Amnesiac

I hope you can’t gouge your new cedar deck because you accidentally use the wrong nozzle and the psi is set for cleaning tungsten. That would suck. I mean, it probably would suck. It definitely hasn’t happened to me…

@Tidus_g If it helps, look at it this way; one is based on a comic book, one on a series of YA novels, and one on a movie.

Nice! These old Saturn games have been a pleasant surprise and hold up really well.

@AnnetteM Happy New Year to you as well. Nice to see Relayer on one of these lists. I’m afraid the marketing direction they took has doomed it to sub-niche levels of success.

Your question made me think of one of the most lackluster games I’ve finished in recent memory. For some reason, I finally got around to playing Arc of Alchemist after picking it up during a sale ages ago and saw it through to the end. Like many other Idea Factory games, it didn’t do anything particularly well, but I enjoyed it despite all the glaring flaws.

Nice to see Michelle Zauner’s work on Sable recognized. One of the few times when I’ve bought a game because I wanted to listen to it more than play it.

I really enjoyed the music in The Artful Escape as well. The gameplay is…limited, but good lord the epic chord changes that game throws at you! It’s like being permanently stuck in the payoff chorus of a song from a 1970’s Yes album. And I mean that in a good way.

Boy, I really like Level-5 but that game looks like it was developed for a 7 year old tablet…

I’m sure its hard enough to create a single quality game, but getting two out the door in the same calendar year is quite a feat. Also, the mash up picture reminded me of the times I wanted to go all Rollerdrome on my character in Ollie Ollie World after missing a jump for the thousandth time. Kidding aside, two wonderful games well worth playing.

I really enjoyed Atari 50, although I probably spent more time in the archives than I did with many of the games. I’ve been a fan of retro collections since I meandered through the virtual halls of Namco Museum on the PSX. I liked that series so much that I imported the Japan only ® disc that came with a cardboard case for the other five discs. The number of games per disc was a bit slight, but a lot of thought and care went into those releases.

@JudgeDredd Maybe I’m missing something. The reviews on Push Square tell you who wrote them and more often than not, the author participates in the comments to answer questions. If memory serves, they do include a different PS member’s take in reviews for larger games, but the authorship is always clear.

The fact that Road 96 is on this list and garnered zero votes…made me curious enough to buy it. ‘Tis the season for overindulgence after all!

I enjoy this game vicariously through Sammy’s entertaining articles, but maybe someday I’ll finally pay the fare and start riding the rails myself.

This looks interesting and possibly annoying, but what drew me in was the title of the article which reminded me that I need to catch up on Mark Steel’s podcast.

@Porco I completely disagreed with you until I watched it with the sound on. That is some aggressively chipper voice acting. Still, it’s a Vanillaware game which makes it a day one purchase.

For any other Vanillaware fans out there, Sword of the Vagrant is a recent release that pays homage to their style. It’s more than worth the asking price in my opinion.

I still have these on a memory stick somewhere tucked away with my other PSP goodies. I’m excited to play them again for the hit of nostalgia alone. Also, I wouldn’t say no to an updated High Velocity Bowling release. Lots of fun and quite a bit of swearing while getting the spin on the ball just right.

@Milktastrophe I really enjoyed The Council, and if memory serves, it doesn’t take too long to complete. It really owns it’s weirdness, and turns what could have become a silly history mash up into an excellent adventure game. Hope you get a chance to play through it.

@JamieO I thought for sure one of the Cottons would show up in your list! I really enjoy these end of year round ups because they point me towards games that I overlooked, but when I read your lists I just wind up nodding my head in agreement.

Happy to see that Pac Man Museum and Capcom Fighting Collection snuck into your expanded list, though I’m glad that I held off on the Wonder Boy collection. In any event, fine choices and a great year for retro gaming, especially for shoot em ups. Enjoy the holidays and if we’re lucky, 2023 will be just as kind to fans of classic games.

@nomither6 I had a roof leak a few years ago and it wasn’t particularly fun or interesting. It was hard to locate the source, did considerable damage, and wound up costing quite a bit of money.

“I am fully aware of the damage that even a small and simple leak can do to the work of people that have spent many months or years on a game.”

And he did it anyway. Charming.

@themightyant Fair point! I have almost no willpower when it comes to classic games, yet was irritated enough to hold off. Unfortunately now I’m going to reward Bliss by buying this in January because the amount of content in this package has crushed my willpower like a grape.

@themightyant That seems a bit harsh. I had no idea they were going to release a more complete package a scant 6 months after the first go around. I would have bought it if it had gone on sale, but I guess now I can delete it from my wishlist.

I don’t blame anyone who’s a big fan of the series for picking this up. It’s just a shame that they got taken in by some pretty atrocious sales practices courtesy of Bliss and Strictly Limited Games, who never miss an opportunity to create false scarcity (as their name implies). If Ubisoft or EA had done this, half of the Push Square community would be lighting their torches and sharpening their pitchforks by now.

I got really sucked in to Tokyo Chronos despite the somewhat rudimentary presentation. For some reason, visual novels really benefit from VR, even with limited action and a prevalence of static screens. Can’t wait to play/read this.

Fantavision in VR seems like such a natural fit, it’s a wonder no one thought to do it sooner. What an all around fantastic day for VR news. Launch day is just 10 weeks away!

@KundaliniRising333 What a gross misrepresentation of this game. Nothing beyond race earnings is necessary to progress in GT7. If watching bonus cars spin around after cashing in a daily workout ticket sullies the entire experience for you, maybe the problem lies outside of the game.

@Loftimus This is the best description of Rollerdome I’ve ever seen.

I’m a fighting game junkie and have fond memories of the first Rumble Fish, but I’m a bit disappointed at how sparse this release is. Also, I usually have no issue with DLC fighters being added post release, but charging to play as the boss characters is pretty insulting. I’m glad that The Rumble Fish 2 is finally available on consoles, I just wish that the game, and the game’s fans, had gotten better treatment.

I’ve really enjoyed my time with it so far, and oddly enough, I really like the downtime between missions and the character banter. Most likely that’s due to my formative years being spent reading way too many Marvel comics. I just find the cheezy dialogue and interpersonal superhero relationship shenanigans strangely endearing. My only complaint is that the game’s a bit hard on the eyes at times.

This review is doing a service for the general gaming public by advising them to proceed with caution, but for old weirdos like me this was always going to be a day one purchase. Simple, fun, fanservicey games of questionable quality are just a phase I never grew out of.

Jun Kazama! One of my all time favorite characters. I’ve been down back circle circle circle, circle + square, square square triangling since Tekken 2, and can’t wait to do it on PS5.

@NEStalgia Looks like my ignorance was showing. I had no idea Pokemon had gone in that direction! In my defense, the last installment of the series I played featured pea green graphics, an old guy named Professor Oak, and two jerks who should have been arrested for animal trafficking.

I’m not really interested in Wanted:Dead, but an arcade shoot em up with Assault Suit Leynos vibes? Sign me up!

I wasn’t sure what to make of this, but that trailer has piqued my interest. It looks like the game is built on the bones of a good story.

Also, just a guess, but it may look that way to you because your username is @NEStalgia?

To me, the best thing about the program (other than earning psn credit) is that it encourages me to dig out titles from my shameful backlog. I installed Detroit to complete one of the earlier quests and to my slight surprise, have found it really compelling. My only quibble is that they are a little late to the party with some of the monthly store picks. It would be nice to get the point boost for games I purchase before the campaigns release. All in all, it’s a nifty program that anyone can benefit from, even if they choose not to engage with it at all.

@thefourfoldroot1 I’m inclined to agree. Something about the immersion makes the mundane often feel pretty extraordinary. For example, I’ve never been one for Jenga, but Tumbler VR was amazing.

@Stevemalkpus It was an excellent Dreamcast game and the PSP collection was nothing to sneeze at either. I’m hopeful that Capcom will see fit to bring it back one day. Who knows, there have been a few Saturn classics showing up lately, like Cleopatra Fortune and Elevator Action Returns. Can Dreamcast classics be far behind?

What really jumps out at me is what a little powerhouse the PSP was. Being able to play near console quality games on the go was quite impressive at the time. Even for old folks like me with fond memories of the Sega Nomad and TurboExpress.

Sorry to mess up the unbroken chain of negativity, but I think I’ll give it a spin. It’s free and the 3d perspective is giving me slight Powerstone vibes. Who knows, it might even be fun.

I picked this up mostly for the soundtrack, so as long as the audio doesn’t stutter, I’ll be a happy camper.

I’m happy to hear the positive press this is getting, since it’s sitting on my home screen waiting for me to get to it. Sounds like artistically it’s more of an Al Milgrom fill in issue than a John Byrne jam, but that’s ok. Fun is fun, even when it’s not very handsome.

I'll give the art style the benefit of the doubt, though I understand it's a bit off-putting for many. It reminds me of an old American indie comic called Hepcats that used anthropomorphic animals to tell a story about the lives of four college students. It's unfinished, but still a good read if you can find it.

@Cherip-the-Ripper That's Sumire Sawa, proprietor of the Romance Workshop in Isezaki Ijincho. Her hobbies include caring for bonsai trees and electrifying blunt weapons.

@Cherip-the-Ripper I was amazed when Takahashi Shoko turned up as a hostess in Kiwami 2. Including performers from the more risqué side of the Japanese entertainment industry really adds to the atmosphere of these games. The race queen at the workshop in Like a Dragon was a nice touch too.

@GorosBat Yup, Kiwami 2’s is amazing. I lost track of how many times I told myself “I’ll go to bed after just one more shift…”

@Olmaz Don’t worry, by closing the survey at that specific point you’ve provided them with plenty of data about yourself.

All done. Considering the hours of free entertainment and occasional consternation provided by this site, it was the least I could do. Actually, the least I could do would be to ignore the survey entirely, so I guess it was almost the least I could do.

Anyone with fond memories of the Sega Saturn shouldn’t overlook the Panzer Dragoon remake at that price. It’s a little undercooked, but still a great hit of nostalgia.

@LifeGirl Well, since orchestrating the Warner Discovery merger, he’s helped to “erase” $20 billion (!) from the company’s valuation. Warner has a huge mess to clean up after years of mismanagement under AT&T, but the basket that Zaslav is putting his eggs in seems pretty rickety at the moment.

“If you ever wanted to feel dumb briefly, but then smart generally”

That would be a nice change of pace from the usual where I generally feel dumb with fleeting moments of smartness.

@carlos82 My thoughts exactly. It also doesn’t help that the Shatter remaster released around the same time for a third of the cost. My block breaking needs are covered until this goes on sale.

It’s nice that the free content for this game seems to have outlasted the attention span of the people who enjoyed dumping all over it. I guess they’ve moved on to rain on other people’s parades.

The way I see it, I bought Lacrimosa of Dana years ago at a pretty heavy discount, got many hours of enjoyment from it, completed it, and moved on to other games. It’s great that folks who haven’t played it yet can now enjoy it on PS5, but I’ve already had a good time with the game and don’t really see myself pouring in the hours needed to finish it again.