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PartridgeSenpai
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by PartridgeSenpai Tue Dec 31, 2019 1:21 pm

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) *
26. Super Mario RPG (SFC) *
27. Kaeru No Tame Ni Kane Wa Naru (GB)
28. Final Fantasy VI (SFC) *
29. Final Fantasy IV (SFC) *
30. Final Fantasy V (SFC)
31. Final Fantasy III (Famicom)
32. Mother 2 (SFC) *
33. Mother 3 (GBA) *
34. Hebereke (Famicom)
35. Donkey Kong Country 2 (SFC)
36. Donkey Kong Country 3 (SFC)
37. Donkey Kong Country (SFC) *
38. Wario's Woods (Famicom)
39. Paper Mario: Color Splash (Wii U)
40. Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (3DS)
41. Luigi's Mansion (3DS) *
42. Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS)
43. Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga & Bowser's Minions (3DS)
44. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story & Bowser Jr's Journey (3DS)
45. Tomato Adventure (GBA)
46. Corpse Party (PSP)
47. Rave Master: Fighting Live (GC)
48. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA) *
49. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (GBA)
50. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA) *
51. New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS)
52. The Outer Worlds (Xbone)
53. Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight (Xbone)
54. Guacamelee 2 (Xbone)
55. Steamworld Dig 2 (Xbone)
56. Yoku's Island Express (Xbone)
57. Guacamelee (Xbone) *
58. Blazing Chrome (Xbone)
59. Minit (Xbone)
60. Dishonored 2 (Xbone)
61. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Xbone)
62. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Xbone)
63. Recore: Definitive Edition (Xbone)
64. Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (Xbone)
65. Super Lucky's Tale (Xbone)
66. Snake Pass (Xbone)
67. My Friend Pedro - Blood Bullets Bananas (Xbone)
68. Kirby 64: Legend of the Crystal Shards (N64) *
69. Kirby's Adventure (NES)
70. Super Metroid (SNES) *
71. Metroid Fusion (GBA) *

72. Shantae: Risky's Revenge (DSiWare)

On the trains and planes and automobiles (I did ride a bus and a car or two) I had to take for my vacation to America, I decided to bring my 3DS and try and clear through some of my backlog on it. I brought some really good stuff: The 3rd Chibi-Robo game I was so excited about, Shovel Knight: King of Cards, plenty to keep me occupied. And instead I decided to play through this game I've owned more or less since it came out, and it was a good choice thematically for a year I've given second chances to so many games. Not sure it was such a good choice as far as having fun goes though XD. It took me a little over 4 hours to beat, but just because this was a little "longer" than Metroid Fusion, assuming it was in anyway close to better is a pretty generous assumption XP

This is a metroidvania and was the first in the last decade's series of Shantae revivals (coming out in 2010). All I'd known about it back then was that Shantae was a well-thought of but very rare GBC game, so a new entry in it sounded fun. I picked it up and played it and eventually just got stuck because I couldn't find where to go next. I did manage to get through the rest of the game this time, but the problems I identified ten years ago are all still certainly here.

First, in regards to my getting lost, the game has a map that is at best, functional, at worst, confusing. It's a very general overview of the entire world map, but the myriad of caverns and shortcuts between areas aren't on it, and you can't mark anything on it. A lot of knowing where you are is just as much down to your own memory as it is to that map, and if you aren't gonna play through this game in one sitting, you're gonna spend a LOT of time wandering around and backtracking to try and find that one cave that has a necessary power up in it.

Of course the game already has a TON of backtracking. The game's map design is really uninspired, at least the overworld. The caverns and three dungeons are mixes of platforming challenges and combat challenges, but the overworld is largely just flat/somewhat flat horizontal side-scrolling levels you'll need to trudge through over and over because the warp spots in this game seem like they go out of their way to be as inconvenient as possible. This game has a lot of padding for its content, and the bad overworld is one of the prime sources of that.

The combat and gameplay themselves are alright. I'm glad this game got sequels, because the way spells and your hair-whip attack function are really solid. It's mostly just that they have very little interesting to act in tandem with because the enemies have pretty poor variety despite the few bosses being alright fun. You gain the power to transform into a monkey, an elephant, and a mermaid in order to access new areas and do platforming challenges. They're a pretty good diversion from the tedium of the overworld and they control well too. Even the monkey's wall climbing is more generous and fun to play than it very easily could've been.

The story isn't too complex. Shantae, the half-genie hero of Scuttletown, goes to a show where her relic-hunting uncle is unavailing his newest discovery. Risky comes in to steal it, and you need to find the three magic seals (but not the fun, barky kind TwT) in order to get it back. It's nothing special or memorable in and of itself, but the NPC dialogue is really something odd. There are a lot of genuinely good, quick jokes, I got a chuckle out of, and a lot of them are of a nature that makes me wonder how this game got an E10+ instead of a T rating XD

The presentation is good for the most part. Animations are pretty and fluid, and it's probably one of the things the game does better than most other things. Music is alright, and the character portraits don't look amazing (and I'm not a huge fan of how sexualized the female character design is in the first place, but that's just me).

Verdict: Not Recommended. Maybe this was a serviceable experience for the money back in 2010, but these days there is really no reason to hunt this game down on the couple re-releases it's had since the DSi days. It is a painfully below-average game with TONS of padding that is barely memorable beyond the novelty of being another Shantae game after so so long. There are piles of better Metroidvanias you can get for as much or less money, so there is no reason to waste your time with this unless you just have to see EVERYTHING the Shantae series has been.
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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by BoneSnapDeez Tue Dec 31, 2019 3:47 pm

Ack wrote:Bone, I would love to hear your thoughts on Crusader of Centy sometime.


I played it a few years ago. Was lucky to get a copy before it got too expensive.

It's decent enough. My memory is hazy... I recall enjoying the colorful graphics, but didn't like the pacing and some of the mechanics. Anyone who tells you it's the "Zelda killer" of the Genesis is just wrong. I'd prob place it in the 7/10 zone, which is where I'd put Beyond Oasis as well.

My favorite top-down Gen/MD ARPG is actually Tougi-Ou: King Colossus. It's a Japanese exclusive that has that PC-98/X68000 vibe. Nice and straightforward and old school. Reminds me of Ys and Xak.
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Xeogred
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by Xeogred Tue Dec 31, 2019 6:03 pm

Image

62. Tomb Raider (PSX)

12h05m*

I've always joked to others that my initial experience with the first Tomb Raider back in the 90's was playing a demo for mere minutes, walking into an icey cavern, and dying to wolves with no clue what I was doing or how to control Lara. I am not sure if that demo didn't include the Lara's Home tutorial or as a kid I ignored it, but playing that section this time remedied everything. The interest remained for me, as I played Legend, a few of the reboots, and was often exposed to Tomb Raider throughout the years from friends who were fans and all the coverage she got in magazines back in the day. It was only a matter of time before I finally sat down and gave the original its due. Still, nothing could have prepared me for how visceral and wondrous this dense experience would be. There was always an allure to the classic Tomb Raider games to me and from longtime fans they still harbor a strong reputation to this day. This is 1996 and it'll always be hard to re-adjust to a single joystick with limited camera control but once I sunk my teeth into this one, I adored everything about it and could easily see how Tomb Raider became such a household name over the years. There is something very special here. I discovered that it wasn't always Crystal Dynamics, it was Core Design who started it all and I'd like to believe that if you chisel around their logo, you find that their full name was HardCore. Because that's exactly what the original Tomb Raider was, balls to the wall. Of all the games I played in 2019 across modern and retro, I'm absolutely confident that Tomb Raider killed me the most this year alongside Sekiro.

I often love being thrown into a dungeon with little exposition and venturing through a huge adventure all on my own. I never could have predicted that Tomb Raider would carry this weight so confidently and often made me think of the likes of Demon's Souls or the Thief series, with its mysterious and powerful atmosphere. Outside of the opening minutes, 99% of this adventure was spent in the hollow world beneath Earth with barely any sunlight, a crushing and dangerous vibe much like some of the Metroid franchise. Music was extremely sparse and most of the game was just that cold slicing silence or some crackling cavern sounds in the distance. I basked in the silence for awhile but will admit, I started adding my own ambience to the game after a few levels in.

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While there are a few human enemies throughout the game, 99% of the enemies are predator beasts from wolves, lions, bears, bats, and later on apparently demonic and otherwordly creatures in the final act that went places I never expected. Enemy types that just further emphasis how alone and lost you are. And while this constant oppressive closed in atmosphere might sound like it could be repetitive, visually it never was. There are about four major arcs throughout the game with a few short cutscenes in between every few levels when Lara travels to a new location, but even level to level, the settings, textures, colors, architecture, it all constantly changed and evolved. This game was a joy to look at from start to finish and always varied. Probably one of my favorite and most impressive things about the game all around.

The controls are often what turn people away nowadays, it even did for me back in the day! You really need to play the tutorial and spend some time with just getting a feel for the game early on. The difficulty curve felt consistently fair to me overall and naturally, you can expect that mastery of Lara's moves and everything you learn through the game will be ultimately tested by the end. After a level or two picking this game up afterwards felt familiar and I'm sure jumping into the sequels down the road will be easier to adjust to as well. Either way you cut it, the controls are complex and navigating this game is nearly a puzzle in itself. Every move and jump must be calculated, because of the traps, or severe fall damage that easily gets you killed. My guess was that this game would be like a 3D Flashback / Another World and it really was. A set of continual running jumps is what I took issue with the most and seemed extra finicky, however there was literally only one room with a timed puzzle and fire trap platforms that required a set of quick and precise running jumps in a row. So luckily that problem was never a real issue. Once you get into the groove of the intricate controls and mechanics, I actually think what Core did here for 1996 holds up very well in a fascinating way.

Save points are sprinkled throughout the levels and much like finely crafted classics of the old, merely seeing a checkpoint from afar was such a huge sigh or relief. They are however, finite and can only be used once. In the massive levels with branching paths, it was often smart to try and get some work done before using a checkpoint. That was always a risk though. You will die a lot in this game, a LOT, and have to backtrack a lot of extra work at times. That's the * next to my playtime noted in the beginning, all levels added up to 12 hours worth for me, but I would wager it was realistically about 20 some hours in between all my deaths and nailing down some trial and error sections.

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It was interesting how the game was level based. Across the four main arcs there are often exits and entrances chaining levels together that make it feel like one huge area, along with a part or two backtracking to an old level, but for the most part the level system worked very nicely and these areas still felt massive. The only items you really come across are small and large medpacks, along with ammo for your various guns. Items carry over between the levels and your save file. You'll definitely want to take your time and hope to find some secrets along the way for some extra stock. I did have over a dozen medpacks per type to spare in the end though with what felt like unlimited ammo for my powerful weapons, so my pace paid off. Combat is actually pretty fun with Lara's acrobatic abilities, dual wielding pistols, magnums, or uzzi's while she can back flip and side flip all over the place while raining down bullets was always fun. Early on there's some nasty traps that throw animals right in your face, then later on the demonic type enemies can start shooting you with projectiles. A few bosses were just bullet sponges. Overall, the combat and gunplay is obviously secondary to everything else and Core seemed to know that with the first entry here. The majority of this entire game is navigating these dangerous and huge dungeons. If you ever wanted an "Oops all Dungeons" variant of Zelda, this is practically that.

The final act did bring things down a smudge. There was one level that'd I'd call a "human" level in a game like this (Natla's Mines), Lara loses her guns and you have to navigate this big mining cave that was also the least interesting visually. There were some weird new things in this level that you never saw before, so it seemed a bit more experimental and not in a good way. Then the final two levels looked like they took place in hell! A fleshy tomb chalk full of tricks and traps along linear paths with plenty of demons to fight. I actually loved how these last two levels looked. But they were far more linear than the rest of the game and action heavy. Not surprising for a final stretch, but not the best levels to me. Hardly weak enough to hurt the overall journey though.

Image

I was pretty optimistic going into this game but never dreamed I would end up loving it this much. This was a rich experience I'll remember for sure. Now I look forward to checking out the other classic Core entries, some that even sound harder than the original, but there is a lot that I see from those that don't look quite as appealing. More of the "human" levels and less tombs. Who knows, either way the very first 1996 adventure here was amazing for me. It requires a lot of patience and re-learning to adapt to its dated nature. Thus I think this one could be a hard sell for others to go back and play it fresh or maybe even for fans to revisit. There's a lot to love and respect here though, paving the way for 3D game design, with plenty of elements that would still be nice to see more of today. I'm glad this was more than a historical viewing and really took me be surprise.

Stats:
Caves
Kills: 13
Pickups: 4
Secrets: 0/3
Time: 14:01

City of Vilcabamba
Kills: 24
Pickups: 9
Secrets: 1/3
Time: 27:43

Lost Valley
Kills: 18
Pickups: 24
Secrets: 3/5
Time: 50:41

Tomb of Qualopec
Kills: 7
Pickups: 3
Secrets: 0/3
Time: 25:46

St Francis' Folly
Kills: 31
Pickups: 22
Secrets: 0/4
Time: 55:10

Colosseum
Kills: 23
Pickups: 9
Secrets: 1/3
Time: 46:58

Palace Midas
Kills: 67
Pickups: 22
Secrets: 2/3
Time: 1:33:17

The Cistern
Kills: 40
Pickups: 25
Secrets: 1/3
Time: 1:12:45

Tomb of Tihocan
Kills: 36
Pickups: 63
Secrets: 1/2
Time: 1:19:44

City of Khamoon
Kills: 18
Pickups: 28
Secrets: 2/3
Time: 1:00:56

Obelisk of Khamoon
Kills: 14
Pickups: 35
Secrets: 1/3
Time: 58:14

Sanctuary of the Scion
Kills: 13
Pickups: 26
Secrets: 0/1
Time: 50:40

Natla's Mines
Kills: 4
Pickups: 29
Secrets: 0/3
Time: 1:37:02

Atlantis
Kills: 48
Pickups: 66
Secrets: 1/3
Time: 57:50

The Great Pyramid
Kills: 11
Pickups: 11
Secrets: 0/3
Time: 31:22
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PartridgeSenpai
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by PartridgeSenpai Tue Dec 31, 2019 6:52 pm

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) *
26. Super Mario RPG (SFC) *
27. Kaeru No Tame Ni Kane Wa Naru (GB)
28. Final Fantasy VI (SFC) *
29. Final Fantasy IV (SFC) *
30. Final Fantasy V (SFC)
31. Final Fantasy III (Famicom)
32. Mother 2 (SFC) *
33. Mother 3 (GBA) *
34. Hebereke (Famicom)
35. Donkey Kong Country 2 (SFC)
36. Donkey Kong Country 3 (SFC)
37. Donkey Kong Country (SFC) *
38. Wario's Woods (Famicom)
39. Paper Mario: Color Splash (Wii U)
40. Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (3DS)
41. Luigi's Mansion (3DS) *
42. Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS)
43. Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga & Bowser's Minions (3DS)
44. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story & Bowser Jr's Journey (3DS)
45. Tomato Adventure (GBA)
46. Corpse Party (PSP)
47. Rave Master: Fighting Live (GC)
48. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA) *
49. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (GBA)
50. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA) *
51. New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS)
52. The Outer Worlds (Xbone)
53. Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight (Xbone)
54. Guacamelee 2 (Xbone)
55. Steamworld Dig 2 (Xbone)
56. Yoku's Island Express (Xbone)
57. Guacamelee (Xbone) *
58. Blazing Chrome (Xbone)
59. Minit (Xbone)
60. Dishonored 2 (Xbone)
61. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Xbone)
62. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Xbone)
63. Recore: Definitive Edition (Xbone)
64. Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (Xbone)
65. Super Lucky's Tale (Xbone)
66. Snake Pass (Xbone)
67. My Friend Pedro - Blood Bullets Bananas (Xbone)
68. Kirby 64: Legend of the Crystal Shards (N64) *
69. Kirby's Adventure (NES)
70. Super Metroid (SNES) *
71. Metroid Fusion (GBA) *
72. Shantae: Risky's Revenge (DSiWare)

73. Overcooked 2 (Switch)

Overcooked was one of my favorite games of the year it came out. So much fun playing it with family over the holidays, and I was super excited when I heard of a sequel coming out. When I first played it, with the same family members no less, I bounced off of it really hard. A combination of an attitude too focused on winning rather than having fun as well as some minor changes in how the game is played really got in my way of enjoying it. I went in with a better attitude this time and ended up loving it a ton, just like the first. It took me and my brother (and sometimes with my sister as a player 3 as well) around 8 or 9 hours (we played it for like, all of one day) to get 3 stars on all the levels in the main campaign.

Largely, Overcooked 2 is more Overcooked. Two to four players go around a kitchen in various immensely hazardous circumstances trying to fill the orders as they come in. One button to pick things up and put them down, and another button to operate machinery (chopping food, pushing a button, etc), a button to dash, and the joystick to move. A game so simple it even has a one-handed mode where you can share the controller with a friend so you can do two players with one controller (although sadly not with the Switch Joycons, those have to be used sideways, much to the annoyance of me and my one-handed friend I tried this with months ago :/ ). There are all sorts of chefs you can be but it's only cosmetic. Some are returning from the last game, some are brand new, but you unlock them by completing more stages, so as long as you're playing, you're unlocking. This should be very familiar to anyone who played the first game.

Overcooked 2 makes some important changes to this though. Most importantly, the button to operate machinery also now THROWS food. Anything that isn't a plate or a bowl can be thrown, and many levels require throwing food back and forth between you or at least have their difficulty greatly mitigated by throwing. Another minor but still important change is that the sink is now two spaces instead of one large area. No longer can you wash dishes by standing anywhere around the sink, it HAS to be in front of the basin. Not a huge change in the grand scheme of things, but when washing dishes is so important to serving meals on time, it can impact how your muscle memory works, particularly when you're people who played so much of the first game like we did. I would say overall they aren't bad changes, per se, but you end up throwing food when you mean to chop it a LOT, and I really dislike throwing not being a dedicated button. A lot of the appeal of Overcooked for me is in its easy to learn, hard to master design, and adding more commands you can possibly do detracts from that for me.

Verdict: Highly recommended. I would say I still prefer the first game over this one, but Overcooked 2 is still a fantastic game. A free holiday DLC level pack just came out for it, so they're still updating it. I'm not sure if we'll ever see (or need, quite frankly) an Overcooked 3, but I've really enjoyed what we've gotten from this style of hectic, co-operative game.


74. KUUKIYOMI: Consider it! (Switch)

Also known as 皆で空機読み (minna de kuuki yomi) in Japanese, this was a game I got on the Japanese eShop a few months back becuase it's like always on sale for about 250 yen. It recently came out in English, to my great surprise, and it worked in English on my American Nintendo Account. It doesn't have a "beaten" state, so far as I can tell, but my sister and I managed to get a perfect run on it, so I'm calling it beaten :b .

"Kuuki yomi", literally "reading the air", is the Japanese phrase for reading a room. The best way to describe this series is "Warioware without prompts". It's got a simple, black and white artstyle, and it puts you (or in this case, the two of you) into odd situations suddenly and you need to intuit the controls and what you should do by the nature of the situation. For example, you're on a train and two people labeled "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" are standing staring at you. The correct "read" is to move over so they can sit together.

This particular version of the game has a two-player mode where one character is red, the other is blue, and you need to work together to read the room. You do a gauntlet of a random assortment of 10 (out of 20 or so) mini-games, and it gives you a compatibility score at the end (because of course it does) X3. For example, in one game, one player is a kid in their bed, and the other is Santa. The kid needs to lay down and pretend to be asleep until Santa passes. In another one, the two of you are on an escalator and there's a girl in very skimpy clothing in front of you, and you need to avert your eyelines to not stare at her. The game is very quirky and Japanese, and it is not ashamed of it at all XD

Verdict: Highly recommended. For the price, it's a great little Warioware clone with a strong theme. It's not a ton of content, sure, but I've had tons of fun with many family and friends just trying to quickly figure out the game at hand together. It's definitely much more fun with friends, so if you have someone to play with, this is a great little party game you can pull out on your Switch.
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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by MrPopo Tue Dec 31, 2019 10:34 pm

First 50:
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
29. Timespinner - Switch
30. Amid Evil - PC
31. Pillars of Eternity II: Beast of Winter - PC
32. Pillars of Eternity II: Seeker, Slayer, Survivor - PC
33. Pillars of Eternity II: The Forgotten Sanctum - PC
34. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - Switch
35. Orphan - PC
36. Project Nimbus - PC
37. Hardcore Mecha - PC
38. Grey Goo - PC
39. Giants: Citizen Kabuto - PC
40. Wolfenstein: Youngblood - PC
41. Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Switch
42. Metal Wolf Chaos XD - PC
43. Ion Fury - PC
44. Final Fantasy Adventure - GB
45. Astral Chain - Switch
46. Rebel Galaxy Outlaw - PC
47. Blasphemous - Switch
48. Daemon x Machina - Switch
49. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - Switch
50. Borderlands 3 - PC

51. Valfaris - Switch
52. Unreal: Return to Na Pali - PC
53. The Outer Worlds - PC
54. MechWarrior 4: Black Knight - PC
55. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare - PC
56. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided: System Rift - PC
57. MDK - PC
58. Pokémon Sword - Switch
59. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - PC
60. Blazing Chrome - Switch
61. MDK 2 - PC
62. Heavy Gear - PC
63. Virtual-On - Saturn
64. Virtual-On: Oratorio Tangram - DC
65. MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - PC
66. Metaltech: Earthsiege - PC
67. Earthsiege 2 - PC
68. Cthulhu Saves Christmas - PC
69. Starsiege - PC
70. Hedon - PC
71. Final Fantasy Legend II - GB

Last game for the year, done during the downtime of 40 minute supercruises in Elite Dangerous (turns out traveling 1.8 million light seconds still takes a while even when your drive gets you up to 1000c+). I'd initially skipped FFLII when I was filling out my collection because Square was doing a remake of SaGa II on the DS. Then we never got it. So I had to backfill things.

FFLII (aka SaGa II) builds on the mechanics of the first game. Like before, you choose a party of four characters of varying races; humans, mutants, monsters, and robots (which are new to this entry). Each race has a unique way of growing its abilities. Humans are the most straightforward; they learn by doing (swing a strength weapon to build strength, swing an agility weapon to build agility) and learn stats faster than mutants. Mutants trade off the slower stat growth by learning up to four abilities randomly (with better abilities able to be learned by fighting harder monsters). Your last ability is always at risk of being replaced, so make sure to order things appropriately. The abilities cannot be removed, and can include both passive abilities and active abilities. This constrains their equipment selection more; frequently you have to choose between having an extra weapon or having a full set of armor (at least until you get the Parasuit). Both humans and mutants can be given potions for stat boosts, but unlike FFLI you cannot purchase them in stores. Monsters have fixed stats and abilities and only change by eating the meat of other monsters; depending on what you eat you can get stronger or weaker. You still need to consult a guide for proper monster raising, but unlike FFLI monsters here are balanced well and can be quite useful if you make the right choices. Finally, you have robots, the most busted class but also the most expensive. Robots gain stats by equipping gear. So give it a sword, it's stronger. Give it a saber, it's more agile. Robots also turn equipped weapons into things that recharge when you rest (like monster and mutant abilities), but the cost is losing half the charges when you equip it. It's a very small price to pay. Stacking four late game weapons of the same type will easily max the relevant stat, leading to big damage. This also means that you want to keep on top of items for robots, which isn't as necessary for the other races. Finally, there is one interesting new attack type which is the martial arts. They start off with a ton of charges, but their damage formula is that they do N damage for every use below 90 available. So the attack gets stronger the more you use it (you are training), and the final attack has a large bonus damage attached to it. I found them to be a mixed bag; good early, lousy in the middle, decent at the end (with the high level ones).

The story is that there are 77 MAGI items that can be assembled for power. Your dad runs off in the night to guard them, and when you're of age you go after him to help out. Cue a romp through several worlds connected by beanstalks to a weird castle in the sky. Each world has its own trouble that you have to resolve, and gain MAGI in the process. Eventually you get them all and have to deal with the consequences. It's nothing flashy, but given this is the Game Boy it's as solid as can be expected.

Of the three GB SaGa games I think I like this one the best. The first one is too primitive, while the third one turns it into a more generic Final Fantasy rather than relying on the SaGa style "learn these mechanics and build your party" which then shows up again in Romancing SaGa. The game isn't terribly long, and it's pretty forgiving for the most part. A nice bite-sized RPG.
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REPO Man
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by REPO Man Wed Jan 01, 2020 4:52 am

So my grand total for 2019:

  • Spin Master (PS4)
  • Shakedown Hawaii (PS4/Vita)
  • Borderlands 2: Commander Lilith and the Fight for Sanctuary (PS4)
  • Wolfenstein: Youngblood (PS4)
  • The Room (Android)
  • The Mummy Demastered (PS4)
  • The Birdcage (Android)
  • Far Cry 3 (PS4)
  • Uncharted 2 (PS4)
  • Borderlands 3 (PS4)
  • Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid (PS4)
  • Nemo (Arcade)
Total: 12
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alienjesus
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Location: London, UK.

Re: Games Beaten 2019

by alienjesus Wed Jan 01, 2020 7:59 am

It's time for stats. Hooray!

Number of games beaten this year: 101 (+41 from 2018)

Physical vs Digital breakdown:
Digital games: 9 (+2)
Physical: 92 (+39)

Console vs Portable breakdown:
Console: 19 (-19)
Portable: 82 (+60)

Number of games beaten per console generation:
Gen 3 (NES/SMS): 2 (-3)
Gen 4 (SNES/MD/TG16/GB): 6 (-5)
Gen 5 (N64/PS1/Saturn/GBC): 10 (+3)
Gen 6 (GC/PS2/DC/XBox/GBA): 2 (-5)
Gen 7 (Wii/PS3/360/DS): 5 (-2)
Gen 8 (Wii U/PS4/3DS/Switch): 76 (Of which 52 were actually originally Mega Drive games, so are also kind of Gen 5) (+57)

Console breakdown
Switch: 61 (Of which 52 were actually originally Mega Drive games) (+57)
Switch eShop: 9 (+9)
Nintendo 64: 7 (+5)
Game Boy: 5 (+0)
DS: 3 (+1)
PS4: 3 (-2)
GBC: 2 (+1)
Wii: 2 (+2)
Wii U: 2 (-1)
3DS: 1 (-4)
Dreamcast: 1 (+0)
GBA: 1 (-3)
NES: 1 (-3)
PS1: 1 (-1)
SMS: 1 (+0)
SNES: 1 (-2)
The unloved consoles (0 games beaten): PS2 (+0), PS3 (-1), PSP (+0), PSVita (+0), XBox (-1), XBox 360 (-1), TG16 (+0), 3DO (+0), NGPC (+0), Wonderswan (-1), Virtual Boy (-1), Pokemon Mini (+0), PC (+0)


Genre:
Platformer: 15 (-2)
Beat em up: 11 (+7)
Action Adventure: 10 (+2)
RPG: 10 (+7)
Arcade: 6 (+6)
Puzzle: 6 (+1)
run and gun: 5 (+3)
Action: 4 (+4)
Adventure: 4 (+3)
Rail shooter: 3 (+3)
Shmup: 3 (-2)
Rhythm: 2 (-2)
Roguelike: 2 (-2)
Fighting: 2 (+0)
Strategy: 2 (+0)
Party: 2 (+1)
FPS: 1 (+1)
Pinball: 1 (+1)
Racing: 1 (-1)
Sports: 1 (+1)
Other: 10 (+8)
Last edited by alienjesus on Thu Jan 02, 2020 9:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Ack
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by Ack Wed Jan 01, 2020 1:08 pm

2019 Stats Breakdown Time!

Number of Games Beaten: 63

Digital Distribution Breakdown
Digital Distribution: 56
Physical: 7

Platform Distribution
PC: 56
Nintendo Switch: 7

Genre Distribution
FPS: 33
RPG: 8
Beat 'Em Up/Hack 'N Slash: 8
FPS/RPG Hybrid: 5*
Stealth Adventure: 3
Point and Click: 2
Adventure: 2
Horror: 1
Rail Shooter: 1

*These values were not counted in either the FPS or RPG counts.

Average Release Year: 2006

Median Release Year: 2008

Mode Release Year: 1997 (6 Games)

Range of Release Years: 36 (1983-2019)

Oldest Game: Ultima III: Exodus (1983)

Newest Game: Half Dead 2 (2019)

Complete List of Games Beaten:
1. Dusk
2. Project: Snowblind
3. Soldier of Fortune: Platinum Edition
4. Ziggurat
5. Wolfenstein 3D: Ultimate Challenge
6. Destiny 2
7. Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris
8. Destiny 2: Warmind
9. Destiny 2: Forsaken
10. Star Wars: Rebel Assault
11. Castle Werewolf
12. Project Warlock
13. Castle Crashers
14. This Strange Realm of Mine
15. BioShock Remastered
16. BioShock 2
17. BioShock 2: Minerva's Den
18. Blood
19. Blood: Cryptic Passage
20. Blood: Post Mortem
21. Shadow Warrior
22. Shadow Warrior: Twin Dragon
23. Shadow Warrior: Wanton Destruction
24. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
25. F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn
26. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
27. Men of Valor
28. Ultima III: Exodus
29. Albedo: Eyes from Outer Space
30. Midnight Ultra
31. Amid Evil
32. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
33. Betrayer
34. Borderlands 2: Commander Lilith & the Fight for Sanctuary
35. Far Cry 2
36. Apocryph
37. Eye of the Beholder III: Assault on Myth Drannor
38. Menzoberranzan
39. TimeShift
40. Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition
41. Shadowgate
42. Might & Magic Book One
43. Miasmata
44. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
45. Legendary
46. Hedon
47. Last Rites
48. Half-Dead 2
49. Dishonored
50. Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World
51. Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall
52. Dishonored: The Brigmore Witches
53. The Spy Who Shot Me
54. Z.A.R.
55. Bunker Punks
56. Wolfenstein: The New Order
57. Final Fight
58. The King of Dragons
59. Captain Commando
60. Knights of the Round
61. Warriors of Fate
62. Armored Warriors
63. Battle Circuit
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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by MrPopo Wed Jan 01, 2020 1:39 pm

And now my statistics post. First, my overall finish was 71 games. I'm liking my trend towards more games, but it's also clear to me that by working through so many of my short games in earlier years I'll never get back to 100 and still hold down my job. So I'll just keep up with the plan of focusing on always working on something I haven't beaten before, and avoid the temptation to replay old favorites.

Platforms:
PC: 45
Switch: 14
Saturn: 3
GBC: 2
GB: 2
PS1: 1
PS4: 1
N64: 1
DC: 1
NES: 1

Once again the PC is the big winner, but second up is the Switch. This year was fantastic for Switch releases, both cart releases and downloadable games. It's nice seeing the Switch being embraced by the indie community, as I prefer to snag 90s style retro games on the Switch, rather than Steam or one of the other console platforms. Half of it is that I prefer the Switch controller, half is that Nintendo is the old granddaddy of the bunch and deserves those games more than Sony or Microsoft. In fact, at this point the only thing that gets me to play PS4 or XBone games is exclusives, and Microsoft has gotten away from XBone only exclusives; they all show up on PC as well as they finally realized that they get more sales by also releasing on Windows.

Genres:
Action-Adventure: 4
Card Battler: 3
FPS: 19
Horror: 1
Mech: 13
Metroidvania: 6
RPG: 13
RTS: 2
Run-and-Gun: 2
Simulation: 3
SRPG: 3
TPS: 2

This is one of my more rounded years genre-wise. I noticed through the year that I tended to get on genre jags; the Pokémon TCG got me on a card game kick and so I got the old Microprose Magic game working and played through the Gwent single player game. I kept coming back to mech games this year, and went on a small Metroidvania jag in celebration of Bloodstained coming out. RPG is always my default genre, as I enjoy learning and exploiting their mechanics. And I used FPSs as a palette cleanser, as I can usually knock one out in a couple days. And this year was full of great throwback FPS releases.
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pook99
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by pook99 Wed Jan 01, 2020 4:55 pm

My Stats breakdown:

Games Beaten: 194
Games that sucked too much to finish: 34
Breakdown by system:

PC: 84, 4 replay 80 new
Android: 2 both new
PS1: 2 both new
PS4: 4 all new
PSP 1 new
NES: 36 23 replay, 13 new
SNES: 19 11 replay 8 new
GB: 2 1 new 1 replay
wii: 2, both replay
3DS: 1, new
Switch: 26 2 replay 24 new
Genesis: 5 1 replay 4 new
Saturn 1 new
OpenBOR : 4 new
MAME: 5 2 replay 3 new
Xbox 360 1 replay

Best games I played for the first time this year (in no particular order)
1. Celeste
2. Ori and the blind forest
3. Duck souls (not a typo, duck souls is the game, not dark souls)
4. Devil May Cry 5
5. Way of the passive fist
6. Blazing Chrome
7. RE2make
8. Guacamelee 2
9. Valfaris
10. Shovel knight: king of cards
11. God of War (ps4)
12. Spider-man (ps4)
13. Control
14. Castlevania: holy relics (nes hack)
15. Deadpool (nes hack)
16. Aggelos
17. Blaster Master Zero 2
18. New Super Lucky;s tale
19. Shining force
20. Untitled Goose Game

Worst games played this year:
1. Hellblade: senuas sacrifice
2. Final Specimen
3. 99 Vidas (possibly the worst beat em up I ever played)
4. Caveman world: mountains of uunga boonga
5. cecconoid
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