Ys X: Nordics (PC) Review

It's been a long time since I started playing video games, having grown up in the 80s and 90s. I have watched series come and go being a steady favorite of mine before either being shut down due to a badly selling entry or making some insane turn somewhere and just ceasing to be what made me so excited to see each new entry. To this end I don't think I hold up too many series as flawless and loving every game in the series. Ys was one such series... until today, when I found myself not wanting to continue after giving it more then it's due time (14 hours in this case). This isn't a review of a bad game necessarily, but it is one of a game that, if it could think, might wonder why it's part of this franchise.

Jazz Jackrabbit Collection (PC) Review

This collection has been a long time coming. About 5 years ago, I picked this one up as part of a holiday sale dirt cheap, wanting an old classic I remembered fondly as a kid. At the time, I only played the shareware and even then only because a friend had that. But I remembered having fun as a kid, and for literally a buck, I was able to give it a shot. Unfortunately this is not a game that aged well.

Now before we begin, this is not so much one game as a game pack, containing both the main title and a little Christmas episode, so I reviewed them both in sections. Also, while this experience I reviewed is BASICALLY out of the box, it is not exactly. As per most MS-DOS games, modern controllers are not exactly well supported. As such I used a program to emulate keyboard buttons to an Xbox controller to gain that functionality back. I have listed the program in my specs at the end of the review, but whether you use that or another of your choice, I highly recommend doing so.

• Jazz Jackrabbit CD-ROM versions
• Jazz Jackrabbit Holiday Hare '95

Outlast (PC) Review

When I finished my first Amnesia game, I wanted more, so I had this immediately on my wishlist where it would be snapped up during a winter sale. Sadly since then it would sit in my backlog as I let the dice controll what was next and give every game a fair shake.... but this week it's wait would finally come to an end. And let me tell you right now, this is one game that has stood the test of time. Come on in.

The Talos Principle 2: Road to Elysium

When Talos Principle 2 was announced, I knew I was in. After all, I absolutely adored the original and would be there for a second helping... and then we got news of an expansion. I expected it to be like the extra content for the original and just be some puzzle packs, but I still wanted in. I'm glad I though so little of it to start, because it absolutely blindsided me on all points of just what was on offer here, actually expanding on the events of the main game as a PROPER DLC should. Step inside.

Now before we begin, this DLC is devided into 3 separate chapters with 3 separate storylines to cover. As such I have broken down this review to cover each in turn with links to each section on it's own, if you desire to skip to just the campaign you wish to see.

• Orpheus Ascending
• Isle of the Blessed
• Into The Abyss

Extra Life 2024 marathon is tomorrow.

We are finally here and tomorrow morning, the big day begins. As always I am absolutely excited to do this and plan to start streaming at 8AM Eastern time, not stopping till the same time Sunday. It will be a long time, but it will be a fun time, and it will make a difference. After all that is why we do this, right? But what am I talking about? Extra Life and the 24(5?) hour gaming marathon! If you do not know what this is, well sit down a while and let's talk.

Over the past year, gamers from around the globe have signed up for this, where we all selected a children's hospital to help directly. With this singular goal in mind, we  have collected and given donations via the children's miracle network throughout the year, and now we get to celebrate the effort with one massive push called Game Day. And that is tomorrow, when gamers from around the world in the name helping these sick kids, will start playing and not stop for 24 hours... well 25 hours in this case (daylight savings is this weekend too).

Simple? I hope you see it so, cause it is to me too... I am very thankful I get to be a part of this every year and have been since it began... since before even Children's Miracle Network got involved and it was in honor of one young lady who lost her fight with cancer in Texas, to thank the hospital who tried to help her, as well as help them to be able to do more for those who followed. Back then we were just a website of gaming nerds who wanted to help and do something... but if you want the story of this, I think the official site can offer a better window then I, so please come check that out.

But even as time draws in and we clearly have a lot to be thankful for, these kids can always use more help, so before the big event, I am asking you, help us help them. If you want to take up the mantle yourself, you can sign up and take donations right through the end of the year at www.extra-life.org and believe me, the more who do this the better these kids will be.

If you don't feel like you want to play yourself (this weekend or a rain date) you can always also donate to a player who is. All donations go through the Children's Miracle Network to the hospital that player is playing for. I myself play for Boston Children's Hospital and if you wanted to help me help them, I am beyond humbled. You can find our team page link at the top of this blog, or you can find my own page right here if you are so inclined (Ill list at the bottom of this post too). Again, any help you can give is more then welcome and more then helpful for those who need it most.

But I'm not going to preach about this here, not so close to the goal. Rather this is an open invitation. Come on in and join on the fun! Once I start up tomorrow, I will be constantly rolling till I crash the next morning, and you are welcome to join me at any time during! So please, get comfy and enjoy with me!

Thank you,

Megabyte

Links:

• Extra Life home page
• The Red Sector's Team page (Stream will be visible here)
• Megabyte's Extra Life page (Stream will be visible here)
• Bookhobo's Extra Life page

Squirrel with a Gun (PC) Review

The moment I saw the trailer to this game the first time, I knew I was going to have to play it. To think someone would make something this insane and release it... and still make it look that fun, I just knew I had found one of the handful of games this year I needed to get my hands on and play pretty early on. And yes, it lived up to my expectations.

Demons Never Lie (PC) Review

While I can not say this is the deepest dive into my backlog I have ever seen happen, here we do have a game that's been hanging out there a few years. In this case, it was an already cheap game that intrigued the hell out of me, and was made even cheaper as part of a Halloween sale on steam. Turns out, I found an oddball that wasn't afraid to get dark, but still had real heart and soul behind it. But enough of the puns, come on in.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) Review

This time we have a game that has been hiding in the backlogs for many many years. Way back in the day I had bought a PSP for the soul purpose of playing two games: Phantasy Star Portable and the recently released remake of Persona. But to have a console and not play more the two games is an absolute waste, so I would pick up other titles during it's life. Unfortunately I did not get to play them all over the lifespan of that machine, but it would hint at it's own demise coming, so I had time to prepare, ripping my library to file form so I could eventually play them all anyway. Today this should have paid off with an interesting view of how the events of Final Fantasy VII were set into motion. But I am sorry to say, it did not. I found myself bored by it to be quite honest.

Now before we begin, I have to admit, just as the above suggests, I did not play this game on the PSP. Rather well after my actual hardware died, I played via emulation ripped from my original copy, so my experience could well be different then yours. But with that in mind, step inside.

Ys IX Monstrum Nox (PC) Review

And for at least a few months, we have finished yet another series. (Nordic is dropping soon.) I have absolutely loved every Ys game I have played till now, but I will admit I was a bit nervous this time around. I was not hearing great things from friends about this one, so I waited this time till I could get it on sale. But I am here to tell you right now, there was no reason to fear such concerns. In fact, I think I have a new favorite of the series.

August Extra Life 2024 Update

Hi again everybody! Every day that passes is another day closer to Game Day, the culmination of Extra Life, and we are now a few scant months away. How close are we? Well for most people, gameday will be November 2nd, starting bright and early (8 or 9 AM LOCAL time, no I don't care what time-zone... it doesn't work like that). And for the first time in years, I will not be using a rain date to go the next weekend! It's been too long, but I can be there for the actual 25-hour marathon this year. I hope to see you all there, new and familiar faces, cause it really is a fun time.

But with my own schedule solidified, it is time to get ready, and to have that last big push to bring in donations so we can help the sick kids... but here I think I've gotten ahead of myself for anyone new so let me step back a second.

For those of you who are new here, Extra Life is a 24 (or 25) hour gaming marathon and charity event a lot of us gamers take part in to help sick kids local to us every year. Each one of us has signed up on the site here and try to raise money for the hospital we chose to play for. I myself play for Boston Children's Hospital as my own page can attest. All of this, however is handled by the Children's Miracle Network so they will handle all the details with any donations received, but it all goes to the hospital you choose to play for, so you really are making a personal difference by playing.

And while I will be streaming my marathon and it will be video games, these are optional if you wish to take part. Not everyone will have a stream going, choosing instead perhaps to just have a local event. Nor are video games the only option. Basically if you have nerdy things you like to do, you can make it part of the event. Board games, card games, table top RPGs, miniatures... it's all good. Hell if you wanted to and could figure out how to make it work, LARPing would probably work as well. (But you better start planning that campaign if you wanted to do that... November is going to come quicker then you think.) So yeah, all are welcome to help make these kids' lives just a little bit better. And of course if you can't make it on November 2nd, you can always rain date it to another weekend that works for you... just try to go the full time when you take it on.

If, however, none of this sounds like your kind of thing, you can also help by donating to another player and help them help sick kids. If you would like to do so for anyone in my team, thank you deeply and completely, and we will make this as easy as we can. Clicking the image below or this link here will take you to the Red Sector team page. Once there the donate button will guide you step-by-step to pick which team member you want to donate under the name of (everyone plays for their own hospital choice... that isn't decided by the team), choose how much you want to, and even leave a message if you so desire (anonymous is also an option if you don't want to leave a name). If you take this option, thank you very much. We are humbled for any help we can bring for the kids.

But with that simple note, I'm afraid my time to talk is up. See you next time and see you on Game Day.

- Megabyte

Was It Worth It? (PC) Review

Usually when I pick up games during the infamous Summer or Winter sale, they tend to be cheaper titles I am interested in, but not so much I want to play right away. Rather they share the fate of falling into the ever growing pit known as my backlog. But sometimes games refuse to stay there long... and then we get things like we have today, a small indie title that refused to stay dormant about life's choices, a guide trying to figure out what yours were long ago, and the fun you can have pissing him off along the way. Come inside.

Dark Fracture: Prologue (PC) Review

Once again as I show off a new game each week for Extra-Life, we come across another freebie meant to be completed in a single session just sitting around on Steam and waiting to be played. This time, however, it was a title that had waited a lot longer in my backlog. In fact it's possible this one waited a few years. And even then, I can only hope based on what I played we get to see more come of it. There wasn't a lot here, but what was here was some really good atmospheric work and signs of a lot of talent I would hate to see go to waste.

FORGOTTEN: THE GAME (PC) Review

It seems we keep coming up with brief free games I could finish in a single sitting to review as of late on this site. That is not a complaint, by the way. The past few of these have hit the idea right out of the park (pun intended in one of their cases). This, however, would not be one of those games. It was a passion project sure, but sometimes, that isn't enough to make it something great.

DanganRonpa 2: Goodbye Despair (PC) Review

Finally I get to say again that this has been a long time coming. Almost 5 years ago, I had played a little visual novel/Pheonix Wright clone called DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, and I loved it. But I have a lot to play so the rest of the series fell to the wayside for quite a while until I happened to find the rest of the series on sale recently. The series was back on and the next game is now completed. And yes, I waited too long to get back to this glorious madness.

Indigo Park: Chapter 1 (PC) Review

As per my tradition, I make a point every weekend to show off something new and interesting that you might see someone play for Extra Life during the big 24 hour marathon. However, this weekend it would play out a little different. Rather then let the dice decide, my buddy Max Powers convinced me to give this game a go... and I am glad he did!

Kraven Manor (PC) Review

I remember when this game first grabbed my attention. At the time, youtube had a lot of people in the gaming scene now that were only starting to become popular and of coarse horror games became a focal point. This is how it drew my attention... and how this game did as well. One of these youtubers played it long enough to show the way you can literally change how the mansion is laid out, and it was too intriguing for me to watch any further since it was going on my wishlist. I would pick it up later on a steam sale... only for it to sit on my backlog for years... long enough in fact for it to go completely free before I played it. Oh well, my fault there, but don't you miss out. Horror fans, come on in and enjoy.

May Extra-Life 2024 Update

HAIL AND WELL MET! Welcome in to see what's going on for Extra-Life! We are now moving well through the year, almost halfway to the end of 2024 and even closer to the big day when gamers from around the world will get together to play games for 24-hours to use our hobby and help sick kids. But I;m getting ahead of myself.

If you don't know what Extra-Life is, it is in essence a charity event that will be going for it's 16th year. If you think about it like a marathon, it's a lot like the ones that might run across major cities in the US. Participants will pick a cause they run for, collect donations from sponsors for said goal, then run like hell on the big day to honor them and the cause they run for. In this case however, we are not running, we are gaming... and come November, we will all come together and for 24 hours (or 25 if they pull their traditional "daylight savings day" timing), we will play. It could be video games, board games, card games, tabletop RPGs, tabletop wargames, and any mix in between. If you can think of it, it is probably there, and it will happen.

Nor do we have to worry about picking a cause. That too, was decided from the moment this event started in honor of a single young girl who fought valiantly, but ultimately lost her fight to cancer. The man who started this event back then went online by the name of "Doc" and ran a site had the honor of being a regular on called Sarcastic Gamer, and he was a friend of the family. When she lost, it hit him hard, and I am going to tell you right now, it was actually hard listening to the podcast as he broke down live. However, her loss would be the spark that started something truly great as the site got together to play for this single hospital and raised thousands of dollars to do so. It was only a few weeks (if I remember right) between announcement and taking part, and I am still honored to have been there.

Since then the event has expanded, but the goal has never changed. Instead of helping one hospital in Texas, Extra Life has now expanded to be a Children's Miracle Network event and helps hospitals across it's entire network. So we are not choosing what cause to play for, all we are doing is picking which hospital we want to help the most, choosing to be a gamer specifically to help them. Me? I play for Boston's Children's Hospital, but you can pick one close to you... or any one at all if you have particular ties.

So how do you get involved? Well that's the easy part. Just go to their website at www.Extra-Life.org and click the sign-up button. You can set your profile, select your hospital. You can even show up by a selected call sign if you are into that anonymous online thing (or the "cool kid" 90s vibe... I think you know where I sit on this one XD) if you wish! And once signed up, all you have to do is collect donations like you would any other drive. Then when the big event comes around, make yourself comfortable with friends or solo... and be part of something amazing. Streaming is optional, but more then welcome as it lets the world see that much more of what we are doing. And if they pick a weekend that doesn't work for you, don't sweat it. Hell I'm usually in the same boat (reliably I can count on their weekend choice to be family related the next day... and zombie-megabyte driving an hour to meet them is no fun for me, them, or anyone in between us on the road). That's what raindates are for. Likely the weekend they pick, I will pick the next one to play my part, cheering on the main group in the meantime, and I recommend if you're in the same boat you do the same!

But if you don't think you can pull off a marathon like that, there are still ways you can help. Your donations towards other gamers are this event has been a HUGE success over the years and continues to absolutely crush it every year. You can search out your favorites in the site, or if you would like to help me or my team (we rock it each year under the name of this site), first let me say thank you and second let me make it even easier. At the top of this page is a big Extra Life button that says "support me" which will take you to my team page. Once there, you can select anyone who's signed up to join me and donate under their name in the roster, helping their hospital directly. The same button is also below!

Thank you for any help you want to give... the kids need it and we are all greatful. But on that note, my time this morning is up. Have a good day and see you out there on the gaming grid.

- Megabyte

The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition (PC) Review

For all the times a game comes up where I have some history, for once we have a blank slate. I knew the game is supposed to be good, so when Epic offered it for free, I decided "yeah, I'll take it." It was that simple with that little thought necessary. But as I finish the game, I'm kinda glad I didn't give it any more thought. I would not call it a must play, but I had a lot of fun with it.

Seybul Tech (PC) Review

As per my tradition, every weekend I pick a game from my backlog and show it off as something you might see on Extra Life. It's a variety hour to help sick kids if you will, and something I have continued to do for years now. But a backlog is a dangerous thing, and sometimes you show off gold, others you show of crap. This time we showed off (and in a single session finished)... a game. It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either... and it definitely lived on it's atmosphere FAR more than anything else, which in it's own was actually really good. But was it enough? Step inside.

Diablo IV (PC) Review

When this game launched, it was not accepted very well by many gamers. And between Blizzard driving their reputation straight through the mud in how they treat both their audience (Overwatch 2 anyone? Diablo Immortal?) and their own employees, I can perfectly understand that. I myself watched this one come out with little interest, especially as one of the games to spearhead big game developers' campaign to increase the price of AAA games to $70. And to this end, I passed it up at launch.

However, months later, the game was already starting to show up on sale. Add to this a few people who wanted to play with me, and I decided it was worth a shot. It was not a bad choice, despite everything stacked against it.

Pony Island (PC) Review

Once again we have a game that's been hanging around in my backlog for a long time. In this case, it was a game that was on my radar when it launched, but actually came to me as part of a HumbleBundle back when I was subscribed. It would sit unused in the backlog for years until the dice decided it's time had come. So like the old arcade in the game itself, it's time to dust off the cabinet and click power...

Ghostwire: Tokyo (PC) Review

This is a game that has a bit more of a tumultuous history with me. When it came out, it had my curiosity, but there wasn't a lot coming out about it. Add to that playing on a PC that looked dangerously close to the minimum spec at the time while sitting on my massive backlog, and I held off... deciding I dodged a bullet with a shady dev when they added Denuvo to the game a year after it came out.. 

I didn't give it any more thought after that until this Christmas came along. As per usual, all the major game stores had their Christmas sales, including Epic. And while I honestly have yet to want to spend cash on this store, I've hung around for the freebies Epic is always giving out... and this sale always comes with them going fast and furious. Christmas Eve, they gave away this game. Without dropping a dime, I grabbed it.

Now as I finish playing, I believe I would have been happy with it had I bought earlier... and seeing them remove the DRM again so soon only makes such joy playing it that much sweeter.

Metrico+ (PC) Review

Once again, we find ourselves at the reverse end of a game I picked up back in the day via a humble bundle. It looked interesting so I figured "why not?" Well, it's not the worst decision I've ever made, but whether that's because it wasn't bad or it was short is up for debate. Probably a bit of both, though.

March Extra-Life Update

Hello everyone and welcome to our regular update. And we are continuing to march forward to the beloved weekend in November for Extra-Life! If you don't know what I'm talking about, welcome to my page, as I am pretty sure someone out there wishes I would shut up about this. I won't, but that's beside the point.

As for what Extra-Life is, it is a charity event run by the Children's Miracle network. I've taken to comparing this gaming marathon to a real-world marathon. In those events, you collect sponsors and donations from them who will basically pay to help you run across a major city to support the cause you are got the sponsors to support.

Extra-Life is a lot like that. In our case, however, we do not have to pick a cause. We already have: we are here to help sick kids. Children's Miracle Network takes care of the details. All we have to do is sign up and pick a hospital we are playing for, then get out there and get donations. Then, come November, we come together to play for 24 hours straight. This could be video games, board games, tabletop RPGs, card games, hell if you can make it work, I'm sure you could LARP for it (live action role playing for those of you who don't know). The only rule is, outside bathroom and food breaks, you don't stop playing.... and if you have to, you make up the time later.

But what if you can't play that week? Well I can speak up to that as they tend to pick the same weekend my family sets for a get-together for birthday celebrations, so I take the rain-date option and usually play the next weekend, so believe me when I say this is not an issue. So don't let get in your way of playing games to help kids. Just come on in, check it out, sign-up and start helping kids today!

And if you just can't play (or maybe don't play?), I'm not sure why you are here, but you can still help us. After all, we still need your help to help these kids. And we've made it as easy as possible. If you click the following link to reach our teampage, where a donate button will let you select who you want to donate under on the team (and therefore what hospital you wish to donate to help) and... well help us!

Thank you again for all your help. Joining or donating, we can't do it without you.

- Megabyte

Golden Light (PC) Review

Here we have another game I probably would not have picked up had I bought myself. However, when Epic gave it away for free, I figured it looked just strange enough to give it a shot and a home in my backlog. Well, it definitely proved strange, but it was missing the staying power to really recommend you follow me through it.

A Hat in Time (PC) Review

I honestly can not remember when this game entered my library. If I had to hazard a guess, it would have been back when I was subscribed to Humble Bundle and decided "yeah this game could be fun." Unfortunately, while the themes indeed were, the game under it just fell short.

Persona 5 Strikers (PC) Review

This game was going to happen eventually, though to be fair, I wound up playing it on a different machine then I expected to. When it was announced, I knew it wasn't a traditional RPG, but it wasn't a dancing sim (like the Persona 4 offered as spinoffs to it's portable playing fans there for a while) and I honestly have had almost nothing but great experiences with the entire franchise. However, since the PC version would not have a physical copy to go with the rest of my collection, I figured I was going to wind up getting it on Switch. Then Steam came along and did what it does best... sales. So I picked it up and in time, began to play.

It was definitely worth my time, despite showing me why the game series it's play belongs to will never be for me. Step inside.

What Remains of Edith Finch (PC) Review

Ever since Epic has setup a store front, they've been trying to draw business by giving away a different game every week and if it struck me as interesting I would pick it up only for it to languish in my backlogs. This would be one of those games, so when I did my first dice roll in a long while (franchises took up a lot of my gaming time recently), this came up as the result. Interested, I installed and a few hours later, the credits were rolling. I have to say, it was a nice evening.

Ghostwire: Tokyo - Prelude (PC) Review

When over the Christmas holiday Epic Games gave away Ghostwire: Tokyo, I decided to pick this up as well since it takes place before the main event and is a free title. I already understood it was a visual novel, but I was hoping for a lot more then I got here. I pray this doesn't reflect on the main game beyond the setting.

The Talos Principle 2 (PC) Review

Way to start the new year with a bang! Ok ok, I was playing this through the end of 2023, but really how else can I put when I finished it? Now don't get me wrong, this did not come out of left field or anything. I absolutely loved the game it's a sequel to, but after my time so far playing with Unreal 5 (in the form of Starship Troopers) I had concerns about performance and general game quality this time around. Thankfully I was not only proven to be worrying over nothing, the game carried by the engine is arguably my favorite game of 2023, taking even the title from the CyberGoddess of Citidel Station's outing! Well done!

New Year, new drive! Welcome to Extra Life 2024!

Hail and welcome everyone! Not a lot to say that isn't said on the title, but with this post, we are starting the yearly tradition around here: playing games to help sick kids! And we do this by taking part in Extra Life.

Every year, gamers come together to raise money with the Children's Miracle Network with the pledge to play games for a 24 hour session in honor of those kids we are helping. We each play for our chosen hospital, having a great time taking our chosen hobby to do some good in the world.

And how it works is really simple. If you want to play with us, just make your way to the Extra Life website, sign up, pick the hospital you wish to play for, and get to it! If you would like to help us help the kids, it's also simple (and either way, thank you for getting involved. These kids need all the help we can give them). Come on over to our team page and you will see a nice big blue "Donate" button. Clicking this will bring you to our roster where you can pick who to donate under. You can even click on any of our names to see our individual pages and what hospital we are playing for... complete with a similar donate button on any of our pages. But if you wish to pick right there, the donate next to each name will bring you there with the donation section already open.

All of this is handled by the Children's miracle network, and the page itself has a lot more detail about what the whole thing is about.

But on that note, I think it's time I close this opening entry... and time we all get to what we do best... and do something straight up awesome while doing it. Have fun and game on!