4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D21999
4 Yrs♥✓#
Hello I'm R2D21999 and I'm currently trying to beat every game I own. Along the way I thought that it would be fun to write my thoughts and opinions about each game I beat. It also helps me to refrain from writing an essay on threads like "Post Your Wins," although it might not help that much.
In addition to beating every game. I'm also thinking about making videos in the future about those same games, and I'm writing blogs to sort of "test the waters" and see if I'll have what it takes to make interesting blogs, and therefore potentially interesting videos.
As I said at the beginning, I do plan on beating every game. However I'm not really going to go back to talk about every single game I've completed, unless someone specifically asks. So if you're wondering of things like, "Why the hell is Metroid rated a 5/10?" I'll gladly talk about it, but only if asked.
Please give me feedback on my writings if you can. I'm sure I won't be starting off my blogs strong but I would like to eventually improve how I do things.
Here's a hyperlink to every blog post:
In addition to beating every game. I'm also thinking about making videos in the future about those same games, and I'm writing blogs to sort of "test the waters" and see if I'll have what it takes to make interesting blogs, and therefore potentially interesting videos.
As I said at the beginning, I do plan on beating every game. However I'm not really going to go back to talk about every single game I've completed, unless someone specifically asks. So if you're wondering of things like, "Why the hell is Metroid rated a 5/10?" I'll gladly talk about it, but only if asked.
Please give me feedback on my writings if you can. I'm sure I won't be starting off my blogs strong but I would like to eventually improve how I do things.
Here's a hyperlink to every blog post:
Game 1: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (GameCube Version)
Game 2: Mechstermination Force
Game 3: Layers of Fear
Game 4: Sonic & the Secret Rings
Game 5: Super Mario 64
Game 6: Among Us
Game 7: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Game 8: The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition
Game 9: Trials of Mana (2020)
Game 10: The Legend of Zelda (NSO Version)
Game 11: Wall-E (DS Version)
Game 12: Eyes: The Horror Game (Switch Version)
Game 13: The Hobbit (2003)
Flash Game Frenzy 1: Learn to Fly 2, Haunt the House, Achievement Unlocked 2
Game 14: Jump Force: Deluxe Edition
Flash Game Frenzy 2: King of Buttons 3, Shellshock Live (2010), Exit Path
Game 15: Blaster Master
Flash Game Frenzy 3: Zee and the Alien Machine, Blueprint 3D, Armor Mayhem
Game 16: Super Mario Maker
Flash Game Frenzy 4: This is the Only Level 3, Epic Combo!, Achievement Unlocked 3
Flash Game Frenzy 5: Epic Combo Redux, The Idiot Test, Elephant Quest
Flash Game Frenzy 6: Robot Legions, Replaying the Game, God's Playing Field
Game 17: LEGO Jurassic World
Flash Game Frenzy 7: Pumpkin Battle, Boss Slayer, Chibi Knight
Flash Game Frenzy 8: Epic Friends, Coinbox Hero, Last Guardian
Flash Game Frenzy 9: Nyan Cat Fly!, Sift Heads Assault 2, 40x Escape
Flash Game Frenzy 10: Loot the Game, Give Up, Sift Heads World Act 1
Game 18: Super Mario Bros. 2
Flash Game Frenzy 11: Elf Story, Doodle God, Toast of War
Flash Game Frenzy 12 - Final: Upgrade Complete 3mium, Corporate Climber, Robot Wants Fishy
Game 19: Scribblenauts
Game 20: Super Mario Maker for 3DS
Game 21: Oddworld Stranger's Wrath HD
Game 22: Kirby's Adventure (NSO Version)
Game 23: Vigor
Game 24: Wii Sports
Game 25: StarTropics (NSO Version)
Game 26: Kid Icarus (NSO Version)
Game 27: Super Scribblenauts
Game 28: Untitled Goose Game
Game 29: Super Mario Bros. the Lost Levels
Game 30: Star Soldier (1986) (NSO Version)
Game 31: Epic Mickey
Game 32: Punch Out (NSO Version)
Game 33: Donkey Kong Jr. (NSO Version)
Game 34: Clu Clu Land (NSO Version)
Game 35: Volleyball (NSO Version)
Game 36: Pokemon Channel
Game 37: Football '94 Starring Joe Montana
Game 38: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Game 39: Moving Out
Game 40: Family Party: 30 Great Games Outdoor Fun
Game 41: System Flaw
Game 42: The Wonderful 101 Remastered
Game 43: Lego Star Wars: The Video Game
Game 44: Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck
Game 45: Double Dragon II: The Revenge (NSO Version)
Game 46: City Connections (NSO Version)
Game 47: Wrecking Crew (NSO Version)
Game 48: Donkey Kong 3 (NSO Version)
Game 49: Vice: Project Doom (NSO Version)
Game 50: Kung-Fu Heroes (NSO Version)
Game 51: Journey to Silius (NSO Version)
Game 52: Crystalis (NSO Version)
Game 53: Shadow of the Ninja (NSO Version)
Game 54: Bioshock (Bioshock Collection)
DLC/Expansion 1: Bioshock: Challenge Rooms
Game 55: The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+
Game 56: Eliminator Boat Duel (NSO Version)
Game 57: Rygar (NSO Version)
Game 58: LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
Game 59: The Immortal (NSO Version)
Game 60: S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Attack Team (NSO Version)
Game 61: World of Tanks Blitz
Game 62: Rogue Company
Game 63: LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues (Wii)
Game 64: Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition
Game 65: Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics
Game 66:Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7
Game 67: Lego Batman: The Videogame (Wii)
Game 68: The Outer Worlds
Game 69: Lego Pirates of the Caribbean (DS)
Game 70: Super Metroid (NSO Version)
Game 71: Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
Game 72: Ashen
Game 73: Star Wars the Clone Wars - Lightsaber Duels
Game 74: Star Fox (NSO Version)
Game 75: New Super Mario Bros. U
Game 76: NextDoor
Game 77: Heaventaker
Game 78: Foto Showdown
Game 79: Doodle Champion Island Games
Game 80: Go! Go! Kokopolo 3D: Space Recipe for Disaster
Game 81: New Super Luigi U
Game 82: Metroid Fusion
Game 83: Cool Spot
Game 84: Scooby-Doo! Unmasked
Game 85: Kirby Mass Attack
Game 86: Aura-Aura Climber
Game 87: Bird Alone
Game 88: Orwell
Game 89: Squaredance
Game 90: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
DLC/Expansion 2: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - The Master Trials
DLC/Expansion 3: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - The Champions' Ballad
Game 91: WWE 2K Battlegrounds
Game 92: Killer Queen Black
Game 93: Star Fox 2
Game 94: Zip Zap
Game 95: Bacon: The Game
Game 96: The White Door
Game 97: Lost Lands: Dark Overlord
Game 98: Fighting EX Layer Another Dash
Game 99: PAC-MAN 99
Game 100: WarioWare: Get it Together!
Game 101: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
Game 102: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
Game 103: Bioshock 2
DLC/Expansion 4: Bioshock 2 - The Protector Trials
DLC/Expansion 5: Bioshock 2 - Minerva's Den
Game 104: Little Nightmares
DLC/Expansion 6: Little Nightmares - The Depths
DLC/Expansion 7: Little Nightmares - The Hideaway
DLC/Expansion 8: Little Nightmares - The Residence
Game 105: Limbo
Game 106: Metroid Dread
Game 107: She Sees Red
Game 108: Alien Isolation
DLC/Expansion 9: Alien Isolation - Crew Expansion
DLC/Expansion 10: Alien Isolation - Lone Survivor
Game 109: Superbeat: Xonic
Game 110: Enter the Gungeon
Game 111: The Messenger (2018)
DLC/Expansion 11: The Messenger - Picnic Panic
Game 112: Pokemon Pearl
Game 113: Bird and Beans
Game 114: Bomberman Blitz
Game 115: Hexceed
Game 116: Blasteroids
Game 117: Area 51 (1995)
Game 118: Shinobi
Game 119: Metal Slug 4
Game 120: Aragami
DLC/Expansion 12: Aragami - Nightfall
Game 121: Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Game 122: What Lies in the Fog
Game 123: The Black Iris
Game 124: A Firm Handshake
Game 125: Crow Crime: A Murder Mystery
Game 126: La Maleta
Game 127: Escaped Chasm
Game 128: Therapy with Dr. Albert Kruger
Game 129: Storyseeker
Game 130: Bird of Passage
Game 131: Emily is Away
Game 132: Wandows 95
Game 133: missed messages.
Game 134: Grimm's Hollow
Game 135: Six Cats Under
Game 136: How We Know We're Alive
Game 137: Pokemon Shining Pearl
Game 138: Balan Wonderworld
Game 139: Supertype
Game 140: Super Mario Run
Game 141: Creepy Tale
Game 142: Powertris
Game 143: Kickerhino World
Game 144: Pirates: All Aboard!
Game 145: Star Horizon
Game 146: Picklock
Game 147: Destropolis
Game 148: Pokemon Rocket Science
Game 149: Monument Valley
DLC/Expansion 13: Monument Valley - Ida's Dream
DLC/Expansion 14: Monument Valley - Forgotten Oceans
Game 150: Monument Valley 2
DLC/Expansion 15: Monument Valley 2 - The Lost Forest
Game 151: Senran Kagura: Peach Ball
Game 152: Blue Fire
DLC/Expansion 16: Blue Fire - Void of Sorrows
Game 153: Ape Out
Game 154: Celeste Classic
Game 155: Okay?
Game 156: Shot2048
Game 157: 10000000
Game 158: Tiny Room Stories: Town Mystery
DLC/Expansion 17: Tiny Room Stories: Town Mystery - Case #05
Game 159: Celeste
DLC/Expansion 18: Celeste - Chapter 9: Farewell
Game 160: SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS
Game 161: Crystal Monsters
Game 162: Freedom Wars
Game 163: Wii Sports Resort
Peripheral 1: Sports Pack 8in1 for Wii Sports Resort
Game 164: Monster Hunter Rise
Game 165: Meow Tower
Game 166: 2048
Game 167: There is No Game: Jam Edition 2015
Game 168: Osmose
Game 169: Seedship
Game 170: What's Inside the Box?
Game 171: Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Game 172 to 177: Yellow - Pink
Game 178: SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo
Game 179: Super Mario Bros.
Game 180: Quiz Wiz
Game 181: Spelling Challenges and More!
Game 182: Gunpey
DLC/Expansion 19 to 22: Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia - Rise of the Deliverance
Game 183: Madden NFL '95
Game 184: Super Monkey Ball
Game 185: Bust-a-Move Pocket
Game 186: Demon's Souls (PS3)
Game 187: Power Rangers Dino Thunder
Game 188: Twenty
Game 189: Make War
Game 190: .projekt
Game 191: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Game 192: Lego Batman: The Videogame (DS Version)
Game 193: Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes (DS Version)
Game 194: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
Game 195: Sticky Terms
Game 196: 1010!
Game 197: Baikoh
Game 198: Pokemon Picross
Game 199: Super Mario 3D World
Game 200: Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2
Game 201: Sorcery!
Game 202: Verticow
Game 203: Hexpuzzle
Game 204: Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball
Game 205: Pokemon Y
Game 206: Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Game 207: Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Game 208: Wordle (2021)
Game 209: Squirdle
Game 210: Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Game 211: Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
DLC/Expansion 23: Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected
Game 212: Superliminal
Game 213: Golden Force
Game 214: Strike Force Kitty
Game 215: Pool Pro Gold
Game 216: Disc Room
Game 217: Mortal Kombat 11
Game 218: Katamari Demacy Reroll
Game 219: One Step From Eden
Game 220: Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
DLC/Expansion 24: Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Special Episodes
Game 221: Logica Emotica
Game 222: Cats Are Cute: Pop Time
Game 223: 2 Player Games - Pasttimes
Game 224: Neon Abyss
Game 225: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Game 226: Picross S: Genesis & Master System Edition
Game 227: Akinator
Game 228: Spyro the Dragon
Game 229: Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
Game 230: 50/50
Game 231: 0 -zero-
Game 232: Atomas
Game 233: Darkstalkers the Night Warriors
Game Gamle: Wordle Clones
Game 234: Everything is Garbage
Game 235: Celeste Classic 2: Lani's Trek
Game 236: Satan Loves Cake
Game 237: Sort the Court
Game 238: ᗢ
Game 239: WonderFlower
Game 240: Mimi's Delivery Service
Game 241: Elden Ring GB
Game 242: Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Game 243: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #1: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Platform: Gamecube
100% Completion: 32h 35m 25s
Rating: 9/10
Date Completed: October 27, 2020
Extra Details: The Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition version
Game Synopsis: Some elf kid is seen as an outcast among other elf kids. Elf kid gets an annoying fairy and is then sent on a quest to vanquish evil that will take him inside a tree, inside a mountain, inside a fish, and even through time.
Blog: Probably not the best game to put first on the list considering the title of the blog has "Garbage" in the name, but it's the first game I've beaten for this blog so what can you do?
Most people probably played this game on the N64 or maybe even the remake on the 3DS. Not me, instead I played it through the Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition on the Gamecube. So my experience might be different than other's, such as using the comforting grip of the Gamecube controller instead of the strange N64 controller. Granted I don't know if there are truly any differences between the Gamecube and the N64 version.
While I might not be very certain on platform differences, I am certain that Ocarina of Time is one of my favorite Zelda games. Not my absolute favorite as that goes to Majora's Mask. However it's easy to see why this game is held in such high regard, even 20 years later.
I really enjoy the progression of the game. I feel like it smoothly goes through area to area at a good pace, with every end of a temple being a good place to stop and take a break.
Temples are also very good, I didn't really have a problem with any of the temples. I know that the water temple is considered to be annoying and confusing, but I felt that as long as you paid attention to the map and tried all your options before changing water levels that it's pretty simple to go through. The Dodongo's Cavern was probably my least favorite due to the fire keese always burning my wooden shield, but I still enjoyed it for the most part.
Combat is simple, about what you'd expect from the first 3D Zelda game. It could be considered outdated, and maybe this is the nostalgia talking, but I still love it. It's still fun for me.
Music is great and still holds up. I don't think there was anything that I either didn't enjoy or that I thought didn't fit.
There are points where I need to take off the rosy glasses though. Camera controls are pretty stiff, your only option with moving the camera normally is continuously pressing L. Personally I didn't find this too bad, but it gets especially worse when trying to aim with the slingshot, boomerang, bow, hookshot, and other items where it can take awhile to line up your shots correctly. It can be really frustrating at times where I'm under a time limit and the only reason I can't make under the limit is because it takes super long to make sure my hookshot is accurate on the first time, or else you'll miss and lose.
Handholding is also pretty bad in this game. It's particularly bad when you play as a child with Navi and that owl pestering you at every turn. People complain about Fi in Skyward Sword being the same, but at least you can ignore Fi for the most part. Whenever Navi wants your attention, she takes up the same button that you use for the first person view camera. That's dumb! Just leave me alone Navi I'm trying to look for gold Skulltulas!
One more minor thing but nothing that hinders my experience, I thought the way some of the environments looked was too "realistic" looking in comparison to the characters or even other environments. Hyrule Field and Lon Lon Ranch, for example, are completely fine. Then you look inside the houses of Kokiri Forest, outside of the Temple of Time, etc.; and it just clashes. It kind of reminds me of the way Zelda's Adventure looks on the CDI.
Conclusion: Ocarina of Time is a timeless classic that everyone should at least try, in some sort of capacity whether on N64, Gamecube, 3DS, Virtual Console, or just straight up emulation. I don't like to lean on review scores for a game's success but it holds a 99 on Metacritic for a good reason.
Platform: Gamecube
100% Completion: 32h 35m 25s
Rating: 9/10
Date Completed: October 27, 2020
Extra Details: The Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition version
Game Synopsis: Some elf kid is seen as an outcast among other elf kids. Elf kid gets an annoying fairy and is then sent on a quest to vanquish evil that will take him inside a tree, inside a mountain, inside a fish, and even through time.
Blog: Probably not the best game to put first on the list considering the title of the blog has "Garbage" in the name, but it's the first game I've beaten for this blog so what can you do?
Most people probably played this game on the N64 or maybe even the remake on the 3DS. Not me, instead I played it through the Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition on the Gamecube. So my experience might be different than other's, such as using the comforting grip of the Gamecube controller instead of the strange N64 controller. Granted I don't know if there are truly any differences between the Gamecube and the N64 version.
While I might not be very certain on platform differences, I am certain that Ocarina of Time is one of my favorite Zelda games. Not my absolute favorite as that goes to Majora's Mask. However it's easy to see why this game is held in such high regard, even 20 years later.
I really enjoy the progression of the game. I feel like it smoothly goes through area to area at a good pace, with every end of a temple being a good place to stop and take a break.
Temples are also very good, I didn't really have a problem with any of the temples. I know that the water temple is considered to be annoying and confusing, but I felt that as long as you paid attention to the map and tried all your options before changing water levels that it's pretty simple to go through. The Dodongo's Cavern was probably my least favorite due to the fire keese always burning my wooden shield, but I still enjoyed it for the most part.
Combat is simple, about what you'd expect from the first 3D Zelda game. It could be considered outdated, and maybe this is the nostalgia talking, but I still love it. It's still fun for me.
Music is great and still holds up. I don't think there was anything that I either didn't enjoy or that I thought didn't fit.
There are points where I need to take off the rosy glasses though. Camera controls are pretty stiff, your only option with moving the camera normally is continuously pressing L. Personally I didn't find this too bad, but it gets especially worse when trying to aim with the slingshot, boomerang, bow, hookshot, and other items where it can take awhile to line up your shots correctly. It can be really frustrating at times where I'm under a time limit and the only reason I can't make under the limit is because it takes super long to make sure my hookshot is accurate on the first time, or else you'll miss and lose.
Handholding is also pretty bad in this game. It's particularly bad when you play as a child with Navi and that owl pestering you at every turn. People complain about Fi in Skyward Sword being the same, but at least you can ignore Fi for the most part. Whenever Navi wants your attention, she takes up the same button that you use for the first person view camera. That's dumb! Just leave me alone Navi I'm trying to look for gold Skulltulas!
One more minor thing but nothing that hinders my experience, I thought the way some of the environments looked was too "realistic" looking in comparison to the characters or even other environments. Hyrule Field and Lon Lon Ranch, for example, are completely fine. Then you look inside the houses of Kokiri Forest, outside of the Temple of Time, etc.; and it just clashes. It kind of reminds me of the way Zelda's Adventure looks on the CDI.
Conclusion: Ocarina of Time is a timeless classic that everyone should at least try, in some sort of capacity whether on N64, Gamecube, 3DS, Virtual Console, or just straight up emulation. I don't like to lean on review scores for a game's success but it holds a 99 on Metacritic for a good reason.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #2: Mechstermination Force
Platform: Switch
Main Story: 2h 58m 23s
Rating: 8/10
Date Completed: October 29, 2020
Game Synopsis: Giant robot animals are attacking the world! Contra your way around the robots, destroy their weak points, and defend the Earth from the invasion.
Blog: I wasn't expecting to add anything to the blog so soon after just finishing OoT. However, I thought this was short enough to finish in between the more lengthy titles.
If you enjoy platform shooters similar to Contra and also boss rush type of games, this game is definitely for you. It's short, it has an arcady feel to it, it's great. Story is fine, but this isn't a game that's really focused on the story anyway.
One thing in particular with some bosses, is that sometimes you're just unlucky, or in the wrong place at the wrong time and there's nothing more you can do to prevent getting hurt or having to stand around(looking at you, green monkey-alligator robot!). I don't particularly enjoy those moments.
The final boss is a big annoyance for me though. It turns from a run-and-gun to a bullet hell type game, for absolutely no reason. Why? There's no build-up to it and there's no way for me to practice the bullet hell gameplay before it throws me at the final boss, as it's the only time where you're given this style of gameplay.
Cuphead did a similar thing, but Cuphead did it right by progressively introducing the bullet hell levels so you're used to it. Mechstermination Force has nothing like that. Just before fighting the final boss, you can talk to an NPC who gives you "advice" and tells you to go back to previous boss fights to practice for the final boss. Screw you dude!
Conclusion: Mechstermination Force is a pretty good game. Those who like games such as Cuphead are bound to find enjoyment with this game. I wish the final boss wasn't what it ended up being but I can forgive it... but only a little.
Platform: Switch
Main Story: 2h 58m 23s
Rating: 8/10
Date Completed: October 29, 2020
Game Synopsis: Giant robot animals are attacking the world! Contra your way around the robots, destroy their weak points, and defend the Earth from the invasion.
Blog: I wasn't expecting to add anything to the blog so soon after just finishing OoT. However, I thought this was short enough to finish in between the more lengthy titles.
If you enjoy platform shooters similar to Contra and also boss rush type of games, this game is definitely for you. It's short, it has an arcady feel to it, it's great. Story is fine, but this isn't a game that's really focused on the story anyway.
One thing in particular with some bosses, is that sometimes you're just unlucky, or in the wrong place at the wrong time and there's nothing more you can do to prevent getting hurt or having to stand around(looking at you, green monkey-alligator robot!). I don't particularly enjoy those moments.
The final boss is a big annoyance for me though. It turns from a run-and-gun to a bullet hell type game, for absolutely no reason. Why? There's no build-up to it and there's no way for me to practice the bullet hell gameplay before it throws me at the final boss, as it's the only time where you're given this style of gameplay.
Cuphead did a similar thing, but Cuphead did it right by progressively introducing the bullet hell levels so you're used to it. Mechstermination Force has nothing like that. Just before fighting the final boss, you can talk to an NPC who gives you "advice" and tells you to go back to previous boss fights to practice for the final boss. Screw you dude!
Conclusion: Mechstermination Force is a pretty good game. Those who like games such as Cuphead are bound to find enjoyment with this game. I wish the final boss wasn't what it ended up being but I can forgive it... but only a little.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #3: Layers of Fear
Platform: Switch
Main Story: 4h 5m 46s
Rating: 9/10
Date Completed: October 31, 2020
Game Synopsis: A mad painter goes on an insane terrifying adventure through his house.
Blog: So this is the first true horror game I've really played through, so I might be rating it higher than it should be. Even so, I think Layers of Fear was a terrific game.
Layers of Fear is kind of like a walking simulator mixed with a horror game. So think of it sort of like a real life haunted house in a video game, just without all the sweaty actors in costumes.
If you going into this game expecting this to be similar to how Outlast plays with monsters chasing you at every point, you'll be disappointed. Layers of Fear isn't really a horror game based on its monsters but a horror game based on the player's visual perspective. There are points where doing something incorrect will send you to a few minutes earlier, similar to dying in other games, but those points are few and far between.
The perspective thing with this game was trippy and amazing. I'm sure the things this game does has been done a million times before, but this was a first for me and I loved it. I love going through a door, and then going out that same door a few moments later and being in a different place. I think it fits really well with a horror game.
I love the sound, I believe that for horror games that they need to completely nail the sound design in order for a good horror game to become a great horror game. Layers of Fear does just that.
If there's one thing I'm not entirely in love with, it's the controls when grabbing and pulling things. I feel like it works with some things like opening doors but I feel like it's very finicky when opening drawers and the like. I had what was essentially a battle between me and the old timey elevator door that's in this game because at some angles I couldn't close it all the way. There's also an option for motion controls and I used it at the start but I ended up opting for button controls instead.
I went on a little bit ago about how I loved the visual perspective. Not everything about the visuals worked in the technical sense, however. There were a few minor visual bugs, one of the big bugs that stood out to me was in one area where there was a bunch of writing on the walls, and one of the writings was flickering. I'm pretty sure that wasn't suppose to happen.
There was a single time near the end where I randomly crashed. I'm not sure why I did, nothing was happening visually as I was walking through a generic hallway at the time. Fortunately the game saved me at the exact room I crashed in, so I didn't have to start at the beginning of the chapter.
Conclusion: Layers of Fear is a great horror game. It doesn't rely solely on monsters as much as some other horror games but it messes with the player by changing the environment based on their perspective. Some minor problems with the Switch version but they aren't a deal breaker. If you want a nontraditional horror game, I'd recommend this one.
Platform: Switch
Main Story: 4h 5m 46s
Rating: 9/10
Date Completed: October 31, 2020
Game Synopsis: A mad painter goes on an insane terrifying adventure through his house.
Blog: So this is the first true horror game I've really played through, so I might be rating it higher than it should be. Even so, I think Layers of Fear was a terrific game.
Layers of Fear is kind of like a walking simulator mixed with a horror game. So think of it sort of like a real life haunted house in a video game, just without all the sweaty actors in costumes.
If you going into this game expecting this to be similar to how Outlast plays with monsters chasing you at every point, you'll be disappointed. Layers of Fear isn't really a horror game based on its monsters but a horror game based on the player's visual perspective. There are points where doing something incorrect will send you to a few minutes earlier, similar to dying in other games, but those points are few and far between.
The perspective thing with this game was trippy and amazing. I'm sure the things this game does has been done a million times before, but this was a first for me and I loved it. I love going through a door, and then going out that same door a few moments later and being in a different place. I think it fits really well with a horror game.
I love the sound, I believe that for horror games that they need to completely nail the sound design in order for a good horror game to become a great horror game. Layers of Fear does just that.
If there's one thing I'm not entirely in love with, it's the controls when grabbing and pulling things. I feel like it works with some things like opening doors but I feel like it's very finicky when opening drawers and the like. I had what was essentially a battle between me and the old timey elevator door that's in this game because at some angles I couldn't close it all the way. There's also an option for motion controls and I used it at the start but I ended up opting for button controls instead.
I went on a little bit ago about how I loved the visual perspective. Not everything about the visuals worked in the technical sense, however. There were a few minor visual bugs, one of the big bugs that stood out to me was in one area where there was a bunch of writing on the walls, and one of the writings was flickering. I'm pretty sure that wasn't suppose to happen.
There was a single time near the end where I randomly crashed. I'm not sure why I did, nothing was happening visually as I was walking through a generic hallway at the time. Fortunately the game saved me at the exact room I crashed in, so I didn't have to start at the beginning of the chapter.
Conclusion: Layers of Fear is a great horror game. It doesn't rely solely on monsters as much as some other horror games but it messes with the player by changing the environment based on their perspective. Some minor problems with the Switch version but they aren't a deal breaker. If you want a nontraditional horror game, I'd recommend this one.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #4: Sonic & the Secret Ring
Platform: Wii
Main Story: 5h 20m 45s
Main + Extras: 6h 23m 02s
Rating: 2/10
Date Completed: November 5, 2020
Game Synopsis: Sonic the Hedgehog reads a book. He then gets sucked into the book and forced to save the world of the Arabian Nights.
Blog: Finally! The first game in my blog that I can tear apart!
Sonic and the Secret Rings is the first and only Sonic game I've played. As a child, I thought it was ok but nothing exciting.
As I'm now grown and my tastes in games have grown, I can confidently say that Sonic and the Secret Rings is awful.
The story feels like a fanfiction. Sonic is sent to the world of the Arabian Knights, by a genie humanoid girl named Sharha, to fight an evil humanoid genie named the Erazor Djinn. Both of these characters are constantly reoccurring and the only humanoids in the game. When Sonic is alone with one or both of them, he just looks and sounds extremely out of place and awkward. However, some Arabian Knights characters are completely replaced with Sonic characters; such as Tails, Knuckles, and Dr. Eggman. So why are Sharha and Erazor both humanoids and not other Sonic characters or even Sonic-like characters made specifically for this game? You could easily replace Sharha with Amy and Erazor with Shadow if need be. Or on the other hand, make everyone else human characters. Tails, Knuckles, and Dr. Eggman do not need to be there. It's not explained why the Arabian Knight characters look like Sonic characters, they weren't sucked into the book after all.
Another separate issue, I feel like Sharha constantly contradicts herself. In the beginning of the game she states that the seven world rings don't exist. Later in the game, she talks about the rings like she always knew they existed. This could have been a translation error, but it's such an easy fix. Just say Sharha doesn't know where they are, not that they don't exist. There's more similar to that.
Controls and gameplay is another big issue, and probably the biggest issue. Controlling Sonic is done entirely with Wii motion controls. The only thing that isn't done with motion controls is jumping and braking(which doesn't even do its job half of the time). Moving right, left, backwards, forwards, and an air dash that can be used to lock-on to enemies. Whenever I need to move Sonic to the sides it feels like it either doesn't work or he moves too slow. Sonic also initially doesn't start off fast, you normally have to hit a speed boost, use a speed break move(I'll talk about this later), or something else like a slope. I just hate that initial start-up and if I run into an enemy or obstacle that makes me slow down, I have to do it again. Please give me a way to do a slight speed boost maybe? It really feels like a slog.
There are two magic moves; speed break and time break; that can be used by pressing up or down on the control pad. Speed break makes you go super fast, and time break makes everything super slow. The game makes you think these are useful but they're only useful at the true final boss. Speed break can be useful at the racing challenges, although I hardly had a need for it, however it's insanely risky as while you go through enemies just fine, you're still at the liberty of bottomless pits, spikes, and other obstacles. There's no reason to use time break. If it only slowed down everything around Sonic, that'd be better but it slows Sonic too... That's absolutely pointless. Don't bother using either of them.
One key aspect of the controls that I haven't mentioned is that you hold the Wii remote horizontally. Not up-right, not with a nunchuck; horizontally. Also a reminder that Sonic moves forward by tilting the Wii remote forward. Now, those two things combined aren't too bad. It works well enough in normal circumstances(though I'd much rather prefer a control stick), until you get to the 2D sections of the game, where Sonic moves left or right. This is where the controls go into the trash, as instead of tilting left or right to move left or right like you think it would, you tilt forward in the direction Sonic is already facing and you can't control the direction he faces. It's so awkward to control and disorienting to watch, why did they do this? There was an easier solution!
The missions that you play through are repeated throughout the worlds. There's the initial "Get to the goal" mission which is always the starting mission and is used for the story. All of the other missions like: racing a blue orb", "kill x number of enemies", "don't kill enemies", "get x number of rings", "don't get rings", etc. They all repeat with very little differences aside from some of the worlds having a boss and some not. It gets old by the time you get to the third world. Luckily they're not all needed to finish the game, although you need to do 2 or 3 in each world to progress the story along.
If there's a positive to this game that I could give, aside from not having any bugs that I could see, it's the music. The music is great. I really wish they would tone down the number of times they use the Secret Rings song though. That song gets old real quick.
TL;DR: Sonic & the Secret Rings suffers from a lot. Story is bad, controls are bad, missions are boring and repetitive. Aside from the music there isn't a lot to really enjoy with this game.
Platform: Wii
Main Story: 5h 20m 45s
Main + Extras: 6h 23m 02s
Rating: 2/10
Date Completed: November 5, 2020
Game Synopsis: Sonic the Hedgehog reads a book. He then gets sucked into the book and forced to save the world of the Arabian Nights.
Blog: Finally! The first game in my blog that I can tear apart!
Sonic and the Secret Rings is the first and only Sonic game I've played. As a child, I thought it was ok but nothing exciting.
As I'm now grown and my tastes in games have grown, I can confidently say that Sonic and the Secret Rings is awful.
The story feels like a fanfiction. Sonic is sent to the world of the Arabian Knights, by a genie humanoid girl named Sharha, to fight an evil humanoid genie named the Erazor Djinn. Both of these characters are constantly reoccurring and the only humanoids in the game. When Sonic is alone with one or both of them, he just looks and sounds extremely out of place and awkward. However, some Arabian Knights characters are completely replaced with Sonic characters; such as Tails, Knuckles, and Dr. Eggman. So why are Sharha and Erazor both humanoids and not other Sonic characters or even Sonic-like characters made specifically for this game? You could easily replace Sharha with Amy and Erazor with Shadow if need be. Or on the other hand, make everyone else human characters. Tails, Knuckles, and Dr. Eggman do not need to be there. It's not explained why the Arabian Knight characters look like Sonic characters, they weren't sucked into the book after all.
Another separate issue, I feel like Sharha constantly contradicts herself. In the beginning of the game she states that the seven world rings don't exist. Later in the game, she talks about the rings like she always knew they existed. This could have been a translation error, but it's such an easy fix. Just say Sharha doesn't know where they are, not that they don't exist. There's more similar to that.
Controls and gameplay is another big issue, and probably the biggest issue. Controlling Sonic is done entirely with Wii motion controls. The only thing that isn't done with motion controls is jumping and braking(which doesn't even do its job half of the time). Moving right, left, backwards, forwards, and an air dash that can be used to lock-on to enemies. Whenever I need to move Sonic to the sides it feels like it either doesn't work or he moves too slow. Sonic also initially doesn't start off fast, you normally have to hit a speed boost, use a speed break move(I'll talk about this later), or something else like a slope. I just hate that initial start-up and if I run into an enemy or obstacle that makes me slow down, I have to do it again. Please give me a way to do a slight speed boost maybe? It really feels like a slog.
There are two magic moves; speed break and time break; that can be used by pressing up or down on the control pad. Speed break makes you go super fast, and time break makes everything super slow. The game makes you think these are useful but they're only useful at the true final boss. Speed break can be useful at the racing challenges, although I hardly had a need for it, however it's insanely risky as while you go through enemies just fine, you're still at the liberty of bottomless pits, spikes, and other obstacles. There's no reason to use time break. If it only slowed down everything around Sonic, that'd be better but it slows Sonic too... That's absolutely pointless. Don't bother using either of them.
One key aspect of the controls that I haven't mentioned is that you hold the Wii remote horizontally. Not up-right, not with a nunchuck; horizontally. Also a reminder that Sonic moves forward by tilting the Wii remote forward. Now, those two things combined aren't too bad. It works well enough in normal circumstances(though I'd much rather prefer a control stick), until you get to the 2D sections of the game, where Sonic moves left or right. This is where the controls go into the trash, as instead of tilting left or right to move left or right like you think it would, you tilt forward in the direction Sonic is already facing and you can't control the direction he faces. It's so awkward to control and disorienting to watch, why did they do this? There was an easier solution!
The missions that you play through are repeated throughout the worlds. There's the initial "Get to the goal" mission which is always the starting mission and is used for the story. All of the other missions like: racing a blue orb", "kill x number of enemies", "don't kill enemies", "get x number of rings", "don't get rings", etc. They all repeat with very little differences aside from some of the worlds having a boss and some not. It gets old by the time you get to the third world. Luckily they're not all needed to finish the game, although you need to do 2 or 3 in each world to progress the story along.
If there's a positive to this game that I could give, aside from not having any bugs that I could see, it's the music. The music is great. I really wish they would tone down the number of times they use the Secret Rings song though. That song gets old real quick.
TL;DR: Sonic & the Secret Rings suffers from a lot. Story is bad, controls are bad, missions are boring and repetitive. Aside from the music there isn't a lot to really enjoy with this game.
4 Yrs♥✓#
Wow, secret rings sounds terrible. I'm glad they improved on everything in the sequel.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
T-there's a sequel? Oh no. Now I'm tempted to search for a copy just to experience it.
4 Yrs♥✓#
Yeah, Sonic and the Black Knight. It's pretty good from what I remember but that might just be nostalgia talking.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #5: Super Mario 64
Platform: Switch
100% Completion: 23h 32m 39s
Rating: 6/10
Date Completed: November 6, 2020
Extra Details: Super Mario 3D All-Stars version
Game Synopsis: Bowser kidnapped the princess and stole some stars, but this time in 3D! Mario is forced to go through worlds collecting stars and save the princess.
Blog: For years I've heard of Super Mario 64 being among the best games ever. Constantly seeing it in top 10 lists of best games of all time, sometimes even being at number 1 in those lists. So I don't think I was wrong for being excited to play this game for the first time... maybe I should have reigned my expectations...
The game isn't bad, far from it. I've had more positive moments with this game than I've had negative. The negative moments aren't entirely overshadowed though.
First of all, the game play is fun for the most part. I've played 3D Mario games before, and the moves I've learned from those games translate well into this one. So this is obviously the standard of Mario's movements. It works great! No issues except for maybe the flight cap. The flight cap can be pretty iffy at times.
The camera is another story. Now, I understand that the whole fun thing about the camera is that it's suppose to be controlled by a Lakitu and that it's cute and quirky. Lakitu needs to be fired. The camera is fine in the first few worlds, but then you get to later sections in the game where you have tight platforming or walking along a thin platform. You need to pay the utmost attention to your own perspective of what's going on, but the camera screws that up and I usually find myself tumbling down a hill or falling into the void below me as a result. It feels like a cheap death.
Stars are mostly fun to get. There are some that make me pull my hair out, such as the one in Tall-Tall Mountain where you need pin-point precision as you shoot yourself out of a canon or else it's instant death. Those kind are annoying.
I hate how the game sometimes respawns the player when either dying or exiting. Exiting an area through the pause screen will bring you to the main hall. I wish instead of doing that it brought me to the entrance of the area I had just played. That's what happens when you die in most of the worlds anyway. Why not do the same when exiting them? On the other hand, some worlds do the same by leaving me in the main hall when dying. I had one flying cap area where when I fell out the world I would be sent all the way out of the castle and into the lake across from the castle entrance. Why? That's so annoying. Just respawn me at the world entrance at the hub.
There are some aspects of the game that I feel are unfinished. There are moments, where I can effortlessly see through walls of areas where a wall surrounds the entire area, Hazy Maze Cave is a big offender for this. There are moments where I feel like they could have added more to at least look at, like how there's literally no back to the castle from the outside. When standing at the edge of moving platforms(which is apparently really easy to do) Mario does like a weird vibration thing where it seems like the game can't decide if Mario is on the platform or not. Usually it decides he isn't. All of these elements makes it so that the game doesn't feel polished, but maybe that comes at the cost of being one of the first 3D platformers, especially with Nintendo.
There's one more thing I want to bring up, and that being with Super Mario 64 being added to the Switch. There are things that I've mentioned that, while maybe I could somewhat excuse the original N64 version(first time using a camera, and the unfinished parts), I just can't excuse it with the Switch version. Cameras in 3D video games have been improved long after the N64. Why not fix it? Why not fix issues with the game that are easy to fix or improve? I didn't even mention how the aspect ratio shouldn't be as small as it is, especially when Sunshine and Galaxy aren't restricted to that small of a size in the same game compilation. This is what really frustrated me when playing this game. I've never played the N64 version but if it's similar to how this is, I'd probably give it a 7 maybe even an 8 just because I understand the limitations of the software. The Switch version is a 6/10 because it isn't bound by those same limitations.
TL;DR: Super Mario 64 is a good game overall, but it's heavily constrained by the outdated camera and other elements. On the N64 it's somewhat forgivable. I don't hold that same sentiment with the 3D All-Stars version.
Platform: Switch
100% Completion: 23h 32m 39s
Rating: 6/10
Date Completed: November 6, 2020
Extra Details: Super Mario 3D All-Stars version
Game Synopsis: Bowser kidnapped the princess and stole some stars, but this time in 3D! Mario is forced to go through worlds collecting stars and save the princess.
Blog: For years I've heard of Super Mario 64 being among the best games ever. Constantly seeing it in top 10 lists of best games of all time, sometimes even being at number 1 in those lists. So I don't think I was wrong for being excited to play this game for the first time... maybe I should have reigned my expectations...
The game isn't bad, far from it. I've had more positive moments with this game than I've had negative. The negative moments aren't entirely overshadowed though.
First of all, the game play is fun for the most part. I've played 3D Mario games before, and the moves I've learned from those games translate well into this one. So this is obviously the standard of Mario's movements. It works great! No issues except for maybe the flight cap. The flight cap can be pretty iffy at times.
The camera is another story. Now, I understand that the whole fun thing about the camera is that it's suppose to be controlled by a Lakitu and that it's cute and quirky. Lakitu needs to be fired. The camera is fine in the first few worlds, but then you get to later sections in the game where you have tight platforming or walking along a thin platform. You need to pay the utmost attention to your own perspective of what's going on, but the camera screws that up and I usually find myself tumbling down a hill or falling into the void below me as a result. It feels like a cheap death.
Stars are mostly fun to get. There are some that make me pull my hair out, such as the one in Tall-Tall Mountain where you need pin-point precision as you shoot yourself out of a canon or else it's instant death. Those kind are annoying.
I hate how the game sometimes respawns the player when either dying or exiting. Exiting an area through the pause screen will bring you to the main hall. I wish instead of doing that it brought me to the entrance of the area I had just played. That's what happens when you die in most of the worlds anyway. Why not do the same when exiting them? On the other hand, some worlds do the same by leaving me in the main hall when dying. I had one flying cap area where when I fell out the world I would be sent all the way out of the castle and into the lake across from the castle entrance. Why? That's so annoying. Just respawn me at the world entrance at the hub.
There are some aspects of the game that I feel are unfinished. There are moments, where I can effortlessly see through walls of areas where a wall surrounds the entire area, Hazy Maze Cave is a big offender for this. There are moments where I feel like they could have added more to at least look at, like how there's literally no back to the castle from the outside. When standing at the edge of moving platforms(which is apparently really easy to do) Mario does like a weird vibration thing where it seems like the game can't decide if Mario is on the platform or not. Usually it decides he isn't. All of these elements makes it so that the game doesn't feel polished, but maybe that comes at the cost of being one of the first 3D platformers, especially with Nintendo.
There's one more thing I want to bring up, and that being with Super Mario 64 being added to the Switch. There are things that I've mentioned that, while maybe I could somewhat excuse the original N64 version(first time using a camera, and the unfinished parts), I just can't excuse it with the Switch version. Cameras in 3D video games have been improved long after the N64. Why not fix it? Why not fix issues with the game that are easy to fix or improve? I didn't even mention how the aspect ratio shouldn't be as small as it is, especially when Sunshine and Galaxy aren't restricted to that small of a size in the same game compilation. This is what really frustrated me when playing this game. I've never played the N64 version but if it's similar to how this is, I'd probably give it a 7 maybe even an 8 just because I understand the limitations of the software. The Switch version is a 6/10 because it isn't bound by those same limitations.
TL;DR: Super Mario 64 is a good game overall, but it's heavily constrained by the outdated camera and other elements. On the N64 it's somewhat forgivable. I don't hold that same sentiment with the 3D All-Stars version.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #6: Among Us
Platform: PC
Multiplayer: 12+ Hours
Rating: 6/10
Date Completed: November 18, 2020
Extra Details: Version 2020.10.22s
Game Synopsis: There's an imposter among the crew. Work with your team to find the imposter and do your tasks before it's too late.
Blog: I generally enjoy the concept of Among Us and for the most part I have fun with the game. It's a fun game to play with your friends over discord.
However, that's also an issue with this game... If you don't have friends to play Among Us with in that way, your enjoyment of the game is going to be at the mercy of the strangers you meet over random lobbies on the in-game text chat... Oh boy...
Now that's not to say that every stranger in Among Us is going to be toxic or bad(bad as in morally, not bad at the game). I've played games where all the players are pretty cool-headed and enjoyable to play with.
However there's also those players who are generally just nasty online using racial and homophobic slurs, especially when people turn against them and vote them off for doing something suspicious the previous round. I personally don't care if someone calls me names, and if someone does make a particular nasty comment that rubs me the wrong way I'll usually just mute that person and think nothing more of it... in other games anyway.
Among Us being a game about communication, you can't really mute the other person as that's just how the game works. You could potentially kick them out of the lobby, but you need 2 other players to be able to successfully kick out that other player or a host can do it in-between matches. So unless you're the host or you do end up getting 3 votes to kick someone out; you're kind of stuck with that person until one of you decides to leave the lobby. It's very much a double-edge sword here.
Another problem is cheaters and hackers. I don't want to be the guy who accuses every player better than me of cheating, but there are those who are just so obvious about it and it's annoying to see. Hackers are self explanatory, people who manipulate the game in their favor. Luckily I've only ran into a hacker once; a guy who would just change their color and appear to be someone else. However, I've read and seen clips of other people who just hack the game. Cheaters are different but specific, it's usually 1 person playing as multiple players(I wish I were joking, I ran into this like twice) or multiple people who use external communication in "random" lobbies. I had that exact situation happen to me yesterday where an imposter and a crewmate were helping each other out. Why do people do this? Why can't they just play the game normally and not ruin it for other people?
However, my biggest issue with some players are those asking for personal information, usually age. Griefers, cheaters, and hackers only really affect the game itself. However, it really makes me nervous of the potential pedophiles that could be on Among Us. It's the hottest game right now and with it being free on mobile devices, kids are a big demographic for the game. Every time I see the question "How old are you guys?" from someone in the chat; I almost always see someone respond with 8, 9, 10, or an early teen number. Maybe they're not a pedophile, maybe it's another kid genuinely being curious. But I'm still concerned of the floodgates that could open from this of a kid giving too much information to a pedophile. That's a scary thought to me.
I realize the majority of my rant against this game is about the players rather than the game itself. The problem with Among Us is that it's a game that 100% relies on communication between players, it's not anything else and it can't be anything else otherwise it wouldn't be the game that it is. The players alone would make this game a 7 or even an 8/10 for me.
I wish that was the only problem with the game though...
So I bought this game on Steam about 2 weeks ago. I have no idea if this was always a problem with the game, but it's so hard to get into a public match. Usually what happens is I go to Find Game, pick the maps or number of imposters I would like if I hadn't picked already, click on a match with less than maximum players, and I'm instantly told that the game is full. This is a constant problem and it usually takes 6 or 7 tries for me to find an open game, and then you have to pray that the game doesn't suddenly disconnect you from the lobby mid-round. I'm not even sure why it disconnects me; I have the most recent updates for Among Us, my internet is just fine. What's going on with that?
Another issue is that I wish when searching for a game you had more choices of what you want the game to be. Sometimes players hosts make the player speed too fast, gives too few tasks, or decreases the vision of the imposter compared to the crew mates; and while there are players who enjoy those changes, I don't and would like an option where I'm not able to find games like that.
Perhaps the developers are working on an update to fix these things, but as of right now there hasn't been any fixes.
I realized I have yet to actually talk about the gameplay, art style, and sound; but it's all just so simple and I feel like it all just goes well with what the game is trying to do. It's good in all 3 areas.
TL;DR: Among Us is a game in which its quality is dependent on the quality of its player base. If you're able to play this with friends try to, it'll be the most fun you have with the game as your enjoyment won't be at the risk of toxic players or awful matchmaking.
Platform: PC
Multiplayer: 12+ Hours
Rating: 6/10
Date Completed: November 18, 2020
Extra Details: Version 2020.10.22s
Game Synopsis: There's an imposter among the crew. Work with your team to find the imposter and do your tasks before it's too late.
Blog: I generally enjoy the concept of Among Us and for the most part I have fun with the game. It's a fun game to play with your friends over discord.
However, that's also an issue with this game... If you don't have friends to play Among Us with in that way, your enjoyment of the game is going to be at the mercy of the strangers you meet over random lobbies on the in-game text chat... Oh boy...
Now that's not to say that every stranger in Among Us is going to be toxic or bad(bad as in morally, not bad at the game). I've played games where all the players are pretty cool-headed and enjoyable to play with.
However there's also those players who are generally just nasty online using racial and homophobic slurs, especially when people turn against them and vote them off for doing something suspicious the previous round. I personally don't care if someone calls me names, and if someone does make a particular nasty comment that rubs me the wrong way I'll usually just mute that person and think nothing more of it... in other games anyway.
Among Us being a game about communication, you can't really mute the other person as that's just how the game works. You could potentially kick them out of the lobby, but you need 2 other players to be able to successfully kick out that other player or a host can do it in-between matches. So unless you're the host or you do end up getting 3 votes to kick someone out; you're kind of stuck with that person until one of you decides to leave the lobby. It's very much a double-edge sword here.
Another problem is cheaters and hackers. I don't want to be the guy who accuses every player better than me of cheating, but there are those who are just so obvious about it and it's annoying to see. Hackers are self explanatory, people who manipulate the game in their favor. Luckily I've only ran into a hacker once; a guy who would just change their color and appear to be someone else. However, I've read and seen clips of other people who just hack the game. Cheaters are different but specific, it's usually 1 person playing as multiple players(I wish I were joking, I ran into this like twice) or multiple people who use external communication in "random" lobbies. I had that exact situation happen to me yesterday where an imposter and a crewmate were helping each other out. Why do people do this? Why can't they just play the game normally and not ruin it for other people?
However, my biggest issue with some players are those asking for personal information, usually age. Griefers, cheaters, and hackers only really affect the game itself. However, it really makes me nervous of the potential pedophiles that could be on Among Us. It's the hottest game right now and with it being free on mobile devices, kids are a big demographic for the game. Every time I see the question "How old are you guys?" from someone in the chat; I almost always see someone respond with 8, 9, 10, or an early teen number. Maybe they're not a pedophile, maybe it's another kid genuinely being curious. But I'm still concerned of the floodgates that could open from this of a kid giving too much information to a pedophile. That's a scary thought to me.
I realize the majority of my rant against this game is about the players rather than the game itself. The problem with Among Us is that it's a game that 100% relies on communication between players, it's not anything else and it can't be anything else otherwise it wouldn't be the game that it is. The players alone would make this game a 7 or even an 8/10 for me.
I wish that was the only problem with the game though...
So I bought this game on Steam about 2 weeks ago. I have no idea if this was always a problem with the game, but it's so hard to get into a public match. Usually what happens is I go to Find Game, pick the maps or number of imposters I would like if I hadn't picked already, click on a match with less than maximum players, and I'm instantly told that the game is full. This is a constant problem and it usually takes 6 or 7 tries for me to find an open game, and then you have to pray that the game doesn't suddenly disconnect you from the lobby mid-round. I'm not even sure why it disconnects me; I have the most recent updates for Among Us, my internet is just fine. What's going on with that?
Another issue is that I wish when searching for a game you had more choices of what you want the game to be. Sometimes players hosts make the player speed too fast, gives too few tasks, or decreases the vision of the imposter compared to the crew mates; and while there are players who enjoy those changes, I don't and would like an option where I'm not able to find games like that.
Perhaps the developers are working on an update to fix these things, but as of right now there hasn't been any fixes.
I realized I have yet to actually talk about the gameplay, art style, and sound; but it's all just so simple and I feel like it all just goes well with what the game is trying to do. It's good in all 3 areas.
TL;DR: Among Us is a game in which its quality is dependent on the quality of its player base. If you're able to play this with friends try to, it'll be the most fun you have with the game as your enjoyment won't be at the risk of toxic players or awful matchmaking.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #7: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Platform: Gamecube
100% Complete: 30h 54m 55s
Rating: 8/10
Date Completed: November 26, 2020
Extra Details: Collector's Edition
Game Synopsis: Link goes on an adventure and finds himself in a new land that will all be destroyed in 3 days.
Blog: Majora's Mask is my favorite game of all-time that I enjoyed as a child. Aside from the remake(which has changes that I don't like) I haven't played this version in almost a decade. Do I think it still holds up? Yes and no.
Majora's Mask has a great sense of atmosphere and it all stems from the 3 day system that the game operates on. It feels like the NPCs of Clock Town could be seen as if they were real people. You got people operating on a schedule, there's a group of carpenters building a tower that gets higher with each day, there's even town politics about whether or not the carnival should be cancelled due to the potential danger(sound familiar?). I feel like these NPCs are more than just normal NPCs and I love that.
I love that this game could essentially be as short or long as you want it to be. You want to just do the main story and nothing else? You can do that, the story itself isn't that long to finish. You want to do all the great side quests? You can do that too, there are tons of side quests to do that will give you some serious quality stuff and it's even argued that side quests are the true meat of the game. You want to get all the masks? Get ready for collecting that will take you on a gaming trip to remember. You want to get everything? See you next week! There's so much to do in the game and it's all mostly fun.
The music is great, the combat is the same as Ocarina of Time so it's nothing too complicated, and it looks like a usual N64 game. It's a game that would easily be a 10/10, I can easily see why I loved it as a kid and still do love it.
So why did I rate it an 8/10?
Unfortunately the version on the Collector's Edition has performance issues. They're pretty bad too. At first it was severe frame drops in certain areas; one area in particular was Clock Town West at night, the area with the bank, is pretty bad. What made it worse is that the game crashed on me 3 times. 2 of those times I was lucky enough to have saved a bit beforehand, however the 1 time I wasn't so lucky is after when I had finished Great Bay Temple... I had to do it and collect the stray fairies a second time... Fantastic! You'd think a GameCube could run an N64 game just fine but apparently not.
TL;DR: Majora's Mask is an amazing game with amazing atmosphere, writing, and filled with quality content. If only the GameCube version didn't suffer from so many technical issues.
Platform: Gamecube
100% Complete: 30h 54m 55s
Rating: 8/10
Date Completed: November 26, 2020
Extra Details: Collector's Edition
Game Synopsis: Link goes on an adventure and finds himself in a new land that will all be destroyed in 3 days.
Blog: Majora's Mask is my favorite game of all-time that I enjoyed as a child. Aside from the remake(which has changes that I don't like) I haven't played this version in almost a decade. Do I think it still holds up? Yes and no.
Majora's Mask has a great sense of atmosphere and it all stems from the 3 day system that the game operates on. It feels like the NPCs of Clock Town could be seen as if they were real people. You got people operating on a schedule, there's a group of carpenters building a tower that gets higher with each day, there's even town politics about whether or not the carnival should be cancelled due to the potential danger(sound familiar?). I feel like these NPCs are more than just normal NPCs and I love that.
I love that this game could essentially be as short or long as you want it to be. You want to just do the main story and nothing else? You can do that, the story itself isn't that long to finish. You want to do all the great side quests? You can do that too, there are tons of side quests to do that will give you some serious quality stuff and it's even argued that side quests are the true meat of the game. You want to get all the masks? Get ready for collecting that will take you on a gaming trip to remember. You want to get everything? See you next week! There's so much to do in the game and it's all mostly fun.
The music is great, the combat is the same as Ocarina of Time so it's nothing too complicated, and it looks like a usual N64 game. It's a game that would easily be a 10/10, I can easily see why I loved it as a kid and still do love it.
So why did I rate it an 8/10?
Unfortunately the version on the Collector's Edition has performance issues. They're pretty bad too. At first it was severe frame drops in certain areas; one area in particular was Clock Town West at night, the area with the bank, is pretty bad. What made it worse is that the game crashed on me 3 times. 2 of those times I was lucky enough to have saved a bit beforehand, however the 1 time I wasn't so lucky is after when I had finished Great Bay Temple... I had to do it and collect the stray fairies a second time... Fantastic! You'd think a GameCube could run an N64 game just fine but apparently not.
TL;DR: Majora's Mask is an amazing game with amazing atmosphere, writing, and filled with quality content. If only the GameCube version didn't suffer from so many technical issues.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #8: The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition
Platform: Gamecube
Compilation: 77h 25m 05s
Rating: 7/10
Date Completed: November 26, 2020
Game Synopsis: A collection of the 2 NES games, 2 N64 games, and a demo of The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker
Blog: This isn't going to be a very long blog post, not as long as the others I've written anyway. Each game either has been or will be talked about individually, so there's no need for a deep dive into my thoughts on them.
This is a good compilation of games. I might have problems with the original 2 NES games themselves, but it wouldn't make any sense to completely change how those games function as it would no longer be the original games. Although it would be nice of they fixed the lag in some specific spots of Zelda 1...
Ocarina of Time is great, runs how it should. From what I understand, it works as well as it did on the N64. I have no qualms with Ocarina.
Majora's Mask is where this smooth car ride of goodness crashes into a 4-lane intersection. Unlike its N64 counterpart it crashes, lags, and there's even a statement during the loading screen that states how there's audio errors. So they even knew about the issues with the game but decided to say "fuck it" and put it in the compilation anyway. Nintendo seal of quality... I suppose it's not always good quality.
The Windwaker demo is fine, it lets you play the game for a bit; it'd be pretty ridiculous if they put in a full-fledged GameCube game. So it makes sense.
There's some videos you can watch that's essentially advertising at the time. You're not forced to watch them, so they're good in my book.
The screen to choose the games is good but I feel like could be better visually, although the icons for each of the games looks cool. The music is also a good choice being the iconic Zelda theme, I think it's specifically from Ocarina of Time but I could be wrong.
TL;DR: It's a great compilation, but it's sad that 1 of the 4 games you can play, being Majora's Mask, is crippled by the shoddy emulating job.
Platform: Gamecube
Compilation: 77h 25m 05s
Rating: 7/10
Date Completed: November 26, 2020
Game Synopsis: A collection of the 2 NES games, 2 N64 games, and a demo of The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker
Blog: This isn't going to be a very long blog post, not as long as the others I've written anyway. Each game either has been or will be talked about individually, so there's no need for a deep dive into my thoughts on them.
This is a good compilation of games. I might have problems with the original 2 NES games themselves, but it wouldn't make any sense to completely change how those games function as it would no longer be the original games. Although it would be nice of they fixed the lag in some specific spots of Zelda 1...
Ocarina of Time is great, runs how it should. From what I understand, it works as well as it did on the N64. I have no qualms with Ocarina.
Majora's Mask is where this smooth car ride of goodness crashes into a 4-lane intersection. Unlike its N64 counterpart it crashes, lags, and there's even a statement during the loading screen that states how there's audio errors. So they even knew about the issues with the game but decided to say "fuck it" and put it in the compilation anyway. Nintendo seal of quality... I suppose it's not always good quality.
The Windwaker demo is fine, it lets you play the game for a bit; it'd be pretty ridiculous if they put in a full-fledged GameCube game. So it makes sense.
There's some videos you can watch that's essentially advertising at the time. You're not forced to watch them, so they're good in my book.
The screen to choose the games is good but I feel like could be better visually, although the icons for each of the games looks cool. The music is also a good choice being the iconic Zelda theme, I think it's specifically from Ocarina of Time but I could be wrong.
TL;DR: It's a great compilation, but it's sad that 1 of the 4 games you can play, being Majora's Mask, is crippled by the shoddy emulating job.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #9: Trials of Mana (2020)
Platform: Switch
Main Story: 25h 54m 42s
Main Story + Extras: 31h 26m 29s
100%: 51h 20m 47s
Rating: 6/10
Date Completed: November 29, 2020
Game Synopsis: Choose your party of 3, grab the Sword of Mana, and defeat the forces of evil.
Blog: Trials of Mana is an action RPG remake of a game that originally never made it outside of Japan(unless you count the Collection of Mana that came out for Switch and other consoles).
The main draw to RPGs, in my opinion, is usually the story. This game definitely has something going for it in terms of story with the different storylines and different villains depending on your party, it encourages multiple playthroughs with how it handles the story.
I do wish that there were more differences to the story with each playthrough. As I said, there are key differences to the story but those key differences are few and far between. Everything else feels sort of the same, fortunately that's only a problem when doing multiple playthroughs back-to-back(which I did).
Something I really want to highlight is that the 6 characters feel very similar to one another in many ways. All 6 characters have a dead parent or parents(not really a spoiler, it's one of the very first things the player is told in each of their introductions), all 6 characters in some way have a very close relationship to the leaders of their respective kingdoms or groups, even to a gameplay perspective their button combos all have similar results(aside from the obvious stat differences). It's just really weird and I wish the characters were more differentiated aside from their focus on stats, like why do they all need to be royalty(or extremely close to it)? Why can't we have 1 or 2 characters who aren't?
Another thing to hate about the characters is their english voice acting! The main characters are fine in that regard, it seems that a lot of the people around them are pretty bad. The elementals are especially bad. Sometimes the voice overs can even be too quiet for whatever reason, the fire elemental is the worst offender in that regard.
A big issue with this game is the texture pop-in. In almost every major cutscene there's always a huge texture pop-in halfway about 5 seconds in. I haven't noticed anything outside of the cutscenes, but did no one at Square Enix really notice this? This looks awful.
Trials of Mana is carried by its gameplay. It's an action RPG with combat similar to a beat 'em up and I was admittedly addicted to it. I also love the level and class progression, never did I feel I was too over-leveled or even under-leveled for any area. It felt as if I was just the right level for each area. The gameplay was essentially the main reason I played the game 3 times.
I do want to complain about the companion AI. They're generally alright in fights, a lot of the time they could win normal fights on their own but in boss fights their brains suddenly melt and often throw themselves in the path of incoming attacks. They're usually dead within the first 5 minutes of the fight or being revived.
If there's one more thing I could talk about, I wish there was some kind of multiplayer. That would really make this game and would be super fun.
TL;DR: Trials of Mana has a lackluster story with a great beat-em up style of gameplay. Don't get the game for the story, get it for the gameplay.
Platform: Switch
Main Story: 25h 54m 42s
Main Story + Extras: 31h 26m 29s
100%: 51h 20m 47s
Rating: 6/10
Date Completed: November 29, 2020
Game Synopsis: Choose your party of 3, grab the Sword of Mana, and defeat the forces of evil.
Blog: Trials of Mana is an action RPG remake of a game that originally never made it outside of Japan(unless you count the Collection of Mana that came out for Switch and other consoles).
The main draw to RPGs, in my opinion, is usually the story. This game definitely has something going for it in terms of story with the different storylines and different villains depending on your party, it encourages multiple playthroughs with how it handles the story.
I do wish that there were more differences to the story with each playthrough. As I said, there are key differences to the story but those key differences are few and far between. Everything else feels sort of the same, fortunately that's only a problem when doing multiple playthroughs back-to-back(which I did).
Something I really want to highlight is that the 6 characters feel very similar to one another in many ways. All 6 characters have a dead parent or parents(not really a spoiler, it's one of the very first things the player is told in each of their introductions), all 6 characters in some way have a very close relationship to the leaders of their respective kingdoms or groups, even to a gameplay perspective their button combos all have similar results(aside from the obvious stat differences). It's just really weird and I wish the characters were more differentiated aside from their focus on stats, like why do they all need to be royalty(or extremely close to it)? Why can't we have 1 or 2 characters who aren't?
Another thing to hate about the characters is their english voice acting! The main characters are fine in that regard, it seems that a lot of the people around them are pretty bad. The elementals are especially bad. Sometimes the voice overs can even be too quiet for whatever reason, the fire elemental is the worst offender in that regard.
A big issue with this game is the texture pop-in. In almost every major cutscene there's always a huge texture pop-in halfway about 5 seconds in. I haven't noticed anything outside of the cutscenes, but did no one at Square Enix really notice this? This looks awful.
Trials of Mana is carried by its gameplay. It's an action RPG with combat similar to a beat 'em up and I was admittedly addicted to it. I also love the level and class progression, never did I feel I was too over-leveled or even under-leveled for any area. It felt as if I was just the right level for each area. The gameplay was essentially the main reason I played the game 3 times.
I do want to complain about the companion AI. They're generally alright in fights, a lot of the time they could win normal fights on their own but in boss fights their brains suddenly melt and often throw themselves in the path of incoming attacks. They're usually dead within the first 5 minutes of the fight or being revived.
If there's one more thing I could talk about, I wish there was some kind of multiplayer. That would really make this game and would be super fun.
TL;DR: Trials of Mana has a lackluster story with a great beat-em up style of gameplay. Don't get the game for the story, get it for the gameplay.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #10: The Legend of Zelda
Platform: Switch
Main Story + Extras: 4h 25m 21s
Rating: 6/10
Date Completed: November 30, 2020
Extra Details: Nintendo Switch Online version
Game Synopsis: A lost kid gets roped into fighting the lord of evil for some reason.
Blog: The Legend of Zelda is a classic video game that I'm sure most people have heard of. It's had such a powerful impact on gaming that I'm certain has been the foundation for many adventure games, some that are probably still being developed with the original Zelda in mind.
However, I think that the original Zelda is showing its age. To me a lot of the game uses a lot of trial and error, such as having to bomb every single tile of wall and burning every tree in Hyrule to find hidden areas, some of those hidden areas which could screw you over by making you pay rupees for repairs and the like. Some areas you'll fortunately be given hints, but most of the time it's "good luck" with no way of figuring out where the false walls and trees are without a guide.
Grinding is also an annoying issue. Every time you die, you respawn with 3 hearts instead of all of them. So in order to get more hearts; you'll usually have to grind by killing monsters(unless at the end of a dungeon or near a heart piece). Something in the store cost a lot more rupees than you have? Grind for more. Ran out of bombs? Grind for more.
I've seen little mention of this, but does Zelda 1 lag for anyone else in places? This is the second time I've played it through to the end and once again I experienced lag in certain spots where there were lots of enemies. Kind of annoying.
I will say that for an NES game, the combat is pretty good. I didn't really have any problems with it. It's old but it works.
And aside from the whole issue with bombing walls and burning trees, I actually did enjoy the exploration. I liked going through the dungeons. I liked the progression of obtaining items through those dungeons. I liked using those items in combat and the items, like the raft or stepladder, outside of the combat.
Music is great for its time. The original Legend of Zelda music and even sounds are quite timeless as well as recognizable, and I believe each one of them has been modernized as well.
TL;DR: While the original Zelda definitely shows its age, there is definitely some fun to be had here. I recommend to at least try the game out if you ever get the chance.
Platform: Switch
Main Story + Extras: 4h 25m 21s
Rating: 6/10
Date Completed: November 30, 2020
Extra Details: Nintendo Switch Online version
Game Synopsis: A lost kid gets roped into fighting the lord of evil for some reason.
Blog: The Legend of Zelda is a classic video game that I'm sure most people have heard of. It's had such a powerful impact on gaming that I'm certain has been the foundation for many adventure games, some that are probably still being developed with the original Zelda in mind.
However, I think that the original Zelda is showing its age. To me a lot of the game uses a lot of trial and error, such as having to bomb every single tile of wall and burning every tree in Hyrule to find hidden areas, some of those hidden areas which could screw you over by making you pay rupees for repairs and the like. Some areas you'll fortunately be given hints, but most of the time it's "good luck" with no way of figuring out where the false walls and trees are without a guide.
Grinding is also an annoying issue. Every time you die, you respawn with 3 hearts instead of all of them. So in order to get more hearts; you'll usually have to grind by killing monsters(unless at the end of a dungeon or near a heart piece). Something in the store cost a lot more rupees than you have? Grind for more. Ran out of bombs? Grind for more.
I've seen little mention of this, but does Zelda 1 lag for anyone else in places? This is the second time I've played it through to the end and once again I experienced lag in certain spots where there were lots of enemies. Kind of annoying.
I will say that for an NES game, the combat is pretty good. I didn't really have any problems with it. It's old but it works.
And aside from the whole issue with bombing walls and burning trees, I actually did enjoy the exploration. I liked going through the dungeons. I liked the progression of obtaining items through those dungeons. I liked using those items in combat and the items, like the raft or stepladder, outside of the combat.
Music is great for its time. The original Legend of Zelda music and even sounds are quite timeless as well as recognizable, and I believe each one of them has been modernized as well.
TL;DR: While the original Zelda definitely shows its age, there is definitely some fun to be had here. I recommend to at least try the game out if you ever get the chance.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #11: Wall-E
Platform: DS
Main Story + Extras: 2h 52m
Rating: 3/10
Date Completed: December 1, 2020
Game Synopsis: Remember the Wall-E movie? It's like that but Wall-E does simple block puzzles.
Blog: Wall-E is a fantastic Pixar movie, it's one of my favorite animated movies(lots of competition there though), but how is the videogame? Better yet, how is the videogame on the DS? If you're asking this question then I guess you didn't see my rating for it at the top.
The story of Wall-E is fantastic, so how does this game portray that? Not very well. There's these bad silent 2D images of the characters somewhat interacting with each other, but it's without all the charm. I can definitely understand the game's story just based on what I've watched in the movie; however if I had never seen the movie, I would have no clue what's going on the game story-wise. Especially with no dialogue whatsoever.
The game is very boring. You play as Wall-E and the main gameplay is to pick up, put down, and throw cubes. There's buttons to press, enemies to avoid, different cube types that can send you in a direction, but even with all of those variables it just felt dull, easy, and the puzzles were all so similar to one another.
There's also 4 or 5 flying missions with Eve, where you have to avoid obstacles while also going fast enough to beat the time limit. Aside from Eve's hit box being larger than she is and one level in space where stationary asteroids just come out of nowhere, it's really easy and just as boring as the Wall-E missions.
Most of the level also doesn't have music. There's only like 1 section of levels at the very end with any music, and it's extremely quiet. So most of the level all you hear is Wall-E rolling around, picking up cubes, and maybe some enemies walking around
Don't buy Wall-E for the DS. Especially not for children.
TL;DR: Wall-E is a fun and amazing movie. The DS game leaves a TON to be desired.
Platform: DS
Main Story + Extras: 2h 52m
Rating: 3/10
Date Completed: December 1, 2020
Game Synopsis: Remember the Wall-E movie? It's like that but Wall-E does simple block puzzles.
Blog: Wall-E is a fantastic Pixar movie, it's one of my favorite animated movies(lots of competition there though), but how is the videogame? Better yet, how is the videogame on the DS? If you're asking this question then I guess you didn't see my rating for it at the top.
The story of Wall-E is fantastic, so how does this game portray that? Not very well. There's these bad silent 2D images of the characters somewhat interacting with each other, but it's without all the charm. I can definitely understand the game's story just based on what I've watched in the movie; however if I had never seen the movie, I would have no clue what's going on the game story-wise. Especially with no dialogue whatsoever.
The game is very boring. You play as Wall-E and the main gameplay is to pick up, put down, and throw cubes. There's buttons to press, enemies to avoid, different cube types that can send you in a direction, but even with all of those variables it just felt dull, easy, and the puzzles were all so similar to one another.
There's also 4 or 5 flying missions with Eve, where you have to avoid obstacles while also going fast enough to beat the time limit. Aside from Eve's hit box being larger than she is and one level in space where stationary asteroids just come out of nowhere, it's really easy and just as boring as the Wall-E missions.
Most of the level also doesn't have music. There's only like 1 section of levels at the very end with any music, and it's extremely quiet. So most of the level all you hear is Wall-E rolling around, picking up cubes, and maybe some enemies walking around
Don't buy Wall-E for the DS. Especially not for children.
TL;DR: Wall-E is a fun and amazing movie. The DS game leaves a TON to be desired.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #12: Eyes: The Horror Game
Platform: Switch
Main + Extras: 1h 40m 07s
Rating: 4/10
Date Completed: December 2, 2020
Game Synopsis: Collect the bags of money and escape while avoiding the monster roaming the halls.
Blog: Eyes is your typical "get x amount of things and avoid y" type of horror game that has been seen in games such as Slender.
There are 3 chapter levels, 3 appendix levels, an Endless level, and an "expert" mode.
The chapter levels are suppose to be interconnected, I guess you're suppose to figure out what happened to this guy's sister and why. Finished the chapters, I even got all the journal stuff and got no proper conclusion or answers to the story. What's the point of the story if you're not going to have anything come from it? Are they planning on adding chapters in the future or something? Who knows!
I'm not sure why there's appendix chapters, they don't add anything to the story as an appendix. They're just extra modes like "Halloween mode", "two monsters mode", and "pixelated mode(why?)". I didn't play them so I can't attest to their quality(although I can only imagine they're all the same as the normal chapters), but what's the point in making them appendixes?
I didn't play endless mode either.
Expert mode is not very "expert" by any means. It's just a custom mode. You can put monsters in different maps, and even explore and beat the map without monsters. I suppose that's cool, but you can only do so much with 3 monsters and 3 maps.
The 3 monsters are extremely similar, with only 1 having any major difference being a demon dog you can distract with meat. They're also useless and only patrol hallways. They won't go into rooms, even if you stand in an open doorway. You can change the difficulty to make them faster and therefore harder, but I don't believe speed is a major difference.
There's a stupid system that in order to unlock levels you have to earn in-game currency that you get by playing and use that to get levels(you can't use any real money which is good of course). You can easily circumvent it by going to the expert mode, make a level with no monsters, set it to the hardest difficulty and walk around getting the money bags. It's stupid and just an artificial way of making the game seem longer than it is.
Graphics and music are generic. Nothing bad, nothing great. Just very plain.
TL;DR: You might enjoy this game if you've never played one of these Slender-like games. Otherwise, don't bother with it.
Platform: Switch
Main + Extras: 1h 40m 07s
Rating: 4/10
Date Completed: December 2, 2020
Game Synopsis: Collect the bags of money and escape while avoiding the monster roaming the halls.
Blog: Eyes is your typical "get x amount of things and avoid y" type of horror game that has been seen in games such as Slender.
There are 3 chapter levels, 3 appendix levels, an Endless level, and an "expert" mode.
The chapter levels are suppose to be interconnected, I guess you're suppose to figure out what happened to this guy's sister and why. Finished the chapters, I even got all the journal stuff and got no proper conclusion or answers to the story. What's the point of the story if you're not going to have anything come from it? Are they planning on adding chapters in the future or something? Who knows!
I'm not sure why there's appendix chapters, they don't add anything to the story as an appendix. They're just extra modes like "Halloween mode", "two monsters mode", and "pixelated mode(why?)". I didn't play them so I can't attest to their quality(although I can only imagine they're all the same as the normal chapters), but what's the point in making them appendixes?
I didn't play endless mode either.
Expert mode is not very "expert" by any means. It's just a custom mode. You can put monsters in different maps, and even explore and beat the map without monsters. I suppose that's cool, but you can only do so much with 3 monsters and 3 maps.
The 3 monsters are extremely similar, with only 1 having any major difference being a demon dog you can distract with meat. They're also useless and only patrol hallways. They won't go into rooms, even if you stand in an open doorway. You can change the difficulty to make them faster and therefore harder, but I don't believe speed is a major difference.
There's a stupid system that in order to unlock levels you have to earn in-game currency that you get by playing and use that to get levels(you can't use any real money which is good of course). You can easily circumvent it by going to the expert mode, make a level with no monsters, set it to the hardest difficulty and walk around getting the money bags. It's stupid and just an artificial way of making the game seem longer than it is.
Graphics and music are generic. Nothing bad, nothing great. Just very plain.
TL;DR: You might enjoy this game if you've never played one of these Slender-like games. Otherwise, don't bother with it.
4 Yrs♥$✓#
Cock
4 Yrs♥$✓#
It's amazing to me that this game made it all the way to the Switch. I remember playing a free in-browser version of this game many years ago - I think there was a version for android and iOS devices as well, at the time - that only had one level where you were chased by a flying head (Penanggalan). As you said, it's a very basic game that is similar to Slender and the sorts, and from what you're writing, I feel like it really should have stayed a free browser-game.
- Matt
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Now that you mention it, it did feel as though it belongs more on mobile phones where it should be free. The interface, the simplistic environment, the system of earning currency to unlock more modes... I can't believe I hadn't noticed it.
And after looking it up on the Play Store, it is on mobile devices but under a slightly different name; Eyes: Scary Thriller - Creepy Horror Game. The images look exactly like the ones on the Switch version. It's even free!
I had the fortune of getting it for free on the Switch, but if I remember it was only for a day and you had to have owned another game by the same publisher. I'm tired of all the mobile ports on the Switch, especially when they cost money in comparison to the free mobile version.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #13: The Hobbit (2003)
Platform: Gamecube
Main + Extras: 14h 21m 42s
Rating: 7/10
Date Completed: December 9, 2020
Game Synopsis: As Bilbo Baggins, travel through the land of Middle-Earth with a band of dwarves looking to reclaim their lost treasure.
Blog: I want to get something out of the way: I have never read/watched anything related to the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, or anything in that universe. This is my one and only instance of getting into that world. So I might be missing context that could possibly make this game better or worse for me if I had been associated with the movies and books.
The story is fine. Bilbo Baggins decides to travel along with dwarves after a wizard named Gandalf basically peer pressures him into going as their burglar. I like the adventure aspect of it and you sort of grow with the dwarves that you're hanging out with.
Between every level there's a narrator that summarizes the events between the levels. Some of the things that the narrator says feels like they could have been made into more levels. It was a case of telling and not showing, and it feels like I'm missing out on more potential fun.
The gameplay is overall good. The platforming sections work well enough, although I feel like the fall damage can be a bit extreme at certain heights.
The combat is fine, but it feels really stiff at the beginning when you're much more limited on the stuff you can do. You'll start off with a walking stick as a close-ranged weapon and a few stones for long-ranged, both start out pretty weak. Along the way you'll be able to pick up weapon arts(although you can easily miss them) that will allow you to use a string of combos with the walking stick and strengthen your throwing stones and also a sword which can also learn combos and is generally stronger than the walking stick but doesn't have as much range. These weapon arts significantly made the difference for me when fighting certain enemies, some who have attacks that can poison and some who can potentially stunlock you to death which can feel sort of unfair at times. The arts made it feel more balanced.
However, some of the weapon arts can be easily missed, and once you miss them in a level you can never go back to previous levels to get it. This is true for everything such as courage points(this game's version of XP which only raises max health), silver coins, and quests. There were many times where I missed something for an optional quest, noticed my mistake, and then realize I can't go back to get it. If anyone decides to play this game, please look around, especially for those arts. I wish there was a better way of getting them, perhaps being able to purchase them with silver coins at the store after every level?
The music is quite good and fits the game well. Nothing feels out of place about it and there were even some songs that I feel like I could add to my playlist because I thought it was that good.
The graphics are nothing amazing but they're not shabby.
TL;DR: The Hobbit is a good game! It does feel like there were some aspects of the story that could be expanded upon more or be given their own levels. I also do wish there was a better way to receive the weapon arts, with the combat feeling quite stiff in the beginning and being able to easily miss them. If you're looking for something similar to a 3D Zelda, this could satisfy that itch.
Platform: Gamecube
Main + Extras: 14h 21m 42s
Rating: 7/10
Date Completed: December 9, 2020
Game Synopsis: As Bilbo Baggins, travel through the land of Middle-Earth with a band of dwarves looking to reclaim their lost treasure.
Blog: I want to get something out of the way: I have never read/watched anything related to the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, or anything in that universe. This is my one and only instance of getting into that world. So I might be missing context that could possibly make this game better or worse for me if I had been associated with the movies and books.
The story is fine. Bilbo Baggins decides to travel along with dwarves after a wizard named Gandalf basically peer pressures him into going as their burglar. I like the adventure aspect of it and you sort of grow with the dwarves that you're hanging out with.
Between every level there's a narrator that summarizes the events between the levels. Some of the things that the narrator says feels like they could have been made into more levels. It was a case of telling and not showing, and it feels like I'm missing out on more potential fun.
The gameplay is overall good. The platforming sections work well enough, although I feel like the fall damage can be a bit extreme at certain heights.
The combat is fine, but it feels really stiff at the beginning when you're much more limited on the stuff you can do. You'll start off with a walking stick as a close-ranged weapon and a few stones for long-ranged, both start out pretty weak. Along the way you'll be able to pick up weapon arts(although you can easily miss them) that will allow you to use a string of combos with the walking stick and strengthen your throwing stones and also a sword which can also learn combos and is generally stronger than the walking stick but doesn't have as much range. These weapon arts significantly made the difference for me when fighting certain enemies, some who have attacks that can poison and some who can potentially stunlock you to death which can feel sort of unfair at times. The arts made it feel more balanced.
However, some of the weapon arts can be easily missed, and once you miss them in a level you can never go back to previous levels to get it. This is true for everything such as courage points(this game's version of XP which only raises max health), silver coins, and quests. There were many times where I missed something for an optional quest, noticed my mistake, and then realize I can't go back to get it. If anyone decides to play this game, please look around, especially for those arts. I wish there was a better way of getting them, perhaps being able to purchase them with silver coins at the store after every level?
The music is quite good and fits the game well. Nothing feels out of place about it and there were even some songs that I feel like I could add to my playlist because I thought it was that good.
The graphics are nothing amazing but they're not shabby.
TL;DR: The Hobbit is a good game! It does feel like there were some aspects of the story that could be expanded upon more or be given their own levels. I also do wish there was a better way to receive the weapon arts, with the combat feeling quite stiff in the beginning and being able to easily miss them. If you're looking for something similar to a 3D Zelda, this could satisfy that itch.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Flash Game Frenzy #1:
I wanted to try something new with the blog by playing flash games, but since flash games are usually pretty short, I wanted to list 2 or 3 instead of 1 as I do with regular video games.
These are also flash games from Armor Games that I had on my favorite games list years ago, so it'd be neat to see how I think these holdup now.
Flash Game #1: Learn to Fly 2
Main Story: 56m 52s
Rating: 9/10
Date Completed: December 14, 2020
Armor Games Link: https://armorgames.com/play/11967/learn-to-fly-2
Game Synopsis: A penguin gets out of the hospital after his previous crash from trying to fly. The penguin tries again, but this time by using dummies.
Blog: If you've ever played flash games, you've likely heard of the Learn to Fly series. Learn to Fly is one of those flash games where you have to launch yourself as far as you can possibly go, and then earn money to buy upgrades in order to go farther. It's a concept of flash games that's been beaten to death.
Even so, I'd say that Learn to Fly 2 is among the top of the launching games. It controls well, the upgrades are straightforward, and there's achievements if you'd like to go for those. There's even a black market where you can make certain things easier or even change the music, although it costs "achievement money" which you only get by completing achievements.
It's definitely fun but aside from having a few obstacles to destroy, I don't feel like this really differentiates itself as a sequel. I still recommend playing it though.
--------------------
Flash Game #2: Haunt the House
Main Story: 9m 3s
Rating: 7/10
Date Completed: December 14, 2020
Armor Games Link: https://armorgames.com/play/7195/haunt-the-house
Game Synopsis: You're a ghost and people are partying in your house, scare them out!
Blog: This game has a fun concept. You're a ghost who's goal is to scare people out of the house by possessing objects. Each object starts out with 1 ability, but as you scare people out of the house, an atmosphere meter builds up and you'll eventually be given 3 abilities to use with each item. It's really fun to go around to all the objects in the house and seeing what you can do with it.
While your goal is to scare everyone away, you don't want to scare them too much. Scaring people too much can cause them to jump out of windows and die, which will take off your score at the end of the game.
Two major issues I have with this game: it's incredibly short and incredibly easy. I beat this game in under 10 minutes with an A rank and I only had 2 deaths out of the 30 people to scare out of the house. Granted, I've played this game a long time ago and knew what I was doing. It would be so great if there were just 2 or 3 more levels that were also increasingly difficult. Maybe have a group of teenagers who need to be scared harder than it would be for other people. Maybe have a group of elderly people where it's considerably easier to accidentally kill them by scaring them too hard. There's so much potential for this game that I feel it was over way too soon.
--------------------
Flash Game #3: Achievement Unlocked 2
100% Complete: 53m 31s
Rating: 9/10
Date Completed: December 14, 2020
Armor Games Link: https://armorgames.com/play/6561/achievement-unlocked-2
Game Synopsis: You're a blue elephant. Get as many achievements as you can.
Blog: I love the games made by John Cooney(aka jmtb02), they're usually always a good time filled with lots of wit. His Achievement Unlocked series is a great example of this.
This game encourages exploring every inch of the game, and I mean EVERY inch. There are achievements for moving the mouse, there are achievements for dying, there are even achievements that will break the 4th wall. There's just so much to do in such a small game, and the amount of stuff to do can often feel overwhelming.
Fortunately, you don't need to do literally everything if you don't want to. The least you can do is get enough money to reach the outside and that can be the whole game for you. But the point of the game is to aim for as many achievements as you want, so why not get the achievements?
It's such an interesting concept for a game, and I wish I could talk more about the different achievements but that would be spoiling the fun of the game for others.
I really recommend playing this one.
I wanted to try something new with the blog by playing flash games, but since flash games are usually pretty short, I wanted to list 2 or 3 instead of 1 as I do with regular video games.
These are also flash games from Armor Games that I had on my favorite games list years ago, so it'd be neat to see how I think these holdup now.
Flash Game #1: Learn to Fly 2
Main Story: 56m 52s
Rating: 9/10
Date Completed: December 14, 2020
Armor Games Link: https://armorgames.com/play/11967/learn-to-fly-2
Game Synopsis: A penguin gets out of the hospital after his previous crash from trying to fly. The penguin tries again, but this time by using dummies.
Blog: If you've ever played flash games, you've likely heard of the Learn to Fly series. Learn to Fly is one of those flash games where you have to launch yourself as far as you can possibly go, and then earn money to buy upgrades in order to go farther. It's a concept of flash games that's been beaten to death.
Even so, I'd say that Learn to Fly 2 is among the top of the launching games. It controls well, the upgrades are straightforward, and there's achievements if you'd like to go for those. There's even a black market where you can make certain things easier or even change the music, although it costs "achievement money" which you only get by completing achievements.
It's definitely fun but aside from having a few obstacles to destroy, I don't feel like this really differentiates itself as a sequel. I still recommend playing it though.
--------------------
Flash Game #2: Haunt the House
Main Story: 9m 3s
Rating: 7/10
Date Completed: December 14, 2020
Armor Games Link: https://armorgames.com/play/7195/haunt-the-house
Game Synopsis: You're a ghost and people are partying in your house, scare them out!
Blog: This game has a fun concept. You're a ghost who's goal is to scare people out of the house by possessing objects. Each object starts out with 1 ability, but as you scare people out of the house, an atmosphere meter builds up and you'll eventually be given 3 abilities to use with each item. It's really fun to go around to all the objects in the house and seeing what you can do with it.
While your goal is to scare everyone away, you don't want to scare them too much. Scaring people too much can cause them to jump out of windows and die, which will take off your score at the end of the game.
Two major issues I have with this game: it's incredibly short and incredibly easy. I beat this game in under 10 minutes with an A rank and I only had 2 deaths out of the 30 people to scare out of the house. Granted, I've played this game a long time ago and knew what I was doing. It would be so great if there were just 2 or 3 more levels that were also increasingly difficult. Maybe have a group of teenagers who need to be scared harder than it would be for other people. Maybe have a group of elderly people where it's considerably easier to accidentally kill them by scaring them too hard. There's so much potential for this game that I feel it was over way too soon.
--------------------
Flash Game #3: Achievement Unlocked 2
100% Complete: 53m 31s
Rating: 9/10
Date Completed: December 14, 2020
Armor Games Link: https://armorgames.com/play/6561/achievement-unlocked-2
Game Synopsis: You're a blue elephant. Get as many achievements as you can.
Blog: I love the games made by John Cooney(aka jmtb02), they're usually always a good time filled with lots of wit. His Achievement Unlocked series is a great example of this.
This game encourages exploring every inch of the game, and I mean EVERY inch. There are achievements for moving the mouse, there are achievements for dying, there are even achievements that will break the 4th wall. There's just so much to do in such a small game, and the amount of stuff to do can often feel overwhelming.
Fortunately, you don't need to do literally everything if you don't want to. The least you can do is get enough money to reach the outside and that can be the whole game for you. But the point of the game is to aim for as many achievements as you want, so why not get the achievements?
It's such an interesting concept for a game, and I wish I could talk more about the different achievements but that would be spoiling the fun of the game for others.
I really recommend playing this one.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #14: Jump Force Deluxe
Platform: Switch
Main + Extras: 32h 03m 08s
Multiplayer: 1h 40m 46s
Rating: 3/10
Date Completed: December 16, 2020
Game Synopsis: A fighting game featuring dozens of anime characters from various different shows and books.
Blog: So I haven't watched anime in years, and for the few shows in Jump Force that I have seen, are a few Naruto and Yu-Gi-Oh episodes, and the entirety of Death Note. However, even if I had been a fan of all the shows like Dragon Ball, One Piece, JoJo... I don't think my negative view of Jump Force would be changed in any way.
The story is bad fanfiction. That's all it is. It feels as if the writers want to make the player feel as if they're best friends with characters like Goku... and I won't lie the story made me cringe many times with how the heroes would just be in awe of your custom character. It just feels sad. Not only is it sad, it's so insanely predictable. I'm not going to say too much incase of spoilers, but the main surprise antagonist, was super obvious.
Not only is the story itself bad, the animations and cutscenes were terrible. Multiple instances of characters T-posing and floating stiff. It looks like there's movements that the character models can't perform naturally without contorting their bodies somehow. There's instances of necks being elongated and more stiff movements. The CGI cutscenes have better animation thankfully, but for some reason the framerate drops tremendously for every single CGI scene. What is going on?
Another thing, I feel like a lot of the characters are discarded. People like Yugi or the detective guy aren't really given any screen time. It's just so disappointing if you're a fan of those shows and seeing your favorite character being disregarded. On the other hand, I feel like there's no point in having Light from Death Note in the game. You don't get to fight as him, you don't fight him, he has no real importance to the story aside from maybe being a hint towards a sequel. Light is a waste of time.
Then there's the instances of sound quality. Music by itself is fine I guess, but there's instances where it will blare over people talking. I can never hear the director talking the whole time, thank goodness for the subtitles.
I also wish there were voice language options. I'm pretty sure a good portion of the characters have English voice acting in their shows, so I don't see why the game is limited to just Japanese. I suppose this is more of a nitpick than criticism but it's nice to have options.
Speaking of options, the character creator absolutely sucks. This was honestly the part I was most excited for because I love character creators, but there's very little options. First of all, I feel like things like changing the body size or chest size doesn't do anything visually. You can't make anyone super fat or super skinny, you can't give your guys or gals big chests. None of this makes sense considering there are characters in the game who are fat, skinny, and big-chested; but the slider hardly shows any difference with that and your character looks the same either way.
Clothing options are also pretty bad. Most of the clothing is very specific stuff, such as clothes from Goku, Naruto, Luffy, etc.; and it feels so limiting. Can I have just a plain t-shirt or even a dress for the ladies that isn't Boa Hancock's? What's worse is you can't even change the color of the clothes. You have a preset of 4 colors for each shirt at most, and that strangles the creativity for me. The worst offender is the socks; you have essentially 3 color options being black, zebra-striped, or green leggings. Why can't I have regular white socks? Why couldn't they let us change the colors of the clothes? They allow skin color to be different options like blue, but not for clothes? They could just as easily transfer that over to clothes! I shouldn't be so upset about this but I am!
Now let's talk about performance issues! I already talked about how CGI cutscenes lagged, but so does the hub world in online mode. Like wow, it's extremely bad. Another issue is all of the constant loading screens. The game is loading screen after loading screen after loading screen. They're like a minute long too! Trying to skip a bad cutscene? Loading screen! Just finished a round of a game? Loading screen to the next round! Like, what the hell?
The fighting is one of the only things this game has going for it. It's actually a decent-enough fighting game. Against CPUs, players offline, players online; the performance is pretty smooth. Which is wild to me considering things I mentioned previously having bad performance. I do wish that a part of the health bar didn't disappear behind the character portraits. Other than that it's fine. Only fine enough to give it a 3/10 though.
TL;DR: Luckily Jump Force is saved by its decent fighting, but everything else in the game is terrible. Even if you're a fan of fighting games and the anime portrayed in the game, I don't recommend buying it. There are better anime games, fighting games, and anime-fighting games out there.
Platform: Switch
Main + Extras: 32h 03m 08s
Multiplayer: 1h 40m 46s
Rating: 3/10
Date Completed: December 16, 2020
Game Synopsis: A fighting game featuring dozens of anime characters from various different shows and books.
Blog: So I haven't watched anime in years, and for the few shows in Jump Force that I have seen, are a few Naruto and Yu-Gi-Oh episodes, and the entirety of Death Note. However, even if I had been a fan of all the shows like Dragon Ball, One Piece, JoJo... I don't think my negative view of Jump Force would be changed in any way.
The story is bad fanfiction. That's all it is. It feels as if the writers want to make the player feel as if they're best friends with characters like Goku... and I won't lie the story made me cringe many times with how the heroes would just be in awe of your custom character. It just feels sad. Not only is it sad, it's so insanely predictable. I'm not going to say too much incase of spoilers, but the main surprise antagonist, was super obvious.
Not only is the story itself bad, the animations and cutscenes were terrible. Multiple instances of characters T-posing and floating stiff. It looks like there's movements that the character models can't perform naturally without contorting their bodies somehow. There's instances of necks being elongated and more stiff movements. The CGI cutscenes have better animation thankfully, but for some reason the framerate drops tremendously for every single CGI scene. What is going on?
Another thing, I feel like a lot of the characters are discarded. People like Yugi or the detective guy aren't really given any screen time. It's just so disappointing if you're a fan of those shows and seeing your favorite character being disregarded. On the other hand, I feel like there's no point in having Light from Death Note in the game. You don't get to fight as him, you don't fight him, he has no real importance to the story aside from maybe being a hint towards a sequel. Light is a waste of time.
Then there's the instances of sound quality. Music by itself is fine I guess, but there's instances where it will blare over people talking. I can never hear the director talking the whole time, thank goodness for the subtitles.
I also wish there were voice language options. I'm pretty sure a good portion of the characters have English voice acting in their shows, so I don't see why the game is limited to just Japanese. I suppose this is more of a nitpick than criticism but it's nice to have options.
Speaking of options, the character creator absolutely sucks. This was honestly the part I was most excited for because I love character creators, but there's very little options. First of all, I feel like things like changing the body size or chest size doesn't do anything visually. You can't make anyone super fat or super skinny, you can't give your guys or gals big chests. None of this makes sense considering there are characters in the game who are fat, skinny, and big-chested; but the slider hardly shows any difference with that and your character looks the same either way.
Clothing options are also pretty bad. Most of the clothing is very specific stuff, such as clothes from Goku, Naruto, Luffy, etc.; and it feels so limiting. Can I have just a plain t-shirt or even a dress for the ladies that isn't Boa Hancock's? What's worse is you can't even change the color of the clothes. You have a preset of 4 colors for each shirt at most, and that strangles the creativity for me. The worst offender is the socks; you have essentially 3 color options being black, zebra-striped, or green leggings. Why can't I have regular white socks? Why couldn't they let us change the colors of the clothes? They allow skin color to be different options like blue, but not for clothes? They could just as easily transfer that over to clothes! I shouldn't be so upset about this but I am!
Now let's talk about performance issues! I already talked about how CGI cutscenes lagged, but so does the hub world in online mode. Like wow, it's extremely bad. Another issue is all of the constant loading screens. The game is loading screen after loading screen after loading screen. They're like a minute long too! Trying to skip a bad cutscene? Loading screen! Just finished a round of a game? Loading screen to the next round! Like, what the hell?
The fighting is one of the only things this game has going for it. It's actually a decent-enough fighting game. Against CPUs, players offline, players online; the performance is pretty smooth. Which is wild to me considering things I mentioned previously having bad performance. I do wish that a part of the health bar didn't disappear behind the character portraits. Other than that it's fine. Only fine enough to give it a 3/10 though.
TL;DR: Luckily Jump Force is saved by its decent fighting, but everything else in the game is terrible. Even if you're a fan of fighting games and the anime portrayed in the game, I don't recommend buying it. There are better anime games, fighting games, and anime-fighting games out there.
4 Yrs♥✓#
I agree with everything you said, here's just some basic ideas for how they could have made the game better:
Light is the main character this time as he doesn't have super human abilities beyond the Death Note and he has Ryuk. He still loses it but he has his watch with a tiny slit of a page inside of it with just enough room for one name. Instead of CGI, give the characters a hand-drawn style that looks closer to their actual shows. Don't force the main character to go on every mission and instead focus different missions based on interesting character pairings ex: Jotaro paired with Deku, Ryo with Sanji (the ultimate simp team), and Asta with Piccolo.
The performance issues are pretty much just bad on Switch, they are much more bearable on other consoles but the t-posing is inexcusable
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Instead of CGI, give the characters a hand-drawn style that looks closer to their actual shows.
If they handle it similar to how Spiderman Into the Spiderverse handled the Spidermen with different styles, I'd honestly be all about that. Heck I say they go beyond the cutscenes and just change everything about Jump Force's plastic-y art style.
Don't force the main character to go on every mission and instead focus different missions based on interesting character pairings ex: Jotaro paired with Deku, Ryo with Sanji (the ultimate simp team), and Asta with Piccolo.
I forgot to mention it in my review, but I really did dislike how every story mission essentially had the main character shoehorned in. I'd much rather have other characters have more of the limelight, especially those like Jotaro or Yugi who I feel had next to nothing in the story aside from recruiting them.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Flash Game Frenzy #2:
Flash Game #4: King of Buttons 3
Main + Extra: 1h 04m 13s
Rating: 3/10
Date Completed: December 17, 2020
Armor Games Link: https://armorgames.com/play/1359/king-of-buttons-3
Game Synopsis: A game that revolves around buttons.
Blog: Does anyone remember elementary or middle school? Where kids would find humor by just saying random stuff? That's what this game is to a T. This game harnesses the power of the "lol random" that young kids would find so funny.
The game has a story that's about 5 minutes. I'm not joking. There's also 2 endings but it really doesn't matter as they end up being about the same.
So the story's pointless so is there anything else to do? There is! There's a bunch of minigames, stuff like: pressing the spacebar as many times as you can, holding the spacebar as long as you can, press the button of the correct color, and more. None of them will hold your attention for more than a minute.
What's a bit frustrating is that a lot of the games you have to unlock by exchanging clicks, which you can only get in a few games. Unfortunately you can only get clicks in the most tedious mini games being: pressing the spacebar a lot, or holding the spacebar for a long time. A lot of the games also cost over 1000 clicks too... That's so annoying! Just let me play the minigames, don't introduce something to make the game artificially longer.
At the very least it feels like the developers had fun making the game, and if it wasn't for that I'd probably rate this a 1 or a 2. Instead I'm giving it a 3. Still don't play this game.
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Flash Game #5: Shellshock Live (2010)
Multiplayer: 35m 25s
Rating: 6/10
Date Completed: December 17, 2020
Armor Games Link: https://armorgames.com/play/11433/shellshock-live?t=1608305023
Game Synopsis: Fight against other players online using tanks and a variety of different weapons.
Blog: This is a pretty fun multiplayer game. If you have friends and you want to do something fun with them, I'd recommend trying this out with them. It's pretty fun and it's also free with it being a flash game.
I will say that too much of the game relies on random luck. Things such as: your loadout, the wind direction and speed every turn(although you can turn wind off), the drops that fall out of the sky, and worst of all: if you have a teammate that leaves in the middle of the match, you get to control them but instead of having access to their loadout; you only have the option of using one weapon and it's random every turn. That's just ridiculous!
This game would be rated much higher than a 6 if it was without all the randomness.
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Flash Game #6: Exit Path
Main Story: 15m 30s
Rating: 5/10
Date Completed: December 17, 2020
Armor Games Link: https://armorgames.com/play/5917/exit-path
Game Synopsis: Escape the facility that you're stuck in. Avoid the obstacles along the way.
Blog: If you remember the last flash game frenzy, I gushed about how fun a lot of John Cooney's games are. In my opinion, Exit Path is one of his most blander games. There's things to enjoy about it but it has problems.
First of all, the controls feel like I'm walking on ice half the time. They're so slippery and I usually die to the slippery controls more than my lack of skill.
There's a FLOW mode where you build up a meter that makes the player faster. It sounds fun and useful, but there's only really 2 sections of the game where you can find any use in it. It's more of a hassle otherwise.
If those two things weren't enough; there's also the fact of how short it is. 15 minutes short. Like geez, I feel like there should be more.
There is a multiplayer though! Too bad it was deactivated a few years ago...
So yeah, some people might enjoy Exit Path; looking at the Armor Games comments a lot of people definitely do. I didn't have as much fun, unfortunately.
Flash Game #4: King of Buttons 3
Main + Extra: 1h 04m 13s
Rating: 3/10
Date Completed: December 17, 2020
Armor Games Link: https://armorgames.com/play/1359/king-of-buttons-3
Game Synopsis: A game that revolves around buttons.
Blog: Does anyone remember elementary or middle school? Where kids would find humor by just saying random stuff? That's what this game is to a T. This game harnesses the power of the "lol random" that young kids would find so funny.
The game has a story that's about 5 minutes. I'm not joking. There's also 2 endings but it really doesn't matter as they end up being about the same.
So the story's pointless so is there anything else to do? There is! There's a bunch of minigames, stuff like: pressing the spacebar as many times as you can, holding the spacebar as long as you can, press the button of the correct color, and more. None of them will hold your attention for more than a minute.
What's a bit frustrating is that a lot of the games you have to unlock by exchanging clicks, which you can only get in a few games. Unfortunately you can only get clicks in the most tedious mini games being: pressing the spacebar a lot, or holding the spacebar for a long time. A lot of the games also cost over 1000 clicks too... That's so annoying! Just let me play the minigames, don't introduce something to make the game artificially longer.
At the very least it feels like the developers had fun making the game, and if it wasn't for that I'd probably rate this a 1 or a 2. Instead I'm giving it a 3. Still don't play this game.
--------------------
Flash Game #5: Shellshock Live (2010)
Multiplayer: 35m 25s
Rating: 6/10
Date Completed: December 17, 2020
Armor Games Link: https://armorgames.com/play/11433/shellshock-live?t=1608305023
Game Synopsis: Fight against other players online using tanks and a variety of different weapons.
Blog: This is a pretty fun multiplayer game. If you have friends and you want to do something fun with them, I'd recommend trying this out with them. It's pretty fun and it's also free with it being a flash game.
I will say that too much of the game relies on random luck. Things such as: your loadout, the wind direction and speed every turn(although you can turn wind off), the drops that fall out of the sky, and worst of all: if you have a teammate that leaves in the middle of the match, you get to control them but instead of having access to their loadout; you only have the option of using one weapon and it's random every turn. That's just ridiculous!
This game would be rated much higher than a 6 if it was without all the randomness.
--------------------
Flash Game #6: Exit Path
Main Story: 15m 30s
Rating: 5/10
Date Completed: December 17, 2020
Armor Games Link: https://armorgames.com/play/5917/exit-path
Game Synopsis: Escape the facility that you're stuck in. Avoid the obstacles along the way.
Blog: If you remember the last flash game frenzy, I gushed about how fun a lot of John Cooney's games are. In my opinion, Exit Path is one of his most blander games. There's things to enjoy about it but it has problems.
First of all, the controls feel like I'm walking on ice half the time. They're so slippery and I usually die to the slippery controls more than my lack of skill.
There's a FLOW mode where you build up a meter that makes the player faster. It sounds fun and useful, but there's only really 2 sections of the game where you can find any use in it. It's more of a hassle otherwise.
If those two things weren't enough; there's also the fact of how short it is. 15 minutes short. Like geez, I feel like there should be more.
There is a multiplayer though! Too bad it was deactivated a few years ago...
So yeah, some people might enjoy Exit Path; looking at the Armor Games comments a lot of people definitely do. I didn't have as much fun, unfortunately.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #15: Blaster Master
Platform: Switch
Main Story: 3h 53m 39s
Rating: 8/10
Date Completed: December 20, 2020
Extra Details: Nintendo Switch Online version
Game Synopsis: Your frog turns into a mutant and jumps into a hole in the ground. Chase after it in a tank and save the world.
Blog: So I don't normally like NES games, and one game in particular that I don't really love is the original Metroid.
Despite all that, I really enjoyed Blaster Master. I'd go as far as to say it's one of the best NES games I've played and is a much better Metroid-like game than the original Metroid. It's actually fun to get lost and figure your way around! You also get an upgrade everytime you beat a boss, and the upgrade allows you to progress and overcome an obstacle that you couldn't before. It's great!
The best parts of the game are definitely the tank sections. I like the general movement, dealing with enemies, the 3 special weapons, the tank upgrades like hovering are great.
There's also on-foot sections, where you walk around in an isometric view and find upgrades, mow down enemies, and some areas even have a boss you need to defeat. These sections are okay. I'm not a fan of how the gun works, where it's upgradable but everytime you get hit you lose an upgrade. It especially sucks since the upgrades can be so difficult to get as well. You very much have to rely on those upgrades especially in the later areas.
I also want to mention that the Wall 2 upgrade on the tank kind of sucks. It allows you to drive on the ceilings and stuff, but for whatever reason it really screws me over when trying to jump from the edges of platforms as it makes you stick to the side of the platform. It was just stupidly confusing and made Area 8 a lot harder than it probably should have been.
There's also a story with like 2 cutscenes. What's the story? I don't know! I didn't understand a thing that went on, but the graphics for the scenes were very well done for an NES game.
Also when you game over in the on-foot sections, I really wish that it would at least respawn the player in the beginning of the section instead of the beginning of the area. That's just really lame to go through the entire area.
TL;DR: I do recommend trying out Blaster Master if you liked the original Metroid, or maybe even if you didn't like it. It does what Metroid does but I think Blaster Master does it better. Although I recommend save states for the on-foot sections if you can use them.
Platform: Switch
Main Story: 3h 53m 39s
Rating: 8/10
Date Completed: December 20, 2020
Extra Details: Nintendo Switch Online version
Game Synopsis: Your frog turns into a mutant and jumps into a hole in the ground. Chase after it in a tank and save the world.
Blog: So I don't normally like NES games, and one game in particular that I don't really love is the original Metroid.
Despite all that, I really enjoyed Blaster Master. I'd go as far as to say it's one of the best NES games I've played and is a much better Metroid-like game than the original Metroid. It's actually fun to get lost and figure your way around! You also get an upgrade everytime you beat a boss, and the upgrade allows you to progress and overcome an obstacle that you couldn't before. It's great!
The best parts of the game are definitely the tank sections. I like the general movement, dealing with enemies, the 3 special weapons, the tank upgrades like hovering are great.
There's also on-foot sections, where you walk around in an isometric view and find upgrades, mow down enemies, and some areas even have a boss you need to defeat. These sections are okay. I'm not a fan of how the gun works, where it's upgradable but everytime you get hit you lose an upgrade. It especially sucks since the upgrades can be so difficult to get as well. You very much have to rely on those upgrades especially in the later areas.
I also want to mention that the Wall 2 upgrade on the tank kind of sucks. It allows you to drive on the ceilings and stuff, but for whatever reason it really screws me over when trying to jump from the edges of platforms as it makes you stick to the side of the platform. It was just stupidly confusing and made Area 8 a lot harder than it probably should have been.
There's also a story with like 2 cutscenes. What's the story? I don't know! I didn't understand a thing that went on, but the graphics for the scenes were very well done for an NES game.
Also when you game over in the on-foot sections, I really wish that it would at least respawn the player in the beginning of the section instead of the beginning of the area. That's just really lame to go through the entire area.
TL;DR: I do recommend trying out Blaster Master if you liked the original Metroid, or maybe even if you didn't like it. It does what Metroid does but I think Blaster Master does it better. Although I recommend save states for the on-foot sections if you can use them.