imunbeatable80

@bigsocrates: Thanks for the read. To be honest i agree that a game requiring multiple playthroughs because of difficulty is certainly fine, you brought up streets of rage, which to this day i probably have not beat legit. That game is as much of learning patterns and fine tuning your approach to the game so you can beat it on one "quarter." But thats litetally the only way to eventually beat it (outside of cheating).

For 99vidas i don't think the same mentality works. This game makes you essentially pick between lives or stats on your first playthrough, but the choice is fake. If you choose lives and no stats, you will find yourself to weak to really fight late game bosses, just throwing your corpse at them until you gameover. If you choose stats over lives, you can now go toe to toe with these bosses, but you wont have the extra men to continue after you get hit by cheap moves. So to truly beat this game you are either forced to play it twice (level up, then store lives) or more (max stats, no lives... maybe?)

In my opinion a game shouldnt force multiple playthroughs, it can encourage it (story reasons, being fun, etc..) but if someone is truly gifted enough they should be able to start the game and beat it. Maybe that is possible with 99Vidas, but im sceptical. Technically someone could beat final fight or streets of rage without playing it twice, it may be unlikely but it is possible.

The idea of a throwback isnt inherrently bad, and 99vidas is going for that, but i think they took pieces of the formula, tried to add their own into the mix and missed the point. They tried something, nothing wrong with that, but i would recommend so many other games above this even if they are harder games.

Ghouls and ghosts is apt, a game that makes you play twice to see credits, but in my opinion is just a more fun and fluid experience. My sole dislike isnt on this two playthroughs system, i think there are other elements i dislike that 99vidas attempts, but i remember vividly how i felt getting to the final level and realizing that to make it to the boss i would have to quit, just to start back at the beginning and harvest more power. Its not a good feeling

@grappler: Thanks for the read.. yeah, this is not anywhere near the top for beat-em-ups. I feel like they put in too man gimmicks without a payoff. If you want to focus around leveling up your fighter, the game needs to have more interesting purchases and combos (like the game "fist puncher"). If you want to focus on the elements then bad guys need to have weaknesses ( first boss weak to fire, 2nd to water etc.) So that picking an element actually means something.

I only beat this game because i "had to" otherwise i would have been done after my first attempt of the final level.

@djrebyb: i have Like a Dragon sitting on my shelf staring at me. I want to dive in because i know I'll love it, but i'm broken and will probably play through the Kiryu saga first..

Thanks for the input. The hope is i just get faster and more consistent in posting and can get the list growing at a quicker rate.

@hibikirush: Thanks for the read.. despite this latest attempt being my 2nd time through, i still found myself wanting to get lost in the side stuff.

@bigsocrates: my bad for being short. I currently buy for ps4 and switch, but mainly physical (i know its a problem). My honest issue is that i like to find weird or rare games that probably arent touched on by mainstream games media. I used to not go into gamestop with a game in mind that i want to get, and would be able to browse a wall of rejected used games and see what weird stuff others have turned in. That is no longer the case at most gamestops (at least by me) as they are saving wall space for ps5, xsx, and funco pops, which is fine, but now i dont have an outlet to browse and find those games..

I can go to target or bestbuy if i want uncharted or last of us, but like finding a copy of games like "mutant year zero", "sakura wars", or "for the king" (switch game) is probably not going to happen.. so i guess to refine my question, its where does everyone go to shop for these games? And if you dont buy physical or shop for these types of games where do you go (outside of giant bomb) to see coverage of these lesser known games.

Pre-emptive edit: i know vinny did a quick look of mutant year zero.

Ok, here is the deal and dont judge me, but i used to buy a lot of my games from gamestop during their B2G1 free used game sales. I have never been someone who has to be current in games so waiting for used games has always been a preference for me. Here is where the issue comes in: Gamestops by me have changed their design to only show popular games on shelves (and i dont need help finding popular games).. and there are no local game stores near me where i can just browse shelves looking for games that may i may have missed or are cheap.

So knowing this, where do you all shop for games? Online retailers (amazon) require you to either buy new or already know what you want (browsing is broken), digital storefronts have the same browsong problem, and big box stores dont really stock a diverse set of games.

Im hoping there is a place i am missing, any thoughts?

@djrebyb: you actually read my mind.. i was going to rank yakuza 0, which will give me an even 20 games, and then release a spreadsheet link that will keep track of this progress. I am glad that you are enjoying these, and hopefully i can get to a point where these come out with a bit more regularity.

@norm9: Thanks for the read! Yeah, its a tough balancing act for sure. I used to do myplayer, but fell off in 2k18, when i would max out at a 75 rated player only to grind out a new level up so i could get to 76-77. While i never mind playing all 82 games in a season to upgrade my player, i hated how slow the level up bar filled. It made me realize that despite being the mvp and winning a championship in year 1, i wouldn't "rank up" to be rated a 85 or above until like year 3. Im also not going to "reward" 2k with an extra $30 just so i can hit that level sooner.

@shindig: @nodima: these (and many other) reasons are why i didnt gel with the card craze. Im fine with getting cards of players, its like doing a fantasy draft and setting it to random. I also wouldnt mind trying to win those games with a bunch of scrubs. However, i really dont want to spend real money on a single mode, and i also dont want to get waste in my cardpack.

@nodima: Thanks for the read! Im with you on a lot that you said, especially how every games stats tend to end up the same. I find myself now chasing individual accolades instead of just trying to get a win. "Can i get set the assist record? Can i lead the league in scoring with a bench player?" I feel the mediocrity you speak of is a combination of EA dropping out as a real challenger to nba games, but to how people also play these games now. You and me are in the minority so when it comes to development they spend 50% on mypark, 40% on my team trading cards, and the other 10% for the rest of the game. Its a shame, because i would like to believe if people were smarter and didnt pour cash into virtual trading cards we could see nba and fifa actually work on their gameplay.