From now on I'm going to start making reviews for Fortnite seasons as well, so I can better form my opinion on individual seasons. I'll start with my review after which I'll provide some of the stats I tracked during that season.

February 16th - Fortnite: Ch6 S1 - 71h - 7/10 - Reached level 201

Here's my review:

Pros:
Starting with the season's battle pass, there were two skins I liked which I used a decent amount. Those two are Shadow Blade Hope and Night Rose. I usually stick to my 5 main skins, so when I use another skin, that means it's pretty good. Night Rose's music pack isn't half bad either.

I don't usually have too strong opinions on a season's gameplay, since I'm fine with pretty much all weapons and game mechanics. Nonetheless, this season did have one unique and interesting item. The Shadow Oni mask, which lets you teleport. I love cool concepts like that and I didn't expect something like that to be added to Fortnite. The boons were a pretty neat new mechanic, allowing you to gain new abilities throughout a match, which provides another mid-match objective to focus on, like the broadcast towers. The unvaults throughout the season like the kinetic blade and lock on pistol fit the season theme nicely. Unvaults in general also kept the loot pool fresh, which prevented it from getting boring and stale.

The map for the chapter has a great amount of variety from the start, with multiple biomes and even a unique design with mountains in the middle. There's also a bunch of neat small aspects like the tunnels going through the mountains and the vault at Nightshift Forest which you can only open by doing a quest for Bushranger. The map changes this season have been better than they have been in a while, with bigger and more numerous changes. For the Christmas event, there was extra snow added to the map and even a mini-event. The Godzilla collab had Shining Span get destroyed and then repaired afterwards. Most unexpectedly of all, a brand new mid-season POI was added. I hope Epic Games keeps up this level of map changes.

The story this season was a little slow throughout the middle with not much happening, like most seasons these days. But it did have some good aspects like tying it together with the previous live event and keeping old characters relevant, while still setting up new mysteries. The best part of the story, however, is easily the mini-event and its aftermath. At this point they can hardly be called mini-events, because it was a whole cinematic battle between Daigo and Shogun X. What I especially enjoyed were the little touches after the event, like Jade foretelling how the season transition will happen to S2 in a way that makes complete sense, instead of it happening out of nowhere, like it sometimes seems. Another detail was Shogun X being replaced by another demon since he got defeated in the event as well as Night Rose no longer being a boss because she was freed from Shogun X's control. These are the little details that didn't have to be added, but make the world feel so much more alive. The story also sets up a potentially great overarching villain with the dark presence in the spirit realm remaining and in control of the zero point shard. I hope this storyline stays throughout the whole chapter since Fortnite has had issues in the past with one-off villains.

Neutral:
Despite there being two skins in the battle pass I enjoyed, the remaining skins were mediocre. I'm not a fan of collabs in the battle pass in the slightest either, especially when they affect gameplay. Although in this case, I will admit that attacking a giant Godzilla in a match is pretty cool and unique, so I can't fault it too much.

Cons:
What I wasn't a fan of was the removal of most Zero Build tournaments. I always do the ranked cups each season for the extra glider, but this season I had to do them in builds, which I dislike much more due to how competitive it is. The only good aspect that came out of this is that I found out that the ranked gliders take your highest rank from any mode, even Rocket Racing, which means I won't have to grind ranks in builds for the ranked cups.

Stats:
Ok, now let's get into my stats for this season, starting with my most used skins. Sylvie is at the top because she's my main, but I also used Shadow Blade Hope a decent amount. The standout new skin though is Hatsune Miku with fantastic hair physics, which is helped by having the longest hair in the game. (Before Cassidy Quinn surprisingly dethroned her in Ch6 S2.) She was so good that she managed to join my exclusive club of main skins, which is currently only at 5.


For most POIs, my favourite is probably Canyon Crossing although Masked Meadows had a great underground tunnel system.


Overall I played about an equal amount of matches of BR and RR. Although not equal by hours spent, because RR matches are much shorter. I do wish RR gets revived at some point, but currently, it's still pretty much dead in the water.


Here are some overall stats for BR this season. Not the best win ratio, but I'm not all that competitive, so I don't care that much. I got my first win early enough, so that's all that matters.


Excited to see how Epic does comparatively in Ch6 S2. Hopefully, they can keep the good aspects from this season going.

It's been nearly 2 years since I did this and I've beaten quite a few longer games, so let's see what's changed. Going from lowest to highest again. Before I start with the list I should name a few honorable mentions. I'm playing Higurashi When They Cry, which has already surpassed P5R, and I still have a good chunk left. So when I complete that, It'll be far and away the new number 1. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope would've been on the list at 7th place with 102h 1m if I didn't separate the playtime for the Tower of Doooom DLC into it's own entry due to my vastly different opinion on that DLC.

I've bolded the new entries on the list compared to last time.

10. Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony - 77h 5m
9. The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles - 80h 44m
8. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy - 86h 37m
7. Super Mario 3D All-Stars - 95h 1m
6. Persona 3 Reload - 108h 48m
5. Pokemon Omega Ruby - 109h 42m
4. Persona 4 Golden - 114h 30m
3. Teardown - 124h 18m
2. Fire Emblem: Three Houses - 125h 22m
1. Persona 5 Royal - 182h 14m

Forgot to look into this earlier, so I've decided to do it now. Haven't managed to find a book that matches a category for most of them yet, although I haven't had the chance to look through my full to-read-pile yet. Can't really think of any books for the discussion challenge so I'll ponder on that for a bit longer.

Here's my StoryGraph profile in case anyone wants to link up.

Gaming Adjacent challenges
❌01. A book published by Boss Fight Books. -
❌02. A novel that was (directly) adapted into a videogame. -
❌03. A book based on a videogame. - Higurashi When They Cry: Abducted by Demons Arc (AKA Onikakushi), Vol. 1 - (Ryukishi07)
❌04-A. A book based on a table-top game (DnD, Warhammer, Shadowrun, Magic, BattleTech, etc)
❌04-B. a Gamebook (e.g. Choose-Your-Own-Adventures, single-player RPGs). - A Lone Wolf book. Can't quite remember which ones specifically I have in my to-read-pile.
❌05. A non-fiction book about videogames. - Hey! Listen!: A journey through the golden era of video games - (Steve McNeill)

Regular challenges
❌06. A book published since the start of 2024 - Thunder City - (Philip Reeve)
❌07. A "classic" / literary cornerstone. - The Shape of Things to Come - (H. G. Wells)
❌08. A short story or novella. - The Emperor's Soul - (Brandon Sanderson)
❌09. A doorstopper (Approx. 700 pages). - Ship of Magic - (Robin Hobb)
❌10. A play -
❌11. A graphic novel or manga. - Hope You're Happy, Lemon - (Mizuki Kishikawa)
❌12. A memoir or (auto-)biography. -
✅13. A book adapted into a movie / TV series. - Kokoro Connect Volume 1: Hito Random - (Sadanatsu Anda)
❌14. A self-published book. -
❌15. A book from a genre you don’t normally read. -
❌16. A book you have read before but remember nothing about/think you won't like anymore. -
❌17. (Reread) a book that was assigned in school. -
❌18. A book from an abandoned or currently unfinished series. - Red Seas Under Red Skies - (Scott Lynch)
❌19. A “hopeful non-fiction” book. -
❌20. An animal xenofiction novel. -
❌21. A novel set in your city/state/country. -
❌22. A book from Wikipedia’s list of “Most Commonly Challenged Books in the US”. -
❌23. A book actually purchased in your local walk-in book shop. - Higurashi When They Cry: GOU, Vol. 1 - (Ryukishi07)
❌24. One of the oldest books in your backlog. - Mortal Engines - (Philip Reeve)
❌25. A book in your mother tongue. -
❌26. A book about a character engaging with a hobby of yours. -
❌27-A. A book set before medieval times. -
❌27-B. A book set in the far future. - The Sunlit Man - Brandon Sanderson
❌28-A. The debut book by an up-and-coming author (They must not have any other books out at the moment). -
❌28-B. The first book by a famous/pre-established author. -
❌29. A book that has at least two of the following words in the title: How Long To Beat. -
❌30. The Discussion Challenge -

Last month I did manage finish one book though.

✅13. A book adapted into a movie / TV series. - Kokoro Connect Volume 1: Hito Random - (Sadanatsu Anda)

It was pretty good LN although it didn't have enough extra context to put it over the benefits provided by the anime adaptation. At least for this first volume.

Sequel to Overboard! got announced.


I liked the first game a decent amount and maybe inkle has refined the systems this time around, so I'm excited to give this one a shot as well.

Finished the game yesterday. In the middle of the game, I thought it was decent, but I ended up enjoying it much more than I thought I would near the end for a variety of factors. Also quite rare for me to enjoy such a short game this much. A solid 7/10. My review is on the wins thread or my account if you're interested.

Enjoyed the GotM game much more than I originally thought I would, especially for such a short game. Next I'll try to continue slogging my way through OoT 3D.

February 4th - Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion - 3h 45m - (100%) 7/10 - Got the true ending and every achievement.

Here's my review:

Pros:
At first, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion seems like a simple comedic action-adventure game, but by the end, you realize there's more to it than just that. You find field logs and diary entries throughout the game that are seemingly completely unrelated to what is happening in the game. But then you find out about the humans living in the bunker, which is when it all clicks into place. They were driven into hiding by a nuclear war, after which plants mutated to become sentient. The nuclear war is foreshadowed well with all the nuclear waste strewn around the game. This interesting plot twist isn't even the main plot twist of the game, however, which belongs to your father being the co-leader of a mafia.

Mayor Onion being the final boss is quite predictable, but what I wasn't expecting was a secret, true final boss. The way you unlock it is by ripping up all the government documents. This provides for great story gameplay integration since you're inclined to destroy as many documents anyway for completion's sake, but you only learn about the true final boss after beating the game once.

Most games would falter on the next step, forcing the player to tediously search every nook and cranny for the few collectables they missed. Which would result in the player giving up and using a guide in frustration. However, Turnip Boy manages to solve this issue wonderfully by having an in-game system that gives the player hints for the collectables they've missed. This gives clueless players a direction to go in that doesn't feel like cheating and will still make them feel accomplished when they find the collectable. Many more games should adopt systems like this since it means the player can stay within the game the entire time and have a more enjoyable experience.

Returning to the true final boss of the game, God Onion. It plays into the JRPG trope of having to defeat god at the end of the game, especially since the boss theme has what I assume are Japanese lyrics. It doesn't even make any sense that Mayor Onion would turn into a god by blowing up a nuclear bomb, but it perfectly fits the game's comedic style in its stupidity.

Turnip Boy also has an unexpected endless rogue-lite side mode, which is surprisingly enjoyable. The game's combat is more complex than you would expect, especially with the trinkets the mode has to offer. It is a pretty small-scale mode, there aren't that many trinkets or potential playstyles you can create, but it's a nice little distraction after you've finished the main game.

Neutral:
Most of the music is pretty standard and unremarkable, especially in the earlier sections of the game. Maybe this was done intentionally to draw you into a sense of security because then the game hits you with the aforementioned secret boss battle theme as well as the credits theme, which are both bangers.

The one boss I didn't enjoy that much was Liz, since she was annoyingly difficult until I managed to figure out the trick the boss battle relies on. The earlier bosses are also a bit on the easier side, but this is compensated by the later bosses and the rogue-lite mode.

January Update

COLLECTION LINK

Here's my progress so far:

❌️ 1. A new game (released within the past year) - Paper Trail (2024)
❌️ 2. An old game (released 10+ years ago) - Kentucky Route Zero
❌️ 3. A really old game (released 20+ years ago - Clannad
✅️ 4. An ancient game (released 30+ years ago) - Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
❌️ 5. A time sink (50+ hours) - Octopath Traveler II
❌️ 6. A quickie (less than an hour) - UBERMOSH Vol.3
❌️ 7. A remake or remaster of a game - Braid: Anniversary Edition
❌️ 8. A game with 6+ endings - Chaos;Head Noah
❌️ 9. A collection of games - Zero Escape: The Nonary Games
❌️ 10-1. A game that’s title starts with a number - 80 Days
❌️ 10-2. A game named after the main character - Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
❌️ 10-3. A game that starts with the letter Q or Z - Q.U.B.E 10th Anniversary
❌️ 11. A game from a genre you don’t normally play - Neon White
❌️ 12-1. A game adapted from another medium - Splendor
❌️ 12-2. A game adapted into another medium - Higurashi When They Cry
❌️ 13-1. A game with a short title (4 letters or less) - Myst (2021)
❌️ 13-2. A game with a long title (8+ words or a word with 13+ letters) - Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
❌️ 14-1. A game with over 1k completions - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
❌️ 14-2. A game with under 100 completions - Airport Madness 3D: Volume 2
❌️ 14-3. A game with no recorded completion times - Reigns: Beyond
❌️ 15-1. A game you previously retired or shelved - Fire Emblem: Awakening
❌️ 15-2. A replay - Fire Emblem: Three Houses
❌️ 16. A game that’s been a Game of the Month - Ori and the Will of the Wisps
❌️ 17. A game chosen by the HLTB randomizer - Industria (2021)
❌️ 18. A game with a real or fictional religion - Bravely Default
❌️ 19-1. A “threequel” (third part of the series) - McPixel 3
❌️ 19-2. A spin-off - Hitman GO
❌️ 20. A cornerstone of gaming culture - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
❌️ 21. A game where you play as an anti-hero or villain - Carrion
❌️ 22. A game heavily featuring zombies - Dying Light: The Following - Enhanced Edition
❌️ 23. A game that hasn't aged well - Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
❌️ 24. An indie game - Isles of Sea and Sky
❌️ 25-1. A game that takes place after a timeskip (5+ years) - Layton Brothers: Mystery Room
❌️ 25-2. A game that takes place at the same time as another game in the series - Hitman: Blood Money
❌️ 26. A sequel that's more famous than the original - Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition
✅️ 27. A game that has no business being in its series - Super Mario Bros. 2 (Replaced: Hitman: Absolution)
❌️ 28. A game from a franchise that rarely gets new games - Professor Layton and the New World of Steam
❌️ 29. A game with an interesting hook - Children of the Sun
❌️ 30-1. A game with a great plot twist - Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcane
❌️ 30-2. A game with a bad plot twist - Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
❌️ 31-1. The definitive edition of a game (or GOTY edition, Ultimate Edition, Deluxe edition, etc.) - New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
❌️ 31-2. The base game version of a game with several DLCs or Editions - I am an Air Traffic Controller 4
❌️ 32-1. A platform exclusive - Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
❌️ 32-2. A game available on 7+ platforms - The Legend of Zelda
❌️ 33. A game you beat to 100% completion - Mario & Luigi: Brothership
❌️ 34. A game that started a long-running franchise (7+ games) - Metroid
❌️ 35. A recent (within the last 5 years) game in a long-running franchise (7+ games) - Kirby and the Forgotten Land
✅️ 36. A game that's smaller than 100MB - BoxBoxBoy! (Replaced: Can of Wormholes)
❌️ 37. A game that won any category in the SPIKE Video Game awards or the Game Awards hosted by Geoff Keighley - Journey
❌️ 38. A game that made it out of Development Hell (5+ years) - Baldur's Gate 3
❌️ 39. A game where the characters speak a language you don't understand (can be real or fictional) - Will: A Wonderful World
❌️ 40. A game with a memorable soundtrack - Ace Attorney Investigations Collection
❌️ 41. A game on someone else's Game Challenge 2025 list - Metaphor ReFantazio
❌️ 42. A game with a female protagonist - CrossCode
❌️ 43. A Game inspired by Mythology or Folklore - Raging Loop
❌️ 44. A Game inspired/based on real world historical events - Not For Broadcast
❌️ 45. A game developed by a single person - Taiji
❌️ 46. A fanmade/bootleg/rom hack game - Undertale Yellow
❌️ 47. A game that won or was a finalist for a Steam Award - Sifu
❌️ 48. A game with a silent protagonist - Snake Pass
❌️ 49-1. A game that features time travel - Steins;Gate
❌️ 49-2. A game that features space travel - Super Mario Galaxy 2
❌️ 50. A Game that prominently features food/cooking - Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

✅️ 04. An ancient game (released 30+ years ago) - Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
✅️ 27. A game that has no business being in its series - Super Mario Bros. 2
✅️ 36. A game that's smaller than 100MB - BoxBoxBoy!

Totals:
Completions (3/50)
Alternatives (0/13)
Bonus (0/4)

A strong start to the year for me, especially compared to last year. I also beat Minagoroshi in Higurashi When They Cry.

January 5th - BoxBoxBoy! - 7h 23m - (Main+) 4/10 - Started January 9th 2024 - 362 Days Taken - Perfect cleared the 11 main worlds and the challenge world.
January 18th - Super Mario Bros. 2 - 6h 40m - (Main) 3/10 - Started January 17th - 1 Day Taken - Beat all the levels. Used save states.
January 25th - Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels - 5h 25m - (Main) 3/10 - Started January 23rd - 2 Days Taken - Beat the game, used save states and a bit of rewind.

Short TLDR of my review:
BoxBoxBoy! - Equally boring as the first game.
Super Mario Bros. 2 - Difficulty that is not much better than Lost Levels.
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels - Just more of SMB 1, but harder.

For the GotM 10th anniversary, I decided to go through all the games I've nominated and provide some stats for them.
Here's a collection with some of the stats as well: COLLECTION

I've nominated 17 games in 25 nominations for slightly over 2 years.

There are 4 games I've nominated multiple times.
Luigi's Mansion 3 (2x)
Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2x)
Neon White (4x)
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (4x)

None of my nominations have won any of the polls, but some have gotten closer than others, so here's a ranking of how each of my nominations has performed. Votes come first (because the amount of nominations in each poll varies) and if there's a tie, the placement is taken into account. If there's still a tie after that, the tiebreaker is my personal rating for the game.

25. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope(2x) - N/A - N/A (Not included in the polls because it wasn't a horror game.) - October 2023
24. Azure Reflections - 2 votes - 17th place - June 2024
23. The Entropy Centre - 3 votes - 16th place - May 2023
22. Neon White(3x) - 3 votes - 14th place - April 2023
21. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope(4x) - 4 votes - 15th place - May 2024
20. Neon White(4x) - 5 votes - 18th place - February 2025
19. Human Resource Machine - 5 votes - 14th place - February 2025 10th Anniversary
18. Fire Emblem Three Houses(1x) - 5 votes - 12th place - August 2024
17. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope(3x) - 5 votes - 12th place - November 2023
16. Super Mario Bros. 2 - 6 votes - 12th place - December 2022
15. The Looker - 6 votes - 10th place - April 2023 Fool's Choice
14. Metaphor: ReFantazio - 6 votes - 9th place - January 2025
13. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope(1x) - 6 votes - 8th place - September 2023
12. Event[0] - 6 votes - 6th place - June 2023
11. Neon White(2x) - 7 votes - 12th place - February 2023
10. Mini Metro - 7 votes - 8th place - December 2024
9. Luigi's Mansion 3(2x) - 7 votes - 8th place - August 2023
8. Octopath Traveler - 7 votes - 8th place - November 2022
7. Fire Emblem: Three Houses(2x) - 7 votes - 8th place - September 2024
6. Persona 4 Golden - 7 votes - 5th place - July 2024
5. Persona 5 Tactica - 8 votes - 8th place - February 2024
4. INMOST - 9 votes - 4th place - October 2024
3. Neon White(1x) - 10 votes - 5th place - January 2023
2. Stray - 10 votes - 2nd place - November 2024
1. Luigi's Mansion 3(1x) - 12 votes - 3rd place - July 2023

Hopefully one day, one of my nominations does win though.

Lost Levels is a game that exists. That's really all I can say about it since it's mainly just a harder version of SMB.

January 25th - Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels - 5h 25m - (Main) 3/10 - Started January 23rd - 2 Days Taken - Beat the game, used save states and a bit of rewind.

Here's my review:
Neutral:
Lost Levels is mostly a rehash of Super Mario Bros with new harder levels, so it has many of the same faults as that game, such as the janky controls. But after playing SMB2, I can appreciate the aspects that this game does better, which is mainly that even though its levels are difficult, they are much shorter. They're a good length compared to the drawn-out monstrosities in SMB2.

One aspect that does hurt the game is its unoriginality. Since it's just a harder version of SMB, there's very little reason to play this game unless you're a diehard Mario fan. Every other game in the series brings a lot of unique elements to the table, while this one only has a couple.

Cons:
The game's difficulty is brutal, I wouldn't have made it through the game without save states or even rewinds. This led to me getting less annoyed at this game than the original, because I couldn't be bothered with this game and rewinded through the worst sections. Its infamy also played a part, since it made me tailor my expectations such that I was expecting much worse and I was fine with abusing the rewind functionality. Although surprisingly I did manage to (mostly) get used to the spring physics, so they weren't as annoying as in SMB.

What is worse however are the "puzzle" sections where you have to take the right route in a castle. I couldn't figure out a single one without a guide, because there's no indication whatsoever what the correct route is supposed to be. You're just supposed to trial and error your way through every possibility until you happen to find the correct one, which is tedious and annoying.

I think it's about time to start up the nominations again, so for the main game, I'll nominate Neon White.

If we're doing the 10-year special, where we nominate a game released in 2015, I'll nominate Human Resource Machine.

Beat the second-to-last mainline console Mario game I still had to beat. (If you exclude Lost Levels.) Now all that remains is Super Mario Galaxy 2. Which I hopefully will enjoy much more, because I didn't enjoy my time with SMB2.

January 18th - Super Mario Bros. 2 - 6h 40m - (Main) 3/10 - Started January 17th - 1 Day Taken - Beat all the levels. Used save states.

Here's my review:

Pros:
The most improved aspect of Super Mario Bros. 2 over the original is the controls. They are more responsive and less slippery than in the original. Having multiple characters to choose from adds an extra layer of depth, as it allows players to choose the controls that fit them best.

This game also has more puzzle-oriented aspects to shake up the platforming gameplay. Like the keys, you have to grab to open up certain doors. My favourite aspect is the potion doors where you have to find the location of the mushroom. You can deduce where it is likely for the mushroom to be instead of blindly guessing. However, sometimes it was a bit too obtuse for my liking and I couldn't find the mushroom location. A small hint that lets you know how close you are to the mushroom, would've been nice. The reward is worth the effort as it persists across lives and it makes a level much easier. In a way this makes the levels seem like mini puzzles as well, where you have to find the location of the mushrooms so you have the health required to beat the levels.

Neutral:
A few of the levels also have interesting concepts like riding enemies or projectiles to cross gaps. However, the one where you have to ride the Birdo egg was too cryptic and I had to use a guide to figure out what to do.

Cons:
Even though there are some levels with puzzle-like elements, there are also a bunch of levels that just throw a lot of enemies at the player and go on for much longer than they should. This wouldn't be so bad on its own, but combined with the lives and continue system, results in an awful combination. If you have lives, you respawn at the start of the most recent screen which is pretty fair. But if you run out of lives and use a continue you have to start from the most recent world, which is too harsh in my opinion. I don't want to redo levels I've already beaten. On top of that if you run out of continues, which you only have 2 of, you have to start from the beginning of the entire game. SMB2 has 7 worlds and considering how much you die in the game, you have to become a master at the game to beat it legitimately, which is an insane requirement. At first, I wanted to only use a save state at the start of every level, but by the end, I was so done with the game's difficulty, that I just saved before a boss or tough part of a level.

You may think, "Just grind out lives and you'll be fine". However, there are only two ways to get lives and both of them suck. Very rarely you can find one in a level, but those aren't consistent enough to make use of. The main way to get lives is through the chance slot machine at the end of each level. The fact that your main way to gain lives so you can progress through the game is reliant on luck is complete BS. You can have multiple spins and still get nothing, at least this was fixed in SMB3, where it's a bit more skill-based.

The luck isn't even the worst of it, since there's a chance you won't even be able to attempt the slot machine since it's based on how many points you get in a level. Except the game doesn't tell you that, it doesn't tell you how you get points either. So I'm left completely in the dark. Is it from defeating enemies, plucking items, collecting cherries, or all of the above? If it's based on enemies, that's also conflicts with gameplay. You naturally want to beat each level as fast as possible, but that means you don't stop to kill every enemy you see, since that would take a lot of time. But as a result, you get punished for playing fast and don't get any bonuses. Because of these factors, I got maybe 3 lives from the slot machine throughout my entire playthrough.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when games don't explain things well enough in-game, to the point where you have to pull out a guide. I shouldn't have to resort to those methods to make progress. It detracts from the experience and is a big negative in my eyes since it means that the game does a poor job of explaining itself.

I quickly went through Minagaroshi because I was very invested in what would happen next.

January 12th - Higurashi When They Cry: Minagoroshi - 23h - (100%) 10/10 - Started 6/12/2025 - 6 Days Taken - Beat the chapter, read all the tips and the staff room.

Here's my review:

Pros:
Minagoroshi starts with a bang by diving deep into the overarching mystery of how the chapters are linked together and how Rika ties into that. This immediately hooks the reader because of how different it is compared to the rest of the story. This also subsequently applies to Rika's very unique POV. It uses this POV to highlight the chapter's main story of fate and how miracles happen. Rika struggles with fate quite a lot, whether she should succumb to it or fight with her will. At first, Keiichi teaches her that a will can overcome fate that is caused by a weaker will. The chapter proceeds to escalate the wills it throws at Rika and see if she can overcome them.

It starts with the board game during the club activity which is Rika's tutorial for changing fate. The main challenge and test of Rika's will in the chapter is Teppei taking Satoko. This was nicely foreshadowed by Rika saying that whenever Teppei takes Satoko, she gives up in that world. She has to do something she's never done before in her 100 years of being alive (mentally at least). The quality of the world and Rika's newfound will to change fate prevents her from doing so in the current world. Overcoming that obstacle and saving Satoko teaches Rika another valuable lesson. For a miracle to happen and change fate, everyone involved needs to have a strong will and believe that the outcome they want is possible.

Then we arrive at the final obstacle which is Rika's death. This seems surmountable since everyone is ready to save Rika, but then the main cast goes home since it's late. Now that Rika and Satoko are alone, defeating fate looks impossible. Their efforts allow them to escape and survive a bit longer, but ultimately their resistance is futile. That is until it is revealed in the greatest plot twist of the chapter, that the rest of the cast never left. This moment made me jump out of my chair at how surprising it was. This restores their ability to change fate, but ultimately it doesn't work out because there was actually one person who didn't believe in the miracle. That person was Hanyuu, who's been telling Rika all chapter to not get her hopes up and to just accept fate. This comes as a shock because Hanyuu can't do anything besides talk to Rika, so how does her not believing make a difference? Even though Hanyuu can't do much, she can still be a source of encouragement and motivation for Rika, which means she can make a difference in changing fate, no matter how small. On a meta-level, this also applies to the reader who's in a similar position to Hanyuu, because they are also a bystander to the events of the story. The player won't believe that Rika can succeed either because they know that there is one more chapter after Minagoroshi. But despite that, when the rest of the cast showed up to save Rika and Satoko, I regained my hope and started believing in a miracle just like Rika did.

Outside of Minagoroshi's focus on fate, it also reveals a lot of overarching mysteries. The true nature of Oyashiro's curse, the disaster and Higurashi's main villain. It does so in chunks, leaving the reader wanting to know more at each step. These reveals also have some foreshadowing, such as the government's ineffective solution for preventing another gas disaster and Takano's strange behaviour in Ch3 after Keiichi kills Teppei. Despite all the reveals, Minagoroshi still leaves some mysteries up to speculation, such as who the person in the opening sequence is, how they are aware of you, the player and what caused Satoko to go insane.

On top of this amazing story, Minagoroshi has some absolutely fantastic music, my favourites are C-examination, Fearlessness, White Mist Peak, Hollow and LIVE. With special note to C-examination and White Misk Peak since they elevated their respective plot twists to new heights.

Neutral:
The one middling aspect of Minagoroshi is that the main plot of saving Satoko does drag the pace down a bit during the third segment of the plotline, but that slight blemish is heavily outweighed by the great aspects the plotline provides.

I last did this 2 years ago, so let's see what's changed since then. I'll highlight the games that are different from the last time I did this.

2005 - Still haven't finished any games that came out in 2005.
2006 - Partners in Time (Only a 5/10 and my least favourite game in the Mario & Luigi series, but it's the only game I beat from 2006.)
2007 - Portal
2008 - Professor Layton and the Lost Future
2009 - Professor Layton and the Last Specter (Removed Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, because I realized some of its flaws.)
2010 - Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Replaced: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc)
2011 - Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth 2
2012 - Persona 4 Golden
2013 - Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy
2014 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy
2015 - Undertale
2016 - Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (Replaced: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice)
2017 - Your Turn to Die -Death Game by Majority- (Replaced: Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony) (Fitting how a Danganronpa game got beat out by the "Danganronpa but better" game.)
2018 - Deltarune (Replaced: Return of the Obra Dinn) (Return of the Obra Dinn is still a 10/10 game, it's just that Deltarune is an even better 10/10 game.)
2019 - Persona 5 Royal (Favourite game of all time as well!!)
2020 - Teardown
2021 - The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
2022 - Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course (Surprising that this one stayed here, I thought I played something better than it from that year.)
2023 - Shadows of Doubt (Only an 8/10 but that might change once I replay it since I played it when it was in early access.)
2024 - Persona 3 Reload (I've only played two games from last year but this is a very solid 9/10 game.)

First completion of the year. Already off to a better start than last year. Although the game itself was very mediocre.

January 5th - BoxBoxBoy! - 7h 23m - (Main+) 4/10 - Started January 9th 2024 - 362 Days Taken - Perfect cleared the 11 main worlds and the challenge world.

Here's my review:

Pros:
BoxBoxBoy! is very similar to the first game and thus my opinion is also largely the same. I did find the puzzles a little more enjoyable in this one, as they were harder and there were some interesting puzzle mechanics. My favourite part of the game is honestly the comics as those were consistently funny.

Neutral:
Once again I chose not to 100% the game, not because I couldn't, but because I wasn't interested in doing so. I didn't feel connected to the game and that's a large part because of the overly simplistic art style that makes it hard to get invested and the uninspired music doesn't help either.

Here's the link to this year's collection: Collection Link

Here's my complete list for this year:

❌️ 1. A new game (released within the past year) - Paper Trail (2024)
❌️ 2. An old game (released 10+ years ago) - Kentucky Route Zero
❌️ 3. A really old game (released 20+ years ago - Clannad
❌️ 4. An ancient game (released 30+ years ago) - Super Mario Bros. 2
❌️ 5. A time sink (50+ hours) - Octopath Traveler II
❌️ 6. A quickie (less than an hour) - UBERMOSH Vol.3
❌️ 7. A remake or remaster of a game - Braid: Anniversary Edition
❌️ 8. A game with 6+ endings - Chaos;Head Noah
❌️ 9. A collection of games - Zero Escape: The Nonary Games
❌️ 10-1. A game that’s title starts with a number - 80 Days
❌️ 10-2. A game named after the main character - Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
❌️ 10-3. A game that starts with the letter Q or Z - Q.U.B.E 10th Anniversary
❌️ 11. A game from a genre you don’t normally play - Neon White
❌️ 12-1. A game adapted from another medium - Splendor
❌️ 12-2. A game adapted into another medium - Higurashi When They Cry
❌️ 13-1. A game with a short title (4 letters or less) - Myst (2021)
❌️ 13-2. A game with a long title (8+ words or a word with 13+ letters) - Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
❌️ 14-1. A game with over 1k completions - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
❌️ 14-2. A game with under 100 completions - Airport Madness 3D: Volume 2
❌️ 14-3. A game with no recorded completion times - Reigns: Beyond
❌️ 15-1. A game you previously retired or shelved - Fire Emblem: Awakening
❌️ 15-2. A replay - Fire Emblem: Three Houses
❌️ 16. A game that’s been a Game of the Month - Ori and the Will of the Wisps
❌️ 17. A game chosen by the HLTB randomizer - Industria (2021)
❌️ 18. A game with a real or fictional religion - Bravely Default
❌️ 19-1. A “threequel” (third part of the series) - McPixel 3
❌️ 19-2. A spin-off - Hitman GO
❌️ 20. A cornerstone of gaming culture - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
❌️ 21. A game where you play as an anti-hero or villain - Carrion
❌️ 22. A game heavily featuring zombies - Dying Light: The Following - Enhanced Edition
❌️ 23. A game that hasn't aged well - Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
❌️ 24. An indie game - Isles of Sea and Sky
❌️ 25-1. A game that takes place after a timeskip (5+ years) - Layton Brothers: Mystery Room
❌️ 25-2. A game that takes place at the same time as another game in the series - Hitman: Blood Money
❌️ 26. A sequel that's more famous than the original - Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition
❌️ 27. A game that has no business being in its series - Hitman: Absolution
❌️ 28. A game from a franchise that rarely gets new games - Professor Layton and the New World of Steam
❌️ 29. A game with an interesting hook - Children of the Sun
❌️ 30-1. A game with a great plot twist - Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcane
❌️ 30-2. A game with a bad plot twist - Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
❌️ 31-1. The definitive edition of a game (or GOTY edition, Ultimate Edition, Deluxe edition, etc.) - New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
❌️ 31-2. The base game version of a game with several DLCs or Editions - I am an Air Traffic Controller 4
❌️ 32-1. A platform exclusive - Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
❌️ 32-2. A game available on 7+ platforms - The Legend of Zelda
❌️ 33. A game you beat to 100% completion - Mario & Luigi: Brothership
❌️ 34. A game that started a long-running franchise (7+ games) - Metroid
❌️ 35. A recent (within the last 5 years) game in a long-running franchise (7+ games) - Kirby and the Forgotten Land
❌️ 36. A game that's smaller than 100MB - Can of Wormholes
❌️ 37. A game that won any category in the SPIKE Video Game awards or the Game Awards hosted by Geoff Keighley - Journey
❌️ 38. A game that made it out of Development Hell (5+ years) - Baldur's Gate 3
❌️ 39. A game where the characters speak a language you don't understand (can be real or fictional) - Will: A Wonderful World
❌️ 40. A game with a memorable soundtrack - Ace Attorney Investigations Collection
❌️ 41. A game on someone else's Game Challenge 2025 list - Metaphor ReFantazio
❌️ 42. A game with a female protagonist - CrossCode
❌️ 43. A Game inspired by Mythology or Folklore - Raging Loop
❌️ 44. A Game inspired/based on real world historical events - Not For Broadcast
❌️ 45. A game developed by a single person - Taiji
❌️ 46. A fanmade/bootleg/rom hack game - Undertale Yellow
❌️ 47. A game that won or was a finalist for a Steam Award - Sifu
❌️ 48. A game with a silent protagonist - Snake Pass
❌️ 49-1. A game that features time travel - Steins;Gate
❌️ 49-2. A game that features space travel - Super Mario Galaxy 2
❌️ 50. A Game that prominently features food/cooking - Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

I have a couple questions. The first one is regarding "10-2. A game named after the main character". Does the name of the game exclusively have to be the name of the main character or can the name of the game merely contain the name of the main character?

The second one is for "31-2. The base game version of a game with several DLCs or Editions". Does this mean you would have to play the game without playing the DLC?

The third one is for "35. A recent (within the last 5 years) game in a long-running franchise (7+ games)". Does this only include mainline games or only spin-offs?

The fourth one is for "39. A game where the characters speak a language you don't understand (can be real or fictional)". Does this only apply to games where the language is displayed as text or also games where the language spoken is one you don't understand but the text displayed is?

I only played 17 games this year, so I don't have many to choose from, but I'll still be able to come up with a decent list. I've already posted my reviews for each game, so for this thread, I will give an abbreviated and revised version for each game.

10. Kingdom Rush - 18h 42m - 7/10
Kingdom Rush is a game I was never able to beat when I was younger due to the difficulty. But when I returned to give the game another shot this year, not only was the difficulty manageable but I was also able to appreciate the strategic depth the game offers. In which towers to buy, which upgrades to get and where to place your troops. It hooked me more than I thought it would at first and I ended up doing most of the optional content as well. The one sticking point was that the difficulty of the last two optional levels was absurdly difficult, even amongst the optional levels. Although there was always the option of lowering the difficulty, so I can't discredit the game that much.

9. Chants of Sennaar - 12h 18m - 7/10
Chants of Sennaar is a fun unique puzzle game. It uses a similar structure to Obra Dinn where it only tells you the answer after getting multiple correct. The system works just as well as it does in that game. The couple of times I got stuck were mostly due to my stupidity, although there was one time when I didn't know I could interact with an object. That was the one solution I had to look up because I was completely stuck. The story builds up throughout the game with hints being left around. Near the end it nicely falls into place, although some questions were left unanswered which I would've liked answers to.

8. Stray - 7h 24m - 8/10
Stray has immaculate vibes and it nails the feel of playing from a cat's perspective. Everything is huge, but you can climb and clamber all over the place. This gives a sense of freedom in the more non-linear areas which I enjoyed the most. I just wish there were more of them as there are really only two, while the rest of the game's areas are linear. The story also has some good twists that I wasn't expecting and a unique storytelling dynamic considering the cat can't talk.

7. Outer Wilds - 27h 24m - 8/10
Outer Wilds is a great non-linear exploration game. It does it in a way that the player doesn't get lost or confused due to everything being tracked in the ship log. It also reduces the burden on the player by not forcing them to remember all the crucial details. I got into a loop where I would do just one more loop so I could explore the new lead that opened up or maybe that other thing I hadn't explored yet. The one part where it stumbles a bit is with the DLC which has some downright frustrating sections. When a puzzle is frustrating your critical thinking skills are hindered which makes it harder to solve the puzzles, which doesn't help either. However, the stories for both the main game and the DLC keep the player invested as you slowly unravel them. They are also quite tragic in hindsight once you figure everything out.

6. Azure Reflections - 15h 6m - 8/10
Azure Reflections has a good base difficulty level while still allowing for harder difficulties for more experienced players. You can use the continues or you can choose to do a 1cc run. On top of that, the game has even more replay value due to the additional modes available such as ascetic mode which gives bosses 2 new attacks each. Even if you do poorly, no run is wasted because you're always earning points that you can spend on accessories which improve your character. I ended up 1cc'ing the story extra and boss rush with every character on normal mode because I became way more invested in the game than I at first thought I would.

5. Fire Emblem: Three Houses - 125h 22m - 8/10
Three Houses has a great story and characters. Even the characters that at first I didn't like that much, grew on me as I got through their supports. The story balances both its halves well, with the first half being focused on mystery while the second half has you working towards a clear goal. The music in Three Houses is also stellar with multiple fantastic tracks I'm still listening to. The gameplay has a lot of strategic depth in the battles you do and how you spend your time. It also lessened the stress I felt while playing Awakening due to the turn wheel system, although they went a bit too far in the opposite direction since I never ran out of turn wheels and never lost a single unit. This defeats the point of a perma death system since it negates the player-driven stories that can result from losing units. Even though I liked the story, the fact that the first half of the game remains the same is a huge hurdle towards doing a replay of the game.

4. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope - 67h 56m - 9/10
Sparks of Hope improves upon its predecessor in almost every way. There are no more restrictions on which characters you can bring into battle and the removal of the grid-based movement allows you to pull off more interesting attack combos. This strategic depth is supplemented by the status elements being tied to sparks instead of character-specific weapons. The worlds are also more unique as well as the story, which results in overall a more exciting experience. I do have a few minor gripes like not being able to tweak the difficulty exactly and there not being a real punishment for playing poorly like there was in the first game. The Last Spark Hunter and Rayman in the Phantom Show are both great DLCs that bring new and interesting ideas to the table. Whatever you do however, do NOT play the Tower of Doooom DLC, it's easily the worst thing I've ever played and I want the time I spent on it back.

3. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective - 15h 27m - 9/10
Ghost Trick has the same amount of twists that a regular Ace Attorney game does, except they're all condensed into a much shorter playtime, which makes it that much better. It gets to the point where there's a plot twist in almost every chapter. The puzzles are fun enough, it's interesting to see what chain reaction results in people's deaths. However, I did get stuck once and there was one section that was a bit tedious. The music in Ghost Trick is just as good as that in the Ace Attorney series which it is closely related to.

Note: I view P4G and P3R nearly equally, so my ranking could change in the future.
2. Persona 4 Golden - 114h 30m - 9/10
P4G has a friendlier atmosphere compared to P3 and P5, which I welcome. I believe it has the strongest cast out of the three latest Persona games and most of the social links are great as well. I really liked the murder mystery aspect of the story and it kept the story engaging the whole way through even though I was spoiled on the culprit. The music was also great which is a given for a Persona game and I felt like the type of music P4 had vibed with me. The biggest weakness that P4 has are related to it's gameplay. Specifically the dungeon that was added in golden which goes against principles a JRPG should strive for and the scene where you can get the bad endings which was very frustrating, just failing over and over.

1. Persona 3 Reload - 108h 48m - 9/10
P3R in contrast to P4G is nearly the opposite. It has great gameplay with a bunch of mechanics you can use to your advantage such as passing your turn to your party members and theurgies. Not to say that the story isn't bad. It effectively highlights its main message of death the entire way through, which also makes its way to a majority of the social links. The problem with the story is that the pacing is bad, in the first half of the game, there isn't all that much development in the overarching narrative and then all of it is condensed in the last few months of the game. The villains apart from the main one also feel a bit lackluster and not enough like a threat. Due to being the first game to have them, P3's social links are also the weakest overall, with multiple bad and mediocre ones. The music still slaps like always though.

Another third of a year has passed, so time for another try. Doubt I'll get farther but you never know.

Page 1: (3 games) Portal 2, Portal, Hollow Knight
Page 2: (2 games) Celeste, Undertale,
Page 3: (2 games) Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden
Page 4: (3 games) Life is Strange, Outer Wilds, Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition
Page 5: Persona 3 Reload
Page 6: (2 games) Cuphead, Papers Please
Page 7: -
Page 8: Stray
Page 9: -
Page 10: Among Us
Page 11: Rocket League
Page 12: -

Stray did save me on page 8, so at least it made a difference, but otherwise, I made it just far as I usually do.

I've decided to make a separate year-in-review post for Higurashi since I don't include it in my completions. This blog is mostly me talking about Higurashi either way.

This is my WIP tier list for the Higurashi arcs I've played/watched/read so far. However, this post will only cover the VN arcs, since this is a gaming website.


I beat 10 Higurashi arcs in 2024 after starting the game last October. In total, I spent 127h 34m playing Higurashi VN arcs this year. Hopefully, it'll be entirely finished by the end of next year.

List of the arcs I beat this year in chronological order:

01. March 31st - Higurashi When They Cry: Watanagashi - 20h 42m - (100%) 9/10
02. May 1st - Higurashi When They Cry: Tatarigoroshi - 20h 54m - (100%) 9/10
03. September 3rd - Higurashi When They Cry: Taraimawashi - 4h 8m - (100%) 6/10
04. September 9th - Higurashi When They Cry: Someutsushi - 9h 49m - (100%) 7/10
05. September 15th - Higurashi When They Cry: Himatsubushi - 9h 18m - (100%) 9/10
06. September 21st - Higurashi When They Cry: Tsukiotoshi - 7h 34m - (100%) 7/10
07. October 22nd - Higurashi When They Cry: Meakashi - 16h 24m - (100%) 9/10
08. November 14th - Higurashi When They Cry: Tsumihoroboshi - 19h 36m - (100%) 10/10
09. December 12th - Higurashi When They Cry: Yoigoshi - 13h 9m - (100%) 7/10
10. December 27th - Higurashi When They Cry: Kageboushi - 13h 15m - (100%) 8/10

My favourite arc I beat this year would definitely be Tsumihoroboshi. The way it breaks from the existing formula does it's reveals and character development is superb.

My least favourite VN arc would be Taraimawashi, but it's not even that bad, it's just very short and only gives a little additional information to add to the existing mystery. The manga and anime arcs are all worse than this, so it's still solid.

Here's a couple of other fun ways I found to rank the arcs, starting with days taken from least to most days.

10. Himatsubushi - 3 days
09. Someutsushi - 5 days
08. Tsukiotoshi - 5 days
07. Taraimawashi - 6 days
06. Kageboushi - 7 days
05. Tsumihoroboshi - 11 days
04. Tatarigoroshi - 15 days
03. Yoigoshi - 24 days
02. Meakashi - 29 days
01. Watanagashi - 104 days

This ranking is for how long they took me to beat from shortest to longest.

10. Taraimawashi: 4h 8m
09. Tsukiotoshi - 7h 34m
08. Himatsubushi - 9h 18m
07. Someutsushi - 9h 49m
06. Yoigoshi - 13h 9m
07. Kageboushi - 13h 15m
04. Meakashi - 16h 24m
03. Tsumihoroboshi - 19h 36m
02. Watanagashi - 20h 42m
01. Tatarigoroshi - 20h 54m

Let's end off with a ranking of my favourite Higurashi tracks that I've listened to over the past year.

7. Moonlight Butterfly
6. Confession
5. Conviction
4. Birth and Death
3. Night When the Invisible Scares You
2. Thanks
1. You (vocals)

Just wanna say that it's absolutely insane that you put in the effort to do this, well done. You didn't even brag about how each game is sorted in each tier! I feel like that's worth mentioning.

I've updated the post with the info about the ranking, thanks for reminding me. I do enjoy ranking/making tier lists of dumb stuff like this. Fun to process and go through my thoughts on various pieces of media.

Collection Link

❌️ 01. A new game (released within the past year) - Jusant
❌️ 02. An old game (released 10+ years ago) - Crashmo
❌️ 03. A really old game (released 20+ years ago) - Donkey Kong 94
❌️ 04. An ancient game (released 30+ years ago) - Super Mario Bros. 2
✅️ 05. A time sink (50+ hours) - Persona 3 Reload
✅️ 06. A quick completion (less than an hour) - Passed & Present
❌️ 07. A game you got for free - Human Resource Machine
❌️ 08. A game you've been wishing and waiting for - Mario & Luigi: Brothership (Replaced: Professor Layton and the New World of Steam)
❌️ 09-1. A remake or remaster of a game - Super Mario RPG 2023
❌️ 09-2. A game that received new translations to other languages some time after its initial release - 428: Shibuya Scramble
❌️ 10. A game with 6+ endings - Chaos;Head Noah
❌️ 11. A collection of games - Zero Escape: The Nonary Games
✅️ 12. A game recommended to you by someone else - Chants of Sennaar
❌️ 13. A game whose title could describe your life - No Time
❌️ 14-1. A game with an alliterative title - Will: A Wonderful World
✅️ 14-2. A game whose title contains the name of a color - Paint the Town Red
❌️ 14-3. A game whose title starts with a number - 80 Days
❌️ 15. A game that heavily focuses on flight - Airport Madness 3D: Volume 2
❌️ 16. A game from a genre you don't usually play - Sifu
✅️ 17. A game that is themed around dogs or cats - Stray
❌️ 18-1. A game that features multiple genres, or is a mashup of different genres - CrossCode
❌️ 18-2. A visual novel or text-based game - Higurashi When They Cry
❌️ 19. A game where you play as an antihero or a villain - Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
❌️ 20-1. A game set in a historical time period - The Forgotten City
❌️ 20-2. A game set in the far future - The Entropy Centre
✅️ 21. A game with a female protagonist - Super Metroid
✅️ 22. A game without any humans - Monument Valley 3 - (Replaced: Tunic)
❌️ 23. A game where you play as a robot or an alien - Detroit: Become Human
✅️ 24. An arcade-style high score game - Azure Reflections
❌️ 25-1. A game set in a world you would like living in - Steins;Gate
❌️ 25-2. A game whose protagonist you would want to be friends with - Persona 5 Tactica
❌️ 26. A game where you play as a bug or an aquatic creature - Bug Fables: The Everlasting Spring
✅️ 27. A game that was adapted from another medium (book, movie, etc.) or a game that has been adapted into another medium - Persona 4 Golden
✅️ 28. A game you watched someone else play first (partially or in full) - SUPERHOT - (Replaced: Sorcery! Parts 1 & 2)
❌️ 29. Another person’s favorite game - Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology
✅️ 30. A game with a diverse cast - Fire Emblem: Three Houses
❌️ 31. A cornerstone to gaming culture - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
❌️ 32. A game that starts with the same first letter as in your username (if your username doesn’t contain letters, pick a random letter) - Guacamelee!: Super Turbo Championship Edition
❌️ 33-1. A “threequel” (third part of a series) - Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition
✅️ 33-2. A spin-off game - Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
❌️ 34. A bright and cheerful game - Toem
❌️ 35. A game containing a real or fictional religion - Bravely Default
❌️ 36. A game that heavily features either fire or ice - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
❌️ 37. A game that heavily features money, gold, or economics - Weapon Shop De Omasse
❌️ 38. A game with a subtitle - Super Mario Bros. Wonder
❌️ 39. A game that surprised you - Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcane
❌️ 40. A post-apocalyptic game - BioShock
❌️ 41. A game with a short title (4 letters or less) - HUE
❌️ 42. A game that had a red retirement rating on HLTB when you started playing it (10% or higher) - AiRace Speed
✅️ 43. A game that one of your favorite artists worked on (artist, developer, musician, voice actor/actress, etc.) - Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
✅️ 44-1. A game you previously retired or put on hold - Kingdom Rush - (Replaced: Spore)
❌️ 44-2. A game that you have beaten before and are replaying - Hollow Knight
❌️ 45. A game that is on someone else’s HLTB 2024 Gaming Challenge List - Cocoon
❌️ 46-1. A studio's very first game - Neon White
✅️ 46-2. A studio's most recent game (at the time when you started playing the game) - Event[0]
❌️ 47. A game that had its HLTB times on a purple/red/gray background at the time you started playing it (color indicates the amount of submitted playtimes, red = low amount, gray = zero) - Can of Wormholes
✅️ 48. A game that has been a HLTB Game of the Month - Outer Wilds - (Replaced: Ori and the Will of the Wisps)
❌️ 49. A game listed on the HLTB stats page, or the stats page filtered for a single platform - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
❌️ 50. A game chosen by the HLTB randomizer - The Spectrum Retreat

December Update / 2024 Update

Beat two games this month, Outer Wilds could've gone in any number of spots although I almost wasn't able to place Monument Valley 3.

✅️ 22. A game without any humans - Monument Valley 3
✅️ 48. A game that has been a HLTB Game of the Month - Outer Wilds

Only 16 games this year, so not the best on my part, but I'm just doing this for fun any way. Hope for a better year in 2025!

Totals:
Completions (16/50)
Bonus (0/5)
Alternatives (0/9)

I beat 16 games this year and 1 DLC, which I counted separately, which is on the lower end, but at least I managed to avoid it being the lowest since I joined HLTB.

As you can see in the following pictures the longest game was Fire Emblem: Three Houses at 125h 22m.
The shortest game was Passed & Present, at 14m.

I 100% 4 games, main+ 12 and didn't merely main any games this year.






As you can see, there were no 10/10 games and quite a few mediocre ones, but I still played some great games this year.

Here they are in completion order:

01. March 7th - Persona 3 Reload - 108 h 48 m - (Main+) 9/10
02. April 17th - Paint the Town Red - 13h 24m - (Main+) 5/10
03. May 6th - Passed & Present - 14m - (5/10) Main+
04. May 20th - Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope: The Tower of Doooom (DLC) - 34h 5m - (Main+) 1/10
05. May 31st - Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope - 67h 56m - (100%) 9/10
06. June 6th - Azure Reflections - 15h 6m - (Main+) 8/10
07. June 15th - Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective - 15h 27m - (100%) 9/10
08. June 21st - Super Metroid - 11h 43m - (5/10) Main+
09. June 27th - Chants of Sennaar - 12h 18m - (100%) 7/10
10. July 9th - Event[0] - 3h 30m - (Main+) 3/10
11. July 28th - Persona 4 Golden - 114h 30m - (Main+) 9/10
12. September 2nd - Fire Emblem: Three Houses - 125h 22m - (Main+) 8/10
13. November 1st - Stray - 7h 24m - (Main+) 8/10
14. November 3rd - SUPERHOT - 5h 30m - (Main+) 5/10
15. November 21st - Kingdom Rush - 18h 42m - (Main+) 7/10
16. December 15th - Outer Wilds - 27h 24m - (Main+) 8/10
17. December 23rd - Monument Valley 3 - 1h 48m - (100%) 5/10

My favourite game I played this year would be either P3R or P4G, I can't decide since they're both amazing RPGs with a couple drawbacks that hold them back from a 10/10.

My least favourite game would easily be the Tower of Doooom DLC for Sparks of Hope. Usually, I just include DLC in my review of a game, but I had to make an exception for this one, because of how abhorrent it was. It was tedious, boring, absurdly difficult and a complete waste of time. If you play Sparks of Hope, for the love of god, skip this DLC and play the other two instead. Those are on par with the base game.

A better December than I had expected. Managed to beat 2 games, which let me tie 2021 in the amount of games beaten.

December 15th - Outer Wilds - 27h 24m - (Main+) 8/10 - Started December 5th - 10 Days Taken - Beat the main game and the DLC. Got 5/31 achievements.
December 23rd - Monument Valley 3 - 1h 48m - (100%) 5/10 - Days Taken: Same Day - Beat all the levels.

Short TLDR of my review:
Outer Wilds - Great concept, but the DLC was a little frustrating.
Monument Valley 3 - Disappointing, puzzles very too easy and story was minimal.