Games Beaten 2021
Re: Games Beaten 2021
I cannot imagine you not at least trying a game with "hentai" in the title.
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ElkinFencer10
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Re: Games Beaten 2021
marurun wrote:I cannot imagine you not at least trying a game with "hentai" in the title.
As our resident ecchi lord, it was my sworn duty.
Patron Saint of Bitch Mode
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PartridgeSenpai
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- Location: Northern Japan
Re: Games Beaten 2021
Partridge Senpai's 2021 Beaten Games:
Previously: 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
* indicates a repeat
Games 1~51
52. Wai Wai World 2 (Famicom)
53. Tiny Toon Adventures (Famicom)
54. King Kong 2: Ikari No Megaton Punch (Famicom)
55. Yume Pengin Monogatari (Famicom)
56. Rock Man & Forte (SFC)
57. Rock Man X2 (Switch)
58. Rock Man X3 (Switch)
59. Rock Man X4 (Switch)
60. Rock Man X5 (Switch)
61. Rock Man X6 (Switch)
62. Rock Man X7 (Switch)
63. Rock Man X8 (Switch)
64. Mega Man: Powered Up (PSP)
Known in Japan as "Rock Man Rock Man", this is one of the last proper Mega Man games I hadn't yet played in my marathon (the 25th one in the marathon, to be exact X3), this was a game I had as a kid but never quite ended up beating. I was really determined to beat it on hard mode, but just couldn't best the last couple Wily stages, and if I wasn't going to beat it on hard mode, I wasn't going to beat it at all. Thankfully, I hold no such convictions now, and was able to beat the Japanese version of the game on normal mode in about three hours via my PSTV. However, after that, I ended up playing it for another six hours, as there is much more to do than simply beating the game as Mega Man.
Powered Up is, at the pitch level, a re-imagining of Mega Man 1 with a new chibi art style and a silly sense of humor. The original six robot masters are here and have their own stages, but those stages are very different to their original versions, however they do have stages that maintain a "feel" of those originals while still being quite different. The Wily stages are similarly "similar feeling, different content", but the fortress bosses have been changed in how they fight you quite a bit. They even add an intro stage as well as two whole new robot masters to fight (Time Man and Oil Man) to round out the roster to an even 8 robot masters. The game has a lot of voiced dialogue before fighting each boss that's really lighthearted and funny, and it even changes depending on who you're fighting each boss with.
That's right! This is a Mega Man game with multiple characters! That's actually what the weird Japanese title is for, as when you save and quit as a character in that version, the title changes so the second "Rock Man" in the title changes to their name (e.g. Rock Man Fire Man, if you just played as Fire Man). Beat a robot master with only your mega buster, and you'll unlock the ability to play as them in their own story mode as opposed to Mega Man. In their own story modes, it's them who is the only robot not to get kidnapped and mind controlled by Wily, which means you even get to fight an evil version of Mega Man in those modes~. Each boss has their own abilities that they have when they fight you as well as sometimes other abilities as well, such as how Cut Man gets a wall jump. In addition to that, you also unlock other variations on Mega Man to play as when you beat the game, and can even unlock a shield-toting Proto Man by beating every stage in challenge mode (which is SUPER hard and I would never recommend doing).
Thankfully, you can also just download Proto Man as free DLC, and you also can get Roll as a playable character through that free DLC as well! She uses a sword, and ends up playing a fair bit like Zero does in the X games as a result, and she was another character I ended up beating the game with. I played a fair bit as Cut Man and Fire Man as well, although I only beat it again as Fire Man. Playing as the robot masters is quite the difficulty bump compared to playing the game as Mega Man, as you lose your ability to change weapons.
The game overall being just a bit too hard is my only real overall complaint with the game. The platforming is a bit unpolished and overly difficult in a few places, and some bits like the boss rush at the end are ridiculously hard due to the fact that this is one of the only games in the extended Mega Man series where you don't get healed after each boss fight. This manages to be basically the only game in the classic series' style with both difficulty levels and multiple playable characters as a main conceit of their design to actually manage to still be quite good. A lot of that is due to how simple yet quick-paced the stage design is, which allows this game to avoid the "too hard for its own good" issue that Rockman & Forte has, and they're also small in scale enough to avoid the "big, boring, and empty" problem that Mega Man 10 has. The stage design could certainly use some polish in some places, but the bosses manage to be for the most part excellent no matter who you're playing them as.
The presentation is also excellent. The cutesy art style goes great with the silly writing, and it's an incredibly charming game. The music remixes are also quite fun and well done. The game even has a stage contrusctor mode where you can make your own stages to upload online, and download others' stages to play yourself! (this level uploading mode is actually where you download Roll and Proto Man from, and not the PSN store).
Verdict: Recommended. It's a real shame that this game is the only one like this that ever got made. This idea is a really cool one that's executed on pretty darn well, but it's definitely lacking some polish in the level design in just a few too many places to make this a game I can recommend quite that highly. It's definitely a game worth tracking down if you're a Mega Man fan, though, as the extra characters and difficulty modes make it a great value to fans of just about any skill level~.
Previously: 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
* indicates a repeat
Games 1~51
52. Wai Wai World 2 (Famicom)
53. Tiny Toon Adventures (Famicom)
54. King Kong 2: Ikari No Megaton Punch (Famicom)
55. Yume Pengin Monogatari (Famicom)
56. Rock Man & Forte (SFC)
57. Rock Man X2 (Switch)
58. Rock Man X3 (Switch)
59. Rock Man X4 (Switch)
60. Rock Man X5 (Switch)
61. Rock Man X6 (Switch)
62. Rock Man X7 (Switch)
63. Rock Man X8 (Switch)
64. Mega Man: Powered Up (PSP)
Known in Japan as "Rock Man Rock Man", this is one of the last proper Mega Man games I hadn't yet played in my marathon (the 25th one in the marathon, to be exact X3), this was a game I had as a kid but never quite ended up beating. I was really determined to beat it on hard mode, but just couldn't best the last couple Wily stages, and if I wasn't going to beat it on hard mode, I wasn't going to beat it at all. Thankfully, I hold no such convictions now, and was able to beat the Japanese version of the game on normal mode in about three hours via my PSTV. However, after that, I ended up playing it for another six hours, as there is much more to do than simply beating the game as Mega Man.
Powered Up is, at the pitch level, a re-imagining of Mega Man 1 with a new chibi art style and a silly sense of humor. The original six robot masters are here and have their own stages, but those stages are very different to their original versions, however they do have stages that maintain a "feel" of those originals while still being quite different. The Wily stages are similarly "similar feeling, different content", but the fortress bosses have been changed in how they fight you quite a bit. They even add an intro stage as well as two whole new robot masters to fight (Time Man and Oil Man) to round out the roster to an even 8 robot masters. The game has a lot of voiced dialogue before fighting each boss that's really lighthearted and funny, and it even changes depending on who you're fighting each boss with.
That's right! This is a Mega Man game with multiple characters! That's actually what the weird Japanese title is for, as when you save and quit as a character in that version, the title changes so the second "Rock Man" in the title changes to their name (e.g. Rock Man Fire Man, if you just played as Fire Man). Beat a robot master with only your mega buster, and you'll unlock the ability to play as them in their own story mode as opposed to Mega Man. In their own story modes, it's them who is the only robot not to get kidnapped and mind controlled by Wily, which means you even get to fight an evil version of Mega Man in those modes~. Each boss has their own abilities that they have when they fight you as well as sometimes other abilities as well, such as how Cut Man gets a wall jump. In addition to that, you also unlock other variations on Mega Man to play as when you beat the game, and can even unlock a shield-toting Proto Man by beating every stage in challenge mode (which is SUPER hard and I would never recommend doing).
Thankfully, you can also just download Proto Man as free DLC, and you also can get Roll as a playable character through that free DLC as well! She uses a sword, and ends up playing a fair bit like Zero does in the X games as a result, and she was another character I ended up beating the game with. I played a fair bit as Cut Man and Fire Man as well, although I only beat it again as Fire Man. Playing as the robot masters is quite the difficulty bump compared to playing the game as Mega Man, as you lose your ability to change weapons.
The game overall being just a bit too hard is my only real overall complaint with the game. The platforming is a bit unpolished and overly difficult in a few places, and some bits like the boss rush at the end are ridiculously hard due to the fact that this is one of the only games in the extended Mega Man series where you don't get healed after each boss fight. This manages to be basically the only game in the classic series' style with both difficulty levels and multiple playable characters as a main conceit of their design to actually manage to still be quite good. A lot of that is due to how simple yet quick-paced the stage design is, which allows this game to avoid the "too hard for its own good" issue that Rockman & Forte has, and they're also small in scale enough to avoid the "big, boring, and empty" problem that Mega Man 10 has. The stage design could certainly use some polish in some places, but the bosses manage to be for the most part excellent no matter who you're playing them as.
The presentation is also excellent. The cutesy art style goes great with the silly writing, and it's an incredibly charming game. The music remixes are also quite fun and well done. The game even has a stage contrusctor mode where you can make your own stages to upload online, and download others' stages to play yourself! (this level uploading mode is actually where you download Roll and Proto Man from, and not the PSN store).
Verdict: Recommended. It's a real shame that this game is the only one like this that ever got made. This idea is a really cool one that's executed on pretty darn well, but it's definitely lacking some polish in the level design in just a few too many places to make this a game I can recommend quite that highly. It's definitely a game worth tracking down if you're a Mega Man fan, though, as the extra characters and difficulty modes make it a great value to fans of just about any skill level~.
I identify everyone via avatar, so if you change your avatar, I genuinely might completely forget who you are. -- Me
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Raging Justice
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- Posts: 1815
- Joined: Sun May 30, 2021 2:11 pm
Re: Games Beaten 2021
Kaze and the Wild Masks - Nintendo Switch (what I played it on), PS4, Xbox One, PC, Stadia, Macintosh
Kaze describes itself as a tribute to platformers of the 90s. This immediately made me think of this guy:
As it turns out though, Kaze feels like more of a tribute to this person:
In fact, I could swear that some of Kaze's animations are exact copies of Dixie's.
So yeah, this plays a lot like a Donkey Kong Country game. Now, it's not quite the technical marvel that the DKC games were for their time. It doesn't look or sound as amazing as I remember those games being, but don't get me wrong. It's a good looking game, but graphically it kind of looks more like a Sonic clone than something based off of DKC. It's a colorful looking game, Kaze has some cute animations, and the enemies are pretty hilarious. They are all evil, anthropomorphic, vegetables and the way some of them attack you is very funny. The music's not bad. In fact, for some reason, the tune for the stage select screen reminds me of the Crash Bandicoot games. Kaze is really about gameplay more than anything though.
There's definitely a lot of familiar elements if you've played DKC games. Personally, I've only played the first two, and this game reminds me a lot of DKC 2 obviously. Kaze does a nice job of taking that familiar gameplay and switching it up a bit though to challenge you. The platforming in this game can get pretty tricky, more so than I remember the old DKC games being. Also, for completionists out there, the game challenges you to complete time trials for each stage, find collectibles, and beat every stage without taking a hit (including boss fights). Kaze is fairly challenging. Nothing here is too taxing for veterans of the genre though, and it even includes an optional easy mode you can select when you start the game.
The levels are pretty varied, which is nice. Though some elements are repeated, yet each time a stage revisits a gameplay style it's usually a bit harder than the last time, so there's some nice scaling difficulty here. The "Wild Masks" from the game's title pop up in some stages and basically give you an extra ability that changes the level's gameplay. So for example, one mask gives you wings so you'll be flying through the rest of the stage. Another gives you the ability to swim, and yet another basically turns the level into an endless runner. I guess the endless runner levels would be comparable to the mine cart stages in the DKC games. I found these endless runner levels to be pretty wild. They have some VERY tricky platforming and challenge your reaction time quite a bit. They also seemed kind of long. I found these to be the hardest stages for me personally, especially when doing the additional level challenges. Though I imagine as an onlooker it probably looks pretty awesome watching someone perfectly play through these stages. These stages would fit right in for a 2d Sonic game.
Some of the collectibles unlock some pictures that kind of give you the game's backstory. Remember spelling Kong in the DKC games? There are letters here too, spelling KAZE. Each level also has hidden bonus stages for you to find. These are pretty short and they're really fun and creative. They range from platforming, to little mini games, or puzzles. Completing the bonus level successfully rewards you with part of a green gem. If you complete the green gem in each stage, it opens up an extra level for each area of the game. These extra stages are generally a bit harder than the other stages, but they are wonderfully clever. One is an entire level with invisible platforms. You're basically going through the level doing blind, leaps of faith. You have to be mindful of avoiding enemies too. Another stage takes place almost entirely in free fall, with you avoiding enemies and obstacles as you make your way eventually to the bottom of the level
The boss fights are great. They really put up a decent fight and trying to no damage them can get tricky. They're pretty funny too.
Overall, this is a high quality platformer. It's has that 90s era feel, especially for DKC fans. One little complaint is that while there are hidden things in each stage (gems, bonus levels), it doesn't feel quite as packed with secrets as the old DKC games. Finding every secret in those games was tough, find every hidden thing in Kaze is fairly easy. Most of Kaze's challenge comes from the platforming itself rather than hunting down secrets. Also, you don't have a partner you can tag out like in the old DKC games (though there's a floating creature that can take a hit for you) and you don't get to ride any animals (the mask abilities sort of do the same thing though). Not everything you remember about those games is recreated here and honestly, I think the DKC games had slightly more charm (who didn't love Cranky Kong?), but this is still a pretty good tribute. The gameplay is great with well designed levels and the controls are excellent, though there is a ground pound move that I sometimes did by accident, killing myself in the process. This is more due to my big, clumsy hands than anything wrong with the controls though.
I think I may play through it again on PS4 to get those sweet, sweet, trophies. Apparently, Kaze is a straight forward Platinum from what I've heard. Just beat the game and do all the optional stuff.
Kaze just recently got a physical release, the digital version has already been out for a little while now. To my knowledge, Kaze didn't need any patches or updates and I've heard nothing about DLC. So if you're a physical collector I imagine you get a complete game here with no need to download anything. I think a physical copy only costs 30 bucks too, worth it in my opinion. You can grab one off Amazon for your platform of choice.
I really like the game's trailer. Usually, trailers showing actual people playing a game are pretty cheesy, but this one feels sincere and nostalgic. You'll probably like it even more if you have kids. Plenty of gameplay footage too so you can see the game in action yourself. Check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxzIuYCew2I
Kaze describes itself as a tribute to platformers of the 90s. This immediately made me think of this guy:
As it turns out though, Kaze feels like more of a tribute to this person:
In fact, I could swear that some of Kaze's animations are exact copies of Dixie's.
So yeah, this plays a lot like a Donkey Kong Country game. Now, it's not quite the technical marvel that the DKC games were for their time. It doesn't look or sound as amazing as I remember those games being, but don't get me wrong. It's a good looking game, but graphically it kind of looks more like a Sonic clone than something based off of DKC. It's a colorful looking game, Kaze has some cute animations, and the enemies are pretty hilarious. They are all evil, anthropomorphic, vegetables and the way some of them attack you is very funny. The music's not bad. In fact, for some reason, the tune for the stage select screen reminds me of the Crash Bandicoot games. Kaze is really about gameplay more than anything though.
There's definitely a lot of familiar elements if you've played DKC games. Personally, I've only played the first two, and this game reminds me a lot of DKC 2 obviously. Kaze does a nice job of taking that familiar gameplay and switching it up a bit though to challenge you. The platforming in this game can get pretty tricky, more so than I remember the old DKC games being. Also, for completionists out there, the game challenges you to complete time trials for each stage, find collectibles, and beat every stage without taking a hit (including boss fights). Kaze is fairly challenging. Nothing here is too taxing for veterans of the genre though, and it even includes an optional easy mode you can select when you start the game.
The levels are pretty varied, which is nice. Though some elements are repeated, yet each time a stage revisits a gameplay style it's usually a bit harder than the last time, so there's some nice scaling difficulty here. The "Wild Masks" from the game's title pop up in some stages and basically give you an extra ability that changes the level's gameplay. So for example, one mask gives you wings so you'll be flying through the rest of the stage. Another gives you the ability to swim, and yet another basically turns the level into an endless runner. I guess the endless runner levels would be comparable to the mine cart stages in the DKC games. I found these endless runner levels to be pretty wild. They have some VERY tricky platforming and challenge your reaction time quite a bit. They also seemed kind of long. I found these to be the hardest stages for me personally, especially when doing the additional level challenges. Though I imagine as an onlooker it probably looks pretty awesome watching someone perfectly play through these stages. These stages would fit right in for a 2d Sonic game.
Some of the collectibles unlock some pictures that kind of give you the game's backstory. Remember spelling Kong in the DKC games? There are letters here too, spelling KAZE. Each level also has hidden bonus stages for you to find. These are pretty short and they're really fun and creative. They range from platforming, to little mini games, or puzzles. Completing the bonus level successfully rewards you with part of a green gem. If you complete the green gem in each stage, it opens up an extra level for each area of the game. These extra stages are generally a bit harder than the other stages, but they are wonderfully clever. One is an entire level with invisible platforms. You're basically going through the level doing blind, leaps of faith. You have to be mindful of avoiding enemies too. Another stage takes place almost entirely in free fall, with you avoiding enemies and obstacles as you make your way eventually to the bottom of the level
The boss fights are great. They really put up a decent fight and trying to no damage them can get tricky. They're pretty funny too.
Overall, this is a high quality platformer. It's has that 90s era feel, especially for DKC fans. One little complaint is that while there are hidden things in each stage (gems, bonus levels), it doesn't feel quite as packed with secrets as the old DKC games. Finding every secret in those games was tough, find every hidden thing in Kaze is fairly easy. Most of Kaze's challenge comes from the platforming itself rather than hunting down secrets. Also, you don't have a partner you can tag out like in the old DKC games (though there's a floating creature that can take a hit for you) and you don't get to ride any animals (the mask abilities sort of do the same thing though). Not everything you remember about those games is recreated here and honestly, I think the DKC games had slightly more charm (who didn't love Cranky Kong?), but this is still a pretty good tribute. The gameplay is great with well designed levels and the controls are excellent, though there is a ground pound move that I sometimes did by accident, killing myself in the process. This is more due to my big, clumsy hands than anything wrong with the controls though.
I think I may play through it again on PS4 to get those sweet, sweet, trophies. Apparently, Kaze is a straight forward Platinum from what I've heard. Just beat the game and do all the optional stuff.
Kaze just recently got a physical release, the digital version has already been out for a little while now. To my knowledge, Kaze didn't need any patches or updates and I've heard nothing about DLC. So if you're a physical collector I imagine you get a complete game here with no need to download anything. I think a physical copy only costs 30 bucks too, worth it in my opinion. You can grab one off Amazon for your platform of choice.
I really like the game's trailer. Usually, trailers showing actual people playing a game are pretty cheesy, but this one feels sincere and nostalgic. You'll probably like it even more if you have kids. Plenty of gameplay footage too so you can see the game in action yourself. Check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxzIuYCew2I
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ElkinFencer10
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 8743
- Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:34 pm
- Location: Jonesville, North Carolina
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2021
Games Beaten in 2021 - 38
* denotes a replay
January (12 Games Beaten)
February (5 Games Beaten)
March (3 Games Beaten)
April (7 Games Beaten)
May (9 Games Beaten)
June (2 Games Beaten)
38. Troll and I - Switch - June 2
My friends, especially on Racketboy, know that I have a tendency to play the worst games I can find alongside the normal stellar games that all gamers play. It's like a form of self-harm that won't get me institutionalized or leave visible scars (the psychological scars will never heal). It's also that I have a morbid curiosity about just how bad a game can be and still make it to store shelves. What we have here, ladies, gentlemen, and enbies, is the Switch equivalent of Ride to Hell: Retribution or Superman 64 (I should play that one soon...). It's not quite as bad as those games, but it's damn close. I felt obligated to play this, though. Troll and I has been the official meme of the #SwitchCorps Twitter community for years now; the joke is that we all own the game despite how awful it is, but none of us have ever actually played it. Well, I thought, "If it's that bad, I have to experience it for myself." I often make poor life choices.
The basic premise of the game is that Otto, this Scandinavian kid, has his village destroyed by a mercenary with a Russian name and a British accent when he accidentally uses too much explosive material to try to draw out a troll and capture it. Fleeing his burning village, Otto is assailed by weird goblin looking things crawling out from holes in the earth. Fortunately, a giant troll comes to save him! Otto then names the troll "Troll." Creative lad, isn't he? The duo then spend the next ten-ish hours (your mileage may vary depending on how many times the game crashes or bugs out) wandering through the wilderness and fighting goblins and mercenaries until they completely coincidentally stumble upon the folks from Otto's village. Well, there are theoretically folks plural; you only ever actually see Otto's mom. I guess that's technically a spoiler, but the story sucks, so I don't think anyone's going to be too miffed about that one. The voice acting is garbage, too, so not only do you sit through a crappy story, but it's a crappy story with crappy delivery.
Let's talk about the positives about the game - it's on the Switch. Now that that's done, let's look at the negatives aside from the established fact that the story sucks. It looks like garbage. I get that the Switch isn't the most powerful piece of hardware out there, but this looks like a Gamecube game. Even that would be forgivable if it ran well, but this game makes Bethesda games look polished and functional. You see, there appears to be this threshold about fifteen minutes into the game. Before that point, the entire game *literally* runs at between 7 and 15 frames per second. Seriously, even the title screen was doing 15 fps. It's so bad that the cutscenes would end up with the video a full ten seconds out of sync behind the audio. The game will also crash every other time you hit a loading screen. If you make it long enough to reach the threshold - you're trying to climb onto a small cliff after sliding down a muddy hill - the game will crash. Consistently. Every time. It's evidently a crippling memory leak issue that only occurs in that first section of the game. When you hit that threshold, you have to take your Switch out of the dock, hold the power button until the power options appear, and turn your Switch completely off. When you turn it back on, you can not only get past that point, but the frame rate has gone from wavering between 7 and 15 to wavering between 20 and 30. The fact that this is even a thing is inexcusable. I have no idea if this still happens on other platforms, but it's so consistent on Switch that a forum post about it was pretty much the first hit when I Googled "Troll and I game keeps crashing."
The fact that 95% of the game's frame rate is only a normal degree of sub-30 crap is the only reason that I said it's not quite as bad as Ride to Hell. It is still literally the third worst game I've ever played. It's worse than Chasing Dead on Wii U. It may be technically playable after that threshold, but it's still broken as hell. It still crashes randomly. It still has abrupt frame rate drops. It still looks terrible. The controls are still stiff and jank as hell. Worst of all, it still has more random bugs than a mattress in a crack house. Three or four different times, I'd get stuck, get frustrated, and look up WishingTikal's YouTube walkthrough only to find out that I was right about what I needed to do all along but something in the game either didn't load or wouldn't register the interaction forcing me to reload the previous auto-save. If this were a small team's first game, I could be a little more understanding, but the studio that developed this game has been around since 1998. Or so they claim; their website also claims that they made LittleBig Planet. I'm not sure if someone on their team worked on that game and they're just claiming that, but Media Molecule definitely developed LittleBigPlanet, not Spiral House.
Troll and I is one of the most miserable, unenjoyable, and skilllessly crafted games I've ever played, and as a lunatic who goes out of his way to play the worst games he can find, that says a lot. There's absolutely nothing redeeming here. The story is crap, the graphics make your five-year-old's crayon drawings look like Giotto, it performs worse than a preschool Christmas play, and the controls constantly feel sluggish and imprecise. I only paid $11 for this game a couple years ago, and I still feel like I overpaid by a solid ten bucks. If you want in on the meme, just buy a copy, but for the sake of your own mental health, don't play it.
* denotes a replay
January (12 Games Beaten)
February (5 Games Beaten)
March (3 Games Beaten)
April (7 Games Beaten)
May (9 Games Beaten)
June (2 Games Beaten)
38. Troll and I - Switch - June 2
My friends, especially on Racketboy, know that I have a tendency to play the worst games I can find alongside the normal stellar games that all gamers play. It's like a form of self-harm that won't get me institutionalized or leave visible scars (the psychological scars will never heal). It's also that I have a morbid curiosity about just how bad a game can be and still make it to store shelves. What we have here, ladies, gentlemen, and enbies, is the Switch equivalent of Ride to Hell: Retribution or Superman 64 (I should play that one soon...). It's not quite as bad as those games, but it's damn close. I felt obligated to play this, though. Troll and I has been the official meme of the #SwitchCorps Twitter community for years now; the joke is that we all own the game despite how awful it is, but none of us have ever actually played it. Well, I thought, "If it's that bad, I have to experience it for myself." I often make poor life choices.
The basic premise of the game is that Otto, this Scandinavian kid, has his village destroyed by a mercenary with a Russian name and a British accent when he accidentally uses too much explosive material to try to draw out a troll and capture it. Fleeing his burning village, Otto is assailed by weird goblin looking things crawling out from holes in the earth. Fortunately, a giant troll comes to save him! Otto then names the troll "Troll." Creative lad, isn't he? The duo then spend the next ten-ish hours (your mileage may vary depending on how many times the game crashes or bugs out) wandering through the wilderness and fighting goblins and mercenaries until they completely coincidentally stumble upon the folks from Otto's village. Well, there are theoretically folks plural; you only ever actually see Otto's mom. I guess that's technically a spoiler, but the story sucks, so I don't think anyone's going to be too miffed about that one. The voice acting is garbage, too, so not only do you sit through a crappy story, but it's a crappy story with crappy delivery.
Let's talk about the positives about the game - it's on the Switch. Now that that's done, let's look at the negatives aside from the established fact that the story sucks. It looks like garbage. I get that the Switch isn't the most powerful piece of hardware out there, but this looks like a Gamecube game. Even that would be forgivable if it ran well, but this game makes Bethesda games look polished and functional. You see, there appears to be this threshold about fifteen minutes into the game. Before that point, the entire game *literally* runs at between 7 and 15 frames per second. Seriously, even the title screen was doing 15 fps. It's so bad that the cutscenes would end up with the video a full ten seconds out of sync behind the audio. The game will also crash every other time you hit a loading screen. If you make it long enough to reach the threshold - you're trying to climb onto a small cliff after sliding down a muddy hill - the game will crash. Consistently. Every time. It's evidently a crippling memory leak issue that only occurs in that first section of the game. When you hit that threshold, you have to take your Switch out of the dock, hold the power button until the power options appear, and turn your Switch completely off. When you turn it back on, you can not only get past that point, but the frame rate has gone from wavering between 7 and 15 to wavering between 20 and 30. The fact that this is even a thing is inexcusable. I have no idea if this still happens on other platforms, but it's so consistent on Switch that a forum post about it was pretty much the first hit when I Googled "Troll and I game keeps crashing."
The fact that 95% of the game's frame rate is only a normal degree of sub-30 crap is the only reason that I said it's not quite as bad as Ride to Hell. It is still literally the third worst game I've ever played. It's worse than Chasing Dead on Wii U. It may be technically playable after that threshold, but it's still broken as hell. It still crashes randomly. It still has abrupt frame rate drops. It still looks terrible. The controls are still stiff and jank as hell. Worst of all, it still has more random bugs than a mattress in a crack house. Three or four different times, I'd get stuck, get frustrated, and look up WishingTikal's YouTube walkthrough only to find out that I was right about what I needed to do all along but something in the game either didn't load or wouldn't register the interaction forcing me to reload the previous auto-save. If this were a small team's first game, I could be a little more understanding, but the studio that developed this game has been around since 1998. Or so they claim; their website also claims that they made LittleBig Planet. I'm not sure if someone on their team worked on that game and they're just claiming that, but Media Molecule definitely developed LittleBigPlanet, not Spiral House.
Troll and I is one of the most miserable, unenjoyable, and skilllessly crafted games I've ever played, and as a lunatic who goes out of his way to play the worst games he can find, that says a lot. There's absolutely nothing redeeming here. The story is crap, the graphics make your five-year-old's crayon drawings look like Giotto, it performs worse than a preschool Christmas play, and the controls constantly feel sluggish and imprecise. I only paid $11 for this game a couple years ago, and I still feel like I overpaid by a solid ten bucks. If you want in on the meme, just buy a copy, but for the sake of your own mental health, don't play it.
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BoneSnapDeez
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 20126
- Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 1:08 pm
- Location: Maine
Re: Games Beaten 2021
That game looks shitty in a way that actually makes me angry.
Even the title is awful. When the game launched some GameStop dude warned me not to play it and I kept thinking he was saying one word ("trollani").
Even the title is awful. When the game launched some GameStop dude warned me not to play it and I kept thinking he was saying one word ("trollani").
Re: Games Beaten 2021
BoneSnapDeez wrote:That game looks shitty in a way that actually makes me angry.
Even the title is awful. When the game launched some GameStop dude warned me not to play it and I kept thinking he was saying one word ("trollani").
What confuses me is it has mediocre reviews on otherwise reputable sites, and not the horrid reviews I would expect based on Elk's review.
Re: Games Beaten 2021
Previous Years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
1. EYE: Divine Cybermancy - PC
2. Legend of Grimrock - PC
3. Legend of Grimrock 2 - PC
4. Shovel Knight - Wii U
5. Yakuza: Like a Dragon - PS4
6. Yoshi's Island - SNES
7. Vectorman 2 - Genesis
8. Super Mario Sunshine - GC
9. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest - GC
10. Bomberman '93 - TG-16
11. Cannon Fodder - PC
12. Panzer Dragoon II Zwei - Saturn
13. Dragonborne - Game Boy
14. Rock n' Roll Racing - PC
15. The Lost Vikings - PC
16. Blackthorne - PC
17. Contra III: The Alien Wars - SNES
18. Bravely Default II - Switch
19. Axelay - SNES
20. Ryse: Son of Rome - XBOne
21. Killer Instinct (2013) - XBOne
22. Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition - PC
23. Thief: The Dark Project - PC
24. Killer Instinct - XBOne
25. Killer instinct 2 - XBOne
26. Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth - PC
27. Thief 2: The Metal Age - PC
28. Wing Commander II - PC
29. Wing Commander III - PC
30. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV - Switch
31. Shadow Man Remastered - PC
32. Wing Commander: Privateer - PC
33. Salt and Sanctuary - Switch
34. The Elder Scrolls: Arena - PC
35. The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall - PC
36. Resident Evil Village - PC
37. SaGa Frontier Remastered - Switch
38. Metaloid: Origin - Switch
39. SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions - Switch
40. Metro Exodus: The Two Colonels - PC
41. Metro Exodus: Sam's Story - PC
42. Panzer Paladin - Switch
43. Returnal - PS5
Returnal is a third person shooter roguelike where the protagonist Selene is trapped in an endless cycle of death and rebirth and must find a way to end it. It's definitely more on the "you get nothing" end of things with regards to the roguelike elements, but slowly you will piece together some advantages and follow the plot breadcrumbs. The emphasis is on movement and dodging, rather than pinpoint accuracy.
The premise is that Selene is a scout pilot who has picked up on a mysterious signal that has some personal connection for her; as she comes in for a landing her ship unexpectedly crashes. As she goes forth and explores she finds the body of another scout; her. And when she inevitably dies she wakes up outside her ship again and begins to realize she is trapped in a roguelike. The only thing that keeps her going is the knowledge that reaching the source of the signal will give her the answers she seeks.
The game has some psychological horror elements to it; for an unexplained reason a house she is familiar with is on this alien planet, and stepping inside puts you into a bit of a first person walking simulator segment where you get some tasty bits of backstory. The game never gives you any sort of omniscient narration or "as you know" exposition, so you only get Selene's reactions without all the context she has inside her own mind. There are also various messages left by an alien species of the planet that indicate something sinister is going on. You slowly piece these together over the course of the game, though the game remains ambiguous to the details to the very end.
Gameplay-wise it is a fairly high mobility third person shooter as the core. It actually has a similar feel to ReCore; you have impressive jump and dash powers that you should use liberally to outmaneuver enemies. Whenever you die you start from square one in terms of gear, though you do keep key plot items and your mobility upgrades (e.g. a grappling hook you gain later in the game). The game is structured such that upon starting a new run you can take a shortcut to a later area if you've been to said area before; getting to said area requires you to have one of the key items or mobility items that carry forward from playthrough to playthrough.
The moment to moment combat involves enemies with either slow firing or highly telegraphed attacks, so you need to be on the ball with dodging and utilizing i-frames. The game has a generous auto-aim, and only a bare handful of enemies have areas that need to be specifically targeted, instead of just "anywhere". The game has a variety of weapons that you will unlock as your progress through the game, and these weapons have a system of random passives on them. Initially, a passive is locked; you need a certain number of kills to unlock it and have it become active. Later on you can get a locked version of a higher tier of that passive; again, you need to unlock it. Once unlocked passives stay unlocked on your file. And as you progress in a run you start to get guns that can drop with up to four passives on them. This is where a lot of your power comes through. All weapons also have a random secondary attack drawn from a pool for that weapon; these have the same rules about being locked for higher tiers (tier one is unlocked), and they have long cooldowns to go with their larger effects. Finding weapons you are comfortable with are essential, as they all handle very differently.
Some of the other elements are a variety of upgrades you can get for the duration of a run; some are straight buffs, some are risk reward tradeoffs where you get a boost but have a deficit. Some items are tainted and must either be cleansed with a multi-purpose currency or gambled on; collecting a tainted item might cause you to gain a malfunction (debuff). Malfunctions can be cleared by doing a short quest, like "get N melee kills". So there's a variety of risk/reward calculations you need to do.
Like all roguelikes sometimes you just get an awful start to a run and die early, but the game also lets you get rolling if you play smart and make good choices. There are a few enemy types that feel overly mean, but this is contrasted with some incredibly busted weapons you can start getting in the late game which can just utterly melt things. Overall the runs are short enough to keep you going "just one more" and you have enough agency to be able to generally make something decent out of most runs. And the story kept me hooked throughout. I find that roguelikes are very hit and miss for me; this one is very much in the hit category.
1. EYE: Divine Cybermancy - PC
2. Legend of Grimrock - PC
3. Legend of Grimrock 2 - PC
4. Shovel Knight - Wii U
5. Yakuza: Like a Dragon - PS4
6. Yoshi's Island - SNES
7. Vectorman 2 - Genesis
8. Super Mario Sunshine - GC
9. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest - GC
10. Bomberman '93 - TG-16
11. Cannon Fodder - PC
12. Panzer Dragoon II Zwei - Saturn
13. Dragonborne - Game Boy
14. Rock n' Roll Racing - PC
15. The Lost Vikings - PC
16. Blackthorne - PC
17. Contra III: The Alien Wars - SNES
18. Bravely Default II - Switch
19. Axelay - SNES
20. Ryse: Son of Rome - XBOne
21. Killer Instinct (2013) - XBOne
22. Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition - PC
23. Thief: The Dark Project - PC
24. Killer Instinct - XBOne
25. Killer instinct 2 - XBOne
26. Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth - PC
27. Thief 2: The Metal Age - PC
28. Wing Commander II - PC
29. Wing Commander III - PC
30. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV - Switch
31. Shadow Man Remastered - PC
32. Wing Commander: Privateer - PC
33. Salt and Sanctuary - Switch
34. The Elder Scrolls: Arena - PC
35. The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall - PC
36. Resident Evil Village - PC
37. SaGa Frontier Remastered - Switch
38. Metaloid: Origin - Switch
39. SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions - Switch
40. Metro Exodus: The Two Colonels - PC
41. Metro Exodus: Sam's Story - PC
42. Panzer Paladin - Switch
43. Returnal - PS5
Returnal is a third person shooter roguelike where the protagonist Selene is trapped in an endless cycle of death and rebirth and must find a way to end it. It's definitely more on the "you get nothing" end of things with regards to the roguelike elements, but slowly you will piece together some advantages and follow the plot breadcrumbs. The emphasis is on movement and dodging, rather than pinpoint accuracy.
The premise is that Selene is a scout pilot who has picked up on a mysterious signal that has some personal connection for her; as she comes in for a landing her ship unexpectedly crashes. As she goes forth and explores she finds the body of another scout; her. And when she inevitably dies she wakes up outside her ship again and begins to realize she is trapped in a roguelike. The only thing that keeps her going is the knowledge that reaching the source of the signal will give her the answers she seeks.
The game has some psychological horror elements to it; for an unexplained reason a house she is familiar with is on this alien planet, and stepping inside puts you into a bit of a first person walking simulator segment where you get some tasty bits of backstory. The game never gives you any sort of omniscient narration or "as you know" exposition, so you only get Selene's reactions without all the context she has inside her own mind. There are also various messages left by an alien species of the planet that indicate something sinister is going on. You slowly piece these together over the course of the game, though the game remains ambiguous to the details to the very end.
Gameplay-wise it is a fairly high mobility third person shooter as the core. It actually has a similar feel to ReCore; you have impressive jump and dash powers that you should use liberally to outmaneuver enemies. Whenever you die you start from square one in terms of gear, though you do keep key plot items and your mobility upgrades (e.g. a grappling hook you gain later in the game). The game is structured such that upon starting a new run you can take a shortcut to a later area if you've been to said area before; getting to said area requires you to have one of the key items or mobility items that carry forward from playthrough to playthrough.
The moment to moment combat involves enemies with either slow firing or highly telegraphed attacks, so you need to be on the ball with dodging and utilizing i-frames. The game has a generous auto-aim, and only a bare handful of enemies have areas that need to be specifically targeted, instead of just "anywhere". The game has a variety of weapons that you will unlock as your progress through the game, and these weapons have a system of random passives on them. Initially, a passive is locked; you need a certain number of kills to unlock it and have it become active. Later on you can get a locked version of a higher tier of that passive; again, you need to unlock it. Once unlocked passives stay unlocked on your file. And as you progress in a run you start to get guns that can drop with up to four passives on them. This is where a lot of your power comes through. All weapons also have a random secondary attack drawn from a pool for that weapon; these have the same rules about being locked for higher tiers (tier one is unlocked), and they have long cooldowns to go with their larger effects. Finding weapons you are comfortable with are essential, as they all handle very differently.
Some of the other elements are a variety of upgrades you can get for the duration of a run; some are straight buffs, some are risk reward tradeoffs where you get a boost but have a deficit. Some items are tainted and must either be cleansed with a multi-purpose currency or gambled on; collecting a tainted item might cause you to gain a malfunction (debuff). Malfunctions can be cleared by doing a short quest, like "get N melee kills". So there's a variety of risk/reward calculations you need to do.
Like all roguelikes sometimes you just get an awful start to a run and die early, but the game also lets you get rolling if you play smart and make good choices. There are a few enemy types that feel overly mean, but this is contrasted with some incredibly busted weapons you can start getting in the late game which can just utterly melt things. Overall the runs are short enough to keep you going "just one more" and you have enough agency to be able to generally make something decent out of most runs. And the story kept me hooked throughout. I find that roguelikes are very hit and miss for me; this one is very much in the hit category.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
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ElkinFencer10
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 8743
- Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:34 pm
- Location: Jonesville, North Carolina
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2021
marurun wrote:BoneSnapDeez wrote:That game looks shitty in a way that actually makes me angry.
Even the title is awful. When the game launched some GameStop dude warned me not to play it and I kept thinking he was saying one word ("trollani").
What confuses me is it has mediocre reviews on otherwise reputable sites, and not the horrid reviews I would expect based on Elk's review.
I imagine that it performs much better on other platforms. Also some probably forgive it for the first fifteen minutes more than I did. It is totally playable after that point albeit still super buggy.
Patron Saint of Bitch Mode
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prfsnl_gmr
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 12301
- Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:26 pm
- Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Re: Games Beaten 2021
BoneSnapDeez wrote:That game looks shitty in a way that actually makes me angry.
You definitely have a way with words, Bone! Also, you guys are killing it with the reviews. Maru’s DQIII review reminded me how much I love the GBC version of that game; Pidge just capped off an amazing Mega Man retrospective with a great review of Powered Up, one of my favorite Mega Man games; Raging Justice made an exceptionally solid debut with a review of a game that is now much higher on my Switch want list; and Popo beats games faster than I can read about them. Seriously, this thread is rocking it this year, and I am certain AJ still has something like 10+ reviews backlogged.
Finally, my man Elkin sacrificing for the team so we don’t have to play games like Troll & I and Hentai vs. Evil. (Although, if I do decide to play Hentai vs. Evil, I now know I should play the uncensored Switch version...preferably in a public location.)
.....
1. Horace (Switch)
2. Ghostrunner (Switch)
3. Mickey’s Adventure in Numberland (NES)
4. Mickey’s Safari in Letterland (NES)
5. Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse (Genesis)
6. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Picross (3DS)
7. World of Illusion starring Mickey & Donald (Genesis)
8. Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse (Game Gear)
9. Land of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse (Game Gear)
10. Legend of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse (Game Gear)
11. Portal 2 [co-op] (PS3)
12. Operencia: The Stolen Sun (Switch)
13. The Knight of Queen (Switch)
14. Q.U.B.E. - Director’s Cut (PS3)
15. What the Golf?! (Switch)
16. Prune (iOS)
17. Kenshō (iOS)
18. For the Frog the Bell Tolls (GameBoy)
19. Holedown (iOS)
20. King’s Field (PS1)
21. My Friend Pedro (Switch)
22. MO: Astray (Switch)
23. EQI (Switch)
24. Foxyland (Switch)
25. Carrion (Switch)
26. QUBE 2 (Switch)
27. Aaero (Switch)
28. Portal 2 (PS3)
29. Alwa’s Awakening (Switch)
Alwa’s Awakening is a remarkably solid pseudo 8-bit indie metroidvania. In it, you play as Zoe, a magical girl with a cloak and remarkable jumping abilities, who is summoned to the land of Alwa to defeat a great evil. You quickly acquire a staff that you will use to beat enemies to death for the rest of the game. Shortly thereafter, you acquire three different abilities - the ability to create a block, the ability to creat a bubble (i.e., a floating platform), and the ability to shoot a magic missile. True to the genre, creative use of these abilities allows you to visit new areas and uncover even more abilities.
The game scrolls one screen at a time, like a MSX game, and the world map is fairly small. Nonetheless, the game is impeccably designed and crammed with secrets. There are 99 small orbs that, when collected, increase the amount of damage you do to bosses; optional upgrades; four pieces of a hidden tablet that reveal a secret ending; a hidden level; two Easter eggs; and three clues to a secret password that can be used to access additional content on the developer’s website. The game is also full of false walls, false floors, and other shortcuts that reward exploration.
The game focuses much more on puzzling and platforming than it does on combat, and while the game starts out relatively easy, the challenge escalates quickly. The final section, full of instant-death pits, spikes, and traps is incredibly challenging, and the game <refreshingly!> actually punishes failure by sending you back to the last save point each time you die. (Some reviewers complained about this, but I thought it was a fine mechanic, requiring me to learn how to play the game. Moreover, save points are frequent enough, and the game provides just enough frustration to make victory rewarding.) Despite the focus on exploration, puzzles, and platforming, a few of the boss battles are also quite challenging, but despite the difficulty I never once thought the game was unfair or that the challenge was overwhelming. Rather, every challenge could be overcome with a little patience, planning, and practice.
Overall, I really enjoyed Alwa’s Awakening, and I heartily recommend it to anyone seeking a good metroidvania. I have read that the sequel, alluded to in the game’s abrupt, somewhat shocking ending, is even better, and I anticipate jumping into that game immediately.