Topic: Games You Recently Beat?

I beat Resident Evil Village for a third time ... I love the atmosphere in this game so much!

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Most of my impressions on this game are scattered around The Chit-Chat Thread, but to summarize: This is a very good ARPG, with decent characters, excellent music, a (mostly) decent plot, and a LOT of things to do. However, it's not QUITE on par with Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, especially with the latter's QoL improvements, better map system, and less grinding for the sake of it. Both games certainly have their strengths and weaknesses, though XC2's weaknesses are more apparent IMO. Still, I enjoyed my 70+ hours with it.

I do hope to get to Torna: The Golden Country before too long as well.

I finished Bowsers fury and started Pokemon legends arceus (I reccoment it if you like Pokemon)

A Hat in Time - Completed the story campaign.

Finished Earthbound now and just like earthbound beginnings the game really shines especially in the final part of the game. All in all it has its ups and downs, but there is really so much creativity and quirkiness behind it that it mostly leans into a very fun and wholesome game. It does not completely get rid of some of the tediousness in battles since the beginning is really grindy and slow and some enemies do a ridiculous amount of damage, especially at the end making luck with your encounters one of the components of the battles which is really annoying.
It's a huge step up from the first game though, the music is probably my favorite from any SNES game or at least the most interesting and pretty much anything not battle related was enjoyable to me.
Just a really great game, with some slightly annoying bits in the middle while not detracting from the main experience. I didn't think i would like this game so much as i always think its very hard to play old games nowadays and still enjoy them when being used to todays QoL standards

Just finished FFVI PR ....

I beat Oxenfree. Again. I wouldn't normally bring up beating a game a 2nd time, but...I'll just say this game gives you a good incentive to do so. It felt like it did...just enough to make replaying it worth that 2nd playthrough so soon, but I still can't believe I did all the annoying extra stuff and dealt with all those load times again. I have no idea why it takes 30 seconds to load relatively small areas, in an indie game, even on the Switch.

Ghostrunner - Nintendo Switch
Man, I don't usually play hard games like that, so I had enough frustrated moments. Some parts are exaggerated in my eyes. But it has something that hooked me, one thing I really loved are the conversations, because everything that's said in the game is interesting and contextual; no fillings, no weird one-liners etc., only meaningful conversations. So I always wanted to know what comes next. But I recommend to wait for a good sale (it's still until March 16th), because despite already 7 patches released which included great improvements, it still has several parts where the Framerate drops to 10-15, and I think it could look more beautiful. So there is still work to do, and I hope they will do it. Looking forward to the Hel-DLC.

Finally beat Bioshock 2 last night. Definitely not as good as the first one in multiple ways, but still a good game. Not sure I completely understand what happened at the ending, though. I think now I'll give the series a little break to finish Ni No Kuni 2 and Great Ace Attorney Chronicles before I move from Rapture into Columbia.

WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Wii, played via the Wii U's Wii Mode) - Honestly, it isn't that difficult to get to the end credits of these games; the real mileage comes from the unlockables, party elements, and score chasing. This is one of the better WarioWare titles I've played. It makes excellent use of the Wiimote, and most of the movements are intuitive...though I did have some odd motion readings. It's just as quirky as other series titles, and I love how creative the staff credits are. XD

Definitely an easy one to recommend for those who like the micro/party game atmosphere, the series humor, or who just want something fun and quick to dive in and out of.

I just beat The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. I’m sort of at a loss for words (Retrospectively, this is a lie. I said a lot). I have no idea how I missed this game for so long, but it is an absolute masterpiece.

Over the years, it seems that more people have actually taken to MM over OoT, and I am definitely in that camp. Granted, I never actually beat OoT, but overall I enjoyed Majora’s Mask a lot more. Also, I should mention that I played the N64 version with a guide assisting, as I’ve heard from some sources that the original game is still the definitive experience. Okay, so with that out of the way, I am now going to rant and rave about what makes this game so good.

1 - THE TIME LOOP MECHANIC: I don’t think it’s much of a coincidence that every time loop-related piece of media I’ve consumed I have loved. Outer Wilds is the 3rd best game I’ve ever played, I love the movie Groundhog Day, etc. etc. There’s just something so interesting to me about how this mechanic works. You generally have the constant threat of time looming over you, and in that limited amount of time you need to plan out your schedule and think tactically about what you can accomplish. Majora’s Mask takes this mechanic and puts it on a whole new level in terms of mechanical ability. While I still prefer Outer Wilds’ time loop more, I think MM plays with the concept in an extremely interesting way, being that you can manipulate time, which is just so fun and really cuts out a lot of the downtime you would experience if you didn’t have these mechanics. Now, it isn’t perfect in this game, and I think the 3DS version is supposed to do it better, but they pulled it off excellently here.

2 - The dungeons and puzzles: This is something that this game absolutely excels at. These are some of the most creative puzzles I have ever played through in a game, and the dungeons are on a whole other level of creativity. I especially enjoyed the Woodfall and Snowpeak temples, even playing through them with a guide. There are some puzzles that could have used a bit more clarity, but overall they were super creative and fun to go through.

3 - The characters and side quests: I never really thought of a Zelda game having characters that I would connect with, but MM did this in an exceptional way. Throughout helping people with their problems, I started to connect with them and get to know them more, even though they weren’t all necessarily complex. Their behavior on the Third Day can also be very disturbing depending on who you talk to; some people somberly accepting their fate, whilst others are freaking out and scrambling around. I think it’s a surprisingly dark setup, especially for a Nintendo game. Which leads me to…

4 - The Story: Whenever thinking about Zelda, story never really came to my mind. I thought about gameplay, music, and everything else that makes the series so iconic. However, MM completely made me change my view. This story is not only interesting, but it is extremely dark. I’m still surprised that they went all in and made this by far the darkest premise in Nintendo’s history. I think Majora is a very menacing villain, and the whole setup of this possessed moon threatening to crash down on a city is just very overwhelming. It also has many emotional beats, which is in no shortage thanks to the…

5 - Music: My word. This game has some of the most emotional and moving music I have ever heard in a video game. I know some of it is recycled from OoT, but the original stuff hits really hard. The Song of Healing is one of the most beautiful compositions I have ever heard, and is usually the emotional driver for a lot of scenes. Oath to Order is also extremely moving, especially during the Guardian scenes. Hearing the Song of Healing while watching a daughter embrace her father who was, well, I guess I won’t spoil it, but it’s just really sad and extremely moving. Some of the other tunes can lean a bit repetitive at times, but it never gets to the point of being annoying or anything.

6 - Tingle: I love Tingle. I think he’s by far the best Zelda character ever made. He’s weird, creepy, and hilarious. I really hope we get to see him again, perhaps in BOTW 2? Make it happen, Nintendo.

There were some parts of the game that I didn’t necessarily love. The majority of Ikana was relatively boring and wasn’t super interesting. Some of the side quests were bogged down by some padding issues that really could have been shortened. And the Elegy of Emptiness part was pretty brutal and should have been redone.

With that said, though, Majora’s Mask is one of the darkest, weirdest, and most unique games I’ve ever played. The things it does well it does REALLY well. It has some weak points, but nothing that breaks the game. I’m still not sure if I like this game or Breath of the Wild more. However, I don’t really think the two games can be compared. MM absolutely wins the spot for my favorite “classic” Zelda game. I recommend that everybody at least gives this game a shot, regardless of which version you play or whether you use a guide or not. It’s an absolute masterpiece and one the darkest, weirdest, and most interesting things that Nintendo has ever done.

10/10

I recently beat Elden Ring's main quest, and the Ranni sidequest for the alternate ending. Holy smokes, so much excellence in one package. I don't need other games now, LOL

Beat DKC Returns on 3ds. Those last 3 worlds were a doozie. And that last boss, wow. I died about 35 times. It was a solid game but not on the same level as tropical freeze.

I beat the Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion. Yep, definitely more interesting than the normal campaign. Dunno why I spent so much time in the normal campaign repeating levels with new weapons, just to upgrade all the weapons that only matter in the single player I already beat when I could've gotten to this sooner.

Probably. It's definitely harder than the normal campaign, but its only occasionally dramatically harder (and the game is kind enough to let you skip levels if you fail enough).

Beat Mario + Rabbid’s main campaign and boy, is that final boss annoying! On to the DLC now and although it is more limiting with character selection, the characters themselves are great fun to toy around with!

Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time (DS) - This one was actually quite dark (at least for a Mario game) and was definitely a fun one. The plot is serviceable, and some of the scenes and writing could be quite entertaining. Baby Mario and Baby Luigi made some puzzles quite interesting, while others were a bit tedious with the split up mechanic IMO. Using the four together in battle was generally fun, though managing all four buttons for some Bros. attacks got...weird at times. Speaking of, I really wish they didn't have the attacks as consumable items. I'm also a bit bummed that Peach's Castle in the present only serves as a hub and that you can't explore any of the modern areas of the Mushroom Kingdom. I do like that Fawful made a small yet inconsequential appearance. I love his dialogue!

Oh yeah, and since I played the North American release, I definitely get the complaints about the HP sponge bosses and did encounter one of the soft locks. Let's just say the Hammer Bros. tutorial encounter required a reset. Beats a bricked file.

All in all, this is a decent game with a few legitimate complaints. I'm glad I tracked down a used copy, though I think I slightly prefer Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions.

Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes - As a single player experience, this game definitely required a fair amount of adjusting from me to see the adventure through. I will say that the game is more fun than frustration, but it certainly is designed to be a multiplayer experience. As is, it's a better game on second impression than first impression. I can see myself coming back to this. I've got plenty of outfits left to unlock, and a fair amount of them could make replaying dungeons more enjoyable and easier. There are also the Drablands Challenges I could get into. I wouldn't highly recommend Tri Force Heroes like I would Federation Force, but if you've got the people to play with for multiplayer or are looking for a challenging Zelda experience...I think it can be a solid experience.

I just finished AM2R for the first time. And let me just say to Nintendo: I will always resent your decision to shut this game down. Fortunately, it didn't shut the community down, and let's just say I had to go through a couple of loopholes to get this game running. With that out of the way, let us begin.

So at this point, I think it's pretty obvious that I like Metroid. I have reviewed the whole Prime Trilogy on this thread already, and I've also played almost every 2D Metroid as well. Not trying to toot my own horn, but I think I have an idea of what makes a good Metroid game. And let me tell you, AM2R is among the best I've played. It's pretty obvious to draw comparisons between this game and Samus Returns, but I'm going to try to stay away from that as best as I can and review the game on its own merits.

To start off, this game's world design is absolutely top-notch. The whole world is impressively interconnected, and finding little secrets to help connect areas together is so satisfying. The world is big, but you never feel overwhelmed by the size, especially thanks to the main mechanic of this game, the Metroids. You'll have a number of these bad boys to take down, and once you meet that quota, the ground will shake and a new area will be opened up to you. This is a natural way to expand the world of SR388 without feeling too "game-ified". It's not only believable but also super satisfying.

From an expansions and upgrades perspective, AM2R does not disappoint. This game is filled with so many iconic abilities to unlock, and all of them serve a valuable purpose. Nearly every ability you get will allow you to unlock a new area and use it for various platforming and combat challenges. The abilities all feel really good to use and see what sort of things you can pull off.

Presentation-wise, AM2R is nearly on par with official Nintendo games. The artwork is absolutely stunning, and a lot of it reminds me of the best of Super Metroid and Zero Mission. Every area is visually distinct and looks interesting, which is vital for these sorts of games. The enemies also look very detailed and have great animations. The main hook of the game, the Metroids, all look fantastic and pretty scary as they evolve through their process.

The music is also great. It's not as strong as some of the games in the official series, but that is a very high bar to clear. This game doesn't have too many super memorable tunes, but things like the Surface of SR388 theme and Hydro Station are extremely impressive and very catchy. Nothing too crazy, though.

Overall, this game is near the same quality as an official Metroid game. It falls short in a couple of very small ways that I am willing to overlook because as a package, this game is extremely well-made and very satisfying to complete. I don't know if I would recommend this game to newcomers to the franchise, mainly thanks to how difficult Nintendo has made this one to access. But if you're willing to jump a few hurdles, you will be presented with one of the best Metroidvanias out there.

9/10, mainly recommended to fans of the series.

AM2R is astounding, honestly one of the best Metroid games to date.