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Wozzer · Jan 1, 2022

A thread for people that are trying to play 52 games in a year. Tell us how you're doing and what you are going to play next - claim a post and update us on your progress.

How do I take part?
Claim a post (you may need two later). Write down each game and your thoughts about each one. In order to allow for yearly statistics please list your completions, using the following exact format using a spoiler block, somewhere on your main posts;

[SPOILER="All completions!"]
1. Qbeh-1: The Atlas Cube (PC) | 4th Jan - 12hrs | 3/5
2. Snipperclips (Switch) | 6th Jan - 5hrs | 5/5
3. Doki Doki Literature Club! (PC) | 12th Jan - 4.2hrs | 4/5
[/SPOILER]

What goes before/after the above spoiler block doesn't matter, so please feel free to go excessive and extravagant with personalized list, image and review formats as usual!

If you only provide the game title that is fine, but please follow the format as show (<number>. <title> (<platform>) | <date> - <hours> | <score/5>) where giving details. Mistakes will make the parser unhappy and may mean your data gets skipped. If you're giving scores, please try to adopt/translate into a scaling system out of 5 (sorry if this is painful).

What's that Hall of Fame thing?
Those that beat the challenge last year will remain in the Hall of Fame, for eternal glory, and further yearly completions will see their medal increment as a badge of honor for long term backlog-beating consistency.

How do I know when I've completed a game?
That's up to you, it could be completing the game or playing 3hrs+ if it has no ending or is a MP game. You can do replays, as long as all the games are completed in this current year.

Do I have to record time?
No, though most platforms (Steam, Xbox, Nintendo, etc) will now do it for free!

Do I have to review or comment on the games I complete?
Not required but very much welcomed. A few words and maybe a quick score does wonders to share your impressions with other users as you go. Full blown mini-reviews aren't necessary.

Do episodic games count as a single game or X amount of games?
That's up to you. It's alright to count something like Life is Strange as one or five games. Your choice.

Can I finish a game I started in 1998 and count that?
Yes.

What should I do once I've completed the challenge?
Shoot me a DM with a link to your post that shows all the games you've completed. I'll make you thread famous.

Do board games count?
They do not. Vidya games only in here.

What are those medal icons I see on avatars?
That's the 52 Games Challenge Medal™, achieved by beating the challenge on a given year. The number within the medal represents each year you've beaten the challenge since 2018. That's right, consistency and commitment comes with glorious numerical rewards.

Woah that medal is super cool, can I get one for my full sized avatar?
It's awesome you want to rep the thread, so sure here's a version you can slap on!

Is there a deadline?
Final day of the year!

Archive: 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 (shout out to jshackles as the prior host)

We're held up in Discord, discussing the 52 Challenge, posting updates and coordinating some shared game completions (think book club). Come say hey!

The brave individuals that overcome the challenge for 2022;

The additional survivors who overcame the challenge of the previous year 2021 thread;

And below are the legacy participants from years prior who we hope to see return to us this year;

Here lists those that have risen to the challenge during this or prior years! If you see yourself beating the challenge, please remember to send me a DM with your post once you’re done!

Wozzer · Jan 1, 2022

Starting in 2020 our Discord has grown to over 140 members now and with it saw the start of "Game Club", a play on a traditional book club that sees us choosing and collectively playing a nominated game per month, sharing our thoughts and opinions through to beating it.

Due to the logistics of discussing, raffling and nominating games the bulk of the process will remain driven in the Discord via an external spreadsheet but I'll be posting the nominations here so everyone can join in! Those who beat the game are entered into a raffle to choose the monthly game, and we also do longer group decided quarterly games.

January 2022: Parasite Eve
Q1 2022: Hitman 3

You can view last years nominations here; https://www.backlogbeat.com/game-club

Phase · Jan 1, 2022

1. Halo 5: Guardians (XB1X) | 1st Jan - 6hrs
A few of the Sanghelios levels are fun (mostly because you're fighting the covenant), but the rest is mediocre. The enemies 343 created just aren't fun to fight.

2. Halo: Combat Evolved (PC) | 2nd Jan - 8hrs
Continuing my out of order playthroughs with the one and only. It really is an atmospheric masterpiece. Only CE pulls me into its world so wholly, and keeps me there with its elegantly simple mechanics (and great HUD).

3. Tomb Raider: Legend (PC) | 6th Jan - 5hrs
Very enjoyable, and the motorcycle sequences added some laughs. It's is just the right amount of arcade-infused gameplay.

4. Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc (PC) | 9th Jan - 8hrs
A decent 3d platformer with good music, though often clunky (even with the handy lock-on the game has). Bosses? Boring, and some segments of the game are frustrating (e.g. when you set out to sea in the ship).

5. Tomb Raider (2013)(PC) | 11th Jan - 9hrs
I enjoyed this game the second go. I realized I just had to relax and enjoy the ride. To be real though, I thought I was in Reach with all my buddies dropping one by one.

6. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2005)(PC) | 12th Jan - 6hrs
The only Battlefront I had yet to play. Crazy that it was released only a year after 1. It's fantastic, too. Quelling rebellions is good fun, especially when the Empire's theme kicks in.

7. Rise of the Tomb Raider (PC) | 14th Jan - 10hrs
I didn't like the story nor the new upgrade/crafting system's UI, but still enjoyed it for its beautiful presentation and smooth gameplay.

8. Unreal Tournament 3: Black Edition (PC) | 17th Jan - 7hrs
Had fun but it feels slow for UT. Also, the campaign leaning so much into Warfare mode made it sort of suck.

9. UnMetal (PC) | 18th Jan - 10hrs
Loved it at first. Great humor and fun gameplay, but long trial and error fail-state segments (even in some dialogue) became very tiring to play through.

10. Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PC) | 20th Jan - 9hrs
It's absolutely gorgeous. Great use of color throughout. The skills are mostly useless, but the game is fun and over the top. It also turns into a horror game for a moment.

11. Blaster Master Zero (PC) | 23rd Jan - 7hrs
The dialogue reads like some fanfic, but the gameplay mechanics are cool and the areas have nice variety. Good music tops it off. Great game all said and done.

12. Battlefield Hardline (PC) | 25th Jan - 7hrs
Honestly, not that bad. The story is underwhelming but good cast, great voice acting, with Battlefield familiarity.

13. Clive Barker's Undying (PC) | 29th Jan - 11hrs
Great setting and atmosphere, average gameplay.

14. Enclave (PC) | 1st Feb - 10hrs
Unique progression and great levels make this a fantastic old school action-rpg. I had a lot of fun with this one.

15. Strife: Veteran Edition (PC) | 5th Feb - 6hrs
Amazing remake true to the original, though I would have liked more aggressive modern graphics options.

16. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC) | 10th Feb - 19hrs
I hadn't played since the initial release so this was a great reminder of how brilliant this game is. They really nailed the pace of progression. I did a full hack/soldier build this time which was very entertaining.

17. Batman: Arkham Asylum (PC) | 17th Feb - 8hrs
I think this may be the first Batman game I've ever played. Pretty standard gameplay but it has good world and character design, and fun gadgets.

18. Brothers A Tale of Two Sons (PC) | 20th Feb - 3hrs
Pretty good, and a change of pace for your brain.

19. A Short Kike (PC) | 27th Apr - 1hr
Still struggling with health issues at the moment but I was able to finish this one. Fun and beautiful. I hope to be back to playing more in the coming months.

19/52

Currently playing:
KOTOR
Bugsnax

2020 | 2021

BusierDonkey · Jan 1, 2022

88 Games Complete / 6 Games WIP
1,045 hours so far

1. Forza Horizon 5 (PC) | 31st Dec - __hrs | 5/5
2. River City Ransom (NES) | 1st Jan - 5hrs | 5/5
3. Jackal (NES) | 1st Jan - 1hr | 3/5
4. Guerilla War (NES) | 1st Jan - 1hr | 2/5
5. Micro Machines (NES) | 1st Jan - 1hr | 3/5
6. Double Dragon II: The Revenge (NES) | 1st Jan - 2hrs | 2/5
7. Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones (NES) | 1st Jan - 2hrs | 1/5
8. Automobilista 2 (PC) | 31st Dec - __hrs | 4/5
9. World of Goo (PC) | 6th Jan - 10hrs | 4/5
10. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain | 30th Mar - 145hrs | 5/5
11. Fire Emblem Heroes (Mobile) | 31st Dec - __hrs | 4/5
12. Assetto Corsa Competizione (PC) | 31st Dec - __hrs | 4/5
13. Forza Motorsport 7 (PC) | 31st Dec - __hrs | 5/5
14. Human Resource Machine (PC) | 14th Jan - 10hrs | 3/5
15. Children of Morta (PC) | 30th Jan - 54hrs | 4/5
16. Unravel (PC) | 23rd Jan - 10hrs | 3/5
17. Moonlighter (PC) | 13th Feb - 44hrs | 4/5
18. Pocky & Rocky (SNES) | 1st Feb - 2hrs | 3/5
19. Pocky & Rocky 2 (SNES) | 1st Feb - 2hrs | 2/5
20. Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (SNES) | 2nd Feb - 3hrs | 4/5
21. Super Double Dragon (SNES) | 2nd Feb - 2hrs | 2/5
22. Battletoads Double Dragon (SNES) | 2nd Feb - 2hrs | 3/5
23. Final Fight 2 (SNES) | 2nd Feb - 2hrs | 3/5
24. Final Fight 3 (SNES) | 3rd Feb - 2hrs | 4/5
25. The King of Dragons (SNES) | 3rd Feb - 2hrs | 3/5
26. Captain Commando (SNES) | 3rd Feb - 2hrs | 3/5
27. Knights of the Round (SNES) | 3rd Feb - 2hrs | 3/5
28. The Pirates of Dark Water (SNES) | 3rd Feb - 3hrs | 3/5
29. Sunset Riders (SNES) | 4th Feb - 1hr | 3/5
30. Wild Guns (SNES) | 4th Feb - 1hr | 3/5
31. SUPER SMASH T.V. (SNES} | 4th Feb - 3hrs | 3/5
32. Jurassic Park 2: The Chaos Continues (SNES) | 4th Feb - 2hrs | 1/5
33. Darius Twin (SNES) | 4th Feb - 2hrs | 3/5
34. Raiden Trad (SNES) | 4th Feb - 1hr | 2/5
35. Power Rangers: The Movie (SNES) | 5th Feb - 2hrs | 3/5
36. The Peace Keepers (SNES) | 5th Feb - 2hrs | 2/5
37. Vemon Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety (SNES) | 5th Feb - 2hrs | 3/5
38. Joe & Mac (SNES) | 5th Feb - 2hrs | 3/5
39. Joe & Mac 2 (SNES) | 5th Feb - 2hrs | 2/5
40. The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES) | 6th Feb - 3hrs | 3/5
41. Ghoul Patrol (SNES) | 6th Feb - 3hrs | 2/5
42. Pop'n Twinbee (Super Famicom) | 7th Feb - 2hrs | 3/5
43. Kirby Superstar (SNES) | 7th Feb - 6hrs | 4/5
44. Rival Turf! (SNES) | 7th Feb - 2hrs | 2/5
45. Goof Troop (SNES) | 8th Feb - 3hrs | 3/5
46. Mickey's Magical Quest 3 (Super Famicom) | 9th Feb - 2hrs | 4/5
47. Brawl Brothers (SNES) | 9th Feb - 3hrs | - 3/5
48. Kirby's Dream Land 3 (SNES) | 12th Feb - 8hrs | 4/5
49. TwinBee Rainbow Bell Adventures (Super Famicom) | 12th Feb - 3hrs | 3/5
50. Super Bomberman (Super Famicom) | 12th Feb - 1hr | 4/5
51. Aero Fighters (SNES) | 12th Feb - 1hr | 2/5
52. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (SNES) | 12th Feb - 1hr | 3/5
53. Taikono Tatsujin: The Drum Master (PC) | 13th Feb - 4hrs | 3/5
54. Microsoft Flight Simulator (PC) | 31st Dec - _hrs | 5/5
55. Final Fantasy X (PC) | 28th Feb - 105hrs | 3/5
56. Dragon Ball Fighter Z (PC) | 31st Dec - __hrs | _/5
57. PiKUNiKU (PC) | 2nd Mar - 3hrs | 3/5
58. Far: Changing Tides (PC) | 3rd Mar - 10hrs | 4/5
59. My Friend Pedro (PC) | 5th Mar - 4hrs | 3/5
60. Skull: The Hero Slayer (PC) | ___ ___ - __hrs | 4/5
61. Olijah (PC) | 6th Mar - 5hrs | 3/5
62. Tunic (PC) | 22nd Mar - 20hrs | 4/5
63. Weird West (PC) | 11th Apr - 50hrs | 3/5
64. Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy) | 2nd Apr - 1hr | 3/5
65. Mario's Picross (Game Boy) | 4th Apr - 12hrs | 3/5
66. Bonk's Adventure (Game Boy) | 5th Apr - 3 hrs | 3/5
67. Bonk's Revenge (Game Boy | 10th Apr - 2 hrs | 3/5
68. Felix the Cat (Game Boy) | 10th Apr - 2 hrs | 3/5
69. Dr. Mario (Game Boy) | 31st Dec - __hrs | 3/5
70. Kirby's Dream Land 2 (Game Boy) | ____ ___ - __hrs | 4/5
71. Tetris DX (Game Boy Color) | 31st Dec - __hrs | 5/5
72. Tetris (Game Boy) | ____ ___ - __hrs | 2/5
73. Guardians of the Galaxy (PC) | 17th Apr - 32hrs | 4/5
74. Trip World (Game Boy) | 17th Apr - 3hrs | 3/5
75. Super Mario Land 2: The Six Golden Coins (Game Boy) | 17th Apr - 3hrs | 3/5
76. The Gunk (PC) | 17th Apr - 6hrs | 3/5
77. VIP (Game Boy Advance) | 12th May - 6hrs | 3/5
78. Final Fantasy I: Dawn of Souls (Game Boy Advance) | 24th Apr - 19hrs | 4/5
79. Banjo Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge (Game Boy Advance) | ____ ___ - __hrs | _/5
80. Final Fantasy II: Dawn of Souls (Game Boy Advance) | 4th May - 26hrs | 3/5
81. Doom (Game Boy Advance) | 4th May - 8hrs | 3/5
82. Final fantasy III (DS) | 30th May - 30hrs | 3/5
83. Bugsnax (PC) | 14th May - 15hrs | 3/5
84. Horace (PC) | 19th May - 27hrs | 5/5
85. Nobody Saves the World (PC) | 23rd May - 36hrs | 5/5
86. Hardspace Shipbreaker (PC) | 6th Jun - 64hrs | 3/5
87. Final Fantasy IV Advance (Game Boy Advance) | 27th Jun - 28hrs | 5/5
88. Pac-Man Museum+ (PC) | ____ ___ - __hrs | _/5
89. Mighty Goose (PC) | ____ ___ - _hrs |_/5
90. Batman: Arkham Knight (PC) | 24th Jun - 80hrs | 4/5
91. Super Mario 3D World (Switch) | 24th Jun - 30hrs | 5/5
92. Batman: Arkham Origins (PC) | 29th Jun - 42hrs | 3/5
93. Final Fantasy V Advance (Game Boy Advance) | ____ ___ - __hrs | _/5
94. Batman: Arkham Asylum (PC) | ____ ___ - __hrs | 4/5

I'm aiming for 104 this year. I heard there is a prize or something,

Wozzer will buy you some chicken tenders I think.

1-10

Game 1. Forza Horizon 5 - PC - All single player events completed. Continuing with Accolades and Achievements - 95/100
It seems every time a new Forza Horizon game releases I have a new favorite arcade racer. This is not a perfect game. in fact it's probably the most buggy Horizon game I've played and it seems every update comes with another round of new bugs. I play it anyways because the game plays so well and I absolutely love the map layout in this one. The roads in this game all flow together well with a ton of paths through wooded areas obviously designed for traversal where in past games is was always a gamble. The story of Papa Fernando and the rest of the Horizon Mexico characters are complete dogshit and the soundtrack is probably the worst yet, but the rest of the audio is sublime. Birds, wind in the trees, rivers, crashing waves, tropical storms, sandstorms and the cars themselves sound amazing. Constant added content keeps me returning week after week.

Game 2. River City Ransom - Nintendo Entertainment System - Completed 2P co-op playthrough to end. Fully maxed out our stats - 80/100
I played this a few times over the years since I was a kid. Really fun beat 'em up where you basically run around the city kicking the shit out of everyone you see. The game is long for a game of it's type and has RPG mechanics where you can level up your attributes. This playthrough was the first time I've actually finished the game since it's release on the NES. Performance is definitely affected in 2P with scrolling becoming choppy and a lot of distortion, but the game remains fun and the nature of the game always makes it fun to play.

Game 3. Jackal - Nintendo Entertainment System - Completed co-op playthrough to end - 60/100
Here? This game is one of those games you'd rent because it had a military Jeep on the cover. You'd get it home expecting a perfect 8-bit recreation of some military op. That's not what you got. The game is a lot of fun though with plenty of shit to blow up and tons of soldiers to save. Weapon upgrades make the explosions bigger and the game culminates in an all-out assault on a fortress hiding a giant tank. Controls are so-so with the machine gun only able to fire straight ahead, but the grenade can be tossed in any direction eventually upgrading to a series of more powerful and faster missiles. Lots of fun.

Game 4. Guerilla War - Nintendo Entertainment System - Completed co-op playthrough to end - 25/100
So this game is much like Jackal. Top-down 8-way shooting using both a machine gun and grenades with a ton of shit to blow up all over. The game is hard to follow though as the sheer number of enemies on-screen is more than the poor old NES could handle resulting in a lot of flicker and distortion. In the end it was a fun but very flawed game of trying to save captured soldiers while the other player takes out the bad guys. Most of the time you'll be accidentally blowing your friends up too. Oops.

Game 5. Micro Machines - Nintendo Entertainment System / Sega Genesis - Completed two 2P championships on each version - 70/100
I played this on two separate consoles. The Genesis version is somehow the worse version. While it looks better, it feels slower and a bit less responsive than the NES version. I find the music on the NES version to also be superior despite the much better Genesis sound chip. Either version is a fun top-down racer with creative levels to race the tiny vehicles in. I might come back to this one again soon. At one point my brother and I were laughing hysterically as we jockeyed for position in the game.

Game 6. Double Dragon II - Nintendo Entertainment System - Completed co-op playthrough to end - 40/100
I was never a huge fan of the Double Dragon games. They are slow moving and very difficult. This one was regular Double Dragon fare but includes a series of rooms with platforming where timed jumps are required. I thought we were going to die of old age in this area as timed jumps are not this game's strong suit. On top of the constant pile of enemies always rushing into the stages you had to make perfect jumps which if missed result in instant death. Not fun.

Game 7. Double Dragon III - Nintendo Entertainment System / Sega Genesis - Abandoned co-cop playthrough - 15/100
This game is not a good game on either system. We played the Genesis version first. It's plagued by some very drab visuals, spongy enemies and the typical Double Dragon difficulty. This version, like Micro Machines, had worse music than the NES version despite the obvious sound chip advantage. We eventually abandoned the Genesis version. The NES version is equally hard, with non-stop enemies constantly rushing into the scene seemingly without end. The areas themselves are shorter than ever with most combat taking place in rooms, losing the adventure you usually get in these games which is half the reason I love the genre. Eventually we hit a point where our characters both went off screen and the game hung up so we had to abandon it as well.

Game 8. Automobilista 2 - PC - 85/100
I always keep a look out for new racing games to try and on occasion I find myself a new favorite. This is a sim based on the same engine Slightly Mad uses for Project Cars but the difference is this game plays much better, it's actually extremely controller-friendly as well despite being a more hardcore sim experience. The game features a very robust weather system with a ton of possible weather conditions ranging from clear skies to a torrential downpour. This game features easily the best rendition of the Nurburgring I've raced on in a game, feeling very closed-in and claustrophobic without an ounce of forgiveness. The game is constantly being updated with improvements to the driving model but also entire tracks have been re-scanned and updated. Speaking of tracks, there are a LOT of tracks in this game including many Brazil-based tracks I hadn't raced on before. The downsides for this game are a fairly shallow car pool (the budget wasn't especially high for the game) and the famous tracks like the Nurburgring, Spa and Laguna Seca among others are hidden behind a DLC paywall. The season pass is prohibitively expensive as well.

Game 9. World of Goo - PC - Full playthrough, all chapters OCD - 80/100
I first played this game way back on the Wii, which for me isn't really way back. It was a nostalgia trip though as I remembered every single level in the game and what every signpost had written on it which is rare in games for me. I will say I went in expecting to find the mouse controls vastly superior to the Wiimotes, but in actuality I found the mouse controls overly stiff and unforgiving compared to the Wii controls. I also didn't like how fast the screen begins moving as you near the edge compared to the Wii version. Overall it's a fun afternoon with a cute little bizarre world that is expected from 2Dboy. Play it if you haven't.

Game 10. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - PC - Completed all missions/true ending 90/100
I started this game last year and put 40 hours in to date. I never got into the Metal Gear games, mostly because when I played the original MGS on the Playstation I did not enjoy my limited time with the first game. I found it a bit janky. This game is also a bit janky with the player character getting hung up on just about every small ledge or terrain deviation, and always at the most inconvenient times. Sometimes it's infuriating as you can spend twenty minutes scoping out a fortification and planning a perfect attack or infiltration then get caught because your character teleported onto a rock you were using to sneak by a guard. Despite that, the game is a ton of fun to play. I'll enter a scenario that seems impossible to do without alerting everyone around, then a sandstorm comes giving me a chance to make a hole in the defenses and it's an exhilarating mad dash to take out guards and hide them before the sand is gone. The game really is a "play it your way" game with near-limitless options on how you can go about reaching goals. There's a story too apparently but it's a Kojima story so it doesn't make a ton of sense and I haven't played the previous games so I kind of don't care about that part of the game.
EDIT - I'm finished with 145 hours. I kept getting sidetracked doing all the side ops and for the life of me I couldn't just walk by a base, I always had to clean it out, every. single. time. I've upped the score from an 80 to a 90, once you start unlocking the more advanced gear and get new buddies like Quiet, the walker or your doggo the gameplay options only expand further. I would rate this even higher but using the fun equipment is expensive and requires sinking more time just to afford to use it. I decided to use mods so I don't have to bother with that aspect of the game. The story is just about the stupidest thing I've ever seen, like absolute drivel, which I guess is a Kojima thing but whatever.

Game 10 1/2. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes - PC
I thought this was a full game, it's a small 1/2 hour long area setting up the story for the Phantom Pain and some unlockable side-op missions. It's more like a demo for Phantom Pain wrapped in an prologue.

Pantz · Jan 1, 2022

Help me to play more games so I can play more games.

[13/52]

01: Rainy Season (PC/Steam) - [Full Playthrough 4/4 Achievements] - {01/02/2022}
It's a slice of life game, set in Japan, that gives you the feeling of being a kid again on a rainy day. It's very simple and short, but with a very cozy presentation, it manages to get some feelings across to me. A reminder to appreciate your family and your home, even on ordinary days.

02: Rain of Reflections (PC/Steam) - [First Playthrough] - {01/08/2022}
Very nice looking point and click adventure/stealth combat game. Almost AAA in some aspects and indie in others. Unfortunately it's only part 1 of 3 and it's not looking great on updates for the second two parts. So it's kind of a mixed experience. Worth a check out for the futuristic setting if you can get it really cheap. Maybe the best hacking mini-games of any game?

03: Duel Princess (Switch OLED) - [100%] - {01/18/2022}
Imagine if someone got this game without knowing how degen it is. There's a punishment mode with nice arts and nice sounds...the interactivity isn't that interesting aside from the slime jar... Anyway the tower defense gameplay can be pretty cool and strategic but it has two problems. One, there is way more dialog than gameplay and much of it can be boring small talk. Only a few of the stories were really fun. Two, you only have a small window where the gameplay gives a good challenge before you get overpowered. There's a lot of potential not being realized in this pantsu game.

04: Race with Ryan (Xbox Series X) - [1000/1000 Achievements] - {01/26/2022}
Used this as a daily achievement game for days when I wasn't playing or didn't get any from other Xbox games. The one thing I liked is between matches sometimes the penguin character would say "I will freeze you all". It sounds like a pretty menacing thing to say in this G-rated kart game, heh.

05: Train Valley (PC/Steam) - [Full Campaign & Challenges] - {02/02/2022}
Train games and time management games really suck me in. I start playing then check the clock after a while and it's 8AM the next day! Favorite part is buildings growing automatically next to your stations as you earn money. It was simple, challenging and fun.

06: Train Valley - Germany (PC/Steam) - [Full Campaign & Challenges] - {02/02/2022}
I wanted more so I got the DLC pack. It's just another set of campaign levels but definitely upped the difficulty of the challenges. Cursing so many times when I naturally hit the pause button during the levels with no pause challenges. Frustration, but enjoyable frustration.

07: Forza Horizon 5 (Xbox Series X) - [1000/1000 Achievements] - {02/14/2022}
Collected every car and got every achievement unlocked. I feel done with the game but at the same time I keep doing the weekly quests. I like the weekly trials with other players against unbeatable AI each week but the rest is not that interesting. Hope they can spice things up in some way soon. Will keep checking back in for now to collect the new car releases.

08: Hentai Uni (Switch OLED) - [100%] - {04/13/2022}
Saw a post here on Gaf about it, and it's only $2.50, so bought it. There's something fun about owning these kinds of games for Switch. This one isn't much more than a novelty but I do like the art style. I mostly want to show support for sexy games, which are disappearing more and more. I wonder if this sale will help any.

09: Halo Infinite (Xbox Series X) - [Full Campaign on Normal] - {04/19/2022}
Finally finished haha. It feels reworked and pieced together for sure. It was still fun though because it's Halo with some new experiences. There was potential for a much better game if they had the right direction from the start. Would have preferred more exploration with less icons on the map to start with and getting map intel bit by bit as you kill bosses or save troops or find data pads while exploring randomly. A little more exploration needed to find the next main story point would have been nice. Finding the stone rings or hidden caves with enemies were some of the best open world parts. As you save troopers it would be nice to see them start patrolling around, getting into skirmishes and let me call a in a squad to help me too. The soldiers dialog bugged me the most, they were way too casual like, just another day on the ring. They can be funny and casual but should be conveying that they are lucky to still be alive and are still ready to fight to the end. Anyway, it was fun and I can't wait for the story DLC!

10: Triangle Strategy (Switch OLED) - [First Playthrough on normal] - {04/26/2022}
Every story battle is soooo epic thanks to the great enemy AI. There is a lot of dialog but the story is good and rich with detail and the battles are sooo good that it's worth the wait. I really felt the RP with the choices they let me make and while I didn't get the best ending, I was still happy with with it and my choices. I never new salt was so important before playing this.

11: Inside Her (bedroom) (Switch OLED) - [100%] - {05/01/2022}
I'm behind on games and need to catch up so here was a pretty quick one. The puzzle gameplay was actually pretty good. The art style is pretty ugly though, so that kind of kills it for this type of game.

12: Fantasy Tavern Sextet -Vol.2 Adventurer's Days- (Switch OLED) - [100%] - {05/08/2022}
This is getting out of hand. Now there are four of them! Even better than Vol.1, this focuses on the 2 adventurer's. They have a cool story of their own and are a bit more direct when it comes to their feelings than the first two girls.

13: The Town of Light (Xbox Series X) - [1000/1000 Achievements 100%] - {05/13/2022}
Walking sim based on real old mental hospital, good for daily achievements. Nothing too scary but some quite graphic and disturbing scenes. Interesting and sad story to follow along with. Nice disturbing ambiance at times.

Currently Playing:
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games - Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (999) (PC/Steam)

jshackles · Jan 1, 2022

Game 1 - Final Fantasy VII Remake Intermission - PC / Epic - Completed Jan 1st, 2022
I had the base game of Final Fantasy VII on the PS5, but my PS5 broke. Thankfully I hadn't bought the Intermission DLC yet, so I decided to pick it up on PC with the Epic store's $10 off coupon (making the game $60 for the base game + DLC). While the game ran surprisingly well on PC, I have to say that paying $60 for just the Yuffie DLC definitely wasn't worth it. Although I'm sure I'll play through the base game again some time before Chapter 2 releases... eventually. I did actually enjoy the DLC but the enemies felt like bullet sponges a lot and it didn't have nearly the amount of variety that the base game had. The Fort Condor mini game / tower defense was fun though! And the ending tacked on to Intermission was pretty brilliant as well.

Game 2 - Inscryption - PC / GOG - Completed Jan 5th, 2022
Wow, what an experience. I was not prepared for this game. If I would have played this game last year when it was released, I think it would have been a contender for my personal Game of the Year. Somehow they turned a simple card game into an awesome deckbuilding game with a huge twist. Excellent atmosphere and awesome worldbuilding come together to make an excellent and unexpected backdrop for a game like this. I can't really say more without ruining things, but I recommend this game to anyone.

Game 3 - Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars - Nintendo Switch - Completed Jan 11th, 2022
I felt like this game was pretty interesting and had a lot of good game mechanics. It was a fun little psuedo-tabletop RPG game, and the card aesthetic was used to great effect here. However, after playing for a while it became increasingly clear that this game wouldn't have any difficulty, at all. I ended the game with just over 11 hours on the clock, all party members were max level (30), and I had all of the character's strongest weapons and armor. Even the final boss was a bit of a pushover (although easily the most difficult boss in the entire game). There were a lot of questionable design choices here that just... made the game easy. For example, your characters (as they level up) get passive buffs - but instead of choosing just one per character or something, they just... stack. So by the end every character has like three massive buffs that are hugely advantageous. A shame, really, because the story was really nice and the narration was top notch. The game was fun but without having any sort of challenge, it just felt a bit flat to me.

Game 4 - Kingdom Rush: Origins - Nintendo Switch - Completed Jan 14th, 2022
The final Kingdom Rush game I picked up on the Switch during the Black Friday sale last year. I didn't like the variety of towers as well in this title as the last one, but it was a fun little game none-the-less. While a pretty faithful adaptation from the phone version, this (like the other Switch games in the series) had all of the heroes that could be unlocked with regular gameplay rather than with microtransactions - so that was pretty cool and welcome. The story was pretty meh but the comic sections in between each level were fun and well done. Overall, a really solid tower defense game.

Game 5 - Spider-Man: Miles Morales - PlayStation 5 - Completed Jan 15th, 2022
I picked this game up over the holidays on a pretty steep discount. I figured it'd be worth the $30 price tag, given that I heard most people's complaint is that the game was pretty short. Actually, I really enjoyed the length of the game - it never outstayed it's welcome. The PS4 Spider-Man game, I had given up on it half way through because the story just seemed to drag on and on. So in a lot of ways, I liked this format a lot better. Interesting story, good characters (as expected from Marvel!). I can't wait for Spider-Man 2 now.

Game 6 - Ultra-Age - Nintendo Switch - Completed Jan 16th, 2022
This game was... not great. I picked it up on a whim on import because I love supporting physical copies of digital only games - and this game got a physical release in Japan. I got it tacked on to another order I had placed and the shipping was free, but still... not really worth the price of admission. Aesthetically, this game was trying to be a PS2 game (whether that was an intentional choice, or if the game was just janky, I'll never know). The voice acting was really, really bad. However, the action combat and exploration were both fun but never quite got into the realm of "great". By the time I had reached the end of the game, I realized that the game hadn't given me enough items to power up completely so that it was like I was playing on unintentional hard mode. The ending was... also bad. Overall, this game is a D- at best.

Game 7 - Ys IV: Mask of the Sun - PC / Retro Achievements - Completed Feb 11th, 2022
This is one of the few Ys games I had never played before, but I tracked down a translated copy (that had retro achievements!) and set out on another adventure with Adol. While this felt like a step down from the fantastic Ys III, this was more or less a direct sequel to Ys I and II which I thought was pretty cool. The attack system was similar to the first two games with the "bump attack" style which took some getting used to after having played modern Ys games. As always, the music was fantastic and a real standout. I unlocked 20/30 retro achievements (some I did but didn't unlock properly) and had a ton of fun with those! Now Ys V is the only mainline game I haven't played before so I think I'll have to do that one next.

Game 8 - Katamari Damacy Reroll - Xbox Series X - Completed Feb 20th, 2022
I last played this game on the Switch but the Switch was a really poor choice for this game's control scheme. Playing it again on the Xbox was a ton of fun, as the controllers analog sticks are a lot more sturdy. The music, as always, is one of the best parts of this game. I didn't unlock all of the presents, but I got a few of them! I also didn't bother with the Xbox achievement for "roll up everything" because that's extremely tedious and not-fun. Overall though, I love this game and it's wacky sense of humor and style.

Game 9 - Diablo II Resurrected - Nintendo Switch - Completed Feb 21st, 2022
I've been playing this off and on for the last couple of months. I can't say that I'm entirely impressed. First out of the gate, it took me two weeks after buying the game to be able to sign in with my Battle.net account. Hoping Microsoft does away with that nonsense in the future. I played a Druid character, I haven't played Druid since maybe the Lord of Destruction expansion first released like 20 years ago. I found the character to be boring, and took forever. While the summons were cool for crowd control, my guy himself was so weak that I'd usually just be standing around waiting for my summons to kill things. The control scheme didn't adapt too well either, lots of small tight corridors and things left me frustrated trying to navigate. Inventory took forever to manage. Overall, this was not a great console adaptation, but the game itself is timeless. Shame.

Game 10 - Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master! - Xbox Series X - Completed Feb 24th, 2022
This game released on Game Pass, and I've been looking for a new rhythm game now that Rock Band is on life support. Unfortunately, Drum Master is not that game. While I appreciated the song selection immensely, I just couldn't get over how incredibly average the gameplay was. Two types of notes (press left or right on the controller) and nothing like star power or multipliers made the game incredibly dull when compared with something like Rock Band. The over-the-top Japanese aesthetic was cute but also a bit distracting. The game had a few elements of feeling unfinished, like I bought a new instrument in the store (with in-game currency, not real money) but didn't like the way it sounded and spent the better part of 20 minutes trying to figure out how to set it back to default (hint: you can't). I bought a different instrument to replace it, and that was cool but that's the only way to change it out even though I "owned" several at that point. Very weird. Anyway, game was below average at best - glad I played it through Game Pass, definitely not worth $50.

Game 11 - Aperture Desk Job - Steam Deck - Completed Mar 18th, 2022
Although this was a really short experience, I thought this was a great introduction to the Steam Deck! Getting familiar with the system's buttons and controls was pretty helpful, I would recommend this to anyone who is just starting to use their Steam Deck. Obviously filled with Valve's signature humor and set in the Portal universe. An enjoyable experience!

Game 12 - The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - PC / GOG - Completed Apr 3rd, 2022
Wow. I can't believe I hadn't played this game before, especially since I'm such a huge Ys fan. After 50 hours spent with Joshua and Estelle, I can safely say that this is an amazing game that I won't soon forget. While the graphics were pretty dated the characters, gameplay, and music made up for it completely. I also played most of the game using the Japanese voices from the Evolution Vita release which were fantastic. A gripping story that held me interested from start to finish (and what a finish it was!) is a pretty incredible feat for a game that lasts fifty hours. I can't wait to play the sequels, although I'm going to chew on this one for a little while and play some other games first. Seriously if you're a JRPG fan, and you haven't played this game, now is the time.

Game 13 - Baltoro Klondike Solitaire - Nintendo Switch - Completed Apr 4th, 2022
As much as someone can "finish" solitaire, I have. I've played way too much of this game. It's a pretty basic solitaire program, but you earn XP and level up after finishing matches, and upon leveling up you unlock new card skins, new boards, new soundtracks, etc. Pretty well done considering this was like a $0.99 game on sale. Otherwise, it was pretty much like PC solitaire, but on the Switch.

Game 14 - Chocobo GP - Nintendo Switch - Completed Apr 9th, 2022
This game is the definition of bullshit, full stop. The races are completely unfair and rely almost solely on RNG. Even doing the story mode on "easy", I would still complete the game's objectives (like, finish the race in under a 1:25) and still fail because I'd be in 5th place. I probably played the final chapter's race about 30 times before finally winning by sheer luck. The theme song in the main menu was fun and quirky at first, but got annoying FAST as it played between every level. The GP mode is fuckin pointless, as you have the same RNG stuff but now it's online. You can buy the "battle pass" using real money, but it takes about 5-7 races to level up. Level up to 60 and you unlock Cloud, or just straight up pay $20. Game is straight garbage.

Game 15 - Assassin's Creed - PC / GOG - Completed Apr 21st, 2022
This game has... not aged so well. I got to thinking that this is one of the few Assassin's Creed games I never finished, and I decided to go back to where it all began. What I found was a bit of a mess both of graphics and controls. I used to think this game looked amazing when it released in 2007, but 15 years later the game just doesn't hold up very well. The story was cool but I feel like Assassins Creed II was better in every single way (having played it a few years ago as part of the Ezio collection). The controls were kind of the worst enemy of this game and drove me several times to the point of total frustration. While it was fun to look back on this and remember what was, I can say that this game is best left in the past.

Game 16 - Vampire Survivors - Steam Deck - Completed Apr 22nd, 2022
For $3, this is one of the most fun games I've played in a long time. I spent 25 hours with the game and unlocked all of the achievements and in-game power-ups. The game is pretty simple but has a bit of fun complexity to it with different weapon builds and such. The core gameplay is like a single-stick shooter (think twin-stick shooter, but with auto-attacking) which I found to be surprisingly engaging. There were also rogue-like elements, since every time you died, you spend the money you earned that run on permanent upgrades for your subsequent games. Highly recommended. Still in early access, so I'm sure I'll revisit this when it fully releases.

Game 17 - Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - PlayStation 5 - Completed May 5th, 2022
I finally got my PS5 fixed up, so I decided to give the Uncharted 4 remaster a go. The graphics looked great and the framerate was super duper smooth. I haven't played the game since I beat it back in 2016 after it first came out, but I really enjoyed it still and it held up great. The only thing I didn't really catch the first time around was how utterly insufferable Nathan's wife was in the second half of the game. Always telling Nathan what to do, where to go, giving him shit - all while being able to beat up guys and lift more than her weight above her head. Utterly ridiculous. Other than that though, the story was good and the gameplay was fun. Highly recommended.

Game 18 - Kuukiyomi: Consider It - Nintendo Switch - Completed May 21st, 2022
This game was... weird. But kooky. I enjoyed it a lot even though it was pretty short. You have to make quick decisions to make the most considerate move for your character. There were 100 "situations" but the game only takes about 30 minutes to complete including the credits rolling. I know there are a few more games in the series, I might have to check them out.

Game 19 - Rogue Legacy 2 - PC / Steam - Completed May 22nd, 2022
I absolutely loved the first Rogue Legacy game, so when I saw they were making a sequel I was pretty excited. I picked it up when it first released to Early Access (about two years ago!) and played it a couple of times while it was in development. Now that it got released a few weeks ago to 1.0, I've been playing it a lot lately. It's very much like the first game but better in (almost) every way. The only real letdown was that some of the Fairy chest rooms were pretty bullshit this time around. This game had a lot better traversal, with the ability to permanently unlock shortcuts to each area. If you liked the first game, be sure to give this a try!

Game 20 - Monster Train - Xbox Series X - Completed Jun 16th, 2022
I play this game off and on on PC from time to time, so I decided to check it out on console and found that it was on Game Pass. I played through several runs and finally maxed out my favorite faction (again). This game is one of my favorite rogue-likes out there, and easily my favorite deckbuilding game that's come out in the last few years.

Game 21 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge - Xbox Series X - Completed Jun 17th, 2022
My son and I played through this game completely in a single afternoon while completing all of the optional side quests and uncovering all of the secrets in every level. A really fun game that I'm sure I'll be playing through again and again. I'm always in the market for a good beat em up, because I feel it's the ultimate "party game" with friends or family over. Thankfully, this one is low skill level which means even my wife enjoys it. Even though it's on Game Pass, I'm planning on buying this probably a few times.

Game 22 - Inscryption - Steam Deck - Completed Jun 20th, 2022
OK so... I don't normally replay games this close together (I originally finished this game back in Jan) but Inscryption was something special. I originally played a GOG copy of the game, but this time I decided to see how well it would run on the Steam Deck. The controls took a little bit of getting used to, but otherwise it played really well! I was obviously a bit better at the game this time around, but the story is still zany and fun and full of interesting twists. I'll have to see if I can figure out this Kaycee's Mod thing next...

Past challenges:

2014 - 63 games
2015 - 67 games
2016 - 54 games
2017 - 52 games
2018 - 52 games
2019 - 43 games
2020 - 59 games
2021 - 69 games

jshackles · Jan 1, 2022

Reserved pt 2

Camreezie · Jan 1, 2022

I'm giving it a go this time

SlimeGooGoo · Jan 1, 2022

Stealing someone's spot

Bragr · Jan 1, 2022

My finished games so far:

The massive surge of games in February threw me off, playing too many long games to make much progress right now, but so be it.

January
Exo One
Deathloop
Unpacking
Donut County
The Artful Escape
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

February
The Riftbreaker
Banjo-Kazooie
The Gunk
Telling Lies

March
FAR: Changing Tides
Elden Ring
Horizon Forbidden West

April
Total War: Warhammer 2
Airborne Kingdom

yamaci17 · Jan 1, 2022

I hope I can finish a couple of lenghty RPGs this year

1. Batman Arkham Origins Cold Cold Heart DLC - January 1st - 4hrs - 4/5
2. Parasite Eve - January 14th - 14 hrs 4/5
3. God of War - January 26th - 43 hrs - 5/5 [Replay]
4. Cyber Shadow - January 27th - 12 hrs - 2/5
5. Hitman (2016) - January 31th - 25 hrs - 4/5
6. Hitman 2 - February 2nd - 30 hrs - 4/5
7. Hitman 3 - February 6th - 20 hrs - 4/5
8. Sifu - February 14th - 14 hrs - 4/5
9. Cyberpunk 2077 - February 26th - 77 hrs - 4/5 [Replay]
10. Elden Ring - March 15th - 152 hrs - 5/5
11. Guardians of the Galaxy - April 12th - 32 hrs - 4/5
12. Mafia: Definitive Edition - April 30th - 13 hrs - 4/5
13. Mafia 2: Definitive Edition - May 8th - 12 hrs - 3/5
14. Mafia 3 DLCs - May 20th - 8 hrs - 4/5
15. Mafia 3: Definitive Edition - May 21th 30 hrs - 3/5
16. Titanfall 2 - May 29th 6 hrs - 4/5
17. Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe - June 15th - 26 hrs - 4/5
18. Microsoft Flight Simulator Top Gun Maverick DLC - June 18th - 10 hrs - 5/5
19. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge - June 19th - 3 hrs - 3/5

Jack Videogames · Jan 1, 2022

COMPLETED GAMES

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd

Jack Videogames · Jan 1, 2022

PREVIOUS YEARS:

2021 / 2020 / 2019 / 2018 / 2017 / 2016 / 2015 / 2014

kingwingin · Jan 1, 2022

Always legacy
Always awakening
12 minutes
Super monkey ball
Carrion
Escape room game
Manifold garden
Escape room 2
Escape room 3
Disco elysium
Escape 2088
A little golf journey
Powerslave exhumed
Without escape
Mario 3d world
The room
Bowsers fury
Eastward
Shovel knight spectre knight

Psychotic_Mantis · Jan 1, 2022

2022 - 35/52

1. The Outer Worlds (Xbox Series X) - 7/10
2. Final Fantasy VII: Remake INTERMission (PS5) - 8/10
3. Creepy Tale (Switch) - 7/10
4. Star Fox 64 3D (3DS) - 8/10
5. Luigi's Mansion 3 (Switch) - 8/10
6. Ys Origin (PS4) - 8/10
7. Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight (PS4) - 9/10
8. Medal of Honor: Frontline HD (PS3) - 9/10
9. Level 22: Gary's Misadventures (PSTV) - 8/10
10. New Super Luigi U Deluxe (Switch) - 8/10
11. Super Metroid (SNES) - 9/10
12. Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX (PS5) - 5/10
13. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (PS4) - 7/10
14. Super Mario All Stars: Super Mario Bros. 3 (SNES) - 10/10
15. Wolfenstein II: The Freedom Chronicles (PS4) - 5/10
16. Sonic Generations (Xbox 360) - 7/10
17. Elden Ring (PS5) - 10/10
18. Super Mario 64 (Switch) - 8/10
19. The Last of Us: Remastered (PS4) - 9/10
20. The Last of Us: Left Behind (PS4) - 8/10
21. Alan Wake's American Nightmare (Xbox 360) - 6/10
22. Thomas Was Alone (PSTV) - 8/10
23. Medal of Honor: Heroes (PSTV) - 7/10
24. Ratchet & Clank (PS3) - 7/10
25. Return to Arkham Asylum (PS4) - 8/10
26. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II (Xbox 360) - 6/10
27. Picross e (3DS) - 8/10
28. Halo 3: ODST (Xbox Series X) - 7/10
29. Ninja Gaiden (NES) - 8/10
30. Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones (NES) - 7/10
31. A Hat in Time (Switch) - 7/10
32. Minit (Switch) - 8/10
33. Streets of Rage (Genesis) - 8/10
34. Final Fantasy VII (PS4) - 10/10
35. Ikai (PS4) - 6/10

Currently Playing:
Spirit of the North (PS5)

2018 List - 68 Games
2019 List - 69 Games
2020 List - 95 Games
2021 List - 68 Games

Wozzer · Jan 1, 2022

Reserving my own post!

Nester99 · Jan 1, 2022

Ready to go for 2022!

jshackles · Jan 1, 2022

Game 1 - Final Fantasy VII Remake Intermission - PC / Epic - Completed Jan 1st, 2022
I had the base game of Final Fantasy VII on the PS5, but my PS5 broke. Thankfully I hadn't bought the Intermission DLC yet, so I decided to pick it up on PC with the Epic store's $10 off coupon (making the game $60 for the base game + DLC). While the game ran surprisingly well on PC, I have to say that paying $60 for just the Yuffie DLC definitely wasn't worth it. Although I'm sure I'll play through the base game again some time before Chapter 2 releases... eventually. I did actually enjoy the DLC but the enemies felt like bullet sponges a lot and it didn't have nearly the amount of variety that the base game had. The Fort Condor mini game / tower defense was fun though! And the ending tacked on to Intermission was pretty brilliant as well.

marcincz · Jan 1, 2022

Beat first game.
Very good RE, but from factory level was worse. However I like 8 more than RE7.

Game 01 - Resident Evil Village (PS5) - 14h 42m
Beat 01/01/2022 - my score: ★★★★☆

Finished RE and started Persona 5 Strikers. Nice to back to Phantom Thieves.

tav7623 · Jan 1, 2022

Games 1 - 20
Games 21 -

marcincz · Jan 1, 2022

Main post:

Game 01 - Resident Evil Village (PS5) - 14h 42m
Game 02 - Persona 5 Strikers (PS4) - 56h 47m
Game 03 - DiRT 5 (PS5) - 13h 00m
Game 04 - Disco Elysium (PS4) - 30h 47m
Game 05 - Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep: AWO-sA (PS4) - 07h 27m
Game 06 - Judgment (PS4) - 38h 49m
Game 07 - Dishonored 2 (XBO) - 17h 52m
Game 08 - Dishonored Death of the Outsider (XBO) - 08h 39m
Game 09 - Tekken 7 Legendary Edition (PS4) - 11h 25m
Game 10 - Team Sonic Racing (PS4) - 07h 28m
Game 11 - Sine Mora EX (XBO) - 02h 37m
Game 12 - The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan (PS4) - 04h 31m
Game 13 - The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope (PS4) - 04h 59m
Game 14 - The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes (PS4) - 05h 44m
Game 15 - A Memoir Blue (XBO) - 01h 09m
Game 16 - Telling Lies (XBO) - 03h 15m
Game 17 - The Artful Escape (XBO) - 04h 35m
Game 18 - The Pedestrian (XBO) - 06h 26m
Game 19 - Last Stop (XBO) - 05h 29m
Game 20 - FAR: Changing Tides (XBO) - 07h 56m
Game 21 - Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition (XBO) - 10h 51m
Game 22 - art of rally (XBO) - 16h 38m
Game 23 - Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4) - 30h 37m
Beat 12/05/2022 - my score: ★★★★★
Game 24 - Asterix & Obelix: Slap them All! (XBO) - 09h 23m
Beat 16/05/2022 - my score: ★★★☆☆
Game 25 - Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze (NS) - 10h 27m
Beat 26/05/2022 - my score: ★★★★★
Game 26 - Super Mario Odyssey (NS) - 11h 03m
Beat 05/06/2022 - my score: ★★★★★
Game 27 - Xenoblade Chronicles 3D (n3DS) - 80h 26m
Beat 12/06/2022 - my score: ★★★★☆
Game 28 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (XBO) - 03h 06m
Beat 18/06/2022 - my score: ★★★★☆
Game 29 - Dante's Inferno (PS3) - 11h 45m
Beat 20/06/2022 - my score: ★★★★☆
Game 30 - Trek to Yomi (XBO) - 07h 17m
Beat 23/06/2022 - my score: ★★★☆☆
Game 31 - Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master! (XBO) - 03h 36m
Beat 24/06/2022 - my score: ★★☆☆☆

bender · Jan 1, 2022

1. Max Payne (XSX) - 7 Hours - 1/1/22 - 3/5
While it definitely shows its' age, it's a great time. I've been bouncing between it and MP2 which I've almost wrapped up as well. I haven't played them since they originally released on PC. I had very fond memories of the original and thought the sequel was a disappointment but upon replay, MP2's improvements really help it stand the test of time far more than its' predecessor.

2. Red Dead Redemption 2 (XSX) - 40 Hours - 1/2/22 - 3/5
Really mixed feelings on this one. This is probably the most consistent story that a GTA or RDR has ever presented. There are far fewer sophomoric quick laughs that are often found in these games and there are some genuinely sweet moments that will stick with me for a long time. Still it can feel clumsy at times particularly with Arthur's redemption arc and how they portraited his bout of tuberculosis. There are some wonderful characters to be found. Sadie and Charles were great before the prologue. Lenny, Hamish and Charlotte were wonderful. I was sad when Hamish died and decided to retire my horse and ride Buell in his owner. And then I was really bummed out having to whisper goodbye to him. I was pretty mixed on Arthur, I wanted to like him but the narrative forces you down some messed up paths that made empathy for him sort of difficult. Micah and Dutch were like cartoon villains towards the end and I was a little annoyed I was forced to go along with their schemes.

RDR2's world is beautiful but the mission design completely betrays it. Everything is far to scripted and the missions rarely take advantage of that world. It really feels like the designers wanted it to be Uncharted. Go to this yellow cloud on the map and do an action until the next yellow cloud appears on the map. It really leaves no room for creativity or the randomness that a well crafted open world can provide. The action is serviceable but it tends to throw twice as many enemies at you as there should be and becomes tiresome in the process. I do appreciate the idea of the moving camp and letting quest givers stick with you much longer than what you see in Rockstar's typical open world formula. It really helps a lot of those characters develop and helps bolster the strong elements of the writing even more. I had a pretty good time until the prologue. That was a complete slog and could have been dealt with in an hour instead of three to four. I never really liked Abagail or Jack and this game did them no favors. Worse yet, I think the portrayal of young John is a little too annoying and detracts from the character we all appreciated in RDR. The prologue did nothing to bolster this, in fact it diminished some of the characters I liked in the main story.

The game is also pretty buggy. I had a stranger mission bug out, saw lots of t-poses on checkpoint restarts and the my horse would often glitch out. Lastly, the fishing mini game is fucking terrible.

3. Overwatch (PS5) - 15 Hours - 1/3/22 - 4/5
All Winter Wonderland 2021 items collected.

4. Max Payne 2 (XSX) - 6 Hours - 1/3/22 - 5/5
A lot of game play and controller improvements make this game hold up remarkably well.

5. Tetris Effect (Switch) - 2 Hours - 1/3/22 - 5/5
Finally got around to finishing the Switch version which is a great port. This is the ultimate peanut butter and chocolate game combining everything great about Tetris and Rez. I love it dearly.

6. Burnout Paradise (Switch) - 10 Hours - 1/9/22 - 4/5
All smash locations and billboards.

7. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (PS5) - 1/11/22 - 5/5
I got stuck in one part and I probably missed a contextual conversation (wearing a bracelet to open a door). I really love this game though. On to Aria of Sorrow!

8. Deathsmiles (PS5) - 1/11/22 - 5/5
Pure Arcade Bliss

9. The Gunk (XSX) - 1/15/22 - 2/5
Disappointing in every facet.

10. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - 1/16/22 - 5/5
While it's the best of the Castlevania GBA games, I do think it's a little too straight forward.

11. Forza Horizon 5 (XSX) - 1/23/22 - 4/5
The map is wonderful. The Forza Horizon structure is getting long in the tooth. They really need to rethink the progressions system. I still had a lot of fun with this.

12. TimeSplitters Future Perfect (XSX) - 1/24/22 - 3/5
It holds up really well consider when it released. It is corny as hell. Some of the later levels are a little bit of a slog.

13. Monster Hunter Rise (Switch) 1/30/22 5/5
Advanced: Born of Paradise and all other quests complete.

14. Earth Defense Force 3 (Switch) 1/31/22 5/5
Normal mode cleared.

15. Halo 2 (XSX) 2/3/22 - 2/5
MGS2 was a pretty big disappointment for me but there are things I can appreciate about it. It along with Halo 2 made me stop hyping games. Replaying Halo 2 all these years later and I can't say there is much to appreciate about it. The Arbiter switcharoo feels like Bungie ripped off Kojima's playbook. The biggest problem is replacing Elites with Brutes. Brutes are just a boring fucking enemy to fight and it saps most of the joy out of the game. And where I loved Halo's light touch on narrative, Halo 2 goes off the deep end.

16. Max Payne 3 (XSX) 2/5/22 - 3/5
Dear Max, please shut the fuck up. Self commentary every time you pick up or take health medicine is so annoying. I get it, you are a drug addicted shit bag. I think it misses the mark tonally for what Max Payne is but that's not surprising coming from Rockstar. A lot of the level design is a drag but things like the police station (kill house) and airport are a lot of fun. the action is pretty great but everything surrounding it is kind of bad.

17. Overwatch (PS4) - 2/11/22 - 4/5
All items collected for Year of the Tiger

18. Cuphead (PS5) - 2/13/22 - 5/5
Amazing game. It's amazing how hopeless you can feel against the levels and bosses and then ten minutes later it all just clicks.

19. Streets of Kamurocho (PC) - 2/20/2022 - 2/5
Even though the Yakuza series is an evolution of the side scrolling brawler, I really hate side scrolling brawlers. I'm not sure why I'm so excited for the new Turtles game either.

20. Espgaluda II (Switch) - 2/21/2022 - 5/5
Just so goddamned fun. Arcade bliss.

21. Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (XSX) - 2/22/2022 - 3/5
Yahtzee said it best: "It's okay."

22. Inscryption (EGS) - 2/22/2022 - ?/5
What?

23. Unpacking (XSX - 2/24/2022 - 2/5
Moving is one of the most miserable exercises I can think of. Turns out doing this in video game form isn't much more entertaining. I do think the game is super creative with telling a subtle narrative based on the objects you unpack (old, new) throughout the years. I'm really not a fan of the art though which at times can have readability issues.

24. Elden Ring (PS5) - 4/4/2022 - 4/5
Maybe my least favorite FromSouls game. While the world is lovingly crafted and you get some of the traditional Souls design, a lot of the extra dungeons feel like filler and the game just doesn't have enough unique content (bosses, items, etc.) to justify its' size. Still a great game.

25. Gran Turismo 7 (PS5) - 4/5/2022 - 5/5
Finished up the café missions. The game is a love letter to automobiles.

26. Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch) - 4/5/2022 - 4/5
This was a pleasant surprise. I've never been a Kirby fan. The mouthful transformations are great as is the variety in level design.

27. Halo 3 (XSX) - 4/12/2022 - 3/5
Some high highs and really low lows. The last two levels are an absolute slog.

28. Overwatch (PS5) - 4/13/2022 - 4/5
Level 1300

29. Overwatch (PS5) - 4/19/2022 - 4/5
All Anniversary Remix Event items collected.

30. Tetris Effect (Switch) - 4/24/2022 - 5/5
Journey Mode (Expert)

31. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch) - 5/5/2022 - 2/5
I've owned this game on two systems now and finally finished. I know people really like love this game but it just doesn't click with me and I kind of hate it.

32. Doom (Switch) - 5/6/2022 - 5/5
I'm not sure I ever beat this without cheats enabled.

33. Trek to Yomi (XSX) - 5/20/2022 - 2/5
I love the way this game looks and not a lot else. There is some depth to the combat but it rarely forces you to use it and there are way too many grunt enemies for the game to not be a chore.

34. Cotton Reboot (Switch) - 6/4/2022 - 3/5
The controls are fast and responsive, I'm just not sure I'm a fan of the mechanics or the art style.

35. Paratopic (Switch) - 6/6/2022 - 3/5
The music is great and I'm a sucker for the visuals. It's a little too much walking sim for my tastes and the ride is over far too quickly, even with the padded out driving sections.

36. Overwatch (PS5) - 6/7/2022 - 4/5
All Anniversary Remix Event items collected.

37. Animal Crossing (Switch) - 6/12/2022 - 5/5
Completed Art Museum

38. Ico (PS5) - 6/16/2022 - 5/5

39. Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope (PS5) - 6/19/2022 - 2/5

40. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredders Revenge (Switch) - 6/19/2022 - 5/5

41. The Quarry (XSX) - 6/20/2022 - 4/5

42. Bowser's Fury (Switch) - 6/21/2022 - 5/5

100 Cat Shines

43. Descenders (PS50 - 6/22/2022 - 5/5

44. Resident Evil 0 (PS5) - 6/26/2022 /2/5

Mhmmm 2077 · Jan 2, 2022

Ah shit, here we go again...

0. Game TItle (PC) | date - timetobeat | rating one sentence review

tommib · Jan 2, 2022

Will come back to this.

stonedwal · Jan 2, 2022

In again.

KungFucius · Jan 2, 2022

I don't expect to get anywhere near 52, but I like the journaling aspect of this. Did over 20 last year so 26 is possible. I am not one to go after short games just to hit a number, it has to be games that I am interested in.

Halo Infinite (PC) - (10/10)Great game, first Halo I really played. I couldn't handle the first one on Xbox because I sucked with the controller because I was used to KB/M and that was probably the first console FPS I tried. Now I played with the controller on PC and I had no issues.
Death's Door (PC) - (5/10) game is stupid hard. Final boss required 100s of hits. Used cheats. Kind of pissed that it was so highly recommended.
It Takes 2 (PC) - (11/10)My too late now, but GoTY for 2021 by a long shot. Couch coop with my kindergartner was great. ( I initially dismissed it as Co-op bullshit, so I was a stupid asshole)
Blaster Master Zero 2 (PC) - This game is not as good as the first which I played on the Switch. It has the same shitty mechanic where if you get hit, your gun gets shittier. So basically it fucks you in the ass with a rusty nail studded bat. Some of the bosses are very cheap too and there are some where you have to go through unskippable text scenes every time you die. This is the type of game you will die on bosses a few times at least so it is really shitty. Not sure I want to try 3.
Bloodstained. Finally played a game I kickstarted years ago. It was good but unbalanced. Some bosses were a breeze, others were cheap gash sponges. The multiple endings was crap. You fight a guy halfway through thinking it is the BS midpoint battle, but if you beat him, you get the shit ending. Why? No Castlevania game ends with ~ 40 % map uncovered. It was just jarring. Whatever, it was a decent companion to the Castletroid games. Also this game was a fucking mess on my system. It was fucked up. It would play fine, but if I stopped it then restarted the game it would stutter and sometimes lock my whole system up. I tried force stopping/restarting Steam and it still did that. Really fucked up and unacceptable for a low resource 2D game.
Guardians of the Galaxy (PS5) - Fun little game. Some enemies were bullet sponges and annoying, but for the most part it was a solid experience
Horizon Forbidden West (PS5) - I liked the game, but it has a lot of flaws. The game slowed down during hectic boss fights and often glitched to the point that I needed to reboot. I also am not a fan of the upgrade system. There were just too many things needed and the same things were needed for multiple upgrades. Why mix random drops with parts you needed to target with tear? The tear should be enough. Having to repeat fights over and over again to try to get the random drops was shit. Story was also kind of BS at the end. It would have been more interesting if the Zeniths came back because the new planet still had humans and overthrew them. These could have been the fight in game 3, but instead we have some weird AI that is a backup of the Zeniths. Why would that backup even give a shit?
Elden Ring (PC) - This game pisses me off. It was amazing at first but turned into a grind that I think I ended up hating. I don't get the hype or the love for these games as they require way too much time and effort for relatively little payoff. I would gladly take 40 hours of it's exploration without the git gud bullshit that just amounts to dying until you learn all the moves or pitfalls and grinding to level up to increase the odds of victory. Both don't really respect your time when the game is already ridiculously large. I put something like 2.5 work weeks into it and a lot of it did seem like work. I am curious to see how the opinions of this game evolves for those who don't like the difficulty but bought it due to the reviews that implied it was the best game ever for everyone.
Kirby Forgotten Lands (Switch) - Beat the main campaign with my son. Like the game, hate the co-op snap mechanic. If you are playing bitch, you will lose health when the game snaps you back to Kirby's location. This may also confuse you when playing Kirby if you follow the wrong character after the snap. Still it is fun and we are playing the post game levels.
Weird West (PC) - I liked it, thought it was a little glitchy.
Lego Skywalker Saga (PC) _ played coop with my son. It was fun
Hades (PC) - Beat it once. I don't get the hype the game is hard and you are supposed to beat it another 10 times when the first time was already the 10th or more times you have played through the same thing. So basically it is a short, hard game you need to play dozens of ~ 30 minute runs to get the true ending. Fuck that.
A Way Out (PC) - Co-op with my oldest. Great experience even if the gameplay got wonky at times ( row boat). I am gonna be day one with this studio from now on.

In progress - may be dropped

Knights and Bikes (Switch) - Cute little co-op game I am playing with my kid
Snipperclips (Switch) - Had fun with my kid, but he seems to think it is too hard. May not go back to it until he is older.
Inscryption (PC) - I got sucked into it and then distracted. I am a few hours into the 3rd part.
Unraveled 2 - more co-op with my son.

Anticipating:

GoW (PS5)
~~Zelda (Switch)~~ _ Nintendo can go fuck themselves when it comes to Zelda delays
Starfield (PC)
Xenoblade 3 (Switch)

GametimeUK · Jan 2, 2022

January

(1) 2nd - The Ramp ★★★☆☆ (PC)
(2) 2nd - Returnal ★★★★★ (PS5)
(3) 3rd - Hellblade ★★★★☆ (Series X)
(4) 4th - Unpacking ★★★☆☆ (Series X)
(5) 5th - Mirrors Edge ★★★★★ (Series X)

Titles beaten per platform

PC - 1
PS5 - 1
Series X - 3

Total - 5

tav7623 · Jan 2, 2022

1. Devil May Cry HD - PS4, Normal Difficulty, Playtime: 4hrs 59 mins, beat on 1/2/22
My first game of the year is in the bag and it's a game & series I have a kinda weird history with. The long & short of it is I played the demo for this game which came with the PS2 release of RE: Code Veronica X enjoyed it enough to get the game the day it launched, got trounced by the 1st Nelo Angelo fight, didn't play a single DMC game (in this instance DMC: Devil May Cry) until 2016, tried revisiting this game and got the same results. Didn't touch another DMC game til Devil May Cry 5 came out and absolutely loved it. So I decided to pick up the HD Collection + DMC 4SE bundle for PS4 once it went on sale on PSN with the intention of finally beating this game and finally playing through the rest of the series. Well I finally did it and while some of the boss fights took a couple of attempts (especially the final boss fight) funnily enough Nelo Angelo wasn't one of them as I managed to beat all 3 of his boss fights (plus 1 Nightmare mini boss fight) in 1 go (the second fight I had him beat in 2 mins) which is kinda funny given how much trouble he gave me the last 2 times I tried beating him. Overall I enjoyed my time with the game despite some jank (getting used to the controls w/ the fixed camera and the cheesy dialogue) and the (imo) infuriating inverted "flight" controls which thankfully was only limited to the final 2 chapters. Is this game the best DMC game I've played, no, DMC 5 is (for now) still my favorite game in the series by far (I plan on replaying the game via the PS5 SE after I've played through 2 - 4SE), but it's definitely a solid game which is why I give it a 7 out of 10.

2. Devil May Cry 2 HD Part 1: Dante - PS4, Normal Difficulty, Playtime: 2hrs 56 mins, beat Dante's Story mode on 1/6/22
Since I didn't get very far during my very first playthrough of the first Devil May Cry game back when it first came out in 2002 I opted to pass on the sequel which ended up being an even easier decision after hearing how bad it was. Well now that I've finally beaten the first game in the series I decided to carry on with my Devil May Cry journey with Devil May Cry 2, which I'm playing for the very first time. Since the game is essentially split into 2 parts with 2 different playable characters (Dante & Lucia) I was debating on whether or not to count it as 1 game or 2, in the end I opted to count them as separate games since they have separate menus & save data within the HD Collection. As for my thoughts on the Dante section of the game, well.......lets just say I definitely agree with many of the complaints leveled against the game, it was extremely easy even on normal difficulty (I flew through 18 missions & 9 boss fights in under 3hrs with like a C average) and Dante definitely had a noticeable and for the most part unexplained change in character from the first game. I flew through this game so quickly and was so thoroughly unimpressed with the game overall (story, combat, graphics for the time,etc.) that I'm seriously debating on whether or not to even bother playing through Lucia's story mode (especially upon learning that her story mode is even shorter than Dante's and that both combined could be beaten in under 6 hrs) and instead move on to DMC 3 (which I also haven't played before) which I hear is considered the best game in the series.

3. Devil May Cry 2 HD Part 2: Lucia - PS4, Normal Difficulty, Playtime: 2hrs 9 mins, beat Lucia's Story mode on 1/8/22
Since I played through Dante's half of DMC 2 and given that Lucia's story mode was apparently gonna be shorter than Dante's (which turned out to be very true) I decided "what the hell, I'll finish what I started". All in all I found this story mode to be just as easy if not more so than Dante's story mode and if not for a few instances where I had a brainfart & forgot where I needed to go (it's been a long week) I would have finished Lucia's story in under 2 hrs. As for the story well just like with Dante's story I found that it was forgettable, sure it added in a couple of extra story bits here and there to make things slightly more coherent though honestly I think that it would have been better if they had combined both story modes just had you jump between Dante & Lucia every couple of missions. One thing I will say is that they thankfully threw in a few different boss fights so you weren't just doing Dante's story mode times 2, if they hadn't done that on top of the shortness of both Story modes if I had both this game at full price back when it first came out I would have been mad as hell so I can now definitely see why DMC fans hate this game.

4. Parasite Eve - PS1 (played on PS3 via BC), Normal Difficulty, Playtime: 8 hrs 11 mins, beat the game on 1/9/22
I first played & beat this game almost 23 years ago and to this day it remains the only JRPG with a turn-based/ATB (Active Time Battle) "combat" system that I've managed to beat, the next closest games being Bravely Default (managed to get all the way to the final final final final boss only to find out I missed a important item needed that the game doesn't tell you about to get through that last boss battle so I got incredibly pissed and refused to touch the game ever since) & Final Fantasy X (got about 22 hrs in and got stuck, when I tried going back to it I found out my save file got deleted by my sister, haven't gotten back to that point since) both of which were at times a real chore to playthrough. The main reason why this game is the only JRPG is because during game's ATB battles you can run around the 3D battle field in real time not to mention the game's strong body horror elements (at the time I hadn't seen John Carpenter's The Thing so revisiting the game I was getting very strong The Thing vibes and it made me appreciate both even more), the game's overall story, and the game's amazing soundtrack/score. The main reason I've played this game from start to finish for the first time in 23 years is mainly due to it being a featured game for January on the Backlog Beat Discord server. So did the game hold up for me, graphically not really, like most PS1 games it's aged kinda poorly, but for it's time it was definitely visually stunning as for the game's story, music and core gameplay & design (despite me still not being a fan of ATB/Turn Based "combat" systems) well they imo still hold up pretty well. Overall I enjoyed my time revisiting Parasite Eve and was thrilled that despite not having touched the game for more than an hour in nearly 23 years that I managed to get through most of the game (up until about the tale end of Day 5 & Day 6) without resorting to looking at the good ole strategy guide that I bought with this game 23 years ago.

5. Devil May Cry 3:SE HD - PS4, Normal Difficulty, Playtime: 15hrs, beat the game on 1/17/22
Coming into this game having never played it before I had heard that it is considered to be the best game in the series and while it's not my personal best/favorite in the series (DMC V still holds that spot) it's definitely a big improvement story/character wise over DMC 2 while continuing to improve on the gameplay from the previous entries. This game was also a whole lot harder even on Normal difficulty, especially the boss fights, than the previous game and I would occasionally have to spend over an hour just trying to beat a single boss cause they kept wrecking my shit no matter how much I leveled my stuff up, which tbh was a bit frustrating at times. Now that I've finally played through the first 3 games in the series I just need to beat DMC 4 and then I'll have played through & beaten every game in the series.

6. Devil May Cry 4: SE HD - PS4, Normal Difficulty, Playtime: 9 hrs, beat the game on 1/21/22
As with the previous DMC games I've played & beat so far this year I came into this game not having previously played it as well as knowing very little about it. Overall I thought the game was ok, I liked playing as Nero (I liked playing him so much that I gotta admit that it kinda annoyed me when I had to play as Dante and could no longer grab enemies like I had been doing) and found the initial narrative setup (despite it essentially getting tossed out the window pretty quickly) of series protagonist Dante possibly being the villain was interesting. What I didn't like/particularly care for was that when you finally got to play as Dante you essentially had to backtrack through all the areas you had gone through as Nero as well as redo most (but not all) of the same boss fights as Nero (though I did find the second boss fights with Bael & Agnus with Dante were imo pretty funny) and later on as Nero you had to essentially fight these bosses a 3rd time on your way to the game's final boss fight while doing the dice game which sucked. In the grand scheme of things I feel that this game was more on the lower end of the spectrum for me as far as DMC games go. The big question though is do I rank it higher or lower than DmC: Devil May Cry, which prior to starting this game was next to last in my personal series rankings (DMC 2 is last place, DMC V is 1st, DMC 3 is 2nd, the original DMC is 3rd, & DmC: Devil May Cry was 4th) well I'm about to revisit DmC: Devil May Cry for the first time since 2014, though unlike last time I won't be playing the original version of the game but instead I'll be playing the PS4 "Definitive Edition".

7. DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition - PS4, Normal Difficulty, Playtime: 10 hrs, beat the game on 1/23/22
The last time I had played this game was about 9(ish) years ago (on the PS3), now that I've beaten it for the second time I still thought this game was ok, it had a few elements that I really liked (such as the combat, amount of unlockables, the Bob Barbus boss fight, etc.), some things that I thought was eh (the overall story, music, & dialogue), and some things I didn't really care for (some of the character designs such as Kat who looked a lot better in the concept art you unlocked than she did in the actual game & Lillith who was just f*** ugly, I honestly don't know who in their right minds thought that was a good design oh and I didn't really care for the way they handled Virgil in this game) all that much. Though this version also made a couple of changes from the OG version that I for the most part liked such as getting rid of the enemy color coding and added the ability to change "skins" (for my playthrough I played as "Classic Dante") that you can run around in though they still disappear during cutscenes. Another thing I noticed and I don't know if there was a change for this version of the fight or if it's because I "got gud" from playing the other games in the series first but I found the final boss fight with you know who to be really easy compared to what I remember of the boss fight the first time I fought him on the PS3 version of this game (I remember dying at least twice during that final fight), also I found the fight to be pretty tame compared to his fights in DMC 3 which kinda sucks. So now that I've beaten this game that just leaves DMC V (currently my favorite game in the series) as the only game in the series that I haven't beaten this year.

8. Devil May Cry V: SE - PS5, Normal Difficulty, Playtime: 15 hrs, beat the game on 1/23/22
Of the DMC games I had played prior to this year this game was by far my favorite one and now that I've finally played every other game in the series I gotta say that it's still by far my favorite one of the series. It's also imo got the best story of the entire series and I love the introduction of the characters V & Nico, the music, etc. Shortly after it came out I ended up getting the Special Edition of the game for the PS5, but unlike my first playthrough of the original game I wanted to take my sweet time with this version of the game (I had already gotten to the half way point prior to today), but playing through the rest of the games in the series this year ended up accelerating those plans. Still I enjoyed my time with the game and will definitely be sinking my teeth into it further down the road as I still haven't played the Vergil story mode (but I have messed around with him a little bit in the Bloody Palace upon unlocking it) which I think should make for an interesting playthrough.

9. Jay & Silent Bob: Mall Brawl - PS4, Normal Difficulty, Playtime: Approx 2 - 3 hrs, beat the game on 1/24/22
I know they aren't the best movies, but I've long been a fan of most of Kevin Smith's movies especially the ones featuring the characters of Jay & Silent Bob. Well unbeknownst to me they recently came out with a video game done in the style of 8-bit beat em ups ala the NES Double Dragon & River City Ransom games that acts as something of a loose semi-sequel to Mallrats featuring Jay & Silent Bob. Well this past Christmas I ended up getting the physical "Classic Edition" (aka NES style box, slip cover, etc) PS4 version from Limited Run Games as a gift, but between work and focusing on other games for last year & this years challenge I hadn't gotten around to playing it until now. Overall it's a really short, but solid & at times challenging 8-bit beat em up that's littered with little nods to not only a whole bunch of Kevin Smith's movies (off the top of my head there were references to Mallrats, Clerks, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, Dogma, and the late Stan Lee who appeared in Mallrats), but also other 8-bit NES style games (there's a boss fight that pays homage to Mega Man, there's a level & some music that pays homage to Ninja Gaiden, there's part of a stage that pays homage to the Turbo Tunnel from Battletoads, etc.) which I really enjoyed despite getting my @$$ by this game a lot on normal difficulty ( I cant imagine how badly I'd get my @$$ handed to me if I tried to beat the Hard mode that gets unlocked upon beating the game). The cool thing though is that it has local co-op, which I didn't take advantage of for this playthrough though doing so probably would have made it an even quicker affair than it already was.

10. NHL 94 Rewind - PS4, played at least 3 matches in each of the game's 4 modes, Playtime: 2+ hrs, "finished" the game on 1/31/22
When it comes to sports games, I tend to play a lot of NFL & MLB games and on rare occasions I'll play an NBA or NHL game (last NBA game I played was 2K19 while the last NHL game I had played prior to this one was NHL 15), if I really like the game, I'll easily put in 20+ hrs over the course of a couple of weeks. So, what prompted me to purchase and play this game, well 1. I've been on something of a retro kick lately (all but 2 of the games I've played & beaten so far this year came out before 2012) and 2. last night I attended my first ever NHL/Hockey game (Carolina Hurricanes vs. San Jose Sharks) which I had a blast attending (the Canes won 2-1) so I decided what better way to combine the two than by playing a retro style hockey game. Overall playing the different modes was pretty fun (I really liked the Shootout & quick play modes) but challenging at first, but upon some tinkering with some of the settings (a big mistake on my part) it quickly made each match more & more frustrating as I went from having close low scoring games (which I would occasionally be able to pull a win out of my @$$) to being down 3 goals by the end of the first period (even with auto goalie enabled) & having a offsides penalty (or other BS penalties) called on me out of the blue, stopping any momentum I was trying to get. All in all, the game definitely made for a nice little detraction but given how limited the game is (it only has a limited number of modes with shootout, "regular season" aka quick play, playoffs, and 7- game playoffs) I seriously doubt I'll play this game a whole lot unless I have friends over though I'll probably end up checking out the more modern hockey games as I'm still on something of a hockey kick.

11. NHL 22 - PS5, played approx 8+ hrs on 2/11/22
While I was on my hockey kick, I ended up picking up this game since it was on sale ($40 instead of $70) and so far, I've put in at least 8 hrs into it mostly in the game's version of Madden Ultimate Team as well as playing matches against my nephew. I plan to put more hours into it over the next couple of weeks/months, but I felt that since I've started to get a good grasp on it and had put in enough hrs for a sports title to qualify as a "finished game" that it was alright to go ahead and add it to the list.

12. Soul Calibur 6 - PC/Steam, played approx 2 hrs so far, beat the main story in "story" mode on normal difficulty on 2/12/22
Been going back and forth on whether or not to go ahead and add this to the list mainly because this game technically has 3 story modes, one which has you create your own character & embark on a MK Deception Konquest like adventure, a traditional story mode where jump between multiple characters over the span of the story, and within said traditional story mode they basically added Arcade mode where you can playthrough the story for individual characters which intersects with the main story. For the purpose of this post, I played the "traditional" story mode which tells the game's overall story, and I did it in about 2 hrs which along with the story itself (which is primarily about fighting your fate) was really disappointing to me also due to how brief it was it had me wondering if I should even count it. The only reason why I am counting it is because after I beat it the game's credits began to roll, but I do plan on revisiting this game in order to experience the other "story" modes (especially Geralt The Witcher's individual story & the Konquest style mode) now that I can actually play this game on my PC (I'm slowly starting to upgrade it piece by piece and prior to this playthrough my PC could barely run this game even on Low settings, now it can run it on Low settings easily with solid/fluid gameplay and starts to chug/have issues on Medium settings or higher) over the course of the year.

13. Retrowave - PC/Steam, played for approx 1 hr, played on all tracks at least once & on all difficulty modes on 2/23/22
It honestly feels kinda cheap adding this title to the list given how quickly I tore through this retro 80's inspired "racer" (it's not really a racing game, but rather more of dodge traffic simulator/ score attack style game), but I did play on each of the game's 15 tracks at least once (liked the Cyber Beach & Japanese Rising Sun inspired tracks), played on each of the game's 4 difficulties at least once, and used/unlocked about a quarter (5 out of 20) of the game's unlockable cars. Overall, it was kinda meh, all of the tracks are basically infinite flat stretches with the only way to end the "race" is either by crashing into the (which varies depending on the difficulty) traffic it throws at you or in the case of the Bombing Run mode if your Bomb Health reaches 0 (I like to call this "Speed" mode cause it puts you in control of the cab for a Big Rig and basically if you go below a certain speed the Bomb Health meter will start to drop rapidly also if you hit any other cars it will drop the bomb's health down, but you can regain bomb health by not hitting other cars and maintaining a high speed) also you do have the option to change between 4 camera angles including one behind the wheel, which I personally would recommend of all the camera angles as it's imo the least boring one of the bunch. Overall if you like fairly simple endless runner style games but with cars bathed in a heavy neon glare & 80's synth music then you might get some enjoyment out of this game, me personally I didn't care too much for it and if I had bought it outside of the Humble Bundle monthly choice subscription, I would have been a little pissed and/or asking for a refund.

14. Batman: Arkham Origins - PC/Steam, beat the story on 2/24/22
This is something that's essentially been 8 years in the making, when this game first came out I ended up playing it (and nearly 100% completing it) on the PS3 (the only thing stopping me was the Online Multiplayer requirements) and even though I viewed it as the weakest Arkham game at the time (Arkham Knight even though it does allow you to play as the Keaton Batman is now imo the weakest one of the bunch, which tbh isn't too shabby) I did love the Christmas setting, the bits of actual crime solving/detective work you got in the game (mostly via side missions), the

Deathstroke

boss fight, and the basic story premise that Black Mask has hired 12 assassins to come to Gotham for one night to try to kill the Batman. Just based on that alone I ended up getting the PC version when it went on sale on Steam despite not having a computer that could run it all that well. Over the next 8 years I slowly played through the game as I also slowly upgraded to newer & newer computers, but even though these new computers could basically run the game at a framerate that was playable (20 - 25 fps) I never really dove into the game fully, but I did over the years play through the game's DLC expansions which I would pick up as they went on sale. Overall, my feelings about this game are better than they were when I first played it, but it still has a number of issues that bug me (another game with

Joker being the primary antagonist

, the design/layout of Gotham) to this day.

15. Elden Ring - PC/Steam, played 131hrs, beat the game w/83% Achievements on 3/22/22
I basically bought this game primarily because according to CanMyPCRunIt my new gaming PC couldn't run the game at min specs despite technically meeting them so I wanted to see if that was true & to see how far I could push my new PC. Well I was able to run the game in 1080p on High settings with a mostly stable 50-60 fps and from there I fell down the rabbit hole, so much so that in the span of about a month I put in 131 hrs into the game and got just about every single achievement in the game save for 4 tied to getting all Legendary items, 2 tied to one of the endings you can get, and 1 that basically acted like the game's Platinum Trophy (get every trophy) so to say I absolutely enjoyed the game is a bit of an understatement. I've seen a lot of people call this game the Breath of the Wild of Souls games and I'd say that would be an apt comparison down to how I felt the first time I played both games.

16. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 - PC/Steam, played 2+ hrs, beat the arcade/story mode 5 times (so far) on Normal difficulty on 3/27/22
I used to play this game a lot on the PS3 but hadn't touched it in about 5+ years before buying it a few weeks back for the PC/Steam. Now that I've beaten Elden Ring I figured it was time for a change of pace/pallet cleanser and figured this would fit the bill. Overall it played just as I remembered (the good & the bad) and some of it came back to me pretty quickly though the rest of the time my rust showed, hopefully I'll be able to shake it off so that I can zip through Arcade/Story mode with every character.

17. Lost Judgement - PS5, est playtime 22 hrs, beat the game on normal difficulty on 4/6/22
I played & beat the first game in the series last year and initially started playing this game shortly afterwards (I had gotten it as a Christmas present) though only long enough to finish the first chapter before jumping onto Metroid Dread. After playing through Elden Ring and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 I figured it was finally time to tackle this game proper. Overall I enjoyed the game (so much that unlike the first game I am thinking about possibly trying to eventually 100% complete) as it managed to avoid some of the things I didn't care for in the first game of the series (it didn't feel like it was dragging and I didn't have the same trouble with the boss fights where I kept having to repeat them since I was so underleveled since I had ignored the side missions ), but it at times got a bit too preachy (& repetative) about Bullying (which hey that shits wrong so there's need to keep bashing me over the head about how bad it is over & over & over & over again) & Justice (there's like a lengthy section just past the midpoint of the game where the word Justice is said several times in just about every single cutscene)which was kinda grating to me. Still the gameplay was fun, I liked the improvements they made to the series' tailing mechanics ( I feel it's a lot easier to blend in/hide and keep track of your target) and enjoyed the few side missions I did play even though a few of them had me scratching my head as to what I needed to do in order to advance them.

18. Bloody Roar 2 - PS3 (PS1 Classics), est playtime 3+ hrs, beat the game's story mode multiple times with different characters on normal difficulty on 4/9/22
I first heard about this game way back when upon finding a demo of it included in one of the many PSOne Jampack demo discs (I kinda miss those) and as a fan of fighting games thought what I had played of the demo was interesting. Flash Forward to last year's announcement that Sony was planning on closing the PS3 PSN Store I decided to jump on there (just in case) and snag a few digital PS1 games namely this game and Tomba 2. While I still haven't gotten around to Tomba 2 I did finally decide to jump into this game after messing around on my PS3 for the first time in months and lets just say I found parts of this game to be infuriating. The main reasons being a sudden difficulty spike & (cheating c******** m*****f******) an enemy AI fighter that would magically hit you before you could even react/turn to where you were & hit you or somehow perfectly dodge/block my attacks that under normal circumstances would have landed or been unblockable. Though given the era when this game came out these issues are par for the course as companies were still trying to find a balance between 3D home console & arcade fighting game ports, the only thing that imo kinda sucks is that it doesn't have as many unlockables (2 unlockable characters, 3 new gameplay modes, additional gameplay options, & 1 set of new costumes for every character) as games such as Tekken 3 which came out a year earlier had much more to unlock.

19. MLB the Show 22 - PS5, est Playtime 12+ hrs, played multiple modes on 4/13/22
It's a baseball game and if you've been paying attention the past couple of years I love me my baseball games

P), now I just need to make sure it doesn't take up all my playing time.

20. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 - PC/Steam, est. Playtime: 4hrs 35 mins, beat the game on normal difficulty on 4/27/22
I'm a big fan of the "Classic" Sonic games (Sonic 1 -3 & Knuckles) and when this game first came out I gave the PS3 demo for the game a go, but didn't care for it all that much as I felt that there was something "off" about the game's controls/physics so I never bothered to purchase/play through the game. Last year I had gotten the game and it's sequel Episode 2 as part of a Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary Bundle (it had practically every single major Sonic game all the way up to Sonic Forces), but didn't touch it until recently as I had gotten on something of a Sonic kick after watching the Sonic 2 movie (which I really enjoyed) and well it left me a little conflicted. This game is now where near the quality of Sonic Mania (which I absolutely loved and hope gets a sequel), the physics & introduction of the 3D Sonic's homing attack definitely took some getting used to, and it feels like a "Greatest Hits" mashup game poorly disguised as a genuine sequel to the Genesis Sonic games (Mania felt more like a true sequel than this game) as it recycled a bunch of stuff such as levels/parts of levels (Green Hill, Casino Night, Sandopolis, Wing, Metropolis, Fortress, Death Egg) boss fights (Green Hill, Casino Night), & gameplay. My least favorite part of the game was the final stage as it's basically a Boss Rush that requires you to get through 4 boss fights before you can take on the final boss and if you don't have all 7 Chaos Emeralds when you fight the final boss you get a game over/try again screen upon beating them. With that said there were some tweaks to classic gameplay elements such as the Special Stages from Sonic 1 that felt like they gave you more control of Sonic than you had in the original that I kind of dug and upon beating each level you're basically given a level select menu where you can select each zone as well as each stage you've beaten which really makes the game (outside of the Time Attack mode) really replayable. I plan on eventually playing Episode 2, but for now I'm kinda debating on whether to continue my Sonic kick with Sonic Adventure (I've tried playing the PC version, but never really got past the first Zone as I had no clue what I needed to do to advance Sonic's story), the Switch version of Sonic Mania (I've played & beaten it on the Xbox One back when it first came out and have dabbled playing through the Switch version), or try to get back into one of a dozen or so games I've previously started (Halo Infinite, Control, Cyber Shadow, GTA 3. Mafia: Definitive Edition, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Yakuza 3, Immortals: Fenix Rising, Persona 5 Strikers, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Super Mario 3D World, Cyberpunk 2077, Jax & Daxter: The Lost Frontier)

IKSTUGA · Jan 3, 2022

I'm taking a break this year. Got too obsessed with racking up the numbers last year and want to take my sweet time with Endwalker and Elden Ring.

Best of luck to all the participants!

SEGA Nintendo · Jan 3, 2022

UrgentPigeon · Jan 3, 2022

Hey everyone!
I've been watching this thread for some years now and I think I finally have the guts to at least try it this year! So I'm claiming a spot!

1. HOB: The Definitive Edition (Switch) 2nd Jan - 10hrs30 7.5/10

Best of luck to all participant!!

wyvern_bloodfist · Jan 4, 2022

I'm back for another year; hope everyone is doing well , belated Happy New Year

Jack Videogames · Jan 4, 2022

1. Project Warlock

11:12h, Normal difficulty.

Very cool retro shooter that owes a lot to the early greats of the genre (That is, games pre-Doom II). While it starts difficult, it becomes a bit too easy in the mid-game as long as you correctly build your character, only to ramp up difficulty in the last world. It's made by just a few people, which makes it a real indie in these times of this term being so overused (The original project was a one-man game, but it has grown since then) and it's well worth your time if you like retro shooters. Plus it's dirt cheap in Steam right now.

PS: This game has permadeath in all difficulty levels except Casual! Make sure to select Casual if you don't like this. Or do as I did after my first (and only) game over: make sure to always look for secret areas which usually have extra lives, early access to powerful weapons, upgrade points and other invaluable stuff.

My Score: ★★★★☆

Original post

jshackles · Jan 6, 2022

Game 2 - Inscryption - PC / GOG - Completed Jan 5th, 2022
Wow, what an experience. I was not prepared for this game. If I would have played this game last year when it was released, I think it would have been a contender for my personal Game of the Year. Somehow they turned a simple card game into an awesome deckbuilding game with a huge twist. Excellent atmosphere and awesome worldbuilding come together to make an excellent and unexpected backdrop for a game like this. I can't really say more without ruining things, but I recommend this game to anyone.

Jack Videogames · Jan 9, 2022

2. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

18:07h, Normal difficulty.

Licensed games can be tricky; most of the times they're hot messes, like the Avengers game (I've read the single player is decent though, I'll have to try it at some point). When this happens, I think it's because the devs don't manage to nail the "spirit" of the licensed characters they're using, and they feel wrong and out of place.

This doesn't happen with GotG. Eidos-Montréal take on the Guardians hits all the right notes. The plot is pure Marvel spacepulp, the MCs banter is delicious, and combining this with the great fully raytraced visuals and the corny-awesome 80s licensed soundtrack, everything is a joy to read, hear and see. Also the game is chock-full of references for all the comicbook nerds out there, which is always a plus.

Gameplay-wise, the game is... fine. It's a solid third-person shooter. The enemies are a bit spongey, the gameplay loop doesn't have much variation (walk, shoot things, go down a slide, repeat) and I found a bit annoying that when you stray from the path the other characters badger you until you go back - and the game wants you to stray from the path, because exploring nets you cool stuff. This would get old fast if it weren't for the fantastic package it's wrapped in, but it's not enough to keep you 100% engaged for 20h. The last couple hours (After Fin Fang Foom) are easily the best of the game, though, so at least it ends with a bang.

Looking forward to the inevitable sequel!

My Score: ★★★★☆

Original post

NahaNago · Jan 9, 2022

I'm going to attempt it this year and hopefully not forget. I was kinda shocked I didn't beat a single game last year.

jshackles · Jan 12, 2022

Game 3 - Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars - Nintendo Switch - Completed Jan 11th, 2022
I felt like this game was pretty interesting and had a lot of good game mechanics. It was a fun little psuedo-tabletop RPG game, and the card aesthetic was used to great effect here. However, after playing for a while it became increasingly clear that this game wouldn't have any difficulty, at all. I ended the game with just over 11 hours on the clock, all party members were max level (30), and I had all of the character's strongest weapons and armor. Even the final boss was a bit of a pushover (although easily the most difficult boss in the entire game). There were a lot of questionable design choices here that just... made the game easy. For example, your characters (as they level up) get passive buffs - but instead of choosing just one per character or something, they just... stack. So by the end every character has like three massive buffs that are hugely advantageous. A shame, really, because the story was really nice and the narration was top notch. The game was fun but without having any sort of challenge, it just felt a bit flat to me.

bender · Jan 12, 2022

jshackles said:
Game 3 - Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars - Nintendo Switch - Completed Jan 11th, 2022
I felt like this game was pretty interesting and had a lot of good game mechanics. It was a fun little psuedo-tabletop RPG game, and the card aesthetic was used to great effect here. However, after playing for a while it became increasingly clear that this game wouldn't have any difficulty, at all. I ended the game with just over 11 hours on the clock, all party members were max level (30), and I had all of the character's strongest weapons and armor. Even the final boss was a bit of a pushover (although easily the most difficult boss in the entire game). There were a lot of questionable design choices here that just... made the game easy. For example, your characters (as they level up) get passive buffs - but instead of choosing just one per character or something, they just... stack. So by the end every character has like three massive buffs that are hugely advantageous. A shame, really, because the story was really nice and the narration was top notch. The game was fun but without having any sort of challenge, it just felt a bit flat to me.

The lack of difficulty is a massive sour note on an otherwise wonderful concept.

jshackles · Jan 12, 2022

bender said:
The lack of difficulty is a massive sour note on an otherwise wonderful concept.

At first I thought "this has to get a bit better", "well this is just the tutorial chapter", all that. Eventually I just figured it wouldn't ever get difficult (which was a correct assumption) and I let myself just lean heavy into the story. The music was fantastic too though!

Still fun, but yeah disappointing because it could have been fantastic.

beepboopbopflop · Jan 12, 2022

I'm going to attempt this as well, haven't finished anything yet but it sounds like a fun challenge.

jshackles · Jan 15, 2022

Game 4 - Kingdom Rush: Origins - Nintendo Switch - Completed Jan 14th, 2022
The final Kingdom Rush game I picked up on the Switch during the Black Friday sale last year. I didn't like the variety of towers as well in this title as the last one, but it was a fun little game none-the-less. While a pretty faithful adaptation from the phone version, this (like the other Switch games in the series) had all of the heroes that could be unlocked with regular gameplay rather than with microtransactions - so that was pretty cool and welcome. The story was pretty meh but the comic sections in between each level were fun and well done. Overall, a really solid tower defense game.

bender · Jan 15, 2022

I finished The Gunk tonight. I adore the Steamworld Dig games and The Gunk just feels more like a rough draft than a finished project. The puzzle design reminds me of something out of the PSOne era and it really only has 2-3 tricks in total. That number is also representative of the total enemy types. The Gunk fluid dynamics aside, the visuals are lackluster with really bad animations and the voice acting feels like someone phoned a friend. Thankfully the game is super short but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

BusierDonkey · Jan 15, 2022

11-20

Game 11 - Fire Emblem Heroes - Mobile - 80/100
This is the only mobile game I play because it's the only mobile game I've found a reason to come back to. It's full of gatcha, but in the time since release I've spent exactly zero dollars on this game and I've unlocked all the waifus. The game itself is a Fire Emblem game with plenty of modes and plenty of events to keep playing. The game also has a fully-fleshed story that has been expanded since release featuring characters from all the Fire Emblem games but also a whole bunch of new characters found only in this title.

Game 12 - Assetto Corsa Competizione - PC - WIP - 85/100
I didn't play this game at all last year for some reason but the recent updates using DLSS had me fire it up to see how I can run it on my system. Max settings,144 absolutely locked solid with DLSS in quality mode. The game is buttery smooth and is currently IMO the best looking sim racer on the market. The game is a focused sim based solely around a specific segment of motorsport so it's not a car collect-a-thon like Forza or GT. It's also a much more involved sim than those as well. The track selection is light as a result as well but the tracks included are well done and look nice. There is no mod support in this game at all, which is a shame. If I had to pick only one sim for the rest of time this would definitely not be it as it is so limited. For what it is though it's top-notch.

Game 13 - Forza Motorsport 7 - PC - All events complete - 90/100
This is another racing game I didn't touch at all last year but on a whim I jumped back in and ended up dumping about 10 more hours in over a couple days. The Forza series is a peculiar series of sim racers. The game edges more to semi-sim than all-out sim, but there are aspects of it that are more advanced than some of the full sims. The game misses plenty of opportunities to create an authentic racing experience with missing items such as working pits, a proper penalty system and quite frankly the way multiplayer is handled is more akin to an arcade racer than a proper sim. That all being said, the games always draw me back in. I have all the hardcore sims on my PC, but I'm anxiously awaiting another Forza because the series always has a feel to it that I enjoy. There are plenty of tracks, a ton of cars, the sound is well-done and the game looks really nice despite an obvious push for all-out performance over visual flair.

Game 14 - Human Resource Machine - PC - 100% Complete - 70/100
This isn't so much a game as a collection of logic puzzles. I first played this game back when it was new and got about halfway through before I realized this was made for people smarter than me. I fired it back up hoping that I'd gotten a bit smarter since then but alas, I'm still a smooth brain. I ended up using a guide, often leaning pretty heavily on it if not outright copy/pasting solutions to complete the whole thing. It has the same charm you'd expect from a 2DBoy game, but unfortunately there isn't a whole lot of that between levels, just a few coffee breaks showing the world go to shit outside the office building while you work your life away. It's definitely worth giving a try if you like these kinds of puzzles.

Game 15 - Children of Morta - PC - 100% Complete, all achievements - 85/100
I started this game entirely on a whim. I've played more than a few top-down rogue type games and honestly I find they're all basically the same thing with a different paint job. I like this one's paint job. You play as an entire family taking on "the corruption" which is to say generic bad purple shit that is infesting the land. The family is cool and I like each member's different abilities as well as the story that is slowly unfolding as the game progresses. Like most rogue types you're getting killed and start over and like those you keep some skillsets and powers as you restart. This game encourages you to use each family member, strongly, you get penalized if you use one character too often. It's fine though as each character's playstyle is fun. The game also features 2P co-op where you can each use a different family member which I assume really opens up the gameplay options, I assume because I have no friends so I'm not 100% certain. Either way, really good game with some fantastic pixel art. The characters themselves have an old Sierra feel to them and the environments are just really nice looking. This was an absolute pleasure of a game.

Game 16 - Unravel - PC - 100% Complete - 70/100
This game is a game I never played when it first released, then I kind of forgot it existed until Unravel 2 was announced. I never played that either and also forgot it existed. I saw it in Gamepass and decided fuck it. It's pretty good, pretty short too though. I don't really give a shit about the story, but some of the puzzles are decent and the creative use of your... self... in the game was pretty entertaining. The game's biggest issue is that it tries at times to be a platformer despite not having the basic down quite right. First off it's too imprecise, so landing jumps is just a bit luck. The biggest offender is that you always have this feel that the gameplay is deliberated made to feel like the yarn trailing behind you is constantly tugging at you. The end result is a slightly floaty playing game with a random counterforce which makes the game feel a bit sloppy. The game really shines in small pieces like surfing a tricycle, water skiing behind a fish or encounters with wildlife. Overall worth playing but a bit of a disappointment.

Game 17 - Moonlighter - PC - Complete main quest on Hard difficulty - 80/100
This roguelike game has you playing a merchant who moonlights as an adventurer who has been exploring a set of strange shape-shifting dungeon. The game plays like an early top-down Zelda game with a variety of weapon types and the ability to upgrade gear as the game progresses. It was a slow starter to the point I almost dropped it. It takes a while to get rolling but once you do the loop is pretty fun. Controls are really good save that once you start swinging you can't change direction unless you stop attacking which left me swinging at air a lot. The interactions between you and the townspeople are almost non-existent save for one old man who talks to you between dungeons so there's not much in the way of story here (I'm fine with that) but the story itself of what the dungeons are and how they came to be is kind of amusing in the end. Definitely worth a shot if you enjoy these types of games. I'll continue playing to wrap up the achievements.

Game 18 - Pocky & Rocky - SNES - Completed 2P playthrough - 70/100
I only played this game a short time in the past, either on ZSNES or maybe my brothers and I rented it as kids. The game is charming and fun with plenty of cute little goblin characters to fight and save from their evil brainwashing. There's not a lot to the game but it's a fun little adventure. I played through the game with my brother and the 2P was appreciated as the game really is about the pair. Something the sequel got wrong.

Game 19 - Pocky & Rocky 2 - SNES - Completed "2P" playthrough - 35/100
I don't understand what they did to the 2P in this game. In the previous game both players controlled a character and had free reign to do as they pleased. In this game Player 1 is always Pocky and plays like in the first game but player 2 is basically a power item. While P2 can move about freely all shot are auto-aimed, often at off-screen enemies. If P1 dies, so does P2. The game has a tendency to start you off in the middle of an enemy or projectile resulting in spawn death. If P1 uses a power more P2 becomes a projectile and dies after the attack. Bosses are all just massive damage sponges as well which takes a lot of the enjoyment out of the game. While the game introduced a bunch of new characters the 2P mechanics make them more of a hindrance than anything as on hard they often damage themselves with their own attacks. Play the first one but avoid this one.

Game 20 - Battletoads in Battlemaniacs - SNES - Got as far as the last snake room - 75/100
This game is hard, like super fucking hard. This game is so hard Game Genie doesn't even really help. When someone tells me Souls games are hard I laugh at them because they have no idea what hard actually is. You always hear about the turbo tunnel but the joke is the turbo tunnel is the second easiest part of the game in this and the original Battletoads games. That's just memory and luck. The hard part comes later where you're surrounded by instant death spikes and have no idea where you're supposed to go as these crazy ass snakes fly around the room. That said, by the time I died for the hundredth time I was still in a good mood because the game is actually fun to play. The graphics were great, the music was great and everything was just fun the whole way through. Some day I will beat the snake level... some day...

Bridges · Jan 15, 2022

Best I've done was 47 in 2020. I'll give it a shot this year and actually take space in the thread.

Completions so far:

1. Aliens: Fireteam Elite - Xbox - 1/7/22
2. AI: The Somnium Files - Xbox - 1/11/22
3. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy - Xbox - 1/21/22
4. BINARY DOMAIN - Xbox - 2/10/22
5. Nobody Saves The World - Xbox - 2/12/22
6. It Takes Two - Xbox - 2/13/22
7. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition - Xbox - 2/19/22
8. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Xbox - 2/28/22
9. Aragami 2 - Xbox - 3/11/22
10. TUNIC - Xbox - 3/20/22
11. Kingdom Hearts FINAL MIX HD - Xbox - 4/18/22
12. Spongebob Squarepants: Truth or Square - Xbox - 4/23/22
13. Yooka-Laylee - Xbox - 5/5/22
14. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion - Xbox - 5/8/22
15. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Anniversary Edition - Xbox - 5/19/22
16. Supraland - Xbox - 5/25/22

beepboopbopflop · Jan 16, 2022

Game 1. Ghostrunner PC | late 2021- January 15 2022 | 4/5

Really enjoyed this game, been playing it on and off and finished the game today. Was extremely fun, felt like hot line miami.

wyvern_bloodfist · Jan 16, 2022

Game No.1 - DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin
Playtime: 36 hrs. 47 mins.
My Rating: 24 out or 25
Completed: Finished Single Player
Version: PlayStation4

Game No.2 - DEMON'S SOULS
Playtime: 38 hrs. 36 mins.
My Rating: 20 out or 25
Completed: Finished Single Player
Version: PlayStation5

Game No.3 - The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes
Playtime: 04 hrs. 22 mins.
My Rating: 22 out or 25
Completed: Finished Single Player
Version: XboxOne

Game No.4 - Wing of Darkness
Playtime: 03 hrs. 15 mins.
My Rating: 20 out or 25
Completed: Finished Single Player
Version: Nintendo Switch

Game No.5 - Returnal
Playtime: 17 hrs. 10 mins.
My Rating: 8 out or 25
Completed: Finished Single Player
Version: PlayStation5

Game No.6 - Mortal Kombat 11
Playtime: 05 hrs. 30 mins.
My Rating: 20 out or 25
Completed: Finished Single Player
Version: PlayStation5

Game No.7 - Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate
Playtime: 02 hrs. 15 mins.
My Rating: 20 out or 25
Completed: Finished Single Player
Version: PlayStation4

Game No.8 - Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs.
Playtime: 03 hrs. 30 mins.
My Rating: 20 out or 25
Completed: Finished Single Player
Version: PlayStation3

Game No.9 - Ever Forward
Playtime: 02 hrs. 15 mins.
My Rating: 5 out or 25
Completed: Finished Single Player
Version: Nintendo Switch

Game No.10 - The Pathless
Playtime: 05 hrs. 22 mins.
My Rating: 8 out or 25
Completed: Finished Single Player
Version: PlayStation5

Game No.11 - Resident Evil Remastered
Playtime: 06 hrs. 36 mins.
My Rating: 24 out or 25
Completed: Finished Single Player
Version: Nintendo Switch

Game No.12 - TORMENTED SOULS
Playtime: 11 hrs. 42 mins.
My Rating: 22 out or 25
Completed: Finished Single Player
Version: PlayStation5

Game No.13 - Onimusha Remastered
Playtime: 4 hrs. 55 mins.
My Rating: 24 out or 25
Completed: Finished Single Player
Version: XboxOne

jshackles · Jan 17, 2022

Game 6 - Ultra-Age - Nintendo Switch - Completed Jan 16th, 2022
This game was... not great. I picked it up on a whim on import because I love supporting physical copies of digital only games - and this game got a physical release in Japan. I got it tacked on to another order I had placed and the shipping was free, but still... not really worth the price of admission. Aesthetically, this game was trying to be a PS2 game (whether that was an intentional choice, or if the game was just janky, I'll never know). The voice acting was really, really bad. However, the action combat and exploration were both fun but never quite got into the realm of "great". By the time I had reached the end of the game, I realized that the game hadn't given me enough items to power up completely so that it was like I was playing on unintentional hard mode. The ending was... also bad. Overall, this game is a D- at best.

beepboopbopflop · Jan 19, 2022

Game 2: Mass Effect 1 Legendary Edition (PC) January 18th 12hours

Replaying the Mass Effect games through the legendary edition, haven't played 1 in about 5 years or so, I believe this is my 3 playthrough of it, game still holds up imo, really enjoy the game, side content was kinda weird on how it was ambiguous on when you had the options to do things. I really enjoyed it after all these years 4/5.

BusierDonkey · Jan 19, 2022

Microsoft should start a 52 Studios. 1 year. thread am I right?

Jack Videogames · Jan 27, 2022

3. Psychonauts

12:26h, Not a completionist run (Rank 55, all Brains, like half of the rest of the collectables)

After years of me ignoring this game, finally the only thing that gives me motivation happened (A critically acclaimed modern sequel) so I decided to give it a go. It's a real good game - graphical and sound design is out of this world, and the story and humour are clever. It's a bit like if Tim Burton designed Banjo Kazooie, except the game is not really a Mario clone, but its own thing, with its own soul. The first couple levels are a bit dull, but from Lungfishopolis onward each stage is a treat and a design masterclass (Except for Meat Circus, more on that later).

I was torn between giving this game 4 or 5 Stars, but I finally decided on 5 because the fauls I find in Psychonauts are only there because the game is pretty dated by now. Some of the platforming can be pretty obnoxious (The irritating "bunny" part in Meat Circus and the ascent in the Asylum come to mind) finding collectables is a royal pain in the ass, particularly the floating semi-transparent thingies, there's an unnecessary money-grinding segment smack in the middle of the plot, and sometimes it's not really clear where you have to go or what you have to do. Apart from those snags though it's a really spectacular game, one that has stood the test of time.

My Score: ★★★★★

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Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.

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Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.

What time is it?

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Member

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.

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