For anyone who knows me they know when it comes to gaming I have three genres that I love. Of course there is fighting games which most people know about me. I have played Tekken competitively for most of my gaming life and it was only with the advert of Tekken 8 that I quit it. It is a long story why but let's just say with all the changes going on with that game I am happy I never invested anytime in it. Before that tho, I played competitively Tekken Tag Tournament, Tekken 5 (all versions), Tekken 6 (all versions), Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (my least favorite Tekken that I played seriously) and Tekken 7. Outside of Tekken I have also played many installment of the King of Fighters, Street Fighter 2 and the Alpha series (with Alpha 2 being the last one I enjoyed), Dead or Alive 1 to 4, Marvel vs Capcom series, Virtua Fighter 2 all the way to 5 including the most recent update R.E.V.O and most recently Under Night In-Birth. However with all that history under my belt, I have realized I no longer feel the need to play fighters seriously anymore and I un-officially retired myself after I realize all the new versions of the games I enjoyed did not do it for me. So no MK1, no SF6 and no Tekken 8. Also when COVID ran rampant it really took away my competitive drive and I never got it back. I will not lie tho, if KOF 13 or Virtua Fighter 5 is being played seriously, I am there.
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| This is my Darkest Dungeon before Darkest Dungeon |
My second favorite genre is Strategic RPGs or any type of similar turn based games. This all started with arguably one of my favorite games of all times and my favorite Genesis/ Megadrive (as we called it in Australia) Shining Force 2. Man, do I love that game. Playing that really got me into turn based games and its why I have not connected with all these 'real time with pause' RPGs. Nope, give me a good ol' fashion turn based RPG like Final Fantasy X and I am there. This love of turn based mechanics rolled over into similar games with the same ideas hence my love of both Darkest Dungeons. If the roguelite/ roguelike I am playing has turned based mechanics, I am in heaven. I love planning my moves and watching if I did it correctly.
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| Where it all began. |
Finally Going all the way back to Tetris on the NES/ Gameboy and Columns on my Megadrive/ Game Gear, Puzzle games really scratches an itch for me. For example, my most played game is Marvel Puzzle Quest which I have been playing since the game first came out, 16 years ago and according to Steam I have now invested a whooping 6,052 hrs in. I play it at least once a day to finish my daily quests and because I just enjoy it. They took the Puzzle Quest IP and added my favorite comic book company to it and it is like crack and I can not put it down. However it is not just MPQ that is my jam, the original Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is still one of my favorite games of all time, it took turn based combat and combined it with a dungeons and dragons-esque setting and honestly I think it was my most played Xbox 360 game hands down. The subsequent sequel which changed a lot of things but at its core was still Puzzle Quest was also a fun time and I look back fondly on that game as well. The guys at Infinite Interactive (and much later Infinity Plus Two) really found the secret sauce to make one of my most addictive gameplay loops I have ever played and they are Australian too to top it off. Another one of their games is the game I am currently playing right now, Puzzle Quest Galactrix.
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| We have arrived at our point ;p |
Galactrix really is a different take on the genre Infinity Plus Two mastered with a hexagon game board and gravity affecting how the gems fall. Add a Sci-Fi setting similar to Star Trek and I was hooked as well when I first played it. I actually recall playing Galactrix non-stop after I bought a PC Rom of it way back in the day, I subsequently brought it for my Xbox360 and I own it on Steam as well. Weird because out of all the Puzzle Quest games I've played, Galactrix maybe my least favorite lol. Now if we talking about Infinity Plus Two games, it'll probably come before Puzzle Chronicles (a very unique take on the genre they made for Konami) and Gems of War, the spiritual successor of Puzzle Quest which I played a ton of when I first got my PS4 because a) it a puzzle game by my favorite puzzle game developers and b) it was free. However I quickly discovered Gems of War is FILLED with play to win tactics, FOMO characters and just did not have the 'charm' their older games had. Sadly I heard they doubled down with what made Gems of War a 'Freemium' game aka pay to win gatcha style games when they released Puzzle Quest 3 and well, I think the charm is completely gone now and I do not think I'll ever play it despite it being 'Free'. Sad because before their descent into mobile game/ FOMO/ gatcha/ freemium slop I would have placed them in my top 5 favorite game developers but now I can only say I enjoy their old works.
Anyhow this quick walk down memory lane is mainly a preface, a PITSTOP if you will before my next RANT/ RAVE and I feel its time to really put down how I feel about the black sheep of the Puzzle Quest franchise. In my next blog, it is time to talk about Galactrix and how it is the most fun game that I low-key can't stand.
AV
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