1. Immortality (XBSX) - 8 Jan (?hrs)
This is... something.  Some kind of thing.  I don't know what kind of thing, but it's a good thing.  A brilliant piece of thing.

If you've played Sam Barlow's previous games, you know what you're getting yourself into.  The complexity is a step above with a lot more live action footage to sift through and interrogate, but the performances and the writing elevate this to a far loftier position, thanks in no small part to the lead role played by Manon Gage and the smaller (in screen time at least) and even better performing role from Charlotta Mohlin.

There are many facets to the game, including insight into filmmaking, three interesting films to piece together, and the subverted underlying (and somewhat unnerving) game story to uncover.  This really must have taken some putting together and it's a wonder that it all hangs together so well.

It falls just short of a [10] for me as I found my attention wandering ever so slightly on occasion and also losing sight of whether I had already unvovered and viewed a particular clip before (in hindsight I could have used the 'favourite' option), but is essential for anyone who wants more from gaming than shooting aliens in the head.
[9]

2. Stray (PS5) - 18 Jan (7 hrs)
Simple, unoriginal and somewhat average gameplay [5], elevated by the post-apocalyptic dystopian setting that is my favourite and some lovely atmospheric visuals and sound [+1] and the fact that you play as a beautiful cat [+1].
[7]

3. God of War: Ragnarok (PS5) - 2 Feb (62 hrs)
Bad pacing, bad story, bad area designs (mostly), and it took far too long to get properly going.  And fuck those tedious walking-talking sections and the gap squeezes and the slow climbing and shimying and general traversal.  Tedious as fuck.

Once it did get going, it was fantastic.  Once I had good upgrades and skills, combat was better and great by the end of the game - shame it was shit for half the game.  Speactular boss fights, which is something I associate with GoW, didn't arrive for quite some time but by the end, there were some great fights.

There are some great areas, but mostly bad - narrow corridor-type paths and very linear with occasional gated secret sections.  A far cry from the first game's hub area with Metroid-like design.  Still had that to an extent, but it was an optional area and the best part of the game - shame the whole or at least most of the game wasn't like that.

My OCD with trophies did get me the platinum, but only beacause I had most of the stuff from just playing the game so post-game cleanup didn't take too long.

Starts a [6], then a [5], followed by some [8] and [9] sections and areas, with some overall [5] bits/ideas/design scattered around, making the whole game on average a...
[7]

4. Vampire Survivors (SeX) - 5 Apr (14 hrs)
Oddly compulsive is the best way to describe this. I think I’ve had my fill after 14 hours or so. It’s greater than the sum of its parts for sure: looks shit, sounds shit, starts off so slooooow and dull and boring.
But once you’ve put in a bit of time and unlocked some upgrades (like faster fucking walk speed!), runs can become mesmerising affairs as enemy counts rocket and your weapons wreak havoc on them, hundreds of little damage numbers flying around and sparks flying everywhere.
Alas, I don’t have the patience to put even more time in to unlock more weapons and upgrades and all sorts. Kinda fun while it lasted, but also can be dull and boring too.
[7]

5. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5) - 11 Apr (15 hrs)
Was meant to be DLC but got big enough for a separate release, so suffers from being in the same game world as Spider-Man.  Plays well enough but it was overly familiar with not enough new stuff.  Story was also meh but still fun just swinging around.
[7]

6. Cocoon (SeX) - 30 Sep (~4.5 hrs)
Nice little atmospheric puzzle adventure type thing. Short and sweet. Nothing too taxing or complicated. Loved the fact there were no hints at all in the game but it didn’t need to give you any, as I said it’s mostly quite simple. Some of it felt just random and arbitrary and could’ve done with even a little integrating into a semblance of lore relevance to environment etc.
Only missed two secrets/collectibles. And my game time is a guess - the game doesn’t have a clock and I left it on pause most of the day so the Xbox says I played for 10 hours.
[7]

7. Final Fantasy XVI (PS5) - 29 Oct (59 hrs)
Most side quests done and all but 2 trophies unlocked (all abilities and NG+ on FF mode) for the platinum. Plenty wrong with the game but it also does a lot right.  Combat, spectacle, general mood and tone.  But the story stops being interesting after a while and the side quests are severely lacking - very hard to tell which are "go fetch me an item/kill something for me" and which lead to decent side-story and character development of which there are actually quite a few.  The general RPG side of the game is disppointing and I feel it would have worked better as a smaller all-out action FF side-game rather than main numbered iteration.  Would definitely play any DLC though, it leaves an entire whole side/aspect to the lore mostly unexplored which I'd like to know more about.
[7]

8. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (PS5) - 24 Nov (33 hrs)
One heck of a ride. Loved it. Does lose it a bit in the final quarter, but not too much.
[9]

9. Worldless (PS5) - 10 Dec (11 hrs)
...
...
...
Oh, right.  Worldless, not wordless.  Anyway, mixed feelings about this game, an indie minimalist Metroidlike with not much going on.  In fact, I had no idea what was going on mostly.  Something about a god and the beginning of a/the world or some other shit.
You explore and uncover the map and get further and further as you pick up new abilities, a la a Metroid game.  The game world itself is quite small but there's still a fair amount of trudging back and forth which, without decent fast travel, can get tiresome.  The onscreen map itself is also a little awkward in that it only shows a dot for a room or area and roughly how it is connected to anotgher room or area - so you could have a dot on the map representing several actual game screesn horizontally and vertically.  There are some decent platforming sections and you do get a nice feel of progression.
Combat is different to your usual games of this type.  Again, you unlock new abilties and weapons etc, but there are a set number of encounters spread across the map so you don't have rooms full of little enemies.  This is partly due to the turn-based nature of the fights.  The mechanics themselves are sound, but can be cumbersome - there are parries, counters and perfect blocks, all of which don't feel very responsive or fluid enough which can lead to frustration.
And there are a few frustrating encounters that almost had me quitting.  And I haven't even properly finished the game - just the standard ending.  I am missing one piece of a puzzle that I assume/understand unlocks possibly the proper end boss but I can't be arsed to trudge around looking for it.
Overall, worth it if you have a spare 6-12 hours (depending on how much you want to find) and nothing else to play.  Otherwise, there are better games to play but this is by no means bad.  Just not that good.
[7]

10. Elden Ring (PS5) - 24 Dec (100 hrs)
Co-op playthrough with my boy. My third completion. Started in May last year and majority of play was in 2022. Picked up again recently and managed to beast through it. Beautiful game.
[10]

11. Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS5) - 28 Dec (20 hrs)
A replay before I tackle City for the first time, at some point in 2024.  Not as good as I remember it to be.  Controls are a bit fiddly and the bosses are utter shite.  But the core gameplay and world design is on point and the performance from Mark Hamill as Joker is just a joy to listen to.
[8]

12. A Highland Song (Switch) - 30 Dec (6 hrs)
Journey x A Short Hike x BotW's climbing.  With a small measure of rhythm action on top.  The separate bits don't quite gel well enough but it's not too jarring.  The main attraction is the lovely Scottish narration and voice snippets, giving you some Scottish history and talk of the land as well as a small story.  The latter isn't quite as impactful as I was hoping, and the ending was disappointing (I looked up the full ending which I would have had to play through again much quicker to unlock) but the joy is in some of the traversal and the... journey.  Lots to discover amoung the hills and mountains which I may return to someday, and the gameplay was mostly decent for me to do so too.  Overall, I don't regret paying full whack for this, but it's very much my kinda game.
[8]

13. When the Past was Around (PS5) - 31 Dec (2 hrs)
A really short point-and-click with simple puzzles and a story told completely visually.  Made by a small Indonesian (I think?) dev who did 2023's A Space for the Unbound- the latter is what made me pick this game ahead of playing that later in 2024 sometime.  It's a touching story and reminds me in it's execution of Unpacking.  However, given how short it is, the game doesn't give you enough to make you actually feel much for the characters and perhaps the story would have had more impact if there was some text to get across any nuances in the characters.  It feels like a small dev testing what they can do before putting efforts into a bigger and more complex game.  Well done to them.
[7]

14. To the Moon (Switch) - 31 Dec (6 hrs)
Another emotional story, but this time longer and text heavy.  The story is well written and enjoyable to uncover, with just a couple of sections feeling like a real drag.  Some wonderful music, not least the piano piece titled 'For River', which I could just sit and listen to anytime.  The story itself reminded me a little of After Life by Hirokazu Kore-eda which I had seen earlier in the year.  Had been meaning to play this for many years since its initial release on PC in 2011 and I'm glad that I finally did.
[8]

15. Street Fighter VI (PS5) - (66 hrs)
I feel I have spent long enough with the game to form an opinion, at least on teh actual vs. fighting anyway - fuck World Tour, I'll leave that to the casuls.  So this is a return to form for CrapCom after the disappointing SFV.  It feels very much like a Best-Of in it's genes, taking mechanics from various previous iterations, but that's no bad thing.  While it may not have a unique identity of its own, it makes for a very verstaile game with multiple options at your disposal and many ways to play the offense-defence game.  As always with a fighter this early on, there are balance issues and some of the characters will need changing to make them more interesting and level the field a bit, but I fully anticipate that to come in time.  For now, if I had the time, I would be playing this a lot more.  So Haak, Tiger & Co., just ditch the family please and I'll do the same, let's get on this more!
[9]

16. Slay the Spire (multiplat) - (?? hrs)
A few victories across multiple platforms. Still no ascension 20 though.
[10]

Hi

52 Games:

1.God of War: Ragnarok - 60 Hours - 9/10 - PS5

It wasn’t the visual upgrade I expected. The menu’s, millions of upgrade currencies and the sheer length of it (I know that’s partly due to me doing a lot of the dude quests and most were boring but I don’t want to blame myself), and it felt a little, stretched? Too many characters they wanted to be involved and too many changes of buddy and character for me when it comes to something where the story was my favourite aspect. Still, I did very much enjoy it and it got me in the feels many times. Still a great if not as perfect as I’d have liked sequel to GoW 2018.



2.High on Life - 12 Hours - 9/10 - Xbox Series X

Loved this. Love Rick and Morty so the comedy and tone was perfect if a little heavy throughout. Was very reminiscent of old school FPS’s in terms of mar weapons and straightforward areas which I loved. Nice and simple campaign to just relax and breeze through. What a great little surprise that was.



3.Callisto Protocol- 10 Hours - 9/10 - Xbox Series X

So many mixed reviews from people when it comes to this and I’m not sure how as if you give it’s original if very simplistic combat a go and get used to it the main barrier becomes one of the best parts of the game. The dodge and strike mechanic is so simple yet rewarding and means you can go the majority of the game without firing a weapon and save them for the yes a little irritating bosses. Add to that it’s possibly the best looking game this gen and sounds absurdly good then you’re surely on to a winner? Yes it’s very straightforward and there’s only really one path, but maybe it’s just me that wants a great atmospheric, jaw dropping campaign that doesn’t want to be anything else? It’s a playable sci if scary movie. Delicious.



4.Dead Space Remake - 13 Hours - 10/10 - Xbox Series X

What a game. The absolute stone cold classic at the core with a lot of new bits dotted around the entire thing. Looks absolutely stunning and the sound is terrifying, certainly not as high end as The Callisto Protocol, but still looks and sounds stunning. God I hope the Dead Space 2 gets this treatment…Have already started New Game+…



5.Callisto Protocol NG+ - 10 Hours - 10/10 - Xbox Series X

So NG+ was an absolute blast 10/10 gaming experience. Absolutely lethal with the stun baton, armed to the teeth and destroying everything in sight. Maximum Security done and just the new Hardcore mode to play at some point down the line. This game deserves a lot more than it’s got so far, hopefully more will give it a chance now it’s had so many awesome free update goodies. Awesome game.



6.Dead Space Remake - 9 Hours - 10/10 - Xbox Series X

NG+ first run done just polishing off achievements and seeing the new enemies etc that it brings whilst being super powered. Onto Hard mode next as gotta finish that to unlock impossible which I wanna give a go. Though I’ve hit a bug where one of the upgrades doesn’t show up meaning 2 of the achievements won’t ever pop which upsets the completionist in me. Still…it’s f’ing ace.



7.Hi-Fi Rush - 12 Hours - 10/10 - Xbox Series X

I’m not really one to swear…but fuck me what a game. It didn’t grab me at first but then it grabbed me with both hands and didn’t let up. It just hot better and better. What a bit. It’s stunning, the music choices as well as original pieces are terrific and so well placed. Good fun story and characters to add in to the medley. It’s just an absolute joy in every way and I’m gonna miss it now I’ve finished it. Perfection.



8.Stray - 3.5 Hours - 7/10 - PS5

That was a lovely little experience. Not much of a ‘game’ but an interactive story, and a touching one at that…may have been tears at the end. Looked lovely and the soundtrack was perfectly soothing. Absolutely sure the cat is a robot too…



9.Resi 2 Remake - 5 Hours - 10/10 - Xbox Series X

Another one of my favourites. Building up to Resi 4 on the 24th going through this and 3. Nothing I can’t say about this that hasn’t been said. Outstanding bit of gaming. Even enjoyed the Tyrant chases this time as they actually scared me instead of just annoyed me. Managed to get a surprise achievement too after killing off the tyrant with over 5 mins left. BONUS!



10.Resi 3 Remake - 4 Hours - 10/10 - Xbox Series X

And another Resi down. This gets a lot of stick but I love the action and it never lets up. Short game but quality is high. Ran through on Hardcore this time and it made some spots nice and uncomfortable. The nemesis is terrifying when it’s more of a threat. Love me some Resi.



52 Games:

11.Resi 4 Remake - 20 Hours - 10,000,000/10 - Xbox Series X

Top 3 game of all time. Just perfect. Simple as that. Captures everything you’d want it to in every chapter. Stays loyal to some guidelines from the original but builds so, so much on top and everything betters what was perfect 18 years ago. Stunning to look at, to play, the sound work is sublime, the pacing is perfect, the variety of weapons and upgrade paths for them, the shooting gallery. For want of better words it’s absofuckingloutely perfect. Already started again on Hardcore and then will go through on professional as I’m in love. Perfect.



12.Resi 4 Remake - Run 2 - 12 Hours - 11,000,000/10 - Xbox Series X

Even better on Hardcore with so many toys to play with…onto the next run…



13.Resi 4 Remake - Run 3 - 6 Hours - 100,000,000/10 - Xbox Series X

And that’s the set. Finished on Professional so I’m done with it for now until I fancy a run through them all again. What an absofuckingloutely perfect game. Infinite Rockets cheapened it a little but made it fun in different ways.

14.Resi 4 Original - 13 Hours - 8/10 - Xbox Series X

Thought I’d see how this ‘hold’s up’ after the remake, and unsurprisingly going back is harddddd. Choosing Professional difficulty probably didn’t help but the odd pacing and mental moments stood out much more than ever before. Still an incredible game game and most modern 3rd person games owe a hell of a lot to it, but it’s been completely surpassed now…I imagine that was my last playthrough of my most played through game of all time…Thanks Resi 4, you were incredible.



15. Metroid Prime Remake - 11 Hours - 7/10 - Nintendo Switch

Gotta admit…not a big fan…I originally gave up on this on the Cube as it gave me a headache…no such thing happened this time, but I finished it because I’m stubborn more than because I was really enjoying it. Yes it’s a thing of beauty, the Nintendo effect is in full force with some wonderful touches and character, but for want of better words, fuck the constant backtracking. The crappy combat (though I know it’s not the priority and it’s a million years old). Then when you think it might be over having to find all the artifacts and thinking it’s over. To have a boss fight, to think it’s over, but find another area, then another boss fight…then ANOTHER boss fight. I’m sure I’ll play the second when it inevitably appears as the quality is undeniable…but I hope it’s a little less dull.



16. Zelda, Tears of the Kingdom - ? Hours - 8/10 - Nintendo Switch

Yeah…only an 8…there’s no denying how great it is…but it also just feels…very ‘been there, done that, met them’. Wasn’t a fan of The Depths at all and the Sky Islands were interesting but the game hardly ever took you there or made use of them in the main quest. I’ve loved almost every Zelda, and played almost every iteration, but this just didn’t grab be anything like the others. Just too much of…the same.

Yeah it’s systems are incredible, it’s play tested to perfection, it’s beautiful, still full of win in almost every department, especially the Shrines,-the absolute best bits, and the awful Switch Cons made it worse as well to be fair…but at the end, I was kinda glad it was done. If they were gonna use the same map I wish they’d have just filled it in more and made more in that world somehow instead of creating shadows of it.

Still, great game, just not incredible…almost a little let down by it…8/10.



17. FF-16 - Too Many Hours - 7/10 - PS5

Finished this last night and don’t really know what to think. I liked the combat but there wasn’t a single time I felt in danger and never saw the game over screen. Did a few side quests until I realised they were all entirely hollow and rewarded you with very little, but maybe I didn’t do the right ones. The HUD is ugly and bits of it you can’t remove. Why after 2 hours do I need a constant reminder how to open the local map…for it to be there constantly after 50 hours drive me nuts. I quite liked the story until it just got far too much. Stunning in places but so very ugly in others. I actually fell asleep after the final, final…final battle as I was that tired of the same shite over and over again and woke up during the credits so will have to look up the end scenes. The boss fights would have been good if they’d have been half as long, but they just go on and on and on, it’s a wonder I finished it.

Even with all this I quite enjoyed it, but Christ it was full of crap.

And FF is still such a nonces dream in terms of character design.

7/10



18.Aliens: Dark Descent - Too Many Hours - 7/10 - Xbox Series X

So this was a good game, made so partly because of the license, knock at least a point off without it. Good little story within the expanded universe, has all the lines and sound effects you’d expect, and it all goes to shit over and over as you’d expect. Now I might have played it wrong as I wanted to keep all my marines alive and spent far too long planning everything meticulously…but it still pretty much always went to shit. Then it throws you a endgame countdown where you only have so many days to complete all the missions before nuclear holocaust which was a big turn off for me as it forced me to make decisions in didn’t necessarily want to…there’s a lot of negatives here it sounds like…and I’m not a big fan of an RTS…but I love the license so I stuck to it and finished it off. And really enjoyed it.

If you like the license and you’re a fan of strategy games then it should be right up your street. 7/10.

Quite buggy too so wait for a sale and it’ll be much more worth the money.



19.Black Ops 2 - 6 Hours - 6/10 - Xbox 360 via Xbox Series X

Technically this was brilliant, the Series X emulation software did a great job of it as it can’t have looked anywhere near as good at release 11 years ago.

This was somehow the only CoD I hadn’t played let alone finished, no idea why as I love the campaigns. So picked it up in a sale and wasn’t disappointed. Just a good CoD campaign. Unfortunately even the usual absurd story was difficult to follow and all over the place but the missions were short and full of mental
Codness.

Just good remove your brain action. 6/10.



20.Phantom Liberty - 20 Hours - 10/10 - Xbox Series X

Perhaps the best piece of DLC ever. Simple as that. I’ve always loved Cyberpunk and been vocal about that, but the update and this takes it to a whole new level. The new story is of course just an addition to the source, not a new or different direction, but it’s a hell of an addition.

The new characters carry weight and give some tremendous performances. They fit into to the story and the world seamlessly and I bought it hook, line and sinker and gave a shit pretty quickly. The new area of Dogtown is well made and it felt more compact which made traversal quicker and more fun. Every mission and gig was quality and a lot of them were pretty epic. Really enjoyed the little ‘red smoke item drops’ to battle over too. The update really gave the world more life and consequence though I can’t say too much about the new skill tree’s etc as I stuck to my usual shoot and cut stuff to bits build and ignored the rest as I’m an animal.

Was gutted when it ended as I could’ve continued in that world again for much, much longer.

Absolutely loved it.



21.Assassin’s Creed Mirage - 20 Hours - 6/10 - Xbox Series X

I’ve always enjoyed AC, Odyssey being the standout moment, Origins a dip then Valhalla a much bigger dip yet still enjoyable. So wasn’t sure about bothering with Mirage, however for a tenner for a months worth of UbisoftPass I thought why not, and I’m glad I did.

Takes the series back to its roots in terms of a tighter campaign with no XP/Level requirements so you can just stick to the story if you wish and just enjoy the main quest. Which I did as the others became such big a big bloated mess that if you weren’t massively enjoying you still had to put hours into just to progress a little. Again the map is much smaller and so easy and more fun to traverse and navigate and the fluid animation and running system is as graceful as ever, aside from hilarious moments where it just fails and looks ridiculous.

All the Ass Creed stuff is here and you can plan your assassinations as you wish or go mad and gung-ho, I did a mix of both as the combat was again a slight improvement over last. The skill tree’s are much smaller so the good stuff easier to attain. The simple inner story was interesting and working out all the investigations good fun and I enjoyed them. The bigger picture story was as bizarre as ever though I even enjoy what I can understand of that though I still wonder…why?

Good game, especially if you like Ass Creed. If not, don’t bother. Nothing new to see here.



22.Metal Gear Solid - Volume 1 - 8 Hours - Perfect/10 - Xbox Series X

It’s like Die Hard, it’s just a snapshot of perfection at that time. Wouldn’t do a damn thing to change them as absofuckingloutely nothing could better them.

That was just as good as the first time I played it. The story, gameplay, characters, soundtrack, absolutely everything was and is still quintessential as part of that moment.

13 year old me knew it, 38 year old me knows it, one of the real masterpieces in gaming.
Perfect.



24.Spiderman 2 - 18 Hours - 7/10 - PS5

Hard mini review to write this as I did enjoy the majority of the game but Christ did they try to ruin it with bosses. The majority of the game is fun, swinging around doing Spidey stuff in a stunning world with great sound and though it gets oh so samey samey, it’s still Spidey so it’s cool.

Switching between 2 characters is good fun and allows for billions of collectibles and side missions and keeps the story going with different bits and pieces going on in each. If’s a bit exhausting and over bearing with something garish and shiny on nearly every roof vying for your attention, but it’s all going reasonably well, though not spectacular as it’s absolutely no different to the first two as it’s a difficult thing to change up really, but then you start to get boss after boss who are all pretty much the same and all have a number of stages to them until it just saps all the fun out until you just wish it was over.

The final few missions are so unbelievably boring as it’s just the same boss in different areas doing pretty much the exact same things, ‘oh now he has wings that look super shit’, better do the same stuff again till he’s on the ground and it’s the same again…again.

It’d be even less than a 7 if it wasn’t Spidey. Disappointing that, glad it’s over.

7/10



25.Metal Gear Solid 2- 13 Hours - 7/10 - Xbox Series X

Another classic…but god the Plant goes on forever…it’s not very fun or exciting…the lead is as beige and genderless as they come…and that last hour and a half of movie and nano machine talk is just so painful…but…it’s still Metal Gear, the Tanker is still ace, it has some brilliant touches AND Solid Snake is in it.

If it wasn’t an MGS game it would be like a 4/10…if lucky…wasn’t great when released but that Plant/Arsenal section has not aged well.

7/10…and lucky.



26.Metal Gear Solid 3- 12 Hours - 8/10 - Xbox Series X

So better than 2…still nowhere near the first. Whilst I did enjoy all the Bond type touches and clever exchanges, it’s just building up to the interactive movie that 4 is with so much nonsense that I ended up skipping the vast, vast majority of the cutscenes. A lot of the systems are interesting but strange going back to as they seem so very simple in comparison to something you’d find in a game today.

Really enjoyed it, and it could simply be too much Metal Gear but it was another one that felt too much like a slog towards the end. Still a good 8…

Will be in - first time I hit 52+ proper last year, and had a bunch I never got around to writing up. Will aim for 52 again.

I'll try with this too.

Worst OP ever.

I’m not sure I actually finished any games last year, so gonna jump in here to try and inspire me.

Currently playing:
- Firewatch (think I’m nearly done though!)
- FF Tactics Advance
- Elden Ring
- Uncharted 4
- chained echoes

Plus loads of things I’ve started with the boy.


1. Firewatch. [8]

If I can hit 20 this year I'll be happy.

1. Borderlands 3 (PC) - 32 hours

Going to try for 52 this year. Still got a huge amount left on my spreadsheet. But for once I've got a few AAA games in my sights which will take up a huge chunk of my gaming time. Need to do Elden Ring, Zelda: TotK, Starfield (probably) and Spider-Man 2. And I'm not buying both a PS5 and an Xbox so one of those last two is getting cut. Unless my wheezing old PC can run Starfield.

Skyrim in Space is an easy sell for me. Whether its worth a whole new console is unknown. And how broken it is. I could do with an easier method of accessing GamePass though. 
Thinking about it, I can't see that I'm going to part with however many hundreds of pounds the PS5 is just for Spider-Man.

I think that's been pushed back to 2024.

Good work with the counting!

Full disclosure. I’ve cheated. Some of these were from the period betwixt Xmas and New Year. But the old thread is dead to me. 
 
1. Lilo And Stitch (GBA)
The internet told me this was hard. It isn’t. It’s harder than you might expect. Probably way too hard for the target demographic. There’s a couple of tricky sections but infinite continues, a password system and fair checkpointing mean there’s no issue at all in ploughing through it. It’s a mid-tier run and gun with the alien (Stitch), switching to stealth platforming with the girl (Lilo) and then mixes it up again with some tube shooter levels. Very short. Slightly sloppy collision detection. But it’s a nice, well-animated, colourful, cartoony sci-fi adventure. And I like the pew-pew that Stitch’s guns make. Enjoyable. [8]
 
2. Lilo And Stich 2: Hamsterviel Havoc (GBA)
They’ve fucked it. The run and gun has had a complete redo, for the worse. The incomprehensible plot revolves around fighting aliens, freeing them from mind control or something, then using those aliens and their different powers in the game. The stealth sections have been done away with (the girl’s levels are puzzle-based where you manage an increasing inventory of aliens and their powers). And the shoot em up bits have been replaced with some atrocious karting. 

Someone must have got a ticking off for the difficulty in the last entry because now you can’t move for health drops. It’s very difficult to die. The bright colourful alien planets and space ships have been replaced with bog-standard, Earth-bound environments. Poorer animation. Muddier colors. Blurrier sprites. It’s mostly tedious. Mild redemption comes in one of the last levels which is an enemy-filled sprawling series of rooms on a spaceship that’s an enjoyable five minutes of blasting. [6]

3. Daffy Duck: Fowl Play (Gameboy Color)
Junk-tier 90s licensed platformer upgraded to curio status by someone going full mental with some of the animations. I was alerted to this from some twitter thread that I’ve since lost track of. Using the extra capacity of the GBC carts to stuff in walk cycles and the like with a ridiculous amount of frames. No extra horse-power of the GBC is used though (and it shows). So this is technically playable on the same old Gameboy hardware that specialised in the two-frame walk cycle. It only lasts thirty minutes thankfully. Total shite with absurdly smooth animation. [3] Anyway, gifs. 

A 50-odd frame walk cycle


Idle animation - about 90 frames


213 frames of Daffy Duck eating (foodstuff not included)


A 14 seconds long, end of level animation running on a Gameboy anyone?  


The frame count for the attack animation is zero. Sticks of dynamite spring out of Daffy Duck’s sprite without anything else happening. Strange.   

4. Axiom Verge (Switch)
Going in quite hard against this one despite some very strong elements. Unfortunately, I found a lot of it quite annoying to play. Sometimes the mix of the environments, enemies and weaponry made it a chore to get through to where you needed. Despite the bewildering array of imaginative weaponry, I mostly stuck to the couple of guns that would actually do some damage to the baddies before they took me out. The reality gun thing was almost useless. I had no idea what the point of it was. Sometimes it made enemies vulnerable, sometimes seemingly invincible and invisible. 

Games made by a single person always seem to have rough edges, and there’s quite a few here. So it’s simultaneously astonishing that someone did all this by themselves but also there’s a lot of leeway you have to give it. It actually reminds me most of A2MR, the Metroid 2 fan remake, which also felt a bit weird and unpolished but was still pretty good. Like that game the bosses are hilariously easy. A lot of them involved standing in one place and shooting. The fully-powered clean-up at the end was ok (71% item collection so don’t think I missed anything too important). I’m also quite prejudiced against anything cribbing too closely from NES games. Something about the garish colour palettes, the limitations of the games and memories of their stupid difficulty spikes means that the nostalgia doesn’t work on me. 

I’d have definitely been more positive towards it if I’d played it closer to release. The graphics, sound effects, weapons and overall tone of the thing are bang on. But I’ve played a lot of Metroidvanias, old and new, over recent years and this isn’t quite cutting the mustard in comparison to the best. Still, had the cart hanging around for this since I bought the Switch so pleased to finally get it done. [7]


5. Panzer Dragoon: Remake (Switch)
First contact with anything from this franchise. Solid enough. Very easy. Looks pretty. Good fun. Will never play again but enjoyed the 1 hour or so it took. 
[8]

I may have a go this year.

kneecap wrote:

My fault, someone I know and find annoying loves it,

Nodding at this.  I let similar things influence me too often, and presumably miss out on decent stuff.