I have a minor bug...

I added a completed game to my list earlier today (Walking Dead Final Season) and my completed game total in my profile banner didn't go up...it remained at 277

I tried taking the game off my list and the total on my banner went up to 278! I added the game again and it went down to 277!

My stats page is displaying the correct number 278.

Peculiar bug :)

Edit...the problem seems to have corrected itself as my banner now reads correctly.

Hi Everdred

A small feature request : if I change my view to 'List/Box' or my sort option to 'Date-Completed' the site remembers that as my preferred option next time I view my games.

So would it be possible on the Stats page for the site to remember a user's preferred option of 'Game - Released Date'?? I personally get more meaning out of viewing my stats like that.

Small thing, but it would be great if it's a relatively simple change for you.

A small thing.

On the stats page the 'n/a' bar is at the far right of the page. It makes more sense in my head for it to be on the far left (as previously) as my n/a games are older titles I don't have information for.

Also that way, the furthest right bar is the current year which is filling up as the year progresses, which I like.

Congrats Everdred...the site is amazing and this is well deserved.

Congrats on the update Everdred...I particularly like the uniformity of the Box view now.

Mine all looks good other than I have developed a 'Custom' tab in my games list that I never set up.

Also, on my stats page the completion years now descend left to right, rather than ascending left to right as before. Is this intended? It looks odd to me.

I'm playing Disney Dreamlight Valley with my daughter.

Basically it's Disney Animal Crossing and surprisingly good. On Game Pass too!

Three games beaten for me this month.

Triangle Strategy (Switch) - amazing game, well worth playing if you like turn-based combat
PowerWash Simulator (XSX) - Brilliant podcast game, very chill and relaxing
Peggle (Xbox One) - Played this one with my daughter, silly but fun.

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together?

That is correct :)

Final Fantasy Tactics

Close

Moon Chronicles?

3. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

First Playthrough
Platform: PC
Start Date: August 2nd 2022
Completion Date: August 16th 2022
Playtime: 29h 39m

I finally got around to Sekiro. I've had my eye on this game ever since completing Dark Souls: Remastered and falling in love with the Souls-like subgenre. I still remember the feeling of defeating my first boss and conquering what felt like an impossible challenge before me. Overcoming obstacle after obstacle, each time feeling as if I had finally gotten good at the game, just to be humbled and taught a lesson by the next barrier that I encountered. This is why I love Souls games. There is a certain magic that happens when finally figuring out where you need to go, what you need to do, or how you need to defeat a certain enemy. Dark Souls and Elden Ring have taught me many things over the countless hours I've played them. It's been muscle memory at this point on how to approach combat and traverse the worlds FromSoftware have created... with the exception of Sekiro. Sekiro took everything I had learned from the previous FromSoftware games, and flips it on it's head, leaving me with an experience I can't forget.

World & Exploration

Sekiro takes place in Japan, fictionalized to the developers liking to create a unique and wonderous experience. The game looks great, with the environmental design complementing the setting tremendously. The first thing I noticed when being thrust into a few of the games environments was just how unique it felt. The art design and the graphical quality of the game is great, but don't offer something game-changing as far as looks go. Where this game visually shines is it's world design. The way the levels are crafted and brought together is to near perfection, and honestly some of the best I've seen in a FromSoftware game. They do a great job of taking you through environments that create a sensation of a long and diverse journey, while also keeping it condensed and respective to the players time. The way these levels blend together seamlessly and keep you hooked not only visually, but interactively, is amazing. This complemented by great enemy design, character design, things to collect and gather, and side locations to uncover makes for an incredible world to journey through.

Story, Characters, & Sound

I was really blown away and surprised with the story in Sekiro. Unlike other FromSoft games, Sekiro tells a clear-cut and easy to follow story, rather than focusing mainly on environmental storytelling and atmosphere. I love the mysterious themes and undirect approach to the "story" in the Souls series, but really enjoyed the change of pace that Sekiro brought narratively and think it might of actually suffered any other way. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice tells the story of a Shinobi (a Ninja) named Sekiro, who is sworn to protect the Divine Heir, who possesses a mysterious power that opposing forces want to take advantage of. The Shinobi goes on an adventure through a war stricken land to protect the Divine Heir and follow the Iron Code. Throughout the story I encountered many different characters, all with unique dialogue and personalities. I was very impressed and intrigued by the dialogue which is voiced completely in Japanese. All of the voice actors played their roles really well and I have no complaints at all as far as dialogue and voice acting goes. The music in this game is absolutely amazing, some of the best FromSoft has included in their games. Sekiro features Cinematic Japanese Classical and Folk music that is unique in every area and major boss encounter in the game. The environmental sounds along with the overall sound design of weapons, movement, and tools are also great. The intriguing story, interesting and well designed characters, and amazing sound design complement the world so well, making for a unique and unforgettable journey to aesthetically experience.

Enemy Design & Boss Fights

Rather than fighting a large variety of monsters or mythical foes like in Dark Souls, Sekiro takes a more grounded approach with most of the enemies being simply... people. There is a few notable appearances of monsters and whacky creatures that I encountered but the majority of the fights were sword fights between other warriors. I really appreciated this and enjoyed the change of enemy design from previous FromSoft games. I felt like it added to the story and world in a more realistic way and also was integral to the new combat system which I will get to soon. Although most of the enemies are people there is no shortage of enemy variety. There are large foes with slower but more lethal attacks, smaller but quicker foes, or enemies that posses unique abilities that will always keep you on your toes. These enemies are placed strategically by the developers and work well with the areas they are involved in. My one complaint with the enemy design and allocation would be the sheer amount of enemies the game can throw at you. In some instances it feels overwhelming and pointless with the amount of enemies that can be in one area. This was only really present in the later portions of the game where I felt they used the amount of enemies to pad difficulty. It's also frustrating to have to re-engage with this large amount of enemies over and over after dying in an area. This is something I'm not new to in FromSoft games, but I felt some areas were a little excessive with the enemy amount.

Boss fights may be FromSoft's most distinctive feature in their games. They have had countless amazing fights in almost all their entries and Sekiro continues this tradition. Every major boss is well designed visually but also mechanically, featuring move sets that will keep you guessing and spice up the fight. I really loved the areas in which the main battles were fought in as they felt spacious and beautiful while maintaining a unique vibe to the overall location. The moments leading up to the bosses are also great, adding a suspenseful and significant feel to the overall experience. Every boss features a unique soundtrack that complements them well, adding to the overall battle. The game does a good job of pacing the bosses in an intelligent way, teaching you mechanics in one boss fight that is later integral to another. I really enjoyed the main boss fights but had some issues with the optional bosses. Most optional bosses will be encountered more than once an although they give useful rewards upon defeat, they can become insignificant to fight later in the game. This is especially the case with some of the more annoying optional bosses such as the Headless or the Schichimen Warrior. I wish there were more boss variety in some of the more optional or less important fights throughout the game. There were many instances in which I fought the same boss or a reinvention of a boss I had fought before. These fights were still fun but were slightly disappointing to me.

Gameplay & Combat

Overall gameplay and combat is where Sekiro has major differences in contrast with FromSoft's other entries. Unlike Dark Souls there is a sprint mechanic, providing a quicker and more advanced way to traverse the world. This makes sense as the main character is a ninja and it also works well with other unfamiliar mechanics like the grappling hook. The grappling hook can be used to pull Sekiro onto other wise inaccessible areas and can be useful when combining with stealth. Stealth was also a new feature to FromSofts games during the time of Sekiros release. Stealth works okay-ish, as it is extremely enjoyable most of the time but can also be very unreliable in a lot of situations. Enemies will tend to notice movement randomly even when Sekiro doesn't move or when it doesn't make sense to even be seen at all. This can be very frustrating especially due to the fact that alerting one enemy most certainly will then alert them all. The unreliable camera movement doesn't help this problem. It is sometimes hard to see where you're going or if you are actually in view of an enemy in the first place. Using the grappling hook and crouching up and down can mess with the camera making stealth missions fun but unreliable.

Combat is completely different than in Dark Souls or Elden Ring. In Dark Souls you are more so taught to adapt to an enemies attack pattern, dodge through attacks, and deal damage to an enemy until their health bar is completely down. While some of this is valid in Sekiro, most of it will get you killed. Sekiro focuses more on hyper-aggressive combat, using deflects and intelligently placed attacks to score a victory. Deflecting with the sword just as the enemy is about to attack is known as a parry in other games and is typically used with a shield. In Sekiro, there is a posture meter that slowly fills up as you deflect more and more attacks. After deflecting successfully enough the meter be completely full, making the enemy vulnerable for a short time. This is when you will get most if not all your damage in during a fight. This unique combat mechanic works amazing with the theme of the game. Sword fights feel engaging and real and have a satisfying rhythm to them. It took me a while to deprogram my brain from Dark Souls. In the earlier stages of the game I actually felt defeated and confused as everything I previously learned basically needed to be thrown out the window. For the first 10 hours of the game I struggled with this new combat system but once it clicked I loved it. Sekiro has some of the most engaging and smooth combat I've played in any game and I think I actually prefer it to other Souls and Souls-like games I've played.

Lastly, a mechanic I want to touch on briefly is the use of prosthetics. Prosthetics are unlockable tools Sekiro can use during fights throughout the game. Some these include shuriken's, fire crackers, a small dagger, a flamethrower and many more. These items are used as aid in combat and can spice up your playstyle depending on the tools you decide to frequently use. You can also upgrade these tools to make them better along the way. Some bosses are weak to certain tools and it was really fun to experiment with these even though I ended up not using them much.

Skill Tree & Replay Value

Alongside the optional prosthetics is a not-so-optional skill tree. You can use levels that are gained through experience to unlock traits and abilities through a skill tree. Some of these skills are almost integral to the progression of the game like the Mikiri Counter. Some of these skills unlock new attacks and moves you can use during battle, rarely being game changing but can allow for some cool new additions to Sekiro's moveset. Although Sekrio isn't really an RPG, these unlockable skills allowed me to build Sekiro the way I wanted, making him deal in certain forms of weapon styles such as Shinobi Arts, Ashina Arts, Prosthetic Arts, Temple Arts, Mushin Arts, and Ninjutsu techniques. Do I think these mechanics are enough to provide a healthy replay value however? Not really. There are multiple endings to the game and these different styles of combat can provide for slightly different playthrough but overall you will be experiencing the game mostly the same way the entire way through. This isn't necessarily a bad thing considering Sekiro excels at so many other aspects making just replaying the game for the combat alone would be a joy.

Final Thoughts

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice takes the things I've learned from previous FromSoft games and throws them out the window to provide a fresh and unique experience. The world and characters provide a great story with many amazing boss fights along the way. Although Sekiro is a very hard game, most of my struggle came from lack of understanding the combat. Once I figured out exactly what I needed to do to succeed in fights, I excelled in the later half of the game. I loved Sekiro through and through with some slight complaints here and there. This is truly another amazing piece of work from FromSoftware and I'm starting to consider them incapable of making a game that isn't good.

92/100 - Amazing.

I truly love the Soulslike games but I have been a bit reluctant to start Sekiro due to the change in combat, and relearning what I know.

You have inspired me to give it a go though, great write up.

I mean, what's to lose?...... apart from my sanity and few controllers!

I am half way through an RPG called Ruined King on PS5.

I picked it up as I am a big fan of Battle Chasers: Nightwar and this was made by the same developer.

Gameplay and art style is very similar, so I am happy.

I screwed up the Golden Route at the very first opportunity. 🤣 When Avlora attacks the Wolfort Demense for the first time, you can use the "secret weapon" to burn the city to the ground. This was in the first demo and that's what I did when I played through it, so I wanted to see if it was possible to beat the stage without using the weapon. Sadly, that backfired and Hughette was the only unit that I had left, so I had to use the secret weapon to survive. And, of course, NOT using the secret weapon was the very first prerequisite for the Golden Route. Of course, I managed to make every correct decision after that, just out of pure luck, but it didn't matter.

If it's any consolation, I set fire to that village without hesitation!

Which route did you end up taking in the end? I decided to stick with Roland.

And like Leowe said, the Final Fantasy Tactics games are a good choice if you're looking for something similar. The combat in Triangle Strategy is almost identical to Tactics, but the story is a bit light in Tactics Advance and A2. I haven't played the original FFT, but I've heard it does have a pretty good story. (And as a bonus, the Tactics games are set in the same world as Final Fantasy XII, which, as we all know, makes everything better).

I can't comment on Tactics Ogre (other than the fact that it has nice music), but I do intend to play the remaster later this year. Not that you're going to want to wait around for several months just to hear my opinion. 🤣

I went the Benedict route.

I felt like Roland had lost his mind, and I hated the Hyzante.

Frederica' plan was noble, but completely impractical and would have left the realm at war.

Bendedict's ending is morally grey, but it does leave the realm in some sort of peace.....for now!

I'm tempted to go back and do the Golden route.

Glad you enjoyed! I also enjoyed a lot, though I still haven't finished. Still stuck deciding what to do in the last decision :P

My recommendation for games in the genre would obviously be Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre which are classics of the genre - the latter which is receiving a remaster for the current gen, so you might wanna check it out later on the year! If you enjoy more the "make your decision" part, I would say Tactics Ogre style is more similar to Triangle Strategy.

Thanks! Yep that last decision is a head scratcher!

I heard great things about both games so I was delighted to hear about the Tactics Ogre remake. I hear the smoothed out art style has caused a bit of concern, but it looks great.

I might try Final Fantasy Tactics on my iphone as that seems my best option without actually buying a PSP.

I also want to try Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark which I have read good things about.

I've decided that the concept of a backlog doesn't exist in my reality....free your mind from the weight of oppressive man-made constructs...

Actually, with GP and PS+ I realised I could never hope to beat all the games available to me, so I stopped caring :)

Bit of a weird one, but I needed something that required zero brain power after my last completion.

So I tried Power Wash Simulator as I'd heard it was good.

I am now 12 washes in and can't wait to get back to work...it's a strangely addictive time sink.

It's also a great opportunity to catch up on my podcast backlog!

I finally beat Triangle Strategy on the Switch.

What a great game! I've only played a few strategy games in the past and none of the stuck with me. But this game sucked me in from the start.

I've heard it described as a Tactics game, as distinct from a strategy rpg (XCOM, Maro + Rabbids etc) and maybe there's a small difference there? I need to do some research.

I played on Normal and found it challenging, but very beatable. I think I only reloaded 4 times throughout. You can grind levels & gold quite easily, but I never really had to.

The game is quite story heavy. The flow works something like: story 45 mins, prep for next battle 15 mins, battle 45 mins.

Normally this would be a turn off for me, but I really enjoyed the story.

As always for me, I played in handheld because Switch games look terrible on my 4K TV.

It really is a beautiful game on the OLED Switch. It might be worth seeing if it comes to PC or next gen consoles if you want to play on a bigger screen.

The best thing I can say is that one game has me intrigued about a genre I never clicked with, and I am on the hunt for more Tactics game.

As long as you just do the mock battles, you're probably in good shape, level-wise. I repeated a few of them to grind out a couple of levels, but I don't feel it was absolutely necessary. I think Serenoa was around Level 35 when I finished. Maybe? But I also did all of the character stories, so if you've passed on some of those then you might need to grind.

Good to know.

I have Serenoa on level 22 with about 6 chapters to go, so roughly on track.

I've done each mock battle once so far and all the side stories...they have been great as I like the characters.

I've started playing that myself recently. I was on the fence for a couple of chapters as I wasn't sure about the level of gameplay involved Vs what felt like a visual novel, but the story is really starting to get good now.

Still playing Horizon: Forbidden West on the PS5, but progress is slow going as I don't have access to the TV the PS5 is connected to very often.

Yep it is very much like a visual novel in some regards, but I am all in on the story so that helps!

Enjoy Horizon when you get to play, I fell off that game but I might give it another go later in the year.

It will get tricky later. 🎵 Though some paths are apparently easier than others. I got stuck with a few wicked hard fights in the back half of the game and later discovered that I managed to get myself on one of the more difficult routes.

I'm at Chapter 13 and I've had one very difficult fight so far, which took me several tries before I got the right strategy.

Working out which characters to use seems to be crucial.

I haven't had to grind the mock battles yet, but I think it's coming :)

Some of the better stories I have played :

Control
Ghost of Tsushima
God of War (2018)
A Plague Tale Innocence
What Remains of Edith Finch
Hades
Red Dead Redemption 2
Returnal
The Forgotten City

Only 2 completions this month for me :

Riders Republic (PS5) - a much better game than I expected, great fun.

Stray (PS5) - gorgeous game, I really enjoyed it.

I'm playing Triangle Strategy om the Switch.

I'm enjoying it a lot so far...the art style is so beautiful and the music is excellent. The story is engaging, albeit the characters seem a bit vanilla.

I'm not great at strategy games, but I'm getting through it okay so far on normal....I have a feeling it will get quite tricky later on