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52 Games. 1 Year. 2017.

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Main post part 2

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49. World in Conflict - 8 hours
One of the best RTS games i've ever played, a highest point of genre. Honestly I didn't expected anything like this, i knew this game was good, but i never imagined it was SO good. Unexpectedly engaging story with interesting characters, great level design, perfect balance and gameplay. Now i want sequel, but i guess it would never happen since Ubisoft hates RTS genre and forced devs of this gem to create a goddamn The Division.
 

Rokal

Member
Thanks for managing this.

This challenge was a bright spot in a very dark 2017 for me.

I’m close to 52 and sad that I’ll have to find a new home for posting about games and other issues, but I really appreciate everything you’ve done and the outlet you helped provide.
 

eefara

Member
It's been a great time! I've been keeping track just personally this year, but it's been a joy to read everyone's comments and mini-reviews about such a wide range of games.
 
Two updates after my weekend

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20:48h. Completed every sidequest (I think).

I purchased this one because it was being lavishly praised everywhere, and while I'm usually not much for retro games, I must confess I absolutely loved it. The soothing music, the perfect difficulty curve (though I almost threw the Switch to the wall during Blue Moon Dunes), the on-point sense of humour... Golf Story was a delight to play through.

If I had to say something bad about the game, it's that the gameplay grew a bit old by the end, but luckily it's a short-ish game (for an RPG) so it never got in the way of enjoyment.

My Score: ★★★★★

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12h-ish. Got all MacGuffins.

In an alternate dimension, Mario Odyssey would not exist. In that dimension, A Hat in Time would be the best 3D platformer of this generation. It has everything: a heckin cute protagonist, four (
five
) hub worlds with a ton of personality and things to do, great music with perfect sound direction... also, the level design is superb: the Old Windmill is one of my favourite levels in any 3D platformers ever.

The game has been accused of having "floaty" controls, and this is probably partly true, but Hat Kid generally controls quite well, even though muscle memory will sometimes remind you that HK is not Mario and she's not capable of some of the plumber's feats - usually when you're halfway down an infinite fall.

If this game was only twice as long, it would go down on history as the only game able to go toe-to-toe with Mario on his own turf. As it stands, it's an excellent, delicious, unmissable game - if a bit on the short side.

My Score: ★★★★★

Original Post
 

Tizoc

Member
Too lazy to link images :V

216. A king's Tale: Final Fantasy XV
Wow this game is such a missed opportunity for an up to 4 players beat'em-up game. Visuals were odd; I liked the pixelated aesthetic and the music is nice but the repeated set pieces etc. where a letdown.
Normal made enemies have way too much HP that I restarted on Easy.

As is I feel the game leaves much to be desired although its core concept has some decent ideas.

217. Flower (PS4)
Ugh using the gyro/tilt controls for movement was irritating since it made controlling the petals tricky, esp. during a certain flower's section. Non the less the game is very vibrant and colorful and I ddin't mind its simplistic gameplay.

218. The Darkside Detective
Wrote my impressions here

219- Tenchi wo Kuaru 2 Arcade
SLPM-87400-F-ALL.jpg

I got this via PSN and beat it recently. Based on the manga/anime series you choose from 5 characters and go about beating up enemy soldiers. You can ride on horses which give you some range advantage and at least 2 characters can dish out wrestling style throws, so that elevates the game in my eyes.

Game felt rather long but like most beat'em-ups of the time, it can be cleared in under an hour.

220- Dead Synchronicity
I didn't enjoy this game as much I would've liked and it ended pretty abruptly at the end. Hope there's a sequel in the works to resolve the main plot.
 
Main post part 2

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51. 7 Wonders of the Ancient World - 3 hours
Classic casual match-3 game from 2007, and just as other old casual games, it works only in 800x600 resolution. Very short, it's possible to finish this game in one go, but that doesn't mean it's bad, of course.
 

Pepboy

Member
Too lazy to link images :V

216. A king's Tale: Final Fantasy XV
Wow this game is such a missed opportunity for an up to 4 players beat'em-up game. Visuals were odd; I liked the pixelated aesthetic and the music is nice but the repeated set pieces etc. where a letdown.
Normal made enemies have way too much HP that I restarted on Easy.

As is I feel the game leaves much to be desired although its core concept has some decent ideas.

217. Flower (PS4)
Ugh using the gyro/tilt controls for movement was irritating since it made controlling the petals tricky, esp. during a certain flower's section. Non the less the game is very vibrant and colorful and I ddin't mind its simplistic gameplay.

218. The Darkside Detective
Wrote my impressions here

219- Tenchi wo Kuaru 2 Arcade
SLPM-87400-F-ALL.jpg

I got this via PSN and beat it recently. Based on the manga/anime series you choose from 5 characters and go about beating up enemy soldiers. You can ride on horses which give you some range advantage and at least 2 characters can dish out wrestling style throws, so that elevates the game in my eyes.

Game felt rather long but like most beat'em-ups of the time, it can be cleared in under an hour.

220- Dead Synchronicity
I didn't enjoy this game as much I would've liked and it ended pretty abruptly at the end. Hope there's a sequel in the works to resolve the main plot.

Never heard of Tenchi Wo Kuaru. Is it based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms stuff?

On my end I finally beat Dragon Quest 8 on 3DS. Now starting Dragon Quest 4 DS (playing on 3DS).
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
until-dawn-banner.jpg


Game 38 - Until Dawn - Playstation 4 - Completed Oct. 28th, 2017
My wife and I played through this leading up to Halloween - we finished it in three separate sessions all which took place late at night when everything was dark. I had an absolute blast with it, even though this was my second time through the game and let my wife make all of the decisions for the characters. We unlocked a few extra achievements, and she was able to get two of the teenagers out alive (previously I had only saved Emily). This game is really great for Halloween and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to get a bit spooked.

Full list
 

Tizoc

Member
Never heard of Tenchi Wo Kuaru. Is it based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms stuff?

On my end I finally beat Dragon Quest 8 on 3DS. Now starting Dragon Quest 4 DS (playing on 3DS).
Correct! It was amanga/anime series from late 80s/early 90s and capcom made some games on nes and arcades. the 2nd game features events from the battle of red cliff.
 

Tizoc

Member
Right so next up on my plate-
Super Castlevania IV
Final Fight 2 and 3 (might just blind buy them off 3DS :V)
God of War 3
AER
Zwei Zwei

Let's see if I can hit 250 by December....

Original Post


Despite the jank and the many stupid deaths that happened to me I still quite enjoyed this game.

So this game went under a lot of people's radars. I personally got it off GOG since they were offering it with a game that's been on my wishlist for a while.

Hob is an Action Adventure game where you control a hooded figure who is guided by a golem as they explore a mysterious world consisting of ancient ruins.
The crux of the game involves exploration, some platforming and light puzzle solving (actually the game doesn't really have much in ways of puzzles from what I've seen so scratch that last part :V). The game has a fixed overhead camera that tends to zoom out in certain areas to showcase the scenery.

The game's combat system is basic as it mainly involves doding, blocking and doing your basic sword attack or a charge punch attack to break enemy shields. The combat really doesn't have much to write home about and the fixed overhead camera can make things a little difficult but I managed.

The game is quite minimalist in its presentation of its plot as everything is told visually without any form of dialog. You mainly guide Hob through the landscape and look into the map to find your next destination. Various paths are blocked by purple contamination or thorns which will get cleared out of the map as you progress. As you play you will find items that upgrade your attack power and skills, and if you missed any items, the map will display them once you were in their vicinity.

The game has its flaws, but what I liked most about it is its sense of exploration and adventure. The team at Runic Games have crafted an interesting mysterious world with an impressive twist to how it opens up new areas.

Finally here are some screenshots I took of the game from my recent playthroughs. The game gives you a chance to just stand still when no enemies are around and take in the scenery
 

Shadax84

Neo Member
39. Sonic Advance - 2 Hours

Sonic_Advance_Coverart.png


Platform: GBA (Emu on PC)
Completition Date: 2.11.2017
Rating: 7 / 10

An OK Sonic on the GBA. Some later leves felt quite crazy and where hard in orientation.
 

Dyna

Member
My main post.

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35 | Black The Fall | PC
~4 hours | Completed Nov. 3rd

I had this on my Steam wishlist for a while and it was 33% off during the Halloween sale so I picked it up. It's a 2.5D puzzle adventure game heavily inspired by Inside, Another World and the first two Oddworld games. It's definitely not as polished and pretty as Inside but it still had a cool, dark atmosphere and I liked the puzzles quite a bit. The controls could have been a bit tighter. All in all a solid little puzzle adventure that perhaps lends a bit too much from Playdead's games, worth the 10 bucks it was on sale for sure.
 
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11:21h. Normal difficulty, exactly 50% of the game completed.

Enjoyed this one, even though some of the bosses felt a bit cheap (Diggerbooooot! ·shakes fist·) but not so cheap that couldn't be defeated by skill. I was a bit miffed at the level of backtracking involved to get upgrades, but it wouldn't be a Metroid otherwise.

My Score: ★★★★☆

Original Post
 

Bastion

Member
Game 1-Criminal Girls 2 Party Favors-2016-Vita-Beaten on January 2nd
-I really enjoyed the grind in this game. I usually hate grinding but this game makes it very easy to do so. Fun little game that took about 25 hours. 8/10

Game 2-Shantae Half Genie Hero-2016-Vita-Beaten on January 6th
-This was the perfect game after the long grind of my previous game. Very light-hearted and fun! Perfect on the Vita! 8/10

Game 3-Alone With You-2016-Vita-Beaten on January 14th
-While this adventure game wasn't great, it was very relaxing to play which is what made me enjoy it overall. 7/10

Game 4-Call of Duty Infinite Warfare-2016-PS4-Beaten on January 15th
-I might be in the minority that only play the story mode in Call of Duty games and have to say that I never tire of them. They are like a summer blockbuster. I really liked the on ground parts of his game but didn't really like the flying portions. Still waiting for a return to WWII. 8/10

Game 5-Severed-2016-Vita-Beaten on January 17th
-I really enjoyed this game outside of a few difficulty spikes here or there. Great atmosphere and great touch controls which I usually hate. 9/10

Game 6-Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7-2012-Vita-Beaten on January 19th
-This was the weakest game I have played in a long time. This game was before Lego characters talked so all it is is a disjointed story with very weird grunts/sounds from the characters. I really like the Harry Potter universe but this game is just bad. At least I got it super cheap from a PSN sale. 4/10

Game 7-Neverending Nightmares-2016-Vita-Beaten on January 21
-I really enjoyed this little (2 hours long)horror game. It had great atmosphere and sound especially with headphones on. The title explains the game perfectly as you keep repeating the same nightmare over and over again with slight differences everytime you die. The story is slight but interesting as well. 7/10

Game 8-Trails of Cold Steel 2-2016-Vita-Beaten on February 17
-Over the last 13 months, I have beaten all four of the recent Trails games and have loved every single one of them. This one took me 50 hours which is why this is he first game I have beaten in almost a month. If you like RPG's this is one of the best. 10/10

Game 9-World of Final Fantasy-2016-Vita-Beaten on February 25
-Where January was meant for shorter games for myself, February has been dedicated to longer RPG's. I really enjoyed this game for the most part. It was great to see all the supporting stars from previous Final Fantasy games. The story was not great but kept me interested for the most part. I finished the game with the original bad ending and then saw all that I had to do to get the good ending and just decided to call it. I watched the good ending on YouTube. I had just had enough of all the random battles at that point. 8/10

Game 10-Odin Sphere Leiftrauser-2016-Vita-Beaten on April 1
-Wow. Where did March go? I played a lot of games in March just didn't finish any. I finally beat this game on April Fools Day and as a game, it is no joke. What a great game! I really enjoyed the gameplay and while the environments repeated themselves over and over, the gameplay made up for it. 9/10

Game 11-The Walking Dead Episode 3 Above the Law-2017-PS4-Beaten on April 2
-I am a sucker for all these Telltale games. Can't get enough of them. If you liked the previous games, you will like this. I like how Clem is really developing as a character as she is gets older. 9/10

Game 12-Mr. Shifty-2017-Nintendo Switch-Beaten on April 22
-I really liked this game as it's like the Hotline Miami series, which I love. If it hadn't been for the slowdown in the Switch version, I think I would have liked it better than the Hotline Miami games. 8/10

Game 13-Guardians of the Galaxy The Telltale Series Episode 1-2017-PS4-Beaten on April 29
-I feel like this was the weakest of any Telltale series game. It was boring as I had to start the game over three different times because I fell asleep. I do really like the opening song "Why Can't I Touch It" by the Buzzcocks. Hopefully the series will pick up with future episodes. 6/10

Game 14-What Remains of Edith Finch-2017-PS4-Beaten on April 29
-Favorite game of the year so far. Great atmosphere and strange(in a good way) story. Loved the Holloween music in one of the stories! 10/10

Game 15-Full Throttle Remastered-2017-Vita-Beaten on May 1
-I have to admit that I didn't really like this game. If it wasn't for an online guide, I would have never beaten the game. It also was very choppy(not the frame rate but the game)which I'm not sure if that was in the original game or not. 5/10
Last edited by Bastion; 05-01-2017 at 07:56 PM.

Game 16-Gal Gun Double Peace-2016-Vita-Beaten on May 22
-Inreally don't have much of an opinion on this game. It is a on rails shooter where you shoot girls. Without a gun peripheral it just isn't much fun in my opinion. 5/10

Game 17-The Walking Dead: A New Frontier-Episode 4 Thicker than Water-2017-PS4-Beaten on May 25
-Again, good episode. 9/10

Game 18-The Walking Dead: A New Frontier-Episode 5 From the Gallows-2017-PS4-Beaten on May 31
-I really liked the entire series and thought this was a good concluding episode. Not as good as the first two but still good. I am looking forward to what happens next as the ending sets it up pretty well. 8/10

Game 19-Assassin's Creed Unity-2014-PS4-Beaten on June 4
-I really enjoy the Assasin Creed games. I haven't played all of them so I haven't got burned out on them yet. I only play the story missions so it keeps me focused because the map is just filled with tons of things to do so it can be overwhelming. I didn't try the co-op missions in this game so I can't speak to those at all. 7/10

Game 20-The Little Acre-2016-PS4-Beaten on June 5
-This is a very brief(about two hours) point and click adventure game. I had an average time with this average game. I got this for a couple of $$ on a PSN sale and played it as I knew it was really short. 6/10

Game 21-Quantum Break-2016-Xbox One-Beaten on June 15
-I absolutely loved this game. Had I finished this game last year, it would have been one of my favorite games of 2016. I love the time powers and I really like the mixture of game and tv show. This game had great production value and is something you just don't see much. I think Defiance is the only other game that had a show go along with it. 10/10

Game 22-Destiny-2014-PS4-Beaten on June 18
-I bought Destiny the day it came out back in 2014 and played it for awhile but then quit. Now with Destiny 2 right around the corner, I decided it was time to finish the game and all of the expansions. I have to say that I really enjoyed the gameplay. The story wasn't great but I was never bored. This summary is for the original Destiny only and will be adding the dlc add-ons as I play through them. 8/10

Game 23-Destiny The Dark Below DLC-2014-PS4-Beaten on June 18
-This was the first expansion to Destin and added three story missions to Destiny. It took me about an hour to get through all three story missions. It was more of the same but still good. 8/10

Game 24-Destiny The House of Wolves DLC-2015-PS4-Beaten on June 19
-This was the second expansion for Destiny and I liked this much more than The Dark Below as it had better atmosphere in my opinion. 9/10

Game 25-Destiny The Taken King DLC-2015-PS4-Beaten on June 21
-This was a great addition to Destiny. Really enjoyed the story missions. Now for the Rise of Iron. 9/10

Game 26-Ghostbusters VR Now Hiring Episode 1-2017-PSVR -Beaten on June 23
-This was a fun little experience for $4 from the recent PSN sale. It was only about 15 minutes but it was fun and very cool to be in the Ghostbusters universe. Recommended if you get it for $5 or under. 7/10

Game 27-Rogue One: X-wing VR Mission-2016-PSVR-Beaten on June 23
-This was a great VR experience and if you love Star Wars, it will be a highlight of your gaming life. This was awesome! It makes you feel like you are there shooting down the tie-fighters. It did only take me only 16 minutes to beat it but it was a free download since I own Star Wars Battlefront. I also came away a little dizzy but not bad. 10/10
Last edited by Bastion; 06-23-2017 at 10:13 PM.

Game 28-Destiny Rise of Iron DLC-2016-PS4-Beaten on June 25
-I am now ready for Destiny 2. Really enjoyed this expansion. More Destiny. 9/10

G ame 29-Guardians of the Galaxy The Telltale Series Eposode 2-2017-PS4-Beaten on June 26
-Hmm..... I love what Telltale has done with the Walking Dead and Batman and pretty much everything else but I am not feeling this series. Maybe it's because I feel the franchise is just plain weird. I don't know. 5/10

Game 30-Fate: The Silent Oath-2017-PSVR-Beaten on June 30
-I really enjoyed this adventure even though it did make me a bit dizzy. The game was short and rough around the edges but still a great experience. I hope to see a AAA game do this type of game! 7/10

Game 31-Spider Man Homecoming VR-2017-PSVR-Beaten on June 30
-I really wasn't very impressed by this experience. It was ok but the graphics were really rough. It was cool shooting from my webslinger(via two PS moves). It only lasted maybe 15 minutes but it was free! 5/10

Game 32-Outlast Whistleblower DLC-2014-PS4-Beaten on July 8
-I love survival horror games so game is right up my alley. I really liked the main game and this dlc was just as good if not better. Very atmospheric and dark. Looking forward to playing Outlast 2 soon. 10/10

Game 33-Titanfall 2-2016-Xbox One-Beaten on July 10
-I loved this game. The mixture of shooting and platform was perfect. The only thing that I didn't like was the assembly line level as I just didn't know where to go. 9/10

Game 34-Soma-2015-PS4-Beaten on July 19
-This game was awesome. It was a very unsettling experience which I loved! I really liked the story and gameplay. E only thing that I thought was a bit annoying were the "monsters". Even though the weird "monsters" helped make the game more tense, it seemed like they were very random and hard to escape at times. I think that was the point overall, but still annoying. 9/10

Game 35-Sniper Elite 3-2014-PS4-Beaten on July 23
-I have always loved sniping in games, and his game lets you snipe all the time and does it wonderfully! I never get tired of the slow-mo effect when sniping and watching the bullet penetrate the body of the enemy. Great stuff! 9/10

Game 36-House of the Dead IV along with HOTD IV SP-2012-PS3-Beaten on July 25
-This was the first House of the Dead game I have played to completion and I enjoyed it a lot. Very cheesy story and voice acting but that's ok as it's an arcade game. It looked good on the PS3 and works very well with move. Not quite the same as the old light gun games though. Those guns felt better. 7/10

Game 38-Tokyo Xanadu-2017-Vita-Beaten on July 26
-This was a great, modern day action rpg. If you liked the Trails of Cold Steel games with the action of Ys and the personality of Persona 4, this game is for you. I thoroughly enjoyed all 40 hours I played and actually played to get the true ending after the credits originally rolled which I have never done before. That says something. 10/10

Game 39-House of the Dead III-2012-PS3-Beaten on July 26
-After beating HOTD IV yesterday, I decided to go ahead and play III. I liked this one better simply because it had shotguns instead of uzi's. 7/10

Game 40-Night in the Woods-2017-PS4-Beaten on August 6
-This game was very chill and easy to enjoy. I enjoyed the coming of age story and the conversations that took place throughout the game. The story does end up a bit strange but I am open to anything when it comes to video games. 8/10

Game 41-Rime-2017-PS4-Beaten on August 7
-This game is in the same vein as Ico, Journey, Abzu, and Bound. I find all of these games incredibly relaxing to play. There really is nothing negative to say about the game other than the story is really non-existent until the end where it becomes quite touching. Great experience! 10/10

Game 42-Batman The Enemy Within Episode 1 The Enigma-2017-PS4-Beaten on August 8
-I loved the first Batman Telltale game and so far, I love Season 2. Batman fits so well into this type of game. It is my favorite Telltale series by far. 10/10

Game 43-Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice-2017-PS4-Beaten on August 11
-Wow! This game is one of the best games I have ever played. Maybe my new favorite game. Unbelievably good. Superb graphics, audio and atmosphere. I loved every second of it. 10/10
Last edited by Bastion; Yesterday at 10:47 PM.

Game 44-For Honor-2017-PS4-Beaten on August 12
-For Honor was free this weekend to try so I downloaded it and played the entire story campaign. I really liked the sword gameplay but the story was weak. This game had beautiful graphics and overall really enjoyed my time with the game. 7/10

Game 45-Frisky Business(2017)-PS4-Beaten on August 13
-I have started enjoying visual novels the last couple of years on the Vita so when I saw this game on sale for like $7 I got it without looking at length or any game is very short short-like an hour short-but is a fun little visual novel. There are some typos which is make it seem a bit amateurish but for the most part the writing is ok. Most visual novels are quite long so having a short visual novel was nice. 6/10

Game 46-Blackwood Crossing(2017)-PS4-Beaten on August 14
-Hmmm......Not really sure about his game. It was short(about three hours) but would have taken forever without a guide to help get me through it. I liked the graphics and the ending but everything else was ok. The worst part about this game was how slow the main character moved. 6/10

Game 47-Tacoma(2017)-Xbox One-Beaten on August 16
-I have played a lot of "walking simulators" the last couple of years and really enjoy them. If I am being honest, this was one of the weakest. It was very short and a bit boring overall. The graphics were very basic and there was nothing really that stood out. The twist ending at the end was good, but predictable. 6/10

Game 48-Undertale(2017)-Vita-Beaten on August 17
-This was one of the most unique games I have ever played. Great writing and humor, especially in the latter part of the game. I loved the fighting mechanics of this game as well. Very clever! I also liked that it was short-around 5 hours or so. Two negatives-I didn't like the 4:3 screen. It would look much better if the game filled the whole screen. It made font quite small on the Vita. I also thought he main character should walk much faster. Give me a run button please! 8/10

Game 49-Sniper Elite 4(2017)-PS4- Beaten on August 21
-I loved this game even more than Sniper Elite 3. The sniping just never gets boring. Love the WWII time period as well. Great game! 10/10

Game 50-Uncharted The Lost Legacy(2017)-PS4-Beaten on August 27
-Great game! Love the graphics and gameplay. The only thing I didn't like as much were the characters. While not bad, they just weren't as funny as Drake. Missed the Drake-Sully interaction. With that said, everything else was superb! 9/10

Game 51-GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: A TELLTALE SERIES EPISODE 3: “MORE THAN A FEELING”(2017)-PS4-Beaten on August 31
-Well it is more of the same which means it ok. I continue to just not like this universe and find it a bit boring. The best episode so far in this specific series. 6/10

Game 52-Life is Strange Before the Storm-Episode 1-Awake(2017)-PS4-Beaten on September 2
-Well I hit the 52 mark with a game I was really looking forward to as I enjoyed the original. I thought episode one was a very good starting point and look forward to episode 2. 8/10

Game 53-Deadpool(2015)-PS4-Beaten on September 4
-I recently watched the Deadpool movie and loved it so I thought I would try out this game, especially since it was cheap on the PAX PSN sale. Overall, the game is ok. I enjoyed e gameplay, for the most part, as I love hack and slash games. This game also had guns which was fine. He biggest issue with his version of the game was that the game paused for a second, almost like it was loading, literally at least once a minute if not more. Outside of this, the frame rate was good nreally hampered the overall enjoyment of the game for me. 5/10

Game 54-Skylar and Plux Adventure on Clover Island(2017)-PS4-Beaten on September 5
-This was a very fun, little platform platformer. It only lasted a couple of hours and you can tell that it wasn't made by a triple AAA studio, but I still had a lot of fun. 7/10

Game 55-Michael Jackson The Experience HD(2012)-Vita-Beaten on September 9
I love Michale Jackson songs but am not a huge fan of music rythm games. This one is the best one I have played simply because I love the songs. I got the game free on the day the Vita launched due to a PSN glitch that gave the full game free instead of the demo. 7/10

Game 56-Dying Reborn(2017)-Vita-Beaten on September 10
-I enjoyed the game overall even though it was very rough in many areas. It is a horror game where your goal is to solve puzzles to escape the room. I got it for under $5 which is what I would recommend and no more. 6/10

Game 57-Color Guardians(2015)-Vita-Beaten on September 11
-I really enjoyed this game more than I thought I would. It was an endless runner that makes you constantly switch colors and lanes to pick up orbs. If you don't switch to the correct color at the right time, you will run into an object that kills you. Luckily there are checkpoints that save it from being too frustrating, the bosses add more challenge to the game and were fun in hindsight but frustrating at the time. Solid little game. 7/10

Game 58-Manifest 99(2017)-PSVR-Beaten on September 16
-This was a great little vr experience. I say experience because it wasn't really a game. The only gameplay involved is looking around with your eyes looking for things. Still a nice experience and would recommend it for the price. 9/10

Game 59-Arcana Heart 3 Love Max!!!!!(2014)-Vita-Beaten on September 20
-I had to double check that I had the title rigt and yes, there are five explanation points. Anyway, this was a fun fighting game. I played through three characters in story mode and then played through all the characters stories in the "After Story" mode which is a visual novel with one fight(one round) per story. Enjoyed it overall but the story was a bit stupid. 7/10

Game 60-NBA 2K16(2015)-PS4-Beaten on September 21
-I wanted to play the story mode that Spike Lee directed. It was ok. Now I'm ready for NBA2K18. 7/10

Game 61-J-Stars Victory VS+(2015)-Vita-Beaten on September 24
-This was an ok game. I played through the story mode. Really this was about clearing space on my memory card for Dangonranpa v3 which comes out his week. 7/10

Game 62-Butcher(2017)-Switch-Beaten on September 29
-I love this game! I loved the gunplay and the atmosphere and the music and the entire game. It is a like Doom in 2D with a mix of Hotline Miami. Highly recommended! 10/10
Last edited by Bastion; Today at 06:22 PM.

Game 63-The Evil Within-The Assignment DLC(2015)-PS4-Beaten on October 1
-I beat the main game a couple of years ago and recently bought the DLC during a PSN sale. I figured it was time to play it with The Evil Within 2 coming out soon. Anyway, I really enjoyed this dlc. It was much more stealth based which I really enjoyed and had great horror atmsohphere! 9/10

Game 64-The Evil Within-The Consequence DLC(2015)-PS4-Beaten on October 3
-Again, I really liked this dlc for the same reasons as The Assignment. Good horror atmosphere. 9/10

Game 65-The Evil Within-The Executioner DLC(2015)-PS4-Beaten on October 5
-Thisw as much different than the other two DLC's and that ok. Is was action based and a lot of fun. Bring on The Evil Within 2! 8/10

Game 66-Detention(2017)-PS4-Beaten on October 6
-As I continue to play horror games this month, this was a 2D sidescrolling game that just came out on PS4. I have to say that that 2D does not work very well for horror in my opinion. This was an ok game with good music and atmosphere but one I was looking forward to getting over. 6/10

Game 67-The Invisible Hours(2017)-PSVR-Beaten on October 14
-This is my new favorite PSVR game. It was sooo good. Keep in mind that this is a story driven murder mystery where I played as an observer only. The idea is to figure out who committed the murder by following all the different people and listen to their conversations. As long as you can live with a game with actual gameplay besides moving around, this comes highly recommended. 10/10

Game 68-Don't Knock Twice(2017)-PSVR-Beaten on October 15
-I love horror movies and horror games but I think that horror games in VR are now my favorite way to experience horror. This game is exactly what you would expect. You walk around a scary house with jump scares. It works very well and I enjoyed my 3-4 hours with it. Of course it's a little roug h around the edges but still a good horror experience. More please! 7/10

Game 69-The Bellows(2017)-PSVR-Beaten on October 16
-I continue my horror game binge with another short PSVR game. This game could have a lot better had it had any sort of story but it didn't. Iit did have good atmosphere but depended solely on a few jump scare. Don't Knock Twice is much better in every aspect. 5/10

Game 70-Soul Dimension Episode 0(2017)-PSVR-Beaten on October 16
-This is the weakest of the last three short PSVR horror games I have beaten. It had terrible movement and voice acting with a story hat made no sense. There was a crazy boss battle that made no sense as well. The only cool thing was the ending and the promise of more episodes to come. As of now, I don't think I would buy them. 4/10

Game 71-Batman The Enemy Within Episode 2-The Pact(2017)-PS4-Beaten on October 18
-This episode was probably the weakest episode from the Telltale Batman games. It just didn't have a lot of interesting parts. With that said, it was still pretty good. 7/10

Game 72-Life is Strange Before the Storm Episode 2: Brave New World(2017)-PS4-Beaten on October 21
-This episode was very chill and didn't have anything to big happen. Overall it was good but a bit slow. Great music! 7/10

Game 73-Outlast 2(2017)-PS4-Beaten on October 24
-I really liked this game as I continue horror game month. Did I like it as much as the first game? Yes I did. The only annoying thing is the fact that you constantly have to have the video camera turned on which is basically night vision. It just ruins the look of the game for much of the game. 8/10

Game 74-Super Mario Odyssey(2017)-Switch-Beaten on November 4
-This was a very fun game but still way overrated by the media outlets. It's the only 3d Mario game I have ever beaten so that is saying something. I think the weakest part of the game is the story and npc's which is a big deal for me which is why I don think this game is a 10. 9/10

Game 75-Fire Emblem Warriors(2017)-Switch-Beaten on November 7
-I have never played a Fire Emblem or Musou game to completion until this and I really enjoyed it. The story was hard to follow and I didn't know the characters like I would if I was big into Friee Emblem but the gameplay of hack and slash is like comfort food. Relaxing. 8/10

Game 76-Hidden Agenda(2017)-PS4-Beaten on November 7
-This game is a PlayLink game which Sony is starting to push where you control the game with your phone and play with groups of people to make decisions. It was a lot of fun playing this with my daughter who doesn't play video games but loves CSI shows. This game had great atmosphere and decent graphics but sometimes tpscenes would cut away real fast making it semi like the game was rushed a bit. Fun with a group for sure and recommended. It is very short-about two hours. 7/10
 

Azriell

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Super Mario Land
Platform: Gameboy
Time: 1:00
Date: 10.31
Score: (1/5)

I had this game as a kid. I tried it a few times and hated it. After playing through the surprisingly good Super Mario Land 2 for the first time earlier this year, I decided to revisit Super Mario Land after all these years.

I'm proud to say that I've always had remarkable judgement skills. Super Mario Land is awful. The music is terrible. The scale is just wrong. The jump physics are deplorable. At least it is a short game.
 

Azriell

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Invisible Inc.
Platform: PS4
Time: 10:00
Date: 11.01
Score: (3/5)

I should like Invisible Inc. more than I do, as the game checks a lot of my favorite boxes: isometric view, "Tactics" style gameplay, character customization through progression, heists and stealing. I'm even a fan of timed levels when done for an interesting reason.
However, Invisible Inc. still manages to rub me the wrong way far too often.

For one, the game is hard to read without zooming all the way in using the special tactical view. I found myself repeatedly missing important details or scratching my head because I just couldn't quite see what I needed to see.

Second, the stealth. I enjoy stealth when it's sneaky and empowering, such as when toying with the enemy in the Arkham games. Invisible Inc. goes for a very different vibe: under-powered spies trying to scrounge up whatever resources they can to take on the big bad corporations. The desperate stealth certainly strikes that chord, but I'm not sure that the game is as enjoyable as it might otherwise have been. The whole time felt like my back was against the wall, and this stressed me out more than anything.

Third: upgrades. The whole process of upgrading characters via equipment and augments is very random, thanks to the fact that you never know what you're going to find when you take a job, outside of very general guidelines. Half of my party of four was too similar for liking, while the other half never got enough progression to really be useful.

A campaign only takes a handful of hours to complete, thankfully. Beating the game unlocks new spies, which I think is a pretty cool way to go about things. For me, I found the whole endeavor too stressful to repeat, but I do think it's a pretty cool that you can play this game over and over to unlock better stuff.
 

Azriell

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Life is Strange - Episode 1
Platform: PS4
Time: 3:00
Date: 11.02
Score: (3/5)

The story telling in the beginning is very cool. The classroom scene in the beginning is a great intro to how the game works, the story, the character, everything. I also like how you can try different things without having to resort to save/loading. It feels like a proper evolution of something that people have been doing for a long time.

I should have liked this more, but so far I just don't like the characters at all. Maybe that will change.
 

Azriell

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Sherlock Holmes - Crimes and Punishments
Platform: PS4
Time: 15:00
Date: 11.06
Score: (4/5)

It's hard for me to put into words how I feel about this game. It's a mixed bag of great and lackluster. On the one hand you have the obviously lacking tech: the game looks old and it makes it painfully clear that it was originally meant to be played with a mouse. On the other hand you have a ton of fresh and interesting ideas. The game lets you draw conclusions from clues via a sort of flow chart, and if you make the wrong choices on this chart you will arrive at the conclusion that the wrong person is guilty. But the game doesn't give you a game over or anything like that. Instead, it lets you arrest the wrong person! Amazing!

A lot of the game uses the same mechanics throughout, while some of the other mechanics go underutilized. A few cases have entirely unique mechanics while others bring nothing new to the table.

Before beating Crimes and Punishments, I went ahead and bought the sequel, The Devil's Daughter. For all the shortcomings, Crimes and Punishments was a fun game and I'm happy to now be a fan of the series.
 

Azriell

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Life is Strange - Episode 2
Platform: PS4
Time: 3:00
Date: 11.09
Score: (4/5)

I thought Episode 2 was better than the first episode. Max has started to grow on me a little, although she is so meek and ineffectual that I have a hard time identifying with her. Chloe is loud, obnoxious, and self-destructive; not someone I'd want to hang out with in real life. The junkyard scene was tedious, the train scene was pretty good, and the diner scene was great. The rooftop was also strong, and I like that you couldn't rewind so each choice really mattered.
 

Bastion

Member
Game 77-Sonic Forces(2017)-Switch-Beaten on November 11
-This was the first Sonic game I have ever beaten. I have played a lot of them and just feel like I’m not in control of the game due to how fast it plays. This game was the same way but I finished becasue it was on a portable. I did enjoy the boss fights. 6/10
 

Azriell

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Life is Strange - Episode 3
Platform: PS4
Time: 3:00
Date: 11.15
Score: (4/5)

A lot of sneaking around in this episode. Under the right circumstances, sneaking about and using time travel powers could be really fun and interesting, but Life is Strange feels very restrictive with when and how you can go back in time. As a result, the sneaking sections made me feel nervous and anxious.

I find Chloe insufferable. I wish I could choose to write her out of my life.

The ending was a great twist. I'm very eager to play episode 4.
 

Azriell

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Life is Strange - Episode 4
Platform: PS4
Time: 4:00
Date: 11.17
Score: (4/5)

This game walks the finest line between greatness and shit.

For the first half of this chapter, I was so put off. All of these characters are crap people. And the way Max changes into a one hundred percent different person in the flash sideways leaves me feeling that her personality is nothing more than a result of her environment. This is true of all people, to an extent, but changing William's fate should not have this degree of consequence on how Max turns out. Chloe's altered personality makes a lot of sense, but there is no justification for why Max is so different.\

In the second half of the chapter, things got far more interesting. Rachel Amber's fate is the only one that makes sense, and I'm glad they went in that direction. The bunker was a surprising twist, and not at all what I was expected. At the party, I thought it was cool that I could talk to all of those people, warn them about Nathan, and ask them to text me if they see him (even though most of this probably doesn't matter). I like that I was able to have a real conversation with Victoria, and in that moment she felt more like a real person than almost anyone else in the story.

The twist at the end was great. Can't wait for episode 5.
 

Azriell

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Life is Strange - Episode 5
Platform: PS4
Time: 3:00
Date: 11.17
Score: (5/5)

Wow. What a finale. Mechanically, the game does some very interesting and unique stuff. The scene where David shows up unexpectedly played out almost like a level of Ghost Trick. The "nightmare" was crazy and confusing. Going through all the jumps and never quite being sure when it was going to be over. And I finally felt that Chloe was redeemed as a character, which was great.
 

Dyna

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36 | Kirby: Battle Royale | 3DS
8.5 hours | Completed Nov. 8th

Even though I was quite skeptical of this game I'm a pretty big Kirby fan so I decided to give it a chance and picked it up on release day. It's essentially a minigame collection with a local multiplayer focus. The game consists of ten different minigames and they all have a few variations but there's not much more to it than that. There is a singleplayer campaign but it's basically just the same minigames with the occasional special enemies and some dialogue from King Dedede. The online multiplayer can be pretty fun but you can't affect basic things like the amount of rounds which is a bummer. The local multiplayer and download play matches are a bit more fleshed out and customizable. The game's main problem is repetitiveness, even if you're playing with a group of friends and experiment with all the different abilities you'll still be playing the same ten minigames over and over again. I think this would have worked better if it was released a year or two ago as an eShop title. Although there is some cutesy fan service here and there, I'd say it's safe to skip this one even if you're a Kirby fan. Overall a pretty mediocre game.

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37 | Sanitarium | PC
9.5 hours | Completed Nov. 19th

I was aware of the cult classic status this game has so I bought it from the Steam Halloween sale. It's a very odd, unique and disturbing point and click adventure about a man who was in a car crash and is now attempting to piece everything back together while questioning his own sanity. Lots of cool and creative scenarios in the game as well as an intriguing story which sadly ends in a bit of a lackluster fashion in my opinion. Still a pretty fun experience as I haven't played many point and clicks. I really liked the eerie soundtrack. Would recommend the game for sure.
 
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30h-ish. 504 Moons. Completed the
Darker Side
.

As with BOTW, I feel Mario Odyssey is the culmination of a concept. It manages to be both decently long for a platformer and to never get old, thanks to the sheer variety of Kingdoms, including the incredibly nostalgic
Mushroom Kingdom
and the requisite Brutal Bonus Levels. It's all I wanted and more.

I'm not going to extend myself because when I really like a game I feel I cannot do it justice with words. I'm almost sad for the excellent A Hat in Time releasing a month before Mario Odyssey and being totally overshadowed by it.

My Score: ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

Original Post
 
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10h-ish. Story mode completed.

A surprisingly engaging game, a bit underrated in my opinion. The setting is stellar and the Guy-Ritchie-like characterization feels refreshingly honest in the Bendidit Coconutbatch era. The voice work goes from decent to laughable, and while some of the faces are impressive, others seem taken from Mass Effect 2.

The best part of the game is, indubitably, the "deductions" system, thatt makes you connect the clues in a way that feels natural and meaningful: I would very much like to see something like this in other "investigative" games a la Phoenix Wright. This, coupled with the witness "profiling" and the Imagination and Detective Vision, makes you feel like you're doing detective work.

In the other hand, the puzzles are more Myst than 999: they're not going to challenge your wit, but they can be tough on your patience. They're still miles better than tthe action sequences, which are nothing more than boring QTEs, and the stealth parts, which are as good as most stealth parts in non-stealth games. Fortunately you can skip basically anything you don't like.

My Score: ★★★☆☆

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Azriell

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Mafia III
Platform: PS4
Time: 35:00
Date: 11.30
Score: (3/5)

It's hard to nail down a score or a description of how I feel about Mafia III. There's almost as much I dislike about the game as I like about it, which really sucks because the game does a lot of cool things.

First, you have the setting. The setting is amazing and refreshing, which is pretty hard to do in a genre that's as popular as this one. More than just nailing the small town feel, the mid-sized city feel, and the rural countryside feel, the game also makes great use of the time period. These locations feel new, because they are so old. The radio selection is also top notch, and I found myself enjoying nearly all of the 100ish tracks the game has to offer.

The rampant racism used throughout the game also helps the player to understand and sympathize with Lincoln Clay. As a white guy born in the 80s, I would never presume to know what shit was like back then for a black person, but I have to commend this game for lending a small amount of understanding to what is otherwise a pretty foreign concept.

Beyond just dropping "the n-word," I have to commend Mafia III for its overall use of language. Swearing was varied and felt authentic. Pretty much every character who was important enough to be featured in a cutscene felt like a real person, in no small part to the dialog.

Last on my list of positives is the way the game presents the story. The interview-style cutscenes were an awesome way to drive the story. Not only that, but it makes it feel like the actions of Lincoln Clay were significant enough to have people still talking 40 years later. It lets the game add exposition wherever it likes in an extremely natural and effective way.

But on the opposite side of this excellent story telling, we have the misuse of characters. Mafia III does a good job of introducing 9 or so characters: Lincoln, Sammy, Ellis, Giorgi, Sal, the Priest, the blonde Spec Op guy, and two of the three people you recruit to help you run the city (Irish Dad and Hatian Lady). Almost all of Sal's gang feel like disposable paper dolls. The Italian guy you recruit as your third has zero personality. Every single person you have to meet with to talk about the next racket you're going to target, where you just stand there awkwardly and exchange dialog, might as well not even exist. The game adds a lot of characters to extend its length to a reasonable amount, but so many of these people didn't matter. For the longest time I felt like I was doing nothing of importance. All of this was a huge let down because the first few hours of the game are incredible and after the betrayal, I was seriously ready to fuck these people up.

There's also the open world issue. I am of the opinion that a game should not be open world if it doesn't do something cool with that openess. Usually this means some cool means of traversal but there are certainly other elements that could work. Mafia III didn't have any of them. Driving is fine and all, but I was tired of driving across the city in no time. Mafia III also falls into the same open-world BS as most other open-world games, with so many missions just being copy/pasted all over the place. Rolling up on a group of guys and killing them all is not fun after a few go arounds. Sneaking into a building and killing a bunch of guys is not fun after a few go arounds. Hunting down and destroying various types of contraband is not fun after a few go arounds. And yet these are things I did for hours upon hours upon hours.

So in the end, I'm left with a very mixed bag. I want to like this game more than I do for all the cool shit it does, but it falls into too many old pitfalls. What remains is a pile of missed opportunities and unrealized potential. The ending and beginning are great, but the middle 90% of the game is not very good.
 

Dyna

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My main post.

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38 | Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp | Android
?? Hours | Stopped playing Nov. 29th

I didn't know what to expect from a mobile Animal Crossing but I guess they got it right for the most part. I was pretty much hooked for almost a week and I got to level 31 before I decided to call it quits but it was alright for a F2P mobile game. The game definitely lacks a lot of the charm of the main games and didn't offer enough incentive for me to continue playing past a certain point, even if I spent real money on it. Completing requests, making new friends and decorating your camper is fun for a while but the game turns into an endless cycle of the same few tasks pretty quickly. I got my enjoyment out of it and I'm ready for Nintendo to reveal a new Animal Crossing game for the Switch now.

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39 | South Park: The Fractured But Whole | PS4
22.5 hours | Completed Dec. 2nd

Finally picked this up on Black Friday, I wanted to play it on release day but didn't have time to do so then. The Fractured But Whole is longer, bigger and beefier than The Stick of Truth, the combat system has been revamped completely and there's a bunch of new features in the game but is it better than the previous game? In my opinion, no. The Stick of Truth was a fun, light RPG with tons of references to the classic South Park episodes and it felt great walking around the town doing ridiculous quests in stupid costumes. The Fractured But Whole is more of the same with a superhero theme and an even bigger focus on farts this time but the story feels less cohesive, a lot of the jokes and references are based on the newer episodes and though there are a ton of bosses in the game only some of them are actually memorable in my opinion. Also, as ridiculous as the main antagonist of this game is I couldn't help but feel that the whole thing was sort of lame compared to the epically dumb finale of The Stick of Truth. I liked The Fractured But Whole quite a lot despite all those things, especially all the new combat allies, the fantastic soundtrack, the vast ability arsenal you unlock and all of the Butters scenes, but I still feel like The Stick of Truth is the better game.
 
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25h-ish. Story mode completed, with some Challenges too.

I purchased this game solely because of the good press it was getting, and it was such a good purchase. The Rabbids were not as annoying as I expected, and the Mario crew didn't feel out of place - in fact, they integrated with the Rabbids quite well.

The gameplay was simple but deep, and the difficulty was fiendish, particularly from the 3rd world onwards. Luckily Mario + Rabbids gives you "crutches" like free respecs and Easy Mode, which I had to activate frequently during the endgame. Very pleased, would definitely be interested in a sequel (Zelda + Rabbids anyone?)

My Score: ★★★★★

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Azriell

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Deus Ex - Mankind Divided
Platform: PS4
Time: 10:00
Date: 12.08
Score: (2/5)

I really liked Human Revolution, but after finishing Mankind Divided I'm not sure why. Mankind Divided was boring, plain and simple. I didn't care about the story. The shooting wasn't fun. The powers weren't particularly cool or interesting. Just a bland slog that has killed any interest I might have had in this series.
 
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