Re: Games Beaten 2021
Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 3:04 pm
Previous Years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
First 50:
51. Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling - Switch
52. Banner of the Maid - Switch
53. CrossCode - Switch
54. Total Annihilation: The Core Contingency - PC
55. Ultima Underworld - PC
56. Betrayal at Krondor - PC
57. Assassin's Creed: Origins - PC
58. Axiom Verge 2 - Switch
59. Elderborn - PC
60. Hellbound - PC
61. Wargroove - Switch
62. Eye of the Beholder - PC
63. Quake: Dimension of the Past - PC
64. Quake: Dimension of the Machine - PC
65. Legends of Amberland: The Forgotten Crown - Switch
66. Anopek - PC
67. Baten Kaitos - Gamecube
68. No More Heroes 3 - Switch
69. Eye of the Beholder II - PC
70. Eye of the Beholder III - PC
71. Hedon II - PC
72. Deathloop - PC
73. Tales of Arise - PS5
74. Mechwarrior 5: Legend of the Kestrel Lancers - PC
75. Maneater: Truth Quest - PC
76. G String - PC
77. Thief (2014) - PC
78. Metroid Dread - Switch
79. Vomitoreum - PC
80. Severed Steel - PC
81. Syndicate - PC
82. Alan Wake - PC
83. Limitless Hunger - PC
84. Syndicate Wars - PC
85. They Always Run - PC
86. Control - PC
87. Control: The Foundation - PC
88. Control: AWE - PC
89. FIST: Forged in Shadow Torch - PS5
90. Beyond Good and Evil - PC
91. Call of Duty: Vanguard - PC
92. Dungeon Keeper 2 - PC
93. Shin Megami Tensei V - Switch
Shin Megami Tensei V is the latest mainline entry in the long running SMT series, bringing it back to the home console after the previous mainline title was on a portable. If you've played previous games, this one serves as a gameplay successor to SMT III: Nocturne, mostly just iterating on those bones. But it also ends up being the most approachable of all the mainline titles, while still retaining the good parts of the difficulty.
The game starts off in Tokyo, introducing you to a few characters, before an earthquake hits and you wake up in the ruins of Tokyo. There are angels and demons who are quickly hostile to you, but you get saved by a mysterious man who zooms in from the sky and merges with you. Now you have more hair than a Super Saiyan and can make a sword come out of your hand. Cue a series of adventures through this post-apocalyptic wasteland, recruiting demons, and trying to figure out what's going on. And in grand SMT tradition, by the end you get to decide what happens to the world in the long run.
The game uses Nocturne's Press Turn battle system, and maintains the same feeling. Each team starts off with a number of turn icons equal to the members (though bosses will be able to generate multiple), and taking a turn uses up one. But if your attack crits or hit a weakness then the icon instead flashes. Further crits and weaknesses will turn more icons flashing, while regular moves consume flashing icons first. So, you can get up to two attacks per party member if you play your cards right. But you need to be very conscious of enemy stats. Enemies that dodge consume two icons instead of one, same with if they null an attack. And if they repel or absorb your attack then your turn is over and the enemies get a chance to exploit your mistake. Though since you can do the same to them, bringing the right demons to fights is critical. One thing to point out for Nocturne veterans; bosses don't have access to Beast Eye/Dragon Eye (well, they do, but now it's a passive that increases accuracy, not a source of free flashing turns).
The big change to Nocturne is the world now has some open world trappings. Instead of being a series of narrow corridors you get a larger area that you can jump around and explore. Enemies show up on the world map and can chase you down. If you attack them before they're alerted you guarantee that you get the first turn, otherwise it's down to luck based on your stats. There are collectables in the world for cash and for special rewards, and you can get a demon follower who will let you dig up random items (including stat boosters). In the final section of the game, it goes full open world, where you get to explore the whole zone from the get go, rather than being gated by story beats.
On the demon fusion side, the game is the most approachable the series has ever been. You get to pick the skills you inherit and every demon can inherit any skill other than unique skills locked to a particular demon. The way the game expresses "this demon is good at this element" and "this demon is bad at this element" is a system of proficiencies. Demons can have pluses or minuses in all the skill categories. Pluses reduce the cost and minuses increase the cost (and the minus increase can be quite severe). There is a stat boosting item that increases those proficiencies, but they can only be used on an element the demon already has at least one plus in. So, you can amplify strengths but still have to deal with the weaknesses.
All in all, SMT V is a worthy successor to the series. It even has two new game plus modes; one is the "you restart at 1 but keep your compendium" like Persona uses, and the other is the "you keep your levels" that Chrono Trigger introduced. The latter is great for getting the other endings because relative level has a major effect on combat damage, so you can blow through basically the entire game with an end game party and just have to deal with doing all the story fights.
First 50:
51. Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling - Switch
52. Banner of the Maid - Switch
53. CrossCode - Switch
54. Total Annihilation: The Core Contingency - PC
55. Ultima Underworld - PC
56. Betrayal at Krondor - PC
57. Assassin's Creed: Origins - PC
58. Axiom Verge 2 - Switch
59. Elderborn - PC
60. Hellbound - PC
61. Wargroove - Switch
62. Eye of the Beholder - PC
63. Quake: Dimension of the Past - PC
64. Quake: Dimension of the Machine - PC
65. Legends of Amberland: The Forgotten Crown - Switch
66. Anopek - PC
67. Baten Kaitos - Gamecube
68. No More Heroes 3 - Switch
69. Eye of the Beholder II - PC
70. Eye of the Beholder III - PC
71. Hedon II - PC
72. Deathloop - PC
73. Tales of Arise - PS5
74. Mechwarrior 5: Legend of the Kestrel Lancers - PC
75. Maneater: Truth Quest - PC
76. G String - PC
77. Thief (2014) - PC
78. Metroid Dread - Switch
79. Vomitoreum - PC
80. Severed Steel - PC
81. Syndicate - PC
82. Alan Wake - PC
83. Limitless Hunger - PC
84. Syndicate Wars - PC
85. They Always Run - PC
86. Control - PC
87. Control: The Foundation - PC
88. Control: AWE - PC
89. FIST: Forged in Shadow Torch - PS5
90. Beyond Good and Evil - PC
91. Call of Duty: Vanguard - PC
92. Dungeon Keeper 2 - PC
93. Shin Megami Tensei V - Switch
Shin Megami Tensei V is the latest mainline entry in the long running SMT series, bringing it back to the home console after the previous mainline title was on a portable. If you've played previous games, this one serves as a gameplay successor to SMT III: Nocturne, mostly just iterating on those bones. But it also ends up being the most approachable of all the mainline titles, while still retaining the good parts of the difficulty.
The game starts off in Tokyo, introducing you to a few characters, before an earthquake hits and you wake up in the ruins of Tokyo. There are angels and demons who are quickly hostile to you, but you get saved by a mysterious man who zooms in from the sky and merges with you. Now you have more hair than a Super Saiyan and can make a sword come out of your hand. Cue a series of adventures through this post-apocalyptic wasteland, recruiting demons, and trying to figure out what's going on. And in grand SMT tradition, by the end you get to decide what happens to the world in the long run.
The game uses Nocturne's Press Turn battle system, and maintains the same feeling. Each team starts off with a number of turn icons equal to the members (though bosses will be able to generate multiple), and taking a turn uses up one. But if your attack crits or hit a weakness then the icon instead flashes. Further crits and weaknesses will turn more icons flashing, while regular moves consume flashing icons first. So, you can get up to two attacks per party member if you play your cards right. But you need to be very conscious of enemy stats. Enemies that dodge consume two icons instead of one, same with if they null an attack. And if they repel or absorb your attack then your turn is over and the enemies get a chance to exploit your mistake. Though since you can do the same to them, bringing the right demons to fights is critical. One thing to point out for Nocturne veterans; bosses don't have access to Beast Eye/Dragon Eye (well, they do, but now it's a passive that increases accuracy, not a source of free flashing turns).
The big change to Nocturne is the world now has some open world trappings. Instead of being a series of narrow corridors you get a larger area that you can jump around and explore. Enemies show up on the world map and can chase you down. If you attack them before they're alerted you guarantee that you get the first turn, otherwise it's down to luck based on your stats. There are collectables in the world for cash and for special rewards, and you can get a demon follower who will let you dig up random items (including stat boosters). In the final section of the game, it goes full open world, where you get to explore the whole zone from the get go, rather than being gated by story beats.
On the demon fusion side, the game is the most approachable the series has ever been. You get to pick the skills you inherit and every demon can inherit any skill other than unique skills locked to a particular demon. The way the game expresses "this demon is good at this element" and "this demon is bad at this element" is a system of proficiencies. Demons can have pluses or minuses in all the skill categories. Pluses reduce the cost and minuses increase the cost (and the minus increase can be quite severe). There is a stat boosting item that increases those proficiencies, but they can only be used on an element the demon already has at least one plus in. So, you can amplify strengths but still have to deal with the weaknesses.
All in all, SMT V is a worthy successor to the series. It even has two new game plus modes; one is the "you restart at 1 but keep your compendium" like Persona uses, and the other is the "you keep your levels" that Chrono Trigger introduced. The latter is great for getting the other endings because relative level has a major effect on combat damage, so you can blow through basically the entire game with an end game party and just have to deal with doing all the story fights.