ResetEra 52 Games Challenge - 2021
#1 Immortals Fenyx Rising (PS5)
It’s basically The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with the serial numbers filed off. Vaults of Tartaros are like the Shrines, there are health items everywhere in the overworld, physics based puzzles, and there’s even a first person mode where you can put pins on things in the distance that you can see that you want to get to. Oh and there’s a pair of wings that work just like Link’s glider in BotW as well. Other than the blatant ripoffs, I enjoyed the game for the most part.
I loved the dialogue between Zeus and Prometheus, constantly giving each other shit throughout the whole game (spoiler alert, Zeus is a shitty dad). I loved the portrayal of each of the 4 gods that you help restore to power, how they acted and treated each other like the dysfunctional family I grew to love. I also liked how it reminded me just how messed up the Olympian pantheon is portrayed in all the old myths and legends, seriously heavy material but presented in a mostly light hearted way.
The combat was fun for the most part, but as is the case with other games like this, after a certain point you’re basically an unstoppable killing machine. I liked that each and every piece of armor gave you different combat and exploration options and that you could customize the way you look extensively.
And there’s just something oddly satisfying about mass collecting crafting materials.
My gripes with the game are mainly camera controls and Fenyx mistakenly jumping onto a wall when that wasn’t what I was trying to get him to do. I found it extremely annoying that when you go to the Hall of the Gods to upgrade Fenyx there’s an unskippable cutscene every single time and there’s only so many times I can watch him craft potions or do exercises with Hermes before I wanna scream. The first couple of times this was cute but after several hours it becomes super annoying. I wasn’t really thrilled that even though the island is divided into 4 sections, it might as well have been 2 sections since the visual appearance of left and right halves was so similar. I hated that community photos of other player’s exploits will show up in your game as white rectangles on an already very busy and very cluttered map with no seemingly obvious way to turn that off. Never mind the fact that making one of these nuisances for someone else to deal with is tied to a trophy. Another negative I have about the game are Quest Zones, where you basically have to stumble around until you find whatever obtuse objective the game wants you to do. Combined with 2 random game crashes during the first real zone of the island (Valley of Eternal Spring) lands this game at a 3.5 out of 5 for me.
Total Play Time: 48 hours Date Complete: January 11, 2021
#2 Spider-Man Remastered (PS5)
Needed my Marvel fix so I finally decided to give this game a go. I found the story to be an enjoyable superhero tale for the most part with a few annoyances. I liked the sections with Miles and MJ and thought they added a breath of fresh air to the game but they did become as stale as me main game after a while. It was kinda rough starting out because I didn’t quite understand how the game was supposed to be played and kept trying to do things my own way. Turns out I just needed to unlock skills that I thought Spider-Man should have had from the beginning.
Was not a fan of the combat system because there were many times that I was killed due to shitty dodge mechanics or sudden quick time events that caught me off guard. I also definitely didn’t like that your ability to heal was linked to whether or not you suck at combat and dodging which led to a lot of deaths and restarts. I did like how activities populated the districts of the map as you progressed, but after a certain point it was less fun and more busy work in order to unlock skills/gadgets/suits. Once the Sable agents and criminals were all over the map I just stopped doing any and all side stuff since at that point I just found it irritating and pointless and just wanted to finish the game (which the end of seemed to go on forever). Loved the nod in the game to the Sinister Six but a little bummed out that they’ve all been dealt with in a single game.
The number of suits in this game was both awesome and overwhelming. I loved how each was painstakingly rendered and animated, though a couple had powers that made them more useful to me than the rest, so I feel a lot of that work went to waste unless you’re a hardcore Spider-Man fan.
As quickly as this game runs on PS5 I shudder to think how it ran on PS4. I rarely fast traveled anywhere in the city, choosing instead to swing my way across Manhattan and found it to be an enjoyable experience until reaching the endgame when Sable agents and criminals are constantly shooting at you no matter where you go. Also, does Insomniac still not understand what the fuck a checkpoint is? There were times when I died I’d have to redo boss fights from the very beginning and that never motivates me to keep playing a game.
Immediately installing and playing Miles Morales because of that ending though. 3 out of 5.
Total Play Time: 39 hours Date Complete: January 20, 2021
#3 Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5)
After the sort of cliffhanger ending to Insomniac’s first Spider-Man game, I immediately HAD to play this and it did not disappoint. I felt like the combat system in this game was a bit more fun than the first but Miles feels a bit more squishy than Peter. Miles’ bioelectric ability (that they did a poor job of explaining the origins of) gave the combat a fresh feel even if it was the same mechanics as before. I also felt like they could have flushed things out a bit more with the gadgets but I understand why they didn’t do that story wise.
The Underground was an interesting adversary to combat with their strange tech. They sort of felt like a reject from a Saints Row sequel that never happened. Phin, their leader and Miles’ old friend from school, was a rather shallow antagonist and her redemption right at the end of the game was very cliché. The Roxxon troops on the other hand, were just like the Sable troops only in a different color and fortunately fewer in number. Was also glad to see that only one of the Sinister Six - Rhino - made a cameo in this game. I enjoyed the interactions between Miles and Genke over the phone and the modern day feel with you using an in game app to track down side activities to do.
Speaking of, the side activities in this game didn’t overwhelm or overstay their welcome like the first game. They were your garden variety ‘go find the hidden object’ or ‘go here and beat up a bunch of dudes’ but the one that stood out was tracking down all the “musical beats” across the city. I found that to be mostly enjoyable if somewhat limiting. The city map, for the most part, was the same as the first game but this time around felt more vibrant than before even if everything was covered in snow.
I’m disappointed that some of the end game cinematics were spoiled during E3 previews. Why was there a level cap of 20? The ending cinematic definitely sets up a third game nicely. And boy do Miles and Peter do a shitty job at keeping their identity a secret. 4 out of 5.
Total Play Time: 21 hours Date Complete: January 25, 2021
#4 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) (PS4)
The campaign was rather short but action packed which is what I was looking for. The introduction of characters in the story is so fast it makes my head spin a bit, but a few of them are memorable (namely Farah and her brother). The game makes me a little envious of the brotherhood between soldiers and the fact that I never went that route in life, but at the same time I’ve never considered myself much of a fighter anyway, instead trying to keep the peace with words and not weapons. Perhaps I chose poorly but I digress. The campaign lends itself to many, many replays due to it’s short length but I’m not sure if I’ll ever do that since there were a few times I got a bit upset and had to stop.
I came for Captain Price and his dashing good looks, British charm and get ‘er done attitude and stayed for the bullet hell. Damn what a ride! 3 out of 5.
Total Play Time: 8 hours (campaign only) Date Complete: January 26, 2021
#5 Cyber Shadow (PS4)
I was enjoying the game thoroughly for about the first third and then the difficulty spike happened (estimation) and the story started to get off the rails when the “master” admitted her feelings for the main character. At that point I just didn’t care anymore and just finished the game to get the clear. This game suffers from not having its own identity. It takes parts from OG Ninja Gaiden, Super Metroid, Mega Man and a few other games from the 8 and 16 bit eras and mixes them all together with mediocre results. The powers, if you even want to call them that, are a fairly boring spread with confusing button controls (wouldn’t it have made more sense for the fireball attack to be up and attack instead of down and attack?). I think the most redeeming thing about the game are the vey nice chip tunes, but even that grates my nerves after having to redo sections of the game for the Nth time because of surprise deaths and the lack of i-frames.
Started out great but became dull and fell flat rather quickly. I hate this game so much I just called it quits in chapter 9 or 10 or whatever and watched the end of YouTube because of that bullshit bounce off the enemy section trying to go up the tower. Worst Game of the Year 2021. 1 out of 5.
Total Play Time: 16 hours (wasted) Date Complete: February 8, 2021
#6 Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (Switch)
I realize it’s just the same game that was on Wii U, just ported to Switch, but I feel like it runs a lot smoother than before. Was able to get through the game relatively quickly with a lot fewer deaths this time around. The visuals are as stunning as I remember them and the music is always catchy. The only thing I would have asked for were MORE levels. 4 out of 5.
Total Play Time: 7 hours Date Complete: February 19, 2021
#7 Sackboy: A Big Adventure (PS5)
A mostly charming 3D platformer reminiscent of games like Super Mario 3D World and the like, the terrible lag during multiplayer sessions really keeps this game from the limelight for me. The remixes of pop music used in the background of several levels as well as levels where pop songs are front as center were a very welcome surprise (looking at you Let’s Dance from David Bowie). As much as they’d like to tout that this game is multiplayer, it works much better as a single player game as multiple Sackboys on the screen becomes confusing for some. 3 out of 5.
Total Play Time: 29 hours Date Complete: May 1, 2021
#8 Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX (PS5)
Oh my god, this game sucks. I enjoyed the art style and the music, but the “story” feels half assed and the controls are just bad. Alex (who is the son of the nobility of the kingdom) sets out from a mountain and goes off on a quest to save everyone from an army that’s invaded the kingdom and turned everyone to stone. The jumps are too “floaty” to me, there’s some weirdness with collision against obstacles in stages, NO explanation what so ever on how items in the game work and the little grim reaper that shows up in item boxes randomly is supremely annoying. Also, why no ability to scroll a stage backward? In modern day 2D platformers it’s pretty much a standard. I also seriously dislike the whole rock-paper-scissors boss battles, but fortunately what they throw is a set pattern so you can look up the answers and win every time. I could go for the platinum in this game but I don’t think I hate myself enough to try. 1 out of 5.
Total Play Time: 2 hours (estimated) Date Complete: November 2, 2021
#9 Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5)
I thoroughly enjoyed this latest Ratchet & Clank romp from start to finish. The Dual Sense usage wasn’t as broadly used as Astro’s Playroom to me, but what I remember of the implementation I was quite pleased. I hope that there is another game in this franchise in the future for PS5 but for now I think I can best describe this game thus: Game of the Year 2021. 5 out of 5.
Total Play Time: 18 Hours Date Complete: November 5th 2021
#10 Hoa (PS5)
Beautiful water colored and hand drawn world in which you play as a “fairy” who was rescued by other woodland creatures after an attack by a giant robot. Fairly simple platforming and puzzles to solve; each level consists of a theme (woods, underwater, etc.) where you have to light up shrines and collect 5 butterflies.
My only real problems were performance. There was a point in the underwater level where the game would stutter a bit when I would try to jump; not sure if I was causing an autosave to happen or what. All in all it’s a relaxing and a bit sad experience with an easy platinum. 4 out of 5.
Total Play Time: 2 Hours Date Complete: November 30th 2021
#11 Final Fantasy XIV (PS5)
What can I say that I haven’t written already? So much emotion and not enough words to put them all to paper. Bravo, Yoshi P and Masayoshi Soken. 5 out of 5.
Total Play Time: 2,243 Hours Date Complete: December 14, 2021
#12 Archvale (Xbox Series S)
A fun little top down action RPG I played (via Game Pass - my first!) during the great FF XIV Server Congestion of 2021. In it you play as a nameless child (I literally thought your character was just a dwarf or hobbit) that arrives at defeats all the keepers of the pieces of an ancient arch that holds back an evil king to release him to kill him. With an ambiguous ending the only other negatives that I have about the game are the mostly useless crafting system, the fact that you can only bring up the world map and dungeon maps when at a fast travel location and that you can’t sell anything that you don’t need anymore.
I did like that when you hit a fast travel location and heal, you respawn everything you’ve killed a la Dark Souls and the like. Definitely made grinding for money a lot easier. I very much enjoyed the pixel art style and most of the music. 3 out of 5.
Total Play Time: 11 hours, 44 minutes Date Complete: December 20, 2021
#13 The Gunk (Xbox Series S)
This was a sort of chill and mostly linear 3D platformer about two women who find a dying planet covered in pollution that they dub the gunk. You go about vacuuming it up with your handy dandy arm vacuum and along the way get attacked by small foot sized creatures, spitting plants and eventually creatures that look like bulls. That’s it; that’s the enemy types in this game. The “combat” such as it is in this game is kind of a joke and the lure upgrade wasn’t really much use, not even in the final boss encounter.
The art and animation in this game was beautiful and the sweeping wave that happens when you clear out all the gunk from an area was a delight every time. I also enjoyed the music and themes in this game; a lot of it was very heavy on the string instruments and was very relaxing for me, even during stressful moments. Definitely worth a download if you are a GamePass subscriber. 3 out of 5.
Total Play Time: 6 hours, 14 minutes Date Complete: December 28, 2021