General Gaming ~*D1P's Games of 2024*~

[Phaseknox]

On 1/22/2024 at 12:11 AM, stepee said:

At a certain point I realized that actually I like Ys9 as much as Ys8, both are amazing action rpgs and my favorite in the genre. Even the dungeons are a lot of fun here. The pacing is on point, the action is speedy and impactful. There’s tons of side content worth doing. It’s not too short nor overstays its welcome. Leveling up is well done and rewarding. You don’t need to grind beyond just doing side missions. 

 

Ys8 had better music but the music here is still good, just not as amazing as Ys8. But the fun traversal mechanics added here with the gifts and better enemy design here easily make up for that. I loved the story and how it wrapped up with a satisfying resolution to the mysteries. Ys10 is definitely higher than almost any other game on my most wanted list now. 
 

10/10

I played Ys IX last year, but I stopped playing it due to repetition. I got burned out on spending the entirety of the game in the city and prison, neither of which I found to be very appealing environments. I liked Ys VIII a lot more, I liked the shipwrecked on a deserted island story and it had a great sense of adventure and discovery to it. The island was colorful and lush with varied areas, and the Dana segments added even more variety to everything. The music was also exceptionally good, the music in Ys IX doesn’t compare IMO. I liked Ys: Memories of Celceta more than Ys IX as well, it has a colorful and varied game world and great sense of adventure to it similar to Ys VIII. The music is really good, too.

 

After Ys: Memories of Celceta and Ys VIII I was a little disappointed with Ys IX since it’s a darker more claustrophobic and repetitive game by comparison. I still liked a lot about it such as its story, characters, combat and traversal, but it lacked a real sense of adventure like Ys: Memories of Celceta and Ys VIII had. I still liked it enough to probably play it again in the future and finish it, but it didn’t appeal to me as much as it did to you. However, I’m really looking forward to Ys X because it’s going back to the grand adventure style of the series.

[skillzdadirecta]

Finished Alan Wake 2... did not enjoy it. 

[stepee]

On 1/28/2024 at 10:38 AM, Phaseknox said:

I played Ys IX last year, but I stopped playing it due to repetition. I got burned out on spending the entirety of the game in the city and prison, neither of which I found to be very appealing environments. I liked Ys VIII a lot more, I liked the shipwrecked on a deserted island story and it had a great sense of adventure and discovery to it. The island was colorful and lush with varied areas, and the Dana segments added even more variety to everything. The music was also exceptionally good, the music in Ys IX doesn’t compare IMO. I liked Ys: Memories of Celceta more than Ys IX as well, it has a colorful and varied game world and great sense of adventure to it similar to Ys VIII. The music is really good, too.

 

After Ys: Memories of Celceta and Ys VIII I was a little disappointed with Ys IX since it’s a darker more claustrophobic and repetitive game by comparison. I still liked a lot about it such as its story, characters, combat and traversal, but it lacked a real sense of adventure like Ys: Memories of Celceta and Ys VIII had. I still liked it enough to probably play it again in the future and finish it, but it didn’t appeal to me as much as it did to you. However, I’m really looking forward to Ys X because it’s going back to the grand adventure style of the series.

 

I actually really connected with the prison/city focus and liked that a lot. You become real familiar with it and that kind of had a cozy effect on me. Reminded me of Dragon Age 2 in that way, and I loved that game actually. But that is what I’ve heard from most people why they didn’t like it as much too.

 

I will say though in its defense, but this is a spoiler:

 

There are at least some areas outside of the city that are more sunny outside Ys8 like areas, later on in the game

[Best]

TLOU 2. 10/10 Best game I've ever played.

 

So Skyrim and TLOU 2 so far this month.

[crispy4000]

 

Tinykin immediately hooks you with its collect-a-thon bits.  It scratches that itch better than any 3D platformer I can remember since Banjo Kazooie.  If you'd consider yourself over these types of games, play Tinykin for 30 minutes and you'll surely change your mind.  It makes me question why collecting doodads isn't more fun in open world games.  Maybe its because everything you get in Tinykin has some purpose in the world itself: to open a compartment, to break things, to climb higher, to activate some contraption, to carry more, etc.  You feel more capable in each level the more things you grab.

 

The game's biggest flaw is definitely its story and characters.  So many indie platformers get NPCs all wrong.  They're devoid of charm here.  And there's too many of them, with too much dialogue.  So it's little surprise the ending gives no grand payoff.  This problem feels even more pronounced considering there's no combat, and no final boss to get through.  Not even some sort of final platforming challenge.

 

Otherwise its a wonderful game.  I still think everyone should play it, the level design is spectacular, and it feels like a classic game much of the time, but I really wish it could have stuck the landing better.

 

8/10

 

2024 Games

Final Fantasy XVI - 8.5/10

Tinykin - 8/10

[SaysWho?]

2024 Games

 

Final Fantasy 7 Integrade

[crispy4000]

(Copied from the pixel art thread)

 

It's To the Moon if it was a puzzle based platformer, but unlike that game, the block switch puzzles are its best bits.  The pixel art is stunning, so is the animation.  The story bits tend to fall apart by the end: the basic mystery is compelling enough, but the way it wraps up is pretty contrived.

Bear with me here... this game feels like an accidental meta-commentary on indie games that crawl too far up their psuedo-intellectual buttholes.  Games like this tend to string you along, pull out stupid twists with convoluted explanations, and justify it all as being 'smart.'  Nah guys, it's just being manipulative, especially to the player.  And it's telling how much that gets downplayed at the end.

 

But hey, it's a breezy, enjoyable ride that hooked me.  So I can't fault it too much.

 

7.5/10

 

2024 Games

Final Fantasy XVI - 8.5/10

Tinykin - 8/10

Evan's Remains - 7.5/10

[Remarkableriots]

PSN Level 376

 

Power Wash Simulator 8/10

 

The Crew 9/10 Platinum

 

I really enjoyed this game! I was lucky to not have any glitches with the trophies.

[dualhunter]

Finished The Talos Principle II.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia - 3DS - 7//10

 

A solid remake, but definitely in the bottom half of one of my favorite series. It just felt too unbalanced at times. I'm glad for the ability to turn off permadeath in the new games.

 

2024 games:

 

Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World - GBA

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia - 3DS

[crispy4000]

 

Crisis Core feels like an arcadey offshoot to me, not too unlike what Koei Temco did with Hyrule Warriors.  It's largely inconsequential to the main story of FF7, shoehorns new villains and characters into the mix, and has a super repetitive combat and mission structure.  And yet it’s still more fun than that sounds, partly because the combat in Reunion feels pretty good, if not as polished as FFXVI, or as high stakes and engaging as Remake.

 

The most disappointing part of Crisis Core is the localization; it's awful.  I usually don't mind this sort of thing in JRPGs, but the big bad's schtick is poetry, and no one feels like they're actually talking with each other, but around each other.  They really should have polished this part of the game as much as the visual glow up.  As for the returning cast, I'd say it treats Cloud with some respect.  But the others... wow... it's stunning how much Remake improved on this.

 

The sectioned off environments don't really blend into each other well in the story bits.  PS1 FF7 still had a sense of place and transition in its pre-rendered backdrops, but here, moving from one place to another can be such a sudden transition, it's creates dissonance.  This all might be a remnant of it being on PSP, but its still something that diminishes the story's impact at times.

 

It's also an incredibly easy game to break, balance-wise.  You can completely gut the challenge if you'd like to.  Maybe that's another thing that's fun about it in a roundabout way.  You feel like a god, which flies in the face of the plot's central conceit.

 

I'm glad I played it, especially if FF7 Rebirth references anything in it, as has been hinted.  It's  a fun video game and worth the $30 I paid for it.  But the gameplay itself was more engaging than anything remotely FF7 about it, which is harder to forgive.  My score reflects that.

 

7 / 10

 

2024 Games

Final Fantasy XVI - 8.5/10

Tinykin - 8/10

Evan's Remains - 7.5/10

Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII: Reunion - 7/10

[Keyser_Soze]

On 1/31/2024 at 11:17 AM, crispy4000 said:

The game's biggest flaw is definitely its story...  So it's little surprise the ending gives no grand payoff.

 

Wow. Heartless bastard confirmed. 😭

[crispy4000]

2 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Wow. Heartless bastard confirmed. 😭

Tinykin?  Yeah, the test it wraps up is nothing special.  The last level itself is cool though.

[silentbob]

Yesterday I finally decided to stop messing around the city and finished the storyline for Spider-Man 2 and had a blast. Story was great, cool powers, great side story missions, fuck it’s fun just gliding/swinging everywhere. Gonna go back and try and beat everything before new content drops I think in March. Glad the game will be dropping new free contact throughout the year (seems like the leaks are true) overall I think the games a solid 9/10 and maybe a slight bit higher when more drops

[crispy4000]

 

Never played much of the Genesis original, but I really like what the now defunct Sega Studios Australia did here.  It's like the inverse of Crash: mostly 2D platforming sections with occasional 3D, especially in boss fights.  I really like the feel of the 3D sections here actually, and wish they could have had more.  I'd take a whole 3D platformer with these controls as the baseline.

 

It's short, but that's actually a great thing.  Just when the stage templates start to wear a little thin in a level, it ends.  And there's only 2 levels per zone, with the 3rd being a boss fight.  There's a good sense of dynamism to the camera angle as well, which helps make up for any of the visual shortcomings that show its budget.

 

If there's one obvious negative, it's the hit detection.  Enemies seem to have hurt boxes that extend to the left and right of them.  So if you don't bop them exactly on the head, you could get hurt by their backside and front side.  It's not a hard game, but that can dampen the fun at times.  There's also more than a few occasions where you can't see the platforms below the screen keeping you from bottomless pits, maybe the camera was pulled too far in.

 

7.5/10

 

2024 Games

Final Fantasy XVI - 8.5/10

Tinykin - 8/10

Evan's Remains - 7.5/10

Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII: Reunion - 7/10

Castle of Illusion Remake - 7.5/10

 

[stepee]

Starfield

Bleed 2

Armored Core 6

Returnal

Ys9

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)

Vampyr

Suicide Squad

 

Really glad I didn’t listen to reviews on that one. The gameplay feels fucking fantastic and it has some of the best traversal around. It plays just fine as a single player experience after all and the story is so damn fun. 

[crispy4000]

 

The Yuffie DLC.  You owe it to yourself not to skip this if you liked FF7 remake: it comes free as a preorder bonus with Rebirth. 

 

Episode Intermission perfectly illustrates that FF7R wasn't just great because it involved characters and stories we've already heard.  This is arguably as good as anything in remake itself, and fleshes out Yuffie's backstory nicely.  More importantly, I think it shows that Square can still bring in FF7 compilation bits respectfully, and it leaves me hopeful that they won't botch any notable departures from the script in the FF7R project as a whole.  You might as well play it, in case its characters show up in Rebirth and beyond.

 

The only issue is that its not long enough for its mechanics and upgrades to feel fleshed out.  Even the recurring mini-game, Fort Condor, is totally beatable with the basic pieces you unlock at the start.

 

Side note, Unreal must have much better lip-snyc tools than whatever Square-Enix used in FF16.

 

8.5/10

 

2024 Games

Final Fantasy XVI - 8.5/10

Tinykin - 8/10

Evan's Remains - 7.5/10

Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII: Reunion - 7/10

Castle of Illusion Remake - 7.5/10

FF7R Episode Intermission - 8.5/10

[Remarkableriots]

PSN Level 378

 

Power Wash Simulator 8/10

The Crew 9/10 Platinum

 

BusSimulator  0/10 Platinum

 

This game was garbage! I just wanted to see if I could finish the Platinum because I just hate myself. Don't buy this horrible game.

[dualhunter]

Finished We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie. I got 100% item completion. For what I though was my last item the guide just said: "GAMES             |  3 ? | "  which was not helpful.

 

I searched from the item between Puzzle Arcade Machine and Pachinko Machine but all I found was that somebody on Reddit ran into the same problem but nobody answered. Next I tried searching for the Games page that the missing item was on and was able to find it. After getting it I found out that it is listed at the top of the guide. The missing item is Crane Game found on Make a Planet 4 (in the town after 3M, need to be just under 5M to get it). I checked my item completion after getting it and it was only 99.9% but I was able to find the last one and get 100%. I didn't get it both times I played the PS2 version. I'm only just over 70,000 into 1,000,000 roses (7%) so I can't see myself spending the time finishing that so unless I change my mind tomorrow, I'm done. There seems to be a bug with the item listing, the second last page always shows a star as if there was a new item even though I look at each subpage and made sure there were no items with further subpages.

[Phaseknox]

13 hours ago, Remarkableriots said:

Don't buy this horrible game.

I never planned to. 

[Remarkableriots]

49 minutes ago, Phaseknox said:

I never planned to. 

It's like a scam game because it looks like a sequel to Bus Simulator and Bus Simulator 21. On the game page, it shows Bus Simulator 2023, and the picture looks way better compared to the actual game. Those other two games are rated by gamers way higher at 4.09/5 and 3.6/5. Those are made by astragon Entertainment GmbH.

 

It looks like they removed the game for purchase on PSN.

[dualhunter]

Finished Franzen. It's a free JRPG on Steam, some of the images reminded me of FFVI. It's pretty short, but it was fun. You don't get EXP but bosses tend to drop items that you can use to boost your stats and there's a town where you can buy those items. Best to just use 1 of them on each character then advance in that town as 1 character gets upgrade but loses the boost from the item. So get that upgrade before you use more of that item. The main character's portrait looks reptilian/crocodilian but his battle sprite looks like a turd and your healer's name is Fucker.

[Best]

TLOU2 10/10

Skyrim 9/10

FF7 Remake 9/10

[crispy4000]

 

I'm conflicted.  I really enjoyed Teslagrad 1 for being a breezy, fun, Metroidvania-lite with ingenious gravity mechanics.  And all that is still here, as strong as ever, with new powerups and abilities.  So if you enjoyed the first game, it's more of everything that made that good, with even better art.

 

Teslagrad 2 does further awesome things with movement.  It plays like a cross between Yoku and Sonic once you get a certain powerup.  Mix that in with the gravity mechanics, and wow, it's cool.

 

The bosses can be frustrating however, and feel like they don't always gel with the floaty controls.  The first game's weren't amazing either, but it feels like they're a disproportionate part of the game in 2.  Secrets are very well hidden, but there's a total of 5 abilities that are of absolutely no help to completing the game's through line.  Especially when its is so short, what's the point?  It's bad design.  The story is also poorly presented and harder to get into than Teslagrad 1's.

 

It's still worth playing, but probably not as good as the original, in spite of the areas it surpasses it.

 

7.5/10

 

2024 Games

Final Fantasy XVI - 8.5/10

Tinykin - 8/10

Evan's Remains - 7.5/10

Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII: Reunion - 7/10

Castle of Illusion Remake - 7.5/10

FF7R Episode Intermission - 8.5/10

Telsagrad 2 - 7.5/10

 

[Remarkableriots]

PSN Level 378

 

Power Wash Simulator 8/10

The Crew 9/10 Platinum

BusSimulator  0/10 Platinum

 

Saints Row 7/10 Platinum

 

I enjoyed it even though it had flaws. The story was decent even if it wasn't as good as previous games in the series. @Littleronin helped me get the last trophy for the platinum!

[stepee]

Starfield

Bleed 2

Armored Core 6

Returnal

Ys9

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)

Vampyr

Suicide Squad

Mario vs Dk

Penny’s Big Breakaway

 

Mario vs Donkey Kong Remake - I’m glad this exists because it’s the closest thing to a 94 sequel and hated how the original one looked on gba. But it’s a very slight game in 2024 even with two new worlds and really should have been a $20-$30 eshop release. The new cinemas rule and the music is so chill. It is a fun game too.

 

Penny’s Big Breakaway - I fucking loved this. It takes a little to get used to how it plays but that’s just because it’s so much its own unique thing that also has particular physics to the gameplay. The move set is fantastic, the level design is great. I love how it looks especially on the oled deck display. The music is fire. It’s very Sega but also very Treasure. The story is cute. The mini missions within the levels are a great idea and I still have some to get back to. Just great stuff. I did hear it’s been buggy for some people, so might be best to wait depending on the platform (i only had a couple glitches on deck that were solved by restarting the level) but definitely highly recommend playing this one if you are a platforming fan. 

 

 

[Keyser_Soze]

 

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen - 8/10

 

I wanted to give this game a go in anticipation of the second game. I had never played it before so I wanted a taste of what I could expect. Well I ended up going the whole way through. Took me about 44 hours those some of that is sitting in the rift looking at pawns (later I started using the search function which was much more efficient). DD is an ambitious game with some rough edges but overall enjoyable. The graphics are a bit rough but I can see what they are trying to achieve. It's kind of unfair to compare the two but Capcom also brought out Asura's Wrath in 2012 and that game looks much better than this. The open world is interesting, it feels a bit curated. You are free to roam but there aren't actually a lot of places to go to. The story is a bit odd (or maybe very odd! ) but I had a good time with it. I could have gone new game plus and seen other things but I wanted to leave it at that and put my full effort into the sequel.

 

I hope Dragon's Dogma 2 can bring some quality of life things to the game and maybe offer up some clarity about some other things, such as your "beloved." Mine automatically became Selene because I gave her herbs to make into healing items for me. Then it was strange because then they take a central part in the story and you barely spent any time with them. Also, I'd like to maybe have slightly more control over my pawns. Something like ping them to attack an enemy or pick up an item. They kind of mindlessly pick up items, ones you would actually like to have and then it's annoying to go into the inventory to give it to yourself. Overall like I said a fun game that could improve with a sequel, and luckily that game is coming in 3 weeks!

 

 

 

2024 Games

Persona 5 Tactica - (01/07/24)

Thirsty Suitors - (01/26/24)

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen - (03/02/24)

[Best]

20 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen - 8/10

 

I wanted to give this game a go in anticipation of the second game. I had never played it before so I wanted a taste of what I could expect. Well I ended up going the whole way through. Took me about 44 hours those some of that is sitting in the rift looking at pawns (later I started using the search function which was much more efficient). DD is an ambitious game with some rough edges but overall enjoyable. The graphics are a bit rough but I can see what they are trying to achieve. It's kind of unfair to compare the two but Capcom also brought out Asura's Wrath in 2012 and that game looks much better than this. The open world is interesting, it feels a bit curated. You are free to roam but there aren't actually a lot of places to go to. The story is a bit odd (or maybe very odd! ) but I had a good time with it. I could have gone new game plus and seen other things but I wanted to leave it at that and put my full effort into the sequel.

 

I hope Dragon's Dogma 2 can bring some quality of life things to the game and maybe offer up some clarity about some other things, such as your "beloved." Mine automatically became Selene because I gave her herbs to make into healing items for me. Then it was strange because then they take a central part in the story and you barely spent any time with them. Also, I'd like to maybe have slightly more control over my pawns. Something like ping them to attack an enemy or pick up an item. They kind of mindlessly pick up items, ones you would actually like to have and then it's annoying to go into the inventory to give it to yourself. Overall like I said a fun game that could improve with a sequel, and luckily that game is coming in 3 weeks!

 

 

 

2024 Games

Persona 5 Tactica - (01/07/24)

Thirsty Suitors - (01/26/24)

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen - (03/02/24)

 

I really enjoyed my time with it. I am too busy with other games to complete it but your review seems spot on from what I played.

 

Part 2 has a lot of potential. 

[Phaseknox]

1 hour ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen - 8/10

This is one of my favorite games from the PS3/Xbox 360 generation. I’m really looking forward to playing the sequel when I get a PS5.

[dualhunter]

Finished The Mummy Demastered.

[crispy4000]

3 hours ago, dualhunter said:

Finished The Mummy Demastered.

How was it?  I just picked it up last week.

[dualhunter]

It's great, fairly short. Copy your save before bosses if you want to do a no deaths run. Copy your save at the first save point and purposely die and then kill your corpse if you care about achievements, the use the copied save to continue with 0 deaths. I hate the whole souls mechanics but if you don't die it doesn't matter. Since it's short you can progress quickly.

[Remarkableriots]

PSN Level 379

 

Power Wash Simulator 8/10 Platinum

The Crew 9/10 Platinum

BusSimulator  0/10 Platinum

Saints Row 7/10 Platinum

 

SR The Heist and the Hazardous 7/10 (all trophies)

SR Doc Ketchum' Murder Circus 5/10 (all trophies)

SR A Song of Ice and Sust 7/10 (all trophies)

 

Finished all three up after buying them on sale.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

Forgot to post the other night, but I finally beat Super Mario Bros Wonder. I don't know why, but sometimes it takes my husband and I forever to beat a game that we should be able to beat quickly. Makes me wonder how we ever beat long RPGs like the Suikoden series back when we were long distance dating and only saw each other ever couple weeks. Anyway, game was perfect, it's the best sidescrolling Mario since SMW. 10/10.

 

2024 games:

 

Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World - GBA

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia - 3DS

Super Mario Bros Wonder - Switch

[dualhunter]

Finished This Way Madness Lies. The Zeboyd Games formula is a bit repetitive and it was short but still enjoyable.