Your 2025 Gaming Diary

[drahkon]

Started playing Sayonara Wildhearts and...I expected it to play a little differently, i.e. the movement to be more restrictive.

Not sure, if I like it...it also isn't really a rhythm game? At least it doesn't feel like anything I do needs to be done to the music/beat aside from the QTEs, which so far have been pretty rare.

[Jonnas]

I'm going to properly start my gaming year with an update I haven't done in a while:

A Jonnas NSO Update

After replaying Streets of Rage 2, I was itching to do other simple beat'em ups. I turned to the NSO for a fix...

River City and Kunio-Kun

My main contact with River City Ransom, for a long time, was the fact that sprite webcomics from the early-to-mid-2000s often used sprites from this game for NPCs and minor characters. They're very expressive, with surprising variety. I had never touched the game itself until the NSO, though.

I first tried it on my own, and the city felt big, complicated, and a bit intimidating. Then I tried it in co-op with a cousin, and it was fun and chaotic. The third time I tried it was these past few days. I no longer think it's too big (despite the NES limitations, I can navigate the alleys just fine), but I did realise I don't enjoy the gameplay much: attacks are a bit haphazard, weapons are kind of just there, coins need to be manually picked up, and the player character slides all over the place like he's Luigi.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad game, it just doesn't really suit my singleplayer tastes. It's great fun in co-op, and you'll have a great time solo if you're into wacky beat'em ups, but I prefer depth and consistency. In racing game terms, this game is Mario Kart, and I prefer F-Zero or Burnout.

(I also don't care for the "80s Japanese delinquent" aesthetic, even if the spritework's really good)

Since they're from the same series, I tried out Kunio-kun's March Field Day (or something like that)... It's a wild idea, a racing game where you run around the city, barge into people's houses, and such. Couldn't quite figure out how to run properly, and I didn't really like the screen transitions interrupting the race. I feel like it's a good concept, but too big for the NES's britches. I'd be curious to see a modern parkour racing game, though.

I moved on to Kunio-kun's Dodgeball (or something like that). It's Japanese-only. I could not make it past the menu. I tried, but I think I deleted my own team...? Look, I don't even like Dodgeball, so I'm happy to give this one a pass.

I played these games before that collection was announced, I swear.

The Golden Axis

Still itching for beat'em-ups, I decided to take a swing (har har) at this well-regarded series, Golden Axe 1 and Golden Axe 2 & Golden Axe 3. The first two games are on the NSO, and I still had the third one on Steam. Going into it, all I knew is that there's a dwarf.

It's quite gritty. Attacks are straightforward and aggressive (including kicks and hitting enemies with the hilt), enemies are only soldiers, barbarians and skeletons (with occasional dragon riders), the colour palette is pretty muted... The main inspiration is Conan the Barbarian, and it shows. I did like how each level is preceded by a well-written intro and a doodled map.

The first game is very rough around the edges, but is also the grittiest one. The second one is a bit smoother, though it still feels very similar to the first game. The third one adds two more characters, a few new moves for everyone, and new ideas like branching/split paths or fights atop moving vehicles.

That said, I really didn't like any of the entries. For starters, I never liked Conan. Second, the sound design isn't very compelling (hits need to feel good, you know?). Third, I don't like that the moveset is limited, and the magic system is boring (press one button to hit every enemy on-screen? Not a fan of that mechanic). And finally (the biggest reason behind my lack of enjoyment), any fun I could derive from combat is undermined by the fact that every single enemy attacks by instantly launching themselves at you: it's obnoxious, and every fight feels samey because of it.

Curiously, everything people say about Dark Souls combat seems to apply here: enemies are very strong, attacks are simple, the moment-to-moment gameplay focuses in combat, and each fight is approached slowly and carefully (ideally, at least). You could say Dark Souls is the Golden Axe of 3D games.

Tetriminos? More like TetrimiNES

And now, something different (that I technically played more in 2024), Tetris (NES). I'm familiar with Tettris, but hadn't played this version before. I had heard that if you finished 9-5 in B-Type, you get an animation of Nintendo characters playing instruments for you. So I tried to do that... but couldn't achieve it. This version of the game is MUCH faster than Game Boy, and my reflexes weren't good enough. It's a brutal version of the game, and best serves veterans and experts. I'm glad I tried it, though.

After that, why not try Tetris DX? This one was excessively slow, had way too many options to select, and then the gameplay itself was hilariously broken. Your block moves up if you rotate it too much? Holy smokes, the lack of QC is impressive! This is also not what I look for in a Tetris game, but for opposite reasons as the NES version.

Worried that I was Mandela'ing myself, I went back to Tetris (GB). This one hit the spot, it's perfect, and just as enjoyable as it's always been. I also have a newfound appreciation for it after trying out those other two versions, seeing for myself how delicate the balance behind it is.

Of note, I'm now very curious about Tetris Forever. Didn't think it would be that interesting to try different versions of Tetris, but it actually is quite fascinating. We'll see if that's ever in the cards.

...

And that's definitely how I originally planned to end this post. But then Nintendo was all like, "Jonnas, are you OK?"

BUSTAH WORF!

Didn't expect to see Fatal Fury on the NSO! Not outside of a potential Neo Geo app, at any rate.

I did play this one before. Fatal Fury Special is an updated version of this game, with more characters. You may notice I disliked FF Special, though. Between the 2-lane system and the obnoxious difficulty, I didn't gel with that game.

With that in mind, this version is surprisingly better in that regard. The difficulty is above average, but actually manageable this time (watch out for Kim, though, that guy's still a beast), and the enemies rarely go into the other lane. Visually, there's compromises, but it does look good, especially for the SNES.

There's no movelist, sadly. Sure, I knew how to do Terry's, Mai's, and Kim's moves, but I have experience with these characters, newcomers won't have that perk. I also couldn't pull off Terry's crack shoot, not sure why.

Still, I felt that this version of FF2 is far more playable than Special, so it's definitely something fun to try out. Plus, Nintendo gamers can finally see why Terry's spirit board in SSBU features a moving train.

[Glen-i]

Omori is a Turn Based RPG developed by Omocat that originally came out on PC's in 2020. It then got console ports with extra content on the Switch and PS4 in 2022 (It also was on the XBox One, but that was delisted in 2023, and hasn't come back, no idea why). I played the Switch one.

Omori lives in White Space, he's been living there as long as he can remember. It's pretty barren in there, but there is a door that goes to a dream-like world called Headspace. In this place, Omori goes on wacky adventures with his friends, Aubrey, Kel, and Hero.
Something's up though, another friend of Omori's, Basil, suddenly goes missing after finding a mysterious photo he doesn't remember taking. It's up to Omori to save Basil from whatever has happened to him. I'm sure everything is going to be okay.

This game's plot is... difficult to talk about without spoiling things. It is a heavy game though. The PEGI 18 rating and the disclaimer when you boot it up doesn't keep that aspect secret, really. The EarthBound inspired surrealism is juxtaposed harshly with the psychological horror that is sprinkled throughout.

Don't have nightmares

I really enjoyed the plot. It has some very cool twists, and maintains a sense of foreboding throughout, despite the incredibly absurd nonsense you see throughout Headspace. In fact, it was so fascinating, I'm actually already doing a second playthrough, because it turns out there's a couple of ways to progress through the game. Won't go into more detail then that though.

The gameplay is pretty standard stuff, but unlike most RPG's, there aren't any status effects, at least not in the traditional sense. Instead, there are three emotions, which both raise and lower stats. They also have a rock-paper-scissors style relationship. Happy is strong against Angry, Angry is strong against Sad, and Sad is strong against Happy. And you can stack the same emotion multiple times for a stronger effect. Mastery of the combat system revolves around manipulating the emotions of both the enemy's and your own party to get an advantage.
I say mastery, but the game isn't too difficult, really.

Alligators and Casinos, that whole connection!

I have to give massive praise to the visuals. The overworld isn't much to talk about, but battles and cutscenes utilise a very unique pencil drawing aesthetic, as well as an intentionally small amount of animation frames to create a very striking style. It looks great! Mad props!

The sound design is also good, every area in the game has unique battle music, which I always appreciate, and the more scary parts use sound very well.
By the way, the final boss song literally gave me chills, but sharing it would be massive spoilers. It's a masterpiece that brings the plot together really well.

Omori is one of those indie games that you can tell was a massive passion project. It took 6 years to develop, and you can just feel the sincerity it contains. If you like EarthBound, you absolutely must play this. And if you've never played it, but like RPG's, play it anyway. It's excellent.

Perfectly normal behaviour

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Omori