Topic: Games You Recently Beat?

Just got to the credits in Peach Showtime after 100%-ing the main game. It's been a long time since a game made me that happy. Easy 9/10 from me.

Took around 15 hours I think (My silly Switch of course just says 'first played 9 days ago'). There is actually a surprisingly large amount of post-game stuff, but I'll probably save that for a revisit to the game.

Bit of a retro kick at the moment...

Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (Game Gear via Analogue Pocket). Took me a while to actually finish this as I'd got distracted playing other stuff. Decent and fun platformer, but took me a while to get used to having that extra button press when you jump on enemies. My muscle memory was jumping straight on them like Mario to defeat them, but it's more like Ducktales where you have to press again to actually bounce on them. Not sure if it's just me getting old, or being spoiled by respawning/save points like in some modern platformers, but I found this pretty difficult and ended up making generous use of the Analogue Pocket's save states. Guess my reactions are not what they used to be.

Smash TV (Midway Arcade Origins on 360 via Series X). Used to love this game back in the day and it's aged pretty well too and still a blast to play. Not sure if it's similar to above where I'm basically getting old/slow, but this is brutally difficult and had to just credit-feed to get through it. Even dropping the difficulty down to the lowest setting I was still dying constantly. Still so much fun though.

@dmcc0
I am also often surprised how difficult the games, I beat as a young kid are. I think we simply forget most of the struggle we had and just remember the good times.

I finally beat Metroid Prime: Federation Force. Me and Dogorilla ended up playing through it, largely because I can't imagine finding many people to play it IRL. So having finally played it, it is exactly as ok as I thought it would be.

Like it does risk actively being a good game instead of being a decent enough distraction for what it is, but it has two things that are annoying to specifically me. 3DS action-heavy games, which hurt my hands after a while (especially with the weird manual aiming lock-on...thing, bring back the stylus controls of Hunters instead). And games where you spend ages on a level and just die at the end and have to redo all of the not challenging parts. But even without that, this still wouldn't be my favorite idea in concept and the execution would still be below the high standards of the series. But its fine enough, I think it has a decent idea of how to make a fun co-op game. I wouldn't want a sequel over a new Metroid Prime Hunters (let alone mainline games), but if they did one I could see it being pretty fun by the usual assumption they would improve upon the first one.

It just feels like its from a specific, not great time for Nintendo. It even has a huge, obvious problem where if a player loses all their health after reviving someone, the game will still call it a mission failure even if the other player is back in action that I assume would've been fixed if this game was liked or if Nintendo had any interest in it beyond getting it out the door.

One thing I liked about Federation Force is it doesn't really repeat level objectives; most missions have their own distinct central mechanic, even if it does also throw in quite a few 'clear out this room of standard enemies' segments. But yeah, the levels can get quite long and there are no checkpoints, so it's pretty frustrating at times.

I do like it though, personally I'd even go so far as to say it's an actively good game in spite of its flaws. I'm glad I got to play through it in co-op before the servers die (which I haven't managed to do for Tri Force Heroes, don't know when I'll get a chance to play that game properly...) as it would probably be much more frustrating solo.

@Dogorilla @kkslider5552000 Funnily enough, Metroid Prime: Federation Force is next up for me on 3DS. From what you've said and a few reviews I've read too, it doesn't really deserve the hate it gets. The criticism seems to be more that it's not a bad game, just a bad Metroid game. I'm almost going in blind given the only Metroid I've played was a bit of Prime Corruption on Wii, so that might be a good thing in this case

Beat Final Fantasy 7 the other night. I went into it thinking it was pretty much overhyped for what it was. I still think it is overhyped- but I genuinely think the game is good on its own merits. The story is interesting as it breaks away from a lot of the conventions that Final Fantasy had at the time, and I genuinely think that a lot of the twists were well thought out. There's one twist in particular that no one really talks about, which ended up blowing my mind. Playing Crisis Core now, and I'm going to play Rebirth after that.

Pepper Grinder. Overall really fun little experience. I loved the majority of it except some minor parts that were just way too tough and grueling. Overall, worth the asking price and glad I tried it out.

Beat Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and I am glad it is over. I should have listended to my gut feeling, when I watched the first trailers. Too many mixed feelings about this game. There is great stuff to love, but also so much to dislike. In the end, the game is just too cold and feels too negative for me, like I am just playing to escape a nightmare.

Even more than before, I am sure now, that I very much dislike drama and sadness, but there is one thing I have in common with Z , and that is, I hate this world, that is so full of sorrow and pain, but I am glad I helped destroy it with the group, to escape this nightmare.

Now that I have beaten the fears and negative emotions , there is no reason for me anymore, to play a Xenoblade game again (and most jrpgs) , because that is what is awaiting me in their worlds.

So I will go towards the future now, where I can smile everyday and feel good vibes.

Finished Pokemon TCG on the Gameboy for the third or so time. Looks like this might become an annual or near-annual things at this point...

Fun little game, and the main way I've personally got to experience the TCG (I'm not familiar enough with the newer sets, nor do I want to shell out the money to get into the card game proper).

That said, I really noticed this time how much RNG affects the experience. Ignoring the randomness of using a deck of cards (there are ways to effectively navigate your deck, despite the large component of chance), so much in the game comes down to coin flips. It can be quite frustrating really.

Kirby's Dream Land 1+2 (Gameboy NSO)
Both games are enjoyable, but I quite prefer the first one. The gameplay feels more fluid and I think Kirby without abilities and without being able to mount friends, is more fun. Also the minibosses are too repetetive in 2. And I think 1 has better atmosphere, maybe even music.

1 must have been a great game for kids, when it released. I think I might even buy it and replay it, some time.

Elechead - cute little puzzle platformer where you are a robot with an electric head you can toss around. Unlike many games like this, the puzzles aren't completely segregated rooms and some of them mix in well with running and jumping quickly; it also has a touch of metroidvania since it is all one area. The game does an excellent job at teaching you mechanics naturally as it goes along. Only about 2 hours long. My only quibbles is the first ending is a bit confusing to locate and at one point I somehow fell into either a really weird secret or out of bounds and got stuck in an empty room, but there are checkpoints everywhere so it wasn't a big issue. Overall very fun game. I give it a solid 7/10 (NintendoLife gave it 8/10 which also seems fair).

I finally beat Tears of the Kingdom. I have no idea what to say about this game, which took more than 200 hours of my time, apparently.

Let me start with a nitpick, but the actual story ending did nothing for me. The story and voice acting were generally better than the first game but when it comes down to the core story, there is an element of...boring to it. "We are hero characters, we must defeat dark evil, protect Hyrule", I dunno, I just feel like even a lot of past Zelda games knew how to do this type of basic storytelling without making it feel so much like baby's first story. Even OOT was able to make this sort of thing feel like there was something more to that. Again, nitpick, but it was the last thing I saw from this game and this series can do so much better. I'm still waiting for another Zelda to again live up to the best parts of the stories of Majora's Mask or Wind Waker or Link's Awakening or even Skyward Sword in that regard (I will say, what Zelda does when you unlock all the memories got kinda close to that)

But overall, the game was awesome because BOTW is awesome and Zelda is awesome in ways that most games could never be. My feelings on it otherwise are almost exactly the same as the Mario Galaxy games. In the sense that while the 2nd game is bigger and probably better, the 1st was so novel and fresh and new that I don't think its even fully possible for a 2nd game similar enough to be as good. But Mario Galaxy 2 is still fantastic and so is this game. And I did love the exploration of this game more overall, the use of the sky and underground and how they connected kept things fresh compared to BOTW, even with the samey elements to it. And there were some real improvements I appreciated and the dungeons got better basically each time I got to them, to the point that the last one I played risked living up to past games. And I still put so much time and didn't feel half the level of exhaustion I did with Xenoblade 2, so it was nice to see that it wasn't purely time spent that dragged that experience for me.

I will get back to it to do certain things, mostly the remaining shrines. But until then, happy to be done playing super long games for the next 6 months.

It's not often I write long posts in this thread anymore, but this is one of my exceptions.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr's Journey (3DS) - I wasn't expecting this one to take as long as it did - ~58 hours - but I did some grinding in BJJ, and BIS has a TON of enemies towards the game's end. Overall this was a pretty fun package, though I think the game was over hyped to me; I thought I'd enjoy it as much as Superstar Saga, but that wasn't the case.

Plot-wise, BIS starts out well: interesting inciting events related to the Blorbs, Fawful 's glorious return ("I have chortles!"), an insane Mushroom Kingdom takeover plot that actually works, and some unique new characters like Starlow, Dr. Toadley, and Midbus. There's some really entertaining writing and decent music too. Best of all, this is a RPG that actually focuses on Bowser!...or would if it wasn't so inconsistent about when he is featured vs. manually locked out of gameplay. The Bros. are back and as fun to play as ever, even if Bowser doesn't technically know they're working together. The problem is, I feel the plot really fell off after the first Midbus fight. Heck, I even forgot about the Blorbs until the game makes the Bros. collect the three star cures.

Most of my issues with the main game are admittedly nitpicks:

• As mentioned above, the inconsistent plot and pacing
• Being inside Bowser's body is interesting, but I do wish the actual Mushroom Kingdom had been more fun to navigate, at least compared to the unique BeanBean Kingdom
• I didn't mind some of the mini games while inside Bowser to help augment his abilities, but some of these become very repetitive (thankfully the VERY annoying one for giant battles is skippable after so many attempts), and on that note....
• I wasn't a fan of giant battles, namely due to the forced use of touch controls, how long it takes them to load, especially when failing (Tower of Yikk was horrible about this; I think this one took me 45 minutes), and that there was no left-handed option (Which was supposedly in the original game?)

The final boss sequence was pretty fun and incorporated both Bowser and the Bros. It beat out the two previous fights that I thought might be the final.

Bowser Jr's Journey is an entertaining side mode that runs almost concurrently with the main campaign. It features Junior and the Koopalings + Kamek as they try to first cure the Blorbs on their own terms (turns out Blorbed Goombas are a thing too) and then eventually take back Bowser's castle from the BFF ("Best Fitness Friends") mercenary trio hired by Fawful. The dialogue is entertaining, and the plot is somewhat predictable, but I can't deny it's neat to see Bowser Jr., an underused character in most Mario titles, get some nice character development.

There are better strategy games out there, but BJJ is still a nice distraction. Unit placement is crucial, both when it comes to formations and the attack triangle in use (Melee > Ranged > Flying > Melee). The player can also influence special attacks by placing the same units near each other - allowing for stronger specials - and reacting to button prompts when appropriate. Different commands by both Junior and his chosen second-in-command can also turn the tide of battle by causing damage, buff allies or debuff enemies, heal, etc. The battles feel more balanced than the Bowser's Minions portion of the Superstar Saga remake, and there's also less grinding; dismissing some units will cause them to drop an Exp bean that can then be used to boost a remaining unit of the same type. I never finished Bowser's Minions, but I saw Bowser Jr's Journey through to the credits. And there IS post-game content too.

Overall, this remake - unnecessary though parts of it seem - is a decent package. But there are a few issues that keep it from being truly amazing IMO.

Just finished the main story of Fallout 4. I decided to finish the story with the Minutemen. I really liked the game! I will be honest, I liked it a little more than Fallout 3. Just a little! Both are amazing games!

Off to Far Harbor And I will start New Vegas as well.

@Zuljaras playing fallout 4 myself. First time for the series. I don't believe I've met the minutemen yet but I joined the brotherhood. It's definitely an interesting game and I'm enjoying it. There are some difficulty spikes though.

@NintendoByNature The Minutemen are the first faction you encounter by following the main quest. You meet them in Concord in the first 10 minutes after going out of the vault. The faction with Sturges and Preston Garvey. They are like the "good guys" of the Commonwealth

As for the difficulty spikes, there are a MUST have perks to be taken. For example, I played with the "Idiot Savant" perk at 1 Intelligence and I save before handing in quests and reload until I trigger the perk, BAM! 5x XP, it is like handing in 5 quests!

@Zuljaras ah yes, I recall now. Didn't realize you can join them. I was also fairly green when I met them having not know anything about the franchise or what to do.

I'll keep an eye out on how to add perks. So far, I haven't figured out how to as of yet.

@NintendoByNature the perks you add when you level up. One perk point per level. The perks available for leveling depends on your S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats that you choose at the start of the game. For example my character has only 1 intelligence and I can only level a few of the intelligence perks but that is ok because I focus on gunplay

@Zuljaras I could not for the life of me into Fallout 4, especially once you get to the settlement building part of the game. Once I got to that I was done. Shame too because I love 3 and New Vegas.