The 2023 Backlog Challenge

[Reed Rothchild | 9,597]

12 minutes ago, Sumez said:

I wish I could keep my write-ups as short as you guys, maybe people would actually read them then  

I've read every single one every person has ever done

[Sumez | 2,995]

After half a year, I'm finally approaching the end of Trails in the Sky 2.
It helped finally getting to the point where some plot and even a new area happens (50 hours into the game...), which gave me the boost to actually keep playing outside of just my daily commute.

Once it's done I'm actually running out of games to play handheld, unfortunately. Only got Cotton Fantasy and Kirby left actually (and I'm not too keen on playing a shooter on the train). But I might have found a way to play TITS3 handheld too... just requires hacking my Vita. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Foochie776 | 1,062]

6 hours ago, Sumez said:

I wish I could keep my write-ups as short as you guys, maybe people would actually read them then  

Typing on here on my phone is a struggle so it’s always short and sweet for me

[Floating Platforms | 742]

9 hours ago, Sumez said:

I wish I could keep my write-ups as short as you guys, maybe people would actually read them then

I read your reviews (unless I know for sure I'm planning to play that game for myself some day) and thoroughly enjoy them. I wish I had more time and ability to make mine longer.

[Sumez | 2,995]

I do take care to avoid spoilers  

I don't like those myself! 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,597]

Blah, the penultimate Makyr Doom Eternal boss is a hot mess.  Don't make me stare at the sky and fill the ground full of piping hot magma.  And tighten up the grapple-and-melee mechanics, hot damn.

*grapples up, takes a swing, that probably hits (but maybe not) and then have my momentum send me flying off the map*

Alrighty...

[Reed Rothchild | 9,597]

Doom Eternal

*thoughts here*

1. Elden Ring (10/10)
2. Hades (9.5/10)
3. Deathloop (9/10)
4. Baba Is You (9/10)
5. Doom Eternal (9/10)
6. Gradius V (8.5/10)
7. Super Mario 3D World/Bowser's Fury (with the kids) (8.5/10)
8. God of War (8.5/10)
9. MGS: The Twin Snakes (8.5/10)
10. Resident Evil 2 (8.5/10)
11. Ori & the Will of the Wisps (8.5)
12. Ghost of Tsushima (8/10)
13. Sin & Punishment (8/10)
14. Nier Automata (8/10)
15. Dusk (8/10)
16. Into the Breach (8/10)
17. Dark Souls II (8/10)
18. Deus Ex (7.5/10)
19. Hellblade (7.5/10)
20. Ace Attorney 2 (7.5/10)
21. Uncharted 4 (7.5/10)
22. Eternal Darkness (7.0/10)
23. Xenoblade (7.0/10)
24. Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold (7/10)
25. Yakuza Kiwami (7/10)
26. Resident Evil 3 (7/10)
27. Onimusha (7/10)
28. What Remains of Edith Finch (6.5/10)
29. Everblue 2 (6.5/10)
30. Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order (6.5/10)
31. Yoku's Island Express (6.5/10)
32. Pilotwings 64 (6.5/10)
33. Contra Shattered Soldier (6/10)
34. Strife (6/10)
35. A Short Hike (6/10)
36. Mischief Makers (6/10)
37. La Pucelle (5.5/10)
38. Buck Bumble (5.5/10)
39. Indigo Prophecy (5.5/10)
40. Yoshi's Story (4.5/10)
41. Winback (4/10)

TBD:

1. Shenmue (crap)
2. Paper Mario (decent)
3. Knights of the old Republic II
4. House of Fata Morgana (too early to tell)

Not started

1. Control
2. Nioh
3. Last of Us Part II
4. Danganronpa
5. Trails in the Sky
6. Ion Fury
7. Shadowgate
8. Prey

[Sumez | 2,995]

Jesus that was fast

[Foochie776 | 1,062]

13 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Doom Eternal

*pic here*

*thoughts here*

1. Elden Ring (10/10)
2. Hades (9.5/10)
3. Deathloop (9/10)
4. Baba Is You (9/10)
5. Doom Eternal (9/10)
6. Gradius V (8.5/10)
7. Super Mario 3D World/Bowser's Fury (with the kids) (8.5/10)
8. God of War (8.5/10)
9. MGS: The Twin Snakes (8.5/10)
10. Resident Evil 2 (8.5/10)
11. Ori & the Will of the Wisps (8.5)
12. Ghost of Tsushima (8/10)
13. Sin & Punishment (8/10)
14. Nier Automata (8/10)
15. Dusk (8/10)
16. Into the Breach (8/10)
17. Dark Souls II (8/10)
18. Deus Ex (7.5/10)
19. Hellblade (7.5/10)
20. Ace Attorney 2 (7.5/10)
21. Uncharted 4 (7.5/10)
22. Eternal Darkness (7.0/10)
23. Xenoblade (7.0/10)
24. Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold (7/10)
25. Yakuza Kiwami (7/10)
26. Resident Evil 3 (7/10)
27. Onimusha (7/10)
28. What Remains of Edith Finch (6.5/10)
29. Everblue 2 (6.5/10)
30. Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order (6.5/10)
31. Yoku's Island Express (6.5/10)
32. Pilotwings 64 (6.5/10)
33. Contra Shattered Soldier (6/10)
34. Strife (6/10)
35. A Short Hike (6/10)
36. Mischief Makers (6/10)
37. La Pucelle (5.5/10)
38. Buck Bumble (5.5/10)
39. Indigo Prophecy (5.5/10)
40. Yoshi's Story (4.5/10)
41. Winback (4/10)

TBD:

1. Shenmue (crap)
2. Paper Mario (decent)
3. Knights of the old Republic II
4. House of Fata Morgana (too early to tell)

Not started

1. Control
2. Nioh
3. Last of Us Part II
4. Danganronpa
5. Trails in the Sky
6. Ion Fury
7. Shadowgate
8. Prey

That 4.5 for Yoshi Story is pretty spot on, that’s about what I’d rank it 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,597]

7 hours ago, Sumez said:

Jesus that was fast

Yep.  Kids and wife were out of town, but I had to stick around for a Saturday work event, so I binged the shit out of it.

Now I have tonight and tomorrow night to possibly get as far in Control as I can, or try to binge the end of Paper Mario even though I'm not having the greatest of times with it.

[Floating Platforms | 742]

Well, getting closer to the platinum on Yakuza Kiwami. Finally finished the completion list so all that's left are the climax battles and to beat the game on the hardest difficulty on NG+. Before I do that, I'm going to try to get another quick one out of the way.

I'm also trying to find more stream time to get through Super Mario RPG. I've just acquired star 4 of 7, but don't know how much longer the levels/areas leading to the next 3 might be in comparison.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,597]

Paper Mario

I've been playing this one since January, and, well let's just say there was a reason it took this long.  It's a good game.  It did a lot of things to improve upon the combat that was introduced with Super Mario RPG.  But in 2023?  After I've played some of the latter Paper Marios, and almost all of the Mario & Luigi game?  It can be a grind.  A big one.

For example, Mario & Luigi Paper Jam isn't heralded for being one of the all-time great Mario RPG games.  But it is good.  And the combat, further refining what we have here, is like a thousand times more engaging and challenging.  The Paper Mario fights are a snoozer in comparison.  And you spend a lot of time fighting.  Like, a lot of time.  It's why I multi-tasked playing this with a ton of movies.  It was the only way I could do it.

1. Elden Ring (10/10)
2. Hades (9.5/10)
3. Deathloop (9/10)
4. Baba Is You (9/10)
5. Doom Eternal (9/10)
6. Gradius V (8.5/10)
7. Super Mario 3D World/Bowser's Fury (with the kids) (8.5/10)
8. God of War (8.5/10)
9. MGS: The Twin Snakes (8.5/10)
10. Resident Evil 2 (8.5/10)
11. Ori & the Will of the Wisps (8.5)
12. Ghost of Tsushima (8/10)
13. Sin & Punishment (8/10)
14. Nier Automata (8/10)
15. Dusk (8/10)
16. Into the Breach (8/10)
17. Dark Souls II (8/10)
18. Deus Ex (7.5/10)
19. Hellblade (7.5/10)
20. Ace Attorney 2 (7.5/10)
21. Uncharted 4 (7.5/10)
22. Eternal Darkness (7.0/10)
23. Xenoblade (7.0/10)
24. Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold (7/10)
25. Yakuza Kiwami (7/10)
26. Resident Evil 3 (7/10)
27. Onimusha (7/10)
28. What Remains of Edith Finch (6.5/10)
29. Paper Mario (6.5/10)
30. Everblue 2 (6.5/10)
31. Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order (6.5/10)
32. Yoku's Island Express (6.5/10)
33. Pilotwings 64 (6.5/10)
34. Contra Shattered Soldier (6/10)
35. Strife (6/10)
36. A Short Hike (6/10)
37. Mischief Makers (6/10)
38. La Pucelle (5.5/10)
39. Buck Bumble (5.5/10)
40. Indigo Prophecy (5.5/10)
41. Yoshi's Story (4.5/10)
42. Winback (4/10)

TBD:

1. Shenmue (crap)
2. Control
3. Knights of the old Republic II
4. House of Fata Morgana (too early to tell)

Not started

1. Nioh
2. Last of Us Part II
3. Danganronpa
4. Trails in the Sky
5. Ion Fury
6. Shadowgate
7. Prey

[Sumez | 2,995]

Oh man if PM64 is a snooze, you're gonna hate TTYD 

[Brickman | 4,020]

6 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Paper Mario

I've been playing this one since January, and, well let's just say there was a reason it took this long.  It's a good game.  It did a lot of things to improve upon the combat that was introduced with Super Mario RPG.  But in 2023?  After I've played some of the latter Paper Marios, and almost all of the Mario & Luigi game?  It can be a grind.  A big one.

For example, Mario & Luigi Paper Jam isn't heralded for being one of the all-time great Mario RPG games.  But it is good.  And the combat, further refining what we have here, is like a thousand times more engaging and challenging.  The Paper Mario fights are a snoozer in comparison.  And you spend a lot of time fighting.  Like, a lot of time.  It's why I multi-tasked playing this with a ton of movies.  It was the only way I could do it.

1. Elden Ring (10/10)
2. Hades (9.5/10)
3. Deathloop (9/10)
4. Baba Is You (9/10)
5. Doom Eternal (9/10)
6. Gradius V (8.5/10)
7. Super Mario 3D World/Bowser's Fury (with the kids) (8.5/10)
8. God of War (8.5/10)
9. MGS: The Twin Snakes (8.5/10)
10. Resident Evil 2 (8.5/10)
11. Ori & the Will of the Wisps (8.5)
12. Ghost of Tsushima (8/10)
13. Sin & Punishment (8/10)
14. Nier Automata (8/10)
15. Dusk (8/10)
16. Into the Breach (8/10)
17. Dark Souls II (8/10)
18. Deus Ex (7.5/10)
19. Hellblade (7.5/10)
20. Ace Attorney 2 (7.5/10)
21. Uncharted 4 (7.5/10)
22. Eternal Darkness (7.0/10)
23. Xenoblade (7.0/10)
24. Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold (7/10)
25. Yakuza Kiwami (7/10)
26. Resident Evil 3 (7/10)
27. Onimusha (7/10)
28. What Remains of Edith Finch (6.5/10)
29. Paper Mario (6.5/10)
30. Everblue 2 (6.5/10)
31. Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order (6.5/10)
32. Yoku's Island Express (6.5/10)
33. Pilotwings 64 (6.5/10)
34. Contra Shattered Soldier (6/10)
35. Strife (6/10)
36. A Short Hike (6/10)
37. Mischief Makers (6/10)
38. La Pucelle (5.5/10)
39. Buck Bumble (5.5/10)
40. Indigo Prophecy (5.5/10)
41. Yoshi's Story (4.5/10)
42. Winback (4/10)

TBD:

1. Shenmue (crap)
2. Control
3. Knights of the old Republic II
4. House of Fata Morgana (too early to tell)

Not started

1. Nioh
2. Last of Us Part II
3. Danganronpa
4. Trails in the Sky
5. Ion Fury
6. Shadowgate
7. Prey

Ouch harsh. I 100% disagree with your review on Paper Mario but each to their own. Absolutely love Paper Mario and TTYD.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,597]

5 hours ago, Brickman said:

Ouch harsh. I 100% disagree with your review on Paper Mario but each to their own. Absolutely love Paper Mario and TTYD.

On the Reed scoring scale, 6.5 is still a good game.  I just had a better time with all of those other titles

9 hours ago, Sumez said:

Oh man if PM64 is a snooze, you're gonna hate TTYD 

I owned TTYD back in the day and have played through a portion of it.  I plan on doing it next year.  Will I love it?  Unsure.  Will I at least like it?  I bet so.

[Sumez | 2,995]

TTYD is full of mandatory fights, backtracking and repetition though. Though I'd played 64 before, I eventually finished ttyd first, and returning to finish PM64, that game feels way more brisk and fast paced by comparison. It just doesn't waste your time in the same way. 

I like TTYD still but, yeah, I've already said my mind in my review. 

[Foochie776 | 1,062]

Oracle of Ages is still very fun but I’m growing tired of doing these mini games to progress

[Floating Platforms | 742]

Untitled Goose Game is done

Well, in the genre of 'Games starting with the letter "U" that also feature a bird' this is my second favorite behind Unfinished Swan. I had heard good things about this but it ended up not being my thing. There was a bit too much emphasis on stealth and waiting unless you're doing the super optimized speed-run strats (but at that point, you either looked up a guide or have been through the levels.  The human RNG was also a bit obnoxious.  The game was also extremely short. The level sizes were fine, but maybe random objectives or more objectives would be better. Even with the optional to-do's there were so many items within the levels that are totally useless (just like the flap wings button). The game was fine, but way overhyped. I'm really glad I didn't pay full price for it.

[Philosoraptor | 468]

When was the last time I posted? It's been a while. Since I went off about Scarlet, I've beaten 11 other games. I just finished compiling a list of ratings and reviews of ~300 games I've played recently or remembered well enough, and Scarlet is dead last. I'm still bitter.

Anyway, the games I've beaten recently are:

• Pokemon Legends Arceus (Switch)—9/10—The best open-world Pokemon game on the Switch, IMO. It is, however, not a true "mainline Pokemon game." You can't battle friends, Pokemon battles can be up to 3v1 against you, and there are stealth mechanics and a crafting system. It's much more like Monster Hunter than most other Pokemon games. The pacing is a bit slow sometimes, but the story and setting are top notch.
• Nekketsu Street Basket: Ganbare Dunk Heroes (Famicom)—7.5/10—In true Kunio-kun fashion, this game is a side-scrolling beat-em up disguised as a basketball game. You don't even have to give the other team the ball after making baskets. There are three tiers of hoops and plenty of super throws/shots, but since there are no indicators for where your players are if they're off screen, grabbing rebounds and fighting off the computer can be tough. There's also one team that can teleport, which is just as cheap as it sounds. Since the NES/FC doesn't have the strongest lineup of basketball games, I feel like it's one of the better ones, but I'd still rather play Double Dribble.
• Theatryhthm Final Fantasy Curtain Call (3DS)—7.5/10—Can't really fault the game for the OST, but the biggest issue I had with this game were the held notes on the Field sections, which made you trace a line up or down and then sometimes flick a final note in a different direction. Typically, the game will just pick up on the up or down movement with button controls, meaning you'll end up with "bad" timing on notes that you shouldn't. It's better with the stylus, but the hand cramps aren't worth it. Field sections are also half the stages, roughly. If this game were just the Battle sections, it would have been a much higher grade.
• Darius Burst CS Chronicle Saviours (PS4)—7/10—A polished side-scrolling SHMUP with loads of content and bosses, but the relatively uninteresting mission structure, the bullet patterns designed for a quarter-eating multiplayer cabinet in Arcade mode, and the relative difficulty of keeping an eye on both yourself and the boss due to the three-screen-wide aspect ratio kind of knock this one down a peg for me. The ships also don't feel terribly different, despite having different loadouts. If I'm given a choice between a bullet hell and an old-school SHMUP, I'll take the former every time. Sadly, this one feels like a modernized old-school SHMUP. Great for some, and still good fun if you can round up some friends, but not my ideal cup of tea.
• Darius Burst (PSP)—7/10—Despite both Darius Burst games having the same grade, I liked this one more. This one was remade with the PSP's aspect ratio in mind, has a five-stage arcade mode instead of a three-stage one like Chronicle Saviors, and has significantly less cheap bullet patterns. However, it also doesn't have as many modes, you can't turn your ship around to shoot backwards, and ships don't feel too different here either. Both games have bullet sponge bosses, and both feel like a modernized old-school SHMUP. Again, great for some, but not my ideal cup of tea.
• Soreyuke! BurunyanMan Portable (PSP)—7.5/10—A side-scrolling SHMUP geared towards adults that doesn't really bring anything new to the table. Giant men and women are the bosses, and the main gimmick is buzzing bullets to power up your shot (like Castle of Shikigami). The stages are lively enough, and the bosses are fine, but it's definitely not worth the price to import nowadays.
• Wanpaku Kokkun no Gourmet World (Famicom) (Panic Restaurant)—7/10—A fun, themed platformer with lots of cheap enemies, some of which can attack you from off screen. Character sprites look great and the enemies are interesting. However, there are only six levels, making the runtime only 30 minutes on a good day. Some power-ups, like the fork, are significantly less useful than just trying to headbutt stuff (the default action). What it does well is the platforming and the setting for the game. Very unique. It is another one that I'd say isn't worth the going rate these days, though.
• Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti (Famicom)—6/10—A bamboozle of a game that could do with more iframes. When looking at gameplay on YouTube, it looks sweet as Hell, but when playing it, not so much. Hitboxes are hit and miss, enemies can drain your life quickly due to the relative lack of aforementioned iframes, and boss difficulty is inconsistent throughout the game. The more difficult ones are very cheap. However, the password save and continue system make this one very accessible, and the theming is also quite interesting. A mixed bag, for sure.
• Robocco Wars (Famicom)—8/10—A well-executed, half-SHMUP half-platformer chimera, Robocco Wars is an enjoyable romp through close to a dozen stages before a high-difficulty-spike boss. As a platformer, it's solid, and as a SHMUP, it's one of the better ones on the console, albeit a bit easy. My only complaints are that the power-ups and levels, while pretty and bright, are pretty standard-fare.
• Nakayoshi to Issho (Famicom)—7/10—Five hours of straightforward, no-moon-logic RPG action with slot machine-esque, turn-based combat. Your goal is to save six respective Nakayoshi manga worlds by gathering three orbs and the lost pens of each manga author. There are no levels, only equipment, items, and additional health given at the end of each area, making this game grind-free. However, the mechanics don't really evolve until the last area, which is Sailor Moon themed. The Sailor Scouts are added to your slot machine reels and, when activated, deal big damage to enemies. Nakayoshi to Issho also does very little to differentiate the otherwise unique worlds of each of the mangas represented in this game. Dialogue is pretty same-y and towns and schools don't look much different throughout. The game does have lots of unique enemies, although, tbh, I couldn't tell you whether they're from the mangas or just random enemies. What this game does do, is provide a stress-free RPG that captures a slice in early 90s time.
• Mega Man 7 (SNES)—5/10—Of the three Mega Man games I've played so far (5, 6, and now 7), this game is both the hardest and the worst by not close. The robot masters are all pretty easy thanks to the significant boost in damage from weaknesses, but most of the Wily stages are straight up cheap as hell thanks to bad enemy placement and gimmicks. The bosses in the Wily stages are also brutal, especially the final Wily fight. The Bass fights aren't terribly easy either. But honestly, what makes this game so bad is that it feels like some other, inexperienced developer trying to make a Mega Man game. The sprites are way too big, giving the aforementioned tough bosses a large blue target, the controls don't feel as tight as the NES versions, and the music is forgettable. Even though the levels are bright and cheery, I didn't really feel like the Mega Man charm is there. Just like how fixing the interior of an otherwise broken-down car doesn't address the main issues, the interesting things MM7 does with the robot master powers having more use outside of battle, hidden paths, and the shop doesn't save it, IMO.

Edited August 23, 2023 by Philosoraptor

[Webhead123 | 687]

I knew it was going to be the case but Baldur's Gate 3 is positively devouring my backlog time. 130 hours in and I still feel compelled to keep playing. I was about halfway through Psychonauts 2 (which has been even more excellent than the original) and I'm finally getting somewhere in Oracle of Seasons, so I'm going to be finishing those as soon as I can make myself boot them up again...but...Baldur's Gate 3. The siren is calling to me. I cannot resist her.

I'm just glad I decided to wait on Tears of the Kingdom. I'll get to it one of these days.

Edited August 23, 2023 by Webhead123

[Jeevan | 8,950]

@Reed Rothchild +1  mission impossible n64

Edited August 23, 2023 by Jeevan

[Jeevan | 8,950]

Playing through Daikatana, 4 missions in........not gonna fully judge it, but man is it different

[Sumez | 2,995]

I have like 10 minutes of computer time per week these days, so I'm pretty late with this, but...

Trails in the Sky Second Chapter (PSP) - Beaten 12/8

Trails in the Sky (first chapter) was one of my biggest positive JRPG surprises in recent years. The gameplay doesn't offer much, but the characters all have a real human feel to it, and the dialogue is incredibly well written, and just as well translated. It's the kind of game where every other piece of dialogue warms your heart and just makes you happy that everyone is kind of relatable and well-meaning.
The stakes were surprisingly small scale, and always completely clear. And by the end of a chapter you'd have resolved some situation, giving the story a nice pace as it moved forward. It felt like a really nice break from the typical JRPG formula, especially due to how every character felt human and grounded, and even the baddest of the bad guys in the story always had some kind of relatable motivation going on.

The second game takes a 180 turn on this, going in the complete opposite direction. The first many chapters are spent going to every city you have already been to in the first game, chase down whatever randomly happens there, which consistently ends with some fruity anime villain-of-the-week showing up, expressing their megalomania and love for the suffering of others, only to escape and leave you with no sense of either conclusion or further goal. Even when the story finally does start to take off a bit, more than 70% through the game, no genuine goal nor stakes are ever adressed.
All you know going into the game based on the cliffhanger ending of the previous one, is that you'll be fighting off a mysterious secret organization, which all of the aforementioned bad guys work for. But their ultimate goal is constantly kept secret - clearly to make everything seem more mysterious, but the result is that you are left with little to no motivation throughout the game. Even when their goal is finally revealed, it's never really presented as much of threat either.

This was a little disappointing to me, because the storytelling is really what is driving these games. The combat feels completely pointless, because running around every enemy on the map is not just easy, but also recommended. If you're behind on EXP you'll get it super fast, and if you're up to speed, you'll get pretty much none - so grinding isn't really a thing. And the combat itself is rote, repetitive and never challenging. It does have the makings of a really involving system, with fights taking place on a large grid where positioning matters for the sake of certain spells or the movement range of characters. And turn order is always visible, and can be manipulated to some extent, with the additional twist of certain effects being bound to specific turns, meaning you want your own people cutting in front to secure those. Ultimately neither of those things ever really play much of a role, just like a majority of all the skills you can attain are mostly useless compared to just using basic damage spells over and over, and healing when necessary - both of which every character in your party can do.

The worst thing however is how slow it is. Asides from the long winded spell animations, there are also constant little breaks in the pacing which makes waiting for anyone to do their thing take much longer than necessary. Whenever you do enter combat it feels disheartening knowing the slog you're about to go through.

Ultimately though... I'm still hooked on the series for some reason. While probably 90% or more of the game's cutscenes is spent on character moments with no relevance to the plot, those are never as strong as the ones in the first game, where the same characters were originally introduced. But at the end of the day, all these characters still feel like they've become relatable friends of mine, and just seeing them interact somehow continues to release some amount of dopamine in the same way you would from a long running soap opera that has long since lost its luster, and which you only continue to follow out of a familiar loyalty.
Does that sell the game? Probably not. But you also really don't want to play Trails in the Sky 2 before playing the first game either. And how you feel after playing that is going to be what dictates if you're playing the sequels. For some reason, I moved straight from this game into the third, because I'm not ready to say goodbye to these guys yet.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,597]

I bought Trails 1 on steam for $7, so once I wrap up KotOR2 I'm jumping into it.

Still plan on doing 2 and 3 next year.  And I plan on buying Reverie very soon before it inevitably goes out of print, even if I don't get to it until 2027 

[Floating Platforms | 742]

Toem is done

As I work through Super Mario RPG (5 of 7 stars) and Yakuza Kiwami (most Climax battles and NG+ to go) and Picross S2 (~100 puzzles left), and picking The World Ends With You back up, I wanted another quicker clear. Now, only 8 months into the year, I'm halfway to my goal of 50 games done....  I was about halfway through this when I put it down so it only took a few more hours to get through the rest of the main story and the DLC.

This was much more my speed compared to Untitled Goose Game. I loved the art style and the light puzzle solving involved throughout a meatier set of levels.  Almost all of your picture subjects are visible normally, you just need to figure out the way to get the right shot. Only a couple are hidden from your typical view, asking you to go into camera mode and swivel.  I did look up a couple of the objectives/trophies as I was cleaning up since I forgot that the filters were a thing. The worlds have plenty of character and each offered a nice, different environment even in a completely grayscale presentation.  It was also nice that there wasn't a lot of backtracking from one locale to the next. Almost everything was self-contained to its own area and that helped to reduce some of the confusion.  It's a very charming game and I hope their next effort has a similar feel.