Operation Backlog Completion 2025

Top 5 Games I Played in 2024

 Video games  5 Responses »  Tagged with:
Dec 312024
 

It’s hard to believe, but 2024 is almost at an end. And you know what that means! It’s time for me to look back at the games I played this year (regardless of when they came out) and pick out the top 5 I enjoyed the most.

As always, I only count games I finished in 2024, which means I can’t count Metaphor: ReFantazio no matter how much I’m enjoying it. Maybe next year? We’ll see. For now, let’s focus on games I finished this year!

Honorable Mentions

I’d like to give two honorable mentions this year, first to Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. Fantastic game, and it’s an excellent shorter entry in the Yakuza series, but it just wasn’t enough to make my top 5. My other honorable mention goes to Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club. Although it didn’t get onto this list, I enjoyed it and really hope the series continues.

So, which are my top 5 games this year?

5. Jack Jeanne

Jack Jeanne got an honorable mention last year, and after finishing it this February, it remains one of my favorites.

It is a lengthy game and the definition of a slow burn, an otome game that took me 74 hours to finish (and I usually get through visual novels on the faster end of things) despite not seeing 100% of the optional content.

It’s a game so long and slow-paced that I took breaks for whole other games in between routes to avoid burning out. It’s certainly not for everyone. And yet… sometimes I still miss it.

There was so much content, such wonderful dynamics between the characters, and of course, the epic musical performances, all of which made it something truly special.

You can read my review for my full thoughts on Jack Jeanne, but suffice it to say that even though I played most of it last year, I had to include it on this list. It was a wonderful experience, and I’m eagerly awaiting news on the sequel.

4. Alan Wake II

Despite my criticisms of how Alan Wake II left me with even more questions despite making us wait so many years to get this much (which I discussed in my review), I did enjoy it quite a bit – enough for me to realize it’s one of my favorite games I played this year. The atmosphere, the survival horror gameplay, the little humorous moments… it really was great.

And reading theories about certain characters afterwards was entertaining enough to make me even more intrigued about where the series is going next.

It was a great game for October and a great game overall. Here’s hoping we’ll be talking about Alan Wake III eventually.

3. Ace Attorney Investigations 2 (official translation)

This is a magical moment.

Last year, the game I ranked third on my list was Ace Attorney Investigations 2 (fan translation). I then said, “Maybe this time next year, we’ll be eagerly anticipating an Ace Attorney Investigations collection.” I never imagined it would actually already be out.

Am I cheating by putting the same game among my top 5 two years in a row? Maybe. But I played Investigations 2 again through the collection and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s an excellent game, and the official translation is wonderful.

Okay, let’s see if we can do it two years in a row! Ahem! Maybe this time next year, we’ll be eagerly anticipating The Great Ace Attorney Investigations!

(Don’t look at me like that. It’s possible!)

2. Lost Judgment

Even with Gaiden only getting an honorable mention and me not finishing Infinite Wealth in time for it to even qualify for the list, RGG Studio can’t help but make it into my top 5 anyway. This was the year I finally played Lost Judgment, and I loved it.

Although I have some criticisms of the story, it’s still so much fun and has so much good stuff that I’d recommend it to anyone without hesitation. Its story DLC is also great.

The humor, the side content, and yes, some aspects of the story all come together to make Lost Judgment one of the best games I played this year. Not the best, however. That honor goes to…

1. Trails in the Sky: Second Chapter

It took me long enough to finally resume progressing through the Trails series, but now that I’ve played Trails in the Sky: Second Chapter, I can’t praise it enough.

As you’ll see in my full review, it’s an excellent sequel that builds upon everything from the first game while also delivering so many more exciting moments.

Add in some fun gameplay additions, tons upon tons of NPC dialogue, and a few other neat aspects, and it really stood out.

Taking me around 90 hours to beat, it made up a significant chunk of my 2024 gaming, but it was worth it. I’m already gearing up to start the next game in the series. Will Trails make my list again next year? We’ll see, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it did.

Conclusion

I didn’t play as many games in 2024 as I usually do, but I did play quite a few excellent ones. Jack Jeanne, Alan Wake II, Ace Attorney Investigations 2, Lost Judgment, and Trails in the Sky SC ended up being my top 5, but what about you? What are the best games you played this year?

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed Was a Great Adventure

 Reviews, Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Dec 302024
 

Two weeks ago, I finished Xenoblade Chronicles 3, with mixed feelings.

While I still enjoyed it, it ended up being my least favorite in the series and didn’t give me that same sense of joy that past Xenoblade games did.

But I was committed to following up with the story DLC, so I took a short break to play Ciel’s route of Tsukihime, realized I missed Arcueid too much (we’ll get to this someday in a Tsukihime review), and returned to Xenoblade instead to start up Future Redeemed!

You might recall that I greatly enjoyed Torna, Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s DLC, so I had high hopes for this one.

Future Redeemed is a prequel to the main Xenoblade Chronicles 3 story and follows a new character named Matthew as he searches for his missing sister and tries to find survivors from the destroyed City. It’s hard to say much about the story without spoilers, but it’s filled with nostalgia for Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2. In a way, it has the sort of callbacks and connections many people initially expected from 3.

Gameplay-wise, it’s quite similar to the main game, but it has some differences. You can’t change classes here, but instead you can customize which characters are paired together for combo attacks and equip accessories that change your Chain Attack effects. Every character also has a skill tree, with skills and passive upgrades you unlock by spending Affinity Points.

And here’s where it really hooked me. Remember how I criticized Torna for forcing you to do side quests to progress? Well, Future Redeemed found a much better way to compel me to do everything – gameplay rewards.

The proper Collectopaedia is back, which was already a treat for me (that alone made me happier with it over the main game; I really missed the Collectopaedia), and for every entry you complete, you get Affinity Points. There’s also a bestiary that tracks the monsters you’ve fought. Once you’ve fought enough of each type? You get Affinity Points! Find all the containers in an area? Affinity Points! Explore enough to discover all the landmarks? Affinity Points! Do a side quest for an NPC that completes their Community entry? You guessed it, more Affinity Points!

Future Redeemed basically rewards you for everything with Affinity Points, which you then can use to make your characters stronger, and this compelled me to do almost everything.

As you progress, you also gain a handful of field actions that let you access new areas, which makes exploration feel even more fun. While I dragged my feet on the main game, here I tore through the DLC because I just wanted to keep exploring more places and checking off more discoveries and earning more Affinity Points. Even ether cylinders became a valuable resource I wanted to seek out.

Although the story is short compared to a full game, it has some great scenes. I don’t have an entirely clear grasp on some aspects of the story even now, but that just ties back to my general feelings on Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s story and world. The important thing is that it didn’t annoy me the way 3’s story did.

Click for Future Redeemed spoilers
Although to be honest, when I saw Z in Future Redeemed’s intro scene, I thought, “Whoa, are we actually getting Z lore that will make me appreciate him as a villain?” and that didn’t happen. At all. My one disappointment.

Anyway, while it’s still not my favorite Xenoblade world and the DLC can’t escape that since it’s part of the same history, I enjoyed the new cast of characters and their interactions, and the additional context it added to the world and backstory (even if it makes some parts more confusing).

It also had some intriguing references at one point that has left me playing “Cute easter egg or massive lore drop??” ever since.

Click for Future Redeemed spoilers
Yes, I’m talking about the radio broadcast. Project Exodus, I could see being just an easter egg rather than direct confirmation that Xenoblade Chronicles X is connected, because it’s not like it’s that strange of a name. Same with the other X references.

Mentioning Dmitri Yuriev, however, made me stop and go, “Wait, what, isn’t he from Xenosaga??”

Up until now, I’ve been adamant that X is completely separate from the numbered Xenoblade games and that they’d never actually tie in Xenosaga, but… now I’m questioning everything.

All in all, I had a lot of fun playing Future Redeemed. It’s a good DLC, and it brought back that Xenoblade joy. While it isn’t enough to change Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in my ranking, it made me happier about the game overall and excited for what the next Xenoblade game will bring.

Everything We Know So Far About Project Century

 Video games  No Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Dec 272024
 

One of the most exciting announcements for me from the Game Awards is also the most mysterious – Project Century.

A new game from RGG Studio, the developers of the Yakuza series, Project Century has received almost no information beyond the initial reveal trailer.

(Sega hasn’t even posted the trailer themselves.)

Most of what we know is the little we can glean from the trailer – it’s set in 1915, appears to take place in a Japanese city, and features brawler combat that looks even more brutal than that in the Yakuza series. At a couple points, we see the protagonist fighting with weapons; at another point, he attacks with a bottle and then performs another attack using the broken bottle as well.

In between the fighting, the trailer also has a short clip that shows him escorting a woman, although whether that hints at some sort of date mechanics or a story sequence or something else entirely is too much to guess from such a short section.

The protagonist wears a jacket (probably a happi coat, though I’m no expert) that features the logo and name of a company, “Yashima Boueki Kaisha,” or “Japan Trade Company,” which Sega recently filed trademarks for.

We got a closer look at the protagonist’s coat when RGG Studio tweeted a picture of Snoop Dogg wearing it, and studio head Masayoshi Yokoyama tweeted a picture of himself wearing it as well. This could imply Snoop Dogg will play a character in the game, although we don’t have enough information to say that for sure.

Finally, one thing that stands out to me from the trailer is that at the end when it shows the working title “Project Century” alongside the protagonist, we can see he has very vividly blue eyes. They almost glow, although it could be a stylistic effect, since we never get a look at his face during the trailer proper. Either way, the blue eyes still stand out to me. Is the protagonist only part Japanese, maybe?

Since the reveal, fans of come up with all sorts of theories. Some think it’s an entirely new IP, while others think it could be set in the same universe as the Yakuza series. (It’s worth remembering that Judgment was first revealed under the working title “Project Judge.”) People have guessed that it could show the origins of the Tojo Clan, or possibly the Omi Alliance, since 1915 would line up with the Omi Alliance’s origins. Others thought this could be a historical spin-off starring an ancestor of Yagami, from Judgment.

A handful of new details have now been shared online, the most important of which are that the protagonist is not based on a specific actor and that all our theories are wrong.

Yes, apparently Yokoyama said he’s seen the theories about Project Century and they’re wrong.

Considering the sheer number of theories people have suggested, it’s impossible for them all to be wrong (ex. it’s either connected to the Yakuza series or it isn’t; those can’t both be wrong), so it’s probably safe to interpret that as meaning the most popular theories bandied about since the trailer are incorrect.

It makes me wonder if it could be something entirely different from what we’ve been thinking. Maybe it’s an alternate history or another world, something wild that doesn’t fit with what we think we know.

Whatever the case may be, I’m looking forward to when we finally learn more about Project Century. What do you expect from this mysterious new game?

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