King's Field (Japan) (PSX; Completed 1-13-23) [First Time]
Notes: Oh hey, my first FromSoft game! Mind, this is actually a game that was unreleased in the west, but fan translated... the game we know as "King's Field" was actually King's Field *2*. It's confusing. Anyway, for such an old game, it was actually pretty good. I could see the Souls DNA, but while the game started off brutal, by the halfway point, I'd obtained a cheap healing spell and a weapon that regenerated my MP slowly, so dying was just... not going to happen anymore. Overall, it was a very old-school, ugly, clunky, and rather short game... yet, I found it oddly charming in its own way. I'll probably play the sequels sometime down the road.
Final Fantasy 2 (PSP; Completed 2-4-23) [First Time]
Notes: The last main series Final Fantasy that I have actual access to (i.e. not an MMO or on a platform I don't possess) that I hadn't played through... is finally done. I opted for the PSP version, simply because it combines the most features with the fewest bugs and other annoyances, and... it's pretty good. I'd say I liked it better than 1 and the original 2D version of 4, and that it originated as an NES game is all the more impressive. Also, unlike the other FF ports, I actually found the bonus dungeons in 2 to be legit fun and clever. Overall, I'm glad to have finally played through this piece of history.
Magic Knight Rayearth (Saturn; Completed 2-14-23) [First Time]
Notes: Oh hey, another Saturn game for me! As Zelda-like action/adventure games go, this one was pretty fun, if short and rather linear. Didn't stand out in any particularly amazing ways, but the graphics were pretty, the music was catchy, but, uh... then there's the dialogue. Yeah. This is a Working Designs translation, and oh man can you *tell*. While it was light on their usual brand of pop culture references, it "made up for it" by making every NPC into an unlikeable jackass. I'm not kidding: Nearly every townsperson is either insulting your team or someone else (or is otherwise completely ungrateful to you saving their asses), lusting after someone of the opposite sex, panicking and begging you to save them (and *only* them; screw everyone *else*), or "helpfully" informing you of their gross bodily functions. The story dialogue wasn't spared, either, with casual jokes about periods and child abuse. And people *like* this stuff? Well. At least the game itself was good...
Magic Knight Rayearth (SNES; Completed 2-18-23) [First Time]
Notes: Didn't I just play this? Actually, the SNES game is completely different than the Saturn one. It's a short, straightforward, uncomplicated JRPG, whose only real issue is, as was typical for the time, a too-high encounter rate. It was also quite easy. On the plus side, the translation was significantly better, and told a lot more of the story, especially towards the end, than the "funny" Saturn translation did... and the game's music is honestly really good. Not the greatest game ever, but I enjoyed it well enough.
Brandish 2 (SNES; Completed 2-24-23) [First Time]
Notes: As one of the ten or so fans of the original Brandish, I'm not sure why it took me so long to finally play the sequel... but honestly, I loved it. It takes the original formula and sticks with it, so if you didn't like that game, you won't like this one, either... While it has some flaws, such as questionable boss design (enemies that can, barring use of certain spells, kill you in 2-4 hits while taking 1 damage from your attacks, and the game's awkward controls not really working well for action-y battles), the much larger world, more varied locales, greater emphasis on actually *using* the many weapons and items you're given (no longer do you need to sell everything to make money to buy obscenely expensive spells), and significantly more interesting plot made this one a winner to me. It also has *fantastic* music.
King's Field (US) / King's Field 2 (Japan) (PSX; Completed 3-9-23) [First Time]
Notes: If the first game was the "proof of concept", this was the full picture. A significantly larger, more challenging game on the whole, it definitely felt more refined than the original, but still had a lot of that old school jank to it. It can be frustratingly easy to die at times, as well, and as spread out as save points are, that can really be a thing at times... unless you don't mind using save states, as I didn't, and enjoyed the game more for it.
A Boy and His Blob (PC; Completed 4-19-23) [First Time]
Notes: The remake, not the NES original. Having only *played* the original before, this wasn't *quite* what I expected, but it was a very cute, charming, and overall fun puzzle platformer. Some of the bonus stages were a bit nuts (that cannon is the worst, man), and it took me a long time to finish due to more sporadic play, though it was never overbearing or anything. Both the boy and the blob are absolutely adorable, as well.
Assassin's Creed 2 (PC; Completed 4-27-23) [First Time]
Notes: I actually started this game last summer, but just got burned out near the very end due to some really annoying missions. Finally decided to go back and *finish* it. Compared to the first game, it's a lot more polished, and feels more like a *game* than a tech demo, but still has that infamous Ubisoft jank that makes stealth missions a lot more annoying than they were probably *intended*. Nonetheless, I managed to more or less 100% the game, getting all collectables and doing all the side missions, but I didn't have access to the DLC, so I didn't *fully* 100% it. If that makes sense. Anyway, I got to PUNCH THE POPE, so all is well.
Metroid Fusion (GBA; Completed 5-2-23) [Replay]
Notes: Since I've been out of the house a fair bit of late, I decided to bring my DS along with me and see how many outings it'd take to finish this game. Turns out... not many.
Final Fantasy Legend 2 (GB; Completed 5-7-23) [First Time]
Notes: Oh hey, another second entry in a long running series I'd never played before this year somehow! It had some rough edges and a hilariously bad translation, due to being an early Game Boy RPG, and some of the strategy for beating the latter bosses amounted to "just hope they never use their strongest attacks twice in a row", but on the whole, it held up well, and I had a good time with it. Not hard to see why most people consider this the best of the FFL/GB SaGa series.
Metroid Prime (GC; Completed 5-18-23) [Replay]
Notes: Because sometimes you just want to revisit an old favorite. 100%, of course.
Metroid Prime 2 (GC; Completed 5-29-23) [Replay]
Notes: Ditto above. Also 100%.
King's Field 3: Pilot Style (PSX; Completed 5-30-23) [First Time]
Notes: This one's a bit weird. It's a short "interquel" between King's Field 2 and 3, released only at a trade show in Japan, albeit fan translated. It's short -- only about an hour long -- and not difficult at all... but it's not *quite* a demo, as while it uses the same assets as 3, it's actually set in a place that isn't *in* the final game. An interesting little piece of history, at any rate.
King's Field 2 (US) / King's Field 3 (Japan) (PSX; Competed 6-7-23) [First Time]
Notes: The above was the appetizer... this was the main course. Rounding out the King's Field trilogy, the third installment plays much like the previous two, but is easily longer than both games *combined*. It actually starts off harder than the first two games, because healing is scarce in the early going, but ultimately ends up easier in the long run... the enemies seem less aggressive and overall less threatening, weapon type weaknesses, while still in play, matter far less than they did previously (i.e. I didn't need to switch weapons for different situations nearly as often), save points were more common, there were far fewer instant death traps, and the final boss was a complete pushover. On the plus side, the addition of an auto-map instead of multiple maps in various states of completeness was a nice little quality of life improvement. Overall, it's still a good game, and a fitting conclusion to the PS1 trilogy... still not sure if I'd recommend the series to anyone, but I enjoyed it a lot.
Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA; Completed 6-9-23) [Replay]
Notes: Like Metroid Fusion, this was a quick "on the go" replay. As always, 100%.
Lego Harry Potter: Year 1-4 (PC; Completed 6-21-23) [First Time]
Notes: The Lego series is always good, uncomplicated, rompy fun. Good for those moments when you're looking for lists to fill out, but don't want to be challenged too much. This wasn't as good as the Lord of the Rings ones, which makes sense as this came much earlier than they did, but once I adapted to the fact that it played somewhat differently, I enjoyed it. If there's one problem with the Lego games, however, it's that they're notoriously buggy, which can prevent 100% completion... and this seemed like it happened to me again, but it turns out I was just missing some small thing. So. I *did* indeed 100% it after all. Yay!
Lego Harry Potter: Year 5-7 (PC; Completed 7-2-23) [First Time]
Notes: Figured I may as well do the second half, as well. It was mostly the same, just with different stages, a few different powers, a few different characters... not really any better, not really any worse. But I did still have fun with it, so that's a win. 100%, naturally.
Golden Sun (GBA; Completed 7-20-23) [Replay]
Notes: Been ages since I first played this... and, I decided I wanted a 100% save file on emulator. So I did.
Golden Sun: The Lost Age (GBA; Completed 8-8-23) [Replay]
Notes: And I figured I'd play the sequel/continuation as well. Also 100%. Thoughts? The Golden Sun games are fun. Simple, uncomplicated fun. The plots are nothing to write home about, and on the surface, the gameplay is basic... but there's a surprising amount of depth in the Djinn/class system, which I never bothered with during my initial playthroughs, and the puzzle-filled dungeons are also quite interesting. I should also add, the graphics and music are fantastic; some of the best of both on the GBA. So. Yeah. Glad I replayed them!
Kirby's Dream Land (GB; Completed 8-11-23; Extra Mode completed 8-14-23) [First Time]
Notes: A fun little half hour or so romp. Nice to visit the origins of everyone's favorite pink puffball. Extra Mode is pretty tough, yo.
Kirby's Dream Land 2 (GB; Completed 8-13-23) [First Time]
Notes: The sequel! And hey, another 2. Significantly longer and more detailed than the original, the introduction of the animal friends with their combo powers (and unique theme music!) were nice to see, and the game was... honestly surprisingly challenging for a Kirby game, especially the nonsense involved in getting all the Rainbow Drops. Like many games on this list, I'm not sure why it took me so long to finally play this game... but I now have! I should also add that I used a colorized fan hack, which made no gameplay modifications... it just colorized the game. Looked very nice, too.
Bomberman Quest (GBC; Completed 8-20-23) [First Time]
Notes: If you combined Bomberman with Zelda, you'd... get something a lot like this. It's a pretty short, compact game, and outside of one really irritating boss, not terribly difficult, but it's cute and fun.
Shadowrun (SNES; Completed 8-28-23) [First Time]
Notes: Such an odd thing. A PC-style RPG on SNES, based on a tabletop game. It boggles the mind. But, it's oddly... good? Kind of like a cross between an adventure game and a more traditional RPG. The controls are a bit weird, and combat is kind of just "shoot at each other until one of you dies", but I very much appreciated the uniqueness of the game in general. There's really nothing else quite like it on SNES.
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (PSX; Completed 9-8-23) [First Time]
Notes: Another "2", and by this point it's completely intentional. A fun collectathon platformer, on the whole, but as with many games of that genre from the late 90s, it was peppered with annoying mini-games that were... less than enjoyable. Nevertheless, it did feel like a notable improvement over the first game. 100% completion, Skill Points included, of course. So yay for that.
The Goonies 2 (NES; Completed 9-10-23) [First Time]
Notes: An old game that haunted me from my childhood... namely, that I could never *get* anywhere... and little wonder, really, given some of the silly non-intuitive stuff you have to do to make progress. But it's nice to finally be done with it.
Sword of Hope (GB; Completed 9-16-23) [First Time]
Notes: I was in the mood for an old RPG... and I got one! As old GB RPGs go, it was pretty decent; kind of "what if Shadowgate was an RPG?", but as with a lot of early RPGs, the balance was just non-existent towards the end, and the translation was laughably bad. Still, at only 6-8 hours, it was fun enough, and satisfied that "old game" desire.
Suikoden (PSX; Completed 9-25-23) [Replay]
Notes: I play these games every few years. I actually figured out how to make Viktor *not suck* this time! Though he's still mediocre at best. Basically, this was just a prep for...
Suikoden 2 (PSX; Completed 10-10-23) [Replay]
Notes: ...yeah, my favorite game ever. This time, with a bug fix patch that rather dramatically improves the game. Not having to worry about missing collectables due to stupid coding errors, or having entire parts of the game rendered silent because some of some fool localizer changing bytes around... very nice indeed.
Yoshi's Island DS (DS; Completed 10-28-23) [Replay?\First Time]
Notes: I attempted this game many years ago, and... honestly, I cannot remember if I finished it or not. I vaguely recall doing so, but not 100%ing the game or beating all the bonus stages... well. This time, I did... however, I did so on emulator, and *abused* the hell out of save states, because holy baby Jebus this game is brutal. The stages are *extremely* long, full of "gotcha" traps, full of instant death traps, the red coins are in the *worst* places possible, enemies are everywhere, and there's just fiendish level design in general. The removal of inventory items *does not help* matters. On the plus side, I do like the way having different babies riding Yoshi provides differing abilities, and the Museum is a fun little diversion. It's not a *bad* game overall, but even *with* save states, it's just a relentless ordeal... yeesh.
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (PC; Completed 11-02-23) [First Time]
Notes: A cute, charming little Zelda-like. It's easy, it's short (only a few hours long), but I liked it. It was a nice palette cleanser after the brutal Yoshi's Island DS. I'll do some of the postgame stuff a bit later.
Vagrant Story (PSX; Completed 11-15-23] [First Time]
Notes: I can only imagine the pitch for this game was "What if Final Fantasy Tactics... was a dungeon crawler action RPG with complex combat and crafting mechanics?" Surprisingly, it *works*. You'll probably need a guide to figure out the way equipment works, and it does require its share of grinding, but overall, I found it to be a particularly fun game. Great music, great atmosphere, great writing, intriguing plot... That said, I couldn't do *everything*, as a number of things are available only in a second playthrough, which will definitely come later on.
Axiom Verge 2 (PC; Completed 11-28-23) [First Time]
Notes: Guess what? Another 2! And it's quite a bit differently from the first game, both in terms of gameplay and atmosphere... and, in fact, it feels more akin to Ori and the Blind Forest than Axiom Verge, in that there are no bosses to speak of, and the game is primarily focused on exploration and narrative. This is not a bad thing at all, as the environments are huge, there are two parallel worlds to explore, and the audio/visuals are excellent. On the whole, I'm not sure I'd say it's *better* than its predecessor (there's far less weapon variety, for instance, and what there *is*, is all almost the same), but it's definitely still a good game in its own right, and well worth playing. It's also much less obtuse with its secrets than the first game, and thereby much easier to 100%. Which I did.
Blossom Tales 2 (PC; Completed 12-19-23) [First Time]
Notes: And the last "2" I'll likely complete this year. Quite a ride. On the whole, this was a rather significant step up over the first game. Larger world, more secrets, more interesting area design, more interesting items, and a greater integration of the charming "grandfather telling his grandchildren a story" concept that the first game kind of left in the background. With only three "main" dungeons, it's still a tad on the small side, but it's worth a play if you're into Zelda-likes.
Legend of Legaia (PSX; Completed 12-24-23) [Replay]
Notes: Man, it'd been a long time since I last played this. It's a chunky as I remember! A pretty fun game, overall, with a really messed up story. Conkram may be the single most disturbing thing I've ever seen in a video game, and that hasn't changed!