I finished Bowser's Fury not too long ago. It is indeed a pretty short adventure but it's still a fun one. It's basically what you'd get if you combined 2D Mario mechanics with the open-world nature of games like Mario 64 and Odyssey. Giga Cat Mario is pretty awesome too!
It may not be quite as good as the best 3D Mario games like Galaxy and Odyssey, but it's still worth a playthrough if you happen to get 3D World on Switch.
"Give yourself the gift of being joyfully you."
Favorite games: Super Mario 3D World, Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Playing: Hollow Knight
Ask if you want to be Switch friends with me, but I'd like to know you first. Thanks! ❤️
Dragon Quest Heroes: the World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below (PS4)
The first entry in the Warriors/Musou style spinoff of the long running Dragon Quest JRPG franchise.
Gameplay:
Like most Warriors style games, it is a mission based action game where you take a party of 1-4 characters into battle against hundreds of foes. While most other Warriors titles have you taking control of a battlefield by completing various tasks (such as capturing forts, defeating important named foes, etc.) DQH tends to be a much more singularly focused experience. Maps (particularly in story mode) tend to be smaller in scope compared to it's contemporaries, and while you sometimes get a pretty basic objective (such as "defeat all monsters"), the game largely has a "tower defence" style bent to it, and you'll more often than not be tasked with protecting a specific location (such as a gate or statue) or an NPC (escort mission style) from waves of enemies as your sole objective in a mission.
Escort mission the game, pretty much.
Maps tend to be more maze-like, where you have to figure out the best way to stem the incoming tide of enemies so you can safely venture out to slay the "Mawkeepers" (tougher enemies that guard the portals mooks endlessly spawn from). To do this you'll need to summon your own monsters to the battlefield (which you can do after picking up dropped "monster medals" from defeated monsters) in key defensive positions, as well as take advantage of other strategic elements, such as stones dotted across a map you can warp to (they need to be activated first, but only once, so it's completely viable to leave your main objective unprotected your first go around as you go around activating all the stones, that way you can make use of them from the start on future attempts) or map specific elements such as cannons or switches that open & close gates.
I'll be honest & admit I really didn't care for the general gameplay loop in this. Don't get me wrong, mowing down hundreds of mooks can be as fun as ever (and it was kinda a relief whenever I didn't have to protect something), but general character control felt a little more heavy & not as snappy as other Warriors titles, and whenever you had to protect an NPC that has their own weapon they have a tendency to bum rush the strongest enemy that's currently in their "zone", even if they only have a sliver of health left, which makes for many a failed mission. Plus, I encountered at least one bug during a story mission where I had to protect a barricade, and the game considered it a failed mission whenever it reached half health (I've since watched a couple gameplay vids of people completing the mission with much lower barricade health, so it had to have been a bug, and not that isolated as I found a thread discussing the issue on the Steam forums). Luckily, you keep all EXP, Gold, & enemy drops you obtain in failed missions, so at least there's always some level of growth.
I will concede that I enjoyed the boss battles that closed out each chapter, and while they have nothing on the boss encounters seen in something like FFVII Remake, they do tend to be more involved than your typical Warriors bosses, and were nice & challenging IMO (though it has a tendency to reuse bosses, or at least pallet swapped versions of them, as regular enemies later on, which is a bit of a pet peeve of mine).
Each character has a series of combos they can execute with various combinations of the Square (light attack) & Triangle (heavy attack) buttons, Cross is used to jump, and Circle activates Tension mode whenever it's guage is built up (think the "Musou" mode from other games. you'll get a brief all around stat boost & status effect immunity, followed up by a screen filling super attack once the guage empties, or if you pull it off early by pressing Circle again). By pressing one of the shoulder buttons you'll bring up the special attack (these attacks use MP) & Healstone (these heal everyone in your party, though not any NPCs you're protecting) menues, another shoulder button makes you guard, another is dodge, and the last one switches between characters.
In terms of powering up your characters, they level up (general stat boosts) upon earning enough EXP (characters not in use earn EXP, but at a slower rate), by spending skill points on upgrades (you earn skill points every time you level up, and can learn/upgrade special attacks, upgrade combos, obtain extra stat boosts, and unlock other boons), by equipping new weapons/orbs (you buy these at the shop back at base, and the new items that appear at the start of each chapter are universally better than what came before, though a few characters have super weapons earned through late/post game side quests), and by equipping accessories (you synthesize these back at base with monster drops, and they offer boons non-stat related, such as protection against status effects or damaging terrain).
From my experience there are only 13 playable characters in the game (outside of any potential DLC, which I haven't checked), and while this means the scope of the franchise that it represents is quite small, the characters it does have are well realized & play very uniquely. It has a whopping 4 OC's (Luceus, Aurora, King Doric, & Isla), 4 reps from DQIV (Alena, Kyril, Maya, & a secret character), 2 reps from DQV (Bianca & Nera), 2 reps from DQVIII (Jessica & Yangus), & 1 rep from DQVI (Terry, who is also the protag of the Dragon Quest Monsters spinoff series). Barring Terry, all the characters present are from titles I've actually played, so lucky me.
In between missions you'll spend time at your base of operations which houses the world map (which you select to set out on missions), the aforementioned weapon & orb shops, the aforementioned synthesis shop, the Mini Medal shop (rare collectables you obtain from a variety of sources that you can trade for synthesis recipes, monster drops, & a special selection of weapons), the side quest counter (more on these next), accolade counter (earn Mini Medals for earning achievements & defeating certain numbers of enemies), the mail counter (mostly just goofy letters awarded upon completing a sidequest, but certain sidequest rewards are obtained here as well), a Church (saving & refilling Healstones), & a Tavern (swap out party members here).
A fresh group of sidequests become available at the start of each chapter (and in post game), and while there are a number of them that offer a bespoke mission, the majority just ask you to defeat "X" number of this enemy type or collect "Y" number of this enemy drop. The problem with this is that, as far as I could tell, there's absolutely no way to replay missions (story or otherwise). Instead, when you select a certain location on the world map (unless there's a new mission to play) you're only option is to take on an endless wave of enemies at one of three difficulties (which determine which monster types spawn, which you can check by pressing the touch pad). This makes grinding out the "Kill X enemies, or collect Y items" type quests (or heck, grinding in general) the absolute worst kind of rote grinding imaginable. You'll be roped into doing quite a bit of them too, as worthwhile upgrades are locked behind them (like expanding the number of enemy drops you can hold, number of total Healstones, and number of monsters you can call to your side in battle), and story mission difficulty ramps up quickly enough that you'll need to do most of them to stay properly leveled, in my experience.
The only missions not completely pulled from availability after completing them are the boss fights, as souped up versions of them get their own map locations (appearing as caves) after you clear their associated chapter.
Oh, each character also has a couple of alternate costumes to unlock (via sidequests...), but they're all pallet swaps, so nothing too interesting, and kind of disappointing considering DQVIII & DQXI both offer actual alternate costumes (like armor sets, bunny outfits, etc.) for party members. Apparently there are a couple of interesting armor sets available as DLC, but this only applies to Luceus & Aurora (the player character OC's).
Story:
It takes place in a kingdom where humanity & monsters have lived in peace for as long as can be remembered, however strange events are afoot & monster kind turns against humanity. After securing Arba (the capital city), King Doric and his head knights Luceus & Aurora (the two player character choices) head out to protect the troubled kingdom & find out what's going on with their monster friends (which happens to involve slaughtering them by the hundreds, lol), and along the way they team up with iconic DQ personalities, who've been mysteriously transported to this realm.
It's a simple story with legendary heroes of light & dark lords awaking from slumber, but it works, especially since such simple tropes are what set up most DQ games proper. The strength of DQ's stories has always been the games' eclectic casts, and as an all star crossover, you'll get your fill here (I especially enjoyed Alena, Kyril, Jessica, & Yangus).
Most of the time the cast hangs out at the tavern back at base, where they'll usually have something new to say after every mission or so.
DQ tends to have a way with wordplay & puns, and this holds true here as well. Even the iconic "Puff-Puff" gag makes it's return here, though I'm not sure what exactly triggers it (every once in awhile a party member at the tavern will treat you to a "Puff-Puff" of a various kind, though this only happened to me twice. Once from Kyril, & once I think from Bianca. From what I understand there's one from each party member though?).
Writing is always in top form.
Oh, the game also makes liberal use of one of the DS4's unique features, the built in speaker! All spoken dialogue is fed through the TV and the DS4 at the same time. While this is kind of neat during the heat of battle (character chatter from the controller will be louder or quieter depending on how close you are to the speaker on the battlefield), it gets kind of tiring back at base, where you'll have NPCs blaring the same lines at you at full volume everytime you want to save, visit the shop, etc.
Graphics:
I will say it's a nice looking game that nails the vibe of the DQ franchise, and has all the typical environmental locations.
There'll be a lot of various particle effects going on, and many marble & stone floors are plenty shiny.
Likewise all the iconic DQ sound effects, music, and various voice accents & speaking patterns are here and accounted for, for better or worse.
There's no performance issues as far as I could tell, other than the aforementioned barricade bug.
Conclusion:
As someone who has really enjoyed the other licensed Musou games I've played such as Hyrule Warriors DE, Fire Emblem Warriors, One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 (might be my favorite, and I'm not even a big OP fan), and even Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, I was looking forward to this as someone who likes the DQ games, and while there are aspects of it I do like, in the end I found it to be a slog to finish, and chose not to bother with any of the post game stuff (which apparently includes a total of 3 superbosses). To be honest the experience will likely put me off trying out the new Hyrule Warriors for awhile, and especially the second DQH game (which I hear is a lot better, apparently).
Bye, we're off to return to more enjoyable games!
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
I just finished Kathy Rain on PC. Very solid point and click adventure game throwback. I found the story very engrossing at the beginning, but started to lose interest a bit after it became more supernatural. The puzzles were satisfying throughout however, and the character writing and voice acting were very well done my opinion. I’d probably give it a rough score of like 7 or 7.5 out of 10. After I finished, I saw they are going to release a beefed up director’s cut version in the future, so that should be interesting. It seems it might improve on some of the smaller gripes I had.
Some time ago I had a discussion on this site about whether I should play DS2. I'd heard that it was the black sheep of the Soulsborne series, produced by the "B Team" and not directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, and I was given the advice that it was skippable. I didn't take that advice and now, some 70 gameplay hours later, I emerge to tell you - yeah, you're probably better off skipping this one.
It's not a bad game. It's fun and (mostly) functional in the same way Dark Souls Remastered is. There are a few frustrating changes to the formula, and I'll name a few that I had a hard time getting over. The new adaptability and agility stats will govern your invincibility frames during your roll, which seems unnecessary. Mainly because the game does practically nothing to inform you that this is a thing. Until you raise your agility high enough, rolling is unreliable and makes the game awkwardly difficult.
New and obtuse stats, while frustrating, can be learned and adjusted to your playstyle. What is simply irredeemable to me is the disjointed and thoughtless design of the world. The best comparison I can come up with is if Dark Souls Remastered is similar to Super Metroid in layout (interconnected areas) DS2 is like Mega Man X. You have a central hub that you constantly return to and, for the most part, you pick the path you want to take and progress in a linear fashion. Reach the end, beat the boss, go back to hubworld. This presents a huge problem because everything feels so unrelated.
While I don't fully understand the lore and story of Dark Souls Remastered, I can confidently say that you could create a flow chart to connect most characters and bosses with relevant backstory and events. DS2 on the other hand feels like the areas were made independently, then stitched together with little reason. A popular example is a lava castle (much like Bowser's Keep) that somehow sits above a massive windmill tower. You literally take an elevator from one to the other. And I can't think of any reason they're related, while the area right before the windmill tower does have story connections to the lava keep. It's like they just stuck it there because it had no other place to go.
By the end game, the 'Scholar of the First Sin' DLC is a nice treat. It attempts to salvage some of the lore, and it's doing a decent job. Freakin' hard too. I think for me it's too little too late though. The game is too long for me, and I'm burnt out. If the DLC had been integrated into the main game progression, rather than something you do at the end, I think that could alleviate some of my issues. As it is, DS2 was confounding. I don't regret my time with it but I don't want to go back either.
Last week, I fought Ganon in Breath of the Wild a second time now that I have conquered all four beasts and completed all of the (non DLC) main quests.
I just have the Champions' Ballad and the difficult portion of the Master Sword quest to get through as far as the meat and bones of the game's content is concerned. I have most of the shrines completed (only six more to go) though I haven't been able to shoot, I believe, the Spring of Power dragon, which is the only shrine quest I have yet to complete.
I'll also have to grind for star fragments at some point so that I can fully upgrade all of my armour, and I also intend to sell some excess parts/fruits that I'll never use so that I can pay to unlock the entire Compendium. To save a few rupees, I chucked whatever I had on hand on the ground and photographed them (and the pictures look positively awful). I wish there was a way to swap my own images with the stock ones supplied by the guy in the lab.
Porygon did nothing wrong.
Pokémon Sleep Friend Code: 1158-2327-1187
I finished The World Ends With You a little while ago. I am a bit confused by the ending, but it was a pretty good game. There were 3 or 4 battles where I had to move the difficulty down to easy, but only 1 of those I probably HAD to, I just didn't feel like trying it anymore on the others and I wiped the floor with them on easy. I'm glad I finally got around to playing it as I've heard how good it is for like 10 years now. I started using the stylus that came with Brain Training and it did control easier with that.
I finished Bowser's Fury not too long ago. It is indeed a pretty short adventure but it's still a fun one. It's basically what you'd get if you combined 2D Mario mechanics with the open-world nature of games like Mario 64 and Odyssey. Giga Cat Mario is pretty awesome too!
It may not be quite as good as the best 3D Mario games like Galaxy and Odyssey, but it's still worth a playthrough if you happen to get 3D World on Switch.
@MarioLover92 At times I enjoyed the gameplay and the general feel of Mario in Bowser's Fury more than in 3D World. It was bigger than I expected, amazingly. I didn't expect it to be as fun as it was.
I finished The World Ends With You a little while ago. I am a bit confused by the ending, but it was a pretty good game.
I dunno how different this is after multiple re-releases, but a lot of the more specific details of the world are locked behind post-game content, and at least some of that relates enough to the ending IIRC. Like you find notes or whatever describing things that flesh out the world and certain other things.
@kkslider5552000 Yeah, there is a lot of postgame content available with those notes, including a new side story that I started but mostly revolves around playing that Tin Pin Slammer game, so I stopped. If I didn't have approximately 5,748 unplayed games on my Switch I would probably dive into all that stuff, but as it is, I'm content to move on. I think I at least got the gist of it.
Before diving in, I wasn't sure what to think about this one. My previous experiences with the series ranged from kinda okay (Star Fox and Star Fox 2 via the SNES Classic Mini) to plain nope (Star Fox Zero demo). I took a chance as this is, according to many, a polished, portable version of the best game in the series.
I'm pleased to report, that I have, overall, enjoyed the experience. The main gameplay loop/story is somewhat short but addictive, and there are different branching story/difficulty paths the player can take if certain conditions are met. The dialogue is somewhat brief but engaging, and it's fun to find different secrets and try to rack up higher hit counts through each run. The 3D effect is used well and helps bring the Lylat system to life. The gyro controls are, for the most part, very intuitive, and the button controls are fairly easy to master.
Besides the main story mode, the game has a battle mode and a score attack mode. The battle mode allows the player to customize various matches against the CPU or other players by number of hits, a timer, etc. I didn't mess around with this mode much; while fun, I feel that it's better with other players. I did spend quite a bit of time in the score attack mode; not only does this allow the player to replay each mission (if it was unlocked in the story) individually, but you can also try for the best score and various medals for that level.
My biggest complaint would be that I really don't care for the land rover sections. I find the controls for it very unwieldy compared to the ship. I REALLY dislike the Macbeth level for this reason. While I liked the gyro controls, it was easy for these to get out of sync. Re-calibrating is easy, but it's still a bit of a pain lol.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable title that's easy to recommend to Star Fox fans, those who like the shooter/on-rails genre, racking up high scores, and space in general. I don't think it has won me over to the shooter genre - I'm still not overly fond of it - but it certainly leaves a positive impression.
Finally done with Resident Evil 4. Man that was hard for me even on Easy difficulty! I don't know if I just suck at that game OR the controls are VERY dated! The aiming was very slow.
BUT I am glad I finished it as this is one of the most praised games of all time.
Now I will continue with other Resident Evil games!
This excellent mystery/puzzle game comes straight from the creative pastures of Lucas Pope, the mind behind the PC hit Papers, Please. The Obra Dinn departed Falmouth, England, in 1802 on a voyage to the Orient. It was declared lost at sea after failing to meet its rendezvous point, then shows up near Falmouth again in the fall of 1807. All of its 59 passengers and crew are either dead or missing. It's up to the player, as the chief inspector of the East India Company, to evaluate the condition of the ship and try to piece together the fates of everyone on board. To do that, the player uses a journal as well as the mysterious Memento Mortem, a pocket watch that can transport the player to a located corpse or residual corpse's moment of death.
Using the pocket watch, as well as clues from the journal (drawings of life on board the ship, a manifest that lists the names and nationalities of occupants on board, a glossary of terms to help the player in the mystery, etc.), the player must piece together the fates of all on board. You can roam the ship in a freeform manner, and the pieces of the story/puzzle are delivered out of sequence. Using visual/environmental, audio, and contextual clues (as well as a bit of guessing in a few cases), the player must use their brain to understand why the events of the Obra Dinn occurred. It takes a bit to get going and drops the player in the deep end, but I was sucked in very easily and kept trying to guess and puzzle out solutions even when away from the game. I did have to resort to some conjecture and guessing towards the end (made less so when I revisited some scenes), but all the solutions can be worked out with the provided material.
The "1-bit" art style certainly fits the game and can be changed in the settings; I settled on the IBM Monitor display, but there are plenty others. It's certainly reminiscent of the artist renditions in the journal itself and fits that period in history well.
I'd recommend this game to any who enjoy historical fiction and solving mysteries. Despite the limited color palette, it can be pretty gory and graphic at times and does include some language. It takes a bit to get going and definitely doesn't hold your hand hardly at all, but this 10-hour passage of time is certainly worth the boarding fare.
Super Mario 3D World (Switch)
Another past gen port to Nintendo's hybrid hit, and my first experience with it. This also comes with the new Bowser's Fury game, which I'll be reviewing seperately.
Gameplay:
It takes the classic 2D style Mario platforming of running and jumping through mostly linear obstacle courses under a time limit and adapts it to 3D space. In addition to Mario (who's an all 'rounder), you can play as Luigi (slippery but can jump high), a Blue Toad (Runs super fast but has a low jump), and even Princess Peach herself (slow movement but has long floaty jumps). There's also an unlockable secret character.
As extra objectives each level holds 3 collectable Green Stars as well as one Stamp in hidden/hard to reach locations, as well as the incentive to hit the top of the end level Flag Pole. There are some levels along the way that are locked until you have a certain number of Green Stars, the Stamps can be used to decorate photos (it has a photo mode), and collecting all Green Stars, Stamps, & Flag Pole tops is necessary to access some of the penultimate post game challenges.
Powerups come in two flavors. First you have the "transforming" types (of which you can only have one active at a time, and can be taken from level to level) such as the Super Mushroom (makes small Mario big), Fire Flower (throw fireballs), Tanooki Suit (float & tail swipe attack), Boomerang Suit (throw boomerangs that can grab items), and the all new Cat Suit (climb walls & claw attack). Then you have the "wearable" types (these can stack on top of whatever "transforming" powerup you have, and even on top of each other in some instances, though can only be used within the level found) such as the Starman (brief invincibility), Propeller Box (massive jumps with slow descent), Coin Box (coins with every step), Boom Box (fires cannon balls), and the all new Goomba Mask (enemies won't attack), Goomba's Skate (better control on ice & can cross spikes), and Double Cherry (multiplies your character up to five at once). In a class of it's own you also have the Mega Mushroom (temporarily become an invincible terrain smashing giant, though this overrides and erases any other powerups you have). Needless to say, there are lots of options at play.
Just like the 2D games the levels are accessed via a world map, though you're not locked to the yellow path and can run around the little environments. Nothing near the scope of the hub worlds of traditional 3D Mario games, but these do hold the occasional small secret here & there.
Like the rest of the game, the world map is very aesthetically pleasing.
In addition to traditional levels, each world also houses either a Mystery House or Captain Toad level. Mystery Houses string together (usually 10) small timed challenges back to back to back (earning you a Green Star for each challenge completed), while Captain Toad levels are the real standout (as you can guess getting it's own spinoff, also on Switch). In Captain Toad levels you have to guide the little guy around little dioramic levels trying to grab 5 Green Stars. You can move the levels around to get a better look at all their secrets, but the Captain himself lacks the ability to jump.
A different perspective on gameplay.
I also wanted to give a shout-out to the boss lineup, which came as a nice surprise. I wasn't sure what to expect going in as 3D Land (the preceding 3DS title) had a pretty lackluster slate of bosses, but the roster has been expanded & what's here is pretty good.
If there's such a thing as a good clown, I haven't found it.
All in all, there isn't a whole lot to complain about, gameplay is quick, fluid, instantly fun, and while Mario's moveset isn't quite as diverse as it is in other 3D titles, there's so much diversity thanks to all the power ups, other playable characters, and other level gimmicks (like levels/sections where you ride Plessie, the aquatic equivalent of Yoshi, through obstacle courses) it never gets boring. Some may complain that the semi-fixed/isometric camera angles can interfere with the platforming, but that's honestly a nitpick from my experience. Sure I've had a death or two I blame on it, but if you just pick one of the more janky scenarios in 64 or Sunshine (and let's be honest, each game has at least a few), that in itself will lead to more grief than 3D World's camera will during an entire playthrough.
It also features both local & online multiplayer, though I didn't get a chance to check this out. Another common complaint related to this is that "the environments are too large to really enjoy in single player", but I honestly don't see it. The Savannah level is the only one that came close enough for me to wonder if I'd be able to fully explore it within the time limit, while on the other hand there are multiple levels I can think of that I'd imagine would be very cramped with multiple players, particularly the later ones.
Visual/Audio:
It's a very colorful game, in some places I'd even say impressive (I liked the rain effects), and it's a super, super smooth experience. There are tons of different environments, from themes that repeat a few times like grasslands, Bowser's castle levels, & snowy areas, to largely one off treats such as a Japanese castle, Mario Kart themed level, or a haunted shipwreck.
There are varied locales, including a pretty suggestive looking bridge (seriously, look at that last shot again, lol).
Something else that has proved somewhat divisive is the lack of coherent theming. At first glance it would seem that each world has a specific theme going for it (look at the cloudy theme of the World 6 map I posted earlier), however in practice only one or two levels within the world actually match up with said theme (usually just the first level in a world), and it's much more content to experiment & jump around with theme level by level. It's largely neither here nor there for me (and if levels did stick thematically closer to their associated world, we'd probably get calls of "cliche!"), but I generally like the surprise. I would have liked World 8 to have more coherent level theming though, as the theme given off by the world map itself here is anything but generic for the series. Oddly enough World 7 stands out as the only one where it's levels largely did stick to theme, which was a nice change of pace.
the Mario series has always been one with a lot of catchy music to bop along to, and 3D World is no exception. Things get really good in post game where a larger share of tunes from past games comes into play, and I particularly liked the return of some great Galaxy music.
Story:
There's nothing much to say here other than the fact that it drops the "damsel in distress" bit and Peach joins the Bros. on their adventure. This time Bowser has invaded the Sprixie Kingdom (which looks a lot like the Mushroom Kingdom, but with the appearance of clear pipes & purple crystalline block bricks), and kidnapped the Sprixies, but other than that things play out as you'd expect.
I hope this nice walk isn't interrupted by anything.
I do like the tiny bit of worldbuilding connecting it to a past game in the series. Particularly the appearance of a past hub world appearing at the end of the credits, forshadowing the theme the post game will adopt (at least for it's world map, if not most of the levels themselves, as has been the case for this game).
Conclusion:
It may not be as grand in scope & theming as past 3D titles (though a nice step up from the similarly structured 3D Land in this regard), but it's an absolute masterclass in platforming mechanics that makes it an absolute joy to play around in. Definitely don't sleep on it if you have a Switch & haven't played it on Wii U.
"It's Meow, Mario!"
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
recently beat Sonic Adventure 2 Hero Side last night. was pretty fun to say the least. now to work on beating the dark side to get true ending of the actual final boss: the finalhazard
My Top 10 Games
1. Judgement
2. Baldur's Gate 3
3. Bully (Rockstar)
4. Person 4 / Golden
5. Sonic Adventure 2
6. Xenoblade X
7. Ape Escape 2
8. Animal Crossing: New Leaf
9. James Bond 007 Nightfire
10. Persona 3: Reloaded
Switch Friend Code: SW-5070-3616-4044 | My Nintendo: Aozz101x
Just beat Super Mario 64. Now I've beaten all 3 games on 3d allstars. I though super mario 64 was a great game, and its easy to see how revolutionary it was back at the time when it was originally released. It is quite dated now, and I found some controls to be quite frustrating, and also I thought the story along with some of the worlds were quite bland. But I know that if there was better technology back then I'm sure the the story would have been been better. Overall, I enjoyed it. A classic Mario adventure that is frustratingly old, but still enjoyable
So I've beaten two games recently that I'm not sure about.
A couple of days ago I beat What Remains of Edith Finch? I understand the kind of "game" it is supposed to be, and I knew that going in, I'm just not sure what the point of this game was. I thought these "walking simulators/games as art" games were generally created to have some great underlying message. Like, I didn't really care for Gone Home, but I understand that people who relate to it might get a lot out of it. But who relates to a girl whose family is cursed to die young (only not all of them do)? It just didn't seem to have any purpose. I will say, though, that I don't think I've ever been as anxious/scared playing a video game as when I was swinging on that swing as the little boy. My heart was in my chest the whole time and I stopped swinging a couple of times, not wanting to go on, afraid of what was about to happen.
Then last night I beat Catherine: Full Body. I knew I wouldn't care for the story going in, but I had heard such good things about this game for years that I wanted to try it. There was just so much that didn't make sense, and my actions/answers didn't seem to make any difference at all until the ending I guess. I was as good as possible (not because I thought that's what the game wanted but because that's what I truly believed), was all the way to max blue, and I'm supposed to believe that this random girl just keeps showing up in my house even though I don't remember inviting her or doing anything with her last night? But mostly, I think it's amazing that Rin wasn't in the original game, because I can't imagine it without her. She was such an integral part, they did an amazing job adding her in. Although what happens to her in my ending was just so sudden and anticlimactic, but based on what I read about her in the other endings, I still think I prefer what I got to what they made her out to be when she gets more fleshed out.
Got my Switch back in October. Have so far completed;
Super Mario 64 (9/10)
Beat Bowser and rescued Peach. Not got all 120 stars yet. I’m not a completionist so doubt I will, however 70 stars feels too short, so will get to 100 stars and stop. Played it back in ‘97. Still a great game but it has dated a little with dodgy camera and I can’t remember the controls being a little awkward. Maybe the controls are better on the 64 as it was designed for it. Was a 10/10 back in the day, I’m still giving a generous 9 here due to my nostalgia love for it.
Super Mario Sunshine (9/10)
Likewise, with 64, I’ve beaten Bowser and will probably finish at 100 stars. Only got about 67 at the minute. Aged better than 64 and controls better although I miss the analog button for squirting the water. A generous 9 here also. Ricco Harbour is my favourite level.
Super Mario Galaxy (9/10)
Really polished game. The thing that holds it back for me is that I prefer sandbox 3D Mario. I just want to explore worlds, not be given a linear, direct way to get a star. Beat Bowser and now got 61 stars. Felt way too short so will keep playing and get up to 100 stars just like the other two 3D all-star games.
Super Mario Bros (10/10)
Played the all-stars version. Game is good beating it the normal way, where when you get game over, you restart at the start of the world you are on. However, it becomes truly
amazing once you play it arcade-style of completely restarting the game once you get a game over. Try beating the game without using warp pipes between levels and without a game over, it’s so so good. A classic masterpiece.
Donkey Kong Country (10/10)
The atmosphere of this game is fantastic. Found it a little tough in places on my first playthrough. However, I gave a quick second playthrough where I played until game over and I was surprised how much easier it felt. Great difficulty curve.
Yooka-Laylee (8/10)
Really underrated game this. A little more polish and this could have been even better. The camera was a little bad in places but not as bad as people make out (sure beats Mario 64 camera but so it should there was 20 years gap) and the exploration was great. My last few stars I got before unlocking end of game boss fight was actually in the first world when I went back with my new abilities and felt like an overpowered god. 100 pagies needed (out of 140) felt just right, unlike Mario Galaxy’s 60/120. Really enjoyed the game if slightly annoying in places. We need more games like these.
Batman - The Telltale Series (7/10)
Really great story. Was engrossed all the way through. However, felt more like a film than a game. Prefer my games to have a little more gamey actions. Only got it for £3.80 so it was money well spent. Played the Shadows Edition which looked mega cool.
Batman - The Enemy Within (7/10)
A continuation from the first game. More of the same goodness. Story maybe even slightly better as it had shades of grey in abundance.
Ori and the Blind Forest (10/10)
The game I was most addicted to from start-to-finish. Brilliant atmosphere. I’ve only had one playthrough so far and I stupidly played it on Hard mode where I died over 1000 times. Still, I bloody loved it even though it was very tough. Will replay at one point on normal mode before buying Ori and the Will of the Wisps, which I hear is just as good, if not better. If that’s at all possible? Will play the sequel on normal first before tackling hard mode - I’ve learned my lesson.
Super Mario Maker 2 (9/10)
I’ve not actually completed the story mode per-se. However, it’s the game I’ve played most on the Switch. After getting addicted to Super Mario Bros and seemingly having so much love for the 2D platformer at the minute, this game felt like a must-buy. And it’s bloody brilliant. Now without its faults though. The online search engine could use some work. All a bit messy and it’s hard to search for super-worlds and courses you want to play.
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Topic: Games You Recently Beat?
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