. That jerk is the King of the Cosmos. He sends his son to Earth to collect stuff with his "Katamari", a ball, in order to make the stars and moon again. While this is going on, a woman and her children are off to see the husband go to the moon. But, the moon is destroyed. Even though it is the King's fault, I can't really hate the guy. He's majestic and regal-looking, and speaks in record scratches. 

 

Damacy is cute. From the son, to the creatures that eventually get on his ball, everything is adorable and in 3D. Even the cutscenes are cool to look at. Even though the stages get re-used, different and various obstacles are used each time. The soundtrack is amazing. The main theme will always be remembered for its jazzy style. And, like I said, the King speaks in record scratches. Though, when loading, the King's speech lags for a little bit, and... I just hate the thirty-second warning sound.  

 

The goal is to make the ball bigger. Only a certain amount of things can get on the ball at first, but increasing its circumference allows the ball to absorb more stuff on it. Though, crashing into a wall or a larger object will make pieces fall off. Moving the ball can be awkward, since it's only moveable with the analog sticks. There's the jump and look buttons too, but they were unnecessary. Pressing both analog buttons allow the ball to rotate 180 degrees. Getting onto ledges sometimes can get frustrating at times, and some moving obstacles push the ball farther away than intended. Each star has a certain objective and time limit, but some stars require a certain size, while the constellations need a certain amount of items. The son can also receive gifts which are only cosmetic. 

 

And, besides a music gallery and a theater selection, that's all. I think there's a 2-Player mode, but I didn't feel up to it on Easter. Kamari Damacy Reroll might be short, but getting huge stuff like whales onto it makes me crack up. 

 

 

April 15: Monster Hunter Rise for Nintendo Switch

 

Spoiler

 

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate and World are some of the best games to have come out within the current generation. After they came out, I wondered if any other game in the series would top it. About three years later, a new trailer for Monster Hunter Rise appeared. This time, I wasn't really hyped for it. For one thing, the game was going to be on the Nintendo Switch. As much as I loved Generations Ultimate for the monsters it had, World was gameplay-wise better. I was worried if the series would decline back to some of the wonky mechanics of the past. But, after I got the game, a lot of my worries were gone. 

 

Rise has one of the most interesting premises ever. Rampages of monsters have threatened the town of Kamura for decades, maybe centuries. The town really wants to find the source of the rampages in order for the town to finally have peace. That's where the usual Hunter comes in. But, the rampages themselves are not only for plot purposes. 

 

The game is just outstanding as Monster Hunter World. The characters and monsters are wonderful to look at as always. One of the few problems I have are some of the horizontal planes that most of the locations have. I know that the amount of hills and mountains and whatever are to show of the new gameplay features of the game, but there was probably too much of it. Still, the locations are still as beautiful, so I'm not going to give them a huge downgrade. The music is still one of the best part of the series, although I think there's less individual boss music than before. Speaking of which, I think there might be less bosses this time around, since I fought higher-level versions of some bosses that I fought before. The new bosses still pose some trouble too, but something felt off here. Maybe it's just me. The voice acting is good too, and no one comes close to the delivery of the Tracker from World, even though I found her okay. 

 

Rise takes a lot of cues from Generations Ultimate and World. The crafting, the hunting, the items, the health items, the traps, the capturing, the variety of weapons and armor, the worlds, the stamina and health bars, the status effects, the monsters, the open-world areas, the day and night cycle, the instantaneous gathering, the damage numbers, the offscreen Buddy treasure hunting, the Meownster Hunters, the online hubs, the normal and HR quests, and the training fields are accounted for. But, there's no tracking this time around, so the footprint and clues to find the next monster are gone. To be honest, as long as I'm fighting monsters, I don't care. The first new additions are the Wirebug and Palamutes companions. The Wirebugs are like the Zelda hookshots but can glide a Hunter in any direction and onto most surfaces. The Hunter can also walk on ledges, but jump off if they aren't on a vertical plane within a few seconds. However, a Hunter can use a Wirebug to go to a ledge, can walk on the ledge, and can use the Wirebug again to go farther up. Still, Wirebugs also run on a stamina system too, so they don't break the game. The Palamutes act similarly to Felynes, but the Hunter can ride them. While on them, the Hunter can still climb, collect stuff, and open the item box. They can also jump onto ledges. But, the Hunter can't attack while on the Palamutes and can only walk a few feet higher than the Hunter while walking horizontally. Instead of the usual meals the Monster Hunter series is known for, the cantina now serves these snowman dough things called Dango. They still serve the same purpose, thank gosh. Petacles are temporary stat-boosters when in contact with the new Spiritbirds. Throwing Kunai and new bombs are now available. Players can play a lottery game to get certain items, and can use three amiibo a day to play three more rounds. There's also DLC and add-on content. The turf wars are back, BUUUUUT... Hunters can now ride the boss monsters to hurt themselves or attack nearby monsters. This is a game changer to the series, as it easily makes capturing or hunting monsters more effective. And, the boss monsters fall down after both situations happen. Boss monsters that hurt themselves can only move and attack in a limited manner while temporarily held by these etherial ropes. The advantages of these situations mean more material. Only one Hunter can ride one of the monsters, however. In essence, it's a Kaiju fight.    

 

But, what's very exciting are the rampages. Think of it as tower-defense, but waves of boss monsters try to attack the gates that guard the village. The players have many ballista and cannons at their disposal, but the rest of them can be automated by the usual villagers and some of the key villagers themselves. The defenses can be upgraded too. The key villagers are temporary, so using them sparingly is wise. And, riding the monsters can happen in these missions too. All the Hunters need to do are simply repel the monsters. The rewards are still the same as one normally defeats these boss monsters. The Boss Monsters can destroy the means of defense too; but guarding is an option while on the defense, and the Hunters can make new means of defense after a certain time has passed. Rampages can be chaotic at times, but never impossible. 

 

If there's anything I'm forgetting, that's because this game is massive as its brethren. But, that's because I really enjoyed this game and had fun. 

 

Rise is a hard contender to place beside its prequel. It added some worthwhile things, but sacrificed perhaps sound world design and notable staples of the series. The game is challenging at times, even though the new additions might seem they could break the game. Rise might also be the shortest game out of the whole series to defeat without a huge cast of monsters and the tracking. But, it is fun regardless, and a great game to play.  

  

4/18- Ghosts N' Goblins Ressurected for Nintendo Switch.

  

Spoiler

 

I wasn't too sure about buying this game at all. First, it's a remake of one of the most difficult NES games ever. Two, the original had one of the worst swerve endings. So, my thoughts? 

 

Sir Arthur and the Princess are trying to have a nice walk outside, when the castle and everything near it, including this spirit tree, are engulfed in hellfire. I'm not kidding there. The Princess gets stolen, and Arthur has to defeat the baddies. It's a simple plot from an old arcade game, so I won't say the plot is bad.

 

As for the art design, it looks creative and colorful. It has a watercolor-stencil thing going for it. Though, the animations for the characters seem stilted and unnatural, like puppets. The music is atmospheric and daunting. Who doesn't remember the first stage's scary song? 

 

As much as I wanted to try to see if anything was better for gameplay... it's just there. Sir Arthur can hurl and throw weapons up, down, left, and right, and can change the weapons by breaking pots and chests. Most of the items are directional, so I'm not bothering listing them. Sir Arthur can only throw three projectiles at a time on screen. New collectibles that probably are Spirits can be collected to get more skills from the Spirit Tree. I think the only really useful one is the clone one. There are four difficulties. The safer the difficulty, there will be more checkpoints and less enemies. Not sure about the latter. ... At least most of the bosses are just trial and error. I hate the rock dragon boss though.

 

And now for the frustration. Sir Arthur has one of the worst jump arcs ever. Even though the amount of armor Sir Arthur loses depends on the difficulty. Yes, he can gain back the armor, but it's also a bother trying to get it while enemies are everywhere. (He can get the fabled golden armor... which won't last long.) The enemies also respawn from time to time. All of the levels have infuriating design choices. Sir Arthur can't throw diagonally, making some enemies a pain. 

 

Oh, and don't get me started on the ending. Sir Arthur rescues the princess... but the world is still in a horrible mess... AND THERE'S A TRUE FINAL BOSS, AND YOU.... you have to play the game all over again, and I'm... guessing it's more difficult than before... Before... Before... It's like the original game.  

 

If you're a true hardcore gamer who likes insane difficulty, buy this game. Otherwise... unless if you're really curious like I was, don't buy this game. It's hard. Perhaps too hard. 

  

4/27- Super Mario 3D World for Nintendo Switch  

 

Spoiler

 

Eight years ago, Super Mario 3D World landed on the WiiU. Although people came to love it for its power-ups, music, art style, and the co-op, some people didn't like it because it was another course-clear game and some of the levels felt plain and bland. Plus, it was on one of the most underselling Nintendo systems. I myself didn't get much far into the game; but I was at college at the time, and I didn't have a TV then. Then, four years later,  the Nintendo Switch and Super Mario Odyssey arrived. Odyssey was an open-world game, and the worlds were unique and interesting, something 3D World lacked. It also had the Cappy mechanic, which made dealing with obstacles and platforming a lot more interesting. So, 3D World then felt absolute compared to its "sequel". Then, three years later, for Super Mario's 35th Anniversary, 3D World was announced as another port for the Nintendo Switch. But, it also came with a new story: Bowser's Fury. People didn't really care for 3D World, but Bowser's Fury made people interested. What was up with Bowser? And how did Bowser Jr. fit into Bowser's wrath? For now, I only focused on 3D World. But, I never intended to beat this game before Super Mario Galaxy, as that was on my checklist first. I don't know if it was unresolved business, but I gave Super Mario 3D World another go. 

 

Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad are celebrating or whatever, when they come across a weird clear pipe. Mario and Luigi actually do a plumber thing, and fix the pipe. A fairy pops out, and Bowser steals her. Bowser goes back in the pipe, and then the four go inside the pipe to go after him. So, right off the bat, Peach isn't kidnapped, and the four playable characters play similarly to their time in the USA's version of Super Mario Bros. 2. At least the story doesn't involve her being kidnapped AGAIN. Bowser still wants to rule the world. Mario just needs to rescue the Sprixie Princesses, the fairies, and defeat Bowser. 

 

The Sprixie Princess might be a different world, but most of the levels play out like a normal course-clear game. There will be desert, ice, grass, and ghost levels here and there, to say the least. There's even the usual auto-scroller levels. But, that doesn't mean the levels aren't enjoyable, and I had fun playing and exploring most of these levels. Some levels might not be consistent with the worlds they are in, but there is some creativity in most of them. The game is also downright colorful and beautiful, even though some models have weird outlines. Maybe that's just me, because I've been playing it on hand-held mode. As for the music... I love it, even though I think Odyssey now surpasses it. 

 

As for the gameplay, Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad are the four character characters, and like I said before, play similar to their roles in USA's Super Mario Bros. 2. Mario has a balanced move-set, Luigi jumps the highest but is more slippery, Peach can float in the air but runs the slowest, and Toad can run the fastest but falls the fastest and and is the shortest. Each can also run around and sprint. The Super Mushroom, Fire-Flower, Star, Tanooki Suit, Boomerang Suit, and the temporary Star, Mega-Mushroom, and Propeller Hat power-ups all return. The new premier power-ups are the Super Bells and the Double Cherry. With the Super Bells, the four become cats. The Cat versions can climb on walls for a little while, do a strike attack from the sky, and attack with their claws. With the Double Cherries, there will be another of the same character each time they touch the power-up. It has its uses, but making all of the clones stay on-screen for a while is a bit annoying at times. The Super Bell is clearly better for any situation, and even some enemies have Cat versions too. The game was designed with those power-ups in mind; so exploring with the Cat versions is essential. Mystery Houses are a gauntlet of mini-challenges that reward stars in a limited time. If a character doesn't get a star in any of the challenges, they have to play the gauntlet from the beginning. Toad Houses also return. Speaking of Toad, Captain Toad is playable in a few levels. He's a slow character, and can run okay, but he cannot JUMP. His levels are also based on the angles of the camera, so moving the camera is the most valuable asset in his levels. Then, there's the co-op... which I didn't use. Local play isn't viable as of now, and no-one is possibly playing online. As for who I chose, I went for Peach. This is one of her only playable moments in a main Mario game, and Toad has been annoying ever since the first Super Mario Bros. game. Also, it makes beating Bowser, her kidnapper of many stories, much more cathartic. Speaking of Bowser, the bosses were... okay. Most of them repeat at least once, including Bowser. I feel like the bosses in Odyssey were better handled. The bosses in 3D World aren't bad, but just mediocre. The final boss was a big surprise though.  

 

The base game is alright, but I know and heard the post-game is trickier. Rosalina is also playable too, for the first time since her introduction in Super Mario Galaxy. After a play as her for a while, I'll be done with the game. The co-op might have been a huge feature, even with it now being online, but I don't think it's the best implemented. Plus, I heard horror-stories of the camera in co-op as well. 3D World might have been a huge hit in 2013, but it's just okay now.    

 

( I'll get to Bowser's Fury eventually. Maybe in October.)

 

5/2- New Poke'mon Snap for Nintendo Switch 

 

Spoiler

 

Poke'mon Snap was such a great time in 1999. Instead of capturing Poke'mon, one would capture pictures of Poke'mon. It is one of the best spinoffs of Poke'mon, heck of any big league franchise. So, the fans were clamoring for a new Snap eventually. Years... then decades came by. If ever there was a time there would be a Snap game, it was going to be for the WiiU. And then that... didn't happen. But, last year, fans were finally treated to... New Poke'mon Snap. The gameplay and videos were held in high praise. After the first video, I didn't see anything else to ruin my excitement. I waited 21 years for a new game, similar to the wait for The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Remake. It was seven generations later. Would my excitement be as high as it was then for the original? 

 

New Poke'mon Snap takes place in the Lental Region. Professor Mirror (wherever Mirror B. is, he should sue) and his assistant Rita are researching the phenomena of the Illumina Poke'mon. 2000 years ago, meteorites came crashing down on the region when these Illumima Poke'mon stopped them. But, the rest of the game is just taking pictures as usual. And for those wondering if Todd would show up, he does! He's grown up, and now has a twerp assistant named Phil. Phil sucks as a rival. He wants to be better than the protagonist, but we never see anything from him. 

 

The game is beautiful, even if there are some frame-rate problems here and there. The Poke'mom are true to their origins, and the locations, although generic, help make the Lental Region important to these Poke'mon. Sadly, not all of the Poke'mon appear, but maybe patches and updates will happen with this game. The music is great, even though it's not as huge as the first. 

 

The gameplay is nearly the same as the first, but there are no poison balls or whatever to make Poke'mon faint, instead of apples they are just Fluffruit, and the flute is replaced with some kind of smartphone jingle or whatever. The speed-up mechanic returns, even though that's acquired way too late in this game, and there were moments where I wanted to hurry up and end a course or move on in a section. Instead of the balls, Illumina Orbs are used to attract Poke'mon to Illumina Flowers or near their spots and/or make Poke'mon do wacky things. There are a few down-sides, since the orbs can only be obtained when a Illumina Flower is glowing (and this has be repeated for ALL OF THE ORBS), not every Poke'mon reacts to the orb when they are hit, and sometimes nothing happens when  the Flower is hit by an orb. In fact, not every Poke'mon will react to the Fluffruit, too. The dreaded scoring system returns, but it's different based on what certain reactions a Poke'mon have. For example, one star catches means the Poke'mon was just nothing out of the ordinary, while four star catches means it does something very exciting. Each star is also based on a bronze-platinum thing too, but I just ignored it. I only wanted the score to go up to increase the level rank of each location. Yes, each location has a rank of sorts, and the experience goes up by taking more pictures. When the level goes up, more Poke'mon will appear, and the previous Poke'mon will do more exciting stuff and sometimes change locations. For example, not every Poke'mon will react to Fluffruit on the first level, but more will when they reach the next level. This concept is good in theory, but some of the experience points needed to level up are atrocious. Of course, this game was meant to be repayable, so backtracking is essential. And maxing out each level so far doesn't seem to change anything. But, even though I hated going back a few times, things I previously didn't see before became my attention. Like, at the beach at night time, I never paid attention to a Primarina off on a rock. I pelted it with an Illumina Orb, and it swam away. I paid no attention to it at first, but by the end of the route, I missed it singing to a group of Poke'mon. And it's new location was near a Flower; but I was on a different route, that I vowed to go the right direction next time. Also, by getting it off the rock, a Zangoose made its way to a spot close to where a hidden Seviper was. I made the Seviper get out of the bushes, and before I knew it, both parties were fighting and clawing at each other. Moments like those made me appreciate the back-tracking a little.   

 

But, there are a few noteworthy additions. Some areas have branching paths that lead to more discoveries. Pictures can be edited after shot, and can be saved using some MBs. The team will ask the player to capture certain pictures. One can share photos online now, and even edit the photos and add captions to those photos. Some areas have day and night explorations with changes in some Poke'mon and different Poke'mon too. And, the big Illumina Poke'mon will show up after a while. The Illumina Poke'mon need to be glowing, so the team will ask the player to do specific stuff from time to time. It's a pain at time, but the rewards are worth it. New Poke'mon Snap might not be perfect to a Snap veteran, but I myself was genuinely excited of what was going to happen next. Sure, there could have been more, but I enjoyed most of my adventure with it.   

 

 

 

5/16- Super Street Fighter II Turbo for Nintendo Switch. 

 

Lots of savescumming, strategy, spamming, and button and circle-pad mashing. Beat Akuma. What unholy power made me think playing this game was a good idea?! 

 

5/24- Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition for Nintendo Switch

 

Spoiler

 

Rayman has been a weird entity in my life. I played the first Rayman game on the PC decades ago. To this day, I never defeated it. Except for the first game, I don't think I ever played a game in the series. Maybe Rayman 2: The Great Escape, but my memory is a bit fuzzy. Then came... Rayman vs. Raving Rabbids. I'm going to say this now: F the Rabbids. They're annoying, loud, and they were responsible in the decline of Rayman games. Then, like a a sign from above, Rayman came back in Rayman: Origins. Though, I don't remember playing that game, since I was in college around that time. Eventually, Rayman Legends came a few years later. I have a few memories of playing that game at one of my friend's house when it came out. I never played it again since then. About a decade later, I finally began playing Rayman Origins. Then, for whatever reason, I stopped. Actually, at the time of this review, the WiiU GamePad and one of the cables is currently being lent to a friend. So, while I waited for those to come back, I played Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition. Although I had a few problems with the Origins Wii Controls, could Legends on the Switch do better? 

 

 Okay, so I'm a little lost on the story of the game. A cool bearded creature talks about dreams and how nightmares are taking over. Rayman and his friends, who are all sleeping at the time, wake up and try to stop these evil magical Teenies. That's my summary, because after the intro, there's no more dialogue. Sure there are cutscenes as the evil Teensies capture lady Teensies and try to flee, the lady Teensies distract the evil Teensies enough time to escape, the evil Teensies create chaos by summoning something big and evil, the evil Teensies try to flee by get stuck somewhere, and the evil Teensies are launched into some holes on a moon where they are suddenly attacked by some devils. Those cutscenes are similarly repeated five times throughout the game. But, even though I'm a little lost there, Rayman is just a hero saving the good Teenies. Looking up, I thought there was a secret boss, but no. Because even though I love the boss fights, I thought there was a secret final boss to beat after all this time. What a little disappointment. 

 

Though, even though the story is whatever, I love the art style and music. Rayman Legends is one of the best 2D platformers I've ever looked at. The creatures, playable characters, and worlds and levels are all so creative and memorable. I wish some of the levels had less hazards as one has to play a time trial kind of thing, but the game is otherwise amazing. The music is really dynamic and fun; and when Rayman dies, the music continues from before he died. That's soo cool. There are some levels that I'll talk about later which implement music really well. 

 

Rayman can run, jump, punch, bounce on enemies, charge punch, run on walls, climb, wall-jump, do a ground pound-like move, spin, and glide. Except for gliding, which is done with his hair, the rest of the moves are used by his other limbs. Rayman is one of the fastest beings ever, and that's a little negative, since some of the autoscrolling and time trial levels became a little too hectic. I never tried the other characters, because Rayman is the title character. Like Mario, holding the sprint button increases his jump arc. Rayman must save and search for captured Teensies everywhere, whether they are in plain sight, or are one of the royal Teensies hidden in secret rooms that house interesting puzzles. There are these music note things that give Rayman and co. new costumes. Since the Legendary Edition came with the DLC included, I naturally chose to put Rayman in Assassin clothes. This was before Ubisoft were bad with their IPs again. The princesses in this game are playable, but they are playable after the group finishes a set of challenges. I got them, but only wanted to beat the stages for the Teenies. But, getting new costumes and wearing both the unlock-able and DLC costumes is so much fun, even if they're cosmetic. 

 

Most stages have ten Teensies, except for the challenge, boss, time trial, and rhythm stages, which all have three. Time trial and challenge stages are easy to understand, but rhythm stages test the player's mastery of a few songs. The first one, Castle Rock, surprised me with a short cover of "Black Betty" by Ram Jam. I wish there were more of the rhythm stages, because the stages implemented the music very creatively and fun. There are five regular worlds total with six normal stages and five time trial stages (six for the last one), two challenge stages, one boss stage, and one rhythm stage. So, that's all together 453. The game has 852 total. So, where are they? The game brings many back stages from Rayman Origins, as a surprise. Legends also has Murphy stages which use Murphy's mechanics of moving a stage to manipulate its hazards and objects around. Murphy also does the same in the regular stages as well. The Lucky Draw tickets can be obtained when the team gets a certain amount of these purple and yellow music note things in the regular levels. Lucky Draw Tickets also have for the yellow kind, portraits to access the Origins levels, Teensies, and pets. Acquiring pets nabs one purple creatures and coins that house some yellow creatures daily, so check the pet museum frequently. There's a final world locked until the player gets 400 Teensies. With the amount of stages given in the game, including the Murphy and Origins levels, it's reasonably possibly. However, getting all of the Teensies gives the player... a golden Teensie costume. It looks cool, but it's only cosmetic. Besides, the last world is way better, since it features a new song and 8-Bit versions of all of the rhythm songs in the game. Now, that was a fun and amazing choice. Again, I wish the secret final boss was there, but the actual bosses in this game are fun too. 

 

And then there's Kung Foot. Not sure if anyone plays this now, since there are better multiplayer games out there. 

 

Rayman Legends is an enjoyable game that might seem underrated to some players. Not many people talk about this game compared to other well-known platformers. Rayman deserves another good sequel, Ubisoft. Stop focusing on Far Cry and Assassin's Creed, and give me a great Rayman game. And less of those Rabbids. 

 

6/1- Spider-Man for PS4 

Spoiler

 

A long time ago, I played Spider-Man 2 for the GameCube. It was so much fun to explore the city as Spider-Man back then because it was an amazing open-world approach to New York City. Years went by, and I never played the other Spider-Man games. To be fair, they were never gonna top Spider-Man 2. But, leave it to Insomniac, former owner of Spyro and the master of open-world design, to prove me wrong. In 2018, we got Insomniac's take on Spider-Man. Now, I love Spider-Man, but there was a big question on how amazing the game would be. The designs for a lot of characters looked odd, and the head villain is someone not many people know about, except for maybe diehard Spider-Man fans. But, as the game came out, many embraced THIS Spider-Man game and called it one of the best games of 2018. Even my brother liked it. For whatever reason, I never touched it until years later. So, how was my experience three years later? 

 

The story starts off with the battle between Spider-Man and William Fisk's goons. Spider-Man and the NYPD, with the help of captain Yuri, are planning own finally jailing the Kingpin. Spider-Man captures him, but Fisk warns Spider-Man that the city is far worse without him. It does indeed get worse, as new enemies known as Demons are planning to cause chaos. Spider-Man now must stop what or who is causing this new menace. I'm stopping there, because the rest of the story is like a movie. But, yeah, this is a Spider-Man game where Peter already has his abilities. In fact, he already lost Uncle Ben, graduated college, has a job as a scientist, and WAS in a relationship with MJ. The two broke up before the events of this game. This a mature, adult Peter. Okay, so he's not really mature, as he makes jokes when he's stressed, and forgot to pay his rent. But, spiritually, it's the same Peter. As for his job, he's working for Otto Octavius, pre-Doc Ock. In fact, Otto and Norman Osbourne have a bit of a rivalry in this game. Norman is the mayor, and his son Harry is in Europe. As for Aunt May, she's working at a F.E.A.S.T. center under the direction of Martin Li. F.E.A.S.T. is an organized homeless shelter group stationed all over NYC. But, like the new main villain, a new character, Miles Morales, has recently gotten more attention. In fact, he's one of the many alternate Spider-Men, and the protagonist of the Into The Spider-Verse movie. But, in this game, he's Miles. Miles is a hacker and much more technologically savvy than Peter. Like Peter, he too has a sad story, but it gets better for him by the end. J. Jonah Jameson left the Daily Bugle and became a podcaster. Spider-Man can hear his podcasts on his downtime, but I turned them down by the 3rd part of the story. The game came out luckily before an event that took place years later in real life. Bad timing could've made things a lot more awkward... or maybe relevant.

 

The game is beautiful. NYC has never looked so amazing, and there's a day and night cycle. The Wakanda Embassy and Avengers Tower even appear. All of the characters look a little... weird at times, but the voice acting more than helps. The generic enemies can be stuck in some places at times. The music might be cinematic and ambient, but it works with the game's tone throughout. And of course, HE has a cameo. This is perhaps the last time HE is seen in any media before HE passed away later that same year. Ouch.

 

Oh, boy, so there's a lot that goes into gameplay; but Spider-Man can swing around, attack and dodge on the ground and in the air, use his Spider-Sense to dodge, use web attacks, and use gadgets. He has a focus bar that can be used to finish off the baddies or to heal himself. By attacking and other means, the focus bar gets more energy. There's more to Spider-Man's movement and combat, but I want to make things brief right now. In the city, Spider-Man can participate in many, many side-missions to get tokens. These tokens are used to get upgrades for gadgets, and get costumes and bonus abilities. Most of the costumes also have a unique ability, but one can use the ability with a different costume if they desire. The costumes take inspiration from his most famous moments of his time, whether it's the comics or movies. Getting skill points by leveling up allows the player to get skills of their choice. There are enough skill points to get all of the skills here. The game also has a map and a fast travel system. The menu has all of the information Spider-Man needs. The map also lays out the side-quests in the game as well. When he's not Spider-Man, Peter also helps Otto too. These side-missions reward Spider-Man with research tokens. For brief story moments, Mary Jane and Miles are playable. Since they're not Spider-Man, they have to use stealth and distractions to get to the next point. If there's anything I left out, the game explains it all. It also helps that the game has difficulty options too. Although some of the baddies are hard and cheap at times, that never distracted me from loving this game.

 

Spider-Man for the PS4... is one of the best games of 2018. And even of all-time, period. This game is a love-letter to all of the fans out there, even those who aren't huge mega-fans like me. It's... better than Spider-Man 2. I'm serious, this is for now one of my Top 10. It's an incredible game. 

  

6/20- Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster for Nintendo Switch 

Spoiler

 

I love Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal. They're some of the best RPGs I ever played. But, some people don't like the Persona series because they're more popular than the rest of the SMT series, even the mainline Shin Megami Tensei series. They don't like how Persona appeals to the more casual crowd and has become more mainstream, and how none of the other series have gotten more games because of that. On one hand, seeing a series not have more games coming out because of many reasons does suck. But, putting the blame on Persona is somewhat unfair. Many people like Persona because of the simpler aspects of the story, gameplay, level design, characters, and so much more. (I'd say that with Persona 3-5 in mind.) Not many people would like to venture into worlds full of existential dread and despair. where hope is mostly gone. I don't remember when the news came, but alongside Shin Megami Tensei V, an HD remaster of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne would arrive for the Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Playstation 4. I was a little bit excited, because not only did some people think Nocturne is one of the most challenging games of all time, but because the "FEATURING DANTE FROM THE DEVIL MAY CRY SERIES" thing was hilarious. Still, it turns out that he's about 8$ DLC, even though the international version or whatever back then included his stuff in the base game FREE. Since Atlas is good at providing worthwhile DLC content at a reasonable price, I'll let this slide. 

 

The story begins with the protagonist hearing rumors of a murder spree in Yoyogi Park. Oh, right, this whole game takes place in Tokyo. He goes there, and meets Hijiri, a journalist. Hijiri thinks it's some work of a cult, and gives a magazine to the protagonist. The protagonist heads off to a nearby hospital, and meets with his friends Chiaki and Isamu. The hospital's whole staff are not there working, and the group think something is up. The protagonist goes to the basement, where he finds a weird man with a circular tube. He is Hiwaka, and goes on about changing the world, because it sucks. He is about to fight the protagonist, when Yuko, the protagonist's teacher, stops them and tells Hiwaka to let the protagonist live. Although hesitant at first, Hikawa allows it, but says he'll still change the world. The protagonist and Yuko go up on the roof, and Yuko says that the old world is dying, and that the Conception will begin. And, just like that, it's the end of the world! ... Not quite. The protagonist survives, but while he was unable to do anything, an old woman and her young master turn him into a demon. The protagonist is now able to fight other demons. The Vortex World is an apocalyptic Japan full of demons, and a moon-like sphere known as the Kagutsuchi. Eventually, he finds Hijiri, Chiaki, Isamu, Hikawa, and Yuko, and come across these human substitutes known as... Manikins. (HAH.) Even though Hijiri helps the protagonist find out what's going on through similar circular devices known as Network Terminals and the Amala Network, the rest of the world is at war with establishing their Reasons. With enough Magatsuhi, or souls, an individual is able to shape the New World with their own Reason, I guess their own theology. The protagonist is able to choose who they side with, even though most of the choices, in my honest opinion, are horrible. The protagonist cannot have his own Reason because he's a demi-fiend. I like that there's an option of who to side with, but most of the characters' motivations are downright disgusting. I was going to side with Isamu at one time, because it seemed like he wanted individuality from what I read beforehand, but what it turned out to be is complete isolation. A world of loneliness. So, I joined Yuko, because even though her Reason does have its own problems, it's about freedom. But, I also found out the Dante DLC also includes another final boss and ending, so I'll eventually get to that one soon.

  

At first, I liked the style of the game because of the apocalyptic setting, but most of the settings are barren rural areas, the subway, or ancient buildings. There's no life or fun in this world, and it looks rather boring. At least add in a large graveyard or haunted forest. I know Tokyo doesn't have that in real life, but it's the Vortex World. Crazy demons are in this world, so why didn't that apply to the places the protagonist goes? Worse, is that the map design doesn't reflect progress like how the recent Persona games handled it, and the places themselves have probably some of the worst, most confusing, and most gimmicky level designs I have ever seen. Like the original Final Fantasy II, there's a good amount of dead ends with no treasures and secrets. Use a guide, because the game throws one for a loop at times. Also, traversing the world sucks when there's only a few people outside, and most of the NPCs look bored, look the same, and are souls. Then, there's the characters. Not only are the Manikins the creepiest things I've ever seen because of their constant spontaneous strokes or whatever, but all of the characters don't synch their words with their mouths. It's really uncanny. But, that's not the worst of it. I encountered a few glitches and bugs. And, sometimes during the battles and cutscenes, the frame-rate would be terribly horrible. It's probably the only time I cared about that. Also, for this game to be titled an HD remaster, it looks basic as all heck. It does not look HD to me. As for the music... it's alright, although I think the quality is very poor through Switch handheld speakers. I bought the music pack... even though I regret doing that now. I thought there'd be more music coming from that, like how Persona 5 Royal did it, but I was wrong. 

 

I went into this game thinking it would be similar to the Persona games I've played. Yes, and no. There's stuff that's removed and changed. Just don't expect it to be easy, because unlike Persona, this game doesn't hold out a hand or give a fair challenge at times. Some things, like the revival system, retreating, the frequency of random battles, the negotiation system, and some BS moves and status effects were the worst culprits of this game. And dying is a pain, since the cutscene is unskippable, slow, and boring.  

 

Add that with some of the most unfair of bosses, and how much EXP is needed to level up, and one will see that this game is guilty of being a chore to get through at tines. If at all possible, get the free Merciless DLC, and maybe buy the other stuff that isn't the BGM. The DLC not only provides more content, but the new stuff includes items that boost the amount of EXP and money.  

 

Nocturne has a good premise and idea, but the execution of the idea, plus some horrendous level and combat design, make it one of the most brutal games i've ever played. It's not bad, but it can be cruel. 

 

6/27- Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX for Nintendo Switch 

 

It was Sega's first attempt to beat Mario when it first released on the SMS. It's no Mario, and the ending has a LOT to be desired. Even though the new music and new art direction are nice, it can't save an arcade design philosophy, and the bosses are surprisingly underwhelming. But, this remake does have infinite continues. Sure, this game might have been standard back in the late 80's, but this game's simplicity doesn't a candle to most of today's games, or heck, even Super Mario Bros. I thought I was going to get an epic. But, all I got was disappointment.  

 

8/8- Final Fantasy II (Pixel Remaster) for PC 

 

Final Fantasy II is a game that brought many memorable monsters, spells, Cid, dragoons, and the Chocobos among other things, and has a great setting with a dark plot, but has some of the most forgettable characters, some of the most repetitive and boring music, some of the worst dungeons of the series, trap rooms, too many encounter rates, enemies that are more annoying than bosses, some of the worst bosses, and the forgotten keyword system. I really wanted to like the proficiency system, but it's sadly too much grinding, even for AN RPG!, and the variety of weapons and spells are not equal in balance. Don't get me started on the fourth party members! Plus, the monsters at the end of the game have so much ridiculous defense and magical defense that running away is a more viable option. I got some spells to level 10, and it the payoff feels lame when monsters can't die easier. If anything, it's not bad with its backtracking than some RPGs. I gave it a shot, and was sorely bitter by the end. It has the potential of being a fantastic game, but some design choices really hurt this game! (Still, the Pixel Remaster has amazing orchestral music and great sprite-work.)   

 

8/12- Great Ace Attorney Chronicles: Adventures for Nintendo Switch

 

Spoiler

 

For some time, I hated that Dai Gyakuten Saiban and its sequels were not to be localized just like Gyakuten Kenji 2. I'm an avid fan of Ace Attorney. I started playing the first game sixteen years ago. Through the highs and lows, I loved the series, the cases, the characters, the music, the jokes, and so on. My first real moment of disappointment was Gyakuten Kenji 2. To this day, I'm bitter that that game has never been released because of B.S. reasons. People talk about their Mother 3s, their Trial of Manas, and their Fire Emblem: Binding Blades. I talk about Gyakuten Kenji 2. So, I felt the same way about these two games. But, there were valid reasons they could never be localized for a while. One: the great detective himself and his partner. Capcom wouldn't dare mess with the Doyle Estate. Two: apparent racism again the Japanese. When those two games first released, the U.S. nation... was going under a huge and seemingly negative political wave. But, that was then. Six years later... something amazing happened. The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, a compilation of both games, were coming to the Nintendo Switch. FINALLY. Of course, one day getting Gyakuten Kenji 2 would've been awesome too. But, that's for another day. I'm glad we're finally getting these games. On a bigger portable and home console! With a little more content! My happiness knew no bounds! After all the wait, I played it... then ventured off a little bit into other territory... but came back to this game. The Adventure game at least. These games were meant to played separately, so I'll talk about Adventures first. 

 

It's the turn of a new century. The Empires of Japan and England are booming in new cultural exchanges, such as law and order, and science. But, that's all a front. In the first case, Ryunosuke Naruhodo, the ancestor to Phoenix Wright, is charged with killing a professor of medicine. No one believes him but his best friend Kasuma Asogi. Asogi is a practicing law student who will travel to London to study its law techniques. But, if he fails to acquit Naruhodo of the crime, he won't go overseas. In court, Naruhodo prepares to defend himself with Asogi helping him out. Of course, Naruhodo finds the culprits and is found not guilty. After that, Asogi recommends Naruhodo to come with him. Beyond the first case, Naruhodo meets a lineup of the usual eccentric characters, and is soon joined by Susato Mikotoba, a judicial assistant (because women couldn't be attorneys then), Iris Wilson, a genius inventor, and her caretaker, Sherlock Hol- I mean Herlock Sholmes. Yeah, this is one of the most baffling of localizations ever. This was to get around copyright laws, yes. But, the titles of the cases are rip-offs from Doyle's tales too. Did they not consider that weird? Or were the titles not in copyright too? But, whatever, that issue was worked around by clever name switching. ... TOOK THEM LONG ENOUGH, THOUGH. Then, there's Barok van Zieks. If one couldn't tell by his dialogue, he doesn't like the Japanese. In fact, most of the British think the Japanese are strange and curious people. But, the best part is that they all have dialects too. I just love that attention to detail. The game has some of the best moments of the series too, and has deep questions about things such as race, classes, technology, law and order, and the progression of civilization, which Ace Attorney barely touches on. It also has a huge emphasis on trust. 

 

Now, even though this game was for the 3DS in the past, I cannot praise the detail of the animations, characters, settings, and so on enough. It's by the best looking of the series hands down. And whereas some animations in the past would be fixed in one direction, some animations can be seen in other angles. As for the music, even though it's not my favorite of the series, it's a fresh of breath air than most of the usual modern flair. It does accentuate the era of when the game happens. And, I love each character theme too. Herlock is one of my favorites, as well as the Deduction themes. And by gosh, even more characters get a chance to talk during speech bubbles than just the defense and prosecution! I love how this game is presented. 

 

But, what about the game? It's like the modern Ace Attorney games, but what is new? For starters, evidence have pointers that have extreme importance to them. I don't remember if the main series did this by Dual Destinies, but it's welcoming. Other characters can be talked to when they're in the backgrounds. Witnesses can now share room, like what happened in THE CROSSOVER. The two biggest things are the Theater of Deduction and Reasoning and Jury. Herlock Sholmes likes to make deductions, but he's not always bright at finding hints and the like, so Naruhodo helps him find other points of interest to find the truth. To be honest, with the handheld controls, rotation is kind of weird. But, finding the right clues helps things move along. Next are the jurors. Unlike the bogus jury thing from Apollo Justice, they are present for more than half of the game, mean more... and they're likely to make Naruhodo clients guilty too early. What Naruhodo needs to do is change their minds. After the jurors make their Jury Summation or whatever, Naruhodo can cross-examine them. But, unlike the usual, Naruhodo must find two contradictions within the juror's statements. He can press the witnesses, and present evidence when a contradiction arises, but he can PIT two jurors against each other. When four out of the six jurors think the client is not guilty, then the game continues. Barok hates it a lot, because he thinks it shouldn't exist, and he can't do anything. Poor guy. 

 

To be honest, Great Ace Attorney Chronicles: Adventures is one of my favorite games of this year. Even though it's a localized port, I'm glad it at least came. *stares at Gyakuten Kenji 2* And, I can't wait to play the sequel. 

 

 

8/19- Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions for iOS  

 

I actually thought the game was mediocre when I first played the original PS version, and my thoughts about the game still surprisingly still hold up. For my sake, I'm just going to update my original ideals. 

 

Final Fantasy Tactics has an interesting story that's hard to follow sometimes, a great cast, a grand conflict, a more rounded and a realistic-like world with rich lore, decent visuals, interesting monster designs, decent music with amazing and sometimes questionable sound design, a bad camera, grid-based level design that needs to tone it down with the elevation and terrain, a nice job system that implements ideas from FFIII and V but sometimes gets tedious with how much job points certain abilities need (which pads the game way longer than it should have any right to be, and wasted about 20 hours of my life which could've been handled better in the WotL version), sometimes frustrating and cheap bosses and enemies, and fluctuating difficulty that goes with FFVIII extreme levels of horrible. (Not only random encounters and side missions are guilty of that.) Not only that, but it's worth saying that the turn order system also feels inconsistent and feels egregious. This is the worst turn order in the Final Fantasy games and perhaps in any RPG. Fire Emblem did it better when the allies and enemies had their own phases. Playing this again made me wish the WoTL version had an option for that. The War of The Lion version also added some new characters, new weapons and so on, two new jobs (Onion Knight and Dark Knight; the former being oddly disappointing), and new detailed cutscenes (which I skipped, since I know the story, but still should watch on YouTube one day), but the iOs port is hard to navigate with touch controls, and has some weird glitches at times. The WoTL version also changed a few names for some things like a few jobs. But, even though it added, it didn't improve a lot of things from the original, such as better visuals, an updated soundtrack, a better camera, better level design, a much more refined job system, and a better difficulty curve. Even though WoTL probably is the better version of the two, there's still merit in playing the original as well. If it sounds like I hate the game, I don't. I find it FUNsrating! Despite my nitpicks, Ivalice is a great setting, the party is mostly customizable (even if the guest characters can be shoe-horned in), and beating that super-hard boss with amazing skill and luck (or other OP guest party members) sometimes feels really satisfying. I forgot most of the bosses and how unbalanced they can get at times. ... The regular enemies at times can jerks as well. I should play the Advance titles one of these days. I'm not going to put this in spoilers because there's nothing I spoiled here.

 

9/3- Great Ace Attorney Chronicles 2: Resolve for Nintendo Switch  
 

 

Spoiler

Like the first game, I was a bit upset when this game didn’t get localized for a long time. Four years later… my wish came true. But, would the second game live as much hype as the first?! 
 
The game begins six months after the events of the first game. The murderer of the first case of the last game ironically is murdered. Even though her best friend has been murdered, Susato can’t legally defend her because of antiquated sexist laws. So, she cross-dresses as a man, and becomes a “member” of the Naruhodo family. Of course, the samurai prosecutor doesn’t like that at all. After her friend is found not guilty, a string of important truths come to light in the next few cases. All of the old mysteries of the last game, and the new mysteries from this game will finally be answered. Like the last game, it handles themes of race, class, technology, science, law and order, but now there’s a larger sense of corruption. Why and how were these mysteries kept in the dark for so long, and who is responsible for these eventually unearthed truths?  
 
Like the last game, the music and animation is smooth. Same goes for the voice-acting too. In fact, even the game-play is the same, so I’m skipping that too. 
 
What I forgot to mention last time is the amount of bonus content. The game awards accolades for doing certain things, like completing a chapter. I got some through natural means, but I’m fine not being awarded the rest. There’s a gallery to look at portraits and bonus clips, as well. There’s also a music player with a pitiful soundtrack, and a good amount of voice recitals. There’s even bonus adventures that pass the time. Last are a few costume changes for Ryunosuke, Susato, and Herlock. (Sadly, no Iris.) Too bad they’re for this game only, and Iris doesn’t even get any! I forgot if any other game had this feature, but both Great Ace Attorney games can be started at several points of the episodes. So, if one needs a specific trophy, that’s a good way to breeze through them. 
  
I’m glad I finally waited four years for these two games. Well worth the money. It still saddens me that we might never get Gyakuten Kenji 2… but there are unofficial translations out there, and Capcom seem like in no hurry to release it worldwide yet. Maybe it’s time I finally consider beating that game.  

 

9/5- Zombies Ate My Neighbors for Nintendo Switch 

 

A good shooter plagued by limited and random ammo, random-patterned enemies and bosses, horrible and not really fun bosses, not enough lives, horrible i-frames, a meh soundtrack, and its arcady design. At least it looks decent... but frame-rate is another story. Speaking of story, it's really non-existent.  

 

 

9/9- Final Fantasy IV (Pixel Remaster) for PC

 

I thought it was going to be the best version with all the bells and whistles, but it's just a better looking and sounding version of the original Super Famicon game. It's for the most part a breeze, but some of the bosses, especially the final boss, are trickier and harder than probably the one international players got. If one wants a revamped port of the original game, this one is for those players. If one wants a version with the additional content, the GBA and PSP versions will do the  game a lot more justice. There's also the DS remake to consider too.  

 

9/16- Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D for 3DS

 

Spoiler

A few years ago, I played Metal Gear Solid. While the gameplay and so on are primitive to today's modern stealth controls, MGS is a classic PS hit. So, knowing how odd and bonkers Metal Gear Solid 2 is, I refused to play it. So, that left me with Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. There are countless versions of Snake Eater, but I went with the 3DS version. I don't know why, but I wanted to try a version no one really talks about. So, is Snake Eater rightfully deserved to be called the greatest of the Metal Gear Series, if not one of the greatest games ever?  

 

After World War II, the world was split between the West and the East, known as the Cold War. It's all new era of war, the beginning of space exploration and modern culture, and the story begins in the 1960s. It's between the Cuba Missile Crisis and Vietnam War. Naked Snake, who everyone later knows as Big Boss, is sent by the FOX unit to retrieve Sokolov, a weapons developer, hidden in Russia. Sokolov is ordered to build a new nuclear weapon, the Shagohod, by the Russians. Because tensions are already tense between the US and USSR, Naked Snake is on a one-man stealth mission. However, just as Snake gets Sokolov out of his cell, he is ambushed by a then-rookie Revolver Ocelot, and eventually the Russian insurgent Colonel Volgin, the Cobra unit, and... THE BOSS, Naked Snake's mentor. The Boss effectively turns traitor on her own country, and Volgin launches a missile at Sokolov's research facility. The leaders of the US and USSR negotiate terms: If the US are able to stop Volgin, destroy the Shagohod, and kill The Boss within a week, then they will be proven innocent for the events that took place and will not go against the USSR in a total nuclear war. Naked Snake is reluctant to kill his mentor, but has to carry on his mission for the duty of his country. He's not totally alone, as he has the FOX Unit and its commander, the British Major Zero, and a mysterious woman named EVA helping him. Although the FOX Unit only talks to him through wireless and indirect means, Naked Snake meets EVA during his mission and helps him from time to time. In fact, EVA and Naked Snake have an interesting relationship throughout the game, even though they're spies for their different countries. This game is a lot easier to grasp than the rest of the Metal Gear series because of its time bottle-cap. Most of the Cobra Unit and Colonel Volgin are plainly evil, but The Boss and even Revolver Ocelot are not really horrible. They're just caught up in the changing tides of war, something this game clearly does not want the player to forget. And even though Naked Snake is the hero of this game, players know of his eventually turncoat ways as well. He was not a bad guy, but the changing tides of the time made him go bad. And the game also mentions who first designed the Metal Gear. 

 

But, enough about that, because trying to go in-depth of a Kojima game is mind-exhausting. The game looks nice, the enemies and characters act decent and behave "like they're supposed to", and the locations are beautiful and vary from a jungle to the mountainside. Still, the 3D game has some horrible frame-rates, even when playing the game. The free-roaming camera is one for discussion, however, because even though I played this on a New 3DS, using the C-Stick sometimes is finicky at times. The game is fairly ambient with its wild-life setting, but the other music players listen to is incredible, and the voice-acting and sound design are top-notch. Do I even need to mention the theme "Snake Eater"?! 

 

Going from MGS to Snake Eater is a huge leap in gameplay mechanics. I know these mechanics were in MGS2, but rolling, hanging on ledges, swimming, tranquilizing and making enemies fall asleep and fall unconscious, and newer means of interrogation are all great features to the series. Snake Eater might have a suitable replacement for the CODEC calls, but its radar system can't detect enemies. However, because of its emphasis on wildlife survival more than urban survival, the areas are larger and full of grass, water, and trees, all Snake can disguise with. One of the biggest additions of Snake Eater is camo. Snake Eater can hide anywhere, given the right camo, and he can change camo in the menu. With the right camo, Naked Snake can be mostly undetected by the enemy. (The 3DS version can allow the player to use camera-created designs as well, making it a lot easier.) Another great addition is CQC, close-quarters-combat. Instead of relying on ammo, Naked Snake can make enemies fall unconscious and even stun them. Interrogation still works here as well. Even though the game is less trigger-happy with reinforcements, combat and gunplay is almost never the answer in Snake Eater. The bosses are different, though. Speaking of which, I beat The End as the game intended... and not intended. I first used the method of switching the date to ten days later to let nature kill The End. But, that victory felt hollow, so I rightfully beat The End through perseverance. Thank gosh for those heat-vision goggles! The one boss that I hardest time with for the longest time was The Sorrow. He doesn't do any damage, and he just projects the dead and weird images. However, I somehow kept dying for whatever reason. It doesn't help that Naked Snake moves at a snail's pace during this fight. After about five deaths or so, I realized the... REVIVAL PILL, which I only used once before during my FAKE DEATH SCENARIO when I had to fool the guard to break out of a cell, was my only way to get out of that jam. Speaking of "what" and "meh" stuff, because Naked Snake doesn't have nano-machines, his means of health recovery are a bit different, and he also has stamina. Naked Snake drains stamina by doing certain actions, but he also has to replenish it by consuming food. Thank gosh Naked Snake has a tranq gun and can get rations by moving unconscious bodies and just plain exploration, and thank gosh the setting is in the wild. That means Naked Snake can shoot down rats, birds, and even snakes. Not all of them taste great as snakes, which Naked Snake loves to chow down on. Naked Snake has to be in peak stamina condition for his health to recover faster. Still, when Naked Snake is hurt badly, by either gunshot wounds a burn, he'll eventually lose health or have his health not recover. He has to remove any status using medication, stitches, knives, bandages, and so on. Treating many of these at one time can be pace-breaking, especially during boss fights. The Pain has to be the worse offender because of his battalion of bees and hornets. 

 

I love Snake Eater, though I also got to admit the ending sequence goes on for too long. After his fight with Volgin, Naked Snake meets EVA outside. But, Volgin is riding in the new indestructible Shagohod. After the two take their time getting away from Volgin and his minions by motorcycle (for what felt like ten minutes), the two bomb the bridge that had the Shagohod on it with C3. However, the Shagohod manages to escape its predicament, and the two face the machine. It's not invincible, and Volgin gets struck by lighting, ironically. Then, the two escape from more goons by motorcycle (another five minutes at least), the two crash into a log, and Naked Snake has to accompany an injured EVA through the woods while more goons chase them. The game maybe stacks on five more minutes on what could have been just five anyways during this part, because EVA loses stamina a lot more because she's barely able to stand, and Snake has to find food. Still, what has to be my most anticipated moment was the final boss fight with The Boss. She tests Naked Snake with all the techniques he learns in the game, and five minutes in the battle the theme plays. Naked Snake unwillingly shoots The Boss with her own gun. Naked Snake and EVA get out in a plane, but Revolver Ocelot has a duel with Naked Snake. I don't know what happens next since I thought I lost, but Naked Snake and EVA finally leave. The game finishes the story, and the credits play. If the escape sequences and duel were either cutscenes or removed, then I wouldn't complain about these parts.

 

Still, with all that said... Metal Gear Solid 3 is a fun game. Maybe just don't play the 3D version. Play the PS3 version instead, or any of the other better versions. Meh. 

 

9/20- Professor Layton and The Last Specter for DS  

 

Spoiler

After the events of The Unwound Future were etched into my mind forever, I decided to tackle on the next game in the series. But, with Luke Triton leaving Layton in the end of Unwound Future, where did that leave the series? Well, back in time of course! 

 

Professor Layton, the renowned archaeologist and puzzle solver, gets a letter from his old friend Clark Triton, who is now the mayor of a small town. His town has been attacked by a mysterious monster wrapped in fog. He is accompanied by his new apprentice Emmy Altavia. Upon entering the town and meeting his old friend, he hears that Clark's son, Luke Triton, has been shutting himself off. Luke Triton is able to predict when the monster will next strike. What is this specter, and why is trying to destroy the town? Like all of the other games, the questions are eventually answered; but this time, it tells the players how Professor Layton and Luke Triton meet for the first time. Under bizarre circumstances, no doubt.

 

The game has the great style and musical design of the other DS Professor Layton games, so I'll skill my thoughts here. There's nothing wrong with the game, and that's what I like about it. 

 

As for the game, it keeps the usual exploration and puzzle game-play in mind as well. The puzzles themselves... I don't remember. I had an intermission for about two years, so my memory is hazy there. Some were fun, while others I had to use a guide. I'm not a genius, and I'm okay with that. They sadly didn't have the puzzle fights of the last game. Oh well.  

 

The Last Specter is a good entry of the series, I would say. Does it beat Unwound Future? Well... who knows. Find out later. 

 

9/22- Kingdom Hearts II for PS4 
(I played this on my PS5… Shuuush..)
 
 

Spoiler

About three years ago, I defeated the first game in the series. While not perfect, it was a really fun game. Afterwards, I played Re:Chain of Memories. To cut to the chase, I hated it. Then, I saw the cinematic version of 358/2 Days. At least I got to know more of Organization XIII. So, canonically next, Kingdom Hearts II came next. For some reason, I put off playing the game until now. But, I finally did it. I beat the rollercoaster known as Kingdom Hearts II.  
 
The game’s intro begins with a summary of Kingdom Hearts and Re:Chain of Memories. After the events of the latter, Sora, Donald, and Goofy are in a long slumber thanks to the memory-altering powers of Namine. But, enough about that, here’s Roxas and his crew from Twilight Town! It’s near the end of summer vacation, and they just want to have fun as most teenagers do. But, Roxas begins to have weird things happen to him, including having dreams about past events of THOSE GAMES, and seeing these strange creatures that want to kill him. Very unexpectedly, Roxas is able to wield a Keyblade, which is able to destroy these new silver-coated creatures. Still, that doesn’t stop two odd strangers from interfering with his life. It turns out that Roxas is living in a digital world; a lie, or something. Roxas eventually finds out that he’s a Nobody, specifically Sora’s Nobody (thanks to Sora’s actions in the first game), and he was once part of Organization XIII. Roxas runs into Axel, his old friend from the group, but he says he can’t go back. The two fight, Roxas gets another Keyblade and wins in the end. However, it’s a hollow victory, as the other man, known as DiZ, tells Roxas that in order for Sora to wake up, he has to be whole again. That means, Roxas will cease to exist. With Roxas fading from the digital world, Sora finally wakes up. He meets Donald and Goofy, and the trio head off to a mansion that belongs to Yen Sid, Mickey Mouse’s old instructor. They come across Pete, who is a master of the Heartless. Sora relays to him that he stopped Maleficent, Pete’s boss, years ago. When Pete laments about her fate, Maleficent suddenly rises once more, and the two want to make the world darker as usual. Back to the trio, Yen Sid informs them that not only are the Heartless are back, but a new evil known as the Nobodies and their leaders from Organization XIII are around causing trouble to the other worlds as well. Though their plans are unknown at first, the group wants to harness the power of the Kingdom Hearts. Sora must stop all of this madness now. If one is wondering where King Mickey, Riku, and Kairi are, the game eventually explains that all. This game also unveils a certain truth behind Ansem. The first game was easy to follow, but this game’s story has been noted to be too much at times for some players. (And, the intro is perhaps too long.) Motivations and executions fly everywhere in this game. What’s worse is the backtracking. Most of the Disney stories conclude where they’re supposed to, but in a twist, this game has a “what could have happened next in this scenario” thing. That’s not the worst of it. To complete The Little Mermaid’s subplot, Sora must obtain several abilities and whatever, to finish… I’m not going THERE yet.    
 
The game looks great, and I’d say better than the first game. I would say that the voice acting also has been better, but I skimmed through most of the cutscenes because I’ve seen it all thanks to a certain Pancake video. And maybe spoiled. Some old worlds come back, while others make their first appearance, such Beast’s Tower, and The Land of The Dragons. They even got the worlds from Tron and Pirates of the Carribean. And don’t worry: the Final Fantasy characters return, but more than just from VII and VIII this time around. Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth look closer to their Advent Children counterparts… and I think I’m okay with that. But darn if I can’t bring up those voice actors now gone, especially Christopher Lee. Birth By Sleep might be even worse. The music is really top-notch. The Final Mix version took care of the Pirates song, b-buuuut… players still have to listen to the Atlantis musical. Ugh. Sanctuary is hands-down one of the best themes ever. 
 
The game brings back all of the familiar game-play of the last game, and makes some noticeable improvements. First, Reaction Commands can happen when an enemy is about to strike, and maybe other things I forgot to mention. This brings a more cinematic appeal to the series, especially during boss fights. Sora can also team up with another character to unleash a devastating Limit Command, similar to Limit Breaks from the Final Fantasy series. Sora now has the power to use Drives, forms that can amplify his power and magic, at the cost of removing a party member (or both) temporarily. The forms have bonus skills that can help with the 3D navigation. But, the forms are only temporary, and the trio need to collect orbs to restore the Drives. The Gummi Ship minigame thankfully was better to control. Speaking of minigames, I think this game has more minigames compared to the last. The first three hours or so are minigames. Still, the game mostly focuses on combat, so there’s nothing inherently wrong with them. (Still, Atlantis being a rhythm section is the worst… okay, so I liked it better than what the first game did at least.) But, what if some bosses had gimmicks? Everyone has heard about “GET UP ON THE HYDRA’S BACK!” and “DANCE, WATER, DANCE!”. There’s a guy that fights with cards. (No, thank gosh it’s not back to THAT GAME.) He turns Sora into cards and die at random intervals. He also has an interesting “health” system. But, that’s not saying that all of the bosses were horrible, especially those from Oraganization XIII. Organization XIII, for as odd as their motives are, have some of the most interesting and intense boss battles ever. I even got to do battles with these data replicas of the six or so who perished in Re:Chain of Memories. Most of them were good. (I hate Vexen and Marluxia specifically.) I’m not going to even attempt the big rematches. One fight against Axel made me realize it’s not worth it. But, man, his fight, Roxas’ fight, and Xemnas’ fights were my favorites. (Even though I struggled with Roxas for a while because I forgot how to guard like a imbecile. Xemnas is fairer than the Seeker of Darkness ever was! And, I got to use Riku. And two keyblades! (I forgot to mention that Sora can use two keyblades, but mostly in Drive form.) And, like I said, the Reaction Commands made these fights seem more cinematic. Sure, some of the enemies and bosses unfairly combo’ed the trio at times, but Donald came with the Cures when needed.  
 
After I beat the game, I tried my hand at getting some of the gear I hadn’t yet, and beat a few optional bosses as well. I finally got my revenge against Sephiroth at least. As for the rematches and the ONE HUGE SURPRISE... Pass! It’s not 2006 anymore, and everyone knows who that strange optional boss is! Besides, it took three fights against Axel to say I had better things to do. I beat him fair and square. I faced them once, and I’m fine with that. Now that I’m mentioning IT, Birth By Sleep in next on my radar. Maybe. 

 

9/25- Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep for PS4 (All three campaigns.)
 

Spoiler

For whatever reason, I was on the fence of playing this game, because of its three main character set-up. Then, I remembered that I played Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and asked myself what the heck was I worried about. Maybe it was being burned out be the last game in the series, which was already long as is. Nevertheless, I prevailed. So, what do I think about the adventures of Aqua, Terra, and Ventus. 
 
Jumping straight into it, Aqua, Terra, and Ventus are the protagonists of the story. This game takes place about ten years before the first Kingdom Hearts. All three are Keyblade Wielders, and Aqua and Terra are planning to become Keyblade Masters by taking the Mark of Mastery. The test is overseen by Master Eraqus, the three’s master, and Xehanort. Xehanort gives Terra some darkness, and because of that, Terra does not pass the exam. Still, Aqua does and is now a Keyblade Master. A new evil, called the Unversed (a progenitor to the Heartless), arrives, and the worlds of Disney are hanging in the balance again. Eraqus sends Terra and Aqua to fight the powers of evil. Eraqus tells Terra that this might change his opinion of him, and tells Aqua to follow Terra just in case more darkness consumes Terra. Meanwhile, a masked figure tells Ventus that Terra will be consumed by the darkness, so Ventus tries to follow Terra. Terra leaves first, with Ventus after him. Eraqus tells Aqua that Ventus must return home as well. But, what about Xehanort? And who is the masked person? All is revealed. This story is the most tragic of the series, because of what eventually befalls all three of them. Though there are some comedic moments, the events let the players know their eventual fates. Still, because this is also a prequel, some new facts come into play, like who some of the Nobodies were in a previous life, how Kairi, Sora, and Riku were destined to wield Keyblades, and how King Mickey began his journey. This game also mentions the historical Keyblade War, the Keyblade Graveyard, and the prime target of such calamity, the… x-blade. (Sorry, but I cannot write that thing on my computer.) The x-blade is the most powerful Keyblade in the universe, and in the wrong hands could be catastrophic. Also, because I’ve seen enough videos of the story already, and have been spoiled, I skipped all of the cutscenes. 
  
I’m skipping the art design and music, because it’s just as great as Kingdom Hearts II. But, there are new worlds to roam around in, such as DISNEYLAND! Disneyland is a minigame area, and although the Olympus Colosseum is no longer the tournament place, a new world takes its place. (If it seems I don’t know the name of it, that’s because I had no reason to go there… until the very end.) Because of the three characters, each character visit some different places of the same world at times. Even though the places aren’t as big and many as the last few games in the series, revisiting the same worlds three times, although with different rooms here and there, felt like making the worlds huger already. At least they’re not too spacious. As for the voice acting… It’s decent. But, special props go out to Mark Hamill and the late great Leonard Nimoy as Eraqus and Xehanort, respectively. They do their jobs well. 
 
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep throws away the system from I and II, and uses commands. Stuff like special attacks and magic can be used without fear of MP. They have a cooldown time, but the cooldown for most is like 30 secs. Commands can also be melded to make stronger ones with even abilities. The three can only equip a few amount of Command slots in the beginning, but increase as the game progresses. Also, the Command Styles are activated when the Command Gauge is full and certain commands are used. They too come with their own finishers. A new attack called the Shotlock uses the Focus Meter to unleash powerful attacks. The D-Link uses the power and abilities the three meet on their journeys. I’m gonna say it: King Mickey’s D-Link is the best, only because of the Double XP ability. (It’s too bad Terra is such an idiot, that he never sees King Mickey.)
 
But, the biggest draw of the game are the three main characters. I’ll go in order of difficulty from easiest to hardest. Aqua is the mage of the group, so her elemental powers are crucial. Though late to the party, she faces off against most of the final form bosses. Although not as tough physically and a little slower than Ventus, she makes up with it for utility. Ventus could be another mage as well, but this time he’s an expert in status ailments and lightning fast combos. He usually shows up in medias res. He’s the most well-rounded of the group. Terra is the heavy hitter of the group. He might not be adept in magic and is slower than comparison, but D-Link him with Ventus or use commands that stop enemies in their place, and he’s sure to kill them in no time. He usually takes on the largest Unversed bosses, as he… is often tricked by the villains of the game. Yes, a running theme with Terra is that even though he’s headstrong, he’s the most gullible of the group, and that gets him and the rest of the group in trouble from time to time. Each also have different objectives and bosses. As for the bosses… some were pitifully easily, some were really challenging, hard, and unfair at times, while the final bosses were no picnics. Still, I kind of miss Organization XIII a little bit. 
 
The Final Mix version also has another secret episode and secret bosses. …SKIP! I know who one of those bosses are, and the secret episode is pretty much filler. I can pretty much look all this up on YouTube. Like the last few games, I’m not hardcore. I’m jumping into III next. Triple-D is not a good game, and I don’t have a reason to play Union Cross or play the pre-demo for Kingdom Hearts III. 

 

9/29- Kingdom Hearts III for PS4 
 
 

Spoiler

My last journey into Kingdom Hearts was Birth By Sleep. It was a fun game, even though it’s not good as Kingdom Hearts II. Then, I refused to play Re:Coded, Dream Drop Distance, and the 2.9 Fragmentary Passage thing, and watch the Union X video for many reasons. I could just watch summary videos because those games have not really ideal controls. So I immediately jumped into Kingdom Hearts III. So, is it better than Kingdom Hearts II? 
 
Kingdom Hearts III begins where DDD and 2.9FP left off. Because of “shenanigans”, Sora failed the Mark of Mastery test and lost most of his power. In order to get Ventus back (who has been in a deep sleep for over a decade) Sora needs the “Power of Waking”. So, he has to travel to other worlds to find out how to do it, giving another excuse to venture to other Disney properties.) Meanwhile, Riku and King Mickey are looking for Aqua (who has been in the Realm of Darkness for over a decade), and Kaira and Axel Lea are training to become experienced Keyblade Wielders. (That latter plot-point happened during DDD.) As for the bad guys, Maleficent (who is somehow alive despite her fate in KHII) and Pete are looking for a black box (which was referred to in UX); while the Real Organization XIII are about to begin a battle with the seven guardians of light in order to reconstruct the x-blade and Kingdom Hearts. Among the ranks of the new group are… Demyx, Larxene, Vexen, Luxord, Xigbar, Saix, Dark Riku, Marluxia, a cloaked figure (who turns out to be obviously Xion), Vanitas, Terra-Xehanort, Ansem (Seeker of Darkness), Xemnas, a time travelling Young Xehanort, and Master Xehanort himself. Most of these guys are back because of the events that happened in DDD, and yes, time travel is a thing. Okay, sure, maybe I wanted to fight another cool group of baddies, and instead rehashes are all I got. And if you’re counting fifteen, you’re not wrong, and the game doesn’t care either. But what about the rest of the first Organization XIII? They are made whole and are good guys again, thanks to Sora doing stuff in KHII, which includes Axel who is now Lea! It’s not explored in detail why the others went back to the group that used them as puppets in KHII, except for maybe a few. Or rather, they just say “they couldn’t care at all” and are evil because they “felt like it”. Ugh. Speaking of ex-Organization members, Sora also wants Roxas and Namine to become real again, but needs to find to find vessels for them. How I am able to comprehend most of this stuff despite never playing some of these games is thanks to the power of YouTube. Is the game more convoluted than it needs to be? Yes. Does it have some of the best moments in the series? Yes. There’s some stuff that’s exciting to behold after years of pay-off, there’s some stuff that’s confusing because of long-term planning, and there’s some stuff that’s disappointing because of cliffhangers that will be resolved in future games. Most of the mysteries from the last several games are resolved, but like those games, leave a few unanswered. Especially the ending. 
 
Okay, so it was a glaring dash from KHII to KHIII. This is the best game in terms of visuals, sound design, and music. The new compositions hold well, while the older and licensed songs are amazing. If I were to be honest, though, Sanctuary still topples… uh… Don’t Think Twice. Sadly, there’s no Final Fantasy characters, even though a few are mentioned. Also, the Colosseum doesn’t return, and one can never visit Radiant Garden. As for the worlds themselves, I’m okay that Star Wars and Marvel weren’t involved. Maybe the next game will help there. But, it has a few Pixar worlds, and Pirates returns again. So, I’m not complaining. Because of a mechanic that makes a return here, there’s a bigger emphasis on vertical movement, and the worlds are larger compared to the rest in the series. Even though it made the self-contained stories longer, this is by far the best game for exploration. And, it’s a good thing backtracking DOESN’T return. 
 
There’s also a few elephants in the rooms.  

*coughAnsemTheWise,MasterXehanort,KingMickeycough*
While I’ll miss the previous voice actors for them, their replacements are good enough. As for the rest of the voice acting, it’s really commendable. Although why Phil from Hercules’ world doesn’t talk is beyond me. Why they didn’t at least get a suitable DeVito impersonator if they couldn’t get DeVito again is beyond me.
 
… Freeflow Action. Better aeriel maneuvering and combat. Keyblade swapping with up to three keyblades and their own drive forms. The bistro and cooking. Keyblade Upgrading. Running on walls. Up to five party members in one world (compared to swapping out either Donald or Goofy in previous ones). Open-world Gummi Ship exploration. Aero and Water as magic. Better finishers. The Gummiphone and Lucky Emblems. Better 100-Acre Wood minigames. Better gimmicks in the worlds. A good variety of minigames. Better implementation of Shotlocking. A better AP system. This game has a better combat system, but there’s a few things I wish changed. I kind of miss the recharging system of BBS compared to the usual MP system. The Attractions are hardly suitable replacements for Summons, and the Summons it has are mediocre at best. (Even though the shooter one is the best hands-down to control.) A… Dream Eater returned, but I didn’t care about it. And I really miss wielding two keyblades, even though switching up to three is fun. The one thing mostly untouched is the Moogle Shop and Synthesis. 
 
Kingdom Hearts III has its ups and downs. And I’m fine with that. …Still, I have yet to tackle Re:Mind, and I might do the Melody of Memories game. All in due time.

 

10/11- Final Fantasy Brave Exvius Season 3 for iOS

 

Fina goes on a trip to meet new friends via the Farplane Express, gets Blue Mage powers, and sacrifices herself to save the world. Her friends save her soul and revive her by the time the final boss comes back.

 

NeoVisions Summoning. Clash of Wills. Chronicle Battles. New exciting bosses to battle. Tomb Raider, KH, and Full Metal Alchemist collabs. Morale. Limit Break Breaking. Hopefully this doesn't get too ridiculous. 

 

10/15- Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memories for Nintendo Switch
 
 

Spoiler

Kingdom Hearts III is an alright game. It didn’t live up to the height of KHII, but I still think it’s fun in its own way. The latest game in the series so far, Melody of Memories, is another side-continuation of the series. And if one couldn’t guess, it’s a rhythm game. Now, I personally love rhythm games, and since it has the great music of the Kingdom Hearts series, I really wanted to give this one a shot. So, what did I think of it. 
 
Melody of Memories actually has a story. After Sora went missing by the end of Kingdom Hearts III, his friends are determined to find him. Kairi searches well into her memories to find clues to where Sora might be. And her memories involve all of the plots from the past games, sans Union Cross. It’s another retelling of the series, but this time from Kairi’s narration and point of view. Still, the ending actually reveals interesting information on Sora’s whereabouts, and where the story might lead to next. It will be a doozy when players get to the next side-continuous game or Kingdom Hearts IV. 
 
I honestly don’t know where to begin with the style and music. It feels like a hodgepodge of all of the Kingdom Hearts characters and backgrounds. Kingdom Hearts III is only represented in musical cut-scenes, and that bothers me the most. The charm’s there, but it feels so half-assed. Still, I like the chibi versions of the characters that walk during the loading screens. Then, there’s the music. As much as I like the music of the series… Melody of Memories uses the original, and not Final Mix and HD versions, of the songs. Kingdom Hearts III came out a year before this game, so there’s no excuse for the quality of these games. What about songs and worlds missing altogether, even though they’re a part of the series? Deep Jungle, 100 Acre Woods and Rabbit’s House, Port Royal and The Carribean, and Schala ad Caelum have no representation at all. I probably get Deep Jungle, but that doesn’t excuse the other three worlds not being there at all. Even though the quality of Port Royal’s music from the original KHII is not good, the Final Mix version would’ve been better. Those worlds’ music are just as good to listen to. Then, there’s the Kingdom Hearts III songs. I know it would’ve been crazy to include all those field and battle songs from all of the worlds, but… only one field song from each of those worlds?! Heck, Arendelle only has… “Let It Go”. Olympus and The Carribean don’t even have representation from that game. I know it would’ve been jarring for Olympus to appear three times… but three variations of Radiant Garden appear in three separate occasions. One as Hollow Bastion, the second as the restructuring of Radiant Garden, and the third as the original version of Radiant Garden. And that world uses similar versions of the field and battle themes. To be honestly fair… I’m okay with Atlantica being mostly only represented with the Kingdom Hearts I game. Gamers rather not remember… KHII’s idea. I ALMOST FORGOT SYMPHONY OF SORCERY! THAT WORLD IS RIPE WITH MUSIC, AND THEY DON’T GET THE MUSIC FOR IT?! There’s also nothing from Union Cross. (Never played it, but KH music is KH music.) There’s also other music I would’ve included as well, but that list is long. The game has a few other eclectic tracks, so I’m thankful for that. (The swing version of Dearly Beloved can also be downloaded to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate when Sora enters the fray!)
 

The gameplay only incorporates five buttons and the directional buttons, but it’s not that simple. Some of the enemies’ attacks need to be avoided, and some enemies can only be hit in the air with jumping. Some enemies take multiple hits, and some enemies are in a group that take two or more action buttons. Some enemies need to be hit by a special attack using an ability crystal. These green music notes can only be hit when the leader is gliding. There’s also many combinations of these sequences, like hitting enemies while the leader is gliding. Players take control of a team of three characters, which can be swapped for three other groups of three. There’s Sora, Goofy, and Donald, Axel, Xion, and Roxas, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, and finally Riku with two Dream Eaters. Sora, Roxas, Aqua, and Riku are the leaders of their groups. Players can adjust the difficulty of the songs any time, so if a player really wants to test their mettle with hard mode, they can. Players can also use items to have a better time with the songs or even get more EXP. At the end of each song, the player is rewarded with collectibles and other items. But, don’t think it’s a walk in the park. A good amount of the songs have weird time structures, rhythms, and melodies, so playing Hard mode is… struggling at times. Enemy layout can be cruel. There are also cutscene songs, where the player also needs to hold notes and use the directional buttons. There are no enemies, but those songs are just as tricky. Last are the boss songs. They’re like the cutscene songs, but players also need to make sure to block attacks as well. My main problem here is that the game doesn’t have much in terms of bosses. There’s only FOUR. I’ll say who we didn’t get as best potential adversaries: MARLUXIA, RIKU, XION, ROXAS, AXEL, TERRA-XEHANORT, VANITAS, AND YOUNG XEHANORT. The rest are mostly the final main-line bosses. Boooooooooooooooooooooo! This game would’ve benefited from more bosses too, like the music. If there’s also one thing that I kind of hate, the perspective also moves from time to time. As a gamer who likes to work with one single dimension of lines, that was distracting to my depth perception. I hear this game borrows heavily from the Final Fantasy rhythm games as well. Never played those. There’s the World Tour mode, which is basically the story. Players will need to fill out requirements for each song to get stars that will unlock doors. Most of the requirements are simple to fill out, but some stars only require one to play hard mode. The only hard mode song I could reasonably do is “Let it Go”, and that’s a cutscene song. Like I said before, players can receive collectibles, but there’s also synthesis items, items that can help players during the song, and even the songs themselves. Yes, the Moogle is back! Moogles this time can synthesize items, artwork, other synthesis items, and even music! But, getting the music is a little bit harder, since players also need to get drives (by playing the game, naturally). There’s also modes to play these songs by one’s self or online, and a museum to look at the collectibles and listen to the music. 
  
My top ten songs from the soundtrack are:  
 
Destiny Islands from I 
Traverse Town from I 
Hand in Hand from I 
Olympus Colosseum from I 
Go For it! From I 
Castle Oblivion from Re:Chain of Memories 
Lazy Afternoons from II  
Roxas from KHII 
Working Together from II  
Let It Go! From III 
 
And a bonus is the swing version of Dearly Beloved.  
 
Melody of Memories is a good game that needed more care with its style and music. Its premise is good, but the execution is a little lacking.

 

Tetris Effect: Connected for Nintendo Switch 
 
I heard Tetris Effect was an amazing game people wanted for the Switch. Players eventually got it. I wondered why people were wanting this game on this game so badly. Could it be that good? 
 
Tetris Effect: Connected has a story mode. Well, it’s called Journey Mode. It’s just playing Tetris. Still, the visuals are amazing, and even though I thought the game would just have the usual theme players know from the original, this game has unique music that is just incredible. It’s so bizarre that Tetris Effect, of all games, has music that is really atmospheric. It blew my mind. If the vibration setting is on, the vibration is also tied to the music and some scene changes. 
 
And, it’s Tetris. In this version, a player can swap out bricks once during the falling down phase. Once a brick falls down, the player can swap out bricks once more. 
 
There’s also other modes, like online battles, but at the core… it’s Tetris. 
 
Tetris Effect: Connected is a fun time. That’s all I have to say.  

 

10/17- Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania for Nintendo Switch 

 

Spoiler

Super Monkey Ball is a series that I've known for a long time, but never bothered to play any of the games. Then, for its twentieth anniversary, Banana Mania came around. The series is owned by Sega, the same guys who own Sonic, Bayonetta, and Persona. How could I refuse?! 

 

Banana Mania has a story, and it's the story for Super Monkey Ball 2. An evil baboon named... Dr. Bad Boon is doing evil things. Aiai and his companions try to stop him. That's what I got, since the characters only talk in their monkey tongues, and the cinematics only have still images and talk bubbles. The story is also presented as a TV show, with ten episodes in total. Each episode has ten levels, giving the game so far a whopping 100 levels.  

 

The game is cartoonish and colorful. And even though I listened to videos while playing the game, I remember the music being good enough.  

 

Okay, so players take control of Aiai and company... Actually, from what I know, the player moves the stage by tilting it. The objective is to get the ball into the goal. Cool, it's a physics and momentum-based game. What could go wrong? *swears profusely while the ball fails to make it to its goal many times throughout the game* Alright, maybe I'm a bit over-exaggerating, but sometimes, this is harder than it looks. One reason are some of the levels themselves. Anything doing with rotation, narrow bridges, random moving goals and so on are the worst. And some obstacles show up from time to time, and the goal is an obstacle itself since it's like a door. It doesn't help that there's also sixty-second time limit. This game does have a jump and help feature that includes doubling the time, arrows, and slow motion, but both at times won't solve the problem of momentum, and the jump feature is an unlock-able. Still, it is rather satisfying when the ball finally gets to the goal. This game has 300 levels from SMB 1, 2, and Deluxe. Or, so, I heard.  

 

The game comes with unlockables, including more modes, customizable parts, and characters, like... Beat from Jet Set Radio, Kiryu from Yakuza, and Sonic and Tails from Sonic The Hedgehog. There are other modes to try too, such as party mode. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania has a fun and cool concept, but it can get really tricky and frustrating at times with its physics and momentum-based gameplay. Looks are deceiving. 

 

 10/21- Metroid: Samus Returns for 3DS 
  

Spoiler

I defeated Metroid: Zero Mission and Super Metroid, two of the most acclaimed titles of their genre. While Zero Mission was just okay, Super Metroid is one of the best games I ever played. But, what about Metroid: Samus Returns, the bridge between those games? It’s a remake of the GameBoy game Metroid II: Return of Samus. Well, I finally did it. And, it wasn’t an easy ride.  


Samus Returns takes place after the events of Metroid (:Zero Mission). After Samus takes care of Mother Brain and the Space Pirates on Zebes, the Galactic Federation or whatever is hell bent on the total annihilation of the Metroid species. After their own soldiers are discovered to be dead, they send the famous bounty hunter to the Metroid’s home planet, SR388. And, that’s pretty much it. For a series that focuses more on environmental storytelling, I’m glad there’s no dialogue here. Nobody wants another Other M.  


Samus Returns is one of the best-looking games of the 3DS. The jump from the GameBoy to 3DS is one of the best transitions for a remake ever. It’s just as nice as Link’s Awakening. Still, even though it looks better, doesn’t mean that all of the environments look nice. I think Area 3 is one of the blandest stages of any video game period, and it doesn’t help that it’s also the most spacious of the Areas. And, some enemies are given different colors to signify their difficulty, similar to Zelda II. That’s just lazy. My gripes with those aside, the music is really spectacular, with some remixes from Super Metroid sprinkled in. And, like any other game in the series, the sound effects are top-notch.  


Samus Returns has some of its original core gameplay, while using some of the assets from the games that came after the original. Samus can shoot with her arm cannon, but now she can aim 360 degrees. She can transform into her Morph Ball and use its bombs, and jump and shoot. I wish the Morph Ball was accessed with the D-Pad instead of the Circle Pad, but there’s a good reason for that. Many of the classic power-ups, energy tanks, and missile expansions return, hidden in the world of SR388. It wouldn’t be a Metroid game without the world exploration. So, what’s new? Returning from the original game is the Spider Ball. While transformed into the Morph Ball, a press of the L button allows Samus to cling onto the walls. Even though it’s a game-changer, spikes and some kind of goo prevent the Spider Ball from being OP. Samus can also use Aeion to scan the world to find secrets, take extra hits while in a green-shield thing, rapid-fire lasers, and slow down time for everything but herself. Samus can also use a Melee counter to repel attacking creatures. For the most part, it works. Most enemies have a clear sign of when to properly use it. And, players might as well get used to it, because the enemies are probably the most aggressive of the series. In crowds, it doesn’t work all of the times. Samus Returns also has a good amount of Save Stations, Energy and Ammo Refill Stations, and Elevators and Teleportation Statues to alleviate the backtracking.  


Now, even though the game takes some of the best aspects of the series, it doesn’t mean that the game will be easy. Like I said, the enemies will not go down easy and can hit hard. Plus, this game is about taking down the Metroid race. There are 40 of these creatures, and in this game, they take on many forms in this game. I only thought they could only be hurt by missiles, but I forgot about the returning Ice Beam. Thank gosh the game has enough missiles and super missiles in the world. Now, it feels like this game only has Metroids as bosses, but there a few more unique bosses, such as a big shocking surprise. Watch out, since some of the bosses have nasty and hard-hitting attacks. Still, like I said before, enemy variety is a little bit lacking, so be prepared to fight the same creatures over and over again.  


Samus Returns is a welcome return to form since the Other M and Federeation Force mishaps. My problems with the game aside, Samus Returns is a good game. Next up for me is Metroid Dread. But, I hear it takes some cues from Metroid Fusion, so… might as well play that game some day. 

 
10/24- Metroid Fusion for Nintendo GBA.
 

Spoiler

Metroid Dread came out, and it references some of the events of Metroid Fusion. Fusion is a polarizing game in the series, for its structure of narrative and its linearity. It’s also the hardest of the series, bar none. So… cheat code activated! I don’t care, I wanted to finally beat Metroid Dread before Halloween ended. The game pulls no punches, so why should I? 
 
The story of Fusion begins after the events of Super Metroid. Because of the extinction of the Metroid series, the X parasites grow in numbers. The Metroid were the predators of the X parasites, until Samus destroyed all of them. Samus is tasked by the Galactic Federation to take care of a situation on the Metroid’s old home, SR388. After encountering a creature, one of the X comes immediately after Samus. Although she doesn’t feel anything at first, Samus’ nervous system shuts down, and her spaceship is sent careening to an asteroid belt. She escapes thanks to the emergency pod, but she is slowly being succumbed to the parasite. All hope seems lost, until a scientist proposes injecting Metroid DNA into her. Sure enough, it works, and the parasites are at lost gone within her. The DNA was from the Baby Metroid Samus spared, so it saved her twice. A distress signal comes from a nearby Biological Space Laboratory research station, so Samus heads off to assess the situation. The X have taken over the facility, and with her new DNA and immunity, Samus can absorb their essence without being at risk. Her new spaceship comes with an AI that reminds her of her old CO, Adam Malkovich, and decides to name the computer after him. After arriving on the station, a new terror appears on the scene: the SA-X. Samus’ Power Suit had to be removed from her during the surgery, and the X have full control of it. It is the full-powered version from the end of Super Metroid, and now its target is Samus. Imagine Mr. X from Resident Evil 2 but deadlier. Now, as much as I like the premise, the dialogue is one point of contention for me. Though there’s no voice acting in this game, Metroid has been a series with basically none. Also, Samus can talk and has some inner monologue. Other M is known for making Samus less of a badass, and I’m a little split here. Her dialogue seems more mature and rational, like how she would act. Then, there’s Adam. He frankly talks a lot. Maybe too much. He gives directives on what Samus needs to do next. Yes, this game is linear and story-driven, making a big twist to the series as a whole. I don’t mind narrative-based games, but the Metroid series leaves the story to the environment foremost. But… knowing what happens later, it’s strange that I like that Samus is forced into an uncomfortable situation. Because when that moment happens, the old Samus is back. Still, that moment comes around 75% into the game, so the trek is basically tedious and methodical. However, since it’s Galactic property, maybe it’s a good thing Samus was told where it was necessary to go at first. All-in-all, the story is a mixed bag. 
 
With that said, the game looks amazing for a GBA game. The characters and environments look nice. Although Zebes and SR388 are better worlds than the B.S.L., the B.S.L. perfectly encapsulates a man-made environment reminiscent of SR388. It’s blockier and more condense than the other worlds. As much as I like the other two worlds more, the B.S.L. thematically works. Not sure about the music, because I listened to other stuff while playing it. I was that scared. After Mr. X terrified me two years ago before playing this game, I the SA-X would be just as terrifying. The sound design is good, even if it can be obnoxious during boss fights.    


The gameplay is where some of the complaint comes from. Samus will find most of her powers back, and in addition can hang onto ledges. However, since she has Metroid DNA, the Ice Beam is out of the question. And cold temperatures. Until she finds answers the both, which she will, she can’t freeze enemies or go into arctic rooms. Now, even though those are some good choices, Metroid Fusion takes on a different approach to its game design. Unlike the previous Metroid games, Metroid Fusion is a lot more straightforward. Samus is told what her objectives are, and where to go. Still, the trek along the way is not always straightforward, and some moments call for unconventional means. However, her goals are told by an AI, and that strays away from everything the series stands for. Still, like I said, it was intentional for a huge payoff. While some players might have ended their time with this game before that moment, I stayed to see it. And, for me, it worked. Still, that’s not why most players stopped playing this game. Fusion is known for its weird difficulty spikes and barely replenishing item and energy “drops”. By drops, I mean X absorptions. Still, the Xs tend to go away if not handled there and them. In the context of the story, that too is explained. She’s going to a mission immediately after a near-death experience. Rather than wait, she joins the fray, knowing how much more vulnerable she is. That’s not the only thing to panic about. The SA-X will encounter Samus throughout her journey. The SA-X is imposing. … And I let it be less significant by having codes on. Coughs Still, the immersion is there. The SA-X is ruthless, though I wish there were some more moments with it. (That’s what Dread’s here for.) And, the bosses are some of the boldest of the series, though I wish their last phases weren’t always “shoot this part of the X parasite with a missile”. Just give me the weapons and upgrades, already! Interesting cameos also return!
 
Fusion is a flawed game that has some merit. It intentionally goes against the grain of the series for a good reason. Although the moment should have happened earlier, it delivers. Fusion is a play-it-or-don’t game. Some gamers won’t like the difficulty and the linearity, while others will like this deliberate choice. I myself think Fusion has some ugly and terrific moments.

 

10/26- Metroid Dread for Nintendo Switch 
 

Spoiler

Metroid Dread came after years of disappointment from the fans. 2016 was not a happy time for the series because of Federation Force and the shutdown of Another Metroid 2 Remake. But, in 2017, fans were treated to Metroid: Samus Returns. Although some parts were not liked, Samus Returns was a return to form for the series after the series’ decline. Then, three to four years later, a new game was finally announced: Metroid Dread. Metroid Dread was just a rumor for years, and thought to be dead, until a trailer finally started showing up. The new game was so hype, that many refused to watch the trailers. Including me. Then, for the series’ 35th anniversary, early October, it was released. Needless to say, it’s a grand return. 
 
After the events of… Metroid Fusion (which is quickly recapped in a cutscene prologue), news of the X Parasites reappearing turns Samus’ attention to the planet of ZDR. The Galactic Federation sent seven robots to dispatch of the problem, but they’ve gone off their radar. Samus needs to not only stop the X Parasites, but also to find out what happened to the E.M.M.I.s., the Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifier. But, it’s not easy, as a strange creature, known as Raven Beak, strips Samus of her powers, and basically maroons her on this new strange world. Because of him, the E.M.M.I.s have gone rogue, and are now sent to hunt down after Samus. Who is Raven Beak, and what is his goal? The game eventually explains all, and this game came with several surprises. ADAM returns, but because the world isn’t the BSL research station, he doesn’t tell the player where to go. He just provides players information on what to expect when roaming around ZDR. And to repeat how dire Samus’ situation is. What is strange is that he calls her “Samus”. In Fusion, it’s implied he calls her “Lady” instead. I’m not sure if it was because of the PC culture or something, or if I forgot something within this game. But, for most of her journey, Samus is alone. There’s no Space Pirates, as the X Parasites are more than good to be the problem this time. Heck, most of the enemies are hostile inhabitants of ZDR. And, that’s a welcome change to the series in general. 
 
Metroid Dread is one of the best -looking games on the Switch. It’s perhaps the most visual pleasing of the series. I think it’s just as beautiful and spacious as Zebes was. After playing Samus Returns and Fusion, I’m glad the series goes huge on exploration and non-linearity again. Sure, there are the usual blockades, but I never needed a guide for the most part. The map mostly indicates secrets using flashing lights, and they don’t tell the player what they need to use. This also marks the first time of using markers, and zooming in and out of a map. In a 2D Metroid game at least. ZDR is full of distinct environments, full of the usual tropes the series has seen in Metroid. But, with the jump to 3D images, the background is full of life. There’s more greenery and fauna compared to Zebes and SR388. It’s not completely full of dread. Still, some parts of the world are mechanical and industrial, and were made specifically for some new enemies in mind. Samus herself takes on a whole new look, going for a weird monochrome design. Although her old orange Power Suit is iconic, I welcome this new look too. The music perfectly conveys the feeling of being in the new world, and I cannot praise the sound design enough. Heck, the HD Rumble works well with getting hit and blowing things up. There’s some moment of dialogue, mostly from the robotic ADAM. But, there’s a part of this game that shook to me to my core when it happened. It’s a gamechanger, and I felt was a bit nuanced. Players might know that part themselves. 
 
Metroid Dread returns the series back to its 2D and explorative roots. It thankfully returns to what Super Metroid did nearly two decades ago: secrets, discovery, and Samus’ regrowth in power. Except for the Spazer, High Jump Boots, X-Ray Scope, and Plasma Beam, most of her Super Metroid arsenal returns. Because of events in Metroid Fusion, she can’t use the Ice Beam nor stay in the cold without dying, so she’ll eventually have to get her Varia Suit and Ice Missiles back. A new beam, a new bomb, and a new missile were added, but I won’t spoil them. The new beam kind of stinks, the new bomb is okay just for secrets, but I’m grateful for the new missile in general. What I don’t like is that there are new Energy Capsules that act as 1/4th as an Energy Tank. Collect four, and the player will get one Energy Tank’s benefits. In fact, some Missile Upgrades vary too in their number acquired. I don’t get that change at all. Sure, it’s meant for secret areas, but that’s kind of padding. Still, finding most of these collectibles were good. Speaking of energy and missiles, the good old energy and missile drops are back, and when the X Parasites are back, Samus can absorb them for refills as well. (Because of events in Metroid Fusion, she’s basically immune to their parasitic nature and can absorb them.) The Melee Counter is back, and now Samus can Counter in the air, while sliding, and while dashing forward. It also doesn’t drain Aeion, and it’s not as game-breaking as it was in Samus Returns. Aeion too is back, but Samus has a full bar now, so she doesn’t need to find the Aeion Capsules anymore. One of the new abilities acts similar to another from Samus Returns, and the rest are brand new to the series. The rest are more important to some of the most important moment of the series: the E.M.M.I encounters. And, here is what the trailers and cover highlighted the most for the game. Like the SA-X encounters in Fusion, the E.M.M.I.s are impossible to defeat with Samus’ regular artillery. Still, E.M.M.I.s act a lot more random and more aggressive compared to the SA-X. E.M.M.I.s will search for Samus, and if Samus is within their yellow radius, they will naturally go after her. When Samus is in their sight, a red alarm goes off, and the exits to the areas they are in will shut down. Once they trap and capture Samus, they will drain her of her life. GAME OVER. Samus’ goal is to escape the areas they are in using these portals. The E.M.M.I.s, unlike the SA-X, cannot leave their posts and habitats. If the alarm goes off, Samus must leave the E.M.M.I’s line of sight, and let it go back to caution. There are a few ways not to get caught. If Samus is caught, she has a few brief moments of countering. These moments will be hard to execute, and the player is likely to die a lot. The E.M.M.I.s are also capable of moving on walls and ceilings, have faster movement in water, and are able to hear sonic waves. Meaning, they can hear Samus’s feet as they fall to the ground, and even her attacks. Escaping an E.M.M.I is tricky, but not impossible. Eventually, Samus get the means to take them down., even if defeating them too is tricky. I’m not sure if I wanted more of the E.M.M.I.s segments or even wanted their areas to be bigger as the game went on. Still, their starting locations when going through the portals seem too random. I’d say the E.M.M.I.s are the true successor to the SA-X. If I remember, the team behind Dread, MercurySteam, wanted to make a Metroid Fusion remake. Even though Nintendo shut that down, I’m glad some roots of that project made itself here. Still, the other bosses are just as incredible too. Even though a big boss doesn’t return, the final boss, Raven Beak, more than makes up for that. Seriously, he’s probably tougher than Ridley.   
 
Even though I got stuck in a few places, and some of the collectibles aren’t worth getting, Metroid Dread delivers on what promised. I didn’t get everything because a certain power-up was tricky to execute, but I almost got all of them. I’ll look up online for anything I missed. The amiibo aren’t as OP as they were in Samus Returns, thank gosh. Dread has a few problems I didn’t like, but beating a game like this was worth it. 

 

11/2- Sonic Colors Ultimate for Nintendo Switch 

 

Spoiler

Thirty years of Sonic. As a gamer who’s currently 31 at the time of this review, man I feel a little old. Sonic has been in an influx of how good his games have been. While Sonic Colors, Generations and Mania have been the most well-received of the hedgehog’s games in the 2010s, his other games… not so much. They didn’t even do much for his 25th birthday. But, it was different for 2021. A Symphony and news of his upcoming games appeared. The Sonic 2 movie was announced. A new untitled Sonic game was shown. A collection of the Genesis Classics + Sonic CD was shown. And, last… Sonic Colors Ultimate for current generations was said to be released in the Fall. It felt like Sonic was on top. Then, a few days before Ultimate was released, horror stories of a glitch-ful Sonic Colors Ultimate emerged. Despite my pre-order which came with a keychain, I was a bit cautious of the news. After I got it, I put away the game for at least two months. Not only was I a little bit busy with work, but I’d figure a patch was needed. But, I finally played it. Is Sonic Colors Ultimate good, despite the odds? 
 
Sonic and Tails go to an interplanetary amusement park made by Dr. Eggman. While Eggman says there’s no evil purpose behind it, he’s capturing these aliens called Wisps for a nefarious purpose. I would say “secretly”, but Sonic overhears part of Eggman’s plans when Eggman talks to his robots Cubot and Orbot. One of the Wisps named Yacker tells Tails and Sonic that Eggman plans on using their race’s power, the Hyper-go-on energy, for world domination. It’s simple and straightforward, and Sonic Colors Ultimate is probably the most comedic of the series. The gang plays off the whole game for laughs, and while it’s awkward at times, I think the timing and jokes are funny and well-executed.  
 
Sonic Colors Ultimate, when it isn’t glitchy and strange, is one of the best looking and visually-pleasing Sonic games. It also helps that all of the stages are unique and don’t stink. The amusement-theme park design is well-done. I found some glitches, and some weird frame-rate moments, but they never took away my enjoyment from playing this game. Still, it’s odd that the developers didn’t fix these problems with a patch. If there’s any other fault or nitpick, there are seven acts in most of the worlds, and the acts’ length varies. Some of the later acts are easier than the earlier ones. That’s not how the act system goes for in the other games. Plus, seven acts?! Why not shorten all them to the regular two acts fans know of, or perhaps three? The music… What can I say?! The remixes and original songs are outstanding. I knew of Planet Wisp because of Generations, but these songs are some of the best in the series. I think it ties with Adventure 2 in the best 3D soundtrack, or maybe surpasses it, but it’s maybe third when it comes to best soundtrack in the series. (Mania’s got them all beat. … But then again, there’s also 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD (both soundtracks) to contend with as well.)
 
Sonic can run, jump, double-jump, ride on rails, bounce on springs, and use a homing attack. Dash panels, springs, loopps, and other objects return to help Sonic move around the stages. The Boost mechanic from Unleashed is back, and feels a lot more involved without the werehog gimmick. So, what’s new? Well, Sonic can perform tricks in the air, change lanes while running and rail-grinding, slide, and do this weird turn-slide thing which I found hard to execute. He can also jump while in water, and even run on water. (WHO IS THIS SONIC, AND CAN THIS HAPPEN IN GENERATIONS TOO?!) New to the series since this game are Wisps. They vary in terms of their power. The White Wisps basically act as the Boost Gauge in this game. Laser allows Sonic to speed past obstacles. Spike allows Sonic to… wait; they stole the Spider Ball thing from Metroid! But, Spike is a bit faster, so I like it better. Cube allows Sonic to destroy some metal and cube platforms, while materializing some cube boxes. Rocket allows Sonic to go up, and Hover allows Sonic to hover in air and use the light speed dash. They’re simple, but again, one of Sonic’s known arsenal is used in a different way. I don’t really mind that, since the dash isn’t really necessary in this game. Drill allows Sonic to move underground, but not all ground is passable. Frenzy morphs Sonic into a monster that devours metal boxes and enemies. Ghost, unique to Ultimate, allows Sonic to phase through matter, but it’s more of teleporting. Like when using the Boost Gauge, the Wisps themselves act on a time limit, and can only be used when Sonic finds their corresponding capsules. While some abilities are better than others, Wisps are perhaps the best gimmick of Sonic’s 3D outing. They do not detract from how Sonic controls, are timed partners to some extent, and make for more organic level design. While the enemies and bosses seem easier, platforming is a bit tricky at times. But, because there are no lives, and Tails in this version acts as a 1-Life Gap Protector, Sonic Colors Ultimate is perhaps the easiest Sonic game out there. Sure, it’s hard at times, but never unfair.  
 
Game Land houses several stages, which must be unlocked by getting the Red Rings, a new commectible. Beating all of the stages grants Super Sonic to the player. But, all of the Red Rings are needed. An OP power-up that needs 100% completion, and does not even feature in the main story at all? PASS! Besides, Sonic can’t use the Wisps if he’s Super. It’s better to collect those emblem things to unlock the new customizable options in this version of Sonic Colors. But, some customizable stuff is locked behind this Metal Sonic rivals thing. Still, they seem like they are just cosmetics and nothing else. PASS! Playing the main game might take only a few hours, but Sonic Colors Ultimate is a satisfying ride. Sure, there are some graphical hiccups, but the charm of the game is the sole purpose the buy this game. It’s fun, and better than I thought it was going to be. 

 

11/12- Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age for Nintendo Switch 

 

(Because Microsoft Word happened to freeze while I was writing my big review on this, I'll keep this short.) 

 

FFXII: TZA: A game with a more grounded story about betrayal, revenge, hope, fear, and future with a mostly solid cast. Think of FFII but grander in scope. Ivalice is huge and beautiful, but some of the routes are boring and annoying to traverse through, and some of the dungeons suck (especially the one before the last place with the final boss). Think of Ocarina of Time's Hyrule Field times ten. (And most of the treasure is worthless.) But, the other dungeons are okay, and the cities are some of the best in the series. I wonder why a day and night cycle isn't here, but weather was more prominently featured. There are a lot more people that inhabit Ivalice compared to the games before it, and the new races, like the stand-out Viera, are welcome to Final Fantasy. The voice acting is fine, but because the characters mostly talk about what's happening rather than reflecting on the situation, some of the performances feel very stale and don't have much emotional range, with some rare exceptions. The music is okay, but it doesn't compare to the works of Nomura. There's no normal battle music because of the new battle design (I'm thinking of Xenoblade Chronicles for some reason), and the boss music doesn't come close to the rest in the series. The new auto-battle system, although not as bad as II and VIII before it, is a little more boring and lifeless compared to the battle mechanics the other games presented. Still, some battles need players to pay attention, so it's not totally easy. Random encounters are gone and monsters now freely roam the world; but it's a double-edge sword because of those higher-level monsters that aren't telegraphed well. This isn't FFII! The License Board is a worse Sphere Grid, but the job system introduced in The Zodiac Age versions makes things and characters more manageable. The job system makes even Penelo a little more important, if one forces her to be the only White Mage of the group. (She was instrumental in my playthrough against a certain optional super-boss.) To have the ability to put on some armor and use some abilities, such as Magick, a player needs to use License Points. Espers suck, and the usual ones are now name-dropped airships. Quickenings are a worse replacement of Limit Breaks. They go on forever, and even though chaining each character's is a neat idea, the damage output is sometimes horrendous. The main attraction, the Gambit system, is automation at its best and worse. I'd expect a character to act accordingly when a certain spell or weapon doesn't affect an enemy and use another better means of attack, but the character repeats the attack like nothing happened. So, I have to make the arduous task of opening the menu and changing the gambits myself. But, why use the Gambit system if it stinks? Because characters can't do simple things like attack and use Magick if they aren't programmed to do so. And, controlling three characters in battle manually is sometimes a pain. It's not as intuitive as Xenoblade Chronicles, which is a lot simpler in its combat. The battle menu is perhaps too complicated for its own good. Plus, I didn't find out until halfway through the game that the order of gambits is necessary, but needlessly complicated. Also, most of the gambits needed are bought through a shop, rather than just the player given all the options at once. The amount of EXP to level up sometimes is ridiculous, the amount of License Points given is laughable (unless the party fights tougher enemies and uses certain equipment), and the only beneficial way to get more money is to sell loot (even though most of the loot sucks). The only side-game stuff to do is Hunts and Rare Fights. (I forgot the Espers.) Some Espers are a callback to earlier games, and one Hunt in particular brings back a familiar charming character of the series. BUT, I'M NOT FIGHTING THAT B.S. KNOWN AS YIAZMAT. I don't care if I'm spoiling that, because F those health bars and its abilities. I fought and defeated the super-bosses in III, Asura, Leviathin, and Bahamut in IV, the dragons in VI, the Weapons in VII, Ozmose in IX, and those superbosses in X that prove I'm sometimes hardcore. (I'm gonna pass on the superbosses in I and V because they don't do anything for me.) Still, the amount of side content is just the bare minimum compared to most of the other games'. And even though VI only had those super-bosses, I still remember how frightening they were compared to most of the hunts in this game.       

 

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is a mediocre game. I hate some parts of the game because they aren't good, while the rest of the game doesn't hold up to the standards of the series and the games before it. I easily would play it over II, III, maybe V, VIII, and XIII, but it's not as fun and exciting as I, IV, VI, VII, IX, and X. Heck, I'd play the other Ivalice title, Tactics, over this, and that was a spin-off! Barely anything stands out in XII, and when stuff does, it's sometimes the worst of the series.  

 

11/15- FEH Book IV for iOS 

 

??? Read the place this was on. 

 

11/22- Final Fantasy V: Pixel Remaster for PC  
 
I know this review is mostly ranting, but I already reviewed the game before. 
 
 

Spoiler

Years ago, I played Final Fantasy V for the GameBoy Advance. I remember some parts of it being good, but the grinding and difficulty is what made me frustrated with the game. So, when the Pixel Remaster came out, I tried to give it another go. So, how did it fare this time? … Just like the last. The story is a different take on the Four Crystals theme, but has a bit more comedy (some of which doesn’t land with the SNES’ limitation), and sometimes a bit more intensity… and sometimes absurdity. The visuals are on par with IV, but the backgrounds aren’t still at times, and some enemies look nastier this time around. Some of the monsters are iconic, and the great Gilgamesh and his theme are the best. The soundtrack, especially the Remastered version, has some standout tracks. The game has an expanded and enhanced job system, and job levels increase by the amount of ABPs each fighter gets. The jobs also have an additional ability slot that can be used by another job’s ability. But, mastering every job… isn’t worth it. The amount of ABP the Warriors of Light get while finishing a fight in sometimes like a drop of water or sand, and grinding for them takes forever. Last time, I mastered all of the jobs, but it took away my enjoyment from the game. And, even though I did a playthrough with the classic Four-Job Fiesta Challenge in mind (which I accidentally did five with some characters), the grinding still stunk. The Four-Job Fiesta Challenge is when all of the party members are stuck with only using four jobs out of the whole job system. I made Bartz a Thief, Red Mage, Monk, and Samurai (a swordsman that can use different sword abilities and can harm enemies by throwing gill). I made Lenna a White Mage, Geomancer (a mage that attacks using the environment of the battle), Time Mage (a mage that can use time to affect the flow of battle; very essential with the nature of the ATB system), and Dragoon. I made Faris a Black Mage, Summoner, Ranger, and Dragoon. I made Galuf/Krile a Knight, Mystic Knight, Ninja, and Samurai. (I think I made Bartz and Faris Ninjas by mistake, thinking that Ninjas were part of the Earth Crystal fragment jobs.) Bartz became a bit unreliable by endgame, while the rest saved my butt. Bartz. Butts. Hah. I would say that it had been a mostly comfortable ride, but the enemies at times like to pull off some B.S. moves that made me lose it. Sometimes, the game was unfair. But, as much as the normal enemies had that problem at times, most of the bosses went down rather easily. Okay, most of the bosses by the last third of the game were total forklifts. But, I’ll give the bosses some credit with their gimmicks. There’s one boss that likes to play whack-a-mole with the Warriors; and if the Warriors hit the wrong hole, they get a punishment. More than anything, recognizing a boss’s patterns and exploiting their weaknesses are key to winning those fights. It’s one of the hardest Final Fantasy games I ever played, and certainly one of the hardest RPGs. Still, unlike II and III, the customization in V is a bit tighter, and most of the bosses allow players to use whatever jobs they have. Some combination of jobs work better with others, I admit. My main problem with the game is basically with the Job Levelling. Some Job Levels require an absurd amount of ABPs, and farming for ABP is ridiculous. That’s why I don’t like this game. Grinding in RPGs is essential, I know; but without exploits or cheats to speed up the process, or increasing the amount of experience, games like Final Fantasy V are just sometimes boring, and even annoying, to play through. Final Fantasy V has great ideas and moments, but my hatred of a tedious job system is still present. 

 

11/29- Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for Sega Dreamcast 

 

A overhyped game made fundamentally flawed by its own mechanics. Single player, it's not that fun. Multiplayer... it might be even more chaotic as heck. Please don't free this game, we already have the superior Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3!  

 

12/8- Poke'mon Brilliant Diamond for Nintendo Switch

 

Spoiler

In all honesty, the fourth generation of Poke’mon might have not been good candidates for a remake. Or it could have been, if it had most to all of the changes brought since the seventh and eighth generations. I really wanted the duo of the fourth-generation games to be amazing, but players got shallow attempts compared to ORAS and even LGPE. To be fair, everyone’s waiting for the better-looking and more-interesting Legends of Arceus coming out next year. But, with all the negative stuff coming before the release, how did this game fare? 
 
Brilliant Diamond takes its cues from the original game, so it’s nothing new. Defeat the eight gym leaders, defeat the Elite Four and Champion Cynthia, and beat Team Galactic from trying to do evil stuff. If it sounds like I’m nagging about the Poke’mon formula, it’s because I grew up with the series. Players came a long way from the usual routine of the old system. The seventh and eighth generations tried to deviate from most of that, for better or for worse. It’s stuff I’ve already seen, nostalgia or not. And, to top it all off, no Charon?! The lore of the Sinnoh region is one of the best parts of the games, and is perhaps the best of the series, so I won’t take anything away from these games. 
  
Okay, so the game might look beautiful, but the chibi-ness of the new character models have been contended like the Link’s Awakening remake. I don’t mind it, because everyone criticized Wind Waker and Final Fantasy IX for the same things, but everyone loves them now. Just a taste of preference, I guess. Still, when viewed close-up, the eyebrows of some characters look too pixelated. On that note, I have to say, the rotating zoom-in shots or pans or whatever? Take a drink of water whenever the games do that trick, because it's really off-putting. As for the music… it’s okay. Hands down the best are Route 209 (since it sounds like All The Young Dudes by Mott the Hoople), the Lake Theme, Mt. Coronet, Spear Pillar, some of the Legendary Battle Themes, Sunnyshore City, and Battle! Cynthia. Some of the songs are even in the current Smash game, and Spear Pillar is a stage itself. 
 
As for the gameplay, it’s stayed mostly intact; but what is new or has changed? The battle speed is a lot faster. Blisseys can be KO’d a lost faster. The HM system has been modified with the newer games in mind. There’s no need to have a Bibarel in the party, when wild ones can be used at any time. That’s nice. The Grand Undergound has secret lairs that house a variety of Poke’mon based on the location and certain criteria, and the digging system had to be reworked with the new control layouts in mind. The non-dual screen of the Switch meant that the Poketch had to be redesigned, even if it’s more clunky to use. Some moments in Platinum, like the few side characters, were implemented. Contests got an overhaul and now play like a rhythm mini-game. Stickers can be put on Poke’balls, and it’s mostly for Contests. Fairy-Types were kept in mind. There’s a different means of getting Spiritomb, and possibly other event and legendary Poke’mon. The Battle Tower returned. …*sigh*… I know it’s not the Battle Frontier, but anything is better than no postgame Battle Area at all… stares at ORAS. I haven’t done any trading at the moment (I don’t have the online service at the moment), so I can’t comment how different it is there. Speaking of Poke’mon, it just uses the same old national Poke’dex, so if players were wondering if all 5th-8th generation Poke’mon could be caught in this game… nope. What is with modern GameFreak not understanding the importance of its slogan? I’ve already played and fully completed Platinum, so I just used the best Poke’mon I felt were appropriate this game to plough through the game. But, this game at times got really either challenging or unfair at times. Some of the gym leaders and most of the Elite Four were not pushovers like I remember. And, Cynthia is still is one of the hardest Champions I ever faced. But, other than that… no Z-Crystals, no Mega Evolutions, and no Raids. Besides quality of life improvements, there’s nothing drastic that makes these remakes stand out compared to the others. Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl I feel suffer the most from no real new changes to its game.  
 
Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are decent games that are the worst Poke’mon remakes. They’re fine, but compared to the remakes of the first three generations, these are easily the most mediocre. It’s best to wait for the Legends of Arceus game if one already beat Cynthia.

 

 12/20- Mario Party Superstars for Nintendo Switch  


Mario Party Superstars is replayable beyond belief, has five distinct and different boards and many mini-games, has strategy and luck beyond everyone’s shock, has a gallery of interesting facts, has five old boards given a modern redesign, has new and old music, and has years of old mini-games and boards with new concepts and old gimmicks. Superstars can be chaotically fun or unfair at times, some of its minigames are either not really good or similar copies of other games, and there should have been some more nostalgic boards from the GameCube Era than just the Nintendo 64 ones. I would’ve loved to have seen anything from 4-6. But, maybe there’ll be DLC hopefully for that. In the meantime, Mario Party Superstars is probably my favorite Mario Party in years. 
 

Edited by Link, the Hero of Dreams
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Eliwood8's Games Beaten in 2021:

 

Console: 92

PC: 5

Overall: 97

 

Full games list:

Spoiler

January:

1. Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS4)

2. Roundguard (Switch)

3. Death Squared (Switch)

4. Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (Switch)

5. Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PS4)

6. Journey to the Savage Planet (Switch)

7. Kunai (Switch)

8. Dishonored: Death of the Outsider (PS4)

9. Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Switch)

10. The Stanley Parable (PC)

11. Spider-Man: The City that Never Sleeps (PS4)

12. Lair of the Clockwork God (Switch)

 

February:

13. Mad Rat Dead (Switch)

14. Blue Fire (Switch)

15. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (Switch)

16. Ghost of Tsushima (PS4)

17. The Beginner's Guide (PC)

18. Concrete Genie (PS4)

19. Firewatch (PC)

20. Kill It With Fire (Switch)

 

March:

21. Persona 5 Strikers (Switch)

22. Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 (Switch)

23. Space Otter Charlie (Switch)

24. Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (Switch)

25. Iris Fall (Switch)

26. Bravely Default II (Switch)

27. Balan Wonderworld (Switch)

 

April:

28. Say No! More (Switch)

29. Monster Hunter Rise (Switch)

30. Vitamin Connection (Switch)

31. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (Switch)

32. Rez Infinite (PS4)

33. Bladed Fury (Switch)

34. Raji: An Ancient Epic (Switch)

35. Röki (Switch)

 

May:

36. New Pokémon Snap (Switch)

37. Here Be Dragons (Switch)

38. Aerial_Knight's Never Yield (Switch)

39. Chasm (Switch)

40. Forgotton Anne (Switch)

41. The Mummy Demastered (Switch)

 

June:

42. Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World (Switch)

43. Cyberpunk 2077 (PS4)

44. Kaze and the Wild Masks (Switch)

45. Genesis Noir (Switch)

46. Star Wars Squadrons (PS4)

47. A Short Hike (Switch)

48. World's End Club (Switch)

49. Ruiner (Switch)

50. Mario Golf: Super Rush (Switch)

 

July:

51. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle - Donkey Kong Adventure (Switch)

52. Everhood (Switch)

53. Little Nightmares (Switch)

54. Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX (Switch)

55. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD (Switch)

 

August:

56. Piczle Puzzle & Watch Collection (Switch)

57. Resident Evil: Village (PS4)

58. Afterparty (Switch)

59. Picross S5 (Switch)

60. Foreclosed (Switch)

61. Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4)

62. Cris Tales (Switch)

 

September:

63. To the Moon (Switch)

64. No More Heroes III (Switch)

65. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PS4)

66. WarioWare: Get It Together! (Switch)

67. TOHU (Switch)

68. Hoa (Switch)

69. Sonic Colors Ultimate (Switch)

70. Astro's Playroom (PS5)

71. Bugsnax (PS5)

 

October:

72. It Takes Two (PS5)

73. NEO: The World Ends With You (Switch)

74. Cyber Shadow (Switch)

75. Superliminal (PC)

76. Metroid Dread (Switch)

77. Greak: Memories of Azur (Switch)

78. Carto (Switch)

79. Maquette (PS5)

80. Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin (Switch)

 

November:

81. Star Renegades (Switch)

82. Lost in Random (Switch)

83. Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania (Switch)

84. Papers, Please (PC)

85. Gravity Rush Remastered (PS4)

86. Hob (Switch)

87. Unruly Heroes (Switch)

88. A Plague Tale: Innocence (PS5)

89. Pokémon Shining Pearl (Switch)

90. Tetris Effect: Connected (Switch)

 

December:

91. Hades (Switch)

92. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 (Switch)

93. Axiom Verge 2 (Switch)

94. The Swords of Ditto: Mormo's Curse (Switch)

95. Later Alligator (Switch)

96. The Wild at Heart (Switch)

97. Picross S6 (Switch)

 

 

Edited by Eliwood8
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*Xenosaga: Episode I: Der Wille zer Macht (PS2): 1/4/2021

*Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light (Switch): 1/8/2021

*Xenosaga: Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose (PS2): 1/30/2021

*Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- The Prophecy of the Throne (Switch): 2/13/2021

*Final Fantasy VII (Vita): 3/5/2021

*Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch): 3/19/2021

*Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (Julius Mode) (3DS): 4/12/2021

*Gal*Gun Returns (Switch): 4/23/2021

*Xenosaga: Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra (PS2): 4/25/2021

*Xenogears (Vita): 6/22/2021

*Gal*Gun: Double Peace (Vita): 7/17/2021

*Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes (Switch): 7/23/2021

*Bowser's Fury (Switch): 7/29/2021

*Senran Kagura Reflexions (Switch): 8/13/2021

*Luigi's Mansion 3 (Switch): 8/24/2021

*No More Heroes III (Switch): 9/6/2021

*Dragon Quest I (Switch): 9/16/2021

*Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line (Switch): 9/26/2021

*Doom (Switch): 10/2/2021

*Metroid Dread (Switch): 10/11/2021

*Castlevania Advance Collection - Circle of the Moon (Switch): 10/23/2021

*Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation (Switch): 11/13/2021

*Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (iPad): 12/22/2021

*Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch): 12/27/2021

Edited by Tyranogre
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Editing this post to start updating all my games in:

 

Watch Dogs Legion - XB1
AC: Valhalla - XB1
Link's Awakening - Switch
Link to the Past - SNES - NSO
Cyberpunk 2077 - XB1
Mario 3D World - Switch
Bowser's Fury - Switch
Blaster Master - NES - NSO
Super Mario World - SENS - NSO
Super Mario Bros - NES - NSO
Super Mario Bros 3 - NES - NSO
Donkey Kong - NES - NSO
Donkey Kong Jr - NES - NSO
Donkey Kong 3 - NES - NSO
Dark Souls: Remastered - XB1
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin - XB1
New Pokemon Snap - Switch
Banned Footage/End of Zoe/Not a Hero DLC for RE7 - XB1
Resident Evil Village - XB1
Dark Souls III - XB1
Mario Golf Super Rush - Switch 
Tell Me Why - XB1
Control - XB1
Skyward Sword HD - Switch
Fallout 76: Steel Reign DLC - XB1
Undertale (Pacifist Run) - XB1
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - XB1
Fe - XB1
Legend of Zelda - NES - NSO

Adventure of Link - NES - NSO

Donkey Kong Country - SNES - NSO

Hades - XB1

Twelve Minutes - XB1

Morkredd - XB1

A Night in the Woods - XB1

Superliminal - XB1

Metroid Dread - Switch

Back4Blood - XB1

I Am Fish - XB1 

Legend of Zelda (Japanese version) - Game and Watch

Link's Awakening (GB version) - Game and Watch

Adventure of Link - Game and Watch

Visage - XB1

Ocarina of Time 3D - 3DS

Majora's Mask 3D - 3DS

Halo Infinite - XB1

A Link Between Worlds - 3DS

Firewatch - XB1

Halo 5: Guardians - XB1

Edited by EH_STEVE
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Xenosaga Episode 1: (German words) (PS2):

 

Good news: my new copy of the game arrived tonight and I was able to beat the final boss!

 

Bad news: This time, the game froze during the final cutscene, proving that the problem is with my PS2 itself. anhero;

 

I'm about to watch the ending on Youtube. Sometime within the next few days, I'll fight the boss again and skip the cutscene with Start + Triangle so that way the game will acknowledge my save file as "beaten" for the purposes of transferring data to Episode 2.

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Locking in my slot, and as always, I beat what I beat when I beat it!

 

Currently In Progress:

 

Age of Calamity

Monster Boy Game

Trials of Mana 3D

Streets of Rage 4

SM3DW + BF

 

2/17 Super Mario 3D World of SMW3DW+BF/Switch

 

2/22 BF @ 50 of SM3DW+BF

 

3/1 BF @ 100 of SM3DW+BF

 

6/24 LoZ / Japanese NSO 

 

12/14 MK64 / NSO

 

Edited by purple_beard
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- Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS4)
First game of the year done. I really loved the 2018 Spider-Man game so it was a blast to revisit that gameplay again, even if this game is a lot shorter. Really looking forward to seeing a Spider-Man 2 someday, maybe with co-op?
 
- Roundguard (Switch)
A strange combination of roguelike elements and pinball mechanics, but it works for the most part. I'll be honest though, I never really got hooked on trying again and again.
 
- Death Squared (Switch)
I remember seeing this at PAX years ago and I was never too interested in it, but it keeps having ridiculous sales (I got it for $1) so I figured, why not. Even playing solo there are a lot of fun puzzle challenges, and I was pleasantly surprised to find there's a sort of story throughout the game—I assumed it'd just be puzzles.
 
- Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (Switch)
A bit disappointed in this one; both the farming half of the game and the action/adventure half had too many little annoyances for me. I appreciate the unique approach, though.
 
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PS4)
Decided to jump right into this since I played Rise just a few months ago, but eh, I liked Rise better overall. Shadow isn't terrible but it doesn't do anything better than Rise, it just retreads the same ground. Also have to admit I still find the storylines in these games pretty uninteresting.
 
Console: 5
Overall: 5
Edited by Eliwood8
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- Journey to the Savage Planet (Switch)
Pretty solid first-person adventure, though it could use a bit more polish to make some of the shooting movement/aiming feel better.
 
- Kunai (Switch)
A relatively short but excellent Metroidvania. Backtracking isn't as tedious when you get to swing through environments on grappling hooks.
 
- Dishonored: Death of the Outsider (PS4)
Looking it up I thought "oh this game only has a couple of missions, it'll be super quick." Cut to me spending four hours per mission to scour every map and make sure I'm never spotted. I really enjoy these games though—satisfying challenge and a fantastic grim fantasy setting.
 
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Switch)
Feels like a nice improvement over the original game. Not that the original was terrible or anything, but there were aspects I found annoying—Wisps streamlines things for the better, and still has plenty of fun quirks of its own.
 
- The Stanley Parable (PC)
I know I'm well late to this one, but it's my first time actually playing the game. And I think it's quite a mark of quality that the game's humor and creativity resonates just as well today.
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Count me in the games beaten contest. Already beat a few games this month. Hopefully I can make a sizeable dent this year in my backlog if life decides to cooperate.
 

1. NHL 21 (PS4) 1/15/2021

2. God of War 2018 (PS4) 1/25/2021

3. Borderlands (Switch) 2/10/2021

4. Bioshock (Switch) 2/23/2021

5. Bioshock Infinite (Switch) 

6. Twisted Metal 2 (PSTV)

7. Donkey Kong Country (Switch) 4/25/2021

8: Mortal Kombat XL (PS4) 4/27/2021

9. Super Mario Bros. (SNES) 5/2/2021

10. Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge (Switch)  5/3/2021

11.  Mass Effect (Mass Effect Legendary Edition) (PC) 5/25/2021

12.  Mass Effect II (Mass Effect Legendary Edition) (PC) 6/5/2021

13.Mass Effect 3 (Legendary Edition) (PC) 6/13/2021

14. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (Switch) 7/24/2021

15. streets of Rage 4 (Switch) 8/6/2021

16. 3D Streets of Rage (3DS) 8/7/2021

17. 3D Streets of Rage 2 (3DS) 8/8/2021

18. Phantasy Star IV (Switch) 8/15/2021

19. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (Switch) 10/10/2021

20. NCAA Football 2003 (GCN) 11/8/2021

21. New Super Mario Bros. (DS) 11/20/2021

22. Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond (Switch) 12/10/2021

23. Wolfenstein II (Switch) 12/15/2021

 

O: 23

H: 3

C: 17

PC: 3

 

Edited by Irondog666
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Just beat Borderlands 1 from the Borderlands collection on Switch several days ago.  I haven't played any of the Borderlands titles, just one of those series similar to Bioshock that I never got around to getting.  I liked the first game, the comic aesthetic was great and it performs really good on the Switch.  Obviously, that is a game that is meant to be played co-op since the story was pretty lackluster.  Would have been more fun to play that one in multiplayer but getting 3 others to do online can be a hassle, especially since Borderlands has been out on PC for many years. I am keeping my games beaten up on  my front page as far as dates go and any photos.  So that is 3 games down this year already. 

Working on Bioshock 1 from the Bioshock Collection on Switch.  I was also going to ask something since idk how it works in here.  Game Streaming.  I have a PS Now account now.  Obviously, I don't own the games technically and those wouldn't really go toward my backlog in any significant way unless I am playing something I already own.  I kind of look at that similar to renting games.  That being said, is it ok to count them in here anyways since I know there is a running tally of how many games we have all collectively beaten in one year.  I am working on God of War 3 on there.

 

C: 3

O: 3 

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