52 Games in 52 Weeks - 2019 Edition of Despair

[Samus Aran]

HELL YEA BITCHES time to fail this again

KAZ'S DOMAIN: VOLUME 2



Currently Playing/Plan on Playing Soon:

-Nier
-The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
-Narcissu 1st/2nd
-Bayonetta
-Red Dead Redemption 2
-God of War 2018
-Quake
-Inside
-Dust: An Elysian Tale
-Yoshi's Woolly World
-Metroid: Other M
-Golden Sun
-Dragon Quest III
-Mega Man Legends
-Madworld
-Final Fantasy Mystic Quest


Finished:

1. Mega Man 11 - 1/2 - 3.5 hrs
2. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones  - 1/26 - 38 hrs
3. Savant - Ascent - 2/2 - 30 min
4. Sonic Mania - 2/6 - 6 hrs
5. BioShock 2 - 2/14 - 14 hrs
6. Mario & Wario - 2/16 - 4 hrs
7. Dragonball Z: Super Butouden 3 - 2/18 - 15 min
8. Valkyria Chronicles 4 - 3/9 - 40 hrs
9. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - 4/9 - 37 hrs
10. Written in the Sky - 4/23 - 40 min
11. The Mirror Lied - 4/23 - 30 min
12. LiEat - 4/26 - 4 hrs
13. Handsome Mr. Frog - 4/27 - 45 min
14. Gone Home - 5/1 - 2 hrs
15. Nekopara Vol. 2 - 5/24 - 4 hrs
16. Half-Life - 5/28 - 14 hrs
17. Burning Daylight - 5/29 - 40 min
18. Wild Guns Reloaded - 6/9 - 2 hrs
19. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd - 6/12 - 5 hrs
20. Out There Somewhere - 6/14 - 1.5 hrs
21. Killer Instinct (Game Boy) - 6/22 - 30 min
22. Super Mario Maker 2 - 7/8 - 6 hrs
23. Your Smile Beyond Twilight - 7/10 - 2 hrs
24. Kirby's Epic Yarn - 7/11 - 5 hrs
25. Kirby's Block Ball - 7/24 - 3 hrs
26. Salamander 2 - 7/25 - 20 min
27. EarthBound Beginnings - 7/31 - 20 hrs
28. Yakuza Kiwami - 9/6 - 42 hrs
29. LoZ Link's Awakening (Switch) - 9/29 - 18 hrs

30. Kirby and the Amazing Mirror - 10/9 - 7 hrs
This is one of the worst "mainline" Kirby games. That does not at all mean it's bad. There aren't any bad ones. It's just a much weaker game than I was hoping for. When I initially got this game as a kid, I only played it for a while before getting kinda frustrated with it. I didn't really want a Metroidvania Kirby game, and that's what this is. The formula...mostly works, but the level design doesn't really suit it super well? Everything looks so samey and it's hard to keep track of what's what without constantly looking at the map. But otherwise it's the same great gameplay as Nightmare in Dreamland. Uh, the ending is really weird though? After doing enough damage to the final boss, the credits just start rolling immediately while you finish blasting away at him shmup style. Very, very anticlimactic. Solid game overall.

31. Dead Space 2 - 10/15 - 11 hrs
So, if you liked Dead Space, you'll like Dead Space 2. But this game is to RE5 as the first one was to RE4. This game is less spooky and more actiony, with a lot more enemies and more rooms that just have waves and waves of them. It's otherwise mostly the same, though. The section where you go back to the ship from the first game is really cool. But the whole last chapter is garbage tbh. Oh well. Great game otherwise. Ending is a really funny callback to the first game, too.

32. Supercharged Robot VULKAISER - 10/23 - 30 min
Indie shmup that parodies very old giant robot anime, we're talking pre-Gundam here. Like 50s and 60s anime. Anyway, outside of the neat love letter to these classic shows, it's actually a pretty mediocre game tbh. Really too bad, I was hoping for more. Pretty easy for a shmup too.

33. VVVVVV - 10/23 - 2 hrs
Cool fucking game. Idk why I never finished this back in the day. Actually died a lot less than I thought I would, maybe I'm just that much of an epic pro gamer. There are a couple extremely frustrating rooms but by and large it's very fair difficulty and a really fun game. Indie classic for a good reason.

34. Resident Evil 2 (2019) - 10/25 - 12 hrs
Damn, what a great fucking remake. There are only tiny criticisms I have, like how it toned down the goofiness and became a more serious game. Or how the sewer section definitely overstays its welcome. Mr. X also sort of just becomes a nuisance after a bit. But these are all such small complaints, because this game is really, really fucking good. It's basically everything I could've wanted in a remake of RE2. Super tight gameplay, various parts of the original expanded upon in great ways, and obviously this game looks fantastic. This remake is super faithful to the original in all the right ways, right down to the scarcity of ammo.

35. At Home Alone - 10/29 - 1 hr
This is a free "horror" game on Steam that was likely made in RPG Maker. It tries to capture Yume Nikki vibes and uses this "cyclical story" concept where literally everything is a bad end, no matter what changes you make. The English translation is really bad and, uh, idk there's just not much here. Not a good game, but not offensively bad.

36. River City Girls - 11/5 - 8 hrs
Great game. I'm not a huge fan of sidescrolling beat-em-ups tbh, it's a genre I've always found a bit dull. This is easily one of the best ones I've played, though. Love the overall visual style of this game, the goofy moves/combos you can do (one of Kyoko's heavy moves is a dab, and she even has a Chun-Li Spinning Bird Kick as a super), and I especially love the fuckin music. Top notch tracks, especially the vocal ones. If you like River City/Kunio-Kun games at all, obviously you'll like this, as it's the same type of game. And it has a lot of fanservice for fans of the series, too. Had a lot of fun with this one, recommended.

37. I Love You, Colonel Sanders - 11/6 - 1 hr
I went into this thinking it would be a stupid but funny visual novel akin to the likes of Hatoful Boyfriend. What I got instead was something that's only stupid and not funny at all. It certainly tries to be funny, but man, this one is actually only bad and nothing else. Not recommended, but it is free so I guess all you can waste is time.

38. Mega Man Zero 4 - 11/17 - 4 hrs
Well, I've finally finished this series. 4 is good, buuut it might be my least favorite of these games. Whereas 1 and 2 knock it out of the park, 3 and 4 feel a bit stale in comparison. But generally speaking this is still just more of the same goodness. It's just not as interesting story or concept-wise.

39. Celeste - 11/18 - 8 hrs
This has to be one of my favorite games I've played this year so far. It's such a complete package. The gameplay is super fun and addictive while also being challenging in a very fair way. But also? The fucking messages?? This game takes an actual, serious look at depression and anxiety and what lengths we will go to in order to treat ourselves or ignore our problems. This game is a rollercoaster of emotions while still being a simple, hard game about climbing a mountain. I legitimately got fucking goosebumps as I neared the peak of the mountain. This game is beautiful.

40. Pokemon Sword - 11/25 - 45 hrs
Another great entry for the series. Look, I'm sad about the huge dex cut too, but what IS here is fantastic. Yeah, other games have done story better, but what other games have the wild area? What other games have this awesome spectator sport aesthetic and dynamaxing? It's a great game. But yes, it is unfortunate that so many of my favorite Pokemon are missing.

41. Fox Hime Zero - 11/28 - 2.5 hrs
A short, cute kinetic visual novel available on Steam. There's not really a whole lot to say about this one, it's just a nice, simple romance story that's pretty typical of the genre in basically every way (except that it's not porn lol). Very wholesome but also very generic.

42. Yume Nikki ~Dream Diary~ - 12/5 - 6.5 hrs
There's a good reason this game was initially met with derision. It's a pretty pointless remake of a classic, beloved game with a very devoted fanbase. It's not terrible, but I don't see much reason for its existence. It being 3D doesn't really add anything at all (in fact the models are pretty subpar). The new platforming sections are actually pretty poorly done, especially Block World. And while plenty of the original is recreated faithfully, there are quite a few things missing. For shame. The new endings are also pretty lame. But it's still overall a fairly enjoyable nostalgia trip. Just...not anywhere near as good or as important as the original.

43. Fluffy Store - 12/11 - 3.5 hrs
Another short visual novel by the same creators as the above Fox Hime Zero. It's a kinetic one about animal girls again, and still pretty generic. This one isn't really a romance story, but it does seem to be following a certain trend that various cutesy VNs have been following for a while now: stories about cute girls helping with shops, bakeries, etc. And I think it's entirely the fault of Nekopara being popular.

44. Undertale - 12/11 - 6 hrs

45. Gunstar Heroes - 12/13 - 2 hrs

46. The Waters Above: Prelude - 12/14 - 30 mins

47. Thunder Force III - 12/22 - 1 hr

48. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle - 12/23 - 2 hrs

49. Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies - 12/26 - 28 hrs

50. Monster World IV - 12/27 - 9.5 hrs

51. Soul Blazer - 12/31 - 10 hrs

52. Half-Life 2: 12/31 - 14 hrs

[AAAAAAAA]

SloppyJimbo's Domain

Completed:

• Super Smash Bros Ultimate - 1/4 - 75-80 hrs
• Night in the Woods - 1/20 - 5-10 hrs
• What Remains of Edith Finch - 1/21 - 2-3 hrs
• Tacoma - 1/27 - 2-3 hrs
• Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle - 2/17 - 30-35 hrs
• Red Dead Redemption 2 - 2/24 - 55-60hrs
• Ace Attorney Investigations - 3/24
• Marvel's Spider-Man - 3/30
• Kirby's Adventure - 3/30
• Wargroove - 4/4 - 30-35 hrs
• Baba is You - 4/20
• Final Fantasy X - 5/27 - 45-50hrs
• Minit - 6/1 - 1-2hrs
• Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - 6/2
• Katana Zero - 6/5
• Behind the Screen - 6/7
• Super Mario Maker 2 - 7/5
• Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - 7/15
• Final Fantasy IX - 7/18
• Cadence of Hyrule - 7/21
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - 7/28
• Match Land - 7/29
• Unavowed - 8/28
• Outer Wilds - 9/12
• Downwell - 9/28
• Card of Darkness- 10/3
• Dragon Quest VII - 10/13
• Kirby's Dream Land 3 - 10/16
• Doki Doki Literature Club - 10/20
• Gris - 10/27
• Superhot - 11/3
• What the Golf? - 11/3
• Assemble With Care - 11/3
• God of War (2018) - 11/14
• Grindstone - 11/21
• Pilgrims - 11/22
• Sayonara Wild Hearts - 11/23
• Untitled Goose Game - 11/28
• Spek - 12/9
• Shovel Knight: King of Cards - 12/16
• Pokemon Shield - 12/25
• Tangle Tower - 12/27
• LEGO Builder's Journey - 12/31

[/list]

[Nyerp]

Nyerp Town

Currently Playing:

-Final Fantasy """3"""

Completed:

1. Smash Bros. Ultimate: World of Light (100%) - 1/14 - 31:10:05
multiplayer good, this mode boring

2. Kingdom Hearts 3 - 2/5 - 39:42:05
fun game bad story

3. Kid Icarus: Uprising - 2/21 - 8:58:26
fun game bad controls

4. Red Dead Redemption 2 - 3/13 - 60:19
the death stranding of rockstar games

5. LittleBigPlanet 3 (Story Mode) - 3/18 - ~5 hours
short and bland but okay

6. Devil May Cry 5 - 3/25 - 20 hours?
this rules but i hate vergil

7. Ys VIII - 4/12 - 63:45:50
cool island survival premise, rest is generic jrpg nonsense

8. Full Throttle Remastered - 4/20
funny game and cool artstyle but that bike combat part sucked

9. The Messenger (100%) - 5/16 - 14:29:36
good until it turns into a bad metroidvania

10. Shadow of the Tomb Raider (rental) - 5/28
no

11. Cuphead - 6/3
epic

12. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - 6/8 - 48:02:52
fr*cking epic

13. Folklore - 6/19 - 17:02
slow and repetitive, ultimately worth it

14. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - 6/26 - 21:41:50
ugly and frustratingly glitchy but it's a welcome return of METROID CASTLEVANIAS

15. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (100%) - 7/8 - 10:31:13
i'm not horny for shantae so i can admit this game is just okay

16. Mega Man Legends - 7/14 - 13:07:24
low poly blast from past with some clunk

17. Mega Man Zero - 7/24 - 4:25:41
it's mega man x but on gba, not really compelled to play more

18. Yakuza Kiwami - 8/3 - 35:19
walk cutscene punch walk cutscene punch walk cutsc

19. Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition - 8/20 - 29:57:26
frankenstein's monster of game ideas done better elsewhere, like the first one

20. The Wonderful 101 - 9/3 - 14:56:09
wii u jank: the game

21. Mischief Makers - 9/14 - 4:54:08
shake shake

22. Owlboy - 9/17
dang look at those pixels. game? uuhhhhh

23. Rayman 2: The Great Escape - 9/24
a dozen variations on autorun sections, kinda frustrating but still good

24. Banjo-Kazooie - 10/11 - 13:38:05
GUH-HUH

25. Yooka-Laylee - 10/22 - 24:20:41
GUH-Huuuueeewwww the character designs, gross look at her tentacles

26. REmake HD - 11/5 - 14:28:42
lisa trevor did nothing wrong

27. Luigi's Mansion 3 - 11/13 - 20:16
gooigi okay, wish it was more like lm1

28. Guacamelee! 2 - 11/15 - 12:42:54
still fun beat-em-up metroidvania, still too many memes/references

29. Star Fox: Assault - 11/19
but i don't wanna get out of the arwing

30. Death Stranding (rental) - 11/29 - 57:17:10
the strand genre's first and only installment

31. Thimbleweed Park - 12/9 - 14:53
thank god for the hint system

32. Hollow Knight - 12/23 - 34:37:10
one of the most addictive and gratifying metroidvanias i've ever played

33. Shinobi (2002) - 12/24 - 2:49:53
damn that game was fuckin' hard as fuck

[TooB]

TooB's DomAIn

1. Red Dead Redemption 2 (1/9/19)

2. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (1/21/19)

3. Kingdom hearts 2.8 (1/22/19)

4. Kingdom Hearts 3 (2/2/19)

5. Resident Evil 2 REmake (2/7/19)

6. Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (3/5/19)

7. Devil May Cry 5 (3/15/19)

8. Sekiro (4/8/19)

9. Pokemon Let's Go Eevee (5/29/19)

10. Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (6/19/19)

11. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (6/29/19)

12. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (9/13/19)

13. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Remake (9/22/19)

14. Dead Space (10/18/19)

15. Trails of Cold Steel 2 (10/28/19)

16. Band Hero career mode (11/19/19)

17. Spyro 1 Reignited (11/25/19)

18. River City Girls (12/31/19)

[C.Mongler]

CHARLES MONGLER'S GAMES N PAINS EMPORIUM

Currently on the ole' docket:
-deeze nuts

THE LIST:

1. Red Dead Redemption 2 - 1/1/2019 - 40 something hours? Idk lol
Score: 5/5
so yeah I obviously chunked away at this mostly in 2018, but I finally finished it on my final day of vacation lol. anyway, this game has a fucking incredible narrative imo. some of the character building a plot development is some of the best i've ever experienced. it's probably the single best prequel, narrative wise , i've ever seen too. that said, the game has some really weird/dumb gameplay issues that it really shouldn't have. the first like 10-15 hours are a total slog. open world rockstar games still control and feel like dogshit, and this one adds shit tons of button holding on top of it. but i found the story so fuckin' sweet that i can overlook all the large pile of minor grievances i have with the rest of the game so fuck it.

2. Astro Bot: Rescue Mission - 1/9/2019 - 8 hours or so
Score: 5/5
okay first off this game is fucking ADORABLE. but it's also really fucking fun. at the end of the day it's just a platformer, but it does a bunch of really cool and unique-to-VR shit that just constantly keeps you smiling like "damn that's clever". the boss fights were also all really fun to play. this is a must play if you have a PS VR for sure. my only complaint is the soundtrack could have used a couple more songs. by the end of the game you've heard the same song reused like three (or more?) times. it didnt matter too much because the songs included were friggin sweet tho.

3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - 1/13/2019 - 30 somethin' hours
Score: 5/5
by 'beat' i mean i unlocked every character and also beat world of light. beat classic mode a handful of times too but whatever. anyway, this is probably my favorite smash ever, and rightly so because EVERYONE IS HERE. there's much god damn content in this game i really don't know how sakurai has maintained any of his sanity. i look forward to smashing for many days and years to come. also the belmonts fucking RULE.

4. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - 1/22/2019 - Like 7 hours
Score: 4/5
man, i'm v torn on this one. Hellblade is a very very good storytelling experience, but a kind of an abysmal game. at no point did i really enjoy playing it, but i also was completely mesmerized by the narrative and its presentation the entire journey. idk. at its core Hellblade is a walk-down-a-pretty-hallway kinda game. the main 'gameplay' consists of perspective puzzles where you try to find something in the environment to open a door or path. there's a few instances of this being neat, but after the 20th time of trying to find a pile of sticks that look like a rune, it gets pretty old. there's also combat, that is so close to being fun, but the camera is so damn tight to senua that you can't see fucking anything, and it ends up being the only difficulty in combat time and time again. I guess it kind of makes sense though, as it makes you feel hella claustrophobic which is in line with the feeling of the rest of the game, but it's just not fun to play. i would definitely be interested in giving this game another go in VR though, i feel like that would make me care a bit less about its flaws.

5. Katamari Damacy Reroll - 2/8/2019 - Like 3 or 4 hours
Score: 4/5
i forgot how short this game is lol. it's still katamari damacy. i also forgot how fucking janky the first game is. you're constantly getting stuck, even looking at a dangerous surface/object causes shit to go flying off your katamari, you can't jump at all, and there's like 1.5 levels lol. its kind of weird they ported JUST the original game as-is instead of porting katamari forever, or doing like a compilation with we love katamari, or updating mechanics or anything. idk. game's still fun, but it's also very much a game that was made 15 years ago lol

6. Resident Evil 2 (2019) - 2/20/2019 - Like 16 hours
Score: 5/5
damn what a good ass game. i've never actually 100% beaten this game but I'm glad I finally have. capcom was super faithful to the original but also kept it scary as heck. it's basically everything you would want out of a remake. only complaints was it was kind of weirdly too campy at some points, and mr. x, while still terrifying as shit, becomes kind of annoying after a while.

7. Apex Legends - 2/24/2019 - Like 15+ hours or some shit
Score: 5/5
okay you're probably like 'wtf how do you beat apex, a multiplayer game with no plot'. well one fuck you and two i finally won my first match after hours and hours of playing, so i'm counting it i don't give a fuck. this is the most fun i've had with any battle royale; i'll deff be playing this for months to come and am super excited to follow the development of the game. the movement is really nice, even with the loss of wallrunning, the gunplay is really good, and the world is really well built and there's so many nooks to uncover. anyway, play this shit with me family

8. Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes - 3/1/2019 - 10 hours
Score: 3/5
man this one was tough. I really enjoyed the narrative, the humor, and the general themes of the game. I think TheGamingBritShow video on the game really helps contextualize a lot of stuff in this game. That said, man actually playing the game is a fucking slog. the combat is extremely basic, special skills all have extremely long cooldowns which make them feel kind of lame, and a few of the sub games were just plain bad or frustrating. also the game is buggy as fuck, and i had multiple glitches that made me have to replay about an hour total of the game. Anyway, I'd say it's a decent experience IF you are a fan of suda51/grasshopper, however if you aren't then don't bother. the game featurues a ton of suda IPs beyond just no more heroes, and is more or less a statement on suda's career thus far.

9. Katana ZERO - 4/24/2019 - 4-ish hours
Score: 4/5
my friend got me to buy this on the promise of Hotline Miami levels of ultraviolence, and the game does not disappoint there. this game i really enjoyable, and has some really tight, interesting game-play mechanics, and a pretty interesting story. that said, most of the game was relatively easy or cheese-able, and towards the end when they do up the anty a lot of times it just feels like they're throwing thousands of dudes at you just because instead of making an actual difficult and well thought out level. also it's super short at only about 4 hours, with maybe half of that being actual game time. the story also is kind of annoyingly pretentious at times, and some of the depictions of violent acts are a bit much for my taste, but OVERALL its a very solid indie title. i hope they have a sequel in the works cuz it could use one.

10. Devil May Cry 5 - 5/11/2019 - 14  hours??
Score: 5/5
so i had to bite my teeth to not dock this shit a point for fucking WIPING MY GOD DAMN SAVE. i basically cheated and had to replay through 85% of the entire fucking game, as that was the only option, but with 1 hit kills and skipping every cutscene it only took me about 2 hours thank giod. though i also made my upgrades OP as shit cuz I couldn't remember what I had spent at that point. oh well. anyway! this game is fucking sick. dante is cool as hell. nero isnt a whiny little bitch anymore and is maybe even sweeter than dante now??? v was fine too i guess. this game is so dense with moves and combos and shit its hard to wrap one's head around everything you're capable of. levels were kind of samey and hallway-ey, which is probs my biggest complaint, but that's not really important for a game like this. it's all about the action baby, which there was plenty of!!!

11. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - 5/24/2019 - 17 hours or somethin
Score: 4/5
yeah the friggin' DS game, except I played this on the recently re-released, remastered trilogy edition on the Switch. So I actually got to the last case on this shit on the DS back in the day, but the DS shit annoyed me and so I dropped it. annnnd in 2019? it's p good. I'll be honest, there's a lot of shit that annoys me about this game and I'm hesitant to continue with the other two. For one, I fucking hate the investigation parts of these games. They're too long, too boring, and usually you just sit there poking shit or showing every person you can talk to everything you have in your possession to advance the story. Now i freakin LOVE the court room stuff, BUT i wish i wasn't so binary. it's either you present the right shit at the right time, or fuck you I DONT KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKIN ABOUT PHOENIX!! also the plot: so many people leave out ridiculous, pertinent information for basically no fucking reason until the very last second after you basically dig it out of their assholes, especially in Turnabout Goodbyes. Regardless, you feel like a cool dude in court, and the characters for the most part are super fun, so fuck it this game still gets a pass.

12. Dark Souls: Remastered - 6/7/2019 - 40 hours n change
Score: 5/5
i've been choppin' away at this one for quite some months (hell, longer if u cant failed attempts at other versions of this game), but i FINALLY fucking beat the OG dork souls. what an incredible game. everything about this game, while tuff titties sometimes, just felt so so good. even when i was getting my shit kicked in, i loved almost every minute of this game. well, almost, except for the final bits of the game where some stuff just felt lazy, or bs, or just like lazy bs. like tomb of giants? that was some dumb bullshit. lost izalith and the bed of chaos? duummmmmbbbb. that said, even though they were weaker parts it didn't really detract from the quality of the game as a whole. guess i gotta play 2 & 3 now baby!!

13. Cadence of Hyrule - 6/18/2019 - 5 hours or so
Score: 5/5
holy shit this game is fucking DOPE. it's like a rhythm based, randomized, spiritual succesor to a link to the past. it takes a little bit to get used to the game (especially if you havent played crypt of the necrodancer like myself), but once it gets going this shit is so much fun. and holy FUCK the soundtrack is fucking stellar. this shit is seriously one of the best things on switch. and it also offers so many gameplay options and is super replayable.

14. Gato Roboto - 7/9/2019 - 3 Hours
Score: 3/5
this game is fine! it by no means is a bad game, however it does almost nothing notable for the metroid(not even vania, this shit is very just metroid imo) genre. the story was cute, the game plays nice, but it's very short and none of the powerups really felt cool or interesting, just exactly what you'd expect if you've played metroid before. also while I usually don't mind retro or minimalist art styles, in this game it wore on me pretty quickly because Gato Roboto's monochromatic style made every environment feel exactly the same. i feel like i would have liked the game a bit more if they just went for an 8-bit style instead so the levels could have some uniqueness to them. also the difficulty spikes for the bosses vs what's expected of you in normal gameplay are huge. every boss i would get stuck for like 20 minutes whereas i could breeze through the rest of the game. game's short and definitely meant for speedrunnin' tho so thats cool

15. Mario Maker 2 - 7/24/2019 - 15 Hours or somethin'
Score: 5/5
i beat the story mode, as well as fucked around with endless mode and makin' a few levels. i definitely plan on playing more into the next few years obviously. dunno really what to say; it's freakin' mario maker. either you make the mario, or the mario makes you pardner.

16. Outer Wilds - 8/23/2019 - 10-20 hours? idk lol
Score: 5/5
holy fuck i was not prepared for how much i was going to LOVE this game. like seriously, this is probably my GOTY. It's very difficult to explain what makes this game so special, but it's basically a space exploration adventure game with a whooole lotta heart. If I were to describe it as a video game soup, it's one part No Man's Sky, one part The Witness, one part Fez, and a dash of Majora's Mask. It's a game where you are a race of space explorers, and it's finally your time to get a ship of your own and explore the galaxy and learn more about an ancient alien species your homies have been researching. come to find out that the fucking sun is 22 minutes from exploding, and when it does, instead of meeting certain death you find yourself 22 minutes in the past. thus sets you out on an adventure that's much bigger than 'find some cool shit for our museum' like was originally intended; now you're trying to figure out why you're stuck in this loop, and the bigger secrets of the universe itself. i really can't say more without getting into spoilers, but this game is fucking great.

17. A Way Out - 9/7/2019 - like 10 hours
Score: 3/5
what a fucking weird game. first off, I played through the entire game with a good buddy, and I will say that is MANDATORY for playing this game. don't bother fucking with it if you're gonna do it alone. like 90% of the game is a fucking walk up to an object and hit the same button as your buddy at the same time simulator, so honestly it's not that great. the writing, the story, the characters, are also all not great either. BUT at the verrrry end of the game, it does a really neat thing that I won't talk about that kind of made me go "okay i guess it wasnt THAT bad". but that said its kind of a fucking slog to get there though lol.

18. Doom ('93, Switch) - 9/15/2019 - some coins less than 10 hours
Score: 5/5
I haven't made a serious attempt to beat this since I was a kid, but man what a fucking sick game. Doom and Wolfenstein were the first ever PC games I saw; I watched my dad play the shit out of them when I was a kid, but I couldn't play because they were too violent. watching was fine tho?? lol. Anyway what the fuck do I need to say about this game in 2019, so I'll just talk about the port. It kind of sucks dick lol. Like obviously there are far worse Doom ports at this point, but considering its on fully capable hardware, it's kind of silly. Music is slowed down for some reason, lighting is janky, there's no online despite having co-op and deathmatch (which is appreciated still, dont get me wrong), no real settings or input mapping AT ALL, framerate is35 fps lmao, and the added bethesda shit is really annoying and slows down jumping into the game all teh damn time. also the game soft locks like half the time you go into sleep mode while playing it, so save fucking often. anyway yea doom is great but i'll take a patch before i get into doom 2 pls

19. Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch) - 9/27/2019 - 10 hours idk lol
Score: 5/5
I used to play the shit out of this game back when I was a kid, so I'm stoked they decided to remake it. Everything about this zoldo is so fucking tightly designed, like there's not a single tile in the world that feels like it isn't there deliberately. it's great. the remake is great too, but man, the performance issues for me were a bummer. the game is constantly dipping to 30 fps and its really distracting. its less of an issue in the dungeons thankfully, but you kind of have to get used to it in the overworld. also i wasnt hot on the tal tal heights mix for this game. it was fine, but IMo thats the best song in the entire zelda canon and it shoulda been more of a bop in this game.

20. Untitled Goose Game - 9/29/2019 - like 2 hours
Score: 3/5
this game is silly, and that's probably the best thing going for it. i think it's best experienced as a group activity as something to giggle over; my wife really got a kick out of watching me play the back half of this game. that said, for me once i got over the initial thrill of being a goose, the gameplay kinda wore out on me. a good 50% of the game revolves around just waiting for AI to cooperate with what you're trying to accomplish. most of the puzzles also are either just plainly obvious, or just really obtuse trial and error. i've also read online that THERES LOTS OF WAYS TO SOLVE EACH PUZZLE, but from what I could tell it seemed like there was pretty clearly only one intended way in most cases. the game is also REALLY short too; even if you do all the endgame bonus challenges you'll beat it with like 3 hours played at most. idk it does look really nice though, and being a goose is very silly, i just wish the AI wasnt so dumb and there was a bit more openness to it.

21. Ghost Giant - 10/1/2019 - 3-4 hours
Score: 4/5
ghost giant is an ENDEARING ass game, let me tell you. it tells the story of some scared kid who has a depressed mom who also speaks french for some reason, it's great. that said the game is kind of basic, and the controls feel kinda dog shit sometime (could just be move controllers tbf) and sometimes the game does an ass job of directing you at what to do, but i loved the main character and the story so much i didnt really give a shit. neat lil game if you want to play some heartwarming shit. also its VR if i didnt mention that ( i didnt)

22. Panzer Dragoon - 10/4/2019 - Like 3 hours
Score: 4/5
what a neat little game. the controls absolutely take some getting used to in 2019, as well as understanding your hitbox in a the 3D space, but once you get them down decently the game is mad fun. feels a lot like a proto Star Fox 64. the whole time i was playing i took in the visuals thinking about what it must have been like to play this shit in '95; back then the best looking games I had seen were Donkey Kong Country 2 and Chrono Trigger. Panzer Dragoon is like some fuckin' Killzone 2 shit in comparison. Game's pretty short, but I'm definitely interested in seeing how to remake pans out now that I've enjoyed the classix. Hopefully gonna knock out Zwei soon so I can get to my ultimate goal here, Saga.

23. Blasphemous - 10/10/2019 - 15 hours and some change
Score: 3/5
i'm really torn on how I feel about this game. one on hand, it's really decent, it has a fucking amazing world with a super fleshed out, interesting lore, the art is fucking INCREDIBLE, and some of the bosses enemies are really cool, grotesque, and interesting. that said, this game has several layers of BULLSHIT that was making me pull my hair out towards the end. it doesn't really commit to any sort of style; it's kind of a Soulslike and kind of a Metroidvania, but to me feels more retro inspired than anything. There's RPGish element, but they are extremely trivial and never really feel rewarding. There's almost no additional traversal mechanics to unlock, and the ones you do are more or less optional for completing the game. But my biggest issues come from the fact that the game feels really fucking buggy, or just generally off, a lot of the time. You'll constantly clip through platforms you thought you should have definitely grabbed. Your remnants will get stuck in fucking spike pits all the time so you can't clear your guilt (what you get when you die). I randomly got stuck in walls and had to restart like 5 times. The main character's animation feel really stiff and long towards the end when you're fighting bosses that can fucking pummel you in two hits while you're trying to simple recover from a slide. YOU CAN NEVER UPGRADE HOW MUCH HP FLASKS HEAL, so by the end of the game it takes 6 flasks to heal yourself...and enemies can do like 2-3 flasks of damage in a single hit. There's like no invincibility frames for some reason, so there's several enemies who can stun lock you if you aren't careful. The devs thought it was funny to give all the enemies near spike/bottomless pits absurd knockback for some reason; I could go on. If you're interested in this game, go into it with an open mind and mostly just because you're interested in the world. This ain't some Hollow Knight or Ori shit. I do hope they make a sequel because I think it could be that with some more fine tuning, but this game coulda used a bit more work in some spots.

24. What the Golf? (iOS) - 10/14/2019 - 3 hours
Score: 5/5
okay no part of me thought that when I signed up to apple arcade and booted this shit up cuz i was bored while my wife was shopping that this game would be one of my favorites so far this year. holy shit this game is SO GOOD. its so fucking funny, clever, endearing, the graphics and music are great, and even the controls are great on phones. if you have an iphone capable, fucking sign up for the arcade trial and play this. i don't want to say too much cuz theres plenty of cool surprises in this game, but it GREAT. curious to see how it will translate to consoles tho (tho i guess its on apple tv which is practically the same thing) cuz the game uses the accelerometer and even changes orientation sometimes

25. Sayonara Wild Hearts (iOS) - 10/15/2019 - Like 2 hours
Score: 5/5
continuing my Apple Arcade adventure with this ALSO GOOD ASS GAME. it's a STYLING AS ALL FUCKING GET OUT arcade score-attack rhythm-esque (kind of) game. its kind of like a mix of rez and thumper but way simpler than both and a lot more gay (well, bi; assuming from the color palette). it's short as heck, but i enjoyed every minute of it. i definitely need to pick this up on something that isnt a tiny phone screen as I'm sure this would lick my own ass in 4k.

26. Layers of Fear (Switch) - 10/15/2019 - Like 3 hours
Score: 2/5
i made the sarcastic quip while playing this that this game should be called "Doors" because i shit you not, you open probably over 200 doors in the short few hours this game offers.i dunno, this game is not that good; had my wife not been enjoying it i probably would have stopped playing it in like the first hour. i like the sort of world-warping mindfuckery this game has going for it, but beyond that shits kinda lame. the scares are alright but pretty predictable and corny sometimes. there's almost zero gameplay beyond walking and opening doors. worst of all, the voice acting in this game is fucking BAAAAAD. like i think i would have liked the game 100% more if they just got a decent VA instead of what sounds like what they spent $40 on at the local community college. tho maybe not, because despite having multiple endings, all of them suck from what i can tell on google cuz lol im not playing this shit multiple times.

27. Return of the Obra Dinn (Switch) - 10/22/2019 - 10 hours
Score: 5/5
what the fuuuuuck this game was so fucking good. it's more or less a big murder mystery where you have to figure out who every person on a ship ravaged by DEATH is and how they died. the game drip feeds you information and it's up to you to be cunning and smart and figure that shit out. i blazed through this shit over the weekend and could not stop playing and thinking about it. a really fucking incredible experience that i highly recommend to anyone who likes adventure and/or mystery games.

28. Takeshi and Hiroshi (iOS) - 11/14/2019 - like 2 hours
Score: 2/5
man what a bummer. this game starts off pretty good: it has phenomenal claymation art cutscenes and great music, the story is about a big bro who makes shitty games who wants to impress his brother which is endearing as shit, and the actual gameplay idea is neat, which is that you control your unfinished game to satisfy your brother and make him happy. what sucks though is that the last two battles of the game suddenly ramp up the difficulty to absurd levels with how much RNG the battles have in them. i spent 80% of my playtime on the final part because of how much i kept fucking dying to dumb bullshit. what's worse is the ending sucks dick: basically your lil bro just says "wow cool game!" and it cuts to credits. no resolution, no bonding, no further story beats NOTHING. luckily its very short but damn i thought it was going to be better from the initial impressions I had. ironically, the game feels unfinished.

29. Luigi's Mansion 3 - 12/6/2019 - 12 hours
Score: 4/5
pretty darn good game I think! plays similarly to dark moon from what i remember of the little i've played of that one. my qualms though: there's little to-no-back tracking like there was in the OG wiigii mansion. that felt like an RE spoof though and through, this game is just a level based action puzzler with ghosts. also didn't like how it felt really obtuse to find enemy weaknesses sometimes. idk i could just be done. in combination with that the latch-i-ness of some of the enemies with the poltergust felt kinda glitchy, idk. in general the controls felt kinda weird. ALSO the fucking constant mario-wiigii noises as "voice acting" was really annoying. other than those things, i had a good time though.

30. AMID EVIL - 12/8/2019 - 8ish hours
Score: 5/5
really fucking sweet game. basically a retro-like quake-like game set in a medieval scifi world?? basically its quake with medieval weapons that shoot lazer beams. really enjoyed it overall, but REALLY enjoyed the last couple episodes especially. just some really cool moments and bosses. every episode has unique enemies and a unique theme which is awesome. only complaint i can make is some of the levels can feel hard to navigate at times (especially since there's no map which i find to be a godsend in old school doom for example), but its not even that big of a deal. great game.

31. The Outer Worlds - 12/10/2019 - 11 hours
Score: 4/5
the outer worlds is a decent romp, but i wish it was a bit better. solid dialogue and writing, however the world and gameplay gets kind of meh after about the half-way point; i was super OP and didnt even have to fight anything the last two hours of the game, sans the final boss. story isn't super strong towards the end either. the main plot is also super short, took probably only 9ish hours since i got tired of doing side stuff pretty quickly. it's close to being undeniably better than bethesda's offerings, but i think it has its own failings too unfortunately.

32. Hypnospace Outlaw - 12/24/2019 - 3 hours
Score: 5/5
A friend of mine got me this for xmas and I ended up burning through it in a couple sessions. Basically it's an adventure game that's played entirely through a spoof 90s operating system and web platform. you're some sort of internet cop who has to snitch on people's misdeeds on the net. it's definitely very nontraditional, but it does some really cool stuff so i def recommend it. the only downside is the game is kind of overwhelming at times because there's a lot out there on "hypnospace" for you to look at and do and it can take some sleuthing to get down the right paths to progress the plot.

33. Gears 5 - 12/28/2019 - 10 hours? idk lol
Score: 4/5
One of the better Gears games, but won't change your mind on the series lol. i saw some people saying this game is gear's god of war 2018 moment, and i wouldn't say that much but i like the way the series is going. kait is a good character, hell, probably one of the best characters in the entire franchise imo. the "open world" stuff was neat, but i quote that because it's basically just a big hallway you traverse between levels with a couple branches here and there. never really felt compelled to explore or anything like that. it's a big empty desert, and i mean that literally for the second half of the game. i hope they go whole hog on that in the next one. also wish there was like one or two extra bosses; felt a little lacking there. otherwise, had a good time, looking forward to the next one lol

[C.Mongler]

mods STICKY THIS SHIT

[Thyme]

despair?

[AAAAAAAA]

Ok so I got 1301/1302 spirits in Smash (all that you can get w/o buying Let's Go Pikachu) and completed Classic with all characters, so I'm counting that as done. There are still ~20 challenges left, but I'm not good enough to complete them, so eh.

Great game.

[Samus Aran]

i mean i counted mine in the 2018 thread simply when finishing the story mode

as far as i'm concerned, in a fighting game, you've "finished" it when you finish the story

[C.Mongler]

my personal rule for these threads has been a game is done when you feel like it is done in your heart of hearts

[AAAAAAAA]

my personal rule for these threads has been a game is done when you feel like it is done in your heart of hearts

Yeah, this basically. My thresholds typically get pretty close to 100% (unfortunately).

[TooB]

First game of 2019 finished....

Red Dead Redemption 2!!

[C.Mongler]

dang that was my first too


i beat astrobot last name game is heckin great

[C.Mongler]

3 games in babyyyy!

[AAAAAAAA]

Finished Night in the Woods! Well on my way to not even getting close to 50 games this year.

Edit: Also played through What Remains of Edith Finch, which was fantastic.