Finished 18 Games in June which has to be my most ever by a huge margin.
Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (7)- This game sure is great for what it is but what it is isn't entirely for me. Finished the Legend Mode and may play some Adventure Mode since that's where people say the "real meat" of the game is, but I'm worried about it not being super satisfying. Guess I'll see!
Street Fighter II (9)- What can be said about SFII that hasn't been said already? This is in my view the biggest leap from an original game to its sequel. This game spawned innumerable copycats (and some legitimately great ones at that) and really created a genre. It's amazing all these years later and it was super cool to play the very difficult arcade original on my Switch through all the way with Ken. Took me a lot longer than it used to.
Detroit: Become Human (8)- Probably the game that finally made me appreciate Quantic Dream. The sheer amount of options present in each chapter is staggering. I love Detroit and the characters therein. The game has some problems to be sure, but it is beautiful, fun, and surprising. As of now it's among my favorite games of 2018, but we will see if I feel the same way by the end of the year if it's top 10 material. My guess is no, but it will be close!
Mega Man 3 (9)- Very likely to be the best classic Mega Man of the NES era. Certainly it's at least as good as 2 with more content, character, Rush the dog instead of "ITEM", and the very good
slide maneuver added. Great music, nice bosses, and a pretty fair challenge throughout. Love this game to death and will swear by it until the end.
Beyond : Two Souls (6) - Well I must admit this is at the very least a beautiful game and the acting by Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe is really good compared to the majority of game performances. Playing this immediately after the pretty great Detroit made its flaws stand out all the more because there is so little meaningful player choice in comparison. The plot does not do anything particularly interesting even if it does have
moments and I can't for the life of me figure out why it was originally told out of chronological order since that did not add anything to the quality of the narrative. It's not a bad game but of the three Quantic Dream games on the PS4 it's the one I'm most hesitant to recommend to anyone. Detroit is such a huge step up in every way.
Mega Man 4 (7)- I feel much lukewarm on Mega Man 4 than I recall since my last playthrough. If it were the only Mega Man game I'd played lately I probably would have loved it, but I do think it's a step down from 3 in a number of key ways. Mostly, it is not nearly as memorable between the so-so music, level design, and bosses. It is a straight up iteration that does less for the series in terms of developing it than pretty much any game within the series prior or since. It's fine overall, but I'd definitely put it in the bottom half of Classic Mega Man games.
Mega Man 5 (7)- I would put this in the bottom half of Classic Mega Man games. It's perfectly serviceable, doesn't do anything wrong per se, and has the same tight and challenging gameplay that one expects from the series. BEAT is a cool addition and offers something to collect so that's nice. I remember liking 6 a lot more so I think Legacy Collection 1 will finish strong even if it sags near the end.
Heavy Rain (7)- I hadn't played this game since it originally came out but this copy came with my digital deluxe copy of Detroit: Become Human. The game does not hold up so well but I think it is still more interesting overall than Beyond: Two Souls even though the acting in this game is considerably worse. Heavy Rain is more experimental and interesting and there were actual consequences for when I failed in this one. I would put it about even with Beyond: Two Souls overall and say that Detroit is clearly the best of the Quantic Dream games on PS4. Can't really recommend Heavy Rain in this day and age but it has its merits to be sure.
Mega Man 6 (9)- Although it's not a popular opinion, 6 may be my favorite of the original 6 NES Mega Man games. I think it does so many things well and the Rush power and jet adapters do a lot to enhance the design of levels. It's a great looking and sounding game that holds up really well and offers solid action and less frustrations than the rest of the series. Clearly the best out of 4-6 and at least as good as 2 and 3 if less iconic.
Arcade Archives: Donkey Kong (8)- Played through all 3 versions of Donkey Kong as well as the caravan 5-minute mode and it is just such a timeless classic. Nice to have this on the Switch and to be able to go back to it for a quick 3-minute game whenever.
Mega Man 7 (8)- I think this has finally climbed into the top half of my favorite games of the 10 Mega Man Classic games so far, even if just barely. I love the art and the music and how big and beautiful the sprites are. They really do not make games this boisterous and colorful anymore on a massive scale, so it's always fun to return to this one. My only real gripes are with the final Wily fight, which is so much harder than literally every other boss in the Classic series that it's laughable. Very unnecessary spike right at the end.
Mega Man 8 (7)- I had a much better time with this game than I ever have before. For whatever reason, I had relatively little difficulty with any portion of the game and that includes the generally terrible "jump, jump, slide, slide!" that is awful but I got through faster than any other playthrough. Overall, Mega Man 8 is now a game I can say I actively enjoy despite its problems. It's very nice to look at and has good (but not particularly memorable) music, although that is tempered by awful cutscenes, horrendous voice acting, and some dorky animations for Mega Man. Really solid game overall and a better Mega Man game than I used to give it credit for. I would put it about middle of the pack in terms of quality for the Classic series.
Mega Man 9 (10)- Having replayed every Classic series Mega Man game this year I can unequivocally state that 9 is the best of the bunch. It removes the excesses of later games in the franchise and gets back to the things Mega Man did best: jumping and shooting. The level gimmicks are all great and unique, I have a use for each and every one of the boss items, and barring a few difficulty spikes in the Wily Castle it all felt pretty fair in its challenge. I love Mega Man 9!
Mega Man 10 (8)- While I still think this is a step down from Mega Man 9 , it is not a huge step down. There are some great stages in here (I'm partial to Sheep Man, Chill Man, and Strike Man) but some level design is not as intentional and the music is not as good nor are the weapons as useful across the board. I think 10 was really solid, but if they were going to just keep going in this same direction then I'm glad the break between this and 11 was so long.
Mario Tennis Aces (7)- Jesus Christ. I can't remember the last time I struggled so much to get through a campaign mode. The Adventure Mode in Mario Tennis Aces is brutally difficult. I think some people flew through it in a matter of 2 hours, but it took me at least 5 hours due to getting stuck at a couple of major walls in the story. The Blooper fight was the biggest barrier I've dealt with in a game in years. Boom Boom and "Bowcien" were also very difficult for me. I guess the Adventure Mode was intended as a long tutorial, but that must be the hardest tutorial since Driver. I'll play some online matches in the future, but I have a headache just thinking about Mario Tennis Aces right now.
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit (8) - A fun, free prelude to Life Is Strange 2 that shows how much DONTNOD has learned about these types of narrative-based adventure games. Chris is a great character who is very charming and his circumstances are easy to empathize with. I look forward to seeing him again in LiS 2.
Splatoon 2 : Octo Expansion (8)- What started out as a frustrating and intimidating DLC ultimately ended up being a great test of my skills and patience. I think Octo Expansion is remarkably good and well worth the cost. Ended up loving it from the easier challenges that I cleared on the first try to the ones I really had to dedicate time to finish there were very few bad levels in the whole bunch. Highly recommended for fans of Splatoon.
Bloodborne (10)-Finished up a new game + that I was roughly halfway through from more than a year ago. It's still an amazing game and easily all-time top 10. The atmosphere, combat, and level design is just unbelievable and I was able to pick up where I left off without a hitch. When the generation is over I think this will be considered the masterpiece.