I actually finished a decent number of games this year, so here’s a quick rundown of what I played and what I thought!
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Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda (Switch) – It seemed like a fun concept, and I loved that Zelda was playable! But somehow, despite my good rhythm, I couldn’t quite get a feel for the gameplay. I guess the game didn’t quite work as I expected. It was cute, and I had some fun with it, but it was pretty hard.
Xenoblade Chronicles (Definitive Edition) (Switch) – To be honest… I was expecting a little better. I heard a lot of hype over this game, but it fell short for me. I didn’t particularly care for the characters, story, or gameplay, and the game was way longer than I would’ve liked.
Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy (PS4) – The eagerly anticipated sequel to Atelier Ryza! I liked the improvements to the alchemy system, but overall, I think Ryza 1 was a better game. The story in Ryza 2 was lacking and the memory fragment system was terrible. The monsters were also huge pushovers. I never even bothered with items because the battles were too easy. (This is an Atelier game, right….?)
DEAD OR ALIVE 6 (PS4) – It’s been a while since I played a DOA game. I am a fan of the series, but it gets old kind of quick. I played a lot of DOA2 (and Beach Volleyball…. lol) back in the day, but I haven’t kept up with the series. There were two things I particularly liked about DOA6, the multi-path story mode, which gave the overall game an actual plot (however simple), and DOA Quest, a list of challenges that gives you something to do while learning tricks on how to play.
Atelier Lulua ~The Scion of Arland~ (PS4) – The beautiful designs from the Arland trilogy are a huge part of what brought me into the Atelier fandom, so I was really excited when they decided to go back and give Arland a fourth game! It did not disappoint! The characters are really charming. However, when I got to the end, I suddenly realized… this game has a terrible plot! Wait… plot? Atelier games don’t really need a plot, so it’s ok… but for an otherwise pretty good game, the endings felt really lame.
Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists ~Ateliers of the New World~ (PS4) – I had no idea what I was getting into when I loaded this up, but I loved it. It’s a rather simple town-building sim that can get a bit tedious, but I love organizing, so I enjoyed it. The real treat is that you get to meet the Alchemists from all of the other Atelier and Atelier spin-off games! I can see how not everyone would enjoy this kind of game, but I really liked seeing all of the characters from all of the different worlds and their crazy interactions.
Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk DX (PS4) – I finally got the Dusk and Mysterious Atelier trilogies, so next up was Ayesha. It was pretty good. Charming characters, easy to get a good ending. I had to play it through twice to get all of the endings, though (at least you CAN get them all without too much trouble). I also did NOT like the alchemy system, it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.
Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky DX (PS4) – Ok, I haven’t quite finished my Escha playthrough of this (then I need to do Logy), but I’m right near the end. Timed Atelier games can kind of drag at the end as you try to figure out how best to use your last bits of free time. I would say this is a good game to start with if you’re completely new to the Atelier series and wanting to give it a try. Good pacing, and easy to learn alchemy and battle systems. It’s not really important that it’s in the middle of a trilogy. I have yet to see how redundant the second playthrough with the other protagonist is, though.
Metroid Dread (Switch) – I used to say Super Metroid was one of my favorite games of all time, but I’ve soured a bit on the series. I wanted to like this game, but I didn’t really. For me, this game went too far toward being an action game and away from being an adventure game, and lacked the feeling of exploration that I love. The controls didn’t feel natural to me. The E.M.M.I.s were a pest. The bosses were repetitive. I did finish the game with 100% items, but I had to look some of them up online. A few of those puzzles were ridiculously hard. I have no desire to replay this game.
Overcooked! + Overcooked! 2 (Switch) – I’ve already posted about this game, but I actually did finish both games, solo. I’m not sure if that’s better or worse than playing with a full team, since the requirements to pass are also lower. Fun times. And now I’ve got everything unlocked! Very addictive.
Mario Party DS (Nintendo DS) – After playing Overcooked (and still not having finished Atelier Escha & Logy yet), I felt like playing some quick, casual games, so I decided to dig into my Nintendo DS backlog. I actually haven’t played a lot of my DS games! My friends and I used to play a lot of Mario Party (usually MP4) back when I lived in the LA area. I bought Mario Party DS with the intention of playing with friends, but never got a chance to play it after moving back to NorCal. I was surprised to find it had a quick little story mode. Well, that was fun. Next!
Cooking Mama, Crafting Mama, and Gardening Mama (Nintendo DS) – I remember how popular Cooking Mama was back in the day, and now that I’ve finally played it… I’m underwhelmed. That’s it? Just a few clumsy mini games with not much replay value. Crafting Mama was probably the best of the three. Gardening Mama had the most content, but was terribly repetitive and boring.
Kirby Super Star Ultra (Nintendo DS) – I actually played Kirby Super Star for the first time a few years ago when I got the SNES Classic. It was cute and fun, so I decided to give it another go on the DS just for the record. Still cute and fun, a nice (but short) little diversion.
Princess Debut (Nintendo DS) – Oh man. What a derpy game. Honestly, I saw Natsume (publisher of Harvest Moon), princesses, and dancing, and went for it without knowing anything else about it. It’s a dating sim with rhythm mini games. Find a prince, learn some ballroom dancing (and it’s like… modern ballroom dancing, haha), win first place at the ball, and marry your prince! The 3D models (for the dance parts) are hilariously atrocious, but the game is cute. What I didn’t know on my first run is that once you partner with a prince, you’re stuck with him for the entire playthrough (30 days). It only takes a couple days to get your relationship to 100%, and in fact it’s trivial to get your relationship with all princes up to 100% by the end of the 30 days, whether he is your partner or not. It feels kind of meaningless, and I think it would’ve been more fun if things switched around a bit and remained uncertain until near the end. So the first time I got stuck with a guy I didn’t like because I was afraid of missing out on a contest, and the second time I partnered on the very first day, after merely introducing myself to all the princes. There are three other princes I’d like to try pairing with, but I’m not sure I want to play the game that many times. It’s a short game, but unfortunately, leveling up your dancing is kind of tedious, so I may just go for one more.