Devil May Cry

"Well, well, what do we have here?"

When this game was initially released, it passed me by. When the sequel came out, I was more aware of it, but I don't remember biting. When the sequel to that came out, which is apparently a prequel to this, I think it's safe to say that I was definitely on board with Devil May Cry as a concept, and hopelessly inept at playing it.

Because I did play it. At some point, I owned Devil May Cry, and potentially DMC2 and/or DMC3, but I barely got into any of them owing to my inability to grasp their gameplay. I wanted to see more, but couldn't, so didn't.

Fast forward to the present and Devil May Cry 5 is showing itself off, and still, I sit here looking at the series, rather than playing it. In some form or other, I own most of these games. I've clearly not got a clue what it means to 'game', and must actually be nothing more than a collector.

Let's change that. Let's fire up the PS2 with Devil May Cry and start from the beginning.

Oh, and in case you need warning:

Where have I seen that before?

IL-2 Sturmovik

Is... is that a plane? Should I be shooting at that?

Flight simulators don't crop up often on this 1001 list, and my flight stick is gathering a little bit of dust doing nothing over there, so the arrival of IL-2 Sturmovik is almost music to my ears. I say almost because its write up mentions how it is a hardcore military flight simulator, focused on the Second World War, and isn't for the faint of heart.

I hope it has some kind of easy mode...

Tribes 2

"*I* will go for the enemy flag."

The 1001 list entry for Tribes 2 makes it clear that, after all this time since its original launch, to experience the game at its fullest is to put in hours of practice before going up against professionals on fan-run servers.

I'm relatively confident in saying that I'm not going to be experiencing Tribes 2 to its fullest, then, but let's see how far we can get.

Black & White

"When people pray, a God is always born, able to change eternity. That God is you."

If my time with The Sims is anything to go by, then you'll know that God games don't exactly appeal to me, and Black & White is as literal a God game as you can get. Manipulating the world via a disembodied hand and an animal avatar, will you be naughty or nice to the blobby inhabitants whose belief in you is the only reason you're here at all?

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec

The Real Driving Simulator.

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec is an easy one for me to recall from my memory. The first console I purchased myself (with the aid/funding from Mum, obviously) was the PlayStation 2, and it was bundled in a bright red Gran Turismo 3 branded box. Getting a game that looked this impressive for a brand new console that looked this awesome was a no brainer, and over the years I played quite a bit of GT3.

Despite wanting to get a slim PS2, that original launch PS2 is still with me and working to this day. I've no idea where GT3 went, but you can find copies everywhere, and I've picked up a Platinum rerelease from somewhere to get my fix.

I suppose I haven't played it since GT4 came out, which would mean last playing this game fifteen years ago. I'm sure it'll come back to me in no time.

Commandos 2: Men of Courage

"I was trained for this."

I don't know how I came to own Commandos 2: Men of Courage for the PlayStation 2, but I'm relatively sure I did own it, and I'm very confident that I was excited to play it. It looked like nothing my console-centric eyes had ever seen, and I was looking forward to commanding commandos behind enemy lines.

But I couldn't get past the first tutorial mission. I wasn't even told the controls, or how best to use them. I was dropped into a bush in front of a roadblock and told to get on with it. I never could. It's not like I tried for hours and got nowhere, no. More like I was disappointed in having this incredible game blocked off through difficulty and lack of new player support that I gave up in next to no time at all.

I haven't touched it since that day, whenever that was, the tutorial mission layout forever pictured in my mind when I come to think about Commandos 2.

So my objective this time around is simple: Complete Tutorial Mission 1.

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

I've found something!

It was only yesterday when I was mumbling something about the games on this 1001 list getting more familiar to me. The next game is so familiar that my one memory of it from nearly twenty years ago is that I was borrowing from a friend and I'm relatively sure I returned it a week later having completed it.

But that really is my one memory of it. I can't remember how Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance plays. I don't recall its plot. I don't even recognise areas from skimming through speedruns. Did I actually complete this as a teenager? Did I even play it at all? I'm sure I remember the cover and the name...

Whatever is going on in my memory, it's time to refresh it with a playthrough.

Final Fantasy X

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. HA HA HA..."

It suddenly dawned on me, as I opened my CD case to find Final Fantasy X, that I had arrived at the stage of the 1001 list where I'd start to know a lot more games a lot better. The PlayStation 2 wasn't the first console I'd owned, but may well have been the most used. I'm at home when playing on Sony hardware, even when using Microsoft peripherals and community created emulators to play its games.

My first interaction with Final Fantasy X was back when I bought Final Fantasy VI for the PlayStation. Its European release was a year or so into the PS2 era, and it included a demo for FFX - mostly the reason I bought FFVI, to be honest - but I remember absolutely nothing about that demo.

In the years since I've only seen clips of the game. I could tell you what characters belonged to the game based on the art style, I suppose, but that's about it. FFX is uncharted waters for me, like most of the FF series, I guess.

Time to change that, I think.

Animal Crossing

"Remember that bad times... are just times that are bad."

There are times when I turn to look at the upcoming games on this 1001 list where I just hang my head and groan a little, for one reason or another. Perhaps they're tricky to set up on new hardware, maybe they've issues with being emulated, perhaps I've had a bad time with them in the past and I just don't want to get around to them right now. Animal Crossing is one such game.

It's not because it's difficult to run - it emulates fine. It's not because I've had a bad experience with it - I've never played it before. It's all down to the fact that I cannot picture myself sitting down to enjoy a game whose genre is described as 'social simulation', and whose main characters are cartoon animals.

I'll play weird and wacky games, don't get me wrong, and I'll definitely play Animal Crossing, but let's just be clear that I'm going into this game groaning and hoping to get it over with quickly...

Sacrifice

Sallying forth!

Sacrifice? Sacrifice?! What on Earth is Sacrifice? I've had this 1001 list for years now, and have had to go through it many, many times looking for games to pick up from sales and second-hand shops. At some point - November 2015, according to a quick search of my inbox - I bought Sacrifice along with a bunch of other titles. I didn't know what it was then, and in the four years since, I've still got no idea what it is. I've never knowingly seen it. What's this all about?

Sacrifice is a real-time strategy of wizards and their summons; of mana fountains and opposition altars; of bickering Gods and bloated creatures. As commander of your summoned forces, you'll be the boots on the ground for the Gods in the skies, commanding your troops to attack, defend and even sacrifice themselves for the greater good.

It's time to sacrifice some time towards Sacrifice.

Thief II: The Metal Age

Did I see something? Anything?

At the time of writing, Summer is threatening to appear throughout the heavens. The sky is blue, the trees are green, the mood in this place is lifting, and I'm sat here trying desperately to play the darkest game on the planet, Thief II: The Metal Age.

Sequel to The Dark Project, The Metal Age brings us more first-person stealth action in the role of a master thief, Garrett, armed with his fantasy steampunky tricks of the trade that players of the first game will be familiar with.

Not that you'll be able to see any of that...

Super Monkey Ball

FALL OUT

A long time ago, back in the days of SMS and MSN Messenger, when emoticons were a thing, I'd often find myself using variations of this vaguely monkey-looking chap: @('_')@

I don't know how I stumbled across it, but something tells me I might have been inspired by Super Monkey Ball, a strange little game that I was aware of, but only peripherally. Its premise is simple. Take a strong hint of Marble Madness, but replace the marbles with monkeys in spheres.

Job done, game on.

Vagrant Story

"This is my game."

With many games on this 1001 list, I've either known about them for decades (whether I've played them or not) or haven't got a clue what they are at all. The middle ground didn't seem to exist, but it's the best way to describe my awareness of Vagrant Story, an Action RPG that I've been aware of for only a few years at most, and only when it's mentioned in passing by gamers recounting memories of their childhood favourites.

From the precious little I've seen, I've always been interested in it, but not so curious that I had to stop what I was doing and try it out. It has always caught my eye as being a looker, brown and beige though it may be, but I suppose I've then been put off with it being a game that would require many hours to get the most out of it.

What, then, can I find out about this Vagrant Story in the here and now of the 1001 list? Will I confirm my interest in it? Will I see what other gamers love about it? It's time to finally find out.