2022:
Final Post

Games reviewed:
Ready or Not, Can Androids Pray, Bad End Theater, Anger Foot, Bloodborne PSX, Day Repeat Day, Elden Ring, GT7, Horizon: Forbidden West, Emily is Away 3, Fifa 22, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Good Night Knight, There is no Game, Disco Elysium, Cyberpunk 2077, Deep Rock Galactic, YAKLAD, Manifold Garden, Factori, Circadian Dice, Nier Re[in]carnation, The Sexy Brutale, Dragon's Dogma, Vampyr, Rogue Legacy 2, Lair of the Clockwork God, Escape Simulator, Ender Lillies, Rhythm Doctor, Citizen Sleeper, You Have to Win this Game, Narita Boy,, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, NORCO, Buck Up and Drive, A Year of Springs, Buddy Game Simulator 1984, Dicey Dungeons, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order, Grindstone, What the Golf, Reigns, Moonlighter, Ctrl Alt Ego, Tales of Arise, Mini Metro, Gloomwood, Kill it with Fire, Civilization IV, Civilization VI, In Other Waters, Deathloop, Blink

2022-2023 hangovers - finished in 2022, written up in 2023:
Marvel's GotG, Two Point Campus, Stray, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Peglin, Slay the Spire, Nioh 2, Railway Empire, Catherine: Full Body, Wasteland 3, Subnautica, Death Stranding: Director's Cut

2023
Part 1: Games 1-3 (plus 2022 hangovers) (Judgment, Vampire Survivors, Miles Morales)

Part 2: Games 4-39 (Vaporum: Lockdown, DMC5:SE, Lost Judgment, Roadwarden, Yakuza Kiwami 2, Against the Storm, RE: Village PSVR 2, Tentacular, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen, Destiny 2: Lightfall, Tyranny, Lunacid, Pile Up!, Synapse, Far Cry 6, GTA 5, RE4 Remake, Tchia, Scarlet Nexus, Pistol Whip, Olli Olli World, Nier: Replicant, JETT: The Far Shore, Rune Factory 4: Special, Horizon: Call of the Mountain, DQ11:EoaEAS - Definitive Edition, Legend of Grimrock 2, Baldur's Gate 3, Whitewater Wipeout, Casual Birder, Pick Pack Pup, Crankin's Time Adventure, Direct Drive, Legend of Etad, Reel Steal, Recommendation Dog) 

Part 3: Games 40-43 (Dungeons and Puzzles, The Bookwalker, Chambers of Devious Design, Super Corporate Tax Evader)

44. El Paso, Elsewhere
Oh good lord, this could have been Not Good. 

Straight up, there is not a lot of variety here - environmentally, level layout, scenery, combat...there's a lot of game (comparatively) made out of not many pieces. And yet it works. 



A loving tribute to Max Payne, El Paso sees you fighting vampires (and other things) through maze-like nightmare infused levels. Lots of jumping though the air in slow motion, crashing through windows, blowing down doors...it's sun-dried Max Payne, dehydrated down into action-packed 15 minute levels bursting with action and flavour.

Levels end and a new one starts, a title card appears, the action continues.



Levels are small and disorientating, and make no sense. Enemy AI is simple and the health system doesn't really work at all - there's way too many healing items but if you get caught your health just drops so fast (and healing in combat is too slow to make it useful at all) - but it doesn't matter. The core here just works.

Weapons and new enemy types are dripped out at small intervals, the voice over is done earnestly - this game is a loving nod to an overly-dramatic noir-infused drug-fuelled shooter where a broken man fights the world and himself, and El Paso leans into that and repeats it earnestly - there's no wink to the camera, no embarrassment or subversion - it's repetition and distillation and admiration.  

It's Max Payne again, but maze levels only, and with a hip-hop and EDM soundtrack. And when the lights turn red, and you're listening to one of the best soundtracks of the year, and you dive through a window into your 20th bathroom this hour...you smile, and you pump that shotgun and you bob your head and think...jeez, this is fun. [8]

I like the sound of El Paso, Everywhere but the Xbox version is currently in a bit of a state apparently.

152. Solar Ash - Xbox Series S (4-5hrs)

Had my eye on this for yonks but the price on PS5 made it water a bit.  I'm all for short games but they have to be priced accordingly, and £33 for something that sounded very much like a brief one-and-done is a nope.  Thankfully it hit Game Pass a few days before my sub ran out so I had a chance to run through it.

Loosely speaking it felt like a combination of Shadow of the Colossus (clambering on big beasties), Gravity Rush (simplistic grav defying yet basic combat) and Jet Set Radio (skating and grinding on stuff!), which adds up to a pretty an interesting mix.  Coincidentally, in each of those games (if your mileage varies look away now) the core mechanics don't really sing, but a 'more than the sum of its parts' effect allow the experiences to punch above their weight significantly (is Colossus the best not-very-good game ever?).  In terms of style there's a residual echo of the glorious Hyper Light Drifter in here too.  

Focusing on the setup, I think a planet is crashing into another one, but I glossed over/skipped through the text so I'm probably not the best person to ask.  It all seemed a bit less ambiguous than HLD anyway.  Each area has a large boss to bring down, which has to be rudely awakened by destroying targets that can be found in the surrounding area.  Once you've stabbed enough eyes and woken it up you can climb aboard for a multi-phase battle.  When it works the boss battles can feel almost euphoric, but when things start to wobble - which they often do - scales rapidly fall from eyes.  This isn't a great game mechanically, but it's one I was willing to forgive due to that fact that it makes a pretty good fist at what it's trying to do.  As a general rule of thumb if you nail a manoeuvre first time you'll be fine with the gameplay, but if you fail a section more than once it's all too easy to find a weakness in the general flow to apportion blame to.  The mini puzzle courses within the stages require precise repetition to beat, with very little leeway for an individual playstyle.  You move from one point to the next to the next while slashing at the [whatever they are.  Syringes?  Vials?], and it's all very much 'execute ecactly or do it again'.  The same can be said of the bosses, and it often felt like I was just as likely to succeed on my first attempt as I was the 5th.  It's not always easy to see where the object you need to destroy next appears, which you'll need to reach and attack within a few seconds or you'll fail the whole segment.  You'll often find yourself fighting the camera, gravity shifts or general confusion in the midst of battle, which is when thing start to annoy.  

I wasn't keen on the way health works in this as it often leaves the player in a one hit kills situation at a checkpoint.  The health pick-ups strewn around could have been replaced by a recharging shield quite easily, and the whole shield point system generally feels a bit off.  The swipe slash swipe combat is functional at best, if not leaning towards a tad iffy.  Enemies that litter the stages are an annoyance that SotC had the gumption to avoid -  no such luck here; emptiness would have been preferable to me.  Much like the Badniks in classic Sonic, littlebads are definitely more hinderance than highlight.

It mostly feels like a grandiose indie that bites off a little more than it can chew.  It's not quite what I'd call AA these days (your Evil Wests, Hi-Fi Rushes and whatnot), which make me wonder if a 1.5A exists.  lt does now anyway, if only in this thread. Solid pubgrub that feels a bit old fashioned - like a fruity chicken curry with raisins and pineapple in maybe.  Tasty enough but I don't think I'd order it again, the last quarter of the plate was hard going.  I got a bit carried away with highlighting its shortcomings here, so a [7] might come as a surprise (ignoring the fact that I already declared the score elsewhere).  I thought it was worth playing and I'm glad I did; there's room in my life for the not-quite titles, especially if the credits roll within 5hrs, and this scores highly for ambition & style.



153. Subpar Pool - Switch (4hrs)

Nice little run-based pool/golf hybrid that adds curveball in the form of selectable modifiers and specific progression challenges.  Each run consists of 5 stages and you'll have to pot the balls within a certain amount of shots or lose a life.  If you run out of lives before the end of the fifth table it's a fail, if you make it to the end it's a win, and more abilities/ball types/challenges unlock gradually as you progress.  One challenge might require you to pot multiple balls with a single shot, but selecting a 'splitter' (a ball that splits into two smaller balls as it's struck by the cueball) makes the task easier.  That particular challenge might require a minimum of four active cards though, so you'll have to balance it out with other perks or obstacles.  It all works pretty well, there's just not enough of it and it takes a while to get the ball rolling, so to speak. Once I was in the groove I found the base mechanics satisfying and rewarding - especially the ability to strike as the cueball is still moving in a sort of bullet time effect - it's just a shame that the drip fed challenges start to lack variety after a while.  I was into the basics so much at one point I thought I was in it for the long haul, but the rogue/deck stuff started to wear a little thin.  That's not so say that they don't work - they very much do - it's just not conducive for the full timsink experience these games usually strive to offer.  

Performance is rough on Switch, often grinding to a complete halt and requiring the software to be closed to kick it back to life.  Thankfully it constantly saves your progress so this was more of a ball breaker than a deal breaker.  The visuals are nice enough but this shouldn't have as many issues as it does, even on Nintendo's creaking hardware.  The menus could do with tidying up a bit too, although they're presumably fine on a mobile.  Perhaps this has touch screen controls on Switch, but this was one of the rare games I played entirely on the TV.

This could have been one of my dream GOTYs, and the way it actually plays doesn't disappoint.  Structurally it's just lacking a spark to keep it going after everything unlocks, and with only four distinct areas it runs out of steam far quicker than the fundamentals deserve.  Having said that, there's a huge chance that I'll buy/play any and all DLC (or even better, free updates).  A harsh [7] then.  I had plenty of fun with it and the basics are almost exactly what I wanted from the trailer.  With more options and play possibilities (a wider variety of challenges, time attack and fixed layout modes, daily play, trickshots, leaderboards and so on) it could have been outstanding, so the disappointment overshadows its achievements for me.  Still, if you take it for what it is rather than what it could have been, four cracking hours for £9 is still legit VFM.  It's just a shame it wasn't an beefier £16.99 effort as there's a ton of untapped potential here.  

retroking1981 wrote:

Then came Psycho Fox on MS which I had as a kid, so I have a little soft spot for it. It's an improvement, but unfortunately still poor.

I will cut you.

154. Rocket Knight - Xbox 360 (1hr 45mins)

The MD original is one of my favourite 16-bit games and absolutely one of Konami's finest ever moments.  I didn't think all that much of the MD/SNES sequels (although came to them very late, so perhaps they were legit in 1994), and I've always been a bit wary of this low fanfare 2.5D reboot as reviews weren't spectacular and word of mouth seemed muted rather than buzzing.  I've had it in my digital library for years after one sale or another but never booted it up until yesterday.  

So is it any good?  Surprisingly, yes.  Once I got over the fact that the visuals adopt the functional poly approach rather than the glorious pixel art of the original I started to settle into the groove quite nicely.  At one point roughly 1/3 of the way through I started to wonder if I was playing a bona fide overlooked IP reboot/retro leaning sequel (much like Contra/Castlevania ReBirth releases on WiiWare, so I'm told), but unfortunately the cracks did appear eventually.  For the most part it's far too easy on the Normal setting, but when it flirts with occasional trickiness it starts to get a bit annoying.  You can run out of continues completely it seems, but most people familiar with the original probably won't. Still, it's mostly a pretty good stab at an XBLA era classic IP resurrection, with some neat and tidy shmup levels, solid use of the OG abilities (plus a sprinkling of not unwelcome additions) and a traditional length adventure that doesn't outstay its welcome and bows out before the annoyances start to wipe their feet.  [6] then I think, but it did want I was hoping for and ended up being slightly better than I expected overall.  Nu old nu retro afficionados could do a lot worse than passing a couple of hours with this.   



155. Ducktales Remastered - Xbox 360 (2hrs)

This one didn't do it for me though.  The mismash of (well animated, it has to be said) 2D sprites on flat 3D backgrounds floated my boat even less than the dated full poly look of RK, and I spent most of the game wrestling with the question: should this be praised or slated for its near-unwavering insistence on just being an early 90s Disney platformer Quantum Leaped into a supposedly prettier skin (which of course isn't actually prettier)?  Aside from the fact that the standard left-to-right approach of the Disney games of the era has been eschewed in favour of a small map with collectibles*, this could very much just be a reskin of an existing game.  Even the bosses are the sort of traditional lumbering pushovers in from the Castle of Illusion mould.  And yet the best boss moments arrive when you actually might just die for once due to a 'how was I supposed to avoid that?' annoyance, as the rest just amble towards you and wait to get bopped X amount of times.  I love a bit of pogoing in 2D platformers - the Donward Plunge, to use its official title - and I expect the Ducktales DNA is responsible for a huge part of the Shovel Knight appeal for me, so can't quite put my finger on why this didn't quite grab me.  I quite like a chunky 8-bt feel to character control too, if it's handled well, and I've always liked staying airborne while bouncing on the heads of enemies in these things, which this has its fair share of.  It all just felt so lazy though.  The adventure itself is soul-sappingly easy for the most part, and the enemy placement leaves a lot to be desired.  "Let's put this one somewhere annoying" seems to have been a suggestion always on the tip of the developer's tongues, but with plenty of health and exceedingly generous restart points there's really no punishment for taking too many hits.  I get that these are kid friendly games at heart, but that's no excuse for poor layouts in a fixed 2D game (multiple health pick-ups in areas where it's impossible to lose health, instadeath minecart pitfalls after you've beaten the main section etc).  

Cut-scenes are bad, so I skipped them after the intro (two button presses and you can mercifully skip any of them throughout the game).  Scrooge sounds like someone from the pub doing an impression of Mike Myers doing an impression of a Scotsman, which I thought was a poor start.  Something was stolen I think, or maybe he's on a quest to find something to make him live longer (I say maybe but I've just realised this rings a bell, hence typing it).      

It's a real continuation of the 'classic' Disney platformula, for better or worse, which might be precisely what some like-minded nostalgia seeking oldies are after.  Most of the supposed replayability comes from tackling the same stages again to amass more currency to spend on artwork etc, which of course I'm never going to do.  A lavish package it is not, nor is it a remaster imo, despite what it says on the tin.  This was definitely a miss for me, mainly on account of being overly basic and frightfully dull. Just a little peril wouldn't have gone amiss. [5] 

*I can't remember exactly how Ducktales worked tbh - I don't recall it being a backtracker type.  I occasionally refer to Quackshot as an ultralite Metroidvania, as it did have some low level ability options for returning to previously inaccessible areas within levels you'd already visited, but I probably only do that in the hope that it gets CHALLENGED by the hybrid genre gatekeepers.

I've not, looks like that wasn't a European release, so will be one for Moot to find a ROM for I reckon.

Alan Wake was a goodtime at release, but I do wonder how much my appreciation of it is skewed by the faux episodic format and the Orbison song to close chaper 1. The use of real world songs was still a lesser spotted thing at the time and the OH SHIT was quite strong for me as its a top tier Big O track that suited the Lynch vibe perfectly. Would not play again though.

I bought American Nightmare but it's one of those POS purchases that annoys me. Its apparently combat focused and that didn't seem like a good idea based on AW.

I tried to play that in the retro club thread a couple of years ago (there had been a favourable sounding Making Of article in Retro Gamer that month). Iirc I binned it after three stages, which is very unusual for me once I've started playing something. Oversized sprites and annoying gameplay, with some nice graphical effects.

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.

Wariospeedwagon wrote:

I'm pretty keen to get to Phantom Liberty shortly!

Thought at launch on PS5 it was still pretty good but the bugs and crashes were a bit much.

Dude you’re in for such a game! I’m jealous, would love to be experiencing it again for the first time.

37: Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance 2 (PC) 7/10

A very similar, slightly broadened sequel. For better and worse I enjoyed it about exactly as much as the first game, in that it's compulsive to play but ultimately felt a bit 'is that it?' by the end. Guess I'll always have a bit of nostalgia for these games but the fighting can be really tedious and cheesy at times and a bit too Benny Hill with the running around. I hampered myself a bit by playing as the Monk - a silly choice given their best weapon is there bear hands, as this is a game where scoring new weapons and gear is half the fun. Always a shame when you get a cool looking flaming sword and it's less powerful than your fists so you just have to sell it for $100.

This is an okay game, really no need to worry about it unless you enjoyed it 20 years ago.

I need to get back to that

You can probably look up which ones add to the characters and story and do just those.  I looked up which ones I needed for one of the trophies and there were some really good ones.

I've almost finished FFXVI (finally finishing a game!) and I'm a little tired of it too. I'm still enjoying it and the satisfaction in wiping out that swarm of enemies with a combo of big ticket attacks but it is very FFXIV and so it's making me wish I could switch jobs and be a healer for a little while to change up the pace.
I think I'll land on [7] too.