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Video Games Finished in 2021


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- Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle - Donkey Kong Adventure (Switch)
Never got around to the DLC before and wanted to give it a try once the sequel was announced. Still really love Mario + Rabbids, it's just the right balance of simple mechanics and challenging strategy.
 
- Everhood (Switch)
Not even sure how to describe this game—sort of a rhythm game, but more focused on bullet-hell dodging, with quirky adventure mechanics? I totally recommend trying it out for yourself though.
 
- Little Nightmares (Switch)
Amazing creepy atmosphere and solid puzzles that never hold your hand. I would've liked a little more explanation of what was actually going on but then again overexplaining things usually doesn't suit a horror game.
 
- Alex Kidd in the Miracle World DX (Switch)
I never played the original so I didn't know what to expect here, but yeesh, did not enjoy stumbling through slippery platformer controls, obnoxious hitboxes, and rock-paper-scissors boss fights.
 
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD (Switch)
I never really had a problem with the original game's motion controls, but I have to admit that using the right Joy-Con gave me a little trouble here as a lefty (with the Wii I'd just hold the Wii remote in my left hand). I ended up playing a good amount of the game with the button controls which was less ideal but still worked well. Otherwise this is a lovely Zelda adventure, as always.
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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. 

 

As for the other content... I'll get to it in the next game. 

 

 

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 Nintendo Switch 

 

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. 

Edited by Link, the Hero of Dreams
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Beat Phantasy Star IV on the Sega Genesis Classics Collection for the Switch. One of my favorite RPGs of the 16 bit era. Easily in the top 10 of all time for me. 100% completion rate.  Thinking about doing Phantasy Star II next. Maybe I will finally beat that damn game (very Grindy but the fast forward function may help).

 

O: 18

H: 2

C: 13

PC: 3

Edited by Irondog666
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Hey there folks, I'm still alive! I've been meaning to drop by and contribute to this thread but kept getting sidetracked or forgetting. I know in the past I've mentioned that I'm typically a big MMO guy, but I haven't been into any for a good while now. As a result I've been on my PC much less, but I feel bad that I haven't been posting. Ironically not playing MMO's has actually made this a pretty damn good year for my games beaten, I just have yet to stop by and add everything in. So apologies for dumping a bunch in at once and coming late to the party, but I still wanted to contribute. Especially because it's been a lot better year for beating games than probably my last several years. Luckily I've still been keeping track of them, so without further ado, my games beaten so far in 2021.

 

Igneous42 2021 Games Beaten

2/14: Bowser's Fury (Switch)

2/26: Sonic Forces (PS4)

3/23: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Wii U)

4/10: Monster Hunter Rise (Switch)

5/28: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS)

6/1: Mass Effect (PS4)

6/4: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch)

6/14: Mass Effect 2 (PS4)

6/17: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D (3DS)

6/18: There is No Game: Wrong Dimension (Switch)

6/25: The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (3DS VC) 

7/4: Mass Effect 3 (PS4)

7/8: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Switch Online) 

7/15: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)

7/21: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (3DS VC)

7/29: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD (Switch) 

8/3: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (3DS VC)

8/4: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition (3DS)

8/21: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (Wii U)

8/27: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (NDS) 

9/18: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (Wii U)

9/25: Dragon's Crown Pro (PS4)

9/29: The Legend of Zelda: The Adventure of Link (Switch Online) 

10/6: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (NDS)

10/10: Metroid Dread (Switch)

11/25: Shantae and the Seven Sirens (Switch) 

12/05: Dead Cells (Switch)

12/14: The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes (3DS)

12/27: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GCN)

12/27: The Legend of Zelda (Switch Online) 

 

Total: 30 

Total: 19

 

And that's where I'm at. To spare a post too long I'll refrain from making comments on each game like I normally like to. Instead I'll just share some general thoughts, thought that will still probably end up long-winded so going to go ahead and put in spoilers. 

 

Spoiler

Obviously I've been on a big Zelda kick, and my "soft" Goal is to beat them all by the end of the year. Not committing fully to that as I'm a bit apprehensive about Triforce Heroes as I've heard it's a bit of a chore played solo, maybe someone else has some insight there. To be honest Adventure of Link may be another, I've never beaten it and have always struggled to get started. Working on PH right now and am very close to the end, will probably add it in the next few days. I've barely started TWW but it's always been one of my favorites so no doubts I'll finish that too. It's been a hot minute since I've played most these, BotW even I had previously on done a single playthrough. OoT hasn't been since the 3DS version came out, anything else has been even longer. LA, The Oracle games and the 3DS games I've never beaten, and hadn't even really gotten very far into in the past. So those were extra rewarding. 

 

Outside of revisiting Zelda, the other big classic series I revisited was Mass Effect. I was thrilled when they announced the trilogy. Finally a way to get all three game with all the DLC on a more current generation. I haven't played it since Mass Effect 3 came out, and I missed a lot of the DLC for 3. It's a series that is among my all time favorite games, so I was super happy to have a more efficient way of playing it again. I've previously beaten the trilogy as Vanguard and Infiltrator. This time I chose to go with Sentinel and didn't regret it. Being a "Jack of All Trades" was pretty fun and getting a bit of everything was a good way to enjoy the series again after so long. The only thing I missed was the multiplay. I actually had a blast with ME3's multiplayer and would have loved to dive into it again. 

 

Monster Hunter Rise is the reason I would have expected my games beaten list to be much shorter this year. I put over 1000 hours into World in 2020 alone. Granted I started playing it from the beginning in 2020 so had a lot of content to experience. Suffice to say I was hyped for Rise, and honestly I loved it too. Compared to World it's post game support has been pretty week though. It's a bit unfair as Iceborne had already been out awhile when I started World, but even so I expected Rise to monopolize more of my time. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the heck out of it, but there isn't as much pulling me back as World had. In a way I'm actually glad, revisiting some of my classic favorite series has been a blast. 

 

For the other one offs, Bowser's Fury was incredible for how short it was. I knocked it out in a day (almost a sitting) but I loved every moment of it. I know for a fact that I'm not the only one who has speculated it was a sort of prototype for a future Mario experience. I can imagine a game with multiple open style worlds each the size of the entire Bowser's Fury experience, if not bigger. Sonic Forces I played the entirety of drunk, I basically wanted some sort of game that I could make progression in but not worry about missing out from the full experience. It was a free PSN game and I had a weird itch to play a Sonic game. I actually enjoyed it decently well, I wouldn't say it's a "good" game but I don't think I'd say it's a bad game either. At the very least it wasn't broken and glitchy (for me at least), and I know it's a bit of a joke to be hard on Sonic Games but truth is a lot of them can't even say that much.  

 

There is No Game I picked up because I was watching someone stream it. I quickly stopped watching because I realized pretty quickly that I wanted to play it myself. Fun, clever puzzles and a narrative that surprisingly hit me in the feels. I did not expect that going into it. It actually set off a sort of puzzle game interests this year too, but the second game I'd have added was broken on the Switch version "Dude, Stop." I've also been playing Baba is You occasionally which I'm liking a lot, but can't say for sure if I'll beat it soon or not. Focus is definitely on Zelda at the moment. Regardless of where i'm at in Zelda I'll take a break for Metroid Dread.  

 

That's about all I have to say, which was a lot so glad I put this in spoilers. Going forward I'm going to try to drop by more often, as I mentioned before I've actually been doing a lot of gaming this year so it's a shame I haven't been as active here. 

 

Edited by Igneous42
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- Piczle Puzzle & Watch Collection (Switch)
Can't say no to Picross puzzles, and the Piczle Loops game is pretty fun as well.
 
- Resident Evil: Village (PS4)
Really enjoyed it—not quite as much as RE7 but since RE4 is my favorite in the series I kind of have a soft spot for the more action-y elements of Village. As usual though the first half of the game is the best part, when you're really scavenging for ammo and are jumpy at every little noise. And minor spoiler note: a bit disappointed that Lady Dimitrescu is only in the early part of the game. I had assumed she'd be a recurring Mr. X threat.
 
- Afterparty (Switch)
Wish that the drinking mechanics had a little more life to them rather than kind of being window dressing, but it was still a fun story in a very unique setting.
 
- Picross S5 (Switch)
Always room for more Picross! Can't believe how much time these games end up draining out of me. I love 'em though.
 
- Foreclosed (Switch)
Apparently I'm still on my cyberpunk kick. Foreclosed is stylish but totally lacking in substance—the gameplay is shallow at best and monotonous at worst.
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- Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4)
For context I'll say that the original FFVII probably isn't even in my top 5 FF games, and this Remake, well, I wasn't impressed. I'm not really surprised given everything I'd seen of the game beforehand, but it felt like too much style over substance, which has been an issue with FF games for a while now (at least the single-player ones, I've never played the MMOs). Kinda doubt I'll try the subsequent Remake episodes at this point.
 
- Cris Tales (Switch)
Really took my time playing this one—it's not super long but since it is kind of slow paced I just kept dragging out playing it. Regardless, Cris Tales is a stunningly beautiful game with some clever time manipulation features. Definitely recommended for classic JRPG fans.
 
- To the Moon (Switch)
Definitely an emotionally charged story but all of the gameplay elements were pretty poor. Also couldn't really stand the doctors—I can understand including some levity but they just seemed tonally wrong for the story.
 
- No More Heroes III (Switch)
I enjoyed it overall but I don't know, it didn't have quite the same spark of charm as the first two games. In some ways it was a little too out there, even for Suda51, and some of the repetitive combat/minigame aspects are less forgivable in the third entry in the series.
 
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PS4)
Playing this right after No More Heroes III was definitely a mistake because it took me so long to get used to the more reactionary, paced-out combat compared to NMH's hack 'n' slash. Maybe that colored my opinion of the game too much—overall I didn't love it. Puzzle/exploration was only okay and combat was kind of tedious. I thought Cal was a pretty boring protagonist too.
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