Well would you look at that, I actually got one of these out on time for once. Turns out starting on it ahead of time and not waiting until Monday and trying to do it all at once helps a lot.

Anyways here's the chart:

• Ordered by first play of the week.
• All Switch/Switch 2 play data on my console is sourced from the Nintendo Store mobile app.
• All 3DS play data sourced from the 3DS Activity Log application.
• All Wii U play data sourced from the Wii U Daily Log application.
• Play data marked with a * is estimated.

That is a wide range of platforms, including the first ever appearance of GBA SP. Neat.

After taking a week off from the 'most played' spot, Splatoon Raiders returned to being my most played game this week as I worked towards finishing its post-game, which I did accomplish!

Speaking of, I set a handful of goals for myself last week as a new element of the play log, and I'll be referring to that list in each segment where it's applicable, and doing a roundup at the end before introducing some new goals.

Alright, let's get into it before I start rambling in the preamble again.

Splatoon Raiders (NS2)

• Played on Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sun for an approx. total of ~7 hrs 30 mins

As I mentioned, one of the goals I set for myself this week was to complete the post game of Splatoon Raiders, and on Saturday night, I did just that!

Usually I don't intend to go into spoilers for newly released games in these logs, and Raiders is only just over a month old, but... I really want to talk briefly about some specifics, so, scroll past this section if you'd prefer not to be spoiled.

POST-GAME SPOILERS FOR SPLATOON RAIDERS BELOW

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...still here? Alright, here we go.

The primary post-game of Splatoon Raiders has you unlocking and tackling the seemingly endless underground Salmonid den known as the Bottomless Buffet 3 floors at a time, with the difficulty gradually escalating as you get deeper and deeper.

Once you reach the 100th floor, you're faced with what I can only describe as a super boss. It's not the first time Splatoon's done a super difficult post game boss fight, as those of you who have played the Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion might remember the infamous Inner Agent 3 fight, something I was never able to beat. Inner Agent 3 is different from Raiders' super boss in that Agent 3 tested your true mastery of the game's mechanics, whereas Raiders' superboss feels more like an incredibly powerful bullet(ink)-sponge with dangerous attacks that WILL kill you if you get careless. It's still very much a test of the skills you've developed throughout the game, but I find it to feel like a different kind of skill-check than what Inner Agent 3 offers, if that makes sense.

That being said, I did really enjoy this fight! I beat it on my second try, mainly because on my first attempt, I almost immediately lost a life due to being stupid, but it was incredibly tense, especially towards the end where I was down to my last life. Every time my health drained and put me in danger was harrowing as I tried desperately to get to safety and wait for my shields to regenerate, especially with the threat of having to redo the entire lengthy fight over again constantly looming overhead.

It was honestly exhilarating, and even though it only took two attempts, winning felt incredibly fulfilling!

And the best part? The game doesn't end, as it turns out the Bottomless Buffet is truly bottomless. After beating the boss, a new set of floors are unlocked, and I imagine it goes on for quite a while longer. There's still more loot to find to get to the highest rank, and while the game will likely be less of a priority from here on, I absolutely intend on continuing to return to it now and again to chip away at these bonus floors.

I also just love the fact that there's more game for the simple reason of being able to continue tweaking my build and making myself stronger, as it seems the difficulty level is only going to keep going up. And I welcome the challenge. This is the kind of end-game content I feel like Side Order was desperately missing- being a rougelike, an endless mode of some kind that progressively gets harder the farther you go would've made so much sense and been awesome!

Regardless, Splatoon Raiders has been a great time, and I'm glad there are still reasons for me to keep going back to it!

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END SPLATOON RAIDERS SPOILERS

Metroid Fusion (GBA: NC on NS2)

• Played on Monday and Tuesday for an approx. total of ~30 mins

Yeah, uh- despite my desire to beat Fusion last week, I didn't get around to playing it nearly as much as I wanted to. While I could blame that on getting started working again, the only days I actually played it were days I worked, so, that excuse doesn't work.

It's probably simply that I kept getting distracted by other things every time I wanted to play it.

But despite the small amount of time I spent with Fusion last week, I did make a good amount of progress! For one, I defeated the Nightmare, who I complained about in the previous week's play log due to its erratic movement. I still stand by those complaints. The design is awesome, one of Metroid's most unsettling creatures that I've encountered, but the fight itself I wasn't too big on, at least regarding the third phase. I liked the first two phases well enough.

After that, I went around the area and did some exploring in search of upgrades, and ended up stumbling upon a pathway to another sector despite my objective on the map screen instructing me to return to the navigation room. Here, I just so happened to stumble into the Security Room for unlocking the red, level 4 locks, as well as finding the Diffusion Missiles upgrade, all without ever being instructed to do so by Adam.

I thought I might've accidentally performed a sequence break, but when I got back to the sectors navigation room, Adam told me off for releasing the level 4 locks without instruction, so... whether this was THE method of progressing forwards that I accidentally stumbled upon or an alternate route with unique dialogue, I'm still not sure. I plan to look into it once I finish the game, as I'm incredibly curious.

And after all that, I was sent to Sector 6 to dispatch a rogue security robot, but not before Adam gave an ominous instruction to leave the sector immediately upon eliminating the target. Given the almost horror-esque atmosphere Fusion can have at times, I found that pretty chilling, though I still don't know what could possibly have prompted him to give that instruction... it's probably SA-X related, if I had to guess, but I do like that unsettling sense of uncertainty it instills.

From there I defeated the security robot and ended up in some "Restricted Zone" after being repeatedly told "WARNING: NO ENTRY WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION". I get the feeling I'm not wanted there.

But that's where I left off. I'm eager to jump back in and find out what could've possibly had Adam so spooked, and what might be lurking in the Restricted Zone...

Rhythm Heaven Fever (Wii on Wii U VC)

• Played on Wednesday for 3 hrs 32 mins

Rhythm Heaven was back in full force this week, with a good amount of time divided between all three titles I own.

This started with me really wanting to play Remix 10 again. I'd been watching a ton of Remix 10 parody videos online that had helped me to become very familiar with the song and overall flow of the stage. So, I decided to boot the game up and try to get a "Suberb" on Remix 10 on my first try after having not played for a while.

Yeah, that went about as well as you'd expect.

But hey, after taking a couple more shots at it throughout the night, I would eventually get it, which felt really good! Remix 10 is an incredible finale to Fever, being very challenging and very satisfying to get down. And the ways in which they weaved each rhythm game's theme together into one continuous medley makes for one of the most memorable songs in the whole series.

Other than that, I chipped away at getting Superbs in as many stages as I could, making great progress. I think I went from around the low 20s to the high 30s by the end of this play session, which I'm pretty happy with.

I think it's safe to say at this point that Fever is my favorite Rhythm Heaven game, despite Groove being my entry point and the game that made me fall in love with Rhythm Heaven in the first place. That's not to say my opinion on Groove has soured or anything, I just think Fever is that much better. They're all great games, though, and you can't go wrong with any entry in the Rhythm Heaven series.

Rhythm Heaven Megamix (3DS)

• Played on Thurs, Fri and Sat for a total of 2 hrs 16 mins

Megamix once again served the role as my 'wind-down before bed' game, except for Friday where I played it in the middle of the day just cause. I'm currently working my way through the Towers, and am down to the last individual game and remix of the last tower. Now, I'm pretty sure the game will continue after this, as I have yet to encounter games like Lockstep which I'm pretty sure are in Megamix.

I did finally start seeing some new games in the last two towers I tackled after going through a bunch of sequels, including Rat Race and Tap Trial from GBA, Fan Club and Frog Hop from DS, and Working Dough and Ringside from Fever. It feels kinda surreal to play the Fever games on a 3DS after playing Fever, even going back to the games I played first in Megamix, like Air Rally, Flockstep, and Flipper Flop, before playing Fever.

I also got to try out a different kind of 'Challenge Train' objective, the Monster Maw, where you have to keep getting Aces (perfectly timed inputs) to avoid your screen falling into the mouth of a monster. For every Ace you get, you draw further from the monster, but when you aren't getting Aces, you draw closer to its maw, and if it's able to close its mouth on your screen, you lose. It's an incredibly creative way of recontextualizing these rhythm games in a way that feels incredibly tense and high-pressure. I'd go on extended Ace dryspells, heightening the urgency to get some Aces and find some breathing room, and that added pressure could throw me off my rhythm entirely if I wasn't careful. I love it, it's super cool.

Overall, Megamix is a ton of fun, and I certainly plan to continue chipping away at it whenever I get the opportunity.

DK Challenge (NS2)

• Played on Friday for ~10 mins

This'll be the last time I mention the Nintendo Classics half of the DK Challenge, as I have completed it!

I spent a bit of time on Friday evening knocking out the last two challenges in the older games, being to clear Bramble Blast in DKC2, and defeating King K. Rool in DKC1. Though, I do have a confession to make- I totally abused rewind to knock these challenges out, just so I didn't drive myself crazy trying to clear them.

For Bramble Blast, I used the rule I had been abiding by of rewinding to checkpoints if I die, but for K. Rool, I'm gonna be completely honest, I just wanted to get it over and done with. However, having beaten the challenge, I do think I could do it legit given the time to learn the fight. I do intend to play through the original DKC trilogy at some point, and when I do, I'll hopefully be able to redeem myself.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (GBA SP)

• Played on Friday for ~15 mins

Betcha didn't expect this, huh? I do actually have a real GBA SP, which I got as a birthday present a few years ago. I don't use it a ton, but it's a cool novelty to whip it out every now and then, and I've compiled a pretty neat collection of games for it. Some of them, like Pokemon Emerald, Minish Cap, Super Circuit, and a pair of Super Mario Advance games, are reproduction cartridges. I didn't understand the difference between authentic and reproduction GBA cartridges back when I first got the system, but they're still neat to have. I also have a copy of the Mother 3 fan translation on a GBA cartridge, which, while also clearly not official, is really dang cool. If I ever get around to playing the Mother series, it's how I intend to play the third entry, barring an official translation ever happening (ha).

I do have a couple cartridges that I'm pretty sure are completely authentic, such as Namco Museum, and the topic of this segment, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. And with my Kingdom Hearts obsession back in full force in lieu of the massive KHIV news from last weekend, I thought it would be neat to pop it in and mess around with it for a bit.

Ever since I came into the Kingdom Hearts fandom and learned about this game, it's fascinated me. The fact that, one game into this series, they decided to make a spin-off on a completely different platform with very different gameplay, and have its story be fairly important to understanding what is going on at the start of KHII is just... well, it's one of the most Kingdom Hearts things of all time.

I've only ever played the PS2 remake, Re:Chain of Memories, and I'm not particularly fond of it- probably my least favorite game in the series- but that doesn't mean I'm any less compelled by the original GBA version.

It's a surprisingly ambitious and impressive game given the hardware it's on. For one, the opening cutscene is a full-motion video that looks just like the cutscenes from the original PS2 game, crammed onto the GBA. It's actually kind of surreal to see this kind of footage running on a GBA's screen. As for the gameplay, they adapted the Kingdom Hearts gameplay to the GBA's much smaller number of buttons about as well as they could.

I pretty much only played up until the first save point, but it was enough to give me a taste of what is one of the most unique titles in the Kingdom Hearts franchise. Like I said, everything about this game is just so interesting to me. I imagine that there were a lot of kids out there that played Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 and being incredibly confused on how Sora ended up in a memory-restoring sleep pod, unaware at the time that there was an entire other game out there that filled in that gap. I will never not find the decision to handle the early story in this way to be one of the decisions of all time.

But, like I said, if there's any franchise I'd expect that from, it's this one, and wouldn't have this crazy, fever dream of a series any other way.

Rhythm Heaven Groove (NS on NS2)

• Played on Saturday and Sunday for an approx. total of ~1 hr 15 mins

While my goal for this week in Groove was to play more of and hopefully beat Beatspell, I only ended up playing one level, putting me now 6 chapters in. And, my goodness, they're still introducing new mechanics- it took 6 chapters to get a dodge ability! As I progress, I'm also learning that once I get thrown off my rhythm, I am awful at recovering, giving enemies perfect opportunities to get free hits in. I honestly have no clue how I'm going to manage five stars in some of these chapters.

Though, while I didn't play much Beatspell, I did accomplish something else significant, that being getting a Superb on all 80 Solo Rhythm Games! On Saturday, I finally knocked out some of the last individual games that were giving me trouble, including both versions of Hi-Five Fever. They're easily some of my favorites in the game due to the sheer hilarity of their use of stock photos as backgrounds, but I've always found it a bit finnicky. Most of the time it all works fine, but every now and then it'll make me ask "what do you MEAN I missed that input?"

Getting those done left four remixes for me to Superb on Sunday, including Remix 20, all of which I would knock out on my first attempt that night. And what did I earn for getting all 80 medals? Why NOTHING of course!

Can't lie, I was a bit disappointed to not unlock anything for getting every Superb. There's not even an acknowledgement of the achievement! I would've appreciated a 'Good Job' from Lil' Miss Reeds, or a pat on the back from the Barista or Lounge Owner, but nope! Nothing!

It's whatever, though. I enjoyed the journey, and there's still a lot more to do. Finishing Beatspell is obviously top priority now, but I've also barely engaged with some other side modes, like Drum Lessons and Score Attack. I can also turn my attention to trying for Perfects whenever they pop up. Plus, I keep seeing people mentioning 'Rainbow Perfects' and 'Night Mode', and I still have no idea what those are or how to unlock them, but knowing there's even more game motivates me to keep trying to unlock them. I thought I might unlock Night Mode by getting all the Suberbs, but now my running theory is that clearing Beatspell has something to do with unlocking it. Unless it requires getting all the Perfects, which I don't see myself being able to do (who knows, though, play the game for long enough I could some day get there, crazier things have happened), I'm determined to find out how to unlock it myself without looking it up. And if you're a Rhythm Heaven fan that already knows how to unlock Night Mode and I look like a bumbling idiot trying to figure it out, I am sorry, I'm doing my best.

Donkey Kong Bananza (NS2)

• Played on Sunday for ~45 mins

With the Nintendo Classics half of the DK Challenge complete, I only have one challenge left to clear in Donkey Kong Bananza, and it's the one I had been dreading the most since I first saw it: Complete Final Rehearsal with 0 Skills Unlocked.

Final Rehearsal is this game's Grandmaster Galaxy/Champion's Road/Darker Side equivalent, but my first time playing it, I found it really easy. So, with how quickly I was able to clear the Boss Rush with no skills, I went into it Sunday afternoon with high hopes that I could get it done swiftly.

That's when I learned that Final Rehearsal is a completely different beast with no skills unlocked.

I started by playing through it again with all my skills still unlocked to get a feel for everything and refresh myself on each challenge, as it's probably been over a year since I played it. Immediately, I could see the problems that would be posed. Final Rehearsal rightfully feels like it was designed with an entire playthrough's worth of unlocking skills in mind, so taking those skills away would suddenly make the level require some... creative solutions.

And once I had returned from resetting my skills and starting doing attempts, it dawned on me that it was going to be even worse than I feared.

The very first segment of the stage is a tunnel of thorns that I've always used Ostrich Bananza's Glide to maneuver through. But since Glide is an unlockable skill, a different approach would be required.

I tried using Elephant Bananza to suck up the thorns and clear a path, but the very limited Bananergy you have access to due to having no upgrades unlocked makes that unviable. So I tried sucking up thorns with Elephant near the starting platform to create a chunk to Turf Surf over the thorns on. Turns out those chunks are worn down by the thorns super quickly and you'll soon be caught in no man's land where the thorns will almost certainly kill you.

Oh yeah, that brings up the other factor that makes this stupidly challenging: you only have three hearts, but in my experience, it only takes two hits to kill you from full health. So the margin for error is RAZOR thin. I have gear equipped that passively restores HP while in a Bananza, but it's so slow and the amount of time I can be in a Bananza before having to refuel is so small, that it barely makes a difference.

So, how in the heck are you supposed to get out of the first area? Well, looking at the video example reveals a technique that combines Ostrich Bananza's default Flutter ability with rapidly starting and cancelling a Turf Surf to LITERALLY HOVER THROUGH THE AIR! This looks like tech that I'd see in a speedrun, not as an officially Nintendo endorsed method of getting through this challenge's first area.

Even with that, getting a run out of the thorny tunnel is incredibly difficult. Maneuvering in mid-air while spamming the ZL button to rapidly activate/cancel Turf Surf while managing the amount of Flutter you have (I'm pretty sure I ran out of Flutter on one attempt and plummeted into the thorns) as WELL as managing your Bananergy so you don't lose your Ostrich Bananza makes for an utterly INSANE challenge that I cannot believe Nintendo themselves actually wants you to do.

And you know what? I kinda love it. It turns what was a forgettably easy final challenge into one of the most difficult challenges I've taken on in a platformer in some time, and, like many other challenges in the DK Challenge, goes well beyond what the game itself asks you to do for 100% completion. That's the kind of thing that makes me wish Nintendo had a system-wide achievements system like pretty much every other platform these days, and the DK Challenge offering a taste of what kind of unique challenges that could provide has only emboldened that desire.

But y'know what's really crazy? That's just the first section of the level. To even REACH the rest of the level, you have to overcome what might be the most difficult challenge I've faced in Bananza by a wide margin.

Now, the rest of the level doesn't seem nearly as bad, and perfectly reasonable to complete without skills unlocked, but because the first section is so ludicrously difficult to get through and clearly was not designed for 0 skills to the point of needing officially endorsed exploits to get through it, there's a tension that hangs over the entire run, as one wrong move, one misstep, could send you all the way back to the beginning and you have to do the first section again. It makes every move feel the need to be incredibly calculated. It's incredibly tense, but also kind of exhilarating.

In my ~45 minutes of attempts, I only escaped the thorny tunnel once, and was making good progress until I panicked during the radiant stone section and died to spikes. It was at that point I decided to shelve it for the night and opt to grind away at the challenge throughout the coming week. I'm on a strict time limit with only a week until the DK Challenge is over, but I firmly believe I am capable of pulling it off. If I can just get another run or two out of the thorny tunnel, or start consistently getting past it, I think I've got a good chance. The challenge comes from developing that consistency and getting more runs past the first section than I don't. And if there's anything I've learned from my time speedrunning games like Celeste a few years ago, it's that if you throw yourself at a difficult challenge enough times, eventually, consistency will come.

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And that's it! I sure had a lot to say there at the end about 45 minutes of playing Bananza, huh?

So with the main body of the play log wrapped, let's take another look at that goals list and see how I did overall.

• Finish Splatoon Raider's Post-Game (ACHIEVED)
• Complete the DK Challenge (NOT ACHIEVED)
• Play More of Beatspell in Rhythm Heaven Groove (ACHIEVED)
• Beat Metroid Fusion (NOT ACHIEVED)

So, 2 out of 4, with a massive asterisk, as I can only check off the Beatspell one because I explicitly said I only needed to 'play more', which, even though it was only one level, I did. I got close to completing the DK Challenge, but got walled by the insanity that is the Final Rehearsal with no skills. For Metroid, I just didn't get around to it much. That leaves Raiders' post-game as the only other goal I can check off. Setting it as a goal in a previous play log actually motivated me to grind it out and get it done, so this is working so far!

That being said, I'm gonna carry over most of last week's list, and throw something new on there as well for this next set.

• Complete the DK Challenge
• Beat Beatspell in Rhythm Heaven Groove
• Beat Metroid Fusion
• Start Playing Tears of the Kingdom Again

Now that I've finished Raiders and don't currently have a big recent release I'm actively working through, now's the time to play some more Tears, what with some breathing room between now and the next release I'm really looking forwards to, which at this moment is the new Kingdom Hearts Collection releasing in early October. Gotta take advantage of the time I have and inch closer to one day finishing that game.

Everything else should be self explanatory, pretty much being carryovers from last week. I'm gonna grind the Final Rehearsal challenge whenever I get the chance, and aim to make steady progress in Fusion and Beatspell, hopefully being able to finish both by the week's end.

Until then, happy gaming!