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1. Sly 2 Band of Thieves HD (PS3)
2. Black (Xbox)
3. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox)
4. Super Mario Bros Advance 4: SMB3 E-Reader Levels (WiiUVC)
5. Galerians (PSX)
6. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (WiiU)
7. TRAG / Hard Edge: Mission of Mercy (PSX)
8. Soul Blade (PSX)
9. Castlevania Circle of the Moon* (WiiUVC)
10. The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess* HD (WiiU)
11. Mega Man 9* (PSN)
12. Mega Man 10* (PSN)
13. Dark Souls 3 (NG++) [PLATINUM] (PS4)
14. Mega Man 1* (PS4, MMLC)
15. Mega Man 2* (PS4, MMLC)
16. Mega Man 3* (PS4, MMLC)
17. Mega Man 4* (PS4, MMLC)
18. Mega Man 5* (PS4, MMLC)
19. Mega Man 6* (PS4, MMLC)
20. Doom [PLATINUM] (PS4)
21. Quake (PC)
22. Quake 2* (PC)
23. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (PS3)
24. Quake Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon (PC)
25. Quake 2 Mission Pack 1: The Reckoning (PC)
26. Quake Mission Pack 2: Dissolution of Eternity (PC)
27. Quake 2 Mission Pack 2: Ground Zero (PC)
28. Quake: Dimensions of the Past (PC)
29. Bayonetta 2 (WiiU)
30. Wolfenstein The Old Blood (PC)
31. Dishonored DLC The Knife of Dunwall (PC)
32. Dishonored DLC The Brigmore Witches (PC)
33. Metro Last Light Redux (PC)
34. Doom 3 BFG Edition* (PC)
35. Metro 2033 Redux (PC)
36. Doom 3 Resurrection of Evil* BFG (PC)
37. Doom 3 The Lost Mission* BFG (PC)
38. Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge (PS3)

* replay

I'm tired so I don't think I'll say much this time. Let me know if you want more details on these.

After at least ~3 tries, Metro 2033 Redux finally clicked after enjoying Last Light. The Redux version is pretty awesome and playing both Redux versions just feels like one huge game with a lot of the menus and mechanics being the same. I liked how 2033 focused a bit more on surface levels, the monsters, and that general weirdness, whereas Last Light delved a bit more into the political warfare with the factions. Both had incredible endings. Very solid campaigns once you put that STALKER fanboyism aside, and enjoy them for what they are.

Doom 3 is comfort food and still a blast to me. The expansion are more Doom 3. RoE has come cool new environments to spice it up and a few new enemies. Sadly the Super Shotgun here kind of sucks in my opinion. The Lost Mission almost looks current gen with how ridiculously detailed the levels are. It's really well designed and has one of the best Hell levels to me. If you like Doom 3 and want more, these are awesome.

Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge, I literally just beat this in a day! A good recipe for hand arthritis. It was a blast and I might like it a little more than Sigma 2. You can tell this one is lacking Itagaki, but it was still awesome and once I adapted to some of the gameplay changes I was really digging it. The in game timer was ~5:48 for me, but I don't think it counts cutscenes/menu time, so it's probably around ~7-8 hours for a casual run. I plan to check out some of the extra modes and stuff. Also I hated the female levels in Sigma 1 and Sigma 2, but here... Ayane is a freaking BEAST. She was amazingly fun and it looks like Momoji and Kasumi are playable for the extra modes too, I'll check them out. If you're a big fan of Ninja Gaiden Xbox or Japanese styled action games, check it out. The ~60% scores seem outrageous, especially for its ~$15 price range new thesedays, it's definitely a nice cheap pickup.

First 25

26. Virtua Fighter Remix (SATURN)
27. Manos The Hands of Fate (iOS)
28. Virtua Fighter 2 (PS3)
29. Fighting Vipers (PS3)
30. Ikari Warriors (PS3)
31. Virtua Cop (SATURN)
32. Virtua Cop 2 (SATURN)
33. Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Director's Cut (iOS)
34. Virtua Racing (PS2)
35. Daytona USA (DC)
36. Sega Rally Championship (SATURN)
37. RayForce (iOS)
38. Hundreds (iOS)
39. Don't Look Back (iOS)
40. Finding Teddy (iOS)
41. Shantae & The Pirate's Curse (WII U)
42. Dragon Warrior II (GBC)

Dragon Warrior II is a basic JRPG. It is only OK. It has its charms, but it is often boring and frustrating. I wrote more about it in the summer games challenge thread, and I do not recommend it to anyone who does not plan on beating every game in the Dragon Quest series.

Now that I have beaten it, however, I have completed all three of the original Dragon Quest games, and I have beaten half of the games in the Dragon Quest series. (I have beaten DQ, DQII, DQIII, DQIV, DQIX.) I completed all three games in the original trilogy - and the only games with a shared narrative - on the GBC, and I inadvertently completed them in order from a narrative perspective. (That is, I played as Loto in DQIII, as Loto's descendent in DQ, and as the descendents of Loto's descendent in DQII.)

I do really enjoy the series, and I am glad to have its worst entry behind me. If I am in the mood for it, I will probably play DQVII after it releases for the 3DS in September, and I will try to get through one or two entries a year until I have completed all of the Dragon Quest games. (I beat DQIV on the NES many, many years ago; so, I will probably play through its NDS remake as well.)

prfsnl_gmr wrote:(I have beaten DQ, DQII, DQIII, DQIV, DQIX)

You haven't played through DQVIII yet? Dude. DUDE. You should totally do it. PS2 version. It's legit awesome.

Exhuminator wrote:

prfsnl_gmr wrote:(I have beaten DQ, DQII, DQIII, DQIV, DQIX)

You haven't played through DQVIII yet? Dude. DUDE. You should totally do it. PS2 version. It's legit awesome.

Indeed. Play VIII while you wait for VII.

I shall third the excellence of Dragon Quest VIII. Good stuff.

I still think DWII is better than the original game, but that's probably just me. I might also be more partial to it since it was my white whale for the longest time growing up.

MrPopo wrote:

Exhuminator wrote:

prfsnl_gmr wrote:(I have beaten DQ, DQII, DQIII, DQIV, DQIX)

You haven't played through DQVIII yet? Dude. DUDE. You should totally do it. PS2 version. It's legit awesome.

Indeed. Play VIII while you wait for VII.

I know...I know...I am saving it for last!

Also...Isn't the game getting a 3DS port? I prefer my Dragon Quest portable.

prfsnl_gmr wrote:

MrPopo wrote:Indeed. Play VIII while you wait for VII.

I know...I know...I am saving it for last!

Also...Isn't the game getting a 3DS port? I prefer my Dragon Quest portable.

The ports of 7 and 8 for 3DS are coming to the US eventually, so says almighty SquEnix. They've been out in Japan for a while, actually. I want them to come out here already!!!

prfsnl_gmr wrote:Also...Isn't the game getting a 3DS port? I prefer my Dragon Quest portable.

Yes it's getting a 3DS port. Last I checked it was coming to USA. The only thing is the 3DS version isn't quite as nice looking as the PS2 version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqAuS38Rlj8

But if the portability matters more, then it should do fine.

1. Metal Slug (MVS)(Run and Gun)
2. Puzzle Link (NGPC)(Puzzle)
3. Illusion of Gaia (SNES)(RPG)
4. Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War (PC)(Strategy)
5. Shadowrun: Dragonfall (PC)(RPG)
6. Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (PC)(RPG)
7. Drakkhen (SNES)(RPG)
8. Flight of the Amazon Queen (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
9. Shadowgrounds: Survivor (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
10. Lufia & The Fortress of Doom (SNES)(RPG)
11. BioShock (PC)(FPS)
12. Jeopardy! Sports Edition (SNES)(Game Show Sim)
13. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (PC)(FPS)
14. Thief Gold (PC)(Stealth)
15. Call of Duty 2 (PC)(FPS)
16. Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra (PC)(RPG)
17. Alone in the Dark (PC)(Survival Horror)
18. Silent Hill (PS1)(Survival Horror)
19. Sanitarium (PC)(Point-and-Click Adventure/Horror)
20. Gauntlet: Slayer Edition(PC)(Hack and Slash)

I beat two games over the weekend. Sanitarium was done for the Summer Challenge, while I picked up Gauntlet to play with friends, and I've been sticking with it. Gauntlet has a bunch of achievements that I have yet to earn, mainly for killing large numbers of specific types of monsters, but as this is something I'll probably be playing over time with friends, I'll get there eventually.

I'll cut this into two distinct parts to separate them.

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Sanitarium

Some folks consider Sanitarium to be one of the finest point-and-click adventures ever made. Unfortunately, it was doomed to obscurity because it happened to come out the same year as Grim Fandango, which is usually considered the absolute finest point-and-click adventure ever made. In every award category for Adventure games that Grim Fandango won upon release, Sanitarium was the second-place finisher. It even managed to beat the GF power house for one Best Of title. Yet its second-string status forced it to wallow in relative obscurity to the non-hardcore point-and-click fans.

Don't be a part of this problem. Play Sanitarium today. It's weird, it's creepy, and it's campy at times. And then it hits moments of utter and absolute brilliance, and you'll realize why it receives praise.

Gameplay is simple. You walk by using the right mouse button, and you interact by using the left. If you need an item, you left-click on yourself to bring up your inventory and select the item. If you want to put it back, you left-click on your character again. That's it for controls. There is some cause for criticism in that the protagonist Max doesn't move with a lot of hustle, but if you can look past that and the occasional poor optimization for modern machines(occasionally the game will chug when lots of visual and auditory effects sound at the same time), the rest is a heavy focus on puzzles and plot with the occasional odd bit of combat. I mean that, combat occurs maybe twice in the whole game, and it mostly consists of tapping the enemy at the right time. If you die, you also respawn with no progress lost, so don't think of it as a major hinderance.

The real meat here is story, setting, and puzzles. Sanitarium starts with a car accident, which results in Max suffering from amnesia, and he is now trapped within a bizarre world of asylums, fairgrounds, insect hives, and other unusual locales. As the story progresses, Max comes to the understanding of what is going on around him, how he is now trapped within a prison of his own mind, forced to travel through strange worlds which are created based on his memories and fantasies. Ultimately, he must face the great events and tragedies of his life which have driven him to this point and repair his psyche so he can break free and return to reality.

For me, the highlight of the game comes at the midpoint as Max confronts one of the most traumatic events of his childhood, the death of his sister. His grief has proven to be the driving force of his life, and the level design when facing that involves him searching a hallucinatory recreation of his childhood home, populated by the ghosts of his grieving family members who struggle to handle their loss by seeking some form of normalcy. The walls warp and bleed, the world is misshapen, and everything is brown with decay. Yet he has to confront it to face what lies beyond, and the end result is the adult Max of his mind hugging his little sister one more time while she tells him that he is her hero. It's a little cheesy, but it's also touching in a way I was not expecting, and it's surprising how moving it becomes. The next thing you know Max "wakes" and finds himself in a freezing morgue where a frozen dead woman gives him clues to continue. Did I mention this is a horror game?

Puzzles range in difficulty, with some being pretty quick studies while others feel almost impossible. One in particular involving a rock and clamps I got through on sheer luck, though many others were just a matter of time and making sure I understood what all I could interact with. Thankfully the cursor magnifying glass will start to dance when you can examine or manipulate. Items that can be used on a particular object will also flash when hovering over them, helping to remove some of the guess work required in the game. That's not to say you still won't have some issues, but every little bit helps.

Oh, and if you're scared of clowns...yeah, there are clowns in this game. There are also ghosts, scarecrows, deformed children, mutant bugs, and tons of other sick things. Persevere, and the final level involves a rehashing of previous levels leading up to a timed puzzle "boss fight" that I found a bit frustrating since it involved moving over a tiled floor in a specific pattern, and you can't always tell where you can move. Fear not though, it's still highly beatable.

Do you like point-and-clicks? Did you play and enjoy Grim Fandango? Then go play the other swansong of the waning days of the genre. It's worth it.

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Gauntlet: Slayer Edition

I have no idea what the differences are between the 2014 release of Gauntlet and the "Slayer Edition" released on PS4 and Steam. From my experience though, Gauntlet is a hack-and-slash festival of top-down violence this offers both a lot of repetition and some fresh and interesting combinations. I've been playing the hell out of it when not racking my brain over Sanitarium's puzzles. The game features three different modes: Campaign(your story-driven adventure), Endless(in which you move through randomized levels over and over again), and Colosseum, a daily grinder where you take on several waves of opponents. I'll go into further detail on each portion in a second, but at the start of each level you are offered the crucial choice of selecting your character. Here's where things get interesting.

There are four base characters in Gauntlet, along with a fifth DLC character if you so desire. I'm delighted to say that all five of them offer very different playstyles, so you can pick and choose based on your preferences. The Warrior(my character of choice) is heavily focused on offense and is most definitely built for hack and slash, with a ton of health and moves meant to bowl over opponents. The Valkyrie is much more defensive and is the only character capable of blocking, but she's horrendous on mobility. The Elf is highly mobile and plays the game as a twin-stick shooter, while the Wizard must build spells a la the game Magicka, using different strings of elements to give him an incredible array of special moves, some of which are excessively situational. The Necromancer, the DLC character, steals enemies' souls and can then use them to summon minions on the field, thus giving her an army to fight with.

Each character has a set of unlockable weapons which will change their attacks and specials, a variety of equipable relics for further special moves that can be upgraded for more power, and then talismans which will drastically modify how they use potions in the game. Thus two people with the same character may use entirely different builds. There are also several unlockable cosmetic changes that can be bought with acquired gold or, in the case of capes, unlocked in the daily Colosseum grinds. Gold for upgrades can be acquired via playing levels, beating the Colosseum, or succeeding in challenges with characters. Each character has their own set of gold and their own challenges(called Masteries), with the exception of beating Campaign areas on certain difficulties. While I've put the vast majority of my time into the Warrior, I've also used the Elf a fair bit and am coming to terms with how the Valkyrie plays. The Necromancer I have only gotten to mess with a little, and I generally don't like the Wizard's style, but others might. It's a strength that all of these folks feel so different.

The Campaign is the primary focus of the game when you first start playing, and it's setup in three tiers with boss fights separating each from the next. The first area focuses on crypts full of mummies and skeletons, while the second pits the player against cave dwellers, orcs, and giant spiders, and the third area offers up cultists and demons. Each area also offers three different types of levels: straightforward romps through sets of monsters and monster spawn points, arena-style affairs with preset waves of enemies, and special "Death" levels which change depending on the area. In the initial crypts, the "Death" levels actually do result in the Grim Reaper spawning and following you. If he touches you, you die, even if you use certain special abilities to make yourself invincible. In the caves the "Death" levels are encased in darkness, while the lava levels have rocks fall from the sky to explode around you.

The Campaign is also the only area to use different difficulty tiers, offering the traditional Easy, Normal, and Hard. Levels can be beaten with any character to advance, and advancing on a higher difficulty translates to advancing on lower ones, so if you beat a level in Normal, you can pass that level on Easy but not on Hard. It's worth noting that Hard mode offers the best rewards, and it's also the default norm for the Colosseum and, from what I can tell, Endless mode, so you should strive to play through on Hard to be able to better handle the game.

The Colosseum is pretty much always a side job. It changes on a daily basis, but each Colosseum offers six waves of enemies that the player must play through and beat to nab 10k gold and unlock a cape. The available capes are always whatever comes next in line, and there are 18 of them for each character, so if you miss one it'll be 18 days before you get the chance to go for it again. As for the Colosseum's contents, it's a bit randomized on each day. I've seen the same arena appear but with different enemy arrangements. I've also seen a variety of possible settings and arrangements, some involving traps, some involving minibosses, some involving locked rooms, etc. The nice thing is that it will tell you what capes you have unlocked that day with what characters, so if you don't want to do it again, you don't have to.

Once you've played through the Campaign on Hard and have unlocked some capes and gear, Endless is the place to go. The way Endless works is you play through six levels of each theme over and over again, with the final level of each set always being a Death level...in which Death appears. They bring back the darkness and such for later sets of six levels, but in a change from the Campaign, Death will always spawn on the sixth level to chase you regardless of theme. Every 18 levels, you'll come across a checkpoint which will allow you to teleport to that level the next time you start. I've currently made it to the checkpoint at level 37(getting to level 50 offers a gold reward), and I've noticed enemies get slightly faster with each run through of 18 levels, though apparently this stops happening once you reach level 55+ or so. As for whether this is truly endless...well, yeah, apparently it is. The highest I've heard is some guy on YouTube getting up to the 2000s and still going, which is freaking ridiculous.

Unfortunately despite all the variety, you do end up feeling like you're running through the same thing over and over again, so fatigue can set in pretty easily. I'm used to a lot of repetition in this genre(hey, I love Dynasty Warriors), but once I reach level 50 in Endless, I'm not sure how much more I'll want to focus on the game outside of hitting up a few levels with friends. I've unlocked a good chunk of the Masteries with the Warrior, and many of what I have left involve killing a ridiculous number of enemies(think 12000), so that will take a while.

Ack wrote:Then go play the other swansong of the waning days of the genre.

I take it you weren't a fan of CiNG's glorious works.