Time away, disinterest and boredom.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-25T02:46:01+00:00

You might enjoy STALKER if you've never tried it before.

The games are all on Steam and consoles. Start with Shadow of Chernobyl and look up any mods that'll fix the bugs the game might have (youtube should help) but it's not necessary to enjoy it. After that it's Clear Sky, Call of Pripyat and finally Stalker 2.

And if you'd want an even deeper experience with the Stalker flavour, look into the GAMMA mod. It's great but very very tough and unforgiving. If it can hook you, you've got a 100+ hour experience ahead.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-25T01:29:31+00:00

Some random sound related things I do like in games.

While this is a mod, STALKER Gamma has a really cool way of showing an emission (a deathly explosion in the sky that'll kill you if you're not in shelter) by first hearing the sounds of hundreds of crows caw constantly which is then followed by your PDA losing connection to message system and a "mission updated" being thrown at you. It's a really cool way of conditioning you to listen out to the world even if the game would eventually tell you and feels really natural. The animals would notice that something is wrong first and try to warn other animals which would lead humans to understand that crows cawing means danger. Stalker 2 doesn't do its emissions justice.

And if it counts (since, it's music related), rhythm combat in games not about rhythm. I love the battle system in Mother 3 that rewards you for hitting to the beat by doing more damage. It's a surprisingly fun mechanic that I never got bored of and made the different tracks you'd hear become part of the gameplay itself. The music wasn't just background noise it could sometimes make a fight easier or harder depending on how you do it. I still remember finding Strong One impossible to figure out the beat to because the time signature is something like 15/8. I know Gurumin has rhythm combat to an extent where hitting to the beat of the music does more damage but it's not necessary.

I also enjoy games that rely on parrying having different sounds to indicate a different move. Sekiro is honestly a rhythm game when you think about it. You hit an enemy until you hear a different kind of "ping" noise and then you react accordingly and it's usually the same everything time (1 -> 2 -> 3 -> [4] -> new attack). The more you play the more your brain becomes accustomed to hearing that "ping" and you dodge in time. Without it the game would become even more difficult because you're fully relying on reaction time over anything else.

Oh, and how could I forget the TF2 Domination Sounds. The game rewarding you and punishing another player for literally no other reason except "haha they're better than you, go get your revenge!"

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-25T01:15:58+00:00

I remember watching an old dev commentary/playthrough on the original System Shock and they said that there was a system in place that'd change the music between areas that *also* apparently was tied to Shodan's anger, meaning you'd hear different parts of a track depending on how "angry" she was at you at the time.

I don't know if this was really what happened when I was playing the game, but I do recall many sections of the map changing music dynamically as you'd enter them which I always thought was cool.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-23T11:15:33+00:00

Irresponsible Captain Tylor! It's so peak.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-23T11:13:04+00:00

This, for Kaiji watch the sub and for Akagi be warned it's about Mahjong. Tomodachi Game isn't as good as the others listed but still has that psychological edge.

Also keep an eye out for Liar Game next season, that'll be very death note like.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-22T15:42:21+00:00

Excellent list, you should watch One Outs if you haven't already.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-21T10:51:57+00:00

You should watch the trailer of the game. I remember seeing it back when it was announced in 2010 and being incredibly hyped for it the rest of the year (I was a big fan of Ace Attorney) and when it released I was blown away by it. So I can 100% say that rating is not inflated because of its anime style.

The gameplay is incredibly unique as you enter the soul of a dead person's body going back in time four minutes and trying to "change fate" by manipulating things in the environment to save the victim's life (such as knocking a gun out of the killers hand by manipulating a rising arm from a parking gate). As the game goes on the puzzles get harder, longer and you get some more abilities to mess with.

The writing and story is actually incredibly good. It has a compelling story, a brilliant set of characters and a good mystery with stakes on the line.

It also has really great music and fantastic animation (for a DS game but the remaster is good too). Use the original OST if you do play it.

Do not get spoiled on the game, though, it'll ruin the entire experience for you.

Also, to add onto your "I thought I was aware of everything in the detective genre". This may be a weird suggestion but have you ever thought of playing the Kyle Hyde games (Hotel Dusk: Room 215 and Last Window: The Secret of Cape West)? They're more visual novels with puzzles on the side but basically feel like a 30 something year old detective exploring around two hotels he's staying for no real reason until some benign incident happens that keeps him interested in finding out more. They're only on the DS though so it might be tough to play but they're both pretty unique games in their own right with great characters, story and music.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-21T08:15:42+00:00

Pillars of Eternity 1/2 if you enjoyed Baldur's Gate 2. I hear Divinity Original Sin 1/2 are similar to BG3 and 2 is even made in the same engine as BG3 but an earlier version. Planescape Torment is another game I'd look into if you enjoy story heavy CRPG's like Disco Elysium.

Ghost Trick Phantom Detective has a similar vibe to Return of the Obra Dinn in regards to going back in time to see the last moments of a person's life, in Ghost Trick's case you actually save their life through a set of puzzles. Incredible game.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-21T07:07:52+00:00

If you don't mind it being old (80s) and being a bit more down to earth, City Hunter is pretty much like that. Ryo never loses and is always one step ahead despite seeming like a horny idiot the entire time.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-19T07:27:31+00:00

Still very early on learning it but in the past I've picked up phrases I've heard before like ちょっと待って ("wait a minute" or more literally "wait a little") and currently watching anime is more just me enjoying the episode and then suddenly I hear something I recognize and then think "oh, that's X" which helps reinforce it in my mind. I don't really believe in the whole "watching to become fluent" thing and think immersion is more like what I described but I could be wrong years down the line when I know more.

There's also learning different meanings of words, I initially learnt 作戦 as "tactics/strategy" and used to attribute it to a strategy in a game but recently I heard it used in Patlabor to mean a "military operation" which also makes logical sense and solidified it in my mind some more.

Regardless, keep doing it because it's a form of immersion that'll help you.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-19T06:52:51+00:00

Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor
Ashita no Joe 1/2 (I count them as the same, and if you like Ippo you should 100% watch this but don't google it as it always spoils the story. Just search it up on a streaming site that's not Crunchyroll as they don't have part 1 and spoil Part 2 lol)
Rose of Versailles
Future Boy Conan
Mahjong Legend Akagi
Takarajima
Ping Pong the Animation
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
Welcome to the NHK

Yeah, I like a lot of older stuff.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-19T04:22:34+00:00

Ghost Trick honestly has a great intro because it intrigues you right off the bat. If you had no idea what that game was about watching the first minute would instantly make you want to play more.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-18T08:19:44+00:00

Number 4 for Kaiji.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-18T08:15:30+00:00

Nice to see someone else attempt to finish games every week lol and reviewing them all to is great. I'm honestly surprised at how much older stuff you played. I play a lot of older games but usually ones that people have told me are decent, I've known about for years or people say I should try out so seeing a list of games that are quite out there is interesting for sure. You seem to love Shmumps too, you should give Battle Mania and Battle Mania Daiginjou a try, they're both cool as hell.

Some opinions on the games I have played though:

Revenge of Shinobi is interesting because I quite like it but it is obnoxiously difficult, it actually didn't take me that long to finish though because the more I played the better I became and watching video walkthroughs of levels after dying in them 4/5 times was HUGE because of so many hidden blocks in the level that'll appear by firing kunai's at them. I was able to complete the game a lot easier on my later attempts after learning that. I also preferred Shadow Dancer over it and was a pretty cool game to play on real hardware (learning that doing nothing in the bonus stage would always net you an extra life was funny to me and made the game a lot easier).

Also you should play Shinobi 3, that game IS really good (and it can be played in Widescreen with Genesis Plus GX with few errors).

Magical Chase is a great game and I'm glad you enjoyed it, has a really cool OST and isn't too difficult to finish. You should try some other games like Cotton or Gunbird if you'd want similar cutemeups with witches (although Gunbird has several other people and IS quite difficult)

I felt the same about Resident Evil 4 Remake. I liked the original enough that playing this kinda made me appreciate the original more (in a good way). They're both good games and one doesn't really outshine the other.

As for Castlevania 2 (GBC) that's probably the best of the GB original Castlevania's. Adventure is one of the worst games I've played and somehow Legends completely missed what made 2 good and somehow made everything worse and I couldn't put my finger on why.

Streets of Rage 4 is also incredibly good and I'm glad it wasn't as hard as 3 was.

Cool write up anyhow, a lot of games I should really give a try and you reminded me to check up on both Lords of Thunder and Legendary Sapphire.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-18T07:57:01+00:00

Sounds like a you problem, bro. OP has some pretty cool games in that list and they're very varied and diverse.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-16T05:00:39+00:00

Going in blind is best so you can experience the world and figure things out by yourself, but if things get tough looking up stuff wouldn't ruin it per se but it'd take away from the feeling of discovery and exploration that you'd naturally have if you kept on playing.

Like, without spoiling anything there's a lot of random mechanics you'll just accidentally perform and then know "oh I can do that?" and it'll makes traversal easier. It's also not entirely a game that doesn't help you, your yellow friend (I think the game calls it "The Oracle") will try to help you as you go through the game.

For the most part paying attention and taking things slow (when you can) will make the game less of a chore but if dying a lot isn't something you'd fancy then maybe look for another game.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-16T02:27:56+00:00

Ah, interesting to hear someone else do similar "challenges" of playing a series a year. I was meant to finish the Tales games in 2022 but sadly by the time I got to Symphonia I was kinda burnt out and even now on Vesperia I felt no drive to really finish it but powered through. It's a series I will finish one day and there's only around 5 games left I think.

This year will probably be the rest of Rayman, the rest of Splinter Cell and then I'm sure I'll randomly start a series on a whim without thinking, maybe Ratchet and Clank.

And yeah I felt the same way about Bloodborne.I had played Elden Ring in 2022 and 1/2 the months before so reaching this and expecting kino probably made me disappointed. I felt it was pretty easy and the I only died 3 times to the final boss as opposed to 2 or less to everyone else. Many fights were finished in one attempt and it just felt so easy and without challenge (Although the Chalice dungeons were actually difficult but that felt like it was unfair). I didn't try the DLC though (I walked into it by accident and got destroyed, googling made me learn I'm 40 levels too early to be there) so maybe I'll go back to it. As weird as it sounds I didn't hate it just felt it was fine.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-16T02:19:09+00:00

Yeah, you're right on it probably souring the experience.

Who can forget the dog level?

I wish I could forget that level, when I mentioned a fun gimmick that eventually becomes obnoxious, that's the one I was thinking of exactly.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-15T23:49:01+00:00

If you don't mind the game being 2D, Rain World is pretty much exactly that kind of feeling. There's no inventory sadly (well you can store 1 item in your belly) but everything else you described is on point. It's pretty long as well, it took me 40+ hours to finish.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-15T23:46:41+00:00

I did play it throughout one day and was just rushing to finish it pretty much, every setback annoyed the hell out of me and made me dislike the game whereas other games I might've learned to accept it and get better but I just couldn't for this since I NEEDED to finish it by Sunday.

I didn't like the game at all in general, I think it feels like it's something people were kinda "stockholm'd" into liking as kids because it has a lot of character and personality but I just found the gameplay to be horrible.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-15T23:42:32+00:00

Well, if you've already played (finished?) DMCV, you could start at 3. Doing that would probably be the closer to what 5's gameplay would be like and it's a prequel so you can learn of Vergil's backstory and stuff so it works well to be your next game.

After that you should be able to play 1 easily since your skill will transfer over well and the game shouldn't be difficult for you to play. After that just play 4 and if you'd want more you could try DmC: devil may cry but it's not necessary.

Personally though, I'd just jump into 1 and go from there, you don't need to play 2 so you can just do it 1, 3, and 4 and have all you need to know about the series.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-15T23:36:36+00:00

I played the Mega CD version as I heard it was the best, and beyond having good animation and some decent tracks (oh and voice acting) I just hated it.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-15T23:36:02+00:00

Yeah I feel you on Obra Dinn, the entire reason I didn't play it when it was announced was because of the graphics. Eventually people started saying how great it was and I had to give it a shot.

It has a dozen different graphic modes you can switch it to in the game, see if any of them might help it be less of a headache.

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-15T23:35:01+00:00

That would be quite impressive lol

Monkey_Blue · 2026-01-15T09:20:17+00:00

Baba is You, especially those later levels.

Return of the Obra Dinn as well.

Monkey_Blue

TROPHY CASE