22.Hokkaido Serial Murder Case (PC-88)
I finally played the sequel to one of my favorite games ever, The Portopia Serial Murder Case, and it was pretty good. …but not as good as I thought. I enjoyed it, appreciate it for its historical importance in adventure game mechanics, but it does lead to a game design that’s still finding its feet. This is in comparison to Portopia which was a streamlining of parser adventure games, this game feels like a step back. I might’ve had a better time if I played the later, more well-known Famicom or PC-98 versions which apparently improve the game. Alas, I did not, but despite my issues with it, I still had an overall good time, enough for it to barely make the list. Wonder how the third Yuji Horii adventure game is.
21.Aladdin (SNES)
A good platformer that easily clears the Genesis version. While the Genesis version looks better, it plays much much worse(actually one of the worst games I played this year). Readability matters so much in platformers, and SNES has that with its ‘to the point’ level design.
20.Silent Hill (PS1)
Mostly toured through this game with an infinite health cheat since I wanted the atmosphere more than anything else. One surprising thing I had heard before but didn’t fully hit until I played, so many of the enemies feel kind of out of place for this game lol
19.Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (PC-88)
With this and Dezeniland, Hudson Soft truly has some of my favorite early Japanese adventure game art. They’re colorful and cute, and this time the narrative is a little more involved than “find this item”.
18.Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch)
Don’t have much more to say than it feels like what I thought a 3d kirby game would feel like.
17.D-Pad Hero 2 (NES)
(Image source: https://dpadhero.com/Screenshots.html)
I remember playing this a lot of internet NES emulators years ago and finally felt like going back to finish it. A fun rhythm game with just two flaws, one not real and one real: 1: I want more songs! 2: Why is the select button used?!?!?
16.Gravity Rush (PSV)
Played this soon after getting a Vita over a decade ago but never finished it. Now I finally have and it was shorter than I thought. The gravity mechanics really carry it when the mission design is mostly fine. I have higher expectations of the sequel based on what I heard.
15.Resident Evil 4 (Original) (PC)
I used to be too scared to play this and now went through it like it was nothing! It’s a classic for a reason, but it’s too long!
14.Muv-Luv (PSV)
Was a little worried going into this considering I did not like the other Age games I’ve played. Turns out it’s just a solid harem comedy! It’s tightly written and more consistent compared to their other games. And considering I haven’t played Unlimited or Alternative yet, I can sit back and relax knowing that a lighthearted comedy is all it will ever be…
13.For whom the frog bell tolls (GB)
Essentially a Zelda game with automated combat and a cute story. The puzzles were on average easier than a Zelda game which is good for me since I’m usually terrible at them.
12.Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty (PC)
This one I thought I’d play for a few hours then drop and instead I kind of just kept playing until I finished. Has the Team Ninja thing where I refuse to engage as little with the mechanics as possible because I think they’re annoying, and it let me do more so than Nioh.
11.Princess Maker 3 (PS1)
I always said I needed to play a Princess Maker game and this year I finally did! I feel like I’d say the same thing if it were 1 or 2 I played instead, but its raising sim mechanics are great for abstracting narrative just enough so you can bring your own interpretation to events without requiring the mountains of text that’d be required to make those interpretations explicit
10.June 1998, Sydney (PC)
(Image Source: https://kastelpls.itch.io/june-1998-sydney)
Yuri interactive fiction that stabs deep and quickly in under 500 words. Link to play the game
9.Shenmue (PC)
Builds a strong connection to its setting in requiring you to spend time, whether that’s talking to locals to move the main plot forward, doing that forklift race every work day, or just practicing your fighting moves in the park. It forces you to slow down and be in the environment, a nice contrast with Ryo’s desires in the narrative and shows how much he is truly throwing away in this revenge quest.
8.Mega Man Legends (PS1)
The PS1 era seems to have had many devs look to the closest example of game design that could fit 3d: dungeon crawlers. There’s so many PS1 games that are just dungeon crawlers with real-time movement/combat and I want it back so bad!
7.Fate/Samurai Remnant (PC)
I like Musou games. I like Fate. This is a pretty good one of both of those.
6.Psychonauts 2 (PC)
Cute and funny, though the tone changes from the original really shows how much time has passed. It was nice to spend more time with these characters again. (Note: Just noticed I did a ranking not long ago where I put Shenmue above this. Shows how quick my opinions can change over time lol)
5.Final Fantasy VIII (PS1)
Literally the first Final Fantasy I ever played, before I could even read text in games, one of the games that has been on my backlog the longest. It still is so strange to me to have the whole game in my head now when for so long it was just the opening hours in the school due to the lack of a memory card. Also, that ending was shockingly good, I didn't think it would hit as hard as it did.
4.Armored Core: Master of Arena (PS1), Armored Core: Project Phantasm (PS1), Armored Core 2 (PS2), Armored Core (PS1), Armored Core 2: Another Age (PS2)
These are all being bunched up into one entry because I played them pretty much in a row. I wanted to play Armored Core VI, but I thought I should go back through the earlier ones first. This was a good choice. They are listed from least best to best, with Master of Arena being least best and Another Age being best. I’m not the biggest fan of the arena battles whereas Another Age’s direct mission structure just gave me exactly what I wanted out of an Armored Core experience.
3.Poinie's Poin (PS2)
(Image Source: https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/scale_medium/9/97089/2935356-13398_front.jpg)
Found this while looking through random PS2 games with my girlfriend, and within minutes we knew we had to play through the entirety of this. Feels totally in line with games of the era like Katamari Damacy, though the puzzle gameplay is a little rougher than that. Showed me why it’s still worth looking through random games, you never know what you’re going to find. (Note: Despite only being released in Japan, the game is completely in English: voice acting, text, everything!)
2.Witch on the Holy Night (Switch)
Might be the most visually stunning visual novel I’ve ever played. Also the only Type-Moon VN I could recommend without any caveats to pretty much anyone. The only sad part is that we may never get the next 2 parts, or if so, potentially not in VN form. Oh well…
1.Butterfly Soup 2 (PC)
Butterfly Soup is one of my favorite games of all time, and this was just as good, if not better. Will need to stew on that one for a bit. Really comes down to that in both of these games I see so much of the people I grew up with, only presented in a softer manner than real life.