Games Beaten 2022

Post by **ElkinFencer10** » Tue Dec 13, 2022 4:12 pm

Games Beaten in 2021 - 73
* denotes a replay

January (20 Games Beaten)

February (1 Games Beaten)

March (0 Games Beaten)

April (3 Games Beaten)

May (3 Games Beaten)

June (11 Games Beaten)

July (14 Games Beaten)

August (2 Games Beaten)

September (3 Games Beaten)

October (9 Games Beaten)

November (5 Games Beaten)

December (1 Games Beaten)

72. Pokemon Violet - Switch - November 24
73. Pokemon Scarlet - Switch - December 5

Pokemon has had a bit of a troubled go lately as far as game quality has been concerned. Sun and Moon, which I felt were objectively the best of the series, failed to really “do it” for a lot of long-time fans, myself included. Let’s Go was an absolute treat as a laid back Pokemon adventure, but most fans hated how easy it was. Sword and Shield was absolutely perfect for online players, but it was a dumpster fire for single-player content. Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were great remakes, but they were technical disasters at launch without a HUGE patch and made the controversial decision to go back to a 2.5D perspective. Legends Arceus was an absolute masterpiece, and there will be no mercy for its detractors when the revolution comes (although the lack of breeding and online battle was a point of contention for some). Then comes Scarlet and Violet. Will these games redeem Game Freak as a developer and finally satisfy Pokemon’s notoriously bitchy adult fanbase? Lmao of course not, but I think they’re great.

So let’s address the elephant in the room first - the game is, to put it nicely, a technical clusterfuck. While the character and Pokemon models look great, the environments look terrible, the textures are genuinely god-awful, and the frame rate makes Doom on SNES look smooth and stable. To be fair, a patch that came out a couple of weeks after launch dramatically improved the frame rate, but it’s still pretty bad. I’d say it’s overall on par with being in the middle of Sword’s and Shield’s Wild Area with wifi on. Except it’s the entire game, and that’s your best-case scenario. There is one particular part of the game - a windmill - that, when viewed from a distance, literally moves at two frames per second. Most of the game targets 30 FPS. It rarely hits that. Get about three feet away from an NPC, and that frame rate is halved. Get about three or four feet farther away, and it’s halved again. It’s so bad that you’ve got NPCs running at like 15 FPS in cutscenes. I’d understand it if this were a visual showcase game like Breath of the Wild, Bayonetta 3, or Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but it looks nowhere near as good as any of those games, and it runs significantly worse.

Now that I’ve addressed the unforgivable technical disaster that fanboys will never stop talking about, let me tell you why this might be the best game in the whole series. First off, your rival. Nemona is bae. She’s a perfect yandere goddess, and I love her. She manages to do what Hop, Wally, and Hau all tried and miserably failed to do - be a friendly rival that deserves to live. Every friendly rival before has been a terrible character flatter with less development than Port-au-Prince. Nemona is different. She seems flat at first, but as you progress through the game and get towards the end of her quest line (yes, there’s more than just “be the champion”), they actually flesh her out a decent bit and make her a relatable and sympathetic character. Then you’ve got the professor. Cryptic, interesting, and kind of a dick, the professor (there’s a different professor depending on your version) is hands down the most interesting to date. No matter whether you pick Professor Daddy or Professor MILF, this one has some genuine major plot significance. And let’s not forget the story in general - it’s the best Pokemon has ever had. Legends Arceus had a pretty interesting premise, but Scarlet and Violet manage to take a mundane and troped-to-death premise and turn it into a FANTASTIC adventure and story.

You’ve got three main quest lines to finish before you unlock the final end-game quest. There’s the obvious quest to beat all eight gyms and then take on the Elite Four and Top Champion to become a Champion-rank trainer. You’ve also got the Starfall quest line where you go around and attack five different Team Star bases, and despite how it sounds, this isn’t just a rehash of gyms. Lastly, you’ve got the Titan quest where you take on five massively powerful Titan Pokemon to steal their weed. I mean Herba Mystica. If you can count, you’ve probably figured that there are eighteen main objectives (plus the Pokmeon League). If you’ve played Pokemon, then you probably also know that there are eighteen Pokemon types. Each objective has a type represented, so no longer is it pick-and-choose which types get represented in the gyms; every type gets some love here (and four types give double love thanks to the Elite Four). When you do all of that, then and only then can you enter Area Zero, the mysterious forbidden zone in the very center of Paldea. Here you’ll find powerful and rare Pokemon as well as the game’s final quest. Beating the Elite Four doesn’t get you to the post-game here; it just gets you to the endgame, and it’s this endgame that really sets Scarlet and Violet apart.

While I’m sure everyone knows the big plot twist by now considering that the games have been out for a month, I’m not going to say anything about it because if you have - somehow - avoided spoilers and still haven’t played it, it’s worth discovering for yourself. While this may have been the worst-made Pokemon game to date, it’s definitely the best-designed Pokemon game to date. Game Freak proves here that, while they’re bad at making games, they’re absolutely fantastic at brainstorming them. The new Pokemon are almost universally awesome, some old favorites get fantastic new evolutions, and while there’s not a whole lot in the way of new forms, you do get some cool entirely new species that are based on convergent evolution; they look like they’re regional forms of old Pokemon but are actually completely unrelated. I, personally, would rather have just had regional forms, but I can’t deny that it’s a cool concept for new Pokemon. If you can look past the technical flaws and appreciate the game for what it DID do well, this is definitely a game with something every Pokemon fan can enjoy.

Post by **elricorico** » Tue Dec 13, 2022 4:32 pm

1. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond (NS)
2. Metal Slug 3 (XBO)
3. Wii Sports (Wii)
4. Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse (GEN)
5. Arc the Lad (PS)
6. Rayman Origins (PC)
7. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (PC)
8. Final Fantasy IX (NS)
9. Kirby's Return to Dream Land (Wii)
10. Mario Golf - Advance Tour (GBA)
11. Cat Quest (PC)
12. Soul Calibur VI (PS4)
13. Hyrule Warriors (WiiU)
14. Mario Kart 8 DX (NS)
15. Flashout 3D: Enhanced Edition (PC)
16. Fast RMX (NS)

17. Dragon Quest XI S (XBONE)

I've been playing DQ XI since May and I finally rolled the credits today. About 60 hours playtime, with a robust postgame ahead, but I'm calling it "Beaten". I played it on an XBox One S, as that was the first place I found the physical for cheap.

Dragon Quest is deeply tied to my gaming history since I was about 10 years old. I played a ton of #2(but didn't finish) then played and beat 3 and 4 over the following years. DQ3 consistently ranks as one of my all time favourite games for any system. I've beat 5 and played a bunch of 8, but haven't committed to finishing a Dragon Quest game in about a decade. Once I got into 11 I was pretty certain I'd make it through, as so much about it just clicked for me right away. I liked the characters and the visuals, the music and the enemies, and the simple but engaging crafting system. I'll say that the first 20 hours or so felt like they went by in a flash.

It wasn't perfect though, there was a portion of the story(probably about the 50-60% portion) where it felt like a chore, and was a bit obvious. There were a couple of dungeons that were just a bit unnecessarily large - big empty rooms and long halls serving no real purpose but to stretch out the size it seemed. Finally by the endgame I never really felt the urge to use more than my four preferred characters, leaving others languishing unequipped and under-developed.

All that being said, this game kept me coming back again and again, taking up a very healthy chunk of my limited gaming time for months on end. It is a true classic JRPG in the way that only Dragon Quest games seem to pull off without ever seeming dated. Turn based combat, colourful characters, grand fantasy adventures without too much angst/philosophy and a dose of lighthearted silliness here and there.

While I'm not sure this will squeeze into my top 5 JRPGs of all time, I'm sure it would make the top 10 and it certainly stands out when I think of "modern" JRPGs. I got my money's worth and more out of this one, and I intend to chip away at the story portions of the postgame for at least several more hours of game time.

Post by **alienjesus** » Tue Dec 13, 2022 4:34 pm

1. Metroid Dread Switch
2. The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures Switch
3. Return of the Obra Dinn Switch
4. Policenauts Saturn
5. Pokémon Legends: Arceus Switch
6. Sam & Max Save The World Switch
7. The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve Switch
8. Dragon Force Saturn
9. Astro’s Playroom PS5
10. Kirby & The Forgotten Land Switch
11. Yakuza Kiwami PS4
12. Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1+2 PS4
13. Blue Reflection: Second Light Switch
14. Hatsune Miku: Logic Paint S Switch eShop
15. Art Style: Orbient WiiWare
16. Dragon Quest Builders 2 Switch
17. Tales of Arise PS4
18. Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand GBA
19. Pokémon LeafGreen GBA
20. Gunstar Future Heroes GBA *NEW*
21. Bit Generations: Dotstream GBA *NEW*
22. Yakuza Kiwami 2 PS4 *NEW*
23. Densetsu No Stafy 3 GBA *NEW*
24. Real Bout Fatal Fury Neo Geo *NEW*
25. Metal Slug Neo Geo *NEW*
26. The King of Fighters '97 Neo Geo *NEW*
27. Spin Master Neo Geo *NEW*
28. Shock Troopers Neo Geo *NEW*
29. Astral Chain Switch *NEW*

Gunstar Future Heroes

Gunstar Future Heroes is ostensibly a sequel to the Mega Drive original, but in many ways it also very much feels like a remake or reimagining. Major moments like Black’s dice maze, the seven force boss battle or Orange’s skyship are all here and accounted for, which is honestly a shame as it makes the game feel like it’s missing it’s own identity. There are a few moments which feel like sega throwback references, with moments that remind me of Afterburner, Flicky and Thunder Blade for example. The weapon system is far more stripped back here with 3 weapons you can switch between and none of the weapon combining of the original. The visuals look nice for GBA but the music isn’t anything to write home about. The game is pretty difficulty too, and whilst it has infinite continues it annoyingly kicks you out to the title screen every time you die which got old. Overall, this is a good game but it fails to stand out compared to the superior original. Worth a play.

Bit Generations Dotstream

The Bit Generations titles are a series of puzzle games on GBA with a minimalist aesthetic, some of which were later reimagined as part of the Art Style series on WiiWare and DSiWare. Dotstream is one of those games as a remake was released on WiiWare called Art Style: Light Trax. The game is an odd racing game where you play as a dot which leaves a line behind it as it races. You can’t accelerate manually but by riding alongside other racers lines you draft and speed up, so you want to play as close to them as possible. Crossing over another line slows you down massively though. You also get 2 boosts at the start of the track to use, but by driving into the pitstop lane at the end of a lap you can accrue up to 9 more, depending how long you wait. The tracks are interspersed with boosts, slowing hazards and obstacles too – the latter of which will take one boost from you if hit. If you have none, you automatically lose the track and come last, so the game becomes a balance of boosting and managing reserves due to the abundance of hazards. It gets tough later on to win, but it's fun for a quick blast. I enjoyed my time with it.

Yakuza Kiwami 2

I loved Yakuza Kiwami earlier in the year, but Kiwami 2 feels like a step up in most ways. It uses a newer, prettier engine and has a refined battle system which offers less variety than Zero and Kiwami but feels very polished. The game has a good amount of side content but also feels less challenging in what it asks you to engage with, so this is the first game in the series I got a platinum trophy for. Storywise, the plot revolves around the Tojo clan having issues with a rival clan, the Osaka-based Omi Alliance. Whilst trying to broker a peace treaty with the Omi leader, the leader’s son initiates a coup and challenges Kiryu as he wants to be the one ‘dragon’. The plot is equal parts dramatic and over the top and I very much enjoyed it much like other entries. 3 games in in two years, I’m still really enjoying my time with Yakuza, which is good as I have about 8 more to play yet. Looking forward to it, although it will be weird going back to 3 as it’s much older than the entries I have already played.

Densetsu No Stafy 3

The best way to describe Stafy 3 is essentially ‘more Stafy’. That’s generally a good thing, as the series is fairly solid and enjoyable. Like the second game, this title feels like it perhaps doesn’t make as much use of the underwater setting as it could/should, with many standard land based platforming stages, but they’re all fairly well designed. The lack of anything super new does mean the game can feel a bit of a slog at times, but there are a few nice moments including a very odd cameo by Wario in a later world. You can play as Stafy’s sister Stapy in some stages too, and she has some unique moves, but they’re a little underwhelming – she can crawl sloooooooowly through small gaps, and can wall jump – which is fun but feels underwhelming when Stafy can double jump already. Overall, the game is decent but there’s some diminishing returns here at this point – the third game on the same platform doesn’t offer enough new to justify it really.

Real Bout Fatal Fury

I’m not much of a 2D fighter fan so I went into Real Bout Fatal Fury expecting a decent game but one which wasn’t really my thing. I was pleasantly surprised then to find I actually quite enjoyed my time with this one. Partly what made it fun to me was how smoothly my attacks flowed together and how surprisingly easy it was to pull off special moves – even ones with complex inputs. I played through the arcade mode on admittedly a very low difficulty level as Mai, but I didn’t find it as unforgiving as other games in the genre I’ve played (I couldn’t beat the 3rd opponent of 12 in Samurai Shodown 2 on the easiest difficulty for example) and I was keen to play more. I really liked the ring out mechanic too, which seems quite rare in 2D fighters compared to 3D ones. I know the earlier Fatal Fury games are perhaps a bit clunky in comparison, but playing this made me keen to play the later entries in the series for sure.

Metal Slug

I’ve played Metal Slug before and obviously it’s an arcade classic, but it felt really special playing through the game again on actual Neo Geo hardware this time. I’ve always played on a controller before but the game feels right on an arcade stick. I actually played a lot better than usual which could be down to difficulty settings but I am choosing to put down to improvements to my skill – the game sure ramps up in difficulty towards the end though, with most of my continues being used in the final stage. The game still looks and sounds incredible years later. I also played through the game in co-op with a buddy of mine and whilst we died a lot more due to lack of co-ordination, it really is a blast to play through 2 player, and it’ll be a staple for us going forward for sure.

The King of Fighters ‘97

Another 2D Fighter now, and whilst I didn’t have the same kind of revelation as I did with Real Bout Fatal Fury, I also quite enjoyed my time with this one. It’s a little harder to get into as you have to learn 3 characters, but they did seem to have more simplified special move inputs in comparison. The animation and responsiveness of the game felt a little less polished than RBFF, but I wonder if that was due to limitations of the cartridge memory with so many detailed characters included. Music was great in game but bizarrely it was pretty uncommon, with a lot of stages featuring only ambient noise which was very underwhelming for a fighter. I played through on a relatively low difficulty as the Women Fighters team (Chizuru, Mai and King) and I had a good time.

Spin Master

Spin Master wasn’t a game I was aware of until I started getting into Neo Geo recently, but it’s a simple and fun run and gun style platformer. You run through a variety of levels bouncing on enemy heads and shooting them with projectiles. Levels feature a variety of fun setpieces like minecart segments and riding on top of planes, and they’re generally pretty short and breezy. The game is weirdly very pretty but also pretty ugly – the spritework and colours look great but I don’t much like the character designs. The game gets pretty hard quickly too and I had to credit feed a fair bit to get through this one. Despite that though, I had a good time with it. Me and my buddy played through this one in 2 player as well and it was a lot of fun, if somewhat mindless!

Shock Troopers

I’ve played through Shock Troopers before on Virtual Console, but luckily, for an arcade title it offers quite a lot of content and replayability, thanks to having 8 playable characters and 3 separate routes to play through the game. Shock Troopers is basically Mercs meets Metal Slug – an action packed top down run n’ gun with a lot of mayhem, smooth controls and nice presentation. You can pick up a variety of different weapons to shoot people with, and can either run and gun freely or hold down the button to strafe whilst shooting in the same direction. You also get an action roll move to dodge out of the way of bullets, and can melee attack enemies up close to get them to drop health refills or extra point items. There’s a few stages where you get to ride a motorbike too. Shock Troopers is one of my favourite games on the platform and I’m delighted to have it on real hardware now. A must play.

Astral Chain

Astral Chain is a game I was quite excited to play, so it’s a shame that I honestly didn’t really love it. You play a police officer in a post-apocalytpic future world where the earth is being corrupted by intrusion from another dimension. You aim to keep peace on the Ark, a city for the few survivors of the corruption, whilst fighting off intrusion from the other dimension. You make use of captured monsters from the other dimension to fight alongside you and control both your character and the monster simultaneously in battle. This results in a moveset which is surprisingly basic due to the need to assign so many buttons to controlling your partner monster, but also overly complicated to use due to the controller gymnastics often involved. The game’s combat feels somewhat slow and clunky too, with slow attacks and a dodge that always seems to come out a few seconds too late. The story is predictable and not that exciting, and the investigation segments between combat can be too slow and tiresome. It’s certainly not a bad game, but I’m not really clamouring for a sequel. I think you can safely pass on this one.

Post by **REPO Man** » Tue Dec 13, 2022 4:39 pm

REPO Man wrote:Re: the concept of the alpha male.

MOD edit:
Don't just drop a link with no context as to what it might be.

The link that the mods removed for a video from "Today I Found Out" entitled "No, Alpha Wolves Are Not Actually a Thing", which literally says that the concept of the alpha male was coined while studying wolves in captivity. The TL;DR version is that alpha males are less about having BDE and large muscles to dominate weaker males and mate with the aim to produce superior offspring and are more akin to being a foster father.

Post by **BoneSnapDeez** » Tue Dec 13, 2022 5:01 pm

alienjesus wrote:Metal Slug

I’ve played Metal Slug before and obviously it’s an arcade classic, but it felt really special playing through the game again on actual Neo Geo hardware this time. I’ve always played on a controller before but the game feels right on an arcade stick. I actually played a lot better than usual which could be down to difficulty settings but I am choosing to put down to improvements to my skill – the game sure ramps up in difficulty towards the end though, with most of my continues being used in the final stage. The game still looks and sounds incredible years later. I also played through the game in co-op with a buddy of mine and whilst we died a lot more due to lack of co-ordination, it really is a blast to play through 2 player, and it’ll be a staple for us going forward for sure.

Nice. Though I must say..... I play the Neo version with a controller. :lol:

Great game, but no Fio.

Post by **MrPopo** » Wed Dec 14, 2022 1:10 am

Previous Years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

First 50:

51. Prodeus - PC
52. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero - Switch
53. Arkos - PC
54. Valkyrie Elysium - PS5
55. AWOL - PC
56. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022) - PC
57. Warhammer 40000: Shootas, Blood, and Teef - Switch
58. X Rebirth - PC
59. Star Ocean: The Divine Force - PS5
60. Pokemon Scarlet - Switch
61. X4: Foundations - PC
62. The Incredible Machine 3 - PC

The Incredible Machine 3 is the Windows port of The Incredible Machine 2, with one extra puzzle (a contest winner). But since the second released game, The Even More Incredible Machine, was the first game plus a bunch of extra puzzles, you could almost say that TIM2 should have been called TIM3. Oh well. However you number it, this game introduces a lot more puzzle pieces and gives a much better level editor (you can now have the game detect success, rather than an honor system).

The Incredible Machine series is a physics puzzle series where you build Rube Goldberg devices to accomplish some task. For example, one puzzle might have you need to set up a safe path for a lemming-like human to traverse from one end to the other without falling into the void or being eaten by an alligator by using anti-gravity pads and see-saws attached to ropes to launch him over gaps. Puzzles consist of a series of fixed parts and then a selection of parts intended to solve the puzzle with. Sometimes there are also parts designed as red herrings, either on the playfield or in your box of parts. And the game only cares about end states, not how you get there, so many puzzles have alternate solutions. Sometimes those alternate solutions are even easier than the main ones, due to the designers getting focused on one piece of physics jank and missing that you can just do something different.

The game has a good ramp up to its difficulty, though it does have some bits of bullshit. One end-game puzzle is this horrific array of lasers that need to be precisely placed in order to have them all activate a switch at the end. Laser placement is quite finicky, and you don't have a good way of seeing what it's going to look like before you run a puzzle. Compounding this is it is tricky to move them precisely. Lasers are part of a class of parts that don't snap to a grid, and while this is fine with balls it's much more of a problem with parts like the laser. The game would have done well to have a preview path feature for things like the laser.

Still, it's a really fun game if you like puzzles. There's a lot of variety and you can always jump into the puzzle maker if you want to screw around.

Post by **prfsnl_gmr** » Wed Dec 14, 2022 3:40 pm

Ack wrote:
BoneSnapDeez wrote:
ElkinFencer10 wrote:there's no such thing as "alpha male"

wrong.

me, Ack, prfsnl_gmr, noiseredux, Budsmoka

Only alpha males beat 7th Saga.

I am thrilled to be included in such illustrious company, but I still have not beaten The 7th Saga. :cry:

…..

First 60

61. Beeny (Switch)
62. Fatum Betula (Switch)
63. Once Upon a Time on Halloween (Switch)
64. Hatchwell (Switch)
65. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (Switch)
66. The Turing Test (Switch)
67. Bug Honey on Adventure Island (Famicom)
68. Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World (Switch)
69. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (Switch)
70. Debtor (Switch)
71. Aborigenus (Switch)
72. Roar of Revenge (Switch)

While you are all writing really great, long reviews of really great, long games, I am going to write three really short, really terrible reviews of three really short, really terrible games.

Debtor is a Sega Genesis puzzle platformer you can beat in 45 minutes. Despite its short length, though, you’re likely to get bored before the end. I paid $0.05 for this and feel almost ripped off. I’d be furious if I bought the homebrew cart.

Aborigenus is an action platformer that is clearly incomplete. (The “control settings” screen shows buttons mapped to abilities you never acquire playing through the game.). This is, perhaps, for the best since, despite offering maybe 30 minutes of play, reaching the end still feels like a slog.

Roar of Revenge is a short action-platformer clearly inspired by Rastan. It is developed by SEEP, which is clearly VERY committed to the good and bad aspects of 8-bit game design. I really enjoyed the developer’s Sword & Bones, and I had high hopes for this. Sadly, and while the game wasn’t bad, it didn’t do much for me either. The gameplay is intermittently fun, and the last boss is cool. The level design is just OK, though, and some parts of the game (such as the swimming and flying levels) are just bad. I understand that this developer’s games are a bit hit-or-miss - Roar of Revenge isn’t really either - and I still plan on trying out a few more SEEP games.

Post by **alienjesus** » Wed Dec 14, 2022 6:08 pm

1. Metroid Dread Switch
2. The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures Switch
3. Return of the Obra Dinn Switch
4. Policenauts Saturn
5. Pokémon Legends: Arceus Switch
6. Sam & Max Save The World Switch
7. The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve Switch
8. Dragon Force Saturn
9. Astro’s Playroom PS5
10. Kirby & The Forgotten Land Switch
11. Yakuza Kiwami PS4
12. Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1+2 PS4
13. Blue Reflection: Second Light Switch
14. Hatsune Miku: Logic Paint S Switch eShop
15. Art Style: Orbient WiiWare
16. Dragon Quest Builders 2 Switch
17. Tales of Arise PS4
18. Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand GBA
19. Pokémon LeafGreen GBA
20. Gunstar Future Heroes GBA
21. Bit Generations: Dotstream GBA
22. Yakuza Kiwami 2 PS4
23. Densetsu No Stafy 3 GBA
24. Real Bout Fatal Fury Neo Geo
25. Metal Slug Neo Geo
26. The King of Fighters '97 Neo Geo
27. Spin Master Neo Geo
28. Shock Troopers Neo Geo
29. Astral Chain Switch
30. Metal Slug 2 Neo Geo *NEW*
31. Puzzle Bobble Neo Geo *NEW*
32. Power Strike Switch *NEW*
33. Power Strike II Switch *NEW*
34. G.G. Aleste Switch *NEW*
35. G.G. Aleste II Switch *NEW*
36. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim PS4 *NEW*
37. G.G. Aleste 3 Switch *NEW*
38. Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams Switch *NEW*
39. Cotton Reboot! Switch *NEW*

Metal Slug 2

Metal Slug 2 is a fun follow up to the original game that takes what worked there and runs with it, whilst adding a whole bunch more of everything. More vehicles (camel slug FTW), more characters, bigger bosses, mummy and fat mode transformations and more. It revels in it’s excess with crazy amounts of enemies on screen by the end of the game, somewhat to its detriment by the last level – whilst the game is relatively fairly balanced early on, the last level in particular is absolutely crazy hard, with the last boss alone costing me easily 3 or 4 times as many credits on it’s own as the rest of the game combined. Despite that, the game is still a blast, but it comes with one major downside – alongside all of the other excess, the game offers up excessive slowdown, sometimes to ridiculous extents, in a way that doesn’t make sense considering how smooth the first game was. Despite this, the game is still a blast to play and highly recommended.

Puzzle Bobble

Puzzle Bobble is a fun puzzle game spin-off of Bubble Bobble where you shoot coloured orbs up the screen to match with orbs at the top of the screen. The play area shrinks over time so you need to remove the bubbles before they overtake the play space. You’ve probably seen this game or something like it a million times, but that just speaks volume about the accessible and fun nature of the formula. If you lose a level you can continue and a guiding line appears to show you how your shots will shoot for that stage, which is a nice chance to learn how the bubbles ricochet off of walls, which is practically required tech for later levels. The game looks nice and the music is decent enough, and it’s a lot of fun. The difficult is pretty inconsistent though, with random difficulty spikes every so often that feel designed to force more credits to be bought. Sometimes levels are too reliant on luck of the draw as well – if you don’t get the colours you need early, you’re going to lose. Still a great time though!

Power Strike

Power Strike is a game in the Aleste series for the Sega Master System. It’s a vertical shmup where you fly through stages making use of a variety of weapon types which can all be independently powered up by grabbing P icons. Some weapons are more useful than others, so you’ll probably need to experiment to find a favourite. This game doesn’t mess around when it comes to difficulty – you will die fast and die often, and it can be very difficult to stay alive after dying due to being so weak. Pretty much par for the course for an 8-bit shmup, but perhaps not for the Aleste games I’ve played. The enemy and boss variety is fairly poor too, with frequent arrangements of the same enemy formations interspersed throughout. This is a technically impressive game, but I wouldn’t say I really liked it. Worth a play to experience it, but nothing I’d still recommend today.

Power Strike II

Power Strike 2 is like Power Strike 1 but more. It’s even more technically impressive than the first game, with nicer graphics, way more on screen and more variety than the first game. It’s also just as difficult as the first, which means it’s not a game I’d recommend to people unless they’re interested in it’s technical or historical significance, or they’re a real genre fan. It’s nice to be able to play the game though as it’s super pricy on real hardware.

G.G. Aleste

Another day, another Aleste game. G.G. Aleste is a shmup for the Game Gear, and it’s a real step-up from the Master System titles in visuals, outside of a lower resolution of course. The format is similar to the 8 bit console games, with a selection of weapons which can be powered up by collecting P chips. For my money, the homing weapon was the best by far so I mostly stuck to that. I’ve seen people describe this as quite an easy shmup, but in all honesty I still found it rather challenging – it was very easy to take a hit and die. Still, I had a good time with the game and it’s a worthwhile play. Give it a go.

G.G. Aleste II

It’s hard to know what to write about G.G. Aleste 2 other than it’s more G.G. Aleste. The game builds upon the first game with even more impressive graphics and some incredible technical performance for an 8 bit title. If you manage to fully power up your weapon you can grab extra P chips in each level to give yourself a shield which can take a single hit, which helps minimise some deaths. I also made use of the defence shield weapon which surrounded the ship with defensive spinning options to absorb some bullets. Difficulty was still volatile – nothing is too hard but it’s very easy to take a hit and get yourself in a bad position. This was a real technical showcase though and the Game Gear titles are way more playable than the Master System games, so it’s worth your time.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

13 Sentinels is a visual novel & strategy game for the PS4. It is split in between the two major gameplay modes. The visual novel protion features an intriguing sci-fi story featuring time travel, AI, robots and giant mecha, which I found extremely compelling. There are 13 characters to play as and you jump through their stories which intersect and move around the various timelines. There are a ton of mysteries which often aren’t resolved or explained until you progress far enough on another timeline. The whole visual novel adventure is drawn with beautiful artwork as is Vanillaware standard. The strategy portion of the game is more abstracted with a grid based battle field and icons representing mecha and enemies moving around. You can make use of a variety of weapon types, most of which have an area-of-effect. You can choose from any of your characters in each battle, who are split between 4 types of mech – melee focused, defensive, ranged and support types. I found that Melee and ranged mechs were better than the rest but the game forces you to use a variety if you want to beat the game. The strategy segments are surprisingly easy which is a shame as they’re pretty fun otherwise. I found both halves of the game to be a lot of fun though, and played through until I got a Platinum trophy. 13 Sentinels is whole-heartedly recommended, one of my favourite of the generation.

G.G. Aleste 3

Another day again, another Aleste again. This one is a bit special though, as it’s a new Aleste title. G.G. Aleste 3 was developed by M2 using Game Gear specifications, and it’s a super impressive achievement. The game looks beautiful and runs amazingly, all apparently built in a way that could run on real hardware (although last I checked it wasn’t available to be played on a real Game Gear right now). It also features some amazing music, with the stage 3 theme being a personal favourite. Difficulty here is fairly similar to the other 2 GG Aleste titles – but the game is a joy to play so you’ll want to keep trying even when you lose. This is definitely the best of the games on the Aleste Collection, I just wish they’d given the game a physical release on GG hardware too!

Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams

More shmups time, but something a bit different this time. Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams is a side scrolling cute ‘em up title with a slightly spooky theme. You play as Cotton, a witch on a quest to save the willows, sweets which grow on plants from evil. Not because you’re a hero, but because you’re greedy and selfish and you want the willows for yourself. Cotton can use multiple types of spell, with each spell being able to be used in 2 different ways by either firing them straight away or charging them up first. Making use of the lightning spell’s alternate barrier ability was key to beating the game for me. Cotton has a fantastic soundtrack and fun stage and enemy designs, but it’s a little disappointing that the port included in Cotton Reboot on Switch (where I played this) is the Sharp X68000 version and not the PC Engine version which featured even more awesome renditions of the music. The difficulty of the game is challenging but reasonable and I had a great time playing through it. Highly recommended.

Cotton Reboot!

Cotton Reboot is a modern remake/reimagining of the first Cotton game. The story is basically the same, and the broad level themes and bosses are also the same. However, the game feels quite different to play due to a higher focus on scoring, increased firepower and a lot more flashiness. Crystals can still be grabbed to power up your main shot, but if you shoot them now they amplify your shot power causing them to spread and increasing points gained. The game features remixes of the first games music but it’s kinda synthy and electronic and not a patch on the originals in my eyes. That said, I really enjoyed my time with this one – the original version is still my preferred way to play, but this reboot offers something different enough and fun enough that it feels like a real bargain that you get to enjoy both. Worth playing for sure.

Post by **ElkinFencer10** » Wed Dec 14, 2022 6:56 pm

Games Beaten in 2021 - 74
* denotes a replay

January (20 Games Beaten)

February (1 Games Beaten)

March (0 Games Beaten)

April (3 Games Beaten)

May (3 Games Beaten)

June (11 Games Beaten)

July (14 Games Beaten)

August (2 Games Beaten)

September (3 Games Beaten)

October (9 Games Beaten)

November (5 Games Beaten)

December (1 Games Beaten)

74. BDSM: Big Drunk Satanic Massacre - Switch - December 9

Irreverent humor is my favorite type of humor. It got me nearly four solid months in Facebook jail, but damn if it's not funny. As the name suggests, BDSM: Big Drunk Satanic Massacre is exactly that type of humor. The basic premise is that Lucifer (who now goes by Lou) got overthrown as ruler of Hell when McDonald's (or the copyright-safe version of it) found a portal to hell in a toilet and expanded into Hell, quickly taking over entirely. Lucifer then becomes an alcoholic in a dive bar until he develops a murderous grudge against knock-off McDonald's and goes on a killing spree through Hell.

BDSM is neither a particularly long nor a particularly complex game. It's a twin-stick shooter that has you navigate through various levels as you make your way through Hell and to the McDonald's headquarters. You start with just a revolver, but as you progress through the game, you'll unlock other weapons like a shotgun, an AK-47, a giant penis-shaped laser, etc. You also get a solid for a one-time-use magic ability pick-up like a shield or minion summoning. I wouldn't say that it's a particularly strategic game, but you definitely have options on how to tackle any given challenge, and the bosses - especially the final boss (and the secret boss) - do occasionally need to be addressed smartly.

Visually, I was actually fairly impressed with the game. It's definitely not a big-budget game, but for an indie twin-stick shooter, the environments were really interestingly designed. The humor, as well, was just fantastic. You'll come across various succubus women (plus a Nazi pony and "Not-Hitler") that you can trigger a lewd mini-game with, and that was just the icing on the cake for me as far as humor goes. I'll never understand why a fandom for a show totally built on "love and tolerance" like My Little Pony is SO infested with Nazis, but there are a TON of them, and this game pokes fun at that.

BDSM: Big Drunk Satanic Massacre is a relatively simple game, but it's a great way to spend a few hours if you're not easily offended by irreverent humor. I wouldn't pay more than $10 for it, and I'm not sure what the regular price is, but if you can find it for $10 or less on your platform of choice, I would absolutely recommend picking it up and giving it a play.

Post by **MrPopo** » Wed Dec 14, 2022 10:03 pm

Previous Years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

First 50:

51. Prodeus - PC
52. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero - Switch
53. Arkos - PC
54. Valkyrie Elysium - PS5
55. AWOL - PC
56. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022) - PC
57. Warhammer 40000: Shootas, Blood, and Teef - Switch
58. X Rebirth - PC
59. Star Ocean: The Divine Force - PS5
60. Pokemon Scarlet - Switch
61. X4: Foundations - PC
62. The Incredible Machine 3 - PC
63. Metal Head - 32X

Metal Head is a first party mecha game for the 32X, which is a phrase I never thought I would have the opportunity to say. It's not long, but as a tech demo for the era it's fairly solid. While Star Fox is the better console 3D game of the era, Metal Head is very playable and doesn't overstay its welcome.

The plot is threadbare; you're given a total of 16 missions divided into six stages to blow up enemies. Objectives fall into three categories; kill all enemies, kill specific enemies, and reach a point on the map. Occasionally two objective types will be combined. The six stage breaks serve as your points to change your loadout. You start the game with a fixed loadout, then when you start a new stage you pick a new loadout.

The way loadouts work is that you have one infinite ammo weapon for one arm, one ammo weapon (or your fist) for your other arm, and then you have some optional gear. All of this is purchased with points, and equipment does not carry over between stages. You always can equip a free ranged weapon and your punch as your two basic weapons, so you're never left without options. If you die and have continues left you also have to pick new weapons; you're given a certain number of points on death to make up for losing your gear.

Each mission can be completed in a couple minutes, which is good, because the actual moment to moment action is quite samey. The draw distance is hilariously bad; enemies can fire at you from outside of draw range and there is immense pop in on walls. The frame rate stays stable, but low. I'd say the frame rate is lower than Star Fox's, but Star Fox also is only doing shading, so it has an advantage. Overall, this is very much a tech demo. If you can find it for a couple of bucks go for it, but don't spend any real money on it.

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