Topic: Games You Recently Beat?

Cyberpunk 2077

95 hours, all trophies.

Despite being updated for the past three years, this is what I'd qualify as a bugged mess. A few game breakings bugs along with a couple dozen occurrences where minor bugs required that I load a previous save to alleviate it. But regardless of all the bugs I encountered, I would recommend the game to fans of the cyberpunk genre.

No other game I've played, since Snatcher, has captured the vibe of the genre as well as Cyberpunk 2077.

Sonic Superstars is good. Nice work Arzest. Definitely nice enough for a little playthrough. Maybe I will play Trip's story next. She is a really great addition so far and she looks likeable even with the armor.

Now I am happily awaiting more Sonic games.

Super mario bros Wonder. As it stands, its my 2nd favorite 2d mario title behind 3. I loved this game from start to finish.

It’s marked later in the post, but there are some endgame spoilers for Spider-Man 2. It includes post credit scenes and late story spoilers so be warned.

Spider-Man 2 is incredible. I beat it 100% and am excited for the dlc and sequel. It basically is the first game but better. Side missions ( aside from some EMF missions), combat, story, suits, and bosses are all incredible. Both Kraven and Venom are great villains.

Overall I would give it a 9.5/10, with TOTK barely edging it out for game of the year.
(Endgame spoilers)

Predictions for dlc and 3rd game, spoilers for endgame and two major side quests.

@blindsquarel I was amazed just how good Kraven was!

I gave the game a 10 BUT I am a little annoyed that they portrayed Miles as a much better than the original Spider-Man. They made him better in every way and it bothered me

@Zuljaras
Yeah, that did bug me a little bit with Miles. although I felt that more in the beginning and at the end both Spider-men seemed to be equals. I do wish the fight against Venom was with Peter only, since he had the personal connection with Harry where Miles didn’t.

Not sure if beat is the right word, but a few days ago I finished the main story of Pokemon Scarlet.

The story was on par with B/W. Gym leaders were bland and forgettable, but the main charcters were some of the best in the franchise.

I never ran into any game-breaking bugs, though there were a lot of times the camera phased through the floor, and I found no less than three Raichus stuck half inside walls. (Though luckily still interactable) I did play 98% handheld though, so that might have been a factor?

Graphics wise it looks great for a game on the gamecube.
Luckily most of the worst graphics were relegated to the first route. (Why did thay make the early areas lighting so wonky?) After that the rest of the region was consistently Ehh.

While I could write an essay about all the small things that bug me, overall it was the most fun I've had with pokemon since Sun/Moon. Even more so than Legends: Arceus. (Though I still think Arceus is a better game overall)

@Moonwatcher I feel like the first route of S/V did some odd things to artificially segregate itself from the open world and keep you on the path as the only 'required' route. I would say the worst graphics were in the school itself with the cut scenes. Maybe they had especially bad graphics early on to desensitize you. 😝I played mostly docked and had a similar amount of camera jank. Definitely agree overall it was a fun game with a great plot even if the graphics took some away from the experience.

Detective Pikachu Returns. The case is solved, the game is beaten. Really enjoyed my time with it, more than I thought I would. Simply an easy going and atmospheric experience. Pikachu and Tim are a cool duo.

Tonight marks the time I fully completed Super Mario Bros. Wonder! WAHOO! What an awesome game this turned out to be... I'd say this is my favorite game of 2023.

After making my way through it on-and-off for the better part of 3 months, I FINALLY beat The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages for the first time last night.

hoo lordy I've got a LOT to talk about here

The Oracle pair were probably my most anticipated releases of the Game Boy NSO lineup as someone who adores 2D Zelda (with Link's Awakening being in my top 10 games of all time) and I was absolutely over the moon when they finally came out around the end of July. I started my journey off with Oracle of Ages and I have to say: it's a damn good entry.

Ages takes a heavier emphasis on puzzle-solving compared to other Zelda games and it works out really well for the most part. A lot of it's dungeons/environments have immensely inventive brain-teasers that constantly give you those brilliantly crafted 'aha!' moments that make me love 2D Zelda in the first place and almost every single concept established throughout the game gets fleshed out to a wonderful degree (special mention towards the colour dice and minecarts especially, almost every puzzle involving them was great). Couple this with a decently charming main set of characters, a nice variety of items and utterly gorgeous spritework and it leaves a great impression on you long after completion.

However, for as much as I enjoyed the good of Oracle of Ages....there's a reason it took me a quarter of a year to actually beat it: everything just DRAGS. The aforementioned higher focus on puzzles, while it definitely benefits Ages in many ways, can also be a massive detriment if certain puzzles aren't all too fun to go through (looking at you Jabu Jabu's Belly); Labrynna, while serviceable as a main setting, isn't nearly as memorable as Koholint Island was from the game prior, with the characters inhabiting them also being fairly dull save for the main cast (with some exceptions here and there like the comedian or depressed boy) and the music can be very hit and miss (for every Skull Dungeon, there's a Crown Dungeon lurking in the shadows). All these little issues eventually culminated together into me just praying for the credits to start rolling around about the 6th Dungeon from how mentally draining it all was.

Despite these frustrations however, I overall really enjoyed my time with Ages. Do I think it's better than Link's Awakening? No; LA is just a more consistently enjoyable experience throughout compared to Ages' very high highs and very low lows. But do I think it's a great game all the same? ABSOLUTELY, and I'd highly encourage anyone with an affinity for 2D Zelda to give it a go at some point since, at the end of the day, it's still classic 2D Zelda: of course it's great.

Don't know when exactly I'll start up Seasons (stuff like A Short Hike, Strider and Advance Wars are currently higher on my priority list of games to play) but it'll most likely be before the end of the year and I'm definitely excited to see how it's heightened focus on combat pans out and what changes linking the two games together will bring!

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 Turbocharged. This was alot of fun. Now I need to have an arcade level in every Hot Wheels game.

Started and beat A Short Hike within about 2 and a half hours.

I went into A Short Hike with pretty average expectations; I had seen all the reviews gushing from ear-to-ear about how amazing it was and purposefully avoided as much footage of it as I could before playing it as a result, but overall wasn't expecting too much out of it. After all, it's a platformer that's, at most, less than 4 hours long, how impactful could it really be?

A Short Hike is now in my top 5 games I've played this year.

A platformer crossed with the coziness of a life-sim like Animal Crossing doesn't sound like it'd be that amazing on paper, but A Short Hike pulls it off with flying (heh) colours thanks to it's intense focus on refinement. Pretty much every single aspect of the game is polished to perfection in order to really sell the world you're exploring; characters have immensely charming dialogue and many have cute internal stories that really endear you towards them (the artist and boat sidequests in particular were an utter joy to go through from start to finish), the world is a blast to explore thanks to a simple yet extremely effective moveset of gliding, double-jumping and climbing and Claire is a lovely protagonist that bounces off of the quirky residents in wonderfully goofy ways (plus the way her story wraps up is genuinely really emotional).

All of this is undoubtedly fantastic, but it'd be a crime to not mention the aspect of A Short Hike that turns it from a great platformer into an utterly essential one: THE MUSIC. Anyone who knows me will be well-aware of the fact that I find music in games to be a highly important part of the overall experience; if a game's soundtrack is good then the memories I have with it can stick with me until the end of time. And Mark Sparling's OST here is simply perfection. It's uplifting, relaxing, goofy, empowering and, probably above all else, hopeful and leads to the quirky nature of A Short Hike's world to stick with you long after you've beaten it.

Overall, A Short Hike is one of the best games I've played this year in a sea of already fantastic experiences. It's got a ton of charm, is a joy to control and tells a simple yet expertly done narrative with a delightful crop of island residents. I haven't played too many 'cosy' games in my lifetime so far but if they're anything close to the level of refinement, relaxation and simple bliss that A Short Hike is? I want to try as many as I can. 10/10

Mario Wonder is the best 2D Mario game. My only problem was the boss variety, although the fights are still fun.

@Fizza Valid praise and criticisms regarding Oracle of Ages. It's my favorite of the Oracle pair, but I do have more of an affinity with puzzles and prefer the time gimmick. Even if the final boss is decidedly less epic than the one in Oracle of Seasons. I do like Labrynna, but the best Oracle-exclusive race IMO is to be found in Holodrum/Seasons. I am glad you'll be playing a linked game of the latter; as I'm sure you know, Seasons focuses VERY heavily on combat with the plot taking less of the spotlight. Playing a linked game helps supplement the plot a little. I've played the Oracle games both ways to completion (Password system is mondo finicky, but worth it), so I'd recommend the route you're taking every time.

And yes, Jabu-Jabu's Belly indeed sucks regardless of the game IMO. XD I do like how they used the time gimmick in this game to alter a couple of dungeons though.

@Tyranexx Oh my god, I can't believe I forgot to talk about the time mechanic! It's pretty much exactly as you put it: it's a very novel gimmick that gets used to great effect in puzzle-solving throughout (especially with how it alters certain dungeon layouts, my mind was blown when I realised what I had to do for the first time).

I'm also highly curious in seeing how Seasons plays out as well; most Zelda games in general (2D or 3D) do not have a heavy combat focus whatsoever so I'm really interested to see how they handle it.

@Fizza Right?! That first "Aha!" moment when I figured out that I had to move through time to progress was beautiful.

As for Seasons, it's also a very enjoyable game. I'm not quite into the gimmick used here, but it also lands to some fun progression related solutions. It's hard for me to discuss this one much more without spoilers, but my favorite parts about it involves returning characters, the aforementioned race last post, and nods to the original The Legend of Zelda.

@Fizza A Short Hike is a masterpiece. It's very human down to a core. But it's not mundane. It gives off that uplifting feeling

Ratchet And Clank Rift Apart. The game is really fun, but I have to say I do not like it. It lacks Ratchet And Clank, both in terms of the characters and the soul. For a Ratchet And Clank game, it feels almost a little bit depressing with that movie and ambience sci fi/ cyberpunk tone. The music does not sound like Ratchet And Clank.

Ratchet And Clank 1 for the PlayStation 2 is still my favourite.

Beat Oxenfree 2. It's not quite as great as the first game, and I'm undecided if that's for any real reason other than not being as novel. It's a relatively safe sequel for what it is, but not necessarily in a bad way. While I thought the first game did a good job with its adolescent cast, I am kinda glad to be away from that type of vibe with its characters (there are teens in the game, but arguably much less...normal teens, which keeps things interesting). It's a solid second game using this idea, I liked it quite a bit, but its changes are not substantial enough I guess. But I will say, it ending was pretty strong for what it is, its one of the few games that I've played where I actually felt my choices mattered, and it still has top tier sound design, especially for an indie game.