Dark Souls

My Games of 2021

DaNamesX1 Comment

Ugh. What year is it? 2021 is over, so now I can talk about the games I played throughout the year. I was originally going to rank the games that I came out in 2021 that I played, but I ended up playing a lot of uninteresting titles. If you want me to talk more about Mario Golf: Super Rush again I can try, but that was already a struggle previously. So, this year I am going to shake things up and talk about my top ten favorite games that I finished this year. There is a good mix of new and old titles in here and it makes for a more interesting write for me. To give you an idea of how slow I am with things, here are two honorable mention list with games I wanted to play and games I started but haven’t finished.

Games Released in 2021 That I Had Interest Playing, But I Never Bought

Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny
Pac-Man 99
Poison Control
Nier Replicant ver. 1.22474487139…
Returnal
Resident Evil: Village
Chivalry 2
Cris Tales
Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir
Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind
Legend of Mana (Remake)
Pokemon Unite
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
Psychonauts 2
No More Heroes III
Sonic Colors: Ultimate
WarioWare: Get It Together!
Cruis’n Blast
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Metroid Dread
Far Cry 6
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles
Voice of Cards: The Isle of Dragon Roars
Forza Horizon 5
Dungeon Encounters
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition (For the lols)
Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX
Super Robot Wars 30
Wildermyth
Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator

Games That Came Out In 2021 That I Played, But Didn’t Finish

Persona 5 Strikers
Bravely Default 2
New Pokemon Snap
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
Scarlet Nexus
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game – Complete Edition
Back 4 Blood
Shin Megami Tensei V
Yu Gi Oh! RUSH DUEL: Dawn of the Battle Royal!!

Top Games That I Finished This Year

10. Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City

“Hie thee to the ocean city… To the Yggdrasil Labyrinth. A journey to the blue depths… To conquer the shadows of night. Though you know not what this means, you go towards Armoroad. What awaits is time’s end; death’s demise. A tempestuous dream… To push away the unfathomable dark and bring light to Armoroad… A stormy adventure begins…”

Creating my list was hard, but I knew I wanted to include this game. Etrian Odyssey III was one of the hardest games I have on the DS. My gaming knowledge was new to dungeon crawlers and understanding party compensation.10 years later, I have become an adult with a better understanding of how things work. I went from not understanding how certain abilities could be helpful to finding ways to make my party unstoppable. The mix between dungeon crawling and finding treasure out in sea made the game enjoyable for many hours. The game left such a big impression on me that I went out and got the other games in the series to slowly play through the story canon games in the series. I will report my thoughts when I finish the series twenty years from now.

9. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

The trend this year was finishing games that I’ve put off for years. I was really excited to play through this game when it first came out, but I found myself playing chunks at a time since I had started grad school at the time. Motivation went south fast when the definitive versions came out and sour my mood when I learned that you couldn’t transfer your progress to the newer, shinier version. So instead of starting all over, I chipped away at the base game and finally finished it this year. 

Dragon Quest XI is a comfort game for JRPG players. It is simple and friendly for newcomers while also engaging for series veterans. The story and setting make this an adventure worth playing while never feeling stale. There is always something to see, something to do, and challenges around every corner. I still need to finish the post game and eventually play through the definitive edition one day, but that won’t be until a while from now. I did write a post about this game back in October.

8. The World Ends With You: Final Remix / NEO: The World Ends With You

Yeah I’m cheating with this one. I couldn’t decide on which game I liked more over the other since they both have their high and low points. Ultimately I decided that if you put both together, you get a great game. The World Ends With You took me places that I wasn’t ready to go. The themes of your world ending when you refuse to live in it struck a chord that I never really thought about. It opened a new viewpoint that I was unaware of and kept the optimistic flame in me going. It’s sequel doesn’t do the theme justice, but it did deliver an improved gameplay formula that irritated me in the formal. Both games had me playing them whenever I had the free time to do it, and that’s coming from someone who ignored the original game when it came out. I am sad that NEO didn’t do well enough to Square’s expectations, but here’s hoping that the series can continue with new characters, locations, and a stronger emphasis on its theme.

7. Castlevania Advance Collection

I’m still cheating! When I learned that the Gameboy Advance Castlevania games were being rereleased, I got excited. Symphony of the Night is one of my favorite games and the advance trilogy share the same formula. While most games in the collection were better than others, I enjoyed my time playing through all four games. If you would like a more of my thoughts on the games, I wrote a post about them last month.

6. SaGa: Scarlet Grace – Ambitions

This was a surprise to me when I was looking over my options. The more I thought about this game, the more I remembered my playthrough and the adventure I went on. SaGa: Scarlet Grace has the charm and formula of a SaGa game that is also friendly for newcomers. The almost endless possibility of how your journey could play out makes finding and making decisions fun since you have to figure it out yourself (almost literally since there are not many guides). My journey with Urpina was a daunting one, but rewarding in so many ways. The other three protagonist are still waiting for me to take them on, but I am in no rush to get through theirs (especially since I started playing other games in the series). I wrote about my experience with the game back in August, so you can get the full read there.

5. Xenoblade Chronicles

The award for the game that took the longest time for me to beat this year goes to Xenoblade Chronicles. In hindsight, I could have finished this game a long time ago, but similar to Etrian Odyssey, my dumb young brain didn’t understand how to play the game logically. Xenoblade mimics a MMO game style where understanding how abilities and status modifiers matter. Once I understood this, the game became much more enjoyable to play and finish. It was a bit bittersweet to finally cross this game off my list since I was really feeling it. My advice if you want to play the game is to get the definitive edition on Switch. It is a really good game and worth playing. And yes, I did write about it as well as part of Love Your Backlog month.

4. Dark Souls Remastered

This is one of my proudest gaming achievements. I had no intention of finishing this game anytime soon, but the more I played and got into it, I was determined to see it through. I’m glad I did since the reward was definitely worth it and I felt accomplished. The original Dark Souls may not be my personal favorite out of the series, but it is now the one I am most comfortable with. There are parts in this game that I dread doing again, but I’m not afraid of facing them anymore. It is somber that I finally get to cross this off my list, but with other games in the series to keep me busy for the next four to nine years, I think the experience will make me a better player.

3. It Takes Two

There is a reason why this game won Game of the Year. It is a well-developed game. I played this with Kat the entire way though to the point where we couldn’t stop playing it. Everything felt well designed from the locations to gameplay to how everything relied on how cooperative you and your partner had to be. The story still irks me in several places, but certain moments make it up for being heartbreaking or hilarious depending on the type of person you are. I wish the game had more to do after the campaign since Kat and I were eager for more. If Hazelight Studios can expand on this gameplay and create something more inline with this, then it would be an instant buy from me.

2. Monster Hunter Rise

A new year, a new Monster Hunter game to play through. For me personally, I enjoyed Rise way more than I did with World. Rise fixed a lot of my personal issues with scaling down the bloated environment and making them smaller and more interesting. I like exploring the maps in Rise since there are things to discover like artifacts from the previous era and remnants of epic battles. My favorite is the Frost Islands where you can explore a destroyed ship and follow the skeletal remains of the monster it was fighting throughout the entire map. It’s details like this that I wish existed in World to make my time getting lost more interesting.

Besides the map, the mobility and how fast the game plays now made for interesting hunts. The Wire Bugs are one of my new favorite additions to the series and offers a lot of elements in and out of battles. I felt “meh” at first with the Wyvern Riding mechanic at first, but once I figured out how take advantage with the controls, it became fun to use. Rampage quest are still a struggle for me. The idea is to have multiple people with you during them, but my lonely self had a hard time maintaining everything that was going on. They do present a nice change of pace and strategy, but it does feel like it was meant to be played with others.

Other than that, the new monsters introduced had their fun gimmicks and quirks. I thought the Magnamola would be a pushover since I had no real difficulty up to it, but it quickly put me in my place when it decided to fly all of a sudden. The two new elder dragons are no pushovers either since they utilize Rise’s gameplay and your understanding of them. They are neat fights and made me say a swear or five. Outside of all of that, I’m happy Rise brought back interesting and creative designs for weapons and armor. It was something I was missing and happy to have back.

I never did write a post on Rise for one reason or another, but there is a lot that I can talk about. I originally didn’t have this game high on my list, but after replaying it this month, I feel in love with it all over again. On the fence if I might double dip and get the PC version when it comes out. I may actually finish Sunbreak when it comes out. The offer still stands if anyone wants to play online.

1. Tales of Arise

Tales of Arise is not a perfect game. If I had to rank it with the rest of the series, I would put it as maybe my fourth or fifth personal favorite. The game has a lot of good qualities in it, but there are glaring issues that hold it back from being up there for me like Symphonia and Vesperia. So why is it my number one game this year? From beginning to end, I could not stop thinking about this game. I wanted to explore everything this game offered and complete each difficult challenge that was available. I tend to avoid doing ridicules challenges in Tales of games, but Arise kept me engaged throughout. I didn’t find the characters annoying outside of battle and their struggles kept me invested. Even though I felt the story wasn’t on par with other titles, it did through me off guard at times and only decided to get complicated at the last minute.

Even as I write this, I still find it hard to explain why this was my favorite game I played and finished this year. There is something to say here about acknowledging all the faults it has while still finding some enjoyment out of it. I may never write about this game because I can never find the true words that I want to say. The best I have is that it is good despite its flaws. Rather that is good or bad is left to the individual. All I know is that Arise was my favorite game that I finished and completed this year.

So that’s all I got. Sorry if it is not the follow-up from last year’s presentation, but there wasn’t a lot of excitement from my gaming bubble. Let me know what some of your favorite games were this year that you finished.

The Flames of Dark Souls Have Been Extinguished (Backlog Tale)

DaNamesX1 Comment

I feel like if I had beaten Dark Souls a few years ago it would seem like a bigger bragging right than it is now. People have played and study this game for years now and there are videos and guides that help new players get through some of the most daunting trials. It now feels like once you beat it, you are handed a merit badge to show off to the other scouts who are busy earning other difficult badges that you are behind on. While that is what one part of my brain is saying, the other part of it is partying like its New Year’s Eve in 1999. I am very proud of myself for beating this game on my own (unlike Bloodborne where I played the majority with a friend). It is not the type of game that I would go out on my own to play, but the lore and culture around it hooked me in and now I’ve fallen in the abyss. Through practice, studying, and good ‘ole trial and error, I defeated Lord Gwyn and ushered in a new age where the next miserable soul would repeat the process. So allow me rest by the bonfire and reflect on this journey that took me (looks at game data…) two years to get through.

Synopsis

Long ago, dragons ruled the world…I think. That all changed when man discovered fire and all of its benefits; like containing souls to kill dragons….I think. Out of this fire, four lords were chosen. Nito, the first person to die I think, the Witch of Izalith and her normal daughters, Gwyn ,the Rock, Johnson, and some other guy. Together with Seath the slug dragon, they vanquished the dragons and established a golden era of fire…I think. Things were going great for a while, but no one told the lords that fire needs fuel to burn. The Witch of Izalith tried to use her flames to create a new one, but created chaos and demons instead. Gwyn sacrificed his life to keep the original flames going, and from there the world got even more chaotic. Those born with the darksign are considered undead and will fail to die until they lose their minds and become hollows…I think. Prophecy states that a chosen undead will leave the Undead Asylum and embark on a journey to rekindle the flame and restore the golden age of fire, or let it die like a badass and usher in the age of darkness…I think.

Act Like The Undead

My journey through Dark Souls was not without pain, torture, learning, adapting, and overcoming hardships. On the surface level, the mood and reputation of Dark Souls is to intimidate and highlight this bleak world that has misfortune around every corner. There is nothing that makes you feel safe at any moment except for the warmth of the bonfire. I find it strange that the one thing that has great power and the catalyst that started all of this is also your source of comfort. Nothing feels as satisfying as getting through hard areas only to discover a bonfire. Though it all, the challenge beforehand seemed daunting just to get there, but once you reach a save point, you start to feel safe and understand your terrain a bit. If there is one thing that I appreciate about the bonfire system is that they are never right next to the next boss or sometimes close to the next best thing. Bonfires can symbolize that you are close to something, but still need to get through something in order to reach it. For example, the bonfire closes to Quelaag has a swamp, big dudes who throw boulders at you if you get too close, and some egg sack creeps before you get to the boos room. When you first make the trek, you may look for an easy way to minimize the poison damage you get from the swamp, what big guys you can take out in your way, and beat the eggy guys before Quelaag. Soon you start to realize that trying to find the “easy” route may be the longest route since you will most likely limit your supplies before the boss fight. Eventually (depending on how many times it takes for you to beat the boss), you start to realize that if you run and avoid combat when needed, you can just as easily reach the boss room while conserving your resources. The game finds ways for you to abandon your cautious nature and take risks to yield better results. Overthinking things and hesitating will get you killed in most circumstances.

For my playthrough, I mostly stuck to a one-handed sword with a shield for defense. My character, Yeetes Yotes, was not the bravest of warriors at the start of the game, but throughout the journey she turned into a badass soul slayer. I mostly relied on my shield in areas unfamiliar to me and I wanted to keep my guard up for unexpected fuckery. Once I got familiar with areas, it turned into a use-only-when-needed item since dodge rolling is much more effective. To this day, I do not know what a good pose stat is and at this point I’m too afraid to ask. Since dodge rolling was my jam, I opted for light-weight armor that wasn’t good for defense, but made me hella light and sting like a Japanese hornet. For offense, I started off with a falcon, but quickly obtained the Drake Sword and fell in love. Eventually, I picked up a Black Knight Sword and despite how heavy it was, I quickly boosted up my stats to make this my main weapon for the rest of the game. During this time, I discovered the value of two-handing a weapon and start making most fights into a joke. One swing from me in two-handed mode who dispatch an enemy with one hit, and bosses took little from when I was solely one-handing. The only thing that I wish I took more advantage of during my first playthrough was using sorcery, pyromancy, and miracles. Using magic makes the game much easier in my opinion from playing some of Dark Souls 2 & 3. Regardless, playing the game with only the guns on your arms and a bow for long-range attacks is more than doable.

Yeetus Yotus journey came with great feelings of joy and a lot of frustration. From the early days of the Undead Parish to Anor Londo, each area has its trials that feel good for passing. I view each area as it’s own little puzzle that needs to be solved in order to find the great rewards of either a bonfire or really good item. Sen’s Fortress of Happy Fun Times felt like one of the most daunting trials to get through; and then once you get past it the later levels just laugh in its face. I dread one day returning to Anor Londo have have to deal with scaling the roof while two Black Knights shoot their giant arrows at you. I wanted to give up in the Giant’s Tomb since everything is so dark, but once I found the Sunlight Maggot, it became business as usual. Everyone likes to complain about Blighttown, but once you know your way it is one of the less intimidating places in the game (just annoying). The place that I was most frighten about was the Demon Realm and Lost Izalith since the first thing I saw in the Demon Realm were an army of Capra Demons. I wanted to nope out of that, but after I got passed the first two I found a shortcut that led me straight to a bonfire. From there, the rest of the Demon Realm and Lost Izalith was just an exploration tour to find the Bed of Chaos. I think by the time you are hunting down the Lord Souls, your fears and anguish of Dark Souls starts to wain to the point you are familiar with how the game works.

Experience From Unexpected Places

Boss battles are their own puzzles to figure out as well. Unless it is your first time fighting a specific boss (or you’re a quick learner), you will spend the first few attempts just trying to figure out the boss’ move set and patterns. Once you do that, you find the best way to punish them for underestimating you for the tenth or twentieth time. Since some bosses share similar traits (big and swing around), you can start to utilize some strategy from an earlier fight. Some bosses just outright tell you that “I have a gimmick and you need to figure that out!” The Four Kings comes to mind since they each come out at specific times. So instead of hesitating during the first king, you are encourage to beat each king before the next one joins in. It is one of the only “timed” bosses that you face, and it makes you change from a slow, observant fighter to a fast, hitting one. Besides Ornstein and Smough who you have to fight at the same time, there was only one boss that really gave me the most trouble; Gwyn himself. I’m guessing Ornstein and Smough were learning points for this fight (since they are the only humanoid bosses you fight), but Gwyn doesn’t mess around and his fight takes a while to understand. At this point I was looking at guides on how to beat some bosses, but the guides on how to beat Gwyn didn’t work with my style. I hadn’t been parrying at this point so that strategy was out the window. I wasn’t used to wearing heavy armor or had the magic to fortify myself; so that didn’t work either. Ultimately I abandoned all the guides I saw and opted to do things my way. Honestly, my playstyle from a different game gave me the ultimate victory.

It’s a good thing I played all that Monster Hunter before this game! In Monster Hunter, you are encouraged to stay engaged with your hunt at all times and defense all depends on your playstyle. My default style is using a Great Sword and mostly relying on dodge rolling to evade attacks. So why not adapt that mindset to the Gwyn fight? My Black Knight Sword sorta functioned like the Great Sword from Monster Hunter, and using my instance to dodge roll at the right moment was natural to me. To mimic my dodge roll feel like in Monster Hunter, I equipped my lightest armor that still offered some protection. So then my strategy turned into have shield equipped for extra insurance if my dodge was off, switch to two-handed mode for my attacks, and hide behind a rock (my new bff). Once I started engaging him in this manner, his patterns became more noticeable like monsters I would fight. After a few attempts with this new mindset, I defeated him and victory was mine. Monster Hunter and Dark Souls are two very different games, but it was neat discovering the skills I mastered in one game led to my victory in another. I will have to see if other skills from different games can have the same effect.

The Heavy Hitters

I do have some complaints about my journey that will probably vary player to player. At first, I didn’t really care about the speed of the game. My problem with it probably has to do with playing other games in the series first before this one. Dark Souls 3 was technically my first game in the series and there is definitely a different flow to the former. Bloodborne was the first game in the series that I finished and that demanded a lot of movement and fast actions. Compared to those games, it was hard for me to reset my brain a bit to accommodate to this game. After a while, I grew into the control style of Dark Souls and work with my limitations instead of wanting more.

Another minor complaint I have is how lost you can get sometimes. There were certain points where I had no idea where to go next and the game almost makes you figure that out on your own. I panicked a little when I got the lordvessel and was told to gather the lord souls, but wasn’t told where to start. The game was pretty linear up to that point, and once you get there the game suddenly opens up for you to tackle the rest of the game however you want. I thought there was an certain order the game would think that you would take, but no it’s like a Mega Man game at that point. I know a map system would defeat the purpose of exploration, but that would have helped a bit when planning out my course.


I guess the only other thing I can complain about is PvP. I do not care for PvP in these games and I feel it adds unnecessary stress when you are minding your own business and some dickhead just comes and kills you. It’s for this reason that I hardly ever restored my humanity and played most of the game undead. Could I just simply played offline and restricted my matchmaking? Yes of course, but before I knew I could do that the added stress had already sunk in. It is fun when you find people that want to help you and watch them tear ass through things they’ve done countless times.

Until the Next Journey

I like Dark Souls. Never did I feel like the victories felt undeserved since the challenge felt great to overcome. I will get around to playing a New Game + playthrough at some point since I do want to get the other ending to the game. I do also have the PC and Switch version of the game (courtesy to a friend who wanted to play co-op), so maybe I will create a different character on each and do some experimentation. It’s hard to tell where I would personally rank this game with the others, but I would definitely say below Bloodborne since I really enjoyed that game. For now, the tale of Yeetes Yotus comes to a close here, and soon/one of these days a new adventurer will embark on another journey through Hell and the Abyss.

My Stats From Finishing Dark Souls Remastered:

1 Full Playthorugh
Game Started: February 23, 2019
Game Ended: November 28, 2021
Total Playtime: (I don’t know since the game doesn’t keep track of that)
Number of Deaths: Ha
Achievements Unlocked: 18/41 (44%)
Proudest Moment: Beating Ornstein and Smough
Character Stats:

2021 Lightning Prediction Round (Anniversary Edition)

DaNamesX1 Comment

Last year I wrote a post with my wild ideas and predictions of what I would be playing in 2020. Out of the 13 games that I mentioned I have played 3, own one that I haven’t played yet, didn’t pick up one of them, will be playing two this year, and still dreaming about the rest. I wanted to come up with another post similar with my wild ideas, but didn’t know where to start. Lucky for me, there are a butt ton of anniversaries this year. So I want to do a sort of “lightning round” event where I come up with a realistic idea on what we could get, and then a fantasy that would be cool to see. If any of these things do come true, you heard it hear first!

Anniversary Lightning Round

Donkey Kong (40 Years)

Realistic: I’m not sure. Nintendo has kinda let Donkey Kong do his own thing Mario spinoff games outside the Country series. If we do get anything, it will be a surprise to me. Maybe a Game & Watch with the original Donkey Kong on it.

Fantasy: Funky Kong mode enable for all of 2021.

The Legend of Zelda (35 Years)


Realistic: Nintendo is going to try to push out Breath of the Wild 2 this year. I have no doubt we will get it this year (maybe).

Fantasy: A situation like the Mario 3D All-Stars, but it has the GameCube versions of Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Four Swords. Bonus points for me if an Oracle Duology ever happens.

Metroid (35 Years)

Realistic: Eh… A lot of people are hoping for Metroid Prime Trilogy on Switch to keep them fed until Prime 4 comes out, but I’m in the kiddie pool on this for now.

Fantasy: Metroid Prime Trilogy for Switch OR Metroid Prime Pinball DX

Dragon Quest (35 Years)

Realistic: They just finished porting XI to all consoles. Unless they can put it on smartphones, I don’t think Square will do much.

Fantasy: DQ9 on Switch and PS4/5 wouldn’t be a bad deal (do NOT do it dirty like you did with Crystal Chronicles)

Castlevania (35 Years)

Realistic: I would make a joke, but Konami has released the older game to current gen consoles. That alone is a miracle no one saw coming.

Fantasy: You know what hasn’t been rereleased though? The N64 games. Do it you cowards!

Kid Icarus (35 Years)

Realistic: There haven’t been any news or rumors about a new Kid Icarus. Don’t hold your breath for anything.

Fantasy: If there is a new Kid Icarus game then it will be a surprise for all. I still need to play Uprising at some point.

Sonic the Hedgehog (30 Years)

Realistic: Sega has reassured us that Sonic’s 30th will have a lot for the blue blur. Sega has been pretty good at listening to their player base and delivering games that they want to play with mixed results. Expect a new 3D game and maybe that Adventure remake.

Fantasy: Look. All I want is Generations 2 with at least 2-3 stages from each mainline game. I will eat that for breakfast everyday.

F-Zero (30 Years)

Realistic: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Fantasy: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Civilization (30 Years)

Realistic: Firaxis already has a road map currently for Civ 6. We might get another cool attempt of a spinoff like Beyond Earth, but I don’t see that happening.

Fantasy: Speaking of fantasy, how cool would a fantasy civilization game be? You can pick a different fantasy race with special perks and everything. If this game already exists, please let me know.

Pokémon (25 Years)

Realistic: The Pokemon Company is already on the move with their announcements. There was a trailer for the 25th anniversary as well as a trailer and release date for New Pokemon Snap. I’m sure they have a lot more in store for the rest of the year. On a side note, it is also the 15th anniversary of Diamond & Pearl, so get your expectation hats on.

Fantasy: If I could ask for one thing, it would probably be a new Pokemon Pinball game or rerelease. Those games rule!

Resident Evil (25 Years)

Realistic: Resident Evil 8 is coming out this year. Outside of that will be a treat for fans.

Fantasy: A Resident Evil game from the perspective of a mutant. Instead of fighting, you have to avoid people trying to kill you while you try and find a cure for yourself. Along the way silly things happen to make you evolve and more of a threat to the people hunting you. Done right, it could be better than all the multiplayer games they’ve tried.

Crash Bandicoot (25 Years)

Realistic: Crash seems to have been fully revived now. We just got Crash 4 last year, so maybe some DLC will come to say that they did something.

Fantasy: Crash, Mario, and Sonic at Wrestlemania (Shut up. I know you would play it)

Persona (25 Years)

Realistic: Atlus shocked us with Persona 5 for their 20th anniversary. It feels too soon for a Persona 6 since they are not done yet milking all they can from 5. The rest of the world is getting Persona 5 Strikers, but sadly that is nothing new. Atlus has said that they are working on something, so we will see.

Fantasy: Bring Persona 1-3 to PC. I’ll buy them like 4 Golden and then not play it, but I’ll buy it!

Super Mario RPG (25 Years)

Realistic: See F-Zero

Fantasy: Mallow for Smash

Tomb Raider (25 Years)

Realistic: It has been some time since Lara’s last adventure in 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider. I have no clue what’s in store for the capable adventurer, but an adventure in 2021 may be unwise due to the pandemic.

Fantasy: A point and click adventure style Tomb Raider game. It may not be what the core audience wants, but I think it would be a nice change of pace until the next blockbuster hit.

Nintendo 64 (25 Years)

Realistic: Nothing. If Nintendo did anything it would come as a surprise for both us and them.

Fantasy: A N64 mini or start releasing N64 games on the Switch Online Service. As long as it has Star Fox 64 I’m good.

Halo (20 Years)

Realistic: Halo Infinite would have been nice, but the title also indicates how long you will have to wait for it. The Master Chief Collection was completed last year, so if anything you may see rereleases on the Xbox Series X.

Fantasy: Halo Battle Royal (Shut up. You would play it)

Devil May Cry (20 Years)

Realistic: Nothing foreseeable. DMC V was recently ported to PS5, so nothing special that I can tell.

Fantasy: DMC X Resident Evil. DMC started off as a Resident Evil game, so bring back the concept and see what happens.

Advance Wars (20 Years)

Realistic: Why do I hurt myself so much? War never ends, but Advance Wars ended in 2008 and it would take discovering oil in Switch games to bring it back.

Fantasy: At least Advance Wars 1, 2, & Dual Strike collection….

Golden Sun (20 Years)

Realistic: On the subject of pain. 

Fantasy: Filling in the cliffhanger from Dark Dawn. I will take anything at this point. A sticky note from the director with how the series ends will be enough closure for me.

Wii Sports (15 Years)

Realistic: Nothing. You can’t even play real sports outside right now, so why pretend to do it virtual.

Fantasy: Switch Sports. Why is this not a thing?

The Elder Scrolls IV and V (15 & 10 Years)

Realistic: It will be the end of an era if Skyrim was not on PS5 or XBSX (it pretty much already is). Elder Scrolls online is getting Oblivion gates added so that is neat.

Fantasy: The official Todd Howard mod update. He just turns everything into Skyrim. Oblivion HD would also be pretty neat.

Bastion (10 Years)

Realistic: Supergiant’s first debut game was my first indie love. The world and gameplay was so interesting to me that I wanted to try and complete everything. It has shown its age lately since playing Hades. I don’t expect Supergiant to do anything for the game, but any surprises would be nice.

Fantasy: When playing Bastion recently, I found that the game is still great, but could benefit with some improvements. An anniversary edition of Bastion could speed the game up a little bit and improve some of the weapon’s speed. My only real request in an enhanced edition, but if they found other things to add to it I would be gracious for it.

Dark Souls (10 Years)

Realistic: We just got a remastered version of Demon’s Soul. What more do we want? From Software is probably hard at work with Elden Ring that anything new to the franchise will come years later.

Fantasy: A version of Dark Souls 1 that plays like Dark Souls 3.

Overwatch (5 Years)

Realistic: The yearly anniversary event might be interesting this year. Until Overwatch 2 comes out, I don’t think any more interesting content will be coming out like new heroes or game modes.

Fantasy: Overwatch 2 is actually done and they release it this year.

Stardew Valley (5 Years)

Realistic: Stardew Valley still amazes me to this day. Version 1.5 was released on PC recently and console players will get it later this year. It has been a while since I finished it, so maybe it will be the perfect relaxation tool I need in the future.

Fantasy: This game does not require any fantasy ideas from me. It has delivered what I want in a farming simulation game and it continues to deliver.

Whew. That was a long strike of lighting.

Please don’t get mad at me if none of these wild predictions come true. Blame yourself for giving into false hype. Keep your expectations low and keep an open mind to experience new things. If any of these do come true, then I take full credit and your heard it here first! If there are other anniversaries happening this year that I did not cover, you can leave a comment and I’ll give my opinions there.

Now if you excuse me, I have to go back to counting the days without a Nintendo Direct.

Thanks for reading,

DanamesX

Love Your Backlog Week 2020

DaNamesX10 Comments

This Valentines’s week, most people will be thinking about the love they share with significant others or another substitution to fill the void. While I tend to not over celebrate the holiday, I do like interesting topics that revolve around the theme of love. Enter Love Your Backlog Week! This fun observation of our backlogs was created by the lovely Kim from Later Levels. Thank you Kim for giving me more reasons to talk about my backlog!

I originally created my site with my backlog in mind. I wanted to create a project to help motivate me to finish games on my backlog. At the time of writing this, I have completed a grand total of 5 games since starting my blog. A small number indeed, but with how busy my schedule was last year, I’m actually really proud of myself. Where does that leave me in the grand scheme of things? Well….

It’s Over 9000!……minus 8518.

If I am counting just games in my personal backlog, I am currently sitting at 482. This is big for me because I could have sworn that number was bigger. I have decided to exclude games that my wife owns, which would add an additional 206 games. I am not technically responsible for those that she has bought, but she does have a lot that I do want to play (all of the Suikoden, Dark Cloud, Wild Arms 3). I don’t expect to be below 500 for very long, but I will enjoy it while I can! With all of that out the way, Kim also provided us some questions to ask associated with our backlogs.

A Game You Are Eager To Play, But Haven’t Started

This was a tough choice since I have a lot of great contenders. Ultimately I will have to go with Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wing and the Lost Ocean. The Gamecube is home to some of my favorite games and I am a sucker for card base games. Baten Kaitos was one of those games that eluded me into wanting to try. At the time I heard mixed reviews about the card element, and it strayed me away from it for a while. Now that I am older and have opinions of my own, I am eager to try to play this one day. Like fine wine, I am waiting for the right moment to crack this bad boy open and enjoy it for what it is.

A Game You Have Started Several Time But Haven’t Yet Finished

There is one game that comes to mind, but I am saving it for a different category. My answer for this questions will have to be Dark Souls: Remastered. I own this game on three different platforms (PC, PS4, and Switch) and I have yet to get beat this game. I am further in the PS4 version, but stuck in Anor Londo fighting Ornstein and Smough. It is only a matter of time until I beat them, but every time I get over one struggle, another pops up that makes me put the game down for a while. Or in the current case, go play Dark Souls II or III for the time being. I will beat it one day and praise the sun for the rest of my life.

The Most Recent Addition To Your Library

Lucky, I keep a track list of all my purchases! After telling myself that I was not going to buy any new games this month (lols) I bought The World Ends With You: Final Remix. I have a good reason though! My GameStop had it on clearance for $21 USD! How could I have passed that up? I’ll tell you how, I didn’t. Not even Cat could stop me because she could not argue that price. On top of that, I had an active $5 coupon, bringing my total to $16 USD! I never felt this giddy buying a game since the time I bought Seikero when it first came out for only $10 USD. I have the DS version of the game, but I think I will start over with the Switch version since I did not get far to begin with.

The Game Which Has Spent The Most Time On Your Backlog

That is very hard to tell if I want to go technical. The oldest game I could come up with is Final Fantasy VI: Advance. I picked this game up on a whim one day and did not realize how popular (or valuable) it was. This would have to be one of the oldest games that I own that I have not finished; but for a good reason. My cartridge is very special in that the slightest tap will erase all the data on it. I have gotten to the second act of the game multiple times, only to have my data erased one way or another. For that reason, this is one game that I have not been able to finish (yet).

The Person Responsible For Adding The Most Entries To Your Backlog

Who are they? What person would do such a thing to me? What motive do they have for adding this responsibility to me? Does such a person exist? Do I know who is responsible for this?

Shocker!

Okay I admit. I have no one to blame but myself on this one. This was never the case in the past however. Growing up we did not have a lot of money to buy video games all the time. The games that we did get I had to share with my other two brothers. Since we only had a small collection for a while, it was easy to pick up a game that was not finished and play the crap out of it. It was also easier since we had all the time in the world when were not in school or band. Even when I got my own job and could start buying my own games, it wasn’t frequent that I would leave a game unfinished. The two contributing factors that started me on this past happened in the same year. My original PlayStation 3 died on me and took all the data I had saved on it with it. This caused me to start over on most of my games at the time; and me being me I did not want to start over on some of them. The second factor was around the same time. My friend gave me his old gaming PC and he taught me how to build a PC from the ground up. After that, games on Steam were no longer an obstacle and I planned on one point to do my main gaming on it. That did not pan out as well, and now my Steam library continues to build as I continue to play Final Fantasy XIV. It also doesn’t help that I like to find old games that I did not have the chance to play in the past. I get a rush finding difficult to find games and immediately snatch them up to add to my collection. Now if I can get around to play said games then I could be dominating my backlog.

For those interested in browsing my collection, I keep an “organized” spreadsheet that is kept up to date frequently. For Steam users, you can view my library here. 2020 is shaping up to be the year I tackle most out of my backlog and I am looking forward to see how far I can go!

Thanks for reading,

DanamesX