Game 13- Halo 2 (Xbox)- 9.5 Hours
Decided to play some of the original Xbox collection over Spring Break, and ended up running through the whole Halo 2 in one sitting. It was one hell of a game, with lots of nostalgia mixed in it, but I had forgotten how much of a drag the last third of the campaign was. The Flood can fuck right off. Those first few Master Chief campaign missions are still pretty sweet though.

Game 14- Killzone: Shadow Fall (PS4)- 7-8 Hours
Having not really played a lot of the Killzone series before this point, I went into Shadow Fall mostly because it was a drop dead gorgeous looking game to show off the power of the new machines, and it wasn't too continuity heavy to enjoy. I see a lot of backlash towards the game on GAF, but I thought it was actually really good- most of the campaign levels were varied a lot and really interesting- most notably the creepy derelict ship early in the game, and I enjoyed the interactions of all the major characters. While the way the game ends was a pretty huge surprise, and I'm curious where the series will go from here (if it does, but based on those sales, I'd say we'll see Shadow Fall 2), I wouldn't mind seeing Guerrilla tackle a new IP or genre.

Game 15- Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (PS4)- 30something Hours
After the disappointment of the last two main entries, I thought I could be done with this series, but Black Flag has done everything in its power to pull me back in. The story is so ludicrously far up its own ass that it doesn't even make much sense to someone who's played all the games so far, and I love that about it- the "real world" plot of the game really needs to be seen to be believed, even if there's no single moment on quite the same tier of stupid as getting high on Indian smoke in III where you hallucinate an ancient Roman Space God in the form of a majestic bird made of fire who turns you into an eagle and tasks you with seeking out the assassins because reasons. Edward is a huge, huge step up from Connor, the naval combat is excellent, and its easy to lose yourself out on the high seas and forget that this is even an Assassin's Creed title. All in all, it's probably the best installment in the series since AC2/Brotherhood, and hopefully Unity can keep the quality going.

Game 16- inFAMOUS: Second Son (PS4)- 18 Hours
Huge fan of the first two games, and always thought it was secretly the best Sony first party series of the generation, so I was going to be there day one for next-gen no matter what. Gorgeous game, likable characters, but I feel like everything except for the diversity of powers was weaker than the first two games. Still great. Did everything to 100% on a Good playthrough, then finished it a second time on Expert with Evil Karma. The two big disappointments with the game, at least for me personally, is that the side missions and collectibles are so meaninglessly plain and boring, and there's almost no change between the good and evil stories, outside the requisite endings. Remember in the first game, Compare that to how Second Son's endgame handles Just feels like they pulled a lot of punches with their karma stuff, and that they had to finish the game quicker to get it out near launch. Still, neither complaint goes as far as breaking the game for me- it's no inFAMOUS 2, but it's still a really enjoyable ride from start to finish.

Hopefully I can close the gap to 20 before the end of this month.

Game 21 - The Legend of Zelda A Link Between Worlds - 20 hrs.

Fucking phenomenal. One of my favt games in the franchise, I want to see more of Lorule

13. Metal Slug XX on easy.

73/52

1-17



18. Dysfunctional Systems: Episode One: Learning to Manage Chaos (PC): 1:59, Apr. 1st.
Learning to Manage Chaos is the first, and currently the only episode released, in a series of visual novels. The main POV character is a young girl named Winter, a 'mediator' that's been sent along with her current mentor, Cyrus, to save another planet in an alternate universe from chaos. It's an interesting concept, though there are problems mainly due to the episodic nature of the VN along with the fact that there probably wasn't a whole lot of funding to be drawn from. The first thing that stands out is the artwork. Dysfunctional Systems has a really great art style. The second thing that stands out is the music, which comes bundled along with the game on Steam via the local content. The game's OST is really catchy at points, and is just all around excellent. The third thing is of course the writing. It's a well written story with interesting characters and an intriguing plot. But this leads to the game's major flaw: it's only two hours. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case, it leaves the narrative feeling rushed, as if there's a major portion of the plot that was scrapped due to constraints. There's an introductory segment/exposition, lore, conflict, a single series of multiple choices to make (this is only one section of the game and it determines which ending you get), and then resolution in the span of about 90 minutes or so, then the epilogue. It's just really short. The characters introduced in the epilogue are interesting enough, and I'm definitely waiting to see how they're developed in the later episodes, but as a standalone VN for $5, I can't really recommend. Unless it goes on sale or is bundled, like it was recently. 6/10



19. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords: Anniversary Edition (DS): 3:34, Apr. 5th.
I like the Zelda franchise a lot, and I played the original Four Swords with friends when I was younger; most of my enjoyment with this version is derived from nostalgia. Being only able to play the single player mode, I can't fully judge the game as a whole, but based only on the single player mode itself. And it's pretty okay. It's nothing really special. Probably one of my least favorite Zelda experiences, FS:AE just doesn't really scratch the Zelda itch, for me at least. It's much more of a puzzle game than an adventure game. That's not a bad thing, but the single player mode just felt average to me, like there wasn't anything truly great about it. I assume it gets more hectic and chaotic with multiple players, but playing alone just doesn't feel that great. It's rather short, with the main campaign taking only about two and a half hours, though the best part of the game is it's post game content: the Realm of Memory. This is where nostalgia truly shines as you go back to three different games with each having three levels to go through. It's a great concept that I would love to see revisited in the future, but with all of the games in the series and not just three of them. All in all, it feels pretty mediocre to me. 5.5/10



20. VVVVVV (3DS)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCf0fOe-Nj4: 2:08, Apr. 7th.
VVVVVV reminded me why I intensely dislike scrolling platformer levels. I'm not the best at platformers, but I really liked VVVVVV. There was just enough variety in the level design to remain interesting while not outstaying it's welcome. There were a few frustrating levels and sometimes the controls felt just slightly too sensitive, but mostly it was a difficult yet fair platformer, something that difficult platforming games lack. The inverting gravity mechanic is unique and a new take on the genre for me, which made me enjoy the game even more. It's also got a pretty good soundtrack, which is always a plus. There's some bonus content, like fan made levels, that I didn't touch, but it's nice knowing that I might return to this title later. 7.5/10



21. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (PC): 4:11, Apr. 15th.
I've seen this game played thrice, and now I've finally played it on my own, thanks to jshackles' giveaway. This is a game plagued by the downfalls of the point and click adventure genre, including the usual obtuse puzzles and occasionally bug, but if you can overlook those, I Have No Mouth is a twisted disturbing ride that you should experience. The game expands on the short story's plot, giving back stories to the five main cast and largely not following the original plot, though there are a few references to it throughout the game. Each of the five characters has their own development over the course of their scenarios, which can be positive or negative depending on your moral choices in the game. Each of them has some flaw that, during each of their scenarios, they're pitted against and may or may not overcome in a chance for redemption; Ellen, for example, is deathly terrified of the color yellow, and the main point of her scenario is confronting her fear in addition to escaping AM. In my opinion, three of the scenarios are excellent, one is less great but still good nonetheless, and one is mediocre/average border-lining on bad (mainly because the puzzles become exceedingly obtuse), as well as a bonus final scenario that is overly complex yet interesting and rich in psychological themes. The gameplay is typical for a point and click, and is sometimes hampered by bugs, including instances where your character walks backwards. The animation isn't really the best and is dated. The art direction, on the other hand, is excellent, and much like the developer's other game Darkseed, is very much in the style of H.R. Giger. The backing soundtrack is good. The voice acting is spot on, especially AM's, voiced by Harlan Ellison himself. The narrative is dark and disturbing, filled with events that should make the player squeamish, including themes, that are at least alluded to if you've read the short story, of genocide, lust, homosexuality, rape (probably what made me the most uncomfortable), and clinical insanity; some were even too dark to include in the game, such as eating a baby. It's a narrative that is interesting on multiple levels, and everyone should experience through one form or another. 8.5/10



22. Anodyne (PC): 5:41, Apr. 18th.
The one thing I've heard a lot when this game is discussed is that it's a Zelda clone; it really doesn't feel like a Zelda clone to me. When it comes to Zelda clones, one of their main defining features is that they feature multiple items needed for progression. Anodyne really only has one, the Jump Boots, which if you want to compare it to Zelda is the equivalent of Roc's Feather. The game's dungeons definitely have varying elements like Zelda dungeons, but the lack of progression items just makes the comparison seem less than apt. With that out of the way, Anodyne's 16 bit graphical style works charmingly well, looking beautiful in some areas and creepy and surreal in others. The surreal aspect is one of my favorite parts of the game; Anodyne's oddities seem to suggest a surrealist, perhaps escapist, back story revolving around themes of fear and loneliness, and in this aspect I can understand why Link's Awakening is brought up so often. There are a few major characters that you interact with throughout the course of the game, if you can call them major, and really three that truly matter to the narrative; this isn't a very "in your face" style narrative. There are multiple settings and areas, almost all of them presenting the player with a feeling of unease, that something is very decidedly off, from killing a fishermen to progress to a new area, to encountering mysterious people walking about a dungeon that all look the same accompanied by strange background sounds as if they were crowding you, to a black and white town that features a definite creepy atmosphere when you attack its residents. The gameplay itself does get repetitive at times, yet the surreal dark atmosphere kept me moving forward to explore the game's odd setting. One thing I will say about the bosses is that the final boss was a complete let down gameplay wise, but not so much narrative wise. There's also a ton of bonus post-game material that you can discover, though I didn't bother with it as I felt it would sour my experience with the game after reading about it; locating the secrets is very tedious and in some cases requires glitching the game. Anodyne is more of a game you should play for the surrealist feel rather than the gameplay itself, so it's definitely not for everyone; I liked it though. 7/10



23. Shin Megami Tensei (iOS): 31:28, May 1st.
I really can't say much about SMT I that doubtlessly hasn't already been said. It's a great mixture of scifi, religious, and moral themes that doesn't really hold your hand, though honestly it's rather easy to break the game with stuff like Marin Karin, Zio related skills, and charm bullets. Some of the dungeons can get a bit confusing at times, but you should be able to hold your own thanks to the map. There's a ton of depth to the stuff you have to manage. The alignment system is one of the best in any series, since it's more of a grey and grey morality than good and evil. Since most of the game is a port of the GBA port, the colors are a bit washed out compared to, say, the original version of the game. The music, however, is straight from the PS1 port, so the OST is of pretty high quality. There are two different control schemes for the iOS port, and neither were really to my liking; portrait mode left the game screen a bit smaller than I would have liked it while landscape mode left the screen covered by the buttons. I eventually just went with portrait mode, though there were a few times I accidentally activated the other mode. I originally had doubts with how well the game would actually control, but when I actually played it, everything controlled perfectly fine. The newly translated script is all around great, and the scripting is fairly consistent with the translation of IV, which shares a few similarities with I. The game's narrative is far better than I remember when I played the fan translation, and is one of the better narratives in the SMT franchise, in my opinion. I'd have to play an officially translated II and if... to make the opinion certain, though, wink wink nudge nudge. As one last observation, the game comes with an electronic manual that's really well put together, and you should definitely check it out. SMT 1 is a classic game that you should play if you have access to it, and aren't afraid of a slightly challenging game. 8/10



24. Yoshi's New Island (3DS): 7:05, May 2nd.
I kind of want to discuss the origins of Arzest but I won't. This will mainly be just about New Island. Just know that for all intents and purposes Arzest=Artoon. When I learned they would be developing this game, I had little hope for New Island. But it turned out to be better than I expected, even after reading some of the more negative comments in the OT. It's clearly a game the feeds off of nostalgia, and mirrors, or at least has the equivalent are of, some of the original Yoshi's Island in some areas, but there's definitely original content available in the game. The graphics are, like most 3DS games, not as bad as they look when stretched across a computer screen or presented in a Youtube video. Sure, I would have preferred the original style, but New Island's style isn't as bad as it first looked. Yoshi's movements felt a bit slow at first, but I eventually got used to them, and managed to make the game feel at least a bit faster. The immense depth of hidden collectibles return and are a nice aspect of the game, but can get tedious to collect at times. The new vehicle additions seemed to operate fine for me, and the only one that was difficult to control was the sub; I was expecting the controls to be far worse based on what I had heard. The new giant egg mechanic that seemed to be featured prominently in ads was largely under-utilized, though I'm not sure if that was a good or bad thing. The bosses were pretty easy, easier than the first game's bosses, even. And then there's the matter of the music. I really like music in video games, and I tend to focus on it a lot. The piece of music I linked to in this section's title is well done, and is one of the standout pieces of New Island's OST. Unfortunately, the entire soundtrack isn't quite as good, with songs like this being included. Yeah, it's not the best. I do think the OST gets more hate than it really deserves, since it doesn't come close to butchering classic franchise songs like some...things. Yoshi's New Island doesn't feel as good as the original, but it's probably one of the best Yoshi games since the original so far. 7/10



25. Shantae (3DS VC/GBC): 9:18 total, 1:35 in 2013, May 3rd.
So first thing's first. This game is beautiful. Seriously, this is one of the best looking GBC games I've ever played, and the graphics hold up to this day, especially in regards to the animations. Gameplay wise, the game is okay. The different transformations/abilities kept the game unique, as did the dancing segments even if they were mainly just QTEs. The platforming is, well, 2D platforming. I'm not really a fan of the OST, though. I honestly felt that it was largely forgettable and dull, though it was by no means terrible. I don't think that it deserves the high price the physical boxed versions go for, but that's mainly because there weren't enough units made. The price for the digital VC version is fine. I really can't think of much else to talk about with Shantae. It was more of a fun little distraction than anything. 6.5/10.



26. Bastion (PC): 5:38, May 3rd.
Thanks to Raven recommending it in the Steam thread a while ago, I finally got around to playing Bastion. The first thing I want to bring up is the OST. It's absolutely wonderful, and it's earned its place among my favorite gaming soundtracks. Each song really adds to the tone and direction of the game in a way that really adds to the overall theme of the story; Zia's theme, for example, showcases a theme of the game in a way that really adds to the atmosphere of the portion of Bastion where you meet her for the first time. Aesthetically, the game is really stylish and beautiful, with not a single piece of bad art, in my opinion. Each new area you go to is stylish and creative and it's just so good that I could gush about it for a long time. The narrative is well written and builds up as the story progresses, with information about the game's characters' past slowly revealed over the course of the game very well. There's a bit of the end game that felt slightly rushed, though it was hinted at earlier, but it was still a good idea. Rucks' narration is something that I thought I wouldn't like at first, but found myself enjoying more and more over the course of the game. I can't imagine Bastion without the narration, it just wouldn't have the same impact. As for gameplay, it's okay. I liked how many different playstyles were presented over the course of the game as more weapons, tonics, upgrades, and idols were unlocked, but it felt a bit lacking. Not by much, since it was consistently fun and it's kind of engaging considering all of the different options you're given, but it just felt a little dull at points. Still, Bastion's a really great game that I definitely recommend trying if you haven't played it. 8/10



27. New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS): 7:30, May 10th.
Of the three NSMB games I've played (haven't played U), I've enjoyed this one the most. After two games that I found lacking, it seems like the new iteration of side scrolling Mario games have finally started to move in the right direction, though it's still nowhere near as entertaining as the classic games. It also seems like the franchise finally managed to relearn how to partially do secrets. It's still not at the same levels of the new games, but the secrets are still better than in the last two. Gameplay wise, there's not much to talk about. It's a Mario game, it's basically the same thing as always, just now with an added emphasis on coins that doesn't really matter since the reward for getting one million coins is worthless. The level design is okay for the most part; it sometimes feels too easy and never really gets challenging until you get to the secret levels and the final main boss. The music is still ruined by the thematic and irritating "bah bah" sounds, which made me mute most of the game, honestly. Without those horrible noises, I would listen to the soundtrack more, but with them it just gets on my nerves; it's not completely awful, though, it's just I wouldn't listen to it ever again. Other than that, there's not much I can really say. The game is more of the same, but it's still fun and enjoyable. 7/10



28. Breath of Fire (GBA): 38:52, May 13th.
So, it's a classic SNES RPG ported to the GBA. As you would expect, sound takes a bit of a hit, and the graphics are slightly altered, but as usual I wasn't really phased by it. The soundtrack is decent, the graphics still look decent, and that's pretty much the same for the rest of the game; everything is decent, or at the very least serviceable. The game's narrative is fairly basic, with nothing too special, but hey it works. The battle system is straightforward and easy to understand, and the transformation abilities add a little something different to the game, though they are a little overpowered by the end of the game. The writing is decent and nothing special, and it sometimes feels a little heavy-handed, like there's not a whole lot of effort put into it. The characters are pretty forgettable for the most part. It's definitely not a bad game though, it's just fairly mediocre, even if it's a classic. For me, it was one of those games where I don't want to play it for a while, finally pick it up, and then not want to put it down because it's sort of mindless fun. It's nothing really special and doesn't compare to other SNES classics, but it's still a decent RPG. 6.5/10



29. Vanguard Princess (PC): 1:39, May 19th.
There's a lot to dislike about Vanguard Princess and there's some of it to like. I like some of the soundtrack, it's honestly pretty satisfactory, and even has some really good songs. The battle animations are fluid and just have the right feel to them, and I found a few characters that had battle styles I liked. It's surprisingly easy to play using the keyboard. The sprite work is competent and the stages' backgrounds are nice. And then there's the stuff to dislike. There are two options to play in, which amount to story mode and co-op mode. There's no real free battle mode or anything, it's just fight through the bare bones story line and nothing else for single player. Co-op mode is shared on a keyboard or with two controllers, and it's local only. At this point, there is no online mode in this semi-modern day fighting game. So that kinda sucks. Next up, the character designs. I like anime girls as much as the next guy, but some of the designs are just a little bit too far. Like almost all of the support characters, for instance. Or some of the fighters. If you don't like shots of undergarments and jiggly bits gratuitous fan service, you probably won't like this game, and you definitely won't like the free director's cut dlc for reasons. The resolutions are garbage and can't really be fixed by being made larger, and the ui just doesn't really do it for me. But yeah, basically only get this game in a bundle for the anime cards, because those sell like hotcakes. 4.5/10

30-42
43-56
57-70+

Game 16 : Dragon's Crown [Vita] - 11:25 - 04/02/14
Pretty cool beat em up game with really great artstyle and lots of "qualities". Played through as a Amazon and had a lot of fun with pretty much doing screws attack every seconds. Played Solo since I'm at work, but hey that's fine.

Damn, donny2112, well done.

Original Post updated
Hit the 21 game mark at the end of March (game 22 was finished on April 1st), which puts me on a 84 game pace for 2014. I will hit the 52 game challenge mark around August - September, but I am pretty much aiming for my own personal best of 88 games, set a few years back. Killing off some smaller games (Bloodrayne 2, Half Life 2 Lost Coast) which should get me to a fast April start.

Game 18: Infamous - 15 hours

This was seriously one of the dumbest plots I've ever seen in a game, and Cole was basically the single blandest human being ever in a video game.

If it weren't so dang fun, I swear to God.

Added three more:


Game 10: Mario Tennis Open (3DS) - 3.5hs
# Beat every cup and championship on single mode and saw the credits roll so I'm assuming that counts as 'beat'. Fun game but Mario Tennis 64 still remains my favorite in the series. Mini games are also fun but the overall package feels repetitive and gets dull really fast.

Game 11: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS) - 21hs
# Excellent game but I wouldn't put it near the top of my Zelda list. It truly feels like a LTTP sequel but I didn't really care for the rental and the whole 'tackle dungeons any order you want' structure. I've found myself choosing a bad sequence in terms of items progression so that hindered my enjoyment quite significantly. Dungeon design is not the best but very solid and love how they are 'bite sized' perfect for a handheld game. Despite some of those gripes, it still is a great game and a must own for any 3DS owner.

Game 12: InFamous Second Son (PS4) - 10hs+
# Really glad i picked this up day one, it started off a bit slow but ended up loving the game. Leveling up the different abilities was really fun and the graphics were simply outstanding, especially in the night segments combined with all the lightning and particle effects created by the powers during combat. Story was good and the script and dialogue were excellent imo. Only two complains are the game is way too short and I wish there were more powers. Will definitely try and go for the platinum.

27: Super Mario 3D Land (3DS) - 6h (03/28/14 - 04/02/14)

I liked it, but platformers definitely aren't really my thing.

3 more done to take my total to 12 and just about stay on track.

Game 10 - Nintendo Land - Wii U - 30 hours - As far as I'm going to go...
Having played through this game again, I feel it was hugely unappreciated when it released. There is a ton of content here and whilst there are a few duffers (Captain Falcon, I'm looking at you), the 3 really weighty offerings (Metroid, Pikmin, Zelda) really make up for it. And that's just single player. Add multiplayer to the mix and this really is a great package. Hours of fun to be had and a ton of neat touches as usual from Nintendo. Music is also definitely worth a mention as it has some great remixes of classic Nintendo tunes. Overall this game is great - 8/10.

Game 11 - Paper Mario: Sticker Star - 3DS - Finished - about 25 hours
This game seems to have a poor rep on GAF but overall I really enjoyed it. For once, here is a game that doesn't signpost absolutely everything you have to do and is all the better for it. Yes, there are some frustrating parts and some levels that are just not great in terms of design but overall there is a lot of variety. I liked the sticker implementation and especially the 'Things' and figuring out what each sticker does and when best to use it. Likely won't replay, at least not for a long while but still an enjoyable experience. 7/10

Game 12 - Resident Evil Revelations - Wii U - Finished - about 15 hours
I enjoyed this game. I haven't played a RE since RE4 (I skipped 5 and 6 deliberately). Whilst this isn't up to those sort of standards, I still enjoyed the experience. Everything I expected from a more old-school type RE game was there: Shit Plot, Clunky Controls, Terrible Dialog, Great jump-scares, Great setting etc. I felt that this was easier than the earlier RE games because the game is much more generous with Ammo and Herb placement. The scanner system works reasonably well but doesn't add a whole lot to the game. Overall this game was a bit of a throwback for me and for that reason I thoroughly enjoyed it. 7/10.

Original Post

New month, new post.

Game 12: The Cave - 15.8 hours played (Steam counter)
All achievements unlocked (03/04/2014).

Click to expand...

Updated post.

Game #12: Titanfall - 40 hours

Hadn't really played any competive shooter since MW2, couldn't get into them. But with Titanfall I could get into it again! This game is just so much fun and that is thanks to the freedom of movement. If you can imagine it, you can probably do it and so much awesome moments have come from that. Sometimes crazy things just pop up in your head and when you pull it off (which is not that often, lol) it's just such a great feeling. It just makes you feel good about yourself. Titan combat is really solid and a ton of fun. A lot of mind games involved with it.

The grunts really are useless and often I get really screwed over by them. It doesn't add anything to the game, just confusing. Often times I mistook a grunt for a pilot, resulting in me dying head to head or getting seen on the radar and getting swarmed. Something that's happening a lot to me and not sure what is causing it or if other people have it too is that the killcam shows at least a 1 second gap with what I witnessed. Sometimes I pump a few bullets into an enemy before dying, but in the killcam I haven't shot a single bullet. I wish it had more game modes too, sometimes I just feel like playing without Titan, but auto-Titans suck and get destroyed in no time. That, in turn, leads to the enemies having the upper hand and destroying our teams Titans resulting in you as a pilot being cannon fodder.

8/10

Game #13: Persona 2: Innocent Sin - 37 hours and 38 minutes

Hard to begin with this one. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I liked the setting, the characters and the thought of the game. I hated the combat and the encounter rate. Combat gets dull after a while and the encounter rate is just way too high. I've heard good things about the sequel, Eternal Punishment, so I hope this was just a very mediocre prelogue to that game

6/10

Previously on Burnburn's backlog

Burnburn said:

Game #13: Persona 2: Innocent Sin - 37 hours and 38 minutes

Hard to begin with this one. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I liked the setting, the characters and the thought of the game. I hated the combat and the encounter rate. Combat gets dull after a while and the encounter rate is just way too high. I've heard good things about the sequel, Eternal Punishment, so I hope this was just a very mediocre prelogue to that game

6/10

Click to expand...

If you played the PSP version of Innocent Sin and wasn't into the combat, I don't think you're gonna like that aspect of Eternal Punishment much if you're gonna be playing the PlayStation 1 version. It's a harder game, though, so maybe you might appreciate it more for that.

FluxWaveZ said:

If you played the PSP version of Innocent Sin and wasn't into the combat, I don't think you're gonna like that aspect of Eternal Punishment much if you're gonna be playing the PlayStation 1 version. It's a harder game, though, so maybe you might appreciate it more for that.

Click to expand...

Hm, that's too bad, but I can bear with it. I never really played the Persona games for the gameplay to begin with . As long as the story is fine then everything is a-okay.

Game 15: Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath - Credits

Game 16: InFamous Second Son - still playing, will platinum soon.

Game 17: MLB 14: The Show - 1 RttS season down, many more hours to come.

Original Post

Game 23: Ganso!! Yancha-Maru - 2 Hours
(Started 4/1/14 / Finished 4/3/14)
This is Kid Niki for the Gameboy, it is a decent platformer. The bosses can be spam killed by bum rushing them and you can stack lives at the end of levels easily. Not much else to say.

Edit: Game 24: Pokemon White - 26 Hours and 39 Minutes
(Started 2/24/14 / Finished 4/4/14)
So first off the silly bit that back when this first released I played it and quit when I got too bored to go on. That point? VICTORY ROAD! What was I thinking?! I actually like the game a lot better now having played the much needed, much more refreshing Pokemon X. I thought I was done with the franchise but turns out I just needed a graphics boost. Now Post X I can appreciate what this game does and while I wouldn't have had 4-5 towns become post game content I can appreciate the story the game drives. The Gym Leaders, and Champion feel as integral to the plot as the Professors, Rivals, and evil team of the generation. White tries a lot of stuff that either hits the mark or misses it badly in the end. The Super Rod being a post game item makes me confused and sad despite how funny that scene is. It won't go down as my favorite generation but it beats the Diamond/Pearl generation easily.

OP

I interupted my Yakuza 2 replaying to try out MGS5 an the results were none to favorable! R.I.P. MGS series you were fun for a good few games.


Games Beaten: 16 / 52
Total Playtime: 153 hours, 34 minutes

link!

Game 18: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (PS3) - Completed 5/4/14. 1:50

I'm not going to complain about the length because I'm an adult and I've paid the same to see properly shite films before but either these games have changed or my taste has as I didn't find much to like here. Technically impressive, not especially interesting, no desire whatsoever to play it again. Tanker chapter it ain't.

Original post.

April:

Game 25: Gemini Rue (PC) - 3 hrs 24 mins
Another fantastic adventure game from Wadjet Eye Games. Absolutely loved the overall atmosphere, art style, and soundtrack in this one. Might have to go back and play through again for the commentary someday.

Game 26: Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness (PC) - 9 hrs 18 mins
So I really liked this one. I know the glitches and controls are constantly complained about but I truly think if you play round with the control settings enough you shouldn't have a problem if you were able to play the earlier Core titles. The glitches also didn't seem to be anywhere near as bad as people made them out to be. This might have been due to the most recently patched/updated Steam version however. It's really too bad about the unresolved cliffhanger here because I really enjoyed the story in this one.

Game 27: Tomb Raider Legend (PC) - 4 hrs 42 minutes **
Easily my least favorite TR title overall. Too short and easy. Plus I somehow had more trouble with the camera and controls here than I did in any of the others. The automatic ledge grabbing was a mess in areas where there were multiple paths to take. A specific example would be the Gym in the Croft Manor. Trying to jump to a certain pole would sometimes result in Lara pretty much changing directions midair just to grab something else. The outfits were cool at least.

Game 28: To The Moon (PC) - 3 hrs 30 mins~ **
Replayed because of the new trading cards and it's been awhile since I played the first time. Great RPG Maker title.

Game 29: Final Fantasy (PS1) - 16 hrs 18 mins **
Noticed I had a save for this recently. Decided to go back and finish it. This was my second playthrough of the game and my first time through on Normal difficulty (Origins version). I really enjoyed this one for what it is. The random battles are annoying but they weren't enough to stop me from playing. I've been meaning to play through the series for a long time now so I'll probably work on the others.

Game 30: SigCorp - Holiday Special (PC) - 20 mins
A nice little bonus chapter after To The Moon. I look forward to the next entry in the series if we get one.

Game 31: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations (DS) - 22 hrs~ **
A fantastic close to the original Ace Attorney trilogy. Powerhouse moments and cases all over the place. The last half or so of 3-5 ranks near the top of my favorite all time gaming moments.

Game 32: Final Fantasy II (PS1) - 16 hrs~
Pretty okay. Definitely not as bad as people make it out to be at least. On par with the original.

Original post.

** indicates a replay

First post here.

Game 12. Liberation Maiden [Nintendo 3DS] 1.5 hours – finished February 27
Mercifully short, this was. Repetitive (and hand-cramping) shooting mechanics made me grateful that I reached the end after five short stages. The opening cinematic, done in gorgeous anime art, was easily the highlight.

Game 13. Aliens Versus Predator 2010 [PC] 8 hours – finished March 2
This game is pretty well done, with three separate campaigns for the Marine, Predator, and Alien. The Marine section was solid, if unspectacular, but playing as the Predator and as an Alien brought interesting new mechanics and pretty engaging experiences. The Predator campaign in particular felt fresh and worthwhile, and though the Alien missions faltered a bit toward the end (I got horribly stuck on a disorienting puzzle), I’d say it was a visually pretty and entertaining sci-fi romp with some of cinema’s greatest monsters.

Game 14. Sleeping Dogs: Year of the Snake [PC] 5 hours – finished March 2
It was nice to visit the world of Sleeping Dogs again, but the minute-to-minute gameplay seemed a little jankier than I’d have liked. I’m lukewarm on this one, as it felt a little soulless and the finale was anticlimactic.

Game 15. Sleeping Dogs: Nightmare at North Point [PC] 3 hours – finished March 3
This DLC started off looking really cool, and I found myself enjoying the first 30 minutes more than almost any point within the Year of the Snake DLC. But then the fighting turned sour and I started getting cheesed by the AI. I got rage-spittingly frustrated for the last half of the game, but beat it for the hell of it. Just don’t ask me to do it again.

Game 16. Infamous 2: Festival of Blood [PS3] 4.5 hours – finished March 29
After three years and several tries, I finally forced myself to finish this game. Those Infamously janky mechanics—such as sticking like adhesive tape to every damn surface but the one you want—really annoyed me. Witness Cole’s inability to melee in anything resembling the proper direction, even to the point of whiffing some golf swings while trying to collect canisters. All told, this was a painful game to complete, and one of the more frustrating experiences I’ve forced myself to endure.

Game 17. Titanfall [PC] 35 hours – “finished” March 29
Welcome to the reason I made no progress on my backlog for two weeks. This online shooter grabbed me like no game in recent memory. I was positively enamored with it for my first 30 hours, despite being barely able to run it on an aging laptop. I think this game lives up to its billing as “the future of online shooters,” as it has leapfrogged both Battlefield and Call of Duty to corner the market on future war. After playing this, I wonder—where do those franchises go from here? I love it.

Game 18. BioShock Infinite| Burial at Sea: Episode One [PC] 2.5 hours – finished March 30
Returning to Rapture with Elizabeth and the higher graphics settings of my PC (I have played all previous BioShock games on Xbox 360) was beautiful and exciting. If only the gameplay held up. Having Elizabeth reprise her role as my master of unlocking brought an internal groan as I remembered how much I preferred the moment-to-moment gameplay of BioShock 2 to Infinite by some margin. A very brief adventure, so on to Episode 2!

Game 19. BioShock Infinite| Burial at Sea: Episode One [PC] 5 hours – finished April 1
Irrational Games created some incredible worlds with this series, and an incredible character in Elizabeth. But Infinite and its DLC are ultimately shallow experiences, and I found the finale a tad upsetting. Far and away the best part of Infinite, for me, was the lead voice actress. She was crisp, gorgeous, and emotive throughout. I’ve likely never heard better.

Game 20. South Park: The Stick of Truth [PC] 22 hours – finished April 6
Kudos to Matt and Trey. This game truly does justice to the humor and visuals of the series. It was a joy to play . . . outside of the horrific farting segments that completely broke the flow of the game. What a shame that such an enjoyable experience could become such a tedious chore at several points. Who play-tested this? Still, it was a treat (what an epic conclusion, lol), and a shining example of how entertaining this medium can be in the right hands.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=95443609&postcount=116

Added game 11 which was a replay of Chrono Trigger. Stupid work and other things has hit my pace of game completion something fierce. I'll need to look for a couple "quick" games to get me back on rack

Original Post

April

45. Lollipop Chainsaw(PS3) - April 1st - Time: 2.8hrs(Used time played from leaderboards section and added them up)

It was an okay game, it played like a 3D beat 'em up game, so that was interesting, but I was hoping for a bit more depth to the combat.

The writing is rather funny at times, the boyfriend as the straight-man to Juliet's insanity always made me chuckle, I didn't really like the random taunts that the enemies had though, those just seemed weird(stuff like "LET US FUCK YOUR DAD, JULIET" is just...odd)

46. Driver San Francisco(PC) - April 7th - Time: 6.1hrs

I'm normally not that into driving games, but the charm of this game really sucked me in.
It's like Quantum Leap meets Starsky and Hutch meets Burnout(Takedown + Paradise)

The ability to hop in and out of cars at will helps keep the flow of the game going, instead of crashing into a wall, having to reverse and then slowly accelerating again, you just crash into a wall and then hop into a Ferrari or something, it really helps speed everything up.

Definitely would recommend if you're on the lookout for a fun little arcade racer game(although the physics of the cars are a bit wonky, they take some getting used to)

Not that many games left to go and I'll have completed this! woo!

Game 19: Oddworld Stranger's Wrath HD - 15 hours

As my first Oddworld, this was pretty great. The environments are gorgeous to look at and the live ammo and bounty system makes the game feel different from most shooters.

The climax of the story kind of lost me, ,

But, yeah, overall it's a pretty solid game, and everyone should try it out just for its uniqueness alone.

Original Post

Updated my list with everything up to the beginning of April.
I can probably make the 52 but I somehow only play REALLY long games this year.

Dark Souls II and FF X HD both took a massive chunk of time to complete.

A really quick update, just to say I'm still alive and in it to win it. Finished Diablo III/Reaper of Souls, Bioshock Infinite's Burial at Sea DLC (which I'm counting as one game for both DLCs together) and Descent 2. Lately, I've been pouring all my time into a second playthrough of Atelier Escha & Logy, though, so the schedule's been kind of pushed back a bit.

I did manage to at least start Descent 3, though man that game hasn't aged nearly as well as 1 and 2 did (who knew open-sourcing your codebase would be good for the life of your game?). But basically I have some Escha & Logy business to take care of, and then I can return to all the games I dropped temporarily, like Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Bravely Default. Or maybe I'll knock out some small games just so I don't feel so bad about my relative lack of progress over the past month.

I'm one game away from the halfway mark. I can still make it no problem!

Original post.

11) Dynasty Warriors 8

Been a little while since I have played a Dynasty Warriors game, but it sucked me in more than I thought it would. Spent way too much time playing this game, so I think I am going to take a break before jumping into another one.

Game 7: Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag (PS4)
A massive improvement over AC3 which I didn't care for at all. Sure it has the same ol' combat, controls..etc but traveling the seas was great and I just loved the bright Caribbean setting. I had a very enjoyable time with this.

Game 8: Infamous: Second Son (PS4)
A fine sequel with superb graphics. Some say its short but I think the length is just fine. I liked the characters and powers though I wish it had the old school shards like the first two. Not many in this game and I always liked traversing the previous games for the 100 shards (or whatever the amount was).

Original Post

Game 22 - Kingdom Hearts Final Mix HD - 44 hrs PS3
I avoided the series when it came out because it just didn't interest me. I enjoyed the game as dated as parts of it are now quite a bit, Dunno if I wanna tackle Chain of Memories on the same disk tho

I've totally fallen off this but I'll try to catch up.

Game 7: Tomb Raider I - 16 hours, April 9th
I missed the first one back in the day, for whatever reason. Maybe they never put out a Mac version? Anyway, this game has aged well in some respects and horrible in others. I don't mind the controls or even the camera for the most part, the platforming and puzzle solving is still fun when the level design holds up. I did find it a little inconsistent though, the Greece levels that follow St. Francis Folly made me put the game down, I loved the Egypt levels but the Atlantis stuff is just meh. What surprised me was how much combat there is, especially towards the end. Worst part of the game for sure. Overall I liked it, but I would probably recommend people play Anniversary instead.

Game 19: Fez (PS3) - Completed 9/4/14. 5:05

Just the 32-cube ending, I will definitely be back for more later on though. Really enjoyed it this time around after owning it on 360 and putting a lot of time into it but not really getting much from it. I have no idea what the significance of the bell or the clock is, or how to do the Tetris puzzle and this excites me. A unique game and I'm going to savour NG+ knowing we'll never get a follow-up.

Original post.

Yasawas said:

Game 19: Fez (PS3) - Completed 9/4/14. 5:05

Just the 32-cube ending, I will definitely be back for more later on though. Really enjoyed it this time around after owning it on 360 and putting a lot of time into it but not really getting much from it. I have no idea what the significance of the bell or the clock is, or how to do the Tetris puzzle and this excites me. A unique game and I'm going to savour NG+ knowing we'll never get a follow-up.

Original post.

Click to expand...

If you ever need help feel free to ask me, I can give you hints without outright spoiling you. Though it'd be better if you play it all by yourself, solving the more obscure puzzles is half of the fun in Fez.

I may yet hold you to that but I'm hoping to do it alone. I solved a really simple one yesterday that only required me to deduce the first four numbers of their weird language and I felt like a genius. I want more of that. I might make it my commuting game for a while while I poke away at it.

Oh dear so over 3 months in the challenge begins. Can I actually remember what I have played in the past 3 months, it is all a blur of Pokemon (I'm putting that behind me). I hope previously started count as a few of these are. If not I'll stick them in the bonus stage.

Game 1. Mario & Luigi Bowser's Inside Story Getting Dream Team Bros for cheap (Nintendo UK store glitch) was my trigger here (won't play that for a while due to how similar these games are). It was fun having different attack mechanics with playable Bowser outside of the staple Mario Brothers. It did have problems with some of the triggers from time to time but then comes the satisfaction when you learn these and their visual and audio cues. Shouldn't have wasted time backtracking for beans though. The beans can be used for stat boosts. Problem is the reward for high stats is bad level up bonuses (I presume it is something like Shining Force 1 where the game keeps your stats within a standard deviation of the average making stat boosters useless in the long run as all they do is make sure you don't get good level ups, the exception comes when you are post level 20 promoted when it is just random), not helped by the fact I nailed the roulette (stare at wheel and figure out safe spots to hit).

Game 2. Advance Wars: Dual Strike This was a hard campaign play. That difficulty was a bit of a let down (the final mission was an absolute joke in particular). Maybe it is my fault for taking advantage of being able to use any 2 COs and skills on them. I did seem to miss the Black Boats side mission (a disadvantage of being able to use any CO is all in-map dialogue is gone, which includes the hints of which cities to capture to trigger unlocks, I got the Black Bombs though). I did manage to get my only game over on where else but Crystal Calamity (you guessed it, tag power makes enemy units move far, agroing a Neotank had kind of crippled the green army anyway).

Game 3. Attack of the Friday Monsters I completed all but 1 episode because the unlockable for doing so I already had (due to owning a Guldl01 game) and I was not having any luck with the glims I needed. Certainly different from others games I have played but like all the guild games I have played while they are generally enjoyable they do leaving you wanting a bit more.

Game 4. Boom Street (aka Fortune Street aka Itadaki Street). Okay I only completed classic rules. That is still 18 boards each of which can take over an hour. Stupid how you need to unlock the boards you've already got separately for playing in basic mode but that mode misses the point of the game; the stock market and the meta game there. I did abuse the vacant plot exploit against the AI (have vacant plot, buy loads of shares in that district, redevelop plot to 3-star shop, sell shares, and redevelop vacant plot back to whatever) which I learned from the AI. The game really could have done with a jukebox because listening to the same bit of music for over an hour can drive you insane. I'm just pleased Peach's Castle was the Mario RPG one and not Super Mario 64.

Game 5. Liberation Maiden I'm left handed and the controls (circle pad left, styluss right) were not as bad as I expected. Thanks Pokemon Super Training...well this game having lock-on and being generous about hit boxes helped too. Still get cramp if you play for more than 30 minutes. I knew these kinds of games were short but this was something else I felt. I even got purification at 100% for all levels. Then was baffled at how the 3DS said I had played for over 2 hours but not got the unlockable for such (the conditions are badly translated for these, such as the complete 10 times in normal and hard just mean play and weirdly enough a full story mode counts as 1 play but so does 1 stage attack). I found the time limits on levels to be stupidly high. I do find myself wanting to try it in Normal and Hard for some reason despite how janky and slightly ugly (pop-in) the whole thing is...but this list isn't going to write itself...

Game 6. Half Minute Hero This was bought a while ago in the Steam Sale. I finished all the modes except Hero 3 (was also missing one armour and one ally in hero 30) which seems like you need the RNG goddess along with the Time goddess to win. You also need to avoid having butterfingers as one wrong press can mess you up. The bonus modes were kind of bad to play (especially Knight, I always slept as I found the traps useless) but over mercifully quickly. Will I get the sequel? Probably but can't now (main PC is offline and netbook can't run the game making a purchase pointless).

There are a few more that are almost done and I might remember something else I have played too...

Bonus stage. (for demos and other stuff that maybe is not a full game)
B1. Braverly Default Demo. One of the few occasions I left system on overnight (gotta preserve those demo uses because I'm insane, I'll also probably delete the demo sometime and be unable to redownload it due to no NNID), not so much the town building as I discovered the way to cheese that (it is separate from the main game save and the main game gives you one at a certain point so trigger that point, exit without saving and trigger again). Will wait for good deal (as always) or quiet period to get the game.
B2. Witch and Hero demo. Game is kind of dumb but very much has that "one more try spirit". In hindsight, 8-bit graphics playing as a Knight who bumps into things and takes damage while protecting a witch...that is similar to Half Minute Hero Knight mode...
B3. Streetpass Mii Plaza: Mansion. Got all tickets , made it to the very top . No need to play anymore. Was enjoyable but it gets to the point of having a repertoire of the best weapons, blazing through everything then trying to race to the top.
B4. Pokemon X and Y. I got a "complete" Pokedex of 705 (its really more than that but Gamefreak allow you to skip the event legendaries which can not be uploaded to GTS) without being able to use Pokemon Bank too (I can't use NNID and Bank requires it). I am kind of done really, lots of projects in-game still but when you stop playing for a few days it just does not matter...

After about a month hiatus, I finally managed to find some time to beat my 12th game of the year, Outland.

Hey hey! I've returned alive from PUNCHING TIGERS IN THE FACE. Thats right! Yakuza 2 is done! Oh gawd, why did I do the pliers heat action? Why do I always do the pliers heat action? I always have to look away from that one cause its total cringe-city!!


Games Beaten: 17 / 52
Total Playtime: 189 hours, 9 minutes

link!

Game 37: Picross E3
Can never get enough Picross. Bring on E4!

Game 38: Lego Movie: The Game

I'm burnt out on these games, should have taken it out of my Gamefly queue. Still a solid entry, but I couldn't be bothered to collect everything like a usually do while listening to podcasts. Took Lego Hobbit off my queue immediately as well, add it back later when I need a quick game.

Also add Wolf Among Us ep 3 to its respective entry. Love Fables.

NEXT: I'm dying to play Dark Souls 2 on the 25th...so I think I'm going to try Witcher 2 while I wait. For whatever reason I loved Witcher 1 but only played an hour or 2 before being turned off by it initially. Time to try again with the rebalance mod this time.

Game 2: Super Mario Bros. (Wii U) - 3 hours 26 minutes, finished April 11
My first time playing this classic (with save states at the start of every level , otherwise it'd have taken me probably 10 times as long).

Original post.

I don't think I'll make it to 52 games^^

28: Halo 3 (360) - 8h (04/08/14 - 04/11/14)

Playing this without playing Halo 2 wasn't one of my better ideas. Still, even if I had no idea what was going on, the majority of the game was fun enough until I had to shoot the Flood for two hours.

Game 12: Call of Duty: Ghosts (PS4) - Roughly 5 hours


It has been a long time since I played a Call of Duty game. I was rather upset with the series after Modern Warfare 2 when they clearly didn't give a shit about the single player anymore. I understand the multiplayer is the most popular aspect of the game, but I found it (and still do) a shame that they began to completely neglect the single player campaigns for these games. I grew up on single player FPS games and I would love to see more put emphasis on the campaign mode. I decided to give this game a chance as my free game during Target's Buy 2 Get 1 free sale.

With that rant out of the way, here's my thoughts on Call of Duty: Ghosts, single player.

It was pretty good for its length.

What I mean is that while I am still disappointed in the length of the campaign, I was relatively satisfied with it. I was not disappointed to the point that I felt like my money was wasted. There were a few standout thoughts I had during my time with it though. First, perhaps it is because I feel differently politically since the last time I played a Call of Duty, but this entry seemed to border rather close to jingoistic in tone. It felt as if it was some gun toting conspiracy theorists' fanfic about how the United States would be the sole rescuing power in a war torn world. A world where all of those intellectual philosophy types were rendered useless and raw brute militaristic strength and tactics were the only skills worth having. To some, this may seem as a "duh, thats the idea of Call of Duty games" but I feel like they could have made it better somehow. I don't have an answer to how though. This feeling just BOTHERED me though, throughout the entire game.

For the game's strengths, it has a comfortable control scheme that took me near on no time to pick up, despite never playing a console Call of Duty. The visuals were gorgeous and looked terrific on my PS4. They really pushed the variety of levels with ones involving scuba missions, outer space missions, various different vehicles and weapon types and good old fashioned run and gun objective missions. The game felt fair and tight in difficulty, without being something frustrating. The audio was solid and felt like I was in the middle of a blockbuster action movie, playing from the sound bar in my living room. Overall, the presentation was spot on.

I may try the multiplayer at some point just to see what the hullabaloo is about, but I am trying to focus on other games for this challenge.


Main Post Link

Game 25: Mass Effect 3 - 110 Hours
(Started 2/17/14 / Finished 4/13/14)
I'm at a real loss for words here. I could have dealt with far less banshees in my gaming life, and a lot less of terrible party members like Ashley or Vega or that Snooki look alike that tried to get on my ship in this game. Those are the negative parts and they are far outweighed by some of the best character interaction in the entire series or in any video game period.
OP

I admit due to life and work i was falling behind and decided to revisit some 'ol classics to catch up

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=95443609#post95443609


Game 12: Sonic the Hedgehog - 2 hours 4/9
One of my most played games and on replay its still amazing. It might be my favorite of the 3. Great music, great special stages, great zones (except the last one sucks).

Game 13: Streets of Rage - 1.5 hours 4/12
Not as good as SOR2 but its soundtrack is. And even with essentially 5 different enemy types the mechanics were still really good. It was a great foundation for the rest of the series

Game 14: X-men Arcade - 1 hour 4/12
Still might be my favorite x-men game...just ignore dazzler is in the game. And of the Konami brawlers its one that isn't as cheap as some of the other ones that were designed to drain your quarters. Die x-chickens!

Game 15: TMNT Arcade - 1 hour 4/13
Very fun but VEEEERY cheap. Man boss fights are just there to drain your continues. Thankfully with the 360 version i can power through some of those weaknesses. I need to replay Turtles in time to see which is the superior game again.

Game 16: Sonic 2 - 3 hours 4/13
I remember not liking this as much when i got it at launch and on replay im not sure why. The move to 2 acts per zone is a good one. Still has a good speed/platformer balance. The special zones aren't as good and i felt the music was slightly less enjoyable as the first but still a great game

Original Post

I can see the finish line!
It's so close, I can almost taste it!

47. Resident Evil 6(PC) - April 12th - Time: 18.3hrs(I think this is the longest game I've finished this year)

I have to admit, I am not a fan of this game and it's overall design.
I played through most of it single player and so whenever I wanted to get a move on and leave an area only to be told I must wait for my partner to come along so we can knock down a door, I just groaned.

in 4 if I wanted to leave an area I didn't have to wait for my partner and I preferred that, 5 had the same problem but I think the amount of times you had to wait at a door for your partner were much less so I didn't see it as big of a problem then.

The shooting and stuff is okay, but I had to force myself to finish this game since I bet my friend I would when he said I wouldn't.

48. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon(PC) April 14th - Time: 3hrs 22m(Started in 2013)

Short game, I spent a lot of time doing side quests, I liberated all the garrisons, I got pretty close to max rank but still pretty short.

Overall it was a decently enjoyable game, two things bug me though
1) Why is there a weird purple haze around everything? makes it a lot more difficult to enjoy the view.

2) Why is this game rated R18+? Apparently it's because of the high impact sex scene, but there's only one sex scene in the game and it's done using cutscenes that you'd see on the SNES, so that's...weird.

49. Sonic Rush(NDS) - April 14th - Time: 5hrs 2m
See Sonic Run.
The final boss was a real pain and I had to actually lower the difficulty to easy mode in order to actually complete the game, the rest of the game was kinda interesting though, I had never played this game before so it's cool to play the game which the boost mechanic came from since it has become such a large part of Modern Sonic nowadays.

Although you can tell this is the first use of the boost mechanic in a Sonic game since it's much more limited in this game than it is in the later titles it's used in(no mid air boost and such)

RavenValor95 said:

I can see the finish line!
It's so close, I can almost taste it!

Click to expand...

Almost there!

Almost forgot about this place! Updated my post!

Finished WWHD, W101, DKC:TF, Pokemon Y, Miracle Mask and Runner2 since my last update.

Azran Legacy, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, Divekick, Mario 3D Land and a Very Hard playthrough of God of War III are in progress.

39. Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask

Finally picked my way through this, though I did not complete all the puzzles like I usually try to, this and Lego games are two series I need to stay far away from, I'm really sick of them, since I played all the Layton games over the past 6 months. Actually it seems as though it's probably one of the best ones, IMO, so I'd better wait a while before playing the last one.

40. The Witcher 2

FINALLY cleared this from my backlog! Only beat it the one path(Iorveth) but that's enough for now. The rebalancing Mod made all the difference for me in my enjoyment, compared to when I tried it a few years back and bounced off it. I love the characters and the world of this series. Something still doesn't quite click with me gameplay wise, but I really feel W3 will be something special.

Game 1: Dota 2
Started in January, 300 hours so far, still lots of fun

Game 2: Left4Dead2
After not touching this for 2 years, I played through half of the campaign, but lost interest in it again. Used to love it when it was released.

Game 3: Mafia 2
Started Friday after school, finished Saturday evening. Great game, but lame that you can't do anything after finishing the story. Also, getting $$$ is kinda useless, nothing to spend it on..

Game 4: L.A. Noire
Cases absolved so far: 17/20. Will finish it after Easter I believe .

Game 5: Borderlands
Found the CD in a box full of junk, installed it, been playing from time to time and just decided to get Borderlands 2

Game 6: Borderlands 2
lvl 37 ZerO

Game 7: Pokemon Yellow, Blue and Red
Found my old GBA and some games, checked all my pokemons + now leveling a bit. Doing this mostly while on toilet haha

Game 8: GTA EFLC
Some shooting here, some driving there, funny stunts and crashing into trees, just for the heck of it.

Game 9:Saints Row The Third
After deleting GTA EFLC last month, I decided to get something similiar to GTA, while waiting for part 5. Didn't like SR1+2, but The Third is lots of fun.



//Update 5th May:

Game 10: Dishonored
Felt like a ninja jumping around from A to B, back and forth. Also reminds me of Timeshift, which I started to play again while Dishonored. Stopping time and shooting someone in the head is like you're the thunder.

Game 11: Timeshift
See above

Game 12+13: Crysis Maximum Edition (So Crysis + Warhead)
My HD5870 struggled hard, but it did it without many crashes, proud of that haha

Game 14: Assassins Creed
Just wanted to jump around and climb high buildings, ended up finishing it in 2 days. Awesome game.

Game 15: Assassins Creed II
More AC and more to come. Better than Part 1, I really enjoyed building up the city and buying art and weapons, but I got money way too easily, could've been harder. 7 hours of playing and bought the whole city and lot's of art and other stuff..

Game 16: Portal 2
Just started playing Portal 2. 1 hour into it and no idea how long it will take to finish it.

Game 13: Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls (PC) - 38 hours, 21 minutes


I want to point out that I started this as a fresh crusader, that is why it took me the length it did to complete. I played all five acts with this new character. I did not seperate this into two games despite RoS being an expansion because unlike something like Starcraft 2: HoTS, a single extra act didn't feel like it was a substantial addition to the single player campaign enough to warrant two entries. For things like Starcraft expansions or Warcraft expansions, I consider them lengthy and deep enough to be seperate game entries. However, if I had completed Diablo 3 in earlier 2014 previous to the release of the expansion and then completed the expansion post-release, I would have seperated. For me, it just felt like I should stick to one since I played it in one solid go throughout with a fresh character.

Brief moment regarding Diablo 3: I liked the game a lot when I bought it new at release but after playing through Normal, Nightmare and then Hell difficulties, I got tired. I didn't feel like it was worth it to keep completing the game endlessly, so I put it down. Over time, I had heard that improvements were made and Loot 2.0 was cool, but I waited to try them until this expansion. After trying them out, I will say that the improvements are great and I'm happy with what they have done with the game for the most part. My only beef with the new loot system is that it really feels like blues are useless. Yellow and Orange quality items drop with such frequency that I never felt blue was worth much of anything. They might as well drop it from the game all together.

Regarding Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls: I had to drop the difficulty down a bit from where I was playing before. I played "Master" through all of the first four original acts, but when I got to act five, it proved to be too much. Perhaps they assumed many (or most) people had already gathered paragon levels and they needed to up the difficulty to compensate, but for a fresh character with no paragon levels, I had to dial it down. Otherwise, I was being slaughtered pretty quickly. The graphics and the atmosphere were well done and I enjoyed going through .

The audio/songs/cutscenes were well put together and definitely gave an eerie feeling to the surroundings. The new bosses didn't feel particularly inspired and their tactics were pretty easy to master. The difficulty seemed to only stem from how hard they were going to smack you for. Doing the dance on each one seemed easy to pick up, but my supposedly very tanky crusader would get one-shot on Master+ difficulties.

Regarding the new Crusader class: This is what I wanted since day one of the original game. I tend to play Paladins in every game and the paladin in Diablo 2 was no exception. So when he wasn't in the original game, I was always sad and hoping they would show up. My prayers (hehe) were answered and with it, I got the class I always wanted my Diablo 3 Barbarian to be. I love the shield skills that reward you for keeping that thing up all the time. I love the ancillary holy skills like Condemn that make you feel like a ticking time bomb of holy fervor. While tanky, I never really felt neutered in terms of damage either. It can be a hard balancing act to make a class feel tough while also making sure they don't A) suck on damage from the player's standpoint and B) don't feel completely overpowered from everyone else's standpoint when a class is both tough AND offensively powerful. I think they hit a good medium and it really showed. I loved my guy and maybe some day I will keep gearing him up.

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Update:

Falling even further behind on this, but at least I managed to complete another game:

Game 8: Rayman Legends
# Pretty good plattformer with amazing graphics and sound design. A few very memorable levels, but all in all, a bit forgetable compared to all the other great plattformers out there. Also short and easy if you already played Origins. 6/10.

Game 7: New Super Luigi U
# Technically not a new game since this was dlc for the 2012 game New Super Mario U, but with almost 100 completely new levels, it felt good enough for me to include it here. In general, the game is of course very much alike both that particular Mario-game, and the New-series in general, however there are two major changes, one for better, and one for worse. The change for the worse is of course Luigis slippery physics that make him very annoying to control, and that is not made up for by his admitedly useful fluttering. The change for the better is in my opinion how all levels are distilled to their essence - there is quite simply no fat here -.which made it possible for Nintendo to both raise difficulty and make the game much more interesting. I personally feel most games have way to much filler stuff, and while Nintendo in general is good at avoiding this, NSLU is probably the best plattformer I have played in this regard. No boring levels, no easy levels, almost no unimaginative levels. Too bad the Luigi-physics suck. Completed with 5 stars. 8/10

Game 6: Final Fantasy III
# I played the DS-version of this NES classic, and while I feel the remake adds quite a few useless things (like the backstory to the four main characters), the game does indeed hold up very well, and is both fun to play, have lots of interesting systems and nice secrets to explore. It is also quite challenging (although not nearly as much as the NES original), which makes it much more fun than most jrpg's that way to often become a snooze-fest outside of some bosses. The famous job-system that is popularized in games like FFV and the recent Bravely Default got its start here, and I think it works very well, even though the balance seemed a bit off with physical attacks being almost always better than magical and quite a few jobs turning out to be useless. Anyways, a very good game all in all, the best Final Fantasy for the 8-bit wonder and still a very worthwhile experience for fans of Final Fantasy, the genre and just people interested in video game history in general. 8/10

Game 5: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
# The first Castlevania on the gba was also the last Igavania i hadnt completed untill now. For its time it was probably pretty great, but seen in the light of its far superior sequels, this one feels pretty poor now unfortunately. The music is great, but the level design feels very random, and the DSS-system is very poorly thought out. On the plus side, the game is much more challenging than later games, thanks to it being pretty hard to stock up on potions and such, making the game really satisfying to conquer. 6/10

Game 4: Sonic Advance
# I always loved the 2D Sonic games on the Mega Drive, and have for a long time been thinking about trying out the games available for the GBA. I think the game was pretty fun, although, most zones were way to easy. I remember back in Sonic 1, you was somewhat challenged already on the second zone (Marble Zone), but here, only the sixth and final zone was difficult enough to kill you - and then mostly from cheap speeding to your death-kills. Anyways, the zones themselves were large and well made, with opportunity for both exploration and speeding through, which is just how I like my sonic-games. Looking forward to check out the sequel later this year! 5/10

Game 3: Wario Land 4
# I never liked the original Wario Land, and was therefore not very interested in its sequels. However, thanks to a recent episode of retronauts, I decided to pick up a few of them. I found Wario Land 2 to be well crafted, but a bit boring, but Wario Land 3 and 4 seriously blew my mind with their awesomness. Where WL3 played a bit like a metroidvania-game, earning new abilities, and having you really think and explore, WL4 was more of a regular plattformer. While a bit on the easy side, the level design was just so masterful that it was hard not to love it. Definitely recommended for everybody! 9/10

Game 2: NES Remix
# Completed everything with three stars. Very, very cool game to play in small sessions. Hope they make a sequel with second generation Nes-games! 8/10

Game 1: Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
# Got to the credits in the World Tour mode, and even continued a bit beyond that. Amazing game that is probably one of my favorite racers of all time. 9/10

Game 11: Steins;Gate VN - 52 hours - Complete

Steins;Gate was one of my favorite anime ever as it combines some really good drama, comedy, and science all together into one brilliant package. The VN, which we have missed on until now State-side, just feels right all the way through. The game, story, endings, feelings, everything...so good. I really can't go into too much detail here as I don't want to ruin it, but needless to say, this VN was all sorts of brilliant. I had a lot of fun with Steins;Gate and was glad that I remembered some of the story and forgot some of the bigger plot.

I plan on playing it again in the future just because the story and execution is so well done. I'm glad that it was brought state-side.

El. Psy. Kongroo.

Updated post here

Bravely Default - 57:57 hours
With my limited time I probably should stop playing RPGs if I want to have any real shot at this challenge, but I cannot help myself. I picked up this game and couldn't leave it until I was done with everything. Got a bit repetitive from chapters 5 to 8, but the final chapter and the ending more than made up for it.

Updated OP