First post with games completed from January to September.
- SEPTEMBER -
Game 23: Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise - 8/10 - hours
Completed the game and got all gold medals (not all perfects yet though). As usual the rhythm series has top notch gameplay in its category, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was lacking in this iteration. It's not the amount of content, rather it's about a certain feeling of sameness pervading most of the games: you can only press A or A+B, no other options, of course it was a conscious choice to embrace semplicity and immediacy, but the result is a shallow experience compared to the GBA and DS iterations.
Game 24: Fire Emblem: Awakening - 7,5/10 - 131:28 hours
I've played this game I lot, mostly because I committed the error to start it at the highest difficulty setting with permanent deaths, even though I only played Shadow Dragon at normal before: I died a lot. Completed the campaign and all optional missions. Speaking of missions, they are lacking in variety and the game soon turns into a grindfest (at least using the difficulty setting I chose), relationships are nice, but they come at the expense of a more detailed overall story. Characters are unique in their presentation and personality, not so much in the actual gameplay, due to anyone being able to take on almost any role/class. After a while actual strategy takes a seatback in favour of straightforward spearheading tactics employing the most powerful characters in your party.
Game 25: Luftrausers - 6,5/10 - 7 hours
Finished the hmmm... campaign? Well it's a nice fun game if played in short bursts, with a stylish presentation and cool flying mechanics, but the novelty soon wears off: not enough variety in enemies and weird design decisions (blimps appearing after a certain "numerical value" of shootdowns, even though nobody tells you and there's no way to check that number in game). The in-game rewards and "missions" keep you playing for a while, even after you've seen everything the game has to offer, but it eventually gets boring.
- OCTOBER -
Game 26: The Bridge - 6/10 - 5 hours
Completed the main game, I'm more then halfway in the mirror world but kind of lost interest. The game takes a lot from Escher's paintings for its aestethics and heavily from Braid in terms of gameplay; in fact it takes so much from it that it lacks a bit of personality, it even goes as far as using the same pseudo-philosophical narrations in between worlds, hidden collectibles akin to Braid's stars, and the same hub: a house. The puzzles, although fun in the way they're solved, are sometimes too easy, sometimes almost broken, especially those involving the curtains in the later stages; the controls are really loose and don't help at all in solving the puzzles.
Game 27: Gunpoint - 7,5/10 - 7 hours
Completed the storyline with all A+ rankings and got almost all achievements. The game's very limited in what you can do: yes you can approach things in more than one way, but those various ways remain the same ones for all the missions. The gameplay doesn't evolve much during the course of the campaign, which, by the way, is very short and repetitive: all missions are "hack this and get out", the optional goals aren't worth your time, unless you accidentally complete them without even noticing (happened to me most of the times). Also the story doesn't really branches off, unless you consider that one instance when you can choose between two different missions; for the rest it's all minor stuff that doesn't actually change the way the plot unfolds. There are very insteresting things, such as the way upgrades work, the cross-link system, the way the plot is narrated and the great sense of humour employed by the developer. it's a unique gameplay gem, but it's not that mind-blowing of a game.
Game 28: Pikmin 3 - 8,5/10 - 34:11 hours
Completed the campaign with all fruits, and got a platinum in every free co-op challenge. Another great entry in the franchise, but it falls short of the first two; the game has been overly simplified: unlike what happened in the previous games, here you're constantly guided towards a certain objective, you can see where are all the fruits almost from get go, you really have no urgency whatsoever like in first game because the fruit buffer gets enormous quickly. Moreover the pikmin are almost invincible, they don't insta-die due to electricity anymore, even when they are squished under someone's feet they usually just get planted in the ground: the challenge just isn't there anymore, not even the final boss proves to be a worthy opponent. The game's also shorter and has less content than Pikmin 2, it's disappointing that the white and purple pikmin can only be used in the challenge, though the new flying and rock pikmin are amazing additions, especially the former. speaking of challenges, they're like crack, you can replay them ad nauseam, but it's too bad they're not too many and you have to buy the remaining ones.
- NOVEMBER -
Game 29: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - 8/10 - around 15 hours
Completed the game, got all heart pieces and all the optional stuff but the missable photos. I hate to say it, but I think it's the worst Zelda I've ever played (I only need to play the original and Zelda II to complete the list), that isn't to say it's bad, in fact it's a good game, it just lacks a certain something: you can see it was made for a very limited handheld. One thing that really irked me is the lack of a proper way of quick transport: the warp points are placed weirdly and you can't reach certain places without huge detours, also the very basic and seldom helpful map isn't exactly hot stuff; the missable photos are a no-no, especially since you can't ever complete the album, due to having to choose between two different photos: wtf?
Game 30: Super Mario Land [replay] - 6/10 - around 40 minutes
Completed it fairly easily, the game is a breeze to get through. My nostalgia goggles shattered: it's a very average game that lacks basically anything that makes Mario great: the platforming is weak, the level design absolutely uninspired, the jumping physics and collision lacking. On the plus side it's weird as hell, you can tell it was made by Gunpei Yokoi: a level based around the Easter Island, exploding Koopas, shoot 'em up sections and alien abductions!
Game 31: Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins [replay] - 7/10 - around 2 hours
Now, this one actually feels like Mario, even though it's still weird as hell. A good amount of the levels are boring and mostly maze-like, the challenge there isn't in the jumps but in finding the right path. The rabbit outfit is kinda redundant, they could have used Tanuki Mario instead. The last level is rage inducing: the game's been pretty tame till that point, then the difficulty curve becomes a freakin' wall and you lose dozens of lives all at once; they could've put a check point halfway or something damn!
Game 32: Half Minute Hero - 8,5/10 - 14:20 hours
Completed Hero 30, Evil Lord 30, Princess 30, Knight 30 and Hero 300, didn't try Hero 3 seriously yet, looks hard though. An amazing game to play in short bursts, the gimmick sounds stupid but works pretty well for what actually is all but an RPG (I'd say the main modes are in order: action puzzle, rts, runner, tower defense); however after the greatness that is Hero 30, with its numerous branching paths, secrets, great humour and immense replayability, the other modes kind of fall short of it, it's clear the meat of the game is Hero 30 and the other stuff is just there to diversify the experience.
Game 33: Kirby's Block Ball - 7,5/10 - around 7hours
Completed all the border lines and got the true ending. An Arkanoid/Breakout clone with style: you can inflate Kirby for more power, you can absorb powers from enemies, the stages are very different and you may have to use rackets on up to all the four sides of the screen in some of them, there are bosses, bonus stages to gain more lives and all the distinctive elements of the series. Best Arkanoid clone I've ever played.
Game 34: Kirby's Dream Land 2 - 7/10 - around 5 hours
Completed the game but haven't got all rainbow shards yet. It's leaps and bounds better than the first, it features the copy ability and animal friends, who add depth to the gameplay by altering the power in possession of Kirby accordingly. The level design is much better and the game's much longer.
Game 35: Kirby's Dream Land [replay] - 5,5/10 - around 1 hour
Completed the standard game. It's boring and overly simplicistic, not having the usual copy ability really hurts the game in retrospective.
Game 36: Kid Dracula - 6/10 - around 5 hours
It's a very clever action platformer, always throwing something new in your way, being it different ways to navigate the stage, new enemies or lots of powers to use. Actually you get so many powers that it's hard to navigate them, especially since the game can be though as iron and you can't afford to waste time, moreover you only regularly use like three of them, some like the umbrella are useful in just like two places in the whole game.
Game 37: Kirby and the Amazing Mirror - 8,5/10 - around 15 hours
Beat the final boss but still have to get may hidden treasures. Best Kirby game I've ever played... but it's not your typical Kirby game at all: it mixes the platforming and lore of the series with a metroidvania inspired progression, with a huge number of branching paths to follow, an interconnected big world, a maze-like structure, an auto-mapping feature and hidden treasures. The "going back to old areas with new items" part of the metroidvania genre is handled in a different way though, as you'll have to copy the right power to proceed in certain parts of the game, even though the powers aren't really progression based, you can get most of them in most of the "worlds" you visit. Amazing game, which offers hours upon hours of simple yet complex fun.
Game 38: Kirby's Pinball Land - 6,5/10 - around 3 hours
Beat Dedede. The game's cool and uses the Kirby franchise and characters in very funny and clever ways inside the pinballs, but there are some huge problems: having to beat all tables in one go to reach the end is a nightmare, sometimes the bosses are unfair, considering you can only do so much and most of the time Kirby's defenseless in the air; the whole game in general feels unfair in how it handles the trajectories of the ball, often ending in the lateral holes, where you can't do anything but watch the ball fall; yes, there's a safety net you can use to save the ball when you reach the deepest hole of the table, but then you slowly have to crawl your way to the top, fearing that one single error may force you to restart again, and again, and again.
Game 39: Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land - 6,5/10 - around 7 hours
Completed 100%. The main problem of the game is that it tries to rely on nostalgia alone, it really doesn't have anything that makes it stand out on its own, it's just yet another Dream Land game, it does't even feature animal friends like DL2, or any of the innovations of the newest Kirby games. It's really uninspired, not bad, but nothing to write home about. The map is cool but that's it.
Game 40: Drill Dozer - 8/10 - around 15 hours
Drilled through the game till the very end, I've seen everything it has to offer. An amazing and sadly overlooked action platformer which can really put you to the test with the secret maps. The gameplay reaches its peak when you're jumping from platform to platform by reverse drilling yourself out of various mechanisms, dodging insta-death lasers, using enemies as trampolines and solving maddening puzzles requiring a great comprehension of the game's working. Too bad the gameplay is watered down by a very forgettable plot, bland characters and the need to always power up twice in every stage to reach full throttle. It's one of those games you wish the made a sequel to refine the gameplay and address the few problems: we'd have a masterpiece.
Game 41: Super Mario Ball [replay] - 7,5/10 - around 7 hours
Completed the main quest, only left a bunch of stars. My favourite electronic pinball, it mixes Mario 64 adventure with the usual antics of any pinball, and most importantly it saves you progress, unlike Kirby's Pinball. Here the difficulty lies more in the tasks you have to complete to get the stars than in the fact you have to beat the whole game with just 3 damn balls. I have to say some stars are excruciatingly hard to get, especially when the ball seems to refuse to go in that one direction you need, but it's not unfair as in Kirby's Pinball, you can feel you made an error you could avoid 90% of the times. I suggest anyone to try it, it's full of nice touches and little surprises: a great execution.
- DECEMBER -
Game 42: Pandora's Tower - 8/10 - DURATION PLAYED
Got the best ending on my first try! I'm glad the game managed to reach our hands, here in the western world, it's a peculiar action game mixed with elements of a dating sim: it's incredible how you come to really feel empathy for Elena and her curse, talking with her never feels artificial or robotic, there's plenty of dialogue options and situations throughout the game. Aeron uses the chain in many ways, really making it shine as a unique weapon, however the combat is pretty limited and can get stale. The towers are great, but they reuse too many assets, especially the second part of the game is almost a copy-paste work. It's weird how they chose to lock so much stuff (gifts, secret rooms, texts) in the post-game, when your drive to play (checking new towers and lifting Elena's curse) is gone.
Game 43: Evoland - 7/10 - 8:06 hours
Done everything but maxing level for the main character. An interesting experiment that could have used more time and polish, the game's not atrociously bugged as release day though. The upgrade mechanic feels mostly good but, while it goes very quickly at the very start, once you proceed onwards it gets watered down and you only get mostly minor stuff for the rest of the game. The action adventure part (Zelda-like) is the best part of the game, while the RPG oriented (FF-like) part feels way more rushed: too little options and too many mindless random encounters. Story and characters are pure trash, but that's not the point of a game which could be called "Citation: The Game".
Game 44: Mario Kart 8 - 8,5/10 - DURATION PLAYED
Got all gold trophies with three stars (DLC too), beat all time trials ghosts and unlocked everything but that damn golden glider (10.000 coins? Really Nintendo?). One of the best entries in the series, if not the best one; the online is an amazing experience, even though I don't really like how tournaments are handled, but the battle mode is a damn shame: a good battle mode would have made the game almost falwless.
Game 45: Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet - 7,5/10 - around 14 hours
Completed 100% the campaign, played the multiplayer modes a little by myself. Nice, but not very ambitious, metroidvania game: the power ups are cool but the various zones are almost always too dependent on a specific one, that also means that the backtracking to get items isn't a huge part of the game. It's a little too linear for its own good, which isn't something good for a metroidvania game, though the artsyle and atmosphere make up for that.
Game 46: Shadowrun Returns - 7,5/10 - 23:48 hours
Completed the Dead Man's Switch campaign with a rifle-wielding Shaman with max charisma, many points in Will and spellcasting. Never played the original, so the cyberpunk+magic setting was fresh to me, however I feel the developers didn't really flesh out the setting enough. The leveling system is a little perplexing at first, it took me a while to understand how to use conjuring for example: you have to put points in three different lines AND buy the various magics from a spellshop, which is also the only place where you can equip them, at least for a good part of the game. The plot is good, but too straightforward, the characters are nice, but they feel underdeveloped: you never feel like the game really offers you a choice, every choice brings you to the same place with few variations, there are no branching paths, no morality system, no exploration outside the game's constant guidelines. In the end, also due to the many little bugs, it feels like an unpolished project.
Game 47: Rocket Knight Adventures - 7/10 - around 5 hours
The game holds up quite well the test of time, great graphics and quick gameplay. It's a solid action platformer, with a great world and lots of variety, that doesn't hold any punches, in fact I was only able to end the game at *cough*Children*cough* difficulty. The game relies a little too much on pattern memorization, especially for some bosses, who are heartless and give you no other option than a narrow predetermined path.
Game 48: Super Mario 3D World [with gf] - 9/10 - DURATION PLAYED
Done everything but completing all levels with all characters. Great 3D Mario game, full of charm, surprises and multiplayer fun; the graphics are amazing, especially the artstyle employed by EAD, and let's not talk about that lighting. The amount of stuff and diversity contained in the game is mindblowing, especially the "post-game" worlds. It's clear the game has been created with multiplayer in mind, that shows in the way the camera works, which is one of my major gripes with the game, since it makes precision jumping quite difficult; it shows in the level design as well, which is somewhat off at times when playing alone. The run button is a big no-no in a 3D Mario, especially implemented like in this game, the watered down jump mechanics (no triple jump) are also puzzling. Champion Road is not so hard, amateurs.
Game 49: Ittle Dew - 7,5/10 - 2:57 hours
Completed the game with sword and teleport rod only, using a huge shortcut, then went back to get th last item (ice wand), still have to get all the treasures and secrets. What Zelda would be if stripped away of his story, NPCs and exploration: dungeon after dungeon after dungeon; even the rare patches of overworld are littered with caves that are basically one room dungeons. The game, being a simple Zelda clone, managed to impress me: the puzzles are much harder than the usual Zelda stuff and really force you to think out of the box, especially those that grant access to the shortcuts. That's the best part of the game: you can really choose your own route, forgoing items and entire dungeons to reach the end quicker by taking a harder path. That's where the game shines (incredible artstyle and animation aside), there's an actual achievement to finish the game in under 15 minutes; the game could take around 3 hours if you take your time, more to get every collectible, but the great thing is to replay it and experiment with the shortcuts.
Game 50: Guacamelee! Gold Edition [with gf] - 8/10 - around 10 hours
We've beaten Calaca at normal difficulty, and found 70% of the stuff the game has to offer (we'll surely be back for the rest). Amazing artstyle and flair, catchy music, challenging platforming, great combat, full of secret rooms: it's a nice beat 'em up with metroidvania vibes, even though the exploration is not as complex as the masterpieces of the genre. The story is nice but nothing to write home about, in fact the cutscenes are oft too long and you just wish you could smash something instead. The enemies aren't too varied and the game's not that long, however you never bore: the power ups are all great to use and all add something cool to the combat and exploration, none of them feel as an afterthought, the combat itself never tires and is well balanced with the exploration and platforming.
Game 51: Little Inferno [replay] - 7/10 - 6:21 hours
Got all combos and finished the game. It's an incredibly addictive timewaster that tries to make you feel bad for playing it. Clever.
Game 52: Pullblox - 8/10 - 39:15 hours
100% completed. Very cool and innovative way of thinking puzzles and action puzzle games, a good mix of puzzles and platforming. The main mechanic is a clever concept but it feels underdeveloped, even with the addition of the various mechanisms: the puzzles feel mostly the same and get repetitive after a while, especially the non-mural ones: you can only do so many increasingly difficult multicoloured towers before the feeling of deja-vu sets in. The rewind mechanic is a godsend, and doesn't make solving the puzzles cheap thanks to the fact it's timed. There's a serious pacing problem though: the first half of the game is too damn easy, the second half of the game is too danm hard.
