On: Nintendo 64

This, I believe, is the third time I've gone through and completed Banjo-Kazooie, and it probably will not be the last. I've loved this game since I first played it so many years ago, as it scratches multiple itches I have in regards to platforming, mass collection, and incredibly endearing characters. There's a reason the pre-finale quiz game is such a breeze whenever I play it, and that's because I love it (and playing it a few times prior certainly helps). In fact, I think when the time comes for me to do my first speedrun for the site, I'll try and make it a 100% run of Banjo-Kazooie, see what I can do there. This definitely, in all cases, includes the Stop 'n' Swap items for me, which since they were never fully implemented, are the only times that I ever use the game's cheat codes. Having the items, even if through cheating, feels like a miracle that was never meant to be. All in all, fantastic game!

On: Nintendo Gamecube

I'm glad I finally got around to completing this again, because as of the last time I played through this, I remembered not liking it so much. In my memory, there were a lot more missions involving cleaning things up off the ground then there actually are, and the ones that are there (such as the manta ray level) are among my favorite levels in the game. I chalk this up to being a kid and finding mechanics that I considered new in my Mario game to be strange and tedious. The main trouble with this run was the blue coin hunting, as they aren't always that easy to find. The good part about that is, though, is that there is of course a set amount of them (240), and there is a running counter to refer too so you can see how close you are to finishing your collection. Just make sure you don't trade them in until you have them all, or the counter will be depleted by increments of 10 for every Shine you get in exchange for them. Not one of my favorite Mario games, but it was way more enjoyable than I remember, and the new mechanics are not nearly as bad as memory serves.

On: PlayStation 4

What a great game, I definitely consider this the best AAA title that released last year. The most annoying part of completing the game was probably the Benchmark aspect to it, with many of the items on the list not even nearing completion by the end of my first playthrough. I went through NG+ mode with the different Benchmarks I needed to complete in mind, and still couldn't get them all done until post-game. Getting gold rank on all of the challenges wasn't even that difficult, it really was the Benchmark's that were my least favorite aspect. Unfortunately, there aren't even any trophies for accomplishing this feat.

On: PlayStation 4

This game has received a lot of flack from fans of the franchise, and I understand why. The writing, as stilted and expository as it is, has always been that way with no improvement. However, there are threads that are opened (such as with Maleficent and Pete), that are seemingly dropped without even the slightest bit of payoff. Additionally, the game is extremely easy compared to other iterations I've played in the franchise. It took only a week to complete the game 100%, and I started off playing on the hardest difficulty in order to try and get a difficulty based trophy quickly. Only one secret boss as well, which is pretty easy, and all together the game is focused more on trying to close Sora's story as quickly as possible. A few things were added in to vary gameplay (Hidden Mickey's, the pirate ship mechanics), but there are combat based things like the Colosseum which are no where to be found, perhaps replaced with the far easier combat areas. The truest problem is that the game feels hollow.
Olympus Colosseum has two cool secret-type things in it, the ability to collect a piece of armor by collecting a series of Hercules dolls, and the ability to collect a unique shield by completing a puzzle in the Olympus Forge, which can be considered hidden. It feels like more care was put into building the Olympus world than was put into other areas (though they all look beautiful), and more care could have been taken to make the worlds feel like there are things outside of standard gameplay to explore.
Lastly, a minor gripe, I wish the summons added were characters new to the franchise. Wreck-It-Ralph and the Dream-Eater are newcomers, with the other summons just being repeat characters, even with this being Ariel's first time as a summon. Believe it or not, a large draw to the Kingdom Hearts games are the Disney elements and people are always looking forward to what will be included. New characters not used before, perhaps even obscure entries, would've been appreciated.

On: Nintendo Switch

This is a nice little game, and I completed it in an extremely short amount of time. I can't say that there was any outside draw to it other than how cheap it was, because the main reason I got it was because I had Nintendo Store coins and was looking for cheap puzzle games and, well, there you go. The manipulation mechanics feel directly inspired by Braid, with the ability to go forward and reverse time based on movement, and with certain objects either being affected by it or not, depending on what context they are used in. The story wasn't entirely clear, it seemed primarily about two youngsters who live next to each other growing up. At times it made it seem that the story was going to be about them growing apart over time as well, though that never really happened and, well, hence my confusion as to the point of it. Overall, not a bad game, but definitely on the short side and I don't know if I would pay regular price for it based on what it gave me.

On: PlayStation 3

Finally, after starting and stopping this train-wreck 4 times since I first got the game years ago, I finally committed to starting a new game, playing through all the campaigns, and getting every Soleanna Coin and S Rank that can be obtained. And why did I do this? I honestly could not tell you.
Maybe it was some form of Stockholm Syndrome, or maybe it was more so all the time spent getting well acquainted with the game while playing it, but I could begin to see past how terrible it was and see where it could've succeeded in a similar way to Sonic Adventure 1 & 2. The mach segments are the bane of most player's existence, but it isn't a terrible concept or idea in and of itself: Sonic runs fast and people tend to like it when he does go fast. The segments just have too much going on and are riddled with the same game-breaking bugs that everything else has. The same can go for the ball puzzle with Silver, having a puzzle utilizing Silver's force push isn't awful, but if it wasn't broken and was something that was used throughout his campaign, it wouldn't be awful. The worst part about it is probably the fact that the number on the ball drains out of nowhere sometimes because the game is broken to all hell.
As for the bugs, I can't place too much blame on those that programmed it; it's well known at this point that the game was rushed in development, which is usually a disaster story in the history of game development. But imagine if you couldn't control characters in cutscenes and accidentally kill them, imagine if the frame-rate didn't drop to 2 making Sonic the slowest thing alive, just imagine that there weren't 5 grotesque human models used for everything. Maybe there's something wrong with me, but I wouldn't mind this game being remade someday, improving everything wrong with it but still keeping the core ideas. The story would still be strange and nonsensical, but I thought Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 had awful stories too and they can still be enjoyable. All I'm saying is, with the new movie coming out and Sonic's reputation being long gone (even with Mania), why not try and remake it? What's left to lose?

On: PlayStation 4

So, I actually completed this game last year within the week that it first came out, but for some reason I never added it on to Completionator, so I decided to just add it to this year's instead. The new God of War was an amazing game, and had I not played The Messenger last year, it would've been my Game of the Year pick for 2018. It's nice to see Kratos in a situation where his usual rage persona needs to be curbed at times in dealing with his son, as he isn't exactly sure how he should act as single-dad to this child. Another story beat I loved was the touch of adding hints at other mythologies by way of paintings inside of one of the dungeons, hinting at the possibility of future God of War games delving into things such as Egyptian and Celtic myths, which I would be all for.

For gameplay, it feels a bit more refined than the other God of War games, as even though the other games had special attacks and weapons to be used, God of War 2018 has the weapon perks, crafting for new armor and weapon hilts to be used in combat, and the ability (and sometimes the need) to switch between Kratos's sweet new Ax and his old Blade of Chaos, which both handle very differently. The being that the blades are much more fluid while the ax can be aimed and thrown to freeze enemies for a period.

Lastly, where completion is concerned, the hardest difficulty of the game is no joke, and the final Valkyrie battle had me tearing my hair out, but boy does it feel rewarding. Collectibles like Odin's Ravens I eventually used a guide to finish, whereas others like the "Lore Cabinets" as I'm calling them, were much simpler to find. My favorite part of the collection aspect to this game is that there are more Health/Magic Upgrade Chests than are necessary to get fully upgraded, so missing one or two is quite literally not a big deal for completion. Miss two chests in one dungeon? Its fine, chances are you can just make up for it in another dungeon later.

On: PC/Windows

From the creator of Pony Island comes another experience explicitly designed to mess with the very concept of playing a video game. Long have I been wanting a video game that actually manages to incorporate so many different genres of game into one, and I think this game handles that fairly well. You don't spend to long playing one particular style of game, so if you aren't a huge fan of it (i.e. turn-based strategy, like me), you won't stay there for two long.
As with Pony Island, the art style has stayed the same, though I don't think it works quite as well here. You are playing as multiple characters, most of which are decidedly human, even if they are game characters in-game (confusing), and so the art style looks more ugly than anything. In something like Pony Island, everything is represented as a demon/weird creature, so it isn't as noticeable. That really is my only gripe with it though.
As for completion, the a majority of them are fairly difficult/confusing without a guide. The hidden trophies especially, as some tasks can be way out there. The longest/most grueling would definitely be one which requires a ton of grinding in the RPG section, and it can be mind numbing when you consider this isn't a game that's really geared towards that style of play. While I do like this game, primarily for the story/meta-ness of it (which at the time was still relatively novel), I don't know that it really has any replayability to it.

On: PlayStation 4

I completed the vast majority of this game last year, when the game came out. However, due to circumstances out of my control, I didn't have a PS4 to play the game on for a while. I eventually came back to it recently, though, and finished up unlocking the secret sword in game, and unlocking the remaining extras, all of which were time-trial based or playing-on-easy-difficulty based.
For the game itself, it is completely faithful to the original, mainly due to the fact that it is still the same game with update graphics and a few unlockables. So, anything I say about this game now, will more than likely transfer to any playthroughs I do of the original and the PS3 release. I love this game. In fact, it's my favorite game, and I've been saying that for years. The controls can be frustrating, but I don't feel they're bad, just controls that need to be gotten used to. The cope is amazing, the music is beautiful, and the design and layout of the landscape is hauntingly magical. The ability to easily get lost in any game is usually not something that is viewed fondly, but in this instance, I love how open the world is. There are areas with incredibly lush greens, and others that are a desolate places with nothing but sand and rocks, and given that the story states this location as being a "forbidden land" does nothing but add to the feeling of desperation while playing. I could go on for paragraphs and paragraphs about why I love this game, but just play it. I really think that is the best way to grasp what makes this game great.

On: Nintendo Wii

Another instance of a game I enjoy that I’ve completed before, but again, that was before I had an account on this website to log my achievements in! New Super Mario is more of the same franchise that you’ve come to adore, and there isn’t anything inherently wrong with that, though there could’ve been improvements made to the game to make it more appealing. Such as, perhaps, some new enemies? The only one that comes to mind is the penguin, whose existence is only due to the penguin suit powerful that can be obtained. I don’t believe there are any new enemies really. The world bosses are just the Koopa Kids again too, which is frustrating purely coming from a design perspective, as Kamek enters these fights and does change up their battle tactics. So some originality does exist there.

The game’s difficulty curve I remember being enormous the first time I played it, with the Star World levels seeming near impossible to me. And one Star Coin in those levels could’ve taken me a whole weekend on and off of playing and getting frustrated before storming off. This time around, however, I very quickly was able to plow my way through the challenges that were presented, and I can probably attribute that to being older and more capable with a lot more “gaming experience” under my belt. I can’t say the game poses much difficulty for people playing through the core game, but the 100% completion can be a chore to those who perhaps aren’t as familiar with the platform we genre.

On: Nintendo Gamecube

I finally went through and completed what may be the rarest game in my physical collection: Cubivore. I've played it before, but was unaware as to how forgiving it could be post game, so I always put off trying to get 100% for essentially the same reason I have avoided going through and completing Metroid Prime: I didn't want to miss anything, but I also didn't really want to play alongside a guide. Of course, upon finding out that you could go back to areas after the fact, I decided I should go through with it, and of course used a guide post game so that I would know exactly where specific creatures existed in order to obtain them for the game's evolution system.

As for the game itself, it really is something special. There is probably a reason that one of the game's creatures was included as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee before the game had even been released (which was also true for a few Animal Crossing characters). The system of devouring different colored/patterned beasts around you in order to change your style of movement and attack adds an extra layer of planning to the game, and one that really rewards players with good foresight. It's important to strategize what colors you keep, what you rid yourself off, and doing so at the right time so that you can have the chance to save your transformation, meaning that you can switch to it whenever you like so long as you currently possess the correct number of limbs. It isn't often that we get games as unique and stylized as this that actually pull off their mechanics, but there you go. This is a game that I would gladly play again, and with the recent inclusion of a Cubivore spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, perhaps we can return to this game with an update or a new edition? Based on the original games performance on the market, I highly doubt it. Well, I can dream at least...

On: PlayStation 4

This is the shortest entry I have ever done, as I literally completed this game last year on Switch. I heard it was on PS4, and I just had to complete it again, but this time with the added benefit of trophies! The hardest trophy was the one that requires going through an underground dungeon before grabbing the candle, meaning the area is completely dark. Yeah, after about 30 minutes of that one I did have to watch a video in able to perfect it, but just seeing a video is not good enough, as there is some skill there. That is about the only difference I have between this post and the last though. I still love the game, and its still my favorite release of last year. And guess what, I'll probably have another entry for it next year when I play it on PC.

On: Nintendo Gamecube

I've had this game for quite a long time, but it took me a while to complete it because of the credits sequence. Destroying every letter in the credits sequence unlocks a secret character, but I was never good enough to do it. Of course, now that I'm older, I felt I would be able to do so and thus I started the game over. There are five secret characters to unlock, and that is really my least favorite aspect of the game. They involve absurd tasks like the aforementioned credits destruction, as well as other things like playing 100 versus matches and getting a cumulative amount of damage over time. These aren't normally annoying tasks in a game like this, but the rewarded characters are not at all worth it. They are all in-game enemies (that technically have appeared in the show, but they have no dialogue, generic attacks shared amongst all of them, and the inability to use items. Its honestly more of a punishment to unlock them than anything else. Overall, disappointing. Thankfully the core game is still relatively entertaining in short bursts.

On: PC/Windows

First thing is first: I LOVED The Cat Lady, and I have yet to actually play Downfall, though I do have it purchased and installed. In fact, I need to go back and play through The Cat Lady again and complete it for this site, as last time I played it was years before I had a Completionator account. Any ways, this game is the final entry in the Harvester Games trilogy (so they say, anyways), and... it's ok. I like it just fine, it managed to give me what I wanted storywise and connected itself to The Cat Lady in a way that I wasn't really expecting, as I thought they were using the term "trilogy" a lot more liberally than they actually were. Comparing it to The Cat Lady, I would say that Lorelai is not as suspensful or scary, but it is a lot darker in its tone, so do with that what you will. Additionally, there isn't a lot of back-and-forth between the real world and the world of The Queen of Maggots, which isn't a bad thing either. It gave me something with similar gameplay elements, but a different story. Wait, not just a different story, but a story that was structured in an entirely different way from The Cat Lady as well, which was appreciated. Completing the game is a bit of a nuisance, as if you miss any achievement it will require you to go back through and play again. ANY ACHIEVEMENT! This is due to the fact that Lorelai uses an Autosave feature (quite frequently I might add) that cannot be overwritten, and there is no means for a Chapter Select either, more than likely since actions in Chapter 6 effect outcomes in Chapter 7, and I guess it would be odd to have a select that excludes certain chapters.

Lastly, the game is still relatively new, but I must say - it needs to be fixed. My computer crashed 1 or 2 times, and another couple of times the game broke while I was playing it. Granted, the Autosave features happens so often that quitting and starting back up the application wasn't that big of a hassle, but still, it is quite a problem when you try to do a simple action and Lorelai moves through the floor, never to be seen again. Overall, I enjoyed myself, I think The Cat Lady manages to be a better game because it feels like there is more there in terms of gameplay and story, and it isn't broken either, but I don't think Lorelai should be written off at all. Now, I just need to play The Cat Lady again and to finally experience what Downfall has to offer.

On: PlayStation 3

This version I played came with trophies, as it was the downloadable version on the PlayStation 3 that came with the sequel game, Madness Returns! I do own a physical copy of the original game on PC, but it runs on an older OS and it was a pain to get it to install, and then it wouldn't start at all so I decided to play this one instead. With no collectables or challenges, it was fairly easy to complete. Just run through it and make sure that the game gets finished. There is something that has always unsettled me about early 3D games, though. Things clip more easily, it isn't hard for the game to break, and 2D textures will be pasted on 3D objects giving a jarring feels, and this game is no exception. It doesn't help that in an early stage of the game, you are shrunk down to fight insect creatures. The final boss of that area, the centipede, was awful and kept me running in circles while I tried to work up the courage to run up and hit him. I guess in a game like this, though, that works to the games advantage. It's meant to be either unsettling, disturbing, scary, or a mixture of all three. I don't know that I would ever go back to this game, but maybe if it got a remake with some trophies attached I could be persuaded to play the game again.

On: PlayStation 4

Now this is what I'm talking about. These are the things that I enjoy about Sonic games: bopping 16-bit music, inventive stages full of color, and acknowledgment of the franchise's history. Granted, a fair amount of the stages in this game are reused from prior games, primarily the first 3 Sonic games, but there are some pretty sweet stages that show up later on. My favorite is what I believe was called Mirage Zone, which was like an old western town. They mix it up in the beginning by having you fight enemies and navigate while riding atop Tails' biplane, and then during the ground section, Fang the Sniper shows up! Pair that with nice visuals and an awesome track, and that zone is easily my favorite in the whole of the game.

Speaking of acknowledging history, getting the plus version of the game allows you to also play as Ray the Flying Squirrel and Mighty the Armadillo, their first playable appearance together in a Sonic game since the Sonic arcade game in 1993 (though Mighty himself was last playable in 1995's Knuckles Chaotix). Not much really changes, and even the ending is almost exactly the same but with a sepia photo of Sonic, Mighty, Ray, and Tails getting drinks at the saloon in my favorite zone. Lastly, my favorite addition to the game is the ability to collect medals from Blue Sphere stages, with silver being for finishing the stage, and gold for collecting all of the rings in the stage before finishing it. It took a while, but I never got sick of playing through it because I love Blue Spheres. Ok, maybe I got a little motion sick, but I wasn't tired of playing the bonus stages. My one complaint is that this game didn't have any bonus stages similar to those within the first game. I never liked them, and perhaps that's why we've never seen them make a comeback, but maybe its time to bring them back and update them to make them better.

On: PlayStation 3

The followup to the original Alice game that I played not too long ago, and I have to say it is much better. That is to be expected with sequel games, though it obviously isn't always the case. The pros on this version is simply that there is so much more. There are collectibles by way of memories, pig-snouts, and bottles, there are new permanent weapons that can be used with different functions behind them, and you can collect teeth (yes, teeth) in order to upgrade these weapons. Not to mention there's a lot more of Lewis Carroll in this game as well. The Griffin and the Jabberwock are the only Alice in Wonderland creatures not returning from the first game (though I did spot a reference to the Jabberwock in the Doll world), but we still get the tea party trio, the Mock Turtle, and The Cheshire Cat, among others. Even the Walrus and the Carpenter get an appearance, although it seems a little disjointed compared to the rest of the game.

The trophies weren't anything too difficult, the hardest one being just finding all of the hidden collectibles. The trophy for completing the game on the Nightmare difficulty I would save for another playthrough unless you are overly confident, because while I usually play on the hardest available as soon as I get the game, I couldn't even get passed the Hatter's Domain until I did Nightmare difficulty in New Game Plus mode with upgraded weapons. Of course, that was just me, so I'm sure others would be fine. Additionally, there is a trophy to playthrough the whole game while using Alice's Hysteria mode no more than once. This is very easy to miss in your first playthrough if you aren't aware of its existence, so keep that in mind. Essentially, I really did end up liking this game, and if there was anything to complain about, I only wish that the Lobster Quadrille could have been included to some degree.

On: PlayStation 4

The remake of Spyro is, in fact, the first time I have ever played this game. Actually, I have never played any of the original trio of Spyro games up to this point. I've played one on the GameBoy Advance and a little of A Heroes Tail on the Gamecube, but that is it. So, how was my first time playing this game? Pretty good, honestly. I thought this was a great game, it shares a very similar vein to Banjo-Kazooie in that the game is essentially built around collecting things, just in a slightly different way. Here, you are tasked with freeing the Elder Dragons from Gnasty Gnorc, who has encased them all in crystal across the Dragon Realms. There are also a couple of dragon eggs to save and there are gems to gather in all of the worlds. Rather than a normal coin/rupee system with the games, they instead are of a finite number that get tallied up and added to your completion rate, similarly again to the musical notes in Banjo-Kazooie. I know this style of game where you go around collecting everything you see has fallen out of vogue, but I'm still a huge fan and I wish they would make more of a comeback, not just in remakes but in the form of original IP's. Kind of like Yooka-Laylee, but not so big that it becomes frustrating like in YL. Nothing was particularly difficult about the challenges of the game or the trophies that I had to obtain, it was just overall a good time.

On: PlayStation 4

Time to take something familiar and mix it up a little. Now, this game follows a lot of similar beats to that of the first Spyro game, and not a lot of mechanics change, however there are a few notable things different. Firstly, there are powerup gates in this game that can be used to gain collectible orbs that count towards completion. They add some variety to the game and I don't mind them at all. There is a system where you learn new things throughout the course of the game, though like climbing ladders and swimming underwater. Oh yes, that's another things, you don't die when touching water in this game. Anyways, this system is normally fine, but it introduces a Metroid aspect to the game I've never been too fond of, where you have collectibles in earlier levels that are not obtainable until much later in the game, and then you have to backtrack. At least you can fast travel to levels via the pause menu, so there is that. It isn't as convoluted as it could be.

My biggest complaint (I know this is a remake so it was present in the original game, but still) is the introduction of the new character Moneybags. I actually enjoy the character himself, as he's a pompous windbag that likes gems... mainly yours. The thing that annoys me isn't him, but rather the fact that he takes your gems in order for you to learn new moves, unlock parts of areas, etc. The thing is, when you do this in a collect-a-thon style game, and have a gameplay element that involves losing some of what you are collecting, it gets hard to keep track of thins. Granted, the top of the pause menu has a cumulative gem counter, but it's annoying to have two separate counters for the same thing, and the counter that is more important to me overall is stuck at the top of the pause menu. Not to mention the very idea of giving up the very thing you've spent your time collecting is a little obnoxious. Thankfully, these are more minor grievances than anything else. and the game was still for the most part enjoyable. Again, challenges and trophies weren't much hassle, though I'd advise finishing the game and getting the permanent super fire upgrade before attempting the no-hit boss runs. It's definitely possible to do those challenges without it, but there's no denying that they become much easier.

On: PlayStation 4

This has to be my least favorite of the Spyro games I've played up to this point, but entirely in the experience. There's a lot here to like, and the gameplay doesn't change up that much from what we have already been offered in previous two Spyro games. However, the "sportsy" challenges here I loathe. I remember being worried in Spyro 2 when the hockey game was introduced, but thankfully it was limited to that one area and so I sighed in relief. This game has them around almost every corner. Race here, snowboarding here a boxing minigame with skillpoint challenge attached to it. It became infuriating. And I can't say I was too big a fan of any of the playable side characters introduced, though I'm sure they could've been much worse and I appreciate the brief changes in mechanics.

The main thing here is that the performance of this game was quite horrendous. This is, of course, only being said of the remastered version, as those are the only ones I touched here. However, as indicated by this stack, I clearly just played the other two remastered Spyro games prior to this and they were fine with no issues. In Year of the Dragon, everything kept slowing down with would require an application restart, and none of the racing segments felt like they controlled all that well at all. I feel like I might actually enjoy the original version of this game if the performance is ok, but playing the remaster here was a huge headache leaving me not even wanting to finish the core game at points.

On: Super Nintendo

I have played through this game and beaten it once before, on the Wii Virtual Console, but this is my first time going through and completing it (i.e. finding all of the secrets). Wow, this game has some cryptic stuff in it. In a game like Kirby, the background will fade off above pits that’ll kill you. But, if it’s a pit you can go down without dying, the background will continue on into the pit. DKC doesn’t really do that, it’s more about experimenting. Unfortunately, this make it really difficult to find secrets on your first playthrough unless you wait until you beat the game. You can only save at certain save points, so it isn’t always worth it to throw yourself into pits if it means you’re gonna have to go back quite a ways. Of course, occasionally you’ll see the top of a barrel to indicate there’s something down there, but those are really few and far between.

Now, that being said, I still do love DKC. The music is fantastic (Aquatic Ambience is my favorite), the graphics are great for a SNES game, and the gameplay is enjoyable. There are platforming sections that really test your reflex times, but there are also sections where you can reach Sonic levels of speed if you know how to use Diddy’s cartwheel move to your advantage. So many excellent aspects that make a near perfect game, this is definitely one I’ll play again in the future.

On: Game Boy Advance

There isn't a whole lot that can be said about this one, other than the fact that it is a game I played on long car rides to see my great-grandparents when I was a kid. I always thought it was an extremely difficult experience, an had a lot of trouble getting past the third world. That isn't to say I never did it. I do remember beating the game and holding on to that precious save for quite some time (until I at a later date got rid of all my GameBoy games and the device itself). But that was before I started collecting, so I finally had a chance to relieve a childhood experience and replay the game. And, well... it's incredibly easy.

This doesn't really come as any surprise, for the most part any game that you play as a kid is a lot easier when you play it as an adult. The first in the Frogger Adventures series is relatively simple to play and equally simple to complete. That, in all honestly, is due to the fact that beating the game IS completing the game, and it's a nice change of pace compared to what I've been playing through lately. That doesn't necessarily make it good though, especially since sometimes the controls can be a bit of a bother. I can't count how often I attempted to hop and the controls just wouldn't let me. The save system isn't the greatest either, with the played seemingly having to wait until clearing a whole world before being able to do so. I've played games with shoddy save systems before, but you think this would be better given the fact that it's a GameBoy Advance title. It's late enough in the timeline of video game history to warrant better save policy. I would say skip it, but the game took me roughly an hour and a half to fully complete, so you could not only play through it in a short amount of time, but complete it too.

On: Nintendo Wii

All I have to say really is that it’s a shame this franchise sort of died. There’s a second one that I have not yet played, but even if that one isn’t so good, this game is excellent for a Wii title that so heavily uses motion controls. Especially for someone that has OCD like I do, the idea of completing a game by relying heavily on a checklist for levels and coloring everything, the very concept of the game itself speaks to me. Granted, there are a few issues with the game that really put a damper on my experience while trying to complete.

Firstly, the very fact that you have to go about using motion controls for a fair amount of the gameplay make sense given the style, but can be a pain, especially the segments that require to shake it rapidly like a maniac in order to destroy Graydian buildings. Not to mention that fact that momentum can be a bit wonky at times, making jumping off of buildings tougher than it really should be. Finally, my biggest gripe is completing Level 9. There’s a collapsable bridge that you can’t return to without restarting, and there is a challenge in each stage to paint literally everything you can. If you don’t paint all the things on one side of the bridge before you cause it to crumble, you have to restart. And you waste time on the other side finishing the challenges, because you won’t know if you missed anything until it’s too late. I’ve heard rumors online of methods to cross the bridge without it breaking, but I tried for a while and couldn’t replicate this supposed bug, so I just plugged away at trying time and time again to do it legitimately. While I hated completing this game, I still love the core mechanics and the gameplay, and am really looking forward to de Blob 2 sometime in the near future (hopefully next year!).

On: Game Boy Advance

In similar vain to the earlier entry for the first Frogger’s Adventures, I had this one growing up and would play it on long car rides. However, unlike the first one, not only did I never finish this game, but I had completely forgotten I owned it until after I saw the opening cinematic (maybe slideshow would be more accurate). I had only gotten to I believe the third world in this game, but in a similar fashion I had played it growing up.

This game is only moderately better than the first, but is equally as easy to complete. There are actually optional collectibles in each stage, but they are pretty much just for accessing mini stages for harvesting extra lives. These stages aren’t shown anywhere as being “unlocked”, nor is there an ongoing tally for the cards collected that open these zone. Thus, they aren’t really collectibles in the meaningful sense, and aren’t need for completion. In fact, that being said, this game is completed the same as the first: beat the game. You beat the game, you complete the game. And if you are better at video games than 7 year old me was, you will beat this no problem in less than a couple of hours. It’s as simple as that.

On: PlayStation 4

Another instance of a game I’ve actually completed once before, but since I have a new account on PS4 and have began completions/playthroughs on this site, I figured I would do it again to begin October. Imagine, a whole month of nothing but horror games. Now, most importantly, is this game scary? Well, it can be at time, but it’s also the kind that grows on you the more you play. With having to go back through levels multiple times for completion purposes, you come to know the patterns of the monsters (or rather, monster) and can avoid them rather easily. The added prequel DLC is a little scarier, though, as at times the monsters chasing you can feel unpredictable, and in one instance I turned around in a room only to see it in the other room staring at me. It never came into the room, and I exited through another door as it watched me, but it was startling.

The primary difficulty of completing this game lies with the drawing collectibles you find throughout the various stages. There’s no indication of where they may be in a stage, so they require searching, and that’s fairly standard so no big deal. However, the lighting at times can make it hard to notice these drawings, and there are one or two instances where I had trouble finding one even with a guide just because it was too dark in the room I was searching. Thankfully, with the exception of most of The Forest and Alcohol Alley in The House, monsters aren’t actively chasing you so you can take your time searching for drawings for the most part. Added with the Enhanced Edition is Museum that House a book containing an in-depth history on the creation of the game, a room with all the drawings you’ve collected, and halls upon halls containing concept art and actual animated models for game assets. This includes things that were completely cut, including bosses and creatures. I’ve never seen a game do this before and it’s a wonderful addition to an already excellent game.

On: PlayStation 4

A game I was really looking forward to playing, yet never quite got around to it. I did end up watching a playthrough before playing, so I was aware of everything that occurred in the game before I got to it, but it doesn’t matter. The intrigue of the story and the mysterious environment not only pulls you in, but there is a certain interest that comes from the lore that is essentially held from you. Theory crafting abounds for the lore of the characters if you look for it, but the convoluted nature of FNAF has been avoided quite possibly because this game (and its DLC which I also completed) is all we have. There is a second game that should be released sometime in 2020, but there hasn’t been consistent output that keeps muddling things. And the beauty of it can also stem from the fact that there is an plot full of adventure, scares, and thrills independent of however the environment of The Maw came to be the way that it is. The tone and overall mode of everything in the game is truly what holds it up, causing the player stress and despair even when no threat is present. This, of course, is not even to mention how scaling effects the feel of the game as well. All enemies are larger than you substantially, in a very Shadow of the Colossus move, and there are shots were the camera frames itself just right so as to truly show how massive your surroundings are.
As for the gameplay, there isn’t much to it. You walk around and solve puzzles to progress, all the while avoiding the hulking monstrosities that want to corral, prep, and eat you. That isn’t a bad thing, cause as I said the environment sort of drives this game. And having puzzles to progress, while common for horror games, is usually the best format for them as it keeps you thinking while playing. The last of the DLC is heavily reliant on puzzle solving, with rooms branching off from a sort of hub, that being the living space of the game’s final boss, The Geisha. The best way to progress in this game is to jump everywhere, step on all platforms, and grab anything you can. Sometimes what you need can blend in fairly well with your surroundings and can leave you feeling stuck. All I can say is, I’m looking forward to sequel game coming out soon.

On: PlayStation 4

Layers of Fear has some great storytelling and does a good job at giving you atmospheric horror that is much more important than a jump scare here and there. That being said, the multiple endings aspect of this game is perhaps one of the best I’ve seen. Games (especially horror games) having multiple endings based on how or what you do is nothing new, but Layers of Fear has an ending you can get based entirely around going out of your way to get jump scares. For example, there is a segment of the game where you walk forward and turn a corner only to see your deceased wife slowly coming towards you from the end of the hall. First thing to note is that a collectable halfway down the hall on the floor towards her, so if you want it you have to approach this creepy specter which is already a great choice game wise. Back to the main point though, you can walk backwards and head the other way to avoid her which contributes in part to one type of ending. If you want the other ending though, you need to confront her any chance you get, so go up and get jump scared. I love that choice as it’s not like it’s inherently based on lore, it’s moreso based on always going after your wife and giving in to your madness, which gives you that sort of ending. Avoiding her is the natural response and successfully doing that gives you the “good” ending, overcoming your obsession. That fact that the ending isn’t just tied to decisions but also to gameplay (since walking around and avoiding IS the gameplay), I find this method extremely effective.

On: PlayStation 4

I’ll say at the top that this was a fun addendum to the main game, but the completion of it really sucked because there is a collectable item that you need to purchase that allows you to access an area for MORE completion, and it has dynamic cost as of my completing the DLC. Whatever amount of crystals in your inventory is exactly what it costs, so buy the item as soon as possible. Otherwise, you’ll go through the DLC accumulating crystals naturally, waste them all on the item, and then get to the secret area where you (guess what) spend crystals to buy models! I was mad at myself for the excess grind I had to go through after wasting it all on this wrench to get to the point where there were more things to buy. Obviously, this does not effect the main gameplay of the DLC, which as I stated was a treat, and most don’t care about stupid little models that I don’t think even have trophy associated with it, but completionists proceed with caution. Of course, the writing, sound design, and aesthetic of the game is just as fantastic as the original game itself, so I at least recommend that fans of The Messenger give this a playthrough

On: PlayStation 4

Was able to get to the direct follow up to Layers of Fear almost immediately after the first Layers of Fear (and now of course there is also the second one, which I’ll be playing next October). There isn’t much to say for this follow-up, as it just takes what we had with Layers of Fear and changes some puzzles. I will say it definitely doesn’t feel like there were as many opportunities to actually be confronted by something scary, there was one thing that kind of jumpscared me but I don’t even think that was intentional, the I just wasn’t expecting the character model for the dog to look the way it did. The one aspect that certainly sticks out in my mind for this game was the sort of childlike world that the daughter of the original protagonist can traverse. It’s like a storybook zone with everything drawn and colored in and you spend a good chunk of time here living through a metaphor comparing your father to the big bad wolf. It’s interesting in its conception and it’s just fun to explore this place while constantly avoiding this roaming creature that will take you down if you walk into its path. One of those DLC style follow-ups I’d say is worth the play!

On: PlayStation 4

I played this with a couple of friends some years back and did complete it, but this is my first time doing so for logging on Completionator.

On: PlayStation 4

This has to be one of the most stressful games I've ever completed. The concept of Slender itself is an unnerving one, but I've never found it overly frightening. There is always the possibility that he's behind you or will appear right in front of you depending on how far you've progressed in the game, but he's just a static figure that is relatively easy to avoid. Two segments specifically, the farm and warehouse, not only involve Slenderman, but his possessed child helper. This helper of his will track you down incessantly and rip you to shreds, making these segments feel like one of those bad dreams where you're running from a pursuing enemy and it feels like your running through molasses. What makes this worse is that there is a trophy for completing the warehouse level on the hardest difficulty (which requires twice the number of things to collect in the stage before progressing) and one for completing the same level in under 5 minutes. This is even worse when you consider the fact that the items that need to be collected are randomized, so you don't always know where everything is located while Slender is appearing across the map and his little buddy is hunting you down. And that's a little disingenuous too, because for the time limit trophy, the timer starts when you first start the level, and it takes almost a minute to get to the warehouse, so you end up wasting time just getting to the actual stage. Just a nightmare overall, but perhaps that's what they were going for.

On: PlayStation 4

The PS1 is the first console I ever had that was all my own. Technically Sega Genesis was My first, but my dad kept and used it himself as well. The PS1 got to be in my room and I collected various games for it and played a lot of the greats. Which is why I was surprised I hadn’t heard of this game until PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royals. I was even more surprised when it was announced it was getting remastered. Crash and Spyro made sense to me, but MediEvil? Suffice it to say, I had to play the remaster as soon as it came out. And so I did, and I completed it too, and I have to say it was a lot of fun. I didn’t know it was as “complex” a game as it was. Crash is pretty linear with some hidden secrets here and there (especially in 2 and 3), and Spyro, while having big open zones to run around in, is pretty easy to navigate too. MediEvil, though, has a couple of side-quests, a sort of hubworld you can get to after each stage is finished, and areas that have layers and different paths to them as well. It’s not like a Final Fantasy game or anything, but there’s more to it than I thought going in and that was a pleasant surprise. I certainly hope the second one gets remastered eventually, either way I’ll be working towards adding the first two PS1 games to my collection soon.