52 Games in 52 Weeks - Entry #2 - The Re(catch)-Up

"Hopefully they'll be weekly posts chronicling my grand journey, but if not I can always do catch-up posts every month or so :P"

Five months later...

Whoops

Before you get too angry, just rest easy in the fact that literally not a single person has read the first entry (it's sitting at a pretty 0 views).

So what's happened in those five months? Video games! Just not as many as I wanted to play.

WEEK 4 - Miitomo (mobile)
First up, a catch up week.  I decided that even though Miitomo was a free download, it was good enough to count as a catch-up "game".  I was pretty into this game the first month or so that it came out, answering questions every day for the bonuses and buying up new outfits all the time.  I really had fun with the fashion aspect of this game, honestly.

What's interesting is that around 3 months after release, this social network thing has all but died.  I stopped using it daily after about a month and a half, and by that time around half my friends on it had stopped at all.  Then there was about a month of checking in daily but never really doing anything else, and now I might check in a couple of times a week just for the bonuses.  It's kinda sad, since the game had a lot of Nintendo charm, but it just didn't have enough to keep people, and draw new ones in.  Better luck with Animal Crossing/Fire Emblem, Big N!


WEEK 8 - Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash (3DS)
I actually did enjoy this week, even though the game was pretty shit.  I just spent about an hour each day with this, listening to podcasts and playing basically on auto pilot. My review:

A functional, inoffensive way to pass the time. This platformer is the definition of average; the level design is rarely inspired, sorta tedious, but with some cool moments such as the boss battles. It's not enough to stop playing the game, but I won't ever want to go back, or even remember many things fondly. The graphics are occasionally cute (Chibi-Robo as a character has so much potential!), and nearly all the innovative systems they try such as the level wheel feel pointless. If you're a huge fan of platformers like I am and need a new 3DS game to plow through, this might be worth ~$10 or so. 

6/10

WEEK 9 - Yu-Gi-Oh!: Dungeondice Monsters (GBA)
Didn't do this week, but then later caught up with this game.  Look, I really love Yu-Gi-Oh.  I was into the Pokemon TCG as a kid, but the cool kids at church thought that was kiddy and were into Yugioh, so I got into that (true story).  I never actually played the card game with another human person, but loved the video game adaptions for GBA, and later for DS.  Also, I loved the dungeondice monsters special in the anime (which looking back, was really kinky...).

Humiliation, domination, and furries.... sounds like just another Saturday night now

Unfortunately, the game was not good. Review:

An Average Game Executed Poorly

Based off three episodes of the Yu-Gi-Oh anime, Dungeon Dice Monsters spawned as a spinoff to the popular card game. Unfortunately, this dice-based game just isn't as fun as its big brother. Matches are slower & clunkier, and require several turns before you can even hope to damage your foe. There are some interesting ideas, such as making your own path by "unraveling" a dice, but the need to roll specific icons to do things like move or attack means the game can halt easily due to bad luck.

Even worse than the dice game is the actual video game wrapped around it. The game modes are pitifully small, with just a tournament mode and free play mode, besides multiplayer. What truly kills this game though, is the AI. It's TERRIBLE. I'm no Dungeon Dice monster; I learned how to play the game from a 10 minute YouTube video. However, throughout the entire campaign and a few extra matches, I never lost once. I never even had my Dice Master attacked EVEN ONCE. There were multiple games where I won before my opponent had even summoned one monster.

Everything else, from menus to graphics to sound, range from serviceable to bad. While Dice Monsters isn't the best board game, this adaptation really is a disservice, as I never once faced a challenge, nor did I ever need to think deeply or strategize. Just play the card game. 4/10

Fortunately, I only spent like $5 on this a few years ago, so I was happy to finally cross that off my list.

I was busy???

WEEK 10 - none

Oh no! Hopefully that won't happen again...



WEEK 11 - none

Yeah... get used to this.



WEEK 12 - The Sly Collection (PS3)

We're back! With another series that I loooved as a kid.  The original PS2 game was something I bonded over with my older brother, so it holds a special place in my heart.

This was like, the essence of cool when I was in elementary school

I replayed and beat the first entry, And the Thevius Racconous.  And it still holds up!  What's interesting was seeing how differently it felt all these years later.  I was surprised by how easy the game was now; as a kid, I would die over and over again, and getting the safes was basically unheard of.  This playthrough I got at least a dozen or so.  But yeah, very fun game deserving of nostalgia, although the first one is quite short.


WEEK 13 - none

*twiddles thumbs*


WEEK 14 - Bejeweled 3 (PC)

Oooh, this was a fun week!  What I love so much about this entry is how Popcap took this really simple concept (the original match 3 puzzler) that had, by that point, hundreds of imitators and offshoots and said fuck it, we're throwing every crazy idea y'all wish you had thought of into one package.  Like there's a POKER MODE that's ACTUALLY AMAZING.

Screenshot of the Quest story mode, which gives like 20 different mini-games

So yeah, I had a lot of fun going through the story mode and playing a ton of poker and butterflies.  I still have no idea what Zen Mode is, but... I'm sure it's cool?


WEEK 15-19 - none

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

WEEK 20 - Scribblenauts Unlimited (Wii U)

I will never be as excited for anything as I was for the original Scribblenauts.

Post #217 will live on in my memory until the day I die

No lie.  I made mega-threads, a blog, searched Google News everyday for the keyword "Scribblenauts" just to see if anyone had posted a preview or update, checked every video and forum post of it, preordered it (still have the Gamestop exclusive Maxwell hat).  I was HYPED.  So basically on principal I bought every game in the series until DC.  While I played a shit-ton of the first game (like I probably spent more hours on the title screen than most games in total), I could admit it was a deeply flawed game (read: the controls sucked).  Super Scribblenauts was much improved, but the magic had faded a little by then.

By the time I played Unlimited this summer, I realized the magic was nearly gone.  It's still a good, kinda cool game, but the puzzles all feel like they're made for elementary schoolers (name three farm animals!; what does a painter need?) and the series doesn't have any tools to reward creative solutions.  It's kinda sad, but I'll always have the memories of dreaming up endless words I would test when I finally got the game myself.


WEEK 21-23 - none


WEEK 24 - Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (DS)

The last Advance Wars game, (fuck you Nintendo) Days of Ruin was something I bought on principle, played five minutes of, then stopped.  Going back and actually diving into it was a mixed experience.  My fears that the serious new tone would ruin the fun of the series were founded, as it was really weird to have a story all about the pointlessness of war and death coupled with a game where you can literally pump out endless units.  However, the story was kinda good in a very middle-school anime sort of way.  And Advance Wars will always have amazing gameplay.  So it was pretty good.


WEEK 25 - World of Goo (PC)

I bought this game when it originally came out on WiiWare in 2008 for $15, and was HELLA hyped.  In my mind, it was sold to me as this artistic, mysterious game with an amazing story and totally revolutionary gameplay.  But after like a world and a half, I stopped.  Over the years, I go the PC version several times in various Humble Bundles, and both the iOS and Android version for free.  Going back nearly a decade later (see why I started this resolution in the first place?) and starting fresh on the PC version, it was crazy to see how normal it felt.  I think a lot of that has to due with how this was one of the first huge Indie games, and a lot of what it did first has become commonplace nowadays.  But partially I think I was just being a silly kid; the story really should not be taken seriously.

Why ARE the Goo balls going in the pipe? Spoiler alert: you won't care

Still, it makes sense that the game got such high praise.  It's still gorgeous, the music is still INCREDIBLE, and the gameplay is still tight.  More than that, it constantly innovates and changes itself on a level by level basis in a way few modern games even do.  There's like 3 games worth of ideas in here (I mean, the computer world? Come ON!).  Even with the bummer that the story really wasn't the mysterious masterpiece teenage me thought it would be, I loved playing this game. Review:

A simple concept that constantly gets new and interesting twists. Beautiful graphics and music, and an interesting story. Still holds up close to a decade later. 9/10 

So there it is!  Part two.  For anyone counting, I've competed 14 weeks and skipped 13.  Hopefully I'll do a part three of this, somehow catching up with all the games I need to play.

Until then, look at your own backlog in shame so you judge me a little less.

I know you haven't even TOUCHED half of these, Greg.
You fucker.

52 Games in 52 Weeks - Entry #1 - Catch-up

A few weeks before 2016 began, I ran into this reddit thread about trying to beat 52 games in 52 weeks.  I thought, there's no way I'm doing that.  But! there was a comment that caught my eye.  This one described a much more reasonable goal: play 5 hours of a new video game every week for a year.

Now, the reason why this thread caught my eye in the first place is because I have a LOT of games in my backlog.  Recently I counted.  I checked how many games I own that I have both not completed, have not gotten my money's worth (subjective, but for me it's around $1 per hour of gameplay) and have not played at least 5 hours.  The total? 60. Yep, sixty.

So I decided to take on this great challenge!  One of the fun goals I have for 2016 is to play one new video game a week for at least 5 hours (I have like, actual goals too like school and jobs, but that's not as fun to blog about...).  This should help me slog through my huge backlog and help me finally experience all those Steam games I bought on sale.

Now, it's already 7 weeks into the year!  I want to do a weekly post where I talk a little bit about the game I played that week.  To start, here's a catch up entry where I'll rush through the first 7 weeks of games I played.

WEEK 1 - Splatoon (Wii U)

This was a Christmas present for me.  So far, I'm enjoying it a lot.  Beyond the five hours I played that first week, I've probably played close to another dozen hours.  While I like the frantic matches, I've found that I like the main Terf War mode the least.  The ranked modes are all a lot of fun, and I feel like I know more how I'm contributing.  Campaign is also fun!

WEEK 2 - Pokemon Black (Nintendo DS)

This game was a pleasant surprise for me.  I skipped this gen and got burnt out on Pokemon X, but I needed a good trip game.  And I fell in love!  I don't know, maybe I just don't like Pokemon jumping to 3D.  This game was a nostalgia trip while also adding a whole new world, all new Pokemon (literally, none of them are old until you beat the game), and a lot of interesting new twists on the formula. Fun fun fun!  I'm nearly 20 hours in and want to finish it sometime.

WEEK 3 - Leo's Fortune (Android)

So I didn't actually play this game for 5 hours, but I beat it, so I think that's fine.  While the game is pretty short, I spent exactly $1 on it, so it was definitely worth the cash.  The game is absolutely gorgeous, and has some fun and simple physics platforming.  It doesn't do anything new with the genre, but for a mobile game, it provided enough polish that I never minded.

WEEK 4 - none...

I'll have to catch up sometime.  Too busy traveling :(

WEEK 5 - Worms Reloaded (PC)

I absolutely loved the DS Worms (Open Warfare 2) back in the day, and played a ton of it.  So I bought this one to relive those glory days.  Or at least I think that's why I bought it; I bought this game in 2013 and never played it until this year.  Woops... But finally booting it up, I had some fun. Classic Worms action never goes out of fashion, although I didn't get into this one like the DS one.  It's not that the game is flawed in any huge way, but after 5 hours I was definitely done with the slow paced, sometimes hard to control game.

WEEK 6 - Sonic Colors (Wii)

Maybe my favorite week so far.  I bought this game used for about $6 for an Xmas gift to myself.  I've never been a huge Sonic fan, but I love platformers.  By the end of the week, I had beaten Colors.  It was a fun ride, with this game being one of the most critically acclaimed modern Sonic games,  It only took my around 6 hours, but that made the levels never get old or overstay their welcome.  While it sometimes got frustrating, I fought through any frustration to see the next cool world, the next silly cutscene, and the next rush of speed.  Really fun week!

WEEK 7 - Rock of Ages (PC)

And then this game.  It's not that this is a terrible game.  It's another one I bought many years ago and never installed until now.  The production values are really amazing, with a hilarious style and story.  Quirkiness can only go so far though, and I found the actual gameplay to be frustrating.  Both elements of it, the Marble Madness and the tower defense are fun in theory, but having to race against CPU players made me never sure if I was doing good and how to improve.  I bought the game for $2.50, so I don't feel bad about cutting short this playthrough at 2.5 hours.

And that's it! We're already caught up.  Hopefully they'll be weekly posts chronicling my grand journey, but if not I can always do catch-up posts every month or so :P