Gemini Rue

Had that game from Indie Royal. Remember that one?

started twice.

but never progressed far.

and now

after 14 years!

I finally beat it.

woho!

Dark Elf (Steam)

An old Hentai JRPG made using RPG Maker. This is the original version with the English translation that feels like it was done using an early Beta version of Google translate, which makes the game even funnier. It's now discontinued and replaced by a newer version called Dark Elf Historia, which has a new translation and doesn't crash during the final cutscene for ending 7. The new version is also censored, but can be uncensored.



Streets of Fury EX (Steam)

Just the other day I read about this game in Bitmap Books "Go Straight" book- which documents the history of side scrolling brawlers. Looking on Steam for the game showed it on sale for just a few dollars, it still is on sale too. It's worth the price, it may only be 2 hours long for a single play through, but this is one of the funniest and most stylish side scrolling brawlers I've ever played. It obviously is referencing Streets of Rage, but it is also its own thing. The fighters are all digitized real actors with their own voiced taunts and movement style. It's actually hilarious but also plays well at the same time. Get it if you like odd brawlers.

Finished:
- TOEM: A nice game where you explore "cities" and take pictures. The game is very chill and could seem a bit simple but it is quite addictive. All the screens are full of life and I really enjoyed it.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge: The story is quite ininteresting but the old fashion arcade gameplay is fun. Difficulty is not exagerated so I enjoyed it.

Full list here.

Phoenix Wright Justice for All, Feb 19 (3DS)-Haven't been able to play much since I've been on a work trip for the last month but I did manage to complete this a few days ago. I enjoyed this more than the first game if for no other reason than I had a better idea of what to expect. Cases and characters were still pretty weird but with tempered expectations I could have some fun without taking it too seriously.

Full List

Guardian Heroes (XSX)

This is an old SEGA Saturn side scrolling brawler, rated as one of the finest of its era...but a Saturn version will cost you buckoo dollars, and who has a Saturn and an old TV to plug it into anyway? Well, fear not- it got an Xbox 360 port as an XBL game. Since it's a backwards compatible game it is still sold on the Xbox marketplace and works on the modern consoles.

It's a fun little game, another that I only learnt about from the "Go Straight" book. It is unique amongst side scrolling brawlers in that it not only has character progression but many branching paths and choices to make that completely change the story and the levels you play and the ending you get. Many major characters can be foes or allies depending on choices and the paths you take. So, despite being short, it has a lot of replay potential. The Xbox version has a choice of original Saturn graphics or an updated version- though the gameplay is identical no matter which graphics you chose.

Return of the Phantom - 3/5

I'm gonna say this is a very tepid 3 out of 5. It puts an interesting spin on the Phantom of the Opera lore, and there's some nice visuals. But, in the end, it just felt under-cooked. I would not be surprised if there was a lot more stuff planned for the game that just ended up having to be shelved, for whatever reason. I beat the game with the maximum score of 250 out of 250 - so, I clearly didn't miss anything too important - but yet, it certainly felt like I did.

If you're planning on playing this, I'll say two things: first - I watched the 1925 movie before playing this, and it made me appreciate the game a lot more than I probably would've otherwise.

Secondly, I played this on the 'Challenging' difficulty. It's almost certainly not worth it. It seems like the main difference between difficulties is the length of the maze area. And, unsurprisingly, the maze area just sucks (what is it with adventure games from the 90s and their love of mazes??). So, yeah, maybe just consider playing this on the easy difficulty...

Devil May Cry 5, Feb 24 (Amazon Luna)-First time using Luna and it seems fine. Only experienced some minor lagging in a couple of chaotic fights. Game was fun. It was the first DMC game I've finished. Having missed 3.5 of the preceding 4 games a lot of the story beats didn't mean anything to me. I'm still not a huge fan of trying to string together combos in combat. But it was overall a good time.

Full List

Batora Lost Haven, Feb 25 (Amazon Luna)-I don't know if it was because I was playing on Luna or if the game is just naturally buggy as hell but this game was nearly impossible to play. Its a shame because it has some fun mechanics with the duel natures for both combat and puzzles. Everytime during combat the game would not recognize button presses or movement direction. I could take my hands off the keyboard and the character would attack randomly and keep walking until she hit an obstacle. If I exited to the menu and re-entered the game I could get a couples of seconds of relief. There was a ton of combat so I was doing this constantly. I read a comment online suggesting this might not have been a Luna issue. The combat itself was not well developed beyond attacking enemies of a certain color with the same color. The puzzles were fun having to switch back and forth to activate pillars and run thru open doorways or onto floating platforms before time ran out. The voice acting and writing weren't great and the story wasn't very original. There are four different endings depending on the choices you make in the game but none of the characters were endearing enough to really care what happened and certainly not enough to warrant another playthru. All of the complaints could have easily been overlooked with some more polish specifically for the combat issues. That combat bug really spoiled the game for me.

Full List

Far Cry: New Dawn (XSX Game Pass)

The standalone sequel to Far Cry 5. It even uses part of the same map, apparently- I haven't played Far Cry 5 yet. Anyway, it follows the usual recent Far Cry trends. The shooting and general gameplay is fine and generally enjoyable. The open world here is just a smaller version of the larger maps in the full games.

The story missions are terrible. Too many of them take your guns and equipment and sidekick away so that you can be forced down a linear scripted cinematic dogshit of a mission. Why make an open world game and then do this? Why let me build up my character and strive towards getting tier 4 weapons and train Horatio the killer Boar up as my sidekick so that he's a one Boar ass kicking machine, and then never let me use any of it when it matters? Why did I craft that helicopter with guns, when the game won't let me use it during the camp attack at the end of the story? I mean I flew the thing there; I parked it right outside the final mission, then the game just makes it disappear whilst I get jumped during a cutscene. It's an open world game...just let me get to the mission areas any way I want, let me find my own way into the place and then just let me handle things the way I feel like. It's meant to be a video game, not a movie.

The story was crap too, degenerating into some drug fueled la la land tripe...the writers probably thought they were making a modern Heart of Darkness or Apocalypse Now. Overall, the shooting and blowing shit up in the open world is actually really fun, though the world is a bit small, and that part of the game is short. The story and characters were pretentious- also short, but I consider that a mercy in this case. Ubisoft, stop trying to make movies. In fact, developers in general, stop trying to make movies. Please.

Doom of Icewind Dale (official NWN:EE DLC)

While not flawless and a few things still need ironing out, this DLC was a lot of fun to me and definitely worth the asking price. Sure, you can play a lot of similarly great campaigns for free, but that's not because their authors don't deserve getting paid - I have the highest respect for anyone dedicating years of their lifetime just to entertain people for a couple of hours and I'm humbled that some people would do it for free, which is not a given. And Luke Scull, the author of this paid DLC, already released and enhanced several of his previous modules for free, plus, from what I understand, the funds gained from this will help support work on the planned sequels.

And despite this being part one of a planned series, it feels quite satisfying as a standalone module, too. There is a complete story arc that will take the average player a few days to play through and that features many well known characters from other D&D adventures, total fan service. Now, I wouldn't really call myself a fan of the lore, but I do have a long history of playing D&D videogames. If you do, too, a lot in this module will feel familiar to you. I've read some reviewers talk of clichés, but to me it felt more like an homage and a love letter to anyone who enjoys the Forgotten Realms universe, Neverwinter, Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, with a few nods to Planescape / Mask of the Betrayer as well. It makes use of common tropes, but there are quite a few memorable encounters and locations that make it stand out as its own thing that doesn't need to shy away from comparison to the other great D&D games and NWN modules.

Just like Tyrants of the Moonsea, Doom of Icewind Dale features cool new creature and NPC models as well as new music (though no new voiceovers to speak of, but I'm fine with that). It also makes great use of newer tilesets. If I had one complaint, it's that the areas are almost too beautifully designed for what they are used for, which seems like a bit of a waste. Especially in the beginning, areas can feel a bit empty since they are huge but populated only with a few sparse encounters and loot chests. The locations looked like something I wanted to spend hours in, explore any nook and cranny and marvel at everything, but in part they were just backdrop for more or less linear hack and slash action or a market hub, which is a pity. That being said, there were also lots of smaller areas that were so uniquely designed and used that I had much more fun than with NWN's default campaigns, and, as mentioned, some encounters were truly memorable.

Before playing, I had already seen a few complaints about difficulty and balance, so I chose to play it safe with a cleric, which I deem one of the most enjoyable and versatile classes in NWN, and that worked out perfectly for me. I still played my character more like a fighter than a true spellcaster, but a fighter with options and buffs. And I had no complaints whatsoever. If anything the game became quite easy soon, but power fantasies are a part of RPGs, so I didn't mind. I can totally see though how playing a pure fighter or rogue might be much less fun, especially in the beginning when you're stripped of all equipment, which is not such a big deal for lvl 10 spellcasters but a very big deal for melee classes whose strengths are more dependent on items. I believe the author is currently listening to feedback and planning to revise and update a few things in the module, so that might still improve. Maybe I'll try replaying the module with a totally different class, just out of curiosity, even though I don't usually like replays. In any case, if you want to avoid too many frustrations and you want to have an easier time, I'd recommend picking cleric or mage for this module at the moment. But there are class-specific items for all kinds of classes, like bards and monks, too.

All in all, I give Doom of Icewind Dale a thumbs up and would recommend it, if you're a fan of NWN and/or D&D lore.

I finally got around to finishing Metal Gear (MSX version). Good memories from 35 years ago when my cousin and I played it to death on the NES. It is IDENTICAL to the NES version, but longer. It brought back memories.

I had to use a walkthrough, lol, but I got through it.

Hi, please Include me!

Thanks!

Yes, your Grace

Finished only one time, about six hours. Nice pixel art and good music. Game is about taking decissions beeing a King, and having to defend your kingdom of the attacks of your enemies.

I was thinking to make a second play but you can´t avod the wedding of your daughter with Ivo, and that is enough for me. When you see in the wall that the husband of your daughter has been hitting her, he should be kill him with the sword or cutting his head. I don´t want to repeat the same decission. Furthermore the battles have the same ending to progress. Only minor changes not worth to repeat it.

I finished “Pirates of the Flying Fortress”, an expansion of Two Worlds 2 that’s sold with the main game and the “Castle Defense” expansion. I completed it in 25 h, though it took me longer than I expected in real life days. I wasn’t playing much each day during February.

PotFF features a spin-off story, no need to know the main game’s story to play it. I consider it one of the most interesting plots I’ve seen in a game. At the start you are being assigned, by a pirate captain, to find “The Treasure” in an archipelago, but what you finally find couldn’t be expected either by you, or by anyone else involved. If you’ve bought Two Worlds 2 and you can’t find the mood, or the time needed, to play the game as a whole, I advise you to play just this expansion. It isn’t long, less than my time, I dilly-dallied sometimes (as I do in every RPG I play)!

Rayman Origins. Rayman goes back to 2D. The game looks lovely and in general is more accessible than the original game, which is notorious for its difficulty. This game is tough, too, but checkpoints are generous and you can take as many cracks at it as you need until you get it. There's maybe a bit of influence from modern masochistic platformers in there.

For the most part it controls fine, although I did struggle occasionally with running off ledges or building up enough momentum to nail jumps in sequence. I think part of my problem is that the game likes to zoom in and out depending on situations and when it pulls back it gets a little harder to stay focused on your guy. But generally this game is a fun time and often hilarious.