What Games Are You Playing?

[Dai]

I did a marathon replay of Final Fantasy VII Remake, Intermission and Rebirth. Knowing that so much of it is available now, I found myself not taking my time to savour it all quite as much as previously. I still did most of the major sidequests and some of the other optional stuff, but it's interesting how much it reduced my usual playtimes. Remake came down from 40 hours to 35, Intermission from 7 to 5, and the real shocker was Rebirth coming down from 124 hours to 84 just by skipping some of the copy/pasted map marker activities (mostly the rare monster fights and some of the later protorelic quests). Also interesting was that I ended this playthough of Rebirth at the same level as the one that was 40 hours longer.

Spoiler: Ending spoilers

The ending of Rebirth was a bit less confusing this time, but it's still far too ambiguous with the way it combines a bunch of visual cues that all imply different things (static, green glow, white light, rainbow glow, the tear in the sky). Based on my previous list of theories, I'm now leaning towards a combination of theories 1 and 2, that it's a living alternate reality version of Zack in the final battle, but the Aerith who appears in the final battle is her spirit. As for why only Cloud can see Aerith in the post-final-battle scenes, I'm pretty sure now that it's theory 2. I can't shake the concern about theory 4 though, that it's being left intentionally ambigious because they haven't decided how to wrap up the story in the next game yet.

 

[Gemsy-chan]

Gave the Dynasty Warriors: Origins demo a go.

 

[Herano]

Dread delusion: Do you like the surreal landscapes of morrowind and the moral dilemma's of Fallout new vegas? I do, so I really enjoyed this weird lovely open world title. The combat isn't hard, but for me that was perfect. I could just focus on exploring and learning more about what makes this world tick.

Holocure: my favorite bulletheaven just had an update! So many new characters (yay)! there also is a quick maths Boss now (No!)

 

[NormanicGrav]

My draft for one of the games that I played in September had disappeared so now I'll have to rewrite it all. Guess I now know the drafts on this forum don't last forever.

There were delays to playing the latest game because of work which I'm not happy with, but it is what it is.

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#18 - Secret of Mana (PlayStation 4)
Acquired: December 2021

Spoiler: Thoughts on Secret of Mana (2018)

Many years ago there were very few action role-playing games that I checked out, and one of those was the Super Nintendo game Secret of Mana that was available on the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console service. I enjoyed what I had played but I got stuck and landed with a game over numerous times to which I never bothered to continue. It had bothered me a lot that I never went back and finished it. Then in 2018, Square Enix remade Secret of Mana for modern platforms, primarily for mobile and this is how I returned to the world of Mana. With Visions of Mana recently released and how the developers were being treated, I decided now was the time to jump back in.

The story of Mana is pretty simple, your main hero has to journey around the world to stop a Mana Fortress from being resurrected and to do this you go to various templates to further power up your Mana sword. Alongside you are two companions and each of them are playable. In fact you can play co-op and have each person control each character on-screen which is cool.

Mana's combat is an Action RPG but it's got a really unique system where if you pause during each hit against an opponent for the percentage to reach 100%, you will be able to hit them at max damage, whereas if you don't the enemy will either miss or don't do much damage at all. It's one where you want to be careful of your surroundings in combat because if you are full of enemies on the screen you may get yourselves killed before you can take them all out at ease. The game's difficulty can be pretty brutal if I'm honest. If you are not well prepped you're in for trouble.

What I do like about Mana is that you and your companions can swap and level up the weapons you receive on your journey. Each weapon type as they grow will make it easier to cause further damage to enemies especially in areas where they will get stronger and there are orbs throughout the game where you can collect them to upgrade each level. The final orbs for each weapon type are exclusive to randomised drops which have a very bad level of RNG, so you will end up spending ages grinding for that orb to complete the subset. The weapons I primarily used were Sword, Axe and Spears, though you will need to use the Whip to bounce from one bit to another which the game doesn't really tell you unless you figure it out.

Magic is also in the game but because your main character wields the Mana Sword they can't wield the offense and defence abilities so it's up to your companions to sort it out. I am not kidding that these abilities will save you a lot during combat. It's pretty fun being able to shoot various attacks against a whole group of monsters and even the boss fights back to back. You can use elemental magic as well as healing, buffs and more, but all of them depend on the elementals you discover throughout your journey. Like the weapons, magic can also be levelled up. Both weapons and magic level up by how many times you use them each, so for weapons you need to hit any enemy to increase the counter while magic depends on offense and defence (and you can grind the defence on your own character in a temple to easily hit the max rank sooner).
Throughout your journey you will also receive items for head gear and torso, you will want to keep buying these throughout because they will help build your stats though some may be exclusive to specific characters if you're not careful enough. Also worth noting there's various treasure chests that will appear after you defeat an enemy, they are also randomised so you might get a nice item or end up with a trap, whether its turned into a Moogle, get blown up or poisoned.

One thing that also intrigued me with Secret of Mana is what happens when a party member gets killed, they basically turn into a ghost and follow you which is so weird to watch but you can use revival potions to bring them back. You will end up with this happening a lot early into the game but as soon as you build your team with more level stats and better gear, the less of an issue this becomes.

In terms of what I think of the remake's simplistically mobile style design, it's honestly a lot better than I had expected. Yes, the graphics feel outdated and the character's mouths don't move when the voices appear, but I think as a whole it works. The menus could have been designed better but it still does the job on what information you need to know throughout. But my main gripe is mainly the lack of lip syncing to a pretty decent English dub. I did notice randomly dancing people in various shops but it's apparently a part of the Mana franchise's charm so they will return in later games.

The level design is pretty great which is no surprise given this was developed by a pretty solid Japanese company who dominated the retro scene back in the day and considering I only played a small part of the original, going through this remake definitely felt nostalgic to me which is a nice change of pace. I enjoyed the boss fights as well and being able to switch your gear and items during battle which pauses the surroundings is very useful in many situations.

In terms of my 28 hour playthrough, I did decide to go for the Platinum trophy which required 100% the whole game. What this is, is basically secure all of the weapons and magic and level them up to close to maximum, which as I mentioned the final rank for weapons are tied to an RNG item you need which took me hours in the final dungeon. Most of the trophies are story-related i.e. defeating an enemy boss, but the rest is visiting each location on a Flammie, a flying dragon-type of sorts, and completing the guide. The guide is where you can find details about each character you interact with and all of the monsters you have defeated. You also want to collect every weapon and gear in the game, but you don't need to keep them in your inventory thankfully.

Overall, Secret of Mana's remake is pretty good despite the mobile focused design. It basically felt like playing a Super Nintendo game with a bit of an uplift rather than your usual full-on remakes you have nowadays which is a nice change of pace. Trials of Mana is a full-on remake but that works because the game's original wasn't released outside Japan back in the day. If you want to give the Mana franchise a try I do recommend giving Secret of Mana's remake a chance, or you could just go play the original version that's available on Nintendo Switch via the Collection of Mana release.

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#19 - Astro Bot (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: September 2024

Spoiler: My thoughts on Astro Bot

PlayStation has a history with platformers and a lot of creative genres over the years, especially during the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 generation, but the genre eventually took a backseat for Sony in favour for more action driven, big blockbuster type projects for their first-party games. Now I have no problem with this at all, because they were all very well made and you can see the efforts put into them, but there's something about a simple platformer game that to me screams less is more in its design, and you have to credit the developers for managing those ideas because of the console's limitations back then.

When the PlayStation VR was first released, Team Asobi who recently formed a few years prior by members of Japan Studio, created a little game called Astro Bot: Rescue Mission. This is a game many people, including myself, did not manage to play because it was exclusive to VR, but I heard that it was a fun time. Sony probably saw something from this and asked them to make another game but for the launch of the PlayStation 5 with Astro's Playroom, a free game that helped introduce the DualSense's capabilities and celebrate the console's legacy. I really enjoyed Astro's Playroom and the fact that it was free with the console also gave me nostalgic vibes of having Wii Sports bundled with the Nintendo Wii, it's just that type of feeling that you also don't get nowadays.

Earlier in the year I heard rumours that Team Asobi were cooking something and it ended up being a brand new Astro Bot video game but not just any game - a proper retail non-VR experience that brings back the platformer genre for modern PlayStation fans. I can't remember the last time Sony's first-party team brought us a retail platformer outside of Ratchet & Clank's reimagined game and Rift Apart. Either way, what they showed was really exciting and it was one of my most-anticipated to play.

And I did manage to play it close to launch. It's lived to what it had promised, an exciting platformer that is simple but also creative in what it wants to bring in its level design and variety. My god I haven't had such fun playing a game like this in a while. Now why exactly is this game so good despite its simple genre?

Let's start with the level design. Astro Bot follows a similar structure to Crash Bandicoot where you have individual areas that you explore and collect items/people along the way. It's linear with some room to find very secret areas throughout. Each area is also not recycled which is really surprising and there's a lot of detail to the texture design and the reactions of the Astro Bots themselves. There's also a specific theme to each level so you may have a jungle, or a construction area, or a casino (got to have one of those). There are also very simple mini-levels that are designed as challenges that reward you with an Bot.

Speaking of Bots, there's hundreds of them in this game and the end goal is to rescue all of them. Most are references to various video games that have been a part of PlayStation history for the past 30 years. This includes the usual suspects but more importantly games that are so niche that only those who played them on PlayStation 1 & 2 would recognise them. I managed to recognise a majority of them and I was shocked by how many appeared. Now this is technically a spoiler but to ease your expectations I may as well mention it - Square Enix characters are not featured in this game and I honestly have no clue why but I suspect it's due to tough staff members at Square HQ that vetoed the cameos.

In each level there's a surprising number of interactive objects. You have glass that breaks easily when you hover over them, which is really cool to see, you have objects that you can throw around and your spin-attacks can be used to progress forward whether its going into the air or underground. There's also a Mario Sunshine style mechanic which is entertaining. The music in these levels is so diverse and up-beat, and adds to the level design, and the controls were really good especially when you need to shake or use the triggers to do specific actions.

Astro Bot is also a pretty easy Platinum trophy. You can 100% the game in around 8 hours and all of the challenges and levels were all fun. The game is also pretty challenging in terms of how you can die when you get hit once, but the checkpoint system is generous and you can replay the levels without issue given they're fairly short. There is DLC released that I haven't played yet but will check it out at a later point. Overall, Astro Bot is a really good platformer and I recommend it to anyone who wants to revisit the classic PlayStation platformer experience.

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#20 - Metaphor: ReFantazio (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: October 2024

Spoiler: My thoughts on Metaphor

Atlus may have placed their efforts into putting out so many Persona games but there was one project that they had been working on for a very long time, known simply as Project Re:Fantasy. This is a project helmed by Katsura Hashino and his team at Studio Zero, with the idea of wanting to work on more projects that isn't just Persona over and over again. Eventually the game they were working on was officially announced at an Xbox Showcase as Metaphor: ReFantazio, which is multi-platform as well which is needed for a new IP like this.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is best described as taking what works best for the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei franchise and creative new ideas from that. I suppose you could also see Metaphor as a prototype for Persona 6 like Catherine was seen by some as a prototype for Persona 5 in terms of its game engine. But after playing Metaphor, it's definitely got potential to stick around as its own franchise to stand alongside the rest of Atlus' catalogue. In other words, this is a really good game, in fact one of the best games I've played in recent years.

Metaphor's story is all about our protagonist joining the race to claim the throne of the late King against other rivals and in particular one individual who the protagonist wants to defeat. This is a story that is a lot more mysterious as you progress throughout the game because you find yourself wondering what is going on with the modern Japan reference at the first few seconds of the game, the character More who's in a academic room helping you out (like Persona's Velvet Rooms), why are the monsters called Humans, and so on. The game delivers on many of these answers and throws a lot of curve balls as well which was unexpected. It ends on a really solid note and has a consistent antagonist so it doesn't follow the same Persona 3-5 approach if you know what I mean.

One of the things that made Persona beloved were its cast of characters but in each game you often have a few problems like that one character you dislike for a certain reason or the stereotypes are too obvious and are there to fit that type. Metaphor doesn't feel like that outside of the fact that each character you interact with is from a different tribe. And I really like our cast, because all of them are interesting for different reasons and their social rank storylines do add more to their background.

Now the combat is once again turn-based which is always great but it's an added twist to the traditional Persona & Megami Tensei system. Metaphor once again uses the 'Press Turn' system seen in the other Atlus games, where each character has one turn which can extend their team's list of turns if you are able to exploit the weaknesses of the enemies whilst you can also reduce the opponent's number of turns if your character can 'Block' or 'Repel' the attacks.

The usual debuff, magic and basic attacks all make a return as well as choosing to use items and guarding. Metaphor also brings back swapping characters who are not in your main four-team row during combat but it does use up a single turn. But what I love the most about the combat in this game is actually the option to completely reset the entire battle so that if you feel like you have completely botched your battle and wasted moves or items etc, you can press L3 and start over. If you get ambushed that doesn't get reset but the outcomes can change.

Before you start a battle you can also whack them a few times which does feel like you're playing an Action RPG in disguise but the idea here is to hit them enough so that they can be stunned (and if they hit you back you're going to be ambushed). This is different to Persona 5 where you had to hit them from behind in order to stun them. If you end up being strong enough you can kill them without having to stun/start a battle and earn EXP, Magla, Money & Archetype EXP which is useful for grinding.

Like Persona, Metaphor has its own type of abilities called Archetypes. Basically these are best described as classes of sorts, you have a wide range of classes available that you can use to grow your party's strengths including new debuff abilities, magic power and even added extras like recovering MP per turn which is crucial because this game follows the same model as Persona where MP items don't exist and it forces you to give up exploring dungeons further because you don't have the MP to use abilities that can easily defeat enemies.

The Persona games have the setup where your main character can wield various Personas while your companions have a fixed Persona. Metaphor ditches that idea and allows you to freely choose any class for any character. Now each companion will have a class of their own and abilities prepped related to them, but you can build them further and have more freedom to decide if you want one of them to become someone else completely or not. You do need to level the Ranks for each Archetype to unlock more skills but you can carry those skills over to other Archetypes which is awesome.

Some Archetype classes will be locked behind the Follower Ranks system that is similar to Persona 3-5, but unlike Persona, you are able to achieve Rank 8 for all of your characters in a single playthrough with plenty of breathing space, as long as you build up your Royal Virtues to Rank 5 as you progress through the story. Levelling up Archetypes requires Magla points which can be earned during combat. It is possible to max out an entire Archetype system with a single character thanks to end game content and I did spend additional hours just to make it happen, but my recommendation is to review the path for each companion's setup and optimise it as much as you can so you don't end up spending much on a class that you don't really need for them.

The calendar system from Persona 3-5 is back and it's a different approach given Persona follows a school academic year whereas Metaphor is shorter in length, but there is thankfully breathing room to do as much as you can within the deadline. Similar to Persona, you can spend a day going to a dungeon but the evening is just resting while if you spend a day doing something else you can also do activities in the evening. Metaphor also had days spent travelling which sounds scary at first but the game knows what its doing as you progress through the story so it's less annoying than it sounds. You won't be able to 100% everything in a single playthrough, so while I was able to max out Follower Ranks, Royal Virtues Ranks, visit every location and complete a side plot involving the Trials of the Dragon, everything else was not completed which were the side quests (and I reckon with this one it was just one left involving the Coliseum and that was it), book reading and of course the post-game content which is tied to New Game+.

The music in this game is probably the weakest aspect of the game. As much as I love the unique sound of the monk during songs and the diverse styles in each area, there is a lot of repetitiveness as you go into each area and battles. Persona does have a similar issue but what makes the Persona soundtrack work is that each song feels like a song than a soundtrack piece, therefore replayability works very well in that game's case. Metaphor suffers from replayability of the same usual segment of a song and when you listen to the OST it doesn't feel like a complete track but repeated until the song fades. There's a lot of amazing songs in the soundtrack but Persona's soundtrack pretty much raised the bar here for expectation.

I went with the English dub for the game and surprisingly the accents are mainly British which was interesting and it works pretty well with the fantasy setting. I do think the voice actor for the main protagonist is pretty hit or miss, I do think some of the delivered lines don't hit the mark at times but overall the cast is great. Louis' voice actor is great here too and delivers those lines pretty well.

Now in terms of progression, the game is shorter than Persona but I did spend a bit more time due to wanting to get the Archetypes maxed out and make sure I was on track ahead of some of the boss fights. You ideally will take about 65 hours to finish the story but I spent 81 hours overall and I had a blast going through the game as a whole. No Platinum but what I achieved without a guide none-the-less was a rewarding experience.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a game that I wasn't really hyped to play. I bought it because it's from Atlus and the Persona developers so I knew what to expect and how polished it would become. I started it because I felt like it and could have easily placed this in the backlog for a long time, but a part of me wanted to play it sooner as soon as the reviews came in and to avoid story spoilers. So I played it as soon as my copy arrived in the mail (which was delayed by 2 weeks due to stock issues) and what I ended up with was a playthrough of a really fascinating journey from start to finish with a great cast of characters, a fantastic art style and visual designs, unique monsters inspired by artist Hieronymus Bosch and a solid and rewarding combat system. Music was still good despite my issues with it and there are some parts where they could have made it a bit more interesting but what we got is a very strong start to a new IP for Atlus and I look forward to what else they have in store for the Metaphor franchise.

Fantasy is not dead.

---

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​	MotorStorm	Racing
13​	Prince of Persia	Action, Platformer
14​	Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands	Action, Platformer
15​	Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time	Action, Platformer
16​	Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed	Racing
17​	Split/Second: Velocity	Racing
18​	Tears to Tiara II: Heir of the Overlord	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
19​	Tekken 6	Fighting
20​	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​	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: Rinne Utopia (Rio-Reincarnation)	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
17​	Date A Live II: Ars Install (Rio-Reincarnation)	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
18​	Date A Live III: Twin Edition: Rio Reincarnation	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
19​	Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess	God RPG
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​	Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen	Action RPG
27​	Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends	Musou
28​	Fairy Tail	Turn-Based RPG
29​	Fate/Extella Link	Musou
30​	Final Fantasy IX	Turn-Based RPG
31​	Full Metal Panic! Fight! Who Dares Win	Tactical RPG
32​	Gal*Gun 2	On-Rails Shooter
33​	Gintama Rumble	Action, Musou
34​	GOD EATER 3	Action Hunter RPG
35​	Gravity Rush 2	Action, Platformer
36​	The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures	Visual Novel
37​	The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve	Visual Novel
38​	Gundam Breaker 3 BREAK EDITION	Action, Arcade
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​	My Hero Academia: One's Justice 2	Fighting
53​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm	Action, Fighting
54​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2	Action, Fighting
55​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3	Action, Fighting
56​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4: Road to Boruto	Action, Fighting
57​	NEO: The World Ends With You	Action RPG
58​	Neptunia Virtual Stars	Action
59​	Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars	Action
60​	Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered	Turn-Based RPG
61​	Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom	Action RPG
62​	Nights of Azure	Action RPG
63​	Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon	Action RPG
64​	One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4	Action, Musou
65​	One Piece: World Seeker	Action
66​	Our World Is Ended	Visual Novel
67​	Persona 5 Strikers	Action RPG, Musou
68​	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney	Visual Novel
69​	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All	Visual Novel
70​	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations	Visual Novel
71​	Punch Line	Visual Novel
72​	Raging Loop	Visual Novel
73​	Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-: Prophecy of the Throne	Visual Novel
74​	Robotics;Notes DaSH	Visual Novel
75​	Robotics;Notes ELITE	Visual Novel
76​	SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays	Tactical RPG
77​	SD Gundam G Generation Genesis	Tactical RPG
78​	Sengoku Basara 4: Sumeragi	Musou
79​	Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal	Action
80​	Shadow of the Colossus	Platformer
81​	Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster	Turn-Based RPG
82​	Star Ocean: First Departure R	Action RPG
83​	Star Ocean: The Last Hope HD Remaster	Action RPG
84​	Steins;Gate Elite	Visual Novel
85​	Super Neptunia RPG	Turn-Based RPG
86​	Super Robot Wars 30	Tactical RPG
87​	Super Robot Wars OG: The Moon Dwellers	Tactical RPG
88​	Super Robot Wars T	Tactical RPG
89​	Super Robot Wars X	Tactical RPG
90​	Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet	Action RPG
91​	Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Sessions!	Music, Rhythm
92​	Tales of Berseria	Action RPG
93​	Tales of Vesperia	Action RPG
94​	Theatrhythm Final Bar Line	Music, Rhythm
95​	Trials of Mana	Action RPG
96​	Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
97​	Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
98​	Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
99​	Utawarerumono: Zan	Action, Musou
100​	Valkyria Chronicles 4	Tactical RPG
101​	Valkyria Revolution	Action RPG
102​	WipEout Omega Collection	Racing
103​	The Witch and the Hundred Knight Revival Edition	Action RPG
104​	WORLDEND SYNDROME	Visual Novel
105​	Yakuza 3 Remastered	Action, Beat em up
106​	Yakuza 4 Remastered	Action, Beat em up
107​	Yakuza 5 Remastered	Action, Beat em up
108​	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​	Alan Wake II	Action, Survival Horror
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​	Fate/Samurai Remnant	Action RPG, Musou
10​	Forspoken	Action RPG
11​	Ghost of Tsushima	Action, Adventure
12​	Ghostwire: Tokyo	Action, Survival Horror
13​	Granblue Fantasy Re:link	Action RPG
14​	GrimGrimoire OnceMore	Real-Time Strategy RPG
15​	Hades	Dungeon Crawler
16​	JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R	Fighting
17​	Judgment	Action, Beat em up
18​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie	Turn-Based RPG
19​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak	Turn-Based RPG
20​	Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name	Action, Beat 'em up
21​	Lost Judgment	Action, Beat em up
22​	Mobile Suit Gundam BATTLE OPERATION Code Fairy	Action
23​	MONARK	Tactical RPG
24​	Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten	Turn-Based RPG
25​	Neptunia ReVerse	Turn-Based RPG
26​	Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters	Action RPG
27​	One Piece: Odyssey	Turn-Based RPG
28​	Pac-Man World Re-Pac	Platformer
29​	Persona 5 Royal	Turn-Based RPG
30​	Persona 5 Tactica	Tactical RPG
31​	Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit of Wonder Labyrinth	Metroidvania RPG
32​	Relayer	Tactical RPG
33​	SD Gundam Battle Alliance	Action RPG
34​	Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance	Turn-Based RPG
35​	Soul Hackers 2	Turn-Based RPG
36​	Star Ocean: The Divine Force	Action RPG
37​	Star Ocean: The Second Story R	Action RPG
38​	Tactics Ogre Reborn	Tactical RPG
39​	Tales of Arise	Action RPG
40​	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2	Sports
41​	Unicorn Overlord	Tactical RPG
42​	Valkyrie Elysium	Action RPG
43​	Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon	Turn-Based RPG
44​	Yurukill: The Calumniation Games	Shoot em up, Visual Novel

#​	PlayStation Classics (via PS5) Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Dino Crisis	Survival Horror
2​	Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue	Platformer
3​	Everybody's Golf 2	Sports
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​	Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni	Action

#​	Nintendo Switch Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Advance Wars (Re-Boot Camp)	Tactical RPG
2​	Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising (Re-Boot Camp)	Tactical RPG
3​	Akai Katana Shin	Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up
4​	Anonymous;Code	Adventure, Visual Novel
5​	Another Code: Two Memories	Adventure, Puzzle
6​	Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories	Adventure, Puzzle
7​	Armored Warriors (Capcom Belt Action Collection)	Arcade, Beat 'em up
8​	Avenger (Telenet Shooting Collection)	Arcade, Shoot 'em up
9​	Balatro	Card, Roguelike
10​	Battle Circuit (Capcom Belt Action Collection)	Arcade, Beat 'em up
11​	Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition	Adventure, Point & Click
12​	Captain Commando (Capcom Belt Action Collection)	Arcade, Beat 'em up
13​	Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker	Puzzle, Platformer
14​	Castle of Shikigami 2	Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up
15​	Castlevania (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
16​	Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
17​	Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
18​	Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
19​	Castlevania: The Adventure (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
20​	Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (Advance Collection)	Action, Platform
21​	Castlevania: Bloodlines (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
22​	Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (Advance Collection)	Action, Platform
23​	Castlevania: Dracula X (Advance Collection)	Action, Platform
24​	Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (Advance Collection)	Action, Platform
25​	Chaos;Child	Adventure, Visual Novel
26​	Chaos;Head Noah	Adventure, Visual Novel
27​	Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition	Turn-Based RPG
28​	Code of Princess EX	Action RPG
29​	Contra (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
30​	Contra Hard Corps (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
31​	Contra III: The Alien Wars (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
32​	Cosmic Fantasy	Turn-Based RPG
33​	Cosmic Fantasy II	Turn-Based RPG
34​	Cruis'n Blast	Racing
35​	Cursed to Golf	Sports, Platformer
36​	Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness (Capcom Fighting Collection)	Fighting
37​	Cytus Alpha	Music, Rhythm
38​	Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors (Capcom Fighting Collection)	Fighting
39​	Deathsmiles	Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up
40​	Deathsmiles II	Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up
41​	Demon's Tilt	Pinball
42​	Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze	Action, Platform
43​	Final Fantasy (Pixel Remaster)	Turn-Based RPG
44​	Final Fantasy Adventure (Collection of Mana)	Action RPG
45​	Final Fantasy II (Pixel Remaster)	Turn-Based RPG
46​	Final Fantasy III (Pixel Remaster)	Turn-Based RPG
47​	Final Fantasy IV (Pixel Remaster)	Turn-Based RPG
48​	Final Fantasy V (Pixel Remaster)	Turn-Based RPG
49​	Final Fantasy VI (Pixel Remaster)	Turn-Based RPG
50​	Final Fight (Capcom Belt Action Collection)	Arcade, Beat 'em up
51​	Fire Emblem Warriors	Action, Musou
52​	Fire Emblem: Engage	Tactical RPG
53​	Fire Emblem: Three Houses	Tactical RPG
54​	Gaiares (Telenet Shooting Collection)	Arcade, Shoot 'em up
55​	Getsu Fūma Den	Action RPG
56​	Getsufumaden: Undying Moon	Action RPG, Metroidvania
57​	Granada (Telenet Shooting Collection)	Arcade, Shoot 'em up
58​	Grandia (HD Collection)	Turn-Based RPG
59​	Grandia II (HD Collection)	Turn-Based RPG
60​	The House in Fata Morgana	Visual Novel
61​	Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition (Capcom Fighting Collection)	Fighting
62​	Kid Dracula (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
63​	The King of Dragons (Capcom Belt Action Collection)	Arcade, Beat 'em up
64​	Knights of the Round (Capcom Belt Action Collection)	Arcade, Beat 'em up
65​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero	Turn-Based RPG
66​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure	Turn-Based RPG
67​	The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails	Action RPG
68​	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild	Action RPG
69​	The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening	Action RPG
70​	Live A Live	Tactical RPG
71​	Mario Kart 8 Deluxe	Racing
72​	Marvel Super Heroes (Marvel vs Capcom Arcade Classics)	Arcade, Fighting
73​	Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (Marvel vs Capcom Arcade Classics)	Arcade, Fighting
74​	Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (Marvel vs Capcom Arcade Classics)	Arcade, Fighting
75​	Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (Marvel vs Capcom Arcade Classics)	Arcade, Fighting
76​	Metroid Dread	Metroidvania
77​	Metroid Prime Remastered	Action, Shooter
78​	MUSYNX	Music, Rhythm
79​	New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe	Platformer
80​	Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge (Capcom Fighting Collection)	Fighting
81​	Octopath Traveler	Turn-Based RPG
82​	Operation C (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
83​	Paper Mario: The Origami King	Turn-Based RPG
84​	Powerslave Exhumed	Action, Shooter
85​	Psychic Storm (Telenet Shooting Collection)	Arcade, Shoot 'em up
86​	The Punisher (Marvel vs Capcom Arcade Classics)	Arcade, Beat 'em up
87​	Radiant Silvergun	Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up
88​	Red Earth (Capcom Fighting Collection)	Fighting
89​	Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess (Marl Kingdom Chronicles)	Turn-Based RPG
90​	Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom (Marl Kingdom Chronicles)	Turn-Based RPG
91​	River City Girls Zero	Action, Beat 'em ups
92​	SaGa Frontier	Turn-Based RPG
93​	Secret of Mana (Collection of Mana)	Action RPG
94​	Senran Kagura Peach Ball	Pinball
95​	Senran Kagura Reflexions	Simulation
96​	Shadow Man Remastered	Action, Adventure
97​	Signalis	Survival Horror
98​	Super Castlevania IV (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
99​	Super Contra (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
100​	Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix (Pocket Fighter) (Capcom Fighting Collection)	Fighting
101​	Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury	Action, Platformer
102​	Super Mario Galaxy	Action, Platformer
103​	Super Mario Maker 2	Action, Platformer
104​	Super Mario Odyssey	Action, Platformer
105​	Super Mario Sunshine	Action, Platformer
106​	Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (Capcom Fighting Collection)	Fighting
107​	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate	Fighting
108​	Syd of Valis (SD Valis) (Valis Collection 2)	Action, Platformer
109​	Toaplan Arcade Garage: Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli	Arcade, Shoot 'em up
110​	Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE	Turn-Based RPG
111​	Tokyo Xanadu eX+	Action RPG
112​	Trials of Mana (Collection of Mana)	Action RPG
113​	Triangle Strategy	Tactical RPG
114​	Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon	Visual Novel
115​	Valis: The Fantasm Soldier (Valis Collection 1)	Action, Platformer
116​	Valis II (Valis Collection 1)	Action, Platformer
117​	Valis III (Valis Collection 1)	Action, Platformer
118​	Valis IV (Valis Collection 2)	Action, Platformer
119​	Vampire Hunter 2: Darkstalkers' Revenge (Capcom Fighting Collection)	Fighting
120​	Vampire Savior: The Lord of Vampire (Darkstalkers 3) (Capcom Fighting Collection)	Fighting
121​	Vampire Savior 2: The Lord of Vampire (Capcom Fighting Collection)	Fighting
122​	Warriors of Fate (Capcom Belt Action Collection)	Arcade, Beat 'em up
123​	Witch on the Holy Night	Visual Novel
124​	X-Men vs. Street Fighter (Marvel vs Capcom Arcade Classics)	Arcade, Fighting
125​	X-Men: Children of the Atom (Marvel vs Capcom Arcade Classics)	Arcade, Fighting
126​	Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition	Action RPG
127​	Xenoblade Chronicles 2	Action RPG
128​	Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country	Action RPG
129​	Yoshi's Crafted World	Action, Platformer

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
4​	Nioh 2 Remastered	PS5​	2022​	Action Souls RPG
5​	Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade	PS5​	2024​	Action RPG
6​	Final Fantasy VII Rebirth	PS5​	2024​	Action RPG
7​	Puppeteer	PS3​	2019​	Action, Platformer
8​	Stranglehold	PS3​	2023​	Action, Shooter
9​	Final Fantasy VIII Remastered	PS4​	2021​	Turn-Based RPG
10​	Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin	PS5​	2022​	Action Souls RPG
11​	The Hong Kong Massacre	PS4​	2023​	Top-Down Shooter
12​	RUINER	PS4​	2023​	Top-Down Shooter
13​	One Piece: Unlimited World Red	PS4​	2022​	Action
14​	One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows	PS4​	2024​	Fighting
15​	My Hero Academia: One's Justice	PS4​	2024​	Fighting
16​	Spec Ops: The Line	PS3​	2024​	Action, Shooter
17​	Ys IX: Monstrum Nox	PS5​	2023​	Action RPG
18​	Secret of Mana	PS4​	2021​	Action RPG
19​	Astro Bot	PS5​	2024​	Action, Platformer
20​	Metaphor: ReFantazio	PS5​	2024​	Turn-Based RPG

 

[Dai]

Final Fantasy VII (original)
I used to replay this once a year, but this is the first time I've revisited it since the first part of the remake came out. It's still the masterpiece it was 27 years ago. The remakes expand and polish a lot of things, especially dialogue and minigames, and make the adventure more expansive. The original is a cleaner telling of the story though, and has better pacing for the most part. Given the differences between the original and the remake, neither ends up feeling redundant; they complement each other well.

 

[HWR]

Last month, I had some time off work and worked my way through the 3D universe GTAs again (Vice City Stories/Vice City/San Andreas/Liberty City Stories/III).

In regards to which versions I tend to play, VC and SA were ones I used specific mods for, whilst for III I opted to play the “Definitive” version, as the trilogy was the cheapest I’d seen it during Black Friday, and I wanted to see how the recent updates fixed various issues and lighting, and whilst there is still work to be done I didn’t notice too many issues with III during this playthrough.

Whilst I’ll always love VCS/VC/SA, I’m unlikely to ever revisit LCS and III again as I don’t like the setting and neither game is especially good despite the former having some solid character moments.

Since then I have started Metaphor ReFantazio and am making steady enough progress there.

 

[awadama]

I've almost got the platinum for Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero - just a few more online fights to go!

It was definitely a bit overhyped. I've enjoyed it very much, but no more than any other DB game.

It was pushed as being the successor to the Budokai Tenkaichi games, but they had loads of replay value - unless this gets some decent DLC, I probably won't touch it again after I get the plat.

 

[Dai]

Playstation 2024 wrap-up.



This feels like redemption for CoD being my most-played game last year.

 

[awadama]

This was mine!

 

[D1tchd1gger]

Mine:




Still haven't finished Elden Ring!

 

[HWR]

My top 3 doesn’t surprise me, that and Ragnarok being fifth. Rebirth was an expansive game thanks to all the side content and some frustrating minigames.

 

[Lucky_Deity]

Here's mine!

FF7 Rebirth is no shocker, still my GOTY and arguably favourite game of all time currently (tied with P4G and RE4 Remake), still thinking about it.

P5 I'm currenlty playing still, my 4th and 5th most played games were Sonic x Shadow Generations and Ratchet & Clank (2016), most of my time was taken up by FF7R but totally worth it.

 

[awadama]

The Sparking Zero platinum is all done now so I'm back on Dragon Quest XI.

I got stuck on a boss in 2020 - I had another go and beat it, so I can finally progress! I thought I was a lot further through than I actually am...I've still got LOADS left to do!

 

[Dai]

Silent Hill 2
A great remake of an all-time classic. It nails the look and atmosphere of the original for the most part, while giving the graphics, controls, and combat a massive upgrade. I was hesitant about the new character models and voices in trailers, but most of them quickly grew on me in the game itself. Angela especially benefits in this regard, with an appearance and performance that better conveys her vulnerability and unstable nature. The new James is great too, with the enhanced facial animation of the remake allowing for a far more nuanced performance that delves into the conflicting emotions of this deeply broken man. Maria's new design is the only one that didn't work for me, since she looks too healthy. Her original CG model was pale and eerie, which better fit her role in the story.

The remake also fleshes out the locations a lot. Rather like Resident Evil 2, the most iconic locations are faithfully reimagined, but also expanded upon. The remake ends up about twice the length of the original. This works fine in the first half, but the expanded prison is a slog, partially because it's the most boring location, but also because you can barely see it. This might be the darkest game I've ever played, and the prison pushes that to breaking point. Someone needs to tell Bloober that eye strain ≠ tension.

Spoiler: Final boss spoilers

The only other change I didn't like was that they expanded the final boss into a three-stage battle. In the original, the short, simple and creepy confrontation with Mary/Maria felt more like the final manifestation of James's guilt and grief, reliving his darkest moment with a nightmarish twist; a murder rather than a battle. In the remake it just feels like a fight against a standard videogame boss, and is the one time I think Bloober missed the point of the original.

The game retains all the endings of the original, plus a couple of new ones. Thankfully I managed to get my preferred ending (Leave) on the first attempt without referring to a guide. The conditions seem similar to the original. In some ways Silent Hill 2 was always more of a role-playing game than actual RPGs, since the ending you get is decided in a very organic way by how you act as James, rather than by obvious dialogue choices.