Monthend

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: June 2024

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Cookie Cutter (PC) – Got this one in a bundle, and it’s definitely been one of those games that came out of left field and is awesome. A metroidvania with excellent 2D artwork and a very fun brawler-like combat system. Too bad the game is bugged in a way that makes 100% completion impossible!

Mega Man (GB) – All the Game Boy Mega Man games got dumped onto Nintendo Switch Online recently, so I played them all! This one is incredibly basic and there’s not much to say about it other than hey owned this as a kid!

Mega Man II (GB) – My friend owned this when we were little kids, and it was the first Mega Man game I ever beat. That should be a good indication of how surprisingly easy it is. An absolute cakewalk, and not all that fun.

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: May 2024

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Bloody Ink (PC) – The latest from my favourite indie horror dev, Doesn’t Matter Games. It’s pretty much exactly what I was expecting, and then some! I don’t think the story really stuck the landing, but I enjoyed the ride no less.

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments (PS4) – I guess you’d say that this is a modern expression of a 1990s point-and-click adventure. Which is a good thing! Classic Holmes-style mysteries with a ton of puzzles and mini-games. Fun game, and I look forward to playing more of the series.

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (PC) – Finished off a run that I started last year. Great game. Honestly not sure why it didn’t click with Teen Ryan.

Another Crab’s Treasure (PS5) – A stellar video game in all aspects.

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: April 2024

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Princess Peach: Showtime! (Switch) – Cleared the game, enjoyed it. I can’t see it landing on anyone’s GOTY list, but it was cute and fun, and I certainly don’t regret putting in the time and effort to hit the 100% clear (though the post-game content is another story entirely).

Final Fantasy XVI (PS5) – Booted it up for the last(?) time to play The Rising Tide DLC. It was good! More substantial than Fallen Echoes, but the boss fight wasn’t quite as awesome. I like the new challenge mode too, though I’m not nearly good enough at the game to earn a leaderboard-worthy score.

There’s Something in the Ice (PC) – Indie horror. Vibe is a little like a cross between The Thing and Amnesia: The Bunker, but the gameplay is very much a basic walking simulator. Sound design and atmosphere were really good, but it doesn’t really stand out in its genre otherwise.

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: March 2024

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Half-Life 2: Episode 2 (PC) – Finished it, thought it was pretty good. Much better than Episode 1, at the very least. Now that I’ve played all of the (non-VR) Half-Life 2 games, I can more clearly see why the wait for Half-Life 3 has been such a big deal for so many people.

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Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth (PS5) – Chapter 9

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: February 2024

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Peglin (PC) – ‘Nother run for the new patch.

Power Wash Simulator (PC) – Completed all the Midgar content.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5) – Good follow-up. It’s not quite sequel-sized, but also is quite a lot more substantial than the average DLC expansion. While combat can get annoying and sometimes feels cheap, picking off guys one at a time in stealth mode is so very satisfying.

Month End Video Game Wrap-Up: January 2024

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Mega Man X (SNES) – The traditional first game of the year.

Coffin Mall (PC) – Bite-sized indie horror about being chased around an empty mall by a demon car. A bit frustrating, but the climax was worth it.

Pokémon Scarlet (Switch) – Cleared the Mochi Mayhem epilogue and then… kept playing. There’s a lot of stuff to do in the DLC!

Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up: December 2023

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The Talos Principle 2 (PS5) – Yeah, I played it again. Had to get the platinum trophy on this one, you know?

Super Mario RPG (Switch) – Part of me wants to complain that not enough was changed and playing this remake just felt like going through the motions, but the other part of me says “Shut up, idiot! It’s still a 10/10 game! Just with better music now!” And also the new post-game content was very good, if a little too brief.

Final Fantasy XVI (PS5) – Out of the blue, a DLC expansion was released, so I purchased and played it. It was very cool (if a little short), and the new superboss was incredible! Also, finally finished my Final Fantasy (hard) mode playthrough.

Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up: November 2023

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Super Mario Bros Wonder (Switch) – Classic Mario, but with enough tweaks and new mechanics to make it feel completely fresh. Most stages have unique Wonder gimmicks, and just about all of them change the stage in a really fun way. My favourite by far are the musical stages, which have enemies singing and bouncing along to the music. Happily played this one to 100% completion.

Mega Man X DiVE Offline (PC) – It’s a lot of fun and I really like the fanservice (of course). However, the story is just so boring and there’s so much dialogue. I’ll keep playing it to 100% because of that “a lot of fun” part.

Mega Man Battle Network (GBA) – There’s something to be said about the simplicity of the first entry in a series. Yes, it lacks the quality of life improvements from the sequels, but it also doesn’t have nearly as many gimmicks layered on top of the core gameplay. I had a great time revisiting it!

Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up: October 2023

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Gal Guardians: Demon Purge (Switch) – Ran this one into the ground with the 100% clear. Read many more words about it here! Somewhat spooky.

Pikmin 1 (Switch) – It feels a little rough, coming directly from the incredible Pikmin 4, but man, it’s still such a good game. Would have been nice if Nintendo had added a few of Pikmin 4’s quality-of-life features for this re-release. Oh well! No spooks here.

Mercenary Kings: Reloaded Edition (PC) – After a little over a year of playing it on and off, it’s finally done! A little grindy, yes, but despite that, it was still pretty fun. And I got a nice, long YouTube series out of it. Hardly spooky at all.

Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up: September 2023

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TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge (Switch) – Played story mode once to clear the game with Usagi, a second story mode run with my family on my birthday, and spent a bunch of time playing the new DLC survival mode.

Wario Land 3 (GBC) – Wrote some words about this here. TLDR: I had fun, but the game has a couple of very annoying issues that may prevent future replays.

Pikmin 4 (Switch) – Completed all post-game content. Except for getting gold/platinum medals on all the Dandori Battles, because honestly doing well in those feels more dependent on RNG than skill. And nuts to that.

Peglin (PC) – We will Peglin ’till we die!