Part 1 Here
Game 36 - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Retro Achievements - Completed Aug 21st, 2021
I decided to play through the PS1 version of this game again since it had retro achievements added to it and it seemed like a pretty good set. I'm glad I did! I love this game, and thanks to a few of the achievements I was actually able to find a few secrets about this game that I previously didn't know about. Which was surprising, because I've probably played through this game a dozen times or more. As always, the game is great and the action is buttery smooth. Really, one of the best games of all time.
Game 37 - 12 Minutes - PC Game Pass - Completed Aug 24th, 2021
This game was really a mind-trip, even though there were only a few set items that could be interacted with doing so in various ways or in different orders would radically change the outcome of the game. Getting pretty far into the narrative, having time reset, then using the clues that you found in the previous loop to move forward was a pretty awesome concept. Even though I've seen games like this before (The Outer Wilds, etc.) it was done here with great effect. The voice acting was an incredible feat - getting James McAvoy, Daisy Ridley, and Willem Defoe all in on this was incredible. Overall, I thought this game was really good and I'm glad it came to Game Pass because I probably would have otherwise just skipped it.
Game 38 - Hidden Through Time - Nintendo Switch - Completed Aug 29th, 2021
I've been playing this game here and there for the better part of six months. It's a good game to just chill to, listen to the music, and try to find the hidden objects. This game is basically "Where's Waldo" but animated which gives it a fun twist. All of the hidden objects have a clue associated with them (for example, a clue for a fish might be "I think I'm being watched", and the fish is in the river next to a bear that's on shore). This makes things a bit easier to find rather than just mindlessly clicking through a bunch of different things, although there's still a bit of trial and error to the process. A few of the hidden items were WELL hidden. I'd find all of the things on each level before moving on to the next. Finished all levels, but none of the DLC.
Game 39 - Hades - Xbox Series X - Completed Sep 3rd, 2021
Oh man, Hades! This game is awesome, full stop. This was one of my favorite games of 2020 (I played it on the Switch last year) but it finally came to other consoles so I picked it up on Xbox, even though it came to Game Pass. Such a fun and solid game. Obviously, this version ran miles better than the Switch version. I was able to easily swap from Xbox to PC to phone and my cloud saves just happily followed me everywhere. This game is still amazing, I think I'd put it at one of my favorite action games of all time. It's absolutely my favorite Rogue-like ever because I'm typically not a fan of the genre. If you haven't at least tried this game, you definitely should.
Game 40 - Road 96 - Nintendo Switch - Completed Sep 5th, 2021
I liked the idea of a procedurally generated road trip, and seeing this was set in a fictional 90s hellscape I decided to pick this up. The art style was really pretty good and not ultra-realistic (which I suppose worked well for the Switch). The game is filled with these smaller story vignettes, but it was surprisingly cohesive and had some really great characters. You can learn or earn different traits that stay with you between episodes (runs to the border, essentially) so stuff like "hacking" or "cleverness" let you unlock new areas or dialog choices. Overall, I got the kind of "indecisive" ending, but that's okay because it was a fun journey.
Game 41 - The Shapeshifting Detective - Nintendo Switch - Completed Sep 5th, 2021
I've had this one in my backlog for a while. I love FMV games and the previous ones I've played from Wales Interactive (The Complex and Late Shift). However, this game more closely resembled the structure of Contradiction: Spot the Liar which is one of my favorite FMV games of all time. The main character from Contradiction was also in this, as a detective of all things! Anyway, this game was pretty great and I loved it for it's cheesy dialog and sometimes over-the-top dramatic acting. They were definitely trying to channel the "spooky radio" vibes of PT and combined them with a spooky tale set in a small British countryside village. The premise is that your character, Sam, can shapeshift into any other character that you've met - so you can talk to other people
as other characters which made for some really interesting dialog and story progression. I can definitely recommend this game if you're a fan of FMV games.
Game 42 - Metroid: Zero Mission - Retro Achievements - Completed Sep 6th, 2021
I decided I'd play through a few Metroid games in anticipation of Metroid Dread next month, and I started with the GBA remake Zero Mission which I've never played before. The game is pretty solid all around - I have played the NES Metroid a few times so this whole thing felt pretty familiar to me. The "after you beat Mother Brain" part was pretty wild too and felt like a proper epilogue to the game. I'm sad to report that it took me almost 4 hours to finish, and I only got 61% of the game's items. There are some crazy achievements for this game like "beat X boss without taking damage" which seems crazy hard to me. Since I've played Super Metroid a million times, I might skip it and go on to Fusion.
Game 43 - Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster - PC Steam - Completed Sep 15th, 2021
Even though this version of the game was massively easy (even compared to it's US SNES counterpart) I still love this one to bits. The characters are amazing and well built. The music in this game is phenomenal. Hunting down Steam achievements was great fun although a massive grind. Really, I loved everything about this game - much like I have difficulty finding fault in the SNES version. After I beat the game, I actually went around to a few of the spots I had missed (freakin' chocobo forest in the middle of an island I never even knew about!) and tackled like 3 monsters I had missed from the bestiary (thankfully they were ones that were easy to find!) to get 100% of the game's achievements. Now I'm back to patiently awaiting the next Final Fantasy pixel remaster.
Game 44 - Watch Dogs: Legion - Xbox Series X - Completed Sep 16th, 2021
I picked this up last year when the Series X launched. Game was a lot of fun, but at about 40 hours in I hit a glitch that sent me back to where I was about 15 hours in (lost progress, whomp whomp) so I got pissed off about having to do the same missions all over again and shelved it for... almost a year. Well, I picked it back up and re-did a bunch of missions and things I had previously done before until I finally got to the place I was previously. And then, I did all the story missions until I got to the end of the game. Pretty cool sandbox game, and it ran at a smooth 60fps on the Series X with only a few minor slowdowns. I also played the Assassin's Creed tie-in mission(s) which were really great. This game has been super duper cheap (I've seen it for $6 physical / $20 digital Gold Edition) and I'd say it's easily worth that price.
Game 45 - Life is Strange: True Colors - PC Steam - Completed Sep 17th, 2021
When this game was first announced, it didn't really capture me. I had played the first two games, but skipped Life is Strange 2 since it was so incredibly woke and heavy-handed. However, reviews for this game started coming out from people I trusted not to bullshit me, so I thought it sounded worth picking up. And they were right! A lot of the reviews I saw said "this is the best Life is Strange game yet" - and I didn't exactly believe them, but I do now. Extremely compelling characters that you really care about mixed up in an emotional tale of love, loss, friendship, and heartache. There were times I laughed out loud, and times I legitimately cried. I'm so happy that I decided to give this game a chance.
Game 46 - Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance - PC Gamepass - Completed Oct 5th, 2021
I've been playing this in co-op with my son (who plays on Xbox) for the past few months. It's... not great. Controls and movement are pretty bad, everything feels very latent. I suspect the movement is all done server-side (like an MMO) but it's not implemented nearly as smoothly as one. The loot is pretty bad too, at no point did I think "wow, this rare thing I got is so much better than what I had" because everything is nearly the same only slightly better - maybe we both just got unlucky? Co-op was a pain, half the time after we completed a mission it would kick us from each other's game. Seriously, probably the worst game I've finished this year. Sad to see the Dark Alliance name smeared like this.
Game 47 - Psycho Dream - Nintendo Switch - Completed Oct 9th, 2021
I was browsing through the SNES online games and thought this one looked... interesting? Game is like a cross between Castlevania and a beat-em up but the combination works pretty well here. You're character starts with a sword and through various powerups can eventually become like a super powerful robot... thing? This game was definitely confusing because it's level design didn't really make much sense and didn't have any sort of cohesiveness whatsoever. I powered through it though, and eventually got to the final boss and saved the girl. A pretty fun side-scrolling action game, but even if I had played it when it was originally out on the SNES I wouldn't think it'd set the world on fire or anything. But fun for a lazy afternoon.
Game 48 - Rock Band 4 (Rocudrama) - PlayStation 5 - Completed Oct 10th, 2021
It's time again for my annual playthrough of the Rock Band 4 Rocudrama mode. I've probably put in around 100 hours of Rock Band so far this year, it's pretty much a staple at my house, mainly because it's one of those games I can typically play decently when getting hammered. This year's rockin' tour through the mock-documentary "Behind the Tuneage" was great - for the first time I played on Hard mode all the way through, and not only that I earned enough stars to get "the best ending" for the first time! I'm pretty sad this genre is so fizzled out these days, I'd really love to see what a Rock Band 5 would look like on modern consoles.
Game 49 - The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope - Xbox Series X - Completed Oct 16th, 2021
In anticipation of House of Ashes coming out, my son and I decided to play through Little Hope in "movie night" mode. Lots of fun, the game has some really good jumps scares. The generally creepy atmosphere (both in the town as well as the curator's museum) make this the perfect October nighttime game. This play through ended up being quite a bit different than my playthrough last year, and the ending played out quite a bit differently as well. Overall, I still really like this game and this series, cannot wait for House of Ashes next week!
Game 50 - Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart - PlayStation 5 - Completed Oct 24th, 2021
I really really enjoyed this game. Not only was it a technical marvel, but it just felt like I was playing a Saturday morning cartoon. Obviously, the really big flashy setpieces this game has are second to none, but the gameplay was really good as well. I got all the gold bolts, all of the outfit pieces, basically 100% of the game (outside of a few random achievements). The story was the standout part of this game, it was big and the stakes were high and the characters were really well done here. This game is definitely in the short list for my "game of the year".
Game 51 - The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes - Xbox Series X - Completed Oct 27th, 2021
I've played all of the other games in the series and really liked them, so I knew I had to pick up House of Ashes. While I didn't like the characters as much, initially, as Little Hope, they definitely grew on me and by the end I felt like this has been the best bunch yet. The game had a few throwbacks to the earlier titles in the series, which was a lot of fun as well. Without going into spoiler territory here, I felt like the main bad guys were really
really well done and a good choice for this game and it's setting. The story was a strong point here yet again, I liked it better than the previous two games for sure. All in all, this is a wonderful scary game for the Halloween season.
Game 52 - Ys IX: Monstrum Nox - PC GOG - Completed Oct 30th, 2021
This was, without a doubt, an amazing game. While I didn't care as much for the emo theme this game had (not nearly as much as the deserted island theme of 8) it definitely grew on me. I absolutely adored the characters in this game, every one of them was really well done and had perfect personalities. Since I played my first Ys game in the early 90s, it's weird to think that I've followed Adol's adventures for almost the last 30 years. The ending of this game was definitely bittersweet, but maybe more on the sweet side - I definitely can't wait to play Ys 10 when it eventually comes out.
Game 53 - Immortals: Fenix Rising - Xbox Series X - Completed Nov 6th, 2021
I liked this game quite a bit, but some of the puzzles and platforming sections really got on my nerves. Of course, I persisted through it because the story was nice but otherwise I think I would have given up on this game half way through. I liked the open world exploration quite a bit - there seemed to be stuff to do just about everywhere. The combat was really good and obviously comparisons would be drawn to the newer Assassin's Creed games. Overall, I think this is a pretty great game but I wouldn't recommend it to people who get frustrated with puzzles.
Game 54 - Shadow Complex: Remastered - Xbox Series X - Completed Nov 7th, 2021
This is one of my top 5 "metroidvanias" ever, and I always jump at the chance to replay it every couple of years. Now that it's basically an Xbox exclusive this generation (lol) I decided to install it and play through it yet again. I believe this is my first time playing the Remastered version on console, and it was generally a good experience. There are a ton of spots in this game that look really rough around the edges, but I mostly chalk that up to this originally being an Xbox Live Arcade game. The premise is still great, the movement and level up mechanics in this are fantastic. Just a really solid gameplay experience that doesn't overstay it's welcome.
Game 55 - Elden Ring Network Test - Xbox Series X - Completed Nov 13th, 2021
Even though this was only a network test that took place over 3 hour windows, I feel like I "completed" it after putting in 9 hours (over three different sessions). I completed the main path, killed all of the optional bosses (including the giant dragon!), leveled my character up to level 40, and generally just did everything there was to do in the game. There were a lot of neat little hidden areas to explore, I really hope that the actual game is this dense with content and things to do. I'm definitely looking forward to playing this when it releases.
Game 56 - Picross S4 - Nintendo Switch - Completed Nov 15th, 2021
I've been jumping back and forth between a few picross games lately, but decided to finish this one up. Honestly, I love everything about the Picross S games - they're just pure puzzles, and the puzzles that are there are a lot of fun to complete. Nearly everything turns out to be wacky and random, so you never know exactly what's going to pop up sometimes, even after you complete the puzzle, until the big reveal. The clip picross in this game was a bit boring, just a Wizard of Oz theme. I'll finish up Picross on SNES online, then probably move on to either the Sega Picross or Murder by Numbers.
Game 57 - Kingdom Rush - Nintendo Switch - Completed Nov 24th, 2021
I picked this up (triple dipped) when it went on sale today for the eShop's Black Friday sale. I've played this on both Android and PC, but it's easily my favorite tower defense game and it was $3. The game is still awesome on console, but I did find the non-touch controls to be pretty cumbersome. I found that I would mostly use the touch screen instead, which was okay by me - especially in the last map where you have to click on like 8 towers in rapid succession. Looking forward to playing the other Kingdom Rush games I also picked up today on the Switch.
Game 58 - Sega Ages: Phantasy Star - Nintendo Switch - Completed Nov 27th, 2021
Amazing games are great regardless of how old they are, and the Ages version of Phantasy Star is a testament to that statement. Although the difficulty has been tweaked to be easier than the original release of the game (on account of lowered encounters and raised XP and money values) it definitely still kicked my ass at times. I absolutely loved that the game was offset on one side by a map and character stats - this gave this old game a lot of modern QoL features. I might have to pick up that Genesis collection now so I can play through the others, it's been entirely too long.
Game 59 - Streets of Rage 4 - Xbox Series X - Completed Dec 3rd, 2021
I had some company over and we were looking for a cool four player split screen game, and we landed on Streets of Rage 4. This game is such a blast, especially with four players in couch co-op. Tons of juggling enemies back and forth, and just carnage everywhere. We just played the Game Pass version, didn't have the DLC but I'm kinda interested now to pick up the complete package so I can put this into my regular party rotation.
Game 60 - Archvale - Xbox Series X - Completed Dec 4th, 2021
I had a really good time with this game. I'm not usually a fan of bullet hell games but this one was extremely forgiving. The game had an amazing sense of progression that just made me want to keep playing more and more - so much so that I finished the game in two sittings that took about 9 hours. My only gripe is that a few of the Xbox achievements were bugged, hopefully they fix those soon! Otherwise, this was a great game that's definitely better than the sum of it's parts.
Game 61 - Kingdom Rush Frontiers - Nintendo Switch - Completed Dec 10th, 2021
Another eShop game I picked up during the Black Friday sales, and I'm glad that I did. Fun and challenging, with better tower options than the first game. I love that the Switch version has all of the heroes unlocked (as you progress through the story) rather than having to buy them individually for $1 each like the mobile versions. Fun leveling mechanics, and some levels that are just downright difficult. Overall, really happy with this and there is one more Kingdom Rush game on the Switch I got that I'm sure I'll play through.
Game 62 - Final Fantasy Legends (Collection of SaGa) - Nintendo Switch - Completed Dec 11th, 2021
Man, I played the shit out of this game when I was younger. I bought it just because it was a Gameboy "Final Fantasy" game without ever realizing that it was the earliest SaGa title. Anyway, this game is pretty cool but it it absolutely hard as shit. A unique class system, a unique leveling system (per class), and interesting story, a pretty large world all things told, and really solid turn based combat. This game could have used a huge number of Quality of Life upgrades, but I'm kinda glad that it's presented here as-is. I never played the sequel, so I'll probably try that one out next.
Game 63 - Guardians of the Galaxy - Xbox Series X - Completed Dec 17th, 2021
What a wild ride this game was! After the abysmal Avengers game, I had almost completely written this off as being terrible by association. Thankfully I listened to the folks in the GAF OT, and decided to pick it up during Black Friday for cheap. This game was a lot of fun - and the characters here are somehow even more charming than their movie counterparts. Rocket Racoon was easily my favorite character, completely sarcastic the whole way through but a good friend to Peter Quill. I hope they get to make a direct sequel to this one.
Game 64 - Tales of Arise - PC / Steam - Completed Dec 19th, 2021
This game was absolutely incredible, easily my favorite game to release in 2021. Complex storytelling weaved with excellent combat mechanics that was good from the beginning right up until the very end of the game. My only real complaint is that the back half of the game was MUCH more story-driven then the first half, in fact I think the last 10 hours of the game for me were two dungeons and a dozen or so bosses mixed with all story segments. Despite that, this was an amazing game and a worthy entry into the Tales lineup. I've beat Vesperia, Berseria, and now Arise and I can confidently say that Arise is the best of the bunch (though it's a pretty stiff competition). There were times when I laughed out loud, and others when I shed tears. Getting to know the characters and their aspirations and hobbies was a fun ride. Kisara best girl, obviously.
Game 65 - Captain Commando - Xbox Series X - Completed Dec 25th, 2021
I had my daughter and her boyfriend over for Christmas, and after opening presents we decided to fire up an old beat-em-up on the Series X. We landed on Captain Commando because it was four players co-op and just wacky fun. We of course laughed about all of the game's stupid names, like ShitStorm and Scumocide. Anyway, this game is classic and was a lot of fun playing through on Christmas morning.
Game 66 - Wizards and Warriors - PC / Retroachievements - Completed Dec 25, 2021
Speaking of games that remind me of Christmas morning, none other comes to mind besides Wizards and Warriors. This was the very first game I received as a Christmas present, I believe it was 1987. I haven't played this game in years, but my wife picked me up a copy from eBay that included the old manual. After reading through the manual I decided to fire this up in Retro Arch (since I don't have a convenient way to play NES cartridges) and blew through the whole game in about an hour. I still remembered most of the game's secrets. Had fun unlocking a few achievements along the way was well!
Game 67 - Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony - PC / Retroachievements - Completed Dec 26th ,2021
I somehow never played this game when it originally came out for the PSP. My loss, because this game was actually pretty fantastic! Although obviously quite dated (being 15 years old or so) I had a really fun time playing through this game all the way to the end. It's basically a Diablo clone similar to the PC Dungeon Siege games, but the controls were actually pretty good and well mapped for the PSP's button layout. Lots of quests (and side quests) accompanied by cool retro achievements for each. Lots of secret areas to explore. Lots of fun loot and cool abilities. Only big turnoff was the companions AI being braindead, but otherwise a really great game!
Game 68 - Parasite Eve - PC / Retroachievements - Completed Dec 29th, 2021
This game is a solid Christmas pick for me, and I usually find myself playing through it around December. The last time I played through, this game (actually all PS1 games) didn't have support for Retro Achievements, so it was fun going through and doing the extra challenges here. I had to level up quite a bit to beat a lot of these bosses without using magic powers and just rely on standard attacks. The game has a lot of EX mode achievements as well, so I guess next time I decide to play through it I'll be able to mop up the rest of those. Still an amazing game, great characters, fantastic music. Way better than the second or third games in the series.
Game 69 - It Takes Two - Xbox Series X - Completed Dec 30th, 2021
My son and I have been playing through this game for the past couple of weeks - ever since it was announced as the Game of the Year at the Game Awards. It played like a LEGO game but with these kind of Pixar visuals. Lots of level variety and really fun parts, but was bogged down by several other parts that were... not great. The final level, for example, was pretty bad. Overall though, we had a good time playing through the game and figuring out the puzzles. The story was cheesy but entertaining. We kept thinking the whole thing was a giant fever dream. Some parts were very Brave Little Toaster-esque. Recommended if you have someone pretty decent at playing platformers to co-op with.
