NekoJonez’s Favorite Gaming Music #26 – I can’t choose!

Previous articles

Last time in this series, I actually was on a podcast with Alexander Sigworth. Now, after 25 articles talking about my favorite music in games, I still can’t decide which tracks are my favorite and which ones are the best. In any case, I think it’s quite clear that this series is mostly about the music in games that I enjoy quite a lot at the time of writing. For those who haven’t read an article of this series before, let me quickly explain the idea. In this series, I talk about a track from a game or I use a track from a game to talk about the game without having to write a full article about it (for now). I limit myself to one track per franchise per article and I try my best to avoid repeat tracks. Also, unless stated at the start of the article, I only pick original tracks and not remixes. Those are for special articles. And per usual, I invite you to leave a comment with your opinion on the tracks chosen and/or the content of this article and/or your favorite gaming tracks. Let’s go.

Etrian Odyssey Untold – The Millennium Girl (3DS) ~ Decisive Battle – End of the World

First impression of the game

So, because I want to talk about as many games as possible on my blog and I try to write weekly articles, I don’t always finish the games I play. This is quite annoying since sometimes I enjoy playing a certain game quite a lot.

Now recently, I started to tackle my backlog bit by bit while also trying to play other games to be able to talk about on my blog. On top of that, I still have a day job and have other hobby’s.

In any case, today I can proudly say that I have beaten my first Etrian Odyssey game. Well, I have beaten this game in late February but hey. After beating this game, I fell into a sort of “post-game depression”. Yeah, I wish I hadn’t beaten the game since I enjoyed it quite a lot. Thankfully, there is still some post-game content and I haven’t done all the quests. So, I still have some playtime left. But, what a journey it was. And what amazing music was created for the final battle which I have selected for this article. Man, I’m glad that I discovered this series since I can’t wait to see what the other games have to offer. Maybe I should finish all the other Etrian Odyssey games I have finished…

Nightmare Reaper (PC) ~ Boss Theme

My article about the game

Andrew Hulshult, you mad lad. There are a lot of retro game shooters coming out and when I see that Andrew Hulshult created the music for it, I get hyped right away. The music by itself sounds amazing and melodic but listening to it while playing the game, it fits the atmosphere like a glove.

The music was one of the reasons why I had chosen this game to be my favorite game of 2020. Currently, the 3rd chapter is in development and various teasers have been shown on Twitter by the developer. They look amazing and I can’t wait to play more. Today I was finally able to beat the second chapter after failing a certain boss battle over and over again. I also started the 2nd playthrough and I have to say that I really feel different from my original playthrough.

I’m nearing 50 hours of playtime in this game and I’m under the impression that this number will only grow once the third chapter has been released. And also, I’m trying to get as many of the achievements as possible. So, that will also increase the number of hours I play this game. Hehehe.

Pokémon X/Y (3DS) ~ Dendemille Town

My review of the game

During my prep for the Pokémon Collector’s Catch-collab, I played a lot of Pokémon. This shouldn’t be a surprise at all. Now, when I read the article that TriformTrinity did on Pokémon X and Y, I dug up my copy of the game and I noticed that a while ago, I started a new save file and I hadn’t finished the game on that one.

So, that’s one of the things I’m currently doing. Playing through Pokémon X/Y again. And honestly, I forgot how enjoyable things are in that game. I got various nostalgic memories while playing that game.

Something strange I noticed is that when I listen to some parts of the soundtrack from this game, for some reason I can’t tell if it’s a track from this game or from Pokémon Sword & Shield. Is this just me or am I hearing things? They have a similar vibe in my opinion. But on the other hand, that shouldn’t be too crazy since this generation is based in France and Pokémon Sword and Shield is based in the UK. France and the UK are neighbors of each other… So, yeah.

Touhou – Luna Nights (Switch) ~ Stage 3 Boss – Locked Girl

The Metroidvania genre is one of my favorite genres. I just love exploring a world where slowly get stronger, unlock new abilities, and go on a great adventure. Usually, Touhou is a sort of shoot ’em up kind of game but this time, it’s a Metroidvania. 

So, this game got released in late December of 2020. After seeing the trailer, I bought the game. Now, since I have this rule in my top 10 games of the year list where I can only select games I started in that year, I waited until 2021 started before I started playing this game. Just in case that if I enjoy this game quite a lot, that I would be unable to choose it in my top 10 games of 2021. 

And I’m so glad I did. The unique mechanics and abilities in this game give a breath of fresh air to the formula and of course, the difficulty spikes you find in every Touhou game are here too. Now, I’m holding a lot of my opinions on the game back since I want to write a full-length article about this game but for now, I want to introduce you to the soundtrack of the game. I’ll say this about it, there is a reason why it sometimes plays on repeat while I’m working or doing chores. 

Wrapping up

So, these are 4 tracks that can be added to the ever-growing list of my favorite game music tracks. After writing these articles, I always check my schedule on the games I’m going to write about. More often than not, I change the schedule around to talk about the games I have mentioned in these articles. 

I really should start creating playlists and share them in this series since I really think that these playlists would make me skip fewer and fewer tracks while I’m working. But hey, maybe I shouldn’t start so many projects while I have so many others running. 

Personal things aside, I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. Have you played any of these games and if yes, what did you think of them? But for now, I want to thank you for reading this article and I hope to be able to welcome you to another one. But until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.

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Writer’s Raid: Tomb Raider III – The Adventures of Lara Croft

Wikipedia entry

I remember quite well buying a copy of Tomb Raider IV & V in one bundle. When I came home and placed the install disc for Tomb Raider IV in my PC, I was surprised that Tomb Raider III started installing. I didn’t mind so much, I found the files for Tomb Raider IV on the disc labeled Tomb Raider V. I already owned Tomb Raider V, so I got extremely lucky there. Since I took a look at Tomb Raider IV in the past, I think it would be more interesting for this project to take a look at Tomb Raider III. Now, what do I mean with “this project”? Well, a group of writers and myself took a look at the whole Tomb Raider series and like the Zelda project last year, there is a hub article you can find here if you want to read the other amazing articles.

The Adventures of Lara Croft

In this game, Lara is searching for the Intifada Stone. When she finds the artifact, she gets approached by a researcher from RX Tech, who informs her about a meteorite that landed in Antarctica millions of years ago. This meteorite was used by the Polynesians to create various powerful stones, one of which is the Intifada Stone. So, Lara starts a quest to find all the stones before they fall in the wrong hands.

The story is quite interesting. The main arc of the story, I explained above. But the story takes Lara on several different journeys with their own story. It’s a bit like Tomb Raider V, but the big difference is that they aren’t remembering Lara’s adventures after her death.

So, compared to Tomb Raider II, what is new in this game? Quite a lot actually. The game was primarily made for the PlayStation and was meant as a sort of next-gen Tomb Raider. Core Design created a totally new engine for the game and a lot more. If you want to read up on the development, the Wikipedia page I linked above has a lot more to talk about.

The game did rather well. The game scored an average of 7/10 from different publications. If you look on GameRankings.com, the PS1 version even got a bigger score than the PC counterpart. It’s a 5% difference.

Now, the version I have in my collection is “Tomb Raider III – The Lost Artefact”. This is a version with some additional levels included. With these 5 additional levels, the game takes a nice 25 hours to beat the game, making this the longest Tomb Raider game in the series.

The story of the expansion pack takes place in between the story of Tomb Raider III. So, it’s no epilogue or prologue. Also, this expansion pack was only released for people who owned the PC or MAC version. Sadly enough, this game was sold as a standalone game. The previous two games also had an expansion pack which was either part of a re-release or free to download from the official website.

The game also provided quite a lot of new things and moves to play around with. Lara got some new abilities like using the monkey bars. The new things in this game include new swimming and water mechanics, quicksand and various other things.

I’m glad that I played this game on the PC since on the PS1, the save feature is restricted. The save feature works sort-of like the save feature in the early Resident Evil games. Where you have to find Ink Ribbons for the typewriters to save. In Tomb Raider III, you have to find save crystals to use the save feature in the main menu.  Since I love to save often in the older Tomb Raider games, I would have been so frustrated if that was also the case on the PC.

During the game, you go to India, UK, USA, and Antarctica. You can also visit Lara’s home in this game. If you are a first-time player, I highly recommend that you explore Lara’s home first. This way you can get used to the controls and the mechanics of Lara’s jump in the gym. Also, yes, I have fond memories of locking Winston up in the freezer.

How does it hold up?

For me personally, this game was fun to play through. The game tested my retro gaming skills quite a lot and I enjoyed walking around the levels. While I had my share of frustrations when missing a jump or not directly knowing where to go, I still had a lot of fun exploring this game.

Now, this game hasn’t aged like fine wine. This game isn’t for everybody. While I don’t mind the dated visuals, I can understand that some people would hate the visuals. The visuals are early PS1 visuals. Yet, I feel they still have some charm and still look better than Tomb Raider I or II.

This game has decent controls. The big issue I have with them is that you can’t rebind the keys easily. There is some trickery you can do, but it shouldn’t be this annoying. Also, since I use an AZERTY keyboard layout, some keys were in different places. Thankfully, I got used to the controls after a few levels and I was able to pull of great moves.

Something that did age quite well, in my opinion, is the music and sound effects. While the soundtrack is extremely short, it’s still a joy to listen too. The soundtrack really fits the mood of the game. It’s relaxing when you are climbing and tense when you are fighting a boss. The sound effects pulled me into the atmosphere of this game.

I really enjoyed the puzzles in this game. The only thing I had issues with was the vehicle sections. But, that was mostly because I didn’t know you could speed them up. After I learned how to do that, I had fewer issues with them. While it’s quite possible to play this game without a walkthrough, I used BadAssGamez’s walkthrough when I was stuck. He finished this game without using any medkits and got all the secrets as well.

In his video’s he also shows tricks on how to skip certain fights or how to easily defeat enemies. If you aren’t used to old-school Tomb Raider games, I highly recommend that you watch his walkthroughs if you need some help in beating this game. If you are used to old-school Tomb Raider games, this game will provide you with various challenges. My favorite level was the 8^th level, the Temple of Puna. Mainly because it had various moments that reminded me of Indiana Jones.

I think that this game is still worth a playthrough. If you enjoy playing retro adventure games, I can’t recommend this game enough. I do understand that this game isn’t for everyone. There are moments where the game clearly shows its age. Don’t expect a game with a more modern polish, expect a game that challenges you in various areas that takes you back to when you were young and played games after homework on your parent’s computer.

If you want to give this game a try, it’s still being sold on Steam for 7€ and on GOG, you find Tomb Raider 1+2+3 together for 9€. So seriously, what are you waiting for?

That’s everything I wanted to say about this game. If you are interested in a full review of this game, please tell me in the comments. I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.