RobertAugustdeMeijer wrote:Boku No Natsuyasumi sounds amazing, thanks for mentioning it in detail!
Thank you~ ^w^
Games Beaten 2023
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PartridgeSenpai
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 3068
- Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 9:27 am
- Location: Northern Japan
Re: Games Beaten 2023
Thank you~ ^w^
I identify everyone via avatar, so if you change your avatar, I genuinely might completely forget who you are. -- Me
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Raging Justice
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 1834
- Joined: Sun May 30, 2021 2:11 pm
Re: Games Beaten 2023
Octopath Traveler II - PS5
So I'm gonna have to play Octopath Traveler on the Switch now, cause I really enjoyed this. From what I hear, it's similar to the first game, just better.
I LOVE the art style. Even when I saw a trailer for this I was like, "This looks gorgeous". The game is great on all consoles from what I've read, but it's nice to see this gorgeous thing on a PS 5, though I imagine it's probably even prettier on PC.
The soundtrack is fucking awesome. Seriously. I started the game with Hikari, the "warrior's path" (cause why the fuck would you start the game with anyone else?) and the opening battles immediately drew me in with the epic music.
The battle system is awesome. I love figuring out how to break enemy defenses and I love how boosting affects all of your abilities. Seeing how each character's unique abilities effect combat is really fun. I loved stealing money from enemies and farming job points with Partitio, as well as his ability to easily fill up his health and MP anytime I wanted. I love getting an advantage during nighttime battles with the Temenos and Osvald. Early in the game I was having a blast counter attacking everything with Hikari when he was the only character in my party. Go ahead enemies! Hit me! I dare you! See how that works out for you LOL
Seeing how characters abilities work in and out of battle as well is really cool, though it's unfortunate that some of them overlap, which chips away at the idea of every character being unique a bit. Exploring towns is so much more fun than most RPGs because of how you can use party members' abilities on towns people.
The day/night system is cool too. It's actually a fun part of the game whereas in something like Final Fantasy XV it's just annoying.
I enjoyed seeing each character's story play out too, it's almost feels like you're playing multiple rpgs from different characters' perspectives.
I like how non linear the game is from how you choose to pursue everyone's story line to how you want to explore the world.
On the negative side, random battles can get excessive and the English dub predictably sucks. It's REALLY bad and I absolutely DO NOT recommend playing the game that way.
So I'm gonna have to play Octopath Traveler on the Switch now, cause I really enjoyed this. From what I hear, it's similar to the first game, just better.
I LOVE the art style. Even when I saw a trailer for this I was like, "This looks gorgeous". The game is great on all consoles from what I've read, but it's nice to see this gorgeous thing on a PS 5, though I imagine it's probably even prettier on PC.
The soundtrack is fucking awesome. Seriously. I started the game with Hikari, the "warrior's path" (cause why the fuck would you start the game with anyone else?) and the opening battles immediately drew me in with the epic music.
The battle system is awesome. I love figuring out how to break enemy defenses and I love how boosting affects all of your abilities. Seeing how each character's unique abilities effect combat is really fun. I loved stealing money from enemies and farming job points with Partitio, as well as his ability to easily fill up his health and MP anytime I wanted. I love getting an advantage during nighttime battles with the Temenos and Osvald. Early in the game I was having a blast counter attacking everything with Hikari when he was the only character in my party. Go ahead enemies! Hit me! I dare you! See how that works out for you LOL
Seeing how characters abilities work in and out of battle as well is really cool, though it's unfortunate that some of them overlap, which chips away at the idea of every character being unique a bit. Exploring towns is so much more fun than most RPGs because of how you can use party members' abilities on towns people.
The day/night system is cool too. It's actually a fun part of the game whereas in something like Final Fantasy XV it's just annoying.
I enjoyed seeing each character's story play out too, it's almost feels like you're playing multiple rpgs from different characters' perspectives.
I like how non linear the game is from how you choose to pursue everyone's story line to how you want to explore the world.
On the negative side, random battles can get excessive and the English dub predictably sucks. It's REALLY bad and I absolutely DO NOT recommend playing the game that way.
Re: Games Beaten 2023
Previous Years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
First 50:
51. This Way Madness Lies - PC
52. Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries: The Dragon's Gambit - PC
53. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty - PC
54. Sprawl - PC
55. Zortch - PC
56. Ion Fury: Aftershock - PC
57. Spider-Man 2 - PS5
58. Alan Wake II - PC
59. Ghostrunner II - PC
60. RoboCop: Rogue City - PC
61. Super Mario RPG - Switch
62. Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold - PC
Blake Stone is a Wolfenstein-based FPS that was released to try and get some sales before Doom launched. Unfortunately, it ended up coming out only a week before Doom. It's a solid iteration on Wolfenstein 3D's formula, adding in new enemies and new level gimmicks. While you're still stuck with the fundamental limitations of a block-based single-level game, it ends up being more interesting than its progenitor. It just got blown out of the water by Doom.
The goal of every level but the last one in each episode is to find the red key and use it in the elevator to travel to the next level. The last level is the boss level, where you kill a boss and then run to the exit. Unlike Wolfenstein, here the elevator is both your entrance and exit to each level, and you can revisit previous levels (which have their state saved), allowing you to do things like pick up spare ammo and health you didn't get before, or do more secret hunting.
The game replaces the knife with a silenced gun with a slow firing rate; this makes getting up and running a bit easier. Then it has reskinned versions of the three Wolfenstein guns, and the best of these is the one you'll use most of the game. It does add one new weapon; a blaster launcher that fires grenade-like projectiles that move slowly, deal giant damage, use giant ammo, and don't hurt you. This is how you fight bosses, and it absolutely melts them.
On the enemy front, they fall into a few categories. You've got hitscan enemies, slow projectile enemies, and contact enemies. Hitscan is familiar to Wolfenstein 3D players; the damage is random with the top end of the range being based on distance (closer is more damage). Slow projectile enemies fire shots that can be dodged. Contact enemies deal ticking damage as they contact your hitbox. This can quickly drain you to nothing, so these are your highest priority. There's also some quirks added. The best guard sometimes fakes his death (different ground sprite and "death" sound); after a random time he'll get back up. The first couple times it fools you, then you learn the gimmick and gameplay screeches to a halt while you wait for it to stand back up. Water elementals move around as an invincible puddle on the floor; only when they get up to shoot can they be killed. Like the elite guards, it's a lot of waiting for them to become vulnerable. Finally, the plasma elementals fire a massive burst of slow projectiles that can take you from full to dead if you take it all, and sometimes there is a wall texture that serves as a spawner; these are invincible turn those rooms into "get out super fast before you get overwhelmed".
On the level design front, the game adds a few new gimmicks. Sometimes enemies drop a currency that can be spent on vending machines for healing. Some doors are one way (with a very obvious decal explaining the direction), which forces you to be funneled into longer paths. There are also switches on the wall that can lower a series of pillars or turn off an electric barrier. You'll need to find these switches to progress. The game goes pretty overboard with the secrets; you can have secrets chain into secrets into secrets. There was only one instance where a secret was required for progression, and it was blatantly obvious that a secret existed. Otherwise they are optional but worthwhile on the first stage to get a good gun.
Overall Blake Stone is a solid evolution of the gameplay introduced in Wolfenstein 3D, but it can't hold a candle to what Doom was bringing. If you want more Wolf-style action it's worth a play, but it doesn't have the same "play it for historical reasons" that Wolf 3D has.
First 50:
51. This Way Madness Lies - PC
52. Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries: The Dragon's Gambit - PC
53. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty - PC
54. Sprawl - PC
55. Zortch - PC
56. Ion Fury: Aftershock - PC
57. Spider-Man 2 - PS5
58. Alan Wake II - PC
59. Ghostrunner II - PC
60. RoboCop: Rogue City - PC
61. Super Mario RPG - Switch
62. Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold - PC
Blake Stone is a Wolfenstein-based FPS that was released to try and get some sales before Doom launched. Unfortunately, it ended up coming out only a week before Doom. It's a solid iteration on Wolfenstein 3D's formula, adding in new enemies and new level gimmicks. While you're still stuck with the fundamental limitations of a block-based single-level game, it ends up being more interesting than its progenitor. It just got blown out of the water by Doom.
The goal of every level but the last one in each episode is to find the red key and use it in the elevator to travel to the next level. The last level is the boss level, where you kill a boss and then run to the exit. Unlike Wolfenstein, here the elevator is both your entrance and exit to each level, and you can revisit previous levels (which have their state saved), allowing you to do things like pick up spare ammo and health you didn't get before, or do more secret hunting.
The game replaces the knife with a silenced gun with a slow firing rate; this makes getting up and running a bit easier. Then it has reskinned versions of the three Wolfenstein guns, and the best of these is the one you'll use most of the game. It does add one new weapon; a blaster launcher that fires grenade-like projectiles that move slowly, deal giant damage, use giant ammo, and don't hurt you. This is how you fight bosses, and it absolutely melts them.
On the enemy front, they fall into a few categories. You've got hitscan enemies, slow projectile enemies, and contact enemies. Hitscan is familiar to Wolfenstein 3D players; the damage is random with the top end of the range being based on distance (closer is more damage). Slow projectile enemies fire shots that can be dodged. Contact enemies deal ticking damage as they contact your hitbox. This can quickly drain you to nothing, so these are your highest priority. There's also some quirks added. The best guard sometimes fakes his death (different ground sprite and "death" sound); after a random time he'll get back up. The first couple times it fools you, then you learn the gimmick and gameplay screeches to a halt while you wait for it to stand back up. Water elementals move around as an invincible puddle on the floor; only when they get up to shoot can they be killed. Like the elite guards, it's a lot of waiting for them to become vulnerable. Finally, the plasma elementals fire a massive burst of slow projectiles that can take you from full to dead if you take it all, and sometimes there is a wall texture that serves as a spawner; these are invincible turn those rooms into "get out super fast before you get overwhelmed".
On the level design front, the game adds a few new gimmicks. Sometimes enemies drop a currency that can be spent on vending machines for healing. Some doors are one way (with a very obvious decal explaining the direction), which forces you to be funneled into longer paths. There are also switches on the wall that can lower a series of pillars or turn off an electric barrier. You'll need to find these switches to progress. The game goes pretty overboard with the secrets; you can have secrets chain into secrets into secrets. There was only one instance where a secret was required for progression, and it was blatantly obvious that a secret existed. Otherwise they are optional but worthwhile on the first stage to get a good gun.
Overall Blake Stone is a solid evolution of the gameplay introduced in Wolfenstein 3D, but it can't hold a candle to what Doom was bringing. If you want more Wolf-style action it's worth a play, but it doesn't have the same "play it for historical reasons" that Wolf 3D has.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
Re: Games Beaten 2023
I used to play Blake Stone on my old PC that I had as a kid. It was a second-hand Packard Bell my folks got me and my brother in the mid-to-late '90s. Anyway my mom got this CD filled with TONS of freeware and shareware games and Blake Stone was one of them.
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prfsnl_gmr
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 12304
- Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:26 pm
- Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Re: Games Beaten 2023
First 40
41. Metal Slug 3 (Neo Geo)
42. Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (Switch)
43. Twinkle Star Sprites (Neo Geo)
Metal Slug 3 is a Metal Slug game, which means you run from left to right dodging bullets and shooting stuff. It is designed to drain quarters, and it took my son and I almost 100(!) credits to reach the ending. It was worth it, though, because this game is WILD. It features, at various points, aliens, commandos, zombies, giant hermit crabs, Japanese soldiers who think they’re still fighting WWII, magical statues, submarines, and camels with machine guns mounted to their humps. Some sections transform the game into horizontally and vertically scrolling shmups. There are secret routes through some of the levels, and the game is just so much fun (despite, at points, being wildly unfair). Writing about it makes me want to play it again, not to do better, but just to see what else the game has to offer. Highly recommended.
Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is a metroidvania from Tram Ladybug. Deedlit is a character in the classic manga/OVA Record of Lodoss War, and it’s really cool to see a new game based on this criminally underutilized IP. (For this unfamiliar with it, Record of Lodoss War basically a Japanese take on D&D.) The gameplay and character animation, however, is very clearly inspired by Konami’s SOTN, and Team Ladybug has nailed SOTN’s aesthetic more than any other developer. Deedlit glides across the floor like Alucard, and detailed sprites scale and rotate just like they do in Konami’s classic. Better, Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth features excellent combat and gameplay mechanics that exceed its inspirations. Specifically, Deedlit can shift between two elements - fire and wind - to change her attack power, mobility, and weaknesses. Shifting between these two elements is critical to navigating the titular Wonder Labyrinth and defeating the game’s vicious enemies. Attacking with one element charges the other, and when an element is at full power, it slowly replenishes your life. Taking a hit drops the element a level, though, and during boss fights in particular, you must strategically shift between elements to absorb attacks, exploit weaknesses, dodge projectiles, and replenish your life. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it’s ultimately very engaging.
Where Deedlit ultimately does not live up to its predecessor, though, is with regard to the level design. The whole experience is very linear, with very clear signposting. There are some limited reasons for backtracking, but the game does not encourage exploration or provide much of a sense of discovery. Each area in the Wonder Labyrinth is distinguished, mostly, by its background, and you won’t see different platforming mechanics between areas the way you do in SOTN or Metroid. Finally, while the game throws a variety of bows and weapons at you, there really isn’t much of a difference between the overwhelming majority of them (i.e., there’s nothing like SOTN’s shield rod), making all the equipment fee a bit unnecessary.
Despite these complaints, I still really enjoyed Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, and it definitely a solid Metroidvania. I think Team Ladybug has the potential to make a really great game one day, and this game, which is much better than Touhou Luna Nights, provides me some comfort they’re on the right track.
Twinkle Star Sprites is, basically, a competitive, vertically-scrolling shmup. That is, you control a character on the left side of the screen, dodging projectiles and shooting enemies. Your opponent does the same thing on the right side of the screen. When you destroy certain types of enemies or chain attacks, you can direct enemies and projectiles at your opponent, like junk blocks in a competitive puzzle game. The last player standing wins. The game has a cute anime aesthetic, and it’s very, very poorly translated, which adds to the charm. The two-player competitive mode is the real draw here, since it allows you to select from a variety of characters with different strengths and weaknesses, like a fighting game or competitive puzzle game. Still, it has a short “story” mode allowing you to tour the game’s content. This mode is pretty easy right until the end, when the difficulty spikes through the roof. Despite this, I still enjoyed the game, and it’s worth trying out for its unique concept if nothing else (especially if you have a buddy who’s pretty good at shmups with you). Recommended.
41. Metal Slug 3 (Neo Geo)
42. Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (Switch)
43. Twinkle Star Sprites (Neo Geo)
Metal Slug 3 is a Metal Slug game, which means you run from left to right dodging bullets and shooting stuff. It is designed to drain quarters, and it took my son and I almost 100(!) credits to reach the ending. It was worth it, though, because this game is WILD. It features, at various points, aliens, commandos, zombies, giant hermit crabs, Japanese soldiers who think they’re still fighting WWII, magical statues, submarines, and camels with machine guns mounted to their humps. Some sections transform the game into horizontally and vertically scrolling shmups. There are secret routes through some of the levels, and the game is just so much fun (despite, at points, being wildly unfair). Writing about it makes me want to play it again, not to do better, but just to see what else the game has to offer. Highly recommended.
Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is a metroidvania from Tram Ladybug. Deedlit is a character in the classic manga/OVA Record of Lodoss War, and it’s really cool to see a new game based on this criminally underutilized IP. (For this unfamiliar with it, Record of Lodoss War basically a Japanese take on D&D.) The gameplay and character animation, however, is very clearly inspired by Konami’s SOTN, and Team Ladybug has nailed SOTN’s aesthetic more than any other developer. Deedlit glides across the floor like Alucard, and detailed sprites scale and rotate just like they do in Konami’s classic. Better, Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth features excellent combat and gameplay mechanics that exceed its inspirations. Specifically, Deedlit can shift between two elements - fire and wind - to change her attack power, mobility, and weaknesses. Shifting between these two elements is critical to navigating the titular Wonder Labyrinth and defeating the game’s vicious enemies. Attacking with one element charges the other, and when an element is at full power, it slowly replenishes your life. Taking a hit drops the element a level, though, and during boss fights in particular, you must strategically shift between elements to absorb attacks, exploit weaknesses, dodge projectiles, and replenish your life. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it’s ultimately very engaging.
Where Deedlit ultimately does not live up to its predecessor, though, is with regard to the level design. The whole experience is very linear, with very clear signposting. There are some limited reasons for backtracking, but the game does not encourage exploration or provide much of a sense of discovery. Each area in the Wonder Labyrinth is distinguished, mostly, by its background, and you won’t see different platforming mechanics between areas the way you do in SOTN or Metroid. Finally, while the game throws a variety of bows and weapons at you, there really isn’t much of a difference between the overwhelming majority of them (i.e., there’s nothing like SOTN’s shield rod), making all the equipment fee a bit unnecessary.
Despite these complaints, I still really enjoyed Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, and it definitely a solid Metroidvania. I think Team Ladybug has the potential to make a really great game one day, and this game, which is much better than Touhou Luna Nights, provides me some comfort they’re on the right track.
Twinkle Star Sprites is, basically, a competitive, vertically-scrolling shmup. That is, you control a character on the left side of the screen, dodging projectiles and shooting enemies. Your opponent does the same thing on the right side of the screen. When you destroy certain types of enemies or chain attacks, you can direct enemies and projectiles at your opponent, like junk blocks in a competitive puzzle game. The last player standing wins. The game has a cute anime aesthetic, and it’s very, very poorly translated, which adds to the charm. The two-player competitive mode is the real draw here, since it allows you to select from a variety of characters with different strengths and weaknesses, like a fighting game or competitive puzzle game. Still, it has a short “story” mode allowing you to tour the game’s content. This mode is pretty easy right until the end, when the difficulty spikes through the roof. Despite this, I still enjoyed the game, and it’s worth trying out for its unique concept if nothing else (especially if you have a buddy who’s pretty good at shmups with you). Recommended.
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Raging Justice
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 1834
- Joined: Sun May 30, 2021 2:11 pm
Re: Games Beaten 2023
prfsnl_gmr wrote:First 40
41. Metal Slug 3 (Neo Geo)
42. Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (Switch)
43. Twinkle Star Sprites (Neo Geo)
Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is a metroidvania from Tram Ladybug. Deedlit is a character in the classic manga/OVA Record of Lodoss War, and it’s really cool to see a new game based on this criminally underutilized IP. (For this unfamiliar with it, Record of Lodoss War basically a Japanese take on D&D.) The gameplay and character animation, however, is very clearly inspired by Konami’s SOTN, and Team Ladybug has nailed SOTN’s aesthetic more than any other developer. Deedlit glides across the floor like Alucard, and detailed sprites scale and rotate just like they do in Konami’s classic. Better, Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth features excellent combat and gameplay mechanics that exceed its inspirations. Specifically, Deedlit can shift between two elements - fire and wind - to change her attack power, mobility, and weaknesses. Shifting between these two elements is critical to navigating the titular Wonder Labyrinth and defeating the game’s vicious enemies. Attacking with one element charges the other, and when an element is at full power, it slowly replenishes your life. Taking a hit drops the element a level, though, and during boss fights in particular, you must strategically shift between elements to absorb attacks, exploit weaknesses, dodge projectiles, and replenish your life. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it’s ultimately very engaging.
I need to grab a physical copy of Deedlit. It's a fun game and doesn't have a bunch of patches, DLC, etc. Perfect for a collector, everything is there on the cart. I've been nabbing more Switch physical games lately. It's becoming my favorite console
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Raging Justice
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 1834
- Joined: Sun May 30, 2021 2:11 pm
Re: Games Beaten 2023
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
So I finished Super Mario Bros. Wonder 100% with Luigi after going back and forth deciding if I even wanted to. Initially, I was finding the game quite fun, but as I got further into the game some levels started pissing me off, particularly some of those 4 and 5 star difficulty stages and some of those Special World stages. The final two Special World stages, especially the last one (called The Final Final Test) are especially obnoxious. The last one is difficult to complete only because of a dearth of checkpoints and absolutely zero power ups. It's EXTREMELY frustrating when you die and have to play through two difficult sections all over again just to get back to the section that you ACTUALLY need to play again in order to figure out where you went wrong. There's a lot of really tricky, difficult platforming in this level, but more than anything it was the lack of checkpoints that pissed me off. It's 2023, this kind of shit shouldn't exist in video games anymore.
I finally beat that level with Yoshi, who I don't like using because it's almost like cheating when you use him or Nabbit, but that level pissed me off so much I stopped caring. Yoshi's floaty jump, and that's what it is by the way, I'm sick of people calling it a double jump, makes parts of that stage slightly easier and his invulnerability to anything other than bottomless pits also helps. It's still a hard level though, the pitfalls will kill you more than anything and he's as vulnerable to that as any other playable character.
I initially loved the talking flowers, but having one of them tell me useless shit like, "take a breath, focus" during this obnoxious level made me hate them.
Oh, and making players play with an invisible character is maybe one of the most obnoxious things I have ever seen in a platformer. That section has pissed off many a player (not just me) in the final Special World level. The reward for 100% completion? A stupid joke item. Hardly worth the ABUSE the developers put you through in order to get it.
Also, the boss fights in Super Mario Bros. Wonder are ABSOLUTE GARBAGE. The final battle against Bowser is the first time that the game seems to be actually TRYING to deliver a really memorable boss fight. You know, if there is one area where 2d Sonic games STOMP 2d Mario games, it's boss battles. 2d Sonic games always deliver with the boss fights. Wonder has a series of battles against Bowser Jr. that are all pretty lame. Doesn't Bowser have other kids? Why do I have to keep fighting this twerp over and over and over again?
Honestly, the only thing fun about this game and the only thing that stands out about it compared to any other Mario game are the crazy things that happen whenever you collect a giant flower in any level. The entire stage changes in some crazy, unpredictable way, and everything in the level prior to this feels tame and boring by comparison. Of course, the final Special World stage doesn't have anything like that because that stage is meant to piss you off and nothing else. The crazy, giant star moments in each stage deliver the kind of memorable moments that you DON'T get from the boss battles. It's a trade off I guess.
I hate the badge system...no, scratch that, I hate the flagpole system. Landing at the top of the flagpole at the end of every level is part of 100% completion. If you fuck up the jump, you have to play the level over again (not fun if it was a particularly hard level). Due to this, you'll NEVER want to use any badge other than the hang gliding one or the floaty jump one (it's not a goddamn double jump) because they guarantee that you always land at the top of the flagpole. The flagpole thing makes all other badges pointless, not to mention how utterly worthless the "expert" badges would be regardless. All "expert" badges do is make the game harder.
So ultimately, douchey game design choices and shitty boss fights dragged this game down for me. Interestingly enough, for all the critical praise it's gotten from the press and some corners of the internet, there are a lot of reddit threads from people underwhelmed by the game, so maybe Wonder is a bit overrated.
I have played better platformers in the past decade or so. The Astro Bot games (ESPECIALLY Rescue Mission on PSVR) exude a level of joy, fun, discovery, and "wonder" far beyond Super Mario Bros. Wonder. So did Puppeteer back on the PS3. New Super Lucky's Tale was charming and never pissed me off like SMBW did. All better platformers, but nothing ever gets as much hype as a Mario game because he is literally the face of the genre with Sonic being his only competitor. If he's Goku, then Sonic is Vegeta. Plus, Nintendo first party games in general always get overhyped by Nintendo fanboys.
So I finished Super Mario Bros. Wonder 100% with Luigi after going back and forth deciding if I even wanted to. Initially, I was finding the game quite fun, but as I got further into the game some levels started pissing me off, particularly some of those 4 and 5 star difficulty stages and some of those Special World stages. The final two Special World stages, especially the last one (called The Final Final Test) are especially obnoxious. The last one is difficult to complete only because of a dearth of checkpoints and absolutely zero power ups. It's EXTREMELY frustrating when you die and have to play through two difficult sections all over again just to get back to the section that you ACTUALLY need to play again in order to figure out where you went wrong. There's a lot of really tricky, difficult platforming in this level, but more than anything it was the lack of checkpoints that pissed me off. It's 2023, this kind of shit shouldn't exist in video games anymore.
I finally beat that level with Yoshi, who I don't like using because it's almost like cheating when you use him or Nabbit, but that level pissed me off so much I stopped caring. Yoshi's floaty jump, and that's what it is by the way, I'm sick of people calling it a double jump, makes parts of that stage slightly easier and his invulnerability to anything other than bottomless pits also helps. It's still a hard level though, the pitfalls will kill you more than anything and he's as vulnerable to that as any other playable character.
I initially loved the talking flowers, but having one of them tell me useless shit like, "take a breath, focus" during this obnoxious level made me hate them.
Oh, and making players play with an invisible character is maybe one of the most obnoxious things I have ever seen in a platformer. That section has pissed off many a player (not just me) in the final Special World level. The reward for 100% completion? A stupid joke item. Hardly worth the ABUSE the developers put you through in order to get it.
Also, the boss fights in Super Mario Bros. Wonder are ABSOLUTE GARBAGE. The final battle against Bowser is the first time that the game seems to be actually TRYING to deliver a really memorable boss fight. You know, if there is one area where 2d Sonic games STOMP 2d Mario games, it's boss battles. 2d Sonic games always deliver with the boss fights. Wonder has a series of battles against Bowser Jr. that are all pretty lame. Doesn't Bowser have other kids? Why do I have to keep fighting this twerp over and over and over again?
Honestly, the only thing fun about this game and the only thing that stands out about it compared to any other Mario game are the crazy things that happen whenever you collect a giant flower in any level. The entire stage changes in some crazy, unpredictable way, and everything in the level prior to this feels tame and boring by comparison. Of course, the final Special World stage doesn't have anything like that because that stage is meant to piss you off and nothing else. The crazy, giant star moments in each stage deliver the kind of memorable moments that you DON'T get from the boss battles. It's a trade off I guess.
I hate the badge system...no, scratch that, I hate the flagpole system. Landing at the top of the flagpole at the end of every level is part of 100% completion. If you fuck up the jump, you have to play the level over again (not fun if it was a particularly hard level). Due to this, you'll NEVER want to use any badge other than the hang gliding one or the floaty jump one (it's not a goddamn double jump) because they guarantee that you always land at the top of the flagpole. The flagpole thing makes all other badges pointless, not to mention how utterly worthless the "expert" badges would be regardless. All "expert" badges do is make the game harder.
So ultimately, douchey game design choices and shitty boss fights dragged this game down for me. Interestingly enough, for all the critical praise it's gotten from the press and some corners of the internet, there are a lot of reddit threads from people underwhelmed by the game, so maybe Wonder is a bit overrated.
I have played better platformers in the past decade or so. The Astro Bot games (ESPECIALLY Rescue Mission on PSVR) exude a level of joy, fun, discovery, and "wonder" far beyond Super Mario Bros. Wonder. So did Puppeteer back on the PS3. New Super Lucky's Tale was charming and never pissed me off like SMBW did. All better platformers, but nothing ever gets as much hype as a Mario game because he is literally the face of the genre with Sonic being his only competitor. If he's Goku, then Sonic is Vegeta. Plus, Nintendo first party games in general always get overhyped by Nintendo fanboys.
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PartridgeSenpai
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 3068
- Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 9:27 am
- Location: Northern Japan
Re: Games Beaten 2023
Partridge Senpai's 2023 Beaten Games:
Previously: 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
* indicates a repeat
1~51
52. Gyakuten Saiban 3 (GBA) *
53. Pokemon Gold (GBC)
54. Beltlogger 9 (PS1)
55. 64 De Hakken!! Tamagotchi: Minna De Tamagotchi World (N64)
56. Koudelka (PS1)
57. Pilotwings 64 (N64)
58. Mickey's Speedway USA (N64)
59. Boku No Natsuyasumi (PS1)
60. Pokemon Stadium: Gold & Silver (N64)
Known in English as (very confusingly from the Japanese perspective) “Pokemon Stadium 2”, this, the third Pokemon Stadium game, has been one I’ve owned in some form or another for ages. I’d always written off all of these games as just too hard to bother with trying to ever finish to the point I saw the credits. Too much time to train up a team alongside historically having neither a working Transfer Pak nor the gen 1 and 2 games to use to do this stuff properly. However, with my recent Pokemon mania of playing through Pokemon Gold as well as having a Transfer Pak and even a copy of Pokemon Green as well as a link cable, I decided it was time to funnel my current N64 mania into a new mission: Finally reaching the credits of a Pokemon Stadium game. It’s sorta impossible to really try and calculate a “completion time” for these games, as I used both of my completed saves of Pokemon Green and Pokemon Gold to acquire and train up Pokemon to use in this thing, and that isn’t even counting the time I spent playing the game itself. At the very least, playing the Japanese versions on real hardware over the course of about a normal work week, it took me about six or seven days to get through everything with the teams I’d put together as well as using various rental Pokemon (as well as guides on how best to use them XP).
There really isn’t any story to speak of for any Pokemon Stadium game. They’re really just Pokemon battle simulators that have a bundle of single-player content as well as a free battle mode along with some mini-games if you’re hanging out with your friends and want something fun to do. The battle mechanics for those multiplayer modes are also very clever. Your moves and Pokemon are actually hidden behind what are effectively spoiler windows unless you decide to show them, so your opponent has no idea what Pokemon or moves you’re picking despite the fact that you’re both using the same screen to play. Up until this point, the most time I’d actually spent with this game was by far concentrated in the mini-games, and while they’re indeed really fun, they’re never gonna help you reach the credits XD.
As far as the single-player content goes, you have two main areas: the Gym Leader Castle and the Stadium. You’ll need to clear all of both areas to see the credits, and there’s actually an even harder version of everything you can unlock *after* the credits, but beating the first round of content was so hard, I had no intention of playing the second round if I had already reached the credits XD
In the Stadium, you have four tournaments, with two of those having four divisions (for a total of ten cups of eight battles you’ll need to clear to win this). You have the four divisions (which are basically difficulties) of the Nintendo Cup, which is any Pokemon allowed from levels 50-55. Then there’s the Little Cup, which is only Pokemon of level 5. There’s the Ultra Cup, which is Pokemon leveled 1 to 100 ( though all of your competitors have only level 100 Pokemon). Finally, you have my personal favorite, the four divisions of the Challenge Cup, which is basically a card draft type of tournament. You’re given a random team of six Pokemon, and it’s your job to try and use them to win the next eight battles with them. That one is great fun!
I trained up my own team to beat the Nintendo Cup, and then I had to use rental Pokemon (ones the game pre-provides for you to use, but are generally less good than any team you’d properly prepared yourself) for the Little and Ultra Cups. Those last two were easily the hardest and roughest parts of the game and not only because I had to use rental Pokemon. It’s largely because, if I hadn’t, grinding up a suitable team for both would’ve taken untold hours of work, and I had no interest in doing that. By and large, the stadium section is really good fun for the fun parts while being pretty miserable in the worse parts due to the RNG that’s required to win. Granted, that goes for any time you’re going to be using rental Pokemon in this game, but the Little Cup having so little room for error (as you’re all basically minimum level) means that it’s mostly an exercise in getting lucky enough to win no matter how well prepared you are.
The Gym Leader Castle is exactly what it sounds like, for the most part. You have the eight gym leaders from Johto as well as the Elite Four + Champion in little mini-gauntlets, and beating the gauntlet will clear the stage. There are two or three normal trainers before the gym leader themselves, but those trainers are usually so easy that they feel like something of a waste of time before the actual challenging gym leader. There are even the Kanto gym leaders to fight afterwards, but they’re generally a lot easier and also have no gauntlets to go through. This ends up making it feel very much indeed like playing actual generation 2 Pokemon, where Johto is the actually challenging part, and your run through of Kanto is more like a victory lap XD.
Unlike in the stadium cups, where beating a round without having any Pokemon get KO’d gives you a continue to use if you fail, there are no continues in the Gym Leader Castle, so it can be pretty unforgiving. The one nice thing about the Gym Leader Castle is that you can use whatever Pokemon you like in terms of both actual Pokemon as well as their respective levels. The AI trainers you fight against all have Pokemon of the same level as your highest Pokemon, so just bringing in a team of level 50 Pokemon (likely even the same ones you’re using for the stadium’s Nintendo Cup) makes this a very fun and challenging trial to overcome.
Overall, the single-player content’s design is a very mixed bag. If you’re using rental Pokemon, winning is often simply down to just getting lucky enough. That then goes double for the more poorly designed tournaments like the Little Cup. Even if you’re using a team you trained up yourself, just getting unlucky can mess you up way harder than in normal Pokemon games, as these games actually mirror official tournament rules in that you don’t get a choice to swap out Pokemon when you KO one of your opponent’s Pokemon. Another very annoying difficult spike is from how you bring a team of six, sure, but then you choose only three of them to actually battle with (and so does your opponent). This means you can have an immaculate team prepared, but since you just got unlucky with your three picks verses what your opponent picked, you’re super dead anyhow.
Pokemon is always a game of luck, to no small degree, so this stuff admittedly *does* go with the territory. Picking unluckily can screw over your AI opponents just as much as it can with you, of course, though I’m not about to admit that they don’t cheat sometimes here and there in knowing what you’re going to do before you do it. Team building is also fun, but it’s also very strategic. This is tournament rules Pokemon, and if you’re going to build your own teams in the GameBoy games, you need to build teams to win, not just ones with Pokemon you like (because the AI is absolutely here to win, no bones about it ^^; ). If that’s your kind of deal, then the single-player content here will likely be a good and challenging time, but if this all sounds dreadful, then it’s likely you’re going to have more fun just messing around in the single-player mode than actually trying to finish it in any respect (which, in my opinion at least, is the far more fun option to take XD).
As for the presentation, they absolutely knock it out of the park. The announcer over Pokemon matches makes things feel very silly and extra high energy, and the music is a ton of really fun renditions of tracks from the GameBoy games. The actual visuals are quite limited, of course, as this is largely just a battle simulator, but the Pokemon do look pretty damn good. By the end of your time with this game, you’ll be able to very well appreciate just why nearly half the credited developers on this are 3D modelers for the Pokemon XD. All 250+ are animated and rendered in delightful detail, and watching them fight and use their moves is always really fun. I’d actually never registered my own Pokemon to be used in one of these games before, despite having played them in some form for over 20 years now, and I really do have to say that it was an absolutely thrilling experience seeing my lads I’d spent so long training up burst onto the screen in 3D. The presentation does exactly what you’d hope it’d do, and it’s awesome.
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. While the multiplayer content is super fun and enough of a reason to check this game out all on its own, the single-player content is difficult enough that it is likely to really turn off completionists. It’s usually well polished, and certain parts like the Challenge Cup tournament are such unique game variants that I’ll just replay on my own for fun, but the luck required to actually overcome the difficulty present in the hardest tournaments is really just more trouble than it’s worth. At the end of the day, this is a very easy game to recommend to just try out and play, but it’s a much harder game to recommend you try to beat.
Previously: 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
* indicates a repeat
1~51
52. Gyakuten Saiban 3 (GBA) *
53. Pokemon Gold (GBC)
54. Beltlogger 9 (PS1)
55. 64 De Hakken!! Tamagotchi: Minna De Tamagotchi World (N64)
56. Koudelka (PS1)
57. Pilotwings 64 (N64)
58. Mickey's Speedway USA (N64)
59. Boku No Natsuyasumi (PS1)
60. Pokemon Stadium: Gold & Silver (N64)
Known in English as (very confusingly from the Japanese perspective) “Pokemon Stadium 2”, this, the third Pokemon Stadium game, has been one I’ve owned in some form or another for ages. I’d always written off all of these games as just too hard to bother with trying to ever finish to the point I saw the credits. Too much time to train up a team alongside historically having neither a working Transfer Pak nor the gen 1 and 2 games to use to do this stuff properly. However, with my recent Pokemon mania of playing through Pokemon Gold as well as having a Transfer Pak and even a copy of Pokemon Green as well as a link cable, I decided it was time to funnel my current N64 mania into a new mission: Finally reaching the credits of a Pokemon Stadium game. It’s sorta impossible to really try and calculate a “completion time” for these games, as I used both of my completed saves of Pokemon Green and Pokemon Gold to acquire and train up Pokemon to use in this thing, and that isn’t even counting the time I spent playing the game itself. At the very least, playing the Japanese versions on real hardware over the course of about a normal work week, it took me about six or seven days to get through everything with the teams I’d put together as well as using various rental Pokemon (as well as guides on how best to use them XP).
There really isn’t any story to speak of for any Pokemon Stadium game. They’re really just Pokemon battle simulators that have a bundle of single-player content as well as a free battle mode along with some mini-games if you’re hanging out with your friends and want something fun to do. The battle mechanics for those multiplayer modes are also very clever. Your moves and Pokemon are actually hidden behind what are effectively spoiler windows unless you decide to show them, so your opponent has no idea what Pokemon or moves you’re picking despite the fact that you’re both using the same screen to play. Up until this point, the most time I’d actually spent with this game was by far concentrated in the mini-games, and while they’re indeed really fun, they’re never gonna help you reach the credits XD.
As far as the single-player content goes, you have two main areas: the Gym Leader Castle and the Stadium. You’ll need to clear all of both areas to see the credits, and there’s actually an even harder version of everything you can unlock *after* the credits, but beating the first round of content was so hard, I had no intention of playing the second round if I had already reached the credits XD
In the Stadium, you have four tournaments, with two of those having four divisions (for a total of ten cups of eight battles you’ll need to clear to win this). You have the four divisions (which are basically difficulties) of the Nintendo Cup, which is any Pokemon allowed from levels 50-55. Then there’s the Little Cup, which is only Pokemon of level 5. There’s the Ultra Cup, which is Pokemon leveled 1 to 100 ( though all of your competitors have only level 100 Pokemon). Finally, you have my personal favorite, the four divisions of the Challenge Cup, which is basically a card draft type of tournament. You’re given a random team of six Pokemon, and it’s your job to try and use them to win the next eight battles with them. That one is great fun!
I trained up my own team to beat the Nintendo Cup, and then I had to use rental Pokemon (ones the game pre-provides for you to use, but are generally less good than any team you’d properly prepared yourself) for the Little and Ultra Cups. Those last two were easily the hardest and roughest parts of the game and not only because I had to use rental Pokemon. It’s largely because, if I hadn’t, grinding up a suitable team for both would’ve taken untold hours of work, and I had no interest in doing that. By and large, the stadium section is really good fun for the fun parts while being pretty miserable in the worse parts due to the RNG that’s required to win. Granted, that goes for any time you’re going to be using rental Pokemon in this game, but the Little Cup having so little room for error (as you’re all basically minimum level) means that it’s mostly an exercise in getting lucky enough to win no matter how well prepared you are.
The Gym Leader Castle is exactly what it sounds like, for the most part. You have the eight gym leaders from Johto as well as the Elite Four + Champion in little mini-gauntlets, and beating the gauntlet will clear the stage. There are two or three normal trainers before the gym leader themselves, but those trainers are usually so easy that they feel like something of a waste of time before the actual challenging gym leader. There are even the Kanto gym leaders to fight afterwards, but they’re generally a lot easier and also have no gauntlets to go through. This ends up making it feel very much indeed like playing actual generation 2 Pokemon, where Johto is the actually challenging part, and your run through of Kanto is more like a victory lap XD.
Unlike in the stadium cups, where beating a round without having any Pokemon get KO’d gives you a continue to use if you fail, there are no continues in the Gym Leader Castle, so it can be pretty unforgiving. The one nice thing about the Gym Leader Castle is that you can use whatever Pokemon you like in terms of both actual Pokemon as well as their respective levels. The AI trainers you fight against all have Pokemon of the same level as your highest Pokemon, so just bringing in a team of level 50 Pokemon (likely even the same ones you’re using for the stadium’s Nintendo Cup) makes this a very fun and challenging trial to overcome.
Overall, the single-player content’s design is a very mixed bag. If you’re using rental Pokemon, winning is often simply down to just getting lucky enough. That then goes double for the more poorly designed tournaments like the Little Cup. Even if you’re using a team you trained up yourself, just getting unlucky can mess you up way harder than in normal Pokemon games, as these games actually mirror official tournament rules in that you don’t get a choice to swap out Pokemon when you KO one of your opponent’s Pokemon. Another very annoying difficult spike is from how you bring a team of six, sure, but then you choose only three of them to actually battle with (and so does your opponent). This means you can have an immaculate team prepared, but since you just got unlucky with your three picks verses what your opponent picked, you’re super dead anyhow.
Pokemon is always a game of luck, to no small degree, so this stuff admittedly *does* go with the territory. Picking unluckily can screw over your AI opponents just as much as it can with you, of course, though I’m not about to admit that they don’t cheat sometimes here and there in knowing what you’re going to do before you do it. Team building is also fun, but it’s also very strategic. This is tournament rules Pokemon, and if you’re going to build your own teams in the GameBoy games, you need to build teams to win, not just ones with Pokemon you like (because the AI is absolutely here to win, no bones about it ^^; ). If that’s your kind of deal, then the single-player content here will likely be a good and challenging time, but if this all sounds dreadful, then it’s likely you’re going to have more fun just messing around in the single-player mode than actually trying to finish it in any respect (which, in my opinion at least, is the far more fun option to take XD).
As for the presentation, they absolutely knock it out of the park. The announcer over Pokemon matches makes things feel very silly and extra high energy, and the music is a ton of really fun renditions of tracks from the GameBoy games. The actual visuals are quite limited, of course, as this is largely just a battle simulator, but the Pokemon do look pretty damn good. By the end of your time with this game, you’ll be able to very well appreciate just why nearly half the credited developers on this are 3D modelers for the Pokemon XD. All 250+ are animated and rendered in delightful detail, and watching them fight and use their moves is always really fun. I’d actually never registered my own Pokemon to be used in one of these games before, despite having played them in some form for over 20 years now, and I really do have to say that it was an absolutely thrilling experience seeing my lads I’d spent so long training up burst onto the screen in 3D. The presentation does exactly what you’d hope it’d do, and it’s awesome.
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. While the multiplayer content is super fun and enough of a reason to check this game out all on its own, the single-player content is difficult enough that it is likely to really turn off completionists. It’s usually well polished, and certain parts like the Challenge Cup tournament are such unique game variants that I’ll just replay on my own for fun, but the luck required to actually overcome the difficulty present in the hardest tournaments is really just more trouble than it’s worth. At the end of the day, this is a very easy game to recommend to just try out and play, but it’s a much harder game to recommend you try to beat.
I identify everyone via avatar, so if you change your avatar, I genuinely might completely forget who you are. -- Me
-
elricorico
- 32-bit
- Posts: 232
- Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2012 11:02 pm
Re: Games Beaten 2023
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(Arcade)(XBONE)
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:Turtles in Time(Arcade) (XBONE)
3. Kirby Super Star Ultra (NDS)
4. Metal Slug II (PC)
5. Odin Sphere Leifthrasir (PS4)
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (Android)
7. Horizon Chase Turbo (PC)
8. Streets of Rage 4 (XBONE)
9. Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - Owltimate Edition (NS)
10. Legend of the Skyfish (Android)
11. Triangle Strategy (NS)
12. Sea of Stars (PC)
Today I'm calling Sea of Stars finished as I got the "true" ending. I played on PC Game Pass and put in a bit over 32 hours. I don't have every single achievement, but I got everything that mattered to me.
Sea of Stars had plenty of attention this year, and I'd say it is well deserved. It is one of the most beautiful retro styled games and puts together a solid story with a good combat engine and likeable characters. All the necessities of an RPG. Mostly good to great music and a pretty good pacing as well.
There were things I didn't love about it though. I found that every map is unnecessarily convoluted. No straight lines seem to exist in this game; you are either climbing, jumping, dropping, pushing, pulling and using a hookshot type item to get through every location. Just felt like a bit much. I also felt that the Chrono Trigger references got to be a little much. To the point that I felt it took away from some of the originality of the story just to get one or two more nostalgia hits crammed in there.
But those are minor gripes overall. If you've been a fan of RPGs going back through the 16 bit era then you probably owe it to yourself to give this a go. It is not a perfect game, but it is pretty great.
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:Turtles in Time(Arcade) (XBONE)
3. Kirby Super Star Ultra (NDS)
4. Metal Slug II (PC)
5. Odin Sphere Leifthrasir (PS4)
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (Android)
7. Horizon Chase Turbo (PC)
8. Streets of Rage 4 (XBONE)
9. Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - Owltimate Edition (NS)
10. Legend of the Skyfish (Android)
11. Triangle Strategy (NS)
12. Sea of Stars (PC)
Today I'm calling Sea of Stars finished as I got the "true" ending. I played on PC Game Pass and put in a bit over 32 hours. I don't have every single achievement, but I got everything that mattered to me.
Sea of Stars had plenty of attention this year, and I'd say it is well deserved. It is one of the most beautiful retro styled games and puts together a solid story with a good combat engine and likeable characters. All the necessities of an RPG. Mostly good to great music and a pretty good pacing as well.
There were things I didn't love about it though. I found that every map is unnecessarily convoluted. No straight lines seem to exist in this game; you are either climbing, jumping, dropping, pushing, pulling and using a hookshot type item to get through every location. Just felt like a bit much. I also felt that the Chrono Trigger references got to be a little much. To the point that I felt it took away from some of the originality of the story just to get one or two more nostalgia hits crammed in there.
But those are minor gripes overall. If you've been a fan of RPGs going back through the 16 bit era then you probably owe it to yourself to give this a go. It is not a perfect game, but it is pretty great.
Re: Games Beaten 2023
Beat the recently released Dead Island 2 expansion on PS5 as Ryan. Titled "Haus", the expansion is set in a Malibu villa that serves compound of a doomsday cult that the player is transported to after noticing an invite next to the hot tub at Emma's mansion. The whole thing reminded me of a season of American Horror Story, deftly weaving horrors both human and supernatural with a similar style and aesthetic.