World of Light - 2019 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 2019. 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

Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X (Vita)
Pokemon: Heart Gold (DS)

Spoiler: ◆CitizenofVerona

Final Fantasy V (GBA)

Spoiler: ◆bobsilencieux

Pokemon Let's Go Eevee! (NS)
Gris (NS)

Spoiler: ◆SJMartin79

Spider-Man (PS4)

Spoiler: ◆EvilTw1n

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA)
Ninja Gaiden (NS)

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)'

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
(PSP) Playstation Portable
(Vita) Playstation Vita

(Xbox) Microsoft Xbox
(360) Xbox 360
(XB1) Xbox 1


(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

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 2019). For example, if I beat Mega Man 5 in January 2019 and March 2019, I'd get the *, but if I beat it in December 2018 and March 2019 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

 

[EvilTw1n]

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA)

So I didn't intend to beat this on New Year's Day, but it just worked out that I was basically an item away from getting to the end.

Everyone bags on this one, and to be fair, I understand why. The movement is a little slow and creaky, like they tried to mash together SotN with the NES games' platforming. And the music is...like they tried to take the title of the game a bit too seriously (it's interesting from a composition standpoint, like they have a major third liberally sprinkled in for that dissonance, but it grates on the nerves). It's also the most overtly Zelda-like 'Vania I've played, so it doesn't have retraversal that feels particularly Metroid-y.

But...I ended up really liking it, maybe more than Aria. Once you're in a groove (dashing, sliding, and jumping), the moveset feels completely appropriate. The bosses aren't very challenging, but there was enough to give me a few game over screens. And the castle...ummm...layout (trying to avoid spoilers) had a thematic rationale, and was a fun quasi-puzzle in its own right.

Solid game, like a good mac and cheese. Not a meal I'll always remember, but one I'll come back to.

 

[Juegos]

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA)

So I didn't intend to beat this on New Year's Day, but it just worked out that I was basically an item away from getting to the end.

Everyone bags on this one, and to be fair, I understand why. The movement is a little slow and creaky, like they tried to mash together SotN with the NES games' platforming. And the music is...like they tried to take the title of the game a bit too seriously (it's interesting from a composition standpoint, like they have a major third liberally sprinkled in for that dissonance, but it grates on the nerves). It's also the most overtly Zelda-like 'Vania I've played, so it doesn't have retraversal that feels particularly Metroid-y.

But...I ended up really liking it, maybe more than Aria. Once you're in a groove (dashing, sliding, and jumping), the moveset feels completely appropriate. The bosses aren't very challenging, but there was enough to give me a few game over screens. And the castle...ummm...layout (trying to avoid spoilers) had a thematic rationale, and was a fun quasi-puzzle in its own right.

Solid game, like a good mac and cheese. Not a meal I'll always remember, but one I'll come back to.

Mac and Cheese sounds about right. I do like the game, and have played it to completion at least 4 times. I do like how fluid the movement gets once you get all your movement upgrades, and I like the magic system. Just moving around whipping skeletons feels great.

The big complaint I have about it is the skim milk level design and boss battles. It's why I like Portrait of Ruin so much these days, it feels like they actually put effort into designing the boss battles instead of just dropping these screen-filling damage sponges in a room.

I actually like the music of HoD, though. It's compressed to hell, which is a disservice to it, but I can't hate on it. This one right here:

Also, I don't know if you've played Richter Mode in Portrait of Ruin, but it's worth going back to on a rainy day.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Skim milk team assemble

 

[Karkashan]

have finished Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X (Vita) for my first game of 2019. This is my second overall playthrough of the game.

It's such a great game. I love how they actually did a bit of remixing in terms of item placement and how they did an almost complete overhaul of the Sigma Palace. Makes things familiar while keeping things fresh.

Also the colors pop so beautifully on the Vita's OLED screen.

Also also holy shit X some of your dialogue is hella.... well let's just say some of Copy X's attitude towards rebels was a faithful recreation, is all I'm saying.

Also also also .... SIGMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!

grimabepraised

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Final Fantasy V (GBA)

Like the previous years, my first completed game is a Final Fantasy I started around Christmas time.

I quite enjoyed this one. I was hesitant to play V because Bravely Default kinda scared me off of the Job system. I border line love Bravely Default but the game was pretty easy for a nice majority of it, then those chapters happened. They made me just want to zoom through the game but they did increase in difficulty, again maybe because I was just blowing through it. The last few bosses smeared me across the ceiling to the point where I had to knock it down to easy, and even then it took me a few tries. Did I pick the "wrong" classes? Did I not experiment enough? Is the game not properly balanced? I didn't know so I wasn't in a rush to play V with a similar mix-and-match Job/Ability system.

If the last few years taught me anything though is that once the holidays roll around I just get in the mood for a JRPG. V was the only one I didn't play from IV-X so I figured I'd put on my big boy pants and give it a go. Surprisingly it's one of the easier games in the series I played, even the last boss gave me little trouble. I did experiment more with jobs in this one, once I gained a Job Level I'd switch to another and another getting all sorts of abilities. Giving my thief/archer the ability to perform White magic was a good call, and having another character with White, Black and Time magic was amazing. I made one character able to dual-wield swords and another was just a monster tank. I think what saved me was Ribbons though, as the last boss had the typical Final Fantasy cutscene move, but it didn't do anything, so I'm thinking without the Ribbons I would have had a pile of status effects on me.

This actually makes me want to pick up Bravely Second again. I didn't get too far in that one, I guess I just wasn't feeling it at the time, but now that I have a bit more experience with mixing and matching jobs I do want to give the series another honest go. That said, it probably won't be for awhile. As much as I enjoyed V, I'm sort of happy it's done. The story wasn't as engaging as other titles. I'm not sure what it is exactly but it wasn't bad by any means. It's much more lighthearted than your typical FF, and the main characters kinda blend together. I don't mind lighthearted stories, but there are some cutscenes where you can swap character's dialogue boxes and it wouldn't matter much. Characters do die, and shit gets pretty real towards the end, but the main characters get over it pretty quickly for the most part. I feel like Krile is the character with the most emotion in the game so I tended to like her the most. Exdeath is also a weird villian. He actually manages to mess up the world and is a threat, but there's (minor spoilers here) one part where he disguises himself as a splinter in someone's hand. It's...a bit silly, not offensive or anything, just, silly. Still, the story did make me laugh out loud a few times, and I can't complain too much because everyone is likable. Gilgamesh may also be one of my favorite side-villians/characters in the series, and his music "Battle on the Big Bridge" is the definition of hype mode.

With that done, I believe my beaten FF games totals 10 now, unless I'm forgetting one. V isn't my favorite but it's definitely a good'un. I'm tempted to play I-III but those are more curiosities than anything. I guess I should play XII at some point too. With Kingdom Hearts 3 due out soon though I doubt I'll play another FF soon. I'm in the mood to replay games too, and I managed to buy Secret of Mana on the Wii before they took down the option to add funds, so there's that too, and of course Bravely Second.

 

[Juegos]

Final Fantasy V (GBA)

Like the previous years, my first completed game is a Final Fantasy I started around Christmas time.

I quite enjoyed this one. I was hesitant to play V because Bravely Default kinda scared me off of the Job system. I border line love Bravely Default but the game was pretty easy for a nice majority of it, then those chapters happened. They made me just want to zoom through the game but they did increase in difficulty, again maybe because I was just blowing through it. The last few bosses smeared me across the ceiling to the point where I had to knock it down to easy, and even then it took me a few tries. Did I pick the "wrong" classes? Did I not experiment enough? Is the game not properly balanced? I didn't know so I wasn't in a rush to play V with a similar mix-and-match Job/Ability system.

If the last few years taught me anything though is that once the holidays roll around I just get in the mood for a JRPG. V was the only one I didn't play from IV-X so I figured I'd put on my big boy pants and give it a go. Surprisingly it's one of the easier games in the series I played, even the last boss gave me little trouble. I did experiment more with jobs in this one, once I gained a Job Level I'd switch to another and another getting all sorts of abilities. Giving my thief/archer the ability to perform White magic was a good call, and having another character with White, Black and Time magic was amazing. I made one character able to dual-wield swords and another was just a monster tank. I think what saved me was Ribbons though, as the last boss had the typical Final Fantasy cutscene move, but it didn't do anything, so I'm thinking without the Ribbons I would have had a pile of status effects on me.

This actually makes me want to pick up Bravely Second again. I didn't get too far in that one, I guess I just wasn't feeling it at the time, but now that I have a bit more experience with mixing and matching jobs I do want to give the series another honest go. That said, it probably won't be for awhile. As much as I enjoyed V, I'm sort of happy it's done. The story wasn't as engaging as other titles. I'm not sure what it is exactly but it wasn't bad by any means. It's much more lighthearted than your typical FF, and the main characters kinda blend together. I don't mind lighthearted stories, but there are some cutscenes where you can swap character's dialogue boxes and it wouldn't matter much. Characters do die, and shit gets pretty real towards the end, but the main characters get over it pretty quickly for the most part. I feel like Krile is the character with the most emotion in the game so I tended to like her the most. Exdeath is also a weird villian. He actually manages to mess up the world and is a threat, but there's (minor spoilers here) one part where he disguises himself as a splinter in someone's hand. It's...a bit silly, not offensive or anything, just, silly. Still, the story did make me laugh out loud a few times, and I can't complain too much because everyone is likable. Gilgamesh may also be one of my favorite side-villians/characters in the series, and his music "Battle on the Big Bridge" is the definition of hype mode.

With that done, I believe my beaten FF games totals 10 now, unless I'm forgetting one. V isn't my favorite but it's definitely a good'un. I'm tempted to play I-III but those are more curiosities than anything. I guess I should play XII at some point too. With Kingdom Hearts 3 due out soon though I doubt I'll play another FF soon. I'm in the mood to replay games too, and I managed to buy Secret of Mana on the Wii before they took down the option to add funds, so there's that too, and of course Bravely Second.

I wholly recommend Secret of Mana. Great music, good visuals, the combat is alright, and it's got a great sense of adventure.

 

[BobSilencieux]

Pokemon Let's Go Eevee! (NS)

As a big fan of Yellow, Fire Red, and Leaf Green, I really love this one too. Got all 151 entries in the pokedex for the first time ever, too. Played almost exclusively in handheld mode after I discovered that the motion controlled capture mechanic is pure, undiluted, unfettered, grade A, 100-proof bull-fucking-shit.

Also, the pokeball+ is like a 90's Pokemon fantasy made real; awesome piece of tech.

 

[sjmartin79]

Pokemon Let's Go Eevee! (NS)

As a big fan of Yellow, Fire Red, and Leaf Green, I really love this one too. Got all 151 entries in the pokedex for the first time ever, too. Played almost exclusively in handheld mode after I discovered that the motion controlled capture mechanic is pure, undiluted, unfettered, grade A, 100-proof bull-fucking-shit.

Also, the pokeball+ is like a 90's Pokemon fantasy made real; awesome piece of tech.

I got the full pokedex for the first time ever as well!

 

[Karkashan]

Finally finished getting all my living dex transferred from Pokemon: Heart Gold (DS) (well, the ones that are on there. I still have a bit of the dex on SS, Plat, and Pearl to transfer as well). So since I started a new game of HG solely for this living dex monster I created, I'm gonna mark it down as complete.

(Thankfully Gen 5 has no ribbons, so I just have to finish collecting those mons when the time comes and transfer them to the cloud)

praisegrima

 

[EvilTw1n]

Ninja Gaiden (NS) [NESflix*]

Man.

Fuck this game.

You know that scene in Order of the Phoenix, when Harry is being possessed by Voldemort, and he tells him that he feels sorry for him, because he will never know love or friendship? That's how I feel about the developers of this game. I feel sorry for them. They will never know fun.

This is an objectively bad game. Not because of the mechanics (which where clever for the day), but because the developers made it arbitrarily difficult, so that it would be nigh impossible to finish. That is what makes this game suck. They had something good, something with promise and potential, but then they decided to make it worse. It's like someone had a great cake, but they decided that it would be a good idea to put human teeth in the batter, just to fuck with people.

This is probably the worst game I've ever played. I would rather have a game that outright sucks, because then you can just say "these developers didn't know what they were doing, or were learning on the job, or were under an excruciating deadline." That didn't happen here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Gaiden_(NES_video_game)#Development
They knew exactly what they were doing. The game, in its first four stages, feels like what they set out to make - a sort of beat 'em up married to Mario platforming, with Castlevania items. They had a great idea; a great cake batter. They were delivering on it, although stages 3 and 4 were getting pretty cheap. And then they made the final 2 stages and ruined the whole thing. I wouldn't have beaten this game without suspend points; I save-scummed stage 6 past the point of reason.

But I couldn't let it beat me, not with all of the modern save tech we have. This, paradoxically, makes me feel kinda dirty, like I'm the cheap one. I was thrilled to beat the game last night (I totally jumped off the couch and air-punched a dozen times), purely for the relief of getting this off my plate. Now? It's like I woke up and someone left a couple of Bennies on the dresser for my efforts. I feel so used.

[*Re-reading the criteria for what platform counts for beating a game @Karkashan and I realize I probably messed all of last year up. I would've put this as a straight NES game before.]

I actually like the music of HoD, though. It's compressed to hell, which is a disservice to it, but I can't hate on it.

The super-compressed audio quality doesn't to it any favors (the dissonant notes sound even worse when they're so cold and harsh, quality-wise). There is most certainly an interesting soundtrack, composition-wise, though. And that Fresh Prince version is one of the greatest things I've ever heard.

 

[BobSilencieux]

Gris (NS)

What a thoroughly beautiful game. The visual presentation is beyond reproach. The gameplay is surprisingly engaging for a game of this genre, with some great puzzle-platforming and light exploration. The soundtrack though, the soundtrack is something special: the whole world is held together by the strength of its string section. I really love it.

 

[sjmartin79]

Spider-Man (PS4)

Finished it last night. Damn, that is a beautiful game... well, except for the character faces. Most of the people don't look super hero attractive close up.
Great story, great side quests. Not a huge fan of part of the ending, but overall the game was truly amazing.

Truly hoping we get a sequel for this.