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Welcome to my December (23) game pickups, I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas. I know I did, but you won’t see any of those gifts in this blog so go check out the other one. Also, do look at November’s pickups while you’re at it, and now, let’s begin because there are a ton of games here. I’m talking 75 of them. No, really, I went crazy. Let’s start.

Systems

Steam Deck OLED

I’ve already posted about my Steam Deck, but it has really been a significant improvment over the OG. A nice, vibrant screen and an improved battery life makes a difference. There are small changes too, like a noticeable weight change. The improvements have resulted in me actually playing this as an actual handheld, and not a system attached to the charging cable like my original was.

Game & Watch Mario Handheld

The Mario handheld made its circulation a few years ago or so. I could never justify the cost, but I did have an interest. This sort of fell into my lap. After helping a friend out with something, he gave it to me as payment. Since then, I have definitely enjoyed playing the first Mario game on such a neat little device.

PS1

Croc & Croc 2

I’ve had an interest in these games for the past couple years, and finally decided to go for it. I’ve played a level on both, and it seems like a game I would have really liked as a kid. They’re platformers much like Spyro the Dragon I would say.

PS2

Lifeline

This is a very interesting horror title that takes advantage of a microphone. I bought a headset just for this game, and I am super excited for it all.

The date is December 24th, 2029 and you’re viewing an alien outbreak that takes place on a spaceship hotel. You find yourself in the control room, and now you must guide your new friend, (blank) to safety. This is done through your voice, and you must give precise commands to shoot, search, what rooms to go to, etc.

PS3

Sonic Generations

I’m not a huge Sonic fan, and typically, I only play select titles that really intrigue me. This is one of those, and for a good reason. It’s a mixture of old Sonic and modern 3D levels.

Xcom: Enemy Unknown

A strategy game about aliens? Count me in! I’ve always wanted to try this series, and thought I’d pull the trigger. Unfortunately I haven’t tried it yet.

PS4

Crystar

This was made from the same team who recently just released (paid link) Crymachina. It’s a JRPG that’s rough around the edges, but has charm and a decent story. The dungeons could be better, and they start to feel redundant quickly. The combat is okay. It’s not fluent, but it gets the job done. The story is where I believe it shines the most.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy

I was surprised to find I no longer had a copy of this game, and decided to get one. I’ve only cleared the Artisan home world, and haven’t explored anywhere else yet, but I’m going to enjoy going through this game for the 20th time. No, really, it’s wonderful and I love every minute of it.

Blue Reflection: Second Light

This is a sequel to Blue Reflection, which I bought in November. I’ve played roughly an hour of this one a couple years ago, and sold it. Now it’s going to set on my shelf until.I’m ready to play.

Deathsmiles I + II

This is a pretty awesome 2D side scrolling arcade shooter. It was first released for the 360 and finally brought to modern consoles recently. This is also the first time the 2nd game made it to the U.S. so that’s pretty awesome.

Marchen Forest

This has been on my list since its release, but I just never could make the plunge due to price. I caught it on sale, and thought I’d give it a try.

PSVR 2

Galaxy Kart

Galaxy Kart I’ve been holding off on getting since its launch. The game was not very well done, and there was a lot of negative feedback about the game. Now, after many updates, it’s looking pretty decent. I’ve only tried one race so far, but I’ve heard they added support for my wheel, so I’ll be sure to give this another try soon.

Among Us VR

I honestly just haven’t tried this one yet.

GameCube

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg

I’ve been curious about this one for some time now. However, it’s always been a pricey title so I put it off. This month I lucked out and got a deal.

Even though it is a GC game, it reminds me of the good days of Banjo Kazooie, where exploration was fun and areas were colorful. I’m not saying games today are particularly lacking either, but the oldies definitely have a certain charm to them. I’ve only played one level so far, but I’m going to try playing a one or so here and there in between other games.

Wii

Muramasa The Demon Blade

I have owned this two times prior to now, on the Wii & PS Vita. I now happily add it back to my collection, and I immediately jumped into playing Momohime’s story. The visuals for this game, specially the graphics and backdrops used, are really beautiful.

Switch

I honestly can’t discuss any of these games enough to give a proper opinion on them. I’m happy to have Mario RPG after missing my chance to play the OG, but I’ve only spent 30 minutes on it.

Xbox One

All of these except for Final Fantasy Type-0 and ReCore I received for free from a buddy. I haven’t spent more than 5 minutes on any of these games so I’ll leave it at that.

Steam

Alright, so I’m going to touch on very specific titles here. There’s too many games to go through them all, though I will be showing them.

Death Must Die

This is definitely one of my favorite pickups from this month. Next to another game shown above that is. This is another roguelike game similar to Vampire Survivors.

Mary Skelter: Nightmares

This is the other game I’m happy to have bought. I even wrote a blog about how to get it working on the Steam Deck. Mary Skelter is a first-person dungeon crawler who includes very recognizable fairytale characters.

Portal 1+2 & L4D & L4D2

I got a heck of a deal on these four games. Basically, each bundle cost me $1.48 so I couldn’t resist getting them for less than $3.

Tomb Raider

I’ve played this game a lot over the years, but I just couldn’t pass it up when it went on sale. I’ve played maybe 30 minutes on the Steam Deck and totally love it being portable.

Fear Bundle

I got all three games and DLC for $8 or $9. It seemed like a great deal, and it was. However, the controls are a bit funky. I’ve tried a few from the community, and while they’re okay, they don’t quite work perfectly for me.

Tomb Raider Games

I got these for $.97 or $.98 each, so I figured why not?

The Coma & The Coma 2

These have been on my radar for a while. However, I never could decide if I wanted them. Atlas, I finally bought both and haven’t tried either.

The Hanged Man Series

I managed to get the bundle of four games for a great price, and I couldn’t pass them up. I love horror games, obviously, but I also greatly love RPG horrors specifically. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to experience one, but now I’ll be able to.

Home Sweet Home

I’ve played some of this game already on PSVR but I just never could get very far. I do look forward to seeing more of it and already owning the 2nd game isn’t so bad either.

Learn Japanese to Survive

This is an interesting little series. So basically they’re RPGs where you’re fighting Kanji, letters of the Japanese alphabet. I haven’t actually tried one yet, but I got them for a dollar so I figured heck yeah!

Final Thoughts

I went way over the top with these. I should have had a cutoff on how many games I could buy, but I really didn’t because sales were popping up left and right. Still, don’t expect another blog quite this large. I have fun doing them, but I need to not buy this many games a month.

Regardless of that though, I do hope someone finds a new game they want.