The 2024 Backlog Challenge

[greenthunder | 115]

Beat case 5. I do think it ran a bit too long and I said above, the investigation sections didn't seem as well threaded as the other cases. Overall, I really liked Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. I like the Phoenix/Maya/Edgeworth/Gumshoe dynamic and hitting that key contradiction and then laying the smackdown on the suspect was super satisfying.

Spoiler

I'm actually pretty annoyed at myself for getting baited and falling into the instafail, especially since I haven't been saving mid trials because it's a save and quit with no save and keep playing option and I'm lazy. Had to fast forward through the trial while mentally raging at myself for being an idiot lol.

In that vein of games, thinking of starting Return of the Obra Dinn or Ghost Trick next. Obra Dinn was the other game I was debating starting between it and AA, while I picked up Ghost Trick recently and know it also involves AA's creator. I originally had 123 on my backlog list before cutting it down to just 1, but I think I'm gonna end up hitting 2 and 3 this year anyway. May also throw on a replay of Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney for good measure, since it'll be fun to see Phoenix and Maya after experiencing their trilogy.

[Sumez | 2,995]

You're not gonna regret any second spent with Obra Dinn!

[Sumez | 2,995]

Gal Guardians - Beaten 1/3

This game is a spinoff to Inti Creates' own creepy "shooting young girls up their skirts" rail shooter, Gal-Gun. It absolutely didn't have to be, but that's what they did, and as a result you have to put up with some of the most cringeworthy dialogue I've ever seen, as you fight off monsters in a girls-only school transformed into a demonic castle...

Gal Guardians is designed as a massive tribute to classic Castlevania games, but the actual gameplay feels a lot closer to the SOTN-offsprings of CV games than the classic ones. Though the action and immediate interaction with enemies still feels very distinctly *Inti Creates*. I don't really know how to explain it, but most of their games, going all the way back to Mega Man Zero even, have a distinct feel to them that I've never been a fan of.
The cynic in me would write it off as them not really understanding how to design action games, but I know there are people out there who are fans. The mechanics and controls are fine, some times even great. The enemies themselve have cool ideas. But the stage design and enemy placements feel extremely lackluster, often just pitting you against one enemy at a time, never offering much in the way of creative match-ups or dynamic encounters which typically drive the best 2D action games out there.

In this game though, I think the mechanics aren't quite there either. You are always controlling one of two different characters which can be switched out with a DKC style tag-team mechanic. Each has a unique default attack, and up to five different subweapons which can be either a straight-up attack or a utility feature. Switching character always forces you to sit through a small animation as it happens, and feels like an annoying abstraction, especially when it's paired with juggling equipped abilities as well, which is typically your reason for switching in the first place.

One character has the classic close-quarters sword attack which kills most enemies in one or two hits, making it the most ideal weapon for swift progress, occasionally requiring satisfying and very precise timing in order to get a hit in on certain enemies before they get a hit in on you.
The other character uses a gun, which while it can be initiated mid-air, also prevents any additional movement while it's firing, and it usually takes just enough time to kill any enemy that it stops you dead in your tracks every time you need to kill anything with it. It's the more "strategic" approach, taking everything out from a safe distance whenever possible, instead of risking going into its face, but it's also pretty boring to wait around for stuff to die, and I tried avoiding using this character whenever I could. Nevermind the addition of a reload mechanic, making her defenseless every time she runs out, forcing her to stop and sit still for a while during a reload before she can attack anything again. Another thing I can't imagine anyone finding enjoyable at all.

There are definitely traces of Curse of the Moon in this game - one of the few Inti games I actually enjoy greatly. But it feels like an extremely lazy companion, only vaguely touching on the same throughlines.
Like COTM you are expected to replay stages with different skillsets to explore new portions and acquire different items. But where COTM seeks to increasingly challenge the player, Gal Guardians seems interested in little outside of wasting your time.
After playing through the game once you'll be asked to play through every stage again. Being able to take different routes this time help minimize the feel of repetition slightly, and to entice the players, a few hidden powerups are placed throughout, which were not accessible previously. There is little reason to even look for those however, as they barely change anything, just like they are not necessary for anything outside of one item which skips a part of the final boss to get a better ending.

Yet another ending can be unlocked by playing the game through a third time, this time combing through every branching path you've already been down to look for used panties (oh, did I forget to mention this game is horny as fuck?) strewn randomly throughout. Yeah, consider me out...

[Reed Rothchild | 9,598]

12 hours ago, Sumez said:

You're not gonna regret any second spent with Obra Dinn!

Agreed, really love that game.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,598]

Yakuza 2 Kiwami

Quite an improvement over the first Kiwami.  A much more even difficulty curve (although, it's pretty easy if you're staying ahead of the upgrades), and I thought the major minigames were a lot more engaging this time around (I couldn't be bothered with the penny racers in the first game, but I did the entire Majima construction storyline, and I'm at the end of the Four Shines storyline).  The story was also better and easier to follow, and exploring 2 different locations grows less tedious than the single one in the first game (although that location is repeated here), and getting rid of the stances/styles and their upgrade grids is a huge improvement.

I'm gonna play part 3 later this year, but since it is a PS3 remaster and not a PS4 remake, I don't have the highest expectations for it.  And then next year I'll probably tackle some combination of 4, Zero, Ishin, and Judgement.

1. Bloodborne (9.5/10)
2. Yakuza 2 Kiwami (8.5/10)
3. Firewatch (8.5/10)
4. Assassin's Creed: Black Flag (8/10)
5. Bayonetta 3 (8/10)
6. The Stanley Parable (7.5/10)
7. The Talos Principle (7.5/10)
8. The Quarry (7/10)
9. Pikmin 1 (6.5/10)
10. Beyond Oasis (5/10)

[G-type | 2,539]

 

On 3/5/2024 at 8:59 PM, greenthunder said:

. I originally had 123 on my backlog list before cutting it down to just 1, but I think I'm gonna end up hitting 2 and 3 this year anyway

No love for Apollo Justice?

[Philosoraptor | 468]

In February, I got sucked back into FGO. And Granblue Fantasy. Back to three gachas. Pain.

However, I did have some time to beat a few games since I last reported in.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink (PS4)—Ooooooohhh, this is a tough one. A very, very tough one. It's hard to not be biased about this one either, since I play (and love) the gacha it's based on AND the first print of the game includes a code for the mobile game that saves literally a month or more of grinding AND helps unlock a busted character of your choice. Seriously. At the time of writing, the code alone is selling for $30-45, which is most of the price of the game. Sometimes, they sell for more. For those who speak my moon language, I ended up using mine to get Haaselia, an Evoker, and I got her about halfway to five stars just from the rewards from the code alone. 

I digress. Back to the PS4 game. Gameplay-wise, the battle system is very similar to Xenoblade Chronicles. However, there are 20 playable characters here. 19 are from the gacha and there's one (current) Relink exclusive. Everything is executed well, and the writing is up to the same high standard as Versus and the mobile game. Everyone's specials (ougis/charge attacks) and movesets are VERY different, and you can get a lot of additional playtime trying out characters and playing online. Instead of the weapon grid from past games and gacha game, you have a skill tree that also unlocks a variety of skills and upgrades for each playable character. Background information is shared through fate episodes, and several familiar, upgradeable weapons are available for each character. Locales are gorgeous, cities feel alive, and they even recreated all the familiar NPCs from the mobile game. They've also added lots of chests and critters to find in the towns and story islands.

Because it follows the formula of the mobile game (read: quick quests to replay for drops later), most of the stages in its 20ish initial runtime to credits are broken up by running from set piece to set piece. So, even though it's hack-and-slash adjacent, it's once again closer to Xenoblade Chronicles in practice. It's fanservice for GBF fans. It's amazing. However, the game doesn't necessarily give you the best rundown of the story (or the mechanics, or the vernacular), so it's not as good of a jumping in point for new players as Versus is. Also, if you want to finish up the main story, the second arc is another 20 hours, so 40 in total. Overall, though, if you're a GBF fan, you'll love this game. 9/10

Ocean Commander (Wii)—Tough one to recommend. There's nothing wrong with it, per se, but it's bland and way, WAY too easy. This game controls with the Wiimote and Nunchuck, with you holding B to fire, pressing A to bomb, and moving with the Nunchuck. You control the direction of your shots in 360 degrees by pointing the Wiimote at the screen. Each enemy destroyed gets you money which can be used to level up your weapons up to three times.

However, you're an absolute unit of a bullet sponge. If I wasn't so concerned with keeping my enemy kill percentage up, I'd be curious whether you could sit in the middle of the screen and win by just holding fire. This game plays less like a SHMUP and more like the 30th best flash game on the Newgrounds homepage.

Even though it boasts 20 levels and a final boss showdown, all of the levels feel the same with only minor enemy variety and spawn rates. Bosses are reused (and not even pallete swapped) in probably half the levels, and none of them are particularly large, inspired, or difficult. Overall, it's just sitting in the middle of the screen and holding the fire button for two hours, and trying to shoot the stingrays to keep your kill count up, if you're so inclined. Everything else dies from the barrage of bullets and projectiles eminating from your ship. No bugs, but no excitement. Solid meh. I'd say 4/10 at time of release, but probably 2/10 nowadays. It hasn't aged well.

Mario Tennis Ultra Smash (Wii U)—The smoothest playing bad idea I've played in a while. No bugs, no framerate issues, everything has that Nintendo polish. But maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan. First off, the gimmick is twofold: the first is mega mushrooms that make your character take up at least half the court (and the full court if you're DK or another large player), and the second are jump smashes and ultra smashes. Both of these things cause innumerable problems with the actual tennis itself. Just like the hypothetical-made-reality of the goalie fat enough to plug a hockey goal, the mega mushroom makes it nearly impossible to hit the ball by a supersize player, especially a large one. You can sometimes hit the special shots that appear on court to spin them around or whatever, but that's still no guarantee. Even when you're massive yourself, still no guarantee. Also, to compensate for this ridiculous mechanic, now the tennis ball itself bounces higher in unexpected ways. A shot that barely went over the net can bounce right over your head three or four times higher than you'd expect. Without the indicators on the ground telling you what shot you'd hit, it'd be even tougher to predict that. Jump smashes and ultra smashes basically take the finesse out of the game previously in older Mario Tennis entries and devolve most rallies into smashfests. They function as upgraded overhead smashes, but from the side. For ultra smashes, everyone does a mario-style super high jump overhead smash. However, because of that, they've reduced the angles you can hit the ball, especially at the net, significantly. There's no more cut shots and drop shots are mostly ineffective, making each rally just a slugfest. It's also almost impossible to hit the net or hit the ball out in this game.

Speaking of the ball, it's minescule on screen, and it's even more ridiculous in the hands of a player under the effects of a mega mushroom. Plus with the size of the courts being a bit too small, it's very easy to lose track of the ball in front of a giant teammate.

So, the tennis isn't the greatest. You don't have the angles to hit balls past competent computers much less good human players in mega mushroom mode, the court is too small, and the end up taking away more from the gameplay than adding. What else can be wrong with this game?

Well, maybe the fact that there are only 16 characters, which is the same number as the N64 game if you don't include Transfer Pak characters, but they're of lower quality. In the N64 version, there was a significant difference in how each character type played. Serve and volley for Waluigi. Power and serve positioning for Bowser and DK. In Ultra Smash, the character types are still present, but the variation is significantly downplayed. So much so, that outside of the tricky characters like Boo, most play similarly to each other (and even the tricky characters still play pretty same-y, they mostly just fly and have a bit more curve to their shots, which is downplayed even more by the special shots that appear on the court during the match). Also, did we really need Toadette? or Sprixie Princess? Naah.

Ultra Smash also contains many fewer modes than previous entries. No tournament mode here. You do have exhibition modes to take out the gimmicks if you so choose, but the default modes all have them. The replacement for the tournament is a fighting-game style "knockout challenge" where you face off against 30 characters (15 normal and then the same 15 again but as star characters) in tiebreaks one after another. Beat all 30 and you get credits (and coins to buy other star characters and courts). You can also play the knockout challenge with a supported Amiibo buddy. However, instead of modifying the rules where it's now California doubles (the team with two players has to hit between the singles lines against the team with one player, and the team with one player gets the whole court), both sides still play singles. So, you essentially get a free backup as you wail on the ball at the net.

It get worse.  There's ONE minigame, which is about how long you can keep a rally going. They also took away three- and five-set matches, leaving only tiebreaker, two-game, and one-set matches as options. I get that limitation for online play, but not local play. There are also fewer courts and surfaces than in previous entries. There are the usual grass, clay, and hard courts, as well as carpet, ice, sand, rebound, and mushroom (highest bouncing) court. However, due to the weird bounces, the only courts that really play differently are ice, rebound, sand, and mushroom. Even worse, they're all located in the same arena, just with a different surface. So, instead of Mario Tennis 64's cool locales and music for each court, you get the same music and a same-y surface.

Mario Tennis Aces* and Mario Tennis on the virtual boy are the last Mario Tennis games I haven't played. However, of the ones I have played, this is easily the worst. Everything can be unlocked so quickly that it's easy to call this iteration a three-hour tech demo at best. 5/10

Edit: Started Aces. It's way better than Ultra Smash.

Edited March 8 by Philosoraptor

[greenthunder | 115]

3 hours ago, G-type said:

No love for Apollo Justice?

I do have 4, 5 and 6 on my 3DS; I just don't know whether I'll binge all six this year. I say that, but it's not unlikely lol.

 

I was wrong about where I was in Rogue Galaxy and beat the final boss today. I did see comments about the ending sucking and it was definitely odd. Not sure how I feel about it. Overall, it's a game very much carried by its gameplay. I did enjoy it, even with the old game jank going on. I still haven't done the bug fight side content yet, so I'll do that and push through the usual Level-5 100 floor postgame dungeon until I decide to move on.

I don't know what's next on my JRPG list. Think I might go for a turn based game next since I did play 3 large action JRPGs so far. Possibly Xenosaga 1 on my off list, but I do kinda want to pick up Baten Kaitos and get into that. Really, I should get back into Devil Survivor since I did start that last year, but the desire to play it hasn't come back yet. It's the second SMT game I've played, and for both I got into the game for ~18 hours and set it down. I did eventually pick up Strange Journey Redux again, blazed through until the new neutral final boss, set it down again, eventually got around to suffering the new neutral final boss. I think I'm subconsciously annoyed about the grinding I have to do, because I didn't unlock the gold auctions as fast as I could've, so now I'm stuck with outdated demons, running low on macca and I'm on the Day 3 Beldr fight.

I think the setting/main party is also getting to me in a very horror/existential dread kind of way. Sure, the background of SJR is kinda similar, but you're playing as a marine, supported by a team of top scientists and other marines, in an impossible location populated almost exclusively by demons. There are definitely horror aspects, but my brain doesn't overthink them. Meanwhile in Devil Survivor, the game is set in modern day Tokyo, the main three were all normal teenagers, so far you mostly interact with other normal people, resources are running out and the current antagonist is mostly the government. I haven't hit the point where the protagonist really starts unraveling what's going on and what our main goal (outside of get out of the lockdown) is, so the idea of playing kinda stresses me out. I'll fully admit I tend to play more fantastical games / games that don't really play up the horror of a situation like this.

Edited March 8 by greenthunder

[greenthunder | 115]

In the span of time between my last post and now, I beat Return of the Obra Dinn and I really liked it. The length is tight, both the audio and visual aspects are great and I like the way the story unfolded. Putting together who each person was and how they died was also satisfying.

Spoiler

I have no idea why, but I went in with the assumption the story would be mostly grounded outside of the magical pocket watch. Then it was a kraken, beings riding giant crabs, cursed shells, mermaids! The kraken wasn't too out there since it does take place on a ship after all, but going through part 6-7 and peeking through the viewholes to see a giant fricking crab was definitely a what the hell is happening here moment.

Only thing that annoyed me a bit was a couple subcategories of seamen and topmen felt a bit guessworky, though I probably missed some hints for them. I also really skill issued on the ship steward's cause of death. Took me too long to put 2 and 2 together with the burst of blood and someone yelling to shoot the crab.

I'm already on track to beat my 2023 count. I did 7/20 last year, I'm at 6/18 now, though I did knock out several longer games last year, while so far this year (in regards to my list) I've only done Harvestella for a 25hr+ game. Though to be fair, I don't have several of the longer games on this year's list in hand yet. I'm also still waffling if I want to do the two games in Collection of Mana as well.

[Sumez | 2,995]

3 hours ago, greenthunder said:

Spoiler

Only thing that annoyed me a bit was a couple subcategories of seamen and topmen felt a bit guessworky, though I probably missed some hints for them.

 

Spoiler

I did a lot of guesswork with those as well. Turns out you can identify them from their shoes while they are asleep in their hammocks

 

Edited March 8 by Sumez

[Splain | 2,592]

Wrapped up Skyward Sword HD. I played this on the Wii, back in the day, with the motion controls, and I didn't get very far. I understand the idea that swinging the Wiimote to do your sword was supposed to be super awesome, but it never really clicked with me. Nowadays, playing on the Switch, it's REAL weird to use the right stick to swing the sword. A LOT of enemies and puzzles are build around swinging your sword in the right way (vertical, stab, diagonal, etc) and like, I get it, but I kept trying to use the right stick to move the camera. And there are other items that use the right stick, that were originally to be used with swinging the wiimote, and all of them are clunky and weird, with lots of problems being caused by the adaptation of motion controls to not-motion controls. I struggled with the controls for the entire game. I know it was an option to still use motion controls but I didn't try it. Gyro for aiming is great.

I had a weird recurring problem of things being "closer than they appear." I'll swing my sword at a blob, but it's too late, it's already engulfed me. I'll dive onto a sky-island and try to save time by opening my parachute right before I hit, but it's too late, I've crashed and lost health. I just had to learn to generally act before I thought things were close enough. Weird.

Anywayyyy, I really did enjoy the game, it's a good 3D Zelda. You can see some of the BOTW ideas starting out. Hot take, I prefer the "mini-dungeon" system of BOTW over the lengthy, tedious dungeons of SS. It's got one big city in the sky, then three main areas on the ground, each of which you return to many times to fulfill the objectives of the game, which is both sorta cool and sorta not. I like the sky islands, it felt a bit like being on the sea in Wind Waker. But yes, it does get a little boring when you have to fly huge distances over and over.

My final playtime was just over 40 hours, I started to feel done around 30, partly because it seems like the game is about to end for a long time. It starts to feel like "Link! I calculate an 80% chance that on the other side of this door is the magical talisman that you have been searching for. This will allow you to finally complete the Mystical Forfex of Greatness, giving you access to begin searching for the first of eight Cromulent Bloopies, all of which will (at long last) allow you to begin searching for the Ancient Dragon-Bears, which will each teach you part of the Square-dance of Courage, which dance will open the Huge Door at the Real Actual End of the Game, where you will be able to begin your quest for the first of five Scrolls of Knowledge, which you'll need to unlock one of the Ancient Padlocks of Truth, which will open the way to Impa's Butterfly Santuary, where you'll need to..." and it's like "another thing??" again and again. I guess I underestimated how much I like knowing how far away I am to finishing Zelda games.

But again, generally speaking, I'm glad I played it and I definitely recommend it (the Switch version) to Zelda fans. And of course it has this gem:

[T-Pac | 7,590]

12/40 - Blaster Master [Nintendo Entertainment System - 1988]

Finished: 2024/03/08

Caveats: Finished using save states, an online strategy guide, and the "pause glitch".

[T-Pac]

[Estil | 1,265]

So I'm continuing to work on FF Pixel Remastered and is Tweetie, eh I mean Celes in FF6 seriously flipping me the bird when she's preparing magic???  And is Denise, my White Mage in FF1 also giving me the middle finger after each battle victory???

Edited March 10 by Estil

[Sumez | 2,995]

No

[Lago | 224]

You guys got any tricks for powering through games you feel are just meh?  I am wrestling with two of them right now.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,598]

14 minutes ago, Lago said:

You guys got any tricks for powering through games you feel are just meh?  I am wrestling with two of them right now.

Multi-task with Netflix.  I did it with Beyond Oasis.  I'm doing it with all of the rework chapters in Bravely Default.

[Crabmaster2000 | 502]

12 minutes ago, Lago said:

You guys got any tricks for powering through games you feel are just meh?  I am wrestling with two of them right now.

I adjust my mindset. For some games that I'm not vibing with I'll focus strongly on just one aspect that I really like (maybe music, or the battle system, or the scoring system and I'll squeeze what joy I can from that). I also find it valuable to play things that you don't like from time to time to better appreciate the things you do like. I gives me a better perspective on why I do and don't like certain things. And sometimes for a particularly long game that I'm not super into I feel like I've gotten some form of Stockholm Syndrome and after like a dozen hours I suddenly start enjoying myself. It's like "this is my life now I guess, better make the most of it I guess"

[Sumez | 2,995]

3 hours ago, Lago said:

You guys got any tricks for powering through games you feel are just meh?  I am wrestling with two of them right now.

Easy. Stop playing them and cross them off your list. 

To me at least, a backlog isn't about playing everything through - it's about playing everything as much as you feel you need. 

There are so many fantastic games out there - why should you spend valuable time playing stuff you aren't feeling

Edited March 11 by Sumez

[Reed Rothchild | 9,598]

1 minute ago, Sumez said:

Easy. Stop playing them and cross them off your list. 

To me at least, a backlog isn't about playing everything through - it's about playing everything as much as you feel you need. 

There are so many fantastic games out there - why should you spend valuable time playing stuff you aren't feeling

To continue this train of thought, every hour is a gaming opportunity cost.  10 hours spent with some throwaway game you got with a bundle is 10 hours you will never spend with one of your future favorite games of all time.  You may never play it thanks to that.

I forced myself to finish Shenmue last year knowing perfectly well my time was better spent anywhere else.  But it's also nice to have it checked off the list and having the experience for gaming reference if nothing else.  Now I can fully appreciate the Yakuza games 

[Sumez | 2,995]

Legacy of the Wizard - Beaten 4/3

Had I known how little text is actually in this game, I would have played it decades ago when I first ended up with a Famicom cartridge of the game. Legacy of the Wizard really is an "it's all in the manual" type of game, and to be honest, I love that.
Going right into the game, it immediately boots into the house of a family descended from a legendary wizard (hence the title I guess), and lets you pick a family member to go adventuring into the massive maze-like dungeon below the house, transforming them into a cool RPG-like character.

The actual RPG elements in this game are fairly light however, at its heart it's a metroidvania style platformer, even if the platforming is sort of unique in how it tries to combine 8-way movement with gravity and jumping. Each character has a set of stats, but they cannot be increased, and enemies drop gold which can be used to purchase items, though many items can be found in the dungeon as well.
The items you find are equipped in a very limited Resident Evil style 3-item inventory system, which can only be switched out whenever you sleep in an inn, an establishment that is surprisingly ubiquitous within the hostile caves you'll be exploring.
Even within these three items, only one can actually be equipped at a time, which does create a cool priotization balance between some of them, but it has the bothersome side effect that you'll likely end up just ignoring some otherwise cool items like the magic armor or staff that extends you attack range, in favor of actually essential items.

Each character has unique skills which really sets them apart, and in some cases entirely changes how you play, as well as giving you access to different parts of the dungeon. This is a really cool idea, and probably the biggest appeal of the game. One character, your family dog, transforms into a cute monster who is able to touch enemies without taking any damage, but has otherwise very limited abilities, and serves best to scout out the terrain early on, and securing a few of the first items you will be needing, and which only certain other family members are able to make use of.

All of this sounds extremely cool on paper. Dungeon diving in a massive underground maze with a ton of secrets and monsters, gradually improving your abilities to cover more ground - the deeper you explore the harder getting out safely can be, with the risk of any single death losing any progress made since the last time you left your house.
This is the game I really want to play, but unfortunately the majority of Legacy of the Wizard is split into four completely segregated sections, each designed with one specific character in mind, essentially just resulting in four linear stages, which detracts a bit from that sense of exploration and adventure.

As I mentioned, you absolutely need the manual in hand to even have a vague idea of what each item does. But honestly that will only take you so far. The most complex item is the glove, allowing the father to move blocks out of the way. The way it works is extremely obscure, making most of the operations you can do feel like odd exploits based on the game's controls. However, his part of the dungeon absolutely requires you to understand every one of those nuances in order to make it through the incredibly long-winded sequence of block pushing puzzles that make up his journey.
I have no clue how people were expected to figure this out back in 1987. One other place where I ended up using a guide, was finding the shield - definitely intended as a secret to be shared between friends or in magazines. But without it I'd have no hope of defeating some of the later bosses.

And man, let me tell you about those bosses. Each of them are capable of completely decimating you in seconds if you aren't prepared - and there is no way you are going to be prepared.
You can struggle your way through a section of the dungeon upwards of an hour, only to come across any other inconspicious looking chest, which will immediately transport you to a boss fight. No way to escape, and if you lose, all progress is reset. I think I was pretty lucky to be able to survive the first two of these with some old fashioned Mashing & Praying, but for the next two, I ended up repeating the same journey more times than what is realistically enjoyable. It doesn't help either, that some rooms in the game seem to be designed mostly just to waste your time, rather than challenge you.

Legacy of a Wizard feels like a game that should have been something else than what it was, and it's really too bad because I think had it been so, it would easily have been considered a classic today. All the components are there, they just aren't arranged quite right.

[fox | 1,681]

March Update:


Gigabash


Sea of Stars


Suicide Squad

Mayhem Brawler

[fox | 1,681]

4 completed

Playstation 5
Balder's Gate 3
Gigabash - completed
Sea of Stars - completed
Outer Wilds
Mayhem Brawler - completed
Suicide Squad - completed
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - 40%

Switch
Blasphemous 2
Citizen Sleeper
Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster
Gourmet Warriors
The Last Faith
Monster Train
Paper Mario
Prison City
Super Mario RPG
Super Mario Wonder
Wrestlequest
Unicorn Overlord - finished ch 1
Contra Operation G

Coming Soon
Princess Peach Showtime - March 22
Gravity Circuit - April
Paper Mario 1000 year door - May

TBD 2023
Blade Chimera
Blazing Strike
Dragon Warrior 3 2dHD
Little Nightmares 3
Mina the Hollower
Silk Song
Wolf Amoug us 2

[Sumez | 2,995]

6 hours ago, fox said:

Sea of Stars

You're missing something 

[fox | 1,681]

1 hour ago, Sumez said:

You're missing something 

I'm not really into doing every side quest and post game activity, I already spent a lot of time on it and was ready to wrap it up.  I did beat the wheels master, which was a fun mini game, but the rewards were not really worth it.

[Sumez | 2,995]

Not sure how many of the side quests you already did, some of the bosses are really cool IMO (others are just repeats of some you already fought), but if you've already done them, the "postgame" stuff itself is extremely short, but IMO incredibly heartwarming too. Getting treasures and conches etc aren't necessary. Only story stuff.