Completed Games 2023

[Eizan 126]

4.  Fire Emblem 

 

5.  Fire Emblem Sacred Stones 

 

I've been playing through older Fire Emblems. Started Awakening as well. Plan on going through the others as well. 

 

Also playing Sea of Stars and should be finishing that pretty soon. 

[MT 917]

1) Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order

2)  Spelunky (Olmec Run)

3)   The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

4) (NES) The Legend of Zelda

5)  The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (152 Shrines/120 Lightroots)

6) Viewfinder

7)  Spelunky 2 (Hundun run)

 

Been trying to complete this run for about two months now and finally did it tonight, while streaming so there's actual video evidence of it. I had already been playing for an hour when I decided to do one more run, and it turned out to be worth it. Next is probably the cosmic ocean, which has a lot of the same steps as this Hundun run does, but with an added challenge of bringing a crossbow with you through a bunch of levels. Might take a break for a while, but i'm glad I was finally able to get it done.

[MT 917]

1) Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order

2)  Spelunky (Olmec Run)

3)   The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

4) (NES) The Legend of Zelda

5)  The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (152 Shrines/120 Lightroots)

6) Viewfinder

7)  Spelunky 2 (Hundun run)

8 ) Mortal Kombat 1

 

An interesting re-telling of the games, with characters from the 3D games at the start of a new timeline that weren't originally. Some new twists and turns, and the final chapter was pretty cool.

 

 

You fight a lot of variants of characters combined with other characters. One I fought was a combo of Shao Kahn and Sub-Zero called Shao Zero, and another was Sindel mixed with Reptile (her name wasn't as cool, Lizard Queen or something like that) which was neat. It makes me wish there were a way to do that in game, but I know that'd be a nightmare to try and put together.

[Vic Boss 612]

1) Goldeneye 007 :xsx: (100% Achievements)

2) NASCAR Heat 4 (Platinum)

3) Pokemon Scarlet (80ish hours)

4) Wolfenstein 3D :xsx: (100% Achievements)

 

5) Mario Wonder (100%)

 

Including having to play through the final-final level twice because the first time I fucked up getting the golden flag.

 

Pretty good game. Best 2D Mario in years. I think it tried to do for 2D Mario what Odyssey for 3D Mario but didn't quite get there. The new coat of paint was needed, the focus on Wonder weirdness was cool, but it did start to feel like it was losing steam around 3/4s of my playthrough through. With the caveat that a) I played the secret world levels as soon as I found them rather than leaving them all for the end, so that may have played a hand in it and b) when it gave the option to choose which world you wanted to play, I went for the hardest world first, so again, I might've seen all the coolest shit earlier than I theoretically should've.

 

The Last Boss might've been the most disappointing thing in the game to me

 

 

 

Yet another Nintendo disembodied giant head with floating hands. Was hoping for something either a little more original or maybe a little "more" Bowser.
 

 

 

It's like an 8.8/10 all together but sometimes feels like a 9.5/10.

 

Oh, and

 

6) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Pass Wave 3 (everything triple starred)

 

Never did get around to triple starring everything, wanted to do it before Mario Wonder came out but didn't quite have the time.

 

Athens Dash, Squeaky Clean Spring, and Vacouver Velocity are pretty fucking cool. Koopa Cape and Moonview Highway continue to be solid.

[Mera'din 307]

13.)  Final Fantasy XVI

 

FINALLY got through this. Had abandoned it for a while due to Baldur's Gate 3 (which I'm still working on), but with Spider-man 2 and Alan Wake 2 imminent I decided to focus on it and get through. Overall I really enjoyed the game, there's a lot to love about it, but also a fair bit of stuff I found annoying. I know a lot of people liked the first half of the story, but I found it the least enjoyable part (though I didn't hate it). Just didn't have much of an FF feel a lot of the time. Felt more like Game of Thrones or Dragon Age narratively, which is fine I guess. Just wasn't expecting it. The last half really starts to take off and get into that weird Final Fantasy magic bullshit that I wanted to see. This game is a spectacle visually, and I loved every second of it. 

 

My main gripes come from a couple places. I hate a lot about the combat honestly. I don't mind an action RPG, but the fights (especially a lot of the mini-bosses and bosses) felt very rote. You just cycle through your abilities that are off cooldown and chip away at their HP and it was kind of boring until late in the game when the time spent in each fight was a lot more manageable with upgrades. Not being able to pick party members was all a huge drawback. Recruiting party members and choosing who to take with you is a big part of what makes RPGs fun and everything was preset in this when you were actually allowed to have anyone in the first place other than the dog. Even XV being a set party the whole game felt better than this because they were always there and it felt like they were actually part of the fight. The other characters in this game felt less necessary than Donald and Goofy in a Kingdom Hearts game. >_>

 

My other main gripe was the accessories. Aside from the fact that their major accessibility "options" were tied to accessories, the other accessories available in the game were downright boring. Nearly everything was for one specific ability and just reduced the CD or increased the damage of that specific ability by x amount. At that point, it was more interesting to use the accessibility stuff because they actually felt like they meant something. The only other ones that felt worth using until end game were the ones that gave you more XP, Gil or ability points each fight. 

 

The main story was fun, batshit crazy FF shit, and the side quests had some really solid story to them even when they mostly amounted to fetch quests. They were interesting and well written and often gave you a lot of insight into the side characters. The combat had its moments despite its flaws, and the crazy Eikon fights, even though they were mostly QTEs, were a hell of a roller coaster. Voice acting was really solid most of the time too.

 

However, there was a line near the end of the game while fighting the final boss, that I just don't think I can forgive. I had to pause and just let it sink in that they actually did this.  
 

Spoiler

"The only fantasy here is yours. And we shall be its final witness!"

 

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

6 hours ago, Mera'din said:

13.)  Final Fantasy XVI

 

FINALLY got through this. Had abandoned it for a while due to Baldur's Gate 3 (which I'm still working on), but with Spider-man 2 and Alan Wake 2 imminent I decided to focus on it and get through. Overall I really enjoyed the game, there's a lot to love about it, but also a fair bit of stuff I found annoying. I know a lot of people liked the first half of the story, but I found it the least enjoyable part (though I didn't hate it). Just didn't have much of an FF feel a lot of the time. Felt more like Game of Thrones or Dragon Age narratively, which is fine I guess. Just wasn't expecting it. The last half really starts to take off and get into that weird Final Fantasy magic bullshit that I wanted to see. This game is a spectacle visually, and I loved every second of it. 

 

My main gripes come from a couple places. I hate a lot about the combat honestly. I don't mind an action RPG, but the fights (especially a lot of the mini-bosses and bosses) felt very rote. You just cycle through your abilities that are off cooldown and chip away at their HP and it was kind of boring until late in the game when the time spent in each fight was a lot more manageable with upgrades. Not being able to pick party members was all a huge drawback. Recruiting party members and choosing who to take with you is a big part of what makes RPGs fun and everything was preset in this when you were actually allowed to have anyone in the first place other than the dog. Even XV being a set party the whole game felt better than this because they were always there and it felt like they were actually part of the fight. The other characters in this game felt less necessary than Donald and Goofy in a Kingdom Hearts game. >_>

 

My other main gripe was the accessories. Aside from the fact that their major accessibility "options" were tied to accessories, the other accessories available in the game were downright boring. Nearly everything was for one specific ability and just reduced the CD or increased the damage of that specific ability by x amount. At that point, it was more interesting to use the accessibility stuff because they actually felt like they meant something. The only other ones that felt worth using until end game were the ones that gave you more XP, Gil or ability points each fight. 

 

The main story was fun, batshit crazy FF shit, and the side quests had some really solid story to them even when they mostly amounted to fetch quests. They were interesting and well written and often gave you a lot of insight into the side characters. The combat had its moments despite its flaws, and the crazy Eikon fights, even though they were mostly QTEs, were a hell of a roller coaster. Voice acting was really solid most of the time too.

 

However, there was a line near the end of the game while fighting the final boss, that I just don't think I can forgive. I had to pause and just let it sink in that they actually did this.  
 

  Reveal hidden contents

"The only fantasy here is yours. And we shall be its final witness!"

 

God, it really sucks not having a proper party or any party control.  Pretty sure I said as much in my Completed post, but they should have in the least made you manage their hp with control over AI settings.  Same with Torgal, who has a bunch of special abilities in their Limit mode yet I've never seen one.  It holds the active engagement/dragging sections back so damn much.  And having just finished FF7R on hard mode, the contrast is fucking dire.  Even the slow sections are more engaging because the combat keeps you on your toes and there's enough difference in character play styles that it always feels fresh.  No amount of Eikon abilities can make up for the sameyness of Clive.

 

All that said, I hold very much the same opinion as you that I really enjoyed it overall.  Especially in the story department.  Just felt there was so much more to be done that had been done better in both XV and FF7R.

[Mera'din 307]

Yeah, the combat gameplay is the biggest thing holding it back by far. It wouldn't even be BAD with a few adjustments, but still feels very anti-Final Fantasy in its execution. There were two better ways to do it, and FFXVI and VII Remake are excellent examples of them both that they could have looked at as you noted. You'd think the guy that is known for saving FFXIV would have had the wherewithal to keep party management, of all things, in mind. XD

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

1??.???? Pokemon Violet

?2?. :snes: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

3. Spyro? 2: Ripto's Rage

4. Octopath Traveler?

5. Metroid II: Return of Samus

6. :ps1: Oddworld: Abe's Oddyssee

7. God of War (2018) 

8. :ps1: Crash Bandicoot?

9. Spider-Man Remastered?

10. :ps1: Crash Bandicoot 2 (100%)?

11. Final Fantasy XVI

12. Spyro: Year of the Dragon (100%)

13. Jet Set Radio

14.  Final Fantasy VII REMAKE (Platinum Trophy)

 

Finally knocked this one out.  Completed the Hard Mode run, finished all the combat simulator/colosseum stuff, and got the platinum.  Later today I'm gonna get the final Chapter 14 resolution and get my last two enemies to assess(Cactuar and Ifrit) and I'll have the Play Log 100%'d except for one manuscript, because fuck you, I'm not fighting that house on hard mode again.

 

I loved it just as much, if not more, than the first time.  The Train Graveyard section is probably the slowest to get through and definitely feels more like a distraction than an engaging portion, and the Phantom boss was pretty annoying to deal with.  Hard Mode in general really does test your knowledge of the materia and how well you can manipulate the system.  The Hell House and Specimen H0512 probably gave me the most trouble for standard bosses, but most of them either had me hanging by a thread or taking two or three tries to finish off.  And the final chapter was a pain in the ass, too.  Dealing with the Whispers was more trouble than it should have been and I had to swap materia setups a couple times before I got it right.  I feel like I beat Sephiroth relatively easy in comparison, but he was an ass, too.  And then the final Combat Simulator fight...Jesus it was frustrating.  I managed to beat Pride and Joy in two tries, but that was after getting stomped by Bahamut like 10 times more.  The two times I did beat him, I was definitely hanging by a thread.

 

God, I can't wait for Rebirth.  Gonna play the DLC soon to tide me over.

[Vic Boss 612]

1) Goldeneye 007 :xsx: (100% Achievements)

2) NASCAR Heat 4 (Platinum)

3) Pokemon Scarlet (80ish hours)

4) Wolfenstein 3D :xsx: (100% Achievements)

5) Mario Wonder (100%)

6) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Pass Wave 3 (everything triple starred)

 

7 Metal Gear (100% Trophies)

 

Platinum is tied to getting the trophies for both of the MSX games.

 

Used a quickie/speedrun guide for it. I've watched a playthrough before and it's always seemed pretty obtuse in the english-version Castlevania II way. Feels like a game I want to try to bumble through but at the same time, I was getting annoyed with the repeating save system while I was playing the guide, so I dunno if I'd last.

 

Series spoiler ahead

 

RIP Venom Snake ;__;>

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

I never finished it, but when I was playing the MSX Metal Gear, I was going without a guide and I remember not having much trouble.  Though there may be some stuff after where I got that was worse.

[Vic Boss 612]

1) Goldeneye 007 :xsx: (100% Achievements)

2) NASCAR Heat 4 (Platinum)

3) Pokemon Scarlet (80ish hours)

4) Wolfenstein 3D :xsx: (100% Achievements)

5) Mario Wonder (100%)

6) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Pass Wave 3 (everything triple starred)

7 Metal Gear (100% Trophies)

 

8 ) Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (100% Trophies/Platinum)

 

This one holds up a lot better, probably because MGS1 is a partial remake of it. This is another one I feel like I'd want to try bumble through myself at some point.

[MT 917]

1) Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order

2) Spelunky (Olmec Run)

3)  The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

4) (NES) The Legend of Zelda

5) The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (152 Shrines/120 Lightroots)

6) Viewfinder

7) Spelunky 2 (Hundun run)

8 ) Mortal Kombat 1

9)  Spider-Man 2

 

Man, what a fantastic game. Looking forward to their Wolverine game even more now. I wonder if they'll be part of the same universe?

 

Getting to play as an unleashed Venom was sick af, now I want to see Insomniac get the Incredible Hulk license, I bet they'd knock it out of the park. Really glad I finished the Flame side missions. I didn't realize until the last mission that they never said what his name was, and then a minute or two later they showed he had a symbiote and it clicked that he may be Cletus Kassady, and sure enough it was an alias he used at one point, so that was pretty neat. Also at the very last post credits scene, when Miles' mom's date knocked on the door, I got a bad feeling that it'd be one of Peter's villains, but was pleasantly surprised to see it was Cindy Moon's dad. I wonder if she'll be playable if they do a third game? Would be interesting to see how her powers differ from Miles' and Peter's.

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

1??.???? Pokemon Violet

?2?. :snes: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

3. Spyro? 2: Ripto's Rage

4. Octopath Traveler?

5. Metroid II: Return of Samus

6. :ps1: Oddworld: Abe's Oddyssee

7. God of War (2018) 

8. :ps1: Crash Bandicoot?

9. Spider-Man Remastered?

10. :ps1: Crash Bandicoot 2 (100%)?

11. Final Fantasy XVI

12. Spyro: Year of the Dragon (100%)

13. Jet Set Radio

14.  Final Fantasy VII REMAKE (Platinum Trophy)

15. :ps1: Legend of Legaia (88.84%)

 

This has been a really long-time coming. This game was was like the holy trinity of PS1 JRPGs that got me hooked to the genre when I was a kid alongside FF7 and Star Ocean 2. Except when I first played it and didn't really grasp the concept of grinding, I couldn't get past the Viguro boss fight in East Voz Forest.  That's how early it was for me. And then a few years later I started a replay and got a bit farther, but not much past the first continent. So I was determined to actually finish the game this time, as I've recently been on a mission to pretty much complete all the PS1 JRPGs that I never finished. I didn't go too hard on completionism because I felt I had everything I needed to fight the final boss, and wasn't sure if I would be ready to take on the optional boss nor did I want to do all the grinding necessary to do so.  Still, I can see myself going back to try this at some point.

 

I still love this game though. It surprisingly holds up as far as presentation goes, with the 3D sprites being incredibly expressive and the writing, while somewhat simple, having so much character to it. I absolute love Noa and her characterization/antics throughout, and when you get to her more emotional moments, it just hits so hard. And while I used to just see Gala as some meathead and didn't care about him before, he ended up being my dark horse favorite. Especially with the level of damage he can end up doing both with his magic and power. And the story just feels like it has a good journey that you can invest yourself in. And of course the battle system is great. I love the fighting game-like inputs and the various combos you can get(I only looked up miracle arts and how many arts have so many inputs), and the way it works with the Spirit system just had me really engaged during some of the hardest fights. The Delilas trio and the final Songi battle stand out the most for me, but a lot of the fights kept me on my toes since I did minimal grinding past the first 10-15 hours.

 

Anyone who hasn't played this, if you want an old school JRPG experience that can still deliver in the modern era, I recommend checking this out.

 

8.5/10

[Eizan 126]

6.  Fire Emblem: Awakening

7.  Fire Emblem Three Houses

 

8.  Star Ocean The Second Story R (Claude Route)

 

This was a fantastic remake. I love the visuals, soundtrack is still great and the game plays just fine. Now to play through Rena's side. 

[Vic Boss 612]

1) Goldeneye 007 :xsx: (100% Achievements)

2) NASCAR Heat 4 (Platinum)

3) Pokemon Scarlet (80ish hours)

4) Wolfenstein 3D :xsx: (100% Achievements)

5) Mario Wonder (100%)

6) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Pass Wave 3 (everything triple starred)

7 Metal Gear (100% Trophies)

8 ) Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (100% Trophies/Platinum)

 

9) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Pass Final Wave (everything triple starred)

 

Felt this group of tracks was weaker overall than some of the others. Rome Avanti was okay for a twisty-turny course that runs back in on itself, and Rainbow Road Wii and SNES Bowser Castle 3 are effing awesome. The rest are so-so.

 

I also kinda wonder if 150cc difficulty was nerfed, I got bombed by four blue shells in one race and still won with a heavy lead. Had no real trouble that wasn't self-inflicted when I went to triple star anything

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

1??.???? Pokemon?? Violet

????2?. :snes?: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

3. Spyro? 2: Ripto's Rage

4. Octopath Traveler?

5. Metroid II: Return of Samus

6. :ps1: Oddworld: Abe's Oddyssee

7. God of War (2018) 

8. :ps1: Crash Bandicoot??

9. Spider-Man Remastered?

10. :ps1: Crash Bandicoot 2 (100%)?

11. Final Fantasy XVI

12. Spyro: Year of the Dragon (100%)

13. Jet Set Radio

14. Final Fantasy VII REMAKE (Platinum Trophy?)

15. :ps1: Legend of Legaia (88.84%)

16.  Super Mario RPG Remake

 

And I breezed through this.  As painfully easy as this game can be, it's still so much fun.  The video be and story is enjoyable, the graphics, while maybe a bit too polished and plain for the remake, are still such a joy.  The soundtrack is fantastic and think they did a good job with the reorchestration.  I loved the addition of the Triple Moves and the bonuses for consistently getting your action commands right.  While it may have contributed to making the main game easier, it was so engaging to participate in that it overrode that.  Very minimal changes to the script was nice, and the few changes that exist make sense. I also really enjoyed the post-game bosses.  This was the first time I beat Culex, the only really challenging fight in the main game, and the post-game bosses almost all took me a couple tries to get finished. Would be kind of cool if there was a hard mode or something, but I'm hoping that the game sells well and Nintendo finally decide to go all in on a new Mario RPG game that has a bit more challenge.

 

Nostalgia obviously factors in, but such a great game and a great job for a Remake overall.

 

9/10

[webhead 519]

1. Diablo 4

2. Spider-Man: Miles Morales

 

3. Spider-Man 2 -- Platinum babyyyyy

Game was fuckin awesome.  Ended up getting the special edition with the statue and it's fantastic.  I REALLY enjoyed the symbiote powers in the game.  It's a good thing too because I feel like otherwise Miles would have been WAY better to play as with the electric powers.

[Mera'din 307]

14.)  (PSVR2) Vampire: The Masquerade - Justice

 

This was pretty fun. Not the most polished VR game I've played, but was made by a relatively small studio. Very stealth heavy game that made me think of Dishonored a bit, just in VR. There are some fun upgrades throughout the game and it was fun looking for some of the collectibles. Had some really neat puzzle elements as well for a few of the levels. As a VtM fan, I found the story engaging and though it was a little simplistic, it still had some interesting twists to it. Game is still a bit buggy, but manageable with audio issues being the most prevalent for me, which was pretty annoying for a stealth game. Might go through again to do the optional challenges some stages have for not taking damage or not killing anyone, etc. and to find the rest of the collectibles and maybe go for the Platinum.

The dev for this game has done another VR World of Darkness game (Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife), and though I couldn't play that one for long because of the shitty control setup on the old PSVR, it was still an interesting game that felt like they put a lot of thought into the world and this one definitely has that same care taken with it despite some of its shortcomings. It's not the best VR game I've played by any means, but I enjoyed myself the whole way through.

[Mera'din 307]

15.)  Alan Wake 2

I loved every second of this game. I came to Remedy's games pretty late since Max Payne wasn't something that stood out to me, and I always thought Alan Wake was a regular survival horror type game so never paid it much mind either. Quantum Break interested me when it came out, but the Xbox/Microsoft Store only shit had me avoid it. It wasn't until to Control that I finally got one of their games and played through it and it probably stands as one of my favorite games of all time still. With all the references in it to Alan Wake, I finally went back and played that and the little mini-sequel "American Nightmare" and ended up really enjoying them as well, so when this got announced I was pretty excited since it's a story I never thought they'd be able to finish, and having the FBC from Control factor into it as well helped despite it being more of a horror game than the first was.

 

Gameplay is pretty much the same as what the first game had. Use a flashlight and a gun and shoot the bad things. The storytelling is on a whole other level though and is really what their games excel at, alongside really fun gameplay segments tied to music (which this game also has, though I still think the one in Control is the best one they've done). Ending was a little more open ended than I care for, but they just released a free New Game+ patch that has a new ending to it, so I'm going to play through again and see if that covers things a little better. Really close to the Platinum as well, so probably going to hit that during the 2nd time through. Definitely looking forward to whatever they do next already.

[Vic Boss 612]

1) Goldeneye 007 :xsx: (100% Achievements)

2) NASCAR Heat 4 (Platinum)

3) Pokemon Scarlet (80ish hours)

4) Wolfenstein 3D :xsx: (100% Achievements)

5) Mario Wonder (100%)

6) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Pass Wave 3 (everything triple starred)

7 Metal Gear (100% Trophies)

8 ) Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (100% Trophies/Platinum)

9) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Pass Final Wave (everything triple starred)

10) Mario RPG Remake

 

UWAAAAA THE COAT OF PRETTY PAINT

 

The game was easier than the original due to the splash damage from perfectly timed hits, though I also played the original so much that I already had decent muscle memory for some of it. Also felt like some of it was slightly off on the timing but it's not a hard game. I was max level partway through the Smithy factory and IIRC I'd usually be around level 25 or 26 by then when I played the OG game and that was with fighting every enemy I came across.

 

Did not 100%, never have been able to do 100 Super Jumps (can barely break 10) and I don't care about the mini games. 100%ed the monster list with thoughts, found all the hidden treasures and beat all the post-game boss rematches. I think the Punchinello and Booster rematches were the ones I had the most problems with (Punchinello because the timing felt off compared to my muscle memory, Booster because I was just didn't equip correctly for it), even managed to beat the Culex rematch on the first try once I got the rhythm down.

 

Most of the soundtrack was decent to great (they knew what they were doing when they played the Forest Maze theme in the trailer), the only song I really didn't like was the map song compared to the OG map song.

 

Love this remake.

[MT 917]

1)  Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order

2)  Spelunky (Olmec Run)

3)  The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

4) (NES) The Legend of Zelda

5)  The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (152 Shrines/120 Lightroots)

6)  Viewfinder

7)  Spelunky 2 (Hundun run)

7a)  Doomlunky 2 (Spelunky 2 mod)

8 )  Mortal Kombat 1

9)  Spider-Man 2

10) (SNES) Super Metroid

11)  Metroid: Zero Mission 

12)  Super Mario Bros Wonder

 

I wish i liked this more. I haven't really enjoyed a 2D Mario probably since the first New SMB on the DS. Loved the hell out of Odyssey, even got 100%, but after about 4 worlds into Wonder I just stopped caring. I'm glad they tried something a little more out there, but I just couldn't get into it, and I have zero desire to get 100%.

 

Also I forgot to post about the Spelunky 2 mod I beat earlier this year, it's at 7a.

 

Oh, and I've been playing older Metroid games on my Analogue Pocket, so I added the two I've beaten on there as well. 

[MT 917]

On 12/17/2023 at 11:07 AM, MT said:

1)  Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order

2)  Spelunky (Olmec Run)

3)  The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

4) (NES) The Legend of Zelda

5)  The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (152 Shrines/120 Lightroots)

6)  Viewfinder

7)  Spelunky 2 (Hundun run)

7a)  Doomlunky 2 (Spelunky 2 mod)

8 )  Mortal Kombat 1

9)  Spider-Man 2

10) (SNES) Super Metroid

11)  Metroid: Zero Mission 

12)  Super Mario Bros Wonder

13) Metroid: Fusion

 

Was hoping i'd be able to beat this before the new year. 

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

1??.???? Pokemon???? Violet

????2?. :snes?: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

3. Spyro? 2: Ripto's? Rage

4. Octopath Traveler?

5. Metroid II: Return of Samus

6. :ps1: Oddworld: Abe's Oddyssee

7. God of War (2018) 

8. :ps1: Crash Bandicoot??

9. Spider-Man Remastered?

10. :ps1: Crash Bandicoot 2 (100%)?

11. Final Fantasy XVI

12. Spyro: Year of the Dragon (100%)

13. Jet Set Radio?

14. Final Fantasy VII REMAKE (Platinum Trophy?)

15. :ps1: Legend of Legaia (88.84%)?

16. :switch: Super Mario RPG Remake

17.  Ghost of Tsushima (Platinum)

18. :PS1: Crash Bandicoot: Warped (100%)

 

 

Holy fuck, Ghost of Tsushima is so good. If I wanted to be nitpicky, I could say the combat was a bit repetitive and it eventually started feeling a bit formulaic.  But that was never at the forefront of my mind because this game is just a vibe. All the side things you can do like the hot springs and haikus just helped immerse me in this world.  At all points I was just engulfed in the sheer beauty of the visuals and the presentation while also just feeling absorbed into the gameplay and story.  I can't think of many games that just the feel of the game had me entranced more than the overall package. I completed everything in the base game.  Probably won't do New Game + or Legends Mode, but at some point I may want to play the DLC.

 

Overall, I really did love the combat and the capabilities for mixing direct combat and stealth operatives. And just enough climbing/platforming to make this feel a bit different than most open world games.

 

And hooooly shit do I love the story and characters.  This had all the room to be a basic story of honor and revenge, but especially when you do the Tales of Tsushima, it's really an exploration in human nature and figuring out what is right and wrong in your eyes.  I love that each of the main characters are flawed in different ways.  None of them are clear-cut as "good people," but it's clear they are all people reacting to the trauma of the invasion as well as personal traumas, and how in life that is messy and there's no clear answer for what is morally right or wrong.  And the way it's reflected in Jin and the choices you can make with gameplay and endgame stuff...man, I can't help but just be super into how it was handled compared to how I think most games in this style would be handled in the years before.

 

Top tier modern game, stunning visuals and sound design, excellent story and characters.  Very glad I took the time to finish this before fully moving to the next gen.  9/10

 

Crash Warped remains my favorite entry in the series.  The boss battles are even more creative(though I'd argue Crash 2 had a harder final fight), it's a completionist's wet dream, and the level designs are just more tight and varied. I took some time away after completing the main levels and I think there was something I liked about Crash 2 more, but they're pretty close for me either way.  I got all the gold relics except for 4 because two of them just felt like I would be trying at it for hours on end and the others I just didn't have the patience to go back to. And I'm not even bothering with the Platinums.  The 105% for the gold relics is tempting, but I'm satisfied with where I'm at.  Happy to finally have properly completed the original trilogy. 8/10

 

And I think that about rounds it out for the year.  Got a lot of stuff I've been meaning to get off my backlog, some recent, some since my childhood.  I'm excited to keep churning through it next year, with FF7R Rebirth and Thousand Year Door on the horizon for new releases.  Think I'm gonna buy Disco Elysium and make that happen this year, too.  Probably Baldur's Gate as well.