Games I Beat: Dragon Quest VII Fragments of the Forgotten Past

Dragon Quest VII Fragments of the Forgotten Past
JRPG
1 Player
System: 3DS
Developer: ArtePiazza
Year of Release: 2016
Beaten: March 31st, 2017

It genuinely upsets me that it's taken over a month to finally get around to writing this. Dragon Quest is a long running series that I have become a massive fan of over the last several years. The main line series is a very true to it's roots series, mechanically the games are all very similar to one another. And yet they manage to appeal to so many people despite that. That being said, Fragments of the Forgotten Past here is the longest game in the franchise (X, an MMO, not included), is it worth sinking upwards of 80 hours into this game?

Games I Beat: Downwell

Downwell
Reverse Vertical Scrolling Platformer
1 Player
System: Android
Developer: Moppin
Year of Release: 2016
Beaten: April 3rd, 2017

So many times on this blog I'll mention that as soon as I caught wind of a game I knew I needed to pick it up. Lo and behold Downwell is one of those games. Look, fuck the typical intro, just look at this:

Games I Beat: Sega 3D Classics Out Run

Sega 3D Classics Out Run
Road Trip Simulation
1 Player
System: 3DS
Developer: M2
Year of Release: 2015
Beaten: April 4th, 2017

Playing through this game left me with a really odd sensation, at least at first. Video games typically don't illicit a feeling of nostalgia that I can't place. Smells, or sounds might do that on occasion, but usually if I play a video game I'll know why it's making me feel warm and fuzzy. As a child I played Out Run quite a bit and I somehow completely forgot. A day care I used to go to as a young child had several arcade machines, one of which was Out Run. Booting up this 3D remaster(?) brought me back to a time that might have been forever lost had I not.

Fangasm: Attack on Silph Co

Attack on Silph Co
Pokemon Short Story
1 Player
System: PC
Developer: Franzo
Year of Release: 2016
Attack on Silph Co

I am a huge fan of these kinds of games. Short little snippets that allow the creator to showcase a small section of the world of Pokemon. Unlike the standard games that follow a pretty strict formula you can explore all kinds of unique settings and ideas. In this instance, four years after they're brought down Team Rocket tries to attack Silph Co again. It's up to you, a low level Silph employee to fight your way through the building and save your coworkers.

Too Soon: Digimon Digital Card Battle

Digimon Digital Card Battle
Trading Card Game
1-2 Players
System: Playstation
Developer: Bandai
Year of Release: 2001

This is one of those games that I'm putting a bit of time into, but I'm worried that it'll either vanish into the ether soon (read: Breath of the Wild is less than a week away!). It's just the kind of game that while I really enjoy my time with it, I fear I'll just forget about it. Luckily it's simple enough that whenever I do remember it I will be able to dive right back in.

Freemium Perdition: Dandy Dungeon Legend of Brave Yamada

Dandy Dungeon Legend of Brave Yamada
Dungeon Crawler/Life Sim
1 Player
System: Android
Developer: Onion Games
Year of Release: 2017

Endearing is a strange way to describe a game with a plot revolving around a thirty-six year old recluse who is fawning after his sixteen year old neighbor, after losing his game development job, after being too distracted making his own video games to bother showing up. And yet here we are. Yoshiro Kimura is the man behind this odd little thing, and after looking back at his previous work, such as Chulip the kissing RPG for PS2, it makes a bit more sense.

Games I Beat: SteamWorld Heist

SteamWorld Heist
Turn Based Shooter
1 Player
System: PS4
Developer: Image & Form
Year of Release: 2016
Beaten: February 3rd, 2017

It's a god damned crime I haven't gotten around to writing this sooner. Immediately upon seeing the first trailer I was sold on the concept. You and your rag-tag group of robot space pirates go from ship to ship fighting other robots in a weird turn based shooter kind of style. It looked unique, and while I was a little wary that the gameplay might feel stale it never wound up feeling that way to me.

Games I Beat: ABZU

ABZU
Chill Diving Simulation
1 Player
System: PS4
Developer: Giant Squid
Year of Release: 2016
Beaten: January 28th, 2017

Some games just don't appeal to everyone. I feel like Abzu is going to be one of those games. There isn't a lot to this game, if you try to just simply beat it you'll rush through in no time at all, with basically no challenge to be found. This is the kind of game for people who loved Journey. Hell, this game is Journey, but set underwater.

Games I Beat: Assault Android Cactus

Assault Android Cactus
Arcadey Shoot 'Em Up
1-4 Players
System: PS4
Developer: Witch Beam
Year of Release: 2015
Beaten: January 22nd, 2017

I'm worried I won't have much to say about this game, not that it's bad, I liked it quite a bit really, there just isn't much there. Like a fairly satisfying snack. That's actually a really succinct analogy for this game.

Moving Forward 2017

Hullo all. I kind of let this blog slip to the wayside due to both school and my personal life distracting me. I'm a little disappointed, but ended up writing a decent amount, even though I know I can do more. I had several ideas, and a few games I wound up never really talking about. As it stands though I still managed to pump out thirty four entries over the last year, which is decent enough for me.