Beaten games 2016

Oh yes, it is finally time, I have really looked forward to writing this
list for some reason. Maybe because it has been a quite good gaming year,
in a way the best, I did beat more games 2013 but that list included a lot
of easy and short games for NES and PC, this year have a lot of massive
and long-awaited games.

I didn’t have any specific goals this year but I did beat 71 new games and
reached a total of 778!

I will follow the same setup as last year and try to list some favorites
at the end, just a small text for each game, some of them already have
longer posts and some might get one in the future but feel free to ask
if you want to know more about any of them. I try to avoid spoilers.

Enjoy:

—NES—

Strider
A bit too simple but not a bad game, its hard not to think about Megaman
while playing this Capcom title.

Dragon Fighter
Another too simple game, over before it started as well,
the next NES game will be number 100!

—SNES—

Dragon Quest 2
Ah, this is where the series is truly born and adds a lot of the things
we all know today as typical Dragon Quest. I prefer the first game but
it feels good to finally have visited the roots even if it is a remake.

Earthbound
Already did a post about this one, but yes it is good
and it is crazy that I waited this long to play it etc.

Kero Kero Keroppi
This also got a small post, the RPG for kiddies, one of the shortest
there is, I don’t want to judge it too hard but there is a lot of better
SNES games to play, hehe.

Majuuou
It does have some cool graphics and interesting parts but not a
“hidden gem”, only crazy collectors would buy this.

Energy Breaker
Another game that I wrote a lot about, I have looked forward to play
it for years and it lived up to my expectations!

Mickey to Minnie Magical Adventure 2
Not my type of platformer but I think a lot of people would like it.

Mickey to Donald Magical Adventure 3
Same as the second game, no major differences.

Marvelous
I already wrote about this as well, I thought is was an RPG until I
played it, more of an adventure/point and click game. Still good though!

Melfand Stories
A nice but maybe too simple beat em up, still look forward
to try it in co-op!

Dragon Quest 3
Since I played the SNES version it was easy to forget that it was
originally on the NES, the world feels far too big and well designed
to ever be on NES but the story and some other parts reveal its true form.
I would probably put it above part 1 and 2 at least.

—GBA—

Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland
Again, not my type of platformer, Kirby may be cute and the graphic
quite nice, but the whole concept of stages feels dated and the lack
of challenge doesn’t help.

Sonic Advance
I held right and I won the game… same as Kirby, the concept is not
to my liking these days and I have never understood the terrible
level design in Sonic games. The highlight was the final boss(es).

—DS—

Dragon Quest IX
It started out great but ended up quite weak, not too much to say,
just another Dragon Quest! Only part 5 and 7 left to beat before
11 finally arrives!

Metroid Prime: Hunters
My poor trigger finger! I can’t believe how bad this is, well, playable but the
level design or rather the entire design of the game is just so far away
from what usually makes Metroid games so good…
The worst part is probably where you have to escape the planet with a
timer EVERY time you beat one of the 8 bosses.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
I want to like it more but sadly I found a broken strategy that ended
all battles in 2 minutes which destroyed the mood of the game a lot.
I might return someday and play it more seriously.

—3DS—

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy
The last and by far easiest installment. The more “open” world was a
really nice variation from the other games and it was a good “end” to
the series. Hopefully we will get the “Lady Layton” game soon!

Bravely Second
Sadly it doesn’t do anything new, just the same game as
Bravely Default once more. Not bad, just redundant.

—Wii—

Super Paper Mario
This was a surprisingly good game, not as good as Paper Mario or
Thousand Year Door of course but being able to play as the princess and
use her “float” ability is something I really have missed since Mario 2,
this is more of the direction I would want the Mario games to go in!

Iwy the Kiwi
When I finally understood the simple controls it was quite an enjoyable
“puzzle” game. The end actually got to me, such a plot twist!

Donkey Kong Country Returns
This was exhausting, played most of it in co-op but finished it myself,
Rayman Origins was better in every way. I looked forward to hear some
new arrangements of old songs but when it turned out EVERY song was
reused it just became boring.

—WiiU—

New Super Mario Bros U
These games are always good but I beat them in one sitting and never
look back, it’s just not the same as when I was 6 years old and played
Mario 1-3 over and over…

—Megadrive—

Sub terrania
Somewhat interesting but it was just too hard to finish without
guide/ save states.

Twinkle Tale
A cute and nice shoot em up, every game in the genre that don’t take
place in space gets bonus points from me!

—PS2—

Wild Arms Alter Code F
Love the original, this lacked the amazing tiles and graphic but it was
still nice to revisit the world and the story.

Metal Saga
This already have a long post, one of the games that I will
really remember as special.

Shining Tears
Third time is the charm, finally beat this odd “twin stick action RPG”,
much more fun in co-op but I really wanted this on the list and beat it
myself. A few annoying story triggers but overall a really nice game.

Graffiti Kingdom
A very simple Action RPG that took me back to the days of
PS1 and Brave Fencer Musashi, ahh.

Full Metal Alchemist
This would have been great with a higher budget but now it is quite so-so,
if you like the anime and RPGs you will probably like this a lot!

Full Metal Alchemist 2
Same as the first game, some things are highly improved but some are
actually worse and I probably prefer the first game.

—PSP—

Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
This should get its own post since it or rather the series has some
“masterpiece qualifications”. I will get back to it once I have played
the second chapter. But the characters, story and especially how it is
told is on another level compared to almost every other game! Wow!

—PS3—

South Park stick of truth
I was a bit skeptic as usual when games are based on TV series but this
is a good game for real, not just compared to others like it. If you
like South Park even a little bit you need to play it.
A bit too easy maybe but overall they got it all right!

Final Fantasy 10-2 HD
I haven’t touched this since the original was released but the game was
EXACTLY as I remembered it. Great battles, ridiculously easy to beat but
impossible to do 100%.

Demon’s Souls
This also need a separate post but I am very glad that I gave it a
second chance all these years later. A lot of inspiring environments,
splendid level design and some interesting boss battles, (not as good as
I had expected though). Overall a really solid game, I believe I will prefer
this over the Souls games but I will give them a new chance as well.

Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
I will combine this in my Trails of the Sky text later but for now this is
only a few steps behind that game, this focuses more on the characters and
side events and the main story moves forward very slowly. This ended up as
my third longest game ever (93 hours) and by the end I felt that I really
knew the many playable and NPC characters. I’m usually not to fond of the
whole “school theme” and “bonding events” but in this game it works
extremely well. It does lower the score a bit that the game is quite
predictable in the way that it follows a formula of “class meeting,
side quests, exam, main quest” etc, one of the strong points in
Trails of the Sky was the very unpredictable story developments.

Oh well, a fantastic game that for some reason turns into a cavalcade of
XENOGEARS references in the last hour of the game, minor spoilers ahead
but you do get a gear, it uses the EXACT fighting pose and then they even
quote GRAHF!! It was a really unexpected turn of events and I still can’t
believe they did that in this of all games, I expected a
School simulator RPG and suddenly they are quoting one of my two
favorite characters of all time! I can’t get over that.

—PS4—

Final Fantasy Type Zero
I think I wrote about this before but an okay game with a
fantastic ending, also my first PS4 game.

The Witness
Ah, one of my brother’s top 10 games, I have followed the development
for years and looked forward to play it as well but in the end it will
probably not make my top 100, the biggest flaw is the lack of music
which drives me insane. If you like puzzle games this is of course a must
and it is fantastic in many ways but I will probably never get “100%”.

Dragon Quest Heroes
Already wrote about this too, Healix got to me, I will probably buy the
second game too.

Uncharted 4
Yeah, already covered. This is the definition of AAA and the things
you can only accomplish with money and a big team, it would take a
small indie team 100+ years to make this game which is quite
a crazy thought.

Valkyria Chronicles
Think this is covered? It has aged really well and still feels
like a well needed change of pace in the genre.

Star Ocean 5
probably one of the disappointments of the year, not bad but a much
“smaller” game than I expected, smaller in every aspect.

I am Setsuna
Also covered…? I still feel like this was a success with
the apparent flaws aside.

Hyper Light Drifter
FEZ + Zelda says it all! Or maybe I need to say that it is
overrated and look quite horrible. I often asked myself
“what am I looking at” during the game. But I liked the open world
and the combat was quite good and much more fast-paced
than I thought it would be.

Exist Archive
Amazing that we even got this in english. Odd story but not bad,
it is basically a budget version of Valkyrie Profile and the only
real problems are the repetition in environments (and enemies)
and also the broken skills, the game can be hard as nails or far
too easy depending on how you spend the few “skill points”.
Let’s just keep dreaming about Valkyrie Profile 3!

Axiom Verge
A very overrated metroidvania that looks and sounds terrible,
I had to lower the sound effects to 20% to even be able to play it…
but despite that, I did enjoy it and will probably try
hard mode as well since it was easier than expected.

Final Fantasy XV
Dare I say anything? It will probably get a longer post since it is
such an awaited game. On the other hand everyone else have already
said so much about it. I have never been this torn about a game,
some parts are just amazing and some are utterly terrible.
It has never been this obvious that a game is unfinished and the
“development hell” is really showing… sadly.

My favorite parts are by far:
-the world and just riding around on chocobos, that is amazing.
-Finally a RPG that uses REAL shadows, 10 years later than some
other genres of games… it adds a lot.
-The Armigers, they reminded me of the 12 weapons in FF5,
which I strongly like.
-The pitioss ruins, not for everyone but I enjoyed them more than
the rest of the game combined, also they were a fourth of the game
for me which is sad in many ways.
They will make the list of legendary bonus dungeons!

Parts that will get you worked up that I didn’t like, hehe:
-The story. There was none, well okay, there was but it
will need a longer post.
-It ties in with story but the character development and bonding
with the party didn’t work for me, it really destroys the mood when
they cut their sentences short or repeat the same thing 30+ times.
I liked the characters a lot more in the anime.
-The loading times!! They are not too bad if you just play normally
but if you want to do side quests/ hunts, they are a real problem
and I can’t believe how bad they are.
-okay I will have to make the long version of this after all…

Play the game but be prepared for a mixed bag.

Last Guardian
Hm, I see it as a bad thing that this was EXACTLY what I expected,
I wanted to be surprised but this really is Ico 2, or rather
Ico of the Colossus. The animal is by far the highlight,
it really feels like a real and living creature, as a player it
can get annoying when it doesn’t obey you but I was prepared for
that and never got frustrated. It sometimes shows and feels that
it is originally made for PS3 but there are some really spectacular
sights in there and overall it is great, if it was released 5 years
ago it would probably have gotten a much better reception
and reached the same status as Ico.

—Xbox360—

Vanquish
I, I don’t know what is going on, I somehow beat it and I believe
this is the most ridiculous story I have ever seen.

Gears of War
Wow, this was a really dated game, the genre have come far,
one of the worst final battles ever.

—PC—

You have to win the game
A simple platformer, the lack of music is quite maddening.

Noitu Love 2
So much work on the graphic and yet all you have to do is hold
right to win, a few interesting bosses but they need to be harder.

Adventures of Pip
Did I cover this? A nice platformer where you change between different
resolutions to get different abilities, 8 bit hero can use some
abilities you can’t use in 16 bit etc. Nice but don’t stand out
all that much.

Inexistence
A simple Symphony of the Night “clone” with a rather dark twist.

Momodora 4
Covered before! Wished it lasted longer but a real quality game.

Guacamelee
Think I covered this too, a nice mix of Metroidvania and beat em up!

Dust: an Elysian Tail
Also covered? A rather ambitious indie Action RPG, a bit too
repetitvie fights but I applaud the game never the less.

Ittle Dew
Covered! A very well designed Zelda clone, in Swedish!

Pink Heaven
Barely a game, just a short side story to Keroblaster.

Shantae Risky’s revenge
Did I cover this? I need to keep a list of that too from now on…
The only one I have played so far but I will be happy to return to
the other Shantae games.

1001 Spikes
Gah, quite frustrating but it has it’s charm, well maybe not,
I rather play VVVVVV.

Inside
Covered! One of the stronger releases this year and the most well
polished game ever.

Child of Light
Another covered game, the soundtrack was amazing and I really wish
Ubisoft makes something similar in the future.

AM2R: Samus Returns
Yeah, yeah, covered as well, what a game!
The Metroid game we all deserve!

Evoland 2
Thi-I-what the, words fail me, like I already said before,
this is somewhat my dream game.

Starbound
Never thought I would beat or even play this again but now that there
is a final release and they added a story etc. it actually turned out
to be good. Not Terraria level of course, but good. The highlights are
the boss battles and some of the very strange places you can find among
the billions of actual planets, a faaar better game universe than
No man’s sky have.

La-mulana
This game! Already covered as well but after accidentally beating
this on hard every other “hard” game like Demon’s Souls etc feels like
a joke, in hindsight I am glad about that mistake and it has really
taken me to another level of “power player” or what the kids say!

Undertale
Another overrated game that looks horrible, but yeah,
it was also playable and interesting, loved the crazy final boss.

Owlboy
Just like FFXV and Last Guardian a much anticipated game.
I have always seen this as a platformer but in reality it is a
twin stick shooter with graphic and level design like a platformer…
an odd combo that actually works, throw in godly pixel graphic
and a decent story and we have Owlboy.
The biggest complaint is the lack of challenge.

Evoland
A joke compared to the second game but the same theme of
mixing games, Zelda, FF7, Mario, Diablo, all in one short game!

Transistor
Final game both on the list and for the year!
After Bastion I expected more… This was over in 4 hours and I didn’t
have the time to understand the battles or the story in that time.
It really felt like it was closing in on the end as soon as you hit
“new game”. Odd game.

Puh! That was intense, both the gaming year and writing this.
Let us lastly try to nominate some games of the year:

My favorite games released 2016:

1: AM2R: Samus Returns
2: Final Fantasy XV
3: Inside

My favorite games played 2016:

1: Evoland 2
2: Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky/Cold Steel
3: AM2R: Samus Returns

My worst games played 2016:

1: Metroid Prime: Hunters
2: Gears of War
3: Vanquish

Yeah, Evoland 2 must take the cake for this year!

That’s all but something tells me the next year’s list will also be
quite interesting and MIGHT even change my top ten list for the first
time in 10 years.