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[TuFaN]

#	Title	Platform	Rating	Date	Playtime	What kind of completion	First time playing?
39.	Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth	PS5	10	31. March	235 hours	Platinum trophy	Yes

Words can't describe how amazed I am by this title. This game has turned out to be one of my favorite games of all time, slightly below the original FF7. The strong attention to detail is remarkable, every single place, no matter where you go feels unique and not copy pasted from another area. The amazing story telling, jaw-dropping scenery no matter where you go and fantastic way of highlighting characters and their personal stories make up for a repetitive open world formula and technical issues such as slowly loading textures and a poor performance mode with washed out graphics. I dunno if this is caused because the PS5 is not as capable for what they want to create or squares lack of optimizing skills. Nevertheless, these flaws drop the overall rating for me only slightly.

This game is one of those exceptions that make me a believer. A believer that not all upcoming titles are created with one thought and one thought only, that is milking every penny of their customers. I gotta be honest man, I think that the golden era of gaming is long gone. And I am writing this after having such an incredible year with 2023, with masterpieces like Baldur's Gate 3. We are nowhere close to the level of quality of games released in the 90s and 00s. Games released in that time period were profit driven as well. But back then they were at least trying to deliver fully functioning products on day 1 and not releasing the bare minimum with the thought that they can patch the rest later on and sell it as DLC. Gaming companies were at least trying to create great experiences, experiences which players would enjoy so much that they would spread the word to get others to purchase it.

Games like FF7 Rebirth give me hope for the future; games like Elden Ring, Zelda Botw/Totk, Bloodborne, Super Mario Odyssey, Hades, these are exceptions. These games show me that there are still companies and developers out there who care about their products and how these products affect their customers, aka us gamers. Companies who are not solely after profit no matter the outcome, implementing microtransactions in full-price titles and testing their boundaries with how far they can go, shoving grindy and expensive battle passes with unintuitive rewards up our throats just to keep player retention and revenue as high as possible.

It is kinda sad that remakes are upholding the flag of being a great and enjoyable games nowadays. I enjoy my remakes, remakes such as Resident Evil 2 & 4, remakes such as FF7 Remake & Rebirth. And I am begging Square to release a FFX remake right after FF7 Part 3 and FFIX which is currently in development according to rumors.

But at the end of the day, let's face it, these videogames are unfortunately just remakes. Stories which have been told, characters which were already known. Worlds and areas already traversed. We are re-living what we've experienced just with better graphics, new gameplay mechanics and slightly altered stories. These games can never have the same impact as the original titles. Like FF7 coming out of nowhere in 1997 and conquering our little hearts, not relying on a story previously told, everything being created then and there by very talented people with incredible development abilities and unrivaled levels of imagination.

Yet here I am, talking about giving a 10/10 for a remake, viewing it as a masterpiece. Because it is nothing but a masterpiece. From my point of view, it has to hit an even higher ceiling than a new IP if it wants to be a 10/10, it has to be way better to deserve such a rating. And Rebirth has absolutely managed to do that for me. It is, by no stretch of the imagination, a perfect game. It has multiple flaws, some more severe than others, but it delivers so freaking many home runs in so many departments that the only rating it deserves is a 10/10.

 

[Dacvak]

Alien vs Predator (Arcade via FPGA) - 3/31

What can I say? I generally dislike beat ‘em up games, but this one was extremely solid. I reckon a skilled player could beat this game with only a few credits. It took me 8 or 9 quarters, but out of the seven levels, the first five were extremely fair and genuinely fun to play. The gameplay is quite good and polished, with satisfying hitstun and plenty of weapon pickups to keep you interested. At least until the last few levels.

Like many arcade beat ‘em ups, the game becomes absolute bullshit in the final two stages, being designed to siphon as many quarters from your pocket as possible. Up until those last two stages, though, I was genuinely impressed with how versatile and competent the gameplay was. You have your choice of four different characters, which each have varying gameplay strategies. I imagine this game would be a lot more fun with two players, but it was still pretty great by myself.

Still, I’m not at all a fan of the beat ‘em up genre, so the fact that I even quarter-fed my way through this game is a testament to how fun it is. I definitely recommend this game to basically anyone who finds it in the wild, or can boot it up on their emulator of choice. I’m going to be generous and give this game a 7, despite the droning last two levels. Absolutely worth your time, and if you’re a fan of the brawler genre, you’ll definitely get your money’s worth.

Fun game, and only a little bullshit.

 

[Dazraell]

Completed games:

Id​	Title​	Platform​	Month​	Notes​
1​	Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance​	Steam Deck​	January​	Played as Kromlech the Dwarven Fighter​
2​	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare [2019]​	PS5​	January​	Campaign only, played PS4 version on PS5​
3​	God of War: Ragnarok - Valhalla​	PS5​	January​
4​	The Order: 1886​	PS5​	January​	Played PS4 version on PS5​
5​	Quake II Remastered: Ground Zero​	Switch​	January​
6​	Quake II Remastered: Call of the Machine​	Switch​	January​
7​	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire​	PS2​	January​	​
8​	Knight's Path: The Tournament​	Steam Deck​	February​	​
9​	The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion​	Steam Deck​	February​	Played as a Khajiit male and picked Scout as a class​
10​	The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Knights of the Nine​	Steam Deck​	February​	Completed expansion and each of the smaller DLCs​
11​	The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Shivering Isles​	Steam Deck​	February​	Playthrough with choices leaning to Dementia side​
12​	Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time​	Steam Deck​	February​
13​	Deadfall Adventures​	Steam Deck​	March​
14​	Prince of Persia: Warrior Within​	Steam Deck​	March​
15​	Silent Hill: The Short Message​	PS5​	March​
16​	Valiant Hearts: Coming Home​	Switch​	March​
17​	Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II​	Steam Deck​	March​	Played as Vhaidra the Drow Monk​
18​	Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones​	Steam Deck​	March​
19​	Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka with Love​	Steam Deck​	March​
20​	Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands​	Steam Deck​	April​	HD Version​

Twenty games completed so far. Considering it's been only 3 months since the beginning of this year and my completion rate at a similar time last year was much smaller I feel it's a good score

Currently bouncing between GTA: Liberty City Stories and FF VII: Rebirth

 

[Jooxed]

Game 16 - 3/29 - Pocket Card Jockey - Nintendo Switch - Fun Solitaire like game. Really enjoyed this more than i thought I would

Game 17 - 4/2 - Trails to Azure - Great game, probably my favorite trails game so far. Chapter 4 still has me messed up. Looking forward to the 3D era of Trails!

 

[Midn1ght]

15. Trek To Yomi
- Platform: PC / Steam - Score: 6.5/10

Let's get this straight, the visuals in this game are gorgeous, I'm usually not a fan of black & white but this one is a beauty. The combat is where the game felt apart for me. The game does not always register your parry and attack commands which is inexcusable for a Samurai game and will also kick your ass in the hardest difficulty with unavoidable attacks from enemies and really hard bosses. Unfortunately the story was also a let down.

16. God Of War III
- Platform: PS3 - Score: 8.5/10

I only played God of War 2018 before this one so I'm glad I finally got to play this. I understand now why some fans didn't like the direction of the newer games. God of War III is darker, faster and unapologetically violent to the core. It's a 10 hrs bloodbath filled with anger, epic boss fights and beautiful graphics. It's fucking great.

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

March Update:
Main Post

23. Tiny Lands (Steam Deck) - 8/10
Spot the difference game that is pretty relaxing. It does get very challenging to find every single difference, as some are very small. This was overall a pretty great game to play on the steam deck. Graphics are simple but effective.

24. Vessel (PS3) - 7/10
Have had this on my list to finish for a few years and happy to finally cross it off. Most of the game is about mixing and using different fluid types to get past each puzzle. Going by the trophy stats, not many people played this, let alone finished it. It's a pretty neat puzzle game that does get a tad frustrating late in the game. I did have to look up one solution that confirmed what I was attempting to do but it just wasn't working.

25. Steredenn (PS3) - 8/10
Randomly installed this and randomly played it. It's a shoot-em-up flyer game and it does a pretty good job of keeping things fast paced and bringing you back for another round. After finally getting to the end of the game, I was done with it though. Not my usual type of game but I enjoyed it while I was in it.

26. Silent Hill: The Short Message (PS5) - 6/10
Went in with low expectations but figuring it couldn't be that bad. Overall, just meh. If they are going to include chase scenes like the ones in this game, they need reworked. They were rarely fun and not scary, since you restart every time you lose. I found the game overall frustrating but appreciated them trying some new things.

27. Princess Remedy: In a World of Hurt (Steam Deck) - 8/10
Fun, quick, free, little action RPG where you shoot medicine at a sickness. Storyline is basic but it was an enjoyable time and would love to see a larger game made out of the idea.

28. Lucky's Tale (Meta Quest 3) - 6/10
Figured I would give this a go, even though I wasn't super impressed with the normal version on Xbox a few years ago. It's a pretty basic platform game in VR. Having played Astro Bot a few years ago...this just doesn't cut it. Meta should've added some new levels or boss fights to this game when they remastered it. Overall, it's just very basic.

29. Princess Remedy: In a Heap of Trouble (Steam Deck) - 7/10
Didn't enjoy this one as much as the first, but it was still a fun little adventure that you can knock out in an hour.

30. Cats Hidden in Paris (Steam Deck) - 7/10
Another cat finding game. It does the job as a time waster, with some cute music. It's cheap and it is what it is.

 

[Jooxed]

Game 18 - 4/7 - Balatro - Nintendo Switch - Had a little fun with this but definitely don't like it as many people seem to. Maybe I need to give it some more time but backlog is too big to keep going

Game 19 - 4/9 - Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Nintendo Switch - Never plated a kirby game but I had a blast with this, genuinely made me crack up at certain mouthful abilities and was a lot of fun to play!

 

[Dontkidyourselfjimmy]

1)GTA V PS5 06/01 (7/10)
2)The Calisto protocol 15/01 (6.5/10)
3)Sea of stars series X 21/02 (8/10)
4)2112td android 17/03 (7/10)
5)Kingdom rush origins 23/03 (7/10)

Mrs

1)Witcher 3 Hearts of stone 07/01 (9/10)
2)Dave the diver switch 14/01 (10/10)
3)Sakuna of rice and Ruin PS5 05/04 (9/10)
4)Botany Manor series X 12/04 (8/10)

She loved Sakuna but found the last boss too easy and apparently Botany Manor was decent but short and samey but she would have enjoyed more.

Think even combining our games we've got no hope of hitting the 52. I'm currently playing FF7 remake finally (had it since launch) and it's so nostalgic shaping up well.

 

[marcincz]

Game 7 - The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero (PS4) - 146h 49m
Beat 10/04/2024 - my score: 9/10

Took me a while to beat next title.
Absolutely brilliant game and one of the best jrpg I've ever played. Wall of text, but worth.

 

[Jooxed]

Game 20 - 4/14 - Wonderful 101 - Nintendo Switch - What a WONDERFUL game , hated it at first and then it really really grew on me, turned into one of my favorites and a Platinum game I think is really under rated. I think its a shame we will probably never see Wonder 102, but really enjoyed this one. Reminded me of Team America World Police aesthetic and it was funny. Controls were a little difficult at times, definitely was meant to be a Wii u game.

Game 21 - Ongoing 100 hours in - Rust - Xbox Series X - This is a game I will never recommend to anyone but a game I cant stop playing with my friends. I thought I would include it because its taking up a massive amount of my time in the new year because we have put in about 100 hours together building a community server. I will include a couple extra games because this is an ongoing title. Toxic Game, toxic people, cant stop playing.

 

[Andyliini]

Game 10 - Princess Peach: Showtime - Nintendo Switch
Interesting take on Peach from Good-Feel, although there are many different gameplay styles, the gameplay itself doesn't really chabge that much. All of the stages sre side scrollers, just with a different twist. Most pf the game is super easy (as the game is meant for young children), but then some chsllenges are difficult to to, especially when you have to redo a whole stage if you fail.

Game 11 - Hebereke: Enjoy Edition - Nintendo Switch
I had completely missed City Connection released the original on eShop as well as part 2. Strangely, this is only the Japanese ROM, with english top menu. The game features screenshots from English version, just not the ROM itself. It's weird, but that doesn't take away from the game, which is still one of the best Metroidvanias on NES. Loved it then, loved it again here.

Game 12 - Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade - PlayStation 5
The arrival of Rebirth woke me up, and I realized I still had this game unplayed on my shelf. Better late than never, I guess. There is much to like here, but also so much to dislike. It extremely polarizing, especially for some who's first foray into RPG's was the original Final Fantasy VII. I enjoyed the story for what it was, but felt like the game was super linear, and padded with a lot of unnecessary content. It also took me a long time to understand the battle system. I don't think I'll ever be able to beat hard mode, it seems like a chore to play. This one run was good enough for me.

 

[Jooxed]

Game 22 - Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising - Steam Deck - Meh, didnt really care for this just blasted through the story in case there was anything I needed to know for hundred heroes.. Hoping the main game is better

 

[Glass Prison]

April 2024 Roundup
Total: 18/52

Original Post

15. Super Mario Bros. 3 - 5 Hours - Nintendo Switch - April 1st
This is the second side-scroller Mario game that I’ve played, and it made me realize how early they got the Mario formula figured out.
I always had the impression that the earlier games were a lot different and “crude”, but after playing Mario Wonder in March, I’ve noticed Super Mario Bros. 3 is basically the same game as Mario Wonder, only slightly simpler . They are also thematically different, but the fundamentals and core design are really similar.
The levels are short in this game but I’ve noticed some secrets throughout most of them.
I enjoyed this game a lot, but I didn’t have enough patience to complete it the “right” way, i.g., I've rewinded the emulation on my Switch every time I died so I didn’t have to do the levels all over again lol.


16. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - 10 Hours - Nintendo Switch - April 7th
The quintessential Zelda adventure, it’s an amazing game through and through. I really liked the art design and animations - they aged superbly well for a 1991 game - the dungeons are really well designed and varied, alternating between worlds to find new paths and ways to progress is really clever.
I had a great time with it and the game was constantly on the back of my mind while I was not playing it, as I kept thinking how I was supposed to progress.

17. Goldeneye 64 - 10 hours - Nintendo Switch - April 20th
I think I would have been obsessed with this game had I played it when I was a kid. It has everything I loved back then: Espionage, infiltration gadgets, shooting a ton of enemies.
I was really surprised by the amount of enemies you fight at the same time in this game, I don’t remember playing anything like this at the time. I was a big fan of Medal of Honor for PS1, and I remember fighting 3 or 4 in the same area… but this game has like 10 or 15 all cramped in the same hallway.
The controls definitely aged, but after a slight tweak I got the hang of it and was able to really enjoy it.

18. Luigi’s Mansion 3 - 13 Hours - Nintendo Switch - April 21st
I had an amazing time with this game. There’s so much creativity in each of the levels and every single one of them is unique in their own way.
I thought the addition of Gooigi as a second controllable single-player character was a very good way of keeping things fresh and providing new puzzle opportunities. It’s such a charming and well designed video game, really really good.
I only played the first game before this one, but after 3 I’m considering getting the second game as well, and I’m really looking forward to a possible sequel.

May Preview - I bought Metal Gear Master Collection Vol. 1 this month, so I want to play Metal Gear 1 and 2 for the first time, and replay MGS1, 2 and 3 for the 100th time lol. This month will probably be it unless I manage to finish Stellar Blade as well when I get it.

 

[Don Carlo]

Damn. Looks like I'm going to have a hard time playing 5 games with the way things are going, let alone 52.

 

[Dacvak]

Balatro has seriously halted my progress in this challenge. I’m hell-bent on beating every deck in order to count it as “beaten”, but unlocking some of the final decks is so freaking hard.

But I have this Sunday all to myself for the first time in about two months, so I’m gonna play some Turbografx games to see if I can get an easy complete or two today.

 

[Blindy]

5) Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown(Switch) 1/18, 1/20-1/22, 1/26-1/29
Easily the best game that Ubisoft has put out in ages, at least for me. I knew this would be a banger given it's the people who made both Rayman Origins & Legends who were behind this game. It starts off okay but in typical Metroidvania fashion, as soon as you get more & more abilities, it just feels super smooth. The air dash acquisition really changes this game. The boss fights are pretty good too and there's surprisingly a good amount of enemy variation which is usually never the case with games from this genre. How fast pace this game is has to be the best selling point in favor of playing Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and the puzzle rooms they put are challenging but very fun, quick reflexes very much necessary!

The lone blemishes come in the form of that there just isn't enough fast travel spots and that you're forced to use the same hub for most upgrades which can be a bit of a killjoy needing to go back to the same place each time to upgrade. Given there are portions of the game that you go a few hours without the ability to access quick travel, it becomes very cruel when you lose your acquired currency(crystals) upon death where your holding a heavy amount without the ability to cash in. There are also quite a few notable game bug glitches, nothing that destroy the game but certain side quests aren't clicked off or camera is zoomed in during one side quest where I thought my game crashed. I assume these have been patched now so maybe these are outdated concerns which is good news for those who haven't played this yet? The biggest pet peeve is how poor this game runs on the Switch. I knew buying this on the Nintendo Switch meant I was sacrificing the opportunity to play 60 FPS which is a godsend for such a game but even at 30 FPS, I felt good enough to buy this on the system. Nintendo had the marketing rights, ya know? Nope, this game dips so bad at certain points, especially when multiple enemies are on the screen, it also felt like slow motion at given points. The beginning portion was pretty rough with this IIRC, like I know the Switch is easily the most inferior system today but this is still really unacceptable. Probably would have to shave 1/2 a point from the final score for the performance of this game alone.

Final Grade: 8.5/10. if I played this on another system, easily a 9/10 though. Avoid the Switch version if you can! Great Metroidvania, wish this game sold more and got more eyeballs on it but the sales say otherwise. These guys at Ubisoft Montpellier are the best studio of the entire company IMO and deserve so much better. Barring something crazy, should be there on my top 10 GOTY list.

6) Silent Hill: The Short Message(PS5) 2/3
The good news: The game was free and there seemed to be a good intention with the message about trying to prevent suicide via cyberbullying etc. I respect it, that's cool.

The bad news: The game just isn't that good and really shoves that theme down your throat. The Suicide Hotline message popped up about as many times as there was actual action(chase sequences) in this game, that's not even hyperbole either. There was so many lulls throughout my couple of hours that I played of The Short Message that it feels almost like it was a detriment to the game to have the "Silent Hill" name attached to it because outside of 1 major enemy, there's just nothing here. The story, characters here just come and well...go. The chase scenes, particularly the final one, almost became more of a frustration than an actual scary enjoyment, to the point that I was willing to just look up the ending to see the finale of the game over enduring what is essentially a messy escape room puzzle full of similar looking halls, all to check on different photographs that are meant to show the true meaning of the story.

Overall Grade: 4/10. Game runs about 2-3 hours but yeah this was a pretty crummy game altogether. Not very scary, the chase scenes were more trial & error more than anything else, it is extremely slow paced and the overall theme is completely on the nose and in your face about it. This wasn't very good but if there's anything it has going for it, Silent Hill: The Short Message is indeed short and free.

7) Foamstars(PS5) 2/6-2/7

I tried Foamstars for a day and it's solid, probably that typical 6.5/10 game if the single player was at all good. Nowhere near as strategic as Splatoon which is the game/series it tries to aspire to be. I wish there were more characters in Foamstars really and feel more than anything, each character plays the same. The single player story is bare bones, it is basically target practice with obnoxious dialogue talking over it, almost having a tug of war match with the music volume on who can be louder. They did absolutely nothing with the single player, I completed 1 character and said that was it as it was the same shit for another character. The presentation is hokey but I like the hub that Foamstars has where you can build your own backyard basically. The microtransactions in this game are ludicrous, like $35 dollars for a costume set. Get real!

The gameplay is fun but it sort of gets tiring. Foamstars has a couple of different modes. Free for all which is basically you and 3 others going against 3 others in a match where you need to eliminate your opponents __ times to get their "star" player out where if you kill him/her, you win the game. There's a Rubber Duck navigating one that I did once to get the trophy where it feels like Splatoon where you have to take control of a giant duck float and move it around a set path in order to win. There's a mode where you do a tag team where 2 people are in trying to eliminate the other 2 opponents while 2 teammates hang upstairs and try and foam the floor up(This game's take on inking the floor for movement/limiting opponents movement) to help control the movement of the match. I think you can also hurt enemies in this mode, only tried it twice but it was fun.

Final Grade: 4.5/10. Foamstars is a fun game but I don't think has the detail or in depthness that Splatoon 3 had for me. The single player isn't even comparable and I think the different guns gives the latter the clear edge. Still a fun evening to be had with Foamstars and it's free for PS Plus users(for 1 month which the game is going to take a nosedive) so worth a shot. If the single player had any meat on the bone, score goes up 2 points alone. It's a game you try out for 1-2 days and that's about it, no real longevity.


(Like 2 months behind with the writeups but might hit the 52 game mark if things fall right, this could teether either way)

 

[Jooxed]

Game 23 - 4/24 - Beacon Pines - Steam Deck - Not really my usual cup of tea, it was recommended on reddit and resetera as a fun horror VN with branching story telling and I thought the art was done really awesome. I dont know. It captivated my attention all the way through but when someone said horror I was anticipating more. Creepy little story, Definitely not horror. Good enough to keep me entertained.

 

[Dacvak]

PaRappa the Rapper - PS1 via software emulation - 4/23

The other night I decided to test the input latency of my Anbernic RG35XX handheld, since it had been a while since I updated it. One of my go-tos for latency testing is PaRappa (even though the original PS1 game has its own issues with timing, but that’s besides the point).

To my absolute shock and delight, the input latency sort of balanced out the odd system-level timing that game has, making my input button presses almost perfectly synced with the actual music. (Mind you, PaRappa’s vocal track still had significant audio latency, but that’s unavoidable with any software emulation.) But this meant that I could be absolutely precise with my input timing, so long as I didn’t try to subconsciously adjust the inputs so the vocal track would better line up.

In any case, one thing led to another, and I ended up beating the whole game. Then I went through it a second time to beat it while getting Cool on every stage. The whole thing only took me like an hour and a half or so.

This game is an absolute classic. It’s forgivable to overlook some of the technical and timing issues, just because the game itself is so charming and fun. My preferred way to play is still on original hardware on a CRT, but there’s also a great remaster on PS4 (playable on PS5) that fixes some of the input timing issues of the original, and it’s only $15. It makes me wish there was a remastered version of Um Jammer Lammy. (Most people don’t know that you can unlock and play as PaRappa in that game once you beat it, though his vocal quality is absolute ass due to CD storage limitations.)

Fantastic game overall -