TOP・UPDATES・FOUR PILLARS・CINEMA/TV・GAMES・MANGA/ANIME・MUSIC・WRITINGS・FAQ・LINKS
TOP・UPDATES・FOUR PILLARS・CINEMA/TV・GAMES・MANGA/ANIME・MUSIC・WRITINGS・FAQ・LINKS
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Priority: HIGHEST - Among the first things I will play if I have the free time. Priority: VERY HIGH - Commonly played as a second choice. Priority: HIGH - Important, but not something I "grind." Alternatively, something best played off and on. Priority: MEDIUM - To be played from time to time, but not sure if I want to dedicate myself to it yet. Priority: LOW - I will get around to these someday for sure, but there are more important things at the moment. Priority: VERY LOW - The lowest level of interest, but it's still interest! Priority: N/A - Games I will in all likelihood not play again in the near future. Not necessarily a reflection of quality or lack thereof! |
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ひぐらしのなく頃に
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Year: 2002 Developer: 07th Expansion Genre: Visual Novel |
No prior experience. | Feels wrong to speak about this as a whole until I finish it, but I love the setting, the motifs, the themes, the characters, and everything. I think it will definitely be up there with some of my favorite VNs when I'm done with it!
Priority: HIGHEST |
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ケツイ ～絆地獄たち～
Ketsui ～Kizuna Jigoku-tachi～ Year: 2003 Developer: ケイブ [Cave] Genre: STG | No prior experience. Have cleared many other Cave STGs. | This is already one of my very favorite Cave shmups along with ESPGaluda. It's hard to say which of the two I prefer, but I'm honestly leaning on this one even if the scoring system in ESPGaluda is a lot more unique and interesting. The patterns in this game are just so amazingly creative and the stage pacing and design is flawless. I also find the choice of making every bullet pink or blue (cotton candy style) to be interesting. It increases visibility, of course, but it also really makes them come up with very creative ways to make those two colors interact. Anyway, I'm going for a 1-ALL.
Priority: HIGHEST |
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Lady Bug
Year: 1981 Developer: Universal Entertainment Corporation Genre: Action-Puzzle | Barely touched it. | This is an interesting game in the style of Pac-Man with a pretty unique and cool mechanic of flipping walls to block off enemies. I haven't played it very much, but I like what I've seen so far.
Priority: MEDIUM |
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Black Widow
Year: 1982 Developer: Atari Genre: Third-Person Shooter | Played from time to time. | Twin-stick shooters like this are difficult to me, but this is a very cool game. It's very direct and intuitive, though sometimes feels a little finicky. In any case, I'd like to try it more somtime.
Priority: VERY LOW |
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Bubbles
Year: 1982 Developer: Williams Electronics Genre: Action-Puzzle | Played from time to time. | A strange game where you play as a weird, uncomfortable-looking soap bubble and clean up the sink while avoiding getting popped. Apparently it was inspired by complaints about "violent" games which is pretty funny when you think about what kinds of games existed in 1982! It controls VERY strangely. You get thrown around with tons of inertia, but that's where the challenge is: keeping yourself steady. It's not one of the greatest games from this time I've played, but it is a pretty good one.
Priority: VERY LOW |
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Robotron: 2084
Year: 1982 Developer: Vid Kidz Genre: Third-Person Shooter | Played from time to time. | Another twin-stick shooter, but this one is even harder than Black Widow to me. It's complete insanity! This game must be what your grandma feels like when you try to get her to play a game, where it just seems like a chaos of bleeps and bloops and she has no idea where she is or where she's going and dies in half a second. Of course, that's half of what makes it fun!
Priority: VERY LOW |
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Wacko
Year: 1983 Developer: Bally Midway Genre: Third-Person Shooter | Played from time to time. | An interesting game where you have to mix and match heads and bottoms of different monsters while flying around the screen. I never got very far in it, but the alien's little victory dance keeps me playing.
Priority: VERY LOW |
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Zoo Keeper
Year: 1983 Developer: Taito America Genre: 2D Platformer | Played from time to time. | Not one of the best games from this time, but there's something charming about it. If nothing else, the cacophany of "animal sounds" after you clear a zoo stage alone makes it worth playing. The biggest flaw for me is that the "zoo" stages are much more fun than the platforming stages between them. Not a bad game though.
Priority: VERY LOW |
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ピッグ・ニュートン
Pig Newton Year: 1983 Developer: セガ [Sega] Genre: Action-Puzzle | Off and on playing since 2021.
Best Score: 432,500 [10] |
One of the best games from this period, and it was never even released! It is an unbelievably fun and interesting experience. It forces you to constantly strategize and think far ahead, keeping track of everything on screen all at once. Like any great game from this time, it's as simple and direct as it is difficult. Never gets old.
Priority: HIGH |
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Snacks'n Jaxson
Year: 1984 Developer: Bally Sente Genre: Action-Puzzle | Have played it a decent amount.
Best Score: 47,050 |
Clown game. Literally. Goofy as shit game that makes you feel like a clown in a circus getting tricked and fucked around with, but precisely for that reason it is so fun to play. Unfortunately it really doesn't really play well without a trackball controller. I might have to get one someday just because I like this game so much!
Priority: LOW |
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グラディウス
Gradius Year: 1985 Developer: コナミ [Konami] Genre: STG | 1-ALL
Best Score: 349,300 [1-ALL] |
You can't do anything but respect this game if you're a shmup fan, or even a video game fan really. But how does it play today? Fine, but not amazing. There are many boring patches. That said, there's something to how this game feels that I really like for some reason. It has a very "primordial" feeling, like it's a shmup from before the dawn of time or something. Also, I like that this game lets you put in your astrological sign along with your initials. It's a cool little personalization and I'm not sure why more arcade games don't do struff like that. I probably won't play it again, but I'm glad I got a 1-ALL.
Priority: N/A |
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飛翔鮫
Hishouzame Year: 1987 Developer: 東亜プラン [Toaplan] Genre: STG |
1-ALL
Best Score: 730,160 [2-2, 141] |
The definition of a bread and butter dadshmup. I like it quite a lot. You play as a little blue tiny Jay Jay the Jet Plane that nevertheless can take on the world! The dodging is very different from later shmups, as you have to kind of "dance" with the incoming ships and tanks and learn their rhythms rather than sight-doding bullets. It was very different for what I'm used to, but I found it very challenging and fun. That said, it's a little too simple for me to want to do much more in. Maybe someday I'll play the version of this that's 10000x harder known as Same! Same! Same!.
Priority: N/A |
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MOTHER
Year: 1989 Developer: エイプ [Ape] Genre: RPG | Cleared the game. | I played this before EarthBound, which was a good choice. Now that I've played EarthBound, I can only really talk about this one in negative terms of being a lesser version of EarthBound. However, having played it with no awareness of EarthBound, I really liked it. It doesn't have as much depth to things like combat since it doesn't have the scrolling damage of EarthBound, for example, so a lot more of the game comes down to mindless grinding. That said, I enjoyed playing it while watching random videos etc. in other tabs as kind of a way to relax. So yes, a worse version of EarthBound, but still a very good game. Don't see myself returning soon though.
Priority: N/A |
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Hatris
Year: 1990 Developer: Bullet-Proof Software Genre: Action-Puzzle | Played it a bit.
Best Score: 50,392 [67] |
A very unusual puzzle game that doesn't really play like anything else. It's developed by Alexey Pajitnov, but you will get confused if you think of this as anything like Tetris. You have to match hats in stacks of five without ever reaching the top. It looks like a strange novelty at first, but it's anything but. It's a deeply challenging, complex, interesting game of strategy and quick decision-making. I might even slightly prefer it to Tetris. I definitely want to continue playing this!
Priority: HIGH |
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The Secret of Monkey Island
Year: 1990 Developer: LucasArts Genre: Point-and-Click Adventure | Played through it once. | All of these LucasArts games have second-hand nostalgic value to me. That is to say, they were before my time as a kid, so I never played them when I was young, but I loved Neil Cicierega and animutations and other flash cartoons like Homestar Runner, and all of those definitely had a lot of influence from these games, both directly and indirectly. This one isn't necessarily my favorite. I think the lack of music in a lot of parts makes it feel a little empty. But it is an essential and I encourage everyone to give it a shot. It's really not that hard either, so I think it would be a good introduction to LucasArts. These games have limited replay value, sadly, but I did really enjoy it.
Priority: N/A |
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Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
Year: 1991 Developer: LucasArts Genre: Point-and-Click Adventure | Played through it once. | Even better than the first game. Although some of the puzzles in this are straight up bullshit ridiculous nonsense... definitely the hardest LucasArts game I've played so far. I'm not ashamed to admit that I used a walkthrough a few times, which I almost never do for these kinds of games. As for the game though, I love the way you have to constantly go between the three islands, all of which feel very different. Some of the environments are also straight-up beautiful, like the shipyard on Scabb Island. Again, sadly there's a lack of replay value but you have to appreciate it regardless.
Priority: N/A |
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ToeJam & Earl
Year: 1991 Developer: Johnson Voorsanger Productions Genre: Roguelike | Cleared the game in two-player mode with my bro, the way it should be. | This game doesn't have the greatest replay value in the world, sadly. And it really is pretty lonely if you play it on your own. But for a first time with a friend? It's an AMAZING game that everyone should experience at least once, preferably to the end because of its awesome ending. It has an extremely absurd, hilarious sense of humor and allows you to have some of the craziest situations that make it as fun to watch as it is to play. My advice: open and identify a lot of presents early on so you can figure out the Randomizer and Total Bummer if at all possible. It's always better to know what presents are, and you will be punished less for trying them early on.
Priority: N/A |
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ギミック!
Gimmick! Year: 1992 Developer: サンソフト [SunSoft] Genre: 2D Platformer | Cleared the game, got the good ending. | A game whose late release on the Famicom harmed its chance of becoming a true classic. Of course, nowadays it's appreciated much more. There's a lot to the visual style and stage theming to appreciate because it truly is one of the better-looking games on the Famicom, but the real treat of this game is its fascinating controls. It takes a while to get used to your charging projectile that you often have to ride on and the way you gain an insane amount of momentum, but once you do this game is incredibly fun. I'd like to play it again. I'm not sure speedrunning any game really appeals to me, but if I was going to try speedrunning any game, this would probably be up there.
Priority: N/A |
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Kid Chameleon
Year: 1992 Developer: Sega Technical Institute Genre: 2D Platformer | Cleared the 4-boss speedrun route | This was one of the first games that I really got serious about when I first started becoming "serious" about video games as a hobby, around mid-2015. It kicked my fucking ass, of course, because it's a very difficult game. But I was just charmed by so much. The over-the-top cheesy 90s tone is the first thing you notice, of course, but there really is so much that's interesting about this game. I love its huge, sprawling levels with mysterious, evocative names that give a genuine sense of adventure. I like its super weird, off-the-wall enemy designs and ridiculous voice lines (HNNG HNNG HNNG HNNG DIIIE!). I like that it doesn't take itself too seriously. And above all I like its tight, challenging platforming. Not sure if I'll come back to it for much, but clearing the max-levels route someday would be kewl...
Priority: N/A |
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戦国エース
Sengoku Ace Year: 1993 Developer: 彩京 [Psikyo] Genre: STG | 1-ALL with Koyori
Best Score: 747,300 [Koyori, 1-ALL] |
Koyori a cutie! I love her! I should probably play the UPGRADED Koyori with MASSIVE MIKO MAMMARIES from the sequel to this game, Sengoku Blade, but sadly I didn't quite like this one enough to be super jazzed to try the sequel right away... It's definitely not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, but the gamepaly often comes too much to "sit at this particular point of the screen, charge, and release at this precise second to speedkill the boss so you can skip doing the impossible dodging." I came to it from a danmaku background, so I appreciate these old shmups a bit more now, but I think later Psikyo games look more like my thing.
Priority: N/A |
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魔法大作戦
Mahou Daisakusen Year: 1993 Developer: ライジング [Raizing] Genre: STG | 1-ALL with Bornnam
Best Score: 1,461,830 [Bornnam, 1-ALL] |
Early Raizing and early Psikyo are kind of in a strange place where they seem like halfway between something like Cave and Toaplan. They aren't excatly my kind of thing, but I did enjoy this one quite a bit for what it was. I like how "interactive" the stages are. You can definitely see the way they kept the influence from this for something like Armed Police Batrider, where all kinds of stuff in the background is able to be interacted with and it truly feels like you're passing "through" a world instead of just floating "over" one. That said, the game is just a little too simple for me to want to return to.
Priority: N/A |
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Day of the Tentacle
Year: 1993 Developer: LucasArts Genre: Point-and-Click Adventure | Cleared game. | My favorite of the three LucasArts games I've played so far, bar none. I played the whole thing with some friends and it was extremely fun. It's a very wacky, zany game in a way that only games from the early 90s can be, but never to a point where it feels insincere. Laverne was especially entertaining. The voice actress really nailed the "unhinged, psycho girl" vibe. The puzzles were also all perfect: plenty of challenge but nothing that ever felt like complete moon logic. Again, not the kind of game with a ton of replay value, but I love it for what it is.
Priority: N/A |
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Doom
Year: 1993 Developer: id Software Genre: First-Person Shooter | Cleared the whole campaign on Hurt Me Plenty (in The Ultimate Doom edition) with plenty of save-scumming. | Some games are so historically important, groundbreaking, archetypal, etc. that it feels strange to even talk about them in terms of whether you "like" them or not or if they're "good" or "bad." They just ARE. Super Mario Bros. is one, for example. Doom is another. Of course, it is a good game. A REALLY fucking good game. It was one of the first FPS games I really played and what better place to start? That said, if I'm honest, I would much rather play Doom II: Hell on Earth for the simple reason that it's basically this game with a few extra weapons and enemies, all of which do nothing but make an excellent game even better.
Priority: N/A |
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スーパーストリートファイターII ダッシュターボ ハイパーファイティング
Super Street Fighter II: Turbo Year: 1994 Developer: カプコン [Capcom] Genre: Fighting | Lots of random matches with friends. | Yet another game which is so historically archetypal as to almost be irreproachable. If you like fighting games, you pretty much have to appreciate this game because it is the foundation for all modern fighters. And it is genuinely a very fun game to play even to this day. However, on a personal level it's just a little too "chunky" for me and my taste in fighters tends to drift towards ones that are a bit smoother and have more flashy aerial movement and stuff. Regardless, I'm always down for playing this, even if I suck at it.
Priority: N/A |
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ダライアス外伝
Darius Gaiden Year: 1994 Developer: タイトー [Taito] Genre: STG | ABDGLQV 1cc
Best Score: 03,978,090 [ABDGLQV] |
One of the most gorgeous game OSTs out there, and in general an aesthetic masterclass. That alone makes it worth playing. As for the game itself, I like it, but it's not necessarily one of my favorites. The scoring in it also kinda sucks, so if I play it again it would be oriented around survival. I don't plan that any time soon, but someday it would be nice to try other routes or even the Extra version if I'm feeling really brave.
Priority: LOW |
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Doom II: Hell on Earth
Year: 1994 Developer: id Software Genre: First-Person Shooter | Cleared practically all maps with no save-scumming and 100% secrets on Hurt Me Plenty. | When I say "practically," I'm referring to clearing Map 15: Industrial Zone without
tagging one particular pain-in-the-ass secret. And no, not the glitched-out one that you need to manipulate a Pain Elemental to trigger. I wouldn't count that. I'm talking about this one Megasphere you can't get without doing a leap across a huge gap. I tried for 30+ minutes and couldn't get it.
Anyway, I would like to revisit this game on the REAL difficulty, Ultra-Violence. Plus with the Master Levels expansion and the endless number of fanmade WADs, I'll never run out of stuff to do with this game. It's as basic as FPS games can get, and for that reason will never get old. Priority: LOW |
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Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds
Year: 1994 Developer: Humongous Entertainment Genre: Point-and-Click Adventure | Finished the game. | These were some of the first games I remember playing as a kid on my PC with my dad. Those are incredibly good memories, and I would love to show these games to my child if I ever had one, but barring that I can't see myself revisiting them. But they should be here for the sake of completeness.
Priority: N/A |
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悪魔城ドラキュラ
Akumajou Dracula Year: 1994 Developer: コナミ [Konami] Genre: 2D Platformer | Cleared the game (with passwords) | This game has some cool stuff, but there's something about it I don't like as much as the earlier Akumajou Dracula games, even though I've cleared it but not them. I think the game feels a bit easy and I prefer the more stiff, restrictive movement of the earlier games. That stiffness actually makes up a lot of the difficulty and can be fun. Also I don't understand the love for the music in this game. It's fine, but it sounds kind of like it should belong in an RPG or something, not a platforming action game. The rocking tunes of the earlier games feels much more appropriate than the mellower stuff in this one.
(I refuse to call this series Castlevania in English because that is a cucked name imposed for fundamentalist Christian housewives who don't want the word "devil" in their game titles) Priority: N/A |
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MOTHER2 ギーグの逆襲
EarthBound Year: 1994 Developer: エイプ [Ape] Genre: RPG | Cleared the game | A cult classic for a reason. So much love and passion went into this game. It has a very unique feeling and mood even to this day. To be honest, even though a lot of it feels kind of typically "Japanese" in terms of its surreal weirdness (like Saturn Valley), it's a pretty individualistic kind of thing which I think goes beyond feeling Japanese, western, or whatever else. I'm not sure when and under what circumstances I'd replay it, but I'm sure I would at some point, even if for no other reason than for enjoying everything in it again.
Priority: N/A |
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首領蜂
DonPachi Year: 1995 Developer: ケイブ [Cave] Genre: STG | 1-ALL with Type C
Best Score: 8,629,460 [Type C, 2-2, 61] |
This is a very respectable game for its time, and one with many fun and interesting points, but I think I'm content leaving my best attempt at this as a 1-ALL. There are many other shmups which are more fun and interesting, including in the same series. The level design often feels a bit lacking and the music SUCKS (outside of the awesome announcer).
Priority: N/A |
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マジカルポップン
Magical Pop'n Year: 1995 Developer: パック・イン・ビデオ [Pack-In-Video] Genre: 2D Platformer | Cleared the game | This is a wonderful game. The movement is smooth and responsive, the environments interesting and challenging to traverse, and of course it just oozes cuteness and unique level motifs. And the animation is stunning. I'm not sure if I would enjoy speedrunning this, but I'd like to play it again just for the joy of going through it.
Priority: N/A |
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ティンクルスタースプライツ
Twinkle Star Sprites Year: 1996 Developer: ADK Genre: STG | Have 1cc'd Story Mode and played a bit of 1v1, mostly with IRL friends who suck like me.
Best Score: Story Mode: 0,946,750 |
An awesome game and one of my favorite 1v1 games for the arcade. Love how loli-fied so much of the cast is and the game's cute, pastel, girly appearance. As for gameplay, it's incredibly intense, straightforward, and endlessly challenging. I'd like to play this more on Fightcade, but holy shit the people there are gods at this.
Priority: LOW |
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Quake
Year: 1996 Developer: id Software Genre: First-Person Shooter | Cleared every map with 100% secrets on Normal. | This game is amazingly fun and engaging. There are a lot fewer enemies than in Doom, but that actually doesn't make it less exciting or even less difficult. It just makes it a lot more tense and eerie compared to the rip-roaring action of Doom. Of course, the music helps a lot. This game fucking rips! I guess Quake III: Arena is the choice if I wanted to go multiplayer though.
Priority: LOW |
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Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse
Year: 1996 Developer: Humongous Entertainment Genre: Point-and-Click Adventure | Finished the game. | Same as the first game in the series... Great when I was a kid, less so now.
Priority: N/A |
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Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside
Year: 1996 Developer: Humongous Entertainment Genre: Point-and-Click Adventure | Finished the game. | This is also a game for little kids, but there is something very charming about it that would make it probably the only Humongous game I would play again as an adult if I wanted a nostalgia trip. But I have more important things to do.
Priority: N/A |
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Harvester
Year: 1996 Developer: DigiFX Interactive Genre: Point-and-Click Adventure | Completed the game. | A very sick and horrific game, but also a very very funny one, in the darkest possible way. Luckily, it's also not too hard for a point-and-click, so I think most people could get through this one. And they should, because it's a sick, twisted, and also pretty damn clever game. If you like David Lynch at his most humorous and grotesque, you'll probably enjoy it. As a point-and-click, it doesn't have much replay value and I don't know if I will go back to it any time soon, but I love it for what it is.
Priority: N/A |
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東方靈異伝 ～ Highly Responsive to Prayers
Touhou Reiiden ～ Highly Responsive to Prayers Year: 1996 Developer: ZUN Soft Genre: STG | Normal 1ccs of both routes
Best Score: Normal: 6,986,010 [Jigoku] |
As the first major Touhou game, its status as a historical item that every Touhou fan should experience at least once is unquestionable. But I can't pretend I'm a fan of this game. It feels very finicky to control and a lot of the gameplay is so broken with bombs that it feels hard to motivate yourself to play it "normally." No plans to revisit it but I respect it!
Priority: N/A |
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東方封魔録 ～ the Story of Eastern Wonderland
Touhou Fuumaroku ～ the Story of Eastern Wonderland Year: 1996 Developer: ZUN Soft Genre: STG | Normal 1ccs with all shot types, Extra clear with ReimuA
Best Score: Normal: 11,260,190 [ReimuA] Extra: 09,389,810 [ReimuA] |
Better than its predecessor, but I'm still not a huge fan of this game and therefore don't see myself revisiting it any time soon. As the first real ZUN dialogue and "lore," the historical value of this is again beyond question. But I think that I won't touch it again while there are so many other Touhou games I could devote my time to. Bonus points for the most ridiculous bad ending ZUN ever created though. You know the one.
Priority: N/A |
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スーパーマリオ64
Super Mario 64 Year: 1996 Developer: 任天堂 [Nintendo] Genre: 3D Platformer | Cleared with 120 stars. | I never played this as a kid like everyone else did. What can I say? It's an archetype for everything 3D platformers should be about. But since I never played these very much as a kid, I struggled sooo much to get even remotely competent. My 2D-oriented brain can't keep track of all these wacky dimensions! At the end of it I still feel like I haven't mastered it completely, but I really loved it in any case.
Priority: N/A |
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マネーアイドルエクスチェンジャー
Money Idol Exchanger Year: 1997 Developer: フェイス [Face] Genre: Action-Puzzle | Played off and on since 2019 or so.
Best Score: 0,212,716 [20, 3'55", 65, 9] |
I love arcade action puzzle games like Tetris in general (even though I'm very bad at them), but this one stands above them all in my opinion. As direct and simple as a game can be, which makes it all the more engaging and exciting. Breaking through level 19 is crazy hard though... I hope to some day at least crack a million in scoring but I have serious doubts. But the important thing is that the game remains fun, which it always is!
Priority: VERY HIGH |
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怒首領蜂
DoDonPachi Year: 1997 Developer: ケイブ [Cave] Genre: STG | 1-ALL with Type C-L
Best Score: 25,799,580 [Type C-L, 1-ALL, 308] |
While this is a much better game than DonPachi in my opinion, it still doesn't quite come together for me and so I will be content with my 1-ALL. Like DonPachi, most of the bosses are boring and often annoying since if you want to play well you have to rely on tricks (and not fun ones). The sound effects in this game are awesome and there's a lot more visceral enjoyment (minus the music which is still awful), but it's nothing I can't get from DoDonPachi DaiOuJou in a much better package.
Priority: N/A |
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Dungeon Keeper
Year: 1997 Developer: Bullfrog Productions Genre: Real-Time Strategy | Finished the campaign | An extremely charming game about being evil and loving it. It has a VERY English sense of black, somewhat absurd humor. It also mixes this with some genuinely often quite unnerving and creepy-looking environments. In general, the game looks fantastic. It isn't a very hard game, so if I wanted challenge from it I would probably have to look into the Deeper Dungeons expansion pack or some of the many fanmade maps out there, which I want to do someday. But honestly I'm not sure challenge is really something that would make this game better. A lot of its strength is being able to throw it on just to mess around and have fun.
Priority: LOW |
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東方夢時空 ～ the Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream
Touhou Yumejikuu ～ the Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream Year: 1997 Developer: ZUN Soft Genre: STG | Saw all Normal endings (by continue-spamming), Normal 1ccs with Marisa and Rikako.
Best Scores: Normal: 15,435,550 [Rikako] |
Complete insanity! The most intense, ridiculous, batshit crazy random dodging you'll ever experience in a shmup, and that's precisely what makes it so good! Unlike Phantasmagoria of Flower View, I'm pretty interested in playing this for survival. I want at least one Lunatic 1cc, and maybe more. I know it's a real son of a bitch in terms of difficulty, but man is it a great game.
Priority: VERY HIGH |
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アームドポリス バトライダー
Armed Police Batrider Year: 1998 Developer: ライジング [Raizing] Genre: STG | Advanced Mode 1cc with Maria
Best Score: 8,425,670 [Maria] |
A very strange game which can be hard to get into because of its often seemingly arbitrary rules and mechanics related to rank, but which reveals itself to be one of the all-time greats once you understand a bit about how it works. Above all, the presentation is just phenomenal. One of the most marvelous shmups ever made, in the sense of everything feeling like a spectacle and having a sense of genuinely feeling grand and overwhelming. And of course the stages are excellently-paced. Nothing ever lasts too long and everything is fun, and only gets moreso once you find out about all the weird score optimazation you can do. I would like to 1cc this again with other characters or teams, especially Carpet.
Priority: MEDIUM |
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エスプレイド
ESP.Ra.De Year: 1998 Developer: ケイブ [Cave] Genre: STG | 1cc with J-B 5th
Best Score: 14,537,130 [J-B 5th] |
There are a couple things that take a bit to get used to about this game. For one thing, the hitbox of the character is in an incredibly strange place, somewhat off-center and closer to the back of their neck than in the center of the sprite. This is very disorienting at first. Secondly, the way characters speed up and slow down can sometimes feel very janky and get you killed before you get a sense for it.
But once you get over those two things, this is an excellent game. It has some crazy, over-the-top chuuni shit about psychic powers that makes it a joy to play through and experience the mood of. It's a great example of making a straightforward shmup really feel like it tells a "story" via nothing but gameplay. Someday I'd like to 1cc with Irori because she's adorable, but holy shit her stage 3 is AIDS. Priority: VERY LOW |
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パチンコセクシーリアクション
Pachinko Sexy Reaction Year: 1998 Developer: サミー [Sammy] Genre: Pachinko | IMAGINE GAMBLING LOL
Fapped to ripped assets |
Gambling is evil. Don't support companies that profit off of your misery and financial irresponsibility. Luckily, you can find all the "sexy reaction" in this "game" online without any of the "pachinko" these days. Do it, because the art is amazing. Some of the best PC-98 booba animations out there.
Priority: N/A |
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StarCraft: Brood War
Year: 1998 Developer: Blizzard Entertainment Genre: Real-Time Strategy | Finished all campaigns in both the original game and Brood War expansion. | One of the all-time greats. I will always remember playing the campaign for this on my laptop in a Japanese net cafe booth in the middle of the night when I was spending a few days there as my apartment's internet was being repaired. I was so into the over-the-top shit of this game that I straight up did the chuuni hand movements and shit during Kerrigan's monologues, lmao. Someday I would like to try to play some 1v1, but the competition is fierce and this game is not nearly as accessible as Warcraft III. Still, I might as well give it a try. In the meantime, I mostly experience this game as an e-sport through stuff like Afreeca Star League, and that is itself a ton of fun.
Priority: MEDIUM |
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東方幻想郷 ～ Lotus Land Story
Touhou Gensoukyou ～ Lotus Land Story Year: 1998 Developer: ZUN Soft Genre: STG | Normal 1cc with every shot type, Extra clear with ReimuA
Best Scores: Normal: 35,887,120 [ReimuA] Extra: 37,232,290 [ReimuA] |
I do prefer the two games before and after this one when it comes to PC-98 Touhou, but this is a great game in its own right. You can't help but love the game that gave us "Bad Apple!" after all. This original MIDI version is SO good. I suppose I would like to get some Lunatic clears, but only after some other stuff first.
Priority: MEDIUM |
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東方怪綺談 ～ Mystic Square
Touhou Kaikidan ～ Mystic Square Year: 1998 Developer: ZUN Soft Genre: STG | Normal 1ccs and Extra clears with every shot type
Best Scores: Normal: 51,041,620 [Mima] Extra: 80,933,100 [Mima] |
This is my favorite of the "regular" PC-98 Touhou games, meaning I still prefer Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream, but that this is number 2. It feels like the most fully realized, perfected version of what he was going for in these games, and you can just almost feel The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil on the horizon in how many of these patterns are basically spell cards. Also, "Plastic Mind" is the best Alice theme, fite me. Someday I want to get Lunatic 1ccs in it.
Priority: MEDIUM |
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Freddi Fish 3: The Case of the Stolen Conch Shell
Year: 1998 Developer: Humongous Entertainment Genre: Point-and-Click Adventure | Finished the game. | Once again, a game for little kids that I have outgrown. But it goes here for completionism's sake.
Priority: N/A |
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LSD
Year: 1998 Developer: アスミック・エース エンタテインメント [Asmik Ace Entertainment] Genre: STG | Played long enough to have the flashback option and see the shadow man. | I think I saw most of what this game has to offer (yes, I saw the weird movie section). It's a great curiosity and is genuinely full of great stuff on your first time playing it, but it eventually starts to repeat a lot. The game also feels kind of uncomfortable to control, and not in a way that I think adds to the experience or atmosphere. I don't see myself coming back any time soon. Still, everyone should give this game a shot or at least watch a playthrough.
Priority: N/A |
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ストリートファイターIII サードストライク
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike - Fight for the Future Year: 1999 Developer: カプコン [Capcom] Genre: Fighting | Lots of random matches with friends. | If this game had Cammy and R. Mika, it would have all of the hottest Street Fighter girls and be an absolute masterpiece. Unfortunately, it does not. That said, it is still my favorite Street Fighter game on the strength of the animation, the music, the mechanics... it's a game with a style that really is all its own. And gameplay-wise, it is probably the coolest and tightest of the series that I've played. But while Arcana Heart exists I can't see myself dedicating a bunch of time to any other fighter.
Priority: N/A |
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デッド オア アライブ 2
Dead or Alive 2 Year: 1999 Developer: チームニンジャ [Team Ninja] Genre: Fighting | Played a very small amount of the Dreamcast port at my friend's place | Pretty simple fighting game which is very easy to pick up and play mindlessly. As far as the real core values of Dead or Alive go, the boob physics are splendid and all the girls look cute as fuck. But like half the cast is still dudes. What a waste! Anyway, I will play this with friends if necessary, but probably not on my own.
Priority: N/A |
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ミスタードリラー
Mr. Driller Year: 1999 Developer: ナムコ [Namco] Genre: Action-Puzzle | 1000m clear
Best Score: 435,810 [10'19"6] |
I'd love to play this more. It's one of the best arcade puzzle games I've played. Simple, intuitive, fair, and very very challenging. And your score increases as you try to reduce your time and speed up, so it really incentivizes you to play the game in the way that comes most naturally, which I always appreciate from a score-game. I suppose I would like to try to improve my score, and also to play the sequels. Priority: LOW |
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Heroes of Might and Magic III: Complete
Year: 1999 Developer: New World Computing Genre: Turn-Based Strategy | Have finished The Restoration of Erathia. Onto the expansions next... | One of the best turn-based strategy games I've ever played. Both in terms of strategy and mood, aesthetics, etc., PC games rarely get better than this. It's the kind of game you could play for a lifetime, although if you play it enough you will likely slowly begin to feel your knees bending down and outward and an Adidas jacket growing over your skin like an exoskeleton. But man are the expansions kicking my ass! In any case, I would like to clear them. But I often find myself just playing randomly generated maps instead for practice, which is kind of the ultimate way this game is meant to be experienced I suppose.
Priority: LOW |
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Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
Year: 1999 Developer: Ensemble Studios Genre: Real-Time Strategy | Played a small amount, but need to really do my homework to familiarize myself more with the game. | I had a lot of friends who played this back in the day, but I never really did. I'm a big history nerd, so I think I would appreciate this game if I actually put the time in to learn how to play it, but I haven't yet. Someday!
Priority: MEDIUM |
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Dungeon Keeper 2
Year: 1999 Developer: Bullfrog Productions Genre: Real-Time Strategy | Cleared campaign. | Not a particularly difficult game, but a ton of fun to just pick up and play. I prefer the original Dungeon Keeper a bit, but it's kind of a matter of taste thing I belive. Both games have an excellent, very English sense of black, absurd humor. Both games look very nice visually for their eras. Although the original Dungeon Keeper is 2D and has a bit more of an eerie, occult atmosphere whereas this one is 3D and is much more over-the-top in its campiness and humor. I like both a lot though! Someday I'd like to go back to this and do extra maps and see if there's good fanmade content or whatever.
Priority: LOW |
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ニンテンドウオールスター! 大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ
Super Smash Bros. Year: 1999 Developer: HAL研究所 [HAL Laboratory] Genre: Fighting | Played a small amount as kid at friends' houses. | This is a very respectable game for what it is and I have fond memories of playing it as a kid, but I don't see why I would play this these days when Melee exists. Doesn't mean this game is bad, just that Melee improved in every possible way.
Priority: N/A |
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テトリス ジ・アブソリュート ザ・グランドマスター2
Tetris the Absolute: The Grand Master 2 Year: 2000 Developer: アリカ [Arika] Genre: Action-Puzzle | Some small amount of play. | I want to keep improving my score/time. I played a small amount and of course have experience with Tetris generally. But I never have really gotten good enough to get into "the zone" with it.
Priority: HIGH |
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MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 2 NEW AGE OF HEROES
Year: 2000 Developer: カプコン [Capcom] Genre: Fighting | Played a fair amount randomly with friends, mostly on the PS3 port and over Fightcade. | SCOOPS HAAGEN DASZ! Not a game I would ever probably take super seriously (mostly because you have to be insane to do it, there's so many characters to learn) But it's an amazing game to play just casually with other friends who aren't so great at it. Some of the craziest scenarios can happen in this game, and the music, voices, sound effects, style, etc. is just all awesome. It's too bad that so much of the characters are made up of gay American capeshit characters, but it's still always a blast to play.
Priority: N/A |
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Deus Ex
Year: 2000 Developer: Ion Storm Genre: Action-RPG | Saw all three endings on Normal mode with plenty of save-scumming. | This is a very thought-provoking game, especially today. I've always had a soft spot and love for stories with insane, over-the-top conspiracy narratives and this is like the premier example of that in gaming. Also, it's a ton of fun to play as a game. The way you customize your biomech "build" by leveling up and influence the way you choose to approach missions on the basis of that is very cool. No matter if you choose to approach the game by shooting through everything or by sneaking around, it's all fun. Will I play it again? Probably not soon, but someday it would be cool to play through the higher difficulties.
Priority: N/A |
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月姫
Tsukihime Year: 2000 Developer: TYPE-MOON Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared all routes. | The game feels a little too long for its own good sometimes, but for the most part I rather enjoyed it. Some of the characters also felt a bit flat, especially Akiha. However, I love a lot about this game. I like the sprites and art a ton. They're "amateurish," but in a way that is extremely expressive and cute. And I've always had a sort of thing for VNs like this with real photo backgrounds. I find them specially charming in a lot of cases. The story for this game sometimes doesn't make me "feel" as strongly as it probably meant to, but the characters are very likeable (especially Arcueid) and the chuuni-ass magic powers and shit is extremely easy to fall in love with. I'm not sure I'd read this again soon because it's pretty long for what it is, but I like this game quite a bit.
Priority: N/A |
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Elasto Mania
Year: 2000 Developer: Elasto Mania Team Genre: 2D Platformer | Played a very small amount back in the day. | I might want to touch this again. It's one of the games from this era/scene that I remember most fondly (along with everyone else, it seems). It's not a Flash game but I always lumped it in with a bunch of Flash games for some reason.
Priority: N/A |
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くるくるくるりん
Kuru Kuru Kururin Year: 2001 Developer: エイティング [8ing] Genre: Action-Puzzle | Finished (+perfected) all main courses and the extra courses. | I'm not sure what more I'd like to do with this game besides trying to perfect the extra courses. It's an excellent game. It has simple, intuitive, but challenging gameplay and a great aesthetic. It's super cute, perfectly paced, and has awesome music and stage themes. Not else what to say besides it's an awesome game, but I'll probably move onto the sequel before revisting this.
Priority: N/A |
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大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズDX
Super Smash Bros. Melee Year: 2001 Developer: HAL研究所 [HAL Laboratory] Genre: Fighting | Played as a kid at friends' houses. Who didn't? | I respect pro players who can play this game like a champ (except for their hygienic choices), but I never would. There are so many fighting games I would rather devote time to instead. But it's clearly a quality game that is well-loved for a reason.
Priority: N/A |
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ソウルキャリバーII
SoulCalibur II Year: 2002 Developer: ナムコ [Namco] Genre: Fighting | Played the Gamecube port from time to time at my friend's place | Good for mindless playing as a party game of sorts, but I don't see myself doing too much more with it. Ivy is hawt.
Priority: N/A |
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怒首領蜂 大往生
DoDonPachi DaiOuJou Year: 2002 Developer: ケイブ [Cave] Genre: STG | 1-ALL with B-S
Best Score: Black Label: 66,075,020 [B-S, 2-1, 600] |
I'm not a big fan of chaining in games like this. I prefer chaining in the style of Armed Police Batrider where it's about catching items rather than this game where you have to basically follow one exact path through the level every time with no deviation. THAT SAID, this is a fucking awesome game even if you don't chain for shit and just play it for survival. The music, the enemy patterns, the visuals and stage design!! It just screams epic. In the future, it would be cool to eventually do a complete 1cc (2 loops), but it would probably be far beyond anything else I've done in games like this up until now.
Priority: LOW |
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The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Year: 2002 Developer: Bethesda Softworks Genre: RPG | Completed main campaign and did some Mages Guild and Imperial Cult sidequest stuff. I played a Breton custom build primarily focused on magic. | It might sound kind of pathetic, but I was largely inspired to chcek this out by Dagoth-Ur AI memes, lmao. And yet, I'm glad I was pushed to it in some way or another! It's a fantastic game. A lot of these western CRPGs can feel kind of stale and repetitive, with the same old D&D-inspired settings, classes, and creatures over and over. But this game, while certainly having a lot of similarities to those is mostly an extremely unique and creative world all of its own. Dagoth-Ur is legitimately one of the coolest final bosses ever (well, in terms of iconography... the battle isn't much to write home about). I would probably revisit this at some point. I'd like to go to Solstheim especially because it was one of the coolest areas, but absolute murder if you're less than endgame level.
Priority: N/A |
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Ever17 -the out of infinity-
Year: 2002 Developer: KID Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared all routes. | This was one of the first real in-depth VNs I played and thus it will always have a special place in my heart. I still think it's one of the best. The setting and plot setup is just so brilliant and the presentation in terms of music, visuals, etc. is just perfection. The overwhelming sense of mystery is enveloping and uneasy, but there is a deep undercurrent of humanity the whole way through as well. One friend said that he thought the true end was kind of a tone shift and it turned him off, but personally I was all on board for it even if I can admit that it changes the whole mood of the game pretty intensely. Even for one of my favorite VNs though, it's such a time investment that it's unlikely I'll re-read it any time soon.
Priority: N/A |
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鬼哭街 -The Cyber Slayer-
Kikokugai -The Cyber Slayer- Year: 2002 Developer: ニトロプラス [Nitro+] Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared game. | Underrated in comparison to that other short Urobuchi Gen Nitro+ VN, Saya no Uta. Badass wuxia action that translates surprisingly well to the written word, excellent art, a beautifully-rendered world of desperation and gloom, etc. Awesome stuff! I would re-read it because it's pretty short, but probably not any time very soon.
Priority: N/A |
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東方紅魔郷 ～ the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil
Touhou Koumakyou ～ the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil Year: 2002 Developer: 上海アリス幻樂団 [Team Shanghai Alice] Genre: STG | Hard 1cc with every shottype, Lunatic 1cc with MarisaB, Extra clear with ReimuB
Best Scores: Normal: 061,074,480 [ReimuA] Hard: 104,732,270 [MarisaB] Lunatic: 125,903,780 [MarisaB] Extra: 078,906,460 [ReimuB] |
One of the all-time greats, and probably the apex of ZUN's most off-the-wall, ZUN-esque dialogue. It's an interesting game because it retains a bit of the more western-inspired gothic lolita atmosphere of the PC-98 games and all their frilly doll girls. Therefore, it's a very unique game as the "oriental" themes are still more subtle. Above all, it's all about the insane RNG bullet clouds that will put your dodging skills to the utmost test. I adore this game and would love to revisit it, but the scoring isn't super interesting to me.
Priority: LOW |
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エスプガルーダ
ESPGaluda Year: 2003 Developer: ケイブ [Cave] Genre: STG | 1cc with Ageha
Best Score: 22,679,950 [Ageha] |
One of the best Cave games. Its mechanic of slowing down and cancelling bullets is super unique and gives so many interesting opportunities for scoring. Along with Ketsui, it's my favorite Cave game so far. I would love to go back to it someday and possibly use Tateha, but I'm not sure when I will.
Priority: MEDIUM |
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Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Year: 2003 Developer: Blizzard Entertainment Genre: Real-Time Strategy | Played through the campaigns of both the original game and expansion. Been playing 1v1 since 2021. Sub-1000 MMR but improving. I main Night Elf but would like to get better at others. | I had friends who played this back in the day, so I have some second-degree nostalgia for it, but it's not primarily nostalgia that drives me to it. I only came to learn this game in the past few years. Unfortunately, you have to deal with nu-Blizzard raping it in the ass, so you have to go through a turd exterior to get to the gold, but once you set the graphics to Classic and get through the ugly menus, it's still the same game. My favorite race is Night Elf because I love the way they're so open to so many tavern heroes, but all races are great to play. I suppose if I was going to rank them, it would go Night Elf > Orc > Undead > Human. I'm definitely worst at Undead tho...
Priority: VERY HIGH |
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沙耶の唄
Saya no Uta Year: 2003 Developer: ニトロプラス [Nitro+] Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared all routes. | One of the classics. I love the feeling of overwhelming obsession to the point where it is destroying the MC's life and sanity. It's a grim, desperate, and sometimes quite beautiful story. I would definitely read it again.
Priority: N/A |
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CROSS†CHANNEL
Year: 2003 Developer: FlyingShine Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared all routes. | A very interesting game which is very subtly one of the weirdest VNs ever. I love how much is left unsaid and unexplained in this game, in a way that nevertheless masks itself as being pretty straightforward. I like the art a lot as well. It's very cute in a straightforward way with some pretty simple designs. The MC is incredibly engrossing in ways that range from hilarious to disturbing to downright tragic and it's fascinating to read this and get a gradual sense of exactly what he is and what his perspective means. I would like to re-read this in Japanese someday because the English translation is sometimes a bit unwieldy and doesn't capture every nuance. I read the first 30 minutes in Japanese and it was very hard, but interesting.
Priority: N/A |
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マブラヴ
Muv-Luv Year: 2003 Developer: âge Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared all routes. | I probably wouldn't re-read this. It's a decently entertaining game, don't get me wrong. I LOVE the visual style and character designs, so there's value in that alone. But in terms of pacing, the game drags like you wouldn't believe. And some of the routes get pretty boring at times. I'm curious about the sequels.
Priority: N/A |
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東方妖々夢 ～ Perfect Cherry Blossom
Touhou Youyoumu ～ Perfect Cherry Blossom Year: 2003 Developer: 上海アリス幻樂団 [Team Shanghai Alice] Genre: STG | Cleared Normal with all shots, Extra with all shots, Phantasm with ReimuB, and Lunatic with ReimuB
Best Scores: Normal: 359,643,870 [MarisaA] Lunatic: 488,642,800 [ReimuB] Extra: 407,988,530 [ReimuA] Phantasm: 311,795,590 [ReimuB] |
It's hard to sum up in a short paragraph exactly what makes these early Touhou Windows games so good. They're just perfect! Perfect aesthetics, perfect music, perfect gameplay, perfect characters, etc. I love the ghostly, melancholy atmosphere which feels very connected to an ancient Japanese sense of "yuugen." It's vaguely Buddhist and has a lot of imagery of transience, etc., combined with Chinese and Japanese mythology and so on. No other game feels like this one. And the scoring in this game is a ton of fun. I would like to play it again and maybe do a bit of scoring.
Priority: LOW |
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マリオカート ダブルダッシュ!!
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Year: 2003 Developer: 任天堂 [Nintendo] Genre: Racing | Played off and on with friends. | I'm not sure what I'd do besides play with friends as a party game once in a while. Time trials? I've never been very good at these kinds of games. But I'm not opposed to it. It's a pretty great racing game, though I haven't played it a ton on my own.
Priority: N/A |
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虫姫さま
Mushihime-sama Year: 2004 Developer: ケイブ [Cave] Genre: STG | Maniac 1cc with S-Power
Best Score: Maniac: 42,803,492 [S-Power] |
I love the insect theme. It's super unique and has an awesome fantastical atmosphere that doesn't really feel like other games. And as far as gameplay goes, it's pretty dope. You gotta love your ultra-tiny hitbox weaving in and out of all these crazy clouds and the super-epic slowdown that happens when enemies spawn their huge brood of bullets. I want an Ultra 1cc someday.
Priority: LOW |
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Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Year: 2004 Developer: Troika Games Genre: RPG | Completed main campaign and probably some 80% of sidequests. I played a Tremere male. | This was so much better than I thought it would be. Above all, it's about characters. They're all intruiging enough that you want to ask them each and every question just to keep the dialogue going. The fighting and stuff isn't as bad as some people would have you believe (Thaumaturgy helps), but it's not really what keeps you coming back to this one. Anyway, I would like to play it again at some point as another clan. I would invade Taipei on behalf of the Kuei-jin's Republic of China for Ming-Xiao. <3
Priority: N/A |
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シンフォニック＝レイン
Symphonic Rain Year: 2004 Developer: くろねこさんちーむ [Kuroneko-san Team] Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared all routes. | An amazing VN with a wonderfully moving story. The artwork is so cute and cozy, looking very similar to an old European childrens' picture book. And yet it tells a story full of a lot of darkness and tragedy. As for playing it again, I might someday. The game is unique in that it is kind of a hybrid rhythm game where you have to clear rhythm sections to unlock new story parts (since your character is a music student). However, you have the choice to automate these if you can't do them. I can't, because I suck ass at rhythm games, so I did... and I kind of regret it. I could go back and play them since there's a free mode, but it seems like they would be more effective as I read through the story for the first time. Oh well!
Priority: N/A |
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フォレスト
Forest Year: 2004 Developer: Liar-soft Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared all routes. | Crazy VN with sprawling, massive chapters that I definitely missed a lot of and barely understood the story of. However, it was very engaging and interesting the whole way through. The art is astoundingly unique and fascinating. It is super-stylized, with super thick black outlines and weird gradiant colors. I'd like to read it again someday to try to unpack and understand this strange puzzle of a VN.
Priority: N/A |
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東方永夜抄 ～ Imperishable Night
Touhou Eiyashou ～ Imperishable Night Year: 2004 Developer: 上海アリス幻樂団 [Team Shanghai Alice] Genre: STG | Normal 1cc with every team, Lunatic 1cc with Netherworld Team, Extra clears with every team but Magic Team
Best Scores: Normal: 988,372,790 [Scarlet Team, FinalB] Lunatic: 1,735,717,330 [Netherworld Team, FinalB] Extra: 1,200,641,460 [Netherworld Team] Last Word: 90,647,760 [Border Team, No. 206] |
The last few levels of this are some of the greatest spectacle in any Touhou game in my opinion. The whole unification of science of astronomy with ancient myth is just masterful and breathtaking, and is the perfect microcosm for the way Touhou as a whole unifies everything great about modern technology with everything ancient and deeply Japanese in the spirit. As far as the gameplay goes, the scoring is also astonishing and I love it. And it's probably my favorite OST of the first three Windows games, which is a very very high bar. I want to come back to this and maybe do some scoring.
Priority: LOW |
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ゆめにっき
Yume Nikki Year: 2004 Developer: Kikiyama Genre: Adventure | Cleared game. | One of the absolute greats. The apex of RPGMaker games. That said, it doesn't have the best replay value in the world. I would love to share it with others, because that's the closest I can get to playing it for the first time again, which I would love to do.
Priority: N/A |
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塊魂
Katamari Damacy Year: 2004 Developer: ナムコ [Namco] Genre: Rolling Platformer | Cleared main story mode.
Biggest Katamari: 689m6cm4mm |
This game represents a very special, very Japanese sense of humor, of beauty, of fun, and everything. It's hard to put into words, but something about this game represents the apex of a particular era of Japan for me. Of course, I remember back in the day it was one of the premier examples of "LOL JAPAN IS SO WEEEIRRRD xD," which is a crude way of representing this. I adore this game and would love to find a way to get more challenge out of it. I need to play the sequels someday.
Priority: LOW |
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スワンソング
SWAN SONG Year: 2005 Developer: FlyingShine Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared all routes. | A very grim, very dark VN with some pretty uncomfortable content at times. That's something that makes it really cool and interesting. It's a great story about desperation, fanaticism, and about how humans can be reduced to animals in the right circumstances, but also how they can show their greatest humanity at the time of greatest despair. It's kind of interesting stylistically in that it doesn't use the traditional sprites that stand before the character from a first person POV, but kind of arranges them like manga panels. I probably wouldn't read it again soon, but it's great.
Priority: N/A |
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東方花映塚 ～ Phantasmagoria of Flower View
Touhou Kaeidzuka ～ Phantasmagoria of Flower View Year: 2005 Developer: 上海アリス幻樂団 [Team Shanghai Alice] Genre: STG | Saw all Normal endings (by continue-spamming), Normal 1cc with Medicine, and both Extra clears.
Best Scores: Normal: 0,043,223,340 [Medicine] Extra: 0,039,967,070 [Komachi] |
I'm not a big fan of the story mode, but LOVE this game as a 1v1 game. It's similar to Twinkle Star Sprites but much more danmaku/dodging-oriented, which is to say it's a blast. I'm too bad to play anyone but IRL friends though, and my IRL friends won't play me because I'm too much better than them... the fighting game experience.
Priority: MEDIUM |
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東方文花帖 ～ Shoot the Bullet
Touhou Bunkachou ～ Shoot the Bullet Year: 2005 Developer: 上海アリス幻樂団 [Team Shanghai Alice] Genre: STG | Cleared all scenes. Want to continue scoring.
Overall Score: 19,397,490 Notable Scene Scores: 2-5: 172,440 4-8: 375,640 6-8: 338,660 9-5: 486,160 10-8: 1,045,010 |
One of the most unique, creative, and endlessly deep shooting games ever made. I love the way you can pick up any individual scene to work on for scoring. It makes it comparatively "casual" on the level that you don't have to invest a ton of time into each run, but also extremely hardcore in the sense that this allows you to do the craziest, riskiest shit in that particular scene in a way you never could in one of the "normal" Touhou games. One of my favorite games ever.
Priority: HIGH |
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NANACA†CRASH!!
Year: 2005 Developer: lledoece Genre: Launch | Messed around with it. | This is a game that's meant to be on your phone when you have five minutes before a bus or in the school computers between classes, not anything that holds up to the test of time. it's cool for what it is, but I'm unlikely to revisit it.
Priority: N/A |
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アルカナハート
Arcana Heart Year: 2006 Developer: エクサム [Examu] Genre: Fighting | A very small amount of play. | I think 3 is the best version of Arcana Heart but I deeply respect this for beginning the series. See my thoughts on 3 and apply it for this one, more or less.
Priority: N/A |
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チェルシーさんは7の魔神をブッ殺さねばならない。
Bunny Must Die! Chelsea and the 7 Devils Year: 2006 Developer: Platine Dispositif Genre: Metroidvania | 100% clears with both Bunny and Chelsea. | A CRAZY game in all kinds of ways. It's super over-the-top ridiculous from beginning to end, but also a really good game beneath that. The sprites and character designs are super creative, funny, and cool. The gameplay feels VERY weird at first because of how strange your movement is, but once you adapt, you'll find a very interesting and unique experience. MAN is the final boss with Chelsea some horseshit though. Anyone who played that version that gave you more recalls is very lucky... I had to suffer in the original with only two extras. Although I guess that gave me a bit of pride in clearing it.
Priority: N/A |
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Within a Deep Forest
Year: 2006 Developer: nifflas Genre: Metroidvania | Cleared game a few different times on the Normal difficulty. | A brilliant game that is still very underrated. I love how much it takes advantage of its own minimal MS-Paint-like design. And the sense of the "world" of the game is incredible, with a great emphasis on feeling like a small diorama or picture book as opposed to huge open sprawling map. I'd like to play this again in some capacity. I heard that the hard mode is pretty brutal and not fun, so I would rather speedrun it to get more out of the game, I suppose. And it does seem like a good game for speedrunning, even if I'm doubtful that I'll ever want to put too much into that.
Priority: N/A |
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魔女の家
The Witch's House Year: 2006 Developer: ふみー [Fummy] Genre: Adventure | Cleared game. | This game is emblematic of a famous form of RPGMaker game, so I think it should be played at least for internet cultural education, but honestly I'm not the biggest fan of it.
Priority: N/A |
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Knytt
Year: 2006 Developer: nifflas Genre: Metroidvania | Cleared game. | I'm unlikely to revisit this. It's a charming, well-designed game that displays a very unique, personal, nifflasian world, which I like. But there isn't much game behind this one, unlike the amazingly challenging and creative gameplay of Within a Deep Forest. This is a good game I would recommend for someone who doesn't play games anbd is looking for something to ease them into the world of gaming though.
Priority: N/A |
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竜†恋
Dra†Koi Year: 2006 Developer: ニトロプラス [Nitro+] Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared game. | This VN has some great character art by Tsuji Santa but it's a pretty low-effort affair. It's incredibly stupid, sometimes in an entertaining way but usually not. Some giggles were had and that was about it. The MC's mom made me laugh. Unlikely to revisit.
Priority: N/A |
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osu!
Year: 2007 Developer: osu! development team Genre: Rhythm | A very small amount of play. | I really suck at rhythm games. But I like to try a song or two once in a while just to see how it feels. This is the most flexible choice. It's fun enough.
Priority: N/A |
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ピリオド
Period Year: 2007 Developer: LittleWitch Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared all routes. | This is a patrician-tier moege!! I love it. It has a wonderful, breezy, gorgeously light and summery atmosphere, as you'd expect of a game set in Nagasaki. And yet, there's a ton of deep emotional turmoil that is quite moving as well. The art and character designs are all to die for and the gameplay is hilarious. The MC also is, for once, not a complete retard, which is a nice change. I liked every heroine, but the bet was by far Tsudzumi. I love her so much!! <3
Priority: N/A |
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デススマイルズ
Deathsmiles Year: 2007 Developer: ケイブ [Cave] Genre: STG | 1cc with Rosa, rank levels 3-3-3-3-1-1
Best Score: 75,682,518 [Rosa, 3-3-3-3-1-1] |
Stylistically, this game is a marvel. Incredibly awesome, Halloween-ish levels full of kooky spooky shit and incredibly cute lolis! What else do you need?! It's a lot of fun to play, too. Once you adapt to the idea of a Cave danmaku game that's horizontal, you really learn to enjoy it. The way you have to whip around and often attack both sides can be a bit disorienting, especially due to the baroque and uncommon controls, but it's not too bad. The rank/level system is weird though. I'd like to try as a cuter character in the future and perhaps have the courage to take on the extra level before the final boss.
Priority: LOW |
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東方風神録 ～ Mountain of Faith
Touhou Fuujinroku ～ Mountain of Faith Year: 2007 Developer: 上海アリス幻樂団 [Team Shanghai Alice] Genre: STG | Normal 1cc with every shottype, Lunatic 1cc with ReimuB, Extra clears with ReimuB and MarisaA
Best Scores: Normal: 264,387,140 [MarisaB] Lunatic: 370,746,260 [ReimuB] Extra: 130,876,850 [ReimuB] |
This probably isn't my favorite Touhou mainline, but man is the atmosphere and mood of it something special. It feels like an extremely primordial, ancient sense of Japan, far before there was ever a hint of Buddhism or Daoism in the archipelago. It evokes the power and mystery of ancient gods and the little-understood splendor of the natural world. All of this is of course natural, as its motifs center around the holy Suwa region of Nagano Prefecture. As for the gameplay, it's awesome, although chaining isn't my favorite scoring system. Regardless, this game is a joy to play even just for survival and I am sure I will be back for more 1ccs in the future.
Priority: LOW |
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Rosenkreuzstilette
Year: 2007 Developer: [erka:es] Genre: 2D Platformer | Cleared game with Spiritia. | I originally was just interested in this game to see the curiosity of a Rockman clone with lolis, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was designed even better than any of the original Rockman games I had played. If I was going to speedrun a game, this wouldn't be my first choice, but it would be in the second-choice tier. Of course, speedrunning isn't really something that interests me, so I don't know when I'll get back to this one. But it rips, rest assured.
Priority: N/A |
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ブレイブルー カラミティ トリガー
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Year: 2008 Developer: アークシステムワークス [Arc System Works] Genre: Fighting | Played off and on at my friend's house in high school. | I found this game thanks to one of my best friends who loves fighting games. We played a lot of fighters at his house, but most of our other friends were pussies and didn't have the same dedication as we did! xD So we mostly played easier stuff to get into than this one. But I loved it. I played as the lolis every time (duh). I don't know if you could get me to dedicate time to this one these days though. It's hard to pry me away from Arcana Heart.
Priority: N/A |
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すっごい！アルカナハート2
Suggoi! Arcana Heart 2 Year: 2008 Developer: エクサム [Examu] Genre: Fighting | A very small amount of play. | Again, as with the first game, I respect and love a lot about this game, but whiel 3 exists I'll be sticking to it.
Priority: N/A |
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Sins of a Solar Empire
Year: 2008 Developer: Ironclad Games Genre: Real-Time Strategy | Played a VERY small amount, still don't understand it that much. | I still don't understand this very much, but it seems very cool once you do. Lots of good spaceship autism without being as in-depth as some crazy shit like Kerbal Space Program or whatnot.
Priority: LOW |
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CHAOS;HEAD
Year: 2008 Developer: 5pb. Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared all routes. | This is an excellent game and a nice companion piece with Steins;Gate. It's much more grim, much more mysterious, much more horrific and uneasy. I like how much of the game is silent. It's very eerie and extremely effective as a denpa game. I slightly prefer Steins;Gate but this one is a close second. Of course, it's a VN so I'm not sure if I'd revisit it.
Priority: N/A |
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東方地霊殿 ～ Subterranean Animism
Touhou Chireiden ～ Subterranean Animism Year: 2008 Developer: 上海アリス幻樂団 [Team Shanghai Alice] Genre: STG | Lunatic 1cc with ReimuB, Normal 1cc with every shottype, Extra clear with ReimuA
Best Scores: Lunatic: 592,650,000 [ReimuB] Normal: 184,192,740 [ReimuB] Extra: 412,918,590 [ReimuA] |
There are a few design choices that keep me from loving this game quite as much as the preceding Windows titles. The power-bombing can get annoying as if you bomb enough you start timing everything out, and you'll definitely be bombing a lot at first. Also, a lot of the shots in this game are also really annoying to use. ZUN had some cool ideas with them, that's for sure, but they don't feel very fleshed out.
That said, once you git gud enough to not constantly bomb and use a decent shot, this game is still Touhou and is still fantastic. I love the creepy, decrepit atmosphere and I love the themes of blending technology and fantasy. I would want to play this again someday, even if there are other Touhou games I would gravitate towards first. Priority: LOW |
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STEINS;GATE
Year: 2009 Developer: 5pb. Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared all routes. | I love a lot of things about this game. I love Okabe Rintarou as a character. Besides the initial humor over his crazy chuunibyou persona, there's really a lot of depth and pathos you get after spending time with him. I love the story and cast of characters and glimpse of time that is Akihabara at the peak of otaku culture (right before the 2010s when it all went to shit xD). And I love the unique coloring that makes characters almost look like they're made out of marble. As for re-reading? Probably not any time soon, but that's not a statement on its quality at all.
Priority: N/A |
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かたわ少女
Katawa Shoujo Year: 2009 Developer: Four Leaf Studios Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared all routes. | I thought that this game was Japanese in origin the first time I played it, even though I had a few moments where I was skeptical ("Bush Cheney 2004" anyone?). I'd be curious how much my view of it changes knowing that it is of foreign origin. It's overall solid, if quite uneven, as you can expect by something written by a number of different people. The Rin route is by far the best, although I did like Hanako quite a bit too. I don't know when I'll revisit this, but I at least want to read the Rin route again.
Priority: N/A |
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東方星蓮船 ～ Undefined Fantastic Object
Touhou Seirensen ～ Undefined Fantastic Object Year: 2009 Developer: 上海アリス幻樂団 [Team Shanghai Alice] Genre: STG | Normal 1cc with every shottype, Extra clear with SanaeB
Best Scores: Normal: 165,022,810 [ReimuB] Extra: 213,817,560 [SanaeB] |
A lot of people found the gimmick of UFOs in this game frustrating. I didn't. I liked it quite a lot. That said, I only played the game on Normal and certainly the UFOs only get harder and harder to keep track of on higher difficulties. But I really do like so much about this game. I think it was ZUN's last truly excellent mainline game that felt completely polished and perfected, although I certainly don't hate the next three after this one. I need to get a Lunatic 1cc in it because it's the last of the Windows golden era that I haven't gotten one in.
Priority: VERY HIGH |
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.flow
Year: 2009 Developer: lol Genre: Adventure | Cleared game, saw all endings. | I would like to play this game again. I'm not as overly-familiar with it as Yume Nikki, so I think a second playthrough could reveal more. It's a game whose overarching story is a lot more abstract and hard to grasp. At its best though, it's right up there with Yume Nikki, just much more dark, grim, violent, and confusing. It's great shit!
Priority: N/A |
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OpenLieroX
Year: 2009 Developer: Jason Boetticher Genre: Real-Time Strategy | I very, very briefly tried to get a hang of this but haven't played it much. | I'd like to find some people to play with. It seems like a blast but I still need to figure it out a bit.
Priority: N/A |
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Texmaster
Year: 2009 Developer: Report Genre: Action-Puzzle | A bit of play. | Well, it's basically a freeware edition based largely on Tetris the Absolute: The Grand Master 2. So you can copy-paste my thoughts for it. I'd like to see how this version compares.
Priority: HIGH |
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Sid Meier's Civilization V
Year: 2010 Developer: Firaxis Genre: Turn-Based Strategy | Played various civilizations on lower difficulties. | This was one of the first PC games I really ever played "seriously," but even then it wasn't very seriously. I mostly just played every civilization on level 4 or so and did it as a way to unwind and have fun. But it was a good introduction to turn-based strategy games in general. I think it's a pretty great game and would like to check out more of the past entries in the series, which I mostly know second-hand from my friends playing them.
Priority: N/A |
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素晴らしき日々～不連続存在～
Subarishiki Hibi ～Furenzoku Sonzai～ Year: 2010 Developer: ケロQ [KeroQ] Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared all routes. | I think this is the greatest VN ever made and that it's easily worth going through its long, twisted, difficult content multiple times. I could talk about this VN for hours and not even really scratch the surface, so all I can say is that anyone who believes in the power of otaku media to tell mature, complicated, and deeply resonant stories has to read this.
Priority: N/A |
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はなひらっ！
Hanahira! Year: 2010 Developer: ふぐり屋 & ゆりんゆりん [Fuguri-ya & YurinYurin] Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared game. | This is the fluffiest of fluffy moege you'll ever find. But that's precisely why I read it: because it's recommended as a beginner VN for reading them in their original language. I would also highly recommend it for that reason. And it's charming in its own way if you understand it as the light, empty entertainment that it is. But I definitely wouldn't read it again.
Priority: N/A |
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ダブルスポイラー ～ 東方文花帖
Double Spoiler ～ Touhou Bunkachou Year: 2010 Developer: 上海アリス幻樂団 [Team Shanghai Alice] Genre: STG | Cleared all scenes with both Aya and Hatate. Want to continue scoring.
Overall Score: Aya: 23,344,732 Hatate: 21,524,772 Notable Scene Scores: 3-5: 263,085 [Aya] 4-3: 162,460 [Hatate] 5-4: 530,728 [Aya] 6-4: 270,074 [Aya] 10-3: 848,230 [Aya] 12-8: 700,940 [Hatate] |
Pretty much anything that applies for Touhou Bunkachou 〜 Shoot the Bullet applies here because the system is more or less the same. This one, if anything, is even deeper, because there's more interesting multipliers and modifiers to your score based on things like the angle of your pictures and so on. However, the general scene quality is probably overall higher in Shoot the Bullet. In any case, these two games should be taken as a pair, so I love this one no less.
Priority: HIGH |
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妖精大戦争 ～ 東方三月精
Yousei Daisensou ～ Touhou Sangetsusei Year: 2010 Developer: 上海アリス幻樂団 [Team Shanghai Alice] Genre: STG | Normal + Lunatic 1ccs for every route, Extra clear
Best Scores: Normal: 26,727,030 [C-1] Lunatic: 49,842,921 [A-1] Extra: 28,427,570 |
One of the best Touhou games. Everything just comes together in this one. It's all based on one central mechanic: freezing. Everything is about bigger freezes and everything comes from bigger freezes, for score and survival. Everything incentivizes you towards bigger freezes and rewards you for them yet there's still challenge pushing you back. It's also just brilliantly designed from beginning to end around this mechanic and leads to some of the most interesting and unique ways of approaching and dealing with bullets (often not even bothering to "dodge" them if you're doing it right) that I've ever seen in one of these games. And it also has the most cunny-tastic cast in any Touhou game full of a bunch of VERY cute fairies, which always helps. A masterpiece, only held back by a few bugs that ZUN really should have ironed out.
Priority: MEDIUM |
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マモノスイーパー
Mamono Sweeper Year: 2010 Developer: Hojamaka Genre: Puzzle | Barely touched it. | I would like to experiment with this more. It's pretty charming. But I was never good at Minesweeper in the first place.
Priority: N/A |
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鉄拳TAG TOURNAMENT 2
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Year: 2011 Developer: バンダイナムコ [Bandai Namco] Genre: Fighting | Lots of mindless rounds with friends since high school. | God-tier party game. Obviously you can be a pro at this game if you want, but it's also one of the best fighting games to just pick up and play with friends and not think too deeply about. There are other fighting games I'd much rather put effort into, but this one will always hold a warm place in my heart for all the times I played it during high school after school with friends and lots of pizza, always picking Xiaoyu, Lily, and whoever else was the most loli of the cast. I have a great amount of nostalgia for this game.
Priority: N/A |
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ちちみこ!!
Chichi Miko!! Year: 2011 Developer: らぱぷる [Rapapuru] Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared all routes. | Miko with gargantuan oppai. I came a lot. What else is there to say? I still look up the galleries on exhentai a lot.
Priority: N/A |
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東方神霊廟 ～ Ten Desires
Touhou Shinreibyou ～ Ten Desires Year: 2011 Developer: 上海アリス幻樂団 [Team Shanghai Alice] Genre: STG | Normal 1cc with every shottype (twice, for alternate endings), Extra clear with Reimu
Best Scores: Normal: 215,214,010 [Youmu] Extra: 092,959,810 [Reimu] |
This is where ZUN came off his peak and started slowly getting worse, but this one is still an excellent game, just not comparable with the absolute masterpieces preceding it. I like the homey, small atmosphere where it feels like the kind of thing happening in Gensoukyou's backyard, especially just after the epic journey to Makai in Undefined Fantastic Object. I do feel like some parts of the game just aren't quite as well-thought through as earlier on, especially the final boss, but most of it is solid. The Extra stage is especially wonderful, and not just because of having one of the best songs in all of Touhou. I should definitely get a Lunatic clear in this someday.
Priority: MEDIUM |
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ゆめ2っき
Yume 2kki Year: 2011 Developer: ゆめ2っきTeam [Yume 2kki Team] Genre: Adventure | Have played for a while, enough to get like 5 effects. | Just as good as Yume Nikki, but completely different. Yume Nikki was very much the vision of a particular person, whereas this is an open-ended, collaborative project. What it loses in having a "cohesive" feeling, it gains in having a huge variety that makes it a near-endless expanse to constantly get lost in. It's fantastic and I definitely want to play more.
Priority: MEDIUM |
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BEVENTLAED
Year: 2011 Developer: yu-ki Genre: Action-Puzzle | Have only played it a little bit. | Very cool, but it does make my hand hurt after a while. Would be an ideal game for a mobile phone or other touchscreen. Still excellent.
Priority: MEDIUM |
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Curve Fever 2
Year: 2011 Developer: Armor Games Genre: Party | Played from time to time with friends. | It's a very fun game to play with friends and I'd like to continue playing it off and on in that setting. Of course improving is fun, but it's a game that is best enjoyed when you don't take it too seriously.
Priority: N/A |
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エルシャダイ アセンション オブ ザ メタトロン
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron Year: 2011 Developer: イグニッション・エンターテイメント [Ignition Entertainment] Genre: Beat 'Em Up | Cleared game. | An aesthetic triumph. This game is super strange and unusual, with a visual style that I really haven't seen anywhere else. I would be interested in touching this game again. It was my first real experience with a game like this, so I often didn't really know what I was doing. Of course, this is luckily a very good game for beginners of the genre because it's not so hard. I'd be curious to play it again. I think one playthrough unlocked some special armor that might be like a hardmode, so I guess that would be the natural step.
Priority: N/A |
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Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel
Year: 2012 Developer: [erka:es] Genre: 2D Platformer | Cleared game with Freudia. | I loved this game even more than its predecessor. The main weapon is so amazingly fun to use. To me, it's the best designed Rockman clone I've played (I haven't played MegaMari yet). I'd like to clear it again with Grolla. Like the predecessor, it wouldn't be my first choice of a game to speedrun, but would follow pretty closely after.
Priority: N/A |
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フェノメノ 美鶴木夜石は怖がらない
Phenomeno -Mitsugi Yoishi wa Kowagaranai- Year: 2012 Developer: ニトロプラス [Nitro+] Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared game. | This is a very good game with a quite interesting, poignant ending that I loved (if you've read it, you probably know why). Luv the short heroine with big boobs and glasses! I'd probably play it again someday because it's very short and therefore reading it again isn't too much to ask.
Priority: N/A |
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ちちみこ!! プラス1 ～祖母と娘の搾乳 ハーレム～
Chichi Miko!! Plus 1 ～Sobo to Musume no Sakunyuu Harem～ Year: 2012 Developer: らぱぷる [Rapapuru] Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared game. | Very inferior to the first. The art is kind of unappealing in this one and Touka looks gross.
Priority: N/A |
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Ib
Year: 2012 Developer: kouri Genre: Adventure | Cleared game.
Endings Seen: 03: 片隅の記憶 [Ib All Alone] |
This game is quite cool. I always loved pieces of art about the world from a child's perspective, particularly if they're a little surreal and scary. I played it with a friend and we finished it in an evening because the puzzles really aren't too hard. Eventually I'd like to see all the other endings.
Priority: N/A |
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Europa Universalis IV
Year: 2013 Developer: Paradox Development Studio Genre: Turn-Based Strategy | Played a bit, stil learning. | This seems like an extraordinarily fun and interesting simulation tool for history autists like myself (I guess you could call it a game too). I want to find out more about how to manipulate it so I too can mess around in my very mature roleplay games.
Priority: N/A |
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東方輝針城 ～ Double Dealing Character
Touhou Kishinjou ～ Double Dealing Character Year: 2013 Developer: 上海アリス幻樂団 [Team Shanghai Alice] Genre: STG | Normal 1cc with every shottype, Extra clear with ReimuA
Best Scores: Normal: 362,882,510 [SakuyaB] Extra: 121,180,640 [ReimuA] |
My least favorite game from the span of 6-15, but not a bad game. Mostly it's due to Seija, who has the worst gimmick ZUN ever thought of. Someday I'll go back and get Lunatic 1ccs in it, I suppose.
Priority: VERY LOW |
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輪舞曲Duo -夜明けのフォルテシモ- ぷにゅぷりff
Rondo Duo -Yoake no Fortissimo- Punyu Puri ff Year: 2014 Developer: ティンクルベル [TinkleBell] Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared game. | It's a nukige and I played it to fap to cute girls with wiggly, jelly-like bodies. It served its purpose, but the girls aren't my type necessarily, so I probably won't play it again.
Priority: N/A |
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ニトロプラス ブラスターズ -ヒロインズ インフィニット デュエル-
Nitroplus Blasterz -Heroines Infinite Duel- Year: 2015 Developer: エクサム [Examu] Genre: Fighting | Did a few story modes on the PS3 version and lightly experimented with 1v1. | A really wicked sick fighting game full of heroines from Nitro+ properties, all with awesome animations and moves. That enough is a reason for me to love it. It would be cool to play 1v1 more competitively. It's hard to drag me away from Arcana Heart to another fighting game, but if I did choose another it would be this one.
Priority: LOW |
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SeaBed
Year: 2015 Developer: paleontology Genre: Visual Novel | Cleared game. | One of the most unique and distinctive VNs I've played. It's a difficult, abstract story but also one that is very moving and has deep emotional resonance. Outside of the art, it isn't really a very "weeb" game at all, but a powerful evocation of alienation, depression, mental illness, etc. I think that it not only stands up to many readings, but demands them, since there was so much I wasn't sure about in the first go around. I'll have to read it in Japanese next...
Priority: N/A |
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東方紺珠伝 ～ Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom
Touhou Kanjuden ～ Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom Year: 2015 Developer: 上海アリス幻樂団 [Team Shanghai Alice] Genre: STG | Normal Point-Device clears with every shottype, Extra clear with Reisen
Best Scores: Normal: 400,940,980 [SanaeP, Retry 267] Extra: 172,567,210 [Reisen] |
This game is completely ridiculous in every way, and that's probably both its greatest strength and weakness. I do like it, but I think I might turn into a lunatic (ha!) if I played it for an extended period of time, because a lot of the Junko fight is completely retardedly stupid. I would like to someday get at least one Legacy clear though.
Priority: VERY LOW |
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東方天空璋 ～ Hidden Star in Four Seasons
Touhou Tenkuushou ～ Hidden Star in Four Seasons Year: 2016 Developer: 上海アリス幻樂団 [Team Shanghai Alice] Genre: STG | Normal 1ccs with all shots.
Best Scores: Normal: 145,745,890 [Reimu, Spring] Extra: 114,603,390 [Reimu] |
This is where ZUN truly and utterly lost his inspiration. A very mediocre and unmemorable game. I will never play it again. A shame because there are some interesting lore tidbits about Okina's character, but not enough to make this worthwhile.
Priority: N/A |
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Among Us
Year: 2018 Developer: InnerSloth Genre: Party | Played from time to time with friends. | SUS AMOGUS
Ok seriously, once you ignore its meme status and are honest with yourself, it's hard to deny that this can be a very fun game. But that obviously depends on the quality of the company you play it with. I played it a few times and got a kick out of it, but there are other social/party games I'd rather play with friends. So while I have no plans to play this again, I could potentially be convinced. Priority: N/A |
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yuque
Year: 2018 Developer: 794810 Genre: Adventure | Haven't started yet, but will at some point. | I haven't touched this very much, but it seems to be in the vein of Yume 2kki, so I'd like to look around a little more.
Priority: MEDIUM |
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デッドオアアライブ6
Dead or Alive 6 Year: 2019 Developer: チームニンジャ [Team Ninja] Genre: Fighting | Very small amount of play with online friends. | Pretty fun, although the monetization of it is one of the most obscene things I've seen. There's bewbs and pantsu so I can't complain too much, but I'd rather play older Dead or Alive titles.
Priority: N/A |
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東方鬼形獣 ～ Wily Beast and Weakest Creature
Touhou Kikeijuu ～ Wily Beast and Weakest Creature Year: 2019 Developer: 上海アリス幻樂団 [Team Shanghai Alice] Genre: STG | Normal 1ccs with all shots.
Best Scores: Normal: 575,587,700 [Marisa, Otter] Extra: 114,076,910 [Reimu, Otter] |
The last Touhou game I actually got 1ccs in. Everything after this is just so lazy that it makes me sad. This one at least has some positive points. I like it more than Hidden Star in Four Seasons in fact. And again, the lore has some cool parts about haniwa and doguu and all that. But I don't think I will ever play again. It just isn't a very good game.
Priority: N/A |
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アルカナハート3 LOVEMAX SIXSTARS!!!!!! XTEND
Arcana Heart 3 LOVEMAX SIXSTARS!!!!!! XTEND Year: 2021 Developer: エクサム [Examu] Genre: Fighting | Have played since 2016, doing a lot of story modes in the PS3 version and playing competitively since then, though less often in recent years. | This is the only fighting game I have any degree of proficiency in, and even then I get my ass kicked online 90% of the time. It is also the game that contains my favorite character in any anime or game, Kasuga Maori. This is one of the best casts of cute girls in any game, anime, manga, etc. and is very underrated. It also has an incredibly deep, interesting, endlessly complex system of "Arcanas" that allow you to mix-and-match two sets of special moves and create some amazing plays. This current revision is the definitive version of the original game that first came out in 2013, but the Steam version needs to add character animations with all the beautiful jiggle physics and so on back on the side. What a fucking stupid decision.
Priority: VERY HIGH |