Topic: Games You Recently Beat?

Spiderman and Spiderman: Miles Morales. Technically beat Starfield (on NG+4) but want to wait for DLC. Working on Horizon:FW before I return to the switch and TOTK.

@Fizza I played A Short Hike a few weeks ago and yes it's a masterpiece of a game. It's such an enjoyable experience. Even though I finished the main story, I still want to go back and get the rest of the achievements.

@Tyranexx Good to know about Oracle of Ages, I just started it up for the first time the other night.

Alan Wake 2.

@Tasuki Oracle of Ages is a fun game, one I definitely recommend playing. However, I will warn you it does have some hard/obtuse puzzles. I love this sort of thing, but I've seen my fair share of feedback where it isn't for everyone.

@Tyranexx Thanks for the warning. I usually try to solve them on my own, but if I can't that's where the internet comes in. Lol

Sackboy A Big Adventure. I love this game, it is even better than the Little Big Planet games. So many cool stages and they are all very creative. The music is also pretty cool. I wish I could 100% this game, without needing a second player.

Pikmin 4. Powered through the main missions and loved it. Otchi was such a delight to use going from Pikmin 1 to Pikmin 4. Eventually, I'll get to Pikmin 2 when it hits a sale.

Finally lost patience with fruitlessly searching for the nine remaining shrines I need to complete Breath of the Wild and just finished the flipping thing. I've even sunk to putting the tracker on and I still can't find them anywhere. Hyrule is jaw-droppingly vast.

Demon's Souls Remake is beaten!

A fantastic journey and very different from the other Souls games. It was the first after all

It feels good to beat another Souls game

Super monkey ball banana blitz HD. Man the game was pretty hard but still fun but world 10-5 was so freaking difficult because of the bumpy platforms.

WARNING: Large amount of text ahead

Okay! After sitting on my thoughts on this game for a while, I am finally ready to write about Xenoblade Chronicles 3 + Future Redeemed. In short, this game is a masterpiece, and as a whole, is the strongest RPG I’ve ever played. For a bit of background on my experience with this series, I think the games have only gotten better as they’ve come along. I rank the series as XC3 > Torna > XC2 > XC1. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 feels like the culmination of everything the Xenoblade series is great for, and had I played it in 2022, it absolutely would have been my GOTY. A quick note, this review won’t contain any major spoilers. Anything that might be considered a spoiler will be marked accordingly, but don’t worry about having any major plot points ruined for you if you have yet to play this game.

Gameplay: As a whole, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has the most consistent gameplay throughout the trilogy. Every game before it had been great at a few things, but unfortunately suffered in other areas. For example, XC1 had areas that were way too big for its own good, and because of that, there were long sections where you basically just walked in a straight line for minutes at a time. XC2 had the field skills, and if you didn’t feel like grinding for blades or affinity points before then, your progress came to an abrupt halt as you needed to do random and tedious things to increase their affinity. Thankfully, XC3 does not have any glaring issues like this. The world designs have been tightened up, and you’re never really stuck in one location for too long if you don’t want to be. This leads to a game that feels much more satisfying and smooth to play than the ones that came before it. It’s much harder to feel burnt out playing this game as there’s hardly anything that impedes your progress, apart from bosses that might be a few levels higher than you are. And even then, leveling up in this game is significantly easier than in previous titles, so this isn’t even much of a hurdle.

In terms of new things this game has to offer on the gameplay front, there’s a lot to unpack. First off, there’s the class system. Now, you could change up your character’s weapon and move set in 1 and 2, but in 1’s case, it wasn’t really trying to be that open-ended as each character has a pre-assigned class, and in 2, the blade system was so clunky it was sometimes a pain to deal with switching up your move set. However, in 3, it’s hard to think of ways that it could be any more convenient. You can quickly switch between classes at will, and every character in your party has the ability to play as that class once it’s unlocked for them. The party-building potential in this game is extremely vast as a result, and that’s not even counting the several unique Master Arts each class gives you once you master them. If a Unique Monster or boss fight isn’t going well for you, just try changing up your party dynamic and see how far you get that time. This is great because it allows for several different play styles to be accounted for.

If there’s one area where XC3’s gameplay is weaker compared to previous games, I think it would be the battle system compared to 2’s. XC2’s battle system, once you got all of its systems down, had an incredible flow and rhythm to it, especially in Torna. At times, it really felt as if you were doing some sort of choreographed dance with your party members as you dealt combo after combo. Some of that rhythm feels absent in 3, most likely due to just how many members are in your party compared to previous games, and the open-endedness of the classes and arts. It still holds a great battle system, with the Chain Attacks, in particular, being incredibly satisfying to pull off well, but XC2 still has a few things going for it in the battle department.

Story: This game is a personal historical landmark for me as it is the first and only video game I have played that made me cry from the story. For those who have played it before, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Chapter 5’s ending and Chapter 6’s intro. But I won’t ruin it for those who haven’t played the game, because it’s a moment that you really need to go into as blind as possible. I can absolutely say that it’s the emotional climax of the entire series. Both XC1 and XC2 have their emotional moments, but neither comes anywhere close to this game, in my opinion. It was the moment that solidified this game as one of my all-time favorites, and I will always remember it, if anything, for the emotions it made me feel. But apart from all that stuff, this game’s story is really interesting. I’m not gonna pretend like I understand every plot point, as it definitely has some complex themes and ideas that I didn’t fully grasp when I was playing. However, from what I did understand well, there’s some great stuff here. The villains here, while maybe not quite as compelling as 2’s, are great and have some amazing moments. I’m pretty neutral on Moebius as a whole. I think it’s a cool concept, but not many members have a lot of good motivation. And as a whole, they are some pretty darn campy villains. However, the members that do have good motivation are where things get interesting. N is my favorite villain of the entire series. It was previously Jin from 2, but this dude just has so much going for him. From his insanely tragic backstory, to his incredible breakdown in Chapter 6, to the way his story wraps up at the end, it’s just amazing all around. I will say, the one thing that this story lacks is a “Wow” moment. I’ll try to explain what I mean. In XC1, the revelation of how the universe was created was a “Wow” moment. In XC2, the Birth of a Universe cutscene was a “Wow” moment. I didn’t feel like XC3 had any huge moments like this. Huge, universe-altering events seemed to be lacking, at least until the absolute ending of the game and FR’s ending. This isn’t a really big issue, as there’s nothing wrong with a more focused and self-contained story. But it would have been nice to have gotten a “Wow” moment for sure.

Music: It’s a Xenoblade game, come on. Easy 10/10 on the music front. It feels like every single composer was firing on all cylinders this time around. ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu, Yasunori Mitsuda, and Manami Kiyota all absolutely killed it. With some newcomers to the composition side of things with Mariam Abounnasar and Yutaka Kunigo, it really shows how experimental and open-ended Xenoblade music can get. Some standouts for me include Keves Battle, Immediate Threat, A Life Sent On, The Bereaved and Those Left Behind, A Formidable Enemy, Keves Colony, You Will Know Our Names - Finale, Urayan Tunnels, Chain Attack, Carrying the Weight of Life, City, Moebius Battle, A Step Away, Words That Never Reached You, Ultimate Enemy, Brilliant Wings, New Battle!!!, Prison Island, and Redeem The Future - Finale. That’s a huge list and it’s not even half of the songs I have saved from this soundtrack. But it just goes to show how amazing the soundtrack is, and I would absolutely put it up there with some of the best soundtracks ever composed. But the real question comes down to this, is it better than XC2’s soundtrack? And the answer is… no idea. It really comes down to personal preference. I personally like XC3’s soundtrack more due to the amount of emotion behind a lot of the tracks. However, XC2’s soundtrack is straight fire from start to finish and I could definitely see people putting it ahead of XC3’s.

Graphics: Xenoblade games have always had amazing art styles and graphical fidelity for the systems they’re on. For as huge as their worlds are, I’m always impressed at just how good everything looks. Xenoblade 3 is no different, as we’re treated to some of the greatest area designs in the entire series here. The Pentelas and Cadensia regions in particular are beautiful and extremely immersive. There are some technical hiccups here and there; I had a few frame drops throughout my playthrough, but it was never anything unplayable or completely game-stopping.

To round this off, I’ll briefly touch on Future Redeemed. In short, I loved it. Matthew is easily one of my favorite protagonists in the series, and I loved how weird and experimental the story got. It feels like just the perfect ending to the series as a whole, and I really hope whatever comes next for Xenoblade will be a completely new story, apart from the current trilogy. If I had one thing to complain about with Future Redeemed, it would be the Chain Attacks. I don’t like how much they were simplified compared to base XC3. Especially the fact that healing characters can now end a chain attack, which just doesn’t feel right to me. Other than that, though, Future Redeemed is an amazing experience and I highly recommend it.

Conclusion: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is hands-down the best RPG I’ve ever played and one of the best games I’ve played in general. From its amazingly open-ended gameplay, to its highly emotional story, to its absolutely killer soundtrack, this game is just a blast to play. Even for someone like myself who really doesn’t care for JRPGs, I just found so much to love with this game. It’s my favorite game in the series by quite a large margin, and this is coming from someone who really enjoyed XC2 and Torna as well. I absolutely recommend Xenoblade Chronicles 3, even if you don’t love RPGs or weren’t particularly impressed with the previous games. It’s solidified Tetsuya Takahashi as one of my favorite video game directors, and it’s an incredible triumph for Monolith Soft. 10/10

@StarPoint Wow, that was an excellent write-up! Lol, I'm sorry I keep responding to your Xenoblade write-ups but it has been a real joy hearing about your experience and seeing your progress through the series! It makes me want to replay the entire thing again lmao. I do want to touch on one thing you mentioned here though:

If I had one thing to complain about with Future Redeemed, it would be the Chain Attacks. I don’t like how much they were simplified compared to base XC3. Especially the fact that healing characters can now end a chain attack, which just doesn’t feel right to me.

If I remember correctly, in future redeemed each combat style still has its default role in chain attacks but they can be changed by equipping different manuals. So healers can still function the same way as they do in the base game if they don't have any manuals equipped. I know its probably too late for this information now but I just wanted to put that out there 😅

Also one more question for you. I forget if I asked you but do you have a favorite boss fight in the series? (Any boss fight whether it's optional or story). My personal favorite is definitely the ending Torna boss fight between Mythra and Malos

@Vortexeo Haha no worries! I can see why you enjoy reading them, I get the same amount of satisfaction reading other people's write-ups for games I love as well.

Ahh, okay I figured I must have been missing something with the manuals! Because when I first started playing FR and used a Chain Attack without any manuals, I'm pretty sure A and Glimmer worked as normal healers. But then once the manuals were equipped that changed. That makes sense.

@StarPoint Kudos for the amazing write-up! I've enjoyed reading your Xenoblade journey in various spots. I used to get pretty wordy with my reviews as well, but I really had to cut down on them to try to spend less time online. Your Xenoblade ranking looks a lot like mine, though I'd swap XC1 and XC2 around. I've always felt XC1 is better in the story and music department, though XC2 does have environmental variety going for it. Conversely, I do like XC2 more for its setting, varied environments, and characters, though I do feel they went a little too far down the anime cliche route. The things that brought 2 down for me were the gacha Blade system, needing to grind Blades for affinity (This didn't bother me if it was optional, but there are a couple times when progress in the main story is gated if I recall), and how abysmally the battle system and mechanics are explained past the basics. Once the combat clicked for me, it clicked, but I was roughly 3/4 the way through the main game before that happened. Torna fixed some of the issues I had with the base game, due in part to its more condensed focus.

XC3 is a phenomenal game and was hands down my personal GotY in 2022. Regarding the soundtrack, I'm still miffed that the TGAs picked God of War's soundtrack over it. You can tell from how refined and polished that the game is that Monolith Soft really learned from the previous games' feedback. No game is perfect. Outside of a couple of minor complaints, XC3 comes very close in my eyes.

@Tyranexx Thanks! I haven't written out a big review in a while just due to a lack of time (my last one was actually for Xenoblade 2 way back in July), but I had a slow day today, and I feel like if any game I've played recently deserves a big write-up, it would be this one.

I do think XC1's story is a lot better than 2's for sure. 2 has way too many cliches and gets sidetracked far too often for my liking. Seriously, there's a whole main story objective around two maid robots fighting each other... Yes, the affinity field skills in 2 are what I consider to be an unforgivable sin of game design. I genuinely want to know who thought it would be a good idea to have several moments where your progression in the main story would be completely halted because you didn't grind for extremely specific skills with your blades, of which you can have several. I agree on the tutorial issues as well. When I got into the game for the first time and was greeted by several walls of text, I immediately thought "Oh no." I think it takes like 3 or 4 whole chapters to even unlock Chain Attacks in the first place which is pretty crazy. I still really liked Xenoblade 2, but I think it's the most flawed entry in the series. It's certainly an interesting game to discuss, as a lot of people seem to either love it or hate it.

I hadn't played XC3 when last year's Game Awards happened, but even then, I was really disappointed that it got snubbed on the Best Soundtrack. Sure, Ragnarok's soundtrack is good, but I mean, come on. Listen to You Will Know Our Names - Finale or Brilliant Wings and TELL ME it didn't deserve the win. I'll never stop being salty over that.

I seriously cannot wait to see what Monolith does next. In between them making their Xenoblade games, along with helping out with Splatoon and Zelda, they're gaining so much experience and it really shows in XC3. I would love to see an XC4 or XCX2, but they could do something completely new as well; I'd totally be there for it.

Finally found the controller to my Wii after about 4 months and decided to celebrate the occasion by starting and beating MadWorld over the course of about 5 days.

What an utterly surreal experience. I went into MadWorld with basically zero expectations (only picking it up almost 7 months ago solely because I liked the boxart XD) and was absolutely blown away by what I played. The greatest and most instantly recognisable aspect of MadWorld (and the bit I imagine most people remember it by) is obviously it's artstyle: the sheer accuracy of it's completely black-and-white aesthetic is absurd and truly makes it feel exactly like a playable graphic novel. This is great on it's own honestly, but the fact that the only other bit of colour you'll basically ever see is a vivid scarlet red for blood? MUAH, PERFECT, MUAH

The campaign itself is a pretty enjoyable time too: the story's not the deepest thing ever but it's got a lot of fun moments with some genuinely hilarious dialogue scattered throughout from both the main cast and the two omniscient commentators and the gameplay, while definitely very simple, is immensely enjoyable from the snappy combat, delightfully shocking glory kills and wagglefest QTEs (the latter especially so in boss fights: timing the counterattack to unleash hell as I frantically shook the Wiimote/Nunchuck was satisfying every single time).

All this is without mentioning probably my favourite aspect of MadWorld next to it's visual style: THE MUSIC. I'm not usually the biggest fan of vocal music in video games (rap even more so) but every single song in MadWorld is absolutely INCREDIBLE.

LIKE DUDE: LISTEN TO THIS S***

For as much praise as I've given MadWorld however, there are definitely still bits about it that dragged down the overall experience, chief among them being it's repetitiveness. I've definitely seen worse when it comes to repetitiveness in beat-em-ups (DAMN YOU DOUBLE DRAGON) but I'd be lying if it didn't start to feel a bit draining by the 3rd World. Oh and on the topic of World 3: F*** THE MAD CASTLE. Cramped environments, annoying as hell enemies and an 2nd boss that made me want to rip my hair out on numerous occasions. You know how some games like God of War are very good for the most part except that one section? Yeah the Mad Castle is a pretty annoying blemish on an otherwise great game.

Overall though, MadWorld is one of the most unexpectedly brilliant games I've played all year (and that's saying something when this is also the year I played through Ghost Trick, Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Katamari Damacy for the first time). From it's tone to it's gameplay to it's style, it truly does feel like a game that could've only been conceived/approved during the late noughties and I'm kicking myself I didn't play through it sooner. It's a game that has me itching to check out the rest of PlatinumGames' catalogue and an experience that'll no doubt stick with me for a very long time indeed. 9/10

I recently speed ran A Link to the past.

@StarPoint Then I'll consider your review post quite a compliment due to its length! I do still tend to get wordier with games I really like, though I definitely condense things down via editing.

Out of curiosity, did you play the original XC1 or the Definitive Edition on Switch? The latter is the only version I've played, in which they allegedly made some necessary QoL improvements. As much as I enjoyed the game, I do agree it has some flaws that I think are, in part, a relic from the time the original game was made. Regarding XC2, the "maid robot" story bit felt like filler to me. At least the Old Factory and Cliffs of Morytha share one of my favorite tracks in the game (I am a sucker for synths; I love a lot of the Mechonis tracks in XC1/DE). Seems that we're in agreement regarding affinity skills and the tutorials. I was starting to get a good handle on the orb system but hadn't quite nailed down some of the timing when I reached a certain boss (Praetor Amalthus), so that fight was the hardest for me in the game between not fully understanding the mechanics and some of his cheap moves. Overall I like Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and will certainly play it again at some point, but I'll likely stick to the main story beats this time. When XC2 hits its highs, it hits, but in contrast it has some of the most glaring flaws in the series.

I've not played God of War Ragnarok, but I've heard some of the soundtrack. While I agree it was worth the Best Music candidacy at TGA, I don't think I'm the only one who was incredulous that it won over XC3. We're far from the only two online denizens who weren't sour, so there is that.

Monolith Soft has fully earned my trust at this point. Likewise I can't wait to see what they develop or help out with next; their teams seem to always generate or enhance a game for the better!

@Tyranexx I played the Definitive Edition. I definitely appreciated the QOL additions as it definitely made my experience with it smoother than I'm sure it would have been if I'd played the original.

Oh yeah, the Cliffs of Morytha theme is awesome. Kenji Hiramatsu went crazy with the synths and guitar in that one.

I think if I ever replayed Xenoblade 2, I would do well to just skip the cutscenes that aren't important or are actively ruining my enjoyment of the game. For example, when Poppi is first introduced. But I agree, it's absolutely got some killer moments in it, especially in the later chapters.

Well I finally beat SMW for the first time. While I thought it was a great 2d mario, I have to say it doesn't hold a candle to 3 or even wonder. The requirement to find secret exits in one of the world's was kind of frustrating if I'm being honest. There were only 2 power ups if I recall correctly? Even 3 has the Super Leaf, the Tanooki Suit, the Magic Wing, the Frog Suit, the Hammer Suit, and the Goomba's Shoe. The world's were much more varied and alive in 3 compared to world. Still a great game though. Just not in my top 3 mario games. Please hold your pitchforks 🫠