18. Jak and Daxter 1 (PS2) 🎮 Something from my childhood that I wanted to revisit. Camera is kinda janky, but its really just a product of its time. Still endearing and fun platformer. I feel like the voice performance and animations aged really well too. Fun and short game.
19. Jak II (PS2) 🎮 Had Jak 2 in the backlog and I don't think I ever finished it. Some savage check points (or none) that kept me from rolling credits. Beat it this time, but still kind of negative over all on the whole package. Preferred Jak 1s platformer focus and don't like the open world.
20. Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus 🎮 Somehow, I never played any of the Sly games on the PS2. Really enjoyed this one. The opening hours are some of the best in the genre from this era. Didn't finish quite as strong, but just weaker, rather than bad.
21. Resident Evil: Director's Cut (PS1)🎮 The REmake of 1 is my 1st game in the genre, so it has a very nostalgic place in my heart. This was my first time playing the original and loved it. All the classic lines were highly entertaining to experience myself. Really great time, glad I played this.
22. Metal Gear Solid (PS1)🎮 I thought I hadn't beaten this before, but I recalled most of the plot half way through. Was still fun, think I beat Twin Snakes before? I do think its my least favorite MGS, but its been awhile. Probably going to play the others eventually to refresh my impression.
23. Resident Evil 2 (PS1)🎮 The first was fun enough and I found a copy online for a price I didn't feel totally awful about. So I got it, and immediately dove into it. Banger game, big leap forward for the series and the genre.
24. Resident Evil 3 Nemesis (PS1) 🎮 I kind of don't really love this. I also don't love the remake, but I'm not sure that the cut content would have saved my opinion of the remake anymore. Its still an above average game, and better than the remake. But I really did not enjoy a lot of this one.
Why didn’t you get on with it?
I'm still collecting my thoughts, but I think the core of my issues is how often the game takes control away to show something happening. Say, more zombies are pouring in from a window, etc. In most cases in the previous games, that just happened in gameplay. And to me, it made things more tense.
I think this gets dismissed as cheap jump scares, but a lot of those moments from RE 1 & 2 are going to stay with me forever. Maybe its a system limitation from the time? But I feel like having those moments happen more while under player control would have been better.
Obviously, a lot of this wouldn't have worked for the Live Selection moments, but I still wish control didn't feel like it was so frequently taken away. Its still an above average game, but it and its remake are my least favorite RE games.
25. Still Wakes the Deep: Siren's Rest (PS5)🎮 Was excited for this when it was announced. Oddly nostalgic for the base game, even though its only like a year old? Very short, but I like their story telling and atmosphere. But I enjoyed all of it. Base game is also sweet, so recommend both.
26. Sly 2: Band of Thieves (PS2)🎮 Another great PS2 platformer. I'm still amazed I managed to miss this entire franchise in its day. I think I have a slight preference for the 1st game, but that's really my bias for level based platformers showing. But great game, would recommend.
27. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (PS2)🎮 This was just a rental back in the day, but my impression for this was VERY high. I would have said this is one of the greatest games ever made, based of 1 or 2 rentals. I still enjoyed replaying it, but it has a lot more issues than I remember.
Combat kinda... sucks? Its pretty repetitive and trying to add variety to your actions just kinda kills you late into the game. Its also got really awful performance on the PS2. Constantly drops frames and chugs in basically every scene. I also soft locked the game and had to restart a doomed save.
Sly 2, cont. I think my biggest gripe was with the extra characters. They really needed better traversal options to feel as good as Sly did. If they had, I think this game would have been close to perfect.
THAT SAID, I still prefer the Remake for 2. Its mostly first-game bias speaking though. But I kinda didn't really find the zapping system that compelling? I also really like the expanded bits of the story and setting. Still, I totally get the hype people must have had for this back in the day.