When it comes to my goals set at the beginning of the year, however… At least I tried?^^" Though considering how little I usually tend to play from the stack I start these threads with, a full bingo sheet was probably doomed to end in failure. Gonna rethink that for next year. #AlanarsGames2024

Switch: Fire Emblem Engage Fire Emblem Engage: Fell Xenologue Streets of Rage 4 Another Code Recollection Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Konosuba: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World - Love for these Clothes of Desire Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed Chico and the Magic Orchards DX Grapple Dog Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition The Legend of Zelda (NSO) The Quintessential Quintuplets: Memories of a Quintessential Summer Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NSO) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Advance (NSO) The Quintessential Quintuplets: Five Memories Spent with You Variable Barricade Tetris Effect Connected Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Trilogy) Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons Picross S: Namco Legendary Edition Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire Velocity 2X Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (NSO) Donkey Kong Country (NSO) Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong-Quest (NSO) Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble (NSO) Donkey Kong Land (NSO) Donkey Kong Land 2 (NSO) Donkey Kong Land 3 (NSO) WarioWare, Inc:: Minigame Mania (NSO) Kuru Kuru Kururin (NSO) Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines Persona 5 Tactica: Repaint Your Heart Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge PS4: Bloodborne One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 Utawarerumono Zan PS5: Astro's Playroom Saints Row

I think it's time to wrap up this thread. Finished 40 games and 4 expansions in total this year - about on par with last year. More importantly, I learned to love games I was mixed on before (like Xenoblade) and finally tackled some I never played (like Baldur's Gate & DKC).^^ #AlanarsGames2024

Finished P5T: Repaint Your Heart! Interesting extra story with a very fun colouring mechanic. While the battles are about as easy as the main game's, it does allow some more interesting strategies. Also, it's nice to hang out with Kasumi and Akechi some more.^^ #AlanarsGames2024

Unfortunately, the Switch version of Cosmic Canines tends to suffer from noticable slowdowns in certain scenes - mostly in the last third or so. Doesn't make it unplayable by any means but still. #AlanarsGames2024

Finished Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines! Awesome sequel to Grapple Dog! Moderately challenging levels with lots of visual variety, fun boss fights and an overall great flow thanks to Luna and Pablo's unique move sets. Love the elemental powers in particular!^^ #AlanarsGames2024

Finished Kuru Kuru Kururin! Still as fun as I remember it being. Compact yet challenging stages with lots of bonus levels to perfect your clear times in. Hopefully the sequel will join NSO, too! #AlanarsGames2024

Finished WarioWare! Funny to think I was disappointed by it decades ago because I played the GameCube port a lot. Gold may still be the best game in the franchise but this one is still great for a short break.^^ #AlanarsGames2024

Finished Donkey Kong Land 3! This one's just kinda boring. None of the levels really stick out much and some even blatantly repeat whole structures over and over again. Not the greatest end point for a series to have. #AlanarsGames2024

Finished Donkey Kong Land 2! Massive improvement over the first one! Controls feel smooth, the visuals more readable yet still impressive and I actually enjoyed playing it from beginning to end. Still had a couple screen size-related deaths but overall it's managable. #AlanarsGames2024

Finished Donkey Kong Land! While it's technically impressive and has a couple ideas and set pieces not found in the SNES games, it's just a pain to play. The controls somehow feel both slippery and stiff and the more detailed backgrounds obscure other sprites. #AlanarsGames2024

Finished Donkey Kong Country 3! A great game to round out the trilogy. Very fond of the variety found among the levels. Always kept me guessing what I'd be up against next.^^ I like the more atmospheric soundtrack in this one, too. #AlanarsGames2024

Finished Donkey Kong Country 2! Just like the first game but with a boatload more polish. Great levels, better boss fights, smooth controls and a decent amount of collectibles. Can see why this one is so beloved.^^ #AlanarsGames2024

Finished Donkey Kong Country! Love the level design in this one. Challenging and full of little jokes like one stage where a mistimed shot will grant you a single banana you can't get otherwise. Controls took some time adjusting to, especially after Yoshi's Island.^^" #AlanarsGames2024

Finished Yoshi's Island for the first time in decades! A pleasant trip down memory lane. Fantastic art style which holds up perfectly, fun and memorable levels and well-designed albeit not exactly challenging bosses. #AlanarsGames2024

Finished Velocity 2X! Took a little for me to warm up to it but after I couple of levels, I was hooked. Smooth controls, great level design, fun challenges and all built around going through it as fast and thorough as possible. Great game! #AlanarsGames2024

Finished Sisters Royale! Basic but fun bullet hell shoot 'em up. I like how it rewards risky play by ramping up your shot frequency and score when you're close to bullets. Also, the five characters allow for quite varied play styles between their shots and magic! #AlanarsGames2024

A Picross puzzle.

A solved puzzle resulting in the image of Pac-Man.

A Color Picross puzzle.

The main menu with medals on Picross, Color Picross and Clip Picross, indicating completion of said modes.

Finished Picross S: Namco Legendary Edition! Another fun set of puzzles. Even managed to wrap my head around Color Picross this time! Gonna skip out on Mega Picross, though.^^" #AlanarsGames2024

Finished #UtawarerumonoZan! THEY SKIPPED MY FAVOURITE SCENE FROM MASK OF DECEPTION! T_T That aside, decent short summary of said game with typical Tamsoft fights. Even got the platinum trophy despite it being a bit grindy. Not sure if I'd recommend the game, though… #AlanarsGames2024

Finished Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons! Made me realise how well the Story of Seasons music works as puzzle BGM.^^ Fun game but feels slightly unpolished. The controls in particular are a bit laggy at times. #AlanarsGames2024

Finished #SaintsRow! While probably just okay overall, it really clicked with me. Story felt kinda short and underwhelming but it had its moments & I like the new main crew. Got a lot out of the side activities, too - to the point I am just one trophy short of the platinum.^^" #AlanarsGames2024

That said, I felt the story in #PirateWarriors4 was a bit too truncated to the point I feel future games should just start with the New World part. As someone largely unfamiliar with the source material, I had quite a lot of trouble following the plot. #AlanarsGames2024

Finished One Piece: #PirateWarriors4! Snakeman is just so much fun to play. Same goes for other characters like Carrot, Katakuri and Sabo.^^ Had an absolute blast with the game! (after jumping from Switch to PS4 because the load times were unbearable) #AlanarsGames2024

Finished #Bloodborne! Was intimidated by its supposed difficulty but had surprisingly little trouble! The bosses are fun, the areas interesting and I like how it all connects through shortcuts. Glad to have given it a go! #AlanarsGames2024

Finished #AstrosPlayroom! Super cute game with smooth platforming and tons of references to PlayStation games and hardware. Enjoyed it enough to get the platinum trophy.^^ #AlanarsGames2024

Finished #TetrisEffect Connected's Journey mode on Expert! Pure zen. No matter how hectic it got along the way, I never felt stressed thanks to the amazing visuals and music. #AlanarsGames2024

Finished #VariableBarricade! A great rom-com with great and mostly funny but also fairly relatable characters. Did not expect to go through so many twists and turns.^^ Taiga is easily my fave among the love interests but Ichiya and Nayuta grew on me, too. #AlanarsGames2024

Finished #TheQuintessentialQuintuplets Movie game! Yup, still love it.^^ A great supplement to the manga and anime with a fitting expansion of the canon ending and interesting alternative endings. The lackluster, error-prone English script kinda hurts it, though… #AlanarsGames2024

Finished #ALinktothePast! Absolute joy - that's what I felt playing it again for the 1st time in ages. Love the dungeons with their more complex puzzles, the overworld, the music, the smooth controls… A marvelous game I don't think I appreciated enough before. #AlanarsGames2024

Finished #Zelda2! Merciless game I would've dropped if it weren't for the Switch's rewind feature. This way I did appreciate the suprising amount of depth going into the game's combat and the fun dungeons I rarely felt lost in despite there being no ingame map. #AlanarsGames2024

Finished #QuintupletsSummer! A fun ride despite the rather poor English writing. The simulation bit is way easier than I feared and the character routes were all around cute. To my own surprise, Ichika's route was my favourite, followed by Itsuki's and, of course, Yotsuba's.^^ #AlanarsGames2024