Happy New Year everyone, hope you all had a great 2023 and fun holidays, and hopefully you all will have an even better 2024, for me the year wasn't so hot (you can tell by the amount of art that didn't show up here lol) but it was far from the worst so I guess I'll manage... hopefully I can manage to have more art here this year (not that it's difficult cause I posted almost nothing), but we will see, I have no concrete plans as of now.
But in the tradition of posting my favorite games of last year, here goes my Top 5 (remakes) games of last year! Since I only have old systems, a bunch of games I thought looked cool I didn't get to play (like Spider-man 2) but I still had plenty to distract me, so let's go quickly!
Number 5 - Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The best Mario game since Odyssey, it was a pretty fun game, I still think this game isn't AS removed from the "New Super Mario" sub-series and I would've liked, but undoubtly a fun time!
Number 4 - Pikmin 4
I wasn't even going to play this one because I'm not suuuuper into this series, but I am glad I did cause it was a fun time! Lots of Pikmin 2 refs (the one I had growing up) and you get every Pikmin of the past games plus new ones, so not much to complain here!
Number 3 - Resident Evil 4 Remake
Better than I was expecting it to be, there was no way they could capture the magic in a bottle that was Resident 4, but still a pretty fun time. If I need a Resident 4 fix I think I'll go back to the Wii version by default, but this one might be worth to pick up sometimes too.
Number 2 - Star Ocean: Second Story R
I wasn't expecting to be as much into the Star Ocean series as I was this year with both The Divine Force earlier this year or this remake, but they are both pretty fun JRPGs! Thsi game has a hard art style I love it and it's pretty fun to explore too, with tons of (waifus) characters to choose from!
Number 1 - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
No surprises here, it's more Zelda. Till next year! ...but seriously, I was pretty surprised with how much they changed the game while still using the template of Breath of the Wild. I am definitely not creative enough to create the crazy contraptions the game allows you to, but I sure had fun trying! Also this game had actual dungeons and bosses that were not Ganon, so that's always a win.
Aaaaand that's all for now! I didn't manage to play the latest Dragon Quest in time, nor Like a Dragon Gaiden, and some remakes were a bit too close to games I've already played so they're not on the list (namely Metroid Prime and Mario RPG which are both incredible).
Again hope you all have a great year, will try to post at least SOME art in 2024, and see ya later!
It's that time of the year again, where I haven't done all the art I should've but I'll tell ya about my favorite games from this year past (there's even Pokémon this time, imagine that!)!!
Played a fair bit of games this year, not a whole lot of indie love unfortunately, I heard there was some good ones but still; also, I was in the middle of playing Star Ocean: The Divine Force, but I didn't play enough to be sure it was list worthy; game looks good so far, but it had a lot of competition this end of the year. Also I didn't play God of War: Ragnarok, there were many games I was interested around the time and I was not the biggest fan of the previous game (tho it was admittedly, pretty good). Maybe I'll play it this year. With luck. BUT ENOUGH DILLYDALLYING!
NUMBER 5: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: SHREDDER'S REVENGE
You probably heard of this one, I am not a huge fan of beat-'em-up games or the Ninja Turtles, but it was super fun, I couldn't NOT put it on this list. It's short and sweet, the kind of game I prefer these days tbh. I recommend if you're up for some light-hearted fun, I've preferred this one over Streets of Rage 4, another recent revival. Tribute Games (I think it's their name) made some other great games, my fav being Mercenary Kings, so looking forward what they do next~
NUMBER 4: POKÉMON VIOLET AND SCARLET
Yes, I've put the cursed one in number 4... I know, I know, I criticized Sword and Shield a lot, and I'm not even gonna sugarcoat it, this new duo of games is technically pretty awful, but if it ran well and looked better, this would be one of my favorite games in this series. While not perfect in design, I thought Pokémon worked pretty well in a open world setting. They definitely had experiences with Sw&Sh and Legends before this, but I feel it has the classic gameplay with a lot more freedom. And addressing the Copperajah in the room yes, I prefer these unfinished games over Pokémon Legends: Arceus. I do think Arceus is the better game, but the progression of the game all revolves around doing what's basically pokémon chores (kill this many pokémon, use whatever many times this move, capture an alpha specimen etc etc) and those dozens of menial tasks, that the game expects you to do for EVERY SINGLE POKÉMON IN THE POKEDEX just killed the replayability for me. I definitely see more task-oriented people leaning over Legends more, but I thought Scarlet and Violet just felt a tad bit more like an adventure that's fun to explore (but I still thought Legends was pretty good too).
NUMBER 3: TINY TINA'S WONDERLANDS
I know, I know another polemic one, I know people don't like this game, but I really vibed with it. Tbh, I basically forgot this game came out last year, but by coincidence I decided to go back and finish the Borderlands games I've played before, B2 and the Pre-Sequel, and then browsing through Amazon I saw it and was like "Oh yeah this a Borderlands too right" and then got it and played and had my fun. It's basically Borderlands but in a fantasy RPG setting and that apparently was enough for me lol. I didn't find the game particularly funny all that often (and probably missed a bunch of stuff by having not played B1 and B3 yet), but I don't really vibe with these games for the humor, it's more the gameplay for me, and shooting skeletons and giant crabs and grabbing a bunch of loot was silly fun. But I have to give the game this: the quest where Tina tries to guide the players through the adventure and they get distracted by a NPC in blue hat that has nothing to do with anything but they wouldn't let him go and changes the entire RP hit a bit too real and I loved it lol
NUMBER 2: ELDEN RING
Yeeeaaaahhh, it's the big one, I thought I was kinda done with these souls games after Dark Souls III (I wasn't the biggest fan), but here I am again and it was kinda awesome, I was a bit too much more into it than I thought I would. I explored all could in the map and then still played some in New Game +. I don't really have much to say others haven't said, I think it's just as good as everyone says it is. Not perfect, but it sure helped spark some excitement for those bigger games that have been kinda samey these last couple generations. Definitely want to go back to this one at some point.
NUMBER 1: KIRBY AND THE FORGOTTEN LAND
Look, I am not saying Kirby is better than Elden Ring, but can Elden RIng person swallow a whole vehicle and drive it into the final boss? I don't think so.
As I get older I appreciate more a chill and cute game that doesn't demand high attention at all times or demands a grind, and Kirby is just that. They got super creative with the environments, and I am all down for games that commit to a theme (in case, this post-apocalypse world) while still being fun and interesting. And gosh darn it, they made 3D Kirby work. One of my favorite Switch games and one of my favorite Kirby games now, I hope the next one slays just as hard! Sakurai's baby going strong lol
So, that's my favorite games for this last year! If you are still here, what are yours? Have any suggestions for games I missed!? Sound them below if you feel like it and until next time (and hopefully next time will be PokeCity updates instead of my Favorites from 2023 list lol)!!!
Okay maybe not quite that, but here goes my traditional list of 5 games I enjoyed the most from the previous year! But before that... 2021.
Yeah, 2021 was basically 2020 part II around these parts, I'm sure most of you get what I mean... I did manage to play most of the new games I wanted to (sorry Ys IX) but on the down side, I haven't drawn nearly as much as I needed, which is why there wasn't a whole lot of art on this page. I did take a couple months where I've drawn a LOT of stuff, but not much I could upload rn (because it's mostly PokéCity event stuff)... hopefully I can move things to this page more frequently this year, but we'll see, still have some rl things to get sorted out that might get in the way.
Back to the games, I was pretty hyped for the games of 2021, but in the end it ended up being a pretty "meh" year, some solid stuff but nothing that blew me away, I was a bit disappointed in many of the JRPGs I played (NEO, Strikers, Arise), which were not bad just... I was expecting too much, maybe, idk. Also a heads up, just because a game isn't on the list doesn't mean it's bad, maybe I didn't play or maybe it didn't click with me the first time around. Anyway, here's my favorite 5 games from 2021, from lesser fav to MVP favorite!
Number 5: Cruis'n Blast
A very simple and goofy arcade racing for the Nintendo Switch, the moment it was announced in a Direct I knew I wanted to play it, since I have lots of nostalgia for the Nintendo 64 predecessors (Cruis'n USA, World and Exotica). It was very simple fun, but the tracks are quick and pretty crazy, and you can play many cars as well as a shark, UFO, dinosaur and other silly things (this is a game Achilles would have approved of).
Number 4: Mario Party Superstars
Almost forgot about this one, but I love me a good Mario Party with friends and couldn't leave it out! Nintendo didn't release a whole lot of stuff last year, sticking mostly to remasters and the like, and this game itself is a compilation of boards and minigames from old Mario Party games, but hey, they tried it once on the 3DS and messed up this really simple concept that Mario Party should have boards, so I gotta at least acknowledge they done it right. Didn't play as much of this as I would have in the past (and before the crisis), but good is good!
Number 3: Resident Evil Village
I think Village was one of the most talked about games on 2021 (cause of vampire mama), and considering it was heavily inspired by RE4, I HAD to play it! Funny thing is, before release I didn't even had this on my radar, I thought a new Resident Evil in 2021 was certainly going to be exclusive to the new generation of consoles... it happens it wasn't and I enjoyed all of it's goofiness on my day 1 PS4. I really enjoyed the Halloween monsters approach for the enemies, more of that plz lol
Number 2: Shin Megami Tensei V
SMT V really saved the JRPGs this year for me, I had JUST beaten Tales of Arise before getting it, and while it was a good game, everything about it was a bit vanilla (except for the graphics which were pretty); definitely one thing you can't say about SMT V. While the performance and graphics aren't the best and the story is really a mixed bag, I like some places the story goes and the more open exploration is just my cup of tea (the worlds reminds me a lot of Xenoblade Chronicles in their design), and the battles as usual are challenging but it's fun to best demons hitting their weaknesses, building your team and the game gives you a lot to try to build your team to survive the harsh odds. Recommended!
Number 1: Monster Hunter Rise
I was really conflicted to put this game on the top; while I had tons of fun with the campaign, it really struck me as rushed that the game launched without the ending... but I thought of all the fun of fighting and moving around with the wirebugs, and personality of the game, and the heavy pandering for generation 3 (the one I started playing) with two remake stages, and yeah, this is the game that always was at the back of my mind through the year, even if Capcom didn't exactly showered the players with amazing content throughout the year like they have with past Monster Hunter... hopefully they are preparing something special for Sunbreak... but that's a 2022 thing...
Aaaand that's that! Hope you all found some new and fun stuff in 2021 as well, I played more games but these are the ones that left me with a better impression (shout out to Monster Hunter Stories 2 as well). Now there's hoping for a better 2022! I am ready for Kirby and Bayonetta, and maybe with luck, Zelda!
How about you? What were your favorite games of last year? Leave your list below if you feel like sharing, there's probably fun stuff that I missed! Hope you all had a good year and that 2022 gets even better! :)
Hello fellow deviants that remain! It's been ages since I've written a blog entry in my page! I hope everyone had a satisfactory beginning of the year (it's still corona kingdom everywhere so let's not pretend someone is having a good time lol)!
I haven't really been drawing anything, still not quite feeling it, but as usual I still have plenty of ideas and things I'd like to do, but not a whole lot of motivation to actually do it. But I thought I could at least give my yearly list of favorite games from past year, like I usually do, so let's get to that!
Now because of all that pandemic shenanigans, new games were pretty scarce (and expensive) to arrive in my country, but I managed to grab enough of them to make at least a top 5 list; there's quite a few I plan on grabbing eventually, like Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Hades and Sakura Wars, but I couldn't get them yet (also I didn't get any of the new systems, but they don't have almost any exclusives so it's all fine). The reason this list was so late is because I was trying to finish a couple more 2020 games to have more options!
Now there are some clear omissions here, I tried to avoid the more polemic games (The Last of Us Part II, Cyberpunk 2077 etc etc), and also I didn't play Final Fantasy VII Remake, I might play it when it's finally complete cause I don't like serialized games much and can't justify paying full price on a game that it's only like a fifth of a story that I might or might not already know (I've written a blog in the past about the subject). I also didn't play Ghost of Tsushima, It looks really really good but I'm just not super into samurai stories so I've skipped on that as well (at least for now). Now you might be thinking "what even is left after all that" and I'd respond "Yep it was a pretty slow year, and fairly so considering the state of the world". It is what it is!
So let's get to the Top 5! But before, an honorable mention to Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, I got it like a week or two ago and had a blast with it, fun rhythm game but a bit on the expensive side for a game using mostly old, low-poly assets from past games in the series. Also also honorable mention to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night that I feel should've been on my 2019 list, it is pretty solid (a bit cryptic at times). Now finally to the top 5!
Number 5: Trials of Mana
A remake of the third game in the Mana series that has never been released in the west until recently, it's a pretty straightforward 3D remake of a SNES game, a simple and fun one that reminds me of PS2 era games but with a bit more polish. It's an action RPG with six characters to choose from and story changes depending on the combination of characters you choose, I'd like to see more games and remakes like this, that are on the cheaper side but still have quality, not everything needs to occupy 100 GB on my systems! It's far from perfect with highly questionable voice acting and a bit repetitive after a while, but definitely worth a look; check the free demo!
Number 4: Persona 5 Royal
The upgraded version of the 2017 game (plenty of remakes this year I guess); it's a really hard sell if you've already played the (fantastic) base game, but the extra semester is pretty solid content if you're brave enough to double dip. I'd rather it be DLC than a new game (Atlus doing the Pokémon thing here), but they integrated the new characters to the old story to shake things up a bit, and P5 is definitely worth a playthrough if you haven't yet... just don't be like me and be sure to MAX OUT Maruki's social link to see the new content! But number 4 is as high as I can have it for a game that's mostly the same from almost four years ago.
Number 3: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
I've been getting into the Warriors games these last years, and these Zelda games are really helping because they are so good! Age of Calamity is the second Hyrule Warriors and it's pretty good, and is based only on the latest Zelda game, Breath of the Wild. While the Definitive Edition of the original Hyrule Warriors had WAAAAYYYY more content and fan-service for the series, I feel like Age of Calamity does a better job gameplay wise, in my opinion, and makes a great job staying true to Breath of the Wild. There's plenty to do and each character plays pretty uniquely from each other; and come on, it's the only game where you can play with all the Champions! And almost all characters are fun to play, with the plus that this game doesn't have those annoying bosses from the previous Hyrule Warriors (I never liked them, specially The Imprisoned). Also the story can be a bit controversial, but you won't read spoilers from me! :)
Number 2: Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
I know I know, it's yet anotheeeer remake, but to my defense Xenoblade Chronicles is one of my favorite JRPGs of all time, and I had a blast re-playing it since the Wii, so it HAD to be here! It was quite magical going through these familiar, massive lands with the upgraded visuals. They made quite a few quality-of-life improvements, and while the game itself is not for everyone because of it's admittedly weird MMORPG-like combat, I highly recommend at least trying it, it is still in my opinion the best Xenoblade game. And there's also new content in the form of Future Connected, which is, admittedly, a mixed-bag and nowhere near as stellar as the main game... but it has the grooviest battle theme ever so... 10/10.
Number 1: Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Our carefree island simulator for the year of 2020, the game that saved us all from the pandemic (ok maybe not that), the latest installment of Animal Crossing! While I don't think it is the most innovative title in the series (like Wild World) or the most feature full at launch (like New Leaf), this game looks dang cute, still has the laze about features you know and love (after doing a bit of hard work at the beginning of the game which only has tents and trees), and is still getting content updates (for free, unlike CERTAIN collectible monsters games), so it's hard to get mad at this game. Many people said it before, but AC:NH was the right game at the right time and I agree with that estatement.
Aaaand that's my list! I didn't include any games that weren't released (or re-released) in 2020, and there were quite a few I missed, but on the bright side, 2021 is looking up to be a much better year... Ys IX, New Pokémon Snap, Monster Hunter Rise, Persona Strikers are just around the corner, Tales of Arise is looking sick and who knows what Nintendo has on their sleeve this year (please have something on your sleeve Nintendo)!
But how about you? What did you play last year that left an impression on you? What you're looking forward this year? Let me know and take care of yourselves in 2021! And wear a dang mask! :U