Games Beaten 2023

Post by **Note** » Mon Dec 04, 2023 4:17 pm

Markies wrote:Overall, I absolutely loved Golden Sun! There are points where the dialogue can be a bit much and the map is a bit confusing at times, but I felt like I was grasping at straws to find something negative to say about it. As somebody who loves classic RPG's, Golden Sun is one of the finest examples I have ever played. It amazes me that it is from the same people as Beyond The Beyond. If you love classic RPG's or even want to get into them, play Golden Sun and you won't regret it!

Glad to hear you enjoyed Golden Sun, Markies! I played and beat it back around the time it came out and really liked it too. It was just one of those games that really clicked with me. I haven't revisited it in a long time, but I still consider it to be one of my favorite RPGs. However, I never finished the sequel Golden Sun: The Lost Age. I'm hoping to finally do that in 2024!

Post by **Note** » Mon Dec 04, 2023 4:55 pm

1. Kirby's Dream Land (GB)
2. River City Girls (Switch)
3. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES)
4. The Simpsons (Arcade)
5. Illusion of Gaia (SNES)
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (Switch)
7. Shining Force III [Scenario 1] (SAT)
8. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (SNES)
9. Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (PS1)
10. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (GEN)
11. X-Men Legends (PS2)
12. Snatcher (SCD)
13. Smash Remix (N64)
14. Golden Axe III (GEN)
15. Iridion II (GBA)
16. Fatal Fury Special (SNES)
17. Harmful Park (PS1)
18. Gunbird (SAT)
19. DoDonPachi (SAT)
20. Gley Lancer (GEN)
21. Streets of Rage 4 (Switch)*
22. Water Margin: A Tale of Clouds and Wind (GEN)
23. Demons of Asteborg (GEN)
24. Super Mario Land (GB)
25. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II (PS2)

26. Final Vendetta (Switch)

After being pretty impressed with Xeno Crisis, the developer Bitmap Bureau was on my radar. I thought they had done a great job with the graphics and gameplay of Xeno Crisis, and I was hoping they would take on the task of trying to create a beat 'em up for retro consoles too. To my surprise, Bitmap Bureau eventually did take on the beat 'em up genre, with Final Vendetta! Unfortunately the game did not receive a Genesis release (yet?), but it did get a physical release for the Neo Geo MVS and AES as well as appearing on most modern platforms. For our playthrough, I played as Duke and my partner played as Claire!

Final Vendetta draws from the 16-bit era of beat 'em ups, and is very much in a similar tone and style as Final Fight and Streets of Rage. You have a total of three characters to choose from, including Claire Sparks, the speedier character of the bunch, Duke Sancho, the all around style of character, and Miller T. Williams, who is the slower but stronger archetype. The game is relatively short level wise, with only six levels to venture through here. Final Vendetta originally made up for it by being quite difficult when originally released. However, with a subsequent patch that adjusted the difficulty and added a "Casual" mode for an easier playthrough, the game feels quite short when played on the easier settings. I think with the addition of two or three more levels and a save feature for the releases on modern platforms, the game would feel like a more thorough experience.

Regarding the move set, you have access to a regular attack, a special, and a block button. Having the ability to block in these games is a nice feature, as it isn't as common, but you can't just sit in the corner blocking. Eventually your defense will wear out and you'll take damage. You also have a super meter which fills up by using regular attacks. You'll only want to use your super attack when the meter is full, as if you use it without the meter being charged, it drains a good amount of life. Another convenient move you have access to is a dodge, which can be done by double tapping up or down.

Graphics wise, the pixel art here looks quite good, and it looks like something straight out of the 16-bit era. I really hope this game gets ported to more older consoles such as the Genesis and SNES, as I'd love to see how this game displays on my CRT setup. Music wise, the game has an energetic soundtrack and is definitely in the realm of SOR, with darker electronic rhythms that I think suit the genre well. One of my only complaints in these aspects of the game, is I just wish the enemies had a bit more variety. The level designs overall look good as well, and there's a few interesting environmental hazards throughout.

Overall, we had a good time playing Final Vendetta, but the game felt quite short. I think if the developer added two or three more levels, some additional enemy designs, and a save feature in the modern versions, it would improve the experience quite a bit. Also, I hope Final Vendetta gets ported to a wide range of consoles, similar to Xeno Crisis. It would be cool to see it running on some older consoles. For fans of the beat 'em up genre that have played the other popular releases, check this one out! I think there's a lot to like here!

Post by **marurun** » Mon Dec 04, 2023 4:59 pm

I really enjoyed Golden Sun on a mechanical level as well. And the story and characters were fine, though the dialogue and character conversations DEFINITELY tried my patience a bit. One can only suffer so much head shaking and "...".

Post by **Note** » Mon Dec 04, 2023 5:40 pm

1. Kirby's Dream Land (GB)
2. River City Girls (Switch)
3. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES)
4. The Simpsons (Arcade)
5. Illusion of Gaia (SNES)
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (Switch)
7. Shining Force III [Scenario 1] (SAT)
8. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (SNES)
9. Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (PS1)
10. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (GEN)
11. X-Men Legends (PS2)
12. Snatcher (SCD)
13. Smash Remix (N64)
14. Golden Axe III (GEN)
15. Iridion II (GBA)
16. Fatal Fury Special (SNES)
17. Harmful Park (PS1)
18. Gunbird (SAT)
19. DoDonPachi (SAT)
20. Gley Lancer (GEN)
21. Streets of Rage 4 (Switch)*
22. Water Margin: A Tale of Clouds and Wind (GEN)
23. Demons of Asteborg (GEN)
24. Super Mario Land (GB)
25. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II (PS2)
26. Final Vendetta (Switch)

27. Way of the Samurai (PS2)

Way of the Samurai is one of those titles I totally missed out on when released. I guess I just didn't see any coverage on it in magazines or hear any of my cousins or friends talk about it, as those two avenues were my main source of video game information in those days. However, I believe I initially read about in one of the articles on the main Racketboy site, in an Undiscovered Games list for the PS2. Ack also mentioned it was one of his favorites on the console, so I figured I'd give it a try. While browsing game stores with my partner in early November, I spotted a copy for sale at a local shop near me and went for it.

When the game starts, you have the ability to customize your appearance and outfit, which is a nice feature here. With each completed playthrough, you have the ability to unlock more options to adjust the main character. Way of the Samurai is an action adventure title that takes place in a time period when the era of the samurai is coming to an end and Japan is modernizing. When your adventure starts, you are just wandering into a small village called Rokkotsu Pass. You are instantly thrown right into the action, as a woman is being harassed, and you have to make a decision whether to help her or not. The game is relatively short, with a playthrough taking around an hour or so. However, the variety of branching paths cranks the replayability up a notch.

An interesting feature of Way of the Samurai, is that each decision you make has an effect on the plot and the path your character takes. There are a variety of warring factions in the game, and your decisions will dictate which faction you are aligned with. Depending on your choices and the faction you are a part of, you have the possibility of receiving one of six endings. For this particular playthrough, I was aligned with the group that was running and protecting the restaurant. It's also cool that characters from your faction will accompany you in certain sections of the game. It's a nice feature to have a companion fighting alongside you.

Regarding equipment, the only thing you have to worry about is your sword. Having a different sword equipped will change your amount of HP, your defense rating, and attack power. I thought this was a fun way to handle this aspect, as it gives you the ability of a bit more customization during the game, but at the same time, it's not a lot of item management. Different swords will also have different combat styles, so it's fun to experiment and see what suits you best. My favorite weapon ended up being the ninja sword, which gives you a totally different fighting style than the samurai swords found throughout the game. You can also give swords to a certain character who will save them for you, and then they can be used in another playthrough. However, I did not figure out when I should've done this during the adventure, so I haven't taken advantage of it just yet.

One of my only criticisms of Way of the Samurai is with the camera angles. There were a few sections where I was fighting characters indoors, and I just could not see what the hell was going on. For one battle in the restaurant early in the game, I ended up just dragging the fight outside to get a better camera angle. There is also a section where you need to sneak around a bit, but due to the camera angle, you can not see if there's any enemies in the upcoming section. This issue isn't game breaking, but it is frustrating, especially when the chance to heal yourself doesn't come too often in certain sections. Also, I was a bit surprised the game didn't have voice overs during the cut scenes, but it's not a big deal.

Overall, I had a great time with Way of the Samurai! I think it's a really unique title with an engaging battle system and a lot of replay value. I would like to explore the other paths and see the remaining endings in the game, as well as picking up the sequel on the PS2. The sequel looks to be a lot of fun as well. If you're a fan of action games, check this one out!

Post by **ElkinFencer10** » Mon Dec 04, 2023 7:46 pm

Games Beaten in 2023 - 48
* denotes a replay

January (5 Games Beaten)

February (7 Games Beaten)

March (7 Games Beaten)

April (3 Games Beaten)

May (0 Games Beaten)

June (6 Games Beaten)

July (8 Games Beaten)

August (3 Games Beaten)

September (0 Games Beaten)

October (4 Games Beaten)

November (4 Games Beaten)

December (1 Game Beaten)

48. Far Cry 6 - Xbox Series X - December 2

Far Cry is a series that I’ve only played a bit of but always enjoyed when I did. I absolutely loved Far Cry 4, and it was Far Cry Primal that got me into the series. Far Cry: Blood Dragon is an absolute masterpiece of 80s parody, and I even enjoyed Far Cry: Vengeance on the Wii back when it came out. Far Cry 6 is no exception; the game is fantastic. My sole complaint is that I got burnt out about 2/3 of the way through and had to take a break. Some games are immersive enough to keep me hooked for 80 or 90 hours straight - Tears of the Kingdom, Fallout 4, Skyrim - but Far Cry 6 wasn’t one of them.

To be clear, Far Cry 6 is a great game with a good albeit familiar story. You play as a guerilla named Dani (regardless of whether you choose male or female) fighting to overthrow the dictatorial regime of Anton Castillo. It’s not at all subtle about basing the nation of Yara on Cuba, but for those familiar with the governmental history of Cuba and its relationship with the United States (the CIA plays a background role in the story), it’s an interesting basis. You go around Yara striking at Castillo’s army and centers of power while also convincing rival rebel groups to ally with you against the regime. There are side quests and a TON of collectibles. The collectibles are my biggest problem with the game; some are on the mini map and some are not. For someone with obsessive compulsive tendencies when it comes to objectives on maps, I have a compulsion to go after EVERYTHING on the map, but when that gets me to 87% complete in an area, the nearness to 100% bugs me. When all I have left are tiny collectibles hard to see in passing and not on the mini map, it frustrates me. 100% a me problem, but I know I’m not alone in that compulsion and frustration, so I figured it bears mentioning.

Visually, the game looks great. The big winner here is the sound design, though. Gun sound effects are satisfying, the squelch when you hit an enemy soldier in a car going 90 KPH is meaty and visceral, and most importantly, the sound track is BANGING. I played through a lot of the game with my BFF Grant, and we would routinely just be driving through Yara rocking out to this eclectic assortment of Latin American music. There’s one song that I’ve only heard a couple of times and have never been able to figure out the title or artist of that has part of the chorus that I swear to God sounds like Mexican Pinkie Pie. It remains my personal mission to figure out which song that is.

Another issue I had with the game - really more of a minor annoyance than anything else - is that while 99% of the game’s dialogue is English (unless you choose a different language in the settings menu, obviously), there are sporadic and seemingly random words that are consistently Spanish. The word guerilla, for example - I know the word is Spanish in origin, but it’s consistently the sole word pronounced as it is in Spanish in an otherwise fully English sentence. “Soldado” instead of soldier, “gasolina” instead of gasoline, “fascista” instead of fascist, and “comemierda” are the other ones that are consistent. It’s the juxtaposition that irks me; either have the dialogue be all Spanish and stick to subtitles for other languages, or have everything be in English. They’ve all got Latin American accents anyway, so it’s not like they sound like they’re from Chicago or something. Minor annoyance, I know, but I spent 84 hours being annoyed by it, so I had to mention it.

Far Cry 6 is a good game. A really good game, even. It’s just a little too long for what it is, in my opinion. There’s LOADS to do aside from the main quest line, but a lot of it feels like fluff, inconsequential padding. If you’re a fan of open world games where you shoot or mutilate with machete hundreds if not thousands of fascists, then absolutely check it out. Just be prepared for a 60+ hours experience.

Post by **Note** » Tue Dec 05, 2023 10:46 pm

marurun wrote:I really enjoyed Golden Sun on a mechanical level as well. And the story and characters were fine, though the dialogue and character conversations DEFINITELY tried my patience a bit. One can only suffer so much head shaking and "...".

The silent protagonist seems be a feature of a few Camelot games. Synbios, the main character of Shining Force III's first scenario was also silent and in many sequences only contributed a "..." to the dialogue when something serious was happening. There was one particular cutscene in that game where I couldn't believe the protagonist was still silent, but I won't spoil it.

When I first played Golden Sun this didn't bother me, but I think it would nowadays, as I do prefer the main character in a game to contribute to cutscenes and share their viewpoint in different situations.

Post by **MrPopo** » Wed Dec 06, 2023 11:42 am

The fun part of Shining Force III is that the "..." is not an indication of silence; it's just you can't hear what he's saying. Some of those cutscenes get replayed in Scenario 2, and you get to see what he actually said (and meanwhile your protag now has his dialog you already saw in Scenario 1 replaced with "...").

Post by **marurun** » Wed Dec 06, 2023 12:00 pm

MrPopo wrote:The fun part of Shining Force III is that the "..." is not an indication of silence; it's just you can't hear what he's saying. Some of those cutscenes get replayed in Scenario 2, and you get to see what he actually said (and meanwhile your protag now has his dialog you already saw in Scenario 1 replaced with "...").

It's also not quite as bad in Shining Force III. Golden Sun has a LOT of back and forth, and even disregarding the main character's "..." silence, every character has pronounced delays as they shake or nod their heads or bounce emotively. Every character is an emotionally overflowing blob of ballistics gel. I feel like it actually gets in the way of telling the story, which I think is a pretty good story.

Post by **PartridgeSenpai** » Wed Dec 06, 2023 6:06 pm

marurun wrote:
MrPopo wrote:The fun part of Shining Force III is that the "..." is not an indication of silence; it's just you can't hear what he's saying. Some of those cutscenes get replayed in Scenario 2, and you get to see what he actually said (and meanwhile your protag now has his dialog you already saw in Scenario 1 replaced with "...").

It's also not quite as bad in Shining Force III. Golden Sun has a LOT of back and forth, and even disregarding the main character's "..." silence, every character has pronounced delays as they shake or nod their heads or bounce emotively. Every character is an emotionally overflowing blob of ballistics gel. I feel like it actually gets in the way of telling the story, which I think is a pretty good story.

The fact your main character is a character who talks yet doesn't is *such* a weird writing choice to me. Whether it's in Golden Sun or Shining Force, it's just kinda lost on me as to why they're actually doing it? Like, I get that it's to help facilitate this character being the avatar of the player, but they're also just literally a character who is talking, and the narrative is in some ways making important strides from the direction of their decisions. Why not show what it is this character is saying? O_o

Post by **Markies** » Thu Dec 07, 2023 1:16 am

Markies' Games Beat List Of 2023!
***Denotes Replay For Completion***

***1. Dragon Valor (PS1)***
2. Breath Of Fire (GBA)
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (NS)
4. World Of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse And Donald Duck (GEN)
5. XIII (GCN)
6. NES Remix Pack (WiiU)
7. Dr. Mario (GBC)
***8. Bully (PS2)***
9. Dragon's Crown (PS3)
10. Bangai-O (SDC)
11. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
12. Destruction Derby (PS1)
13. X-Men Legends II: Rise Of Apocalypse (XBOX)
14. Vice: Project Doom (NES)
***15. Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm (PS2)***
16. Terranigma (SNES)
***17. Super Street Fighter II (GEN)***
18. Guitar Hero II (PS2)
19. Kirby's Dream Land (GBC)
***20. Gunbird 2 (SDC)***
***21. Stella Deus: The Gate Of Eternity (PS2)***
22. I Am Setsuna (NS)
23. DuckTales: Remastered (WiiU)
***24. The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past (SNES)***
***25. Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers 2 (NES)***
26. Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade (GBA)
27. Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones (XBOX)
28. Baten Kaitos Origins (GCN)
29. Virtua Racing (GEN)
**30. Breath Of Fire III (PS1)***
31. Metroid II: Return Of Samus (GBC)
***32. Chameleon Twist (N64)***
33. Resident Evil 4 (Wii)
34. College Slam (SNES)
35. Hyrule Warriors (WiiU)
36. Tengen Tetris (NES)
***37. Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht (PS2)***
38. Golden Sun (GBA)
***39. Streets Of Rage 4 (NS)***

I completed Streets of Rage 4 on the Nintendo Switch this evening!

Streets of Rage 2 is one of my favorite games of all time. I would play it constantly when I was a child and I would still play that one and the first Streets of Rage all the time with a friend of mine. So, when Streets of Rage 4 was announced, I was very excited. I know that recreating old franchises in modern days is almost always terrible, I still had hope. When my friend got the game and we played it, I loved it almost instantly. It was everything I ever wanted in a new Streets of Rage game. When I was gifted a Nintendo Switch, I knew that was the first game that I wanted and the one game I most wanted to play on it. After playing it and beating it a few times, I wanted to finish off the game by playing through it with all the characters at least once.

I will not hide the fact that I absolutely love almost everything about Streets of Rage 4. My one minor complaint is that I think the original music is rather awful. However, that is easily fixed by adding a Retro Game Soundtrack so that I can listen to classic tunes all throughout the game. Besides that, Streets of Rage 4 offers everything that you would want in a Streets of Rage game. The gameplay is based upon a combo system with different types of attack, so there is such a fluidity and momentum to the game. There is nothing as great as doing a giant combo to the boss and doing massive amounts of damage that they cannot stop. While you are doing these combos, you are collecting points which the game adds up to unlock all of the previous Streets of Rage characters. There are so many characters in the game that it just makes me want to play through the game more and more with each new character that I unlock. With fantastic visuals, references throughout the entire game and new modes to play through, Streets of Rage 4 is just the whole package for me.

Overall, Streets of Rage 4 is the best "new" game I have ever played. It is the best modern game I have ever played and just one of the best games to be released recently. If you have any enjoyment of the series, this is a must play. Even if you are passing fan of Beat'em Ups, this is one of the best games to play. It is fantastic game to play with a friend and a great time to spend just a few short hours. I am glad that I own a Switch just to play this game and is a perfect love letter to the entire Streets of Rage series!

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