TR 2018 - Year In Review
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:58 pm
something I often like to do at the end of the year is go back and look at the TR calendar that we had, and sort of reflect on the games chosen for the year; how much I actually participated; and how much I enjoyed the experience. And of course I'd like to read others' accounts of the year as well.
JAN - Licensed To Thrill
I ended up playing through Way Forward's HD remake of Ducktales and having a blast. This remake wasn't new to me; neither was the original. But I'm a big fan of both so it was nice to remind myself to play it again.
FEB - Final Fantasy Spin Offs
The month that I was in charge of... I ended up playing Final Fantasy Type-0 and sort of love/hating it. Type-0 was a total mess of a game that had so many ideas that it was pretty much baffling. Yet in the end I had found myself strangely enjoying its failures in a "you're tearing me apart, Lisa" kind of way. I doubt I'd ever play it again, but I feel like I have a bit of a soft spot for it now.
MAR - 80's Ladies Night
Ooh, two JRPG's in a row! This time I went back to Phantasy Star II, which I've started multiple times and never finished. This month didn't change that, unfortunately. There's plenty to love about Phantasy Star II... the music, the graphics, the world... but there's also a bit of a disdain for the player's time, and I ultimately got burnt out on the grind. I still feel like this game is important to me, I just can't seem to finish it in one go. And I'd rank the original above it, which may be an unpopular opinion. I feel like I should give IV another go this coming year, and maybe finally get around to III.
APR - FMV Frenzy
I really wanted to participate this month, but unfortunately wasn't able to find a fitting game in time. Too bad Night Trap hadn't released physically on Xbox One or Switch yet. Sigh.
MAY - First Person Dungeon Crawlers
I was really busy in May so wasn't planning to participate. Then towards the middle of the month I decided to try to squeeze in Morrowind. Then the ebay seller took too long to ship it so I had less than a week to play and ended up not even touching it. Bah.
JUN - Beat Em Ups
So for this one I decided I'd replay Guardian Heroes - a game that *everyone* raves about to see if I was wrong about it. I beat it and... Nope. I still hate it.
JUL - Virtual Boy Exclusives
A month dedicated to a system I don't have? Curtain down!
AUG - Animal Main Characters
Ugh, a month I was really excited about! I pre-ordered Okami for Switch in anticipation only to find that my order got screwed up from Japan and the game arrived too late for me to actually get to dive in. This compounded by a very very busy month. Drag. I still have Okami sitting on my shelf sealed, so hopefully I get to it this coming year as well.
SEP - Welcome To Treasure Island
No disrespect to the month's organizer, but I'm just not a huge Treasure fan. I gave Gunstar Heroes another try. I liked it more than Guardian Heroes, anyway. But ultimately I find it really nice looking but rather tedious. But hey, I did beat it so there's that.
OCT - Golden Age Of Survival Horror
I started out strong for the month with my replay of Resident Evil and then soon found out that my wife was expecting so much of my attention turned away from gaming for the next month or so as we had other things on our minds, haha. The ten hours or so I put into RE again were great, though!
NOV - Time Travelers Never Die
Chalk this month up to my own indecision. I knew I wanted to play something on 3DS instead of being confined to the game room. I initially planned on Majora's Mask, then flip-flopped to Oracle Of Seasons since I already owned it. I got kind of meh on Oracle Of Seasons pretty quickly and then decided I might play Chrono Trigger but couldn't get a copy in time. In hindsight, I should have just stuck with my gut on Majora's Mask. Dammit.
DEC - SHMUPTACULAR
I've only played a bit of Space Invaders Extreme so far, but it's really good.
So in the end, it looks like I can say I really participated in 50% of the TR months this year. Not bad, but not great. Still, I had a good time with a good mix of games this year, so cheers!
JAN - Licensed To Thrill
I ended up playing through Way Forward's HD remake of Ducktales and having a blast. This remake wasn't new to me; neither was the original. But I'm a big fan of both so it was nice to remind myself to play it again.
FEB - Final Fantasy Spin Offs
The month that I was in charge of... I ended up playing Final Fantasy Type-0 and sort of love/hating it. Type-0 was a total mess of a game that had so many ideas that it was pretty much baffling. Yet in the end I had found myself strangely enjoying its failures in a "you're tearing me apart, Lisa" kind of way. I doubt I'd ever play it again, but I feel like I have a bit of a soft spot for it now.
MAR - 80's Ladies Night
Ooh, two JRPG's in a row! This time I went back to Phantasy Star II, which I've started multiple times and never finished. This month didn't change that, unfortunately. There's plenty to love about Phantasy Star II... the music, the graphics, the world... but there's also a bit of a disdain for the player's time, and I ultimately got burnt out on the grind. I still feel like this game is important to me, I just can't seem to finish it in one go. And I'd rank the original above it, which may be an unpopular opinion. I feel like I should give IV another go this coming year, and maybe finally get around to III.
APR - FMV Frenzy
I really wanted to participate this month, but unfortunately wasn't able to find a fitting game in time. Too bad Night Trap hadn't released physically on Xbox One or Switch yet. Sigh.
MAY - First Person Dungeon Crawlers
I was really busy in May so wasn't planning to participate. Then towards the middle of the month I decided to try to squeeze in Morrowind. Then the ebay seller took too long to ship it so I had less than a week to play and ended up not even touching it. Bah.
JUN - Beat Em Ups
So for this one I decided I'd replay Guardian Heroes - a game that *everyone* raves about to see if I was wrong about it. I beat it and... Nope. I still hate it.
JUL - Virtual Boy Exclusives
A month dedicated to a system I don't have? Curtain down!
AUG - Animal Main Characters
Ugh, a month I was really excited about! I pre-ordered Okami for Switch in anticipation only to find that my order got screwed up from Japan and the game arrived too late for me to actually get to dive in. This compounded by a very very busy month. Drag. I still have Okami sitting on my shelf sealed, so hopefully I get to it this coming year as well.
SEP - Welcome To Treasure Island
No disrespect to the month's organizer, but I'm just not a huge Treasure fan. I gave Gunstar Heroes another try. I liked it more than Guardian Heroes, anyway. But ultimately I find it really nice looking but rather tedious. But hey, I did beat it so there's that.
OCT - Golden Age Of Survival Horror
I started out strong for the month with my replay of Resident Evil and then soon found out that my wife was expecting so much of my attention turned away from gaming for the next month or so as we had other things on our minds, haha. The ten hours or so I put into RE again were great, though!
NOV - Time Travelers Never Die
Chalk this month up to my own indecision. I knew I wanted to play something on 3DS instead of being confined to the game room. I initially planned on Majora's Mask, then flip-flopped to Oracle Of Seasons since I already owned it. I got kind of meh on Oracle Of Seasons pretty quickly and then decided I might play Chrono Trigger but couldn't get a copy in time. In hindsight, I should have just stuck with my gut on Majora's Mask. Dammit.
DEC - SHMUPTACULAR
I've only played a bit of Space Invaders Extreme so far, but it's really good.
So in the end, it looks like I can say I really participated in 50% of the TR months this year. Not bad, but not great. Still, I had a good time with a good mix of games this year, so cheers!