2022 The Backloggening

[Spectere]

Hey, congrats!

I haven't used a DualSense controller so I don't know how comparable the two are, but the trigger haptics on the XB1/XBS consoles made a much bigger difference than I thought it would. I'm glad Sony jumped on that boat. Same deal with allowing downloads during rest mode.

I just registered for their console drop e-mail thingie. Fingers crossed, I guess.

[vladgd]

8. Final Fantasy VII Remake



Ohh boy how to summarize this game. SPOILERS will be talked about sorta probably.

~44 hours played, INTERmission DLC not played yet (but doesn't count for game completion so making this post while it's fresh)

This game, besides the combat, feels like the ultimate love letter for fans of the original ff7. What they ended up shipping feels to me like one of the best produced games ever made. In terms of characters, voice acting, music, graphics, there ain't many games that can take all of those things to THAT level. I played up to the second time you visit wall market on the original game before finishing this to get a gist of where this game is. They add a lot, A LOT.

Midgar is like 3-6 hours in the original game, and this game is like 40. Chapter 1-2, and the first little bit of 3 are in the original, then it's all original content up to...chapter 7? They'll take something insignificant like that Johnny character and make him into a full fledged side comedic relief character. I thought he was original to the remake, but he is indeed in the original outside the honeybee inn as a random NPC. Small scenes like the sewers, or climbing to shinra tower in the original end up as over an hour long fully produced levels.

There's easter eggs everywhere. From the save point icon being on the rest benches, to the "PH System" being what you use in hojo's lab to communicate between parties.

The music is without a doubt the best they have produced. To the point where I low key want "remake" treatment done with the ost for 8 and 9 as well. I don't even want to link any in particular because the whole damn package is so good.

The characters are probably the single best part of this game. They steal the show. Everyone is awesome, but in particular Aeri"th". They did a fan freaking tastic job with her. I didn't care about her at all in the original and didn't care when...she was no longer a playable character. They did a 180, I think she may be one of my favorite characters in videogames period. She's almost like a Yuna type roll in this game, where she is the important mcguffin character, but the way she's acted puts Yuna to shame. I could gush all day, so I'll stop, but to say they exceeded expectations is understated. I had no expectations or care for the character, and they made her a favorite.

Odds and ends, positives.

-Nice job showing off Reeve as a good guy, they do in the original but you can easily forget he's an important character.
-Red XIII + voice acting = muy muy muy bueno
-I love Barret, and they did him justice in this game.
-Do play Crisis Core FF7 on psp, the first Zach scene at the end of the game IS the end cutscene of Crisis Core...and either they go beyond, or retcon some stuff. Won't know until the next part.

Odds and ends, negatives.

-Combat...went from a 2/10 to a 6/10. Enjoyed it a bit more, but near the end of the game with all the bosses that wouldn't die...wished the combat was turn based jrpg.
-The end. Can't really knock this game because A LOT of games do this, but why did they have to add like 3 more bosses AFTER the original ended? Just gimmie the credits already. At least it wasn't a 4 hour cutscene like in Death Stranding...
-Hard Mode? I haven't played it, but I thought about it up till...the end of the game with all the bosses. Thinking about doing that without items, and with benches not replenishing MP. GONNA PASS, NOPE!
-Ghosts/time stuff. It sorta feels like the original game happened and exists, and the remake also exists but in a seperate timeline? And the ghosts exist to make sure the OG game timeline happens instead of any "new" events the remake may add? Again a part 2 will need to explain this, but I could have done without it. We also didn't need to fight Sephiroth or have that dumb ghost bayonetta boss fight at the end.

Besides that, I think I went a full 180 on this game. Once I got past Chapter 3, I had a hard time not playing it. I can say having finished it, DESPITE THE COMBAT I STILL DON'T CARE FOR, I REALLY REALLY enjoyed this one, to my surprise.

Will post in the game specific thread when I finish INTERmission.

*edit*

F it, Turks theme. My favorite track? No. Great? YES!

[vladgd]

So...physical ps4 copy, put in ps5, insert a $10 bill to make it into the updated "directors cut" version, could import old save...decide to play around on a new file and see the changes...fifty...five hours later...

I can't stop playing. This game is my minecraft or simcity or whatever, it somehow fills that "build stuff but make actual progress through a game" vibe that those other games don't do. It's such a unique game, I've heard people citing that it evokes the feeling of factorio, I've told people it's like euro truck simulator mixed with simcity with a dash of metal gear, it's just so weird. The GAME both is NOTHING like the first 3-10 hours tries to tell you it is, while being exactly what people say it is. You are a delivery man, you deliver stuff...that's 95% the game, yet...the way it's executed makes it hard to put down.

On the specifics of the Directors Cut itself, worth paying full price if you already beat the game? No. It's mostly the same game, but most of the additions are very welcome additions. Performance on ps4 was great, but ps5 comes with the better load times, and the dual sense specific features (mic, haptics, triggers) all really add to the immersion. Sam takes a step with his left foot, the left part of the controller will make a vibration, walking in snow makes audio of the sound it makes when you walk in snow, the triggers help you feel the weight sam has to carry, really adds that little "extra" helping of immersion.

Not to do a second review of the game, but spending a bunch of time on the original game on ps4, beating it. Going back to the game to put in another 15 hours postgame. Getting this updated version (again only $10 on my end), and putting 55 + hours into a new file...

This game is NOT for everyone, but I think it got shat on a bit too hard by even content creators I tend to respect which is always sad. I think a lot of people try to bee line the story ignoring building stuff...it's a way to play the game, but it is the wrong way to play the game. I think that's part of why the game got some flak, people ignoring 60% of the game mechanics. Or crazy people who want to play offline for the "pure" experience, that is also the wrong way to play. The entire game, the themes, the whole "keep on keepin on", the fact the character is called sam porter BRIDGES, you are supposed to connect with others. It's dark souls styled, but if I had a nickle for every time there was a rope on the right ledge when I didn't have one, or a motorcycle in the middle of the ass end of nowhere, or a bridge across that one spot, all by other players of this game, I'd have paid this game off already. It's literally a game entirely 100% about connecting with other people(the "exp" system is "Likes"  ffs), and to ignore that is silly.

Either way I'm basically a fanboy now. I got my hat. Keep on keepin on. I literally got Elden Ring on ps5, and I took out the disc to play Death Stranding again for 55 hours, that game only got 30 minutes of my time so far...

Norman Reedus accidentally admitted to working on a sequel...



Well that was Kojima's response, we getting a sequel baby. Day one purchase whenever that sucker hits shelves.

*edit*

Beat it a second time, may do a few other things, but I think im more or less done. Not a perfect game, chapter 13 is a whole nother load of up it's ass, just lemme skip please! But besides that, might be a top 20 game of all time for me. Easily one of the best games I have played in the past 5 years. I do not replay games lightly, and I especially do not replay LONG (50+ hour long) games lightly. I'm glad original AAA titles can still exist.

*edit*

66 hours played, all contacts 5 starred. Not going for platinum, to me that's basically doing 100%. I am satisfied.

[vladgd]

9. Shantae



So...there was a sale for all the Shantae games...so...I...bought all of them.

Knowing nothing other than the first game on the gbc was a cult classic, released too late for the gbc after the gba was out. Years later they made a sequel, then another...now there's like 5 or something.

Either way, cute character + metroid? vibes, I'll give it a shot.

For an older game it's a bit rough around the edges, save points aren't very common, no save points at all in dunegons, instant kill megaman style spikes are pretty common, and enemies can spawn on you doing damage with no way to avoid it. That said, it's got Metroid 2 vibes of it's in that proto "metroidvania" feel, where it's like an old platformer in a non linear world...and no...map. I used a guide and after the second dungeon I resorted to the ingame savestate feature the switch port has. If savestates are the difference between playing the game to the end, and not, I guess it's an evil I'll dip my toes into. It isn't the hardest game ever, but the instant kill spikes and unfair lack of save points would make it more frustrating than fun in my opinion.

With that out of the way, it's a pretty damn charming game. I do see where the overall positive reception of the game comes from. It plays well for the most part, and oozes charm. It was a good enough time where I may be posting here with a sequel in the not so distant future.

[vladgd]

10. Shantae: Risky's Revenge



Pretty easy to chew through these when they're under 6 hours long.

This one is a bit more polished than the original, feels a bit shorter more compact because I think it was originally a DSi title. Controls feel better, enemies a lot less "bullet spongey", the original game I'd run past most everything because short range main attack and too many attacks to kill regular enemies. This game feels a bit more balanced, more save points, less frustrating to play.

Still has the same charm the original had, with really good pixel art at that. Biggest problem is while the game isn't huge, and it "technically" has a map, it's not a good one, and, cmon a real map would be great. Still, I got this on sale for like $5, and I'd say it was well spent. Fun little snack of a game.

[vladgd]

11. Shantae and the Pirates Curse



This is rare, very rare for me. I am playing yet another game in the same series, in this case the third of five Shantae games. Of any to play in order I believe Riskys Revenge leads into Pirates Curse which is a direct sequel, besides that, you can play the other games in any order far as I am aware. So if you intend to play this game, it is recommended to play Riskys Revenge first...it's ~5 hours long, so not a big time investment.

So the first game was hard mostly because it was unfair, the second game was more or less fairly easy, this one starts off kinda hard, but overall isn't too bad. It does have some "kaizo mario" moments, but those aren't the majority of the game, no where near metroid dread levels of difficulty, but has some challenge. Speaking of metroid, this game I feel is more metroid than the past 2. It's structure is a bit different, you have different islands you visit, each island is like iunno, a brinstar from a norfair if we're speaking metroid. Due to story reasons you also don't have genie transformations in this game, so it's more "metroid" feeling in the upgrades in that this game feels like it has more traditional "metroid" style upgrades, like there's metroid style dash boots in this game.

Probably got the best story out of the bunch, very tongue in cheek, starting to see running gags, has some disgaea feels. It's light, cute, mostly fun. You don't play the game for story, but it's there, and worth not skipping. I kinda like that every game starts out in the same town, and the outskirts is the same...but since they are different games, they are different. In this game the town does change as you progress, and it's a cool touch.

This is the game where I am starting to feel what makes Shantae different from the games it would be compared to. I would go as far as to say if you've been looking at the series, maybe give one of these a shot...you'll see why more in the next post...

[vladgd]

12. Shantae Half Genie Hero



I said I bought all...ALL of the games didn't I? I didn't expect to play..all...of...them...

So this is the 4th Shantae game, and it's got a few differences between the rest of em. First is the art is no longer pixel art, it's like HD animated 2d stuff with 3d backgrounds. The art is REALLY REALLY good, really big fan of all of the art in this game.

Biggest change however is it's not really a "metroidvania" style game...but also has those elements...

This game is like 6...not super long? Levels, like iunno og snes level based action game levels like a castlevania 4 or a contra or whatever, but with shantae gameplay. Though these levels have a lot of "metroidvania" stuff in them, like the first time you go through level 1 you don't have the upgrades to get all the stuff, so you'll have to re play the level again later with the correct upgrade to get the collectables. It's very different, you got a hub town which is the same as in the rest of the games, and you just go to level select from there and mostly replay levels to find all the hidden stuff.

It is pretty fun, but at a point the backtracking is a majority of the game, and does get old after a while. Game isn't super long, so it isn't a huge deal, but could get annoying. Core game is fun, and there's a ton of extra modes, like a ton of unique ways to play the game, so there's no shortage of things to do if the main game isn't enough for you. Would recommend, still quite fun, but art aside, I think this one takes a step back from the last entry.

[vladgd]

13. Shantae and the Seven Sirens



Yeah...umm, I beat all the Shantae games in a week...more or less. Uhh...I really can't beleive I did this, but the more I played, I kinda just kept having fun, so I seen no reason to stop.

This game is the most ITS A FREKAN METROIDVANIA of all of em. It has a real map this time...pirates curse did too, but this one takes the cake. Fantastic 2d art, pretty varied and good music, transformations feel more "metroidey" this time round. Pretty traditional game for it's genre, only in Shantae form. All the stuff about art/story applies here, very much has it's own identity. I would go out of my way to call this one my favorite out of the 5, not just because it's the most recent, because my second favorite is probably Pirates Curse, but more in that I really enjoy a good metroid or castlevania, and this scratches all the itches for me. Would I say it's better than a metroid dread, or even a bloodstained? No...but yknow, for what it is, it's still a very fun game, and a very good time.

None of these games are very long, and most of them aren't that hard, so it isn't really out of the question to binge these, so I did, and here I am talking about it. Now that I have caught up on this series I have always known about but never played, I do look forward to the next one whenever that comes out. Do you enjoy various levels of metroidvania, with a cute cast of characters in a silly not so serious adventure? Give these a shot.

[Spectere]

Woo, that's a lot of mini-reviews.

That sounds like a pretty good length for those kind of games. Methinks I might have to go through them at some point.