What Games Are You Playing?

[D1tchd1gger]

random encounters

At least in the Remaster you can turn them off. Back in my day you just had to live with it.

IV and VI are the definite highlights

I vaguely remember finding out that this was the case. My first were VII and then IX. Can't remember why I didn't play VIII at the time. I got the platinum version, but never got that far into disc 2. I also got VI for the X demo, but only got to the big twist (I think it's halfway through) before getting frustrated at the lack of obvious way forward from there.
I've still got X and I have the PS4 version of XII (never finished it when I originally had it on physical, must have sold it). Finished XIII, but must have sold it that too. Never played either of the MMOs XI and XIV (although as it's still going strong, I might do one day). Played the XV demo, but the combat was too far away from the original games for it to feel like an FF game, so never bothered and probably won't with XVI just because I just don't game as much as I used to. Also got VII Remake off PS+, but haven't tried it yet.

I actually turned on my Vita to play remote whilst the marathon was on this morning and found I already had VI on it! So now I have it 3 times! Physical, PSOne Classic and Pixel Remaster. I also have IX 3 times too, again found the PSOne Classic on the Vita and have the remaster on PS4 and the original physical release:

 

[Dai]

Atelier Ryza 3
Ryza's trilogy finishes with another solid entry in the series. On top of revisiting the locations from Ryza 1, there are major new regions to explore too. This gives it the feeling of a globe-trotting adventure, even more so than the journey-focused plot of Atelier Firis. The story does a pretty good job of balancing the small-town alchemist elements with the usual defeat-the-ancient-evil endgame. The way that side-quests work has been revamped, so that you now run into them randomly while exploring rather than going to a noticeboard in town, which feels more organic.

The feeling of broader scope is helped along by Ryza 3's party trick: an open world map. It's interesting to see the familiar areas from the first game stitched together into a seamless whole. In practice though, a lot of the game doesn't feel as open as you might hope. The series is still dragging around the millstone of its Switch version, which is probably why most regions have modestly sized exploration zones connected by narrower corridor-like bits. I'm not certain if the Switch is to blame though, since the new Kark Islands location feels more open.

Combat builds on the previous Ryza games, and leans even more into its pseudo-real-time elements. Skills are now timing-based, and the timing can take some getting used to. It's a shame that I often felt the need to focus on the UI in the corner to see when I could add another attack to the combo, rather than watching all the flashy attack animations. It's a pretty good combat system, but I think I prefer the fully turn-based one in Sophie 2.

Plenty of familiar faces from the previous Ryza games make a return, along with some new characters. Kala is my favourite of the new ones; it's just a shame that she doesn't show up until halfway through the game. It's a hefty adventure though. The lack of an in-game clock has always bothered me in Gust titles, but now that the PS5 has implemented it at the system level I was surprised to see that Ryza 3 clocked in at over 80 hours for me (though I do spend a lot of time tinkering in the synthesis menu).

It's a fitting send-off for one of the most popular protagonists in the franchise. I still prefer Sophie 2 overall though.

 

[ActionFaust]

Arknights
Finally getting around to reading more Arknights as I'm seriously behind on a lot of stuff. The goal is to read most of them by the time Lone Trail hits the global server in about 6 months time. I'll be posting regular reviews whenever I finish reading an event and also going over past stories. Despite how much I love the game the sheer amount of story can be pretty daunting at times. I'll be starting these reviews with both a story collection and a side story.

It's Been A While
A recent collaboration event featuring characters from the Chinese animated series The Legend of Luo Xiaohei. While I'm not too familiar with the original work the characters' inclusion felt natural and had good interations with existing characters. Of the more familiar characters this story also features Penguin Logistics, Rockrock, Suzuran, Lee's Detective Agency and Closure's robots making for quite an interesting and diverse cast. The story itself was quite the fun little mystery with a nice mix of comedy and some reminders of Arknights' more serious themes. 7/10

Maria Nearl
Reread this as a reminder before I dive into the rest of the Kazimierz Major arc. As the first in what is basically Arknights' tournament arc this story focuses on the titular charater of Maria Nearl, younger sister of Margaret Nearl. With themes of capitalism, chivalry and conspiracy this story explores Maria's rise to fame in the Kazimierz Major and the forces working against her behind the scenes. Maria Nearl introduces many recurring characters shown throughout the trilogy, each describing the various sides of the country of Kazimierz. Old knights reminiscing the past, competing knights fighting for the future, assassins and businessmen maintaining the status quo. The tournament itself is great too with Maria facing off against a variety of rivals. A great introduction to one of Arknights' longer narratives outside of the Main Theme. 8/10

Spoiler: The journey so far

Side Story

• Maria Nearl 8/10

Story Collection

• It's Been A While 7/10

 

[NormanicGrav]

One common theme throughout April is Resident Evil! I went through three of the franchise's remakes and two spin-offs throughout the month - two were digital versions, whilst three are from the physical games backlog.

---

#5 - RESIDENT EVIL 4 (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: March 2023

Spoiler

Resident Evil 4 is the first game that I've finished in the franchise. It's a great blend of action and survival horror, and one that I was confident enough to proceed throughout the story without being a wimp. Despite being afraid of the franchise due to its gameplay, RE4 was a good starting point as the developers switched the stance from 'being selective with who you kill' to 'just murder every monster in your way' and in the end it's considered one of the best games ever made.

I've played the original multiple times at this point - first experience was on Nintendo Wii, then I bought the digital version for Xbox 360 which I finished for the first time, and then I bought the PlayStation 4 version which is the best console version to date thanks to its 60FPS gameplay. The PC version with mods is still considered the definitive experience, but I was more than happy with the PS4 release. But my experience playing the PS4 version was simply because of Capcom announcing plans to remake the original game.

I didn't think this game needed to be remade but after playing through this game on PlayStation 5 - my god, they did it, they actually made a really good remake, if not one of the best remakes out there. Capcom's remakes for Resident Evil is no stranger to the community - they did this with the original Resident Evil on Gamecube, which blew people's minds with its added survival horror, then we had Resident Evil 2 & 3 during the PS4/Xbox One generation, which was a suitable modern hybrid of the classic RE gameplay with modern controls and save system, and now Resident Evil 4, which is just the same as the original but with tons of improvements, tweaks and amendments for specific things for the modern audience.

As someone who played the original, this remake is not an exact copy of the original in terms of its level design. The three story arcs do remain as intended, but within each arc the design has been reimagined. You still have the iconic village sequence at the beginning as an example, but there's also new content spread out. For instance areas have either been expanded upon, flipped around, sometimes cut or trimmed down for good reason, and if its already good in the original then it's kept in tact. One of my favourite parts in the remake is the design of the Castle arc because it's like playing a classic game in mirror mode as it feels both familiar but also new which is both exciting and scary because you have no idea what's coming and new to experience.

Now it's not Resident Evil 4 without the Merchant so he's back and has some cool tweaks to the original setup. You still buy weapons and upgrade gear, and sell treasure, but you can now sell weapons and receive close to what you spent on it so that you can upgrade similar weapons without too much hassle, and there's also a trading option. Trade is based on the spinel that you earn from doing requests like shooting blue medallions, or killing a specific foe that is a slightly tougher version of a regular enemy. Trading these spinel can be used to redeem treasure maps, add-on gear and more.

Another big component to the game is Ashley, the girl that you have to protect from enemies. The remake switches things up in various ways, her character design and attitude has greatly been improved and she no longer has a health bar system but rather a simplistic way of knowing when she's in danger or not, and you can ask her to steer clear from you during combat or be close when trying to run away. You can still get her killed, whether by shooting her or an enemy does it, but it's not as bad as the original. One downside to this remake however is that there are very few hiding spots now so it's going to be a bit more challenging depending on the situation but I didn't have too much issue with this. Ashley's mini segment is also way better on the horror aspect which is really good.

In terms of other characters, Leon is more serious than campy and Luis has been revamped so he has more character and better interactions compared to the original, and the story in general is more consistent and rewarding whereas the original felt like separate components slapped together with some plot holes. The boss fights are also both familiar and new depending on the individual but other than the dodge prompt not always working and one new change to a boss fight that I felt was rather unfair, the rest of the experience has been very positive in general.

Another new change to the remake is the knife. Now the knife in the original was infinite and technically over-powering, so here in the remake there's now a durability meter. This isn't much of an issue as expected as you can still destroy boxes etc with a button prompt and the Merchant will let you fix the knife each time, plus it can be upgraded to stick around much longer. Also new to the remake is the knife's parry mechanic. This is really cool and adds more fun to the gameplay.

You can also use multiple weapons without having to switch back and forth through the suitcase inventory (which is back in its original glory) and receive gunpowder to craft new ammo of any kind, which was carried over from the Resident Evil 2 Remake. Quick time events have been removed so some sections had to be adjusted, like the boulder parts were removed and there's no shock death during cutscenes this time around.

The levels themselves feel more open-world so you can travel throughout the area without worrying too much about missing content, especially as the Merchant will warn you if you're going to reach that point. The shooting range from the Merchant also makes a return, and it's just as good as the original. Getting high scores will reward you with coins that you can use in a gacha machine that gives you add-on power to the suitcase, like extra ammo for a gun during crafting.

My playtime with Resident Evil 4 was about 17 hours in total with all of the collectibles picked up, all requests completed and got an S rank on each of the shooting mini-game rounds. I was playing the game on Standard difficulty, but much like the Resident Evil 2 & 3 remakes, you do have Hardcore difficulty that utilises ink ribbons which was not in the original.

Overall I think that Capcom did an amazing job with this remake, and while some parts I feel were a bit tedious the overall experience was fun, nostalgic and a solid entry in the franchise's remake line-up.

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#6 - RESIDENT EVIL 2 (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: November 2022 via PSN

Spoiler

Much like the Resident Evil Remake, I also have never played the original PS1 games in the franchise for the same reasons that I had never played the first game prior. But my interest in the remakes started to appear more because of the Resident Evil 4 remake announcement but I knew of the positive feedback that the remakes for Resident Evil 2 & 3 had received. Therefore I eventually downloaded both remakes from the PlayStation store when they were on offer.

Now I do prefer physical copies it's no secret about that, but Capcom only released the PlayStation 5 versions digital only and while you could use your PS4 disc to get free access, at the end of the day the next-gen version isn't on the disc. The PS5 versions offer 4K resolution, HDR, Raytracing and a High Frame Rate mode (which turns off RT), so I played Resident Evil 2 with HFR mode.

So what do I think of Resident Evil 2? I really enjoyed it. In fact one of the biggest surprises going in was that you can save as many times as you want without having to rely on Ink Ribbons compared to Resident Evil Remake. This is because Capcom saved Ink Ribbons for the Hardcore difficulty which is a very smart move because it allows both newcomers who prefer modern layouts and classic fans to get that original challenge with this remake. Now Resident Evil 2 isn't exactly a very long game, but to get the full complete experience you need to finish the game roughly four times; twice for each character but once in each path.

Resident Evil 2 is similar to Resident Evil where you have two characters to choose from, and each character has a similar structure but there's different character interactions throughout; for instance one person goes through an orphanage whilst another has an extra section over in the sewers. The two characters you choose from; Leon and Claire, don't have many differences in terms of gameplay - both can wield a variety of weapons, but Leon has the flamethrower, magnum and shotgun, whilst Claire has an electric gun, an additional pistol and a grenade launcher. I do prefer Leon's weapon selection in general because his shotgun is very good and the flamethrower is useful for the last half of the game.

The game is split into a few big sections with the first part acting just like the first Resident Evil's mansion so you have various rooms that are locked behind specific keys, items scattered throughout, lots of cool puzzles, and various types of enemies all over the place. One key point I want to mention is how you kill the zombies - in the first Resident Evil remake, you kill a zombie and they can come back as Crimson Heads, but that idea was kept exclusively for that game. So going into Resident Evil 2 you can shoot any zombie you want and they stay dead, but Capcom has also decided to utilise an adaptive difficulty feature so that zombies get more spongy as you avoid taking damage - which to me is the game's biggest flaw because it does make the game rather unfun as you progress throughout the game's playthrough. I do try to avoid zombies as much as possible, because ammo can still be finite throughout, but when you have zombies that should be dead but still aren't is more of a nuisance than an extra benefit to the horror.

Another big change to the game is the addition of Mr. X who returns from the classic Resident Evil 2 game. He's an immortal big dude who will haunt you down throughout the police station and he's certainly a threat because he does make the game much scarier due to his speed and attack damage. Now I have one issue with his moveset and that he always tends to stick around you whenever you go into a safe room that only has one exit, so it's not exactly fair when you need to progress. Now I did learn about how he's able to track you down and I really liked that concept - basically walking reduces the chances of him locating you, running will find you sooner, and shooting means he knows where you are, so you will need to be tactical on what you need to do and where you want to go.

If you're not a fan of Mr. X, the good news is that he's basically scripted so he won't spawn until a specific point in the character's 1st run and 2nd run (during your 2nd run, you want to avoid going through a hallway that has the S.T.A.R.S. door because that's where he starts spawning early, but he goes away once you go down an elevator underneath the statue puzzle) and he doesn't appear often after that so you can go through the areas after the station at ease.

Despite those issues, Resident Evil 2 is a great modern take on the classic formula. Combat feels smooth and you can get add-ons to make those weapons even better, searching for items and getting that section highlighted to be 100% searched is rewarding, and the puzzles were pretty fun - like the three statues, using a camera room to find two hidden draws, the chess pieces, mixing the chemicals and using a wave device to get the right wavelength. The design of the police station is also really cool, especially when you factor in the fact that some sections are exclusive to a character because of the keys you find throughout, for instance Leon can access a handle that lets him open up an area that's near the burning helicopter, while Claire can access an office that has another safe zone around the higher floors of the east area. The sewer section I knew had some complaints in the original, but the remake was overall fine with the only issue being those large monsters that are annoying but apparently a flamethrower takes them out which I didn't realise until I finished my fourth playthrough. The lab section was also pretty cool and the final acts were great, with one of them tied to the 2nd run route.

Overall I had a great time playing Resident Evil 2 Remake. I finished both runs for Leon and Claire for a total of 5 hours, 4 hours, 4 hours and 3.5 hours to finish their respective playthroughs. Surprisingly I managed to get pretty much all of the trophies related to the main game's contents outside of the 'complete x doing y'. I played all four runs on Standard difficulty so I can go through the game at ease.

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#7 - RESIDENT EVIL 3 (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: November 2022 via PSN

Spoiler

So not long after playing the remake of Resident Evil 2, I decided to jump straight into the remake of Resident Evil 3. Now I didn't play it immediately as I had to do some work-related stuff but I started as soon as I was free.

Resident Evil 3 for the original is one that a lot of people either love or hate due to its more actiony approach and Nemesis as a menacing stalking enemy throughout. I was intrigued but I didn't know much of the game in terms of its structure and storyline other than Jill is back and Carlos is there to assist in the escape of Raccoon City. The remake is interesting, because not only did it get released a year after the Resident Evil 2 remake, but it was also polarized for cutting out content and altering how Nemesis is handled throughout.

As someone who hasn't played the original and finished the remake, you can tell this game feels rushed. The ideas also feel incomplete, as you start off with an interesting introduction to Jill and Nemesis which follows up with a mini open world area of the city where you try to survive, get the right items to progress and Nemesis will occasionally appear to make your life a nightmare. However, Nemesis is nothing like Mr X in terms of the remakes, he's actually scripted so he only appears in specific sections and once you escape the city portion of the game, it's constantly linear from there on going from the sewers to the hospital.

Now saying that, what the remake does right is with its presentation and characters. The presentation of Resident Evil 2 was very good, but Resident Evil 3 takes that and improves upon it so the characters look really good and Nemesis looks pretty good going from PS1 graphics to PS4/PS5. The voice acting and character development for both Jill and Carlos are very strong and I like their portrayal in this game. Other side characters were also handled pretty well. The gameplay is slightly different to Resident Evil 2, with the knife no longer has a durability effect and you can now parry when timed correctly which works pretty well, however the quick-time event moments when you get grabbed were not that great as you always take damage even if you hit the button prompts fast enough.

Like the original, Resident Evil 3 does not have separate playthroughs for each character. Its one single playthrough where you switch back and forth between Jill and Carlos depending on the story, and honestly it works fine in general. The real issue is that because the game is so fast-paced it does feel like there's not enough room for Carlos to shine right. Now Carlos does have more space with the hospital stuff but that area is decent but nowhere near the interesting aspects of the city section from earlier on with Jill. Now I know the original also has some branching path choices, like whether to fight Nemesis or run away, but this remake removes that part so it's just one ending in general.

Upon finishing Resident Evil 3 remake, I felt like I had a pretty enjoyable time with what was on offer and it was good to see a version of the events of this game in terms of its story. But I do agree with the fans of the original game that they should have made the game longer by keeping the areas that were removed and make Nemesis more menacing like how Capcom handled Mr X going from classic to remake for Resident Evil 2. The playtime was about 4-6 hours in total on Normal mode. Overall Resident Evil 3 remake is not a bad game by all means, but not on the same level as the remakes for Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2 & Resident Evil 4.

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#8 - Resident Evil Revelations (PlayStation 4)
Acquired: July 2022

Spoiler

With the remakes done I decided to keep the Resident Evil mood going and check out the spin-off game Resident Evil Revelations. Originally released on the Nintendo 3DS, Capcom did eventually release a HD remaster for modern consoles starting with the PS3 & Xbox 360 before being ported over to PlayStation 4. I do remember playing the demo for the 3DS game but the PS4 version is the first time that I'm properly playing it.

What I liked about Revelations is how it introduces itself. It gives you a pretty big backstory about a disaster in a city and how Chris & Jill's investigations led them to a ship, and I think Capcom handled this pretty well. I also enjoyed the BSAA side of things as it gave me a PS2 nostalgic feel with its dialogue and story beats. The new characters that join Chris & Jill were also developed fairly well and you even play as some of them for a short period of time. The villain had a decent motivation but it felt it didn't exactly hit the landing that it wanted and the final boss was annoying, but overall for a spin-off I found that it worked as a whole.

The gameplay is an interesting one, because it's not exactly the same as the mainline games in terms of combat. You are able to walk around and shoot as normal, and you collect items to progress etc, but the quick swap for the weapons is rather sluggish and the fact that your ammo can't transfer from one assault rifle to another is really frustrating, especially as you'll end up being forced to use that weapon and accidently place the ammo on that weapon when you want to use the more powerful gun in the heat of the moment. Also introduced is a side weapon that lets you spot shiny objects throughout the game, and it works due to the game's level design but when it's an open space it can get a bit overkill and ruin the pacing. There's a puzzle involving moving some wires around which I found rather amusing, and with the side weapon you can scan enemies which rewards you with an extra health item.

Speaking of the enemies, Resident Evil Revelations has a new type of virus and it works pretty well. Rather than zombies or earth type monsters, we have water or sea type monsters instead which works with the game's setting, but some enemies are insta-kill and they are rather annoying to deal with. The level design is also pretty cool as it brings back the classic Resident Evil mansion feeling as you'll backtrack to specific areas using different keys and the map system does the job fairly well but it wish it was more in-depth like identifying if a room's been cleared of items or not.

The game is also presented like you're watching a series as there's 12 episodes in total. Each episode is basically like how Resident Evil 4 and 5 were structured but it works and there's even recaps along the way.

Overall I had a pretty enjoyable time playing Resident Evil Revelations. It's like playing a retro Resident Evil game and while the combat is a bit rough the story and characters were interesting enough and graphic wise was decent considering it started off on a portable device. Playtime was about 5-6 hours in total so it's short but rewarding.

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#9 - Resident Evil Revelations 2 (PlayStation 4)
Acquired: July 2022

Spoiler

So after playing the first game, I decided to immediately jump straight into the second game which was released episodically across four parts during its run. Resident Evil Revelations 2 is a completely different type of game to its predecessor whilst still keeping hold of some elements sprinkled throughout.

The game keeps the episodic type approach with its story chapters, using an ability of sorts to locate shiny items throughout the levels and also maintaining specific story beats that aren't related to the mainline games. While Revelations had that nice combination of classic Resident Evil mansion unlocking design with some modern controls, Revelations 2 goes into a different direction with co-operative gameplay, a very specific type of horror that feels like grindhouse at parts, and two different character campaign perspectives to make it feel familiar.

Revelations 2 also feels like a low budget game, with its graphics rather weak, the story dialogue is a bit **** in places and the combat is quite sluggish especially when you're playing in single player. Revelations also had gameplay issues but you could let it off as it was originally designed for the Nintendo 3DS, whereas Revelations 2 was released on consoles digitally throughout. The first episode had some cool ideas but it gave that rather underwhelming and disappointing feeling to which you could just give up playing due to what it was trying to offer. Whilst the game is trying to deliver on horror, at the end of the day it's still an action shooter at heart so when you barely have any ammo around or have to rely on a secondary character to focus solely on using a flashlight to find any it's rather tedious and breaks the pace of the game. That said, once I started Barry's route it had a different change of pace in terms of gameplay as it leans more towards stealth at times but had a good balance as you move forward.

Another issue I have with Revelations 2 is the general structure of the game. While it's four episodes in total, the game basically makes you replay the areas twice, once under Claire and then another under Barry but with a different order of sorts. Now the story is why it's like this, but it also gives away that repetitive feel and a clear sign of 'lack of budget' when it comes to switching things up more. That said, the storyline and enemies are different between the two routes.

Despite all of my criticisms, I do think the latter episodes try to switch up the formula and there's some positivity throughout all of this. I felt Episode 3 is where the developers found that spark with what they were building, as it had a fun mixture of puzzles and action as well as some pretty good variety of enemies. What I also enjoyed was how one action you take in one route actually adds rewards for the other route, for example you open a door in Claire's route and while it's empty from her perspective it actually gives you an extra weapon for Barry's route. I also want to mention that Barry's route has a character called Natalia who has an ability to see enemies which is a pretty cool and handy feature to have and it supports Barry's stealth sections a lot. Moira in Claire's route has a crowbar but her character's sole purpose is just searching for items with a flashlight which is only useful for trying to fill up your inventory. Both Natalia and Moira have the ability to open up specific crates which is a puzzle in itself but I actually didn't mind it.

The inventory setup is similar to Revelations as you can wield a few weapons and have to swap them around during specific spots throughout the game. Each weapon can also use an upgrade slot and you can combine items together to create a throwable weapon like a flame bomb, smokescreen, and decoy or for health support like clearing your screen from infection or getting extra herbs. The game does make you run out of ammo a fair bit and there's no support for swapping the ammo from one type of pistol to another, an issue that I also had with Revelations.

When you finish an episode or check the settings in the pause menu, you can use the points that you've earned to unlock skills to support your gameplay. This ranges from better speed of using knives, more range for evasion, more range to spot enemies, your secondary character actually hitting someone (which is also stupid to lock behind) and more.

Now the villain of the game is an interesting choice. They make it sound like it's a big deal because of their relations with the mainline games, but when the mainline games don't even reference you at all it feels rather shoe-horned in as a result. I do think they had a decent motivation for what they were doing (and I guess you could take the relationship between them and one of the main characters as something akin to Snow White with how things play out), and there was a good added amount of mystery as you play through both routes along the way.

One more point I want to make about Revelations 2 is that it brings back the choice decision from the classic Resident Evil games. Now I mentioned that one action from Claire's route can support Barry's route, but there's also one decision that can affect the game's ending. There's a Good Ending and Bad Ending, which on paper sounds like a cool idea, but the execution is rather poor because you have to replay Episode 3's fairly long segment and then replay Episode 4's also fairly long segment just to see the result which took me about 2.5 hours to go back and sort out which was rather annoying. Not to mention there's not much reward for doing so either, especially as the trophies don't have one dedicated to the ending choice which is rather bizarre for a trophy list (even Resident Evil Remake had trophies for different decisions).

Overall I do commend Resident Evil Revelations 2 for trying to provide an interesting horror experience, but its budget clearly got in the way as the graphics, gameplay and structure is very unpolished. I do think that if you have someone to play with, the co-op experience will probably be much better going into this game than the single player route that I went with. That said the story in general I thought was fine and honestly wish it was adapted as a CG anime (like Capcom has done with Damnation, Vendetta, Infinite Darkness etc.) rather than a video game. Playtime was about 8 hours taking it slow on Normal and an extra 2.5 hours to get the other ending of the game.

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My backlog so far:

Spoiler

#​	PC/Steam Backlog - Game Name:​	Genre:
1​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky	Turn-Based RPG
2​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC	Turn-Based RPG

#​	PlayStation 3 Backlog - Game Name:​	Genre:
1​	3D Dot Game Heroes	Action RPG
2​	Castlevania: Lords of Shadow	Action, Hack n Slash
3​	Catherine	Puzzle
4​	Drakengard 3	Action RPG
5​	Eternal Sonata	Turn-Based RPG
6​	Folklore	Action RPG
7​	inFAMOUS	Action
8​	inFAMOUS 2	Action
9​	Katamari Forever	Puzzle
10​	Prince of Persia	Action, Platformer
11​	Puppeteer	Platformer
12​	SEGA Rally	Racing
13​	Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time	Action, Platformer
14​	Split/Second: Velocity	Racing
15​	Tears to Tiara II: Heir of the Overlord	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
16​	Way of the Samurai 4	Action

#​	PlayStation 4 Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
2​	AI: The Somnium Files	Adventure, Visual Novel
3​	Black Clover: Quartet Knights	Action, Fighting
4​	Bullet Girls Phantasia	Action, Shooter
5​	The Caligula Effect: Overdose	Turn-Based RPG
6​	Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions	Sports
7​	Catherine Full Body	Puzzle
8​	Chaos;Child	Visual Novel
9​	Conception Plus: Maidens of the Twelve Stars	Turn-Based RPG
10​	CRYSTAR	Action RPG
11​	Cyberdimension Neptunia: Four Goddesses Online	Action RPG
12​	Danganronpa 1 Reload	Visual Novel
13​	Danganronpa 2 Reload	Visual Novel
14​	Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls	Action, Shooter
15​	Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony	Visual Novel
16​	Date A Live: Rio-Reincarnation - 1: Rinne Utopia	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
17​	Date A Live: Rio-Reincarnation - 2: Ars Install	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
18​	Date A Live: Rio-Reincarnation - 3: Twin Edition: Rio Reincarnation	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
19​	Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory	Turn-Based RPG
20​	Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories	Adventure, Simulation
21​	Dragon Quest Heroes II	Action RPG, Musou
22​	Dragon's Crown Pro	Action RPG
23​	Fairy Tail	Turn-Based RPG
24​	Fate/Extella Link	Musou
25​	Final Fantasy VIII Remastered	Turn-Based RPG
26​	Full Metal Panic! Fight! Who Dares Win	Tactical RPG
27​	Gal*Gun 2	On-Rails Shooter
28​	Gintama Rumble	Action, Musou
29​	GOD EATER 3	Action Hunter RPG
30​	Gravity Rush 2	Action, Platformer
31​	The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures	Visual Novel
32​	The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve	Visual Novel
33​	Gundam Breaker 3 BREAK EDITION	Action, Arcade
34​	Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Infinite Combate	Action RPG
35​	JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven	Fighting
36​	Kotodama: The 7 Mysteries of Fujisawa	Puzzle, Visual Novel
37​	Langrisser	Tactical RPG
38​	Langrisser II	Tactical RPG
39​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel	Turn-Based RPG
40​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II	Turn-Based RPG
41​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III	Turn-Based RPG
42​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV	Turn-Based RPG
43​	Legend of Mana	Action RPG
44​	Megadimension Neptunia VII	Turn-Based RPG
45​	Megadimension Neptunia VIIR	Turn-Based RPG
46​	MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA	Fighting
47​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm	Action, Fighting
48​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2	Action, Fighting
49​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3	Action, Fighting
50​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4: Road to Boruto	Action, Fighting
51​	NEO: The World Ends With You	Action RPG
52​	Neptunia Virtual Stars	Action
53​	Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars	Action
54​	Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered	Turn-Based RPG
55​	Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom	Action RPG
56​	Nights of Azure	Action RPG
57​	Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon	Action RPG
58​	One Piece Burning Blood	Fighting
59​	One Piece Unlimited World Red	Action
60​	One Piece World Seeker	Action
61​	One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3	Musou
62​	One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4	Musou
63​	Our World Is Ended	Visual Novel
64​	Persona 5 Royal	Turn-Based RPG
65​	Persona 5 Strikers	Action RPG, Musou
66​	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney	Visual Novel
67​	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All	Visual Novel
68​	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations	Visual Novel
69​	Punch Line	Visual Novel
70​	Raging Loop	Visual Novel
71​	Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-: Prophecy of the Throne	Visual Novel
72​	Resident Evil 6	Action Horror
73​	Robotics;Notes DaSH	Visual Novel
74​	Robotics;Notes ELITE	Visual Novel
75​	SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays	Tactical RPG
76​	SD Gundam G Generation Genesis	Tactical RPG
77​	Secret of Mana	Action RPG
78​	Sengoku Basara 4: Sumeragi	Musou
79​	Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal	Action
80​	Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster	Turn-Based RPG
81​	Star Ocean: First Departure R	Action RPG
82​	Star Ocean: The Last Hope HD Remaster	Action RPG
83​	Steins;Gate Elite	Visual Novel
84​	Super Neptunia RPG	Turn-Based RPG
85​	Super Robot Wars 30	Tactical RPG
86​	Super Robot Wars OG: The Moon Dwellers	Tactical RPG
87​	Super Robot Wars T	Tactical RPG
88​	Super Robot Wars X	Tactical RPG
89​	Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet	Action RPG
90​	Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Sessions!	Music, Rhythm
91​	Tales of Berseria	Action RPG
92​	Tales of Vesperia	Action RPG
93​	Tokyo Xanadu eX+	Action RPG
94​	Trials of Mana	Action RPG
95​	Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
96​	Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
97​	Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
98​	Utawarerumono: Zan	Action, Musou
99​	Valkyria Chronicles 4	Tactical RPG
100​	Valkyria Revolution	Action RPG
101​	The Witch and the Hundred Knight Revival Edition	Action RPG
102​	WORLDEND SYNDROME	Visual Novel
103​	Yakuza 3 Remastered	Action Beat em up
104​	Yakuza 4 Remastered	Action Beat em up
105​	Yakuza 5 Remastered	Action Beat em up
106​	YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World	Visual Novel
107​	Ys IX: Monstrum Nox	Action RPG

#​	PlayStation 5 Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII -Reunion-	Action RPG
2​	Cyberpunk 2077	Action
3​	The DioField Chronicle	Tactical RPG
4​	DOOM Eternal	Action, Shooter
5​	Judgment	Action, Beat em up
6​	Lost Judgment	Action, Beat em up
7​	Mobile Suit Gundam BATTLE OPERATION Code Fairy	Action
8​	Neptunia ReVerse	Turn-Based RPG
9​	Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters	Action RPG
10​	Nioh 2	Action Souls RPG
11​	Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit of Wonder Labyrinth	Metroidvania RPG
12​	Relayer	Tactical RPG
13​	SD Gundam Battle Alliance	Action RPG
14​	Star Ocean: The Divine Force	Action RPG
15​	Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin	Action Souls RPG
16​	Tactics Ogre Reborn	Tactical RPG
17​	Valkyrie Elysium	Action RPG
18​	Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon	Turn-Based RPG
19​	Yurukill: The Calumniation Games	Shoot em up, Visual Novel

#​	PlayStation Vita Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Bullet Girls	Action, Shooter
2​	Freedom Wars	Action
3​	Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart	Tactical RPG
4​	Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed	Action
5​	MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies	Action, Musou
6​	Muv-Luv	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
7​	Muv-Luv Alternative	Visual Novel
8​	Superdimension Neptune vs SEGA Hard Girls	Turn-Based RPG
9​	Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni	Action

#​	Nintendo Switch Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Cytus Alpha	Music, Rhythm
2​	Fire Emblem: Three Houses	Tactical RPG
3​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero	Turn-Based RPG
4​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure	Turn-Based RPG
5​	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild	Action RPG
6​	Mario Kart 8 Deluxe	Racing
7​	Metroid Dread	Metroidvania
8​	Metroid Prime Remastered	Action, Shooter
9​	MUSYNX	Music, Rhythm
10​	New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe	Platformer
11​	Senran Kagura Peach Ball	Pinball
12​	Senran Kagura Reflexions	Simulation
13​	Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury	Action, Platformer
14​	Super Mario Galaxy	Action, Platformer
15​	Super Mario Sunshine	Action, Platformer
16​	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate	Fighting
17​	Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition	Action RPG
18​	Xenoblade Chronicles 2	Action RPG
19​	Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country	Action RPG

The 2023 '40' Games Goal:

Spoiler

No.	Game	Console​	Acquired​	Genre
1​	Shining Resonance Refrain	PS4​	2018​	Action RPG
2​	Wing of Darkness	PS4​	2022​	Action, Arcade
3​	Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania	PS4​	2022​	Puzzle
4​	Tales of Zestiria	PS4​	2018​	Action RPG
5​	RESIDENT EVIL 4	PS5​	2023​	Action, Survival Horror
6​	RESIDENT EVIL 2	PS5​	2022​	Action, Survival Horror
7​	RESIDENT EVIL 3	PS5​	2022​	Action, Survival Horror
8​	Resident Evil Revelations	PS4​	2022​	Action, Survival Horror
9​	Resident Evil Revelations 2	PS4​	2022​	Action, Survival Horror

 

[Dai]

One common theme throughout April is Resident Evil! I went through three of the franchise's remakes and two spin-offs throughout the month - two were digital versions, whilst three are from the physical games backlog.

---

#5 - RESIDENT EVIL 4 (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: March 2023

Spoiler

Resident Evil 4 is the first game that I've finished in the franchise. It's a great blend of action and survival horror, and one that I was confident enough to proceed throughout the story without being a wimp. Despite being afraid of the franchise due to its gameplay, RE4 was a good starting point as the developers switched the stance from 'being selective with who you kill' to 'just murder every monster in your way' and in the end it's considered one of the best games ever made.

I've played the original multiple times at this point - first experience was on Nintendo Wii, then I bought the digital version for Xbox 360 which I finished for the first time, and then I bought the PlayStation 4 version which is the best console version to date thanks to its 60FPS gameplay. The PC version with mods is still considered the definitive experience, but I was more than happy with the PS4 release. But my experience playing the PS4 version was simply because of Capcom announcing plans to remake the original game.

I didn't think this game needed to be remade but after playing through this game on PlayStation 5 - my god, they did it, they actually made a really good remake, if not one of the best remakes out there. Capcom's remakes for Resident Evil is no stranger to the community - they did this with the original Resident Evil on Gamecube, which blew people's minds with its added survival horror, then we had Resident Evil 2 & 3 during the PS4/Xbox One generation, which was a suitable modern hybrid of the classic RE gameplay with modern controls and save system, and now Resident Evil 4, which is just the same as the original but with tons of improvements, tweaks and amendments for specific things for the modern audience.

As someone who played the original, this remake is not an exact copy of the original in terms of its level design. The three story arcs do remain as intended, but within each arc the design has been reimagined. You still have the iconic village sequence at the beginning as an example, but there's also new content spread out. For instance areas have either been expanded upon, flipped around, sometimes cut or trimmed down for good reason, and if its already good in the original then it's kept in tact. One of my favourite parts in the remake is the design of the Castle arc because it's like playing a classic game in mirror mode as it feels both familiar but also new which is both exciting and scary because you have no idea what's coming and new to experience.

Now it's not Resident Evil 4 without the Merchant so he's back and has some cool tweaks to the original setup. You still buy weapons and upgrade gear, and sell treasure, but you can now sell weapons and receive close to what you spent on it so that you can upgrade similar weapons without too much hassle, and there's also a trading option. Trade is based on the spinel that you earn from doing requests like shooting blue medallions, or killing a specific foe that is a slightly tougher version of a regular enemy. Trading these spinel can be used to redeem treasure maps, add-on gear and more.

Another big component to the game is Ashley, the girl that you have to protect from enemies. The remake switches things up in various ways, her character design and attitude has greatly been improved and she no longer has a health bar system but rather a simplistic way of knowing when she's in danger or not, and you can ask her to steer clear from you during combat or be close when trying to run away. You can still get her killed, whether by shooting her or an enemy does it, but it's not as bad as the original. One downside to this remake however is that there are very few hiding spots now so it's going to be a bit more challenging depending on the situation but I didn't have too much issue with this. Ashley's mini segment is also way better on the horror aspect which is really good.

In terms of other characters, Leon is more serious than campy and Luis has been revamped so he has more character and better interactions compared to the original, and the story in general is more consistent and rewarding whereas the original felt like separate components slapped together with some plot holes. The boss fights are also both familiar and new depending on the individual but other than the dodge prompt not always working and one new change to a boss fight that I felt was rather unfair, the rest of the experience has been very positive in general.

Another new change to the remake is the knife. Now the knife in the original was infinite and technically over-powering, so here in the remake there's now a durability meter. This isn't much of an issue as expected as you can still destroy boxes etc with a button prompt and the Merchant will let you fix the knife each time, plus it can be upgraded to stick around much longer. Also new to the remake is the knife's parry mechanic. This is really cool and adds more fun to the gameplay.

You can also use multiple weapons without having to switch back and forth through the suitcase inventory (which is back in its original glory) and receive gunpowder to craft new ammo of any kind, which was carried over from the Resident Evil 2 Remake. Quick time events have been removed so some sections had to be adjusted, like the boulder parts were removed and there's no shock death during cutscenes this time around.

The levels themselves feel more open-world so you can travel throughout the area without worrying too much about missing content, especially as the Merchant will warn you if you're going to reach that point. The shooting range from the Merchant also makes a return, and it's just as good as the original. Getting high scores will reward you with coins that you can use in a gacha machine that gives you add-on power to the suitcase, like extra ammo for a gun during crafting.

My playtime with Resident Evil 4 was about 17 hours in total with all of the collectibles picked up, all requests completed and got an S rank on each of the shooting mini-game rounds. I was playing the game on Standard difficulty, but much like the Resident Evil 2 & 3 remakes, you do have Hardcore difficulty that utilises ink ribbons which was not in the original.

Overall I think that Capcom did an amazing job with this remake, and while some parts I feel were a bit tedious the overall experience was fun, nostalgic and a solid entry in the franchise's remake line-up.

---

#6 - RESIDENT EVIL 2 (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: November 2022 via PSN

Spoiler

Much like the Resident Evil Remake, I also have never played the original PS1 games in the franchise for the same reasons that I had never played the first game prior. But my interest in the remakes started to appear more because of the Resident Evil 4 remake announcement but I knew of the positive feedback that the remakes for Resident Evil 2 & 3 had received. Therefore I eventually downloaded both remakes from the PlayStation store when they were on offer.

Now I do prefer physical copies it's no secret about that, but Capcom only released the PlayStation 5 versions digital only and while you could use your PS4 disc to get free access, at the end of the day the next-gen version isn't on the disc. The PS5 versions offer 4K resolution, HDR, Raytracing and a High Frame Rate mode (which turns off RT), so I played Resident Evil 2 with HFR mode.

So what do I think of Resident Evil 2? I really enjoyed it. In fact one of the biggest surprises going in was that you can save as many times as you want without having to rely on Ink Ribbons compared to Resident Evil Remake. This is because Capcom saved Ink Ribbons for the Hardcore difficulty which is a very smart move because it allows both newcomers who prefer modern layouts and classic fans to get that original challenge with this remake. Now Resident Evil 2 isn't exactly a very long game, but to get the full complete experience you need to finish the game roughly four times; twice for each character but once in each path.

Resident Evil 2 is similar to Resident Evil where you have two characters to choose from, and each character has a similar structure but there's different character interactions throughout; for instance one person goes through an orphanage whilst another has an extra section over in the sewers. The two characters you choose from; Leon and Claire, don't have many differences in terms of gameplay - both can wield a variety of weapons, but Leon has the flamethrower, magnum and shotgun, whilst Claire has an electric gun, an additional pistol and a grenade launcher. I do prefer Leon's weapon selection in general because his shotgun is very good and the flamethrower is useful for the last half of the game.

The game is split into a few big sections with the first part acting just like the first Resident Evil's mansion so you have various rooms that are locked behind specific keys, items scattered throughout, lots of cool puzzles, and various types of enemies all over the place. One key point I want to mention is how you kill the zombies - in the first Resident Evil remake, you kill a zombie and they can come back as Crimson Heads, but that idea was kept exclusively for that game. So going into Resident Evil 2 you can shoot any zombie you want and they stay dead, but Capcom has also decided to utilise an adaptive difficulty feature so that zombies get more spongy as you avoid taking damage - which to me is the game's biggest flaw because it does make the game rather unfun as you progress throughout the game's playthrough. I do try to avoid zombies as much as possible, because ammo can still be finite throughout, but when you have zombies that should be dead but still aren't is more of a nuisance than an extra benefit to the horror.

Another big change to the game is the addition of Mr. X who returns from the classic Resident Evil 2 game. He's an immortal big dude who will haunt you down throughout the police station and he's certainly a threat because he does make the game much scarier due to his speed and attack damage. Now I have one issue with his moveset and that he always tends to stick around you whenever you go into a safe room that only has one exit, so it's not exactly fair when you need to progress. Now I did learn about how he's able to track you down and I really liked that concept - basically walking reduces the chances of him locating you, running will find you sooner, and shooting means he knows where you are, so you will need to be tactical on what you need to do and where you want to go.

If you're not a fan of Mr. X, the good news is that he's basically scripted so he won't spawn until a specific point in the character's 1st run and 2nd run (during your 2nd run, you want to avoid going through a hallway that has the S.T.A.R.S. door because that's where he starts spawning early, but he goes away once you go down an elevator underneath the statue puzzle) and he doesn't appear often after that so you can go through the areas after the station at ease.

Despite those issues, Resident Evil 2 is a great modern take on the classic formula. Combat feels smooth and you can get add-ons to make those weapons even better, searching for items and getting that section highlighted to be 100% searched is rewarding, and the puzzles were pretty fun - like the three statues, using a camera room to find two hidden draws, the chess pieces, mixing the chemicals and using a wave device to get the right wavelength. The design of the police station is also really cool, especially when you factor in the fact that some sections are exclusive to a character because of the keys you find throughout, for instance Leon can access a handle that lets him open up an area that's near the burning helicopter, while Claire can access an office that has another safe zone around the higher floors of the east area. The sewer section I knew had some complaints in the original, but the remake was overall fine with the only issue being those large monsters that are annoying but apparently a flamethrower takes them out which I didn't realise until I finished my fourth playthrough. The lab section was also pretty cool and the final acts were great, with one of them tied to the 2nd run route.

Overall I had a great time playing Resident Evil 2 Remake. I finished both runs for Leon and Claire for a total of 5 hours, 4 hours, 4 hours and 3.5 hours to finish their respective playthroughs. Surprisingly I managed to get pretty much all of the trophies related to the main game's contents outside of the 'complete x doing y'. I played all four runs on Standard difficulty so I can go through the game at ease.

---

#7 - RESIDENT EVIL 3 (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: November 2022 via PSN

Spoiler

So not long after playing the remake of Resident Evil 2, I decided to jump straight into the remake of Resident Evil 3. Now I didn't play it immediately as I had to do some work-related stuff but I started as soon as I was free.

Resident Evil 3 for the original is one that a lot of people either love or hate due to its more actiony approach and Nemesis as a menacing stalking enemy throughout. I was intrigued but I didn't know much of the game in terms of its structure and storyline other than Jill is back and Carlos is there to assist in the escape of Raccoon City. The remake is interesting, because not only did it get released a year after the Resident Evil 2 remake, but it was also polarized for cutting out content and altering how Nemesis is handled throughout.

As someone who hasn't played the original and finished the remake, you can tell this game feels rushed. The ideas also feel incomplete, as you start off with an interesting introduction to Jill and Nemesis which follows up with a mini open world area of the city where you try to survive, get the right items to progress and Nemesis will occasionally appear to make your life a nightmare. However, Nemesis is nothing like Mr X in terms of the remakes, he's actually scripted so he only appears in specific sections and once you escape the city portion of the game, it's constantly linear from there on going from the sewers to the hospital.

Now saying that, what the remake does right is with its presentation and characters. The presentation of Resident Evil 2 was very good, but Resident Evil 3 takes that and improves upon it so the characters look really good and Nemesis looks pretty good going from PS1 graphics to PS4/PS5. The voice acting and character development for both Jill and Carlos are very strong and I like their portrayal in this game. Other side characters were also handled pretty well. The gameplay is slightly different to Resident Evil 2, with the knife no longer has a durability effect and you can now parry when timed correctly which works pretty well, however the quick-time event moments when you get grabbed were not that great as you always take damage even if you hit the button prompts fast enough.

Like the original, Resident Evil 3 does not have separate playthroughs for each character. Its one single playthrough where you switch back and forth between Jill and Carlos depending on the story, and honestly it works fine in general. The real issue is that because the game is so fast-paced it does feel like there's not enough room for Carlos to shine right. Now Carlos does have more space with the hospital stuff but that area is decent but nowhere near the interesting aspects of the city section from earlier on with Jill. Now I know the original also has some branching path choices, like whether to fight Nemesis or run away, but this remake removes that part so it's just one ending in general.

Upon finishing Resident Evil 3 remake, I felt like I had a pretty enjoyable time with what was on offer and it was good to see a version of the events of this game in terms of its story. But I do agree with the fans of the original game that they should have made the game longer by keeping the areas that were removed and make Nemesis more menacing like how Capcom handled Mr X going from classic to remake for Resident Evil 2. The playtime was about 4-6 hours in total on Normal mode. Overall Resident Evil 3 remake is not a bad game by all means, but not on the same level as the remakes for Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2 & Resident Evil 4.

---

#8 - Resident Evil Revelations (PlayStation 4)
Acquired: July 2022

Spoiler

With the remakes done I decided to keep the Resident Evil mood going and check out the spin-off game Resident Evil Revelations. Originally released on the Nintendo 3DS, Capcom did eventually release a HD remaster for modern consoles starting with the PS3 & Xbox 360 before being ported over to PlayStation 4. I do remember playing the demo for the 3DS game but the PS4 version is the first time that I'm properly playing it.

What I liked about Revelations is how it introduces itself. It gives you a pretty big backstory about a disaster in a city and how Chris & Jill's investigations led them to a ship, and I think Capcom handled this pretty well. I also enjoyed the BSAA side of things as it gave me a PS2 nostalgic feel with its dialogue and story beats. The new characters that join Chris & Jill were also developed fairly well and you even play as some of them for a short period of time. The villain had a decent motivation but it felt it didn't exactly hit the landing that it wanted and the final boss was annoying, but overall for a spin-off I found that it worked as a whole.

The gameplay is an interesting one, because it's not exactly the same as the mainline games in terms of combat. You are able to walk around and shoot as normal, and you collect items to progress etc, but the quick swap for the weapons is rather sluggish and the fact that your ammo can't transfer from one assault rifle to another is really frustrating, especially as you'll end up being forced to use that weapon and accidently place the ammo on that weapon when you want to use the more powerful gun in the heat of the moment. Also introduced is a side weapon that lets you spot shiny objects throughout the game, and it works due to the game's level design but when it's an open space it can get a bit overkill and ruin the pacing. There's a puzzle involving moving some wires around which I found rather amusing, and with the side weapon you can scan enemies which rewards you with an extra health item.

Speaking of the enemies, Resident Evil Revelations has a new type of virus and it works pretty well. Rather than zombies or earth type monsters, we have water or sea type monsters instead which works with the game's setting, but some enemies are insta-kill and they are rather annoying to deal with. The level design is also pretty cool as it brings back the classic Resident Evil mansion feeling as you'll backtrack to specific areas using different keys and the map system does the job fairly well but it wish it was more in-depth like identifying if a room's been cleared of items or not.

The game is also presented like you're watching a series as there's 12 episodes in total. Each episode is basically like how Resident Evil 4 and 5 were structured but it works and there's even recaps along the way.

Overall I had a pretty enjoyable time playing Resident Evil Revelations. It's like playing a retro Resident Evil game and while the combat is a bit rough the story and characters were interesting enough and graphic wise was decent considering it started off on a portable device. Playtime was about 5-6 hours in total so it's short but rewarding.

---

#9 - Resident Evil Revelations 2 (PlayStation 4)
Acquired: July 2022

Spoiler

So after playing the first game, I decided to immediately jump straight into the second game which was released episodically across four parts during its run. Resident Evil Revelations 2 is a completely different type of game to its predecessor whilst still keeping hold of some elements sprinkled throughout.

The game keeps the episodic type approach with its story chapters, using an ability of sorts to locate shiny items throughout the levels and also maintaining specific story beats that aren't related to the mainline games. While Revelations had that nice combination of classic Resident Evil mansion unlocking design with some modern controls, Revelations 2 goes into a different direction with co-operative gameplay, a very specific type of horror that feels like grindhouse at parts, and two different character campaign perspectives to make it feel familiar.

Revelations 2 also feels like a low budget game, with its graphics rather weak, the story dialogue is a bit **** in places and the combat is quite sluggish especially when you're playing in single player. Revelations also had gameplay issues but you could let it off as it was originally designed for the Nintendo 3DS, whereas Revelations 2 was released on consoles digitally throughout. The first episode had some cool ideas but it gave that rather underwhelming and disappointing feeling to which you could just give up playing due to what it was trying to offer. Whilst the game is trying to deliver on horror, at the end of the day it's still an action shooter at heart so when you barely have any ammo around or have to rely on a secondary character to focus solely on using a flashlight to find any it's rather tedious and breaks the pace of the game. That said, once I started Barry's route it had a different change of pace in terms of gameplay as it leans more towards stealth at times but had a good balance as you move forward.

Another issue I have with Revelations 2 is the general structure of the game. While it's four episodes in total, the game basically makes you replay the areas twice, once under Claire and then another under Barry but with a different order of sorts. Now the story is why it's like this, but it also gives away that repetitive feel and a clear sign of 'lack of budget' when it comes to switching things up more. That said, the storyline and enemies are different between the two routes.

Despite all of my criticisms, I do think the latter episodes try to switch up the formula and there's some positivity throughout all of this. I felt Episode 3 is where the developers found that spark with what they were building, as it had a fun mixture of puzzles and action as well as some pretty good variety of enemies. What I also enjoyed was how one action you take in one route actually adds rewards for the other route, for example you open a door in Claire's route and while it's empty from her perspective it actually gives you an extra weapon for Barry's route. I also want to mention that Barry's route has a character called Natalia who has an ability to see enemies which is a pretty cool and handy feature to have and it supports Barry's stealth sections a lot. Moira in Claire's route has a crowbar but her character's sole purpose is just searching for items with a flashlight which is only useful for trying to fill up your inventory. Both Natalia and Moira have the ability to open up specific crates which is a puzzle in itself but I actually didn't mind it.

The inventory setup is similar to Revelations as you can wield a few weapons and have to swap them around during specific spots throughout the game. Each weapon can also use an upgrade slot and you can combine items together to create a throwable weapon like a flame bomb, smokescreen, and decoy or for health support like clearing your screen from infection or getting extra herbs. The game does make you run out of ammo a fair bit and there's no support for swapping the ammo from one type of pistol to another, an issue that I also had with Revelations.

When you finish an episode or check the settings in the pause menu, you can use the points that you've earned to unlock skills to support your gameplay. This ranges from better speed of using knives, more range for evasion, more range to spot enemies, your secondary character actually hitting someone (which is also stupid to lock behind) and more.

Now the villain of the game is an interesting choice. They make it sound like it's a big deal because of their relations with the mainline games, but when the mainline games don't even reference you at all it feels rather shoe-horned in as a result. I do think they had a decent motivation for what they were doing (and I guess you could take the relationship between them and one of the main characters as something akin to Snow White with how things play out), and there was a good added amount of mystery as you play through both routes along the way.

One more point I want to make about Revelations 2 is that it brings back the choice decision from the classic Resident Evil games. Now I mentioned that one action from Claire's route can support Barry's route, but there's also one decision that can affect the game's ending. There's a Good Ending and Bad Ending, which on paper sounds like a cool idea, but the execution is rather poor because you have to replay Episode 3's fairly long segment and then replay Episode 4's also fairly long segment just to see the result which took me about 2.5 hours to go back and sort out which was rather annoying. Not to mention there's not much reward for doing so either, especially as the trophies don't have one dedicated to the ending choice which is rather bizarre for a trophy list (even Resident Evil Remake had trophies for different decisions).

Overall I do commend Resident Evil Revelations 2 for trying to provide an interesting horror experience, but its budget clearly got in the way as the graphics, gameplay and structure is very unpolished. I do think that if you have someone to play with, the co-op experience will probably be much better going into this game than the single player route that I went with. That said the story in general I thought was fine and honestly wish it was adapted as a CG anime (like Capcom has done with Damnation, Vendetta, Infinite Darkness etc.) rather than a video game. Playtime was about 8 hours taking it slow on Normal and an extra 2.5 hours to get the other ending of the game.

---

My backlog so far:

Spoiler

#​	PC/Steam Backlog - Game Name:​	Genre:
1​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky	Turn-Based RPG
2​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC	Turn-Based RPG

#​	PlayStation 3 Backlog - Game Name:​	Genre:
1​	3D Dot Game Heroes	Action RPG
2​	Castlevania: Lords of Shadow	Action, Hack n Slash
3​	Catherine	Puzzle
4​	Drakengard 3	Action RPG
5​	Eternal Sonata	Turn-Based RPG
6​	Folklore	Action RPG
7​	inFAMOUS	Action
8​	inFAMOUS 2	Action
9​	Katamari Forever	Puzzle
10​	Prince of Persia	Action, Platformer
11​	Puppeteer	Platformer
12​	SEGA Rally	Racing
13​	Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time	Action, Platformer
14​	Split/Second: Velocity	Racing
15​	Tears to Tiara II: Heir of the Overlord	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
16​	Way of the Samurai 4	Action

#​	PlayStation 4 Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
2​	AI: The Somnium Files	Adventure, Visual Novel
3​	Black Clover: Quartet Knights	Action, Fighting
4​	Bullet Girls Phantasia	Action, Shooter
5​	The Caligula Effect: Overdose	Turn-Based RPG
6​	Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions	Sports
7​	Catherine Full Body	Puzzle
8​	Chaos;Child	Visual Novel
9​	Conception Plus: Maidens of the Twelve Stars	Turn-Based RPG
10​	CRYSTAR	Action RPG
11​	Cyberdimension Neptunia: Four Goddesses Online	Action RPG
12​	Danganronpa 1 Reload	Visual Novel
13​	Danganronpa 2 Reload	Visual Novel
14​	Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls	Action, Shooter
15​	Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony	Visual Novel
16​	Date A Live: Rio-Reincarnation - 1: Rinne Utopia	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
17​	Date A Live: Rio-Reincarnation - 2: Ars Install	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
18​	Date A Live: Rio-Reincarnation - 3: Twin Edition: Rio Reincarnation	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
19​	Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory	Turn-Based RPG
20​	Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories	Adventure, Simulation
21​	Dragon Quest Heroes II	Action RPG, Musou
22​	Dragon's Crown Pro	Action RPG
23​	Fairy Tail	Turn-Based RPG
24​	Fate/Extella Link	Musou
25​	Final Fantasy VIII Remastered	Turn-Based RPG
26​	Full Metal Panic! Fight! Who Dares Win	Tactical RPG
27​	Gal*Gun 2	On-Rails Shooter
28​	Gintama Rumble	Action, Musou
29​	GOD EATER 3	Action Hunter RPG
30​	Gravity Rush 2	Action, Platformer
31​	The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures	Visual Novel
32​	The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve	Visual Novel
33​	Gundam Breaker 3 BREAK EDITION	Action, Arcade
34​	Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Infinite Combate	Action RPG
35​	JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven	Fighting
36​	Kotodama: The 7 Mysteries of Fujisawa	Puzzle, Visual Novel
37​	Langrisser	Tactical RPG
38​	Langrisser II	Tactical RPG
39​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel	Turn-Based RPG
40​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II	Turn-Based RPG
41​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III	Turn-Based RPG
42​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV	Turn-Based RPG
43​	Legend of Mana	Action RPG
44​	Megadimension Neptunia VII	Turn-Based RPG
45​	Megadimension Neptunia VIIR	Turn-Based RPG
46​	MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA	Fighting
47​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm	Action, Fighting
48​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2	Action, Fighting
49​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3	Action, Fighting
50​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4: Road to Boruto	Action, Fighting
51​	NEO: The World Ends With You	Action RPG
52​	Neptunia Virtual Stars	Action
53​	Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars	Action
54​	Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered	Turn-Based RPG
55​	Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom	Action RPG
56​	Nights of Azure	Action RPG
57​	Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon	Action RPG
58​	One Piece Burning Blood	Fighting
59​	One Piece Unlimited World Red	Action
60​	One Piece World Seeker	Action
61​	One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3	Musou
62​	One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4	Musou
63​	Our World Is Ended	Visual Novel
64​	Persona 5 Royal	Turn-Based RPG
65​	Persona 5 Strikers	Action RPG, Musou
66​	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney	Visual Novel
67​	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All	Visual Novel
68​	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations	Visual Novel
69​	Punch Line	Visual Novel
70​	Raging Loop	Visual Novel
71​	Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-: Prophecy of the Throne	Visual Novel
72​	Resident Evil 6	Action Horror
73​	Robotics;Notes DaSH	Visual Novel
74​	Robotics;Notes ELITE	Visual Novel
75​	SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays	Tactical RPG
76​	SD Gundam G Generation Genesis	Tactical RPG
77​	Secret of Mana	Action RPG
78​	Sengoku Basara 4: Sumeragi	Musou
79​	Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal	Action
80​	Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster	Turn-Based RPG
81​	Star Ocean: First Departure R	Action RPG
82​	Star Ocean: The Last Hope HD Remaster	Action RPG
83​	Steins;Gate Elite	Visual Novel
84​	Super Neptunia RPG	Turn-Based RPG
85​	Super Robot Wars 30	Tactical RPG
86​	Super Robot Wars OG: The Moon Dwellers	Tactical RPG
87​	Super Robot Wars T	Tactical RPG
88​	Super Robot Wars X	Tactical RPG
89​	Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet	Action RPG
90​	Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Sessions!	Music, Rhythm
91​	Tales of Berseria	Action RPG
92​	Tales of Vesperia	Action RPG
93​	Tokyo Xanadu eX+	Action RPG
94​	Trials of Mana	Action RPG
95​	Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
96​	Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
97​	Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
98​	Utawarerumono: Zan	Action, Musou
99​	Valkyria Chronicles 4	Tactical RPG
100​	Valkyria Revolution	Action RPG
101​	The Witch and the Hundred Knight Revival Edition	Action RPG
102​	WORLDEND SYNDROME	Visual Novel
103​	Yakuza 3 Remastered	Action Beat em up
104​	Yakuza 4 Remastered	Action Beat em up
105​	Yakuza 5 Remastered	Action Beat em up
106​	YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World	Visual Novel
107​	Ys IX: Monstrum Nox	Action RPG

#​	PlayStation 5 Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII -Reunion-	Action RPG
2​	Cyberpunk 2077	Action
3​	The DioField Chronicle	Tactical RPG
4​	DOOM Eternal	Action, Shooter
5​	Judgment	Action, Beat em up
6​	Lost Judgment	Action, Beat em up
7​	Mobile Suit Gundam BATTLE OPERATION Code Fairy	Action
8​	Neptunia ReVerse	Turn-Based RPG
9​	Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters	Action RPG
10​	Nioh 2	Action Souls RPG
11​	Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit of Wonder Labyrinth	Metroidvania RPG
12​	Relayer	Tactical RPG
13​	SD Gundam Battle Alliance	Action RPG
14​	Star Ocean: The Divine Force	Action RPG
15​	Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin	Action Souls RPG
16​	Tactics Ogre Reborn	Tactical RPG
17​	Valkyrie Elysium	Action RPG
18​	Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon	Turn-Based RPG
19​	Yurukill: The Calumniation Games	Shoot em up, Visual Novel

#​	PlayStation Vita Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Bullet Girls	Action, Shooter
2​	Freedom Wars	Action
3​	Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart	Tactical RPG
4​	Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed	Action
5​	MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies	Action, Musou
6​	Muv-Luv	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
7​	Muv-Luv Alternative	Visual Novel
8​	Superdimension Neptune vs SEGA Hard Girls	Turn-Based RPG
9​	Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni	Action

#​	Nintendo Switch Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Cytus Alpha	Music, Rhythm
2​	Fire Emblem: Three Houses	Tactical RPG
3​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero	Turn-Based RPG
4​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure	Turn-Based RPG
5​	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild	Action RPG
6​	Mario Kart 8 Deluxe	Racing
7​	Metroid Dread	Metroidvania
8​	Metroid Prime Remastered	Action, Shooter
9​	MUSYNX	Music, Rhythm
10​	New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe	Platformer
11​	Senran Kagura Peach Ball	Pinball
12​	Senran Kagura Reflexions	Simulation
13​	Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury	Action, Platformer
14​	Super Mario Galaxy	Action, Platformer
15​	Super Mario Sunshine	Action, Platformer
16​	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate	Fighting
17​	Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition	Action RPG
18​	Xenoblade Chronicles 2	Action RPG
19​	Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country	Action RPG

The 2023 '40' Games Goal:

Spoiler

No.	Game	Console​	Acquired​	Genre
1​	Shining Resonance Refrain	PS4​	2018​	Action RPG
2​	Wing of Darkness	PS4​	2022​	Action, Arcade
3​	Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania	PS4​	2022​	Puzzle
4​	Tales of Zestiria	PS4​	2018​	Action RPG
5​	RESIDENT EVIL 4	PS5​	2023​	Action, Survival Horror
6​	RESIDENT EVIL 2	PS5​	2022​	Action, Survival Horror
7​	RESIDENT EVIL 3	PS5​	2022​	Action, Survival Horror
8​	Resident Evil Revelations	PS4​	2022​	Action, Survival Horror
9​	Resident Evil Revelations 2	PS4​	2022​	Action, Survival Horror

That's a lot of RE for one month. @_@

 

[Demelza]

I finished Tales of Arise over the weekend (I took a long break after starting it on release). Really enjoyed my time with it, but I do agree with the general sentiment from reviewers about how the second half isn't as strong. The story definitely gets a bit silly even by standard JRPG terms and I'm not convinced I like how the ending came about (the ending was fine itself, but how it comes together just didn't feel like it fit with the story up until that point.)

Ultimately my Tales ranking is Zestiria > Beseria > Arise > Xillia > Vesperia (unfinished since it crashed on Switch, will try again now its had more patches) > Abyss > Xillia 2 (dropped due to debt system) > Symphonia

Arise is only above Xillia due to the Xillia cast being really annoying at times, whereas I consistently enjoyed all the time I spent with the Arise cast. Although having said that I would still happily play Xillia and Xillia 2 again if they rereleased them (and fixed the system a bit for 2).

 

[HWR]

I finished my replay of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and its DLC, then moved onto The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD to play the hero mode before TotK drops next Friday.

 

[Aeon]

I've mostly been playing Skyrim packed with quite a fair amount of mods on my PC, I particularily liked the Dreamborne Isles mod, some of the areas in it look more like something out of a JRPG rather than a western RPG, though the gear in it does make the character OP as heck so I'm probably only gonna use the amulet and the shield so as not to make the game too easy.
Then there's the gameplay overhaul mods which basically make it feel like an entirely different game.

 

[RaeDra]

Been working through a very varied list of things,


Finished both Final Fantasy VII Remake and the INTERmission expansion very recently. Having only heard about the original (and various, impossible to miss spoilers) I was very pleased by it. Despite clearly being padded to fill out, I was never annoyed by it and feels like an expensive return to something. Though I am aware that its not the same this time around.
INTERmission though is great at precisely at what it is, a fun expansion with a character who plays differently (and is absolutely endearing, particularly due to their EN VA Suzie Yeung). What a great time

Following that, I quickly worked through Crisis Core Reunion as well. That time around, while a nice visual upgrade and other nicety's, the game itself feels like a bit of relic in places and there was no way I was finishing all those missions. Nice to have the back story known to me (too bad that 2 of the EN leads are more than a bit awkward in it, suspect it won't be the case in further appearances in future as they were better in the previous remake), but glad its out of the way. Onwards to whenever Rebirth shows up.

Currently, in the games that never end category, I am also playing Honkai: Star Rail, a pretty fun game that comes with all the caveats that gacha games have, but have almost worked through all the story stuff and will be waiting till more is added. Till then, just finessing what I have. I did tell myself that I wouldn't be running 2 of these at the same time, but here I am . The first being still is Genshin Impact which is mostly me doing the bare minimum and only doing missions that are required. stuff is starting to stack up though....

seeing as that's quieting down, also playing Resident Evil 1 (The Deadly Silence DS version), as I never played the original. In fact, never played the OG trilogy at all, so while I have played games with tank controls, these are new to me (beyond knowing various lore etc). not finished either playthrough yet though.
Also playing Cassette Beasts and thats a chill game, too early to know how much there is too it, but its clearly wearing its classic pokemon feeling on its sleeve.

Hope to have those done before The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is out, which will inevitably take over other things.

Have been keeping stuff logged on Backloggd account, which you can find here

Backloggd | RaeDra

Keep a virtual backlog of your video game collection, then rate and review the ones you've played to share with your friends!

backloggd.com

 

[WMD]

Final Fantasy II
I know I said I'd have a break between games but after a single week I wanted back in. I guess because I was forewarned and the leveling system wasn't a surprise, rather than being a problem, I actually rather enjoyed it. It added a whole new strategy system to play within that made the endless random encounters much more relevant and satisfying as you try to maximise leveling the things you want/need to level up.

Added to that, this game is just much better than the first one. The story, the dungeons, characters are all much more interesting and I felt way more invested in what was going on in this world.

My first attempt at the final boss was just an endless stalemate as his drain melee attack was healing him for as much damage as I could do and I didn't get anywhere. I looked up tactics and found out about the bloodsword. My god it made the fight unsatisfyingly easy. Oh well.

Afterwards I went around and mopped up the last 5 monsters I needed (including the elusive Iron Giant) and got my Swordsman and Cure spell upto level 16 for the Platinum trophy.

Overall really enjoyed this one!

 

[Dai]

I've played a bunch of games over the last few months that I've forgotten to mention.

Tekken 7
PSN are having a massive sale on Japanese games at the moment. I picked up the definitive edition of Tekken 7 (includes all 4 seasons of DLC) for about £10. The character roster is massive; about 50, I think. Heihachi is my usual main in the older games, but I'm getting attached to Lidia this time, the karate-style Prime Minister of Poland.

7 is a total love letter to the series as a whole. It includes all the previous soundtracks in-game and you can unlock the CG scenes from all the previous games. There's a fairly entertaining story mode that highlights just how frequently members of the Mishima bloodline throw each other off cliffs.

Vanquish
I enjoyed the PS3 version when it first came out, but I've tended to lose interest quickly when I go back to it. I picked up the remaster for cheap though and played through it again. It's stylish and decently entertaining, but the weapons feel about as powerful as paintguns and it's all over in 4 hours. The tone is ludicrous too, either being a parody of macho Hollywood war movies or a laughable immitation of them. It can be hard to tell sometimes with Japanese developers if their bizarre attempts to westernise stories are being played for laughs or are just inept. I recall how confused Squenix were when people thought the Stranger of Paradise trailers were hilarious.

Dino Crisis 2
I replay this every couple of years. After the original Dino Crisis couldn't escape the survival horror shadow of Resident Evil, this one amps up the crazy for a fast-paced combo-based shooter and is much better for it. I hope Capcom remake either this or Code Veronica next.

Scarlet Nexus
I expected this to be at least pretty good, but it exceeded my hopes on all fronts. There's good cast of characters, an interesting (albeit very shonen battle manga inspired) story, great design work on the enemies, and a satisfying combat system that grows throughout the game.

 

[Eternal chibi]

I've played a bunch of games over the last few months that I've forgotten to mention.

Tekken 7
PSN are having a massive sale on Japanese games at the moment. I picked up the definitive edition of Tekken 7 (includes all 4 seasons of DLC) for about £10. The character roster is massive; about 50, I think. Heihachi is my usual main in the older games, but I'm getting attached to Lidia this time, the karate-style Prime Minister of Poland.

7 is a total love letter to the series as a whole. It includes all the previous soundtracks in-game and you can unlock the CG scenes from all the previous games. There's a fairly entertaining story mode that highlights just how frequently members of the Mishima bloodline throw each other off cliffs.

Vanquish
I enjoyed the PS3 version when it first came out, but I've tended to lose interest quickly when I go back to it. I picked up the remaster for cheap though and played through it again. It's stylish and decently entertaining, but the weapons feel about as powerful as paintguns and it's all over in 4 hours. The tone is ludicrous too, either being a parody of macho Hollywood war movies or a laughable immitation of them. It can be hard to tell sometimes with Japanese developers if their bizarre attempts to westernise stories are being played for laughs or are just inept. I recall how confused Squenix were when people thought the Stranger of Paradise trailers were hilarious.

Dino Crisis 2
I replay this every couple of years. After the original Dino Crisis couldn't escape the survival horror shadow of Resident Evil, this one amps up the crazy for a fast-paced combo-based shooter and is much better for it. I hope Capcom remake either this or Code Veronica next.

Scarlet Nexus
I expected this to be at least pretty good, but it exceeded my hopes on all fronts. There's good cast of characters, an interesting (albeit very shonen battle manga inspired) story, great design work on the enemies, and a satisfying combat system that grows throughout the game.

Understandable that would do some soul searching and play many different games after experiencing a drubbing on shipment in call of duty

I haven't really played any games. I've THOUGHT about playing games. It's about as much as I've managed

Escape from Tarkov dark souls and call of duty meet and become a horrible and inaccesible shooter game. Only the hardest of hardcore can play this or so they say; any physicist would likely disagree, but I digress. I think about it because it's pretty damn cool unfortunately cannot be played because it requires a level of immersion not achievable by anyone even remotely planted in reality

Pathologic 2 I thought about playing this because it's like shakespeare woke up in 2006 as a 17 year old and decided to write something because he remembered his past life well enough to do so but not well enough to know to avoid video games as a medium

Disco Elysium thought about playing it, didnt because i'm not baltic and haven't had 7 months continous melancholy only 6 months 3 weeks which does not meet the requirement

 

[João Gomes]

I've played a bunch of games over the last few months that I've forgotten to mention.

Tekken 7
PSN are having a massive sale on Japanese games at the moment. I picked up the definitive edition of Tekken 7 (includes all 4 seasons of DLC) for about £10. The character roster is massive; about 50, I think. Heihachi is my usual main in the older games, but I'm getting attached to Lidia this time, the karate-style Prime Minister of Poland.

7 is a total love letter to the series as a whole. It includes all the previous soundtracks in-game and you can unlock the CG scenes from all the previous games. There's a fairly entertaining story mode that highlights just how frequently members of the Mishima bloodline throw each other off cliffs.

Vanquish
I enjoyed the PS3 version when it first came out, but I've tended to lose interest quickly when I go back to it. I picked up the remaster for cheap though and played through it again. It's stylish and decently entertaining, but the weapons feel about as powerful as paintguns and it's all over in 4 hours. The tone is ludicrous too, either being a parody of macho Hollywood war movies or a laughable immitation of them. It can be hard to tell sometimes with Japanese developers if their bizarre attempts to westernise stories are being played for laughs or are just inept. I recall how confused Squenix were when people thought the Stranger of Paradise trailers were hilarious.

Dino Crisis 2
I replay this every couple of years. After the original Dino Crisis couldn't escape the survival horror shadow of Resident Evil, this one amps up the crazy for a fast-paced combo-based shooter and is much better for it. I hope Capcom remake either this or Code Veronica next.

Scarlet Nexus
I expected this to be at least pretty good, but it exceeded my hopes on all fronts. There's good cast of characters, an interesting (albeit very shonen battle manga inspired) story, great design work on the enemies, and a satisfying combat system that grows throughout the game.

Dino Crisis 2 is one of those games that, like Resident Evil 3 is still shockingly playable and pretty fun, too. Action oriented and the controls work. Only played it the one time, though.

Fully agree on Scarlet Nexus, everything about it was surprisingly good, even the story, I was expecting something throwaway but got background, characters with believable motivations and a generally interesting main premise. Maybe it's just a matter of expectations.

I've been playing Shin Megaten V and even though I've not finished (30h), I don't expect any major surprises and that's not criticism. I imagine my classmates will only dive deeper into their reasoning and way of seeing the world as I get to fight probably God, the end lol.

This game is so good, though. The star is undoubtedly the music. It's so baller, holy s.t.

How can you lose Shoji Meguro from the main franchise to Persona and still produce so much and such high quality music. The composers here are sonic beasts. You've got fight themes for everything and everyone, all with incredible variety but still keeping cohesion. The area themes range from melancholic to hypnotic. The f.cking level up theme is so cash. How?! How do you make a banger out of the level up track, seriously. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since IV and IV:A also had a great OST.

Artistically, this is my favorite rendition of the classic SMT trope of destroyed Tokyo. You've got golden, glistening sands, ruin everywhere and then a sky that closes in on itself for a surreal landscape. You run, jump and sand-surf about while seeing demons all over the place. It's cool seeing a lot of different classic demons integrated into the main story.

Performance is really only passable but technically speaking, I'm not sure how much better this could be on the Switch. Still, of course I decide to jump into this right when they're about to probably announce other console versions of V lol. There's an event happening in Japan today and tomorrow and announcements are expected. Edit: the event is over with no announcements!

Otherwise, I'm struggling not to get Jedi Survivor right away, I've read a lot of praise, even if it needs to be patched

 

[DragoStark]

I finished Yakuza 6...


Man what a series. I'm glad I got into it and thoroughly enjoyed playing all of these games.
Now that I've played them all, I think my best overall experience was Kiwami 2. Dragon Engine is so much better (being able to walk into a store without a loading screen is such a big deal) and the mini games were fun. Baseball in 6 sucked.

The best story however was 0 and I don't think anything can top it. That game had me a bawling mess (I mean, they've all made me cry but 0 ruined me.)

Not sure what to play next. I'm still doing some bits in 6 to get all the achievements (the grinding for experience is oof). I recently picked up GTA V again, mucking about with my friends online and even though I've dumped like 100 hrs into that game I've never actually played the main campaign so maybe I should get round to that next.

 

[Dai]

Grid Legends
One of the better attempts I've seen at trying to integrate a story into a racing game, which is an admittedly low bar. The acting in the live-action cutscenes is...not great, but the docudrama style does a good job of building a sense of rivalry against other drivers. The main problem is that the story doesn't adapt to the performance of the player or AI drivers, creating a jarring disconnect. Cutscenes repeatedly tell me that my teammate is better than me, only for her to repeatedly crash and pootle around at the back of the pack during races. Cutscenes act like I'm barely scraping by, despite me placing 1st in every race. I ended up increasing the difficulty level just so I'd feel more like I was having the hard time the story insisted I was!

The actual racing is excellent and looks great on PS5. I've always felt a bit guilty about using the racing line guide when games offer it, but I found it practically essential for some of the later races. When I'm speeding flat-out in the fastest cars on narrow, winding roads, at night, with rain battering the windshield in cockpit view, this game can be terrifying.

 

[HWR]

Finished up the second and third Ace Attorney Games in time to start playing Tears of the Kingdom tomorrow.

 

[Vincentdante]

Tears of the Kingdom is hella fun. That is all I will say.

 

[HWR]

Tears of the Kingdom is hella fun. That is all I will say.

It certainly is!

 

[Sunshineabove]

Just been playing Elden Ring had to re-start as I forgot what I was doing. Also picked Tears of the Kingdom on the way home from on Friday it’s fun

 

[Gemsy-chan]

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed...the extra DLC story. Very good addition to the game. strange seeing adult Shulk & Rex