The Gaming Diary: Chapter 3

[TimRichert_images]

Playing through a combo of Alan Wake (360) and Alone in the Dark: New Nightmare (DC). Gotta say I am amazed by both. AW for the story AITD for how well as a whole it's aged.

[shaggy]

Got all trophies on Among the Sleep.  Starting Secret of Evermore on the SNES now.

[shaggy]

I "beat" Bonk's Revenge on Practice and Intermediate.  Beat is in quotes because Bonk is one of them games where the different difficulties just adds more levels.  For Practice you need to beat the first level.  For intermediate you have to beat the first 4 levels.  On Expert you play the full game.  Fun game, though.  Definitely a nice platformer from back in the day.

[Disposed Hero]

Persona 5 Royal - I've passed the 120-hour mark which was my total time for the original P5. I'm finally getting into the new content they added for Royal, and it's definitely an interesting story arc. Looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition - I'm pretty late in the game at this point but am getting frustrated with some of the boss fights. I think my only recourse at this point is just to level grind which is kind of turning me off from playing the game.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - I may be getting fairly close to the end. I wasn't that into it at first but it's grown on me quite a bit. I'll also say that it has one of the best soundtracks in the series, which is really saying something.

Gris & Indivisible - These last two games I just started since I heard they were leaving Game Pass. Not really that into either one, but I'll stick them out a bit longer. Gris kind of feels like some artsy-fartsy game that relies on its artstyle and presentation rather than interesting gameplay mechanics, and that doesn't really do it for me. Indivisible has potential, but I feel like the battle system is kind of weird. Maybe it'll grow on me.

[Link41]

1080º Snowboarding (N64) - Playing some multiplayer tonight.

[shaggy]

Beat Bee Simulator.  I also played some Sonic Mania.  Now that should be Sonic 4.  It goes back to it's roots, the music is great, gameplay is awesome, the one thing I notices is that the levels are much longer than the Genesis games,

[shaggy]

Played some Montezuma's Revenge on SMS.  A great game!

[Link41]

1080º Snowboarding (N64) - Just beat the game, probably more multiplayer with the kids before I put it down.

[Mr_Stubbes]

Been on a real Nintendo Switch kick this month. Started off by finishing Cthulhu Saves Christmas, which is a fun little RPG about how Cthulhu along with a party of other Christmas characters go out to find Santa Claus and stop the never ending day before Christmas, so that Christmas Day can finally arrive. I also played through the Panzer Dragoon Remake, while not the biggest shmup fan, I had a fun time playing this classic. I beat Animal Crossing: New Horizons a second time and finally played and finished Donkey Kong Country : Tropical Freeze, while I did ultimately enjoy it, I found out that I am still bad at Donkey Kong Country games. I also beat Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles, and while I have a few gripes with this game, the story was good enough to get me through this short title. Lastly I beat 2 more classic games that I would consider evergreen games. These were The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and Super Mario 64 which is part of the Super Mario 3D All-Stars Collection. Right now I'm playing through Wonderful 101 Remastered and while I'm about half way through it I'm still having trouble getting into this one. I'm going to try to get to the end, but I may have to put it down and come back to it later on.

[shaggy]

Beat Bee Simulator and 100% it.  Very glitchy game especially for Trophies.  It's a nice and relaxing game but I wouldn't recommend it for more than $10.  Get this physical version so you can play the non-updated version. If you update it, you will break some trophies and will need to delete it and play it on version 1.00.

[MetalFRO]

@Mr_Stubbes - I wouldn't recommend putting down Wonderful 101 Remastered, and I'm not just saying that as a fanboy of the original. I've found, with Platinum games especially, if I walk away from them and come back, it's better to start over, because I have to relearn the moves & combo system, and if you're far enough into the game, you can potentially hit a wall right away. If you adapt to stuff faster, that may be less of an issue for you, but just something to consider.

[Mr_Stubbes]

@MetalFRO - I had actually previously put it down and did have a little bit of a time getting used to the combo system again, but once I did I went and beat the last half of the game. Its weird, because I really couldn't get into the game until Operation 6 and onward. After that I was having a lot of fun and the game just flew by.

[shaggy]

I started Owlboy.  My first impression is I don't really like it.  I can't stand the controls, no manual and several things in the menu not explained.  I can't stand that.  Several times I've gotten to the point where I may just stop playing because of the controls.

[Link41]

Monopoly (GBC) - Played pass the system multiplayer with the wife last night.

[shaggy]

Started playing Little Big Planet on the PS3 and beat it.  it's a great game and, surprisingly, people are still playing it online.  If anyone has this game, let me know and let's play online!  Online is free on the PS3!