VideoGame_Discussion

I'll stick around for next year as well. Same consoles.

In for next year too. Thanks for doing this @SupremeSarna! Same systems except please add Amazon Luna. (I may actually get a clear on that this year too. We'll see if I can pull it off in time.)

#81 down: Once Upon a Jester on Amazon Luna. I had thought about trying out Luna, but I thought you needed a Luna+ subscription. It wasn't until @Slickriven posted that I realized I could play Luna games with just my Prime subscription. Once Upon a Jester is about two friends trying to win over audiences with improv theatre shows in order to get to perform at the castle (where they want to steal a rare diamond). It's one of those "so bad it's good" games with humor that reminded me a bit of Trover Explains the Universe (but way less gross/profane). I enjoyed it.

I had so much fun this year, I of course would love to do it again next year! So here is my list, separated by handheld and console. Of course you have ultimate say on how you want to sort it. . .














I have some systems I plan to play (for instance I own games that I can play on but since I don't consider the a I won't list until I beat a game for it)

Gypsy wrote:

I'll need your console list. I have the one from 2022, but you'll have to tell me if it's still accurate.

SupremeSarna wrote:

Just need to cut Gameboy after looking at it. Though I could easily play Gameboy games, I don't wanna hahaha.

Gypsy wrote:

Super Mario Land is only 20 minutes long. I'm sure you could squeeze that in at some point in the next year.

I'm in for next year with the same systems. You can add Amazon Luna for me.

My 47th and final clear of 2023 is:

Sea of Stars

What an incredible journey. This was Chrono Trigger 2 for me in all but name. I haven’t had this much fun with a 2D RPG in a very long time. It brought me such joy that the ontl downside I could see is it being too familiar and trying to be too much like old 16 bit RPGs but that’s just fine and dandy to me. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! And Sea of Stars to me feels familiar while feeling fresh too with some new gameplay mechanics to improve a lot of the quality of life the older generations of RPGs didn’t such as adding an extra layer to your attacks by timing a button press and utilizing combo attacks with all your party members, etc. I loved all the characters too. They were memorable as they were charismatic and charming. The plot was simple enough too. You’re playing as two children and warriors of solstice. One of the sun and the other of the moon and you have to take down an evil entity known as The Fleshmancer who’s about to bring upon a cataclysmic entity known as The World Eater to destroy all life on the planet and it’s up to you to save the world alongside the rag tag crew you encounter along the way. You also get to utilize a ship to sail across a sea to explore new lands and find new items and gear upgrades along the way. You can also level up traditionally by fighting enemies in the fast paced turn based combat system. And last but certainly not least, the music is purely sensational. A pure delight to the ears. Especially the fight and battle music. It’s just so dang catchy! And there’s a post game story content too by completing the map and side quests you can unlock the final true boss and get the good ending which I think I may do next. Overall, Sea of Stars is an astounding game with an addictive combat system and sense of exploration and wondrous joy to which its only hindrance I can see is it mimicking a little too much from old RPGs of the past like Chrono Trigger but again that’s really its only flaw in my humble opinion.

TalonJedi87 wrote:

[imgt w=1679 h=1250]https://cdn.exputer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12...[/imgt]

I must advise you all to post your final clears by 11:59 PM EST on Dec 31. At the start of the new year, all 2023 clears will be updated one final time and then this thread will be done. For the sake of accuracy, I'd prefer not to carry over unposted 2023 clears to the 2024 thread.

Thanks for playing, everyone! I had a great time cataloguing your gaming conquests and challenging you to play more! If you have ideas for badges you'd like to see next year, I'll certainly listen, though I get to decide whether or not I'll use them. I'm always looking for ways to make this more fun for you guys without breaking my back over it.

@Best1989 @legendrko25 @Frank @Renaissance2K @sailorneorune @Yoshi
Are you guys planning to join next year's hootenanny?

I finished Rhapsody 2 for my final clear of the year. About 20 hours, which is actually twice as long as the first game.

Short RPGs, which I appreciate more these days.

Thanks for all the hard work to make this thread happen. It’s been fun participating. Having just completed all of the badges for the year I do have a couple of suggestions to throw out:

1) Maybe consider broadening some of the really niche ones (like play two Japanese games never officially released in the U.S.) to make them more accessible. (Perhaps that one could be something more like play two games that were originally only available in Japan but could be available elsewhere now?)

2) Can we lose the badge for playing two games for 100+ hours each? (Or make it 50 hours or something less intense?). I think it’s cool to encourage trying out longer games, but I even picked two games I legitimately loved for that one, and still got really burned out by the end at 100+ hours each.

Anyway, thanks for all you do.

SupremeSarna wrote:

Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

I'm definitely changing Days Gone By. Two 50-hour games sounds far more preferable to me. As for Localize Mother 3, that one's tricky to change since many games release in Japan months before their worldwide debut. Maybe I'll add a second option for it--beat two games that were localized at least 365 days after their Japanese debut. That sounds good to me.

Thanks! Sounds good.

SupremeSarna wrote:

Number: 28
Full Title: Elden Ring
Platform Played:
Collection: N/A
Native Platform:
Original Platform:
Applicable Badge: Vault Boy (2/2)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails...

Perhaps last but definitely not least, my caveats for favorite and best recent games can finally be removed. I am the Elden Lord, and I unlocked all six endings and all 42 achievements. I still prefer Bloodborne's theme, but objectively this is the best of the Soulsbornes. It's so refreshing when something lives up to the hype.

In a last hurrah I decided to play some missing systems in December, so I beat:

Shanghai Mini (Neo Geo Pocket) - Got this as part of my quest for the full CIB NA set, wasn't expecting to play it much but I was kind of glued to it for a couple of days, lol. Completed the tournament mode (which is the one that has some kind of story) plus a couple of long runs on the classic mode. Silly little game.

Monkey Ball Banana Splitz (Vita) - First time playing a Monkey Ball game, I thought I had gotten the hang of it on the first levels, and then they showed me the advanced ones. Some crazy stuff there, lol. In the end I managed to finish those, even with all the insanity. Didn't touch much of the party modes.

Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey (PS1) - Played a lot of this when I was young but never finished it, so I decided to finally get to the end. Had to remember the trauma from some of those levels. Now I'm curious about how they remade it into New 'n' Tasty, might need to play it soon to check.

So I guess that's 2023 for me. Please add me to the new one, same list.

SupremeSarna wrote:

Most certainly. Here's my platform list for 2024:

TL;DR - Same list as last year, but Stadia is gone, and Duo is in.

85th and final game of 2023 for me, also my 10th in Dec and 18th on
Cocoon

This is one of several that dropped on GP while I was waist deep in my remodel that I wanted to get to and it's the first I put any time into. Have to say, after enjoying Limbo and Inside, this got boring for me. The only thing I can really think as a reason why was that those first 2 had a basic purpose, trying to escape the baddies which made completing the puzzles/obstacles feel purposeful. Cocoon flatly didn't, I had no idea as to what I was doing and why I was doing it and thus was just picking up and moving around those orbs. I did find and free all of the optional moon creatures though I missed the final one initially. So this one is 100% and has already been uninstalled from my console.

I'm surprised that it seems that I'll likely land in 2nd spot on the year with 85 clears, since much of Sept-Nov I was focused on that remodel and gaming less, but I was able to bang out 10 this month and climb back over some folks who had gone or been ahead. Thanks @SupremeSarna for running this and taking the mantle from me, I don't miss all of the work involved and do appreciate your efforts, b/c I know how much time this can take. Hopefully next year we rebound a bit with participation, since we're only a bit over 800 collectively and I'm pretty sure we blew past 1k last year and maybe in some years before that as well.

Personally I'm happy to have reached all 10 of my goals on the year, even though I adjusted a few to be slightly lower in order to achieve them. I didn't complete a 2nd set of titles from the alphabet, which was a thing that sort of just crept up on my during the year. I have around 2/3rds towards a 2nd set and some towards a 3rd, but it wasn't a focus after completing the first. Maybe next year I'll make a goal to complete that 2nd and possibly a 3rd, but <shrug>.

Happy New Year's folks.

Aaaaand TIME!

Happy New Years folks!!! Let’s beat 140 games each in 2024!!!

TalonJedi87 wrote:
[imgt w=220 h=168]https://media.tenor.com/4ozIdNSk-DcAAAAM/oogie-boo...[/imgt]

SupremeSarna wrote:
|yep I'm in again. My list will be the same minus a few.

That's a wrap, everyone! I've updated the OP for the last time, so let me run down the stats one last time:
-We beat 66 games/DLCs this month, tying December with June. I beat the most with 14, but @Slickriven surprised me with ten clears! Well done.
-We earned three badges this month, with @Renaissance2K getting two of them. I'm surprised anyone was still earning badges this late in the game, but I'm happy to give 'em out.
-My lost cat, Diplodocus, returned home after two months on the lam. We've fed him a bunch to help him regain half his body weight, and the vet said he was free of disease and parasites. In other words, I got what I wanted most for Christmas.
-If you want your final score for the year, it's obviously posted in the OP. Have a happy new year and keep gaming!

Woooo! So question. I bought the TMNT Cowabunga collection. Would you count each game as a clear or do I have to beat all games in the collection as 1 clear?

TalonJedi87 wrote:
You can do either. I'd recommend counting each game individually, but you do you.

SupremeSarna wrote:

I believe I will. Really enjoying Silent Hope so far.

Second verse same as the first: NES/Famicom, SNES/Super Famicom, Genesis/Mega Drive, PS1-5, N64, GameCube, Wii, Wii U, Switch, Evercade, GB/GBC/GBA, DS, 3DS

SupremeSarna wrote:
For sure, though I am going to amend my list: