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[BusierDonkey]

Game 13

New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Obtained all five shining stars

New Super Mario Bros was Nintendo's return to 2D on the DS, but with 3D models. The Wii game is entirely new but keeps the DS aesthetics at a higher resolution. The end result was a very clean look, almost too clean. Everything has a satin-finish look to it and after playing Yoshi's Island again and seeing how well it holds up, this somehow doesn't look as special. Still, I'd take this look any day over the pre-rendered visuals in Yoshi's Story on the N64. The music is super catchy and fits the various areas well, but then the "Wah-wah" kicks in so the Koopas can do a dance. I don't care for it; I find it hurts an otherwise fantastic soundtrack. What I did care for was the gameplay. The last time I played this was with multiple people and the game is clearly designed around that. Platforms are generally large, always making sure there is space for the whole group. That doesn't mean the platforming suffers, just that you won't find yourself balancing on single sprite width platforms very often. Mario feels a bit more slippery and floaty than he did in Super Mario 3, closer to the original Super Mario Bros. but he has a few new tricks up his sleeves. The wall jump and the flutter mean a trip down a pitfall can be saved with the right timing and a jump that just might not make it has a second chance without being a full safety net like Yoshi's flutter. So, while the base gameplay I think is looser than in Super Mario 3, the extra maneuverability Mario's new moves add means you really have more total control over Mario than ever before in a 2D Mario game. The new powerups are great, the propeller mushroom and the penguin suit are both fun to use and come in handy throughout the game. Being a Wii game, of course you have to shake the Wiimote to pick up items which took a minute to get used to but after a while is second nature. Getting 100% completion in this game is tough but fair. while most coins stare you in the face, going back for mop-up meant a lot of testing walls, checking corners and second guesses. The secret world levels were hard, but short enough that you always feel as if you almost made it, never feeling cheap. Overall, it wasn't my favorite Mario game, but it's a fantastic platformer that holds up really well.

 

[marcincz]

Beat Dragon's Lair trilogy. It was faster, than I expected.

Game 7 - Space Ace (PS4) - 00h 28m
Beat 08/02/2025 - my score: 6/10

Game 8 - Dragon's Lair 2: Time Warp (PS4) - 00h 50m
Beat 08/02/2025 - my score: 6/10

Game 9 - Dragon's Lair (PS4) - 00h 31m
Beat 09/02/2025 - my score: 7/10

 

[Kacho]

Onimusha

I forgot how short this is. Just when it starts getting interesting it ends. Can't wait for Onimusha 2.

 

[Rafaguilera]

Unfortunately, 52 games are out of question, but I'll try at least 20.

So far this year :
​

DATE​	TITLE​	PLATFORM​	TIME PLAYED​	RATING​
01/26​	Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (Castlevania: Dominus Collection)	Switch​	15 hours​	9​
01/29​	Donkey Kong Country Returns HD	Switch​	8 hours​	8​
02/06​	Ninja Gaiden II Black	Playstation 5​	11 hours​	8​
02/07​	Haunted Castle Revisited (Castlevania: Dominus Collection)	Switch​	about 40 minutes​	6​

 

[Dacvak]

Damn, Kacho and BusierDonkey out here playing nothing but bangers lately!

 

[Kacho]

Super Mario RPG

 

[Jooxed]

Game 15 - The Convenience Store - PC 2/9/25 - 6/10 - Fun little horror game, not a great ending, also not as scary as someone hyped it up to be to me.

Game 16 - While Sleeping - PC - 2/9/25 - 8/10 - Another short indie horror, Korean study, game scared the shit out of me in multiple parts. Definitely recommend if you like horror games you can play in one sitting.

 

[BusierDonkey]

After over a month of Super Mario Bros. I thought I would dip into my never-ending Steam backlog and play some games I bought for less than $2.

Bonus Game

Pineapple on Pizza - Completed game with all achievements

This game is the most important game ever released. It's free on Steam and I do recommend you try it.

Game 14

Loddlenaut - Cleaned 100% of GUP-14

This game was $1.37 when I bought it, in Canadian dollars, so like 75 cents. That gets you 5-10 hours of farting around cleaning the ocean using a variety of devices like a zapper/bubble gun, a vacuum for microplastics and a ride-on scrubber for those pesky ocean floor oil spills. You also breed a species called loddles while cleaning the habitat. The game has zero difficulty, even if you run out of air you just respawn back at base and you go on with your day. Just don't expect any real levels of depth. It's quite polished, controls really well and the art, while simple, is perfectly adequate. The music is equally simple, it's pleasant but you won't remember a note of it the day after you finish the game. If you're looking for a comfy time burner where you're just working towards a simple goal this is a fine little game.

 

[Jooxed]

Onimusha

I forgot how short this is. Just when it starts getting interesting it ends. Can't wait for Onimusha 2.

what type of game is this? action? looks interesting.

 

[Kacho]

what type of game is this? action? looks interesting.

Yes, it's an action game. If you ever played Resident Evil or Dino Crisis on the PSX this is very similar mechanically, except you are a badass.

It's on sale for $10 everywhere right now. Onimusha was an early PS2 game and it shows. The sequel is much better and the re-release drops later this year.

 

[TuFaN]

#6⠀|⠀Resident Evil 2 Remake⠀|⠀PC⠀|⠀02-Feb-2025⠀|⠀18 hours⠀|⠀10/10

Finished multiple runs in Hardcore mode once again. I love this game!



#7⠀|⠀Resident Evil: Revelations⠀|⠀PC⠀|⠀09-Feb-2025⠀|⠀21 hours⠀|⠀5/10

Resident Evil Revelations fails to deliver a satisfying experience, feeling more like a chore than a compelling survival horror game. The gameplay lacks excitement, with dull and unintuitive enemy design that makes encounters feel uninspired. The constant need to scan environments for items quickly becomes tedious rather than engaging, and the puzzles offer little challenge or enjoyment. Perhaps the most frustrating aspect is the horrendous user interface, which is clunky and poorly designed. Overall, too many elements feel off, making this entry a disappointing misstep for the franchise.



#8⠀|⠀Resident Evil: Revelations 2⠀|⠀PC⠀|⠀12-Feb-2025⠀|⠀19 hours⠀|⠀6/10

Resident Evil Revelations 2 is a much stronger entry than its predecessor, addressing many of the issues that plagued the first game. The gameplay, while still clunky in movement and animations, feels more refined and enjoyable. The enemy variety is a major highlight, with a clever evolution in design between Claire and Moira’s campaign versus Barry and Natalia’s, showing the passage of time through decayed, skeletal foes. Combat also introduces interesting mechanics, like Natalia revealing enemy weak spots and detecting invisible threats, adding a layer of strategy.The tedious scanning system from the first game is gone, replaced by Moira’s flashlight and Natalia’s sensing abilities, making item discovery feel more natural and optional rather than a forced chore. However, puzzles remain underwhelming, with only a few standout moments, like the eerie graveyard puzzle as an example. Unfortunately, the user interface is still a mess, feeling just as clunky and outdated as before. While not perfect, Revelations 2 is a far better experience than the first, with enough improvements to make it worth playing for Resident Evil fans.

 

[SpiceRacz]

Started Dark Souls Remastered and been chipping away at that. Took a break to play some SNES stuff and landed on Joe & Mac 2. Lost in The Tropics.

It’s a fun little platformer that tries to expand on the original in mostly successful ways. They added an open map where you can tackle the levels in whatever order you want. It runs way better than its predecessor. The slowdown of the first game is nonexistent. Core gameplay is exactly the same, but there’s less weapon variety. The controls and platforming are tightened up. With that said, this one is missing the personality of J&M 1. The music, the character and enemy expressions, etc.. I wouldn’t go out of my way to play this game nor would I buy it. If you’re looking for a short action game to breeze through on an emulator though, I think it’s worth a play through.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Man, this challenge is kinda tough. I'm on track, but it's becoming pretty clear how easy it is to slip off-schedule. I should play some shorter stuff to give myself some breathing room.

 

[TuFaN]

#9⠀|⠀Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles⠀|⠀Wii⠀|⠀14-Feb-2025⠀|⠀6 hours⠀|⠀4/10

I endured this game not for fun, but for the sake of completionism, and in return, it made me replay old Resident Evil content with slightly modified scenes and areas, while mercilessly punishing my index finger.


#10⠀|⠀Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles⠀|⠀Wii⠀|⠀14-Feb-2025⠀|⠀7 hours⠀|⠀5/10

Slightly better than its predecessor thanks to the extra Leon and Krauser content, but my index finger still suffered like it was trapped in its own survival horror.


#11⠀|⠀Resident Evil: Deadly Silence⠀|⠀NDS⠀|⠀15-Feb-2025⠀|⠀4 hours⠀|⠀10/10

This title is a fantastic way to experience the original Resi from 1996 on the go. The added Rebirth mode, touchscreen puzzles, entirely new puzzles in general, and first-person knife fights are genuinely fun, but they also make the game way too easy by handing out too much ammo and extra items. While it stays true to the original’s core, releasing a decade later (and four years after the incredible REmake (I freaking love the REmake)) means it lacks the same impact for me. Still, if you don’t mind the balance issues and want a fresh take on a survival horror masterpiece, this is most definitely a solid port, to say the least.


#12⠀|⠀Resident Evil: Director's Cut⠀|⠀PS1⠀|⠀17-Feb-2025⠀|⠀3 hours⠀|⠀10/10

Finished a playthrough in advanced mode as Chris

 

[Kacho]

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Had lots of coffee and green tea while I enjoyed this over the week. Such a comfy game.

 

[Jooxed]

Game 17 - The Closing Shift - PC - 2/14/25 - 7/10 - Creepy game about a barista being stalked, enjoyed it. Kept mixing up drink orders.

Game 18 - Check Out - PC - 2/14/25 - 7/10 - Another spooky game about trying to check out of a hotel room. Few more scares than i expected but the ending fell a little flat for me.

Game 19 - The Mortuary Assistant - 2/15/25 - Enjoyed this one quite a bit, definitely very creepy.

 

[SpiceRacz]

#6 Dark Souls Remastered (PC)

22 hours total. Pretty much ran through it over the course of a week. Beat every boss except Artorias the Abyss Walker. Did a knight build and mostly used a black knight sword the entire playthrough, until I got a moonlight great sword. Feel like the game lost some steam towards the end. Some of the areas and bosses feel uninspired and it kind of drags. Good stuff though. Still the best in the series.

 

[Kacho]

Spirit Hunter: Death Mark

Eh, it's just ok. Cool idea... the execution not so much. I thought the monsters are more goofy than creepy but I dug the vibe and music. The story was somewhat interesting. Enough for me to stick with it until the end. I might check out the sequel.

 

[SpiceRacz]

#7 Samurai Jazz

This one has been sitting in my Steam library for over a decade. It's described as a "samurai noir" 8 bit action game. Very simplistic gameplay and combat (you have one attack and there's no jump button). The visuals are colorful, but still kind of bland. Not a lot of variety in the environments either. Still, the game has a unique vibe with the jazz soundtrack. The music makes it easy to just space out for an hour with this game. There's a sequel as well that incorporates actual platforming. I'll probably check it out since it's only $1.

 

[Kacho]

Mega Man X

 

[SpiceRacz]

#8 Clockwork Knight 2

I have fond memories of the original game. I think it was the first Saturn game I ever played. This one didn't really move the needle for me, even though it's just more of the same. Still, there's a lot of really impressive visual effects (for the time). The main character and enemies seamlessly move between the foreground and background. The camera shifts in different directions as you turn corners ala Bug on Saturn. It's a showcase for what the Saturn was capable of and plays to it's strengths. Kind of makes me wonder what they could have done with a proper Sonic game on this hardware. The gameplay and platforming are very simplistic. You have one attack and the jumping feels kind of stiff. Reminds me a lot of the Toy Story games on SNES & Genesis as well as DKC. Not bad by any means. As far as 2D platformers on Saturn go, you could do a lot worse.

 

[marcincz]

Update.
Started marathon with Remedy. Next is Alan Wake II.

Game 10 - Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (PS5) - 06h 28m
Beat 11/02/2025 - my score: 8/10

Game 11 - Alan Wake Remastered (PS5) - 12h 31m
Beat 16/02/2025 - my score: 8/10

Game 12 - Alan Wake Remastered - dlc the Signal (PS5) - 01h 47m
Beat 18/02/2025 - my score: 5/10

Game 13 - Alan Wake Remastered - dlc the Writer (PS5) - 01h 44m
Beat 19/02/2025 - my score: 6/10

 

[Jooxed]

Game 20 - Pillars of Eternity - 2/20/25 - 7/10 - Super fun RPG, was really into it through most of the game. Started the series because I wanted to get some backstory before avowed.

 

[bender]

After taking most of January off from gaming, I'm starting to catch up. I most recently finished Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney which is, of course, great. I love how up beat the game is which is like a warm mug of cocoa on a cold winter day. I also finished Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia which I'm pretty mixed on.

 

[jshackles]

Game 16 - The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC - PC / Steam - Completed Feb 21st, 2025
I started this game nearly three years ago (yikes!) but kept shelving it for other games in the series. I've finished Cold Steel 1 and Nayuta since then, and started in on Cold Steel 2. Well, it looks like these characters were going to start recurring, so I decided to head back to this game and finish it out before continuing on. Great thing too - this game holds up amazingly well, and by the end it's now climbed to my favorite game in the series so far! I really missed out on not playing through this 20 years ago when it first released.

 

[Jooxed]

Game 21 - From the Darkness - PC -2/21/25 - 7/10 - Another spooky game crossed off from the backlog, a few good jump scares and creepy design. Fairly decent. Back to Pillars 2

 

[March Climber]

14) Forza Horizon 1 (Xbox Series X Backwards Compatibility)

Rating: A-

Much like The Crew part 1, this game is very different that it's sequels, has a bit of edge to it, and goes for more of a story-based approach, but this time you're the typical up-and-coming street racer who is climbing the ranks to be the best. It has story cutscenes and more to emphasize this. Some of the challenges are a bit rough around the edges but you can see a spark there that's definitely worth checking out. As a bonus, the game is also on the short side, about 16-20ish hours long depending on how much you want to do. It doesn't outstay it's welcome, it doesn't make you grind for good cars and it remains fun throughout. It reminds me of the racers that came from a generation before it.

15) Forza Horizon 2 (Xbox Series X Backwards Compatibility)

Rating: A

This still has a bit of cutscenes like part 1, but you can start to see the 'edge' and 'extreme' leave the door in favor of a more modern 'classy' euro-esque presentation. It's almost half and half with how it's presented. I think this might end up being my favorite Forza game (still have to play 5 though) because everything felt like it was tuned to perfection. The racer A.I. is fair, the track design is fun, the progress system is rewarding, and the controls feel buttery smooth and the drifting feels perfect. A small gripe I have is that compared to 1, the map is just slightly too big. Even though both games are delisted by now, Forza 1 and 2 would still be my definitive recommendations for this series.

15) Forza Horizon 3 (Xbox Series X Backwards Compatibility)

Rating: C-

Forza Horizon 3 goes too far into the 'classy' presentation direction and fully gets rid of most of the personality that was present in 1 and 2, which is a shame because this takes place in a fictional Australia, so it makes it feel like a waste of a setting. For some reason, things here feel wrong...

-The physics feel off and floaty even on the ground, almost like you're driving on ice at all times.
-The racer A.I. is horrifically rubber-banding to an extreme degree and I'm assuming this happened because FH 2 had zero rubber banding once you were in a strong enough lead (which to me is better because you're being rewarded for being good). Now you have racers who will creep up on you during the final moments of a race to steal a win, and it's especially annoying to see this happen right after they crashed into another car or obstacle in your rear-view mere seconds ago.
-The game has less of a sense of direction or guide and because of this issue, you sometimes run into a race that your car is too low level for, causing you to have to spend money to go back to a hub area to upgrade or buy a new car, unless you go back to home base which could be miles and miles away from where you are, meaning if you want to warp back, it's going to be much more expensive. While this fast travel cost system existed in earlier Forza Horizon games, it feels much more punishing here based on how they go about it.

This game simply felt like a frustrating misstep in many ways.

16) Forza Horizon 4 (Xbox Series X)

Rating: B+

This game felt like they had realized what they lost with FH 2 and tried to combine the best of FH 2 with the good parts of FH 3, along with a new weather system that affects racing.

+Because of the weather system, they fixed the physics and now only ice feels like you're driving on ice. Thank goodness, the gameplay feel/car feel was fixed and fun again.
+The racer A.I. was also fixed to be in between FH 2 and FH 3's settings, meaning there was still a bit of rubber banding but if you had a clear lead they would simply give it to you for the most part, instead of cheating you out of it.
+The experience is more guided again and they give you various 'next set of events' to go to instead of spraying the map with 1000 icons with zero guidance like FH3.
+They added a bit of personality back with some characters you meet along the way with some fun cutscenes as well.

A few negatives:

-The constant weather changing system can be annoying because it is just a loading screen at the end of the day, and other than the winter setting, the other three don't really have enough different with them to make them as big of a deal as winter.
-Some of the track design can be a bit... oddly designed. Very sudden harsh turns or moments where the path wasn't clear enough.
-Some of the challenges can be a bit gruelingly hard compared to the races. It's an odd spike in difficulty that keeps happening at odd moments in the game, instead of it being more of a ramp-up.
-The slot machine system is also a glorified loading screen. It's meant to be fun presentation but after a while I wanted a button to just say 'give all prizes without spinning the wheel'
-Weirdly enough, the perk upgrade system from FH 3, which was one of it's actually decent features, was severely downgraded in FH4. Now it's a per-car XP system which means you have to lock yourself to a specific model/brand of car to unlock perks for that vehicle but no others. Thankfully perks have less of a significance in this one, so it's not too big of an issue.

Even with these minor negatives, this is still a much better game than FH 3, and what I would hopefully consider a rise back up in quality for when I eventually play Forza Horizon 5.

17) The Crew 2 (Playstation 5 Backwards Compatibility)

Rating: A+

Highly recommend before playing: Using the start menu instead of the map screen to do your next race or challenge. The start menu's first option, the 'Next recommendation' feature will guide you to have the most fun, balanced, and varied experience you will possibly have.

The Crew 2 is like the Diddy Kong Racing to Forza Horizon's Mario Kart 64.

It adds boats, planes, and even different gameplay modes (like arcade-like cop chases and stunt racing), some of which will be unlocked depending on which type of car you purchase with in game currency(which is super easy to earn and become rich), making it feel like you've unlocked another bonus secret mode. The car physics and gameplay feel are incredible, and they have even added a bit of air control to the cars post-jump.

It feels like taking Forza Horizon's concept (down to having a similar-feeling UI) and simply moving that arcade-experience lever slightly further in the zany direction (which is a good thing).

The difficulty of this game is very fun yet challenging and very rewarding with it's RPG-esque car part loot that you get after every event. It will give you that 'one more race' feeling as you go through each varied challenge.

One negative I'll give this game is that it is always online, even during single player. A massive mistake if you ask me, but that's how Ubisoft rolls I guess. Regardless, it will kick you out to the menu screen if you're paused for more than (I think) 5 minutes max so it's best to play a game like this when you know you will be experiencing an uninterrupted session, like if you were playing League of Legends or a match of Marvel Rivals.

Another negative is that as far as I'm aware, I didn't see an option to 'equip best gear' when equipping new parts for a car, which is a feature I will hopefully see in the next game when I play it as it alleviates a big issue of most RPGs.

Also, while the game also has two issues I've mentioned in Forza Horizon 3 (map has no sense of direction and needing to go back and buy/upgrade a vehicle) it alleviates both in three ways:

+Firstly, you can use the start menu to instantly go to the 'next recommended' event and immediately start the race. I ended up using this nearly 100% of the time instead of the map and it felt much more like a traditional menu-based racing game in a good way.
+Secondly, vehicle upgrades in The Crew 2 are earned through simply racing, as you will get a bunch of parts as a reward after every race, and they will quickly level up your car so that it is good to go on the next race. You can upgrade just about every car this way and they all have their own max levels and are viable in events.
+Thirdly, you don't have to pay money to fast travel to a location to start a race or to buy a car at a base, freeing you from making a tough decision on simply wanting to do any of the above.

Regardless of anything else, it sits at an A+ in my view for the amount of fun and genuine surprise it continued to provide me while playing it.

 

[bender]

14) Forza Horizon 1 (Xbox Series X Backwards Compatibility)

Rating: A-

Much like The Crew part 1, this game is very different that it's sequels, has a bit of edge to it, and goes for more of a story-based approach, but this time you're the typical up-and-coming street racer who is climbing the ranks to be the best. It has story cutscenes and more to emphasize this. Some of the challenges are a bit rough around the edges but you can see a spark there that's definitely worth checking out. As a bonus, the game is also on the short side, about 16-20ish hours long depending on how much you want to do. It doesn't outstay it's welcome, it doesn't make you grind for good cars and it remains fun throughout. It reminds me of the racers that came from a generation before it.

15) Forza Horizon 2 (Xbox Series X Backwards Compatibility)

Rating: A

This still has a bit of cutscenes like part 1, but you can start to see the 'edge' and 'extreme' leave the door in favor of a more modern 'classy' euro-esque presentation. It's almost half and half with how it's presented. I think this might end up being my favorite Forza game (still have to play 5 though) because everything felt like it was tuned to perfection. The racer A.I. is fair, the track design is fun, the progress system is rewarding, and the controls feel buttery smooth and the drifting feels perfect. A small gripe I have is that compared to 1, the map is just slightly too big. Even though both games are delisted by now, Forza 1 and 2 would still be my definitive recommendations for this series.

15) Forza Horizon 3 (Xbox Series X Backwards Compatibility)

Rating: C-

Forza Horizon 3 goes too far into the 'classy' presentation direction and fully gets rid of most of the personality that was present in 1 and 2, which is a shame because this takes place in a fictional Australia, so it makes it feel like a waste of a setting. For some reason, things here feel wrong...

-The physics feel off and floaty even on the ground, almost like you're driving on ice at all times.
-The racer A.I. is horrifically rubber-banding to an extreme degree and I'm assuming this happened because FH 2 had zero rubber banding once you were in a strong enough lead (which to me is better because you're being rewarded for being good). Now you have racers who will creep up on you during the final moments of a race to steal a win, and it's especially annoying to see this happen right after they crashed into another car or obstacle in your rear-view mere seconds ago.
-The game has less of a sense of direction or guide and because of this issue, you sometimes run into a race that your car is too low level for, causing you to have to spend money to go back to a hub area to upgrade or buy a new car, unless you go back to home base which could be miles and miles away from where you are, meaning if you want to warp back, it's going to be much more expensive. While this fast travel cost system existed in earlier Forza Horizon games, it feels much more punishing here based on how they go about it.

This game simply felt like a frustrating misstep in many ways.

16) Forza Horizon 4 (Xbox Series X)

Rating: B+

This game felt like they had realized what they lost with FH 2 and tried to combine the best of FH 2 with the good parts of FH 3, along with a new weather system that affects racing.

+Because of the weather system, they fixed the physics and now only ice feels like you're driving on ice. Thank goodness, the gameplay feel/car feel was fixed and fun again.
+The racer A.I. was also fixed to be in between FH 2 and FH 3's settings, meaning there was still a bit of rubber banding but if you had a clear lead they would simply give it to you for the most part, instead of cheating you out of it.
+The experience is more guided again and they give you various 'next set of events' to go to instead of spraying the map with 1000 icons with zero guidance like FH3.
+They added a bit of personality back with some characters you meet along the way with some fun cutscenes as well.

A few negatives:

-The constant weather changing system can be annoying because it is just a loading screen at the end of the day, and other than the winter setting, the other three don't really have enough different with them to make them as big of a deal as winter.
-Some of the track design can be a bit... oddly designed. Very sudden harsh turns or moments where the path wasn't clear enough.
-Some of the challenges can be a bit gruelingly hard compared to the races. It's an odd spike in difficulty that keeps happening at odd moments in the game, instead of it being more of a ramp-up.
-The slot machine system is also a glorified loading screen. It's meant to be fun presentation but after a while I wanted a button to just say 'give all prizes without spinning the wheel'
-Weirdly enough, the perk upgrade system from FH 3, which was one of it's actually decent features, was severely downgraded in FH4. Now it's a per-car XP system which means you have to lock yourself to a specific model/brand of car to unlock perks for that vehicle but no others. Thankfully perks have less of a significance in this one, so it's not too big of an issue.

Even with these minor negatives, this is still a much better game than FH 3, and what I would hopefully consider a rise back up in quality for when I eventually play Forza Horizon 5.

17) The Crew 2 (Playstation 5 Backwards Compatibility)

Rating: A+

Highly recommend before playing: Using the start menu instead of the map screen to do your next race or challenge. The start menu's first option, the 'Next recommendation' feature will guide you to have the most fun, balanced, and varied experience you will possibly have.

The Crew 2 is like the Diddy Kong Racing to Forza Horizon's Mario Kart 64.

It adds boats, planes, and even different gameplay modes (like arcade-like cop chases and stunt racing), some of which will be unlocked depending on which type of car you purchase with in game currency, making it feel like you've unlocked another bonus secret mode. The car physics and gameplay feel are incredible, and they have even added a bit of air control to the cars post-jump.

It feels like taking Forza Horizon's concept (down to having a similar-feeling UI) and simply moving that arcade-experience lever slightly further in the zany direction (which is a good thing).

The difficulty of this game is very fun yet challenging and very rewarding with it's RPG-esque car part loot that you get after every event. It will give you that 'one more race' feeling as you go through each varied challenge.

One negative I'll give this game is that it is always online, even during single player. A massive mistake if you ask me, but that's how Ubisoft rolls I guess. Regardless, it will kick you out to the menu screen if you're paused for more than (I think) 5 minutes max so it's best to play a game like this when you know you will be experiencing an uninterrupted session, like if you were playing League of Legends or a match of Marvel Rivals.

Another negative is that as far as I'm aware, I didn't see an option to 'equip best gear' when equipping new parts for a car, which is a feature I will hopefully see in the next game when I play it as it alleviates a big issue of most RPGs.

Also, while the game also has two issues I've mentioned in Forza Horizon 3 (map has no sense of direction and needing to go back and buy/upgrade a vehicle) it alleviates both in three ways:

+Firstly, you can use the start menu to instantly go to the 'next recommended' event and immediately start the race. I ended up using this nearly 100% of the time instead of the map and it felt much more like a traditional menu-based racing game in a good way.
+Secondly, vehicle upgrades in The Crew 2 are earned through simply racing, as you will get a bunch of parts as a reward after every race, and they will quickly level up your car so that it is good to go on the next race. You can upgrade just about every car this way and they all have their own max levels and are viable in events.
+Thirdly, you don't have to pay money to fast travel to a location to start a race or to buy a car at a base, freeing you from making a tough decision on simply wanting to do any of the above.

Regardless of anything else, it sits at an A+ in my view for the amount of fun and genuine surprise it continued to provide me while playing it.

FH1 is my favorite in the series and I say that without nostalgia as FH3 was my entry into the series. Outside of that, I do think the odd numbered entries in the series are superior to the even numbered entries because of the maps. FH2 is my least favorite even if I have a soft spot for the Fast and the Furious free version.

 

[March Climber]

FH1 is my favorite in the series and I say that without nostalgia as FH3 was my entry into the series. Outside of that, I do think the odd numbered entries in the series are superior to the even numbered entries because of the map. FH2 is my least favorite even if I have a soft spot for the Fast and the Furious free version.

If it wasn't for the existence of 2, 1 would probably be my most favorite of the series. I would highly recommend 1 and 2 to anyone who asked me though.

I know a lot of people like 3 but I simply don't see what others see in it. Eventually I'll check out 5 and see how it fares by comparison.

 

[bender]

If it wasn't for the existence of 2, 1 would probably be my most favorite of the series. I would highly recommend 1 and 2 to anyone who asked me though.

I know a lot of people like 3 but I simply don't see what others see in it. Eventually I'll check out 5 and see how it fares by comparison.

Maybe it depends what order you play them in. I went 3 -> 1 - > 2F&F -> 2 -> 4 -> 5

The map in 5 is pretty great but the game design aspects feel really long in the tooth and the live service elements just feel overwhelming. I'm just sick of the formula at this point.

 

[March Climber]

Maybe it depends what order you play them in. I went 3 -> 1 - > 2F&F -> 2 -> 4 -> 5

The funny thing is I also played 3 first lol. It almost made me dislike Forza Horizon as a whole, because I would read and hear people praise this series but my first experience was that of confusion and frustration in the form of a map overloaded with icons. I went and found a disc copy of 1 after 3, and right then I realized that 3 was the problem. Then once I played 2 then 4 it started to all connect for me to how each game's design decisions after part 2 started feeling more reactive to the game before it.

The map in 5 is pretty great but the game design aspects feel really long in the tooth and the live service elements just feel overwhelming. I'm just sick of the formula at this point.

Which numbered entry would you compare 5 the most to? Does it backtrack on certain design decisions from 4?

 

[bender]

Which numbered entry would you compare 5 the most to? Does it backtrack on certain design decisions from 4?

It does all the seasonal stuff like FH4 so it would be the nearest analog.

 

[Andyliini]

Game 4 - Donkey Kong Country Returns HD - Nintendo Switch
It really is what it says, Donkey Kong Country Returns in HD. Nothing more, nothing less. It's a fun platformer and a masterpiece in game design, but this version adds nothing new. Well, for me there was the World 9, since I never played the 3DS version.

Game 5 - Final Fantasy XVI - Playstation 5
The Japanese epic has reached it's 16th part of the main series, this time taking on dark fantasy. I guess dark fantasy now automatically means Game of Thrones, because they certainly tried to emulate it here. The game goes to great lengths trying to explain politics of the world and tragic characters, I just couldn't make myself to care. Combat also felt unsatisfying, with only one character to control. I think this could be the low point of the series so far.

Game 6 - Metroid Prime Remastered - Nintendo Switch
Another remaster, this time from GameCube. Retro Studios probably used this as a stepping stone to make Prime 4. The game has been masterfully remastered, with all new assets and still retaining solid 60 fps gameplay. Fun to play, but I still missed some of the logbook entries, and couldn't get to the hidden ending. Metroid games shouldn't have missables. Other than that, great remaster.

 

[Kacho]

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

 

[Jooxed]

Game 22 - Is Simon There? - PC - 3/1/25 - 7/10 - Had a few jump scare moments, game about coming to terms with death, not bad overall.

 

[vodka-bull]

I’m in. But I‘ll try to spice it up a little by earning at least 52 platinums this year. So far I‘m done with:

1/1/25 Final Fantasy
18/1/25 Final Fantasy 2
26/1/25 Kena Bridge of Spirits
27/1/25 Final Fantasy 3
31/1/25 Final Fantasy 4
4/2/25 Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!
13/2/25 Days Gone
17/2/25 Dave the Diver
20/2/25 Animal Well
24/2/25 Shadow of the Colossus
27/2/25 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
2/3/25 High on Life
4/3/25 TMNT Cowabunga Collection
5/3/25 A Plague Tale Innocence

Games I‘m currently working on: Red Dead Redemption, Doom Eternal, Assasssins Creed 3 remastered

 

[yamaci17]

a bit of update

game 1 - indiana jones and the great circle - 87/100

story was really captivating, I was interested for the whole thing. I didn't even watch any indiana jones movie before. this game showed me how inferior nathan or lara is compared to dr jones. a guy that actually that knows his stuff! and not having excessive combat sequences like uncharted and tomb raider games really REALLY made the game much MUCH more immersive. I never was able to get over how nathan and lara can mow down hordes of enemies. here, the hotel gina and indy gets attacked you have to run for your life! similar stuff for later on in the story.

world and level design top notch. exploration is just off the charts. never guessed FPS perspective would help so much with this type of game. wow! I enjoyed almost every bit of puzzles this game had to offer aside from the last one (where you use 50 relics. and getting those 50 relics was a huge hurdle by itself. but eventually I did it so that I get to explore and discover more so I didn't really mind).

game 2 - horizon forbidden west - 78/100

i just didn't like how they stretched a simple story that could be told in 10 hours to 25+ hours. i didn't like character progression, I thought we would get more chances to be arrogant towards other people with Aloy considering how angry and arrogant she was at the beginning. then I would've liked the game more because I just don't like the NPCs in this game. also I feel lack there's great lack of creativity when it comes to the design of these far zenith people. they just don't feel like people that have lived for hundreds of years. lackluster final boss

game 3 - horizon forbidden west burning shores - 83/100

this is practically what main game should've been, precise storytelling without stretching. amazing final boss that is really memorable. not much to say, I just liked this DLC more than the base game

game 4 - doom eternal ancient gods part 2 - 83/100

so this was a decent DLC and I liked it better than the 1st one due to the great cutscene towards the end. however the final boss was lackluster and didn't feel epic. all in all it had more difficult challenges compared to base game and considering I like the core doom eternal gameplay a lot, it still great fun

game 5 - alan wake 2 night springs episode 1 - 72/100

too incoherent and irrelevant. fun but just lackluster

game 6 - alan wake 2 night springs episode 2 - 78/100

much more improved and a bit more fun. but lackluster combat. also incoherent and brings nothing valuable to the lore

game 7 - alan wake 2 night springs episode 3 - 82/100

this was great. much more coherent and actually adds something valuable to the lore.

game 8 - alan wake 2 the lake house - 85/100

finally return to norm, practically an actual extension of the main game that I've much enjoyed. gave me vibes similar to half life blue shift. the lore was captivating.

currently playing pumpkin jack, a simple platformer that's really have funny dialogues. then onto the black myth wukong or avowed, and then hopefully ac shadows!

 

[BusierDonkey]

Game 15

Red Dead Redemption II - Completed all main story missions, hunted all legendary animals, caught all legendary fish, still need to do mop up on side quests and collectable items.

This game is tough, I waitied years to buy it because I knew I would have issues with it. I was right. I was almost ready to just dump it at the beginning but over time I modded the game pretty heavily to fix a lot of the things in the game that just plain sucked. With the mods it's a 75, without mods it has some pretty awful gameplay elements that took a lot of fun out of the game.

On one hand it's easily among the most wonderfully crafted and beautiful game worlds I've experienced, and the game performs remarkably well despite my hardware being older than the game. The world is packed with memorable characters and a story that constantly stabs you in the gut without warning then twists the knife for good measure. While Arthur is a fantastic character, I found Dutch to be incredibly compelling as a leader who the gang looks up to, but refuses to admit that he's not as brilliant as he portrays himself to be, leading the gang down a path they can't come back from. The game has Arthur witness the only family he's ever really known come unraveled around him. I loved Arthur's journal and how every little thing was recorded in pencil sketches and writing. The music and sound design were both beautiful, the late 1800s western aesthetic was perfect, the biomes were full of so many intricate details and there was a constant supply of side-tracking events that kept popping up. While the game lacked a lot of the zany stuff found in the original, there were some pretty interesting side missions. I really did enjoy just riding my horse around the world taking in the sights as I really love anything based around the old Westerns my dad used to watch. I absolutely loved that the game didn't throw softballs when it came to the characters and the fact that the real villains in the story were your own group. You play a man who kills for pocket change and can't seem to stop doing it despite knowing it's wrong.

On the other hand, RDR2 fails at being a great video game. Every time I played the game I ran into something that pissed me off. The gameplay in this game was beyond clunky, even simple things like picking up items was like pulling teeth at times. Everything feels delayed to the point that even after 160 hours I wasn't used to how slowly commands came up in the corner of the screen. The original Red Dead Redemption was stiff, but I never had any major issues controlling John and getting him to do what I wanted. In this game every action is context based, requires holding a button forever, or requires pin-point placement to interact with certain things. Get ambushed by some hillbillies and by the time Arthur clumsily draws his gun you're already full of holes. Stand in front of an animal you want to skin, press Y to skin it, and Arthur runs ten feet then jumps on his horse instead. Attempt to fucus on a stranger to say "howdy" and accidentally pull your gun and have the entire town freak out because you didn't manually unequip the gun. Go to shoot a grizzly bear and find this time Arthur has automatically stowed his rifles in the saddle leaving me to fight the bear with pistols. Being forced to slowly walk around camp or certain locations. The menus, mission list, satchel and journal are laggy and use several buttons to access each instead of them all being quickly and easily accessible. "Fast travel" in the game is anything but fast, and there is no reason for it to take as long as it does, seeing as a mod I was using allowed me to teleport instantly anywhere instead with no ill-effects on a regular SATA SSD. The wanted system is awful, I spent hours in the early game just trying to clear my bounty only to make some small mistake and get another. It was so completely idiotic I turned to gameplay mods to fix the wanted system, fix the world economy and fix some of the gameplay so that the game was more fun to play. Without mods I might not have bothered finishing the game. There are a ton of little annoyances that chipped away at my enjoyment of the game. The game is also filled with so many bugs despite the game's age. I'd be mid-mission and a bug would mess up the entire thing. In one mission I needed to get into some canoes but as I arrived at shore the canoes had spawned upside-down, causing a mission failure. Another mission something spooked the horses in a cutscene, and I had no horse to follow the group with, so I failed the mission. Missions themselves offered near-zero wiggle room making them feel like they were on rails which was disappointing given how massive and full of detail the world was.

It's a good game, worth playing through especially if you enjoyed the first game, but it could have been so much better.

 

[Jooxed]

Game 23 - What Remains of Edith Finch? - PC - 3/3/25 - 7/10 - Decent walking simulator, good story, just not the biggest fan of walking simulators.

 

[TuFaN]

#13⠀|⠀Factorio⠀|⠀PC⠀|⠀04-Mar-2025⠀|⠀50 hours⠀|⠀8/10 (edited)

This is not just a mere video game, it is a black hole that swallows your free time and spits out perfectly optimized conveyor belts. You start off in simple fashion, mining some ore, automating some procedures, and before you know it, you're knee-deep in logistics and existential debates about iron plate efficiency. One minute, you're automating copper production, the next it's 4 AM, and your entire factory has been redesigned again because that one belt placement was bothering you. I'd be on a missing persons list by now if I hadn't escaped at 50 hours, so know what you're getting yourself into & play at your own risk!

#14⠀|⠀Crow Country⠀|⠀Switch⠀|⠀08-Mar-2025⠀|⠀5 hours⠀|⠀7/10

Crow Country, a survival horror game reminiscent of games from the past. Nostalgia evoking graphics, a beautifully handcrafted world, great sound design, amazing puzzle balance, great monster design being its strengths. But it sadly contains flawed monster behaviour and also contains very weak balance of resource management. It is not a must play title but nevertheless worth a shot for Survival Horror freaks like me!

 

[Kacho]

Metal Slug X

 

[Jooxed]

#13⠀|⠀Factorio⠀|⠀PC⠀|⠀04-Mar-2025⠀|⠀50 hours⠀|⠀8/10 (edited)

This is not just a mere video game, it is a black hole that swallows your free time and spits out perfectly optimized conveyor belts. You start off in simple fashion, mining some ore, automating some procedures, and before you know it, you're knee-deep in logistics and existential debates about iron plate efficiency. One minute, you're automating copper production, the next it's 4 AM, and your entire factory has been redesigned again because that one belt placement was bothering you. I'd be on a missing persons list by now if I hadn't escaped at 50 hours, so know what you're getting yourself into & play at your own risk!

#14⠀|⠀Crow Country⠀|⠀Switch⠀|⠀08-Mar-2025⠀|⠀5 hours⠀|⠀7/10

Crow Country, a survival horror game reminiscent of games from the past. Nostalgia evoking graphics, a beautifully handcrafted world, great sound design, amazing puzzle balance, great monster design being its strengths. But it sadly contains flawed monster behaviour and also contains very weak balance of resource management. It is not a must play title but nevertheless worth a shot for Survival Horror freaks like me!

Just bought Crow Country, excited to dig in

 

[Jooxed]

Game 24 - Metaphor: Re Fantazio - PC/Steam Deck - 3/9/25 - 8/10 - Awesome Game, love the fantasy setting, dragged on in some parts. Hope Atlus grows this IP alongside Persona.

 

[Shaggidy]

I was doing this without posting here but I thought I'd throw in my progress anyway. Going for platinum's where I can:

1: Shadowrun Returns ps5 Plat'd
This was a fun one even if it was a little buggy.

2: Shadowrun Dragonfall ps5
I'm not entirely sure why but as much as I enjoyed this one, it felt like such a slog to get through. Hopefully Hong Kong feels better.

3: Quake+Expansions Plat'd ps5 43 hours
My god is Quake 1 on Nightmare not fun. This platinum was probably the most annoying I've done in recent memory, and some of the expansions can be brutal.

4: Quake 2+Expansions ps5 33 hours
Quake 2 was a much more fun experience, even on nightmare. The final boss of Ground Zero sucked hard.

5: Shiro ps4 Plat'd 1 hour
This was a really short one but holy crap, was it frustrating. I don't play platformers all that often so maybe my skills were lacking, but it stopped being a fun experience very quickly.

6: Magic Exposure Ps4/Ps5 Plat'd x2 1 hour
A really short vn. It was cute, though had was grammar issues.

7: Blackberry Honey Ps4/Ps5 Plat'd x2 26 hours
Another vn that wasn't too long, though it took me way longer to finish than it should've.

8: Werewolf: The Apocalypse-Earthblood ps5 Plat'd 19 hours
This one was fun, though a little repetitive. Stealth was kinda pointless, and I'm glad I got it one sale because I'd be miffed if I paid full price for it

9: Sword of the Vagrant Ps4 16 hours
Another fun little gem. Makes me want to get back to Dragon's Crown.

 

[Jooxed]

Game 25 - Bioshock Remastered - PC - 3/10/25 - 7/10 - Finally got around to starting this series, had fun was a little more basic than i thought it would be but looking forward to 2