Topic: 3rd Annual NWR Four on Four

[M.K.Ultra]

Hey there forum fans, time to dig out those 3DOs, charge up those Game & Watches, plug in your PSVR2, and dust off the old Lynx. That's right, it's the fourth month of the year and thus time to kick off the 3rd annual Four on Four community event!

The basic idea is to complete four games from four different systems during the month of April. This will encourage us to play more games and as well as games on different systems. Feel free to modify the rules as you see fit. You could use the system the game was originally released on rather than the system you played it on. Instead maybe you just play four games on four different system without completing them. Personally, I am going to pick some games that I have already started and plan to finish in April

Just post the games you are playing and what system you are playing them on and have fun!

[M.K.Ultra]

Here are the four games I hope to finish this month:
Jak 3 - playing on PS3
Watch Dogs Legion - playing on PS5
Chibi-Robo! Photo Finder - playing on 3DS
Super Mario Galaxy 2 - playing on Wii

[TOPHATANT123]

I've got a super ambitious April planned, but I'm feeling optimistic.

Resident Evil 4 (Original) PS4 - A good 10 hours into this already, loving it so far. Looking forward to playing the remake at some point in the future and comparing the two.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 Wii - Snap. Made a head start on this one too, currently 40 stars in. I'm enjoying it although I've been finding there are control issues with the waggle. I once went to itch my face and died because it read that as a shake. The precision just isn't there. Not a problem on easier stages though.

Twilight Princess HD Wii U - Want to play this before Tears of the Kingdom. Not made a start yet and I know it's famously a very long game.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Switch - This is a stretch goal, but now that the eShop has closed I really want get back to this, hopefully finishing it before Tears of the Kingdom as well.

[jarodea]

I struggle to play games these days but first on my goal is:

Luigi's Mansion 3

Next I hope to play through the Metal Games

I'm debating between Metroid Dread and Alien Isolation.

Like I said, I'm a bit delayed.

[M.K.Ultra]

Super Mario Galaxy 2 Wii - Snap. Made a head start on this one too, currently 40 stars in. I'm enjoying it although I've been finding there are control issues with the waggle. I once went to itch my face and died because it read that as a shake. The precision just isn't there. Not a problem on easier stages though.

Crazy that we are both playing this at the same time. I was having a hard time with the Yoshi controls but I haven't given them that much time yet. I have always thought the first game was better and replayed it multiple times, but this is my first replay of the sequel.

[M.K.Ultra]

I struggle to play games these days but first on my goal is:

Luigi's Mansion 3

Next I hope to play through the Metal Games

I'm debating between Metroid Dread and Alien Isolation.

Like I said, I'm a bit delayed.

All great games IMO. What system are you thinking for Alien Isolation?
That has been ported to quite a few different consoles.

[Evan_B]

Well, this is awkward.

Master Blaster 02 (Nintendo Switch): I’ve always heard good things about this game and it’s been sitting in my backlog for far too long. Time to see what the hype is all about.
Ratcheteer (Playdate) The Playdate is a flawed, but charming console with very few “adventure” titles. This is a send off to Link’s Awakening and about six hours, tops. Should be fun.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii U Virtual Console) Never played it on launch, got it due to the eShop closure. Never was too much of a fan of the first Galaxy but I hear this one is more straightforward.
Pokémon Picross (3DS) Uh, I have other stuff I could play on the 3DS. But I’m looking for a manageable, brief experience.

[M.K.Ultra]

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii U Virtual Console) Never played it on launch, got it due to the eShop closure. Never was too much of a fan of the first Galaxy but I hear this one is more straightforward.

Wow, three of us all playing the same game. It's like the forum retrospective game for the month. Seriously, we need to get a fourth person on this title!

[NWR_insanolord]

I've been playing Galaxy 2 lately as well, so I suppose I'll jump in. Give me a bit to come up with what other games I want to do.

[M.K.Ultra]

I just got to some of the Comet levels in SMG2 last night and really enjoyed them. My main complaint before this was that it was too easy, but the comet levels provide the right challenge for me. I had an interesting thought to share. The "levels" in the game are now "galaxies", but the groups of levels are still called "worlds". This seemed funny since you would think of a galaxy as containing worlds and not the other way around.

[M.K.Ultra]

I rolled credits on Jak 3 on Saturday. This is the third and final game in the Jak and Daxter collection I played on PS3. The three games were originally on PS2 and remastered in HD (and 3D) for PS3. I mainly picked this collection up because they were developed by Naughty Dog (and in 3D). It is interesting to see how it changes from a fun platformer/collectathon to a GTA like in the first two games.

The first is by far my favorite but I liked the third game more than the second. Probably because the games were played a few years apart, I could not remember who any of these characters were, other than the eponymous Jak and Daxter. The trophy system is also strange in this game, and in the second one, in that you can easily get all but 3 trophies just playing through the main missions. There are two collectables, the metalhead skulls and precursor orbs. The skulls drop from defeated metalheads and are plentiful, however the precursor orbs are not easy to get. There are 600 and many come from some rather difficult challenges that I just didn't feel like attempting. So I currently have 51/600 leaving two additional trophies for collecting the rest (and the third is the platinum).

Game time was about 15 hours which was just right and the story wrapped up nicely. The 3D on this third game is really nice and better than the first two from what I remember. You can see the devs were ready for something more grown up here, but the jump from this to Uncharted is still a little shocking. I suppose I might come back to 100% the game eventually, but I would go back to the first two before that so it might be another ten years.

Anyway, that is 1 down and 3 to go for the 4 on four. Making good progress on SMG2 and Watch Dogs but I am not sure I will get all the photos I need for Chibi-Robo this month as one is an airplane.

[M.K.Ultra]

I beat Super Mario Galaxy on Wii and found the 120 power stars in the main game. It was better than I remember, with some of the comet levels being really fun. There was some really good writing as well. This one level you are breaking chomp chomps and when you go speak to the worker robot, they say something like "if you have time for talking, then you have time for breaking chomp chomps". For some reason that was really funny to me.
I also forgot that Rosalina shows up in the game. I remember being upset that she was not a central character like in the first game, but she appears as an apparition when you die too many times on a level to offer you help. Then at the very end she appears briefly to reunite with the luma in your hat.
Now this might be me but I remember trying to find some of the green stars and just not having fun with it. So I gave up and considered the game done. This time around I stopped at the same point, but more out of being ready to play something else. Has anyone really enjoyed those green stars? Did you use a guide or have any trick to finding them?
I also beat Watch Dogs but will post about that later. For now, that is 2 down and 2 to go

[M.K.Ultra]

As I mentioned above, I did beat Watch Dogs: Legion on PS5. I played the original on WiiU in June of last year and was pleasantly surprised. I really liked the hacking through cameras for the recon aspect of missions. My biggest complaint was how the game made it difficult to play stealthily on missions, forcing you into gunfights. The story was okay but I was not crazy about the protagonist. Anyway, that experience being good and Ubisoft with deep discounts led me to picking up this game for about $15.
I am glad to report that Legion is an amazing game, improving so much on the original. It is the third game and I did not play the sequel so that may have contributed to my opinion. You get so much fun variety with game play. There are cool driving missions, flying drones, crawling drones, hacking puzzles, and lots of stealth/action missions. The hook for the game is that almost every NPC can be recruited to become a playable character. This lets you assemble a team of whichever people you like best. There are also some great collectibles and minigames. Since it is set in London you get lots of British accents and culture that I found very enjoyable, especially since I am watching Ted Lasso these days. Apparently British people love football, drinking, and darts  . I feel like a switch port would have run just as well as Immortals, but I doubt we will get one.
That is 3 on four for me and since the month is over that is all I will get. Chibi-robo is not an easy game to rush through. Some of these pictures are not things I have access to so I don't know if I will ever finish it. Well there is always next year. Hopefully others can report back on if they got around to four games or not. It is a surprisingly difficult challenge some months but it is always fun to try.

[TOPHATANT123]

I also achieved 3 on 4.
Made some good progress on Xenoblade 3 but I've got anywhere between 25-100 hours to go.

Mario Galaxy 2
I played two of the green star mission then after that decided hell nah, that's going to be incredibly tedious. The green stars seem to be designed for kids in 2010 who had nothing else going on.

Overall I enjoyed the game. However since I've played the series out of order, the ideas appearing here for the first time didn't make much of an impact. Not really the fault of Galaxy 2 but the games that came after it.

The game has a surprisingly large amount of bosses. Lots of level variety, with both new and returning power ups. I don't think 3D Mario is 100% my cup of tea, but it was still a fun enough ride.

Luigi is way too slippery for me, so I eventually dropped him. Lastly I'd say that because of the green stars, the ending is kind of weird and anti-climactic.

Twilight Princess
I think this game is flawed.

There are some parts I enjoyed, sometimes the dungeons would set off a nice fuzzy feeling that you get when you're going through the motions, doing your internal dungeon solving algorithm. The dungeons are a lot more complex than Wind Waker, and the art style made them feel more like real spaces, rather than video game levels.

The reason I say the game is flawed is that it feels like you have a central gameplay strength (the dungeon puzzles), being held together by extremely flimsy connective tissue.

With the combat, while they do give you extra moves, it never really gets much more interesting than it is in the first dungeon. It's a means to an end.

The towns and overworld feel lacking in interesting NPCs, or side quests beyond collecting macguffins. Heart pieces diminish in their importance after you get enough of them and with the combat being so bland, there's not a huge need for them either.

Then the rest of the game is filled out with a shallow assortment of other gameplay types. Like horse combat, wolf combat, fishing, sumo, tears of light sections, herding goats, snowboarding, jousting, canoeing, chasing skull kid around the woods. They went for variety and succeeded, but these gameplay types aren't deep or even especially fun. It's there to pad the game out a bit before the next dungeon.

I agree with Neil's assessment on Connectivity. The game is dark, but not at all grounded. It's a goofball game and doesn't take itself seriously. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but it feels like a mismatch with what the audience would be anticipating.

Resident Evil 4 Original
So fun from start to finish. The combat is satisfying and there is real growth as you learn when and where to use all the weapons. The inventory system is constantly forcing you to make choices and it feels incredible when you decide to spend your money after saving up.

The game is still very playable with tank controls and holds up remarkably well for a 2005 game.

The story is very silly and Leon is a walking meme generator, but intentional or not, that doesn't matter. This game lives on the strength of its zombies and the guns you use to kill them, which are exceptional.

[Evan_B]

Well, I failed miserably. I made it rather far… in the wrong Picross. I’ve been chipping away at S7 and the later levels hurt my brain at times. I also put no work into Master Blaster thanks to Xenoblade 3’s DLC and just generally enjoying Harvestella much more.

Man, I tried popping in Super Mario Galaxy 2 and played about two levels before abandoning it. I just do not get the hype for that game, the cylindrical planetoids in particular irk me. But I just can’t stand the way the game feels in general and it doesn’t make me want to play any more.

[M.K.Ultra]

Mario Galaxy 2
I played two of the green star mission then after that decided hell nah, that's going to be incredibly tedious. The green stars seem to be designed for kids in 2010 who had nothing else going on.

So it isn't just me that feels that way.

Twilight Princess
I think this game is flawed.
Then the rest of the game is filled out with a shallow assortment of other gameplay types. Like horse combat, wolf combat, fishing, sumo, tears of light sections, herding goats, snowboarding, jousting, canoeing, chasing skull kid around the woods. They went for variety and succeeded, but these gameplay types aren't deep or even especially fun. It's there to pad the game out a bit before the next dungeon.

I have not played the Wii U HD version yet. Did you use the Gamepad or Wolf Link amiibo? Did you play that extra dungeon? If so, let me know what you thought of those

Resident Evil 4 Original
So fun from start to finish. The combat is satisfying and there is real growth as you learn when and where to use all the weapons. The inventory system is constantly forcing you to make choices and it feels incredible when you decide to spend your money after saving up.

I enjoyed this as well, though I have only played the Wii version. I want to play the VR port but I have have a Quest (not a Quest 2). Of course I have a copy of RE 7 to play with PSVR and then there is RE 8 to get to when I get a PSVR 2 so there is plenty of REVR available without a Quest 2.

[M.K.Ultra]

Well, I failed miserably. I made it rather far… in the wrong Picross. I’ve been chipping away at S7 and the later levels hurt my brain at times. I also put no work into Master Blaster thanks to Xenoblade 3’s DLC and just generally enjoying Harvestella much more.

Man, I tried popping in Super Mario Galaxy 2 and played about two levels before abandoning it. I just do not get the hype for that game, the cylindrical planetoids in particular irk me. But I just can’t stand the way the game feels in general and it doesn’t make me want to play any more.

Well, I am looking forward to your review of Future Redeemed.

Did you manage to play any of Ratcheteer?

[Luigi Dude]

Mario Galaxy 2
I played two of the green star mission then after that decided hell nah, that's going to be incredibly tedious. The green stars seem to be designed for kids in 2010 who had nothing else going on.

So it isn't just me that feels that way.

As someone that actually 100% Galaxy 2 back in the day, I'm going to have to push back.  Yes a good amount of Green Stars are just find the star hidden somewhere in the stage, but a lot of them are also in plain sight and require either doing tricky platformer challenges or climbing up area's you wouldn't even think you could in the base game.  It made replaying the game again as Luigi more interesting since his higher and longer jumps were put to good use in getting them.


For the month of April, I did get at least 4 games crossed of my backlog, but they were all on the Switch.

Astalon: Tears of the Earth

Now this was an amazing Metroidvania game.  Unlike a lot of the indie titles that just follow the IGA formula of copy and paste long hallways with some vertical rooms with platforms, this castle is filled with so many unique rooms and layouts.  Definitely something more people should try.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

I beat the game on Normal mode last year and found it pretty meh.  Decided to play it again on Hard mode to see if I might enjoy it more.  Nope, it's actually worse since the sluggish controls and terrible hitbox detection, now combined with harder hitting enemy and bosses that all take more hits to kill, a truly miserable experience.  I looked up Youtube video's to see how people actually played this **** and of course they just grind to max out their souls early on to curbstomp everything.  Pretty much proves what I was thinking when I played it last year, this game was pretty much made for the IGA vania fans who love to grind to completely negate any challenge, while anyone that doesn't like to grind will be stuck with a mediocre to outright terrible action game.

No More Heroes 3

Well that was pretty fun, probably my favorite game in the series.  Story had me laughing most of the time and a lot of the boss fights were actually pretty good.

Another World

Played Flashback back in 2021 and really loved it.  Now I thought this game came after but it turns out this was the one that came before.  So yeah it was a shorter game that lacks the gameplay variety of Flashback, but it was still pretty fun.  For a game that I've seen many consider pretty hard, I did pretty good.  I played for a few hours before finally hitting a part that I had to look up, and when I looked it up it turns out that was literally the last puzzle of the game.  It's funny since I did the same with Flashback, where I managed to go through the game without having to look anything up, until I finally hit a puzzle that I just couldn't figure out and in both cases, the ending was literally about 5 minutes away.

[TOPHATANT123]

I agree with Evan that there are sometimes control issues with planetoid gravity. Especially in 2D sections. I found it confusing when you would press right to move from 0 degrees to 90 degrees, then if you let go of the stick you need to press up or down instead.

I have not played the Wii U HD version yet. Did you use the Gamepad or Wolf Link amiibo? Did you play that extra dungeon? If so, let me know what you thought of those

I didn't get to check that out. Is it focused on Wolf Link fights? If so there's probably not much of value there.

[Evan_B]

Did you manage to play any of Ratcheteer?

I did! It’s a neat little game, and although the first item you receive doesn’t make terribly good use of the crank, there are more items and dungeons that have unique properties. I do love the soundscape, as well, which really does lean into the GB/Link’s Awakening vibes. Didn’t finish it though.

I didn't get to check that out. Is it focused on Wolf Link fights? If so there's probably not much of value there.

It’s essentially a Cave of Trials, but exclusively for Wolf Link. I think you get the biggest wallet as a reward? Not really necessary, but it did give me a bit of trouble during Hero Mode.

[M.K.Ultra]

As someone that actually 100% Galaxy 2 back in the day, I'm going to have to push back.  Yes a good amount of Green Stars are just find the star hidden somewhere in the stage, but a lot of them are also in plain sight and require either doing tricky platformer challenges or climbing up area's you wouldn't even think you could in the base game.  It made replaying the game again as Luigi more interesting since his higher and longer jumps were put to good use in getting them.

Of course Luigi Dude is going to enjoy the green stars 
I admit I gave up after about two of these so I probably did not give these challenges their fare due. I had planned to just do that post game part, but when I fired up the game I realized my save file from the first play through was on a different Wii that I have since sold. Starting from scratch I felt ready for a break after the 120 regular missions. I suppose in another 10 years when I play the game again I will finally complete it.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
I beat the game on Normal mode last year and found it pretty meh.  Decided to play it again on Hard mode to see if I might enjoy it more.  Nope, it's actually worse since the sluggish controls and terrible hitbox detection, now combined with harder hitting enemy and bosses that all take more hits to kill, a truly miserable experience.  I looked up Youtube video's to see how people actually played this **** and of course they just grind to max out their souls early on to curbstomp everything.  Pretty much proves what I was thinking when I played it last year, this game was pretty much made for the IGA vania fans who love to grind to completely negate any challenge, while anyone that doesn't like to grind will be stuck with a mediocre to outright terrible action game.

I had a similar experience with the game the first time around. I have been meaning to get back and play it in a different way. I was thinking of trying out some different mode but I forgot what all has been done. According to the games site, here are the modes available:

• Speedrun Mode
• Boss Rush Mode
• Randomizer Mode
• Chaos Mode
• Classic Mode
• Boss Revenge Mode

There are also new playable characters. I will try to get around to this sometime this year and probably just pick something on the spot.

No More Heroes 3
Well that was pretty fun, probably my favorite game in the series.  Story had me laughing most of the time and a lot of the boss fights were actually pretty good.

This was my favorite as well. I really like the story and how ridiculous it was. I can't wait for Suda 51's next game!