when I get over the pain I'll fill this out with my actual post
goddammit
Okay, time for the 2021 post!
The personal goal this year is 26 games. I'm trying to cut myself some slack on the challenge because I'd like a bit more freedom with what I play (i.e. I'd like to play more long games!). If I make it to 52 anyways, great! If not, no biggie. That said, I DID make 52 games in 2020, and I thankfully didn't have to stress too much about it. Let's see what happens.
COMPLETED GAMES
1. Tacoma (PC, 2017) - 2:23 - January 2
A successful transplant of the Gone Home formula to a science fiction setting, with interesting ruminations on the relationship between corporations and labour. I should've played this way sooner, given how much I liked Gone Home.
2. Assemble With Care (PC, 2020) - 1:33 - January 3
One of the games I didn't quite get a chance to play while I was subscribed to Apple Arcade. I think it'd work a little better on a touchscreen device, but the game's intrinsic charms shine through unabated. Not just a short story about mending relationships, but a reminder of the restorative powers of a vacation--maybe something we'll actually get to do sometime this year.
3. Morphblade (PC, 2017) - 1:09 - January 10
An endless game of cat and mouse. Seems like a simple game, but it has a surprising amount of depth to it, closer to chess than checkers. I definitely haven't mastered the game and still die to dumb mistakes (oh I probably shouldn't have telefragged that explosive enemy) but it's a lot of fun and a great way to kill some time.
4. Outer Wilds (PC, 2019) - 16:52 (+1:43 in 2019) - January 10
At its best, Outer Wilds makes you feel like a genius: putting together a bunch of clues, coming up with a wild hunch, and having it pay off is immensely rewarding the few times it happens. But far too many times, your 22 minutes in space ends ignominiously, and as you get further into the game the proportion of "wasted" cycles versus useful ones shifts drastically towards futility. Time pressure, contrary to popular belief, is a major concern, which makes the game much more frustrating than it should be.
5. Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends and the Secret Fairy (PS5, 2021) - 51:31 - February 21
I spent pretty much an entire month lost in the world of Ryza 2, and while it still suffers from some of the issues that marred the first game (mostly to do with alchemy being awkward in certain ways) and is way too easy for the vast majority of its running time, it also feels a lot better to play than the first game did. It's the game I wish Ryza 1 was, and it's a good return to form. I'm actually looking forward to a third game with Ryza now.
6. Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (Switch, 2020) - 26:27 (+14:58 in 2020) - February 25
An awkward and annoying final boss encounter and the occasional wonky controls aren't enough to overcome an otherwise splendid game. There's nothing that fuses the farming and fighting aspects in quite the way Sakuna does, and it's well worth playing if the combination is at all interesting to you.
7. Yakuza: Like a Dragon (PC, 2020) - 46:24 (+30:19 in 2020) - March 16
In many ways, Like a Dragon is a rough outing for the franchise. The combat system doesn't feel totally dialed in, they haven't figured out how to make boss fights spectacular (the penultimate one in particular is just a slog), and there are signs everywhere that the game is lacking the polish the last entries in the Kiryu saga had. But a lot of that is to be expected; Like a Dragon is a reinvention of the franchise. A new protagonist, a new setting, and an entirely different way to fight mean there's going to be some growing pains. But as an origin story, Like a Dragon fares really well, even when you reach the more frustrating bits of the game.
8. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, 2017) - 52:15 - April 4
I've finally managed to finish a Zelda game, and unlike when I beat my first Mario game a few years ago, it doesn't feel like an obligation to cross this one off the list. The Hyrule of Breath of the Wild feels like a living, breathing place more than most open-world games I've played, and its low key charms proved to be effortlessly enthralling for hours on end. Very much looking forward to the sequel, but now worried that older Zeldas will never be able to live up to this one.
9. WRC 9 FIA World Rally Championship (PS5, 2020) - 20:15 (+12:34 in 2020) - April 15
WRC 9 is the best rally racing package I've had the pleasure of playing. The driving model is top-notch, the course design is fantastic, and the career mode is comprehensive. I do have some concerns, though. The AI times are hard to predict, sometimes falling 20 seconds behind you and other times gaining five seconds per sector in the very same rally. The manufacturer challenges are nonsensical (why would your team force you not to use hard tyres on three-day rallies arbitrarily?) and while I appreciate the strictness of the career, I do wish there were slightly more concessions to user-friendliness (I didn't MEAN to complete the repair stage without selecting any repairs, I just forgot where the Automatic repair button was!). All of these, however, should be considered very minor blemishes on an otherwise top-quality product.
10. Rock Band Blitz (PS3, 2012) - 1:26 - April 17
Rock Band Blitz is a genius concept for reusing the years of Rock Band DLC in existence, but basically everything about it screams poor execution. The way the game is set up feels designed to pull you out of a song just as you find yourself in a groove, as you need to fill up each of the instrument tracks for arbitrary checkpoints and it often feels like you don't have enough time to really find your rhythm before you have to switch. The patterns, reduced to just two buttons, often feel like mashfests that barely resemble the song. And the worst part? The game REQUIRES an online connection to Harmonix's servers, which these days is incredibly unreliable. Three or four times I played a song to the end, only to discover that the scores weren't recorded because I'd lost connection; many more times, I'd connect to the server and try to play a song only to be booted immediately. You can't even buy this game anymore, apparently; the only real loss is that you don't get to buy the songs in Blitz for use in other Rock Band games.
11. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered (PS5, 2020) - 21:11 - April 30
There's a minor plot point in The Dark Knight that suggests the existence of a line Batman's pursuit of justice should not cross. So it's weird when, very early on in Insomniac's superhero magnum opus, Spider-Man waltzes right across that line without a second thought. You have to accept that Spider-Man takes place in a somewhat idealized world where cops are always good and the surveillance state is only there to protect citizens, really. Weird, then, that the story's villains end up being much more nuanced and detailed; a surprisingly satisfying story is just one of several surprises about this game. New York is mostly a joy to swing through, and I appreciated how the game gave several important side characters plenty of interesting gameplay segments of their own. I don't know if there will ever be another Infamous game, but as long as Sony has the Spider-Man franchise, they needen't bother.
12. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered: The Heist (PS5, 2020) - 2:56 - May 1
The first of three DLC mini-campaigns. A neat look at the Black Cat, some interesting backstory, and the return of Screwball. Maybe a little too much focus on a specific story element, but otherwise an expansion that largely maintains the quality of the original.
13. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered: Turf Wars (PS5, 2020) - 1:58 - May 2
Not nearly as fun as the first chapter of The City Never Sleeps. This campaign is much more heavily focused on combat, and ups the difficulty substantially by throwing a lot more people at you and giving them the ability to knock out your powers AND deny territory to you, which just makes the game intensely frustrating. Add to that a dumb story about a cop deciding the best option is to shoot people in the head, and expecting us to sympathize with this choice in the year 2021, and you have a DLC chapter that would be skippable if not for it setting up the final part of the DLC trilogy. Ugh.
14. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered: Silver Lining (PS5, 2020) - 2:13 - May 3
A major step up from Turf Wars; I honestly would've been pretty happy to skip that second chapter altogether, as it's basically pointless from a story perspective. Getting some quality time with Silver Sable worked pretty well, the Screwball Challenges aren't as annoying, and generally the game is better about not spamming enemies, firearms, disabling powers and more at you.
15. New Pokemon Snap (Switch, 2021) - 10:41 - May 16
It doesn't quite feel like a photography game; it's probably fairer to say it's a puzzle game that uses photography as a motif. It's another Pokemon game that excels at giving its menagerie of creatures rich personalities, more so than the main series does, and despite being just as light on story as most mainline games, it's a more rewarding experience. I do wish it didn't feel so obtuse at times, though; sometimes setting up the perfect shot takes much more preparation than you'd think, and the game isn't always good at providing hints.
16. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5, 2020) - 12:26 - May 27
A solid standalone expansion, and surprisingly enjoyable to play through despite playing a ton of Spider-Man Remastered just last month--burnout, apparently, was not much of a factor for me. The cast of characters is a lot more interesting, and I appreciate the focus on Miles's various relationships to his friends, family, and neighborhood at large. The new skills Miles has at his disposal help change things up a lot too, though I didn't really feel like I understood the subtleties of the changes until halfway through the game.
17. Monster Hunter Rise (Switch, 2021) - 17:54 - May 30
My previous Monster Hunter experience was a few hours in MH3U, and I bounced off it really quick because I found other things to play, so I'm glad I finally managed to commit enough time and effort to finish this one. The moment-to-moment action of scavenging for buffs, chasing down monsters, and beating the everloving crap out of them is fun; the problem for me is that after figuring out how to play hammer properly, there didn't seem to be much more of an evolution: the stuff I was doing just before seeing credits was the same stuff I was doing at the beginning of the game, but performed with marginally more skill.
18. Final Fantasy VII Remake: INTERmission (PS5, 2021) - 7:09 - June 24
My only real complaint is that the pacing is weird. All the open-world stuff is at the beginning, and it means the game lacks a certain amount of urgency until much later. Still, Fort Condor is neat, Yuffie is cool, it worked for me.
19. Florence (Android, 2018) - 0:45 - June 26
An intimate short story about a relationship, but also about navigating early adulthood and learning how to take something good away from the events of your life, even if it's not what you expect. The bite-sized gameplay elements did a surprisingly good job of reinforcing the emotional beats of the story.
20. Umurangi Generation Macro (PC, 2020) - 2:07 - July 3
A DLC prelude to the main campaign, Macro builds upon the original in welcome (and occasionally quite pointed) ways. The final level of Macro snaps everything into focus, the game's omnipresent timer finally reinforcing the theme of the environment by reminding you of the urgency of your shots. It doesn't fix every problem with Umurangi Generation, but the new additions are more than enough to satisfy.
21. PowerWash Simulator (PC Early Access, 2021) - 16:20 - July 3
Still in Early Access, so there's more to come beyond the stages that make up career mode right now, but the game has already provided me with so much joy. It's almost exactly what I wanted; really the only other things I could ask for are the rainbow mist from the backspray of the power washer and the sight of dirty water flowing off the surfaces you just cleaned. Immensely satisfying, and as I write this I see there's already three new levels thanks to the latest content update. Time to clean the nozzles and refill the soap!
22. Wolfenstein 3D (PC, 1992) - 8:55 - July 7
It's been over two decades since I last touched the original Wolfenstein 3D, unless you count the nightmares in The New Order. I'd never played anything beyond the first shareware episode, and it's always been an open question whether the other episodes would be more of the same or genuinely new and interesting. The answer, of course, is somewhere in between: some neat level ideas and the occasional twist (keys are hidden behind secrets! secrets need to be opened in a certain order!) but ultimately the same basic combat loop. You don't even get new weapons to play with, and no new enemy types past episode 3. Still, surprisingly playable and fun once you install ECWolf.
23. Monument Valley 2 (Android, 2017) - 1:46 - July 25
Leaves a stronger impression than the first game, mostly due to a greater emphasis on story and characters. The puzzles, while never particularly difficult, are more inventive than ever.
24. Euro Truck Simulator 2 (PC, 2012) - 27:56 - July 25
Thanks to a last-minute Steam sale purchase of most of the ETS2 map expansions to date (excluding the newest one, Iberia), I've been spending time in Euro Truck Simulator 2 for the first time in years. It turns out that it's great to be back, even without the steering wheel or attempts to get VR running--I wanted a more casual, jump-in-jump-out experience this time around, and ETS2 is happy to accommodate. The map expansions lend new twists to the experience, though some are more obvious than others--Vive La France! feels like the existing parts of France, but with a great deal more polish (plus the addition of Corsica, easily my favourite part); meanwhile Road to the Black Sea throws in border checkpoints and a lot of rural highways for a very different feel from the base game.
25. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5, 2021) - 15:34 - July 26
Definitely the best Ratchet & Clank game I've played to date. Fun enough that I went ahead and got the Platinum trophy, and then afterwards considered buying up all the Omega versions of the weapons to get them to level 10 and upgrade them all completely, just to see what they would do, and realizing that playing through the whole game with my entire arsenal might be pretty cool...
26. Overload (PC, 2018) - 2:48 (+9:45 in 2018) - July 30
Had the joystick plugged in to play Flight Simulator, so decided to go back to a game I've been meaning to finish for a long time but dropped around launch. Overload was, for most of its running time, a stellar spiritual successor to the Descent series. It felt like a Descent game should, and it looked like how I hoped a modern take on Descent would look. Coming back after a few years, however, I ran into two issues: first, the difficulty curve gets rather steep at the end, which meant I had to drop the difficulty (and it wasn't clear how to do this for a little while). The second, much more serious issue, is the level design in the last quarter of the game. Baffling design decisions like littering levels with teleporters that take you to unknown areas, locking doors with timed switches, and a final level that asks you to find the level exit in 120 seconds without the hologuide while facing heavy resistance reminded me of the worst parts of Descent, elements that I would've happily left in 1995.
27. Orcs Must Die! (PC, 2011) - 7:23 (+4:30 in 2011, 2015) - August 5
This one's been in the backlog for a very long time; I originally started this game a decade ago. For some reason, despite multiple attempts, I never really spent a lot of time with the game until now, but it's actually quite fun. I think the difficulty and the grind probably got to me a bit; later levels are no joke and the game requires you to think carefully about your upgrades, as you won't be able to upgrade every trap and guardian (at least on War Mage difficulty). But figuring out some key trap combos and knowing when to go with a whole bunch of guardians instead helped quite a bit.
28. Orcs Must Die! Lost Adventures (PC, 2011) - 4:57 - August 7
The last thing I wanted from Orcs Must Die! was INCREASED difficulty. Had to lower the game to Apprentice difficulty midway through, and I have zero desire to try anything higher after the meatgrinder of the last two levels.
29. Orcs Must Die! 2 (PC, 2012) - 7:47 - August 14
Significantly worse than the original. The whole thing is designed around co-op, which means a lot of levels feel like they really need two people placing traps and shooting orcs to make it through alive. The upgrade options from the first game have been collapsed into a single system, which at least allows you to respec whenever you want but feels overwhelming in some ways and ineffectual in others. The sorceress's arsenal is meaningfully different from the war mage, but feels less powerful. But worse of all is incessant load times; every single level takes at least 20 seconds to load, a bug people have reported in the Steam forums but has never had an obvious solution or a bugfix. This makes the experimentation possible in the first game orders of magnitude more painful; any level restart eats almost a minute of your time.
30. Microsoft Flight Simulator (PC, 2020) - 32:42 - August 21
Taking part in the ResetEra MSFS campaign thread has been fun so far, and I'll continue to take part, but this seems like a good place to draw a line under things. Why? Because up until now I've been setting up my own flights, either based on campaign requirements from the thread or just to mess around, and I'm expecting that to change soon thanks to Neofly. The base game is a wonder: the entire world, at a level of fidelity that would've been impossible just a few years ago, is yours to fly in to your heart's content. It's got plenty of issues--extremely long loading times at launch and the occasional minute-long freeze I still haven't been able to diagnose--but it's astounding what this game can do. And now, I move into the next phase of Flight Simulator...
31. Microsoft Flight Simulator w/ Neofly Mod (PC, 2020) - 17:04 - September 1
Gonna draw a line under this one too. The additional mission/trading simulation layer is a great idea in theory, but there are two small issues that make the reality less compelling. First: Euro Truck Simulator 2 doesn't really let you die or suffer catastrophic loss very easily. Neofly, on the other hand, absolutely does. Suffer crash damage and you've lost the last half hour's worth of flight time, and possibly all the cargo on your plane if you had any (at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars potentially). Second, Flight Simulator is not the most stable of games to begin with, and Neofly seems to make this worse. The game will outright crash occasionally with Neofly connected. On the flip side, Flight Simulator's tendency to stutter and freeze occasionally can make even mundane flights more stressful and dangerous than they need to be. All in all, a cool idea that I'll probably stick with for a while longer, but with many flaws.
32. Returnal (PS5, 2021) - 30:59 - September 2
I've finally managed to finish Returnal, but I suspect I... haven't actually finished Returnal. "More secrets" to be unearthed, indeed. But credits rolled on the game, so I'm counting it. (Update: I went back and got the secret ending, so definitely done now!) The story absolutely does not come together at the end, which is a big reason why I suspect I'm not done. But besides that, the game is immense. Housemarque have constructed a terrifying mountain of a game to climb, and at least for me, provided just enough assistance to get me through the game without feeling absolutely terrible about myself, but also making me feel like I had to earn every precious foot of altitude on the climb up.
33. Star Drift Evolution (PC, 2021) - 8:16 - September 4
At first I found it a bit hard to like this game. The collision physics and the AI combined to make races a frustrating experience, where you could get knocked completely off the track through no fault of your own, thus failing to get the valuable stars that unlock access to later tracks. Two things changed this for me: first, learning the intricacies of the various car stats and how they effect handling, which turns out to be more complex than I expected (but still feels like it has some hidden values like weight); second, realizing that the time-based stars do not have to be done in the context of a race or specifically with the vehicles chosen for special events. Star Drift Evolution is still occasionally frustrating but understanding how to drive in it was a rewarding experience.
34. The Henry Stickmin Collection (PC, 2020) - 4:27 - September 6
It's pretty funny, and occasionally hilarious. The problem is that it's really just a joke delivery system; the gameplay isn't particularly interesting or novel, and the achievements mostly amount to Homestar Runner-style easter egg clicks. Which... actually makes a lot of sense, given that this is a collection of Flash games. Not a game you can really play through in one go, especially if you try to get all the bios in all the episodes (protip: don't do this to yourself), but a fun time nonetheless.
35. No Man's Sky: Cartographers (PC, 2021) - 10:35 - September 11
I split my normal NMS playthrough in two with this time-limited expedition, which asks you to complete a bunch of tasks inside a new save in the game's sandbox. It's a neat way to add some structure to the game, though some of the tasks are a little grindy for no obvious reason--do I really need to drive an exocraft for a great distance, or tunnel beneath the earth for a similarly long distance? An interesting diversion with some cool rewards nonetheless.
35. No Man's Sky (PC, 2016) - 73:37 - September 18
The last time I played No Man's Sky was back at launch, and while it had its share of issues, I was a lot more generous to the game than most. The problem is that while No Man's Sky pretty much nailed the atmosphere it was going for, it also became clear after thirty hours or so that while every planet was different, they all echoed each other; infinite variations, but all coming from the same basic templates. Fast forward five years later and No Man's Sky has lost some of its otherworldly wanderlust; you no longer feel like a lone nomad in a strange universe. You can build bases, command freighters, lead settlements. All those things dilute the original premise of No Man's Sky, and none of them do more than paper over the game's original sin of wide but shallow procedural content, but they do make the game more interesting and fun.
37. A Very Long Baguette (Web, 2021) - 0:07 - October 12
Okay, this one's a bit of a cheat, but: have you ever tried to move a couch (or a friend's couch) to a new apartment, and tried to get it angled just right through an awkward corridor bend or (shudder) an angled staircase? That's this game, except instead of a couch you have a 16-foot-long baguette, and instead of an awkward apartment corridor you've got a ridiculously maze-like restaurant to navigate. Technically co-op but can easily be played solo.
38. No Man's Sky: Emergence (PC, 2021) - 11:30 - October 31
The second expedition I've completed, with some more frustrating tasks this time around and a slightly longer time to completion. I think I preferred Cartographers, which weirdly focused more on building a base despite the name.
39. Lost Judgment (PS5, 2021) - 60:53 - November 4
A very good effort from RGG Studio, but falls just short of greatness. The brawler combat makes a welcome return and is better than ever. There's also a lot of cool ideas, like the ability to skateboard everywhere, that make the game friendlier than previous Yakuza games. The main issues I had with Lost Judgment involve the story and pacing. It's a compelling crime drama, but relies too heavily on certain aspects and leaves some pretty big plotholes. As for pacing, one of the joys of an RGG game involves the wide variety of side content you can engage with as you desire, but this relies on that content being distributed fairly evenly throughout the game, which is only partially true in Lost Judgment.
40. Hot Wheels Unleashed (PS5, 2021) - 9:08 - November 20
Hot Wheels Unleashed is a great way to learn that you shouldn't trust day one impressions from people; you need to give it a while to make sure people have seen a good amount of the game. The game impresses at first glance; it looks great, the driving is surprisingly good, and the cars actually do kind of act like how you'd imagine toy diecast cars would if you could drive them. The game is at its best when the racing is pure: just you, a bunch of other cars, and the track. But the game later throws in all sorts of gimmicks and annoyances, and racing becomes less about finding good places to boost and managing your drifts, and more about not getting hit with random bullshit and making sure you have enough control to not fuck up a jump and have to reset. And then there's the economy, which is kind of terrible and grindy. Why are we even talking about an economy in an arcade racing game? But here we are.
41. Forza Horizon 5 (PC, 2021) - 51:05 - November 20
First, the bad news: if you didn't like Forza Horizon 4, you're not going to like Horizon 5 either. It essentially gathers together all of the stuff Playground built into Horizon 4 over the years and puts it all in a new game on day one with a brand new map. It also does all this without the polish Horizon 4 had at launch; it's not hard to run into bugs big and small, from Arcade events that almost never populate properly to cockpit views that are too dark to cross country AI that feels more ridiculous with every new game in the series. The good news is that most of these are minor distractions. If you're heavily into the online stuff or seasonal events, your frustration level will be higher, but assuming these problems get sorted out (and I believe they will), what you're left with is a greatest hits package of everything modern Horizon has to offer, and that's pretty great.
42. Forza Horizon 4: LEGO Speed Champions (PC, 2019) - 11:03 (+1:09 in 2019) - November 25
I never did very much of the LEGO expansion, and with Horizon 5 not doing so hot in the online and seasonal playlist department, I decided to come back to Horizon 4 to clean up. Initially I was a little put off by the enormous brick challenge map and the incredibly chunky LEGO cars you were supposed to drive, which is probably why I didn't spend much time with this at release. But over time, the expansion's charms reveal themselves. The Hype Tour is a goofy set of challenges where you try to convince everyone the LEGO part of the festival is actually real and full-sized, and there's a radio station (and a house in the middle of the desert) that plays nothing but "Everything is Awesome" from the LEGO Movie. This expansion's alright.
43. No Man's Sky: Pioneers Redux (PC, 2021) - 15:30 - November 30
Hello Games brought back the expeditions for a shortened run to close out the year, making some challenges easier to facilitate the two-week period instead of the month(s) they ran for originally. Despite this, the shortened version of Pioneers took longer than the other expeditions I've done. More than the other expeditions, Pioneers asks you to do a bit of everything, though in theory the focus is on exploration. Certain aspects strike me as strange--it wants you to explore, but also build a farming base (which took the longest of all the stages by far)? It wants you to follow a set path to the rendezvous points, but also wants you to discover new systems, which will require you to stray pretty far off the path to find a system that no one else has visited yet? This all leads to some weird pacing. Nevertheless, I think I enjoyed Pioneers more than the other two. I just wish it hadn't taken me so long.
44. No Man's Sky: Beachhead Redux (PC, 2021) - 5:03 - December 9
This expedition was a lot more focused on exploration, which was a nice throwback to classic No Man's Sky. I did actually build three base computers, but very little else, and aside from using the first base as a fast travel point for one late quest, I didn't need them at all. The only real criticism I can think of is that it might be a little too streamlined compared to the other expeditions; I appreciate the lack of grind in this one, but a lot of objectives kind of autocomplete just by reaching each of the rendezvous points. Still, this is an incredibly minor nitpick, especially given the expedition's two-week availability period.
45. Unpacking (PC, 2021) - 3:58 - December 11
It took me a while to work through the various levels of Unpacking; it turns out that virtual moving can be just as arduous as moving in real life, and this was over a decade's worth of moving! Unpacking does a really good job of expressing a wide range of surprisingly specific emotions through the basic mechanic of trying to decide where an object you own should go in a place you've just moved into. One in particular will probably stick with me for a while, not because it's a particularly dramatic moment in the game but because it's a perfect encapsulation of the ways human relationships can work. A short and very sweet game.
46. Halo 5: Guardians (XB1, 2015) - 8:46 - December 13
My interest in Halo has been fairly low for as long as I've known about the series; the story is an incomprehensible mess to me, and the gameplay was fine but nothing to write home about. I only played Halo 5 on a whim, figuring I had an unexpected copy of Infinite (I was not planning to buy an Xbox Series X but here we are) and that in order to play it, I would need to know what happened in Halo 5 first. What I got was a surprisingly streamlined and engaging campaign, one that let me turn my brain off and shoot a bunch of stuff in fun ways. I don't really feel like I'm much more prepared for Infinite's story than before--even a lot of Wikipedia reading hasn't really solved that--but at least it was entertaining from a gameplay perspective.
47. Exo One (PC, 2021) - 2:25 - December 18
Feels a bit like a more abstract and alien flower, the PS3-era thatgamecompany game that had you pilot a gust of wind to collect flower petals. There is a story here about a space disaster and a mysterious message, but the focus is on the alien landscapes and the bizarre gravity-bending flight mechanics you use to swoop, glide and surf through them. While there is a bit of challenge and you can get stuck (though never permanently as far as I can tell), this is mostly a relaxing and meditative experience.
48. In Other Waters (PC, 2020) - 4:19 - December 19
An abstracted game about nautical exobiology that slowly becomes more. Despite everything being mediated through the simple iconography of a divesuit UI and the scientific prose written by the researcher inside it, In Other Waters paints a vivid picture of an alien world. Highly recommended.
49. Mighty Goose (XBS, 2021) - 2:42 - December 22
Just good, clean arcade fun. The second best goose game I've ever played.
50. Superliminal (PC, 2020) - 2:51 - December 25
I was afraid at first that Superliminal would lean far too much on the one gimmick you see in all the trailers: using forced perspective to resize objects. Luckily, that's not all the game has going for it, and it actually evolves quite a bit over its short running time. I quite liked this one and am only sad I didn't get to it until now.
51. LEGO Builder's Journey (PC, 2021) - 3:09 - December 26
A decent (if short) puzzle game, and very high production values. Unfortunately, it's also incredibly obvious this is a port of a mobile game, because of how badly some of the touchscreen-based controls map over to mouse actions. Performance is also, quite frankly, unacceptable; the game has frequent five-second freezes that only get worse as you proceed through the game. Near the end of the game, certain actions (putting a single block on a tray, which lights up nearby pieces on the tray) can freeze up to FOUR TIMES, making what should be a five-second action at most take closer to 30. And this is on an RTX 3080/Ryzen 3700x that otherwise has no issues running the game in terms of framerate (and yes, lowering the settings all the way doesn't help). The game even froze during the CREDITS. Check reviews for the iOS version to see if it performs better, and stay away from this PC port no matter how good it might look to you in screenshots.
52. Halo Infinite (PC, 2021) - 20:56 - December 27
Mechanically it might be the best Halo I've ever played, the first Halo game where I felt anything resembling the way people have praised the Halo series since Combat Evolved. Coming out of Outpost Tremonious at the start of the game and seeing a big arena for you to fight baddies in was good; flying into them with the grapplehook and shoving the butt of a rifle into their faces was even better; realizing you had an entire world full of these kinds of encounters waiting for you was the best. Story-wise, let's just say it was a real struggle to care very much about anything going on in the game. The Banished are a walking collection of bad villain tropes, the relationship between Master Chief and Cortana continues to be aggressively weird and unlikeable, and the lore aspects basically don't matter to me and half of it happens offscreen anyways. So forget about the story; it's still a fantastic game to play, and in the end that's all that really matters.
PLAYED RECENTLY
State of Decay 2 (PC, 2018) - 4:32 Tales of Arise (PS5, 2021) - 24:36 Red Dead Redemption 2 (PC, 2019) - 3:05 Tametsi (PC, 2017) - 15:35 Cruis'n Blast (Switch, 2021) - 0:30 Bitburner (PC, 2021) - 0:55 Forza Horizon 2: Storm Island (XB1, 2014) - 2:53 Halo 2 Anniversary (PC, 2020) - 0:44
PURGATORY
Factorio (PC, 2020) - 1:22 (+3:30 in 2020) Ridge Racer (PSP, 2004) - 1:52 (+2:25 in 2020) Overcrowd: A Commute 'Em Up (PC, 2020) - 2:14 in 2020 Euclidea (Android, 2016) - 3:17 (+7:22 in 2016-2017) Mirror's Edge Catalyst (PC, 2016) - 1:06 (+5:37 in 2016) DJMAX RESPECT V (PC, 2020) - 0:58 (+2:34 in 2019) Persona 5 Strikers (PC, 2021) - 2:14 Need for Speed: Payback (PC, 2017) - 1:15 The Last Guy (PS3, 2008) - 1:13 Going Under (PC, 2020) - 2:02 Golftopia (PC, 2021) - 0:46 Atelier Online: Alchemist of Bressisle (Android, 2021) - 0:36 A-Train: All Aboard Tourism! (Switch, 2021) - 26:17 Home Improvisation (PC, 2016) - 1:12 The Talos Principle (PC, 2014) - 1:03 Deathloop (PC, 2021) - 1:24
1. Tacoma (PC) | 2nd Jan - 2.4hrs
2. Assemble With Care (PC) | 3rd Jan - 1.5hrs
3. Morphblade (PC) | 10th Jan - 1.1hrs
4. Outer Wilds (PC) | 10th Jan - 18.9hrs
5. Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends and the Secret Fairy (PS5) | 21st Feb - 51.5hrs
6. Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (Switch) | 25th February - 41.4hrs
7. Yakuza: Like a Dragon (PC) | 16th March - 76.7hrs
8. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) | 4th April - 52.3hrs
9. WRC 9 FIA World Rally Championship (PS5) | 15th April - 32.8hrs
10. Rock Band Blitz (PS3) | 17th April - 1.5hrs
11. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered (PS5) - 30th April - 21.2hrs
12. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered: The Heist (PS5) - 1st May - 2.9hrs
13. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered: Turf Wars (PS5) - 2nd May - 1.9hrs
14. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered: Silver Lining (PS5) - 2nd May - 2.2hrs
15. New Pokemon Snap (Switch) - 16 May - 10.7hrs
16. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5) - 27th May - 12.4hrs
17. Monster Hunter Rise (Switch) - 30th May - 17.9hrs
18. Final Fantasy VII Remake: INTERmission (PS5) - 24th June - 7.1hrs
19. Florence (Android) - 26th June - 0.8hrs
20. Umurangi Generation Macro (PC) - 3rd July - 2.1hrs
21. PowerWash Simulator (PC) - 3rd July - 16.3hrs
22. Wolfenstein 3D (PC) - 7th July - 8.9hrs
23. Monument Valley 2 (Android) - 25th July - 1.8hrs
24. Euro Truck Simulator 2 (PC) - 25th July - 27.9hrs
25. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5) - 26th July - 15.6hrs
26. Overload (PC) - 30th July - 12.5hrs
27. Orcs Must Die! (PC) - 5th August - 11.9hrs
28. Orcs Must Die! Lost Adventures - 7th August - 4.9hrs
29. Orcs Must Die! 2 - 14th August - 7.8hrs
30. Microsoft Flight Simulator - 21st August - 32.7hrs
31. Microsoft Flight Simulator w/ Neofly Mod - 1st September - 17.1hrs
32. Returnal - 2nd September - 30.9hrs
33. Star Drift Evolution - 4th September - 8.3hrs
34. The Henry Stickmin Collection - 6th September - 4.5hrs
35. No Man's Sky: Cartographers - 11th September - 10.6hrs
36. No Man's Sky - 18th September - 73.6hrs
37. A Very Long Baguette - 12th October - 0.1hrs
38. No Man's Sky: Emergence - 31st October - 11.5hrs
39. Lost Judgment - 4th November - 60.9hrs
40. Hot Wheels Unleashed - 20th November - 9.1hrs
41. Forza Horizon 5 - 20th November - 51.1hrs
42. Forza Horizon 4: LEGO Speed Champions - 25th November - 12.2hrs
43. No Man's Sky: Pioneers Redux - 30th November - 15.5hrs
44. No Man's Sky: Beachhead Redux - 9th December - 5.0hrs
45. Unpacking - 11th December - 4.0hrs
46. Halo 5: Guardians - 13th December - 8.8hrs
47. Exo One - 18th December - 2.4hrs
48. In Other Waters - 19th December - 4.3hrs
49. Mighty Goose - 22nd December - 2.7hrs
50. Superliminal - 25th December - 2.8hrs
51. LEGO Builder's Journey - 26th December - 3.1hrs
52. Halo Infinite - 27th December - 20.9hrs
17. Bloodborne (PS5) - 03/04/2021
18. Monster Hunter Rise (Switch) - 05/04/2021
19. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin (PS5) - 15/04/2021
20. Ghost of Tsushima (PS5) - 28/04/2021
21. The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories (PS5) - 30/04/2021
May:
22. Nier Replicant (PS5) - 11/05/2021
23. Halo 2 (Xbox One) - 16/05/2021
24. Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (PS5) - 20/05/2021
25. Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter (PS5) - 24/05/2021
June:
26. Control (PS5) - 02/06/2021
27. God of War III Remastered (PS5) - 15/06/2021
28. Murder by Numbers (Switch) - 15/06/2021
29. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5) - 17/06/2021
30. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (PS5) - 25/06/2021
July:
31. FFXIV: Heavensward (PS5) - 14/07/2021
32. Dark Douls III (PS5) - 30/07/2021
37. Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers (PS5) - 18/09/2021
38. Kena : Bridge of Spirits (PS5) - 23/09/2021
39. Tales of Arise (PS5) - 29/09/2021
40. The Artful Escape (Xbox One) - 29/09/2022
October:
41. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch) - 01/10/2021
42. Bury Me, My Love (Switch) - 03/10/2021
43. Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions (PC) - 21/10/2021
November:
44. Unpacking (PC) - 03/11/2021
45. Little Witch Rue & The Can-Do Brew (PC) - 10/11/2021
46. If Found... (PC) - 10/11/2021
47. Inscyrption (PC) - 18/11/2021
48. It Takes Two (PC) - 20/11/2021
December:
49. Monument Valley (Android) - 03/12/2021
50. Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker (PS5) - 17/12/2021
51. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (PS5) - 25/12/2021
52. The Beginner's Guide (PC) - 29/12/2021
53. The Forgotten City (PC) - 29/12/2021
54. Monument Valley 2 (Android) - 29/12/2021
55. Falcon Age (PS5) - 30/12/2021
I finished more games last year than I've ever done before (80), so lets' gooo. I've hit the goal for the past 3 years and I don't expect this year to be too much different in terms of being home most of the time.
I finished 57 games this year. Writeups can be found for each game below here on my personal gaming blog!
1. Hades (Steam) | Jan 4th | 30 hours | 5/5
2. Donut County (Steam) | Jan 6th | 2 hours | 3/5
3. 8-Bit Adventures: The Forgotten Journey Remastered Edition (Steam) | Jan 20th | 10.4 hours | 3.5/5
4. Sonic the Hedgehog (Steam) | Feb 17th | 2 hours| 3/5
5. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle (Steam) | Feb 17th | 2 hours | 2/5
6. Control (PS4) | Feb 20th | time unknown, approx. 18 hours | 4.5/5
7. Ristar (Steam) | Feb 25th | 4 hours | 4/5
8. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (PC) | Feb 27th | 35 hours | 4/5
9. Tents and Trees Puzzles (Android) | 30 hours approx. | Mar 14th | 5/5
10. The Burnable Garbage Day (Android) | 4 hours approx. | Mar 15th | 4/5
11. Eliza (Steam) | 6.4 hours | Mar 23rd | 5/5
12. Beyond Oasis (Steam) | 6 hours | Mar 29th | 1/5
13. Dorfromantik (Steam) | 10.2 hours | Apr 20th | 4/5
14. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (PS4) | 41 hours | Apr 23rd | 3/5
15. Digimon World Dawn (Nintendo DS) | 27 hrs 10 mins | May 4th | 2.5/5
16. Ocean's Heart (Steam) | 10 hours | May 26th | 2.5/5
17. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (NSW) | 30 hrs 40 mins | Jun 1st | 3/5
18. Ys VIII: The Lacrimosa of DANA (NSW) | 61 hours | July 4th | 4/5
19. Partitas (Steam) | 1 hour 30 mins | July 6th | 2/5
20. Gorogoa (Steam) | 2 hours 10 minutes | July 8th | 5/5
21. Chinatris (Steam) | 3 hours | July 11th | 3/5
22. The Night of the Rabbit (Steam) | 10 1/2 hours | July 21st | 2.5/5
23. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Steam) | 2 1/2 hours | July 24th | 3/5
24. The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures (NSW) | 30 hours | Aug 15th | 4.5/5
25. The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve (NSW) | 40 hours | Sept 14th | 5/5
26. Deltarune: chp 2 (Steam) | 7 hours 10 minutes | Sept 21st | 5/5
27. Metroid Dread (NSW) | 12 hours 17 minutes | Oct 14th | 5/5
28. The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero (PC) | 66 hours 25 minutes | Nov 1st | 3.5/5
29. Unpacking (PC) | 3 hours | Nov 7th | 3/5
30. Silence (Steam) | 4 hours 50 minutes | Nov 14th | 5/5
31. Unheard (Steam) | 3 hours 30 minutes | Nov 22nd | 2.5/5
32. Little Nightmares (Steam) | 3 hours 40 | Nov 24th | 4.5/5
33. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn - patches 2.1-2.5 (PC) | n/a | Nov 30th | 3.5/5
34. Alchemy Merge - Puzzle Game (Android) | n/a | Dec 15th | 3/5
35. Life in Adventure (Android) | n/a | Dec 22nd | 4/5
1. Hades
Wonderful game, if a little destructive on my hands. I managed 2 full runs before I realised I was just going to sprain my thumbs if I continued. Very polished game and a huge challenge for me.
2. Donut County
A very chill game to follow up Hades. I enjoyed all the characters and the dialogue. I would have liked more gameplay but what was there was fun.
3. 8-Bit Adventures: The Forgotten Journey Remastered Edition
Caught me by surprise how much I enjoyed this. By no means an amazing game but a very comfy experience make by people that clearly love the genre. 100% completion wasn't hard and I'll definitely pick up the sequel later this year.
4. Sonic the Hedgehog
Would you believe I've never played past Green Hill Zone Act 1? After buying the Mega Drive Collection, I knew that this would be this first game I'd play. It's a lot of fun! Very colourful, great soundtrack, nice level design. It took a while to get used to Sonic's slippery controls but this was otherwise a pretty solid game.
5. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
Bizarre game. The gameplay is brutally hard, as was common for the time. But it doesn't help Alex isn't exactly precise with his movements or actions. Accumulating money does... Something? I could never seen to buy anything other than the gyrocopter on occasion. There's a Flappy Bird level, which I imagine was a straight up nightmare for children back in the day. The last level is also extremely long and involves a trick with bouncing off a wall that took me 20 minutes to clear. Hats off to every child that passed this. I certainly couldn't do it without rewind.
6. Control
Boy, I loved this. Absolutely essential to read/watch everything you pick up to completely understand the game. If you don't love reading them I wouldn't recommend this. The combat is average to start with but becomes fun once you open up new powers. But encounters get tedious and lengthy. I ended up really tweaking the difficulty because all my enjoyment was coming from experiencing the story and extra content. Despite faults and a terrible performance at times, this was extremely my thing.
7. Ristar
Out of all the Mega Drive games is this probably the one I most wanted to play. Ristar first came to my attention on a Vinesauce stream. I was immediately attracted to it's art and bright colours. The game turns out to be a fiendishly hard platformer that feels incredibly rewarding. I always felt great figuring out a puzzle or clearing a difficult section. The music is wonderful and the level design is mostly good with that patently old school hard, pixel perfect jumps. I would have loved this as a kid; never would have finished it but loved it all the same.
8. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
And here is my White Whale. Finally, finally I've played through this game (the first part, at least). It took a long time for me to afford to play it and even longer to have time to do so. Was it worth it? Yes, I'd say so. There's parts I didn't like, namely padded fetch quests in the main story but overall, is a great experience. I met some very helpful people along the way and had a lot of fun. The battles were exciting, even if I couldn't understand half of what was happening on screen and the characters are neat. I'll probably pick up some more side-quests before I continue on to Heavensward. It feels so neat to finally be able to share in the experience.
9. Tents and Trees Puzzles
Spent many an hour during my free time plodding through the main puzzles. Hugely enjoyable, endlessly repayable and just enough challenge. Probably my favourite mobile game ever.
10. The Burnable Garbage Day
A clicker game with a surprisingly good story, that is, once you puzzle out the translation. You play as CR-999, cleaning up Earth one piece of trash at a time. You find humans that help them with tasks and try to help put together with robot whilst you're at it. A fairly enjoyable experience, ads were un-intrusive, idle times were no longer them 5 minutes and it was fun to interact with the NPCs.
11. Eliza
Gifted to me by zulux21 and I have to say a huge thank you for that because this turned out to be amazing. Like flat out amazing. The perfect game for me post surgery, I enjoyed every minute of it. It's thought-provoking, tender and heartbreaking in a thoroughly researched and well produced VN. Having experienced mental health issues as both a sufferer and as a nurse, this felt uniquely suited to my tastes. Great game.
12. Beyond Oasis
A good example of an old classic that has aged like milk. This was bad. I don't even know why I finished this.
13. Dorfromantik
Lovely chill puzzle builder game. Still in early access but main gameplay is available. I love chasing that high score but this game would be better with a clearer tutorial. I had to use a steam guide to have some basic gameplay revealed to me. Still, I'm having a lovely time with this. Counted as complete when I hit a score of 10k+
14. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
I just finished this today so I'm kinda still in a raw mood with this. I did not like this ending. And that's affected my whole outlook on the game. It's an enjoyable enough ride but the story unravels at the end and some plot points are just never explained, at least not clearly. Combat is ok. It's nothing to write home about but it's also not particularly annoying either.
I disliked that there was no concrete villain, or, if they were villainous, they were rewarded in the end. Deimos were mindless adds from a video game, Izumi wasn't actually a murderer and professor Morimura is kept on as a leader and Ida got his AI waifu in the end. It's like the game didn't want anyone to face consequences for their actions. My least favourite character, Yakushiji, is clearly favoured by the director and she's given a romance story she did nothing to deserve.
Most egregious was the fact that the sectors were not even a real place, that every sector was just a hologram playing out whilst the characters slept in pods. Just made the entire last battle, a 14 hours marathon by the characters, just this meaningless VR session. Not to mention it just brings up a number of questions: why make things needlessly complicated with sectors then? Why have boundaries of actual metal corridors in each section? Why is the computer so dumb it can't detect they the Deimos are bad? Why turn safeties off in your Matrix holodeck? Why spend 18 years of them living in a fantasy world and only 2 years learning how to start up a new colony?
I'm not given answers that satisfy and it's left me feeling sour.
15. Digimon World Dawn
A sad disappointment. Not much story to tell and gameplay is bogged down by a huge amount of grinding. It takes a lot of effort to have fun with this game and even as a massive Digimon fan I struggled to enjoy this.
16. Ocean's Heart
Can I please start playing good games again?? Another disappointment from yet another game I was looking forward to. Feels like it's only had rudimentary play-testing and probably by its one developer. Story is fine (with perhaps the most anticlimactic ending I've ever seen), dialogue is nice and music and art are pretty. But gameplay consists of mostly bum-rushing enemies, tanking damage and spamming attack. It's a pretty poor example of a Zelda clone with the developer apparently not interested in improving his work.
17. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
I don't think I've ever played a musou game before, so this was a fairly brand new experience for me. They're ok? I definitely wouldn't go out and seek them but if your favourite franchise got a musou I wouldn't be upset. There are a number of technical problems with this game that have probably been discussed to death. But my main issue was it's just too long. There's a huge plethora of side content, most of which I chose to ignore later on as button mashing just got too tedious. I eventually switched the game to easy for the last couple of missions as battles took on average 25-30 minutes to complete, depending on how fast you went. The latter missions were a lot of fun, though, and beating Ganon as a suped up Zelda was a massive rush. I can only hope we get to play her in botw 2 in some fashion because it'd be a huge shame if musous were the only means to play her in a Zelda game.
18. Ys VIII: The Lacrimosa of DANA
My first party-based Ys game and I had an absolute blast with this. The high energy combat and boss battles remain the same if a little easier now that you can swap between 3 characters. The music was fantastic, as always with Ys, and the characters grew on me quite a bit. Character design, however, was terrible and as soon as I could I put some actual clothes on Dana. The story takes a while to get moving but I found myself caught up in the tale of species extinction. The performance on the Switch is atrocious hahaha. Don't play this on the Switch unless you need that portable feature. 100% the game minus one fish!
19. Partitas
A classical music puzzle game. Whilst the music is exceptionally good and performed by multiple different pianists for this game, the puzzles are terrible. I only learnt a little piano when I was like 12 so my musical knowledge is almost non-existent. This game stated that it was accessible to everyone and it really isn't. You have to fill the blanks on music sheets and you're not told what any of the remaining notes on the sheet are and you can't listen to any of the options. So what you do is brute force reach puzzle, waving notes across the sheet until one clicks into place and then rinse and repeat. After completing a sheet you can stop and listen to the performance and that was nice. There's nothing to educate you on any of the music, composers or even how to read music. You can buy little trinkets to decorate the screen but that's really all there is to this game. And you can't just pick a track from the list to listen to; you have to complete the puzzle every time. Not worth the $1.50.
20. Gorogoa
A puzzle game that made me feel both incredibly stupid and a genius at the same time. The first couple of sliding puzzles you can sort of fumble your way through. But eventually you'll need to use your brain and boy this tested me something fierce. I loved it, I love the feeling of wracking my brain and finding the solution. Very, very good.
21. Chinatris
A fairly enjoyable take on Tetris. You combine Chinese characters to form new ones and aim to create the words indicated atop the puzzle. 24 puzzles are included plus an endless mode. I bought this mostly for the educational value and there was some to be had. I definitely picked up a bit more understanding of stroke order and character combination. Unfortunately the words you make and their definitions only flash to the right of the screen as you play the game. There's no dictionary feature you can stop and look at to better appreciate what you're learning. I'd like to see that added at some point.
22. The Night of the Rabbit
Another foray into the Daedalic catalogue and another fairly meh experience. tNotR has you play as Jerry Hazelnut as he's picked by the the Marquis de Hoto (the titular rabbit of the game) to become his magician's apprentice. The Marquis is more like The Doctor from Doctor Who and and is a fairly enigmatic creature and the most interesting character in the game. The game revolves around Jerry helping out the locals and doing various trials to complete his training. Shame that all that's really boring and the real plot of the story - The Marquis and the Great Illusionist Zaroff - are relegated to the last hour of a 10 hour playthrough. Jerry's a fine protagonist but his story, his surrounding characters and his puzzles just aren't that interesting. There's some audio stories you can pick up and a card game you can play but it feels like padding in a pretty boring game. When we get the infamous Daedalic infodump at the end I realised that the story of the Marquis and Zaroff is the one I wanted to play. There's setup for a sequel but that's pretty unlikely as Daedalic are this close 🤏 to folding up unfortunately.
23. Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Mostly enjoyable sequel. I liked basically every stage except Air Fortress. I actually had to look up where to go in Air Fortress and then managed to time out after beating the boss. Awesome. Pretty sure I did this on hard mode as I found no chaos emeralds and therefore didn't have the super Saiyan mode to help. Despite some real frustration at the end I had a good time with this.
24. The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles: Adventures
I admit to having a little trepidation going into this. A whole new cast and setting had me worried. What if it wasn't as good? What if I didn't like these characters? My fears were quickly squashed as this turned out to be everything I wanted in a AA game. I love the characters, adventure, setting, mystery and I'm eagerly looking forward to playing through the second game. It's so good to have Ace Attorney back.
25. The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve
Improved in every way to 1, I had an absolute blast with 2. I was hooked on the mystery throughout and the pacing was a lot better this time around. Wonderful game, please let there be more!
26. Deltarune: chp 2
Toby Fox, you cheeky Devil. Making me drop everything to play your latest installment in...whatever the hell this game is. There's not much I can say without spoiling but this is a real labour of love. Thoughtful, funny, (can be scary!) and delightfully weird, Deltarune is engaging and entertaining throughout every single minute and then long after you finish. Get the banana 🍌
27. Metroid Dread
An actual masterpiece. Fusion is my favourite Metroid and I'm so glad it got the sequel it deserves. I bow before my Space Queen.
28. The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero
I've played longer games this year and in years past. But Zero felt longer than all of them due to its absolutely terrible pacing. The game has and excessively long introduction, about 30 hours. The second half of the game, whilst better, is also poorly paced, culminating in a final dungeon that took me overall 4 hours to complete. Praise Geofront modders for including a turbo feature in their English patch, without it I feel like my time in that last dungeon would be doubled.
That aside, I really enjoyed the story once it decided to appear. The characters are mostly good but this game is kind of ruined by gross sexist humour from one main character. That and there's Ilya, a prominent NPC that introduces herself by assaulting her co-worker by squeezing her breasts. She's so terrible I stopped playing for a month. It's unfortunately this "humour" that becomes a prominent feature in later Trails games and why I won't be playing Cold Steel. They're are better female characters, though. Grace, the reporter, is excellent and I was always happy to see her on screen.
It'll be a long wait till an official English release now of Azure (2023), but I'm happy for the break. This game often felt like a chore in its first half and it made me overall feel tired more than anything.
29. Unpacking
A nice change of pace after Trails From Zero. Lovely art and nice gameplay. Music could have looped round faster rather than leaving a big minute long silence between. And some items were just difficult to recognise what they were so it was a bit hard to know where they were supposed to fit.
30. Silence
A sequel to Daedalic's The Whispered World, this game was an absolute delight. We finally get a Daedalic game with room to breathe and follow up on one of their famous eleventh hour info dumps. The characters are great, Rennie is a real star in this game and her friendship with the returning character Spot is a real highlight. The game is funny, dark and really sweet at times. Puzzles aren't particularly hard and you can fly through this game pretty quickly. I'm really glad Daedalic took another shot at one of their IP's, it really paid off.
31. Unheard
This was fine?? The overarching plot is completely unengaging since it's almost non-existent. There's a last minute twist that does absolutely nothing and goes nowhere. But the actual gameplay was quite good and I enjoyed piecing together the mystery of each chapter.
32. Little Nightmares
Really good little game. I had issues with the wonky controls every now and then but the overall presentation makes up for it. I loved playing as Six and exploring the Maw. Narrative was very good for a game with no dialogue and more I'm curious about the sequel.
33. FFXIV: A Realm Reborn - Patches 2.1-2.5
Way, way too long. The first few patches I don't even remember do it was fun when the credits rolled and suddenly all these scenes I'd forgotten showed up again. Apparently this section was trimmed recently and I honestly feel it could do with another. The story didn't get good until Lady Iceheart turned up and that felt like 20 hours in our something. But it had a fantastic ending and I'm completely psyched for Heavenward. Also, fighting Cloud of Darkness was really cool.
34. Alchemy Merge - Puzzle Game Little Alchemy 2 was one of my favourite mobile games. This takes a lot of inspiration from that game and whilst it improves in some points, it's never quite as good. I appreciated the hint system and towards the end I made use of the alchemy sense to speed things up a bit. The 3 item combinations make this very hard at times and it's not very lenient about combinations. For example 'kite' had to be cloth, stick, air. Combining paper, stick, air wouldn't cut it even though it's essentially the same thing. It's not a bad effort and there was certainly thought and time put into the game. If you want more Little Alchemy, then this is fine.
35. Life in Adventure
I actually quite enjoyed this. Completed with my second character after I managed to score an absolutely amazing bow. For a randomised rpg quite a few characters manage to reappear during a single playthrough and I actually got to complete a while side quest with the elves. Some really pretty pixel art and some decent writing despite some spelling errors.
Oh well, here we go, year 3! I actually finished something in the afternoon today... I changed my rules this year as my GF and I bought a house so I figured I'd loosen my restrictions formally and include individual DLC packs if they feel meaty enough
My rating guide ★☆☆☆☆ : Pretty terrible. I'd be shocked if any game got this because I would just drop it like a hot potato. Does basically everything badly. ★★☆☆☆ : Meh. It has some redeeming features here and there, but mostly poorly put together or just not my cup o' tea. ★★★☆☆ : Good! Overall fairly pleasing. Maybe it is too short/long, weird controls or bad story but... worth the time. ★★★★☆ : Great! A game that is very interesting or just very good at what it wants to do with little standing in the way. ★★★★★:Exceptional! Everyone interested in gaming as a medium should play this. It has very few flaws or some aspects are far above and beyond what other games like it accomplish.
Year 2
Playing:
Overwatch
Pokemon Go
Omori
Streets of Rage 4
1. Omori
2. Overwatch
3. Pokemon Go
4. Streets of Rage 4
5. Donut County
6. Tick Tock A Tale for Two
7. Gnosia
8. Overcooked! 2
9. Murder By Numbers
10. A Way Out
1. Paradise Killer (Switch) | 1 January 2021
2. KIDS (PC - Steam) | 3 January 2021
3. The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game (PC - Steam) | 8 January 2021
4. Touhou Luna Nights (Switch) | 9 January 2021
5. Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard (PC - Steam) | 10 January 2021
6. Paratopic (PC - Steam) | 10 January 2021
7. The Little Acre (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 17 January 2021
8. Donut County (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 24 January 2021
9. Sackboy: A Big Adventure (PS5) | 30 January 2021
10. Röki (Switch) | 6 February 2021
11. The Lion's Song (PC - Steam) | 7 February 2021
12. Return of the Obra Dinn (Switch) | 11 February 2021
13. Wide Ocean Big Jacket (Switch) | 13 February 2021
14. Super Mario 3D World (Switch) | 22 February 2021
15. Bowser's Fury (Switch) | 27 February 2021
16. Unavowed (PC - Steam) | 8 March 2021
17. The Pathless (PS5) | 11 March 2021
18. Loco Motive (PC - itch.io) | 12 March 2021
19. Maquette (PS5) | 14 March 2021
20. Down in Bermuda (Switch) | 15 March 2021
21. The White Door (PC - Steam) | 22 March 2021
22. Cube Escape: Seasons (PC - Steam) | 28 March 2021
23. Cube Escape: The Lake (PC - Steam) | 29 March 2021
24. Cube Escape: Arles (PC - Steam) | 1 April 2021
25. Cube Escape: Harvey's Box (PC - Steam) | 2 April 2021
26. Genesis Noir | Xbox One - Game Pass | 4 April 2021
27. Cube Escape: Case 23 (PC - Steam) | 4 April 2021
28. Cube Escape: The Mill (PC - Steam) | 6 April 2021
29. Cube Escape: Birthday (PC - Steam) | 9 April 2021
30. Cube Escape: Theatre (PC - Steam) | 10 April 2021
31. Cube Escape: The Cave (PC - Steam) | 12 April 2021
32. Cube Escape: Paradox (PC - Steam) | 21 April 2021
33. Immortals: Fenyx Rising (PS5) | 1 May 2021
34. RYB (PC - itch.io) | 3 May 2021
35. Disco Elysium - The Final Cut (PS5) | 17 May 2021
36. The Last Campfire (Switch) | 17 May 2021
37. Mushroom Savior (Switch) | 23 May 2021
38. Rain on Your Parade (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 31 May 2021
39. Wordle (PC - Steam) | 20 June 2021
40. Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PS4) | 21 June 2021
41. Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Challenge Tomb DLC (PS4) | 21 June 2021
42. The Last Door - Collector's Edition (PC - Steam) | 21 June 2021
43. Wordle 2 (PC - Steam) | 24 June 2021
44. Alwa's Awakening (Switch) | 1 July 2021
45. Wordle 3 (PC - Steam) | 2 July 2021
46. Wordle 4 (PC - Steam) | 4 July 2021
47. The Last Door: Season 2 - Collector's Edition (PC - Steam) | 4 July 2021
48. Little Misfortune (PC - Steam) | 7 July 2021
49. Detective Grimoire (PC - Steam) | 21 July 2021
50. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5) | 22 July 2021
51. Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (Xbox One) | 25 July 2021
52. Crusader of Centy (Mega Drive) | 29 July 2021
53. Samsara Room (PC - Steam) | 29 July 2021
54. Panzer Dragoon: Remake (Switch) | 29 July 2021
55. Samorost 1 (PC - Steam) | 31 July 2021
56. Forest's Secret (PC - itch.io) | 12 August 2021
57. Psychonauts (PS4) | 13 August 2021
58. Forest's Secret: Mystery of the Frost (PC - itch.io) | 14 August 2021
59. Death's Door (Xbox One) | 22 August 2021
60. Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call (DS) | 27 August 2021
61. Twelve Minutes (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 29 August 2021
62. Sam & Max Save the World Episode 1: Culture Shock (PC - Steam) | 30 August 2021
63. Sam & Max Save the World Episode 2: Situation Comedy (PC - Steam) | 6 September 2021
64. Psychonauts 2 (Xbox Series X - Game Pass) | 19 September 2021
65. Sam & Max Save the World Episode 3: The Mole, the Mob and the Meatball (PC - Steam) | 19 September 2021
66. Sam & Max Save the World Episode 4: Abe Lincoln Must Die! (PC - Steam) | 26 September 2021
67. Metroid: Zero Mission (Wii U Virtual Console - GBA) | 1 October 2021
68. The Forgotten City (Xbox One) | 6 October 2021
69. Sam & Max Save the World Episode 5: Reality 2.0 (PC - Steam) | 7 October 2021
70. Sam & Max Save the World Episode 6: Bright Side of the Moon (PC - Steam) | 15 October 2021
71. The Artful Escape (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 18 October 2021
72. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 1: Ice Station Santa (PC - Steam) | 19 October 2021
73. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 2: Moai Better Blues (PC - Steam) | 21 October 2021
74. Metroid Dread (Switch) | 22 October 2021
75. Dispatch (PC - DRM-free download) | 23 October 2021
76. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 3: Night of the Raving Dead (PC - Steam) | 24 October 2021
77. Castlevania (Castlevania Anniversary Collection) (Switch) | 25 October 2021
78. NextDoor (PC - itch.io) | 25 October 2021
79. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 4: Chariots of the Dogs (PC - Steam) | 26 October 2021
80. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (Castlevania Anniversary Collection) (Switch) | 28 October 2021
81. The Procession to Calvary (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 29 October 2021
82. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 5: What's New Beezlebub? (PC - Steam) | 29 October 2021
83. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (Castlevania Anniversary Collection) (Switch) | 30 October 2021
84. Super Castlevania IV (Castlevania Anniversary Collection) (Switch) | 6 November 2021
85. Castlevania: The Adventure (Castlevania Anniversary Collection) (Switch) | 6 November 2021
86. Sam & Max The Devil's Playhouse Episode 1: The Penal Zone (Steam) | 6 November 2021
87. Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (Castlevania Anniversary Collection) (Switch) | 7 November 2021
88. Kid Dracula (Castlevania Anniversary Collection) (Switch) | 11 November 2021
89. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 2: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak (PC - Steam) | 14 November 2021
90. UNSIGHTED (Switch) | 17 November 2021
91. Castlevania: Bloodlines (Castlevania Anniversary Collection) (Switch) | 19 November 2021
92. Castlevania: Vampire's Kiss (Castlevania Advance Collection) (Switch) | 20 November 2021
93. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 3: They Stole Max's Brain! (Steam) | 20 November 2021
94. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 4: Beyond the Alley of the Dolls (Steam) | 22 November 2021
95. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 5: The City that Dares not Sleep (Steam) | 24 November 2021
96. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (DS) | 28 November 2021
97. Unpacking (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 29 November 2021
98. Olija (PS4) | 2 December 2021
99. Cthulhu Saves Christmas (Switch) | 5 December 2021
100. A Good Snowman is Hard to Build (Switch) | 6 December 2021
101. Kirby Super Star (SNES via Nintendo Switch Online) | 12 December 2021
102. There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension (Steam) | 13 December 2021
103. LEGO: Builder's Journey (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 24 December 2021
104. Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS5) | 28 December 2021
1. Paradise Killer (Switch) | 1 January 2021
Completed with all leads investigated fully, all items collected. Mixing elements from the Ace Attorney games and the Danganronpa visual novel series, Paradise Killer is an open-world detective/investigation game, challenging the player to determine the culprit for the murder of the ruling council of an island of immortals, a religious cult seeking to create paradise - and on the way, solving a series of related crimes. Immensely stylish and with a standout soundtrack, the game has been a truly memorable experience, with an intricate story that plays out as you delve deeper into the investigation.
The gameplay primarily comprises open-world exploration, seeking out clues to further your detective efforts, alongside interviews with a diverse cast of characters - each of whose guilt or innocence is for you to deduce. Ultimately, while the information gleaned from these interviews will be the same regardless of the choices that you make, the ability to approach them in any order ensures that they still evoke the satisfaction of successful deductions, while allowing the wonderfully well-characterised personalities of each to come to the fore. Eventually, the game culminates in a series of trials (which you can trigger at any point) - and while there's little in the way of 'puzzle' here once you've decided who to accuse, it's satisfying to see the effects of your accumulated evidence in each case laid plain.
The game does have a few notable flaws, in particular the decision to tie the ability to fast travel to the in-game currency, a limited resource, and that the various collectibles scattered about the island mostly serve little actual purpose, but overall it's a highly enjoyable, quirky experience to which I'd give a strong recommendation.
2. KIDS (PC - Steam) | 3 January 2021
Complete playthrough. A somewhat strange game, KIDS presents the player with a series of scenes populated by line-drawn people, with whom you must interact (mouse-only) to achieve a simple, but undefined objective - for example, jumping into a hole, or performing a 'Mexican wave'. More a minimalistic piece of art that a game, this is a very short experience and not really anything memorable. While I can see that there's the germ of a good idea here, as it is it's nothing more than a brief diversion.
3. The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game (PC - Steam) | 8 January 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game is a simple first-person investigation game, where the player takes place of the titular Frog Detective, tasked with solving the mystery of an apparent ghost haunting the island setting. The gameplay consists primarily of dialogue interactions with a cast of other animal characters, alongside solving various needs/wants that they each have, from collecting and exchanging a series of items. The game uses a very basic lo-fi 3D graphical style, giving it a very primitive feel, both technically and in its gameplay - but its trump card is great, goofily comedic writing throughout, ensuring that its sub-1 hour playtime is an entertaining experience.
4. Touhou Luna Nights (Switch) | 9 January 2021
Completed with 100% map exploration and 100% item collection. Touhou Luna Nights is an impressive fan-made 'Metroidvania', with characters taken from the Project Touhou shoot-em-up series. Having no prior knowledge of its parent series, the full significance of the plot details and character interactions likely passed me by, but regardless, there was enough here that's accessible enough to maintain interest to a newcomer. Of course, that's helped in no small part by the strength of the gameplay, based around two unusual, but well-implemented key mechanics - the ability to either slow or completely stop the flow of time (dependent upon the availability of a related resource) and a 'graze' ability, where *brief* contact with an enemy restores health/mana/time. These are both crucial to success, as many combat encounters (particularly later bosses) introduce elements of 'bullet hell' that will be familiar to shoot-em-up fans.
As 'Metroidvanias' go, Touhou Luna Nights is fairly linear, with the map divided into a series of areas that are explored in clear sequence and significant backtracking only really required for a few optional upgrades, but the layout is creative enough that this isn't too great a detriment. Detailed, expressive pixel-art graphics and a lively soundtrack complete a strong package.
5. Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard (PC - Steam) | 10 January 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. Very similar in approach to its prequel, Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard sees the return of the Frog Detective, this time tasked to investigate the disruption of a parade in a dark forest. Much of what I'd say about the first game again applies here - so while the gameplay is basic and the 3D graphics primitive, excellent comedy writing means that the game is once again entertaining - and would be particularly worthwhile for younger children. The implementation of a notebook to track the investigation progress and the various anthropomorphised animal characters is a nice addition this time around.
6. Paratopic (PC - Steam) | 10 January 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. Paratopic is an intriguing, strongly atmospheric and somewhat horror-themed 'walking simulator'. The retro graphics belie the game's surprisingly sophisticated storytelling, which directly depicts only various elements of a wider narrative that the player is left to fill out for themselves.
7. The Little Acre (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 17 January 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked (1,000G). A serviceable point-and-click adventure featuring an alternate world, The Little Acre's standout feature is its colourful, expressive cartoon graphical style with a well-characterised cast. Although entertaining enough while it lasts, the game's short length (expect to beat it easily within 2-3 hours, less with a guide) and fairly simple puzzles mean that ultimately it's not a particularly memorable experience.
8. Donut County (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 24 January 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked (1,000G). A short, generally unchallenging but relaxing game, Donut County riffs on the gameplay style of Katamari Damacy, putting players in control of a movable 'donut' hole in the ground, tasked to clear each stage of items as they fall into the hole, which gradually grows in size as more items are collected - allowing progressively larger objects to be collected. Brief humourous interludes separate each stage, following the motivations of the racoon responsible for controlling each hole, adding to the game's whimsical feeling, and within each area some slight variations to the mechanics allow for some light puzzle solving to keep up the payer's interest, such as allowing items to be set on fire after sucking up a campfire. A well-implemented use of the achievements system adds a handful of optional challenges to round out the package.
9. Sackboy: A Big Adventure (PS5) | 30 January 2021
All single-player stages mastered; all trophies earned aside from for completing "The Ripsnorter". While comparisons to Super Mario 3D World are easy to jump to and the game's camera perspective certainly matches, Sackboy: A Big Adventure is very much its own game - without reliance to power-ups, progression through each level features much more focus on enjoyable, light puzzle-solving. Impressive level design and nicely varied themes throughout the game's five main worlds ensures that it's always satisfying to explore each level, rewarding exploration with collectibles that are hidden to just the right degree.
While the game is easy to skip through if you just want to reach the end, playing with a more completionist mindset ramps up the difficulty significantly - mastering each level requires achieving a high score, collecting every single key item and a zero-death run, though fortunately those three objectives can be achieved in different attempts. It's here that controls not being quite as tight as they might be occasionally becomes problematic and there were certainly a number of frustrating levels as a result - but there's usually enough forgiveness in the level design for this not to become too great an issue.
With co-op available throughout, Sackboy lends itself nicely to group sessions, though I really wish that the levels *requiring* co-op weren't integrated as part of the main 'campaign' progression. Without going into detail, I also have to call out the ridiculously difficult final challenge - something that I'm just not willing to throw myself against for the (literal) *days* on end that I see some people reporting.
Finally, as a PS5 launch game (albeit with a PS4 version available), Sackboy is graphically superb and makes decent use of the Dual Sense's haptics, even if it doesn't reach the brilliance of Astro's Playroom, while the charming soundtrack is nicely complemented by a handful of music-focused levels, with interactive elements and events playing out in time with recognisable licenced music, very much in the style of the superb Rayman Legends.
10. Röki (Switch) | 6 February 2021
Completed with all loot collected and all badges earned. Röki is a puzzle-based adventure game set amidst Scandinavian folklore, telling a touching story that explores the bond between our protagonist, a young girl named Tove, and her brother who she must seek out after he goes missing as they escape from a monster attacking their home. The story here is really quite impactful, and especially in its final chapter, family bonds are developed in a touching way. Puzzle design is for the most part good, with solutions that are fairly logical with a little thought, though at times there's a little too great a distance between connected items across the game world - more of an issue in the game's earlier stages.
Technically, Röki does the job, but doesn't stand out - animations are perhaps the strongest achievement here - and there are occasional bugs that see the character's movement disrupted, though only once was this an issue for more than a couple of seconds (when getting stuck on scenery required reloading a - fortunately very frequent - autosave). These fairly minor issues aside, I'd give Röki a strong recommendation to any adventure/puzzle game fan, or anyone with any interest in the folklore themes that surround it.
11. The Lion's Song (PC - Steam) | 7 February 2021
Completed all four episodes, with 100% of achievements unlocked. A narrative-based point-and-click adventure, The Lion's Song spans four episodes, each following a different character in pre-First World War Austria, united by their personal struggles for inspiration and acceptance - starting with a musician seeking inspiration for a concert, we move to an artist and a female mathematician (the focus of the final episode may be a slight spoiler so I'll avoid mention). Presented using well-drawn pixel art with a sepia colour scheme, there's an effective historical feel here.
With only very limited 'puzzles', the game is very much focused on its narrative, which fortunately is engrossing and I find myself drawn in by each of the character's stories, coming to know each of them across the 2-3 hours that each episode lasts. Especially well done are the various links between the stories, which take place concurrently - the best of these really are best experienced without spoilers, but as a gentle example, a person discussed briefly in episode 1's dialogue becomes a vital confidant of one of the later protagonists.
Broadly the story is is linear, but a few key choices in each episode *are* meaningful in shaping the nuances of events, both within and between chapters. Some longevity is afforded by the game's achievements, some of which can be puzzles in themselves to work out - but these go a little too far on occasions, requiring extensive episode replays. A 'connections gallery' accessible from the main menu expands nicely on the inter-episode call-backs that I mentioned earlier, awarding statues and paintings as you experience certain sets of events.
12. Return of the Obra Dinn (Switch) | 11 February 2021
Completed with all fates solved. A impressive achievement by developer Lucas Pope, Return of the Obra Dinn is a detective/investigation game built out to a extensive level of detail. Playing as an insurance investigator, the game tasks players to discern the fates of each of the 60 crew of the abandoned East India Company ship Obra Dinn - after locating corpses around the ship, who were they, how did they die and who (or what!) was responsible. To achieve this, the player uses a magic compass that reveals the the scene of each body's last moments before death and a brief accompanying audio clip. The details of each of these scenes then need to be examined - at times down to quite fine details and in combination with other scenes (a distinctive tattoo, for example) - to establish the facts of the death.
There's a real sense of satisfaction in 'solving' each of these, and the game cleverly minimises the effectiveness of trial-and-error guesswork by only confirming that identity/cause of death/culprit combinations are correct in groups of three. You're also informed, by means of unblurring of faces in two sketches of the crew, when each should be soluble - though often, these can still be very challenging. It's here that I could crticise the game to an extent, as the level of nuance that seems to be expected in some cases feels arguably a little excessive - but equally, that could just be aimed at me for not being able to see it. Certainly, the succeeded at making me feel less clever than it demanded at times! However, the reward in satisfaction from successful detective-work mostly prevailed over such feelings of frustration.
Return of the Obra Dinn uses a surprisingly attractive monochromatic graphical style, which effectively captures the antique feel of the setting while still allowing sufficient clarity of detail for effective investigation, and catchy musical sequences accompany each death scene. A few additional quality of life features could certainly be added, most notably, an easier way to navigate between these scenes (replaying each requires you to locate the relevant body again), but on the whole this is a polished package.
13. Wide Ocean Big Jacket (Switch) | 13 February 2021
Complete playthrough, plus bonus chapters. A short story following a group of two adults and two children on a camping trip, Wide Ocean Big Jacket certainly has a certain charm. Don't expect any big revelations or plot twists here, but for a relaxing experience over the course of an hour or so, there's some enjoyment to be had here. While the game uses a deliberately primitive polygonal graphical style, its strength comes in its writing, with dialog at times amusing and other times poignant. The game didn't hit for me as strongly as it seems to have done for many others, but I can see why it has its fans.
14. Super Mario 3D World (Switch) | 22 February 2021
Completed with a four-starred save file (all green stars, stamps and flagpoles except for Champion's Road). While Super Mario 3D World may be a Wii U report, it's not lost any of its edge in the eight years since original release, retaining a real sense of joy pretty much throughout. There's a nice balance here between the linearity of Mario's 2D outings with some more explorative elements - a few of the green stars which are the game's main collectible are deviously hidden! The core platforming gameplay is as tight as ever, of course, though perhaps just a little too reliant on the new catsuit power-up, which can at times over-simplify some sections with its climbing ability.
I played entirely single-player, but I should note that there's clearly great multi-player potential here... though I do wish that overall completion didn't require playing through ever stage with every character!
15. Bowser's Fury (Switch) | 27 February 2021
Completed with all 100 cat shines collected. Bowser's Fury offers an interesting development on the explorative approach of many of the 3D Mario platformers, taking place in an entirely open world, expanding in scope as you progress towards collecting all 100 shines. As an experiment it's largely successful, with an empowering sense of freedom, though the world being largely waterlogged, with inter-island travel aimed by Mario's swimming companion Plessie, feels like it limits the potential somewhat, with each individual island being a little smaller than I'd like, and I'd have liked to see some more variation in objectives. The late-game ability to warp between islands is certainly greatly appreciated! Similar to 3D World, the catsuit power-up again feels over-powered in many scenarios.
The use of Fury Bowser as a recurring boss encounter is again an interesting experiment, particularly with the way that each encounter transforms the world, with a handful of shines only available in this state. Again, though, the repetition feels a somewhat limiting to the game's overall potential, and these sequences come to feel more of an annoyance after playing through a few of them. Regardless, though, the core platforming is very solid and I enjoyed my time with Bowser's Fury - it'll be interesting to see what Nintendo takes from this experiment in future instalments.
16. Unavowed (PC - Steam) | 8 March 2021
Complete playthrough. The latest offering from Wadjet Eye Games modern masters of the point-and-click adventure game, Unavowed tells a supernatural story in a contemporary setting, with players taking control of a character recently released from demonic possession., who joins the evil-fighting group "The Unavowed" as they seek to understand the motives behind that possession and the 'unpleasantries' committed during it. The plot here is utterly compelling, in an impressively well-realised and internally consistent world, and features a number of impactful, well-judged 'twists'.
Taking place over a series of (mostly self-contained) scenarios that ensure that the complexity of the puzzle-solving stays as a balances level of complexity, perhaps the greatest innovation on offer here is the implementation of a party system, with the main protagonist accompanied to each location by two from the wider group, freely selectable, and the puzzle solutions adapt very impressively to suit any party composition. Those characters aren't merely puzzle-solving devices, though, each having an intriguing back-story to explore, while also really brought to life with conversations that play out between each other without needing player intervention. All realised with some beautifully detailed, high-resolution pixelart and also including a full-integrated commentary mode offering an insight on the development process, Unavowed is right at the pinnacle of its genre.
17. The Pathless (PS5) | 11 March 2021
Platinum trophy earned. While mechanically fairly simple, The Pathless is a beautiful open-world adventure from the creators of Journey and Abzu, casting the player as an archer seeking to lift the curse on an island. Largely the gameplay is based around puzzle-solving, making significant use of an eagle companion as part of the necessary interactions - and while these puzzles are never overly challenging, they still manage to evoke a wonderful feeling of satisfaction. These puzzle challenges are scattered around a series of five expansive areas - perhaps somewhat *too* expansive, as it can at times become difficult to find a few particularly well-hidden. I understand the intention behind the game not including a map or any HUD waypoints, as this does genuinely bring benefits to immersiveness, but it also makes navigation more difficult that I'd like - instead, you're forced to make use of an alternative vision mode that highlights points of interest, but this requires line-of-sight. Judicious use of a guide helps to offset this, thankfully.
Despite these navigational frustrations, between each puzzle area, traversal across the world comes with a fantastic fluidity of motion, especially later in the game as you earn upgraded abilities. Boss encounters that become accessible after reaching a minimum threshold of solved puzzles in each area are also a definite highlight in this regard, initially seeing you chasing after each creature, challenged to make use of your movement abilities to catch them.
18. Loco Motive (PC - itch.io) | 12 March 2021
Complete playthrough. A short but oh-so-sweet point-and-click puzzle game, created in two weeks for a game jam, Loco Motive is the best third-party attempt to capture the feel of classic LucasArts games that I can remember *ever* playing. Tasking the player to solve a murder mystery on a train, a streamlined interface minimises any friction in interactions and the puzzles avoid ever becoming excessively obscure. Where the game really excels is in its superb writing, with a sense of humour evident throughout - there are plenty of somewhat 'fourth wall'-breaking asides to camera from the protagonist - and enhanced by expressive pixel-art. Nods to the absurdity of the seemingly bottomless pockets that so many point-and-clicks rely on are a great example of this, for example - in both dialogue and animation. While you'll be done within about an hour, anyone who's even the slightest fan of the genre should definitely be playing this - especially as it's free!
19. Maquette (PS5) | 14 March 2021
Platinum trophy earned. Certainly interesting in concept, Maquette is a first-person puzzle game based on the concept of objects/interactions within a small central model of the game world being replicated in the world itself - and vice versa. This starts off fairly gently, with the first couple of levels requiring moving blocks, throwing switches and using keys - to open doors, of course, but also as platforms when enlarged, but rapidly gets somewhat more complex, eventually moving to a different area where the whole model can be moved itself within the environment. Particularly about halfway through, to be honest I found the puzzles to be pushing it a bit too far in what was expected of me - there seems no way to guess where a crucial key might be hidden, for example, which means that the steps towards finding it become all the more challenging to determine - and the game doesn't manage to achieve the same levels of satisfaction of some of its contemporaries, such as the excellent Superliminal.
There's a background plot surrounding the puzzle gameplay, based around a man exploring a past relationship from his younger days, but this doesn't really seem to have a great deal of relevance to much of the gameplay and I wasn't a fan of the writing at all, even if the child-like presentation may be deliberate. At somewhere around five hours for a first playthrough - though much less if following a guide, Maquette has a similar brevity to many similar games, though some additional longevity can be gained from attempts at the speedrun trophies - though these are never my favourite of types, especially when there's some occasionally fiddly object manipulation required against fairly unforgiving time limits.
20. Down in Bermuda (Switch) | 15 March 2021
Complete playthrough with all items collected. Down in Bermuda is a casual puzzle game, based interactions with a variety of mechanisms scattered around each of six island locations, alongside some simple collectible searches - viewed from an overhead perspective and using a cursor-based interface (or alternatively, touch-screen controls). There's nothing ground-breaking here, but the puzzle-solving generally manages to evoke that crucial sense of satisfaction and each location is nicely designed and well-realised with distinctive, attractive cartoon graphics. Overall, this is a decent distraction for a couple of hours, but there's nothing to draw you back after that.
21. The White Door (PC - Steam) | 22 March 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. Continuing with the deeply weird style and themes that run through the Rusty Lake and Cube Escape games, The White Door does however see a somewhat different style of gameplay. The interaction here is still as a point-and-click game, but puzzle-solving is limited, with a narrative of sorts instead being the focus. The White Door follows protagonist Robert Hill through seven days and nights in a mental health institution, following a routine by day but exploring the events leading up to his admission in dreams at night. It's not the strongest of plots and the interactivity is fairly straightforward, but The White Door remains oddly compelling with the surreal themes, and short enough not to overstay its welcome.
22. Cube Escape: Seasons (PC - Steam) | 28 March 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. Played as part of the Cube Escape Collection, a series of nine games from the developers of the Rusty Lake games. Each game in the collection takes the form of a puzzle game, set within a room (or in some case, a series of rooms) of some description, with the ultimate aim being an 'escape', typically facilitated in some way by collection of a cube used to close out the puzzle sequence. The puzzle-solving comes in a nice variety of implementations, from simple item collection (for example, assembling parts of a torn photo is used a few times during the series) to code-breaking and fairly complex mechanisms - but all using a simple and effective point-and-click interface, rotating views between the four walls of the room.
There's a fairly simple graphical style and nothing all that memorable in terms of sound/music, but it does the job, and more notable is the macabre, often eerie theme that pervades the series, though more pronounced in some of the games than others. I'll admit that I do find this a little offputting, but the depth to which the backstory is developed throughout the Cube Escape and Rusty Lake games ensures that overall the narrative elements remain compelling. The series does suffer from the occasional overly-obscure puzzle solutions that are almost inevitable once a puzzle game reaches a certain level of complexity, but so long as you're comfortable with having a guide on hand for those occasions avoids too much frustration from building up. I'll give a brief comment for each specific game, but overall, this is a very decent collection.
A strong start to the collection, Seasons is split into four distinct parts, making good use of time-based puzzles that see one scene influencing the others. On reflection, the graphics are a little simple compared to some of the later instalments, but with these not being the focus of the game it's not a huge negative.
23. Cube Escape: The Lake (PC - Steam) | 29 March 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. Relatively short and straightforward, this second game of the collection is one of the least memorable.
24. Cube Escape: Arles (PC - Steam) | 1 April 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. A bit of an oddity in having little to do with the wider Rusty Lake storyline and instead focusing more on the art of van Gogh, there's a fair amount of simple item collection here instead of more involved puzzles - but equally, here we see the origin of the use of symbol/pattern matching to solve codes, used frequently later in the series.
25. Cube Escape: Harvey's Box (PC - Steam) | 2 April 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. The introduction of Harvey (the bird seen throughout the series) as a character in his own right is narratively interesting, but aside from a few standouts (for those who have played it, fireflies in particular), the puzzles here feel less satisfying than we see in the other games.
26. Genesis Noir | Xbox One - Game Pass | 4 April 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. Despite seeming very promising, with a phenominal graphical style, Genesis Noir has been sorely disappointing. Ostensibly a point'n'click-esque adventure game, the gameplay here is very shallow and often confusing/unclear, there's not much of a story and it's frequently rather glitchy.
27. Cube Escape: Case 23 (PC - Steam) | 4 April 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. One of the best of the collection, Case 23 sees the introduction of a multi-room, sequential format, with some of the more engaging puzzle design and intriguing plot development.
28. Cube Escape: The Mill (PC - Steam) | 6 April 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. Developing from Case 23, The Mill introduces individual puzzles that span multiple rooms, each available for exploration at the same time rather than in sequence. Here the plot developments focus more on the titular mill and the cubes, while the puzzles are more mechanically focused.
29. Cube Escape: Birthday (PC - Steam) | 9 April 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. While the brief story developments here are some of the collection's most surreal, I really enjoyed the puzzle design here, nicely balanced in terms of difficulty and with some brief time-based elements.
30. Cube Escape: Theatre (PC - Steam) | 10 April 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. Focused on a series of short acts of a play. Theatre continues the surreality of Birthday but in a different way, with it being somewhat tricky to discern the full significance of each act without deeper thought/investigation. Conversely, here we're back to a single room and each act's puzzles are quite self-contained, so arguably more approachable than we see elsewhere.
31. Cube Escape: The Cave (PC - Steam) | 12 April 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. Closing out the collection, The Cave mixes up the typical format somewhat, with two distinct parts - firstly exploring a cave, before rather unexpectedly switching to control of a submarine to seek out the cubes needed to finish the game. While I enjoyed the puzzles of the first section, the submarine section, based around locating coordinates and then repeating a series of steps for navigation, felt rather uninspired as a culmination of the games leading up to this point.
32. Cube Escape: Paradox (PC - Steam) | 21 April 2021
Completed both chapters with 100% of achievements unlocked. A nice send-off for the Cube Escape series, the standalone Paradox returns to a single-room setting, but, spread across two chapters, there's an impressive amount of depth to be explored within what might initially seem to be a quite limited environment. Once again, the core premise of the game is to escape from the room, solving almost wholly mouse-based puzzles between four walls that you can cycle between. Intriguingly, Paradox also comes bundled with a short film that acts out some relevant extracts of the game's events, and is actually crucial to some of the achievements. To be honest, I'm still not overly fond of those puzzles based on pattern recognition and codes more widely, but these are a minority here and the majority of the puzzle design is strong.
The surreal, creepy (and at times, arguably, disturbing) continues here, used to good effect, with a high level of production values despite the 2D hand-drawn graphics - and so long as that isn't a turn-off, puzzle fans should have a good time here.
33. Immortals: Fenyx Rising (PS5) | 1 May 2021
Platinum trophy earned. This was really great - despite very clearly borrowing mechanics from Breath of the Wild, Immortals: Fenyx Rising brings a enjoyably light-hearted approach to the more typical open-world exploration. With a variety of mechanical puzzles peppered throughout the island world, alongside roughly 60 larger 'vault' puzzle environments, there's a huge amount to do, with a consistently well-pitched level of difficulty that ensures a sense of satisfaction. Combat is the other core element to the gameplay, with a varied set of attacks ensuring that even standard encounters can be enjoyable - though ultimately, if played on a low difficulty setting you can get by with just the basic light and heavy attacks.
The underlying story is a fairly light and straightforward tale of restoring four Greek gods to power in the face of a Titan, but it's told with a great sense of humour through occasional voiceover from a supposed exchange between Zeus and Prometheus that again promotes the sense of fun that pervades the game. With a season pass available to offer more from the game, I look forward to a discount on that to give me an excuse to return!
34. RYB (PC - itch.io) | 3 May 2021
All puzzles completed. A clever and enjoyable logic puzzle game, RYB's puzzles present players with a pattern of interlocking shapes and the challenge to assign appropriate colours based on clues from adjacent shapes (e.g., one blue and two yellow circles indicating three neighbours with those colours). These start off very simple but eventually become quite challenging at times, with puzzles grouped into sets that generally each introduce a specific new mechanic, neatly introduced, wordlessly, through some initial examples. RYB gets a recommendation from me as a slow-paced, relaxing and satisfying experience.
35. Disco Elysium - The Final Cut (PS5) | 17 May 2021
Complete playthrough. One of the finest CRPGs in while, Disco Elysium sees the player taking control of a *disaster* of a police detective who, after waking up in a hotel room following a heavily drunken episode, finds that he has nevertheless been tasked with investigating a recent killing in a run-down district of the game's world. Meeting up with his assigned partner, Kim, as the investigation proceeds Disco presents a intelligently interweaved picture of life and story events of the area's various characters. The game achieves this primarily through its writing, of which there's an awful lot - so it's clearly a good thing that that writing is uniformly excellent, and made all the more approachable by the complete voice-acting that's now included in this Final Cut of the game.
Besides the writing, particularly notable here is the unusual skills system on which the gameplay is based. Divided between four attributes - intellect, psyche, phsyique and motorics - each skill is presented as a character in its own right, with its own personality. This is to the extent that extensive 'conversations' between skills form a key part of much of the dialogue (in the protagonist's head, of course), with the points invested in skills determining the influence that each has. There's (almost) no combat here in the traditional sense, but instead, skill checks take place as dice rolls within conversations. Again, while an esoteric approach, couple with the high-quality writing this works fantastically well.
All taken together, provided that you're prepared to invest yourself in the game and the amount of writing isn't a turn-off (which it really shouldn't be, certainly for anyone with experience of CRPGs), there's very little to fault here.
36. The Last Campfire (Switch) | 17 May 2021
Completed with 100% of 'forgotten things' collected. A relatively short, delightfully presented puzzle-focused game, The Last Campfire casts players as a lost 'ember' on a journey, searching for a way home, while along the way rescuing a number of similarly lost travellers. All themed around a message of hope, gameplay is a mix of exploration interspersed with puzzle scenarios, each of which is rarely all that difficult but well-judged, ensuring that solving them brings that crucial sense of satisfaction.
37. Mushroom Savior (Switch) | 23 May 2021
All levels completed. The sequel to Mushroom Quest, Mushroom Savior is a Sokoban-style puzzle game with a few embellishments (teleporters, ice tiles, etc.). It's perfectly competent at what it does and puzzle difficulty is well-judged, but ultimately doesn't have the scope to be anything particularly memorable. That said, it's enjoyable and satisfying while it lasts.
38. Rain on Your Parade (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 31 May 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked (1,000G). I wasn't expecting all that much coming to Rain on Your Parade, but trying in on a whim, I actually had a lot of fun with this. It has a vibe quite similar to the likes of Donut County and Katamari, filled with slapstick fun, with the player taking control of a cloud, out to joyfully ruin everyone's day. Now, that might start with simply raining on all 'hoo-mans' in a level, but objectives rapidly become a lot more diverse - you might need to corrode all vehicles on a farm with acid rain or spread fire with well-placed lightning.... and then the game finds a way to include tower defence, Metal Gear Solid-style stealth, an interpretation of Arkanoid, and even a rudimentary FPS. It's all wonderfully silly, but at times still somewhat challenging, with each level feeling like its own puzzle sandbox. With 50 levels, this will last a good handful of hours if you aim to achieve all bonus objectives, and then there's a New Game Plus mode that adds even more.
39. Wordle (PC - Steam) | 20 June 2021
All puzzles completed. Wordle is a fairly simple word-search style puzzle game, a little more elaborate than the standard puzzle-book style in that each letter can be in any direction from the next but still a straightforward enough concept. With difficulty generally pitched fairly low, but ramping up somewhat with later puzzles, Wordle provides a satisfying set of bite-sized challenges.
40. Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PS4) | 21 June 2021
100% in-game completion, all trophies earned except for higher difficulties. Completing a trilogy of Tomb Raider reboots, Shadow is in large part more of the same from Rise of the Tomb Raider, but that's no bad thing. The story here is typical Tomb Raider fare, with Lara on a quest to retrieve an artifact and stop and ancient evil that she unwittingly unleashes in the game's introductory sequence and not overly memorable, but we do get a good sense of the progression of Lara's character, to a well-rounded explorer after initial lack of confidence in the first of the reboots. Aesthetically the game doesn't disappoint, with beautiful graphics, especially in the natural environment, with well-implemented sound design and characterful voice acting throughout.
Of course, gameplay is critical to a good Tomb Raider game and here this comes in two styles - exploration with puzzle-solving, and combat. The combat sequences see some increase in variety from Rise, with a good range of stealth options in particular; gunplay isn't especially satisfying, however. While the game eventually offers a large range of weapons, many of these are very similar and to my mind this would have been better focused down to a smaller set, given that I didn't find myself swapping much within each category (i.e., pistols/bows, etc.) ...and for the most part just stuck with the bow anyway, which is easily the most satisfying and versatile to use. Exploration and puzzle design is great overall, though, rarely becoming too complex but always providing that crucial sense of satisfaction upon success, and as some stunning environmental set-pieces.
There's a lot to do here, especially when approached with a completionist mindset (like myself!) - which could be a good or bad thing depending on your view - but some nice variety, from full-scale side quests to simple collectible gathering, and a particularly enjoyable set of 'challenges' that combine exploration with a simple puzzle mindset. The strongest element of the game is its set of 'challenge tombs' are arguably, each a self-contained explorative puzzle scenario - and enhanced further with score attack and time trial modes, with online leaderboards for those with a competitive leaning.
41. Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Challenge Tomb DLC (PS4) | 21 June 2021
All tombs beaten, 100% of trophies earned. Primarily focused on a set of seven additional challenge tombs, this DLC pack provides more of where Shadow of the Tomb Raider most excels, with an impressive variety in the environments and types of puzzle approach. Well-integrated into the game, each tomb is accessible via a bespoke side quest sequence but also individually via the main menu - ideal for attempting the score attack and time trials.
I can see an argument that these could be bulking out the game a little *too* much beyond the core story, but if you take these as individual challenges I certainly wouldn't complain. As a minor note, the additional outfit and weapon that comes attached to each tomb felt somewhat unnecessary, and the weapons in particular just get lost in an already quite extensive list.
42. The Last Door - Collector's Edition (PC - Steam) | 21 June 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. A horror-themed point-and-click adventure, The Last Door plays out over four chapters, with an increasingly psychological focus. There's some decent puzzle design here and a storyline that takes an interesting path if this is a genre that you enjoy, but I found the *very* retro aesthetic to be detrimental to the overall experience - the large 'pixels' go beyond being charming, to the extent that it's often difficult to make out what certain key interactable objects are, or in some cases that they even exist. Still a worthwhile experience, but not what it could have been.
43. Wordle 2 (PC - Steam) | 20 June 2021
All puzzles completed. As a follow-up to the original Wordle, Wordle 2 doesn't provide any significant advances does the job as an additional set of puzzles if you enjoyed the first game. The overall difficulty here is a little higher, but still perfectly approachable on the whole, save for an overly obscure "fish" category.
44. Alwa's Awakening (Switch) | 1 July 2021
Completed with 100% item collection and map exploration. An NES-styled 'Metroidvania', Alwa's Awakening is mechanically fairly straightforward but with a surprisingly punishing difficulty. Progression comes from the acquisition of three magic powers - block creation, a rising bubble and a lightning projectile, the first two of which have a single upgrade available, which often need to be used in quite creative ways. This puzzle-based platforming is nicely satisfying throughout, just occasionally leaning into frustrating territory where precision is demanded, though the controls are tight to match this demand. Overall the game is quite short, probably around 7-8 hours for a first run, unguided, but 99 upgrade 'orbs' scattered across the game world ensure some longevity, as do a couple of demanding achievements (implemented on all platforms except Switch).
A final word goes to the soundtrack, perfectly capturing the game's retro vibe with a rather infectious theme.
45. Wordle 3 (PC - Steam) | 2 July 2021
All puzzles completed. More of the same word-puzzle formula from the previous two games, though with Wordle 3 we get a nice step-up in UI polish. Difficulty is about on par with Wordle 2 - once again there's one category that's excessively obscure (flowers) - and overall this is a decent puzzle experience.
46. Wordle 4 (PC - Steam) | 4 July 2021
All puzzles completed. Disappointing after the previous three games, Wordle 4 drops the difficulty level significantly, with most puzzles becoming fairly trivial due to alphabetised categories and small icon clues for all words. The final puzzle sets do away with both of these issues, albeit only with relatively short words - but the problem then becomes that the game only allows for a single solution, without any flexibility to accommodate alternatives that should be perfectly valid, becoming frustrating as a result. Background music is arguably a nice touch as further UI polish, but it really needs the ability to toggle this and/or a volume slider. Overall, I can't really recommend this.
47. The Last Door: Season 2 - Collector's Edition (PC - Steam) | 4 July 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. Despite not being a particular fan of the previous game, I felt that I ought to give The Last Door: Season 2 a go while the momentum was there. Here, the focus is very much on psychological horror themes right from the start, but there's arguably a better-developed story throughout the four episodes, a credit to the developers in improving the game with this release. Sound design is once again strong, but my main gripe with the first game returns, in that the overly blocky graphics detract from gameplay - it's often difficult to discern key objects, making puzzles less approachable than they ought to be, with inevitable frustration.
48. Little Misfortune (PC - Steam) | 7 July 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. 'Weird' is my overall reaction to Little Misfortune. While ostensibly a point-and-click adventure game, there's *very* little in the way of traditional puzzle-solving and instead the focus here is on storytelling with occasional binary choices, influencing proceedings to varying extent. That story is quite well done, but again, very weird - while our protagonist, Little Misfortune herself, is portrayed as a fairly naive child with a positive view of the world, events around her take a very dark tone, and a disembodied presence, "The Voice", follows her throughout, serving double-duty as narrator. Production values are high and the voice-acting is excellent, making for a polished package, but the game's short length and dark tone mean that it's very much not going to be for everyone.
49. Detective Grimoire (PC - Steam) | 21 July 2021
Completed with 100% in-game progress and 100% of achievements unlocked. An earlier game from the developer of the excellent Tangle Tower, Detective Grimoire similarly follows the eponymous detective, with very similar key mechanics. Gameplay focuses on the investigation of a recent murder in a swamp, with the supposed prime suspect being a mysterious swap 'creature'. Regardless of that theme, the game is delightfully light-hearted throughout, communicated mainly through witty dialogue exchanges with various characters, each being in the area for their own reasons. Ultimately, the investigatory interviews of each character can be thoroughly 'mined' for information by clicking through options in sequence and/or trial-and-error, but they remain enjoyable. There are occasionally some slightly *too* well-hidden item in the Ace Attorney-style scene investigations, but fortunately this was for at most two instances throughout the game, and quite possibly I'd overlooked something that would have made it obvious!
50. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5) | 22 July 2021
Platinum trophy earned. Both normal and challenge mode playthroughs completed with 100% in-game progression and fully levelled/upgraded weapons. A real technical showpiece for the PS5, Rift Apart is a triumphant return for the mascot platforming/combat series. Insomnaic are once again on top form with their creation of a diverse and enjoyably wacky arsenal for Ratchet and new character Rivet to wield and the platforming - in either 30fps 'fidelity' or locked 60fps 'performance' mode - is smooth, responsive and satisfying. The dimension-hopping story is suitably fun and well-paced, with brilliant characterisation for the returning and new protagonists, as well as various supporting cast, and typically high production values for the associated cut-scenes. The rift mechanic perhaps isn't as well-used as it could have been and the absence of skill points is a bit of a shame (trophies only partially make up for this), but these are very minor criticisms of an overall excellent package.
51. Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (Xbox One) | 25 July 2021
100% of achievements unlocked (1,000G), all animals discovered and all tasks completed. A fairly short, but very charming game that feels essentially like a cross between Pokémon Snap and A Short Hike, Alba: A Wildlife Adventure follows a young child (the titular Alba) who, while on an island holiday with her grandparents, finds herself determined determined to save the island's nature reserve from destruction. She does this by travelling around the island (on foot), fulfilling requests of the various inhabitants - often requiring the photographing of certain animals - in order to gain their signatures on a petition. The island fauna (mostly birds), though, are the real stars of the show, moving and behaving very believably, with accompanying realistic sound design - to create a delightful world that's wonderful to relax in for the few hours that Alba's quest takes to see through.
52. Crusader of Centy (Mega Drive) | 29 July 2021
Completed with all animal companions gathered and all Apples of Life collected. Frequently compared favourably with the gold standard of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Crusader of Centy is a Mega Drive exclusive overhead perspective action RPG. As a huge fan of the Zelda franchise, I've been putting off playing this for far too long! However, while I had a definitely had a good time with Crusader of Centy, I feel that it falls somewhat short of Link to the Past's yardstick.
Rather than abilities coming from the collection of items, here the protagonist's skillset is extended by gathering animal companions, two of which can be 'equipped' at once. However, their effect is typically somewhat passive, primarily serving to alter/enhance existing core skills rather than provide an entirely different form of interaction; for example, one of the primary abilities - and puzzle-solving mechanics - is sword throwing, and an animal might extend the range, allow in-flight control of the sword's path or make it ricochet off walls. Overall the result is that the range of puzzle design that's available is quite limited, as are the available approaches to combat The inclusion of jumping as a core ability is great, though, frequently used to good effect to make navigation in itself a little more puzzle-like.
The story here is worth a mention, and while I'll avoid specifics that could be spoilers, the overall direction is fairly original. In particular, that it starts to explore ethical issues centred around the relationship between humans and monsters in parts of its closing stages is commendable for its time. Absent the comparison to A Link to the Past, Crusader of Centy stands up to this day as a very enjoyable and worthwhile addition to the exclusive catalogue for the Mega Drive, arguably a 'hidden gem' that more people ought to make time for.
53. Samsara Room (PC - Steam) | 29 July 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. Another point-and-click puzzle game in the well-established style of Rusty Lake, with Samsara Room this remake of a very early example of the formula once again exhibits the unsettling atmosphere and imagery that we've now come to expect from the studio. The puzzles for the most part are well-designed - perhaps a little more simplistic than the core Rusty Lake and Cube Escape series - and fit nicely around the Buddhist concept of Samsara as a central theme.
54. Panzer Dragoon: Remake (Switch) | 29 July 2021
Complete playthrough on normal difficulty. My first time with this series, Panzer Dragoon: Remake is an enjoyable but very short on-rails 3D shooter. The core gameplay style is very similar to that of the Star Fox series, of which I'm a great fan, but feels quite barebones in comparison - the short length means that we don't see that much in the way of enemy variety and there's nothing in the way of strategic combo scoring mechanics, for example. While there's a basic narrative stringing the missions together - and probably some greater depth that I've not explored - overall the presentation lacks wonderful sense of personality from the in-flight banter between Star Fox's wingmen. Fun while it lasts, and enough that I may try to seek out some of the series' later instalments at some point, but I can't really see myself coming back to this instalment for replays.
55. Samorost 1 (PC - Steam) | 31 July 2021
Complete playthrough. Samorost is a very simple, extremely short point-and-click puzzle game, the first game from Amanita Design. Players guide a small gnome as he seeks to divert an asteroid on a collision course with his home planet, solving each puzzle scene with a series of single-object interactions. There's a charming artistic style here, with lifelike backdrops over which a handful of interactable objects are superimposed and the puzzles are logical and enjoyable to solve, but with only six scenes the game is over all too quickly, taking a matter of only 20 minutes or so to reach the end.
56. Forest's Secret (PC - itch.io) | 12 August 2021
Complete playthrough, all questlines completed. Forest's Secret is an entirely free, non-violent 2D Zelda-like, which in lieu of combat focuses on questing and character development. The whole game is incredibly charming, a real indie gem - "cosy" is a description that I see from many, which seems entirely fitting. Combined with the lack of combat, the wholly diegetic sound/music and simple graphical style make for a very relaxing experience, and the excellent dialog writing means that it's easy to become invested in the various characters who inhabit the small forest that the game is set within - even within the relatively short 1-2 hours that a full playthrough takes.
57. Psychonauts (PS4) | 13 August 2021
Platinum trophy earned, 100% complete. An enjoyable 3D platformer, Psychonauts stands out for the incredible creativity and sense of humour on show throughout. Taking place in the minds of various characters, every level feels wholly distinct in setting, from a Risk-style board game to a dancefloor - and much else in between. There's a nice range of mental-themed abilities to learn and help you to navigate each environment, but the game does show its age a bit here, not being as slick as more modern entries in the genre - and the implementation of its 'collectathon' elements becomes a bit frustrating at times, with 'figments' (the most common collectable) taking a semi-transparent appearance that can be difficult to spot. Overall, though, I've had a good time here and it leaves me very much looking forward to the imminent sequel!
58. Forest's Secret: Mystery of the Frost (PC - itch.io) | 14 August 2021
Complete playthrough. A second adventure within the Forest's Secret world, this expansion to the original game unlocks after a full completion. Returning to the forest, the protagonist finds it blanketed by snow as an unexpected deep freeze has set in - which they duly set out to investigate. There's a bit of a change in focus here, with the expansion more focused on environmental puzzle-solving than the base game, a sign of the developer exploring different approaches - but this is once again very enjoyable, if a little more typical of the genre. The positivity seen in the game's ending is perhaps a little overdone, but certainly reinforces the game's overall charming feeling.
59. Death's Door (Xbox One) | 22 August 2021
Complete playthrough with 'true' ending and 100% in-game progression, all achievements unlocked except for "Academy of Umbrellas". A fantastic game, and particularly impressive due to the small size of the development team. The core gameplay is fun throughout, with brisk, tightly controlling combat, perfectly balanced in terms of the level of challenge, and satisfying if fairly simple puzzles throughout each environment. Those environments are excellently designed, with intricate interlocking paths that unlock shortcuts as the player progresses through them, and larger combat arenas scattered judiciously. Also notable are the wonderful sense of humour on display throughout and the very characterful animation style, imbuing the game with a distinctive personality, very effectively capturing - and holding - attention from the player.
60. Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call (DS) | 27 August 2021
170/170 puzzles completed, 7,000/7,000 picarats, 300/300 hint coins collected and none used. Another very solid puzzle-based game from the Professor Layton series. The first of the prequel trilogy, I didn't find the plot to be as engaging as the earlier games, but it does the job and still manages a few surprisingly touching moments. Puzzle design - clearly key to the success of the game - is once again strong, with a fair few particularly riddle-like entries, though I'm still not a fan of the block-shifting variety that features in a number of the game's later puzzles.
61. Twelve Minutes (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 29 August 2021
All endings completed, 100% of achievements unlocked (1,000G). I was of course familiar with the general premise before playing, but wow, Twelve Minutes gets darks *fast*. The time-loop based concept is nicely original within the context of the genre, with gameplay that essentially plays out as a point-and-click puzzle adventure, with heavy focus on dialog and story. The mystery behind the time-loop is a compelling one, as the player seeks to stop the murder of his wife, and working out how to progress does bring that vital sense of satisfaction, but the repetition that sits behind the concept becomes tedious after the first few loops, while some of the mandatory actions required for that progress aren't likely to sit well for many players. When looking back on the game post-completion it's quite impressive that the premise all hangs together in quite a convincing manner, but actual gameplay in the moment isn't as enjoyable as I'd hoped. The big-name voice acting cast do a pretty good job throughout, but I can't help but feel that if that budget had been directed elsewhere the game might been an improved overall package.
62. Sam & Max Save the World Episode 1: Culture Shock (PC - Steam) | 30 August 2021
Complete playthrough. One of Telltale Game's earlier releases, pre-The Walking Dead, this first episode of Sam & Max Save the World was a welcome change of tone after the much darker themes of Twelve Minutes. While there's not much depth to the story here, the game excels in its presentation and dialogue, which really nicely captures the personality and humour from the LucasArts classic.
63. Sam & Max Save the World Episode 2: Situation Comedy (PC - Steam) | 6 September 2021
Complete playthrough. Focused on a collection of spoofs of various TV shows (gameshow, sitcom, etc.), I didn't enjoy this second episode of Sam & Max as much as the first. It's still well-written and humourous, but overly formulaic in my mind.
64. Psychonauts 2 (Xbox Series X - Game Pass) | 19 September 2021
100% complete in-game, 100% of achievements unlocked (1,000G). A fantastic sequel, Psychonauts 2 may well have a claim to being one of the all-time greats of its genre - primarily a 3D platformer, but with action-adventure elements. The wonderful creativity of the first game is once again here in spades, with a eclectic range of levels themes once again displaying the wonders that can come from the mind of Tim Schafer - but now the gameplay is much more polished and satisfying. The core 3D platforming is enhanced by the psychic powers of protagonist Raz, and I've always enjoyed the 'collectathon' ethos that the game embraces - even if it can be a little frustrating to track down the last few items in some of the larger levels. Wrapping it all together is an enjoyable plot, as Raz becomes an intern of the eponymous Psychonauts spy agency, with generous lashings of humour throughout and delightfully written characters.
65. Sam & Max Save the World Episode 3: The Mole, the Mob and the Meatball (PC - Steam) | 19 September 2021
Complete playthrough. Back on form after a somewhat disappointing second episode, this fairly short episode of the Sam & Max series was great fun. Here, the cop duo find themselves trying to infiltrate a mob operation fronted by a casino, with enjoyable tasks required to prove themselves. The puzzles here are perhaps a little *less* obscure than other instalments - a good thing! - and the writing continues to hold up.
66. Sam & Max Save the World Episode 4: Abe Lincoln Must Die! (PC - Steam) | 26 September 2021
Complete playthrough. Back again with another excellent episode, Abe Lincoln Must Die! finds Max running for US President after inadvertently 'killing' a literal puppet standing in for the role, competing against a giant statue of Abe Lincoln. With a musical number popping up at a wonderfully unexpected moment, this whole episode was a great time to play through.
67. Metroid: Zero Mission (Wii U Virtual Console - GBA) | 1 October 2021
Completed in 6:41.59 with 100% item collection. In preparation for the release of Metroid Dread, this isn't my first time playing through Zero Mission, though it's been over a decade and I hadn't previously 100%ed it. An expanded remake of the NES original, being Metroid it goes without saying the the game is superb and I had a great time here. With item collection nicely paced, each extension to Samus' arsenal is always satisfying and expert level design encourages and rewards exploration. Some form of fast travel would have been helpful when it comes to mop-up of hidden upgrades, but it's never *too* time-consuming to get to where you need to. Of course, the pixelart graphics and memorable soundtrack are enduring classics, all the moreso with the upgrades that the GBA allowed.
Notably, for the completionist, some of the upgrades are incredibly well-hidden and technically demanding on player ability to obtain - I'd certainly have been missing a good number without assistance from a guide - but this does mean that the 100% completion is particularly satisfying to achieve - and I very much look forward to the imminent release of Dread!
68. The Forgotten City (Xbox One) | 6 October 2021
All endings reached, 100% of achievements unlocked (1,000G). Given that I generally enjoy time travel as a story premise, tacking The Forgotten City was my next step towards tackling each of the recent time-loop based games (after Twelve Minutes, and with DEATHLOOP still to come) - and this was a great experience, with fairly complex interwoven sub-stories playing out satisfyingly. The game's premise starts from a strong, original base, seeing the player transported back to Roman times and exploring a 'city' (albeit only with 25 or so inhabitants) existing with a governing 'golden rule' whereby if *anyone* commits a 'sin', the whole population will be turned to solid gold. After being warned by the local magistrate that someone (as yet unknown) is about to break that rule, the player is tasked with investigating - through plenty of dialogue, exploration and completion of some (mostly fairly simple) quests - to establish who that person is and ultimately, stopping them, which should then also return the player to present times.
The game fortunately doesn't squander such a strong premise - the city is a fascinating place to explore and each character is built out strongly, with their own existing relationships and personal goals, some altruistic, others much more self-centred. The time-loop comes into play when the 'golden rule' is indeed broken, looping the player back to the start of their visit and allowing knowledge from previous loops to be used to influence events. The potential tedium that could come from repetition is addressed through the presence of a character who you're able to task with undertaking some of your past actions on your behalf, a very welcome inclusion which means that the strengths of the premise in 'puzzle' solving can be put to best effect.
The Forgotten City's origins as a Skyrim mod mean that it's not a graphical stunner and the dialogue interface is a clear carry-over, but nothing here detracts from an overall very strong impression and a memorable experience that I expect to stay with me for a good long while.,
69. Sam & Max Save the World Episode 5: Reality 2.0 (PC - Steam) | 7 October 2021
Complete playthrough. Another quality episode in this well-made reboot, episode 5 sees the world becoming obsessed with an augmented reality-based 'internet'. With some well-judged references throughout the alternate world, this was great fun to play through, with the four controlling computers being standout characters, strongly written with the distinctive, quirky personalities that tie nicely to their particular specialist origins.
70. Sam & Max Save the World Episode 6: Bright Side of the Moon (PC - Steam) | 15 October 2021
Complete playthrough. Wrapping up the series with a plot that draws together the strands from each of the previous episodes, sadly this wasn't as good a close for the series as I'd hoped, with the premise feeling a bit weaker than I'd hoped. The visit to the moon of course fits well with the overall vibe of the series, with travel of course still being via the duo's trademark DeSoto, but the character revealed ultimately to be behind the events of each episode is one that I liked least. Certainly this is still worth playing through, it's just not the high that I'd hoped that it could be.
71. The Artful Escape (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 18 October 2021
100% of achievements unlocked (1,000G). Aesthetically stunning, in terms of graphics, location design and music, but sadly The Artful Escape is lacking in the other important areas that could make it a great game. The story, following a guitar player taking a (literally) fantastic journey to lift himself from the shadow of his famous uncle, is nothing particularly notable, and the basic platforming gameplay is incredibly shallow. The musical highs *are* high, but without some more substance to support them, the overall experience is somewhat lacking.
72. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 1: Ice Station Santa (PC - Steam) | 19 October 2021
Complete playthrough. A strong start for this second season of Telltale's Sam & Max reboot, in Ice Station Santa the duo travel to Santa's workshop at the north pole, following reports of uncharacteristically aggressive behaviour from Santa. Of course, 'Bad Santa' as a concept isn't all that original, but this is well-done, dialogue as sharp as ever and generally well-judged puzzles.
73. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 2: Moai Better Blues (PC - Steam) | 21 October 2021
Complete playthrough. Episode 2 of Sam & Max's second reboot season takes us through a "Bermuda triangle" portal to an isolated island, with a set of Moai statues being the key landmark and the focus for much of the puzzle-solving, alongside judicious use of portals. While certainly good in concept and the setting continues with some nice variety, I definitely didn't regret using a guide to support my playthrough here as the puzzles get a little too obscure for my liking, bringing down my overall view of this episode somewhat.
74. Metroid Dread (Switch) | 22 October 2021
Completed on normal difficulty with 100% of items. Reminding us that it's been far, *far* too long since the last new Metroid game - let alone in the classic 2D style - Metroid Dread is a triumph, rivalling Super Metroid as the pinnacle of the series. Right from the start, Samus is a joy to control, with smooth, responsive controls, free 360-degree aiming and the return of Samus Returns' counter mechanic, especially now that the game has a full-size controller's functionality available. Level design here is perhaps where the game shines brightest - new setting Planet ZDR is a pleasure to explore, with well-hidden secrets rewarding exploration and a smartly-implemented system of travel between areas seeing earlier areas revisted several times from a new perspective, unlocking new routes as Samus expands her arsenal of weapons and abilities.
Speaking of abilities, Dread sees a good number of wholly new upgrades - and while I'll avoid too much in the way of specifics so as not to spoil, the short-range teleport offered by Flash Shift is particularly notable for its transformative impact on many boss encounters. While we still see some more traditional giant-sized adversaries, equally it's common for boss fights to require full use of arenas and judicious dodging of attacks beyond anything previously seen from the Metroid series - to thrilling, adrenaline-pumping effect. Encounters with the intimidating, near-invulnerable E.M.M.I. robots that have headlined much of the pre-release generate this adrenaline for a different reason, often incredibly tense - and then bringing a sense of triumph when finally defeated.
In terms of aesthetics, Metroid Dread holds up well - environments are nicely detailed, with a nice variety of environments, and strong sound design helping to enhance the sense of tension often generated, especially when encountering E.M.M.I.s and they use their electronic navigation and range-finding tools to hunt down Samus. There's unfortunately not that much in the way of standout new soundtracks, but what new offerings we get fit in nicely. A final note must go to the plot points that the game explores, particularly as this develops in the later stages of the game, culminating in a very satisfying ending reveal to close out this arc of Samus' story.
75. Dispatch (PC - DRM-free download) | 23 October 2021
Complete playthrough. A short psychological horror played through following a Discord recommendation, Dispatch focuses on a disturbing emergency report from the perspective of a police dispatcher. It's an interesting idea and quite suspenseful in places, though with gameplay consisting only of selecting between a series of at most two dialogue choices and a 15-minute runtime, there's ultimately not that much substance to it. An ending jump-scare is a bit of an odd inclusion, though I suppose is fitting for the horror genre.
76. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 3: Night of the Raving Dead (PC - Steam) | 24 October 2021
Complete playthrough. Continuing into the third episode of this season, Night of the Raving Dead focuses on encounters with zombies and a vampire prince, with some nicely fitting new locations and as-ever, a great sense of humour and well-written dialogue despite a darker theme. Conversely, the puzzles here can become a little repetitive and requiring some trial-and-error in places, which drops my overall view of the episode.
77. Castlevania (Castlevania Anniversary Collection) (Switch) | 25 October 2021
Complete playthrough. Hallowe'en provided the impetus for me to fill in this gap in my gaming history, with my first time playing through the original Castlevania. While clearly very dated, it's clear why the series has become so successful - the platforming and simple combat gameplay holds up well, though is often unforgiving and becomes *very* difficult in places (the boss fight against Death in particular). I was very glad to have save states available! Good use of the 8-bit graphics of the time builds a fittingly 'spooky' atmosphere, and of course the soundtrack is superb.
78. NextDoor (PC - itch.io) | 25 October 2021
Complete playthrough. A short horror experience, which sees a young woman, on the way to complain about loud music of another inhabitant of her block of flats, encountering the *very* strange next-door neighbour of that inhabitant. Lasting only 10-15 minutes, there's little substance to the plot, but the encounters, and excellent, disturbing pixelart animation, raise enough questions that NextDoor is able to make a strong impression all the same.
79. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 4: Chariots of the Dogs (PC - Steam) | 26 October 2021
Complete playthrough. I'm a sucker for time travel plots and mechanics, so this was always likely to go down well with me, but all the same, Chariot of the Dogs feels objectively to be a high point of this second season so far. Particularly notable are some really fun new characters - especially the birthday Mariachi singers, with obligatory musical interludes - and both dialog and puzzles that riff smartly on time travel. A cliffhanger ending completes the package and immediately leaves me wanting to press on to the season's finale.
80. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (Castlevania Anniversary Collection) (Switch) | 28 October 2021
Completed with good ending and all items collected. An interesting twist on the platforming gameplay of the first game, Simon's Quest uses the same core mechanics but now sets the adventure within an explorable open world - a clear inspiration for the eventual Igavania/Metroidvania style towards which the franchise later evolved. Playing with a guide, the structure works well, but the puzzle-solving elements of the game are often *very* obscure, even when various in-game clues offer some assistance.
81. The Procession to Calvary (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 29 October 2021
Completed with all three endings and 100% of achievements unlocked (1,000G). The Procession to Calvary is a medieval-set point-and-click adventure/puzzle game, with a graphical style and silly, absurdist sense of humour very much in the style of classic Monty Python. The puzzle design is solid, not overly obscure and the dialogue is well-written given what it's aiming for, but whether you'll enjoy this will really come down to whether you gel with the Python-esque approach.
82. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 5: What's New Beezlebub? (PC - Steam) | 29 October 2021
Complete playthrough. A decent send-off for this second Sam & Max season, bringing back many personable characters from previous episodes to wrap up the plot, albeit as with the first season the overall 'villain' of the piece wasn't particularly to my liking. Still, with another inventive new environment to explore and fun concept, this finale was as enjoyable as ever to play through.
83. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (Castlevania Anniversary Collection) (Switch) | 30 October 2021
Complete playthrough. For its final NES instalment, Castlevania III returns to the more traditional style of the first game, taking place as a sequel. The core platforming gameplay remains as solid as ever, though of course with its unforgiving difficulty there's significant potential for frustration too. I'd call this my favourite of the first three games, building nicely as it does on the mechanical variety on offer - in particular, we now see levels containing moving platform elements, increased verticality to level design and a greater overall length, including with multiple paths to choose between.
84. Super Castlevania IV (Castlevania Anniversary Collection) (Switch) | 6 November 2021
Complete playthrough. Moving to the SNES, Super Castlevania IV is a notable step up from the NES games in a number of ways. Controls feel much slicker, particularly with jump patterns being more flexible; aesthetically the large sprites and some impressive graphical effects such as a simulated rotation effect) make the game more attractive and I think that I could detect some additional nuance to the classic soundtrack. Beyond that, the core gameplay mechanics are as solid as ever, though there's not all that much that's new here - combat is still primarily with a whip, while power-ups are directly brought across from the NES game. Arguably it's a case of not trying to change what already works well, but it would be nice at this point to bring in at least a little more variety, particularly with Castlevania III alreay having given us different characters to control (not seen here).
85. Castlevania: The Adventure (Castlevania Anniversary Collection) (Switch) | 6 November 2021
Complete playthrough. Coming from Super Castlevania IV, the limitations of the GB platform really show themselves here - Castlevania: The Adventure, while having a few sequences of quite interesting level design, such as with the third level's spiked raising floor/spiked ceiling sequences, feels very slow and clunky to play. It's also (perhaps mercifully!) very short, with only four levels - albeit the difficulty tends towards series' punishing nature, so I imagine that getting through those levels successfully could take quite a while without the luxury of save states. Ultimately, from a modern perspective this is only really worth playing for historical interest.
86. Sam & Max The Devil's Playhouse Episode 1: The Penal Zone(Steam) | 6 November 2021
Complete playthrough. Moving into Sam & Max's third (and final) reboot season from Telltale, we see some nice additional polish at first, with a redesigned menu, etc., but frustratingly, the controls are now very focused on the console release, particularly with movement being with an analogue stick. There's an attempt to simulate that for mouse controls, which is workable, but far from ideal. That complaint aside, this episode maintains the fun story and great writing - and I particularly enjoyed the voice acting for the narrator who now introduces and closes out the episode. There's also a greater diversity of new environments here than we've previously seen, though this does mean that the puzzles can become somewhat more difficult to solve given the greater number of options.
87. Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (Castlevania Anniversary Collection) (Switch) | 7 November 2021
Complete playthrough. When it comes to Gameboy interpretations of the Castlevania series, this is much more like it! Controls are much more fluid than The Adventure, there's greater enemy variety, sub-weapons return and the game is somewhere around half as long again, supported by a password system. While still very much a challenging game, it feels somewhat fairer too - except for the final two boss fights, which were a struggle even with save states!
88. Kid Dracula (Castlevania Anniversary Collection) (Switch) | 11 November 2021
Complete playthrough. More Mega Man than Castlevania in its gameplay, Kid Dracula see splayers taking control of the eponymous Kid Dracula, running, jumping and shooting across nine side-scrolling levels, seeking to recover his throne. Vividly-coloured levels take a variety of fairly common platforming themes, including cloud, city, ice and fire-themed areas. New powers earned upon completion of each level provide some measure of gameplay variety, replacing the standard fireball with a homing attack, an ice projectile, or more unusually, the ability to reverse gravity or transform into a bat - but for the most part these are very much non-essential and the standard fireball will suffice. Otherwise, the gameplay is fairly standard shooting and running - entertaining enough while it lasts, but not really all that memorable.
89. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 2: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak (PC - Steam) | 14 November 2021
Complete playthrough. With a time-based mechanic underlying much of the puzzle design, The Tomb of Sammun-Mak plays out the events of four separate film reels that the modern-day protagonists find themselves discovering at the end of episode 1, featuring an ancestor of each. Much of the puzzle-solving relies on switching between reels, using knowledge gained from one to tackle obstacles encountered in another - and not necessarily following a forward progression of time. There's very much a feel of certain discoveries acting as the key to make headway in a series of cascading puzzles, where solving the first provides the requirement to solve the next, etc. - making the discovery of that 'key' nicely satisfying, albeit a couple of times being somewhat obscure (not all that unusual for the series!). I'm really enjoying some of the characters that we see introduced and/or developed upon here, each wonderfully characterful, with the series typical fantastic writing once again a highlight.
90. UNSIGHTED (Switch) | 17 November 2021
Completed with with 'true' ending, 103.4% map exploration, 146/143 chests opened, all NPC rewards. Consider me blown away by this fantastic surprise - UNSIGHTED rapidly went from a near-unknown to a strong contender for the best game released this year. With a beautiful pixelart aesthetic and an overhead perspective, there are strong callbacks to 2D The Legend of Zelda classics throughout, extending to dungeon-like level design, complete with imaginative puzzles and bosses. There's also strong 'Metroidvania' design here, with regular ability upgrades opening up new avenues of exploration and encouraging backtracking to track down additional upgrades and other secrets.
Combat, however, sees significant improvements over older classics, fast and fluid in the same way that the new all-time great CrossCode was a year or two ago, but here with a strong focus on parrying enemy attacks to open up vulnerabilities rather than the CrossCode's system of 'breaks' - in so doing, achieving similarly incredibly satisfying combat, from a different direction. At times this can become rather challenging, particularly with multiple enemy attacks - with their own distinct patterns and timings - to tackle simultaneously, but fortunately there's a well-implemented customisation ability, allowing the player to customise the protagonist's abilities through installing a diverse set of chipset upgrades in combinations that best suit their own playstyle.
That reference there to chips brings us to the game's narrative, following the plight of a dying world inhabited now only by sentient androids, and in particular our protagnoist, Alma. Now, the amnesia trope that we start with is far from unusual, but the game doesn't lean too strongly on this, with a greater focus on a more unusual mechanic - every one of the world's robotic inhabitants, Alma included, relies on a substance known as 'anima', and once they run out of their own limited supply, they become 'unsighted' (from which the game of course takes its title), losing all control over themselves to join the ranks of the game's enemies. Collection of a mysterious 'dust' allows this time to be extended out, and players are presented with the dilemma of whether to use dust for the themselves, or instead whether to offer it to others (which can bring other rewards). Eventually a more readily-available source presents itself, but nonetheless this brings a distinctive urgency to the game's progression.
Arguably, that urgency could be antithetical to the exploration mindset that Metroidvania/Zelda-like structure lends itself too - and admittedly, I tend to agree with this - but fortunately a well-judged set of accessibility options allow this time mechanic to be completely disabled. Other options allow for more forgiving combat - or even invulnerability, if you want a particularly easy run through the game. Conversely, a challenging set of achievements allow players to test themselves in a range of different ways - from speedruns to limited-ability combat scenarios, alongside more routine collection-based objectives. Overall, there's very little not to like in this stunner of a game.
91. Castlevania: Bloodlines (Castlevania Anniversary Collection) (Switch) | 19 November 2021
Complete playthrough. Bringing some interesting departures from the typical Castlevania formula in this Mega Drive release, Bloodlines from the outset feels somewhat more action-focused than earlier games, even with the main protagonist having an appearance that would fit well with side-scrawling brawlers of the time. While a fair amount shorter than the SNES's Super Castlevania IV, in Bloodlines the choice between two characters with diverging abilities offers some longevity. The appeal of the level design here is going to be very much dependent on individual taste - for example, the inclusion of a lot of forced auto-scrolling sections is something that we don't see often in the series - but overall does provide some interesting variation while still being solid overall. Graphically the game is excellent for its time, with some flashy effects depsite lacking the SNES's Mode 7, and pixelart quality and particularly the classic soundtrack being as excellent as ever for the series.
92. Castlevania: Vampire's Kiss (Castlevania Advance Collection) (Switch) | 20 November 2021
Complete playthrough. More commonly known as Dracula X, with Vampire's Kiss being the European localisation. After playing through the whole of the Anniversary Collection, I felt that I should complete the set of 'classicvania' games to which I currently have ready access with this, from the recently released Advance Collection. Sadly, after the excellent Super Castlevania IV, this second SNES release feels like a step back in many ways. Combat and platforming is rather clunky, notably losing the ability to alter trajectory mid-jump or whip-attack vertically. Level design is still fairly decent but overall more punishing, which that control setback just serves to exacerbate, hanging over the whole game. We also also see significant slowdown in places, without even the justification of any fancy effects to explain it - bringing particular frustration when combined with the controls to give frustrating additional, artificial extra difficulty.
93. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 3: They Stole Max's Brain! (Steam) | 20 November 2021
Complete playthrough. There's a lot of substance to this episode, divided as it is between two distinct sequences. It would be a spoiler to say too much about each, but suffice to say that there's some really impressive environment design on offer here, with a major focus on an ancient Egyptian theme (episode 2 *definitely* didn't mark an end to the influence of Sammun-Mac!), though in the latter parts the puzzles each seem to have pretty much the same formula for their solution, becoming disappointingly repetitive. Of course, the arguable key strength of the series in dialogue and writing remains in fine form here, so They Stole Max's Brain! is still a good time to play through - even though the controller-focused controls remain a frustration!
94. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 4: Beyond the Alley of the Dolls (Steam) | 22 November 2021
Complete playthrough. Honestly, I wasn't as much of a fan of this fourth episode as some of the earlier ones, here focusing on Sam & Max's investigation of an 'army' of clones of Sam. While we see some good use of existing characters and the on-point humour remains, the episode's events and puzzles just weren't particularly compelling to me. There is, however, some good set-up for the final episode to come, helping the overall plot hang nicely together.
95. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 5: The City that Dares not Sleep (Steam) | 24 November 2021
Complete playthrough. Finally, we reach the wrap-up to the last series of Sam & Max's reboot and... well, it appealing was less than I'd hoped. The City that Dares not Sleep focuses on a giantised 'monster' transformation of Max, now terrorising the city. Looking at things from a more objective perspective, this is pretty strong, with an interesting puzzle concept built around controlling each of Max's limbs and good use made of the episode's premise, so my lukewarm feelings towards the episode are probably in large part due to the 'monster' scenario not being a scenario that I find compelling - perhaps unfairly so! The way that the events of prior episodes all draw together here is effective and the variety of new environments is quite impressive - so I'd expect that this finale is likely to have solid general appeal.
96. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (DS) | 28 November 2021
Complete playthrough. Combining an innovative puzzle mechanic that makes good use of the DS's touchscreen with a well-told lighthearted supernatural story, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a overlooked gem of a game, fortunately now somewhat more accessible via an iOS release. The game follows a newly-deceased ghost, finding himself with the ability to manipulate objects in the physical world - albeit only to a limited extent - who sets out to recover his memory of how and why he died, and who is was.
This plays out through various sequences where our protagonist tries to stop the deaths of various other characters, who then help to progress his 'investigation' - a common key element of these sequences being how to traverse to a key interactive area. Later in the game, the puzzle options become somewhat broadened - but it should be noted that really the story is the game's key focus. Fortunately, it's a good one! I'll avoid going into detail as spoilers would really, well, spoil the game, but suffice to say the key players are very well-characterised and throughout, there's a wonderful sense of style to proceedings, with distinctive animation and a memorable soundtrack.
97. Unpacking (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 29 November 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked (1,000G). Unpacking is a nicely relaxing puzzle game built around the therapeutic mechanic of unpacking a person's belongings into the various rooms of their home. While that might seem a somewhat uninspiring activity, this can be a nice organisational challenge, as items can't be placed just anywhere - their location need to be appropriate to what they are, such as a towel on a towel rail, cutlery in the kitchen drawer, etc. As the game progresses, we work through eight different locations, the various homes that a woman has lived in during her life, and a light story can be seen to thread through these, through the various belongings that she keeps over the years, then eventually meeting a partner who she lives alongside.
Delightfully detailed pixelart enhances the relaxing tone to the game, though in a few cases there's scope for confusion as there are a handful of objects that I couldn't quite work out what they were supposed to represent - leading to a frustrating trial-and-error process to work out where the game wants them to be placed. The game gets its length just about right, as it feels that by the end it's just starting to wear out the ultimately simple concept that it builds itself around. - though a set of challenges based around the achievement system provides a little greater longevity and variety, rewarding players for specific arrangements such as placing all equipment for coffee-making together on the kitchen counter. Overall, Unpacking is a nicely original take on puzzle games and worth a try for anyone with who naturally craves organisation.
98. Olija (PS4) | 2 December 2021
Completed with 100% of trophies earned. A well-built action-platformer with satisfying, impactful combat and traversal built around an unusual teleport mechanic conferred by a magical harpoon, I had a good time with Olija but despite a plot with quite emotive themes, ultimately it doesn't feel likely to be all that memorable. That said, there's some strong level design here, with smart use of verticality and hidden collectible encouraging and rewarding exploration, albeit the game's habit of locking off areas after a single visit makes reliance on a guide somewhat necessary to have much hope of finding them all. Even now, several months after relief, it seems that the community collectively has only managed to find around 80% of one particularly well-hidden collectible set! Graphics here take a heavily pixelated style, effective as far as it goes but a little *too* blocky for my liking; music, however, is a high point of Olija, consistently providing a perfect atmospheric feeling to each area.
99. Cthulhu Saves Christmas (Switch) | 5 December 2021
Complete playthrough. The clearly absurd premise behind Cthulhu Saves Christmas belies that the writing and dialogue throughout this short turn-based RPG is excellent, filled with fourth wall-breaking humour. Considered for its gameplay, however, overall it's nothing special - the combat is serviceable with a few unusual twists (such as ability randomisation) but quickly becomes quite repetitive and character/party customisation is mostly limited to gradual equipment improvement. The pixelart graphics do the job, while I'll have to admit that some of the music can become rather catchy. However, despite any negatives, with its short run-time (somewhere around five hours) and aforementioned humour, this is a decently enjoyable experience.
100. A Good Snowman is Hard to Build (Switch) | 6 December 2021
All puzzles completed, including the dream area. A Good Snowman is Hard to Build is a delightful puzzle game, centred upon grid-based manipulation of snowballs, which combine to form a snowman - three different sizes of snowball are required for each snowman, with the snowballs growing in size as they are rolled over fresh patches of snow. Cute graphics, smoothly relaxing music and a fairly gentle difficulty curve together make for a great way to destress - though the game still has the capacity to challenge in its later stages, introducing multiple snowmen to build in a given area, the eventually mixing up mechanic altogether with a smart post-game bonus mode.
101. Kirby Super Star (SNES via Nintendo Switch Online) | 12 December 2021
100% in-game completion. My experience of retro Kirby games has previously been focused on the Gameboy releases - coming from these, Kirby Super Star was quite a treat. Taking a rather different format to other games in the franchise, here the game is divided into six shorter games, alongside a handful of bonus games - and the amount of variety on display here is *very* impressive. We start with a fairly standard set of stages in the first of these games, but after that warm-up we see, for example, a Metroidvania-style game, a speedrun focus and a concluding boss rush, to name just a few, Without any drop in quality throughout. Kirby Super Star captures the pure fun of this franchise.
102. There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension (Steam) | 13 December 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. Well, this was fantastic. Essentially a point-and-click puzzle/adventure game, the premise being that upon loading up the game, the player finds themselves presented with the 'game' insisting that, in fact, there is no game here to be played. Through various interactive elements, the 'game' then proceeds through a diverse series of scenarios, each of which do in fact have characteristics of a game, but presented in a novel manner - without wanting to spoil too much, perhaps the standout sequence presents as a traditional LucasArts-style point-and-click adventure, but rather than directing a protagonist, instead the player progresses by interacting with various peripheral elements - a simple example would be recolouring a 'moon' prop to meet a set of prophesied conditions.
While each of these scenarios is enjoyable to 'play' through - perhaps with the minor exception of a 'clicker' episode, There is No Game: Wrong Dimension excels particularly in its wonderful sense of humour, with judicious fourth wall-breaking throughout - resulting in some of the most laugh-out-loud reactions that I've had in a long while. And yet, despite the humour, by the end of the game there's actually a somewhat touching story too, that we find that the game has been exploring. Highly recommended.
103. LEGO: Builder's Journey (Xbox One - Game Pass) | 24 December 2021
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked (1,000G). Very different from most of the recent LEGO franchise games, LEGO: Builder's Journey uses LEGO for a puzzle mechanic that I'm surprised hasn't been seen much in the past. Playing out a gentle story told entirely by actions, without a word of dialog or narration, the game follows a pair of LEGO-built characters journeying through a range of contained environments. Of course, LEGO naturally lends itself to a great range of building-based puzzle mechanics and the few stages that make use of this in building structures/vehicles or similar are satisfying if unchallenging, but disappointingly most instead simply ask the player to build a path for one of the characters to follow. There is still some decent variety in this, but I'm still left feeling that there's a lot of missed potential here. More positively, environment design - of course, entirely with LEGO pieces - is impressive, especially when we see working, interactive machinery.
There's a relatively short playtime here, probably 3-4 hours at most - which is perhaps for the best given the similarity of most of the puzzles - but that again brings me back to the sense of missed potential, as a greater diversity of puzzles could have supported a significantly longer game.
104. Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS5) | 28 December 2021
Completed with 100% item collection; all trophies earned expect for Master difficultly playthrough. An impressive debut release for indie studio Ember Lab, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a very solid action-adventure in which players take control of the young spirit guide Kena as she seeks a sacred mountain shrine and attempt to rid a village of corruption. Not exactly an original plot, sure, but the magical themes are charming to see play out, and the world is beautifully crafted, making great use of the PS5's graphical capabilities. Combat perhaps starts out a little shallow, but is spiced up somewhat by the use of the abilities of the 'rot' - spirit companions of which Kena will gradually assemble a small army - and particularly later in the game battles do eventually require the use of a diverse range of abilities to succeed, from basic melee through to magical bombs and arrows. Standard enemy types do admittedly get to feel somewhat limited, but boss design is very impressive, with intimidating designs and interesting abilities and attack patterns to learn to deal with - higher difficulties can be quite a challenge at times! Sadly the unlockable Master difficulty takes that a step too far, being too demanding for me to want to attempt a second playthrough for the elusive platinum trophy, but that's a relatively minor detractor from an otherwise enjoyable fairytale romp.
I don't do ratings because my feelings regarding most games I play are complicated, so I'm just gonna put a little ❤ next to the ones I loved and a little :( beside the ones I... really didn't. These are for my own reference, obviously everyone else is free to disagree.
Hours played are rounded up and down because I just don't have time to get precise numbers in the format suggested by op for platforms other than Steam.
Number of hours reflects how long it took to make it to the end credits, there are games for which the actual playtime is higher than what is recorded in this post.
October Update: Three months left and still 20 games to beat...
Completedgames:34/52
Haunt the House: Terrortown (PC - Steam) | 1st Jan - 3hrs
Full Throttle Remastered (PC - GOG) | 2nd Jan - 6hrs
Oxenfree (PC - GOG) | 3rd Jan - 4hrs :(
A Mortician's Tale (PC - itch.io) | 3rd Jan - 2hrs
The Alliance Alive HD Remastered (Switch) | 12th Jan - 35hrs ❤
Gal Metal (Switch) | 20th Jan - 10hrs
Rune Factory 4 Special (Switch) | 2nd Feb - 55hrs
I still have plenty of stuff to do and the third act to finish but I consider the game technically beaten after seeing the credits twice. Will update my playtime once I am completely done with it.
Touhou Luna Nights (Switch) | 8th Feb - 5 hrs
Bravely Default II (Switch) | 21st Mar - 85hrs ❤
Ys Origin (Switch) | 25th Mar - 15 hrs ❤
Finished the game with Yunica; I do plan on going back to it later to beat it with the other two characters.
Super Mario 3D World (Switch) | 20th Mar - 20hrs ❤
Milkmaid of the Milky Way (PC - itch.io) | 28th Mar - 2hrs
Sound of Drop - fall into poison - (Steam) | 22nd May - 25hrs
Final Fantasy XII (Switch) | 24th May - 50hrs
Total hours played in 2021 is something like 5hrs because I have a bad habit of taking long breaks from RPGs right before the final dungeon or boss battle.
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout (Switch) | 25th May - 60hrs ❤
Same as above.
Detective Pikachu (3DS) | 4th June - 16hrs
Now we're deep into the backlog.
Disgaea 1 (Switch) | 8th June - 45hrs
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (DS) | 19th June - 38hrs
Atelier Ryza 2 (Switch) | 19th July - 65hrs ❤
Haven Park (Switch) | 7th August - 5hrs
Story of Seasons - Pioneers of Olive Town (Switch) | 18th August - 40hrs ❤
It's pretty bare-bone compared to some earlier games in the series but I like it anyway so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Cozy Grove (Switch) | 26th August - 110hrs ❤
I didn't even think that was a game you could "beat" before reaching the end credits. The game keeps going after that but after 110 hours and filling up all the little hearts for every bear I think I'm good.
Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book DX (Switch) | 5th September - 40hrs ❤
So the main story just kinda... ended? Looks like there is still some side content to do after beating the "final boss" so it's okay.
Saviors of Sapphire Wings (Switch) | 15th September - 45hrs ❤
Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS) | 4th October - 35hrs ❤
Is my little heart controversial? This game can get pretty laborious but it's also cute with some interesting design ideas peppered through and overall I had more fun with it than not.
Picross S6 (Switch) | 6th October - 50hrs
Modes beaten include Picross, Color and Clip; keeping the rest for later.
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles: Adventures (Switch) | 9th October - 50hrs
Kitaria Fables (Switch) | 13th October - 25hrs ❤
Abandoned:4
I don't dislike the following games I just had to stop playing them due to motion sickness/nausea:
Reserved.
Did a horrible job last year if posting, sadly only got to 34 last year too. Hopefully this year I'll do better
Game #1 - Dark Souls: Remastered
Time: 38 hours
Platform: Xbox Series X
Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★
First time ever actually getting into a Souls game and I loved it. Once it clicked it's all I thought about, it got me thru a mandatory quarantine. Every death, my mistake. Ever hurdle, passable with some thought. Every struggle, I just had to git gud. I definitely am on board with the appeal now and cannot wait to continue on with the series. First game I have ever loved using shields.
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Game #2 - Dragon Quest XI S
Time: 80.5 hours
Platform: Switch
Rating: ★★★★★★★
I really wanted to like this game more. It definitely was easy to play and I enjoyed slowly getting thru it. However I feel like the game had so much potential to be more. I don't think I am a fan of silent protagonists anymore, ESPECIALLY in the age of voice acting. I feel like the real ending of this game was so anticlimatic and.....kind of bad? Maybe it would be different if I played other Dragon Quest games before? The gameplay was fun with the flexibility, the characters were mostly get and the plot, while having its moments was kind of....bad? I haven't felt this mixed about a game in a long time. Do not regret my time with it but I just was left feeling...blah?
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Game #2 - Destiny 2: Forsaken
Time: 9 hours
Platform: Xbox Series X
Rating: ★★★★★★★
More Destiny. The gunplay is excellent, everything about the game feels great. The cutscenes were beautiful too. I don't know if it was like this when it launched but not being able to just go around the map to the main quests and having to basically load into an instance of the EXACT same map and it would just teleport you to a different part of the map and treat it like you stumbled upon the area just felt extremely clunky and took me out of it at times. That said I think I am going to play Destiny in between games this year as its easy to turn your mind off and just enjoy shooting (the) shit. This and DQXI had really...lackluster final fights, which was disappointing.
Darius Gaiden - Silver Hawk (Arcade) | 2nd Jan - 1hrs | 2/5
Destiny 2: Beyond Light (PS4) | 13th Jan - 8h | 2/5
Life is Strange Episode 1: Chrysalis (PS4) | 21st Jan - 2h | 4/5
Life is Strange Episode 2: Out of Time (PS4) | 22st Jan - 2h | 4/5
Life is Strange Episode 3: Chaos Theory (PS4) | 22nd Jan - 2h | 5/5
Life is Strange Episode 4: Dark Room (PS4) | 23rd Jan - 3h | 4/5
Life is Strange Episode 5: Polarized (PS4) | 24rd Jan - 2h | 3/5
Donut County (Xbox) | 25th Jan - 1h | 2/5
Life is Strange: Before the Storm Episode 1: Awake (PC) | 29rd Jan - 2h | 3/5
Life is Strange: Before the Storm Episode 2: Brave New World (PC) | 30th Jan - 2h | 4/5
Life is Strange: Before the Storm Episode 3: Hell is Empty (PC) | 31th Jan - 2h | 4/5
Life is Strange 2 Episode 1 (PS4) | 8th Feb - 3h | 3/5
The Awesome Adventure of Captain Sprit | 13th Feb - 1h | 2/5
Life is Strange 2 Episode 2 (PS4) | 15th Feb - 3h | 2/5
Life is Strange 2 Episode 3 (PS4) | 18th Feb - 3h | 3/5
Life is Strange 2 Episode 4 (PS4) | 20th Feb - 3h | 2/5
Life is Strange 2 Episode 5 (PS4) | 22nd Feb - 3h | 2/5
Astro's Playroom (PS5) | 17th Feb - 3h | 5/5
Dirt 5 (PS5) | 3rd March - 6h | 3/5
Kentucky Route Zero Act I (PC) | 13th March - 2h | 2/5
Fortnite Chapter Two, season five | 15th March - 20h | 4/5
Kentucky Route Zero Act II (PC) | 24th March - 2h | 3/5
Outriders (PS5) | 7th April - 11h | 3/5
Trash the Planet (PC) | 25th April - 3h | 2/5
Rain on your parade (Xbox) | 1 May - 2h | 2/5
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (PS4) | 1 May - 35h | 4/5
Kentucky Route Zero Act III (PC) | 3rd May - 2h | 2/5
Big Ocean Wide Jacket (Switch) | 8th May - 1h | 2/5
Kentucky Route Zero Act IV (PC) | 8rd May - 2h | 2/5
Bright memory (early access) (PC) | 14th May - 1h | 3/5
We should talk. (Switch) | 14th May - 1h | 2/5
Kentucky Route Zero Act V (PC) | 14th May - 1h | 2/5
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (Switch) | 22nd May - 3h | 4/5
Mutazione (iPad) | 25th May - 7h | 4/5
Resident Evil Village (PC) | 30th May - 11h | 5/5
Fortnite Chapter Two, season six (PC) | 7th June - 11h | 2/5
LEGO Builder's Journey (PC) | 27th June - 2 h | 3/5
Operation: Tango (PS5) | 29th June - 3h | 3/5
Sumire (Switch) | 29th June - 3h | 4/5
Umurangi Generation (Switch) | 2nd July - 3h | 3/5
Inertial Drift (PC) | 3rd July - 2h | 3/5
Evan's Remains (Switch) | 4th July - 3h | 4/5
When the past was around (PC) | 5th July - 2h | 4/5
The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game (PC) | 5th July - 1h | 2/5
Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard (PC) | 9th July - 1h | 2/5
How we know we're alive (PC) | 10th July - 1h | 3/5
Before your eyes (PC) | 10 July - 2h | 4/5
Overboard! (PC) | 24th July - 2h | 3/5
Alpaca Stacka (PC) | 9th Aug - 0.5h | 2/5
Dirt 5 - Uproar DLC (PS5) | 14th Aug - 2h | 3/5
Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster (PC) | 16th Aug - 13.5h | 4/5
Twelve minutes (Xbox) | 19th Aug - 3h | 2/5
The Artful Escape (Xbox) | 10th Sep - 5h | 5/5
Life is Strange True Colors (PS5) | 14th Sep - 12h | 4/5
Life is Strange Wavelengths (PS5) | 2nd Oct - 3h | 3/5
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (PS5) | 31st Oct - 15h | 3/5
Call of Duty Vanguard (PS5) | 6th Nov - 6h | 3/5
Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep (PS5) | 14th Nov - 9h | 3/5
Halo Infinite (Xbox) | 10th Dec - 18h | 3/5
Townscaper (Xbox) | 18th Dec - 32min | 2/5 (All achievements)
Kemono Heroes (Stadia) | 26th Dec - 2h | 3/5
The Gunk (Xbox) | 28th Dec - 5h | 2/5
Wavetale (Stadia) | 28th Dec - 5h | 3/5
Starfox (SNES) | 31st Dec - 1h | 4/5
Missed the first page again, oh well. Okay, let's try to do this again, even though I didn't reach the target in 2020, not even close. Too many games, too little time...
1. BRAINPIPE: A Plunge to Unhumanity - 0.5 hours
Well, and the first game that I finished in 2021 is this weird psychedelic runner where you just fly toward the trippy tube with obstacles and try to collect glyphs for more points. It's pretty old and has only 10 levels, not a big fan of that type of games but at least I beat it in one sitting.
2. Aces of the Galaxy™ - 1 hour
A very short and rather chaotic arcade rail shooter that didn't age well. The PC port quality is not very good, the game supports only 720p resolution at max, and options like AA and VSync are missing. Definitely not worth your time, not even with a big discount.
3. 7 Wonders II - 4 hours
Back in the '00s, MumboJumbo was making and publishing high-quality casual games, and 7 Wonders II one of them. It's a well-thought Match-3 game with addicting gameplay, polished UI/UX, and quality sound design, which makes it incredibly fun to play. The only downside is the pre-historic 4:3 fixed in-game resolution, but it's a minor downside compared to the positive sides of this game. Definitely worth giving it a try if you are looking for a simple casual experience.
4. Doom Eternal - 18 hours
Even though there are a few changes compared to Doom 2016 that I didn't really like, Doom Eternal is still an amazing FPS game. A fast-paced and solid experience that can take 18 hours to complete on 100%, which is a really good length for a single-player shooter. Too bad that multiplayer is so bad, everyone criticized online modes in Doom 2016 but I enjoyed them a lot more than this... Whatever it is in Doom Eternal. I hope I'll have time to make a full review on this game once all DLCs will be released.
5. Heileen 1: Sail Away - 2 hours
I had low expectations, but I still ended up disappointed. Sail Away is a very lackluster visual novel with one-dimensional characters, a badly written storyline, and choices that don't really matter. A young 18 years old girl from England is going on a voyage to the New World for no real reason and ends up romancing one of the 3 potential love interests. All relationship options in this game feel forced and don't have any real progression, you can spend all the time with one character but end up with another person you barely spoke to. The choices system in this game is badly implemented overall, several times characters talked about events that didn't happen in my playthrough, like about the library that they searched for clues. The story in Sail Away is filled with plot holes and a naive representation of a western colonial period, it's a short game but I started to skip through chunks of dialogues after the first 20 minutes of playing it. At least it has a skip function so it's fairly easy to get 100% achievements with a walkthrough guide, but that's the only positive thing that I can say about this game. Avoid.
6. Resident Evil 3 - 80 hours
Even though Resident Evil 3 is a fun game, it can't be considered a faithful remake. While RE2 2019 was a great game on its own, Resident Evil 3 misses the mark and feels more like DLC rather than a standalone product. My full impressions about this game can be found in my video review - https://youtu.be/YI6V-Sn5wbw
7. Luxor: Quest for the Afterlife - 11 hours
It's by far the worst Luxor iteration I've played yet. The classic gameplay was ruined by a half-assed open-world that artificially extends the playtime and turns this game into an unbearable slog. Just play Luxor 3 instead.
8. Alien Shooter: Revisited - 1.5 hours
A remake of the original Alien Shooter on the engine of its sequel. It's simple arcade fun, there's not much to say about it. My only complaint is that the last 2 levels are impossible to beat unless you bought the final weapon in the game, every other gun is simply not powerful enough to stop all those insane hordes of enemies. Other than that, it was fun while it lasted, so if you haven't played it before it might be worth checking it out on the next sale.
9. Zombie Shooter 2 - 4 hours
I didn't expect much from this game, but I was pleasantly surprised. The first Zombie Shooter was a pretty lame reskin of the original Alien Shooter. The sequel did a few steps in the right direction and added some depth to the gameplay loop, like adding RPG elements and increase the available arsenal. The level design was also significantly improved, the game has a really nice variety and has a few memorable moments like driving on the car with a mounted gun through a zombie-infested town. There are a few technical imperfections, sometimes camera refuses to cooperate, and scrolling overall feels kinda clunky. But I had a lot of fun with this game, it's a great timekiller that is not overstaying its welcome.
10-12. Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition - 45 hours
Even tho Rockstar removed GFWL and SecuROM from this game, don't expect any miracles from GTA 4 on PC. This port is still a hot mess that is held together by duct tape, even that game-breaking QTE glitch in the final mission wasn't fixed. What we've got instead is Rockstar's own always-online launcher and removed online features like multiplayer modes and leaderboards. And even without all those technical issues, there are many questionable design choices that I can't stand in this game. The worst thing about GTA 4 is how it tries to force you to play its story missions in a specific way, it's often overly scripted and has one of the most ridiculous fail states I've ever seen. Most of my attempts to experiment with level design literally broke the entire game, I've experienced the weirdest glitches and even crashes just because I didn't play along with the developer's plan for the mission. And the lack of checkpoints in the original game turned it into torture for me, replaying the same boring scripted sequences from which you can't deviate in any way was really frustrating. DLCs were slightly better in some regards, but overall, GTA 4 was a huge disappointment for me, and the remaining tech issues of the PC version only added up to my frustration with it. I can talk about this game literally for hours, so if any of you by chance would be interested to hear more of my thoughts about GTA 4, feel free to check out my 1-hour review on it - https://youtu.be/F4kkYL9WRFw
13. Zombie Bowl-o-Rama - 1.5 hours
An interesting take on the bowling concept with powerups and challenges. Simple, but fun casual game, the only downside is the prehistoric screen resolution that is impossible to change.
14. Larva Mortus - 2.5 hours
A surprisingly fun top-down shooter, I loved the gothic aesthetics and atmosphere of this game. There's even a serviceable story with a few plot twists, which is more than I could ask in such type of game. The only downsides are the low 4:3 resolutions and random achievements that require constantly replay regular levels even after finishing the main storyline. It was fun while it lasted, but that's it.
15. The Stalin Subway - 4 hours
I didn't expect much but I still ended up disappointed. This FPS game from 2005 is a broken mess with terrible level design and braindead enemies AI, avoid at all cost. It constantly goes on -90% sale but it's not worth even that much.
Currently Playing
No More Heroes (Switch)
Halo 2: Anniversary (XSX)
Psychonauts 2 (XSX)
Completed (27/52)
1. Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 (Switch) | Jan. 26 | ★★★ I'm TERRIBLE at Puyo Puyo, but I love Tetris, so I always pick these ones up, hoping that I'll finally get Puyo Puyo. And I did this time! Finished the Adventure Mode in about seven hours, and WOW that final boss was pretty tough. Ended up grinding a bit and stacking the right team to roll credits. A solid start to the year.
2. Hitman 3 (PS5) | Feb. 6 | ★★★★ After playing Hitman (2016) and skipping Hitman 2, I decided to jump back in with this one. And wow, I'm glad I did. From its hilarious deadpan comedy to the intricate stage designs and puzzles, this is a game I think I'll keep picking away at for a long time.
3. Super Mario 3D World (Switch) | Feb. 19 | ★★★★ I don't think I actually finished this game when it first dropped in 2013, so I was more than excited to jump back into it. Good news: It's extremely good. There's a level of speed reached in this game that honestly makes it hard to go back to other Mario games. Onto Bowser's Fury!
4. Pokémon Sword & Shield: The Crown Tundra (Switch) | Feb. 21 | ★★★★ THIS is what an expansion should be like for this series. Awesome number of monsters added, really cool quests and unique takes on legendaries. I also love the focus on Wild Areas with this one and Isle of Armor. Can't wait to see what's next.
5. Everything (PS4) | Feb. 28 | ★★★ I'll need to sit with this one a bit to determine how I feel. It was incredibly relaxing and soothing to play, but I felt a bit confused at times. I think that's the point, so when the "tutorial" ended, I felt a sense of finality to it. Very interesting!
1. Demon's Souls - Beautiful game but also feels a decade old. This one made me appreciate how many QOL changes FromSoft has made in the years since. 9/10
2. Fire Emblem: Three Houses - finally got around to the Cindered Shadows DLC and I rather liked it! Brief but challenging. 7/10
3. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - while the tactical half of the game was fun (if a bit mindless), the story half was incredible. Beautiful art and complex, satisfying story. 9/10
4. Donkey Kong Country 3 - went for 103% for the first time ever so now I can say I've completed every DKC game. I don't think it's the best of the original trilogy but it's certainly in the same league as DKC2 which is very high praise!
5. Maiden - Hell of a teaser for the full thing! N/A
6. Dark Souls Remastered - I just can't get enough of Souls games I guess. Played through for the first time as a caster which really tanked the challenge. Still a great time, however. 9/10
7. Panzer Dragoon Remake - First time through this game and it only took about an hour but it was by and large an enjoyable time. For $6 it wasn't bad and helped me get a little bit of my Star Fox fix. 7/10
8. Hitman 3 - A game (and a series) that I wish I liked more than I actually do. There's so much that is impressive but I find a lot of elements frustrating as well. Still curious to see what IO does with the Bond license. 8/10
9. Cyber Shadow - I was pretty hopeful going into this one and still have a fair amount of respect for the final product, however Cyber Shadow was to me an ultimately disappointing game and did not really do anything to distinguish itself from the games it is borrowing most heavily from. 6/10
10. Super Ghouls N Ghosts - Seems like a game that would be really tough without savestates. I credit its inclusion on NSO with helping me to not buy Ghosts N Goblins Resurrection. 6/10
11. Destruction AllStars - Glad this came to PS+ because if I paid $70 for it at launch I would have been really angry with myself. It wore out its welcome after an hour or so. Just an uninteresting game that makes no impression. 3/10
12. Little Nightmares - Reminded me of some of games in this creepy platformer genre like Inside and Limbo. I enjoyed my brief time with this game quite a bit and look forward to trying the sequel some day. 7/10
13. Bowser's Fury - Perfect burst of Mario in a concise 5 hour serving for 100%. Such a well executed concept and I hope they integrate the more open design here in a new Mario game. 9/10
14. Super Luigi Galaxy - Went for all 121 stars with Luigi and had a blast doing so. It was a lot less challenging to pull this off than I remembered and is arguably the best game in this style. 9/10
15. Super Mario 3D World - So much better on Switch than Wii U. Feels faster, smoother, and better suited to on-the-go play. Another great Mario on Switch. 9/10
16. Spiritfarer - Genuinely one of the most beautiful games I've ever played in every sense of the word. It's not my normal fare, but I'm so glad I gave this gorgeous and extremely moving game my attention. There's nothing like it. 9/10
17. Kaze and the Wild Masks - Just a wonderfully executed 2D platformer that takes a lot from my favorite platforming series ever Donkey Kong Country. A fairly breezy game to 100% with a pleasant art style, accurate controls, cool power-ups, great level design, and diversity. Easy to recommend to anybody who likes classic mascot platformers. 8/10
18. Crash Bandicoot 4 - I think Crash games may just not be for me, but I believe nevertheless that this game is a really significant accomplishment and is impressive in just about every way imaginable. It's a remarkable revival of a series that had been more or less dead for generations. Faithful to the feel of the originals while pushing the boundaries. Very cool. 7/10
19. Pac-Man 99 - Didn't see this coming at all but much like Tetris 99 I love it. So easy to pick-up and play and it's a smart way to revitalize a game that is over 40 years old. 8/10
20. Yakuza: Like a Dragon - Every Yakuza game unfortunately overstays its welcome. In spite of that and the shift to the JRPG genre, this is a really cool game and I absolutely love the new protagonist Ichiban. The JRPG combat however gets old quick and never does anything to evolve either in the game itself let alone the genre as a whole. 8/10
21. Cricket Through the Ages - A cute, if dumb, little game to pass a half hour on Apple Arcade with. 5/10
22. It Takes Two - One of the best co-op experiences I've ever had. Was great playing through with my partner and having such varied locations and gameplay types. We were never bored and it was a much grander journey than either of us expected. Great game. 8/10
23. Nier Replicant - Almost as good as Nier Automata which was my GOTG. High praise! Glad I finally played this definitive version of the OG Nier. 9/10
24. Monster Hunter Rise - This is the first MonHun game I really stuck with and I'm glad I did. I can say for sure now that the series really isn't for me, but I understand and respect it way more than I did before and that feels good. 8/10
25. Resident Evil Village - An early GOTY contender and one of the best games in the RE franchise. I am so excited for what Capcom accomplished with this game and more than ready to see what direction they take us in next. 9/10
26. Disco Elysium - A special game. Nice to finally be a canonical communist. 8/10
27. New Pokémon Snap - A very pretty but ultimately kind of middle-of-the-road game. I guess I'm just not as into Pokémon as I was as a kid which is fine. 7/10
28. Sayonara Wild Hearts - Such a pleasant surprise. Amazing soundtrack and great bite-sized levels. 8/10
29. Returnal - Another early GOTY contender. Maybe one of the best moment-to-moment gameplay experiences I've had in years. Housemarque delivered big time on this and I'm so ready for more from them. 9/10
30. Gunstar Heroes - Never played this before but glad I got around to it. Super cool and challenging old-school game with so much heart and life in it. Holds up amazingly well for a 30 year old game. 8/10
31. Streets of Rage - Maybe my least favorite SOR game but looking at how awesome the other 3 games are that's not necessarily a bad thing. It has a lot of fun times to offer but it's also really cheap and arcadey in a bad way later in the game. 7/10
32. Zelda II: Adventure of Link - Still one of my favorite Zelda games. There are few games like it and literally no other Zelda games like it. It's generally really hard but so nostalgic and fun for me even with its frustrations. I just love Zelda II. 8/10
33. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart - Insomniac is Sony's best studio so far in the PS5 era. How do you make Miles Morales last year and then deliver this 6 months later? Doesn't push the series forward in a big way but is just so fun and technically impressive that it doesn't matter. 8/10
34. Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) - Still a cool game but not on the same level of 2, 3&K, or Mania. Nice to get all the chaos emeralds and wrap the game up in two sessions over 90 minutes. Good stuff. 7/10
35. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - A much better game than the original Sonic the Hedgehog. I don't think the game really has any bad levels although there is some bullshit level design in places (notably the Metropolis Zone acts). Great graphics, diverse levels, good sense of speed and exploration, and just a super fun and highly replayable game. Still a favorite of mine. 9/10
Gonna Be my first year try... hopefully it will be good...
Games Finished
#1 - De Blob - Freeware Version - 1.0 Hour
Super cute little game that after playing the original version, i fully understood why THQ at the time wanted to publish a full blown game.
It plays super easily, only with the mouse and left mouse click for jumping. The physics are actually suprisingly solid due to the fact it's a students project.
The camera sometimes was rough to play with, but it didn't cause too much trouble. Also i'm suprised about the fact that i never had a bug where i got stuck in the floor or something like that. Recommend for Everyone to try, and now i'm interested in checking out the full first game.
01 : Corpse Party - PC - 1/1/21
Well this is an unusual start to the year. I got a wrong end in chapter 5. I don't know if I want to keep playing or not. Crazy game. Fantastic audio. I might check out the wiki to figure out what the hell happened.
02 : Gears of War - XB1 - 1/2/21
Yep, the old Gears of War. I'm wishy washy about the extra content in the ultimate edition of the game and the performance on PC bothers me enough to skip playing it there. So might as well play ye olde Gears of War. Still holds up OK, but the graphics are starting to show their age. I don't know if it's my setup or not, but the sound wasn't amazing. Maybe sound design has just come a long way since the game came out.
03 : Bioshock Infinite - PS5 - 1/3/21
I fixed the issue with sound earlier and I just couldn't stop playing this game. That ending still gives me chills. The PS4/5 version played great. I've said it year after year after year - hopefully this is the year that we see the next Bioshock title. We're quickly approaching 8 years since Bioshock Infinite was released.
04 : Bloodborne and Old Hunters - PS5 - 1/6/21
Fucking hell what a game. If I wasn't 100% certain that it was my GOTG on my single play through, this play through plus the old hunters DLC sealed the deal. I must have been blessed by something (or just over leveled) because I ended up beating Lady Maria, Orphan of Kos and Laurence in a single night (with Laurence being a one shot). I wish I could have experienced the sound for Kos and Laurence but sadly they scream too much for me. The saw cleaver got me through most of the game with the whirligig saw coming in later on.
I did every single boss in the game. I think I even killed every enemy hunter as well. I've been playing this save file since before the PS5 came out almost two months ago. Slowly chipping away at it week by week.
Hardest boss was easily Orphan of Kos and it's not even remotely close. Even at level 126 he could take my life from 75% to 0 with a wicked combo or one of his harder phase 2 attacks.
05 : Gears of War 2 - XB1 - 1/10/21
I've been a little distracted this week due to the disaster around the electoral college vote. I wasn't sure what to play, and Gears of War 2 is a safe bet.
06 : Dark Souls 3 The Ringed City - PC - 1/13/21
I've been working on this one for almost a year. I still have some optional bosses left in Dark Souls 3, but Gael Finished my Dark Souls journey. Speaking of Gael - what a fight that is. Even at a fairly high level it was still a difficult fight.
07 : Uncharted 2 - PS5 - 1/17/21
I haven't finished this in SUCH a long time. I have to say, unlike the Tomb Raider games, this really hasn't aged all that well. The shooting is still good and the fun segments are still fun, but the controls feel so clunky. I'll try out Uncharted 3 pretty soon (might be next).
08 : Gears of War Judgement - XB1 - 1/19/21
My comfort food how I have missed you so. I got to play through the end of the game with a pair of HD660s.
09 : Mushihimesama - PC - 1/21/21
I don't know how to pronounce this game. I have no idea what the story is. But holy shit that was an intense 30 minutes. That's two shmup titles in the past few months. I'm starting to wonder if I might like this genre afterall.
10 : The Last of Us - PS5 - 1/24/21
10 games in less than a month. Wow. Some of these are my common replays, but Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 DLC's definitely were not.
I absolutely ADORE The Last of Us. It is very quickly catching up to Uncharted 2 as my most replayed Naughty Dog title. I really needed something to show off my new headphones and this was just the right match. What caught me the most about the audio wasn't the sound effects, it was the music. Just an amazing soundtrack from beginning to end.
Surprisingly I played through a good chunk of the game with a dualshock 4. I had an easier time with that than I did with the dualsense. That's a little bit odd.
11 : Resident Evil 2 Remake - PC - 2/2/21
I wasn't sure what to play, so I defaulted back to RE2 remake. Just a normal Leon A run. I need a new game, but nothing has really grabbed me lately.
Strangely enough I think this is the first game I finished with the new Xbox controller. Picked up a "used" one from Amazon. Hope I get a lot of use out of it.
12 : The Last of Us Part 2 - PS5 - 2/9/21
I really took my time with this one. We've had a lot of snowy days lately. A lot of time inside. I don't have a lot of games that I'm interested in at the moment. I'm mostly playing WoW and older games. I doubt this will be the last time I finish this game. Next up is probably left Behind. I haven't played that in a while. Hopefully we hear something Naughty Dog at "E3" this year.
It's funny. Every time I finish this game I want to check in with Joel and play TLOU. And after I finish that game, I want to check in with Ellie in TLOU2. It's a nice self-repeating cycle.
The game sounded amazing with the new headphones. I wonder if I'll ever replace these to be honest.
13 : The Last of Us Left Behind - PS5 - 2/14/21
The thing that I really love about Left Behind is that it fits in before or after every Last of Us title. I really hope we get something like this for Part 2. Maybe we'll see something for Abby and Lev during their trip south. Maybe we could see something with Joel and Tommy. Maybe a completely unexpected duo. I hope that we don't have to wait 7 years until the next game.
14 : Gears of War 4 - XB1/PC - 2/16/21
Some of the sections in this game are classic Gears and still makes me smile. We should hear something about Gears 6 this year. Probably won't be released til 2022 at the earliest though.
15 : Gears 5 - PC - 2/18/21
This was mostly finished last year. I just got tired of the open world sections. Hopefully there's less of them in the next game (preferably zero of them). Still a gorgeous game with incredible sound design.
16 : Gears of War 3 - PC - 4/5/21
I basically completed nothing in March. So far it has been a really bad year for new releases that I enjoy.
Anyhow, I completed this game on my new series S that I got in yesterday. It didn't look as good as it did on the series X that I briefly had, but it still looked pretty damn good.
17 : Grand Theft Auto V - PC - 4/12/21
With the amount of times I've played through this game, this might my second or third most played of all time.
It's been roughly a year since I last finished this game. It doesn't quite pull me in like it used to. It's starting to finally age a little bit. Still looks great, but I've finished it so many times that very little feels new now.
Almost 8 years since this game came out. An entire generation of no new GTA title. I doubt we'll see anything from Rockstar for GTAVI anytime soon, but maybe we'll see something from Leslie Benzies game this year.
18 : The Evil Within 2 - PS4 - 4/22/21
This is a game that I have a hard time getting into, but by the end I don't want it to end. The way that Microsoft is still showing off TEW series does give me some confidence that there will be a third game of some sort. I think it would be a mistake to let the series just die out.
19 : Nier replicant - PC - 5/8/21
After a little hiccup with some really annoying trials, I started to love this game. I'm not sure if I have it in me to finish the other endings in the game, but I'd like to try. With the current release schedule, I'm not even sure what game I'll get next, so I should have time to go through the different endings.
I loved the music of the game. The voice acting was over the top and fun. The story was terrific. The combat was OK, but not on the same level as Automata (which I also need to play again). I'm glad that they went with brother Nier, because I don't like the design of papa Nier.
20 : Resident Evil 8 - PC - 5/8/21
This is one of those 8 hour games that is good enough to finish in a single sitting. Not only is it a great game, but it also improves the previous game in the series. It's going to be hard to improve upon this weekend for gaming. I finished Nier Replicant and a brand new Resident Evil in the same weekend. Damn that's good. I don't know if I'll see another release schedule like this again this year, but I enjoyed the hell out of it.
21 : The Last of Us 2 - PC - 5/16/21
Kind of like GTAV back in the day, I always have at least one Last of Us 1/2 going on at once. I enjoy these games so much. Maybe I'll start another run of TLOU soon while I wait for RE8 to be fixed.
22 : Resident Evil 8 - PC - 5/22/21
The game is still a bit broken but a lot of fun to play. I think there's an achievement for finishing the game 3 times, so I'll go for that soon. I think I like having the world being a little bit larger than we're used to. I discovered some areas that I didn't see on my first playthrough. That's one of my favorite parts about replays - finding new things.
23 : Resident Evil 8 - PC - 5/29/21
This is actually a combined third and fourth play through. I was trying to hit the 3 hour mark in my third playthrough, but came up 3 minutes short. So I got the unlimited ammo magnum and went through again and almost finished under 2 hours. Poor sturm didn't stand a chance this time around.
I'm probably going to start the save over after this, as I want to try the game on standard with a clear save and without any extra weapons. Yes, the game is still broken as hell. It's really annoying, but it's still a really fun game.
24 : Shadow of the Colossus - PS5 - 6/10/21
Terrible controls. Frustrating horse ai. Strange camera controls. Annoying sections everywhere.
With all of that said, the game is amazing. Through all of the frustration, I had a completely unique experience that hasn't been copied since its release 16 years ago. I knew the story before I started playing the game, so I wasn't really surprised all that much. What got me were the collosi fights. From the first one and on, every fight had me fully engaged. Even the ones that I had finished on PS2 and PS3 (before abandoning those versions).
I wish that this game ran at 4k 60fps on the PS5, but 60fps was really the one thing required to get me back to playing the game again. 30fps just felt awful in all of the previous entries. I waited a long time for a 60fps version of this game and I don't regret the wait one bit.
Sound design was excellent considering this is, essentially, a PS2 title. Sound while on Agro wasn't great, but that can largely be explained by the poor camera angles the game gave me while riding Agro.
I had a pretty good day today. We saw Elden Ring for the first time in years. A new Critical Role show was announced (alone with campaign 3). I finished Shadow of the Colossus. That is not too shabby.
25 : World of Warcraft Shadowlands - PC - 6/15/21
I got my alliance death knight to 60. I like this character. My fiancee has a whole mess of high level alliance characters, so I needed one for when she needs a quick queue for hallow's eve and other events. Funny that I'm largely playing characters that I created in the past two years, and not the other dozen or so older characters.
26 : Rise of the Tomb Raider - PC - 6/16/21
Annual playthrough. Been working on this for a while now, off an on. It's funny how little annoyances aren't so noticeable the first time through a game, but by the 10th or so play through those little annoyances are all you can see. The horrible FPS in geothermal valley. The clunky auto aim system. Nothing that really effects the game all that much. Sort of how I notice more and more that Uncharted 2 has a clunky control system.
I was hoping to hear about a new Tomb Raider coming up, but that unfortunately didn't happen. The team that worked on Tomb Raider and Rise of the Tomb Raider are still working on The Avengers, and the team that made Shadow of the Tomb Raider is making the Guardians game (which fits them much better). I don't think Square Enix is abandoning the series, I just think they're looking for the right fit.
27 : Resident Evil Village - PS5 - 6/20/21
Yep, that really say PS5. After all of the tech issues with the PC version, I bought the PS5 and don't regret it at all. Not having a stutter after every single kill is amazing. Being able to fight the daughters without the frame rate plummeting is awesome. Maybe I should hold off on PC versions for a while, at least until new hardware prices stabilize.
28 : The Last of Us 2 - PS5 - 6/24/21
After about a year I finally got to play the game in 60fps. So what do I think? Well, some sections improved a great deal with the higher frame rates and other sections not so much. The forest sections were immeasurably improved. There's so much movement in the background that it finally felt "clear".
I'm glad that there's a 60fps option and I am still VERY glad that I did not wait for the patch to play the game.
Naughty Dog really wrapped up last generation in the best way possible. It is going to be a long time before another game matches TLOU2.
29 : Silent Hill 2 - PC - 7/1/21
I don't remember if I've ever finished this before game or not. I've seen it played by other people, so it's possible I confused it with that. The PC version I played was very highly modified and with those mods the game is better than I imagined. Obviously the graphics aren't good by today's standards. The controls aren't either. But the sound and the soundtrack are still wonderful. The story is depressing and sad and incredible.
I hope all of those rumors of other Silent Hill games being made ends up true. This series was amazing back in its heyday. With some love and care I think it can be a great series again.
30: World of Warcraft: Shadowlands - PC - 7/14/21
Landmark achievement of being able to fly in Shadowlands. This expansion has had all sorts of issues, but in general I've enjoyed it more than BFA. It would have been nice to get this content patch sooner, but covid really hammered developers. It's nice to be be able to fly once more. I never got it in BFA because the requirement was so ridiculous and came so late in the expansion. I'm sure that within a month I'll wish that I never got flying back, like I always do.
31: Vanquish - PC - 7/23/21
It's been a few years since I finished this. Still as good as ever. I'm not really sure if they fixed the high FPS issues that plagued the game before, but I still went for high FPS anyhow. Handgun, assault rifle and shotgun are still the most OP setup in the game from my experience. Though I did use the shotgun less this time through.
32: Doom 2016 - PC - 8/2/21
2021 is going to the be one of the worst years in gaming history, primarily due to delays from the pandemic, so I'll just have to replay more games than I normally would. I'm also holding Miles Morales and Demon's Souls in my back pocket.
I still strongly prefer Doom 2016 over Eternal. The game plays great. Sounds great. Looks great. Performance is fantastic. Early game can feel repetitive because you're lacking in weapons and other tools, so I had to force myself a bit to keep going.
I started and finished the game with the new xbox series controller. I'm finally getting used to it I think. It just took a few months.
33 : The Last of Us 2 - PS5 - 8/14/21
I wanted to see how the game was at 30fps after finishing it in 60fps mode. This has never happened in my gaming history, but I actually prefer the 30fps version. The world of TLOU2 was designed to be "played back" at 30fps. The world at 60fps moves strangely. The characters don't quite look right. Animations look off just a little bit. The "weight of things" just doesn't seem correct.
I wonder if this is how I would feel about a 60fps version of Bloodborne. Then again, the other souls games look and play just fine at higher frame rates.
34 : Resident Evil 7 - PS5 - 8/15/21
Pretty rare for me to to beat two games in one weekend. I've never finished this game on PS5. I wanted to shoot all of the mr everywheres, so I used a guide to help. I think I normally miss only two of them on a normal play through and wasn't sure exactly what I was missing.
This looks pretty dang good on PS5. Sounds great as always. The story was much more interesting after finishing RE8. I'd like to go through again this year to find every single document in the game. They all have more meaning after RE8.
35 : Uncharted Lost Legacy - PS5 - 8/19/21
This is going to be weird for me to say, but as of 2021 this is the best Uncharted game. Uncharted 1 and 3 are OK. There's too many pacing issues with 4. 2 is great, but it can really be janky at times. Lost Legacy is it then. I'm always blown away by how fun this game is from beginning to end. I really hope there's a Playstation Experience this fall and we get a Lost Legacy 2. I don't think this series is over, and it shouldn't be.
Not counted : The Last of Us 2 - PS5 - 8/31/21
Not going to count this one because the game is already on this list too many times. Just wanted to make a note for myself that this was the 10th time through the game. I didn't play this for any reason really. Just wanted to.
36 : Guardian Heroes - XB1 - 9/6/21
This was actually really good. I always wanted to get this when I had my Saturn back in the 90's but by that point the system was, unfortunately, not in my hands anymore. It was on sale for $2.50, so why not? I only played through the game once, but it was really fun. Teenage me would have loved this. Fantastic soundtrack throughout. I may or may not come back to this at some point.
37 : Bloodborne - PS5 - 9/10/21
I guess this is my version of a "casual" run. I think the only boss that I beat that was optional was the witches of hemwick. Otherwise straight to Gehrman waking me up. This was by far the fastest I've finished the game and the lowest level I've finished the game. I think every previous completion I was in my 90's and higher. I beat the wet nurse at 56. I got myself a bloodborne t shirt for finishing the game. Happy birthday Duxxy.
38 : Dark Souls 3 - PS5 - 9/18/21
Wow, I got a lot better at this game over the past few years. Ignoring AFK time, I'd imagine my in game time was around 10 hours or so. I one shot DSA and Soul of Cinder. I had to cheese twin princes and found that cheesing them is really easy.
I'm not sure that I'll play Dark Souls or Dark Souls 2 this year. May or may not play Demon's Souls. I'd like to finish Sekiro, but I'm on the final boss now and he is extremely difficult for me.
On a side note, this looked and ran great on my PS5. I don't remember if the PC version looked better or not. It's nice to have the soulsborne games all on one console. I don't really love the dualsense, but for soulsborne games it works just fine.
39 : Plague Tale Innocence - XSS - 9/20/21
I wasn't sure if my positive initial impressions were unfounded, but no they were not. This is a fantastic game. Gorgeous. Excellent sound and music. Good story and characters. The difficulty spike still kind of stinks, but it doesn't ruin the rest of the game. I'm really excited for the next game now.
40 : Modern Warfare 2 Remastered - PC - 9/23/21
Played most of the game back in June and decided to finish it today. Man, I really miss these short bombastic Call of Duty games.
41 : Control - XSS - 9/25/21
I am really impressed by this little machine. Sure the 60fps mode didn't have ray tracing, but even on my PC I always turned that off for more performance. I love this game. I noticed that they added checkpoints during the Polaris section. I'm glad that they did because that can be the most frustrating part of the game. I finished the game with my usual handgun and shotgun combination. Played through about 3/4 of the game with my new Focal Elex. So far so good with these. Fingers crossed I don't have any quality control issues with them.
With Alan Wake Remastered coming out in another week or so I just had to play this game again. I thought about playing Alan Wake again, but I wanted to experience the remastered version with more of a fresh look at it. Not sure what system to get it on. Pretty large difference between the series s version and the PS5 and PC versions. PC seems like the safest bet to me.
42 : Gears of War Judgement - XSS - 9/26/21
I could play this game every month and still enjoy it. What I love about this game, compared to the other Gears titles, is how random and chaotic it can be at time. The other games are about as linear and scripted as games can be. The fifth game is probably the closest to Judgement in this regard.
I finished the game with the Elex and man... these sound incredible. I'm still concerned about durability on these, but other than that I couldn't be happier.
43 : Resident Evil 2 Remake - PC - 9/29/21
I sort of started the spoopy games back with Bloodborne. Plague Tale was definitely scary, and Control as well as Judgment can have some scary sections. I've had this Leon A save on the back burner for a while. Not much to add with this game. It's the most replayed game of my 42 year existence. Not most played, but the most replayed (because of it's short length). I'll probably do Claire B sometime in October to finish out the story. It's my favorite mode of the game.
44 : The Last of Us 2 Platinum - PS5 - 10/1/21
This is only the third platinum that I've ever earned. Probably not the hardest platinum, but I'm glad I got it. I was missing some collectibles for the platinum. Only one of them I don't think I'd ever find. The rest I could have sworn that I'd already collected them but didn't.
I won't add this game to the list again this year. It's probably my most played game since the pandemic began. It's very special to me.
45 : Alan Wake Remastered - PC - 10/9/21
Not a huge remaster and probably a waste of money, but it was still fun. Nice to have newer character models. That was probably the one thing, graphically, that had aged poorly with the original game. The game still plays great, still sounds great. I am curious if the audio mixing is a little different though.
The game played fine on EGS. They're not remotely caught up with Steam, but it was nice to see achievements pop up in the game finally. It's not a great store, but it's not a bad store either. I wish it had been on steam, but with epic publishing the game that's unlikely.
45 : Gears of War 2 - XSS - 10/16/21
Like a lot of games recently, I had a save that I had put off for a while and suddenly I just wanted to finish it. I finished the game with a used pair of sundaras. Fantastic sound for everything, Gears 2 included. I'll probably start on Gears 3 soon. I was hoping to play it on series x, but I've been flip flopping on whether to get one or not.
46 : Resident Evil 3 Remake - PS5 - 10/17/21
I need to play through at least one Resident Evil game this month. I haven't played this recently. I actually forgot some of it. It's a decent game, but very shallow. I had a thought when playing it - did the cast of RE3 remake make RE8 at roughly the same time? There's a ton of carry over between games.
47 : Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - PS5 - 10/23/21
I picked up Metroid Dread last week and started in on it. But it wasn't clicking like so many other Metroid and Metroidvania games usually do. So I decided to try out Bloodstained again. Did I lose my interest in Metroidvania games or is Metroid Dread that different?
Well as it turns out, Metroid Dread is just that different. I played Bloodstained, and only Bloodstained, for the entire week. Dread forgot the best part about Metroidvania titles - exploring. The EMMI areas completely remove exploration from the game because you're constantly running away. You don't have time to explore.
Bloodstained is a great Igavania. Right up there with Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow. He really has the formula for these games perfected. Hopefully we hear more about Ritual of the Night next year. It would be an immediate pre-order for me.
48 : Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War - PC - 11/3/21
Such a fun game! I decided to go for the bad guy (?) ending at the end. I had already gone with the good guy ending last year, so I wanted some revenge for that. COD Vanguard is out in a couple days. No idea if it will be any good or not. I'm sure I'll get it though, because there really weren't many new games this year.
BOCW is a solid package. Much more replayable than MW 2019.
49 : Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare - PC - 11/7/21
This is still a top notch FPS campaign. I know that I strongly dislike the multiplayer for Infinite Warfare, but I would love a second campaign. I wasn't expecting to have anything close to a "codathon", but it looks like it happened anyhow.
I picked up a 3070 ti (somehow) a couple weeks ago, and a Viper Ultimate last week. Extremely happy with both. The 3070 ti had zero issues playing this game at 4k and high frame rates. The wireless Viper made those air to air fights much more fun. Just being able to pick up the mouse as I need to, a light mouse and accurate mouse at that, and not have to worry about any cable was just fantastic.
On a gaming note, the 2021 drought should soon end for me. I ordered Forza Horizon 5, COD Vanguard and Elden Ring this week. I still want to get Deathloop, Far Cry 6 and Halo Infinite as well. That's a pretty solid next few months by any standard.
50 : Call of Duty: Vanguard - PS5 - 11/9/21
Early game was a little too slow and dark. Couldn't see much and the player character moves like molasses. But as soon as the game switches to daytime missions it really picks up. I'm not sure if it's because Laura Bailey is the bomb, but I loved the Polina sections the best. I could have played an entire game of just Polina.
I liked how straight forward this campaign was. Black Ops Cold War was great, but I didn't like the evidence section at all.
Between Cold War and Vanguard, this generation of COD titles is starting out pretty well. Far better than it did in the PS4/XB1 generation.
Graphics were fantastic, but audio wasn't the best that I've heard in a COD title. It was alright in the sound department.
51 : Forza Horizon 5 - PC/XSS - 11/14/21
Hall of fame entered. These games are just so much fun, and this one is no exception. While I sort of miss the seasons from Forza Horizon 4, it was also nice to have a more consistent environment to each race. I'd say this was closer to Forza Horizon 3 in that way. I don't think, at least at this moment, that I would rate this above Forza 3 or Forza Horizon 4, but they are all within a few points of each other. The game is a great show piece for my tiny Series S, which is where I mostly played the game. On PC it has some issues with pop in as well as textures, but I'm guessing it'll be cleaned up within a month or two.
52 : Gears of War 3 - XSS - 11/17/21
I have been hoping and praying for a 60fps version of the original Gears of War games for probably a decade. This playthrough was glorious. Game already looked good in stills at 1440p, but in 1440p 60fps it looks more like a mid/late generation Xbox One X game.
What a way to finish out the challenge for this year. I'll keep playing other games and send a message in a few weeks.
53 : World of Warcraft Shadowlands - PC - 11/20/21
Got my hunter up to 60! My first character to be level 60 twice (original WoW and Shadowlands). This character has ALWAYS been fun to play. Not my most played character, or even my second most, but my hunter will always have a place in my character lineup.
54 : Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy - PS5 - 11/25/21
I had a hunch that this was going to be a good game, but I was wary after the disaster that was The Avengers. It completely blew away all of my expectations. Amazing story. Fantastic cast. Fun throughout. Maybe it's some recency bias, but this is my game of the year.
55 : Halo Infinite - XB1/XSS/XSX/PC - 12/13/21
Well shit. 343 finally did it. They made a good Halo. Actually fuck that, they made a great Halo. It's right up there with the first 3 games and Reach. Might even be better than them to be honest. I think my faith in the series has been restored.
56 : Resident Evil 2 Remake - XSX - 12/14/21
I still love playing this game. I picked up a series X this weekend and it was the very first game that I purchased for it. It's not quite to the level as the PC versiom (120fps is hard to beat), but this looked and ran great.
I got an assisted S run on my first playthrough on this system. Not surprising because I've finished the game a few dozen times, but still nice to see. I'll do Leon B at some point soon.
57 : The Gunk - XSX - 12/16/21
I think I was able to get into this game because I'm watching the Expanse right now and I kinda like the sci fi vibe right now.
This was pretty good. It was a little frustrating at the end, but not too bad. Some parts were very pretty. Overall it was a great first attempt by this dev on a 3d game. I enjoyed it.
58 : Hollow Knight - XSX - 12/25/21
Holy shit, I actually beat this game. I'm trying to decide if this game, the Bloodborne DLC or the Dark Souls 3 DLC is the hardest gaming experience I've ever had. I'm leaning towards Hollow Knight because of its high execution requirement.
Anyhow, what a gorgeous world this is. So many amazing zones. Such a great soundtrack.
I had been stuck on this game for literally years. I think on PC I got stuck in Crystal Peak (which I got to too early) and on Xbox I got stuck on Soul Master. After watching some Twitch streamers struggle through Soul Master I thought "if they can do it, so can I". So I got through Soul Master and I used a very general guide after that to figure out where the hell to go next.
Early game is a struggle to figure out how to play the game and late game is a struggle to figure out which charms work for each boss. I think the hardest for me was the Watcher Knights. Nosk was also hard for me as well. Hollow Knight wasn't as bad as expect, but I think that's because I had the right charms for that fight (focus charms).
I have to say that the best value of the year for me was this 1 month of gamepass ultimate. I finished Halo Infinite, The Gunk and Hollow Knight and I still have another 10 days left.
I'm in. 2020 is the year of clearing out the backlog for me and I always love reading this thread so lets go! STATUS: 67/52 Games
www.resetera.com
January
1. Rise of the Tomb Raider (Series X) | Jan 1 | 14 Hrs | ★★★★
Enjoyed it more than the reboot. But still takes itself way too seriously.
2. Rise of the Tomb Raider: Blood Ties and Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch (Series X) | Jan 1 | 3 Hrs | ★★★★
Pretty fun dlc for Rise of the Tomb Raider.
3. Tetris Effect (Series X) | Jan 2 | 6 Hrs | ★★★★★
Been stuck on a level since just about when the Series S/X dropped. Decided to drop difficulty from normal to easy and found out it was the last level.
4. Korgan (Series X) | Jan 7 | 2 Hrs | ★★★
Free quick game I played to get as many achievement points as I can while MS rewards is doing it's 10k points. It was alright. Especially being free. No intention of buying further levels though.
5. One Leaves (Series X) | Jan 8 | 1 Hr | ★★
Free and quick 800 achievement points. The message is good, don't smoke. But not a good game.
6. The Little Acre (Series X) | Jan 9 | 1 Hr | ★★★★
Cute little point and click game. The puzzles never got too obtuse like a lot of P&C games do.
7. Day of the Tentacle Remaster (Series X) | Jan 10 | 3 Hrs | ★★★
Already played this on Vita few years ago but I needed another quick 1000 points. It's alright. Could be funnier.
8. Full Throttle Remaster (Series X) | Jan 11 | 2 Hrs | ★★★★
One of my more favorite point and click games. Entertaining story that doesn't get too convoluted (coughTentaclecough).
9. What Remains of Edith Finch (Series X) | Jan 12 | 2 Hrs | ★★★★
Now there are 2 walking simulators I enjoy. Great story but fucking add in a sprint button please.
10. Call of the Sea (Series X) | Jan 14 | 3 Hrs | ★★★
Not sure what happened in the story but some fun puzzles.
11. The Walking Dead: Michonne (Series X) | Jan 15 | 3 Hrs | ★★★★
Very quick and definitely felt smaller than the other Telltale games. But great little story and characters.
12. Demon's Souls (PS5) | Jan 16 | 25 Hrs | ★★★★
First Souls game I've beaten. Honestly didn't think I would make it to the end when I first started but here we are. Quote enjoyed it. Spent a lot of time grinding so it wasn't too bad during boss fights.
13. Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Series X) | Jan 23 | 15 Hrs | ★★★
Definitely should take more notes from Uncharted or the original Tomb Raider series and not take itself so seriously. Great looking game and some fun platforming but the story was whatever and the combat was fine I guess.
February
14. Ghost of Tsushima (PS5) | Feb 2 | 35 Hrs | ★★★★★
I always think I'm tired of open world games then one comes along and I love it. Happened with Fenyx Rising a few months back and then GoT. Ended up getting the platinum. Loved it.
15. The Medium (Series X) | Feb 7 | 8 Hrs | ★★★★
Great looking game. The split screen mechanic was cool. Not 100% sure I followed the story because some characters I thought were different but that's fine. I enjoyed my time with it and being on Gamepass is pretty damn great.
16. Control (PS5) | Feb 13
| 12 Hrs | ★★★★★
Absolutely love this game. Was just going to do the dlc on my Xbox but then it became a PS+ game with the PS5 version. So I just played it again.
17. Control: The Foundation and AWE (PS5) | Feb 14 | 6 Hrs | ★★★★
Fun getting more powers. But both dlc were a little lackluster compared to main game. Especially with AWE teasing Alan Wake so much and not really giving me the team up I wanted.
18. Double Kick Heroes | Series X | Feb 15 | 3 Hrs | ★★
Meh. Was excited to play a rhythm game that used metal. The music was good... And everything else was not.
19. New Super Lucky's Tales | Series X | Feb 16 | 8 Hrs | ★★★
Very easy. Just played it for the weekly Gamepass points when I needed some achievements. It's cute.
20. Ratchet and Clank | PS4 | Feb 19 | 10 Hrs | ★★★★
Great game. I beat it 4 years ago but decided to do a replay before the next R&C game comes out.
21. Bioshock | XB1 | Feb 25 | 10 Hrs | ★★★★
Still great game. Remaster was pretty buggy though. Many instances of game freezing and losing a bit if progress a few times.
22. Spider-Man: Miles Morales | PS5 | Feb 28 | 10 Hrs | ★★★★
Really fun and perfect length. I'll do a second run to get last couple trophies but I'll speed through that run.
March
23. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game | XB1 | Mar 2 | 5 Hrs | ★★★★
Great little beat em up. Really glad it finally got a rerelease.
24. Bioshock 2 | XB1 | Mar 8 | 12 Hrs | ★★★★
Reall gold sequel. Story not as good as the original but it was really great playing as a big daddy. Heard great things about the dlc so I'll tackle that next.
25. Bioshock 2: Minerva's Den | XB1 | Mar 10 | 6 Hrs | ★★★★
Great little dlc for Bioshock 2. Cool story with a nice twist at the end.
26. Bioshock Infinite | XB1 | Mar 17 | 12 Hrs | ★★★★
Changed some of the buttons which, for me anyways, helped. Not sure story holds water when you start thinking about it. But when the final reveal happens, still a gut punch.
27. Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episodes 1 & 2 | XB1| Mar 19 | 4 Hrs | ★★★★
Loved both stories. Same as base game, not sure the story holds together but what a story. Wasn't a fan of making Elizabeth being stealth.
28. Spider-Man | PS5 | Mar 25 | 20 Hrs | ★★★★
After playing through Miles Morales, the original feels bloated. Still great gameplay and decent story. But I appreciate how much tighter Miles was. Hoping in sequel we get to go back and forth between Peter and Miles.
29. Spider-Man DLC | PS5 | Mar 26 | 7 Hrs | ★★★★
Pretty fun dlc. Freaking sucks that one of the best looking costumes was like 2nd to last to get. I'm talking about the Spider-Verse costume.
April
30. Ori and the Will of the Wisps | Series X | Apr 1 | 10 Hrs | ★★★
Beautiful game. Combat got more convoluted than I remember the original game being. And after a bit I no longer cared about the story.
31. Bloodborne | Apr 11 | 30 Hrs | ★★★★★
Great game. I enjoyed it more than the Demon's Souls remake too. Kinda hurt my eyes going from 60 to 30 fps.
Still have the dlc to do and possibly try for the other endings.
May
32. Nier: Replicant | May 10 | 50+ Hrs | ★★★★★
Amazing game. Think I prefer Automata but only because the combat is better.
33. Max: The Curse of the Brotherhood | May 11 | 7 Hrs | ★★★
Cute game I've been playing on and off last few months for the Gamepass points.
34. Mass Effect | May 22 | 22 Hrs | ★★★★★
Sure the combat is a little clunky but damn it's still a masterpiece. First time playing as FemShep and doing a paragon run.
JUNE
35. Ninja Gaiden Sigma | Jun 20 | 12 Hrs | ★★★★
Definitely problematic with Rachel's outfit. At least you can't shake her boobs anymore. But other than that, love this game. Didn't have the OG Xbox so Sigma was my first time playing.
36. The Messenger | Jun 24 | 10 Hrs | ★★★
Hated it at first. I was just using it for weekly Gamepass achievements. Then somewhere it changed and I enjoyed it.
37. The Messenger - Picnic Panic | Jun 25 | 2 Hrs | ★★★
Couple more hours of Messenger and it's free.
July
38. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart | Jul 3 | 12 Hrs | ★★★★1/2
Not quite a 5 star game but damn close. Absolutely amazing looking. So this and Gears 5: Hivebusters are the best looking games. Fun story. Rivit and Kitt are great additions. Insomniac kicking ass already this gen with 2 really good games, 3 if we count Spider-Man Remaster.
39. Mass Effect 2 | Jul 27 | 30 Hrs | ★★★★★
Amazing game. Back in the day I didn't have a Xbox 360 so ME2 was my first ME experience. Doing a paragon run with FemShep. Not as fun being nice. But it's definitely a different experience.
August
40. Crash Bandicoot | Aug 1 | 12 Hrs | ★★★
41. Immortals Fenyx Rising | Aug 27 | 40 Hrs | ★★★★★
First game this gen I played through twice. This time I got the season pass so I'm working on the dlc now.
September
42. Twelve Minutes | Sep 2 | 5 Hrs | ★★★
The cast got me interested. But overall just alright. The "true ending" was obvious as hell.
43. Immortals Fenyx Rising: A New God | Sep 3 | 10 Hrs | ★★★★
Just trials but the story is fun.
44. Immortals Fenyx Rising: Myths of the Eastern Realms | Sep 7 | 7 Hrs | ★★★★★
Pretty great DLC about Asian gods. Like a much smaller version of Fenyx Rising.
45. Psychonauts | Sep 22 | 9 Hrs | ★★★
I remember liking this game much more 20 years ago.
46. Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruins | Sep 23 | 2 Hrs | ★★★
Decent VR title.
October
47. Metroid Dread | Oct 13 | 13 Hrs | ★★★★
Not as good as Super or Samus Returns remake, but a damn fine Metroid.
48. Death Stranding Director's Cut | Oct 19 | PS5 | 40 Hrs | ★★★★
Could have done without the mules entirely. BTs were annoying. But music and acting were on point.
49. Psychonauts 2 | Oct 28 | Series X | 15 Hrs | ★★★1/2
Levels definitely went on too long. But they did in the original too. So I guess it's just more Psychonauts but prettier.
November
50. Contra | Nov 1 | Xbox One | 30 Min | ★★★★★
Still one of my favorite games ever. Great being able to play it with my kids.
51. Call of Duty: Vanguard | Nov 13 | 6 Hrs |★★★
It's... Fine. I'm talking from a campaign player only.
52. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy | Nov 18 | 20 Hrs | ★★★★
Damn good game. Probably closer to 4 1/2 stars but because enough weird bugs went down to 4 instead of up to 5.
December
53. Saints Row: The Third Remaster | Dec 26 | 35 Hrs | ★★★★
Little buggy but still a very fun game.
Thought I'd just do a quarterly update seen as I don't quite go at the pace of some other peoples impressive numbers, hoping to be in the 10-12 games beaten range by the end of April.
Lots of games in progress at the moment and really enjoying the variety, and whilst working on them I do plan on moving a couple of games from 'Beaten' to 'Completion' just to satisfy my OCD.
The other aspect I'm quite happy with the progress on is how many purchases I'm making, I had a moment of weakness in January with Hitman 3 but other than that nothing so far, Gamepass combined with the backlog seems to be supplying more than enough fresh content.
Completions (5):
1. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2 Remastered (XSX) 5/5 - Absolutely fantastic especially for someone who adored the originals, my only frustration being that I played this before the next gen patch so i'll try not to make the same mistake with other titles. This is an absolute must play for anyone.
2. Hades (Switch) 5/5 - Wasn't sure if this was my sort of game but having put 105hrs into Hades I think that speaks for itself. Perfectly suited for the Switch and the incredible cast was a fascinating bonus.
In December I got back on mechanical keyboard bullshit, pretty much forgot about video games, and as a result ended up 51/52 loooollll
My special talent is snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Let's do it again ❤
...What, you were expecting something on the first of January? No.
Had my best year last year at 14 games so here's hoping I continue to improve:
1) Pokemon: Fire Red | GBA | 41 Hours | February 3rd, 2021 | 4.5/5
Starting the year off with a long one. I've actually been casually working on this game for about the last 3 years so it's nice to finally get it done so I can move on to other things.
Although I was big into the Pokemon Anime as a child, I never had a Gameboy and so was never able to experience the games except for a the few times my friends were playing it. I finally got my first handheld in 2012 and started my Pokemon journey there with Black 2. I was instantly hooked and so decided I needed to go back to experience all the earlier gens when I got the chance.
So here we are, back at the game that started it all (well a remake of that game to be precise). Even though I had never played the original, I found this one very nostalgic as it brought me back to my days as a very young kid when Pokemania was taking over the world back in 1999. Ash, Misty and Brock are still the best trio in my eyes and I can't imagine there's any bias to that whatsoever.
This game just oozes charm and the simplistic graphics of the GBA give it a wonderful atmosphere that is very distinct from the later games in the series. Kanto is still the region that I remember best and it was great to visit all the towns and cities from the TV show and the memories that came with them. I actually loved that this game is quite a bit smaller than the later ones as well. Kanto was never daunting to me like some of the other regions I've previously played through and because of that, I was able to really take my time enjoying each new route and city on my journey to claim all 8 badges. The world is varied enough to keep each new area fresh and there's still loads of good content to keep you playing even after you beat the elite 4.
I really don't have any major negative things to say about this one. It's a wonderful remake that allows you to go back to a time when completing the Pokedex was an actual real possibility, and experience the roots of a franchise that would take the world by storm. I guess if you're coming from one of the more recent games and expecting the same amount of content in this one you may be let down a bit, but the simplicity and smaller feel of this game really adds to its charm. Anyone who loves Pokemon will love this game too.
2) Portal | PC | 2 1/2 Hours | February 20th, 2021 | 5/5
My second play-through of the original Portal, this time for my Youtube channel.
This is still an absolute classic game and while it has since been completely overshadowed by its sequel, there is still a lot here to enjoy. The story seems non existent at first but as you continue on through more and more tests, it becomes apparent that something is very wrong. Portal has since become a corner stone of Valve software and it's easy to see why.
This game still looks fantastic and is a complete joy to play. The mechanics are simple enough for anyone to understand and get the hang of, and yet they do so much with them that some maps are a real challenge to get through. I can imagine there would be some great speed runs for this game nowadays. The concept is so ingenious and it's executed perfectly here. This is one of only a handful of games I would recommend to someone who has never played a video game before. Very casual friendly with a mysterious and interesting story, this game is one of the best ways to show someone not into the medium just how fun and engaging video games can be. Truly showcasing how far video games have come since Super Mario World.
3) Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy | PC | 5 Hours | February 25th, 2021 | 3.5/5
Game #19 in the Nancy Drew series. I would say this one is not one of my favorites but is still pretty enjoyable and probably among the better group of games in the series. Nancy travels to Ireland as the Maid of Honor for an old friend's wedding. Once she gets there though a big problem has arisen; the groom is missing! Did he get cold feet? Did he take a header off the cliff into the sea below? Is he just playing a dumb prank? It's our job to figure out what happened to him and maybe unravel the mystery of who or what the strange figure flying around the castle is as well.
This entry in the series features a great location and some fantastic music. Ireland is a beautiful country and is well represented here. Unfortunately the Irish themselves fare a little worse as one of the most prominent suspects is a crusty old Irishman whose major defining character trait is an uncomfortable hate for the English. One of my viewers even went so far as to say he's secretly an IRA member haha. It's really bad. The only other Irish character is the bride herself and she seems oddly blasé about her husband to be bailing right before the wedding. It's an interesting cast for sure.
Puzzles are pretty decent but there are a few I ran into that I thought were very obscure for a game of this difficulty level. There's also a bad one near the end where you have to dispose of dangerous chemicals that anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of chemistry can tell you aren't actually very dangerous at all (water does not blow up when mixed with potassium for example).
Overall a decent entry in the series but not one of the absolute best.
4) Super Mario 64 | N64 | 15 Hours | March 2nd, 2021 | 3.5/5
The game that started my love of gaming in the first place. Super Mario 64 will always hold a special place in my heart no matter how old I get. When I found out I was getting laid off back in July of 2020 (along with the entire facility of 350 people) I suddenly found myself with some extra free time at work as motivation plummeted and no one cared anymore. I decided to download this gem on one of the work computers to help kill time at work during my last few weeks there. I never managed to get it finished before we got the boot so I decided to finish it up at home so I could include it in this list.
120 stars is a lot to collect but I managed to do it with the help of Youtube for a few hard to find stars. How does the game hold up? Actually pretty decently considering its age. However the camera is definitely a major issue now and it'll easily be the reason for the vast majority of your deaths, not any of the actual enemies in the game. Trying to get it oriented for a tricky off screen jump can be be a total pain in the ass and it's an absolute nightmare in areas with timed jumps like Rainbow Cruise and Tick Tock Clock. Probably didn't help that I was using a keyboard instead of an actual controller either.
Aside from that the game still plays great and the vast, vast majority of the stars are easily obtainable after a couple attempts. Flying controls like shit unfortunately but it happens so rarely in the game it's never really that big of an issue. The level design is still fantastic after all these years and even on the limited hardware of the N64 no two levels feel alike. You'll have a ton of fun just exploring each level to find each star and power-up. Nothing is too confusing and the platforms naturally lead you to where you need to go. Still a classic and a fantastic revisit every time.
1. Cyberpunk 2077 (PC) | Jan 5 - 75+ hrs | 4/5
2. Wide Ocean Big Jacket (PC) | Jan 9 - 1.5 hrs | 5/5
3. There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension (PC) | Jan 10 - 5 hrs | 4/5
4. Cloudpunk (PC) | Jan 16 - 12 hours | 4/5
5. Pendragon (PC) | Jan 17 - 6 hours | 3.5/5
6. Astrologaster (PC) | Jan 18 - 7 hours | 5/5
CURRENTLY PLAYING:
FUSER (PC)
Yakuza: Like A Dragon (PS4)
Desperados III (PC)
Wattam (PC)
Manifold Garden (PC)
~
1. Cyberpunk 2077 (PC) | Jan 5 - 75+ hours | 4/5 | Post
Well this is a complicated one to sum up, with some of the best and worst aspects of AAA development and design on display and behind the scenes. Cyberpunk 2077 is not the next generation of open world games, or even attempting to be a GTA style simulation in its current state. The AI is simplistic, and there's an unshakeable feeling of playing a rushed product that's months if not years away from its potential. It's an RPG but a messy one, with an upgrade system and UI that could use another design pass and dialogue paths that have more in common with Fallout 4 than a tabletop RPG. The writing embraces the pulpy origins of cyberpunk fiction, not shying away from social commentary and relevant themes, but also using them for flavor and window dressing at times in a way that can feel surface level or culturally regressive. And there's a juvenile voice lurking in there throughout, waiting to rear its head and undercut the largely good.
Yet for all its faults and nitpicks the game gets some big things right, and after initial disappointment subsided and the main path kicked in I found myself consistently engaged for dozens of hours on end. The sheer artistry and level of detail does a lot of the heavy lifting - even when it gives off theme park vibes any random corner of Night City can be stunning, with meaningful verticality, neighborhood variety and interiors packed with environmental storytelling. There's multiple viable approaches to encounters, with better than expected first person mechanics and traversal, and while you do grow powerful that's part of the fun in futuristic combat for me and I still felt punished for getting too greedy. And though there's padding around the edges, there's also an impressive number of memorable characters, questlines, subplots and oddball side stories to unpack and potentially influence. The sheer quality of the art, gamefeel, performances and standout moments add up to a layered dystopia, heavy on depravity but with glimmers of heart.
Such a frustratingly compelling game, with deficiencies in all the genres it attempts to emulate while surpassing them when firing on all cylinders. It has the Fallout disease of too much loot and too many datapads to ignore. Passage of time is handled elegantly and feels natural within the flow of missions. The rain is fake bullshit. The atmosphere is incredible in its aftermath. A game I wish I could love but still enjoyed for what it is. Thankfully encountered no crashes and technical issues were limited to a few random physics freakouts, some audio overlap and moments of wild texture pop-in.
2. Wide Ocean Big Jacket (PC) | Jan 9 - 1.5 hours | 5/5 | Post
Just a cozy little slice of life narrative vignette that goes down easy and sticks with you afterwards. The simple pleasures of a one night campsite vacation explored from multiple viewpoints - two middle school aged friends taking the first steps in a budding relationship, one outgoing and one more introverted, and the cool aunt and uncle in their 30's who say they don't want kids having to play guardian for the night. A side story that follows two of the elderly staff members on premises was also something different and affecting. Characterization is a highlight thanks to the writing, and with a Blendo Games-esque aesthetic and accurate sound design, the game strikes a lighthearted tone with a sense of mood and place that's palpable and authentic despite the minimalist approach.
3. There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension (PC) | Jan 10 - 5 hours | 4/5 | Post
An irreverently original point and click, full of one-off ideas and gags while also serving up a personal story with a sentimental core. While the strength of the comedy, writing and referential humor is subjective, enough of it hit for me to keep things entertaining and I respect the ambition given the very small team. The steady stream of clever puzzles and gameplay twists are the star of the show, with one parody in particular being so spot-on and in my wheelhouse it was worth the price of entry alone.
4. Cloudpunk (PC) | Jan 16 - 12 hours | 4/5 | Post
Of all the cyberpunk games in recent memory, this is the one with the most rain, the most neon, the most ambient synths and all the voxels. By flying car or foot it's an impressively conceived and inspired setting, one I ended up exploring in first person primarily to soak it all in. It's also a bit of a mess, with some uneven characterization and vocal performances, underutilized systems, a few too many catwalks, and an unshakeable feeling that the discourse of the far flung future sounds a lot like 2020.
There's side missions to fulfill and some binary decisions to make as you navigate your first night on the job in a new city, and I found the game clicking simply as an atmospheric delivery sim where you meet the locals. Even if the world building lacks consistency in places and the stories lean on cliches, there's still plenty of cool ideas at play - the effects of runaway capitalism, a society fully integrated with autonomous androids, and the ramifications of a city literally built upon its forgotten past.
5. Pendragon (PC) | Jan 17 - 6 hours | 3.5/5 | Post
My initial impression of Pendragon wasn't the best, but the pedigree of the developer kept me going and I'm glad I was able to warm up to it. The turn-based grid used for encounters takes inspiration from chess over tactics RPG's - one hit is a kill in either direction, and avoiding combat to advance conversations, gauge intentions or escape is a viable option that adds tension. The retelling of the final days of Camelot is steeped in Arthurian lore and medieval flavor, with a script that's punchy and reactive. Each stop along the way holds the promise of a new narrative thread to uncover, party member to recruit, special move to equip or character to unlock as you march towards the inevitable final confrontation. And each attempt is short enough to encourage experimentation, though the scope is fairly contained. The soundtrack is lovely as well.
Repetition has admittedly begun to set in, as each 20-30 minute run starts to feel familiar no matter what you discover or who makes it. The combat doesn't quite come together for me either, particularly at higher difficulties, as you dance around enemies while morale depletes. And while there's a charm to the flat visual style, the game establishes a foreboding tone in spite of its stiff artwork and menu design. Still, it's intriguingly replayable as a storytelling vehicle and I plan to keep poking away at it.
6. Astrologaster (PC) | Jan 18 - 7 hours | 5/5 | Post
Alongside Pendragon I felt the urge to jump forward 1000 years or so to Astrologaster, a historical comedy that's probably best digested in small doses but one that shines the entire way through. It's even more of a narrative experience than the above, a fully voiced picture book set in late 16th century England and based on the true case studies and times of Simon Forman, Elizabethan era "doctor" of astrology and physick. The subject matter is immediately compelling and hilarious, even moreso for Shakespeare or history buffs, and the execution is pitch perfect with a pleasing visual style, witty dialogue in the style of the period, brilliant voice acting and original madrigals before every scene.
The game part has you hearing the ails of each querent, be they medical, fortune telling, or general advice, and choosing a response while consulting the stars. The science is played straight, you'll learn all about Black Bile and Mercury in the First House if you want, but you're really working off intuition to stay in their favor while remaining relatively honest. If you want. Relationships evolve over time as the twists and turns of the colorful cast plays out like a soap opera alongside historical events, with Simon stirring the pot and Forrest Gumping his way through a darkly funny period in English history. Despite limited interactivity it's one of the better examples of educational humor I can recall, telling a story that I'd never expect to see in a game but is perfect for one nonetheless. Coitus post consultatio.
No way in hell I do that again this year. I'm looking forward to just taking it easy and playing whatever is on Apple Arcade and Gamepass for a bit. Not stressing about whether I make it to 52 or not either.
1. Superhot: Mind Control Delete
2. Monster Train
3. Yakuza: Like a Dragon
4. The Messenger
5. The Messenger: Picnic Panic
6. New Super Lucky's Tale
7. Rain on Your Parade
8. Loop Hero
9. Bridge Constructor Portal
10. Guacamelee! 2
11. Sonic Adventure
12. Returnal
13. Sid Meier's Civilization VI
14. Sid Meier's Civilization V
15. Raft
16. Mass Effect
17. Mass Effect 2
18. Mass Effect 3
19. Going Under
20. Darkest Dungeon
21. Streets of Rage 4
22. Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part Two
23. Maiden
24. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
25. Final Fantasy VII Remake: Intermission
26. Stardew Valley
27. Roguebook
28. Death's Door
29. Omno
30. Space Jam: A New Legacy the Game
31. Katamari Damacy Reroll
32. Simulacra
33. Fallout New Vegas
34. King Oddball
35. Luck Be A Landlord
36. Ghost of Tsushima
37. Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island
38. Warioware: Get it Together
39. Pokemon Shield: The Crown Tundra
40. Sunset Riders
41. Metroid Dread
42. Flynn: Son of Crimson
43. Pony Island
44. Slay the Spire
45. It Takes Two
46. Metroid: Samus Returns
47. Pocket Card Jockey
48. Final Fantasy Theatrythm: Curtain Call
49. Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
50. Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker
51. BPM: Bullets Per Minute
52. Mighty Goose
2021 to be the first year for the helluvit.
(As I remember to log a game played or finished, I realized that I play much more than I actually make note of.)
Now Playing: insert title
(Secondarily playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey concurrently on a second play through)
1. Red Dead Redemption 2 (PC) - started it in early December and finished the epilogue early January - went back for more legendary animals.
2. Super Mario World - 96 goals - it's a game I typically enjoy over New Year's, CRT+original HW, and usually play through it in a few days.
3. F-Zero - beat it on master difficulty again. It's always something fun to play, kind of clears my mind to play something else.
4. Super Bomberman 5 - a ton of playing battle mode
5. Space Megaforce - played the "short" version 40+ times so far since January, something I'll often do when I just want 5minutes or so of a shooter
6. Cyber Shadow - somewhere around 9 hours - finished it - the game started averagely, got fun in the middle and then ended up being tedious towards the end.
7. Bowser's Fury - this was incredibly enjoyable. So this is what an open world Mario game feels like. Beat the main part of it; will go back to 100% later on.
8. Dishonored 2 (PC)- I played as Corvo last year and had a blast. Now I'm playing as Emily. Finished it on a mixed kill/no kill play through.
8.1 - Played as Emily again and attempted a ghost/no kill run... So hard but I finished it mostly ghostly and only got a few registers kills cuz of those rats eating up my knocked baddies.
9. Mario Kart 8 + DLC Wii U - erased the save data and started all over again. Had a lot of fun playing and unlocking everything again. Easily played over another 100 hours.
10. Dishonored - Death of the Outsider - this was quite fun. An interesting additional story to flesh out Meggan's story. While only another 5 missions (?), most were really fun and I liked her variation on the powers.
11. Superliminal (PC) - played this a bit last year up to dream 4 or 5 and just finished it today. Quite an interesting take on perspective. Might play it again someday.
12. Assassin's Creed Odyssey- 150(?) hours, main story. Incredibly fun game though the end seemed to be too open.
(Bought the DLC and are going to play through again… later)
13.
14.
15.
Since Spyware is taking a step back from Era and their management of the backlog blitz, I'm going to incorporate some of the features of that into this challenge, too. Namely, a points-based system of -1 for new games purchased and +1 for games beaten to the point of seeing the credits roll.
To keep it manageable to the point of ever hitting a positive balance given subscription services and charity bundles, only games that I pay cash money for count as "purchased." DLC and different games, even if they're included in the same purchase, count separately though. They do when I count them as beaten, so that's just fair.
With that in mind, here are my current stats:
Games Purchased in 2021: -93
Games Beaten in 2021: +92
-----------------------------------------------------
Total: -1
Games Purchased
1. Va11-Hall-A - 1/1/2021
2. Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise - 1/7/2021
3. CrossCode - 1/14/2021
4. Boxboy! + Boxgirl! - 1/15/2021
5. Castlevania Anniversary Collection - 1/15/2021
6. Clubhouse Games - 1/15/2021
7. Panzer Dragoon: Remake - 1/25/2021
8. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - 2/10/2021
9. Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - 2/10/2021
10. Moose Life - 2/16/2021
11. DOOM - 2/18/2021
12. DOOM II - 2/18/2021
13. DOOM 64 - 2/18/2021
14. DOOM 3 - 2/18/2021
15. Arrest of a Stone Buddha - 3/1/2021
16. Spider-Man: Miles Morales - 3/8/2021
17. Astro's Playroom - 3/8/2021
18. Devotion - 3/15/2021
19. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs the Soulless Army - 3/23/2021
20. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs King Abaddon - 3/23/2021
21. Suikoden - 3/23/2021
22. Suikoden II - 3/23/2021
23. White Day: A Labyrinth Named School - 3/23/2021
24. House of the Dead 2 & 3 Collection - 3/25/2021
25. Sly Cooper Collection - 3/25/2021
26. Afrika - 3/28/2021
27. Child of Eden - 3/28/2021
28. Monster Hunter Rise - 4/5/2021
29. Dead Space 2 - 4/5/2021
30. Final Fantasy XIII-2 - 4/5/2021
31. Toree 3D - 4/11/2021
32. The House in Fata Morgana - 4/25/2021
33. Returnal - 4/28/2021
34. Resident Evil: Village - 5/3/2021
35. Hylics 2 - 5/14/2021
36. Aerial_Knight's Never Yield - 5/19/2021
37. Loop Hero - 5/20/2021
38. Little Nightmares II - 5/23/2021
39. Wasteland 3 - 5/23/2021
40. Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions - 5/23/2021
41. Star Wars: Squadrons - 5/23/2021
42. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - 5/23/2021
43. Amnesia: Rebirth - 5/23/2021
44. Lost in Shadow - 5/30/2021
45. Mundaun - 6/4/2021
46. Sakuna of Rice and Ruin - 6/15/2021
47. Okami HD - 6/15/2021
48. Super Mario 3D World & Bowser's Fury- 6/20/2021
49. Californium - 6/25/2021
50. Divination - 6/25/2021
51. Unavowed - 6/26/2021
52. The Wonderful 101 - 6/28/2021
53. Hitman 3 - 7/20/2021
54. Yakuza: Like a Dragon - 7/20/2021
55. F.E.A.R. - 7/28/2021
56. F.E.A.R. 2 - 8/2/2021
57. Splatoon 2 - Octo Expansion - 8/11/2021
58. Kirby: Planet Robobot - 8/18/2021
59. Metroid: Samus Returns - 8/18/2021
60. Polybius - 8/18/2021
61. Kid Icarus: Uprising - 8/18/2021
62. Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy - 8/18/2021
63. Lucah: Born of a Dream - 8/20/2021
64. Umerangi Generation - 8/27/2021
65. Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin - 8/28/2021
66. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem - 9/2/2021
67. Wario World - 9/2/2021
68. Hitman 2 Season Pass - 9/7/2021
69. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart - 9/14/2021
70. Deathloop - 9/15/2021
71. Shin Megami Tensei IV - 9/16/2021
72. Luigi's Mansion - 9/21/2021
73. Get in the Car, Loser! - 9/21/2021
74. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - 9/21/2021
75. West of Loathing - 9/24/2021
76. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - 9/26/2021
77. Romancing SaGa 3 - 10/5/2021
78. Metroid Dread - 10/8/2021
79. Kholat - 10/16/2021
80. Evil Tonight - 10/18/2021
81. Little Nightmares: Secrets of the Maw - 10/20/2021
82. Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water - 10/22/2021
83. Shin Megami Tensei V - 11/24/2021
84. Alan Wake Remastered - 11/24/2021
85. Unsighted - 11/24/2021
86. NEO: The World Ends With You - 11/26/2021
87. Resident Evil 3 Remake - 12/15/2021
88. Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 - 12/15/2021
89. Cris Tales - 12/15/2021
90. Yakuza Remastered Collection - 12/15/2021
91. Immortals Fenyx Rising - 12/15/2021
92. Dadish 2 - 12/21/2021
93. Cthulu Saves Christmas - 12/24/2021
I'm going to try this again, as I haven't had the time to finish this the 3 prior years I've tried.
01. Cyberpunk 2077 (PC) | 1st Jan - 76 hrs | 4.5/5 | Playing on a high end PC helped, but a great experience where the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts, and it's the best looking game I've played.
02. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Remastered (PC) | 10th Jan - 6.5 hrs | 4/5 | The campaign is still as fun as I remember, with enough variety to keep things fresh.
03. Call of Duty: World at War | 16th Jan - 6.5 hrs | 4/5 | The campaign is more fun than I thought it would be, with the Stalingrad missions being standouts for me.
04. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered | 18th Jan - 7 hrs | 4.5/5 | Still a great game that builds off what made MW1 fun.
05. Outriders | 25th Apr - 15.6 hrs | 4/5 | This was unexpectedly better than I was expecting. Great gunplay and powers, and it's definitely an anti-cover shooter.
06. Call of Duty: Black Ops (PC) | 4/5
07. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (PC) | 3.5/5
08. Call of Duty: Ghosts (PC) | 3/5
09. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PC) | 4/5
10. Call of Duty: Black Ops III | 3/5
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