Izzy's 2024 gaming year in review.

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isthatallyougot
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Re: Izzy's 2024 gaming year in review.

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#6 Planet Laika (PS1 - 1999) 4/5 (Playtime: 16 hours)


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The nature of experience and “reality” is, for me, an endlessly fascinating topic. What can be known? In truth, nothing can be declared definitively/ultimately true other than direct immediate experience despite the mind's insistence and ceaseless striving to create some sort of meaning and order out of the chaos, and that is both wondrous and terrifying. There's always another potential explanation for anything that occurs - there's never any real solidity that exists without room for yet another “what if?” to explore. Descartes famously said, “I think, therefore I am.” But who is this thinker? Are you the thoughts or the observer thereof? And if you're the witness to the mind - an outsider looking in - what is that witness exactly? Is that which is commonly called “reality” the fundamental basis of existence, or are we a space slug, or some other unknown being in another dimension dreaming this dream of life or tripping balls in some sort of sacred ceremony? (etc., etc.) What can be KNOWN, indeed? If you've ever had any weird or inexplicable experiences that defied common rationality, you might resonate with things that may destabilize the “ground beneath your feet", things that erode the idea of the familiar as having any firm or fixed structure. All is possible; the explanations are infinite. I played a game in 2024 that has this flavor in spades, a game I had no expectation of playing or even was aware of prior to a random discovery online. The game is called Planet Laika, and it was released for the PS1 in 1999 only in Japan.

Developed by Quintet and published by Enix, we start off by embarking on a journey, a space mission. The introductory cutscene, which shows a toy spaceship under a Christmas tree in a “real world” familiar setting, suggests that this is going to be a dream-like experience that is linked from one realm or life to another. And after that introduction, we find ourselves on a “real" ship where we are informed of our mission, a mission to find out what the trouble is on Mars. Mars has apparently reached a crisis of some sort, and it is believed that the troubles could have originated with an earlier mission that was commandeered 10 years prior by a Colonel Galil. Oh...and we're a team of dog people. And believe me, that's about the most normal aspect of this game. From beginning to end, the experience challenges any ideas of normalcy, continuity, and often sanity. We meet a cast of characters with their own motivations and interesting personalities, residents of Mars that are going about their own lives as we interact with them and their influences as we try to complete our mission. And let me tell you, there are some dark, twisted, and creepy things going on. Many bits of the narrative remain obtuse and unclear, despite offering incredibly vivid and tantalizing bread crumbs that beg the player to ponder, while there are other bits that seem more direct and flesh out a story of apparent tragedy that is quite disturbing on multiple levels, a story that touches on the innocence and hopes of childhood and how that beautiful and fragile state can be, and often is, disrupted and torn apart by circumstances completely beyond the control of a bright-eyed and naive little one. This contrast of light and dark, of joy and suffering, is reinforced by the otherwise joyful Christmas theming in the background of this dark tale, a motif that is also emphasized musically with the sound of reindeer bells playing at times throughout. To be brief, the whole narrative aspect was absolutely spellbinding, both due to its strangeness of delivery and because there was just enough connection to relatable experience to grasp onto within this hazy, twisted, and dreamlike mystery. I don't want to go into any spoiler territory, so I'll just say if you have an affinity for the abstract and interpretive, if you can appreciate tales that don't grant ultimate clarity as they tantalize your curiosity, there is so much to bite into here. And either way, it's an experience that you won't soon forget. And all of this crazy circus is beautifully enhanced by sound work that is full of bizarre and excellently crafted music, an often dissonant soundscape that adds to this feeling of not really knowing what's going on, music and sound design that amplifies this existential sort of unfolding crisis. It's got that mixture of odd and off-beat tonal shifts and rhythms that tell their own story of confusion, uncertainty, and maybe sometimes paranoia and dread. From a presentation standpoint, Planet Laika is absolutely riveting!

In terms of its practical structure, Planet Laika is easier to quantify, if still a bit strange. The basic essence of the experience is making progress through the main character Laika's various personalities. He has three other entities that dwell within, beings that presumably arose due to a fractured identity born of trauma. Each of these personas resonates with a certain color or aura, and when you converse with other characters that possess the same energy or colored aura, it will enhance that frequency within Laika, which grants him the ability to shift into that persona when viewing and touching a mirror. These shifts come with a visual shift into another character, and these identities have their own strengths and uses and are necessary shifts that must be made at times for progression. There is also a type of combat that these internal fractals have to engage in from time to time. The battles are in real-time, and it's a bit of a pat-your-head-while-rubbing-your-belly sort of experience as you must move an energy ball to deflect horizontally incoming projectiles from enemies. Your ball is already and continuously moving in an up-and-down vertical rhythm on its own, but you can accelerate this movement, which also moves it forward towards your opponent and their oncoming projectiles, with the “circle" button. If you manage to move your orb all the way to your opponent and hit them directly, you will do extra damage beyond the redirecting of their projectiles back at them. If some projectiles get past you, you can move your ball back towards you on a horizontal plane with the “X” button in an attempt to destroy them before they hit you, and this also resets your defensive/attacking orb's position back directly in front of you. It's a little hard to explain properly, and there are more subtleties to things than what I've outlined, but it wasn't too difficult after some experience, thankfully. But it was, as was par for the course here, both unique and strange, and I enjoyed it well enough, even if it wasn't particularly deep. It's kind of like a version of Breakout with moving orbs instead of paddles and stationary blocks, I guess you could say. The battles weren't overly frequent, and Laika himself cannot actually fight. This is only for his various personalities, and that seemed appropriate, as these fragments or internal demons he carried within would be battling in an internal struggle. But generally, the primary means of interaction is simply discovering what or who you need to interact with next and furthering the narrative. It's certainly not a visual novel in terms of player input, but it leaned much more heavily on narrative than pure or frequent mechanical gameplay. But the narrative, as mentioned, was so gripping that things were consistently engaging, even if not necessarily from a purely physical interactive standpoint.

As excellent as most of this journey was, there were some missteps for me that slightly tarnished things. In the first place, while I was able to play and enjoy Planet Laika due to this getting an (excellent) translation, I had no manual or guide to refer to. I wasn't interested in watching a video walkthrough and spoiling the experience, so I was left to my own devices to figure everything out. Having no English manual magnified the already wildly strange experience, as I had to piece the practical structure together myself. I eventually figured out the general gist of things, but the fact that I was not only lost in the context of the strange game world itself but also lost in my external approach to it really served to enhance the flavor of mystery and disorientation. I was able to figure things out via experimentation, but having no basic instructions or context for player input and progression did make things even more peculiar than they already were. And the inventory you accumulate was also very unconventional. There are items that, when used, “do nothing,” yet they disappear from your inventory, as well as items that also “do nothing” but remain. And there are a good number of items that I found no real use for by game's end, which oddly makes me only more curious about potential hidden depths and secrets here. But having a collection of objects that ought to have importance but seemed to have none was a little frustrating, even if it fit the overall tone of confusion. Visually I thought some of the pre-rendered backdrops were less interesting than others. And while I generally liked the art style, it wasn't always of the highest quality. And in terms of the backdrops, some pathways in the pre-rendered backgrounds weren't intuitive or easily readable. I spent some time wandering in one instance only because I didn't recognize that an area in one background was a potential pathway, and it was a little annoying to have wasted a fair bit of time simply because a path wasn't easily recognizable. And the general pacing and progress could be a little more inconsistent than I would have liked. And even though this is surely completable without a manual or guide, there was a fair amount of trial and error as I awkwardly stumbled around in the dark, especially towards the conclusion, where I spent a couple of hours unable to progress as I patiently tried to figure out what to do next before landing upon the right path. I'm sure not having a manual or any guide and playing COMPLETELY blind didn't help, but I also feel that even if I did, this was a game that was always going to be unconventional and a bit cumbersome in terms of how things unfolded. It was also disappointing playing something so unique that was released by a big publisher, knowing that you'd never see something like this greenlit by a larger industry player nowadays. I really miss this time when there was greater experimentation within the bigger budget space. This was refreshing in this way but also served to emphasize how safe and predictable the mainstream gaming industry has become, which saddened me a little outside the context of the game-proper. (Thank heavens for indies!)

But on the whole, wow, what an experience! Throughout the bulk of the journey, you never get a sense of stability or orientation, and even through to the conclusion, there remains much that dwells in the shadows, despite SOME significant clarity being generously granted to this delicious soup of contrasting, confusing, and titillating flavors. But this unhinged ride never stopped being utterly engaging. I couldn't look away, and I kept wanting to know more. In some ways it had a flavor akin to Silent Hill. It's similarly dark and twisted, but maybe in a more funhouse hall of mirrors way than that series. So many questions arise as you play. Are you a human or a dog? Are you an abused child dealing with their trauma through invention/coping? And for that matter, are you an Earthling or Martian? Are you living or dead and experiencing some sort of afterlife or transition? Are you actually on Mars on a space mission, or are you on some drug-induced hallucination or maybe just suffering from the “evil mind” influence of Mars that is referenced throughout and just unable to process normally? Just what the hell is going on?!? (Again, we are eventually granted some satisfying, if incomplete, clarity for those who must have something to hold onto. And as I digested this experience after completion, I certainly formed some of my own interpretations, which I feel are valid, and quite sad.) The game is just wonderfully bizarre, and it consistently doles out just enough bits of information to keep you hooked and in the mindset of wanting to piece things together. It walks that fine line of being both largely inscrutable and seductively tantalizing, holding your curiosity and demanding your investment. Fascinating stuff. I'm sure this wouldn't have been a big seller, but it's a real shame it wasn't allowed to find its audience with a Western release. I KNOW that those who resonated with it would have really enjoyed it like I did! No doubt it would have been a cult hit among the PS1's deep cuts. Planet Laika was a real fever dream or psychonautical experience - just SO trippy! Crazy, but in an intoxicating way. The creators of this must have been high on ayahuasca or tripping out of their gourds on something, oh my! GLORIOUS MADNESS! I can't believe my serendipitous fortune of having randomly bumped into this and having had the opportunity to experience it. It's maybe just short of an all-time classic due to the few issues mentioned, but man oh man, will I never forget it. A strong 4/5 and easily recommended for those who are drawn to both the fringes of gaming as well as the more obscure, dusty, and unattended corners of human (or other) experience. For better or worse, I can assure you there's nothing else like it. A TRUE one-of-a-kind!
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canedaddy
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Re: Izzy's 2024 gaming year in review.

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Where did you dig that one up?? What a deep cut. Glad you enjoyed it so much.
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isthatallyougot
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Re: Izzy's 2024 gaming year in review.

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canedaddy wrote: Sun Jun 29, 2025 5:09 pm Where did you dig that one up?? What a deep cut. Glad you enjoyed it so much.
Yeah, I don't even remember what rabbit hole I ventured down that led me to it now. I often read random forums and look for those obscure nooks and crannies on the web when it comes to gaming. But I really can't recall now, lol.
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Re: Izzy's 2024 gaming year in review.

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isthatallyougot wrote: Mon Jun 16, 2025 12:38 pm #7 Windbound (PC - 2020) 4/5 (Playtime: 50 hours)


J and cane, and *maybe* argyle?, I remember you guys playing this one, right? I don't think any of you liked it this much though.
I played on the difficulty where you have to restart the chapter, but I got stuck in chapter 3 or 4 I think it was. I liked a lot of the visuals and whatnot, but there were just things I had trouble with - the item limits, figuring out what to craft and when, and the lack of certain resources when you need to find them. Struggled at times and I didn't really enjoy having to redo things as the world then changes with island locations, etc. I got to some boss and basically died immediately, lol.
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isthatallyougot
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Re: Izzy's 2024 gaming year in review.

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jfissel wrote: Fri Jul 04, 2025 11:06 am I played on the difficulty where you have to restart the chapter, but I got stuck in chapter 3 or 4 I think it was. I liked a lot of the visuals and whatnot, but there were just things I had trouble with - the item limits, figuring out what to craft and when, and the lack of certain resources when you need to find them. Struggled at times and I didn't really enjoy having to redo things as the world then changes with island locations, etc. I got to some boss and basically died immediately, lol.
Yeah, if you don't enjoy the rogue-ish structure, I could see the randomization being frustrating. And, honestly, it is also for me if I'm not enjoying a game otherwise.
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Re: Izzy's 2024 gaming year in review.

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I didn't intend to let this slip so long, but I got all tied up with my family visit and things just do what they do, ha.

#5 Withering Rooms (PC - 2024) 5/5 (Playtime 75 hours)


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Sometimes a brief glimpse of a game catches your eye, and you know it's for you immediately. Such was the case with an indie title called Withering Rooms, released in 2024. I saw a brief trailer and knew I would love it from that minute or so alone. So, onto my wishlist it went. I'm usually really patient, choosing to wait for deep discounts on games I want. It's easy to do with a large backlog. But it was, surprisingly, on a big sale later in 2024 on Fanatical, and I also had some credit, which resulted in me paying a mere 53 cents to grab it within the year of its release. With that unexpected surprise, I decided to fire it up right away, and I'll spare the suspense and just say straight away that it did not disappoint.

I'll start with what the game is fundamentally, and it's quite a potpourri, actually. The tone is very much survival horror. There are nods to Silent Hill in the menu sounds and some concepts I'll get into later, Fatal Frame is acknowledged with the aspect of capturing/killing ghosts with a camera, Haunting Ground/Clock Tower with sneaking, hiding, and peeking elements, as well as an optional dog companion. In addition to survival horror theming, it's got a rogue-lite structure where rooms in a Metroidvania-style boxy map are partially reorganized upon death as well as you losing most items. (anything you haven't “saved” via a ritual which you can perform with a pretty limited resource at certain shrines) And it's also got the flavor of Souls in terms of how you build your character with limited ring slots, item descriptions that add world-building flavor and narrative puzzle pieces to help flesh out the world, as well as combat that, while in a 2.5 (2D plane) space, attempts to mimic that back-and-forth ballet of dodging, blocking, and striking. To the point, it borrows from quite a large sampling of beloved gaming but somehow doesn't feel derivative, remaining very much its own thing despite the clear and numerous inspirations. Ultimately it's a survival horror action RPG, if I were to distill it into perhaps an oversimplification of its essence, and that intersection of qualities is ABSOLUTELY my kind of jam. But the execution, of course, takes priority over concept, and I'll take a look at how all these tantalizing pieces fit together and how smoothly the package rounded into form in the end.

I'll begin with the narrative and tone. The background for all the slaying you'll be doing is rooted in a tale I found to be quite unique. You play as a young girl named Nightingale Williams, a teenage Welsh child who has apparently been quite naughty. Subsequently, she is sent to an asylum for “correction.” Within Mostyn Asylum, we are introduced to a variety of characters who populate this world, two of whom are siblings, Peter and Priscilla Mostyn of the titular asylum. It seems they were terribly devastated with grief upon the death of their mother, which prompted them to dabble in the magical arts and occult world, looking for a way to reconnect with their beloved parent. On this feverish quest for some peace, they eventually stumble upon a purported ancient idol with magical properties on their travels abroad. Convinced of its potential, they purchase and return it to Mostyn Asylum, which opens up a WHOLE can of worms. This idol possesses the ability to recreate whatever it sees with its glowing red eyes in a dream world of sorts. It's like a copy machine that is able to approximate what it sees, albeit losing some of the genuine article and its properties in the translation. It doesn't directly bring things into its realm, yet there is some sort of connection that is linked between the dream inhabitants and their real-world counterparts. It sort of reminds me of the work of Jung and the unconscious, where there is both a personal and collective sub-layer to awareness. Clearly this is quite a powerful “tool”, and the potential to create virtually anything resides with those who control it and what it sees. I'll refrain from venturing too far into the depths of this terribly intriguing tale in case others find themselves wanting to explore this as well. But, I will say that there is a real rabbit hole of discovery that just keeps revealing more and more layers as you peel things back, and I found the whole unfolding to be absolutely riveting. There are all manner of characters with their own motivations, motivations that are in conflict, often unclear or deceptive, and meeting them and piecing together everyone's place in this crazy dream world was consistently engaging. I still find myself considering this world and its denizens after I've fully explored what the game has to offer.

In a practical sense you (or your dream-world persona) technically cannot die within the dream; rather, you simply re-awaken upon death, however gruesome and “real” it may feel and seem to this idol-created avatar. This plays into the rogue-lite aspects that add consequence to your deaths, requiring you to retrace your steps as you build your character and learn the ins and outs of both the strategic and narrative aspects. This real world/otherworld dynamic reminded me of Silent Hill and its twisted contortion of experience as things shift. And speaking of shifting, there is a really cool aspect of Withering Rooms that affects Nightingale both practically and in terms of the expression of the world. There are things and creatures that can impart “curse” damage. And as this effect grows, the world around you becomes more distorted and creepy, both visually and aurally. It also opens up pathways and searchable elements that aren't visible in a non or low-cursed state. It's a risk/reward sort of thing, though, because if you get too cursed, you develop curse rot, which continually drains your health unless you heal yourself via a special type of candle. But the shifts from “normal” to “unsettling” are really well done and not only add intrigue in terms of presentation but also add depth in terms of exploration and progression. This was a really fascinating and well-done aspect that made every area feel more dynamic and living as well as feeling richer in terms of depth.

In terms of overall presentation, and as mentioned, the game is fundamentally a 2D game as you traverse the maps. It's 2.5D in terms of visuals, though, and I have to say that things FELT very 3D despite this. There is a really nice variety and element of detail to the backdrops that adds a spatial depth to the feel of everything, and there are also elements that allow you to shift your perspective, giving you a different vantage point into the world. You can look down hallways with a small hand telescope to see further in front of you than what is normally on-screen from the 2D plane, as well as the earlier mentioned element of taking photos of ghosts (the only way to kill them), which, when viewed, highlights a different view than the normal 2D look you get most of the time. It's really unique in this way. I think it's the only 2D game I've played that didn't really feel limited in that way. It was a strange, yet pleasant, feel that I really enjoyed and found to be very well done. In terms of the creatures, there are a nice variety of foes to contend with. The bestiary contains 89 different threats to Nightingale's well-being, and many offer different types of danger that must be dealt with via a satisfyingly large arsenal of weapons, magic, rings, charms, outfits, tools, and so much more. Finding and saving things that serve you well is a big part of the experience to soften the blow of death. And layered upon all the loot is a pretty deep character creation system where you are able to modify Nightingale's base qualities in terms of things like her resistance to being cursed, bleed, poison, etc.; her melee or magic strength; her speed; luck; and a whole host of other variables that synergize in potentially very interesting and powerful ways in combination with her equipped items. It's really satisfying to play around with how you build her, and there is a nice element that allows you to save 5 different customizable loadouts (in terms of what you equip) so that you can switch quickly as circumstance requires. And it's also free and easy to respec your character's base traits (eventually, when you find the right NPC). So exploring build variations is always possible. Despite it being free to do, which is wonderful, the way it plays out narratively is pretty grim. You have to literally have your flesh carved out and replaced/reformed. The screams coming from Nightingale are pretty intense, if brief. Granted, you're not shown the gory details, but the idea is wonderfully twisted and macabre and was perfectly suited to the overall creepy tone. Suffice it to say that there's plenty of depth here if you're the type that loves to play and experiment with various ways to confront challenges.

In terms of those challenges, the combat is quite “Soulsy,” as mentioned. By default, though, there are no i-frames. But there is an item you get early on that allows you to roll and dash with a brief invincible window, although it comes at the cost of a small amount of curse damage. However, being on a 2D plane, there is no lock-on. Rather, you manage groups of foes by rolling through to reach their back and control spacing with only horizontal movement, of course. There is a familiar flow and rhythm to the combat, despite not being in the 3rd dimension, but it's obviously missing that added layer of space, making things feel necessarily somewhat different. There is a nice sense of impact to your blows, both distributing and receiving, and your poise or lack thereof can result in you finding yourself in a vulnerable state on your backside or placing your opponents in dire straits as you hover over them for additional damage. Despite the positives of the combat, both magic and melee, it could sometimes feel a little sluggish and awkward, and there IS a lot of it. It works just fine in general, and in some ways it suits a survival horror type of experience, but it isn't always snappy and can feel challenging to get into the proper rhythm at times, even with a fully developed character. Having plenty of items, equipment, and abilities to tilt things in your favor helps, and it isn't overly hard because of the loose-feeling combat, but it may frustrate until you get the hang of things and/orbuild up enough of an inventory that you can power through. Combat is methodical and deliberate. It's not designed to be a quick-twitch action game. If you approach things with this understanding, it will help you get into the flow better. However, it can be a bit of an awkward dance, and, like a young couple in their first spin on the floor, there will be a few toes stepped on, a bit of pushing when there should be yielding, and so on. It somehow works despite the awkwardness, and it's often satisfying, but it's lacking much in the way of elegance in spots. Again, you are afforded the tools to deal with anything, and it is really fun to build your character in different ways to contend with circumstances, but it's a bit of a blunt affair in spots. The encounters aren't married as gracefully to the mechanics and potential player input in some sections. There were times when things could get overly chaotic and jumbled, and it didn't feel like things were thoughtfully or skillfully considered and crafted in those cases, even if it wasn't a continuous issue. But again, through the lens of survival horror traditions, it fares much better. Although through the lens of Souls or action games, an influence that is blatantly apparent, it can frustrate and seem “less-than”, at least in terms of fluidity and smooth combat interactions. This was the biggest complaint I had with Withering Rooms. It was always manageable and most often fun, but lacking some refinement I would have loved to see, especially in some group and a few boss encounters. Also there are some little elements that “let the cat out of the bag” in terms of the budget and developer size. For example, while the art was generally very good, there were a few spots where it didn't impress and looked like it could have benefited from having some more eyes on things. These little elements weren't prominent, however, and did little to take away from the otherwise stellar effort.

Overall, I'm incredibly impressed with Withering Rooms and had a great time with it. I played close to 80 hours and was completely hooked the entire time. The sound (the soundtrack was excellent, by the way) and visual imagery created a creepy and seductive world that, coupled with a fascinating narrative hook, really served to immerse in this hellish dreamworld. From what I was able to gather, this was truly, or for all practical purposes, a one-man effort. (I think he got help in the performance of some of his musical pieces if I'm remembering the credits correctly.) It's stunning what an individual can accomplish. If I had made something like this, I'd be walking around with my chin propped up, looking down my nose at everyone. (Not really, but you get my point.) Even though this work was clearly influenced strongly by a wide variety of popular gaming staples, it remained unique and never felt derivative in an off-putting or blatant way, carrying more of a feeling of creative homage and inspiration as the foundation for something personal and well-crafted. It has its rough edges, but the idea of perfection is silly and unnecessary and not something that matters to me in terms of a measurement of great games. In the end, this was a top-notch experience that lived up to my high expectations going in. 5/5
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Re: Izzy's 2024 gaming year in review.

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#4 NBA LIVE 2001 (PS1-2000) 5/5 (Playtime 128 hours 41 minutes.)


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I was in the mood to play a sports game in 2024, and I considered a variety of options. I wanted to play something where I could play either a franchise or a full season in the form of a real-world league. I considered NHL 2K7 on PS2 and was about to fire that up, but then I found myself in the mood for an NBA game. It had been a long time since I played an NBA game of any kind, and so I thought about potential choices. I have a more recent version of NBA 2K on Steam, but as I was thinking about it, I remembered how much I really enjoyed the PS1 entries of NBA Live that I had played long ago and decided on NBA Live 2001 - a version I never got to experience previously. I know many think the idea of playing old sports games is not fun, but for me, if I enjoy the core gameplay, I really like reliving a sporting era that is of a historical nature. Seeing and playing as all those long-retired stars is both nostalgic and exciting. And if there's one thing that I can always count on to get my motor revving, it's the idea of taking a team through a season and/or franchise and trying to win a title. The sports/virtual sports fan in me finds this sort of thing absolutely addictive and incredibly engaging. Whenever I start up any sports game that I know I already enjoy, I get sucked in immediately, and I always know I'll have a hard time pulling myself away to play other stuff. I have to slow myself down mentally from my excitement, or I'll start hyperventilating. :P (Funny side note about my relationship to basketball. When I was growing up, I was playing sports all the time, and basketball got a ton of my investment. If I wasn't playing in organized leagues and tournaments, I was on the public courts or gyms looking to run it back until I dropped. A good buddy of mine and I would always find good competition somewhere when not in organized play, and if on the rare occasion we couldn't, we'd go one-on-one. Sorry Cliff ol' buddy, wherever you are, you know I usually got the best of you. He used to always ask me the same question in those days. He would say, “Ask me who I am?”, and I'd go, “Not again, Cliff.” “No, come on, ask me who I am.” “Ok Cliff, who are you?” And he always responded, “I am the basketball,” lol. Anyway, somehow all the time I spent paying hoops must have seeped into my subconscious psyche because I often dream of playing, and when I do, it's usually in a strange context. When my life is going well or is about to start flowing smoothly, strangely, I dream of playing, and I make shot after shot on the court, dunk all over everyone, and I'm in total rhythm. But when times are tough and I'm struggling in real life, I dream about being on the court, but I can't make a shot, lol. The ball will bounce off the rim every time, or I'll airball, or it will hang on the rim but never fall through. But It's really funny to me how the overall vibe of my life got tied up and reflected in the aspect of making or missing shots, but it has been a repeated aspect of my dream life for years and years. So yeah, I have a deep love of the game, if not always the NBA as a league. End of tangential story of izzy. :P)

So, moving on, once I decided to play 2001, I had to make some decisions about how to begin. Being an older title, there was no franchise mode to choose, so I was left with looking at a long-term investment via season or a shorter play through a playoff series or two. Well, I was really in the mood, so I opted for the former along with using the fantasy draft feature where the entire league is redistributed, giving a unique flavor to this period of the NBA. I ended up drafting pretty well apparently because after the draft had completed, I ended up with what the game judged to be the 2nd best overall roster, so I was pleased with that. (I only did a single draft, wanting to live with whatever I got for my season.) I ended up with a core of a younger Rasheed Wallace, Jamal Mashburn, Steve Nash, and an elder Scottie Pippen. I also had a nice variety of role players like Kendall Gill, Sam Perkins, Wally Szczerbiak, and the hardcore defensive enforcer presence of Ben Wallace. And I had a couple other really young guys and relative no-names to flesh out the 12. I felt like I had a pretty well-rounded roster that could play from the inside and out, and I was super excited to see what my group could accomplish. In terms of other options, I had to make choices about difficulty and whether to play a simulation or arcade-type of game. I was certain that I wanted a more simulation-style game that played out in realistic fashion rather than over-the-top arcadey style, so I chose "sim". I was really in the mood for an authentic NBA experience, which was why I also chose to play full 12-minute quarters, even though I knew this would make my overall season play-time pretty long when all was said and done. I also wanted as stiff a challenge as possible, and so I chose the hardest of the four difficulties in “Super Star”. So with all my ducks in a row, I was ready to begin the lengthy gauntlet of a grueling 82-game regular season and, hopefully, the playoffs.

So, the season tipped off, and I was getting absolutely ran right out of the building, lol. I started off 1-10 with a couple of 50+ point defeats thrown into my overall humiliation. To say I was struggling was an understatement. I was struggling to get good looks, and when I did get to the cup, I was missing tons of layups and dunks. Defensively I was giving up tons of easy buckets, and I was just struggling to find my footing on the floor. I was curious about the reception of the game due to how hard I was finding things, and so I dug through some internet archives, searching for how players and reviewers felt about it back then. And I discovered that many people said that Superstar difficulty was simply too frustrating and cheap. There were complaints about the CPU rebounding at an absurd clip compared to the user, which was certainly my experience as well. There were also the complaints of an inordinate amount of “gimme” shots failing to fall through, like I was experiencing myself. One reviewer said that it wasn't worth playing on the highest difficulty, but that the level below that was too easy. So I was in a tough spot. I didn't want a cakewalk of an experience. What is sport without challenge, without resistance? But I was doubting my ability to overcome the challenge (and cheapness) of the stiffest difficulty level. Well, it really wasn't a tough choice in the end. I'll always choose to challenge myself over being handed a hollow victory, and so I decided I would stick it out to the end…come hell or high water. It was either sink or swim, and I just hoped at the time to be able to get a little better so that I could end up with a respectable record by season's end, or at least make a solid and noticeable level of improvement.

So I started LEARNING, and I must say that the game (on simulation) ultimately provides a really nice approximation of the game of NBA basketball. There are plenty of tools at your disposal for tilting things in your favor. You can assign defensive matchups independent of position. You can adjust pressure levels on the defensive side if you want. So if there's a player that's lighting you up, you can assign your best defender to put him on a high-pressure setting, hoping to mitigate that player's damage. There are also tons of plays you can run on both the offensive and defensive sides of the court, allowing you to work for open looks with the rock or lock down your opposition on the other end. I found that the game did a great job of reflecting the importance of positioning and matchups when factoring in made shots. If you had a good angle relative to the defender(s) and an advantageous matchup, more often than not you'd either score or get fouled in the attempt. Initially I wasn't factoring in those dynamics, thinking I could get by with just taking shots by the better players, but this is a SIM at heart (especially on the simulation setting, obviously enough) and so I had to think and act as I would were I on an NBA/basketball court. And after a while, I started getting noticeably better. From that 1-10 start, I eventually got to 13-19, and I thought, "Ok, I'm getting a feel for the flow," and I was encouraged. I was getting better at using my bench effectively and keeping my starters fresh for the bigger moments and stretches. I was working the ball around for good looks most of the time, and I was generally very competitive, even when I didn't get the “W”. I still was merely hopeful of finishing with a decent record, but I kept getting better, and as I was winning more regularly, I started thinking I had a chance at making the playoffs. I thought, heck, if I can even get in as the 8 seed, who knows? At least I'd be proud of my showing, given my wretched start to the season. Near the midpoint of the season, I was 20-22, and in playoff positioning, if only on the fringes. But I had realized that I had begun to “git gud”. And after a little while longer, I realized that I had gitted TOO gud, lol. :P From that 20-22 mark, I only lost a SINGLE game the rest of the way. I finished the season 59-23 and as the 3rd seed in the Western Conference (as the Timberwolves). And in the post-season, I went a perfect 15-0, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks in a title series sweep. So, eventually, I obviously figured everything out, and the challenge kind of faded away, which surprised me, given all I'd read from the past about the highest difficulty and how unfair it was. In the end, there was very little drama, and that was disappointing a bit. But coming from where I started, I felt a wonderful sense of accomplishment, and there was a very fun storyline (in my head cannon) that developed of a team that started out horribly but turned things completely around to win the title in the end. I would have loved some greater challenge down the stretch, especially in the playoffs, but once I mastered things, the league had no chance. In the end, I ended up playing almost 129 hours to complete my season from start to finish and had a fantastic time.

Of course there are some downsides. The visuals of a game this old can't compare with modern titles, even if I do still really enjoy them. The frame rate is noticeably lower than I would have preferred. But the animations did a good job of conveying player movement and the general feel of an NBA game. And as mentioned, there's no franchise mode; however, I doubt I'd have played multiple seasons, given the investment I'd already made for the single campaign. Although I may have done more from a managerial standpoint over multiple years. The commentary is really repetitive and dry and doesn't always reflect the mood of the larger picture and context of games. The crowd can be enthusiastic and nicely loud at times, but they sometimes are over-involved when circumstances don't warrant such enthusiasm. The trade system was poor due to the fact that you can't review a trade that is proposed to you. So either you already know the attributes of the proposed player exchange, or you simply refuse due to lack of information. I never accepted a trade offered to me due to this frustrating omission. As I also already mentioned, the computer can be really, really cheap on the highest difficulty. The amount of offensive rebounds they get is absurd and contrasted pretty harshly with the otherwise mostly realistic depiction of NBA ball, but you could certainly mitigate this aspect to a degree via excellent play. There was also a “keep scores close” option, which I thought was ridiculous. If you're just going to tick off that box, you may as well just play the final couple minutes of every game. I don't know who would use that.

But despite some complaints, I absolutely loved my trip back in time, both to the PS1 NBA Live series and this era of the league. Players all felt unique in terms of their abilities and execution on the court. Good shooters could make it rain. Good post players could back down weaker defenders and bully them for easy buckets. Quick athletes could pump fake slower guys for free lanes to the cup. Overall, matchups REALLY mattered tremendously, as they should in an NBA game, and the varied feel of all the players made for an incredibly exciting game of hoops. I always loved the PS1 (and Genesis) era NBA LIVE games, but I had forgotten just how fun they were. I had an absolutely fantastic time with my season, and my only regret is that, surprisingly, the challenge wasn't as stiff as I would have liked in the end. But anyone who enjoys basketball and doesn't mind playing older era titles really ought to consider going back in time to this as well. I can't believe how much I ended up LOVING a quarter century old sports title, but boy did I ever. 5/5

I also kept a spreadsheet of my journey where I recorded all my season and playoff scores and record. I figured I'd throw this in here as well, ha.

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canedaddy
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Re: Izzy's 2024 gaming year in review.

Post by canedaddy »

I love that you chose an old sports game for your top 5.

Cliff, hope you're still the basketball wherever you are!
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isthatallyougot
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Re: Izzy's 2024 gaming year in review.

Post by isthatallyougot »

canedaddy wrote: Tue Aug 12, 2025 1:59 pm I love that you chose an old sports game for your top 5.

Cliff, hope you're still the basketball wherever you are!
Well, I can assure you there has been no charity given. It earned every bit of its rank (for me) in 2024.
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Dragon kick your a$$ into the Milky Way!
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