It's crazy to think it's about to be the final month of this little challenge I've made for myself. 61 days have passed, I've played 27 games in total, and I've done a lot of drawing thanks to it. July has been a lot nicer to me than June, even though I've played probably the worst game of the Summer of Sequels so far this month. Yet again, with another month of the Summer of Sequels down, it's time to reflect.
Summer of Sequels Statistics
Now, with 2 months in, I think it best to look at it in two ways, the entire Summer of Sequels so far, and this month in isolation.
Game Genres - Overall Statistics
I think it best to start with the overall statistics of the Summer of Sequels so far, spanning from June 1st to July 31st. As I mentioned in the last recap, fitting games into specific genres is rather difficult, but I'll try my best to do so for the sake of fun statistics. So, lets begin.
The genre with the most games played during the 2 month period of the Summer of Sequels is, unsurprisingly, RPGs. Of the 27 total games played, 11 games were RPGs, and for reference, that means 40.74% of games rolled were RPGs. If we take out the 3 games that were free choices, and not rolled by the wheel, the percentage actual increases, to 41.67%. While this could be seen as a statistical marvel, It was also very likely that this would occur. RPGs are my favorite kind of game to play, so of course, they would appear most often, as I've played that genre the most. The specific games I categorized as RPGs include: Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Chrono Cross, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, Breath of Fire II, Bravely Default, Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time, Final Fantasy III, Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, Pokemon Y, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
The genre that has been rolled the least overall during the Summer of Sequels is Shooters. In particular, of the 27 total games played, only 2 were Shooters, meaning Shooters were only rolled 7.4% of the time. Though technically, the games I put under Shooters should probably also fall under Horror, but I can't in my heart do that. Specifically, those games were Resident Evil 5, and Resident Evil 6, games that while tied to a legacy of famous horror titles, don't feel like horror games themselves. And because of that, I've categorized them under Shooter. What I think is interesting here is that the only shooters that have been rolled are Resident Evil games. I havent played many shooters, but there are 3 other possibilities for Shooters on the Summer of Sequels wheel, so its interesting how only Resident Evil has been rolled.
Game Genres - July
Now, lets look at the statistics of the games rolled this month alone. In july, I played 13 games in total, and of those games RPGs were the most rolled, consisting of 6 games total. That means during July, 46.15% of games rolled in July were RPGs, which is about the same as the overall statistics. As I've mentioned before, this is still unsurprising, I love RPGs, so they make up a pretty large amount of the overall wheel. I don't think I need to mention the games specifically, as I mentioned them back in the overall statistics.
So, if the most rolled genre is the same, it's safe to assume that the least rolled genre is the same, and in fact, that's partially true. Of the 13 games played during July, the genre rolled the least was Shooters, appearing only once. And because of that, Shooters were rolled only 7.69% of the time, which accurately reflects the overall statistics as well. However what makes things interesting is that there's a tie here, as Hack and Slashes were only rolled once as well this month, specifically that game being Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes. And I find that statistic rather interesting, cause I've played a lot of Hack and Slashes, and it's rather surprising only one has been rolled, when there's numerous others on the wheel.
Game Platforms - Overall Statistics
Yet again, I love examining this statistic, and seeing from which systems I play my games on. While I never mentioned this in my original recap, any game I play through Steam is counted as PC, I just though that would be important to note. So with that in mind, of 27 games, which Platforms have been rolled the most? Oddly enough, it's a tie between PC, and the Nintendo DS, both appearing 5 times each. Specifically, that means both PC and the DS were rolled 18.52% of the time. For PC, the games include: No More Heroes 2, Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6, Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, and Final Fantasy III. For the DS, the games include: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, Kirby Super Star Ultra, Okamiden, Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time, and Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia. What I find interesting is how of every possible system, the DS appeared so often, I don't really have a hypothesis to why so many DS game appeared.
Now, examining what has been rolled the least overall for the Summer of Sequels does not hold the same weight, I would say. That's because overall, there's a 6-way tie for last place, each of those platforms having only been rolled once. And of course for reference, those platforms were rolled 3.7% of the time. Now with that in mind, the systems that have only been rolled once include: Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, Nintendo Switch, and the PlayStation Portable. Because there's 6 consoles listed here, I don't think it necessary to say which games I rolled from them.
Game Platforms - July
Now, I think July is an interesting month overall to look at statistically. In particular, the game that was rolled the most was the Nintendo DS, and of the 13 games rolled, 4 were from the Nintendo DS. That means DS games were rolled 30.77% of the time. And god, that's really interesting to look at, cause not only did the Nintendo DS claim first place for the month of July, it took first place for the overall statistics. The sudden jump of DS games rolled makes for such interesting statistics, and I love seeing this turn out the way it does.
Much like the overall statistics, there's a lot of Platforms that take the last place slot for July alone. In particular, there's a 4-way tie for last place, each of those platforms only being rolled once. And in that regard, these platforms were rolled only 7.69% of the time. Those platforms being: Nintendo 64, Gamecube, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 1. There is another interesting statistic I want to share here though! That in particular being that the platform that was in first place at the end of June, the PlayStation 2, did not appear once during the month of July. And yet again, much like the sudden spike of the Nintendo DS, I find it really interesting how the PlayStation 2 was entirely gone for the month of July. It makes me really interesting what is to occur in August.
2-Month-In Reflections
I'll be honest, I can't wait for the Summer of Sequels to be over. While I love creating the collage of characters for it, and I've been able to play many great games because of it, I'm tired of not having a choice of what game I can play. But, while I may be tired, my dedication to this challenge is strong, and I will make sure I see it through to the end. For better or for worse. I think I've already played the worst game I could've played, so it can only go up from here, I suppose.
In that regard, in July, the best game I played was The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Funnily enough, that's also the game that was my free choice, and the first game of July. Twilight Princess may be my favorite Zelda game, as I loved its general aesthetic, and it's dungeons are really good. One thing I'll add here is that I could've easily placed Bravely Default in this space, it feels unfair to put Bravely Default here though, as that's a game I've played on multiple occasions already. For the 2 month period of the Summer of Sequels so far, my favorite games would include: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Kirby Super Star Ultra, and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, not in any particular order.
Now, while I would say July was a lot nicer to me than June was in the overall selection of games I played, July also featured one of the worst games I've ever played. That game specifically being Resident Evil 6. Resident Evil 6 by itself is a mediocre shooter, but by the time I actually beat the game, I felt sapped of my energy, it actively felt draining to play the game, and there was no satisfaction upon beating it. And even though I played some bad games in June, none left me this drained. Genuinely I'd rather replay God of War II or Resident Evil 5 over this.
Now, I had a couple pleasant surprises during the month of July. The first one that comes to mind was Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia. After the dreadful experience I had with the original Pokemon Ranger back in May, Shadows of Almia being a lot better was a pleasant surprise for me. _Other pleasant surprises I had include: Okamiden, and Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time. Though, I'll say, I don't think any game has surprised me as much as Chrono Cross did back in June. It's a game I still think about even now, it was just such a unique experience.
Recap Conclusion
As I've said prior, I can't wait for the Summer of Sequels to be over. I'd like to be able to choose what games I play again, and I only have one month left until I can. But regardless, I will see it through the end, as best as I possibly can. With that in mind, I may slow down during August, as I have to move out of my dorm and move into a different one. That means there will be an about 2 week period where I will probably have less time to spend on the Summer of Sequels. My general goal was to play 30 games for the Summer of Sequels though, and since I'm just about there, I'm fine with whatever the end number turns out to be.
And of course, with that mind, here's the current state of the collage:
