The 2022 Backlog Challenge

[MegaMan52 | 2,446]

I almost beat that many games in 2019: 

Probably won't be able to do that again.

[Sumez | 2,963]

5 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

As far as PoP, I do not perform well under the pressure of time limits.

I think that's the beauty of the SNES version.

The game lets you continue even if you miss the time limit, the final boss just won't be there when you reach the end. So you can practice the whole game without worrying about it.
I'd also estimate it's only gonna take a single run through the whole game to have enough experience to make it within two hours on the next one. The game is quite a bit longer than the original, but having double the time is more than enough to make it through without having to rush.

The first time you play you're gonna end up trying some stages over and over again until you get it, but those are gonna stick with you so hard that on your next attempt that you're gonna ace them  

Seriously, give the game another chance, it's incredibly satisfying.

Oh, also the save system on the SNES version is incredibly easy to just abuse to not have to worry about the time limit at all , but I think doing that completely removes a lot of the fun in acing levels that were previously hard.

Edited July 26, 2022 by Sumez

[Philosoraptor | 468]

2 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

That's nuts!  Im trying to think of anyone got to 100 last year, much less in 6-7 months.

Thank you! I don't know if this will be the new norm or if this is my MVP season, but I'm happy regardless. I've only beaten 20 of the games I beat this year in previous years, and they were mostly ones I beat for the NES thread. Based on the spreadsheet I keep, if I beat 20 more games, a third of the games I've beaten in my life will have been beaten in 2022.

[Sumez | 2,963]

Seriously, how the hell did you pull that off?  The year I managed to do 52 games in a year was a year where I put off pretty much every single other thing I could have done in my spare time. Congratulations.

[twiztor | 851]

damn fine work, @Philosoraptor!  beating 100 games by late July, that has to come out to a game every other day. i'm at like a dozen games and feel like that's crazy!  Keep up the good work!!

[Philosoraptor | 468]

3 hours ago, Sumez said:

Seriously, how the hell did you pull that off?  The year I managed to do 52 games in a year was a year where I put off pretty much every single other thing I could have done in my spare time. Congratulations.

Thank you, @Sumez! That's been pretty much my story as well. In previous years, the things that kept me from gaming were a crappy commute, a stressful job that made me want to come home and crash instead of game, and watching looots of sports. Late last year, I got a new job that's work from home and we cut cable, so now it's watch stuff on Youtube, play video games, or both. I honestly haven't had this much time to game since I was in elementary school. Considering how good people on this site are at games, I think if everyone had 30-40 guilt-free hours a week to game, y'all would be beating more games than me each year or beating crazy hard games left and right.

1 hour ago, twiztor said:

damn fine work, @Philosoraptor!  beating 100 games by late July, that has to come out to a game every other day. i'm at like a dozen games and feel like that's crazy!  Keep up the good work!!

Thanks, @twiztor! Earlier this year I was on pace to beat a game a day. I had beaten 96 in early April, but then an emergency came up and I had to move. The next two-and-a-half months were filled with nothing but moving stuff one carload at a time, cleaning the old place, and organizing stuff in the new one. I'm in a much better place now, both figuratively and literally, and I'm really happy to get back on track.

If I'm honest, that pace was never going to hold. I don't have enough games I can beat quickly enough to beat a game a day, or even a game every other day. It took me almost a week to beat Bomberman 64: The Second Attack, which is probably a more reasonable pace for most of the games in my library. I've continued to update the list I originally created on page 3 of this thread if y'all are curious about what exactly I've beaten over the year. 

[Sumez | 2,963]

2 hours ago, Philosoraptor said:

I think if everyone had 30-40 guilt-free hours a week to game, y'all would be beating more games than me each year or beating crazy hard games left and right.

Hell yeah that's for sure. On a good week I have maybe 6-8 at best

[twiztor | 851]

by completing Sonic Mania, my 2d Sonic run is now complete. 
and yes, i know that you need to play as Sonic and get all the Chaos Emeralds to get the true ending. but i'm not gonna do that.
this game was really great. a loving tribute to the prior games in the series while still introducing enough new twists to stand on its own. i first played this a few years back (not to completion) and found it to be pretty mediocre and unbalanced. the the previous games in the rear view mirror, this playthrough made me re-evaluate and really appreciate this entry. great sound, the good graphics you have come to expect, and lots of surprises. the boss fights were all varied and innovative. 
i can't praise this one enough. if you only play one Sonic game, make it this one!

[MegaMan52 | 2,446]

"Beat" Mickey's Speedway USA. Technically you have to beat the Frantic Finale tracks on Professional to really beat the game, but I don't feel up to it now (especially since I've had blood pressure issues this year). Still, I unlocked the Frantic Finale tracks (the final four tracks) and got a gold Trophy.

Mickey's Speedway USA may be a "kids game", but like most games developed by Rare it can be extremely difficult and appeal to adults. Even on Amateur difficulty, the characters are aggressive on the Frantic Finale tracks and it's a little difficult to stay ahead of them. Unlocking these tracks was something I hadn't done until recently, because finding and collecting four hidden parts is required to unlock them. No matter how many times you've played the other tracks or what difficulty you're playing the game on, the first time you play the final four tracks you're likely going to be frustrated.

Hawaii - On the Hawaii track, you need to avoid Coconuts or you'll slow down so much that some of the other characters will likely pass you. The first few times you race on this track, you're not going to know exactly where the Coconuts are and you may not quite have the skills to avoid them while still maintaining your speed. Also, while your avoiding Coconuts, if even a pixel of your tires touches the water, Louie (or Dewey?) picks you up and you have to wait several seconds for him to put you back on the sand which can put you behind.

Oregon - The Oregon track isn't too difficult as long as your drifting skills are good, but the last part of the track will likely fool you the first time. You have to drive on a narrow bridge, and have to slow down a little so you don't fall in the water. If you fall into the drink, you'll likely be in last by the time you're put back on the track.

Texas - The difficulty increases even more on the Texas track. It seems like the character's in second and third are on your tail almost the entire race, and there are some really tight turns that make you fall behind unless you're good at drifting (and know when to start drifting so your turns aren't too wide). On the last part of the track, right before the final track, there is a grassy area and a fence. Because of the fence, If you accidentally drive into the grass, you have to either turn around or keep moving forward at a slow speed. Either way, if you drive onto the grass, it is almost impossible to catch up with the character's in first and second. After racing on this track a few times I was able to make the turns without issues. Unfortunately, Donald threw a Ball at me near the finish line so I got second place on this track. 

Colorado - Not surprisingly, this is the hardest track in the game. The biggest challenge is not falling off the track. There are two areas where I frequently fell off the first few times. The first was near the beginning, just after the first tunnel. As long as you're in the middle, It seems like you can just go straight until you realize you need to turn right a little or you'll fall of the track. A little later, you see some Tokens and once again you're tricked into thinking that you can just go straight but as soon as you collect the Tokens you realize you're about to fall off the track (again). There is a section where the road splits. If you take the path on the right, you'll come across a jump that seems to take you to the other path but I couldn't clear it even with a boost. Fall off the track too many times, and the other characters get so far ahead it's basically impossible to catch up. The track can be mastered, though. After playing it a few times, you'll be able to avoid falling off and can keep up with the other characters. However, there's not much room for error. Even if you're in first, most of the other characters are able to stay caught up even if they touch the items you've dropped/spilled on the track. Still got first place.

Anyway, I got first place overall and got a gold Trophy. Considering the difficulty of the final four tracks, I think that's good enough for now.

I rented the game in late 2000 when the game was new, and thought it was alright. I didn't like it as much as Mario Kart 64 or Diddy Kong Racing, but thought it was definitely worth a rental. The tracks are fun, the characters are funny like in their cartoon shows, and the music is reasonably good. I like that the Practice mode has its own unique track and allows you to roam freely, like the Adventure mode in Diddy Kong Racing.

I played the game again in 2008 on the Project 64 Emulator, and once again thought it was decent. I recorded some videos of it that year, which are still on my YouTube Channel. I finally added the game to my collection in 2020, when a friend gave it to me for free along with a Collector's Edition copy of Zelda: Majora's Mask. I recorded some more videos of the game last year and the year before, played using a real N64 instead of an Emulator.

However, only recently did I find out the game actually has quite a bit of content. Like Diddy Kong Racing, the game has twenty main tracks and four battle arenas. However, there's another race track (New Orleans) that can be unlocked by playing the Practice mode. You can unlock Huey, Dewey, and Louie (the Game Boy Color version and a Transfer Pak are required to unlock Huey). There are a bunch of cheats to unlock, one of which displays a digital Speedometer and another unlocks a Jukebox. There's also apparently an option for mirrored tracks that unlocks after getting gold or platinum Trophies on all three difficulties in the Frantic Finale tracks. The game may be hard, but it rewards you for your efforts.

I still don't think it is as good as Mario Kart or Diddy Kong Racing, but I'm glad the game is in my N64 collection.

Edited July 29, 2022 by MegaMan52

[Lynda Monica | 350]

So hey, I know this is breaking the rules, but I'm going to make a new starting post.

When I first joined the site not long ago, this was one of the first threads I posted in with no real idea of what I was doing. Not being able to fix my initial stupid post has discouraged me from taking part in the challenge at all, so I'd rather just break the rules and start over so I can take part and have fun again.

Don't worry though, I'm more than willing to make up for it! My goal for the rest of the year is to finish one Wii U game a month! Since we're still early in the month, this is a perfect time to do this.

Please don't give me too much of a hard time for this, as I'd rather take part and have fun than sit out for the rest of the year just to make a new post. This will be the only time I ever do this, so whatever I sign up for next year I promise I'll be stuck with.

So here are my goals for the rest of the year!

August: Yoshi's Woolly World
September: Sonic Lost World
October: Resident Evil Revelations
November: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
December: Pikmin 3

I'll get back to this challenge and aim to finish some of these games I've been buying!

[Philosoraptor | 468]

I've finished the last stipulation of my initial backlog challenge (beat 20 games across a variety of platforms). The last game ended up being Time Gal for the Sega CD. I've never played a FMV game before, so no clue how this one stacks up to others, but I enjoyed it.

It did seem like the audio and visual queues weren't quiiiiite synced up. Not sure if that's really the game's fault, though. I think I lost a pin or two in the composite cable for my tower of power consumption. I've got a new one on the way, as well as a composite cable for the Saturn, which has a grainy picture through the RF switch, and a Retro Fighters N64 controller. I'm hoping the N64 controller will stand up to some Mario Party, because all the other controllers haven't over the years.

I was super, SUPER close to beating Brutal: Paws of Fury, but I got wiped on the last round of the Dali Llama at least 10 times. Also, Brutal has got to be one of my top contenders for worst fighting game I've ever played. Even worse, from what I've read, the Sega CD version is supposed to be one of the better versions...

Next up are some import games I've been meaning to play for a while. Woo!

 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,536]

Have I mentioned that Uncharted Waters New Horizons is a million years long? 

Love the game, but I'm impatient to close the book on the SNES, and it's really drawing out this final chapter for me. 

[Kguillemette | 1,544]

I've been parked outside the final dungeon of ToGf and have been just moving on to so many other things. I think the only RPG I plan to play the rest of this year is Super Mario RPG or Earthbound. I've been on such a Zelda kick. I'll probably do one of the fighters and the puzzlers, but RPGs just aren't something I feel like doing any more. 

[Sumez | 2,963]

I went camping at a small festival last week, hoping to get through a few handheld games in my spare time while there, but I ended up getting pretty much zero spare time.

I did get to the final boss of GB Bionic Commando, but had a real hard time with the swinging outside his room so never figured out how to beat him. I'll go back there and try again one of the coming days, but aside from that I won't be giving my backlog much attention the next few weeks. I'm playing three games for a local 1CC marathon, and in my current state I don't think I'd be able to beat any of them. So I need to set a couple of weeks aside for practice of all of them.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,536]

Uncharted Waters New Horizons.  This is the final US SNES game I was targeting to beat.  I'm officially done with the library now: everything is either cleared or retired.

The final pirate battle on the Amazon was driving me crazy.  I just could not win a duel with their captain, and even when I finally overcame him, it took three separate duels to finish him off.  If I had been using emulation the temptation to use save states would have been overwhelming.

[Philosoraptor | 468]

14 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Uncharted Waters New Horizons.  This is the final US SNES game I was targeting to beat.  I'm officially done with the library now: everything is either cleared or retired.

The final pirate battle on the Amazon was driving me crazy.  I just could not win a duel with their captain, and even when I finally overcame him, it took three separate duels to finish him off.  If I had been using emulation the temptation to use save states would have been overwhelming.

Wow! Massive congratulations on that! What a feat! Have a cold one, man, you've earned it.

___

Well, yesterday I beat two Famicom games that were night and day in terms of quality, even though they were both made and published by Namco and released only nine months apart. The first, Wagyan Land, was atrocious. It also isn't easily beatable without the translation.

The platforming parts of the game aren't bad, except for they drop inputs, causing unnecessary deaths. You have seemingly infinite continues, but it doesn't make up for bad platforming. There is one power up that progressively levels up your shouts/stun attacks until you gather four and become temporarily invincible and faster. Later, you can get an item that lets you constantly use an overpowered attack or an item that lets you fly but not attack. That's at least a neat idea.

However, the real sin are the bosses. Bosses either challenge you to a game of memory/match (like SMB 3) OR Shiritori (しりとり), which is a Japanese word game where the players are required to say a word that begins with the final kana/ending letter of the previous word. I played with a translation, so it was the latter for me. There are also bosses at the end of nearly every stage.

I haaaaaaaate those types of games. You have to get more matches than your opponent to beat them. However, opponents never forget anything on the match game, so it's who can get on a run first. The other game can only be won when you select a word that doesn't have another match on the board. Like, if none of the items on the board start with e when you chose "tree."

That is, until the last boss. You have to beat the Dr. Wily lookalike at both the match game (easy) AND Shiritori. However, against him and only him, you have to make at least 24 matches with a limited number of cards AND you have to beat him. Each card may have multiple acceptable answers, such as "squid, octopus, or kracken" for the squid card. However, others only have one, like balloon. If your opponent selects "ewe" or "sheep" instead of "lamb," at the end of the game you end up with a bunch of cards like balloon AND you haven't made enough matches. So, you have to help him not make stupid choices. It's also timed. If you lose, you lose a life like you do for all boss battles, but if you beat him without enough matches, you get to play again...and again...and again until you make enough matches. It took me FOUR HOURS to beat him. Absolutely brutal. IMO, platforming gets a 5 and bosses get a 0. So, I give the game a 2.5. 

___

The next game was Mappy Kids, which I thought was worlds better. I played it in Japanese, and there was really only one minor bit that was difficult for English speakers.

This game reminds me a lot of a Capcom game, like Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers, with a little SMB 3 thrown in. You have the ability to slowly descend by helicoptering your tail a-la the Tanooki Suit in SMB 3, and the rest is just pure Capcom. You play as the kids of Mappy and Mapico, and the goal of the game is to collect enough money in the 15ish stages to buy things that improve your and your parents' lives.

Mappy Kids is not terribly difficult, I'd say about as difficult as SMB 3, and gives a good amount of lives throughout. The platforming in the later levels gets kinda tough, and there is recoil/stun lock can absolutely roll you into pits. However, you don't lose a life for falling into pits or getting hit, just some health. You also lose some money when you're hit, but you can recover it like in Sonic games. If you don't get hit too much, you'll have enough money to buy everything and get the good ending with a few levels to spare.

In between each level, you play one of three mini games for rewards chosen from a slot machine. The flag raising mini game is very difficult without knowing how to read Japanese, since you have to follow instructions. The sumo one and the spot the difference one can be effectively played without knowing Japanese.

(Image credit http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/mappy-kids/)

Mappy Kids is very straightforward and has no real secret areas or levels. There are only a few power-ups, it has a mostly linear overworld, and there are no bosses in the game. From start to finish, you'll probably put an hour or two into it. It's not super long, but it's a good time while it lasts. It also supports 2 player co-op. I'd recommend this one, especially if you like Rescue Rangers. 8/10.

[Sumez | 2,963]

Agreed on both Wagyan Land and Mappy Kids. The former is just bafflingly bad, and it's a Namco game too.

[MegaMan52 | 2,446]

Beat Ratatouille on GameCube. Played on medium difficulty.

Ratatouille is one of the few Disney/Pixar movies I haven't seen before, so I don't know exactly how well the game follows the movie. Despite not seeing the movie at all in the last fifteen years, I did buy the game in 2007 and remember it originally came with a ticket for the movie. I played the game a little, only completing the first two levels. I sold my original copy only a few months (or a year?) after I bought it. I remember some copies of the game still being at some stores in 2008. I think I might've bought it again in 2008/2009 (it was cheap at $20), but once again didn't think much of it and sold it. I bought a sealed copy on eBay at least a few years ago, probably longer (I'm guessing 2016/2017). In the last few years, I've occasionally played through the first two levels again...and each time I kept wondering "WHY haven't I played through this game yet?" and "WHY have I STILL not watched the movie"? I don't know why I kept putting it off...I've got too many movies and video games I guess, and probably overlooked Ratatouille. I finally decided that it's been long enough, and finally played through the game.

Again I don't know how well it follows the movie, but I thought it was alright...not great, but I wouldn't call it terrible. The game seems kind of similar to the 2007 TMNT game (which was also released on GameCube), which itself is similar to Prince of Persia (and runs on the same engine). No, you don't see Remy with Swords fighting wildlife. But certain things just reminds me of TMNT 2007. The visual quality in the first level seems similar to the first level in TMNT. You have to occasionally swing from poles like in Prince of Persia/TMNT 2007. When you're collecting things and jumping around, Remy frequently says something like the turtles do in TMNT 2007. 

As expected, the earlier levels are fairly easy and short. But about halfway through the game, they can be surprisingly challenging and take longer to complete. There are no 1ups (at least not in this version of the game); if Remy's energy runs out, you have to restart at the last checkpoint. There are some slide levels in the game that can be tricky. One reason why is because unlike other levels, you have to restart from the beginning if Remy loses all of his energy. There are checkpoints in the slide levels as well; if Remy falls off the slide (or pipes), he loses two points of energy and you can restart at the last checkpoint. Cheese can be found in each level to give Remy more energy, so in the case of the slide levels the cheese is similar to a 1up and gives you more chances to complete the slide levels before the game sends you back to the beginning of the level. Another reason the slide levels can be difficult is because you can sometimes slide out of control, and fall off. You have to occasionally slide down pipes, and it's a little hard not to fall off. This is especially true near the end of "The Slide of Your Life" (the second last level), where you have to slide on a long pipe and unless you're dead center you can fall off (jumping and turning in the opposite direction does very little).

There are some chase levels (usually with Skinner the Chef chasing Remy) that can be a little frustrating. Simply running with the Control Stick is not enough. You have to sometimes sprint by holding R. Unfortunately, while sprinting, you can bump into things and have to wait two or three second for Remy to get up and move again. There's very little room for error, since Skinner is right behind you. If you bump into something once, you MIGHT be able to escape. Bump into something else only a few seconds later, and you have to restart at the last checkpoint. If you're running on a table, you can't drop down to the floor or back to the checkpoint you go. Not too difficult, but slightly frustrating.

There are some "Dream World" levels (first pic, above) that can be found in the main levels. You can find some different kinds of food lying around in some levels. If you go near the food, Remy falls asleep and you enter a "Dream World" level. These are basically bonus areas with fruit/vegetable/pizza platforms where you collect stars, and are optional. If you fall down, you can restart at a checkpoint. If Remy loses all of his energy, you go back to the level you were in and he wakes up. You can re-enter the Dream World, and any stars you collected remain collected when you re-enter. Stars also appear in the regular levels, and if you collect them all you get points. You also get points when you complete missions and levels.

Points are used to buy the games' bonus materials, which includes videos, pictures, Dream World levels, cheats, and two difficulty settings (Very Easy and Nightmare). You can also unlock mini-games that can be played with up to four players.

I like that you can ride on Luxo Balls in some levels, and you can also occasionally play as some of the other rat characters and Alfredo Linguini. I believe the game features voice actors from the movie, including Brad Garret (I recognized his voice immediately).

While Madden NFL 08 was the last game release for GameCube in the U.S. and Canada, Ratatouille was the last game released for GameCube in Europe. The GameCube version got a limited PAL release in France. Being a France-Exclusive, the European release is in French (including voices) with no language option. I have both the American (well technically Canadian...which is the same as the American release except for the bilingual cover and French manual) and European releases. In case you're wondering, I played the American/Canadian version.

Edited August 9, 2022 by MegaMan52

[Reed Rothchild | 9,536]

Started up Killer 7 next.  This is a game I owned back near release, and I played through several chapters, but lost momentum on that playthrough for whatever reason and never returned to it.

It's a Suda51 game so it's understandably very, very strange.

[Jicsan | 589]

I am so super far behind on my backlog this year.  But I've been DIY (I suck at this btw) remodeling our new house and getting ready to move for the last few months.  Aside from sneaking a few nights of Shredder's Revenge I've not had any game time at all.  Now all my stuff is packed up and moved, but not hooked up anymore.  The good news is I will have a game room again for the first time in over ten years.  It was like an hours long job to dig something out of my storage closet if I wanted to play something not modern.

[Floating Platforms | 720]

Thought I could finish Psychonauts last night, but that last level was a pain and I had to settle for beating it during my lunch break today.

This is a game I started 5 years ago and then abandoned because I rarely play stuff on Steam. It's tough to go back to the computer to play games after spending all work day at a computer. I had to isolate in our office and guest bedroom for a week away from my consoles, so I was able to start from scratch and get through most of it pretty quickly.

I enjoyed the story, setting, humor, level concepts, etc and I can say that it definitely made me want to try the sequel, however the platforming was not great.   If you're not going for 100% completion (like I was), it may not be much of a problem until that last level. I found that jumping and "hit detection" (for lack of a better/proper term) of objects was wonky and bad. There were many times when I would jump towards a rope/trapeze/branch and go right through it instead of latch on.  And then jumping off had different trajectories and results.  It can be difficult to know where you're going to land when jumping and so trying to get onto ropes or other small areas may also lead to a lot of unexpected misses or falls.

The collectable aspect was fine. I did use a guide for a handful, and I don't like how long it takes for some of the moving figments to come back around (especially if you miss grabbing it due to that bad hit detection), but most of it's manageable enough naturally.

I wish that there were either fewer psychic powers or more useful spots for the ones you are given. Some are only helpful in one or two short encounters (same with items that stay in your inventory), and some are vital to equip all the time like levitation.

I'm glad I finally forced myself to play through this adventure.  Aside from Game Boy stuff, I tend to float between platforms <cough, push up glasses> and games so I'm working on several others from my list that I hope to get done relatively soon-ish.  Battle of Olympus was put on hold while isolating, and I want to spend more time with that next week.  I'm probably about 40% (?) done with Control (which is basically serious Psychonauts), on Case 2 of Great Ace Attorney 2, on the last chapter of Murder by Numbers, and I just picked Chrono Trigger back up.  My cartridge says I have about 19 hours logged on that, so maybe close to done, but I honestly don't recall a damn thing about the story to really know.  I'll explain more about that later - I've done myself a disservice with how I've played this over the years.

I doubt I'll finish everything on my list at this point, but I won't be too far off course.

[Sumez | 2,963]

15 hours ago, Floating Platforms said:

Thought I could finish Psychonauts last night, but that last level was a pain and I had to settle for beating it during my lunch break today.

Your thoughts on the game echo my own hauntingly, to a tee

 

[Floating Platforms | 720]

4 hours ago, Sumez said:

Your thoughts on the game echo my own hauntingly, to a tee

I usually read your reviews, but skipped this one since it was on my backlog.  Good that we agree on one! I also had similar performance problems playing from Steam.  I didn't notice any input lag, but it took a couple minutes for some of the stuttering and choppiness to die down when booting it up, and then any new cutscenes would temporarily bring it back.

[Lynda Monica | 350]

Dear Sega: I hate Sonic Lost World, and today I threw it in the garbage bin at our building for the flies to shit all over.

I didn't finish this game, and never will. I got VERY close to finishing though, a mere five levels away from the end before I simply couldn't take it anymore. I was so incredibly angry playing it that I gave myself a headache, and I had to get it out of my house as I wasn't going to have an aneurysm and die over finishing a horrendous video game.

It's such a shame too, as the first two worlds are absolutely fantastic, and exceed the quality of some of Nintendo's own Wii U games. World three isn't terrible either, and the worst you can say is it's not as good as the first two.

Worlds four through six are where the game falls apart, and shows that Sega didn't finish the game before releasing it. New mechanics are introduced that are EXTREMELY fiddly and broken, and I don't know who at the company played the sections with ice physics and said "yeah it's fine".

Ice physics aren't a universally terrible thing as one might think, as I've played many platformers where ice physics are challenging in a fun way. Ice physics that DON'T WORK on the other hand are a completely different thing, and Sonic Lost World has PLENTY of those! You'd think it'd be limited to the ice world too, but as a sick joke they bring them back for a later level out of the blue.

The later levels also start to run out of money, and the 3D segments almost disappear entirely in the sixth world. Where I finally called it quits was in the last level of world six where there's a hideously broken sand slide where you face the camera, and things fly at you from behind. The physics are completely broken, and no matter how little you nudge the control stick, you go sailing off the edge.

Now if the Wii U didn't have such a crippling terror of supporting the D-Pad, this wouldn't have been an issue at all. I don't know who at Nintendo has been trying to kill off D-Pad support, but I hate whoever you are.

I'm not going to consider the game beaten, but I did make a serious effort to finish. For the sake of my well being though, I quit.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

I've had a bunch of spare time lately as I transition to a new job, so I took advantage and knocked out quite a few games. Here's the skinny.

Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut (PS5)
Score: 9/10

This is easily one of the best open world games I've ever played and certainly the most beautiful. I truly did not expect to enjoy this game as much as I did, but the gorgeous environments, sweeping vistas, fantastic characters, and solid gameplay combine to create a truly unique experience. I mean, just look at that grass. It's amazing!

Swordplay is a lot of fun and upgrades make clearing camps of nameless baddies quite satisfying. I also love that the map is kept to a reasonable size, fast travel is available from the start, and your horse is always ready to go. I'm all for things that make exploration and movement faster and more efficient.

It suffers a bit from the usual open world bloat and the repetitive nature of its minor side quests, but that is easily overshadowed by the plethora of strong content. The story can be generic, but the characters are strong thanks to complicated motives and excellent performances from the actors. You really should experience this game for yourself, on PS5 if at all possible. Highly recommended.

 

 

Returnal (PS5)
Score: 8/10

At its heart, Returnal is a third-person action game with a Rogue-lite structure. That is, you always restart at the beginning of the game when you die, but you will carry some minimal progression between runs and if you progress far enough, will eventually start in a new area. Risk/benefit tradeoffs are everywhere and may cause a serious headache for those new to the genre. To those who've already spent a couple hundred hours in Binding of Isaac, you'll feel right at home.

The gameplay is certainly the star of the show. Shooting and movement are intense and hectic, yet also poetic and balanced.  When everything clicks and you're ziplining through the air while juggling alt-fire, consumables, and your primary weapon, the game becomes a magnificent symphony of destruction. There are also moments where you will feel completely outgunned, unprepared, and doomed almost immediately upon starting a run. Even with the occasional disaster run, the game generally feels balanced, so I never felt truly hopeless. It's tough, but I always knew I could find a better build that would help me power through, and I did.

Even though I really enjoyed the game, I was a bit disappointed in the lack of content, slow progression, and limited upgrade variety.  The game has 6 biomes which present some variation in the environment, but the use of preconstructed template rooms can be problematic. These familiar layouts are comforting and give you a strategic edge, but they get repetitive quickly.

The weapons feel great and different "traits" are fun to explore, but some are objectively better than others and leveling them can be excruciatingly slow.  Additionally, per-run upgrades can feel a little samey. There are a lot of different relics, but many of them are so similar that it feels difficult to customize your build. In theory, you can prioritize alt-fire, health, or melee, but there is a lot of overlap in all three. And since you have 15 slots for upgrades and five additional for parasites, most builds will be more generalized than specialized.

After 15-20 hours, you'll probably start to feel a little burned out on the same weapons, environments, and enemies. 

Overall, I really enjoyed Returnal. It's a tough game, but mostly fair and very beatable (the final boss is actually a pushover). Given the lack of content, I think the developers probably should have targeted 20 hours for completion of weapon trait and alt-fire upgrades, but that's a relatively minor complaint. If you like 3D shooters and Rogue-lites, give this one a shot.

 

The Artful Escape (XSX) - 8/10
This is more of an audio visual experience than a game, but it's got amazing artwork, great music, and a fun story. It's worth a playthrough if you're looking for something different and want to hold X to wail on your guitar.

Death's Door (XSX) - 7/10
This is a decent indie isometric action game that fails to do anything exciting. The environments and enemies felt a little bland and the combat was not particularly fun. I'm very surprised about all the GOTY hype. In a world where Tunic exists, this game feels redundant (I know it came out first).

Myst (XSX) - 7/10
I first attempted to play Myst about 30 years ago and I don't think I solved a single puzzle. Fast forward to 2021 and we've got a fancy new version to stump me. This update looks nice and I like how the environments inform the puzzles and vice versa. The quality of the actual puzzles varies greatly with a mix of enjoyable logic-based mysteries and some nonsensical headscratchers. The game relies a bit too much on obscuring the results of your actions or otherwise purposely withholding information to slow you down. Yeah, it's old school design, so I get it, but it can be frustrating.

Still, I was able to solve all the mainline puzzles and finish with the bad Atrus ending without any guidebooks or help. However, I didn't want to spend several more hours re-exploring all the environments for a one minute cutscene so I just used a guide to finish up the good ending. Glad to say I've finally seen this one through to the end.

BONUS: Myst-inspired artwork. I call it Ravings of a Mad Man. F that clockwork gear puzzle and rocket ship maze.

 

A few games I wanted to play are leaving Game Pass soon, namely What Remains of Edith Finch and 12 Minutes, so I'll probably work on those next. Otherwise still just playing FFX and some co-op games with my son.

Edited August 17, 2022 by DoctorEncore