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Games Beaten 2016

Spirits of Xanadu - PC
Tales From the Borderlands: Episode 1 - PC
Operation C - Game Boy
That Dragon, Cancer - PC
Contra - NES
Super C - NES
Contra III - The Alien Wars - SNES
Tekken - PS1
The King of Fighters '99 - PS1
Street Fighter Alpha - PS1
Call of Duty: Black Ops III - PS4
Three Fourths Home - PC
Firewatch - PS4
Street Fighter V - PS4
Far Cry: Primal - PS4
Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax - PS3
BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma EXTEND - Xbox One
Android Assault Cactus - PS4
Table Top Racing - Vita
The Room - iOS
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle - PS3
The Room 2 - iOS
Broforce - PS4
Toybox Turbos - PC
Peggle 2 - PS4
R-Type (R-Type Dimensions) - 360
The Room 3 - iOS
Rampage - SMS
Doom (2016) - PS4
Dungeon Siege III - - 360
Uncharted 4 - A Thief's End - PS4
NES Remix - Wii U *new*
Moon Chronicles: Episode 1 - 3DS *new*

Total: 33

Previously: 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

Hey, my first Wii U and my first 3DS game of the year, back to back!

NES Remix is great - a fun way to revisit games that, frankly, makes many of them more enjoyable in this presentation than they typically are just on their own. I look forward to playing through the second one very soon.

Moon Chronicles: Episode 1 is a ok FPS for the 3DS, but its roots as a DS game show and there isn't really enough to it to compel me to buy the remaining four episodes (though I am open to arguments that I should...maybe if they pop up heavily discounted at some point I'll check them out). There are plenty of old school FPS ideas on display, but everything seems really very empty, the shooting feels inaccurate and boring, and the story is primarily told through reading messages found on consoles in the game. Given the developer, I was hoping for something closer to the Dementium series (but in space!), but the game didn't really deliver on that promise..

Games Beaten in 2016 So Far - 64

January (20 Games Beaten)


February (8 Games Beaten)


March (8 Games Beaten)


April (13 Games Beaten)


May (6 Games Beaten)


June (9 Games Beaten)


64. Gone Home - Playstation 4 - June 15



Gone Home is, in my opinion, the finest of what the relatively newly popularized "walking simulator" genre has to offer. This game is at once both grossly engaging and completely relaxed and laid back. It's also free for PS+ members right now (which is how I got it), and I STRONGLY encourage you to add it to your library while you can do so for free just on the off chance that you decide to give it a shot.



In Gone Home, you play as Katie, a girl who has just gotten back to her family's home in Oregon from a long trip to Europe in the middle of night (apparently late-night flights were cheaper). Being that this is 1995, cell phones weren't a thing (unless you count those god awful ugly and book-sized car phones like the one my mom used to have), so she has leaves a voicemail message on the house's answering machine that she'll be in late that night (apparently it was a short-notice plan change), but she gets home to find the house empty. Ooo, mysterious. Where are her mom and dad? Where is her little sister, Sam?



You go through the house at your own pace (and Jesus, this house is huge) as you explore each room, opening cabinets and (if you're like me) compulsively flushing every single toilet in the entire mansion. Along the way, you find little clues to the family's life and situation - here's the mom's work coat, here's a letter from the dad's boss, here's Sam's report card, etc. You also get to dig into some of the family's history, not all of which is sunshine and roses. The game takes place late at night, as I said, but also during an extremely severe thunderstorm, and as such, the electricity flickers a bit. Mix that with the fact that you're in a massive house all by yourself, and the atmosphere established can be downright creepy at times.



What really stood out to me most about this game was the attention to detail. You can pick up and examine things as insignificant as a roll of toilet paper, and that will likely lead most players to wasting a LOT of time examining EVERYTHING on the off chance that there's a clue or even just a random tidbit of information. There are a few "puzzles" - and I put that in quotes because it's a stretch to call it there - where you have to find locker combinations, some necessary to finish the game and some just supplemental for story. It also provides a subtle but effective glimpse into some of the social struggles of the mid-90s. To me, especially, this was interesting as I was a little kid during the mid-90s (I was three when this game takes place), so it gave a very personal view of a period I'd mostly only seen through the impersonal lens of academia.



What makes this story so engrossing (and it is EXTREMELY engrossing) is the truly smash-up job the writers do with characterization. By the middle of the game, you really start to feel like you're getting to know Sam (as most of the direct story and narration are provided through her journal entries). When you hear or read about something good that happens to her, you smile with her. You fear for her. Your heart breaks for her. Few games have made a character feel this REAL to me in the past. It's because of that that the ending of the game - the last ten or fifteen minutes if you're going through the game at a leisurely, exploratory pace - so emotionally straining. You're given vague mentions of what may have happened to Sam and your parents - suggestive enough to lead to some horrifying guesses but vague enough to have holes aplenty in any theory you devise.



Now this type of game is not for everyone. There are no enemies. There is no combat. There is no way to lose. This is a journey through the eyes of a girl 20+ years ago to find out why her family is mysteriously not at home when she gets back from an extended vacation. Did some tragic fate befall them, or is there a more benign answer waiting to be discovered? This game is very much how I imagine Myst would have been made had it been developed 20 years later. The feel I got playing this was very similar to the feel I got while playing Myst (minus the frustration at my inability to figure out what the fuck was going on on that god damn island). Regardless, I STRONGLY recommend that everyone give this game a try, especially if you have a Playstation 4 since it's free right now for Plus members. It won't be to everyone's liking, but those of you who like a game with well developed characters and a fascinating plot, you would be remiss to forego this one.

I felt that the ending was rather cut and dry, personally:

I'm a little surprised I even remember any details about the game, honestly. I suppose it was at least memorable. It was certainly a trip down memory lane, in terms of the setting. I also got a little spooked by investigating the upstairs, and finding the darkroom. I thought it was a bit too 'trope-a-topia' to be really exceptional, though. In terms of games in the "genre" I preferred Dear Esther, and especially The Stanley Parable.

The ending in Gone Home really reminded me of the end of Freaks and Geeks. I wonder if that's just me.

Yoshi's Woolly World (Wii U)

Hot damn, what a game. I went in expecting to like this game, but I had no idea HOW much I'd just freaking love it. The music, level design, the graphics, they're all absolutely fantastic. Every level feels like a totally different experience and never like they're just recycling the same ideas. Even levels in the same world follow a similar theme, but a lot of them have gimmicks all their own that are used to their fullest just in that level. Yoshi moves exactly how you want him to, and given that you can basically flutter jump infinitely if you practice your timings, there can be a lot of finesse in how you do the more difficult platforming.

This game also isn't afraid to get hard. The collectibles start getting hard to find just in world 2, and once you hit worlds 5 and 6, the normal levels start getting pretty challenging. Additionally, the extra 9th level unlocked in each world by collecting all of the flower in that world are always very challenging and very fun. The difficulty curve might not be the most forgiving thing for new players, but as a very experienced gamer, I really enjoyed it.

There are also badges you can activate before the start of a level. The powers they give range from eggs always being big, to immunity to lava, to moving faster. I only ever used the one that reveals hidden objects and the one that magnetizes items to you (to make some of the more difficult flower and yarn collection more bearable), but it's just so great that these let you make the game as difficult or as easy as you want it to be. I definitely wouldn't have enjoyed the game as much without them.

The Co-op feature also makes this game SO fun. I played through the first world with a friend who isn't a gamer at all, and she loved it! The woolly aesthetic just makes everything look so appealing. Even though she wasn't playing the best, she still just loved the woolly look and the yoshis and the great music. The mellow mode, where you can literally flutter jump infinitely, that you can turn on at ANY time is also another feature that was really kind to newer players and really enhanced our fun

Verdict: This is now my favorite Nintendo platformer ever. Better than Super Mario World, better than Super Mario 3. Now, it might not impress you quite that much, but if you like platformers at all, I cannot recommend this game enough.

Great review, PS. That game is high on my list of "most wanted" Wii U games.

...

First 25

26. Virtua Fighter Remix (SATURN)
27. Manos The Hands of Fate (iOS)
28. Virtua Fighter 2 (PS3)
29. Fighting Vipers (PS3)
30. Ikari Warriors (PS3)
31. Virtua Cop (SATURN)
32. Virtua Cop 2 (SATURN)
33. Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Director's Cut (iOS)
34. Virtua Racing (PS2)
35. Daytona USA (DC)

Daytona USA is a fantastic arcade racer, and the Dreamcast version is easily the best version of the game. The game is, as expected, very fast, very fun, and brimming with personality. Until I spent some time with it, however, I never understood how much "technique" is required to play it well. (You can't just hold the gas down all the way all the time?!) It actually took quite a bit of practice for me to reach the "goal" in each course, to beat all of the default times, and to roll the credits by placing first in one of the races. (I placed first on the 777 Speedway. Placing first on the other tracks is nearly impossible without unlocking more cars, and as much as I love the game, I am not sure that I have the patience to play it the 50-100 hours necessary to obtain all of them.)

Finally, the DC version of the game is full of extra features, making it the definitive version. In addition to the aforementioned extra cars, the game features normal, reverse, mirror, and mirror-reverse versions of every track in the arcade release, every track in the "circuit edition" release, and a several console-exclusive tracks. It also features a robust "championship mode" and (although it is likely inaccessible today) online play. Accordingly, for anyone interested in playing Daytona USA, I recommend the Dreamcast version above all others. (The HD version is also fine, it just lacks the Dreamcast versions extra features.)

Great to hear about Yoshi's Wooly World. I hope to get to my copy sometime in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, I took down a few more 3DS titles.

Games Beaten 2016

Spirits of Xanadu - PC
Tales From the Borderlands: Episode 1 - PC
Operation C - Game Boy
That Dragon, Cancer - PC
Contra - NES
Super C - NES
Contra III - The Alien Wars - SNES
Tekken - PS1
The King of Fighters '99 - PS1
Street Fighter Alpha - PS1
Call of Duty: Black Ops III - PS4
Three Fourths Home - PC
Firewatch - PS4
Street Fighter V - PS4
Far Cry: Primal - PS4
Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax - PS3
BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma EXTEND - Xbox One
Android Assault Cactus - PS4
Table Top Racing - Vita
The Room - iOS
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle - PS3
The Room 2 - iOS
Broforce - PS4
Toybox Turbos - PC
Peggle 2 - PS4
R-Type (R-Type Dimensions) - 360
The Room 3 - iOS
Rampage - SMS
Doom (2016) - PS4
Dungeon Siege III - - 360
Uncharted 4 - A Thief's End - PS4
NES Remix - Wii U
Moon Chronicles: Episode 1 - 3DS
Outrun 3D - 3DS *new*
Box Boy - 3DS *new*

Total: 35

Previously: 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

Outrun 3D is fantastic - easily my favorite of the Sega 3D games I've played (I picked up most of the ones not on the compilation recently on the eShop). I beat it on the normal/middle difficulty, which seems a bit easier than the Genesis version of the game. Apparently there's stuff to still unlock, so I will go back to this one from time to time.

Box Boy joins Gunman Clive as one of the most interesting titles Nintendo has produced in at least a decade or so, and a welcome new IP that I'd like to see more of. The puzzle-platformer is full of charm and challenge, and I hope to pick up the sequel when it hits later this month.

dsheinem wrote:Box Boy joins Gunman Clive as one of the most interesting titles Nintendo has produced

Nintendo produced Gunman Clive? I thought the game was solely produced by Hörberg Productions?

Exhuminator wrote:

dsheinem wrote:Box Boy joins Gunman Clive as one of the most interesting titles Nintendo has produced

Nintendo produced Gunman Clive? I thought the game was solely produced by Hörberg Productions?

You are right, I don't know why I thought it was a Nintendo IP!

Also, found out this came out! http://www.gamezone.com/news/gunman-cli ... -u-3420460

Exhuminator wrote:

dsheinem wrote:Box Boy joins Gunman Clive as one of the most interesting titles Nintendo has produced

Nintendo produced Gunman Clive? I thought the game was solely produced by Hörberg Productions?

That is correct.

Also, Boxboy is pretty great, and I am excited for the sequel, BOXBOXBOY!, which is scheduled for release on June 30. It will be a "Day 1" purchase for me.

Also, 3D OutRun is fantastic. I love it. If you don't have them yet, be sure to get the other 3D Sega arcade games (i.e., 3D After Burner II, 3D Space Harrier, 3D Hang On). They are all pretty great, and IMO, they are the best experience short of owning a cabinet. Also, be sure to grab 3D Fantasy Zone IIDX. The story behind its development is fascinating, and hardcoregaming101 listed as one of the 200 greatest games.

I saw BoxBoy in the Nintendo eShop sale and wondered what it was. Now I will definitely be getting it

Now that the semester of school is over, I was considering getting either Overwatch or a big ol' $50 card for the Nintendo eShop, so I can get Octodad to play with the reletives and FAST Racing NEO for going FAST. Just got one more tick towards the eShop card with BoxBoy though.