Warning: This article may contain spoilers and the content inappropriate for children…or may not contain. But get the children away from the screen just in case.
For the half of the 2023 and the whole 2024 I've had two gaming marathons, first consisted from From Software games and second - from Yakuza games. I'll probably write about it some other time. As for now, I would like to share eleven notable games (both modern and retro) I've played in 2023 and 2024 in-between those two marathons. Games are present in no particular order.
Lies of P
Lies of P is wonderful quality action-rpg and my personal game of the year in 2023. While being pretty obvious clone of the From Software’s games (mainly Bloodborne, and sometimes combat reminds of Sekiro) this game has its own unique charm and offers many interesting gameplay mechanics (like replacable arm and feature of combining handles and blades from different weapons). Plot of the game is very interesting and loosely based on the “Adventures of Pinocchio”, which can be roughly described as “Pinocchio meets Bloodborne and Resident Evil” (that’s a compliment by the way). Characters are memorable and well-written, and game’s world is unique and beautiful with lots of references to the original tale. Levels aren’t very lengthy, but well-designed and complicated. Lies of P has beautiful visuals and soundtrack (which even includes several remixes from DJ Max game series). To the cons of the game I can only add uneven difficulty curve (some game’s segments can be real pain). Aside from that, I can only praise this game. If you like Bloodborne and want something similar, I highly recommend to give Lies of P a chance.
Dark Lord
A pretty unique game, which was ahead of its time if you ask me. Dark Lord is a mix of the turn-based rpg and point-n-click adventure with the narrative similar to the old tabletop games (like DnD for example). You create a starting party and immediately thrown in town, which will be your main base for the rest of the game. You can take quests from the local NPCs, each quest is basically a short separate scenario. I highly recommend to play Dark Lord with a guide, since there isn’t always clear where to go and what to do, as well as because of the game’s job system. In this game you can take various jobs to grind stats and money, but the problem is that many jobs, while giving you a boost to one stat, also gives a penalty to another. Also, while gaining a level, you can randomly get a stat penalty instead of stat boost. Needless to say, that unlocking the most profitable jobs can be a pain in the ass. While plot of the game is simple, it is still pretty good for the game of the NES era, not least due to good humor and self-irony. Visuals and soundtrack in the Dark Lord are pretty good, especially for a 8-bit game. Also, game has a curious feature – characters grow old during the course of the game, but personally I couldn’t figure out whether it affects anything or not (by the end of the game all my characters were 28).
Dark Law: Meaning of Death
Dark Law is a spiritual successor to the Dark Lord and plays almost identical to it. Once again you create your party from the scratch and take various quests in the town to advance the story. Job system in this game is much more refined compared to the Dark Lord, with better rewards and without stat penalties (yet the best jobs can still be a pain to unlock). Magic, in the other hand, became more of an issue. While you can equip more spells now, most of them are useless, since most of the late-game enemies are immune to magic, the effect of the healing spells was also greatly diminished. As in case with the Dark Lord I highly suggest to play Dark Law with a guide, since this game has tons of permanently missable content (all quests require the specific party level, if your level is higher than the required, you won’t be able to take the quest). But despite the issues Dark Law is still a wonderful role-playing game with heavy emphasis on the story, each quest is a separate interesting story, which in the end helps to see the bigger picture. Game has wonderful soundtrack (I’m in love the theme in the intro), nice visuals and good dark atmosphere.
Drakengard 3
If someone asks me, what is the worst game I’ve ever played, I would say – the first Drakengard. While it is definitely unique for its time, I honestly can’t say anything good about this game. Thus I was very hesitant to play Drakengard 3, even though it did piqued my interest. But after I’ve beaten both Nier and Nier:Automata (and ended up loving both games), my opinion on Yoko Taro’s writing has improved greatly and I’ve decided to give Drakengard 3 a chance and didn’t regret it one bit. Game fixes most issues of the first two games in the series. Land battles became fast-pacing and enjoyable, and aerial battles became decent at least. Plot isn’t very interesting, but presentation is very good. If the first Drakengard was a dead serious game, the third one mixes serious story and tragic scenes with all sorts of humor and it works (I’m not the fan of slapstick humor, but I find in-game jokes genuinely funny). Characters in the third Drakengard are more bright and memorable compared to first two games. And soundtrack in this game is pure awesomeness, especially during the boss fights.
Iru!
An old horror-adventure game, which was recently translated to English. Game starts with several teenagers staying late at school to prepare for the school festival and quickly turns into the survival horror based on the Lovecraftian mythos. Many plot elements, terms and monsters are borrowed from the novels written by H.P. Lovecraft and his followers, such as F.B. Long and R.A. Bloch for example. Most of the time we will be wandering in search of the means to defeat monsters lurking around the school corridors in the puzzle-solving manner. Sometimes there will be action sequences, where you need to either run or hide from the enemies, but those sequences are heavily scripted and aren’t particularly hard. Game isn’t scary, but has nice eerie atmosphere. Graphics is decent, music is good, controls are comfortable enough and similar to King’s Field and Echo Night series. Game is around 4-5 hours long and mostly linear except for few branching points, which determine your primary antagonist in the finale (endings remain mostly the same save for the one bad ending).
Laplace no Ma
Laplace no Ma is a mix of survival horror and role-playing game, that was originally released for NEC PC-8801 and PC-9801. Later it was ported to several other platforms, losing its survival horror elements and dropping in difficulty in the process. SNES version plays more like a jrpg rather than horror, but it is the only version available in English and still a decent game. Like Iru! this game is based on the Lovecraftian mythos, but also adds creatures from various mythologies, witchcraft and even…forbidden math. First few hours of the game can be a pain, but eventually it gets better and becomes fun to play. While graphics is pretty average game has very nice art style and in-game illustrations. Music, on the other hand, is plain horrible. Story of the game is pretty decent (albeit somewhat silly). Maximum level in the game is 10, but it takes forever to grind on the regular enemies, your primary source of experience would be side-quests and bosses. The only way to earn money is to have a journalist in your party and take photos of enemies and then sell them. While Laplace no Ma isn’t a perfect by any means, it still can be pretty enjoyable, especially since there are very few quality role-playing games mixed with survival horror, which takes place in the unusual setting. If you liked Sweet Home, Koudelka and Peret em Heru: For the Prisoners I highly recommend to give this game a chance.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
While FE series was always famous for its deep and interesting gameplay, plot was never its strongest point. Stories in FE aren’t bad and even have some interesting plot-twists, but still they are pretty generic. The fun fact is that Tear Ring Saga, which is basically FE clone also made by Kaga, actually has a good writing and interesting characters, but that’s another story. For me things got better starting Path of Radiance, which had decent writing and pretty fleshed out characters. And there we have Three Houses, which, in my humble opinion, has the best plot in the series in case you like grey-and-grey morality. Characters are very well-developed and story is really interesting to follow, graphics and art style are beautiful and soundtrack is simply stunning. Battles are fast-pacing, class system is very flexible. To the cons of the game I would have added boring hub, repetitive maps and side-quests.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake
FF7 Remake is one of those games I was constantly putting off for later in the past. And recently I’ve finally finished it. Frankly while original FF7 was never among my favourite, I still enjoyed playing it a lot, so I’ve had my fair share of doubts about several story changes made in the remake (namely adding Whispers and that overused multiverse concept I never liked in the first place). The result actually turned out pretty good. Original story was vastly expanded and polished, creators did a great work of fleshing out the characters (even minor ones) without altering their personalities. They became much more interesting compared to the original (I even like Aerith now, which was never the case in the original). Even Whispers aren’t that annoying, despite lacking any subtility as a plot device. Game has beautiful graphics, interesting plot, well-directed cutscenes; battle system, that finely mixes action and turn-based combat, interesting boss fights. To the cons I would have added boring linear level-design, tedious puzzles and Whispers. I’m yet to play Rebirth and now I’m actually waiting for the final part of the remake, because I’m pretty curious what we’re gonna get in the finale.
Phantasy Star III
Sometimes there are games (well, also books, movies etc.), which are hard to criticize, but for some reason they don’t bring much of a joy . And sometimes there are games, that can be horrible on many levels and with that very enjoyable. And PS III is definitely the latter. I can understand why it is considered worst in the classic series. While plot has many interesting points, the developers team forgot to add them in the actual game, leaving them in the side materials. Level design is very lazy, there is a lot of trigger-hunting and even more backtracking, offensive magic is completely useless, and while music is pretty good, overall sound quality made my ears bleed. And with that said I’ve actually had a lot of fun playing PSIII. Probably that was the case of “so bad, it’s good” for me. To the pros of the game I would have added fast-pacing battles, good character design; unpolished, but interesting magic system (where you can strengthen one magic by weakening another), some interesting plot-twists and bold non-generic (yet, sometimes suggestive) enemy designs. Additionally, I would like to praise the idea of playing through several generations, where your decisions in the current generation affect the story and characters in the next generation. Personally, I’ve played through Rhys-Ayn-Sean route in the first playthrough.
Slow Damage
I’ve found out about Slow Damage by pure accident, since at some point I’ve lost interest to VN genre and stopped following Nitroplus as a result. At first, I didn’t expect much from the game, since many in-game themes are not close to me, but Slow Damage turned out to be surprisingly good psychological thriller. Game has very interesting plot with many twists (story really shows how much Fuchii Kabura grew as a writer), as well as detailed in-game world and well-developed characters. Despite being a visual novel SD even provides a decent gameplay similar to Danganronpa and Ace Attorney series in a way. Music and in-game artwork are simply outstanding. It is really evident how much effort was put into the game. To the cons of the game I would have added slow pacing at the beginning (I won’t blame you, if after playing around 2-3 hours you would think, that this game is a slice of life, but, trust me, it is not), inaccurate English translation (with lots of swearing and slang, which wasn’t there in the original) and whole Madarame’s route (Madarame is highly unlikable, his route is very disturbing and poorly-written compared to the other routes. Honestly, I’ve had an impression, that he was added only for the sake of having sadistic alpha-male among the potential love interests.). Also, Slow Damage is pretty lengthy game for a visual novel, you’ll need around 50 hours to unlock everything. In case you got interested in this game I must warn you - this is strictly 18+ BL game with lots of sensitive topics, so play at your own risk.
SoniComi
I like Sonico, she is nice and kind character, but, at first, I was hesitant to play this game. Judging by videos I’ve thought this game is pure fanservice with simplistic gameplay. Well, I was wrong. You play as a rookie photographer, Sonico is your model, and your goal is to make her popular. Game can be split in two parts, one is your typical VN, where you read dialogues and occasionally make a choice, another is photosessions, which are mix of FPS and rhythm-game. Photosessions are pretty hard and require good reaction and quick thinking from the player. SoniComi turned out to be fun and challenging experience with many endings (both good and bad) and loads of unlockable costumes. Also, unusual for Nitroplus, SoniComi is very kind and player-friendly game (aside from some fanservice there is no adult content), that teaches us to believe in ourselves and pursue our dreams to…abandon the modeling business completely and end up as war correspondent (at least that’s what I’ve got at my first playthrough).
Dark!Fbi!green brother’s with killer!reader, how they became obsessed with the suspect only to find out she did kill the victim, having to hide the evidence that leads it to her because they realised if she gets caught they will never see her again.
Later having to keep their crazy little girl locked away in their basement, for them to have forever.
Imagine how hot they would be....and Aemond already has such dark tendencies...
Later having to keep their crazy little girl locked away in their basement, for them to have forever.
!!
Masked HERO Dark Law
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Must be Special Summoned with "Mask Change" and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. Any card sent to your opponent's Graveyard is banished instead. Once per turn, if your opponent adds a card(s) from their Deck to their hand (except during the Draw Phase or the Damage Step): You can banish 1 random card from your opponent's hand.
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Can Be Found In: HERO Strike Structure Deck (SDHS-EN044), OTS Tournament Pack (OP01-EN003), Duelist Saga (DUSA-EN094)
Masked HEROs quickly became staple monsters in many HERO Extra Decks thanks to their easy accesibility along powerful abilities. Often just requiring a single material by "Mask Change", a Masked HERO can quickly come to the field as long we use a monster with the same Attribute as the Fusion Monster we want to summon among them. Compared to other Extra Deck monsters they got slightly affected by the implementation of the Extra Deck Zone, as they still keep their cheap requeriments along the possibility to follow other monsters' attacks during a Battle Phase to finish off the opponent.
"Masked HERO Dark Law" quickly became one of the main choices when comes to Masked HEROs thanks to its powerful Anti-Meta abilities. By its mere pressence on the board "Dark Law" will make any opponent's cards sent to the Graveyard to be banished instead, pretty much shutting down the vast majority of Decks dominating the card game nowadays. This disruption of any setups is further applied with its second effect activating each turn, as "Dark Law" can respond to the opponent adding card(s) to their hand from the Deck (Mainly by a searching or drawing effect outside Damage Step) by forcing them to banish a random card from their hand. In resume, "Dark Law" alone is able to ruin the core mechanics of most strategies dominating the card game nowadays, and while the opponent struggles facing this Masked HERO we'll keep playing our Deck normally at a massive advantage.
The main method to summon "Dark Law" and other Masked HEROs is by the effect of "Mask Change", and that will be the only way we can summon this monster as restricts itself from any alternatives. The conditions arround "Mask Change" are simple as requires a DARK HERO for the summon of "Dark Law", easily achieved thanks to not only the Destiny HERO and Evil HERO archetypes but also other members such as "Elemental HERO Shadow Mist" able to search for not only other HEROs but also Change cards. Alternatively we can also summon "Dark Law" by the activation of "Mask Change II", a slightly more expensive card that allow us to use any DARK monster we can fit in our Deck as long is a lower Level than the Masked HERO. But no matter if we play arround a HERO Deck or try to fit it with the big card pool of DARK monsters in the game, remember that "Dark Law" can be brought during any turn due the nature of the Change cards being Quick-Play Spells.
Most of the work "Dark Law" has to do in a Duel is to simply stay face-up on the field, as its two effects will severely damage most of the Decks we'll face. With the majority of players relying on the Graveyard to revive monsters and some recyclable effects, "Dark Law" alone can severely damage entire setups ranging from milling effects by Lightsworns and Mermail to nullifying the use of cards like "Dragon's Mirror" and "Breakthrough Skill" among many others. If "Dark Law" is not damaging the opponent's Graveyard it will deal with any effect trying to provide cards to the opponent, as even if there's a chance the opponent keeps the card(s) they just obtained they still lose value by banishing a random card from their hand in the process. If you want to be greedy, we can work along cards like "Dark World Dealings" and "Hand Destruction" to force the opponent to draw cards we might banish while also losing others by the effect of "Dark Law" affecting their Graveyard. But "Dark Law" is not just about banishing cards, as due the nature of the Change cards we can take an opportunity to obtain new attacks by using the material during the Battle Phase as well chain it against opponent effects including those that can damage our monsters.
While Masked HERO monsters in general are quite effective thanks to their cheap condtions and the chainable nature of the Change cards, "Masked HERO Dark Law" stands out among them due its severe Anti-Meta effects. Combined with DARK monsters being quite prominent to the point we can add it to any Extra Deck thanks to "Mask Change II", the arrival of "Dark Law" in early game along a bit of coverage can completely shut down almost every dominant Deck due their heavy reliance on the Graveyard and searching/drawing effects. Obviously that will make "Dark law" the main target of most countermeasures specially due its stats not being that impressive, but due its cheap summon shouldn't be that hard to bring a new copy later on to keep the pressure with its effect along the rest of our strategy. No matter if you focus arround DARK HEROs or try to work arround "Mask Change II", "Masked HERO Dark Law" is a reliable Fusion Monster as will damage almost any Deck by one or both of its effects.
Personal Rating: A+
+ Banishes opponent's cards when are sent to their Graveyard
+ Will banish an opponent's card in response of them adding a card(s) from their Deck to the hand
+ Very easy to summon as well being chainable
- Recommended to bring it out in early game
- Will be the main target of attacks and disruptive effects
