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Ack
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Re: Games Beaten 2022

by Ack Thu Jun 30, 2022 12:36 pm

1. Record of Lodoss War - Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (PC)(Action Adventure)
2. The Citadel (PC)(FPS)
3. Gothic 3 (PC)(RPG)
4. Witchaven (PC)(FPS)
5. Unpacking (PC)(Puzzle)
6. Firewatch (PC)(Adventure)
7. Perilous Warp (PC)(FPS)

8. The Ascent (PC)(RPG)
9. Borderlands: Game of the Year Enhanced - The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned (PC)(FPS/RPG)
10. Borderlands: Game of the Year Enhanced - The Secret Armory of General Knoxx (PC)(FPS/RPG)
11. Borderlands: Game of the Year Enhanced - Claptrap's New Robot Revolution (PC)(FPS/RPG)

12. Kingdom of the Dead (PC)(FPS)
13. Monument (PC)(FPS)

Monument is much more of a "traditional" Boomer shooter. It's an FPS in the classic style, where bunny hopping is how you go faster, iron sights does not exist, health packs is how you keep your numbers up, and enemy AI mainly consists of run at you, shoot at you, or both. It was programmed by one guy, and while the Steam release has seen some tweaking, the game also surprisingly received a Nintendo Switch port. Is it worth playing? Well...only if you're really hard up for an FPS experience.

While Monument may fit much of the classic FPS frame, it also doesn't include some things that were still found in them, like story or coherency. In DOOM, text blocks told us what was going on, but level designs changed and adapted to tell us things about where we were, be in moving through hi-tech facilities, hellish alternate dimensions, or even the mean streets of Earth in DOOM II. We could figure out story of the worlds of Heretic and Hexen, Quake, Serious Sam, and so forth through enemies and level designs, and while it may not always have been blatantly obvious, it was still enough clues to piece something together.

Monument offers no such coherence. Enemies are apparently killer candles, fat guys spitting fire, skinless giants, teleporting aliens, and some kind of robed magi. Levels involve some kind of facility built out of caves...or caves built into facilities...or something. Are they extraterrestrial? Are they in Hell? I have no idea. The weapons don't convey anything either, instead just fitting your typical FPS roles and not always well. You can snipe with your hitscan shotgun, though it might be better to do that with your much more powerful but much slower hitscan rifle.

That's not to say Monument isn't interesting. Those candle enemies die in explosions or gas clouds, causing area denial to the player. The fat fire spitters lob single entries or go full auto in a deadly burst. The aliens teleport and can telefrag you if you aren't careful. There are ideas that are interesting, they just don't fit together particularly well. That's really the problem.

If you want a more consistent approach to old school FPS, there are a lot of options these days: Dusk, Ion Fury, Project Warlock, and so on all fit the bill. Many older FPS are also getting great remasters, like Quake and Blood. And even more obscure titles like Eradicator and ZAR are made playable on modern computers. Monument doesn't do much to stand out against all the other options. It's something you can hold off on while going through all the hundreds of other options you have at your fingertips on Steam, GOG, or wherever you're buying your FPS games these days.

Unless you want an FPS on your Switch, in which case I don't know what other options you have but hear the port is quite playable.
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Re: Games Beaten 2022

by REPO Man Thu Jun 30, 2022 4:26 pm

Speaking of excellent cyberpunk games, check out the Shadowrun trilogy on consoles. Personally I hope we get a Shadowrun open-world FPS that learns from Cyberpunk's mistakes, especially because I'll totally fuck with being a hacker with a shotgun and the ability to throw fire and lightning at a motherfucker.
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Re: Games Beaten 2022

by Limewater Thu Jun 30, 2022 4:52 pm

REPO Man wrote:Speaking of excellent cyberpunk games, check out the Shadowrun trilogy on consoles. Personally I hope we get a Shadowrun open-world FPS that learns from Cyberpunk's mistakes, especially because I'll totally fuck with being a hacker with a shotgun and the ability to throw fire and lightning at a motherfucker.


You can achieve two out of three of those in real life.
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Re: Games Beaten 2022

by MrPopo Thu Jun 30, 2022 6:38 pm

REPO Man wrote:Speaking of excellent cyberpunk games, check out the Shadowrun trilogy on consoles. Personally I hope we get a Shadowrun open-world FPS that learns from Cyberpunk's mistakes, especially because I'll totally fuck with being a hacker with a shotgun and the ability to throw fire and lightning at a motherfucker.

Cyberware impedes your ability to throw fire and lightning in Shadowrun.
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Re: Games Beaten 2022

by REPO Man Thu Jun 30, 2022 10:05 pm

MrPopo wrote:
REPO Man wrote:Speaking of excellent cyberpunk games, check out the Shadowrun trilogy on consoles. Personally I hope we get a Shadowrun open-world FPS that learns from Cyberpunk's mistakes, especially because I'll totally fuck with being a hacker with a shotgun and the ability to throw fire and lightning at a motherfucker.

Cyberware impedes your ability to throw fire and lightning in Shadowrun.


But doesn't outright stop it, right?
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Re: Games Beaten 2022

by Note Thu Jun 30, 2022 10:07 pm

1. Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth (N64)
2. Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (Arcade)*
3. Metal Slug 6 (PS2)
4. Time Crisis II (PS2)*
5. Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown (360)
6. Shining the Holy Ark (SAT)
7. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (SNES)

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8. Soul Blazer (SNES)

While looking into action RPGs I hadn't tried on the SNES a few years back, I had come across a few positive reviews for Soul Blazer and thought the game sounded like it'd be in my wheel house. Also, I was intrigued that it was part of the loose trilogy including Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma. However, the game had eluded me until recently when I finally came across a good condition copy. I ended up adding the game to my Summer Games Challenge list for this year and am happy to have cleared it.

Soul Blazer has some very unique elements for a game in this genre. It reminds me of Gauntlet, in the fact that enemies continually spawn from lairs in the dungeon areas. However, in this instance, after you destroy all the spawned enemies from a lair and seal it, something specific will be unlocked in the nearby town, or something additional will open up in the dungeon you're currently battling your way through. Something about this aspect of the game got me hooked, as I found it fun to see what would unlock as I progressed in each dungeon. Another unique element of the game is that your sword swing is at an odd angle, so your placement when facing up against enemies is quite important. You have to be pretty strategic about where to move your character, especially in the later dungeons when there are enemies and projectiles coming your way.

The graphics in the game are fairly standard for the SNES, but there are some impressive graphical feats throughout. One area I enjoyed the look of was in one of the first dungeons, when there is a scrolling sky that can be seen through a clear floor. Also, some of the boss sprites are fairly large, including the pretty massive final boss. Regarding the music, I found that I liked most of the music and there are some tunes later on that I really enjoyed. However, I didn't care for the music in the laboratory section, and really wish there was a different tune in that area. The sound effects are also well done IMO, and are pretty satisfying.

Another aspect of this game that I think has helped it age well, is the ease of being able to save your game fairly quickly, even if you are deep in a dungeon. I think this element of the game design is a bit overlooked when Soul Blazer is mentioned, but it's really a great feature. Each world has four blue tiles, usually one is located in the town, and the others are in the various dungeons of that world. The blue tile takes you back to a hub area, and from there you can restore your life bar, save your game, and move to a different level in the world map or a different area in the world you're currently in. This is a great feature, especially for a game of this age, because even if I knew I didn't have much time to play, I could get in a quick session, make some progress, and get to a save point with no stress. Getting to a save point hassle free is rare in the 16-bit era!

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Soul Blazer. It was an addictive game with some different gameplay elements. If you're a fan of action RPGs, I definitely recommend checking it out!
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Re: Games Beaten 2022

by Ack Fri Jul 01, 2022 12:24 am

REPO Man wrote:
MrPopo wrote:
REPO Man wrote:Speaking of excellent cyberpunk games, check out the Shadowrun trilogy on consoles. Personally I hope we get a Shadowrun open-world FPS that learns from Cyberpunk's mistakes, especially because I'll totally fuck with being a hacker with a shotgun and the ability to throw fire and lightning at a motherfucker.

Cyberware impedes your ability to throw fire and lightning in Shadowrun.


But doesn't outright stop it, right?

It can. But more importantly, it's usually better to specialize in one of these areas. A jack of all trades is a master of none...

...but what do I know? I play Street Samurai.
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Re: Games Beaten 2022

by Markies Fri Jul 01, 2022 11:18 am

Note wrote:Image

8. Soul Blazer (SNES)

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Soul Blazer. It was an addictive game with some different gameplay elements. If you're a fan of action RPGs, I definitely recommend checking it out!


Congratulations on playing through Soul Blazer.

That is such a great and fantastic game!
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Re: Games Beaten 2022

by Note Fri Jul 01, 2022 3:12 pm

Markies wrote:Congratulations on playing through Soul Blazer.

That is such a great and fantastic game!


Thanks, Markies! It really is an amazing game. I'm looking forward to checking out the other titles in the trilogy.
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Re: Games Beaten 2022

by MrPopo Sun Jul 03, 2022 6:35 pm

Previous Years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

1. Underworld Ascendant - PC
2. Castlevania: Harmony of Despair - PS3
3. Ni no Kuni - PS3
4. Operencia: The Stolen Sun - PC
5. RPM Racing - PC
6. Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem - PC
7. Pokemon Legends: Arceus - Switch
8. Ni no Kuni II - PS4
9. Everspace - PC
10. PowerSlave Exhumed - PC
11. Horizon Forbidden West - PS5
12. Elden Ring - PS5
13. Shadow Warrior 3 - PC
14. Ghostrunner: Project_Hel - PC
15. Triangle Strategy - Switch
16. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands - PC
17. Nightmare Reaper - PC
18. Kur - PC
19. Gundam Versus - PS4
20. BIOTA - PC
21. Chantelise - PC
22. Xenoblade Chronicles - Wii
23. Forgive Me Father - PC
24. Xenoblade Chronicles X - Wii U
25. Steel Assault - Switch
26. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge - Switch
27. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Switch
28. Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country - Switch
29. Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Switch

Kirby's latest outing takes a page from the 3DS Mario Games; you're doing 2D style platforming but on an actual 3D world (not just 2.5D). Like Planet Robobot before it, there's a new gimmick added on top of the standard copy abilities, but overall it's a very familiar game. And that's not a bad thing; you go into Kirby for some adorable comfort food.

The premise is that a hole in space time sucks up Kirby and a bunch of other denizens of Popstar and deposits them on what looks to be an abandoned Earth. Kirby must rescue the Waddle Dees and see if he can figure out what's going on. The new setting provides the new gimmick: mouthful mode. This is where Kirby tries to suck up some leftover Earth technology, but can't quite swallow it. So instead his body is distorted and he does interesting things. You can drive a car, shoot massive puffs of air, or operate a scissor lift. The various items are used often enough that it feels integrated, not a one-off, but it is still confined to specific play areas. Otherwise you're doing standard Kirby stuff, though now you have access to a dodge roll (and you'll need it for some boss fights).

The game has a few collectathon features. Every level has an end goal three Waddle Dees, four to five hidden Waddle Dees, and then three secret conditions that give you a Waddle Dee (off camera). These are various sorts of achievement-esque challenges, like getting through an area without falling, or discovering a secret. Upon finishing a level the game will inform you of what one of the secret conditions are. You'll need to get enough Waddle Dees per area to unlock the boss (and only ones in the area count), but I found that just exploring the level naturally and following the breadcrumbs gave me more than enough. There's also a series of gatchapon collectables which are gained in levels and by spending money in town; you need these to get a 100% save file.

Overall it's a solid Kirby title; not too challenging, but there are some rather sneaky secrets. The gameplay is varied enough that things stay fresh, but they also don't try to extend any one theme too long. It's the perfect sort of game to slot between other, more involved ones.
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