The Shackled Wolves - 2021 Games Completed Thread

[Karkashan]

This thread is for one very specific purpose; to keep track of all the games we complete during the year of 2021. Post the games you complete throughout the year and under the spoiler I'll do my best to have an up to date list of all the games you post in here. (up to date process will probably be once a week)

Spoiler

Spoiler: ◆ Karkashan

Cyberpunk 2077 (PS4)
Amnesia: Rebirth (PC)
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (NS)
Kill la Kill If (NS)
Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)
Resident Evil VII: Biohazard (PC)
The Medium (XSX)
Resident Evil: Revelations (Wii U)
Cyber Shadow (PC)
Resident Evil 6 (PS4)
Persona 5 Strikers (NS)

Spoiler: ◆ CitizenofVerona

Tales of Berseria (PS4)
Dr. Mario (NS)
Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard (PC)
A Short Hike (NS)
Chrono Trigger (PC)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS4)
Resident Evil 4* (PS4)
Tomb Raider (OG) (PC)
The Last Campfire (NS)
Resident Evil 6 (PS4)
Hitman 2 (PS4)
Dogurai (NS)
Horizon Chase Turbo (NS)
Creature in the Well (PS4)

Spoiler: ◆ EvilTw1n

Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)
Super Metroid (NS)
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE (Wii U)

Spoiler: ◆ bobsilencieux

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (NS)
Guacamelee 2* (NS)

Spoiler: ◆ Koenig

.

Spoiler: ◆ SJMartin79

Immortals: Fenyx Rising (NS)
Bioshock Remastered (NS)
Bioshock 2 (NS)
Bioshock: Infinite (NS)
Bastion (NS)

Spoiler: ◆ SkywardCrowbar

.

Spoiler: ◆ Odo

.

Spoiler: ◆ Juegos

.

Spoiler: ◆ Friedshoes

.

Spoiler: ◆ Mattavelle

.

Spoiler: ◆ Shoulder

XIII (PC)
Serious Sam 4 (PC

Spoiler: ◆ Repomech

.

Spoiler: ◆ SimplyTravis

.

Spoiler: ◆ TheAmazingLSB

Superhot - PC
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.... (?)
Dragon Quest Heroes part one.... (NS?)
TMNT II THE ARCADE GAME - NES?
Astral Chain - for NS ?

Spoiler: ◆GoodTwin

South Park Fracture But Whole (?)

Please remember to type out your game title as Insert Game(Platform Abbreviation) (example: Mega Man 5 (NES)) Please do not italicize or bold it or anything like that, as it can bork the formatting.

Also, a game that is rereleased on a later platform (as in, Virtual Console or what have you) is counted as the platform the game was rereleased on. So Ocarina of Time on the Wii VC is counted as 'Ocarina of Time (Wii)' instead of 'Ocarina of Time (N64)'

A game that releases on both the XB1 and the XSX needs to have the "Optimized for XSX" Tag on it for it to count as XSX. (you can filter for this in your "My Games and Apps" tab) A game that releases on PS4 as well needs to have the "PS5" tag (according to my professional source they're separated in your library as well) to count as the PS5 version. These are not counted as rereleases so they don't fall under the rule above.

Spoiler: Platform Abbreviations

(NES) Nintendo Entertainment System
(SNES) Super Nintendo Entertainment System
(N64) Nintendo 64
(GCN) Nintendo Gamecube
(Wii) Nintendo Wii
(Wii U) Nintendo Wii U
(NS) Nintendo Switch
(GB) Game Boy
(GBC) Game Boy Color
(GBA) Game Boy Advance
(VB) Virtual Boy
(DS) Nintendo DS
(3DS) Nintendo 3DS
(NESCL) Nintendo Classic
(SNESCL) Super Nintendo Classic

(PS1) Sony Playstation
(PS2) Playstation 2
(PS3) Playstation 3
(PS4) Playstation 4
(PS5) Playstation 5
(PSP) Playstation Portable
(Vita) Playstation Vita

(Xbox) Microsoft Xbox
(360) Xbox 360
(XB1) Xbox 1
(XSX) Xbox Series X

(Mobile) Games on Phones
(PC) Games on PC
(C64) Commodore 64


(WS) Wonderswan
(NG) Neogeo
(NGP) Neogeo Pocket
(NNG) Nokia NGage
(3DO) 3DO
(SMS) Sega Master System
(SG) Sega Genesis
(SS) Sega Saturn
(DC) Sega Dreamcast
(GG) Sega Game Gear
(SGM) Sega Genesis Mini

What counts as a completed game? This is mostly open to personal judgement, but if you see a credits sequence more than likely I'll say you've beaten the game (fighting games being an exception due to their nature, however they can be completed if you beat a dedicated story mode and/or the arcade mode with all characters). Episodic games only count after you finish the last part of the game, although there are some exceptions to this. Certain expansions, spinoffs, or DLC's can count as their own game, but a lot of times I would prefer to stick them on as an addendum to the main game instead of their own thing (so that means if you've beaten the main game this year, let me know that you have so I can put the DLC being completed on the same entry as the main one).


An asterisk * denotes a second+ playthrough (in the year of 2020). For example, if I beat Mega Man 5 in January 2020 and March 2020, I'd get the *, but if I beat it in December 2020 and March 2021 it would just be put up normally.


-Note- I either have to know you from another site before you joined TNE or you have to have had a semi active account for six months to be included on this list. (so basically all the old TNE crew is fine. This is just a note for potential new members)


Praise Grima Every Day

 

[BobSilencieux]

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (NS)

I loved this game as much as SJ did. Even after getting 100%, I played for another 30 hours getting every character to level 100 and every one of their weapons to level 30, 166 damage. For no reason.

 

[sjmartin79]

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (NS)

I loved this game as much as SJ did. Even after getting 100%, I played for another 30 hours getting every character to level 100 and every one of their weapons to level 30, 166 damage. For no reason.

So glad you loved it too! The game was enthralling and felt so satisfying.
Now I'm on to Immortals Fenyx Rising.

 

[EvilTw1n]

Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)

The older I get, the better this game used to be.

I reeeeeeeeeally took my time playing ZM this playthrough, and I still beat it in 2:18. I have nothing against short games - ZM just feels like "Metroid in miniature" after playing Samus Returns. It's so...compact. It's like eating really lean barbecue. No fat, but that's where the flavor is.

But it's still barbecue, and therefore, awesome.

 

[Shoulder]

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (NS)

I loved this game as much as SJ did. Even after getting 100%, I played for another 30 hours getting every character to level 100 and every one of their weapons to level 30, 166 damage. For no reason.

I got Age of Calamity for Xmas, so I'm hoping to play through it at some point this year. Good to hear those kinds of impressions, plus what Steve said with it being more like a Zelda game than a Warriors title makes me intrigued even more. My backlog grows...

 

[Karkashan]

Cyberpunk 2077 (PS4)

Cyberpunk 2077, developed by CD Projekt Red, is an...interesting beast to talk about. Even though full development didn't start til around late 2015, a teaser trailer from a few years earlier let us know they were at least in the planning and concept stages already. Which, in retrospect, might've been a mistake as it fed into a hype machine that couldn't stand the thought of delays. Delays that kept happening and happening until it finally launched last month.

Thing is, it could've probably used a couple more months in the oven cause CP2077 is like the most delicious frozen casserole you've ever eaten, but part of it was still cold after you'd taken it out.

There are glitches, there are wonky AI paths, there are T poses, and worst of all there are CTDs. (keep in mind this was all played on a PS4 Pro with an internal 3rd part SSD for an internal drive instead of the stock HDD) There are, however, like 7 (8?) different autosave slots and 20 Manual save slots so I never felt like I lost a lot of progress, it was just annoying and irritating when it happened cause it always seemed to happen at the quietest moments, not the bombastic ones.

Driving feels pretty good, but driving in traffic is a nightmare because everyone else on the road are literal idiots (so like real life I guess). Getting a motorcycle alleviates this problem by almost 90 percent due to being able to weave in and out of traffic and make sharper corners.

The VA for the voice of female V (Makoto from Persona 5, A2 from Nier Automata) freakin' killed it, I must say. I could feel every little emotion she was feeling to a point where it didn't seem like I was directing the conversations, but she was. Keanu as Johnny Silverhand was great too (when he felt unhinged he freakin' sounded like it. When he had those contemplative moments I felt it).

Side Quests are the bread and butter of this game. You never know when it's gonna be a simple 3 minute quest, or you'll start a 5 hour quest chain that feels deeper than any movie you'll watch that'll also unlock an ending choice later on in the game. I didn't 100% them though because there's just...way too many and I'd like to not get stuck on one game for too long this year (like I did in 2020).

My character focused primarily on Crafting and Quickhacking, so my instinctive nature to just go everywhere and loot everything after a fight was well rewarded.

I've lost my train of thought, like I usually do on these, so I'll wrap this up. I put 41 hours into this game (not counting deaths or CTDs) and highly enjoyed 94% of those minutes. I didn't spend money on this game, so perhaps that's coloring my more forgiving perception of this game (got it for Xmas), but even though I loved it I would not recommend people go out and buy it for another 3 months at the least. This Cyberpizza is still a bit frozen in the middle, and needs more time before it can be held up there with the greats.

 

[mattavelle1]

MH:Rise (demo) Switch

I don’t know if this counts but for me it does. Sooooooo I’ve played HH before as a secondary weapon, but I will start maining it as soon as the full Rise drops. I’m in love with it and the Switchaxe so far.

The reason I consider this one beat to me is this. I beat both the beginning monsters, and I beat all 3 intermediate monsters (meaning I beat the 2ndary monsters first then beat the Mitiz to finish the quest and solo by myself).

This game is already amazing to me I can’t wait for the full game to drop!

 

[Karkashan]

MH:Rise (demo) Switch

I don’t know if this counts but for me it does. Sooooooo I’ve played HH before as a secondary weapon, but I will start maining it as soon as the full Rise drops. I’m in love with it and the Switchaxe so far.

The reason I consider this one beat to me is this. I beat both the beginning monsters, and I beat all 3 intermediate monsters (meaning I beat the 2ndary monsters first then beat the Mitiz to finish the quest and solo by myself).

This game is already amazing to me I can’t wait for the full game to drop!

No I am not adding demos lol, although you're free to use the thread to get hyped about monhun.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Tales of Berseria (PS4)

This is my third Tales game in just over a year, apart of me thinks it's my favorite, apart of me thinks it's my least favorite.

Why favorite? The story and characters are top tier. At a certain point I was just hooked, gripping my controller dying to see what came next. The Tales games are known for optional "skits" that are visual novel style conversations between the party members, and these were great as always. I laughed quite a bit at this game. Even the comic relief cutesy cat character that could have been unbearable was one of my favorite characters. The story itself can be pretty dark and some scenes are messed up. The character's aren't your typical "gotta save the world with the power of friendship" gang either. Some of them work together because it's beneficial to their own selfish desires to align. Admittedly, the main character Velvet is a bit much at times with the edginess, but it was a great and memorable journey all the same. Returning to towns as the story progresses, with the townsfolk reacting to the horrible shit I've done makes the world feel alive.

Before the final showdown I did something I rarely do. At this point I was 60 hours in and I wasn't ready to see the credits. I whipped out a guide so I could do all the sidequests, see all the skits, and conclude every loose thread just to get more playtime with these characters. Granted, there is a post-game I haven't touched, usually when I see the main antagonist lose, the story end, the characters go there separate ways, I just get satisfied and don't have much desire to play more, there are some exceptions though.

Why my least favorite? These are some dull ass environments. Generic forest, generic beach, generic countryside, generic forest but the leaves are a different colour. There are next to no puzzles like in the other games, nothing exceptional to find, etc. I'm pretty sure I can grid out these levels on graph paper for D&D as well. Most of them are just corridors with a bigger square or rectangular room. Sometimes you'll have a field with multiple exits, but again, nothing exciting to look at. The only things to find are treasure chests and elite monsters. Symphonia's dungeons were great, Vesperia a step down, and this nothing exciting at all.

I'm also not a big fan of the gear system. It's alright, just tedious. Instead of going to a new area and finding/buying a better sword, or armor, or boots, you're encourage to upgrade your gear. So cool, I'll upgrade my sword to +3, and whoops, I just killed a monster and found a better sword, even with the +3. You find sooooo many repeats of the same gear that your inventory gets very clogged. This one might have a +4% earth damage attribute, and this one -5% paralysis, so nothing stacks in the menus. Can't just throw it all away because you can dismantle them, one at a time, for materials to upgrade gear, but on top of that, the more you upgrade gear the more you get in return when you dismantle. So much time in the menus just cleaning it all up, upgrading everything at least once to get precious materials. Sometimes the simple "new town, new sword" system is all you need.

So yeah, great story and characters, tedious menu-ing and dull environments. I probably would have stopped if the characters and story weren't as good as they were. This game is actually a prequel to the previous title, Zesteria, which I probably won't play, I hear it's less remarkable in most ways. Maybe one day, but I'm much more interested in the upcoming Tales of Arise.

 

[Karkashan]

This game is actually a prequel to the previous title, Zesteria, which I probably won't play, I hear it's less remarkable in most ways.

Zesteria is worth eventually playing for two reasons: it's set in the same world as Berseria so you get to see characters like Eizen's sister Edna etc and a lot of the skits are hilarious.

It also has a wacky camera and even blander environments than Berseria (says a lot that Berseria's dungeons are an improvement) and an ending plot that makes you roll your eyes at how anime it is.

 

[Karkashan]

Oh, right I almost forgot.

Amnesia: Rebirth (PC)

Fun. With a very large helping of
nononononononononononononononoohgodnonononononononononononononononononononononoohgodnonononononononononononononononononononononoohgodnonononononono

Having Tasi freak out about the dark when I was already doing that definitely made thing worse lol.

 

[Juegos]

Oh, right I almost forgot.

Amnesia: Rebirth (PC)

Fun. With a very large helping of
nononononononononononononononoohgodnonononononononononononononononononononononoohgodnonononononononononononononononononononononoohgodnonononononono

Having Tasi freak out about the dark when I was already doing that definitely made thing worse lol.

I think I played so much of Frictional Games right before Rebirth released that I was a little desensitized to their design, so it didn't scare me as much anymore. There's a chase sequence. Now comes the maze. Oh, this is that part where you are forced to go into a closed area where you already know the monster is lurking. Ah, yes, body horror. I bet the part where I'm forced to personally hurt someone innocent is coming up. And where's my old friend, horrifying implications? Ah, there he is. And so on. I love Frictional and wanted to write about all the ways that they weave various horror elements into their games, but I think I should have taken a short break before playing Rebirth, even though I did like it.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Dr. Mario (NS)

I was browsing the eshop, messing around with the system settings, looking at what people on my friend's list was playing, etc. Typical "I'm bored and not sure what I want to do" feeling. Saw Dr. Mario and figured I'd do a couple of rounds. Fast forward to 2 in the morning and I'm on round 15. Tonight I finished all 24 rounds, something I never thought I'd do. Lots of fun, stressful at times. Not sure if it's the controller or the game, but sometimes the button would double press on it's own, causing the pills to rotate an extra time, messing me up.

Zesteria is worth eventually playing for two reasons: it's set in the same world as Berseria so you get to see characters like Eizen's sister Edna etc and a lot of the skits are hilarious.

It also has a wacky camera and even blander environments than Berseria (says a lot that Berseria's dungeons are an improvement) and an ending plot that makes you roll your eyes at how anime it is.

Perhaps I'll give it a go one day. I do love rolling my eyes at anime.

 

[BobSilencieux]

Guacamelee 2 (NS)

I bought this game at least 18 months ago, maybe more, and for some reason never got round to playing it. I think I just wasn't very excited to play it, which makes me an idiot because I loved the first one and loved this one too! So much so that I got all the DLC and all the achievements... except one. Just gotta beat the game again on hard mode for a true100%.

 

[EvilTw1n]

Super Metroid (NS)

About 3-and-a-half hours, 60% items. Yeah, big surprise, ET beat Super again. But I wanted to compare Samus Returns to it. And tbh...SR has a lot going for it, in comparison. It's immediately easy to step into, control-wise, and the combat is just flat-out better.

OTOH, I always do a little dance with Super, where at first I try to play it with stock controls, and end up wondering "how is this game my GOAT?" Then I remap shoot/jump and it feels great, and the worries melt away when I get used to the momentum and weight of jumping.

But the combat simply isn't as fulfilling. The GBA games were snappier feeling, but just as spammy. SR, though, gave some much needed variety...to the point that this is the first time Super has ever felt like a step backwards in any department for me.

Super still wins out, of course. Better map, higher ceiling with movement mechanics, classic tunes, etc. But the crown is getting heavier, man.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard (PC)
A Short Hike (NS)

Frog Detective 2 is an hour long detective game where you solve the case of a broken parade. An invisible wizard moved into town and the town wants to throw a welcome parade. The night before,, someone destroys it and it's up to you to crack the case. You talk to the townsfolk, find items they want and piece it together. That said, this is no Phoenix Wright, it's incredible basic and there's no real puzzle solving to be done.

That said, I love it to bits and I want everyone who still has a soul to play it. It's cheap and can run on a toaster (same goes for the first one). The dialogue is incredibly charming and funny. There's gonna be a third one, and my hope is that they'll bundle all three for consoles so more people can get eyes on it, regardless how low the required specs are for pc. Hell, I'd buy them again for Switch.

A Short Hike is a game about going out of town for a day to a park. Your task is to get to the summit of the mountain and all you need is around 7 golden feathers, the more feathers, the more times you can jump and the longer you can climb. How you get them is up to you. Buy them, find them, or help out your fellow park goers. There's hats to collect, a series of races to compete in, a new sport called beach stick ball, a fishing journal to fill out, and more. Someone lost their watch, someone lost there camping permit and wants to be legal again. You can dig up treasure, go treasure hunting with a few clues, find sea shells, etc. To 100% it it can take 4 hours or so, and a lot of it doesn't even help you reach the summit, but I fucking loved this game.

It's such a chill game. I played in handheld mode with headphones and it was such a cozy experience. Like the main character who tends to over worry (hey! like me) the game is about forgetting all the troubles from the city life and just going at your own pace on this island. A lot of the characters already know you by name so the game already has a sense of community. There's no combat, and if you just rush it then I can see why some wouldn't like it, but I can't recommend it enough as a "unwind" game.

I wanted to talk about these two games together for that reason. Both of these games are a good way to decompress and have a laugh along the way. Hell, A Short Hike got a bit too close to home at the end when you reach the summit.

I get in these moods sometimes, usually after playing huge games like Tales of Beseria, but sometimes I just gotta buy a bunch of indie games. That's where the interesting stuff can be found most of the time these days. If Ubisoft made A Short Hike I can guarantee you you can buy gold feathers with real money, and the game would just give you a map with all the objectives listed on it from the get go instead of exploring at your own pace. Rabble rabble modern AAA gaming rabble.

Anyways yeah, these games are lovely.

 

[Karkashan]

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (NS)

Playing through my backer copy finally. As good as the underlying game is, and as many improvements they've made to the game via updates, I will probably never play this version again considering I own it on PC/PS4/Xbox.

 

[Karkashan]

Kill la Kill If (NS)

Power went off for close to two hours so I was playing something I had downloaded already on my switch. This game is fairly short but was enjoyable to go through.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Chrono Trigger (PC)

I played this in college and thought it was okay. I've been meaning to play it for a long time now to see if I was missing something. I do like it more now but it still isn't my favorite JRPG or SNES game. I think my main issue is similar to Secret of Mana's in how the characters don't have much to say or do after their introduction missions. The in-game explanation of why you can only have three in your party is that more than three people can't travel through time together. So since Crono is mute and you can take any other 2 characters for the most part, they often just say generic lines.

When you're forced to take a certain character, the writing really shines, I wanted to see more of that. I'd rather if every character could travel together just to see them bounce off each other. Oh well. Everything else is pretty dang good. Imaginative story, fun battle system, and possibly the most beautiful SNES game.

Though, the last two boss fights can get fucked. I hate when final bosses in RPGs just spam their most powerful moves as a cheap way to make it difficult. Fuck that.

 

[Karkashan]

Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)

Fusion Mode can fuck right off holy shit.

 

[Karkashan]

Resident Evil VII: Biohazard (PC)

A wild, tense, immersive ride from start to finish that fits 100% within the RE universe. I used guides to get a sub 4 hour clear.

(also the game is far more bearable for me when I'm not playing it in VR)

 

[sjmartin79]

View attachment 3721

Resident Evil VII: Biohazard (PC)

A wild, tense, immersive ride from start to finish that fits 100% within the RE universe. I used guides to get a sub 4 hour clear.

(also the game is far more bearable for me when I'm not playing it in VR)

Steve2 played it when it came out, and I watched him play it like a horror movie. Definitely more "horror" than the series has had for awhile.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Definitely more "horror" than the series has had for awhile.

Are you kidding me? Have you seen Ada in 6?



That scarf with those boots? Terrifying.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS4)

For starters, I guess I'll label this as PS4. This is the PS3 version but I played it via PS Now, so I guess that's a virtual console scenario?

Where my actual PS3 decided playing games was just too much work, I was debating whether or not to get another one. I don't use it much, and most of the games I have for it are available elsewhere. I thought about it a bit and learned that all the exclusives I care about like Infamous, Sly Cooper, God of Wars, etc are on PS Now. Demon's Souls got remade so I don't think I'm losing anything I really care about. Side note: I might have to buy OG Resident Evil 2 and 3 for Gamecube.

Aaaanyways, I decided to buy a month of PS Now to see how it is since it streams PS3 games, no option to download like PS2 or PS4 games. Honestly, it works really well. My internet is solid, and I used an ethernet cable rather than WIfi so no complaints at all. I think I'll just buy a month of PS Now whenever I want to replay those exclusives. I don't think I'll renew it right away after this month is up, but it's nice knowing that the option is there and it works well.

As for Batman, yeah, still a GOAT-tier game. Asylum I think is still my favorite out of all of them. Minus the weak final boss fight, this game is just stellar from top to bottom. I love this portrayal of Batman, I love the Metroidvania element of it rather than open world with much smaller levels, the villian selection is great for a introduction to a new reboot series, with great teases of future villians. The art style, the music, the atmosphere, all perfect.

And Poison Ivy is damn fine in this game.

 

[EvilTw1n]

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE (Wii U)

[A.K.A. "Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt - the Game."]

85 hours, give or take, over 4+ years.

This easily could've been beaten 4 years ago, mind you. But that would have required moving on. I loved having this game as a sort of "I could always go back to TMS#FE's version of Tokyo"-constant in my life. And really, that's not something that I've had with any game since I was a kid. It's just so damn good natured. The disc must be made of gummy bears and candy bars. It's a pure shot of earnestness in the eternal battle against cynicism. Even when I was grinding, this game was always a blast, always a bright spot, never a chore.

That's mostly due to the battle system. If I were to put a game like Xenoblade down and try to come back after 6 months, I'd be completely lost. That never once happened with TMS#FE. I literally put this game down for a year, picked it back up, and was instantly up to speed. It has all of the accessibility of a classic turn-based RPG, but with just enough accents for strategic defense, item use, elemental damage, and party construction. And every battle looks like a well-choreographed JPOP video, to boot.

Oh, I know. You don't like idol culture. You think the subject matter here is too twee. You want a real "serious" JRPG...with flying mechs in oddly medieval settings, and upskirt fanservice, and teenagers in their underwear going to punch god in the face. Because that's mature, right? TMS#FE laughs at this sort of prick waiving by never, ever taking itself seriously. It's in on the joke. It knows that it's a summer anime. Atlus made something completely different, secure in their skills, comfortable in their own skin. In an odd way, it's as "adult" a JRPG as you'll find, so long as you acknowledge your own inner otaku. Don't get me wrong, "I can't like a game like that!" is what sunk this game, which I sympathize with. But that's insecurity talking, and insecurity probably did more to screw over this game's prospects than the graphics or presentation.

If you can't get down with a self-aware weeb anime in pastel art, you're missing out. As soon as I saw the Direct trailer, I knew I had to play TMS. But I was also in a "I can't like a game like that"-headlock. So I let it sit, right up until I beat Breath of the Wild. At that point, I wasn't even sure I needed to play other videogames. I had played the best. Why even get a Switch? But there was TMS sitting on my shelf. In its own way, it became a game just as important to me as Zelda. And in the end, the rest of the world of gaming came back around to this, too. Japanese games have had a huge renaissance after the era of brown-grey shooters, and this is the most Japanese freaking videogame I've ever played. Hell, just when you think it can't get more damn Japanese, it goes full Ronin Warriors-transformation sequence to fight a sky dragon.

Bad parts? I started this save up with pretty much only the final boss to go...and my GamePad battery didn't make it (the last quarter of the fight, I was sitting close to the TV, plugged into the wall charger). 57 rounds. Damage sponge of a boss who has a second form that is even more of a damage sponge, and has a near insta-death attack. Thanks, Atlus. I didn't need those fingernails, anyways.

Otherwise? I love this game to pieces. I love what it stands for. It may not be the greatest turn-based JRPG ever, but it's my favorite.

So why did I beat it? Because I already have the Switch version to start over with. See you in another 4 years.

 

[Karkashan]

Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS4)

For starters, I guess I'll label this as PS4. This is the PS3 version but I played it via PS Now, so I guess that's a virtual console scenario?

Yeah whatever platform you play PS Now from when it comes to streaming counts as that platform. So PS4, PS5, or PC.

Side note: I might have to buy OG Resident Evil 2 and 3 for Gamecube.

 

[sjmartin79]

Immortals: Fenyx Rising (NS)

I beat this game 100% last night, and I absolutely loved it!
The graphics are like Breath of the Wild, though more "cartoony". The voice acting was great. The writing was the perfect mix of epic and comedy. Prometheus and Zeus were the narrators during the entire adventure, and at first it was offputting because of the comedic tone of part of it, but once you realized that was the tone of the whole game - Epic adventure and battles mixed with a comedic story, then it all fits.
The upgrade system for weapons, armor, and abilities was fun and very "Greek Mythology" with how they did it. I will say that because I was 100% the game, I was definitely overpowered by the end of the game, but that also felt natural with the story, and it felt good to just crush some enemies.
Instead of temples or shrines, Fenyx Rising has "Vaults of Tartarus". Each one is different, whether it is about battling, puzzles, strength, or platforming. They are ranked 1 to 3 stars in terms of difficulty. Some of the 3 stars are no joke. There were a few I spent close to an hour on that should not have taken that long because I wanted to get the secret chest, and they make you work for the secret chest sometimes. There are also "Boss" vaults that do take 45 minutes or so to get through just because they are that long. It all feels very rewarding.
Sprinkled around the map are "Myth" challenges, whether it is skill with your arrow (upgrading the skill tree makes this much easier), sliding puzzle frescos, constellation challenges (my favorite), etc, not to mention chest, Epic Chests, Guarded Chests, and Midnight Chests. There is a ton to find and do, as well as lots of enemies. You'll also run into "Legendary" enemies and "Mythical" enemies. Those are not to be tackled early on. Will wipe you out.
The gods you meet along the way are fully realized characters with fun quests, leaning into the drama and family dysfunction of Greek Mythology.
Also, as you get new armor, you get new "visuals" for it as well, so you're able to get different colors and looks to your armor and weapons, not to mention a lot of customization for your Fenyx.
If you are looking for a fun Zelda-like game, this is one for you.

 

[TheAmazingLSB]

Superhot - PC

Suprthot is a complete mindfuck....

The gameplay is fun, but the way the story manipulates you is genius....

 

[Shoulder]

XIII (PC)

(This is the original from 2003, and not the remake)

A long time coming I think because I played the original demo back in the day, but never took the plunge until I heard a remake was being developed, and GOG had the original on sale, so yay for sales!

Not going to spend too much time talking about this, but what I will say is it has aged rather gracefully, and overall still feels like a relatively modern game. Mind you, it doesn't always play like a modern game, and the AI is a good example of this. Maybe it's just that era of games, but AI at this point got really wonky. It was definitely the weakest part of XIII, and brought it down quite a bit.

I think level design, voice acting, and the general storyline held up pretty well, and I think in general, the gameplay is satisfying. Taking out enemies stealthily never seems to get old, and the comic-book style pop-ups, noises, flashes, and other details work in the game's favor. Gunplay though is hit or miss as it feels like some of the guns have way too much recoil, plus some cannot aim good unless you're less than 10 feet it seems (AK-47 sucks ass mostly I think).

I'd give it a solid 7.5/10 if I had to score it. Good music, good graphics even today, good story line, and characters, but weak AI, and gunplay unless you use the crossbow (MVP weapon of the game). XIII really sells with its aesthetic, and if you look beyond its faults, it's enjoyable. But one aspect of the game that I hate is how the checkpoint system works. You cannot manually save the game at any point in the level, and instead it's a checkpoint based save system. So if you die, or fail the mission, there are times when you go all the way back to the beginning of the level because a checkpoint never occurred, or it's before a boss, but it still takes you a good minute or so to reach that point. The final boss was especially tiresome because the game saves your checkpoint, then you must go down the slowest ladder in a game for a good couple hundred feet, then you have a non-skippable cinematic (the FMV cinematics you can skip, but not the in-game ones, which is odd), and then you get to the fight. I just wished there were at least double the checkpoints, and especially one right before a boss.

Having played this, I do feel compelled to play the remake just to see what has been updated besides just the graphics. If many of the gameplay elements have improved, plus the checkpoint system, AI, then maybe I can look past the graphics.

EDIT: Oh wow. the remake looks bad...like seriously bad. Like, how could you make this game worse? Yeah...maybe I'll just skip the remake, and cherish the original as the cult classic that it is.

 

[Karkashan]

The Medium (XSX)


A fairly short but old school feeling horror game from the makers of Layers of Fear.


Very enjoyable romp with some absolutely gorgeous visuals. If you have gamepass and 8 to 10 hours, give this game a shot.

 

[BobSilencieux]

Guacamelee 2 (NS) *

The hard mode run. Loved every minute of it.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Resident Evil 4* (PS4)

Was in the mood to play it so I did something I never did before: unlock the Hand Cannon. I never really spent any time in Mercenaries mode before but it was pretty fun, some levels with certain characters were frustrating, i.e. Leon on most of them.

Also realized I never did Assignment Ada on this version, so did that.

Only weapon I haven't unlocked then was the PLR-412, so had to do Professional mode, and boy, is Professional mode just not fun in certain parts. So with my new weapons unlocked, I had to do another run just to make a joke out of it all.

 

[Karkashan]

Resident Evil: Revelations (Wii U)

Playing RE7 in anticipation of RE8 put me in a Resident Evil kinda mood, and then one of my friends started a playthrough so since I was on vacation anyway I thought "hey, I'll play it 'with' him, that sounds fun".

In some ways, it's really easy to tell this game started life as a 3DS game, but man that is one bona fide AAA chunky 3DS game that works completely well as an HD console RE with some simple texture/model uprezzing.

I really do like how the game blends the "punch it in the face, Chris" aesthetic of RE5, makes Jill the main protag, and gives us a nice variety of oneshot missions and a huge sprawling interconnected cruise ship to run out of ammo in.

 

[Karkashan]

Cyber Shadow (PC)

Got it through Gamepass. Very fun and cool bosses.

Bit of a gigantic pain in the ass at certain points though.

 

[mattavelle1]

Cyber Shadow (PC)

Got it through Gamepass. Very fun and cool bosses.

Bit of a gigantic pain in the ass at certain points though.

I’m really interested in this game if for no other reason that Yahte Club games produced it I believe or helped develop it.

 

[Karkashan]

I’m really interested in this game if for no other reason that Yahte Club games produced it I believe or helped develop it.

They published it, yeah. It's very fun and if you've got time to die several hundred times during the course of the game as you memorize patterns and stuff I'd definitely say it's worth it. I had to spread my playthrough of it out though because, for whatever reason, I would finish a stage and just run out of patience for that kind of game design.

 

[sjmartin79]

Resident Evil: Revelations (Wii U)

Playing RE7 in anticipation of RE8 put me in a Resident Evil kinda mood, and then one of my friends started a playthrough so since I was on vacation anyway I thought "hey, I'll play it 'with' him, that sounds fun".

In some ways, it's really easy to tell this game started life as a 3DS game, but man that is one bona fide AAA chunky 3DS game that works completely well as an HD console RE with some simple texture/model uprezzing.

I really do like how the game blends the "punch it in the face, Chris" aesthetic of RE5, makes Jill the main protag, and gives us a nice variety of oneshot missions and a huge sprawling interconnected cruise ship to run out of ammo in.

I love RE: Revelations! I played it once on 3DS and once on Switch. It's a great game. I need to get around to playing 2.

 

[sjmartin79]

Bioshock Remastered (NS)

I finished Bioshock last night.

Spoiler: Spoiler

I knew something was up with Atlas, it just felt wrong, but I was not prepared for the huge twist.

This was a great game! Holds up very well, and I'm excited to start Bioshock 2 tonight. To me, this game felt like a mashup of Metroid Prime and the Arkham games. I loved the aesthetics of the game as well as all the different powers. I especially appreciate when a game rewards you for exploring.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

@sjmartin79
I wasn’t a big fan of Revelations 1, but I did enjoy 2 more. It still doesn’t rank super high on my RE totem pole, but it was a good time.

And glad you like Bioshock. I still love it and is one of those games I can replay often.

 

[Karkashan]

@sjmartin79 When you get done with Bioshock 2, make sure to check out Minerva's Den.

 

[TheAmazingLSB]

After all this time I finally beat The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild....

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Tomb Raider (OG) (PC)
The Last Campfire (NS)

Tomb Raider is celebrating it's 25th anniversary with the devs doing some celebrations on social media. Each month is focused on a different game starting with the first, so that's all the incentive I needed to replay it. Can't say much more about it that I haven't already multiple times, so yeah, still good stuff.

Last Campfire is a pretty chill puzzle game that took me around 6-7 hours. I really love it, it's what I needed right now. There's no combat so you can focus entirely on solving puzzles. There's nothing here that stumped me like Portal, but I still had a great time. Similar to A Short Hike, this is a perfect rainy day/wearing pajamas/bundle in blankets/drinking hot chocolate kind of game.

The story and dialogue also got me right in them feels. Like, was this game written for me or something?

This game was made by the staff who made the WiiWare titles Lost Winds and its sequel. I immediately thought of those when I saw the trailer for this. Turns out those guys left Frontier and joined Hello Games. so those are a good comparison in terms of difficulty and style. I hope these guys can make more games like these.

 

[Karkashan]

Resident Evil 6 (PS4)

In terms of combat mechanics I feel it was a good leap forward and I like how we got to see Sherry grown up and kicking ass.

7/10, too many cheap gotcha deaths. Didn't like where they took Chris' character in this game.

Okay but in all seriousness, overall I feel like I do like the game and I like (for the most part) where the story went (as hard as it went on the whole cheesy B movie action/horror flick shtick at least).

Played the game with COV all the way through (and I'm so, so sorry you had to deal with the jank that was playing as Agent while I played Ada in her campaign) and had a super fun time. I died less than him overall but he had a better accuracy score usually and wound up with far more S ranks than me. Playing online felt super solid (dat Capcom netcode pulling through) as there were only a few brief moments of desync/ skipping when it came to witnessing each other move to the sides of rooms to kick boxes.

Speaking of kicking, while I do realize they probably put it in there for balance/challenge reasons, I gotta say I wasn't the biggest fan of having a stamina meter. Several times I'd be in the thick of things, pulling off some amazing wombo combos and then my character would just....slightly flail in the general direction of someone. But walking up behind a baddie and just yeeting him off a balcony? Mwah, perfection.

Shoutout to the camera for being the number 1 cause of death throughout all four playthroughs cause it would fuck with us during chase sequences and one or both of us would die. (also screw that stealth section in Chapter 2 of Sherry's campaign. More specifically that Serpent Emblem that you have to shoot to collect but can't shoot or else the big scary insta kill asshole will just come charging into the room out of nowhere. I'm sure there's a way to get it but after dying to that BS twice we gave up on that one) Also there's an option to "auto complete" QTEs if you hate those but Capcom decided "let's not be consistent" for some dumbass reason and some QTEs you can't fail (and there's no rhyme or reason for which ones can or cannot be failed).

One thing I have to give this game is enemy variety. Not just the more outlandish evolved creatures but also the regular J'avo and Zombies had different permutations, weapons, and would die in unique ways if you pulled off a melee kill sometimes.

We yeeted through this game in 4 nights of intense (and often silly) gaming sessions, far faster than either of us expected. I may not like this game as much as RE5 but I definitely will add it to the cherished Jolly Cooperation history books.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Resident Evil 6 (PS4)

I don't have much else to add to what she said. I appreciate this game, clearly this had a ton of work put into it with all the enemy variety, animations, environments, cutscenes, etc, but it does fumble in more than a few ways. I get the feeling they wanted this to be the start of a new saga in the series, they hint at a new enemy faction called the Family, Jake gets a post game cutscene of fighting monsters in another country and Ada takes a new job, but after the reception I imagine they got cold feet and "restarted" with 7. There it was the Connections funding the icky BOW proect, Ada hasn't been seen since besides RE2make, nor has Jake.

Still, I had a fun time with it, except for Ada's campaign. It was originally single player but they patched in a faceless, nameless Agent character to tag along and boy is it a tag along. Long sections where Kark was solving puzzles or zip lining around were boring because Agent can't interact with puzzles, key items, or even doors. So all I did was shoot a few monsters when they showed up. It was a disappointing cap to an otherwise silly yet fun co-op game.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Hitman 2 (PS4)

Bit late getting to this one, but close to when Hitman 3 launched I figured it was a good time to get back to the series. I don't regret waiting on this one as I did burn myself out on the series once I discovered how great Blood Money is a few years back. In fact, I'm glad I did wait as I wanted to play this when I wanted to and enjoy it rather than play it out of obligation.

This game is fantastic. I do have to play Blood Money again but this one might just be my favorite of the series now. Each map is so well designed and varied in terms of setting and construction. Hitman 2016 was also really good but a few maps took place in big buildings like a hotel or hotel/hospital, or a palace. These missions are good, very good, but I like it when the map has multiple locations and buildings. 2 nails this as you go to a race track with the track itself, VIP area with bars and restaurants, and a corporate office where engineers are designing new cars and other tech. Another map is a suburban town block with multiple houses, and another is on an island with a villa, reception, huts, spa/pool, restaurant, bar, gym and a smaller island. Sure there is a bank level which is great too, but variety is key here. I don't mind single locations if there are other types to break it up.

I think that's what makes 2 better than 2016 for me. It may be called "2" but it's essentially Season 2. I guess being episodic didn't work out well enough for them with 2016 so they decided to do a more traditional release. There are some new mechanics and whatnot, but it's very similar.

I was never too interested in the main stories of these games. I always found the stories to be more of a way to tie all the missions together. After finishing this one though I feel like I should play 3 soon. I will wait a bit though, wouldn't want to get burnt out again.

Ultimately, I just find Hitman so fun. I play them as puzzle games, trying to solve how to pull off these elaborate kills, making it seem like an accident and leaving the area without any evidence I was ever there. In that suburban mission I disguised myself as a realtor agent and brought the target to the house for sale. I showed him around trying to sell him the house but 47 doesn't know much about real people living normal lives so listening to him describe each room was hilarious, I laughed quite hard, especially during the room where someone died and you can still see the bloodstains. Hearing him struggle to describe what people use a living room for, but going into explicit detail on how the person died based on the blood patterns, location and handprint was just perfect (then I killed him in the basement and left him in the vault). In fact, disguising as other professions or people and talking to others always amused.

Target: I hope this won't be a waste of time, I want a perfect execution
47 (as a realtor): Oh, I assure you it will...

Or

Target: What do you plan to do with these rebellious workers?
47 (disguised as a foreman): I find it best to study the problem, learn all I can, approach every angle, and once I know enough, eliminate the problem.

Never gets old hearing 47 talk in double entendre. His voice actor is perfect for the role too, I can't imagine anyone else voicing him.

Anyways, it's a shame only Hitman 3 is on Switch for you Switch only people, as these games are fantastic. Based on the story I doubt 3 is a good starting point, but then again it's not Shakespeare or Metal Gear by any stretch. I just love these games so much, I can't think of another series that just makes me this happy. Not sure what that says about me as a person.

 

[mattavelle1]

Hitman 2 (PS4)

Bit late getting to this one, but close to when Hitman 3 launched I figured it was a good time to get back to the series. I don't regret waiting on this one as I did burn myself out on the series once I discovered how great Blood Money is a few years back. In fact, I'm glad I did wait as I wanted to play this when I wanted to and enjoy it rather than play it out of obligation.

This game is fantastic. I do have to play Blood Money again but this one might just be my favorite of the series now. Each map is so well designed and varied in terms of setting and construction. Hitman 2016 was also really good but a few maps took place in big buildings like a hotel or hotel/hospital, or a palace. These missions are good, very good, but I like it when the map has multiple locations and buildings. 2 nails this as you go to a race track with the track itself, VIP area with bars and restaurants, and a corporate office where engineers are designing new cars and other tech. Another map is a suburban town block with multiple houses, and another is on an island with a villa, reception, huts, spa/pool, restaurant, bar, gym and a smaller island. Sure there is a bank level which is great too, but variety is key here. I don't mind single locations if there are other types to break it up.

I think that's what makes 2 better than 2016 for me. It may be called "2" but it's essentially Season 2. I guess being episodic didn't work out well enough for them with 2016 so they decided to do a more traditional release. There are some new mechanics and whatnot, but it's very similar.

I was never too interested in the main stories of these games. I always found the stories to be more of a way to tie all the missions together. After finishing this one though I feel like I should play 3 soon. I will wait a bit though, wouldn't want to get burnt out again.

Ultimately, I just find Hitman so fun. I play them as puzzle games, trying to solve how to pull off these elaborate kills, making it seem like an accident and leaving the area without any evidence I was ever there. In that suburban mission I disguised myself as a realtor agent and brought the target to the house for sale. I showed him around trying to sell him the house but 47 doesn't know much about real people living normal lives so listening to him describe each room was hilarious, I laughed quite hard, especially during the room where someone died and you can still see the bloodstains. Hearing him struggle to describe what people use a living room for, but going into explicit detail on how the person died based on the blood patterns, location and handprint was just perfect (then I killed him in the basement and left him in the vault). In fact, disguising as other professions or people and talking to others always amused.

Target: I hope this won't be a waste of time, I want a perfect execution
47 (as a realtor): Oh, I assure you it will...

Or

Target: What do you plan to do with these rebellious workers?
47 (disguised as a foreman): I find it best to study the problem, learn all I can, approach every angle, and once I know enough, eliminate the problem.

Never gets old hearing 47 talk in double entendre. His voice actor is perfect for the role too, I can't imagine anyone else voicing him.

Anyways, it's a shame only Hitman 3 is on Switch for you Switch only people, as these games are fantastic. Based on the story I doubt 3 is a good starting point, but then again it's not Shakespeare or Metal Gear by any stretch. I just love these games so much, I can't think of another series that just makes me this happy. Not sure what that says about me as a person.

My wife LOVED this game!!! And I loved watching her play and beat it.

 

[TheAmazingLSB]

I finally beat Dragon Quest Heroes part one....

 

[sjmartin79]

Bioshock 2 (NS)

I beat Bioshock 2 last night. The settings were better in the first game, but it makes sense from the timeline of it all. But the quality of life improvements they made for 2 were spectacular. Almost all of my complaints from the first game were corrected by the second. Gotta love that.

I was able to get the "Good" ending. Turns out when given moralistic choices in games, I go the "good" route. Just like in Epic Mickey. Or the baby penguin in Mario 64.

I'm excited to get to Bioshock Infinite. I'm ready to leave Rapture behind. And if I never hear "Welcome to the Circus of Values" again, it will be too soon. lol

But I loved this game. What a great series so far. The exploration is fantastic, and they do reward you for searching everywhere. Which I very much appreciate.

 

[Goodtwin]

Finished South Park Fracture But Whole this week. I played the Stick of Truth either last year or the year prior. I really enjoyed the Stick of Truth so I knew what I was in for with Fracture But Whole. I had bought both games during an eshop sales at about $15 each. Money well spend, each game took me about twenty five hours to complete and there is at least five to ten additional hours that could be spent on the optional quest. These games are turn based RPG's with a modest level of complexity. The systems aren't overly complicated or deep but there is enough meat on the bone to make it feel important.

Much of the enjoyment for this game will depend on how you feel about the source material. If you are fan of South Park and are ok with turn based RPG's, you will likely find this to be an enjoyable experience. If you are not a fan of South Park, I would not recommend it as there are likely better RPG's you could be playing. Even though I haven't watched the series in years, I do have fond memories of the series from my childhood. I found the pacing of the games to be very good. I played the games on normal difficulty, and leveling up my character always felt like it lined up almost perfectly with the progression of the story. I never felt like I needed to grind to get past a boss fight. Many of the side quest that are optional are enticing enough to get pull you in and will benefit you with better equipment and items.

Ubisoft puts these games on sale quite often now for around $10 each. If you are a fan of South Park, I very much recommend you give them a try at that price point.

 

[TheAmazingLSB]

TMNT II THE ARCADE GAME - NES - FULL PLAYTHROUGH....