by frobos
Here's a few highlights and trends in my game playing for this year :
Showing 1-10 of 54 items
Completed on January 4th I tried Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 for a short time a couple of years ago and I absolutely hated it. I didn't appreciate that the developers had tempered with the classic THPS two-minutes-run formula. Knowing that the game is well appreciated by fans, I wanted to give it another chance. I'm glad that I did because I ended up loving my time with THPS 4. I got used to the new challenge formula pretty fast. Even though you can't complete multiple challenges in a single run, every challenge is super fast to complete and can be restarted instantaneously. While the level design wasn't as iconic at the two previous entries, most of the challenges were well designed and really made you use all of your skateboarding skills. The core gameplay isn't changed much from THPS 3 and that's a good thing, because it represents to me the pinnacle of the series. [+] Tons of rewarding challenges to complete [+] Super responsive controls and menus [-] Some levels don't have much personality 8/10
Completed on January 8th on hard When Turok Dinosaur Hunter came out in 1997, I was amazed by it. The atmosphere, the graphics, the secrets ... the game had a mythical quality to me. When Turok 2 came out the next year, I was super hyped. The marketing campaign made the game look immense in size. At the time, I was able to borrow the game from a friend and play it for a couple an hour or two before getting stuck in the first level, unable to progress. I looked at the manual that had all of the amazing weapons in it and imagined how the rest of the game (which I couldn't see) could be. Fast forward to the 2020s, I bought a physical copy of the remaster when they were sold by Limited Run (in the N64-style box, no less). This is how I finally played and beat Turok 2. Being done with it, I don't see how I could have ever done it on an N64. The game is a weird follow-up to the original. The levels are absolutely massive, with specific objectives for each. The problem is that progress is not very well tracked and it's possible to get to the end of a level while having missed an objective at the very beginning of it. The weapons and the enemies are really the best parts of the game. The arsenal is very expansive and almost every weapons has its use. I played the game on hard and didn't find much challenge however. My lives were always maxed and I was always comfortable using my strongest weapons with all of the ammo refill lying around. It was a fun ride, but the game is way to tedious compared to the original. [+] Tons of weapons, all feel different [+] The remaster has a lot of quality of life enhancements [-] Levels are WAY too big [-] Easy to miss critical objectives and items 7/10
Completed on January 16th on hard + Intermission Episode I replayed FFVII Remake on PS5 on hard along with Yuffie's DLC episode. The action in the game really shines at 60 FPS. It was also a way better experience this time around playing on hard difficulty, which forced me to learn an use the game mechanics. Being a kind of new game plus, I also skipped all of the side content (the worst part of the game to me) and focus on the retelling of the original story. The Intermission expansion was just the right length and added a few combat mechanics that were fun to use. The Fort Condor mini-game was also just deep enough to be engaging without being overwhelming. [+] Seems like the game was meant to be played at 60 FPS [+] I love that the game is not a straight retelling of the original [+] Yuffie's episode is substantial and breezy 9/10
Completed on January 21st It seemed like the obvious thing to play the newly released remake of Crisis Core right after playing FFVII Remake. I had finished (and liked) the original release in the late 2000s but never went came to re-experience it. It was mostly a good experience to replay Crisis Core. I still don't care for the Genesis/Angeal sub-plot but everything relating to the main series was very well fleshed out. The gameplay was fine, but on normal difficulty I was able to get super strong very early on, which I appreciated since I was mostly interested in seeing the story. The progression loop with the bite-sized missions are clearly balanced for portable play. In the end both FFVII Remake and Crisis Core Reunion made me curious about replaying (again) the 1997 original. [+] Combat is fun and simple [+] Missions and chapters are mostly quick to complete [+] Fun to experience with materia combinations [-] The new villains are not interesting at all 8/10
Completed on February 6th What an amazing game F-Zero is on the SNES. It's even more amazing that it was a launch title for the system. I'm stunned by how much depth there is to the gameplay, even if it is a simple racer running on Mode 7. The controls are perfect. It's so much fun to use the shoulder buttons to tweak your trajectory just a little bit. And the vehicles have just enough of a drift effect to make you release the gas from time to time. The courses were also all very different and it was very satisfying to learn a track to the point of being able to stay in first place for the whole time. It has become my favourite racing game on the SNES, it is better than Super Mario Kart. [+] Super smooth racing action [+] Excellent controls [+] Tracks are all fun and varied [+] The soundtrack! 9/10
Completed on February 12th Even though this was my fourth time completing Final Fantasy VII, it also ended up being my favourite playthrough to date. It's incredible that this was Square's first attempt at a 3D RPG and that it only took a year to build. This time I decided to do more side quests, and the story was easier to follow, thanks to my replays of FFVII Remake and Crisis Core earlier this year. I also understood some of the mechanics better. I chose to replay the PS1 version of the game on real hardware and I appreciated the game way more this time around than when I did it on the Switch a couple of years ago. [+] Beautiful story about life [+] Memorable OST, superb visuals [+] Incredibly ambitious scope 10/10
Completed on February 19th Operation Logic Bomb is one of the games that I discovered for the first time while exploring the SNES library in chronological order with my Bitmap Book SNES Compendium. The game is a mix of top-down Contra for the combat and Soul Blazer for the level progression (where everything unlocks when you defeat all enemies). The gameplay is really solid. Every weapon has a specific use and feels different and useful to handle. There are only a few enemy types but they all have their own behaviour pattern, so you can think of strategies of how to take them on in the most efficient way. There is a fun little story which doesn't get in the way of the game but contextualizes the levels and the enemies. The music is appropriately upbeat to get your adrenaline running for the more intense levels. A real surprise that I had never encountered this game, it was a lot of fun to complete! [+] Just enough weapon variety [+] Levels are large but you never feel lost [+] Each enemy has its own attack pattern [-] Could have had a bit more variety in level design 8/10
Completed on February 20th I remember renting this game as a kid a couple of times and never getting very far (even though the game isn't very long). Playing it as an adult today, I was able to take my time with it and actually finish it. The gameplay is mostly fine, but the dash mechanic is not always super responsive. It makes some of the stages with instant-death more frustrating than they should be. The more "classical" platforming stages are all great fun though. I especially liked the mini-games between the stages and the football level. There was a lot of creativity and love for the Tiny Toons franchise put into this game. [+] Each stage plays differently [+] Fun mini-games between stages [+] The football level [-] Dash mechanic is sometimes unresponsive [-] Some auto-scroll levels are too long while others are too short 7/10
Completed on February 21st This is one of my favourite games from the SNES. It was one of the only game at the time that I could finish by myself. As I remember it, it was a grand adventure that took me to many different places each with its own vibe. Replaying it as an adult, I can still see that it is a very good video game. It just wasn't as big or grandiose as I remembered it (it took me roughly 90 minutes to complete). The different costumes all bring something different to the gameplay. The bosses are all fun but a little on the easy-side. [+] Solid gameplay [+] Each setting and costume feel unique [-] That one jump at the end of 4-1 in the mountain ... >:| 8/10
Completed on February 21st This was my first time playing the sequel to Magical Quest. I knew that it wasn't as liked as the first game, but I still came open minded that if it was more of the same, I would be happy. It ended up being more of the same, but in a more generic container. The levels were less imaginative than the original and the suits weren't all fun to use. Some of the stages made you change suits all the time which isn't very fun to do. Still an okay platformer, but nothing like the original. [+] Solid gameplay base from the original [-] Too many disjointed elements in each level [-] Some of the suits are less useful than others 6/10