1. Her Story (iOS)
2. Elminage Original (3DS)
3. Legend of Grimrock (iOS)
4. Silent Bomber (PS1)
5. Crash Bandicoot (PS1)
6. Bust-a-Move 2 Arcade Edition (PS1)
7. Transformers Cybertron Adventures (Wii)
8. Squidlit (Switch)
9. Sydney Hunter & The Curse of the Mayan (Switch)
10. Mega Man Legends (PS1)
11. Revenge of the Bird King (Switch)
12. Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King (Switch)
13. Gato Roboto (Switch)
14. Kamiko (Switch)
15. Night Slashers (Arcade)
16. Subsurface Circular (Switch)
17. Iconoclasts (Switch)
18. Wonder Boy Returns Remix (Switch)
19. Resident Evil 3 (PS1)
20. The Messenger (Switch)
21. The Messenger: Picnic Panic (Switch)
The Messenger is so, so, so very awesome. It’s a side-scrolling action platformer in which you play as a ninja, similar to Ninja Gaiden II (NES) and Shinobi (3DS). The first half is a fast-paced, incredibly well-designed linear experience. The second-half is a non-linear open-world action-platforming experience. All of it is great. It alternates between 8- and 16-bit graphics and sound, plays wonderfully, has a banging soundtrack, is genuinely funny, has a compelling story, is loaded with secrets, and is perfectly challenging. I loved every minute of this wonderful game, and I really can’t recommend it highly enough.
The Messenger: Picnic Panic is a free(!) goofy DLC pack that sees The Messenger’s ninja protagonist transported to a tropical island. It is accessible after the main campaign, and ramps up the game’s difficulty substantially. It features new enemies, a few new mechanics, and a few new jokes. The first section plays similarly to the turbo tunnel from Battletoads, and the final boss fight is pulled straight from Punch-Out!! So, basically, it’s three levels of extremely intense ninja platforming bookended by the turbo tunnel and boxing. Awesome and also recommended.
Games Beaten 2020
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prfsnl_gmr
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 12202
- Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:26 pm
- Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
-
elricorico
- 32-bit
- Posts: 224
- Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2012 11:02 pm
Re: Games Beaten 2020
1. NBA Jam (GEN)
2. Astro Bot Rescue Mission (PSVR)
3. Bastion (PS4)
4. Octopath Traveler (NS)
I've been playing Octopath Traveler for months now, started sometime in the fall. Based on all the reviews it was one of my most wanted Switch games, and I spent more money on it than I would usually spend on a game. With about 80 hours invested I rolled the credits, and I'm satisfied that I got value for my purchase. There are still a number of side quests I could do, but I'll probably take a break from this one to play something a little lighter in content.
This game is an homage to the golden age of turn based RPGs, and it hits the mark in a number of ways. Beautiful sprite art, solid music, an interesting (if uneven) plot and a bit of grind all felt like they hit the mark. I played through all 8 characters' stories, leaving my chosen main character, Olberic, for last. The stories ranged from somewhat simple and almost silly in moments, to deep, dark and very adult at times.
I liked the art style, but I did find some quirks. At points that the art got in the way of exploring when some layers took the foreground unnecessarily. I also found it a little too sparkly and overdone in certain areas. The battle system is pretty good, although I didnt quite understand some of the finer points for many of the early hours.
If you miss the old days of sprite based RPGs with a healthy grind built in then this is likely worth your attention. It might not break into my all time favourites, but it did not fail to meet my expectations.
2. Astro Bot Rescue Mission (PSVR)
3. Bastion (PS4)
4. Octopath Traveler (NS)
I've been playing Octopath Traveler for months now, started sometime in the fall. Based on all the reviews it was one of my most wanted Switch games, and I spent more money on it than I would usually spend on a game. With about 80 hours invested I rolled the credits, and I'm satisfied that I got value for my purchase. There are still a number of side quests I could do, but I'll probably take a break from this one to play something a little lighter in content.
This game is an homage to the golden age of turn based RPGs, and it hits the mark in a number of ways. Beautiful sprite art, solid music, an interesting (if uneven) plot and a bit of grind all felt like they hit the mark. I played through all 8 characters' stories, leaving my chosen main character, Olberic, for last. The stories ranged from somewhat simple and almost silly in moments, to deep, dark and very adult at times.
I liked the art style, but I did find some quirks. At points that the art got in the way of exploring when some layers took the foreground unnecessarily. I also found it a little too sparkly and overdone in certain areas. The battle system is pretty good, although I didnt quite understand some of the finer points for many of the early hours.
If you miss the old days of sprite based RPGs with a healthy grind built in then this is likely worth your attention. It might not break into my all time favourites, but it did not fail to meet my expectations.
Re: Games Beaten 2020
67. Mario and Rabbids Kingdom battle (switch)
68. Raging Justice (switch)
69. Rodea the sky soldier (wii)
67. Mario and Rabbids
Take the king of platformers, combine him with the crazy part unofficial mascots from the wii era, give them to ubisoft, a company best known for its microtransaction, open world borefests, and then make a grid based strategy game. This literally sounds like the worst idea of all time but somehow this game is one of the most fun, cute, endearing, and addicting strategy games I have ever played.
The game starts off in a lab with some random gizmo that can merge any 2 objects, for some unexplained reasons a host of rabbids warps into the lab and start wreaking havoc, the gizmo gets fused to one rabbids face and chaos ensues. The lab is peppered with mario toys and mushroom kingdom posters and the rabbids fuse them together and plunges the mushroom kingdom into chaos. There is a world eating bug over the mushroom kingdom and Mario teams up with rabbid versions of luigi and peach to investigate. Before long Bowser Jr. appears, kidnaps the rabbid with the gizmo, and begins wreaking further havoc. The story is more or less nonsense but serves as a great vehicle to deliver all sorts of random hilarious scenarios. This is a funny game that takes the rabbids brand of toilet humor and combines it nicely with the mushroom kingdom and mario. Everything just fits really well and just about every cutscene will make you laugh.
The gameplay alternates between solving puzzles and engaging in turn based battles. Exploring the environments in between battles is a lot of fun, the landscapes are filled with hidden chests, coins, and little puzzles that need to be solved. As you walk along the environments there are rabbids liberally sprinkled around doing all sorts of stupid things and there is a lot of fun to be had in just walking around and seeing what the rabbids are up to, the puzzles will make you pause and think but I was able to figure them all out without a walkthrough and I'm a total moron, so I'm sure the average gamer will have no problem making it through.
Of course the star of the show are the battles, many have compared this game to xcom, but I have not played it so I can't make that comparison. At any time you have a team of 3, during your turn you can move each character, perform one attack, and one special move. Navigation and positioning are extremely important and dynamic. There is cover scattered all around the environment and smart use of cover is key to surviving the enemy turns. Cover comes in 2 varieties, big and small, big cover completely shields you from hits while small cover gives you a 50/50 chance of being safe.
Turns play out in an extremely dynamic way, you can run into enemies for a dash attack that causes damage without wasting an attack, and you can run into an ally who will throw you into the air for a jump to cover more ground. These movement options give you lots of options and an optimal turn will have you dashing through enemies, smacking them with an attack, and taking a safe defensive position so you can survive to do it again. Of course the enemies get progressively more difficult and have wild options to disrupt your plans such as teleportations, grenades that ignore cover, moves to pull you out of cover and so much more.
Luckily your team also has a number of options to deal with the increasing threats, there are 8 total team members(Mario, luigi, yoshi, peach, and a rabbid version of each) that are unlockable, each of them is viable, they have their own strenghts and weaknesses and can be upgraded with orbs you find when you complete missions. The orbs go out to your whole team which means no character will ever fall behind in strength and you can switch on and off as you see fit. This is cool since you can always switch around and play with people as you get them. The developers also did a really good job of matching abilities up with their personalities, for example, Mario is strong, inspires his teammates to do more damage, can damage enemies off of the team jump, and is best used to run head first into trouble and bash things with his hammer. Luigi on the other hand is a sniper who is best suited to be hidden far in the background cowering away from their enemies and taking sniper shots from them at a distance.
Each of the 4 worlds and in a boss fight and they are pretty funny rabbid hybrids, the first boss is rabbid kong, a giant rabbid with a red tie and the other bosses are equally fitting for this game. Boss battle are pretty tough, each boss has a giant health bar and each boss must be taken down 3 times, each time you drain their health bar it refills and they enter a new phase with new attacks.
In addition to the 4 worlds with 10 levels each you can also revisit each world to find 10 hidden challenges and a secret level in that world, all that grant you extra experience orbs and gold, so there is plenty of content here to keep you busy for quite a while.
This was an absolute wonderful game, I tend to really enjoy srpg's and this is one of the most unique and fun ones I have ever played, an absolute must play for strategy fans
68. Raging justice (switch)
Raging justice is a beat em up in the vein of streets of rage with cheesy 90's digitized graphics vibe.
The combat here follows a few tropes but adds in some nice twists to the classic beat em up formula. You have a punch and kick with the token combos you would expect from a game like this, there is a special that clears out enemies but also costs you some health, and there is a jump attack, all of this is pretty standard beat em up fare, but a few things set this game apart from the average beat em up.
First off, there is a grab button, rather than just walking into enemies and grabbing them you have to press a button, this works really well and I actually wound up preferring it to the standard way of just walking into enemies. Once you grab an enemy you can punch/kick/throw them and doing so fills their stun meter more so than it drains their life bar. If you stun an enemy you can arrest them, which instantly kills them and gives you a health power up. Balancing ko'ing enemies vs arresting them becomes very important since arresting enemies gives you health which you will definitely need because the enemyh mobs in this game get pretty insane. You also have an upward and downward dash to evade attacks and a dashing move which thrusts you forward and knocks enemies down.
One thing that makes this game stand apart are the weapons. There are tons of weapons in this game, that are standard beat em up fare (knives, bats, etc) but in this game the weapons are brutal, when you grab a bat and smash enemies into the backgorund you can really feel it. Weapons are strong, can hit multiple enemies at once, are liberally scattered around the environments, and are more fun to use than any beat em up I can think of.
Outside of that it is a pretty standard beat em up, 11 levels with a boss at the end, increasing mobs of enemies, and a decent variety of enemies. Raging justice was a bit of a surprise, I do love beat em ups but expected this one to be lame, I bought it on sale but I'm really glad I did, the combat was frantic, a lot of fun, and different enough from other beat em ups to make it stand out from the pack. If you already played streets of rage 4 and are looking for another fun beat em up than give this a shot, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
68. Raging Justice (switch)
69. Rodea the sky soldier (wii)
67. Mario and Rabbids
Take the king of platformers, combine him with the crazy part unofficial mascots from the wii era, give them to ubisoft, a company best known for its microtransaction, open world borefests, and then make a grid based strategy game. This literally sounds like the worst idea of all time but somehow this game is one of the most fun, cute, endearing, and addicting strategy games I have ever played.
The game starts off in a lab with some random gizmo that can merge any 2 objects, for some unexplained reasons a host of rabbids warps into the lab and start wreaking havoc, the gizmo gets fused to one rabbids face and chaos ensues. The lab is peppered with mario toys and mushroom kingdom posters and the rabbids fuse them together and plunges the mushroom kingdom into chaos. There is a world eating bug over the mushroom kingdom and Mario teams up with rabbid versions of luigi and peach to investigate. Before long Bowser Jr. appears, kidnaps the rabbid with the gizmo, and begins wreaking further havoc. The story is more or less nonsense but serves as a great vehicle to deliver all sorts of random hilarious scenarios. This is a funny game that takes the rabbids brand of toilet humor and combines it nicely with the mushroom kingdom and mario. Everything just fits really well and just about every cutscene will make you laugh.
The gameplay alternates between solving puzzles and engaging in turn based battles. Exploring the environments in between battles is a lot of fun, the landscapes are filled with hidden chests, coins, and little puzzles that need to be solved. As you walk along the environments there are rabbids liberally sprinkled around doing all sorts of stupid things and there is a lot of fun to be had in just walking around and seeing what the rabbids are up to, the puzzles will make you pause and think but I was able to figure them all out without a walkthrough and I'm a total moron, so I'm sure the average gamer will have no problem making it through.
Of course the star of the show are the battles, many have compared this game to xcom, but I have not played it so I can't make that comparison. At any time you have a team of 3, during your turn you can move each character, perform one attack, and one special move. Navigation and positioning are extremely important and dynamic. There is cover scattered all around the environment and smart use of cover is key to surviving the enemy turns. Cover comes in 2 varieties, big and small, big cover completely shields you from hits while small cover gives you a 50/50 chance of being safe.
Turns play out in an extremely dynamic way, you can run into enemies for a dash attack that causes damage without wasting an attack, and you can run into an ally who will throw you into the air for a jump to cover more ground. These movement options give you lots of options and an optimal turn will have you dashing through enemies, smacking them with an attack, and taking a safe defensive position so you can survive to do it again. Of course the enemies get progressively more difficult and have wild options to disrupt your plans such as teleportations, grenades that ignore cover, moves to pull you out of cover and so much more.
Luckily your team also has a number of options to deal with the increasing threats, there are 8 total team members(Mario, luigi, yoshi, peach, and a rabbid version of each) that are unlockable, each of them is viable, they have their own strenghts and weaknesses and can be upgraded with orbs you find when you complete missions. The orbs go out to your whole team which means no character will ever fall behind in strength and you can switch on and off as you see fit. This is cool since you can always switch around and play with people as you get them. The developers also did a really good job of matching abilities up with their personalities, for example, Mario is strong, inspires his teammates to do more damage, can damage enemies off of the team jump, and is best used to run head first into trouble and bash things with his hammer. Luigi on the other hand is a sniper who is best suited to be hidden far in the background cowering away from their enemies and taking sniper shots from them at a distance.
Each of the 4 worlds and in a boss fight and they are pretty funny rabbid hybrids, the first boss is rabbid kong, a giant rabbid with a red tie and the other bosses are equally fitting for this game. Boss battle are pretty tough, each boss has a giant health bar and each boss must be taken down 3 times, each time you drain their health bar it refills and they enter a new phase with new attacks.
In addition to the 4 worlds with 10 levels each you can also revisit each world to find 10 hidden challenges and a secret level in that world, all that grant you extra experience orbs and gold, so there is plenty of content here to keep you busy for quite a while.
This was an absolute wonderful game, I tend to really enjoy srpg's and this is one of the most unique and fun ones I have ever played, an absolute must play for strategy fans
68. Raging justice (switch)
Raging justice is a beat em up in the vein of streets of rage with cheesy 90's digitized graphics vibe.
The combat here follows a few tropes but adds in some nice twists to the classic beat em up formula. You have a punch and kick with the token combos you would expect from a game like this, there is a special that clears out enemies but also costs you some health, and there is a jump attack, all of this is pretty standard beat em up fare, but a few things set this game apart from the average beat em up.
First off, there is a grab button, rather than just walking into enemies and grabbing them you have to press a button, this works really well and I actually wound up preferring it to the standard way of just walking into enemies. Once you grab an enemy you can punch/kick/throw them and doing so fills their stun meter more so than it drains their life bar. If you stun an enemy you can arrest them, which instantly kills them and gives you a health power up. Balancing ko'ing enemies vs arresting them becomes very important since arresting enemies gives you health which you will definitely need because the enemyh mobs in this game get pretty insane. You also have an upward and downward dash to evade attacks and a dashing move which thrusts you forward and knocks enemies down.
One thing that makes this game stand apart are the weapons. There are tons of weapons in this game, that are standard beat em up fare (knives, bats, etc) but in this game the weapons are brutal, when you grab a bat and smash enemies into the backgorund you can really feel it. Weapons are strong, can hit multiple enemies at once, are liberally scattered around the environments, and are more fun to use than any beat em up I can think of.
Outside of that it is a pretty standard beat em up, 11 levels with a boss at the end, increasing mobs of enemies, and a decent variety of enemies. Raging justice was a bit of a surprise, I do love beat em ups but expected this one to be lame, I bought it on sale but I'm really glad I did, the combat was frantic, a lot of fun, and different enough from other beat em ups to make it stand out from the pack. If you already played streets of rage 4 and are looking for another fun beat em up than give this a shot, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Re: Games Beaten 2020
The only game I've beaten so far in 2020 is Final Doom. Had never played neither TNT Evilution nor Plutonia Experiment before. Wasn't expecting too much from them prior playing, but now I think that both addons are a great gift for every old school Doom player 
Hello, world! My name is Thomas. I'm an avid PC gamer. Also, I don't mind playing high-quality free games made by indie developers. Contact me if you want to play together!
Re: Games Beaten 2020
1. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch)(Adventure)
2. Final Fight [Japanese Version] (Switch)(Beat 'Em Up)
3. Ziggurat (PC)(FPS)
4. Magrunner: Dark Pulse (PC)(FPS)
5. The King of Dragons [Japanese](Arcade)(Beat 'Em Up)
6. Captain Commando [Japanese](Arcade)(Beat 'Em Up)
7. Knights of the Round [Japanese](Arcade)(Beat 'Em Up)
8. The Witcher (PC)(RPG)
9. Tenchi wo Kurau II (Arcade)(Beat 'Em Up)
10. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands (PC)(RPG)
11. Lichdom: Battlemage (PC)(FPS/RPG Hybrid)
12. Star Wars: Republic Commando (PC)(FPS)
13. DOOM 64 (PC)(FPS)
14. Half Dead 2 (PC)(Adventure)
15. Powered Gear - Strategic Variant Armor Equipment (Arcade)(Beat 'Em Up)
16. Torchlight II (PC)(RPG)
17. Battle Circuit [Japanese](Arcade)(Beat 'Em Up)
18. Hard Reset Redux (PC)(FPS)
19. The Stanley Parable (PC)(Walking Sim)
20. Waking Mars (PC)(Adventure)
21. Requiem: Avenging Angel (PC)(FPS)
22. Night Slashers (Arcade)(Beat 'Em Up)
23. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD (PC)(Action Adventure)
24. Strikers 1945 (Arcade)(SHMUP)
25. SiN Episodes: Emergence (PC)(FPS)
26. Crysis Warhead (PC)(FPS)
27. Metro 2033 (PC)(FPS)
28. Good Job! (Switch)(Puzzle)
29. Blasphemous (Switch)(Action Adventure)
Yeah, another productive weekend.
Metro 2033
It comes as no surprise to those who know me here that I am an enormous fan of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series in all forms, whether it be the film, the games, or the novella that started it all, Roadside Picnic. As a result, I picked up Metro 2033 soon after it's release...and then I didn't play it. For one thing, I didn't have a computer that could run it. But time also wore on, and I simply didn't pay attention. Finding myself done with a few other FPS games recently, I proposed a list to Popo, and he recommended it heartily, so I finally got around to checking it out.
I'm glad I did. Metro 2033 presents me with another despairing Russian tale of science fiction in the aftermath of nuclear catastrophe, though this time it was an armageddon that forced the citizens of Moscow into their transit system. Now, two decades later, the world above is a radioactive wasteland in the grips of nuclear winter, while the tunnels teem with life, not all of it human. As a citizen in this world, you find your little station coming across some new kind of menace, known only as the Dark Ones, and you set off on a mission to save your station and possible the rest of Moscow from this shadowy threat. However, the journey involves bandits, mutants, a war between Soviet and Nazi extremists who have nothing better to do than sink into their spiteful ideologies, and the strange S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-themed anomalies that pop up along the way. Yeah, this game took a lot of inspiration, though it feels like an homage in a far more linear setting.
You also have to weigh your survivability against your income, because in this post-apocalyptic future, bullets are now currency. While in lower difficulties, you probably won't have too much issue with this, checking into the more "realistic" Ranger modes will cause you to take stock of whether you should really buy an extra first aid kit or save the rounds and hope you can scrounge one off the dead. Since there's no HUD, guns do a lot more damage, and you're getting fewer rounds off the dead any time you find some, you better have some skills in Ranger difficulties. Stealth becomes preferable, to the point that at times, Metro 2033 is more a stealth game than a proper run and gun. Then again, it also wants to be a horror game at times, though it never quite goes full force in that direction either.
Still, I enjoy this kind of world, so I'm happy to go run through the subterranean tunnels, weighing whether it is better to be ready for loud or spend my bullets on a silenced weapon and hope I've got the skill to get through to the next station. I've gone through the game a couple of times now and am slowly working through the Ranger modes now too, so I guess I'll see.
Good Job!
I picked this charming little puzzle game up to play with my wife, and we had a blast with it, despite it also resulting in some frustration over how often I simply prefer to smash everything.
In Good Job!, you play the child of a CEO who brings you in to work on the ground floor of the family corporation. On each floor of the corporate skyscraper, you find a different department, each with three challenges that must be completed before the fourth Promotion challenge of the floor opens up. Finish the fourth, and you get promoted, granting you access to the next floor of the building and additional puzzles. These puzzles are based on..."realistic" work situations, so they can include things like fixing the office wi-fi, getting lounging employees back to the assembly line, or redirecting lasers to power the company's nuclear reactor.
Yes, your corporation has a nuclear reactor. Yes, they let you play with it. Yes, your rise to power is the height of nepotism and the absolute pinnacle of your ability to get the job done while most likely smashing everything in the way. You will succeed by failing your way up through wanton destruction.
It's probably best not to dig too deeply into the plot here and instead enjoy the fact that you can go into an area, move the furniture, mop up the floor, and use extension cords like slingshots to launch objects through walls, thus completely destroying things in the process but enabling you to get the job done! Sure, I may have drained the pool and filled what water is there with broken glass, but hey, the pool floats got picked up.
Every level also features findable objects to grab for clothing, so you can customize your avatar as you see fit. And since there's no penalty to having a second player, co-op lets you bring out new strategies to get things resolved. It may also result in arguments over where your wife should put that damn mirror to bounce that stupid fucking laser off of, and oh great, now she's not talking to you AND has put the mirror in the wrong fucking spot, but that's ok. You helped the family corporation, mainly by breaking everything you could.
And at the end of it all, you become the next CEO. I probably hospitalized a bunch of my fellow employees, smashed all their hard work, and I don't even have a degree. Isn't nepotism grand? My wife and I congratulated ourselves by going into the developer room in the post-game and then spraying everyone with a fire hose.
Blasphemous
Imagine if Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was a lot harder and a lot more Catholic. Yeah, that's Blasphemous. It's a Metroidvania-style game that gives a world full of Spain's Inquisition-style Christian mythology, that while isn't Christian, is certainly borrowing the pomp, circumstance, guilt, self-flagellation, masochism, guilt, and OH MY GOD THE GUILT.
You play the Penitent One, in a fictional land of Cvstodia, who has taken a vow of silence. You have to make your way through the land, using a sword called the Mea Culpa that was birthed from a nun stabbing herself in the chest with a crucifix. You're going up against a religion based around the Great Miracle, which involves pretty much everyone having to suffer in some heinous way simply to prove their devotion to whatever sacred deity is the center of this religion. I don't really know, but whatever god birthed this place, they can go get right proper fucked. Being silent is one thing; imagine your penitence is to heal others by kissing their wounds, or you try to join a convent by climbing up a freezing mountain to prove your faith and likely die on the way up only to have to grievously burn your face when you do make it as an act of faith, or you could simply have been tortured and forced into an iron suit stuck in a tree. Pain is salvation under the Great Miracle. Seriously, does nobody's piety happen to involve something nice? Why is it always suffering?
Anyway, you travel through a variety of locales in this 2D side-scroller, navigating treacherous jumps, fighting nasty monsters, and hoping you don't die, because if you do die, your guilt from doing so will build up until you can recover it by reaching your last resting place. Get used to dying too, because a lot of the game is about learning how to fight the new monsters you encounter, how to survive, and how to traverse points A and B in far more terrible ways than simply backdashing like you were some vampire's prettyboy kid or something. You'll get through an area, figure out the puzzles, finally make it to a save point, and then you fight OH DEAR GOD WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?
And then you fight a boss. Each boss is a feat, both in terms of design and skill. Bosses in Blasphemous can be brutally difficult, and getting through them is a matter of perseverance just as much as getting more powerful. You'll have to memorize how they move, learn their patterns, learn their tells, and be more than a little light on your feet. You'll also probably sacrifice yourself at least once just to learn how to prepare yourself for each fight.
Visually, the bosses are mostly stunning creations, whether it be a giant burned head, a massive bishop's skeleton held up by the pious in glory, an enormous baby that will rip you apart like a rag doll, a tree monster that tears the head off a statue when you first confront it, or in a few cases, a few regular-seeming people in this nightmare holy world...and they're the hardest fights of all, the bastards.
And at the end of the game, you will feel like you've accomplished something incredible, because the adrenaline from what you have overcome is fantastic. If you're ok with witnessing some horrible suffering and more than your fair share of blood, guts, and that face you make when you see something totally horrid, then yeah, play Blasphemous.
2. Final Fight [Japanese Version] (Switch)(Beat 'Em Up)
3. Ziggurat (PC)(FPS)
4. Magrunner: Dark Pulse (PC)(FPS)
5. The King of Dragons [Japanese](Arcade)(Beat 'Em Up)
6. Captain Commando [Japanese](Arcade)(Beat 'Em Up)
7. Knights of the Round [Japanese](Arcade)(Beat 'Em Up)
8. The Witcher (PC)(RPG)
9. Tenchi wo Kurau II (Arcade)(Beat 'Em Up)
10. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands (PC)(RPG)
11. Lichdom: Battlemage (PC)(FPS/RPG Hybrid)
12. Star Wars: Republic Commando (PC)(FPS)
13. DOOM 64 (PC)(FPS)
14. Half Dead 2 (PC)(Adventure)
15. Powered Gear - Strategic Variant Armor Equipment (Arcade)(Beat 'Em Up)
16. Torchlight II (PC)(RPG)
17. Battle Circuit [Japanese](Arcade)(Beat 'Em Up)
18. Hard Reset Redux (PC)(FPS)
19. The Stanley Parable (PC)(Walking Sim)
20. Waking Mars (PC)(Adventure)
21. Requiem: Avenging Angel (PC)(FPS)
22. Night Slashers (Arcade)(Beat 'Em Up)
23. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD (PC)(Action Adventure)
24. Strikers 1945 (Arcade)(SHMUP)
25. SiN Episodes: Emergence (PC)(FPS)
26. Crysis Warhead (PC)(FPS)
27. Metro 2033 (PC)(FPS)
28. Good Job! (Switch)(Puzzle)
29. Blasphemous (Switch)(Action Adventure)
Yeah, another productive weekend.
Metro 2033
It comes as no surprise to those who know me here that I am an enormous fan of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series in all forms, whether it be the film, the games, or the novella that started it all, Roadside Picnic. As a result, I picked up Metro 2033 soon after it's release...and then I didn't play it. For one thing, I didn't have a computer that could run it. But time also wore on, and I simply didn't pay attention. Finding myself done with a few other FPS games recently, I proposed a list to Popo, and he recommended it heartily, so I finally got around to checking it out.
I'm glad I did. Metro 2033 presents me with another despairing Russian tale of science fiction in the aftermath of nuclear catastrophe, though this time it was an armageddon that forced the citizens of Moscow into their transit system. Now, two decades later, the world above is a radioactive wasteland in the grips of nuclear winter, while the tunnels teem with life, not all of it human. As a citizen in this world, you find your little station coming across some new kind of menace, known only as the Dark Ones, and you set off on a mission to save your station and possible the rest of Moscow from this shadowy threat. However, the journey involves bandits, mutants, a war between Soviet and Nazi extremists who have nothing better to do than sink into their spiteful ideologies, and the strange S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-themed anomalies that pop up along the way. Yeah, this game took a lot of inspiration, though it feels like an homage in a far more linear setting.
You also have to weigh your survivability against your income, because in this post-apocalyptic future, bullets are now currency. While in lower difficulties, you probably won't have too much issue with this, checking into the more "realistic" Ranger modes will cause you to take stock of whether you should really buy an extra first aid kit or save the rounds and hope you can scrounge one off the dead. Since there's no HUD, guns do a lot more damage, and you're getting fewer rounds off the dead any time you find some, you better have some skills in Ranger difficulties. Stealth becomes preferable, to the point that at times, Metro 2033 is more a stealth game than a proper run and gun. Then again, it also wants to be a horror game at times, though it never quite goes full force in that direction either.
Still, I enjoy this kind of world, so I'm happy to go run through the subterranean tunnels, weighing whether it is better to be ready for loud or spend my bullets on a silenced weapon and hope I've got the skill to get through to the next station. I've gone through the game a couple of times now and am slowly working through the Ranger modes now too, so I guess I'll see.
Good Job!
I picked this charming little puzzle game up to play with my wife, and we had a blast with it, despite it also resulting in some frustration over how often I simply prefer to smash everything.
In Good Job!, you play the child of a CEO who brings you in to work on the ground floor of the family corporation. On each floor of the corporate skyscraper, you find a different department, each with three challenges that must be completed before the fourth Promotion challenge of the floor opens up. Finish the fourth, and you get promoted, granting you access to the next floor of the building and additional puzzles. These puzzles are based on..."realistic" work situations, so they can include things like fixing the office wi-fi, getting lounging employees back to the assembly line, or redirecting lasers to power the company's nuclear reactor.
Yes, your corporation has a nuclear reactor. Yes, they let you play with it. Yes, your rise to power is the height of nepotism and the absolute pinnacle of your ability to get the job done while most likely smashing everything in the way. You will succeed by failing your way up through wanton destruction.
It's probably best not to dig too deeply into the plot here and instead enjoy the fact that you can go into an area, move the furniture, mop up the floor, and use extension cords like slingshots to launch objects through walls, thus completely destroying things in the process but enabling you to get the job done! Sure, I may have drained the pool and filled what water is there with broken glass, but hey, the pool floats got picked up.
Every level also features findable objects to grab for clothing, so you can customize your avatar as you see fit. And since there's no penalty to having a second player, co-op lets you bring out new strategies to get things resolved. It may also result in arguments over where your wife should put that damn mirror to bounce that stupid fucking laser off of, and oh great, now she's not talking to you AND has put the mirror in the wrong fucking spot, but that's ok. You helped the family corporation, mainly by breaking everything you could.
And at the end of it all, you become the next CEO. I probably hospitalized a bunch of my fellow employees, smashed all their hard work, and I don't even have a degree. Isn't nepotism grand? My wife and I congratulated ourselves by going into the developer room in the post-game and then spraying everyone with a fire hose.
Blasphemous
Imagine if Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was a lot harder and a lot more Catholic. Yeah, that's Blasphemous. It's a Metroidvania-style game that gives a world full of Spain's Inquisition-style Christian mythology, that while isn't Christian, is certainly borrowing the pomp, circumstance, guilt, self-flagellation, masochism, guilt, and OH MY GOD THE GUILT.
You play the Penitent One, in a fictional land of Cvstodia, who has taken a vow of silence. You have to make your way through the land, using a sword called the Mea Culpa that was birthed from a nun stabbing herself in the chest with a crucifix. You're going up against a religion based around the Great Miracle, which involves pretty much everyone having to suffer in some heinous way simply to prove their devotion to whatever sacred deity is the center of this religion. I don't really know, but whatever god birthed this place, they can go get right proper fucked. Being silent is one thing; imagine your penitence is to heal others by kissing their wounds, or you try to join a convent by climbing up a freezing mountain to prove your faith and likely die on the way up only to have to grievously burn your face when you do make it as an act of faith, or you could simply have been tortured and forced into an iron suit stuck in a tree. Pain is salvation under the Great Miracle. Seriously, does nobody's piety happen to involve something nice? Why is it always suffering?
Anyway, you travel through a variety of locales in this 2D side-scroller, navigating treacherous jumps, fighting nasty monsters, and hoping you don't die, because if you do die, your guilt from doing so will build up until you can recover it by reaching your last resting place. Get used to dying too, because a lot of the game is about learning how to fight the new monsters you encounter, how to survive, and how to traverse points A and B in far more terrible ways than simply backdashing like you were some vampire's prettyboy kid or something. You'll get through an area, figure out the puzzles, finally make it to a save point, and then you fight OH DEAR GOD WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?
And then you fight a boss. Each boss is a feat, both in terms of design and skill. Bosses in Blasphemous can be brutally difficult, and getting through them is a matter of perseverance just as much as getting more powerful. You'll have to memorize how they move, learn their patterns, learn their tells, and be more than a little light on your feet. You'll also probably sacrifice yourself at least once just to learn how to prepare yourself for each fight.
Visually, the bosses are mostly stunning creations, whether it be a giant burned head, a massive bishop's skeleton held up by the pious in glory, an enormous baby that will rip you apart like a rag doll, a tree monster that tears the head off a statue when you first confront it, or in a few cases, a few regular-seeming people in this nightmare holy world...and they're the hardest fights of all, the bastards.
And at the end of the game, you will feel like you've accomplished something incredible, because the adrenaline from what you have overcome is fantastic. If you're ok with witnessing some horrible suffering and more than your fair share of blood, guts, and that face you make when you see something totally horrid, then yeah, play Blasphemous.
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prfsnl_gmr
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 12202
- Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:26 pm
- Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Re: Games Beaten 2020
Awesome review, Ack. Blasphemous sounds totally awesome.
Re: Games Beaten 2020
70. Escape from Bug Island (wii)
Just reading the title of this game, I knew I was in for something special, but the cheesy title and equally cheesy box art could not prepare me for the world I was about to walk into.
Escape from Bug Island has you playing as Ray, a beta male, with a crippling phobia of bugs. Ray is a very unlikely hero, he is blonde, has some pubic hair on his chin, and dons cargo shorts and sandals. Ray also has an extreme crush on his friend Michelle, who is really really into bugs, so much so that she decides to head to Bug Island to research the giant species that allegedly live there, they are also accompanied by Mike, Ray's tough guy best friend from High School who totes a shotgun and is a total alpha male.
The opening cutscene has Ray tell Mike that he is planning on confessing his love for Michelle on Bug Island, Mike calls him a pussy and in the next scene, Mike asks Michelle to be his girlfriend while Ray cries on a log. Michelle runs off to think about whether or not she will date Mike, Mike follows her, and commands Ray to stay behind. Being the beta that he is Ray falls asleep on a log while his best friend pursues his crush, when he wakes up, they are both gone and Ray begins to look for them
That is the actual plot of the game, as the game unfolds you are treated to a whole host of terrible characters, watch them die minutes later, and then get a chance to save them later in the game when a giant bug knocks you into a time traveling worm hole. If this plot is not cheesy enough for you, the dialogue is beyond cringey and makes Barry famous, " you were almost a Jill sandwich" seem worthy of a Pulitzer prize. There are bad one liners everywhere, bad voice acting, and a ludicrous plot that would seem right at home in any B-movie.
This is a survival horror game, the game is very dark and instead of the typical zombies and stuff you would expect from this genre, you get a huge assortment of bugs and other freaky things, usually enemies are introduced with a very cheesy cutscene, my favorite being the man canine, a freaky dog thing with a human face, when you first meet him he is standing in the middle of a cave dry humping the thin air until he notices your presence. I have to say, for such a cheesy game the enemy variety is pretty big and you will fight all sorts of crazy insects and a giant gorilla, because why not.
You start out pretty weak, you probably have heard the expression, "sticks and stones may break my bones" I am sure the developer did as well because your first melee weapon is a literal stick (a tree branch) and your first ranged weapon is a pile of rocks. The combat in this game is very clunky but it works, you can melee combo, throw objects, and dodge in 3 directions. There is a pause between actions and the enemies are pretty relentless so you really need to pick your spots and play defensively. My favorite weapon of course is the ant grenade.
THats right...the ant grenade. You run into a safe, so you have to find a key for it, you kill a praying mantis nest to get the key to the safe, the safe has a jar of honey in it, you use this honey to put on trees and that will attract ants to the tree, once they are eating you spray them with the bug spray you took off of a corpse earlier in the game, and the dead ants than function as grenades, blowing up whatever they hit. Does any of that make sense? Nope, but it is the kind of hilarious logic that permeates just about every puzzle in this game, and the cheesiness of it all always kept me looking forward to what comes next.
I haven't even scratched the surface of all the things that this game offers. I can't say that Escape from Bug Island is a good game, it is about as objectively bad as a game can be, the graphics are dark and muddy, the controls are clunky, there are 2 songs in the entire game, the voice acting is horrific, the plot is laughable, but I cannot think of a game that roped me in the way this game did.
From the second I turned it on, playing this game was all I wanted to do, I played for about 8 hrs between last night and this morning until I beat it, and when the credits rolled I was genuinely sad that it was over. I would say that this game is "The Room" of video games, but as bad as it was I just couldn't wait to see what comes next, the characters were so stupid and behaved so irrationally, I was laughing out loud just about every second of the game.
One of my favorite scenes in the game is when you run into Michelle later in the game, you are in a pyramid filled with bugs and a giant gorilla is at the window of the pyramid. Ray tells Michelle they have to get moving but she refuses to leave the room, why you ask?
Turns out her favorite author is also on the island and her clothes are a mess, she can't meet him looking like that so she tells Ray to go and find her some new clothes before she can leave.
Moments like that just kept me hooked and I couldn't wait to see what came next. I don't know that I could recommend this game, but as far as I'm concerned this was one of the most fun experiences of my gaming life. If you like really bad horror movies and don;t mind some clunky motion controls you may enjoy this game, just know what your getting into.
Just reading the title of this game, I knew I was in for something special, but the cheesy title and equally cheesy box art could not prepare me for the world I was about to walk into.
Escape from Bug Island has you playing as Ray, a beta male, with a crippling phobia of bugs. Ray is a very unlikely hero, he is blonde, has some pubic hair on his chin, and dons cargo shorts and sandals. Ray also has an extreme crush on his friend Michelle, who is really really into bugs, so much so that she decides to head to Bug Island to research the giant species that allegedly live there, they are also accompanied by Mike, Ray's tough guy best friend from High School who totes a shotgun and is a total alpha male.
The opening cutscene has Ray tell Mike that he is planning on confessing his love for Michelle on Bug Island, Mike calls him a pussy and in the next scene, Mike asks Michelle to be his girlfriend while Ray cries on a log. Michelle runs off to think about whether or not she will date Mike, Mike follows her, and commands Ray to stay behind. Being the beta that he is Ray falls asleep on a log while his best friend pursues his crush, when he wakes up, they are both gone and Ray begins to look for them
That is the actual plot of the game, as the game unfolds you are treated to a whole host of terrible characters, watch them die minutes later, and then get a chance to save them later in the game when a giant bug knocks you into a time traveling worm hole. If this plot is not cheesy enough for you, the dialogue is beyond cringey and makes Barry famous, " you were almost a Jill sandwich" seem worthy of a Pulitzer prize. There are bad one liners everywhere, bad voice acting, and a ludicrous plot that would seem right at home in any B-movie.
This is a survival horror game, the game is very dark and instead of the typical zombies and stuff you would expect from this genre, you get a huge assortment of bugs and other freaky things, usually enemies are introduced with a very cheesy cutscene, my favorite being the man canine, a freaky dog thing with a human face, when you first meet him he is standing in the middle of a cave dry humping the thin air until he notices your presence. I have to say, for such a cheesy game the enemy variety is pretty big and you will fight all sorts of crazy insects and a giant gorilla, because why not.
You start out pretty weak, you probably have heard the expression, "sticks and stones may break my bones" I am sure the developer did as well because your first melee weapon is a literal stick (a tree branch) and your first ranged weapon is a pile of rocks. The combat in this game is very clunky but it works, you can melee combo, throw objects, and dodge in 3 directions. There is a pause between actions and the enemies are pretty relentless so you really need to pick your spots and play defensively. My favorite weapon of course is the ant grenade.
THats right...the ant grenade. You run into a safe, so you have to find a key for it, you kill a praying mantis nest to get the key to the safe, the safe has a jar of honey in it, you use this honey to put on trees and that will attract ants to the tree, once they are eating you spray them with the bug spray you took off of a corpse earlier in the game, and the dead ants than function as grenades, blowing up whatever they hit. Does any of that make sense? Nope, but it is the kind of hilarious logic that permeates just about every puzzle in this game, and the cheesiness of it all always kept me looking forward to what comes next.
I haven't even scratched the surface of all the things that this game offers. I can't say that Escape from Bug Island is a good game, it is about as objectively bad as a game can be, the graphics are dark and muddy, the controls are clunky, there are 2 songs in the entire game, the voice acting is horrific, the plot is laughable, but I cannot think of a game that roped me in the way this game did.
From the second I turned it on, playing this game was all I wanted to do, I played for about 8 hrs between last night and this morning until I beat it, and when the credits rolled I was genuinely sad that it was over. I would say that this game is "The Room" of video games, but as bad as it was I just couldn't wait to see what comes next, the characters were so stupid and behaved so irrationally, I was laughing out loud just about every second of the game.
One of my favorite scenes in the game is when you run into Michelle later in the game, you are in a pyramid filled with bugs and a giant gorilla is at the window of the pyramid. Ray tells Michelle they have to get moving but she refuses to leave the room, why you ask?
Turns out her favorite author is also on the island and her clothes are a mess, she can't meet him looking like that so she tells Ray to go and find her some new clothes before she can leave.
Moments like that just kept me hooked and I couldn't wait to see what came next. I don't know that I could recommend this game, but as far as I'm concerned this was one of the most fun experiences of my gaming life. If you like really bad horror movies and don;t mind some clunky motion controls you may enjoy this game, just know what your getting into.
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elricorico
- 32-bit
- Posts: 224
- Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2012 11:02 pm
Re: Games Beaten 2020
1. NBA Jam (GEN)
2. Astro Bot Rescue Mission (PSVR)
3. Bastion (PS4)
4. Octopath Traveler (NS)
5. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS4)
I beat Uncharted yesterday, playing on the PS4 in the Uncharted Collection. This wouldn't normally be my type of game, but the price was right(free download) so I decided to give it a try. After a few hours I was enjoying it enough to see it through to the end, knowing that it isn't a very long game.
This is an action game that I expected to be much more about climbing and exploring, but turns out this one spends a lot more time on gun fights. Cover shooting specifically makes up the bulk of the game in my experience. I played on Normal difficulty and dies a lot, but that's more because I rarely play shooting games, as I think the game was fairly forgiving.
The story is ok(not especially believable), and the graphics were more than adequate. Controls did the job, I found the shooting pretty intuitive, but there were moments of frustration with the platforming. Most of the puzzles were very simple in this one, with the only time I needed to check a walkthrough being due to a finicky control, not because I didnt know what I needed to do.
I enjoyed playing this and getting out of my gaming comfort zone. I dont see it becoming a style of game I play often, but I'll likely give the next game in the collection a try at some point, as I hear the second was a big improvement.
2. Astro Bot Rescue Mission (PSVR)
3. Bastion (PS4)
4. Octopath Traveler (NS)
5. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS4)
I beat Uncharted yesterday, playing on the PS4 in the Uncharted Collection. This wouldn't normally be my type of game, but the price was right(free download) so I decided to give it a try. After a few hours I was enjoying it enough to see it through to the end, knowing that it isn't a very long game.
This is an action game that I expected to be much more about climbing and exploring, but turns out this one spends a lot more time on gun fights. Cover shooting specifically makes up the bulk of the game in my experience. I played on Normal difficulty and dies a lot, but that's more because I rarely play shooting games, as I think the game was fairly forgiving.
The story is ok(not especially believable), and the graphics were more than adequate. Controls did the job, I found the shooting pretty intuitive, but there were moments of frustration with the platforming. Most of the puzzles were very simple in this one, with the only time I needed to check a walkthrough being due to a finicky control, not because I didnt know what I needed to do.
I enjoyed playing this and getting out of my gaming comfort zone. I dont see it becoming a style of game I play often, but I'll likely give the next game in the collection a try at some point, as I hear the second was a big improvement.
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Markies
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 1416
- Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:29 pm
- Location: St. Louis, Missouri
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2020
Markies' Games Beat List Of 2020!
*Denotes Replay For Completion*
1. Pikmin 2 (GCN)
2. Banjo-Tooie (N64)
3. Contra: Hard Corps (GEN)
4. Super Baseball Simulator 1,000 (SNES)
5. Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers 2 (NES)
6. Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection (PS2)
***7. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (PS2)***
***8. Cruis'N USA (N64)***
9. Arc The Lad Collection (PS1)
10. Halo 2 (XBX)
I beat Halo 2 on the Microsoft XBOX this evening!
The first game I ever beat for the XBOX when I got it was the original Halo. It was only fitting that the first game I would play is the defining game of the system. I enjoyed though I wasn't too overwhelmed by the game. A few years later and after playing several more XBOX games, I figured it was time to play sequel. I was always curious about the game even though I'd never play it on XBOX live as those servers are long dead. While at my favorite retro game shop, I noticed a Collector's Edition of Halo 2 and decided to pick it up. After sitting on my shelf for a while, I then decided that this would be the year to finish my Halo games. Let's see how the series ends on the original console.
Halo 2 doesn't really deviate from the formula of the first game. You are still mostly walking through small corridors. Eventually, you reach a large room and you fight a bunch of enemies. You then continue walking and the process repeats itself. Every now and then, you'll get some vehicles to control and shoot while some air planes as well. It's fun and plays well for the 10 - 12 hours it took me to beat the game. Nothing ground breaking again, but its pretty much the same Halo game. I do have to say that I was getting caught up in the story. I really liked the characters and I was growing attached to the human characters.
Halo 2's biggest deviation is the fact that you can play as some of the Aliens. This was interesting until you started fighting other aliens. I could never tell my team apart from my enemy and I was shooting my teammates the entire time. Also, they carry you throughout some of the game including the final boss where I maybe landed two hits on him. Also, after playing many FPS games by now, the Halo enemies are either giant sponges or your weapons are terrible. You charge at an enemy and almost have to load an entire clip to get through his shield and then eventually kill him. Considering you only carry two weapons and they don't have many bullets, you are constantly looking for ammo and just wish for them to die.
Overall, I was fairly indifferent to Halo 2. It never really left that much of an impression. The normal game play was much of the same, which is still enjoyable. But, the faults in the game seemed to shine brighter. I enjoyed the first one more, but it's still a fun game. If you liked the first one, the sequel should still be played.
*Denotes Replay For Completion*
1. Pikmin 2 (GCN)
2. Banjo-Tooie (N64)
3. Contra: Hard Corps (GEN)
4. Super Baseball Simulator 1,000 (SNES)
5. Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers 2 (NES)
6. Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection (PS2)
***7. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (PS2)***
***8. Cruis'N USA (N64)***
9. Arc The Lad Collection (PS1)
10. Halo 2 (XBX)
I beat Halo 2 on the Microsoft XBOX this evening!
The first game I ever beat for the XBOX when I got it was the original Halo. It was only fitting that the first game I would play is the defining game of the system. I enjoyed though I wasn't too overwhelmed by the game. A few years later and after playing several more XBOX games, I figured it was time to play sequel. I was always curious about the game even though I'd never play it on XBOX live as those servers are long dead. While at my favorite retro game shop, I noticed a Collector's Edition of Halo 2 and decided to pick it up. After sitting on my shelf for a while, I then decided that this would be the year to finish my Halo games. Let's see how the series ends on the original console.
Halo 2 doesn't really deviate from the formula of the first game. You are still mostly walking through small corridors. Eventually, you reach a large room and you fight a bunch of enemies. You then continue walking and the process repeats itself. Every now and then, you'll get some vehicles to control and shoot while some air planes as well. It's fun and plays well for the 10 - 12 hours it took me to beat the game. Nothing ground breaking again, but its pretty much the same Halo game. I do have to say that I was getting caught up in the story. I really liked the characters and I was growing attached to the human characters.
Halo 2's biggest deviation is the fact that you can play as some of the Aliens. This was interesting until you started fighting other aliens. I could never tell my team apart from my enemy and I was shooting my teammates the entire time. Also, they carry you throughout some of the game including the final boss where I maybe landed two hits on him. Also, after playing many FPS games by now, the Halo enemies are either giant sponges or your weapons are terrible. You charge at an enemy and almost have to load an entire clip to get through his shield and then eventually kill him. Considering you only carry two weapons and they don't have many bullets, you are constantly looking for ammo and just wish for them to die.
Overall, I was fairly indifferent to Halo 2. It never really left that much of an impression. The normal game play was much of the same, which is still enjoyable. But, the faults in the game seemed to shine brighter. I enjoyed the first one more, but it's still a fun game. If you liked the first one, the sequel should still be played.
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prfsnl_gmr
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 12202
- Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:26 pm
- Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Re: Games Beaten 2020
+1
I also like Halo better than Halo 2.
......
1. Her Story (iOS)
2. Elminage Original (3DS)
3. Legend of Grimrock (iOS)
4. Silent Bomber (PS1)
5. Crash Bandicoot (PS1)
6. Bust-a-Move 2 Arcade Edition (PS1)
7. Transformers Cybertron Adventures (Wii)
8. Squidlit (Switch)
9. Sydney Hunter & The Curse of the Mayan (Switch)
10. Mega Man Legends (PS1)
11. Revenge of the Bird King (Switch)
12. Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King (Switch)
13. Gato Roboto (Switch)
14. Kamiko (Switch)
15. Night Slashers (Arcade)
16. Subsurface Circular (Switch)
17. Iconoclasts (Switch)
18. Wonder Boy Returns Remix (Switch)
19. Resident Evil 3 (PS1)
20. The Messenger (Switch)
21. The Messenger: Picnic Panic (Switch)
22. Samsara Room (iOS)
23. Heroes of the Monkey Tavern (Switch)
Samsara Room is another excellent, bite-sized escape room puzzle game from Rusty Lake, creators of Rusty Lake Hotel, Rusty Lake Paradise, and the excellent Cube Escape series. Released to celebrate the developer’s fifth anniversary, the game is completely free, and it is actually a remake of the developer’s very first game. It’s just as surreal as the developer’s other games, and I really enjoyed it. Recommended.
Heroes of Monkey Tavern is basically “baby’s first Dungeon Master.” That is, it’s a short, grid-based, first-person dungeon crawler with real-time combat and simplified mechanics. Unlike the sublime Legend of Grimrock, another game inspired by Dungeon Master, this game does not require you to feed your party to keep it alive or keep a lit torch to navigate the dungeon. Your party’s inventory is also so expansive that you never have to drop items, and you also never have to worry about your gear’s weight slowing you down. (In other word, it jettisons all of Legend of Grimrock‘s most annoying mechanics.) Somewhat inexplicably, however, the game punishes you for running from a battle; so, you can’t execute the hit-and-weave battle strategy that’s so effective in other examples of the sub-genre. (You have to slug it out with your enemies, and the game freezes you in place for the boss fights.) While the game is nowhere near as good as Legend of Grimrock, it is nonetheless really fun, packed with secrets, and intermittently challenging. (Stupid skeletons and instant-death traps...) Moreover, the dungeon is only eight floors, with a particularly-inspired sixth floor, and you can get through the game in 3-4 hours. (It’s often on sale in the eShop for only $5, and I’ve definitely paid more for games that provide a lesser experience.) As a result, it never wears out its welcome, and I have no qualms about recommending it, despite its flaws. It would be a particularly good starting point for people interested in the genre but, perhaps, a bit intimidated to try it out.
I also like Halo better than Halo 2.
......
1. Her Story (iOS)
2. Elminage Original (3DS)
3. Legend of Grimrock (iOS)
4. Silent Bomber (PS1)
5. Crash Bandicoot (PS1)
6. Bust-a-Move 2 Arcade Edition (PS1)
7. Transformers Cybertron Adventures (Wii)
8. Squidlit (Switch)
9. Sydney Hunter & The Curse of the Mayan (Switch)
10. Mega Man Legends (PS1)
11. Revenge of the Bird King (Switch)
12. Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King (Switch)
13. Gato Roboto (Switch)
14. Kamiko (Switch)
15. Night Slashers (Arcade)
16. Subsurface Circular (Switch)
17. Iconoclasts (Switch)
18. Wonder Boy Returns Remix (Switch)
19. Resident Evil 3 (PS1)
20. The Messenger (Switch)
21. The Messenger: Picnic Panic (Switch)
22. Samsara Room (iOS)
23. Heroes of the Monkey Tavern (Switch)
Samsara Room is another excellent, bite-sized escape room puzzle game from Rusty Lake, creators of Rusty Lake Hotel, Rusty Lake Paradise, and the excellent Cube Escape series. Released to celebrate the developer’s fifth anniversary, the game is completely free, and it is actually a remake of the developer’s very first game. It’s just as surreal as the developer’s other games, and I really enjoyed it. Recommended.
Heroes of Monkey Tavern is basically “baby’s first Dungeon Master.” That is, it’s a short, grid-based, first-person dungeon crawler with real-time combat and simplified mechanics. Unlike the sublime Legend of Grimrock, another game inspired by Dungeon Master, this game does not require you to feed your party to keep it alive or keep a lit torch to navigate the dungeon. Your party’s inventory is also so expansive that you never have to drop items, and you also never have to worry about your gear’s weight slowing you down. (In other word, it jettisons all of Legend of Grimrock‘s most annoying mechanics.) Somewhat inexplicably, however, the game punishes you for running from a battle; so, you can’t execute the hit-and-weave battle strategy that’s so effective in other examples of the sub-genre. (You have to slug it out with your enemies, and the game freezes you in place for the boss fights.) While the game is nowhere near as good as Legend of Grimrock, it is nonetheless really fun, packed with secrets, and intermittently challenging. (Stupid skeletons and instant-death traps...) Moreover, the dungeon is only eight floors, with a particularly-inspired sixth floor, and you can get through the game in 3-4 hours. (It’s often on sale in the eShop for only $5, and I’ve definitely paid more for games that provide a lesser experience.) As a result, it never wears out its welcome, and I have no qualms about recommending it, despite its flaws. It would be a particularly good starting point for people interested in the genre but, perhaps, a bit intimidated to try it out.