Games Beaten 2019

[prfsnl_gmr]

Awesome reviews, guys. I’ve always been curious about Shining Force III since I love most of Camelot’s other output.

@markies

Good work getting through PSIII. I just started the second generation (which sounds like a slog...), but I took a break to play some games for this month’s TR. I should be back to it soon, and I’d like to be through it and it’s sewuel before the end of the summer.

[Flake]

January Games:
Megaman (Switch)
Megaman 2 (Switch)
Megaman 3 (Switch)
Megaman 4 (Switch)
Megaman 5 (Switch)
Megaman 6 (Switch)
Megaman 7 (Switch)
Megaman 8 (Switch)
Megaman 9 (Switch)
Megaman 10 (Switch)
Kirby's Dreamland (Wii)
Time Spinner (PS4)

February Games:

Megaman Legends (PSTV)
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne (PSTV)
Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)

March Games:

Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)
Mario Galaxy (Wii)

April

Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS4)

May

Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope (Switch)
Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows (Switch)
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (PS4)
Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment (Switch)
Castlevania (Switch)
Dragonball Xenoverse 2 (Switch)
Sonic Forces (Switch)

June

SNK: Heroines (Switch)
Cadence of Hyrule (Switch)
Saint's Row The Third (Switch)

As someone who adores Crypt of the Necrodancer despite being bad at it, Cadence of Hyrule is everything I wanted it to be. Same gameplay, a little more accessible, randomly generated dungeons and overworld, great music, can ACTUALLY PLAY AS ZELDA, and a surprisingly good storyline. CoH is not a game I think Nintendo could have made on their own, to be absolutely honest. I think that Brace Yourself games brought that unique indie creativity along with a whimsy that Nintendo only allows itself to have with newer IP before their 'identity' is set in stone. I still don't have a clue what was added to the coffee machine at Nintendo HQ for them to pitch this opportunity to the creators of Crypt of the Necrodancer but I am so glad they did.

I'm not really sure where my headspace was when I bought Saint's Row The Third on Switch. I've never played a game in the series, I don't really like Grand Theft Auto esque games and I especially don't enjoy super violent games. I am happy I made an exception, though. Saint's Row 3 was a real blast. The over the top violence was so over the top that it became cartoonish and enjoyable again. Over the top describes this game perfectly, actually. Jumping into a miltary VTOL, jetting off, jumping out right before it crashes into a sky scraper, parachuting into a gun fight between two rival gangs, calling down an air strike on everyone, and then racing around a corner to purchase both a boob job and the plastic surgeon's office because then people will stop shooting at me. That's like 5 minutes of gameplay. TOPS. I don't know if this genre will be one I revisit often but I had a blast.

[MrPopo]

1. Octopath Traveler - Switch
2. Dusk - PC
3. Forsaken Remastered - PC
4. Tales of Eternia - PS1
5. Resident Evil 2 (2019) - PC
6. Pokémon Trading Card Game - GBC
7. Metro Exodus - PC
8. Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales - PC
9. Project Warlock - PC
10. Magic: The Gathering - PC
11. Ghost 1.0 - PC
12. Call of Duty 2 - PC
13. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - PS4
14. Revelations: The Demon Slayer - GBC
15. Mechstermination Force - Switch
16. Shadow Warrior Classic Redux - PC
17. Lost Sphear - Switch
18. Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal - PC
19. Dragon Quest III - NES
20. Rage 2 - PC
21. Blood - PC
22. Harvest Moon 64 - N64
23. Battlefield V - PC
24. Sigil - PC
25. Shining Force III: Scenario 2 - Saturn
26. Shining Force III: Scenario 3 - Saturn
27. Borderlands 2: Commander Lillith and the Fight for Sanctuary - PC

So as part of the Borderlands 3 reveal Gearbox put out some free DLC for Borderlands 2 to sort of bridge things to the next game. What can I say about it? Well, it's free, and it's short. It's not strong like Assault on Dragon Keep, but it doesn't drag on like Sir Hammerlock's and the actual bad guy has relevance. It also doesn't really do much of a job of bridging the stories. You ended Borderlands 2 with a map to other Vaults, you end this going "yeah, we're totally going to go to the other Vaults this time for realz!" The trailer for Borderlands 3 has Lilith mention she lost her Siren powers; this DLC doesn't explain how that happened. About the only thing it does is mention that Scooter died off screen, but I'm sure Borderlands 3 would do the same. I guess the best thing I can say is that Tiny Tina is in the game for one mission and appropriately hams it up, so I guess that's a positive. It's one outdoor area and four small indoor areas, so it's not much of a time commitment. If you want to get back in the swing of Borderlands before the sequel you might as well snag this.

[Markies]

Awesome reviews, guys. I’ve always been curious about Shining Force III since I love most of Camelot’s other output.

@markies

Good work getting through PSIII. I just started the second generation (which sounds like a slog...), but I took a break to play some games for this month’s TR. I should be back to it soon, and I’d like to be through it and it’s sewuel before the end of the summer.

I would say I did the most grinding in the first generation, so that was probably the slowest part.

But, yes, the second generation can be a slog. You will be backtracking and repeating the same places over and over again. It's not exactly the most exciting experience in the world, but it would be great to play an hour or so before bed to wind down.

I look forward to hearing about Phantasy Star IV. Much like most people, that game is the reason I have wanted to continue the series.

[Ack]

Hey Pops, can I do the new DLC for Borderlands 2 right from the start, or do I need a character who has beaten the game? I'm curious about it, but I don't want to have to replay the game for one short DLC.

[MrPopo]

I'm not sure how the level scaling with it works. I have a character that's still at the end of the first playthrough (never did the NG+) for doing the various DLC stories, so I used that character. When you start the DLC it does say that the events are set after the game and gives you a chance to back out so you don't spoil anything for yourself if it's your first time through the game.

[MrPopo]

1. Octopath Traveler - Switch
2. Dusk - PC
3. Forsaken Remastered - PC
4. Tales of Eternia - PS1
5. Resident Evil 2 (2019) - PC
6. Pokémon Trading Card Game - GBC
7. Metro Exodus - PC
8. Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales - PC
9. Project Warlock - PC
10. Magic: The Gathering - PC
11. Ghost 1.0 - PC
12. Call of Duty 2 - PC
13. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - PS4
14. Revelations: The Demon Slayer - GBC
15. Mechstermination Force - Switch
16. Shadow Warrior Classic Redux - PC
17. Lost Sphear - Switch
18. Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal - PC
19. Dragon Quest III - NES
20. Rage 2 - PC
21. Blood - PC
22. Harvest Moon 64 - N64
23. Battlefield V - PC
24. Sigil - PC
25. Shining Force III: Scenario 2 - Saturn
26. Shining Force III: Scenario 3 - Saturn
27. Borderlands 2: Commander Lillith and the Fight for Sanctuary - PC
28. Gato Roboto - Switch

Gato Roboto is a delightful little Metroidvania starring a cat in power armor. I first played the demo back at PAX last year and knew I had to have it once it came out for real. It's a perfect bite-sized Metroidvania that has some nice platforming and ability usage, though it is on the short end. My blind playthrough 100% was just under 3 hours.

The basic plot (and it is a basic plot) has Gary, a member of space police or something, get a distress call from a planet in his patrol sector, and as he goes in to investigate his kitty Kiki jumps on the control panel and crashes the ship. Gary is pinned under debris and so Kiki has to go save the day. Fortunately, the planet is equipped with power armor, so every time you get to a save point you can hop into the armor and go blasting. Gary serves as your mission control, and it never stops being slightly surreal that he keeps talking to a cat who can't say anything but "Meow".

The game's aesthetic goes for a Game Boy look. The game is very stark white on black with large tile-based sprites and environments. You will unlock other color palettes if you go exploring, but it never stops being some form of two color. I personally went with the green on black, which gave it a bit of a Metroid II on the original brick feel. The only problem with the aesthetics is sometimes you'll run into enemies without realizing it; this is usually with the sessile plant enemies that can blend into the background if you aren't really paying attention.

Kiki in her mech suit has a distinct number of hits which can only be restored at save points, so you can't just take hits willy nilly. She starts with a short range cannon that is semi-automatic, then picks up missiles, a few movement options, and eventually a couple of optional upgrades to her cannon (rapid fire and damage boost). She also can hop out of the mech; this is the replacement for the morph ball. When you are running around as just a cat you die in one hit, but you also can climb walls (and wall jump off them), get through narrow corridors, and swim (after much protest). There will be several instances where you will have to jump out to get around an obstacle which will be resolved at the end of the map, and while doing so take note of any breakable blocks; you'll be able to come back once you finish the map objective with your mech and that's where you can find health upgrades and color palettes. They won't always be marked on the map, so you'll have to have a good memory.

The game is objective based (go to a map, complete a task which unlocks the ability to progress through some barrier) and doesn't really have a lot of obvious room for sequence breaking like in Super Metroid. The devs elected to instead focus on having fun platforming and having the level open up as you get through it, as well as being able to go back and collect things you missed. There's not a lot of collectables, and for the most part they're pretty easy to find. The boss fights are quite challenging; you'll need to memorize patterns and react quickly in order to get through without dying, as the bosses have a lot of health compared to Kiki's mech.

Like I said, it's a short game, but it's fun and satisfying. And it's got a charm all of its own.

[lordb0rb4]

Mr. Popo, well done, very goodl selection of games.
Glad you enjoyed Project Warlock, picked up day 1 and finished the same week,just loved it too.

[PartridgeSenpai]

Partridge Senpai's 2019 Beaten Games:
Previously: 2016 2017 2018
* indicates a repeat

1. Night Slashers (Switch)
2. Bye-Bye BOXBOY! (3DS)
3. GTA4: The Ballad of Gay Tony (Xbox 360)
4. Katamari Forever (PS3)
5. Detention (PS4)
6. Donkey Kong 64 (N64) *
7. OctoDad: Dadliest Catch (PS4) *
8. FlintHook (Switch)
9. God of War (PS4)
10. God of War HD (PS3)
11. Tiny Barbarian DX (Switch)
12. God of War 2 HD (PS3)
13. Starlink (Switch)
14. Shin Gundam Musou (PS3)
15. Battle & Get! Pokemon Typing DS (DS)
16. Banjo-Kazooie (N64) *
17. Super Mario 64: Rumble Edition (N64)
18. Mario Party 3 (N64) *
19. Paper Mario (N64) *
20. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) *
21. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (GBC) *
22. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (GBC) *
23. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (GBC) *

24. Yoshi's Island (SNES) *
25. Super Mario World (SNES) *

Replayed a few beloved games from my childhood on my SNES Classic and then on my SFC Mini, which I bought earlier this week. Not much to really say about them. They're still fantastic. And I was even able to do a 100% run of Mario World in under 3 hours this time! Like a half an hour faster than last time, according to my SNES Classic timer XP. Yoshi's Island is definitely harder than I remember though.

26. Super Mario RPG (SFC) *

Though I have beaten the game on the SNES several times (this is probably my 4th time beating this game), this was my first time beating it in Japanese! I bought the SFC Mini almost entirely to have a convenient easy way to play this game XD . I enjoyed Paper Mario so much in Japanese that I really wanted to see the localization of the previous game, and it was great fun just like Paper Mario was~. This time I played through with a team of Bowser and Mallow, despite Fast's warnings against it, and came to the conclusion that Mallow is indeed terrible and made the game FAR harder than it needed to be XD

The translation of the English version is quite faithful to the Japanese original, at least as far as my memory serves (and what I occasionally looked up online). Things like Booster's eccentric speech being similarly silly but in a different way (he has his own kind of punny words he uses for himself and switches between SUPER casual and very formal speech a lot), Johnathan Jones speaking much more about the honor of being a manly man's man, and a couple silly naming conventions and puns here and there that didn't make it into the English version. Regardless, the English version is a fantastic companion piece to the Japanese original, in my opinion. Neither is better; they're just both good in similar but different ways.

Dunno if the game was just a lot harder than I remember, or if Mallow and Bowser are just a terrible team combonation, or if the Japanese version is harder than the US version, but the end game was definitely harder than I remember. I still enjoyed it either way though. A nice nostalgic trip down memory lane with a foreign-language twist~

[ElkinFencer10]

Games Beaten in 2019 So Far - 34
* denotes a replay

January (12 Games Beaten)

1. Army Men 3D - PlayStation - January 1*
2. Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished - NES - January 4
3. Mega Man - NES - January 6
4. Mega Man 2 - NES - January 6
5. Mega Man 3 - NES - January 6
6. Mega Man 4 - NES - January 7
7. Dr. Discord's Conquest - NES - January 7
8. Mega Man 5 - NES - January 26
9. Just Cause 3 - PlayStation 4 - January 26
10. Mega Man 6 - NES - January 27
11. Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight - Vita - January 27
12. Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space - PlayStation 2 - January 27

February (2 Games Beaten)

13. Earth Defense Force 5 - PlayStation 4 - February 2
14. Fallout 76 - PlayStation 4 - February 3

March (4 Games Beaten)

15. Octopath Traveler - Switch - March 2
16. Resident Evil 0 - PlayStation 4 - March 9
17. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered - PlayStation 4 - March 10
18. Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade - Game Boy Advance - March 30

April (3 Games Beaten)

19. Moemon - Game Boy Advance - April 5
20. Yoshi's Crafted World - Switch - April 10
21. Wargroove - Switch - April 26

May (8 Games Beaten)

22. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen - Switch - May 5
23. Battlefield V - PlayStation 4 - May 9
24. Timespinner - PlayStation 4 - May 12
25. Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain - PlayStation 4 - May 17
26. Shenmue - PlayStation 4 - May 19
27. Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht - PlayStation 2 - May 26
28. Team Sonic Racing - Switch - May 29
29. Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse - PlayStation 2 - May 30

June (5 Games Beaten)

30. Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprache Zarathustra - PlayStation 2 - June 2
31. Gato Roboto - Switch - June 3
32. Katana Zero - Switch - June 4
33. The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct - Wii U - June 8
34. Dark Savior - Saturn - June 12

34. Dark Savior - Saturn - June 12



Dark Savior was sent to me as a gift from a wonderful friend of mine who produces questionable animal-based food products. Dark Savior is an action RPG with platforming sections and a terribly confused combat system. The whole game screams "I don't know what I am!" and it's a shame because the potential for a decent RPG is here. It's just potential that was completely missed.



Dark Savior isn't really sure what genre it wants to be. It's ostensibly an action RPG, but you don't accrue experience as one does in a traditional action RPG. Instead you get "points" from winning fights, and those points can be spent on level ups, but they can also be spent on health restoration or on hints. The fights themselves are really just extremely crude 2D fighting game style matches. You just wail on each other until one side's HP is depleted, and it's best two out of three. It is, as I said, though, extremely crude and rudimentary. There's not a whole lot of option in terms of "strategy" you can use. There's some absolutely, but by and large, the fights consist of staying out of range until you're attacking and then getting back out of range. There aren't major blocks, there aren't any real counters or anything. It's just a big let down. Couple all that with the fact that the dungeons are mostly EXCEPTIONALLY shitty platforming, and the whole game is just...meh. The isometric style view makes it nearly impossible to figure out where you're going or where you're going to land from a jump, and while you can rotate the camera somewhat, the control to do so is extremely clunky and awkward. No matter how you slice it, the platforming here is terrible.



There is one gameplay mechanic that I have to applaud, and that's the game's branching paths and multiple endings. There are, if memory serves, four different paths that the game can take with respective endings. Visually, the game is okay. All of the characters are 2D sprites, something the Saturn handles extremely well, but the environments, for the most part, feel rather uninspired. The dungeons are fairly linear with only a couple of exceptions. The music is...average. There aren't really any stand-out songs from the soundtrack, and the voice acting is downright atrocious although that's fairly par for the course for the mid 90s.



Dark Savior is not an unplayable game, but it's definitely not a good game. As an action RPG, it's somewhat subpar. As a platformer, it's straight awful. The storyline, revolving around a bounty hunter who's trying to recapture some eldritch evil, has some potential, but the terrible storytelling, the awful voice acting, and the boring gameplay kill that potential right out of the gate. This is one game that I really can't recommend to anyone. I really had to force myself to get through the second half of the game, and it's rarely a good game that the player has to force himself to finish. Dark Savior is definitely not a good game.