I hate the generic anime aesthetic of this compared to other Castlevania games at the time (love me some anime, but Castlevania is meant to feel gothic).
I had to double check you weren't talking about Dawn of Sorrow when you said this, since that's the complaint I remember of that game specifically and why it is supposedly worse than Aria.
I just beat "Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin." It's a genuinely great game and the original trailer for it really undersold what the game actually is like. The combat is incredibly solid and the story gets really really good at the later half. It also helps to flesh out the original Final Fantasy game and serves to give a backstory to Garland, along with actually giving an explanation to what Chaos is.
My only gripe was that the PC port was not optimized at all. It frequently stuttered- even on my higher end machine. I know this is common with Square Enix's PC ports, but it sucks that this is one of the few games I've genuinely had issues with from them. The game would've been so much better if it ran smooth- and probably would've looked so much better if I could have run it at maximum settings. Apparently a lot of the issue has to do with the character models having a ton of triangles in them.
All in all though, I genuinely enjoyed the game. Gotta decide what else from the backlog I should play next.
"It is fate. Many have tried, yet none have ever managed to escape it's flow."
I rolled credits on Pushmo World a few days ago. A pretty fun puzzle game that plays much like the original Pushmo on 3DS, but with a couple new tools and plenty of new puzzles to dig into. Pushmo Park is the main progression mode for what little story there is - it's mostly a vehicle to move things along - where you have to rescue kids who become stuck in some Pushmo after Papa Blox's dog, Brutus, pushes all the reset switches. There's also a training area, an area ran by Colin to work on Mysterious Pushmo with certain gimmicks (timed blocks, blocks of the same color that all move at the same time, etc.), and a studio where the player can create their own Pushmo using tools unlocked as they progress in the game. Stamps can be collected, but 100%ing these is impossible now that Miiverse is closed.
All in all, this is a decent game for puzzle lovers and fans who enjoyed other games in the series.
Oh yes, I platinumed Astro Bot! I love this game, one of the best platformers. It is so full of love and so fun to play. Incredible how many animations they made. I was constantly smiling and giggling. The PlayStation 5 controller is just perfect for Astro Bot. I would never have thought, how much vibrations and sound from a controller, can improve the experience.
Like Astros Playroom, Astro Bot reminded me, that I love Sony games too. Playing it does not only feel like a celebration, this game also celebrates Sony's history.
I think it is time for me to stop being negative about modern games, especially those, which I have not even played. After playing so many retro games and then Astro Bot, showed me how alive they actually are.
Alright time to finish The Thousand Year Door before Zelda releases!
I finally beat Super Mario World because I found a portal to the star world, and it brought me to the final castle. I'm going to have to come back and do more of the levels. I'm glad I gave it another go, because I used to really dislike Super Mario World.
Warning: Spicy opinions like "M&Ms are overrated." may leak from this unit!
Just finished Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge on the Xbox and that was really fun.
I have played the game before, about a year ago with my siblings, but I never finished it with them. I got an Xbox Game Pass Core sub today with the intention of playing another game with my friend, but we had issues with the sub functioning correctly with the game we had initially chose so I picked up the game again and played with a friend and a few others online earlier and finished a good chunk of the game, but I had to disconnect to get stuff done, so I ended up finishing the entire game alone, though did struggle a bit since it was only me.
It’s a really well-made and fun beat em’ up, and I am familiar with playing those since I’ve played similar ones like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game and Battletoads so I found a lot of fun and familiarity with Shredder’s Revenge. I liked the fighting mechanics, and the game exudes so much personality and humor, mostly seen with the charming characters and the amazing pixel animations. The only criticism I have is that it’s super short, but it’s a pretty minor criticism. Would recommend playing, but I strongly suggest getting one or more people to play alongside you or doing online multiplayer, cuz the game is pretty hard to play alone. I messed up way more without having anyone else playing with me.
Finished all the levels with gold stars Mario vs Donkey Kong (Switch). Pretty good game. Nothing mind blowing. Just pretty good. I really liked the "Plus" levels and "Exp" levels the best. I felt those were way more engaging than the standard levels. To me the standard levels were very hit or miss. Some were fun and some were just quick "do this do that" and on to the next one. Overall, I had fun. A good in between game to cleanse the palate before starting a longer more investment game.
On a side note I never played the original GBA version so I went into this totally fresh. I did however love the old school Game Boy "Donkey Kong" (1994) back in the day. I totally would have preferred a Switch remake of that one. I'm hoping this one sold well enough to maybe make it a possibility down the line.
"NanoApostle" - new isometric boss-rush game, a lot of fun! Quite short, only 6 x 'main bosses' (alongside other challenges) but a decent spin for the asking price.
Still not quite as good as "Eldest Souls" - my favorite boss-rush title, even above Furi and Cupheard
Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door
I love this game and I understand now why it is so beloved. When the game ended I felt a little bit sad, because I had to say goodbye to Mario's new friends. I think the ending was perfect and this adventure will always give me a warm feeling in my heart, when I will think about it.
I'm noticing it's flaws a bit more the second time round (namely, how slow a lot of things can be by modern standards, and the proportion of the game that amounts to "go from a to b"), after having not completed it for almost 20 years now.
That said, the game is still fantastic and stands among the Gamecube's greatest. Great characters/dialogue/scenarios, great art style, and a battle system that is outright brilliant in its simplicity. Definitely a game I'm glad I revisited.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble
Yes, this is my favourite Monkey Ball now. Everything is great, the gameplay, the music and the graphics. There is also alot of content. I beat every level and the challenge was just right. The characters are really cute and likeable. All in all, a game that gave me a great time and catapulted the Monkey Ball series to a must have series for me.
Plucky Squire. I'm all set for Thursday and Echoes.
It truly was an amazing game. Performance could've been a bit better, no doubt. But what was there was an amazing, and unique package. It's the perfect game for all those who love the lighthearted zelda games.
I cleared Metroid Prime Remastered yesterday evening on Normal mode. Still very fun even by modern standards, especially with the HD facelift. I reached 100% on items and got the best ending, but there are a couple of one-off scans I missed. Plus, unlocking every single extra means I have to go back through the game in the now unlocked Hard mode. Maybe next time.
This means my Switch cartridge slot is free for Echoes of Wisdom.
A 3D Platformer where most levels have a "wide linear" approach, where there is generally a "beginning to end" flow, but generally with a greater emphasis on exploring for secrets & CAG-lite combat encounters rather than precise platforming challenges (though you'll get a bit more of that in the latter half of the game). The best comparison I could make would be Kirby & the Forgotten Land (Switch) if you've played that (though I'd say that Bakeru's levels can get wider than that).
There a few other level types though, such as the occasional auto scroller (these all have isometric perspectives & focus a bit more on platforming than usual), or vehicle level (these tend to go by much quicker, and are easier, than most other levels & usually take the form of a race or Star Fox esque 3D shmup level).
In terms of collectables, each level has 5 pieces of Trivia to find (most levels are based around one of Japan's many prefectures, and these factoids usually relate to their specific culture/history), and 3 Souvenirs which are a bit harder to collect (these again usually relate to the area the level is set in, although the first one is always just a region pennant). A few levels also have a hidden Tanuki (a Japanese type of Raccoon) to find and are generally the hardest to locate.
You collect Trivia by talking to this little dude dressed like yellow poo, and Souvenirs are located in Gachapon capsules.
Things start out pretty linear, as you go from one level to the next on a set path on the world map, however about 15 levels in you unlock a ship called the Bunbuku (which doubles as a little hub world where your Souvenirs are displayed... and triples as a transforming mecha that you pilot in certain boss fights) which lets you freely fly over Japan's landmass & levels unlock in regional groupings (usually 4-6 levels will become available at once, and you can complete them in any order before unlocking that region's boss level).
Your Souvenirs are displayed on a wall that wraps around nearly the entirety of the Bunbuku's interior! (There are over 120 of them to collect!) The Tanuki you find also hang out there (as well as a few other story characters), and depending on the number you've found, you can get a few basic stat upgrades for it's mech form.
It's not quite as snappy as something like a Mario or Astro Bot, but it generally controls well & is fun even if it's on the easier side (you do unlock a few transformations after beating the first few bosses that augment your combat style, but I honestly never felt the need to use them. Especially since you get an achievement for beating each boss without transforming, so I did without). The only transformation I used was one that makes you smaller at the expense of being able to fight, but only because it allows you to access areas you otherwise can't within levels (it's the only transformation required for exploration). It has about 60 levels (keep in mind at least 10 of those are probably boss fights) & I completed it in just over 20 hours with everything collected (I only had to replay levels 3 or so times throughout my entire run through in order to nab a missed collectable. I mostly got them all my first run through). It helps that, aside from a few later levels, not many levels have hard locks that prevent you from backtracking to collect anything you missed. There isn't any sort of post game content or new game +.
In spite of having so many levels, each one is thematically distinct or combines things in such a way that it never became boring, and I was looking forward to what the next one would bring.
In conclusion, I'm actually surprised that Nintendo skipped out on localizing this one themselves (it's developed by Good Feel, the studio behind Yoshi's Crafted World & this year's Princess Peach: Showtime, and honestly this "feels" like a larger game than either. You can really tell it was a passion project they poured their all into). Granted, at least this means it was able to be published on Steam, where I didn't experience any of the performance issues that apparently plague the Switch version (which may play into the Big N's decision to pass on it), but it's a shame that it's probably going to be overlooked (on Switch because it released the same month as Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, and generally because it released the same month as the biggest platformer of the year, Astro Bot), because it's honestly a great time.
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
A whole lot of crab-walking, aiming down sights, and leave a trail of death. The signature slow motion x-ray replay of headshot kills...never gets old. Six hours to get through the campaign and it felt like the right length. Looking forward to play through Sniper Elite III at some point.
7/10
Switch Physical Collection - 1,540 games (as of January 28th, 2026)
Switch 2 Physical Collection - 4 games (as of December 8th, 2025)
Forums
Topic: Games You Recently Beat?
Posts 3,261 to 3,280 of 3,904
Please login or sign up to reply to this topic