Finished Jan 11, 2020

I had put off playing this game for several years because we all know From Software games are notoriously hard. Having played Dark Souls, I figured I could do it, but wasn't really up for the challenge until my good friend who was playing this game came to visit and we fired it up. I got hooked and became obsessed. The game really is phenomenal. With the addition of the Chalice Dungeons, it really adds a whole new dimension that Dark Souls didn't have and I really dig it. If you are like I was and weren't ready to give it a chance, don't wait any longer, just do it!

Finished Jan 15, 2020

2nd playthrough. Seems like there won't be a Darkness III from what I can tell, which is a bummer because of the ending of this game definitely left me wanting more.

Finished Jan 18, 2020

This was my first SMT game, and it was pretty solid overall. Navigating the dungeons and maps was frustrating sometimes. I am typically the completionist type who does all the side quests, but in this game it seemed to be a lot more work than reward, so I skipped most of them. Being a Persona fan, there was a lot familiar here and I did like the darker tone from this series. I expect I will most likely play at least one more entry in the series, and probably SMT V if it ever comes out.

Finished Jan 20, 2020

Somehow this game was not on my radar growing up, despite being very familiar with Illusion of Gaia. I liked that it was more simple and I really liked how the game was organized and progressed. It was easy, which was fine with me. The use of magic with the floating orb around you was pretty cool too. I know I would have loved this one growing up if I had played it.

Finished Jan 27, 2020

This is my fifth entry beaten in the series. I enjoy this series, so I thought it would be good to work through and beat all of them, so naturally I chose to play the first entry. I chose the GBA port unfortunately, as I was familiar with that one. I wish I had played the PSX version though and got all the extra stuff that came with it. Overall, this was by far my least favorite in the series, which isn't surprising since it's the first game. The dungeon puzzles were a bit more work than I was looking for, and coupling that with combat where you can get stuck in between enemies and die easily, I was frustrated at times. I'm glad I powered through and finished it. If you are a fan of the series and haven't played it, it's solid enough to be worth your time.

Finished February 17, 2020

I'm still processing how I feel about this game. I am sure I would have loved it I had played it back when it came out. It has a lot of the components that make up old-school RPGs, but that also comes with a lot of crap. The game is buggy as hell, even with the 1.4 patch, my game would crash often enough to question whether I was going to be able to finish it. I thought the game was difficult in the beginning, but once you get all the Fate Cards, the game becomes easier as you combine these Fate Cards to handle any situation. I usually rely on magic/MP to heal myself in most games, but that is hard to do in this game. You can straight up buy items that fully heal health and core energy, and by the end of the game they are not that expensive. It's hard to recommend this game at this point in time because of the bugs and crashes, and just how long and drawn out all the dungeons and battles are. The whole game just moves very slowly. I thought the story was solid, the voice acting was surprisingly good, and I really liked the art style. I'm glad I stuck it out and finished the game.

Finished February 20, 2020

This was one of my favorite games growing up and really the only puzzle game I have ever gotten into. When a bounty came up for it, I had to dig it out and play it. Still a blast!

Finished February 26, 2020

Far Cry hasn't changed its formula much, and I am okay with that. The operators were a great new feature. Otherwise, it's pretty standard Ubisoft open-world. I like where it went in the end, otherwise the story and setting was forgettable.

Finished February 29, 2020

I've been playing Pokemon for decades, and this new direction for the series was not a disappointment. I felt like there was enough new Pokemon added and the Wild Area is a great new feature that I enjoyed going back to again and again. I am curious to see what Game Freak does with the DLC coming.

Finished March 6, 2020

I played this series in the strangest order. Typically, people start with this game, but for me it was last. I wish I had played them in the order they released - I think I would have enjoyed the later games more if I had. Despite that, Shadow Hearts is a fine game that made me nostalgic despite never having played it before. While I still think Covenant is the best game in the series (it was also my first), I think this is a must play for anyone who is a fan of PS2 era JRPGs. The Judgment Ring is a bit more frustrating in this game, so I don't know if I would ever replay it because of that, but I am glad that I finished the game and completed the entire series.

Finished March 7, 2020

I was on the fence about Limbo, but it was good overall. I was looking for something short to play and I have always heard good things about this game. I liked the design/atmosphere of the game. I am not biggest fan of puzzle platformers, so I definitely got frustrated at times, especially when I knew what to do, but struggled to make it happen. Thankfully, the short length of the game kept me motivated to finish it.

Finished March 8, 2020

Arms is a good time. My favorite thing about the game is the catchy music that amps me up! I could see this being great for when you have a buddy over to play games. I didn't dig in enough to unlock a lot of the weapons/arms, but it was fun for the limited time I put into it.

Finished March 17, 2020

I had high hopes for Terranigma. Having played Soul Blazer a few months ago, and remembering Illusion of Gaia from my childhood, I thought for sure Quintet would deliver the most deep game of the series by the third installment. Maybe it is the deepest, but I was disappointed that there wasn't more from a systems perspective. The magic system was never explained in the game at all, and you couldn't use magic in the big boss fights either. I do like where the story went, and thought this and some of the more advanced visuals were impressive. Overall, I was a bit disappointed; I did not have that much fun with the combat.

Finished March 21, 2020

DOOM (2016) is still great. A fun time. I wasn't planning on buy Doom Eternal at launch, so the next best thing is playing the first game again!

Finished March 23, 2020

I am becoming a fan of the Castlevania series. I enjoy playing the games that have RPG elements. This is my third game in the series, and I would say it would also rank as third from what I have already played (SOTN and Aria of Sorrow). I plan to complete the GBA series.

Finished March 28, 2020

This game was a lot of fun. The world is cool, the art style is great, and the combat is fun. The only issue I had was the limit on upgrading your Legions due to rare items. I would have love to grind a bit more to get my Legions fully upgraded instead of being limited by items earned through quests that I didn't even know were available. Definitely recommend this one!

Finished April 10, 2020

This game was exactly what I wanted. Combat that wasn't insanely hard. I tend to grind a lot, but I actually barely did that in this game. The bosses were always a higher level and sometimes they were harder than I expected. I found it worked well for me. I really enjoyed the art style (of course) and the music. My favorite part was the kingdom building simulation. I enjoyed collecting all the new citizens and putting them to work on the research tasks. This was a fun experience that had a great gameplay loop and pacing that I became obsessed with. The game took me around 42 hours to complete, but I definitely left it running when I wasn't really playing to accumulate resources. I think my in-game clock was over 90 hours.

Finished April 25, 2020

Finished May 15, 2020

Finished May 30, 2020

Finished June 12, 2020

Finished June 13, 2020

Finished June 28, 2020

Finished July 7, 2020

Finished July 8, 2020

Four Job Fiesta - Black Mage/Summoner/Bard/Oracle

This was my third FJF run, and it was a lot of fun! I was a bit worried when I didn't get any physical classes, but it ended up not mattering much. I struggled a bit here and there, but overall it was fairly easy to take on the challenges of the game with what I had. I look forward to the next run!

Finished July 14, 2020

Finished July 19, 2020

Finished August 13, 2020

Finished August 24, 2020

Finished August 29, 2020

Finished September 2, 2020

This gameplay loop was super addicting to me. I haven't been this obsessed with a game in a long time. I'm glad it took less than 20 hours. It was just the right length and difficulty. I went in with low expectations and found something I really enjoyed!

Finished September 13, 2020

Finished September 29, 2020

Finished October 10, 2020

Finished October 12, 2020

Finished November 19, 2020

Finished December 14, 2020