Author: DaNamesX

“Tiers” to 2022! Ranking All The Games I Finished This Year.

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year! It’s time to talk about the games that you played this year, rank them arbitrary, and let a bunch of people on the internet judge your decisions. Luckily for me, I am immune to most online criticism so I have no trouble sharing some of my thoughts. 2022 was a busy year for me. I finished 27 games this year! This is a feat for me since I normally finish around less than 20 games in a year. Most of my accomplishments came from my 50-50 challenge that ended in August.

So let’s briefly go over the games that I finished this year and how I rank each of them. I didn’t know what format I wanted to go with originally, but then I realized that I never capitalized on the whole tier list craze that was going around. Since I am one who tends to be late at adapting trends, I decided to go the tier list route this year. These things tend to be more fun when it is happening in real time, but this is the best that I can do. Going from S to D rank without some type of guidance, so I came up with my own guidepost on how I should categorize each ranking:

S – Stupendous! This Game Made My Year!
A – Amazing Game With Great Things!
B – Better Than Most. In The Middle.
C- Could Play Again, But No Time Soon.
D – My Disappointment Is Immense, And My Year Was Ruined.

Cool. Let’s start the rankings then!

Dynasty Warriors 2

Dynasty Warriors 2 was the first game that I finished this year. Off the bat, it is one of the weaker games in the series. The action feels slow at times and the whole presentation just feels off. I know that this is my fault for starting at the third game and going backwards would affect my judgment. It is still Dynasty Warriors Gundam at the end, so I still had a fun time with it even though I was left wanting more. First game on the list and it goes into the C tier. 

Pokémon Legends: Arceus

The first new game that I played this year is possibly my favorite game to come out this year. Pokémon Legends: Arceus made me realize what I enjoy the most in Pokémon games; exploring and discovering new things on my own and making it dangerous. To say that this game held my attention from beginning to end is an understatement. There were very few games that I played this year where I completed almost everything in it. Completing the Pokédex in this game is rewarding since it unlocks the true ending of the game and one of the best finales that I’ve seen in a Pokémon game. My only regret is that I will have to wait enough time to pass for me to forget most things, or for another game in this style to get this type of experience again. If you haven’t guessed yet, this is going in the “S’ tier for me. If you haven’t played this game yet, or thought Pokémon Scarlet and Violet didn’t innovate the series enough for you, give this game a try.

HuniePop 2: Double Date

Yes the “aesthetic” is nice to look at in this game, but that is not what drew me into this game. You know your game is special when the T&A is good, but the gameplay is even better than that. I had no idea how the Hunipot developer was going to enhance the gameplay from the first game, but the double date mechanic is genius. It works well when you are trying to strategize your dates and be resourceful with your items. The final boss(es) was one of the best that I’ve encountered in a game in a while. It uses all of your knowledge of each individual girl and makes you think on how to counter each stipulation while being mindful of your turn limit. It took Kat and I a few tries to overcome it, but it was satisfying coming out on top of it. Honestly, I have nothing really bad to say about it. Even though I haven’t returned to the game ever since we beat it, I highly recommend this game if you are a fan of challenging puzzle games (you can turn the nudity off). It might be weird for me to put it in the “A” tier, but I will be honest and say that I haven’t played or thought about this game after beating it.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a mixed game for me. The beginning of the game feels slow and uninteresting to play, but starts to pick up once you reach the second half. The lighthearted nature of the characters threw me off as well since nothing ever felt at stake until you get towards the end of the game. I also didn’t find myself as intrigued with the world like I was with the first Xenoblade. With all of that said, it is not a bad game. Once the combat became more engaging, I was enjoying it. When the big reveals were revealed, it made playing through to the end worth it to see how everything tied at the end.  It’s just a shame that the best parts of the game for me were placed in the second half of the game. Not bad, but without its faults. In the middle “B” tier it goes.

Trivia Pursuit Live! 2

How did they make this game worse than the first one? I enjoyed playing the first Trivia Pursuit Live! with Kat since it is a constant reminder that I’m terrible at Geography. You would think the sequel would be better, but it is a downgrade. The game just screams “budget title” since some of the charm from the first game was taken out and replaced with nothing. I know that’s a lot to ask from a trivia game developed by Ubisoft, but a little more effort would have been appreciated instead of just updating the pool of questions. Easily one of the worst games that I’ve played this year. Our first “D” tier game.

Yu Gi Oh! Master Duel

Yu Gi Oh! Master Duel was a surprising game to hear about. A free-to-play game where you can play with others using the current rule set and cards is a great way to get into the game, kinda. It is apparent that if you are unaware of the current meta of the game, then you will have a hard time in the ranked mode. The rules to Yu Gi Oh! are already complicated, and can be intimidating to new players. There are however multiple free rooms that you can use to help test out decks, learn new tricks, and slowly work your way up to the point where you feel comfortable taking on other players. I will say that this game is a great way to get into the game since it’s free and available on all platforms and mobile (you can even keep your progress on multiple systems). While I haven’t played in a while, I still recognize this as a good game. Into the “A” rank it goes!

Kirby and the Forgotten Land

After spending some time away from this game, I am now in the mindset of wanting more from this game. It is a fun Kirby game no doubt, but not one of my personal favorite Kirby adventure. While the game was fun to play through and the challenges offered some thinking on my end, it never grasped me to play for hours on end. There is something holding me back from really enjoying this game since others seemed to really enjoy this game. No offense to Kirbo, but the game feels like a “B” tier entry to me.

Final Fantasy V Advance

I don’t mean to be harsh with Final Fantasy V, but it is a let down from other past Final Fantasy games that I’ve played. The job system is great and allows for lots of party customization. The system is so good, that they decided to create a new series that utilizes this system and expand on it even more. What really brings Final Fantasy V for me is everything else in the game. The narrative is one of the weakest for me, and never held my attention during non-key points. While the main cast is good, the way they can go from emotional to having goofy fun made me forget that they were trying to prevent the void from consuming their world. That is where I am at with this game. You can read more of my thoughts in the post I wrote. Seeing as I wasn’t dragging my feet to finish this game, I will put it in the C tier since it wasn’t a complete disappointment at the end.

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

Now this was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting this game to win Meme of the Year with the heavy emphasis on edginess. What I wasn’t expecting was a well thought out game that required me to be patient and learn things as I played. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin seems stupid on paper and in person, but there is a layer of strategy where understanding your foes and having the right job setup will lead to rewarding victories. I don’t want to compare this to a soulslike game since it is not one at its core. Its similarities come to having limited restorative options, tough boss fights that require you to think and adapt, and not having a straightforward narrative. The game tries to keep you in the action as much as possible while offering challenges to make replayability interesting. There are elements that I don’t appreciate like the stupid amount of loot that you obtain in this game. There is too much loot for me to sort through and figure out if I need it. Big numbers means good right? That’s all I did in my playthrough. I do also wish that the AI companions were a bit smarter, but what can you do when they are always constantly asking Jack what to do. Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this game. I want to do the DLC quests at some point once they have all been released and maybe try and go for the platinum achievement. Surprisingly fun game that is held back by the loot mechanic. I feel comfortable putting this in an “B” ranking. 

Elden Ring

My second “Game of the Year.” I want to break the stigma that there can only be one game in your Game of the Year spot. Both Pokémon: Legends Arceus and Elden Ring provided two different experiences for me that jointly made my year one to remember. I am not the type of person who plays these types of games and finishes them in the same year. Elden Ring only took me three months which is a new record for me. That was in part of playing the game with one of my best friends from almost beginning to end. The fact that I was able to have a partner with me helped me with the exploration hurdles that I have and really challenged me to keep up with my friend when they would get ahead of me. It might be the “blasphemous” way of playing the game, but that made it one of the best games that I played this year. I still have two other buddy campaigns to do, so I don’t see myself being done with the game for a while (especially when DLC officially comes). It is one of my games from this year just for being one of the best co-op experiences I’ve had all year. S tier for Elden Ring even though my reasons are different from most.

Mario Strikers: Battle League

You would think I would learn to stay away from Mario Sport games these days, but there was no way they would mess up Mario Strikers. The previous games were short on content, but provided hours of fun because the core game was just fun. That didn’t really happen with this title. Something is missing from that core in Battle League. It is Mario Strikers in all mechanics, but something about it just doesn’t feel right. I haven’t had the chance to play this with other people so that might be it, but even so, something just prevents me from caring that much about the game. I argue that Mario Golf: Super Rush had more for me to be engaged with; and I hate Speed Golf. Until I figure that out, Mario Strikers: Battle League joins all the other disappointing games this year in the D tier.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury

I don’t like this game. I have a big personal problem with 3D platforming games that make them hard for me to enjoy them. Despite this, I try to play these types of games just to see if I can overcome my problems and find ways to adapt and enjoy them. Super Mario 3D World did not help. The way the platforming in this game works feels designed for Mario veterans to me. The floaty and sometimes slipper nature of each character made the simple challenge of jumping from one platform to the next irritating at some points. I didn’t even try playing Bowser’s Fury just because I was ready to be done with this game once and for all. That being said, it is a me problem and not a fault to the game’s design. If you like Mario games, you will have a blast playing through this. Me being the type of person who is bad at 3D platforming finds this type of game hard to enjoy. For my own personal reasons, this game goes into the C tier for me.

Super Mario 3D Land

I loved this game. I didn’t have the interest of playing this, but I got it for cheap one year thanks to birthday discount (remember when Nintendo would offer you discounts for your birthday?) I was convinced I wasn’t going to like it since it is a 3D Mario game, but everything in this game just works and clicks for me. I theorize that since the game is on a smaller screen, I have less things to process while moving forward. It also helps that the 3D effect actually works in this game and helps with seeing the 3D environments clearly. Maybe I should have played this before 3D World since I had such a better experience with this handheld game over the console upgrade. Super Mario 3D Land lands in the A tier for me.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

When it was announced that Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was getting a remake, I took the opportunity to finish the original PSP game. After not touching it for years, I was surprised to see that I left off right outside the door to the final boss. I couldn’t tell you why I never finished the game then and there. The fun part was relearning how to play the game while fighting the final boss. Once I got back into the hang of things, I managed to finally see the end of Zack’s journey in glorious fashion. So yeah, I don’t really remember anything about this game except that the combat can get frustrating at times. Nothing amazing was sticking out to me, but nothing bad either. I will play the remake at some point, so for now I will place the original in the B tier.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV

The finale to the Trails of Cold Steel saga took the longest time for me to finish. At this point, I was entwined in the story and characters that I had to see everyone’s resolution to the end. Unfortunately that cost me almost 200 hours of my life to do so. I don’t regret the time I spent, but I felt some things did drag on only for the story to speed through at the end. I am a huge fan of this series and I can’t wait to see where the series goes from here after finally meeting the Grandmaster of Ouroboros and what plans they may have in store next. Now I just need to find time to play the Sky trilogy and Crossbell duology before Trails into Reverie comes out in July. Sign. I am going to place this game in the “A” tier. Great conclusion to the saga, but could have been trimmed down just a bit.

Gunstar Heroes

This is a game from my childhood. Whenever we would visit one of our cousins, we would ask to play this game since it was so chaotic and fun. Revisiting it now made me question how durable we were as children since there are so many flashing lights and it gets hard to comprehend what is going on on the screen sometimes. Thanks to the Nintendo Switch Online service (words that I won’t say often), I was able to play this game with my older brother and beat it in one sitting. According to him, we have never beaten this game, hence why it is on my list. If you have never played Gunstar Heroes before, give it a try since it is available on almost all systems at this point. Just make sure to ask your optometrist if your eyesight is strong enough to handle everything on the screen. I give this game an A rank on this list.

Final Fantasy VII

I love playing RPGs (more specific JRPGs). To tell people that I have never finished one of the most iconic JRPGs until now was a fun treat. I have attempted to play and finish this game in the past, but losing your progress doesn’t help to motivate you to restart. Having the drive to finally restart this game and see it through to the end was both equally satisfying and comforting to a younger me since the game is not difficult whatsoever. Sure the superbosses are difficult as you would expect, but nothing in the main story presents much difficulty as long as you are properly equipped. I think the biggest hurdle is how slow the game is. Playing this on original hardware would have been a chore since things just move slowly and getting anything done takes time. That is why I recommend doing what I did and play one of the newer versions of this game that includes toggle turbo speed to get to place faster. I will always recommend playing older games at a faster speed in certain points since it really takes some of the bore away when you want to get to the next story beat. I did manage to get my one and only platinum trophy from this game this year, and I found the game enjoyable to this day. Maybe it was the time of the year that I played it, or if I missed the FFVIII hype train back in the day, but at the end of the day I found this game to be amazing and still holds up to this day. That is why it is in the A tier for me personally.

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate

The surprise sleeper hit for me this year is probably Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate. I have given this game so many tries, but the appeal never grabbed me. It didn’t help that I was hours into Monster Hunter World when Capcom decided to release this in the West. With the help of a friend, I was finally able to enjoy the game for what it is. This is a great sendoff to the old style of Monster Hunter, and has plenty of content that not even World or Rise has been able to acquire. While I love this game now, I do know that its limitations are hard to ignore. Even so, I am happy that I no longer have a clear answer to my least favorite Monster Hunter game now. Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate is deserving of my A ranking. It would be an S if it didn’t take this long for me to enjoy.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a beast of a game. At times I feel like Monolith Soft knows how to work with the Switch better than Nintendo’s first-party developers know how to. The fact that the game can support seven characters fighting hordes of enemies and keep a stable-ish framerate is an impressive feat. I thought this game was better than XC2, and had the same level of mystery and surprises like the first. The ability to change classes is a mechanic that works well for the series since battle tend to get repetitive without some changes. For many, this is probably one of the best JRPGs that they have played this year. If I felt like I wasn’t wasting some of my time with some of the side quests that didn’t yield much benefit for doing them, then I would say XC3 hits the mark. I found myself racing towards the end in the final chapter and getting my big payoff from finishing the game then and there instead of dragging it on with the side stories. I can’t place this lower or on the same level as Xenoblade Chronicles 2, so it must go into the A tier.

Trombone Champ

Sometimes a game sounds so stupid and ridiculous that you have to try it out yourself. Trombone Champ was that game for me this year. Being a musician myself, I had to try this funny trombone game that popped up out of nowhere on my timeline. What went from laughs turned into something serious however. The power of the trombone started to swell in me, and I found myself compelled to achieve S rank on all the songs and collect all of the collectable cards that I could. The mystery of the trombone still eludes me and I need to find out why they are associated with the baboon. Baboons. Baboons….Ba..boo…ns. Uh sorry. Trombone Champ is a fun game even if the fun lasts for about 5-10 hours. Good on you trombone kid. You get an A rank from me.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence

Lament of Innocence was the second Castlevania game that I played this year, and could stomach to finish! While I enjoyed the combat and soundtrack, I found the level design, camera control, and BS platforming sections to hinder my good time. It is not a long game to beat, so I may one day return to it to 100% complete it. Stuck in the middle, so it will be placed in “B” tier.

Castlevania Judgment

The soundtrack is fire, but the rest of the game belongs in a fire (not really).  D tier.

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness

Ah Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. Just when I was ready to write off all 3D Castlevania games being bad to just ok, you showed up and showed me what could have been if more 3D titles were made (by Igarashi). Curse of Darkness incorporated my favorite elements of the series and made it work in a 3D environment. While I have some minor complaints about it, I found the game to be a good palate cleanser to the other average and bad games that I played. Thank you, and take your spot in the “A” tier.

Overwatch 2

I don’t know if this counts, but the Blizzard treated this as a new game, so so am I! Overwatch 2 should have never happened. Blizzard could have easily done a big update to gut the loot box system and everything would have been fine. Instead, they wasted so much time to hype up this “evolution” to the original Overwatch, and the result was a worse version of Overwatch. It is the same game with one less player on each team. I dislike the UI, the removal of post game stats, and the quirky fun of the game. Don’t even get me started on the bullshit that is the battle pass and how unapologetically predatory it is. This is the worst battle pass system that I have seen; and I am only familiar with two of them. I’m going to stop here before I get into a giant rant of how Blizzard thought this system would be better. I still find some fun in the game on a base level, but there was no need to rush this “sequel” out in the state that it is in. This can go nowhere else but the “D” tier.

Pokémon Alpha Sapphire

Before Pokémon Scarlet came out, I wanted to finish some other Pokémon titles that I had in the backlog. I have tried playing the remakes for the third generation a number of times, but for some reason I could never get past a certain point. I would mostly lose interest in it and would restart the game to refresh my opinion. My final opinion is that this is how a remake should be. Keep everything that was in the original release, but add some new designs, introduce the new mechanics to the series in a way that makes sense to the story, and introduce some new quality of life improvements to make the game stand out. I really wished I played this game soon when it first released since it would have been my go to Pokémon game on the 3DS. Until I revisit Pokémon X and Y (since I have no memories of those games), Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby will now be my recommended titles for the Nintendo 3DS. I would put this in the “S” tier, but one thing that I kept constantly missing while playing the game was the original GBA soundtrack. If my compressed trumpets were in the game, then this would be the perfect game. Even so, this will be placed in the “A” tier.

Pokémon Scarlet

I had a wave of emotions while playing this game. When it was first announced, I was like “okay….”. When I started playing it, I was like “Okay!”. When I was trying to finish up the last gyms, titans, and Team Star bases, I was like “Okaaaay….”. When I reached the final area and the climax of the game, I was like “OKAY!!!!”. Pokémon Scarlet is a great new direction for the mainline series. Having the world be open for you to explore and discover new things on your own is something people have wanted for ages. The story is a bit one note at the beginning, but opens up to be something more endearing than most storylines in the series. This would have been the greatest Pokémon game that I have ever played, if Legends: Arceus didn’t come out this year. When I compare the two, Legends: Arceus always comes on top for me. Scarlet may get better once the technical issues get resolved, or if future DLC somehow blows the finale out of the water. Pokémon Scarlet just has the misfortune of not being better than the other two Pokémon games that I played this year. Still a great game with great ideas. It still deserves to be in the “B” tier.

Vampire Survivors

Simplicity at it’s finest. Your goal is to power up and survive the time limit in each stage. It is simple on paper, but it is the way Vampire Survivors handles this approach. Normally the difficulty in these games should get harder as time goes. Vampire Survivors mixes it up so that you have several calm and hectic times throughout your survival. It helps keep the player on their toes while playing a simple game. That and the cryptic story that you slowly uncover as you explore each stage. What surprised me the most about this game is that for how simple and cheap it is, The developer put a ton of care to the world building, how all the tools work with each other, and made it so that the game is not as impossible as it may seem. I may be a few achievements away from 100% completion, but I don’t see a time where I don’t boot the game up just to play one round (especially now that

As the saying goes, that is that. If any of my personal placements upsets you, then please consult a medical professional. My goal next year is to try and beat more games than I did the previous year. With the amount of JRPGs I have to get through next year, I may have a tough battle ahead.

Thanks for reading!

Backlog Report – November 2022

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I am late this month. Blame it on the time of the year and blah blah blah. I am going to just jump into it, as I don’t have much to talk about November.

Blog Posts This Month

We Need A 3D Castlevania Collection. My Experience With The Early 3D Castlevania Games – The 3D Castlevania games are not bad if you have a means to fix some of there issues. October’s selection of Castlevania games had me playing four new games that I had never experienced and really showed me what elements make a good Castlevania game.

My Time With The Gameboy Advance – Every year around this time, I take a look at one of my gaming devices and talk about my history with it. This year’s feature was the Gameboy Advance; a device kept me playing games during a drought period for me. I am almost out of handheld devices, so who knows what I will pick next year.

Finished Games This Month

Pokémon Alpha Sapphire

The only game that I was able to finish this month was Pokémon Alpha Sapphire. If this game taught me anything it is how to make a great remake. The third generation of Pokémon may not be my favorite, but replaying something familiar but greatly improved on made the experience fun. My only critique that I have is the music. For some reason I find the original soundtrack to be better than the remake. Maybe because it doesn’t have enough trumpets. I still need to finish the endgame content and finish Episode Delta. I miss when Pokémon stories could be dark or mature.

New Additions

Warhammer: Vermintide 2

I have no idea what this game is about. It was made available on Steam for free for a limited of time, and one of my friends suggested it to me. From what I can tell, it looks like an interesting action RPG that can be played with friends. One day I may get around to it. If I don’t, blame him for making me get it.

Judgment & Lost Judgment

The Yakuza series is something I’ve been wanting to get into. With seven mainlines games already out with an eight on the way, it may take some time for me to properly get into the series. Until then, the Judgment spinoff only has two entries that speak my language. I picked both games up during the multiple sales going on this month, so I don’t feel too bad hanging on to them until I’m ready for them.

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition

I am still salty that Square released this game right after I decided to pick up the original version. I am even more mad that you couldn’t transfer your data from the vanilla version to the definitive version. All of these factors kept me from getting the ultimate version of this game. I was waiting for a cheap opportunity to double dip back into this game, so here is my chance now. I purposely didn’t do any of the postgame content in the original version just so I didn’t have to do ever single thing again for the second time. Here’s hoping I don’t take forever to finish this again.

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

Kat and I have been waiting all month to play these games. I was cautious at first since I wasn’t impressed with what I had seen so far, but as of now those troubles have gone away. The game is technically flawed at points. When it works, it is fun; and when it doesn’t, I deal with it. Strangely though, it never gets to the point where it ruins my enjoyment. I have enjoyed my time with this game so far and am close to finishing it in one or two more sessions. As of now, it doesn’t come close to my top three Pokemon games, and I believe Legends: Arceus was the better Pokemon game that came out this year. Future DLC for the game may affect my feelings towards this game later. I will probably talk about this game in a designated post one day.

Castlevania Anniversary Collection

I now have the original Castlevania games in one easy collection. When will I play them? My current plan is to save the OGs for last in my grand tour of castles. It has nothing to do with the fact that I don’t like the original games as much. I promise!

Vampire Survivors

It is such a simple concept, but it keeps me engaged and wanting more. Vampire Survivors was something is was not expecting to play, but one look at it (and cheap price tag) made me curious to try it out. Ten hours later and I’m almost have everything unlocked. At first I thought I was surviving a horde of monsters. It turns out in fact I was trying to survive a new addiction.

Currently Playing

Pokémon Scarlet will be done this weekend. I am hoping that the endgame will have more things for me to do besides finishing the Pokédex. There are some other games that I would like to try and get finished by the end of the year, but I know my mood and attitude will decide that. While we were waiting for the new Pokémon games to come out, Kat and I started playing Divinity: Original Sin 2 as a way to pass the time. I was not expecting Kat to be really into it, but she quickly got into it. Hopefully we can finish out first campaign and maybe start a new one. We are also playing it with two of my other friends on the weekend, and I don’t see that campaign ending any time soon.

Plans For Next Month

I have one final post planned for this year. I have been working on it slowly for the past few months. It is about all the games that I played this year. I’m hoping to squeeze a few more titles in before we reach the end.

Other than that, I am going to relax a bit this month. The semester long project that I’ve been working on at work is coming to an end, and I have to prepare myself for the clean up that will come after the holiday break. I’m not looking forward to it and I kinda wish some of these responsibilities weren’t my problem. When I start looking for something new, I will try my hardest to avoid a supervisory position.

That wasn’t about gaming or blogging! Sorry. Just things that I need to get off my chest somewhere. Speaking of talking to the void, I have no idea what I’m going to do about branching into new social media. It makes sense to branch my content out in new avenues, but jumping into new communities can be rough for me. What might happen is that I create a new account somewhere, but take my time to see what I like the most. If anything, I will just create an account just for the blog and just share my content through those networks. I’m old and can’t keep up with what is hip with the kids these days.

Happy Holidays everyone!

My Time With The Gameboy Advance

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This is it. This is the device that kept me in the gaming sphere until the mid to late 2000s. While most people were enjoying the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, or whatever the hell the N-Gage was, I had this pocket sized gaming machine by my side. 

Growing up in a low income household had its challenges; one of them being not being able to afford some of the things other kids your age had. We were very fortunate to have a mom that worked her hardest to allow me and my brothers to have some of the things that we wanted. We had every Nintendo system up to the Gamecube at the time, but finding time to play is hard when you have to share one system and tv with two other people. That is where the Gameboy came in handy. Instead of fighting over who’s turn it was to use the TV, I could sit on the couch or lay in bed and play one of the few handheld games that I had. This could also explain how I was a late bloomer to many modern games. One of the best surprises that our mom was able to give was giving each of us our own Gameboy Advance (SP model) for Christmas or some other event that I don’t remember. 

I had the Cobalt Blue Gameboy Advance SP model. Coming from the Gameboy Color, this was a big upgrade. The rechargeable battery and backlit screen were the hallmark of this device. No more begging my mom for batteries or being restricted to where I could play. Now I could play on the couch for as long as I want while my relatives warned me that I was going to ruin my eyesight (but would tell me to sit, be quiet, and watch TV?). It did have its flaws though. The SP model did not have a headphone jack. I had to go out of my way to buy a special headset that connected to the charging port in order to not annoy anyone with my boops and beeps. A big complaint for someone who likes listening to video game soundtracks.

I took my GBA with me wherever I went outside the house. Before people were addicted to having their smartphones at all times, I was the kid who would never put his GBA down. I would play it in the car to school each day and would have to leave it in my mom’s car so I wouldn’t get in trouble with it. Any long car ride or band trip would always be accompanied by my trusty GBA with my cool travel case that I still have to this day. If there was ever a decline in my reading habits, it was because my hands were preoccupied with playing my GBA.

So let’s talk about some of the games that I played on this bad boy. I will be honest and say that I have no recollection of the order that I got most of my GBA games. Normally in this format I would go in order of the games I’ve purchased/received, but I can’t do that this time. So let’s start with some well known titles.

Final Fantasy (Gameboy Advance Ports)

The Gameboy Advance was my gateway to the Final Fantasy series. Up until this point, I had never encountered the series outside watching my older cousins play Final Fantasy VII. The order that I played these games is kinda scrambled, so let’s just go in order.

Final Fantasy I+II: Dawn of Souls is a great port of the first two Final Fantasy games. Until I get around to playing the PSP or Pixel Remastered versions, this might be my favorite way to play these games. There isn’t much to say about the first Final Fantasy, but I do have words about the second game. I don’t hate Final Fantasy II. I didn’t hate my first playthrough since I had nothing to compare it to back in the day. I had to play it a second time since the music player will only appear if there are finished saved files for both games.. You would think that to cut your losses since it is just a music player, but before the age of good internet, this was the only way to listen to this music. Besides, if I didn’t replay FFII I would have never discovered that you can cast the Teleport spell on all enemies and bosses, and beat the game easily that way. The only time it won’t work on is the final boss, but even without increasing my proficiency in other other stats, I was still able to beat him with no problem. Give it a try! It is fun to just teleport your problems somewhere else.

Next was Final Fantasy IV. Up until recently, FFIV was my least favorite Final Fantasy game. I found playing through it at first to be completely boring. I didn’t find any of the characters interesting besides Rydia, and the progression of the story just felt stale to me. I would get around to finishing FFIV via the DS version of the game. After playing through that version, I found myself looking at this game more positively for some reason. It could be the wisdom with age thing, but FFIV still holds up to this day.

Final Fantasy V is my least favorite Final Fantasy game so far. I just recently finished it this year, and it is just bland to me. If I had played it back in the mid 2000s, I would have probably been all over this. Early 2020s however, there are other games that use the job system way better.

In the war between my favorite Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy VI is a top contender (fighting FFIX). This game is almost perfect to me. The multiple characters, the amazing soundtrack, and watching the world actually decline into chaos is done so well in this game. I’m just happy that I decided to pick this game up randomly from one of the infamous band school trips. My copy of the game is a little special since it will wipe the memory clean off if you drop it or touch it in a way that it does not like. This is one of the reasons why I never finished it until 2020 when I forced myself to sit down and play it without removing it from my Gameboy Player. I know the general consensus is that the GBA version is not the best way to play this game, but it is my preferred way since the audio compression doesn’t bother me. I own the full soundtrack so I can listen to that at the best quality whenever I feel like it. My opinion may change whenever Square decides to release the Pixel Remastered on something besides PC and phones.

Pokémon (Sapphire & LeafGreen)

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Out of the two mainline Pokémon versions that came out, Leaf Green was definitely the one that I put the most time into. Pokémon Sapphire was the first Pokémon game that I got on the system, but my memories of my first time in Horen are kinda spotty. I remember finding a shiny Sharpedo and Duskull in game by myself, but other than that, I don’t remember much of what I did in those games. It doesn’t help that I started over in it a few times.

The real memories come from Pokémon LeafGreen. This was a birthday present for me that came out of nowhere, so it is pretty special to me. This would be the first Pokémon game that I would go on to almost complete the game 100% (almost finished the National Dex). I would find myself constantly playing this game and it would help bridge the rocky relationship I had with my younger brother at the time. Even though Gen 1 is not one of the best generations in Pokémon, I still cherish this game. The only regret I have is letting my brother erase my save file since I had moved on. Only a reason to one day grind everything out.

Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones

I never knew about the Fire Emblem series until my younger brother decided to get Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance on the Gamecube. What he thought was a traditional JRPG was this turn-based strategy game with swords and magic. That didn’t stop both of us from enjoying it, but it did put the series on my radar. So of course I spent my lunch money on a copy of Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones on one of my many trips. Sacred Stones is a solid Fire Emblem game that I hardly hear people talk about. I think that the roster is a nice balance of units that make use for any situation. The story is straightforward and doesn’t include other plot points outside the main story. It also has a way to level up your characters outside the main story by finding encounters on the world map to help beef up any units that you need. The endgame tower is also a good challenge if you want to make your way to the top and recruit some special characters on the way. All in all, Sacred Stones is a solid Fire Emblem game that needs more recognition. I do have to confess that for some reason in the past, I sold my copy just so I could have money to buy another game (I don’t remember which one). Luckily, Kat owned a copy so I didn’t have to go out of my way to find a new one.

Tales of Phantasia

“If there is evil in this world, it lurks in the heart of man.”

These words were my introduction to the Tales of series. What looked like an ordinary JRPG that I decided to buy one day would eventually lead me to one of my favorite series. I just had to get through this game first. If you have experienced the GBA port of Tales of Phantasia, you know how bad this game is. How I managed to stick through it and finish it is a feat that I have no idea how I pulled off. From restricted controls to work on a GBA to a treasure trove of mistranslations, the thing that kept me invested in Tales of Phantasia was a time traveling story that I had never experienced. This also introduced me to my favorite video game antagonist, Dhaos. If Phantasia did anything right, it was introducing this monster of an antagonist and making him feel human at the same time. I enjoyed Phantasia, but dear lord I do not want to play the GBA version again. One of these days I will write about this game and the rest of the series. I will still not get over the fact that I beat all three forms of Dhaos at the end by spamming Tiger Blade and stun locking him in a corner.

Yu Gi Oh!

Since middle school, I have been a fan of the Yu Gi Oh! Trading Card Game. I would collect cards and watch the show, but I never had friends to play the game with. Luckily, there were a ton of Yu Gi Oh! games available on the GBA. There were two Yu Gi Oh! games that I had that I equally enjoyed for different reasons. The first one was Yu Gi Oh! GX Duel Academy. I know this game is viewed as one of the worse Yu Gi Oh! games that you can play, but when you don’t have the opinion of the internet to tell you this, then you don’t see its flaws. In Duel Academy, you are a student at Duel Academy where your goal is to become the King of Games. You do this by preparing for your exams and meeting requirements to increase your rank. Each exam requires you to answer ten questions about the cards, a duel puzzle that you have to solve as quickly as possible, and then a duel using specific rules for that exam. I can see this being annoying to some, but I was really into it at the time. There are story beats that happen when certain conditions are met, but I never figured out what made them trigger. I may just be the odd one out of the group, but I really like this game.

The second Yu Gi Oh! game that I had was Yu Gi Oh! Ultimate Masters: World Championship Tournament 2006. Seeing a title like this, you would think it would have this story of working your way through a tournament to become the next King of Games. This is what I thought when I picked it up during a band trip, but to my dumb surprise it wasn’t. This game is basically an introduction to the 2006 Yu Gi Oh! rule set and new cards that were released around the time. There is no story or real goal in this game. There is a campaign and a few modes that require you to use your big brain to work around and complete each challenge. You would think I would find this game boring since around this time I still didn’t know the best way to construct a functional deck, but something about this game kept me playing for a long time. The presentation is nice and simple, and the soundtrack is something that I still get stuck in my head from time to time. I would spend time just creating new decks and take the time to test them and figure out what works and what doesn’t. I never “finished” the game, but I think it is one that I could if I took the time to focus on the challenges (especially since this game doesn’t go past the GX era of cards and rules).

Other Games

This last bit goes out to the games that I played, but don’t have a lot to say about them. 

Like most young boys who had access to Toonami, my brothers and I were big fans of DragonBall Z. If we had the chance to play a DBZ game, chances are we would find a way to play it. The GBA had a lot of Dragon Ball games, but the first ones that come to mind are the Legacy of Goku games. Dragon Ball RPG games that followed the events of the story with subplots added in and glitches to take advantage of. I would have loved more of these on different consoles, but nothing has come close to the feeling of these games (I do own Kakarot, but haven’t played it yet). Besides the Legacy of Goku games, we also had Supersonic Warriors. This was a cool 2D fighting game that introduced us to the world of DBZ “what if” stories. It was a fun game that I could easily recommend. There was also Dragon Ball GT: Transformations; a game that I will advise to stay far away from (GT Theme intensifies).

Did you know that a sequel to Gunstar Heroes came out on the GBA? I didn’t until a good friend of mine gave me it one year for Christmas. Gunstar Super Heroes plays just like the original, but with less flashing lights. The sprite work in the game makes keeping track of what is going on so much easier and adds some nice designs to each character. The only issue that makes this inferior to the original is that the game does not support multiplayer. That is a shame since the multiplayer in the original Gunstar Heroes is what makes that game fun. Maybe one day in the future, Sega will release this title to modern platforms with multiplayer (not holding my breath on that one).

You know what game really needs a remake? The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. Minish Cap is a short and fun Zelda game that I really enjoyed. This game was developed in collaboration with Capcom; whom also co-developed my favorite Zelda game of all time. This is probably why I enjoyed it. It had such a neat concept that no other Zelda game has done (like Seasons) and had a lot of potential with its shrinking mechanic (like changing the seasons in Seasons). Nintendo would rake in the money if this game got the same treatment like Link’s Awakening did on the Switch. What I’m trying to get at is that Nintendo needs to stop screwing around with whatever it is they are doing and remake the Oracle games for Switch. I guess you can add Minish Cap in there as well.

The End of a Legacy

As you can expect, all good things come to a somewhat end. At some point, my GBA SP was starting to show some wear and tear. The first thing to go was the charging port. I was unable to charge the battery in my GBA. To get around this issue I would take the battery out and put it in my brother’s GBA in order to charge it. Annoying? Yes. Did it work? Yup, and that’s all that mattered. What I couldn’t fix at the time was the “death” of my GBA SP. In a scenario that is so familiar to me, I let my younger brother borrow my GBA. He got mad at the game he was playing and slammed my GBA on the floor. He managed to break the LCD screen under the glass cover. I’m pretty sure we fought, but since it happened at my grandma’s house I don’t think fists were thrown. I was devastated. My second personal console destroyed by my younger brother. You would think I would learn my lesson at this point, but no. No handheld survives when I’m being nice and let someone borrow it.  For a while after that incident, I was left without a handheld system to play my games on unless my older brother was gracious to let me use his (he became very protective for good reasons). 

Eventually, I got my own DS and could once again enjoy my childhood (until history repeated itself). I held on to my GBA since it was special to me and I couldn’t just throw it away since I had no means of fixing it. I have plenty of options now, but I haven’t had the need to repair it. Marrying Kat came with not just one, but two GBAs that she and her dad used to play back in the day (neither one of them care for them now, so I happily accepted them). I also have a Game Boy Advance Player for my Gamecube now, so I can enjoy the games on a bigger screen if I choose. Sadly, if anything, there is no point in me fixing my GBA unless I personally just want it back in working order (I would also need a new battery and back cover).

I will always cherish my time with the Game Boy Advance. In some way, it helped me during hard times and kept me engaged in a hobby that I still enjoy to this day. There are still several games that I need to play and finish on the console, and hopefully one day I can cross them off the list. If you still have your GBA from way back in the day, buy it a beer one me next year since it will be of legal drinking age.

Honorable Mentions (Games I Got Later In Life or Sold):

  • Advance Wars
  • Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
  • Fire Emblem
  • Golden Sun
  • Golden Sun: The Lost Age
  • Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
  • Mega Man Zero 4
  • Pokémon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire
  • Sigma Star Saga
  • Sonic Advance 3
  • Yu Yu Hakusho – Ghost Files: Tournament Tactics

We Need A 3D Castlevania Collection. My Experience The Early 3D Castlevania Games.

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For the past three years, I have dedicated the month of October to play different Castlevania games. Ever since Symphony of the Night, I have been trying to play as many games in the series that I can before the fatigue hits. Last year, I played through all of the Gameboy Advance games thanks to the Castlevania Advance Collection that came out last year. This year, I wanted to swim in the murky waters of the early 3D Castlevania titles. The only game in this “collection” that I didn’t play was Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness. Not because the first Castlevania game on the N64 dissuaded me from playing it, but because I do not own a copy of the game. Most of these games are foreign to me since I have never played them before. In total, there were three and a quarter games played and finished.

Castlevania (1999)

Release Date: January 26, 1999
Platform: Nintendo 64
Canon to Story: Non-canon

I was really looking forward to this game. This game is not foreign to me since I once rented it from my local video store long ago. I never made it far in the game since you are required to have a Controller Pack in order to save the game. So after all these years, I was ready to tackle the very first 3D Castlevania game. Unfortunately, I could not finish the game. I had reached a point in the game where I was just tired and frustrated with the game design, that I just put the controller down and moved on.

Castlevania (1999) was the first Castlevania game on the Nintendo 64, and the very first game in the series to be in 3D. For a first attempt, there were some ideas that worked to set the mood. The design of the stages and some of the effects are creative and interesting. I was impressed with the effects of lighting hitting the trees in the first stage, and watching them fall on fire until the flames extinguished. The stage within the mansion was a fresh change since no two rooms in the mansion were exactly the same. There were some good design ideas that we placed in the game that I unfortunately did not get to see.

The story of the game follows two protagonists that you choose at the beginning. First, you have Reinhard Schneider, an heir to the Belmont Clan of Vampire Hunters and someone who looks like he belongs in the 1980s and not the 1850s (when the game takes place). He plays like a normal (non)Belmont would with his trusty whip and sub weapons that are staples to the series. His plot device is that he is a vampire hunter and must do what his clan does best, slaying Dracula. Then you have Carrie Fernandez. Carrie is a gifted magic user who uses magical projectiles and is probably related to the Belnades Clan. Her plot device is that she senses evil energy coming from Vlad’s Pad and must go defeat it for her clan. Both characters’ stories are similar minus two different stages unique to each character. Other noteworthy characters in this game are Charles Vincent, a guy who really loves Jesus, and Malus, the guy who plays the violin at the start menu of the game that may or may not be Dracula (depends on the ending you get).

Once you start playing the game, that is when you can tell that this was a first attempt at making a 3D action/platforming game. Let me go ahead and talk about my biggest complaint about the game, the camera. Oh dear lord, the camera in this game. For a game that started development in April 1997, you would think by the time it was released in January 1999 that the developers would have seen how other developers handled the camera operations in their games. Out of all four C buttons, only one controls the camera, and it basically just shifts how the camera works. You have your standard “Normal” camera that is positioned a set distance from your character, but will adjust haphazardly to what it thinks is the ideal position. You then have an “Action” view which just spins the camera around so that you can see around you. It will still act like the “Normal” camera and adjust haphazardly to your character. Thirdly, there is the “Battle” view. Battle view keeps enemies in focus and will attempt to adjust the camera to how your character is looking at an enemy. Finally, there is the “Boss” view that is only accessible while you are fighting bosses. This camera keeps things focused on the boss at all times and will actively try to help them as well. What makes this camera scheme annoying is that you have to toggle between them one at a time to get the angle that you want. It is like the developers didn’t know which camera angle would be best for the game, so they opted to go with multiple angles that the player could decide on when needed. In theory, this is a good idea since it compensates for each players’ needs, but in practice it just doesn’t work in this game. There are many platforming sections in the game that require accurate landing or it will cost you an instant game over. For someone who has a hard time with 3D platforming to begin with, these moments were more stressful than certain other moments in the game that are designed to stress you out. If there is one element that made the game miserable to play, it is the camera 100%.

Another thing that felt off about this game was something I didn’t really realize until I did some research about the game. This Castlevania game implemented something in any other game in the series, horror. If there is one thing Castlevania is not is being scary. There are a lot of horror elements sprinkled in this game straight from Horror Movies 101. This is evident in a beginning scene where you open a gate and a giant skeleton greets you with a “jump scare.” This didn’t click to me that it was supposed to be a jump scare since I knew it was coming, but other instances did invoke that stressful feeling. When you first reach the villa, there is a fight where you have to fight a Cerberus in complete darkness. At first I thought that it was some weird glitch, but no. It was an intentional game design to frighten the player. The moment it really clicked for me however is when you are escaping the garden maze. Not only are there two dogs chasing after you that you cannot kill, the developers decided to throw in Frankenstein with a chainsaw to add to the nightmare. The inclusion of these suspenseful moments in a series that is not scary at all is something I was not expecting from this game, and may be another factor that made me put this down. I play Castlevania for the exploration, cool gothic design, and bumping soundtrack. Raising my heart rate with these cheap scare tactics was not on my list when I decided to play this.

Will I return to Castlevania (1999) at some point? Maybe. At the time of playing, I was just getting increasingly frustrated with the enemy respawn rate, the stress level of annoying platforming and racing the clock to get the good ending, the questionable mechanic of waiting for specific things to happen with the in-game clock, and the FREAKING CAMERA. I wish I had a copy of Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness so that I could compare the two to see if some of the frustrating bits got ironed out. If I do return to this game, it will probably be on my own time where I can take things slow without the pressure of finishing within a time frame. I won’t say that it is the worst game that I played in the series, but it is definitely not one of the greatest.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence 

Date Released: October 21, 2003
Platform: PlayStation 2
Canon to Story: Beginning of timeline

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence was the second attempt of creating a 3D Castlevania title (Legacy of Darkness was mostly made with assets that the developers could not put into Castlevania 1999). In a GameSpot interview in 2003, Igarashi mentions that the developers had learned from the Castlevania games on the N64, and wanted to make a 3D Castlevania that actually felt like a Castlevania game. They definitely succeeded in that effort, but there are glimpses in this game that make it feel like a safe, second chance at making a 3D Castlevania game.

Lament of Innocence was created to tell the origin story of the series and how the Belmont clan became involved in this eternal nightmare. Set in 1094, Leon Belmont hunts a vampire named Walter Berhard who has kidnapped his betrothed, Sara (as you do as a vampire). In order to reach the dastard, Leon has to defeat five bosses in order to gain access to Walter’s Lair. Leon receives assistance from an alchemist named Rinaldo who gives him a whip that will later become the famous Vampire Killer. There is also Leon’s friend Mathias who is one who informs Leon about Walter, and only shows up at the end of the game (I will get into that later). 

I was really excited to finally have an excuse to play this game. My final thoughts are that it is a good Castlevania game that’s a mix between the old and new format of the series. Lament of Innocence tries to be a Metroidvania game like Symphony of the Night, but due to the design of the gameplay it feels more like the linear games with branching paths that may or may not have items for you to collect. All six areas of the game feel the same. You move from room to room connected by hallways, where you then have to fight all the enemies in a room in order to unlock the next door to progress. There is a lack of detail that distinguishes each room unless it holds some importance and wants the player to know that something may be different about this room. Ninety percent of the game just felt like I was moving from one end of the map to the other, while retracing some steps in order to unlock my way to the area boss.

Lament of Innocence has some really good elements. Combat is fun even thought it can get repetitive at times. Like any Belmont, Leon uses his whip primarily while using sub weapons that can be picked up. Leon can find different elemental whips to take advantage of weakness, and orbs all you to change the effect of sub weapons. These items help with taking down trickier enemies and solving puzzles. The soundtrack is also on point with House of Sacred Remains and Leon’s Theme being some of my all time favorites from the series. An interesting tidbit is that the composer of the game, the beautiful and talented Michiru Yamane, was instructed to not include many familiar tunes in the game since this was the beginning of the series and the things we know and love hadn’t been established yet.

So let’s talk about the things that broke me in Lament of Innocence. Please welcome back to the roasting pit, the camera. After learning that having four different camera perspectives does not make the game better, Instead, Lament of Innocence takes all camera control away from the player and will adjust to help keep Leon at the center of the screen. This is not an issue since it doesn’t make fighting and running from room to room painful, but it does make one part extremely difficult, platforming. There are platforming sections in this game, as well as a mechanic where Leon can latch his whip onto guard rails to clear some distances. The camera in this game does not make some of these platforming sections easy as it should. Since my brain only has the information that the camera can show me, there were many times where I would overshoot or completely miss where I was trying to land. This makes things even frustrating when you need to use the whip latch mechanic for certain speed challenges, but can’t get the distance or timing right to get past these parts (I forgot to mention the game is very stingy with timing your whip latches).

Outside of my camera and platforming issues, the only other issue that I had with the game was the story (mostly towards the end). My grudge is about Leon’s closest friend, Matthias. In the prologue, we learn that Matthais’ wife Elisabetha dies suddenly and he falls to despair. We learn at the very end of the game that he orchestrated Leon battling Walter in order to absorb Walter’s soul and become the Vlad Dracula Tepes that we know and love today. My problem is Walter’s reveal feels like it comes out of nowhere and doesn’t fit narratively. You never see Matthais in person until this moment at the end of the game when he pops in and then peace out. You don’t even get to confront him at the end. Instead, Death appears and becomes the final boss of the game. What makes this frustrating from a narrative point of view is that the reveal is supposed to be a twist that the player is not supposed to see coming, but the twist fails because there were no hints given that this would happen. You can make the argument that Matthias planned this since he was the one who told Leon about Walter in the prologue, but for me that is a big detail that should be reminded in the story and not just in the prologue. I may have appreciated the reveal more if Matthias was more present in the story and was helping Leon throughout the journey. It would have made the ending a more tragic one after watching along with Leon losing his betrothed and best friend in a single night. I wish we got a follow up to this story from either Matthias point of view, or something that happened in the 300 years between this and Dracula’s Curse (maybe we would have if Iga had the chance). 

Finishing Lament of Innocence took no time at all. I do own the strategy guide book to this game, so I referred to it to check on any items that I may have missed (there is one hidden item that is really easy to miss without a guide). In my eight hour playthrough, I was able to explore 92% of the entire castle and missed out on four relics and one orb that you get for fighting an optional boss. With an extra hour or two, I could have 100 percent the game on my first playthrough. You do unlock another vampire named Joachim as a playable character when you enter his name when creating a new file; and you can play in Crazy mode when you enter @CRAZY as your name in a new file. I’m glad I finally got to play this game after all this time. If this game were to get the same remastered treatment, I would definitely dip my toes back into it.

Games Stats:

Date Started: October 1, 2022
Date Finished: October 9, 2022
Total Play Time: 8 Hours
Percentage Completed: 94.3%

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness

Release Date: November 1, 2005
Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox
Canon to Story: 3 Years after Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse

I had no expectations when I started this game. Like Lament of Innocence, I had no prior knowledge to this game or how it operated. Now that I have finished it, it is the best 3D Castlevania game in the series. I wouldn’t put it over the 2D Metroidvania games (maybe Circle of the Moon), but it is pretty high on my rankings. From gameplay, story, and progression, this game felt well crafted and kept me engaged from start to finish. 

Curse of Darkness takes place three years later after the events of Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse. In Dracula’s Curse, Trevor Belmont defeats Dracula along with his companions. Curse of Darkness tells the story of Dracula’s actual curse that is spreading across the land due to his defeat. The narrative follows the struggles of two Devil Forgemasters; Hector, a former servant of Dracula, and Isaac, another servant of Dracula who is trying to revive him. After setting the stages for his plan, Isaac edges Hector to regain his former power and defeat once his powers have returned in full. Hector accepts as he seeks revenge for the death of his fiancée by Isaac’s schemes. Hector meets different allies and foes in his journey, including Trevor who seeks to stop Dracula’s resurrection by his own means.

I have come to learn that my favorite Castlevania games are the ones where you don’t primarily play as a Belmont. Symphony of the Night has Alucard, Aria of Sorrow has Soma, Order of Ecclesia has Shanoa, and Curse of Darkness has Hector. Being a Devil Forgemaster and a former subordinate of Dracula, Hector uses more than just a whip and the power of Jesus to fight his battles. Like a non-Belmont, Hector uses a range of weapons from swords, axes, lances, his fist, shuriken, and an electric guitar (that one was weird to find). What makes Hector different is that no two items of the same family operate the same way. You have your one-handed swords that are different from the two-handed variety, but Hector’s moveset will alter slightly based on the principles of that weapon. It is a great detail that shows understanding how that weapon would be used effectively instead of just this one is for stabbing while this one is for slashing. Hector is able to use combos with each weapon, making using each weapon type available valuable and gives incentive to switch out from time to time (that and another mechanic).

Hector has more than just his weapons. Being a Devil Forgemaster, he is able to summon monsters (Innocent Devils or I.D.s in this case) to help him in battle and navigation. Familiars in Castlevania games are not new, but they are far more useful and reliable in this game. There are five different types of I.D.s: Fairy, Battle, Bird, Mage, and Devil (also Pumpkin as a joke). Fairies are used mostly for healing and support, but they are also responsible for opening treasure chests for Hector. Bird I.D.s help protect Hector from flying enemies and provide a general barrier for him, but also help Hector glide over large gaps. Along with this, there is a monster raising mechanic that helps level up your I.D.s and eventually evolving them to more powerful demons with more abilities. In order to evolve your I.D.s, you need to farm Evo Crystals from monsters that you defeat on the regular. Crystals drop in different colors depending on the type of weapon that you are using. This is where changing your weapon from time to time comes in handy since each I.D. has a branching path to the next evolution that corresponds to a weapon type’s evo crystal. This made the I.D. system fun to use since certain I.D.s can only be obtained in a specific evolution path.

You are all going to be shocked about this next comment. It only took the developers three games to get it right, but the camera in this game actually works. No longer are we restricted to a fixed camera. You have full control of the camera in this game, and it made me jump for joy when I discovered this. There isn’t a lot of platforming in this game, but just having the ability to turn the camera around just so I can see everything around me was something I really missed. This alone makes it the best 3D Castlevania game.

I also had a fun time with the bosses in this game. Typical monsters didn’t give me too much trouble, but the humanoid opponents felt like intense dances to the death. The two Isaac and Trevor fights put me on edge since they are both fast and resourceful. Isaac will summon his own I.D.s to fight with him, so it felt like a game of summoning the right I.D. to counter his own. With Trevor, he fights like a true Belmont. His whip and sub weapons are brutal, but are not hard to avoid or see coming. I am not the type of person who is good at parrying, but parrying their attacks felt so good since it always opened the path to pass their defenses. The fight with Dracula may be the hardest Dracula fight I have ever been in. Like every Dracula encounter, he has two phases where you fight the elusive spell caster in the first part, and then the brute devil in the second. This fight took a lot out of me since I had to pause for a moment and come up with a strategy to tackle both phases with the limited amount of healing items that I had (I forgot to mention that you are only allowed to buy 5 potions, 3 high potions, and any other healing items can only be obtained by finding them or dropped from enemies). I brought in two fairy I.D.s with me for some healing options, but there was only so much they could do when Vlad does so much damage. I was only able to defeat him when I decided to not summon any of my I.D.s during the first phase, and pile on the assault during the second phase. It also helped that I remembered that I had other weapons that did way more damage than the sword I was using; and that a more powerful weapon would do more damage…

I do have my share of complaints since the game isn’t completely perfect. While the environments are more distinguishable this time around, I found the enemy variety completely repetitive. From my memory, there are around 20ish enemy designs in the game that just get slightly altered throughout the game. Not the biggest complaint, but Castlevania is known for having a lot of monster designs that feel unique. I was just getting tired at some points fighting the same horde of skeletons, but this time with bluish bones. I also wish Hector was a bit faster. There are times where you can backtrack to obtain items you skipped since you didn’t have the right I.D. for the job. Going back to some of these places can be a slog since there is no way (at least in my playthrough) to increase Hector’s movement speed. Another small complaint, but other Castlevania games around this time (including Lament of Innocence) had ways to make you really zoom around the map.

Overall, I would say that Curse of Darkness surprised me with how good it was. I don’t know if playing Castlevania 1999 or Lament of Innocence helped make this an enjoyable time, but I am glad for it. Without using a strategy guide or the internet to help me much, I filled out 92% of the total map. I didn’t grab every accessory in the game, nor did I craft every single weapon and armor in the game. Some items for crafting require special items that I had no idea how to farm or which enemies to steal them from; so I just used what I had and just went with it. You do unlock Trevor and Crazy mode for betting the game. This game was also a bit longer than any other Castlevania game that I’ve played. It took me twelve hours to reach the end where two of those hours was me just grinding a bit to defeat Dracula. This is a title that I can see myself revisiting at some point since it has all the elements that I enjoy from my other favorites in the series. I will also say that if you are familiar with the Castlevania series on Netflix, I think that they are cowards for not sticking with Isaac’s original design.

Games Stats:

Date Started: October 23 , 2022
Date Finished: October 29, 2022
Total Play Time: 12 Hours
Percentage Completed: 89.01%

Bonus Round!

Castlevania Judgment

Date Released: November 18, 2008
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Canon to Story: HELL NO!

“Right on time. Welcome to the time rift.”

*Pause**Camera Pan*

“Time rift? I thought I was done talking about the 3D Castlevania games?”

*Pause* *Camera Pan*

“You thought you were done. But there are other trials that you need to face before ending.”

*Paaaaause* *Camera goes to lunch*

“Fine then. Let’s make this one quick.”

*………………….*

“My name is Aeon. Shall we begin the first trial?”

(Every cutscene in the game is like this…)

Ok. I’m sorry that this post is way long, but I have to talk about this game real quick. Back in 2008, Konami decided to throw everything at the wall and decided to make a fighting game based on the series. On paper, this seems like an interesting title, but when you see the words “3D fighting game only on the Nintendo Wii,” you can’t help but to immediately assume it’s going to be bad.

Castlevania Judgment is a 3D fighting game that is not fun to play. Characters find themselves in a time rift for different reasons that do have no connection to anyone else. Some fight to prove themselves to others, while some are searching for an answer in all the wrong places. And then you have twelve year old Maria Renard who just picks fights against anyone who has a bigger chest than her. I would say that there is a story, but there really isn’t. Nothing is connected since most of the fights just happen without an explanation to why they are fighting (like in an Arcade mode). At the end of each character’s story, an original character named Aeon shows up, says he’s acquired a key, and then stares at you lovingly until he fades to black. You can’t technically finish a character’s story until you finish every other character first, and then replay the character’s story to fight the final boss to end just their story. It’s a “story” mode just to unlock characters and nothing more.

Did I mention that the game is fun? Because it is not. This is a 3D arena fighting game, so let’s talk about what doesn’t work. There is no sense of balance between characters. You have characters that like to spam moves that are impossible to block against, some who are large and will deal more damage with their regular attack just because they are big and strong, and then you have the children who are a bane to my existence. No game has ever made me say the phrase “Just please let me murder these children” before, but Judgment made the impossible possible. I will give credit for making each character feel unique like how Simon and Trevor operate differently despite being the same character, but the moveset on some of these characters can make some fights feel one sided. 

I hope you bought a Wii Classic Controller or Gamecube controller, because playing this game with a Wii Remote and Nuncuck is not recommended. While normal controllers have actions mapped to the different buttons available, the WiiMote’s lack of buttons makes you play in a different way. Start practicing those maraca skills, because almost all attacks are done by shaking the WiiMote. The buttons on the WiiMote are just used to change what your character does while you are shaking uncontrollably. Because of this, combos require you to know which attack chains into the next one; unlike using different inputs just to do certain attacks. It’s not fun. Especially when you are going against hard A.I. opponents who do not need to worry about these restrictions. If you haven’t figured it out yet, using any controller besides the WiiMote is the only way to play the game in a “comfortable” way.

Stages don’t fare any better. Each stage can come in two flavors, tolerable or bullshit. Some stages will just be your normal 3D environment where you can break objects to find hearts and sub weapons. At times, these stages will change to add “fun” mechanics to utilize during the fight. There is one stage that is just a torture chamber, and they made sure to make it feel like one. I’m talking about spikes on the floor, poison water that you and your opponent can just walk right into, guillotines swinging in the background, and a giant buzz saw in the back just for good measure. This is the worst stage in the game, but it doesn’t stop there. Sometimes in the graveyard stage, it will just be a normal graveyard. Other times, you have to deal with zombies that will pop out of the ground, and then leave a pool of acid when they get killed that will poison you. Or how about the bridge where a giant fish will come out of the water, knock you to the end of the bridge, and then you ring out since the bridge is falling apart as well. This does not make the fights exciting. It just makes me want to play Castlevania 1999 since that was a less painful experience. 

There are a few positive things about the game that I like. It is short. I unlocked and defeated the Time Lord in four hours. I do like the character designs in the game. If the design looks familiar it is because they were designed by the mangaka Takeshi Obata; who did the artwork for Death Note, Bakuman, Platinum End, and currently Show-ha Shoten! (one that I am currently enjoying monthly). It takes a while to get used to, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that I appreciated his take on the characters (even though Simon is just too pretty for the character he truly is). The soundtrack in this game is a standout. Each fighter’s song is a remix from a popular song from their respective game. Hearing tunes like Bloody Tears, Dracula’s Castle, and Dance of Illusion really help me forget that I’m stuck in one of Eric’s combo loops that is just instant death if you are stuck in it. Seriously, the soundtrack is wonderful and easy to find online.

But yeah. That’s about it for Castlevania Judgment. There are other modes like Arcade, Castle Mode, and unlockable, but it would be bold of you to think I would put that much effort in playing this game more than I had to. It was an interesting experience and a concept that could work, but little to expect from a game that could have used a bit more time in development. If I had to pick a favorite character to play as, it would be Dracula because you can stand in one spot and just assault your opponent with powerful spells from a distance and teleport away if they get too close. Yay game balance!

Game Stats:

Date Started: October 22, 2022
Date Finished: October 23, 2022
Total Play Time: 4 Hours
Best Character: Dracula
Worst Character: Golem (I just don’t like playing big, slow fighters)

And that should finally do it. Only three more sets of Castlevania games to go. Tune in next year to see which set gets covered next.

Backlog Report – October 2022

DaNamesX1 Comment

Hello all.

This month has been very slow. I have come home every day this week after work and just completely shut down once I get a moment of rest. There are a lot of things that I have not been keeping up with. I barely got the games I wanted to get done this month due to this exhaustion that I’ve been feeling. I also have this new foot pain that I should definitely get checked out if I wasn’t so scared about future medical bills (USA! USA!) Overall, this month was less stressful than last month’s gauntlet of work training. 

Not everything was doom and gloom this month. As a challenge for myself, I decided to make a conscious effort to save as much money as I could. If I could save a set amount, I would reward myself with something I found that I really want. I am happy to say that I meet my goal with flying colors and I now get to treat myself to this special item. The strange thing is, I’m not sure if I want my reward or not anymore. If I do end up getting it, I’ll mention it in next month’s post.

Other than that, I decided to get a new case for my computer. My original case is not completely compatible with the new motherboard, and I knew at some point I would have to correct this. I am nervous about having to move every component from one case to another, but I’ve done it once already without blowing up anything, so I should be fine this time around.

Finished Games

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence

I was really looking forward to playing this Castlevania game this month. It had been sitting on my shelf for five years, and it took me about eight hours to finish it. What were my overall thoughts about it? You will have to tune in next week when I write up my thoughts on the early 3D Castlevania games that I’ve played. 

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness

The same goes with Curse of Darkness. While I will say that I enjoyed this more than Lament of Innocence, both games have their good and bad qualities that make them fun to play. Again, I will have more details next week.

New and Finished Games

Castlevania Judgment

I had no intentions of getting this game, but I did once I found a brand new copy for less than $20 USD. It’s….not that bad, but far from a good fighting game. I like the attempt they made, but you can tell that more work needed to be put into this game. That is all I will say for now.

New Games This Month

Lost Odyssey (X360)

Not that many new games this month. I already own a digital copy of this game on my Xbox 360, but I keep forgetting that I have it since I never touch my 360. I found the strategy guide to the game at a used book store, and they had the game as well. So now I have a physical reminder that I have this game. I really should get around to playing this.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero (PS4)

It is almost time to continue my journey through this series in reverse order. I have been told that Trails from Zero and Azure are two of the best games in the series. Hopefully it doesn’t take me months to get through this game. I still have the Sky trilogy on standby for me to get through at some point.

Toukiden Kiwami (PS4)

I managed to find a PS4 copy in the wild for less than $10 USD. It will be interesting to compare this to the Vita version.

Currently Playing

I am biding my time until Pokèmon Scarlet and Violet comes out on Nov. 18. Something about the game is preventing me from being super excited for it, but I do plan on playing it day one with Kat and my younger brother. The co-op function will be interesting to try out, and I’m slowly warming up to the new battle mechanic. Until then, I need to work on something. I started Live A Live a few weeks ago and may continue that. It is a short game, so I should be able to get it done by mid-November. If anything else, I might start Trails from Zero and try to get that done before Trails from Azure releases. Plans are up in the air right now.

Plans for Next Month

Like I mentioned earlier, I do plan to have a post about the early 3D Castlevania games that I played this month. I will definitely have that ready next week. If I don’t you can all call me a liar liar pants on fire liar. The only other post that I have ready is continuing the series where I talk about gaming devices from my past. I am excited about this one because it is on a system that kept me playing games throughout the mid 2000s. It will be ready next month after some editing has been done. After that, things may start to slow down further as we somehow hit the holiday season. It feels very weird that we are about to enter the holiday season. The slow time will help me work on what might be my biggest end of the year post.

And that is all I got this month. Hip hip hooray for November!