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Beating Games

SabreCat

Sabe, Inattentive Type
(he "Sabe" / she "Kali")
Finished Vessel in 10h 59m. I got this one a long time ago in an early Humble Bundle, but at the time it didn't want to run on my machine--there was something about the liquid simulation my PC couldn't quite keep up with. Several years and a few upgrades later, it started working smoothly, so I pulled it out of retirement to give it a play through.

I liked it more than the similar "liquid simulation puzzler" World of Goo. The puzzles here are a lot more interesting and the physics less fussy. But I did end up resorting to walkthroughs for the last couple of puzzles (a "boss fight" in the Mines levels, and the shenanigans you need to do in your Workshop), because there's some super unintuitive things you need to do that my brain simply did not click on.
 

Falselogic

Lapsed Threadcromancer
(they/them)
Carrion was quick. But it sure was fun! If you like Thing-esque monsters and metroidvanias I'd jump on it!
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
While you technically can't "beat" a game like this, I'm going to declare that I've beaten Armello for Android. I really like the game and have been playing it entirely too much! I highly recommend it and it's on PlayPass for Android.
 

Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
I picked that up on the Switch and... that kind of game is really not well suited for that format.

Hopefully the iOS port is more amenable!
 

Adrenaline

Post Reader
(He/Him)
Carrion was quick. But it sure was fun! If you like Thing-esque monsters and metroidvanias I'd jump on it!
I was just coming here to also say it is good. Although I didn't think it was much of a metroidvania. Outside of about one optional upgrade per area, you're pretty much going down a single (very windy) path.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
Finally beat Castlevania II. Fun but I needed help with some obtuse stuff. Also, the last boss is kind of horseshit both in being too easy and two hard. Like, he teleports all over the place and can get you in two or three hit and its hard to dodge but it you just spam him with your whip and fire early on, then its not an issue. Its not a fun challenge. At least the other easy boss is easy in a way that's not unenjoyable. Castlevania I's Dracula is hard but it feels hard in a way that's fair.
 

MetManMas

Me and My Bestie
(He, him)
Or golden daggers. I stunlocked him to death in my last playthrough with a few of those. Drac never even got to move.
 

MetManMas

Me and My Bestie
(He, him)
Nope, you got to kill Dracula to end the game. Death is the only truly optional boss (Carmilla has a thing you need to access the castle) and it's in your best interest to kill him at least once* for the enemy-cheesing golden knife he's got.

* Also man it is weird that bosses respawn.
 

Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
Finished off Arafell which is a really solid 16-bit RPG. Nothing groundbreaking or inventive in it, just a real focus on the fundamentals, and doing them well. Nice sprite work, good difficulty balance, enjoyable writing, decent story.

If I had a complaint it’s that the maps can be a little hard to navigate at times, I spent an hour wandering one section of forest because I didn’t recognize Where a transition was.
 

Bulgakov

Yes, that Russian author.
(He/Him)
Killed the Radiance today in Hollow Knight; This is notable in that it's about the second game I've beaten this year (the first being Journey) and about the 5th game I've played at all this year. Here's to finishing up grad school soon!
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
Beat The Messenger and just loved it, even though a chunk of the game is a Metroidvania which is a genre I hate so the fact that I kept going and beat it is saying a lot! Going to try the apparently goofy DLC and then call it done.
 

Sarge

hardcore retro gamin'
I still think it's the movement tech that really puts it over the top. Definitely a great time.
 

Juno

The DRKest Roe
(He, Him)
Super Mario Galaxy isn't quite the revealation that it was to me in 2007, but it's still a great platformer, and the best of the 3D Mario All-Star collection. Gonna get 120 stars.
 

Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
Phantasy Star is DONE AND DUSTED, this time through I was trying to use the barest minimum of outside help playing through the game, outside of the amenities of the Sega AGES port; had to look at some world maps online because Dezoris is not a fun place to navigate, and the game doesn't go out of its way to remind you the names of the various towns, which makes some directions more annoying than helpful.

It's a very good l'il JRPG, and holds up quite well to the ravages of history!
 

Sarge

hardcore retro gamin'
It's one of those games that I appreciate for its scope and ambition, but the combat is just a bit too dull for my tastes. I like everything else about it, but Dragon Quest III (or even DQII!) is superior in that regard.
 

Sarge

hardcore retro gamin'
I replayed Soul Blazer. I occasionally see folks say they prefer it to A Link to the Past. I used to think those folks were quite mad. Well, I get it now. I don't agree with the sentiment, but I absolutely understand how they got there. The game is blisteringly fast in its eight-hour runtime, with one of the most addictive gameplay loops in an ARPG. Fantastic stuff.
 

Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
Cthulhu Saves Christmas might... be the best game ZeBoyds put out? I don't know how it compares to Saves the World, which this is a prequel to (it's the only one I haven't played), but it's otherwise a refinement on all the things I liked about Cosmic Star Heroine and with a tighter, more focused story (Christmas Eve is Groundhogs Day-ing because Santa has been kidnapped by every antagonist the season has, Cthulhu, Baba Yaga, Belsnickel and Santa's Niece must save the day).

Combat is largely the same as CSHs, except that you can only assign 4 commands per character, three others are assigned randomly every time you defend, and the games got some back and forth managing status effects to take down enemies, and the writing is fun and jokey without relying on reference humor. Fourth-wall breaking jokes about JRPG conventions, yes, but nothing to make you sigh!

Big ups on this little RPG!
 

Rascally Badger

El Capitan de la outro espacio
(He/Him)
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is a charming enough game that I really hate to be as down on it as I was by the end. It is a decent enough exercise of the metroidvania form, but just kind of feels unsatisfying overall. Just kind of an uncanny ability to get the difficulty curve wrong or try ( and fail) to be funny at the wrong time that just kind of hampers the experience.
 

SabreCat

Sabe, Inattentive Type
(he "Sabe" / she "Kali")
Finished The World Next Door in 3h20m. It was... not very good? Charming for sure, made with heart. But the gameplay is clunky, the characters barely developed, and the story disjointed with a sappy credits-reel happily-ever-after that feels completely unearned.

Left me scratching my head.
 
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