Games Beaten 2017

[BogusMeatFactory]

1. Captain Toad (WiiU)
2. Lost: Via Domus (PS3)
3. Modnation Racers (PS3)
4. Tron: Evolution (PS3)
5. Dead Rising (PC)
6. Fire Emblem Heroes (Android)
7. Yoshi’s Wooly World (Wii U)
8. Stanley Parable (PC)
9. Lone Wolf: Flight From the Dark (Android)
10. Lone Wolf: Fire on the Water (Android)
11. Lone Wolf: The Caverns of Kalte (Android)
12. Lone Wolf: The Chasm of Doom (Android)
13. Lone Wolf: Shadow on the Sand (Android)
14. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
15. LoneWolf: Kingdoms of Terror(Android)
16. Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties (PC)
17. King’s Quest IV (PC)
18. Shovel Knight (PC)
19. The 7th Guest (PC)
20. 1, 2, Switch! (Switch)
21. The Longet Journey (PC)
22. Plague Knight (Switch)
23. Steamworld Dig (Wii U)
24. Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (PC)
25. Dragon Quest VIII (3DS) 26. Shovel Knight: Specter Of Torment (Switch)
27. Puyo Puyo Tetris (Switch) 28. Mega Man 2 (NES Classic)
29. Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon (PC) 30. Sorcery! (Android)
31. Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (PC)
32. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
33. God of War (PS3)
34. Bad Apples (Android)
35. Sonic Mania (Switch)
36. Star Fox (SNES Classic)
37. Mario x Rabbids (Switch)
38. Golf Story (Switch)\

Star Fox - So I got an SNES Classic on launch and was very eager to dive right in. A little background here... I have played an insanely small amount of SNES games in my life, having only beaten Earthbound, A Link to the Past, Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country, so the library is pretty much open for me to experience. Before diving into Star Fox 2, I needed to at least play and beat the first. I had an absolute blast with this; much more so than I was expecting. The framerates that people mock were not an issue for me in the slightest. I had the aiming down and found no real issues with the controls. I took the middle path and the only real obstacle I came across was the mid-boss in the final stage right before fighting Andross. That thing was a pain in my behind, but I was able to overcome it with some perseverance. I plan on doing the other paths as well and finding out how to unlock the SUPER SECRET PATH!

Mario x Rabbids - Hearing that folks were burning out on Mario x Rabbids, I decided to take my time with the game and let it simmer, taking breaks from play from time to time and it really paid off. This game is absolutely fantastic and has tons of charm with its X-COM-Lite mechanics. As you get further along in the game, the synergy of each characters movesets shine and you start blazing the trail with a sense of destructive power. I loved the little rabbid twists on popular characters and never found their humor to be annoying, since the bulk of it is viewable through optional scenes in the background of stages. The plot is very inconsequential and doesn't even really come to a definitive conclusion, making me guess that there is more I can do after the credits roll. We will see, but for now I beat the final boss and had a blast with it!

Golf Story - This game came out a few weeks ago and it has quickly garnered some attention and formed a cult following. The game is a 16-bit style Golf RPG where you play a man who decides to follow his dreams and attempt to become a pro golfer. The road was paved with arduous climates, incompetent necromancers, elderly elitists and snow ninjas to name a few. The game itself is a typical tri-click golf game, but with the added twist of side-quests, xp, levels and skill points to beef up your character. The side-quests are really the bulk of what you experience, with lots of accuracy challenges, as well as running obstacle courses, treasure hunting, disc golfing and a whole bunch more. The game features a lot of charm with its visual style and humor, even though said humor is a bit hit or miss in some instances with only one real moment of genuine laughter. The scenarios themselves are what are truly entertaining as you get put into a bevy of ridiculous situations that can only be solved one way... with GOLF! My only gripe is that a lot of the sidequests start to get monotonous near the end a sI started to eagerly anticipate finishing the game. Also, understanding the slopes of the green are difficult as they only use a small arrow indicator to show its contours. Most times I opted to stay outside of the green just to pitch it in easier. I wish I could go into detail about the events that make this game special and enjoyable, but that would be spoiling it. Just know that it doesn't stray from the supernatural or absurd and revels in such silliness. It isn't the greatest game alive, nor is it a MUST HAVE. If you enjoy golf games, or really oddball experiences, the game is a lot of fun and absolutely worth the $15 asking price. If you are looking for something to play on the switch, it is definitely a welcomed indie exclusive. It also features local multiplayer for up to 2 players (why only 2 I have no idea). Check it out!

[pierrot]

It's good to see you love a game so strongly Pierrot. Although you touched on none of the things that really bug people about BoF5. Not saying they're right though, I haven't played it yet myself.

I don't necessarily think of this thread as a space for me to dissect games, though. I really just approach it as a place to keep a list, and maybe share some thoughts on beating something. I also feel like I've droned on considerably about BoFV over the past week or so, and run the risk of fatiguing the community. (I started playing a second loop already, though. There's no fatigue on my end.)

Honestly, there's not a lot I feel like I can say in rebuttal to the ways people are annoyed by BoFV. I just don't think most of the critiques hold much merit. Here's a decent tale of reformation, though--and the comments are also full of them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyGT80mFHHM (Many spoilers.)

I can't really help that a lot of people won't give the game the time of day because of how different it is from the rest of the series. I think it's kind of short sighted, but so be it. I also don't know what to say to people who want a larger cast, other than that it would probably ruin the balance in the game, and lessen the impact of the interactions between the main characters. I don't know how to react to people who think that the most OP dragon form of any Breath of Fire game--by a landslide--shouldn't be balanced with serious repercussions. I also don't think that the game is all that heavy handed when someone does actually back himself into a corner. In terms of mechanics, I honestly have no idea what there is to complain about, if one actually takes the time to read the manual, and learn how to play the game. I don't know, maybe that's just the tabletop gamer in me talking.

I suppose the story is a matter of taste. I don't find the characters' motivations to be unclear. There are certainly many layers to the narrative, and sorting all of it out is not a simple matter of course, but I like that there's plenty of room for interpretation, and that the characters' motivations aren't explicitly stated, verbatim, by the characters themselves. That would be terrible writing.

[Xeogred]

The difficulty curve is pretty steep with Star Fox's second and third routes. Good luck! The level variety is awesome so if you enjoyed it it's worth seeing the other routes for sure.

pierrot: Nice write up. I'm glad you love BoF5 and want people to play it, but I say that about BoF4.

[Exhuminator]

73. Master of Darkness | Sega Master System version | 7/10



I'll just get this right out of the way immediately; Master of Darkness is SEGA's ripoff of Castlevania. It began life in Japan as a 1992 GameGear release called "In The Wake of Vampire". However this GameGear title was later upscaled for western markets as "Master of Darkness", and published for Sega Master System. Master of Darkness also released on GameGear in the west as well. Many years later, Master of Darkness received a 3DS Virtual Console release too. Despite having so many release variants, Master of Darkness remains obscure to many retro gamers even today.

So you play as a ouija board loving psychologist named Dr. Ferdinand Social. Dr. Social is seeking to defeat Dracula, because the good doctor's ouija board told him that Dracula is causing problems in London. (Problems like Jack the Ripper for instance.) Have you ever played a NES Castlevania? Well then, you've played Master of Darkness. Albeit Master of Darkness isn't as polished as any NES Castlevania. Master of Darkness does try to impress with storyboard cutscenes, but its level and enemy design are repetitive too often. The difficulty overall is fairly low, but the adventure will still take you over an hour due to its length. Graphically and aurally, Master of Darkness gets the job done, but is hardly exemplary in either category. But at least Dr. Social can change direction in midair after he's jumped!

Should you play Master of Darkness? Well, if you're a fan of oldschool Castlevania, and you've already beaten Rusty on the PC-98, then sure. Master of Darkness won't blow you away, but it is a consistently engaging experience. If nothing else you might enjoy the goofy localization (one boss yells at you for "hindering him"). My biggest complaint are the stupid bats. Trust me, you'll learn to hate the bats! (I curse the programmer who scripted their movement routines.) If you're looking for a decent Halloween platformer to play on your 3DS (or GameGear, or Master System), step on up and master this darkness. It's not every day you see a game's end credits spelled out by a ouija board.

[Sarge]

I wrote about this for the Sega GameSpite Journal. It's pretty good, but not to the level of Castlevania. You pretty much nailed what I ended up mentioning.

http://gamespite.net/2012/11/17/gamespite-journal-12-3/

[Exhuminator]

74. Musya: The Classic Japanese Tale of Horror | 2/10



Developed by Jorudan (best known for Screaming Mad George's Paranoiascape), this obscure SNES platformer was released in North America in December 1992. That means at least one unlucky kid got this excuse for a video game for Christmas. I pity your life that day kid. So what's the plot here? Imoto the Japanese pikeman must save the maiden Shizuka from the Evil One in the Abyss. I think this game's plot hearkens back to Japanese mythology, I don't know. I do know all the enemies in Musya are designed to look like classic Japanese monsters, while backgrounds attempt to evoke a spooky atmosphere. Yes the artists did their job, but that's about it. So the gameplay has Imoto going through various stages defeating enemies and stage bosses with his spear. Imoto can both thrust and spin his spear to attack enemies. He can also use 5 different magic spells, such as Thunder and Flame, which kill all the enemies on the screen (but usually don't damage bosses). For some reason Imoto can also do a Legend of Kage style jump, but it rarely works well.

That's the gist of the gameplay, except the gameplay is terrible. We're talking floaty physics, overly aggressive enemies that move way too fast, terrible collision detection, amateur level design (that starts repeating halfway through), and audio engineering so bad it boggles the ears. You'd think a game like this would have creepy music right? Nope. There is no way anybody on the development team could have thought this was actually a decent game. As a matter of fact, the credits cite "DINO RIDER" as the name of the game designer. Obviously he was too embarrassed to put his actual name down, whereas everyone else took credit for their part. Not that they should have. I only finished this pile of crud just to see how bad it could get, and I was not disappointed in that regard. If you've never heard of Musya for SNES, there's a very good reason. Musya is a tale of horror alright, a tale of horrible game design that is.

[Sarge]

Oh man, I think I played that game for a bit not long ago. I was not impressed.

[Segata]

Yeah, I have a boxed copy. it's an awful game but I strangely enjoyed it.


Anyhoo, I just beat Raiden V Directors Cut on PS4. Not as good as Raiden IV but still excellent. My only real complaint is the stuff on the borders. It's a mess of stuff. It looks neat but mostly useless. I also can't pay attention to what those characters are saying when playing a bullet hell. The OST is fantastic. Again not quite as good as IV but still damn fine. Really loved the game and was worth the wait. When I am truly finished with Dragon's Dogma I will do a no bomb run and all the good stuff. Oh, and every copy coming with the OSt CD is awesome like IV.

[Sarge]

Some games are like that. I've played some objectively awful games, quite a few in the last year, but still managed to eke out some fun from them. That weird pirate Golden Axe III game on NES comes to mind. In truth, it's pretty terrible, but there was something about finding out the programming quirks and using them to my advantage that made it more fun than it should have been.

[Exhuminator]

I've played some objectively awful games, quite a few in the last year, but still managed to eke out some fun from them.

I know what you mean, I have a soft spot for some stinkers myself. Normally I wouldn't have bothered finishing a game like Musya, but I was truly interested in seeing how bad it would get. It got bad. I don't hand out 2/10s unless I really mean it.

I only played Musya because I've been seeking out retro games with a "horror" slant, due to it being October. Since I'm avoiding games of this ilk I've already beaten*, I'm down to playing the more esoteric stuff. In regards to 8 and 16-bit gaming, a lot of what I've found has been platformers, so I'm beat them quickly as they're short.

*That means the obviously good stuff like Gargoyle's Quest/Demon's Crest, the Castlevanias, Ghouls 'n Ghosts etc. are out the window.