January’s Stats
aka. A good start and some projects
I can’t believe February is already here and it’s gonna be soon a year of this whole madness. I hope you’re all safe and doing good. At least I had quite a good start of the year backlog wise, and started a few projects to motivate myself this year.
First, I decided to revisit my childhood and replay some of the games I had as a kid (and probably a few ones that were not accessible to me at the time, either because I didn’t have the correct system or simply because they were never released in Europe). I had wanted to do that for a long time now, but it finally come to a perfect storm I guess. First around Xmas I found a box with my old Game Boy and cartridges, and discovered they were still working. Then this month, I got myself a 8bitdo controller, which has a great D-pad and discovered there was such a thing as RetroAchievements. I made a list in a spreadsheet for now and started playing some of those, and I might make a masterpost about it in a few days.
Second, I joined the Tag Challenge that Lengray started a few days ago. I haven’t started playing those yet but hopefully it will happen soon. Some of those I should have played ages ago anyway.
Finally, sorting the games for the Tag Challenge, I had a look at the backlog and realized I have WAY too many unfinished games that haven’t been touched in year. 131 to be exact. I need to think about some other idea to tackle that list too, so I’ll have to come up with another challenge of sorts. Suggestions are welcome.
Anyway, enough with the ramblings, have a good February and may it be filled with games.
| Played | Finished | Completed | Backlog+ | Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 124 + 19 |
ABC Challenge 2.0 Progress (3/27)
Finished this month: 0Most Satisfying Finish
Most Exciting Addition
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Gems of War
112 hours playtime
77 of 90 achievements
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Animal Crossing: New Horizons
245 hours playtime
no achievements
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Murder by Numbers
27 hours playtime
4 of 4 achievements
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FRAMED Collection
2 hours playtime
18 of 18 achievements
-
Marco & The Galaxy Dragon
6 hours playtime
15 of 15 achievements
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There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension
6 hours playtime
34 of 34 achievements
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Little Misfortune
4 hours playtime
30 of 35 achievements
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There is no game: Jam Edition 2015
18 minutes playtime
7 of 7 achievements
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Grounded
30 hours playtime
no achievements
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Monster Sanctuary
25 hours playtime
19 of 34 achievements
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Super Mario Land (GameBoy)
1 hour playtime
22 of 37 achievements
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Kirby's Dream Land (GameBoy)
40 minutes playtime
8 of 17 achievements
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Super Mario Land 2 (GameBoy)
5 hours playtime
13 of 28 achievements
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Mario's Picross (GameBoy)
16 hours playtime
26 of 89 achievements
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Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land(GameBoy)
2 hours playtime
5 of 26 achievements
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Ocean's Heart
20 hours playtime
18 of 22 achievements
Gems of War
Probably over 1000 hours playtime, 77 of 90 achievements
My first decision of the year was to finally retire (at least for now) from Gems of War. I've spent too many hours (and nearly 2 years+ ?) in this game and I started feeling a burnout. I don't wanna recommend this game and get people addicted to it, neglecting their backlog, but it's a pretty good free puzzle game. The only down side I'd say is that it's a bit too addictive.
Murder by Numbers
27 hours playtime, 4 of 4 achievements
I loved this game. I'd describe it as if Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney and Mario Picross had a love child. It's a weird combination but it worked for me and it worked well. I hope there was more of those.
FRAMED Collection
2 hours playtime, 18 of 18 achievements
It's not bad but I found it a tad boring. It took me only 2 hours to complete both games yet I couldn't wait to be done. Sad because I liked the concept a lot and it wasn't even badly done. I just didn't care much for it.
Marco & The Galaxy Dragon
6 hours playtime, 15 of 15 achievements
Best visual novel I've played in a long while. It's colorful, it's cute, it has a cool story and it has a crazy rythm. The only negative point I can find it is that's it's "only" 6h long, so pretty short for a VN.
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension
6 hours playtime, 34 of 34 achievements
Since there is no game, there is no review. JUST GO PLAY IT. Also don't spoil yourself, go in blind. If you're a cheevo hunter, it's easy to go back at the end and get what you missed, don't ruin the game for yourself.
Little Misfortune
4 hours playtime, 30 of 35 achievements
It was a good game, but I liked Fran Bow better. Still nice to play and really not too long. Recommended for "dark but cute" P&C lovers.
There Is No Game: Jam Edition 2015
18 minutes playtime, 7 of 7 achievements
If you're not sure the previously mentionned game is for you, this is the free concept game version of the other. Obviously a lot easier and shorter but will give you an idea on the humor. Thanks Kale for finding this one.
Ocean's Heart
20 hours playtime, 18 of 22 achievements
My big surprise of the month, it was a great adventure exploration game heavily inspired by the old 2D Zelda games, but with modern twists like crafting. Overall it's not 100% perfect (Incountered a few bugs but the devs provided a quick workaround and will fix it in the next patch) but it was a great experience for nostalgics of those kind of games. It's also really beautiful and the pixel art style is amazing. I recommend it if you like the genre, it's really a great one.
Super Mario Land
Game Boy, 22 of 37 achievements
Crazily shorter than I remembered. The whole game is actually under 30min from start to finish while in my little kid memory it was super super long. Ok, I'm better at video games than I was then, but I strongly suspect that the fact that there was no sort of save system at all was probably helping giving that impression. I clearly played those first levels so many times that 30 years later I still knew where all the secret stuff were.
Kirby's Dream Land
Game Boy, 8 of 17 achievements
Another way shorter than I remembered. The normal mode was a bit too easy but the hard mode that you unlock afterwards is a brutal spike in difficulty. Cute though.
Super Mario Land 2
Game Boy, 13 of 28 achievements
Better than the first one, definitely more interesting. The closest thing that there was as an "open world" mario game back them. Loved replaying it.
Mario's Picross
Game Boy, 26 of 89 achievements
Definitely what I remembered. A lot of content for picross lovers and still good to play. Took me quite a long time to play all of the levels but it was a nice chilling game in my time off. Will keep playing the rest of the series, definitely.
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Tales of the Neon Sea
0 minutes playtime
0 of 58 achievements
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Phantom Brave PC
0 minutes playtime
0 of 29 achievements
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Ocean's Heart
20 hours playtime
18 of 22 achievements
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King of Seas
0 minutes playtime
no achievements
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Still There
0 minutes playtime
0 of 23 achievements
Congrats on all your achievemens, both regular ones and retro ones.
I got myself a 8bitdo controller, which has a great D-pad
That’s probably the same I got for myself kids as a second controller for the Switch (cheaper than a Pro Controller). It’s a great little thing!
I got the pro (not the plus, the one shaped like an old SNES controller). Initially was to have something better than the joycons on the switch (and yes the procontroller is not cheap) with a good Dpad so i could play the retro games there (there is a pattern there). I ended up loving it so much that I actually played 90% of Ocean’s Heart with it on PC instead of my regular xbox one controller.
Those things are really well made.
Yes, the SF30 Pro is the one I have. A great choice, compatible with almost any device.
Yeah and it’s convenient to just throw in the bag (in case we ever get to travel again, that is). I got a small pouch for it on Aliexpress but I haven’t received it just yet.
That banner picture is really atmospheric, where is it from? (I looked through the listed games in your post, but couldn’t immediately find a match)
It’s actually from Marco & the Galaxy Dragon :)
Ah, no characters – no wonder I was confused! Thanks
My sweet Jesus, the two highlighted games are instantly going to my wish list, they look gorgeous! How could I miss them ?!
For the King of the Seas, have you preordered it, or just “added to your wish list” :-D ? Because I would buy it too ^^ !!
Ocean’s Heart is not perfect (some controls are a little annoying) but definitely recommended if you like top down zelda games.
For the King of the Seas, have you preordered it, or just “added to your wish list”
Actually I got a press copy but then the week before release they got a publishing deal with Team17 and delayed the game back to… may.
Oh yes, I read now some reviews, some people say that, I’ll give it a shot during the Summer Sale :-D
And can you play the game now, or it will available for you in May too :D ? And if yes how is the game ^^?
I’ve put 26 hours into it before they announced the delay and I’m currently waiting for the new version closer to release. I can’t really tell you anything good or bad about it though, because I’m under NDA, I’m sorry. ^^;
:glare:
:sweat: I-i-i-i have uninstalled it okay… Even from the tablet… :sweat: