So, 2024 is almost over. I can confirm that I made more articles than last year (by 3 posts) even though my official workload is significantly bigger. I think I can return to original plan of putting 12 Most Valuable Pictures (MVP). I’m happy with that but this year brings some shocking and sad news. Atsuko Tanaka has passed away due to some ill. Noticeably to me, she voiced Caster (Fate/Stay Night) and HMS Hood (Azur Lane). To quote Hood voice line when defeated “Victory and defeat are commonplace among those who fight, and it is we that have all the time in the world” which could be translated as telling me to move on from Tanaka-san’s passing, that I will try.
Anyway, other happy note for me this year is I finished Skyrim (believe it or not) and Area 51. But for the latter game I switch to PC version because I’m more comfortable to play FPS game with keyboard and mouse. Also, I get to play The Last Faith, which can be considered 2D Bloodborne. As for this end-of-the-year article, I also write 2 special chapters besides the usual MVP and top 10 articles based on view counts. Hope you like it.
I) MVP (Most Valuable Pictures)
1 & 2. The Last Faith (PC)
Unlimited power! Muahahaha! This lightning magic is the first thing that I acquired because I pick magician class. I’m more than happy to imitate Palpatine every time I cast thing lightning bolt from my hand.
One of best thing that I can do in The Last Faith is execute my enemy brutally. This one is brutish execution as I repeated punch this monster’s face to pulp.
3. Growl (Genesis)
There’s no chance that I won’t put the daring rescue moment by my elephant friend. He’s so strong that he can ram on tank and make it explodes. Sniper_thanks01.wav
I love Gunmaster. Although there’s no plot narration to explain what’s going on in the game, the full action scenes make up for the absence of narration. Including this ending where everyone that the gunmasters has beaten, team up with the protagonists to defeat the greater evil. The power of friendship!
5. SUAVE (PC)
Because I’m pyro, I love flamethrower. SUAVE has flamethrower weapon so I like this moment. If your brain thinks the flamethrower resembles some male’s part, you should go to nearest psychiatrist or ophthalmologist. You degenerate.
6 & 7. Warnet Life (PC)
This is how the repairman fixes my internet router by doing some sort of sacred dance. But I can’t complaint as it works and looks amusing.
The first chapter of this game is closed with fistfight between me and Mr. Majek the swindler. He got what was coming to him as I uppercut him into a basketball ring, miraculously. Then he runs with tail between his legs. I feel like I want to beat him more but the miserable bum is really good at running away.
Usually, I don’t like mirror match because it’s pretty hard to beat opponent who have the same moveset. However, I like this pre-fight moment as both Captain Commando strike the same pose albeit with different cloth. Moreover, enemy’s Captain Commando dress like a cowboy which appropriate with this wild west stage.
Obviously, Hans Grosse spinning around like ballerina but with Gatling gun on each hand, wins the award. To capture this silly moment, I have to sacrifice some of my health. Hope you enjoy this as much as I do.
10 & 11. Earth Defense Force 2 (PSP)
I have said that I like flamethrower. So, this moment where I can burn giant ant with flamethrower, simply wins my heart. Pyro_laughevil01.wav
If you’re not impressed with me using flamethrower on giant ant, how about epic moment when I use sniper rifle to take down dozen of UFOs? Just imagine alien technology is not advanced enough to invent plating hard enough for our sniper rifle. Sniper_specialcompleted44.wav
12. Marvel vs. Street Fighter (Arcade)
There’s this dork (with Captain America’s assist) defeated the infamous Apocalypse. Naturally, he like to immortalize this moment by taking a selfie. However, he takes the picture in wrong angle and only Apocalypse’s barely in the picture. What a big klutz.
II) The Top 10 List
10. SUAVE (PC)
It fairly surprises me that SUAVE is in the top 10 list. The game’s graphic is pretty nice but the gameplay still rough. My biggest problem is the camera pull up whenever my tank moves so I can’t see further while moving. However, the combat is little bit higher than serviceable. You should give it a try or two.
9. Earth Defense Force 2 (PSP) / Trap Gunner (PSX) 
This
is not surprising. People know Earth Defense Force game on modern
platform. Most likely, they want to know about the early version of the game.
You can probably guess that it’s not as good as the sequel games even though I
found the miraculous rocket launcher that can fire 3 rockets at once.
I like the fact that this article gets into the list of articles with most reader this year because this game is very unique. It’s versus top-down shooter with setting trap. I love top-down shooter genre and I like playing with trap in Tecmo’s Deception games. This game is combined those things that I love in video game however the result is not great. Like, I love fried rice and Thai Tea. But if you put them in one container and mix them, the result is far from desired in term quality. That’s probably the closest analogy about this game. The gameplay is jarring yet interesting. You should give it a try. Just once for the sake of curiosity.
8. Title Screen Edition #1 / Bomber (DOS)
This year is the first debut of Title screen article. It seems lots of people are enthusiastic about it. Which means it’s green light for me to made the next edition. Or maybe they just want to see the legendary Classic Doom title screen and I’m fine with that. It’s awesome piece of art in video game history, afterall.
This one. I don’t understand why people want to read this article. Either this DOS game is part of their childhood or Patrick Piché invites his relatives to read this article about this game that he really proud of.
7. The Last Faith (PC) / Guilty Gear (PSX)
This year, The Last Faith is out and people read this article as reference so they can decide to buy the game or not. If that’s really the case, I’m very happy to be reliable reviewer for some people. It’s natural to me that I can only make first part of article more interesting than the second part. Therefore, the reader count for the second part is less the first part.
Much like Earth Defense Force 2‘s case. Apparently, people curious about the first Guilty Gear. I can’t say much about the comparison because I’m not GG expert. The most thing I can say that first GG feels slower/more sluggish and the visual effect is not great.
I’m happy that many people get to know Gunmaster which is hidden gem of arcade game. I like playing this game anytime including for the anniversary of my blogger. It goes without saying that I recommend playing this game. It has intense combat and rocky music.
5. Fortress 2 Blue Arcade (Arcade)
Yet another curious case. Why many people like to read article about artillery game which more inferior than the grandiose Worms? Perhaps they like the charm of this game about cartoon tank or artillery machine blasting each other, which is fair enough. This Korean game probably predecessor of Gunbound because of lots similar gameplay elements. I wanted to say you should play Gunbound instead of this game but I heard Gunbound on steam is badly reviewed. So, this game gets my recommendation but with caveat though. Don’t try the single player mode. Play the 2-players mode and have blast with your relative. Maybe.
Growl or Runark is pretty famous Taito’s game. Moreover, it’s the best Taito’s Beat em up game. The game teaches you to participate in animal’s conservation (by beating evil hunters to dead). Some said that video game is evil thing and they are clearly wrong because Growl has good morale value. I mean beating whole gang that kidnap Mayor’s daughter, also good. Right, Mr. Haggar?
3. Street Fighter IV (NES) / Eragon (PC)
/ Panic Restaurant (NES)
*sigh*. I really have no idea why lot of people want to see this certainly bootleg Street Fighter game. I write this article as a joke but turns out, it becomes quite top hit for some inconceivable reason. In case you can’t see, this game is bad although fairly serviceable. Maybe I should play the real Street Fighter 4 next year and see if the article about it will fare better than this one.
I think Panic Restaurant is quite famous. It’s typical NES platformer game but with food theme. The protagonist and the antagonist are chef. Protagonist’s weapons are utensil ranging from pan, spoon, fork, wok, and plate. The enemies are mostly sentient food. It’s charming and magical experience. You know what else magical about this game? The prize of the game’s cartridge. It’s $1,150.00 on eBay! Sniper_jeers02.wav
This game is pretty famous since lots of Youtubers play this game. This silly indie game is developed by the same developer of Broforce and silly VR game Gorn. Thus, this game is pretty high in popularity. I play this game because basically I like the premise of Wolfenstein and also love FPS like other aged gamers do. Also, prison escape is basic independence achievement which synergize with celebrating Independence Day, in my opinion. Probably far fetched though
1. Ragnarok Battle Offline (PC)
As for the first place in top ten article: it’s Ragnarok Battle Offline review. I assume the readers are fans of Ragnarok Online. I’m very happy that you come to visit my lousy blogger, fellow RO fans. I really mean it. Anyway, RBO is gorgeous indie game. As I play as female archer, I like to compare the gameplay with Gunmaster and it feels inferior. Plus, the game demands you to farm exp for later stages. You can’t finish each level consecutively. Other than that, I love the game and I heartily recommend you to play it. As for me. I don’t think I want to continue play the game because of the necessity of farming exp. I will continue play Ragnarok Origin on my phone, instead. Not immediately though. Some day in unforeseeable future. Or maybe within first week of January. Or next week after that. Mayhap.
III) The Secret Chapter - 1
Eragon’s epilogue
Perhaps this is as insensible as it sounds, but I keep on playing Eragon until completion. It takes approximately 6 more hours from the point I show you last time to beat the game. Even with 1 critical moment where the game crashes because I get hit by falling boulder. Anyway, here’s the last level:
So, Durza still alive even though his head is planted with arrow in prison. You can look it up in my playthrough of PSP game version. Narration says that only when Durza’s heart is pierced that he can truly dies. So, we have air duel between Eragon on Saphira against Durza on a giant bat.
The final boss fight is akin to Panzer Dragoon gameplay. I try my best to describe how the boss fight goes even though I only have a sliver memory about it. I can’t help myself. It was in February.
So, here’s what happens: Eragon can fire magic arrow by pressing light attack button. Fortunately, the arrow is pretty accurate to hit Durza over there. Obviously, Durza doesn’t just flying around. He can also shoot some sort of magic projectile at Eragon that thankfully not hard to avoid. Sometime Durza come toward Eragon while his bat breathes fire. A text hint tells me I can interrupt Durza attack but I have no idea how to do that. Pressing heavy attack results in Saphira swings her tail downward (with satisfying whip crack sound) and it doesn’t seem to work against Durza when charging at her and Eragon. In the end the boss fight becomes slogging damage race with no interesting combat feature. I fail twice mostly because Eragon’s arrow does so little damage compared to everything Durza throws at him. In the end, I just fly Saphira constantly circling the screen while Eragon keep chucking the weak arrow. This experience is pretty similar to how I win Mind Duel in Onslaught.
The ending scene rolls after winning the final boss battle. Eragon manage to drop on Durza’s ride and stabbing the owner right in the heart with Brom’s sword. In case you don’t watch the movie or play any of the game which I don’t blame you for that. Brom is killed by Durza when rescuing Arya. So, Eragon took his sword that claimed to deal bigger damage than his ordinary sword.
After killing Durza, Eragon departs with Arya. Said she wants to cleanse her land from the influence of the evil king. Oh, right. The evil king still alive and well. We just kill his infamous right-hand man. Later, Eragon travels with Saphira. Sounds like they want to make sequel however as far as I know there’s no movie sequel. Perhaps the continuation only exists in the novel.
So, there you go the ending of Eragon the game. Now you know the ending, hopefully you don’t play this game following my footstep because it sounds as stupid as it is. It’s enough for me alone that suffer. The game is not awful or anything. It’s just still rough. However, I can recommend you to play the PSP version which is more fun.
IV) The Secret Chapter - 2
Sword With Sauce (PC) – The revenge
Suddenly Sword with Sauce get update few months ago. Very shocking! Does the update fix the bullet hit detection’s problem back when I play it 4 years ago? We shall see.
The Loadout screen is bit different now. The broom is replaced with blood cleaner which is handheld blood vacuum. Then there’s separated tab for gadget and weapon. But more importantly there’s more gadget and weapon for me to play around!
Now, it’s much easier for me to move dead bodies because they’re weightless. I mean look I can move this dead by the leg and drag him out of building very easily. Also you probably notice that the player (or I like to call him the self destruct ninja based on advertisement in one of the level) has hand and arm. In this version, you no longer play as flying weapon in first person view.
One of new weapon is called mini cannon which is very powerful double-barreled short shotgun. It looks similar to The Force-A-Nature in Team Fortress 2. It only has 2 shells capacity but each shot produces 16 bullets with horrible spread. That’s why it’s best used to fight in close distance. This gun probably the loudest and cause you to knock back everytime you fire it. But I finish Atrium level in hard difficulty mostly thank to this powerful shotgun. Let them approach this door and I ambush them with this shotgun, hopefully their friend lured to investigate this spot due to the loud bang of the shotgun so I can murder them with same procedure. Rinse and repeat. I forget to mention about hard difficulty. Now there’s 3 difficulties: normal, hard, and insane. Normal is (probably) the intended difficulty where enemy is easy to dispatch. As for hard, it seems enemies can inflict double damage and take half damage, which change the game pretty dramatically. A shuriken on head no longer kills an enemy instantly so you need 2 shuriken headshot to kill an enemy which feels tedious. However, coma dart and headshot from silenced pistol can defeat enemy within single shot. Also, Exo-knife backstab still instantly kill enemy.
Another new gun is Winchester rifle. Considered this like semi-sniper gun and not assault type gun that you can use freely because everytime you fire this weapon you have to load the bullet into the chamber like that self-defense rifle in Dayof the Zombie. You will be overwhelmed when using this gun against enemies with assault rifle which has faster fire rate or shotgun which has more lethal power. So, you have to use Winchester rifle within long distance because it has advantage on long reach and high accuracy. One shot from it, is enough to kill enemy. Also, it’s very accurate if you fire this gun without aim down the sight unlike sniper rifle.
By the way, to answer the question about fix on bullet detection: Yes, they fix it well. Using gun other than sniper rifle is no longer horrible liability compared to that old day. Now I can compare silenced pistol and shuriken more fairly. Pistol’s bullet travel slower than shuriken however shuriken only lethal with headshot whereas pistol can kill an enemy with 2 shots or so.
Another new gun is submachine gun (Heckler & Koch MP5, to be precise). Compared to assault rifle that commonly use by enemies, submachine gun has wider bullet spread but higher firing rate. So, it’s another gun that’s more suitable for short range combat. Funnily, it uses same bullet as assault rifle which is not realistic.
Speaking of bullet, the bullet count is more detailed in this version. In earlier version, your reserve ammo only represented by round/magazine but now the reserve ammo is in detailed number. Also, you can manually reload your gun now with “T” button (default).
There’s only one new melee weapon: Katar. You can’t block enemy’s attack with it. But if you hold holding right mouse button and then press left mouse button, you can do fast dashing attack but it cost entire energy bar.
One of new gadget is silencer for sniper rifle. I put the picture side by side so you can see the difference between silenced sniper rifle and the normal one. That tiny muzzle extension is quite useful if you aim [pun may not intended] for stealth sniping and not making whole squadron come at you when they hear the sniper rifle’s sound.
Lastly, I want to show you the shield which has transparent part so you can see your enemies better. Also, the shield can reflect enemy projectile now but with some energy cost. As for sword’s parry, it gets stupidly powerful. You can even safely parry shotgun blast with sword’s parry which is highly unrealistic! I think that’s the end for second special section on to epilogue. But before that I want to say thank you so much to Diatomic to come back and fix this game. I truly grateful to them.
As always, i always grateful for you to stop whatever your important activity for a while just to read my mindless-yet-hopefully-entertaining article. I said in previous annual article that I want to finish Top 100 Sega Genesis game…and it’s not done in 2024. However, I’m still working on it. In fact, another reason why I write less recently besides my official workload is: because I try to work the next part of the Top 100 Genesis game article and I didn’t expect that it takes so much time to finish. Nonetheless, the list is final, I think. Hopefully I don’t need to revise it and I can focus to make the article in the future. So, once again I ask you to be more patience regarding the Top 100 Genesis game article if you look so forward to it. In the mean time you can read the first part that get revised due to change in the Top 100 list. On the other note, I manage to write first article of Title Screen and Halloween special in recent year. Quite an accomplishment, right?
As for my plan 2025. Other than continue the Top 100 Genesis games or Beat em up games (because of me being me). Maybe I will write about some RPG or Action RPG for a bit change.
Anyway, see you later!
