What's up guys? It's time for my FOURTH 12-in-12, the initiative to beat twelve games in twelve months and take out the backlog! Newbies to this concept can check out my maiden post on the subject; then you'll get what's up here. Also check out last year's 12-in-12.

As always, here's the successful hit list for 2024:

• TMNT III: Radical Rescue [GB]
• Sonic CD [Sega CD]
• Factorio [Steam]
• Final Fantasy Adventure [GB]
• MagiCat [Switch]
• Yoku's Island Express [Switch]
• Hades [Switch]
• The Misadventures of Tron Bonne [PS1]
• Persona 5 [PS3]
• Resident Evil 2 Remake [Steam]
• Narita Boy [Switch]

That makes for eleven games this year! Not quite hitting the mark, but we're still on track to clear this backlog! There are some stats at the end of the post, if you're into that sorta thing.

January

A Radical Finale

I started the year off with a bang, finishing Donkey Kong Country 3's 103% with a friend. I've already beaten that game, however, so it wasn't quite the accomplishment it could have been. That said, a day or two later I started and finished TMNT III: Radical Rescue [GB]! This marks the final game that I needed to beat as part of the Cowabunga Collection that I got last year.

It's a neat Metroidvania for the original GameBoy which somehow lends a special ability to each turtle, has a world that makes use of those abilities, and even a few collectibles to motivate you to explore.

The extensive use of one-way doors and unfair enemy positioning makes the game begin to get tedious toward the end, and the hitboxes for boss attacks are laughably aggressive in their disproportional power. You hit them for a single bar of damage, while they hit for 2 or 3! The gameplay boils down to locating keycards to open doors, which lead to bosses. Defeat bosses to get keys which will free each of the missing characters. Very basic design.

There are also only four collectibles that you can miss, so this may be the longest, but also shortest game I've 100%ed. Considering it took me about 3 hours to 100%, but there only being 4 collectibles, it's in a weird place of "you didn't do much extra compared to a basic playthrough" but also "it turns out this game isn't actually lengthy".

For what it is and the time period, it's impressive. I would love to see a studio do a modern take on a Turtles Metroidvania. There's a lot of potential.

Gotta Go Fast

I picked up Sonic Origins [Switch] in January, just to relive the classic Sonic games with some upgrades. It turns out the "Plus" part in the physical release is just a code for the DLC! Talk about misleading...

Anyways, I've beaten the main 4 games in the series, but didn't remember if I beat Sonic CD or not. Well, with Origins now I have! So we'll count that as beating Sonic CD, rather than Origins entirely, since it's a collection.

February

I spent a lot of the month playing classics, but also chipping away at the goals in Factorio! It's a mind-absorbing automation sim where you try to escape a planet you crash on by... building another rocket from scratch, of course!

To say that this game has infected my mind would be an understatement. I've learned about various real world engineering things simply because the way Factorio has you do them is really similar to how it's done in the real world. I can build train networks, automated warehouses, wagons with fricken artillery on them...

Honestly, if you bounced off of Minecraft or Terraria, Age of Empires or Starcraft, give this one a shot. It has many different play options, many different technology trees to go down, and a steadily increasing difficulty that doesn't feel too harsh on its default setting.

The developers of this game stood out because they don't offer it on sale. Ever. I scoffed at this idea, but after experiencing how many different interlocking gameplay and resource systems there were... I'm amazed at how well everything runs, considering the level of complexity happening. It deserves every penny of the $35 USD I paid for it.

For better or worse it's still getting new content, but it seems to be QoL or advanced interaction stuff, which is still important but feels like the refinement stage. I approve of this sort of stuff.

If I could change things about Factorio, I would lean into the Landfill and get into Terraforming. It's nice that we can lay stone down, and concrete, but we can't dig trenches (to put water in) or build cliffs. Being able to do those things would greatly add to the base planning capabilities of the game and give the player a lot of defensive control.

The team at WuBe has more locales in the making, so that's exciting! Imagine playing on a planet where there's lava, or more biomes for the standard planet!

Anyways, it's a great game and you should get it if you appreciate design and automation in any capacity. It's multiplayer, too!

March

The Beginning of Mana

I had played this a long time ago when I borrowed my brother's copy, but I recently finished Final Fantasy Adventure [GB], which is also known as Adventures of Mana or Sword of Mana, if you're playing the GBA version. I played through on Collection of Mana, for the Switch, which uses the original GB version.

Considering that it came out in 1991, FFA is a fantastic Action/RPG that captures the feeling of a fantasy game quite well. Its story is simplistic, but considering the time of its release, it avoided a lot of pitfalls that other classic RPGs missed.

One of the things that stands out to me is, you can 100% the game through a pure intuitive exploration of the world. I ventured out when it was time to find the final sword of the game, and ended up learning two spells and fighting two bosses that the story was going to send me on later anyway. It felt nice to not need to go back and do anything; the game keeps its dungeons self-contained and doesn't rely on backtracking until the very end of the game.

The title screen music is part of what makes this game stick with me. It tells such a simple little fantasy story, but holds within a deep (for its time) and fun action game!

There are really only two or three things I would fix in this game to make it top-tier for its age: faster text option, better enemy placements (just don't spawn on top of me or block the entrance, please?), and let the Bone Key double as a skeleton key for the entire game. By that point, the player's earned it. Just give it to them. It would make the post-waterfall portion much better and not force the player to farm skellies for keys in the final area. That was the only thing that slowed me down to a degree strong enough to be annoying.

Anyways, if you like action RPGs, you owe it to yourself to at least play for a few hours. Part of why this game is a big deal is because it came out before Nintendo's Zelda: A Link to the Past and Zelda: Link's Awakening, so they were paving new ground in terms of equippable weapons and magic, and in puzzles more complex than pushing a block.

July

Magical Cats?

After some considerable determination, I finished up MagiCat, on Switch. I think this was originally a mobile game. It shows due to its increasing punishments for death, rather high skill floor, and mechanics that overall feel like it was meant to be padding. There are some great gameplay ideas here, but they're all missing that extra polish that makes them feel comfortable.

One mechanic that stands out is the spirit cat ability. MagiCat stands on a button, and can direct a spirit around, which can attack ethereal enemies while his corporeal form cannot. Why do both the spirit and the physical body have hurtboxes while this power is activated?

Another: There's a mechanic where you stand on a button, and a series of blocks that you can steer come out from somewhere. Why can you move around while these blocks are reading your input, and why is the time limit for their disappearing so short? This isn't a "git gud" complaint; some of the level design for these mechanics is overly punishing and it feels like not much testing went into making these levels more feasible to No Damage or even No Dash.

If MagiCat was my game, I would tone down a few of the frame traps and near-pixel-perfect jumps needed to get red jewels, and provide a way for players to backtrack in the level, where applicable. Games that only allow you to move forward were common in the 1980s. Platformers can do better now!

Bosses are another source of frustration. Every level has a boss that's a twist on an existing enemy. While the extra effort of bosses is appreciated, it became stale quickly. I preferred the end-of-world bosses, but the difficulty for them was also tuned for a mobile game and frustrate you so you'll play more and get some paw prints in prior levels.

With just a little tuning, this game can redeem itself while still retaining 99% of its current content. The level design and enemy design need work. The end-of-level bosses shouldn't be there and it can have a mini-game or other simple reward instead. The cost for death should also be more reasonable. Doubling every death until you take 32 paw prints is kind of overkill. (so is 16 with the item)

I'm relieved to finish this game, which is disappointing because I went into it thinking it was cute and fun. I still like some of the mechanics and abilitiess, like dashing upward! I discovered by accident you can heal by pressing down and X, so that's nice too.

A Bug-driven Postal Service

The next target was Yoku's Island Express, on Switch. It took a little patience, but it was worth it. It's a fun, light-hearted pinball and Metroidvania fusion. I really enjoyed the different ways to manipulate the pinball, on top of the movement of Yoku himself. The customizable ball sprinkles were cool, and some of the sidequests weren't half bad. I finished the game at 97% even though I collected basically everything, so there's probably some small quests leftover or something. Still, it was a solid game and I'm glad I played through it. If you like both pinball and Metroidvanias, give it a whirl.

A Dark and Treacherous Ascent

Lucky me, I managed to clear Hades for Switch. It's an interesting roguelike that innovates in the storytelling department. It rewards continued play, but at a rate that is less than ideaal for my liking. Even after clearing the game once, I will need to clear it multiiple times in order to get a "true" ending. While it was a great romp, and new gameplay options are opened up, I'm rather weary of the mechanics I had to endure to get where I am now. I assume the more readily available diamonds and Titan Bloods will make subsequent runs a bit easier, but for now I'm walking away from the game due to tedium. I feel that this game, like Blasphemous, is one whose sequels I will likely be skipping out on.

August

It had been percolating for a little while, but I finally finished The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, for PS1.

It's a fun and cute game where you're essentially paying off a debt to get your family members back who've been taken hostage, but you do various missions with your Servbots to earn the money and get the upgrades you need to confront Mr. Loath. In-between, there are fetch-quests, mini-games and scouting to improve your Servbots, and conversing with all of your minions.

I finished the game in about 15 and half hours. Not too shabby, and there's more that I haven't done, like the Casino level.

I will say that the mini-games for building Servbot stats are too strict. The Attack-building one isn't all that terrible, but it still depends on getting at least one pie and bazooka for the last level. I could barely manage the second series of levels in the food serving mini-game.

Overall, I'm glad I played it despite the jank. The world of Mega Man Legends has so much potential, I'm still sad about MML3...

October

Becoming a Phantom Thief

The push for Playstation games continues! I picked up Persona 5 for the PS3 back in 2018, played it to level 7, and never got around to picking it back up until this year. My girlfriend wanted to experience it with me, so most of our time this year was spent watching movies, or playing this game.

It was a wonderful JRPG, telling a story that I think most people can relate to; of fighting injustice and fighting for those who can't fight for themselves. It's a game of self-discovery, reflection, and tenacity. It shocked, angered, surprised, intimidated, elated, and even tore at my heart.

Across the game, you and your plucky gang of misfits face up to a sexual predator, con artist, blackmailer, gang leader, and even a malevolent god. Each stage of progression makes you feel closer to each of your teammates, not as sit-in avatars for mooks on a battlefield, but as somewhat believable and relatable characters. I feel like everyone who plays Persona 5 will find someone in its cast that they most closely resemble, be it in attitude, life circumstances, or personal challenges.

It's not for the faint of heart, though. This game will trigger people who have been through trauma, if they aren't prepared to think about fictional characters going through things. Personally, I found it reasonable and found it to be a great opportunity to reflect on the feelings characters made me feel.

Futaba in particular struck my heart to its core. To say that I relate to her life experience is an understatement. Without any spoilers, I think anyone with a troubled childhood will have trouble making it through her story arc with dry eyes.

Not ashamed to admit I cried a few times. Only the truly great games will make me do that anyway. Persona 5 has left an unforgettable mark on me. When I get the time to percolate more thoughts, you can look forward to a review. A story that's over 100 hours long deserves more than a mention on a timely listicle.

Becoming a Real Cop

Not even a full day later, I wrapped up the end of Resident Evil 2 Remake on Steam. Apparently, when I paused playing in 2019, I was only two bosses away from the end! It feels great to wrap up a long-standing game right after a really long game. It was a satisfying and atmospheric game that I'll come back to some day to play through as Claire.

December

Becoming a Narita Boy

The next game I finished up was Narita Boy for the Switch. It's a decent action-platformer with basic puzzles, but a wonderful story and great art direction. It tells the heartfelt story of a man's life and how he turned tragedy into a legacy for his son. Except, you're in a digital world on the verge of total ruin and you're tasked with saving it, with no context.

I really enjoyed the storytelling in this one, and the graphics. Unfortunately, the gameplay isn't as tight as I'd prefer, enemies and mechanics are a little too simple, and you can't go back to get any of the four missable collectibles in the game. Your choices are "watch the missing memory on Youtube" or replay the game entirely for a single paragraph of text. I'm glad I didn't do a second playthrough for such a small reward, but the story itself was cool. It was a worthwhile game that has left an impression on me, which is the best kind of game purchase if you ask me.

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Sadly, I wasn't able to beat twelve games in 2024. However, we finished the gargantuan Persona 5, which was one of the big JRPGs on the list. I also took the liberty to tally up my progress since blogging about 12-in-12:

• 2021, 16 games;
• 2022, 4 games;
• 2023, 18 hames;
• 2024, 11 games.

This puts my total at 49 games over four years. At one game per month, that puts me one month ahead of my projected progress at this point! There are still many more games to beat. I can't stop now!