What games did you complete? 2022 Edition

[Mawdlin]

Axiom Verge (Switch)

 

This starts off brilliantly then gets mired by some basic design missteps. I can't be too critical though, as I believe it was designed and coded by one person, Thomas Happ. Putting that aside I felt like it was hitting an 8 or 9 early doors but ended up at a 6.

 

Around half way through there's a tipping point on a par with the goat puzzle in Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars. The infamous pink pool. The game simply doesn't teach you how to deal with that and it's overlooked by a lot of people, including myself.

 

But more frustrating is the aimless backtracking. Now I don't mind backtracking as a rule, so long as I feel like I've got a purpose and a sense of directed guidance, rather than raw trial and error. There are a couple of moments in the game where a signpost would've streamlined the entire experience. I'm not asking for flashing cursors on the map but when the only way forward is by going back to speak to a previous entity I think it's deeply unfair and cheap not to point that out.

 

Another minor quibble is that a lot of the weapons simply never get used leaving a sense of disatisfaction. Did anyone ever use the freeze weapon? Thought not.

 

A bit of game testing and QA would've probably ironed out these much commented on gripes, but given it was a one man band I can forgive a lot.

 

Still had lots of fun with this and I look forward to the sequel which I understand puts more emphasis on exploration rather than combat.

 

6

[CurryKitten]

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch) - 4/6/22

I had Link Awakening sat on a Gameboy rom cart (so old it used a parallel connection) but I never got around to playing it.  The Switch version caught my eye as I thought it looked really pretty.  There's some really quite subtle depth of field effects going on just to give it it's own look, whilst retaining what looks like ALTTP but beautified.  I also liked that fact the Nintendo could quite happily put out something like Breath of the Wild in the most different Zelda yet, and still bring out Links Awakening with their two completely different styles.

 

Anyway, the game was very nice to play through, but the old Zelda games are somewhat formulaic.  Go into a dungeon, get stuck find new item to get through and use it to defeat the boss.  Repeat multiple times as you power everything up and hit the main boss.  So it didn't take too long to play through - but I did manage to get a little lost on occasion and wondered around not quite sure what to do (the telephone boxes helped out here) The dungeon design did get quite complex at the end, perhaps too much so.  It wasn't a problem with map complexity as such, it was just that the map didn't tell you which staircases connected to what and it was sometimes difficult to get where you wanted to be - especially if you are hitting switches that block some parts off.  In the last dungeon I got quite stuck, so ended up taking a picture of it and then drawing lines in a paint program to connect up all the various staircases to each other which help me figure out what I missed.

 

So a little predictable, but fun to play through.

[strawdonkey]

On 14/05/2022 at 23:53, strawdonkey said:

2021/65a. Star Hunter DX (Space Cadet, 1CC, 19.3mil)

01. The Artful Escape

02. Rhythm Doctor

03. Monolith

04. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch.2 Watanagashi

05. Outer Wilds

06. OMORI

02a. Rhythm Doctor (all the bonus stuff and B+'d every stage)

07. Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel (all solo content clear)

08. Windjammers 2 (1CC)

09. Vampire Survivors

10. Ghost Blade HD (1CC Easy)

10a. Ghost Blade HD

07a. Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

11. Exceed 2nd - Vampire Rex (uh, 3CC I guess)

12. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 3 Tatarigoroshi

13. Magic The Gathering: Arena (Mythic Rank, constructed)

14. Solitarica

15. Schildmaid MX (Jaeger Mode 1CC, 12.9mil)

16. ZeroRanger - White Vanilla Mode (719k, Type-C, C++)

17. Zenohell (Honestly it took like 20 credits)

18. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 4 Himatsubushi

16a. ZeroRanger - Green Orange Mode 1-ALL (354k, Type-C)

19. Backspace Bouken (and the Numb Lock DLC)

20. Exceed 3rd: Jade Penetrate Black Package (1CC, Easy, 5,388,190)

20a. Exceed 3rd: Jade Penetrate Black Package (1CC, Normal, 3mil and some change)

21. Rez Infinite (Area X)

22. Point Blank (1CC, Expert Mode)
23. Touhou 8 - Imperishable Night (1CC, New Moon, Reimu/Yukari)

23a. Touhou 8 - Imperishable Night (1CC, Waxing Crescent, Reimu/Yukari)

24. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

25. Graze Counter (many 1CCs)

26. Touhou 7 - Perfect Cherry Blossom (1CC, Easy, Reimu)

27. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 5 Meakashi

X1 - Carrion

28. Deathsmiles (1CC, Normal, Rosa, 57mil)

29. One Step From Eden (Reva clear, all bosses spared)

30. Panzer Dragoon Remake

31. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 6 Tsumihoroboshi

 

I picked up Panzer Dragoon cheap on Saturn back in the day and remember it being really stylish and pretty with a wonderful soundtrack, albeit a bit short. The remake is still all of these things and it even has some of the scenery pop/fade in that was a staple of the Saturn version too. There's a little something that the remake doesn't capture, difficult to put my finger on it but there was a real feeling of isolation and space in the original that isn't quite replicated here, but this is a big nitpick, it's still the same great Panzer Dragoon.

 

--

 

Higurashi 6 at one point felt like it was going to wrap the story up, and even though there's two more stories left in the series I was still surprised when everything was left on a cliffhanger. Usual spoilers stuff ahead.

 

Spoiler

It's OK, just going to spoil the entire game here

Spoiler

This episode starts with Rena's father's relationship with a woman following his divorce, and the affect the divorce and subsequent relationship has on Rena's mental health. This eventually leads to Rena discovering that the new girlfriend is extorting her father for money, so takes the next logical steps and talks to someone about it murders them and buries them in the forest.

 

Upon being discovered with dismembered body parts she explaisn the situation to her friends who help her bury the bodies, and then her mental condition deteriorates further, leading to delusions and a conversation with one of the victims of the serial murders on the day before they are murdered, leading to them reading a bunch of conspiracy theory stuff about the villagers being controlled by a parasite which only flourishes in the climate of the village.

And then takes the entire school population hostage and threatens to blow it up with a time bomb.

 

On the side, some of the weird issues regarding previous games are given a hint here too - the fact that Rika knows the date of her death in advance, that different people die at the end of each game or die in different fashions. The way it's presented is that Rika is stuck in a time loop and has full knowledge of her previous existences, but in this game Keiichi (the original protagonist) is somehow able to remember the events of the first game which ends with him caving two of his friends' faces in with a baseball bat. 

 

At the end of this game, Rena stands down from holding the school hostage, the hostages are freed after the time bomb is disarmed, and Rena goes to trial (which is inconclusive). And then, the Great Hinamizawa Disaster happens anyway and wipes the village out. Twenty years later some of the police revisit the area now it's reopened following the disaster and start to question whether the parasite theory had some credence after all...

 

 

[Quest]

Daughter and I both came down with the lurgy for a few days (not the 'rona, thankfully), so in between Powerpuff Girls marathons we played a few short, low peril games on the sofa.

 

03/06 - Ecco Jr (MD)

 

A cute take on the basic Ecco formula aimed at young kids, so no death, no aggressive enemies and small, easily navigable areas.  There's a simple objective on each level such as getting a ball to a bored sea lion, returning a baby seahorse to its parents or herding fish into a cave. It's less than an hour long but my daughter spent ages just swimming around being a pain in the arse to some poor turtle, so your mileage may vary. 

 

04/06 - Totsugeki! Ponkotsu Tank / Trax (GB)

 

Pre-Kirby HAL Laboratory GameBoy title. A button turns the turret, B fires. Blow up everything until you get to a boss, then blow that up too. You can breeze through this in around twenty minutes and it's pretty easy up until the last stage, where I had to take over and finish off the boss rush, but this has an enthusiastic energy that would be recognisable to anyone familiar with their other GB works. Think we both would've liked a bit more variety and silliness in the level design though.

 

05/06 - Ihatovo Monogatari / Stories of Ihatovo (SFC)

 

Looks like an RPG but is actually a sedate adventure game without combat or puzzles, based around the works of Japanese author Kenji Miyazawa. Gameplay largely consists of walking around town chatting with people, delivering items and participating in strange little fables of some sort. One is about a barkeep toad getting a gang of  tree frogs hooked on bootleg booze, another about a plantation owner working some elephants to death and getting himself revenge-stampeded, another ended with some poor bloke getting blasted to bits in a volcanic eruption. All are a bit vague and the game seems to expect a familiarity with the source material that I don't particularly have, other than having seen Night on the Galactic Railroad a couple of times, but my congested head was glad of of the undemanding 16-bit ambiance.

 

 

Ongoing: Elden Ring / It Takes Two / Forza Horizon 5 / Yakuza 5 / Soul Hackers / Ridge Racer 2 / Kururin Squash / Sin and Punishment

 

Previous 2022:

Spoiler

05/06 - Ihatovo Monogatari / Stories of Ihatovo (SFC)

04/06 - Totsugeki! Ponkotsu Tank / Trax (GB)

03/06 - Ecco Jr (MD)

02/06 - Kirby 64 - The Crystal Shards (N64)

02/06 - Steamworld Quest - Hand of Gilgamech (Switch)

29/05 - Ikari no Yōsai/Operation Logic Bomb (SFC)

29/05 - I Am Dead (Switch)

29/05 - Pop'n Twinbee (SFC)

18/05 - Off Peak (Mac)

18/05 - Umurangi Generation (Series X)

13/05 - Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (Series X)

13/05 - New Super Luigi U (Switch)

11/05 - Wild Guns Reloaded (Switch)

10/05 - Fairune 2 (Switch)

09/05 - Steel Assault (Switch)

07/05 - Trek to Yomi (Series X)

05/05 - Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (Series X)

05/05 - Bugsnax (Series X)

10/04 - Scarlet Nexus (Series X)

09/04 - Kururin Paradise (GBA)

08/04 - Olija (Series X)

08/04 - Metroid Dread (Switch)

07/04 - GunValkyrie (Xbox)

05/04 - Bujingai (PS2)

01/04 - Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS)

29/03 - The Cave (360)

28/03 - A Memoir Blue (Series X)

27/03 - Blaster Master Zero II (Switch)

27/03 - Fairune Origin (Switch)

24/03 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All (Switch)

23/03 - Hyper Light Drifter (Switch)

21/03 - AI: The Somnium Files (Switch)

20/03 - Kaze no Notam/Notam of Wind (PS1)

20/03 - Flynn: Son of Crimson (Series X)

13/03 - Cyberpunk 2077 (Series X)

10/01 - Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master (Series X)

31/01 - Touhou Luna Nights (Series X)

28/01 - The Forgotten City (Series X)

26/01 - Poochy &  Yoshi's Woolly World (3DS)

17/01 - iS: Internal Section (PS1)

16/01 - New Pokemon Snap (Switch)

15/01 - Shinobi III (Mega Drive)

14/01 - Bulk Slash (Saturn)

13/01 - Densetsu no Stafy (GBA)

13/01 - Wolf Fang - Kuuga 2001 (PS1)

11/01 - Clock Tower - The First Fear (PS1)

11/01 - Finger Flashing (PS1)

10/01 - Mon Amour (Switch)

10/01- Psy-O-Blade (Mega Drive)

08/01 - Romeo + Juliet (Mac)

08/01 - BLACK BIRD (Switch)

04/01 - The Pedestrian (Series X)

03/01 - Paper Mario: The Origami King (Switch)

03/01 - Sonic Generations (Series X)

01/01 - How We Know We're Alive (Mac)

 

[Gambit]

05/06 - Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

 

All episodes finished and credits are rolling. There's an absolute TON of side content and unlockables here so while I'll dip in occassionally, I'm effectively done with the game.

 

A nice evolution of the LEGO formula. Unlike previous games every puzzle doesn't require you to smash everything in the hope that you can build something new, which is what it felt like with some of those older games. Funny moments. Looks nice. And made me actually go back and revisit all the old films on Disney+. The negatives though are it can be a little buggy in places and the AI isn't smart enough to follow you across difficult platforming sections. So on a number of occasions I had to swap to another character because I couldn't proceed without them and then do the same platforming bit over again. It was a little annoying.

 

7/10

 

Previously completed:

Spoiler

January

05/01 - Starfox 64

14/01 - Resident Evil 3

15/01 - Great Ace Attorney Chronicles

30/01 - Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

 

February

06/02 - Hades

 

April

03/04 - Lost Judgment: The Kaito Files

10/04 - Knights of the Old Republic

25/04 - Horizon: Forbidden West

 

May

15/05 - The Nonary Games

26/05 - Star Wars Squadrons

 

[BabelRich]

01/06 - Dragon Quest XI

 

Time for a good old fashioned JRPG, and in terms of mechanics old-fashioned is right. It's no bad thing though. I wont insult anyone's intelligence by explaining how an old school JRPG works but the mix of classic style gameplay and gorgeous 4K cartoony visuals made for a very pleasing and relaxing experience. Normal battles were quick and fun, with the bosses throwing in enough wrinkles to keep things interesting.

 

Story wise it was very trope-heavy; chosen one...grew up in secret...doesn't know his powers...defeat the dark one...etc, etc. But the local stories that play out at each locale you visit are much more interesting. Acting is...OK.

 

One turd in chocolate pudding is the music (and I'm not just saying this because it was written by a piece of shit). The pieces themselves are alright in a Last Night at the Proms kind of way, but they have no connection to the world or the events currently being played out. It's like they were written by some contractor with the brief 'Seven pieces pompous orchestral music please' and no other guidance.

 

Still the game was very enjoyable and bloody long too.

 

8/10

 

Spoiler

26/05 - Tales of Monkey Island 8/10

16/05 - Red Dead Redemption 9/10

12/05 - Lost Words – Beyond the Page 6/10

10/05 - Citizen Sleeper 9/10

06/05 - Lost in Random 6/10

08/04 – Kirby and the Forgotten Kingdom 9/10

01/04 – Danganronpa 2 – Goodbye Despair 08/10

25/03 – Tunic 6/10

16/03 – Danganronpa – Trigger Happy Havok 8/10

13/03 - Horizon - Forbidden West 10/10

15/02 - Agent A 7/10

14/02 - Saint's Row - Gat Out of Hell 6/10

11/02 - Nobody Saves the World 8/10

04/02 - Final Fantasy 7 Remake Episode INTERMission 6/10

01/02 - Final Fantasy 7 Remake 8/10

26/01 - Gorogoa 9/10

25/01 - The Gunk 7/10

23/01 - Control 7/10

11/01 - Rise of the Tomb Raider 7/10

07/01 - Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space 9/10

 

[JamesC]

Silent Hill - PS1

 

Just finished this last week. A brilliant game which I played through simultaenousley with some friends (all doing our own campaign just all playing over the course of the last couple of weeks). I'm so pleased we did the playthrough because it's really the type of game you want to share your thoughts on and talk about.

While there were some control issues and general clunkiness here and there, the game more than made up for them with story, atmosphere and well designed puzzles. There were so many cool and creepy little touches, things like trick geography, which you can only really do in a game.

Far too many of these things to list but I think they were what really elevated it for me.

I'm sure I'll play through it again at some point. I got the bad ending, so I might try to rectify that.

[shirubagan]

Spoiler

01. How We Know We're Alive (Mac)
02. Gorogoa (Game Pass)
03. The Procession to Calvary (Game Pass)
04.Shadow Warrior [2013] (Xbox)
05. Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Switch)
06. Crossfire X – Chapter 1: Catalyst (XSX)
07. Battlefield 4 – Campaign, Normal (XSX)
08. Astro's Playroom (PS5)
09. Il Filo Conduttore (Mac)
10. Ratchet & Clank – Rift Apart (PS5)
11. Borderlands 3 – Guns, Love & Tentacles DLC (XSX)
12 & 13. Back to the Future – The Telltale Game, Episodes 1 & 2 (Xbox GWG)
14. Pokémon Sword (Switch)
15 & 16. Back to the Future – The Telltale Game, Episodes 3 & 4 (Xbox GWG)
17. Panzer Dragoon Remake, Normal Run (Switch)

18. Rez Infinite, Area 1-5 run (PS5)
19. Bowser's Fury, All Cat Shines (Switch)
20. Back to the Future – The Telltale Game, Episode 5 (Xbox GWG)
21. Nobody Saves the World (Xbox)
22. Trek to Yomi (Xbox)
22.5. Rez Area X (PS5)

 

"Why?"

 

 

23. Tomb Raider 2013 (XSX)
I have no idea why I started this again, but it's strangely compelling, though ultimately very shallow. The traversal is perfectly fine with some lovely animations and light environmental puzzles as you'd expect. Ultimately I found no pleasure in the game's glorification of violence and murder, especially the myriad sadistic cutscenes they have scripted in which to kill Lara and her own insistence on close-up executions. It's also somewhat hilarious that the titular tombs are all labelled as 'optional' and are an aside to the gratuitous homicide and gore. I can't recommend this game in this day and age really... but then I started Uncharted 4, Jesus wept. It makes this look like a masterpiece.

[klargon]

Life is Strange True Colors (XSX)

 

This really felt like a return to form for the series. While I didn’t dislike the second game, it wasn’t great either. I recently bounced off Tell Me Why, so wondered if I was just getting tired of the formula. In True Colors, the amount of interactivity and freedom feels well judged. The writing and acting are both very good. While the narrative is fairly predictable, it doesn’t lessen the overall experience. I’m not sure why, but knowing what other people chose to do feels like an important element to my enjoyment. I also really like the historic communications adding some context. You can tell a great game by the slight sense of loss that comes after completion.

[Mawdlin]

22 hours ago, JamesC said:

Silent Hill - PS1

 

Just finished this last week. A brilliant game which I played through simultaenousley with some friends (all doing our own campaign just all playing over the course of the last couple of weeks). I'm so pleased we did the playthrough because it's really the type of game you want to share your thoughts on and talk about.

While there were some control issues and general clunkiness here and there, the game more than made up for them with story, atmosphere and well designed puzzles. There were so many cool and creepy little touches, things like trick geography, which you can only really do in a game.

Far too many of these things to list but I think they were what really elevated it for me.

I'm sure I'll play through it again at some point. I got the bad ending, so I might try to rectify that.

This sounds like a book club only with games? Cool idea.

[JamesC]

1 hour ago, Mawdlin said:

This sounds like a book club only with games? Cool idea.

Yes, that's a good way to describe it. It's just me and a few old friends. It's certainly something that could work well on the forum though.
We don't keep to a strict schedule or anything. Sometimes it takes a good few weeks for someone to make it through a game, while others may complete it in a few days, but it's always interesting to hear people's thought's as they play through.

[shirubagan]

I like this idea @JamesC

[Quest]

Yeah, I like the sound of something like that.

[DarhkFox]

Previously...

Spoiler

16/1 - Arkham Knight

Got this back at launch but never ran properly on my PC. Eventually decided to play it this year and really enjoyed it. Was it my favorite out of them all? Probably not but there still is a ton of stuff i can go back to do as well as DLC. I really didn't care much for the batmobile sections though.

 

1/2 - It Takes Two

Great co op game. Loved how varied the gameplay was and genuinely had a blast playing it.  I did like the crazyness of the first few hours compared to the rest of the game though and whilst i started off by enjoying the story, by the end of the game i thought the story was the worst thing. Also, the book of love is annoying AF.

 

6/2 - Tiny Toons Busters Hidden Treasure

First megadrive game i purchased and hadn't really played through since the 90s. Great game still even if some of the later levels are a bit unfair difficulty wise. Music in this game is great and i think it still holds up as one of the better 16bit platformers for the system.

 

9/2 - Donkey Kong Country

Lost count how many times I have played this game over the years. Still very much enjoy playing through it in a session since it's not that long.

 

24/2 - Bayonetta

Remember starting this on the 360 but finding it too tough. With Bayonetta 3 being announced I've been wanting to play through these games so I jumped back in. What a rush! Love the over the top gameplay in this and whilst i found the QTE and Button Mashing ruined the flow of the game, it wasn't too bad. Look forward to playing the 2nd game.

 

8/3 - Bayonetta 2

I really loved this game - everthing was so much more refined over the original game (and no stupid QTE). I do feel the original game was very good though still, Bayonetta 2 has some great sequences but maybe isn't as crazy as the first and it's WAY shorter. That's not a bad thing though since it encourages multiple playthroughs (and i did play through 3rd climax with the Starfox costume which was fun too). Roll on Bayo 3!

 

5/4 - Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Honestly, a big surprise. Only Kirby i completed was the original GB one that kinda turned me off the franchise for being short and easy. Forgotten Land though had some nice level design and some of the best bosses in any Nintendo game IMO. Still a bit easy for the most part but not every game has to be dark souls.

 

14/4 - Sonic CD Restored

A fantastic version of Sonic CD with the original music/animated sections. Honestly, this is probably going to be better than the sonic origin version.

 

26/4 Prince of Persia Sands of Time

Played through this at the original launch and replaying it was still good, in 2022. Some of the combat is terrible but overall i had a lot of fun with it. Some new puzzles but i'm all for the platforming sections. Well worth replaying if you have given up waiting for the remake.

 

22/4 Prince of Persia the Warrior Within

Played this originally back when it was released but never finished it. I 100%'d this game which is quite usual for me lately and it was decent. However, some of the platforming and the fake mature tone was a little bit of a turn off for me. The repeated cheesy sound samples are really grating too, but i still would reccomend playing through it.

 

24/4 Starfox Assault

Can't believe I never finished this on the gamecube. The story is really good and it was great to visit areas from Starfox Adventures. The controls take a while to get used to - wasn't a massive fan of the onfoot controls but 80% of the game takes place on the ground so you better get used to them. This game is TOUGH i struggled on easy and i had to use save states at a few points.

[Quest]

07/06 - Pu·Li·Ru·La (Arcade)

 

 

Surreal 1991 arcade brawler from Taito where some wizard has stolen a key that halts time or something, so you need to go and hit everyone with a stick until they give it back. I don't know what the initial pitch for this game was like but it seems they just threw in whatever weird shit they wanted and released it, which is probably how we all should live.

 

It's only around twenty minutes long and the gameplay is about as simple as you can imagine, having little more than one basic attack and a seemingly random special move that sometimes summons a stampede of small mammals, sometimes a whirlwind and occasionally some weird blob man, but it's certainly a unique experience.

 

07/06 - Bananan Ouji no Daibouken/Banana Prince (FC)

 

 

Famicom platformer from a time when everyone was still just throwing out weird mechanics to see what works, so here you're sprouting plants and leaping from them while NPCs are firing multiple choice questions about badminton and the Arc de Triomphe at you every few minutes. Looks nice and not without its charms, but probably not something I'll be returning to any time soon.

 

Previous 2022:

Spoiler

07/06 - Bananan Ouji no Daibouken/Banana Prince (FC)

07/06 - Pu·Li·Ru·La (Arcade)

05/06 - Ihatovo Monogatari / Stories of Ihatovo (SFC)

04/06 - Totsugeki! Ponkotsu Tank / Trax (GB)

03/06 - Ecco Jr (MD)

02/06 - Kirby 64 - The Crystal Shards (N64)

02/06 - Steamworld Quest - Hand of Gilgamech (Switch)

29/05 - Ikari no Yōsai/Operation Logic Bomb (SFC)

29/05 - I Am Dead (Switch)

29/05 - Pop'n Twinbee (SFC)

18/05 - Off Peak (Mac)

18/05 - Umurangi Generation (Series X)

13/05 - Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (Series X)

13/05 - New Super Luigi U (Switch)

11/05 - Wild Guns Reloaded (Switch)

10/05 - Fairune 2 (Switch)

09/05 - Steel Assault (Switch)

07/05 - Trek to Yomi (Series X)

05/05 - Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (Series X)

05/05 - Bugsnax (Series X)

10/04 - Scarlet Nexus (Series X)

09/04 - Kururin Paradise (GBA)

08/04 - Olija (Series X)

08/04 - Metroid Dread (Switch)

07/04 - GunValkyrie (Xbox)

05/04 - Bujingai (PS2)

01/04 - Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS)

29/03 - The Cave (360)

28/03 - A Memoir Blue (Series X)

27/03 - Blaster Master Zero II (Switch)

27/03 - Fairune Origin (Switch)

24/03 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All (Switch)

23/03 - Hyper Light Drifter (Switch)

21/03 - AI: The Somnium Files (Switch)

20/03 - Kaze no Notam/Notam of Wind (PS1)

20/03 - Flynn: Son of Crimson (Series X)

13/03 - Cyberpunk 2077 (Series X)

10/01 - Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master (Series X)

31/01 - Touhou Luna Nights (Series X)

28/01 - The Forgotten City (Series X)

26/01 - Poochy &  Yoshi's Woolly World (3DS)

17/01 - iS: Internal Section (PS1)

16/01 - New Pokemon Snap (Switch)

15/01 - Shinobi III (Mega Drive)

14/01 - Bulk Slash (Saturn)

13/01 - Densetsu no Stafy (GBA)

13/01 - Wolf Fang - Kuuga 2001 (PS1)

11/01 - Clock Tower - The First Fear (PS1)

11/01 - Finger Flashing (PS1)

10/01 - Mon Amour (Switch)

10/01- Psy-O-Blade (Mega Drive)

08/01 - Romeo + Juliet (Mac)

08/01 - BLACK BIRD (Switch)

04/01 - The Pedestrian (Series X)

03/01 - Paper Mario: The Origami King (Switch)

03/01 - Sonic Generations (Series X)

01/01 - How We Know We're Alive (Mac)

 

[strawdonkey]

On 05/06/2022 at 08:20, strawdonkey said:

2021/65a. Star Hunter DX (Space Cadet, 1CC, 19.3mil)

01. The Artful Escape

02. Rhythm Doctor

03. Monolith

04. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch.2 Watanagashi

05. Outer Wilds

06. OMORI

02a. Rhythm Doctor (all the bonus stuff and B+'d every stage)

07. Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel (all solo content clear)

08. Windjammers 2 (1CC)

09. Vampire Survivors

10. Ghost Blade HD (1CC Easy)

10a. Ghost Blade HD

07a. Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

11. Exceed 2nd - Vampire Rex (uh, 3CC I guess)

12. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 3 Tatarigoroshi

13. Magic The Gathering: Arena (Mythic Rank, constructed)

14. Solitarica

15. Schildmaid MX (Jaeger Mode 1CC, 12.9mil)

16. ZeroRanger - White Vanilla Mode (719k, Type-C, C++)

17. Zenohell (Honestly it took like 20 credits)

18. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 4 Himatsubushi

16a. ZeroRanger - Green Orange Mode 1-ALL (354k, Type-C)

19. Backspace Bouken (and the Numb Lock DLC)

20. Exceed 3rd: Jade Penetrate Black Package (1CC, Easy, 5,388,190)

20a. Exceed 3rd: Jade Penetrate Black Package (1CC, Normal, 3mil and some change)

21. Rez Infinite (Area X)

22. Point Blank (1CC, Expert Mode)
23. Touhou 8 - Imperishable Night (1CC, New Moon, Reimu/Yukari)

23a. Touhou 8 - Imperishable Night (1CC, Waxing Crescent, Reimu/Yukari)

24. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

25. Graze Counter (many 1CCs)

26. Touhou 7 - Perfect Cherry Blossom (1CC, Easy, Reimu)

27. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 5 Meakashi

X1. Carrion

28. Deathsmiles (1CC, Normal, Rosa, 57mil)

29. One Step From Eden (Reva clear, all bosses spared)

30. Panzer Dragoon Remake

31. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 6 Tsumihoroboshi

32. Jamestown+ (Story completion and finished Gauntlet Mode)

X2. Death's Door

 

Jamestown is a super stylish and beautifully soundtracked shmup about going to Mars to fight the Spanish Armada. It's full of great ideas, the bullet patterns are pretty good, and everything you kill explodes into a pile of nuts and bolts, which when collected allow you to "Vaunt" - basically generating a big circle around your ship that deletes bullets and gives points, and powers you up a bit. There's 12 different ships to choose from with wildly different shot and special types, and the story mode really eases you in by gradually ramping up the difficulty.

 

But... I feel like I'm missing something. Not sure if it's the digital controls not being quite good enough on Switch, and playing shumps on analogue is uguuguhhh; or the fact that I pretty much always play handheld on Switch, but you are not permitted to play with the joycons attached to the screen for reasons beyond my understanding; or whether it's a vertical shmup with a horizontal screen, so it never quite feels like you have enough space to move around to avoid the bullet patterns when things start getting tougher. There's just something not quite right about it for me and I can't really put my finger on what that is.

 

It does offer a four-player mode which I bet is an absolute riot though.

 

--

 

Death's Door is wonderful and the only reason I didn't finish it is because I let my Game Pass sub lapse and spending £11 for the privilege of beating the final boss doesn't seem like the best investment. 

 

I started off being really frustrated with this game - the first floating castle thing boss took a bunch of efforts, but as the game progressed I found myself more confidently taking out enemies and making consistent progress, where every failure felt like a learning experience rather than a hopeless slog. All the abilities were presented to you in a fashion that let you identify that you Need A Thing Here and coming back to them was really satisfying. The combat is a bit customisable, in as much as I really leaned into the magic/ability use and away from swordplay, which led to some of the fights being really interesting as you try to make space and enough charge time to make a bomb, as well as identifying which of the spells or items was the best one to use in the situation.

 

Plenty of humour in the game too, as you go to the urn witch's mansion and brazenly just go around breaking all her shit, and the guy with a pot for a head, and that every time you die it just plays a really dramatic sting and you just see "DEATH" across the whole screen. Plenty of other things too that I won't spoil but that made me laugh like a big idiot.

 

Disappointed that I won't get to finish it but had an absolutely brilliant time with it. And that hall of doors music is sublime.

[ImmaculateClump]

Spacewing War - Story mode 1cc

 

  Hide contents

Nekotosakana - 1cc

Moon Dancer - Normal 1cc (no miss), Hard 1cc (no miss), Expert 1cc

Grand Cross: Renovation - 1cc

Operation STEEL - Normal 1cc, Hard 1cc

Vampire Survivors - Inlaid Library hyper, Mad Forest hyper, Green Acres hyper

Sophstar - 1cc and TLB, Arcade, Intermediate, original scoring, Reyka

Sol Cresta - 2-all, Normal (3-5)

Stainless Night - 1cc

Andro Dunos II - 1cc

Z-Warp - Hardcore 1cc

Galacticon - 1cc, Level 36 (loop 4)
Drainus - Normal 2-all, Arcade 2-all
Red-Hawk - 1cc

Tukiyono - 1cc (ending 1), 1cc (ending 2)

Love - Arcade

[FiveFootNinja]

Right... well after a documented hiatus from my usual gaming routines in 2022, I figured I should probably now get this year finally up and running now I've started playing again.

 

Last year I included games I'd completed with my son as he begins his journey into gaming as we were playing most of them together. He is playing more on his own now but I'll mention them regardless in case people find them useful and tag them accordingly.

 

So, to bring this up to date here is my list of things I've been playing (hugely biased towards casual puzzle games thus far and I don't think there is much value in scoring them)...

 

1. Wordle (iOS) - I'm including this as it's my most played game of 2022 and should be recorded as part of this years gaming log. It was all over the press during lockdown but for those who don't know it, it is a free daily version of the old Mastermind board game. I'm currently on an official streak of about 110 (actual unbeaten run of nearer 150) and play it at midnight every night.

 

--

 

2. Quordle (iOS) - Exactly as above but you do 4 at once and more challenging. Again I play it at midnight every night.

 

--

 

3. Knotwords (iOS) - This puzzle game provides you letters in small blocks which you then have arrange to create a crossword style layout with a valid word in every direction. The free tier is heavily locked but provides two daily challenges (like the above) so I play them at night before bed. Really like it but I'm not going to unlock the full version as I'll get drawn into spending too much time on it.

 

 

--

 

4. Lego DC Super Villains (PS5) [Family game] - A continuation from our Lego marathon of 2021, this is the most recent titles in the DC range of Lego games and offers exactly the same as all the others. Always a winner in our house. My lad basically did this one on his own with a couple of tricker sections needing help from me, and overall I think this is probably one of the most polished Lego games we've played.  - 8/10

 

 

--

 

5. Ben 10: Power Trip (XB1) [Family game] - This open world platformer was better than I expected. Really accessible for my 6yo to handle on his own, with just the odd challenge he needed me for. He had never seen the program when we started (he has since watched it all!) and this was no barrier to entry. He enjoyed it so much we went on to get 100% completion on it together. There is a flawed co-op mode which we did a bit of, hinders performance on my old Xbox though. It also had some major bugs along the way but all in all my lad had a very good time with it. On Game Pass. - 8/10

 

 

--

 

6. Rush: Disney Pixar Adventure (XB1) [Family game] - This game is based on exploring different Disney/Pixar franchises and playing a couple of  levels within each. The style varies (e.g. platform, driving, etc...) but it's all nicely produced with the well-known characters appearing in their fully licensed and polished form. We had fun with it but I wouldn't rush back. on Game Pass. -  7/10

 

 

 

--

 

7. The Artful Escape (XB1) - A glam/prog rock musical platform adventure through space. This is a tour de force in the AV department and if you are partial to a bit of guitar wailing then it delivers an interesting experience. Gameplay wise there is very little to it, incredibly basic platforming, incredibly basic pattern matching, and a no-fail model which makes it essentially a side scrolling walking sim exploring the coming of age story story of a young musician break out of the shadow of his uncle. I can see some people getting nothing from it, but having not played something myself for ages it was a nicely quirky and short (3-4 hour) visual spectacle to break my gaming malaise. Exactly what I want from a Game Pass title. - 7/10

 

 

--

 

8. FAR: Changing Tides (XB1) - I completed the first FAR game (Lone Sails) last year and enjoyed it. The sequel is essentially more of the same with some tweaks/evolutions and on a slightly grander scale. You once again play as a small silent character busying themselves with a combination resource management and environmental puzzles to build, maintain and sail a steampunk style vessel through a post-apocalyptic world. The art style is once again beautiful, accompanied by a lovely soundtrack, and is good game to chill with. I'd say on the whole I enjoyed it more than the first, purely as I think it's a little more nuanced, diverse and polished. I finished it in about 3-4 hours which felt right. Available on your Game Pass now. - 8/10

 

 

 

Games in progress

• The Last of Us: Part 2 (PS5) [Currently on hold]
• Yooka-Layle (XB1) [Family game]
• Lego Harry Potter Collection Remastered (PS5) [Family game]
• Horizon Forbidden West

[Quest]

09/06 - Kururin Squash! (GC)

 

 

It's always a risk, I think, adding bosses and weapons to something as brilliantly simple as the Kururin games, but Eighting did a really good job with this GameCube follow-up. They take advantage of the finer analogue directional controls by throwing some more complex mazes at the player, and the 'gimmicks' like boxing gloves and the oars actually add some depth and variety. Certainly much better than the naff minigames they bolted on to Kururin Paradise. 

 

 

09/06 - Musha Aleste (MD)

 

Still my favourite Mega Drive shmup by far. Have some enemy art:

 

 

Previous 2022:

Spoiler

10/06 - yakuza 5 (Series X)

10/06 - Rushing Beat Ran (SFC)

09/06 - Musha Aleste (MD)

10/06 - Kururin Squash! (GC)

07/06 - Bananan Ouji no Daibouken/Banana Prince (FC)

07/06 - Pu·Li·Ru·La (Arcade)

05/06 - Ihatovo Monogatari / Stories of Ihatovo (SFC)

04/06 - Totsugeki! Ponkotsu Tank / Trax (GB)

03/06 - Ecco Jr (MD)

02/06 - Kirby 64 - The Crystal Shards (N64)

02/06 - Steamworld Quest - Hand of Gilgamech (Switch)

29/05 - Ikari no Yōsai/Operation Logic Bomb (SFC)

29/05 - I Am Dead (Switch)

29/05 - Pop'n Twinbee (SFC)

18/05 - Off Peak (Mac)

18/05 - Umurangi Generation (Series X)

13/05 - Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (Series X)

13/05 - New Super Luigi U (Switch)

11/05 - Wild Guns Reloaded (Switch)

10/05 - Fairune 2 (Switch)

09/05 - Steel Assault (Switch)

07/05 - Trek to Yomi (Series X)

05/05 - Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (Series X)

05/05 - Bugsnax (Series X)

10/04 - Scarlet Nexus (Series X)

09/04 - Kururin Paradise (GBA)

08/04 - Olija (Series X)

08/04 - Metroid Dread (Switch)

07/04 - GunValkyrie (Xbox)

05/04 - Bujingai (PS2)

01/04 - Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS)

29/03 - The Cave (360)

28/03 - A Memoir Blue (Series X)

27/03 - Blaster Master Zero II (Switch)

27/03 - Fairune Origin (Switch)

24/03 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All (Switch)

23/03 - Hyper Light Drifter (Switch)

21/03 - AI: The Somnium Files (Switch)

20/03 - Kaze no Notam/Notam of Wind (PS1)

20/03 - Flynn: Son of Crimson (Series X)

13/03 - Cyberpunk 2077 (Series X)

10/01 - Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master (Series X)

31/01 - Touhou Luna Nights (Series X)

28/01 - The Forgotten City (Series X)

26/01 - Poochy &  Yoshi's Woolly World (3DS)

17/01 - iS: Internal Section (PS1)

16/01 - New Pokemon Snap (Switch)

15/01 - Shinobi III (Mega Drive)

14/01 - Bulk Slash (Saturn)

13/01 - Densetsu no Stafy (GBA)

13/01 - Wolf Fang - Kuuga 2001 (PS1)

11/01 - Clock Tower - The First Fear (PS1)

11/01 - Finger Flashing (PS1)

10/01 - Mon Amour (Switch)

10/01- Psy-O-Blade (Mega Drive)

08/01 - Romeo + Juliet (Mac)

08/01 - BLACK BIRD (Switch)

04/01 - The Pedestrian (Series X)

03/01 - Paper Mario: The Origami King (Switch)

03/01 - Sonic Generations (Series X)

01/01 - How We Know We're Alive (Mac)

 

[Quest]

10/06 - Sin and Punishment

 

A couple of runs through this for the first time in years. Some thoughts:

 

- The NSO emulation is pretty good.

- The aircraft carrier level goes so hard that I suspect Treasure were (deservedly) showboating at this point.

- I'd forgotten about the monster in the bin.

- Apocalypse call centre hold music sounding pretty warped and vapey in 2022.

 

10/10

 

 

Games I need to finish: Soul Hackers / Elden Ring / It Takes Two /  Ridge Racer 2

 

Previous 2022:

Spoiler

11/06 - Forza Horizon 5 (Series X)

10/06 - Sin and Punishment (N64)

10/06 - Yakuza 5 (Series X)

10/06 - Rushing Beat Ran (SFC)

09/06 - Musha Aleste (MD)

10/06 - Kururin Squash! (GC)

07/06 - Bananan Ouji no Daibouken/Banana Prince (FC)

07/06 - Pu·Li·Ru·La (Arcade)

05/06 - Ihatovo Monogatari / Stories of Ihatovo (SFC)

04/06 - Totsugeki! Ponkotsu Tank / Trax (GB)

03/06 - Ecco Jr (MD)

02/06 - Kirby 64 - The Crystal Shards (N64)

02/06 - Steamworld Quest - Hand of Gilgamech (Switch)

29/05 - Ikari no Yōsai/Operation Logic Bomb (SFC)

29/05 - I Am Dead (Switch)

29/05 - Pop'n Twinbee (SFC)

18/05 - Off Peak (Mac)

18/05 - Umurangi Generation (Series X)

13/05 - Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (Series X)

13/05 - New Super Luigi U (Switch)

11/05 - Wild Guns Reloaded (Switch)

10/05 - Fairune 2 (Switch)

09/05 - Steel Assault (Switch)

07/05 - Trek to Yomi (Series X)

05/05 - Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (Series X)

05/05 - Bugsnax (Series X)

10/04 - Scarlet Nexus (Series X)

09/04 - Kururin Paradise (GBA)

08/04 - Olija (Series X)

08/04 - Metroid Dread (Switch)

07/04 - GunValkyrie (Xbox)

05/04 - Bujingai (PS2)

01/04 - Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS)

29/03 - The Cave (360)

28/03 - A Memoir Blue (Series X)

27/03 - Blaster Master Zero II (Switch)

27/03 - Fairune Origin (Switch)

24/03 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All (Switch)

23/03 - Hyper Light Drifter (Switch)

21/03 - AI: The Somnium Files (Switch)

20/03 - Kaze no Notam/Notam of Wind (PS1)

20/03 - Flynn: Son of Crimson (Series X)

13/03 - Cyberpunk 2077 (Series X)

10/01 - Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master (Series X)

31/01 - Touhou Luna Nights (Series X)

28/01 - The Forgotten City (Series X)

26/01 - Poochy &  Yoshi's Woolly World (3DS)

17/01 - iS: Internal Section (PS1)

16/01 - New Pokemon Snap (Switch)

15/01 - Shinobi III (Mega Drive)

14/01 - Bulk Slash (Saturn)

13/01 - Densetsu no Stafy (GBA)

13/01 - Wolf Fang - Kuuga 2001 (PS1)

11/01 - Clock Tower - The First Fear (PS1)

11/01 - Finger Flashing (PS1)

10/01 - Mon Amour (Switch)

10/01- Psy-O-Blade (Mega Drive)

08/01 - Romeo + Juliet (Mac)

08/01 - BLACK BIRD (Switch)

04/01 - The Pedestrian (Series X)

03/01 - Paper Mario: The Origami King (Switch)

03/01 - Sonic Generations (Series X)

01/01 - How We Know We're Alive (Mac)

 

[Gabe]

17. 11/06/2022 - Ninja Gaiden 3 (PC)

 

This is pure trash and was a pretty miserable experience.

 

I played it on the easiest skill level (because I'm not good at games), which is called 'Hero' and is meant to help you with auto-guarding (which it does) but it also assists with your attacks - but as a consequence you will often press the attack button and nothing happens or you will slide to a different enemy to the one you were intending to attack. So that's damn annoying.

 

Worse, every single enemy is spongey and every fight is drawn-out far, far beyond what might be fun (and it's not a long game anyway). It looks incredibly ugly, too. Large, bland slabs of textures for walls and lots of empty corridors abound throughout the games' levels - a visual treat this is not. Combat isn't much better, feeling very button-mashy, and it's all viewed through a pretty cumbersome camera (especially when trying to deal with the numerous rocket-launcher enemies that the game throws at you far too much to hit you from off-screen).

 

All-in-all, a very, very poor game is paired with an abysmal story and was a complete waste of 5 and half hours or so.

 

Go play Ninja Gaiden Black or something instead.

 

Previously completed:

Spoiler

1. 01/01/2022 - Final Fight: Streetwise (PS2)

2. 02/01/2022 - The Forgotten City (PC)

3. 05/01/2022 - Football, Tactics & Glory (PC)

4. 08/01/2022 - Alt Frequencies (PC)

5. 31/01/2022 - Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (Gamecube)

6. 05/03/2022 - Gogoroa (PC)

7. 21/03/2022 - Guardians of the Galaxy (PC)

8. 10/04/2022 - Assassin's Creed: Origins (PC)

9. 24/04/2022 - Mass Effect Andromeda (PC)

10. 25/04/2022 - Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel (X360)

11. 03/05/2022 - The Division (PC)

12. 11/05/2022 - World War Z: Aftermath (PC)

13. 18/05/2022 - Young Souls (PC)

14. 22/05/2022 - Bright Memory Infinite (PC)

15. 25/05/2022 - Vampire Saviours (PC)

16. 03/02/2022 - Watchdogs (PC)

 

[ImmaculateClump]

AISZplus - 1cc

 

Spoiler

Nekotosakana - 1cc

Moon Dancer - Normal 1cc (no miss), Hard 1cc (no miss), Expert 1cc

Grand Cross: Renovation - 1cc

Operation STEEL - Normal 1cc, Hard 1cc

Vampire Survivors - Inlaid Library hyper, Mad Forest hyper, Green Acres hyper

Sophstar - 1cc and TLB, Arcade, Intermediate, original scoring, Reyka

Sol Cresta - 2-all, Normal (3-5)

Stainless Night - 1cc

Andro Dunos II - 1cc

Z-Warp - Hardcore 1cc

Galacticon - 1cc, Level 36 (loop 4)
Drainus - Normal 2-all, Arcade 2-all
Red-Hawk - 1cc

Tukiyono - 1cc (ending 1), 1cc (ending 2)

Love - Arcade

Spacewing War - Story mode 1cc

[Unofficial Who]

Jun

 

17/06 Psycho Soldier (Arcade/PC) The SNK parade continues now that achievements appear to be working on the Steam version of Arcade Classics. Psycho Soldier is a lot like a lot of late 80's games. A bit pointless alone and prone to coin spamming. I seemed to gel a lot better with this magical girl based arcade game, it feels a lot like it's iterated on Capcom's Son Son. It's a little ugly and that sampled music track must of driven arcade operators mad at the time.

 

 

16/06 Prehistoric Isle in 1930 (Arcade/PC) Doing these old SNK games for the achievements really. An overly hard yet colourful arcade shooter. I suspect it's geared up for two players but as per the trend at the time it's ok with you coin scumming you're way through.

 

 

16/06 Street Smart (Arcade/PC) Was exploring the SNK Classics compilation and found this odd 80's fighter where you seem to be playing as a jerk fighting jerks to...er....pick up a blonde girl in every city? Everything about this screams late 80's. Impressive large sprites with animated backdrops, you can see SNK getting to grips with the possibility of 16 bit machines here but the fighting is very floaty. Amusing that your opponent ends up being removed via an ambulance! I got through this with pure skill coin spamming. Very much of its time.

 

 

12/06 Midnight Scenes:The Nanny (PC) The third in a series of Creepshow inspired short adventure games by Octavi Navarro this is a bit of a departure in that it's in colour and using a great CRT filter that makes it look like early 16 bit game screenshots in old magazines. It's short (30 minutes) but well crafted and as always the pixel art is excellent.

 

 

Earlier this year

 

Spoiler

37. 28/05 SUPERHOT (PC) 

36. 28/05 Tetris Effect:Connected (PC)

35. 22/05 Sea of Solitude (PC) 

34. 21/05 Scott Morrison Simulator (Browser) 

33. 16/05 Full Throttle:Remastered (PC)

32. 15/05 Unbeatable [White Label] (PC)

31. 14/05 Trek To Yomi (PC) 

30. 13/05 Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (PC)

29. 09/05 California Games (C64)

28.01/05 The Stanley Parable:Ultra Deluxe (PC)

27. 27/04 The Darkside Detective:A Fumble in the Dark (PC)

26. 23/04 Streets of Rage 4 (PC)

25. 17/04 Exo One (PC)

24. 16/04 A Memoir Blue (PC)

23. 08/04 Slay the Spire (PC)

22. 03/04 Tunic (PC) 

21. 02/04 Kingdom:Two Crowns (PC)

20. 26/03 Say No! More (PC)

19. 21/03 Wizball (C64)

18. 17/03 Battle Circuit (PC/Arcade)

17. 17/03 We Happy Few (PC)

16. 07/03 Powered Gear (PC/Arcade) 

15. 06/03 FAR:Changing Tides (PC)

14. 05/03 In Other Waters (PC)

13. 02/03 Aperture Desk Job (Steam Deck/PC) 

12. 27/02 Final Fantasy 14:A Realm Reborn:Seventh Astral Era (PC) 

11. 25/02 Vampire Survivors (PC) 

10. 18/02 Hypnospace Outlaw

9. 05/02 Final Fight (PC/Arcade)

8. 31/01 Dynasty Wars (Arcade/PC)

7. 31/01 Mega Twins (Arcade/PC) 

6, 29/01 Superhot:Mind Control Delete (PC) 

5. 16/01 The Forgotten City (PC)

4. 09/01 Mr Driller Drill Land (PC)

3. 07/01 Olija (PC)

2. 07/01 It's a Knockout! (C64) 

1. 02/01 Katamari Damacy REROLL (PC)

 

Abandoned games

13/05 The Wild at Heart (PC)

19/03 Narita Boy (PC)

04/01 YIIK: A Postmodern RPG (PC)

 

 

[strawdonkey]

On 07/06/2022 at 19:51, strawdonkey said:

2021/65a. Star Hunter DX (Space Cadet, 1CC, 19.3mil)

01. The Artful Escape

02. Rhythm Doctor

03. Monolith

04. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch.2 Watanagashi

05. Outer Wilds

06. OMORI

02a. Rhythm Doctor (all the bonus stuff and B+'d every stage)

07. Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel (all solo content clear)

08. Windjammers 2 (1CC)

09. Vampire Survivors

10. Ghost Blade HD (1CC Easy)

10a. Ghost Blade HD

07a. Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

11. Exceed 2nd - Vampire Rex (uh, 3CC I guess)

12. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 3 Tatarigoroshi

13. Magic The Gathering: Arena (Mythic Rank, constructed)

14. Solitarica

15. Schildmaid MX (Jaeger Mode 1CC, 12.9mil)

16. ZeroRanger - White Vanilla Mode (719k, Type-C, C++)

17. Zenohell (Honestly it took like 20 credits)

18. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 4 Himatsubushi

16a. ZeroRanger - Green Orange Mode 1-ALL (354k, Type-C)

19. Backspace Bouken (and the Numb Lock DLC)

20. Exceed 3rd: Jade Penetrate Black Package (1CC, Easy, 5,388,190)

20a. Exceed 3rd: Jade Penetrate Black Package (1CC, Normal, 3mil and some change)

21. Rez Infinite (Area X)

22. Point Blank (1CC, Expert Mode)
23. Touhou 8 - Imperishable Night (1CC, New Moon, Reimu/Yukari)

23a. Touhou 8 - Imperishable Night (1CC, Waxing Crescent, Reimu/Yukari)

24. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

25. Graze Counter (many 1CCs)

26. Touhou 7 - Perfect Cherry Blossom (1CC, Easy, Reimu)

27. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 5 Meakashi

X1. Carrion

28. Deathsmiles (1CC, Normal, Rosa, 57mil)

29. One Step From Eden (Reva clear, all bosses spared)

30. Panzer Dragoon Remake

31. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 6 Tsumihoroboshi

32. Jamestown+ (Story completion and finished Gauntlet Mode)

X2. Death's Door

33. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 7 Minagoroshi

 

The 5th-8th games in this series are said to contain all the answers but realisticaly they're all packed into this one. And, well, fucking hell.

 

Spoiler

I will probably miss some stuff because a lot happened here

 

Spoiler

Rika Furude is a witch who has lived over a hundred years. Or so we're led to believe. She is accompanied by Hanyuu, who is a demon that cannot be seen by anyone else and who has the power to rewind time. Rika Furude is murdered on June 22nd 1983 every year.

The stories from the previous games have been "bad" endings to the same story, which begins in early June and ends just after the Wataganashi festival and ends usually with someone getting murdered. The theme this time around is very much "talk to your friends" and "stronger together" - lots of things go well (or more accurately, don't follow the prescribed pattern in previous games) until Satoko's uncle (who was responsible for the child abuse plot of chapter 3) shows up again and immediately returns to violent ways. The cast of the previous stories unite and petition the local government to intervene, which isn't successful; however this leads to a large amount of soul-searching within the village of Hinamizawa amongst the families who control the region, and there's this great triumphant scenario where hundreds of people from the village protest outside the government offices eventually leading to the safe recovery of Satoko.

 

Which just leaves the impending murder of Rika Furude to deal with. The parasite theory from the last game turns out to be somewhat legitimate - there's an illness that seems to only be infectious in the village, and the local clinic are receiving funding in order to research it and find a cure. The virus is brought under control due to vaccine and treatment development and it's expected that a cure will be found a few years later. But, this disease is also the cause of people clawing out their own throats. And did I mention that everyone in Hinamizawa is infected with it, just that it has evolved into a less aggressive form so doesn't cause people to react so badly? And that there is a small faction of the government who are looking to weaponise the virus? And that someone is murdered via injection of the virus in this very game, and there is a government cover-up which involves killing the entire population of the village if Rika Furude dies due to the virus treating her almost like a nest queen and causing all the villagers to go beserk?

 

And that the nurse at the clinic has been orchestrating this all along, controls an assassination squad and fakes her own death before killing thousands of people? But not before assassinating five schoolkids and disemboweling a sixth?

 

In places it's proper B-movie stuff but some of this shit is wild and the swings from "we have a very localised problem and we are going to talk to our friends and unite", to reading snapshots of classified documents about how to cover up an outbreak of the virus, are extremely jarring and effective.

One more game left. This one has to be the happy ending, surely. It was so close this time, before it very much wasn't.

 

 

[edit] I've just started the eighth and final game and:

 

- It crashes about three minutes in, every time, which seems to have been a widespread issue for years

- It's also not the last game any more as a new one just got released this month: https://store.steampowered.com/wishlist/id/strawdonkey/#sort=order

[Quest]

12/06 - Mickey to Donald: Magical Adventure 3 (SFC)

 

 

Pretty weird that this didn't make it out of Japan until the GBA port, as it's a lovingly crafted thing and it's not like the SNES was dead by that point, but I guess the numbers didn't add up somewhere at Capcom HQ.

Played through with my daughter on mallet attack duties as Donald, and it's pretty forgiving for a young player so long as there's someone else to keep things moving along. That is, until the last level throws a series of spike pits, bosses, and tiny mobile platforms at you without a single checkpoint. A strange decision, but she's asked for more games like this so I'm calling it a success.

 

2022 previous:

Spoiler

12/06 - Mickey to Donald: Magical Adventure 3 (SFC)

11/06 - Forza Horizon 5 (Series X)

10/06 - Sin and Punishment (N64)

10/06 - Yakuza 5 (Series X)

10/06 - Rushing Beat Ran (SFC)

09/06 - Musha Aleste (MD)

10/06 - Kururin Squash! (GC)

07/06 - Bananan Ouji no Daibouken/Banana Prince (FC)

07/06 - Pu·Li·Ru·La (Arcade)

05/06 - Ihatovo Monogatari / Stories of Ihatovo (SFC)

04/06 - Totsugeki! Ponkotsu Tank / Trax (GB)

03/06 - Ecco Jr (MD)

02/06 - Kirby 64 - The Crystal Shards (N64)

02/06 - Steamworld Quest - Hand of Gilgamech (Switch)

29/05 - Ikari no Yōsai/Operation Logic Bomb (SFC)

29/05 - I Am Dead (Switch)

29/05 - Pop'n Twinbee (SFC)

18/05 - Off Peak (Mac)

18/05 - Umurangi Generation (Series X)

13/05 - Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (Series X)

13/05 - New Super Luigi U (Switch)

11/05 - Wild Guns Reloaded (Switch)

10/05 - Fairune 2 (Switch)

09/05 - Steel Assault (Switch)

07/05 - Trek to Yomi (Series X)

05/05 - Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (Series X)

05/05 - Bugsnax (Series X)

10/04 - Scarlet Nexus (Series X)

09/04 - Kururin Paradise (GBA)

08/04 - Olija (Series X)

08/04 - Metroid Dread (Switch)

07/04 - GunValkyrie (Xbox)

05/04 - Bujingai (PS2)

01/04 - Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS)

29/03 - The Cave (360)

28/03 - A Memoir Blue (Series X)

27/03 - Blaster Master Zero II (Switch)

27/03 - Fairune Origin (Switch)

24/03 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All (Switch)

23/03 - Hyper Light Drifter (Switch)

21/03 - AI: The Somnium Files (Switch)

20/03 - Kaze no Notam/Notam of Wind (PS1)

20/03 - Flynn: Son of Crimson (Series X)

13/03 - Cyberpunk 2077 (Series X)

10/01 - Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master (Series X)

31/01 - Touhou Luna Nights (Series X)

28/01 - The Forgotten City (Series X)

26/01 - Poochy &  Yoshi's Woolly World (3DS)

17/01 - iS: Internal Section (PS1)

16/01 - New Pokemon Snap (Switch)

15/01 - Shinobi III (Mega Drive)

14/01 - Bulk Slash (Saturn)

13/01 - Densetsu no Stafy (GBA)

13/01 - Wolf Fang - Kuuga 2001 (PS1)

11/01 - Clock Tower - The First Fear (PS1)

11/01 - Finger Flashing (PS1)

10/01 - Mon Amour (Switch)

10/01- Psy-O-Blade (Mega Drive)

08/01 - Romeo + Juliet (Mac)

08/01 - BLACK BIRD (Switch)

04/01 - The Pedestrian (Series X)

03/01 - Paper Mario: The Origami King (Switch)

03/01 - Sonic Generations (Series X)

01/01 - How We Know We're Alive (Mac)

 

[HarryBizzle]

On 02/03/2022 at 18:52, HarryBizzle said:

First one in the bag.

 

1. Sekiro (Series X) - 28/2/22

 

 

What a game. I have been a bit frustrated and annoyed with myself, playing lots of games and just being generally a bit down on them - my experiences being more apathetic or negative than many on here with whom my tastes generally align, but this proved I didn't need a break from gaming, just the right game.

 

Starting this 2 weeks before Elden Ring was probably a bad idea, but I fell in love with this game so much that I haven't really felt much pressure to rush it or stop playing to start ER. I finished it two days ago and haven't booted Elden Ring once - I've been playing bits I missed and replaying bits that I didn't. I think it's in part due to how much it makes you feel like you've developed skills, which I now don't want to lose, and am enjoying putting to work.

 

It's just superb. I haven't felt any of the anxiety that I've felt playing any of the other Souls games. No worries that I might not be good enough to get through, that I have to keep playing or I might give in to the despair and not come back to it, and that's all because it makes you genuinely feel like it's a test of skill, rather than a test of your build. Everything about it, from how simple and streamlined it feels, to the relatively low fantasy setting (at least early on) feels like a breath of fresh air in comparison to the other Souls games. It's a bit dark, but nowhere near as grimdark as any of the other Souls games.

And thanks to the Series X, it runs at 60fps and looks superb. I think it's my favourite From Software game. I need a bit of time to decompress before starting ER, but that's fine. 

 

 

 

 

2. Ghostrunner (PS5)

 

 

I've quoted my last post in this thread because it feels very much linked to this one. Since March, I've played, and subsequently abandoned, quite a lot of games. A lot of apparently good games, including Elden Ring and Tunic. None of them have really done it for me. Elden Ring has had some great moments but it feels like I've seen a lot of what it has to offer before and it's too easy - a lot of the challenge removed by summons and the like.

 

And so I've been in a bit of a gaming funk again, wondering why I'm so grumpy and maybe I hate video games, or something. I decided to give Ghostrunner a go - I got the PS5 version free on PS+ ages ago. It starts off relatively slow - a bit of clambering and wallrunning, that kind of thing. And then all of a sudden the training wheels come off and it genuinely feels like a mad race to the finish.

 

What a game. It feels linked to Sekiro because they both reminded me that I do actually love games, but also because of how it makes you feel. There is no fat in this game. The story is all played over the radio while you're wallrunning, dashing and slicing your way through and army of robo-ninjas and mechs. You will die, a lot, and it feels like Super Meatboy in that way, but when you get it right, you genuinely believe that you were an incredible cyberninja that some guard caught a glimpse of and had half a second to wonder why there seemed to be a line of his mates exploding in a shower of blood coming towards him before, he too, caught the wrong side of your katana.

 

It's nothing short of brilliant.

 

10/10.

[Gambit]

15/06 - Kirby 64 (Switch Online)

 

I just completed my first Kirby game. I take it, the rest are better because oof. On the plus side, I like the simple visuals, music and it's nice seeing a 2.5D platformer in the era when they weren't making a whole lot of them. But I just hated the way Kirby controls. Sluggish and unresponsive, I'm unsure as to how much this is because it's a bad port/rom however. The powers mechanic I found myself liking two of them that, for the most part, just allowed me to jump into enemies, press a button to shock or shoot spikes out from body, rinse and repeat. It made a lot of the platforming sections a breeze. Until you got to the bosses which, later in the game are a little more challenging.

 

Glad I didn't spend £50 on this back in the day.

 

4/10

 

Previously completed:

 

Spoiler

January

05/01 - Starfox 64

14/01 - Resident Evil 3

15/01 - Great Ace Attorney Chronicles

30/01 - Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

 

February

06/02 - Hades

 

April

03/04 - Lost Judgment: The Kaito Files

10/04 - Knights of the Old Republic

25/04 - Horizon: Forbidden West

 

May

15/05 - The Nonary Games

26/05 - Star Wars Squadrons

 

June

05/06 - Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

 

[strawdonkey]

On 11/06/2022 at 21:33, strawdonkey said:

2021/65a. Star Hunter DX (Space Cadet, 1CC, 19.3mil)

01. The Artful Escape

02. Rhythm Doctor

03. Monolith

04. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch.2 Watanagashi

05. Outer Wilds

06. OMORI

02a. Rhythm Doctor (all the bonus stuff and B+'d every stage)

07. Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel (all solo content clear)

08. Windjammers 2 (1CC)

09. Vampire Survivors

10. Ghost Blade HD (1CC Easy)

10a. Ghost Blade HD

07a. Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

11. Exceed 2nd - Vampire Rex (uh, 3CC I guess)

12. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 3 Tatarigoroshi

13. Magic The Gathering: Arena (Mythic Rank, constructed)

14. Solitarica

15. Schildmaid MX (Jaeger Mode 1CC, 12.9mil)

16. ZeroRanger - White Vanilla Mode (719k, Type-C, C++)

17. Zenohell (Honestly it took like 20 credits)

18. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 4 Himatsubushi

16a. ZeroRanger - Green Orange Mode 1-ALL (354k, Type-C)

19. Backspace Bouken (and the Numb Lock DLC)

20. Exceed 3rd: Jade Penetrate Black Package (1CC, Easy, 5,388,190)

20a. Exceed 3rd: Jade Penetrate Black Package (1CC, Normal, 3mil and some change)

21. Rez Infinite (Area X)

22. Point Blank (1CC, Expert Mode)
23. Touhou 8 - Imperishable Night (1CC, New Moon, Reimu/Yukari)

23a. Touhou 8 - Imperishable Night (1CC, Waxing Crescent, Reimu/Yukari)

24. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

25. Graze Counter (many 1CCs)

26. Touhou 7 - Perfect Cherry Blossom (1CC, Easy, Reimu)

27. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 5 Meakashi

X1. Carrion

28. Deathsmiles (1CC, Normal, Rosa, 57mil)

29. One Step From Eden (Reva clear, all bosses spared)

30. Panzer Dragoon Remake

31. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 6 Tsumihoroboshi

32. Jamestown+ (Story completion and finished Gauntlet Mode)

X2. Death's Door

33. Higurashi When They Cry - Ch. 7 Minagoroshi

25a. Graze Counter - Expert mode (Type-7, 474mil)

 

I've been slowly working my way through and getting 1CCs with each ship in this game, getting familiar with the scoring, and so on. The Type-7 ship is a comedy upgraded version of the Type-3 ship, which itself is already kind of bonkers - the Type-3 fires homing shots whenever you graze a bullet (clue's in the name, you do this a lot) and Type-7 just replaces that with a wide spread shot and a burst mode that fires in all directions. As a result, everything melts very quickly.

 

Decided to give Expert mode a go and found it really interesting compared to Normal mode - the bullet patterns are harder to avoid, but your bullet-deleting laser now generates such a huge quantity of stars (thus filling your Break meter, which also deletes bullets) that you can delete bullets with a huge amount of regularity, meaning that while it's more difficult to dodge, you also have to dodge for less time before you get to press the Oh Fucking Hell Button.

 

The real challenge will come with scoring - the scoring mechanic is fair but really punishing, in that your max multiplier is 1000X - and if you die, it goes back to 1X, making Not Dying just as important as score-chasing.

 

Doubt I'd be able to do Expert with one of the regular, "fair" ships though...

 

[edit] got the Arcade mode 1CC with all eight ships!

 

34. Splatoon

 

Yeah, you know! The one on the Wii U.

 

The kids have been desperate for me to dig the Wii U out of the loft so we could play the Animal Crossing Amiibo boardgame, and I fired up Splatoon for a bit of nostalgia to find that I'd given up on the story mode about halfway through. I did come to it very late in its life, first playing it around a friend's house and then buying a Wii U immediately so I could play in the last Splatfest.

 

Anyway it's dead good! It still feels great to play, and it might just be me personally but I find playing with the Wii U controller using motion controls ever so slightly easier than using the motion controls on the Switch, but there's not a huge amount in it.

 

Also the final boss is surprisingly difficult and I got sneered at many times by my youngest because I kept falling off platforms in the story mode exploration arena bits.

[Mogster]

09/06/2022 - Elden Ring

 

I was a little unsure about this before it came out. As much as I adored the Dark Souls games, this looked very Dark Souls and I would have loved to have seen something brand new along the lines of Bloodborne or Sekiro. The shift to an open world was also a cause for concern, as more often than not they seem to be used to drag things out with repetitive filler content. Worse still, I feared it would ruin the joy of the usual intricate, looping Souls world design.

 

I shouldn't have worried.

 

From's take on an open world was absolutely glorious, and easily one of the very best I've experienced. Aside from being beautiful and varied to look at, it was seemingly endlessly rewarding to explore. Even after the 80 hours or so I spent playing, there were still parts of the map I hadn't uncovered, and entire areas I was seeing for the very first time. On top of that, while the world was certainly more decompressed than the other From games, the major locations were still as cohesive, unique and well designed as ever.

 

I did feel that the combat suffered a little bit after Sekiro, but I don't think there was any way to avoid this without removing the range of options it allowed for. It was certainly more refined than the older Souls games, streamlined where it needed it and expanded with new actions and abilities. The AI ash summons were an excellent addition, and one I probably wouldn't have finished the game without. All that said, beating a tough boss was never quite as satisfying as it could be in Sekiro's incredible sword fights.

 

The highest praise I could offer is that even after all those tens of hours, I was incredibly tempted to jump back in with a brand new character. There are so many builds I want to try, but there are so many other games I want to play that won't get a look in if I do. I'll be back though, sometime.

 

Spoiler

January

04/01/2022 - Kena: Bridge of Spirits
24/01/2022 - Hitman (2016)
26/01/2022 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

May

17/05/2022 - Kirby and the Forgotten Land

June

09/06/2022 - Elden Ring

 

[Quest]

15/06 - Metamorphic Force (Arcade)

 

 

Konami brawler from 1993 with an era-appropriate radioactive colour palette, endless trebly guitar solos and a furiously hyperactive pace. Most of the enemies barely make it on screen before you've turned into a wolfman and kicked the snot out of them, which for some reason makes them explode in a huge fireball.

 

An enjoyable half-hour of shallow nonsense to pump virtual coins into. 

 

17/06 - Gurumin - A Monstrous Adventure (PSP)

 

Along with Drill Dozer, part of the kids-with-drills genre that I just made up. Would two games be enough to call it a genre? Are there others?

 

Anyway, you get sent to live with your grandad in a mining town, but rather than chucking fireworks around the old colliery and getting chased by drunk security guards like I did, you wind up meeting a bunch of friendly monsters who just had their town destroyed by the big baddie. You agree to help them out, which typically means going into caves and temples to drill the crap out of everything. Statues, columns, fences, rocks, animals, trees, walls, bosses. Drill it all to bits and get that loot, then use the loot to buy better gear. It's a simple but effective gameplay loop that kept me pretty happy for the six hours it took to finish. 

 

 

 

Previous 2022:

Spoiler

19/06 - Life is Strange: True Colours (Series X)

18/06 - Night Slashers (Arcade)

18/06 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (Series X)

19/06 - Life is Strange: True Colours (Series X)

17/06 - Gurumin - A Monstrous Adventure (PSP)

15/06 - Metamorphic Force (Arcade)

12/06 - Mickey to Donald: Magical Adventure 3 (SFC)

11/06 - Forza Horizon 5 (Series X)

10/06 - Sin and Punishment (N64)

10/06 - Yakuza 5 (Series X)

10/06 - Rushing Beat Ran (SFC)

09/06 - Musha Aleste (MD)

10/06 - Kururin Squash! (GC)

07/06 - Bananan Ouji no Daibouken/Banana Prince (FC)

07/06 - Pu·Li·Ru·La (Arcade)

05/06 - Ihatovo Monogatari / Stories of Ihatovo (SFC)

04/06 - Totsugeki! Ponkotsu Tank / Trax (GB)

03/06 - Ecco Jr (MD)

02/06 - Kirby 64 - The Crystal Shards (N64)

02/06 - Steamworld Quest - Hand of Gilgamech (Switch)

29/05 - Ikari no Yōsai/Operation Logic Bomb (SFC)

29/05 - I Am Dead (Switch)

29/05 - Pop'n Twinbee (SFC)

18/05 - Off Peak (Mac)

18/05 - Umurangi Generation (Series X)

13/05 - Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (Series X)

13/05 - New Super Luigi U (Switch)

11/05 - Wild Guns Reloaded (Switch)

10/05 - Fairune 2 (Switch)

09/05 - Steel Assault (Switch)

07/05 - Trek to Yomi (Series X)

05/05 - Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (Series X)

05/05 - Bugsnax (Series X)

10/04 - Scarlet Nexus (Series X)

09/04 - Kururin Paradise (GBA)

08/04 - Olija (Series X)

08/04 - Metroid Dread (Switch)

07/04 - GunValkyrie (Xbox)

05/04 - Bujingai (PS2)

01/04 - Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS)

29/03 - The Cave (360)

28/03 - A Memoir Blue (Series X)

27/03 - Blaster Master Zero II (Switch)

27/03 - Fairune Origin (Switch)

24/03 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All (Switch)

23/03 - Hyper Light Drifter (Switch)

21/03 - AI: The Somnium Files (Switch)

20/03 - Kaze no Notam/Notam of Wind (PS1)

20/03 - Flynn: Son of Crimson (Series X)

13/03 - Cyberpunk 2077 (Series X)

10/01 - Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master (Series X)

31/01 - Touhou Luna Nights (Series X)

28/01 - The Forgotten City (Series X)

26/01 - Poochy &  Yoshi's Woolly World (3DS)

17/01 - iS: Internal Section (PS1)

16/01 - New Pokemon Snap (Switch)

15/01 - Shinobi III (Mega Drive)

14/01 - Bulk Slash (Saturn)

13/01 - Densetsu no Stafy (GBA)

13/01 - Wolf Fang - Kuuga 2001 (PS1)

11/01 - Clock Tower - The First Fear (PS1)

11/01 - Finger Flashing (PS1)

10/01 - Mon Amour (Switch)

10/01- Psy-O-Blade (Mega Drive)

08/01 - Romeo + Juliet (Mac)

08/01 - BLACK BIRD (Switch)

04/01 - The Pedestrian (Series X)

03/01 - Paper Mario: The Origami King (Switch)

03/01 - Sonic Generations (Series X)

01/01 - How We Know We're Alive (Mac)