Topic: Games You Recently Beat?

I've finished Mega Man Battle Network 3! That's the first three games down. At least in terms of gameplay, it might just be the best in the series. The battle system is still as good as ever, and I like the inclusion of the navi customizer. While MegaMan's buster can't be permanently upgraded anymore, I do really like how versatile the navi customizer is. Some of the bosses were pretty difficult, I've had a lot of trouble with facing BeastMan and BubbleMan to give a couple examples. Shout-outs to the game's music, by the way. I love the themes for the internet area and the navi customizer, and every battle theme here is awesome!

(Final boss and ending spoilers ahead.)

Sunshine pretty sure I never beat it on GameCube back in the day. So pretty excited that I finally got to the end.

Pokemon Snap (Nintendo 64)
My second playthrough. This time I snapped them all. Still love it because of its simplicity and good vibes.

I finally beat the final boss of Donkey Kong Country Returns (well, the first time since the late 00's on the Wii). I knew this game was challenging, but wow. The feeling of accomplishment is real. Now I'm working on the aftergame, trying to find the K-O-N-G letters and puzzle pieces I missed. And taking breaks with Side Order while my DKCR hand cramps recover.

@mjharper if you’re playing side order to wind down, DKCR must be very difficult.

To anyone who says side order is easy, you obviously haven’t spent enough time on the cruel siphon

Just beat Astro Bot - having finished the story and collected all bots and puzzle pieces.

Great game, although bittersweet I think.

The game excels in its tight controls, visual design and, above all else IMO, great level design. Pretty much every stage is fun to explore, looks great and feels unique - definitely very few duds if any in this one. I had a great time. Definitely one of the best 3D platformers of all time.

One thing I found, that isn't necessarily a big issue, is that it can feel quite derivative. A lot have compared this game to Mario Galaxy - and yeah, they're not wrong. While the game often does things to mix up the gameplay and frequently introduces new concepts and gimmicks - it felt like so much was borrowed from Nintendo games that I had played in the past. It feels as much a celebration of Nintendo as it is of Playstation.

The other thing is the Playstation rep here. The fanservice is great - although it's quite striking how many of the characters included are from franchises not exclusively associated with Playstation, or franchises that have been ignored for the longest times. As someone who is rather disillusioned with the PS5, it really just further illustrates to me Sony's fall from grace and lack of respect for their classic IP.

Meh, nitpicks aside - fantastic game, please give us more like this Sony.

@Buizel I have played a bit of Astro as well - and I’d agree with your write up.
It definitely tows a fine line between ‘fan service’ and leaning into franchises that are very loosely associated with PS lol

However, I love that it won GOTY for many reasons. I think it’s success shows that there is a still a market for fun single-player games, devoid of MTX / in-game monetisation etc. Also, whilst I love me some Elden Ring / Baldurs 3, I like how Astro is almost a ‘family friendly’ game… not everything has to be mature in tonality to permeate critical/commercial success

Good on Astro, be nice to see a renaissance for the genre perhaps? Looking forward to seeing what the big N does with the next 3D Mario

@CJD87 @Novamii Yeah I am glad to see it win GOTY, even though FF7 Rebirth would be my own pick for GOTY. Let's hope Sony get the right message from Astro Bot's success!

Gran Turismo 1 (PlayStation 1)
Nice simulation. The real challenge was getting the licenses. Buying the GTO LM Edition was easily worth the grind, what a nice car, really pleasant to drive.

@Xenoblade-Fan FACTS.

Castlevania Bloodlines is beaten The last level was definitely the hardest one!

It is a good game, but Super Castlevania IV is better.

And Resident Evil 1 HD is done with Chris

Next is Jill as I have never finished the game with her

This is the perfect remake just like RE2.

Have finished Tactics Ogre:Reborn recently. Now playing 2 games at same time Paper Mario TTYD and Super Mario Bros Wonder. Both games are fantastic.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership
It is a pretty good game and Acquire did a good job. The last dungeon was fun and the game could not have ended any better. I think I did everything, aside leveling to the max level. In the end, I came to like the writing and the more emotional tone.

Just finished Sniper Elite 4 on Series X. I absolutely loved this game - the 'Kill Cam' never gets old. I played almost exclusively stealthy (or at least tried to) so took me ages to complete. HLTB says 10.5 hours for the main campaign, but it took me just under 40 hours.

I'm not sure how people are completing it in 10 hours to be fair unless they are playing it like CoD and just going in all guns blazing and not doing any of the optional missions. I think I had over 5 hours on a single stage, although to be fair I was doing all the optional missions and almost clearing the map of enemies - if I can see you, you're getting shot in the head! I didn't bother looking for collectibles though, although I did pick them up if I came across them.

I recently beat Guns of Fury which just released last week. If you're a fan of Metal Slug and Metroidvanias that I highly recommend it. They definitely nailed the look and gameplay of MS. I actually might've enjoyed this one even more than Blade Chimera, which was also excellent.

I finished Axiom Verge. Excellent game that takes a lot of inspiration from the Metroid series. Love the atmosphere and exploration. I didn't find every item in the game, but I did find a good chunk of them. My only real problem is that there were a few unfair enemy placements, and that's it. As somebody who likes the Metroid games, I'm glad I got to play this one. I have the sequel as well, which I do want to play at some point.

@MarioVillager92 it's a banger for sure. Really enjoyed my time with it years ago.

I finished Super Mario World today, and yeah. Solid game. I do have some thoughts though:

• Lots of people criticize Mario Wonder for not being as challenging as the older 2Ds but I have to ask if anyone has actually replayed them recently. World wasn't exactly a real endurance test - the base game was pretty easy all things considered. I think the only challenge there lied in the Special World and finding the secret exits, which were nice, if a bit vague.
• The art direction is kinda all over the place. This can be forgiven because, y'know - early SNES game and all - but the inconsistent level of quality in the spritework was a bit distracting.
• It's probably been said before by others but the lack of strong theming in the worlds and levels was a bit of a bummer. A downgrade from Mario 3's strong world theming.

@N00BiSH I think most people agree World is one of rhe easier Super Mario games. Not as easy as the super short gameboy games, but still fairly easy. Yoshi and capes are both pretty OP for the series. If you're talking about 100%, Wonder is definitely harder than World. For any% they're both pretty easy (like most mario games) but Wonder is much longer because you can skip most of World. Honestly, all the 2D Mario games have been easy except for Lost Levels although a few like smbu deluxe and Yoshi's island and even Wonder are a little bit challenging to 100%.