What Games Are You Playing?

[João Gomes]

@Lordhippos Tifa is indeed the best, culture and all that…

I love VII R but I agree with your points. I think the thing that took me the longest to accept was that it didn’t deliver on the eeriness of the original in Shinra HQ. Maybe it’s another case of mismanaged expectations, which I can’t seem to stop doing.

I’m stupidly excited for Rebirth.

I started Octopath II with the dancer but then found myself all over the pixel remasters, oops.

I finished the Granblue Fantasy Relink demo and had fun so I think I’m getting it. The trailer at the end of the demo sold me, it’s pretty hype.

I also finished the first of the Hitman World of Assassination games and had a blast. I love immersive sims, so I don’t know why it took me this long to start but, here we are. Maybe the lack of superpowers.

Quite a few ways to tackle your targets but I always just wander endlessly throughout the levels, looking for new ways to discreetly dispatch people. I also enjoy the sense of humor. Feels pretty polished for a game that offers so many possibilities, too.

I’m already on the third mission of Hitman 2, so I think I’m just gonna do them all and get back to FF before the onslaught of releases starts.

 

[Lordhippos]

@Lordhippos

I’m stupidly excited for Rebirth.

I started Octopath II with the dancer but then found myself all over the pixel remasters, oops.

I finished the Granblue Fantasy Relink demo and had fun so I think I’m getting it. The trailer at the end of the demo sold me, it’s pretty hype.

Yep Rebirth looks really good and I'm pumped for it and ready to go! Friend of mine recommended playing Crisis Core remake as well, if I've never played FF7 OG, would you? Am not sure it's necessary if I'm not looking for differences between OG and remake.

For Octopath 2 I would highly recommend starting as Osvald, his caster type makes having him in your party pretty much all the time be handy for the various elemental weaknesses

Granblue game did look pretty good I thought! animation wise reminds me a lot of Tales of Arise, what would you say it plays like combat wise?

Hitman is one of those game series I've never been able to get into for some reason, on paper I think they look fun, but in reality it just hasn't caught my attention, I think I own Hitman 1/2 as well, just barely touched em!

 

[João Gomes]

Yep Rebirth looks really good and I'm pumped for it and ready to go! Friend of mine recommended playing Crisis Core remake as well, if I've never played FF7 OG, would you? Am not sure it's necessary if I'm not looking for differences between OG and remake.

For Octopath 2 I would highly recommend starting as Osvald, his caster type makes having him in your party pretty much all the time be handy for the various elemental weaknesses

Granblue game did look pretty good I thought! animation wise reminds me a lot of Tales of Arise, what would you say it plays like combat wise?

Hitman is one of those game series I've never been able to get into for some reason, on paper I think they look fun, but in reality it just hasn't caught my attention, I think I own Hitman 1/2 as well, just barely touched em!

Oh, without having played the original, that’s a great question… If you know nothing about the original’s story, I’d say no, because there’s a really big story element revealed later on in the trilogy (maybe in Rebirth) that is presented normally in that game…

On the other hand, if Rebirth continues integrating elements from the wider VII compilation, you will maybe miss out on other references.

Personally I say no, but clearly Square want people to play it and it’s something alluded to in one of Rebirth’s trailers…

I only didn’t start as Oswald because I had played the demo as him and since it was fresh in my head, I tried another one but I’ll keep your advice in mind!

As for Granblue, I guess it’s not that far off from Arise, speaking in mechanical terms, only there’s no transition to a battlefield. You attack with square and triangle, filling a bar that depends on the character that will eventually allow you to use a move specific to that character.

Besides that, you have abilities mapped to four face buttons, that work on a cooldown. In addition, you can use link attacks with other party members and chain ultimate attacks with the rest of the party as well. You have like 20 controllable characters (or so it seemed, looking at the menu).

It’s fun, should do it for the entirety of the main quest. OST by Uematsu, pretty good graphics, incredible art style (even if the general world design seems extremely by the numbers)… I hope the story is ok!

 

[HWR]

I’ve been playing Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core - the actual story is decent but the missions, which make a bulk of the game’s content, get increasingly unfair with all the one shot kills and having to re-collect treasure chests, all within the same three or four map layouts.

 

[Lordhippos]

Personally I say no, but clearly Square want people to play it and it’s something alluded to in one of Rebirth’s trailers…

Yes, very mixed opinions on this one so far from a bit of Googling also (trying not to spoil it for myself in the process).

I should try out the Granblue demo really, it won't be a day 1 purchase though for me because of P3 Reload coming out on 02/02, but if it's good it would certainly make it onto my list to play this year at some point.

General question for anyone: Are there any good JRPG series or games where choices matter?

Whether this is in conversation options or just general story options you pick, I like seeing my choices change outcomes or story paths. It seems most JRPG I've played don't cater for this, for example FF7 remake was following the same story no matter what you did, and rare conversation options didn't impact anything.

I mentioned before but I was considering playing the Trails series, but as I understand it, that also has this scenario, the story unfolds basically as designed. Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Triangle Strategy both give you some alternative options to take for different paths/endings.

 

[Lordhippos]

As for Granblue, I guess it’s not that far off from Arise, speaking in mechanical terms, only there’s no transition to a battlefield. You attack with square and triangle, filling a bar that depends on the character that will eventually allow you to use a move specific to that character.

Besides that, you have abilities mapped to four face buttons, that work on a cooldown. In addition, you can use link attacks with other party members and chain ultimate attacks with the rest of the party as well. You have like 20 controllable characters (or so it seemed, looking at the menu).

It’s fun, should do it for the entirety of the main quest. OST by Uematsu, pretty good graphics, incredible art style (even if the general world design seems extremely by the numbers)… I hope the story is ok!

I played the demo on the PS5 and this was really good I thought so I've pre-ordered it on the PS5. It feels like Tales of Arise but just better in every way, the world design is very cool and I am a sucker for big fantasy worlds.

The PC version seems 2nd class here, there is no demo, you can't pre-order it on Steam, and there is no ultrawide support, so PS5 seems like the superior platform to play this on.

1st world problem though, Persona 3 Reload is releasing on the same day!

 

[João Gomes]

@Lordhippos I don’t know about JRPGs, but Disco Elysium and Alpha Protocol totally fit the bill. Alpha Protocol blew my mind back when I played it, truly. You can buy it for like a quid on steam sales. It wasn’t as buggy as its reputation led me to believe neither! Super spy RPGs is totally something that should be much more popular.

Glad you enjoyed Granblue, I also ordered the fancy edition along with P3, even if I’m going all in on Persona when it comes out… I’m surprisingly hype for Yakuza, but I’m waaay behind on story, so I’m gonna take my time playing through Kiwami 2. Then I think I’ll get Ishin and eventually play through 7 and Gaiden before I get to 8. I only ever do the main stories, so it shouldn’t be…. Impossible. I hope.

Right now I’m playing The Pathless alongside Kiwami 2. Having quite a bit of fun.

Finished all Hitman games and loved them. I finished 3 games with similar styles back to back. Just a blast and an example of spectacular level design.

 

[Lordhippos]

Seems JRPG just don't really have branching choices much! Tactics Ogre Reborn is meant to have some, and is a similar game to Triangle Strategy I think so could be worth trying that out sometime.

I tried Disco Elysium before but I think it's far too wordy for me. Crime/detective genre isn't really my bag I suppose as I wasn't into Alan Wake 2 either which doesn't help.

I will actually do those in reverse, so Granblue first for me, not sure if I want to try playing P3 at the same time or not. I have booked a week off following so should have more time to dedicate to them anyway.

I found the Yakuza games a little too random, but I know they're popular for a good reason.

Q1 or so this year still looks really good though, got Granblue, P3, FF7 Rebirth, Unicorn Overlord, Dragons Dogma 2, and Rise of the Ronin all coming out by the end of March. Sure there's a lot more stuff coming later in the year as well, and stuff that I'd like that isn't even on my radar.

 

[João Gomes]

Seems JRPG just don't really have branching choices much! Tactics Ogre Reborn is meant to have some, and is a similar game to Triangle Strategy I think so could be worth trying that out sometime.

I tried Disco Elysium before but I think it's far too wordy for me. Crime/detective genre isn't really my bag I suppose as I wasn't into Alan Wake 2 either which doesn't help.

I will actually do those in reverse, so Granblue first for me, not sure if I want to try playing P3 at the same time or not. I have booked a week off following so should have more time to dedicate to them anyway.

I found the Yakuza games a little too random, but I know they're popular for a good reason.

Q1 or so this year still looks really good though, got Granblue, P3, FF7 Rebirth, Unicorn Overlord, Dragons Dogma 2, and Rise of the Ronin all coming out by the end of March. Sure there's a lot more stuff coming later in the year as well, and stuff that I'd like that isn't even on my radar.

Good self-suggestions actually, lol. I really want to play those two, eventually.

Yakuza can be too random for sure but I love the melodrama and kicking thugs in the head.

Yes to all of those on your list… the beginning of the year is so loaded that I keep forgetting Rise of the Ronin, even if it’s one of my favorite possible settings: samurai/end of samurai era Japan with no monsters, just exaggerated action.

I was going to get Yakuza 8 right away but I’m definitely not able to play it anytime soon, so I bought Lies of P, Stranger of Paradise FF and Yakuza Ishin, which are all at ok prices at the moment and I’m very curious about P.

 

[Lordhippos]

so I bought Lies of P, Stranger of Paradise FF and Yakuza Ishin, which are all at ok prices at the moment and I’m very curious about P.

I really liked Lies of P as you may recall, it was one of my top games of 2023, though 2024 looks more stacked in Q1 than the whole of 2023 was!

It's a souls game to the core, but it has it's own unique style as well, I was a big fan of it.

 

[João Gomes]

I really liked Lies of P as you may recall, it was one of my top games of 2023, though 2024 looks more stacked in Q1 than the whole of 2023 was!

It's a souls game to the core, but it has it's own unique style as well, I was a big fan of it.

Yeah, I remember you being quite happy with it and it helped because normally with Souls games not made by From, there’a always one or multiple “but(s)” and about the only major thing I’ve read that I could see being annoying is a lot of bosses having Guardian Ape syndrome, but everything else looks so top notch.

The only reason I’ve waited this long is because I’ve had 5 cancelled orders for the physical deluxe edition, which leads me to believe the editor fcked up, big time. I ordered once locally, cancelled. Twice with Amazon FR, months apart, cancelled and twice with Amazon DE, cancelled as well. Never seen anything like it. So I ended up accepting defeat and getting the normal edition.

 

[HWR]

After the gruelling nature of the Missions in FFVII: Crisis Core, I opted not to replay the FFVII Remake’s first entry again and have instead jumped forward to beat the Yuffie add-on.

There's a number of big games coming up too including Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Persona 3 Reload I have to play but I want to try and get some smaller titles beaten before tackling those.

 

[Professor Irony]

After a video essay arguing for it as a misunderstood masterpiece came up on YouTube while I was working recently, I decided to revisit Hotline Miami 2. I never quite found it as compelling as the first one, but the sheer nihilism of it was unlike anything I’d come across before and it definitely left an impression on me. Coming back to it now, I think the game does a lot of interesting things with its narrative at a point when I‘m sure the devs could easily have pumped out more of the same and raked in good profits, but I still can’t quite see it as more than the sum of its parts.

Following on from the relatively contained and faintly tongue-in-cheek original, HM2 tells a much more self-serious, but ambitious, multi-threaded story about various different characters whose lives are spiralling towards destruction, as a result of vigilante antihero Jacket’s actions in the first game.

Something that hadn’t occurred to me the first time I played HM2 was that each of the different stories seems to satirise a different reaction to the first game, from questionable fandom of its famously exuberant violence, to attempted copycats trying to cash in. This is kind of clever, and the individual vignettes are all pretty interesting in their own right, but I don’t think they gain anything significant by being linked together, and the final story revelation doesn’t seem to add much to the overall package. I think it might have worked better if they’d cut out some of the less important characters and spent more time developing the others. In particular, Jake the redneck and Martin the horror actor are pretty forgettable.

I also wasn’t keen on them explaining parts of the first game that were previously left to interpretation. Part of what I thought made the original so memorable was the cryptic appearance between levels of a friendly NPC with a heavy beard. HM2 telling you in no uncertain terms who he is and why he’s important just seems to spoil the appeal.

While it’s still perfectly solid, the gameplay feels like a step backwards too. Again, it feels like there was a conscious decision to try and do something different, moving from the claustrophobic, improvisational room to room combat of the original to much wider open spaces, mostly requiring the player find a more rigid ‘solution’ to advance. Unfortunately, this frequently ends up feeling needlessly frustrating, turning some levels into a test of memory, requiring long range shots on unseen enemies only discovered through trial and error. I’ve heard the argument that this could also be an intentional decision to put the player in a particular frame of mind, but I feel it’s unlikely. Compared with something like Far Cry 2, which seems designed to slowly bleed your enthusiasm for progress to the point of wanting you to give up, it feels like this game genuinely wants you to see the ending. At least once.

Crucially, however, Hotline Miami 2 did include a level editor, encouraging players to make their own content, and I find the modding scene kind of fascinating. From parodies to alternative endings, I’ve had an absolute whale of a time playing the user-created campaigns, but this post is already pretty long, so I’ll just mention some of the more notable ones in spoilers.

Spoiler

Blessed - One of the most popular mods for the game of all time, and also the highest ranked one that sticks to the main continuity. It’s pretty good; level design feels fresh and there’s a nice story idea here, with two of the vigilantes forming a found-family type bond, but I think it just lacks the connective tissue that would really pull it all together.

End Times - An alternative ending that continues the main story into what almost feels like Hotline Miami 2.5. It’s a bit like a self-indulgent fan-fic at times, but its scope is impressive and it does capture the feel of an early-90s action movie rather well. Bit on the easy side though.

Beyond Deathwish - Another alternative ending, in the form of a much shorter campaign that sees The Fans break Jacket out of prison. Fairly short, and incredibly tough, but it feels thematically appropriate to the main game and is certainly worthwhile if you’re looking for a challenge.

Carlampaign & Carlampaign 2 - The creator known as Puzzlebox does a lot of comedy-themed campaigns to greater or lesser degrees of success, but I think this is one of the best mods out there. Reimagining Carl, an insignificant side-character killed off in the first game, as an edgy teenage brat, it follows his increasingly absurd misadventures, as he (shock) kind of grows up a little. I think what makes this work so well is that it’s just grounded enough in the main story to make it all the funnier when it stars going further and further off-piste. I really couldn’t take Detective Pardo seriously anymore after this one.

Shibuya - Completely unrelated to the main story, this shifts the action to 2000s Japan, where an undead neet hooks up with a shifty secret agent to find the man who killed her. This is a nice looking mod with a real flavour of Japanese DTV movies to it, but at only two levels, it’s woefully short, really just enough to whet your appetite. 10/10 for the soundtrack though.

Wild Thing - An alternative story featuring Corey as she grows apart from the fans, only for her solo operations to attract police attention, this one feels so convincingly like part of the main game in its tone and level design that I think it could easily have been official DLC. The story isn’t hugely elaborate, but it does a great job of making Corey seem like a character in her own right, rather than part of the mob. If you play just one of these, play this one

.

 

[Lordhippos]

I've managed to pre-order Granblue Fantasy Relink for £40, Ebay 20% off code from TGC outlet: https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/granblue-fantasy-relink-day-one-edition-ps5-pre-order-4287329

If anyone else was buying this, this seems like a good deal to me!

 

[Lordhippos]

I've completed GoW Valhalla, a fun little free DLC, very similar to the mist stuff we had in the previous God of War.

I'm up to Malenia in Elden Ring now, which my friend tells me I must kill before I complete my first run. Counting the tries (15 so far)!

If anyone is considering pre-ordering FF7 Rebirth, check out my deal on HUKD, today is the last day the Ebay code works, but it's about £50 from Game Collection outlet:

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/final-fantasy-vii-rebirth-ps5-4289058

 

[NormanicGrav]

This year I plan to re-attempt my game completion goal of 40! I finished three games for the month of January and I'm currently going through my 4th title with Nioh 2 Remastered, which is a long one but will be worth the wait.

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#01 - Quake (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: June 2023 (via PSN)

Spoiler: My thoughts on Quake Remastered

The first game I finished was the Nightdive Studios remaster of id Software's Quake which I own two copies for - the digital version first on the PlayStation 5 and a physical version from Limited Run Games for Nintendo Switch.

For this completion I played all of the campaigns included on the remaster, which includes the base game, the two expansion packs Scourge of Armagon and Dissolution of Eternity which were released back in the day on PC, and the two additional episodes Dimension of the Past and Dimension of the Machine, both of which were worked on by Wolfenstein developers Machine Games. All of this took roughly 17 hours total to complete.

I have always wanted to play the original Quake for years. I've seen it around and sure I could have purchased it on Steam at any point, but it was the console experience that I wanted to go for whenever the opportunity came, and out of nowhere Bethesda released it during their Quake con event.

If you're familiar with Nightdive Studios you will know they add accessibility features and settings to allow most players to play the remasters with ease. So I am glad this is here because I did play a bit of the Quake remaster on Nintendo Switch and ended up feeling dizzy, which to me was a cause of alarm because I never get dizzy with video games unless it's something stupid like the AI making you spin your character/mecha around in 360 degree constantly (like Wing of Darkness). I started playing the PS5 version and the same feeling came again, so I had to run some tests to make sure it wasn't me but the gameplay's settings. The end result was turning Motion Blur on and to play it safe turning off Motion Controls and tweaking the field of view. Motion Blur on managed to fix the issue so I was able to play the whole remaster at ease for long hours in 4K resolution and 120 frames per second.

So how does Quake play? It shares a lot of similarities to the classic DOOM games with its episodic content, enemy variety, weapons, items, secrets and finding the exit. One big difference which I like is that the start of the campaign is a hub where you can walk around to the difficulty of choice and the level selection which is pretty cool. I went with Normal difficulty and played through each episode in its main order.

Each episode was well structured and I enjoyed the enemy variety. The only enemies I dislike were the ones that have projectiles that follow you around which are similar in vein to the Archviles from DOOM II who I absolutely hate. The weapons were great, I definitely enjoyed the rocket launcher, the nail gun and grenade launchers. The super shotgun does the job but it does feel fairly boring here and there. The items for Quake were each pretty intriguing with invincibility, immune to damage, super health or my favourite the Quad Damage which is 4x damage against enemies. Speaking of items, you will notice NIN logos here and there which is a reference to Industrial Metal band Nine Inch Nails because Trent Reznor composed the soundtrack for this game.

I also liked the secrets throughout each episode, because it felt really rewarding finding them when you wouldn't expect them and I did end up finding a few secret levels which were entertaining to discover.

The expansions surprisingly add more flavour to the gameplay experience, with new enemies and weapons as well as environments to avoid the repetitive feel of the level design. Scourge of Armagon adds Scorpion cyborg enemies who pack a punch and weird monkey like monsters that feel like filler but in return you have Thor's hammer that is fine but it's the Laser Cannon that does the job super well and is one of the best weapons in the series for having your lasers bounce off walls adding more to the firefights. The level design has a castle-esque look which I like because it adds to the 'you're an outsider you must perish' attitude which fits considering you're using rocket launchers in a sword fight.

Dissolution of Eternity has an Egyptian/Tomb Raiding adventure to it which I actually like and the traps included was entertaining. The fact that the final boss is a dragon of all things adds to the randomness of the Quake dimension adventure. In terms of new weapons, we have multi-shot grenade launchers and rocket launchers which are so cool and is a shame these aren't in other episodes and instalments.

Dimension of the Past and Dimension of the Machine are two new campaigns made by Machine Games, though one of them was made a few years back while the other was added with this remastered release. They're both interesting inclusions to the line-up because not only are the levels much bigger in scope but there's a lot of inspiration for things like Half-Life and the classic exploration feel those games had back in the 3D era. There's also the added benefit that each campaign also brings back the weapons from both the base game and the Mission Pack expansions though it will depend on each level. The enemies from the expansions also make their appearance.

I forgot to mention that whenever you take damage your character makes a goose noise which I thought was rather amusing.

Overall I found Quake Remastered to be a really great package. You have the classic original game with modern settings and better performance, but you also have the PC expansions and new content to add to the value of this release. The Switch version does run at 60 frames per second which is still solid and in fact anything by Nightdive Studios is worth owning on Switch if you prefer to go for that option.

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#02 - Quake II (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: November 2023 (via PSN)

Spoiler: My thoughts on Quake II Remastered

Not long after finishing the first game, I decided to jump into the next game on the list which is another Nightdive Studio remaster! Of course I am referring to id Software's Quake II which was released once again during Quake con time but last year.

Now funny enough, this is actually my second playthrough for this game because I already own Quake II on the Xbox 360. Now to refresh your memory if you weren't aware, Quake II was included on a bonus disc with Quake 4 but only for specific versions so you can end up buying Quake 4 without that bonus disc. Even though it's not available digitally and only included as part of the bonus disc version of Quake 4, the game is not a port but an actual remaster that ran at 1080p resolution. That said, my playthrough on that game took a whole year due to the disc not being in the best condition as I bought Quake 4 pre-owned in CeX back in the day.

So this remaster was a nice revisit and despite my workload I did manage to finish the whole remastered package! Quake II Remastered contains the original game, two expansions they released back in the day on PC called The Reckoning and Ground Zero, a new campaign by Machine Games called Call of the Machine, and also the Nintendo 64 version of Quake II also known as Quake II 64. Quake 64 was included on the first game's remastered package but only via the add-on which requires a Bethesda account.

Also want to mention that the game's trophy list is vastly different in tone compared to the previous game. I don't know why, but Nightdive Studios decided to re-use the Xbox 360 achievement list for Quake II and add a few more that basically ask you to finish the campaigns for each expansion as well as the Nintendo 64 version. Basically this is an easy Platinum even if you decide to go through the whole game on the easiest difficulty. For me I kept it reasonable and focused on the Normal difficulty across the whole line-up.

I mentioned that with Quake I had to adjust the settings to avoid feeling slightly off (not motion sickness but in the middle between that and being fine in general). The settings were the same as I had used for the previous game, but this time I have enabled the motion controls which thankfully I have had no issues with. I figured this was the case because I actually kept it enabled when I played DOOM 64 remastered a few years back which I had no issues on. So I suppose Motion Blur being enabled was the saviour here!

While I enjoyed Quake's medieval setting and style, it took a while to adjust to Quake II's structure because it's a different direction to the DOOM formula of episodic content. Here we have what is essentially one massive level with different areas that you can go back and forth on with their own stats of enemy numbers, items and secrets. To make progress you will need to go into each area to locate specific keys or switches and back track a bit or return via a different route, which then introduces more enemies that will get in your area.

This idea does work but it can suffer from pacing issues depending on the objectives involved. I do like the concept and once I figured out how to access the pop-up menu that lets you see how many enemies are in the area I found the pacing to improve because I knew going into each zone how much progress I'm making. The compass was a new addition to the remaster which helps direct you to where the next objective is and it was a very useful tool to avoid getting lost in this maze style structure.

In terms of the weapons, there is a lot of them in this game with your traditional shotgun, rocket launcher, grenade launcher and the classic BFG makes a return. That said, I am rather torn on how I feel about the weapon performance because as much as I love the variety and they are generous with ammo, I do feel that damage-wise they have been toned down compared to the previous game. For instance I expected the rocket launcher and grenade launcher to deal more in the radius that it has rather than just one enemy at a time. The BFG also feels weaker as well. The chaingun is a bit rough as you do end up wasting ammo and time due to its prep against shooting enemies.

That being said, the standout weapons to me have been the Railgun and the Hyperblaster as both of them do enough damage that feels rewarding. The items are also pretty solid with Quad Damage making a return and in this remaster you can stack them so you are able to use them whenever you want, especially for a final boss. The expansions also add some more variety like Ion Ripper which is a spiritual successor to the Laser Cannon from the first game, and Phalanx which is pretty terrible in my opinion.

Also want to mention the Trespasser enemy was tweaked in the remaster so they can be more menacing but also wish they said their catchphrase more lol.

Speaking of the expansions, as mentioned I have played through each one. I started with Call of the Machine, the newest one in the list of campaigns available. This is very similar in scope to Dimension of the Machine from the previous game and while it's also a pretty cool idea to include in this remaster, I won't lie it felt way too long and badly paced when you compare it to the base campaign. The only level that I had enjoyed was the one where you start outside a castle and go further down to the Egyptian inspired tombs.

After playing that I then checked out the two classic expansions The Reckoning and Ground Zero, both of which were alright. I know people had issues with the traps but I didn't mind them as I had no problems. I suppose the remaster helped amend a lot of issues people had with those two. Each level's design is fine and they do add their variety of enemies as well.

But the one that I did found some surprise towards was Quake II 64, the Nintendo 64 exclusive game that was added to the remastered list than being an add-on like the previous 64 game was. Here the game is way shorter, clocking in at around under 2 hours total, and I don't know if its just me but I found the enemies to hit a lot harder in damage compared to the other campaigns. For a game made for the Nintendo 64 it's pretty impressive but it feels like a teaser demo in today's era but I can see why it was a big deal back in the day.

Overall I spent roughly 18 hours finishing the entire remaster and its campaigns, so in a sense this is pretty much like playing multiple games in one package like the first game's remaster, but overall this is really good value and played well for modern consoles. I don't own a physical version for this game so I only played it digitally on the PlayStation 5 but I can see this running really well on Switch as well thanks to the studio.

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#03 - MushihimeSama (Nintendo Switch)
Acquired: September 2023

Spoiler: My thoughts on MushihimeSama

Last year I played two classic Cave bullet hell shooters with DoDonPachi Resurrection and Espgaluda II, both I enjoyed for various reasons and it's great that the Nintendo Switch release (and PC) has the infinite credits to allow for a very fun and enjoyable experience even if the high score resets to zero.

As for MushihimeSama, this was ordered separately from the other two because at the time VideoGamesPlus didn't have stock, so I paid a lot more for this game. Now I finally played it and it's once again another challenging Cave game, with bullets on the screen and you having to dodge them all.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1754270183781245271

Much like the previous two games, MushihimeSama also includes different game modes with the original, Arrange Mode and Version 1.5 mode. I have played through each one with at least five different playthroughs. The Original Mode has different difficulty options ranging from Novice, Normal, Maniac and Ultra Modes with the sole difference being more bullets on the screen. Arrange Mode, similarly to the other games, adds different designs to each level and adding an extra final boss to the mix which is a bitch as per usual. Version 1.5 is pretty much like the original but with some differences to how points work for your high score.

I played through the whole game in one day. Visually the game looks pretty decent with a bugs theme presented throughout and the designs look good, but I do think it blurs too much into the background making it a bit more challenging during gameplay. The story is fine but I found the other two games much better on that front and for the combat, there's three different shooting types and I found it to be decent with power-ups that appear to add more power to your bullet shooting.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1754270797827395971

Overall I found MushihimeSama to be a decent Cave game, but I found myself preferring DoDonPachi Resurrection and Espgaluda II on both the aesthetic and gameplay setup. It's not a bad game by all means but if you want more gameplay variety or value the other games are worth more.

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

#​	PlayStation 5 Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Alan Wake Remastered	Action, Shooter
2​	CONTROL Ultimate Edition	Action, Shooter
3​	Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII -Reunion-	Action RPG
4​	Cyberpunk 2077	Action
5​	Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles	Fighting
6​	The DioField Chronicle	Tactical RPG
7​	DOOM Eternal	Action, Shooter
8​	FANTAVISION 202X	Puzzle
9​	Forspoken	Action RPG
10​	Ghost of Tsushima	Action, Adventure
11​	Ghostwire: Tokyo	Action, Survival Horror
12​	GrimGrimoire OnceMore	Real-Time Strategy RPG
13​	Hades	Dungeon Crawler
14​	JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R	Fighting
15​	Judgment	Action, Beat em up
16​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie	Turn-Based RPG
17​	Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name	Action, Beat 'em up
18​	Lost Judgment	Action, Beat em up
19​	Mobile Suit Gundam BATTLE OPERATION Code Fairy	Action
20​	MONARK	Tactical RPG
21​	Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten	Turn-Based RPG
22​	Neptunia ReVerse	Turn-Based RPG
23​	Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters	Action RPG
24​	Nioh 2	Action Souls RPG
25​	One Piece: Odyssey	Turn-Based RPG
26​	Pac-Man World Re-Pac	Platformer
27​	Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit of Wonder Labyrinth	Metroidvania RPG
28​	Relayer	Tactical RPG
29​	SD Gundam Battle Alliance	Action RPG
30​	Soul Hackers 2	Turn-Based RPG
31​	Star Ocean: The Divine Force	Action RPG
32​	Star Ocean: The Second Story R	Action RPG
33​	Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin	Action Souls RPG
34​	Tactics Ogre Reborn	Tactical RPG
35​	Tales of Arise	Action RPG
36​	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2	Sports
37​	Valkyrie Elysium	Action RPG
38​	Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon	Turn-Based RPG
39​	Ys IX: Monstrum Nox	Action RPG
40​	Yurukill: The Calumniation Games	Shoot em up, Visual Novel

#​	PlayStation Classics (via PS5) Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue	Platformer
2​	Everybody's Golf 2	Sports
3​	Grandia	Turn-Based RPG
4​	Kurushi Final: Mental Blocks	Puzzle
5​	The Legend of Dragoon	Turn-Based RPG
6​	Twisted Metal 2	Action, Racing
7​	Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth	Turn-Based RPG
8​	Wild Arms	Turn-Based RPG
9​	Wild Arms 2	Turn-Based RPG

#​	PlayStation Vita Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Bullet Girls	Action, Shooter
2​	Freedom Wars	Action
3​	Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni	Action

#​	Nintendo Switch Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition	Adventure, Point & Click
2​	Castlevania (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
3​	Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
4​	Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
5​	Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
6​	Castlevania: The Adventure (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
7​	Castlevania: Bloodlines (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
8​	Contra (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
9​	Contra Hard Corps (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
10​	Contra III: The Alien Wars (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
11​	Cytus Alpha	Music, Rhythm
12​	Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze	Action, Platform
13​	Final Fantasy	Turn-Based RPG
14​	Final Fantasy Adventure (Collection of Mana)	Action RPG
15​	Final Fantasy II	Turn-Based RPG
16​	Final Fantasy III	Turn-Based RPG
17​	Final Fantasy IV	Turn-Based RPG
18​	Final Fantasy V	Turn-Based RPG
19​	Final Fantasy VI	Turn-Based RPG
20​	Fire Emblem: Engage	Tactical RPG
21​	Fire Emblem: Three Houses	Tactical RPG
22​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero	Turn-Based RPG
23​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure	Turn-Based RPG
24​	The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails	Action RPG
25​	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild	Action RPG
26​	The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening	Action RPG
27​	Live A Live	Tactical RPG
28​	Mario Kart 8 Deluxe	Racing
29​	Metroid Dread	Metroidvania
30​	Metroid Prime Remastered	Action, Shooter
31​	MUSYNX	Music, Rhythm
32​	New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe	Platformer
33​	Octopath Traveler	Turn-Based RPG
34​	Operation C (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
35​	Powerslave Exhumed	Action, Shooter
36​	Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess	Turn-Based RPG
37​	Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom	Turn-Based RPG
38​	River City Girls Zero	Action, Beat 'em ups
39​	Secret of Mana (Collection of Mana)	Action RPG
40​	Senran Kagura Peach Ball	Pinball
41​	Senran Kagura Reflexions	Simulation
42​	Shadow Man Remastered	Action, Adventure
43​	Super Castlevania IV (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
44​	Super Contra (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
45​	Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury	Action, Platformer
46​	Super Mario Galaxy	Action, Platformer
47​	Super Mario Odyssey	Action, Platformer
48​	Super Mario Sunshine	Action, Platformer
49​	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate	Fighting
50​	Syd of Valis (SD Valis)	Action, Platformer
51​	Trials of Mana (Collection of Mana)	Action RPG
52​	Valis: The Fantasm Soldier	Action, Platformer
53​	Valis II	Action, Platformer
54​	Valis III	Action, Platformer
55​	Valis IV	Action, Platformer
56​	Witch on the Holy Night	Visual Novel
57​	Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition	Action RPG
58​	Xenoblade Chronicles 2	Action RPG
59​	Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country	Action RPG

The 2024 '40' Games Goal:

Spoiler

No.	Game	Console​	Acquired​	Genre
1​	Quake	PS5​	2023​	Action, Shooter
2​	Quake II	PS5​	2023​	Action, Shooter
3​	MushimeSama	Switch​	2023​	Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up

 

[HWR]

I’ve decided to replay the original Final Fantasy VII on NSW, will likely play Persona 3 Reload afterwards. I also recently finished replaying The Simpsons Hit and Run, which has aged fairly well beyond my nostalgia for it, and finally played the original Metal Gear Solid too.

 

[Lordhippos]

Elden Ring

I completed my first run of Elden Ring, Malenia was a pain but I had to get some more DPS and change a couple of things around to kill her. Might be a spicy opinion, but I prefer the combat of Sekiro, Elden Ring wins in terms of atmosphere and exploration though, and presumably build diversity, I just enjoyed the fast paced parry combat of the Samurai. I'm considering doing a couple more runs on NG+ mode with different builds.

Granblue Relink

I completed the main campaign on Granblue Relink. For anyone who has yet to play this game, I recommend playing the campaign on hard mode, and picking your 4 characters to focus on for the duration of the campaign. I did the campaign and all of the side missions I could in about 15 hours.

I'd say this was very good, and for me, the main campaign was better than Tales of Arise (which I didn't finish). The game has some really nice locations, the upgrade system is deep and interesting, and the combat was generally pretty fun, if a little flashy (anime style moves going off all over the place). My only real complaint is that I prefer the Jpn audio, and they talk a lot during combat, so can't really read the subs whilst fighting very easily, and the odd move would one shot me, but I think I hadn't boosted my HP by enough.

You can change up your party later but there is some grinding for materials and things needed. Post-campaign game is a bit like Monster Hunter I think, where you have missions to do and you get scores on them, and rewards for completing them. I'm going to do these for a bit until I've had enough, I'm not going to try and get the top rank on them all.

Persona 3 Reload

I've just started this, being familiar with 4 and 5 much of this I'm used to already, but I think the remake of this game has been good so far, and the updated graphics look good to me. I love all the stupid comments you can make in the conversation options, and wish more games gave you more agency with how you react to what people say.

Stellar Blade

This is another thing to add to my watch list, coming in April, this looks like a really interesting and fun game. Kind of like Nier crossed with Bayonetta.

 

[Dai]

I did a second playthrough of Aliens: Dark Descent, this time on easy mode and with New Game +. If normal mode was way too hard, the combination of easy mode and starting with levelled up marines in NG+ skewed it too far the other way. Enemies have a lot less health on easy, taking a the careful positioning out of encounters in early missions. I think either NG+ on normal or a standard new game on easy would have had a better balance. That said, my squad still got wiped out a couple of times; once by a queen and later when I hadn't realised that letting enemy aggressiveness reach max level was still a virtual death sentence. Still, that's two party wipes on easy compared to maybe a hundred on normal. To put it another way, my first playthrough took 41 hours and the second was 22, meaning half my time on normal was spent replaying sections after a party wipe.

One definite positive this time is that the PS5 version has been patched into a far more stable state. There's still the occasional animation glitch, and I ran into a bug that made it impossible to remove a trait from certain marines that makes them steal materials from the inventory at the end of missions, but I didn't run into any serious progress-affecting bugs or crashes this time. It's a much easier game to recommend now.

Marvel's Midnight Suns
I've played about 10 hours so far and have mixed feelings. The tactical battles are good, with the deck-building element adding some challenge to each turn, and the game balance making characters feel powerful without making encounters too easy. I can't get into the other half of the game though: chillaxing with Earth's Mightiest Heroes. I enjoy the social elements of Blue Reflection, Persona and Bioware games, so this surprised me a bit. Maybe it's because there's such a sharp disconnect between this game's two halves that they feel like two games bolted together. Maybe it's because I already know most of these characters back to front. Maybe it's because these iterations are written like the snarky comic relief parts of the MCU are their only personality traits. Or maybe it's because this game pushes the "they're just normal, flawed people" aspect of Marvel characters way too hard, and helping to arrange a surprise birthday party for a superhero isn't what I wanted from this game.

 

[Aeon]

Almost a decade after I first played it, I finally got around to finishing Dust an Elysian Tail and it’s pretty good overall, especially considering that a lot of the game was made by one guy, the visuals are fantastic, the soundtrack is pretty good and the gameplay is fun enough, if a bit repetitive, sort of like a 2D Dynasty Warriors but the enemies actually know to hit back so it’s not completely mindless, also I can never say no to a good metroidvania, of which this game is, overall, a very solid game.