Tomorrow, we're due to finally find out what Nintendo has been cooking up next for the Zelda franchise. There's no question that there are few games as beloved as the Ocarina of the Time, which puts Nintendo in an interesting position for this remake. As we all know, the Zelda formula has been totally shaken up with the latest entries, prioritizing emergent gameplay and sandboxes that allow players to explore and create, a total departure from the Ocarina-style that previously defined 3D Zelda.
2013 is really the start Console Generation 8, but to me it's still Gen 7 because the Xbox One and PS4 came out late in that year, and I didn't get either one until maybe a year later. Yes the Wii-U was out in 2012, the 3DS and PS Vita in 2011, but it really felt like Gen 8 fully to me in 2014. So this is the last year I'll review until I get past all the Gen 7 systems in my retro journey this year.
In the last part of my PS4 tribute blog, we looked at the games I enjoyed on the PS4 that were classic collections or remakes. And on this one, we’ll look at the more AAA titles (well as AAA as I get anyway), as well as the indie titles on the opposite end of the spectrum. Like I said before, most of these games you can enjoy on other platforms, I just played them on PS4.
When a game console is considered “dead,” I like to write a tribute blog about that console and its games. While most people would probably consider the PS4 ‘dead’ for a while now, I’m still reviewing games for it. I guess a game console is really only considered ‘dead’ once you stop playing it. But since recently I wasn’t able to get simple games like LEGO Batman and Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection on the PS4, I figured it was about time. I’ll probably do a similar blog with the original Switch later towards the end of this year. Most of the games on this list you can play on other consoles as well, I mostly used the PS4 as a third party machine if I couldn’t play or review it on the Switch, or if I’d rather play it on the PS4. Anyway, there are so many games I’m going to split this up into two parts. And the first part is going to be all about classic game collections, and remakes of classics and styled games.
The first thing that comes to mind is changing my Xbox gamertag. I got one in 2004 when Xbox Live Arcade dropped but a mini-game on an Official Xbox Magazine demo disc was giving me trouble in '07, and I thought a new gamertag would solve it. Well, it did solve it, but I lost touch with my old gamertag over time, and now it's probably been deactivated along with the few games I bought under it. It'll be 20 years on my current gamertag next year. It could've been 23 years if I'd stuck with my original one.
It's always fun to go down the list of Metacritic's top games for a system or year. Here goes for the GBA, which I'm trying to play alongside my PS2 games. It's all about the early 2000s.
Next up in my trek through the consoles is the PS2. This will take a while because I have a lot more games for it than previous consoles and the games are a bit longer, reflecting the improvement in technology. But first, two games I forgot to play in the previous weeks.
Really, two weeks of stuff here. I swap out consoles like they were cakes on display at a cake shop except for the Xbox Series S, which is always hooked up.
I have a few half days of gaming in my week that I thought, from hear on out, I would devote to handheld games. Then I'd attack the console stuff on full days off from work. That is, barring any other distraction. So this week I played 3DS and then returned to Xbox Series S.
A majority of this batch of GamerDad reviews I’ve recently written have to do with Japanese myths and legends and other related themes, so hence the title. Please click on the links and read as many as you can, and maybe post a ‘like’ or comment or two. I’d appreciate it. OK let’s begin!
In no paticular order, these are the games I played on my midweek weekend this week.
Wow, 2023 has been an incredible year for gaming, one of the very best! And here we are at the end of the year, so let’s look back at some games, shall we? You guys probably know that I’m a big Nintendo guy. In fact, I don’t even have the other consoles (mostly because I don’t have time to play them all). This was a great year for Nintendo, we got so many fantastic games on the Switch. This year I beat a total of 26 games! (I was hoping to beat 30, but you know how it goes)
It’s the end of the year so you know what that means? It’s time for my “Best Video Games of 2023 Awards Show!” Keep in mind that this is my list only and no other outside opinions contributed. And if a game isn’t on this list, it either just didn’t appeal to me as much or I haven’t had a chance to play it yet. Ok with that out of the way, let’s begin!
So recently I played through Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe on Switch. Knowing that I’m a huge Kirby fan, you’re probably wondering why I didn’t get this game back when it released in February. Well I don’t really like paying full price for Switch re-releases and remakes, especially when I already paid for these games back on the original console. So I waited and asked for it for my birthday, which is what I usually do for games I want to get, but don’t have to play right away. So since I had already played this one back on the Wii, I decided I can wait and put it on my birthday list. After playing it, I have to say that unlike a lot of other Switch rereleases, this one’s actually pretty good and adds a lot of extra content. One of the extra things is an amusement park with ten Kirby mini-games from past titles! And since I like to write blogs about games that have a lot of mini-games, especially if they are presented in a museum or amusement park, let’s take a tour of Merry Magoland!
Around this time of year, I like to make a list of my best games SO FAR, because usually the AAA titles are released later in the year during the holiday season, and the titles that came out earlier tend to be forgotten. So here’s when those games get their due. Keep in mind that this is my list only and no other outside opinions contributed. And if a game isn’t on this list, it either just didn’t appeal to me as much or I haven’t had a chance to play it yet. Ok with that out of the way, let’s begin!
I played a little bit of several titles, but what I mostly played was Earth Defense Force 2025 with my friend and an assortment of randos.
Another year has come and gone. 2022 was a great year for games! I was able to beat 29 games this year. Keep in mind that some of these were old games that were fairly short (such as the original Castlevania and Castlevania III for NES). There were some standout games this year. I'm going to talk about my favorite games that I beat this year (some of which didn't come out this year, but some certainly did). Then I'm going to give 3 awards: Best Game Collection, Best Soundtrack, and of course, my Game of the Year. So let's get on with it.
Pac-Man World: Re-Pac was recently released, and it’s a remake of Pac-Man World, a 3-D platformer originally on the PSOne to celebrate Pac-Man’s 20th anniversary. Pac-Man World may not be one of my favorite Pac-Man games, but I have a lot of special memories about it that I thought I’d share with you in this blog. Plus my opinion on the remake, what has changed and stayed the same, etc. So grab a bowl of Pac-Dots and let’s get chomping!
Here’s some more game reviews I’ve written in the month of June at GamerDad.com. Please click on the links and read as many as you can, and maybe even post a ‘like’ or comment or two. I’d appreciate it. OK let’s begin!