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The only Wario Land game I have played is 4, and despite some frustrating moments, I found the game, overall, to be fantastic. Also, I'm pretty sure lots of drugs were involved in its creation.

I like most of the Wario games, honestly. The first even has its charms. If you want something like it, though, but improved in almost every way, play the Virtual Boy game. That one was the first game I tracked down on obtaining the system.

Wario Land 3 ends up being fascinating, mostly because it takes the form of an exploratory platformer. You get new abilities, revisit areas, and so on. I think it lasts just a touch too long, but is still fantastic.

February
1. Metal Slug 3 (Vita)

March
2. My Name is Mayo (PS4) Replay
3. The Walking Dead (Vita) Replay

April
4. Killzone Mercenary (Vita)
5. Rivals of Aether (PC)

May
6. Metroid Samus Returns (3DS)
7. Pokemon White (DS) Replay
8. Mirrors Edge Catalyst (PC)
9. Consortium (PC)
10. Mass Effect 3: Citadel (PC)
11. Mass Effect 3: Omega (PC)
12. Mass Effect 3: Leviathan (PC)

June
13. Need for Speed: The Run (PC)
14. Tomb Raider 2013 (PC)
15. CounterSpy (PS4) Replay
16. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4)
17. Call of Duty World War 2 (PS4) NEW
18. inFamous Second Son (PS4) NEW

July
19. inFamous First Light (PS4) NEW
20. Journey (PS4) Replay NEW
21. Titan Souls (PS4 / Vita) NEW
22. The Unfinished Swan (PS4) Replay NEW
23. Deliriant (PS4) NEW
24. The Order: 1886 (PS4) NEW

From July onwards:

Fatal Fury 2 (Playstation 2) - 01/07/2018
Raguy (Neo Geo CD) - 02/07/2018
Mario's Tennis (Virtual Boy) - 03/07/2018
Assault Android Cactus (Xbox One) - 05/07/2018
Fatal Fury Special (Playstation 2) - 05/07/2018
Sengoku (Xbox One) - 05/07/2018
Virtual Boy Wario Land (Virtual Boy) - 06/07/2018

1. Ultima V - PC
2. Ultima VI - PC
3. Might and Magic VI - PC
4. Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny - PC
5. Pool of Radiance - PC
6. Curse of the Azure Bonds - PC
7. Secret of the Silver Blades - PC
8. Pools of Darkness - PC
9. Gateway to the Savage Frontier - PC
10. Treasures of the Savage Frontier - PC
11. Champions of Krynn - PC
12. Death Knights of Krynn - PC
13. Dark Queen of Krynn - PC
14. Into the Breach - PC
15. Lords of the Realm - PC
16. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands - PC
17. Lords of the Realm II - PC
18. The Alliance Alive - 3DS
19. Shattered Steel - PC
20. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition - PC
21. Battletech - PC
22. Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part I - PC
23. Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part II - PC
24. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - Switch
25. Pillars of Eternity II - PC
26. Dragon Ball FighterZ - PS4
27. Detroit: Become Human - PC4
28. Call of Duty: United Offensive - PC
29. The Last of Us - PS4
30. The Last of Us: Left Behind - PS4
31. Prey: Mooncrash - PC
32. Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds - PS4
33. Resident Evil 7 - PC
34. Resident Evil 7: Not A Hero - PC
35. Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War III - PC
36. Overwhelm - PC

At one point in the E3 PC Gaming Showcase they showed a trailer video from a new publisher named "Untitled Publisher"; their shtick is that no one cares about publishers, they care about developers. Of the three games shown, Overwhelm caught my eye both due to its unique presentation and the fact it was out with a launch discount as of the conference. I snagged it and was not disappointed.

Overwhelm is a pixel platformer that takes has Metroidvania inspired platforming, but it isn't actually a Metroidvania. Instead, you have this central hub that you start in and can go along five different paths to the five bosses. These paths also have some connections with each other besides your hub, and there is a fair amount of verticality in it. But each path is still fairly linear and also fairly short. You have a gun with 99 bullets, a jump, a wall jump, and a shoryuken that serves as your double jump. With these tools you need to kill all five bosses and bring their crystals back to your hub. You can replenish about 40 bullets (it's a random variance) with a single use pickup outside the boss room and all your ammo at the hub; it's enough that you have to be aware of your ammo count, but not so much that you start trying to avoid killing the enemies in your way that pose a threat.

The twist is that in this game, when you kill a boss all the enemies get stronger, while you get no benefit. This comes in two flavors. The first is that each boss causes a new type of enemy to start spawning in the world. At the start there are simple hopping scorpions and flying bugs (and slow moving jellyfish in the water area). This gets augmented with poison lobbing scorpions, scorpions that can climb surfaces, fast swimming jellyfish, fast moving flyers, and invincible large charging enemies (though they can be stopped mid charge with a punch to save yourself). The other is that the bosses all get more health and the ability to spawn monsters to slow you down.

You only get three lives, though they are replenished in two instances. The first is when you beat a boss and grab its gem; the second is when you turn that gem in to the hub. If you die while holding a gem you will drop it and need to collect it after you respawn. Additionally, after a death the edges of your screen turn black; think of it like a tunnel vision effect. When you're on your last life this will actually be a narrow enough portal that you can't see your ammo counter, though there is an audio cue at two stages of "low ammo". Enemy spawns are fixed placement, random existence. So there are a bunch of spots (that you quickly learn) where an enemy CAN be, but you don't know if an enemy is actually there or not until you get there. These get changed up once you do a screen transition, so you are never safe. Combined with the lack of music (outside boss rooms) and fantastic ambient sound and you have a very atmospheric game that keeps you from ever feeling safe. Another thing to keep in mind is that you have a recharge period if you fire three shots rapidly, so panic firing can get you killed.

It's a fantastic little indie game, and I highly recommend it if you enjoy hard games.

The List So Far:

21. Kyūyaku Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei [SFC][Translation: DDSTranslation]


My Games Beaten file is telling me I beat this game on May 30, 2018. It doesn't feel like it was that long ago, but in the meantime my life has taken some sudden and unexpected changes; unexpected in the same way one might be unexpectedly accosted and left for dead in a ditch. I guess time flies when you're in a constant state of anxiety and depression. But dammit my (undeclared) resolution this year was to do a write up for each game I beat, and sometimes you just do what it takes to soldier on. So here's my review of Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei, such as it is.

First some errata. So Kyūyaku Megami Tensei is a Super Famicom compilation containing the first two Megami Tensei games which were originally released on Famicom. The games were 'remastered' for this release which features 16 bit graphical upgrades and some quality of life improvements including a save feature as opposed to the older password system. I've only seen screen shots of the original Famicom games, but based on that I can say that the 16 bit graphics are a really nice enhancement to the original graphics.



In terms of game play, what we have here is a decidedly old-school, grid based, grind heavy, first person dungeon crawler. Thankfully there's an auto-map feature which fills in as you explore various areas of the dungeon. All the same it can still prove useful to map by hand due to the fact that the auto map only provides an indication of major land marks (mostly shops and save locations), rather than various teleport locations, pitfalls, spinning tiles, and the locations of fixed encounters. Like all quality first-person dungeon crawlers, Megami Tensei doubles down on the exploration elements, and it's largely successful in this regard. It feels rewarding (and is often essential) to completely fill in the map for a given part of the dungeon. More than once I wished for a bit more visual variety between and within the various areas of the dungeon, but what's there is satisfying enough.

The exposition and story elements present in Megami Tensei are a bit on the light side. With regards to the overarching plot you're given a few explanatory scenes at the beginning of the game, from which point forward you set off on your adventure. Character motivation and plot development all take a back seat to exploration and mechanics. I was a bit disappointed in this aspect to be honest. For a series that would develop a deep codex of surrounding lore, its genesis in Megami Tensei seems a bit paltry by comparison. It's almost as if the developers and (perhaps even more pertinently) the translators assumed the player would have familiarity with the source material before playing. And perhaps that's not entirely farfetched considering that these first two games are considered to be an extension of the original novels and subsequent OVA. Essentially what we're dealing with here are games based on a licensed property so perhaps an expectation of foreknowledge regarding the source material is to be expected on some level. And you do get glimpses of world building here. Minor plot points advancing the player through the dungeon are well executed via the interesting cast of mythological characters both well-known and obscure. Oddly it's the development of a grander story arc that's missing from all but the opening and the final scenes of the game. From a narrative perspective in this capacity Megami Tensei is less an 'epic quest' and more an exercise in moving from point to point.



Where this game really shines, and dare I say was even ahead of its time, is in regards to its mechanics. In light of its age, there is a surprising amount of depth here. The game really hinges on whether you'll find enjoyment in capturing demons and subsequently fusing various combinations of demons to create even more powerful demons. 'Capturing' might not be the right word to use here. In order to enlist demons, you'll engage in negotiations in which various demons reacting differently to different negotiation strategies. Various factors will impact your success in this capacity including allocation of key stats as well as the current phase of the moon (phase of the moon actually impacts a number of factors in the game). All the same, most negotiations will end with you somehow bribing demons to join you. So it's in this regard that Megami Tensei really shines. If this sounds fun, there's a good chance you'll have a good time here. One other excellent feature in which this game stands out is its soundtrack. Over time this series has become known for quality soundtracks and even in this early incarnation you can easily see why.



Megami Tensei was an interesting experience. I wouldn't necessarily say it's a full-on 'fun' experience (though it did have its moments), so much as it's a rewarding one. If you're a fan of the series, this translation is worth looking into, likewise if you're a fan of old-school first-person dungeon crawlers.

This might be the last game I play for a while. I just haven't been in the mood, and I really had to force myself to circle back and complete this review. I'm hoping that will change, but we'll see. In the end I triumphed over the demons. In the end the demons won. Catch ya on the flip.

Hope you're okay dude. Good luck with everything.

Keep it strong brother!

Edit:
Fatal Fury 2 (Playstation 2) - 01/07/2018
Raguy (Neo Geo CD) - 02/07/2018
Mario's Tennis (Virtual Boy) - 03/07/2018
Assault Android Cactus (Xbox One) - 05/07/2018
Fatal Fury Special (Playstation 2) - 05/07/2018
Sengoku (Xbox One) - 05/07/2018
Virtual Boy Wario Land (Virtual Boy) - 06/07/2018
Real Bout Fatal Fury (Playstation 4) - 06/07/2018
Call of Duty: Black Ops III (Playstation 4) - 07/07/2018
Got it free with PS Plus and i've been playing it this week, finished on Hardened and although i liked the gameplay a lot, this story while not annoying as other future COD is repetitive and it drags the experience down at the last stages, good game though.
Flash reflexes are required to play online

Sorry to hear that you've been going through a rough patch, null. I had my own bout with disinterest in playing video games, for a bit not that long ago. I hope you'll be able to work your way out of it before long, or that you find the help you need, if you need some.

Great review of Megami Tensei! I enjoyed reading it very much. I just hope it didn't lead you into your present state. In terms of the story, I can't disagree with you, but I kind of like to keep it in the context of the time of its release: The Famicom version came out in September of '87, just a year after the original Dragon Quest, and a full three months before Final Fantasy and Phantasy Star. Of all of those games, Megami Tensei's story is the most interesting to me, personally, but you're right in that the story seems like a bit of an afterthought. If you end up continuing with the series, Megami Tensei II, and Shin Megami Tensei will have much more of a focus on a full, fleshed out story. Shin Megami Tensei also begins the Chaos, Neutral, and Lawful story paths, and both of them ramp up the monster melding, with combinations of two or three monsters. It's just a shame that the SNES remake of Megami Tensei II doesn't really hold up to the original, with it's much slower pace of play, and not really doing the original OST justice. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGEzqWGp2WA&t=1367s)

Games Beaten in 2018 So Far - 78
* denotes a replay

January (16 Games Beaten)


February (18 Games Beaten)


March (10 Games Beaten)


April (7 Games Beaten)


May (6 Games Beaten)


June (20 Games Beaten)


July (1 Game Beaten)


78. Broforce - PlayStation 4 - July 4



This review is a few days late, but this was my yay America game last Wednesday. To celebrate Independence Day for the United States, Jerome and I played through all of Broforce start to finish. I wasn't really sure what to expect going in, but after all of about thirty seconds, I was saying "Dear god, literally everything about this game is perfect." And it's true. This is the most perfect and accurate portrayal of the core of the American spirit. And I don't necessarily mean that as a compliment.



Broforce is a pixel art run and gun shooter that brilliantly caricatures American foreign policy and our general "shoot first, ask questions maybe sometime but don't get your hopes up" attitude. It's fun no matter what, but it's definitely best enjoyed with local multiplayer. The plot is absolutely amazing. You're part of an elite American military unit going around the world to deliver freedom and democracy whether folks want it or not. Just as you're starting to run out of terrorists to kill, ALIENS SHOW UP AND INVADE. Of course, being the world's enforcer of justice, America steps in and deploys the Broforce to kick some alien ass. BUT THEN SATAN SHOWS UP. It's stupid. It's beautifully, brilliantly, gloriously stupid.



The visuals are pretty plain being pixel art and all, but they get the detail right in all the right places. Each "bro" on the Broforce is a parody of an action movie hero. You've got Bronan the Brobarian, Brochete, The Boondock Bros, Brommando, Rambro, Broheart, the Brolander, Double Bro Seven....it's amazing. All of the characters are extremely fitting representations of the people they're based on, and the fact that you don't get to choose your bro - you just spawn as a random bro - can be annoying at first but ends up forcing you to use all of the bros and really makes you appreciate the comedic effort that went into the game's development.



The music and sound effects are amazing. Guns have satisfying effects, the music is over the top and awesome, and the explosions look and sound glorious. The gore and blood spray from dead enemies is absolutely fantastic and will definitely please your inner psychopath. As great as the gameplay is, though, the best part is definitely the writing. Each mission has a short blurb giving you some context for why you're going there. They start off sounding reasonable - terrorists are trying to steal weapons or something - and then quickly descend into (depressingly accurate) ridiculousness like "These people are different from us! Kill them!"



I really can't heap enough praise on Broforce. It truly is the greatest multiplayer experience I've had in a LONG time. It's fun, it's hilarious, it's challenging but not (usually) outright BS, and it's a perfect couch co-op game. I can't recommend this highly enough. Download it. Doesn't matter if it's PlayStation, PC, or - once the port is finished and released - Switch. Just buy it. Play it. Love it. BROFORCE!