#surprisingly the only classic mario game i think ive played is super mario bros but the free cd i got with my wii

[radramblog]

Game of the Year 2020...?

Ive scrolled the list of games that came out this year to see what my GOTY ended up being, but turns out the only game I played in 2020 that released that year was, uh…….

Fucking good game but like I’m not gonna hand it GOTY by default (That goes to Hades, based solely impressions from other people). Actually, I’m not handing out any awards, really. So I guess I’m just gonna go over a bunch of the other games I did play last year, regardless of whether or not they came out then.

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition

A mate got me this for my birthday in December 2019, and unlike the other games I got then (Kirby Star Allies which I burned through that month and Octopath which I still haven’t played) I spent a fair few hours playing it last year. This was before the sequel was announced, and also a little bit after the fact- figured I should try and finish one before playing the other. Unfortunately, I have yet to purchase Age of Calamity nor finish Definitive Edition, because the former is expensive and the latter is expansive. Holy shit there’s so much fucking content in this game. I don’t think I ever will finish it to be honest, though despite the repetitiveness it never really felt boring to me. It’s the only Warriors/Musou game I’ve played, and I’d be interested in trying others based on the experience.

(I’m not playing Fire Emblem Warriors though fuck that)

Pokemon Sword and Shield DLC: The Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra

Sword and Shield felt somewhat lacking on release, and while the DLCs released this year did much to try and fix this its still a bit shit that it required an extra paycheck out of you to get the full game- outside of outsourced mobile games like Go and Shuffle, or services such as Bank or Home, Pokemon has never actually had DLC/microtransactions, so this was a little disappointing. I’d argue that it absolutely wasn’t worth it when Isle was released, as fun as the content was it was again, lacking. Crown Tundra I would argue exceeded my (admittedly low) expectations, however- the new and returning mons are cool and welcome (I despised Calyrex’s design on first reveal but their behaviour in story redeemed it more than enough), and the Max Lair Adventure offered a surprisingly replayable romp that has been great to just try and grind out with friends. I can’t say I’d recommend the DLC pack though- only if because you’ve probably made up your mind already as to whether or not you’re getting it, or this doesn’t apply to you at all. I could also put basically every main series Pokemon game on here, seeing as I’m pretty sure I nuzlocked every region at some point during the year, but I don’t want to make this *that* long. 

Super Smash Bros Ultimate Expansion Pass

Smash is still Smash. I don’t find myself playing it much on my own, and even in Perth get-togethers weren’t super common last year. As neat as the DLC characters released this year are for the franchise as a whole, none of them convinced me to play significantly more than usual, and I can’t wrap my head around half of them, so.

Also, I’m still salty about Byleth, and I actually really liked Three Houses, it was my first FE game. Why the fuck wasn’t it Claude????

Rivals of Aether

On the other hand, in the last few months I’ve found myself grinding match after match of Rivals with one of my best mates and the game is a fucking blast, holy shit. I still haven’t bought it for myself, but its basically 100% of the reason I have played 0 smash for the last few months since we’re too busy mashing Orcane vs Ranno over and over and not really getting tired of it. It requires a specific type of person to get into it, but if you’re in that group then its just an excellent game.

VA-11 Hall-A

I first played VA-11 Hall-A (Vallhalla, since typing that is a pain) by pirating it and playing it on my laptop in the dead of night.

It quickly became one of my favourite games of all time.

When the Switch port dropped, I felt obliged to actually pay for it this time around, since the developers had more than earned my money. And then I replayed it again, playing it on my switch in the dead of night (At least this time I had the excuse of being a nightshift worker). With the sequel unfortunately delayed into 2021, it might be time to run it back once more or drag more of my mates into Glitch City since I already forcibly exposed a few of em to it.

The post-credits title screen is still my phone background.

Fallout: New Vegas

I don’t really have much to say about FNV that hasn’t been said already, especially considering HBomberguy’s recently released video, but it is also on my top 5 list and I only got around to playing Lonesome Road and Dead Money this year. Also went out of my way to 100% achievement complete the game on Steam, which I believe is the first time I’ve done that for a game.

Zero Escape Series (Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors, Virtue’s Last Reward, Zero Time Dilemma)

The Danganronpa series’ less colourful sibling, Zero Escape was a series I finally got around to finishing after having borrowed a friend’s copy of VLR back in high school and playing it wrong due to not deleting his save file (oops,). I think VLR remains my favourite, and I really hope the series continues at some point (unlikely as it seems now) considering how ZTD missed the mark pretty hard. The first 2 games are still excellent mystery games and a lot of fun, though you do need somewhat of a tolerance for words.

A Hat in Time

Oh god this game is so fucking cute. Also, just an excellent platformer. Is the DLC still on sale? I should buy that.

Fallout 4

Its just not New Vegas. It just isn’t. I really tried with this game, I really did. The gunplay is great, modding and building shit is fun, but its just not the same.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

A couple years ago I bought a SNES Mini, but until 2020 I didn’t really have a convenient way of playing it seeing as my monitor didn’t have an HDMI port. But now I do have one with one, so I got to start playing this classic! And then stopped because of uni. Should finish that, probably.

Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon

Shit Keara I still have your copy sorry I’ll get back to it :<

Pokemon Stadium

I also managed to get my N64 up and running, and despite being the wrong region for most of the games available in local shops, I somehow managed to get Stadium for a great price. Got to dig out my old Red cartridge and anything. Fuck me though, this game is brutal. Seriously, Gen 1 battle mechanics are tough to deal with at the best of times, having to do battle after battle with said mechanics without losing is just nuts. I still haven’t managed to get Round 2 unlocked.

God, fuck you Blaine. Goddamn fire spin Rapidash motherfucker.

Super Mario 64 Speaking of, I managed to pick up a Japanese cartridge of SM64, complete with BLJ glitches and 3 entire save files. After much effort, I managed to actually get it working, and spent most of the night of Christmas getting smashed and trying to beat Bowser in the Fire Sea. I played a lot of the DS remake as a kid, and I feel like an idiot for struggling as much I did with the original.

This is all of course a buildup to the fact that I was lying about not assigning a GOTY. Because there is only one N64 game in my small collection deserving of Game of the Year, because its deserving of Game of the Year every year since its 1999 release.

BEETLE ADVENTURE RACING MOTHERFUCKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER

[pink-rathian-official]

At the beginning of 2019, I mentioned I would keep track of every game I finished, and sum up my thoughts on all of them at the end of the year. And now I’m half regretting it because I’m gonna have to write out a short summary for each of these games. Oh well. You’ll be able to find all of them under the Read More, if you’re interested. Will be including an arbitrary score next to each game based on how much I enjoyed them.

Just some fun numbers before we jump in to the meat of the post- In 2019, I beat a total of 41 games. That’s an average of 3.41 games per month, which actually isn’t too bad of a rate!

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (5/5) 100% complete! Beaten twice! Without doubt, the best Smash game yet. You didn’t need me to tell you this- if you’ve got a Switch, then you’ve probably got Smash.

Bayonetta (4/5) A classic character action game, and an immense source of nostalgia for me. Play this game or I’ll break your knees.

Bayonetta 2 (4/5) I actually went into this game with low expectations, I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as the first game. Fortunately I was stupid and wrong and ended up loving it just as much as Bayo1.

Splatoon 2 (3/5) The story wasn’t particularly the most enjoyable thing ever, although I did sink a pretty decent amount of time into the multiplayer. Still not my go-to game if I’m looking for a quick match.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (4/5) It was enjoyable, although kinda started dragging on towards the end. The side content started feeling very repetitive, especially the shrines- but it was still a genuinely great time.

DOOM (2016) (3/5) I raged a wee bit, gonna admit. Although it was fun, I had a lot of frustrations with the late game.

Cthon (3/5) Doom, but a Lovecraftian roguelike. I’d recommend picking it up on Steam, it’s only USD$4.99 regularly, and USD$1.69 during the Steam sale currently going on.

Fire Emblem: Awakening (4/5) I suck at strategy games because I’m a smoothbrain, but FE:A is totally one of the best 3DS games ever released. Lucina is my daughter and the story made me cry.

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (2/5) I already played the 3DS version, and went into the DE expecting it to be a bit more enjoyable- and while it was, I did find myself getting bored rather quickly.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (5/5) The best TES game ever released according to many fans. While I do still prefer Skyrim more, I can see exactly why so many love it. Planning on returning to do the DLCs soon.

Night in the Woods (4/5) I hate story-centric games, but I liked NITW a lot. The exploration was nice, seeing the town change day-to-day was nice, and the ending was freaky in a good way

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 (4/5) An incredibly fun game, very similar to Left 4 Dead but fantasy themed and with rat monsters. Launched my obsession with the Skaven.

Fallout 3 (2/5) Yeah just play New Vegas instead mate.

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (3/5) If you separate it from the rest of the relatively mediocre AC series, Black Flag is pretty gud. I like being a pirate. I don’t like tailing missions. I really don’t like ship tailing missions.

Ib (3/5) I played this game a few times through during my obsession with RPGMaker horror games. Still holds up pretty strong, although it’s a wee bit short.

Amorous (3/5) 100% complete! Yeah it’s just a lewd furry dating sim. Does have a decent character maker that I use as a reference for my fursona now though!

Way of the Samurai 3 (4/5) I don’t know why this game slipped under everyone’s radar back on release. Just overall a very Nice samurai simulator, albeit with some combat that takes some getting used to.

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (5/5) The best MonHun released yet. World is great, but for some reason it just doesn’t hold me like GU does. Maybe I’m just a boomer.

Super Mario Odyssey (3/5) It’s definitely what you’d expect out of Mario. Not a bad game by any means, but I just didn’t really keep attached to it like most others seemed to.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (4/5) I like being a lawyer, and I love the serotonin rush that I get when cornering a criminal on their logic.

Resident Evil 7 biohazard (4/5) The first RE game I’ve played to completion. I don’t regret it at all, because it was super good. Got some great DLC as well.

SoulCalibur VI (Libra of Soul + Soul Chronicle) (4/5) Loved the character creation, loved gitting gud- did not love some of the side missions in LoS because holy Hell a lot of them are bullshit.

Borderlands 2 (4/5) I hated the first Borderlands, and went into 2 expecting more of the same. Ended up leaving surprisingly satisfied. Great loot n’ shoot all around.

Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition (4/5) It took me a few tries to really get into this one, but once I did I was totally hooked. The ending battle could’ve used a little more love, but it was still by all means a great game.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (4/5) Despite being a clearly rushed game with a drop in quality towards the last few hours, VtmB is still one of the most solid action RPGs I’ve ever played. Still not exactly gonna excuse the last couple of boss battles though.

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (5/5) This went from “tumblr meme game that I had no interest in” to “one of the best fucking games I have ever played, and it hurt me deeply.” I don’t think I’ve ever been so invested in a story before, and the trial system was very refreshing.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (5/5) How did they make a story with twists even more mindblowing than the first game? While THH invested me into the series, GD solidified my newfound love for it.

Which (3/5) 100% complete! A very short experimental horror game by indie animator and developer Mike Inel. Not bad at all, and completely worth the free download.

Skullgirls: 2nd Encore (3/5) I never really got good at this game, although the story mode was still very enjoyable. Not particularly something I’m probably gonna be coming back to.

Hollow Knight (5/5) Absolutely spectacular Metroidvania that gives quite a unique challenge. Fell in love with this game so bad that I was constantly thinking about it at work. Please stop comparing it to Dark Souls, it’s such an amazing game on its own merit without needing that comparison.

Undertale (5/5) It’s Undertale, do you really need me to tell you how amazing it is?

Devil May Cry 3 (Dante story) (4/5) Extremely fun and challenging. If you haven’t played this game yet then you are wrong. Beating the first Vergil battle without being hit filled me with very unneeded confidence- the spectacular final battle against Vergil stripped that confidence away.

Ion Fury (3/5) Very challenging, but still super enjoyable. The heroine is a genuine badass, loved hearing her quips. The final boss was garbo though.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (5/5) Sekiro absolutely deserved the GOTY award. Loved the combat, loved the challenge, loved everything about this beautiful game.

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition (5/5) DQXI singlehandedly changed my opinion on JRPGs. A story that’s equal parts awesome and tearjerking, combat that feels truly satisfying, and a quirky world that had me hooked for all 98+ hours.

Danganronpa Another Story: Ultra Despair Girls (4/5) While it absolutely was a good game, something about it didn’t really hold the charm that the other Danganronpa games had. The story was still superb, and the twist at the end was hooh.

Spyro the Dragon (3/5) 120% complete! The nostalgia factor drew me in, the level design kept me. Except for Tree Tops, fuck you Tree Tops.

WarioWare Gold (3/5) Packed with the best microgames from WarioWare’s history, but not enough content to keep me there past the main story mode.

Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D (3/5) MGS3 is one of my favorite games ever, but the 3DS port’s framerate issues really killed the fun for me.

Halo: Reach (4/5) The story mode was good, but the multiplayer was absolutely sublime. I raged, I cheered, I had the fun I missed out on growing up without an Xbox.

[sodapaladin]

PawelCyril’s Top 10 Games 2017!

Just like my good friend @shylax, I’ll be considering any game I played for the first time in 2017, not just games that came out this year, because I mostly play older games and can highlight some underrated gems this way!

10. Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge (GB)

Castlevania: The Adventure is not a good game. It’s slooow and missing many Castlevania staples, such as subweapons and stairs, of all things. Its sequel, on the other hand, is Game Boy Castlevania done right. Hot damn. The four castles can be completed in any order, so even if you forget your password, you aren’t stuck doing the same intro level a hundred times. The action and platforming is on point. There are problems, certainly, but unlike the first Game Boy outing, this one feels like a proper Castlevania. The soundtrack is also killer, as par for the series’ course. Interestingly, the Japanese and international versions have one different subweapon, the cross and axe, respectively.

9. Mobile Golf (GBC)

Did you know Mario Golf (GBC) had a sequel only released in Japan? It probably didn’t come over due to its relation with the mobile adapter which also wasn’t released outside of Japan. It seems odd to test mobile multiplayer with a golf game, seeing as I could get the same result by playing the game myself and then comparing scores with my friend. That gimmick aside, this game’s essentially an expansion pack sequel to Mario Golf, running on the same engine but with new courses. It also features Foreman Spike, from Wrecking Crew! When will he make another comeback?

8. Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt (PC)

I tried this adorable indie game thanks to @arkthepieking recommendation, and he was right, it was right up my alley. Everything about it is so charming, from the characters to the graphics to the music. The difficulty goes up at a good pace, and there are quite a few secrets to be found. It’s free and short, so give it a try sometime!

7. NES Remix (1 and 2) (Wii U)

The idea of sampling old NES games’ best moments is brilliant. Every once in a while, I think, “Gee, I miss Super Mario Bros. 2, but I’m only in the mood for a couple minutes of it.” Well this highlight collection has you covered! I appreciate Zelda II in theory, but I don’t have the patience to get through its slow dialogue and frustrating areas such as Death Mountain. Thanks to this game, I was able to experience the thrilling boss fights and memorable moments without hours of irritation. It’s also a great way to sample games for a younger audience who may have not even heard of some of these games. My biggest complaint would be how the first challenge for certain games (Kirby’s Adventure uuugh) forces you to sit through a tutorial every single time, making it annoying to replay those challenges for a high score. Some challenges are also scored in a strange way, leaving you wondering why you got 3 stars or only 1. Not every game is a winner, but there are enough classics to entertain any NES fan.

6. Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)

Mario Kart 7 was a bit underwhelming, but Mario Kart 8 brought back the fun. While some of the character choices are disappointing (waaay too many babies), we also got Isabelle, so it balances out. The zero-gravity gimmick is fine, although I don’t even realize I’m upside-down most of the time. Regardless, the new courses are a blast, and there are plenty of revamped retro courses that make me nostalgic and happy. The F-Zero and Animal Crossing courses in particular are full of love. I can’t get over the little details such as rupees replacing coins in the Zelda course, or how every Animal Crossing game’s theme is represented (ILY GameCube AC).

5. Final Fantasy V (GBA)

Being a huge Dragon Quest fan, I’ve held off on playing this for a long time, but I finally got around to it this year. This may just be my favorite main FF game. The story is simplistic compared to IV, but it’s still interesting enough for me. The best way to describe it is charming. The music is also lovely, especially the battle theme, which is my favorite in the series. I’m still not finished with this game, but it’s safe to say I like it a lot.

4. JGTO Kōnin Golf Master (GBA)

I bought this game just to add to my golf game collection. I did not expect it to be such an underrated gem. Easily my favorite golf game on the GBA, and one I still play from time to time. You can read my full review on it for more details. Overall, it’s a fun game with good pacing and a super catchy soundtrack. Technically this game came out in the west as ESPN Final Round Golf 2002, which took out the story mode and changed some graphics. The cartoony real-life golfers were replaced by realistic-looking fictional golfers, and a few other things such as the HUD are changed around, but it’s essentially the same game. If you want a golf game for the GBA besides Mario Golf, I highly recommend this.

3. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (3DS)

Although I put Fates on my top ten list last year, it was a massive disappointment in many ways. Echoes blows it out of the water. Despite being a remake, it’s so fresh! It’s a remake of Gaiden in terms of story, but it’s a completely revamped game that takes everything you know about Fire Emblem and chucks it out the window. It took a while to relearn things such as inventory management and spells, which are now handled differently, but this breath of fresh air is exactly what this series needed. Easily one of the best Fire Emblem games.

2. Dungeon Travelers 2 (PS Vita)

Technically I bought this last year, but I put it on hiatus for a while and played a lot more this year, so I think it’s earned a spot. Not gonna lie, I bought this game primarily for the sleaze. It’s a dungeon crawler with cute girls. What else could I ask for? To my surprise, though, it’s actually a fantastic dungeon crawler in its own right. The difficulty can be quite tough at times, but that makes it so satisfying to overcome. There are tons of ways to build your party, with dozens of jobs that fit into various archetypes. I love the idea of the maid class, which isn’t too useful on its own, but has the ability to restore another party member’s MP for free. This is a fascinating idea, essentially sacrificing a slot in your party for an extra battery for your mage. The story is rather forgettable, but the characters are surprisingly likable and are more interesting than simply sexy ladies. Gratuitous fanservice is still a major part of the game, however, so it’s difficult to recommend this game to any RPG fan. If you’re into women and dungeon crawling, though, this game is way better than it has any right to be. There’s a free demo, so check it out!

1. Chrono Trigger (SNES)

Can you believe I played this for the first time in 2017? For years, friends have told me I’d love this game, but I didn’t believe the hype. Chrono Trigger is one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played. The story, music, characters, gameplay, and more are all incredible. The story was interesting throughout with little filler, and it moved from plot point to plot point organically without the need to gather seven magic crystals or the like. The party members felt like individuals with their own goals, not merely tagging along because you’re the protagonist. For example, having to fight Magus alone as Frog is you have him in your party was satisfying and made sense. I could gush about this game forever but RPG fans already know how great it is. I cannot recommend it enough.