VideoGame_Discussion

Thanks for doing this. Tagged for later.

Can you put the Oculus Quest 2 on my systems list please?

Welcome to 2023! You know the drill by now: Beat games, post about 'em, and I'll update this thread to acknowledge that. I'm SupremeSarna, and I'll be your gamekeeper this year (with one or two pointers from @Slickriven , if he's willing). I'm somewhat new to this gig, so go easy on me for the first little while. But what I lack in longterm experience, I make up for in passion and freetime!

I've made a couple changes here and there that I'll go over right now. The most obvious one is badges--there are a lot more, and several of them follow unique conditions. So if you spend 200 hours beating only two games, play the same experience five times (because the fourth just wasn't enough!), or get the family around your console to play a virtual board game, you may be entitled one of these new beauties! If any badge requirement confuses you, don't hesitate to ask about it.

The way DLC clears work is a bit different this time around. Previously, DLC campaigns all counted as game clears but didn't qualify for badges. This time it's somewhat switched around: DLC campaigns no doubt deserve badges, but the number that you can claim for each game will be limited to one. That makes each game's contents less of a grocery list to chronicle. See the rules section above for a more thorough breakdown.

And lastly, you are no longer REQUIRED to have fun like you were with the previous rule set. That's now simply a recommendation. You won't be disqualified if you feel bored when posting a clear.

If you were in last year's Beat a Game and were dropped here, feel free to message me and I'll return you. Do it in January, preferably.

Here's to a productive, enjoyable 2023!

Thanks for doing this again this year! I can't wait to beat a bunch of games in the next 2 months and then fall off for the rest of the year like every year prior...

No I will finish this time. No new consoles acquired this year so we are still at 33:

Famicom/Disk System -
Nintendo Entertainment System -
Super Nintendo -
Virtual Boy -
Nintendo 64 -
Nintendo GameCube -
Nintendo Wii -
Nintendo Wii U -
Nintendo Switch -
Game Boy -
Game Boy Color -
Game Boy Advance -
Nintendo DS -
Nintendo 3DS -
Sega Genesis -
Sega CD -
Sega Saturn -
Sega Dreamcast -
Game Gear -
PlayStation -
PlayStation 2 -
PlayStation 3 -
PlayStation 4 -
PlayStation 5 -
PlayStation Portable -
PlayStation Vita -
Microsoft Xbox -
Microsoft Xbox 360 -
Microsoft Xbox One -
CD-i (Compact Disc Interactive) -
Nuon -
image -
PC / Windows -
Unique Systems Covered: 0/33
Total Games Beaten: 0

@DemonAlcohol Done.

To start us off, I beat Game & Watch Gallery 2 early this morning, putting me one step closer to Makin' Money with Minigames!
[imgt w=2048 h=1536]https://i.imgur.com/kI1pS7a.jpg[/imgt]

I foolishly traded away Kirby Air Ride ten years ago and used my store credit to buy four GBC-GBA games. I immediately fell in love with Game & Watch Gallery 3 and just recently warmed up to Donkey Kong Country (GBC), but Game & Watch Gallery 2 was far less impressive. I was happy to play Chef, but none of the other minigames really wowed me. The music and visuals were weak as well, compared against its successor. I don't know why Nintendo refuses to adjust your hit points in Ball after all these decades, but it's still an annoying 1-miss game over.

I just saw the credits for the first time, and that's telling. I doubt I'll come back to G&WG2 over its younger brother.

Clarifying question: If you beat a game that is emulated, e.g., Virtual Console, compilations, etc., which platform does that go toward, the original or the emulator? Note this is different than a port, which clearly should go to the platform on which it was played.

@Yoshi That's your choice, but I usually default to whatever you were playing on. So playing Super Mario World on the Wii VC would be a Wii clear unless you specify that you want it to be an SNES clear.

Thanks for taking over @SupremeSarna - I look forward to just participating this year and doing little to no work maintaining this beast. But if you have questions or need any help hit me up, you helped me out big time last year, so I'd be happy to return the favor! I hope this year goes smoothly for you.

SupremeSarna wrote:
Was Gallery 2 the one with the game where Yoshi eats the cookies, or was that Gallery 3?

nonamesleft wrote:

That was G&WG3. I always loved that minigame, called Egg. Where does he put all those cookies? Yoshi digestion amazes me!

SupremeSarna wrote:


I realized something awhile back. In the past, if I started a game, I'd feel compelled to finish it, even if I didn't like it. But then I realized, the point of these things is to have fun. If you're not enjoying yourself, you're doing it wrong. Nothing wrong with not finishing a book/game/movie if you don't like it. One of the most important things when playing games, imo, is to enjoy yourself.

nonamesleft wrote:

Haha, good philosophy! I've always found the "have fun" rule a bit cheesy whenever I hear someone use it, so I removed it to make room for more vital administrative directives.

Thanks for organizing this! Looking forward to it. That Days Gone By badge is brutal though!

SupremeSarna wrote:

Sign me up. I just cleared God of War for PS4. I absolutely did not enjoy the first 5-6 hours. After that I was pleasantly surprised as mobility increased and fighting became more common and the axe switch mechanic became much less used. I had a great time with it after that. I would have cleared it yesterday but the partying became to heavy so it goes on the 2023 list.

razeak wrote:

Same console list, no updates?

SupremeSarna wrote:
Delete PS2.

Thanks. Commenting to tag myself now so I can come back soon and add God of War Ragnorok soon as I’m almost finished with it.

Thank you Supreme Senpai! I know how much work this is. I promise to have so much fun this year, and beat at least one game for every system I own.

Renaissance2K wrote:

Charging in full steam ahead, I see! Love the enthusiasm! Do you still want Stadia included? I heard it went under.

SupremeSarna wrote:

It shuts down on the 18th. I'm still going to try to beat something before then.

@Renaissance2K @incubus421 Gotcha covered. I'll post about my latest clear in the morning.

I beat Mario vs Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars yesterday. The game is... ok I guess? It's just more MvDK, the game lacks any personality of its own, and was not very satisfying to beat. The levels were not too difficult, I was able to get gold in all of the levels only replaying 4 or 5 after getting silver. The ending is baron of any excitement, just a still image of Mario and gang with Mario saying "Thank you for playing!".

Overall, if you like the gameplay of the MvDK series, you'll enjoy the levels, but that's all there is to it.

I also really like creating levels but Miiverse is shut down so you can't share them : (

Sign me up

PC
PS4
Switch

@SupremeSarna Thanks for taking this over! Can you remove MAME from my system list?

My goal last year was to beat 20 games. I met that goal by beating 21 games. This year, I dropped it to 15 because I'm sure I'll be spending a lot of time on Tears of the Kingdom, I'm working through Pokemon Scarlet right now which is taking a while, AND I'm trying to to fit in Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword before TotK, which will take me a while. So I don't think I'll be beating as many games this year.

Got you guys.

Last night I beat Xenoblade Chronicles 3 . Took 105 hours since July, but now it's finally done. Proof:
[imgt w=1280 h=720]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Flh7cibaMAU7_eQ?format...[/imgt]

It's a gargantuan RPG that does the series proud, though I liked it a little less than 1 and 2. The cast is likeable and the combat is more digestable than the others. They weren't kidding when they said the theme of the game was life: They explore just about every facet of it, including mortality, what waits after death, fighting to live vs. living to fight, the creation of life (origin), the creation of life (reproduction), what it means to live a good life, nihilism and its rejection, free will and choice, and even more that's spoiler-ish. They did an excellent job following this theme and making an emotionally-captivating experience. Though I was very confused by the end of it.

The music disappointed me, though. Nothing in it is on par with Torigoth (Day) or Gaur Plain from the previous two games (go look those up--they're phenomenal!), and when you're exploring vast landscapes, that can seriously impact the journey. The best I can recall was some neat panpipes in the Fornis Region, which sets a nice atmosphere for the desert but isn't toe-tapping or incredible.

I can tell Monolithsoft learned their mistake from XC2, because the characters and their dialogue/interactions aren't gratuitously fanservicey in this one. It's thankfully more in-line with XC1, just telling a great story and offering a small handful of appealing outfits if you want to play that way. What I'm trying to say is you never wake up to discover an embarrassed, busty woman sleeping next to you, and XC3 is better for it.

That said, I wasn't hit as hard by the characters. They're less relateable since their world operates differently from ours and they only learn about regular human things around the midpoint. I can't spoil the resolution here, but XC2's end hit me harder, and XC1 was mindblowing to high school me altogether. Doesn't help that the final boss of XC3 has five phases, and losing to any of them sends you back to the title screen. That dragged the last two hours down a little.

Great game, highly recommend! Hope the next one they make is fantastic as well, and has sharper music.

Please add me to the list, same systems.

3 days in and I got my first clear... and I played it all in '23
Uncharted Drake's Fortune
via The Nathan Drake Collection
Assuming this goes towards Hyrulian Hero

85% of this game was pretty enjoyable, but the upstream Jet-ski section, the Roman Numerals section and the finale all sort of sucked. The SAS shotgun was way too slow firing for the next to final section. Also I greatly dislike when a game provides you with an NPC to go with you and they follow you around and STOP right in your dang way and won't move - so glad that trait largely went away as devs realized how frustrating that can be since Elena got in my way, including my line of fire sometimes.

I can see the groundwork laid here for what clearly was a top selling and liked series that I'm looking to possibly get the whole way through this year (likely minus the handheld only spinoff).

Finished up my first two clears of the year tonight:

1) High On Life on Xbox Series X (via Game Pass)- I would like to count this toward the 2nd Amendment badge, as it is a first-person shooter.

The gameplay is fine. The shooting gets a little repetitive, but the environments are interesting, and the different guns have neat mechanics. However the real star here are the story and the dialogue. It's profane and over the top, but it's also hilarious and creative. There were a ton of amusing moments (like the commercial with Mothers Against Violence followed by another commercial for Mothers For Violence). I'm not sure I would have thought to play this if it weren't for Game Pass, but I'm glad I did. This was a really fun one.

2) Inscryption on PC (via Epic)- I would like to count this toward the Grown-A** Man badge, as it is a difficult roguelite.

I got this on a sale for just over $5, and it was well worth it. This game is wild. I don't want to spoil anything, but the story takes you for a ride. It's dark and multi-faceted and messes with the line between the game and reality in inventive ways. I'm being deliberately vague, because this is one that really should be experienced without spoilers.

#1 for 2023 is God of War Ragnarok
What a journey. Now to do some post game stuff.

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HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER!

Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Nintendo
Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo Wii
Nintendo Wii U
Nintendo Switch
Game Boy
Game Boy Color
Game Boy Advance
Nintendo DS
Nintendo 3DS
Sega Genesis
Sega Saturn
Sega Dreamcast
PlayStation 2 -
PlayStation 3
PlayStation 4
PlayStation 5
Microsoft Xbox Series X
NEC TurboGrafx-16 Mini
Astro City Mini
Evercade

No new consoles this time around. Just slightly fancier versions of existing ones (Mega Drive Mini 2 and Evercade EXP).

@sailorneorune
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I'll add you immediately. Is @benstylus planning to join?

@Yoshi Are you thinking of joining? I'd be happy to admit you!

Games #3 and #4 down for my first badge of the year (Localize Mother 3):

-Master Takahashi's Adventure Island IV (Nintendo Famicom, emulated on PC)

-Jesus: The Terrifying Bio-Monster (Nintendo Famicom, emulated on PC)

I’ll be honest. When I saw this new badge, I almost gave up on badges altogether. I had no idea how I was going to find and beat two Japanese games that had not been officially localized outside of Japan. I don’t know any Japanese, and I’ve never played a Japanese game that wasn’t localized here before. The whole thing seemed daunting. That being said, it wasn’t as tough as I had expected thanks to fan translations. Adventure Island IV doesn’t really require that much translation anyway, but Jesus: The Terrifying Bio-Monster is a walking sim with tons of dialogue, so the fan translation was absolute necessary. Adventure Island was what you would expect— a tough platformer. It was OK but not really my jam. Jesus: The Terrifying Bio-Monster is an odd detectiveish game where you try to figure out what the deal is with a monster on your spaceship. The story was sort of interesting, although it drags a bit. I definitely wouldn’t have played either of these games if not for this thread, so here’s to new experiences!

I’m about to fire up a game I’ve been waiting to play for too long. I finally cancelled my preorder that got delayed all the way to Jan.18th thanks to Target being the worst and picked up Marvel’s Midnight Suns from GameStop on sale (which got it to me today—2 days after ordered it.)

Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

Our first badge of the year, only 4 days in! Well done. I'm surprised Localize Mother 3 was the the most daunting to you. Days Gone By is by far the most intensive, though playing DLC campaigns and lumping them all together can work to reach that 100-hour mark.

Would you like this counted as a PC clear or a Famicom clear?

Thanks! I guess Famicom clears if you don’t mind either way, as I already had a PC one with Inscryption. That Days Gone By one is legit, but I’ve been playing Breath of the Wild, and that should easily go over 100 hours by the time I finish it, and I have several other long games in my backlog or preordered that I’ve been meaning to get to eventually anyway. It’s a lot, but I think it’ll happen. 100%ing Diablo IV might end up being my other one if it doesn’t get delayed. .

SupremeSarna wrote:

My #1 this year is The Riftbreaker.

https://ibb.co/Zxs5R3Y

I beat Calculator on

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqYkRphJFvo

SupremeSarna wrote:

Definitely thinking about it.

LOL @Kommie - thought you were being a smartass at first but ha that video was pretty funny.

I beat FF15 on PC

Count me in

Frank wrote:
Same systems as last year?

Also add Crisis Core Switch to beaten list - guess thats Level Up! badge?

SupremeSarna wrote:

Looks like it’s just me this time around.

#1- Valis: Legend of a Fantasm Soldier PC Engine CD via Valis Collection

I cut my girl-who-fights-monsters game teeth on the Genesis version of Valis along with Golden Axe II back in the day thanks to the Sega Channel. Valis I and III are available on the Evercade, and yeah, I suppose I could have just done that. However, the English-subtitled version of the Valis Collection was on discount on the eShop this week. It was high time to give the PCE versions a try without all the hassle.

1 point toward the Girl Power badge

2nd game of month/year, 1st
Pupperazzi
Badge: 2nd Amendment maybe, kidding but you do shoot a lot of dogs... with film. Actually think this would be GuyBrush or maybe Bear&Bird? Thoughts @SupremeSarna

I saw this was a pretty quick title and sort of well reviewed and then that it was leaving GP at the mid-month so I jumped into it. It was decent, 100% fetch/do quests to take pictures of dogs doing X or wearing Y and standing with/near Z. But I nearly platinum'd it and the only achievement I didn't get was to do 10 tasks as a selfie... didn't notice that one until I had done 90+% of the tasks. I also got the full puppypedia getting pictures with all the dog breeds and accessories and other stuff. Stats show me playing for 3.5 hrs, but it felt a touch longer than that. I might start a new game and try for the final achievement... but meh I think it took me a number of tasks to unlock the selfie cam and some tasks were annoying.

There are 4 main areas and a final one you unlock and trigger the credits with and you need to complete tasks to access each area in the 4 times of day (morning, mid-day, evening and night) and there are tasks that come up for each time more/less and some you can do really anytime/where. I ended up with 1 that was a PITA and some tasks were annoying to get right to their requirements. The one I didn't get was using a Roomba to scare 4+ dogs at once. It was annoying b/c the Roomba would go off wherever it wanted to and wouldn't always scare any dogs, plus not many times/places were there 4 dogs all together.

The game crashed on me once, but I don't think I lost any progress since I was leaving an area when it did. I technically played this on my X1X and XSX and cloud gaming on my phone, but I finished it on the 1X but likely played a little more on the SX, count on the 1X.

I've finished my first game of 2023.

I've really enjoyed posting write-ups of games when I'm done with them, especially ones that I really enjoyed or are personally significant. At the same time, I've felt somewhat cramped writing them in a text box, and I imagine a few people on here get a little thrown off slamming into one of my Great Walls of Text.

I've used that as an excuse to throw a simple blog together as a dumping ground for all my recaps and video links. The scaffolding of the site is still under construction, but it seems perfect for posting a recap, showing off new YouTube videos, and attaching a few screenshots where appropriate.

That said, to my great surprise, my first completion of 2023 is Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid on Stadia.

I haven't been gaming as much yet this year - part of the reason why my first completion is so out of left field - because I'm still grinding away at my Year in Review video for 2022. Illness, travel, and the usual holiday shenanegans have gotten in the way, but the end is in sight. When I do have time to play, connection permitting, I've been experimenting with a bunch of Stadia games - Hot Wheels Unleashed, Wreckfest, Worms W.M.D., and Cake Bash, the last of which I'll be posting a write-up of shortly.

I was planning on playing a bit of Rock Band Blitz and maybe knocking out a few more achievements before the game's service is shut down, but to my disappointment, the game is already barely playable in its current state. Since before the pandemic, the game's servers have been broken, making it impossible to save high scores, use or unlock power-ups, or otherwise make any sort of progress in the game. Even if you manage to get a few good scores, they're gone as soon as you exit the game. I'm some combination of sad and frustrated. Though I don't necessarily prefer it to the more traditional Amplitude/Unplugged formula, it's a fun game, and it's fantastic to be able to use your entire extended Rock Band library. Rant over.

When my video duties are done, therefore, I'll be diving into Doom 64 for the Retro Talkshop Thread's Game of the Month.

@Slickriven I'm thinking Guybush for that one

Bout to start updating. BRB.

Updated! Impressive that we have two badges earned already; good work, @Bleed_DukeBlue and @brian9824 !

Sorry to hear that, @sailorneorune . I quite enjoyed reading his thoughts whenever he posted last year. Maybe next time!

SupremeSarna wrote:

Yessir

Well to be fair both were 90% done in 2022 lol

#5 down: Card Hog (first iOS clear). I would like to count it towards the The Best Offense badge. It’s a strategy game where you move pig characters around trying to collect resources, kill or avoid enemies, and stay alive (using card-based mechanics) as long as possible. There isn’t really an ending, so I 100%ed the achievements, earning all 33/33. I got into the top 100 worldwide for fastest loop (cycle of the game before you continue with the difficulty level increased or end the run. I also got into the top 5% of enemies defeated in a single loop.

Should there be a badge for Visual Novel games with how much more prevalent they have gotten lately?

My #2 is Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order.

https://ibb.co/TrskWYR

Not much of a Star Wars fan but this game was surprisingly good. Not a fan of the backtracking, but it got inspiration from the souls games and uncharted games.

I like the way @sailorneorune listed the emulated and emulator platform, so I will likely match that. I'm only including platforms not sleeping in their carboard coffins, which I suppose could lead to a dynamic list.

Number: 1
Full Title: Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished - The Final Chapter
Platform Played:
Collection: Ys I & II Chronicles+
Native Platform:
Original Platform: NEC PC-8801 (1988)
Applicable Badge: Hyrulian Hero (1/2)

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

I hadn't played these since the Turbo CD version in the 1990s, and the updates Nihon Falcom has done without fundamentally changing the gameplay are impressive. The music is particularly amazing.

@Yoshi Welcome to the thread! I'll get you posted in a jiffy!

#3 was a quick one Limbo

https://ibb.co/bdcpnBR

Didn't really like this as i don't like puzzles in games. Managed to get through most of it without a guide.

I beat High on Life on the xbox1 / I beat my high score on Dig Dug on the xbox1

Working on Bayonetta 3. The first hour is fudging terrible. Cut scene, kill 2 enemies, cut scene, repeat. After that it gets awesome.

Number: 2
Full Title: River City Ransom
Platform Played:
Collection: Double Dragon & Kunio-kun: Retro Brawler Bundle
Native Platform:
Original Platform:
Applicable Badge: Pile Drivin' (1/2)

image

I had never finished this one before, and now I know why. It's fairly obtuse in terms of which enemies need to be defeated and what all the items from shops do. That said, I wish RPG beat 'em ups were a thing these days.

First game of the year is down!

Arcade Paradise

I really enjoyed this. I don't typically like the Sim games, but the arcade games incentivized me. I snagged a physical copy at a good price, and figured if I didn't like it I could get rid of it. I'm definitely keeping this, as some of the games are legitimately great!

Taking a leaf from @Renaissance2K’s book here...

#2 Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid cleared Arcade mode with Adam (1995 Power Rangers movie Black Ninja Ranger) and Tommy (MMPR Season 2 White Ranger)

benstylus gifted the Super Edition to me sometime ago. I later picked up the Season 4 DLC pack because Adam. My inner child is happy; however, my outer grownup wants to scream at this game so much. But I won’t.

Truth be told: It’s a decent fighter that I wish got a little more love from its dev team. Unfortunately, it appears nWay left this one to fade away like the Green Ranger’s powers back in 1993, in favor of adventures in money laundering mobile game Power Rangers Legacy Wars, with still-incredibly-obnoxious AI (24-hit combos out of nowhere? Confirmed.) and no recent DLC packs. I’m glad Adam made the cut, but it would have been nice to see more characters, like the Dino Fury Rangers or the RPM Ranger Operators.

I beat two games: Donkey Kong and Game & Watch Gallery . Thanks to @HEHEHATE and @Missile for the sales!
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The first is tricky. Donkey Kong 64 emulates the original arcade ROM, complete with Game A and Game B, but you get a single life and the game doesn't loop when you beat Crank--er, Donkey Kong. So while it isn't exactly the same experience as arcade DK, it is still the game and a harder version at that. Took me a good number of tries to beat each game mode.

As for Game & Watch Gallery, this is way better than G&WG2. You only get four games: Manhole, Fire, Octopus, and Oil Panic. Each one has modern and retro versions, both of which are unlocked from the start in this entry. I find these games waaaay more fun than the six games in Gallery 2, but Gallery 3 is still the reigning champ in my eyes. Octopus has the best music in the series thus far, though Gallery 3's Egg comes close. I wanted to get all the stars from the Modern games, but Hard Fire and Hard Octopus were just too daunting, and I'm about ready to move on. As shown above, I reached the credits that you get from earning 40 stars, so I consider that beaten.

I'm the first person to earn Makin' Money with Minigames!

I beat my high score on PacMan on the xbox1 (beating this and dig dug gets me the quarter muncher badge)

@SupremeSarna, you can add me with the following systems:

Switch
3DS
DS
GBA
Evercade
Genesis
Sega CD
Turbo Grafx 16
Neo Geo

I won't even bother with systems I have in storage. I'll call Dragon Quest Treasures on Switch as my first game beaten in 2023. I rolled the credits, but like DQ XI, that doesn't mean it's actually over. So I'm not quite done with it yet.

I beat Wild Guns Reloaded five times, earning me the Gamer's Day badge.
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[imgt w=1280 h=720]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FmI2g2TaMAAx3t0?format...[/imgt]

Awesome game, can't recommend enough. Give it five tries!

Third game down, first on
Bugsnax
Badge: 100% counts towards You're Winner as it was poor.

It was nearly a walking sim in terms of what you do, though you have to capture the titular Bugsnax by various means and then could feed them to the cast of around a dozen. Very much a fetch-quest style and got boring quick, to say nothing of the questionable story choices for a game aimed at children. Even without that aspect that I didn't care for, it had about 2 redeeming qualities: Bunger, Bunger was amusing and you really can't say the map wasn't diverse as it had forest, beach, desert heat and a frozen mountain. But it was pretty boring and had some rather insulting stereotype characters like the Valley Girl or the Meat Head exercise Bro, even the simpleton farmer and rude scientist were a bit much.

And the ending was simply odd, thoughts:

Bugsnax is a 10/10. Should not count towards You're Winner

I'd like to participate. Very cool idea. I have almost every system, so perhaps it would be easier for you just to add them as I go instead of making a huge preliminary list?

ThirdeYe wrote:

Welcome! Honestly, it would be easier to list them all ahead of time so I don't have to change my recording style for just one user. It's best for me personally to record everyone the same way. Hope that isn't a bother.

Kommie wrote:

@Slickriven I'm with Kommie on this one. Bugsnax isn't shovelware-y enough to fit You're Winner.

SupremeSarna wrote:

That's fine... I added/changed the language of the badge last year to be what I see you still use:
Beat 2 games with <55 review OR user score on Metacritic (ex: Sonic '06), or justify how poor your game was.
I did that b/c originally the threshold was <40 and I looked on Metacritic and found only like 200 out of 16k games or something would've qualified. So I upped it to 55 and put in that justification language.

I suppose Bugsnax wasn't that terrible on it's face, so count it for??
Bear & Bird? It was an first person perspective and didn't do a lot of platforming though, but was focused on mindless, although slightly more challenging collecting vs. say Banjo
Girly? It was on the nose about not being specifically aimed at girls though
Guybursh? Was more heavy on story and just walking around and doing small catch/fetch quests.

Slickriven wrote:

Collectathon sounds about right. It is about collecting things in a 3D space, even without the platforming.

SupremeSarna wrote:

Failed to mention last night because I was tired: Battle for the Grid is 1 point toward the Street Fightin’ badge

sailorneorune wrote:
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I should play Bugsnax again on XsX. Such an amazing game.

Kommie wrote:

Funny way to spell utter crap.

I beat Gin Rummy on the xbox360

Slickriven wrote:

That's Death Stranding

I'd like to participate this year. Primary consoles are PS4, Xbox 360 and PC.

I beat Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (PS4) on January 1st. Received as a gift on Christmas, I thoroughly enjoyed it and was relieved it was nothing like Marvel's Avengers.

Beat The Last of Us, Part II (PS4) ... enjoyed the gameplay but the story was a disappointment.

I beat Yugioh master duel for the xbox1 (beating this and gin rummy gets me the all aces badge)

Kommie wrote:

Haha, no arguments there.

Game #2: Lunistice 2/26

I got this for free during No Gravity Games' winter giveaway. I totally overlooked it when it was given away. After looking into the game, I found out it's a retro inspired 3D platformer... So naturally that's my thing!

The game was very okay... Some parts made me want to like it more, but the controls felt off. The character movement felt a bit slippery, making straight movement a tad difficult. It still took me less than a couple of hours to complete the whole game though.

I'd give it somewhere around a 6/10. It's good, but not great. It's a fun little throw-on if you're in the mood for some 3D platforming.

I beat Tony Hawks Pro skater on the xbox1

VedicBlade wrote:

Happy to have ya! I’ll add you in a short while.

#2 down. I beat The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening . I LOVED this game growing up, and I remembered most of it so I was able to clear it in only 3 days. I remembered not to die at all to get the good ending, and the short at the end was so good! Even though you've had 30 years to play it, I won't spoil the ending for you. I absolutely adore this remake, I bought the Dreamer Edition in 2019, but somehow didn't play it at all until a few days ago. The art style is so reminiscent of Captain Toad, I can't help but think this came out of the fact that Captain Toad was originally pitched as a Zelda spinoff.

The one thing I was very saddened about was the photo mouse's exclusion from this game. The photo mouse was one of my favorite things in DX, as you could print out your photos as stickers on the Gameboy Printer!

Yeah, Link's Awakening rules, no matter the version. Just wish they had done a little more with the dungeon making stuff in the Switch version.

4th of the year, 2nd
Aces Of The Luftwaffe
Badge - counts towards Destroy Z Core

I bought this a long while back with some M$-rewards that were about to expire, played it a few times but finally focused on it over the past 3 days and beat the BS final boss on at least my 6th try.
Game felt like it belonged on a mobile platform as it's look and necessity to grind felt a bit like other SHUMPs I've played. It is set in some alternative timeline with planes from the WWII era, only Germany was much more powerful and some foes were pretty nuts in their design.
There's a story and some really lame dialog and quirks from your main character and the 3 wingmen. Yet another game with pretty bad stereotypes - Main guy is suave blond guy, then a Texan with a cowboy hat and temper, next a goofball black guy and lastly an almost Russian sounding woman. Their quirks cause the Texan to rage out, leave formation and he can then slam into you, black guy falls asleep such that you need to defend him, and the lady wigs out from big elevation changes and totally leaves the screen for a while. It's got some standard missions like needing to pick up stranded troops, do air drops, escort/protect another plane and destroy X number of foes (special or overall). You earn an upgrade token each time you level up from collecting medals from destroyed foes and if you complete the 'side missions' like the drops and such. You then need to spend those tokens on upgrades to your squad. I did alright and beat missions 1-5 on acts 1, 2 and 3 without too much trouble, though act 3's boss was a challenge. I replayed a few levels as each has some additional challenge token to also get and I wasn't sure exactly how to earn them but tried for them and got some.
Act 4 got a little more challenging and the boss wasn't too easy initially. Act 5 surely ramped up the difficulty and 5-3 was another boss who sucked as he has an anchor attack that's an instant kill if it hits you or a wingman. But he also filled like 70% of the screen at times and dodging if you were on his wrong side was not easy. Then the final boss, was awful. I tried a few times and was at a loss, looked at a YT video and the player didn't seem much different from me and I confirmed that his 1 attack that fires 4 seeking missiles that can NOT be destroyed must be dodged long enough for them to fly off. That sucked, especially since he also fires some shots at you that come out as a tight ball of like 5 and then spread out some - way too often I was trying to dodge the seekers and got nailed by the other shots. He's also close to the full width of the screen and moves all over, shrinking the safe area at the bottom of the screen to nearly nothing. Pretty horrible boss design for the genre.
So I ended up figuring that I needed more skills/power and started to replay the levels on hard. I also ended up earning some more of the challenge tokens and some blueprints to access or enhance the selection of planes - you start with 4 I believe, but can unlock 6 and stronger variants - I still have 2 yet to find, but did get 2 upgraded 2x times. So I beat acts 1-4 all on Hard and act 5's missions 1 through 4 as well, upgrading my planes and skills as I went along.
Then I finally beat the final boss and got credits to roll. Annoyingly some achievements didn't pop for the game, but that's a known issue according to some reviews. There's also a DLC where you play as Z Germans, but it's $15 and many reviews complained that the DLC caused the game to be horribly slow to load and it already wasn't swift - so unless I spot a sale (unlikely), I think I might be done with this.
Overall the gameplay was actually pretty good and once I unlocked enough skills, that you could fully re-spec at any time, it was enjoyable in most levels. A few tweaks like cutting out the way too lame dialog/story (which I eventually turned the voice volume way down) and better boss designs (i.e. less BS) would've gone a good way to making this a better package.

DragonmasterDX wrote:

Yeah, I wish they had included the photos. It was fun to try to collect them all, and most of them would get you some bonus scenes/dialogue that were pretty funny.

While I did love the Switch version, I wish they had done more with it than just a 1-for-1 remake.

Scott wrote:


BloodPuppetX wrote:

absolutely agree, the dungeon maker is... cool i guess? I wish it had online connectivity, that'd be AWESOME. The only way to share dungeons is by amiibo, which is cumbersome.

#3 for the year. Beat Infamous: Second Son. Finally did an evil playthrough to get the plat.

VedicBlade wrote:
What system? PS4 or 360?

Sorry about that, Infamous: Second Son on the PS4

I beat Soulcalibur on the xbox360

Game #3 3/26 - Super Mario Land 2

This game actually still holds up incredibly well! I really enjoyed this playthrough, and it reminded my while I cherish this childhood classic!

My #4 is Greedfall.

https://ibb.co/mhTj654

Action-RPG set in the backdrop of fantasy colonization. Some of it's a bit janky, but good enough overall. 7.5/10

Number: 3
Full Title: 3D Space Harrier
Platform Played:
Collection: N/A
Native Platform:
Original Platform:
Applicable Badge: Destroy the Core (1/2)

image

It's not every or really any day when the best version of an arcade game is on a portable, but no one does ports like M2, and no one makes arcade games like Sega. The fit of the latter's Super Scaler games with the former's 3DS ports is like a glove. I particularly enjoyed the final level's boss rush.

Heads-up, everyone: I'll update tonight since I'm gonna be out of town tomorrow. I'd like to update the OP every Saturday to keep you guys up-to-date, but that won't work this weekend.

OP's been updated! I also changed the Gamer's Day image since the original was a larger image shrunken down to 16x16--that made it too fuzzy for my taste. It's better now!
Fun fact: Gamer's Day is based on the Mega Man 9 achievement of the same name, which required you to beat MM9 five times in one day. I'm a bit more generous, thankfully.

[imgt]https://i.imgur.io/O7GjslQ_d.webp?maxwidth=640&sha...[/imgt]
And so am I.

Mega Man Xtreme 2 suffers from Mega Man 7 syndrome by having a charming, pleasant adventure get kneecapped in the 11th hour. Sigma’s two final battles are the pits, and they weren’t needed—there were new villains this time around that could have served as fitting final bosses, but Sigma had to wreck everything at the end. Most of the game is fun, but the only thing you’re likely to remember is grinding lives and finding/buying every upgrade so you stand even a sliver of a chance against that terrible antagonist. He extends the game by a good four hours on his own. Way to ruin an otherwise good game.

If you play this, avoid Extreme Mode. It’s just the other two good modes stuck together with this abysmal finale tacked on. Beating Berkana and Gareth on their own and seeing the credits roll should be enough for any rational players.

Just finised Super Kiwi 64 on Nintendo Switch.

I enjoyed it, but it wasn't as good as the devs' Toree line of games.

I think this + Super Mario Land 2 qualifies me for the Hop 'n' Bop badge as well

Also please remove Neo Geo from my list

My #5 is Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.

https://ibb.co/TcL7gYt

I started playing this last year and dropped off it 2-3 levels before the end. Picked it back up and remembered that, while pretty, it's just another Ratchet and Clank game.

DemonAlcohol wrote:

I honestly thought it was the best Ratchet & Clank game to date.

Frank wrote:

Story didn't do it for me. But I agree it's the best one.

DemonAlcohol wrote:

On a story front I agree. Gameplay though... definitely the smoothest and most fun to play yet. And Ratchet & Clank was why I got my PS2 back in the day.

@Frank I think that'd count better as Bear & Bird, since it's a 3D platformer.

SupremeSarna wrote:

Fair enough! I'm sure there will be many 2D and 3D

I beat Jetpac (originally image) with a score of over 12,000. I blasted aliens, fueled up the rocket a few times, and got my Rareware Coin. Given that I beat both this and Donkey Kong, hardcore fans should know what other game I've been playing...

EDIT: Updated the OP again to add a total of four games. I wanted to see how my custom ZX Spectrum logo would turn out, and I think it looks darn spiffy.

I beat Popeye 2 in two days. $20 well spent.
[imgt]https://i.imgur.io/vvGOsSh_d.webp?maxwidth=640&sha...[/imgt]

Game is only about 40 minutes long and has a few problems. It lags sometimes, rope-jumping is frequent and difficult, hitboxes can be off, and some of the bosses are hard enough to drain your life pool if you don't bring more health and a spinach projectile into the battle. Those gripes aside, I liked it! It's a pleasant little platformer with some decent music, an amusing sense of humor, and enough challenge to keep you amped. Were it a little better, I'd call it the Wellington Burger of Popeye games.

I beat Destroy all Humans on the xbox

Number: 4
Full Title: Metroid: Zero Mission
Platform Played:
Collection: N/A
Native Platform:
Original Platform:
Applicable Badge: Metroidvania (1/2)

image

I wish it were feasible for every 8-bit game to receive this type of 16-bit remake. Improve the graphics, respect the source material, add some quality-of-life improvements, and hold the "modern sensibilities". The only detractor was the stealth section, which I exacerbated by missing a save room or two.

I think @sailorneorune and @Yoshi have the right idea. Since my write-ups are being posted elsewhere, I'm going to use their format for announcing new playthroughs.

Number: 2
Full Title: Cake Bash
Platform Played: Stadia
Collection: N/A
Native Platform: Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia
Original Platforms: Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia
Applicable Badge: Chance Time (1/2)

The game takes only around 30 minutes to finish, so I played through it three times to gather screenshots and footage. Sounds like this qualified me for the badge as well.

Stadia has only three days left on this mortal coil. I've had my fill of trying new Stadia Pro games on the platform, so I've been playing through Final Fantasy XV, taking advantage of the "play anywhere" nature of the platform to work through the story at home and take on sidequests on my phone. I'll likely only make it to Chapter 3 before Wednesday, at which point I'll try to transfer my save to the Steam version.

I have three other Stadia playthroughs under my belt from the era before native streaming was possible, so I'm considering playing through them again so I have footage to work with. After that, I'll be starting Doom 64. I'm still wishing I had picked up the Stadia version of that game when it was on sale for $2.50; I'd probably be playing through that version right now if I had.

Last year I challenged myself to beat one game from The Legend of Zelda series every month. It was grueling (but fun) to do since every game is fairly long. So this year I?m doing something much tamer?beating every Pikmin game before Pikmin 4 releases.

So here?s New Play Control! Pikmin .
[imgt]https://i.imgur.io/5dEJog9_d.webp?maxwidth=640&sha...[/imgt]
[imgt]https://i.imgur.io/ccabLl5_d.webp?maxwidth=640&sha...[/imgt]

Pikmin is a fun RTS game where you control an army of colorful alien plants to kill giant wildlife and retrieve the bits of your broken spaceship? before you run out of air! It?s quite difficult for a GameCube game by Nintendo?the 30 days speed by, you need a minimum of 25 parts to escape the atmosphere, and the Pikmin are often at the mercy of the horrifying predators that stalk them. Spotty Bulborbs, Beady Longlegs, Burrowing Snagrets, and Fiery Blowhogs! There?s no way to slow time, so if the day you?re on goes poorly, your best bet is to just restart the software and try again. I did that a little too often in the final days, but at least I 100%?d it. This game would do well with various difficulty levels, whether you?re intimidated by the challenge or you want a harder version for a new playthrough.

Fantastic game, but the pressure was real every step of the way. Now if only it contained a Luigi?s Mansion video?

I finished The Diofield Chronicle on Switch. Not a bad game, but definitely a lot more interesting SRPGs out there. Speaking of which, now I'm just waiting for my copy of Fire Emblem Engage to ship!

While it doesn't really count, today I finally beat Zelda for the Nelsonic Game Watch. I got this watch several years ago and the buttons are meant for a child, so it is kind of difficult to play, and the 2 keese 2 iron balls in the fourth dungeon are BRUTAL. This is a pretty fun little gadget and finally after replacing the battery last night and playing a few times I beat it this morning!

Pic for those who don't know what I'm talking about:
image

That's really cool!

Scott wrote:

yeah these things are great! They are way cheaper than an actual Zelda Game&Watch, which means they're more accessible to us commoners! They were made in the 80s by Nelsonic and there are a few different versions like a StarFox one. I only have a few of the Zelda ones though

I kinda want to get one. Gotta beat every Zelda game, after all!

Wait, these things are expensive! Like $100+! I thought you said they were the cheaper option to the Zelda Game&Watch? I finally picked up the Game&Watch from Walmart the other day for $25, but even the regular price was $50. Guess I won't be playing this one after all.

Guess he meant they're cheaper than the original Game & Watch Zelda.

Ohhh....I didn't know there was an older one. Was it different from the one that came out recently?

Scott wrote:

Yes, there was an actual Zelda Game & Watch title. (Dual screen.) It's playable on G & W Gallery 4 on GBA.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GkTD_JTxUKw

cool!

SupremeSarna wrote:

So it's still worth me tracking down a copy?

BloodPuppetX wrote:

Did not know this was playable on G&W Gallery 4. Thanks for the info!

Scott wrote:

I've got 3 of em, but 2 do not work properly. If I can get another one to function I would propose a trade for some of your good stuff! I will get back to you if and when this is the case if you are interested

Another one down. Portal: Still Alive on

Playing this was fun. Especially since the visuals were upped to 4K. Doesn't look as good as PC's RTX, but still pretty good.

#2 Bayonetta 3
As much as I enjoyed this 3rd installment I couldn’t help but feel it wasn’t better than the last game. Although I did rather enjoy the final chapter and that one moment in the final boss fight where something cool happened that recalled the prior 2 games. The Kaiju like fights were neat at first but got repetitious towards the end and I’m not sure if it was just me but the controls felt a little too loosey goosey for my tastes this time around and not as buttoned up as the last 2 games. Some platforming sections got a little annoying when time wasn’t on your side. The music was great as always as was the high octane combat. I liked how you got to control various demons this time around too and incorporated them into the core gameplay mechanic. The story was all over the place and didn’t really hook me in until the very final chapter when I went OHHHHH so that’s what they were trying to convey! But again, who really plays Bayonetta games for its intricately woven story?

Alas it was a long wait and worth it for the most part. I look forward to future entries although I must say I wish they would change up the formula a bit or perhaps release future entries on better hardware like the successor to the Switch since it’s now a Nintendo exclusive. The frame drops in here we’re a bit too frequent for my liking.

Played through Aperture Desk Job this evening on (perhaps replace with ?)

This was really enjoyable, albeit very short. It really makes me wish there was a Portal 3.

Frank wrote:

Yes, I'd say so. Though tracking down a Wellington Burger at Wimpy's burger shop in Universal's Islands of Adventure (shameless plug) is more worthwhile. Though you should keep your eyes peeled for one below $30--it's extremely short. Maybe watch an LP and see if it floats your boat before going all in.

Stadia sent its final bits last night. As an impromptu "Goodbye Tour" of sorts, I replayed two games I picked up in the service's early days and recorded the playthroughs.

Number: 3
Full Title: Samurai Shodown
Platform Played: Stadia
Collection: N/A
Native Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Arcade, Stadia, Switch, Windows
Original Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Applicable Badge: Street Fightin' (1/2)

I played through the game with the two free DLC characters: Shizumaru Hisame and Gongsun Li. Both of them use umbrellas as weapons. That wasn't planned.

Number: 4
Full Title: Panzer Dragoon
Platform Played: Stadia
Collection: N/A
Native Platform: Switch, Stadia, Windows, PlayStation 4, Luna, Xbox One
Original Platforms: Saturn
Applicable Badge: Destroy the Core (1/2)

R.I.P. Stadia. Time to start Doom 64 and Crisis Core.

Nice job on Panzer Dragoon. I don't know why, but, for some reason, there was a stage near the end that I could never get past when I was playing that on Stadia awhile back. I died every time and eventually gave up.

Renaissance2K wrote:

Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

I had a hard time with the last stage the first time I played through the game. The only reason I didn't this time around is because I learned to be extremely vigilante and proactive with enemy targeting during all my failed attempts the first time.

The tunnel level is rough too. Lots of hazards, and damaging the boss is more difficult than it needs to be.

As much as a cheerleader as I am for Stadia, I booted up the Steam version today to see if the save games can be copied over (they can't, at least not without additional effort), and it controls a lot more smoothly and with less lag than the Stadia version. Nothing I really noticed without playing the games back to back, though.

I beat Resident Evil 5 on the xbox1

Feel like I was on a roll to start the month/year but now I've bogged down, but I'm actively playing at least 5 games right now and making progress on them all.
Focusing on a smaller set of consoles but trying to cycle through them vs just playing a bunch of XSX games changes things up for me. I like the change, but part of it is my console setup changed and I have less access to that XSX but more access really to all my other stuff.
XSX got the focus in the past lately due to GP and quick resume helped. But I felt like I was neglecting too many other consoles and games I had purchased.

I started another Pikmin playthrough. I'm doing so much better this time! I guess it's a Zelda II phenomenon--hard, stressful game becomes excellent once you've been through it before!

I only got 2 games down this year myself so far and am currently working on chipping away at these:

Gotham Knights
Mario+Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Sonic Frontiers

It's a slow churn. If only I had as much time as I did back in like 2020-2021 I would be almost at 10 games down within the first month of a new year.

#6 down: Marvel’s Midnight Suns on PS5. I would like to count this toward the Days Gone By badge. It took me 103 hours to finish everything. Proof here:

https://imgur.com/a/n9rsYqV

This was a fun one. Turn-based tactical battling with card mechanics, a huge script with tons of dialogue and interactions between characters, opportunities to go dark or light based on how you respond to teammates and how you fight, and much more. I had a lot of fun tweaking decks and building new strategies. There’s a lot to do but also constant rewards (new cards, new stats, new costumes and variations on those costumes, decorations and furniture for your room, etc.). It lived up to my high expectations.

Minor gripes: Some of the dialogue is pretty cringy, as it’s a superhero game. Also, this game looks great, but some of the character models are weird. Tony Stark has this oddly smooth face that looks plasticy like a Ken doll.

TalonJedi87 wrote:
Few of us miss 2020, but we all miss the freetime lockdown afforded. Twas a great time to 100% Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition.

Number: 5
Full Title: Twinbee
Platform Played:
Collection: Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection
Native Platform:
Original Platform:
Applicable Badge: Destroy the Core (2/2)

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

After finishing level 11, I looked up how many levels this has and found that the answer is five and that there is no end. So, I looped it twice plus an extra stage. Stage 10 was horrible with indestructible enemies hiding behind clouds.

Took almost 25 hours, but I beat Donkey Kong 64 . Halfway to Bear & Bird!
[imgt]https://i.imgur.io/sNmXzop_d.webp?maxwidth=640&sha...[/imgt]

It’s a good game, but not good enough for me to want to 101% it. It’s an odd in-between of Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie, with a greater emphasis on BK than DKC. I liked seeing animations and mechanics from DKC being converted into 3D without fully changing them—the Kongs didn’t need air underwater before, so it makes sense that they don’t here. The game has earned a negative reputation online for being so overstuffed with collectibles and swappable characters that you don’t want to bother playing at all, and I did feel that at first. By the time you’ve gotten accustomed to Tag Barrel switching and playing minigames, it becomes more fun. Maybe you shouldn’t get everything, but it couldn’t hurt to explore these large environments and nab the stuff that isn’t super obtuse. World 6 is where that really clicked for me.

The game does feel like it’s missing something. Maybe it’s the David Wise soundtrack, maybe it’s too few Animal Buddy sequences, maybe something’s wrong with the bosses, I can’t say. But there’s something about Banjo-Kazooie, Tooie, and Conker that makes them feel more complete. Perhaps it’s the story and NPCs? N64 Rareware games usually have a lot of characters to meet and humorous cutscenes, but DK64 really doesn’t. Sometimes you see K. Rool yelling at his lackeys, but it’s never more than that. Maybe they should’ve kept the banana-stealing plot at the forefront and revealed the Blast-O-Matic as a surprise superweapon two-thirds in, with Snide knowing about it the whole time and subtly trying to prepare you for it. That might make it feel like more is happening.

It’s no DKC, but it was fun enough. Thanks to @HEHEHATE for the sale!

3-TMNT Turtles in Time via cowabunga colllection. felt like I was 8 all over again

Updating...

Done! Keep up the fun games, everyone!

Got my 5th, 3rd already
Wreckfest
Counts towards Race Drivin'

This has been available on GP for-seemingly-ever and it had my attention b/c I really enjoy racing games, but Horizon 4 and 5 have scratched that itch fully for the past 2+ years (and are better games). But I've done just about everything there is (that I actually want) to do in H5, so I finally took a swing at this and at times it was fun and others it was frustrating. The career mode that I beat consists of 5 championships where they give you around 10-20 events that are all worth either 100/200/400/600/800 points and you need to earn like 2k for the first to beat it, then in the upper 2k range for the next 3 and 3600 for final one. If you win all of the races in a set you get the full 400/600/800 points, but if you take a 2nd place you give up like 20. I earned 'congrats you beat the campaign' message, but have around a dozen total events I didn't do on that journey, plus like 3 I could replay to get their full points from, but that's unlikely.
You also get 1-2 bonus objectives to go for in each race/event and I'd guess I collected around 2/3rds of those, but some were foolish since I was more interested in winning races vs. wrecking or causing more mayhem. The variety of event types wasn't too bad, but a good amount were races and the AI and nature of the game/tracks could make that a challenge, such that only 2.06% of players earned the Achievement. I can see why, as I did restart a number of races b/c you could get screwed and have about zero chance to win in some events if you got spun out or slammed into and other things. I tried to limit that, but near the end it got frustrating to try to get even moderately clean races in.
They did have destruction derbies and several races on tracks that had cross-overs, figure 8s, or even ran a good percentage both directions on the same stretch, so collisions going to happen - tough ones occurred on cross points when I was in a healthy lead and you really couldn't spot a car coming. I didn't love some of the controls as, at times, the cars felt floaty or could too easily overcorrect, but nearly all AI cars would do the same and you could dial some of that out with the simple car setup tweaks and modulating your throttle input.
I'm not sure if I'll seek to beat more of the events, there aren't really any Achievements that I'm close to earning by playing just a little more and while I liked a lot of the AI cars in the game, you don't seem able to unlock a number of them that I'd like to drive, so I might just be fully done with this.

My #6 is Far Cry 6

https://ibb.co/PmWwVZZ

Surprised how much I enjoyed this game. Good graphics and lots of different systems for game play, even if I didn't use them all. They even had a Stranger Things surprise mission. 8/10

@DarkFact I beat Final Fantasy VI.
[imgt]https://i.imgur.io/dVLSu4D_d.webp?maxwidth=640&sha...[/imgt]
What a rip. No gameplay, only about two minutes of cutscenes, and then credits. I don’t know why you people rate this one so highly.

Grats! I've beaten it at least a dozen times, it's easily one of the least offensive games in the series, I like a quick RPG

Beat Mom Hid My Game! For as trashy as the game was, I enjoyed the ending.

KCPenguins wrote:

Are you joining the thread? If so, I'll need your console list.

SupremeSarna wrote:

Took me a minute, and then I LOL'd.

#4 of the year is Dishonored 2 (PC). Took almost 40 hours and had a blast finding ways to sneak around everyone and not get noticed. Searched every nook and cranny and almost always missed something in the end of chapter stats screen ... lol

#7 down: WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! (Game Boy Advance, emulated on PC). This is my first clear toward the Makin' Money with Minigames! badge.

I'll be honest. I'm really looking forward to finishing this badge as quickly as possible. These minigames seem completely pointless. I had to force myself to finish this game.

Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:
Ha. Yeah, those Warioware games, while fun/funky, don't really have a goal. Wario LAND Nintendo. Wario LAND. Not Wario WARE. Wario LAND. Make it happen already. It's been too long.

I beat Family Guy: The Video Game on . This game is actually pretty fun with loads of references to old school FG. The cutaways are reproduced as warioware-esque micro games, and the cutscenes are pretty good as well. There is probably enough for a whole episode's worth of animation. It did slow down a TON when a lot of enemies were on the screen, and some of the stages were kind of annoying like the one on the docks where Peter instantly dies if he falls in the water. Overall, this is a really fun game, and if you like old school Family Guy it is definitely worth a try!

I beat Fantasy Zone Gear . Halfway to Destroy the Core.
[imgt]https://i.imgur.io/Onia4P1_d.webp?maxwidth=640&sha...[/imgt]
It’s the third (canon) space shooter in Sega’s Fantasy Zone series. I like it, not sure if it’s better or worse than Super Fantasy Zone. This one has two tricky bosses right next to each other and is somewhat stingy with the shop balloon spawns. Much of the time, you’ll die, lose your gear, start a new life, and the shop balloon will not appear—you’re a sitting duck at that point! But if you can buy the unique Flash Attack weapon for powerful charge shots, you’ll love it. But choosing the Flash Attack prevents you from choosing the Shield that affords you a second hit. This adds some strategy that other FZ games don’t have, which is pretty cool.

I beat Monopoly Plus on the xbox1

legendrko25 wrote:
Did you play as the shoe?

6th down, 2nd
High on Life
Badge: 1st Amendment makes sense to me.

Largely beat this for @Frank's GotM club this month (vs. later). I liked Trover, so I expected I'd enjoy the humor and in general I did, though the high use of the Fbomb got old. I did some exploring in the game and got like 85% of the chests and talked to a ton of side characters and such. The mechanics weren't anything to go nuts over, but the game was fun and worth playing.

7th down, 1st
God of War 3
Badge - Grown-Ass Man

Been working on this one for a few weeks and I don't think I would've considered it for GAM badge until the end. The 1 fight on your 2nd visit to the bottom of the chain wasn't fun, then the 2.5D fight against Zeus was a nightmare for me. It must have taken me 30 tries, I was pushing too hard, a tactic I often do in these games and fighting games too, trying to be too offensive and not dodging/blocking/slowing down much/enough - I can get 1 track minded, not a good idea. Zeus wrecked me b/c of my lacking skills with blocking and failures to dodge enough. I finally got him by slowing myself down and reacting more with quick attacks vs. rushing and walking right into combos... and declining to lower the difficulty at least twice <sigh>
Game looked excellent even this many years later and it was still in love with it's QTEs, Kratos' rage, awesome music/score and other staples of the series. I only beat GoW2 in the last few years, but after this crazy frustrating final session I think I might take a break - was thinking I'd jump to the 2 portable system offshoots included in my collection. Also want to give Ascension a go as well, but I need a less frustrating game first.
The game interestingly had a few glitches where I had to back out to the main menu and reload in my save. It happened in at least 3 places, but the one I recall was one of the chain flights and I couldn't seem to avoid hitting something right before the cut to one of the Titans and in that scene b/c of the glitch Kratos was missing and the scene wouldn't complete b/c of it, even if I got the QTE right. Oh well.

@SupremeSarna largely curious, but looking at the Mass Destruction badge, how many other games are similar to the example of Rampage? Are you thinking of say Katamarcy as well? One of the biggest reasons I trimmed the count of badges was some felt like they applied to just too few titles or too specific of a genre/subset.

@Slickriven This was a suggestion from another user. I don't play many of them myself, but Blast Corps comes to mind immediately. I'd count Katamari and Twisted Metal also. I'm thinking games with a lot of carnage that aren't hack 'n' slashes or beat'em ups are good candidates.

My #7 is Tiny Tina's Wonderlands.

https://ibb.co/nDwXbZV

Woof. What a mediocre game. Graphics are nice but the game play is so repetitive. None of the weapons feel great. Most skills are low % increases to stats. Dialog is terrible and the jokes are even worse. Such gems as calling a village 'Buttsville' and having enemies repeat the same bad lines in every encounter (My foot bone is going to be connected to your ass bone). Wasn't a fan of the Borderlands games so I'm not quite sure why I picked this up. 6/10

#4 for me is Evil West
This was the best current gen throwback to the Gears of War coop style games of that era. Graphics aren’t the greatest and framerate can be a bit choppy but other than that it tells a coherent tale has some charm and humor and is action up the butt from start to finish. It’s quite refreshing to play a linear based corridor like 3rd person action shooter with a heavy emphasis on in your face satisfying melee combat that packs a punch. We really need more games like this and Focus seems to know that and keeps delivering the goods to us on more than one occasion. Flying Wild Hog is no stranger to action shooters too I just hope sales on this game warrant more like it cause this was simply awesome.

I beat Bayonetta for my 360 clear this year. Got it very cheap on eBay a few years ago, now I’ve made good on that purchase.
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Game’s fun, plot’s nonsense, it’s sometimes stylish, it’s sometimes trashy, it’s always violent. What else do you expect from Mr. Twitterblock?

I played this years ago in college, but I’d forgotten most of it. Turns out it was better than I’d remembered. Maybe I’ll replay Bayonetta 2 sometime, or buy Bayonetta 3. Always happy to support Jennifer Hale, AKA Aayla Secura in Star Wars: TCW.

@SupremeSarna I'm actually debating playing Bayonetta on my WiiU. I have it digitally on the 360 from a Xbox giveaway, but I bought 1 & 2 from a fellow GTZ person after getting the system last year. Trying to decide btwn that and Captain Toad.

Slickriven wrote:
Captain Toad is probably easier and a bit more violent, but I haven't played it myself. You can't go wrong with either, I'd say.

#8 down- Marvel’s Midnight Suns DLC on PS5. I would like to count it toward the Quest for Peace badge.

This first DLC just came out today and features Deadpool. It includes a few new story missions, allows you to integrate Deadpool into the main campaign, provides a few new costumes, and introduces new research that lets you build a food truck, giving you the ability to discard a card for an extra move and slam. Deadpool was pretty annoying as a character in this, but his deck is interesting to use and the new story missions were OK. I’ll definitely play the other DLCs when they come out, as I really enjoyed this game. I don’t know when they’ll be out, but Venom is supposedly next and then Morbius and Storm.

I've decided after some waffling that I'll update the OP every Friday, not Saturday--changes with my work schedule make this more optimal. Sit tight, everyone!

EDIT: Got everything. With only a few days left in the month, @legendrko25 has time to beat a few more games and become #1 game-beater for January! Several others have beaten a good number--keep on going!

As for me, my brother just moved into a new house and found an abandoned Xbox One X. He gave it to me as he has little need for such a console. What a nice gesture! Now to find a game to play for it. I have a few ideas...

My #8 is Dead Space (2008)

https://ibb.co/rdYbsVv

Played this since the new remake just came out today. Beat it in a little over 8 hours. Great game, didn't play through when it first came out. Graphics are surprisingly good for a 15 year old game, great gameplay and tense moments. Good boss fights too. Plan on playing the rest of the trilogy in February. 8.5/10

8's all around, mine is my fist title as well
Layers of Fear 2
Badge - counts towards Raccoon City

I beat Layers of Fear in '21 and started this last year but didn't prioritize it and thus only got around 30% in. I just finished this almost walking sim... or door opening sim just now and yeah it was meh. Last time you were an artist uncovering what happened to your family, this time your an actor dealing with your past and demons, or something. It was sort of boring to me and you just moved along a linear path or sorts. It tried jump scares that didn't get me but about once. It also tried psychological things, like you enter an empty bathroom and see there's something simple to interact with, you do and a flash and loud noise and turn around and the room is completely different or there's a mannequin right in your face. There's also this monster that gets triggered a few times and chases you, it's not all that scary really, more annoying.
And wow do you open a TON of doors. It's set on a cruise ship, likely a fictional homage to the Titanic, but there are doors everywhere. They're largely used as checkpoints and prevention mechanism on any form of backtracking. I just got tired of clicking the mouse to grab the door handle and swing the door mostly away from me, but sometimes towards. I also apparently got the 'indecisive' ending - fitting. I unlocked NG+ but have zero interest in playing it anymore. It was from Bloober Team, the devs that are doing the Silent Hill 2 remake - technically their skills were great as the game was atmospheric (I should've used headphones to enhance that) and the game looked great, if a bit dark at times. The story and flow was just slow and not all that entertaining, I liked the first game's story and delivery better.

#9 down: Grumpy Cat’s Worst Game Ever on iOS. This (alongside WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!) gives me the Makin' Money with Minigames! badge.

After the hundreds of minigames I played to unlock everything for this, I never want to play a mini game again. It seems I’ve found something I hate as much as really puzzle-driven games.

Got my 9th, 3rd
TMNT: Shredder's Revenge
I think I might look to beat this 5x times, so not applying towards anything yet.

I've beat this now with every character besides Raph and just finished likely my worst character, Mike. I have enjoyed this and it's not too long thus why I might go for the 5x, but we'll see. I started my next run with Raph and already am liking him over Mike. Heck I like April better than Mike, her aerial kick was pretty cool. I'd guess I've already beat this the 5x times in the last calendar year, but I'm going to guess the badge implies all clears in 2023. Once I get Raph's run done, I'll have to decide on if I care to make 3 more runs...

Additionally I've been playing The Legend of Tianding and the game is alright I guess. There's a bit too much story via dialog to read, but the fighting and exploring in some areas is decent. The 3rd boss SUCKED so much. Again it was a case of me pushing too much, but even when I caught myself doing it, it was like she tailored her attacks to what I was trying to hit her with, so I kept having to alter my strategy and dodge like a pro. When I finally beat her I was beyond stoked. I'm now facing the next boss and after just 1 try he wasn't as frustrating, but I've also purchased several more health upgrades.

Let's welcome @buster4252 for joining this year's challenge! I've got you all set on the OP and spreadsheet, so I hope you'll play many games with us.

I beat two more games: Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! and Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman! .
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As my first real Minis game, March Again was quite good. It was longer than it needed to be, but most of the puzzles were well-made and comfortably challenging. The ones that make heavy use of Thwomps are a pain, and the DK boss fights are pretty weak, but otherwise it’s a good time. Got all 100 gold stars.

As for Wario Blast, beep Bomberman. It’s a decent game, but holy cow, Bomberman is ruthless and annoying by design. The enemies wander around placing bombers thst detonate in four directions, and your own bombs vaporize you—one hit and you’re dead! You have to best the enemies in 2 out of 3 matches, then they add more. There are upgrades like the ability to kick bombs forward and even Wario’s first motorcycle. Once you get the ability to shove and stun enemies, you become nearly omnipotent.

But then bosses come into play. Some are easy, but others are incredibly frustrating. They’re usually invincible unless you destroy some projectile to make them briefly vulnerable. But that takes a lot of setup and they take multiple hits to kill; one mistake kills you, remember. The final boss is dreadful, with three separate phases and numerous projectiles that it can launch at a moment’s notice. Took at least 20 tries to beat him, and that’s ignoring all the deaths I suffered at bosses 2 and 4. Never again.

#10 down: Samorost 1 on PC. This is my first clear for the Brain Teaser badge and the first game I've ever played on Gog. This is a really weird, short puzzle game in which you have to help this gnome guy get back after his rocket took him off course. I don't usually like puzzle games, but I will admit that some of the ones in this are fairly clever. A few were pretty tricky and took me awhile to figure out. Some of the characters look kinda creepy, because it looks like someone took a regular picture of a person's face and used it on a different character (like this one squirrel you encounter with a human face).

SupremeSarna wrote:

No the dog

#11 down: Halo 2 on Xbox. This gives me (alongside my previous clear of High on Life) the 2nd Amendment badge.

I enjoyed this one more than Halo. The story was more interesting, and there were a few level design details that I was impressed with despite how old this game is. While there are still a lot of grey hallways like in the original, there’s more variety this time around.

#12 down: Hearthstone on PC. This is my first completion toward the All Aces badge. As per the badge, I beat two matches, but that didn't feel like enough, so I also beat a bunch of challenges and a single player campaign. This game is pretty addictive, and the fact that you can just pick it up and play a match whenever is nice. You can actually unlock quite a bit without paying any money as well.

January was an all-PS4 month for me:

Jurassic World Evolution: I've been wanting to play this since forever, bought it some months ago and finally installed it. The game controls are great, IMO. That's something that can be a hit or miss with this type of game on consoles. Enjoyed the missions and the dinosaur variety, as well as the different challenges that each island provides. Incubating and releasing a T-Rex and hearing that famous roar hits differently, lol. I'm currently playing through the Return to Jurassic Park DLC missions which is kind of a prequel to the main campaign. Missing 2 or 3 trophies for the plat.

Anthem: Man, I really liked this one. I got it for under $2, so that might have helped lol But flying around the world is great, the environments and models look awesome, and I really liked the acting and the dialog during the missions. The experience was pretty smooth too, I only had one issue where I entered this cave and there was like an invisible force draining my health and my character had the biggest lag. I got the plat for it and there's a collectible trophy that is a bit of a pain, but aside from that I enjoyed my time with the game. It's a shame it wasn't that successful among the masses.

One Night Stand: Quick game, the visuals are pretty interesting. I got half the trophies just doing 3 or 4 playthroughs, got the rest and the plat checking a guide. It's a nice quick story about the uncomfortability and opportunities that can arise after a one-night stand.

Cat Quest II: Got the plat for it. I really liked the first one, so I needed to play this. It's pretty much the same but with doggos. I felt it was easier and shorter than the first one, but I still enjoyed completing it. Waiting for the third part.

Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

Hands down one of the BEST xbox originals it helped start xbox live as we know it

I beat fallout 3 on the xbox360

I enjoyed it. I’m just starting to catch up on all of the Xbox exclusives I missed over the years.

legendrko25 wrote:

I love that game. It’s one of the few games I’ve beaten more than once without it being for achievements or trophies.

legendrko25 wrote:

I'll be updating soon, so get your last clears in the next 5 hours. I look forward to the first monthly update!

I beat Fallout 3 Broken steel (DLC) on the xbox360

Got my 10th of Jan, 4th
The Legend of Tianding
Badge - I'm claiming this for G-AM and it earns me the badge after GoW3

This game was interesting as it almost felt like 2 different games in 1. This won't be spoiler worthy, but if you don't want to know about game mechanics stop reading. So you are a Robin Hood like character who fights corruption taking on thugs to corrupt/evil cops and military foes. You use a knife that can be upgraded a few times as your main means of attack, via the X button. You also have a red sash (Y button) that can grab enemies after you deal a little damage and it will steal their weapon, replacing your knife until it breaks. You also learn a stronger dash move that consumes a stamina bar. This dash can propel you higher for the platforming, as well as dash you through a foe. If you stand still and hit the dash button (B), you'll do a strong punch that sends weaker foes flying. Lastly there's a dodge-roll (RB) that if timed just right nets you a shadow that effectively doubles your damage as hits come from you and the shadow until it goes away.
In normal levels you can move along swiftly, hitting X, X, X for a 3-hit combo that knocks the weaker foes down and generally triggers the Y icon so that you can grab them and steal their weapon and use that until it's gone. I rarely died in fights against even many enemies like this b/c you can do good damage and dodge things, plus the weapons you steal can be good, from weak throwing rocks to rocket launchers, there's a big spread and you can get perks to enhance many aspects of the game, including duration and damage from these weapons. There are basically 3x foe levels, standard humans, bigger/stronger humans and a 2nd set of the bigger guys with larger health bars and more damage. None of them were noteworthy difficult, though with enough foes on screen, you could lose track of your guy, but in general the regular level progression wasn't difficult.
What was challenging was the bosses. There's only 5 really and you fight them 100% differently which was why I say it's like 2 different games. In normal levels I could be aggressive and move around, hitting guys, stealing weapons with larger ranges or throwable/firearms and could zip through them, keeping a stolen weapon in use 90% of the time. Against the bosses you had nothing to steal, the Y 'attack' was all but useless and if you tried to be aggressive, 2-4 hits from them would end you quickly. You can pick up a food item to heal you that takes around 2 seconds to consume, so you could use that when you can, but you're open to taking damage then.
So the 3rd and final boss were the worst, but the 1st and 4th weren't cake walks. With them you HAVE to slow way down and almost more counter-attack or wait for them to attack, dodge it and hit them a few times after. If you get too aggressive most will have a counter to you and hit you for 30-50% of your health. No boss was I able to beat in the first 6 tries I'd guess, and the 3rd and 5th took me certainly over 2-3 dozen tries. It was frustrating even after I caught myself pushing too much and looked to slow down.

So G-AM might be a bit pushing it, but the game also has 2 difficulty levels and I was playing on the 'Hardcore' according to the achievement I got. They made the easier one seem like it was meant as the story mode, so that's why I didn't try that. I did earn all bar 2 achievements and 1 I'd have to replay around 25+% on a new game to earn.

#13 down: Eternal on PC. This (alongside my clear of Hearthstone) gets me my 4th badge: All Aces

I managed to finish one more with 30 minutes to spare! This was the most games I've ever beaten in a month before. Eternal was decent. There are some interesting card mechanics. However, Hearthstone was more fun overall.

January is DUNZO, everyone! To go through some of the stats like previous gamekeepers, we've beaten 97 games and covered a whopping 14.37% of consoles! Eight players haven't beaten a game yet, but four players have beaten ten or more. I'm winning in the clears department with 14, with @Bleed_DukeBlue and @legendrko25 below me with 13 and 12, respectively. Bleed_DukeBlue is our current top badge-collector, with 4.

I considered adding game-themed riddles for each month, with there being some (non-monetary) reward for the first person who figures out the game based on the riddle and then beats it within that month. But it feels like a weird thing to throw into this thread, it would essentially be yet another Game of the Month thing, the riddles could be too easy or too difficult to decipher, and then there's the matter of choosing games everyone has some degree of access to... it's just not a good direction for the thread. So I won't attempt it unless there's serious demand.

Anyhoo, it's February, y'all. Beat lotsa games!

My #9 is Dead Space 2.

https://imgbox.com/IPbK2Gc2

More dismembering Necromorphs, this time in a space city. For some reason all the weapons come unlocked at the beginning of the game (maybe premium edition unlocks?) and thatkilled the survival horror aspect of it. There are a few new enemy types but no boss battles like in the first. Overall has a more action adventure kind of feel to it. Not as good or atmospheric as the original, but still a good game. 8/10

I beat Fire Emblem Engage on Switch. Probably my favorite FE game now, but I still need to play through all the routes in Three Houses someday.

I beat Tetris 99 .
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A tough game, but oh so satisfying to win! I do this once a year to test my meddle.

Got my 1st of Feb, 11th overall, 4th
Blaster Master Zero
Not sure if this is badge-worthy

I had some $$ set to expire in my M$ account earlier last month so I bought this on sale. I ended up getting the 'normal' ending annoyingly b/c in Stage 7 (of 8) I didn't know better and went to the area's boss and backtracking was annoying so I beat it without fully collecting everything in the area and you needed to do that for the 'true' ending - dumb. I believe that I got everything else and stages 1-5 you revisited so I was thinking I might revisit the other one too. Game wasn't good enough to replay and backtracking from the very final boss (there's no fast travel WHY?) to stage 7, just is NOT worth it, uninstalled.

The game did manage to put the nail in the coffin of my X1 controller. I've had a White Sports version for a long while and it was my primary on this X1X before I got the Red Sports version to match it and then it went back to primary on the X1X after I got my XSX and didn't love the newer style controller (so Red for XSX and White on X1X). Anyhow, the RT had been sticking for a while and the rubber on the left thumb-stick is now shot, plus you had to hammer the X button to fire in the game and it isn't super responsive anymore, is sticking.
It might not be dead, but I tried the final boss a few times and wasn't cutting it, got annoyed, switched controllers and in-game weapons and beat it on the very next try, more responsive button 100% helped. It needs cleaned for sure and new rubber, so I'll try that, I really like that controller.

My #10 is Dead Space 3.

https://imgbox.com/Hak7oVc7

Poor Issac Clarke. He can't catch a break. Not only does he have to deal with Necromorphs but now humans too. This one has him traveling to the alien homeworld. They really throw a bunch of creatures at you at some points of the game. I completed all the optional side quests. There is also a lot of cinematic sequences and scaling cliffs, giving it a much more AAA feel to the game than the previous two. They changed the weapon and upgrade systems, making them more customizable, but making the weapons lack individual identity and the iconic feel of the past games. Now you can only carry two weapons at a time, down from four. Overall, a good wrap up to the series. 8/10

#14 down: The Last Kids on Earth and the Staff of Doom (First clear on Xbox One. I would like to count it towards the Heavy Machine Gun badge). This was OK for a random game pass game. Most of the game is running around shooting zombies and weird mutated creatures, but, since it’s a kids game, there isn’t any blood or gore. I saw this was leaving Game Pass and got curious. It was mindless but not terrible and took me about 8 hours to beat.

#1 - Goat Simulator 3 (beat on 1/31)
My kids got this game for Christmas. They find it hysterical. It's pretty funny and the pop culture references are great. There's an awesome little nod to P.T. in there too! I appreciated that. Took us around 28 hours of goofing around to finally see the end credits.
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#2 - A Plague Tale: Requiem (beat on 2/3)
I can't say much more here that hasn't been said. Just a fantastic game. The narrative and the voice acting are just superb. Charlotte McBurney is outstanding! I will say that I think the first game involved a bit more strategy. I found that you could brute force your way through the stealthier sections pretty easily this time around.
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Beating Donkey Kong Country 3 every year gets a little stale, so I upped the ante by beating with one hand.
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Love this game to death, and this challenge put my skills to the test! Once you get movement down, a lot of stages are largely unchanged by the one-hand restriction. The most interesting stages under this challenge are Ripsaw Rage (a speedy, upward autoscroller where you climb trees away from a huge saw), Bobbing Barrel Brawl (where you use Ellie the Elephant to suck up and shoot out water, now with awkwardly-placed buttons), and Krack-Shot Kroc (where a reticle is constantly targeting you and you have to shoot Squitter the Spider's web platforms to proceed). The latter was the hardest.

I recommend trying this if you own a Switch with NSO and are a DKC fan. I plan to play all of them this way eventually, but now I'm doing the same challenge in Super Mario Sunshine. I feel guilty using my right hand to type all this, haha!

#3- Fantasy Life (incl. Origin Island DLC)

This is a fun little romp from Level-5, originally released in 2014. benstylus and I have been playing it together. You can choose from 12 different character classes (referred to as “Lives”) that you can change at your discretion after completing the initial missions. Need weapons and armor for your Paladin? Become a Blacksmith and make some sweet gear! Need healing items? Cook up healing dishes as a Cook or brew up potions as an Alchemist.

It’s an interesting take on RPGs, and the story turns some classic tropes on their heads.

Things I like:
StreetPass! You can share most items with a friend.
Local multiplayer! You can have a buddy travel with you to complete particularly tough missions.
Pets and allies! If your real life friends aren’t available, you can partner up with some characters after certain points in the story.

Not so much:
Gender-specific armor. benstylus got some amazing kit on his file and neither one of us can use it because we both chose male characters.
The inventory system. You can’t sort your items by type beyond “Consumables” or “Materials”.
Fetch quests and RNG. Need something for a mission but your luck isn’t very high? Sucks to be you.

It’s been a treat to play. I’d recommend it if the physical copy weren’t more expensive than any sensible person should pay for a 3DS game and the DLC wasn’t going away in a month.

Really hoping Level-5 decide to revisit this one for the Switch.

(Level Up! Badge 1/2)

sailorneorune wrote:

Dang, I was about to ask if it was worth buying. Guess I'll pass if acquiring it costs a bunch in a short timeframe. Waiting for a remake sounds like the best bet. Unless...

Would you like that counted as just Fantasy Life? Or Fantasy Life and Fantasy Life DLC?

I beat Unpacking for the xbox1 this game was strangely fun to play

@legendrko25 I beat Unpacking last year and it oddly just resonated with me. I talked about it for like 2 months after. Guess when a game just nails things it's fun, regardless of what the game really is.

@SupremeSarna Just the game is fine; the DLC story content isn’t really long enough to justify getting the badge.

Beat Tales of Berseria and would like to count it towards the Girl Power badge. Quick question on that badge, does it count if there is 2 main characters one female one male? (Ex: Tales of Arise, Tales of xillia, donkey Kong country 2/3, etc). Also did the rule change about the badges stacking (beating one game counting toward multiple badges) cause I didn't see it in the rule list

buster4252 wrote:
If the girl is the main character and a guy is also there, it counts—not the other way around. So DKC3 counts, not DKC2. Badges don’t stack.

Beat Prey (2017) on PS4 twice for the plat. If the 2 playthroughs count I earned the 2nd Amendment badge.

VedicBlade wrote:

I’m afraid that only counts as one clear and half the badge. But beat it thrice more and it could be Gamer’s Day.

No games in 2 weeks besides Overwatch with friends a few times. Back to Bayonetta 3 tonight.

I just started Bayonetta 1 last night, only did the very opening part that was really odd. First the rumble effect/capability of the WiiU controller is trash, but I really dislike games that attempt to tell you things via a voice over while you're fighting enemies. Maybe it's just me, but my pathetic brain can't seem to concentrate on the voice and fighting at the same time. Had this issue with the Borderlands series as well, but I played that co-op a lot so the other dude sometimes triggers things, or he and I were chatting.

Slickriven wrote:

Word to the wise: Ignore the story. Bayonetta in particular is known for being a tangled, nonsensical mess. Good action, though.

Hahaha, thanks Sarna. I'm not overly interested in it, but as part of the opening bit I sort of wanted to catch what the voice was sharing. Might see if I can find someone's let's play just to catch it and nothing more.

buster4252 wrote:
Which system did you beat it on?

I beat Super Mario Sunshine with one hand.
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Game's still awesome, and I daresay only a Sunshine veteran will be able to win this challenge. SMS Mario's always had wonky physics, but when you only have one thumb and two fingers to pull off your best moves, things get tough. The Goopy Inferno was especially nasty, since even if you know the best way to get to the Shine Sprite, you have to make one do-or-die jump which is now hampered by your left hand. Otherwise, it was a lot of fun!

I'll get around to DKC2 and DKC1 soon. I've got other games to beat in the meantime.

Slickriven wrote:

I just beat this on Switch. Overall is was an interesting game. I'm sure it was much more interesting when it first came out as it clearly looks dated nowadays. I did drop the difficulty down to Easy just so I was able to finish the game without much frustration. Fairly short game as a result of the easy difficulty. Story made no sense.

Just finished Goldeneye 007

Despite owning this game forever, it took the Switch/Xbox re-release to finally kick my ass into gear!

SupremeSarna wrote:

Sorry I beat Tales of Berseria on the PS4. Also just beat my friend peppa pig on the xbox one and that is the 2nd game needed for the girl power badge.

#5 Gotham Knights
This is not the Batman game you’re looking for. It’s so broken in a lot of areas. If you’re curious about playing it def play it with a buddy to ease the woes of all of its shortcomings.

My #11 is The Callisto Protocol. 7.5/10

https://imgbox.com/HxZSH9Uj

Idk if this counts as beating a game but I got all of the achievements in townscaper on xbox one. AFAIK there is no way to beat it other than getting 100% of the achievements so I'll leave it up to @SupremeSarna if it counts or not

buster4252 wrote:

I'll count it. That sounds reasonable for that sort of game.

I counted Townscraper as beat myself last year after doing the same.

In addition to 007 on another game is down! Peggle 2 Man, I hope (but also doubt) we get another Peggle!!

Also please add to my list of consoles. Totally forgot I picked one up last year.

I've been heavily focused on Cuphead for Frank's GotM and while I'm now up to 80% completion, it's a slow, challenging and at times very frustrating slog. I really want to finish it now though, when I do I'm going to count it towards the only already earned badge I've got, and reallocate Tianding to something else.

I beat Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest with one hand. Got all the DK Coins!
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Great game! Like DKC3, I found the Squitter stages to be the trickiest under these restrictions. It's hard juggling his jumping, web shooting, and platform creating while evading enemies. Web Woods was the worst stage, as I predicted. Now onto other games, then DKC1!

#15 down- Dead Space (PS5)- first clear toward the Raccoon City badge. It gets a little repetitive with all the grey hallways and doors you have to figure out how to unlock, but the story was pretty good, and the gameplay is better than Callisto Protocol. I’m not sure I liked it as much as the critics, but it was good.

Weekly update done!

Just beat pokemon puzzle league on n64 and earns me 1st half of brain teaser badge.

I played through Wario Ware Inc last night.

The first in the series, and probably still my favorite!

It nearly wrecked me but I finally beat Cuphead on
It's my 2nd of Feb, 5th and I want to have it count for GA-M as it was WAY more difficult vs. Tianding, guess Tianding could count towards Pile Driving, it wasn't exactly a belt-scroller, but was all about 2D and physical attacks.

Cuphead was beat for Frank's GotM and without that push I'm not sure I would've endured the torture this game could be. All of the boss fights really are just pattern watching and avoiding hits but that's just not all that easy, at least for me, to always pull off. I am SO relieved that this is over and I can refocus on other games.

I beat Super Mario Land 2, and Death's Door a few days ago, both on Switch.

Just curious but would games like pokemon green, panel de pon, and doki doki panic be eligible for the localize mother 3 badge or no cause we technically got them localized?

buster4252 wrote:
Yes, those would count. This also applies to versions of games that were ported to another system, and THAT version wasn't localized. Take Donkey Kong Land III for example; the GB version had English copies, but the GBC version released three years later was only in Japan. Beating the GBC version would count toward this badge.

SupremeSarna wrote:
Sweet, Thank you!

first victory of the year. Been busy just upgraded to 4K projector, and persona 5 is a really long game. Even casual play it's gonna be more than 120 hours I think.

Ipad/IOS - Dungeon Village 2
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I just finished Bayonetta 3. Good, but a step back from 2.

Bayo 1 8.0
Bayo 2 9.5
Bayo 3 8.0

I beat mario kart double dash on the gamecube
I also beat Super Smash bros melee on the gamecube

I beat Perfect Dark . It’s interesting.
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Having never played Perfect Dark for N64, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this conversion. It turned out to be a third-person shooter with a lot of (annoying) stealth sections and resource management. It’s satisfying gunning down an 8-bit soldier, hearing him cry “Medic!” in bit-crushed voiceover, and then looting his corpse for spare ammo or health packs. Saving hostages (all of whom are the same black guy in a red shirt for some reason) and deactivating bombs is also fun. Plus they threw in mini game sequences for variety: A car chase, a plane chase, a slow-moving autoscroller on a boat, shooting gallery boss fights on a 2D plane, and even a sniping section where you look through a scope and pick off distant targets without alerting them. Pretty cool stuff!

Sadly, the whole experience is marred by some bad segments and the aforementioned item management. The car chase is extremely unforgiving, the fight against Hunter is practically broken in the CPU’s favor, and the section where you deactivate bombs under strict time limits is pretty taxing. The gameplay loop does get bogged down and stale when you die and have you restart the entire room, losing all acquired resources and starting from your previous amount. Used up most of your health and ammo right before a checkpoint? That means you have to deal with that lack of material for the rest of that room, and every time you die and have to restart said room. You’ll die dozens of times throughout the game, bringing the flow to a halt. Nothing’s more tedious than using grace and finesse to stealth your way through a section, only to die and need to repeat all that finesse four more times. The part where Joanna is captured and defenseless on the Datadyne ship is the worst in that regard.

Overall, it’s a mixed bag. It’s cool and novel, with a lot of fun parts! It’s also frustrating and takes too much trial and error to be consistently enjoyable. You can probably skip this one given the rarity and price.

I beat Fallout New Vegas on the xbox360 (beating this and fallout 3 gets me the vault boy badge)

I beat TMNT Shredder's Revenge for the 2nd time, with Raph this time. I've already claimed this title but was considering going for the 5x completion with it, but meh. With Raph now done, I got all 7 characters completed (most done last year) and earned the 2 achievements for maxing the characters out and seeing all the endings.
The game's decent but 7x times through solo is enough.
I do want to count if for the Pile Driving badge and along with Tianding earn that one, so that's the only change to be recorded in the OP.

legendrko25 wrote:
Great job. How did you determine that you beat those? (Since they're not really story based, I'm just curious what the goal was)

I beat Little Red Riding Hood’s Zombie BBQ ().
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Yep, the super rare, super expensive DS game… only $8 on the 3DS eShop via DSiware! It’s a vertical shmup about Little Red Riding Hood and some Japanese fairy tale guy slaughtering zombified fairytale characters. I had a great time with it, and they nailed Red’s sexy, tough-girl design (aside from the white hair—not sure why white hair on young women is so popular in fiction). It’s pretty difficult, too. I think they went overboard on the final world and the last two bosses; they were a pain. You also have to reload your gun too often, which can get repetitive. But aside from those gripes, it was unique and fun! Highly recommend you buy it before the eShop closes… unless you want to invest in a physical copy!

I would’ve counted this toward Destroy the Core, but given how cool they made Red here, I have to count it toward Girl Power. So I earned that badge.

#6- Crysis Remastered
They remastered this well. The graphical and performance boosts really enhance the experience for a 15+ yr old title. It looked great in performance +RT 60fps mode too.

My #12 is Fable Anniversary.

https://imgbox.com/2UAqgxDG

I beat two games: Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars and Donkey Kong Country .
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A good MvsDK game that overstayed its welcome IMO. It's fun seeing all these miniature Mario characters and moving objects around with the stylus--not just pink blocks, but also girders, pipes, conveyor belts, and more. It's in HD, the screen is large to fit a good amount of content, and the difficulty curve is good. It has an unfortunate number of loading screens, and the bonus stages can be grueling--I had to use a guide for three of them. This game introduces an evil monkey bot carrying cymbals that possesses a Mini Mario. The possessed Mini is dangerous to the others and must be defeated by using hammers or the environment. Doing so frees the Mini from the curse, and it must now be taken back to the door with the others. This can be a real chore, but it also opens up creative applications and makes puzzles require more thought. I hope it never returns, personally.

By beating DKC with one hand, I've finished the whole trilogy with one remapped Joy-Con.

I beat Star Fox 64 3D .
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I took the following route: Corneria, Sector Y, Aquas, Zoness, Sector Z, Bolse, Venom 1. I rarely go for the true final boss on Venom 2. Star Wolf in the Wolfen II ships are too much of a pain.

Once you get everything updated, I'd also like to use Lunistice and Super Kiwi 64 to cash in on the Bear & Bird badge.

Frank wrote:

OP updated!

I beat WWE 2K15 on the xbox1

#7 for me is Cysis 2 Remastered
The sequel , while more COD than Far Cry from the previous installment, it was pretty and polished enough and sounds pretty robust on a surround system. It's a little more linear than the previous game and that may be an issue for some, but I think it's just fine. And with all the flooded open world games nowadays, sometimes all that's needed is a straight path to victory in a focused shooter, even one that's dated as this with it's almost fresh coat of paint. Some technical issues I've encountered though such as action prompts appearing out of context as well as some frame drops here and there and inconsistencies within the audio mixing, sometimes the sound effect are too loud, while the dialogue and music is too soft. I'm also not a fan of a return to a silent protagonist here after having the main character Nomad speak in the previous game, but I think in Crysis 3 they have the main protagonist speak again, which I'm looking forward to.

After the hell that was Cuphead for me in the first part of the month, I'm almost done with another title, pretty sure only the final boss(es) remain so I'm looking forward to getting another one done.

I beat Minish Cap on Switch. Already have 25 hours on the GBA app thanks to that game. I fused all the kinstones but didn't feel like looking for the last few heart pieces. (One is that damn cucco lady.) I also forgot that the light arrows were missable. Oh well.. started up Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the only game in that series I never finished.

BloodPuppetX wrote:

Yeah, the Cucco heart piece is pretty darn hard to get.

How are the light arrows missable? I don't remember how exactly you get them.

@Scott, you have to free Gregal from the spirit possessing him before going up into the clouds.

Interesting. I didn't know you could just miss out on that completely.

I beat Red Dead Redemption 2 on the xbox1

I beat Star Wars Episode 1 Racer .
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This game is very difficult, even with boosting. But through course memorization and serious perseverence, I got it all done. I even beat one Sebulba race without using the boost mechanic, just by pummeling his podracer and using minor shortcuts to get slightly ahead!

As much as I want to count this toward GA-Man, I think I'll put this one toward Race Drivin'. I've never won that badge.

Scott wrote:

You also can only get the Mirror Shield after beating the game. Minish Cap is a weird one.

Finally got my 3rd of Feb, 13th overall, 2nd
8 Doors Arum’s Afterlife Adventure (you can shorten to just 8 Doors)
Want to count this towards the Metroidvania badge

This one landed on a list of solid Metroidvania games to try and I like that genre so it was on my radar when Amazon Games gave it away as part of their Twitch Games monthly giveaways. It's an interesting tale of a young child (I think girl, but I've also seen the main protagonist referred to with male pronouns, I'd say they looked female, longer hair, dress-looking attire, but it really matters zilch) who's father dies before his time and so the child heads to the afterlife to bring them back. You play entirely in this version of the afterlife and the color pallet is only black-white-grey and red (a very small amount of pink too). So it has a unique look, you slowly get skills and weapons just like any game in this genre and it was clearly influenced by Hollow Knight with many aspects like the map maker/seller and others. Controls weren't as crisp as I would've liked but I think that's a bit from me and how I prefer to play. One really oddity was this port, I used an X1 controller connected via USB cable and the game's options showed a key-config for that controller, but not only were the A/B and X/Y buttons flipped, which wasn't a big deal since I believe the game was made in Japan, but the triggers/bumper were all goofy. They showed again the LT/LB & RT/RB but they didn't seem to line up with what I assigned them to. I had them used for next/previous weapons as well as switch character and dash, but what the UI shown and what the buttons did after adjusting did not sync up - very strange. Also some cutscenes you could skip and you got a prompt to hold a button to do so, but the box where the button label should've been shown was just blank.
Most boss fights took me multiple tries but a platforming section near the end was really annoying as ultimately (once I figured it out) you had to do a nearly exact, precise set of inputs to ascend a spike covered vertical shaft and the margin for error was near zero - thankfully there was a save/heal prayer stone right at the bottom, but the precision of this sequence especially with timing, was BS. The final boss sequence was annoying too as it was lengthy and triggered my too often default foolishly aggressive approach. Without trying to spoil anything, though the game has very little about it online so I don't think it's too popular, I had to play the finale so many times that I became really good as the first 3 phases and reached the 4th with full health a couple of times and yet still failed... it was tough but I felt I could get it and was very relieved to finally pull it off.

Final beat Persona 5 after 125 hours.

Persona 5 Royal -

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ErickRPG wrote:

Are you counting this toward the Days Gone By badge?

SupremeSarna wrote:

not yet, I need to look at all the badges and start keeping track. I honestly don't even know what that is yet.

I beat Mega Man Powered Up . Thanks to @SideSwipe for the sale!
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This is a pretty snazzy remake of the worst classic Mega Man game, Mega Man 1. Now it’s worth playing, sounds nice, and doesn’t look gross. There’s voice acting and two new Robot Masters: Oil Man and Time Man! It’s pretty difficult in places, but a good ride overall. I played some of the challenge stages, too—those are serious trials!

It’s a shame I bought it too late to download the free Roll DLC and promo stages. I’ve heard downloading them from other users on the Internet is super easy for PSP games, and since they were free content anyway, I don’t think anyone at Capcom will get too mad. Heck, I’d gladly support a Switch rerelease of this game that contained it from the get-go.

I’ve earned the Run & Gun badge.

#3 Metroid Dread

Avoiding and running away from the EMMI was exhilarating. Oh so satisfying to finally take one out. The boss fights in general were great. I appreciated the old-school challenge of learning attack patterns and best ways to dodge attacks, as well as the counter system. The end boss in particular was a lot of fun.

The back tracking is really easy once you are fully equipped. I'd recommend playing through until closer to the end so you have most abilities and teleport paths and only have to backtrack through the stages once. Once I figured out the map squares flash where hidden walls are, I had to go for 100%. For $60, I'm getting every last drop of Metroid goodness out of it.

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It's always refreshing to see other people who enjoyed Metroid Dread as much as I did

Dread still calls my name and wants me to buy a

Slickriven wrote:

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I finally got a PS5 about a month ago. I've already played and beaten:

Astro's Playroom
Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart

Currently playing through Days Gone

Hope you enjoy it! I loved Days Gone.

bonham2 wrote:

So far, so good. I think I'm playing it super slow. I don't know how far I should be, but I'm doing every side mission and really taking my time playing it as much of a stealth game as I can. I'm only up to the 2nd town.

Ninja Jajamaru: Legend of the Golden Castle on Switch. Beat this in a few hours - it's basically a Zelda clone, and a pretty good one.

bonham2 wrote:

You're joining for the year? Cool! Please send me your system list and I'll get you registered.

Slickriven wrote:

It's great. And I'm someone who didn't beat the 3DS Samus Returns. It's really good.

OP updated! Better late than never.

I offer a warm welcome to @bonham2 for joining. I didn't think we'd get any more players, but I'm always happy to be wrong. Happy gaming!

I beat Viva Piñata Party Animals on the xbox360 (beating this and monopoly plus gets me the chance time! Badge)

I finished Link's Awakening on Switch. I loved it, but I hope I never see an orange/blue crystal switch again.

Game #6 - Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (PS4) ... with as much hate as Unity got, I was sure I'd like this one more ... but I actually preferred Unity. Syndicate was alright but there were numerous freezes and outright crashes which I never experienced with Unity.

Last week, for Frank's Game of the Month, I finished Cuphead for the Switch. Despite being ridiculously difficult, it's also incredibly well-crafted and addicting.

Number: 5
Full Title: Cuphead
Platform Played: Switch
Collection: N/A
Native Platform: Windows, Xbox One, Switch, PlayStation 4
Original Platforms: Windows, Xbox One
Applicable Badge: Grown-Ass Man (1/2)

I've spent nearly the entire month playing Final Fantasy VI, and I haven't reached the game's de facto halfway point. It's probably going to be a while before I move on from that, even with the Games of the Month about to rotate. I've switched to Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line on the mobile front. I have no idea when I'll be able to pick up Crisis Core again.

I've also added PSVR 2 to my platforms list.