2018 was a pretty long and transitional year for me. I went through a lot of personal shit and I'd say that my life has changed for the better. I have a good job and I can finally buy some games for myself.
These are just some of the games I had a lot of fun playing, most of which (the 1 player games mainly) I've managed to finish by the time I've made this list. It's been forever since I last made a post, back when I made the NieR Automata review From The Stack, but yeah I'm gonna obviously make more written reviews eventually.
Yakuza Kiwami / 龍が如く極
(PS3/PS4. Developer: Ryu ga Gotoku Studio, Publisher SEGA. 2016-2017)
This was the first game in the series that I played, unlike most people who played 0 instead. Which IS a prequel to the original story but it makes more sense to play the original games in the actual order first and THEN play and the remakes. In my case, I only played Kiwami over the PS2 version because this was $15 at Target last Christmas, so I couldn't pass it up. Back when I made the 2017 top games list, I actually had the game on my 2017 list of games I was looking forward to. Yakuza Kiwami is about Kazuma Kiryu who is a former yakuza who was exiled out of his clan and spent 10 years in prison taking the fall for his friend Nishiki, who killed a rival clan leader. It's now the present day and Kiryu's been out of the criminal lifestyle, and now the Tojo clan's 1 billion Yen has mysteriously gone missing, and everyone in the underground criminal world is looking for it. Meanwhile Nishiki's been promoted and rose up the ranks in the Tojo clan, but despite Kiryu helping him out, Nishiki becomes a huge asshole and starts going mad with power. But honestly, Nishiki is a BITCH. He's fucking trash. Even his lackeys are better at being gangsters than this fucking guy. Overall, I kinda forget the story because it's been almost a whole year since I first played it, but the game has a lot of drama. I just remember a lot of moments just happening and some of the guys who help Kiryu in one cutscene literally fucking die in the scene/battle right after. I can easily tell they got some inspiration from Hokuto no Ken, but unlike that series, some of the drama feels so forced, like these dudes just die just for the sake of drama. but there are a lot of moments that make up for it, and have genuine tension, sadness and hype. Like when you fight all those dudes outside Kiryu's friend's bar in the back alley and you fuck them all up.
Oh yeah we need to talk about the gameplay. You are Kiryu, you fight thugs/rich guys/hobos/yakuza/and basically anyone who's cruising for a bruising. The game is essentially a 3D beat'em up. You have 4 different fighting styles that are all useful in certain situations, but you could probably use whichever you want. You have some basic attacks and can even charge moves to do more damage or break enemy defenses, but in order to get MORE moves, you gotta keep upgrading the skill tree, naturally the more battles you do, the easier it is since you can use the EXP gained to increase important things like HP, attack damage etc. and of course, the amount of moves you have access to. The pink style focuses on quick attacks that don't stun the enemy but hits them in the face a lot so they can get dizzy and be opened up for big damage. You can't block in this style, instead you do like a swaying dodge motion, causing Kiryu to just wiggle around. If you level up the skills enough, you can do like 4 fucking sidesteps around the enemy, moving pretty fast. the yellow style lets you fuck up everything. In battle you can usually pick up items, and use them as weapons. Usually minor things, like chairs, traffic cones, umbrellas, knives etc. But with the yellow style, you can fucking pick up a moped or a fucking MOTORCYCLE AND BASH PEOPLE WITH IT. This style makes you a lot slower, but you can also endure attacks, and tank them, since you can't block because you're a tough guy. This style is perfect for hordes of enemy because Kiryu goes arms swinging all over the place. The blue one is more of an all-around type which became my go to style as it had good punches and kicks, and you could usually knock them down and follow up with a heat action like stomping them on the face. The 4th style is the Dragon style which is the original moveset from the first game all the way up to Yakuza 5 (and I assume 6 as well,) this one is a bit harder to max out as you need to do a lot of side quests with the old man Komaki and fight Majima a lot, but I'll talk about him in a bit. Also it's worth maxing out Dragon style for the TIGER DROP. Oh right let's talk about Heat Actions. The game has Heat Actions, that are basically special moves that you can do with certain weapons, (and without weapons) and require you to have the heat bar filled up to a certain point by kicking lots of ass. Like I said, bashing them with a fucking motorcycle. You can also bash a dude in between a car door, stomp their face out, slice them up with a knife, or use a chair. In Yakuza 3 Kiryu can fight with a giant fish, and in 6, I believe you can shove a dude's face into the microwave.
So in Kiwami, there's a lot of side activities you can do. You can go bowling, go to the batting cages to score home runs, hang out with hostesses at a cabaret club, compete in coliseum battles, race toy cars and even play an arcade game called MesuKing. Mesuking is a rock-paper-scissors card game where women in bikinis with bug theme accessories/bikinis wrestle each other. You know, for the kids. I mentioned Majima earlier and while he's not super important in the story, but he did become popular and shows up in all the other games, including 0, they made a system just for him called Majima Everywhere. Majima can literally show up whenever in the city. the game will even have him marked on the mini-map if you're close enough. He can also disguise himself as a taxi driver, policeman, a dancer, or even a fucking zombie. The best one is still when he dresses as a hostess and you have to actually hang out and share drinks. and then you fight him outside and he has a tight dress and high heels. Majima helps you unlock the other Dragon Style moves that you don't get from Komaki, or by normal play. He even challenges you to mini games like bowling, or the toy car racing (that one was fucking hard). While I love the Majima system and fighting him can be fun. It can get repetitive and he eventually becomes a damage sponge with like 8 HP bars so it can take like 10-20 minutes to take him down. Still, if you like beat'em ups. I'd recommend playing Yakuza Kiwami, or just the series in general, although it's better to experience them in the proper order as the gamepla kept getting better over time.
Binary Domain / バイナリードメイン
(PS3/360/PC. Developer: Ryu ga Gotoku Studio, Publisher: SEGA. 2012)
Made by the same people behind the Yakuza series, Binary Domain is an awesome game that sadly nobody played. It sold like less than 100,000 copies, and only like 20,000 copies in just the US. It's a shame because it's an awesome 3rd person shooter set in the future full of robots and shit. You play as Dan and with his best buddy Big Bo. They're sent to Japan by the US military to put a stop to the Amada corporation and arrest the big man Amada himself. Amada is responsible for stealing robot technology used to create robots known as Hollow Children, which looks exactly like humans and don't even know that they're robots themselves. So it's causing problems because you never know who is or isn't a fucking robot underneath. I think the setting is pretty awesome. The game gives you AI controller partners that you can usually pick in between missions, so you can have support based on your play style. I always have Bo on my team because he's the best. You can actually use voice commands to tell your teammates what to do, but I heard it's pretty ass, so luckily you can turn it off and just use button commands, which I recommend. It's a cover based shooter, but it never really felt boring, and the scenarios they put you in are pretty cool. You fight in the cities of Japan, inside moving subway trains, in the sewers, and even in a fucking club. The game has some great one-liners and cheesiness that makes the experience fun. It has a lot of the same sense of humor as Yakuza, so I'm glad the team actually put their full effort into this. Another funny thing is that the game is dubbed, but sometimes, mainly with the japanese characters, it changes back to japanese, but then when you're actually in gameplay they change to english actors doing a fake asian accent which is just funny.
Throughout the levels, you can find little shops where can you can spend money to upgrade you guns' stats, reload times, damage etc. And buy nanomachines to give you certain buffs in combat like increasing defense or making you move faster, you can also buy some for your teammates. your partners in combat can be pretty smart and you actually feel like they're helping you out. If you take too much damage, you get knocked down and incapacitated, you gotta use first aid or you'll end up dying. Usually when this happens, your partners will ask if you need help, and if you say yes, they'll almost always rush over to save you, and I really like that as it really feels like a group effort (despite this being 1 player). The game also has a trust system so when you give them order, or they request for cover, it can go up or down depending on what you say/do. And obviously the more they trust them, the more they help you out. I really like how you can take enemies down. You fight robots named Scrapheads, and you can shoot their legs or arms off, making them easier to take down, you can even see the parts fly off and scatter around. Eben if you shoot their legs down, they'll still try to crawl over and kill you, usually by blowing up or by grabbing you. The attention to detail is so cool, shows that a lot of love was put into this game Apparently shooting them in the head can actually confuse the Scrapheads, causing them to attack each other. Kinda wish I knew that earlier. I recommend you go buy this game on whatever system because it's a really crazy and fun shooter, it actually reminds me a lot of Vanquish and I love Vanquish so that's a good thing.
THE LAST STORY / ラストストーリー
(Wii. Developer: Mistwalker/AQ Interactive, Publisher: Nintendo/XSEED (US). 2011-2012)
The last of the 3 Wii RPGs people fought to get brought over to the US, and after wanting it for a few years, I finally got it. Xenoblade, The Last Story and Pandora's Tower were pretty notable for not just being pretty good good games (especially the first 2 mentioned) but because people launched a campaign to convince Nintendo of America to just fucking release the games in the US. The Last Story obviously being one of the 3 was actually part of a collaboration Nintendo had with developers to making exclusive games for the console. It was developed mainly by Mistwalker, founded by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, as the name implies, his last major game/RPG, before moving to mobile games. It's a action RPG where you play as Zael and his group of mercenaries. Zael had a rough life and wants to become a knight to protect people and have a better life for him and his comrades. He ends up having a fateful meeting with Calista after having to work as a guard for the royal family and this is when the game really starts. All the main characters in this game are great, they all have their moments and you really grow to like them as the game progresses. The game has cover mechanics letting you either hide behind walls, jump over them so you can attack, and you can even kinda zip between walls to hide. Zael is able to use his Gale attack to do a huge dash towards healing circle, which can heal the party or cause damage. The game has a big focus on these magic circles, after certain party members or enemies cast magic (which takes a few seconds) it leaves a huge magic circle and hitting with Gale can either burn enemies/heal/etc. so you gotta plan out your attacks. Zael can also use the Power of the Outsider, to draw enemy attention towards him, giving your partners time to cast magic safely, he can also use a cross bow that can be useful in some situations, you can even use different types of arrows.
The actual fighting is actually pretty simple as you just press A to attack, you just do a simple combo, and it's the same one over and over. But the focus on the game really is how you can outsmart the enemy and plan out your strategy (do not use the auto attack, it sucks, make sure to change it right away) and you can block too, so yeah, and lock on to enemies. Again, the combat is simple but the game really puts you in some tough situations, it's more about the enemies, map design and how much you understand the game. Whenever you or your teammates get knocked out, it takes a few seconds to revive them, or you use the Outsider's Power to do it instantly, just gotta be near them. But you can only be revived up to 3 times. and you get a game over if everyone gets knocked out, if I remember right, or if Zael loses all his lives and dies. The story is pretty good, Zael was a kinda silly character at first, but he really grew on me, as you see him change throughout the game, and see how even tho he eventually becomes a knight, things aren't always what you really want. I just wish that some of the other party members like Syrenne and Lowell had a lot more screen time to develop as characters. And this game has some pretty cool funny side quests. Like the haunted house. Oh some of the bosses were brutal, like fucking giant spider. Also the main villain, Zangurak looks like Ganondorf so I always call him Ganondorf. Also I love the british accents in this game, it helps bring the game to life, it really wouldn't be the same without it. especially for Syrenne, her accent is so fun. Oh my god, I just remembered how much the final boss kicked my ass. It took me so many tries despite being on the same fucking level. I felt so accomplished after beating it tho. I should really go back and continue new game plus because I missed some important post-game missions. Feels good having finally played all 3 of the major Wii RPGs that were part of the fan campaign. Sadly, I doubt that a lot of people who actually participated in said campaign and did signatures even bothered to actually follow up and play them, but I did tho. The best characters in this game are Zael, Syrenne, Lowell, General Ashtar and my fucking dude Therius.
Splatoon 2 / スプラトゥーン２
(Switch. Developer/Publisher: Nintendo. 2017)
Splatoon 2 was a game I didn't end up playing too much last year as I was busy with other shit. But I eventually back into it when more updates and content came out for it. Splat2 is a 3rd person shooter where you play as kid squids (and now octos), where the goal of the main game mode Turf War is to cover the map with as much paint as possible. You earn money and EXP from battles which can unlock new weapons. Weapons become available the higher your level is, and the clothes in the shop rotate each day so there's usually new gear that you can buy. The game is pretty much the same as the original just with more levels, maps, new specials, clothes etc. and the story mode relates to the first game too. Callie from the Squid sisters has actually gone missing (probably as a result of the final Splatfest in Splat1...) and it's your job to figure out what happened to her, and rescue the Great Zapfish (who got stolen again...) What I like about Splatoon is that you can still do well and have fun even if you're bad at aiming like I am. As the main goal is to paint the map more than your opponents team.
Tower Control was my favorite mode in the original game, and I figured it would be the same here, but they added these checkpoint things to the mode that I didn't really like, as you would be on the tower right, and it has to stop at the checkpoint for a few seconds, and in those 7 or so seconds, the team could fucking murder you straight up. My favorite special in the game is the Curling Barrage, as it lets you shoot a bunch of curling bombs, but what I fail to understand is why only 2 WEAPONS have this special. Well at least I like those weapons. The game has new modes like Salmon Run, which is basically a horde mode. I actually played this mode a lot when the game first came out, but for some reason, I don't. Might be because it gets really brutal at the higher ranks, even with a full team of 4 the salmon don't hold back. You collect the eggs to give it to some talking bear statue but the salmon will come out of the water to attack you and get the eggs back. You fight a huge salmon that throws bombs, they have lasers and shit. Clamblitz is a mode that exists, uh I don't really like that mode, so I don't play it. Oh yeah and there's the Octo expansion that finally allows you to play as an Octoloing in the main game. There's no real difference gameplay wise, but the Octoling girl looks better (and has better hips)
Dragon Ball FighterZ / ドラゴンボールファイターズ
(PS4/XB1/PC/Switch. Developer: Arc System Works. Publisher: Bandai Namco. 2018)
A lot of great fighting games came out this year, and early in the year, Arc System Works unleashed the power of Dragon Ball upon the world. I like VS. style fighting games, but I really didn't like Marvel vs Capcom 3 as the game got to the point where it's a one touch kill. Meaning as soon as you miss you fuck up a move, the enemy will just punish you, air combo, knock down into OTG assist wash rinse repeat, it made the game really un-fun as there was no real way to get the enemy off you. and while FighterZ doesn't have a mega crash like Tatsunoko vs Capcom does, the game has certain systems that at least prevent you from getting completely bodied. But don't forget that you actually need to know what you're doing. FighterZ is a 3v3 game like UMvC3, and even shares the same traits of assists, team supers, and doing a super with one character, changing to another character, super with the next guy and other shit. This game is ridiculously fun, the graphics look better than the anime (well better than Super, but the graphical style reminds me more of Z). And the music is full of hardcore rock songs. There's a story mode that has a brand new character designed by Toriyama himself, Android 21, who's both the main villain and one of the main heroes depending on which of the 3 story paths you do, but you gotta do them in order anyway so it doesn't matter. Basically, Android 21 has these powerful waves that have suppressed the fighters' energy so everyone is basically is weak as hell. She ends up creating a clone army of Goku, Freeza and the other characters to try and destroy the earth.
While I liked the story mode and love Android 21, the story takes like 6 hours to beat all 3 stories, and to unlock her for offline/online modes, you MUST beat story mode, and it annoys me. But personally it's worth it because I like 21 and she's a really fun character. Other than 21, I just mainly use my favorite characters, I mainly play Yamcha, Cell, Freeza, 21, and Ginyu but can play other characters like Goku/16, who are pretty standard. Yamcha is all about up close attacks, Cell has a lot of tricky move like his command grab that can grab from far away and just has good moves in general. Android 21 can use a command grab to steal a move. like using it on Goku or characters with beams, gives her a kamehameha, and stealing from androids can give her an energy barrier etc. Freeza can do crazy things, like chuck rocks at you, use the saucer blades to slice if they come back, they'll damage you instead, trapping them in the ball attacks is my favorite because you can combo into Death Ball. Ginyu summons the full TOKUSENTAI and it's even in order, as Guldo is the firs one who shows. Ginyu has the most limited moveset, with only like 2 special moves and only 2 supers, with Body Change being a move that can only be done once, if it actually works. However Body Change is his most useful tool, as it can totally turn the tables of the match, which is so awesome. It's my favorite thing to do if the opponent has a character on their team that I play, so I can either have like 2 Cells on my team or just style on them with their main character, whichever suits the current situation. So yeah I would recommend the game if you like Dragon Ball, or fighting games in general.
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle / ブレイブルークロスタッグバトル
(PS4/PC/Switch. Developer/Publisher: Arc System Works/PQube (EU.) 2018)
Okay so I know this game has Persona 4 characters, and even has RWBY that I don't care too much for either. But with that said, even with these 2 series being part of the crossover, Cross Tag Battle actually surprised me with how fun and fast the combat is. Also made by Arc System Works, instead of a 3v3, it's actually a 2v2 team fighter, where you can still do a super into your partner's super, but the game also has tag mechanics similar to Street Fighter X Tekken. What I mean by that is that you can attack, and while doing combos, you can have your partner come in and you can beat them up with both characters at once. So you can also switch characters during combos like in a lot of other team based fighter, there's a really cool looking team move I forget the name of, where it's a grab, but then both your characters do a big attack. This game honestly feels kinda unbalanced because dudes do some fucking crazy damage, some characters also have some ridiculous range, and overall the game just has stuff going all over the screen. Thanks to this game, I did discover some characters that I really liked playing, most of them I had no real idea who they were or just never payed attention to. The characters I mainly used were Platinum the Trinity, Mai Natsume who is pretty awesome, Ruby was surprising good in this game, so even tho I don't like her, she's a good character gameplay wise. Orie was an awesome character too with her sword pokes and slash moves, I felt I had good synergy with some of the fighters I used.But my go to character the entire time has been motherfuckin HYDE.
Not really much I can really say about the game, although I felt the way DLC was handled was extremely bad. They announced that the game was gonna have a ton of DLC characters 6 months BEFORE release. So it just felt like a really scummy way of just trying to get all that extra money. Apparently next year they plan to have some characters from a different series crossing over, so it'll make it a total of 5 franchises. Pretty curious as to what it is, because in the game files, there's announcer calls for Yumi and Asuka who are from Senran Kagura, so who knows. I actually wanna get into Under Night In-Birth now because I had a lot of fun playing as Hyde. Gordeau is basically the best character in the game, his fucking range is ridiculous, his shit goes like full screen.
NieR: Automata / ニーアオートマタ
(PS4/PC/XB1. Developer: PlatinumGames, Publisher: Square Enix. 2017-218)
I already did a full review of NieR Automata earlier in the year on my blog so I'll try to be a bit brief. Nier Automata is a great action RPG in a post apocalyptic earth full of machine lifeforms. You play as YorHa android 2B with help from her partner 9S, on your journey to help the people still on earth, and to stop enemy machines. I loved the drama and cutscenes in the game, however i felt the story was pretty lacking as it feels completely pointless once you see everything, some of the story is hidden away behind walls of text and stuff, so it made me uninterested in exploring more of the backstory. The music is fantastic just like the original NieR so I have to give it credit for that, and I really did like 2B, 9S and A2 as characters, A2 being my favorite, who I felt was pretty fleshed out compared to 2B, the second more developed is probably 9S, but I dunno. also, it was awesome seeing Emil again since he was from the original game, and even some weapons and moments in the game kinda call back to the original NieR as well. Overall I had a lot of fun with NieR Automata, and I'm looking forward to buying the new release of the game coming out next year that includes all the DLC. This game is a crazy roller coaster, and I admire Yoko Taro for making a really cool and unique game. I still remember a lot of it, so I guess that's the sign of a good game.
Mushihimesama Futari / 虫姫さまふたり
(Arcade/360/iOS. Developer: CAVE/M2 (360), Publisher: AMI/CAVE (360). 2006-2012)
I had Mushihimesama on my list of top games last year, and since I've started working, I've been trying to get some of CAVEs releases on 360 or PC because I wanna get more into danmaku games, and while I kinda spend my time playing other games, I still have fun with this game. I actually prefer to play on Maniac mode, as I want more bullets on screen, but I should probably keep practicing on Normal, as last time I played, I was actually able to almost clear the first 2 stages with No Miss, but the second levels still fucks me up, either because a random bullet hit me, or I messed up against the boss pattern. I'm probably really bad right now tho. The Ultra difficulty is basically impossible for me at the moment, and considering how insane the true last boss looks on Ultra, I don't think I could ever handle that, it would probably take years of practice. But even then the game is still extremely fun. The game has some neat bonus features too. You can change wallpapers, flip the screen sideway (I guess if you play on a CRT TV, you could play it with the TV sideways, in Tate mode) and you can do a bunch of things to the display like invert the colors, use scanlines etc. You can also change the screen size and all that. Probably the most useful is having a display on the side of the screen that shows you ship in a close up view, so during replay, or maybe practice sessions, you can see exactly how close you are to getting hit, as it can be a bit hard to tell at times with the naked eye. Although the naked eye can still witness how beautiful the sprite work and backgrounds are, the music from Manabu Namiki is probably some of his best work, Stage 5 in particular is one of m favorite songs ever, so I feel that CAVE really went all out.
The game can be hard as fuck tho, but the feeling I get playing danmaku games is so fun, so I enjoy the challenge, which I bet is probably masochistic.... I prefer to play as Reco as she's easier to control, although the boy is able to dodge bullets in slow-motion, he can fuck off bullets which is cool, but his movement speed is a bit too fast. Arrange Mode is super crazy, you get super powered up, your bullets are covering the screen, they have bullets covering the screen, it's amazing, and just a fun mode to relax with. You can even play the game 2 player, now that's cool. And of course, you can save your replays. I dunno but CAVE makes some of the best shooting games ever, the next game on this list are also from CAVE, like I said, I just kept trying to get more of their games, because I enjoy them so much, even if I'm not the best. Still tho, I'd recommend playing Futari, but the game is a bit pricey for an almost 10 year old port, but it is exclusive to Japan. So I guess get the original Mushihimesama if you need something easier to obtain, although both of these game can be played on MAME.
Deathsmiles / デススマイルズ
(Arcade/360/iOS/Android/PC. Developer: CAVE, Publisher: AMI (arcade)/CAVE/Aksys Games/Rising Star Games/Degica (PC). 2007-2016)
Deathsmiles is another shooter from CAVE that ported to 360, and this one actually got released outside Japan, so the game actually isn't as expensive as the Japan only releases. I actually ended up playing this game a lot more than Futari or even Dodonpachi SaiDaiOuJou. The funny thing is that I prefer vertical shooting games, but despite this being horizontal, I really enjoy it. Yeah unlike a ton of horizontal STGs, the game is actually designed that you can aim in both directions. the levels scroll to the right mostly, but some enemies will come from behind or below. You can actually turn around and attack, and of course you can shoot certain types of bullets that can aim behind you so you're able to focus on what's ahead. The game has some pretty cool level environments, you got a graveyard where you fight a giant head boss, there's this level where the enemies are also on trains or minecarts and for some reason you fight what looks like a fucking sheep with psychic powers who throws these blocks at you, causing you to die, and course shoots bullets. Not really sure what a killer psychic sheep has to do with the gothic aesthetic the game has. So unlike a lot of CAVEs other games, you don't even control a bug or a spaceship, you play as gothic lolita girls, and they all have unique attributes. I forget which one it is, but she fights with a whip and she can lock onto enemies and kill enemies in a big circle.
Manabu Namiki did the music for this game as well, and it's a mix of his usual techno sound, mixed with some organ, guitar, and other instruments, to really fit it with the gothic setting, and there's even some Halloween elements mixed in there. My favorite theme is the one for the Lava stage, that one actually has the level scroll vertically down, and then scrolls a but to the left where the boss is a giant dragon. There actually aren't set difficulties you can pick before starting, you actually pick a level, and these can be done in whatever order actually, and you can choose between normal, hard, or level 99 which is ultra hard. Uh I never do level 99 because I've seen how insane it is. You technically have only one life, as you have an actual HP bar that can take up to 3 hits, but you can grab a power up to increase the HP, technically counting as an extra life. The game isn't easier than Futari but I guess I'm better at this one as I've been able to reach the final stage with less than 1 continue used. Although, the final level still defeats me. Another great shooter from CAVE.
Resident Evil 4 / バイオハザード４
(Too many to count... Developer/Publisher: Capcom. 2005-2019)
My best friend is a huge fan of Resident Evil, he's played all the main games in the series, so I thought it would be cool to try and play at least one of the games. The game was on Gamecube, but the Wii version had all the bonus content from the PS2 version but kept the graphics of the original version. The game is a 3rd person horror shooter, directed by Shinji Mikami who later went on to make one of my favorite game ever, Vanquish. RE4 was a huge deal for Capcom, as this game is on like every fucking home console that's ever been released from the Gamecube onward. This game was pretty hard for me. It was my first time playing through any of the games in the series, so i had to learned the rules and mechanics as I went on. Like having to manage inventory, holding onto herbs in case you're dying, and of course, aiming. And like I said about Splatoon, I'm not very good at shooting games, and well I had to try as hard as I could to survive this game. Luckily I did beat the game, but I got a ton of game overs, probably 20 or close to 20 game overs. I'm glad to have beaten it, as I don't really play horror games. I did it for my friend, and I did try to beat Dragon Quest 3, but I got stuck on a boss RIP, so I gotta do that too.
You play as Leon S. Kennedy and you gotta go to some European town full of crazy spanish people and rescue the US President's daughter. Technically you don't fight zombies but everyone is infected with a virus. The enemies aren't hard to defeat, they throw shit at you, they have torches and pitchforks etc. Later on in the game you fight killer dogs and both the dogs and people have these creepy parasite things that pop out of them. Usually you kill the enemy, but then if you go for a head shot, a creepy arm or something with a blade comes out of their head, meaning you gotta shoot them some more. Hitting enemies, can stun them for a bit and that's when you do the fucking roundhouse kick, and blow their heads off. But if you can do that, you're gonna be wasting bullets. Well at least you can upgrade you weapons so you can do more damage, having more ammo and even increase you suitcase so you can hold more times. The shop guy is the best, I like talking to him just to hear him talk. The PS2 and later version also have additional for Ada who is part of the main story, and mercenaries mode, which is like an arcade where you just kill enemies and earn points. That mode is pretty fun. I just suck at games like this, so i have no idea how I managed to actually beat it. I guess that counts as an accomplishment.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE / 幻影異聞録♯FE
(Wii U. Developer: ATLUS, Publisher: Nintendo. 2015-2016)
♯FE is a pretty divisive game among both Megami Tensei fans and Fire Emblem fans. The game was originally teased as a crossover between both series, it eventually got revealed as an SMT style RPG with Fire Emblem elements. And the game's themes are about the idol industry and illusory worlds hidden behind the real world, which is similar to the Persona games. The plays more like an SMT game mixed with Persona, as you don't have to worry about calendars or dating girls or whatever. It has the same magic attacks as the main SMT series, and physical attacks and affinities use the Fire Emblem weapon triangle, instead of just physical being a type, there sword/axe/lance/bow. And each party member learns a specific types of physical/magic based on their class. Just like Fire Emblem, each member has a specific class/role that they have and more than halfway through the game, you can actually use a Master Seal to class change them into 1 of 2 classes, changing how they work in battle. Itsuki is a lord that uses swords and lightning magic, and can learn physical skills related to swords from Fire Emblem. Skills such as Wyrmslayer and Armorslayer. Tsubasa is a pegasus knight and she mainly acts as the healer, she uses lances and uses wind magic (ironically is weak to wind tho...) Touma is a caviler who is basically the tank you start off with, he uses lances and physical fire attacks, as he doesn't really use magic. Kiria is the primary mage of the group and can use all types of magic attacks. Ellie is an archer that mainly uses bows and some magic attacks. Mamori is the general and uses an axe and uses ice, she's the second tank. and the final character is Yashiro who is a myrmidon and primarily uses a sword and I believe fire magic. Each character earns new weapons the more you level up and when you do character's side stories. It's totally worth doing these sidequests as you not only get new weapons, but it can unlock more battle skills, like additional moves in the Session Attack and even team attacks, as well as helping you get super useful passive skills. I really do love that sidequests can be done whenever you feel like, getting rid of some of the really annoying shit that Persona does.
Okay so about Session attacks. Like in SMT, you get a benefit for using a super effective move/critical hit on an enemy and usually that's an extra turn. In this game exposing weaknesses gives you a session attack, which is let's your other party members jump into to do an attack, and session attacks work in a chain. so knowing what type of attack works and can lead to a full chain is important, as sometimes the enemy can still resist or null that element. Luckily the Session attack keeps going. But just like SMT, the enemy can do the same shit, so if you're not prepared, you will get completely murdered by the enemy. The music in this game is pretty good, most of the character themes are energetic Jpop songs, and some have guitar and other instruments. Some of my favorite themes are Tiki's theme, Kiria, and Yashiro's theme. And the music that generally plays in Shibuya. I know this game isn't everyone's favorite but it's a shame because the game sold poorly and unlike a lot of other Wii U games, it potentially might not get a Switch port. But it does make me happy to at least see Tsubasa as a spirit in Smash Ultimate. Hoping for a Switch version happens eventually.
Xenoblade 2 - Torna the Golden Country / ゼノブレイド２ 黄金の国イーラ
(Switch. Developer: MonolithSoft, Publisher: Nintendo. 2018)
Xenoblade 2 was my game of the year for 2017. It's still probably my favorite game on the Switch. I have over 500 hours put into it, I got all the DLC and even played this, the Torna DLC expansion. Torna the Golden Country is a prequel to the events of Xenoblade 2, and focuses on the events of what happened between Jin, Addam, Mythra, Malos. and the general events of the Aegis war. The main character funny enough isn't Addam despite having the Aegis, the main character is actually Jin and his partner Lora, who do end up joining Addam in their quest to stop Malos from destroying the world. Jin is actually a pretty important character in the main story, so I won't really spoil it here. I'm still gonna make a full review of the game (I meant to do it on December 1st during the game's anniversary...) but yeah, that'll happen soon. The gameplay is mostly the same, but there's a lot of minor differences that make it pretty unique from the base game. They made it easier to do blade combos and get elemental orbs, now you can just use whatever blade specials so you can get orbs and do Full Bursts so easily but the game is designed in a way where it doesn't become piss easy. It's pretty short compared to the main game (only about 10-15 hours on a straight playthrough, and about 40+ if you do all the quests and max out the blades/affinity chart/community etc.) Still the expansion is pretty cool and even got a physical release. If you haven't played Xenoblade 2, it's recommended to play the main game before the DLC as the DLC kinda spoils some stuff and you're not supposed to know them ahead of time, so play the game in the proper order.
Now I'll talk about the other DLC. The Expansion Pass gave us new blades, challenge battles and, new costumes, and more features, with Torna being the last major DLC for the game. New blades include Poppibuster, Crossette, Corvin and SHULK AND FIORA from the original Xenoblade. Oh right and uh, Elma from Xenoblade X is a DLC blade too, but that's nowhere near as important... The challenge battles really test you skills as you usually fight hordes of enemies and then the challenges usually end with a super powered up boss with some kinda gimmick, and it's a great way to improve your skills and to understand strategies. You get a lot of great rewards from winning battles, you use Noponstone to exchange them for Aux Cores for your blades, you can get costumes that actually have different effects and look cool, they have swimsuits too. And overall I feel the challenge battles were my favorite edition as the main game superbosses at endgame/post-game/New Game+ were pretty easy after a while and stopped being a challenge, so I'm happy they did this to keep people coming back for more. New Game+ Added extra blades, like T-elos from Xenosaga, who is an amazing blade. They let you adjust your level, so you could challenge yourself and fight enemies at a lower level if you wanted or do crazy level 1 strategies who knows You could trade Bonus EXP for a 3 accessory slot to create crazy, or unstoppable set ups for your party members, a second skill tree for all party member, and they made it so much easier to optimize Poppi as it's a huge slog and grindfest to make her OP, so now it's just easier in NG+. It's still amazing how KOS-MOS, T-elos, Shulk/Fiora and Elma are all in the same game at the same time, Tetsuya Takahashi is a madman and I love and appreciate all the hard work he and the MonolithSoft staff put into Xenoblade 2. Thank you Takahashi.
Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo / 悪魔城ドラキュラX血の輪廻
(PC Engine Super CD-ROM2. Developer/Publisher: Konami. 1993)
This was actually the first Castlevania game that I played, and I guess first real PC Engine game I ever beat, and this game was fucking awesome. Rondo was released exclusively for the PC Engine CD add-on and obviously only in Japan, so for over 20 years, the game is only really known by actual fans of the series, or hardcore collectors for the console or old people obsessed with retro games. In my case, it's a game I've known about for a long time ever since I was first saw it on the Wii Shop Channel years ago, I remember watching a lot of video reviews for older games, and that's how I learned more about consoles I didn't own, like the Master System and PC Engine. I went to the Wii Shop and looked up games like MUSHA, Dead Moon, and of course Rondo of Blood, It was hard to tell how good it was based on the screenshots, but I was always interested in it. a few months back I finally got around to hacking my Nintendo Wii, and one of the very first WADs I added was Rondo, and I owed it to my younger self to got ahead and beat this game. And like I said earlier it's a fucking awesome game. You play as Richter Belmont, who comes from the Belmont clan of legendary vampire hunters, who every 100 years have to kill Dracula because that's when he always resurrects. Richter's wife Annette is kidnapped by Dracula's forces and he sets out to kill him. This game was initially hard for me, as I wasn't familiar with the series and I did get killed a lot, especially by those axe guys. But what I love about the game is it teaches you to get better without having to tell you.
A lot of the levels are designed in a way, so you can figure out what to do, so it's cheap like Ninja Gaiden, Rondo is a lot more fair in that respect, as the difficulty gradually increases. The game is linear like all the previous games before the Playstation, but this game has branching paths, which unlock cool things. You can find other maidens that were kidnapped by Dracula or even secret paths that can lead to alternate levels. One of the maidens is Maria, she's a little girls and she's actually the second playable character. She moves faster than Richter, can double jump, can move while attacking with her little birds, and has a super move where she can summon basically a stand, and it doesn't even consume hearts, so you can spam it. Her only real drawback is she dies faster than Richter as she takes more damage. So she does make the game easier, but not a cakewalk. Richter is slower, more deliberate and is generally for when you want a bigger challenge since he can't double jump. Maria is the one I prefer to use because she's more fun and unique but regardless the game is just fun. The music is also amazing with the jazzy, 90's CD audio and the first level has my favorite theme. The main menu has this ominous singing choir and suits the theme of the game well, I could just listen to the soundtrack all day. So glad I finally got around to playing this game. Highly recommended.
Hokuto ga Gotoku / 北斗が如く
(PS4. Developer: Ryu ga Gotoku Studio, Publisher: SEGA. 2018)
ATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!!!!!!!!!! That is literally how I would describe my entire playthrough of this game, I was having too much fun. This fucking game was something that I never thought I wanted, fusing elements of Ryu ga Gotoku with the world of Hokuto no Ken, creating a pretty awesome game. As a Hokuto no Ken fan, it just warms my heart to see how amazing Kenshiro and the other major characters look. And as someone who beat Yakuza Kiwami, I was even more excited to play a beat'em up with the crazy moves and shit from the manga/ anime. Hokuto no Ken is my favorite manga series ever, so this game was just full on hype for me. Just like Yakuza, the game is a 3D beat'em up RPG elements, minigames and a bunch of side activities. Besides the obvious change in the graphics, characters and setting, it feels like better version of Yakuza gameplay wise. there's still a heat bar in a sense but you can pull of Hokuto Shinken techniques which work as quick time events, without even needing "heat" as it's just part of Kenshiro's moveset just like the original series. You can juggle opponents in the air, beat the shit out of them and just watch them explode and just do all the moves from the series, and it's great. Unlike Yakuza 0 and Kiwami that had different fighting styles, this game uses the d-pad instead to activate special actions either or out of battle. It can vary depending on the talisman used, and each one shows the character it comes from, complete with a manga panel drawn by Tetsuo Hara himself. You can do Raoh's fucking Tensho Honretsu blast, you can use that guy's flamethrower to burn everyone and even heal yourself. The juggling is fun, hearing all the ATAH's is great, and I always do it while I play, it's too much fun, and even tho the blood is toned town from the manga, it's still satisfying to watch all these dudes blow up and burst into a pile of blood and guts. Seriously this game is great. This game actually let's you leave the city and explore the post-apocalyptic wasteland (and the buggy even has a radio full of SEGA music.)
This game really feels like it was made by people who love and care about Hokuto no Ken. They even got the original creator, Tetsuo Hara to do the box art, character designs,and write the story. The story here is actually an original story not really canon to the manga, and even with that, the story of Kenshiro going to the town of Eden to save Yuria was just okay. Oh but the ending was beautiful. I really wish it could've followed the manga more closely. They have the same retro games from Yakuza 0, the game even uses the same game engine, as the Dragon engine was for Yakuza 6 and Kiwami 2. So they even included the same retro games in the arcade. You can still play OutRun, Space Harrier and Super Hang-On. But one that's exclusive to this game is the actual SEGA Mark III Hokuto no Ken game which was made by SEGA. When driving around the desert, you can find treasures, but besides all the junk and parts you can fine, the best treasure has to be the arcade games. It's just funny seeing Ken siting on the Space Harrier machine. This game was awesome. the only thing really holding it back is the kinda meh story, some parts of the playthrough forcing you to upgrade the buggy to drive on spikes safely or to break walls, so you gotta collect parts and stuff and some bosses were a lot spongier/tougher than they should've been, (Raoh's a pain in the ass, especially in coliseum battles.) Even with my bias as a Hokuto no Ken fan, I still recommend you go out and buy this game because it's fantastic, and for fans, there are some satisfying moments for some of the the secondary characters. Also it has the outfit from the second part of the manga, with the awesome black leather and gold, even with Ein's glove. Sadly nobody from part is in this game, and WHERE ARE THE SUNGLASSES?!?!?!
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate / 大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ SPECIAL
(Switch. Developer: Sora/Bandai Namco, Publisher: Nintendo. 2018)
The last major game to close out 2018, was one of my most anticipated games, Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Smash 4 on Wii U was a pretty good game, and gave me the greatest gift of Shulk being playable in Smash, but as the game got updated and got DLC, the DLC characters, especially Bayonetta and Cloud kinda ruined the meta and competitive aspect of the game. Luckily now we don't have to worry much about that because in addition to there being better character balancing and 103 stages, EVERYONE IS HERE. Every fighter in Smash history is here, including my favorite who sadly was removed after Melee, Pichu. There's not as many brand new fighters compared to the last game, but it does make up for it by literally having EVERY previously playable character which is about 70+ fighters. Only real big gripe is that the story mode is fun, but Brawl had a better story mode, and traditional modes like Homerun Contests have mysteriously disappeared. I'm really happy that most of my main characters were improved/buffed in some ways. Especially Wii Fit Trainer, her range is a bit better and overall she's way better in this game.The game also has echo fighters, which are the official term for clone characters, that are either the exact same or similar to their original character.Like Daisy and Richter are almost exactly the same as Peach/Simon, but still I can pick the character I like more.The game has new mechanics I've just been playing non-stop since release day playing online, playing offline and just playing the game in general. I already have like 200+ hours and I usually go online to find competition. The online is pretty hit or miss tho because of Nintendo's online. But lately at the time of this post, it can seriously be pretty ass.
In the adventure mode World of Light, everyone fucking dies except for Kirby, and you got save everyone. You explore the huge map, go to hidden areas, do spirit battles, and fight bosses like Dracula or even Rathalos from Monster Hunter. This mode should be done on and off in short bursts because that spirit battles can be really repetitive. The final boss is totally worth going through all this tho, and you pick any character you've unlocked in adventure once you save them. The game has a ton of songs, and even a new F-Zero medley done by Taknenobu Mitsuyoshi, which is my number 1 favorite song in the game. Thanks Sakurai for getting my favorite guy to do a song. They even added some of my favorite songs from Xenoblade 2. I don't really need to explain that the game is pretty good. I've been obsessively playing it for like 3 weeks so it must mean something. The online is pretty jank and I hope Nitntendo fixes it tho. And of course 2019 will be full of more DLC fighters/stages and music. So hopefully we get good announcements throughout the year.
That's the list for 2018. This was delayed because I was getting sleepy and lazy, but I finally fucking crunched and managed to finish writing..... Mostly. The finishing touches will be edited later, and the "bonus stuff" is gonna be the honorable mentions that I'll talk just name briefly. I'll go into detail later, because my hands are really fucking tired. Runners up are Zangeki no Reginleiv, Final Fantasy VI, NiOh, Taiko no Tatsujin for Switch, Soulcalibur VI and Dodonpachi SaiDaiOuJou. They're not on the main list either because I want to spend more time playing them to give them a more detailed and thorough explanation, or I just didn't wanna half ass some paragraphs just to make the post longer.
I have another game I wanna talk about. But it should probably be in its own post... I can talk about it later.
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