games I played in 2024

Games I beat in 2024:

1. Resident Evil Village: Rose of Shadows ***
2. Kirby's Return to Dreamland ***
3. Magalor's Epilogue ****
4. Pikmin 1 ****
5. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth *****
6. Final Fantasy 7 Intermission ****
7. Mario Vs. Donkey Kong ***
8. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth *****
9. Persona 3 Reload *****
10. Dottie Flowers ****
11. Paper Mario ***
12. Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge ****
13. Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday ****
14. Tiny Toons Adventures: Wacky Sports Challenge ****
15. Paper Mario: The 1000 Year Door (Remake) ****
16. Pikmin 2 **
17. Princess Peach Showtime! ****
18. Power Stone 2 ****
19. Enter the Gundead
20. Turtles in Time Arcade
21. Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster *****
22. Front Mission 2 Remake *
23. Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster ****
24. Trails of Cold Steel 3 ****
25. Castlevania: Portrai of Ruin ***
26. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow *****
27. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia ****
28. Blaster Master Zero 3 ****
29. Unicorn Overlord ****
30. Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster ***
31. Final Fantasy Adventure ****
32. Astro Bot *****
33. Trails of Cold Steel IV ****
34. Crash Bandicoot 4 ****
35. Dead Space Remake *****
36. Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster ***
37. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom ***
38. Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure ****
39. Blender Bros ***
40. Kirby Knightmare in Dreamland ***
41. Kuru Kuru Kurururin ****
42. Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge ****
43. Konami Krazy Racers ****
44. Silent Scope Advance ****
45. Super Mario Advance: Super Mario Bros 2 ****
46. Astro Boy
47. Kingdom Hearts 2.5 Final Mix ****
48. Dragon Quest 3 2D-HD ***
49. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Final Mix ****

Rose of Shadows - ***

While this was more of a retread of the main game through a different lens and gameplay. At the end of the day, it was just okay across the board. The story was okay. The gameplay was okay. I guess I wanted to see more progression. But it seals that 7 and 8 were a sub-duology. And that it makes RE9 a mystery of what direction it will go in.

Return to Dreamland - ***

Kirby has a lot of good games in it's massive series. But this one is mostly meh. The graphics just kind of meet the demands, nothing special and the level design is middle of the road. Almost like it's uninspired to be it's own identity and a bare-bones mish-mash of over Kirby games.

Magalor's Epilogue - ****

It's funny to say Magalor's Epilogue is more fun than the main game, but also functionally different. It plays differently, it has upgrades. It has stages and rewards based on player performance. It's just really different and the whole package is definitely that shines on it's own.

Pikmin 1 - ****

After playing Pikmin 4, you can definitely tell that the controls are way more rough around the edges than it's sequels. Aiming and throwing Pikmin can be burdensome, and even organizing your Pikmin can be a hassle. Obviously there are fore-givings. It's an older game, by today's standards, but it's still really good and fun. The only other letdown is that there's not too many large creatures that are threatening. There's a few big fights, but they aren't completely difficult like in the later games. No enemy took more than 5 cycles to really defeat. So, it errs on the easier side. But it doesn't lose it's charm.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - *****

I actually wrote a separate pastebin on this game alone. Only because I love the Yakuza series. https://pastebin.com/zf1ZwMzj

Final Fantasy 7 Intermission - ****

I haven't played Remake since it came out and wanted to be included in this game for Rebirth. It's fun. The gameplay is refreshing, they even added a cool mini-game in there. It is on the shorter side. About 5 hours of 100% content. I think the really unique thing they added was Sonon and the final boss of this DLC. Makes me think if they are going to re-release Dirge of Cerberus before Remake 3 like they did with Crisis Core.

Mario vs Donkey Kong - ***

I don't normally play smaller games or off-shoot from major Nintendo franchises (like Hyrule Warriors), but I wanted to give this a shot because Donkey Kong '94 was really good. And I'm not saying this game is bad. It's just alright, or maybe I'm just not a big puzzle game fan (I'm not). Each level is a screen or two and the level is over pretty quick. I even did all the expert levels and NG+ levels. Maybe 3 levels I had to look up online, since some very minor mechanics aren't explained or translated very well. Honestly, the craziest and coolest part of the game is the soundtrack. Very heavy jazz.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - *****

I haven't played the original game since it's release on PS1. So my knowledge is mostly based on the newer Remakes. But Rebirth truly feels like a next-gen game. I'm honestly shocked how much is in this game based on 3 years of production. There is so much to do, there is so much lore, there is so much everything. I actually don't remember the original story too much and I started to hate Cloud towards the end. And as my story and lore was revealed, I understood how messed up everything is. It's really kind of interesting how complex the story is character-wise. My only negative is that the game is a little too long. I never felt like anything was unfun. But the main game and it's side content is on the 100 hour side.

Persona 3 Reload - *****

So I did play this originally on PS2 as well. And it's cool to see that the game gets a visual upgrade closer in the vein of Persona 5. The stylistic art-style is so cool. I could see why this game may not be viewed as good as 5. But I really like it. The characters are very interesting in their design and background and it makes me think, because the game came out around 20 years ago, how these characters existed in that age and in that environment. I think I remember reading that Persona 5 was about breaking free of the shackles of society and seeking freedom. Where I felt Persona 3 is about breaking free of monotony of life and finding life's purpose and meaning. In fact, I didn't feel as strongly about the main story until the end where it hit me pretty hard. And it's not the corny self-sacrifice or the bonds that give you strength. It was literally was makes life give meaning to you. What gives you purpose. And that's a mantra I preach every day of my life, but it just seemed to affect me more than I thought it would. I guess because it talks about death a lot too. Like maybe I spend too much time playing video games and I should maybe seek more meaning out of life, but also I feel a lot of depth and closeness when I experience these settings and experiences vicariously inside me. So I don't feel bad that my main hobby is video games itself. As this form of media gives me experiences and draws purpose.

Other than that, people harp on Tartarus for being repetitive. Honestly, I find it therapeutic. I more or less found some of the day-to-day activities less so. Only because you can only do so much in a given day, but I think that plays more into a realistic life simulator more than anything. But when you are playing a few weeks in-game in a given day, I find the repetition to set in more.

Dottie Flowers - ****

Dottie Flowers is a homebrew SNES game, and as far as I know, there are very few SNES homebrews because the scale from NES to SNES, usually for one person, is a lot of work and effort. And there's a lot of cool stuff going on here. The graphics are fairly well done for the most part. The NPCs are actually kind of weird looking. The cutscenes don't seem to add too much. But the game is kind of cool. It plays kind of like Super Turrican. The music is okay. But the game plays fairly well and is fun. Color me surprised on a custom one-person game experience.

Paper Mario - ***

Paper Mario, or as I call it, Paper Mario 64. Is a very Mario RPG. Originally conceived as Super Mario RPG 2. That game was forever delayed until the end of the N64 console cycle and this game came out. When I mean it's a very Mario RPG, it very much a Mario game in an RPG system. You will see some early identities evolved from basic characters. For example, Sushie is a babysitter, Lakilester is a teen-punk-delinquent Lakitu, Kooper is a brave Koopa Troopa that wants to go on adventure. Each character has a little bit of flair and original design to them. Toads are differentiated based on their task and job. The game has wonderful presentation and plays like a storybook. The themes and paper-like environments are cute, but the overall game kind of drags down in the gameplay. It's honestly just too basic and a little slow. Mario starts with very low HP and FP and each area is extremely minor in increments of how much damage you input and output. To the point where the last area, you're maybe taking 7 damage of HP. This is all fine and dandy when there are RPGs that take this method to the extreme when I can have characters with 20,000 HP dealing 7,000 HP attacks. But this is kind of the opposite of the extreme. Battles are fairly basic to the point where there's only 3 abilities per character, starting out with 1. The badge system is really cool, but because badge points are so limiting and the gameplay structure is also limiting, you never really get to the point where you can combine a bunch of abilities and wonder what kind of powerhouse you can customize. So it's easier to play is safe and go for additional damage output, HP, and FP and call it a day. Characters are fairly simple in personality, while the game does push more uniqueness out of the beginning of this new universe. I just found myself more bored playing this game. I knew each chapter was going to last 2-3 hours. I knew I was going to get a new partner character each chapter. It's just very, simple and formulaic. And it just doesn't scratch that itch for me. Like sometimes I was just thinking, should I be playing something else? It's a good game, and this is actually my 3rd time playing it in my life. But maybe it's time to put it in the bin.

Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge - ****

This game surprised me. I've played it before, but it's been awhile. The graphics really shine and pop out and the game has stunning music. Classic Castlevania games tend to frustrate me outside a couple, but everything overall shines to bright, I didn't mind that I died dozens of times, over and over again. The game is just so good. It's a really solid game boy game, and has a good amount of length to it. I did find the last two bosses very unforgiving to the point where I felt like I had to memorize very specific placement of attack patterns and positioning. At that point, one-third of my playthrough was the last two boss re-tries. I still really enjoyed my experience.

Porky Pigs Haunted Holiday - ****

I'm a sucker for cartoons, and unique licensed games. Porky Pigs Haunted Holiday is an interesting game. Some parts shine bright and a few drag it down a bit. As a speedrunner, I also look at some things in a different light sometimes. The game seems to have a decent speedrun following, but I didn't particularly find the game very technical in terms of direction. It seemed very straight forward outside the two sections of the game that were very maze-like. The level design in terms of environment and setting is very cool. From really spooky, to wacky, to unique. The bosses were fairly easy to figure out and the game allows you to go straight back to fighting the boss if you game over, so penalty is light. The music and sound design is very well done too. I would say it's just a very above average game, mostly to it's unique overall package.

Tiny Toon Adventures: Wacky Sports Challenge - ****

I was told to play this and it's actually pretty fun. Probably more fun with other people locally to play with. But it's a retro licensed Konami game and it has a lot of similarities in graphics and soundtrack to other games of it's era. You go through a bunch of mini-games/party games with other NPCs and try to meet minimum requirements to move onto the next round, but it's silly in a way like playing Mario Party and fun. As for it being a retro Konami game, the graphics are beautiful and the soundtrack is amazing. Not much else to say, just playing the game has a lot of fun factor.

Paper Mario and the 1000 Year Door (remake) - ****

I probably have a lot of say about this just like my replay of Paper Mario. 1000YD is an alright game. I played it on Gamecube when it came out and enough time has passed for it to feel like a fresh new game. The remake is stunning. The graphics, soundtrack, presentation, is 5/5. When you finally leave Rogueport and enter Petal Meadows, the soundtrack is at it's best. High energy with a sprinkle of classic mario song in it. There's more depth to the world, the characters, and what do to do in Paper Mario's second entry. The characters are way more fleshed out, designs are out there and go up a couple notches. But I still feel like the battle system is just lacking. It's just too easy and the game itself moves a little slow like it's predecessor. To the point, where sometimes I'm just bored and I don't feel engaged. The game's lore did catch me off-guard multiple times and it has laugh out loud silly moments. But I feel it just doesn't completely hit that mark of being a really good game. I'd like to play Super Paper Mario and the other Paper games I haven't played yet. I do remember having very fond memories of Super, but that's a completely different game too, not even an RPG. So we'll see. I enjoyed my time with 1000YD, but it didn't leave a lasting mark on me. I'm only rating it this high because everything else about it is really good.

Pikmin 2 - **

If you know the Pikmin series by now, you know what you're getting into. I found this entry fun, but kind of a let down. I'm still a little unhappy because the introduce the cave system and some of the caves are just levels of floating platforms. These platforms have you throwing your pikmin off accidentally or the enemies in the game throwing your pikmin off, making it an incredibly frustrating experience. I did push through to collect all the treasures and do the after credits content. I would say it's mostly not worth it with the exception of the last boss. The final boss fight is long and really fun to figure it's attack patterns. If I were to rank Pikmin I would say 4 > 3 > 1 > 2.

Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster - *****

I've never really played the original FF outside an hour of the PSP version. I would say, even if the quality of life features were not included in this game, I'm surprised on how good it is. The pacing is great. And the remaster features tone down the tedium of some retro titles a lot. The graphics really shine and I can tell the preserved a 16-bit solid style that isn't overly flashy. As a big retro gamer, I'm surprised this wasn't messed up and came out really well.

Front Mission 2 Remake - *

I liked the first remake enough and wanted to play the 2nd remake. It's just, pretty bad. The story kind of sucks. From what I've read online the translation is pretty bad. The game suffers from hard locks 2/3 of the way through the game. And figuring out how to get past them sucks as a consumer. Some of the skills don't work at all, and some of the skills from the 1st game aren't there like the dual weapons. The first half of the game is pretty good, but once it reaches it's peak, that's it. Nothing really else significant happens. And it has a main story beat of constantly chasing something and always being one step behind. Yakuza Infinite Wealth had this issue. The main party was literally one step behind at every corner. And it sucks to feel that. The constant dread. I wouldn't play this again unless it was the original.

Princess Peach Showtime! - ****

I liked this game a lot, I would've liked it more but the auto-scrollers are really prevalent and if you're trying to collect all the collectables, the game will box in you some and levels and you can't backtrack. When you re-start the level, the cutscenes are dialogue are unskippable. Making the levels to replay a real slog. I think playing the game and just not replaying the levels at all would make the game a lot more fun. Especially since the collectables to unlock boss doors is fairly low. Other than that, I had a really good time with the game. The levels are fairly short. 5-10 minutes each. And what's cool is the levels are more retro designed. I felt like I was playing an older retro game in terms of traversal and finding collectables.

Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster - ****

This game is cool in multiple ways. A super unique level up system. Your characters don't have level ups, but your weapons, magic, and attributes have levels. It's really interesting to try to understand at first and apparently all the other versions make this incredibly hard to follow except this one. I honestly thought this one was not going to be good, but I ended up enjoying it a lot. Firion became one of my favorite MCs in FF, not so much of the characterization, since the early games have pretty 2D personalities, but his conceptual and character design is really cool and unique. I would say this game has it a little more difficult to follow on what to do next, based on the keyword system. But overall, I don't think the negatives draw down the experience too much. The dungeon design can be lacking, and the final boss is fairly unreasonable. Other than that, solid 2D FF game.

Trails of Cold Steel 3 - ****

What a game. Kind of starts like a brand new beginning, then adds a lot of returning content and characters and kind of overloads the whole game. In terms of all Trails games, they have so much world-building and background story to the characters, that there is so much to learn and do. This entry honestly, just has so much to it. It's incredibly long to the point where it's easily double the length of the prior to entries. That makes the pacing a bit hard to absorb sometimes. Where I can be in story and cutscene mode for a few hours at times. It's also starting to be more apparent of it's aging dungeon design, in terms of navigation, it feels more PS2/PS3 era, which Cold Steel 1 and 2 were also originally on the PS3. They've just have had so many ports to PS4, PS5, Switch, and Steam. I have to say, the end really cliffhangs hard. Way harder than Cold Steel 1. So many questions unanswered. I feel like literally the whole thing just cuts off. Which is more on the unusual side. It's kind of funny that the original dot hack series had 4 games and were about 20-25 hours each and we're likely looking at 300 hours total for Cold Steel 1 and 2.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - ***

I actually started Dawn of Sorrow before this but finished this first. Portrait of Ruin is not a bad game, but it's a shadow of it's predecessor. They introduce other areas/maps outside of Dracula's castle, which I don't know how I feel. It was always fun to know that Dracula's castle, over time, but a changing visceral entity. And the castle in this entry is actually pretty small. Like half of Dawn of Sorrow's castle map. The main focus is external areas you are warped to, as if it was a different dimension. Which is... okay. Two characters are played and the simultaneous combat dynamic is pretty cool, but outside of that, they add a bunch of other features that kind of make the game more complicated and they don't put the controls/button combinations in any place. So I often forgot how to even do co-op moves with the characters.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia - ****

After Portrait of Ruin, Order steps back into the other direction but also tries a few different things. Weapons are bound to glyphs and there's different ways to attack and you can set an attack in each hand. Which gives some nice variety in layered attacks. After playing a lot of the Castlevanias in this era. It kind of feels like they run out of ideas for traversal. There's a double jump. There's flight. In this game you don't get wings until the end. So most exploration is pretty basic. Dracula's castle is present here, but it's the entire 2nd half of the game, while the first half are about a dozen smaller areas leading up to the castle. The story is fairly strong in the one and the pay off is definitely worth it.

Blaster Master Zero 3 - ****

The third and final game in the Blaster Master Zero trilogy. This one is somewhat different. It builds upon everything from the previous games and adds even more. It's kind of like starting in Super Metroid with every ability from the previous game and adds more combat abilities and different ways of upgrading the weapons. At the end of the day, it's more of the same, but the same is really good. It's a metroidvania at it's heart and there are a lot of references to the original game and a culmination, story-wise of the Zero titles before it. It's ending is a bit odd but also endearing. And the the final bosses fights are extremely powerful. To the point where this overall may be the hardest game in the subseries.

Unicorn Overlord - ****

Unicorn Overlord is a very very good game. It's fairly unique too. I'm certain I've seen games like this in the ps1/ps2 era, but this one is basically an extremely polished Vanillaware strategy rpg war game. You command squads and can customize your units down to their equipment, ability points, and unit placement. There is a great amount of layering, but it doesn't devolve too much where it's like the ridiculousness of Stranger of Paradise. Each unit is it's own class too. And there are about 70 unique characters. It's crazy that they've incorporated that many unique characters with their own classes and abilities. The main gripe I really do have with this game is the characters do have a background and personality, but because of the sheer amount of characters, it doesn't go too deep. Which is fine based on all the other factors that bring the game up to it's value. But it can detract wanting more out of the game. But that goes away with the sheer amount of things you can do in the game. Mining for materials and upgrade materials. Finding the latest weapon with a unique ability attached to it. The game does a lot right. I would still rate Odin Sphere and 13 Sentinels higher. Just because those games' narrative is so strong. But the gameplay really shines in Unicorn.

Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster - ***

Woo. This one is a bit rough. First FF that really explores a changing job system. Which is fine, but I tend to stick with what I like. The game forces you to use two unique spells for exploration-sake, but it also completely cripples your party in those moments since you still have to fight and encounter battles. I found once the game stopped trying to shoehorn forced magic and jobs, that the game gets better slowly. I actually got myself to try more jobs for characters and ended up liking thief, dragoon, and dark knight a lot. I even liked the endgame and optional content a whole lot. But I'm gonna be real. The game would be a huge chore if it wasn't played on the pixel remaster.

Final Fantasy Adventure - ****

Truly a marvel for a Game Boy game. There's so much cool stuff packed in for such a limited console. The game plays somewhat like Zelda, but has it's own charm. The story beats hit well. The game starts off in a place of powerlessness. And the music is outstanding. The only main negatives are sometimes the game is jank and you can get juggled by enemies and die quickly. And sometimes it can be really difficult to figure out where to go. But the game, I didn't find, to be overly difficult. It's about moderate in difficulty.

Astro Bot - *****

Astro Bot is the game Sony needed to release. It's potentially the best game on the PS5. The game was made to be pure fun. It kind of plays like a combination of Super Mario Sunshine, Galaxy, and basically the best features of other 3D platformers. I really don't have any bad things to say about the game. Every aspect is designed so well for fun and playability. It's only even better because it's such a huge PlayStation franchise fanservice game.

Trails of Cold Steel IV - ****

The 4-game saga is over and that's after pouring around 320 hours into the subseries respectively. Gameplay-wise, nothing has changed for the most part. The game is super massive on scale. There are probably around 40 playable characters, and for a 3D game that doesn't draw Final Fantasy numbers, this is just huge. There's just so much content is kind of exhausting. The story is alright and drawn out, because we all know war is coming and who were going to fight the entire time. So, it's more of a journey not the destination game. But when we do reach the destination, it's oh so very satisfying. Some tears, some from sadness, some from joy. But I'm glad I made it through, even if there is technically another game after this that bridges to the next subseries where I frolic along with Rean and Loyd again.

Crash Bandicoot 4 - ****

I sung high praises for this game and this is my 2nd playthrough. This time, I noticed that the game was just kind of really long. It's not long but it is long. Like they purposely added so much padding to make the game as long as possible. BUT, if you focus on the base game and the platforming/level design elements itself. It's really really good. I found I enjoyed the game way more when I wasn't going for the extra content.

Dead Space (2023) - *****

I'm not a big horror gamer, but Dead Space blends sci-fi, horror, and 3rd person shooting extremely well. The level design is great and not too disorienting. And the original for it's time was revolutionary for it's in-game UI. There are some parts that age it a bit. Locked rooms for enemies to fight and the room unlocks when the boxed fight is over. And there are a lot of things to pick up. But these are minor complaints, as the game just outshines in every other aspect.

Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster - ***

I love RPGs and I enjoy a lot of Final Fantasys. But I don't know why this one didn't really scratch the itch. Party members are constantly leaving, making it feel like their time with you was kind of pointless. The story is kind of already done better in other Final Fantasy games. I unfortunately kind of thought it was more forgettable. Maybe the original version is better.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom - ***

It's alright. There are a few problems I have with the game. The game goes heavy on puzzle solving and 2d segments. And it tries to limit direct combat as much as possible. The characters in the game talk way too much for a Zelda game. However, the game is beautiful, art-style-wise. And when you get to near end game, the combat is relaxed more and a lot of fun. I actually found a lot of the puzzle-solving fun, but I felt like towards the end of the game, I was just pushing through. I enjoyed the dungeons way more than anything in the overworld. Yet, the dungeons only really take up a small portion of the game unfortunately.

Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure ****
39. Blender Bros ***
40. Kirby Knightmare in Dreamland ***
41. Kuru Kuru Kurururin ****
42. Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge ****
43. Konami Krazy Racers ****
44. Silent Scope Advance ****
45. Super Mario Advance: Super Mario Bros 2 ****
46. Astro Boy
47. Kingdom Hearts 2.5 Final Mix ****

Didn't Finish:
Contra 3 GB
Turrican GB
Joe and Mac GB
Battletoads (might return)
Battletoads in Battlemaniacs
Operation C (might return)
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown **
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown - Didn't really enjoy it. But I didn't expect it to be compared to Hollow Knight and Ori. Metroidvanias I don't actually like. The platforming is bland and combat is sluggish. It's not a bad game. It's just not for me. It's overly polished and I can tell it is stuffed with too much content, voice acting, and text boxes. I just finished the Castlevania DS collection and all 3 games are leagues ahead of this.
Gungrave GORE **