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PartridgeSenpai
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Re: Games Beaten 2021

by PartridgeSenpai Fri Nov 12, 2021 3:34 am

Partridge Senpai's 2021 Beaten Games:
Previously: 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
* indicates a repeat

Games 1~51
1. Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland (PS3)
2. Portal 2 (PC) *
3. Atelier Judie: The Alchemist of Gramnad (PS2)
4. Pipo Saru 2001 (PS2)
5. Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (N64)
6. Atelier Viorate: The Alchemist of Gramnad 2 (PS2)
7. Kirby's Dream Land 3 (SFC)
8. The Legend of Mystical Ninja (SFC)
9. Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg (PS1)
10. Ganbare Goemon 2 (SFC)
11. Paper Mario: Origami King (Switch)
12. Star Fox 64 (N64) *
13. Super Paper Mario (Wii) *
14. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (GC) *
15. Demon's Crest (SNES)
16. Cathedral (Switch)
17. Super Mario 3D World (Switch) *
18. Bowser's Fury (Switch)
19. Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos (Switch)
20. moon (Switch)
21. Casltevania 64 (N64)
22. Captain Rainbow (Wii)
23. Doraemon: Nobita To Mittsu No Seireiseki (N64)
24. Blast Corps (N64)
25. Doraemon 2: Nobita To Hikari No Shinden (N64)
26. Custom Robo (N64)
27. Doraemon 3: Nobita No Machi SOS! (N64)
28. 64 Trump Collection: Alice No Wakuwaku Trump World (N64)
29. The Sunken City (PS4)
30. Lair of the Clockwork God (Switch)
31. Star Fox Adventures (GC)
32. Atelier Elie: The Alchemist of Salburg 2 (PS1)
33. Billy Hatcher & The Giant Egg (GC)
34. Mole Mania (GB)
35. Gargoyle's Quest (GB)
36. Rock Man 4 (Famicom) *
37. Wai Wai World (Famicom)
38. Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (GB)
39. Mega Man (Switch) *
40. Mega Man 2 (Switch) *
41. Mega Man 3 (Switch) *
42. Rock Man 5 (Famicom) *
43. Mega Man 6 (Switch)
44. Mega Man 7 (Switch) *
45. Mega Man 8 (Switch) *
46. Mega Man 9 (Switch) *
47. Mega Man 10 (Switch)
48. Rock Man World 2 (GB) *
49. Rock Man World 3 (GB)
50. Rock Man World 4 (GB)
51. Rock Man World 5 (GB)

Games 52~100
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)
65. Magical Taruruuto Kun: FANTASTIC WORLD!! (Famicom)
66. Maken Shao (PS2)
67. Getsu Fuuma Den (Famicom)
68. Rock Man D.A.S.H (PSP)
69. Brave Fencer Musashi (PS1)
70. Joe & Mac (SFC) *
71. Atelier Lilie: The Alchemist of Salburg 3 (PS2)
72. Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link (Famicom)
73. The Bouncer (PS2)
74. Rapid Angel (PS1)
75. Atelier Totori: The Alchemist of Arland 2 (PS3)
76. Drakengard 3 (PS3)
77. Alwa's Awakening (Switch)
78. Hermina & Culus (PS2)
79. Atelier Meruru: The Alchemist of Arland 3 (PS3)
80. Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti (Switch)
81. Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana (PS2)
82. Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana 2 (PS2)
83. Mario Kart 64 (N64)
84. Super Mario Kart (SFC)
85. Mario Kart Super Circuit (3DS)
86. Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time (N64) *
87. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64) *
88. Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap (3DS) *
89. Rock Man X: Command Mission (GC)
90. Pikmin (GC) *
91. Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GC) *
92. Far East of Eden 2: Manjimaru (GC)
93. Pikmin 2 (GC) *
94. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GC) *
95. Shin Megami Tensei (SFC)
96. Metroid Prime (GC)
97. Bomberman Jetters (GC)
98. Maximo (PS2)
99. Operation Logic Bomb (SNES)
100. Bombuzal (SFC)

101. Splatterhouse (PCE)
102. Shin Megami Tensei 2 (SFC)
103. Shin Megami Tensei if... (SFC)
104. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner (Saturn)
105. Alundra (PS1)
106. Lunar: Silver Star Story (Saturn)
107. Tales of Xillia (PS3)
108. Digimon Rumble Arena (PS1)
109. Blue Stinger (DC)
110. Clockwork Knight (Saturn)
111. Tales of Xillia 2 (PS3)
112. Nightmare Creatures (PS1)

113. Tales of Rebirth (PSP)

This is a game I bought AGES ago to bridge the completion gap of Tales games I'd finished (it was the singular one separating Tales of Symphonia from the others that I'd finished). It was also very importantly another Tales game that was never localized, which made it extra interesting for me to dive into. Taking advantage of my current Tales binge session, I finally sat down and played this through to the end, and wound up with a much more positive opinion on it than the other three times I'd bounced off of it quite so hard XP. Now this is a PSP game, but it's very much a port of the PS2 version via all the info I can find about it online. The only real differences are graphical accommodations for the wide-screen PSP as well as a few new skits. It took me around 42 hours to play through the Japanese version of the game on my PSTV.

Tales of Rebirth follows the story of Veigue, a sullen young man who accidentally froze his childhood friend solid a year ago during a mysterious event known as Ladras' Sunset, when many such powers suddenly awakened in people across the land. He's one day approached by a mysterious pair, Mao and Eugene, who use their own Force powers (no relation to Star Wars, which in this game's defense calls "The Force" something else in Japanese) to help free his friend only for her to be taken away just as quickly by a squad of the royal army. Thus begins Veigue & Co's journey to first solve the mystery as to why the crown is abducting young girls as well and eventually to save the world.

Now it's very not obvious from that plot intro, but this is a story just as much about Tales' usual character-focused narratives as it is about race. The world of Tales of Rebirth is populated by Hyuma (effectively humans) and Gajuma (effectively beast folk), and the emerging racial tension between the two groups is a major through-line of the story and its themes, particularly after the first act ends. Now for a JRPG from 2004, I think this game gets most of its stuff right. It isn't overly optimistic in its portrayals of race relations and how rifts can be healed, and the nuance with which it handles the character's own personal struggles and prejudices is done in a way I found agreeable and realistic. While the story is indeed about race, it's also just as much about themes of personal identity and self-reflection as much as it is about examining one's cultural assumptions and prejudices.

Where the race stuff (in a way) holds up less well are in trying to map anything about the game's internal setting to real-life equivalents. There really isn't anything systemic about the racism in Tales of Rebirth that is in any way analogous to the world we live in. Now while that can certainly be seen as a failing of the narrative, it came off to me as much more of a deliberate choice. Writing fantasy stories as analogies for real-life racism comes with all sorts of new, weird complications that often bring in tons of contradictions, and this story seems to have been very specifically crafted with that in mind. Hyuma and Gajuma could be seen at first as an allegory for colonizing nations vs. colonized ones, but too much of the setting doesn't match up to that for those to really make any sense as a framing device. Hyuma and Gajuma exist on relatively equal ground as the story begins and progresses, the spoilery origins of their prejudice don't make sense when mapped onto real-world causes (and I would argue are obviously not meant to), and the ruling family of the kingdom are Gajuma, to only name a few of the scads of details about Tales of Rebirth that make it difficult to draw direct real-world parallels to.

This game's story is more of a tale designed to get the audience to examine the racial biases and discrimination in their own lives and to take personal or community action beyond that, rather than a story that explicitly gives views on how the real world should/could be changed. While I think (or at the very least, would like to hope) the conversation on race has since moved on from more personal flaw-focused topics, I think Tales of Rebirth still manages to provide interesting and engaging (if not original) characters and scenarios that feel earnest in how they're crafted and portrayed.The characters are well written and charming, and the pacing of the story is also well done. It's far from the best that the series would do, but it's definitely well on the road to where it would soon get to with entries like Vesperia. Granted, I think it was more for money and marketing reasons that this game was never localized (they had just put a lot of cash into Tales of Symphonia's localization, and they probably wanted to push the series in the West as a 3D one rather than a 2D one), but given the difficulty in making quality stories about race at all, let alone how difficult that kind of thing is to localize, I think it was a blessing in disguise that this game never got localized back in the mid-2000's ^^;

Mechanically, Tales of Rebirth is a bit of a complicated game compared to a lot of the other 2D Tales games, of which this was one of the last (coming out right after Symphonia, the first 3D entry in the series). It has the same Linear Battle system that the other 2D Tales games use for its combat, but instead of just one 2D plane between you and your opponent, you have three planes you can toggle through (very much like how Little Big Planet would eventually do it). You also don't have an MP system in this game, instead having artes that charge up over time to both be more powerful and be able to be immediately chained together as to not break your combo.

This has several consequences on battle. First, there aren't really healing spells, per se, so post-battle auto cooking and healing items are super important for keeping a healthy party, as mid-battle combo-based healing is a difficult and unreliable way to heal (not to mention one I never really understood at all XP). Secondly, it also means it's really easy to get caught in a pincer between enemies or let enemies sneak back to your casters if you aren't careful, so very aggressive, melee-heavy parties and play styles are highly rewarded. This is also definitely one of the harder Tales games I've played, as most of the non-MP system ones have been, and that's partly because of the lack of healing spells but also because battles can just get so chaotic if you let things get out of control. It's definitely not my favorite mechanically, but I found it fun and an enjoyable challenge.

The presentation is really pretty. A PSP game blown up on a TV via the PSTV is certainly gonna look a bit grainy at times, but that doesn't stop the pre-rendered backgrounds in cities and dungeons from looking damn good. The final dungeon in particular has some really beautiful scenes in its town and final areas. The 3D on the overworld doesn't exactly impress, but it looks as nice as it needs to. The voice acting is excellent, and the music is also very nice, as would be expected from a Tales game of the time.

Verdict: Recommended. It's definitely not the most engrossing JRPG I've ever played, and it's certainly not my new favorite Tales game, but I enjoyed my time with Tales of Rebirth. It's not a game I'd say it's a tragedy for that it never got a localization or a fan translation, but if you find yourself playing it and you're a fan of what Tales usually brings to the table, there's a lot to enjoy here for sure~.
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REPO Man
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Re: Games Beaten 2021

by REPO Man Fri Nov 12, 2021 3:47 am

Some time ago I beat the Borderlands: Secret Armory of General Knox DLC, on Switch as Brick, first playthrough. I still have the last Circle of Duty mission and the Crawmerax raid boss.
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Re: Games Beaten 2021

by Raging Justice Fri Nov 12, 2021 4:27 am

Markies wrote:Markies' Games Beat List Of 2021!
*Denotes Replay For Completion*

1. Midtown Madness 3 (XBOX)
2. X-Men 2: Clone Wars (GEN)
3. Sonic Adventure 2 (SDC)
4. Mega Man 7 (SNES)
5. Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra (PS2)
6. Bust A Move 4 (PS1)
7. Phantasy Star IV (GEN)
8. Gunbird 2 (SDC)
***9. The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN)***
10. Fable: The Lost Chapters (XBOX)
11. Growlanser: Heritage Of War (PS2)
12. Double Dragon (NES)
13. Star Ocean (SNES)
14. Pokemon Snap (N64)
15. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GCN)
16. Castle Of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (GEN)
17. Stella Deus: The Gate Of Eternity (PS2)
18. Super R-Type (SNES)
19. Threads Of Fate (PS1)
20. The Bouncer (PS2)
21. Phantasy Star Online Version 2 (SDC)
22. Final Fantasy III (NES)
23. Psychonauts (XBOX)
24. GrimGrimoire (PS2)
25. College Football's National Championship (GEN)
26. Chameleon Twist (N64)
27. The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild (NS)
28. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (PS1)
29. The Bard's Tale (XBOX)

30. Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (SNES)

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I completed Super Star Wars: Super Empire Strikes Back on the Super Empire Strikes Back on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System this evening!

Back when I first started collecting Retro video games, I picked up the original Super Star Wars game. It was incredibly cheap and I remember them as a kid. Unfortunately, my nostalgia blocked any critical view point of the game. I played that game for several years, beating a few levels every now and then until I finally powered through it. The game was the perfect definition of bashing your face into the wall until the wall cracks. Well, skip ahead to April 2013 and I was doing some game shopping. I had traded in some games and I was looking for one last game to pick up as I had some store credit. Well, after a long bit of searching, I finally decided upon Super Empire Strikes Back and I decided it was time for some more face smashing. Running out of games in my Backlog meant it was finally time to sit down and smash my face against the wall.

Much like Super Star Wars, Super Empire Strikes Back has some amazing visuals and sounds. For a SNES game, the game looks and feels like the movies. I was stunned and amazed at the graphics and the music for the game. It really felt like I was watching the movies. Along with that, the game does a nice representation of the movie. Each set piece is there and it is really cool to see Darth Vader on your screen. The shine is there and I was still amazed by how everything looks.

But, my God, the difficulty is still absolutely unreal. The enemies are way too fast for you to deal with, so you are constantly getting shot at or hit by the enemies. You also don't know when you are taking damage or even when you are doing damage. It's all so random and happening so quickly that you don't know what to do. And all of this is tenfold when it comes to the Bosses as their health bars are ginormous compared to yours. Besides side scrolling levels, there are also these shooter levels and these flying levels that you have no idea what to do or even to control.

Overall, I really began to dislike my time with Super Empire Strikes Back. The enemy placement and constant stream of enemies make the game incredibly difficult to play. To beat the game, you have to go slowly and abuse the password system. That is just to mitigate the game and not really a point of approval. Its hard to recommend these games, but I feel like I'll finish up the series. Someday.


I never really understood why the Star Wars games on the SNES are so well regarded. I think there are far better side scrolling action games on the system, and far better games within the Star Wars franchise. The SNES Star Wars games really haven't aged well
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Re: Games Beaten 2021

by ElkinFencer10 Fri Nov 12, 2021 9:47 am

Games Beaten in 2021 - 103
* denotes a replay

January (12 Games Beaten)
1. God of War - PlayStation 3 - January 1
2. God of War II - PlayStation 3 - January 2
3. God of War: Chains of Olympus - PlayStation 3 - January 3
4. God of War: Ghost of Sparta - PlayStation 3 - January 4
5. God of War III - PlayStation 4 - January 6
6. God of War: Ascension - PlayStation 3 - January 9
7. God of War [2018] - PlayStation 4 - January 16
8. Epic Dumpster Bear 2: He Who Bears Wins - PlayStation 4 - January 16
9. God of War: Betrayal - Mobile - January 17
10. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit - Switch - January 18
11. Muv-Luv photonflowers* - Steam - January 22
12. Muv-Luv photonmelodies♮ - Steam - January 27


February (5 Games Beaten)
13. Gun Gun Pixies - Switch - February 1
14. Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - PS4 - February 8*
15. Pantsu Hunter: Back to the 90s - Vita - February 13
16. Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II - PS4 - February 17*
17. Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - Steam - February 23


March (3 Games Beaten)
18. Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC - Steam - March 4
19. Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky 3rd - Steam - March 7
20. Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III - PS4 - March 21


April (7 Games Beaten)
21. Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV - PS4 - April 5
22. Muv-Luv Unlimited: The Day After 00 - Steam - April 7
23. Muv-Luv Unlimited: The Day After 01 - Steam - April 10
24. Muv-Luv Unlimited: The Day After 02 - Steam - April 11
25. Muv-Luv Unlimited: The Day After 03 - Steam - April 13
26. Neptunia Virtual Stars - PS4 - April 18
27. Before Your Eyes - Steam - April 18


May (9 Games Beaten)
28. New Pokemon Snap - Switch - May 2
29. Resident Evil 8: Village - PS5 - May 8
30. Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Switch - May 15
31. Torment: Tides of Numenera - Xbox One - May 18
32. Pepsiman - PS1 - May 20
33. Super Blackjack Battle II Turbo: The Card Fighters - Switch - May 20
34. Reel Fishing: Road Trip Adventure - Switch - May 23
35. Planetscape: Torment - Steam - May 26
36. Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne - Switch - May 31


June (17 Games Beaten)
37. Hentai vs Evil - Switch - June 1
38. Troll and I - Switch - June 2
39. Zombie Army 4: Dead War - PlayStation 4 - June 5
40. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Switch - June 6
41. Military Madness - TurboGrafx-16 - June 7
42. Puyo Puyo 2 - Game Gear - June 17
43. Yakuza 0 - Playstation 4 - June 19
44. Neptunia Shooter - Playstation 5 - June 20
45. Little Samson - NES - June 22
46. Tiger-Heli - NES - June 23
47. Blaster Master - NES - June 23
48. Gun-Nac - NES - June 24
49. Rollerblade Racer - NES - June 25
50. Marble Madness - NES - June 25
51. Metroid - NES - June 25
52. Mario Golf: Super Rush - Switch - June 26
53. Metroid: Zero Mission - GBA - June 28
54. Metroid II: Return of Samus - Game Boy - June 29


July (31 Games Beaten)
55. Super Metroid - SNES - July 1
56. Where's Waldo? - NES - July 1
57. Metroid Fusion - GBA - July 2
58. Neptunia ReVerse - PlayStation 5 - July 3
59. Tetris Effect: Connected - Series X - July 3
60. Battletoads - Xbox One - July 4
61. Chicken Police: Paint it Red! - Switch - July 5
62. The Falconeer - Series X - July 7
63. Astral Chain - Switch - July 10
64. Dynowarz: Destruction of Spondylus - NES - July 12
65. Skull and Crossbones - NES - July 12
66. Sky Kid - NES - July 12
67. Top Gun - NES - July 12
68. Top Gun: The Second Mission - NES - July 13
69. Mega Man 7 - SNES - July 13
70. Mega Man X - SNES - July 14
71. Mega Man X2 - SNES - July 15
72. Second Extinction - Series X - July 15
73. Mega Man X3 - SNES - July 16
74. Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge - Game Boy - July 19
75. Mega Man II - Game Boy - July 19
76. Mega Man III - Game Boy - July 19
77. Mega Man IV - Game Boy - July 20
78. Mega Man V - Game Boy - July 20
79. Mega Man Xtreme - GBC - July 21
80. Mega Man Xtreme 2 - GBC - July 21
81. Portal Runner - GBC - July 22
82. Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind - SNES - July 22
83. Mega Man and Bass - SNES - July 23
84. Cotton Reboot! - Switch - July 27
85. Yakuza Kiwami 2 - PlayStation 4 - July 29


August (2 Games Beaten)
86. Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part 1 - Series X - August 7
87. Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part 2 - Series X - August 7


September (6 Games Beaten)
88. Maneater: Truth Quest - PS5 - September 5
89. Empire of Angels IV - Switch - September 5
90. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - PS4 - September 19
91. Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force - GOG - September 21
92. Star Trek: Elite Force II - GOG - September 25
93. Earth Defense Force: World Brothers - Switch - September 29


October (7 Games Beaten)
94. Blair Witch - Switch - October 1
95. The Medium - Xbox Series X - October 3
96. Maid of Sker - Xbox Series X - October 3
97. Metroid Dread - Switch - October 14
98. Parasite Eve - PS1 - October 20
99. Visage - Xbox One - October 23
100. Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan - Xbox One - October 24


November (3 Games Beaten)
101. Call of Duty: Vanguard - PS5 - November 9
102. The Division 2 - Xbox One - November 11
103. The Division 2: Warlords of New York - Xbox One - November 11


102. The Division 2 - Xbox One - November 11
103. The Division 2: Warlords of New York - Xbox One - November 11

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Years ago, I picked up The Division right when it came out solely based on how interesting the setting looked. Unfortunately, the game itself was, while not bad from an objective sense, very disappointing to me. As such, I avoided The Division 2 when it came out. I figured it would be more of the same, and I really wasn't interested in wasting time or money on that. My friend-slash-only-slightly-kidding-husband, Grant, however is a huge fan of the game and decided that he wanted to play it with me badly enough to buy a code online and give it to me to download. So here I am with The Division 2 downloaded on my Xbox.

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The game takes place a little bit after the first one, but instead of New York City, the setting here is Washington DC. That's already something I like better. The set-up of the game is identical; first person shooter action RPG, you have to be online even if you're playing solo, and you've got a main quest line with a bunch of side quests that range from substantial and story-related to utterly pointless. If you played the first game, you know how this one is going to go. Unfortunately, the story isn't really any better. There are a handful of factions fighting over control of DC, and you're an agent with the crumbling federal government. None of the characters are particularly memorable, and the story is about as generic and uninspired as it gets. Still, though, the missions themselves are a lot better designed than they were in the previous game. The first game felt genuinely monotonous pretty much from start to finish; if you were playing with friends, it was downright boring at times. This game, however, is at least fun to play, and the mission environments are a lot more varied making the locations at least interesting even if what you're doing with respect to the narrative and world isn't.

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Generally speaking, FPS RPGs are a hard sell for me. It just bothers me when I shoot someone directly in the fact with a sniper rifle, and it only takes away like a tenth of their health. I'll fully admit that this isn't exactly a consistent complaint as it's never bothered me in other RPGs when stabbing an enemy through the chest with a sword only takes away a tenth of their health, but for whatever reason, my disbelief is a lot harder to suspend with shooters, so this was never going to be a game "for me," so to speak. That said, I have to admit that I do enjoy playing this with Grant. It looks good for a last-gen game even if the faces and hair have some jank reminiscent of the Mass Effect trilogy, and it the gunplay is really solid feels great. There is, of course, your typical Ubisoft shenanigans with bugs here; I had missions not trigger properly, enemies just kind of float in the air, and menus bug out on occasion. Note the way my character is sitting "in the boat" in the screenshot below. Still, though, it was much less of a buggy mess than most of Ubisoft's games, so kudos for that, I guess. I did, however, play two years after launch, so I feel like that's kind of praising the bare minimum.

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The Division 2 is a solid FPS RPG, and while the story and characters are still just as boring and bland-as-can-be as the first game, the actual gameplay and mission design have been significantly improved, and I feel like that's definitely the most important thing here. I, as a rule, despise games that require an internet connection despite being playable completely solo, but if you can find this on sale for $20 or less, I can't say that it's a bad purchase provided that you have friends to play with you; it's definitely fun if you've got a team.
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Markies
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Re: Games Beaten 2021

by Markies Fri Nov 12, 2021 12:16 pm

MrPopo wrote:Personally, I think Super Jedi is the easiest of the three. It's got the password system of Empire and then several of the heroes have some really powerful weapons to clear through enemy nonsense.


I have heard that Return of the Jedi is the easiest and best out of them. Eventually, I will just bite the bullet and pick it up, but I have much more appeasing SNES options at the moment.

Raging Justice wrote:I never really understood why the Star Wars games on the SNES are so well regarded. I think there are far better side scrolling action games on the system, and far better games within the Star Wars franchise. The SNES Star Wars games really haven't aged well


I don't know if they are well regarded, but I do know that everybody remembers them. They were perfect and popular rentals back in the day, so people remember playing them all the time. I think its when people go back to replay them that they see them for what they truly are. But, yeah, I completely agree with you as I don't really have any desire to play them again.
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Re: Games Beaten 2021

by MrPopo Fri Nov 12, 2021 1:50 pm

That's exactly it; the games looked good and were for a great property and, balance issues aside, are pretty well put together. Outside the Mode 7 jank, the games are put together well. The main problem is it just throws so much shit at you and the difference between having a powered up blaster or not is so huge that you run into the same issues you do with Gradius; continuing is painful. Like, I think an adjustment to enemy parameters and spawns without touching the game's bones could make it a whole lot better.
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Re: Games Beaten 2021

by prfsnl_gmr Fri Nov 12, 2021 6:08 pm

First 50
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)
30. Alwa’s Legacy (Switch)
31. Mega Man 11 (Switch)
32. Superliminal (Switch)
33. Shantae & The Seven Sirens (Switch)
34. Halo 3 (360)
35. Legacy of the Wizard (NES)
36. Robo Warrior (NES)
37. Blaster Master Boy (GB)
38. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (3DS)
39. Donkey Kong Land (GB)
40. Mario & Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move (3DS)
41. Streets of Rage 4 (Switch)
42. Steamworld Dig 2 (3DS)
43. Mega Man: The Wily Wars (Genesis)
44. Streets of Rage (Game Gear)
45. Streets of Rage (Master System)
46. Streets of Rage 2 (Game Gear)
47. Streets of Rage II (Master System)
48. Ninja Gaiden (PC Engine)
49. Ninja Gaiden II (DOS)
50. Ninja Gaiden III (Lynx)

51. Ninja Gaiden Trilogy (SNES)
52. Kung Fu Master (Arcade)
53. Kung Fu Master (7800)
54. Vigilante (Master System)
55. Vigilante (Arcade)
56. Donkey Kong (7800)
57. Touhou Luna Nights (Switch)
58. Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Switch)
59. Robbit Mon Dieu (PS1)
60. Metroid Dread (Switch)
61. Metroid Prime Hunters (NDS)

I played Metroid Prime Hunters for this month’s TR, and I’ve written about it extensively in the TR thread. The short version is: It’s good!
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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2021

by MrPopo Sat Nov 13, 2021 3:18 am

Previous Years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

First 50:
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
44. Dark Void Zero - DSiWare
45. Panzer Dragoon Saga - Saturn
46. Magic Knight Rayearth - Saturn
47. Cathedral - Switch
48. Final Fantasy VII Remake: INTERmission - PS5
49. Eterium - PC
50. A Street Cat's Tale - Switch

51. Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling - Switch
52. Banner of the Maid - Switch
53. CrossCode - Switch
54. Total Annihilation: The Core Contingency - PC
55. Ultima Underworld - PC
56. Betrayal at Krondor - PC
57. Assassin's Creed: Origins - PC
58. Axiom Verge 2 - Switch
59. Elderborn - PC
60. Hellbound - PC
61. Wargroove - Switch
62. Eye of the Beholder - PC
63. Quake: Dimension of the Past - PC
64. Quake: Dimension of the Machine - PC
65. Legends of Amberland: The Forgotten Crown - Switch
66. Anopek - PC
67. Baten Kaitos - Gamecube
68. No More Heroes 3 - Switch
69. Eye of the Beholder II - PC
70. Eye of the Beholder III - PC
71. Hedon II - PC
72. Deathloop - PC
73. Tales of Arise - PS5
74. Mechwarrior 5: Legend of the Kestrel Lancers - PC
75. Maneater: Truth Quest - PC
76. G String - PC
77. Thief (2014) - PC
78. Metroid Dread - Switch
79. Vomitoreum - PC
80. Severed Steel - PC
81. Syndicate - PC
82. Alan Wake - PC
83. Limitless Hunger - PC
84. Syndicate Wars - PC
85. They Always Run - PC
86. Control - PC
87. Control: The Foundation - PC
88. Control: AWE - PC
89. FIST: Forged in Shadow Torch - PS5
90. Beyond Good and Evil - PC
91. Call of Duty: Vanguard - PC
92. Dungeon Keeper 2 - PC

Dungeon Keeper 2 follows up on the original in the same way that Syndicate Wars does; moving things to 3D and giving more depth to the missions. But unlike Syndicate Wars I can confidently say that Dungeon Keeper 2 is a straight upgrade, rather than the mixed bag that Syndicate Wars was.

Like the previous game, you are an evil overlord who must build up a dungeon to house their monstrous forces and defeat the forces of good. As you progress through the campaign you'll unlock more room types to attract different units and give you more options for dealing with your foes. Your magical abilities are back, but instead of costing gold they now use a separate mana resource. This greatly eases your resource management, as your imp production is no longer taking the same resources as expanding your dungeon. The other major change to the dungeon building is that fortified walls are no longer impregnable. This means you can't just turtle up like you used to, but on the flip side enemies tend to only try and breach on specific maps, rather than as a general strategy.

The biggest thing you'll notice (aside from the graphics) is that the missions are far more interesting than the original. There's a lot more scenario stuff, like timed missions, missions where you have extremely limited resources and need to get creative, and even a mission where you need to isolate enemy heroes before engaging or they'll escape and fail the mission. This keeps the game from getting as samey as the original. Another thing you'll find is that the bestiary has been condensed a bit, and is more humanoid rather than random monsters. It's more clear that everything has a purpose, and there are no more friendly conflicts (but putting your monsters with their heroic counterparts still will cause them distress).

Overall, Dungeon Keeper 2 is the perfect sort of iteration on an interesting original; making the gameplay deeper, smoother, and overall more fun. If you liked the first, definitely snag this.
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PartridgeSenpai
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Re: Games Beaten 2021

by PartridgeSenpai Mon Nov 15, 2021 3:54 am

Partridge Senpai's 2021 Beaten Games:
Previously: 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
* indicates a repeat

Games 1~51
1. Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland (PS3)
2. Portal 2 (PC) *
3. Atelier Judie: The Alchemist of Gramnad (PS2)
4. Pipo Saru 2001 (PS2)
5. Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (N64)
6. Atelier Viorate: The Alchemist of Gramnad 2 (PS2)
7. Kirby's Dream Land 3 (SFC)
8. The Legend of Mystical Ninja (SFC)
9. Atelier Marie: The Alchemist of Salburg (PS1)
10. Ganbare Goemon 2 (SFC)
11. Paper Mario: Origami King (Switch)
12. Star Fox 64 (N64) *
13. Super Paper Mario (Wii) *
14. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (GC) *
15. Demon's Crest (SNES)
16. Cathedral (Switch)
17. Super Mario 3D World (Switch) *
18. Bowser's Fury (Switch)
19. Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos (Switch)
20. moon (Switch)
21. Casltevania 64 (N64)
22. Captain Rainbow (Wii)
23. Doraemon: Nobita To Mittsu No Seireiseki (N64)
24. Blast Corps (N64)
25. Doraemon 2: Nobita To Hikari No Shinden (N64)
26. Custom Robo (N64)
27. Doraemon 3: Nobita No Machi SOS! (N64)
28. 64 Trump Collection: Alice No Wakuwaku Trump World (N64)
29. The Sunken City (PS4)
30. Lair of the Clockwork God (Switch)
31. Star Fox Adventures (GC)
32. Atelier Elie: The Alchemist of Salburg 2 (PS1)
33. Billy Hatcher & The Giant Egg (GC)
34. Mole Mania (GB)
35. Gargoyle's Quest (GB)
36. Rock Man 4 (Famicom) *
37. Wai Wai World (Famicom)
38. Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (GB)
39. Mega Man (Switch) *
40. Mega Man 2 (Switch) *
41. Mega Man 3 (Switch) *
42. Rock Man 5 (Famicom) *
43. Mega Man 6 (Switch)
44. Mega Man 7 (Switch) *
45. Mega Man 8 (Switch) *
46. Mega Man 9 (Switch) *
47. Mega Man 10 (Switch)
48. Rock Man World 2 (GB) *
49. Rock Man World 3 (GB)
50. Rock Man World 4 (GB)
51. Rock Man World 5 (GB)

Games 52~100
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)
65. Magical Taruruuto Kun: FANTASTIC WORLD!! (Famicom)
66. Maken Shao (PS2)
67. Getsu Fuuma Den (Famicom)
68. Rock Man D.A.S.H (PSP)
69. Brave Fencer Musashi (PS1)
70. Joe & Mac (SFC) *
71. Atelier Lilie: The Alchemist of Salburg 3 (PS2)
72. Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link (Famicom)
73. The Bouncer (PS2)
74. Rapid Angel (PS1)
75. Atelier Totori: The Alchemist of Arland 2 (PS3)
76. Drakengard 3 (PS3)
77. Alwa's Awakening (Switch)
78. Hermina & Culus (PS2)
79. Atelier Meruru: The Alchemist of Arland 3 (PS3)
80. Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti (Switch)
81. Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana (PS2)
82. Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana 2 (PS2)
83. Mario Kart 64 (N64)
84. Super Mario Kart (SFC)
85. Mario Kart Super Circuit (3DS)
86. Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time (N64) *
87. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64) *
88. Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap (3DS) *
89. Rock Man X: Command Mission (GC)
90. Pikmin (GC) *
91. Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GC) *
92. Far East of Eden 2: Manjimaru (GC)
93. Pikmin 2 (GC) *
94. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GC) *
95. Shin Megami Tensei (SFC)
96. Metroid Prime (GC)
97. Bomberman Jetters (GC)
98. Maximo (PS2)
99. Operation Logic Bomb (SNES)
100. Bombuzal (SFC)

101. Splatterhouse (PCE)
102. Shin Megami Tensei 2 (SFC)
103. Shin Megami Tensei if... (SFC)
104. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner (Saturn)
105. Alundra (PS1)
106. Lunar: Silver Star Story (Saturn)
107. Tales of Xillia (PS3)
108. Digimon Rumble Arena (PS1)
109. Blue Stinger (DC)
110. Clockwork Knight (Saturn)
111. Tales of Xillia 2 (PS3)
112. Nightmare Creatures (PS1)
113. Tales of Rebirth (PSP)

114. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children: Red Book (GBC)

For this month's TR theme about playing handheld entries in traditionally console-based series (and vice versa), I decided to give SMT: Devil Children a go~. All I really knew about it was that it was Atlus's Japan-only take on Pokemon, but outside of that nothing. It ended up being a really interesting take on SMT, and the design changes and innovations to make it work like a Pokemon-style thing would made for a neat experience. It took me around 15 hours to finish the game's main story via my GameCube's GBA Player.

There are three versions of Devil Children, but the two that were originally put out were Red Book and Black Book (very much leaning into the Pokemon-ness of it all with having multiple versions). They each have a different but similar story, and Red Book's is about a 5th grader, Mirai, searching in the makai for her missing father after being attacked by a weird demon at school. The story is a remarkably interesting and involved one, given what I expected. It does a great job of making an SMT story still series and focused on Chaos Vs. Law (or in this case, Devils Vs. Angels) in a way that softens the presentation down to something kids could gel with but without too heavily cheapening the messaging. Mirai is a great character who is very much a kid but also doesn't take any nonsense from people she thinks are trying to take advantage of her. The protagonist of Black Book even features heavily in this as well. The two stories are largely parallels of one another, but they're different enough that I'm actually considering hunting down a copy of Black Book (or the third game, White Book) to see what that take on the story is.

The mechanics of Devil Children are where things really get interesting. It's very much "what if SMT was Pokemon", but the way in which that is achieved makes for a unique if somewhat roughly balanced experience. Mirai herself doesn't fight, and instead has befriended demons do the fighting for her. Her first demon is a Griffon named Bell (the other main characters get different main monsters), and this mascot main monster will be with you and an important character for the length of the game. Beyond that, you have six more monsters who can be loaded into your Devilizer (a little pink pistol with a pentagram on the side) as well as eventually another three (and eventually again six) more monsters in your King-izer. The battles are two vs. two, and with Bell automatically taking the front spot of the Devilizer (although not counting as one of its six occupants), your demons emerge in the order they're loaded into each gun as they're KO'd. It's not a revolutionary system by any means, but it's a cool spin on the Pokemon formula in an era before those games had 2-on-2 battles of any description.

You also have SMT's trademark demon fusion mechanic, as your demons don't gain levels like a Pokemon would. In order to get stronger demons, you need to take them to the research center and fuse them. Something that makes this game somewhat unique among SMT games is that not only can you have more demons than just the ones in your party (they go in a PC, just like in Pokemon), you can actually have more than one demon of the same type, however. If you fuse two demons of the same type (or ones incompatible to make some greater fusion), it will power-up the first demon selected with slightly stronger stats and sometimes stronger spells. This consumption of other demons is also how your mascot-companion (in this case, Bell the Griffon) levels up in power. Outright stronger demons or demons that just have stronger abilities are often most useful than trying to slowly upgrade already good monsters like this, but it's a cool feature to extend the life of already useful demons.

It's a neat system for a Pokemon-type game, and it succeeds at being different enough from something like Dragon Quest: Monsters' monster breeding to feel like something new from that as well. My only real complaint is that this game really could've used a compatibility chart for fusions like the console games have. Testing one demon after another countless times just to see if you have any new fusions possible with the new demon you befriended gets old FAST, and not having to do that would've been nice. Thankfully, the UI goes pretty quick, and you can even speed up fusion animations in another very player-friendly bit of UI design.


The demons themselves fight very similarly to how they do in the Super Famicom SMT games (no demon loyalty mechanics like the Devil Summoner games, mercifully). They can do normal attacks, do magic attacks for MP, and also do special moves at the cost of HP. Something also very much like SMT is the balancing of the game. Your monsters are just as strong as the things you're fighting, and just like in basically every other SMT game before this, you're incredibly vulnerable to getting the tar kicked out of you in the early game because you just don't have the tools and resources to keep fighting yet. This is a balancing issue that's more or less resolved by the time you beat the first real area of the game, but given that this is something that's supposed to be competing with first-generation Pokemon, just how tough the game often is, particularly right at the start, came off as a very strange design choice to me.

Something a bit different from the console games, however, is that, due to how the human of the group isn't a fighter, it's the demons who both use items and do the demon negotiations. It's a very simplified system compared to the console entries though. It's just a roll of the dice to see if the demon you picked to negotiate gets a positive reaction out of the target demon, they'll almost always join you (although they'll rarely give you money or an item instead). Given how often you'll be recruiting repeat demons for the incremental power fusions and normal fusions, just how well this has been streamlined is one of my favorite changes to the formula that this game brings to the table in the spirit of making it more fast-paced and Pokemon-like.

Another big highlight of the game is its presentation. Almost 300 demons (with basically no palette swaps at all) from the normal SMT games are here in adorably re-imagined super deformed chibi versions and they're a delight to discover. All of the art, from the cutscenes and character art to the super colorful and popping environments are super well done and really impressive for a black-cart GBC game. I almost wish I had a normal GameBoy to play this on, since I'm really curious to see how all of this translates to being played in monochrome. The music is also quite nice, being a fun mix of quite Pokemon-y tunes but having a bit of SMT flare to them to make them more than just wannabees.

Verdict: Highly Recommended. It has its flaws (and sadly lacks a fan translation), but this is a super fun and solidly put together game. The art is great, the story is fun, and the gameplay is addicting (and even has a pretty darn tough post-game to toy around with too, if you want). It's a little short, but it can be gotten for super cheap. If this ever gets a fan translation or if you can read Japanese, this is definitely a GBC game worth checking out if you're a fan of SMT, Pokemon-style games, or just RPGs in general.
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REPO Man
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Re: Games Beaten 2021

by REPO Man Tue Nov 16, 2021 4:55 pm

Borderlands: Claptrap's New Robotic Revolution for Switch as Brick, Playthrough 1.

Currently on Playthrough 2, redoing Zombie Island of Dr. Ned. Im trying to get at a high enough level to go back to Playthrough 1 and take on Crawmerax.
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