5 Yrs✓#
NoOne
5 Yrs✓#
Ayy, glad ya liked it! It's probably one of my favorite Vita games, definitely a must play for anyone who's got it 🫡
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D21999
4 Yrs♥✓#
Game #245: Shrek SuperSlam
Platform: GameCube
Main Story: 42m 55a
Main + Extras: 4h 53m 39s
Rating: 6/10
Date Completed: January 5, 2024
Picked By: Kam1999
Games Synopsis: Play as Shrek, his friends, or other fairy tale characters and fight each other in a 3D arena fighter.
Blog: This is the second game in my personal challenge, and the first one this year that I have actually played before.
Shrek SuperSlam is a 3D arena fighter based on the first two Shrek movies. It's a game I would constantly label as "Shrek's Smash Bros" to my friends who had never heard of it. This is a game I have fond memories of playing with my cousin. Despite that, I hadn't actually touched Shrek SuperSlam in over 10 or 15 years, and this would be the first time I play it since then. Does Shrek SuperSlam still hold up for me? Ehhh... we'll get to that...
I compared Shrek SuperSlam to Smash Bros, and I still believe that comparison is true... but if there were one game I would say is an even closer comparison than Smash, it would unironically be PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. The sole reason being that the only way to K.O. opponents in both games is to use your ultimate move... So I guess Smash wasn't the only arena fighter Sony had copied!
This game has a lot of interesting little things that make me think this has or had competitive potential. There's fast falls, air dashes, shield breaks, being able to reflect projectiles by shielding at the right time... the combat is a bit deeper than you might think! It's no wonder I was so into the multiplayer as a kid.
As far as the gameplay, there's only really one thing I wish would change. I think being able to build up the ultimate charge by landing hits on opponents is great, and people being able to beat the charge out of you is also great. I just wish that you can only use the ultimate once. For some reason if you completely miss an ultimate, you're able to keep using it until the charge runs out. I think this should be changed so you can only use it once. Some characters like Cyclops have a massive ultimate that just covers the whole stage and it's crazy that if you're lucky to not be hit by it, he can just use it again. It's so bonkers to me!
I would say the multiplayer for SuperSlam is where it shines the most, but it's far from perfect and I would say is very flawed. You only get two modes in this game: a two minute timed match where you need to K.O. as many people as possible, the other is a king of the hill mode where you need to be at the top of a hill the longest out of anybody else. That's it. There's no lives mode (despite some single player modes having it), no adjusting the time limit, no customization options. You aren't even able to change the difficulty of any CPU players. It feels incredibly limiting for no real reason.
The single player stuff is even worse. I'd say the training mode is the only real positive, giving you instructions and directions on how to move in the game. Too bad there's also nowhere to try out a character and practice combos.
The story mode is mediocre. I think the cutscenes were the best part, they were funny and the voice acting was great! It sounded like they kept most of the voice actors (Prince Charming sounded a little off though). However, the story mode consists of only 8 battles, with the final 2 having a wild and sudden difficulty spike. It's very short, taking me just about 40 minutes, and being unable to change characters also provides no replayability. The story is really only useful for those cutscenes and unlocking some costumes.
Probably the worst mode is the Mega Challenge mode. A mode that consists of roughly 200 challenges! Some of these challenges do offer some unique aspects, having lives for example, or needing to fight enemies using a certain move or item. But those unique challenges are few and far between. The main thing they throw at you are tournaments where you have to go through 2 to 7 fights in a row ranging from one-on-ones to one against three! It's just not very fun, and very frustrating as you get further into it as the difficulty ramps up.
I honestly wouldn't really recommend doing any of the single player content outside of unlocking characters and stages, and if you must do that I recommend finding a cheat code to unlock all of the challenges so you can skip to the ones with the unlockables.
I have also unfortunately ran into some bugs and other technical issues. I think the biggest issue I had was with the camera. It moves around so much during fights for certain stages, I wish it would just be stationary the whole time. Then also on certain stages, the frames will just suddenly drop to a crawl if you play on them with four characters. It was like a few frames from being unplayable!
And for as many issues as Shrek SuperSlam might have, at the very least the music is so good. And none of it's from any of the movies, they're all original Here's a few of my personal favorites: Kung Fu Dojo, Dragon's Gate, Gingerbread Hizzle.
I think Shrek Superslam has so many issues, but if you only play for the multiplayer and don't take it too seriously, the game is pretty fun. However, the flaws are still pretty hard to ignore. So even with my bias towards this game, I would give it a 6/10. It's probably higher than it should be, but nostalgia is a hell of a drug, man.
TL:DR: Shrek SuperSlam is a fun Smash clone to play with friends, and while the combat is deeper than it might seem, it's missing quite a lot essentials in both single player and multiplayer content that can really be felt throughout the game.
Up Next: Shrek SuperSlam was a fairly quick completion for me. Will the next one be as fast? Let's see...
Call of Duty: Black Ops! Picked by Vxpok! Well I guess we're just saving the longer games for later then!
Platform: GameCube
Main Story: 42m 55a
Main + Extras: 4h 53m 39s
Rating: 6/10
Date Completed: January 5, 2024
Picked By: Kam1999
Games Synopsis: Play as Shrek, his friends, or other fairy tale characters and fight each other in a 3D arena fighter.
Blog: This is the second game in my personal challenge, and the first one this year that I have actually played before.
Shrek SuperSlam is a 3D arena fighter based on the first two Shrek movies. It's a game I would constantly label as "Shrek's Smash Bros" to my friends who had never heard of it. This is a game I have fond memories of playing with my cousin. Despite that, I hadn't actually touched Shrek SuperSlam in over 10 or 15 years, and this would be the first time I play it since then. Does Shrek SuperSlam still hold up for me? Ehhh... we'll get to that...
I compared Shrek SuperSlam to Smash Bros, and I still believe that comparison is true... but if there were one game I would say is an even closer comparison than Smash, it would unironically be PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. The sole reason being that the only way to K.O. opponents in both games is to use your ultimate move... So I guess Smash wasn't the only arena fighter Sony had copied!
This game has a lot of interesting little things that make me think this has or had competitive potential. There's fast falls, air dashes, shield breaks, being able to reflect projectiles by shielding at the right time... the combat is a bit deeper than you might think! It's no wonder I was so into the multiplayer as a kid.
As far as the gameplay, there's only really one thing I wish would change. I think being able to build up the ultimate charge by landing hits on opponents is great, and people being able to beat the charge out of you is also great. I just wish that you can only use the ultimate once. For some reason if you completely miss an ultimate, you're able to keep using it until the charge runs out. I think this should be changed so you can only use it once. Some characters like Cyclops have a massive ultimate that just covers the whole stage and it's crazy that if you're lucky to not be hit by it, he can just use it again. It's so bonkers to me!
I would say the multiplayer for SuperSlam is where it shines the most, but it's far from perfect and I would say is very flawed. You only get two modes in this game: a two minute timed match where you need to K.O. as many people as possible, the other is a king of the hill mode where you need to be at the top of a hill the longest out of anybody else. That's it. There's no lives mode (despite some single player modes having it), no adjusting the time limit, no customization options. You aren't even able to change the difficulty of any CPU players. It feels incredibly limiting for no real reason.
The single player stuff is even worse. I'd say the training mode is the only real positive, giving you instructions and directions on how to move in the game. Too bad there's also nowhere to try out a character and practice combos.
The story mode is mediocre. I think the cutscenes were the best part, they were funny and the voice acting was great! It sounded like they kept most of the voice actors (Prince Charming sounded a little off though). However, the story mode consists of only 8 battles, with the final 2 having a wild and sudden difficulty spike. It's very short, taking me just about 40 minutes, and being unable to change characters also provides no replayability. The story is really only useful for those cutscenes and unlocking some costumes.
Probably the worst mode is the Mega Challenge mode. A mode that consists of roughly 200 challenges! Some of these challenges do offer some unique aspects, having lives for example, or needing to fight enemies using a certain move or item. But those unique challenges are few and far between. The main thing they throw at you are tournaments where you have to go through 2 to 7 fights in a row ranging from one-on-ones to one against three! It's just not very fun, and very frustrating as you get further into it as the difficulty ramps up.
I honestly wouldn't really recommend doing any of the single player content outside of unlocking characters and stages, and if you must do that I recommend finding a cheat code to unlock all of the challenges so you can skip to the ones with the unlockables.
I have also unfortunately ran into some bugs and other technical issues. I think the biggest issue I had was with the camera. It moves around so much during fights for certain stages, I wish it would just be stationary the whole time. Then also on certain stages, the frames will just suddenly drop to a crawl if you play on them with four characters. It was like a few frames from being unplayable!
And for as many issues as Shrek SuperSlam might have, at the very least the music is so good. And none of it's from any of the movies, they're all original Here's a few of my personal favorites: Kung Fu Dojo, Dragon's Gate, Gingerbread Hizzle.
I think Shrek Superslam has so many issues, but if you only play for the multiplayer and don't take it too seriously, the game is pretty fun. However, the flaws are still pretty hard to ignore. So even with my bias towards this game, I would give it a 6/10. It's probably higher than it should be, but nostalgia is a hell of a drug, man.
TL:DR: Shrek SuperSlam is a fun Smash clone to play with friends, and while the combat is deeper than it might seem, it's missing quite a lot essentials in both single player and multiplayer content that can really be felt throughout the game.
Up Next: Shrek SuperSlam was a fairly quick completion for me. Will the next one be as fast? Let's see...
Call of Duty: Black Ops! Picked by Vxpok! Well I guess we're just saving the longer games for later then!
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #246: Call of Duty: Black Ops
Platform: Xbox 360
Main + Extras: 7h 55m 10s
Rating: 7/10
Date Completed: January 7, 2024
Picked By: Vxpok
Games Synopsis: One of Activision's most well-known first person shooters, arguably the most well-known!
Blog: This is the third game in my personal challenge of 2025. This is a game in which I've played before at my cousin's house, but have never actually owned until very recently.
Also full disclosure, this review will not be including anything from multiplayer. I do not have online for Xbox, and I don't really want to buy it for a game that has likely long since died.
Anyway, this was my second time playing single player stuff on a CoD game. Last year was my first time with Ghosts, and I wasn't particularly a fan of that one. I gave it a 5/10 overall, playing both the campaign and the extinction mode. I'm aware of the negative reputation Ghosts had, but even then I came into Black Ops feeling a bit skeptical. I came away a little surprised!
First off the campaign. This is regarded as one of the best CoD stories... at first I somewhat disagreed. I thought the campaign was kind of boring and a little too "military bro" for me. Even in terms of gameplay im regards to the campaign I thought Ghosts slightly did better in that regard due to Ghosts having some more variety in its levels, such as shooting in space, water, etc. So my thoughts so far weren't as positive as others. However, then I started noticing something was kind of off and things got interesting. Then the "thing" happened and I understood why people liked the campaign so much. I won't spoil it for people who haven't played, but anyone who has played it knows what I'm talking about.
I definitely think the campaign is better than Ghosts due to the story alone, but it was still quite a drag for me to get there. Especially with how hand-holdy and restrictive these campaigns are.
And before I stop talking about the campaign there's one more thing I want to talk about: I can hardly tell the difference between the enemies and my allies. I don't know why I had this issue, if it's just me or the game. I don't recall having this problem with Ghosts, so I'm sort of leaning towards Black Ops being the problem. They all look very similar to each other in like 95% of the levels. It also doesn't help that sometimes the names that are supposed to appear for the allies just don't appear for some reason. There was even one level where I was clearly shooting at someone with a gun who was nameless but after killing them I was given a death screen and told to "not kill your brothers." It's just a very weird situation all around.
If I were rating Black Ops just on campaign alone, it would be a 6/10. The Zombies mode brings it to a 7/10 and is easily the best part of the game.
I remember loving Zombies when playing it with my cousin. I was a little worried about playing it single player, and while it's definitely not as easy it's still a good time and something I would easily play with friends trying to see how long we last.
Something I also didn't know about: there's a top-down Zombies arcade mode! This one is not as good as Zombies, but it's more fun than the campaign! It's a top down shooter similar to stuff like Smash TV. It's a fun highscore chaser! Although it is very ugly visually... you can definitely tell they did not put any effort into making it look good.
Honestly there's not much more I have to say about Black Ops. It's your typical first person shooter, aside from Zombies there's not really much outstanding in the gameplay from other FPS games I've played like Bioshock. It's very industry standard, but some people might like that. Although I'm sure most people who played this a lot back in the day have long since moved on to future iterations. I say it's still worth going back to for Zombies though!
TL:DR: Call of Duty: Black Ops is a very standard FPS. The campaign shines with its story near the end but rather lacks much else for me. The Zombies modes however are the best part of the game and is something I would easily go back to with friends.
Up Next: Black Ops was another pretty short completion, will the next one be three in a row?
Affordable Space Adventures! Chosen by Tiamat! It is a short one, but it's interesting. It's supposed to be a Wii U exclusive and a good one at that! Very exciting.
Platform: Xbox 360
Main + Extras: 7h 55m 10s
Rating: 7/10
Date Completed: January 7, 2024
Picked By: Vxpok
Games Synopsis: One of Activision's most well-known first person shooters, arguably the most well-known!
Blog: This is the third game in my personal challenge of 2025. This is a game in which I've played before at my cousin's house, but have never actually owned until very recently.
Also full disclosure, this review will not be including anything from multiplayer. I do not have online for Xbox, and I don't really want to buy it for a game that has likely long since died.
Anyway, this was my second time playing single player stuff on a CoD game. Last year was my first time with Ghosts, and I wasn't particularly a fan of that one. I gave it a 5/10 overall, playing both the campaign and the extinction mode. I'm aware of the negative reputation Ghosts had, but even then I came into Black Ops feeling a bit skeptical. I came away a little surprised!
First off the campaign. This is regarded as one of the best CoD stories... at first I somewhat disagreed. I thought the campaign was kind of boring and a little too "military bro" for me. Even in terms of gameplay im regards to the campaign I thought Ghosts slightly did better in that regard due to Ghosts having some more variety in its levels, such as shooting in space, water, etc. So my thoughts so far weren't as positive as others. However, then I started noticing something was kind of off and things got interesting. Then the "thing" happened and I understood why people liked the campaign so much. I won't spoil it for people who haven't played, but anyone who has played it knows what I'm talking about.
I definitely think the campaign is better than Ghosts due to the story alone, but it was still quite a drag for me to get there. Especially with how hand-holdy and restrictive these campaigns are.
And before I stop talking about the campaign there's one more thing I want to talk about: I can hardly tell the difference between the enemies and my allies. I don't know why I had this issue, if it's just me or the game. I don't recall having this problem with Ghosts, so I'm sort of leaning towards Black Ops being the problem. They all look very similar to each other in like 95% of the levels. It also doesn't help that sometimes the names that are supposed to appear for the allies just don't appear for some reason. There was even one level where I was clearly shooting at someone with a gun who was nameless but after killing them I was given a death screen and told to "not kill your brothers." It's just a very weird situation all around.
If I were rating Black Ops just on campaign alone, it would be a 6/10. The Zombies mode brings it to a 7/10 and is easily the best part of the game.
I remember loving Zombies when playing it with my cousin. I was a little worried about playing it single player, and while it's definitely not as easy it's still a good time and something I would easily play with friends trying to see how long we last.
Something I also didn't know about: there's a top-down Zombies arcade mode! This one is not as good as Zombies, but it's more fun than the campaign! It's a top down shooter similar to stuff like Smash TV. It's a fun highscore chaser! Although it is very ugly visually... you can definitely tell they did not put any effort into making it look good.
Honestly there's not much more I have to say about Black Ops. It's your typical first person shooter, aside from Zombies there's not really much outstanding in the gameplay from other FPS games I've played like Bioshock. It's very industry standard, but some people might like that. Although I'm sure most people who played this a lot back in the day have long since moved on to future iterations. I say it's still worth going back to for Zombies though!
TL:DR: Call of Duty: Black Ops is a very standard FPS. The campaign shines with its story near the end but rather lacks much else for me. The Zombies modes however are the best part of the game and is something I would easily go back to with friends.
Up Next: Black Ops was another pretty short completion, will the next one be three in a row?
Affordable Space Adventures! Chosen by Tiamat! It is a short one, but it's interesting. It's supposed to be a Wii U exclusive and a good one at that! Very exciting.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #247: Affordable Space Adventures
Platform: Wii U
Main + Extras: 4h 45m 13s
Rating: 8/10
Date Completed: January 8, 2024
Picked By: Tiamat911
Games Synopsis: A puzzle game where you must manage different parts of a spaceship to get past obstacles.
Blog: This is the fourth game in my personal challenge.
For those of you who don't know, Nintendo made a little system called the Wii U. It's one of Nintendo's worst selling consoles and came out between two of Nintendo's best selling consoles as of today. The Wii U's main feature was its gamepad that was asynchronous from the tv, allowing you to have a second screen. A lot of games on the system used the second screen as either a way to display on the gamepad so you can play while the tv was off, or it will have nothing at all.
However, some games used the gamepad in unique and interesting ways. One of the most notable is Affordable Space Adventures. An indie game which even by Wii U standards is largely forgotten.
Affordable Space Adventures is about you going on a cheap adventure in space provided by company UExplore. However you wake up on a planet in which an unexplained accident has occurred, and you are stranded on an unknown planet in a small, damaged spacecraft. You must navigate the planet in the spacecraft.
The spacecraft is all controlled through the gamepad. You have various engines and systems that you have to utilize in order to get past enemies and obstacles safely. All of this is controlled through the gamepad. Need to get past an enemy that can detect the heat from your gas engine? Tap the electric engine. An enemy that can detect sound? Lower the use of your engine to make it more quiet. Need to go underwater? Increase your weight. A small diagonal path that you can't fit through normally? Try tilting the gamepad to also tilt your ship. There's so many scenarios that require you to rely on the gamepad. There's even a Miiverse feature that's used in a really cool way... RIP Miiverse...
The game also doesn't hold your hand at all. It'll give you a brief pop up on the gamepad when you unlock a new ability, but that's about it. There's no tutorials to follow at all beyond that. The game isn't easy either. I often found myself trying to rack my brain around some of the really difficult ones. It's really hard!
There isn't much of a story beyond what you get at the beginning, end, and a few sections in the middle. But that's honestly fine. What little story there is, is both humorous and somewhat fearful. I thought it had just the right amount of story for what the game needed.
If there's one thing about the game that I had to speak somewhat negatively on, it's not particularly the most exciting game. It's not boring by any means, but the environments all somewhat look the same and with how generally quiet the game is, I felt like I was getting exhausted throughout my playtime with it. Some puzzles also weren't exactly the most interesting either until they introduced something new or gave a new layout that was more than just a hallway.
But obviously I did enjoy my time with it. I'm not sure if I would replay by myself. It does have co-op so if I do ever go back to it, I'll probably be doing it with a friend instead of on my own again. For me, it's an 8/10. What a shame that this game is stuck on the Wii U, with no other currently possible way to play it on something else. Not only that, it was an eshop exclusive. So most people won't even be able to play it normally. It's truly a shame.
TL:DR: A wonderful Wii U exclusive that uses the gamepad well, while also being a very difficult game. It doesn't have much replay value beyond co-op though.
Up Next: With Affordable Space Adventures wrapped up, that's yet another game off the list. The next game to work toward is...
Balatro! Chosen by me! I've been avoiding gameplay of this one so I could see it for myself. So I finally get to see what all the fuss is about!
Platform: Wii U
Main + Extras: 4h 45m 13s
Rating: 8/10
Date Completed: January 8, 2024
Picked By: Tiamat911
Games Synopsis: A puzzle game where you must manage different parts of a spaceship to get past obstacles.
Blog: This is the fourth game in my personal challenge.
For those of you who don't know, Nintendo made a little system called the Wii U. It's one of Nintendo's worst selling consoles and came out between two of Nintendo's best selling consoles as of today. The Wii U's main feature was its gamepad that was asynchronous from the tv, allowing you to have a second screen. A lot of games on the system used the second screen as either a way to display on the gamepad so you can play while the tv was off, or it will have nothing at all.
However, some games used the gamepad in unique and interesting ways. One of the most notable is Affordable Space Adventures. An indie game which even by Wii U standards is largely forgotten.
Affordable Space Adventures is about you going on a cheap adventure in space provided by company UExplore. However you wake up on a planet in which an unexplained accident has occurred, and you are stranded on an unknown planet in a small, damaged spacecraft. You must navigate the planet in the spacecraft.
The spacecraft is all controlled through the gamepad. You have various engines and systems that you have to utilize in order to get past enemies and obstacles safely. All of this is controlled through the gamepad. Need to get past an enemy that can detect the heat from your gas engine? Tap the electric engine. An enemy that can detect sound? Lower the use of your engine to make it more quiet. Need to go underwater? Increase your weight. A small diagonal path that you can't fit through normally? Try tilting the gamepad to also tilt your ship. There's so many scenarios that require you to rely on the gamepad. There's even a Miiverse feature that's used in a really cool way... RIP Miiverse...
The game also doesn't hold your hand at all. It'll give you a brief pop up on the gamepad when you unlock a new ability, but that's about it. There's no tutorials to follow at all beyond that. The game isn't easy either. I often found myself trying to rack my brain around some of the really difficult ones. It's really hard!
There isn't much of a story beyond what you get at the beginning, end, and a few sections in the middle. But that's honestly fine. What little story there is, is both humorous and somewhat fearful. I thought it had just the right amount of story for what the game needed.
If there's one thing about the game that I had to speak somewhat negatively on, it's not particularly the most exciting game. It's not boring by any means, but the environments all somewhat look the same and with how generally quiet the game is, I felt like I was getting exhausted throughout my playtime with it. Some puzzles also weren't exactly the most interesting either until they introduced something new or gave a new layout that was more than just a hallway.
But obviously I did enjoy my time with it. I'm not sure if I would replay by myself. It does have co-op so if I do ever go back to it, I'll probably be doing it with a friend instead of on my own again. For me, it's an 8/10. What a shame that this game is stuck on the Wii U, with no other currently possible way to play it on something else. Not only that, it was an eshop exclusive. So most people won't even be able to play it normally. It's truly a shame.
TL:DR: A wonderful Wii U exclusive that uses the gamepad well, while also being a very difficult game. It doesn't have much replay value beyond co-op though.
Up Next: With Affordable Space Adventures wrapped up, that's yet another game off the list. The next game to work toward is...
Balatro! Chosen by me! I've been avoiding gameplay of this one so I could see it for myself. So I finally get to see what all the fuss is about!
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #248: Balatro
Platform: Switch
Main + Extras: 25h 46m 30s
Rating: 10/10
Date Completed: January 19, 2025
Picked By: R2D21999 (me)
Games Synopsis: A poker game that changes everything you know about poker with rogue-like, deckbuilding elements.
Blog: This is the fifth game in the challenge, and the one personally picked by me.
When Balatro was nominated for game of the year at the 2024 Game Awards, I did not doubt that Balatro was a good game. I've played so many games of different varieties, including indie games. I knew Balatro was going to be a good game. But oh boy I did not realize just how much I liked this game.
Balatro is a game with a lot of simple systems that when combined make a very complex game. It takes a lot from poker but with scoring a certain amount of points each round instead of having to bluff to someone. The points being determined by the ranks of the cards, the rank of the hand you play, special cards you might find along the way, etc. There's so much to this game than what you might initially expect. One of the big elements of this game involves the joker cards. These change how the game is played and are essential in scoring big points and being able to go into the next round.
There's so much more to explain about the game, but I don't want this review to turn into a guide or tutorial. Just know that this game is just one big dopamine rush. Getting a big score from a combination of cards, poker hands, and jokers is one of the most satisfying feelings. The first time I played Balatro, I accidentally played until about 3 am on a work night. It's dangerously addicting!
And don't worry if you don't know anything about poker or general card games. I admittedly didn't have too much knowledge on poker but the tutorial and just generally playing the game definitely helped me understand more now. I however am still not confident enough to play a proper poker game without any rules.
There honestly isn't that much more I have to say about Balatro. It's not a game that has some huge involved story or insane graphics. It's just a fun game with fun gameplay. It's something I see myself going back to when I have some downtime, and there aren't really many games I can say that about. Balatro is a 10/10 in my books.
TL:DR: Balatro is a fun game that is dangerously addicting. It's a game I will come back to every now and then.
Up Next: Balatro is the best scoring game so far in the challenge. Will the next game also be a 10?
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag! I've heard a lot of positive things about this one. Excited to see how it differs from 3, which is the only AC game I've played.
Platform: Switch
Main + Extras: 25h 46m 30s
Rating: 10/10
Date Completed: January 19, 2025
Picked By: R2D21999 (me)
Games Synopsis: A poker game that changes everything you know about poker with rogue-like, deckbuilding elements.
Blog: This is the fifth game in the challenge, and the one personally picked by me.
When Balatro was nominated for game of the year at the 2024 Game Awards, I did not doubt that Balatro was a good game. I've played so many games of different varieties, including indie games. I knew Balatro was going to be a good game. But oh boy I did not realize just how much I liked this game.
Balatro is a game with a lot of simple systems that when combined make a very complex game. It takes a lot from poker but with scoring a certain amount of points each round instead of having to bluff to someone. The points being determined by the ranks of the cards, the rank of the hand you play, special cards you might find along the way, etc. There's so much to this game than what you might initially expect. One of the big elements of this game involves the joker cards. These change how the game is played and are essential in scoring big points and being able to go into the next round.
There's so much more to explain about the game, but I don't want this review to turn into a guide or tutorial. Just know that this game is just one big dopamine rush. Getting a big score from a combination of cards, poker hands, and jokers is one of the most satisfying feelings. The first time I played Balatro, I accidentally played until about 3 am on a work night. It's dangerously addicting!
And don't worry if you don't know anything about poker or general card games. I admittedly didn't have too much knowledge on poker but the tutorial and just generally playing the game definitely helped me understand more now. I however am still not confident enough to play a proper poker game without any rules.
There honestly isn't that much more I have to say about Balatro. It's not a game that has some huge involved story or insane graphics. It's just a fun game with fun gameplay. It's something I see myself going back to when I have some downtime, and there aren't really many games I can say that about. Balatro is a 10/10 in my books.
TL:DR: Balatro is a fun game that is dangerously addicting. It's a game I will come back to every now and then.
Up Next: Balatro is the best scoring game so far in the challenge. Will the next game also be a 10?
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag! I've heard a lot of positive things about this one. Excited to see how it differs from 3, which is the only AC game I've played.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #249: Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag
Platform: Xbox One
Main + Extras: 60h 08m 21s
Rating: 6/10
Date Completed: January 30, 2025
Picked By: GCTuba
Games Synopsis: An Assassin's Creed game taking place on the ocean during the big pirate craze in the Caribbean.
Blog: If I were to compare Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag to Assassin's Creed III, the only other AC game I've played, I would probably pick AC3 as my preference.
That's not to say AC4 is not a bad game by comparison, in fact I also gave AC3 the same 6/10 score. I would definitely say it's kind of average though.
I think for example, the land portions aren't too exciting when comparing it to AC3. For example, the weapon variety is lacking in 4. You get pistols, swords, smoke bombs, and a few different darts. AC3 has all of that, and more with tomahawks, axes, muskets, clubs, and probably more that I'm forgetting. For me AC3 offered a lot more toys for messing around and provided a variety that AC4 just couldn't match up with. It's also especially weird considering that axes and muskets are in the game and you can use them, but you can't keep them.
I do feel that AC4 adds a different feel to some of the weapons though, mainly the swords and pistols. Swords are duel wielded and fighting just seems to be faster. Pistols especially can be upgraded to where you're able to have four pistols that you can use consecutively. This just felt so much more fun in comparison to AC3's which were pretty much always reloaded after every shot.
The land sections also don't feel as developed or have as much variety like AC3. Aside from maybe Havana, Kingston, and the final area there isn't much going on the land. Not too many high places to go and not much to see either.
But this is a game about the ocean. So how is the ocean in AC4? Only a little bit better honestly.
I did enjoy going into ship battles, both on the water and fighting aboard other ships. This is definitely what the focus was on, and it works. It's fun. Especially when you massively upgrade your ship and you're able to shred large ships, and go to fight one of the four legendary ships. It is rinse and repeat after a while, and there's only so much variety with the enemy ships.
There's also fort battles that can be pretty fun, they're honestly just big ship battles, although there's only seven of them.
So what about the other stuff on the ocean? Aside from some rinse and repeat side quests you can partake in, the ocean isn't very interesting otherwise. There's collectibles such as treasure chests with money and animus fragments that do... something?... but the collectibles are on tiny islands that all look and act the same which all screamed lazy. Harpooning I really only did for crafting materials and wasn't really interested in. And then diving was literally the worst thing about this game, the movement controls for the diving sections were really bad.
Speaking of movement, parkour is pretty much a key factor of AC games. You need to be able to run, jump, climb, etc in these games. I don't know if it's just me, but often times the games are kind of janky in this area. Both AC 3 and 4 had issues where I wasn't able to climb sections that were obviously climbable, or making jumps in the wrong direction when I'm pointing the stick forward. In particular whenever I run into a small alley, I find myself sometimes running up the nearest wall when I'm just trying to run straight forward through the alley. It's just annoying to deal with and will often cause me to get discovered in missions.
In terms of story, I honestly didn't really like the story or even Edward up until sequence 10... and there's only 13 sequences! I thought Edward was pretty unlikable, and all the characters surrounding him didn't really have much going on for me. I didn't care about Blackbeard at all either, partly because he wasn't around too much. But at sequence 10 it all gets better. Edward isn't so annoying, and the story finally had some interesting moments while also not having as many tutorials.
Assassin's Creed Black Flag is a pretty decent game. Honestly, if you have interest in it at all, I would recommend it. It's a game where you can pretty much turn off your brain and listen to some podcasts.
TL:DR: In my opinion Assassin's Creed Black Flag pales in comparison to AC3, with not as much weapon variety, towns being lackluster, and even some parts of the ocean being pretty mild. But the parts where you can really play and act as a pirate are quite a hoot.
Up Next: Black Flag was I think the longest game in the challenge so far. So what's next on the list?
Patrick's Parabox! Picked by GreenStarfish. This is a puzzle game that messes with perspective I believe? I always love playing these kinds of games.
Platform: Xbox One
Main + Extras: 60h 08m 21s
Rating: 6/10
Date Completed: January 30, 2025
Picked By: GCTuba
Games Synopsis: An Assassin's Creed game taking place on the ocean during the big pirate craze in the Caribbean.
Blog: If I were to compare Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag to Assassin's Creed III, the only other AC game I've played, I would probably pick AC3 as my preference.
That's not to say AC4 is not a bad game by comparison, in fact I also gave AC3 the same 6/10 score. I would definitely say it's kind of average though.
I think for example, the land portions aren't too exciting when comparing it to AC3. For example, the weapon variety is lacking in 4. You get pistols, swords, smoke bombs, and a few different darts. AC3 has all of that, and more with tomahawks, axes, muskets, clubs, and probably more that I'm forgetting. For me AC3 offered a lot more toys for messing around and provided a variety that AC4 just couldn't match up with. It's also especially weird considering that axes and muskets are in the game and you can use them, but you can't keep them.
I do feel that AC4 adds a different feel to some of the weapons though, mainly the swords and pistols. Swords are duel wielded and fighting just seems to be faster. Pistols especially can be upgraded to where you're able to have four pistols that you can use consecutively. This just felt so much more fun in comparison to AC3's which were pretty much always reloaded after every shot.
The land sections also don't feel as developed or have as much variety like AC3. Aside from maybe Havana, Kingston, and the final area there isn't much going on the land. Not too many high places to go and not much to see either.
But this is a game about the ocean. So how is the ocean in AC4? Only a little bit better honestly.
I did enjoy going into ship battles, both on the water and fighting aboard other ships. This is definitely what the focus was on, and it works. It's fun. Especially when you massively upgrade your ship and you're able to shred large ships, and go to fight one of the four legendary ships. It is rinse and repeat after a while, and there's only so much variety with the enemy ships.
There's also fort battles that can be pretty fun, they're honestly just big ship battles, although there's only seven of them.
So what about the other stuff on the ocean? Aside from some rinse and repeat side quests you can partake in, the ocean isn't very interesting otherwise. There's collectibles such as treasure chests with money and animus fragments that do... something?... but the collectibles are on tiny islands that all look and act the same which all screamed lazy. Harpooning I really only did for crafting materials and wasn't really interested in. And then diving was literally the worst thing about this game, the movement controls for the diving sections were really bad.
Speaking of movement, parkour is pretty much a key factor of AC games. You need to be able to run, jump, climb, etc in these games. I don't know if it's just me, but often times the games are kind of janky in this area. Both AC 3 and 4 had issues where I wasn't able to climb sections that were obviously climbable, or making jumps in the wrong direction when I'm pointing the stick forward. In particular whenever I run into a small alley, I find myself sometimes running up the nearest wall when I'm just trying to run straight forward through the alley. It's just annoying to deal with and will often cause me to get discovered in missions.
In terms of story, I honestly didn't really like the story or even Edward up until sequence 10... and there's only 13 sequences! I thought Edward was pretty unlikable, and all the characters surrounding him didn't really have much going on for me. I didn't care about Blackbeard at all either, partly because he wasn't around too much. But at sequence 10 it all gets better. Edward isn't so annoying, and the story finally had some interesting moments while also not having as many tutorials.
Assassin's Creed Black Flag is a pretty decent game. Honestly, if you have interest in it at all, I would recommend it. It's a game where you can pretty much turn off your brain and listen to some podcasts.
TL:DR: In my opinion Assassin's Creed Black Flag pales in comparison to AC3, with not as much weapon variety, towns being lackluster, and even some parts of the ocean being pretty mild. But the parts where you can really play and act as a pirate are quite a hoot.
Up Next: Black Flag was I think the longest game in the challenge so far. So what's next on the list?
Patrick's Parabox! Picked by GreenStarfish. This is a puzzle game that messes with perspective I believe? I always love playing these kinds of games.
5 Yrs✓#
GCTuba
5 Yrs✓#
Sorry to hear AC4 didn't vibe with you as much as it did with me.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #250: Patrick's Parabox
Platform: PC
Main + Extras: 12h 31m 16s
Rating: 9/10
Date Completed: February 10, 2025
Picked By: GreenStarfish
Games Synopsis: A puzzle game of boxes in boxes in boxes in boxes in boxes in boxes in boxes in boxes....
Blog: This is probably going to be the worst review of the lot because of how mind-bendy this game is, as well as me not wanting to spoil certain mechanics the game introduces.
The overall objective of the game is to get a box and yourself to goals, which are outlined in the levels themselves. This likely sounds incredibly plain and boring, but the game quickly introduces some very mind-bending mechanics to the game, such as needing to put boxes in other boxes to reach the goals.
One example of an early mechanic I'll give is that the level itself is a block, and inside the level is a block of the exact level that you're in. So if you go out the left exit of the level, you'll then come out of the left side of the block. This mechanic as well as others will be used throughout the oncoming puzzles to maneuver boxes.
And this might sound like all these mechanics would be overwhelming, but the game will give you the basic understanding of a mechanic, as well as giving you the option to do more advanced puzzles surrounding that particular mechanic. The new mechanics added every couple of levels make the game feel fresh and interesting. They never overstayed their welcome aside from some post game levels that I ended up not finishing.
As weird as this sounds, I don't have much else to say about the game. There's no story to it after all, so it's a game that entirely relies on the quality of its puzzles, and I think it does that amazingly well. To me, Patrick's Parabox is a game I would say is almost a 10/10, but it doesn't speak to me as a 10/10 even if I have no negative qualities to give it. It's a game I would recommend to anyone who likes puzzle games, but it's not necessarily a game I would think about beyond that. For that reason, I am giving it a 9/10. I do highly recommend it.
TL:DR: Patrick's Parabox is a great puzzle game that's all about the idea of recursion within boxes, and I think it does that idea very well.
Up Next: What game is up next in the challenge? Time to randomize once again and find out.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective! Picked by Siver. I believe this game had the same director or developers as some of the Ace Attorney games, which were some of my absolute favorite games. So I'm very much looking forward to playing this.
Platform: PC
Main + Extras: 12h 31m 16s
Rating: 9/10
Date Completed: February 10, 2025
Picked By: GreenStarfish
Games Synopsis: A puzzle game of boxes in boxes in boxes in boxes in boxes in boxes in boxes in boxes....
Blog: This is probably going to be the worst review of the lot because of how mind-bendy this game is, as well as me not wanting to spoil certain mechanics the game introduces.
The overall objective of the game is to get a box and yourself to goals, which are outlined in the levels themselves. This likely sounds incredibly plain and boring, but the game quickly introduces some very mind-bending mechanics to the game, such as needing to put boxes in other boxes to reach the goals.
One example of an early mechanic I'll give is that the level itself is a block, and inside the level is a block of the exact level that you're in. So if you go out the left exit of the level, you'll then come out of the left side of the block. This mechanic as well as others will be used throughout the oncoming puzzles to maneuver boxes.
And this might sound like all these mechanics would be overwhelming, but the game will give you the basic understanding of a mechanic, as well as giving you the option to do more advanced puzzles surrounding that particular mechanic. The new mechanics added every couple of levels make the game feel fresh and interesting. They never overstayed their welcome aside from some post game levels that I ended up not finishing.
As weird as this sounds, I don't have much else to say about the game. There's no story to it after all, so it's a game that entirely relies on the quality of its puzzles, and I think it does that amazingly well. To me, Patrick's Parabox is a game I would say is almost a 10/10, but it doesn't speak to me as a 10/10 even if I have no negative qualities to give it. It's a game I would recommend to anyone who likes puzzle games, but it's not necessarily a game I would think about beyond that. For that reason, I am giving it a 9/10. I do highly recommend it.
TL:DR: Patrick's Parabox is a great puzzle game that's all about the idea of recursion within boxes, and I think it does that idea very well.
Up Next: What game is up next in the challenge? Time to randomize once again and find out.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective! Picked by Siver. I believe this game had the same director or developers as some of the Ace Attorney games, which were some of my absolute favorite games. So I'm very much looking forward to playing this.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #251: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Platform: Switch
Main: 12h 01m 20s
100% Completion: 13h 21m 03s
Rating: 10/10
Date Completed: February 14, 2025
Picked By: Siver
Games Synopsis: Solve the mysteries behind a death... YOUR death...
Blog: One of my favorite gaming trilogies is the original Ace Attorney trilogy by Shu Takumi. So when this game was announced for a remaster a few years ago, I was excited. This also meant I wouldn't have to shell out over $100 for a DS game! This game was pretty infamously expensive on the second-hand market.
Collector issues aside, Ghost Trick lived up to my expectations. It's a great time and you can definitely tell that there's a lot of similarities to Ace Attorney even though the games are very different.
As I always do, I'm going to talk about this game but I'm going to speak vaguely on everything to not spoil anything.
In Ghost Trick, you play as a ghost solving the mystery behind your death. You aren't a typical ghost however. You can't float around, you can't posses people. Your only way of getting around is by possessing certain inanimate objects and interacting with those objects to get certain results.
Probably the biggest gameplay schtick about Ghost Trick is being able to interact with dead bodies. When you interact with a dead body, you can then go back in time to try to prevent the death of that person by interacting with objects. This is pretty much how you get through the story is by messing with the timeline to save any persons of interest.
And the story is really good. Again, not spoiling anything in particular, but if you recall the crazy twists and turns of the Ace Attorney games, it's pretty similar with this game. Absolutely crazy stuff that you wouldn't expect and it's all a fun ride.
And the gameplay is good too. It's a neat concept where you have to think creatively with just your general movement and how you use objects to your advantage. Puzzles are of course easy at the beginning, but it gets pretty difficult the further you go.
The music is good too. Maybe not as many bangers as Ace Attorney but there's some really good stuff. The art and visuals looks really good too, especially for a DS game brought over to Switch. I'm not sure how different the original game was on DS, but you honestly can't even tell that this was a DS game.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a really good game. It's up there among my favorite DS games like The World Ends With You. I highly recommend it.
TL:DR: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a fantastic game that needs way more love than whatever amount it gets currently. Please play this game, especially if you like Ace Attorney.
Up Next: You know the drill. I am once again randomizing my next game in the challenge.
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc! Picked by ThomasE! This is kind of funny. Just after playing a game by the Ace Attorney director, I will now play a game that's similar to Ace Attorney... I think? I don't really know anything about the Danganronpa series, but I've heard a lot of comparisons to Ace Attorney. So if it's anything remotely similar, I think I should enjoy it.
Platform: Switch
Main: 12h 01m 20s
100% Completion: 13h 21m 03s
Rating: 10/10
Date Completed: February 14, 2025
Picked By: Siver
Games Synopsis: Solve the mysteries behind a death... YOUR death...
Blog: One of my favorite gaming trilogies is the original Ace Attorney trilogy by Shu Takumi. So when this game was announced for a remaster a few years ago, I was excited. This also meant I wouldn't have to shell out over $100 for a DS game! This game was pretty infamously expensive on the second-hand market.
Collector issues aside, Ghost Trick lived up to my expectations. It's a great time and you can definitely tell that there's a lot of similarities to Ace Attorney even though the games are very different.
As I always do, I'm going to talk about this game but I'm going to speak vaguely on everything to not spoil anything.
In Ghost Trick, you play as a ghost solving the mystery behind your death. You aren't a typical ghost however. You can't float around, you can't posses people. Your only way of getting around is by possessing certain inanimate objects and interacting with those objects to get certain results.
Probably the biggest gameplay schtick about Ghost Trick is being able to interact with dead bodies. When you interact with a dead body, you can then go back in time to try to prevent the death of that person by interacting with objects. This is pretty much how you get through the story is by messing with the timeline to save any persons of interest.
And the story is really good. Again, not spoiling anything in particular, but if you recall the crazy twists and turns of the Ace Attorney games, it's pretty similar with this game. Absolutely crazy stuff that you wouldn't expect and it's all a fun ride.
And the gameplay is good too. It's a neat concept where you have to think creatively with just your general movement and how you use objects to your advantage. Puzzles are of course easy at the beginning, but it gets pretty difficult the further you go.
The music is good too. Maybe not as many bangers as Ace Attorney but there's some really good stuff. The art and visuals looks really good too, especially for a DS game brought over to Switch. I'm not sure how different the original game was on DS, but you honestly can't even tell that this was a DS game.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a really good game. It's up there among my favorite DS games like The World Ends With You. I highly recommend it.
TL:DR: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a fantastic game that needs way more love than whatever amount it gets currently. Please play this game, especially if you like Ace Attorney.
Up Next: You know the drill. I am once again randomizing my next game in the challenge.
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc! Picked by ThomasE! This is kind of funny. Just after playing a game by the Ace Attorney director, I will now play a game that's similar to Ace Attorney... I think? I don't really know anything about the Danganronpa series, but I've heard a lot of comparisons to Ace Attorney. So if it's anything remotely similar, I think I should enjoy it.
4 Yrs♥✓#
R2D219994 Yrs♥✓#
Game #252: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Platform: Switch
Main + Extras: 28h 31m 29s
Rating: 7/10
Date Completed: February 20, 2025
Picked By: ThomasE
Games Synopsis: Solve murders while being trapped in a high school with other students.
Blog: I think this is a pretty good game, although it has some pretty big flaws.
First of all, I want to say that I very much enjoy these kinds of games. I really loved Ace Attorney, and while I don't think Danganronpa 1 is as good as any of the games in that series, I think it can still stand on its own as a good game.
For those who aren't familiar with Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc, it's a visual novel where a group of students are trapped in a high school, where they are encouraged to kill one of their fellow students and go through a trial without being voted off as the killer. Your job as the main character is to solve the murders and convince everyone else to vote for the true murderer, or else everyone besides the killer will die.
I really like the set up of these. You have a few in-game days before any killings take place to learn a little more about the school you're in as well as your fellow students. This gives a bit of a breather between all the killings and trials you'll be going through, and it's nice to learn a bit about the characters.
Quick tangent: one of the criticisms towards the game that I've seen is that the characters aren't really given much depth. While certain characters I could definitely see that criticism applying, I don't think it fits or works with every character. For example, the people who die in the first chapter aren't really going to have much depth to them versus the characters who end up making it to the final chapter. That's just the reality of this kind of game, and in some cases I felt it heightened the sense of dread or guilt that I felt because it would take away these characters that I wanted to learn more about. That fit with the theming for me.
Sorry that tangent was not at all "quick." Back to the game itself.
The investigation portion of the game is pretty self-explanatory. When a murder happens, you check any related areas for clues.
The class trial is arguably supposed to be the main focus... but to be honest some of my bigger criticisms come from this portion of the game. Before I get into that, the class trial is where you learn about all the details of the case and finally start connecting the dots with all of the evidence you found. However, this is not exactly like Ace Attorney where you present evidence and press people for more details to find contradictions. You do indeed do that in Danganronpa, but they're like mini games rather than going through dialog options. It's really interesting in concept and they all revolve a neat gun motif that looks pretty sleek.
These mini games were kind of the bane of my existence. The tutorials were terrible and only made things more confusing. What's worse is that every trial they added something new to one or multiple of the mini games which only added to the amount of tutorials and confusion. One of the mini games, Bullet Time Battles, I genuinely went through almost the entire game without figuring out how it worked, stumbling my way to success the few times it popped up. It wasn't until literally the last trial that I basically became "perfect" at it. This and chapter 2 were basically the biggest flaws for me.
Speaking of chapter 2... this one was a mess. I am going to be very vague as to not spoil what happens, but anyone familiar with the game knows what I'm going to touch on. Chapter 2 started out just fine for me but at some point in the trial portion, the game seemingly decided that it wanted to make some social commentary on gender, gender roles in particular. I am not against the discussion of gender or other such social topics. I am not one of those loud gamer types on Twitter who thinks that politics should stay out of gaming. However, this topic is handled so tactlessly that I wish they didn't cover it at all, particularly to how the class even come across this discovery. What's more is that I think due to some potential mistranslation Japanese to English, the game can come across a little... bigoted between reveals. I don't think that was intentional but it easily comes across as such, and the debates about this online... 10+ years later only cements my belief on that.
Chapter 3 I also didn't like too much but only because I already figured out who the killer was by the time the dead body was discovered. It was so obvious and the antagonist for that chapter was quite underwhelming despite their ultimate ability. I was surprised by how unsurprising that chapter was.
Everything else I thought was pretty good. I didn't really have anything negative to say for the other trials, I thought they were quite good. My favorite trial probably being the one in chapter 4. I liked the character designs, everyone looked great. The music was fantastic and probably my favorite part of the whole game.
This game definitely has some major flaws for me, but I think it's pretty good.
PS, the "School Mode" that you unlock after beating the game is kinda boring. I won't count that against the game but I'm sorry it just sucks.
TL:DR: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is a good murder mystery visual novel game with some nice art, great music, and is overall intriguing to follow the story to see what happens next. It certainly has its issues for me with trial tutorials being terrible while also having two chapters that just aren't up to par with the others. If you can get past that, and also some content that can be a little triggering for certain people, I think this could be a solid visual novel for most people.
Up Next: I think this was my longest review yet. Will the next game be as opinion heavy? Let's see...
Stardew Valley! Picked by Uvehj! Spoilers: I very much love this game since I've played it on Switch already. This time I'll be playing on my Steam Deck.
Platform: Switch
Main + Extras: 28h 31m 29s
Rating: 7/10
Date Completed: February 20, 2025
Picked By: ThomasE
Games Synopsis: Solve murders while being trapped in a high school with other students.
Blog: I think this is a pretty good game, although it has some pretty big flaws.
First of all, I want to say that I very much enjoy these kinds of games. I really loved Ace Attorney, and while I don't think Danganronpa 1 is as good as any of the games in that series, I think it can still stand on its own as a good game.
For those who aren't familiar with Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc, it's a visual novel where a group of students are trapped in a high school, where they are encouraged to kill one of their fellow students and go through a trial without being voted off as the killer. Your job as the main character is to solve the murders and convince everyone else to vote for the true murderer, or else everyone besides the killer will die.
I really like the set up of these. You have a few in-game days before any killings take place to learn a little more about the school you're in as well as your fellow students. This gives a bit of a breather between all the killings and trials you'll be going through, and it's nice to learn a bit about the characters.
Quick tangent: one of the criticisms towards the game that I've seen is that the characters aren't really given much depth. While certain characters I could definitely see that criticism applying, I don't think it fits or works with every character. For example, the people who die in the first chapter aren't really going to have much depth to them versus the characters who end up making it to the final chapter. That's just the reality of this kind of game, and in some cases I felt it heightened the sense of dread or guilt that I felt because it would take away these characters that I wanted to learn more about. That fit with the theming for me.
Sorry that tangent was not at all "quick." Back to the game itself.
The investigation portion of the game is pretty self-explanatory. When a murder happens, you check any related areas for clues.
The class trial is arguably supposed to be the main focus... but to be honest some of my bigger criticisms come from this portion of the game. Before I get into that, the class trial is where you learn about all the details of the case and finally start connecting the dots with all of the evidence you found. However, this is not exactly like Ace Attorney where you present evidence and press people for more details to find contradictions. You do indeed do that in Danganronpa, but they're like mini games rather than going through dialog options. It's really interesting in concept and they all revolve a neat gun motif that looks pretty sleek.
These mini games were kind of the bane of my existence. The tutorials were terrible and only made things more confusing. What's worse is that every trial they added something new to one or multiple of the mini games which only added to the amount of tutorials and confusion. One of the mini games, Bullet Time Battles, I genuinely went through almost the entire game without figuring out how it worked, stumbling my way to success the few times it popped up. It wasn't until literally the last trial that I basically became "perfect" at it. This and chapter 2 were basically the biggest flaws for me.
Speaking of chapter 2... this one was a mess. I am going to be very vague as to not spoil what happens, but anyone familiar with the game knows what I'm going to touch on. Chapter 2 started out just fine for me but at some point in the trial portion, the game seemingly decided that it wanted to make some social commentary on gender, gender roles in particular. I am not against the discussion of gender or other such social topics. I am not one of those loud gamer types on Twitter who thinks that politics should stay out of gaming. However, this topic is handled so tactlessly that I wish they didn't cover it at all, particularly to how the class even come across this discovery. What's more is that I think due to some potential mistranslation Japanese to English, the game can come across a little... bigoted between reveals. I don't think that was intentional but it easily comes across as such, and the debates about this online... 10+ years later only cements my belief on that.
Chapter 3 I also didn't like too much but only because I already figured out who the killer was by the time the dead body was discovered. It was so obvious and the antagonist for that chapter was quite underwhelming despite their ultimate ability. I was surprised by how unsurprising that chapter was.
Everything else I thought was pretty good. I didn't really have anything negative to say for the other trials, I thought they were quite good. My favorite trial probably being the one in chapter 4. I liked the character designs, everyone looked great. The music was fantastic and probably my favorite part of the whole game.
This game definitely has some major flaws for me, but I think it's pretty good.
PS, the "School Mode" that you unlock after beating the game is kinda boring. I won't count that against the game but I'm sorry it just sucks.
TL:DR: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is a good murder mystery visual novel game with some nice art, great music, and is overall intriguing to follow the story to see what happens next. It certainly has its issues for me with trial tutorials being terrible while also having two chapters that just aren't up to par with the others. If you can get past that, and also some content that can be a little triggering for certain people, I think this could be a solid visual novel for most people.
Up Next: I think this was my longest review yet. Will the next game be as opinion heavy? Let's see...
Stardew Valley! Picked by Uvehj! Spoilers: I very much love this game since I've played it on Switch already. This time I'll be playing on my Steam Deck.