Messages

1

General Gaming / Re: The Great(?) Video Game Spreadsheet Project: Year 32 Challenge!

« on: August 29, 2024, 09:48:50 PM »

Week 52: Current Weighted Top Twenty (as of 8/29/2024):
VVVVVV
Roller Coaster Tycoon 2
UNSIGHTED
Crawl
The Swapper
Paper Mario TTYD Remaster
Anodyne 2: Return to Dust
Inscryption
Donkey Kong (1994)
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Crystal Project
Roller Coaster Tycoon (Deluxe)
Dandara
Mr. Driller Drill Land
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
ARMS
Into the Breach
Skwish
Tetris Effect Connected
Kirby's Air Ride
My birthday was yesterday, which means I get to say whatever the hell I want about video games.

Okay, I must have gotten my weekly numbers twisted at some point but I am now officially 33, so that means it’s time for some number crunching. Of my new purchases and backlog, I rated 62 new games this year. While my rating catalogue stood at 494 at the start of the year, it now stands at 601, meaning 45 rankings were from games that I had already completed and forgotten to include. I suspect this number will likely shrink as I continue this project, but I will also return to and recheck my library in the future. There are sadly and undoubtedly a number of games in my backlog that have evaded inclusion.

I have come to accept that I have made bad purchases in my lifetime. With that said, the ranking criteria is designed to be relatively non-biased, but that does call into question what earns a 5 in some areas. So. You’ll see that a 5 is labeled as “standout within genre” save for pacing, which is listed as “justified pacing for ambition.” This is arguably the most contentious ranking criterion that currently exists, because “justified” is a highly subjective metric. From some perspective, an incredibly bloated JRPG might be completely justified in its pacing, but as a now-33 year old, I can’t really justify that. This might also have to do with my purchasing habits, as I was perfectly fine when I had a long-ass RPG to chip away at in my youth as one of the few purchases I made.

As of right now, pacing is still a highly weighted category in my rankings, so maybe this needs re-evaluation. However, two of my highest-rated titles this year were JRPGs that fell into the 40-ish hour range, which might be my sweet spot for that genre of game. Many of my other highly rated games from this year and the list overall are incredibly concise, leaving a strong impression due to their brevity. I can’t help but wonder if some games are still cursed by the facade that length provides. 13 Sentinels is a great example of this- it’s content rich because of its narrative, not its strategy gameplay, or its inane, obtuse adventure game puzzles. In the other hand, Sayonara Wild Hearts is exactly as compelling as it needs to be with relatively little mechanical depth and a player-motivated gameplay loop. I can imagine myself playing one more than the other, even if I’ve decided to stop playing both.

Hey, speaking of one of those games, let’s take a look at my top five games from year 32:
Paper Mario TTYD Remaster
Crystal Project
1000xResist
Cobalt Core
Sayonara Wild Hearts

There’s one game here that should come as no surprise. The others, however, come from throughout the year and have become some of my favorite games of all time. Life is funny that way- sometimes, when you start paying more attention to a thing, you start to appreciate it a bit more.
Something else I’ve noticed is that I like indie games. A lot. Though I have played a number of games this year that have come from major developers and publishers, I’ve enjoyed just as many as those I haven’t. In some ways, I’d like to think I’m smarter about getting games I know I’ll like, but hey, I did play a Sonic game that I hated two years in a row.

My backlog, now updated, is at 200 games exactly, and there still might be some floating around there that haven't been listed. That's... upsetting, but many of these games are easily digestible, so I'm not all that concerned. There are many that are pretty hefty, though, so I'm going to have to scale back on purchases hard if I hope to ever make a dent in this thing. There are, unfortunately, so many games out there that look really appealing to me, some in long-beloved series, others of which I have a passing curiosity. But, based on the ruminations of my last post, maybe I need to be a whole lot more stringent on the games that I do pick up. After all, if these games really are just sitting there, is it really a good thing that I nabbed them at an absurd discount? The answer is no, and I feel a bit better about a game that I'm excited for and play through immediately after picking it up rather than these games I've long been curious about that sit on my physical/digital shelf.

The Switch is, without a doubt, the platform with the biggest library I've ever owned, and by default ends up being my favorite console device, despite its myriad quirks. Whatever comes after this not-so-little-handheld that could will need to have Dragon's Dogma 2 a hell of a strong pull to get me to pick one up, and really, so long as Zelda keeps getting made, I'll probably end up pulling the trigger at some point... but all those blanks that I've filled in with all these games will probably need to remain open.
Toree's Panic Pack (3.65) - Liked
This big old level pack features some of the developers longest, most complex, and incredibly challenging stages yet- but these levels really show the limitations of the Toree engine and level editor, and the cracks start to show. It's a bit buggy, but still a wild ride.

SteamWorld Heist II (3.50) - Liked
This game is bigger and arguably better than the first. Arguably. Okay, I'm the one arguing that it isn't as good as the first. It suffers from a bit of feature creep (in an indie game, which is really sad) and overstays its welcome. I like the dedicated level designs, but bigger is not always better.Next post will be a bit different, and (maybe?) more fun.

2

General Gaming / Re: The Great(?) Video Game Spreadsheet Project: Year 32 Challenge!

« on: August 07, 2024, 12:24:46 AM »

Week 45: Current Weighted Top Twenty (as of 8/7/2024):
VVVVVV - (4.47)
Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 - (4.42)
UNSIGHTED - (4.41)
Crawl - (4.36)
The Swapper - (4.28)
Paper Mario TTYD Remaster - (4.27)
Inscryption - (4.25)
Donkey Kong (1994) - (4.25)
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - (4.25)
Crystal Project - (4.23)
Roller Coaster Tycoon (Deluxe) - (4.23)
Dandara - (4.21)
Mr. Driller Drill Land - (4.21)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - (4.19)
ARMS - (4.19)
Into the Breach - (4.17)
Skwish - (4.17)
Tetris Effect Connected - (4.16)
Kirby's Air Ride - (4.15)
Pick Pack Pup - (4.12)
Wow, we are rocketing towards the conclusion of this year-long challenge, which as really just been a year of me recording my thoughts on every game I've played. It has been substantial! If my calculations are correct, I've ranked around 61 new games this year- as in, games I've wiped off of my backlog, except a number of those were new purchases so it doesn't really bump the overall number on my backlog down. Oh, well.

In all seriousness, it's been very enlightening to see my personal rankings for these games- not just the score distribution, but also my "impressions" of them. It puts a great deal of my purchase behavior into perspective. 21 of the games I have ranked this year have been a "meh" or worse, which is like... maybe not good? That I'm buying things that I don't enjoy, or don't want to put a lot of time into? That makes me think about how I want to curtail my spending on video games in the future, because... it sure ain't good right now. To be honest, the Switch era has been one of luxury and excess, and it's something that, considering the major life changes coming my way in the near future, looks like it will come to a close. I want to play things that I feel an absolute need to play, not just things I see on sale and swipe absentmindedly. I'll be honest, my Switch has enough content on it to likely last me the rest of my life, hoping that it is long and satisfying. So I'll be cooling it, and second guessing my desire to play stuff in the future. But not just yet!
1000xResist (4.06) - Loved
This is an amazing game because it has insanely high production value, artistic vision, and writing, but its actual interactive elements are not very compelling. It absolutely makes me curious about the developer's future, but I wonder if they'll refine the gameplay elements. Free form exploration is great, the time-shifting mechanics are fun, and the floaty fling things are... there.

Into the Breach (4.17) - Loved
I don't know why this wasn't on the chart sooner. It's great. It is incredibly replayable. It had a content update that terrified and delighted me. I love it.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (3.26) - Meh
Well, a tedious visual novel and mirthless strategy game are propped up by some very impressive writing. But it's not enough to redeem this title entirely.

Master Key (3.62) - Liked
This game is great, and truly chock-full of secrets. It felt like a full-length top-down Zelda even if my playtime was only about 9-10ish hours. The controls are a bit weird, though, and it suffers from being the right game released at the wrong time- if I had more patience for its screen-hunting secrets, it would be above a "meh."

The Pathless (3.38) - Liked
I guess I missed the boat on the discourse of this game, but I really do think it's something special. Lots of great ideas from other exploration and puzzle solving titles with very free-form movement and relatively low stakes that don't make you feel like you're missing something.

Axiom Verge (3.41) - Meh
I have to imagine that this game's reputation comes from "the Metroid drought" and of course, the incredible efforts of Tom Happ. There's no denying the premise is incredibly inventive and the aesthetics are truly impressive. The controls are kind of wonky, though, and the gameplay- that is, these wild and crazy conceptual Metroid bosses- don't really require a lot of interaction or respect. Also, the pacing is hurt by the randomized and poorly-telegraphed elements. Still an incredible passion project.

Live A Live (3.88) - Liked
Hey, I finally got around to this! I think I echo the sentiments of Guillaume when I say I loved the first portion of this game, when it really leaned into the inventive nature of its vignettes. Unfortunately, I think the game does itself a bit of a disservice by having the final two chapters share the same "structure," so to speak, a style of RPG that clashes with the breezy and fun ways the game experimented with conventions prior. I still adore it, and I will probably never stop singing Megalomania in my head.

Post Void (3.22) - Meh
This is a neon-drenched, psychotic roguelike that would probably be way more fun on PC than Switch. I must be getting old, because I felt assaulted when playing this game- and not in a good way. An average execution of the roguelike concept.

Banners of Ruin (2.83) - Meh
There was a time when I was committed to playing as many deck-building roguelikes as I could find. I was young and foolish. This game has all the things I love about the genre and some questionable control mechanics that stop me from getting overly invested.

Road 96 (3.21) - Meh
I hear lots of praise of this game, and I don't understand why. The writing was not particularly good, but the voice acting absolutely butchered what could have been a better experience. Some decent music, and interactive, but hardly ever compelling gameplay.

Cobalt Core (4.04) - Loved
There was a time when I was committed to playing as many deck-building roguelikes as I could find. I was young and foolish. But Cobalt Core is the kind of game that made me want to attempt that challenge- it's inventive, quirky, chill, tactical... it deserves all the points it earned.

Chasm (3.21) - Meh
Again, the discourse of this game must have come from "the Castlevania drought," because aside from some very smooth animations, I don't see what others did in this game. Mind you, I don't think it does anything bad, but it does lack a bit of personality that others of its kind have in spades.

3

General Gaming / Re: The Great(?) Video Game Spreadsheet Project: Year 32 Challenge!

« on: June 03, 2024, 08:53:22 PM »

Week 35: Current Weighted Top Twenty (as of 6/1/2024):
VVVVVV (4.47)
Paper Mario TTYD Remaster (4.46)
Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 (4.42)
UNSIGHTED (4.41)
Crawl (4.36)
Paper Mario TTYD (4.35)
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (4.3)
The Swapper (4.28)
Inscryption (4.25)
Donkey Kong (1994) (4.25)
Roller Coaster Tycoon (Deluxe) (4.23)
Crystal Project (4.23)
Dandara (4.21)
Mr. Driller Drill Land (4.21)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (4.19)
ARMS (4.19)
Skwish (4.17)
Tetris Effect Connected (4.16)
Kirby's Air Ride (4.15)
Pick Pack Pup (4.12)
Well, it's been a doozy. I've got tons of games to talk about, with a whole bunch of positive feelings... and maybe some not-so-positive ones. I have rubber-banded between absolute delight and a bit of confusion in the past two months, but I'm happy to say that I've kept a decent-ish standard of playing a more than a game per week, though with shorter experiences, I guess that might be suspect.
Frogun (2.63) - Disliked
Quite low on the list is Frogun, a game I hoped would be better than it turned out to be. In evoking early 3D platformers, it adopted some of the idiosyncrasies and sluggishness of those games and was ultimately just a bit frustrating from a control standpoint and some tedious aesthetic choices. There are better games that evoke early 3D platformers. Play them instead.

Signalis (3.38) - Disliked
I respect the hell out of Signalis, but I really can't stand some of its design choices. The inventory limits are frustrating to an absurd extent and while I can understand why access to the map is taken away at certain points, it's frustrating for the sake of obtuseness and doesn't add to the game's horror. I loved the game's aesthetics and some of its ideas, but I don't think it perfectly sticks the landing. Oh well.

Sayonara Wild Hearts (3.93) - Loved
I dared myself to give this game more points, but this is the highest I could push it without feeling disingenuous. It sits at a respectable 52 at the moment, and I love that. This game rocks. It makes me want to play Lorelei. It's not perfect, but it is an absolute thrill ride.

Another Crab's Treasure (3.67) - Loved
Sadly, a bit of my appreciation for this game was hindered by poor Switch performance... but since performance doesn't factor into my ratings all that much, I can still give it a fairly high score while also understanding its flaws. This game pulls a "The Second Game by Aggro Crab" in its credits, and as far as I'm concerned, it earns it. It's pretty astounding to see the bump in ambition this dev has made between Going Under and Another Crab's Treasure, but there's a lot of shared DNA. Fun and tense boss battles, strong environmental design, and neat mechanics make this a very enjoyable ride. If you don't like Dark Souls, you might not enjoy this, but if you do like games with some layers to appreciate, I'd recommend it.

Bleak Sword DX (3.17) - Meh
Speaking of Dark Souls, turning the whole thing into an aesthetics-lite, arcade-style experience is a novel concept, but the twists in environmental design that are used to complicate matters sort of negated my overall enjoyment. The bite-sized levels and their quirks are really the only way the game re-invents its combat, so if you don't find yourself enjoying that element early on, you're likely headed for a lukewarm experience.

Vaporum (3.41) - Liked
I've sat on this real-time, first-person dungeon crawler for too long, and as it turns out, I probably did myself a disservice. I think it's a bit unfortunate that Vaporum works best when it isn't real-time, but rather incredibly methodical, because a real-time grid-based combat system does seem cool in concept. From the look of some puzzles here, the developers are a bit too confident in how universal their own game language is, and the narrative is a bit whack, but it does a fine job.

Astroneer (2.67) - Meh
Wow! What an incredibly badly-designed tutorial! It almost makes me want to disengage with your game entirely!

Paper Mario TTYD Remaster (4.46) - Loved
Well, it took me returning to this game many years since I last played it to find an even greater appreciation for it. I've noted that TTYD Remastered does an even better job of telegraphing how the player can modify the game's difficulty, at least in terms of action commands. But several quality of life changes make what was arguably my favorite JRPG ever even more accessible and replayable, not to mention some added endgame content for the truly unhinged. Since I did an all-BP run of the game, I'm delighting in how impressively it handles a ton of strategies.

WhatTheCrow (3.50) - Liked
A cute score chasing stealth destruction game, which never really plays out the same way more than once due to the weird enemy movement patterns. It's a lot of fun, but it's enhanced by some really slick animations during its opening sequence and an adorable art style.

4

Nintendo Gaming / Re: My Video Game Collection/Museum

« on: May 25, 2024, 12:31:27 PM »

Cool set of figures.

What a coincidence, I too feel that it is a cool set of figures.

I was looking for information on how to do it correctly and came across a site with a guide on website design stages . The article explains in detail how to organize work on the site so that everything is clear and logical.

5

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Boredom and Nintendo

« on: May 08, 2024, 11:34:58 AM »

“Rumors” stated that Prime was in “cinematics phase” not too long ago, but we should always take that with a grain of salt. If Prime 4 ends up on Switch 2, it won’t be getting a sale from me… until the console proves it has weight. I am not tossing around the rumored fee of entry until I see tangible proof of some third parties in the device, as Nintendo’s lineup isn’t going to be immediately appealing out of the gate. I find it unrealistic to expect something from Monolith Soft in launch year, we definitely won’t get another Zelda anytime soon, and 3D Mario needs to be more like 3DWorld/Bowser’s Fury and less like Odyssey to get me interested.

6

General Gaming / Re: 4th Annual NWR Four on Four

« on: May 03, 2024, 08:28:06 AM »

Sayonara Wild Hearts is a near-perfect experience. I think it doesn’t do a great job of explaining its mechanics, but it honestly doesn’t have to- every action is so straightforward and simple to execute, the game’s overwhelming amount of visual and auditory information is made interactive with ease.

I do question the structure of a first playthrough. Each Heartbreak does make sense as an isolated level and experience, but the way that battles are broken into multiple stages and the relative shortness of each sometimes makes me wish they were a bit longer. Because the game is relatively consequence-free, you can complete each stage with ease, and the way they are broken up does make sense for score chasing and mastery. But, I don’t think many people are aiming for either of those things on a first playthrough, and the full-play mode seems like a better fit for a first time around than the way it’s currently presented. This is an incredibly minor critique that is largely based on my own preferences.

The game is widely appreciated for good reason. It doesn’t take its rhythm roots too seriously (except when it does), nor is it highly punitive in the same way as other score chasers.


Bloodstained, on the other hand, suffers from being on the Switch, or at least, that console not having a great deal of priority/optimization. The instrumentation of a lot of the background music was also a bummer.

7

General Gaming / Re: 4th Annual NWR Four on Four

« on: May 01, 2024, 11:19:21 PM »

Well, I only ended up finishing Oom and Sayonara Wild Hearts. In my defense, I tried giving Signalis, Frogun, and Bloodstained on Switch a fair shake before throwing in the towel.

8

TalkBack / Re: Indie World Announces A Dozen Future Released For The Switch

« on: April 19, 2024, 10:04:51 AM »

Well, one of these days I may play that original and see what all the NWR hype is about. As I recall, it scored like a 9.5 or 10 when someone reviewed it back in the day.

It's been slightly amusing to me that on the NWR Discord I've seen a lot of users hyped about the news of Heist 2 whereas in another Discord channel, I've seen it shrugged off and people wondering why they won't make Steamworld Dig 3 and are just putting out games no one wants of Steamworld Build and now Heist 2. Different communities have been split up over these various Steamworld games.

I’m a big Image and Form dude in general. I loved Dig 1 and 2 and I’d love to play Tower Defense in some capacity, but I think Heist was the first of their games to fully embrace all elements of game design and create something super special. I like Quest, but not as much as Heist, and I’m genuinely curious about Build but it’s a bit too rich for my blood. Wondering if Heist 2 will be priced similarly, as it does seem greatly expanded from the first game.

9

TalkBack / Re: Indie World Presentation To Air April 17

« on: April 18, 2024, 08:10:03 AM »

Steamworld Heist 2 was a real surprise since we just got the last Image and Form game last year. Other than that my picks would be the cat games: Little kitty big city and Cat Quest 3. 

I think SteamWorld Build was made by another studio. Image and Form merged into Thunderful Development and have since been trying to make SteamWorld as an IP a much more consistent thing. I’m also surprised by the announcement, but not displeased. It does look even bigger and better than the original.

10

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Boredom and Nintendo

« on: April 17, 2024, 01:30:23 PM »

I think we’ve come to an impasse where your definition of piracy and emulation are dissimilar to my own. I see emulation as an act of preservation, while piracy is an act of theft. The thing is already preserved, you are stealing it because you don’t want to access its method of preservation.

Where this becomes morally gray- which, despite the tendency to shout “**** nuance,” is a thing that does exist- is how that preservation is taking place. I suppose it has something to do with ownership, as well. I know disclaimers on software exist, and that they state that illegal copying and redistribution of a product can land you in legal trouble. The law of man is a self-fabricated one, however, and I think it would be better to have a discussion about what constitutes illegal redistribution, because no, I don’t think an individual distributing game that is no longer accessible on the Nintendo 3DS eShop for the purposes of emulation is piracy because you can no longer reasonably purchase that software, but yes, an individual distributing Tears of the Kingdom a week after it was released for the purposes of emulation is piracy.

If you have some counter to this mentality, I’d genuinely be curious about your reasoning, because I’m open to a discussion and I am not going to insult you for disagreeing with my interpretation.

11

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Boredom and Nintendo

« on: April 16, 2024, 11:39:46 AM »

Piracy is a blanket term that encompasses theft. Emulation is a more specific one that applies to all of the points that you’ve raised. Emulation implies ownership, and once something is owned, it is the right of the owner to distribute/emulate it at their discretion.

When one can no longer buy something, they have reason to emulate.

Also, resorting to homophobic name calling as a means of positing the superiority of your perspective is petty and immature. Do better. You came here for reasonable discussion because you felt shut out of other communities.

12

General Gaming / Re: 4th Annual NWR Four on Four

« on: April 14, 2024, 06:48:05 PM »

…Well, I’m going to have to revise my list a little bit.

Both Signalis and Frogun have been absolutely miserable experiences, and no surprise, because both rely heavily on absolutely terrible auto-aim systems as a core part of their gameplay. I tried Frogun first, beg cause I thought somewhere in my heart that I had nostalgia for old 3D platformers. If I did, they weren’t platformers like Frogun, which crams an insane amount of collectibles in every level and expects you to pick them all up in a single go in order to earn one of its meta-emblems. Stop this. I hate it. Also, the controls are bad! Yes, the Frogun has a bad aiming mechanic and in a very time-sensitive platformer, using a static “aim yourself system” to reposition and avoid the awful auto aim is not a suitable solution. The music is incredibly grating and it makes me not want to play the game.

Then, there’s Signalis. Visually, this game is stunning, and I can’t fault it for its atmosphere… until it becomes a rip off of Silent Hill in the later hours of the first playthrough. Actually, I really don’t have a lot of sympathy for the game’s mixture of cosmic horror and sci-fi elements in general, which become a bit ham-fisted and trope-y. I am not scared by Signalis. It doesn’t fill me with dread from a narrative standpoint, only a gameplay one, because holy ****, this game’s inventory management system is a hot mess. The amount of times I’ve had to backtrack for no reason other than “I don’t have enough space for the amount of resources and puzzle keys this game has thrown at me” is obscene. I mean. There’s a puzzle that requires six keys. SIX. I would have honestly respected the game a bit more if it had the balls to make me put all of them in at the same time, but no, it’s just a slow back and forth to get them all into the right slots. Also, Signalis has a number of really decent puzzles, but it also has a tendency to do the “here’s one key that leads to another room with another key” thing. And lastly, the enemy design, which makes sense to make uniform because you’re dealing with mass-produced robots, is also very inscrutable because of the low-res graphics, which makes the very unappealing decision to have certain enemies require getting burned to really bite it (which requires another resource that takes up another slot in your inventory) very annoying and disrespectful. Oh, and apparently I’m playing the improved version? With better inventory management?!

I can’t fault Signalis for its visuals, but I sure as hell think its world-building is bland, getting away with its obscurity because… well, we as a society tend to conflate ambiguity with depth or nuance. Anyway, I also really appreciate its scope and ambition, but Anno:Mutationem is a game with just as much visual style and inscrutable narrative, and it’s ultimately more fun to play.

…So now I’m trying Bleak Sword DX. We’ll see how that goes.

13

NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia XC: Xenoblade Chronicles 1 - Definitive Mafia Edition. Sign-up Thread.

« on: April 10, 2024, 04:33:20 PM »

Hey! I’m in! Khush being alive is reason enough to get involved!

14

TalkBack / Re: Enclave Comes to GameCube

« on: April 10, 2024, 04:31:40 PM »

These bots are trawling dangerous waters…

15

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Boredom and Nintendo

« on: April 10, 2024, 12:25:53 PM »

Emulation is justifiable. Piracy is not.

16

General Gaming / Re: 4th Annual NWR Four on Four

« on: April 09, 2024, 05:57:07 PM »

Hey there forum denizens! It's April and you know what that means...time to reel in those Playdates,...

I'm obviously already chronicling my backlog odyssey in another thread, but my Four on Four for this April is as follows:

Oom on Playdate....

Please tell me Oom uses the crank so that you are actually "reeling in your Pladate" 

It does! You angle your movement and attack trajectory by rotating the crank. It’s pretty intuitive. I’ve played a number of Playdate games that over-emphasize/hyper fixate on the crank and some that don’t use it at all. Oom is the perfect balance of every single input on the Playdate- even docking the crank does something!

17

General Gaming / Re: The Great(?) Video Game Spreadsheet Project: Year 32 Challenge!

« on: April 08, 2024, 09:04:21 PM »

Week 28: Current Weighted Top Twenty (as of 4/8/2024):
VVVVVV (4.47)
Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 (4.42)
UNSIGHTED (4.41)
Crawl (4.36)
Paper Mario TTYD (4.35)
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (4.3)
The Swapper (4.28)
Inscryption (4.25)
Donkey Kong (1994) (4.25)
Roller Coaster Tycoon (Deluxe) (4.23)
Crystal Project (4.23)
Dandara (4.21)
Mr. Driller Drill Land (4.21)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (4.19)
ARMS (4.19)
Skwish (4.17)
Tetris Effect Connected (4.16)
Kirby's Air Ride (4.15)
Pick Pack Pup (4.12)
Toree 2 (4.12)
Small games... good?

I'm really happy to have played a number of smaller titles that have allowed me to feel that I'm still progressing in my goals while also tackling larger projects. I have been working away at an "analysis" article that requires some scrutiny of a previously-played title, so in the meantime, ticking some games off of my backlog thanks to brief gameplay experiences has been a nice balancing act.

With that said, I guess I finally feel confident in saying "here for a good time, not a long time" is an adage that I can get behind, as I've found many of these shorter games to be highly impactful and memorable.
Donut County (3.82) - Loved
Entering into the top 100, Donut County is amazing. It's probably one of the easiest recommendations I could make to a potential game enthusiast of any age. Funny writing, great aesthetics, and novel little twists that keep the experience fresh in addition to brisk and lovely. A quickly digested experience, but absolutely worth it.

Paradise Killer (3.26) - Loved
This is a weird one, because as much as I really, really love the writing and world-building of this game, I think it's a bit of a mess from a design standpoint. If everything means something, this game is actually harmed by its excess- excess in collectibles, in dialogue options, in an open-world that has way too much stuffed inside it, yet still feels a bit too sterile and large for its own good. But man, what a ride. It's so satisfying... except for the one random missable secret that blows the entire plot wide open and is hidden behind heaps of alternative dialogue. Also, amazing soundtrack, but pretty terrible sound mixing, to the point where you're constantly being bombarded by irritating sound effects for doing nothing other than exploring. Such a mixed bag of good and bad, but the incredible amount of personality the game possesses helps it win out in the end.

Sonic Superstars (2.55) - Hated
Hell is playing a Sonic game in 2024.

Oom (3.91) - Loved
Another game entering into the top 100 with ease, this is proof that a simple concept and novel controls can a fun and engaging game make. Oom is rhythmic, but sometimes its exploratory. You don't always need the music in order to find success, but it can help. What also helps is the very granular control options provided by the crank, which is really the selling point of the game overall. It comes together very well even though some rooms feel a little bit redundant. Just a tiny bit.

18

General Gaming / Re: 4th Annual NWR Four on Four

« on: April 08, 2024, 08:01:34 PM »

I'm obviously already chronicling my backlog odyssey in another thread, but my Four on Four for this April is as follows:

Oom on Playdate. After a hearty recommendation on the NWR Discord and picking both it and Mars After Midnight up, I can say that this one grips me far more as a first impression- no hate on MAM, but as a game concept its a bit more laid back and abstract, and I can appreciate that, but it feels like more of a slow burn.

On Switch, I think I'm going to split the difference between Signalis and Frogun, the latter of which I already started and assume won't take me very long. Sginalis is a game I've been itching to play for a while, although the first game complete screen is apparently not the end of the full experience.

On SNES/Analogue, I'm going to set my sights on Dark Half, an obscure JRPG that received a translation patch for those unable to get their hands on its Japan-only release. It's known for having gameplay that covers both sides of a demonic conflict, with the unabashedly evil demon lord comprising half of the playable experience. It's fun consuming souls, trust me.

I'm going to end my selections with the 3DS, namely Bye Bye BoxBoy!. A simple puzzle platformer that can likely be easily completed within the month, and BoxBoy is generally fun, if not a bit one-note. Trying to stay realistic with what I can complete in the span of a month.

19

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Boredom and Nintendo

« on: April 08, 2024, 07:23:12 PM »

But if they’ll be fine, why worry?

20

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Boredom and Nintendo

« on: April 07, 2024, 02:48:11 PM »

I don't argue that we need Metroid Prime 4, but my reasons are more selfish than anything. I think, with the approaching midway point in the year, we'll get a more tangible look at what is in store for us for the Switch's final holiday season. Whether that's more ports or MP4 as a last hurrah (similar to the Wii U era, where Nintendo seemed committed to following through with their claims of "we're making a Zelda for this console, trust us") will be up to how much pressure Nintendo feels at this point to maintain momentum for Switch or keep their most loyal customers ravenous for the Switch successor.

21

Reader Reviews / Hell is Playing a Sonic game in 2024

« on: April 02, 2024, 12:54:42 AM »

Why.

Why.

Why do I do this to myself? It's past the point of morbid curiosity by now- it has to be putrefied curiosity, or perhaps, post-mortem curiosity. Or maybe I'm just a cheap sick loser who saw Sonic Superstars on sale for 25 bucks and, after hearing the mild response it received in the form of "uh, yeah, don't get it full price but it's okay I suppose," I decided to test fate once again and throw myself into the realm of kusoge masking as some legacy franchise.

But you see, in subjecting myself to yet another form of torture, I have come out stronger. I know that Sonic can no longer hurt me. Every attempt at a new innovative 3D platforming style has failed, spectacularly, but I still held out hope for 2D Sonic. Even though Sonic Mania was frankly just kind of okay, I believed in my heart of hearts that Sonic Team could take a good hard look at what people liked from that game and maybe implement it in a new Sonic title.

So what did people like in Sonic Mania?

• Good Art Style?
• Good Music?
• Clearly Defined Level Gimmicks?
• A Lack of Pinball Mechanics every two goddamn seconds?

Sonic Superstars has none of these things. And now I know that I will never play a Sonic the Hedgehog game again.

I'm so tired of bad Mega Drive synths being used for nostalgia bait. I'm so tired of 90s zigzags and primary color menu screens. I have never cared about Fang the Sniper, and after playing this game, I never will care about Fang the Sniper. But I just can't stand the idea of spectacle over control any more.

Sonic Superstars allows you to play as "the gang," which should baffle those of us old enough to remember when Sega made a big deal about Sonic being the only playable character in Sonic the Hedgehog 4. Hey, that was garbage too, but how is Sonic Superstars in comparison? Well, it's better. Sonic actually moves like he did in the old game, which isn't like, a huge feat considering some guy managed to do it several years ago. But There's tiny little changes to other members of the cast that make this game harder to control and enjoy, though. It's weird stuff that maybe only someone who is a psychopath that played Sonic 3 and Knuckles a lot. As a big Knuckles fan, I was disappointed.

There are a few things that piss me off about Sonic Superstars. First of all, the art style is plasticky in a similar vein to New Super Mario Bros., but those games had good level design. The revolutionary new zones are all pretty awful thematically, and arguably remixes of classic level themes. Like, Mania had a train. It had a newsprint garden. It had a funky 90's themed music city. This game has... an island. A jungle. An ice. A FUCKING PINBALL "Carnival" but it's just Casino Night- apparently this gets spooky in act 2 but since the graphics have no sense of personality, it was barely noticeable. The utter lack of effort in making inventive level themes is insane.

I mean, I'm just going to go off on the art style for a second, because I cannot believe Sonic Mania beats this game from a visual standpoint. How are we living in a world where Sonic's brand has multiple excellent cases of animation formats and this is the art style they choose for the latest 2D platformer? It's definitely indicative of the developer's previous works, but I had a section planned for a dramatic reveal later in this rant, so I'm not going to mention them here. Oh, and speaking of aesthetic inconsistency, how do you make a Sonic game WHERE NONE OF THE MUSIC IS GOOD?! Sound design as a whole is migraine-inducing.

The level gimmicks in this game are always annoying because they slow things down or are just poorly designed. Some are literally worse versions of gimmicks that have existed in older games- there's rocket sections that you can't control, there's drilling sections with rocks in the sand meant to... slow you down? There's slippy slides that make you... slippy slide. There's one gimmick in zone called Press Factory that felt unique- where the floor continuously bounces you in timed intervals- but these are the rare exception in a sea of just... bland ****. But for each new gimmick and idea, there's something that has already been done, and likely even better. Too many of these gimmicks result in auto-running sequences, which is the antithesis of fun- I like when I build up speed in classic Sonic games because launching myself off of a ramp whenever I wanted was a thrilling unknown- would I even end up in a part of the level that was functional? Old Sonic games actually accounted for this. Superstars does not.

Oh, the stages are also like, seven minutes long. I hate it.

Special/bonus stages! Hey, you want to stop playing a mediocre platformer and instead play some of the most aggravating special stages ever? Okay, let's reach into the old nostalgia bag and see which one we're- what's that? Everyone loves blue spheres? Everyone would gladly do more blue spheres? There's rarely a new special mode that's better than blue spheres? Oh, let's bring back the rotating mazes from Sonic 1 that sucked and give them more cheap gimmicks and then create a web-slinging emerald chase game that is never explained thoroughly in any way and is extremely frustrating! Whoo!

What's worse is that, if you fail the rotating mazes, you just keep doing the same one over and over. And you might say "well, that way you can practice them and get better!" They are not fun. They give you a bad in-game currency that you can use to by costumes, because apparently that's why people play Sonic games.

"But what about the Emerald Powers, Evan? I was promised Emerald Powers! I deserve Emerald Powers!" They too are also bad, and because the stage design is so bad, developer Arzest (of Yoshi's New Island fame!) decided to telegraph when exactly you should use them, because they also only recharge every time you hit a goalpost checkpoint so god forbid you want to experiment with them all over. Oh, also many of them are stupid and highly situational and once activated will help you complete a very simple challenge and then they will last entirely too long. Like, sometimes the telegraphed "use (x) Emerald Power here!" indicator pops up, you use the power, and you just... get a medal. The only challenge was actively selecting one of these tools. God, it sucks so bad.

I should mention that you get about 3-5 second of inactivity when you transition from a special/bonus stage, which is a minor inconvenience that really adds up.

The bosses. Dear god, where to begin? Some are painfully long, some have weaknesses that utilize mechanics that are never telegraphed throughout the entire fight, and some will just... kill you randomly for no reason. I'll be honest, the malice that fuels this rant was started by a mini-boss in Golden Capital, which is a giant rampaging piggy bank that... steals all of your rings at the start of the battle. I'm sorry, what? Why would you do that? How is that fun? Every obstacle it throws at you can just instantly kill you. Since so many bosses have brief periods of vulnerability, also, and the game is really bad at letting you know which bosses this applies to and which do not. See, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze got away with having long, insane boss battles because it was a good game. Sonic Superstars is not.

I did not finish Sonic Frontiers because, at a certain point, I knew what the rest of the game would be, and my obsessive compulsive tendencies would not allow me to do anything less than clear each of the game's bad open-zones of all their collectibles. I frankly thought that would be a waste of my time. But I just stopped playing Sonic Superstars because I wasn't having fun. Like, I don't need to be good at a game in order to have fun- I beat the entirety of Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze and got my ass handed to me the entire time. I played Sonic Colors and was happy to return to stages because they were small and short and offered easily telegraphed goals.

I just gave up. I have no will to continue. If Sega refuses to put any effort into Sonic games, why should I?

It's funny that Sonic Superstars came out the same year as Super Mario Bros. Wonder, because I have done everything in my power to avoid playing both of them because I wasn't sure I could justify a 60 dollar platformer. But I know deep in my soul that I would probably feel better after playing Wonder at full price much more than Superstars at 25 bucks. But that's just a theory- a game etc. etc.

I gotta end this review on a banger zinger like last year's review. Dear god, I can't believe I did this same thing last year. Uh, okay, here it goes:

Play Toree 3D, Toree 2, Toree Genesis, or the upcoming Toree Saturn. They understand Sonic the Hedgehog better than anything Sega has put out in the last decade.

**** this.

22

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Boredom and Nintendo

« on: March 31, 2024, 10:41:46 AM »

Maybe it’s just me, but industry trends are so depressing and Nintendo’s technical issues on the Switch are so baffling that I find myself defaulting to indie titles instead. It’s why my library has ballooned (well, many review copies, too) and honestly so much more enjoyable. Not every game needs to be a 60-70 dollar 500-hour nightmare with bad industry practices baked in, and indie releases usually put some degree of effort into optimizing for platforms in the hopes of making a good impression.

It’s likely why I’m not qualified to participate in this discussion, but also why I find these takes on the Switch so baffling. I mean, yes, the hardware construction/design and overall UI is embarrassing and it will take some considered effort on Nintendo’s part to convince me of an upgrade if they’re going to use the same design philosophy as the Switch, but aside from the toppest of tiers in Nintendo’s library (and not even that sometimes), I’ve found the system to be best for portable, reasonably-sized games.

23

General Chat / Re: Faceball 2000 Part 3: Faceball 2024 in Milwaukee

« on: March 24, 2024, 11:48:33 PM »

Incredible.

24

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Boredom and Nintendo

« on: March 24, 2024, 07:24:11 PM »

It sounds like you have very particular tastes in games, and while Nintendo satisfies your proclivities for some, you don't always feel that your tastes are satisfied on a yearly basis.

No platform is wholly represented by its first-party releases, though it might have seemed as such during the N64 and GCN years. The Switch has had an incredibly healthy third party and indie scene, with many games filling the void left by your Fire Emblems and Pokemons and Metroids and whatever. And we're not just talking about old ports to new systems, either.

Asking for recommendations might result in some hidden gems that you may have overlooked.

25

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Gods Will Fall - Buyer Beware

« on: March 19, 2024, 01:39:22 PM »

THAT’S GETTIN’ A “honk!” FROM ME