Each year seems to be getting worse. This could be my last post and quite frankly this is just a way for me to record the few silver linings of existence or maybe some linings of some inferior metal.
Movies:
The suicide squad – A surprisingly fun movie that completely dwarfs it’s predecessor in terms of quality. Easy recommendation.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife – Got an advance screening. It felt like a nice tribute to the old movies and wasn’t an awful experience by itself. Consider it a tale of redemption for the previous train wreck.
Spiderman: No way Home – Another movie that was surprisingly good. I’m just surprised that a movie with this premise could be done this well. However it has a lot of issues and it’ll be interesting to see how it holds up over time.
Anime:
Princess Connect! ReDive – It wasn’t terrible but outside of animation quality I wasn’t particularly amazed by anything.
Deca-Dence – This show had an interesting story and was quite enjoyable.
Dragon Ball Z: seasons 7,8,9 – Felt like finally re-watching these I’m including because there were some episodes I had no memory of at all. It has obvious problems but a lot of charm.
Ascendance of a bookworm – This show is surprisingly good for such a weird premise. It may be well worth watching if you want something of a slower pace that doesn’t stagnate.
Dragon Ball Super collection 2 – This bluray covers most of the show that wasn’t in the movies from what I can tell. The Future Trunks 2 story felt way too short considering the stakes but perhaps they’re overcompensating for the problems of the original DBZ. There’s more side story episodes with an emphasis on comedy which is a bit ‘hit and miss’ but overall it’s not an awful time.
Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep soul – Just like the show it’s well made but really fucked up and not for the feint hearted.
Games:
Sakura Wars (PS4) – As a story based game it’s fun but as an action game it’s repetitive and dull. I found it charming but I can’t recommend it unless you’re capable of turning your brain off for the combat.
ACA NEOGEO REAL BOUT FATAL FURY (Switch) – No expert on fighting games in fact I’m awful at them but this one did provide some enjoyment.
Pokemon Sword – With the release of the dlc I decided to give the game a shot. While it has made some improvements to the series it’s an incredibly disappointing game that’s taken steps backwards from gen 7 and it fundamentally looks low quality for a switch title. Pretty much everything people said about the game before launch holds to be true and while the dlc is a huge improvement it’s still not up to par for what is expected of a switch game. Quite frankly the only excellent features are the character designs and the music which just makes me wish they were in a better game.
Call of Duty World War II (PS4) – An unremarkable fps that just left me in a state of indifference towards it.
Good Job! (Switch) – A fun little game with silly physics and basic puzzles to solve.
Root Film (Switch) – A somewhat basic visual novel from the creators of root letter. It’s an interesting murder mystery story but the ending is a little anti-climatic.
Ori and the Blind Forrest (Switch) – An excellent Metroidvania game that was surprisingly difficult at times. It’s tries very hard with it’s story, art-style and music to be emotionally moving but personally it wasn’t until around the end that I felt anything.
Megaman 9 (Switch) – Been meaning to finish this for ages but when I first played it my ass was handed to me. I would say this is one of the more difficult games in the series but the current collection on switch has a more lenient save system that made the more bullshit areas of the game tolerable (to be fair when I played this on the Wii I made it up to wily castle without such help).
New Pokemon Snap – The best pokemon game of the year, perhaps even this generation of consoles and it’s one where you take photo’s and try to solve cryptic puzzles to get better shots. It’s flawed but I had way too much fun with it to not recommend the game.
Superliminal (Switch) – The game feels like a less funny Stanley parable, it has some neat ideas/puzzles dealing with perspective but the style is severely lacking and I can’t see myself going back to this one.
Back to the Future: The Game (PC) – An okay game I suppose, it certainly has more to do than the modern tell-tale game but of course this was before their famous choice based gameplay was a thing. The story itself is serviceable and goes into some odd places but I can’t say it’s worth it.
Streets of Rage II (Mega Drive Mini) – A fun beat ’em up game but nothing fascinating
Shinsekai: Into the depths (Switch) – A surprisingly good mobile game ported to switch. It’s a fairly unique Metroidvania-esque game that was very engaging. Maybe worth checking out.
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger HD (Switch) – The most Australian 3D platformer. It’s not aged gracefully even with the supposed visual enhancement. It’s not terrible but it’s far from great.
The Great Ace Attorney: Chronicles (Switch) – 2 excellent games in one package. I honestly never thought I’d see these officially translated and perhaps there’s some small hope for the edgeworth games being released in a similar manner. The translation/localisation seems pretty great using a lot of older language (to fit the time period) without being difficult to read. The music is pretty great trying to combine sounds more fitting that era with the usual excellence this series offers. The story in some ways was too predictable but overall I was impressed by it.
Gato Roboto (Switch) – A very short Metrodvania game that I could only recommend to enthusiasts. A more fleshed out sequel could be amazing though.
A short hike (Switch) – This game goes for a nintendo DS aesthetic and it’s a low stakes game that focuses on being cute and relaxing.
Titanfall 2 (PS4) – One of the best modern linear fps game’s I’ve played and since I only played the campaign I can’t give critique to the multiplayer. Just the campaign alone is a blast and far more memorable than the cod game mentioned previously.
Sega Ages: Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Switch) – This old arcade game is pretty brutal missing any upgrade is severely punishing and the final level takes away your continues. Plus some of these important things are behind hidden doors. Thanks to modern save shenanigans I was able to win but by no means easily.
Little Nightmares (Switch) – Sort of a 3D take on the gameplay of Limbo or Inside, this game is fine for the most part with it’s creepy visuals, and decent puzzles and platforming. The stealth side of the gameplay though seems janky though and the loading times are atrocious for a game with this much instant death. Avoid on lower powered devices like the switch.
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (Wii U VC) – The vania in Metroidvania comes from great games like these. It could be argued this one makes you spend too much time in the menu but I think it has some interesting experimentation that separates it from SotN. It’s perhaps a little too bland but I thought it was a good time outside of some grinding (which is arguably optional). Thankfully all 3 GBA castlevania games are in a collection now for purchase on modern consoles which is worth picking up.
DOOM 2016 (Switch) – It’s amazing that they ported this to switch, from what I can tell it still looks and runs great and puts certain games to shame. This is just a great game to play and it’s feels like an interesting combination of modern and classic fps games. It’s cathartic to just ‘rip and tear’ into waves of enemies using a large variation of weapons. Easily recommended.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (PS4) – Another Metroidvania, this one is heavily influence by SotN in no small part due to sharing the same creative talent. The game is quite large for the genre and does plenty of interesting things. The story is bit harder to wrap ones head around than castlevania but it has some interesting twists I suppose. Overall it’s a great game I can easily recommend (at least on PS4 anyway).
Trials of Mana (PS4) – An action rpg that is kind of simple but has a goofy charm and enough gameplay variety for me to get somewhat addicted. After seeing pretty much everything the game has to offer I can’t say it’s a must play but you can do much worse.
Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn (PS4) – Fucking waste of time. It was trying hard to be funny and the ‘comedy’ didn’t land. The gameplay is repetitive and boring.
Sega Ages: Phantasy Star (Switch) – An old school rpg that has been made more palatable by maps for dungeons and an optional Ages mode that adjusts the enemy encounter rate, and the amount of xp and gold gained per fight. The game may be too easy this way but even then I had my ass handed to me at random which makes me think the classic/original mode would have required a shit load of grinding to be doable. You may still need a guide though as the game is sometimes vague with it’s objectives.
That’s all folks if by some miracle I make another post I’ll see you then but for now consider this a farewell, if anyone is even reading this that is.
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