Games Beaten 2023

[MrPopo]

Previous Years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

1. Void Destroyer - PC
2. Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights - Switch
3. Raging Blasters - Switch
4. Citizen Sleeper - Switch
5. GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon
6. Hands of Necromancy - PC
7. Project Downfall - PC
8. Chasm: The Rift - PC
9. Cultic - PC
10. Kirby Super Star - SNES
11. Kirby's Dream Land 2 - GB
12. Kirby's Dream Land 3 - SNES
13. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards - N64
14. Fire Emblem Engage - Switch
15. Mechwarrior 5: Rise of Rasalhague - PC
16. Kirby's Epic Yarn - Wii

Kirby's Epic Yarn originally started as an original IP, but it was missing that je ne se qua. So they decided to make Kirby the star and everything came together. While it maintains the "for everyone" difficulty of mainline Kirby games, the actual gameplay is noticeably different due to the transformation of Kirby into a yarn creature. Sometimes this will mess with your reflexes, but overall it works well.

The game starts with Kirby stealing the tomato of a creature named Yin Yarn. He punishes Kirby by turning him into yarn and banishing him to Patch Land. There Kirby meets Prince Fluff (the original protagonist) and sets off to repair Patch Land. But Yin Yarn has his own nefarious plans for Dreamland. Cue six seven worlds of four stages, a boss fight, then two bonus stages each.

Because Kirby is just a yarn outline he no longer has his inhale powers. This means no copy abilities and no floating. But in return Kirby now can change his shape in all sorts of ways. He can turn into a car to move fast, or a toboggan on ice stages. He becomes a sub in water, and can become a parachute to land slowly. And he can become a weight to do a ground pound. Instead of inhaling enemies, Kirby can throw out some yarn and either tear them apart or wrap them up and carry them for later throwing. Kirby can also use this to do some swing grappling. Some stages also feature transformations, where Kirby becomes some sort of vehicle and go through a section built for said vehicle.

The game has a gorgeous aesthetic; enemies are made of yarn and all the backgrounds and environments are as if built from felt and buttons all stitched together. Sometimes you can manipulate the environment, like pulling it closer or unzipping the foreground to open a path. They aren't slavish to the aesthetic, so good level design is always the first priority for them. There's a wide variety of challenges, but interesting, the game does not let you die. If you take a hit you lose the beads you are collecting (for getting a medal on the level and purchasing cosmetics in town) a la Sonic, but taking a hit with zero beads doesn't hurt. Falling into a pit has a Lakitu-esque creature rescue you from the pit while you drop beads. Every level can be eventually beaten.

While there were a few levels I didn't care for (overly hard to medal or get all the treasures), overall it was a fun excursion. And since it supports co-op it's the perfect game to introduce a young one to.

[Limewater]

Super Castlevania IV (SNES)

With this, I have completed the four numbered Castlevania games, all on original hardware. Of these, Super Castlevania IV is my least favorite, primarily for thing everyone else praises about this game-- the graphics.

I did have an easier time with the game compared with Castlevania I and III, but I frequently found myself hampered by the graphics. I am color-blind, and between the excessively-busy effects and red-heavy (and maybe green-heavy?) color palate, I found myself frequently struggling to decipher what I was seeing on the screen. I frequently found myself getting it or instantly dying due to making contact with things I couldn't even see. A few levels feature red insta-kill spikes on either a red, brown, or green background. If I have time to study the screen I can see these things, but Super Castlevania IV is fairly fast-paced for a Castlevania game. Simon walks quickly, and the timers leave fairly thin margins compared to Castlevania I and III.

As an example, the final level features rising platforms you must jump between to avoid ceiling-mounted insta-kill spikes. I died many times on spikes I couldn't even see until the screen stopped scrolling during Simon's death animation.

The only similar issue I had in Castlevania III is in the battle with death, where the game hints where the sickles are about to appear with tiny red pixels on a black background. I basically couldn't see them and just had to try a dumb strategy repeatedly until I got lucky, but this was the only instance of this in the game. Here I had significant problems like this on probably four of the eleven levels. This made the game more stressful and less fun than prior games.

If I had been able to see things in the game more clearly I think I would have had a lot more fun. As it is, I was just looking to get the game over with.

I did find it amusing that a lot of the environmental effects continued running even when the game was paused.

It is a good-looking game, and I can see why a lot of people really love it. However, I'll take the simpler, cleaner graphics of the NES games any day.

[opa]

Have you played Bloodlines yet?

[Limewater]

Have you played Bloodlines yet?

No, but I have it on my Genesis Mini, though I am a little concerned about lag.

I do plan to play it eventually. I am hopeful that it won't be quite as graphically ambitious as Super Castlevania IV.

[MrPopo]

Previous Years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

1. Void Destroyer - PC
2. Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights - Switch
3. Raging Blasters - Switch
4. Citizen Sleeper - Switch
5. GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon
6. Hands of Necromancy - PC
7. Project Downfall - PC
8. Chasm: The Rift - PC
9. Cultic - PC
10. Kirby Super Star - SNES
11. Kirby's Dream Land 2 - GB
12. Kirby's Dream Land 3 - SNES
13. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards - N64
14. Fire Emblem Engage - Switch
15. Mechwarrior 5: Rise of Rasalhague - PC
16. Kirby's Epic Yarn - Wii
17. Kirby's Return to Dreamland - Wii

Return to Dreamland is a successor to Super Star that takes the expanded copy abilities and turns it into a full game, instead of a series of mini games. It also adds a four player co-op option using Meta Knight, King Dedede, and Bandana Dee. It serves as a pivot of the series back towards the Adventure/Super Star line, compared to the direction the Dark Matter trilogy went.

The game opens with the four characters frolicking when suddenly a portal opens and a flying ship emerges. A flying ship that immediately explodes into pieces and crashes. They investigate and find a creature named Magalor who requests your help to repair his ship so he can go home. So begins your journey through several worlds to get the major pieces, as well as the various energy spheres that help power it (though these are completely optional).

As mentioned, the immediate predecessor, gameplay-wise, is Super Star. Most of the copy abilities are retained alongside a few new ones, and like Super Star each copy ability has a variety of moves involved. Depending on if you are just on the ground, in the air, or dashing you will have different attacks, and there are usually additional attacks as well, such as being able to attack straight up or having a ground pound type ability. Many abilities also have effects in the world, and the game is very good at giving you the power you need right before you need it. There are only a handful of stages where you need to carry a power from a previous screen, so in general if you see a new ability on a monster you'll want to grab it. The powers are overall very well balanced in terms of usefulness, so for boss fights go with whichever one's move set fits you.

The game's collectables are the aforementioned energy spheres. Collecting these will unlock some challenge stages and a series of rooms that let you grab the exact power you want when you want it. However, this is of dubious usefulness given how often you need to switch powers in stages to get through obstacles and collect the energy spheres. Still, the actual collection is at that right level of requiring effort but not being in silly areas you wouldn't think to go. They are fun to collect, rather than a chore.

The game isn't too terribly challenging, but it does require the player to pay attention and not just face tank everything. Which shows it at that perfect level of Kirby difficulty that's great for chilling out and doing some fun platforming, rather than banging your head against some nasty jump in other platformers. This is definitely one of the best Kirby games I've played.

[ElkinFencer10]

Games Beaten in 2023 - 7
* denotes a replay

January (5 Games Beaten)

1. Banner of the Maid - Switch - January 2
2. Silver Falls: 3 Down Stars - 3DS - January 8
3. Silver Falls: Episode Prelude - Switch - January 8
4. The Pathless - PlayStation 5 - January 12
5. Modern Combat: Blackout - Switch - January 14

February (2 Games Beaten)

6. Fire Emblem: Engage - Switch - February 2
7. Dragon Quest Builders 2 - PlayStation 4 - February 15

7. Dragon Quest Builders 2 - PlayStation 4 - February 15



Dragon Quest Builders 2 answers the question "What if Minecraft had a purpose?" I loved the first Dragon Quest Builders, and the sequel just takes what made the first one great and expands that. It's got the block-based building that folks expect from Minecraft-esque creative games, but it marries that with the typical good-vs-evil Dragon Quest storyline.



Dragon Quest Builders 2 has you start as a prisoner aboard a prison ship run by monsters serving the Children of Hargon, a cult dedicated to destroying anything and everything and the sworn enemies of builders. Eventually, the ship is caught in a storm, and you end up shipwrecked along with two other survivors on the Isle of Awakening, your "hub world" for the game. You meet a hammerhood spirit who gives you ownership of the island and guides you as through your journey to restore building to the island. After a brief stint on the island, you start the first of the four "main" sections of the game. For each of the main sections, you're sent to another storyline island. One is a formerly lush island focused on farming and wood items, one is a desert island focused on mining and metal items, one is a snowy island focused on stone construction, and one is a spoiler. Between each of these island chapters, you have tasks to complete on the Isle of Awakening as you build up your own island.



The main "quest" of the storyline is to travel to these islands and recruit people to come back to your island with you to help build and populate. Wherever you go, however, you're hounded by the Children of Hargon. The cult is determined to prevent the return of building to the islands they rule, and they're consistently attacking you and the settlements you're trying to build back up. That's where the combat comes in; you'll have NPCs helping you in battle, but you'll definitely want to make sure that you're keeping your equipment upgraded when possible and gain as much experience as possible so that you have the HP to survive increasingly powerful enemies' attacks. The combat isn't difficult, but you'll definitely need to get a feel for healing, knowing when to fall back, and knowing the timing of your enemies' attacks so that you can dodge and avoid damage.



As with Minecraft, the most addicting part of the game is building up your own island. I have spent dozens and dozens of hours working on completely non-story related things, just building up my island. You'll end up with three main settlement areas on your island - one green and grassy, one desert, and one snowy and desolate. They pretty clearly mirror the first three-story islands. In the grassy area, for example, I meticulously flattened land to build sprawling fields for my farms (gotta keep the peasants busy) and a huge six-story wooden apartment building to house my peasants. In the desert, I built individual rooms in a large building and a separate bar building with a restaurant on top of that and a makeshift brothel above the restaurant. Because sex work is real work, and the island dutchy of Ehrenfest is a place of equality, and the ruling Archduchess Rozemyne is a stalwart proponent of feminism. My crowning achievement of my island, in my opinion, is the massive castle I constructed (complete with a dungeon where all bards are immediately incarcerated) and the massive rail system connecting the dock, builder's temple, and all three settlements together.



Dragon Quest Builders 2 is addicting to say the least. It's kind of like Civilization except instead of "Just one more turn..." it's "Just one more structure..." Every time you unlock a new recipe, you'll have some idea of "Oh, that would make a cool room..." The only thing I genuinely hate about the game is that you're limited to 100 recognized rooms on your island; I wanted to build sprawling towns with multi-room houses for reach of my residents and a wide variety of recreational buildings. Still, though, 100 rooms was enough for me to do most of what I really wanted to do, and you can always demolish a building to rebuild or remodel a room. It can get a little janky when trying to get exact placement of blocks and items, but all in all, it's a pretty easy to use system. I guarantee that however much time you think you'll spend with this game, you'll end up spending more.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Finally posting in this thread, with some very short reviews:

1. Kirby & The Forgotten Land (Switch)
2. Kirby’s Dreamland 3 (SNES)
3. Earthbound Beginnings (NES)
4. Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (NES)
5. Tuff E Nuff (SNES)
6. Star Fox 2 (SNES)

Kirby & The Forgotten Land Is a delightful 3D platformer. It wasn’t quite the open-world game I was expexting, with linear levels similar to Crash Bandicoot, but it was still a lot of fun. The levels are varied and fun; the graphics are great; and Kirby controls wonderfully. The base game is pretty easy, making it a perfect game to play with children, but there’s a ton of content, with some really tough bosses if you’re seeking an additional challenge. Highly recommended.

I wanted to like Kirby’s Dreamland 3, but it’s pretty bad. The game looks great, with graphics similar to Yoshi’s Island. The gameplay is sluggish, though, and the game is full of cryptic requirements that frequently require you to replay levels to reach the true final boss and ending. Accordingly, what should be a breezy platformer ends up being a slog. Not recommended.

Earthbound Beginnings is the first game in the Mother series. It has a lot of charm: the graphics and sound are great (for the era); the setting is unique; there are some good set pieces; there’s a lot of optional content, and the story is OK. Still, it’s an 8-bit console JRPG, which means: (1) a lot of grinding; and (2) poorly implemented character and equipment progression. It’s not as painful as DQ2 or Legend of the Ghost Lion, but it isn’t as delightful as FF or DQ3 either. Still, it’s a classic, and if you have the patience for old console JRPGs, it’s a must-play. Recommended.

The Lost Levels is, basically, a SMB ROM hack Nintendo released for the Famicom Disc System in Japan as SMB2. I’ve played through it on both the Super Mario Bros. All-Star Collection and Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. Both of those ports file down the game’s rough edges quite a bit, though, and the Famicom Disc System original is easily the meanest version of the game. And, what a mean game it is! The levels are full of traps (e.g., blocks giving you an invincibility star right before you have to jump off a parakoopa’s back to complete a jump), blind leaps, and otherwise intentionally frustrating level-design. The game feature power ups that hurt you, and warp zones that will send you back to the game’s first level. It’s just cruel. Still, it captures some of its predecessor’s magic, and while it doesn’t control quite as well as SMB - Nintendo changes the handling slightly to distinguish Mario from Luigi - it’s still worth playing if you’re up for a challenge. It’s probably better to stick to the GBC and SNES ports, though. Recommended.

Tuff E Nuff is an early SNES fighting game, it features ten characters, but only four of them are playable without a code. The hit detection is just OK, and there aren’t any combos. If you want to play a game like the SNES port of Fatal Fury, but just a little worse, this game is for you! Not recommended.

Star Fox 2 is a “lost” SNES game, completed in 1996, shelved, and not released officially until 2017, when it was included in the SNES Classic. It’s available for Switch owners through the SNES Online service, however, and it’s a delight. It features the same blocky, charming 3D graphics as the original, and it features the same distinctive characters and voice samples. It also introduces new characters, including Star Fox’s nemesis, Star Wolf. The gameplay is very different, though. The game involves, first, defending Corneria, traveling to different parts of the solar system to intercept threats, such as missiles and attack squadrons, before taking the fight to the source of the threats, such as enemy bases and ships. Along the way, you might be ambushed by a member of Star Wolf’s squadron or by one of Andross’ weapons. You only have one life, but can always return to the mothership to recharge your shields. This takes time, however, and the enemy may launch new attacks while you’re retreating or recharging. The game gets easier as you eliminate threats, meaning it starts harder than it ends, and you can beat the game in about an hour. Still, the game offers tremendous replay value. There are multiple, distinct, playable characters, multiple difficulty settings, and multiple ways to approach the goals. You’re rated at the end of the game - I got a C - and getting the highest rankings likely requires a lot of work. Highly recommended.

[StuntDouble]

The first game I beat this year was Metroid: Dread, and I had a real blast with it. I'm sure I died close to 200 times, but it was worth it. I'm honestly a little sad to hear the next adventure will likely be a 1st person continuation in the Prime series, because 2D Metroid is just so much fun. I don't know if I'm going to run through it on Hard mode, but I do plan on trying out the Boss Rush feature.

I finally beat Contra Hard Corps on the Genesis emulator on the Switch, something I've wanted to do since I first played that game in the mid-90's. I had to use the rewind feature quite a bit to get through that game.

I also played and beat Gunstar Heroes, something I've done a bunch of times already. It actually gave me a bit of trouble this time, likely because it was the first time I played on the Normal difficulty level, rather than Easy

[prfsnl_gmr]

I finally beat Contra Hard Corps on the Genesis emulator on the Switch, something I've wanted to do since I first played that game in the mid-90's. I had to use the rewind feature quite a bit to get through that game.

Nice. That’s quite an achievement!

[marurun]

I finally beat Contra Hard Corps on the Genesis emulator on the Switch, something I've wanted to do since I first played that game in the mid-90's. I had to use the rewind feature quite a bit to get through that game.

Which ending(s) did you go for?