Topic: Games You Recently Beat?

I beat Metroid Prime: Remastered the other day. Felt nice to once again accomplish that. 11 hours and 49 minutes. Only had to load from a save point once, so there's that. Noticing all the differences was a fun way to play it, like how they've remade Samus' face and how the helmet dematerializes this time rather than have her take it off and hold it with her free hand.
I did miss an aqua drone scan... I'll catch it on the hard mode run.
And I played it in classic mode for the muscle memory, though the ABYX buttons are different enough to mess with that.
After the hard mode run, then it's waiting for MP2:E:R

Just finished Resident Evil 4 Remake. The original one was a masterpiece and this one is masterpiece as well.

I played it on a PS4 Pro. Yes, the graphics are downgraded compared to the PS5/PC but it was so enjoyable to play on performance settings. I had no issues at all! No slowdowns or crashes! No updates either, played it only from the disc installation!

@Zuljaras I only saw RE4RE as someone else was playing, and I kinda didn't like the character remodelling, Ashley looks like she's 40 and speaks that way. The crosshair instead of laser sights and indication on when you can melee an enemy is a werid choice, too. Maybe it's just me being a hopeless purist, though.

@ComfyAko I actually prefer the new Ashley as the other one seemed like a brat to me But the original was made in another time maybe that is why she was sexualized a little more back then.

As for the combat the new one is better for me as I am not locked in one place while aiming, but the enemies are more aggressive to counter that. And the laser sights were ok for the old one.

I was worried after what they did to RE3R (atrocious), but I am impressed

The best part is that the original can be played even on the latest consoles, unlike the original RE2 and RE3.

@Zuljaras Actually, that was her charm, she looked kinda like a spoiled princess, fittingly to her title as the president's daughter, but she proved to be the complete opposite. A bit of a tomboy, and brave enough to get through all this, at one moment even without Leon's help. Sexualized, as in you refer to that exact point I mentioned, the one where you control Ashley and in Japanese version the camera is fixed? And she crawls through a hole and the camera pans to give an unfortunate shot? I would let that one slide.

Maybe I'm just used to the original, cause it was, well... original, back then. This one looks like every other game to me

Ruiner

Isometric twin-stick action game published by Devolver Digital. Arguably one of my favorite third party publishers because the games they publish skew more towards mature-rated experiences than family-friendly-fun. Ruiner is a linear action game with a lot of window dressing. There's a score-and-time-attack system, but both don't go towards anything other than speed running and/or bragging rights. And there's an overworld hub, but you really don't interact with much of it.

Anywho, this was a quick three-hour blast. You're constantly switching between melee and ranged weapons depending on the situation. Ranged weapons only get one magazine, which forces you to routinely pick up weapons dropped by enemies. And the soundtrack is very appropriate for the dystopian / cyberpunk theme of the game.

Just...one hell of a good time, puppy.

Couple games this weekend:

Metroid Prime Remastered
I had started on Gamecube a little over a year ago, but fell off of it. At the time, I was finding the controls to be a barrier, but was always planning on returning to it. When the Remaster was released, I was super excited, because it would make the game more accessible for me. I really had a good time with this one. Metroid has not been one of my all-time favorite series, but I have enjoyed the entries I've played, Zero Mission probably being my favorite. Prime has been a really good time. I found myself scanning things all the time and really enjoyed the loop of learning what was happening on Tallon IV. I think I probably have Prime in between Samus Returns and Zero Mission at the top of my list. (I still have not gotten to Dread or Fusion, but hopefully this year.)

Freddi Fish: Kelp Seed Mystery
Played this Wii version with my fiancee because it was one of her favorites growing up. Took us less than an hour, but it was a fun time nonetheless. Took me back to my own EduTainment games I played as kid. JumpStart was a big one for me. For being a early-age children's the writing and characters stood out, so I can see why the series is still loved and in high regards!

Picross S8
Well, I am caught up with the switch releases of the Picross games (main ones, at least). I still want to check out the Ozbuross crossover, because that looks like it has some unique and fun-looking modes on the nonogram gameplay. Picross remains a great brain-turn-off option for me when I am not in the mood for anything else.

Up Next
I started Cyberpunk 2077 last night on PS5, but looks like my controller is drifting, so that may have to wait. It was much worse than I first thought. Sticking to my switch, I still need to finish the final chapter of Live A Live; and I think I want to get going on either Persona 5 Royal or, heck, Metroid Dread.

I beat Sheepo last night. What a fun, and pleasant surprise. It's a Metroidvania much like the first ori game was. Leans on platforming and abilities more than combat. Highly recommended as I always see it for a fiver on the eshop. It's not terribly long either.

She wasn't sexualised in the original. Damn are people on this site that prudish to think legs equals sexualised? 🤣

@1upShoe I completely agree. Actually she was sexualized in one single scene in Japanese version as I described earlier, but nothing wrong with her outfit

Kirby and the Amazing Mirror (Wii U VC) - A fun GBA title all told, though I didn't end up liking it as much as I thought I would. This is probably the closest Kirby will get to Metroidvania status, though I use that term loosely as everything is given a Kirby twist. This is basically an "open world" seamless platformer where Kirby has to find eight mirror shards to restore a mirror, which acts as a portal to the Mirror World where Meta Knight is held captive. There isn't much in the way of upgrades outside of health hearts. The only way to advance is through exploration and collecting shards while making use of Kirby's different copy abilities. Boss fights range from fun to annoying. IMO It's pretty easy to get lost, and I found the map system pretty confusing. This is an easy recommendation for Kirby fans, especially those who liked The Great Cave Offensive in Kirby Super Star. Not an easy recommendation for Metroidvania lovers though, nor would I recommend it as a "first" Kirby game.

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (Wii U VC) - Not my first rodeo with Super Mario Bros. 3, though this is the first time I've played this particular version. This was a nice revisit, especially with the polished visuals that are highly reminiscent of my earlier experiences with the Super Mario All-Stars version. What makes this one doubly worth it are all the (mostly) fun, unique e-reader levels included. The original Mario Bros. was a nice bonus too.

Bought, started AND beat Warioware: Smooth Moves for the very first time today! XD

I was waltzing through Tesco on my way home today after seeing the Mario Movie, grabbing some general food stuffs for home, when I happened to stroll into the shop's resident CEX. I figured I'd just browse around for a bit and then head off.... but then I noticed Warioware sitting in the bottom corner of one of the shelves for only €10 and I swear to god something overtook me and:

Questionable financial restraint aside; good lord this game is fantastic.

I played the original Warioware for the very first time back in February when GBA came out on NSO and, while I certainly enjoyed it, it just had one too many problems for me to really get into it (primarily with the visuals). However, I did note that it made me very excited to play future entries for the first time down the line and I can absolutely confirm that that's exactly what's happened with Smooth Moves.

I may as well start this off with the most pivotal part of the game: the controls. Probably the aspect that almost everyone remembers about SM, it genuinely feels like they looked at the glorified toy remote that was the Wiimote and said 'how much can we morph how you use this thing' and absolutely RAN with it. From holding it in one hand like a waiter to literally just putting it on the table and lifting it when the game asks, the sheer amount of variety in control schemes (and how often it asks you to switch between them on the fly) keeps everything feeling fresh and exciting, even if it's a microgame you've already played. Couple this with quite possibly the greatest tutorial screens in gaming history and you have an instant and extremely effective hook.

Other than that then, it's pretty much just the original but better in small yet meaningful ways: the characters have a much more pleasing visual style than the first, microgames now involve 3D in highly creative ways, it introduces a ton more characters (Ashley and Penny my beloveds) and it ramps up the zaniness of the scenarios you'll encounter (with Jimmy T/P's animal entourage being my personal favourite).

To summarise, this is one of the Wii's best short games and something I would highly implore you picking up for yourself if you have a Wii and can get it on the cheap.

9/10, ALL HAIL THE FORM BATON.

@Fizza Coming from someone who bought Smooth Moves (used) and played through it last summer, that price was a steal! It's one of the best WarioWare games IMO, and I've played a majority of them. I second those amazing tutorial sequences, and the credits are fun to mess with as well. XD

"I see the president's equipped his daughter with ballistics too?"
Seems people can't make up their minds about Ashley and what's "wrong" with her design. Sure, there's the upskirt gag, and she calls Leon (and by extension, the player) a pervert for it. There's the fact she's well endowed, and the bonus outfit for her in the OG was a TIGHT cowgirl stripper outfit while Leon had his RCPD uniform. Later versions also gave Leon a gangster outfit to go with the Chicago Typewriter and Ashley a full plate suit that prevented her from being carried away.

Some people (it seems primarily Americans) think that being buxom is automatically being sexualized.

@1upShoe to be honest I am prudish and I like it

Do not forget her "ballistics"

I just beat Professor Layton and the Curious Village HD on iOS. I completed around 80 puzzles which took me 6 hours to get through. Overall, I thought this game was pretty good. I liked the concept of having to complete puzzles to progress through the story and unlock extras. And I thought the puzzles themselves were very fun. Lots of them were very challenging, and I did need to look up the answers for a few of them after using some hint coins, but I enjoyed the challenge.

However, there were some things I wasn’t a huge fan of. First, I thought a lot of the dialogue felt very dry. I get that it’s meant to feel sort of refined and old-school, but I did still find a lot of conversations to be pretty boring. I also found the music to be repetitive, as there’s mainly only like 3 or 4 songs that play throughout the entire game until the final 30 minutes or so. And finally, I found the twist at the end to be pretty underwhelming. It basically comes out of nowhere, with very little foreshadowing or reason to believe that it’s the case beforehand.

Ultimately, I think a lot of my gripes with this game come from the fact that I’ve played pretty much every single Ace Attorney game, which for the most part don’t suffer from the issues this game does. If there was a game that had the overworld puzzle solving from Layton, and the great writing and engaging courtroom scenes from Ace Attorney, then I think I could appreciate this formula much more. Oh wait, there is a game like that. But I think I’m going to play through the other two Layton games, Diabolical Box and Unwound Future, before I play the crossover.

The fact that this game motivated me to want to play the sequels eventually is evidence on its own that this game is pretty good overall. It didn’t blow me away or anything, but it has a good enough formula that I’m interested to see if the sequels improve on it. But for now, I think I’m gonna focus on finishing up Xenoblade Definitive Edition and get through some of Bowser’s Inside Story before Advance Wars comes out.

7/10 Good

Pros: Great puzzles, interesting gameplay loop, fun extras.
Cons: Bland dialogue, underwhelming finale, repetitive -but good- music.

@StarPoint While Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a decent game and is what I'd recommend as the series's primary point of entry, it does play things a bit safe compared to later installments. They bring about improvements in puzzles (for the most part), general gameplay/navigation, visuals (especially in the transition to 3DS, particularly in Azran Legacy), and story (Though there's a later Layton game that I consider to have the worst story in the series due to the plot having a few holes). Diabolical/Pandora's Box does toe that story line a bit, but it isn't the game I'm referring to and does have some emotional points.

I've played the main six Layton titles - just wrapped up the prequel trilogy last year - and intend to try the spinoffs eventually. As well as Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy, middling though it allegedly is. I've not played Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright due to how expensive/rare the cartridge is, and the download size was too mighty for my 3DS micro SD card. The Layton games are puzzle games through and through, with plot elements that range from serious to downright silly to almost suspending disbelief at times.

Gears of War: Ultimate Edition

So I beat Torna, Xenoblade 2's DLC. I would say, largely because of the significantly smaller time spent, it has significantly fewer lows than the gameplay of the main game and significantly fewer highs than the story of the main game. I think the time length alone combined with a few much appreciated changes does immediately make me like it more than the main game (though I think playing through the main game like a normal person instead of trying to deal with the neverending nightmare known as Xenoblade 2 side content would probably be better than Torna).

For better or worse though, in both story and gameplay, despite having spent 30+ hours on it, its still very much a tiny portion of a Xenoblade experience so the areas are limited and the story feels like its just starting because its a prequel DLC story where we kinda know where things are gonna go. But the story issues were I guess expected just by being a prequel DLC.

It does have the strangest sequence in perhaps the whole series right at the end, where the story should be wrapping up and then I guess they remembered they had something else to wrap up so they just snuck it in at the end. I could not tell you why what happened happened, but I guess Xenoblade decided to be a horror series for a minute. (??????)

Beat the story on Mortal Kombat 11 both the main story and Aftermath. I have got to say the story was not bad at all. One of the best MK stories I have seen in a long time. Definitely worth a playthrough in my opinion. Going to be interesting to see where the series goes now.