List of Games You've Beaten 2021

[The_Liquid_Laser]

The_Liquid_Laser said:

Haven't beaten anything yet.

Games I'm currently trying to beat for the first time:

Cuphead
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
Celeste

Games I'm currently trying to beat again:

Breath of the Wild
Mike Tyson's Punch Out

Ok, I've beaten a few of these games.  I'm going to try to give some kind of review of the games as I beat them.  Here is one game I beat for the first time, Cuphead, and an old favorite I replayed and beat again: Freedom Force.

Cuphead (Switch)
Visuals (10/10) - Cuphead is the most visually exciting game I've seen in a very long time.  I feel like I am playing in an old time cartoon.  Not only does the game look great, but it adds to the overall fun feeling and immersion of the game.
Music/Audio (8/10) - The opening theme to Cuphead is extremely catchy and I love it.  The rest of the audio is nice and functional and I have no complaints, but I don't find exceptional either.
Controls/Interface (8/10) - The controls on Cuphead are fun and responsive.  It is fun to jump, parry, shoot and so on.  The main complaint I have is (and this is common with modern action games), is that it requires the use of too many buttons.  You need split second timing to play a game like this, and it can take a while to fully learn the controls without accidentally pressing the wrong button.
Challenge (9/10) - Cuphead is an extremely challenging game and that is what I like.  It also has a nice challenge curve in that the bosses do get gradually harder as you progress through the game.  However, I might say that Cuphead is a little too much on the challenging side even for me.  Even the easiest boss on the normal setting is pretty tough when you first start playing.  My overall philosophy though is that it is better for a game to be too hard than too easy, so I still give this a high score.
Content (19/20) - Cuphead is great because it made me feel like I'm in a classic 30s-40s era cartoon.  I'd even say that this is the main draw of Cuphead.  It's not just that it looks like a cartoon, but at every moment of the game, I feel like I am in a cartoon.  Each stage is like traveling to a whole new environment with a funny and interesting boss.  This sort of thing makes Cuphead feel interesting and unique.  I couldn't wait to see what other kinds of bosses I would encounter in the game.  There is also enough here to keep a person entertained for a very long time.  A lot of that has to do with the game's extreme challenge, but it still feels like the game has a lot of content and high quality content at that.
Gameplay (16/20) - The gameplay is a modern take on a run 'n gun (like Contra), but some of the stages are like a shmup instead.  The main new thing here is that most stages focus on bossfights.  The gameplay is fun and well executed, but it doesn't feel revolutionary.
Fun (16/20) - Overall, Cuphead is a really fun game to experience.  A lot of that comes from the feeling of playing in a cartoon.  Cuphead, Mugman and all of the bosses and creatures you encounter have a lot of charm and personality.  The game world is also fun to maneuver around in.  The main thing that detracts from the fun is the extreme challenge of the game.  That can make it frustrating.  

Final Score: 86/100

For older games I provide two scores: one for then (when the game was new) and one for now (what it feels like to play it today).  I also give older games bonus points to their now score (from 1 to 5) based on how historically important they are or how unique they are.

Freedom Force (PC)
This is a real time tactical RPG where you control a team of super heroes.

Visuals (T 9; N 6) - Freedom Force looked great back in the day, but by now the visuals look dated.
Music/Audio (T 7; N 7) - The music and audio are nice, but was never anything exceptional.
Controls/Interface (T 8; N 8) - One of the nicest things about Freedom Force is how the interface encourages you to interact with the environment, and that is where the game really shines.  However, the real-time tactical gameplay does need to be paused and unpaused very frequently and this can detract from the overall experience, especially when you are first learning the game.
Challenge (T 9; N 9) - This game has a lot of challenge settings, and yet I've always played on normal and the challenge still feels right.  That is pretty amazing to me.  I only rank it 9 instead of 10, because the beginning of the game is a bit on the hard side and the end is a bit on the easy side.
Content (T 20; N 20) - Freedom Force is really the first super hero game (especially for the home) that ever felt like it got the genre right.  On top of that it is a huge love letter to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.  I am not aware of any other game out there with a 1960's comic book vibe to it.  The content of this game is so interesting and so unique, that if you want this kind of experience, then this is really the only game to come to.  (Either that or the sequel, but this game is better.)  On top of all of this, there has been a lot of really great fan made content for this game.  When you factor that in, it feels like this game has all of it's original content, plus the entire Marvel and DC universes crammed inside.  This game is truly bursting with content.
Gameplay (T 20; N 20) - The gameplay in Freedom Force is amazing.  Just about every kind of super power imaginable is represented: flying, wall crawling, lasers, cloning, anti-gravity, etc....  However, super strength may be the most fun power of all, because you can fully interact with every part of the city.  You can tear up a lamppost and hit someone with it.  If you are careless enough you might even start knocking down buildings.  Then you can pick up the rubble and throw it at someone.  The game's roster is huge, each character has it's own unique set of powers, and so there are so many ways that you can play through this game.  It has tremendous replay value and is so much fun each time.
Fun (T 20; N 20) - Freedom Force is pure fun.  It feels like I am getting out all of my superhero toys to smash a bunch of stuff.  The developers created huge portions of the city and then I get to knock it all down if I want, or save the citizens or some combination of the two.
Historical/Uniqueness value (+5) - This game gets the maximum points here for uniqueness.  If I want a 60's comic book experience, where do I come?  Only here.  If I want a super hero tactics game, where do I come?  Only here.  If I want the game with the most type of super powers represented where do I come?  Right here.  And if I want an environment where I can smash up buildings and use almost everything as a weapon then where do I come?  Only here.  This was the first really great super hero game, and in many ways it still hasn't been topped nor has anyone even attempted to do so.

Final Score:  93/100  Then
                   95/100  Now