Your Top 5 Games You Played in 2024

[Leon]

I'd say it depends what you want in a game but I really don't see any area where Ep 2 exceeds Ep 1, and there's many areas where it falls short.
3 compared to 1 is more of a mixed bag because it really does do some things better than 1 even if it does others worse (1 has better writing and cutscene direction/budget, but 3 has better paced combat and dat Yuki Kajiura soundtrack).

Xenosaga ep 2 has a good soundtrack and the battle system is better, especially when it comes to the mechs, xenosaga ep 1 suffers from a severe lack of music and where there is music half the time it either sucks (the battle theme for everything but the final boss) or has no music at all (like half the dungeons), that said when ep 1's music is good it's really good, as for the battle system it felt less of a proper battle system in ep 1, like it was trying to be xenogears but fell behind what made it good in the first place, also xenosaga ep 1 had that "porcelin doll" effect which made it kinda uncanny, also not much really happens in ep 1, this isn't necessarily unexpected in the first game in a trilogy but it's still very noticable, not to mention how utterly useless A.E.G,W,'s were, unlike the E.S.'s from 2 and 3.

What ep 1 does better than ep 2 imo is at least the first half of the game is better paced, ep 2 spends a good portion of the first half of the game in the dreamscape, which drags on, ep 1 has a proper shop system and also has minigames even if they kinda suck or are irrelevant, ep 1 also has ff8 and ff13's biggest problem though where most of the story is told through a primer, though i'm not deducting this as ep 3 also suffers from this to a extent, when it comes to story however, that really depends on the person, i personally find ep 2's story more intriguing than ep 1's but i can see how others might think the opposite.

Full miserable experience???? I really need to play Xenosaga too...!!!

Miserable is subjective, i'd say it just has not aged as well as people want to admit, though i still enjoy it, if i can get past ep 1.

Suffering builds character


RS2 is excellent. I wonder if that recent remake was any good.

From what i've heard RS2's remake is amazing, better than the original but is a actual remake, not a upgraded graphics game, aka the feef is different,

 

[Jotaro]

 

[homesforgnomes]

Xenosaga ep 2 has a good soundtrack and the battle system is better, especially when it comes to the mechs, xenosaga ep 1 suffers from a severe lack of music and where there is music half the time it either sucks (the battle theme for everything but the final boss) or has no music at all (like half the dungeons), that said when ep 1's music is good it's really good, as for the battle system it felt less of a proper battle system in ep 1, like it was trying to be xenogears but fell behind what made it good in the first place, also xenosaga ep 1 had that "porcelin doll" effect which made it kinda uncanny, also not much really happens in ep 1, this isn't necessarily unexpected in the first game in a trilogy but it's still very noticable, not to mention how utterly useless A.E.G,W,'s were, unlike the E.S.'s from 2 and 3.

What ep 1 does better than ep 2 imo is at least the first half of the game is better paced, ep 2 spends a good portion of the first half of the game in the dreamscape, which drags on, ep 1 has a proper shop system and also has minigames even if they kinda suck or are irrelevant, ep 1 also has ff8 and ff13's biggest problem though where most of the story is told through a primer, though i'm not deducting this as ep 3 also suffers from this to a extent, when it comes to story however, that really depends on the person, i personally find ep 2's story more intriguing than ep 1's but i can see how others might think the opposite.

Personally I'd say the mech fights were the only time Ep 2's combat was tolerable. I found the on-foot combat to be the worst part of the entire game. Fights last far longer than they should because you have to waste time building resources, getting pounded on by the enemy the whole time because they don't have to have resource to do decent damage. ~5 minute long battles where most of it is spent getting hit is not my idea of fun.

I like Ep 1's music and the lack of music for some areas (the whirr of electronics on the spaceships is pretty atmospheric). Ep 2's music is a mixed bag. On one hand a lot of the zone music is really good, but much of it fits the game incredibly poorly. You also have some Yuki Kajiura tracks for the cutscenes, which are great, but rare. The combat music on the other hand is incredibly dull and repetitive and it's what you'll be listening to for most of the game.

I agree on 1's visual style being weird, but it grew on me, and 2's visual style is worse imo (gross plasticky uncanny valley). 3 gets it right for everybody but Shion.

I wouldn't say not much happens in Ep 1, and certainly not compared to Ep 2 which you could probably skip and miss very little other than Jr. and Albedo's backstory and character development.

For me the main thing I liked about Ep 1 was the quality of the writing, and that went down the toilet in Ep 2. Ep 3's writing is a mixed bag but much better than 2. Pied Piper (lost media cellphone game that covers Ziggy's past) has the same writer as Ep 1 and is excellently written as a result, too.

Combat wise I think the DS demake of 1 and 2 was actually the best. If they ever revisit Xenosaga to "finish" it I'd like to see that system used.

 

[stealthRUSH]

Honorable Mention - Pandemonium! (SAT), Maerchen Adventure Cotton 100% (SNES), G-Darius (PSX), Gunbird (SAT) all very good games but now onto...

My Top 5 10 Games I've Played in 2024

10. Love & Destroy (PS1) - Unique experience of combining beautifully animated cut-scenes with large mecha which plays out essentially as a boss rush. Choosing one of the three pilots with their own mobile suit units that play distinctly from each other. Creative enemies, bosses, story, with multiple story routes to unlock new scenes. Only issue is that it was on the shorter side and the gameplay doesn't offer much other than destroying the presented boss with a few scattered enemies.

9. Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa (NES) - I came in with zero expectations but the solid gameplay surprised me. Besides being an early 2D platform game it features bubble ability in a platform game that makes it stands out from the rest. Cute colorful graphics, stages, characters, enemies, bosses only Konami can deliver.

8. Gimmick! (NES) - Finally played this physics gem! One of the few times I decided to go with the Quality-of-Life Mod hack that make the jumping mechanic more forgiving. Another very fun game on the short side, doesn't make it any less fun.

7. Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (PS1) - Super creative dream world complete with various of creatures and its own language. A 2.5D experience that aged very well navigating the foreground and background paths. At times it reminded me of several other games released the same era but this surpassed them in every way.

6. Magical Pop'n (SNES) - Truly feels like a predecessor to another game on this list- at least being very inspired by. Solid gameplay with large stages that change up as the game progresses.

5. Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams (TCD) - One of the greatest classic horizontal shooters. Perfect blend of magic abilities, with this port playing remarkably well.

4. SonSon II (TG16) - Solid 2D platform exclusive that doesn't get much recognition. Tight gameplay from jumping, attacking, nothing short of excellence by Capcom. But don't let the colorful graphics fool you, it's challenging.

3. NiGHTS into Dreams... (SAT) - Despite playing, owning the domestic version with 3D controller back in '96- I've never finished the game! That all changed this year where I decided to vastly improve my flying after multiple attempts of failing in the past. Wonderful experience from the soundtrack to the credits.

2. Legend of Xanadu: Kaze no Densetsu Xanadu II (TCD) - Decided not to wait for a fan-translation patch to release and give it a shot anyway. Thanks to a helpful guide on GameFAQs I was able to navigate this linear RPG. For a late release it pushes the system to the next generation- glorious sprites, stages, makes for a memorable experience.

1. Silhouette Mirage (SAT) - Another favorite of mine ever since I owned the PlayStation version in '98 I never completed! Again all changed this year. Just when you thought the game was over twists around the corner to take you off guard on what's actually coming next?! I adore everything about this complex 2D platform game especially running on Sega Saturn since the shop prices are now reasonable (Working Designs adjusted the NA release to increase the difficulty) this is a 10/10 game for me.

 

[Pjira]