Oh boy, is it time for my periodic games dump already?
Let's see, games since last time... There was Haunted Castle Revisited but I covered that here already. Still so glad this exists, can't wait for it to be the last Castlevania game we see for another sixteen years.
And after that, I'm sure this is an obscure game for the people of this forum, ever heard of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom? Yeah okay, to keep it short, I loved this one. I love that it blends the linear progression with open elements so that we still have a defined story path, I think this is a good compromise. I love playing as Zelda, and all the goofy echo abilities that create some surprising depth. It's also probably the cutest Zelda game ever made, not (just) because of the art style. My only real flaw with it is the same as everyone else's: Holy shit the echo selection menus suck. Sure, swapping around the sort options mitigate it, kind of, but why can't we assign favorites to some sort of wheel? Why can't we have two echo buttons? There's so many buttons on the controller! But other than that, great game.
My yearly Castlemania stream marathon came and went, with this year devoted to games inspired by Castlevania. Included were Timespinner and the three Bloodstained games, which I'd played before, but also five games that were both new to me and ones I've wanted to play for a while, so I killed two birds with one stone! But first I'd like to say Timespinner (
wishlist Timespinner 2), Curse of the Moon, and Ritual of the Night are still based, while Curse of the Moon 2 is an ultimately good game that suffers from many flaws.
Anyway, after Timespinner opened, we played Odallus: The Dark Call, a pretty fun game overall. It had some rough spots but I enjoyed it, but there's a mine cart stage and it's the worst fucking thing ever. Afterwards, Touhou Luna Nights shined. Great pixel art, fun mechanics, loved it. Didn't love the multi-stage bosses at the end of the main game and the bonus area, opted not to beat the latter as a result, but everything else was real solid. Then I tried a little hidden gem called Crypt Stalker, in the Classicvania style. It's cheap and not very long, but quite fun! The protagonist also moves a lot quicker than your average Belmont, guess she has places to be and I respect it. It also has a second mode based off Castlevania: The Adventure, and is properly more difficult, but not insurmountable. Then, Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight, yet another on my list of games to get to. Gorgeous, moody, charming. Fairly brisk, but very much worth the play. Just generally felt good with solid combat. And lastly, save for the Bloodstained games ending the marathon, we tried out Infernax, and hot damn, about time I did. It's like Castlevania II and Zelda II had a baby that only inherited the good genes from each parent. I was surprised just how much content it had that may warrant future replays.
I definitely recommend every game from that last paragraph, although Odallus and to a lesser extent Crypt Stalker I'd rate lower than the rest. Who knows, if you prefer things a bit more punishing, you might like Odallus more than I did. Though I still wouldn't personally put it at the level of an NES Castlevania.
Anyway, now for the Sonic tangent, because Shadow Generations came out! I gotta say, I was worried for this one. Sonic Forces was a snoozefest of a nothing burger, and the cyberspace levels in Frontiers being largely recycled content did not instill me with confidence. I thought this was about to be another Sonic Forces Episode Shadow affair, with a couple short boring levels and a boss fight, but... No, they got back many designers from Sonic Generations and let them fucking cook. The level design is topnotch and the hub world is generally solid, way better than Sonic's. I replayed levels a lot after finishing, maybe partially because it's still only six levels with two acts each and four boss fights, but dammit, they're so good I wanted to replay them! This might actually be the best 3D Sonic game, it at least has the best bosses in any 3D Sonic! Even final boss! 3D Sonic final bosses generally suck! And well, as a longtime Shadow fanboy... this whole thing, plus the story, just makes me happy. God it's nice to feel validated.
Oh and the Ian Flynn rewrite of Sonic Generations is way better, fuck the haters, Pontac and Graff wrote fucking slop in their run and they won't be missed.
So anyway a great Sonic game made me want to play worse ones. Sonic Lost World was one I'd tried before but bounced off of about halfway through due to indifference. Decided to focus my energy there and beat it for the first time. And. Eh. It's pretty, music's great, but it's very milquetoast. Level design is whatever, and the run button is an affront to my index finger. Momentum feels screwy. Definitely not the worst Sonic game but it's not got much going for it. Although speaking of Pontac and Graff slop, yep, here too. So slop it's outright dull, and the sooner history forgets the one-dimensional Deadly Six, the better.
I also replayed Sonic '06 after this for some fuckass reason. Yes, it's garbage. No, this isn't new. I used to look for redeeming factors in this game. Not anymore! It's bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So anyway, that leads up to, so far, the final new game for me in 2024: Banjo-Tooie. I began the year going back and finally completing Banjo-Kazooie, so, with Tooie arriving on NSO, decided to bookend it with its sequel. A game I also tried when younger, but bounced off of. Like how the creepiness of Mad Monster Mansion kept me from beating Kazooie... well, Tooie dials it up to eleven from the very start. I have long since grown out of being easily-creeped, and if this were the first time playing this game I probably would've laughed it all off or just humorously gone "Jesus Christ Rare, are you all okay?" But I do admit, the more somber tone is a downgrade for me from Kazooie. Along with... nearly everything else. Notes are better-handled in this game, so are Jinjos. I also appreciate the hub world's warps making it easier to get around. But goddamn, the backtracking. Whether it's because you need to come back with new moves, or keep doing back-and-forth shit with Mumbo or the horribly-offensive Humba Wumba, it's just a nightmare. The game is often a chore. Grunty Industries can go fuck itself and so can Jolly Roger's Lagoon. The final boss is too long but this has been a problem in Rare games already. There's still some cool stuff and the writing is as witty as ever, and Hailfire Peaks—inherent backtracking flaws aside—is a based level, but fuck, it was a tiring playthrough. I'm glad I finally completed it, but let's just say I'm even more scared of when I inevitably finally play Donkey Kong 64.
Anyway I've beaten 38 new games this year, working on one more, may try to slip in another single-sitting game for a nice round 40. Gotta be a record for me either way, maybe, who knows.
