Games You Beat in 2026: RIP to our backlogs

[toxicitizen]

Pokémon FireRed

 

I picked it up when they released the port on the eShop earlier this year and got most of the way through it but then something else came out that distracted me from it and I only just got around to finishing it. Except for a difficulty spike at the very end that forced me to spend a few hours grinding, I enjoyed it for the most part. I did what little bit of story there is in the post-game and I'm at the point where all that's left to do is grind some more and fill out the pokédex. And since I don't have anyone to trade with, I'm not going to bother.

 

It was fun to revisit the series after all this time, though. I had only played the first two gens on gb/gbc back in the day, so this version was good for a retro nostalgia trip while still feeling a bit fresh. I definitely want to play more of the series but I'm not sure where to go next. There's rumors that more ports might be coming soon so maybe I'll just wait for those but it's tempting to jump ahead to the more recent gens to see what modern Pokémon games are like.

[MetalCaveman]

Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere (JP)

 

Counting this as a separate game from the US version because they're completely different.

 

This one has a ton of cutscenes (by Production I.G. no less), several characters, multiple endings, a hidden true ending unlocked when you get all the other endings, it's easily one of my favorites in the series.

 

Really liked the UPEO and Cynthia endings, both are fairly bittersweet but still end in a higher note than some of the other paths, then the true ending played out.

 

Spoiler

Oh hey! None of what you saw happened, in fact, all the endings and paths you can take are nothing more than simulations inside a system. 

 

Also, you are not real, just a program, NEMO, created to find a way to destroy Dision, also now you'll be released into the real world, have fun!

 

 

I would love to see a remake of this one, or at least a proper release of this version in English, the series is more popular than back then so maybe there's a chance.  

 

My only issue, as with the US version, is the Electrosphere mission lol, cool concept, but a visual nightmare.

 

Grade: S

[MetalCaveman]

Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies

 

We've made the jump to PS2!  

 

A bunch of changes and improvements, better graphics, special weapons, the ability to buy new aircraft and weapons, lots of cool stuff.

 

Story presentation also changes, the story here is mainly told through the narration of this boy who loses his home and family after an enemy ace, Yellow 13 shoots down a jet that crashes into his house. Pretty different from the previous 3 games, also, your character doesn't really appear in the main story, except for some mentions later on.

 

Spoiler

Also mentioned in the ending, when it turns out the narration so far has been the boy recounting his experience during the war as he writes a letter to Mobius 1.

 

The other part of the story is similar through previous games, mission briefings and result screens tell you how the war is progressing, were your forces are, losses, wins, etc.

 

Fun thing about the story too, this is the first game that presents you as this super pilot, Ace of Aces, living legend, etc.

 

1 and 2 had you as the leader of Scarface squadron, and while your team was famous, this wasn't as big of a deal during the actual game, 3 had some pilots knowledge your skills (pretty funny considering the true ending lol), this one though, is a whole new level.  

 

During missions allies will go all "it's Mobius 1! We're saved!", "Mobius 1 is here! Victory is ours!" while your enemies are all "That's the ribbon fighter! The grim reaper!" It's over the top, it's cheesy, I love it.

 

Last mission took me several tries, even if they're pretty short, four tunnel runs in one mission is too much lol.

 

6 was my first AC, and this one is much closer to it than the previous 3 games, so it was a cool experience.

 

Grade: A+

[danielpholt]

Mortal Shell II

 

Didn't expect anything of this when I heard it was coming out a few months ago. However, after 45 hours with the game, I think I'm officially a fan.

 

It doesn't reinvent the wheel or anything, but it does everything really well, and without any real frustration. I enjoy these games greatly, but often I find there's one little thing that frustrates me no end. That wasn't the case here. Sure, there's the occasional badly designed boss, but for the most part, the rest of the game felt like it was designed to give the player a challenging but incredibly fun time. 

 

4/5 - About as high a score I can give a game without it becoming something I'd consider getting tattooed on my actual human body. 

[MetalCaveman]

Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War

 

"When history witnesses a great change, Razgriz reveals itself..."

 

EXCELLENT \m/ \m/

 

The longest of the AC games I've played so far, sure 3 has more missions but since they're all pretty short and spread out across the different paths/endings, this one is technically the longer one.

 

Some changes from 4 in terms of gameplay and progression. You can no longer buy special weapons, whatever comes with the aircraft is all you get, however, some planes have a kill count bar, the more you use them and the more enemies you shoot down with it the more it fills, once full, you unlock a variant of that aircraft with different weapons and stats.

 

Also, you're now in charge of your squad, that means having to buy multiple of the same aircraft, or different ones, either way, you'll want enough for each member of your squad.

 

There's also squad commands, you can tell them to attack, cover you, disperse or use their special weapon.

 

A simple "conversation" system is also here, sometimes characters will say something or ask basic questions and you can reply with a yes/no. It's pretty basic, but still neat. Some of these will result in your squad changing orders, sometimes they'll go all "the enemy is spread out throughout the operation area, should we split to deal with them?" and you can tell them whether to spread out or not.

 

The story is cool, this time told through CG cutscenes following your squad. As you progress, you get different quotes from a poem from Strangereal, telling the legend of Razgriz, a fictional entity that appears as a demon that brings destruction, dies, then returns as a hero.

 

The poem bits change to reflect the status of your squad as the story advances. The whole Razgriz thing, the legend, poem and how eventually your own squad uses it as its name is imo, the perfect combination of cheese, badass and fun.

 

While I liked it a lot, there were a couple of missions that were a bit annoying, one involves a recon mission where you have no weapons and have to avoid a ridiculous amount of radars, you might as well just lower the landing gear and drive the plane around given how low you have to fly to avoid detection lol. Another one took me a bunch of tries until I ignored all enemy drones and focused on the boss ship.

 

It was not a big deal, but there are also times where you'll be restricted to specific planes, and also some missions will immediately move to the next one, which can be a bit annoying if you've prepared an anti-ground loadout only to find the next mission involves some serious anti-air combat.

 

Overall, it's a pretty fun entry in the series, story is among my favorites, definitively would like to come back to it in the future, now though, it's time for Ace Combat Zero!

 

Grade: A+

[toxicitizen]

Onimusha: Way of the Sword

 

I went into this one with pretty high expectations. I was basically hoping for Samurai Resident Evil 4. And that's not too far off from what the game ended up being.

 

Roughly half of the game is linear areas that are structured pretty much like in RE4. The other half is spent running around Eastern Kyoto doing side-quests, finding secrets and unlocking new sections of the map as you progress through the story. That second half is the weakest aspect of the game. It's fine but it gets kind of repetitive after a while. The entire map looks very samey and after a while you run out of new things to do, so you just end up repeating the same kind of missions. If they make a sequel, I really hope they'll take the time to make the side-content meatier and add more variety to the map.

 

The combat is where the game really shines, though. Combat against basic enemies is way too easy early on but once you start running into bosses it's a completely different game. This is the most satisfying sword combat I've played since Sekiro. It's nowhere near as difficult and it's definitely not a souls-like. But once you've got a boss' pattern down, it gets into a very similar rhythm where it almost feels like a rhythm game. Parry a few attacks to enter the blaze state, then start deflecting attacks to chip away at their stamina bar and once that's depleted you get an opening to hit them with an Issen Break attack that takes a huge chunk of their health bar. 

 

There's a training room you can go into to replay the tutorials and rematch all the bosses and I think the biggest compliment I can give to the game is that I almost always went in there for the rematch immediately after beating a new boss in the story. It was just so satisfying to fight them again after mastering their moveset and just wipe the floor with them. Especially the ones that gave me trouble in the story. Even when the early game bosses start being re-used as minibosses later on in the game, it never bothered me to fight them again. And now that I'm done, I can't wait to jump into new game plus on Carnage difficulty and do it all over again.

 

So yeah, that's another banger from Capcom. At this point that's like 3 GOTY contenders from them this year. If it wasn't for GTA 6, I'd say they have it on lockdown...

[MetalCaveman]

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War

 

*flamenco music intensifies*

 

Absolute Cinema! 

 

Arthurian references, flamenco, lasers, one of the best player titles in the entire series, this game has everything!

 

This is also the game that holds your character in the most legendary status lol, 5 had the Demon/Ghosts of Razgriz thing, and previous games have you eventually become a legend among both allies and enemies, this one takes things to the next level. Which makes sense as the story takes place after the war, still, right from the start, your character is referred to as "Demon" and eventually you get the title of "Demon Lord of the Roundtable". \m/ \m/

 

The story is told via this documentary being made on the Belkan war and the actions of your character, Galm 1 Cipher. Cutscenes are live action, interview style, with characters talking about their experiences going against Cipher. Along with 3, this is at the top of Ace Combat stories for me.

 

Gameplay has some changes, you can't choose wingman aircraft, but you can change their special weapon, the conversation system from 5 is gone, but wingman commands remain.

 

The biggest change is the introduction of the Ace Style system.

 

"Did you know, there are three kinds of aces?"

 

Depending on how you play, you'll move the Ace Style gauge between the three different styles, you start as Soldier, if you focus only on mission targets, ignore certain targets and spare enemies when they can't fight anymore you'll move to the Knight style, destroying everything including some neutral targets and incapacitated enemies will move you to mercenary style, mixing strategies keeps you in Soldier.

 

This affects which enemy squads you face against and in turn, changes the story, who shows up in the interviews and what they have to say about you depends on your Ace Style.

 

Credits song is also one of the best in any game, ever!

 

Grade: S

 

[toxicitizen]

I guess I forgot to post it at the time but a few weeks ago hell froze over and I bought a game on the EGS. Fanatical had the Deluxe Edition of Alan Wake II for like 15 bucks and it reminded me that I never got around to playing the DLCs for the game. I figured I should probably get around to them before Control Resonant comes out, so here we are.

 

Alan Wake II: Night Springs and The Lake House DLC

 

Man, it's always such a treat to revisit a Remedy game, whether it's a replay or new content. At least, that's how I felt within minutes when I started the Night Springs DLC. If I had played it closer to the main game and had been anticipating it as the next piece of Alan Wake content, I might've felt differently about it. But playing so far removed from the game, I was fully on board with this what-if nonsense. I actually wouldn't mind more short episodes like this. I'm not sure how much of this I'm supposed to take at face value but each of the episodes were a ton of fun to play.

 

The Lake House is more serious. It's basically a mix of Alan Wake and Control. It feels more like a Control DLC but with Alan Wake gameplay. There's even a teaser for Control Resonant at the end. I love that doing the whole connected universe thing allows them to do stuff like this. I can't wait to see what they'll do with the Max Payne remakes because of this. Anyway, it was great. Can't wait for Control Resonant. Just a few more days! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[MetalCaveman]

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation

 

This is it! Where it all started for me.

 

Story is cool, all the different characters are interesting and how it goes from despair to hope to victory is neat, sure it's not as good as Zero or 3, but it holds up.

 

Maps are bigger and have more enemies too, some missions are split into different operations, completing a certain amount of these completes the mission.

 

In terms of gameplay, this one has a new mechanic called Allied Support, completing operations allows you to call allies to help either attack enemies or defend you from pursuing aircraft. This is seriously OP and really fun to use against the enemy ace squadron, bunch of them show up, hold up on d-pad, all of them are gone now.  

 

Might be because I've been playing through the other games in the series but I remember the last battle being way harder, specially both tunnel runs, this time around both felt super easy.

 

Overall, it holds up well, still as good as I remember.

 

Grade: A+

[MetalCaveman]

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown

 

This is an interesting one, there's some stuff where it falls short, the story feels disjointed at times and it feels like a step back from 6 when it comes to some gameplay elements.

 

At the same time, knowing the development hell it went through, I'm willing to be a bit more lenient with some of these issues.

 

I did like the story, issues and all, the 444th Base and Spare Squadron are interesting concepts, specially with all other games having your character going from zero to hero, or just outright hero to legend.  The themes of AI and drone use in warfare are pretty timely.

 

Enemy Ace has the most ridiculous name ever though, Abyssal Dision seems like a perfectly normal name next to this one:

 

Mihaly A. Shilage, full name: Mihaly Dumitru Margareta Corneliu Leopold Blanca Karol Aeon Ignatius Raphael Maria Niketas A. Shilage. 

 

In terms of gameplay, while it does make sense for part of the story, I still miss Allied Support, even basic wingman commands are gone from this game, doubly annoying since allies are seriously nerfed, I watched a bunch of them actually land hits on enemy targets but still do no damage, add to that the amount of times you have to fight against several UAVs and it becomes the biggest issue in the game for me, thankfully, Ace Combat 8 seems to have fixed this.

 

The tunnel run was one of the hardest of all the games for me, had to retry several times, both 

Spoiler

approaching and leaving the space elevator.

Died more to that than to enemies lol.

 

Aircraft tree was interesting, I do prefer the older system though, mostly since you could sell unwanted/unused aircraft or special weapons when you unlocked one you actually wanted, this system involves a lot more grinding imo.

 

Overall, I liked it, it has some issues, it's rough around the edges, but it's still decidedly an Ace Combat game, and that's all I could ask for.

 

Grade: A

 

With this, I've now completed all the main AC games, there's still some time left before 8 though, specially since I have to wait for my physical copy to arrive, so maybe I'll try some of the other games in the series, I think Infinity is playable now, though it takes a bit of work to get it going, maybe the PSP games will be a better choice, then again, Neverness is getting a new patch soon, with new story chapters and a new area so maybe that one will consume my time until 8 is here.

[toxicitizen]

Control Resonant

 

I still have some side-content to clear in the post-game but I beat the main story today. Man, I have mixed feelings about this one. It was kind of a disappointment. On its own merits, it's a perfectly fine video game. A solid 8/10 that gets pushed to a 9 by virtue of being a Remedy game. The problem is that, well.. it's a Remedy game. I may have expected too much out of it.

 

Let's start with what I liked:

• This was marketed as an open-world game but it's really not. The map is split up into discrete zones each with their own themes and with linear paths connecting them. The structure isn't all that different from the first game. It's just spread outside instead of all being in the Oldest House.
• The art direction is absolutely fantastic. The world is like a cross between the dream sequences in Inception and the trippiest parts of the first Doctor Strange movie. It's really great.
• The combat. It's not the deepest combat ever but it's fun enough and there's enough room for customization that I was never bored with it even though it can get a little repetitive. And while the combat itself is a bit simplistic, in the greater context of the game it can lead to some seriously cool moments. Especially once you get the gravity shift ability. One time I was fighting a bunch of enemies and some new ones appeared on a rooftop that just happened to be perpendicular to the one I was currently on. I jumped and shifted to the other rooftop and started fighting those new enemies but the way the camera tracked me without readjusting made it look like going from 3D combat to top-down combat and that was just such a cool little moment.
• That Remedy touch: I mentioned the art direction but it's more than just that. Even the level design feels unique to them. I can't really put my finger on what it is exactly but running around this version of New York reminded me of both Alan Wake 2 and the Max Payne games. Their games just have that specific vibe in every aspect that makes them special to me. Which unfortunately brings us to...

Things that disappointed me:

• It feels like a Remedy game but it lacks what I've come to expect out of them. It never manages to reach the same highs as their last few games. There's nothing that comes remotely close to the Ashtray maze in this. There's really cool stuff spread out throughout the game but there's no singular set piece that really blew me away. There's one level out of the entire game that comes close but that's about it.
• The story: it's basically impossible to get into this without spoilers so all I'll say is this feels like a sequel to Control alone (and not a particularly satisfying one.) If that sounds like a weird criticism, well...

Spoiler

Alright, so Control had some Alan Wake easter eggs and eventually a full expansion that teased Alan Wake 2. Then Alan Wake 2 not only featured the FBC prominently but Ahti was there and there were also some direct allusions to Quantum Break and even Max Payne with the serial numbers filed off.

 

But then Control Resonant just has... nothing. There's a few mentions of Bright Falls in some documents and I did find one apartment with an Alan Wake easter egg while running around in the post-game but that's about it. No Ahti. Well, technically a tiny little bit of Ahti but it doesn't count. And the game's most heinous crime: as far as I can tell, no Old Gods of Asgards. I'm speechless...

 

But even beyond all that admittedly superfluous stuff, I found the game's story just deeply unsatisfying. The game somehow manages to tell its entire story while both ignoring the lingering questions from the first game as well as introducing some new ones it doesn't bother to answer either. The plot basically doesn't advance in any meaningful way. Why was the lockdown lifted? Why did Jesse do what she did? What's up with the Board? Why are they in the Gap now?? What's Aberrant and where did it come from? I feel like the first game handled all of these elements way better. Like, not everything needs to be fully explained, that's no fun in a game like this. But there's keeping things mysterious and then there's failing to provide any kind of meaningful context.

 

Also, they sideline Jesse but then don't actually do anything interesting with her. The little bits that do involve her feel so tacked on to the main story that it's almost like they were an afterthought because they were afraid people would complain if she wasn't in the game at all.

 

I can't help but wonder if this is because Sam Lake didn't work on this game. I don't like giving all the credit to a single person when games are made by teams but Lake wrote and/or directed the last few Remedy games and is the overall creative director for the studio. But Control Resonant is the first game in a while where he's not credited in any major creative role. 

 

So yeah, I have some thoughts on the game. I don't want to sound overly negative because I still think it's a pretty solid game. Basically all of my issues with it are because I'm a huge Remedy fan and I probably went into it with unrealistic expectations. They haven't announced anything yet but I kinda hope they have DLC plans that will address some of this stuff because after how great their last two games were, being disappointed with a Remedy game was the last thing I expected...

[toxicitizen]

So, I've been playing with the Steam Frame for a little over a week now and I've finished a few short games but I wanted to wait a bit longer until I finished a meatier game to also post impressions on the Frame itself.

Superhot VR

This was one of the first games I tried on the Steam Frame and it sold me on the whole VR thing pretty much instantly. This and Beat Saber were the two games that immediately made me go:

 

 

Punching a dude, grabbing his handgun in mid-air and using it to shoot the other two dudes behind me was insanely fun in the original game but doing it all physically in VR for the first time was basically the coolest thing ever. It's kinda wild that this was originally conceived as a flat game because it's so perfect for VR. I really wish it wasn't so short because it's so insanely fun. I wanna keep playing it forever.

Accounting+

 

I remember seeing a trailer for this years ago and really wanting to play it. It's not a game so much as an "experience", I guess? Whether you enjoy it will mostly depend on how much you enjoy Justin Roiland's voice acting and style of humor. And also whether you actually want to play anything that involved him. There isn't much to say about it without just spoiling the whole thing. It's a bunch of loosely-related comedy segments, most of which involve people telling you to go fuck yourself. It requires some fiddling with Steam Input to get it to work on the Frame, though.

 

Moss: Book I

 

This is the one game that felt like it could've been a flat game without losing much. Which, they did release a flat version although it sounds like that couldn't save the studio from shutting down, sadly. Obviously, playing it in VR and being able to stand up and look around the environment adds some charm but it's otherwise a fairly standard puzzle platformer. It's also cute as hell. I'll definitely play Book II at some point.

 

Arizona Sunshine Remake

 

This is a game that I've seen pop up on Steam often and I always dismissed it as yet another generic zombie shooter. But I got it from a Humble Bundle of VR games that I bought in anticipation of the Frame, so I figured I'd give it a shot and it's actually pretty fun! This is pretty much exactly what I expected a proper VR game to be.

 

The remake improves the graphics but also backports a bunch of improvements from the sequel, including realistic reloading. The latter is optional but imho it was such a crucial aspect of what made the game special that I can't imagine playing without it. Having to manually eject the empty clip, grab a fresh one from your belt, insert it and manually chamber a round is just inherently satisfying to do. But then having to do it while facing a horde of zombies just turns the whole thing into such a stressful experience. Especially when you just picked up a new gun and realize in the middle of combat that you have no idea how this one works.

 

The one issue I had with it was the checkpoints. They could've been more generous with them. Having to replay the same sections over and over because you can't get past a particular encounter can get frustrating after a while. Especially since the horde sections can feel kinda bullshit sometimes. I don't know if the game was balanced towards co-op or what but there were a few sections that I got really stuck on.

 

Also, in contrast to Superhot, they're currently working on a flat version of the game and it's kinda baffling to me because that would basically remove everything that made the game interesting and actually turn it into yet another generic zombie shooter...

 

As for the Steam Frame itself, so far my experience with it has been very good. I haven't tried running games locally on it but streaming from my desktop with the dongle works really well. I've had a couple times where a game disconnected or the connection wouldn't activate but unplugging and replugging the dongle usually fixes it.

 

I can't compare it to other headsets but as my first VR headset I'm pretty happy with the purchase. It's particularly great if you're like me and already have an extensive Steam library. I already owned a bunch of games that had VR support and grabbing a few bundles of VR games over the summer in anticipation of the Frame meant I had a pretty sizeably library of stuff to play from day one. There's also VR mods for a bunch of games and even just playing games in flat mode via streaming from desktop. And apparently it's possible to run Quest exclusives on it, so I can eventually look into that too.

 

The one major downside is the price and, yeah, it ended up being way pricier than I was hoping for. But that was expected considering the current state of things. And when the main alternative is the Quest, the Steam Frame is a no-brainer for me. It's more expensive but can you really put a price on not giving money to Zuckerberg?

[TheMightyEthan]

Superhot was so great in VR, it's so disappointing that Superhot 2 has no VR mode.

[Thursday Next]

I completed Retropolis 2 the other day. Cool little robot noir detective puzzle solving game. Nearly finished Red Matter (another puzzle game with soviet vibes). Going on to Red Matter 2 next.

 

Kinda wish I Expect You To Die trilogy would come to PSVR2, but that seems a forlorn hope given that Sony have sold the patents and the whole thing seems dead in the water.

[MetalCaveman]

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve

 

GOTY, that's all.

 

Loved the soundtrack, it has what you'd expect, when the skies speak Latin and all that, but it also has some cool rock and metal tracks.

 

Played on PS5, the way it uses the adaptive triggers and the speaker is pretty neat, specially towards the end,

Spoiler

all this time you've been hearing Cope's voice through the controller speaker, but when he finally gets his peace and leaves to join the others, his voice now comes only through the tv.

 

That said [RAILGUN WARNING] is now a sound that will haunt my nightmares until the day oblivion claims me.

 

The fight against

Spoiler

Shadow 22 and company

 

was a bit annoying, but nothing that would detract from the overall experience for me.

 

Story was great, the moment when

Spoiler

you're about to go against Moon 11/Tewy and Cope says

 

"These skies belong to you Rex. Go take what's yours."

Got a very loud HELL YEAH from me. \m/ \m/

 

Overall, yeah, this is my GOTY, easily.

 

Grade: S

[TheMightyEthan]

Control Resonant

 

This game was great, though I do think a little of the shine is wearing off the FBC. A big part of their appeal is all mysterious weirdness, and the more you're exposed to it the less effective that is. I think the FBC would be better used like in Alan Wake, as an organization that shows up on the periphery of other stories, rather than being the focus themselves.

 

That said, game is still great.

 

Grade: A

 

 Ace Combat 8 

 

I don't have much to say about this game besides that it fuckin rocks. There was one boss fight that sucked, but other than that no notes.

 

Grade: A+

[MetalCaveman]

Roswell Conspiracies: Aliens, Myths and Legends

 

A PS1 game that as a kid, I never finished, even though I liked the cartoon, the opening area was way too creepy for me lol.

 

Even now, it's still quite creepy, the music, atmosphere, sound effects, it holds all up, even if the gameplay hasn't aged that well.

 

Overall it was fun, except for a few really frustrating levels, specially one towards the end, thankfully the game took mercy on me and the last boss bugged out, it just stood still while I blasted it to bits, after the annoyance of the previous level, I was glad the last boss was that easy.

 

I also learned that the original cartoon is available on tubi, so I might check it out, see how if it holds up lol.

 

Grade: B-