#41

YoY: -7     My Rating: 9.0/10

It's weird how my perception of the Kingdom Hearts series has changed over the years. Back in the PS2 days, the first two games were easily among my favourite games ever, and I was eagerly looking forward to the next main entry in the series. Then the series started jumping between every single platform imaginable, from the Gameboy Color, to the PSP, the DS, 3DS, Mobile Phones, getting a bunch of different collections (1.5, 2.5, 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue, ), remakes of the spin-offs on different systems, and so on. Suddenly, over a decade had passed without Kingdom Hearts III, and my interest in the series had experienced a slow and painful decline until I got to the point where I'm now. I actually have Kingdom Hearts III sitting on a shelf behind me right not and I haven't even touched the game yet. I will, eventually, but for a franchise that was once one of my favourites, that's a steep drop. Obviously, I still think Kingdom Hearts II is an excellent game, it wouldn't be here otherwise, but I can't claim to have the fondness for it that I once had.

Kingdom Hearts is a silly series, isn't it? A story that is both serious and ridiculous in equal measure, overly convoluted for its own good, a mix of so many different tones and styles that something like it just shouldn't work. Yet, it does, almost in spite of itself. Ultimately, I don't personally really play these games because the story is some masterwork of narrative. It has its moments, but I think that the element that often carries these games forward, is the characters. Even amidst all the weird, often difficult to follow plot threads and twists, the small moments between various different characters make everything else in these games worth it. Sora, for example, has such endearing, sincere naivety to him that it's difficult to ever not find him likable despite his shortcomings. The rest of the cast are similarly intriguing, just in many different ways. The rest of the package (gameplay, music, the different world you get to visit, etc.) are also always a lot of fun, but if I'd have to pick one thing I remember this series the best for, it's the characters and their interactions with each other.

3 days gone and nobody even tried? Now I'm sad

48: No transformations in this entry of the series despite it being a series staple Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, as guessed by UnderwaterFunktown

1. Hint: Instead, you use the equipment of a former enemy in this game.
2. Hint: The different levels are built in a Metroidvania style, and without having found all the aforementioned Equipments, you can't fully explore the levels.
3. Hint: You collect cute little somewhat Heart-shaped octopi and MELT! THEM! DOWN! to increase your max health.
4. Hint: The game, especially the main heroine and it's home town, has some Arabian Nights setting

47: This early 3D PC game is mostly an ego-shooter, but also an adventure game and has some strategy mixed into it.

1. Hint: As long as you have summoned a castle and it is still standing, getting killed will respawn you there, otherwise it's game over.
2. Hint: You're not firing weapons, but rather casting spells that you learn from scrolls you can find in the levels.
3. Hint: Some of the spells can later be upgraded, so a fireball can become a rapid fireball that you're shooting like a machinegun - as long as you have enough mana for it that is.
4. Hint: Some spells allow you to create craters and Volcanoes, which is quite impressive considering the 3D is fully software rendered (as in, not handled by a GPU)

45: A game very similar to the Metroid series.

1. Hint: The original release was on the C64, though the best version is generally considered to be the Amiga version of this game.
2. The games got re-released for modern consoles in a flashback package

44: Flak Monkey

1. Hint: Double Kill! Unreal Tournament 2004, as (mostly) guessed by S.Peelman

43: Woo-hoo! (It will never leave!). Ducktales, as guessed by Darashiva

42: Greetings, Warlord! Let the War... Begin!

41: A 4X game that plays in space and in real-time.

40: AAAAAAAAHHHHH yourself! Serious Sam: The First Encounter, as found out by UnderwaterFunktown

Scoreboard:

Top 50 Game List:

I quite enjoyed this game as well but the lack of map killed my interest in finding everything to 100% the game. 

I don't know enough!

44 though, probably Unreal Tournament.

Well, there's more than just you guessing, right?

The series is correct, but which entry? It's not the first one.

Let's go with 2003.. that's the most popular one. At least it was to me.

Normally, people go with UT 2004, which is an updated re-release of UT 2003. While UT 2004 would have been correct, 2003 is still not wrong due to this, so one more for you on the scoreboard.

Alright, I'll give it a try.

48) Must be a Shantae game but I'm not super familiar with the series, Pirate's Curse maybe?

40) Serious Sam?

I loved that there was no map, but I didn't love that 100% was required to get the true ending. And neither did I love the true ending, it was crap.

Finally! I thought the third hint was a dead giveaway for Shantae and the Pirate's Curse for everyone who played it, but apparently not...

As for Serious Sam, which one?