Finished

Mega Man X7 – I did not beat Mega Man X7. I beat a few levels of Mega Man X7 and realized that continuing with it would only lead to frustration. I don’t see any real reason to tear into this game here. It’s not good. It was an attempt to do the classic 2D Mega Man in 3D, at least partly. Mega Man Legends took the series into 3D, but it turned it into a Zelda-esque adventure game. MMX7 tried to do 3D while maintaining the style and feel of the older games. Honestly, that part is not particularly unsuccessful. It is the other stuff the game did, like the execrable driving stage and a generally uncooperative camera. It also does little stuff, like defaulting to no when the game asks questions, meaning if you are trying to hurry through repeated dialogue the game will frequently repeat it or send you back to the start. I just don’t need this in my life.

Super Mario Picross – This is on the Switch Nintendo online service. It is a Japanese only picross game. I blasted through it. It’s some good picross.

Ongoing

Atelier Ryza – Marginal progress. This game is just not quite clicking yet; I think it will at some point.

Tactics Ogre Knight of Lodis – Maybe it’s my recent replays of the Final Fantasy Tactics Advance games, but something made me want to replay this other GBA tactics game. I played through the first couple of battles. It is really setting something up. The Ogre Battle/Tactics Ogre games were always smarter than they get credit for. This one is setting up an interesting story about colonialism and religious hegemony that, if I remember correctly, actually goes somewhere. I hope the game remains as fun to play as I remember.

Pokemon Sword – I really needed something familiar and comfortable right now, and a Pokemon game really fit the bill. I have been almost completely disconnected from the mainstream gaming conversation for a while, but I get the feeling Sword/Shield didn’t go over all that well. There are some problems with the game I have had so far. It is a strange map, with a lot crammed into the one Wild Area, and the rest of it feeling a little empty. I like the general feel of it being a sporting event. That is an interesting way of framing things. I think the big problem people had was cutting down the available Pokemon, which I understand why that was an unpopular choice, but it doesn’t make a practical problem going through the main game. And since I never bother with any of the multiplayer, it doesn’t change much for me. I’ve had a lot of fun blasting through the first half of it.

Upcoming

Yakuza: Like A Dragon – I’m really looking forward to this, but didn’t manage to get it started in November. I hope that changes before the end of the year.