30 Day Video Game Challenge Thing.

[Glen-i]

Favourite Awful Game

Eh? What a weird catagory. It just contradicts itself. How can you like a game you think is awful?

But giving it a bit of thought, perhaps it doesn't have to be a game I actually played?

With that in mind, there's one obvious answer where no-one can deny it's awfulness, yet I managed to get hours of entertainment without even playing it myself.

Link: The Faces of Evil is a truly dreadful game for the equally dreadful Phillips CD-i. An absolute travesty that basically exists because of a loophole that allowed Phillips to use big Nintendo IP's.

I imagine it's one of the most unfun games to trawl through, luckily I'll never play it.

That grin from Link accurately reflects my own whenever I remember this game.

My word, the cutscenes are nothing short of amazing. Crappy animation, dodgy voice acting and a talking Link that even the TV version of Link would think was overacting.

At the height of it's memetic fame, I got hours of entertainment out of stupid edits people made that change the story. I genuinely believe that video editing memes like Steamed Hams owe their existence to the Zelda CD-i games.

That's probably my favourite picture that I use as a reaction, it works so well.

If you haven't, watch the cutscenes for this game, it's a cringefest in the best kind of way. SQUADALA!

You know what? I probably would have enjoyed BotW more if it looked like the CD-i games.

Yep, definite improvement.

[Cube]

2 hours ago, Glen-i said:

 

Eh? What a weird catagory. It just contradicts itself. How can you like a game you think is awful?

Sometimes you can get some enjoyment out of a game (especially if it's with friends) even if it's a broken mess, or would be otherwise quite dull of you tried to play it seriously.

 

Some people like using the term "guilty pleasure", but I don't think you should feel guilty for liking any (non-abusive) entertainment. That or "so bad it's good" (the first Deadly Premonition is the most infamous video game example of that).

[nekunando]

 

[Mandalore]

3 hours ago, Glen-i said:

Eh? What a weird catagory. It just contradicts itself. How can you like a game you think is awful?

I interpreted as a game you enjoy which is generally regarded as a really bad game based off reviews and/or popular opinion.

[RedShell]

Day 11 - Town or Village:

Kamurocho from the Yakuza series.

I'll go with the version from Yakuza 4 since that was my introduction to the franchise.

It's not a particularly large area (so I think it should be ok for this category ) and that's actually a good thing too as it allows for loads of variety in a relatively small space, with several buildings that can be entered and explored. Also, in the unlikely event that I visit Kabukichō someday at least I'll know exactly where I'm going thanks to having spent hundreds of hours memorizing the layout in the Yakuza games.

Day 12 - Favourite awful game:

Suppose this will have to be Wii Music.

While I certainly don't consider it to be awful (far from it ) there's no denying that the general consensus is on the negative side, and who am I to argue with IGNorant people that never even played it?

Spoiler

1. Earliest video game memory: Bubble Bobble in the late 80’s (C64)
2. Opening section of a game: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
3. Local multiplayer: Wii Sports (Wii)
4. Favourite villain/antagonist: Uncle Rupee from Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland (NDS)
5. 3D platformer: Super Mario 64 (N64)
6. Most relaxing navigation: Endless Ocean (Wii)
7. Favourite ranged combat: Time Crisis II (Arcade)
8. Best musical moment: I am Impact! from Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (N64)
9. Scariest moment: The entirety of Alien Isolation (PS4)
10. Credits sequence: MadWorld (Wii)
11. Town or village: Kamurocho from Yakuza 4 (PS3)
12. Favourite awful game: Wii Music (Wii)

[Will]

13 minutes ago, RedShell said:

Also, in the unlikely event that I visit Kabukichō someday at least I'll know exactly where I'm going thanks to having spent hundreds of hours memorizing the layout in the Yakuza games.

The real place is so much better - definitely try to visit sometime - it’s well worth it.

[Mandalore]

47 minutes ago, RedShell said:

It's not a particularly large area (so I think it should be ok for this category ) and that's actually a good thing too as it allows for loads of variety in a relatively small space, with several buildings that can be entered and explored. Also, in the unlikely event that I visit Kabukichō someday at least I'll know exactly where I'm going thanks to having spent hundreds of hours memorizing the layout in the Yakuza games.

I almost picked Sotenbori. I got Yakuza 0 after visiting Osaka on holiday, it was really cool seeing the main bits of Dotonbori recreated in a game. 

[Julius]

Feel behind with this last weekend and ended up having a week of chaos at work, so haven't really had the chance to get caught up until now. But better late than never, right?  to remain topical I'll cover my choice for Day 12, and then circle back around to cover the others (posting this on my phone so going to play it safe and post with Day 12, then update when I complete every other day, so bear with me!). 

Day 12: Favourite Awful Game

So, reading through today's responses, it looks like this has generally been interpreted as something considered a "guilty pleasure", and initially I came in to offer just that. However, I gave it a little more thought, and there is one series in particular which I want to throw onto this list. 

FIFA. 

EA's cash cow. Ultimate Team rakes in almost $1 billion on an annual basis through absolutely unnecessary microtransactions which leeches off its players, no matter how vulnerable they might be (in high school I had several friends who would spend hundreds of £'s per year on Ultimate Team). Its a game which looks great in promotional stills, but boy is the Frostbite Engine not at all optimised for a game like this - it never looks anywhere near as good as it does above. To the most recent iteration, FIFA 20, there are still tens of glitches which show up to this day which were present over five years ago! Worse yet, EA Sports has a monopoly on most of the major football licenses and brands, meaning that PES (by all means last time I played it a far better game) offers it very little competition these days. FIFA has a firm grip on the scruff of football fans' wallets, and most of us buy it yearly. 

I almost exclusively play Career Mode, and have done for years. It's an offline mode where you manage a team, taking care of transfers, playing football matches, etc. There are extremely light RPG elements to it, from selecting a training program for 5 of the 30+ players you have at your disposal on a weekly basis, managing player-manager interactions, agreeing new player contracts, etc. The main reason I moved over from PES was because of the transfer market being much more functional in FIFA. But EA just doesn't care for this game mode, and seem to want to do anything but support it (something which I feel like can be said for a lot of their larger IP's), and it's gone without any major update since FIFA 14, where it got much, much worse. They don't want to support it that badly that they go out of their way to make up a football player called Alex Hunter who was the start of a Story Mode for three games, and this time around we got Volta (effectively, they just threw in a FIFA Street gloss of paint over the game and put even less into the game this time around). Heck, the year that Women's Football came onto the game, after years of them being called to do it, they treated it like it was some groundbreaking feature. 

I could go on for pages about how bad FIFA is, it's a truly awful game, and the way that EA handles it is atrocious. And yet I buy it every year (albeit on sale at half price), only because it's a mindless game which I can just pick up and play no matter my mood. I put tens if not hundreds of hours into it every year (though I'm glad to say this has been coming down in recent years). Because of that it can easily be there through the good and bad times in your life. It's my Favourite (Absolutely) Awful Game. 

It should have been made a live, subscription service-based game years ago, but there's just too much money in it for them to ever consider that. 

Now to catch up on the other days I've missed...

Day 5: Favourite 3D Platformer

Haven't completed a 3D Mario before, though I've played a few hours of both Sunshine and Odyssey, but nothing substantial enough to really warrant me calling them my favourite 3D platformer. Same for games like Spyro and Crash. Also never touched Banjo-Kazooie...

...that being said, I do think there's one game which fits the 3D platforming bill, even if that's not the main focus of the game. 

Even though I knew what the "twist" was going into Journey, I still had a great time with it, and it's still one of the more fascinating experiences I've had in a game. Being limited to jumping around to interact with others, without being able to speak with them, provided a great experience in and of itself, never mind the excellent art style and transcendent soundtrack. Like I said before, it's light on the platforming, but it makes up for that in spades in my books by being such a unique experience. 

Day 6: Most Relaxing Navigation

It got mentioned a few times already, but I'd have to agree: for me, the most relaxing navigation found in a game that I've played so far is in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. 

This is the awkward part where I realise I've never really talked about my thoughts after nearly 80 hours with the game...I'm sure I'll talk about it one day 

This is the first Zelda game I played to completion, and I'm glad, considering just how different an experience it was when compared with my 10-15 hours with Ocarina of Time a few years ago, or something like Spirit Tracks which I've put a few hours into, or the original Zelda (probably similar investment to Spirit Tracks). 

It's just so...calm. I mean, when you're not fighting for your life, whether it be a Guardian chasing you through Hyrule Field, or a Hinox trying to crush you with its filthy feet. Or it's raining. 

Paths just naturally wind through the landscape, taking you to distant deserts, flowing waterfalls and volcanoes, towering mountains...you name a type of location, it's probably in this game. The crags and valleys, trees and boulders just naturally point you in a direction that's worth checking out. It holds itself back, faintly offering hints of music here and there depending on what's going on, but most of the time, just let's the sounds of the world around you completely wash you over. I must have spent hours just following paths on horseback, without very little concern for where I found myself stumbling upon next. 

And when certain secrets make themselves known, they're just slowly hinted at musically to begin with, before they're on top of you and leaving you in complete awe as the music swells. BotW's navigation is ultimately an excellent cocktail of natural and diverse sound design, subtle yet perfectly timed musical cues, and brilliant open world design. 

Day 7: Favourite Ranged Combat

Going to keep this one short and sweet (for now), considering I've looked ahead at the categories and will most certainly be mentioning this game again before these 30 days are complete. 

Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005) is one of my favourite games of all time, and I am not exaggerating when I say that I've spent thousands of hours playing this. Heck, I was playing this on a regular basis up until I picked up a PS4 in 2015, and even played it as recently as last year. I picked it up recently on Steam too, so might have to play it again soon.

It's ranged combat is not only mechanically sound, it holds up extremely well to this day, and it's still a pleasure to don the blue and white of the 501st and lay waste to some Clankers. It's challenging, but fair, and above all else, is fun and rewarding in its moment-to-moment gameplay, whether playing against a buddy in co-op, taking to the battlefront online, or playing against the AI in one of many of the modes the game has to offer. 

Day 8: Favourite Musical Moment

Anyone who has read my posts over in the Gaming Diary thread knows just how much I love how music can be utilised in games, and especially how powerful it can be when tied to a specific moment, so it's probably not much of a surprise that this is by far the hardest pick I've had to make so far, but I'm happy with what I've landed on. I won't link the specific moment playing out in the game seeing as it's becoming increasingly likely to get a remake in the next year or two, or go into much detail, but I'm sure @Glen-i knows which moment I'm referring to: Sacrifice. 

I first played through Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time when I was still in primary school, and the same goes for playing Explorers of Sky also. Man, the specific moment that this particular theme plays in and is known for blew me away as a kid, and it still holds a spot very dear to me. 

For anyone curious, I had so many potential moments I wrote a list  so just to breeze through those to give them a mention: the opera scene in Final Fantasy VI; Opening/Bombing Mission, Trail of Blood, and Shinra Mansion basement in Final Fantasy VII; that sequence in The Last of Us (if you've played the game you know when I'm talking about ), or the game's ending and The Path (A New Beginning) following through from then well into the credits; also, Don't Ever Forget and Dialga's Fight to the Finish from PMD: Explorers of Time/Space/Sky; a number of moments in Chrono Trigger (too many to mention, honestly!); The Opened Way and Revived Power in Shadow of the Colossus; or the awesome classical piano we get when entering the champion's chamber to face off against Cynthia in Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum. 

Day 9: Scariest Moment

Have only played a handful of horror games in my life so far, and only two of those to completion. But running into Stalkers and a Bloater in the hotel basement in The Last of Us is easily the most intense and scariest moment I've played through in a video game (the sequel might have moments which are just as intense/scary, but I feel like there are more of those moments in the sequel which helps build a resistance to them), so much so that I had to keep pausing and then take five minutes after playing through that section. I took out every last one of those Stalkers and luckily found the key card before trying to mess with the generator. 

Day 10: Credits Sequence

Another hard one, but I'm going to go with Final Fantasy VI's. 

 

Gushed about it months ago after playing it through for the first time, and going to gush about it now. We get one of the longest compositions from Nobuo Uematsu, which is a medley of all of the musical themes throughout the game; a final moment with each of the playable characters; and a look at how the world is starting to bounce back. An amazing end credits sequence which left me with goosebumps all over and a huge smile on my face.

Honourable mentions: Chrono Trigger, Shenmue II, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, The Last of Us, and Dragon Quest XI. 

Day 11: Favourite Town or Village

Verdanturf Town from Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald. 

This one was honestly a gut instinct response to the topic, and one I'll stick with. A small cosy town hidden off to the west of Mauville (and once you smash a rock out of the way a convenient tunnel if you ever need to visit Rustboro), with a great musical theme, and known for its clean air, this is honestly the town I'd most want to escape to in a video game. Such a peaceful place. 

Honourable mentions: Cobblestone Village from Dragon Quest XI, every starting town from Pokémon generations I - V, and Dobuita from Shenmue. 

Shout out to @RedShell's choice of Kamurocho (which is an awesome pick, love what I've experienced of it so far), I feel like it's in such a weird spot because it's both small enough where I agree it could be used in this category, but big enough to the point that it could almost be considered an open world city..? 

Edited July 12, 2020 by Julius

[Glen-i]

9 hours ago, Julius said:

I won't link the specific moment playing out in the game seeing as it's becoming increasingly likely to get a remake in the next year or two, or go into much detail, but I'm sure @Glen-i knows which moment I'm referring to: Sacrifice. 

 

If I went with PMD: Explorers for music, that would have been the song I picked.

10 hours ago, Mandalore said:

I interpreted as a game you enjoy which is generally regarded as a really bad game based off reviews and/or popular opinion.

You do realise that you're basically arguing that I should change my answer to PMD: Explorers of Sky?

OK, not quite really bad, but it's defo close.

Thankfully, those users are also men of culture.

Sticking with Faces of Evil, mind.

Edited July 13, 2020 by Glen-i

[Will]

Favourite Open World City Game

There were a few I would maybe place ahead of this that I’ve already mentioned, but I’m pretty happy to go with GTA: Vice City.

This one really perfected everything we had in GTA3 and put it in an awesome setting with a fantastic soundtrack. The world was huge with lots to find but not so much so that you ever felt too lost. It’s another game I come back to on a pretty regular basis.

[Happenstance]

Day 13 - Best Open World City Game

Tempting to go with a Yakuza game here but I think this one has to go to Sleeping Dogs. I loved everything about that game and the city was gorgeous. 
 

Edited July 13, 2020 by Happenstance

[Cube]

Day 13 - best open world city game.

Sleeping Dogs. The Hong Kong setting have makes it stand out. It has great style, the focus on fighting more than guns is great and driving feels awesome.

"A man who never eats pork buns, is never a whole man"

 

[Ronnie]

Best openworld city game

Doubt I'll get many people agreeing with this choice but I'm going for Watch_Dogs. Sure the protagonist is a bit bland but when it comes to the overall game, I had a great time. It was actually my first ever openworld game, so maybe that helps my fondness for it. I loved the different areas of the city, all the activities and collectibles and hacking your way around was great fun. Dropped the sequel after a couple of hours, a very different game and not one I was enjoying at all.

[bob]

Best open world game

I'm choosing to ignore the 'city' part of this, since my favourite open world games are so large, they operate across an entire country.

Just Cause 2

 

I play a lot of open world games - they're my favourite genre. I absolutely love the feeling of freedom to go anywhere, do anything. And nothing exemplifies that feeling more than the Just Cause series. 

[drahkon]

Credits Sequence - Rayman Legends

Town or Village - Treno from Final Fantasy IX
Rich assholes, card games, battle arena...what more do you need
Great theme song, too. Play it on 1.75x speed and it's straight out of a silent movie

Favourite Awful Game - Don't really have one...Might have to agree with @Julius and go with Fifa...I buy the newest installment every two years, I rage hard, I hate everything about it, but I love it

Best Open World City Game - GTA Vice City

Spent a lot of time in my youth with this one. I used so many mods...flying around with a tank never gets old.

[Londragon]

Day 13 - Best Open World City Game

Can honestly say, I’ve never played many of these. Nintendo’s consoles tend to shy away from these AAA realistic city scape collectathons. Of the little I have played the one that sticks out to me most is LEGO City Undercover (Switch version was a far better experience frame rate wise).

[S.C.G]

Day 13 - Best Open World City Game

InFamous

Just something about that first game, the series in general as well and while I might not be as fond of it as I once was, I still very much enjoyed my time with it.

Everything from the exploration, world design, story... it just all adds up to a great game where you'll always find yourself doing something in rather than just moving around.

[Dcubed]

Day 14: Best Open World City Game

 

This one’s easy.  There’s only two good ones that have ever been made as far as I’m concerned and I’m picking the first one...

Fantastic game that is every bit as fun now as it was back in 2000.

And if you’re wondering what the other good Open World City Game is? Why, it’s Crazy Taxi 2 of course!

[Dufniall]

Day 13 - Best Open World City Game

I also haven't played many open world games that take place in the city. Somehow I never got into the 3D GTA games, so I'm just going to enjoy this blast from the past as I've played that a lot. Why it is Grand Theft Auto 2! Elvis has left the building! My favourite thing to do back then was to just park endless rows of cars and create chain-reaction explosions.

[nekunando]

Crazy Taxi is a great shout, @Dcubed, and one I probably wouldn't even have thought to include in this category!

Like you, I believe, I'm not really into 'open world' games and that is reflected in my choice which, if anything, includes a really bad example of an open world

 

[Mandalore]

Day 13 - Best Open World City Game

Judgement. It has got the most up to date version of Kamurocho from the Yakuza series. The entire game is focused on just the one city and gameplay lets you see it from more perspectives, especially when you're doing the stealthy tailing bits, parkour or racing drones around the place.

 

[BowserBasher]

 

Loved this game from start to finish on Wii U. Yes the loading times were atrocious but the rest of the game shined. I think I may try to pick this up on Switch one day. It’s been long enough for a good replay. Oh and the music on the final sky diving part. Amazing. 

[Jonnas]

This one feels very specific. Does De Blob count as "Open World"? 'Cuz each level is explorable, and the whole game part of the same city... No? Then, I'll have to stretch the definition to its limit!

 

Chaos on Deponia is a traditional point&click adventure made by German developers, which I played with the original German voices while learning German. It's also the second game in a German trilogy (I played the three German games in a row, you see).

The second game distinguishes itself from the others in that the main bulk of the game takes place in a single city (well, island-city). It's a pretty big quest involving three distinct goals that you can achieve in any order. The puzzles required for each quest even intertwine at some points. It's a pretty fun place to explore, with a lot of character, and zany, cartoony puzzles. Furthermore, this quest's entire point is to give some sorely-needed characterization for the main love interest, as well as to allow her relationship with the main character to develop in a (quasi-)natural way.

It's great design, and shows an ambition I hadn't seen in a traditional point&click in a long time. This kind of exploration, to allow the player to figure things out at his own pace, in whatever order he wants, that's how I like the genre. And since you can freely explore this city, I'm thinking it fits today's category, even if the last stretch of the game takes place elsewhere.

(What's the name of the city? I dunno, don't remember. Neither Steam nor Wikipedia seem to know, either)

 

  Previous picks (Hide contents)

Earliest video game memory - Tetris or Sonic
Opening section - Final Fantasy IX
Local multiplayer - Snipperclips
Favourite villain - Ganondorf (Ocarina of Time)
3D Platformer - De Blob
Most relaxing navigation - Wind Waker
Favourite ranged combat - Worms Armageddon
Best musical moment - One Winged Angel (Final Fantasy VII)
Scariest moment - Doki Doki Literature Club
Best Credits sequence - Super Mario 64
Best Town - Windfall Island (Wind Waker)
Best "bad" game - Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade
Best open world city game - Chaos on Deponia

 

Edited July 13, 2020 by Jonnas

[Goafer]

Best Open World City Game

Forza Horizon 4

Fast cars, British countryside and a fairly decent recreation of one of my favourite cities, Edinburgh. What's not to love?

 

I almost put GTAV/Online, as I've probably spent over 1,000 hours on that game, but Rockstar are blatantly milking it now and they cancelled the planned single player expansions and released half arsed online expansions in order to concentrate on milking the online with "free" online DLC that are so expensive that they can only realistically be bought with real money.

[Julius]

Day 14: Open World City Game

Easily could have mentioned it yesterday, but thought it was best saved for this: Kamurocho, specifically the version in Yakuza 0. I'm sure I'll love the version in Judgement @Mandalore, I'm just not there yet!

Bright lights and drunkards line the streets of 1980's Kamurocho, the cosiest city in all of gaming. It's littered with fun mini games, arcade machines, convenience stores, and Japanese eateries, which is all given life by so many of its awesome/hilarious/emotional side quests, as well as the hundreds of punks you'll surely crush on your way around town.

I chose 0's Kamurocho above the other versions (Kiwami, Kiwami 2, and 3) I've visited so far as there's nothing quite like your first time in Kamurocho, and this was mine. As @RedShell mentioned before, becoming familiar with the layout and then seeing those changes take place around the district from game to game adds so much, a layer of immersion I honestly don't think I've experienced as organically from any other series that I've played. 

Honourable mention: Hong Kong in Shenmue II. 

Side note: yes I've already bought Sleeping Dogs, open world Hong Kong would be my jam, and seeing what @Cube and @Happenstance had to say about it makes me want to play it even more. Not sure if I should just finish my time with the Yakuza series first, though.