Mastodawn

Chill Dragoon Jul 5, 2023

As I've mentioned before, I'm ranking games that I beat in terms of how likely I am to play them again. "Would I rather play ___ or ___" type of thing, not necessarily best games or favorite games. Some games do get ranked a little unfairly, like titles that hinge on a plot twist or games where there are other games in the series that are just better (Forza 3 overshadowing Forza 1, for example), but it works overall.

I used to post small snippets about the games as I beat them, so here's more:

Chill Dragoon Jul 5, 2023

786: Dragon Ball Z: Sagas (PS2)
Probably the worst Dragon Ball game I've ever played. The gameplay is awful, how they handle co-op boss fights is awful, the character choices made were bad, almost every single bad decision they could've made was made during the creation of this game.

You pretty much play as the same four characters throughout the game, then they give you additional characters after you beat the game. Why not let me play as Krillin on Namek, you dolts?

Rank: 786 (seriously)

Chill Dragoon Jul 6, 2023

787: Lucius (Steam)
I really enjoy the thought behind the game, it's essentially a puzzle game where you play as the kid from The Omen and have to kill without getting caught. I ended up just using a walkthrough because I remember there being a lot of (essentially) pixel hunting in the game and I don't have the patience for it anymore. Still had fun, it's a silly game but I enjoyed it.
Rank: 520

Chill Dragoon Jul 6, 2023

788: Lucius 2: The Prophecy (Steam)
They tried to go on a larger scale this time, with more than one building to explore and more characters to interact with, but they also made it less puzzle-y and more actiony.

That's not necessarily a bad thing though, while I think the first game might be the "better" game I'm ranking this one higher because it feels like they weren't in their comfort zone but went for it anyway. Looking forward to trying the third game.

Rank: 492

Chill Dragoon Jul 7, 2023

789: Mysteries Under Lake Ophelia (Steam)
I'm usually not big on indie games with minimal gameplay, but this one was a lot of fun. The main objective seemed fairly obvious from the start (even without any prompts), but the main appeal was simply messing around and finding new things. Had a little bit of an issue with pinpoint casting, but it turned out I was making it harder on myself than needed (not the game's fault).
Rank: 207

Chill Dragoon Jul 8, 2023

790: Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix (Steam)
It feels like a step up from the previous game for sure, still a little rough around the edges and has a "generic licensed game" feel to it that I hope they can shake off by the third entry. Some of the stages were neat, odd that some cups reuse stages when it feels like they could've just had fewer cups altogether. Still, an enjoyable but generic game.
Rank: 351

Chill Dragoon Jul 8, 2023

791: The Night of the Scissors (Steam)
It's a fairly basic survival horror game, go and find the items you need while avoiding the baddie who will kill you if they find you. It's kind of neat that they have a visual static indicator of the whole screen to show how close they are to you (like a visual equivalent of Silent Hill's radio), but the length and amount of content makes it feel more like a demo than a full game. Still, I had fun with it.
Rank: 509

Chill Dragoon Jul 8, 2023

792: There's Poop In My Soup (Steam)
It would be an incredibly short game but they did a decent job of forcing pacing to start off slow in each stage until you complete a number of objectives then it gets hectic. Things don't always work the way they seem like they should, and I tended to get stuck often, but each round is short enough that a restart isn't a problem.
Rank: 517

Chill Dragoon Jul 10, 2023

793: Resident Evil 8 (Steam)
I wasn't a big fan of 7, but I didn't want that to affect my opinions on this one. Glad I went into it with an open mind, had a lot of fun with it. It fixed a lot of the issues I had with 7, and I had more fun than I expected just wandering around looking for items. The characters were all decent enough (the daughters were kinda dull in comparison to the exposure they got pre-release though), and the story wasn't bad.
Rank: 311

Chill Dragoon Jul 10, 2023

794: Resident Evil Revelations 2 (PS4)
I wasn't a fan of Revelations 1, the story and characters weren't fun and having the plot twist of "hey, there are three identical boats, go explore them all" was unpleasant. Somehow Rev2 reduced the cast size, tried to hit the nostalgia button repeatedly, and ended up with something even worse than Rev1. Gameplay was decent, but everything else dragged this game down towards the bottom of my list.
Rank: 749

Chill Dragoon Jul 11, 2023

795: Spectacular Sparky (Steam)
One of my friends picked this up for me on the Steam sale. It was something I was interested in when I heard about it before release, but then it just kinda faded from my mind.

I'm glad they picked it up for me as the game is a blast. I'm a big fan of the Sega Genesis and this feels like it hits all the right notes. Kinda sad that there isn't much activity for the game on the leaderboards, I might try running it.

Rank: 39

Chill Dragoon Jul 19, 2023

796: Crash Tag Team Racing (PS2)
You'd think that with a game centered around being on the same kart that there would be some kind of co-op story mode, but nope. The game doesn't really feel up to the better kart racers of the system (not that there are a lot of great ones), but it's okay.
Rank: 423

797: Paw Patrol: Grand Prix (PC Game Pass)
It's a kart racing game geared towards kids. Don't go into it with high hopes and you won't be let down. It's competent enough, but much like Chocobo GP something feels off about the pacing of the vehicles. To make a long story short: "meh".
Rank: 385

Chill Dragoon Jul 21, 2023

798: Injustice 2 (PC Game Pass)
I enjoyed this one a lot more than the original, it was good to not have half the game be Batman-themed, and the chapters where you could pick which character you want to play as was nice (not nice that you have to do all of the fights to unlock the true ending, apparently).

Gameplay was decent, characters were decent, no major gripes (aside from the overall story still being kinda "meh").
Rank: 361

Chill Dragoon Jul 22, 2023

799: Crash Nitro Kart (PS2)
It's competent enough, especially in comparison to Tag Team Racing, but I ran into so many issues of falling through solid ground or slowing to a snail's pace going up hills that I can't imagine going through it again (plus, it makes you go through every stage twice plus go through Cups to unlock the final boss race, essentially making you play through the game three times). Not terrible, but I'll stick with CTR.
Rank: 521

Chill Dragoon Jul 22, 2023

800: A Week of Garfield (Famicom)
Not a particularly fun game to go through, all of the items are hidden until you pass through them once, then you have to pass through again to get them. Enemies are kind of a pain to hit with the attack options you are given, and it seems to have a lot of "f you" moments where an enemy spawns in a way to hit you if you don't know they're going to be there. Not the worst game though, just needs more polish.
Rank: 632

Chill Dragoon Jul 25, 2023

801: The Evil Within 2 (XBO)
I really enjoyed the original game (currently rank 224), and the second one started off really strong but then it kept going, and going, and going. It's kind of my own fault, as I was doing side quests originally as well, but then the second act felt like the first, the third like the second, and so on. Go to new area, find new person to interact with, find tracks, repeat. Was expecting like 6 hours, took me 15+ instead.
Rank: 513

Chill Dragoon Jul 27, 2023

802: Samurai Warriors 2: Empires (360)
While the stories in the game are fun to attempt, I had the most fun going through the mode where you could use your custom character as the leader and allies. I haven't played the PS2 version of this game, but the original Samurai Warriors had a visibility of like 5 feet, so being able to see people in this game was a lot more enjoyable (plus, there were more enjoyable characters to play as). It's fun.
Rank: 389

Chill Dragoon Jul 27, 2023

803: Street Fighter II: Turbo (SNES)
It's an enjoyable game, just ends up being ranked lower due to there being other Street Fighter games I could be playing. Plays pretty well, went through on the higher turbo speed. Not much to say, it's Street Fighter II, a game with 70 different versions (but still fun).
Rank: 566

Chill Dragoon Jul 28, 2023

804: Ganpuru: Gunman's Proof (SFC)
A fun little Zelda-esque game set in a Wild West-ish setting, you play as a kid who gets possessed by an alien space cop to defeat another alien after defeating their seven bosses. You don't really gain more permanent items, but you can learn skills like a charge shot, rock-breaking punch, and an uppercut, as well as learn new temporary weapons to use when enemies drop them, like machine guns and flamethrowers. Pretty linear and small-ish, but fun.
Rank: 95

Chill Dragoon Aug 2, 2023

805: The Ninja Warriors (SNES)
It's a pretty generic game, but I still had a bit of fun with it. The main reason it's ranked the way it is is due to the final boss. You are required to throw enemies at the boss, something that isn't required throughout the rest of the game and frankly isn't the most fun. Still want to play the sequel, though.

Rank: 508

Chill Dragoon Aug 2, 2023

806: Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (Steam)
In a neat change to the general Metroidvania formula, you end up with a lot of your mobility abilities early on in the game (you get the ability to float in like the first few minutes). Emphasis for progression falls on just going through an area and getting the ability to unlock colored doors within the different areas. It also has a dual-element mechanic, where you can absorb the element you are currently using. Fun game.
Rank: 197

Chill Dragoon Aug 2, 2023

807: Yo! Noid (NES)
The Pizza Contests are a pain in the butt and kind of a waste of time, but the rest of the game is solid. Typical platforming, you die in one hit so you have to be a little more cautious than usual. Nothing else to really mention. It's good, music isn't terrible, there is some variety between stages (platforming w/attacks, platforming without attacks, flappy Noid, shortcuts are whack-a-mole).
Rank: 133

Chill Dragoon Aug 5, 2023

808: Superman (NES)
Started learning the speedrun of this one for an event tomorrow, while the speedrun is decent I have a feeling that I would hate this on a casual level. The game is kind of obtuse, and progression requires you to do very specific things (talk to this character, defeat this random enemy). The gameplay itself is also not great, hit detection seems off and you have to pretty much be inside each enemy to be able to reach them with your punches.
Rank: 521

Chill Dragoon Aug 16, 2023

809: E.V.O.: Search for Eden (SNES)
I really like the first two or so main sections of this game, but after a while it felt like no matter how much I ended up grinding for EXP everything was just that much stronger than I was. It felt like instead of evolving into something better, the fact that you essentially start from scratch each time was more of a hindrance than anything else.
Rank: 646

Chill Dragoon Aug 16, 2023

810: Steel Assault (Steam)
I was expecting to like this game a lot more than I did, but it felt like there were a lot of "f-you" moments. I think a lot of it stems from the fact that you have such limited range with the whip while it feels like it would be better as a Contra type of game. Dunno...it's hard to explain, but it just felt kind of off.
Rank: 595

Chill Dragoon Aug 16, 2023

811: Exoprimal (Game Pass)

I'm not too big on competitive shooters, but since they added the story to the multiplayer it gave me an excuse to go through it. I liked the characters and general story, and I enjoy the gameplay enough to keep playing it after I've beaten it. If I was playing this solo it'd probably be more annoying, but I've been playing with friends which has been fun.

Rank: 124

Chill Dragoon Aug 21, 2023

812: McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure (Genesis)
It's a solid game, a little bit too much on the simplistic side, but not surprising given the source material. Learned it for a mystery game marathon where everyone only had a week to learn their game, but I'll probably try and put some more time into the speedrun in the future.
Rank: 221

Chill Dragoon Aug 21, 2023

813: DemiKids: Light Version (GBA)
It's Shin Megami Tensei Pokemon, I can't complain. It does get a little rough at times as your monsters have to be fused to get stronger instead of leveling up normally, but it's nothing so bad that you feel like you have to start over or anything. Story was decent, monster designs were fun, just an enjoyable game overall.
Rank: 351

Chill Dragoon Aug 21, 2023

814: Summon Night: Swordcraft Story (GBA)
The storyline in the game is a little on the shallow end, with your main character being pretty oblivious to the things going on around them, but the gameplay was a lot of fun. Kind of "Tales of"-ish in gameplay, emphasis was placed on making and using different types of weapons throughout the game which led to some decent variety in battles.
Rank: 252

Chill Dragoon Aug 21, 2023

815: Bonkers (SNES)
A lot better than the Genesis Bonkers game, this one is a decent platformer by Capcom. Dash, jump, throw bombs, try not to die, the usual but done competently. Not too much to say, just another solid Disney/Capcom game.
Rank: 113

Chill Dragoon Aug 28, 2023

816: Halo 3 (360)
It's a fun game, probably would've been better if I was playing the campaign with more people than just myself. The antagonist swap felt out of place as the events were happening too quickly for me to really care, and Johnson's death will always feel like a cheap shot just for an emotional pull. Still enjoyable, though.
Rank: 375

Chill Dragoon Aug 28, 2023

817: The Bourne Conspiracy (360)
I've owned this game for what feels like forever, but to be honest I think tonight is the first time I've actually played the game. The gameplay itself is honestly kind of dull after you start doing the same things over and over, but the takedown animations make up for the dull-ness of it (plus some graphical glitches were amusing as well).
Rank: 227