Just Finished: Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (Switch)

Super Mario 3D World is perhaps the game I wanted to play most on the Wii U so I'm glad it got ported to the Switch. Mario Odyssey is one of my favorite Switch games so I was looking for another 3D Mario title to scratch that itch. The Switch version adds online multiplayer, which is how I played through most of the game. The levels are probably more fun with a partner but the online infrastructure was a mess. My friend and I experience so much lag and connectivity issues. This is the same friend I played through Sackboy A Big Adventure with and that experience was buttery smooth compared to this. The lag really kills the sense of timing needed to do your best at the platforming challenges. Not to mention the Switch's dismal options for voice chat meant that my friend and I had to chat over Discord while playing. All those technical issues aside the game was quite fun to play. The level design is tight and inventive with the game tasking you to not only reach the flagpole at the end of the level but to explore for the green stars hidden along the way. Mario looks great for his first 3D adventure in HD with the colorful graphics and art direction making me wish that Nintendo had made the transition sooner. The story of course breaks no new ground. I played as Mario mostly. The Captain Toad levels were fun but I'm not sure they were enough to entice me to pick up Toad's spinoff. The game is pretty damn challenging to boot. There was a lot of yelling on my part but I tried to resist the temptation to use the golden mushroom powerup that makes you invincible that the game offers a solution. I'm not a cat person but I guess the cat powerup invites new gameplay elements. Super Mario 3D World on its own is maybe an 8 out of 10 game (and nowhere close to the level of its 2013 GOTY competitor The Last of Us). What pushes this package into stellar territory is the inclusion of the Bowser's Fury expansion. Bowser's Fury is a fun mix of elements of both 3D World and Odyssey.Constantly fighting Bowser over and over again can be a drag though. Finding the 100 cat shines shouldn't take long (though I tapped out at 51) but it is fun form of escape.  Odyssey is a much better Mario game than both of these though.

Score: 9/10

Full Completed 2022 List:

• Far Cry 5 (PS4)
• Resident Evil 6 (PS4)
• inFamous 2 (PS Now)
• Super Mario Bros. 3 (NSO)
• Bioshock 2 (PS4)
• Ico (PS Now)
• Knack (PS4)
• Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD (PS4)
• Astro's Playroom (PS5)
• Bully (PS4)
• Sackboy A Big Adventure (PS5)
• Escape Academy (PS5)
• LocoRoco Midnight Carnival (PS5)
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (NSO)
• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (PS5)
• Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (Switch)

Just Finished: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)

Hot damn. Sometimes you want to kick yourself for waiting so long to a play a game. MGS 4 obviously came out 14 years ago in 2008 but the series wasn't even on my radar back then. I eventually hopped into the series through the MGS 2 + 3 HD collection on Vita. I bought MGS 4 on disc on PS3 used for about $2 sometime around 2018 (an ugly red Greatest Hits case at that). It's been sitting in my basement ever since. The game was also available to stream over PS Now which is how I intended to play it through my PS4 but I missed my window as it was eventually removed. Also I took some time to track down a copy of The Twin Snakes on Gamecube so I could experience the series first entry without going all the way back to the ancient PS1 version. I'm glad I finally played that back in 2020. MGS4 has many callbacks to the prior games in the series. It felt like a culmination and dare I say I felt nostalgia for a series I had not been that intimate with before. This game was amazing. I played it on my PS3 fat. I'm amazed at how well the game has held up. I am primarily gaming on the PS5 nowadays and these older graphics still blew me away. The presentation is top notch. I of course ignored most of the story and the overly long cutscenes. Perhaps I should have take in all the games the way they were meant to be experienced but I am too busy to sit through more than 8 hours of cutscenes. The bits of the story I got through the gameplay were gripping though. Focusing the game on Old Snake is a brilliant decision that makes this game unlike most I have played. Each Act takes place in a different location and they each bring new gameplay experiences. Most of the marketing focused on the first act taking place on a battlefield in the Middle East. I am glad most of the games secrets were well kept. Some of the splitscreen sequences were very thrilling. The controls are too complex and take some getting used to but once you get the hang of it the gameplay is sublime. Kojima and company throw so many unique ideas at the player and execute them so well. The action set pieces are truly epic. Most of the boss battles are very memorable as well. There is less of a focus on stealth so this really plays more like a third person shooter. If Kojima streamlined his storytelling and stopped making it bat shit crazy the series would be better. When I finished the game after 12 hours I was bummed that there wasn't more to play. I still have MGS V to play and before that I want to take on Portable Ops and Peace Walker as well. Despite all that I know that chronologically this is the last game in the series and boy does it end on a high note.

Score: 9/10

Full Completed 2022 List:

• Far Cry 5 (PS4)
• Resident Evil 6 (PS4)
• inFamous 2 (PS Now)
• Super Mario Bros. 3 (NSO)
• Bioshock 2 (PS4)
• Ico (PS Now)
• Knack (PS4)
• Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD (PS4)
• Astro's Playroom (PS5)
• Bully (PS4)
• Sackboy A Big Adventure (PS5)
• Escape Academy (PS5)
• LocoRoco Midnight Carnival (PS5)
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (NSO)
• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (PS5)
• Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (Switch)
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)

Finished Pokemon Scarlet and completed the pokedex (And am one pokemon away from a Living dex; that one pokemon being Miraidon).

Honestly, game was a tonne of fun. yeah, there was plenty of issues in terms of performance/framerate/visual glitches but I didn't find it to affect the game at all. All the toxic hate surrounding that game is horribly overblown. Probably my favourite Pokemon generation next to 5/Black-White. 130 hours of bliss. Can't wait to play again on Violet.

Prey
Horizon FW
Assassin's Creed 4
God of War Ragnarok
XCOM2
Dishonored
Far Cry 6
Death Stranding
Resident Evil 3
Mass Effect Legendary

1. Treasure of the Rudras (Super Famicom)
2. Borderlands The Pre Sequel (PC)
3. Elden Ring (PC)
4. Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster (PC)
5. Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster (PC)
6. Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster (PC)
7. Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster (PC)
8. Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster (PC)
9. Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster (PC)
10. Xenoblade Chronicles X (WiiU)
11. Live A Live (Switch)
12. Metal Gear Solid (PS1)
13. Blazing Chrome (PC)
14. Contra (Arcade) (PC)
15. Borderlands 3 (PC)
16. Mega Man 9 (PC)
17. Pier Solar HD (PC)
18. Alwa's Legacy (PC)

Persona 5 Strikers (Platinum)
Valkyria Chronicles 4
Elden Ring
FF Strangers of Paradise
Tales of Arise (Platinum)
God of War (Platinum)
Disgaea 6 Complete (Platinum)
Soul Hackers 2 (Good ending)
The Diofield Chronicle (Platinum)
Star Ocean The Divine Force
Yakuza Like a Dragon

Alright so a few weeks ago I finished Star Ocean The Divine Force, my 9th JRPG finished this year. After skipping the last Star Ocean due to bad impressions, I bought this game day one, because I knew it had to be good. The game starts off with a banger opening song to set the tone for a great game. The beginning of the game was quite slow even for a JRPG, but getting used to the combat and trying out all the characters is all great fun nonetheless. You can choose between 2 main characters that have their own unique story though 90% of it would be the same. I am not often compelled to play a game 2 times through, but this game would be close to that at least. The middle of the game is a little bit more interesting, with quite a few amazing cities and a fun minigame to play. The story finally gets more of a plot, and none of the characters are annoying like Lymle. (excepting a brief moment)

The last part of the game was great fun. The plot is good in some ways and bad in others, but when you beat the game, you realize the full potential of this game. You can take advantage of crafting, a very meticulous affair, but well worth it for the best weapons and items. You can take on the superbosses, with the final superboss very balanced around the combat system. The budget for this game was apparently not big enough, but still the music is great throughout. Landing in a new zone and getting instantly hooked to a tune, is a feeling i haven't experienced in many games. The main world is crafted well, but felt unfinished, as with other places. Often I feel baited by games having 6 different zones in a small chunk of land, but then in the last half of the game that same size of chunk of land is only 1 or 2 zones. I think that would just be the budget running out. Overall a great entry into the Star Ocean series that I would put in or near my top 50 games, and 2nd place in the Star Ocean series behind only Til the End of Time.

Next we have Yakuza Like a Dragon that I finished a few days ago, my 10th and final JRPG finished this year of 2022. I played other Yakuza games but I always got too distracted by the minigames and couldn't focus on the story. Now that the game is in JRPG fashion, I could easily do the story. The game starts off quite well with its surprisingly good battle system set on the streets of Japan. The plot is entertaining and the characters are good to know early on. The minigames are fun and not massive time sinks if you don't want them to be. This game kind of has the opposite feel to to Star Ocean.

I would rate this game highly if not for the massive pacing issues in the middle of the game. The pacing from level 1 to level X is perfect. But from level X to level Y, all of a sudden I am getting absolutely destroyed, and leveling is quite slow unless you take up the game's offer of "optional" content. Money is much the same "optional", that unless you want to spend 50 hours doing it the hard way, you are kind of forced to either look up a way to make it work or doing the "optional" content. Level Y pretty much stays consistent for the rest of the game in my experience so after you pass that mountain all of a sudden everything is so easy you could win without looking. It is very disappointing, but I suppose it is too be expected for this team's first JRPG. The final bits of grinding and relationship building are fair time sinks for the effort put in, so I look upon it more favorably. The music wasn't as good as Star Ocean, but there were still some tunes I liked, some of which come from other games. Overall a good first attempt for the studio in the JRPG space, and I am excited for the next game.

Games Completed 2022:

Sigma Theory (Nintendo Switch)

Ratchet and clank: rift apart
Life is strange: true colors
Termninator; resistance enhanced
Alan wake remastered
Nier replicant ver.1.2
Horizon forbidden west
GRIS
Halo infinite
Sifu
HOA
Guardians of the galaxy
Returnal
Haven
Kena
Cyberpunk 77
Elden ring
The last of us remake
Tlou2 ps5
Judgement 2 ps5
The quarry ps5
Gow ps5
Gow ragnarok ps5
A plague tale innocence ps5

This year I havent been able to play as much - hopefully 2023 will be a better year for me gaming wise.

3DS
-Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey Redux
-Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked
-Sonic Generations
-Sonic Lost World

Gamecube
-Super Smash Bros Melee

Nintendo Switch
-Luigi's Mansion 3
-Trials of Mana

Playstation
-Soul Blade

Playstation 3
-Ratchet Deadlocked
-Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Playstation 4
-Jump Force

Steam/PC
-Final Fantasy V
-Assassin's Creed Liberation HD
-Tekken 7

---

Score out of a 100

3DS
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked - 92
Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey Redux - 91
Sonic Generations - 53
Sonic Lost World - 52

Gamecube
Super Smash Bros Melee - 94

Nintendo Switch
Luigi's Mansion 3 - 93
Trials of Mana - 92

Playstation
Soul Blade - 79

Playstation 3
Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction - 91
Ratchet Deadlocked - 85

Playstation 4
Jump Force - 62

PC
Tekken 7 - 93
Final Fantasy V - 91
Assassin's Creed Liberation HD - 71

---

Total Hours on Platform

3DS: 172 hours
Gamecube: 88 hours
Steam/PC: 88 hours
Nintendo Switch: 50 hours
Playstation 3: 23 hours
Playstation 4: 20 hours
Playstation: 4 hours

Grand Total of Hours: 445 hours