I just beat __

Pokemon Sword

Why the Sword version? It's more or less tradition for me: for the odd generations, I would pick the second of the versions (e.g. Blue, Sapphire, White, Moon), whereas for the even generations, it would be the first of the versions (Gold, Diamond, X). As it happens, Generation 8 is an even generation, so it's the first of the versions for me, which in this case is Pokemon Sword. This is despite how the Shield version has the preferred specialists (Alister and Melony) and a few exclusives like Corsola.

My party consists of the following:
- Rillaboom: My starter. As per the last three generations, I picked the Grass starter. I imagine it will be the same for Generation 9, because while I usually picked a bird starter, Quaxly did not appeal to me. Anyway, as a starter, Rillaboom is decent, and eventually I gave it two TMs to make it more of an all-out attacker: U-Turn and Acrobatics. The former is incredibly useful, while the latter meant that I had to forgo an item to make full use of it.
- Obstagoon: I did not plan for this member, but since the member that I want are generally spaced far apart, I decided to use it as a second member of the team. It worked out decently for having good defences and being of a different type, and for Obstagoon, I gave it Thunder Wave as a status alternative. It also learns the elemental punches, which is good because I am lacking in certain coverage. Unfortunately, the TMs to do this are in the last city of the game. Still, its good defences and OK attack are great, but I wish I gotten one with Guts (it has Reckless).
- Sirfetch'd: Another that I did not plan, but since I selected Sword, I decided on an exclusive, and its Fighting-type comes in handy too. The critical abilities are also a godsend, even if the Pokemon itself does not learn a lot of moves to do this. Of the moves currently, Leaf Blade is the only one in the moveset that guarantees it (after equipping the Leek).
- Copperajah: This one is a tough find because it's the only one that I have to go all the way to the Wild Area to seek. But having a Steel-type is good for saving the team, not to mention how it's a good way to counter Fairy-types. The Pokemon is also quite powerful with Sheer Force (moves including Play Rough, Rock Slide, and Iron Head), even if not all my attacks took advantage of it (High Horsepower is the only move that doesn't).
- Polteageist: Most of my team are physical attacks, which is a bit too specialised, and since I decided I want a Ghost-type in the team, I decided that Polteageist will be it. The fun thing about this Pokemon is how powerful it is, with a great Special Attack. Eventually it learns Shell Smash, and that move goes very well with Stored Power.
- Cramorant: Another Pokemon that I wanted, it is to my surprise that it is a late-game encounter, though it may be able to be found in the Wild Area earlier but not frequently. Anyway, even though Cramorant has balanced stats, it too would be a Special attack for the same reason: not enough of them. The moves reflected that, what with Surf (for Gulp Missile), Air Slash, and Icy Wind.

The major attraction for this game is Dynamax, which is basically when a Pokemon could grow into a large size and use powerful attacks. This feature cannot be used for most of the game, as it's only reserved for the game's stadiums and select locations, so it's not really easily abused. However, Raid Battles heavily use this, and they are really cool because it's a co-op mode, which are always enjoyable since there's no player opposition. Raid Battles also come in star ratings, where the more there are (out of five), the more difficult the battles are. It is from here where it is possible to obtain high-quality battle Pokemon (Pokemon with generally good IVs). The CPUs are serviceable, but the fact of the matter is that if playing a 5* battle, they will not be able to pull their weight, and luck needs to be relied on for the battle to be won.

I have decided that, instead of using the Shift mode (option to switch Pokemon for each KOs on the opponent's side), I decided to use Set, where switches happen in real time. It does give the game a good sense of difficulty, and admittedly there were times where the game did feel rough. The roughest is the Champion Leon battle, because his Pokemon are of notably higher level compared to what was before, making his battle a tense one. I managed to pull through, which is a relief because I have officially completed the campaign.

Overall, I really enjoyed the journey of this game, and somehow the reduced pool of available Pokemon never was bothersome, probably because there are already so many of them at this point of history that it didn't feel like they were lacking. Would it be nice if every Pokemon could be available? Certainly, but I think that would only be fully enjoyed by the minority, such as the romhackers who can modify data to make every Pokemon available.

Thank you for reading.
 
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

Just finished my second ever playthrough of this game and my first on Cemu

It took quite a bit of time configuring to get Cemu to work on Linux since Cemu, unlike Dolphin, Yuzu, and Citra, Cemu isn't open source and doesn't have an official Linux port (though I believe both of those things are planned to be changed at some point later this year but for now it takes Wine/Proton to get it working) but it's all good now and it was so worth it, and Tropical Freeze seems to run at full speed and with no bugs on my laptop, so I was overall very satisfied with the experience, and since it's portable this'll probably be my go to way to play from now on especially as a university student. It's still such a great game

Also I found the difficulty more manageable this time, it was pretty funny how on my first playthrough it took like 5-6 total hours of attempts to beat the final boss and this time I beat him on my first try without even using any items
 
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 1 yesterday
This was a good game with good riddles to one's mind, as Phoenix is a brave and smart protagonist and both Maya and Ema are likable companions, with Edgeworth's harsh personality but willingness to go against normalcy when he thinks it's needed making him a good character as well. All five cases are interesting, but fortunately on a mostly to entirely pattern each case is better than the last. I definitely plan to play Justice For All even though I've heard people think while it's still good, it's not quite as good as the first. I'm sure I'll want to play each game after that as well.
 
Kirby and the Forgotten Land (100%)

first mainline Kirby I've 100%'d in a while, but a damn good one to finish. one of the best games in the series imo, I've been wanting a full 3D Kirby and it did not disappoint. Star Allies, while still good, felt kind of...stale? so I'm glad they tried something new. it worked
 
Just beat Paper Mario: The Origami King. Great game. I loved finding toads and collectables, the Paper Macho enemies were a ton of fun, and the presentation was great too. I didn't mind the combat system either, but that's probably because I'm pretty decent at puzzles. Characters were pretty good too. I don't really like Bobby at all but Olivia, Bowser, and Kamek were all great. And I love how the game had several open areas with tons of secrets and collectables. The great sea is probably my favorite part of the game.

My big issue with the game were the boss battles. Honestly I don't get why people like them? I mean using the ring is fun, but spending several turns trying to figure out a boss's specific weakness is just tiring. Sometimes I'd use the thousand-fold arms too early, so I'd have to spend another turn opening the chest, and possibly even more turns to wait for the right opportunity to use it. Tbh I think this game's bosses are worse than Sticker Star's. That game had the same issues, but at least I didn't have to solve a puzzle every time I wanted to try something.

Despite all that I still love the game. But I think the next game should go back to the series' roots. It would make a ton of people really happy. They could even incorporate the good parts of TOK to make the modern fans happy as well.
 
Despite all that I still love the game. But I think the next game should go back to the series' roots. It would make a ton of people really happy. They could even incorporate the good parts of TOK to make the modern fans happy as well.
What good parts of Origami King would you want to specifically be implemented? I agree with that in terms of the fun collectibles but am interested in your opinion as someone who quite liked the game.
 
What good parts of Origami King would you want to specifically be implemented? I agree with that in terms of the fun collectibles but am interested in your opinion as someone who quite liked the game.
I'm not a game designer so maybe I'm wrong, and these things wouldn't fit in with the old games. But I'd really like for them to keep the wide open areas, as they're probably my favorite part of TOK. Also I think the artstyle of modern paper mario is way better than the older games, so they should keep that.

TOK is action-adventure while the older games are RPGs, but maybe they could combine them? Like, keep the overworld puzzles, confetti, the thousand-fold arms, and open areas, but also have EXP (or some other progression system) to encourage you to fight random enemies. I also think they should do another story that doesn't revolve around paper. Tbh I find it hard to get into TOK's plot when I get into an important fight and it's against a stapler or colored pencils or whatever.

Honestly I just want people to be happy with a new Paper Mario game. Obviously you can't please everyone, but I hope the next game doesn't spawn the same toxic arguments that TOK had.
 
Honestly I just want people to be happy with a new Paper Mario game. Obviously you can't please everyone, but I hope the next game doesn't spawn the same toxic arguments that TOK had.
Especially considering narrowly most people actually see Origami King as the better of the three Paper Mario games after Super Paper Mario, LOL
 
Haven't done this in a while, but I've only really completed two games in that time.

Ratchet and Clank (PS2) - Really fun. Liked the various gadgets. (Especially the one that transforms enemies into chickens). Although it wasn't the first time I've played it, it was the first time I played it to get to the end. I assume the 2nd and 3rd games are going to be even better.

Paper Mario Sticker Star (3DS) - The beginning was kinda rough when getting to a boss and not having the item that is the boss's weakness. The game did get better as it went on, since it wasn't as reliant on having a specific sticker to defeat a boss. (And I do like that you can exit a stage at any point after completing it once). Overall, I thought it was fine, but I think I might slightly prefer Super Paper Mario.
 
Donkey Kong Land (100%), Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (102%), Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (103%), and Donkey Kong Land 2 (100%).

I decided to get the Land games before Nintendo made my chances of ever playing them significantly more difficult, and that motivated me to finally finish DKC2 after 18 years and play DKC3. I'm glad I finally gave the latter a chance because it's now my second-favorite.
 
Donkey Kong Land III (103%) and Donkey Kong Country (101%, which was long overdue and, I think, made easier by having five games' worth of practice).

I spent all of DKC3 after Riverside Race expecting to have to beat one or two more records somewhere and was disappointed when the opportunity never came, so I ended up liking Land III's time attack mode a lot. As an aside, it helped me better understand/appreciate the choice to make the levels thematically similar to SNES ones (I liked the first Land game's creativity and was somewhat let down by the second as a result).
 
Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle's Story Mode.
Whew! The final boss had me on my toes, I thought for sure I was going to lose, but alas I won thanks for bit of help from the luck of enemy friendly fire! >:D

Bowser Jr. apologizing was the cutest thing ever.
 
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations

Man.
 
Roommate and I beat the main story of Super Mario Odyssey the other day.
I remember a lot of talk on Peach rejecting Mario's proposal and well,
after seeing the scene first hand, I found it was.. not a deal worthy of the amount of talk it received.
All it showed was Peach thought Mario to be ridiculous to even think she would tell Bowser yes after all the events leading up to that.

Ahem, anyway, it was short, but fun. I look forward to its side content before affording Tropical Freeze next month.
 
spore creatures
still a big fan of this game as simple as it is. really interesting conversion of creature stage with more cell stage like gameplay. with some nice pixel art
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whats interesting about the gameplay is the combat actually. i only just noticed this but here its mostly reliant on observing when you can attack the opposing creature, and striking at that time. its not too deep but its rather unique for spore standards
befriending creatures isnt too different from base spore but its more rhythm based and faster. you use more skill instead of just having the best social parts lmao i think its probably more fun though repeating the same actions over and over can still get a bit annoying
ALSO little thing but i kind of love the sound design because it all obviously uses midi instruments and its a Vibe, somehow
 
Tak 1 (Power of Juju) - Probably not my first time playing it, but first time finishing it. It was a "open world" styled platformer and it was fun.

Tak 2 (Staff of Dreams) - The one I remember the most, even though most of it was playing the multiplayer mode. My personal favorite out of the trilogy. This one was more stage by stage based and I prefer it this way. Some of the enemies were annoying to fight.

Tak 3 (The Great Juju Challenge) (Gamecube and DS) - I think I played the console version before. This one is 2 player teamwork oriented with the goal to get a good score in a level. The final boss was annoying, but manageable. Still a good game and my second favorite out of these three games.

The DS version was one of the first games I've had for the DS and at the time it was amazing to have a 3D adventure game on handheld. (I did play Super Mario 64 DS before). Playing it again now, its fine. The racing sections was weird to control, but most of the minigames they've had in between sections were fun though.
 
Red Dead Redemption 2 (first time)

Very long game but very satisfying to finish. Story was so good and was the most complex and interesting story I've seen in a video game in a long time. I found the characters in the main gang were pretty interesting, with how Arthur is sorta like a "bad guy" who admits he's done terrible and violent things over his life but still has a sense of morality and responsibility (maybe not an original trope e.g. Logan/Wolverine but still an enjoyable one) and then characters like Charles and Javier sure they join along in robberies and such but they always seemed like nice guys to me and

i found it really sad how Lenny just died in the middle of a getaway like they really didn't need to do that and especially how they didn't have much time to mourn him. Lenny was one of my more favourite characters because he seemed more innocent than the others.

I found Dutch van der Linde a very interesting character too as he initially seemed like a dignified and loyal leader but over time it became more and more apparent that he was obnoxious and selfish, but then at the end of the epilogue he stops Micah to help John but then just walks away without saying anything. Micah eh I always found him weird and creepy and not a nice guy and was aware of his sour relationship with Arthur. but I really wasn't expecting him to effectively be the main villain and a traitor to the gang.

I also had no idea until after finishing the epilogue that John was the main character of the original Red Dead Redemption (which I've not played) but so long as my brother's Xbox 360 still works I intend to play that game some time, probably not this summer though and I won't have access to the x360 during the term time at university

I'm also kinda confused how there were so many things I saw in the trailers and reviews that never happened in the game but I guess they must be side quests or optional things or stuff thats affected by your decisions (so more story for me to explore on a second playthrough hopefully)

Overall story and characters were amazing!


The graphics were really really good too, the whole realistic style seems to be very common in pc games and such but as I'm still relatively new to that scene so still really impressive. I'd say graphics-wise it maybe ties with Rise of the Tomb Raider, slightly worse than Shadow of the Tomb Raider and definitely better than Tomb Raider (2013) and Tell Me Why, so overall I guess the joint second most beautiful game I've played. The music I found I didn't pay attention to most of the time but when I did it was beautiful, especially some of the emotive vocal music that plays over some of the emotional scenes near the end in particular (e.g. "That's the way it is"). I'm not really a fan of the game's heavy gore and occasional sexual content but I can tolerate it.

As for the gameplay itself I found it very fun overall, and it's good I have the option for the most part to skip cutscenes to jump straight into the action, as opposed to the Tomb Raider Survivor Trilogy which I feel had a lot more unskippable cutscenes. The combat was pretty nice, I played with a controller despite being on PC (cause it's comfy imo) and I found it kinda weird how it automatically points at the enemies when aiming but I guess it's welcome. I do kinda wish it had a zoom aim feature like Shadow of the Tomb Raider as I found it sorta fiddly to aim with a controller on far away stuff. The horse riding was really well done imo and it's also convenient that camp fires offer fast travel and skipping the night. I do complain though that food and ammo was too easy to get, as deer are very common and venison can easily be cooked at a campfire which restores all your cores almost fully (plus food and ammo in shops was insanely cheap - I had over $1000 for much of my playthrough and nothing really to do with it.) I found the Dead Eye feature really interesting and pretty fun. I also just went on crime rampages a lot which I found ridiculously fun although it was kinda frustrating that like the game would lock me out of certain places if I do crime there it seems. Admittedly the epilogue definitely got a bit boring at times but had a nice final battle I guess. I do wish that more buildings were explorable tbh. But overall gameplay is excellent.

So all in all this game maybe has a few shortcomings but none too serious and so many things about it are so wonderful that it is no doubt worth the £30 I paid for it (that was half price btw) and is now one of my favourite games of all time.
 
The Lungfish Boss of Psychonauts.
 
Red Dead Redemption 2 (first time)

Very long game but very satisfying to finish. Story was so good and was the most complex and interesting story I've seen in a video game in a long time. I found the characters in the main gang were pretty interesting, with how Arthur is sorta like a "bad guy" who admits he's done terrible and violent things over his life but still has a sense of morality and responsibility (maybe not an original trope e.g. Logan/Wolverine but still an enjoyable one) and then characters like Charles and Javier sure they join along in robberies and such but they always seemed like nice guys to me and

i found it really sad how Lenny just died in the middle of a getaway like they really didn't need to do that and especially how they didn't have much time to mourn him. Lenny was one of my more favourite characters because he seemed more innocent than the others.

I found Dutch van der Linde a very interesting character too as he initially seemed like a dignified and loyal leader but over time it became more and more apparent that he was obnoxious and selfish, but then at the end of the epilogue he stops Micah to help John but then just walks away without saying anything. Micah eh I always found him weird and creepy and not a nice guy and was aware of his sour relationship with Arthur. but I really wasn't expecting him to effectively be the main villain and a traitor to the gang.

I also had no idea until after finishing the epilogue that John was the main character of the original Red Dead Redemption (which I've not played) but so long as my brother's Xbox 360 still works I intend to play that game some time, probably not this summer though and I won't have access to the x360 during the term time at university

I'm also kinda confused how there were so many things I saw in the trailers and reviews that never happened in the game but I guess they must be side quests or optional things or stuff thats affected by your decisions (so more story for me to explore on a second playthrough hopefully)

Overall story and characters were amazing!


The graphics were really really good too, the whole realistic style seems to be very common in pc games and such but as I'm still relatively new to that scene so still really impressive. I'd say graphics-wise it maybe ties with Rise of the Tomb Raider, slightly worse than Shadow of the Tomb Raider and definitely better than Tomb Raider (2013) and Tell Me Why, so overall I guess the joint second most beautiful game I've played. The music I found I didn't pay attention to most of the time but when I did it was beautiful, especially some of the emotive vocal music that plays over some of the emotional scenes near the end in particular (e.g. "That's the way it is"). I'm not really a fan of the game's heavy gore and occasional sexual content but I can tolerate it.

As for the gameplay itself I found it very fun overall, and it's good I have the option for the most part to skip cutscenes to jump straight into the action, as opposed to the Tomb Raider Survivor Trilogy which I feel had a lot more unskippable cutscenes. The combat was pretty nice, I played with a controller despite being on PC (cause it's comfy imo) and I found it kinda weird how it automatically points at the enemies when aiming but I guess it's welcome. I do kinda wish it had a zoom aim feature like Shadow of the Tomb Raider as I found it sorta fiddly to aim with a controller on far away stuff. The horse riding was really well done imo and it's also convenient that camp fires offer fast travel and skipping the night. I do complain though that food and ammo was too easy to get, as deer are very common and venison can easily be cooked at a campfire which restores all your cores almost fully (plus food and ammo in shops was insanely cheap - I had over $1000 for much of my playthrough and nothing really to do with it.) I found the Dead Eye feature really interesting and pretty fun. I also just went on crime rampages a lot which I found ridiculously fun although it was kinda frustrating that like the game would lock me out of certain places if I do crime there it seems. Admittedly the epilogue definitely got a bit boring at times but had a nice final battle I guess. I do wish that more buildings were explorable tbh. But overall gameplay is excellent.

So all in all this game maybe has a few shortcomings but none too serious and so many things about it are so wonderful that it is no doubt worth the £30 I paid for it (that was half price btw) and is now one of my favourite games of all time.

The one problem I have with it gameplay wise, especially if you're a Rockstar veteran, is how strict it is for an open world game. Especially when you have more than enough money to buy a specific weapon you want, yet the shopkeeper doesn't feel like selling it.
 
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Oh my gosh I just beat Lord Fredrik just a couple hours ago. Not a fan of the boss at all, but at least it's over.

This is also the first 2D Mario platformer I've ever beaten OMG
 
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